《Soul Land 3: Legend of the Dragon King》


 Prologue

    Prologue


    A dense canopy of overarching trees blocked out the sun, serving as an impenetrable barrier to the sun¡¯s glare. Shrouded in darkness, sunlight was completely forbidden from entering the depths of this forest.


    Deep within the forest laid a small lake whose clear waters allowed even the lakebed to be visible. This clear and pure water resembled a deep blue crystal in richness, but the waterline rested far below the shores, as if it could dry up at any moment.


    A breath of life within the lake waters rippled out, but it wasn¡¯t very intense; truthfully, it was rather weak.


    A lone man stood beside the lake.


    He wore a black robe and looked to be in his forties. A strand of golden hair hung down from his forehead to rest alongside his cheek, accentuating his handsome and resolute appearance.


    He simply stood there, lifeless, an aura of listlessness radiating off him.


    A short distance away from him stood several people of varying heights and sizes. They had all sorts of appearances, but one common trait among them was their expression: an expression full of gloom.


    ¡°Beast God.¡± A woman in a green jade cheong sam had quietly arrived at the black robed man¡¯s side, a respectful tone lacing her voice when she spoke up.


    The black robed man addressed as the Beast God began trembling, a tint of agony gracing the corners of his mouth. ¡°Beast God? I fear that we are all that is left of the soul beasts. Who am I supposed to be the god of?¡±


    The green robed woman went silent for a moment before softly saying, ¡°Ten thousand years have already gone by. Ten thousand years have gone by since Huo Yuhao established the Spirit Pagoda. The Spirit Pagoda still exists today, but as for us soul beasts¡­ we are nearing extinction.¡±


    The Beast God bitterly remarked, ¡°Humanity¡­ They have already grown too powerful for us to contend with. Star Dou Forest is the sole haven left for us soul beasts.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡± The green robed woman trailed off in silence.


    The Beast God suddenly raised his head, two golden blazes of rich light emitting from his eyes. In that moment, a terrifying aura broke out, causing the entire world to shudder.


    Hum¡­ The ground beneath their feet shook for a moment before increasing in intensity The lake waters were still as clear as before, but bubbles were now rapidly rising from its surface. After another moment, the quivering of the earth intensified even further, becoming even more violent.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Have the humans come?¡± The green robed woman cried out in alarm.


    ¡°Let us fight to the death then!¡± A powerful, burly man bellowed out as his entire body underwent a sudden transformation. He transformed into a ferocious bear over thirty meters in height, his entire body covered in a dark gold luster.


    ¡°Bear Lord, calm down. It isn¡¯t the humans!" Beast God shouted out. His formerly grim face was now overcome with an indescribable euphoria.


    ¡°Finished! Finished! Finished!¡± A muffled voice resounded throughout the forest without warning. The voice seemed to echo from all directions, which, in addition to it being muffled, made it difficult to determine the gender of the voice.


    Bang! The earth cracked open, and the entire forest shuddered. The little water still within the lake was sent spraying upwards, instantly exposing the barren lakebed.


    Bang! A silvery light bubbled up from the crevice in the earth and then heavily smacked into the shore.


    It was a giant claw of a glorious silver color. That silver claw was covered in numerous silver hexagonal scales, each one refracting light to create an astonishing splendor. That pounding  sound brought with it an incomparable oppressive power that made all living beings kneel reverently.


    The Beast God¡¯s rapt gaze grew even brighter as he took a step forward and kneeled down on one knee. He respectfully proclaimed, ¡°I welcome the lord!¡±


    The earth exploded forth instantly, releasing a powerful aura that even caused the ferocious, thirty meter tall bear to be sent flying. A gigantic figure over three hundred meters in length suddenly soared out before landing heavily.


    The nearby towering trees that had once stood tall were now replaced by this giant beast. When faced with this silver colossus, however, they could only prostrate themselves before it.


    ¡°It died, but I still live!¡± The deep voice roared with sorrow. ¡°Those despicable humans want to exterminate us!? Since I have awakened, their day of destruction has arrived at last!¡±


    A resplendent silver light blinded all of the soul beasts. They could only kneel, head lowered, as their bodies trembled with ecstasy.


    The Beast God eagerly said, ¡°Lord! Humanity has already grown too powerful! Even I am unable to contend for very long against their best soul mechas! Humanity has managed to thoroughly suppress us with their science and technology!¡±


    The silver figure slowly lowered its head and spoke, but this time, its voice didn¡¯t resonate throughout the forest. ¡°In order to destroy them, you must first understand them! Follow me! Since our world is already on the brink of destruction, then we will go and conquer their world!


    The gigantic figure slowly stepped forward, towards the forest¡¯s exit. Through the canopy of the of towering trees, a single ray of light broke through and illuminated its tremendous form. But with each step it took, it slowly began to shrink in size. Just as its figure disappeared into the distance, it had taken on the form of a human being.


    Next Chapte

 Chapter 1 – Awakening Day

    Chapter 1 ¨C Awakening Day


    Glorybound City was a small town sitting on the border between the ocean and the eastern coast of the Sun Moon Federation.


    Today was an exceptionally bustling day in the city, it was the annual Awakening Day.


    All of the people residing upon the Douluo Continent possessed something called a ¡°martial soul.¡± The martial soul was a part of the body which could be awakened when they became six years old, regardless of whether they were animals or plants. Through the means of an awakening ceremony, they were able to awaken their own martial soul. This was precisely the purpose of the annual Awakening Day, to awaken their martial souls.


    If someone¡¯s martial soul was a hoe, then their ability to till the fields would far exceed those of others. If instead they had an animal for a martial soul, they might possess some of the abilities of said animal. Due to this, the martial soul had long since become the most significant factor in determining someone¡¯s life.


    However, the emergence of soul power was even more important. Soul power was a type of energy that nourished and upgraded the martial soul. Although everyone possessed a martial soul, only one in a thousand people might possess soul power.


    The soul power rank represented someone¡¯s future and power. As soon as their martial soul was awakened, they could cultivate soul power in order to nourish and upgrade their martial soul. Thus, over the 100,000 years the Douluo Continent has existed, the most noble profession has been that of a Soul Master.


    Due to this, even commoners would look forward to their children becoming six years old and awakening their martial soul, in hopes that they would possess soul power. If they possessed soul power, their lives would be transformed, benefitting them and their whole family.


    The moment dawn arrived, the streets in front of the Red Mountain Academy were packed. The streets were flooded with parents and their children who had come to participate in the Awakening.


    ¡°Dad, what do you think my martial soul will be?¡± A small boy, just barely six years old, said with excitement as he looked towards his father. He loved to listen to his father¡¯s stories about Soul Masters. He had a pair of large eyes filled with a longing for the future.


    The young boy had a head full of short black hair and a stature slightly taller than others of the same age. However, his most attractive feature were his large, clear black eyes and long eyelashes which wouldn¡¯t lose to a girl at all. Even with his commoner¡¯s clothing, his outstanding appearance could easily draw the eyes of others.


    His father was a middle aged man who shared a similar appearance. He had a medium build and an average height, everything about him was just average.


    ¡°Dad doesn¡¯t know either. It all depends on luck.¡± His father released a gloomy sigh within his heart. Actually, the Awakening Day was a decisive day that decided one¡¯s life and future. Whether or not someone had soul power would decide the trajectory of their life. Fortunately, in this era those who were unable to become Soul Masters were still able to have a pretty good future.


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely have soul power, right?¡± The pretty young boy¡¯s eyes were filled with hope.


    His father patted his head and smiled. ¡°Regardless of whether or not you have soul power, dad will always love you.¡±


    There was an unceasing torrent of parents and children passing as they exited the academy. The overwhelming majority of them all left with sighs of disappointment, but occasionally one of them would be overjoyed. There was no need to ask why; their martial soul must have given birth to soul power. This immediately attracted the envious and jealous gazes of others.


    As time passed, the sun¡¯s radiance intensified, while the pretty young boy¡¯s previous enthusiasm continued to wane.


    ¡°Tang Wulin!¡± A teacher walked out from the Red Mountain Academy with a list in hand, calling out the next name.


    ¡°I¡¯m here!¡± With wide eyes, the pretty boy jumped up full of excitement.


    Tang Ziran was also slightly startled as his excited son pulled him forward with his small hands.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Perhaps it was due to the excessive workload on Awakening Day, but the teacher seemed somewhat apathetic as he quickly turned around and began walking ahead. Tang Ziran brought Tang Wulin and hastened to catch up with the teacher.


    As they walked along the small path inside of the academy, Tang Wulin was excitedly taking everything in. It was just like he had said, everything was a novelty to him. Red Mountain Academy was an elementary grade comprehensive academy able to hold two thousand students. The buildings within the academy were all simple and unadorned with white roofs and red walls. The academy grounds were exceptionally clean. Awakening Day was right before the start of a new term. In comparison to the clamor outside of the walls, the academy seemed unusually peaceful. Tang Wulin¡¯s excited heart seemed to have been calmed by this environment.


    The teacher brought them to the front of a circular building before telling Tang Ziran, ¡°Would the child¡¯s parent please wait here for a moment?¡±


    Tang Ziran nodded his head and told his son, ¡°Listen to the teacher¡¯s commands, and good luck son! Dad will be waiting right here for you.¡±


    Tang Wulin rigorously nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely have a powerful martial soul, dad!¡±


    As he watched his son follow the teacher into the circular building, a trace of disappointment and frustration appeared within Tang Ziran¡¯s eyes as he reminisced of the past. Every single elementary academy would have this circular building. It was called the Awakening Chamber, and it was specifically used to aid six year old children in the awakening of their martial soul. Before the day of the awakening ceremony, the academy would invite a Spirit Master from the Spirit Pagoda to conduct the awakening ceremony. Decades ago, he had the same hopes when he entered the Awakening Chamber.


    There wasn¡¯t just a single awakening area within the Awakening Chamber, rather there were seven floors and within each one was an Awakening Chamber. Tang Wulin was brought to the Awakening Chamber on the third floor.


    As soon as he entered the Awakening Chamber, Tang Wulin was dazzled. All of the floors, the walls, and even the ceiling had wonderful inscriptions carved into them to create an elegant, decorative design.


    Within the Awakening Chamber was a middle aged man wearing a simple orange robe, that featured the embroidered form of a soul beast.


    Since childhood, Tang Wulin had loved to listen to his father¡¯s stories and within those stories, Spirit Masters would always appear. These Spirit Masters from the Spirit Pagoda were powerful and mysterious existences. They were an exceptionally special group of Soul Masters and held an extremely majestic status on the Douluo Continent. However, this was the first time he had ever seen one.


    ¡°Hello.¡± Tang Wulin shyly replied.


    The Soul Master wore a gentle smile on his face. ¡°Come here child. Stand in the middle.¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked for a moment before he cutely walked over and stood in the middle. He couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Lord Spirit Master, what kind of martial soul will I have?¡±


    The Spirit Master replied with a smile, ¡°Ah, I don¡¯t know either! After you¡¯ve awakened, you¡¯ll naturally be able to see what it is. Anyway your eyes are so pretty, it would be just perfect if you got a martial soul related to your eyes.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shined. ¡°Soul eyes? I heard that the first master of the Spirit Pagoda had spirit eyes¡­.¡±


    The Spirit Master interrupted him, ¡°Quiet down. I¡¯m about to begin.¡±

 Chapter 2 – Martial Soul Awakening

    Chapter 2 ¨C Martial Soul Awakening


    Tang Wulin stood nervously in the middle of the Awakening Chamber with his eyes darting all over the room, after all, he was only six years old. Without a parent accompanying him in this strange and exciting environment, how could his mind be serene?


    Right at that moment, a gentle white light shone from the Spirit Master¡¯s hands and attracted his attention.


    That white light, could it be the fabled soul power that only Spirit Masters possess?


    While under his astonished gaze, the Spirit Master raised his right arm slightly. The white light vibrated before flying off towards the sky and blossoming into fireworks that illuminated the Awakening Chamber with its splendor.


    Starting from the ceiling, the inscription lines filled with light as it moved towards the walls. It was as if it possessed a strong and revitalizing energy, as well as a life of its own. The lines kept lighting up until they converged below Tang Wulin¡¯s feet.


    A comfortably numbing energy crept up his legs before entering his body from his heart. Tang Wulin¡¯s body couldn¡¯t help but tremble as he struggled to hold on. It felt as if his body was being electrocuted.


    Everything blurred before his eyes, and an unclear image unceasingly flickered within his mind. He wanted a clear look at it, but he could only feel its flowing shadows. In the end, he was able to see it, but he couldn¡¯t remember what it was.


    From the view of the Spirit Master, Tang Wulin¡¯s body was already being enveloped in the light, and in turn, was releasing its own light. Within this ancient traditional ceremony, his martial soul had been awakened.


    ¡°Ah¡ª¡ª!¡± Tang Wulin suddenly screamed, causing the Spirit Master to jump in fright. An ordinary child usually wouldn¡¯t feel too much during their Awakening, but an extremely low number of them would experience intense pain due to their weak bodies being unable to bear the energy.


    The Spirit Master¡¯s body disappeared in a flash and appeared in front of Tang Wulin. In case the situation truly did take a turn for the worse, he would immediately stop the ceremony and ensure Tang Wulin¡¯s safety.


    After he got close, he was astonished to see that some golden lines were flickering on Tang Wulin¡¯s forehead. Afterwards, those golden lines began to spread to his four limbs, creating a network of golden lines.


    What kind of martial soul was this? This Spirit Master was extremely experienced; he had awakened thousands and tens of thousands of children. Yet, this was the first time he had seen the situation that was occurring in Tang Wulin¡¯s body.


    A faint energy undulated as it was emitted from Tang Wulin¡¯s body. This energy originated from his lower abdomen, the most common place for soul power to appear from. Although the energy was feeble, its existence was undoubtedly real.


    The Spirit Master was pleasantly surprised, this was a martial soul with soul power! Most of the time, he could conduct the ceremony for days without encountering a child with soul power. It would seem that today¡¯s luck was pretty good. The only question was: what was his martial soul?


    The previous golden lines from before had already disappeared without a trace, as if they had never existed at all. Tang Wulin seemed to be enduring an immense pain as his eyes were tightly closed. He slowly raised his right arm.


    The hollow of his palm faced upwards, and a pale blue light emitted from it. In his hands appeared a small light blue grass that quietly rotated and extended in his hand. With a delicate and soft sway, an exceptionally feeble energy fluctuated out.


    ¡°Bluesilver Grass?¡± The Spirit Master¡¯s voice exuded disappointment, but it was once again substituted with amazement in a moment. He had seen the Bluesilver Grass martial soul so many times before, this was a completely ordinary martial soul! Bluesilver Grass was so common that it covered the whole Douluo Continent as well as the Star Luo Continent and Heaven Dou Continent. Even the lawn of Red Mountain Academy was covered in Bluesilver Grass. How could this type of trash martial soul give birth to soul power?


    So painful! It felt as if Tang Wulin¡¯s body was being ripped to shreds.


    His body became limp and numb to the point of being nearly comfortable, as that gentle energy continued to be poured into his body. However, an intense heat quickly bubbled forth from the hundreds of bones of his four limbs. The heat wrecked havoc on his body, making him feel like he had a bloated stomach that was about to burst. Under this pain, he was unable to breathe.


    His whole body felt as if it was being ripped apart. Bone, muscle and flesh. There wasn¡¯t a single aspect spared from the pain.


    After what seemed like a very, very long time, this fit of pain gradually dissipated. Afterwards he felt a warm thread from the hollow of his palm, Tang Wulin opened his eyes.


    A small light blue grass, verdant and lush, was undulating in the palm of his hand. ¡®Bluesilver Grass?¡¯


    Although Tang Wulin was young, he clearly remembered what he was doing at that moment. Immediately after waking up to reality, he said, ¡°Bluesilver Grass? This is my martial soul?¡±


    Even though he hadn¡¯t properly studied spirit beasts before, he still had some common knowledge. Naturally, he knew that Bluesilver Grass was a type of trash martial soul. Furthermore, it was the worst trash of them all.


    ¡°En. It is. This is your martial soul.¡± The Spirit Master said so with a smile, yet his eyes couldn¡¯t help but reveal a trace of pity.


    Possessing soul power was definitely a good thing, but if his martial soul was Bluesilver Grass¡­


    Tang Wulin¡¯s lips softly quivered, and an intense torrent of sadness attacked his tiny heart. After anticipating for so long, it turned out that he actually had a trash martial soul.


    ¡°Child, don¡¯t be sad. You possess soul power.¡± The Spirit Master hastily said.


    ¡°I, I have soul power?¡± Tang Wulin met his words with a look of astonishment.


    The Spirit Master nodded in response. ¡°After I tested it, you actually have rank 3 innate soul power. Although it can¡¯t be considered amazing, it still means that you possess soul power. As long as you put in great effort, then you will be able to become a Soul Master too!¡±


    Tang Wulin foolishly stared. ¡°But, but my martial soul is Bluesilver Grass¡­¡±


    The Spirit Master laughed. ¡°Have you ever heard the tale of the Tang Sect? The founding patriarch of the Tang Sect¡¯s martial soul was actually the Bluesilver Grass! He relied on this martial soul that other deemed as trash to rebuke the Heavens and Earth and defeated the wicked Martial Soul Hall twenty thousand years ago.¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked in surprise. How could he have never heard of the tale of the Tang Sect¡¯s founding patriarch? After all, the legend of the almighty masters of the Tang Sect and Spirit Pagoda were the most widespread legends on the continent as well as the most universally appreciated.


    ¡°But wasn¡¯t the Tang Sect¡¯s founding patriarch¡¯s martial soul the Bluesilver Emperor?¡± Tang Wulin earnestly asked.


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± The Spirit Master was somewhat embarrassed. Clearly, this little guy wasn¡¯t so easy to fool. ¡°The Bluesilver Emperor is the equivalent of an evolved Bluesilver Grass. If you wish to become a Soul Master, then you must put in your greatest effort.¡±


    Tang Wulin bit his lip. ¡°Thank you, Lord Spirit Master.¡±

 Chapter 3 – Little Wulin’s Family

    Chapter 3 ¨C Little Wulin¡¯s Family


    Even as he exited the gates of Red Mountain Academy, Tang Wulin was flummoxed.


    Like every year, those who awakened soul power along with their martial soul were invited to join the Soul Master class of Red Mountain Academy as new students. No matter which elementary academy it was, the Soul Master class was undoubtedly the most important.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s previous agitation hadn¡¯t completely dissipated; his head felt swollen, and his body was heating up. He dizzily continued walking.


    ¡°Son, you really are one in a million!¡± Tang Ziran¡¯s gentle voice awakened Tang Wulin from his dazed state.


    Tang Wulin raised his head and faced his father¡¯s gentle and loving expression. ¡°Dad, is Bluesilver Grass a trash martial soul?¡±


    Tang Ziran solemnly replied, ¡°How could it be a trash martial soul? You  need to know only one in a thousand people have soul power! You have both a trash martial soul and soul power, doesn¡¯t that mean you¡¯re one in a million? Therefore, my son is unique and by definition unmatched. Haven¡¯t I told you the story of the founding ancestor of the Tang Sect, Tang San? It was with his Bluesilver Grass¡­.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s family lived in the commoner¡¯s district of Glorybound City. His father was a machine repairman specializing in soul machines. However, his skill was only ordinary so he could only earn a meager wage to support his family.


    His mother, Lan Yue, was a housewife and had single handedly taken care of Tang Wulin. She was exceptionally skilled at cooking delicious dishes.


    The entirety of their home was comprised of a living room about a dozen square meters large, a small kitchen, a washroom and two rooms with less than ten square meters in space.


    ¡°Son, you¡¯re home! You must be hungry. Mom will cook up something delicious for you.¡± Lang Yue couldn¡¯t be regarded as a beauty, but she was definitely charming. She crouched down and hugged little Wulin.


    ¡°I¡¯m not hungry mom, just a bit sleepy. I want to go take a nap.¡± Tang Wulin hugged her neck in response before scurrying off towards his own room.


    Lang Yue watched the little figure retreat into his room before gently sighing. ¡°This child has wanted to become a Soul Master since childhood, but becoming a Soul Master isn¡¯t that easy! We need to go comfort him.¡±


    Tang Ziran entered the small living room and sat down beside the dinner table. For lunch, there was sauted vegetables, stewed pork ribs, some salad and a bowl of three vegetable soup. This was already considered luxurious for the Tang family.


    ¡°He has soul power, but I wish he didn¡¯t.¡± Tang Ziran sighed.


    Astonished, Lang Yue sat down beside her husband. ¡°What did you say? Wulin possesses soul power? Doesn¡¯t that mean he can become a Soul Master?¡±


    Tang Ziran forced out a bitter laugh. ¡°How could it be that easy? His martial soul is Bluesilver Grass, and his innate soul power is only rank 3. Becoming a Soul Master is easier said than done. Although he is able to enter the Soul Master class, I fear that the pressure will be too much for him.¡±


    Lang Yue was confused for a moment, but quickly understood the meaning of her husband¡¯s words. ¡°Then Wulin, he¡­.¡±


    Tang Ziran replied, ¡°He seems to be in shock. He didn¡¯t say anything on the way back. In the process of growing up, our family¡¯s little man will definitely encounter some setbacks. It¡¯s best to just leave him be for now.¡±


    Lang Yue glanced at her son¡¯s room with worried eyes. Sighing loudly, she refilled her husband¡¯s bowl of rice. ¡°Let¡¯s eat first then, we won¡¯t disturb him either. Wulin has always been obedient. So we¡¯ll transfer him to the normal class if it doesn¡¯t work out.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    Tang Ziran and his wife both didn¡¯t know that it wasn¡¯t because he encountered this setback that Tang Wulin didn¡¯t eat lunch. He truly was too exhausted to eat.


    As soon as he returned to his room, he fell headfirst onto his bed and entered the land of dreams.


    Soon after, Tang Wulin¡¯s body began twisting and turning atop the bed, his skin flushed crimson. If Tang Ziran or Lang Yue were there, they would discover that Tang Wulin¡¯s body temperature was increasing at an astonishing rate.


    The deep red pigmentation of his skin began to gradually penetrate deeper and deeper until his meridian channels were becoming faintly visible. Even with this faintness, his blood flow could be seen. His heartbeat began increasing rapidly; it had become at least three times his normal heartbeat.


    The gold lines that had appeared in the awakening chamber, once again re-emerged on his forehead. The line pattern began to extend from his head to his toes, before returning upwards once again.


    After three cycles of traveling the length of his body, the gold line pattern quietly receded back into the depths his body once again. Tang Wulin¡¯s whole body began making slight creaking noises, but after a moment, the undisturbed silence returned, and his body returned to its normal temperature. He then entered an even deeper slumber.


    In his dreams, Tang Wulin found himself in a prairie completely covered in Bluesilver Grass with a golden sky overhead. In front of him stood a gigantic colossus possessing a large golden mouth that seemed to have dropped from the golden sky. In the next moment, he was swallowed by the golden mouth and entered a borderless golden realm.


    ¡°Ah~¡± He cried out in surprise and abruptly sat up. Tang Wulin found himself covered in oily and sticky sweat. He couldn¡¯t even find the words to describe the discomfort he was in.


    Having been raised in an impoverished family, Tang Wulin was significantly more sensible and mature than others of his age. He didn¡¯t go disturb his mother and father. Rather, he peeled off his clothes and went to the washroom to wash himself off. He was amazed to discover that the odorous sweat immediately disappeared after he washed himself.


    ¡°Ah, where¡¯s Lin Lin?¡± Just then, Lang Yue¡¯s voice called out from outside.


    ¡°I¡¯m in here mom. I¡¯m taking a bath.¡± Tang Wulin hurriedly dashed out in nothing but his underwear, trying to respond to his mother¡¯s calls.


    Rebukingly, Lang Yue said, ¡°Hurry up and put on some clothes. You¡¯re going to freeze.¡± She pinched her son¡¯s tender little pink face before pushing him into his room.


    After closing the door, Lang Yue muttered to herself, ¡®That little guy¡¯s skin is even more tender and elastic now. Mom is so jealous!¡¯


    It was only after Tang Wulin dressed himself and left his small room that he realized the sky had already turned dark. He had actually slept away the whole afternoon.


    Tang Ziran had taken a leave of absence today, so he would be at home the entire time. He beckoned to Tang Wulin, ¡°Come over here son.¡±


    Tang Wulin sat down beside his father. Right when Tang Ziran was about to speak, Tang Wulin¡¯s belly cried out. Gugu. After hearing it Tang Ziran immediately broke out into laughter with Lang Yue.


    Tang Wulin happily smiled, at their good-natured laughter. ¡°Mom, can I go eat? I¡¯m really hungry.¡±


    ¡°Go eat.¡± Lang Yue served him a bowl of rice. She shot her husband a glance, indicating that they should speak after he finished eating.


    When Tang Wulin raised his rice bowl a fourth time, Tang Ziran and Lang Yue were already extremely shocked. Even if he hadn¡¯t eaten lunch, it was impossible for him to be able to eat this much!


    ¡°Mom, it¡¯s delicious. I still want more¡­¡±

 Chapter 4 – Entering the Academy

    Chapter 4 ¨C Entering the Academy


    Tang Ziran and Lang Yue hadn¡¯t eaten their fill yet as all the food on the table had been sucked into their son¡¯s belly like a tornado. Yet, Tang Wulin still wasn¡¯t full.


    ¡°Son, are you the indignant food devourer of legend?¡± said Tang Ziran helplessly. In the end, all of the food on the table was inhaled by Tang Wulin¡¯s belly, and Lang Yue had to  forbid him from eating anymore.


    Puzzled, Tang Wulin looked at his father. ¡°Dad, why am I indignant?¡±


    Tang Ziran replied, ¡°Dad really wants to ask you son, do you plan on entering the Soul Master class, or do you want dad to help you enter the ordinary class?¡±


    Tang Wulin answered. ¡°Of course it¡¯s the Soul Master class! I want to become a famous Soul Master!¡±


    Tang ZI Ran firmly said, ¡°Your martial soul is the Bluesilver Grass. Even in the legends about the Tang Sect¡¯s ancestor, the Bluesilver Grass was an extremely average martial soul. Cultivating it will definitely be difficult, and you will encounter many challenges. Do you really wish to walk down this path?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I want to become a Soul Master. After I become a Soul Master, I can make lots of money and buy mom and dad lots of delicious food.¡± Tang Wulin was full to the brim with childish dreams. To the side Lang Yue watched him with red eyes and thought about how he had always been well-behaved and thoughtful since he was little.


    ¡°Good,¡± Tang Ziran nodded. ¡°Since you¡¯re set on this, then mom and dad will support you. But if you regret this choice in the future, just tell dad, and I¡¯ll help you transfer classes. Just remember that mom and dad have never wanted you to become a dragon or a phoenix. We only want you to be happy. We¡¯ll be content as long as you¡¯re happy. There¡¯s nothing else more important in our hearts than your happiness. Do you understand?¡±


    Tang Wulin beamed a bright smile in reply. ¡°I¡¯m already really happy right now!¡±


    Aside from being hungrier than before, Tang Wulin also seemed much thirstier and sleepier as well resulting in him going to bed early.


    The next day, just as the sky revealed the first glimmers of light, Tang Wulin was woken up by his father. Today was the day he would begin attending the academy. He had officially entered the Red Mountain Academy¡¯s Soul Master class. This would be the first day of his nine years of learning.


    According to the regulations set by the Sun Moon Federation, elementary and intermediate academies had free tuition and were compulsory. Elementary academy was three years while the intermediate academy was six years long. There were several ways to enter an advanced academy: outstanding achievements, paying an exceedingly expensive tuition, or entering an academy of science and specializing in a field of study.


    Tang Ziran accompanied Tang Wulin to the academy gates before leaving as the academy was very close to their home. Before leaving to go work, Tang Ziran repeatedly urged Tang Wulin to directly return home after school.


    The Soul Master class specially had a teacher at the front doors to welcome the new students. Clearly, they were treated much better than the ordinary students.


    The ordinary class would receive a normal cultural education while the Soul Master class would also learn how use their innate soul power to become Soul Masters. They would also be taught knowledge essential to Soul Masters and prepare to enter an intermediate academy.


    This year¡¯s Soul Master class only had 15 students, the number of children who had awakened soul power were simply too low. It was even more apparent in a small city like Glorybound City. This year¡¯s arrivals could actually be considered a lot.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your martial soul?¡± A chubby boy who wasn¡¯t too tall asked, happening to be beside Tang Wulin.


    They were all the same age, all brimming with curiosity and anticipation for the Soul Master class.


    Tang Wulin proudly answered, ¡°It¡¯s the same as the Tang Sect¡¯s founding ancestor¡¯s, the Bluesilver Grass.¡± As he said this, his flipped his hand, and a blue light flickered in his palm. A single strand of Bluesilver Grass danced in his palm. However, he didn¡¯t notice that this Bluesilver Grass was different than yesterday¡¯s, near its roots the grass had changed to a faint golden color. It was so indistinct that if no one would be able to discover it unless they meticulously examined it.


    ¡°Pff.¡± The little fatty said disdainfully, ¡°Ah, Bluesilver Grass! That¡¯s a trash martial soul.¡± After insulting Tang Wulin, he ignored him and coldly walked away.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t accept this. ¡°Then what about you? What¡¯s your martial soul?¡±


    With a snort, the little fatty waved his right hand, causing a cold light to glow and a small knife to materialized in his hands. ¡°Have you had a good look? My martial soul is a knife. If I¡¯m able to cultivate to the rank of Title Douluo, then I¡¯ll be the Knife God Douluo. I have rank 5 innate soul power. I can casually chop your Bluesilver Grass into tatters.¡±


    Looking at the difference between the fatty¡¯s short knife and his own Bluesilver Grass, Tang Wulin suddenly recalled the words his father had said the evening before.


    Will cultivating Bluesilver Grass as a Soul Master really be that difficult?


    All of the other students had already displayed their martial soul and boasted about its characteristics. Regardless of which martial soul it was, they were all far better than his Bluesilver Grass. Due to this, none of the other students paid any attention to him as they began forming their groups.


    ¡®I¡¯ll definitely become a Soul Master!¡¯ Tang Wulin resolved to himself with clenched fists.


    ¡°Hello everyone. I¡¯m your homeroom teacher, Lin Ximeng. I¡¯ll be teaching you the basic knowledge required for Soul Masters over the next three years. How about you all introduce yourselves now? Tell us your name, martial soul and innate soul power rank.¡±


    There were only 15 students, so the introductions went by quickly. When Li Ximeng heard that Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul was Bluesilver Grass, he couldn¡¯t help but be startled while the other students roared with laughter.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s little face blushed a deep red. It felt as if he was restraining a ball of fire within his heart. ¡®Were these the challenges that you spoke of dad?¡¯


    Lin Ximeng quickly regained his composure and smiled. ¡°Today is your first day of class, so I¡¯ll be explaining the different classifications for martial souls first. In the afternoon, I¡¯ll teach you how to meditate. Meditation is the only way to temper and improve your soul power. If you want to become a true Soul Master, then you all must strive your hardest.¡±


    ¡°As you all know, everyone in our world has a martial soul. One¡¯s martial soul awakens at the age of six, and it can be anything. If one also awakens soul power, then they can cultivate to become a Soul Master. Now a question for all of you, what classifications are there for martial souls?¡±


    ¡°First of all, the two main classes are tool souls and beast souls. Among them, all of the martial souls that appear on the body are beast souls. If they appear separately from the body, then they¡¯re tool souls. By cultivating your soul power, you¡¯re able to upgrade your martial soul. After your soul power reaches rank 10, then you¡¯re able to become a Soul Master.¡±


    ¡°There are also two main classes of Soul Masters. The Battle Soul Masters and Utility Soul Masters. Those who cultivate with the goal of fighting are Battle Soul Masters. Regardless of what someone¡¯s martial soul is, they are still a Soul Master. There are also many minor classifications¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s depression gradually faded away as he listened to Lin Ximeng explain the classifications of martial souls and Soul Masters. He had been filled with a curiosity towards Soul Masters since he was small. To him, this knowledge was like a door, opening up a brand new magnificent world.

 Chapter 5 – Naer

    Chapter 5 ¨C Na¡¯er


    Tang Wulin was clearly unhappy as he walked out of the Red Mountain Academy¡¯s gates. The long day coupled with these major events clearly dampened his expectations.


    He had grown up in an ordinary household, full of harmony. His parent¡¯s relationship was excellent, and they loved him dearly. Even when he made a mistake, they would sincerely correct him.


    However, today was the first time he had ever encountered these so called ¡°challenges.¡± Because his martial soul was Bluesilver Grass, he was rejected at by the other students. To make matters worse, the teacher didn¡¯t treat him very well either.


    During the afternoon, the teacher clearly spent the least amount of time instructing him on how to meditate.


    ¡°Is my martial soul really that bad?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s depressed expression gradually changed into one of stubborness. ¡°Even if my martial soul is no good, I¡¯ll definitely become an important Soul Master. Dad told me before, success is 99% effort and 1% talent. Since my martial soul isn¡¯t any good, then I¡¯ll just have to put in even more effort!¡¯


    With his optimistic nature, he had already overcome the depression of the day while inadvertently resolving himself.


    ¡®Anyways, why am I so hungry?¡¯ Tang Wulin was puzzled as he rubbed his belly. The academy included one meal for lunch, and that meal was limitless. In the aspect of food, the Soul Master class also had much better food than the ordinary classes. Tang Wulin had eaten so much that he was given the nickname of ¡°Rice Bucket.¡± He had eaten enough to fill half a dozen other students, and far surpassed the capacity of an adult.


    His eating capacity wasn¡¯t small before, but it certainly hadn¡¯t reached this extent! It was only afternoon now, yet he was already hungry.


    He was going to go and see if there was anything good to eat at home. His eye lit up at the mere thought of eating.


    As he was walking down the road, a small figure attracted his attention.


    The afternoon sun wasn¡¯t too harsh, but the weather that day was unusually good. So, the sunshine simply produced a comfortable warmth. The sunlight had shined down upon a smear of silver, catching Tang Wulin¡¯s attention.


    A little girl was squatted down near the roadside. She was slightly shorter than him with a head of short silver hair. The sunlight had reflected off it, creating a silver flash and attracting Tang Wulin¡¯s attention.


    It was as if there was some sort of profound attraction between the two of them. The young girl raised her head and returned his gaze. She wore shabby clothes in addition to a dirt stained face, clearly resembling a little beggar. However, aside from her silver hair, she also had two eyes that stood out from the crowd.


    She had big eyes, with two crystal clear amethyst pupils. Even though they were separated by a distance, Tang Wulin could see his image reflected in her eyes, naturally long eyelashes framing them.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were very pretty, so when he encountered a fellow large-eyed person, he automatically had a favorable impression of her. He had unconsciously stopped walking. Two pairs of eyes peered into each other as the little girl directly met his gaze with her pretty eyes, somewhat bewildered.


    ¡°Little girl, where are your parents?¡± Right at that moment, several young delinquents surrounded her after being attracted by her silver hair.


    The little girl avoided their eyes, once again lowering her head.


    The delinquents shot looks to one another before one of them called out, ¡°Silver hair is really rare! Could you be from one of the other two continents? I reckon the black market dealers will really like her silver hair and purple eyes.¡±


    Greed colored their eyes as they nodded towards each other.


    The youngster who had previously spoken squatted down. ¡°Hey, little girl. Where¡¯s your family?¡±


    Without speaking, she shook her lowered head.


    Beaming with smiles, the youngster said, ¡°Are you hungry? Big brother will bring you to eat some good things, how about it?¡±


    The little girl shook her head once again, but this time, she shook it much more forcefully.


    The youngster shot a meaningful look to his companions before reaching out his hand to pull the little girl¡¯s arm, lifting her up against her will. His companions encircled them, obstructing others from seeing this.


    Even as the little girl let out a frightened scream, the youngster already had her over his shoulders.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Right at that moment, a childish voice full of fury called out, giving the youngster and his companions a fright.They couldn¡¯t help but reveal resentful faces when they turned around to look. The person who had come to aid the one suffering an injustice was unexpectedly a tiny pretty boy who didn¡¯t even reach their waists.


    The youngster in the back revealed a trace of cruelty. He raised one of his legs and kicked Tang Wulin away. ¡°Brat, you dare to meddle with us.¡±


    Tang Wulin tumbled away and landed a little more than two meters away, completely covered in dirt.


    ¡°You guys are villains!¡± He had rolled on the ground but immediately got up. He charged towards the youngsters in order to bar their way.


    The youngster who was carrying the little girl exposed a vicious face. The ruckus they had made had already attracted the attention of some pedestrians. After all, this had all occurred on a main street.


    A cold light flickered from his wrist and a dagger appeared in the youngster¡¯s hand. He gestured towards Tang Wulin, ¡°F*ck off if you don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    Tang Wulin stubborning glared and furiously replied, ¡°Villains won¡¯t have a good end. I¡¯m a Soul Master; I¡¯m not afraid of you. Release her!¡±


    As he spoke, Tang Wulin lifted his right hand, and a light blue ring of light twinkled. The Bluesilver Grass appeared in his palm in its waving fashion. A faint energy undulated outwards from it.


    What could rank 3 soul power do? It only made him a bit more powerful than his peers. He didn¡¯t have a soul ring to support his soul. His soul was far from being battle capable. This was also the reason why cultivation was essential to being promoted from the lowest Soul Scholar rank to the Soul Master rank.


    The youngster blanked out for a moment as his companions tugged on his arm.


    If it was only a regular boy, then they wouldn¡¯t have to do anything in particular. They would only have to cover for each other, and there wouldn¡¯t be any trouble. But a child that possessed soul power was different, the government maintained special records on these children. Even the Spirit Pagoda had records on these children. If anything happened to these special children, the federal government would definitely put in expend a lot of resources to search for the cause. What¡¯s more, many bystanders have already witnessed their deeds.


    ¡°Such bad luck!¡± The head of the youngsters was unresigned, but he set down little girl with an angry growl and quickly left with his companions.


    The little girl stumbled and fell onto her butt. Seeing this, Tang Wulin hurriedly ran over and crouched beside her. ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. I¡¯m a man. I¡¯ll protect you!¡±


    The little girl raised her head and looked at him. Up close, those large purple eyes of hers were even prettier. Within her pupils, a layer of mist seemed to have appeared.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry. I¡¯ve already driven away the villains. My name is Tang Wulin. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The little girl foolishly stared at him for a moment before finally opening her mouth. ¡°My name is Na¡¯er.¡±

 Chapter 6 – Bringing Her Home

    Chapter 6 ¨C Bringing Her Home


    ¡°Na¡¯er? That¡¯s a nice name, and your voice is so pleasant to hear.¡± Tang Wulin helped her up.


    Na¡¯er lowered her head but didn¡¯t say a word.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your mom and dad? Where is your home?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Na¡¯er shook her head.


    ¡°Gu gu!¡± A peculiar sound suddenly disrupted their harmony.


    Tang Wulin hastily lowered his head to look at his stomach, but he quickly realized that those sounds weren¡¯t made by him. Even though Na¡¯er¡¯s face was covered in dust, an indistinct blush could be seen.


    Are you hungry? If you can¡¯t find your mom and dad, I can bring you to my house. My mom¡¯s cooking is delicious!¡± As Tang Wulin spoke, he pulled onto Na¡¯er¡¯s hand while walking in the direction of his home.


    Na¡¯er raised her head and looked towards him. From her position, she could only see the side of his face. His face was rosy thanks to the previous fight with a few youths, turning red with vigour. He had large black eyes and long eyelashes. She couldn¡¯t help but stare blankly at his meaningful glance.


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m home!¡± Tang Wulin shouted before even stepping into his home.


    ¡°Child, lower your voice! Don¡¯t disturb the neighbours.¡± Lang Yue rebuked him while opening the door.


    ¡°How was school today? Hmm? Why are you covered in dirt?¡± Lang Yue frowned as she looked at her son, who was covered in dust. After that, she saw Na¡¯er, whose hand was being held by Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯ve encountered some villains.¡± Tang Wulin lively and realistically told her what had just transpired.


    After hearing his words, Lang Yue¡¯s expression changed before she dragged him inside the house. Na¡¯er, whose hand was being held by Tang Wulin, naturally entered the house as well.


    ¡°Child, don¡¯t you know how dangerous that is? How could you¡­¡­.¡± Lang Yue was obviously anxious, judging from her erratic breathing. She completely understood what those youths from the common streets were capable of doing.


    Tang Wulin replied stubbornly, ¡°But Father had said that boys need to be brave and gutsy to fight against villains.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡­¡± When Lang Yue saw the resolution in her son¡¯s large eyes, she didn¡¯t continued to reproach him. Was he wrong? Of course not. What he did was right. However, as a mother, she was more worried about her child¡¯s safety.


    Tang Wulin giggled and ran forward to hug his mother¡¯s leg. ¡°Mom, don¡¯t be angry. Na¡¯er and I are hungry. Can you make some delicious food for us?¡±


    Regarding this adorable and obedient child, Lang Yue really couldn¡¯t continue to be mad at him. She helplessly shook her head before she crouched down towards Na¡¯er, who didn¡¯t say a single word. ¡°Little friend, are you called Na¡¯er? Where¡¯s your mother and father?¡±


    Na¡¯er just shook her head as she had done previously, without saying a single word.


    Only a kind hearted mother could bring up such a kind hearted son. Lang Yue said, ¡°Alright. Look at how filthy the two of you are, you should go and wash up first before changing your clothes.¡±


    5-6 year old children naturally didn¡¯t need to be separated by genders. Lang Yue pulled the two dirt covered monkeys into the bathroom to give them a wash.


    When Tang Wulin asked Lang Yue why he and Na¡¯er were different, she only laughed without answering. However, Na¡¯er bashfully hid behind Lang Yue.


    ¡°Wah! Na¡¯er, you¡¯re so pretty!¡± As Tang Wulin sat at the side of the dining table, he supported his chin with both of his hands while looking at Na¡¯er who was at his side, wearing his clothes.


    Tang Wulin was taller than Na¡¯er by half a head, so his clothes were very baggy when worn by Na¡¯er. Yet, this didn¡¯t affect Na¡¯er¡¯s beauty at all.


    Her skin was even fairer than Tang Wulin¡¯s. It was so white and delicate that it seemed as if water could be squeezed out with the slightest pinch, and after she showered, a faint, refreshing light fragrance was given off from her body. She was akin to a porcelain doll cut out of the finest pink jade.


    Na¡¯er raised her head and looked at him, but she remained as silent as before. It seemed that she really disliked speaking.


    It wasn¡¯t time for dinner yet, so Lang Yue served the two hungry children two small plates of biscuits and two cups of milk.


    One shouldn¡¯t judge Na¡¯er, because she didn¡¯t like to talk. When she ate, she was unhesitant and devoured the food rapidly. In a short period of time, she had completely eaten all of the biscuits and drank all of the milk before her.


    Although Tang Wulin was hungry, it was clear that his curiosity towards Na¡¯er was beyond his hunger. When Na¡¯er was looking at the biscuit on his plate, he knew that Na¡¯er had already finished her portion.


    ¡°Here you go.¡± Tang Wulin generously pushed his biscuits to be in front of Na¡¯er.


    Na¡¯er looked at him as she shook her head.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. You can have it. I ate a lot at noon.¡± Tang Wulin said beamingly.


    Na¡¯er hesitated for a moment, but clearly the enticement of the biscuits was too great for her. In the end, the biscuits were eaten by her.


    Lang Yue also sat down. ¡°Na¡¯er, do you know where you come from or where your home is?¡±


    Na¡¯er shook her head.


    Lang Yue continued to ask, ¡°Do you know any methods to contact your family? Anything will do.¡±


    Na¡¯er still shook her head.


    Lang Yue said, ¡°Then how old are you?¡±


    Na¡¯er shook her head once again, but at last, she opened her mouth. ¡°Five and a half.¡±


    ¡°Wah! This means that I¡¯m your elder brother. I¡¯m older than you as I¡¯m six years old.¡± Tang Wulin said in high spirits.


    Lang Yue snappily glared at him. ¡°Mother will bring Na¡¯er to the Administrative Office to investigate in a moment. We¡¯ll see if we can locate her family. You stay here and behave yourself, understood?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tang Wulin obediently nodded his head but as he looked at Na¡¯er, he didn¡¯t know why he felt reluctant. It was probably because she was too beautiful.


    Lang Yue brought Na¡¯er out. Na¡¯er was her typical self as she didn¡¯t talk much before leaving with her.


    After they left, Tang Wulin returned to his room. He thought about what the teacher had taught in class today and decided to give meditation a try.


    Tang Wulin sat up straight in serenity. Meditation required tranquility to sense one¡¯s self and nature. This was the first step.


    Tang Wulin originally didn¡¯t have any distracting thoughts so he quickly calmed down. He subconsciously felt his Bluesilver Grass martial soul which wasn¡¯t strong but had feasible soul power. When first meditating, he was just required to accomplish that step. He should first feel his own martial soul and soul power, forcing his mind to maintain an intimate connection with each other. After this step was done, he could then continue to really meditate.


    Bluesilver Grass lightly swayed in his mind. Tang Wulin suddenly felt that he could sense some of the world¡¯s Bluesilver Grass.


    It was delicate yet strong with one year of withered glory as the spring breeze was reborn.

 Chapter 7 – Stay here and be my little sister

    Chapter 7 ¨C Stay here and be my little sister


    While immersed in the Bluesilver Grass¡¯s world, Tang Wulin thought he heard many voices. These voices came in bits and pieces, yet were everywhere.


    Bluesilver Grass was gentle, but it had tenacious vitality. It was  the most abundant plant on the continent. Their staunch existence traced back tens of millions of years.


    Powerful soul beasts from that era were on the verge of extinction, but Bluesilver Grass covered the planet, the same as it did tens of thousands of years ago.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s faint awareness allowed him to sense the tiny existences in the air, as they were quietly absorbed into his body. Those existences blended completely in his feeble soul power. This fusion was neither fast nor substantial, yet he could still sense that this fusion was gradually increasing his soul power. Although it was only increasing it slightly, this increase was stable and persistent.


    After an unknown period of time, Tang Wulin naturally awakened from his state of meditation. His body felt cool and relaxed, as if he was wrapped up in countless strands of Bluesilver Grass.


    However, he was given a fright when he saw his father sitting opposite of him.


    ¡°Dad, how come you¡¯re home so early?¡± Tang Wulin asked in astonishment.


    Tang Ziran smiled, ¡°I¡¯m not early. It¡¯s already night time. I see that you¡¯ve already learnt meditation? It seems the Red Mountain Academy¡¯s education is pretty good!¡±


    Tang Wulin excitedly responded, ¡°That¡¯s right! It seems that I can meditate now. Earlier, it felt as if many little things entered my body, dad. Afterwards, my soul power began increasing. Can this be considered as learning meditation?¡±


    Tang Ziran was startled within his heart. In only one day, Tang Wulin was able to grasp the secrets of meditation? The things his son had sensed was definitely the art of meditation! This wasn¡¯t as simple as good instruction. Originally, he himself¡­


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. You¡¯ve learned how to meditate. It seems that my son¡¯s comprehension abilities are pretty good!¡± Tang Ziran has always been generous with praise towards his son. One must praise one¡¯s child when one saw their growth after all. For children, confidence was the most important thing.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but be proud of himself when his father praised him. However, Tang Ziran interjected solemnly before Tang Wulin could respond.


    ¡°Son, there¡¯s something I need to ask you.¡±


    Tang Wulin rarely saw his father so serious, so he immediately restrained himself. ¡°What¡¯s the matter dad? Have I done something wrong? You said that men have to be brave enough to battle villains. Furthermore, I didn¡¯t fight the other students when they ridiculed my Bluesilver Grass at school today. I was very obedient.¡±


    Tang Ziran answered, ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with being brave. But you also need to be wise in addition to being brave. When you know you don¡¯t have enough power to save others, then you must seek the help of others rather than rushing forward. If they weren¡¯t scared off by you showing your martial soul, you would have been caught up in a dangerous situation son. That isn¡¯t brave, it¡¯s reckless.¡±


    Tang Wulin contemplated this and took it to heart before lowering his head. ¡°I was wrong Dad.¡±


    It was only now that Tang Ziran¡¯s smile reappeared. His son only had to be willing to acknowledge his mistake for him to truly realize his error.


    ¡°Men won¡¯t make that kind of mistake.¡±


    ¡°Hn.¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    Tang Ziran smiled. ¡°Good then. Let¡¯s discuss the next matter.¡±


    Tang Wulin asked in surprise, ¡°There¡¯s still another matter?¡±


    Tang Ziran let out a grunt. ¡°Naturally, right when you turn six years old, you bring home a girl. Then what will you be like when you¡¯ve grown up? What¡¯s more, you were the hero who saved a beauty. Not bad!¡±


    It was only now that Tang Wulin remembered the matter of Na¡¯er and hurriedly asked, ¡°Dad, has Na¡¯er found her family? She¡¯s certainly very pretty.¡±


    Tang Ziran shook his head. ¡°Your mother brought her to the administrative office to inquire, but we didn¡¯t find her information.¡±


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Then what¡¯s going to happen to her?¡±


    Tang Ziran responded, ¡°You tell dad. What do you want to do?¡±


    Tang Wulin pondered over this. ¡°How about we let her live with us dad? Is that alright?¡±


    Tang Ziran revealed a smile that wasn¡¯t quite a smile as he look at him. ¡°Live in our house? Mom and dad couldn¡¯t possibly take care of two children!¡±


    Tang Wulin hastily said, ¡°I can take care of her. I can look after her after school.¡±


    Tang Ziran smiled. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s eat first.¡±


    When he entered the living room, Tang Wulin was surprised to see Na¡¯er already sitting at the dinner table with a docile appearance.


    ¡°Na¡¯er!¡± Tang Wulin shouted before bouncing vivaciously to her side and very naturally began pulling on her delicate small hand.


    Lang Yue said, ¡°We couldn¡¯t find any records on this child. We can only send her to the orphanage.¡±


    ¡°No! Let Na¡¯er stay mom.¡± Tang Wulin stood in front of Na¡¯er with his arms spread wide. ¡°Don¡¯t send her to the orphanage. Can¡¯t we let her stay here? At worst, I¡¯ll just have to eat a little less in the future.¡±


    Na¡¯er raised her head, and looked at Tang Wulin in a daze. Tang Wulin¡¯s body wasn¡¯t big or tall, but when Na¡¯er saw him protecting her, she couldn¡¯t help but tear up a bit.


    Lang Yue said, ¡°Linlin, you can¡¯t do as you wish and take the place of her family. You have to ask Na¡¯er if she wants to stay here or go to the orphanage!¡±


    Tang Wulin immediately turned around, looking directly at Na¡¯er. ¡°Na¡¯er, why don¡¯t you stay with us? My mom makes really good food, and my dad is really nice. You can live together with me, and I¡¯ll definitely protect you. I¡¯ve always wanted to have a younger sister. Why don¡¯t you stay and be my younger sister?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Unexpectedly, Na¡¯er took the initiative to nod this time.


    ¡°Yay. This is great, I have a younger sister now.¡± Tang Wulin happily bounced up and down.


    Afterwards, it was discovered that the children were unable to control their hunger. Despite the fact that Lang Yue had made extra food today, it still wasn¡¯t enough to satisfy the two big eaters. That was right, not only did Tang Wulin¡¯s food capacity increase, that petite body of Na¡¯er¡¯s was also a bottomless pit. Unexpectedly, her stomach wasn¡¯t any smaller than Tang Wulin¡¯s. They even ate the lunch Lang Yue had prepared for Tang Ziran to eat the next day. Even after all that, they didn¡¯t look satisfied at all.


    The house only had two rooms, and with the addition of Na¡¯er, she could only share a room with Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin and Tang Ziran had put up a divider in the middle of the room.


    Na¡¯er was very tired, falling asleep quickly.


    ¡°Dad, I¡¯m going to meditate now.¡±  Tang Wulin felt unusually satisfied when he was meditating, and was impatiently desiring to feel that sensation again. He wanted to become a Soul Master. He had even more reason to become powerful now. He now had a little sister to protect.

 Chapter 8 – Learning to Forge

    Chapter 8 ¨C Learning to Forge


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Tang Ziran called out to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°What is it dad?¡±


    Tang Ziran patted the chair beside him. ¡°Come and sit down. Dad has something to discuss with you.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tang Wulin went over, sitting beside his father while giving him a suspicious look.


    Tang Ziran said, ¡°Son, you chose the path of becoming a Soul Master so dad will support you. However, you must understand that you will face many challenges. This not only includes your studies, but also at home.¡±


    ¡°Once a Soul Master cultivates to rank 10, they will require a soul ring in order to break through. In the distant past, you could obtain a soul ring by hunting soul beasts. However, ten thousand years later, that is now, we have discovered through research that the spirit soul is superior to soul rings. In fact, high level spirit souls can possess the ability to grow, furthermore, they can be artificially manufactured. Thus, spirit souls are equivalent to soul rings. The various ranks of spirit souls can bestow a Soul Master with one or more soul rings. However, for us commoners we can only buy them from the Spirit Pagoda.¡±


    ¡°Dad can¡¯t do anything about this with my meager wage. I make just enough to provide for our household. However, with the addition of Na¡¯er and how much you two eat, dad will be hard pressed to buy even the lowest grade spirit soul for you when you cultivate to rank 10 soul power.


    ¡°There are two methods to get a spirit soul from the Spirit Pagoda. The first is to be a genius Soul Master with an exceedingly fast cultivation speed. Those geniuses will be be granted their first spirit soul free of charge. However, it¡¯s clear that your Bluesilver Grass won¡¯t qualify for that opportunity. Therefore, we are left only with the second method of purchasing one.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned at his father¡¯s words. He had never considered this problem before. That¡¯s right! Soul Masters required soul rings. soul rings could be obtained from soul beasts or from a spirit soul. Soul beasts were exceedingly rare now, making it very difficult to obtain a high grade soul ring from them. His only option was to purchase one.


    As a six year old child his concept of money was still quite faint, yet the issue of money was now forced upon him.


    ¡°What should I do then dad?¡±


    Tang Ziran bitterly laughed, ¡°This is the extent of dad¡¯s abilities. In the next few years, dad will work hard to earn enough money to at least help you out a little bit. However, you will still have to rely on your own efforts. Do you still remember Uncle Mang Tian?¡±


    ¡°I remember! Isn¡¯t he the one who visited us before?¡± The image of a tall rugged middle aged man appeared within Tang Wulin¡¯s mind.


    Tang Ziran said, ¡°Your Uncle Mang Tian is an outstanding blacksmith. I¡¯ve told him about our circumstances and he said that he can give you the opportunity to apprentice under him. For two hours everyday, over the next three months, he will teach you. If you can forge some simple things after three months, then you¡¯ll be able to earn some money.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were shining. ¡°I want to do it Dad. When can I begin?¡±


    Tang Ziran meaningfully looked at him and said, ¡°Forging is a highly difficult profession. Do you truly want to do this?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I can do it! I¡¯ll earn the money to buy a spirit soul myself.¡±


    Tang Ziran smiled in response. ¡°Good. You can go and try it out then. If it doesn¡¯t suit you, then you can stop.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going to go meditate then dad.¡±


    After Tang Wulin returned to his room, a single drop of a liquid fell upon Tang Ziran¡¯s shoulders. He turned his head around to see his teary eyed wife.


    ¡°Wulin is still so young, why did you have to do this? If we live frugally, we should be able to help him save some money for a spirit soul.¡± Lang Yue said, choking with emotion. She had never gone against/contradicted  her husband before, but this time¡­


    Tang Ziran released a sigh. ¡°It truly is too difficult to become a Soul Master with Bluesilver Grass. Blacksmithing is a craft, Lin Lin is still young but he has a strong character. Blacksmithing can be more than just forging metal, it can also serve to temper himself in the process. If he can truly persevere through these hardships, he¡¯ll have another means to make money when he grows up. Furthermore, he can toughen himself up. It truly has too many advantages and no disadvantages for him, you also understand our circumstances. I only fear that one day, we will¡­. Naturally it would also be great if Lin Lin manages to obtain Mang Tian¡¯s approval, his occupation¡¯s status would be even higher than mine.¡±


    The morning of the next day, after bidding farewell to his mother and Na¡¯er, Tang Wulin hurried to school in high spirits.


    After a night of meditation, Tang Wulin felt even more intimate with the Bluesilver Grass. His intimacy was to the point that he gained a courageous and amiable feeling towards it.


    Soul Masters didn¡¯t learn about Soul Master topics everyday. Instead, they alternated between Soul Master topics and cultural classes. Today was the cultural classes¡¯ turn.


    Tang Wulin was very smart. He listened to the lectures earnestly and even earned words of praise from his cultural teacher.


    ¡°Why have you come to pick me up, mom? Where¡¯s Na¡¯er?¡± After the end of the school day, Tang Wulin was greeted with the sight of Lang Yue.


    A thread of regret was present within Lang Yue¡¯s eyes. With quick steps, she walked over and picked up her son.


    ¡°Hurry up and let me down mom. I¡¯m already a big kid. You¡¯re embarrassing me in front of my classmates!¡±


    Lang Yue spurted out a laugh, ¡°No matter how big you are, you will always be my son. I¡¯m here to bring you to Uncle Mang Tian. Do you really want to learn blacksmithing?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right! Dad said that men can only rely on themselves. I want to earn the money for a Spirit Soul on my own.¡±


    Lang Yue put down her son and crouched down in front of him. ¡°Son, if you¡¯re unable to persevere through ten million difficulties, then mom will find some work to help you buy a spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°No, I want to earn the money myself.¡± Tang Wulin resolutely said.


    Lang Yue fought against her own tears, instead, she repeatedly kissed her sons face. ¡°Good.  Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    Fundamentally, Glorybound City was large but there wasn¡¯t a need to use vehicles. After walking for approximately 20 minutes, Lang Yue and Tang Wulin arrived in front of a somewhat, large workshop¡¯s door.


    The exterior of the workshop seemed somewhat shabby. On top, three words were written,


    Mang Tian¡¯s Workshop.¡±


    Even when they were in front of the doors, the smell of metal assaulted their nostrils.


    Lang Yue pushed the doorbell, and it was not long before the door opened. Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged man.


    The middle-aged man was tall and dark skinned. With his full beard, he appeared somewhat fierce and tough.


    ¡°Younger sister has arrived,¡± his deep voice was low and forceful. Listening to it, Tang Wulin felt a little buzz.


    ¡°Uncle Mang Tian,¡± he politely addressed his uncle, who he had met several times previously.


    ¡°En,¡± Mang Tian expressionlessly nodded. Turning to Lang Yue he said, ¡°Younger sister should return first, you can pick him up two hours later.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Mang Tian, thank you for your troubles.¡±  Lang Yue, slightly unwilling, parted with her son, taking one last look at him. She had something to say, but in the end she gritted her teeth and restrained herself.

 Chapter 9 – Gifted

    Chapter 9 ¨C Gifted


    ¡°Come on in,¡± Mang Tian said to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Tang Wulin followed Mang Tian into the workshop¡¯s chaotic hall. The hall was littered with all sorts of metal components Tang Wulin could barely recognize. Most of these were likely components for soul machines, though.


    Mang Tian didn¡¯t pause as he walked deeper into the workshop, causing Tang Wulin to hasten his steps.


    The shop wasn¡¯t large nor small. After passing through the halls, Mang Tian brought Tang Wulin to one of the inner rooms.


    Inside of the room was a workbench, which was just barely taller than Tang Wulin.


    Mang Tian stopped here, turning around to face Tang Wulin. ¡°Do you know what forging is?¡±


    At a loss, Tang Wulin shook his head.


    Mang Tian indifferently said, ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t want to accept you in the beginning. You¡¯re too young, completely unsuited for forging. However, your dad was determined to have me give you a chance. If I don¡¯t find you acceptable, then you¡¯ll have to leave. When that happens, don¡¯t stay here and weep endlessly, understand?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t cry, Uncle Mang Tian,¡± Tang Wulin defiantly answered.


    ¡°This is your task for today,¡± Mang Tian said as he pointed to the side.


    Off to the side was a half meter tall metal table. On top of the table was a round lump of metal and below it was a soul machine screen.


    Mang Tian picked up two small metal hammers from the side and held them out to Tang Wulin. ¡°You see that lump of metal? Use this hammer to strike it a thousand times. The screen will display the number of hits with sufficient strength. It¡¯ll require all your strength to swing it down. If you¡¯re able to complete this task, I¡¯ll tell you what forging is. If you¡¯re unable to finish, then you don¡¯t have to come here tomorrow.¡±


    After speaking, he placed the two hammers in Tang Wulin¡¯s hands before turning around and walking away.


    The metal hammer¡¯s handle was about a third of a meter with a cylindrical head that was half a foot long and ten centimeters in diameter. They weighed about five kilograms each. For a six year old child, this wasn¡¯t light at all, let alone the fact that he had to swing it a thousand times.


    Tang Wulin had looked at the hammer with a bitter expression, but when he took the hammer from Mang Tian, he was amazed to discover they weren¡¯t so heavy, after all.


    Is it hollow? Uncle Mang Tian looks very fierce on the outside, but he¡¯s actually so kind.


    Tang Wulin smiled to convey his understanding and swung the hammer in his right hand down on the lump of metal.


    Bang! The metal boomed and he jumped in surprise. The soul screen below it activated, displaying the number ¡®1.¡¯


    He raised the hammer in his left hand and smashed it down with a bang!


    2.


    ¡®This isn¡¯t too hard!¡¯ Tang Wulin thought as he began swinging his arms in a steady rhythm.


    ¡°Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!¡± The numbers on the screen increased unceasingly in tune with the continuous thumping. Neither hammer wavered at all, as Tang Wulin didn¡¯t feel they were too much of a burden. The pair of hammers constantly beat down the the lump of metal, and in return, the number on the screen persisted in its ascension.


    After hammering it for the hundredth time, Tang Wulin was already beginning to sweat. At three hundred, his arms began to feel sore.


    I must persevere. Dad said so. I must persevere!


    Tang Wulin continued to swing the pair of hammers, enduring the soreness.


    At five hundred, the soreness turned into aching, but he continued on just as before and persisted with all his power, refusing to stop.


    As the aching in his muscles intensified, Tang Wulin¡¯s arms shifted to a faint red, but he just clenched his teeth, pushing past the pain.


    He repeated to himself, ¡®I must do my best to learn forging and earn money to buy a spirit soul. That way I can make mom and dad happy, and protect Na¡¯er.¡±


    At the seven hundred mark, he couldn¡¯t even feel his arms when he raised them and his hammering speed was much slower.


    Just like before, he clenched his teeth and persevered. His sweat had practically turned into broth, making his school uniform to stick to his body. His sweat dripped like a waterfall, and Tang Wulin felt his spine go numb. His whole body shuddered as if he were electrically shocked. His original aching eased up, and the hammer felt a bit lighter.


    ¡°Bang, bang, bang!¡± He proceeded to strike the last three hundred times with even more ease than the start.


    ¡°One thousand!¡± It was only after reaching the objective Mang Tian had set for him that Tang Wulin lowered his hammers. As he gasped for breath, Tang Wulin could feel an unspeakable aching from his palms and his arms had swollen so much that they were beyond recognition. Apart from this, he felt unexpectedly invigorated. The numbness in his spine spread to his seven vertebrae and back down his spine in cycles, leaving him speechless.


    What he didn¡¯t notice was a golden veined pattern accompanying the numbness he felt in his spine.


    It was only after five minutes that he was able to catch his breath.


    ¡°Uncle Mang Tian, I¡¯m done.¡±  Tang Wulin searched for Mang Tian for a long time before finding him in a room, fiddling with some components.


    Mang Tian blankly stared at him. He glanced at his wristwatch and discovered that it had only been half an hour since he left Tang Wulin to his task.


    ¡°You¡¯re done hammering it?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    Mang Tian didn¡¯t question him again after seeing his sweaty appearance. He would rather let the facts speak for themselves. After standing up, he brought Tang Wulin back to the previous room.


    ¡®1000.¡¯ The number was displayed on the screen. Mang Tian had set up the screen himself; naturally, it was impossible for a six year old child to cheat. But the result was still unbelievable.


    The two metal hammers couldn¡¯t be considered heavy for him, of course, but neither were they hollow. Each hammer was truly 5 kilograms in weight, and even an adult male¡¯s arms would be too numb and limp to raise after a thousand swings. Furthermore, it would be very difficult for them to finish in only half an hour, much less a six year old child.


    The test Mang Tian had given him was just a way to tactfully decline him. His relationship with Tang Ziran was pretty good, so he couldn¡¯t directly refuse. After all, he didn¡¯t want to instruct a six year old child who he deemed unsuitable for forging.


    But before his eyes¡­


    ¡°Hammer it a few more times for me. Don¡¯t stop unless I tell you to.¡± Mang Tian said heavily.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin picked up the hammer once again. After having rested a moment, the aching in his arms had already dulled.


    ¡°Bang, bang, bang¡­¡±  Each strike was done without any technique, or even leverage. He was relying purely on strength to hammer the metal lump!


    After only a few times, Mang Tian was able to ascertain with his own eyes, based on his past experience, that this child¡¯s strength was sufficient to completely pound the metal lump.


    Was this a legendary genius?

 Chapter 10 – I will protect you in the future

    Chapter 10 ¨C I will protect you in the future


    The qualifications of a genius naturally differed depending on a person¡¯s age.


    A six year old child who was able to swing a metal hammer a thousand times, he was absolutely worthy of being called a genius.


    However, Mang Tian didn¡¯t tell him to stop. Instead, he stood to the side and silently watched Tang Wulin continue hammering.


    His movements were direct, and powerful. However, there wasn¡¯t any mitigation of the rebounding force in his technique, all of it was taken in by his arms.


    Fifty times, eighty times, one hundred times.


    Sweat began pouring forth once again and the aching he felt now far surpassed the aching from before. Both of his arms heated up. Each time he exerted himself, his scalp began to swell. However, Tang Wulin still continued to grit his teeth and bear the pain as he never stopped hammering.


    After hammering it 150 times, Tang Wulin¡¯s body began to sway. His vision was hazy, both of his arms were swollen and aching to the point that they felt foreign to him, yet he continued to persevere with clenched teeth.


    I can persevere. I can overcome this test. I am a man. Perseverance will lead to victory.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t even count the number of times he had swung the hammer when Mang Tian finally called for him to stop. If Mang Tian hadn¡¯t supported him, he would have collapsed onto the floor.


    As he took the hammer from his hands, Mang Tian clearly saw Tang Wulin¡¯s hands had been worn out by the hammer and had became swollen.


    The fierce blacksmithing master was finally moved. It was not only due to Tang Wulin¡¯s innate talents, but his perseverance too.


    His strength could still be trained later, but for such an unwavering determination to appear in a six year old child, it was truly too precious.


    ¡°You two have raised a good child. I¡¯ll accept him as my disciple. From tomorrow onwards, have him come over everyday at the same time as today. Once you¡¯re home, smear this ointment on his arms.¡± When Lang Yue came to pick up Tang Wulin, she was greeted with Mang Tian¡¯s gentle expression as he passed over a bottle of ointment.


    After an hour of rest, Tang Wulin had already regained his vigor. It was just that his arms ached too much to raise them.


    Mang Tian¡¯s explanation of forging still lingered in his mind.


    ¡°What is forging? Forging and casting are entirely different. Casting only requires a mold, and afterwards, the use of machinery to grind out the desired shape. That is casting. As for forging, it requires a blacksmith to personally hammer the metal from start to finish. Of course, you could use a machine to pound the metal and forge it, but metal is a living thing. A machine will never be able to grasp the veins of the metal. Thus, all first-rate machine components were forged by a blacksmith. A good blacksmith is a true craftsman that possesses a status no less than that of a Spirit Master.¡±


    Spirit Master and Machine Master, those were the dreams of all young boys.


    ¡°Ouch.¡± Tang Wulin cried out in pain when Lang Yue pulled on his hand.


    It was only then that Lang Yue discovered the wound on her son¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Heavens! He, he did this to you?¡± Tears  were streaming down from her eyes. She had never expected that her son would suffer so much in only two hours.


    Tang Wulin shook his head and replied, ¡°He didn¡¯t do anything! Uncle Mang Tian tested me and I passed. Aren¡¯t I strong mom? Don¡¯t cry! It doesn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡± Lang Yue said as she wiped her tears away with eyes full of sorrow.


    ¡°There¡¯s really nothing wrong mom. In fact, I¡¯m really happy. I passed Uncle Mang Tian¡¯s test. Aren¡¯t you happy for me? Isn¡¯t this the sense of achievement that dad talked about?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m happy, I¡¯m really happy.¡± Lang Yue patted her son¡¯s head and once more, glistening teardrops appeared in her eyes.


    As soon as they returned home and crossed the doorway, Tang Wulin saw Na¡¯er sitting to the side. With a bounce, he immediately ran over to her while Lang Yue went to the kitchen to cook dinner.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, did you know? I passed Uncle Mang Tian¡¯s test today so I can learn how to forge from him now. Wait for big brother to earn some money with forging, then I can save money to buy a spirit soul. I can also buy food for you¡­.¡± With the temperament of a child, he had already forgotten the pain in his arms as he spoke of his accomplishment to Na¡¯er.


    Na¡¯er earnestly listened, but her eyes occasionally revealed a trace of blankness.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, you really don¡¯t remember anything about your family?¡± After he finished talking about his accomplishment, he asked the question which had been lurking in his mind.


    Na¡¯er shook her head. ¡°I really don¡¯t remember. I only remember that my name is Na¡¯er.  Everything else is fuzzy. Big Brother Lin, am I stupid?¡±


    Tang Wulin hastily replied, ¡°No. Of course you¡¯re not stupid, Na¡¯er. It doesn¡¯t matter if you can¡¯t remember. This is your home now. My mom and dad are your mom and dad. You¡¯re my little sister.¡±


    Na¡¯er stared at him, as she gradually revealed a sweet smile. This was the first time she had smiled since she had came to their house.


    ¡°Wow! Your smile is really pretty, Na¡¯er. I¡¯ll tell you a secret then; big brother will work hard to become a Soul Master, then I¡¯ll be able to protect you in the future. All right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    When Tang Ziran returned, dinner was already prepared.


    ¡°Zi Ran, come with me. Go ahead and eat first, children.¡± With a serene appearance, Lang Yue shot a glance at Tang Ziran before heading to their room.


    Tang Ziran distractedly looked at his son with an inquiring look. In return, Tang Wulin shrugged, indicating that he didn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on with his mother either.


    Tang Ziran hastily followed Lang Yue into their room, then Lang Yue closed the door.


    ¡°We¡¯ll eat first, Na¡¯er. Aren¡¯t you hungry?¡± Accounting for how many snacks they had eaten before, Lang Yue made sure to cook lots of food today.


    Na¡¯er clearly had no resistance when it came to eating. She nodded and began to eat heartily.


    After she ate for a while, she noticed that Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t acting the same as the day before.  She raised her head and looked at him, and discovered that he was miserably turning and twisting his body with a pained face.


    ¡°Big brother, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Na¡¯er crisply asked.


    ¡°My arms are really sore after my test. I can¡¯t raise them at all.¡± Tang Wulin had been unusually hungry lately; with the addition of his work after school, one can only imagine his longing for food now¡­


    Na¡¯er blinked a few times. ¡°I¡¯ll feed you then.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Alright!¡± Tang Wulin said in exultation.


    With shaky movements, Na¡¯er clumsily fed Tang Wulin one spoonful after another.


    Two children, one six years old and the other five and a half years old, enjoyed each other¡¯s company with the naivety of youth. In this small house, the atmosphere made the lights appear gentler as well.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, You¡¯re the best¡±

 Chapter 11 – Astonishing Recovery

    Chapter 11 ¨C Astonishing Recovery


    ¡°Out of the question! No matter what you say, I won¡¯t let Lin Lin work under Mang Tian again!¡±  Restraining her emotions in order to prevent the two children outside from hearing, Lang Yue choked back a sob.


    After hearing Lang Yue¡¯s thoughts, Tang Ziran was unable to reply. He could only stand there silently, his heart filled with pain.


    ¡°Without going through thick and thin, how can one see the rainbow? No one can succeed simply by doing as one wishes. Ah Yue, it also pains my heart to know that Lin Lin has to bear these hardships! But if he doesn¡¯t bear them now, then he will face even more hardships when he grows up.¡±


    ¡°When I visited Mang Tian that day, I could tell that he was unwilling. He has the pride of a master blacksmith, yet Lin Lin was able to get his approval. Do you understand how outstanding our son is? This son of ours truly is a very pleasant surprise.¡±


    ¡°On my way home after work, Mang Tian told me something. He told me that our son is unusually gifted, that he has godly talent. He has enough strength to match an ordinary man and what¡¯s even more praiseworthy is Lin Lin¡¯s determination. With Bluesilver Grass as his martial soul, his chances of becoming a powerful Soul Master are next to nothing, but if he¡¯s able to become an outstanding blacksmith, at the very least he won¡¯t have to worry about clothing or food for the rest of his life. Our child isn¡¯t weak, so how can we, as his parents, show weakness? We ought to support  and encourage him. Moreover, I¡¯m convinced that as a 6 star blacksmith, Mang Tian will definitely be able to instruct his disciple appropriately. He definitely wouldn¡¯t harm a child!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just let Lin Lin try it out, alright? If it turns out that he really is being harmed, then I¡¯ll prevent him from continuing by all means possible.¡±


    Lang Yue compromised in the end. It was clear to her that both her and her husband loved their son, and Tang Ziran¡¯s reasoning had persuaded her.


    When the two of them returned to the living room, they saw Tang Wulin sitting there, vigorously chewing his food with a grin as he looked at Na¡¯er beside him. She was feeding him one spoonful at a time.


    Tang Ziran and Lang Yue couldn¡¯t help but be dumbfounded and shocked at this scene. Two beautiful children were sitting there beaming with an intense radiance. It was as if they had suddenly stumbled into an extremely harmonious scene.


    Tang Ziran muttered to himself, ¡°We¡¯ll adopt this child then. Growing up together with another child will be helpful for Lin Lin.¡±


    ¡°Mnn,¡± Lang Yue agreed, revealing a slight smile at last.


    In this way, the intimate family dinner ended with such an atmosphere. But once again, Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er¡¯s eating capabilities shocked the married couple.


    In order to raise these two children, they first had to confront the issue of whether they would be able to feed the two of them.


    After dinner, Lang Yue and Tang Ziran discussed the topic and decided that she would go and find a job too. If they only relied on Tang Ziran¡¯s income, it would be very difficult for them to live.


    ¡°Look, Na¡¯er! This is my martial soul.¡± Tang Wulin raised his hand with much difficulty, revealing a small blue colored strand of grass that was slowly turning in the palm of his hands. Along with a faint blue light, it also emitted a gentle undulating energy.


    Full of wonder, Na¡¯er fiddled with the Bluesilver Grass in his palms. ¡°Big brother, will I have a martial soul in the future too?¡±


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°Of course you will! Everyone has their own martial soul. Just wait until you¡¯re six years old, then you can awaken your martial soul on next year¡¯s Awakening Day. I¡¯m tired, I can¡¯t raise my hand up anymore. I¡¯m going to go sleep. You should sleep early too.¡±


    Even as he was speaking, Tang Wulin was already laying down onto his bed. In but a few short moments, his breathing had steadied and he was fast asleep.


    Na¡¯er foolishly looked at him. She really wanted to recall some of her memories, but her mind continued to stay hazy and she was unable to remember anything.


    After she laid down on her bed, it wasn¡¯t too long before she also fell asleep.


    In the dead of the night, the door to Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er¡¯s room opened and Tang Ziran entered. He went over and knelt down beside his son¡¯s bed, taking out the bottle of medicine Mang Tian had given Lang Yue. Preparing to smear the medicine all over his son¡¯s arms, he pulled Tang Wulin¡¯s sleeve up.


    He pressed a button on his own shoulders, turning on a small light on his shoulder, which started shining directly on Tang Wulin¡¯s arm.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Ziran was surprised when he saw Tang Wulin¡¯s arm. He was astonished to discover that his son¡¯s arm wasn¡¯t bruised. Rather, compared to what Lang Yue had described, it looked completely normal.


    He carefully opened Tang Wulin¡¯s palms. His palms were as bright and clean as jade, without the slightest bruise.


    Shocked, Tang Ziran hastily pulled up the sleeves on his son¡¯s other arm. The condition was exactly the same as the other one. No matter how he looked at it, both his son¡¯s arms looked completely unharmed.


    Tang Ziran knew that his wife wouldn¡¯t lie to himself.


    However, why had the supposed bruising and cuts disappeared? What was the cause of this?


    Could it be? Was it the effect of his son¡¯s martial soul? There were some special martial souls that were able to automatically heal one¡¯s self, but he had never heard of Bluesilver Grass having this kind of ability!


    What he didn¡¯t notice was that underneath Tang Wulin¡¯s black hair, his forehead had a dim golden veined pattern which was quietly fading.


    Tang Ziran sat there and pondered for a moment. Looking at the bottle of medicine in his hands and then at his son¡¯s arms, his eyes shone in contemplation.


    After a moment, he put away the medicine bottle and left the room. It would be best to investigate his son¡¯s circumstances in the morning.


    Early morning.


    Tang Wulin woke up early in the morning. After washing up, he ran to the kitchen to help his mother with her work. Although he didn¡¯t know how to cook yet, he was still able to carry the bowls and plates.


    ¡°Lin Lin, do your arms still hurt?¡± Lang Yue¡¯s heart began to hurt again as soon as she saw her son being so thoughtful.


    ¡°Huh. They don¡¯t seem to hurt at all. It¡¯s nothing too serious,¡± Tang Wulin responded as he swung his arms around. The pain from yesterday had already completely disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place. What¡¯s more, he felt that his arms were even more powerful now.


    Lang Yue¡¯s tone relaxed. ¡°It seems that the medicine Uncle Mang Tian gave us yesterday is pretty good. If it¡¯s like this, then mom can be at ease. After you fell asleep yesterday, dad went and smeared some medicine on your arms.


    Right as he was leaving their room, Tang Ziran heard this conversation. He hadn¡¯t smeared any medicine at all!


    Could it be? His son¡¯s martial soul had been excited, triggering a self-restoring ability as well as growing more powerful? There was no way that Bluesilver Grass could have these kinds of effects!


    Throughout their sumptuous breakfast, this small home of theirs was brimming with cheers and laughter.


    ¡°Dad, hurry up and take me to school! We¡¯re learning about martial souls today. Aiya! I was too tired yesterday and I forgot to meditate. Remind me when I get home later to meditate! I, Tang Wulin, must definitely become a powerful Soul Master!¡±

 Chapter 12 – Three Years Later

    Chapter 12 ¨C Three Years Later


    Three years later. Red Mountain Academy.


    Wan Yunchao twisted his chubby body, moving closer to Tang Wulin¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°Wulin, I heard that Zhou Shao Long broke through rank 10, and he¡¯s going to buy a spirit soul tonight. How about you? Didn¡¯t you tell me last time that you¡¯re already at rank 9? We¡¯re about to graduate. If you¡¯re not rank 10 by the time we graduate, you¡¯ll have to go home and cultivate without the academy¡¯s recommendation letter. It¡¯ll be very troublesome to enter an intermediate academy later.¡±


    Three years had gone by, and with it came big changes for Tang Wulin.


    Originally only 1.2 meters in height, he had now grown to a height of 1.4 meters. He was already somewhat taller than his peers. With a moderate build, he was neither fat nor thin. From an outsider¡¯s perspective, he didn¡¯t seem particularly strong. Along with his growth, his face had become increasingly handsome, especially his crystal clear black eyes that reflected light like mirrors. Although his martial soul was Bluesilver Grass, he was still very popular within Red Mountain Academy.


    Wan Yunchao was the fatty that he had encountered in his first year. He had originally looked down upon Tang Wulin, but he had the tables turned on him one day when he tried bullying Tang Wulin, and was instead pushed onto the floor by Tang Wulin and beaten senseless. He had been well-behaved ever since that beating.


    Neither of them had a soul skill yet, nor were there any significant differences in their soul power ranks. Tang Wulin¡¯s physical strength undoubtedly played an important role in their relationship. Although he didn¡¯t look particularly strong or sturdy, that time he had lifted up Wan Yunchao with a single arm had frightened Wan Yunchao into crying loudly, wah wah. Since then, Wan Yunchao had been Tang Wulin¡¯s shadow.


    The martial soul class only had a dozen or so students, and six of them had already reached rank 10 soul power. They could already advance from the lowest Soul Master rank of Soul Scholar to the rank of Soul Master. Naturally, they first had to obtain a spirit soul to advance.


    In these three years, they had nearly finished their studies at this elementary academy. Once they entered an intermediate academy, they would be divided into their specializations and would attend an academy for their specialization. Glorybound City was a small city. Thus, it didn¡¯t have an intermediate Soul Master academy. In order to enroll in an intermediate academy in a medium sized city, one was required to have a spirit soul.


    Wan Yunchao was one of the six students who had achieved rank 10 soul power. Any students who reached rank 10 soul power before graduation were eligible to receive a recommendation letter from the academy, making it significantly easier to enter an intermediate academy. This was due to the fact that it acted as proof that the student had the necessary skill. If they didn¡¯t cultivate to rank 10 before they were 10 years old, they would have to take several tests before being allowed to enroll in an intermediate academy.


    ¡°I should be nearly there. I think I¡¯ve hit the bottleneck,¡± Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    His cultivation speed had shocked their teacher, Teacher Lin Ximeng. Cultivating to rank 10 soul power from rank 3 innate soul power in three years couldn¡¯t be considered fast among Soul Masters. At most, it was only considered an average speed.


    However, his martial soul was Bluesilver Grass! Cultivating to rank 10 in three years with this kind of trash martial soul certainly couldn¡¯t be considered slow. Although it couldn¡¯t be compared with those geniuses, it was still within the upper levels within the class.


    As Lin Ximeng guided Tang Wulin, she discovered that this child had a gift for meditation. It was very easy for him to sense the energy in the atmosphere. Moreover, his meditative state was exceedingly focused. Later, she discovered the cause of Tang Wulin¡¯s fast cultivation speed.  This child¡¯s spiritual power was far higher than his peers, enabling him to cultivate with more focus and thus, speed.


    If even one more student was able to reach rank 10 before graduation, the teacher would win glory as well as a bonus. Thus, in their last year of studies, Lin Ximeng had treated Tang Wulin with much more importance. She would frequently give him pointers and one on one instruction. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t disappoint her either. With half a month to spare before graduation, Tang Wulin had reached rank 9 and was just a step away from rank 10. After this last step, he would be able to fuse with a spirit soul and become a true Soul Master.


    A Soul Scholar without a spirit soul wasn¡¯t much stronger than an ordinary person. However, once they became a Soul Master and possessed a spirit soul¡¯s soul skill, they would enter a completely different realm.


    ¡°Good luck, good luck. Who can say for certain if we¡¯ll enter the same intermediate academy after graduating.¡± Wan Yunchao laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t say that big brother bullied you. Once you have your own spirit soul, we¡¯ll have another spar. When the time comes, we¡¯ll see who beats up who.¡±


    Tang Wulin shot him a glance as he put on his schoolbag. ¡°You can slowly dream on.¡± He naturally wouldn¡¯t tell Wan Yunchao how strong he was now.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t eager to leave as they approached the academy¡¯s gates. Rather, he stood outside the gates and waited.


    Not too long after, a smear of radiant silver hair wandered over from the composite academy building.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, slow down. You¡¯re going to trip.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice was brimming with love as he doted on her.


    Na¡¯er had a head of short silver hair, and even after three years, she hadn¡¯t changed too much. She was just a bit taller than before while remaining just as adorably pretty. It was just that, no matter how you looked at it, Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er didn¡¯t look like they only had a one year age difference between the two of them. She was just a loli who hadn¡¯t grown too much.


    ¡°Big brother, I want to eat a lollipop,¡± Na¡¯er giggled as she held onto Tang Wulin¡¯s arm.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go buy one and then I¡¯ll bring you home before I head off to the workshop.¡± Tang Wulin said as he patted her head.


    As the dismissed students left, none of them were surprised by the sight of these two siblings. They had long since gotten used to it.


    In the second year that Na¡¯er stayed with the Tang family, she had attended the Awakening Ceremony and brought about a marvel. This marvel wasn¡¯t that her martial soul was exceedingly powerful. Instead, she didn¡¯t possess any martial soul at all. This was something that was rarely seen throughout the history of the continent.


    Naturally she could only enter the ordinary section of the academy to study without a martial soul.


    Na¡¯er grew to become very pretty, making all of the other girls jealous while arousing the curiosity of all of the boys. Due to this, Tang Wulin never had a shortage of fights. One time, a group of male students stopped him, and since he was unable to beat them all by himself, he just used his body to protect Na¡¯er. In the end, he was covered in cuts and bruises, but not a single hair on Na¡¯er was damaged.


    The next day, Tang Wulin found the leader and would have a fierce fight every day until finally, he had beaten his opponent until they were afraid of him and were too scared to bully Na¡¯er anymore. Because he was in the Soul Master class, he didn¡¯t receive any serious punishments. He was famous after that fight, and no one in the Red Mountain Academy dared to bully Na¡¯er again.


    Since he was eight years old, Tang Wulin had acted like a young man. He shouldered the responsibility of picking up and dropping off his younger sister.


    After buying some snacks, Tang Wulin dropped off Na¡¯er at their home along with his schoolbag. In exchange, he put on some oil soaked work clothes and left the house once again.


    Mang Tian¡¯s workshop had already become a part of his everyday life.

 Chapter 13 – Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammer

    Chapter 13 ¨C Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammer


    ¡°Wulin¡¯s here!¡± A youngster in his twenties, with a tall and sturdy build, called out to Tang Wulin in greeting.


    ¡°Brother Long.¡± Tang Wulin asked with a smile, ¡°What task has teacher assigned to me today?¡±


    Brother Long grinned, ¡°There¡¯s quite a lot for you to do. Just go into the room and take a look for yourself. Speaking of which, I¡¯m really envious of you. You¡¯re so young, yet your workload is already more than mine!¡± Blacksmithing was an industrious profession. Naturally, the more work one did, the more one¡¯s income would be.


    With a chuckle, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°If I¡¯m comparable to you, then how come Teacher still hasn¡¯t let me forge large components?¡±


    Brother Long answered, ¡°That¡¯s so you can have a stronger foundation. Fine then, hurry up and go! Otherwise you won¡¯t be able to finish today¡¯s work in the two hours you have.¡±


    Mang Tian¡¯s workshop had just three members, Mang Tian, Brother Long, and Tang Wulin. Originally, Brother Long was Mang Tian¡¯s sole disciple, but with Tang Wulin¡¯s arrival, he had gained a second disciple. Starting from his second visit to the workshop three years before, Tang Wulin had begun calling Mang Tian ¡®Teacher¡¯.


    Mang Tian was an extremely strict teacher. He had high demands of his disciples, but he also taught them earnestly. Tang Wulin would often find himself thinking that he learned more things here at the workshop than at the academy.


    Everyone had a workshop to work in. Mang Tian brought some forged machine components from outside before distributing them. He gave the simple ones to Brother Long and Tang Wulin, while he personally oversaw the forging of the complex ones.


    Every week they would each have one day of specialized training when Mang Tian would instruct them personally. For the rest of the week, they only had to finish the tasks that Mang Tian gave them. The more they worked, the better their craftsmanship and the more money they earned.


    Tang Wulin entered his own forging room. It was very different from the dirty and disordered reception room outside. In contrast, he had kept his room extremely neat and tidy.


    There were already some raw materials lying on the forging bench, as well as a blueprint by  its side.


    When he had first come here, Mang Tian had made him pound iron for three months in order to teach him the proper force transmission and mitigation techniques. Each day he had to strike the iron for two hours. Those two hours were always an abyss of suffering for him.


    Due to his constant practice, Tang Wulin had grown even stronger than before. Originally, he had used a small iron hammer, but the necessary hammer was gradually replaced by larger and larger ones. After three months of practice, he was allowed to do some simple metal extraction work. One year later, he began making the simplest of components.


    It wasn¡¯t until half a year before that he had been promoted from forging small components to medium sized components. Mang Tian even began comparing him and Brother Long more and more strictly. However, Tang Wulin¡¯s temperament had a special sort of perseverance. In the three years he had been working there, not once had he complained about his hardships.


    After seriously looking over the blueprint, he understood what today¡¯s task was. He had to make ten machine armored ankle-joints. They were spherical in shape so if the work was done with a mold, it would only have to be pressed twice in order to be finished. However, when it came to forging it, the demands were much higher.


    Blacksmithing was divided into many ranks. Generally speaking, there was the Hundred Refined. Hundred Refined was when a component was refined a hundred times throughout. Even higher than that was Thousand Refined.


    The more times it was refined, the less impurities a metal would have. Naturally, a metal of quality was required to withstand the pressure of a thousand refinements. For now, Tang Wulin was still unable to create a Thousand Refined component, so he was rarely required to do this sort of work.


    With practiced movements, he pressed the button on the workbench, causing it to split open in the middle which exposed a forging furnace. He fastened some metal to the channel on the side, then pressed another button which delivered the metal into the furnace.


    He picked up a pair of metal hammers with a shiny black finish. These two hammers were about the same size as the ones he had first used when he had first come here.  For this kind of small component, hammers of this size were the most suitable.


    However, these hammers were also a present that Mang Tian had given him after having worked in his workshop for one year. Mang Tian had personally manufactured these Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers. Each one weighed about 40 kilograms, which made it exceedingly difficult for an ordinary person to swing them. Nevertheless, they seemed nearly weightless in Tang Wulin¡¯s hands.


    Under the high temperature of the furnace the metal quickly blushed a deep red. Tang Wulin swung the hammer in his right hand onto the crown of the metal. The hammer in his left hand soon connected from the bottom. Pressing down from either side, Tang Wulin was able to remove the chunk of heated metal.


    He rapidly swung the tungsten hammers in each hand and a succession of ¡®dings¡¯ could be heard. With those resounding ¡®dings¡¯, he began that day¡¯s forging.


    Blacksmithing was a craftsman¡¯s job. It wasn¡¯t just a simple skilled trade. Mang Tian had told him when he first started that in order to become a blacksmith, he had to use his brain. During the process of pounding the metal, he had to feel the vibrations and the changes in the metal¡¯s vein lines. Only after grasping these two things would he be able to forge quality goods.


    In the aspect of perception, Tang Wulin was excellent. Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t aware of the fact that when Mang Tian had gifted him this pair of Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers, it had signified that he had formally become a blacksmith.


    His monthly income couldn¡¯t be considered much but he still earnestly saved a set amount each month. With the remainder, he set apart a small portion to spend for his little sister, while the rest was given to his mother as aid in their family expenses.


    He was only a nine year old child right now, but with his three years of forging as well as his resolute nature, he was much more steadfast in comparison to his peers.


    Two hours later he gave the final component the finishing strike. Letting out a sigh, he grabbed a nearby towel and wiped away his sweat. Looking upon the ten shining joint components in front of him, he revealed a satisfied expression.


    After becoming accustomed to forging, he had grown to like this type of work. Everyday he would brandish his hammer and pound metal. It was a way for him to vent his feelings in a carefree manner. Moreover, there were times when he was pounding the metal that he would enter a peculiarly fantastic state. It was as if he resonated with his hammer as well as with the metal he was forging. Whenever this state occurred, the components that he forged would be especially outstanding. Those components would even draw praise from the cold natured Mang Tian.


    ¡°Teacher.¡± Tang Wulin was just preparing to hand in his work when he discovered that Mang Tian was already in his forging room.


    Mang Tian walked over to the workbench to inspect the product first. He nodded, then handed Tang Wulin some paper bills. ¡°Here¡¯s this month¡¯s wages. Your work is pretty good.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, teacher.¡± Tang Wulin was elated as he hurriedly received the paper bills and stuffed them into this pocket. Due to his excitement, Tang Wulin¡¯s little face was somewhat red yet he couldn¡¯t help but wave his fists in joy.


    Mang Tian gave him a doubtful look. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you so happy to receive your monthly wages before.¡±


    Slightly short of breath, Tang Wulin took a deep breath of air before saying, ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ve saved up enough money to buy a spirit soul!¡±


    Mang Tian blankly looked at him, then said with a hint of emotion, ¡°You¡¯re saying that your martial soul has already reached rank 10?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded his head. ¡°I should nearly be there.¡±


    Mang Tian gave a rare trace of a smile. ¡°Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ll head back first then.¡± Tang Wulin placed his finished components in a box, then departed full of joy.


    As he watched Tang Wulin¡¯s departing back, Mang Tian couldn¡¯t help but show a bigger smile. ¡°At last, that kid is acting like a normal kid. It¡¯s a pity that his martial soul is Bluesilver Grass. No matter what his spirit soul is, I fear that it¡¯s all¡­ However, this is also fortunate for me. This child¡¯s talent in forging far surpasses my own.¡±

 Chapter 14 – Enough Money at Last

    Chapter 14 ¨C Enough Money at Last


    Tang Wulin was happily bouncing up and down the whole trip home. He was truly happy at the moment.


    Three years. It had been three whole years. He had painstakingly forged metal everyday. All those swings of his hammer, they had all been for the sake of earning enough money for a spirit soul.


    Although he had already calculated the month before that he would finally have enough money for a spirit soul this month. Now that he actually had the money in his hands, he just wanted to shout out in excitement.


    Thirty thousand Federation Coins. For those upper class wealthy families, this was nothing. however, to a child who was barely nine years old, it was the fruit of over one thousand days of hard work and sweat! He couldn¡¯t even count the number of times he had raised his hammer in order to earn this amount of money, let alone how much he had sweat for it.


    He had finally succeeded! The more he thought about his achievement, the more elated he became. His emotions were simply impossible to convey right now!


    The moment he succeeds in breaking through the bottleneck, he would finally be able to obtain a spirit soul.  And now he was so close that he was just counting down the number of days before it happened. His soul power was about to make a breakthrough and what¡¯s more, it would be likely be before graduation! Breaking into rank 10 would signify the moment he became a Soul Master.


    Although Tang Wulin had taken a liking to forging, it didn¡¯t mean that he wished to take it on as his profession. His dream was still to become a Soul Master, and in the future, he even dreamed of becoming a Machine Armor Master.


    All boys had this kind of dream, but how many people were able to put in the necessary effort to achieve their dreams?


    Diligence compensates for dullness. Over the last three years, Tang Wulin had always kept these four words in his heart and strived to follow its teachings.


    He could finally see this come to fruition now.


    ¡°Mom, dad, I¡¯ve earned enough money now! I have enough now!¡± As soon as Tang Wulin rushed through the doorway, he already began shouting out in excitement.


    Na¡¯er was sitting in the living room, sucking on the lollipop Tang Wulin had bought her.


    ¡°Big brother, you have enough money to buy a spirit soul now?¡± She understood Tang Wulin¡¯s excitement too well.


    ¡°Mn. I have enough now. I have all thirty thousand.¡±  Tang Wulin swiftly took out the money and put it on top of the table. Afterwards, he quickly returned to his room and retrieved an iron case from underneath his bed. He ran back to the living room and poured out all of the money that was inside of the case.¡±


    ¡°One hundred, two hundred, two hundred twenty¡­¡±


    ¡°Twenty-nine thousand six hundred, twenty-nine thousand seven hundred¡­ Thirty thousand, thirty thousand and two hundred. There¡¯s actually an extra two hundred! Na¡¯er, I¡¯ll give you a hundred to buy some good food to eat.¡±


    Looking at the large pile of Federation Coins in front of him, Tang Wulin¡¯s little face turned red with excitement.


    Lang Yue had already finished working and returned home before them. Even from the kitchen, she could hear her son¡¯s shouts. Tang Ziran had finished work and he was just stepping through the doorway when he also heard his son¡¯s cheers. When they saw all the money on top of the table, the two of them couldn¡¯t help but tear up a bit.


    This child, truly had it too hard. While other children were playing, he was already earning money.


    Lang Yue walked to her husband¡¯s side and thumped on his shoulder. She didn¡¯t turn around, in fear that the children would see her tears.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re capable of. You¡¯re a very capable son,¡± said Tang Ziran while patting his wife¡¯s back in comfort. With a smile, Tang Ziran walked over to Tang Wulin and hugged his shoulders from the side and gave him a big thumbs up.


    ¡°Once I¡¯ve broken through into the 10th rank, I¡¯ll be able to go buy my spirit soul, right dad?¡± Tang Wulin excitedly asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s correct. When that time comes, I¡¯ll accompany you. No, our whole family will go. You¡¯re about to become a Soul Master, son! I¡¯m very proud of you.¡±


    He was truly ecstatic.Once the night came, no matter how hard he tried, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t able to enter a meditative state.


    Na¡¯er had already fallen asleep. The moon and stars were especially bright that night. The next day would definitely be a sunny day!


    Tang Wulin quietly got off his bed. His excitement was simply too much for him to fall asleep. He pulled on Na¡¯er¡¯s blanket and adjusted it so that it covered her delicate body. As usual, she couldn¡¯t stay still while she slept.


    ¡®Mom said that once I turn 10 next year, I won¡¯t be able to sleep in the same room as Na¡¯er anymore. When that time comes, I¡¯ll have to give the room to Na¡¯er and I¡¯ll go sleep in the living room. But why is that?¡¯


    At the thought of this, Tang Wulin began to feel uneasy. He liked to being greeted with the sight of Na¡¯er the moment he woke up everyday.


    He carefully opened the door, then softly and quietly went out. He wanted to go out for a walk and let his heart calm down. Then he would be able to meditate after he came back.


    Opening and closing the door, he didn¡¯t make the slightest sound as he quietly went out.


    Bright moonlight shone into the bedroom, falling upon Na¡¯er¡¯s body. This night¡¯s moon was especially bright. Na¡¯er¡¯s silver hair glistened and shone under the blanket of moonlight.


    Blanketed by moonlight, suddenly, a ring of light quietly appeared from Na¡¯ers body. Yellow, green, red, blue, purple, gold and silver. These seven colors twinkled one by one.


    Had Tang Wulin still been in the room, he would have been able to see this extraordinary scene.


    Na¡¯er¡¯s body trembled slightly. After twinkling for a while, the seven-colored ring of light began fusing into the space between her eyes. After a long time, she returned to her previous peaceful state.


    The moonlight was still as bright as before, but the ring of light on Na¡¯er¡¯s body had already disappeared. It seemed as if her delicate body had grown a bit. Although she hadn¡¯t grown too much in the last three years, tonight she had a breakthrough.


    Her trembling faded away, and once again, Na¡¯er¡¯s breathing returned to normal. However, her eyebrows were knit. It seemed as if the dream she was having wasn¡¯t wonderful or beautiful at all.


    This night¡¯s air was especially cool. There was a small garden in the commoners¡¯ area that Tang Wulin lived in. He would often bring Na¡¯er here to play, whenever there was a school holiday.


    As soon as he entered the garden, he felt a powerful attraction force from a strand of Bluesilver Grass. He breathed in the sweet scent of the plant as well as the fresh air and a satisfied smile gradually overcame him.


    Subconsciously, he sat down cross-legged.


    Birds were chirping quietly, the air was cold and pure and he was basking in the the dim radiance of the moon and stars. Under these conditions, he was gradually able to calm down and enter a meditative state.

 Chapter 15 – 10th Rank

    Chapter 15 ¨C 10th Rank


    A countless number of blue specks of light congregated from all around him, quietly boring into his body and permeating throughout.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he was soaking in a blue ocean as countless tiny voices blanketed and called out to him.


    The distinctive fragrance of Bluesilver Grass permeated into every cell in his body. The soul power within his dantian took on a warm feeling as it began to unfold.


    In Tang Wulin¡¯s perception, everything began to turn a bizarre blue color. The scent of Bluesilver Grass was present everywhere in his body.


    Faint golden lines lit up on his forehead with the same pattern as before, extending outwards. After extending all over his skin, the golden lines gradually withdrew.


    His body shone as he sat there in meditation. One moment it was a faint blue color and in the next the light shining from his body had traces of gold.


    Early morning.


    ¡°Lin Lin, Lin Lin¡­ ¡° Lang Yue¡¯s anxious voice resounded in the streets.


    Inside the small garden, Tang Wulin stirred from his cross-legged sitting position and slowly awoke from his meditative state. The morning dew moistened his lapels, but at this very moment he felt an indescribable feeling penetrating throughout his whole body.


    ¡°Lin Lin, Lin Lin¡­¡± Lang Yue¡¯s distinct voice was heard.


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m over here.¡± Tang Wulin hurriedly responded as he got off the lawn and ran over.


    As he hurried to answered his mother¡¯s call, he could feel that his body was much more relaxed than before.


    ¡°You child, why are you out here? You nearly worried me to death.¡± Lang Yue said sternly as she examined her son.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mom. I was meditating in the garden. I think I¡¯ve broken through to the 10th rank.¡± Although Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t sure, the changes in his body indicated that he had most likely had a breakthrough.


    Lang Yue gaped at him for a moment before she lowered her head to examine her son. Tang Wulin¡¯s height already reached her shoulders. Although his body was a bit moist, his skin still glistened with the luster of a gem and he was looking to her with  a pair of large spirited eyes.


    ¡°Listen to mom¡¯s words. Your safety is the most important thing. Let¡¯s go home then. I¡¯ll cook you some breakfast.¡± Lang Yue kissed his head a few times before she held onto his hand and walked him home.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made a breakthrough?¡± When Tang Ziran found out that his son had made a breakthrough, he was very happy. ¡°Since you think you¡¯ve made a breakthrough, we¡¯ll go to the academy today and test you. If you really have made a breakthrough, then I¡¯ll take you to buy a spirit soul tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Long live dad!¡± Tang Wulin cheered.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, what¡¯s the matter? Aren¡¯t you happy for big brother?¡± Tang Wulin was in high spirits, but he discovered that unexpectedly, Na¡¯er was a bit different today. Usually she would gorge herself on breakfast first thing in the morning, but she just sat there with a blank stare today. None of his excitement had rubbed off on her.


    ¡°Ah? Nothing¡¯s the matter! Congratulations big brother!¡± Na¡¯er gave him a sweet smile before digging into her breakfast.


    Tang Wulin thought she was down because she didn¡¯t have a martial soul, so he didn¡¯t pursue the topic.


    In fact, Tang Wulin¡¯s guess about his breakthrough was correct. After arriving at the academy, he told Teacher Lin Ximeng about his feeling and was then taken to undergo the soul power test. The apparatus displayed that his soul power had indeed reached rank 10.


    Every ten soul power ranks, Soul Masters would require a soul ring in order to break through to the next rank. They could kill a soul beast to obtain a soul ring, but soul beasts were too rare nowadays. It was much more common for people to choose the second method, of obtaining a spirit soul manufactured by the Spirit Pagoda.


    Tang Wulin was the seventh student in his class to break through. After stepping through the threshold of the 10th rank, he had become a true Soul Master and had taken his first step on this road.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, have your family quickly take you to the Spirit Pagoda to buy a spirit soul. Once you¡¯ve fused with a spirit soul, you¡¯ll be a Soul Master. Official Soul Masters are able to receive a stipend of 1000 Federal Coins every month. That should be enough for your tuition fees at an intermediate academy.¡± Lin Ximeng urged him.


    Tang Wulin nodded in excitement. ¡°I already have enough money to buy a spirit soul, Teacher Lin. I¡¯ll go buy one tomorrow.¡±


    Lin Ximeng nodded with a smile. ¡°Good. I¡¯ll request a leave of absence for you tomorrow. I wish you the best of luck in obtaining a satisfactory spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, teacher.¡±


    After becoming a Soul Master, he would receive a monthly stipend. Although intermediate academy was compulsory, his monthly stipend of a thousand coins would just barely be enough to pay for his everyday expenses. He would have to leave Glorybound City to attend an intermediate academy. With his monthly stipend, he would no longer need to use his parent¡¯s money. If he was able to cultivate to become a Soul Grandmaster, his monthly stipend would increase even more!


    Tang Wulin was elated, step by step he was moving closer to his dream.


    If it was any other child, they might not have been able to control their emotions, but Tang Wulin¡¯s heart had grown exceedingly steady after three years of forging. That night, he went to Mang Tian¡¯s workshop and completed his forging assignments. Only after finishing did he go home.


    As soon as Tang Ziran received the notification from the academy, he went and requested the next day off, so that he could take Tang Wulin to buy a spirit soul. Lang Yue had requested a day off too, but because there was too much work, her request wasn¡¯t approved.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, why are you so lost in thought today?¡± Tang Wulin gave a puzzled look from the side. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even though you don¡¯t have a martial soul, big brother will protect you instead. I¡¯ll protect you for your whole life. All right?¡± Tang Wulin said as he rubbed her head.


    Na¡¯er raised her head and looked at him, revealing clear purple eyes which now displayed a fantastic splendor. ¡°Big brother, can you take me to play on the beach after we eat?¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to look at Tang Ziran.


    ¡°Go ahead. Just don¡¯t come back too late.¡± Tang Ziran smiled.


    Although Glorybound City was called a city, it was actually just a very large village. There weren¡¯t any city walls. The commoner¡¯s district where Tang Wulin¡¯s family lived in was exceptionally close to the beach.


    It only took a ten minute walk from their home to the beach.


    This beach couldn¡¯t be considered pretty as it lacked fine sand. Rather, it was filled with rough, gravel-like sand and shells. Legends said that due to humanity¡¯s excessive hunting of the ocean¡¯s soul beasts, they had attracted the wrath of nature.


    The moonlight this night was just as beautiful as the night before as it glittered pure white, like snow. Stars as brilliant as gems were embedded into the canopy of the sky, which complemented the splendor of the moon.


    The ocean reflected the radiance of the moon and stars in the sky, as waves constantly surged forth. The sounds of crashing waves and seabirds filled the air, addingextraordinary vitality to this image of the starry sky above the ocean.


    Na¡¯er looked out towards the ocean, then looked up towards the stars. ¡°There sure are a lot of stars tonight, big brother!¡±


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°Yes! Maybe they¡¯ve all come out tonight to congratulate me on becoming a Soul Master. Na¡¯er, are you sad that you¡¯re unable to become a Soul Master?¡±


    Na¡¯er shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± After a moment of silence, she turned around and looked into Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. ¡°Would you miss me if I left one day, big brother?¡±

 Chapter 16 – The Starry Sky and the Vast Sea

    Chapter 16 ¨C The Starry Sky and the Vast Sea


    ¡°If I left one day, would you miss me?¡± Na¡¯er asked as she raised her head to look at Tang Wulin. Her petite face was even more fairy-like under the splendor of the moon and stars.


    Tang Wulin dumbly asked, ¡°Why? Are you going to leave?¡±


    Na¡¯er pouted, ¡°I¡¯m just asking if I leave.¡±


    Tang Wulin replied, ¡°You¡¯re my little sister. Of course I would miss you. I would really, really miss you. Eh, have you grown a bit taller, Na¡¯er? You¡¯re nearly up to my nose now.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you too. I¡¯ll really, really miss you.¡± Na¡¯er gave an answer beside the point. Her large purple eyes seemed to contain a hazy layer of water.


    Tang Wulin happily embraced her by her shoulders. ¡°We¡¯re together everyday, so we don¡¯t have to miss each other. I¡¯ve already talked it over with mom and dad. Once I¡¯ve entered an intermediate academy, you¡¯ll be coming with me to attend an academy in the same city. Big brother will always protect you.¡±


    Silently, the radiance in Na¡¯er¡¯s eyes dimmed and she rested her head on Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    Early morning.


    Tang Wulin got up especially early and ate a smaller breakfast than usual today. Seeing the eager shine in his son¡¯s eyes, Tang Ziran couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Aren¡¯t you awfully impatient? There¡¯s no need to be so eager. Even if we went early, the Spirit Pagoda wouldn¡¯t be open.¡±


    For Tang Wulin, today was a very special day. Today was the day he was going to buy a spirit soul.


    ¡°Dad, what kind of spirit soul do you think I¡¯ll be able to buy?¡± Tang Wulin was only a nine year old child. He had been working his hardest all for this day, and now that the day had finally come, how could he possibly be calm?


    Tang Ziran revealed a slight smile. ¡°How would dad know? But no matter what kind of spirit soul you get, you¡¯ll still be promoted from a Soul Scholar to a Soul Master. Then you¡¯ll truly be a Soul Master. The gap between you and ordinary people will grow even larger.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin excitedly nodded his head. However, he had overlooked something in his father¡¯s tone.


    As Na¡¯er watched Tang Wulin impatiently pulling his father out of the home, her pretty eyes displayed a perplexed look. She knitted her eyebrows, as if deep in thought.


    ¡°Dad, walk a bit faster. Let¡¯s hurry up.¡± Tang Wulin urged as he practically skipped ahead.


    Tang Ziran couldn¡¯t help but shake his head while the deepest depths of his eyes revealed his worries. Obtaining a suitable spirit soul couldn¡¯t possibly be that easy! Just because he could buy one didn¡¯t mean he was able to buy a suitable one.


    The Spirit Pagoda¡¯s reach spread throughout the continent. Not only was it present in the Douluo Continent, it was even able to spread to the other two continents several thousand years ago.


    Ten thousand years ago, the remnants of the Heaven Dou Empire after its defeat at the hands of the Sun-Moon Empire had embarked on a voyage and had experienced many hardships and perils. In the end, they discovered a huge continent which also had some indigenous humans. However, their development couldn¡¯t even compare with the Douluo Continent¡¯s. They were conquered by the Heaven Dou remnants and the continent was named the Heaven Dou Continent.


    On the Douluo Continent, the conflict between the Sun-Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire was never ending. While the Sun-Moon Empire rapidly developed, the Star Luo Empire gradually declined. Instead, they chose to take a different route. The Star Luo Empire decided to invest in seafaring technology. Thanks to their research, they were able to discover another large continent which was followed by a quiet occupation shortly afterwards. With the whole continent taken, the Star Luo Empire migrated the whole empire over along with their many resources and named it the Star Luo Continent. Afterwards, the Star Luo Empire also changed to a federal system and became the Star Luo Federation.


    The Sun-Moon Empire was able to unify the Douluo Continent and became the Sun-Moon Federation.


    The Spirit Pagoda had a ten thousand year history. Due to their importance to Soul Masters and their groundbreaking research into artificial spirit souls, their status had risen dramatically to its current state. Throughout the three continents, they were the strongest power.


    Glorybound City also had a Spirit Pagoda branch located in the heart of the city. It was a three layer pagoda. This was the lowest rank possible for a Spirit Pagoda branch. A mid-sized city would have a seven layer Spirit Pagoda branch. Major cities would have a thirteen layer Spirit Pagoda branch. However, the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters was situated in Shrek City. The headquarters had gone through many renovations over the years and it now had eighty layers. It was said to be the most magnificent building on the Douluo Continent.


    In regards to Tang Wulin, the three layered pagoda in front of him was already a holy land. This Spirit Pagoda branch was the largest building in Glorybound City. Everybody knew where it was, but few had ever entered it.


    When they arrived the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s doors were already wide open, yet there weren¡¯t too many people there. After all, this was a place for Soul Masters. With Glorybound City being as small as it was, there were simply too few Soul Masters.


    After Tang Ziran brought his son into the Spirit Pagoda, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes constantly fluttered all about his surroundings. He was very curious about this fabled place.


    The Spirit Pagoda was shaped like an octagon with three floors. The interior was very spacious and the marble floor carried the symbol of the Spirit Pagoda. Inside the huge hall, there was a circular door which led to an unknown location. There was a reception counter in the front with an ashen robed Soul Master seated behind it.


    The Soul Master had already stood up by the time the two of them arrived in front of the counter and was inspecting Tang Ziran. ¡°Hello, may I ask what you¡¯re here for?¡±


    Tang Ziran respectfully greeted, ¡°Hello Lord Soul Master. I¡¯ve brought my son to buy a spirit soul. His martial soul has reached the 10th rank.¡±


    Once he heard this, the Soul Master¡¯s enthusiastic expression clearly dampened a bit as Tang Ziran wasn¡¯t a Soul Master.


    ¡°Do you have enough money?¡± He unenthusiastically asked.


    Tang Wulin scrambled over. ¡°Enough. I have enough.¡±


    The Soul Master said, ¡°What rank of spirit soul do you want to buy?¡±


    Somewhat embarrassed, Tang Ziran answered, ¡°Lord Soul Master, we¡¯re not quite knowledgeable about these things. Could we possibly inconvenience you to explain this to us?¡±


    The Soul Master impatiently said, ¡°You don¡¯t know about this yet you¡¯ve still come? For such a small city like Glorybound City, the Spirit Pagoda only offers three types of spirit souls. Ten year white spirit souls, hundred year yellow spirit souls, and random spirit soul selection.


    ¡°There are 73 ten year white spirit souls and 11 hundred year yellow spirit souls to choose from. The price of a white spirit soul is seventy thousand coins, while yellow spirit souls are one million coins. Which one do you want to buy?¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned at his words and nearly lost his voice as he asked, ¡°Lord Soul Master, aren¡¯t spirit souls thirty thousand coins? How, how could it be¡­?¡±

 Chapter 17 – Spiritual Power Test

    Chapter 17 ¨C Spiritual Power Test


    The Spirit Master shot him a glance. ¡°Thirty thousand is for a random spirit soul. You can get a ten year spirit soul, or a hundred year spirit soul, but what you get is random. There¡¯s a very high chance that the spirit soul you get won¡¯t be suitable for your martial soul. Some people who want to save money and bet on luck would choose this type. However, I suggest that you get a suitable ten year spirit soul instead, it¡¯ll be much more helpful.


    From their tone of voice, it was clear to the Spirit Master that this father and son pair weren¡¯t people who were able to purchase a hundred year spirit soul.


    Tang Wulin looked over at his father. His original excitement had already been obliterated completely.


    Tang Ziran crouched down to face Tang Wulin. At that moment, he had all sorts of feelings swell up in his heart, but he didn¡¯t know what he should say in this situation.


    ¡°Son, let¡¯s choose a random spirit soul then. Your martial soul¡¯s adaptability should be very high and it should be able to fuse with most spirit souls.¡±


    If Tang Wulin didn¡¯t have the trash martial soul of Bluesilver Grass, Tang Ziran might not have opted to take this risk¡­


    However, Bluesilver Grass truly didn¡¯t have too much room for improvement. So being able to cultivate it to the 10th rank was already a surprise.


    ¡°I must warn you.¡± The Spirit Master¡¯s voice caught the attention of the father and son pair.


    He indifferently continued, ¡°It¡¯s possible to obtain a hundred year spirit soul from the random spirit soul selection, but it¡¯s also possible to obtain a defective spirit soul.¡±


    Tang Ziran asked in bewilderment, ¡°Defective spirit soul? How could they be defective?¡±


    The Spirit Master said, ¡°When a spirit soul is being manufactured, it won¡¯t necessarily succeed every single time. Sometimes, defective ones may appear. The defectives ones are also very expensive to manufacture and they can also be fused with too. So we include it in the random selection. If we didn¡¯t and just left it as all white and yellow spirit souls, wouldn¡¯t the losses outweigh the profits? It would seem that thirty thousand federal coins is quite a bit for you two, so you must think about this thoroughly.¡±


    Tang Ziran looked at Tang Wulin and saw the lifeless look in his eyes. He had never thought that after all the effort he had put in these last three years, he would still be faced with this kind of situation.


    ¡°Son, how about we first go home. Dad will help you think of an idea. If there¡¯s no other way, we can borrow some to try to gather up seventy thousand¡­¡± Tang Ziran saw his son¡¯s appearance and couldn¡¯t help feeling his heart ache.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Dad, you and mom already tire yourselves out for me everyday. And anyways, my martial soul is only Bluesilver Grass. I¡¯ll just try my luck and see if the Heavens care about me then. Maybe I¡¯ll get a decent spirit soul.¡±


    His eating capacity had increased by a lot ever since his martial soul had awakened. What¡¯s more, Na¡¯er also had a large appetite despite her petite frame. For a household living on a salary, it was already quite difficult for Tang Ziran and Lang Yue. All the good things were already given to the children to eat; the husband and wife weren¡¯t even willing to eat meat.


    The children of the poor had to take on household responsibilities at a young age. To Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, his household was already struggling hard enough as it is. How could he possibly let them strain themselves further to borrow money for him? His mom and dad worked very hard, so he wanted a strong spirit soul to become a renowned and powerful Soul Master.  Although becoming a powerful Soul Master was important to him, his mother, father, and Na¡¯er were much more important.


    ¡°He really is a thoughtful child.¡± When the somewhat impatient Spirit Master heard what Tang Wulin said, his expression couldn¡¯t help but soften a bit.


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡± Tang Ziran¡¯s sigh was full of bitterness. ¡°It¡¯s all because dad is useless.¡±


    Tang Wulin held his father¡¯s hand, then looked towards the Spirit Master and asked, ¡°Lord Spirit Master, could I trouble you to take me to select a random spirit soul?¡± Saying this, he took out the thirty thousand federal coins he had saved up.


    The Spirit Master nodded and said, ¡°You really are a sensible child. Much better than my family¡¯s stinky kid. Originally, you would have had to pay a fee for the spiritual power examination, but I¡¯ll help you out and exempt you from the fee.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at him before hastening to say, ¡°Thank you. I really am thankful to you.¡±


    The Spirit Master laughed as he rubbed his head. ¡°Follow me. Your father will wait here. Ordinary people can¡¯t look into the world of Soul Masters.¡±


    The room he brought Tang Wulin into was different on the inside compared to its simple and unadorned outer appearance. It was brimming with modern technological apparatuses that were arranged about the room.


    The Spirit Master gestured for Tang Wulin to sit down on a metal chair before he began speaking. ¡°Do you know why we why test spiritual power?¡±


    Tang Wulin blankly shook his head.


    The Spirit Master explained, ¡°This is your first time coming to choose a spirit soul. After fusing with a spirit soul, you¡¯ll become a true Soul Master and the Spirit Pagoda will make a record of your spiritual power¡¯s strength, the level and type of spirit soul you fused with, and other things. You¡¯ll most likely attend an intermediate Soul Master academy later on.¡±


    Tang Wulin responded in amazement. ¡°Lord Spirit Master, spiritual power also has ranks? Like soul power? Is spiritual power very important?¡±


    The Spirit Master answered, ¡°For normal Soul Masters, spiritual power isn¡¯t too important. It¡¯s also divided into ranks, but it isn¡¯t divided the same way soul power is. However, when it comes to high level Soul Masters, the strength of their spiritual powers becomes much more significant. A strong spirit soul requires spiritual power equally as strong to fuse with.¡±


    ¡°Before the existence of spirit souls, there weren¡¯t any ranks for spiritual power at all. But when spirit souls first appeared, the previous generations gradually realized that fusing with a spirit soul required much more spiritual power than fusing with a spirit ring. After extensive research, they created the rankings for spiritual power. It was only in the last two thousand years or so that the rankings were completed.¡±


    Tang Wulin inquisitively asked, ¡°Then how many levels is spiritual power divided into?¡±


    The Spirit Master responded, ¡°From low to high, spiritual power is divided into: Spirit Origin, Spirit Connection, Spirit Sea, Spirit Abyss, Spirit Domain, and the fabled Divine Origin. These six realms are quite simple. Everyone is in the Spirit Origin realm when they are born. As for the meaning behind Spirit Origin, it means that it¡¯s the single origin everyone starts from. Afterwards, nature takes on a new look. This is the most basic of soul levels. You should be at this level. As for the rest, you¡¯ll learn it in school so I won¡¯t speak of it. Alright then. I¡¯ll start testing what degree of Spirit Origin you¡¯ve reached.¡±


    A metal helmet fell onto his head. Then, metal arms linked together and strapped his head in.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so tense. Relax your body. You might feel a bit of vertigo in a bit; that¡¯s normal. You just need to stay relaxed.¡± The Spirit Master repeatedly warned.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin hastily promised.


    A slight humming noise arose as the helmet began to emit a soft white glow. The Spirit Master watched the soul transmitter screen on the side as the screen began to display data.


    When the numbers first appeared, they jumped up extremely quickly. After a moment, the numbers gradually stabilized. When the Spirit Master saw the number, his expression changed to one of astonishment.

 Chapter 18 – Random Draw

    Chapter 18 ¨C Random Draw


    The numbers stopped increasing after a moment and settled within a range.


    The Spirit Master turned off the apparatus and took off the helmet.


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±


    Tang Wulin really did feel dizzy, even though he had previously only felt a slight irritation in his head. He had once seen the indistinct sight of the golden world of fused spirit souls, and now, during the test, he had once again managed to see it. He had to put in a lot of effort in order to see it clearly, and when he almost succeeded to clearly glimpse it, the test had already ended.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pretty good number.¡± The Spirit Master nodded and smiled at Tang Wulin. ¡°You have the best spiritual power out of all the Soul Scholars I¡¯ve had these past few years. Your spiritual power is 38. Remember this number. I¡¯m going to have the machine make a record for you, so you can hand it over once you attend an intermediate Soul Master academy.


    As he was unclear about the boundaries of the spiritual power system, Tang Wulin also wasn¡¯t clear about the significance of having a spiritual power level of 38.


    Seeing Tang Wulin¡¯s perplexed expression, the Spirit Master kindly explained, ¡°Spirit Origin realm can be ranged between level 1 to 50 spiritual power.  Levels 15 and below are elementary ranked. Levels 15 to 30 are intermediate ranked. Levels 30 to 45 are advanced rank. Levels 45 to 50 is the peak of Spirit Origin. You¡¯ve already entered Spirit Origin realm intermediate rank at such a young age; that isn¡¯t easy at all. I¡¯m a 28th rank Soul Grandmaster, yet my spiritual power is only at level 87. With spiritual power in the advanced rank of Spirit Origin realm, you¡¯ll be able to fuse with a hundred year yellow spirit soul.¡±


    This good news caused Tang Wulin to immediately brighten up a bit. What¡¯s more, the Spirit Master¡¯s explanation of spiritual power had enabled him to see another magnificent side to the world of Soul Masters.


    ¡°If you accept, then we¡¯ll see just how good your luck is.¡± The Spirit Master brought Tang Wulin directly into an adjacent room afterwards.


    Inside of this much larger room, there was a three meter tall, six meter wide gigantic machine. Numerous glowing spheres with a diameter of about one third of a meter could be seen within it. Each and every one of these balls of light were exactly the same.


    The Spirit Master pointed at two buttons on the machine and said, ¡°The green button is to start, the red button is to stop. After stopping, the spirit soul at that location will roll out. You may begin whenever you¡¯re ready.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heartbeat couldn¡¯t help but quicken in front of this odd machine. Teacher Lin Ximeng had said before that the quality of a spirit soul played a significant role in a Soul Master¡¯s strength. Fusing with a strong spirit soul would help a Soul Master upgrade their own power. On the other hand, if they fused with a weak spirit soul, the spirit skill bestowed upon them would be equally weak. A Soul Master could have a maximum of nine spirit skills. Although it was exceedingly rare for someone to reach nine spirit rings, this just made the lower level spirit skills that much more important.


    What is to be, will be.


    Tang Wulin clenched his teeth, then bravely pressed the green button.


    A succession of lights within the machine immediately began to shine, until every single ball was illuminated.


    The hundred or so spirit souls within the machine slowly began to circulate. Not too long after, it reached a shockingly fast speed, giving off the feeling of being too much for one¡¯s eyes to take in.


    The spirit souls were all concealed from the outside world by the spirit soul ball. Nothing of the inner contents could be discerned by the eye. The result could only be left up to the will of the Heavens.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hand rested upon the red button. Although he could normally hold a forty kilogram thousand refined tungsten hammer with steady hands, at this moment his hand had a slight tremble to it. He knew that as soon as he pressed the button, his fate as a Soul Master would be sealed!


    After breathing in forcefully, he shut his eyes and finally pressed the button.


    ¡°Bang!¡± The machine stopped circulating and a pure white spirit soul ball fell out of the machine, tumbling into the metal case beside Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin subconsciously opened his eyes and turned to look. At that moment, his heartbeat was beating like a drum.


    The Spirit Master walked over, took out the spirit soul ball, and handed it to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Come on. Take a look.¡±


    Tang Wulin gasped for breath as he held the ball close to his chest. He looked at it as if it was the most precious treasure in the world.


    ¡®I finally have it! This is my first spirit soul!¡¯


    After Tang Wulin tensely returned to his father, the Spirit Master handed him an oval shaped device.


    ¡°When you press this button and shine the device¡¯s light upon the spirit soul ball, your spirit soul will break out of its shell. After releasing the spirit soul, its power will belong to you.Not even speaking of Tang Wulin¡¯s nervousness, Tang Ziran couldn¡¯t possibly clench his fists any tighter from the anticipation of that moment. What would the result be?


    Tang Wulin looked at his father. In return, Tang Ziran gave him a nod brimming with encouragement.


    At the push of the button, a gentle yellow light was released from the device and fell upon the spirit soul ball. The spirit soul ball reacted by emitting a faint radiance, then slowly turned transparent. The contents within could already be vaguely seen.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense the breath of the being within the spirit soul ball when it made a slight movement.


    ¡®What is it?¡¯


    The radiance emitted by the spirit soul ball turned white at that moment, and in its center, the brilliance of a shining ring was seen. The spirit soul ball slowly unfurled from the center outwards.


    When he saw the white light, the Spirit Master explained from the side. ¡°It¡¯s a ten year spirit soul.¡±


    Tang Ziran¡¯s expression darkened. In the end, the Heavens didn¡¯t care for his son. A hundred year spirit soul worth over a million coins simply wasn¡¯t that easy to obtain.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze was fixed on the spirit soul ball that slowly opened up. His first spirit soul would be a ten year spirit soul, but what kind would it be?


    The white light began to dissipate as the spirit soul ball opened up completely. The spirit soul inside had appeared at last.


    As soon as he saw it, the Spirit Master¡¯s expression changed a bit. Tang Ziran and Tang Wulin were both dumbfounded.


    The spirit soul was actually¡­

 Chapter 19 – Spirit Soul

    Chapter 19 ¨C Spirit Soul


    Author¡¯s note: Don¡¯t cry Wulin. Stand up¡­ cough cough. I request collections, I request recommendation tickets, then I will treat him a bit nicer. (Guide on how to stop Wulin Cruelty here, courtesy of CKTalon and Etvolare)


    £­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­£­


    Within the white spirit soul ball, a little fellow was quietly crawling.


    It really was too tiny, measuring only about ten centimeters in length and was about as thin as a child¡¯s finger. Its body was an earthen yellow color, and if you looked at it closely, a tiny rhombus shaped scale could be seen.


    ¡°This is a spirit soul?¡± Tang Ziran raised his head and looked towards the Spirit Master as he asked with a dubious voice.


    Nearly everyone would recognize what this tiny thing was. This was because it was the commonly seen Grass Snake, a type of harmless, small animal. Although it was a type of snake, it was definitely the weakest of its species.


    A fully grown Grass Snake would be about twenty to thirty centimeters in length and about as thick as a finger. It would only be able to feed on some puny insects.


    If it was to be described in the simplest of words, only four were needed. Harmless human raised livestock!


    Ever since his martial soul awakened and he found that he possessed spirit power, Tang Wulin had countless fantasies as to what his first spirit soul would be. He fantasized that after combining his martial soul with a spirit soul, his martial soul would improve and become powerful. It would bestow upon him a dazzlingly powerful spirit skill, and he would officially become a Soul Master.


    Fantasies were fine, but reality was cruel.


    Grass Snake? This wasn¡¯t even a question of its strength, but whether or not it was actually a spirit soul.


    The Spirit Master was also staring blankly at this Grass Snake. He let out a gentle sigh and said somewhat bitterly, ¡°When it rains, it pours. Child, your luck really is¡­¡±


    He knew that artificial spirit souls were still reliant on the genes of the soul beast they were created from. As a result of the gradual extinction of soul beasts, soul beast genes had also unceasingly depleted. The researchers of the Spirit Pagoda had tried many times to use non-soul beast genes to create a spirit soul and see if the result was acceptable.


    The experiment was a success, but the fact was, the spirit souls made from those genes were pitifully weak. Basically, no one would be willing to buy them.


    Without a doubt, this Grass Snake was one of the defective goods he had spoken of earlier. What¡¯s more, it wasn¡¯t just any defective goods, it was a spirit soul that lacked the slightest bit of soul beast genes. This spirit soul occupied the hundredth position in the spirit soul extraction machine, and there was a constant number of a hundred spirit soul balls in the machine at all times¡­


    The Spirit Master sighed then nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯m certain that it¡¯s a spirit soul, but it¡¯s a weak spirit soul. The spirit soul has already been activated after its extraction, so you must fuse with it within twenty four hours. If not, it will die. You can decide for yourself if you want to fuse with it. If you don¡¯t wish to, then you can return in the future to select another spirit soul.¡±


    Tang Ziran looked at his lifeless son and was barely able to suppress the pain in his heart. He held his son¡¯s shoulders and said, ¡°Lin Lin, let¡¯s go home.¡±


    Tang Wulin remained silent as he began walking away.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± The Spirit Master couldn¡¯t bear it anymore, and called out to them.


    ¡°You should renounce this spirit soul. Although it was a successful product of the experiments, but it¡¯s still¡­¡± Out of compassion, he still continued to explain the origin of this Grass Snake.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know how he had gotten home, but he had been holding the spirit soul ball close to his heart the whole time. That Grass Snake spirit soul had a very lovable appearance and wasn¡¯t afraid of slithering out of the spirit soul ball at all. In fact, this kind of low level spirit soul didn¡¯t have any sort of intelligence. Before fusing with a martial soul, it wouldn¡¯t even be able to react to its environment.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be sad, son. Dad will think of a way to make enough money. You can be relieved. I¡¯ll definitely be able to make enough money in a short period of time and help you buy a suitable spirit soul.¡± Tang Ziran¡¯s eyes flickered with a resolute light. For the sake of his son, he had steeled his resolve to face this matter head on.


    Tang Wulin gently shook his head. ¡°Dad, I¡¯m going to my room first.¡±


    Sitting quietly to the side, Na¡¯er got up and followed Tang Wulin to their room.


    He sat on his bed and gazed at the spirit soul in his hands, then looked to his own callused hands. In the end, tears began to stream uncontrollably down his face.


    Even after his martial soul had awakened, only to discover it was a trash spirit like Bluesilver Grass, he didn¡¯t cry. After all, he possessed spirit power. As long as he had spirit power, he still had a chance.


    His father had told him that his family¡¯s conditions weren¡¯t too good. Even when he was told that they had no money to buy a spirit soul for him, he still hadn¡¯t cried. His father had said before that one must take responsibility for one¡¯s own matters. He could earn the money himself, while also helping his parents.


    When he first arrived at Mang Tian¡¯s workshop and had to swing the the hammer for a thousand times, resulting in aching arms that desired to break and prevented him to even lift his arms to feed himself, he still hadn¡¯t cried. He had invested all of his efforts into it and had passed the test, giving him some more hope. As long as he had hope, then there was a chance that he could succeed.


    Countless liters of sweat had been shed as he continually forged everyday for the last three years. When his classmates were at home playing, he would be pounding metal again and again. He would meditate for longer periods than the others, bearing through the pain and suffering, not shedding a single tear. He had smiled in the face of everything each and every day, and would always tell his parents to relax.


    But now, he cried.


    He had finally saved enough money after three years, and his spirit power had also reached the 10th rank. He was just about to succeed. Thirty thousand coins. All of his sweat had condensed into those thirty thousand coins. In the blink of an eye, those thirty thousand coins had transformed into this spirit soul with next to nothing in soul beast genes. All of his efforts were like bubbles that easily popped.


    All of his toughness, his strength, and his determination, had been crushed in a moment and turned into tears. Drop by drop, they flowed.


    Teardrops dripped onto the spirit soul ball one after another, gradually soaking that tiny Grass Snake. The Grass Snake writhed a bit, as if enjoying the taste of the salty tears.


    A delicate hand extended towards him, intending to wipe away his tears. Na¡¯er stood in front of him with puffy red eyes.


    In this moment, it was as if their hearts were linked together. She could feel the pain and suffering in his heart in its entirety.


    Despair, sorrow, and all sorts of dark emotions lingered within Tang Wulin¡¯s heart.


    Tang Wulin wanted to cry out, but it was as if he was drained of all the strength necessary to scream at this moment.


    ¡°Big brother, big brother, don¡¯t cry.¡± Without wiping away the tears, Na¡¯er went forward and brought his head into her embrace.


    Tang Wulin was choking on sobs as he cried, ¡°Why? Why do the Heavens treat me so unjustly? Even after all my efforts, there isn¡¯t a single opportunity for me to grasp. I want to become a Soul Master. I want to become a powerful Soul Master!¡±

 Chapter 20 – Fusion

    Chapter 20 ¨C Fusion


    Crying really was the best way to vent one¡¯s feelings. After wetting Na¡¯er¡¯s shoulder with his tears, the sound of weeping gradually stopped.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, am I weak?¡± Tang Wulin asked after he raised his head and wiped away his tears.


    Na¡¯er shook her head vigorously.


    Tang Wulin looked at the spirit soul in his hand. The tiny Grass Snake was moving about within the spirit soul ball in a carefree manner.


    ¡°You can go first, Na¡¯er. I want to fuse with this spirit soul.¡± Tang Wulin said bitterly.


    Na¡¯er hesitated and said, ¡°But, this one isn¡¯t any good?¡±


    Tang Wulin forced out a smile. ¡°It¡¯s already difficult for mom and dad to provide for us, so I can¡¯t increase their burden. Dad said he would help me earn the money to buy another one just now, but our family doesn¡¯t have much money to begin with. I can¡¯t let mom and dad carry another burden for my sake. Even if it¡¯s not too good, it¡¯s still a spirit soul. It¡¯ll still let me become an official Soul Master. Also, dad won¡¯t have to face any more difficulties after I fuse with it.¡±


    Na¡¯er blankly stared at him. ¡°Big brother¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin gave her a big smile. ¡°I¡¯m fine. It was only a dream of mine anyways. Maybe becoming a master forger is most suitable for me after all.¡±


    At this moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s profound smile was engraved within her heart. It was the kind of optimistic smile of relief and helplessness which masked the depth of his sorrows.


    His eyes followed Na¡¯er as she left the room. Then he bit his lip and turned his gaze towards the Grass Snake once again. In that moment as he gazed at it, all sorts of feelings began to well up within his heart.


    He knew that after fusing with this spirit soul, he would lose any chance of achieving his dream of becoming a powerful Soul Master. But what could he do?


    He gently touched the spirit soul ball within his hand. A spirit soul didn¡¯t possess much of a material existence, much less a low grade spirit soul such as this one.


    His finger gently passed through the Grass Snake¡¯s body. It seemed to have felt it, as it uncoiled itself. Even though it had an illusory form, it was still able to twist around his finger and intimately stick out its little forked tongue as if to lick him.


    He brought his hand up to his face, allowing him to clearly look into the Grass Snake spirit soul¡¯s small brown eyes. Its eyes were cloudy and unfocused, with a hint of terror to its confusion.


    It was also a living being and would permanently dissipate if he didn¡¯t fuse with it within twenty-four hours.


    ¡®A trash martial soul and a defective spirit soul. That¡¯s very fitting.¡¯ Tang Wulin mocked himself as he flipped his palm, releasing soul power to summon a faint blue halo from which the Bluesilver Grass appeared from.


    The Grass Snake could instinctively sense the existence of the Bluesilver Grass as it climbed up Tang Wulin¡¯s finger, quickly reaching the Bluesilver Grass.


    The soft blue light glowing from the Bluesilver Grass suddenly released a powerful radiance. When the light fell upon the Grass Snake, a faint earthen yellow ring of light emerged from its body.


    This was the first time Tang Wulin fused with a spirit soul, but Lin Ximeng had taught their class about spirit souls as well as what fusion felt like long ago.


    A feeble mind penetrated into Tang Wulin¡¯s head. It felt amiable and frightened, but it was also brimming with a feeling of dependence.


    Tang Wulin opened up his soul and accepted it inside. Changes immediately began to arise upon the Bluesilver Grass while its soul power surged forth.


    He closed his eyes and silently entered a state of meditation as his fusion began.


    The little Grass Snake twisted and turned within his palms. Apart from that first connection between the two of them, nothing else had been transmitted. This was the intelligence of spirit soul of the lowest grade. The more powerful a spirit soul was, the more intelligent it would be. A spirit soul above the purple rank was even capable of communicating with its host. Legends say that a spirit soul that surpassed that rank could even help the host in battle.


    However, legends were only legends to Tang Wulin.


    The little Grass Snake¡¯s earthen yellow body gradually took on a blue tint while the blade of Bluesilver Grass rapidly grew.


    The originally weak and frail grass harmoniously curled up and gradually grew until it was about as thick as a finger with an appearance similar to that of a vine¡¯s. Upon a careful inspection, vestiges of scales could be found on the blade of grass. It now possessed a dark luster similar to the Grass Snake¡¯s. Although it was rougher, it still seemed as frail as before.


    The Grass Snake¡¯s body had grown a bit and was now approximately eight centimeters long. A blue smear had also appeared upon its scales. The fusion smoothly finished.


    The Grass Snake¡¯s spiritual power was too weak; it was basically impossible for it to resist at all. Although the Bluesilver Grass was a trash martial soul, Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power had already reached the intermediate rank of the Spirit Origin realm, thus allowing him to dominate in this fusion.


    The blade of Bluesilver Grass had grown longer and had become a vine which coiled around his body.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power began to violently fluctuate as it met with the bottleneck and surged through, breaking through and evolving his martial soul at the same time.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s whole body felt light as the condensed soul power within his dantian had countless threads penetrating into every single cell of his body. The cells in his body were aroused and brimming with energy. They were filled with a light-hearted and worry-free feeling which finally relieved the depression within his heart.


    Right at that moment, Tang Wulin suddenly felt a wave of heat coming from his tailbone. This heat soon turned into a scorching hot sensation which traveled up his spine before continuing to spread throughout his body. The aura around his body had experienced a slight change after this.


    The blade of Bluesilver Grass which had just finished evolving and the little Grass Snake suddenly stiffened and froze in place.


    The faint golden veined pattern appeared once again, rapidly descending from Tang Wulin¡¯s forehead while the golden thread from his tailbone quickly rose. The two golden lights met at the apex of his vertebra and merged into one.


    This golden color was much clearer than before. It hadn¡¯t only spread all over his body, but also onto the little Grass Snake in his palm and the Bluesilver Grass which had just finished evolving.


    The originally dark and gloomy Bluesilver Grass now had a slender golden line along it, reaching all the way to its tip. Another change arose in it under the influence of the golden veined pattern.


    It was as if the dull vine-like grass had suddenly gained a skeleton and its tenacity had drastically increased. Moreover, the grass¡¯s dull surface gradually gained a glossy luster with a faintly discernable blue halo and a slender gold stripe. It appeared more striking than before.

 Chapter 21 – Rank 11 Soul Master

    Chapter 21 ¨C Rank 11 Soul Master


    The same transformation appeared on the little Grass Snake as its earthen yellow body gradually turned yellow. Its scales stuck out a bit now, and they contained a distinct radiance to them. Those golden stripes extended from its tail and up its body, converging at a single point on its head. The Grass Snake grew one centimeter from its previous eight centimeters. Its protruding tiny scales had turned golden in color.


    The murky look in its eyes was gone, replaced with clarity.


    So hot. Ah, so hot!


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t aware of what was happening to his body. The only thing he could feel at the moment was an indescribable pain from an intense heat, as if his body was being smelted inside a furnace.


    After an unknown period of time, the scorching heat began to cool down. However, it was replaced by a numbness which permeated throughout the four limbs and hundred bones. It was as if a myriad of insects was crawling about within his body. Tang Wulin wanted to cry out in pain, but he was unable to release a single sound. He already began to look back fondly at the scorching heat he had experienced beforehand.


    The pain tormented him to the point that his body wished for a release of death, but his mind was abnormally clear. He could clearly feel all of the pain throughout his body.


    If the Spirit Master from before were here to test his spiritual power, he would have discovered that Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power continually rose under this torment.


    The pain in his body gradually disappeared and his fuzzy consciousness went with it. Under his clothes drenched in sweat, the golden veined pattern hadn¡¯t waned at all; instead, it had permeated into his skin.


    The Bluesilver Grass moved like a receding tide as the little Grass Snake climbed onto the hollow of Tang Wulin¡¯s palm and entered it. The golden scales upon its forehead returned to normal as its body returned to its original dullness.


    When Tang Ziran joyously returned home, he encountered Na¡¯er blocking the doorway.


    ¡°Big brother is fusing with the spirit soul. You can¡¯t go in.¡± Na¡¯er resolutely said as she gazed at Tang Ziran.


    Tang Ziran asked with a dull voice, ¡°What did you say? He¡¯s already begun fusing with it?¡±


    Na¡¯er nodded. ¡°Big brother said that he didn¡¯t wanted to burden mom and dad.¡±


    Tang Ziran stumbled a few steps backwards and collapsed into a chair. His expression changed in an instant as pain colored his face.


    He forcefully struck his own head and said to himself, ¡°Tang Ziran, why can¡¯t you face reality? Why must you be so weak. It¡¯s because of your weakness that you¡¯ve harmed your child!¡±


    The large federal coins he clutched in his hand spilled onto the table. It was too late. It was too late!


    He suddenly lifted his head. ¡°Na¡¯er, how long has Lin Lin been fusing with the spirit soul?¡±


    Na¡¯er said, ¡°He started shortly after you left.¡±


    Tang Ziran cried out in alarm, ¡°He still hasn¡¯t finished? He should have already finished after so long. Let¡¯s go take a look quickly.¡±


    Na¡¯er hesitated for a moment before nodding her head.


    After he opened the door, Tang Ziran saw Tang Wulin lying on the bed.


    ¡°Lin Lin!¡± He cried as he flew over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side.


    The spirit soul ball was left beside the bed, already devoid of the Grass Snake spirit soul. Tang Wulin¡¯s brow creased as he lay on the bed, his clothes completely soaked in sweat.


    Tang Ziran blamed himself within his heart. He thoroughly understood that such a situation shouldn¡¯t have occurred during a spirit soul fusion. It was highly likely that his son encountered an accident while he was fusing.


    Tang Wulin was immersed in deep sleep. Fortunately, his vital signs were normal.


    Two streams of tears flowed down his cheek as Tang Ziran tightly embraced his son. His son was only nine years old, yet had to bear so much already! ¡®I¡¯m sorry, son. Dad is so sorry! It¡¯s all because of dad¡¯s incompetence.¡¯


    Na¡¯er stood to the side and silently watched as Tang Ziran cried. Once again, a look of perplexion colored her pretty purple eyes.


    In the evening, Tang Wulin woke up. As he opened his eyes, he gradually regained awareness of his surroundings.


    He abruptly sat up, sensing the changes within his body.


    The scorching heat and numbness had already completely disappeared and his body now felt as light as a feather. What¡¯s more, his clothes had already been swapped for a set of clean, fresh ones.


    Breathing had even turned into a type of pleasure for him as his whole body felt free and invigorated.


    The soul power within his body had strengthened by a lot. With just a thought, a layer of soul power emanated from his body. Rank 11. He had broken through and entered realm of rank 11 soul power, officially becoming a Soul Master.


    Although the little Grass Snake was indeed a defective spirit soul, it still managed to complete its mission. Its heart was full of sadness as it entered Tang Wulin¡¯s body. Tang Wulin thought to himself, ¡®Even if I can¡¯t become a powerful Soul Master, I still have the support of soul power. At the very least, I¡¯ll be able to become a pretty good blacksmith.¡¯


    After thinking these thoughts, he swung his arms out energetically.


    Pa! A popping sound resounded in the room. Tang Wulin was astonished at the feeling in that instant when he had waved his arm through the air.


    What kind of situation was this?


    The door opened before he had the chance to try again as three adults and one child entered the room.


    ¡°Son, son, are you alright?¡± Lang Yue had already burst into tears as she rushed ahead and embraced Tang Wulin.


    The sky had darkened outside of the window. Surprisingly, it was already evening.


    Tang Wulin still remembered that he had begun fusing in the morning. It had actually taken him this long?


    Aside from Lang Yue, Tang Ziran, and Na¡¯er, there was one other person. That person was Tang Wulin¡¯s forging teacher, Mang Tian.


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t gone to work that day, so Mang Tian had called over with a soul communicator. After finding out about this matter, he immediately rushed over.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine mom.¡± Tang Wulin softly said.


    Lang Yue looked down towards her son and firmly said, ¡°Son, let¡¯s not try to become Soul Masters anymore, just staying as an ordinary person is fine.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Mom, I really am fine! It¡¯s just that I¡¯m a true SoulMaster now. I¡¯m at rank 11. My fusion finished without a hitch. That Grass Snake spirit soul was really suitable for my martial soul. If it was a powerful spirit soul, I can¡¯t say for sure that I would have been able to fuse with it.¡±


    Lang Yue¡¯s tears couldn¡¯t help but surge forth again when she heard her son¡¯s comforting words.


    Tang Ziran let out a sigh. The matter was finished; continuing the conversation would be pointless. It was impossible to reverse a spirit soul fusion. It would only upset Tang Wulin more if he was told that Tang Ziran had managed to secure the money.


    ¡°Rank 11? Bring out your martial soul and let me take a look,¡± Mang Tian said with a deep and resounding voice.

 Chapter 22 – Teacher is also a Soul Master?

    Chapter 22 ¨C Teacher is also a Soul Master?


    Tang Wulin finally noticed him and hastily said, ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Mang Tian nodded. ¡°Come here.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at his mother, then his teacher, before jumping off the bed. He lifted his right hand and with just a thought, the dim room immediately lit up.


    A white ring of light slowly rose from his feet and revolved rhythmically around his body.


    This was a Soul Master¡¯s soul ring. A white soul ring represented a 10 year soul ring, the lowest type.


    Spirit souls hadn¡¯t existed ten thousand years ago when soul rings were still the most defining characteristic of a Soul Master.


    Tang Wulin opened up his hand to reveal a brilliant yellow radiance. Within it appeared the little grass snake. Immediately afterward, a slender blade of blue vine-like grass as thick as a finger twirled into existence. The vine spread outwards, quickly spreading into every corner of the room.


    This was the first time he had released his martial soul since he had become a true Soul Master. The difference between not having a soul ring before and having one now was as different as black and white. He felt as if this grass was an extension of his own consciousness. Anything it touched would be immediately transmitted back to him. In fact, he could even sense the elated mood that the little Grass Snake sent. This feeling was much clearer than during his fusion.


    Despite the fact that it was merely a 10 year soul ring, the rhythmic up and down motion of the white light still basked Tang Wulin¡¯s body with a radiant luster. This was the glamor of a Soul Master. Even a single soul ring would make a Soul Master and an ordinary person as different as night and day.


    Lang Yue was stunned, Tang Ziran¡¯s eyes finally regained some determination, and Na¡¯er was once again at a loss.


    Mang Tian lifted up his arm and pulled on some Bluesilver Grass. It seemed as if these slenders vines were really weak. After all, how could a trash martial soul and a defective spirit soul fuse together to produce a good evolution?


    Mang Tian¡¯s heart was a bit dreary as looked towards Tang Wulin and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be discouraged. Although your spirit soul isn¡¯t too good, you have still become a true Soul Master. Your soul power now has space to continue growing. The possession of soul power will prove helpful to any profession you choose. Ten thousand years ago, many Soul Masters had approved of the first soul tools because their martial souls and soul rings weren¡¯t powerful. It was with the help of soul tools that they were able to increase their own power. The same goes with mechas. As long as you have soul power, you can still become a Mecha Master even if without the aid of a powerful spirit soul. A Mecha Master with a weak martial soul but a formidable strength isn¡¯t necessarily impossible. soul power is also very useful when forging; it can sharpen your senses while also increasing your strength.¡±


    Mang Tian released the Bluesilver Grass as he said this, letting it fall onto the ground to make a crisp sound.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Mang Tian revealed a look of surprise as he once again picked up the Bluesilver Grass. His brows immediately creased.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart was filled with hope again at Mang Tian¡¯s words. Even if he couldn¡¯t become a powerful Soul Master, he could still become a formidable Mecha Master.


    ¡°Brother Mang, what is it?¡± Tang Ziran noticed Mang Tian¡¯s reaction, and asked thoughtlessly.


    Mang Tian didn¡¯t speak. Instead, he grabbed some Bluesilver Grass and tried to pull it apart.


    One could only imagine the physical strength he possessed as a blacksmith. However, the Bluesilver Grass only straightened out when he pulled it without any signs of it snapping. This seemingly weak existence was unexpectedly so tenacious.


    ¡°Your Bluesilver Grass is a bit abnormal.¡± Mang Tian said to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin doubtfully asked, ¡°Teacher, what part of it is abnormal?¡±


    Mang Tian answered, ¡°First of all is its weight. I didn¡¯t feel it at first, but I noticed when it fell onto the ground that the sound it made wasn¡¯t light at all. After inspecting it again, I discovered that although it is very slender, its body is actually very heavy. It¡¯s even heavier than a vine. Bluesilver Grass with only one soul ring shouldn¡¯t possess this type of attribute. Let me test it again first.¡±


    His eyes suddenly began shining as he said this when four soul rings appeared, one white, two yellow and one purple. They immediately lit up the room. As a fellow Soul Master, Tang Wulin subconsciously retreated from the aura released by Mang Tian.


    Tang Wulin was shocked into speechlessness.


    According to how Soul Masters were ranked, 0 to 10 were Soul Scholars, ranks 11 to 20 were Soul Masters, and after every ten ranks they would be promoted to a new title. After Soul Master was Soul Grandmaster, Soul Elder, Soul Ancestor, Soul King, Soul Emperor, Soul Sage, Soul Douluo and at the very peak with nine soul rings, Title Douluos.


    His blacksmithing master was unexpectedly a powerful Soul Ancestor with four soul rings!


    After the soul rings appeared, three spirit souls became visible on Mang Tian¡¯s shoulders. The first one was the smallest and weakest, a tiny rabbit. It was crawling about his body while emitting a white ring of light. The yellow spirit soul was a pair of hammers that flickered with a yellow shine. Artificial spirit soul manufacturing process could even make tool spirit souls. It would be impossible for a tool spirit soul to appear naturally.


    The last spirit soul was purple, a brown bear that was about a meter tall with two unusually thick arms. It looked very fierce as it bared its fangs whilst jumping down upon Mang Tian¡¯s shoulders as if it was deciding who it wanted to bite.


    In addition to the three types of spirit souls released, Mang Tian¡¯s martial soul was also shown. It was actually a hammer that glowed with a dim white light nearly identical in appearance to a forging hammer. On top of the hammer were some deep brown vein lines.


    Mang Tian¡¯s martial soul was the Earth Hammer.


    After releasing his martial soul, Mang Tian appeared much more imposing as well as magnificent. His first spirit soul shined for a moment before the little white rabbit transformed into a layer of white light that covered his body.


    First soul skill, ten year soul ability, Tenacity.


    This was an ordinary soul skill that made Mang Tian¡¯s muscles more flexible and powerful.


    Mang Tian forcefully pulled on the Bluesilver Grass with the backing of his soul skill as well as his formidable soul power.


    A bizarre scene appeared in front of them all. Everyone, including Tang Wulin, expected the Bluesilver Grass to be torn apart. Unexpectedly, however, the dim body of the Bluesilver Grass began to shine under the opposing forces exerted upon it.

 Chapter 23 – Variant Martial Soul

    Chapter 23 ¨C Variant Martial Soul


    It twinkled with a blue radiance as it turned translucent, revealing a faint golden light from the veins within. Even as Mang Tian continued to pull at it, it showed no desire of breaking.


    However, Tang Wulin felt his soul power throb for a moment before it abruptly decreased.


    ¡°Aiyou!¡± He cried out.


    Mang Tian looked towards him in surprise. ¡°Did you feel something?¡±


    Tang Wulin told the truth and said, ¡°It seems like my soul power has been consumed.¡±


    Mang Tian revealed a complex expression as he looked at his disciple. He no longer tried to pull apart the Bluesilver Grass. Instead, he recalled his martial soul and spirit souls, then released the grass.


    Tang Ziran anxiously asked, ¡°Brother Mang, what¡¯s the situation?¡±


    Mang Tian gave him a slight smile. ¡°It seems that the Heavens haven¡¯t abandoned this child. I¡¯m certain that his martial soul is a variant and what¡¯s more, it¡¯s a good kind of variant.¡±


    Variant? Tang Wulin was at a loss when he heard this word, as he had never learned anything about variant martial souls.


    Mang Tian answered, ¡°Under special circumstances, variations can arise in the martial soul. For example, fusing with a highly compatible or highly incompatible spirit soul or soul ring, or being stimulated by an external factor, will all create the circumstances necessary for variation to occur. It¡¯s also possible for someone to be born with a variant martial soul or that their martial soul undergoes variation during awakening.¡±


    ¡°There are good and bad kinds of variations. It¡¯s possible for a powerful martial soul to be weakened by its variation. On the other hand, it¡¯s also possible for a weak martial soul to become powerful due to the variation.¡±


    His eyes contained a profoundness in them as he looked at Tang Wulin and said, ¡°Everyone knows that Bluesilver Grass is a trash martial soul, but a snake type spirit soul is nevertheless still very suitable for it. Generally speaking, it is possible for Bluesilver Grass to transform into a vine. However, with a martial soul like Bluesilver Grass, the odds of soul power appearing was simply impossibly low. However, I knew someone in the past who also had Bluesilver Grass. When he cultivated to rank 10, he too fused with a snake type spirit soul and his Bluesilver Grass became a vine even thicker than yours. Yet, it was still very weak. I didn¡¯t even need to utilize my martial soul in order to tear it apart.


    ¡°However, your Bluesilver Grass is completely different. Even with my first soul skill, I still wasn¡¯t able to tear it apart. Common sense would dictate this to be impossible. This is also the first time that I have seen a martial soul¡¯s strength in relation to one¡¯s soul power. That is to say, it would have been impossible for me to tear apart your Bluesilver Grass until your soul power ran out. I can¡¯t think of any other explanation other than a martial soul variation.¡±


    Tang Wulin sluggishly looked at Mang Tian. ¡°Teacher, so is this is a good thing?¡±


    Mang Tian answered, ¡°Of course this is good. However, it isn¡¯t absolutely good. It¡¯ll all depend on how well you control your martial soul. Logically, when Bluesilver Grass becomes a vine, you should be able to develop towards the control system. Your soul skills should mostly be of the basic harassing vine type. In the scenario that you are able to entwine your opponent, as long as your opponent¡¯s soul power is higher than yours, he¡¯ll be able to struggle free while also exhausting your soul power. Thus, it will turn into a war of attrition. You won¡¯t have any chances of winning in that case. Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t be too bad to use your Bluesilver Grass more like a whip. Moreover, who knows if there¡¯ll be another variation once you obtain your second soul ring. Due to this, I can¡¯t judge how it will turn out in the future, but at the very least, it¡¯s promising. From now on, it¡¯s no longer a trash martial soul. You can consider yourself to have profited from a disaster.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Wulin asked. He looked towards Mang Tian with an expression that revealed his reluctance to believe. It wasn¡¯t a trash martial soul anymore? Even if it¡¯s not a powerful one, at least it¡¯s no longer a trash martial soul!


    Mang Tian said with a dull voice, ¡°You saw it just now. My first soul ring is a white 10 year spirit soul, and is equally as weak. However, I was also able to obtain a 100 year spirit soul after putting in great effort. Moreover, I was even able to obtain a 1000 year spirit soul. Due to me being a blacksmith, I¡¯m able to earn enough money to buy the spirit souls that I wanted. You¡¯re very talented at forging, so anything that I¡¯m able to do, you will be able to do as well.¡±


    Nothing could move someone as much as being able to sympathize with someone in a similar situation. The depression within Tang Wulin¡¯s heart had been wiped clean. He didn¡¯t have a trash martial soul anymore and he also had his teacher as a goal for the future now. This re-ignited the hope in his heart. I still have a chance at becoming a powerful Soul Master!


    ¡°You didn¡¯t request a leave of absence today from work and you didn¡¯t show up, so I¡¯ll deduct one day¡¯s worth of wages from your pay.¡± Mang Tian made to leave after saying this, but Tang Wulin¡¯s excitement wasn¡¯t influenced in the least. He jumped up and gave Mang Tian a big hug.


    ¡°You¡¯re so light.¡± Mang Tian said in surprise. Yet, this child¡¯s strength¡­


    After Mang Tian left, the Tang family¡¯s cloud of worries and fog of cruelty had transformed into an atmosphere of joy.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry mom, dad. I made you two worry.¡± Tang Wulin was somewhat ashamed as he said this.


    Lang Yue once again pulled her son¡¯s head into her bosom. ¡°It¡¯s us who should be apologizing. You¡¯re still so young, yet you have to bear such a large burden already.¡±


    Tang Ziran lowered his head as if to contemplate some unknown matters.


    Na¡¯er¡¯s lips quivered a bit. It seemed that she wanted to say something, but wasn¡¯t able to do so in the end.


    After eating dinner, another day had passed by once again. Tang Ziran and Lang Yue slept early that night while Na¡¯er also entered the land of dreams in a similarly tired state.


    Only Tang Wulin was left awake.


    He quietly snuck out of the house, and went to the garden where he had previously made a breakthrough. After sitting down, his heart began to stir as he gazed at the bright moon in the sky.


    From joy to sorrow, he once again had hope. What he experienced this day influenced him far more than anything else in the past three years.


    With a thought, the little Grass Snake appeared in the hollow of his palm.


    ¡°Thank you little fellow. You have given me hope, yet I turned my back on you. I¡¯m so sorry!¡± Tang Wulin softly said.


    The little Grass Snake seemed to have sensed something as it raised its head slightly and flicked its tongue.


    Tang Wulin smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a name alright? We¡¯re going to be partners from now on.¡± A spirit soul would accompany its master for life, and would dissipate only upon its master¡¯s death.


    The little Grass Snake seemed to understand his words and gently wiggled its body in response.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Now what¡¯s a good name for you?¡±


    Right at that moment, the little Grass Snake¡¯s body suddenly began to shine. The little scale on its forehead flashed a golden light.


    ¡°Yi! Is this also due to the variation?¡± He firmly believed in the words of his teacher without a single doubt. His martial soul had undergone variation and was no longer an ordinary, trashy Bluesilver Grass.


    ¡°That gold color was really pretty just now. How about you flash it one more time for me to see? Is that fine?¡± Tang Wulin giggled as he spoke.


    However, the little Grass Snake showed no reaction to his words. It couldn¡¯t fully comprehend Tang Wulin¡¯s desire with its low intelligence. This type of low level spirit soul could only offer one soul ring, and couldn¡¯t give any other type of aid.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart stirred as he said, ¡°You can turn golden, so I¡¯ll call you Goldlight. How¡¯s that? If your whole body can turn into gold in the future, then just think of how formidable you¡¯ll be!¡±


    Naturally, the little Grass Snake couldn¡¯t reject at all. Thus, its name was decided to be Goldlight. A simple name, yet brimming with beauty and freedom.

 Chapter 24 – Na’er Leaves

    Chapter 24 ¨C Na¡¯er Leaves


    Early in the morning, Tang Wulin awoke from his meditation and discovered himself surrounded by grass.


    It was as if he was meditating in a world of Bluesilver Grass. The feeling here was much better than the one at his home. He was unaware that this was due to the fact that his soul power had entered the realm of Soul Masters, as well as due to the variation in his martial soul. His cultivation speed was much faster now.


    Tang Wulin jumped up from the lawn and shook the morning dew off of his body.


    ¡°Lin Lin! Lin Lin!¡± Lang Yue¡¯s anxious voice called out from afar.


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m over here,¡± Tang Wulin said as he hastily ran out of the little garden.


    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong. Na¡¯er, Na¡¯er¡­ She¡­¡± Lang Yue was panting as she ran over.


    ¡°What happened to Na¡¯er?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s heart tensed up.


    Lang Yue took a deep breath to calm herself before she anxiously said, ¡°She¡¯s gone. Na¡¯er is gone.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Tang Wulin was gobsmacked and quickly followed his mother back home.


    It was true. Na¡¯er was gone. She had only left a letter on her bed.


    Mom, Dad, big brother, I¡¯ll be leaving now. Thank you for taking care of me these past few years, but I remember who I am now. My family has come to pick me up, so I have to go. I was really happy during the days I spent with you all. Extremely happy. I really didn¡¯t want to part with you all, but from the memories I¡¯ve recalled, I know that I must leave. I have many things I must do. Big brother, I will always remember how you looked when you protected me from those bad guys. I will always remember the taste of all the treats you¡¯ve bought me.


    ¨C Na¡¯er.


    Tang Wulin was dumbfounded as he stared at this letter.


    Despite adding to their burdens, Na¡¯er had brought them numerous joys ever since she¡¯d joined their household.


    Tang Wulin was so happy after getting a little sister. He always felt unusually satisfied whenever he watched Na¡¯er eat the treats he bought with his forging money, especially when she gave him a sweet smile.


    ¡°How can this be!? Na¡¯er, how could you leave like this? How could you? Even if you found your family, you can¡¯t leave like this! You can¡¯t leave¡­¡±Tang Wulin turned around and ran out. Lang Yue wasn¡¯t able to stop him before he rushed out of the house.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, Na¡¯er!¡± Sobbing screams resounded throughout the small town as Tang Wulin madly ran about, shouting out as he searched for Na¡¯er¡¯s silver hair and violet eyes.


    ¡­¡­


    Na¡¯er tightly held onto a crude rag doll as she leaned against a wall, one tear drop after another dripping down her face.


    That was the first present Tang Wulin had bought her with his monthly wage. The rag doll had violet eyes and silver hair that Tang Wulin had dyed himself. It looked just like her.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s image unceasingly revolved in her mind.


    It was only when they were together that both of them were full of smiles. He seemed to have always been thinking of ways to bring a smile to her face.


    He was always there to protect her when someone tried to bully her. Even if he was facing a powerful bad guy, he would still be as stubborn as before.


    ¡°Big brother, big brother¡­¡± Na¡¯er whispered, as pearl-like teardrops fell onto the ground.


    ¡°Young Lady, we must leave now.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    He scoured the whole town, searching every corner for anywhere Na¡¯er might have gone. He even ran along the coastline in search of her for a long time. In the end, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t find a single trace of her.


    His throat had long since gone hoarse from shouting. Regardless of that, Na¡¯er was gone without a trace.


    Aside from the letter, Na¡¯er had left behind a few other things. She had left a small silver pendant necklace with an inlaid silver gem. The gemstone was perfectly round, with a silver thread around its edges.


    Seven rays of light could be faintly distinguished as they twinkled within the gem. One look and it was easy to tell that it held considerable value.


    However, in Tang Wulin¡¯s heart, this gemstone couldn¡¯t possibly compensate for his little sister¡¯s presence.


    Tang Wulin attended school and went to the forging workshop with a muddled head.


    For the next several days, it was as if Tang Wulin had lost his soul. Every day, he would prowl the great streets and small alleys of Glorybound City until late in the night to search for a trace of Na¡¯er.


    He made many mistakes in his forging work due to his mental state, and was firmly scolded by Mang Tian. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but continually ask himself, ¡®Why did Na¡¯er leave? Why didn¡¯t she tell me where she went?¡¯


    His spirit didn¡¯t recover until a whole week later.


    ¡­¡­¡­.


    Red Mountain Academy.


    ¡°Tang Wulin,¡± Lin Ximeng called out from the lectern.


    ¡°Here.¡± Tang Wulin stood up. His sadness over Na¡¯er leaving had lessened a bit after a whole week had passed.


    He went up to the lectern and accepted Lin Ximeng¡¯s recommendation letter. This was the special recommendation letter from the Red Mountain Academy. As long as one was granted this letter, they would be able to register for an intermediate Soul Master academy. Every single student in the elementary academy who successfully became Soul Masters could be recommended to continue their studies at an intermediate academy. No matter what one¡¯s martial soul was, they would meet the requirements if they possessed a soul ring.


    Accepting this letter also signified the conclusion of Tang Wulin¡¯s days of attending the elementary academy.


    Wan Yunchao winked at Tang Wulin from the seat beside him. ¡°We¡¯re graduating now. Let¡¯s go swap pointers later.¡±


    Tang Wulin unhappily shot a glance at him. ¡°I¡¯m busy. I have to go to work later.¡±


    Due to the mistakes he had made a few days ago, Mang Tian had added three hours to his daily working hours.


    Wan Yunchao¡¯s mouth twitched as he said, ¡°Coward. You¡¯re just afraid to lose to me.¡±


    Tang Wulin eyes flashed with a furious light. ¡°I¡¯m not a coward. Fine then. I¡¯ll spar with you after school in the grove.¡±


    There was a large grove behind Red Mountain Academy. This was where students usually took their Nature Studies Class.


    It was very quiet here after school, since very few people would generally come here.


    Wan Yunchao was still as fat as before. He joyfully dragged Tang Wulin to the grove as soon as the school day ended.


    ¡°Let me tell you, Tang Wulin, you absolutely can¡¯t match up to me as an opponent!¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t utter a word.


    ¡°Good, then. We¡¯ll start right here!¡± Wan Yunchao stopped walking, then impatiently released his martial soul from his hands.


    After a flash, a short blade appeared in his palm. Compared to when it didn¡¯t have a soul ring, the short blade seemed somewhat wider, with lit-up veined patterns on its surface.


    A white 10-year soul ring rose from the soles of his feet. Wan Yunchao silently moved the soul ring onto the short blade, causing the blade¡¯s tip to extend out as 15 centimeters of length were added to the upper part of the martial soul.

 Chapter 25 – Thousand Refinements

    Chapter 25 ¨C Thousand Refinements


    ¡°Did you see it? My first soul skill is Knife Tip. I even spent an extra 10,000 Federal Coins to invite a Spirit Master over to help me pick this spirit soul! Since this spirit soul is also a knife, it directly complements my martial soul! My Knife Tip will conquer all!¡±


    Tang Wulin furrowed his eyebrows, ¡°Why are you so full of nonsense.¡±


    Wan Yunchao glared at him, ¡°At this point in time you¡¯re still saying I¡¯m full of crap? Since I¡¯m worried I¡¯d hurt you, just hurry up and admit defeat. I¡¯ll let you off this time. If you don¡¯t, my Knife Tip will not spare you any mercy.¡± As Wan Yunchao said this, he flicked his wrist and a knife tip shot out towards a sapling¡¯s trunk. It was as wide as a bowl, but was still instantly cut down.


    Tang Wulin stared at him disdainfully, ¡°Plants are also living creatures, why did you cut that sapling for no reason?¡±


    Wan Yunchao was going to open his mouth and reply when he saw that similarly, a white ring had materialized around Tang Wulin¡¯s legs. Vine after vine of Bluesilver Grass grew simultaneously from the palm of his hand.


    Those slender vines of Bluesilver Grass however, did not rush directly at Wan Yunchao. Their ends were instead suspended mid air around Tang Wulin. Moments later, ear piercing screams could be heard echoing out from the small forest.


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    ¡°Aiyou! It hurts! Tang Wulin, you are shameless! If you have the ability to do so, come closer and fight me!¡±


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    ¡°Aiyou! Aiyou! I surrender! Can I please surrender? How could you even use your Bluesilver Grass in such a fashion?¡±


    When the two individuals left the forest, out of the two it was Wan Yunchao who looked the most pathetic. His entire body was riddled with numerous lash marks.


    Tang Wulin was still incapable of fully controlling his Bluesilver Grass. He had spent all those days searching for Na¡¯er, to the point where he had even neglected part of his meditation. This did not influence the whipping aspect of his control however, when he used it to attack Wan Yunchao.


    Both of them were still kids, thus they did not know any battle techniques. That inch thick Bluesilver Grass proved how tenacious it was. Since Wan Yunchao¡¯s short knife and Knife Tip could not attack from a distance and he had no knowledge of any other battle techniques, the result was obvious.


    ¡°Why? Why did it turn out like this? With a soul skill, I should have been able to beat you!¡± Wan Yunchao shouted indignantly at Tang Wulin who was currently supporting him.


    Tang Wulin replied angrily, ¡°Teacher Lin had already said it before; your martial soul is well suited for melee battles. Thus it is well suited for the path of the agility attack system. However, you¡¯re so fat. How could you possibly be agile?¡±


    Wan Yunchao had an unconvinced expression on his face as he asked, ¡°Then why was it that when my Knife Tip attempted to hack your Bluesilver Grass apart, it was unable to do so?¡±


    Tang Wulin replied, ¡°Well this is my Bluesilver Grass¡¯s specialty; so long as my soul power is not depleted, you cannot hack it apart.¡±


    Wan Yunchao looked up to the skies and bellowed, ¡°I WILL LOSE WEIGHT! I WILL BECOME AN AGILITY ATTACKER!¡±


    ¡°What are you going to eat tonight?¡±


    ¡°I think¡­.. it should be pork shoulder¡±


    After sending the lightly injured Wan Yunchao back home, Tang Wulin rushed over to Mang Tian¡¯s workshop.


    What surprised him was that Mang Tian was already waiting for him inside.


    ¡°Teacher.¡± Tang Wulin respectfully addressed Mang Tian. Ever since he knew that his teacher was a 40thranked Soul Ancestor expert, he had even greater respect for him.


    Mang Tian nodded his head and asked, ¡°So have you graduated?¡±


    Tang Wulin replied, ¡°Yes. I have graduated.¡±


    Mang Tian then asked, ¡°Will you have to go to the Intermediate Soul Academy in Eastsea City?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I was planning to tell you. Once I go to Eastsea City to study, I will not be able to continue learning how to forge from you.¡± Tang Wulin replied.


    Mang Tian gave an unenthusiastic reply, ¡°Just because I like this place for its peacefulness does not mean I won¡¯t leave this place. The truth is, all of the work that is requested comes from Eastsea City. Your blacksmithing education cannot deteriorate. I also have a workshop at Eastsea City and I will give you your own blacksmithing workshop. Every so often, I¡¯ll visit you and give you some instruction.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart felt a surge of warmth, ¡°Teacher, you¡­¡±


    Mang Tian¡¯s fiery gaze glared at him. ¡°Eastsea City is a truly large city. It is not like here. Before you go, you have to first complete my test. If not, you have no qualifications to continue learning the blacksmithing craft from me there!¡±


    ¡°A test?¡± Tang Wulin stared blankly at him. ¡°Teacher, what test?¡±


    A ray of light gleamed in Mang Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°The Thousand Refinements!¡±


    Tang Wulin asked in surprise, ¡°Teacher, you are finally going to teach me the Thousand Refinements?¡±


    Mang Tian nodded his head. ¡°You have fused with a spirit soul and your strength has risen sufficiently. You should be able to withstand the Thousand Refinements. Finishing one execution of the Thousand Refinements will count as you passing my test.¡±


    As he said those words, Mang Tian felt a peculiar feeling within his heart. He could still clearly remember that when he had just started practicing the Thousand Refinements, he was already 15 years old and his soul power had surpassed the 20th rank. In addition, his martial soul was the Earth Hammer and was the one that possessed absolute physical strength. By completing the Thousand Refinements at 15 years old, he was already been seen as a talent in the blacksmithing world.


    Unfortunately¡­


    ¡°Teacher, can we begin?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s excited voice brought Mang Tian out of his reminiscence.


    ¡°Hold on a moment, I have to first gauge your strength. These few days you have failed many of your assignments. Firstly, you were not focused on your work. Secondly, it seems as though problems have arisen with regards to your ability to control your strength.¡±  Mang Tian had been silently observing his disciple and thus had determined the root of his disciple¡¯s problems.


    Indeed, it was not only Mang Tian, but also Tang Wulin who realized that problems seemed to have arisen with regards to his physical strength.


    That day, after he fused with the spirit soul, he had tried to apply force through his arm and that had resulted in a resounding crack as his movements split the air apart. His strength had indeed grown immensely.


    In the end, since he had been constantly out in search for Na¡¯er, along with the fact that he was still extremely depressed due to her departure, he had not paid any attention to the situation of his body. It was only when Mang Tian reminded him of it that he remembered that there was such a problem that occurred prior to everything that had happened!


    Thus for the last few days, as he had attempted to forge his assigned tasks, he had failed several times due to his strength being too forceful.


    Mang Tian brought Tang Wulin to his own workshop. His workshop was a lot messier than Tang Wulin¡¯s workspace. In a large pile of randomly strewn tools, Mang Tian managed to find the tool that was specially designed to gauge one¡¯s physical strength.


    Strength Testing Tool


    While it was a simple act to manufacture such a tool, it still required one to be meticulous in order to ensure that it would be able to accurately gauge a person¡¯s strength. This strength testing tool was built using two parts. The lower portion was a flat square base, while the upper portion consists of a round cylindrical pillar. Behind it lies a two meter tall metal pillar, whereas inside the pillar was a long thin tube filled with mercury.


    When the blacksmith wishes to test his strength, all he has to do was strike the metal pillar, at that point, the mercury would rise according to the force of the strike and thus gauge the strength.


    One would have to use a blacksmithing hammer weighing 50kg for the test; the strength testing tool would automatically deduct the excess force acquired from the hammer¡¯s weight.


    Ever since Tang Wulin arrived at Mang Tian¡¯s workshop, he was required to test his strength each year.


    The first time he tested his strength, he could produce a force of 70kg. At that point in time he was only 7 years old. When he was 8 years old, this had increased to a force of 100kg! Although being able to produce this force was largely in part to him constantly swinging the hammer as part of his work, it must still be said that producing such strength was extremely shocking.


    He had yet to test his strength at 9 years old, thus, today was the perfect day to do it.


    ¡°First start the test with your left hand.¡± Mang Tian passed him the blacksmithing hammer required for strength testing.

 Chapter 26 – Five Hundred Kilograms of Strength

    Chapter 26 ¨C Five Hundred Kilograms of Strength


    The blacksmith¡¯s strength test was split into the left and right arms. Tang Wulin had surprised Mang Tian the first time he had taken the test, as his left and right arms were exceedingly balanced in strength. His right arm had only been a bit stronger than his left.


    Tang Wulin gripped the forging hammer in his left hand. The spiral pattern on its handle dug into his tender hand and tough calluses. His grip became exceptionally firm.


    He took a deep breath and turned his body around halfway. Then his arms suddenly swung the forging hammer with the condensed power of his whole body. At that moment when he fully exerted his strength, he felt a surge of warmth flowing from his tailbone. In a flash,  this warmth spread up throughout his vertebrae. The hammer let out an ear-piercing whistle as he swung it, ruthlessly smashing the plate.


    Bang~~~


    The mercury inside of the pillar shot up in a flash. A clear sound rang out in Tang Wulin and Mang Tian¡¯s ears, giving them a brief moment of tinnitus.


    Mang Tian kneaded his eyes, as if to confirm that what he saw before him was the truth.  At this time, the screen revealed a number.


    An electronic voice coldly stated, ¡°Striking power, 483 kilograms.¡± Tang Wulin and Mang Tian could only stand there foolishly in shock.


    When he took the test the year before, Tang Wulin was already able to shock Mang Tian when his right arm exerted 200 kilograms of force. But now, this number already exceeded the fully grown Brother Long¡¯s!


    In but a short year, his strength had shockingly increased dramatically again. Moreover, this was just his left arm¡­ A nine-year-old child was actually able to exert nearly 500 kilograms of force with a single arm! This truly had to be innate divine strength!


    Mang Tian did his best to restrain his emotions as he said, ¡°Right arm.¡±


    Tang Wulin switched the hammer over to his right hand and once again took a deep breath. A flash of golden light appeared within the deepest depths of his eyes. He twisted his body again, then swung his arm. Once more, a warm feeling began flowing into him from his vertebrae. This time, the hammer howled through the air with an even greater ear-piercing ferocity, causing a series of explosions to sound in the air.


    Bang~~~


    The whole room trembled slightly under its power. This time, Mang Tian had to cover his ears to protect himself from the ringing. The room continued to tremble from the impact.


    ¡°Striking power, 543 kilograms.¡± 543 kilograms? He had broken through 500 kilograms!?


    Mang Tian was once again at a loss. Although he had already guessed the boy¡¯s strength increased by no small amount, he definitely hadn¡¯t expected it to have increased by such an extent.


    At nine years old, his two arms had a combined strength of over a thousand kilograms. His existence could already be considered to that of a little monster¡¯s. Although this was merely explosive power, this was still the strength that could be used when forging. Even with the machine¡¯s automatic deduction of the hammer¡¯s weight, his arms could still reach a strength of about five hundred kilograms. Even power system Soul Grandmasters wouldn¡¯t necessarily possess such strength! It wasn¡¯t until the Soul Elder ranks that this type of strength could be seen.


    He had this kind of innate divine strength, but why was his martial soul Bluesilver Grass!? It should have been a power type martial soul. If his martial soul had been a hammer, then he truly would have been a genius.


    Tang Wulin was also shocked by his own strength. Even if he didn¡¯t understand the significance of 500 kilograms of strength, he still clearly understood how terrifying this type of strength was for someone who only had one soul ring. Few could compare with his strength even if they used a soul skill.


    ¡°Teacher, c-can I really learn the Thousand Refinements?¡± He asked tentatively.


    Mang Tian woke up from his daze and nodded. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect your strength to actually reach such a level. Let¡¯s go to your forging room.¡±


    After returning to Tang Wulin¡¯s forging room, Mang Tian took out a chunk of silver-white metal. ¡°I¡¯ve already taught you what types of metals can undergo the Thousand Refinements. This here is a piece of Heavy Silver. Its ductility is superb and it possesses excellent soul power transferring properties. Only the Thousand Refinements can bring out the full potential of this grade of metal. Take it and use it to attempt your first Thousand Refinements.¡±


    ¡°The so-called Thousand Refinements isn¡¯t as simple as just pounding the metal a thousand times. Rather, the metal¡¯s impurities must be dispelled under continuous forgings, thus increasing its density. Also, the most important effect of the Thousand Refinements is refining. It can only be called Thousand Refinements if the metal is refined and improved.¡±


    ¡°For example, there¡¯s the tungsten steel in the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammer you¡¯re using. It was already very strong, but after undergoing Thousand Refinements, its size has been reduced by a third while its strength has doubled! Another effect is that its weight has increased by thirty percent. Compared to another piece of tungsten, only a qualitative change could increase its weight as well as its exceedingly tremendous strength.


    ¡°The tungsten steel¡¯s refinement is among the simplest of refinements. Exceptionally good Thousand Refinements can give rise to even more unusual effects. The better the effect of its refinement, the higher the value of the Thousand Refined metal. After reaching the level of the Thousand Refinements, you must first have the metal undergo the Thousand Refinements before you use other techniques to shape it. As a result, the value of anything made with Thousand Refined metal is a hundred times higher than those made of Hundred Forged metal. Only after you¡¯ve attained the skill of utilizing the Thousand Refinements can you then be considered a true blacksmith.¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know that for ninety percent of blacksmiths, the level Mang Tian spoke of was an unattainable dream.


    Thousand Refinements required more than just strength; what truly mattered was comprehension. Especially in regards to the feelings of the metal.


    Tang Wulin had studied hard for three years. Only now, coupled with his innate divine strength, did he finally have the qualifications to attempt the Thousand Refinements.


    ¡°Teacher, what techniques are needed when performing the Thousand Refinements?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Mang Tian shook his head. ¡°There aren¡¯t any techniques that I can teach you. The only thing I can tell you is that when you are forging, you must treat the metal as if it were a living organism. You must think of a way to communicate with the metal while you are forging it. Only with perfect communication will you be able to attain its approval. Find its secrets, its veins. Thousand Refinements is also called Thought Forging. Every single blacksmith¡¯s style of doing the Thousand Refinements is different. They all have their own distinct characteristics. Use your heart to forge. Go and try to comprehend my words.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    He had originally thought that Mang Tian would at least give him a demonstration, but it seems that his teacher had completely different ideas. Rather, he left Tang Wulin to learn it on his own.


    After opening up the forging table, he placed the Heavy Silver within the forging table¡¯s furnace and began heating it.


    This piece of Heavy Silver was about 30 centimetres squared. It twinkled a soft silver light. When it entered the forging furnace, Tang Wulin began to recall the introduction to the properties of Heavy Silver that Mang Tian had given him before.


    Heavy Silver was an uncommon metal that could only be found on the seafloor at depths surpassing one kilometer. It was extraordinarily hard and possessed amazing ductility under high temperatures, it was also an excellent conductor of soul power. In fact, it was so good that it could amplify soul power and give it a five to ten percent boost.


    Whether it is used for industrial purposes or for manufacturing mechas, it was still an excellent metal that was hard to come by.


    Still, Heavy Silver was not without its own flaws. It was simply too dense, bestowing upon it an extraordinary weight. For instance, this piece of Heavy Silver that was less than a third of a meter long was over 200 kilograms in weight. In fact, it likely neared 300 kilograms!


    As a result, even if Heavy Silver was produced in excess, it would still be impossible to use it in large-scale mecha manufacturing. Its weight also restricted its applications in mecha manufacturing. It was much more prevalent in large, solid state soul devices.


    Heavy Silver was rarely found in cities that were located further inland. It was instead much more common in seaside towns and acted as an important source of income for these seaside towns.


    His teacher had given him a chunk of Heavy Silver. Upon inspection, it appeared extraordinarily perfect. Its color was very even, signifying that it had already been purified before. Lastly, it felt heavier than usual.


    The Heavy Silver was hard, but it was still softened under the blazing heat of the furnace, becoming far more ductile. Only when Heavy Silver was in this state would it be suitable for forging.

 Chapter 27 – Concentration of Forging

    Chapter 27 ¨C Concentration of Forging


    Tang Wulin picked up his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers as he had recalled his knowledge about Heavy Silver.


    The cold handles of his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers¡¯ invigorated him. At this moment, his depressed self disappeared. There was only two words in his mind: Thousand Refinements.


    If you look closely, you would find that the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers¡¯ body had turned black. On the hammer one, could vaguely see a petal pattern that was unique to the Thousand Forgings.


    After heating the Heavy Silver in the forging furnace for half an hour, it finally reached a suitable temperature for forging.


    Tang Wulin took out the Heavy Silver. He then gripped his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers and focused his vision. Raising the hammer in his right hand, he lightly tapped the Heavy Silver, producing a ¡°ding¡± sound.


    This test was called the testing hammer. Before blacksmiths began their work, they would do this to test the forging metal¡¯s toughness.


    Mang Tian nodded when he saw Tang Wulin¡¯s look of complete focus. This child¡¯s perception was exceptionally high, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to lay down such an excellent foundation in three short years. He had a steady temperament while also being extremely clever. It was only fitting for Mang Tian to pass on his legacy to this child.


    The Thousand Refinements he faced at the moment was undoubtedly a very important test for him. As Mang Tian stood at the back and observed Tang Wulin, he was convinced that Tang Wulin had the ability to pass this test. Above all else, his body wasn¡¯t lacking in anything that could cause complications after Wulin¡¯s recent growth in strength.


    He was only nine years old this year. If he was actually able to complete this Thousand Refinements, then Mang Tian feared that Tang Wulin would have broken a record. The Blacksmith¡¯s Association current record holder for Thousand Refinements was held by a Saint Craftsman level blacksmith at 13 years, 3 months and and 2 days!


    Naturally, Tang Wulin was unaware of Mang Tian¡¯s thoughts. He was currently concentrating all of his attention and spirit on the Heavy Silver in front of him.


    He raised the hammer in his left hand then smashed it down on the edge of the Heavy Silver. Dang! Even as the entire chunk of Heavy Silver throbbed, the hammer in his right hand was already descending at lightning speed, pounding at the silver once again.


    Although he hadn¡¯t reached the realm of Thousand Refinements, he had already produced many Hundred Refined metal components before. Regardless of how the Thousand Refinements were, it had to start with a Hundred Refined metal! During the process of Hundred Refinements, he would come to understand its characteristics.


    Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t usually forge with such an uncommon and high grade metal. This was his first time forging with Heavy Silver, so he had to understand its characteristics first.


    The pair of hammers moved in harmony, continuously pounding the Heavy Silver. He wasn¡¯t even using his full power, merely thirty to forty percent of his full power.


    Sparks flew off in all directions in flashes. A rich tempo of pounding filled the room as it created a lively song of forging,


    Soon after, the Hundred Refinements had been completed. Similar to Thousand Refinements, Hundred Refinements wasn¡¯t as simple as pounding the metal a hundred times. Rather, the impurities within the metal had to be gotten rid of while preserving the integrity of the metal and increasing its density.


    After the Hundred Refinements, Tang Wulin understood the valiance of the Heavy Silver. First of all, Heavy Silver¡¯s hardness surpassed all the metals he had previously forged. Furthermore, it was exceptionally flexible. When struck, it would only vibrate for a moment, as if it were resisting Tang Wulin¡¯s strength.


    Fortunately, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t used his full strength to strike it, so he still had plenty of energy to control the casting hammer.


    When faced with the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers that weighed 40 kilograms, ordinary metals weighing 80 kilograms would have a cavity struck into them with only one strike. However, the Heavy Silver was only slightly deformed after one strike, even after being heated to a suitable forging temperature. This kind of uncommon and strong metal wouldn¡¯t be Thousand Refined easily.


    During these three years of tempering himself with forging, Tang Wulin had learned the value of patience long ago. He didn¡¯t feel even a trace of anxiousness. For such an uncommon metal, even if he couldn¡¯t finish the Thousand Refinements, he would at least purify it with the Hundred Refinements.


    He treated it like his most precious treasure. His pounding force didn¡¯t increase at all, rather, he restrained his strength a bit. Through his unceasing pounding, he had come to understand the Heavy Silver¡¯s veins and characteristics. Little by little, he purified it completely.


    Although Mang Tian was just as serious as any other day, he gradually began to reveal a smile. This child truly was clever. He hadn¡¯t given Tang Wulin any tips at all, yet he was able to find his own rhythm.


    This chunk of uncommon metal should be treated like one¡¯s most beloved woman. One had to cherish it during the forging process rather than blindly pounding it. Although it seemed valiant on the outside, its inner viens would be met with destruction, causing all of its other characteristics to suffer too.


    Although pounding it with a weaker strength would take much longer, it was undoubtedly the most dependable method, especially with an unfamiliar chunk of metal. Through a long process of forging it, he can also familiarize himself and feels its internal structure changing.


    Tang Wulin became more and more concentrated in his forging as time went on until finally, he entered a fantastic state. To him, the only thing that existed was the Heavy Silver in front of him. His soul power enhanced his strength, thus increasing his stamina and focus even more.


    In fact, after undergoing such pain and suffering, his spiritual power had definitely grown by a degree.


    Soul power below the realm of Spirit Connection didn¡¯t seem useful at all, however, its effects were actually present everywhere. It could improve one¡¯s perception as well as support one¡¯s persistence.


    Tang Wulin was even more focused on his forging under the effects of his increased spiritual power. His three years of forging hadn¡¯t definitely contributed to his spiritual power being assessed at level 38 by the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s spiritual power machine.


    An hour later, the Heavy Silver didn¡¯t seem to have changed much, it was only slightly deformed.


    Two hours later, the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers began pounding the metal even more intensively.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s forehead was covered with sweat. After his unceasing forging, his body was already exhausted, but his spirit was still extremely stimulated. Two hours later yielded little results. In fact, the state of the Heavy Silver wasn¡¯t too far off from when it was only Hundred Refined. However, he had managed to gradually communicate with this chunk of Heavy Silver in these two hours.


    If someone looked closely at the surface of the Heavy Silver, they would find that each corner had a small circular depression. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know how many times he struck each of the corners with the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammer.


    Every time it was struck, its whole body would vibrate, giving Tang Wulin more insight into its characteristics.


    Dang! This strike was clearly louder than the previous ones, raising the eyebrows of the nearby Mang Tian.


    Tang Wulin finally started to use more strength! Afterwards, loud hammering noises resounded one after another.


    After two hours of careful forging, he had already understood the character of this metal. Now it was time to truly begin forging it.


    His whole body trembled each time he hammered the metal. Starting from his calves, his power then travelled to his waist, before moving onto his back, then arms, until finally, it descended down towards the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers. The power of each strike already exceeded 300 kilograms!


    The buttons for controlling the furnace¡¯s flames were underneath. With a light tap of his left foot, the furnace fire reached its maximum intensity. The orange flames that were sputtering out of the furnace¡¯s ventilation holes had already heated the Heavy Silver into a bright red color.

 Chapter 28 – Thousand Refined Heavy Silver

    Chapter 28 ¨C Thousand Refined Heavy Silver


    The higher the temperature, the more ductile the Heavy Silver became.


    Two hours of patient forging passed. The metal suddenly erupted, but Tang Wulin continued his relentless forging. With each powerful strike, the Heavy Silver gave off sparks as it began to deform.


    Whenever his arms began to ache, another wave of heat would circulate out from his vertebrate. It dissolved all of his aches the moment it flowed into the hundred bones of his four limbs. Tang Wulin also automatically transferred soul power into his arms in order to maintain his strength.


    Gradually, the chunk of Heavy Silver grew smaller and smaller as it became progressively more pure.


    It must be said that Heavy Silver¡¯s strength was that it already had very high and incredibly dense characteristics. If one wanted to purify and shrink it, it would be exceedingly difficult, especially if one wanted to avoid destroying its veins.


    As Tang Wulin¡¯s hands purified the metal, however, this chunk of Heavy Silver¡¯s value would increase by at least two or three-fold.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t even aware of how many times he had struck the chunk of metal. Gradually, the sounds of pounding died down. In front of him was a chunk of Heavy SIlver that was releasing a faintly discernable radiance. Everytime he struck, it appeared as if it would breathe in unison with him. Tang Wulin¡¯s vertebrae was already scorching hot and, hidden under his clothes, a dim golden-veined pattern appeared.


    Off to the side, Mang Tian¡¯s attention was completely focused upon the chunk of Heavy Silver and he hadn¡¯t noticed the change in his disciple¡¯s body at all.


    A golden spark appeared within the deepest depths of Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as his hammer became one with his body. With every strike, the Heavy Silver would sing out a comforting note.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shone brighter and brighter as his hammering also sped up. All of his strength was condensed into the pair of Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers he held in his hands.


    The Heavy Silver was beginning to reveal its purest state. It shrunk more and more. Shrinking by five percent, ten percent, fifteen percent. After reaching this degree of shrinking, its density had also reached its limit. It couldn¡¯t possibly shrink inwards anymore. Tang Wulin still continued to hammer it. With every strike, the Heavy Silver¡¯s vein lines would improve a little. Its vein lines were becoming more and more fair.


    The light of the forging flames had long since illuminated the blacksmiths within the room, turning them into a deep red. Tang Wulin¡¯s clothes were soaked in sweat. Even Mang Tian, who was watching from the sidelines, had his forehead covered with sweat.


    Thousand Refinings. This was the feeling of the Thousand Refinings.


    As a Grandmaster Blacksmith, Mang Tian had an outstandingly acute perception and knew that Tang Wulin and the Heavy Silver had come to an agreement.


    This was a type of indescribable feeling that one could only understand after completing the Thousand Refinements.


    Mang Tian had originally wanted Tang Wulin to just gain an understanding of Heavy Silver, and then he could finish his first Thousand Refinements any time before he went off to attend the intermediate academy. He absolutely didn¡¯t expect that Tang Wulin would be able to begin his Thousand Refinements the very first day he touched the Heavy Silver. Moreover, he had already entered this special state.


    This could be attributed to not just Tang Wulin¡¯s strength, but also his perception! A child like this was definitely destined to become a great master!


    Throughout his life, Mang Tian¡¯s greatest regret was his inability to become a Saint Craftsman level blacksmith. As he watched Tang Wulin however, he could see the boy fulfil his dreams in his place.


    Three hours had passed. Tang Wulin had never forged continuously for such a long period of time, especially with such intensity.


    Soon, three and a half hours went by and it was four hours!


    Unaware of what was happening, Tang Ziran stood outside of the forging room¡¯s doorway and waited. His son hadn¡¯t returned after so long, so he had come looking for him, just in time to see his son dripping with sweat.


    That fantastic tempo was like a symphony of hammering played under the focused gaze of his son.


    This was the first time he had seen his son forging. Clearly, this was a higher level of forging than he had expected! Tang Wulin was only nine years old too! In these three short years, he had unexpectedly already reached such a level in forging. Tang Ziran had met his fair share of master blacksmiths before, and now he could discern the aura of a master blacksmith coming from Tang Wulin!


    Tang Ziran didn¡¯t dare disturb him. Tang Wulin was clearly focused on his forging and gave it his heart and soul. Furthermore, Mang Tian was still observing from the side, clearly indicating that Tang Wulin was making a breakthrough in his forging right now.


    Four and a half hours later, Tang Wulin¡¯s expression had turned pale. The golden pattern on Tang Wulin¡¯s body had even disappeared long before Tang Ziran¡¯s arrival.


    The swollen ache that he felt in his first year of forging emerged once more at this time. His arms began feeling heavier and heavier. Evidently, he was overdrafting his strength, but still he didn¡¯t stop. He persistently continued using the majority of his strength, each strike having an equal amount of power as the one before. His body was being supported through sheer willpower as he continued on forging.


    ¡®Almost done. I¡¯m almost done. I can¡¯t stop now. Not now. I¡¯ll have wastes all of my efforts if I stop now.¡¯


    Due to a sort of profound connection between him and that piece of Heavy Silver, Tang Wulin was able to grit his teeth and bear the pain as he continued forging.


    Mang Tian subconsciously clenched his fists as he watched worriedly. In fact, he was even more anxious than Tang Wulin!


    If this child was able to succeed on his first attempt at the Thousand Refinements, then without a doubt, he would gain a lot of confidence. With that confidence, it would greatly benefit in any attempts at the Thousand Refinings he does in the future. His success rate would be much higher than other blacksmiths!


    However, would he be able to hold on until the end? It had nearly been five hours now. Even for Mang Tian, he would have to spare no effort and use his soul power in order to continuously forge for five hours straight.


    Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang¡­ The Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers continued hammering the metal as it baked in the fires of the furnace and stayed a bright red. If the hammers hadn¡¯t been Thousand Refined already, then they likely would have broken down long ago.


    Suddenly, that chunk of Heavy Silver trembled a bit under Tang Wulin¡¯s hammer blow and released a silver radiance, basking the whole room in a silver light.


    Tang Wulin lifted that hammer and then heavily smashed downwards with both hammers at once. In response, the silver light grew even more wild.


    Fast as lightning, Mang Tian reached Tang Wulin¡¯s side. A knife had suddenly appeared in his hands as his quickly slashed the tired boy¡¯s wrist.


    Once the blood sprinkled out, it landed on top of the twinkling Heavy Silver.


    Tang Ziran cried out in alarm but in the next moment, Mang Tian already covered up the wound on Tang Wulin¡¯s wrist. He was intensely staring at the twinkling chunk of Heavy Silver as he simultaneously closed the furnace.


    The blood drops on the Heavy Silver made a series of ¡®chi chi¡¯ sounds as they evaporated into smoke. The fires were extinguished, revealing the metal.


    The chunk of Heavy Silver was now a whole circle smaller than it was before. Its fiery red color quickly faded away and along with it, the twinkling silver light also dimmed.


    Before it had been forged, its dazzling silver color was already worn away and looked closer to a humble gray. There had been an additional layer of detailed lines on its exterior, just like the great waves of the sea. These veined patterns seemed as if they were carved on its body, yet it actually felt exceedingly smooth.


    The grey Heavy Silver had given off a profound feeling. It truly had fantastic qualities.


    It was the same for the Thousand Refinements version. Different metals would have varying difficulties for being Thousand Refined. If the difficulty of forging his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers was said to be a level of one, then the difficulty of the Heavy Silver could said to be level five, maybe even level eight!


    When Mang Tian had Tang Wulin try the Thousand Refinements with this chunk of Heavy Silver, he had never expected Tang Wulin to actually succeed. Rather, he wanted to use this sturdy metal to temper Tang Wulin and let him gain a feeling for the Thousand Refinings.


    However, five hours later, a whole five hours, he had succeeded!


    That Heavy Silver had been Thousand Refined!

 Chapter 29 – Understanding Refinement

    Chapter 29 ¨C Understanding Refinement


    Tang Wulin sat down on the floor as he was overcome by a surging wave of weakness. Mang Tian expertly removed a bandage from his pocket and pasted it onto his apprentice¡¯s wrist, covering the previous wound.


    Mang Tian, a master blacksmith, had a strange look on his face. His mouth was still slightly ajar at the sight of what had just happened.


    A genius was still a genius at the end of the day. Even if Tang Wulin didn¡¯t have a hammer as his martial soul, this fact remains unchanged. His ability to comprehend more than makes up for this deficiency.


    The Thousand Refinements. Even amongst most blacksmiths, it was a challenge that could not be accomplished. Yet, it was actually done at the hands of this 9 year old child! This was an unbelievable act.


    Tang Ziran had already rushed in to hold his son up.


    Mang Tian had been quietly mulling over his thoughts for quite some time before he spoke. ¡°Genius, this is a genius at work. Wulin, you must always remember the feeling you had today. To you, this is just the beginning¡­ This is just the first of the shocks you will bring to the blacksmithing world!¡±


    Unfortunately, the five hours of forging had led him to being completely spent and Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t heard the words his teacher spoke. He had already dozed off in the arms of his father.


    ***


    When he next awoke, Tang Wulin was on his bed.


    The sky was bright and the sun¡¯s rays pierced through the window sill and into the room. It shone on the bed Na¡¯er used to sleep on.


    Although Na¡¯er had already left, Tang Wulin had never allowed his parents to remove her bed. Deep down, he had always felt that Na¡¯er would come back one day.


    Although his wrists no longer caused him pain, his body still felt weak. His body felt warm, thus he lazed about on his bed. He felt an odd sense of comfort.


    A faint smile broke out on his face. The Thousand Refinements, it should have been completed!


    So this was how it felt like to experience the Thousand Refinements.


    Even when he lost consciousness, he could still clearly remember the feeling. At that point during the final stages of the forging, every hammer stroke resonated with the Heavy Silver. There was an extremely profound feeling. To him, the Heavy Silver felt as though it were alive. As Tang Wulin took a breath, so too did the Heavy Silver. Every stroke of the hammer was like a massage for the Heavy Silver and it called out with feelings of relief.


    When this feeling reached a peak, the Heavy Silver transformed. Its physical changes had accumulated to a point where it had become fundamentally engraved into the metal.


    Even if he didn¡¯t know what happened afterwards, he was still confident that he had succeeded.


    ¡®I am not a piece of trash, at least not when it comes to blacksmithing. Even as a Soul Master, my Bluesilver Grass is no ordinary Bluesilver Grass.


    ¡®Na¡¯er, if you were still around, how great would this have been. You would definitely be happy for me! Brother will get stronger and will protect you, I will never let anyone harm you.


    ¡®Na¡¯er, please come back soon, if not, tell me where you are! Why did you not explain yourself clearly before you left? I really miss you.¡¯


    Na¡¯er¡¯s sweet smile was etched into his mind. Her voice was like that of a skylark. When she called out for her brother, that pleasantness left him greatly satisfied.


    ¡®I will definitely find you in the future. I promise you.¡¯


    Gradually, the warmth from his body had led him back to dreamland and he fell into a deep sleep.


    ***


    When he next awoke, it was due to his hunger. The sky had already turned dark. Considering that he had slept since last night, this meant he had slept for an entire day!


    ¡°Mom, dad!¡± Tang Wulin shouted as he got up. His exhaustion had already dissipated but his stomach was still empty. He felt so hungry that he could eat an entire cow!


    ¡°Son, you¡¯re awake!¡± The door opened as Lang Yue rushed in.


    Tang Wulin said with a hint of pride, ¡°Mother, I can already execute the Thousand Refinements!¡±


    Lang Yue¡¯s eyes were bloodshot. To her this was not important, what was important was her son¡¯s well being!


    ¡°Good boy, is your body uncomfortable in any way?¡± Lang Yue asked gently.


    Tang Wulin shook his head, ¡°Nope! I¡¯m just hungry. Mom, since I¡¯m hungry, is there anything to eat?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, Mom bought a fat chicken for you and boiled chicken soup with it. Its waiting for you to drink. Your teacher said that you overexerted yourself and after waking up, you would need some nutritious and digestible food.¡±


    ***


    15 Minutes Later.


    Lang Yue and Tang Ziran stared speechlessly as their son gorged himself. To their son, what was a nutritious and digestible dish? So long as it could be eaten, it could be digested!


    An entire fat chicken, along with a pot of chicken soup, 5 buns, and 2 plates of vegetables had already been consumed by this 9 year old child and stuffed into his stomach. In addition, he looked as though he still hadn¡¯t had enough. He was still eating his sixth bun.


    ¡°Go and cook a few more dishes for our son,¡± Tang Ziran said as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Looking at his son eating with such gusto, even he felt like eating.


    Lang Yue hurriedly stood up.


    Tang Wulin really could eat, especially after spending such a large amount of energy. He spent almost an entire hour gorging before finally letting out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Son, you didn¡¯t hold anything back, right?¡± If it hadn¡¯t been for Tang Ziran stopping her, Lang Yue would have stopped letting Tang Wulin eat his fill. That capacity for food had already long surpassed a normal individual.


    Tang Wulin had a smile on his face as he said, ¡°Mom¡¯s cooking is still the best. I ate till I was content.¡±


    Tang Ziran carefully inspected his son¡¯s wrist, his eyes shining with a strange light. The place where Mang Tian had cut open Wulin¡¯s wrist just the day before had truly already healed. There was only a faint red line left in its place.


    At this point, Tang Wulin remembered and asked, ¡°Father, was I successful in yesterday¡¯s Thousand Refinements?¡±


    Tang Ziran smiled and nodded, ¡°Of course! You were successful, very successful! Your teacher could not stop praising you and said that when you awoke, you should quickly go and find him.¡±


    Tang Wulin jumped off his chair and said, ¡°Then I will be on my way!¡±


    Lang Yue frowned. ¡°It¡¯s so late already, why don¡¯t you go tomorrow?¡±


    Tang Ziran also stood up and said, ¡°He just awoke, an hour and a half later and he will still not be asleep. Since it still isn¡¯t too late, I will bring him and we¡¯ll be back after that.¡±


    Lang Yue gave him a glance, then threatened, ¡°If anything happens to my son, I tell you, you will be sleeping in the living room.¡±


    Tang Ziran sheepishly touched his nose. ¡°Well, he¡¯s my son as well.¡±


    The father and son duo left the house and made their way towards Mang Tian¡¯s workshop.


    ¡°Master, I¡¯m here!¡± Tang Wulin shouted once he entered the doorway. He eagerly anticipated what his first Thousand Refinings work had produced and what it looked like. The feeling of finishing the Thousand Refinements had led him to feel exceptionally happy at the moment.


    Mang Tian, clothed in his worn work clothes, walked out from the inside of the workshop. He usually had a cold exterior but today, upon seeing Tang Wulin, he actually let out a smile. Unknowingly, his eyes were full of satisfaction.


    He looked at Tang Ziran and nodded his head before beckoning to Tang Wulin. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    That piece of Heavy Silver was still in Tang Wulin¡¯s workshop. Mang Tian did not even shift the metal from its location after Tang Wulin was taken by father yesterday.


    ¡°Take a look at your work,¡± said Mang Tian to Tang Wulin. He pointed towards the Heavy Silver.

 Chapter 30 – Blood Sacrificed Thousand Refinement

    Chapter 30 ¨C Blood Sacrificed Thousand Refinement


    Actually, without Mang Tian¡¯s urgings, Tang Wulin had already moved over to inspect his own creation.


    Compared with its original state, the metal had already shrunk by one circle and the originally lustrous silver had turned into a dull grey colour. Tang Wulin¡¯s first impression was that the object possessed a deep, reserved, and simple quality.


    Engraved on the surface of that gray metal were endless layers of a wave-like pattern, as though it represented unlimited life force. What was even more surprising was that when Tang Wulin looked, it felt as though there was a connection between him and that piece of metal.


    This feeling was extremely strange. It was as though that piece of metal were a part of him.


    Mang Tian¡¯s voice resounded from behind him. ¡°To be honest, I had never expected that you would succeed on your first try. This result is due, in part, to your body and its physical abilities. Most importantly, it was possible because of your comprehension of the process while you refined it. I did not recognize the wrong apprentice; in this regard, you are a genius. Even if your martial soul is unsuited for forging, your ability to comprehend, along with your innate divine strength has more than made up for that gap.¡±


    Tang Ziran looked at Mang Tian in astonishment. He understood this old friend of his. With his personality, being able to praise someone with such high regard was something that happened rarely.


    ¡°Mang Tian, you better not spoil this son of mine.¡± Tang Ziran laughed.


    Mang Tian looked him in the eye and said, ¡°I have already restrained myself.¡±


    Indeed, he did not give praise to every aspect of this achievement. He did not mention that Tang Wulin had actually broken a new record of being the youngest individual to achieve this. If news of his age and his achievement were to be spread, it would definitely lead to a large uproar in the blacksmithing world.


    ¡°Do you understand what the Thousand Refinements are now?¡± Mang Tian asked Tang Wulin. His method of teaching was different from others, he would usually not give a lot of guidance and would only speak when his disciples had attained enlightenment through practice.


    Tang Wulin nodded his head and said, ¡°It was as if the metal had gained a life of its own. Every time I struck it, I could hear the sounds it was making.¡±


    Mang Tian smiled yet again. These two days he had smiled more than he had in the past year!


    ¡°Not bad, what you said is true. The Thousand Refinements create vitality. The Hundred Refinements purifies and removes the impurities. The Thousand Refinements bestows life into the metal. The Thousand Refinements was originally a method created by us blacksmiths to infuse life into a metal.  The metal that has life can then be considered to be the most precious by us, and in turn this can allow it to awaken its innate special qualities.¡±


    ¡°The Thousand Refinements creates vitality?¡± Tang Wulin silently mulled over those words before his eyes lit up in understanding.


    Mang Tian continued, ¡°This is your first Thousand Refinements work. Traditionally, in the blacksmithing world, when a blacksmith creates their first Thousand Refined work, this object should undergo the Blood Sacrifice, in order to forever be part of the blacksmith¡¯s belongings.¡±


    ¡°Blood Sacrifice? What is that?¡± Tang Wulin asked curiously.


    Mang Tian continued, ¡°If one were to say that the Thousand Refinements were to bestow life to the metal, then the Blood Sacrifice would be to let it become one with your blood vessels. It would become a part of your body. Combining the Blood Sacrifice with a metal that has undergone the Thousand Refinements, this would result in your blood vessels having the same improvement, being able to bring out stronger innate qualities!¡±


    At the side, Tang Ziran couldn¡¯t help but shout out, ¡°Brother Mang, if every Thousand Refinements requires the Blood Sacrifice, how much blood will a blacksmith lose?¡±


    Mang Tian retorted, ¡°If you don¡¯t understand, don¡¯t blabber rubbish. Do you think that every Thousand Refinements produces an object worthy of using the Blood Sacrifice on?


    ¡°A blacksmith¡¯s first Thousand Refined work will have to undergo the Blood Sacrifice, as this is our tradition. From today onwards, very few objects will require the Blood Sacrifice. Usually, only when one is wholly satisfied with the result would one do so. Once you utilize the Blood Sacrifice, this piece of metal can only be used by the individual. Even if others were to attempt to forge with it, it would not be possible as the metal would not recognize anyone else. Even if they tried, the metal would just shatter; it only recognizes its master.¡±


    ¡°Thus, a Thousand Forging¡¯s work, would usually not undergo the Blood Sacrifice. Unless the client wishes to use their own blood to do so, then it would work. Tang Wulin, I want to emphasize to you on this point. In the future, unless you really need the metal and the Thousand Refinements is successful, do not easily utilize the Blood Sacrifice. That will only harm your vitality.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master,¡± Tang Wulin promised as he nodded furiously. His eyes, however, were already focused on that piece of Heavy Silver.


    ¡°It¡¯s yours.¡± Mang Tian smiled as he said it.


    Wulin replied in shock, ¡°But Master, I cannot afford it.¡±


    Mang Tian continued, ¡°This is what you deserve, this Heavy Silver might have a price on it, but the Thousand Refinements is priceless. Also, as per the rules of the blacksmithing world, regardless of whomever provides the material, for the first work produced by the Thousand Refinements , it belongs to the blacksmith who made it. Being able to undergo the Thousand Refinements, that tungsten hammer is not very suitable for your use. With the size of this Heavy Silver, it is perfect for producing two hammers. Before you leave to for an intermediate academy, first finish crafting this. I also want to see what your first Thousand Refinements work¡¯s awakened special quality is.¡±


    ¡°Are you really giving it to me?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shone with happiness as he asked.


    ¡°Do you actually think I want to fool you?¡± Mang Tian retorted. ¡°It¡¯s no longer early, go back tonight and rest well.  Come again tomorrow to forge your Heavy Silver hammer.¡±


    ¡°OH YEAH! Thank you master!¡± Tang Wulin cheered happily. He gave a deep bow to Mang Tian before grabbing the Heavy Silver and hugging it.


    As the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver was grasped in his hand, Tang Wulin could feel that it was extremely heavy. This piece of Heavy Silver was approximately 150 kilograms in weight! When one looked upon it, it didn¡¯t seem all that large.


    Metal in hand, Tang Wulin could feel what his Master had said about the connection with his blood. He could already feel that this Heavy Silver was a part of him as he held it. This feeling was both wonderful and strange. If he were to use this material for his forging hammer, what kind of result would that bring?


    For the next few days, Tang Wulin was immersed in the forging process. Blacksmithing brought him a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that only after he finished the Thousand Refinements had Mang Tian truly recognized him as his disciple, to the point where Mang Tian stopped his work to patiently teach Tang Wulin.


    Three days later, the Heavy Silver forging was finally complete.


    Looking at the hammer on the forging anvil, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart was filled with pride. When he had just finished the Thousand Refinements on the Heavy Silver, that was just the base of what was to come. Now, this was truly his first complete Thousand Refinements work.


    Looking at the appearance of the hammer, this Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammer was no different from the Thousand Refined Tungsten hammer. Even its size was similar. The difference was that the weight was several times heavier. If not for Tang Wulin¡¯s strength combined with his spirit soul¡¯s strengthening, even moving the hammer would not have been an easy task.

 Chapter 31 – Peak Special Effect

    Chapter 31 ¨C Peak Special Effect


    At first glance, the pair of Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers didn¡¯t appear eye-catching. Their grey exterior made them appear like ordinary forging hammers. Upon closer inspection however, one would discover dark, wave-like patterns covering its whole body. The dark wavy patterns on the handle even seemed to be nurturing an endless strength.


    A spiral pattern twisted along the hammers¡¯ handles, down to the very end, where it stopped at a sharp point.


    He had spent three whole days forging these hammers, little by little. During the forging process, he could feel in his blood that he was doing half the work for twice the results. Even though he worked with such efficiency, it had still taken him three whole days to complete the project.


    ¡°It¡¯s finished. Let¡¯s see what the Thousand Refined special effect is,¡± Mang Tian said to Tang Wulin. Even a master blacksmith like Mang Tian had expectant eyes.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin nodded and gripped the pair of Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers in his hands.


    He had already conducted a series of measurements after forging them. The hammer in his left hand weighed 152 kilograms while the hammer in his right hand weighed 166 kilograms. Although these hammers appeared small, their weight could definitely be described by using one word: astonishing.


    As Tang Wulin held the spiral patterned handles, he could sense the soul power in his body surging forth. In a flash, his soul power connected with the two hammers.


    Although Tang Wulin¡¯s increase in strength wasn¡¯t small by any measure, it wasn¡¯t enough to solely rely on brute strength when forging these hammers. Even if he had innate divine strength, there was still the restriction of him being only nine years old.


    As he felt the connection between his blood and these hammers, it was as if they grew lighter by a bit. Moreover, with the addition of his soul power, his grip on the two hammers became exceptionally steady.


    Tang Wulin took out a chunk of metal from the forging furnace that had been prepared beforehand. After a moment, his eyes focused and he gave the customary light tap on the chunk of metal with the hammer in his left hand.


    Ding ding ding! Three brittle notes resounded.


    Tang Wulin stood there foolishly while Mang Tian¡¯s pupils contracted momentarily.


    ¡°Test it out again.¡± Mang Tian eagerly said.


    Tang Wulin once again tapped the chunk of metal with the hammer in his left hand.


    Ding ding ding. Three brittle notes resounded once again, despite the fact that he had only tapped the metal once.


    ¡°Use a heavy strike!¡± Mang Tian said deeply.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand was already trailing an arc in the air as he heavily hammered the chunk of metal.


    DANG DANG DANG! Three crisp bangs exploded out. Due to the stronger strike this time, Tang Wulin and Mang Tian were clearly able to see that the moment the hammer made contact with the chunk of metal, two blurred images similar to the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammer had appeared behind it. The two extra ¡®dang¡¯s had come from those phantom copies.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Tang Wulin looked towards Mang Tian in bewilderment.


    Mang Tian stared blankly, nearly losing his voice as he said, ¡°Stacked Hammers effect.¡±


    ¡°Teacher, what is the ¡®Stacked Hammers¡¯?¡±


    Mang Tian looked at him with eccentric eyes, ¡°You brat, you really are a little monster! Even I haven¡¯t ever forged hammers with the Stacked Hammers effect.¡±


    After a few frantic breaths, Mang Tian was able to calm himself down. Mang Tian had thought that Tang Wulin¡¯s first Thousand Refinements would have a pretty good special effect, but he had never expected that it would actually be such an outrageous one.


    ¡°The reason blacksmiths use the Blood Sacrifice for their first Thousand Refinements is because it usually has a good special effect. Thus, the Blood Sacrifice will connect the metal with your blood vessels and push the awakened special effect to its peak. As a result, almost all blacksmiths will have their first Thousand Refined work be a pair of forging hammers that they will use throughout their life.¡±


    Tang Wulin was a smart kid, so he was immediately able to understand that Mang Tian had been prepared to gift that chunk of Heavy Silver to him the moment he had taken it out. Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t too clear about the exact value of Heavy Silver, but he understood that it was exceedingly valuable. Especially since it was such a large chunk of purified Heavy Silver.


    Mang Tian continued on. ¡°There are several amazing special effects that can be produced by the Thousand Refinements, but only an effect that is truly fitting for its user can be considered perfect. I¡¯ve already explained to you before that the first mold of a Thousand Refined metal will be its peak. Any subsequent forgings to change its shape will inevitably cause damage to its internal structure, thus influencing its quality. As a result, it is exceedingly rare for the first forging of the metal to have a suitable effect.¡±


    Tang Wulin clearly understood the meaning of his teacher¡¯s words. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the Stacked Hammers effect of my Heavy Silver Hammers is a peak special effect? Moreover, it¡¯s very suitable for my Heavy Silver Hammers?¡±


    Mang Tian nodded and smiled. ¡°I¡¯m actually a bit envious. After the blood sacrifice, these hammers with such a peak special effect can only be used by you.


    ¡°The so called ¡®Stacked Hammers¡¯ is when a strike of the hammer causes resonates within itself, and creates a second, or maybe even a third strike. You have a Thrice Stacked Hammer, which is also the peak of the Stacked Hammers effect. Simply said, when you try to Hundred Refine metals in the future, your Thrice Stacked Hammers will cut down the necessary forging time by half! The two stacked hammers should have a power of 70% and 50% of the original strike. Once you¡¯ve gained better control of the Stacked Hammers effect, you¡¯ll definitely be able to do half the work for twice the results, no matter what metal you¡¯re forging.¡±


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Controlling the Stacked Hammers effect?¡±


    Mang Tian replied, ¡°It¡¯s actually quite hard to control. However, your hammers are Blood Sacrificed and thus, its like the hammers are integrated into your body, making controlling much easier.¡±


    The Blood Sacrifice creates a sort of fantastic bond between one¡¯s blood and the metal. Blood Sacrificed metals can only be forged by the one who offered their blood. As a result, Blood Sacrificed Thousand Refined items are the personal items of the blacksmith. Even if others sacrificed their blood instead, they would have to forge it themselves for the best product.¡±


    Thus, the Blood Sacrifice isn¡¯t commonly used when forging. Blacksmiths rarely create their own Blood Sacrificed products.


    Tang Wulin had bad luck in the aspect of his martial soul and spirit soul. It seemed that he had finally found his luck on the path of forging. With the Stacked Hammers effect of his Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers, he would undoubtedly be able to smoothly walk the path of a blacksmith in the future.


    ¡°You must practice diligently and quickly learn to control the Stacked Hammers,¡± Mang Tian said. ¡°In addition, try to keep your hammers a secret. The competition within the blacksmithing world is just as intense as the world of Soul Masters. Until you¡¯re able to protect your hammers, you can¡¯t lightly reveal them. Understand?¡±


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t completely understood the meaning behind Mang Tian¡¯s warning, but he nodded nonetheless. He knew that whatever his teacher told him to do was for his own good.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you these then.¡± Mang Tian lifted up his hand. Two metal hoops rested in his palms. These two metal hoops were grey in appearance, but were actually forged from Thousand Refined Heavy Silver.

 Chapter 32 – Heavy Silver Storage Rings

    Chapter 32 ¨C Heavy Silver Storage Rings


    Mang Tian said, ¡°This is what I made yesterday. Both of them posses one-eighth of a cubic meter of space. It¡¯s just enough for you to use.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at Mang Tian in shock. In his three years of learning at the elementary academy, in addition to Mang Tian¡¯s words, he was well aware of what they were. ¡°Teacher, are these storage soul tools? This¡­ I can¡¯t accept them. They¡¯re too valuable.¡±


    Mang Tian said, ¡°These are storage soul tools of the lowest grade. They don¡¯t even have a soul power battery, so only a Soul Master can use it by pouring their own soul power into it. It¡¯s really not worth that much money. You¡¯ve already worked for me for so long and your wages weren¡¯t that high either. You can count this as a bonus.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stammering as he said, ¡°But I¡¯ve already accepted your Heavy Silver.¡± A storage soul tool. It was actually a storage soul tool! He didn¡¯t even dare to think of obtaining one, but now, two were right in front of him. His teacher was even gifting it to him. How could he not want them? It was just that he had already received too much from his teacher.


    Mang Tian pulled Tang Wulin¡¯s hand and slipped the Heavy Silver Ring on. The ring adjusted its size to fit his wrist just perfectly.


    Afterwards, he did the same with the other arm.


    Although these rings seemed dull, when Tang Wulin looked at them, they seemed full of meaning to him. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but tear up a bit at the sight of those rings.


    ¡°Teacher¡­¡±


    Mang Tian had a wooden expression as he said, ¡°The fist doesn¡¯t leave the hand, music doesn¡¯t leave the mouth. For us blacksmiths, it is the hammer that doesn¡¯t leave our hands. Are you going to carry your hammers around with you when you roam the streets? You must remember, Blood Sacrificed Thousand Refined metals must be used frequently. Your aura, your blood vessels, and your soul power will all nurture it. The longer you¡¯re with it, the stronger the bond. If you grow powerful enough in the future, it might even gain another refinement effect.


    ¡°Good then. Go home now and pack up your things. Come visit me one more time before you leave for Eastsea City.¡±


    Tang Wulin suddenly recalled something and said to Mang Tian, ¡°Teacher, you previously said this is your own work. Could it be that you¡¯re a Soul Guide Master?¡±


    Mang Tian went silent for a moment. ¡°I can be considered one, but I¡¯d rather just be a blacksmith. I¡¯m not able to walk too far on the path of a Soul Guide Master. You¡¯ll understand why in the future. Now run along and go properly cultivate your soul power. You must remember that soul power is the foundation of everything. Even if you have innate divine strength, it will still have its limits. Moreover, on the Douluo Continent, no matter the occupation, soul power is crucial once you reach the upper levels. In the future, you definitely can¡¯t fuse with just any spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Try out your Heavy Silver Rings. You just need to insert some soul power into them and use your mind to control it. Then it¡¯ll store or take out any items you want.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded, then picked up his two Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers.


    As the era changed, soul tools began to penetrate deeply into human society. In fact, not all soul tools needed soul power to operate. The name simply stuck due to it being the original name that was used long ago.


    Humanity had already learned how to exploit the power of the wind, water, sun and so on. With these new methods, they have been able to manufacture energies similar to soul power. This new energy was used in every trade, especially in the development of soul mechas. Soul mechas have already been turned into the main combat weapon of the federation.


    Even Tang Wulin had encountered soul tools in his life. For example, the soul lamp in his home, or those vehicles powered by soul energy on the roads. There were many more kinds of soul tools. Even the forging station in front of him was a soul tool. Even with how prevalent it was in society however, this was still the first time that he owned a soul tool himself.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin clearly knew from the storage soul ring¡¯s carved array inscriptions that it wasn¡¯t a low grade soul tool like his teacher said. This was a soul tool that was specially handmade. Its market price was definitely high.


    He still accepted this gift. Tang Wulin really did like them and he did need these Heavy Silver Rings. He engraved his teacher¡¯s kindness into his heart. Such a great kindness couldn¡¯t be thanked with simple words, so he didn¡¯t say anything.


    A dim silver light twinkled as Tang Wulin controlled the rings with his thoughts. He felt the weight in his hands disappear as the two Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers entered the Heavy Silver Rings around his wrists. One eighth of a cubic meter of space couldn¡¯t be considered big, but it was still enough to hold one of the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers with some room to spare. For these kinds of short forging hammers, their length didn¡¯t even exceed 50 centimeters.


    Urging on the Heavy SIlver Rings would consume a bit more soul power, but the amount was still miniscule. Even a Soul Master with rank 11 soul power like Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t burdened by it.


    With another thought, soul power poured into the rings and the two hammers reappeared once more in his hands. This was undoubtedly the mysterious magic of the storage soul tool.


    Mang Tian nodded. ¡°You run on home now. Just remember my warnings.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡¯


    On the road home, Tang Wulin was practically basking in joy. His Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers had a peak special effect and he received a pair of Heavy Silver Rings. This was already a great surprise for him and they had already become his most precious things.


    ?


    ¡°Zi Ran, have you really decided?¡± Lang Yue said as she looked at her husband with eyes full of distress.


    Tang Ziran let out a sigh. ¡°My weakness has already affected our son¡¯s future. I can¡¯t go on like this. For the sake of our son, how can this be considered difficult? I have already promised them.¡±


    Lang Yue said with eyes on the verge of tears, ¡°But if it¡¯s like that, then who knows how long it¡¯ll be before we can see our son again¡­¡±


    Tang Ziran said, ¡°If only Lin Lin was an ordinary child¡­ Then he could live an ordinary and happy life with us. However, our son isn¡¯t ordinary at all. On the contrary, he¡¯s outstanding. If it wasn¡¯t for my weakness, then maybe he would have been able to fuse with a good spirit soul. Then he would definitely be able to progress even further on his path and accomplish great things.


    ¡°Mang Tian told me that Lin Lin has a tenacious temperament and he¡¯s far more mature than his peers. Moreover, he¡¯s naturally talented in the field of forging. As long as Lin Lin continues learning under him, Lin Lin will definitely surpass him in the future. Mang Tian is already a six star master blacksmith. What kind of level will Lin Lin reach if he surpasses Mang Tian?


    ¡°And no matter how much he forges, he is still a Soul Master. His soul power and spirit soul still count as his foundation. As his father, I¡¯ve already acted so timidly for so many years. So many years of serenity. Now it¡¯s our son¡¯s time. I have decided. I will fight for our son¡¯s sake from now on.¡±

 Chapter 33 – First Arrival in Eastsea City

    Chapter 33 ¨C First Arrival in Eastsea City


    Eastsea City.


    This was the second largest seaside city in the Sun-Moon Federation. Its main feature was its port, which served as a nexus for travelling the seas and exploiting the resources of the ocean.


    The city had a population of over three million people. By exploiting the natural resources in the ocean, the city was able to prosper. Even when compared to the rest of the Sun-Moon Federation, it could still be considered a second-tier city.


    Eastsea City had a long history and its overall appearance had preserved its original state of a simple and unadorned style. In the last several hundred years, the Sun-Moon Federation had taken extra care to protect some of the more ancient buildings. Thus, many of the millennia old buildings could be found in this ancient city.


    ?


    Eastsea City soul train station.


    A dark blue soul train slowly entered the station and came to a stop.


    In Eastsea City, nearly all of the soul trains were blue in color.


    After coming to a stop, the train¡¯s doors opened up, letting the people onboard off. Many people greeted each other but after a moment, the station returned to its usual hustle and bustle as people headed towards the exit.


    Tang Wulin tightly held onto his rucksack as he followed the stream of people towards the exit. This was the first time he had ever been to such a major city so his curious gaze was wandering all over the place.


    The train station¡¯s ceiling was constructed from a bunch of metal tubes. With a glance, Tang Wulin could tell that all these metal tubes had been casted and were pressed into completion like ordinary metal.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t too good and he seemed rather gloomy.


    Before his eyes was an unfamiliar environment. Naturally, a nine-year-old child like him would inevitably feel a bit frightened by this.


    He had come to Eastsea City to attend the Eastsea City Academy. He had thought his mom or dad would have accompanied him here, but his dad told him he was a big kid already, and that he should go and experience it for himself. After buying him a ticket, they brought him to the soul train and saw him off.


    This was the first time Tang Wulin was so far away from home. Even after leaving the house, Lang Yue had been tirelessly instructing him on various matters. His mind had already gone blank when he arrived and he could only follow the stream of people outwards with a face full of perplexion.


    While he was following the stream of people, it suddenly split in two, giving Tang Wulin a clear look at a polished black soul car that was parked on the platform. The stream of people had split in order to avoid this car.


    Although he didn¡¯t recognize what type of car this was, he could tell from its exterior that it was absolutely high class. The body of the car was slender and sleek, its four wheels had caterpillar tracks on them. It seems it was an all-terrain vehicle.


    Beside the car doors stood two men in black suits who were peering into the crowd.


    When Tang Wulin neared the car, the two men found their target. One of the men walked in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction with large strides and respectfully called out, ¡°Young Master!¡±


    Naturally, this address wasn¡¯t directed at Tang Wulin. While he was looked around for this young master, a youth strode out from behind him.


    This youth looked to be about the same age from his appearance. He was dressed in blue from head to toe and had short brown hair. When Tang Wulin turned around to look, the youth had already walked past his side, so Tang Wulin was only able to catch a glimpse of the side of his face.


    Fair white skin, a straight nose, eyes that were slightly sunken in, long eyelashes that curled up slightly and eyes that were deep green in color.


    Right at that moment, Tang Wulin was pushed from the side and stumbled into that young master¡¯s shoulder.


    Staggering backwards from the collision, the youth caught himself and abruptly turned towards Tang Wulin.


    The youth was handsome but Tang Wulin could clearly feel that he had a cold and arrogant temperament. The youths expression soured, but after a glance, he continued walking towards the soul car. His expression wasn¡¯t one of indifference to his offender, rather, it was one of disdain.


    ¡°My apologies!¡± Tang Wulin hastily said.


    The man who had stepped forward to greet his young master raised his hand and pushed Tang Wulin away, back into the crowd, nearly causing him to fall over.¡±


    ¡°Be careful you hick.¡± The man in black said fiercely before following the youth to the car.


    The other man in black opened the car door for the young master with one hand, while the other rested on top of the door.


    The youth didn¡¯t turn back even once, and directly entered the car. The two men in black quickly entered and started the soul engine, which let out a muffled rumbling sound before the black soul car drove off.


    Tang Wulin rubbed his stomach. Although it didn¡¯t hurt, he was still furious in his heart and thought to himself, ¡®These city people are truly too tyrannical!¡¯


    Tang Wuling followed the stream of people which dispersed after leaving the train station,


    When he turned around to look, he only saw these words plastered on a sign: Eastsea Soul Train Station.


    As he looked at this huge structure that was the train station, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration. Compared to the largest building in Glorybound City, this train station was even more grand.


    He turned back around and surveyed his surroundings. Reflected in his eyes was a wide street with many skyscrapers off in the distance. All kinds of soul cars could be seen on the streets as the constantly sped about. The stream of people was simply bustling with activity. This all combined together to give one a feeling of constriction.


    Shrinking into his body, Tang Wulin rummaged through his rucksack for his water bottle, and quickly drank a mouthful.


    After taking a drink of water, he rummaged through his rucksack once again and took out a slip of paper. This slip of paper was written for him by his father. His father had written what he should do once he arrived in Eastsea City.


    Right at that moment, a middle aged man that with slim build walked over with a beaming smile. ¡°Little friend, is this your first time coming to Eastsea City? Where are your parents?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at his slip of paper. The very first thing the paper said was: Don¡¯t trust strangers easily.


    He raised his head and glanced at the middle aged man before shaking his head. Without speaking to the man, he quickly walked off.


    The direction he headed in had a tower and on top of it was written: Administrative Law Enforcement.


    Tang Wulin asked to the two officers in uniform as he neared the tower, ¡°Hello uncle police officer. Can you tell me where the regular bus to the Eastsea Academy is?¡±


    For the famous Eastsea Academy, every year around registration time, there would be regular busses near the train station that would take students to the academy. As long as he found the bus, he would be able to go to the academy without a hitch.


    One of the officers pointed to a location not too far away and said, ¡°It¡¯s right over there. Child, where¡¯s your family?¡±


    Tang Wulin straightened his posture and answered, ¡°Uncle, I¡¯m not little anymore. Thank you.¡±


    After he finished speaking, Tang Wulin turned around and ran off in the direction the officer had pointed in.


    Sure enough, after passing through the crowd of people, Tang Wulin saw a sign with white words on a blue background that said: Eastsea Academy.


    Under the sign was a chair, and behind the chair were several 17 to 18-year-old youths in blue sportswear.


    When they saw Tang Wulin walk over, a black haired girl smiled and said, ¡°Little brother, are you here to report?¡±


    The black haired girl had a pair of red phoenix eyes, a moderate build and a sweet appearance that gave a feeling of warmth.

 Chapter 34 – Reporting In

    Chapter 34 ¨C Reporting In


    ¡°Hello elder sister, my name is Tang Wulin. I¡¯m here to report,¡± Tang Wulin said politely.


    Liu Yuxin was a bit surprised when she sized up the little boy in front of her. He looked to be about 11 or 12 years old, but he was actually a new student here to register. Since he definitely had an academy¡¯s recommendation, this meant he was actually just nine years old!


    Although he was young, he still had a very pretty appearance. That¡¯s right. Liu Yuxin had to use ¡®pretty¡¯ to describe this boy¡¯s appearance. He had large eyes and long eyelashes that even made her a bit jealous. In front of this pretty boy, she couldn¡¯t help but be at a loss as her face cramped up a bit.


    ¡°Hello, my name is Liu Yuxin. I¡¯m a first grader at the Eastsea Advanced Academy and I¡¯m in charge of receiving new students this year. I¡¯m your senior sister here. Come and fill out this form and afterwards, show me your recommendation letter from your elementary academy.¡±


    Liu Yuxin passed a form to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin relaxed a bit in his heart as he took a furtive glance at the senior sister in front of him.


    Liu Yuxin watched as Tang Wulin filled out the form, and couldn¡¯t help but read out loud as he did so, ¡°Tang Wulin. Nine years old. Graduated from Glorybound City¡¯s Red Mountain Elementary Academy. Rank 11 plant system Soul Master. martial soul: Bluesilver Grass. Ah! Your martial soul is Bluesilver Grass?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded.


    Liu Yuxin smiled sweetly, ¡°To be able to reach rank 11 at your age with a martial soul like Bluesilver Grass, it truly isn¡¯t easy at all.¡±


    When he didn¡¯t hear the usual disdain in this senior sister¡¯s words, Tang Wulin¡¯s gained a much more favorable impression of her. He scratched his head as he said, ¡°Elder sister, you¡¯ll even recognize a Soul Master who has Bluesilver Grass for a martial soul?¡±


    Liu Yuxin smiled. ¡°Of course! Of course our academy recognizes it, even if it is just an alright martial soul. Soul Masters have been developing for several tens of thousands of years all the way until now. The martial soul isn¡¯t nearly as important as it was back in ancient times. You can definitely improve it with spirit souls and furthermore, you¡¯ll discover that martial souls won¡¯t be that significant in your upper years.


    ¡°More importantly is your soul power rank and your talent with mechas. Afterall, a mecha can turn a Soul Master with an ordinary martial soul into a powerhouse! So you must cultivate properly, little brother. In the future you can also just call me Senior Sister.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Senior Sister.¡± Tang Wulin wholeheartedly thanked this pretty senior sister. Her words had dispelled much of the worries Tang Wulin had upon first arriving in such a large city.


    Liu Yuxin looked over Tang Wulin¡¯s recommendation letter before stamping it and handing it back to him along with a small metal placard.


    ¡°Wear this metal placard around your neck as it¡¯s proof that you¡¯ve been admitted to the academy when you get to the gates. You still need to go check-in and receive your supplies. Get on the bus behind me and we¡¯ll take off for the academy once a few more students arrive.¡±


    Tang Wulin thanked her once again and greeted the others as he walked over to the big bus.


    An upper grade student from Eastsea Academy who stood beside Liu Yuxin gave Tang Wulin a glance as his mouth twitched. ¡°Yuxin, what are you telling that bumpkin? He¡¯s already carrying such a big burden with his martial soul being Bluesilver Grass. That¡¯s a trash martial soul and it¡¯s not like all Bluesilver Grass martial souls possess the lineage of our senior¡¯s Bluesilver King.¡±


    Liu Yuxin stared at him wide eyed. ¡°You can¡¯t discriminate against our junior brother. He¡¯s only nine years old and he was able to cultivate his Bluesilver Grass to the realm of Soul Master. How would you know if that Bluesilver Grass carries the lineage of a the king or not? Don¡¯t cheat those younger than you, haven¡¯t you ever heard of that before? Who knows if our pretty junior brother will become a proud son of heaven in the future.¡±


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t heard those words, otherwise he would have viewed this senior sister even better.


    The Eastsea Academy¡¯s bus was exceptionally wide and could hold fifty people. There were already some on the bus. Some of them were his peers, while the others were adults. These were clearly parents who had come to accompany their children to report.


    A trace of envy flashed through Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. Even if his willpower surpassed his peer, he was still just a nine year old child in the end! How could he not wish for his mother and father to accompany him here?


    He sat on a seat by the window and peered through to observe the unfamiliar city as he tightly hugged his arms. This was where he was going to live from now on.


    After finding the Eastsea Academy¡¯s bus, most of his nervousness had been dispelled. In this strange new environment, however, he still felt as lost and helpless as he did before.


    He still clearly remembered the meaningful and heartfelt words his father had told him before he left.


    ¡°Lin Lin, you must remember that in this world, the only person you can completely trust and rely on is yourself. No matter what kind of setbacks you encounter, or bad affairs you run into, you have to ask yourself if this was just because you weren¡¯t powerful enough.¡±


    When these words were spoken to a nine-year-old child, they had a shocking impact. After separating from his mother and father, he could only rely on himself now.


    He lowered his head and peered down at the modest looking Heavy Silver Rings on his wrists. The rings originally had extra space which could have been used for his luggage. Instead, Mang Tian had him bring his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers in addition to the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers he was already bringing. With only one eighth of a cubic meter of space, there naturally wouldn¡¯t be much room left after those four hammers.


    Tang Wulin closed his eyes and rested. He went over the words of his father and his teacher once more and thought, ¡®I can do it!¡¯ Subconsciously, he had regained his confidence.


    Tang Wulin quickly fell asleep in a dazed state. When the bus began making its way to the academy, Tang Wulin woke up and looked out the window.


    The bus was already full. Everyone else was accompanied by their parents, leaving him the only one who was sitting alone.


    He watched as the scenery outside of the window changed to stores that lined the streets. The bus was travelling amongst an endless stream of vehicles. Urgency and the scent of steel permeated the atmosphere. Everyone on the streets were bustling about. At the very least, it was countless times busier than the streets of Glorybound City.


    A lofty building slid into view after the 20 minute long bus ride. In front of them was a high wall.


    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived at the academy. Please get off the bus now, everybody.¡± A familiar voice came from the front, drawing Tang Wulin¡¯s attention. It was Senior Sister Liu Yuxin who had been sitting all the way at the front. She greeted all of the students, along with their parents, who had come to report in.


    When Tang Wulin hastily got off the bus, Liu Yuxin instantly recognized him as this junior brother of hers had left a profound impression upon her. ¡°Ah that¡¯s right. Tang Wulin, come with me in a moment.¡±

 Chapter 35 – Roommates

    Chapter 35 ¨C Roommates


    The wall in front of them was precisely a part of Eastsea Academy. Not too far off were the large stone academy gates which gave off an imposing feeling.


    Eastsea Academy was a large academy which was actually comprised of both an intermediate academy and an advanced academy. Liu Yuxin was a student of the advanced academy.


    One simply couldn¡¯t assume that the intermediate academy and the advanced academy were just a single step apart from each other. In reality, the two had a myriad of differences between one another.


    The intermediate academy still fell under a compulsory education, so it didn¡¯t require any tuition fees. Eastsea Academy was a Soul Master academy and the intermediate academy took up two thirds of the total area.  On the other hand, the advanced academy, which only took up one third of the area, was still the most important part of the academy.


    As long as one was a Soul Master and resided within the greater area of Eastsea City, or had a recommendation letter, one would be able to enter the intermediate academy and receive a Soul Master¡¯s education. They would study at the intermediate academy for six years. After graduating, students would then be able to take the entrance exam to enter an advanced Soul Master academy, but no more than a tenth of the applicants pass.


    Advanced academies weren¡¯t part of the compulsory education, so a series of rigorous exams would be used to test the applicants. Anyone who was accepted into an advanced academy would definitely be considered an elite.


    If it was said that elementary academies taught the basic Soul Master and martial soul knowledge, then intermediate academies taught students how to use this knowledge and the direction in which they take to cultivate their martial souls. Their studies still wouldn¡¯t truly begin until they entered an advanced academy.


    Tang Wulin passed through the gates and began walking on a wide, tree-lined road that cut through a courtyard. The road was paved with limestone, which gave it a simple and unadorned appearance.


    Liu Yuxin smiled. ¡°For the sake of everyone¡¯s safety, the academy doesn¡¯t allow the use of vehicles within its grounds. If any vehicles enter campus grounds, they will have to immediately head off to the side and enter the underground parking lot. The advanced academy division is on the west side, while the rest of the campus is part of the intermediate academy.¡±


    Thanks to this senior sister¡¯s introductions, Tang Wulin quickly understood that the academy wasn¡¯t as simple as he had first thought.


    The intermediate academy¡¯s school building was located on the east side of the campus grounds. It was a massive building with twelve floors in total. The upperclassmen would be in the higher floors while the newer students would be on the lower floors. Being a first grader student himself, Tang Wulin would be attending classes on the first and second floors.


    ¡°Those are the administrative offices over there. Go on over and report in. Your dormitory should be behind the school building. If you need anything in the future, come over to the advanced academy and find me. I¡¯m a first grader in class one of the advanced academy.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Senior Sister.¡±


    As she looked at the junior brother who had thanked her countless times, Liu Yuxin couldn¡¯t help but giggle and smile. ¡°No need to be so restrained. The atmosphere in the academy is very good. I wish you good luck. You¡¯ll be assigned a class once you¡¯re done reporting, then you¡¯ll be tested. You¡¯ll gain some benefits if you do well in these tests.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes followed the departing figure of Liu Yuxin until he couldn¡¯t see her anymore. It was only then that he entered the administration building.


    Thanks to the recommendation as well as the metal placard Liu Yuxin had given him, the enrollment procedures were completed without a hitch.


    Two sets of the school uniform were provided free of charge, as well as a dormitory key. He wouldn¡¯t receive any learning materials until his first class.


    He had been assigned to class five of the first graders. From now on, he was a new student at Eastsea Academy.


    Tang Wulin greeted everyone as he walked past the school building. He soon arrived at the dormitory, which was nearly as tall as the school building as it also contained twelve floors. His dorm room was on the second floor, room number 205.


    The corridor was noisy and in disarray as countless new students were reporting in during these last few days. The noise also wasn¡¯t limited to just the new students; parents who accompanied their children were also contributing to the chaos.


    After some difficulties, Tang Wulin was able to find his dorm room. The door was already open and there was already someone inside.


    Inside of the room were two bunk beds, enough to accommodate four people. In addition, there were two square desks, four chairs, two cabinets and a roof lamp. This was the entirety of the room¡¯s features.


    The two bottom bunks were already occupied and the occupants cast their gazes towards Tang Wulin as he walked into the room.


    The one on the bottom left bunk was even taller than Tang Wulin. He was at least half a head taller than Tang Wulin in addition to having a thicker build. He had short hair and eyes that bulged outwards somewhat. Even at such a young age, he had an air of ferocity around him.


    The student on the right side was thinner and weaker looking in comparison. His young nose was already supporting a pair of glasses, giving him a scholarly appearance. In fact, he was even holding a book at that moment.


    ¡°Hello, my name is Tang Wulin. I have just arrived.¡± Tang Wulin looked at the two occupants on the left and right bottom bunks, acknowledging them as he introduced himself.


    The frail looking student nodded and said, ¡°My name is Yun Xiao. The Yun(ÔÆ) from cloud(ÔƲÊ) and the Xiao(С) from big and small (´óС).¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled as he nodded in acknowledgement. The tall student on the other side rolled his eyes and said, ¡°Newcomer, clean the room first.¡±


    Tang Wulin was a newcomer so he was unclear about the current situation and could only nod.  ¡°Oh.¡±


    There was a broom in the corner and a cleaning rag along with a washbowl on the table. He took the bowl and went out to fill it up with water.


    Yun Xiao shot a glance at that tall student. ¡°Zhou Zhangxi, what are you pretending for?


    Zhou Zhangxi mischievously laughed and got off from the bed. ¡°You¡¯re the mastermind, so you won¡¯t interfere. I don¡¯t like how pretty that newcomer looks, so if we¡¯re going to be staying in the same room from now on, I need to give him a show of strength. These chores are his to do now. As long as I tell him to do it, he¡¯ll go do it. He¡¯s clearly a soft egg. If I don¡¯t bully someone like him, then who else would I bully?¡±


    Yun Xiao sighed. ¡°Be careful so you aren¡¯t met with retribution.¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi snorted in disdain. ¡°By him?¡± As he said this, he grabbed the things Tang Wulin had put on the top bunk.


    He unzipped the cloth bag and shook all the things within it onto the floor. There was some plain clothing, some goods for personal use and a quilt scattered all over the floor.


    Yun Xiao stared blankly at him. ¡°You¡¯re crossing the line here!¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi laughed, ¡°Look, look! What are these toys? Could that brat be a beggar? This blanket even has a flower stitched into it. How ridiculous.¡±


    At that moment, Tang Wulin returned with the washbowl.


    He was shocked the moment he entered the room. The floor was scattered with his things and Zhou Zhangxi was holding his bag.


    His blanket, clothes and personal goods were all over the floor. Even the two uniforms were on the floor.


    The floor was dusty and clearly, his things had already been covered in dust.


    ¡°What are you doing!?¡± Tang Wulin put down the washbowl and furiously asked.


    Zhou Zhangxi curled up his lips. ¡°I¡¯m not doing anything. I¡¯m just looking at what a bumpkin like you brought here.¡±


    ¡°Pick it up!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice had already turned cold.


    Zhou Zhangxi raised an eyebrow with narrowed eyes, making him look even more fierce. ¡°Who do you think you¡¯re talking to?¡±


    ¡°Pick it up!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice was almost sinister now.


    Zhou Zhangxi frowned as he stared at Tang Wulin. He stepped on the blanket, forcefully rubbing it into the floor. The place he stepped on was precisely the flower design that was stitched into the blanket.


    Dumfounded, Tang Wulin could only mumble, ¡°That was embroidered by my little sister¡­¡±

 Chapter 36 – Fight

    Chapter 36 ¨C Fight


    ¡°My little sister embroidered that.¡±


    The little flower design on the blanket had purple petals while the rest of it was silver. Although it wasn¡¯t perfect, it was still a memento from Na¡¯er.


    Tang Wulin still clearly remembered that time. He was laughing by Na¡¯er¡¯s side as she embroidered the blanket. He had even teased her and said, ¡°These small crooked flowers still aren¡¯t as pretty as you.¡±


    ¡°Remember this you brat, I¡¯m the one in charge here.¡± Zhou Zhangxi pointed at himself with his thumb.


    Sitting on the other bed, Yun Xiao suddenly felt something wrong. Something seemed to influence the room¡¯s atmosphere. It now felt colder than before.


    After sensing this, he saw Tang Wulin slowly raise his head.


    His eyes had already turned red and his fists were clenched. There was actually a ¡®pa pa¡¯ sound coming from his knuckles!


    Zhou Zhangxi looked down from above and said, ¡°Are you going to bite me?¡±


    Tang Wulin moved, charging at Zhou Zhangxi like an artillery shell as he swung out his right arm. A series of explosions resounded in the air as the fist flew, arriving in front of Zhou Zhangxi in a flash.


    Zhou Zhangxi wasn¡¯t an idiot and knew that Tang Wulin might explode at any moment. He was already prepared and as soon as he saw that fist flying towards him, his right hand moved to deflect it.


    Pa!


    Thump!


    Hualala!


    The first sound was Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s palm meeting Tang Wulin¡¯s fist. His judgement had been accurate and he had even managed to meet the fist head on. Unfortunately for him, it was like an ant trying to shake a large tree. He wasn¡¯t able to move Tang Wulin¡¯s fist at all!


    The second sound was Tang Wulin¡¯s fist colliding with Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s chest. There was a muffled sound of an impact, and he was sent flying through the air.


    The final sound was made when Zhou Zhangxi flew through the window with barely any resistance. He had flown out of the dormitory from the second floor!


    ¡°Ah!¡± A miserable scream followed shortly after.


    By now, Yun Xiao had already gotten off his bed and was foolishly staring at Tang Wulin who  released an aura similar to that of a tyrannical dragon. He didn¡¯t even know that the book in his hands had dropped to the floor.


    Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s martial soul was the Titan Ape. He was a rank 11 power system martial soul master. The only reason he was assigned to class five and to this dorm room was because his soul power wasn¡¯t that high. Still, he was the strongest person Yun Xiao had ever met that was his age.


    Yun Xiao was absolutely certain that Tang Wulin¡¯s punch had contained no soul power at all when it sent Zhou Zhangxi flying. That punch was thrown with only brute strength!


    With his martial soul being the Titan Ape, Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s bones were tougher and harder than an ordinary person¡¯s. As a result, he was actually heavier than an adult at the age of nine.


    Even with such a solid body, he was sent flying through the window by Tang Wulin¡¯s punch. Just how much strength was required to do this¡­?


    Right at that moment, a person wearing an ice-cold face and clothed in black sportswear entered the room. He looked at the things scattered all over the floor and wrinkled his brows before kicking Tang Wulin¡¯s items to the side. He coldly said to Tang Wulin who was obstructing his way, ¡°Get out of the way.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s unstable state of mind was filled with the image of Na¡¯er¡¯s smiling face at this moment. When Zhou Zhangxi had stepped on the flower that Na¡¯er embroidered for him, he had seen it as Zhou Zhangxi stepping on Na¡¯er herself. When that icy and arrogant youngster kicked away his things, it was like a fused had been lit.


    ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡± Tang Wulin snarled as he furiously charged at the youth in black with another punch.


    The icily arrogant youth didn¡¯t even spare him a glance as he took half a step to the side, avoiding Tang Wulin¡¯s punch. His elbow sweeped across Tang Wulin¡¯s back as his left foot extended below.


    Immediately, Tang Wulin fell over under his own strength in addition to the youth¡¯s. He wasn¡¯t flying towards the window, but rather, the door.


    Yun Xiao swallowed his saliva. In the elementary academy, he was known as the Mastermind, but now, he felt as if he wasn¡¯t smart enough. What kind of situation was this?


    ¡°You bastard!¡± Tang Wulin snarled once again. This time, his voice spread throughout the whole hall. Like the wind, he charged back into the dorm room and towards the icily arrogant youth once again.


    A trace of surprise flashed through the arrogant youth¡¯s eyes. He hadn¡¯t restrained his strength just now, yet Tang Wulin had actually gotten up so fast. Moreover, when he had struck Tang Wulin from behind with his elbow, he had clearly felt a tremor from Tang Wulin¡¯s back which issued a force that wasn¡¯t inferior to his own.


    He jumped, twisted his body, and unleashed a whirling kick. These three movements were completed as smooth as floating clouds and flowing water. Not only did he avoid Tang Wulin¡¯s charge, he actually stepped on Tang Wulin¡¯s back and kicked him away, causing him to smash onto the floor when he fell.


    The wooden floor was scattered and smashed while Tang Wulin¡¯s clothes were all cut up.


    The arrogant youth landed nimbly on Tang Wulin¡¯s blanket. Moreover, he had actually landed on the flower embroiderment of Na¡¯er¡¯s by accident.


    Tang Wulin bellowed with grief and indignation, ¡°You city people are all so rotten!¡± A pure white light was released from Tang Wulin¡¯s 10 year soul ring which rose up from his feet. Slender vine-like strands of Bluesilver Grass suddenly appeared, all of it attacked the arrogant youth.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s first soul skill was the 10 year soul skill of Bluesilver Grass, Bind!


    Bluesilver Grass covered the entirety of the room in but a moment. Even though the arrogant youth was exceptionally agile, he still couldn¡¯t dodge all of these vines in such a narrow space.


    His response was still extremely quick. He raised his right hand, which began to emit a dazzling golden radiance while a yellow soul ring rose up from his feet. A dazzling flash arced through the air as it chopped towards the Bluesilver Grass.


    The move was extraordinarily accurate as he aimed to cut down every single strand of Bluesilver Grass with a golden dagger. Although the strands of Bluesilver Grass were struck, they hadn¡¯t been cut apart like he had imagined.


    ¡®Not good!¡¯ The arrogant youth thought to himself. If he had retreated immediately, he could have rushed out of the dorm room. Instead, he had tried yet, had been unable, to cut down the Bluesilver Grass. Now, even more strands of Bluesilver Grass had appeared and moved to engulf him.


    The soul ring underneath his feet began to shine brightly as the dagger¡¯s blade in his hands began to twinkle. There was also a quiet dragon roar that resounded out as he attempted, with all his strength, to throw off the Bluesilver Grass that was binding him. However, a fist appeared in front of him at that moment.


    Bang!

 Chapter 37 – Punishment

    Chapter 37 ¨C Punishment


    The icily arrogant youth was sent flying in a flash after being struck by Tang Wulin¡¯s explosive punch. As his fist had connected with the youth¡¯s face, Tang Wulin released the binding of his Bluesilver Grass, allowing the arrogant youth to fly out of the room like an artillery shell. With a boom, the arrogant youth was embedded into the wall of the hall.


    Yes, he was ¡®embedded.¡¯ In front of Tang Wulin¡¯s power, he couldn¡¯t even resist.


    The arrogant youth was an Agility System Battle Soul Master, so he excelled in quick attacks. Their weakness was that Agility System Battle Soul Masters lacked defensive capabilities. If they were hit, especially by someone like Tang Wulin whose innate strength surpassed a Power System Battle Soul Master¡¯s, they would immediately be knocked down.


    As a result, that arrogant youth had already lost consciousness the moment he was sent flying.


    Tang Wulin was gasping for breath amidst the disarray of his room.


    Yun Xiao was already hiding in the corner of his bed as he stared at Tang Wulin fearfully. For a moment, he was completely at a loss as to what he had just witnessed.


    ¡®This guy¡­ was this guy even human? Even that dressy guy was sent flying by him¡­¡¯


    Tang Wulin crouched down and gently picked up his blanket. He brushed the dust off of it and held it tight. Fortunately, the blanket hadn¡¯t been damaged, just dirtied.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Right at that moment, a firm voice came from the hall.


    ?


    Ten minutes later.


    Eastsea Academy¡¯s intermediate teaching building.


    ¡°So in conclusion, this tragedy was triggered over a blanket?¡± Long Hengxu coldly looked at the four boys in front of him. His frowning expression was like a drop of water.


    Zhou Zhangxi, Yun Xiao, Tang Wulin, and that arrogant youth were all standing side by side.


    The arrogant youth¡¯s eyes had an ice-cold radiance in them which would occasionally glance at Tang Wulin from time to time.


    Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s expression was ashen, and he was covered with bruises from head to toe. If one were attentive, they would discover a trace of fear in his eyes which refused to even make contact with Tang Wulin.


    Yun Xiao was the one who thoroughly explained what had transpired. After hearing Yun Xiao¡¯s account, Long Hengxu grasped what had happened.


    Tang Wulin stood there with his blanket firmly in hand, simply looking at the embroidered flower with a lowered head. His large and pretty eyes were filled with stubborness.


    ¡°Zhou Zhangxi, originally with a martial soul like yours, you would have been assigned to class three, however, your soul power rank was too low. Now it seems that your moral conduct is equally as low. Getting beaten up serves you right. You¡¯ll be in class five permanently,¡± Long Hengxu coldly stated.


    Zhou Zhangxi wanted to refute him, but when he saw Long Hengxu¡¯s frowning expression, he didn¡¯t dare speak.


    ¡°You two also. Fighting as soon as you enter the academy. You¡¯ll both be in class five. Getting beaten up only serves you right too.¡± Long Hengxu said this to Yun Xiao and that arrogant youth this time.


    The arrogant youth didn¡¯t seem to understand Long Hengxu¡¯s words at all as his gaze was on Tang Wulin the whole time. His cheeks were quite swollen after Tang Wulin¡¯s punch. If he hadn¡¯t recoiled his head so quickly, he feared that he wouldn¡¯t have many teeth left after Tang Wulin¡¯s terrifying hit.


    Yun Xiao refuted in shock, ¡°Director Long, I wasn¡¯t involved in the fight at all! From the beginning to end, I was simply a spectator.¡±


    Long Hengxu coldly answered, ¡°You¡¯re all in the same dorm room. If you see them fighting and don¡¯t take any action to stop it, how can you say that¡¯s a good thing? That you¡¯re the righteous one? You¡¯re so sly at such a young age, how could you grow up to be any good. Do you have anything left to say?¡±


    ¡°As for you!¡± Long Hengxu¡¯s gaze switched to Tang Wulin. ¡°You¡¯re so good, huh! You won a fight, one against two. This time¡¯s matter can¡¯t be blamed on you as you were provoked. It¡¯s good that a man is brave, so I won¡¯t punish you. However, your martial soul is just Bluesilver Grass, so you¡¯re stuck in class five.¡±


    Tang Wulin raised his head in astonishment. He had thought that he would receive the heaviest punishment; after all, he was the one who hit them, and not lightly either. Zhou Zhangxi was covered in purple bruises while the arrogant youth¡¯s face was swollen like a steamed bun, yet he wasn¡¯t being punished?


    ¡°Thank you for your fairness,¡± Tang Wulin said hastily.


    Long Hengxu indifferently said, ¡°Although there was a cause for the fight, there¡¯s still a need to compensate for the damages. I¡¯ll give you the costs to repair the window, the bed, and the walls later so you can pay it back.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Tang Wulin was stunned. Pay up? He only had the three thousand federal coins that his father had given him. This was his pocket money for the whole semester.


    Because education was compulsory, food and living expenses were all covered. So, there wasn¡¯t many things he needed to pay for.


    ¡°Go now. You can continue fighting if you want, but next time, it¡¯ll be added to your record. The result of the battle, along with the record that about your talent to become a Mecha Master, will affect whether or not you¡¯ll be accepted into an advanced academy in the future. If you have the courage, then go fight. But if you really want to fight, then you better not let the academy find out about it. Otherwise, there will be a severe punishment.¡±


    After exiting the teacher¡¯s office, Long Hengxu¡¯s strict voice still lingered in their ears. However, Tang Wulin¡¯s mood was much better now. Even if he didn¡¯t know how much he had to pay for the repairs, the academy had dealt with this affair impartially and justly. They hadn¡¯t been biased towards the others just because his martial soul was no good.


    ?


    Outside of the teaching building.


    Long Hengxu glanced at the secretary to the side with narrowed eyes. ¡°Give me Tang Wulin¡¯s profile to look at.¡±


    ¡°Director, isn¡¯t that child¡¯s martial soul just Bluesilver Grass?¡± The secretary asked in surprise.


    The solemn expression on Long Hengxu face previously had disappeared. In its place was a slight smile. ¡°Bluesilver Grass? I fear it¡¯s not that simple. He was able to beat up two people single handedly on his first day, and one of those kids is from the Xie family. How could a brat with only Bluesilver Grass accomplish this? Moreover, he was able to cultivate a trash martial soul like Bluesilver Grass to rank 11 at the young age of nine years old. Just this would make him a prodigy. Contrary to what you might think, we must pay close attention to him.¡±


    ?


    They returned to the dorm room, but it was still a mess. No one had cleaned it up for them.


    Tang Wulin silently placed his blanket on the table, then picked up all of his things.


    Zhou Zhangxi stood off to the side, clenching and opening his fists tightly several times.


    The icily arrogant youth glanced at Yun Xiao who was on the bottom of their bunk bed, then pointed upwards. ¡°You go up.¡±


    Yun Xiao was stunned for a moment. However, in the face of that arrogant youth¡¯s sinister expression, he chose to smile and speedily cleaned up his things before climbing to the top bunk. He was a clever and resourceful person; why would he go and provoke a volcano that could erupt at any moment?


    The icily arrogant youth¡¯s hands flashed with a brilliant light for a moment, causing a clean bedsheet to mysteriously appear in his hands. Afterwards, he spread the sheet over the bed.

 Chapter 38 – Reparations?

    Chapter 38 ¨C Reparations?


    As for the bunk bed on the other side of the room; the top bunk had been destroyed while the bottom bunk was Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s.


    Tang Wulin tidied up his things, then put them on the bottom bunk. After setting down his things, he turned around and coldly looked at Zhou Zhangxi.


    ¡°You get up!¡± Zhou Zhangxi roared.


    Tang Wulin coldly answered, ¡°Get lost!¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Zhou Zhangxi wanted to get up in anger.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so impulsive. Have you already forgotten what Director Long said? Could it be that you don¡¯t want to become a Mech Master in the future?¡± Yun Xiao said as he jumped down from the top bunk.


    Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s breathing was clearly a bit ragged as Tang Wulin picked up the crumbled top bunk, tore it apart, and then threw it out the window. The entire top bunk had been obliterated completely.


    ¡°It should be this one!¡± A middle-aged academy staff member said before he entered the room with a wooden bed.


    He looked at the queer atmosphere between the four boys, and chuckled to himself, ¡°That¡¯s right! Fighting on the first day of school, you boys definitely have a bright future! If you all want to continue fighting, then come hit this bed with all your strength! It costs 10,000 federal coins! So go ahead and fight. My bonus will be even bigger that way.¡± As he said this, he lifted up the bed board and placed it on the top bunk. The bed board went in perfectly.


    10,000 federal coins?


    Tang Wulin went wide-eyed in shock. It was just a bed¡¯s board!


    ¡°Teacher, do we have to buy that one, or can we go out and buy one?¡± Tang Wulin hurriedly asked.


    The teacher snorted and said, ¡°Do you think the academy is your house? Destruction of property is a serious crime here. I assume you¡¯re Tang Wulin then? The costs to repair the window, bed board, and wall is a total of 34,000 federal coins. Hurry up and go pay for the repair costs at the administration office.


    34,000 federal coins? Tang Wulin was stunned when he heard this number. All the money he had earned during his three years of forging had only totalled up to be 30,000 federal coins! This was simply too expensive.


    When Zhou Zhangxi, who had been glaring at Tang Wulin, heard this, he immediately climbed up to the top bunk without uttering another word.


    Tang Wulin sat on his bed and pondered over what to do. 34,000 federal coins. It was 34,000 federal coins!


    ¡°My name is Xie Xie!¡± The icily arrogant youth had walked up to Tang Wulin and boldly introduced himself.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Tang Wulin subconsciously answered.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re welcome?¡± The stern expression on Xie Xie¡¯s face collapsed at that moment. ¡®Who was he calling ¡°You¡¯re welcome?¡±¡¯[1]


    Xie Xie said as he gnashed his teeth, ¡°I said, my name is Xie Xie.¡±


    Tang Wulin woke up from his trance and raised his head to look at Xie Xie. Actually, he had noticed earlier that this youth was the one he had encountered at the soul train station.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tang Wulin coldly asked.


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes flickered with a cold light as he said, ¡°Come and fight with me outside of the academy!¡±


    At that moment, his heart was full of humiliation. He simply couldn¡¯t understand how with his strength, he could lose to brat with a trash martial soul like Bluesilver Grass. This brat had such a powerful fist that even now, Xie Xie had some difficulty speaking. From childhood up til now, he had never been beaten up before.


    He couldn¡¯t accept Long Hengxu¡¯s words or this stain on his record. He was simply feeling vexed.


    ¡°Get lost!¡± Tang Wulin furiously repeated the words he had previously said to Zhou Zhangxi to Xie Xie this time.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± A powerful and chilling aura exploded outwards from Xie Xie¡¯s body.


    Tang Wulin looked at him with a pair of fiery eyes, ¡°You¡¯re still not done bullying people? 34,000 federal coins. Do you know how much 34,000 federal coins is to me? Since you¡¯re seeking death, I¡¯ll beat you to death then. In the worst case, I won¡¯t be able to attend this academy anymore.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still bothered by that?¡± Xie Xie stared at him blankly. He had never had to worry about money, so 34,000 federal coins was nothing to him.


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°Maybe 34,000 federal coins isn¡¯t much to you city people, but as far as I¡¯m concerned, I wouldn¡¯t be able to earn that much even after working for several years. Don¡¯t provoke me any further, otherwise you¡¯ll just be risking your life.¡±


    As Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin¡¯s red eyes, he wasn¡¯t sure why, but his imposing manner diminished a bit.


    ¡°I¡¯ll shell out the money, so come fight with me!¡± Xie Xie coldly exclaimed.


    Tang Wulin asked in a daze, ¡°You¡¯ll pay for it?¡±


    Xie Xie saw the redness fading away from Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes and was pleasantly surprised. He wasn¡¯t sure what he should say now to this brat.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay!¡± Xie Xie said with gritted teeth.


    ¡°Great!¡± Tang Wulin was afraid he would renege, so he instantly accepted. It was 34,000 federal coins after all! ¡°When are we fighting?¡±


    Just one battle and he would earn 34,000 federal coins?  He would even let himself get beaten up for that much money.


    In front of Tang Wulin¡¯s eager appearance, Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy. ¡°Tomorrow.¡± He said, before turning around and walking away.


    He wanted to go treat his swollen face first, otherwise he would have to endure this kind of appearance even longer. After exiting the room, a towel appeared out of nowhere and covered his face.


    As Tang Wulin watched him leave, he thought to himself, ¡®These city people really are wealthy.¡¯


    Yun Xiao coughed. ¡°It¡¯s time for lunch now. Tang Wulin, do you want to go together?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good!¡± Tang Wulin nodded as he had gotten hungry long ago.


    Zhou Zhangxi jumped down from the top bunk. The unwillingness and indignance had already disappeared from his face and he was clearly less hostile towards Tang Wulin than before. The cause for this change was very simple, it was because of the repair costs that totaled up to 34,000 federal coins.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t the only one who wasn¡¯t rich there. Zhou Zhangxi also came from an ordinary family. He had also been given a scare when he heard the outrageous cost for the repairs. This incident only started because of him. Tang Wulin, however, hadn¡¯t asked him for any compensation at all. This action gave him a better impression of Tang Wulin.


    ?


    Yun Xiao lead the way with Tang Wulin and Zhou Zhangxi following behind.


    The intermediate division¡¯s dining hall was a small building located to the side of the main school building. The building had three floors, which accommodates all six grades of the intermediate academy. First and second graders ate on the first floor.


    The dining hall only had tables with no chairs. This was one of the customs of Eastsea Academy. Students must eat while standing, in order to increase their sense of urgency.


    There were three windows labelled one, two and three. Yun Xiao explained this to Tang Wulin, allowing him to understand that the third window had free food, the second window was subsidized, while the first window needed complete payment from the student.


    Naturally, the first window provided the best food, followed by the second window, while the third window provided the most basic foods.


    On the board next to the third window was written, ¡°Steamed buns.¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi glanced at Tang Wulin. ¡°Tang Wulin, since the academy doesn¡¯t let us fight, how about we have a contest to see who can eat the most steamed buns? Do you dare?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at him, ¡°Are you sure there¡¯ll be enough steamed buns?¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi answered, ¡°Of course. The third window is all you can eat. It can supply as much as you want. After all, us Soul Masters eat much more food than ordinary people.¡±


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°What are the stakes in this eating contest?¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi replied, ¡°Whoever loses will be in charge of cleaning the dorm room. So if I lose, I¡¯ll wash all of your dirty clothes. How about it?¡±


    Tang Wulin released a gentle sigh. ¡°I¡¯m very hungry.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s name sounds like thank you in Chinese. Tang Wulin misheard and reflexively asnwered back with ¡°You¡¯re welcome¡± when Xie Xie introduced himself.

 Chapter 39 – You Can’t Beat Me in Eating Either

    Chapter 39 ¨C You Can¡¯t Beat Me in Eating Either


    Tang Wulin discovered an issue. It seemed that he ate more while standing up than when seated.


    There was already quite a crowd surrounding him.


    ¡°This guy¡¯s stomach isn¡¯t that big, yet how can he eat so much? He¡¯s about to break the record. I remember our intermediate academy¡¯s steamed bun record is 43. How many has this guy eaten already?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already broken the record by eating 45. How formidable! What¡¯s more, he doesn¡¯t even look like a big eater. The steamed buns are palm-sized too! The academy¡¯s steamed buns have always been this large.¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi had long since started to foolishly stare at Tang Wulin. He had always thought he could eat a lot. In fact, he had even managed to eat 20 steamed buns before becoming too full.


    This was simply ground meat along with vegetable soup.


    Tang Wulin not only ate the steamed buns, but he also drank the soup. Every five buns he would drink a large mouthful of soup. He looked as if he was truly enjoying himself.


    The palm-sized steamed buns were really delicious. They were stuffed with a big meatball on the inside. As soon as one bit into the bun, fatty juices would flow out. It truly was too delicious.


    What was most important, it still wasn¡¯t enough!


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to trouble everyone.¡± Tang Wulin finished the fiftieth bun, then walked up to the third meal window.


    Yun Xiao patted Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go and get started on cleaning the room. Now that I know he can out-eat you, I finally understand why he¡¯s stronger. This is called the law of conservation of energy. The more one eats, the more strength they would have!¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s face was decrepit as he took in this scene. ¡°Tang Wulin ordered another 20 steamed buns.¡±


    Back at home, feeding Tang Wulin had been Tang Ziran and Lang Yue¡¯s greatest headache. This child was truly too capable in eating. Moreover, when Na¡¯er was there, the two were practically competing in how much they could eat.


    Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s own eating ability was great in comparison with his peers. On the other hand, Tang Wulin was basically on a whole different level.


    After releasing a long sigh, Zhou Zhangxi looked towards Tang Wulin. ¡°I never thought anyone could actually eat a whole cow before, but after seeing your eating prowess, I believe it to be possible now. I agreed to the bet so I must accept this loss. I¡¯ll head back and begin cleaning first. You can continue on with setting your record.¡±


    ¡°En, en!¡± Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been all that worried about winning or losing. For him, being able to eat until he was completely full was much more important.


    ?


    In the end, the intermediate academy¡¯s steamed bun record was set at 80 buns and five large bowls of vegetable soup.


    When Tang Wulin left the dining hall feeling perfectly satisfied, all eyes were on him.


    After returning to the dormitory, Zhou Zhangxi was cleaning the room, but avoided Tang Wulin¡¯s laundry as Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t permitted it. Tang Wulin wished to wash it himself. Yun Xiao assisted Zhou Zhangxi with cleaning the room. In the end, the room¡¯s atmosphere had become much more harmonious.


    Right as they were finishing up with cleaning the room, Xie Xie came in with a face wrapped in a towel. The swelling on his face had clearly been reduced by a lot, but it was still as unsightly as before.


    ¡°For you!¡± He threw a paper bag towards Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin opened it and saw a pile of federal bills. In the face of all this money, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but seem a bit dazed.


    When he had tried to earn 30,000 federal coins in Glorybound City, it had taken him a full three years! For these wealthy people however, it was simply pocket money.


    ¡°We start class tomorrow. So tomorrow night, after school, you¡¯ll come with me.¡± Xie Xie coldly said.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Tang Wulin agreed without the slightest hesitation.


    Yun Xiao said, ¡°Xie Xie, just let it be. We¡¯ll be staying in the same dormitory for the next six years.¡±


    Xie Xie coldly looked at him, then unceremoniously laid down on his bottom bunk.


    Tang Wulin asked Yun Xiao, ¡°There won¡¯t be any problems if I go out this afternoon, right?¡±


    Yun Xiao answered, ¡°We haven¡¯t officially started classes yet, so naturally there won¡¯t be any issues! You just need to be back before lights go out. Otherwise, you¡¯ll be faced with disciplinary action.¡±


    When he heard the words ''disciplinary action'', Tang Wulin¡¯s heart tightened up for a moment. He didn¡¯t actually fear disciplinary action, instead he feared the potential fines.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back by then.¡±


    After washing his dirty clothes and blanket, Tang Wulin left the dormitory. According to Mang Tian¡¯s instructions, after arriving in Eastsea City, Tang Wulin needed to go to a place called the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    Mang Tian had given him the address of his workshop in Eastsea City. There wasn¡¯t anyone working there, but it still had a forging room for Tang Wulin to use.


    Mang Tian had told him that he needed to register at the Blacksmith¡¯s Association in order to be able to accept tasks. These tasks would hone his skills. Every month, Mang Tian would come and inspect his progress as well as give him some instructions.


    After accepting his fate when fusing with the little Grass Snake, Goldlight, Tang Wulin had become much more focused on forging, especially after completing the Thousand Refinements. Completing the Thousand Refinements had made him understand that in the future, he would likely become a blacksmith like his teacher. Thus, he couldn¡¯t relax and had to continue refining his forging skills. Moreover, he could earn money by forging! In addition to supplementing his family¡¯s income, he needed money to wander the continent in search of Na¡¯er in the future.


    He hadn¡¯t asked Yun Xiao where the Blacksmith¡¯s Association was because he didn¡¯t want the other students to know he was a blacksmith.


    He first went to the administration building to pay the fines before leaving the academy¡¯s campus.


    Eastsea City¡¯s unfamiliar atmosphere once again press down on Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. ¡®Glorybound City really is the best. It was so nice and peaceful there.¡¯


    Although he didn¡¯t know where the Blacksmith¡¯s Association was, he still had a mouth below his nose. He could always just ask someone. After making several inquiries, he gained a rough understanding of where the Blacksmith¡¯s Association was located.


    Eastsea City was very big. In fact, it was several times larger than Glorybound City. For the sake of saving money, Tang Wulin walked the whole journey to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    It wasn¡¯t too bad. The Blacksmith¡¯s Association was not that far from Eastsea Academy and Tang Wulin had eaten his fill during lunch. After walking for half an hour, his destination was already in sight.


    The Blacksmith¡¯s Association was easily recognizable with its grey colored building and height of thirty floors along with, at the very top, a design of a hammer. With this design, there wasn¡¯t even a need to engrave the association¡¯s name onto a plate.


    Tang Wulin walked through the big glass doors on the first floor and was immediately faced with a ten-meter tall wall with an eight-meter tall golden hammer sculpture on it.


    Although the Blacksmith¡¯s Association wasn¡¯t as rich as the Mecha Craftsmen''s Association, it was still a necessary existence. A first-rate blacksmith¡¯s status in society was exceedingly high. In fact, their status was comparable to that of mecha craftsmen grandmasters. In order to make a first-rate mecha, first-rate materials were naturally needed.  As such, first-rate blacksmiths were needed to process first-rate materials!


    The lounge on the first floor was very spacious and empty. There were only two young ladies dressed in grey at the reception desk.


    ¡°Little brother, who are you looking for?¡± When they saw Tang Wulin walk towards them, one of the two ladies who had a sweet looking appearance took the initiative to stand up and greet him.


    Tang Wulin bashfully said, ¡°I, I¡¯m here to take the blacksmith¡¯s ranking test.¡±

 Chapter 40 – Cen Yue

    Chapter 40 ¨C Cen Yue


    ¡°Puchi!¡± The well-developed young lady to the side laughed and said with a smile, ¡°Look at him, his face is already red. Little brother, your eyes are really pretty.¡±


    The sweet looking young lady rebuked, ¡°Don¡¯t be so noisy, Yuan Yuan. Little brother, you want to take the blacksmith¡¯s ranking test?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded and answered somewhat anxiously, ¡°Yes!¡±


    The sweet young lady said, ¡°Where is your family? Or your teacher?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°My teacher had me come alone and told me to find someone called Grandmaster Cen Yue.¡±


    When they heard the name Cen Yue, the two young ladies¡¯ expressions stiffened and the sweet young lady hastily said, ¡°Please wait a moment then. I¡¯ll go ask if Grandmaster Cen Yue is available right now. Have you ever spoken to Grandmaster Cen over the soul communicator?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head once again. How could he possibly own a soul communicator!? Although a soul communicator was convenient, the communication fees and the equipment costs were extraordinarily expensive! Even his hometown had only one fixed soul communicator. He was even planning to look for a coin-operated soul communicator to call his mother and father later and report that he was safe and sound.


    ¡°Grandmaster Cen, there¡¯s a child looking for you. En. That¡¯s right, he has really large eyes and is wearing plain clothes,¡± The sweet looking young lady said as she pressed down on a number to connect to Grandmaster Cen.


    After hanging up the communicator, the sweet young lady said to Tang Wulin, ¡°Little brother, Grandmaster Cen has some time right now. Follow me.¡±


    As she said this, she began guiding Tang Wulin to the side of the large hall. The well-developed lady, Yuan Yuan, stuck out her tongue as she watched them leave and said to herself, ¡°I couldn¡¯t even tell! The little guy actually knows Grandmaster Cen.¡±


    When the soul elevator¡¯s metal doors opened up, Tang Wulin nearly jumped with fright. This was the first time he had ever seen anything like this.


    ¡°Come, come here.¡± The sweet young lady didn¡¯t tease him at all. Rather, she gave him a tender smile.


    Tang Wulin went over to her side.


    The sweet young lady said, ¡°My name is Yun Xiaoling. Grandmaster Cen¡¯s office is on the 15th floor. I¡¯ll take you to see him and then he will take you to conduct the blacksmith¡¯s ranking test.¡±


    ¡°Thank you big sister.¡± Tang Wulin politely said.


    Yun Xiaoling looked at him, her gaze moving up and down, sizing him up. Although this child was wearing extremely plain clothing, he was still very good-looking. Most of all were those big eyes of his, which could even make a girl jealous. Moreover, despite his simplicity, he was extraordinarily courteous, giving others a very good opinion of him.


    Ding! The elevator stopped on the 15th floor and the doors opened.


    The walls were made of a white metal while the ceiling and floors were white too. Neat and tidy, that was Tang Wulin¡¯s first impression.


    There were two rooms on both sides of the hall leading out of the elevator.


    Yun Xiaoling brought him to one of the doors which had Cen Yue¡¯s nameplate on it. She pressed the button above it.


    ¡°Grandmaster Cen, it¡¯s Yun Xiaoling. I¡¯ve brought the child here.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± A deep voice was heard from the within the room. Then the door opened.


    The office was approximately 30 square meters in size with a massive wooden desk that took up nearly a quarter of the room¡¯s space. Behind the wooden desk stood a man in his 40¡¯s. This man wasn¡¯t particularly tall, but he was absolutely well-built. His shoulders were especially wide, with a black jacket resting on his deltoids.


    At this moment, he was looking at a design plan laid out on his desk.


    ¡°Grandmaster Cen.¡± Yun Xiaoling softly called out.


    ¡°En.¡± Cen Yue raised his head and looked over.


    His gaze immediately fell on Tang Wulin as he looked at him with curious eyes. ¡°You¡¯re Mang Tian¡¯s disciple?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Hello Grandmaster Cen. Teacher told me to greet you in his place,¡± Tang Wulin said respectfully.


    Cen Yue¡¯s eyes wrinkled as he frowned. ¡°Mang Tian, that guy had always set his eyes on surpassing the peak, yet he actually took in such a young disciple like you. Let¡¯s go then. I¡¯ll bring you to take the blacksmith¡¯s ranking test.¡±


    Blacksmiths lived in the world of metal and were completely unconcerned about other worldly matters. Although he was unconvinced of Mang Tian accepting such a young disciple, the ranking test would verify everything.Yun Xiaoling said, ¡°Grandmaster, I¡¯ll go back down then.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Cen Yue nodded as Yun Xiaoling smiled at Tang Wulin once more before heading off.


    Cen Yue brought Tang Wulin out of the room soon after and once again entered the soul elevator. They rode the elevator down with Yun Xiaoling, except this time, they were getting off on the third floor.


    As the elevator descended, Cen Yue turned to Tang Wulin and said, ¡°Little guy, Mang Tian never told me what rank blacksmith you are at right now.¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Teacher never told me either. He just told me to come take the test and accept some tasks after.¡±


    He can accept tasks? Off to the side, Yun Xiaoling couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. In order to accept tasks it meant that he was at least a rank 2 blacksmith. Rank 1 blacksmiths weren¡¯t able to directly accept tasks. Instead, a higher rank blacksmith had to accept the task and assign some of the work to them.


    Cen Yue asked again, ¡°Then do you understand how blacksmith ranks are organized?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Teacher said that blacksmiths are divided into nine ranks. Rank 1 and 2 blacksmiths are Master ranks. Ranks 3 and 4 are Grandmaster. Ranks 5 and 6 are Master Craftsmen. Ranks 7 and 8 are Saint Craftsmen and at the very peak of rank 9, they are Divine Craftsmen.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Cen Yue nodded.


    Right at that moment, the elevator had reached the third floor.


    ¡°Goodbye big sister.¡± Tang Wulin bid farewell to Yun Xiaoling as he followed Cen Yue out of the elevator.


    Compared to the tranquil fifteenth floor, the third floor of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association was much more noisy. Tang Wulin heard the familiar clanking sounds of blacksmiths at work throughout the hall.


    Cen Yue brought Tang Wulin to the front desk and said to the staff member, ¡°Open up the testing room for me and ask a surveyor to come over.¡±


    ¡°Grandmaster Cen, is this your disciple? He¡¯s so young! Is he even 12 years old?¡± The staff member curiously looked at Tang Wulin.


    Cen Yue took some forms from the staff member and handed them to Tang Wulin. ¡°Fill these out first. Fill out your basic circumstances.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tang Wulin took the form and began to seriously fill it out.


    Cen Yue read along from the side as he filled it out. ¡°Tang Wulin. Born in Glorybound City. Nine years old. Eastsea Academy¡¯s intermediate division. First grade. You¡¯re only nine years old?¡±


    At this matter, both he and the staff member were astonished.


    He was only nine years old yet he was coming to take the blacksmith¡¯s test. This hadn¡¯t happened in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association for many, many years. Historically, the youngest testee had been eight years and six months old! Moreover, that person was now working on the Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s 30th floor. That person was a once-in-a-lifetime blacksmithing genius!


    Now in front of their eyes was a child that was only nine years old. If he was able to pass the blacksmith¡¯s test, then what would that signify?


    Cen Yue thought about this with even more interest because Tang Wulin had previously said that Mang Tian let him accept tasks directly. That meant this child was at least a rank 2 blacksmith. This was a record-breaking achievement!


    The staff member said, ¡°Grandmaster Cen, testing room three is open.¡±

 Chapter 41 – Blacksmith Ranking Test

    Chapter 41 ¨C Blacksmith Ranking Test


    With narrowed eyes, Cen Yue picked up Tang Wulin¡¯s form. ¡°Follow me.¡± He had to see for himself what level Mang Tian¡¯s disciple had attained.


    The so-called testing room was actually just a forging room. Naturally, a blacksmithing test needed to be conducted in a room such as this.


    As soon as he entered the forging room, Tang Wulin¡¯s nervousness eased a bit. The forging room was about the same as Mang Tian¡¯s. This was the first time since he arrived he found himself within a familiar environment.


    The surveyor was a middle aged woman who evidently knew Cen Yue. ¡°Grandmaster Cen Yue, you¡¯ve  personally brought someone to take the test! I just heard that this child is only nine years old. If he was just a bit younger, he would be able to attack the President¡¯s record.¡±


    Cen Yue said, ¡°We can talk after the test.¡±


    The surveyor nodded and looked towards Tang Wulin. ¡°There are 15 kinds of metal here. Pick one of them to purify. I will grade you based on the metal you choose and the degree of purification. If your score surpasses 60, then you¡¯ll earn the title of a rank 1 blacksmith.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin nodded, then looked towards the metals arranged on the stand.


    Fifteen different metals. Each and every one of them was one third of a meter squared.


    The metals had all sorts of colors and qualities. Although the blacksmith test seemed simple as one only needed to purify a metal, it actually examined more than one¡¯s purification abilities.


    The surveyor didn¡¯t tell him what these metals were, indicating that he needed to identify and understand each of the metals himself while picking the one best suited to his abilities.


    The metal¡¯s qualities and purification results were tied together, meaning the purification score would be affected by the chosen metal.


    Tang Wulin swept his gaze over them and instantly recognized what he had to work with. After some pondering, he picked a metal from the middle of the shelf.


    The chunk of metal twinkled with a faint silver light. When they saw him pick this metal, Cen Yue and the surveyor both revealed a trace of shock in their expressions. They never expected Tang Wulin to choose such a thick and heavy metal.


    ¡°I choose this chunk of Heavy Silver.¡± Tang Wulin picked up the Heavy Silver and then placed it on the forging table without making the slightest sound.


    Mang Tian¡¯s demands of him had been very high. He forbade him from allowing the sound of metal colliding with metal to sound out unless he was forging.


    This chunk of Heavy Silver with dimensions of one third meters squared, actually weighed over 300 kilograms. It was extraordinarily heavy, however, Cen Yue saw Tang Wulin pick it up with no effort at all.


    ¡°Little guy, your strength truly isn¡¯t small!¡± The surveyor exclaimed in astonishment. She was slowly thinking  that the nine year old boy in front of her could actually pass the blacksmith¡¯s test.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Masters, may I begin now?¡±


    The surveyor said, ¡°You may begin. You have one hour to finish. Purify it as much as you can. The degree of its purification will determine your score.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin didn¡¯t have any needless thoughts, and began to work skillfully.


    He immediately set to work by starting up the forging table, and increased its temperature. After this he put the Heavy Silver inside and began calcining it. The time required to calcine the metal was also counted in the timed he had to purify it. The blacksmith¡¯s test didn¡¯t have any tricks to it. The Association had strict requirements for all of their blacksmiths, as their work directly reflected upon their reputation.


    Tang Wulin took in deep breaths and stretched while he adjusted the soul power within his body.


    The reason he chose Heavy Silver wasn¡¯t because he wanted to show off to his peers, rather it was the last metal he had forged with. After his initial forging of it, he had gained a thorough understanding of its characteristics. Furthermore, the chunk he picked was also very similar to the one he had forged with originally. It was like seeing someone else hunting, and being excited by one¡¯s memories of the thrill of the hunt, and so before he knew it, he had chosen it.


    However, he still remembered Mang Tian¡¯s words. He mustn¡¯t use his Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers unless he was alone. At the very least, he couldn¡¯t reveal his Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers until he was fifteen years old.


    Tang Wulin gradually adjusted his breathing as he watched the metal¡¯s temperature on the forging table and sharpened his gaze.


    Cen Yue stood to the side motionlessly as he watched Tang Wulin.


    When he saw Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze sharpen, he couldn¡¯t help but secretly exclaim in his heart, ¡®Oh, Mang Tian, Mang Tian. You¡¯ve truly picked up a gem.¡¯


    Cen Yue was the greatest advocate of single-minded devotion to forging within the blacksmith community. He wasn¡¯t particularly talented, it was just that he liked the profession. He had gotten to where he was now by proceeding one firm step at a time, whilst relying solely on his love and devotion to forging. In the end, he gained the acknowledgement of the blacksmithing world.


    Tang Wulin was just a nine year old child! A nine year old child was actually able to achieve such a state of concentration. This meant that he truly understood the meaning of forging. When faced with such a child, Cen Yue¡¯s expression immediately brightened.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s left hand quickly pressed the button, bringing it out of the forging table at just the right temperature.


    Hastily, the surveyor began writing this down.


    As the surveyor of the blacksmith¡¯s ranking test, she was extremely experienced in her role. From Tang Wulin¡¯s details, she could determine that this wasn¡¯t the child¡¯s first time forging Heavy Silver. How could a blacksmith who hadn¡¯t even registered yet truly forge Heavy Silver?


    Tang Wulin began!


    His two arms shook a bit as a pair of Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers appeared in his hands. He dexterously lifted up his left arm and tapped the Heavy Silver twice, issuing a ¡®ding ding¡¯ sound.


    Cen Yue¡¯s gaze switched to Tang Wulin¡¯s ears. He clearly saw Tang Wulin¡¯s ears tremble slightly.


    ¡®He¡¯s listening! He¡¯s listening to the feedback of the metal. What an excellent lad!¡¯


    Right at that moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm hammered down with lightning speed. The whole forging room was filled with a whistling sound and in the next instant, the tungsten hammer heavily landed on the chunk of Heavy Silver.


    Peng! The tungsten hammers sang a note as the Heavy Silver depressed inwards a bit.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s pair of large, pretty eyes began shining at that moment as the hammer in his left hand quickly followed. Peng! Another boom resounded in the room.


    The two booms echoed within the room while Cen Yue¡¯s eyes widened a bit. ¡®Those are¡­ Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers!?¡¯

 Chapter 42 – Eight Star Saint Craftsman

    Chapter 42 ¨C Eight Star Saint Craftsman


    How old was this child? Yet he was unexpectedly able to use such heavy Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers? It was known that some of the rank 2 blacksmiths couldn¡¯t even use a single hammer weighing 40 kilograms, let alone a pair of Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers that weighed 40 kilograms each!


    Forging required physical strength, stamina, and technique. Strength was the foundation which increased the efficacy of one¡¯s hammering. However, one¡¯s strength would also be consumed quickly.


    Without a thought, Tang Wulin¡¯s arms were already in motion, readying the next strike.


    His two hammers descended. From the Heavy Silver¡¯s feedback, Tang Wulin could tell that this chunk of Heavy Silver was very similar to the one he had forged previously. Even its inner vein lines were similar. This familiar feeling completely filled his mind as his two hammers moved into action, hammering down on the metal like a rainsquall.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bangbangbang!


    The sound of hammering was both intense and rhythmic, a combination which gave off an extraordinary sense of beauty.


    Everything he had encountered since arriving in Eastsea City had been strange and unfamiliar. This made him feel pressured as well as nervous. After all, he was still just a 9-year-old child. When he finally arrived at the academy, Tang Wu had to deal with bullying and was later fined as punishment for dealing with it. All of this made him feel as if he couldn¡¯t even breathe.


    However, before him now was a familiar chunk of Heavy Silver on a forging station. With the addition of the familiar rhythm of forging, he couldn¡¯t help but feel at home.


    As his eyes focused on on the Heavy Silver before him, his ears twitched unceasingly ¨C carefully listening to the feedback from his strikes. Under the pounding of his hammers, the Heavy Silver began to change. However, if one listened carefully, one would discover that as time passed the sound from the pair of Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers hitting the Heavy Silver became more and more stirring.


    The surveyor and Cen Yue¡¯s expressions grew serious.


    Tang Wulin was completely focused at this moment. Even compared to other blacksmiths already in their 20¡¯s and 30¡¯s, his level of focus was near impossible to match.


    ¡®A genius! This child is a genius!¡¯


    This thought simultaneously appeared in both their minds. Cen Yue didn¡¯t even need to look at the Heavy Silver. With his experience, he already knew how effective Tang Wulin¡¯s purification of the Heavy Silver would be.


    Purifying Heavy Silver was originally a second rank blacksmith¡¯s standard due to the excessive difficulty of purifying a metal as dense as Heavy Silver. It wasn¡¯t easy at all to completely purify a chunk of Heavy Silver.


    When Tang Wulin chose it, the Surveyor had thought he was overestimating his abilities. However, both she and Cen Yue were moved by his demonstration just now.


    That was right. A demonstration.


    When Tang Wulin¡¯s strike caused the Heavy Silver to release a beautiful note, he had already passed the test to become a first rank blacksmith.


    The rest was just a demonstration. But, to what degree could his demonstration reach? This was the question on the surveyor¡¯s and Cen Yue¡¯s mind.


    After completely immersing himself in forging, the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers were like rice straws in his hands as they continuously pounded the Heavy Silver. As he grew closer with that chunk of Heavy Silver, his hammering speed grew equally as swift. Soon after, only the flickering shadows of the unceasingly pounding hammers could be seen. The intensive pounding sounds flowed like mercury.


    Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s third floor.


    The elevator¡¯s doors opened up and two people exited. Among these two people was a majestic man in his 40¡¯s who was dressed in silver-grey clothes. He wore a badge on the pit of his stomach.


    Regardless of who saw him, their gaze would first be attracted to that badge. That badge of his was golden in color and had a protruding hammer design on it. Above it were a total of eight black stars.


    These eight stars signified a craftsman who had attained the eighth rank within their craft while the golden hammer represented his position as a blacksmith. An eighth rank blacksmith was an eight star Saint Craftsman level blacksmith.


    In the whole Blacksmith¡¯s Association, there was only one blacksmith at this level.


    Beside the middle aged man stood a girl who looked about 13 or 14 years old. She was tall and exceptionally pretty with a pair of large, bright eyes. Her golden hair was combed and put into a ponytail while she wore skintight clothes which made her seem very nimble.


    When they saw him arrive, the staff members at the front desk immediately stood up and greeted him. ¡°President.¡±


    The middle aged man nodded and said, ¡°At ease. I¡¯m just bringing Mu Xi to take the second rank test. I¡¯d like to speak with the surveyor.¡± This was the eight star Saint Craftsman as well as the President of the Sun-Moon Federation¡¯s Eastsea City branch of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. This was Mu Chen!


    ¡°Yes. Please wait a moment President. Miss Mu Xi is already taking the second rank test! She¡¯s truly worthy of being a generational genius in the blacksmithing world.¡±


    Mu Xi¡¯s expression was undisturbed in the face of such praise. In response, she just nodded in greeting.


    She didn¡¯t like being called a genius. The reason she was where she was today wasn¡¯t because of her talent, but because of her efforts. Her goal was to surpass her father and become a ninth rank Divine Craftsman.


    Throughout the Douluo Continent, there were only three nine star Divine Craftsmen.


    ¡°Ah! What¡¯s that sound?¡± Mu Chen raised an eyebrow as his eyes displayed a trace of astonishment. Beside him, Mu Xi had also raised an eyebrow as her elegant little ears trembled slightly in concentration. She immediately caught on to the sound of successive melodious, yet intense, poundings filling the air.


    Regardless of whether it were the rhythm or the frequency, the sounds of pounding was completely beautiful. It gave people a feeling of happiness.


    Mu Chen asked the staff member, ¡°Has someone come to take the fourth rank blacksmith¡¯s test?¡±


    The staff member replied dumbfoundedly, ¡°No?¡±


    Mu Chen pondered on it for a moment before turning to Mu Xi at his side. ¡°Head to the testing room and prepare first. I¡¯m going to go take a look.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Although Mu Xi was also curious, she still obeyed and immediately headed to the second rank testing room. She couldn¡¯t be distracted at a time like this.


    After separating from his daughter, Mu Chen followed the sounds of forging and quickly arrived at room number 3. This forging room had exceptional soundproofing abilities, yet, sound would still escape through the door.


    This type of forging sound could only come from forging an uncommon, high density metal. Moreover, every strike didn¡¯t create any noise, signifying how accurate these strikes were. Thus, those intensive and powerful collisions meant that the blacksmith was using Thousand Refined hammers.


    Blacksmith ranks were very strict, with ranks directly relating to their level of achievements. If one was able to reach this level of forging, then they ought to be at the level of a Grandmaster. Moreover, Mu Chen could also hear the results. As this blacksmith forged the metal, they were already in a state of harmony with it.

 Chapter 43 – Second Rank

    Chapter 43 ¨C Second Rank


    Harmonizing was when the blacksmith builds on a resonance with the piece of metal he was crafting, until it reaches a state of fusion between both. It was in this state that the chance of producing an excellent product became higher. Every single work of forging contained both the blacksmith¡¯s feelings as well as their ideals.


    Mu Chen didn¡¯t enter the forging chamber because he couldn¡¯t, even as the President. Nobody was allowed into the chamber when during a blacksmith¡¯s ranking test. Entering might falter the blacksmith¡¯s concentration, thus resulting in their failure or even casting a shadow on them.


    How interesting!


    Mu Chen once again returned to the front desk asked the staff, ¡°What is the name of the examinee in room three?¡±


    The staff, upon his inquiry, checked through the list and answered almost immediately. ¡°The examinee¡¯s name is Tang Wulin. He was recommended here by Grandmaster Cen Yue. He is currently being tested.¡±


    As he spoke, he passed Mu Chen a copy of Tang Wulin¡¯s forms.


    When Cen Yue¡¯s name was mentioned, he smiled. ¡°I say, who else other than someone recommended from Old Cen would be able to enter a state of harmonization in the midst of an examination? Ah! Nine years old?¡±


    With an expression of disbelief, he turned his eyes towards the staff. ¡°Are you sure this isn¡¯t a mistake of some sort? This examinee is only nine years old?¡±


    The staff confirmed immediately. ¡°That¡¯s right. We had doubts about it previously too. I couldn¡¯t believe that a child that young would come for a ranking test.¡±


    Mu Chen was stupefied. ¡®For a child his age, he must be taking the first rank blacksmith¡¯s test?¡¯


    Beep beep! Mu Chen removed the soul communicator from his waist belt and answered the call.


    ¡°Daddy, I¡¯m ready. Are you coming? I¡¯m in room six.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there shortly.¡±


    Though he still had doubts, it didn¡¯t matter as much as his daughter. Mu Chen quickened his steps towards room six.


    ¡°Time¡¯s up!¡± The surveyor announced in a weird-sounding voice.


    Dang! Tang Wulin finished off his last hammer strike and retracted both his hammers. With a flash of light, his pair of hammers vanished into his Heavy Silver Rings.


    His chest rose and fell gently. Tang Wulin seemed to be slightly short of breath, his cheeks scarlet with a blush, and sweat was glistening from his forehead. But that was all.


    The forging room was once again silent, albeit only for a short time. While the surveyor had her attention on the piece of Heavy Silver, Cen Yue directed his gaze to Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes.


    In Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, Cen Yue thought he caught a hint of a glimmering silverish light that had been emitted from the Heavy Silver. Though the forging process had ended, Tang Wulin¡¯s focus was still in its initial stage. He believed that the child would one day grow up to become a peerless individual should he stay on the path.


    ¡°Heavy Silver. Purification exceeding Hundred Refinements. Volume reduction of seven percent. State of purification ¨C Hundred Refined, three times.¡± The surveyor announced precisely after a careful inspection of the piece of metal.


    If the forging was done by a Grandmaster Blacksmith, getting the Heavy Silver to such a state wouldn¡¯t mean much. This forging, however, was done by a mere nine year old child whose body had not even hit puberty yet. It was an incredible feat from this child.


    ¡°The evaluation has passed.¡± The surveyor announced, her gaze directed towards Cen Yue.


    Cen Yue broke into a bitter smile. ¡°Mang Tian did this on purpose.¡±


    The surveyor was shocked upon hearing Cen Yue¡¯s remarks. ¡°This kid, he¡¯s a disciple of Mang Tian?¡±


    Cen Yue nodded his head. ¡°I couldn¡¯t believe it either. But I now confirm that the kid is eligible for the second rank test.¡±


    The surveyor considered Cen Yue¡¯s comment before turning towards Tang Wulin. ¡°Kid, other than metal purification, do you have other skills?¡±


    It was then that Tang Wulin awakened from his carefree forging state. However, his only faults were hammering too lightly while using the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers and the forging process ended a little earlier than he would have liked it to. If sufficient time was given, he was sure he could complete the Thousand Refinements.


    ¡°I can forge some basic small and medium-sized components,¡° Tang Wulin described earnestly.


    This didn¡¯t surprise Cen Yue since Tang Wulin previously mentioned it, and even Mang Tian agreed that Tang Wulin was capable of receiving jobs himself.


    ¡°Please forge a medium-sized component,¡± The surveyor said with a deep voice, ¡°and if you manage to succeed, you will be promoted to the second rank.¡±


    The requirements to be a second rank blacksmith was simply to forge a medium-sized component and to have the ability to Hundred Refine rare metals.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s previous purification process was excellent, so he only needed to forge some components now.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin answered before immediately beginning to forge the component.


    The pair of Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers reappeared, and rhythmic hammering sounded out once again.


    The surveyor was about to call out and tell Tang Wulin that he could use common metals to pass the test, but was silenced by a glance from Cen Yue. He wanted to see how well a nine-year-old child could perform this task.


    As he hammered the chunk of Heavy  Silver again, a surge of happiness filled Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. Within his heart, he felt as though he was reunited with his friends.


    At his endless pounding, the chunk of metal produced a crisp hum, as if in response to his hammering. Tang Wulin¡¯s hammering speed gradually increased. Under his hammer¡¯s pounding, the metal started to change.


    With every strike of his hammer, it bounced off the metal even higher. Afterwards, Tang Wulin would add even more force into his next strike. The Heavy Silver gradually formed into a circular-shaped medium component, under his constant pounding.


    The hammering process that Cen Yue witnessed was one without any faults, as if every strike had its place and every move was natural. In his eyes, this was the textbook¡¯s ideal of forging!


    This child¡¯s foundation skills were unmatched. Even if he were to be compared with 18 or 19 year olds with an apprenticeship of more than eight years, he would still surpass them by far!


    Though in this forging process, Tang Wulin simply hammered the metal without any superfluous techniques, it extruded an abnormal feeling of pureness to the bystanders.


    Generally, small components would be used in mecha joints, and medium components would be inlayed within the main body of the mecha.


    Tang Wulin had crafted a semi-circular component, an important component within the knee joint of a mecha. Joint protection components were most susceptible to wear and tear, however, this also made them the most suitable to be used for soul guide arrays. Heavy Silver was a good conductor for transmitting soul power. Thus, forging the joint component out of Heavy Silver would be the most appropriate. Tang Wulin had indeed considered these points prior to his forging.


    Another hour passed by before Tang Wulin produced a semi-circular component that was free from any defects and brought it up to both Cen Yue and the surveyor for their assessment. The two of them were even more speechless than before.


    ¡°Masters, did I pass the test?¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t be more proud with his piece of work. In fact, this was his first time forging a component with Heavy Silver. When he recalled the past, Tang Wulin thought that the only flaw to his work was that the component was not Thousand Refinemed. He was confident that he would have been able to Thousand Refine it.


    After his previous Thousand Refinements, he discovered that his understand of forging had gone up by a level. After forging Heavy Silver again, he felt that it was simply wonderful.

 Chapter 44 – Aren’t You Just Showing Off?

    Chapter 44 ¨C Aren¡¯t You Just Showing Off?


    When Tang Wulin walked out of the forging room, his face was painted with joy. It wasn¡¯t because of the recognition from both masters, nor was it because he had risen up to a second rank blacksmith. Rather, he was euphoric from the sum of 10,000 federation coins he received from the Heavy Silver component he had forged.


    One can actually make such a huge fortune from forging rare metals!


    Cen Yue had informed him, prior to his exit, to report back again to the Blacksmith Association in two-days time to receive his blacksmith¡¯s badge, and to start receiving jobs from the Association.


    ?


    ¡°Mang Tian!¡± The call to his old acquaintance finally got through.


    ¡°En?¡± Mang Tian¡¯s voice was just as indifferent as the time they last spoke.


    ¡°Where did you find yourself such a treasure?¡± Cen Yue spoke into his device impatiently.


    Mang Tian replied plainly, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Who else do you think I am referring to? Your nine-year-old, second rank disciple. What¡¯s more shocking, he just forged a component directly with Heavy Silver. With his young age, he could definitely master the Thousand Refinements within a few years of serious training. With that, he would be good on his way towards a Grandmaster Blacksmith. How did you train this child?¡±


    ¡°Hey, can you say something?¡±


    Cen Yue was not pleased with the lack of response he got from Mang Tian.


    ¡°I have nothing to say. That child was born with innate divine strength and he has a diligent character. That¡¯s all.¡± Mang Tian still spoke plainly.


    Cen Yue snapped back at Mang Tian¡¯s explanation. ¡°Was your intention to brandish this kid¡¯s abilities at me when you recommended him here?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Mang Tian acknowledged his true intention.


    ¡°Speak, what are your conditions for you to give that child to me? Since you will be at the deserted Glorybound City most of the time, do you even have time to guide your disciple? He would be better off if you let him come with me. I will guide him carefully if you trust me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m hanging up!¡±


    Dududu!


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Cen Yue almost dropped his soul communicator out of rage.


    ¡°Teacher, were you looking for me?¡± At that very moment, a youngster in his twenties walked into Cen Yue¡¯s room.


    ¡°What blacksmith rank are you at? How many years have you been under me? Can¡¯t you even complete the Thousand Refinements¡­¡­¡± The youngster, while in a state of loss, was unfortunately the target of all of Cen Yue¡¯s anger. This master of his was usually known for his good temper.


    Tang Wulin was, however, clueless of the impact his outstanding ability had on the others, and he was on his way back to the Academy.


    ?


    ¡°Take it!¡± Tang Wulin pushed forth the bagful of 10,000 federation coins to Xie Xie, who was propped up on his bed. The bruise from Tang Wulin¡¯s punch had not subsided.


    Xie Xie eyed him coldly, ¡°Are you trying to run away from the match?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head in reply. ¡°I couldn¡¯t pay up previously because I did not have any coins. Since I ruined most of the property, I don¡¯t think you should be paying for all of it. Here is 10,000 federation coins. I will pay you back the other 10,000 federation coins when I have them. I am a man of my words, and since I have accepted your offer, I will be there tomorrow after school. You can set the location.¡±


    Tang Wulin left the bunch of coins next to Xie Xie and headed for his bed after stating his intentions.


    Zhou Zhangxi and Yun Xiao exchanged a glance as they observed the exchange from the top bunks. Ever since his defeat against Tang Wulin in the steamed bun eating contest, Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s attitude towards Tang Wulin had changed. Yun Xiao, on the other hand, was curious at how Tang Wulin managed to produce the 10,000 federation coins. It seemed impossible for him to get such huge sum within this short span of time.


    Tang Wulin entered a meditative state easily after moving into his cross-legged posture on his bed. In fact, today was his first time using his martial soul in battle. He didn¡¯t have any experience in these matters and this was even the first true battle he had been in.


    Tang Wulin felt that Xie Xie was a formidable person. If he hadn¡¯t used his Bluesilver Grass¡¯s soul skill, his skills alone wouldn¡¯t stand a chance in withstanding Xie Xie.


    From the fight earlier today, he gained some understanding of his own martial soul too. He recalled the advice his teacher had given him, and agreed that he truly needed to improve his control over his Bluesilver Grass.


    Xie Xie, however, merely lay down on his bed. His mind was filled with images of the match earlier today as well, specifically on his inability to cut the grass with his Light Dragon Dagger. ¡®Is Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul really just Bluesilver Grass? Did I underestimate the ability of Tang Wulin¡¯s trash martial soul?¡¯


    ¡®I will show him my true colours in the match tomorrow! I will make him pay for that punch!¡¯ As he thought this, Xie Xie touched his swollen cheeks, reigniting his heart¡¯s fury.


    Meditation should be done prior to and after dinner. After all, the clumsy bird flies early for the forest. This saying had left a deep impression in Tang Wulin¡¯s mind.


    ?


    Dawn. Tang Wulin woke up as soon as the first rays of sunlight poked at him through the windows.


    A night of meditation did help in recovering some of his soul power. As soon as he entered rank 10, he had felt a distinct difference in the time needed to regain his energy. At the same time, he would need more soul power to advance to the next stages. This required him to use far more time to accumulate the amount.


    As he got off his bed, his gaze rested unintentionally on the occupant within the lower bunk of the other set of beds across the room. Xie Xie, who seemed to be meditating, opened his eyes suddenly.


    Both pairs of eyes locked for a few moments. Xie Xie¡¯s gaze was frosty, whereas Tang Wulin had a look of indifference. Shortly after, Tang Wulin broke his gaze and headed for the shower.


    In his opinion, Xie Xie was just another wealthy city kid; he gave off an image of bossiness, assertiveness, and insolence. Tang Wulin would rather make friends with Zhou Zhangxi than the rich city kid.


    After finishing his morning shower, there was nothing else to stop him from the most important activity of all, meal time.


    However, Tang Wulin was unaware that his previous challenge in steamed-bun-eating had earned him the nickname of ¡°Rice Bucket¡±, even though he hadn¡¯t even started his journey in the academy.


    As he woke up earlier that others, he was greeted with an empty dining hall. Within the hall were the same three windows. Breakfast was, like previous meals, categorised into three categories. Tang Wulin naturally headed for the third window, which provided free food.


    Breakfast was a spread of milk, eggs, sausages, bread, and vegetables.


    Tang Wulin helped himself and piled up a pyramid¡¯s worth of food on his plate before leaving for an empty table at the corner to devour his food.


    The dining hall¡¯s chef recognised Tang Wulin for his record-breaking appetite and was worried that the child¡¯s stomach could not take up all the food. But he now knew that the child was doing fine when he caught view of Tang Wulin¡¯s actions through the window.


    Xie Xie entered the dining hall just when Tang Wulin started with his meal. Like Tang Wulin, his mind had already been made up and he headed straight for the 1st window, collecting a plateful of food as well.


    One would think that the food on Xie Xie¡¯s plate was similar to Tang Wulin¡¯s from a mere glance. A closer inspection, however, would make one realize the difference. Take for instance the milk; it was not just any milk, but one that was taken from a soul beast bred in captivity. As with the other food on his plate, they contained a higher amount of nutrients, all from various origins.


    But, if one were to compare the portions of rice consumed between the two, he would realise that Tang Wulin¡¯s portion was as much or even more than ten times that of what Xie Xie had on his plate.


    Though both of them were seated far apart, each in solitude, Xie Xie kept glancing occasionally in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction. Tang Wulin was, however, concentrated on the breakfast before him.


    The dining hall grew crowded as students began entering. Just like how it was the night before, they started pointing and directing their comments at Tang Wulin.


    ?


    As the sun rose high, the opening ceremony started.

 Chapter 45 – The Worst Class

    Chapter 45 ¨C The Worst Class


    The opening ceremony on Eastsea Academy¡¯s huge plaza. It was only during this ceremony that both clusters of students from the Advanced Academy and Intermediate Academy met.


    Being one of the tallest students there, Tang Wulin was positioned at the back. This gave him ample opportunity to observe the whole plaza, as well as all of the students within the academy.


    At the intermediate academy, there were around a hundred students within each grade, totalling up to a rough figure of seven to eight hundred students in all. Compared with the intermediate academy, the group at the advanced academy was significantly smaller as there were close to two hundred students. Students in the advanced academy were divided into three grades. It was thus an arduous task to get into the advanced academy that only had a small succession rate of 20% of students coming from the Intermediate Academy.


    ¡°Good day students. We shall now begin the Eastsea Academy¡¯s annually held opening ceremony. The President of Eastsea Academy has been invited to the ceremony and he will be making a speech shortly.¡±


    Eastsea Academy¡¯s President was a senior who looked to be about sixty years old. He had a medium build and didn¡¯t look that exceptional. He gave off a bookish atmosphere with his head full of white hair and pair of eyeglasses.


    ¡°Welcome to the academy, students. Every single year at this time, I feel a bit sad that students from the intermediate and advanced divisions have graduated, and have left us. However, some of the intermediate students will enter the advanced academy in addition to our new students.¡±


    ¡°As I see it, academies are like the blood of society. It receives individuals into the academy and later delivers them into society. In the near future, I hope all of you can¡­¡­¡±


    The President was very eloquent in his speech. In fact, he didn¡¯t even have a script to read off of. He spoke excellently for a full hour before he brought his speech to a close.


    The pinnacle of the opening ceremony proceeded right after the President¡¯s speech ¨C class assignment.


    Students who did not need a class assigned to them were slowly making their way out from the crowded plaza. Fresh faces from the advanced academy left towards their academy for their own class assignment. What was left within the plaza were the new students of the intermediate academy.


    ¡°We will proceed with the class assignment. It is known that within Eastsea Academy, the smaller the class number, the more prestigious class. Though that is a fact, we too hope for exceptions where students from the last class will work harder and perform better. We have a total of one hundred and eight new students today, divided up into five classes. The students whom I will call up next are in class one¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin finally understood the implications of Long Hengxu¡¯s words towards Xie Xie, Yun Xiao, and Zhou Zhangxi the day before, when they were sent to class five.


    There were a total of five classes, and students with more ability were positioned at the front. That said, class five was positioned right at the back.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, Zhou Zhangxi, Xie Xie, Yun Xiao¡­¡­¡± As expected, the four names were finally called when the announcer arrived at the list for class five.


    There were twenty students within class five, and it was the smallest class of them all. Each and every one of them had a listless expression.


    ¡°Class teachers, please direct your students to their classes and help them familiarize themselves within the academy.¡±


    Five teachers appeared before the crowd as the announcement ended. One of those five teachers headed towards the direction of class five.


    This teacher looked to be about 27 or 28 years old. When the students of class five turned to look at him, they were all stunned.


    This teacher was simply too handsome!


    Although Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had exceptional looks, they were just kids. Thus, there was a possibility that they might change upon maturation. This teacher, however, stood at a staggering height of over 1.9 meters along with a pair of lanky arms and a thin waist. White trousers accentuated his long legs. Though he looked thin, the combination of that along with his brightly lit eyes, well-set nose, and thin lips gave off an image of height and intelligence. The mass of hair was swept to the back of his head. A random current of wind caught on his lake-blue tresses and rested them on his waistline, affirming the length of his hair.


    His pupils were of a smoky green and the colour matched well with his blue hair, giving off a strange temperament. His face was expressionless, his gaze icy.


    One of the girls in class five breathed out quietly, ¡°The teacher is so handsome!¡± Unknown to the girl, she had voiced out the thought of all the students.


    Xie Xie twitched his lips at the comment, though his facial expression showed indifference.


    ¡°Come with me!¡± This young teacher spoke simply. Though the words were simple, it left a certain chill among the students, right within their hearts. This feeling¡­


    Yun Xiao whispered under his breath, ¡°The teacher seems powerful.¡±


    He seemed to be someone powerful indeed. His mere appearance in the plaza had inflicted frostiness onto others to such a great effect. This would not be possible if he were an ordinary person.


    ?


    The classroom for class five was located at ground level, positioned at the innermost area of the building and required much more walking to reach.


    There were thirty sets of tables and chairs in the classroom. The teaching platform was positioned at the front of the classroom.


    ¡°Take your seats.¡± The youthful teacher said coldly. Every single time he spoke, it always gave off a feeling of iciness!


    Tang Wulin picked a desk on the side after much consideration. His height would have obstructed the view of others if he sat in the middle of the current row, so he picked one on the side. This allowed him to be able to sit near the front and not obstruct his classmates.


    There were no bearings of what Xie Xie had in mind, he simply picked a seat next to Tang Wulin. Simultaneously, Yun Xiao and Zhou Zhangxi dropped into the seats before and after him respectively. Thus, the four roommates were together again.


    The youthful teacher walked to the platform after entering the classroom. As he turned and scanned through the faces of the students before him, the chatter stopped and the classroom regained its silence.


    ¡°My name is Wu Zhangkong!¡± The youthful teacher introduced himself plainly. ¡°For the next six years, you will all be under my tutelage.¡±


    ¡°I would like to emphasize a point ¨C you may disregard whatever Director Long Hengxu had mentioned at the ceremony. Even if you are a bunch of trash, I will train you into the strongest students within your cohort. That is unless you choose to drop out; otherwise, that shall be your aim for the next six years.¡±


    While the words were full of arrogance, Wu Zhangkong spoke with a plain tone and it still attracted the attention of all the students within the class.


    ¡°You shall introduce yourselves ¨C your name, martial soul, soul power rank, and your aspirations. Tell me all of it. You may begin!¡±


    It was clear and simple, nothing overboard.


    The area Tang Wulin and his roommates sat happened to be the side-most row of the room and Wu Zhangkong happened to be pointing towards their direction. And so, Yun Xiao broke the ice and started his introduction.


    ¡°Hello everyone, my name is Yun Xiao. My martial soul is an Astrolabe, and my soul power is at rank 12. My goal is to become an intelligence-support-type soul master.¡± Of course, since Yun Xiao was given the nickname of ¡®Mastermind¡¯ for his quick-mindedness, it was simply fitting for that to be his aspiration. He started and ended his introduction in a dignified manner, though there was a hint of trembling in his voice.


    Tang Wulin was next in line, and so he stood up. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze rested on him. It was then that he understood the tremor in Yun Xiao¡¯s voice. His gaze was sharp, to the point that it seemed to penetrate into a person¡¯s essence.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, martial soul is Bluesilver grass, soul power is rank 11.  My aspiration is¡­¡­¡± He halted when he was introducing his aspirations. ¡°I don¡¯t have one yet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a trash soul, no wonder you have no aspirations.¡± A comment escaped from the mass of students seated within the classroom.


    Sou! A piece chalk flew precisely into the mouth of said student, like a guided missile being aimed at its target.


    ¡°Ou!¡± The chalk had some spiralling force as it went into the throat of the student. He started retching immediately.


    Wu Zhangkong spoked ruthlessly, ¡°There are no trash martial soul in this world. Rather, there are only trash people. Consider your own morals first before calling others trash. If you aren¡¯t a piece of trash yourself, would you have landed in class five?¡±

 Chapter 46 – Icily Arrogant Prince Charming

    Chapter 46 ¨C Icily Arrogant Prince Charming


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s ice-cold and powerful voice caused the whole class to quiet down in fear.


    ¡°Proceed.¡±


    ¡°I, I am Zhou Zhangxi. My martial soul is the Titan Ape; soul power at rank 11. My goal is to become a Strength System Battle Soul Master.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Xie Xie. Martial soul is Light Dragon Dagger; soul power at rank 18. Agility System Battle Soul Master.¡±


    When the words ¡®rank 18¡¯ came out, the whole class was instantly shocked. A nine-year-old child with rank 18 soul power. This was truly a genius! Moreover, he was actually a Battle Soul Master. After another two soul power ranks, he would become a Soul Grandmaster. Anyone capable of becoming a Soul Grandmaster before twelve years old was qualified to be called a genius.


    In the end, the highlight of the class was Xie Xie¡¯s soul power rank. In fact, Yun Xiao¡¯s rank 12 soul power was considered quite high as the majority of students entered with rank 11 soul power. As for their martial souls, there were all sorts of fantastic oddities, but none of them were particularly powerful.


    Of course, Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass was still the worst of them all. This fact was practically set in stone.


    ¡°Starting tomorrow, classes will officially begin. My teaching style is a bit different from other teachers so if you¡¯re afraid of pain, fatigue, or aches, quickly change schools or think of a way to change classes. Those who remain should mentally prepare themselves. That is all, class dismissed.¡±


    After Wu Zhangkong¡¯s tall figure strode out from the classroom on his pair of long legs, the classroom exploded with chatter. Nearly all of them were discussing this cold, yet handsome teacher.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then. You still need to fulfill your promise.¡± Xie Xie looked towards Tang Wulin as he spoke. Although it was still morning, their classes had already ended. Classes wouldn¡¯t officially start for them until the next day.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Tang Wulin stood up and led the way out.


    As soon as Tang Wulin walked through the doorway, he found that the entire floor was filled with noisy upperclassmen.


    ¡®What are they doing?¡¯


    ¡°Huh? Tang Wulin?¡± Right at that moment, a familiar voice called out.


    Tang Wulin turned towards the voice, but its elegant owner had already arrived in front of him. It was the senior sister from the advanced academy who had greeted him yesterday, Liu Yuxin.


    ¡°Senior sister.¡± Tang Wulin revealed a smile. He had a highly favorable impression of her.


    ¡°Wulin. You¡¯re in class five?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°My martial soul is Bluesilver Grass. It¡¯s a trash martial soul after all. Naturally I can only enter class five.¡±


    Liu Yuxin hastily said, ¡°No, no. That¡¯s not what I meant. I meant to say, Teacher Wu Zhangkong is your class¡¯s teacher right?¡±


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±


    Liu Yuxin¡¯s beautiful eyes instantly brightened up. ¡°Wulin, senior sister has a matter I need to trouble you with.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned but still said. ¡°Alright!¡±


    Liu Yuxin placed an item in his hands and quietly said, ¡°When you have class in the future, help me take a few pictures of the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming. Oh, that¡¯s your teacher, Wu Zhangkong.¡±


    ¡°Icily Arrogant Prince Charming?¡± Tang Wulin asked her, puzzled.


    Liu Yuxin¡¯s pretty face blushed red. ¡°You guys wouldn¡¯t know this, but Wu Zhangkong is the number one lady-killer in our academy. With that coldness of his, regardless of whether it¡¯s the young female teachers or the female students, we all find him charming. He was a teacher at the advanced academy previously, but for some reason he was sent to the intermediate academy. Moreover, he was actually assigned to your class. We all feel that this is an injustice against him. However, the academy has already decided on it, so there isn¡¯t anything to be done about it, even if we all miss him. Help us take some pictures of him and this senior sister definitely won¡¯t treat you unfairly.¡±


    Tang Wulin stood there foolishly. He hadn¡¯t expected Liu Yuxin would ask him to do this kind of thing. ¡°Senior Sister, isn¡¯t this no good?¡±


    Liu Yuxin giggled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s totally fine. If senior sister leaks some intel regarding Teacher Wu to you, it¡¯ll definitely be of benefit.¡±


    Xie Xie was right behind Tang Wulin and was actually a bit impatient when he saw Tang Wulin talking with Liu Yuxin. When he heard what she said however, any desire to drag Tang Wulin away was dispelled. After hearing these circumstances, he gained an important understanding of the exotic flower that was their class¡¯s teacher.


    Liu Yuxin said, ¡°Teacher Wu is our academy¡¯s most formidable teacher. Not only is he handsome and has an excellent build, but he¡¯s also knowledgeable and multi-talented. He¡¯s an excellent teacher as well. He has even cultivated to such a high level. Some say that he¡¯s the number one expert in our academy. I think I once saw him with at least six soul rings. That means he¡¯s at least a Soul Emperor!¡±


    Soul Emperor? This was simply too far off for Tang Wulin to imagine. With his current soul rank, it was practically impossible for him to cultivate to six soul rings as he didn¡¯t have the ability to purchase a powerful spirit soul.


    The number of spirit souls a human could absorb was limited to the what their spiritual power could bear. White spirit souls could only offer up one soul ring and currently, Soul Masters could only absorb up to three spirit souls. If they absorbed three white spirit souls, then three rings would be their limit.


    Yellow spirit souls could produce two soul skills at most, which was basically two soul rings. This was also the reason hundred year spirit souls were worth so much more. As for the higher level purple coloured thousand year spirit souls and black coloured ten-thousand year spirit souls, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t even dare to imagine obtaining one of them.


    Teacher Wu Zhangkong actually had six rings. He was actually such a powerful person! Eastsea City only had a few six ring Soul Emperors, but more than that, he was actually so young!


    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯m going to head off first. Don¡¯t forget to take a few pictures for me!¡± The item she had slipped into Tang Wulin¡¯s hands was actually a soul camera!


    ¡°Senior sister!¡± Tang Wulin called out, but Liu Yuxin had already run away. She was really fast and was actually chasing after Teacher Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°You should give that camera to someone else for safekeeping first. You don¡¯t want to break it after all,¡± Xie Xie coldly said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s go,¡± Tang Wulin said as he shot a glance towards Xie Xie.


    The benefits he obtained from meditation this previous day wasn¡¯t small. Unexpectedly, the area he improved the most wasn¡¯t forging, but combat. That was the first time he had used his martial soul in a battle. In addition to the pressure Xie Xie exerted on him, he felt that the understanding he had for his martial soul had increased. This was the reason why he hadn¡¯t rejected today¡¯s battle.


    His master had said that his Bluesilver Grass was a variant martial soul, so it wasn¡¯t purely trash anymore.


    After exiting the school, Tang Wulin asked Xie Xie, ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°We¡¯re going to Eastsea Park. There aren¡¯t many people there, so you can be at ease; I¡¯ll find someone to treat your injuries.¡±


    Tang Wulin simply said, ¡°The facts will prove themselves.¡±

 Chapter 47 – The Battle of Eastsea Park

    Chapter 47 ¨C The Battle of Eastsea Park


    Eastsea Park wasn¡¯t far from Eastsea Academy. One could reach the park after a 10 minute stroll by following the path next to the exit of the academy. The park was accessible to the public at no charges at all. As it was still early in the day, the park was filled with many citizens doing their morning exercises.


    As one strolled into the park, their senses would be greeted with a rush of nature¡¯s perfume ¨C a blend of the crisp scent of the plants and the floral sweetness from flowers, which refreshed their minds. Tang Wulin felt himself gradually relaxing. His Bluesilver Grass was a plant martial soul, and he was currently surrounded by fields of Bluesilver Grass. This was the environment he loved best.


    He had a faint thought that if he meditated here, the results would be much better than if he were to meditate back in the dorms. He had already proven this point when he was back home in Glorybound City. But it was impossible to compare the small garden back home to this park with its endless boundaries; the differences in size was simply incomparable.


    Xie Xie wasn¡¯t surprise that he wasn¡¯t the first to arrive. He strolled casually and with much familiarity into the deepest parts of the park.


    Following the gravelled walkway into the park, one would realise the differences in the size of the trees. The deeper into the park, the larger they became. Eastsea Park had a history of over a thousand years, long before even the Eastsea Academy had been founded. With its rich history, the park contained many varieties of rare trees.


    As he moved deeper into the park, Tang Wulin gradually felt even better. This feeling of returning back to nature revitalised the martial soul within him.


    ¡®Such a good place! I will be back again.¡¯ Tang Wulin thought.


    As they reached the deepest part of the park, where they were well hidden from others, Xie Xie halted in the center of an open area.


    ¡°Here it is.¡± He turned to face Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin stopped at the same time, returning a cautious look to Xie Xie.


    ¡°I will be fair to you. Since I am an Agility System Battle Soul Master, I will move back 50 meters. When I say start, you may move.¡± As he spoke, Xie Xie began moving backwards. He refused to take advantage of Tang Wulin. Especially not with his pride held up so high.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t make a sound. Instead, his mind was filled with the images of their previous match. The yellow colour of Xie Xie¡¯s martial soul when he released it during the match the other day was still vivid in his mind. Though he hadn¡¯t managed to grasp the spirit soul of Xie Xie¡¯s, it was clear to him that the colour meant that Xie Xie had a hundred year spirit soul.


    A hundred year spirit soul would naturally have hundred year soul skills. Tang Wulin was unsure about the strength of that power.


    ¡°Are you prepared?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s voice came to him from afar.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath and focused his gaze. ¡°Let¡¯s start.¡±


    Xie Xie answered back coldly, ¡°I will show you the disparity between our skills. I will make you pay for the shame you have done to me. Start!¡± As soon as he ended his words, he was flying towards Tang Wulin¡¯s direction like a released arrow.


    As Xie Xie prepared for his sprint, he had positioned himself low, giving others an image of him hugging the ground. A ring of yellow light appeared beneath his feet. Like the day before, Tang Wulin noticed that as he released this hundred year spirit soul, a 35 centimeter long blade that seemed to be made of crystal yellow appeared in his right hand. As Xie Xie sped forth, the accompanying dagger produced a faint dragon¡¯s growl.


    Tang Wulin also released his Bluesilver Grass within a short span of time. A tiny, golden glowing grass snake appeared on his arm and twirled around his wrist. Strands of vine-like Bluesilver Grass flew out.


    While Tang Wulin had little to no practical experience, the Bluesilver Grass thrived with its ability to cover a wide range of space. As these little blades of grass expanded, its surface area increased rapidly and enveloped Xie Xie easily.


    ¡®Still using the same trick?¡¯ A trace of disdain flashed across Xie Xie¡¯s face, he increased his speed swiftly.


    Xie Xie, who was previously charging in a straight line towards him, shifted into an illusion. At once, Tang Wulin lost sight of Xie Xie and his ability to pinpoint his exact location due to the dizzying blur before him.


    Xie Xie moved through the gaps of Tang Wulin¡¯s weaving of variant Bluesilver Grass unscathed and shortened his distance with Tang Wulin.


    ¡®This is bad!¡¯


    ¡®If Bind fails to trap my opponent, then this variant Bluesilver Grass is no longer useful in battle,¡¯ Tang Wulin thought this as he retracted the grass vines and directed them before himself. The denser these vines were, the higher the defense capabilities they would have. It was an idea that came to him during his meditation the night before.


    At this time, Xie Xie was already within a 10 meter range from Tang Wulin.


    Xie Xie¡¯s speed didn¡¯t change. Instead, his arm moved even quicker.


    The Light Dragon Dagger in his hand morphed into a bursting ball of light which released endless golden rays that were aimed precisely at the Bluesilver Grass beneath him.


    It was then that Tang Wulin realised the immense difference between Xie Xie and himself. Every blade of his Bluesilver Grass had been slashed apart by the light that came from Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger. Although the blades of grass were still intact, they could easily be swung off. With the Light Dragon Dagger¡¯s sharp blade cutting against his Bluesilver Grass, Tang Wulin felt the soul power within him diminished rapidly. Within a breath¡¯s time, Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power had depleted by more than 10%.


    If Xie Xie had found out the characteristics of Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power, he would not have needed to use such a forceful attack against Tang Wulin. This technique would have easily emptied out all of Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power.


    As the shield of Bluesilver Grass parted, Tang Wulin no longer had any defense against Xie Xie¡¯s oncoming attack. Xie Xie was already right before him by then.


    Since Bluesilver Grass was no longer useful, Tang Wulin shot both his fists forwards, exploding them at Xie Xie. At the same time, he controlled and withdrew all of his Bluesilver Grass. He was hoping that by doing so, he could successfully perform Bind as he tried to shield off his opponent¡¯s attack. This was his only chance at winning the match.


    From a typical point of view, Bluesilver Grass belonging to a control system would ideally make it easier to defeat martial souls belonging to the Agility system category.


    However, the difference between Tang Wulin and Xie Xie was far too great in terms of their skills or experiences.


    Xie Xie tilted only slightly to avoid Tang Wulin¡¯s pair of clenched fists that had produced a light explosive sound. With a sharp, flash-like turn, he was already at Tang Wulin¡¯s side. At this point in time, Tang Wulin was caught defenseless.


    If this was a battlefield, and Xie Xie had the intention to kill, he could have laid his blade easily on Tang Wulin¡¯s neck.


    However, Xie Xie took an abrupt pause. He only had the thought of defeating Tang Wulin in mind, and didn¡¯t have any other intention.


    He changed the direction of his dagger, twitching the blade at its handle, and locked on his target ¨C Tang Wulin¡¯s cheek. ¡®I will pay you back for the swelling that you did to my face.¡¯


    While many decisions were being made within Xie Xie¡¯s mind during this split-second, Tang Wulin suddenly jerked and tilted his head down, using the back of his skull to knock against Xie Xie¡¯s handle during this fraction of time.


    However, Xie Xie¡¯s response was quick. What made a person an Agility System Martial Soul Master? At its highest realm of mastery, the master would be able to avoid direct combat for as long as they wished. When the opponent was finally selected, they would have already been left defenseless.


    Though Xie Xie was proud, his analysis of Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t influenced by that pride and was accurate. He knew clearly that Tang Wulin¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t something that he could withstand.


    He twisted his agile wrist in a split-second and sank the Light Dragon Dagger into Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder blade.

 Chapter 48 – Golden Scales

    Chapter 48 ¨C Golden Scales


    The Light Dragon Dagger pierced into his shoulder. Xie Xie restrained himself in this attack as he thought that Tang Wulin¡¯s whole arm would have been severed if he¡¯d used his entire strength. Neither of them had a deep hatred for the other, so giving him a small lesson would be enough.


    However, what shocked him was that Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder flesh was extremely tough; even his Light Dragon Dagger was only able to cut about an inch. Even if he had restrained his strength, this result was simply too shocking!


    Bright red blood appeared, accompanied by pain. This caused Tang Wulin to lose control of the withdrawing Bluesilver Grass, leaving the grass limp on the ground.


    As the Light Dragon Dagger pushed down, Tang Wulin was forced to his knees. After stumbling a bit, he was able to stand back up. He wanted to punch Xie Xie, but Xie Xie suddenly spun and was already at his rear. The Light Dragon Dagger in his shoulder twisted, causing a burst of pain to shoot throughout his body. In particular, the spot where the Light Dragon Dagger had stabbed him had an energy which oppressed his soul power.


    ¡°Admit defeat!¡± Xie Xie¡¯s voice was proud after having avenged his defeat against Tang Wulin¡¯s fist the previous day.


    Tang Wulin clenched his teeth. His stubborn heart couldn¡¯t possibly allow him to concede at this point.


    Right at that moment, the pain in his shoulder seemed to ignite through his whole body. A scorching wave of heat rushed forth, spreading rapidly throughout his being. He wanted to speak out, but found that he wasn¡¯t able to speak at all.


    ¡°I ask you, do you admit defeat!?¡± Xie Xie pressed down on the dagger in his hand as he fiercely said this.


    ¡°No!¡± Tang Wulin snarled with a hint a rebellion.


    Xie Xie was stunned for a moment. He wondered why Tang Wulin¡¯s voice was so hoarse, even when the wound was so shallow. Subconsciously, even he wanted to pull out the Light Dragon Dagger.


    At that moment however, an unexpected situation occurred.


    The Light Dragon Dagger that was stabbed into his shoulder issued out an ear-piercing dragon¡¯s roar that filled Xie Xie¡¯s entire being with palpitation. He felt as if he had suddenly encountered something dreadful.


    The blood suddenly stopped flowing from the location where the Light Dragon Dagger was embedded and a golden light began to spill out of the wound. Bathed in that golden light, the Light Dragon Dagger slid a bit out of the wound.


    Faced with this unknown situation, Xie Xie¡¯s first thought was to retreat. However, he was aghast to discovered that the Light Dragon Dagger was practically clinging onto Tang Wulin, and he couldn¡¯t retrieve the Light Dragon Dagger at all.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± Tang Wulin let out a shocking roar as a golden light poured out of his wound, dislodging the Light Dragon Dagger.


    As Xie Xie watched, a golden mass of light suddenly rushed towards him, then he felt as if he was flying; as though he had been hit by a high-speed soul train. He immediately blacked out, completely unaware of what happened.


    Bang! Xie Xie crashed into a large tree off in the distance and slowly slid down its trunk.


    Tang Wulin half knelt on the ground. His eyes were just as red as before, while his whole body violently trembled. Right at this moment, he felt as though he were metal being calcined in a furnace. The blazing heat within his body made him shake unceasingly.


    However, he was still completely conscious. When he had punched Xie Xie moments ago, he had restrained his strength at the very last moment, otherwise he feared that Xie Xie would have died.


    He lowered his head and was shocked to see his right hand covered in scales.


    These were golden scales shaped like rhombuses. Each scale protruded outwards a bit, giving it a sharp look. His fingernails had a sharp scale that narrowed  to a point, similar to sharp talons.


    The little Grass Snake, Goldlight, who¡¯d been twisting around his arm had also releasing a faint golden light. Moreover, its whole body had actually lengthened by a whole circle while its two small eyes had turned red, similar to a pair of twinkling rubies.


    ¡®Was it the reason? Was it not a trash spirit soul? What was the cause of all this?¡¯


    Tang Wulin quickly took off his shirt and was dumbstruck when he saw that the change wasn¡¯t only around his palms. Rather, the scales covered his entire right arm. Starting from where the Light Dragon Dagger had stabbed him, the golden scales spread all the way to his palms.


    His arm had an indescribable feeling of power within it.


    Subconsciously, he suddenly punched out with his right arm.


    BOOM!


    When he punched the air with his right arm, a golden ball of light rushed forth and gave an indistinct shape of a dragon¡¯s head as it travelled a meter out in front of him. The powerful aura from his all out punch confirmed his suspicions as to the effect it would have had on a human body.


    ¡°Goldlight, is this power because of you?¡± Tang Wulin asked the little Grass Snake wrapped around his wrist, pleasantly surprised.


    Right at that moment however, the inflated body of the little Grass Snake began to gradually shrink back to its original size, while the golden scales on his arm also began to rapidly vanish. Several breaths of time later, everything was back to normal. The only thing that remained was a feeling of exhaustion. Tang Wulin¡¯s vision faded to darkness, then he lost consciousness.


    He hadn¡¯t put on his clothes yet, so when the golden veins appeared on his body once again, they were visible for anyone to see. In particular, the shining lines on his vertebra were especially bright.


    ?


    Xie Xie woke up with a jolt. He was still dazed, but noticed a vague change in scenery. When he raised his head to look around, he saw a familiar scene.


    The moment he looked up, he saw the gates of Eastsea Academy.


    The sky had already turned dark, so the lit words of ¡®Eastsea Academy¡¯ were exceptionally clear.


    ¡°Wuluwulu¡­¡± Xie Xie wanted to speak out, but he discovered that all the sounds he made were completely incomprehensible.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s brows wrinkled and asked Xie Xie, who he carried on his back, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°Wu what?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s words were still as unclear as before.


    As he gradually became more clear-headed, Xie Xie discovered that he was being carried on Tang Wulin¡¯s back. He subconsciously raised his hand to touch his face, finding it swollen up like bread. His whole face was already thick with numbness.


    Like a surging tide, he gradually recalled the events from before. Xie Xie¡¯s mind echoed with the words he had said before he and Tang Wulin had left Eastsea Academy.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to Eastsea Park. There aren¡¯t many people there, so you can be at ease; I¡¯ll find someone to treat your injuries.¡±


    But now¡­


    He had spent twenty four thousand coins just for a beating¡­

 Chapter 49 – Unable to Find the Golden Scales

    Chapter 49 ¨C Unable to Find the Golden Scales


    Xie Xie was full of grief and indignation!


    If this were the first time he had lost, then he would think that he had lost due to his carelessness. However, this was the second time he had lost. Moreover, he had lost in such a manner that he wasn¡¯t able to make heads or tails of what had happened. He touched Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder, feeling for the area where he had stabbed him, yet, he couldn¡¯t find it at all.


    ¡®He has a secret! This guy definitely has a secret!¡¯


    ¡°What was that golden light?¡± Xie Xie calmed himself and clearly asked.


    ¡°Goldlight? Goldlight is my spirit soul!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s hand flashed with a brilliant light. Then the yellow Grass Snake, Goldlight, appeared in his palm.


    ¡°I¡¯m talking about the golden light that came from your body!¡± Xie Xie angrily said. Not only had this guy insulted him, he had also insulted his intelligence. This could not be tolerated!


    Tang Wulin forced out a bitter laugh. ¡°Even if I wanted to tell you, I don¡¯t know what that was. Do you understand?¡±


    Xie Xie gave a cold snort, expressing his attitude towards Tang Wulin.


    Yun Xiao and Zhou Zhangxi were dumbstruck when they saw Tang Wulin carry Xie Xie in and lay him on the bed.


    Zhou Zhangxi directly asked, ¡°You wanted to beat him up, yet you actually ended up getting carried back?¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s swollen cheeks already made the outcome of the duel abundantly clear.


    When he had introduced himself this morning, didn¡¯t he say that his soul power was at rank 18?


    ¡°He¡¯s already spent his money!¡± Tang Wulin answered thoughtlessly. Afterwards, he excitedly turned towards Yun Xiao and asked, ¡°Dinner time hasn¡¯t ended yet, right?¡±


    Yun Xiao looked him over for a moment. ¡°Not yet. But it¡¯ll be closing soon.¡±


    In the next moment, he saw a Tang Wulin run like the wind, disappearing in a flash and not leaving a trace.


    ¡°Hey, you lost again?¡± Zhou Zhangxi asked Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie fiercely glared at him. ¡°I was just careless, that¡¯s all. I¡¯ll definitely win next time!¡± He said this as he struggled to sit up on his bed. With his face like this, how could he not get treatment?


    ¡®I don¡¯t want to have a scar, I don¡¯t want to have a scar, I don¡¯t want to have a scar.¡¯ He repeated this line three times to himself.


    When Tang Wulin arrived at the third window and ordered his sixteenth bowl of noodles, a dining hall worker couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Little student, could it be that you don¡¯t want others to see you eat so much, so you came so late tonight? We¡¯re just about to finish working.¡±


    Tang Wulin bashfully lowered his head. ¡°Sorry uncle cook. I arrived too late today. I won¡¯t be so late in the future. I¡¯ll just eat this last bowl of noodles and I¡¯ll be finished.¡±


    The cook laughed. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you eat as much as you want. The academy¡¯s third window is free and unlimited. It¡¯s just a question of how much more can you eat.¡±


    Tang Wulin rubbed his stomach. He hadn¡¯t eaten lunch, so he was especially hungry this night. ¡°I should still be able to eat a lot more.¡±


    The cook said, ¡°It¡¯s good that you came so late then. The second window still has some leftovers. Nobody is going to buy it, so I¡¯ll just give it to you then. Otherwise, the food would go to waste.¡±


    Half a pot of stewed meat was added to a pot of noodles, then given to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t wait to eat it. He quickly thanked the cook and began gorging himself. The unknown meat in the stew from the second window was exceptionally chewy, with an ordinary flavor, but his stomach felt nice and warm after he finished eating. He had used up a lot of strength today, but with this meal, some of his strength had been restored.


    ¡®So the second window is actually so good. I wonder how the first window is?¡¯


    Tang Wulin swallowed his saliva as he shot a glance at the first window. However, he quickly regained himself and shook his head. The first window¡¯s food wasn¡¯t something he could eat.


    After he acquired some work from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association in the future, he¡¯d see if he could earn some more money. It was just that, he had to save some money in order to buy another spirit soul in the future too.


    One million federal coins could buy a yellow hundred year spirit soul. That was his goal. After earning ten thousand coins at the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, Tang Wulin had set his sights on a hundred year spirit soul.


    Xie Xie wasn¡¯t there when he returned to his dorm room, but Tang Wulin didn¡¯t care too much about him. Although that guy was arrogant and unbridled, he wasn¡¯t excessively so. Xie Xie¡¯s final attack on him that day was made with the dagger¡¯s handle, clearly showing his restraint.


    Although Yun Xiao was already meditating, Zhou Zhangxi hadn¡¯t begun yet. When he saw Tang Wulin return, he immediately raised his head from his bed and asked, ¡°Tang Wulin, is Xie Xie really a rank 18 Soul Master? How did you beat him?¡± Zhou Zhangxi was getting more and more curious about Tang Wulin, who was even more powerful than him.


    Tang Wulin had an expression of helplessness. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know either.¡±


    He really didn¡¯t know. How could he possibly say that golden scales appeared on his arm? After fainting and waking up, his body had already returned to normal and no matter what he did, he couldn¡¯t get those scales to reappear. He only vaguely remembered that there was a surge of heat within his body before the scales appeared on his arm, filling it with berserk power. His consciousness had been somewhat fuzzy at the time, and he hadn¡¯t been able to contain the feeling in his body. A tyrannical mood had even come over him at that time.


    If his willpower hadn¡¯t been so resolute, he was afraid that he¡¯d have put others in danger.


    But in the end, what were those golden scales? Could they actually be due to his variant martial soul? Or could it be his little Grass Snake, Goldlight, wasn¡¯t actually a trash spirit soul, but was actually an impossible existence?


    However, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn¡¯t see Goldlight being so valiant!


    The bottom of the matter was this: what caused those golden scales to appear? Would they only appear when he was harmed?


    Tang Wulin took out a sewing needle from his personal items and pricked himself.


    ¡®How painful!¡¯ A drop of blood flowed out, accompanied by an intense stinging feeling.


    But still nothing¡­


    The golden scales didn¡¯t appear.


    He was a bit afraid of pain, so could it be that this prick was too little? He tried it again.


    But still nothing¡­


    It still was to no avail.


    ¡®I¡¯ll try meditating then!¡¯


    Completely focused on meditating, Tang Wulin began circulating his soul power while in search of the bizarre heat. He had only learned the most basic of meditation techniques, so the path of his soul power was exceedingly simple. Soon after, he¡¯d finished circulating his soul power, but still wasn¡¯t able to find anything at all.


    Everything was the same as always. There were absolutely no deviations in his cultivation.


    This was truly strange! Tang Wulin summoned Goldlight and inspected it. However, no matter how much he looked it over, the undulating energy coming from this guy wouldn¡¯t be able to give him such such tyrannical strength.


    Early morning.


    When Tang Wulin finished his meditation, he looked across the room and saw that Xie Xie was also meditating. He had returned at an unknown time and the swelling of his face had gone down by a lot. Only his complexion was just as bad as before. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know whether it was because Xie Xie had been beaten again, or because he was angry.


    No one would be happy after paying for a beating.

 Chapter 50 – The First Class

    Chapter 50 ¨C The First Class


    ¡°Let¡¯s battle again!¡± Xie Xie repeated for the umpteenth time as he rushed to catch up with Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin ignored Xie Xie¡¯s calls and headed straight for the dining hall.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t at my best yesterday! If you don¡¯t fight with me, don¡¯t think that I won¡¯t  reveal your secrets! ¡± Xie Xie threatened.


    ¡°You can say whatever you want,¡± Tang Wulin replied to his threat nonchalantly. What was he to be afraid of, if he himself knew nothing about the golden scales?


    ¡°You¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t disturb my meal time,¡± Tang Wulin told Xie Xie as if he were shooing a fly, and easily moved him aside as he headed for the third window.


    ¡°Hey! Come fight me! I¡¯ll treat you to a meal from the first window!¡± An idea took form in Xie Xie¡¯s mind as he shouted towards Tang Wulin¡¯s back.


    Tang Wulin, who was originally headed towards the third window, suddenly returned to Xie Xie¡¯s side, as if his back was attached to a rope and it had been yanked backwards.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± He still had cravings for the meals from the first window.  After having tasted the food from the second window the day before, he could feel the significant difference the nutritious food had made for his body. He had felt distinctly more comfortable when he woke up this morning. He had been able to feel it throughout his whole body, as if each and every inch of his muscles had been revitalised.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Xie Xie answered back proudly.


    ¡°Until I¡¯ve had enough?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s pair of large eyes brightened up.


    ¡°As much as you can eat. Didn¡¯t they say that you have a huge appetite? Show me your ability. I¡¯ll let you eat until you can¡¯t take any more food!¡± Xie Xie¡¯s lips curled into a smile as he spoke.


    ¡°Deal!¡±


    Half an hour later, Xie Xie was already beginning to regret his promise.


    ¡°Are you even human? You¡¯ve already eaten 30 phoenix turtle eggs, and you still have room for more?¡±


    A meal from the second window cost 300 federation coins, and a meal from the first window could cost up to 1,000 federation coins. Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t aware of these costs, and had already finished at least fifteen meals, but it seemed that he hadn¡¯t filled up just yet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just forget about this, then. I¡¯ll stop eating.¡± Tang Wulin felt a little ashamed. He had no idea how much one meal course would cost, but with the quantity that he had consumed, it was definitely not cheap.


    Seeing that Tang Wulin was moving towards the third window, Xie Xie rushed forward to grab him and answered fiercely, ¡°Eat. Why did you stop? You¡¯ve already insulted my body, I am not going to let you insult my character as well. I¡¯ll keep my word.¡±


    A meal from the first window gave Tang Wulin an astoundingly different feeling.  He had never tasted anything as delicious as this. The meal from the second window, though nutritious, was bland. However, this meal from the first window was utterly different, even when putting its incredible taste aside. As Tang Wulin consumed the food, it warmed up his whole stomach and filled him with an inexpressibly comfortable feeling. The warmth from the food flowed into all his limbs and bones, heat radiating off Tang Wulin¡¯s body. It felt as though there was a wave of energy gently vibrating within him.


    Tang Wulin finally stopped at his twenty-second meal, satiated.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes, ¡°What? Are you full?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve forgotten that your name¡¯s Xie Xie[1]. I was thanking you.¡±


    After understanding what Tang Wulin meant, Xie Xie cooly replied, ¡°Remember your promise to me.¡± Though he was wealthy, Xie Xie only had so much pocket money, and the total  price of Tang Wulin¡¯s servings made him cringe a little. The sum for the repairs of the previous day amounted to around 20,000 coins, on top of the 20,000 today, totalled to approximately 40,000 coins. Worst of all, he wasn¡¯t sure if he buying another beating or not¡­


    Today, Wu Zhangkong was wearing a pair of pants colored in grey, black and white, along with a white shirt. His attire¡¯s style was simple, but it accentuated his tall and slim figure.


    By simply standing, his body emitted blasts of cold air, silencing the class effectively.


    Tang Wulin wore the most satisfied expression, actually looking relaxed. With his tummy full of goodness from the first window, how could he not be? The gushes of warmth were slowly stirring up the soul power inside him. It was true, then, that good and nutritious food could promote a body¡¯s quality and could shorten one¡¯s cultivation speed.


    ¡°Today officially marks the start of your classes. Most of your lessons will be taught by me. Stand up,¡± Wu Zhangkong spoke with a cold attitude.


    The whole class quickly jumped to their feet.


    ¡°Come with me!¡± Wu Zhangkong shoved both his hands into his pockets and walked out of the classroom, followed closely by the students. Being new at this, they lacked the concept of queuing up, which made it looked like a mess. However, nobody dared to speak aloud in front of this icily arrogant god and his powerful aura.


    Wu Zhangkong brought the group of students to the field. ¡°Line up in pairs, and stand properly.¡±


    Tang Wulin was the tallest in class, after Zhou Zhangxi. The four roommates were  once again standing together. Both Tang Wulin and Zhou Zhangxi formed a single file, with Yun Xiao and Xie Xie beside them.


    Wu Zhangkong spoke deeply, ¡°For the first lesson today, you will be showing me your abilities. Thereafter, you will proceed into actual combat. I¡¯ll be the judge. Elimination will occur after a single loss. Show me your true colours!¡±


    A girl raised her hand, ¡°Teacher Wu, I am a Tool Soul Master, do I need to join in the actual combat?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong answered the student icily, ¡°In the battlefield, would your enemy spare you if you told them you were a Tool Soul Master? First group, prepare yourselves, we shall start from this end.¡± He pointed towards Tang Wulin and Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s end.


    Contrary to experiencing the anxiety that most students felt, Zhou Zhangxi became excited almost instantaneously. He couldn¡¯t accept having been punched out the window by Tang Wulin, but after witnessing Tang Wulin defeat Xie Xie after only two strikes, his urge to fight had been quelled when the Director gave the order to stop fighting.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Let¡¯s compete with our strength! I don¡¯t believe your strength will be greater than mine.¡± Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s eyes lit up as he directed his words at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin remained silent.


    Wu Zhangkong commanded the students to form a circle around the competing duo.


    ¡°You may begin. No rules as to how you may defeat your opponent,¡± Wu Zhangkong pointed out plainly, but his words were directed towards the entire student body as well.


    Zhou Zhangxi roared loudly, wide-eyed. His soul ring appeared as a white circle beneath his feet, the ray of light instantly flowing upwards, following the contour of his body. In the same moment, his massive build grew in size, particularly the muscles in both his arms, which were visibly swelling up beneath his school uniform.


    A little brown monkey appeared on his shoulder. It seemed to be his spirit soul, a ten year spirit soul.


    First soul skill, Power Amplification!


    Zhou Zhangxi took big strides in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction, producing a thundering ¡®dongdong¡¯ sound when he stopped on both of his feet. As a match to his massive build, there was his aggressive vigour.


    A few long strides took him to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. With both his hands stretched in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction, he aimed at both Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulders at once.


    Tang Wulin shot out both his fists at the same time, aiming towards both Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s hands.


    Peng!


    Deng, deng, deng! The massively-built Zhou Zhangxi was forced backwards three steps before he managed to regain his balance.


    With a big step forward, Tang Wulin threw a punch in Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s direction.


    To counter Tang Wulin¡¯s punch, Zhou Zhangxi gritted his teeth and forced out all the strength within his body into the punch directed at Tang Wulin.


    Thank you is pronounced as xie xie in chinese.

 Chapter 51 – Match

    Chapter 51 ¨C Match


    Peng!


    Zhou Zhangxi staggered backward continuously. He finally couldn¡¯t stabilize himself from the force and landed on his butt.


    However, Tang Wulin stood grounded just like before, though his upper body swayed a bit.


    ¡®How could this be?¡¯ Zhou Zhangxi was at a loss. If one could say he¡¯d been defeated during the match that day due to being careless, what about today? He¡¯d released his martial soul and even utilized his soul skill, Power Amplification, yet Tang Wulin¡¯s strength still crushed his. It was simply unrivaled and had even forced him on his butt.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Wu Zhangkong commanded icily and pointed at Zhou Zhangxi. ¡°You. Out.¡±


    If a Power System Battle Soul Master lost to their opponent in strength during a match, then there was no longer a need to continue the match.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you use your martial soul?¡± Wu Zhangkong eyed Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°He wanted to compete against me in strength.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression turned frosty. ¡°If he told you to eat shit, would you? Take on every match as if it were a battle. Winning that battle is your sole objective. Even a lion has to give its all to catch a rabbit. You can¡¯t allow even the slightest chance for your opponent to defeat you. You advance, wait for the next match.¡±


    Losers were kicked out and winners were reprimanded. The stress level of the students multiplied rapidly.


    ¡°Next match.¡±


    The second pair were Yun Xiao and Xie Xie, the two whom had stood closest to Tang Wulin and Zhou Zhangxi.


    Yun Xiao, with a bitter face, begged Xie Xie to be easy with his actions. ¡°Please be lenient with me! I¡¯m just a support-type soul master. I can¡¯t endure much.¡±


    Xie Xie commented, ¡°To each their own.¡±


    ¡°Start!¡±


    As soon as Wu Zhangkong announced this, Xie Xie dodged to the side. A yellow ring of light shone beneath his feet at almost the same time. His speed was unimaginably fast. His Light Dragon dagger had a bright golden glow coming from it and it neared Yun Xiao within a short span of time.


    Right at that moment, a miracle appeared. The white glow flashed from Yun Xiao¡¯s body, making the students feel as if there were a flower of light before them. When Xie Xie ambitiously struck, his dagger met nothing but air.


    Tang Wulin had fought twice with Xie Xie, and agreed to a third battle. Thus, he was focusing hard on this match. He realised that Yun Xiao had been holding something glimmering when Xie Xie had rushed towards him. In the blink of an eye, their positions swapped, and Xie Xie¡¯s attack failed.


    However, Xie Xie¡¯s response was quick. When he realized that his opponent disappeared, he¡¯d already shifted his Light Dragon Dagger backwards. It appeared that his arm had moved into an unbelievable position as if he were jointless. Light and shadow came together as if to protect his back.


    Yun Xiao was quick enough to only use his soul skill once, but it was soon shrouded by Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger. In addition, Yun Xiao¡¯s soul skill didn¡¯t allow for continuous use.


    Just as Yun Xiao was about to be sliced apart by the Light Dragon Dagger, a huge palm appeared and dragged him to the side.


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    Xie Xie turned around with the dagger at his chest. Though his actions were swift, there was no trace of panic. His small, handsome face was full of ice, causing the eyes of the girls in their class to shine.


    ¡°Not bad. You advance.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded towards Xie Xie before turning towards Yun Xiao. ¡°You activated your soul skill at the precise time. However, you had underestimated the abilities of your opponent. You should have distanced yourself from him after activating your soul skill. When an Auxiliary System Battle Soul Master is restrained by an Agility System Battle Soul Master, you should find ways to strengthen your chances of survival.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you, teacher.¡± Yun Xiao held a round disc in his hand which seemed to have many intricate lines on its surface. He had listened to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words, but Yun Xiao still thought, ¡®How did Tang Wulin manage to give Xie Xie, whose skills are unrivaled, those swollen cheeks?¡¯


    Facts have proven that the Eastsea Academy¡¯s teachers had a unique vision when determining how the classes were sorted. After almost every match, the participants would be berated by Wu Zhangkong.


    Of the 20 students, eight of them were Tool Soul Masters and were not equipped with any battle skills. Their capacity for assisting abilities were hopeless as well. Of all the Battle Soul Masters in class, three of them were close to the level of the trash martial soul, Bluesilver Grass.


    Within these matches, there were even two Tool Soul Masters with no battle skills at all. They were merely pushing at each other within the duration of the match.


    Although Wu Zhangkong had guessed  that the caliber of the class as a whole was bad,  he hadn¡¯t expected that it would be to this extent. If not for the free compulsory education, it would have been meaningless for the students within this class to continue their training. Reaching the rank 20 would be next to impossible.


    From the current situation, only Xie Xie had caught Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eye within the mass of students.


    ¡°Second round starts. You and you. Both of you shall compete.¡± Wu Zhangkong, with a severe-looking expression, pointed at Tang Wulin and a female student.


    The female student whom Wu Zhangkong pointed to was  petite. She looked cute with her short light blue hair and big eyes. A glance at her direction reminded Tang Wulin of Na¡¯er. He faintly remembered that Li Chushui was her name and that her martial soul was a cat.


    ¡°Start!¡±


    Li Chushui gave off an impression of shyness. She bowed towards Tang Wulin before releasing her martial soul.


    Half of her light blue hair turned white, and one of her blue eyes turned green. A white soul ring rose beneath her feet and a cute little white cat appeared on her shoulder.


    White fur grew over her palms and claws sprang out from her fingertips. She crouched slightly and sprang agilely towards Tang Wulin¡¯s direction.


    Her actions were lithe and her speed was fast; it was her speed that had won her the previous match. Like Xie Xie, she was an Agility System Battle Soul Master.


    Keeping in mind Wu Zhangkong¡¯s remark about his previous match, Tang Wulin brought out his martial soul as well. Blades of Bluesilver Grass appeared from his palms, and a little grass snake appeared, twirling around his wrist.


    After continuously using his soul skill, Bind, continuously these past few days, he was exceptionally familiar with it. He released his vine-like Bluesilver Grass, but the blades didn¡¯t flow towards his opponent. Instead, they appeared around him. They weaved into a big, asymmetrical web that stood near his body.


    If Li Chushui were to continue at her original speed towards Tang Wulin, she would¡¯ve knocked into and been trapped by this web.


    She seemed intimidated and halted abruptly, then got to the ground on all fours without a sound. Shifting her body to the side, it seemed as if she were about to attack Tang Wulin from his side.


    Tang Wulin had tasted what it was like with Xie Xie when they were up close. He was clear that when being near an Agility System Battle Soul Master, with his own speed, he had practically no defense against such an attack so closely. Therefore, he quickly turned his Bluesilver Grass towards Li Chushui¡¯s direction and continued to maintain his web of defense, waiting for the opponent to collide with his web.


    Li Chushui changed positions continuously as she tried to find gaps. Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze was nailed to her without hesitation as he waited for her move. Though his opponent¡¯s martial soul was released at the same time as his, his opponent had been moving at high speed, so he could just wait and consume less energy than her.


    With his insufficient knowledge of controlling Bluesilver Grass, it was best to stay in one place when dealing with the immense movements of his opponent.


    While his opponent constantly changed directions, Tang Wulin continued to adjust his Bluesilver Grass web, fixing the blades so they looked more orderly, finding and mending any gaps or holes that may appear.


    The blades of the Bluesilver Grass gave off a sparkling luster. As Tang Wulin checked his web, he found thin golden lines at the roots of the Bluesilver Grass in his palm. They were just barely visible.

 Chapter 52 – Victory Streak

    Chapter 52 ¨C Victory Streak


    Li Chushui was, nonetheless, only a nine-year-old child, and her fighting experience wasn¡¯t abundant. As Tang Wulin had expected, the continuously quick and ever-changing movements that Li Chushui used to seek her opponent¡¯s weak points had eventually tired out her rank 11 spirit power.


    She couldn¡¯t wait any longer; she didn¡¯t have the strength to sustain her soul skill for much longer.


    Li Chushui gritted her teeth and seemed to have suddenly vanished as she maneuvered herself behind Tang Wulin with a sudden spurt of speed. At the same time, the white soul ring on her body lit up. With a wave of her claws, two blades emitting white light shot in front of her, followed by her body.


    Tang Wulin obviously wasn¡¯t as fast as her. However, his action of merely changing direction was much simpler. His Bluesilver Grass moved quicker and congealed together.


    The two white blades slashed quickly at the Bluesilver Grass, a so-called trash martial soul. However, the envisioned image of Bluesilver Grass being torn to bits didn¡¯t happen. The white blades flickered gently with light as they both disappeared, and Li Chushui crashed into the web of Bluesilver Grass.


    Long blades of blue, narrow vines twirled upwards and bound her petite body. Tang Wulin pulled his right hand into a fist and punched toward Li Chushui¡¯s bound figure before him. However, he abruptly stopped his fist a mere few centimeters in front of her.


    Xie Xie unknowingly felt his cheeks warm up as he watched. ¡®This jerk! Why didn¡¯t he stop when he was competing with me?¡¯


    There was a flash of light in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes. ¡®That¡¯s no ordinary Bluesilver Grass! His character is free from arrogance and his control is pretty good too.¡¯


    ¡°Tang Wulin wins.¡±


    Tang Wulin loosened his Bluesilver Grass and helped Li Chushui steady herself. Li Chushui blushed as she exchanged glances with Tang Wulin¡¯s large eyes that were in close proximity to her. She said to him shyly, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Tang Wulin simply smiled in response, stunning her. She felt as though his smile radiated like the sun.


    Round two proceeded onward and Xie Xie successfully defeated his opponent. There were 5 remaining students after that round concluded.


    Tang Wulin originally thought that he would be placed against Xie Xie in his second round, but Wu Zhangkong purposely placed him away from Xie Xie. The same happened during his third round.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, Tao Liufan, both of you can start first,¡± Wu Zhangkong said, monotonously.


    Tao Liufan wasn¡¯t tall, but he looked quite sturdy. He had a head of messy, short, brown hair.


    Both stood ground facing each other as they released their martial souls.


    Tao Liufan¡¯s martial soul was a Willow Tree. His soul power rose, and as he raised both his hands as if to support the sky, strips of willow twigs flowed out and up from both his limbs. They swayed as though they were a part of the willow tree. At first glance, it seemed similar to Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass.


    Blades of Bluesilver Grass reappeared. Control type versus control type, what would happen?


    This was what Wu Zhangkong was waiting for. In the match before them, Tao Liufan seemed to be abiding with the rules. With their current strength levels and under normal circumstances, a ControlSystem Battle Soul Master would¡¯ve been advantageous in the match since none of them had a powerful soul skill.


    Out of the whole class, Xie Xie was the only one with a hundred year spirit soul, while the rest only had ten year spirit souls. Therefore, Tao Liufan¡¯s soul ring was also a white one. What was more interesting was that he shared the same soul skill as Tang Wulin ¨C Bind.


    His spirit soul was of the snake family as well, but Tao Liufan¡¯s spirit soul was a little green snake. His green snake looked significantly stronger than Tang Wulin¡¯s Goldlight, both in mass and vigour.


    ¡°Start!¡±


    Willow branches and Bluesilver Grass struck at the other at almost the same time. It looked as if the quantity of the willow¡¯s branches held a visible advantage; Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass only sprouted out from his right palm and there was none from his left hand.


    Both had almost the same amount of control, but everyone had guessed the results by sheer comparison of quantity.


    Of course, the willow branches flew in the direction of the blades of Bluesilver Grass as they intertwined in the air. Tao Liufan, having the advantage of numbers, directed the remaining branches towards Tang Wulin in an attempt to bind him.


    Tao Liufan¡¯s gaze revealed a hint of exciteness. Though his martial soul wasn¡¯t very strong, he felt that his willow branches were stronger than Bluesilver Grass and the current situation only served to back up his thoughts. Trees would be stronger than grass, wouldn¡¯t they?


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t frantic at all when the willow¡¯s branches arrived in front of him. Faced with its branches, he abruptly pulled on the Bluesilver Grass in his right hand, twisting their two martial soul¡¯s together and transmitted his physical strength through their intertwined martial souls.


    Tao Liufan only felt a sudden wave of strength coming towards him before his body was pulled in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction. At this very moment, his willow branches had been strongly bound by Tang Wulin.


    Tao Liufan¡¯s response was pretty quick. As his body was yanked into the air, he was still able to raise both his knees. ¡®You wanted to pull me over right? I¡¯ll come by and knock you out.¡¯


    However, he caught view of Tang Wulin¡¯s expressionless face, followed by a sudden movement of his arms as he shattered all the willow branches that had bound him. He caught Tao Liufan¡¯s lower thigh with a quick raise of his hand, and pressed him against the ground.


    The tender willow branches swung profusely in an attempt to bind or push away Tang Wulin. However, struggling was useless against the strength of their opponent.


    Neither of them had a powerful martial soul, and it was only through his absolute strength that Tang Wulin was able to achieve victory in the third round.


    ¡°You truly are worthy of being called a Rice Bucket; it seems all that food didn¡¯t go to waste.¡± Tao Liufan threw his comments ferociously towards Tang Wulin before escaping out of the circle.


    Wu Zhangkong frowned. This was not the battle he¡¯d been expecting.


    Without much doubt, Xie Xie had won another round. There was only one student who hadn¡¯t competed at all. As the matches progressed, only three competitors remained.


    The only student who hadn¡¯t competed was a female student. This was a chubby girl who looked a little dumb.


    All of the students¡¯ gazes were directed towards Wu Zhangkong. There were three remaining students, so how would the competition proceed?


    Wu Zhangkong drew a slight breath and decided, ¡°Tang Wulin, Han Lan, both of you may compete first. The winner will compete against Xie Xie.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s face revealed a glint of triumph and he looked towards Tang Wulin with arrogance. He was trying to show that the teacher¡¯s opinion of him was higher.


    However, he didn¡¯t realise that through his arrogance, he forgot that he was continuously competing against an opponent with the trash martial soul, Bluesilver Grass.


    However, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t even bother a look towards Xie Xie¡¯s direction as he returned to the competition grounds.


    Although Han Lan had only experienced two rounds of matches, she had left Tang Wulin with a deep impression. It wasn¡¯t only for her size, but also for her martial soul.


    Han Lan¡¯s martial soul was the Earth Element, a fine martial soul. Her soul power was at rank 13, and one wouldn¡¯t have considered placing her in Class Five by the look of her capabilities.


    ¡°Start!¡± The the fourth round of match started with Wu Zhangkong¡¯s command.

 Chapter 53 – Hammering Through the Stone Prison

    Chapter 53 ¨C Hammering Through the Stone Prison


    As he watched Han Lan, Tang Wulin¡¯s expression grew serene. Having observed Han Lan¡¯s previous two battles, he had already come up with a plan for her.


    A white ring twinkled beneath Han Lan¡¯s feet before a spirit soul that looked like a lump of dirt appeared. She didn¡¯t hesitate at all as she held up both her palms in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction.


    In response, a yellow ring of earth appeared under Tang Wulin¡¯s feet. Stone pillars arose from the yellow ring in a flash, entrapping Tang Wulin inside a stone prison.


    If it had been Xie Xie in this situation, he would have likely rushed out of the stone prison¡¯s range as soon as Han Lan had raised her hands. However, Tang Wulin clearly didn¡¯t possess such speed, so he hadn¡¯t bothered moving at all.


    At the peak, the stone pillars curved inwards, completely sealing off all avenues of escape.


    Han Lan had won her previous two matches by controlling the earth in order to contain her opponents. Although her first soul skill was only a ten year one, it was unusually powerful as it was able to directly restrain her opponents. However, it was still a ten year soul skill and its restrictions were not small. For example, after using this soul skill, there was a cooldown period of 20 seconds before she could use it again.


    If this were a true battlefield, she would¡¯ve likely only had one chance to use this skill.


    Wu Zhangkong began counting down the seconds that Tang Wulin was trapped. If he reached ten seconds, then it would count as Tang Wulin¡¯s loss.


    Han Lan had won her first match with the same method. In the second match, however, she¡¯d won even sooner. Her opponent had tried to rush out of the stone prison¡¯s range as soon as the match started, but the creation of the stone prison was simply too fast. Just as he had approached the outer range of the stone prison, he¡¯d been directly sent soaring by the top of a stone pillar. If Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t caught him, he might¡¯ve been crippled by the fall.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t want to challenge the prison at the risk of being thrown to such a height, so he decided to remain stationary and let it entrap him.


    ¡°Ten¡­¡± Wu Zhangkong began to expressionlessly count down the seconds. After the first match had ended, Wu Zhangkong had said that being trapped by a Control System Battle Soul Master for more than ten seconds was no different than death. Thus, he gave them a ten second time limit. If he was able to break out of Han Lan¡¯s trap within ten seconds, then it would count as Han Lan¡¯s loss. If he wasn¡¯t able to break out, then Han Lan would win. It was just this simple and rough.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t the least bit anxious as he unhurriedly raised his arms. Two gray lights flashed, then a pair of forging hammers appeared in his hands.


    ¡°Nine¡­¡±


    Bang!


    He swung the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers in his hands and brazenly smashed the two stone pillars in front of him. Dust flew out as the stone pillars were smashed to pieces!


    The count of ¡°eight¡± didn¡¯t even leave Wu Zhangkong¡¯s lips as Tang Wulin lifted his hammers out from the rubble.


    ¡°This¡­¡± The whole class simply stared at him and they couldn¡¯t help but suck in a breath of air. Even Xie Xie, whom had battled with Tang Wulin before, didn¡¯t expect Tang Wulin to use such a method to break out of the stone prison.


    The eyes of Wu Zhangkong shone as he revealed an unusual expression. He nodded. ¡°Tang Wulin is the victor.¡± With his eyesight, he had been able to clearly examine the two hammers in Tang Wulin¡¯s hands. The hammers hadn¡¯t been reinforced by any soul power at all, thus indicating that they weren¡¯t soul tools. Even if they had been soul tools, what level of efficacy could Tang Wulin even reach with his current soul power? ¡®This brat¡¯s strength is truly prodigal!¡¯


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡®This guy was actually holding back when he fought me?¡¯


    In reality, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t held back at all. He simply hadn¡¯t thought of using his forging hammers to do battle before. He had only taken out his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers today due to his need for destructive power. He hadn¡¯t thought that a single attack of his would have such remarkable results.


    Wu Zhangkong turned towards Xie Xie. ¡°Xie Xie, it¡¯s your turn.¡±


    Xie Xie leapt onto the stage. He was feeling a bit gloomy at the moment as he recalled the amount of food that Tang Wulin had eaten this morning. If he¡¯d known earlier that he would face him in class today, then he wouldn¡¯t have bothered to treat Tang Wulin to a meal!


    Hammers in hand, Tang Wulin changed his stance to face Xie Xie. He wasn¡¯t confident in his victory at all. Although he had won the last time, it was simply due to a miracle. But now, with these hammers in hand, he suddenly felt wonderful. It seemed that these Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers had already integrated with his body. When he held them, his confidence surged.


    Right as Xie Xie was mulling over his thoughts of how to deal with Tang Wulin, a cold voice suddenly cut in from the side.


    ¡°The fourth round, second match. Xie Xie versus Wu Zhangkong.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Xie Xie nearly lost his voice as he cried out in alarm. He turned to look at the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming.


    Wu Zhangkong coldly glanced at him. ¡°Did you really think that an unfair situation would occur in my class? You will receive one of my attacks. Then you will face Tang Wulin.¡±


    Xie Xie stared at him, dumbstruck. ¡°Teacher Wu, are you playing a joke on me? You¡¯re a teacher.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong had already strolled over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. With a simple wave of his hand, Tang Wulin was carried over to the sidelines, hammers still in hand. Wu Zhangkong patted his waist with his right hand, undoing his belt.


    ¡°Teacher, what are you doing?¡± Xie Xie vigilantly retreated two steps back. However, he soon discovered that Wu Zhangkong¡¯s pants were very form fitting. Even after untying his belt, his pants hadn¡¯t budged at all.


    Wu Zhangkong shook his wrist, causing the belt to become completely taut and perfectly straight. With an indifferent voice, he said, ¡°I won¡¯t release my martial soul. You only need to receive one of my attacks.¡± As he spoke, Wu Zhangkong took a step forward with his left foot as his belt-sword had already thrust towards Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie¡¯s combat experience could be considered the richest amongst his classmates. The moment he released his martial soul, he retreated like lightning.


    What a joke. Was Wu Zhangkong powerless only because he didn¡¯t release his martial soul? With the support of just his soul power, there was no difference between his belt and a sharp sword. Running away was Xie Xie¡¯s best option at that moment.


    Xie Xie was extremely confident in his speed. As he retreated, he held his Light Dragon Dagger in front of himself protectively.


    However, a horrifying scene happened before his eyes. Although he was rapidly retreating, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s belt-sword stayed in front of him from beginning to end. This attack seemed to be a simple thrust, but no matter what Xie Xie did, he was unable to dodge it.


    Bang!


    ¡°Aiyou!¡±


    The belt softened just a moment before it pierced into Xie Xie¡¯s shoulder. However, it simply smacked Xie Xie¡¯s shoulder and sent him flying. After rolling over the floor twice, Xie Xie was finally able to get up. He clutched his shoulder and grimaced in pain.


    Xie Xie¡¯s forehead dripped with sweat. The most terrifying thing was that in the moment before Wu Zhangkong struck him, Xie Xie actually felt as if his life were about to end. This kind of powerful and oppressive strength would cause anyone¡¯s spirit to tense up. After he was sent flying, Xie Xie was able to loosen up a bit, but he was still left with this appearance.


    ¡®Too scary. In the end, how deep is Teacher Wu¡¯s strength?¡¯


    ¡°You have one minute to rest. After that, the finals will begin.¡± Wu Zhangkong shook his wrist once again, wrapping the belt around his waist before walking off to the side.

 Chapter 54 – Treating Him Like Metal

    Chapter 54 ¨C Treating Him Like Metal


    After seeing that one strike from Wu Zhangkong, the students dared not break the silence out of fear. Their lineup was even more orderly now. In front of this teacher of theirs, they all felt as if they were under great pressure.


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times. Just a moment ago he had been seriously watching the match. When Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sword thrust forth, Xie Xie had begun to dodge, yet his futile attempts  only resembled a prey caught in a spider¡¯s web to Tang Wulin. No matter how much Xie Xie struggled, it would¡¯ve been impossible to escape from this large web.


    It was done with such a simple sword, but had neither the aid of a martial soul or a soul skill. Yet, Wu Zhangkong easily suppressed Xie Xie. What kind of cultivation was needed for this!?


    ¡®Teacher truly is too formidable!¡¯ Tang Wulin began to revere the so-titled Icily Arrogant Prince Charming in his heart. Even as he revered Wu Zhangkong on the inside, he also stealthily returned the soul camera to his Heavy Silver Rings. Senior Sister Liu Yuxin had requested a favor from him. Even though it was his first time doing such a thing, he was still prepared.


    Xie Xie wiped away his sweat as he stood there with a pensive look. He was pondering over the oppression he¡¯d just faced from Wu Zhangkong moments ago.


    Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t attacked blindly with his sword. In front of this kind of pressure, Xie Xie had felt as if he were trapped. He felt that he was about even with Tang Wulin, but when he was in front of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sword, he felt as if any decision he made would only result in his death. There was no chance of escape at all. In this kind of situation, even if he had wanted to rush out, how was he supposed to do so?


    ¡°One minute has passed. Get ready.¡±


    Xie Xie raised his head and rested his gaze upon Tang Wulin who had his hammers in hand. In return, Tang Wulin stared at him as well.


    Looking back, this was their third battle.


    Xie Xie had lost in the previous two battles, and now held a slight fear towards Tang Wulin. He still clearly remembered that golden light. This time, however, he would be on guard against it.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong announced the start of the match, thus raising the curtains for the final showdown within class five.


    Xie Xie released his martial soul and his Light Dragon Dagger twinkled in his hand. However, he didn¡¯t impatiently rush towards Tang Wulin and, instead, began circling around him.


    Tang Wulin had also released his Bluesilver Grass the moment the match begun and had weaved Bluesilver Grass in a manner similar to the style of his first match against Li Chushui. The blades of grass weaved into a large net, just waiting for someone to walk into its trap.


    Xie Xie¡¯s heart stirred. ¡®Wasn¡¯t Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sword pressure simply a formless net? Was Teacher giving me guidance on how to break through Tang Wulin¡¯s net? But Teacher, you don¡¯t know how tough this guy¡¯s Bluesilver Grass is. It¡¯s basically impossible to break through!¡¯


    The very first time they had fought, Xie Xie had underestimated the resilience of Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass! This mistake had allowed Tang Wulin to send him flying.


    ¡®This guy isn¡¯t even using his fists anymore, but hammers! If he smashed my face with those¡­¡¯


    When Xie Xie saw the two shiny black hammers in Tang Wulin¡¯s hands, he immediately got a bad feeling.


    Tang Wulin was neither in a hurry, nor impatient to start. He just calmly waited for Xie Xie to attack while constantly moving the net in his direction. In reality, Tang Wulin knew in his heart that Xie Xie and Li Chushui were as different as black and white. With Xie Xie¡¯s soul power level, the one whose stamina would be depleted first would likely be Tang Wulin.


    Even faced with such circumstances, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t anxious at all. He just waited for Xie Xie to attack so that his golden scales could appear again.


    Xie Xie continued circling around Tang Wulin thrice before pouncing forward like lightning. Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass spread out in a flash, sealing off Xie Xie¡¯s attack route.


    He waved his Light Dragon Dagger, its tip striking towards Tang Wulin.


    Pu! The blade tip descended on the Bluesilver Grass, and, in flash, a ring of light dissipated, causing the Bluesilver Grass to undulate with blue ripples. Although the interwoven Bluesilver Grass had easily dispelled the attack, Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power had also dropped a bit.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyebrows raised in surprise.


    Xie Xie¡¯s attack was meant to let their teacher see that Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass wasn¡¯t ordinary at all.


    After committing to an attack with no results, Xie Xie rapidly retreated, once again distancing himself from Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t control his Bluesilver Grass to chase after Xie Xie since his movements were simply too fast. Moreover, Xie Xie¡¯s dodging ability was astonishing. If Tang Wulin showed an opening, Xie Xie would be in front of him in a flash.


    Xie Xie was extraordinarily patient this time as he continuously circled Tang Wulin, searching for an opening. With soul power at rank 18, he had more than enough time. Occasionally, he would attack Tang Wulin, but immediately drawback afterwards.


    Xie Xie gradually began to reveal a smile. This was because he¡¯d realized that Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power was only at rank 11.


    Although his Bluesilver Grass was marvelous, the gap between their soul power was simply tremendous. As long as Xie Xie exhausted Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power, it would be his win. What else could possibly stop him?


    The match between the two was taking longer than all of the previous matches. However, Wu Zhangkong wasn¡¯t anxious at all. His arms were folded in front of him as he silently watched the match go on.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power was finally approaching the point of exhaustion, which left him with no choice but to withdraw his Bluesilver Grass.


    During the split second he¡¯d begun withdrawing his Bluesilver Grass, Xie Xie¡¯s body flickered. Immediately, he appeared at Tang Wulin¡¯s side with his Light Dragon Dagger in hand.


    In the face of Xie Xie¡¯s speed, it was practically impossible for Tang Wulin to dodge.


    However¡­


    Ding! A brittle note echoed out and sparks flew everywhere. Tang Wulin and Xie Xie¡¯s weapons were interlocked in a showdown. Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger had missed Tang Wulin¡¯s body.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes narrowed. It was as if he had entered some sort of special state. The Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammer in his right hand was held behind him, obstructing Xie Xie¡¯s attack.


    In disbelief, Xie Xie spun to the other side, slashing out once again.


    Dang! The same thing happened as before. Tang Wulin¡¯s other hammer accurately blocked Xie Xie¡¯s second attack.


    ¡®How could this be? How could he be so quick?¡¯ Xie Xie¡¯s eyes were full of disbelief. ¡®Could it be..? This guy was disguising himself as a pig to eat a tiger? I¡¯ve actually lost to him twice when he was acting as a pig?¡¯


    Yes! How fast!


    While he faced off against Xie Xie, Tang Wulin was continuously thinking of ways he could could counter Xie Xie¡¯s speed. His opponent was an Agility System Battle Soul Master while he could be considered both a Control System Battle Soul Master and a Power System Battle Soul Master; he would lose out to his opponents speed either way.


    If this continued on, he would definitely lose. He also couldn¡¯t rely on his golden scales to appear miraculously.


    While he had been pondering over this dilemma, he finally had a brilliant idea.


    His body¡¯s speed couldn¡¯t possibly compare with his opponent. However, there was still one area that he was exceptionally fast in. That was¡­ forging!


    In the three years he had spent forging, he had grown so familiar with hammers that they were like an extension of his body. Especially when his strength exploded out; that familiar sensation was even more intense.


    If he used the heavy Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers, he wouldn¡¯t be able to dominate with speed. However, with his lighter Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers, he would be able to make these hammers fly. It would be like the test he took at the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. He would dazzle Xie Xie with his ability of wielding his tungsten hammers.


    He would treat Xie Xie like a lump of metal!

 Chapter 55 – Shouldn’t There Be Rewards?

    Chapter 55 ¨C Shouldn¡¯t There Be Rewards?


    That was right, this was precisely what Tang Wuling did. In Tang Wulin¡¯s mind, Xie Xie was no longer a person, but a piece of metal that he was currently forging. His mind gradually entered the forging phase where one  emptied out their thoughts and cleared their mind. Xie Xie¡¯s previously dizzying actions seemingly slowed down and became clearer.


    It was in this situation that the pair of Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers were waved around, hammering twice each time to shield off Xie Xie¡¯s attacks.


    Though Xie Xie hadn¡¯t started his third move, he felt a gush of vile wind blowing in his direction. Tang Wulin struck  his hammer towards Xie Xie. From the ear-splitting sound it produced upon moving through the air, one could easily judge the heaviness of a single strike.


    Xie Xie hastily dodged. However, Tang Wulin unfolded his hammers and started hammering down, his strikes, worthy of being called a ferocious thunderstorm, were aimed towards Xie Xie. The hammers produced a ¡®wu-wu¡¯ sound as they struck down, causing dust to rise from the ground. The repeated strikes left Xie Xie cowering in retreat.


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t dare use his Light Dragon Dagger against Tang Wulin¡¯s attacks. He was an Agility System Battle Soul Master. He knew that even though his opponent was just using pure power, he wasn¡¯t confident he could muster the strength to match it. If one compared both their strengths, the difference was simply too great.


    With a flash of his body, Xie Xie quickly retreated and distanced himself from Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t give chase; he knew that his speed was of no match to Xie Xie¡¯s. Involuntarily, he halted his hammering, but his gaze remained glued to Xie Xie and his every action.


    ¡®This bastard!¡¯ Xie Xie cursed in his heart. His gaze sharpened.


    Xie Xie¡¯s expression turned solemn as he caught his breath. The Light Dragon Dagger in his right hand waved slightly. At the same time, he raised his left hand. His entire person suddenly became more vigorous and powerful.


    He pressed lightly against the ground with the tips of his toes and pushed out, shooting into the air. As he shot up into the air quickly, faint afterimages of himself trailed behind him. He unleashed a speed that had increased by at least 30% more than before.


    Pelted by the wind Xie Xie produced, Tang Wulin raised both his hammers.


    With his body in the air, Xie Xie gave Tang Wulin¡¯s Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers a light tap using the Light Dragon Dagger in his right hand. As he turned, Xie Xie¡¯s energy was recharged. Simply by borrowing some from Tang Wulin in that little move, he was able to direct his left hand towards Tang Wulin.


    Pu!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s back was marred with yet another scar.


    The stabbing pain brought Tang Wulin back to his senses and he staggered a little, feeling the burning pain in his back. Despite that burning pain, a wave of heat flowed into his body from his spine.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s shock was eradicated by his joy. ¡®Are the golden scales appearing? So it was true that the golden scales will only appear under the circumstances of being attacked?¡¯


    However, when he tried stabilising himself again, the sudden heat wave he felt a moment ago disappeared. It didn¡¯t rise through his body like it did during his previous experience, when it transformed into a huge volume of strength, along with the appearance of golden scales.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Wu Zhangkong suddenly appeared between the both of them and halted the match.


    ¡°Xie Xie wins!¡±


    Xie Xie sighed in relief, a strand of glee appearing in his eyes. He finally won! He had finally won for the first time and tears were flowing down his cheeks. But Xie Xie was curious as to why Tang Wulin¡¯s golden scales didn¡¯t appear. Could it be that he was still concealing them from others? Or that he was speaking the truth and didn¡¯t know how to control those golden scales?


    Wu Zhangkong spoke to Xie Xie, ¡°You will be in charge of getting Tang Wulin a new uniform set.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡±


    ¡®Didn¡¯t I win the match? Shouldn¡¯t I be rewarded?¡¯ Xie Xie felt his surroundings darken with despair. ¡®How is this Tang Wulin guy always finding ways to cost me money!?¡¯


    ¡®How!¡¯


    Wu Zhangkong turned and faced the class. He spoke coolly, ¡°The competition has ended and all of you have witnessed it. What are your feelings?¡±


    ¡°Rotten wood cannot be carved!¡± This Icily Arrogant Prince Charming answered his own question.


    ¡°It is no wonder why all of you have been sorted into class five, you are all a bunch of trash. However, even if you are all merely scrap iron, I will take pride in tempering all of you. As all of you would¡¯ve seen from the previous match. What is Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul? It is the widely-recognised trash martial soul, Bluesilver Grass. However, Tang Wulin has successfully made it all the way to the finals, and even almost won the final match.¡±


    ¡°I was the winner, right?¡± Xie Xie grieved silently, why did it sound as if he lost the match?


    Wu Zhangkong ignored him and continued. ¡°He relied not only on his martial soul, but his body strength as well. Some say that physical power is useful in your current stage, but would be useless when everyone has upgraded their ranks and accumulated many soul skills.


    ¡°However, let me mention this; you are in no position to even think about accumulating many soul skills. You should first ask yourself, how many of you are able to reach the stage where you are able to possess a second soul skill? How many more can possess a greater number of soul skills? As you are in charge of your body, would you not think that having a strong physique is useful?


    ¡°Soul power is no longer the only criteria used to assess an individual¡¯s potential in becoming a Mecha Master. Possessing a powerful enough energy storage soul tool would allow ordinary people to become aMecha Master as well. However, a strong physique is the foundation of all Mecha Masters. Without a good body, you will not be able to withstand the strong impacts that exist within a mecha, nevermind the high intensity combat. Therefore, those with a weak martial soul should start your physical fitness training with me tomorrow. Physical training in the morning, then theory and knowledge class in the afternoon.


    ¡°This morning¡¯s class will end here. With regards to the competition earlier this morning, I want all of you to think about it. I will be teaching meditation for this afternoon¡¯s theory and knowledge class. Class dismissed!¡±


    This speech was one of the longest speeches the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming had given during his capacity as their teacher, yet it didn¡¯t feel like a lecture. Rather, it was a mere statement of facts. Regardless of whether he was calling them trash or announcing the initiation of special training, his tone remained confident.


    ¡°Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, follow me.¡± Shortly after he finished that last sentence, Wu Zhangkong headed for the Academic Building.


    ¡®Is he giving me a reward?¡¯ A flash of jubilance appeared in Xie Xie¡¯s eyes. Prior to his arrival to the school, he had heard of rewards being given out after matches within school grounds. These rewards weren¡¯t too bad. He was, after all, the champion of class five. What would the reward be for a teacher as powerful as Wu Zhangkong? He started to imagine it.


    Wu Zhangkong brought both students into his office. This office of his was pathetic in size, a mere ten square meters. The room was bare except for a desk, a cupboard, and a chair.


    ¡°The trash I referred to in my speech included both of you as well!¡± The Icily Arrogant Prince Charming¡¯s first sentence killed all the good feeling within Xie Xie¡¯s heart.


    ¡®Shouldn¡¯t there be rewards? If not, just a little encouragement?¡¯


    Wu Zhangkong looked towards Tang Wulin, ¡°Your performance in the matches was fine. However, you didn¡¯t give your all in the matches. That must be a variant Bluesilver Grass. Its tenacity looked extraordinary, but your soul power seemed weak and couldn¡¯t last for a long period of time. In this situation, you won¡¯t stand a chance if your opponent¡¯s soul power is higher than yours. What¡¯s with your hammers?¡±


    Tang Wulin spoke with reluctance, ¡°I¡¯ve learnt forging before.¡±

 Chapter 56 – Does Your Face Still Hurt?

    Chapter 56 ¨C Does Your Face Still Hurt?


    Wu Zhangkong raised an eyebrow. ¡°Forging? You¡¯re a Soul Master, but you learned how to forge? The clumsy bird flies early into the forest. You¡¯re a clumsy bird, yet you actually wasted your time on such a pointless thing.¡±


    Tang Wulin lowered his head and said, ¡°But everyone told me that my martial soul is trash. And my spirit soul isn¡¯t that good either¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong interrupted, ¡°So you decided to become a blacksmith? What a farce! Remember this, you are my student. Unless I deem you to be useless, you must put all of your efforts into developing as a Soul Master.¡±


    Off to the side, Xie Xie¡¯s mouth unexpectedly began to twitch. ¡®Didn¡¯t you just say I was useless?¡¯ At this moment, he could sympathize with Tang Wulin. Of course, he was only able to do so because he had won.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tang Wulin agreed. However, there was no way he would actually give up forging. He couldn¡¯t possibly renounce forging after all he had achieved. As for his martial soul, he only felt defeated when he cultivated!


    Wu Zhangkong turned and looked at Xie Xie. ¡°What are you laughing for? You think you¡¯re better than him? Is it really that fun to hide your twin martial souls? You have rank 18 soul power and are gifted with twin martial souls. Just because you were born with a higher level of soul power, you think you can be proud of yourself?


    Xie Xie raised his head, staring at Wu Zhangkong in astonishment. ¡®How does he know all this?¡¯


    Wu Zhangkong coldly said, ¡°You¡¯ve still go a long ways to go. Even twin soul holders can be rubbish people. As an Agility System Battle Soul Master, what glory is there in being forced to use your twin souls by a Soul Master with Bluesilver Grass?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Xie Xie¡¯s face turned red with embarrassment, speechless.


    ¡°Teacher, what are twin martial souls?¡± Tang Wulin curiously asked.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyebrows wrinkled into a frown. ¡°How incompetent was your elementary academy teacher? They didn¡¯t even teach you about twin martial souls? Twin martial souls means that you have two martial souls. The benefit of having two martial souls is obvious; people born with twin martial souls usually have innate rank 10 soul power. It¡¯s much easier for them to cultivate and they are able to acquire more soul rings in the future. It¡¯s just that in this age of spirit souls, they are restricted by their spiritual power, which means their advantage isn¡¯t that big anymore. There isn¡¯t anyone who possesses the spiritual power necessary to sustain eighteen soul rings worth of spirit souls. Perhaps it would be possible if one possessed a spiritual-type martial soul like the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder, but each spirit soul would need to be extremely powerful in order to bestow a total of eighteen soul rings.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked towards Xie Xie. They were both people, but why was life so unfair? He had a trash martial soul, yet Xie Xie had twin martial souls. The disparity was simply enormous.


    Wu Zhangkong suddenly asked Tang Wulin, ¡°Do you think his martial soul is good?¡±


    Tang Wulin stared back at him. Was there really a need to say it out loud?


    Wu Zhangkong lips curled. ¡°It isn¡¯t necessarily better than yours. His martial soul is a dagger, and his second martial soul should also be a dagger. But, it¡¯s just a concealed dagger, that¡¯s all. The attack range of a dagger is very short. In this modern era of mecha conflicts, what do you think of it now? An Agility System Battle Soul Master gains the most restrictions when they become a Mecha Master.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he started at Wu Zhangkong. ¡®Could it be that Tang Wulin is actually his long lost son? Why else would he belittle me in order to boost Tang Wulin¡¯s confidence? This is simply too biased!¡¯


    However, Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t even spare him a glance. ¡°Alright then. Down to business.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s spirits were roused. ¡®Is he finally giving out rewards?¡¯


    ¡°Every new academic year, the academy has a grand tournament. There¡¯s one for both the intermediate division and the advanced division. Our intermediate division has a total of six grades, and all of them will be participating. This tournament is known as the Class Promotion Tournament.¡±


    ¡°Class Promotion Tournament?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were full of doubt.


    Wu Zhangkong continued, ¡°The weakest class starts first and each class picks the students that participates. Class five will challenge class four, and so on. If the challenger is victorious, then the class numbers will be switched. In other words, if we beat class four, we won¡¯t be the lowest ranked class five anymore, but the first grade¡¯s class four. The class rankings depend on the victor of the challenge. If challengers are victorious, they can continue to challenge higher ranked classes until they lose. For all six grades, the most victorious will become their grade¡¯s class one. If they then proceed to challenge the next grade and win, they will be rewarded.¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Our class is the first challenger?¡± For all six grades, there were five classes and class five was always the worst. In other words, they were currently in the worst class of them all.


    ¡°Correct!¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°This can be considered a battle of glory for the classes. And if the challengers are able to skip grades, the rewards will be very generous.¡±


    Xie Xie proudly said, ¡°That¡¯s no problem Teacher Wu. Just leave it to me. I¡¯ll fight them all and go all the way to challenge the sixth grade.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong coldly snorted. ¡°The minimum number of participants is a pair. Do you actually think that having twin martial souls makes you peerless? Do you know what kind of people are selected to represent class one? There is no lack of geniuses in this world. Although many geniuses lose their way, within the intermediate division, your gifts can only be considered average.¡±


    Xie Xie had zoned out and hadn¡¯t heard Wu Zhangkong¡¯s last few words. He only paid attention to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s first sentence and turned to Tang Wulin in shock. ¡°Teacher, you¡¯re saying that I¡¯ll be competing in the tournament with him?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong leaned back in his chair, suddenly exuding an air of magnanimity. ¡°If you have any better options, then go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Xie Xie wanted to say ¡®I don¡¯t want to be with him,¡¯ but after recalling the horrible display of abilities by his other classmates, he wasn¡¯t able to speak.


    No matter what was said, this guy in front of him had already beaten him twice. Moreover, he also had the power of those mysterious golden scales.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°The tournament should begin in a month. Thus, from tomorrow onwards, outside of regular classes, I will have you two undergo special training every night. I¡¯ll formulate a simple schedule for you two so you better turn our class into the first grade¡¯s class one.¡±


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What if we are unable to do that?¡±


    ¡°Hehe!¡± Wu Zhangkong laughed. He was originally very handsome, but when he laughed, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie couldn¡¯t keep their eyes off of him and could only stare blankly. Moreover, while they were stunned, the two of them felt a coldness rise up from their tailbones, penetrating them deeply.


    After leaving Wu Zhangkong¡¯s office, Tang Wulin¡¯s brows gradually relaxed. A smile even appeared on his face. Although it was because the other students hadn¡¯t put in enough effort, he¡¯d still been chosen to represent their class in this tournament. This could be considered an honor for a Soul Master. Has he finally taken his first step into the world of Soul Masters? Apart from Teacher Mang Tian, Teacher Wu had also said he held promise.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Xie Xie coldly called out to him.


    Tang Wulin turned around to face him. ¡°What is it? I¡¯ll fight you again once we get back. I¡¯ll also pay you back for the food.¡±


    Xie Xie stared at him blankly for a moment. ¡®Doesn¡¯t this guy really love money? How surprising¡­¡¯


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about that. I wanted to tell you to not drag me down during the tournament in a month,¡± Xie Xie proudly said.


    Tang Wulin gently sighed. ¡°Does your face still hurt?¡±

 Chapter 57 – Mu Xi’s Depression

    Chapter 57 ¨C Mu Xi¡¯s Depression


    Tang Wulin gently sighed. ¡°Does your face still hurt?¡±


    The arrogant expression present on Xie Xie¡¯s face hardened in response as he clenched his fists tight.


    Tang Wulin patted his shoulder. ¡°I have something to do tonight. How about tomorrow night, I¡¯ll spar with you then.¡±


    After having been through a few matches against Xie Xie, Tang Wulin was no longer against battling. During these few matches, he had progressed and greatly improved his combat abilities. The stress that Xie Xie exerted onto him didn¡¯t go unrecognized.


    As the morning class ended earlier than usual, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t return to his dorm. Instead, he went off to the advanced academy.


    When the bell rang to signify the end of class, Tang Wulin spotted Liu Yuxin walking out of the classroom together with a few female students.


    ¡°Senior Sister Yuxin.¡± Tang Wulin waved in her direction.


    Liu Yuxin spotted him easily and, together with her group of classmates, walked quickly in his direction.


    ¡°Wow, Yuxin, I didn¡¯t realise you have a soft spot for cute little boys. This little brother of yours is so handsome. He¡¯ll grow up into a nice-looking hunk.¡± A girl with red phoenix eyes from the advanced academy said as she gave Liu Yuxin a dubious smile.


    Liu Yuxin snapped back, ¡°Stop speaking nonsense. This is Tang Wulin, our junior from the intermediate academy¡¯s first grade. Wulin, what¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Tang Wulin took out the soul camera he¡¯d brought with him.


    ¡°Senior Sister, I took some photos for you. But, I don¡¯t feel good about this. Please take back the camera.¡±


    Liu Yuxin blushed slightly and rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Alright, alright. So be it. Thanks for your help, I¡¯ll treat you to a meal.¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head immediately. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. I can have my meal back at the intermediate academy.¡± He obviously had some self-awareness. There was no such thing as a free lunch from the third window. A free meal would, at least, come from the second window. With his enormous appetite, he was afraid to eat Liu Yuxin into bankruptcy. That would be very awkward.


    Looking at Tang Wulin¡¯s retreating figure, the phoenix-eyed girl asked with complete doubt, ¡°Yuxin, what did you get him to take photographs of?¡±


    Liu Yuxin answered with an air of mystery, ¡°Wulin is in Teacher Wu Zhangkong¡¯s class.¡±


    ¡°Wow! The Icily Arrogant Prince Charming! Let¡¯s look at the pictures!¡±


    As the camera was switched on, the tiny screen displayed Wu Zhangkong¡¯s figure. There were a series of continuous shots taken of Wu Zhangkong unlatching his belt, then removing it.


    The few female students widened their eyes, then their cheeks flushed. They were nearly drooling.


    ¡°A meal from the first window. Yuxin, please sell me these photos for that. These are exclusives! I will never allow anyone to view these images of my prince charming, not of him removing his belt.¡±


    ¡°Two meals! That¡¯s only reasonable!¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ?


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know about the intense competition his photographs had roused between the few seniors. After finishing his lunch, he continued with the afternoon class.


    The meditation method that Wu Zhangkong taught was obviously much more complicated than the meditation method that was taught at the elementary academy. However, the results had proven to be far better. Legends have it that this method originated from the continent¡¯s legendary Shrek Academy, and was a simplified version of their great meditation technique.


    Under the pressured stare of Wu Zhangkong, the students¡¯ learning speed increased. They were able to grasp the basics of how to revolve their soul power within one afternoon.


    After class, Tang Wulin was the first to enter the dining hall and fill his stomach with dinner before speeding out.


    He had an important task tonight. Currently, he was on his way towards the Blacksmith¡¯s Association to collect his blacksmith¡¯s badge. He would also collect some tasks from the Association.


    Savings were of the utmost importance to him, especially when he was saving it for a hundred year martial soul which cost a million federation coins. If he was wealthy enough in the future, he would like to buy himself a meal from the first window.


    Tang Wulin felt distinct differences in his body when he¡¯d eaten a meal from the first window that morning. If he could afford to have it daily, how nice would that be?


    Excitedly, he walked out of the Academy¡¯s main gates. As he moved a bit away from the gates, a black soul car sped in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction. Shocked, he froze on the spot immediately.


    ¡°Out of the way!¡± A crisp voice came from behind.


    Tang Wulin turned his head to find a long, golden-haired teenage girl staring back at him.


    Involuntarily, he stepped aside. The teenage girl moved past him and, at that moment, a chauffeur stepped out from the car and opened the door for her.


    Shortly after the teenage girl boarded the car, the chauffeur closed the door gently before returning to the driver¡¯s seat and driving off. Only dust was left in the wake of the car.


    Another child from a wealthy family!


    To say that he was not envious was a lie. However, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t completely jealous. He believed that wealthy people were once poor and worked very hard to get where they were now. He believed that if others could do it, he could too.


    With a smile on his face, he took long strides towards the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    ¡­¡­


    ?


    Mu Xi was in a bad mood recently. It should¡¯ve been her most glorious day two days ago. However, it was ruined by a sudden change in circumstances.


    Just as she completed her forging and refining and had passed all the assessments, thus gaining herself the title of second-rank blacksmith, she was informed that during her assessment, a nine-year-old kid succeeded in the second-rank blacksmith¡¯s test.


    Nine years old? Was that even possible?


    This was simply unbelievable!


    Since the time not long after she was born, her favourite pastime had been to observe her father as he forged. Her father had mentioned that this rough and weight-laden process of forging was not suitable for girls, but was for men.However, the stubborness in her kicked in and she stood by her choice to become a blacksmith. She started training at the mere age of five, and started crafting small hammers. Her father thought that it was a joke at first. However, after seeing her persistence for two years, and mimicking his every action, it finally moved the heart of the Eastsea City¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association President, Mu Chen.


    Mu Xi inherited her father¡¯s martial soul. That alone made it suitable for her to become a blacksmith. In addition, she was willing to put in the extra effort. Mu Chen couldn¡¯t help but search for some rare herbs in order to try maintaining his daughter¡¯s figure. While she was training to gain the adequate strength to become a blacksmith, her figure had taken the toll and turned stockier in the process.


    Mu Xi¡¯s passion for forging came from the bottom of her heart. She was officially a first-rank blacksmith at the age of eleven. Her progression grew at an exhilarating speed under Mu Chen¡¯s tutelage. Not long after her thirteenth birthday, she took the rank promotion test and passed immediately.


    She had remembered clearly that her father mentioned that she had progressed faster than others her age. That she was worthy of being called a child prodigy in the world of blacksmithing.


    However, how could she share this title of second-rank blacksmith with a nine-year-old boy? Second-rank blacksmith? He¡¯d also been held in high esteem by the surveyor. In fact, although the surveyor didn¡¯t mention it, her gaze alone revealed her feelings. In her eyes, the boy was obviously stronger than her.


    Mu Xi heard that this boy would be at the Blacksmith¡¯s Association sometime today in order to collect his badge. She was keen to see who this boy was. Did he have three heads and six arms?

 Chapter 58 – Birthing Life

    Chapter 58 ¨C Birthing Life


    Tang Wulin looked up to see the large hammer on the sign, before taking large strides into the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. Although he had only been here once before, he was already fond of this place.


    After arriving in Eastsea City, this was the only place that felt familiar to him. This was also the place that gave him confidence.


    Yun Xiaoling stood behind the front desk and saw Tang Wulin as soon as he entered. In reality, she had been ordered by her superiors to specially wait for Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, you¡¯ve finally arrived.¡± Yun Xiaoling briskly walked to Tang Wulin¡¯s side with a smile and inquisitive eyes.


    How could she possibly not be curious towards this guy?


    At the age of nine, he became a second rank blacksmith! How did he accomplish this feat?


    Reportedly, he had already broken the headquarters record.


    The record for the youngest first rank blacksmith in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association was held by their current president with a record of eight years old. However, the president had become a second rank blacksmith at eleven years old. The president was slower than Tang Wulin by two years!


    The Association highly valued this child and had ordered the employees to immediately bring him up the tower as soon as he arrived.


    ¡°Hello, Big Sister Xiao Ling.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s memory was exceptional, and he clearly remembered the name of this big sister.


    Yun Xiaoling smiled. ¡°You really are formidable. I heard you passed the second rank  blacksmith test.¡± As Yun Xiaoling spoke, she bent down and looked straight into Tang Wulin¡¯s two beautiful eyes.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face grew red in embarrassment. ¡°No way. I was just lucky.¡±


    Yun Xiaoling giggled. ¡°You¡¯re so young yet you¡¯re so modest? Come on now, I¡¯ll bring you up.¡±


    ¡°Thank you big sister.¡±


    After getting onto the soul elevator, Tang Wulin was shocked to see Yun Xiaoling pressing the button for the highest floor. ¡°Big sister Xiao Ling, where are we going?¡±


    Yun Xiaoling smiled. ¡°We¡¯re going to go get your rank badge.¡±


    The elevator ascended quickly and when it reached the top floor, Tang Wulin¡¯s ears hadn¡¯t managed to adjust yet. However, he simply shook his head a few times and was able to recover.


    Tang Wulin was greeted by a wide view of the horizon the moment he stepped out of the elevator.


    The walls were all made of glass, and at this height, he was able to see nearly half of Eastsea City. A great number of skyscrapers littered the city, just like a steel forest. On the other side, was a great number of plant cover, bringing vitality to the city.


    Yun Xiaoling found a staff member. ¡°I¡¯ll have to trouble you to inform the president that Tang Wulin is here.¡±


    ¡°Wulin, wait here for a moment.¡±  Yun Xiaoling brought him to a sofa and sat him down.


    Not too long after, a crowd of footsteps approached.


    Mu Chen was at the forefront. Mu Chen had arrived very early that day but hadn¡¯t even stepped foot into his workshop yet, all for the sake of waiting for the boy who was able to bring him such a great surprise.


    Cen Yue was also in his office and was following right behind him. If the others in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association knew that these two figures had waited a whole day for a child, they wouldn¡¯t even know what to think.


    Right behind these two figures, was precisely Mu Xi.


    ¡°President!¡± Yun Xiaoling stood up and greeted Mu Chen respectfully.


    Mu Chen smiled and nodded. The next moment, his gaze fell on Tang Wulin.


    When Tang Wulin heard Yun Xiaoling call him the President, he had stood up and looked at Cen Yue.


    Cen Yue walked over to his side and said with a smile, ¡°Wulin, this is the President of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, Mu Chen. He is also the most famous Saint Craftsman ranked blacksmith in the continent.¡±


    Saint Craftsman? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes began to sparkle. Mang Tian had mentioned Saint Craftsman to him before. Only seventh and eighth rank blacksmiths could earn the title of a Saint Craftsman! He had never expected to meet one so fast.


    This president didn¡¯t even look much older than his own teacher. He truly was formidable. ¡®Is that a Saint Craftsman¡¯s badge he¡¯s wearing on his stomach? Eight stars? An eight star Saint Craftsman!¡¯


    ¡°Hello, President.¡± Tang Wulin hastily stepped forward and bowed.


    ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± An astonished voice came from Mu Xi, who was at Mu Chen¡¯s side. To Mu Xi, this was the guy who had stolen all of the limelight from her. In fact, this was the guy who stole the limelight from all the blacksmiths of his generation.


    Tang Wulin was slightly stunned was he saw Mu Xi. ¡®What is this rich girl doing here?¡¯


    Mu Chen looked at his daughter in surprise. ¡°Xi Xi, are you acquainted with each other?¡±


    Mu Xi looked at Tang Wulin and said, ¡°We¡¯re not acquainted. But it seems we attend the same academy.¡±


    Mu Chen smiled. ¡°Tang Wulin, what grade are you in at Eastsea Academy?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I entered the academy as a new student this year. I¡¯m in the first grade, class five.¡±


    When she heard the two words ¡®class five¡¯, Mu Xi¡¯s expression immediately revealed a trace of disdain. Naturally, she knew what class five represented. It was a class full of good-for-nothings who could never become a Soul Grandmaster.


    However, Mu Chen¡¯s attitude didn¡¯t change when he heard what class Tang Wulin was in. ¡°I heard from Cen Yue that you passed the second rank test. That¡¯s truly a wonderful achievement. You should know that you¡¯ve set a new record in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. We truly feel that you are worthy of being our successor!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s small face grew red in embarrassment. He had no clue as to how he should respond when faced with praise from others.


    He took a moment to think before saying, ¡°Uncle President, can I get a badge now and begin taking forging tasks?¡±


    Mu Chen laughed. ¡°Of course you can.¡±


    Cen Yue smiled. ¡°The President waited for you the whole day in order to personally give you your badge.¡±


    Yun Xiaoling had already walked over from the side, carrying a silver tray with a red cloth on top. And on top of the cloth, was a badge.


    The badge was in the shape of a hexagon, with a blue background, a protruding hammer and two white stars embedded into it.


    Regardless of whether it was a mecha craftsmen, a blacksmith, or even a technician, their rank badges all looked about the same. First and second rank badges all had blue backgrounds and white stars. It was only at the third rank that there would be change.


    Mu Chen personally placed the badge on Tang Wulin¡¯s right breast. His smile vanished and he turned solemn. ¡°From henceforth, you are a member of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. As a blacksmith, I hope that you will earnestly complete all your forging work. Use your soul to perceive, and your life to gain enlightenment. A true blacksmith doesn¡¯t just forge metal, rather, they will birth life to it.


    Birthing life? These two words were simple, but they could rouse even the apathetic. Combined with his understanding of Thousand Refinements, Tang Wulin felt as if a great door had opened by a small crack for him.


    Tang Wulin gently touched his badge and the simple coldness causing an unprecedented sense of accomplishment to ignite within him. At last, he had officially become a blacksmith.


    ¡°I want to compete with you!¡± Mu Xi suddenly interrupted from Mu Chen¡¯s side. A face that was unconvinced looked at Tang Wulin. It was only now that Tang Wulin noticed that on her stomach, there was an identical badge.

 Chapter 59 – Accepting Tasks

    Chapter 59 ¨C Accepting Tasks


    Seeing that Mu Xi was eyeing him with a pair of provoking eyes, Tang Wulin was at a loss for a moment before deciding to reject her offer. ¡°I¡¯m not competing.¡±


    He turned next towards Mu Chen. ¡°Uncle President, where may I go to accept tasks from the Association?¡±


    Mu Chen shot a glance at Mu Xi which prevented her from speaking her mind before smiling back at Tang Wulin. ¡°Brother Cen will bring you there. You are now a part of our Association¡¯s large family after having passed the test successfully. If you meet with any difficulties in future, you can apply for assistance from the Association. Though our Blacksmith¡¯s Association is not the strongest association around, it surely is the most united one.¡±


    As he spoke of the word ¡®united¡¯, he gave his daughter a pointed look. Mu Xi, with a discontented expression, lowered her head and pouted.


    ¡°Follow me then,¡± Cen Yue said with a smile.


    After Mu Xi sent Tang Wulin and Cen Yue off with her eyes, she could no longer wait before bursting out with a question towards her father, ¡°Dad, why did you prevent me from having a match with him?¡±


    Mu Chen¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Such a presumptuous attitude. What do you take this place for? This is the Blacksmith¡¯s Association! As a member of the association, especially as my daughter, your every word and action represents the association. This child has just joined our association; what if you scared him off? You should compete with him when both of you are familiar with one another. Until then, if you are still keen on competing with him, I won¡¯t stop you. But you should hold such a contest privately. Isn¡¯t he your junior? You should keep your eyes peeled and watch for him especially.¡±


    Mu Chen didn¡¯t get a chance to speak with Tang Wulin too much today. With regards to this child, he needed more chances to observe Tang Wulin. He had seen the block of Heavy Silver Tang Wulin had refined, and judging from its degree of uniformity, he knew well that Tang Wulin¡¯s forging standards was above his daughter¡¯s. His true motive was that he didn¡¯t want his daughter to suffer any blows to her confidence. After all, self-confidence was of the utmost importance, especially for kids at their age.


    Since Tang Wulin was keen on accepting tasks, he would have ample opportunities observing him. The planning for how he should cultivate Tang Wulin could be done after observing him a little more, which wasn¡¯t too late.


    ?


    The Task Acceptance Hall was located on the 2nd floor of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, with the whole of the 2nd floor filled with round counters. Each of these counters had task rank sign, that looked similar to the badges of the association. A blacksmith could only collect tasks within their rank or ones of lower ranks. They were unable to collect tasks that required rank higher than theirs.


    Within this blacksmithing trade, materials were all provided by the entrustors. Because of this, the association would try their absolute best in order to maintain the quality of the end product prior to collection. This was to avoid the association from needing to compensate.


    ¡°Little boy, you¡¯ve brought me many surprises! That fellow Mang Tian, he¡¯s¡­¡± As he thought about Mang Tian¡¯s taunts towards him that day, Cen Yue was fueled with anger. However, he really had cultivated an outstanding disciple.


    ¡°What type of task would you like to pick?¡± Cen Yue asked Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Anything that is within my capabilities would be good.¡±


    Cen Yue said, ¡°Our association rents out forging workshops too. Are you thinking of forging within the association?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Teacher is letting me use his Eastsea City¡¯s forging workshop. I¡¯ll complete my tasks over there. Thank you though.¡±


    A flash of disappointment streaked through Cen Yue¡¯s eyes. ¡°Alright, but I do want to remind you that all tasks from the association must be completed and you cannot fail them. Once you fail, you must compensate for the ruined materials. That counter in the center, facing the front, is where you collect your tasks. The left counter is where you report and place completed products while the right is where you are allowed to purchase all kinds of metals. Our association has, ideally, every kind of rare metal that exist in the market. However, due to an individual¡¯s blacksmithing rank, the quantity they can purchase each month varies differently. If you need to, you can get your metals there. Then there¡¯s the 4th floor and 5th floor. That¡¯s where the forged products are sold. You can go have a look up there as there¡¯s a lot to look at.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin said respectfully. Right now, he didn¡¯t have any intention to purchase metals or forged products as he didn¡¯t have any need to. Another reason was that he didn¡¯t have the money. He was actually hoping to earn coins through forging, enough purchase a hundred year soul spirit.


    Cen Yue brought Tang Wulin to the front of the two star counter. Behind the counter was a staff member and in front of the counter were ten soul screens. One could collect a task with a mere swipe of the screens. The staff present were to answer on any questions one might have.


    Following Cen Yue¡¯s directions, Tang Wulin touched one of the soul screens. A list of available tasks popped up.


    At the front was a summary of the task, followed by the quantity and payments.


    ¡°The association will take 10% of the payment while the rest will go to you.¡±


    After listening to Cen Yue¡¯s words, Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze sharpened.


    Task 1 ¨C Refine the rare Sky Dragon Iron. Requirements ¨C Hundred Refined. Time ¨C 30 days. Quantity ¨C 10. Payment ¨C A unit price of 2,000 federation coins.


    So, one would earn a total of 20,000 federation coins when they successfully refined 10 pieces of Sky Dragon Iron.


    To Tang Wulin, this was definitely a large sum . After having completed the Thousand Refinements on a piece of Heavy Silver, it had given him the confidence to successfully refine a huge amount of rare metals.


    It seemed to him that a blacksmithing was a very lucrative career.


    Without much thought, he picked the first task and a dialog box popped up, requesting information about the delivery location. Shortly after he completed that, the screen requested his Blacksmith¡¯s badge.


    Tang Wulin plucked off his badge and placed it down.


    Di!


    ¡°Congratulations, second rank blacksmith Tang Wulin. You have successfully accepted the second rank forging task of refining Sky Dragon Iron. The materials will be sent to your indicated location within three days.¡±


    His badge bounced up.


    ¡°Is that it?¡± Tang Wulin raised his head towards Cen Yue.


    Cen Yue nodded. ¡°Isn¡¯t it simple? However, I have to remind you as this is your first task, you have to be very careful. Though the stated payment is quite a hefty sum, many blacksmiths don¡¯t have a high pay as they were unable to complete every task flawlessly. If there¡¯s a flaw in the product, the blacksmith would have to dig into his own pocket for the amount acquired to purchase the new materials, which is usually a big sum.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master Cen. I will be very careful.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s chest tightened as he noted Cen Yue¡¯s advice quickly.


    ¡°Do you have a communicator number?¡± Cen Yue asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head and blushed. How would he have the sufficient money to purchase a soul communicator?


    Cen Yue broke into a grin. ¡°Then here¡¯s two items for you.¡±

 Chapter 60 – Surrounded

    Chapter 60 ¨C Surrounded


    Cen Yue smiled and said, ¡°Soul communicators are gifted to new members of the association. Since every blacksmith has one, you can consider it one of the benefits of joining the association. As for this ring, the President wanted me to give it to you. He said that it¡¯s just a temporary loan. It has a space of ten cubic meters, so it¡¯ll be convenient for when you hand in your work. How else could you carry around all the metal required for the tasks?¡±


    ¡®There are even benefits? This storage ring is simply too valuable.¡¯ Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t even comprehend the worth of a ring with ten cubic meters of storage space.


    Cen Yue placed the two items into Tang Wulin¡¯s hands. ¡°Take it. It¡¯ll be fine so long as you complete some tasks from the association. Just consider this ring as something that the association issued you. It¡¯s usually only given to fourth rank blacksmiths, but the President believes that you¡¯ll definitely become a fourth rank blacksmith in the future. Don¡¯t disappoint us.¡±


    Tang Wulin took a step back and kneeled before Cen Yue. ¡°I must thank you, Grandmaster Cen Yue, and the President.¡±


    Cen Yue helped him up, then rubbed his head with a smile. ¡°Even though I¡¯m not your teacher, it¡¯s still my duty to remind you that every single profession is but a different route to the same destination. Even though soul power is no longer crucial to this profession during this era, and many ordinary people are now able to forge things that previously required the power of a Soul Master to finish, some accomplishments within the cultivation of soul power is needed to reach the peak of this profession. Because of this, you definitely can¡¯t abandon your studies!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin earnestly nodded his head. His dream, after all, was to become a powerful Soul Master! Despite being more accomplished as a blacksmith at this moment, he¡¯d never wanted to give up on being a Soul Master.


    It wasn¡¯t until he left the Blacksmith¡¯s Association that Tang Wulin snapped out of his dream-like state. He owned a soul communicator now? Moreover, the Association would reimburse him for the calling fees? He even had Cen Yue¡¯s number within the soul communicator already.


    He looked at the storage ring on his right ring finger. This ring had a storage space of ten cubic meters! It¡¯s value was simply unimaginable. It was likely worth even more than a hundred year spirit soul!


    However, Tang Wulin was unaware that even though this was a benefit given by the association, it still wasn¡¯t something a fourth rank blacksmith could receive. Rather, one had to be a fifth rank Master Craftsman rank blacksmith to receive it!


    Mu Chen had clearly given him this ring as his investment into a talented child.


    ¡®The association¡¯s benefits are truly too great. Ah!¡¯ Tang Wulin suddenly remembered something he had to do.


    He wasn¡¯t just a blacksmith, he also a Soul Master! He needed to go register at the Soul Master¡¯s Association. With his current rank, he would receive an allowance of one thousand federal coins each month.


    After asking around a bit, he discovered that the Soul Master¡¯s Association wasn¡¯t too far away. Since it wasn¡¯t too late yet, he might as well drop by.


    The Soul Master¡¯s Association was about the same size as the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. As a one ring Soul Master, Tang Wulin was only able to enter the first floor of the Soul Master¡¯s Association. After showing his soul ring, he was able to register and was given one thousand federal coins.


    His experience at the Soul Master¡¯s Association was different from the one in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. In this place, no one would pay attention to a brat with a ten year spirit soul.


    However, Tang Wulin was still very happy with his gains today.


    When he returned to his dorm room, he found that Yun Xiao, Zhou Zhangxi and Xie Xie were all already meditating. He quietly climbed onto his own bed and began meditating according to what Wu Zhangkong had taught them today.


    Teacher Wu had said that he would begin training Tang Wulin and Xie Xie the next day. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of methods he would use.


    He began revolving his soul power in an even more complicated pattern. Soon after, Tang Wulin entered a meditative state. His weak soul power began circulating its way to his meridians, converging bit by bit.


    ?


    Early morning.


    As Tang Wulin finished meditating, he was astonished to discover that Xie Xie had already disappeared and that the sun had already risen. This was the first time he had tried this new meditation method, and he¡¯d woken up much later than before.


    He immediately got off his bed and ran to wash his face and rinse his mouth.


    For Tang Wulin, meal time was the most important time of the day.


    Tang Wulin joyfully ran towards the dormitory¡¯s doors. However, before he even neared the door, he saw a group of upper grade students looking all over the place, as if they were searching for something.


    When he neared them, he suddenly discovered that there was a familiar figure in this group of students.


    Mu Xi was dressed in the school uniform, her long, golden hair done up in a ponytail. Girls matured early, and she was already half a head taller than Tang Wulin. She had a charming figure, tall and thin. Although she hadn¡¯t finished maturing yet, she still had a bit of the scent of a young woman.


    Just as Tang Wulin saw her, Mu Xi had also coincidentally turned her head, looking straight at him.


    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± She suddenly raised her finger and pointed towards Tang Wulin.


    Before Tang Wulin could even react, Mu Xi, along with seven or eight upper grade male students, surrounded him.


    ¡°What do you guys want?¡± Tang Wulin asked, confused.


    ¡°There¡¯s a matter I have with you. Come with me boy.¡± A tall, but average looking male student said to Tang Wulin with an odd tone.


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°What matter? Just tell me it here.¡± He had a faint understanding of the situation in his heart. These advanced division students were here to look for trouble. This was definitely related to Mu Xi.


    There were quite a number of newly admitted first grade students here. However, they were all scared off by the fierce expressions of the upper grade students.


    ¡°You think you have a choice?¡± The upper grade male student who¡¯d previously spoken reached out a hand, grabbing Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    Tang Wulin fiercely shook his grip off of his shoulder. His strength was far greater than that upper grade student had expected, causing him to stumble and nearly fall.


    Without any hesitation or wishful thinking, Tang Wulin immediately attacked. A strand of Bluesilver Grass shot out of his palm. In a flash, the surrounding upper grade students were bound. He also directly knocked down the one that had been previously staggered.


    During the time he had been at the elementary academy, regardless of whether it had been for himself or Na¡¯er, he had never backed down from a fight. Even if he was outnumbered, he would fight back. If he didn¡¯t fight, then he wouldn¡¯t have any chances at all. This was an academy after all, and he would be fine as long as he broke out of the encirclement.


    Clearly, these upper grade students hadn¡¯t expected this action. Even with so many people on their side, Tang Wulin had dared to attack. Moreover, he had been very decisive and had been able to bind them all with his Bluesilver Grass in a flash.


    Right as the male student in front began gathering his soul power, Tang Wulin collided with him.


    Bang! The upper grade male student was sent flying. It looked as if Tang Wulin was going to break out of their encirclement.


    Right at that moment, a figure quietly appeared in front of him along with a glaringly bright light.


    In the wake of this blazing light, Tang Wulin felt as if his whole body was about to ignite. His speed suddenly decreased. He only heard a cold snort before he felt a pain in his stomach and was kicked back into the encirclement.

 Chapter 61 – Beat Me and I’ll Act Dignified

    Chapter 61 ¨C Beat Me and I¡¯ll Act Dignified


    As he was kicked back into the encirclement, Tang Wulin discovered that his soul power was being consumed rapidly. In no time at all, ten levels of soul power had been used up.


    Papapa! One by one, the upper grade students broke free of the Bluesilver Grass.


    Tang Wulin had bound so many people simultaneously, but they were able to break free of the Bluesilver Grass with their greater level of soul power. After breaking, the side-effect of his variant Bluesilver Grass revealed itself; his soul power was quickly depleting.


    ¡°Brat, you dared crash into me!¡± The upper grade student shouted as he swung his fist towards Tang Wulin¡¯s face.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Mu Xi sharply shouted.


    The male student resentfully stayed his hand, but he still shoved Tang Wulin onto the ground.


    Tang Wulin finally noticed that Mu Xi was the one who had previously released that blazing light. Shockingly, two yellow hundred year soul rings rose up from her feet. Atop her head was a golden ball of light that blazed like the sun. On her left shoulder was a small, round flame, pulsing with energy. It seemed that this flame was her spirit soul. It¡¯s blaze was momentarily restrained, but the surrounding temperature had still risen by a few degrees.


    What kind of martial soul was this? It had an aura of power around it.


    The other upper grade students hurried to get out of the way as Mu Xi walked towards Tang Wulin. Although her martial soul¡¯s heat had been restrained, it was still as imposing and valiant as before.


    Two rings. That meant she was already a Soul Grandmaster.


    ¡°I am Mu Xi of fifth grade¡¯s class one. I want to compete with you in forging. If you have any desire to continue studying in this academy, then you can¡¯t decline,¡± Mu Xi coldly stated.


    Ever since she was a child, Mu Xi had been an exceptionally competitive girl.


    Tang Wulin glared at her. He hated people who threatened him the most and soon, his stubborn side took over.


    Right as he was about to speak, an ice-cold voice intervened.


    ¡°If you guys want to live, then stop spewing so much bullshit and screw off with your henchmen!¡±


    Mu Xi¡¯s expression soured as her slender and tender body grew taut. Her eyes, however, revealed a trace of surprise. Others wouldn¡¯t know what was going on, but she was able to clearly feel a cold sensation on her neck. She felt that if she moved even an inch, her throat would be slit.


    She didn¡¯t dare move, not even to release her martial soul.


    ¡°Make all of those guys leave!¡± An eerie voice came from her side, accompanied by a face. Wasn¡¯t this Xie Xie?


    Xie Xie wasn¡¯t much shorter than Mu Xi, so he was able to wrap one arm around Mu Xi¡¯s shoulder, while his other hand pointed his Light Dragon Dagger at her waist.


    ¡°You scoundrel. What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± That previous upper grade male student spoke out.


    Xie Xie coldly answered, ¡°My patience is limited. If you believe that I don¡¯t dare to act in the academy, then you can try my hand.¡± As he said this, Xie Xie exerted pressure through his Light Dragon Dagger, causing Mu Xi to cry out in pain.


    ¡°All of you, leave!¡± Mu Xi quickly shouted. She could clearly feel the killing intent from behind her. After all, she was only 12 years old. In a situation like this, she couldn¡¯t help but succumb to her rising fear.


    The upper grade students had no other choice, so they began to leave. Right at that moment however, a thunderous voice bellowed out, ¡°Stop!¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s whole body shivered, he immediately put away his Light Dragon Dagger and his invisible Shadow Dragon Dagger. Immediately afterwards, a tall figure picked him up like a baby chick.


    ?


    Intermediate division¡¯s teaching building.


    ¡°Out with it! What happened?¡± Teaching Director Long Hengxu asked with a frown.


    Mu Xi said with her head lowered, ¡°I was just looking for Tang Wulin to have a a forging competition with me.¡±


    Xie Xie sneered. ¡°You brought a whole group of henchmen to our first grade dorm. Is that how you senior students find people?¡±


    Long Hengxu coldly glared at him. ¡°Didn¡¯t you threaten your senior student with a blade? What would you have done if they hadn¡¯t stopped? Would you have really killed her?¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s lips began to twitch as his gaze swept the senior students with disdain. ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure.¡±


    Long Hengxu turned towards Tang Wulin. ¡°What about you? You¡¯re the one who acted first. Do you have an explanation?¡±


    Tang Wulin eye¡¯s had a gentleness to them, but his expression was extremely resolute. ¡°When I was just a child, my dad explained some principles. When I entered the elementary academy, he told me that if he found out I was bullying my underclassmen, he would ruthlessly lecture me. However, if the older students bullied me, then I should hit them back without any hesitation and he wouldn¡¯t blame me at all.¡±


    As he looked at the child in front of him, Long Hengxu was surprised to find that after acting as the Teaching Director for so many years, he had finally met someone who could leave him speechless.


    ¡°Well said! I don¡¯t think my student has done anything wrong either,¡± Wu Zhangkong said with an ice-cold voice as he walked into the office.


    Long Hengxu¡¯s expression soured. ¡°Teacher Wu, have you already forgotten the most basic of manners, such as knocking?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong coldly apologized, ¡°Sorry!¡±


    Long Hengxu¡¯s face twitched. ¡®Where¡¯s the sincerity in this guy¡¯s apology? He¡¯d already caused headaches for the advanced division¡¯s Teaching Director. And now, even after being transferred to the intermediate division and being tasked with the worst class, he hasn¡¯t changed at all!¡¯


    ¡°The big taking advantage of the small, huh? You guys sure have some skill!¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s ice-cold gaze swept through Mu Xi¡¯s group of fifth grade students. ¡°Taking advantage of the small isn¡¯t something I would do, but if I find that you¡¯ve provoked my students again, I¡¯ll beat up the teacher in charge of your class.¡±


    Long Hengxu furiously said, ¡°Teacher Wu! Please conduct yourself with dignity!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong coldly answered, ¡°If you can beat me, then I¡¯ll act with dignity.¡± After speaking, he grabbed Xie Xie¡¯s head with one hand and dragged Tang Wulin with the other. They left the teaching building.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Long Hengxu angrily got up, wanting to stop Wu Zhangkong, but then he recalled the things Wu Zhangkong had dared to do in the advanced division. After recalling these things, he no longer had the courage to stop him. This guy was simply a madman.


    ¡°You guys! Every single one of you will face a round of disciplinary action. You truly are skilled if you can bully the weak as the strong!¡± Red hot anger sprouted out of the Teaching Director, completely directed at these fifth grade students.


    After leaving the teaching building, Wu Zhangkong released Tang Wulin¡¯s hand and walked in front of them.


    As he gazed at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s tall and straight back, Tang Wulin hastily picked up his pace to chase after him. ¡°Thank you teacher.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong indifferently said, ¡°You didn¡¯t do anything wrong, so there¡¯s no reason to thank me. No one is allowed to delay my classes.¡±


    Xie Xie caught up to them, a rare smile plastered on his face. ¡°Teacher Wu, you were so cool just now! I truly admire you. Even if you give us hellish training, I won¡¯t complain at all!¡±


    ¡°Remember your words,¡± Wu Zhangkong faintly said.


    ¡°Xie Xie!¡± Tang Wulin pulled on Xie Xie¡¯s arm. ¡°I have to thank you too.¡±

 Chapter 62 – Gu Yue

    Chapter 62 ¨C Gu Yue


    Xie Xie was somewhat vexed as he said, ¡°Why are you speaking so awkwardly? You don¡¯t need to thank me. I just don¡¯t like it when people bully others with numbers, or when the big bully the small.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°We¡¯re friends now.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°You make friends too easily. I don¡¯t consider you my friend yet.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°That¡¯s not important.¡±


    ?


    Xie Xie soon began to regret the words he had said to Wu Zhangkong. Wu Zhangkong was definitely a teacher who was true to his word. He immediately began the physical training class he had spoken of the day before.


    The basics of physical training was running.


    In the intermediate division of Eastsea Academy, there was a track field with an 800 meter long loop. They were ordered by Wu Zhangkong to run ten laps around this track in the morning as a warm up.


    However, when they saw Wu Zhangkong take out two heavy chains, each weighing ten kilograms and fashioned into metal shirts, for Tang Wulin and Xie Xie to wear, the two didn¡¯t dare say anything. In fact, they could only rejoice.


    If it were yesterday, Xie Xie definitely would have rebelled with that temper of his. But today, he didn¡¯t resist at all. Even though he was still haughty, he would still put his greatest effort into doing everything Wu Zhangkong commanded. Xie Xie truly admired Wu Zhangkong. Xie Xie had never thought of his own icy arrogance as shameful, he even considered it to be honorable. However, not only was this teacher colder and prouder than him, he was also extremely powerful! The title of ¡®Icily Arrogant Prince Charming¡¯ was definitely a well deserved one.


    Tang Wulin was silent. With regards to training at this intensity, he could only feel excitement.


    Xie Xie was an Agility System Battle Soul Master, so despite wearing a 10 kilogram metal shirt, he was still very fast at the beginning. On the other hand, Tang Wulin¡¯s pace wasn¡¯t fast, but it was as steady as an army¡¯s march.


    Two laps later however, Xie Xie and the other students¡¯ pace began to slow.


    They were panting and heaving after four laps, and their lungs felt as if they were burning. The metal shirt began to feel even heavier. Soon, Xie Xie didn¡¯t even have the strength to regret the words he spoke to Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice suddenly came from behind him. Xie Xie turned around and saw that although Tang Wulin was sweating, his situation seemed much better in every way.


    ¡°I¡¯m still good!¡± Xie Xie said with gritted teeth as his pace increased once more. Would he actually let this guy overtake him?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s breathing was steady as he said, ¡°It was reasonable for Teacher Wu to have us carry weights. After all, we¡¯re the representatives for our class in the Class Promotion Tournament.¡±


    Xie Xie remained silent. For the current him, even speaking would be considered a burden.


    Five laps!


    Xie XIe was already unable to control his own body. To him, his body was as heavy as lead.


    Tang Wulin had actually passed him long ago. However, his situation was completely different from Xie Xie; the ten kilogram metal shirt was practically nothing to Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin had only just warmed up after running those five laps.


    Tang Wulin stealthily stretched out a hand and placed it under Xie Xie¡¯s arm, making Xie Xie feel lighter and allowing him to increase his pace.


    Xie Xie looked at Tang Wulin in surprise.


    In response, Tang Wulin only smiled as he increased his pace and brought up Xie Xie¡¯s pace to a run.


    Wu Zhangkong stood at the middle of the track, watching the defeated students with a serene expression and an occasional frown.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, you sure have a lot of energy. Since you¡¯re bringing him along, you can run an extra ten laps.¡±


    Xie Xie turned his head to look at Tang Wulin, only to see that his expression was just as calm as before. Tang Wulin simply muttered, ¡°If I have an extra ten laps, then I¡¯ll need to pick up my pace. I can¡¯t be late for lunch. I¡¯m already so hungry after missing breakfast.¡±


    Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Are you even human? Aren¡¯t you tired at all?¡±


    Tang Wulin gave him a slight smile. ¡°I¡¯m still fine!¡±


    At that moment, a girl walked through the gates that lead to the field from the direction of the academy buildings.


    She was dressed in white and was the same age as the students in the first grade¡¯s class five. Although she wasn¡¯t particularly beautiful, she was still a bit delicate and pretty. With long black hair and black eyes, her build was about average among her peers. She was still very well proportioned, and her pair of bright eyes were full of life.


    As she walked forwards, her steps seemed to have a special rhythm to them, and her aura had an exotic feel to it.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze soon landed on her as she wasn¡¯t wearing a school uniform. She had come while class was still in session.


    ¡°What class are you in?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked as he walked over.


    The girl¡¯s attention seemed to have been attracted by something else, as she watched Tang Wulin run who was dragging Xie Xie along. Apparently, she had taken an interest in the two people wearing metal shirts.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to attend school. However, I was told that the registration period has already passed.¡± She said as she looked up towards Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression soured. ¡°You¡¯re not an Eastsea Academy student?¡±


    The girl said, ¡°I¡¯m not a student at the moment, but I still want to be a student here. Is that possible, teacher?¡±


    If it were any other teacher, they might have immediately driven her away. However, was Wu Zhangkong just any other teacher? No!


    ¡°This is a Soul Master¡¯s academy. If you want to attend here, then you must have the ability,¡± Wu Zhangkong coldly said.


    ¡°I can take a test.¡± The girl smiled.


    Wu Zhangkong asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The girl answered, ¡°My name is Gu Yue.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll give you a chance.¡± After speaking, he turned around and went over to Tang Wulin and Xie Xie. ¡°Xie Xie, give your metal shirt to Tang Wulin and come over here.¡±


    Due to Tang Wulin¡¯s assistance, Xie Xie had completed the previous two laps in a relaxed manner. He quickly stopped, then took off his metal shirt and gave it to Tang Wulin. ¡°Will you be alright with another metal shirt?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°It¡¯s still lighter than you.¡± He took the metal shirt and calmly put it on before picking up his pace right in front of Xie Xie.


    ¡®His physical strength¡­ truly isn¡¯t human!¡¯


    Panting, Xie Xie arrived at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side. ¡°Teacher Wu.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Your physical strength is too horrible.¡±


    Xie Xie defiantly said, ¡°We Agility System Battle Soul Masters only need a burst of power and some nimbleness. We don¡¯t need to have too much physical strength.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong disdainfully said, ¡°How shallow. Fine then, I¡¯ll give you a chance today. Defeat her and you won¡¯t have to run in the afternoon.¡±


    It was then that Xie Xie finally noticed the girl at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side. After sizing her up, he took a deep breath and adjusted his soul power. ¡°No problem.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you twenty minutes of rest. We¡¯ll begin after those twenty minutes are up.¡±


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t complain as he immediately sat cross-legged and began meditating. Running had consumed a lot of his soul power and physical strength. For Agility System Battle Soul Masters, this truly wasn¡¯t an area they excelled.

 Chapter 63 – Gu Yue vs Xie Xie

    Chapter 63 ¨C Gu Yue vs Xie Xie


    Gu Yue didn¡¯t even spare a glance for him. Instead, she looked all around at her surroundings with complete curiosity.


    Wu Zhangkong shot her a glance. ¡°Looking down on your opponent isn¡¯t the smartest behaviour.¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°I¡¯m not looking down on him!¡± Although that¡¯s what her mouth said, her eyes seemed to be saying that Xie Xie wasn¡¯t even worth looking down upon.


    Wu Zhangkong spoke no further. He diverted his attention back to the students who were running instead.


    Although Tang Wulin¡¯s pace couldn¡¯t be considered fast, it was exceptionally steady, even with the two metal shirts he wore. Like this, Tang Wulin somehow ran at the forefront. The person behind him was Zhou Zhangxi, whose body¡¯s strength undoubtedly gave him an advantage in physical training such as this.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s attention was diverted to the center of the field as he ran. He was curious as to why this girl had suddenly appeared.


    Right as he looked at the new girl, Gu Yue, she¡¯d also turned to look back at him and their gazes met. Gu Yue had a meaningful look in her eyes, which gave Tang Wulin the impression that her eyes were exceptionally sharp.


    Twenty minutes soon passed.


    Xie Xie shot forward and went through a few exercises. His body was once again brimming with energy.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Stand thirty meters apart from one another and prepare.¡±


    Xie Xie retreated backwards, each step moving him back at an equal distance. From start to finish, Xie Xie¡¯s gaze hadn¡¯t left Gu Yue.


    He felt threatened when he¡¯d first seen this girl, and now treated her whole heartedly as a worthy opponent.


    During the battles between Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been the only one who had benefitted. Xie Xie had gained from them as well. At the very least, he understood what it meant when even a tiger had to hunt a rabbit with all of its strength.


    It was only once the two of them were thirty meters apart from one another that Gu Yue¡¯s gaze stopped wandering and settled on Xie Xie.


    ¡°Begin!¡± Wu Zhangkong simply announced. In the wake of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s shout, Xie Xie immediately released his martial soul and flew towards his opponent with his maximum speed.


    His explosive power was truly astonishing. He launched forwards like a vigorous cheetah. The thirty meter distance between them rapidly closed.


    Gu Yue didn¡¯t seem to react at all. When she finally raised her hand, Xie Xie was but ten meters away from her.


    The Light Dragon Dagger sparkled as it struck forth. Xie Xie hadn¡¯t released his soul skill immediately. Since he was only a one ring Soul Master, he only had one soul skill. Good steel is to be used on the cutting edge of a blade, so he had to wait for best opportunity to erupt with the soul skill. Furthermore, his opponent seemed to have a slow reaction time, so maybe he wouldn¡¯t even need to use his soul skill.


    At that moment, the pace of the running class five students on the track grew even slower. All of their attention was diverted to the battle occurring in the middle of the field


    Xie Xie was the most formidable person in their age group, so they thought that this new girl definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat him.


    A soul ring appeared from beneath Gu Yue¡¯s feet. This soul ring was the same as Xie Xie¡¯s; it was actually a hundred year yellow soul ring.


    However, Xie Xie was already right in front of her. It was too late for her to do anything now, unless she were an Agility System Battle Soul Master.


    Was she? Definitely not.


    A green halo burst out of her chest,  but Xie Xie was right in front of her now. His Light Dragon Dagger was poised to stab into her shoulder.


    The green light lingered and Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger stabbed into it. Unexpectedly, a force began pressing on him from both sides, like a blowing gale. The Light Dragon Dagger stopped in mid air, unable to continue its thrust forward at all.


    Immediately afterwards, Xie Xie was dumbstruck when he saw the green light around Gu Yue turn red and a fireball about the size of a fist appeared right in front of him.


    Xie Xie certainly proved himself as an Agility System Battle Soul Master. At this critical moment, he ferociously twisted his waist in mid air and spun horizontally.


    That little fireball missed his face by a hair, only being able to scorch a few hairs on his head.


    Just as his foot touched the ground, Xie Xie launched himself back, putting quite a distance between him and Gu Yue.


    ¡®What was that power just now?¡¯


    After several hops back, he had opened up a distance of 20 meters between the two of them. When Xie Xie looked at Gu Yue now, a serious expression could be seen.


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes flashed with a twinkle of surprise. Naturally, she hadn¡¯t raised her hand so late due to a slow reaction time, but rather, it had been deliberate. It had all been for the sake of ending the fight in one attack.


    However, she had never expected Xie Xie¡¯s reaction to be even faster than her¡¯s. He had actually been able to avoid that fireball!


    Her serious graze pierced through Xie Xie, while Wu Zhangkong gave her a similar look. This was because Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t been able to discern what Gu Yue¡¯s martial soul was. Just what was this girl¡¯s martial soul?


    That green light seemed to be of the wind element, but that fireball was clearly of the fire element. Could it be¡­? She has twin martial souls of the wind and fire elements? If this was the case, then it would truly be picking up a precious jewel.


    Xie Xie was a bit short of breath, but he shot towards Gu Yue once more. His speed was clearly faster than before, and he didn¡¯t go straight at her this time, rather, he circled around Gu Yue with lightning speed. His speed was so fast that others weren¡¯t even able to keep up with his movements. Like this, the distance between the two of them rapidly closed.


    The yellow soul ring on Gu Yue¡¯s body twinkled, concealing her spirit soul. She simply stood there calmly, not even turning to face Xie Xie as he circled her.


    As the distance grew closer and closer, Xie Xie suddenly exploded forth, sliding forwards at a slant. When he was just five meters from Gu Yue, his hundred year soul ring suddenly shined brightly, and he waved his Light Dragon Dagger, sending a blade of light flying towards her.


    Hundred year soul skill, the first soul skill of Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger ¨C Light Dragon Blade!


    The yellow light blade flew through the air while issuing out a dragon¡¯s roar. The light grew more and more brilliant. The strangest thing, however, was that as it got closer to Gu Yue, until it was finally only one meter away from her, it suddenly twisted in the air and changed directions.


    That was right! This was a powerful hundred year soul skill. Moreover, it had come from Xie Xie¡¯s high class martial soul.


    Unfortunately, the opponent he faced today was truly unreasonable. Right as the Light Dragon Blade was about to slash Gu Yue¡¯s shoulder, a green light appeared once again, meeting the light blade with extreme precision. It was almost as if the green light were also a light blade, only a green colored one.


    The green light blade wasn¡¯t as powerful as the Light Dragon Blade and was chopped apart in moments. However, that moment¡¯s delay allowed Gu Yue to take a step out of the way, completely avoiding the Light Dragon Blade.

 Chapter 64 – Elemental Mastery

    Chapter 64 ¨C Elemental Mastery


    Xie Xie hadn¡¯t considered the possibility of defeating his opponent in a single move. Thus, as his Light Dragon Blade flew was flying towards Gu Yue, his body sprang towards her as well. While Gu Yue was pacing away from Xie Xie, he had already calculated the distance and appeared on Gu Yue¡¯s side with his Light Dragon Blade raised. The outcome seemed like Gu Yue had clashed against his dagger.


    This unexpected move had even earned a nod from the strict Wu Zhangkong. Although Xie Xie¡¯s cultivation hadn¡¯t reached two rings, he had started to grasp the profound meaning of being an Agility System Battle Soul Master.


    Tang Wulin had his eyes on this match as well. This allowed him to deeply experience the huge difference between him and Xie Xie. His first win was an unexpected victory, and his second was because of the strange golden scales. But in reality, Xie Xie¡¯s abilities were far above his.


    Xie Xie¡¯s landing point was a meter away from Gu Yue. This position was within his predictions, allowing him to be within a suitable distance to attack his opponent, but still with sufficient space for escape. Facing a powerful opponent allowed him a chance to further release his potential.


    However, this opponent was unexpectedly tough.


    As soon as the tips of his feet touched the ground, Xie Xie felt a sudden suction from the ground, as if stepping into a muddy swamp. He lowered his left leg with a previous intention to spring himself up, but it had changed instantaneously into a ground attack.


    Gu Yue staggered and her body tilted slightly forward which allowed her to successfully avoid Xie Xie¡¯s attack. At the same time, an icicle shot out from her hand.


    Its target was not Xie Xie, but the area underneath his feet.


    The icicle struck onto the mud puddle that Xie Xie¡¯s left foot was in and hardened. Xie Xie¡¯s leg was stuck.


    Gu Yue turned and waved her hand, a fireball appeared and flew towards Xie Xie.


    In this close proximity, it was impossible for Xie Xie to dodge, even if he was an Agility System Battle Soul Master.


    However, at this point of time, Xie Xie revealed his true capabilities.


    His Light Dragon Blade appeared, and slashed accurately at the incoming fireball. The fireball smashed into a cluster of embers.


    Gu Yue raised both her arms and released both the icicles and fireballs continuously. With only a Light Dragon Blade, Xie Xie was soon unable to block off Gu Yue¡¯s shots. But at the same time, he raised his left hand and the glint between his eyes glowed more intensely.


    As an Agility System Battle Soul Master with Twin Martial Souls, his movement and speed capabilities were strapped off, but he still had confidence in fighting a close ranged battle.


    Both of them had one soul ring, which meant that they hadn¡¯t reached rank 20 in cultivation. With the gift of twin martial souls and a rank 18 soul master, Xie Xie was confident on winning against his opponent by competing purely on soul power consumption.


    Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon dagger. Both danced in the air and struck precisely at Gu Yue, who collapsed in defeat. It demonstrated Xie Xie¡¯s incomparably precise judgement


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes reflected an array of colours, not only for Xie Xie¡¯s performance, but Gu Yue¡¯s as well.


    Ice, Fire, Earth, Wind ¨C these four elements had been displayed in her match with Xie Xie. And the display showed a variation of skills in both control and attacks.


    Though Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t fully understand where Gu Yue¡¯s soul skills originate, judging from her ability to utilise four elements all at once with a soul ring proved that she possessed a superior martial soul!


    A cold grin broke out from the corner of Xie Xie¡¯s mouth. ¡®Though you are strong, your soul power is incomparable to mine. I possess twin martial souls, and I¡¯m ranked 18. Even by competing solely on the soul power consumption, I can defeat you.¡¯


    It was obvious that everyone else was a one ring Soul Master. Xie Xie started feeling the frozen mud loosening and managed to free himself from the shackles that bound his leg, the situation had turned in his favour.


    However, at this very moment, he caught the grin on Gu Yue¡¯s face, shortly followed by a white ball of light from his opponent¡¯s hand instead of fireballs.


    The light bursted before Xie Xie¡¯s eyes and blinded him instantaneously.


    ¡®Not good!¡¯ A voice inside Xie Xie called out and his pair of daggers started waving before him, in hope that by using an intensive series of attacks will fend off the opponent¡¯s blows.


    ¡°Good. Let¡¯s stop here.¡± Wu Zhangkong voiced out.


    Xie Xie¡¯s sight was only regained after ten or so seconds, but his eyes were clouded with tears.


    ¡°You¡¯ve won.¡± Wu Zhangkong pointed his comment towards Gu Yue.


    Xie Xie argued, ¡°Teacher, I didn¡¯t lose! My attacks were very intensive and she didn¡¯t manage to break it with her attacks.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong voiced out coolly, ¡°You¡¯ve lost, just take it. While you were anxiously waving your daggers about, she had already moved to your side.¡±


    Gu Yue grinned, the silver light on her body blinked and shot out three meters horizontally. This stunned Xie Xie. ¡®This¡­ What ability is this?¡¯


    Gu Yue looked towards Wu Zhangkong, ¡°Teacher. So, am I admitted into this academy now?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded his head, ¡°I¡¯ll definitely fulfill my promise. However, tell me what is your background, and what was that martial soul of yours?¡±


    Gu Yue brought out a piece of letter from her chest, ¡°This is a recommendation letter from my elementary academy. And as of my martial soul, it is Elementalist.¡±


    Elementalist?


    Wu Zhangkong questioned himself on the fact that though he had seen much and widened his horizons, this was the first time he had heard of the existence of this martial soul.


    Gu Yue¡¯s match with Xie Xie had displayed her shocking and unrivaled abilities in the following six elements ¨C ice, fire, earth, wind, light, and space.


    One has to know that within the types of martial souls, possessing even one type of element would have been a miraculous existence. But possessing all six of the elements, that would¡¯ve been hard to imagine.


    When Gu Yue noticed the shock in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes, she shared more about her abilities without the intention to hide, ¡°I am able to control all six elements, but, I am unable to attach my soul ring onto any of these elements. Thus, although I can control the change in elements, it is hard to strengthen them. My first soul skill is Elemental Tide. It allows my soul power to hold on for a long period of time, and at the same time, allowing me the ability to better control the strength of the elements.¡±


    After hearing Gu Yue¡¯s descriptions, Wu Zhangkong finally understood.


    As expected, there was absolutely no way to have that kind of control of all the elements and an unusually powerful soul per element. She only had one martial soul, not six. The ability to control all six elements at the same time would mean that she wouldn¡¯t be able to specialise in any one element and all of the six elements didn¡¯t come with additional soul skills. What Gu Yue had displayed a moment ago derived from how she was able to control the elements, as well as their release.


    No wonder none of the abilities seemed particularly strong, and it was only under Gu Yue¡¯s clever application that allowed her to defeat Xie Xie.


    However, this martial soul of Gu Yue¡¯s was definitely a superior one, and it wouldn¡¯t pale in comparison to twin martial souls in any way. Disregarding other abilities, her mere use of the earth element to construct a swamp to trap Xie Xie, and her use of ice element to freeze it was a sign that she had some knowledge in making use of the elements¡¯ properties to her advantage. If she were to be trained appropriately, it would be possible to groom her into a genius Soul Master.


    Wu Zhangkong continued, ¡°Good. I¡¯ve understood. You are now a part of our class, 1st Year Class 5.¡±

 Chapter 65 – Did You Win?

    Chapter 65 ¨C Did You Win?


    ¡°Thank you teacher.¡± Gu Yue nodded with a grin on her face.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s demeanor turned cold. ¡°You should join them in running. This is a compulsory Physical Education. Xie Xie, you too.¡±


    Xie Xie pointed out with a bitter face, ¡°Teacher, weren¡¯t we freed from running due to the match?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong answered coldly, ¡°Did you win?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Xie Xie¡¯s heart burned with rage as well as filled with depression. Wasn¡¯t this so? If one related his matches with Tang Wulin, then most of Tang Wulin¡¯s successes had some component of luck. However, he had exerted all his efforts and power into this match with Gu Yue, and in the end, he had still lost. This girl¡¯s martial soul was too weird, wasn¡¯t it? It was even weirder than his own pair of Dragon Daggers.


    Gu Yue smiled. She didn¡¯t try to avoid the training but ran towards the side of field and joined the rest of her classmates in their run.


    Xie Xie let out a long sigh as he didn¡¯t have much choice but to join in the training as well.


    Gazing at their figures, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s steely expression cracked to reveal a rare smile. He turned and walked in the direction of the main academic building.


    Gu Yue¡¯s steps were light and quick. As she reached Tang Wulin, she asked him with curiosity, ¡°Why did you wrap iron chains around your body?¡±


    Tang Wulin replied, ¡°To build up my strength! The teacher gave me stricter requirements. You sure are formidable.¡±


    Gu Yue grinned. ¡°I¡¯m really not that great. None of my elements are even that strong. It was just that I had controlled them well. All martial souls are the same. As long as you have enough soul power and you can fully comprehend as well as control your martial soul well, then it will bring you surprises.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart moved a little upon hearing Gu Yue¡¯s thoughts. Control?


    ¡°Is your waist not tired at all, from all that standing and speaking? Who could have controlled their martial soul in as many different ways as yours?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s voice, with an air of nonchalance, sounded from Tang Wulin¡¯s other side. Without needing to wear the weighted clothes, and after taking a break, he felt rather relaxed when he ran now.


    Gu Yue answered, ¡°That¡¯s because you haven¡¯t understood your own martial soul well enough.¡±


    Xie Xie was not convinced. ¡°How are you so sure that I don¡¯t understand fully?¡±


    Gu Yue replied, ¡°You were just defeated; need I explain more?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Xie Xie grieved and felt like smashing his head into the wall. Was he not a prodigy? What had happened to him after entering this academy? Even more so, this was in the worst class, yet he was humiliated repeatedly.


    ?


    Wu Zhangkong walked into the school building. All of the classes were still being held, thus the corridors were empty.


    Walking up to the teaching office, he stopped abruptly and thought deeply before knocking on the door.


    ¡°Come in!¡± Long Hengxu sounded.


    Zhangkong opened the door and entered.


    Long Hengxu was seated behind his work desk and sulking away. He was in a deep thought on how to manage his relationship with Wu Zhangkong. Today, this guy hadn¡¯t given him any face. However, if he were to try to get Wu Zhangkong expelled, that would be practically impossible. Even more so if he were to seek the President¡¯s agreement. How would he suggest to give punishments to Wu Zhangkong instead? Wu Zhangkong had already been sent to teach the worst class of class five, how much more severe a punishment could he be given? Could this be the cause of his attitude? Was that why Wu Zhangkong was acting like a dead mouse that feels no cold?


    Long Hengxu¡¯s expression turned into one of surprise when he realised that Wu Zhangkong just walked into the office. With a cool front, Long Hengxu asked, ¡°Teacher Wu, how may I help you?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong walked up to his desk with a calm expression, then bowed towards Long Hengxu.


    ¡°Sorry, Director Long. I have come to apologise to you.¡±


    Eyeing his bow, if one were to describe Long Hengxu¡¯s previous heart as full of displeasure, then it would¡¯ve turned into complete shock in that split moment.


    What situation was this? The Icily Arrogant Prince Charming came to apologize? Had the sun risen from the west?


    Towards this teacher with such extreme characteristics, he had quite some knowledge of him. Since Wu Zhangkong¡¯s first day at the academy, he had been in the limelight. He had the looks, the strength, and the name of being the most powerful person in the academy. But, he was as arrogant as he was unyielding, and he hadn¡¯t complied with the academy¡¯s teaching syllabus and acted solely in accordance to his own views. The female students within the academy had since given him the name of ¡®Prince Charming¡¯.


    This man even had the cheek to disregard the President. It was said that there was once a time when the President had sought to speak with Wu Zhangkong and he¡¯d just left halfway into the President¡¯s conversation.


    However, he had a right to be arrogant since he possessed six soul rings despite being under thirty years old. Furthermore, he was said to be from that monstrous place, but had ended up here for unknown reason.


    That was why this man only had eyes at the top of his head. But why did this man, Wu Zhangkong, apologize to him? Did the graveyard just turn into a garden?


    Wu Zhangkong continued seriously, ¡°What happened today is solely my fault. Thus, I am here to apologise. I hope to seek your forgiveness.¡±


    ¡°Never, nevermind.¡± Long Hengxu didn¡¯t know if he was shocked by Wu Zhangkong, or that the apologies had mellowed the rage in him, but as he replied in haste, it revealed some weakness in his vigour.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded his head and continued, ¡°Director Long, a new student has arrived in our class. She has just passed my test and fits well with our academy¡¯s conditions. In accordance to the academy¡¯s policies, if a potential student misses the date of admission, but has been accepted into the academy based on special conditions, they can only start from class five. As such, I seek your permission in accepting her into the academy.¡±


    As he spoke, he handed Long Hengxu the letter that Gu Yue had provided him with.


    Long Hengxu took the letter. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll see to this.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong replied, ¡°That¡¯s it for now. I¡¯ll wait for your permission.¡±


    It was only now that Long Hengxu finally regained his consciousness. He finally understood why Wu Zhangkong came to apologize. He¡¯d done that so he could come and seek Long Hengxu¡¯s assistance!


    However, Long Hengxu was no longer in rage after receiving Wu Zhangkong¡¯s apologies. He didn¡¯t know why, but the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming¡¯s charm wasn¡¯t just effective on females.


    ¡°Teacher Wu. I will still have to remind you to leave me with some dignity in front of the students¡± Long Hengxu voiced out gravely.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded his head.


    Long Hengxu didn¡¯t expect Wu Zhangkong to agree to him so easily. This Icily Arrogant Prince Charming held his head up high. It was also the reason why he was a man of his words. Since he¡¯d agreed to it, he would see it to the end. Long Hengxu didn¡¯t expect their relationship to turn out well so quickly. It seemed that for now, having Wu Zhangkong in the intermediate academy wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing after all.


    ¡®Teacher Wu seemed to hold this student with high regards!¡¯ As he thought, Long Hengxu opened the letter and read it in detail.


    This letter came from an Elementary School in a small town, and looked like nothing special.


    Gu Yue: Female. Soul power: Rank 15. Martial soul: Elementalist.


    ¡®Elementalist? What kind of soul is that?¡¯

 Chapter 66 – Elementalist?

    Chapter 66 ¨C Elementalist?


    ¡°She¡¯s a genius, only I¡¯ll be able to teach her appropriately. I hope that Director Long would provide me with your support, and no matter what happens in the future, please ensure that she stays in my class.¡±


    Long Hengxu couldn¡¯t control himself anymore and asked, ¡°Elementalist? What martial soul is this? Teacher Wu is well informed, surely you would have some knowledge of this?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong replied, ¡°I¡¯ve just seen it. It¡¯s not a bad type of martial soul. You will see it in action during the upcoming Class Promotion Tournament.¡±


    Having heard Wu Zhangkong mention the Class Promotion match, Long Hengxu informed him, ¡°Assigning Xie Xie to your class was because I hoped for something to happen from your class during this match. After all, when the worst class increases its strength, it would stimulate the class on top of it to work harder. The existence of this Class Promotion Tournament is purely based on taking advantage of the students¡¯ sense of honour in stimulating them to practice harder. Teacher Wu, have you already decided the representatives you are going to bring into this tournament?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve thought about it.¡±


    When Wu Zhangkong returned to his class, the task of running laps had been completed.


    ¡°Gather here!¡±


    The students of class five came to him in the middle of the field like an army of seasoned troops.


    ¡°We will end today¡¯s morning training here. You¡¯re dismissed. Gu Yue, please stay.¡±


    It  finally ended! What bliss!


    Almost instantaneously, all the students made a dash for their dorms; they finally had time to rest.


    Because of the training, Gu Yue¡¯s little face looked redder than before.


    ¡°I¡¯m Wu Zhangkong, the teacher in charge of your class. This is the key to your dorm, and these are your uniform and your textbooks. From today onwards, you are officially a member of class five.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Teacher Wu.¡± Gu Yue collected the items from Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°En, Get some rest. We will continue our class in the afternoon.¡±


    Xie Xie pulled Tang Wulin quickly towards the dorm.


    ¡°Why are you so rushed? What have you got to say, come out with it.¡± The reason Xie Xie rushed Tang Wulin towards their dorm a moment ago was obviously because he had something to say.


    ¡°Rest assured. I¡¯m not asking for another fight.¡±  Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°This is because I have good intentions towards your well-being. Have you seen that Gu Yue? Don¡¯t get too close to her.¡±


    Tang Wulin asked, in doubt, ¡°How am I close to her? Weren¡¯t we being introduced to her just a few moments ago?¡±


    Xie Xie snorted, ¡°Seeing that you were happily chatting with her just now, have you been smitten by her? Teacher Wu had mentioned that the Class Promotion match would require two participants at least. Previously it was us, but now that she¡¯s here, do you think you will stand a chance against her?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head, ¡°Obviously not. I¡¯ll let her participate in it then.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°Are you an idiot? The Class Promotion Tournament comes with a reward. Do you not want to eat a meal from the first window?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± When it came to food, Tang Wulin felt trapped. He hadn¡¯t eaten since this morning because of Mu Xi, and the morning training only made him even hungrier.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing that Tang Wulin and that Gu Yue would participate in the match together.¡± Zhou Zhangxi walked in and had obviously overheard the conversation.


    Xie Xie pointed at himself, ¡°Are you saying I¡¯m not participating?¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi explained, ¡°In your three matches with Tang Wulin, you have lost to him twice and your cheeks were even swollen from the one of them. And now, you¡¯ve lost to Gu Yue today. Why would you think that the person eliminated would be Tang Wulin and not you?¡± He was not too happy with Xie Xie from the beginning, and this was too good of an opportunity to strike at him.


    Xie Xie was shocked at Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s comments, and as he thought back, he couldn¡¯t deny that these things never happen. His face contorted into a marvelous display.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough! Use your brains, will you? With Teacher Wu¡¯s character, he wouldn¡¯t go back on his word. Both of you will still be participating, and the person who won¡¯t be participating would be me. A minimum of two participants doesn¡¯t mean that there can only be two participants. It might even be three.¡± Yun Xiao was the last to enter the dorm, his expression filled with resignation and his gaze seemed to be asking¡®Where have all of your brains gone to?¡¯


    Tang Wulin rubbed his tummy, ¡°How many participants will be competing in the race is not important. What¡¯s important is that I¡¯m hungry. I want to eat.¡±


    Prior to the commencement of the afternoon class, another legend was being created at Eastsea Academy. A certain glutton god had set yet another record¡­


    With regards to the weird glances from the students, Tang Wulin was used to it. Without paying them mind, he simply chewed in big mouthfuls while seated within the dining hall. It was mere coincidence, as the menu for lunch was large buns again. And the rest of Tang Wulin¡¯s dorm mates almost had their eyes bulged out as he took one large bun after another into his stomach.


    Xie Xie spoke seriously, ¡°In the future, if I ever use eating as a wager to bet with you, I¡¯m an idiot.¡±


    Tang Wulin replied, ¡°Other than this, I wouldn¡¯t bet anything else with you. There¡¯s no motivation.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t finish this, you can have it.¡± At this moment, a sound came to him from the side, and then came the appearance of a huge snowy white bun, which was then placed on Tang Wulin¡¯s plate.


    Tang Wulin raised his head and looked. Wasn¡¯t it Gu Yue who gave him this bun? However, she had changed into the academy¡¯s uniform and looked similar to the students around her.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Tang Wulin nodded towards her. He always had the tendency of generating good feelings towards individuals who provided him with food.


    Gu Yue nodded towards him and turned to leave.


    Zhou Zhangxi moved towards Tang Wulin mysteriously, ¡° Wulin, from my view, hasn¡¯t she fallen for you? Today, after joining us in our class, she took the initiative to speak with you. And now, she¡¯s even given you a bun. It seems to me that she¡¯s smitten with you.¡±


    Tang Wulin replied with a face of helplessness, ¡° You are only nine right? What kind of thoughts are in that brain of yours?¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi continued, ¡°During the last few days, I had thoughts on how to bash you up. But I don¡¯t anymore. It disappeared when you were hammering.¡±


    Seeing that this guy was evading his questions, Tang Wulin returned to eating his buns in large bites.


    The afternoon class resumed with a physical training regimen that was even harsher than what they had in the morning. Where had the Theory and Knowledge class gone to? Wu Zhangkong¡¯s explanation was simple. With the current standard of the class, what was there to learn about Theory and Knowledge? When had the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming spoke been reasonable?


    Running was better in the sense that they could persevere. But when it switched to frog jumps, the field was filled with students of class five lying on the ground in less than 30 minutes.


    A full day of physical training had these nine year olds crawling back to their dormitories.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue come find me after your dinner.¡± Wu Zhangkong mentioned coolly as the class ended.


    Xie Xie only stood stably with assistance from Tang Wulin, his legs were still shivering. Gu Yue was slightly better, but her hands were supporting both knees.


    This girl who possessed the Elementalist martial soul was a gift from heaven. During their physical training, she was visibly more relaxed than the rest, and that wasn¡¯t because her stamina was better. But as her martial soul was an Elementalist, that allowed her to interact with the elements in the air, which watched over her as she trained. The wind elements allowed her to be light and quick; the light elements helped regained her energy the fire elements replenished her power; the earth elements enriched her perseverance; the ice element enabled her cool-headedness. It seemed that every type of element was aiding her with the training.

 Chapter 67 – Special Training

    Chapter 67 ¨C Special Training


    ¡°Why are you here this late at night?¡± After Xie Xie¡¯s feud with Tang Wulin had turned into friendship, his cool exterior had somewhat diminished. His whole person had changed as well and he appeared more genuine. The air of a rich young master slowly disappeared. It was fortunate that Wu Zhangkong was their teacher and had his way with the class. If not, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to persevere in the physical training class.


    ¡°Teacher is doing that for our own good.¡± Tang Wulin supported Xie Xie.


    An hour before dinner, most of the students had fallen into deep sleep. Although Tang Wulin was tired, he persisted and tried to meditate.


    In these two days, after he changed his method of meditation, he felt an improvement and increased efficiency of his physical recovery. A clumsy bird flies early; those with a weak martial soul should work harder in cultivating.


    There were even classes in the evening. How would Tang Wulin be able to start forging his Sky Dragon Iron! This was a problem. He could only forge the metal during midnight then, but that won¡¯t do. After completing this task, he would stop accepting other tasks, at least for the time being.


    After dinner, Tang Wulin was practically dragging Xie Xie to the field. Xie Xie was on the verge of walking away. As they reached the venue, Gu Yue was already there, and she seemed rejuvenated as well.


    It was already evening, and the last rays of sunlight had painted the sky in a fiery red colour. The reflected light had accentuated Gu Yue¡¯s fine features.


    Wu Zhangkong had changed into a black training suit and was wearing a stern expression. Not far away, girls from the advanced academy crowded in twos and threes; their gazes were fixated on Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Come with me, you three.¡± As he saw the two of them moving towards him, Wu Zhangkong turned and moved off.


    The trio followed behind Wu Zhangkong into the depths of the Academy.


    Wu Zhangkong brought them with him to the back of the academy and into an indoor training ground. This was what he requested from Long Hengxu during their meeting earlier that day.


    By expressing his support to Long Hengxu¡¯s work, and by promising to not create trouble for this director in the teaching office, Long Hengxu had returned his support by giving his approval to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s requests.


    Similarly, as a director in the teaching office, he was with the director of the advanced department. Wu Zhangkong had gotten into an intense argument with the director of the advanced department, to the point where he had even broken one of the director¡¯s legs. This was how he had been demoted to the intermediate academy. And if he wanted to build a good relationship with Teacher Wu, it would help him earn many bonuses from the President.


    What selfish motives Long Hengxu had wasn¡¯t important to Wu Zhangkong as long as his objectives were reached.


    If not for Gu Yue, he wouldn¡¯t have compromised so easily with Long Hengxu, and the apologies wouldn¡¯t have even existed. However, as he came to the intermediate academy in this instance, he had met with two students who deeply affected him. And if they were well trained, they would possess the competency necessary to enter that place.


    As for the other student, it was a rather peculiar case. While that student interested him, this student could barely compare to the brilliance of the other two. This was the current situation for the three.


    The training ground was circular and there were Soul Barriers in it. These were training areas for students with higher levels. Of course, if one¡¯s soul power has reached a certain rank, places like the fields would¡¯ve been damaged easily.


    Wu Zhangkong brought the three into the middle of the building.


    ¡°From today onwards, you will all have to train with me at night. This is in preparation for  the Class Promotion Tournament in three months.¡±


    As he gone to this point, his gaze were first rested on Tang Wulin, ¡°Tang Wulin, your martial soul is Bluesilver Grass. Previously, you were selected for the Class Promotion Tournament because I had no other choice. Even though Gu Yue is here now, and having already seen her talent and power, whatever I said before won¡¯t change. But I hope that you will show me you are capable of representing class five in this match with your hard work. However, if after three months you fail to reach my requirements, I will be sending these two to participate in the match without you.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Although Xie Xie had reminded him earlier, there was still a certain dullness inside Tang Wulin. Talent had always been a sore spot for Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Teacher Wu. I¡¯m not participating in this match.¡± Gu Yue suddenly said  right at this moment.


    ¡°En?¡± Wu Zhangkong looked towards her.


    Gu Yue spoke mildly, ¡°I¡¯m a new transfer student, and I don¡¯t want to cause any implications to others. So, please take back your decision for me to participate in the match.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong was shocked. Ever since he became a Soul Master, he had been proud son of the heavens,even after coming to Eastsea Academy with resignation. Not because he had been threatened, but because everyone else was too miserable.


    However, when this young lady spoke out, he realised that he couldn¡¯t do anything to her.


    He valued Xie Xie¡¯s twin martial souls highly but in comparison to Gu Yue¡¯s Elementalist, Xie Xie¡¯s was at a level lower.


    Tang Wulin, too, hadn¡¯t thought that Gu Yue would¡¯ve done that for him and felt grateful towards her. ¡°Thanks, Gu Yue. However, Teacher Wu¡¯s right. This will affect the honor of our class. And naturally, the strongest would compete. But please rest-assured, I¡¯ll work hard as well. The number of participants doesn¡¯t stop at two. If I train and strengthen myself sufficiently during these three months, I think teacher will allow me to compete.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong was shocked as he looked towards Tang Wulin, the emotional intelligence of this kid was exceptional! His words not only showed his willingness to work hard, but had also relieved himself from a possible tense position. This hadn¡¯t only gave Wu Zhangkong a good impression of him, but also added some bonus points to it.


    ¡°Teacher, what are we going to do in this special training session? It can¡¯t just be more physical training, can it?


    Wu Zhangkong answered, ¡°Obviously not. Whatever training you are going through, there will only be one objective, and that is to increase your power. Power can be classified into two categories ¨C hard power and soft power. From my point of view, all power originates from actual combat. Thus, your special training will include actual combat. We will use that to arouse your own potential, and also use it to give you combat experience. I¡¯ll brief all of you on the important pointers, and then you¡¯ll start.¡±


    ¡°Xie Xie, the speed you have at this level is sufficient. However, your physical fitness is too weak, and you don¡¯t have the stamina for long battles. Thus, when battling, you have to be aware and control your physical strength. Your second martial soul has a is good at catching people off guard, but don¡¯t release it to your liking. You must only use it when an opportunity presents itself.¡±


    ¡°Gu Yue, I have observed your Elementalist martial soul today. Though I didn¡¯t want to say this, but with your current cultivation, your control of each element is pretty good. Tomorrow, I¡¯ll bring all three of you to get your spiritual power examined.¡±


    Tang Wulin spoke, ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ve done a spiritual power examination before¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong broke him off cooly, ¡°I only believe what I see.¡±

 Chapter 68 – Your Opponent is Me!

    Chapter 68 ¨C Your Opponent is Me!


    He turned towards Gu Yue and said, ¡°In the future, I hope that you will continue to experiment with fusing different elements. I¡¯ve been carefully reviewing your martial soul all day, and I¡¯ve concluded that the Elementalist martial soul is compatible with every element, but because none of these elements can be upgraded with a soul ring, they will never become powerful. You seem to have complete control of the different elements, which is a huge advantage in the beginning. However, as you cultivate to a higher level in the future, you will discover that you won¡¯t have any powerful soul skills as a foundation. The soul rings that you obtain in the future will only be able to increase your control over the elements and the strength of your soul power.


    ¡°Under these circumstances, there is only one path to power for you. You need to be able to control more elements. This is an unprecedented path, however, when I saw you combine the earth and ice elements to trap Xie Xie today, I realized that if you were able to combine different elements and control their strength, you¡¯ll definitely be able to stand at the peak of the world in the future.¡±


    This evaluation of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s wasn¡¯t spoken lightly. Clearly, he valued Gu Yue highly.


    ¡°Yes. Thank you teacher.¡± Gu Yue nodded.


    Wu Zhangkong finally turned to Tang Wulin. ¡°As for you, the first thing you need to do is to gain more control over your martial soul. I¡¯m going to be honest with you, even though your Bluesilver Grass is a variant martial soul, it¡¯s still Bluesilver Grass. It¡¯s tenacity is both a blessing and a curse for you. Unless you can control it perfectly, then it can¡¯t be called control at all. Therefore, you should develop yourself as a Control System Battle Soul Master.


    ¡°There¡¯s also that pair of hammers you used before. Your strength is a gift, and it¡¯s still very useful at this level. In the future, you can try to attack by combining your hammers with your Bluesilver Grass.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tang Wulin responded with only one word.


    ¡°With that being said, we¡¯ll begin the special training now,¡± Wu Zhangkong said indifferently.


    When Xie Xie heard that it wasn¡¯t physical training, but rather combat training, he immediately became much more spirited. He said eagerly, ¡°Teacher Wu, how are we being matched up?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong answered, ¡°You guys won¡¯t be going one after another. Instead, all three of you will battle together. Your opponent is me!¡±


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue¡¯s expressions immediately stiffened.


    A light flashed in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s empty hands as a wooden sword appeared. ¡°I¡¯m not going to use my soul power or any soul skills, but even so, you three must give me your all. Begin!¡±


    As he said this, he had already shot forward with his wooden sword, quickly approaching Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie reacted with lightning speed and rapidly fell back. However, the sword was like a leech that was difficult to shake off. Even though his retreating speed was very quick, the wooden sword was quicker.


    Wuwu! A deep muffled noise broke through the air. Tang Wulin had made his move.


    He had taken Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words to heart and immediately implemented his suggestion. The Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammer was flown out, smashing straight towards Wu Zhangkong. At the end of the handle, however, was a strand of Bluesilver Grass that connected it to Tang Wulin.


    He knew that it would be a futile attempt to bind Wu Zhangkong directly with his Bluesilver Grass. At Wu Zhangkong¡¯s level of soul power, it would only take a moment for him to break free. When that happened, Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power would be consumed to near exhaustion too, and he would no longer be able to use his Bluesilver Grass.


    As for the Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammer that he had sent flying, Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t even put them in his eyes, and continued forward with his sword. The tungsten hammers simply flew behind him.


    Tang Wulin made a ‡å face when his strike missed¡­


    A cool breeze brushed up from beside him, pushing Xie Xie out of the way and causing Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sword to meet nothing but air.


    Wu Zhangkong pursued, but the ground beneath his feet quickly grew soft and an icicle flew towards the ground. Gu Yue was using the same elemental combination technique as before.


    Wu Zhangkong revealed a calm smile. With a flick of his wrist, the wooden sword gracefully met the icicle, easily shattering it.


    At the same time, he jumped out of the mud.


    Wuwu! Tang Wulin¡¯s Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers arrived once again. This time however, it wasn¡¯t just a single hammer, but rather, both of them were present. With both hammers in use, their attack range was even greater.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s wooden sword moved exactly to his will and met with the tungsten hammers, causing them to both stop in mid air and immediately drop to the ground.


    A flash of shock colored Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes. ¡®This little guy¡¯s strength is simply tyrannical!¡¯


    A fireball showed up at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side. Once again, Gu Yue¡¯s attack had appeared at just the right moment.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s weapon was a wooden sword, so using fire to burn it was definitely the best choice.


    The wooden sword drew a circle in the air, causing a bizarre stream of air to appear. The fireball suddenly strayed from its path and soared above Wu Zhangkong, heading straight for Xie Xie instead.


    Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger slashed at the fireball, breaking it into embers. He curled his body in mid air as he was still within range of Wu Zhangkong. Then his left hand made a slight movement, and an invisible blade appeared as he thrust out with his Light Dragon Dagger.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers shot towards Wu Zhangkong once again, bombarding Wu Zhangkong.


    Three fireballs also shot out right at that moment. Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue had synchronized their attacks.


    Unfortunately, their opponent was simply too powerful.


    The wooden sword in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hands easily transformed into numerous sword silhouettes. The two hammers were deflected while Xie Xie was struck in the shoulder and sent flying directly into the path of the three fireballs. If it wasn¡¯t for his courage, along with his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger, he feared that he would have been seriously wounded.


    Wu Zhangkong dropped from the sky. This time, his target was Tang Wulin. The wooden sword thrust towards Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t retreat. Xie Xie was still in a daze and wouldn¡¯t be able to help him, and Gu Yue had been buried under Xie Xie, which made her unable to support him. This situation had been meticulously manufactured by Wu Zhangkong in order to isolate him.


    True combat would excite a student¡¯s potential. This was exactly what he did back at the advanced academy. When faced with immense pressure, a student¡¯s potential would be revealed by how they reacted.


    At this crucial moment, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t shrink back. Instead, he launched his Bluesilver Grass and used Bind on Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong simply struggled a bit and broke free of Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass, draining him of his soul power. There hadn¡¯t even been enough time for Tang Wulin to withdraw his hammers which he had previously sent flying.


    With the wooden sword striking towards his chest, Tang Wulin¡¯s expression turned to one of extreme focus. He still remembered the battle he had fought with Xie Xie before. It was only because he treated Xie Xie as metal, that he had been able to reach such a level and persisted for so long.


    At this moment, he will once again treat Wu Zhangkong like metal. He quickly entered an ethereal state that was solely focused on forging.


    Two grey lights simultaneously flashed. A hammer appeared in his right hand, obstructing the wooden sword, while the hammer that appeared in his left hand smashed towards Wu Zhangkong.


    Ding! The wooden sword struck the hammer, issuing forth a crisp metallic note.


    Tang Wulin only felt a tremendous force being transmitted as the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammer flew into his stomach from the recoil, knocking him back.

 Chapter 69 – Spirit Connection

    Chapter 69 ¨C Spirit Connection


    As Tang Wulin entered a state of extreme focus, he became immensely clear-headed and knew very well that if he were to move backwards, the hammer in his left hand wouldn¡¯t be able to reach his teacher.


    Thus, he loosened his grip on the hammer in his left hand which then abruptly flew towards Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong casually flicked the wooden sword in his hand, horizontally brushing Tang Wulin¡¯s left hammer.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s martial soul was actually a sword. He was practicing to reach the realm of ¡®One Sword Cleaves All Techniques.¡¯ Thus, regardless of whatever assault was used or whoever the opponent was, Wu Zhangkong chose to use only his sword.


    However, he suffered this time around.


    As the hammer and sword collided, Wu Zhangkong felt a strong wave of power trasmit through his wooden sword. Although Tang Wulin¡¯s strength was unmatched by his, he had not released his martial soul and merely used a small portion of his soul power. Wu Zhangkong felt as though his wooden sword was on the verge of breaking.


    He wasn¡¯t even given a chance to gather more soul power, when he felt the power flowing through his wooden sword double.


    Kacha! His wooden sword broke, and the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammer flew brazenly in the direction of his head.


    Wu Zhangkong flashed aside, avoiding the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers with a close shave.


    Those seemingly small forging hammers fell towards the ground, creating a deafening booming sound. It gave Xie Xie, who was preparing to give his support to Tang Wulin, a big shock.


    Tang Wulin had forced back Teacher Wu, and even broke apart his wooden blade?


    Retreating back a few steps, Tang Wulin held up his heavy silver hammer up to his chest in defense.


    Wu Zhangkong stopped, staring blankly for a while. He knew Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers were a bit strange.


    ¡°Stop!¡± He raised his hand, halting Gu Yue and Xie Xie, both of whom were preparing to resume battle.


    Xie Xie looked at Tang Wulin weirdly, and then switched his gaze towards the grey hammer on the ground that he¡¯d never seen before. He felt his heart contract with a wave of fear in that instant.


    The first time he had battled Tang Wulin, he¡¯d been bound up by Tang Wulin. If this hammer had gone down towards him¡­


    Tang Wulin rushed towards the ground and picked up the three hammers, returning them into his Heavy Silver Ring.


    ¡°Your hammers are abnormal.¡± Wu Zhangkong looked towards Tang Wulin with an eye filled with doubt.


    Tang Wulin answered him, ¡°These hammers were made with Heavy Silver, and are slightly heavier than normal forging hammers.¡±


    ¡°How heavy could they be? Let me see!¡± Xie Xie was very curious about those hammers, which had been able to break Teacher Wu¡¯s wooden sword apart.


    Dang! Shortly after the Heavy Silver Hammer left Tang Wulin¡¯s hand, it dropped to the ground. Xie Xie fell from the huge force of the inertia.


    ¡°Aiyoh!¡± Xie Xie growled in pain. ¡°You, what¡¯s this thing of yours? It¡¯s so heavy.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong walked towards him and picked up the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammer. They moved him unknowingly. No wonder his wooden sword had broken apart; the weight of this hammer¡­


    Tang Wulin commented, ¡°One hammer weighs approximately 150 kilograms.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong asked. ¡°There were three waves of power. Did you cause that, or was that from something else?¡±


    Tang Wulin hesitated for a moment before answering Wu Zhangkong, ¡°That¡¯s the ability of those hammers. After forging with the Thousand Refinements, unknown effects could be created. Mine came with one as well, and it¡¯s called the Stacked Hammers effect.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong, though he had no knowledge of forging, knew that the pair of heavy silver hammers were precious. With a gentle nod, he questioned Tang Wulin, ¡°Are you very talented in forgery?¡±


    ¡°En, I¡¯m a blacksmith.¡± As Tang Wulin thought about the treatment he¡¯d been given from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, he felt better.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes revealed an expression of thoughtfulness as he raised his hand towards Tang Wulin. ¡°Come. Hold my hand.¡±Tang Wulin grasped his hand. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hand was huge and his fingers long. The grip felt cool, and there was not a hint of roughness.


    ¡°Pull me with all your might; show me how great your strength really is.¡± Wu Zhangkong ordered Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Tang Wulin answered. He took a deep breath before gathering strength from within both his arms as he pulled.


    Wu Zhangkong readied himself. Like a nail, he stood still without moving even a strand of hair.


    As Tang Wulin put in all of his strength, his little cheeks started to blush profusely. Though Wu Zhangkong looked seemingly still, the partially hidden soul power vibrations revealed that he wasn¡¯t as relaxed as he seemed to be. He actually had to utilise his soul power to prevent Tang Wulin from dragging him away.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± After a moment, Wu Zhangkong stopped Tang Wulin.


    It was only then that Tang Wulin stopped his pulling.


    A strange color flashed across Wu Zhangkong¡¯s steely demeanor. He patted Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°In the Class Promotion Tournament, the three of you should compete together. If you could exert your strength to the current amount, then adding in our tactics, it should be quite interesting.¡±


    As Tang Wulin and Xie Xie returned to the dormitory, they were completely exhausted. Forget about forging, it would have been a miracle already if Tang Wulin could force himself into the meditation position.


    Starting from the next day, Tang Wulin was exclusively excluded from physical training classes. The reason was simply because Wu Zhangkong¡¯s physical fitness couldn¡¯t even compare with Tang Wulin¡¯s. Normal training was useless to a talented prodigy like Tang Wulin, and it would be better to make use of the time on other training.


    But what Tang Wulin was going to practice wasn¡¯t simple as well. It was to control his Bluesilver Grass.


    The other students from the first grade¡¯s class five couldn¡¯t withstand the physical education class anymore, and on the third day, all of them fell into a mess on the ground. This was a return to the original schedule of having physical training class in the morning, then theory and knowledge class in the afternoon.


    As physical training classes were shortened to only half a day, the students felt more relaxed and nobody complained.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue had all gone through a spiritual power, and the results were astounding. Xie Xie¡¯s spiritual power was 29, which was regarded as good for others within his age group. It was considered a stage that neared the mid-level within Spirit Origin. Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power was 44, which was also considered within the mid-level range of the Spirit Origin rank. He kept silent about his previous level. Since the previous test showed that his spiritual power was 38, then within that short span of time, his inner spiritual power had grown by a lot.


    Both of their spiritual power levels had already stunned Wu Zhangkong somewhat. However, this was mild compared to what Gu Yue had to offer.


    Gu Yue¡¯s spiritual power was 119, far above the Spirit Origin rank.


    In ranking spiritual power, Spirit Origin was at the bottom. When the level of spiritual power grew above a hundred, it was considered to have entered the second rank ¨C Spirit Connection.


    Spirit Connection was when one¡¯s mind and heart could communicate, meaning one¡¯s thoughts and one¡¯s will were one. When one reaches the Spirit Connection rank, that is when their ability to control their spiritual power begins, and where one can start controlling their spiritual power for their own purposes. One would then be able to bear the load of two yellow spirit souls or one purple spirit soul.


    Wu Zhangkong finally understood that Gu Yue¡¯s martial soul, Elementalist, might actually be a rare variation of a spiritual-type martial soul. It could be controlled fully by her when both her huge spiritual power and martial soul, Elementalist, communicated with one another.


    Spirit System Battle Soul Masters were one of the rarest type of Soul Masters in the modern era, and also the most sought after. This was because they combined well with mechas. This resulted in Wu Zhangkong increasing his awareness of Gu Yue.


    Of course, their arduous training process wouldn¡¯t differ from others. One would be required to train even harder if they caught the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming¡¯s attention.


    And so, a week¡¯s time soon flew by. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t take time off to visit Mang Tian¡¯s workshop, so naturally he hadn¡¯t managed to complete his forging tasks.

 Chapter 71 – Hammer Practice

    Chapter 71 ¨C Hammer Practice


    When Gu Yue was mentioned, Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but sigh. This week, he had competed against Gu Yue more than once or twice. Although he could hardly accept it, he had to admit that he couldn¡¯t defeat Gu Yue at his current level. Gu Yue¡¯s control of the six elements simply involved too many permutations ¨C there was barely any patterns or rhythms behind them. Adding on to that, the amplification effect of her first soul skill, Elemental Tide made it so that even in a battle of soul power attrition, he still couldn¡¯t match Gue Yue.


    Tang Wulin called out, ¡°Hey, it¡¯s getting late; we should all start our meditation. I have to meet with teacher tomorrow, so I won¡¯t be attending school.¡±


    The Intermediate Academy had a break once every week, and students were allowed to do whatever they liked during this period of time. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t had the time to complete his task of forging the Sky Dragon Iron and felt anxious about it. Mang Tian¡¯s arrival came as a coincidence ¨C  he was there to complete his tasks too.


    The next morning. Tang Wulin headed out of the academy after breakfast, rushing towards Mang Tian¡¯s forging workshop.


    Ding Ding Dang Dang. Loud sounds could be heard from the forging workshop, although Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t gone in yet.


    ¡°Teacher!¡± Tang Wulin used his keys to open the door and entered the forging workshop. He found a rather busy Mang Tian.


    Mang Tian looked towards him. ¡°En. You¡¯re quite spirited. It seems that you have been earnestly cultivating.¡±


    Tang Wulin scratched his head uneasily. ¡°But, blacksmithing¡­¡±


    Mang Tian waved his hands. ¡°You can already perform the Thousand Refinements. That¡¯s already as good as being promoted to a different stage. Such a thing cannot be improved purely through practice. With regards to your current age, practicing harder to increase your soul power is still the most important. Thus, there was no fault in your actions. But from now on, come here every weekend. Okay, go and change your clothes. I¡¯ll help you familiarise yourself on the use of the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers. You can complete your task later in the afternoon.¡±


    Mang Tian couldn¡¯t bring himself to maintain a cool disposition towards his disciple. When he tried getting his disciple¡¯s contact number from Grandmaster Cen Yue, he was pestered endlessly by Cen Yue for a long period of time. Even the President had taken the initiative to personally approach him for it.


    Despite Eastsea City¡¯s low standing within the whole of the continent, Mu Chen was still one of the ten great Saint Craftsmen on the continent. Such status wasn¡¯t only within the world of blacksmithing. He was a prestigious character throughout the continent. If not for his wife being a citizen of Eastsea City, he wouldn¡¯t have come here.


    Yesterday, Mu Chen had suggested that if Tang Wulin had questions about anything in his studies, he would gladly help him. How could this not surprise and delight Mang Tian?


    However, it seemed to him that his own teachings for Tang Wulin was sufficient. He had his own selfish thoughts as well. If he were to pass Tang Wulin to Mu Chen now, who would be considered his actual teacher in the future?


    This was why Mang Tian didn¡¯t give Tang Wulin the opportunity to display the entirety of his abilities with the Thousand Refinements and directly proceed to third rank craftsman.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s talent in blacksmithing wasn¡¯t simply based on his innate divine strength. Though it was rare to have innate divine strength, it was still possible. However, the real ability needed to rise up and become a top notch blacksmith wasn¡¯t simply based on that.


    The higher the rank of a blacksmith, the greater the importance placed on one¡¯s comprehension and soul power needed to be. When they reached the later stages, it would be impossible to achieve a breakthrough without sufficient soul power ¨C Mang Tian was one such example. If not for that requirement, he would¡¯ve been confident enough to reach the Saint Craftsman rank.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s inborn power compensated for his insufficient soul power. More importantly, this child had a superhuman level of comprehension. He had the ability to enter a state of extreme focus during every forging session. Especially so when he performed the Thousand Refinements. This was where he was able to understand the life stored within the metal.


    Mang Tian remembered the past. It was only when he became a fourth rank blacksmith that he¡¯d managed to occasionally enter that state..


    Having said that, Tang Wulin was talented in many aspects of blacksmithing. With his diligence and determination, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t slacked within these three years, and this had laid a solid foundation for himself. This obedient child ¨C Mang Tian was not willing to send him off to others.


    Mang Tian had the intention of cultivating Tang Wulin to the Master Craftsman Rank before allowing him to reveal his full ability. Until then, Mang Tian vowed he would not let his disciple be snatched by anymore.


    After changing his clothes, Tang Wulin started his forging practice on a normal piece of metal with his Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers.


    When he started, there was a little fuss due to the Stacked Hammers effect. These hammers, however, were forged via his blood sacrifice! After practicing with these hammers, he had worked to a state where his being synchronized with his hammers.


    Though similarly Thousand Refined, if one were to describe him and the tungsten hammers as two hearts that beat as one, then these Heavy Silver hammers that were forged using blood sacrifice had created a connection between his heart and soul. This feeling was weird, as it was both soothing and unforgettable.


    When he was immersed in such a stage, the use of the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers wouldn¡¯t be a problem at all.


    When Mang Tian observed closely, the strikes of his disciple were quite simple. He watched  as Tang Wulin worked in a state of deep concentration, with his eyes aglow as they seemed to reflect the sparks shooting from the Heavy Silver Hammers. Mang Tian couldn¡¯t help it as a deep sigh escaped him. After completing the Thousand Refinements, this child¡¯s brilliance is finally showing itself.


    All the way until dusk, Tang Wulin skillfully forged the Sky Dragon Iron with his Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers. It¡¯s completion marked the end of this day¡¯s practice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! I¡¯ll accompany you to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association to submit your task. Then you can receive your second task. You can complete it during your break next week, and then have it delivered,¡± Mang Tian told him.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin replied quickly.


    Mang Tian silently thought that with the presence of a week¡¯s buffer time, nobody would suspect Tang Wulin¡¯s true forging abilities.


    The Blacksmith¡¯s Association was far busier during the evening than it was during the day. Mang Tian brought Tang Wulin straight up to the second floor to deliver his task and for the Association¡¯s specialist to check on the task item prior to giving Tang Wulin his remuneration.


    20,000 federation coins. This was the first time Tang Wulin had received such a large amount and he passed the coins to Mang Tian. ¡°Teacher, for you.¡±


    Mang Tian shook his head. ¡°After reaching the second rank, and from a certain point-of-view, you¡¯ve already finished your apprenticeship. This is rightfully yours.¡±


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°But I¡¯ve used your forging workshop!¡±


    Mang Tian¡¯s face revealed a smile. ¡°Do you think I mind that? Also, when your parents went away on their business trip, they informed me that you don¡¯t have to call home.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay.¡±


    Although Tang Wulin knew he was far from his aim, there was still a jubilant feeling within his heart with the gain of these 20,000 federation coins. Hard work brings wealth and glory. This money was earned solely through his hard work.


    After collecting another second rank task, he left the Association with Mang Tian.


    ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ll treat you to a meal.¡± Tang Wulin jumped forth with this suggestion.


    Mang Tian shook his head. ¡°You can have your meal back at the Academy. Teacher has some other matters. You should remember to head to your teacher¡¯s place weekly to smith. Every month, you have to produce a few Thousand Refined products. Teacher will leave some materials for you at the workshop. Those Thousand Refined products will be the fee for using my forging workshop.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin answered without any hesitation.

 Chapter 72 – The Class Promotion Tournament Begins!

    Chapter 72 ¨C The Class Promotion Tournament Begins!


    With the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers¡¯ Stacked Hammers effect, the difficulty of the Thousand Refinements was now much less than before.


    The days soon flew by. For six days of the week, he would be hard at work cultivating. On the remaining day, he would forge.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin, along with Gu Yue and Xie Xie, were inside Wu Zhangkong¡¯s office. He informed them that the first match of the Class Promotion Tournament would begin the following week. Before Tang Wulin knew it, two months had already passed.


    During these last two months, everyone had changed by more than a little. The most important change was that under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s ¡®special training,¡¯ all three of them had gained a mutual understanding between each other, causing their relationship to be much more harmonious now.


    Gu Yue was without a doubt the strongest among the three of them. Even when he went all out, Xie Xie was unable to close the gap between them by even a bit.


    Xie Xie¡¯s soul power, however, had surprisingly grown to rank 19 over the past two months. After one more rank up, he would be able to receive the second soul ring from his hundred year spirit soul, thus becoming a Soul Grandmaster.


    Gu Yue¡¯s soul power had increased by two and reached rank 17. Despite him having Bluesilver Grass as his martial soul, Tang Wulin worked hard everyday to improve his martial soul control while also using a higher level meditation technique as he underwent Wu Zhangkong¡¯s training. This had allowed his soul power to increase by one rank to rank 12.


    According to his current speed, he would definitely be able to reach rank 20 before he graduated from the intermediate academy. With his abundant self-awareness, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t bother to compare himself with Xie Xie and Gu Yue, instead completely satisfied with his progress.


    ¡°Teacher, who is class four sending to battle with us? Do you have their data?¡± Xie Xie eagerly asked Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong coldly answered, ¡°If you guys need data on that measly class four in order to defeat them, could you still be considered my disciples? You only have one mission during the tournament next week: crush your opponents! Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± All three of them exclaimed.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°The Class Promotion Tournament will begin soon. There will be one battle a day until the tournament ends. I¡¯ll give you guys a target: win your way to the fourth grade!¡±


    Winning all the way until the fourth grade? When they heard these words, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were filled with shock while Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but gulp down his saliva¡ªdespite his confidence.


    It had to be known that the talented individuals of the fourth grade would already have acquired their second ring. In fact, there were even some two ring Soul Grandmasters within the third grade! Yet, they were only in the first grade and were tasked with fighting until the fourth grade. This was easier said than done.


    Wu Zhangkong indifferently replied, ¡°What I¡¯m talking about is the fourth grade¡¯s class one. Defeat the fourth grade¡¯s class one and you will all receive a reward. If not, I¡¯ll discard all of your class achievements.¡±


    Xie Xie defiantly said, ¡°Teacher, isn¡¯t this too harsh?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°If you find it harsh, then you can withdraw. Only Wulin and Gu Yue will compete then.¡±


    ¡°Great! I don¡¯t want this leftover child,¡± Gu Yue said with indifference as she played with her fingers.


    ¡°You!¡± Xie Xie turned to glare at her.


    Since Gu Yue had always suppressed him with her strength, Xie Xie treated her with hostility from beginning to end.


    Gu Yue tilted her head and stared back at him. ¡°You can¡¯t accept this?¡±


    Xie Xie looked at Tang Wulin, who said, ¡°Teacher has never changed his mind after deciding on something before. It¡¯s best if you do your best, young man!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eye¡¯s twinkled as he revealed a smile. He was exceptionally pleased with these three disciples of his. Although Tang Wulin¡¯s innate talent was lacking, his innate divine strength more than made up for it. Moreover, Tang Wulin always put in his greatest effort!


    Although they had both increased by one soul rank, it would be wrong to compare Tang Wulin with Xie Xie. In comparison to Xie Xie, Tang Wulin had put in far more effort for that one rank. Moreover, it seems that after his Bluesilver Grass mutated into a variant, it seemed truly decent now. While it seemed that it could no longer evolve anymore, if it did evolve after he obtained his second ring, then there was the possibility of it becoming a high level martial soul.


    ¡°Alright then. We¡¯ll commence with today¡¯s training. Tang Wulin, partner up with Xie Xie and face Gu Yue.¡±


    Xie Xie revealed a mischievous smile and then proudly said to Gu Yue, ¡°Yue Yue,  watch how big brother puts you in your place!¡±


    Gu Yue coldly stared at him. ¡°You will pay for how you just addressed me!¡±


    Thus, the day¡¯s special training began.


    ?


    The Class Promotion Tournament was a grand event for Eastsea Academy and was held annually. This was because the Class Promotion Tournament was the only event where the whole academy participated.


    The advanced academy had their own advanced division Class Promotion Tournament, keeping their event separate from the intermediate academy¡¯s tournament.


    They would show off their most exceptional students in the tournament and the city would record their info and archive it. As for the upcoming Class Promotion Tournament, it was crucial for obtaining a recommendation to enter high class academies in the future.


    The rewards were also equally as generous. Classes that obtained exceptional results in the tournament would gain not only a change in rank, but the teacher in charge would also receive commendations.


    As a result, the Class Promotion Tournament had become a symbol of honor and glory over the years. Being defeated by a lower ranked class was considered a disgrace, while defeating a higher ranked class was considered glorious.


    The reason the tournament was held three months after the start of class was to give the teachers enough time to choose the students who would participate, and also to provide ample time to plan their tactics.


    There was a moderate wind blowing and a beautiful sun shining down on this day. The blue sky was void of clouds for as far as the eye could see. A competition stage stood in the middle of the intermediate division¡¯s field. Although it was called a competition stage, it was actually just a 10 centimeter thick metal plate with a diameter of 100 meters. It occupied the majority of the field¡¯s area, and there were many soul barrier devices surrounding it, guarding against any potential accidents that may occur during the matches.


    Today was the first day of the tournament. For the sake of not disturbing the studies of the students, the tournament was held after school. At that moment, the bell rang, marking the end of the school day. Students began pouring out of the school building. Despite this, only a few headed towards the competition stage.


    For a match between class five and class four of the new first graders, how could it possibly be worth watching? The upper graders viewed a match such as this with disdain. They wouldn¡¯t come to watch the matches until the next day, when the first grade¡¯s class three stepped onto the stage.


    After the bell rang, the students of the first grade¡¯s class five lined up neatly and made their way to the field, standing to the side. After three months of special training, class five had a completely different aura about them now. Although their talents weren¡¯t remarkable, under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s instruction, their stamina had made outstanding progress and their soul power had also increased greatly.


    The students of the first grade¡¯s class four arrived in twos and threes just a while later. It seemed that they weren¡¯t worried about the match at all.


    A short and stout teacher walked over to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side, wearing a massive grin. ¡°Teacher Wu, your students are pretty good! I¡¯m nearly dying from how orderly they are in their line. My class four¡¯s students are so undisciplined. As such, please start off leniently on my class four today! Although we might not be able to be promoted to class three, you must help us preserve our position as class four.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shot him a glance before returning his gaze to the front, completely treating him as air.

 Chapter 73 – The First Match of the Class Promotion Tournament!

    Chapter 73 ¨C The First Match of the Class Promotion Tournament!


    First grade¡¯s class four teacher, Kong Hanwen, almost crooked his nose out of anger. ¡®This fellow¡¯s level of arrogance is extraordinary!¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s right, so you¡¯re strong. But what¡¯s the big deal about the class of trash you¡¯re teaching? Can their strength lead anywhere?¡¯


    ¡°Seems like Teacher Wu is full of confidence! We shall see what happens on the stage then.¡± With sarcasm-laced words, Kong Hanwen beckoned to his own class and moved towards them.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s lips moved slightly, and Tang Wulin, who stood beside him, vaguely caught his words; Teacher Wu seemed to have spoken something unpleasant¡­


    At this moment, Director Long Hengxu walked towards the tournament platform.


    ¡°Today¡¯s Class Promotion Tournament has started. We begin with the match between the first grade¡¯s class five and the first grade¡¯s class four. Teacher Wu Zhangkong, have you confirmed the number of participants from your class?¡±


    The Class Promotion Tournament for lower grades were normally not as popular. As the presiding referee, Long Hengxu had only one point of interest, which was the disciples Wu Zhangkong had trained within the last three months. Especially since Wu Zhangkong had approached him previously in order to seek his forgiveness.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°We have three participants from our class.¡±


    Long Hengxu turned towards the direction of class four¡¯s teacher, Kong Hanwen. ¡°Class five has three participants. Teacher Kong, you have five minutes to select your participants.¡±


    Kong Hanwen had changed from the previously grinning face he¡¯d shown in front of Wu Zhangkong and commented disdainfully, ¡°To compete with class five, anyone from our class four is good enough. Jia Long, Lin Zunyuan, Mo Si¡ªyou three compete. Remember, you are representing class four¡¯s glory. You must show off the might of class four.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong merely waved his hand. Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue moved up to the tournament stage.


    Long Hengxu looked towards Wu Zhangkong with a strange expression. Generally speaking, class five as a whole was weak in power, and should¡¯ve put forth the minimum number of participants possible. While he had picked two of his best students, he¡¯d selected a total of three to compete. Could it be that class five¡¯s power as a whole had strengthened under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s training?


    Among class four¡¯s three participants, Jia Long was at the forefront position. He wasn¡¯t particularly tall, but he was stout and looking sturdy.


    Lin Zunyuan was a stringy-framed, weak-looking teenager. Mo Si had a medium build and had an eager look on his face.


    Tang Wulin was at the forefront position on his end. That was right, it was him. Standing in this position made him feel as if he were the chief commander.


    ¡°Ready!¡± The two teams were 50 meters apart. Long Hengxu had his right hand raised.


    ¡°New academic year¡¯s Class Promotion Tournament Round 1, first grade¡¯s class four versus first grade¡¯s class five. Begin!¡±


    Together with Long Hengxu¡¯s words, the three participants of the first grade¡¯s class four released their soul rings.


    Three white soul ring appeared underneath each of the three participants. Standing at the forefront, Jia Long took a huge step forward, his body seemingly expanded a few centimeters. He  howled deeply as his originally brown eyes turning yellow and his arms grew visibly stronger. With huge strides, he rushed forward.


    Lin Zunyuan murmured something incomprehensible, and a long staff appeared in his hand. As the soul ring blinked beneath his feet, a ray of red light shone out from the top of his staff and fell onto Jia Long¡¯s body.


    A blood-red streak appeared within Jia Long¡¯s yellow eyes, and his body expanded once more, bringing with it an imposing aura as he rushed towards Tang Wulin.


    Mo Si, who stood positioned on the other side, disappeared shortly behind Jia Long.


    From their fast and nimble coordination, it could be seen that they had trained for a long period of time. Unlike what Kong Hanwen had said, they were not students randomly  chosen to compete.


    Jia Long was an Assault System Battle Soul Master and his martial soul was probably a wolf. Mo Si was an Agility System Battle Soul Master, but it wasn¡¯t clear what his martial soul was. Lin Zunyuan, however, was a support-type soul master, and his first soul skill was of the amplification type.


    One was from the Assault System, one was from the Agility System, and one could use an amplification type skill. This was a good combination.


    Looking back at class five, Tang Wulin and the others didn¡¯t release their soul rings at the first instance, but they all sped in the direction of their opponents. Xie Xie merely flashed once and appeared near Jia Long the very next instant, yet he didn¡¯t attack. With another flash to the side, he headed for Lin Zunyuan who stood behind Jia Long.


    ¡°Mo Si!¡± Jia Long shouted. Mo Si, who hid behind him, immediately appeared and shot towards Xie Xie.


    If a support-type soul master was being attacked by an Agility System Battle Soul Master, the support-type soul master would be defeated instantaneously.


    With regards to the other two, Jia Long was confident in fending them off.


    It was a pity that this confidence didn¡¯t last for long.


    Although Jia Long¡¯s build had increased somewhat under the amplification effect on his martial soul, his build was still dwarfed by Tang Wulin. As the distance between both participants shortened, Jia Long felt something strange inside him, ¡®Why hasn¡¯t he released his martial soul?¡¯


    At this moment, he caught a view of Tang Wulin¡¯s fist.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s fist was plain, void of any soul skills behind it, not even lacked traces of soul power fluctuations.


    As an Assault System Battle Soul Master, Jia Long was highly confident in his strength. He swept out his right hand, hoping to catch Tang Wulin¡¯s incoming fist.


    A shadow flashed behind Tang Wulin, and Jia Long felt his foot slip as he almost fell. His protruding hand was no longer in the same direction as it was before. Tang Wulin¡¯s fist flew directly towards his chest.


    Zhou Zhangxi, who watched the tournament from below the stage, shut his eyes immediately. The sight of Jia Long being punched reminded him of his first meeting with Tang Wulin¡ªwhen he was punched out of the window.


    Peng! Jia Long flew back seven or eight meters upon receiving Tang Wulin¡¯s punch.


    A blue vine finally crept out at this late stage, but vanished the next instant.


    That was because the battle at the other end had already ended.


    After Xie Xie looped around Jia Long, his steps quickened. Mo Si belonged to the Agility System as well, yet he was clearly not on the same level as Xie Xie in terms of speed.


    As the Light Dragon Dagger Xie Xie held knocked against Lin Zunyuan¡¯s forehead, Lin Zunyuan was immediately ordered out of the tournament by Long Hengxu.


    Next, with a twist of his body, Xie Xie stood before Mo Si.


    Mo Si¡¯s martial soul was a short sword, similar to Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger, except that his soul power was only at rank 13. This was a match with no element of suspense.


    Their weapons had only collided once before Xie Xie appeared behind Mo Si, his Light Dragon Dagger threatening Mo Si¡¯s neck.


    It wasn¡¯t until then that the three participants from the first grade class five release their martial souls.


    White, Yellow, Yellow!


    One ten year soul ring, and two, hundred! Year! Soul! Rings!


    Kong Hanwen was awestruck as he witnessed the match. It had only lasted 10 seconds from start to end. Was it even 10 seconds?


    He was inclined to ask Long Hengxu, who was on the stage, if the team he faced was really from first grade¡¯s class five, and not instead from first grade¡¯s class one?


    Xie Xie sneered a little, his expression showed that he was unsatisfied as he returned to Tang Wulin¡¯s side and they high-fived each other.


    It was then that the people on the first grade class five¡¯s end started cheering. Oh. No¡ªthey were now the first grade¡¯s class four.


    ¡°First grade¡¯s class five wins, but before the end of this tournament, they will remain as class five. Class re-organization will proceed at the end of the Class Promotion Tournament. Tomorrow, you will be competing against first grade¡¯s class three.¡±

 Chapter 74 – The Trio

    Chapter 74 ¨C The Trio


    This match couldn¡¯t even have been considered as a steamrolling, since there wasn¡¯t any steamrolling at all. The entire match had proceeded in a relaxed manner, in such a way that Tang Wulin and Gu Yue didn¡¯t even need to use their soul power to defeat their opponents.


    It was like what Wu Zhangkong had once told Tang Wulin: the sheer force of his strength alone was sufficient to defeat most of his peers.


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t spare a glance at class four¡¯s class teacher Kong Hanwen when he announced in an icy tone, ¡°Class dismissed.¡±


    Xie Xie and Tang Wulin stood so close that their shoulders rubbed against each other. ¡°I¡¯m actually really happy that the Class Promotion Tournament is being held. We¡¯re freed from the evening¡¯s special training.¡±In order to maintain their physical condition and energy, the competitors were given permission to be absent from their special training classes. That was the cause of Xie Xie¡¯s exclamation.


    Long Hengxu walked down the stage at this time and looked towards the trio with a somewhat shocked expression. He had arranged for Xie Xie¡¯s allocation to the first grade¡¯s class five in view of the previous fight that had occurred. With Xie Xie¡¯s talent, there shouldn¡¯t have been any doubt to his allocation into class one. However, his family had sought out Long Hengxu¡¯s help. They had hoped to give Xie Xie more opportunities to hone himself, so he was eventually allocated to class five.


    At that moment, Long Hengxu had many thoughts running through in his mind. Class five was the worst class in the academy, and was under  the greatest amount of pressure within the first grade classes. Moreover, Wu Zhangkong had been transferred to their class. Despite the fact that this Icily Arrogant Prince Charming was not well-liked by the academy administration, it was undeniable that he was possessed both strength and excellent teaching ability.


    He took his analysis one step further. With the gifted Xie Xie in class five, all the other classes were under even more pressure in the Class Promotion Tournament. With the situation like this, the entire first grade was much more motivated to learn and improve.


    This action had many benefits, and was why a talent like Xie Xie was allocated to class five.


    It seemed now, however, that class five¡¯s competitiveness had far exceeded what he had previously expected. He was curious as to why Wu Zhangkong had chosen Tang Wulin to participate in this Class Promotion Tournament. He distinctly remembered that Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul was Bluesilver Grass!


    As for the girl, she was probably the student whom Wu Zhangkong was willing to admit his mistakes for. Though he hadn¡¯t had a chance to witness her true abilities, her possession of a hundred-year soul ring provided enough explanation.


    This combination of class five participants was simply one that went against heaven¡¯s will! Even the competitors of first grade¡¯s class one would be hard pressed to defeat them.


    If during the Class Promotion Tournament a lower class in the grade won consecutively, then it would be bad news, especially for Long Hengxu who was in-charge of the allocation of new students. It meant that his allocation of new students was done on unfair grounds. He felt regretful for agreeing to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s request to let Gu Yue enter class five.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go out and play, how about that?¡± Xie Xie whispered into Tang Wulin¡¯s ear.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like it. Meal time in the dining hall is starting.¡±


    Xie Xie gave a blank look. ¡°The only thought in your brain is eating.¡±


    Tang Wulin answered somewhat angrily, ¡°If I don¡¯t eat, I¡¯ll be hungry!¡±


    Xie Xie replied, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll treat you if you accompany me out. How does that sound? All these days trapped within the academy grounds are killing me.¡±


    Eastsea Academy¡¯s adminstration was not very strict as Eastsea City was a prosperous city with good security.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Hearing that Xie Xie would treat him to food, Tang Wulin readily agreed to his request. In reality, he wanted to go complete the task that he had collected from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association a week ago.


    A second rank forging task could fetch Tang Wulin a remuneration of 10,000 to 30,000 federation coins. Within the last few months, he had collected a total of 100,000 federation coins. To him, this was a huge amount of money. If he were to proceed at this pace, he was confident that by the time he needed a second ring, he would¡¯ve collected enough coins for a hundred-year spirit soul.


    A hundred-year spirit soul could provide two soul skills, and it also meant that he could provide two soul rings. This alone was very important to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°I¡¯m going too!¡± Gu Yue had unknowingly appeared beside them.


    Xie Xie spoke with a face of distaste, ¡°I don¡¯t bring girls out to play!¡±


    Gu Yue gave a cold hum and looked towards Tang Wulin. ¡°Are you going with him, or with me?¡±


    Xie Xie answered arrogantly, ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? We¡¯re roommates and buddies, what about you?¡±


    Gu Yue nodded her head, then turned suddenly towards Wu Zhangkong¡¯s direction and left, shouting, ¡°Teacher Wu, I think that our team¡¯s coordination isn¡¯t strong enough yet. We should train more.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± With a flash, Xie Xie appeared in front of her. He raised his hand to cover her mouth. Gu Yue¡¯s body glowered with a silver light as she shifted two meters sideways to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. With a cold laugh she said, ¡°Are you starting a fight with me?¡±


    Xie Xie answered with a face of defeat, ¡°Alright, alright. If you want to, then come along then.¡±


    He really didn¡¯t hold a grudge towards Gu Yue. She was stronger than him, and that alone kept him on his toes when against Gu Yue.


    During their long hours training together, he had never once won against Gu Yue in a one-on-one match. Only on rare occasions when he partnered with Tang Wulin would Gu Yue be defeated.


    It seemed weird to speak of it, but while she was nice to Tang Wulin, Gu Yue had always picked on him. The three of them had this strange but special relationship where Xie Xie and Gu Yue were both on good terms with Tang Wulin, but not with each other. That was one of the reasons why Tang Wulin had been picked to participate in class five¡¯s team. With Tang Wulin¡¯s constant control, the three of them were able to fully display their power.


    The trio changed back into their own clothes and walked out of the academy.


    ¡°Where should we go?¡± Tang Wuling asked Xie Xie, who was the one who purposed this outing.


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°Let¡¯s eat first. Isn¡¯t that what you were looking forward to? I know of a food street so let¡¯s head there for some nice food.¡±


    Tang Wulin affirmed, ¡°You¡¯ll be treating, right?¡±


    Xie Xie replied sarcastically, ¡°They¡¯re merely street snacks, can they be something this young master can¡¯t manage?¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°A body exuding the stench of coins.¡± As she spoke, she moved towards Tang Wulin¡¯s other side on purpose.


    Xie Xie was furious. ¡°If you have a problem with that then you don¡¯t have to eat.¡±


    Gu Yue answered back arrogantly, ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought of accepting your treat at all. Tang Wulin, a man should act gentlemanly. You shall treat me then.¡±


    Tang Wulin tapped his forehead. ¡°The both of you, can¡¯t you stop arguing? We¡¯re here to relax, are we not?¡±


    Gu Yue lifted up her head and looked seriously at Tang Wulin. ¡°Are you not treating me then?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± Tang Wulin could only reply with that.


    Gu Yue, after getting an affirmation from Tang Wulin, looked proudly towards Xie Xie. ¡°Rest assured, miser! I would never take you up on your offer. Your treats reek like¡­¡± As she spoke, she did a waving motion before her nose with a contemptuous gesture.


    Xie Xie sucked in a deep breath. He wasn¡¯t her match in an argument or in a fight. That was the reason why he wasn¡¯t keen on bringing Gu Yue out with them.


    The food street was some distance from Eastsea Academy, and the three of them walked a full 30 minutes to get there.


    It wasn¡¯t a wide street, and stores sprouted upwards on both sides. As soon as they reached the mouth of the street, their noses were assaulted with the fragrance of a variety of different snacks and appetizing scents.


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat that skewered beef first. It¡¯s boiled to tenderness. Having it with some rice is simply heavenly.¡± As a landlord of Eastsea City, Xie Xie volunteered the introduction.

 Chapter 75 – The Story of the Stewed Beef

    Chapter 75 ¨C The Story of the Stewed Beef


    ¡°Alright!¡± Tang Wulin grinned; he was already starting to feel hungry.


    The stewed beef dish was prepared by boiling the meat in a light brown coloured earthen jar. After the meat was cleaned, slices of onions and ginger were added inside. The jar was used to trap the moisture in and keep the flavours during the stewing process. As soon as the meat changes colour, ten or so different types of spices were sprinkled into the jar before the long duration of stewing began. The meat would then turn soft and tender, and the flavours of the spices would combine well with the meat. This was a well-known dish within Eastsea City.


    The shop was small in size, and the cooking table was situated outside the shop. There were a hundred little flames, and on top of the table were earthen jars filled with the savoury stewed beef. The steam coming out from these jars caused small vibrations upon the lids. Soft humming sounds echoed from the jars as a sweet and pungent fragrance lured passersby on the road.


    Inside the shop, there were only five mediocre-sized square tables. With a maximum occupancy of twenty or so customers, half of the shop was already filled at this time.


    It was now mid-autumn and the temperature was dropping as the days went by. The entrance welcomed customers with a gush of warmth and the fragrance of stewed beef. This was a comfortable feeling to experience.


    Gu Yue showed a shocked expression to Xie Xie. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that a rich young master like you would eat at a roadside shop!¡±


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t bother to argue with her this time round. ¡°The stewed beef from this shop used to be my mother¡¯s favourite, and I ventured here occasionally.¡± As he spoke, he had already moved into the shop and chose a seat at the table furthest inside the shop.


    Tang Wulin nudged Gu Yue before following Xie Xie into the shop. He sat opposite Xie Xie.


    ¡°Oh! Xie Xie has come, and he brought friends with him. The usual dishes?¡± The boss was a middle-aged man. He had an oil-stained apron tied around his waist and a wide grin on his face.


    ¡°En. Uncle Li, thanks.¡± Xie Xie grinned back as he gave his thanks.


    Three portions of stewed beef were delivered to them in a short moment, together with three bowls of rice and two vegetable side dishes.


    ¡°It¡¯s a first to see you¡¯ve bring friends with you. These side dishes are on the house.¡± Uncle Li grinned as he spoke, stroking Xie Xie¡¯s head as if Xie Xie was his own nephew.


    Tang Wulin was shocked as he looked at Xie Xie. Xie Xie was obsessed with cleanliness, and his bed was by far the cleanest in the dorm. But at this moment, it didn¡¯t seem to matter to him that this roadside shop owner was touching him. Furthermore, he grinned without any signs of cringing. ¡°Thank you Uncle Li¡±


    Both Tang Wulin and Gu Yu¡¯s image of Xie Xie was overturned by his current behaviour.


    Xie Xie questioned them, ¡°What are you waiting for? Hurry up and eat.¡± He was already opening the lid of the earthen jar as he spoke. At that very moment, a thick wave of fragrance flowed out from the jar. The broth was dark gold in colour, and small chunks of beef were visible within it. These chunks were so tender that they instantly fell apart when Xie Xie poked one with his chopsticks.


    He picked up a piece carefully and rested it on his bowl of rice, before eating them together. His face lit up in contentment.


    Tang Wulin had long since lost his patience. He followed Xie Xie¡¯s lead and started to eat.


    ¡°This is delicious.¡± He voiced some words of praise as it really was tasty. The strong fragrance from the beef and broth was a beautiful marriage of  freshness and saltiness that was perfectly supplemented by the rice. It was a perfect combination.


    Gu Yue tried a mouthful and broke into a smile.


    This was a small shop, with dingy yellow light and worn furniture. But the food  was astonishingly delicious. Beef, broth, side dishes, and rice; these four dishes provided its customers with warmth and comfort.


    Though the three of them had undergone special training for three months, but this type of moment that had never happened during their rigorous training. A harmonious atmosphere existed around them.


    ¡°Uncle Li, I¡¯d like ten more sets.¡± Xie Xie waved towards Uncle Li as he knew too well the eating abilities of a certain someone.


    Tang Wulin scratched his head awkwardly. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± Xie Xie lifted his head towards Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin gave a helpless face as he answered, ¡°Your name isn¡¯t good at all. I was trying to thank you.[1]¡±


    Xie Xie gave a bitter smile, his eyes a little red. ¡°My mother gave me this name. She told me that she picked this name as she¡¯d chanced upon something she was grateful for. The best thing that happened in her life was that chance encounter with father, but¡­¡± His face turned a shade paler at this moment, his hand gripping his chopsticks harder.


    ¡°Your mother?¡± Tang Wulin questioned cautiously. Though he knew that Xie Xie¡¯s family was wealthy, this was the first time he heard of his family¡¯s matters.


    Xie Xie pursed his lips before he spoke. ¡°Father is always busy during the day. Even when mother was gravely ill, he didn¡¯t come home. In the last moments of her life, she had only wished to see father once more, but he came too late. I can never forget that night; Mother¡¯s tears, and the regret in her eyes when her grip on my hand finally lost its strength. I hate him. I hate him! I detest my name too. If not for that chance encounter, mother wouldn¡¯t have¡­¡±


    As he reached this moment, Xie Xie dropped down onto the table.


    In this place, it seemed that Xie Xie had dropped all of that icy arrogance front he¡¯d put up when they first met him. This was also the first time he shared his private thoughts with them.


    At this moment, Uncle Li came to their table with fresh jars of stewed beef. As he placed the jars onto the table, he sighed. ¡°This child is really pitiful. His mother loved bringing him here to my shop. But after his mother left, he came here alone with only the memories of his mother to accompany him. You can¡¯t blame him for that! It¡¯s rare to see him here with friends. I¡¯m so happy for him. He¡¯s such a young child, yet he has such a heavy heart. Please help him if you can. Ay, how horrible!¡±


    Tang Wulin patted Xie Xie¡¯s back lightly. Gu Yue, however, sat in the same position, staring ahead at the crying Xie Xie. Her eyes seemingly filling with something.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t cry. I¡¯ll take back back my words and let you treat me today then.¡± Gu Yue kicked across at Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie lifted his head and wiped his tears off with his sleeves. ¡°Don¡¯t I reek of money¡¯s stench!¡±


    Gu Yue curled her lips before commenting, ¡°So this brat loves bearing grudges.¡±


    Xie Xie threw back vehemently, ¡°We are born on the same year and you¡¯re even several months younger than me. If I¡¯m a brat, what are you? Bratty girl?¡±


    Gu Yue opened a new earthen jar and lowered her head to consume it. She spoke as she ate, ¡°I won¡¯t fight with someone who¡¯d just cried.¡±


    As the trio left the stewed beef shop, Uncle Li gazed at their figures and sighed. ¡°Kids these days have such a large appetite!.¡±


    The meal of stewed beef had not only brought Tang Wulin and his friends warmth, but had unknowingly knitted strong bonds between the three.


    Salt grilled huge prawns was next in line. These large, fresh prawns were skewed through with bamboo skewers before being sent off to the coal grill and topped with a sprinkle of salt.


    Tang Wulin fully displayed the demeanour of a glutton god. As the three of them went from one end to the other end of the food street, their conversation was filled with happiness and laughter.


    ¡°I¡¯m full now.¡± Gu Yue held onto Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder for support while Xie Xie did the same on the other side.


    Tang Wulin grinned as he spoke, ¡°If your appetite isn¡¯t big enough, don¡¯t try to eat like this glutton god.¡±


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°What glutton god? You¡¯re merely a foodie. That¡¯s what I wanted to say when I first witnessed your enormous appetite.¡±


    Tang Wulin hummed cooly, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s continue eating since you¡¯re paying for it.¡±


    Xie Xie cried out in astonishment, ¡°You still have space for food?¡±


    ¡®Hasn¡¯t this guy already eaten enough to equal a whole cow as we went down this street?¡¯


    Tang Wulin answered proudly, ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Ah! What¡¯s that over there?¡± Gu Yue broke them off suddenly.


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie lifted up their heads and followed Gu Yue¡¯s sight. There seemed to be a commotion near the entrance of food street and there were many bystanders crowding around.


    The shop¡¯s position seemed to be that of the stewed beef shop!


    Remember that thank you is also pronounced as ¡°xie xie¡± in mandarin.

 Chapter 76 – Two Ring Opponent

    Chapter 76 ¨C Two Ring Opponent


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a look.¡± Xie Xie couldn¡¯t be bothered to bicker with Tang Wulin, so he quickly ran off. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue could only follow him.


    ¡°You guys can¡¯t act like this! Not at all! This is how I make my living!¡± Before they neared, the three of them could already hear Uncle Li¡¯s voice.


    Xie Xie was at the front and was thus able to quickly force his way through the crowd.


    The cooking table beside the stewed beef shop¡¯s entrance had been overturned. Beef broth streamed out from the countless shattered jars that lay on the ground. The steamy aroma coming from the meat only added to the disarray.


    Uncle Li lay collapsed in the doorway of the shop. He was bleeding from the corner of his mouth and had a swollen eye, which only contributed to the look of grief and indignation on his face.


    Three burly men stood before the doorway of the shop. The leader of this trio was a bald man, bare-chested despite the cold weather, showing off the dragon tattoos on his arms.


    The other two were also quite tall, and were obviously bad people from the look of their scowls.


    ¡°Surnamed Li, a wise man submits to his circumstances. There isn¡¯t anyone on this street who dares to not hand over the protection fee money, yet you¡¯re always coming up with all sorts of excuses. Could it be that I, Guang Long[1], need to beg? Do we need to specially send someone over everyday to collect a bit of money? If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that your stewed beef is quite tasty, this daddy over here would have already disposed of you. So stop talking nonsense and hand over the money today. If you don¡¯t, then you can forget about opening up your shop here in the future.¡± The bald man cast a cold and gloomy gaze on Uncle Li as he spoke. Despite the large crowd, not a single person dared to intervene.


    ¡°Big Brother Guang Long, it really isn¡¯t that I am refusing to pay the protection fees. It¡¯s just that my wife is terribly sick and I use the little money I earn every day to take her to the doctor. But you¡¯ve actually smashed apart my business! Now my wife won¡¯t be able to live much longer. When it comes time, I won¡¯t live any longer either.¡±


    Guang Long laughed out loud. ¡°Fine then! Trying to threaten me with your life? Do you think that this daddy here cares about your cheap life? Even if you die, I can just substitute you with someone else and I¡¯ll be paid all the same. If you can¡¯t pay, then beat it! Don¡¯t occupy this space.¡± As he spoke, he took a step forward a kicked the kitchen table, flipping it over. In a moment, all of the jars of stewed beef on top were scattered about on the ground.


    Uncle Li sorrowfully cried, ¡°Guang Long, I¡¯ll stake everything against you.¡± Uncle Li climbed up with great difficulty, then lowered his head and charged at Guang Long.


    Guang Long let out a single evil laugh before raising his leg and kicked Uncle Li, sending him tumbling away. ¡°Fighting with your life? In front of this daddy here, you don¡¯t even have the qualifications to fight with your life. Don¡¯t forget this daddy is a Soul Master.¡±


    ¡°So just because you¡¯re a Soul Master, you have the right to bully people?¡± A voice angrily rebuked from the sidelines as Tang Wulin¡¯s trio squeezed past the crowd. Xie Xie quickly rushed over to Uncle Li¡¯s side and supported him. Guang Long was met with Tang Wulin¡¯s angry glare.


    Guang Long was stunned for a moment, before he began laughing unbridledly at the sight of this child. ¡°This street really doesn¡¯t have anyone left after all! Even a child dares to get in my way. He truly is a calf that does not know how to be afraid of the tiger. Beat it! This daddy doesn¡¯t like to hit children.¡±


    Tang Wulin had been born into an ordinary family. To him, he found the idea of the strong bullying the weak to be absolutely unacceptable! He approached Guang Long with large strides and said, ¡°How could you treat Uncle Li like this!? Are you even human!?¡±


    Guang Long responded with a cold snort, ¡°Can kindness be eaten? He does this in order to provide for his wife, could it be that I don¡¯t need to provide for my mother? Screw being honest! Hurry up and get lost brat; don¡¯t delay my business any longer.¡±


    He raised a hand as he finished speaking, moving to push Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    A light flashed within Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he ferociously threw a punch at the oncoming palm.


    With a ¡®bang,¡¯ Guang Long was sent staggering back. Tang Wulin, however, was similarly stunned. ¡®This guy had been caught off guard, yet he was able to control his body. His strength definitely isn¡¯t weak!¡¯


    ¡°Fine then boy. It seems you actually have some strength.¡± Guang Long spread his large palm once more, but this time, he aimed to grab Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulders. The dragon tattoos on his muscular arms grew taut, revealing a fierce appearance.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s strongest point wasn¡¯t his martial soul, but his strength. He raised his fist again and sent another punch flying.


    Another muffled sound rang out, but this time, Tang Wulin was the one who fell back. He felt as if Guang Long¡¯s palm was like cast copper, and even with his astonishing strength, he was still at a disadvantage. Tang Wulin was pushed back two steps.


    Guang Long was also given a fright. He had already put quite a bit of strength into that grab of his just now, yet the power behind that child¡¯s punch had actually been able to make him tremble and miss the grab.


    ¡°Good, boy! Your strength is nothing to laugh at!¡± Guang Long advanced another step forward and attempted to grab Tang Wulin once again.


    Right at that moment, a strand of Bluesilver Grass shot out from Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand and in the blink of an eye, Bind was used on Guang Long. The ground suddenly went soft below Guang Long¡¯s feet and he felt as though he were sinking into the ground.  He was unable to exert any of his strength at all. Then a figure soared into the sky towards him and landed, its feet suspended over his shoulder. Suddenly, a dagger appeared at his neck, threatening him.


    Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie had undergone special training together for the last three months. Now, they had a complete understanding of each other. As soon as they saw Tang Wulin losing out in strength, Gu Yue and Xie Xie simultaneously launched their assault in order to support him.


    Guang Long was caught off guard when the Light Dragon Dagger suddenly appeared at his throat.


    The Bluesilver Grass was withdrawn as Tang Wulin and Xie Xie were both highly confident in themselves.


    ¡°Apologize to Uncle Li and pay for the damages. If not, I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Xie Xie said with incomparable iciness. His heart had immediately filled with wrath the moment he saw the good-natured Uncle Li being bullied,


    ¡°Don¡¯t be impulsive now, little brother. Let us talk things out properly.¡± The two burly men on the sidelines finally reacted. These sorts of murky situations needed exceptional judgement when being handled. If the one holding the knife had been an adult, then they wouldn¡¯t be nearly as frightened. After all, not many people dared to kill someone. Children, however, were quite troublesome in this regard. Due to their young age, it was very easy for them to disregard the consequences and act on their impulses.


    Xie Xie coldly said, ¡°Nothing good will come out from talking to scum like you. Compensate for Uncle Li¡¯s losses and his medical fees, otherwise I¡¯ll kill this baldy.¡±


    Guang Long suddenly laughed. ¡°Little brat, so you¡¯re a one ring Soul Master. Do you think I¡¯ve been able to control this street all these years without any ability? You think I¡¯d be able to collect protection fees like that? Do it then. I want to see how you¡¯ll kill me.¡±


    Xie Xie was stunned. At his age, he still wasn¡¯t able to comprehend something like being fearless in the face of death. When he had threatened Mu Xi previously, she¡¯d quickly compromised!


    The Light Dragon Dagger pressed down on Guang Long¡¯s neck, but Xie Xie still hesitated at the thought of killing someone. Despite this, his loathing for Guang Long had already made him unable to think clearly.


    When he pressed the Light Dragon Dagger down on Guang Long¡¯s neck, however, Xie Xie discovered that his neck was actually extremely hard!  His Light Dragon Dagger wasn¡¯t able to cut any further!


    ¡°Be careful!¡± Tang Wulin reminded him just in time as Gu Yue shot a fireball towards Guang Long.


    Guang Long¡¯s right hand was struck fiercely, and the resulting explosion separated him from Xie Xie.


    As this happened, two brilliant rings appeared beneath Guang Long¡¯s feet. Shockingly, he had two soul rings; one white, the other yellow. His naked skin took on a metallic sheen and metallic scales protruded out of his neck one after another.


    Pretty sure this is a pun actually. He calls himself Guang Long (¹âÁú), where the Guang  (¹â) means light and likely comes from him having a shiny bald head, which is Guang Tou (¹âÍ· - Light Head). And ¡°Long¡± just means dragon, which refers to his tattoos.

 Chapter 77 – Let Me Face Him!

    Chapter 77 ¨C Let Me Face Him!


    Xie Xie backflipped out of range of Guang Long¡¯s punch, only to see a powerful aura explode forth from Guang Long¡¯s body.


    ¡®Two rings! A Soul Grandmaster! This guy¡¯s strength actually surpassed rank 20 and he¡¯s a two ring Soul Grandmaster!¡±¡¯


    Two little spirit souls appeared atop Guang Long¡¯s shoulders. One was an earthen-yellow lizard, while the other was a metal-gray lizard and clearly a bit larger.


    The strength disparity of a single soul ring between Soul Masters was huge. Regardless of whether it was their soul power or their soul rings, a difference of a rank or ring was significant.


    In the wake of these soul ring¡¯s appearance, Guang Long¡¯s body expanded by a whole circle. His muscles grew to a ridiculous level, and those scales now made it look like he had metal gray skin. His appearance became much more vicious.


    ¡°I never expected you brats would be Soul Masters too. No wonder you dared to meddle in my business. It seems I¡¯ll have to let you witness how powerful this daddy is.¡± As he spoke he violently stomped with his right foot, launching himself towards Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Wulin, be careful!¡± Gu Yue cried out in alarm. A radiance emitted from her hand as she attempted to control the ground beneath Guang Long.


    However, after Guang Long released his martial soul, his entire body¡¯s essence had underwent a qualitative change that made him much more frightening. He easily broke free of the swamp that appeared beneath his foot. When Gu Yue released an elemental attack on his body, his tough skin was able to defend against it with similar ease.


    ¡®Is this guy¡¯s martial soul actually a powerful existence? He shouldn¡¯t be a simple, mere Soul Grandmaster¡­ His soul power is probably above rank 25!¡¯


    Guang Long¡¯s martial soul was actually Armored Dragon; a type of land dragon. Land dragons excelled in power and defense, moreover, Guang Long was actually blessed with innate divine strength. In other words, he surpassed Tang Wulin in physical strength!


    Guang Long was currently using his first soul skill, Armored Body, to block Gu Yue¡¯s attack. As for Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger, it was impossible for it to penetrate his defenses.


    It was one versus three, yet his strength completely suppressed Tang Wulin¡¯s trio!


    Tang Wulin currently appeared calm, calmer than his age suggested. He knew he couldn¡¯t retreat, otherwise he would put Gu Yue in harm¡¯s way. In their group of three, Wu Zhangkong had stated that Tang Wulin¡¯s most important responsibility within their team was to act as the vanguard.


    His two Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers appeared in his trembling hands. If he couldn¡¯t retreat, then he would advance. He faced Guang Long head on and charged.


    The tungsten hammer swung up as Guang Long¡¯s fist came smashing.


    Bang! The rumbling sounds of metal colliding caused the crowd to cry out in alarm. Many of them covered their ears and fell back.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s complexion paled as he continuously retreated seven or eight steps. After releasing his martial soul, Guang Long¡¯s strength had become even more tyrannical. It was so terrifying that even with the aid of his tungsten hammers, Tang Wulin was still obstructed.


    Xie Xie had already rushed over and slashed his Light Dragon Dagger against Guang Long¡¯s back. Guang Long didn¡¯t even turn around and simply let him attack. When the Light Dragon Dagger hit Guang Long, all that was left were a few white scratches. It hadn¡¯t even been able to penetrate his skin.


    Gu Yue raised her hands with a grave expression. A flame flickered in her right hand, while a green light lingered in her left hand. She slowly put her hands together and immediately, a green and red colored tornado began blowing towards Guang Long.


    This was a fusion technique consisting of fire and wind which she was now capable of.


    Guang Long wanted to continue attacking Tang Wulin, but he suddenly felt sluggish as cracks began appearing along his skin. The blazing wind blades were frantically cutting his body up.


    ¡°Hou!¡± Guang Long roared as he suddenly used his two fists to punch himself in the stomach. His yellow soul ring lit up, releasing his hundred year soul skill.


    A faint layer of silver appeared over his metal-gray body while his eyes lit up with a silvery light. Body expanded once more, intense soul power fluctuations surging forth from him. His palms grew larger, and his finger joints protruded further out, giving birth to claws that surpassed eight centimeters in length.


    Second soul skill, Armored Dragon Body!


    Guang Long had a pretty good martial soul, Armored Dragon. Due to his poverty, however, he hadn¡¯t been able to obtain a spirit soul until he was over eighteen years old. Therefore he had missed the best cultivation period in one¡¯s life. This was the root cause of his cynical character. Afterwards, he had just barely been able to climb up to the ranks of a Soul Grandmaster and was able to obtain a second spirit soul. But due to the difficulty of increasing one¡¯s rank as one got older, he had started this means of earning money.


    The Armored Dragon martial soul, however, could truly be considered a high grade martial soul. The two spirit souls he had chosen had also been exceptionally correct. When his second soul skill exploded forth, regardless of whether it was his offensive or defensive power, they had all been boosted to a whole new level. His rank 27 soul power erupted outwards, immediately suppressing Tang Wulin¡¯s trio.


    Gu Yue¡¯s flame vortex met with Guang Long¡¯s second soul skill and after a brief moment it was dispersed by his tyrannical soul power.


    Tang Wulin took advantage of this opportunity to switch out his tungsten hammers for his Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers. This wasn¡¯t the academy, nor was it training. They were facing a true opponent, and he couldn¡¯t afford to hold back in such a situation.


    The heavy silver hammer in his right was thrown directly at Guang Long, a strand of Bluesilver Grass connected to its handle.


    Guang Long snarled and raised a palm to swat away the heavy silver hammer.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Three explosions resounded from his palm, but the most shocking thing was that his palm was completely undamaged! It simply trembled a little. With a simple movement of his arm, the Thousand Refined Heavy SIlver Hammer had been swatted away!


    What formidable strength! He had even been able to subdue the power of the stacked hammers effect!


    A light blade suddenly appeared from Guang Long¡¯s rear, chopping at him. Guang Long¡¯s back simply emitted a burst of twinkling silver light, causing the light blade to shatter in mid air.


    Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Blade had failed.


    Guang Long¡¯s eyes were filled with a dark ferocity. He suddenly exerted strength through his feet and launched himself at Tang Wulin. He was even faster than before!


    Tang Wulin pulled on the strand of Bluesilver Grass that was connected to the thrown hammer as he swung the hammer in his left hand.


    Bang! Hammer and claw collided. An unstoppable force was transmitted through their collision, causing Tang Wulin to let out a pained groan before he was sent flying. He flew into the stewed beef shop¡¯s walls.


    He only felt a vigorous energy enter his body, attacking the pit of his stomach. He nearly coughed up blood.


    ¡°Wulin!¡± Gu Yue cried out. In a flash, she was in front of Tang Wulin, obstructing Guang Long from continuing his pursuit. A ball of light burst forth, blinding Guang Long.


    Xie Xie also circled around to the front. WIth the Light Dragon Dagger in hand, he drew out a few light rays.


    Fortunately, they had faced Wu Zhangkong countless times in their special training. In the face of such pressure, they weren¡¯t frantic at all.


    Guang Long spread out his arms. He completely disregarding Xie Xie¡¯s attacks and ferociously threw himself forward in an attempt to throw his arms around Gu Yue. These three brats had already infuriated him.


    Gu Yue raised a wall of earth up in front of her, but it was immediately destroyed by Guang Long. With her control of the elements, she could simply use the space element to teleport herself away, but she didn¡¯t do that. This was because Tang Wulin was behind her!


    At this moment, Gu Yue only felt her waist tighten as her entire person was immediately lifted up.


    Two powerful arms were holding her by the waist. At this moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s voice resounded, ¡°Let me face him.¡±

 Chapter 78 – Reappearance of the Golden Scales

    Chapter 78 ¨C Reappearance of the Golden Scales


    Gu Yue¡¯s face was slightly flushed but Tang Wulin had already rushed up. With his pair of heavy silver hammers, he directed an assault at Guang Long


    Guang Long smiled grimly and swung his fists. Two fists and two hammers collided.


    Boom, boom, boom! Tang Wulin leapt into the air, and with the addition of his hammers, his strength had increased greatly. Guang Long, however, had displayed both his soul skills ¨C Armored Body and Armored Dragon Body. Putting both together had increased his toughness to an astonishing degree.


    Tang Wulin was thrown out forcibly once more, a stuffy groan emitting out. Blood dripped from his mouth and nose.


    Xie Xie¡¯s response was lighting fast. He dashed behind Tang Wulin in the blink of an eye, hoping to support Tang Wulin and prevent him from falling.


    But he had underestimated the force of Tang Wulin¡¯s body. After taking hold of Tang Wulin¡¯s body, the both of them were slammed into the ground.


    This precisely getting crushed by force.


    Guang Long shook his shoulders, but didn¡¯t continue to pursue Tang Wulin. Instead, he looked towards the surrounding spectators. ¡°You see? If you dare defy me, this will be the outcome. Although these kids are Soul Masters, there are in no way a match for this daddy. Whomever dares defy me, beware of this daddy¡¯s Armored Dragon claws tearing you into shreds.¡±


    ¡°So painful. Xie Xie, your Light Dragon Dagger is stabbing me.¡± Tang Wulin, who had fallen to the ground, howled in pain.


    Xie Xie, who had initially tried to support him, was pushed away by the immense force and was in no way able to control the Light Dragon Dagger in his grip. It had slashed against Tang Wulin¡¯s back.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. That wasn¡¯t my intention.¡± Xie Xie had also collapsed onto the ground in a mess.


    Gu Yue prepared her water element in advance to heal them both. Upon reaching Tang Wulin, however, ,she found a strange energy radiating from his body.


    ¡®So hot!¡¯ Tang Wulin¡¯s body trembled lightly. A fiery heat radiated from the wound on his back, spreading throughout his body.


    The familiar burning sensation from so long ago reappeared once again, flowing from his tailbone, throughout his body and toward his brain. His body felt as though it was lit on fire and had released an intense wave of heat from his body. This wave of heat had completely cleared the tightness within Tang Wulin¡¯s chest when he¡¯d been sent flying by Guang Long


    The soul power within Tang Wulin¡¯s body rose as well, but he only felt that his spirit was in chaos. Unknown to him was that his strength had increased to a shocking level, as if it could now shake both the heavens and earth.


    Tang Wulin turned to look at his right hand subconsciously showing golden spots had appeared upon the back of his hand. The whole of his right arm felt as though it was recharged and it vibrated lightly. That huge increase in strength all came from his right hand.


    Golden Scales. These were the Golden Scales that previously appeared.


    A few months had passed, and Tang Wulin had almost forgotten about these golden scales that had once appeared. Now, not only have they reappeared, they also reappeared in his time of need.


    After a deep roar, Tang Wulin jumped up with full force and sped towards Guang Long.


    Xie Xie had failed to stop Tang Wulin and shouted at him, ¡°Wulin, don¡¯t go!¡±


    Gu Yue, however, kept quiet as she¡¯d clearly seen the sudden appearance of the golden scales on Tang Wulin¡¯s neck. Her expression was dulled. ¡®What is that¡­¡¯


    Guang Long hollered arrogantly when he sighted Tang Wulin coming towards him. This time, however, he only had one hammer. Guang Long shouted at him, ¡°Punk, you¡¯re pretty tough aren¡¯t you! If you weren¡¯t a child, this daddy would have already kneaded you to death.¡± After making this remark, he slapped at Tang Wulin¡¯s incoming heavy silver hammer.


    At this moment, however, almost instantly, Guang Long felt a shiver from within his body. He now clearly saw the golden luster within Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. Golden bits of light flashed, Tang Wulin¡¯s pupils morphed into a pair of icy slits, and a incomprehensible feeling overcame Guang Long¡¯s body, causing him to go limp.


    Bang! Guang Long¡¯s massive body was hammered out of the way. The surrounding spectators clearly heard the bones in his arm fracturing.


    Guang Long¡¯s two men tried their best to catch him as he fell, but failed and crashed into a pile along with him, just like what had happened to Xie Xie a while ago.


    Tang Wulin looked at his right arm in shock. At that moment, the golden scales had spread up to his wrist as well, and claws had appeared. The whole of his right arm brought a boiling sensation to him.


    Compared with the previous instance, he had a more vivid experience this time round. He could clearly feel his soul power diminishing at a shocking speed.


    ¡®Quickly release!¡¯ He prayed in his heart.


    A bizarre scene appeared. The glowing golden scales that had just grown on his arms dimmed as it rapidly changed into spots of light before disappearing from his arm The heat within his body had also cooled.


    The entire process of his golden scales¡¯ appearance to his willful removal of these scales had only lasted a little more than ten seconds, but Tang Wulin felt as though his soul power had been rapidly used up. The only thing he had done better than the last experience was that he hadn¡¯t fainted from the overuse of soul power.


    His arm ached so badly that he felt it couldn¡¯t be lifted. Tang Wulin¡¯s head was only filled with chaos. If last time¡¯s appearance of the golden scales was like a hallucination, then this time it was a vivid feeling. If it was a hallucination, then how could he possibly explain this feeling?


    ¡°Your¡­ your power reappeared again?¡± Xie Xie had been right behind Tang Wulin ever since he rushed out, and had been able to witness first hand how Tang Wulin was able to send Guang Long flying with a single hammer. He had also witnessed the appearance of the golden scales on Tang Wulin¡¯s arms.


    Not only did Guang Long feel a wave of fear at that instant, Xie Xie had as well. The appearance of the golden scales on Tang Wulin¡¯s body had brought some sort of magical power, and it was frightening.


    Tang Wulin smiled grimly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened too. Ah, where are the others?¡±


    As he looked for Guang Long once again, Guang Long and his two men had disappeared. At this instant, the surrounding crowd suddenly appeared before him and made themselves useful in aiding Uncle Li in lifting up the kitchen table and clearing the mess. These were passersby who, like Uncle Li, were owners of other shops along the same street.


    ¡°This bastard, ran off without giving any compensation,¡± Xie Xie cursed.


    ¡°Your hand¡­¡± Gu Yue looked skeptically at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin smiled grimly. ¡°I also don¡¯t know what happened. This was its second appearance. Those scales rapidly consumed my stamina and soul power, but gave me a rapid surge of power for a short time. That¡¯s all I know.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s return first and talk later.¡±


    The trio exchanged farewells with Uncle Li. Xie Xie secretly stuffed some money into Uncle Li¡¯s chest before speeding off in the direction of the academy.


    ¡°That guy, will he go after Uncle Li to seek revenge?¡± Gu Yue asked Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°He won¡¯t do so in the near future since he doesn¡¯t have the ability. His arm has probably been smashed by Tang Wulin. Even if he was here to collect protection money, it¡¯s merely a street stall, so he shouldn¡¯t have gone overboard. I¡¯ll have my family keep an eye on the shop. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±

 Chapter 79 – Light Dragon Dagger and Golden Scales

    Chapter 79 ¨C Light Dragon Dagger and Golden Scales


    On the road back, Tang Wulin had a pensive look the entire trip. Gu Yue also looked somewhat thoughtful while Xie Xie wrinkled his brows. Each and every one of them had many things on their mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m going back now.¡± As soon as they entered the academy grounds, Gu Yue bid farewell to the other two and returned to the girl¡¯s dormitory. As for Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, they returned to their own dorm.


    ¡°Xie Xie, wait a moment,¡± Tang Wulin called out as they reached the door to their room.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Xie Xie suspiciously looked at him.


    Tang Wulin looked him in the eyes and said, ¡°I think I know how to get my golden scales to appear now.¡±


    Xie Xie was startled. ¡°You know? Hurry up and spit it out then.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I tried nearly everything to get it to happen after the first time it appeared, but no matter how I circulated my soul power, hurt myself, or exhausted my soul power, it never appeared. Its appearance today may seem sudden, but it¡¯s the same as the first time it appeared.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡¯ Xie Xie seemed to have grasped an idea of what it was.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°It¡¯s the Light Dragon Dagger. Your Light Dragon Dagger. The first time the golden scales appeared was when you injured me with the dagger. When it appeared today, it was also because you scratched me with your Light Dragon Dagger.¡±


    A radiance began to twinkle in Xie Xie¡¯s eyes. ¡°That¡¯s right! It does seem to be so. But, why is it like this?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t even know what those golden scales are. It doesn¡¯t seem to be related to my Bluesilver Grass.¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Could it be that you have a second martial soul too? Maybe it¡¯s just that your second martial soul is hidden, and you need a special kind of power to arouse it from its slumber.¡±


    Tang Wulin responded, ¡°I don¡¯t really understand what twin martial souls are so I¡¯m not sure if that could be it.¡± He could sense the power from his golden scales, and if it truly was his second martial soul, then he wouldn¡¯t be a Soul Master with a trash martial soul anymore. With those thoughts in mind, Tang Wulin¡¯s heartbeat couldn¡¯t help but speed up.


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Let¡¯s go look for Teacher Wu and ask then. Teacher Wu is experienced and knowledgeable, so he might be able to explain what it is.¡±


    Tang Wulin mulled over it for a moment before agreeing. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s go look for Teacher Wu tomorrow.¡±


    Xie Xie began pulling on his arm. ¡°You still want to wait until tomorrow? Let¡¯s just go right now. Come on. Teacher Wu shouldn¡¯t have gone to bed this early.¡±


    Tang Wulin said helplessly, ¡°Why are you even more impatient than me?¡±


    Xie Xie laughed mischievously. ¡°It¡¯s because your body has this kind of situation! Even more things could be hidden in your body, and if there are, I¡¯ll definitely benefit from it!¡±


    Tang Wulin asked with a trace of suspicion, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°Martial soul fusion skill! Don¡¯t tell me that you haven¡¯t heard of it before? When two people have a highly compatible martial soul, they¡¯ll be able to use a powerful combined ability, which is called a martial soul fusion skill. The higher the compatibility rate between the two martial souls, the stronger the fusion skill. If we really do do have a soul fusion skill, that would simply be too wonderful!¡±


    With regards to martial souls and their capabilities, Xie Xie was clearly much more knowledgeable than Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin had heard of soul fusion skills before. In the world of Soul Masters, it was a peak existence! In fact, there wasn¡¯t anyone in the entire Eastsea City who was capable of using a soul fusion skill!


    The teacher¡¯s living quarters were also in the dormitory building. In order to make it convenient to supervise the students, the class teachers would all live on the same floor as their class. Thus, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie only needed to walk down the hall to get to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s room.


    Bang bang! Xie Xie knocked on the door.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s ice-cold voice came from within.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, it¡¯s me, Xie Xie. Tang Wulin and I have something to consult with you about,¡± stated Xie Xie.


    ¡°Come in then.¡± The door opened, revealing a Wu Zhangkong clad in pajamas.


    His moon-white pajamas outlined his slender figure. As they looked into the depths of his eyes, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but recall the hardships they¡¯d endured during their special training.


    As a teacher, Wu Zhangkong naturally got a room to himself. In fact, his room was twice as large as Tang Wulin and Xie Xie¡¯s room. It had a personal washroom, dressing room, bedroom, and a small living room.


    Xie Xie stuck out his tongue and said, ¡°Teacher Wu, we¡¯ve interrupted your cultivation.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°Out with it already. What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Xie Xie unexpectedly nudged Tang Wulin. After taking a moment to arrange his thoughts, Tang Wulin said to Wu Zhangkong, ¡°Teacher Wu, there seems to be a problem with my martial soul.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s originally calm expression suddenly revealed a trace a surprise. He had already confirmed that Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass was a variant, moreover, it had mutated in a good way. Yet now, he was saying that there was an issue with his martial soul. That likely meant that his Bluesilver Grass was mutating even further. This was definitely a good thing.


    ¡°What kind of issue?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    Tang Wulin explained what had happened the last two times with his golden scales, as well as his guesses and evaluation.


    ¡°Golden scales?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyebrows bunched together. Tang Wulin¡¯s situation was indeed something rarely seen. Moreover, Xie Xie¡¯s judgement was very correct as well. With such a situation, a hidden second martial soul or a soul fusion skill was the most likely possibility.


    ¡°Xie Xie, stab him and try it out. Let¡¯s see if the same thing happens again,¡± Wu Zhangkong said to Xie Xie.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Xie Xie looked at Tang Wulin with malicious eyes as he released his Light Dragon Dagger and happily laughed. ¡°Wulin ah! Where do you think is a good place to stab you?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong glared at him. ¡°Less nonsense. Hurry up with it.¡±


    Xie Xie stuck out his tongue as Tang Wulin extended his arm.


    Xie Xie carefully cut Tang Wulin¡¯s arm with his Light Dragon Dagger. This time, his movements were very slow. Three pairs of eyes attentively watched.


    Tang Wulin felt a burst of pain come from his arm, but he was astonished to discover that faint rays of light poured into his body from the Light Dragon Dagger and through his wound.


    A tenseness was felt as the scorching feeling from before appeared once again. His body ignited the same way as before, the scorching heat wave spread from his tailbone all the way to the rest of his body. Golden scales began appearing on his arm.


    Wu Zhangkong raised his hand and caused a sharp stream of air to scrape against Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin¡¯s shirt was cut into tatters, exposing his upper body.


    Golden scales covered all of Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm and his arm had lengthened a bit as well. Beautiful, sparkling golden scales had instantly covered his arm. His hand had also begun to change. Inch long claws began sprouting out of his five fingers.


    Wu Zhangkong reached out and gripped Tang Wulin¡¯s palm. He said deeply, ¡°Exert force.¡±


    Tang Wulin knew it was impossible for him to injure his teacher, so he hastily exerted force through his right arm, kneading Wu Zhangkong¡¯s right hand.

 Chapter 80 – Strange!

    Chapter 80 ¨C Strange!


    Wu Zhangkong raised his left hand and pressed it against Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach. Then he shut both eyes, sensing the changes in the other¡¯s body.


    After exerting his strength to knead Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hand for ten seconds, Tang Wulin finally felt his immense strength begin to fade away. The portion of soul power he had used in his match against Guang Long hadn¡¯t yet been replenished. If he continued to use his strength carelessly, then he would faint once more. As he thought of that, he willed his golden scales to disappear in the hopes of maintaining consciousness. This was in order to stay awake and listen to his teacher¡¯s teachings!


    After Wu Zhangkong released his loosed his grip, Tang Wulin¡¯s body swayed in a moment of weakness.


    Xie Xie rushed forward to immediately support Tang Wulin and help him onto the sofa within Wu Zhangkong¡¯s living room.


    ¡°Weird!¡± Wu Zhangkong pinched both his brows. His gaze revealed that he was deep in thought.


    Xie Xie and Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare approach him with questions.


    Moments later, Wu Zhangkong mumbled, ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem like a twin martial soul. If it were a twin martial soul, then I would¡¯ve felt the second martial soul when it was activated. It doesn¡¯t seem to be an evolution of your martial soul either. That surge of power didn¡¯t seem related to your Bluesilver Grass, and neither does it seem to be a fusion skill of your martial souls. If it was, signs of change would have been seen on Xie Xie too. There isn¡¯t any existence of one such martial soul fusion skill that only appears on one person.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong continued prodding about. However, it was a fact that the said conditions had appeared on Tang Wulin without a doubt.


    ¡°Teacher, my golden scales¡­¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t stop himself from approaching Wu Zhangkong with this question.


    Wu Zhangkong looked at him. ¡°Very strange. It seems to be a very large increase  in strength. Your innate strength has increased by at least thrice its original with the aid of the golden scales. This is also the reason why your soul power depleted so quickly. You don¡¯t have the ability to control these golden scales yet either. I did feel a change in your soul power moments ago, yet I can confirm that these golden scales have no link to your soul power. Although your soul power has diminished, this surge of power was not the main cause of it. Rather, it was after the appearance of this power that your soul power started diminishing.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite complicated. However, simply said, let¡¯s take it that these golden scales are a form of spirit tool. It can deplete your soul power, but the cause of its appearance was not your soul power. This is a first for me as well, and I can¡¯t really say if it is a good or bad thing. But to you, this would be an advantage¡ªto have a skill with such explosive capacity. You should think of a way to control this skill. I predict that with the growth of your soul power, these golden scales will continue changing.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Tang Wulin answered Wu Zhangkong, but he had some disappointment. Teacher Wu was the most powerful person within the academy, but even he was unclear of the reasons for Tang Wulin¡¯s strange change. Who else could Tang Wulin seek for more clarification?


    Xie Xie spoke with disappointment, ¡°It really isn¡¯t a fusion skill? But, without me, he couldn¡¯t have displayed that surge of power!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head in disagreement. ¡°That¡¯s not a martial soul fusion skill. This power should be similar to your Light Dragon Dagger in some way. In other words, your Light Dragon Dagger activated this surge of power within his body, and thus sparked the appearance of the golden scales.


    ¡°If, one day, he masters controlling this power, he will be able to activate it without your help. This power is special. If this is a martial soul, then it would be one of the highest ranked martial souls I¡¯ve ever seen. You only have a single ring of soul power, yet the appearance of these golden scales gave me a feeling of oppression. This oppressing force is one that is innate to the martial soul. The more powerful the martial soul, the greater the oppressive force it gives off.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Yes, I had the same feeling,¡± Xie Xie added on quickly.


    Tang Wulin looked blankly as he said, ¡°Teacher Wu, then, what should I do now?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong replied, ¡°First, you will have to train hard and increase your soul power. As your soul power strengthens, your ability to control this surge of power will be greater. You should also work on increasing your spiritual power as this will help a lot in your ability to control this power. Also, you will need to frequently experience this power, and you can have Xie Xie help you with that. As you and your body continues to experience this power more frequently, your ability to control it may get better too. I will need to contemplate further on this.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Tang Wulin was saddened that he didn¡¯t manage to get an answer from Wu Zhangkong, but the reappearance of golden scales had proven its existence and had given him a thread of hope. Even Teacher Wu mentioned that the level of this surge of power was high. That also meant that if he managed to control this power well, it would surely enhance his strength greatly!


    ?


    Life regained its normalcy. Though the match between first grade class five and class four had happened a day ago, it didn¡¯t cause many waves within the academy since it was merely a match between the two of the lowest ranking classes in the lowest grade.


    However, this match caught the attention of some. For instance, that of the first grade¡¯s class three, who would be competing against the first grade¡¯s class five in the afternoon.


    The first grade¡¯s class three¡¯s class teacher Ye Yingrong was quite young in age, and was actually a few years younger than Wu Zhangkong. She was a new teacher within the academy, and because of her good looks, as well as her effort in teaching well, she was quite popular among the students in her class.


    She recalled the first time she saw Wu Zhangkong. She had felt the growing palpitation in her heart. This icily arrogant prince charming had not only attracted the attention of the female students from the advanced academy, but her as well.


    It was said that he was five ring Soul King. At his age, this was extraordinary. What was more extraordinary was that he was once a student from there.


    In the eyes of Ye Yingrong, Wu Zhangkong would have been perfect if not for his icy character. Most important was the fact that he was still single, and he didn¡¯t have a girlfriend.


    He probably set his eyes too high up!


    Wu Zhangkong was worthy of his title as the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming! He even managed to train this first grade class five so well.


    Ye Yingrong had observed the match a day ago with the participants from her class. She was startled when Xie Xie and Gu Yue released their hundred year soul rings.


    That was a hundred year soul ring! Students of this rank, why were they in the last class? There wasn¡¯t even a single student with a hundred year soul ring within her third class.


    Nevertheless, this Class Promotion Tournament had to proceed. She wished for her class to go through this match, so as to leave Wu Zhangkong with a deep impression.


    For the trio¡­


    The time of battle was the same as the previous day¡¯s. After the afternoon classes ended, the intermediate academy¡¯s field was where the match would be held.


    This was the second day of the tournament, but like before, there wasn¡¯t much of a crowd.


    Ye Yingrong made an effort to be at the venue early. The participating team from the first grade class three stood in an orderly fashion, a male student with delicate features positioned at the forefront. What was peculiar here was that these three participants looked the same. If not for her familiarity with each of them, it would have been arduous for her to even tell them apart.

 Chapter 81 – Flying Soul Masters

    Chapter 81 ¨C Flying Soul Masters


    Wu Zhangkong brought the first grade¡¯s class five over, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie and Gu Yue following right at his heels. The rest of the students in class five had expressions filled with excitement. After the results of the previous match, they had suddenly gained much more confidence in Tang Wulin¡¯s trio.


    Ye Yingrong walked over with a smile.


    ¡°Hello Teacher Wu.¡± She smiled and nodded towards Wu Zhangkong.


    Ye Yingrong truly was a beauty. Her height exceeded 170 centimeters, her figure was superb, and her eyes were bright and full of spirit. Her rarely seen long, light green hair was tied in a ponytail and, with the addition of her fair skin, oval face, and cherry mouth, many would find it believable if they were told she was just an advanced academy student!


    She had joined Eastsea Academy as a teacher at the age of 23 and was already a four ring Soul Ancestor. To Wu Zhangkong, he considered this excellent for her age.


    ¡°Hello.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded in acknowledgement.


    ¡°I¡¯m the teacher in charge of class three, Ye Yingrong,¡± she said, stressing her name in particular. This was because she was certain that this Icily Arrogant Prince Charming had no idea who she was. This was the legended Prince Charming who lived in his own world after all. In the entire academy, it was unclear how many of the females¡¯ names he could actually remember!


    ¡°En.¡± Wu Zhangkong answered with a single grunt before his gaze drifted back towards the stage.


    Xie Xie stood on the side with eyes full of admiration. The thing Xie Xie envied the most was this icy arrogance Wu Zhangkong had about him. This sort of icy arrogance wasn¡¯t a facade, but rather, it was innate! If he compared himself with Wu Zhangkong, he would be found to be truly too lacking!


    Ye Yingrong didn¡¯t mind this response in the least. Instead, she turned her attention to class three and waved them over. The students of class three hurriedly ran over, forming a neat line in front of her.


    Ye Yingrong said to her class, ¡°Friendship is number one, and the competition is secondary. Gu Tianri, Gu Tianyue, Gu Tianming, do you understand?


    ¡°Yes, Teacher Ye!¡± The triplets spoke in unison, making it seem as if only one person had spoken.


    Wu Zhangkong swung a glance at them. Upon seeing their three identical appearances, he clearly became much more interested in Ye Yingrong and these triplets.


    At that moment, Teaching Director Long Hengxu arrived on stage.


    ¡°The second match of the Class Promotion Tournament has arrived. First grade¡¯s class five, is it still the same three people as before?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue stepped onto the stage together and walked over to the center.


    Ye Yingrong said with a humble smile, ¡°You guys should go now too.¡±


    The identical triplets got onto the stage.


    These three brothers shared similar traits, such as a slender figure and exceptionally sharp eyes. Due to their deep understanding of one another, their movements were completely synchronized as they walked on stage.


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t give any pointers to his disciples. They would meet all sorts of opponents in the future, and the Class Promotion Tournament was meant to temper them. If they needed his pointers, then they wouldn¡¯t be able to grow.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s trio stood in a triangular formation, with Tang Wulin as the vanguard once again. They stood tall and steady like a mountain.


    The three Gu brothers stood in a line, side by side. Gu Tianri was in the center, with Gu Tianyue to the left and Gu Tiang Ming on the right.


    ¡°Are you all ready?¡± Long Hengxu inquired as per usual. After receiving answers from both parties, he waved his hand, declaring the start of the match.


    The Gu brothers simultaneously released their martial souls. When Tang Wulin¡¯s trio saw what their martial souls were, they were utterly flabbergasted.


    These three brothers¡¯ martial souls were exactly the same, but that wasn¡¯t the baffling part. After all, they were triplets. What was baffling, however, was that wings appeared on their backs simultaneously, creating a very powerful scene.


    The three pairs of wings opened up simultaneously while a white soul ring appeared underneath each of them. The three Gu brothers flew up into the air together, quickly ascending to great heights.


    Faced with such a scene, Long Hengxu was stunned.


    Flying martial soul? It had to be said that flying martial souls were quite rare. With the additional fact of them being triplets, even if there soul power was weak, or they had a less than optimal spirit soul, they definitely should have been sent to a class of elites. It seems that there was a mistake during their enrollment.


    In reality, it really was a mistake on the academy¡¯s part. The Gu brothers hadn¡¯t signed up together. Gu Tianri had signed up first, as Gu Tianming had a stomach ache and Gu Tianming had other things to attend to. Moreover, there were numerous students signing up at all times, so the teachers were bustling with work and had overlooked the triplets.


    Moreover, these three brothers had also encountered a problem similar to Tang Wulin. Their family¡¯s financial situation was exceedingly ordinary. How could their parents possibly afford to buy them three spirit souls at the same time? Thus, they had delayed it and scraped together the money bit by bit until right before their registration date. Then all three of them bought ten year spirit souls, thus fulfilling the requirements needed of the three to sign up for the academy. Their soul power was only at rank 11, and even though their martial soul wasn¡¯t weak, their soul rings were simply too lacking! Due to this, they had been placed in class three.


    The Gu brothers¡¯ martial soul was called Skyscraping Battle Eagle. It was a type of high speed bird type martial soul.


    Skyscraping Battle Eagle was a type of powerful eagle that would overwhelm its opponents with its speed. As a soul beast, Skyscraping Battle Eagles were able to fly up to altitudes of three kilometers. Moreover, it could maintain high speeds for extended durations. From this, it could be inferred that the three brothers were all Agility System Battle Soul Masters.


    Their first spirit souls were identical, a type of falcon called Gust Falcon. Its speed was exceptionally fast, but its attack power was lacking in comparison. It was only about the size of the palm of one¡¯s hand.


    This was a poor excuse for a spirit soul. If they had been able to pick a slightly more powerful spirit soul, their fighting strength would have been several times higher.


    The moment they had released their martial soul, a pair of gray eagle wings sprouted from their backs and they ascended into the air.


    ¡°They can fly? How are we going to deal with this?¡± Xie Xie looked towards Tang Wulin as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin gave him a slight smile. ¡°We just need to beat them down. Gu Yue, aid me with your wind element.¡± Tang Wulin said this to Gu Yue as a blue light bloomed in his hand. Bluesilver Grass shot towards Xie Xie and wrapping around his waist.


    Xie Xie screamed, ¡°I¡¯m afraid of heights! What are you doing?¡±


    Tang Wulin unhappily said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid of pain, but didn¡¯t you still stab me yesterday?¡± Without waiting for Xie Xie¡¯s retort, he immediately pulled Xie Xie close, wrapping a hand around his waist.


    A green light flashed over, causing Xie Xie¡¯s body to lighten. It seemed as though his body weight had been lightened by quite a bit. In that instant, he was sent flying like soaring clouds through mist.


    Offstage, Ye Yingrong saw Tang Wulin holding onto Xie Xie. He then twirled a few times before launching Xie Xie into the air. He was tossed directly at the trio!


    The green light lingered on Xie Xie¡¯s body, causing him to unexpectedly rocket straight towards Gu Tianri.


    ¡®How is he able to throw someone so high up?¡¯ Ye Ying rong was given a fright, but she quickly collected herself.


    The Gu brothers had flying martial souls and were triplets. Ever since they had entered the academy, she had been placing special attention to training these three brothers. She had drilled them in the art of aerial combat and cooperation. If they only sent one person into the air, then wasn¡¯t this just giving the three brothers an opportunity to gang up on him?

 Chapter 82 – Teamwork!

    Chapter 82 ¨C Teamwork!


    ¡°I¡¯m going up too,¡± whispered Gu Yue, informing Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin looked at her with shock, but Gu Yue had already positioned herself in front of him. Tang Wulin used both hands to hold Gu Yue¡¯s waist, lifted her up and began to spin.


    Compared with Xie Xie, Gu Yue was much lighter. Her waist was so tiny that it seemed like he could lift her up with a single hand and throw her without requiring the aid of her wind element.


    Gu Yue flew up in hot pursuit after Xie Xie.


    Up in the sky, Gu Tianri calmly gave a hand signal. Towards the oncoming Xie Xie, he avoided direct combat with him. With a flap of his wings, he curbed his forward momentum and stopped violently in the air.


    Their greatest advantage was their ability to fly. They were unafraid when they were up in the sky. The best chance for their attack to have a great impact would be the moment Xie Xie began to fall back down.


    Ye Yingrong glanced at the side and gave Wu Zhangkong a look. The scene before them was simply a reckless charge by the students of class five. They had flown up when they didn¡¯t have the ability to fly, eliminating any advantages they might have had on the ground. Soon, the three Gu brothers would discover the perfect opportunity for a successful strike.


    She had observed their match the day before. Out of the three from class five, Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul was merely Bluesilver Grass. Although his strength was considerable, it was merely that and nothing more. Gu Yue seemed to have control over the earth, so why was she up in the air? The only participant that seemed to be a threat to them was Xie Xie as an Agility System Battle Soul Master, yet he too didn¡¯t have the ability to fly.


    The natural thing to do when competing against a Flying Soul Master was to stay on the ground and wait for the right moment to strike. This was because a Soul Master, upon releasing their martial soul, would continuously deplete their soul power. A Flying Soul Master¡¯s soul power depletion was far greater than that of a normal Soul Master. With sufficient patience, class five¡¯s team would have had some chance of winning the match. Yet, they seemed to have become reckless at this moment. Their sudden charge into the air gave the Gu brothers a chance to surround them in the skies. It could be said that their success was assured!


    In Ye Yingrong¡¯s eyes, however, Wu Zhangkong seemed as cool as usual. It wasn¡¯t possible to read his thoughts from his unchanged expression. Was he not at all concerned with the match¡¯s result?


    Gu Tianri retreated as Xie Xie sped through the air. He backed up to a height that superseded Xie Xie¡¯s. It seemed that the force from Tang Wulin¡¯s throw had begun to wane, and Xie Xie was going to fall.


    At this time, a sudden flash of blue light appeared beneath Xie Xie¡¯s feet. With a twist of his body, Xie Xie¡¯s feet tapped against the blue light and, with some borrowed energy, he sprang towards Gu Tianri like an arrow.


    This change was too abrupt. Gu Tianri, who had been waiting for the right opportunity, was caught off guard and froze.


    A match was ever-changing. If any of the participants were to relax for even a moment, it may result in them losing the whole fight.


    Gu Tianyue and Gu Tianming were positioned to the sides. When they sighted their eldest brother struggling to avoid his opponent, they flew to his aid. The two of them flapped their wings and activated their first soul skill.


    Their first soul skill wasn¡¯t great at all and had no offensive might. It merely increased their speed.


    Gu Yue was currently halfway up the air. It had been her ice ball which had helped change Xie Xie¡¯s direction a few moments ago. Right now, she saw Gu Tianyue and Gu Tianming trying to reinforce Gu Tianri and it made her sneer in disdain. She lifted both hands and two icicles were hurled at the two Gu brothers.


    Gu Tianyue and Gu Tianming both had good control of their aerial abilities. When they sighted the icicles, they hurriedly tried to avoid the attack. More icicles, however, continued to form in Gu Yue¡¯s hands and as she hurled them, it left the brothers without a chance to aid Gu Tianri.


    Xie Xie¡¯s speed was quick. As he flew through the air, his Light Dragon Dagger was released. A golden ray of light was then shot out. Gu Tianri wanted to descend and evade his charge, but his escape route was blocked by this Light Dragon Blade.


    Xie Xie was then before Gu Tianri, who was at his wit¡¯s end. He tried to kick at Xie Xie in the hopes of knocking him away.


    Keeping his knife to the side, Xie Xie pulled at Gu Tianri¡¯s leg with his left hand. Like a mirage, he leapt and tapped Gu Tianri on the head with the flat of his Light Dragon Dagger. He then stepped onto Gu Tianri¡¯s shoulder and jumped, flying through the air like a huge bird towards Gu Tianyue, who wasn¡¯t far from his current location.


    ¡°Out, Gu Tianri.¡± Long Hengxu was positioned on the ground and had a clear view of the match. He announced that Gu Tianri was out. Just a moment ago, if Xie Xie had the intention to kill, then Gu Tianri¡¯s throat would have been slit open.


    Gu Tianri wasn¡¯t persuaded, but before long he witnessed a shocking sight. Three bundles of blue light appeared before Xie Xie. Following these tracks, Xie Xie connected himself to those three points and, while flipping thrice in the air, closed in on Gu Tianyue¡¯s location.


    It was only now that Gu Yue began to descend from the air. Her body sparkled with a green light. It was rather distinct that it allowed her to descend at a much slower pace than what should have naturally happened.


    It had been only a few breaths of time since the start of the match, yet the match¡¯s progress had left its audience dumbfounded.


    Gu Yue and Xie Xie¡¯s marvellous combination made it seem as though it was as easy for them to fight in the air as it was to fight on the ground.


    The Gu brothers were obviously not well matched when competing with Xie Xie at close range. Gu Tianming, on the other side of the field from them, could only look on helplessly with clenched teeth. With a sudden about-face, he flapped his wings and charge at Gu Yue, who was slowly descending to the ground. He had to defeat someone at the very least. Then he could fly up and eliminate the chances of being attacked any further.


    Gu Yue had produced those three ice balls as she descended, but she was in no rush. She didn¡¯t even bother to look at Gu Tianming.


    A blue light flashed at her waist. As soon as Gu Tianming neared her, her body shifted to the side in an instant. A figure on the floor moved and caught her. At the same time, Gu Tianming only felt a tightening around his waist before he found that his body was being pulled down from the air.


    Xie Xie descended from the air by standing atop Gu Tianyue¡¯s shoulders. With his Light Dragon Dagger pressed against Gu Tianyue¡¯s head, the youth didn¡¯t dare to not descend.


    As for Gu Tianming, he was pulled and thrown down by a whirl of Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass. He collapsed on the ground in a complete mess.


    Total defeat. They weren¡¯t able to even speak about having a rematch.


    ¡°First grade¡¯s class five wins!¡± When these words left Long Hengxu¡¯s mouth, they clearly had a note of shock to them.


    If one were to speak of the victory of the previous day, then one would discuss the individual capabilities of the first grade¡¯s class five team. If one were to speak of today¡¯s match, then it would be teamwork that won them the game.


    The Gu brothers, who were supposedly better at teamwork, had looked down upon their opponents and thus failed to unleash the full extent of their true abilities as a unit of triplets. On the contrary, Tang Wulin¡¯s group of three had won the match by giving surprises, one after another. This was how the match ended.


    What was more astounding was Gu Yue¡¯s display of her ice element abilities. Wasn¡¯t it the earth element in the previous match?


    Was this twin martial souls? That was a prodigy among prodigies. Especially so when considering the circumstances surrounding elements. Long Hengxu¡¯s heart was full of regrets. He¡¯d been fooled by Wu Zhangkong into letting such a prodigy enter class five. This time around, he would be in deep trouble because of this Class Promotion Tournament. He was unclear if class one would be able to prevent them from winning.


    Ye Yingrong was stunned as well. She¡¯d trained the Gu brothers for the past few months now and told herself that the triplets were practically in unison when in the air. Aside from their slightly weaker attack power, their speed, teamwork, and flight capabilities were perfect in helping them gain the upperhand in matches.


    But this had caught them off guard. Under the circumstances where they were bound to win the match, their opponents had been able to exhibit such tacit coordination.


    Gu Yue¡¯s few ice balls were hurled at just the right time and gained them several advantages. Xie Xie had fully utilized his Agility System Battle Soul Master capabilities, and this was on the premise that he couldn¡¯t fly! He had succeeding in making several transformations in the air and borrowed force from those three ice balls. His ability to do this and his control over his body was at the peak!


    Ye Yingrong took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Smiling, she turned towards Wu Zhangkong and said, ¡°Congratulations, Teacher Wu. You will be in class three now.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong answered mildly, ¡°That is not my goal. Please excuse me.¡± As he finished, he made a slight turn towards the trio leaving the stage and swept them a glance before walking over to the dormitory building without any words or comments.


    ¡°Is Teacher Wu pleased with us or not?¡± Xie Xie suspiciously asked this of Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°How would I know? I¡¯m guessing that we¡¯ll need to summarize the fight, though.¡±


    Gu Yue nodded her head. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have attacked first. Instead, we could have waited for a chance. If we had stayed on the ground and defended that position, they would have had to attack us. Naturally, they¡¯d then reach a distance that makes it comfortable for us to attack them. Once they come down, they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance. With their flying martial souls, we wouldn¡¯t have any chance if they decided to flee, but for this match they stood no chance. We shouldn¡¯t be so rash next time.¡±

 Chapter 83 – Guang Biao

    Chapter 83 ¨C Guang Biao


    Xie Xie looked towards Tang Wulin. ¡°Wulin, it¡¯s just as she said; you were too impulsive. I¡¯m not someone you can simply  pick up after all! I don¡¯t know what kind of temper you have, but I just won¡¯t stand and bear it!¡±


    Tang Wulin sincerely said to Gu Yue, ¡°It was our first time facing Flying Soul Masters, so I really did act impulsively. I¡¯m sorry!¡±


    Xie Xie said in shock, ¡°Hey, I think your temperament is a bit too good now. She¡¯s criticizing you yet you still so easily apologized.¡±


    Gu Yue laughed. ¡°Pfff. It¡¯s no use trying to drive a wedge between us. If someone points out a small mistake, then acknowledge your faults and change. Even if they point out a major mistake, then you should still maintain a gentleman¡¯s elegance. Do you think everyone is as petty as you? Wulin, I¡¯ll treat you to dinner at the first window tonight. Only one meal though!¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Sounds good! Even a housefly is considered meat. Let¡¯s go then; I¡¯m already hungry.¡±


    Ye Yingrong watched the trio head off for the dining hall, dumbstruck with silence. Even if she possessed extraordinary self-restraint, at that moment, her mouth couldn¡¯t help but twitch at the corner.


    The opposing party hadn¡¯t been focusing on how to deal with them at all. Rather, they had devised a plan on the spot to counter her class¡¯s representatives. What did this mean? It meant that everything they did on stage had been improvised! But why was their coordination so deep?


    She took out a soul communicator from her pocket and punched in a number.


    Soon after, a pure, cold female voice was heard.


    ¡°What is it little sister?¡±


    Ye Yingrong said, ¡°Big sister, we lost.¡±


    ¡°You lost? Don¡¯t tell me that the opponents were also Flying Soul Masters?¡±


    Ye Yingrong forced out a bitter laugh and said, ¡°Not at all. It¡¯s just that their coordination is exceptional and their team is comprised of outstanding individuals. Big sister, you need to be careful. Your class one might run into worthy opponents this time. The students of that Icily Arrogant Prince Charming aren¡¯t easy to handle. You definitely need to be prepared!¡±


    The soul communicator went silent for a moment before the clear and cold voice returned with a firmness behind it. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting a long time for this day. That time, he had humiliated me, but this time I¡¯ll return the favor.¡± ¡°Big sister, you¡­¡± Ye Yingrong didn¡¯t have the chance to finish speaking before her sister  hung up.


    Ye Yingrong let out a helpless sigh as she spoke to the air, ¡°You really are too competitive. He wasn¡¯t in the wrong when he rejected you that time, yet you¡¯ve held a grudge for two years already!¡±


    ?


    After eating dinner, Xie Xie suggested that they head out of the academy to play again, but was promptly refused by Tang Wulin. His reason was simple, he wanted to go cultivate instead.


    Soul power was the foundation for everything. This was the first and most important lesson Wu Zhangkong drilled into their heads in their first theory class.


    Moreover, there were no shortcuts to improving one¡¯s soul power. The only way to improve was through constant meditation.


    Tang Wulin refusal to go caused Xie Xie to lose his own drive to go out and play. Thus, he decided to meditate like Tang Wulin, doing his best to strive towards getting his second ring. Sadly, only a few moments passed before their door was suddenly thrown open.


    Zhou Zhangxi ran in. ¡°It¡¯s not good. Xie Xie, Wulin, hurry up and come see. A group of people are at the academy gates. Their boss seems to be quite powerful too. And, and, they¡¯re holding a picture of you two and Gu Yue. They¡¯re calling for the academy to hand you three over to them. I¡¯m afraid the teachers will come out soon.¡±


    Tang Wulin had just begun meditating and had yet to completely enter a meditative state, so he immediately opened his eyes once he heard those words. Sitting on the opposite side, Xie Xie gave him a glance, and both of their hearts tensed up. ¡®Could it be¡­?¡¯


    ¡°Go! Let¡¯s go see!¡± Xie Xie straightened his back then jumped off his bed. Tang Wulin followed, and the two of them briskly made their way outside. As soon as they left their dormitory, they met Gu Yue.


    ¡°Have you heard?¡± Tang Wulin asked Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue nodded, but her expression was unperturbed. ¡°It should be about what happened yesterday, right?¡±


    A cold light flickered in Xie Xie¡¯s eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Having said this, he began walking towards the academy¡¯s great gates while dragging Tang Wulin behind him.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± Tang Wulin heavily said.


    Xie Xie angrily responded, ¡°What are we waiting for? If it¡¯s those guys from yesterday, then we¡¯ll just beat them up again. Bullying people into paying a protection fee, yet those thieves still dare to come to the academy and cry thief!¡±


    Tang Wulin firmly grabbed him. Xie Xie attempted to struggle free, but what kind of strength did Tang Wulin have?


    Tang Wulin was firm as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so impulsive. This matter shouldn¡¯t be that simple. Don¡¯t forget where we are right now. This is Eastsea Academy, a Soul Master¡¯s academy. If they still dare come here despite knowing this, then it would mean that they¡¯re confident in their backing. We¡¯re still far too weak right now. It would be a better idea to go find Teacher Wu first.¡±


    As he listened to Tang Wulin¡¯s words, Xie Xie began to regain his calm. He was a smart boy, and no longer had any impulsive thoughts after he understood Tang Wulin¡¯s meaning.


    Gu Yue nodded in agreement. ¡°I stand with Wulin on this. We should go find Teacher Wu first.¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi interjected from behind, ¡°This matter caused a large disturbance. There are at least two hundred people waiting outside the gates and they all seem very arrogant. What did you guys do?¡±


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later. Let¡¯s go; we need to find Teacher Wu first.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s schedule was extremely strict. After dinner, he would immediately go meditate, so finding him wasn¡¯t difficult at all.


    Wu Zhangkong, clothed in a traditional white chang pao, opened the door. When he saw that his visitors were Tang Wulin¡¯s trio, he coldly asked, ¡°What cultivation questions do you have?¡±


    Although Xie Xie also had an icy arrogance in him, when he faced Wu Zhangkong he didn¡¯t have the guts to say anything. Instead, he looked expectantly at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Teacher Wu, we¡¯ve caused some trouble¡­¡± Although he was a bit nervous, he still summoned up his courage and retold the events of what occurred the night before.


    Wu Zhangkong finished listening with an indifferent expression, then coldly said, ¡°It seems you guys actually have some ability!¡± Having said this, he walked over.


    His white chang pao seemed delicate and light, and it rustled in the wind. His hair also drifted up up from his shoulders and danced with the wind. This earthly aura carried a hint of pure coldness within it, making others feel as though they were in a dream.


    Tang Wulin patted the stunned Xie Xie and woke him from his stupor. The trio followed behind Wu Zhangkong and headed towards the academy¡¯s great gates.


    Outside of Eastsea Academy¡¯s great gates was an impenetrable crowd of at least two hundred fierce and burly looking people holding all sorts of weapons. Among them were quite a few people holding onto federation prohibited soul devices.


    Following the progress of soul technology, soul devices had developed ot the point that even ordinary people could use them. Soul Master¡¯s still had an exalted position, but the gap between them and commoners had been shortened due to technology. Even ordinary people could operate soul mechas now. Under a certain level, Soul Masters weren¡¯t that much more powerful than ordinary people with soul devices. This was the reason why those people dared to block the entrance of a Soul Master academy.


    On Eastsea Academy¡¯s side, many students of the intermediate and advanced divisions had crowded near the gates. Faced with those burly men who held up three photographs, they were surprised to see that it was Tang Wulin, Xie Xie and Gu Yue.


    A few of the burly men in the front were even carrying a stretcher, upon which lay Guang Long wrapped completely in gauze.


    Another group of people were holding a giant banner, which read, ¡°Murder must be paid with life! Debts must be paid! Hand over the culprit!¡±


    Fortunately, however, this was still a Soul Master¡¯s academy. Even though these burly men were confident in their backing, they didn¡¯t dare attack the academy. Their leader stood at over two meters tall and possessed an extremely stalwart body. Similar to Guang Long, his head was also shaven, but he had some small sideburns. With this intrepid appearance of his, he seemed like an upgraded version of Guang Long. His bare arms revealed muscles brimming with a terrifying strength. His gloomy eyes continuously swept through the crowd, searching for the three people in the photographs.


    ¡°What kind of people are you, to actually dare to cause trouble in front of the academy?¡± Right at that moment, a furious voice called out. Long Hengxue appeared with over ten teachers trailing behind him.


    After seeing the people outside of the gates, his heart tensed up a bit. It was exactly as Tang Wulin had said. Even though they knew this was a Soul Master¡¯s academy, they dared to come because they had some backing.


    ¡°My name is Guang Biao. The one on the stretcher is my younger brother.¡± The shaven headed man with a stalwart body coldly stated. His appearance wasn¡¯t as wild as the others, but his gloomy voice was like a thunderclap resounding in everyone¡¯s ears.


    ¡®Such powerful soul power! This bastard¡¯s cultivation is¡­¡¯


    Long Hengxu¡¯s pupils contracted as he tensed up. He suddenly remembered this name.


    ¡°Guang Biao? You are the captain of Eastsea City¡¯s mecha brigade? That Guang Biao?¡± Every single city had their own armed forces. Apart from the police force which kept order in the city, there was also their military force. Eastsea City was major coastal city, thus the federation had deployed five hundred soul mecha here to form a mecha brigade.

 Chapter 84 – Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring

    Chapter 84 ¨C Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring


    A mecha brigade was at the master regiment rank, and it was merely a rank lower than that of Eastsea City¡¯s chief executive. At the same time, there existed no subordinate relationship between these two ranks.


    Long Hengxu¡¯s face changed color immediately when he found out that this huge, stoic figure was Guang Biao. Even if Eastsea City¡¯s chief executive was here right now, he wouldn¡¯t have the ability to command Guang Biao!


    ¡°I have not come as the mecha brigade captain, but merely as an elder brother with a seriously injured younger brother. Bring out the culprits who caused this,¡± Guang Biao commanded coolly.


    ¡°Chief Guang Biao, I believe there must be some misunderstandings here.¡± Long Hengxu spoke in a much more harmonious tone. ¡°There are actually three children in your photograph. It can¡¯t be that your brother was wounded by those three children?¡±


    Long Hengxu had clear knowledge that Guang Biao was not someone to be trifled with. He was someone who had control of a mecha brigade! This meant that all those burly men behind him were all Mecha Masters. Although ordinary people could also become a Mecha Master, this was rarely seen. The majority of Mecha Masters were Soul Masters. Even if their ranks weren¡¯t high, they still had rich combat experience and extraordinary control of soul devices. In front of such people, their academy really couldn¡¯t contend with them, not to mention that the other side could also mobilize mecha.


    Long Hengxu had also heard of Guang Biao¡¯s life. The captain was a legendary figure in his own right. He was from an ordinary family and both of his parents had died when he was a child. Relying on his own talent, as well as his hard work, he had managed to reach his current position at the age of 35. With the position of captain and a soul power cultivation of six rings, he was a true Soul Emperor. His Mecha Master rank had also reached Emperor Rank. As for the entire Eastsea Academy, the only one with a soul power cultivation of Soul Emperor would be¡­


    ¡°Misunderstandings? Children? My brother had been beaten up so badly. As his older brother, it is natural for me to investigate this matter. That will be done at my end, however. Stop your nonsense and hand over these people. I have given Eastsea City enough face by waiting here. If you do not hand over those people in 20 minutes, then we shall go and search for them ourselves.¡±


    Long Hengxu¡¯s face darkened as he snapped and said, ¡°Captain Guang Biao, you shouldn¡¯t go overboard! This is an academy, a place for cultivating students. Which of your lot hadn¡¯t before graduated from an academy? I will not hand over the people you seek. If you have the ability, then activate your mecha and step over my dead body. Otherwise, don¡¯t think of taking one step into Eastsea Academy!¡±


    The students who were normally critical of Director Long¡¯s stern ways now felt their blood boil as they watched this scene. Some senior students even stepped forward of their own accord and stood behind Long Hengxu.


    Guang Biao suddenly took a step forward. When his foot landed, a deep roar was heard, as if the ground beneath the whole of Eastsea Academy trembled from it. The students standing at the front swayed on the spot and fell over.


    ¡°I only believe in strength. Do you all think your students will be able to block me? Where is your sense of righteousness when you decline to hand over the culprits who had wounded my brother so badly? I have tried to talk reason with you, but since my fist is bigger, I shall just go and find those I seek. I¡¯ll see then who has the ability to stop me.¡±


    At this moment, an ice-cold voice sounded from the academy. ¡°I dislike talking about reasoning the most.  Talking with our fists is much better.¡±


    The spectators only felt a blur before them as a person appeared in front of Eastsea Academy.


    Clothed in a white chang pao, the person¡¯s inky-green eyes sparkled as coral-blue hair fell down his back. An air of arrogance surrounded him as he stood there, the temperature seemingly decreasing by a few degrees.


    The feeling was most clear for Guang Biao. When this person appeared, the powerful momentum he had built up just a few moments ago had broken apart, as though it collided against a glacier.


    ¡°Teacher Wu. It¡¯s Teacher Wu¡­¡± Some of the students on Eastsea Academy¡¯s side had begun to cheer him on.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Guang Biao¡¯s eyes narrowed as he tried to rebuild his momentum.


    Wu Zhangkong mildly said, ¡°Those three students you are seeking are my students. If you can defeat me, you may proceed. Otherwise, get lost.¡±


    His voice was frigid, without any feelings behind it. He spoke as if his sentence was a stated fact.


    ¡°Ha ha ha ha! Good, I haven¡¯t met someone who dared to speak to me in this manner before. You¡¯ve piqued my interest!¡± Although Guang Biao was smiling, a flame burned furiously within him.


    A strong ray of yellow light flowed from his body. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, purple. Six soul rings appeared from beneath him.


    Soul Emperor, six ringed soul emperor! A sudden exclamation broke out within the student body.


    As he released his martial soul, Guang Biao grew a good half meter. A metal grey sheen had appeared from his forehead, spreading to his shoulders and upper torso and then the rest of his body. It was as if he had been encapsulated by a layer of armour. At this very instant, three clusters of lights appeared, two yellow and one purple. The two yellow lights seemed to be in the shape of a lizard and were identical. As for the purple light, it seemed to be a huge python.


    Purple, a thousand year spirit soul! There was no doubt that those six soul rings were produced by these three spirit souls. Only elites could possess a thousand year spirit soul in the world of Soul Masters.


    Guang Biao¡¯s martial soul was similarly an Armoured Dragon, but the aura it emitted out was far more powerful than Guang Long, and it gave off a feeling that this Armoured Dragon was a mountain too massive to be conquered.


    Strong momentum formed into something like a tornado that roared towards Wu Zhangkong, blowing up his long blue tresses.


    At this moment, all of the spectators on grounds felt a sudden chill in their bodies, as if the winter had descended. Guang Biao had caught sight of a pale blue flash


    Then the rage of this tornado was halved before it disappeared.


    Wu Zhangkong stood in the same spot, his white robes afloat, right hand was raised in the air. A pale blue long sword had appeared within his hand.w


    Sword tip like an autumn spring, the sword¡¯s light flowed like a waterfall. White clothes, blue sword; floating in the air like an immortal.


    Within the Eastsea Academy¡¯s assembly ground, only a handful had witnessed him fighting before. As such, all of the spectators had their attention focused on that sword.


    Rings of light appeared from beneath the sword¡¯s hilt. These soul rings weren¡¯t great in size, but wandered about along the sword¡¯s body. Yet, it were the colors of these soul rings that made them bright and eye-catching. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black!


    Yes, the last two soul rings were black! Black represented ten thousand years. Those were, indeed, ten-thousand year soul rings!


    The air seemed to still, the sky frozen with the appearance of this sword. Wu Zhangkong stood quietly in the same spot, but Guang Biao¡¯s previous violent momentum turned to stone.


    Ten-thousand year¡­ Ten-thousand year soul rings¡­ How was that possible¡­ How could they be ten-thousand year soul rings!

 Chapter 85 – White Robes and Blue Sword, Sky Ice and Snow Cold (I)

    Chapter 85 ¨C White Robes and Blue Sword, Sky Ice and Snow Cold (I)


    Guang Biao stared at Wu Zhangkong with a dumbstruck expression. Ever since the extinction of soul beasts, very rarely would ten-thousand year soul rings appear. Even for the Spirit Pagoda, wasn¡¯t it exceedingly difficult to manufacture ten-thousand year spirit souls?


    ¡®But how? How could he have ten thousand year soul rings? What was his true identity?¡¯ As he was able to obtain ten-thousand year soul rings at such a young age, this pressure clearly had an effect on Guang Biao. While his impulsive side was excited when facing a Soul Emperor possessing two ten-thousand year soul rings, he was no longer certain of his victory.


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t even bother to look at him. Instead, he just lowered his head and stared at the long sword in his hand.


    Skyfrost Sword, that was the name of his martial soul. It had been ages since the last time he¡¯d used it. He had already condensed his spiritual power into his martial soul long ago. Its reappearance was like reuniting with an old friend. His expression no longer possessed its usual cold indifference, instead, it held a trace of foolishness in it at that moment. It almost seemed as if he were looking at his own lover, a gaze as tender as water.


    ¡°Hou!¡± Guang Biao bellowed at the sky. He had already been forced into a corner. If he were to back down in front of all his subordinates, they would think he was a weakling. How would he be able to lead them then? This was the reason why he couldn¡¯t back down from this battle now.


    His first soul ring lit up, causing his armored body to burst with a metallic light. Armored Dragon Body!


    Guang Biao suddenly pushed off with his left foot, sweeping towards Wu Zhangkong like a hurricane.[1]


    At his rank, regardless of whether it were his speed or power, they were both extremely terrifying!


    His large fist swung upwards as he straightened his body. If one were struck by this fist, they would likely be on the brink of death.


    Wu Zhangkong was looking at his Skyfrost Sword just as before, without a single movement in response. The Armored Dragon¡¯s fist was like a hurricane, its figure massive. At this moment, nothing could disturb the powerful Guang Biao¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Teacher, be careful!¡± Tang Wulin called out from afar.


    Right at that moment, Wu Zhangkong stirred. He rotated his right hand causing all six soul rings to vanish from his Skyfrost Sword simultaneously. Gently raising the tip of his sword, he met the mountain-like fist head on.


    Ding ding ding ding ding¡­ A succession of brittle notes rang out.


    When the first sound rang out, Guang Biao, whose power was like that of a tyrant dragon, was stopped. The following crisp notes had been his scales flying off one after another. In the end, even with his powerful body, he had been forced back a step.


    He wanted to resist, to release an even stronger amount of soul power, but when that Skyfrost Sword touched his fist, an icy sword qi penetrated into his body through. The sword qi was like a needle that followed along the veins and into his body, forcing him to gather all of his soul power in order to mount a defense against it. How could he possibly use a soul skill under such circumstances!?


    Seven brittle notes rang out and he retreated seven steps. Yet it seemed as though Wu Zhangkong had only sent out one sword strike.


    A blue ray flashed out from his body at the moment of collision. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s lofty aura unexpectedly possessed an extremely dense quality to it.


    His deep green eyes suddenly turned purple, and a purple light blossomed from his pupils as he thrust forth his Skyfrost Sword.


    This was a simple movement that couldn¡¯t be made any simpler! From start to finish, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes had never left his Skyfrost Sword.


    When he thrust out his sword, however, Guang Biao felt as though something within his body had been set aflame. At that moment, extremely cold sword qi burst forth one after another as Guang Biao felt his mind growing slower and slower, his blood beginning to freeze. Moreover, that powerful martial soul he had relied upon to climb to his current position was completely unable to protect him! It was as if the Armored Dragon had completely abandoned him!


    Guang Biao¡¯s purple snake spirit soul finally stirred, causing its powerful body to expand! Silver scales sprouted from the spirit soul¡¯s purple body and its tail whipped out at Wu Zhangkong from the side. It had to attack the enemy to save its master!


    All of the onlookers were shocked when they saw that Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t even bother to dodge. That was right, he didn¡¯t budge even the slightest bit. An azure light soared up as his eyes continued to release a purple light. Unexpectedly, he just let the thousand year spirit soul attack him directly!


    Chi. A soft sound was heard. At that winning moment, the blue aura around Wu Zhangkong¡¯s body clearly became stronger. When his aura intensified, everyone else saw a change. They felt as though Wu Zhangkong¡¯s entire body had become a sword, one that was exactly identical to the Skyfrost Sword in his hand!


    The purple snake spirit soul¡¯s tail was whipping towards the tip of that sword!


    A purple light swept past, yet was cleanly cut. The spirit soul released a blood-curdling screech as its body¡¯s luster dimmed. Moreover, in that moment, the Skyfrost Sword had already arrived in front of Guang Biao.


    Guang Biao tightly clenched his teeth. Right now, he couldn¡¯t use his martial soul¡¯s power anymore. His opponent¡¯s tyrannical and extreme cold sword qi had killed his connection with his martial soul. He sluggishly pondered over what he could do. In the end, he could only raise his hands to face the attack in front of him and circulate all of his soul power to his palms.


    Pu! The blue light slowed to a stop.


    It stopped right in front of Guang Biao¡¯s nose, but the ice-cold air emitting from it seemed as if it had created a net of swords, giving off an aura of death that covered his entire body. His palms had already been impaled and had changed to the same light blue color as the Skyfrost Sword.


    ¡°Your, your eyes¡­ You¡¯re from that place¡­¡± Guang Biao said in astonishment. It was clear that he had lost control of himself as his voice quivered It was uncertain whether this was due to the extreme cold or fear.


    Wu Zhangkong indifferently said, ¡°I was expelled from there because of my temper. So, don¡¯t let me see you again.¡±


    The blue light vanished, and it seemed as if a blue stream of air flowed towards Wu Zhangkong and condensed within his body. His Skyfrost Sword disappeared without a trace, and he had long since turned around, walking back towards Eastsea Academy.


    A trace of ice cold qi that had drilled into Guang Biao¡¯s body now flocked back towards Wu Zhangkong.


    White clothed, blue sword, sky ice and snow cold, Wu Zhangkong!


    His name is ¹âì­, with the second character (biao) meaning whirlwind. So this is kind of a pun/reference to it

 Chapter 86 – White Clothes and Blue Sword, Sky Ice and Snow Cold (II)

    Chapter 86 ¨C White Clothes and Blue Sword, Sky Ice and Snow Cold (II)


    After the disappearance of Wu Zhangkong, the whole area stayed in deep silence, as if everyone¡¯s voices had frozen.


    Regardless of whether they were teachers or students of Eastsea Academy, or Mecha Masters of the mecha brigade, what had just happened was too shocking.


    This was a match between six ring Soul Emperors. They had seen a thousand year spirit soul, but also the appearance of ten-thousand year soul rings.


    What was unclear was that while both sides were at the same level, why was Wu Zhangkong able to defeat Guang Biao with two sword strikes? Since Guang Biao was the captain of the mecha brigade, his battle experience and cultivation had to be suitably high for the position. Even if Wu Zhangkong had better soul rings, he shouldn¡¯t have lost that quickly.


    The disparity could be because their martial souls  had a great difference, or¡­ Wu Zhangkong had a much greater level of battle experience than him, as well as some other special aspects.


    ¡°Prince Charming¡­¡± An unknown female¡¯s shriek was heard, and Eastsea Academy turned into a sea of cheers almost immediately. Students from the intermediate and advanced academy began cheering Wu Zhangkong¡¯s name, especially so from class five. Each and every one of its student had a flushed face, and stood with their chests raised proudly.


    Except for the child prodigy Xie Xie, most of those allocated to class five wouldn¡¯t feel good about their circumstances, right? Yet, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s prowess this match had given the students of class five a sense of fulfilment.


    Amidst the teachers, Ye Yingrong looked at Wu Zhangkong, her beautiful eyes glazed. She murmured, ¡°Sister, I didn¡¯t like his icy looks initially. Although he is handsome, he¡¯s like ice. Yet, it seems that I¡¯ve fallen for him. He¡¯s handsome enough to forget those flaws.¡±


    By Ye Yingrong¡¯s side was a woman about her age that didn¡¯t seem all that different in looks from her. Currently, her eyes were also glazed over. ¡°Six rings. He really has six ring. I had previously thought I had a chance at pursuing him, but it seems I will never be able to get my revenge on him. From what he has shown just now, it seems he¡¯d be able to duel and beat a seven ring Soul Sage. There¡¯s no doubt that he is from that place.¡±


    Ye Yingrong turned and looked towards her elder sister beside her. She spoke with a bitter smile, ¡°Sister, aren¡¯t you too vindictive?¡±


    Ye Ying Luo¡¯s beautiful eyes burned with stubborness. ¡°No one has ever rejected me; he was the first. He shall pay the price for that!¡±


    ?


    Guang Biao stood frozen at the same spot for over ten minutes. It was only then that the chill within his body began to slowly disappear. His pulse then regained its normalcy, and his soul power and martial soul returned.


    Blood started to drip out of the wounds on both his hands.


    A wave of fear flashed through his eyes as he looked down at his palms. ¡®That guy is terrifying! He definitely isn¡¯t a nobody¡­¡¯


    ¡°Captain, what about us?¡± A man with a similarly valiant build rushed up to Guang Biao and mumbled, ¡°Shall we activate our soul devices and mecha?¡±


    Guang Biao raised his hand and sent the man staggering. ¡°Bullshit! If you want to die, don¡¯t drag me along. Trying to wipe away today¡¯s matter is already difficult. If we also activate our soul devices and mecha, do you think we¡¯ll survive? Go, go back!¡±


    Guang Biao gave a deep sigh as he looked at his younger brother, who still lay on the stretcher.


    If it were somebody else, he wouldn¡¯t have stepped in and meddled with their matters. It didn¡¯t take much thought for him to know that this matter would trace back to him from Eastsea City¡¯s Administrative Department.


    Yet, this was his younger brother¡¯s matter. He doted on his younger brother greatly.


    He was the elder of the two Guang Brothers, and had been gifted with extraodinary strength since childhood. Guang Long had the similar talent as well, but it was difficult for their poor family to also support him. Even though Guang Long performed well at the academy, he couldn¡¯t fuse with a spirit soul, so that process had been delayed.


    Guang Biao tried to help his younger brother at all costs. He hoped that with his aid, Guang Long would be able to fuse with a spirit soul. Yet, he¡¯d already grown past the best age, so it was all too late.


    Thus, Guang Biao always felt a strong guilt towards Guang Long. Guang Long had since become a broken jar and collected protection money and got into drunken brawls, becoming a criminal. With the backing of Guang Biao, he was regarded as a lawless existence within Eastsea City.


    Since he had suffered such a great loss, Guang Biao had become furious and had brought a troops along to stir up some trouble. Yet, it had ended like this. They had collided against a metal wall.


    ?


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue were taken back to their dorms by a wave of ice-cold soul power.


    ¡°Return and continue training!¡± Wu Zhangkong sounded as icy as usual.


    ¡°Teacher, aren¡¯t you going to blame us?¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but ask Wu Zhangkong this since it had been them who¡¯d caused this mess.


    Wu Zhangkong gave him a quick glance. ¡°Did all of you do anything wrong? Why would I blame you guys? Return to your training. You are not allowed to leave the Academy during the night anymore, rest days included.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong walked away, and Tang Wulin¡¯s trio went back to their respective dorm rooms.


    ¡°Wulin, I¡¯m still trembling slightly. What just happened?¡± Xie Xie gripped onto Tang Wulin¡¯s arm tightly. He was indeed still trembling.


    Tang Wulin questioned him suspiciously, ¡°Are you cold?¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes shone brightly. ¡°No. Not cold. I¡¯m excited. I never knew that Soul Masters could be so powerful. Did you feel anything? During the moment Teacher Wu drew out his sword, it was as though the surroundings had changed, freezing with its appearance. That¡¯s an expert, a true expert! It would be amazing if I could be as powerful as Teacher Wu one day.¡±


    Tang Wulin slapped his hand and snapped, ¡°Then we should quickly get back to meditating. You¡¯re almost at rank 20, do you still not know how to work hard?¡±


    Xie Xie answered him doubtfully, ¡°Weren¡¯t you excited when you watched the scene just now?¡±


    Tang Wulin replied plainly, ¡°Yes I was! But what good does it do me? Teacher Wu had also slowly trained himself to be where he is now. We can only train hard as well.¡±


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m defeated by you. You can go meditate. I¡¯ll stay excited for a while more.¡±


    Giving him a helpless smile, Tang Wulin got back onto his bed and into a meditation position. How could he not be excited? It was the opposite. He was probably even more excited than Xie Xie, only he kept it deep within him and didn¡¯t let it show. ¡®Grow stronger, I want to grow stronger!¡¯


    Tang Wulin took in a deep breath, his mind focusing on the image of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s two  sword strikes. With that, he started his meditation.


    That pair of sword strikes from his teacher was just too amazing. It had almost felt like an alien energy. He recalled how Wu Zhangkong seemed to draw on his mind and heart when he attacked with those two sword strikes. It was as if Wu Zhangkong had turned into the center of the universe and had wielded that universe in the fight against Guang Biao.


    It might be that for others, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s second sword strike was the most shocking. When his Skyfrost Sword had emitted that ice-cold sword qi, it gave off a momentum that seemed as though it could shatter a forest of bamboo. Yet, to Tang Wulin, it had been that first sword strike that left him shocked.

 Chapter 87 – I Have a Dragon in My Body?

    Chapter 87 ¨C I Have a Dragon in My Body?


    When Wu Zhangkong lifted his blade and pointed it to the ground, it was done in a gentle and free motion, without a trace of forcefulness behind it.. In that situation, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been able to clearly see what happened next.


    Yet, when Wu Zhangkong¡¯s Skyfrost Sword touched Guang Biao¡¯s fist, he could clearly hear a sorrowful dragon¡¯s roar echo within his mind. Moreover, this dragon¡¯s roar reverberated continuously. As one scale flew off that fist, one after another, that pained dragon¡¯s roar caused his mind to tremble. He felt as though Wu Zhangkong¡¯s attack had actually been targeting himself. In fact, after the scales flew off, he could even feel the chilling sword qi that had entered Guang Biao¡¯s body, and the suffering it caused to his martial soul.


    In that moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart trembled, and another voice appeared within the depths of his mind. That voice had been in extreme rage and the burning, hot sensation he¡¯d felt when he was stabbed by the Light Dragon Dagger appeared once more. Although it was only for a brief moment, and it hadn¡¯t caused his body to transform, it still made him greatly shocked.


    From the moment the power first appeared to now, it seems to have been appearing more and more frequently. Tang Wulin realized that his body seemed to be hiding some sort of secret deep within it. Moreover, this secret likely had something to do with the mutation of his Bluesilver Grass.


    With this thought in mind, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help but stir restlessly. Normally, it would be very easy for him to enter a state of meditation, yet today, he couldn¡¯t keep a tranquil state of mind for a long time.


    Yun Xiao and Zhou Zhangxi had already returned to the dorm. Despite being normally calm, Yun Xiao was in high spirits as he discussed with Zhou Zhangxi and Xie Xie about Wu Zhangkong¡¯s two sword attacks and his charm.


    Tang Wulin could hear their discussion. As he attempted to enter a meditative state, his mind was gradually filled with more and more distracting thoughts. That continuous dragon¡¯s roar had excited his body. It seemed that something special was growing within his body.


    Gradually, his consciousness became hazy, and the dragon¡¯s constant roaring died down. It seemed that he was finally entering a meditative state.


    He gently circulated his soul power. The others were already meditating at this time, so they didn¡¯t see the golden vein pattern appear on Tang Wulin¡¯s tailbone.


    A scorching heat suddenly enveloped his body, causing his entire being to start trembling. His brows were knitted, as if he were in extreme pain.


    Darkness. It was pitch-black darkness. Nothing could be seen through this darkness. Tang Wulin discovered that he had arrived in a pitch-black world.


    Suddenly, a golden light appeared off in the distance.The golden light was simply too dazzling, and he couldn¡¯t help but give it all of his attention.


    The golden light drew closer and closer, causing its enormous size to become more apparent the closer it came. When Tang Wulin could finally and clearly see what it was, he was shocked to discover that it was actually a gigantic golden dragon.


    The golden dragon had five claws, and its entire body was covered in large golden scales. A pair of horns sprouted from its head, and its form serpentine.


    Ah, why did he know it was a dragon? It was clearly different from the dragons on the continent! It didn¡¯t have any wings and it had five claws under its belly. Yet, how did he know it was a dragon?


    The golden light suddenly blossomed, giving Tang Wulin the feeling of one looking down upon the land. When he lowered his own head, he could see his body. At this moment, his body seemed somewhat illusory.


    He was standing atop an azure tiled floor and it seemed that he was in an enormous hall. Floating up in the air within this hall was that gigantic golden dragon.


    Compared to before, he could see much more clearly now. Tang Wulin was amazed to discover that the dragon was over a hundred meters long and had eighteen rings of light around it.


    Every single ring of light emitted a limpid blue radiance. He didn¡¯t know why, but when Tang Wulin saw this blue light, the first thing he thought of was actually his own Bluesilver Grass.


    ¡°You¡¯ve arrived at last.¡± At that moment, a pure, cold voice resounded throughout the hall. In an instant, the entire hall was lit up by a golden radiance which then condensed in the center into a human form.


    The form¡¯s body was very transparent, and it was impossible to make out his exact appearance. It was almost as if his body was made purely of light and shadows.


    ¡°Who are you? What is this place? Am I dreaming?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Maybe you are. I don¡¯t know who I am either¡­.¡± That golden silhouettes voice seemed to be at a loss. ¡°I am just a thread of divine consciousness. I am a thread of divine consciousness dedicated to guiding you. You could say that this is a dream of yours, but you could also say that it¡¯s a part of your body.¡±


    Tang Wulin was only nine years old after all, so his curiosity was much greater than his fear. He curiously asked, ¡°So you¡¯re saying I have a dragon in my body?¡±


    The golden figure said, ¡°It isn¡¯t just a dragon, but a dragon king. To be more precise, it is the soul[1] of the Golden Dragon King.¡±


    Tang Wulin asked in awe, ¡°Is it my martial soul?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the golden figure answered. ¡°In a certain sense, it is a disaster for you. This is because the Golden Dragon King¡¯s energy is too strong, so your weak body cannot bear it. If its energy should ever break loose, you will die.¡±


    Die?  Tang Wulin was dumbfounded. He was still young and had never expected to face the concept of death so soon.


    If he died, then what would happen to his mother and father? He wouldn¡¯t be able to go search for Na¡¯er either.


    ¡°Will, will I definitely die?¡± Tang Wulin foolishly asked.


    ¡°If it was certain, then I wouldn¡¯t appear here. If you follow my instructions, you will have a chance at life. It will, however, be very difficult for you.¡± The golden figure¡¯s voice was soothing.


    Tang Wulin bit his lip. ¡°Then what do I need to do?¡±


    The golden figure solemnly said, ¡°Since you have come here, it is proof that you can already sense the soul¡¯s power and are beginning to be influenced by it. The Golden Dragon King possesses the greatest physical strength, so its energy will also affect your body. Doesn¡¯t your strength surpass that of ordinary people?¡±


    Before this, Tang Wulin had still thought it was a dream. Yet, when he heard the golden figure¡¯s words, he gradually came to realize that perhaps it wasn¡¯t a dream after all. At the very least, this wasn¡¯t as simple as a dream.


    ¡°Yes. My strength is much greater than ordinary people,¡± Tang Wulin said honestly.


    The golden figure said, ¡°That is because you¡¯re already being influenced by the Golden Dragon King. The Golden Dragon King¡¯s energy is like a ticking time bomb within your body. It is only because of those eighteen seals on its almighty body that you are still able to live. In order to solve this issue, you can only rely on yourself. The Golden Dragon King¡¯s power is immense, but those eighteen seals restrict its strength sequentially. In order to live, you must undo those seals one by one in order to gradually assimilate the Golden Dragon King¡¯s energy. The day you are able to completely assimilate all of its energy is the day when you are truly safe.¡±


    ¡°Assimilate? How do I assimilate its energy?¡± Tang Wulin urgently asked.


    Not the same kind of soul as martial soul.

 Chapter 88 – This Isn’t a Dream!

    Chapter 88 ¨C This Isn¡¯t a Dream!


    The golden light said, ¡°If you have made it here, then it is proof you have the foundation necessary to assimilate the energy of the first seal. In order for you to absorb the soul1 of the Golden Dragon King, you must first be physically strong. Secondly, you will also need external help. For your first seal, you will need to find three objects. These three objects can be used to help increase your physical strength. I have been awakened, so I will wait for you to prepare these three objects. When you apply all three of them at the same time, I will then help you break through the power of the first seal.


    ¡°You have to remember: the soul of the Golden Dragon King has a double-edged effect on your body. When you consume the soul, it will strengthen you. If you take too long to absorb it, however, then the seal will not be able to continue its suppression of the soul. You will die once you reach ten years of age. Find those three objects, otherwise, I will not be able to withhold the pressure of the first seal.¡±


    Ten years old? He was only half a year away from his tenth birthday.


    ¡°What, what are those three objects?¡± Tang Wulin hurriedly asked his question.


    ¡°Hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit, hundred-year Scarlet Flame Fruit, and ten drops of blood from a hundred-year soul beast with a dragon bloodline.¡±


    Just by hearing those names, Tang Wulin knew that the items would come with a hefty price tag. He hadn¡¯t even previously heard the names of those two aforementioned fruits, not to mention the ten drops of blood from a hundred-year soul beast, which was even more¡­


    ¡°Excuse me, but soul beasts are extinct! Where can I find them?¡± cried Tang Wulin, his expression stunned.


    The golden light quieted down for a moment, as if in thought. It then answered in a glum-sounding voice, ¡°I do not know as well. I can only tell you what information I have. As to how you are to be able do this, or how you accomplish it, that is your problem to solve. I cannot help you figure this out. I can only remind you that you must break the first seal and absorb the suppressed soul by ten years of age. Otherwise, you will die.


    ¡°When you have found these objects, enter a meditative state once more and focus on the image of a dragon. I will then escort you here. Now, I shall bring you out of this place.¡±


    ¡°Please wait,¡± Tang Wulin hurriedly pleaded.


    ¡°I am only a thread of divine consciousness, and there is a limit to how long I can stay here. Please stop prolonging my stay.¡± The golden light sounded severe as it spoke.


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Why do scales appear when I¡¯m in contact with certain objects? Like when I was stabbed by Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger? Does this have something to do with the Golden Dragon King?¡±


    The golden light replied, ¡°Yes. When your blood makes contact with other dragon-type objects or beings, the power of the Golden Dragon King will temporarily appear. You cannot control this power as you have yet to break the seal. Therefore, you must find these three objects quickly.¡±


    Tang Wulin had much more to ask, but his surroundings suddenly distorted and began to spin. He woke the next moment.


    His body was soaked in sweat, and he felt an unspeakable pain. He also clearly felt that his high body temperature had begun to cool.


    Was it a dream or not a dream?


    No, it was not!


    If it wasn¡¯t for his previous experiences, then he would have thought it were a kind of dreamland. Yet, was it truly as simple as a dream?


    If it were a dream, then why did it feel so real to him? Why did golden scales appear when he was stabbed by the Light Dragon Dagger? Why was he so weak and ordinary when he was young, yet had become so much stronger after his martial soul awakened?


    But if it wasn¡¯t a dream, then why was there a dragon¡¯s soul within his body that was constantly endangering his life?


    That golden figure of light had said that although this was a crisis, it was also an opportunity. To absorb the soul of a dragon, what would he become then?


    There were numerous questions in his head, and the golden light¡¯s explanations didn¡¯t answer them.


    Shaking his head forcefully, he calmed his thoughts and got out of bed. He went to the washing room in order to clean his body and then changed into dry clothes. After that, he went back to bed.


    Calm. I have to be calm, he said to himself.


    As he took in a deep breath, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes became focused. At least two points could be summarized. First, there truly was a dragon¡¯s soul in his body and it was a threat to his life until he could absorb it. Second, if he could absorb the dragon¡¯s soul, then his strength would gradually become even stronger.


    Thus, the first thing he had to do was find those three objects the golden light had mentioned to him. After that, he would then try to absorb the power suppressed by the first seal. Only when he tried it could he understand what it was. If he absorbed the soul, could he then control the power of those scales?


    He was only nine years old, and his mindset wasn¡¯t too mature yet. The concept of death to him wasn¡¯t as terrible as what adults thought. Even if his heart did have fear, the fear wasn¡¯t that strong.


    Hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit, hundred-year Scarlet Flame Fruit, ten drops of blood from a dragon-type soul beast. Merely the names of those objects gave him the impression that they were not commonly found. Where could he find them?


    With a belly filled with helplessness, Tang Wulin restarted his meditation. This time around, he successfully entered a meditative state.


    ?


    Morning arrived and the four occupants of the dorm woke up, appearing fully recharged.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! Wulin, let¡¯s go eat.¡± Xie Xie jumped off his bed.


    Tang Wulin answered him helplessly, ¡°You haven¡¯t even washed yourself.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ I¡¯m a little hungry. Let¡¯s go wash ourselves quickly!¡±


    Tang Wulin spoke up, ¡°Xie Xie, I have something to ask. Have you heard of some objects called an Ice Crystal Fruit and a Scarlet Flame Fruit?¡±


    Xie Xie was stunned when he heard Tang Wulin. ¡°Ice Crystal Fruit? Scarlet Flame Fruit? Of course I¡¯ve heard of them! Aren¡¯t those ordinary spirit fruits? You can easily find them in the marketplace. They¡¯re fruits that are very effective in nourishing martial souls with ice and fire properties. Your martial soul is plant-type though, so aren¡¯t those fruits pretty useless?¡±


    Tang Wulin was jubilant after hearing what Xie Xie said. He was most afraid that no one would know of these items or where to get them.


    ¡°Then, are those spirit fruits expensive?¡± Tang Wulin lowered his voice as he asked further.


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Not bad, about 10,000 to 20,000 federation coins for each, depending on quality.¡±


    Ten thousand to twenty thousand? This was a sum he could afford! Tang Wulin brightened up. ¡°If its quality is good, would that mean it¡¯s something like a hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit and such?¡±


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°Have some common sense, please! A ten-year spirit fruit would be considered pretty good. A hundred-year fruit would only be found in auctions, and would be  considered spirit treasures. If it¡¯s a thousand-year fruit, then it would be considered a heaven and earth treasure. The meaning of a heaven and earth treasure is that it would be considered priceless.¡±


    Tang Wulin gave a bitter laugh. ¡°Then, how much would a hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit cost?¡±


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°Those two fruits are more commonly seen than others, but the demand is quite high as well. As such, the price is still reasonable. I¡¯d say it would cost probably 80,000 to 100,000 federation coins for each one at an auction.¡±


    Tang Wulin was awestruck when he heard of the price. Eighty thousand to a hundred thousand? For each one?


    Following the golden light¡¯s explanation that he had only half a year to find these items, how would he gain the ability to earn such a large sum?


    ¡°Wulin, what¡¯s going on with you? Why would you ask this all of a sudden? Spirit fruits have little use for us, as their medicinal effects are too strong. They might even endanger a human¡¯s life. Unless it were a unique situation, they wouldn¡¯t be something you¡¯d normally use. They could possibly affect our foundations. There might even be side-effects! Thousand-year fruits should be excluded, however, yet those aren¡¯t things just anyone can easily obtain. A thousand-year spirit fruit can also be counted as rare as a soul beast. If it reaches ten-thousand years, it would even have its own soul.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mood gradually calmed down, and he looked towards Xie Xie. ¡°Xie Xie, can you bring me to the auction house during this week¡¯s rest day? I have never set foot in an auction house before.¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± Xie Xie agreed without a second thought. He was one who treated strangers coldly, but he changed drastically when treating a friend. Xie Xie was actually a person with frank characteristics.


    Xie Xie moved on to wash up, but Tang Wulin stayed back and retrieved his rarely used soul communicator from the storage ring. He dialed the first contact stored on the communicator.


    Du du!


    ¡°Wulin? What¡¯s the matter?¡± Mang Tian¡¯s familiar voice flowed from the other end of the communicator.


    ¡°Teacher, would you be coming to Eastsea City during this week¡¯s rest day?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Mang Tian questioned, ¡°Why? Do you have some questions about forging?¡±


    Tang Wulin replied, ¡°No. but I have something I would like to discuss with you.¡±


    Mang Tian grew silent for a while before saying, ¡°That¡¯s great. Teacher has something to discuss with you as well. I¡¯ll come by in the afternoon of that rest day.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll wait at the workshop,¡± Tang Wulin answered respectfully,


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes gave off a hint of deep contemplation as soon as the communication ended. The seal was there, but he had only half-year¡¯s worth of time. What he needed the most now was money. He needed to earn more money. Yet, he knew well that with his current situation, this was impossible. He had to think of some other ways.

 Chapter 89 – Auction House’s Exhibit

    Chapter 89 ¨C Auction House¡¯s Exhibit


    Eat, study, Class Promotion Tournament.


    The days flew by quickly. Tang Wulin¡¯s trio had begun to be pointed out of the crowd countless times throughout the day. Naturally, this was because of the events at the entrance gates the day before.


    Many people found it strange that Tang Wulin¡¯s trio hadn¡¯t been punished by the academy. In fact, everything went on like normal, as if nothing had happened at all.


    The number of students who had gathered around Wu Zhangkong to watch him grew even larger now, so much so that many teachers weren¡¯t even able to enter. After the previous day¡¯s battle, the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming¡¯s fame had reached a whole new level. He wasn¡¯t just the female student¡¯s Prince Charming now, rather, he was the Prince Charming of the entire academy. Despite all of this, Wu Zhangkong showed no reaction at all and was his same old self.


    In the match after school with the first grade¡¯s class two, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue hadn¡¯t expended too much strength. Only one of their opponents had a hundred year soul ring, and when faced with the coordination of Tang Wulin¡¯s trio, they were completely helpless. Xie Xie was supported by Gu Yue¡¯s firepower and was easily able to defeat their opponents.


    Three battles, three victories. With the addition of the outburst at the gates the day before, class five had become the focus of attention of the entire academy.


    Tomorrow was their rest day, and after their rest day, it would come time for them to challenge class one. Every single grade¡¯s class one was completely different from the rest. That was because class one was a gathering of that year¡¯s most outstanding geniuses. In the last twenty years, class one had never been defeated by a class below them in ranking.


    After eating dinner, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie prepared to return to their dorm, but Gu Yue stopped them.


    ¡°Where are you two going tomorrow? Hurry up and tell me, otherwise, you can¡¯t blame me for being rude.¡± Gu Yue spoke with her hands on her hips and gave them a fierce expression. Although she wasn¡¯t particularly beautiful, she was definitely pretty. With her appearance like this, others couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    ¡°Why do we need to tell you where we¡¯re going or what we¡¯re doing?¡± Xie Xie snorted out.


    Gu Yue¡¯s mouth twitched as she said, ¡°I already heard what you guys were talking about when we were eating. You guys are going out tomorrow. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t tell me, but I¡¯ll just go and find Teacher Wu and ask him for additional training. Then you two can forget about running off tomorrow. And in any case, we¡¯re going to do battle with class one soon, so extra training would be fitting.¡±


    ¡°How can you be so loathsome?¡± Xie Xie stared at her with wide eyes before turning it into a glower.


    Gu Yue coldly snorted. ¡°I¡¯m just this annoying. Got a problem? Are you going to tell me or not?¡±


    Tang Wulin hastily smoothed things over. ¡°Gu Yue, I¡¯m the one who asked Xie Xie to take me to the auction house tomorrow. I haven¡¯t ever been to one before.¡±


    Gu Yue smiled. ¡°Good. Then we¡¯ll all go together then.¡±


    Xie Xie avoided looking at her as he said, ¡°Who wants you to come? This is a man¡¯s matter.¡±


    Gu Yue answered, ¡°I didn¡¯t say I want to go with you either. With your revolting behaviour, it¡¯ll be fine if it¡¯s just me and Wulin.¡±


    Xie Xie eyed her suspiciously. Although he was only nine years old, Tang Wulin was still exceptionally handsome. ¡°Could it be that you like Wulin? You¡¯re only this old yet you¡¯ve matured so much already.¡±


    ¡°Are you looking to die?¡± Gu Yue raised her hand, sending an ice ball flying towards him. Xie Xie evaded it in a flurry.


    ¡°Haha. It looks like I was right! I¡¯ll go tell Teacher Wu that you¡¯re following bad examples at such a young age!¡±


    ¡°You can do so if you wish to die.¡± Gu Yue threw herself forwards, a bright light flying from her hand as she chased after Xie Xie.


    Tang Wulin helplessly looked at the two of them. He had long since gotten used to the scene of their squabbling. All he could do was raise his arms and stop their fighting.


    ?


    Ultimately, the three of them set off early in the morning the next day. Xie Xie had wanted to leave early to throw off Gu Yue, but was unable to have his way. Gu Yue was waiting at the dormitory doors and caught him red-handed.


    ¡°Xie Xie, where is the auction house?¡± Tang Wulin curiously asked as they walked.


    Xie Xie shot a glance at the smiling Gu Yue to the side. ¡°It¡¯s in the Eastsea Museum! Our Eastsea City¡¯s auction house is combined with the museum. There¡¯s a special place to exhibit auction goods in the museum. They will also periodically hold auctions. Let¡¯s go look at the goods on exhibition. The auction times will also be listed there.¡±


    Gu Yue curiously asked Tang Wulin, ¡°Wulin, how come you suddenly wanted to go to the auction house? I never saw you show this much interest in it before.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°It¡¯s just a sudden whim. Let¡¯s just go and casually take a look.¡±


    Eastsea Museum was located just south of Eastsea City¡¯s center. It was a simple and unadorned building, and consisted of one main building and two secondary buildings.


    The main building had on exhibition with all sorts of rare soul beast specimen. Eastsea City had encountered all sorts of items and beasts over the various ages.


    To the left was a secondary building, which was the auction house¡¯s goods exhibition area Xie Xie had spoken of. As for the auction house itself, it was on the upper levels of the main building.


    The auction house¡¯s goods exhibition area within the secondary building didn¡¯t require one to purchase a ticket to enter, and one could directly enter as one pleased. The number of people who were looking at the goods within numbered more than just a few.


    The secondary building had four floors in total. Although it was just a secondary building, its size was still enormous. Looking at it from the outside, the building was at least two hundred meters wide.


    Eastsea City was the second largest city on the eastern coast and this was the city¡¯s only auction house. Naturally, its size had to be great. Goods were being exhibited on all four floors. They were, however, separated according to their grade. Naturally, some of the rarer and more expensive items would only be displayed in special areas that weren¡¯t open to just anyone.


    As soon as they entered, the trio saw an enormous signboard that showed that the first floor was divided into two large sections: Soul devices and non-soul device. Within these two divisions, the soul device area was divided further into uncommon metal section and the larger finished soul devices section.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Xie Xie could vaguely guess Tang Wulin¡¯s purpose in coming to the auction house, but he still directly asked Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the non-soul device section. I want to see if they¡¯re auctioning those two fruits I told you about that day.¡±


    ¡°Spirit fruit? You want to buy some spirit fruit?¡± Gu Yue curiously asked.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I don¡¯t really want to. I¡¯m just a bit curious and want to take a look, that¡¯s all.¡± Although Xie Xie and Gu Yue were his friends, the matter pertaining to the Golden Dragon King was simply too shocking to tell them. He was still very young, yet he knew that this was the type of secret he absolutely couldn¡¯t tell anybody.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go take a look.¡± Clearly, it wasn¡¯t Xie Xie¡¯s first time here. He was at ease as he guided the other two into the exhibition hall.


    Their surroundings were filled with enormous glass display cases. Within them were countless things Tang Wulin had never even heard of before. The cheapest of the items would still cost at least a hundred thousand federal coins. These glass cases were all manufactured using a special transparent alloy and were definitely incomparable with normal glass.


    ¡°This is the spirit fruit section. You go and take a look then.¡± After they entered an expansive rectangular room, Xie Xie stopped.


    The room was approximately three hundred square meters in area. It contained all sorts of spirit fruit and rare plants. Every single spirit fruit had a description attached to them.

 Chapter 90 – Poor Youth

    Chapter 90 ¨C Poor Youth


    Dragon Spirit Grass, ten years. A rare plant. The starting auction price for it was 260,000 federation coins and it was expected to be sold between 300,000 to 350,000 federation coins.


    Water Crystal Peach, twenty to thirty years. A spirit fruit that nourishes the body. For this fruit, the starting auction price was 150,000 federation coins. The expected end price was 180,000 to 210,000 federation coins.


    ¡®They are all so expensive!¡¯ Tang Wulin looked at all of these spirit fruits and grimaced.


    Quickly, he took another long look and finally found the spirit fruit he was looking for. It was in the final area he searched.


    Ice Crystal Fruit, thirty years. An ice type spirit fruit, rare. Nourishes water-type martial souls. It can also help increase one¡¯s soul power. The starting auction price for this fruit was set at 180,000 federation coins. Expected end price was 220,000 to 250,000 federation coins.


    Scarlet Flame Fruit, forty years. Fire attribute, rare. Nourishes fire-type martial souls, and can help increase soul power. The starting auction price for this fruit was 160,000 federation coins and was expected to be sold between 220,000 to 230,000 federation coins.


    Ice Crystal Fruit was a type of fruit that appeared glittery, translucent, and light-blue in color. This forty-year-old Ice Crystal Fruit¡¯s size was similar to that of a longan. When viewed beneath a light, wavy lines of white became visible.


    Scarlet Flame Fruit was a spirit fruit that was deep-red in color with some pale-golden sparkles gleaming on its surface. Its size was only a bit larger than that of the Ice Crystal Fruit.


    After verifying with his own eyes that both spirit fruits truly did exist, Tang Wulin¡¯s trust in the golden figure¡¯s words increased by a bit. Yet, the ages of these two fruits was far from being the hundred-year fruits he needed.


    ¡°Right, these are the ones,¡± Xie Xie unexpectedly appeared and walked up to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. ¡°This is Ice Crystal Fruit, and that is Scarlet Flame Fruit.¡±


    Tang Wulin mumbled, ¡°But they¡¯re not hundred-year fruits!¡±


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°This is an auction. The rarer the good, the higher the level it¡¯ll be auctioned at. These are only normal goods of the first level. I believe the hundred-year fruits can be found at the second level, but we can¡¯t go up to the second level.¡±


    Tang Wulin questioned, ¡°Why not?¡±


    Xie Xie replied, ¡°To enter the second level, you would need to first pay a deposit in order to gain the qualifications to bid. Either that, or you must be a third rank professional and can enter and visit.¡±


    ¡°Deposit? How much is this deposit?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie looked at him with a strange expression. ¡°You seem very eager to get that hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit, ah? Otherwise, why are you being so serious?¡±


    Tang Wulin gave a gentle sigh and simply said, ¡°Please, just continue and explain.¡±


    Observing the bitterness in Wulin¡¯s gaze, Xie Xie frowned. ¡°Wulin, have you met with some misfortune?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lie to you, and I can¡¯t tell you either. If you don¡¯t explain, then I¡¯ll ask someone else.¡±


    After seeing that Tang Wulin was set to move away, Xie Xie hurriedly stopped him. ¡°All right, I¡¯ll tell you. The deposit sum is 100,000 to enter the second level. When you reach the third level, you need to add another 100,000 to the deposit. As you move to higher levels, the value of the goods increase and so does the deposit sum.¡±


    A hundred thousand?


    Tang Wulin had truly saved up quite a sum of money these past few months and could produce a sum of 100,000. That deposit sum, however, really discouraged him.


    Then he recalled that Xie Xie had mentioned third rank professionals. ¡°Would any professional of third rank qualify for entry?¡±


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°Of course. Third rank professionals are considered elite class. Third rank Soul Grandmasters are also the equivalent of third rank professionals. Yet, you have some distance to go before reaching the level of Soul Grandmaster. Not so for me.¡±


    Soul Master? Tang Wulin really had some distance to go just to reach rank twenty, but he was a blacksmith as well!


    After his time completing numerous tasks for the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, his understanding of the Association grew. He now knew that the Thousand Refinements was an indication of a third rank blacksmith, and the only obstacle he had to becoming one was Mang Tian disallowing him from revealing his skill. This was the reason why Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t tried the third rank blacksmith examination.


    This afternoon, Mang Tian would be arriving at Eastsea City. Tang Wulin¡¯s call the other night requesting Mang Tian¡¯s visit was for the exact reason of allowing Tang Wulin  try the third rank blacksmith examination. After becoming a third rank blacksmith, his pay for completing tasks would be much greater.


    Xie Xie continued, ¡°Wulin, if there are areas in which you need my help, please let me know. I¡¯ll help you to the best of my abilities.¡±


    ¡°En. I¡¯m fine. Okay, let¡¯s continue and check the other goods,¡± He concealed his emotions. Since he¡¯d confirmed that the auction house had the items he was looking for, he would come back again when he had the ability to do so.


    As for the ten drops of blood from a dragon-type hundred-year soul beast, there might be a chance he could also find it here. Yet, he kept quiet about it in the presence of Gu Yue and Xie Xie. The most important mission today was to check out the area.


    In the end, this auction house trip hadn¡¯t gone to waste. The trio took a stroll around the first level and, aside from learning about new items, they also checked out a few familiar places. For example, forged metals.


    The rare metals found on the first level were only hundred refined ones. This level of refinement on the first level  meant that thousand refined metals should be found on the second level.


    This discovery filled his heart with hope. If he could qualify as a third rank blacksmith and take on third rank forging tasks, with sufficient time, it would become possible for him to gather enough funds.


    After they left the auction house, the trio headed back to the academy for lunch. It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t want to have lunch outside the academy, but Tang Wulin¡¯s appetite was too amazing. He was reluctant to ask Xie Xie and Gu Yue to pay for a meal, so heading back to the academy to eat for free was the most cost-efficient decision.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be going to the forging workshop this afternoon. You guys should go back and train. Right, can you also go and collect information on class one? We have no knowledge about them,¡± Tang Wulin said to Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie knew about Tang Wulin¡¯s habit of going to the workshop every week during their rest day.


    ¡°Fine, you can go. Isn¡¯t it only class one? I can defeat them on my own,¡± Xie Xie arrogantly declared.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid a huge gale might cut off that tongue of yours?¡± At that moment, a strange, cynical voice sounded. ¡°Three little fish from class five, now that¡¯s what I call arrogance.¡±


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue turned at the same time and found a few intermediate division students standing a short distance away, their ages similar to the trio¡¯s ages.


    The person who spoke was a young boy with center-parted hair and good features. While his looks were good, he had thin lips, which coupled with his sarcastic comment, made it difficult for others to produce good will towards him.


    Besides him, the others standing with him all had stoney expressions as they glared at the trio.


    Xie Xie¡¯s expression turned cold as he pounded the table. Just as he was about to move towards them, Tang Wulin pulled Xie Xie back. He spoke to Xie Xie in a low voice, ¡°We have already caused enough trouble for Teacher Wu. Can¡¯t you control yourself?¡±


    Glaring icily, Xie Xie spoke out, ¡°You guys must be from class one. After tomorrow, you¡¯ll simply be class two.¡±

 Chapter 91 – The Geniuses of Class One

    Chapter 91 ¨C The Geniuses of Class One


    The eccentric boy laughed. ¡°Good then! I want to see what kind of skill you guys have that will move us to class two.¡± His eyes brightened as he spoke. He tensed, then his body suddenly grew a bit and seemed to become exceptionally soft. Two yellow rings appeared from beneath his feet as cyan scales emerged from his neck. His eyes turned into vertical slits.


    ¡°Two rings? A Soul Grandmaster?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s trio were all startled. Even though their opponents were class one, they should have been of a similar level. They were all just nine years old after all! The fact that he was already a Soul Grandmaster was absolutely shocking.


    Tang Wulin took a step forward to placed himself in front of Gu Yue and Xie Xie. Despite the powerful aura of the other party, Tang Wulin actually felt joyful. He didn¡¯t feel fearful at all.


    A white soul ring rose from beneath his feet and Bluesilver Grass rushed out from his palms.


    ¡°Haha. Trash with only a single ten year soul ring dares to be so arrogant. This is just too funny. But you can be at ease; I won¡¯t put you guys in your place right now, I¡¯ll wait until we¡¯re on the competition stage before I do so. I¡¯ll let you know the difference between geniuses and trash. I am Wei Xiao Feng from first grade class one. Remember my name.¡±


    Having said this Wei Xiao Feng withdrew his soul power, causing his body to return to normal before turning around, proudly leaving.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Xie Xie wanted to rush over, but Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass was already wrapped around his waist, restraining him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled,¡± Tang Wulin said, ¡°he wants us to act first so that he won¡¯t receive any punishment from the academy. Just wait until we get on stage.¡±


    A cold light flickered within Xie Xie¡¯s eyes. ¡°Are two soul rings really that amazing? Humph! We¡¯ll just have to wait and see.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I¡¯m going to the workshop first, then. Teacher Wu isn¡¯t going to help us analyze our opponents. He always left it to us to adapt, so you two go think of a way to investigate the situation in class one and we¡¯ll meet up to discuss it tonight.¡±


    Although Xie Xie wasn¡¯t completely convinced, the three of them still felt quite a bit of pressure when Wei Xiao Feng revealed his two soul rings. Faced with this kind of opponent, how would they secure victory?


    Nine years old and he had two rings; he was definitely a genius among geniuses! It had to be said that under normal circumstances, class ones of the other grades wouldn¡¯t have anyone with two soul rings until at least the third grade.


    Xie Xie questioned whether or not he himself was truly a genius; after all, there was still a gap between him and someone with two rings.


    ¡°Alright! We¡¯ll teach them a lesson tomorrow,¡± Xie Xie said as he walked off with a gloomy expression.


    Gu Yue walked over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side, an easy smile on her face. ¡°No need to pay attention to them. We¡¯ll definitely beat them.¡±


    She patted Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder before she also moved to leave. Gu Yue¡¯s petite body was quickly swallowed by the crowd.


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists a few times. His teammates were so strong, yet, as their captain, his strength was so modest. Regardless of whether it was for the sake of survival or for becoming stronger, he needed to quickly obtain the Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit.


    Mang Tian hadn¡¯t arrived yet when he got to the workshop, so Tang Wulin began working on the forging task he¡¯d accepted the week before. With his continued practice of the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers, second rank blacksmith tasks were already easy for him. None of them resulted in defective products and he was now able to accept two tasks each week. As such, he was able to make even more money.


    Tang Wulin took out all of his savings. After counting it all, he discovered he had over 320,000 federal coins. Although it was still short the price of the Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit, it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to make up the difference if he could accept third rank tasks.


    Tang Wulin sat there staring blankly at a chunk of metal he had Hundred Refined. Ever since he had arrived in Eastsea City, many things had occurred and changed his life. He had encountered many things that didn¡¯t even exist in Glorybound City.


    After several months, the hesitation in his heart gradually faded away. A wonderful world had opened up to him and along with improving his strength, he had found value in being a part of the Blacksmiths Association. His self confidence had increased by a lot. He always kept the words his father had said to him within his heart before he had left. ¡®You must always look forward.¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s right! I can only move forward to see an even more wonderful world!¡¯


    Right at that moment, the sound of a door opening came from outside. Tang Wulin hastily went over to give his greetings.


    Mang Tian was dressed in ordinary gray clothes, giving him a travel-worn appearance.


    ¡°Teacher,¡± Tang Wulin hastily called out in respect.


    ¡°En.¡± Mang Tian responded with that single grunt as he took off his coat and went in.


    Tang Wulin had long since become accustomed to his teacher¡¯s habits. Every single time Mang Tian visited, he would inspect all of the finished goods and Tang Wulin¡¯s forging progress.


    After hanging his teacher¡¯s coat, Tang Wulin quickly followed him into the workshop. Mang Tian was playing with the uncommon metal Tang Wulin had just finished.


    As he became increasingly familiar with the tasks of the Blacksmiths Association, the tasks Tang Wulin accepted grew more difficult. For example, these kinds of Hundred Refined uncommon metal tasks were already at the peak of the second rank. He would earn over thirty thousand federal coins each time.


    ¡°En. Not bad. Your purification is precise.¡± Mang Tian nodded. Considering how strict he was, being able to say such praise was already amazing.


    ¡°This is all due to teacher¡¯s guidance,¡± Tang Wulin quickly said.


    Mang Tian put the metal in his hand down and turned to face him. ¡°Have you learned how to be glib too?¡±


    Tang Wulin stuck out his tongue. ¡°No! Those words are from my heart.¡±


    Mang Tian said, ¡°Don¡¯t you have something to talk with me about? Out with it.¡±


    Although Tang Wulin had already made a firm resolution, when he faced his teacher, he still hesitated for a moment. But it was just a moment¡¯s hesitation that was overcome by the crisis of his survival.


    ¡°Teacher, I want to take the third rank blacksmith¡¯s test,¡± said Tang Wulin after he drummed up his courage.


    Mang Tian was stunned for a moment. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I need more money to improve myself,¡± answered Tang Wulin.


    Mang Tian regarded him in complete silence.


    Tang Wulin felt nervous. Having finished speaking, he lowered his head, awaiting his teacher¡¯s criticism. He clearly understood the reason Mang Tian wasn¡¯t allowing him to take the third rank blacksmith¡¯s test. While he had never doubted his teacher before, right now he really was too desperate for money.


    ¡°How are you going to improve?¡± Mang Tian asked after his long silence.

 Chapter 92 – Distant Parents

    Chapter 92 ¨C Distant Parents


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I wish to practice the Thousand Refinements more and earn a better income. After saving enough money, I¡¯ll be able to buy a spirit soul and eat better food at the academy. My eating ability is too great and nutritious food is too expensive.¡±


    Mang Tian looked at his growing disciple, who seemed to have become even taller during the last three months, and his expression began to soften.


    He sighed gently, then said, ¡°Maybe I was wrong. Actually, you already had qualifications of a third rank blacksmith when you succeeded at the Thousand Refinements. Your soul power may not be strong enough, but your innate divine strength makes up for that. Especially considering the fact that you are able to enter the mental state and completely devote your being to forging and sense the life within the metal. At your age, that¡¯s simply remarkable.


    ¡°One of the reasons I wasn¡¯t rushing you to become a third rank blacksmith was because I was afraid of showing you more of the world of blacksmithing, and that you would grow arrogant of your talent. This would bring ruin to your future. Yet, I overlooked the fact that regardless of whether one were a Soul Master or a blacksmith, they all require an enormous amount of resources to cultivate to higher levels. The only person you can rely on is yourself. I really was too selfish.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at his rueful teacher as if in a daydream. ¡°Teacher, so you¡¯re allowing me to take the third rank blacksmith test?¡±


    Mang Tian nodded. ¡°Take it. Since my disciple is such an exceptional genius in the realm of blacksmithing, what kind of reason could I have to not let him blossom and shine?¡±


    Having received his teacher¡¯s approval, Tang Wulin joyfully said, ¡°Thank you, teacher. Thank you, teacher.¡±


    Mang Tian¡¯s expression returned to normal as he seriously said, ¡°You don¡¯t have any reason to be so happy right now. I must remind you that after becoming a third rank blacksmith, you¡¯ll have reached a higher status within the blacksmithing world. I¡¯ll ask the association to keep quiet about you for a while, so you¡¯ll need to keep a low-profile too.


    ¡°Yes, teacher!¡± Tang Wulin promised respectfully with haste.


    ¡°Wulin, I¡¯ve been stuck at the level of sixth rank blacksmith and have been unable to enter the realm of Saint Craftsman for a long time. This isn¡¯t because my efforts have been lacking or that I wasn¡¯t gifted enough. Rather, it¡¯s because I don¡¯t have the soul power necessary to become a Saint Craftsman.


    ¡°In the last ten thousand years of our Douluo Continent, soul devices have developed at high speed and become modernized. The superiority of Soul Masters has gradually faded away. Even an ordinary person is capable of using most of the available soul devices now. Moreover, soul devices possess formidable attack power, which has allowed them to completely change the entire continent.


    ¡°Regardless, I must tell you that our Douluo Continent is still founded upon Soul Masters. Thus, no matter the occupation, soul power and Soul Master ranks are crucial in order to reach the highest levels!


    ¡°For example, a divine rank Mecha Master must possess at least eight soul rings! One must be at least a Soul Douluo to reach such a level. For us blacksmiths, it¡¯s exactly the same. Without seven soul rings, a martial soul¡¯s true body, and a thorough understanding of one¡¯s martial soul, it would be impossible to become a Saint Craftsman.


    ¡°After encountering this problem, I knew it was impossible for me to become a Saint Craftsman in this lifetime. This is the reason why I told you to focus on soul power cultivation when you got here. With your innate divine strength, when you become a fifth rank Craftsman, you¡¯ll need tremendous spiritual power and soul power to support you. Thus, you must put forth your greatest effort towards cultivation and you cannot be stingy with your money. Eat lots of nutritious food at the academy too.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Mang Tian was usually a man of few words, so when Tang Wulin saw him so rueful, his heart tensed up. Although he was still young, his soul power was still inferior to his peers. Becoming a powerful Soul Master? That was easier said than done. All he could do was redouble his efforts and stubbornly cultivate.


    Mang Tian hand searched his pocket, fishing out an envelope that he handed to Tang Wulin. ¡°There¡¯s another matter I came to settle this time. Read this letter. It¡¯s from your father.¡±


    ¡°Ah? Why didn¡¯t dad just call me on the soul communicator?¡± He was busy cultivating everyday in order to improve himself so it had been a week since the last time he¡¯d called home.


    ¡°Read it and you¡¯ll know.¡± Mang Tian looked at him with eyes full of meaning as he nodded his head.


    Tang Wulin had a bad premonition as he hastily opened up the envelope.


    Inside of the envelope were two cards and a letter.


    Tang Wulin looked at the letter first. His father¡¯s familiar handwriting was scribbled all over it.


    Tang Wulin, my son. By the time you receive this letter, your mother and father will already be some place far.


    Father has always been selfish. I¡¯ve let you suffer so many hardships just so I could live a peaceful life. Even when it came time for your spirit soul, I couldn¡¯t do anything and you had to settle for a trash spirit soul.


    That night, your father cried. It was because I didn¡¯t have the ability to help you that you were forced to learn how to forge at such a young age. Although I don¡¯t regret it, I still made you go through so many hardships. Father is sorry.


    In fact, father is a mecha designer. In those early years, I had drawn the attention of some powerful figures due to one of my designs. They wanted to completely control me, but I chose to escape with your mom to Glorybound City. From then on, we¡¯d lived in seclusion as ordinary people. But it seems that an ordinary person¡¯s life isn¡¯t suitable for me. For your sake, I will resume my old trade.


    As for the two cards that came with this letter, one of them is your identity card, while the other is a bank card that can be used throughout the continent. The bank card contains the money I accepted from signing the contract to be that powerful figure¡¯s mecha designer. There¡¯s one million federal coins in there, enough for you to buy a hundred year spirit soul.


    This is all that I can do for you right now. Wait for your father to earn even more money; I¡¯ll send it to that card¡¯s account. Son, you are gifted and must walk towards the apex. Don¡¯t look back and only continue walking forwards. Remember the words father told you. In this world, the only person you can rely on is yourself. I believe that with your strength and ability, you will definitely be able to reach the pinnacle.


    You don¡¯t need to look for us. We¡¯re in a place that is impossible for others to find. We won¡¯t be contacting you anymore, but I know your soul communicator number. Just wait until our situation has settled down, then I will come to find you.


    Your father and mother loves you.


    We will love you forever.


    Tang Wulin stared at the first line of the letter, his entire body and heart seizing up as he did so. His father¡¯s words had been extremely ordinary, but they were filled with his love for Tang Wulin!


    ¡°Dad, mom!¡± Tang Wulin suddenly screamed before turning around, trying to run out.


    In the next moment, however, he ran straight into Mang Tian whose body was like a copper wall or an iron bastion.


    Mang Tian grabbed onto his shoulders with both hands. ¡°They¡¯re fine. They¡¯ll just be far away from you for a while. Wulin, you must stand strong.¡±


    Tears streamed uncontrollably from Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. It¡¯s for my sake, all for my sake. All to earn money for my sake. Mom and dad have gone far away for my sake.


    At that moment, three months of yearning for his family attacked his heart all at once. He tightly gripped the letter and broke down crying.

 Chapter 93 – I Want to Become Strong!

    Chapter 93 ¨C I Want to Become Strong!


    Mang Tian simply held onto Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulders without giving him any more advice. At this time, letting him vent all of his emotions was the best solution.


    After crying for some time, the sounds of Tang Wulin¡¯s weeping gradually died out. He raised the letter in his hand and read it over once more.


    Whenever he read the words ¡®Your mother and father loves you¡¯, his tears would once again begin to flow out uncontrollably.


    Mom and dad are gone, and I don¡¯t even know where they went or when I¡¯ll see them next. Na¡¯er is gone too. My whole family¡ªgone.


    ¡°Do you want to search for them?¡± Mang Tian¡¯s pensive voice called out.


    Tang Wulin raised his head, facing his teacher with tearful eyes.


    Mang Tian said, ¡°If you wish to find them, then you must first become powerful. Your father is an outstanding mecha designer, but because he is too outstanding, he was threatened by others. Of course, his excellence also secures his safety. But someone with the power to take him away is definitely not someone you can match up to right now. If you want to find them, then you must first become strong enough. The current you is simply too weak.¡±


    ¡°Teacher,¡± Tang Wulin shouted, ¡°I want to become strong!¡±


    Tang Wulin proved strong in the end. After venting his feelings, he was gradually able to steady himself.


    Mang Tian spoke with him about some matters regarding the Thousand Refinements before leaving. Tang Wulin also returned to the academy shortly after.


    Within his storage ring were two new cards. His identity card allowed him to go anywhere on the continent, while the bank card carried the money his father left him, a hefty million federal coins.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s wealth already surpassed 1,300,000 federal coins and he wasn¡¯t too far off from being able to afford both the Ice Crystal Fruit and the Scarlet Flame Fruit. For the current him, spirit souls were no longer the most important thing. The most important thing was for him to ensure his own survival by absorbing the soul of the Golden Dragon King sealed by the first seal before he reached ten years of age.


    ¡°Wulin, what¡¯s the matter?¡± When he ate dinner with Xie Xie and Gu Yue that night, they both discovered that there was something off about him.


    Even though his powerful physique had already gotten rid of the puffy eyes from his crying, his dull expression clearly revealed his sorrow. He was still a child and didn¡¯t understand how to hide his own emotions yet.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong. That¡¯s right, what have you found out about class one?¡±


    Gu Yue and Xie Xie exchanged a glance, both of their expressions seeming to grow serious.


    Xie Xie heavily said, ¡°We¡¯ve run into some trouble.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Tang Wulin was roused from his dispirited self. He understood how arrogant Xie Xie usually was, so something that would make him utter the word ¡®trouble¡¯, meant that their opponents would be difficult for them to handle.


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Our class one this year is actually called the strongest new class in the last hundred years. It¡¯s no wonder that the director could throw me into class five without batting an eye.¡±


    Strongest new class?


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°How strong are they? Don¡¯t tell me they have three people with two soul rings?¡±


    Xie Xie looked at him in shock, while Gu Yue had a meaningful look in her eyes. The two of them spoke in unison, ¡°How did you know?¡±


    Tang Wulin was equally as dumbstruck. ¡°No way? All three have two soul rings? Are they really new students?¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°We¡¯re certain. We saw Wei Xiao Feng today, and we found out that he isn¡¯t even the most powerful of the three. I don¡¯t know if Teacher Wu picked us three to battle because of those three students in class one or not, but I know for certain it will be hard for us to win this upcoming battle.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s expression seemed to have froze. All three of them only had one soul ring. Even if Xie Xie had twin martial souls, Gu Yue was still an ordinary one ring Soul Master. Either way, all three of them only had one soul ring each.


    The gap between one ring and two rings was simply huge. When they faced Guang Long that time, all three of them had to work together to match him. Even then, they had only prevailed due to Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon King power. But now, they were about to face three two ring opponents. How could they fight this kind of battle?


    Gu Yue said, ¡°All for the sake of that class, the academy recently issued out some new rules for the Class Promotion Tournament. Classes can no longer skip grades anymore, they can only climb up to a better class number. Clearly, they¡¯re afraid that this year¡¯s class one will sweep away the upper grades and influence them negatively. Right now, class one has the most qualified teachers. Clearly, the academy values them highly. Reportedly, they¡¯re considering letting them skip grades right now.¡±


    Their opponents were actually so powerful! Tomorrow, they would be facing these powerful opponents on stage. This was simply too sudden.


    In the face of such powerful opponents, did they even have a chance of securing victory?


    He could tell from Xie Xie and Gu Yue¡¯s expressions that their confidence had already been shaken. As for himself? Among the three of them, he was, in reality, the weakest one.


    The three of them sat there silently. Tang Wulin was so disturbed, that he had actually lost his appetite.


    Right at that moment, a piece of news was suddenly broadcast in the dining hall.


    ¡°Teachers and students, pay attention! Teachers and students, pay attention! The following announcement is an emergency announcement. Our meteorology department has notified us that a strong tropical storm will be passing by tonight. This storm is an extremely powerful typhoon and is forecasted to persist for a whole week. Thus, for the next week, students are advised to not leave the academy and all classes will be suspended during the typhoon. Please wait quietly in your dorms. The Class Promotion Tournament will be temporarily suspended until the typhoon has passed.¡±


    A typhoon struck?


    Eastsea City was a coastal city, and encounters with typhoons was a normal occurrence. But they never expected that a typhoon would strike at such a fortunate time. The typhoon had arrived.


    What Tang Wulin payed the most attention to was the last few words. The Class Promotion Tournament was suspended.


    The trio looked at one another.


    This meant they had another week to improve themselves and investigate their opponents.


    However¡­ it didn¡¯t make much difference. What could they possibly accomplish in only a week¡¯s time? Even for Xie Xie, who was the closest one to reach two rings, it was virtually impossible to cultivate to that level in a week!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s expression suddenly froze as he suddenly stood up and walked away.


    ¡°Wulin, where are you going?¡± Xie Xie hastily chased after him and asked.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t even bother to turn around as he answered, ¡°I¡¯m going to go settle a small matter. The typhoon is about to hit, so I need to leave quickly.¡± Having said this, he quickly rushed out of the dining hall.


    As he watched Tang Wulin¡¯s departing figure, Xie Xie turned to Gu Yue and doubtfully asked, ¡°I¡¯ve always felt that there¡¯s been something bothering him these last two days. Have you felt that too?¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°I think so too, but he¡¯s still much calmer than you. You should change yourself for the better.¡±


    Xie Xie furiously said, ¡°Is it even possible for you to not pick on me?¡±


    Gu Yue leisurely responded, ¡°Not possible. You¡¯ve always been a bad example anyway. Arrogant, prideful, and not particularly strong either. Wulin is different. He¡¯s steady, reserved and has unlimited potential.¡±


    Xie Xie stood up in indignance. ¡°I won¡¯t argue with a girl.¡± His voice had been a bit loud, drawing the attention of all of the girls within the dining hall.


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Xie Xie suddenly sped away, disappearing quickly like a wisp of smoke.


    ?


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t just rushed out of the dining hall, he had even rushed out of the academy. His heart had been set ablaze and now, a powerful voice unceasingly resounded in within his heart.


    I want to become powerful! To become mighty!


    I wasn¡¯t strong enough, so Na¡¯er left!


    I wasn¡¯t strong enough, so mom and dad left!


    I¡¯m not strong enough, so I¡¯m a burden to my teammates!


    I want to become strong!

 Chapter 94 - Witnessing a Miracle

    Chapter 94 - Witnessing a Miracle


    If it was the past, then Tang Wulin would have had no choice but to accept their loss. Now, however, he found out about the Golden Dragon King and the possibility of growing stronger.


    The seals on the Golden Dragon King endangered his life, but also gave him a chance to change his destiny.


    One week. He was left with a week¡¯s time. This was the time given by the oncoming typhoon.


    Dad sacrificed his freedom in exchange for a million federation coins. I need to use that money to strengthen myself.


    Tang Wulin took out his soul communicator and quickly pressed one of the few numbers stored on the device.


    ¡°Wulin?¡± Very quickly, a warm voice could be heard from the other side.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s words were concise. ¡°Grandmaster Cen, I want to start my Third Rank blacksmith ranking examination. Can I do it now?¡±


    On the other side of the soul communicator was Grandmaster Cen Yue, a grandmaster rank blacksmith.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too late now? Wait, what? What did you say? Third rank craftsman?¡± Cen Yue didn¡¯t have much of a reaction at the start, but when he understood what Tang Wulin was saying, he was so stunned that his voice rose a pitch.


    ¡°Not possible?¡± Tang Wulin stopped his footsteps. His eyes were clouded with disappointment. It seemed that there was typhoon today again, and it would be suffocating if he couldn¡¯t sit for the examination, when would the typhoon¡¯s reach the city? What about his own plan? His warm and passionate heart grew colder.


    ¡°You just wait a moment,¡± Cen Yue said in a deep voice.


    ?


    At this moment, Cen Yue was dining in a restaurant, but he wasn¡¯t alone. Sitting opposite him was the President of Eastsea City¡¯s Blacksmith''s Association, the Saint Craftsman rank Mu Chen, as well as his precious daughter, Mu Xi.


    ¡°Who gave you such a shock just for taking the third rank examination?¡± Mu Chen asked with a grin in his face.


    It was good for the association to have a new blacksmith join their ranks, but he was rather curious about the shock on Cen Yue¡¯s face.


    Cen Yue¡¯s expression changed and there was a hint of strangeness to it. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have guessed it right. It¡¯s the kid.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Mu Chen was surprised for a moment, but then a youthful face appeared within his mind.


    Cen Yue nodded towards him. ¡°He said that he wanted to come in now to complete the third rank examination. But it¡¯s too late now, you see¡­¡±


    Mu Chen¡¯s eyes shone with shock as he took in a deep breath to balance his agitation. He spoke deeply, ¡°Tell him, tell him to come by now. The examination may proceed without further ado.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Cen Yue removed his hand from the mic and spoke through it again, ¡°Come then, Wulin. You can come now to take on your ranking examination, this is by the president¡¯s request.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I shall be there immediately.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s excited voice was heard from the other side of the communicating device.


    Mu Xi gave her father a suspicious look, then gave one towards Cen Yue. ¡°Dad. What are the two of you talking about? Why is there a third rank examination happening at this late hour? Why do both of you look shocked?¡±


    Mu Chen sighed lightly and rubbed his daughter¡¯s head. ¡°Girl, there are people above people and heavens above the heavens. That person is Tang Wulin!¡±


    Mu Xi grew stunned when she heard this before she jumped up abruptly like a released spring. ¡°No, this isn¡¯t possible. How old is he? How could he be entering the third rank craftsman examination? To pass the third rank requires the Thousand Refinements!¡±


    Mu Chen told Cen Yue, ¡°Please call for the bill. We¡¯re going back. Seeing is believing, so let us witness this miracle.¡±


    ?


    When Tang Wulin reached the association, the skies had already darkened but the gates were wide open. There weren¡¯t any lights within the gates, however.


    It¡¯s late. Has everyone finished work already?


    Not only had Eastsea Academy received the news of an oncoming typhoon, the Blacksmith¡¯s Association had also received the news as well. Most of its staffs had gone home earlier because of that.


    None of the reception staff were in when he walked into the main hall of the association. Tang Wulin took the elevator up to the third floor. As the elevator doors opened, he found himself looking at a familiar face. Wasn¡¯t this Master Cen Yue?


    ¡°Hello Master Cen. I am troubling you at this late hour.¡± Tang Wulin had calmed down by the time he got here. While he spoke, there was a hint of embarrassment on his face.


    Cen Yue walked towards him and rested a hand on his shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s nothing. No time is too late to witness a miracle. Let¡¯s head over then.¡±


    He hadn¡¯t say anything more as he guided Tang Wulin towards the forging workshop where the examination would be conducted.


    As he entered the workshop, Tang Wulin was blown off. There wasn¡¯t just one examiner within the workshop. He had sighted Mu Chen as well as Mu Xi.


    ¡°President? Hello, president.¡± Tang Wulin gave a quick bow before greeting Mu Xi, ¡°Hello, senior.¡±


    Ever since their fight, Mu Xi hadn¡¯t approached him with trouble anymore. To meet her again, Tang Wulin felt indifferent to it. Mu Xi¡¯s expression, on the other hand, was filled with fire when she stared at him.


    ¡®This kid, is it possible? He¡¯s actually coming to take on the third rank examination? This is unbelievable.¡¯


    Mu Chen grinned. ¡°Wulin, your breath seems unstable. I would recommend you calm yourself down before the examination.¡±


    Tang Wulin felt his heart beat. ¡°Thank you, president. I¡¯ll adjust myself then. Sorry to keep all of you waiting.¡± As he spoke, he settled into a sitting position on the ground. His eyes observed his nose, his nose watched his mouth, his mouth shut his heart as he entered the meditative state.


    Cen Yue looked at Mu Chen and whispered to him, ¡°What do you think? Do you think he will succeed?¡±


    Mu Chen smiled. ¡°Though I¡¯ve only seen him a couple of times, his character is much more mature than most kids his age. If he didn¡¯t have any certainty, he wouldn¡¯t have turned up. He must have met with something, to come seeking you so urgently today. If not, he wouldn¡¯t have rushed here at this hour in the night to complete the examination. After his examination ends, you can ask him. I¡¯ve also seen that his second rank tasks have grown in difficulty. These are the tasks at the peak of the second ranks.¡±


    Cen Yue smiled. ¡°It seems that we have similar guesses; president has the same thought as me. We¡¯re all focusing on this little kid!¡±


    Mu Chen grinned. ¡°This might be the only genius craftsman from our Eastsea City. As a president, how can I not be aware of that?¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t actually enter complete meditation but had drawn support from his soul power and adjusted its circulation. This was done in order to calm himself down and balance out his emotions.


    After twenty minutes, he grew more stable when he regained his standing position.


    ¡°President, Master Cen, and examiners, I am now ready.¡± Tang Wulin bowed towards these three individuals.


    Compared to his current state, the state he had been in when he¡¯d just arrived was vastly different when one examined his breath, as well as the calmness that was now present in his eyes.

 Chapter 95 - Geniuses, Wait for Me!

    Chapter 95 - Geniuses, Wait for Me!


    Mu Xi stood on the side with the cool eye of a bystander. Although she was unconvinced by this boy who was even younger than her, she still paid attention to him. She refused to acknowledge him, but she had to admit that Tang Wulin¡¯s temperament was better than her¡¯s. If she had been the one to take the third rank test instead of him, she would definitely need far more time to calm her heart. After all, the Thousand Refinements was vastly different from the Hundred Refinements. Unless one entered a state of complete focus for the forging, it was basically impossible to succeed.


    The surveyor said, ¡°The third rank blacksmith¡¯s test only has one task, complete a Thousand Refinements. You may choose any metal you wish to Thousand Refine, but keep in mind that the degree of your Thousand Refinements and the difficulty level of the metal you choose will determine your final score.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin respectfully answered before he turned around and walked over to the shelf upon which the metals were displayed.


    ¡®I must pass this test!¡¯


    He swept his gaze over the various metals once before taking a chunk of Heavy Silver from the top.


    Amongst the uncommon metals displayed, Heavy Silver was the one he was the most familiar with. Moreover, it had been the first metal he had ever Thousand Refined and forged. Although it had a higher difficulty than other metals, Tang Wulin was already exceptionally skilled at entering a state of total concentration. He also had an understanding of the Heavy Silver¡¯s structure and could communicate with it.


    When they saw that Tang Wulin had actually chosen Heavy Silver, both Mu Chen and Cen Yue were startled while fury ignited within Mu Xi¡¯s eyes. This guy is simply too arrogant. Heavy Silver? Even a fourth rank blacksmith wouldn¡¯t be confident enough to Thousand Refine it successfully every time. Heavy Silver is an exceedingly difficult uncommon metal!


    The surveyor warned him kindly, ¡°Tang Wulin, are you certain that you want to choose this metal? Although you are able to Hundred Refine Heavy Silver, I must warn you that the Thousand Refinements is completely different from the Hundred Refinements. The difference isn¡¯t as simple as just a difference of numbers, but rather, you must infuse spirit into the metal. You need to think about this clearly.¡±


    ¡°I am certain,¡± Tang Wulin calmly responded. From beginning to end, his eyes had never left the chunk of Heavy Silver before him.


    He clamped the Heavy Silver onto the forging table with practiced movements, then the metal went into the furnace and began to heat up. Tang Wulin¡¯s breathing was already beginning to adjust to a routine.


    In that moment, the outside world completely disappeared from his gaze, leaving only the Heavy Silver on the forging table in both his eyes and heart.


    It was almost as if he could hear the metal breathing within the furnace as it heated. He could feel it thirsting for change, just like him.


    One hundred tempers to become steel, a thousand forgings enters the soul.


    Tang Wulin spread his arms to receive his pair of Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers, both appearing with a dull gray light into his hands.


    After all the time he spent forging with these Blood Sacrificed hammers, they had already become an extension of his body.  The spiral pattern on the hammers¡¯ shafts fit perfectly in the hollow of his palm. It felt as perfect as water was harmonious.


    Mu Chen and Cen Yue had good judgement, so when they saw him take out the Heavy Silver hammers their gazes grew rapt with attention.


    Just how much did Heavy Silver weigh? In order to have enough to forge a hammer, Hundred Refined Heavy Silver had to be used at the very least. They could clearly imagine how much those hammers weighed, yet Tang Wulin lifted them as easily as a feather.


    With the hammers in hand, Tang Wulin silently took in the smell of the Heavy Silver calcining. Suddenly, the hammer in his right hand shot out and lightly tapped a button on the forging table. Soon after, the glowing-red Heavy Silver came up from the furnace.


    Without any sort of prelude, the hammer in Tang Wulin¡¯s left hand shot out.


    Ding ding ding!


    Three crisp notes rang out, resounding towards the blacksmiths present. That ear-splitting boom had been three sounds in one. Sparks flew off the Heavy Silver as well as the hearts of Mu Chen and Cen Yue.


    Stacked hammers? He actually has forging hammers with the Stacked Hammers effect! Thousand Refined? Are his hammers actually Thousand Refined? Just how heavy are they?


    How monstrous is his strength?


    While they stood there in shock, Tang Wulin was already brandishing the hammer in his right hand.


    Ding ding ding!


    Another set of rumbling sounds roared.


    With increasing strength, Tang Wulin swung his Blood Sacrificed Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers. His hammers were like howling winds and torrential rains as they continuously smashed the chunk of Heavy Silver.


    He swung his arms, pounding the metal, causing the entire table to tremble. Yet, he stood as steady as Mt. Tai. Above all else, his gaze never left the Heavy Silver as he continued his single-minded forging.


    As he forged the Heavy Silver, it gave rise to a familiar voice which Tang Wulin focused on. With each strike of his hammers, Tang Wulin was able to hear the carefree song of the metal. Bit by bit, the impurities were dispelled and the metal grew harmonious on the inside.


    Under the powerful Stacked Hammers effect of his Blood Sacrificed Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers, the chunk of Heavy Silver reduced in size so quickly that the process was visible to the human eye.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s Heavy Silver hammers were incredibly heavy, and with the addition of their Stacked Hammers effect each strike was equivalent to ten strikes from his Thousand Refined Tungsten Hammers.


    In order to ensure success in this exam, he had taken many things into consideration and had come to the conclusion that only with his Heavy Silver hammers could he display his true strength.


    After Tang Wu Lin¡¯s three hammer strikes, Mu Xi had already been stunned into foolishly staring at him in awe.


    As the daughter of a Saint Craftsman how could she not know the significance of the Stacked Hammers effect? Moreover, the effect the hammers had on the Heavy Silver clearly showed just how heavy the hammers were. Even with such heavy hammers, Tang Wulin was able to exercise complete control over them, to the point where they were like an extension of his own body! Just how much strength would one need to be able to accomplish such a feat?


    But the funny thing was, she had tried to obstruct him in the academy before. Now that he had revealed his forging prowess, regardless of whether it was his understanding of Heavy Silver or his control of strength, she simply couldn¡¯t compare with him!


    Tang Wulin assaulted the chunk of Heavy Silver with his hammers that were like a howling wind and a torrential rain, whilst he himself stood as steady as Mt. Tai, steadily forging the metal. The silver luster gradually disappeared from the Heavy Silver; in its place were deep cloudy lines.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart was steady and as peaceful as water. In that moment, all other thoughts had been cast to the back of his mind, leaving his heart and soul focused only on forging. This was how he entered a state of complete concentration. His heart and spirit became one as he continued to forge not just the metal, but his spiritual power.


    Ding ding ding ding ding ding ding¡­


    One perfect hammer strike followed after another without pause, making the Heavy Silver hammers seem as though they were merely a streaking silver light. They unceasingly pounded the chunk of metal, condensing it, compressing it, and purifying it.


    It had already been three months since he had learned how to Thousand Refine. Since then, this was only the second time he attempted the Thousand Refinements.


    This was three months of preparation, three months of soul power cultivation, three months of maturing. All of his experiences in these last three months now underwent a catharsis as he forged.


    Bang bang bang!


    He finally finished his Thousand Refinements with a strike from his right hammer, causing a three-fold violent boom to resound throughout the room. That chunk of Heavy Silver had already reduced in volume by a third of its original and its dark red coloring was quickly fading away. In its place was an overflowing dark cloudy pattern.


    Tang Wulin was drenched in sweat as he waved his hammers a bit to disperse their momentum. Afterward, the two hammers disappeared into his bracelet with a brilliant light.


    The rumbling of metal being forged still filled the chamber, leaving no room for any other sounds.


    Too fast, he had finished too fast! From beginning to end, he had only taken half an hour to forge the Heavy Silver! A metal as dense as Heavy Silver had been Thousand Refined in half an hour!


    The surveyor didn¡¯t even need to take a look as she already knew from experience that this chunk of Thousand Refined Heavy Silver would receive full marks. The dark cloudy pattern that spread all over the metal was already enough proof.


    ¡°Stacked hammers. He has a pair of Stacked Hammers. Mang Tian is simply too much,¡± Cen Yue exclaimed in admiration.


    Mu Chen¡¯s gaze was focused on Tang Wulin, watching his state of total concentration gradually subside.


    ¡°Did you forge these hammers yourself?¡± Mu Chen asked.


    ¡°En.¡± Tang Wulin nodded. It was only after he affirmed it that he began to feel regret, but it was already too late. His mind had still been focused on forging and he hadn¡¯t had the strength to think about his answer.


    Mu Chen laughed. ¡°Only something that you forged yourself and used Blood Sacrifice on would be so compatible with you. Congratulations, from this moment on, you are a third rank blacksmith.¡±


    They didn¡¯t need the surveyor to announce his score. In fact, the surveyor was also at a loss as to what to do. With such a high level Thousand Refined Heavy Silver, it would even receive full marks for the fourth rank blacksmith¡¯s test. He only had to fulfill a few other skill requirements in order to become a fourth rank blacksmith now.


    Naturally, the fourth rank blacksmith¡¯s test wasn¡¯t just on the Thousand Refinements; one had to be able to Thousand Refine three different types of metal in a row. Moreover, the three metals had to be forged into specific forms in order to pass. Thus, it was still impossible with Tang Wulin¡¯s current strength and soul power.


    Releasing a long sigh, Tang Wulin somewhat bashfully said to Mu Chen, ¡°Thank you, president.¡±


    Mu Chen spoke with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Our association didn¡¯t nurture you anyway. Everything you possess had been gained through your own strength. I¡¯m glad that you¡¯re here in Eastsea City. From now on, you are a third rank blacksmith as well as a Grandmaster Blacksmith. Even though I hope you won¡¯t grow arrogant, I must still inform you that in the entire history of our continent, you are the youngest third rank blacksmith.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned. It wasn¡¯t until now that he understood why his teacher hadn¡¯t wanted him to take the third rank blacksmith¡¯s test.


    Mu Chen said, ¡°You have brought glory not just to yourself, but also to our Blacksmith¡¯s Association branch in Eastsea City. If you have any requests from the association, then the association will do its best to aid you.¡±


    Tang Wulin hesitated for a moment before raising his head. His gaze gradually grew more and more resolute. ¡°President, I want to take a loan from the association. Is that possible?¡±


    Mu Chen wasn¡¯t surprised by Tang Wulin¡¯s words, he had long since guessed that Tang Wulin had some purpose for coming to take the test so late in the evening.


    ¡°What do you need the loan for?¡±


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists. ¡°I want to become strong. I want to buy some things to improve myself. That¡¯s what I need the money for.¡±


    Mu Chen asked, ¡°Can you tell me what you want to buy? Our Blacksmith¡¯s Association still has some influence within the city and maybe we can help you save some money.¡±


    Tang Wulin went silent for a moment before he spoke. ¡°I need a hundred year Ice Crystal Fruit, a hundred year Scarlet Flame Fruit, and ten drops of hundred year dragon bloodline beast blood.¡±


    Tang Wulin had this brazen idea ever since he had run out of the dining hall.


    With the current strength of him, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue, it was clear that they were no match for class one¡¯s trio of two ring Soul Grandmasters. But if he was able to absorb some of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul and gain control of its tremendous power, something which had even caused his martial soul to mutate, then perhaps they would have a chance at victory.


    He truly wished to become powerful so that he wouldn¡¯t be a burden on his teammates!


    In a week''s time, he had to become a third rank blacksmith and complete as many tasks as possible, then maybe he would have enough money. But he then realized that a third rank blacksmith had many more privileges within the association, thus, he thought to bring up the possibility of taking out a loan.


    He wanted the absorb the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul and join his comrades in this crucial match of the Class Promotion Tournament!


    Mu Chen looked at him with an unfathomably deep gaze. ¡°Are you aware that spirit fruits may harm the body?¡±


    Tang Wulin responded, ¡°I know. I am certain of this.¡±


    Mu Chen nodded. ¡°Good then. The association will give you these three things. As for their value, you can complete tasks and slowly pay them off.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at Mu Chen. In that moment he only felt a blazing fire ignite within his heart!


    Geniuses of class one, wait for me!

 Chapter 96 - Mu Chens Guess

    Chapter 96 - Mu Chen''s Guess


    Tang Wulin only had to wait less than half an hour before Mu Chen brought out two boxes and a small bottle, placing them in his hands.


    Treasuring their important weight, he took the three items. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t speak as he gave Mu Chen a deep bow.


    While putting icing on the cake was easy, gifting coal when snowing was hard. To him, these three items were the same as giving away coal when it was  snowing!


    Cen Yue brought Tang Wulin with him to accept a task that could only be completed by a third rank blacksmith and then personally sent him out of the association. Afterward, he moved towards the highest level of the building, the office of Mu Chen the president of Eastsea City¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    Seeing him, Mu Chen smiled. ¡°I knew you would come find me.¡±


    ¡°President, we found the three items for him straight away; do you think it was too easy for him to obtain it? If a youth acquires items this easily, they wouldn¡¯t know how to treasure it. Furthermore, hasn¡¯t the association given him too much preferential treatment? Doing this may not be advantageous to his growth,¡± Cen Yue said with much doubt.


    Mu Chen grinned. ¡°Those three items should be what he currently needs urgently. Didn¡¯t you notice? He looked quite anxious today. With his young age, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fake these signs. That means that he was in dire need of those three items, but he had some difficulty financially in acquiring them, thus his rush to sit the examination to qualify as a third rank blacksmith. This was so that he could accept tasks of higher rank and hence receive a greater sum of remuneration. I only made use of my authority, and loaned these items to him. With his talent and potential, the association won¡¯t incur a loss. This is the first point.


    ¡°Secondly, you would also have noticed that he had completed the third rank examination easily. With your skills as a sixth rank blacksmith, how long would it take you to Thousand Refine Heavy Silver? With your level of soul power and wealth of experience, would you be twice as fast as he is?¡±


    Cen Yue didn¡¯t try to hide his deep thoughts. ¡°I can¡¯t. I can¡¯t deny that this child is a prodigy for being able to be one with the metal at such a young age, and whilst fully concentrated. He hadn¡¯t broken out of focus a single time during the entire process. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem for him to enter the Spirit Forging realm. Adding on his innate divine strength, even if he was restricted by his soul power, he would be capable of reaching  sixth rank blacksmith at the very least. He will definitely surpass Mang Tian.¡±


    Mu Chen caught a gleam of admiration within Cen Yue¡¯s eyes. He grinned, saying, ¡°Not only you, even I¡¯m jealous of Mang Tian as well. He has truly found a genius that¡¯s out of this world. This child not only has a strong foundation, but is also very talented. You said that he wouldn¡¯t  treasure those items because they were easily obtained? I¡¯m not worried about that. It¡¯s very simple. For him to easily enter that state of concentration and understanding of the metals, it proves that this child has a calmness that surpasses his peers.


    ¡°Also, did you notice that all three items he needed were for increasing his body¡¯s strength? If I¡¯m right, the greatest benefit from combining the Scarlet Flame Fruit and Ice Crystal Fruit would be that it promotes his physical strength by constantly forging it under fire and ice. With his innate divine strength, would increasing his physical strength be a bad thing? Blood from a dragon-type beast could be related to his martial soul. His eyes were also full of confidence when he collected those items, so I believe that giving those items to him will give him immense benefits.


    ¡°Actually, the question I¡¯m considering is not if the association has given him too much preferential treatment, but rather, what methods  should we utilise to assist him in increasing his soul power in the future. Although entering the Spirit Forging realm could be done with his innate divine strength and astounding perception, but to enter into the higher level, the Soul Forging realm, he would require even greater amounts of soul power to be able to support it.¡±


    As Cen Yue listened to Mu Chen¡¯s analysis, an expression of admiration formed. He truly was worthy of the title of president. Within a few short moments of meeting Tang Wulin, he was able deduce so much.


    Mu Chen lifted his head and looked at Cen Yue as he spoke deeply, ¡°This child¡¯s existence must be kept a secret, we cannot let anybody from the other branches  know about him. I am pinning my hopes onto him, so that when he reveals his true colours in the main association in the future, he will bring some glory to our branch.¡±


    Cen Yue laughed. ¡°Please rest assured, president. I have already informed the relevant people. I have always thought that you were impartial, but now it doesn¡¯t seem to be completely true.¡±


    ¡°Hehe.¡± Mu Chen gave a sly grin. ¡°I¡¯m very clear of what Mang Tian was thinking. This Tang Wulin kid, his ability to complete the Thousand Refinements definitely isn¡¯t something that had happened recently. It must¡¯ve been Mang Tian that told him to hide it, that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t move up to the third rank during his first examination. Mang Tian was really hoping that Tang Wulin would shock the world with his abilities in the future, eventually becoming a Saint Craftsman in the Soul Forging realm. I have my own hopes as well. In the last thirty years, he is the only child I¡¯ve seen who might be able to attain the Heavenly Refinements and become this generation''s Divine Blacksmith genius!¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin, however, was clueless about the high evaluations Mu Chen had given him. He didn¡¯t head back to the academy, instead, he had gone to the forging workshop not far from the association.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know what would happen when he removed the seal. Until now, he was still unsure if the existence within his body was real. This trial would prove everything to him. He didn¡¯t want to attract any unwanted attention in the dormitory if something unexpected happened.


    Wu wu wu... Gales howled as the typhoon entered Eastsea City, bringing heavy rain and strong currents of wind along with it. When Tang Wulin rushed into the workshop, it had already become dark and gloomy outside, and a thunderstorm had started.


    He forced the doors shut and checked the windows. The workshop was undoubtedly a sturdy place in itself. After he had done his checks, Tang Wulin let out a sigh of relief.


    Despite the endless humming of the wind and the pitter-patter of rain on the windows, Tang Wulin felt something strange inside of him. It was a blessed feeling.


    Yes! Despite the chaos brought about by the hurricane outside, he was fortunate enough to be able to hide within the solid walls of this small shelter, free from the attacks of the wind and rain. This was something to be blessed about, wasn¡¯t it?


    He took out the three items from the pale blue soul storage ring the association had given him and placed them on the table. Reaching out, he brought a chair towards him and sat down.


    His heartbeat visibly grew faster. The Golden Dragon King the golden figure spoke of should be real since there had been some strange occurrences in his body, and these three items should be of use in removing the first seal.


    Tang Wulin opened the first box with great care.


    The box was made out of exquisite material. Just by opening it, he felt a gush of hot air flowing from the box and into the room, increasing the room¡¯s temperature by a few degrees. It had also chased away the chill Tang Wulin had caught while escaping from the thunderstorm.


    There was a scarlet colored fruit within the box, and it was a whole circle bigger than the fruit he saw at the auction house. The golden glow it emitted was also denser. Similarly the heat waves coming from the top of the fruit was stronger. A mere look and Tang Wu Lin could imagine how blazing hot the fruit actually was.


    He quickly opened the second box. With a push to open the lid, he felt a wave of coolness creep from the box, filling the room that had just been warmed up by the Scarlet Flame Fruit. With its chilliness, it brought down the temperature back to normal.


    Giving off a pale blue glow, the thumbnail sized hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit was resting in the box calmly, emitting a translucent light.


    Their mere appearances was sufficient in drawing stares and attention. Ice and fire, these two different elemental types had barely offset the other¡¯s effects and prevented the room¡¯s temperature from fluctuating. But as Tang Wu Lin opened the lid of the Ice Crystal Fruit¡¯s box, he felt that the light it exuded had grown significantly stronger, as if it were trying to compete with the strength of its shine.


    What do I do now? Do I just eat them?


    Tang Wulin was a bit helpless at this moment. He didn¡¯t know how he should prepare these two fruits. After he felt the energy emitted from both fruits, he didn¡¯t dare to place them in his mouth. President Mu Chen had just told him that consuming spirit fruits would not necessarily bring him any benefits as it might also produce adverse effects.


    It would be best to ask him then.


    Tang Wulin shut both his eyes and concentrated hard with all his might. He called out in his mind, Are you there? I¡¯ve found the three items, are you there?


    He didn¡¯t even know how to summon the golden figure and this was the only method he could try.


    There was no reply.


    Tang Wulin felt somewhat foolish at that moment. Although the process of getting ahold of these two spirit fruits and the bottle of blood of a hundred-year dragon-type soul beast was fairly easy, he would have to pay it back eventually! Could it be that it had been merely a dream?


    ¡°You have found everything?¡± Just then, a calm voice sounded in his mind.

 Chapter 97 - Spirit Item Fusion

    Chapter 97 - Spirit Item Fusion


    ¡°You found everything?¡±


    When he heard the voice, it was as if a gong had been struck inside his head, causing him to feel a bout of nausea as he once again entered that dark space.


    The ephemeral golden figure appeared before him. He hadn¡¯t entered this world in his sleep this time, but rather, he had entered while completely awake. For him, this confirmed that everything before his eyes was real.


    ¡°I think I have everything.¡± Tang Wulin nervously looked at the golden figure before him before summoning up his courage to say, ¡°What should I call you?¡±


    That golden figure seemed to freeze for a moment, before it slowly answered, ¡°You can just call me Old Tang.¡±


    ¡°Old Tang?¡± He wasn¡¯t sure why, but when Tang Wulin said this name, a strange feeling stirred within his heart. His family name is also Tang, the same as me?


    ¡°It¡¯s just a name. Well then, time waits for no one. I have already sensed the aura of those three heaven and earth treasures. It must have been difficult for you to find them in such a short period of time. Are you ready to break the first seal now?¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked in astonishment a few times. ¡°Do I still need to do anymore preparations?¡±


    Old Tang profoundly said, ¡°You need to prepare many things: endurance, strength, courage, and dedication. When you break the first seal, you will experience unfathomable suffering. This pain may drive you to insanity or cause you to give up. If you don¡¯t have the qualities I spoke of, then you will be unable to bear the seal¡¯s power. If you are driven to insanity, then you may lose all hope of recovering.¡±


    Startled, Tang Wulin stared at Old Tang. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me this last time. Last time you said I only needed to find these three items¡­¡±


    Old Tang indifferently spoke, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you actually thought it would be so easy to undo the seal that is preventing your death? In this world, there is nothing you can obtain without putting in the work. In order to obtain something, you must pay forward an equivalent amount. Regardless of whether this happens in your life or in your cultivation, everything is like this. As a Soul Master, if you don¡¯t put in the hard work, to withstand pain and loneliness surpassing others and possess a will stronger than ordinary people, how could you possibly become powerful?


    ¡°The situation you are currently faced with is also the same. The portion of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul that is contained within this first seal will fuse with, and transform, your body. If the fusion succeeds, then your strength will increase in every aspect. In the process of fusing with it, the first thing you need to do is endure the pain. Although you are still young, you have no other choice but to do so.¡±


    Tang Wulin remained silent. Even though he was young, his father had always been instructing him on how to conduct himself. He understood that everything Old Tang said was for his sake.


    ¡°Since I have no other choice, I will definitely succeed.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s expression grew resolute as he spoke this.


    He still wanted to go search for his parents and Na¡¯er. He also needed to help his comrades attain victory in the Class Promotion Tournament. If not to become strong, then for what reason had he obtained these three treasures?


    It was due to these reasons that he didn¡¯t cower at all in the face of those risks.


    ¡°Please tell me what I need to do now,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Old Tang said, ¡°You now need to find a quiet place, a place people won¡¯t visit or disturb you for at least several days. After you have done this, you will need some sort of vessel that you can seal. You will put the two spirit fruits into the vessel and pour the hundred year dragon-type beast blood over it. Then you will seal the vessel and wait for the contents within it to calm. Finally, you will drink everything within the vessel. Only then will you be ready to break the first seal.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Old Tang said, ¡°After you have done this, I will guide you in breaking the first seal. You must remember, however, that before you take this medicine, you must be in your best state and your heart must be tranquil.¡±


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes once again and was met with the familiar sight of the forging workshop from before. Similarly, outside the workshop everything was still in chaos from the wind and rain.


    The hum of the wind and pitter-patter of the rain grew louder and louder. Soon it was accompanied by roaring thunder. It was as if the heavens and earth had been torn asunder.


    Tang Wulin glanced at the three treasures for a moment before taking out his soul communicator and dialing Xie Xie¡¯s number.


    ¡°Hello? Wulin, why haven¡¯t you come back yet? The hurricane has already hit us. Where are you right now?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s static filled voice fired questions at him in rapid succession. The hurricane was now affecting their communicator¡¯s transmissions.


    Tang Wulin calmly responded, ¡°I¡¯m fine. I finished my business at the Blacksmith¡¯s Association before the hurricane struck and now I¡¯m taking shelter in my forging workshop. It¡¯s too windy and rainy outside so I¡¯m unable to return at the moment. Fortunately I can just complete some forging tasks in the downtime. I¡¯m calling you to assure you that I¡¯m fine. Did you get all of that?¡±


    ¡°Your voice is a bit fuzzy, but I could understand most of what you said. Everything is good as long as you¡¯re fine. The hurricane also came at an opportune time. Just wait for this big brother to cultivate hard for the next few days and see if I can make a breakthrough and become a two ringed Soul GrandmMaster. If I can, then we¡¯ll beat up those bastards from class one.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourself. Safety is still our number one priority.¡±


    Xie Xie let out a mischievous laugh. ¡°You can be at ease, I¡¯ll be fine. Teacher Wu is paying special attention to me. The three of us were originally supposed to undergo special training together, but you didn¡¯t come back. I¡¯ll cover for you for a couple of days. Just quickly come back once the hurricane has died down a little.¡±


    ¡°En. Alright.¡±


    After hanging up his communicator, Tang Wulin looked at the window and the door once again. He checked that everything had been locked up before returning to the table.


    Getting ahead of himself? He was the one getting ahead of himself in his enthusiasm to make a breakthrough. After all, what would he become afterward?


    It was really easy to find a sealable vessel inside of the workshop. After all, it had been one of the first things he had learned to forge and he could also just quickly forge it if he couldn¡¯t find one.


    He took the metal cup and placed it on top of the table.


    Do I begin now? No. Old Tang said I must be in my best state. I must be calm and steady.


    He began meditating and regulating his breathing. He recovered some of the soul power he had expended and gradually stilled his mind.


    After some time had passed, he awoke from his meditative state with his body in peak condition.


    Amidst the sounds of the wind and rain, Tang Wulin unhesitatingly got up and put the two hundred-year fruits, the Ice Crystal Fruit and the Scarlet Flame Fruit, into the metal cup. Afterward, he swiftly opened up the porcelain bottle and poured the fishy- smelling dark violet blood into the cup.¡±


    A powerful wave of energy began overflowing from the cup, causing the entire cup to begin trembling. Tang Wulin hastily covered the cup with its lid, sealing it before holding it close to his chest.


    A succession of explosions began to rumble within the cup. Tang Wulin nearly let go of the cup as it was scarlet red with heat. The intensity of the rumbling increased even further. The red coloring began to fade and in its place was a layer of frost.


    He was vaguely able to hear the roar of a dragon within the cup.


    The Scarlet Flame Fruit and Ice Crystal Fruit were both spirit fruit treasures. After reaching a hundred years, they had already gained a trace of intelligence. Fire and ice were two extremes, and together, a violent rejection would naturally occur. When restrained within the small cup, this violent rejection became even fiercer and the two began to mutually attack the other.


    The hundred year dragon-type soul beast blood was what increased their effects as well as what brought the two into harmony. These three spirit items mixed together to quietly created a fantastic reaction.


    Tang Wulin subconsciously drew back a few steps. He had sensed that within the metal cup was a powerful energy that wanted to break free. It¡¯s not going to actually explode, right? All of my efforts would go to waste then.


    Fortunately, the small explosions booming within the metal cup gradually died down. The cup was now intermittently changing between a flaming red and an icy blue color as it calmed.


    Despite this, Tang Wulin could still sense an immensely powerful energy emanating from within the metal cup. He didn¡¯t know where this feeling came from, but it had somehow made its way into his mind.


    That was wrong. This feeling hadn¡¯t come naturally. It was only after he opened the bottle of dragon-type soul beast blood that this feeling came about. Everything he felt was caused by that dragon blood.


    Old Tang¡¯s words echoed within his mind. He didn¡¯t dare to delay and hastily stepped forward to pick up the metal cup. Its temperature was oddly normal, merely a bit warm.


    After unsealing the cup, a reeking, strange smell assaulted his senses, causing Tang Wulin to nearly sneeze.

 Chapter 98 - Taking the Spirit Medicine

    Chapter 98 - Taking the Spirit Medicine


    An indecipherable, deep purple liquid bubbled constantly within the cup, like the murky waters of a swamp.


    With no other choice, Tang Wulin closed his eyes, furrowed his brows, and lifted the metal cup, emptying it.


    Unexpectedly, the taste of the liquid wasn¡¯t as bad as it smelled, and upon entering his mouth, it gave him a miraculously warm feeling. It tasted slightly sweet and fishy and had a tang to it. As if he was consuming a sea urchin, it was both smooth and slimy and stuck to his throat before he swallowed it down.


    The warmth spread throughout his body, leaving him unspeakably comfortable. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but release a sigh. This mouthful had costed him hundreds of thousands of federation coins, and it was already gone!


    No, it might have been even more than that. Although he didn¡¯t personally buy these items, the blood of a hundred-year dragon-type soul beast should¡¯ve been a sought-after item that would fetch a sky-high price.


    What should I do now? Tang Wulin was dazed for a while, but he sobered up in a flash. Taking two steps back, he sat in a meditative position.


    He chose to avoid sitting on the chair to prevent the possibility of falling to the ground if something happened during his meditation to cause his body to react.


    Concentrate, meditate, and circulate soul power.


    This should be it; by circulating his soul power, he should be able to dissolve the effects of the medicine.


    Tang Wulin had a thought, how is Old Tang going to help me break the first seal?


    Suddenly, a strange feeling overcame him from every corner of his body. It felt as though vitality was flowing into his blood, as if steam was rushing out of every pore in his body. This sudden heat left Tang Wulin feeling unbearable, and he could barely remain in his seated position.


    His temperature rose, his body similar to a furnace. Sweat poured from his body like a waterfall. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t control the heat within him and started trembling violently.


    A faint golden pattern started appearing on his forehead, growing until they covered his whole body. The golden patterns, in the shape of rhombuses, appeared faint at first, but they slowly grew clearer. Tang Wulin¡¯s body became as red as a cooked prawn.


    So hot, so hot!


    Tang Wulin clenched his teeth and persevered, as Old Tang had previously said that he should have strength, endurance and dedication.


    The weak soul power within him had seemingly escaped his control and began surging throughout his body. Tang Wulin could no longer maintain his state of meditation and felt that his surroundings were turning blood red.


    Could it be that my body is actually melting?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body trembled, and the golden webs on his body became even clearer.


    Suddenly, the heat disappeared like subsiding waves and with it, the unbearably miserable feeling.


    After reaching equilibrium, this level of comfort would normally not be reached, but comforting relief from misery would easily cause intoxication.


    Currently in such a state, Tang Wulin relaxed after going through that agony and felt like his body had been thoroughly exfoliated by the immense heat previously coursing through his body. It left him with no energy; he couldn¡¯t even lift up a finger.


    Without waiting for his mind to relax, a sudden wave of chilliness emerged from his heart and spread throughout his body. Like the heat before, this chilliness circulated right into the depths of his body. The redness that had lingered on his skin was replaced by a pale blue.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body trembled with more violence. The only thing that wasn¡¯t trembling as much was the golden webbed pattern. The golden webbed pattern had become even more distinct than before.


    His body began emitting biting cold instead of extreme heat, the change leaving his clothes in ruin. Torn to shreds, the scraps of clothing fell off his body. Exhausted completely, his mere rank 12 soul power was unable to relieve some of his suffering.


    It was so cold that his blood would freeze soon. Tang Wulin could only feel his heartbeat falling at an alarming rate, his vision blurring out.


    Are these the effects of the hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame Fruit? It¡¯s so painful.


    Tang Wulin was unaware that with these two spirit fruits of like age, a process called Fire-Ice Body Refining that could be used to increase his physical strength. This was a dangerous process for most, however, as the sudden change from temperature extremes could cause a weakling to collapse. To prevent that, a fruit with balancing properties of higher age was necessary to ensure safety.


    More importantly, the body refining process required a Soul Master with a significantly higher cultivation to guide and protect the body refiner.


    To Mu Chen, it was obvious that Mang Tian would help guide Tang Wulin in the process, but he didn¡¯t expect Tang Wulin to have consumed all three spirit items by himself, alone.


    These were hundred-year spirit fruits, and even a Soul Elder with three rings would have been hurt badly in the process, leaving hidden traces of incurable diseases in them.


    Not to mention the fact that Tang Wulin had merely cultivated to rank 12 soul power.


    Finally, after an unknown period of time, the extreme cold subsided, and Tang Wulin¡¯s mental state recovered.


    Paralyzed, he could only feel numbness throughout his body, as if his body was no longer his. Despite this, he felt strangely clear-headed and could clearly see the patterns of golden webs shimmering brightly on his body, as though his body was wrapped up within a huge web.


    Old Tang, where are you? What should I do? Tang Wulin thought mentally.


    But Old Tang didn¡¯t reply him at all, as if his existence had always been a mere nightmare.


    Tang Wulin knew he had no other routes to escape to, so he could do nothing other than allowing these three spiritual items to wreck havoc within his body.


    At this time, his body regained mobility, and he felt the comfortable feeling once again. He did not let his guard down, however. First was the immense heat followed by extreme coldness; what would be the effects of the dragon-type soul beast¡¯s blood? What type of suffering would it be this time?


    The facts had proven his guess right.


    Immense heat and extreme coldness were both unbearable, but they were nothing compared to what he felt next.


    It seemed as if there were tiny ants slowly crawling up his limbs and drilling into his muscles, organs, and bones.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and screamed bitterly. He wanted to scratch at the sensations, but his body wouldn¡¯t move at all. Even worse was his mind¡¯s currently exceptional clarity; he could fully experience the inhumane agony. This suffering was too hard to bear with.


    Why? Why did this happen? Tang Wulin¡¯s whole body shook violently.


    Can¡¯t take it, I can¡¯t take it anymore.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t take this, then only death awaits you. If you want to live on, you have to bear this. If you are able to face any sufferings bravely, you will be able to overcome them. Learn to persevere and the doors to success will open to you.¡± Old Tang¡¯s voice finally appeared once again, but he sounded sombre this time.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s spirit shook. That¡¯s right! I can¡¯t give up. If I can¡¯t break the seal, I would only be greeted with death.


    I can¡¯t die. There are still many things I have yet to accomplish. I want to be strong. I want to be a powerful Mecha Master and to be able to use a mecha crafted out of the metals I forged myself.


    I need to search for mom and dad too¡ªand Na¡¯er as well. I want to become a powerful Soul Master and a powerful Mecha Master.


    I want to live on. There are so many beautiful things for me to experience in this world.


    In his heart, a strong feeling of defiance grew within, and it seemingly reduced his suffering as well as the numbness and itchiness, which retreated from his bones and back to his spine.


    What Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t see was the change in color of the webbed patterns on his body, as it had turned from gold to purple. The purple color didn¡¯t stay for long, the patterns shifting back to a gold that shone even brighter than before.


    It was as if the purplish color had nourished the golden pattern before subsiding thereafter.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s numbness and itchiness gradually disappeared as well, and he panted heavily. Feeling returned to his body once again, and he realized that he could move all his limbs.


    What is happening? Could it be that I have recovered already?


    It¡¯s done? Has the seal been broken?


    ¡°Be prepared; this is just the beginning!¡± Old Tang¡¯s icy voice resounded within his mind.


    This is just the beginning?


    Three feelings¡ªimmense heat, extreme cold, as well as numbness and itchiness¡ªhad all reappeared suddenly without giving Tang Wulin any time to react. At that point, Tang Wulin felt as though he had been engulfed.


    As he continued releasing his piercing screams, his vision gradually turned white.

 Chapter 99 - The Eve of the First Grades Decisive Battle

    Chapter 99 - The Eve of the First Grade''s Decisive Battle


    Eastsea Academy.


    The hurricane struck Eastsea City this time with a suddenness, throwing the entire city into chaos. Stores were unable to do business, schools were unable to teach, and communications had been paralyzed. Every single department of the city¡¯s administration was completely swamped with work.


    The hurricane lasted a whole week. At its peak, it was even able to uproot large trees and bring about great destruction to the buildings.


    Fortunately, it had now passed.


    After the hurricane, Eastsea City appeared fresher than before. A thin mist created a veil in the air while sunshine sprinkled the earth. Occasionally, the two would combine to create a rainbow off in the clear horizon.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on with that guy? He still hasn¡¯t answered his communicator. Maybe the communicator ran out of power and we can¡¯t get through to him anymore.¡± Xie Xie currently wasn¡¯t in the mood to go outside and appreciate the beautiful scenery. He sat in the teacher¡¯s building like an anxious cat on a hot tin roof.


    The reason for his agitation was simple: he couldn¡¯t contact Tang Wulin at all.


    As the hurricane passed by, Xie Xie had been hard at work cultivating under the guidance of Wu Zhangkong and had been able to make a breakthrough. After making this breakthrough, the first thing he wanted to do was tell all of his good friends. Yet, who could have imagined that he wouldn¡¯t be able to get through to Tang Wulin¡¯s communicator.


    More importantly, today was the day they returned to class yet Tang Wulin was still nowhere to be found. Xie Xie didn¡¯t even know where he¡¯d gone.


    Returning to class also meant that the Class Promotion Tournament would resume after! Their opponent was the first grade¡¯s class one, the class with the strongest new students in all of the academy¡¯s history!


    Tang Wulin, this guy, where the hell are you!?


    ¡°Do you know which workshop he¡¯s in? Maybe we can go find him in the afternoon?¡± Gu Yue¡¯s brows were creased and her eyes were full of worry.


    Xie Xie forced out a bitter smile. ¡°I don¡¯t have much of an interest in forging, so how would I know where his workshop is? He even called me that day to specially explain that he would be staying at his workshop and he wouldn¡¯t have any troubles there! But how come there still isn¡¯t any news from him? Could it be that he actually forgot the time?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s expression was overcast and gloomy as she steadily said, ¡°What do you know then? Let¡¯s go over to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association in the afternoon; maybe his workshop is registered with them.¡±


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t refute Gu Yue for once, but instead nodded his head and agreed. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Let¡¯s go there later.¡±


    Tang Wulin still hadn¡¯t shown up to class, even as it was dismissed at noon. Xie Xie and Gu Yue went to find Wu Zhangkong before they quickly flew out of the campus, heading straight for the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    An hour later, however, they left the Blacksmith¡¯s Association with gloomy expressions.


    The Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s reply had been very simple: any information regarding forging spaces registered with the association was confidential and could not be leaked out. It would only be possible if they had the approval of the government. Moreover, Tang Wulin¡¯s information was on an even higher level of confidentiality than ordinary blacksmiths.


    ¡®What do we do now? Should we ask Teacher Wu to apply for a government permit and then come back and ask?¡± Gu Yue asked Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie laughed bitterly. ¡°We don¡¯t have enough time for that! It¡¯s easy to get a government permit, but what we¡¯re short on is time! Our request definitely wouldn¡¯t be approved today while our match is tonight. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be up to the two of us to win this battle. Wulin isn¡¯t this type of unreliable person! He must have met with some problem that prevented him from coming.¡±


    Gu Yue raised her head and revealed a sour expression. ¡°We can discuss this after we return. Either way, let¡¯s first have Teacher Wu apply for a government permit. It¡¯s crucial that Wulin is there for our match.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    ¡°A government permit?¡± Wu Zhangkong stared at his two students, his originally ice-cold expression gradually thawing to reveal gloom.


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t gone to any of his classes at all and they weren¡¯t able to find him anywhere.


    ¡°Alright then, you two hurry on back to class first. I will handle this,¡± Wu Zhangkong coldly said.


    ¡°Teacher, then will it just be us two in the match tonight?¡± asked Xie Xie.


    Wu Zhangkong shot him a glance. ¡°It¡¯ll just be the two of you.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Xie Xie and Gu Yue returned to class with hearts full of worry and a sour mood. Although the difference between a two versus two battle and a three versus three battle seemed small, and that Tang Wulin was the weakest one among them, they were already accustomed to fighting as a team of three. Without Tang Wulin, it felt as though they were lacking something.


    Their afternoon classes flew by quickly. Maybe it was because the week-long hurricane had stifled the students for too long, but when they were dismissed today, many of them gathered at the field. In fact, there were even some teachers present. They were all there to watch the match today.


    ¡°Have you heard? This year¡¯s Class Promotion Tournament is full of prodigies! Class five has actually been having triumph after triumph and have already won three matches! Who knows if this dark horse will continue until the end, though.¡±


    ¡°Stop dreaming. Don¡¯t you know how frightening this year¡¯s class one is? They¡¯re reputed to be the strongest new students in all of the academy¡¯s history. Their class actually has three Soul Grandmasters with powerful martial souls! In comparison, the three participants from class five are merely one ringed Soul Masters. With a gap between their soul skills and soul power, they don¡¯t stand even a chance. I really want to see how far class one can advance in this tournament. I heard that all of the classes in the second grade are presently feeling the pressure of a great mountain upon their backs. Hehe.¡±


    Students continuously broke into discussion one after another while the teachers soon arrived in a group.


    The teacher in charge of the first grade¡¯s class four, Kong Hanwen, had his gaze stuck to the crowd the whole time, searching for something with a grim expression.


    ¡°Teacher Kong, what are you looking for?¡± The teacher in charge of class three, Ye Yingrong, suspiciously asked him.


    Kong Hanwen answered, ¡°I¡¯m looking for that bastard, Wu Zhangkong. Isn¡¯t he just too arrogant? I want to see if his students can truly prevail today.¡± Kong Hanwen held back a sigh within his heart. After all, his class had been beaten by Tang Wulin¡¯s trio, meaning that he was now in charge of the lowest class of the grade.


    Ye Yingrong let out a gentle sigh. ¡°That¡¯s right! This year¡¯s class one is simply too powerful. I don¡¯t think anyone in the second grade can face them either. Even the second grade¡¯s class one only has two Soul Grandmasters right now. I think this year¡¯s class one will definitely be able to battle all the way until the third grade in this tournament.¡±


    Kong Hanwen sneered but remained silent. His purpose for coming today was to see how that Icily Arrogant Prince Charming¡¯s face would look after his students lost.


    ¡°They¡¯re here,¡± Ye Yingrong said in a hushed tone.


    Kong Hanwen followed her gaze and sure enough, Wu Zhangkong stood with the rest of class five, looking towards the stage. Behind him were two of his impressive disciples, Xie Xie and Gu Yue.


    What astonished Kong Hanwen, however, was that the pretty boy was nowhere to be found. He seemed to recall that the student¡¯s name was Tang Wulin.


    Right when Wu Zhangkong appeared with his class, an uproar began on the other side.


    The students quickly parted to make a path.


    A female teacher in her late twenties lead the way enthusiastically. She looked exceptionally similar to Ye Yingrong, with at least sixty percent of their features being the same. She was even a bit prettier than Ye Yingrong, but had an air of arrogance to her.


    Following behind her were the highly acclaimed, most powerful new students of class one in recent history. Leading the class was a trio of three boys. On the left was the one Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue had met previously, Wei Xiaofeng.


    In the middle was a tall youth who seemed calm in comparison to Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s arrogance. He had a maturity that surpassed that of his peers. On his other side was an extremely thin boy, as if he was made of only skin and bones. He carried an expression full of gloom and iciness. Even his aura was gloomy. In fact, he was so gloomy that no one walked behind him. It seemed that no one wanted to even approach him.


    The two parties assembled on opposite sides of each other on the stage, waiting for the match to begin.


    Ye Yingrong took brisk steps to the side of that female teacher and greeted in a soft voice, ¡°Big sister.¡±

 Chapter 100 - Tang Wulin Returns

    Chapter 100 - Tang Wulin Returns


    The teacher for class one of the first grade was none other than Ye Yingluo, Ye Yingrong¡¯s elder sister and the person whom Wu Zhangkong ruthlessly rejected.


    Ye Yingluo nodded her head towards her younger sister. Her eyes, however, were involuntarily attracted to the person standing on the other side. She looked at Wu Zhangkong, her eyes a bit complicated.


    A few days ago, she witnessed the battle between Wu Zhangkong and Guang Biao, and it had etched a deep impression in her mind.


    But this didn¡¯t wipe off the scar that Wu Zhangkong had left in her heart. Which part of me doesn¡¯t deserve you?


    Wu Zhangkong, just you wait. I¡¯ll ensure your cheeks will be pressed against the ground, and I¡¯ll make that arrogant coldness of yours disappear.


    Wu Zhangkong felt as though someone was watching him from afar, so he turned around to look. Though Ye Yingluo¡¯s heart was full of hatred towards him, she involuntarily tried to pose in her best position when he looked over at her.


    But...


    What was that look of his?


    Ye Yingluo was infuriated.


    When Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes rested on her, they didn¡¯t stay at all. Furthermore, his gaze was emotionless when they swept past her, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.


    Bastard! This person, he¡¯s still a bastard.


    Ye Yingrong saw the expression on her sister¡¯s face and knew it meant nothing good. She understood this arrogant sister of hers well enough to know that.


    Ye Yingluo was given the title of child prodigy when she was younger. Her failure in getting accepted into Shrek Academy had devastated her, changing her into a highly temperamental person. Thus, when she had been rejected by Wu Zhangkong, she became like this.


    Sister, you should know very well that whatever you do won¡¯t help. There is no place for us in this man¡¯s eyes. To put it plainly, we have never been on the same level as him! Regardless of what you do, it won¡¯t change anything.


    Of course, Ye Yingrong didn¡¯t dare voice these words out loud to her elder sister, as she was highly aware that with her elder sister¡¯s temperament, Ye Yingluo might go mad if she was told this.


    ¡°Yangzi, help me teach them a good lesson.¡± Ye Ying Luo turned back and barked ferociously at the calm teenager who stood behind her.


    ¡°Yes, teacher.¡± There was a flash of light in the eyes of this teenager by the name of Yangzi before he regained his previously calm demeanour.


    Director Long Hengxu walked up the stage at this point in time. He first nodded his head to both classes¡¯ teachers in acknowledgement before he began to speak in a deep voice, ¡°This ranking tournament had previously been postponed because of the typhoon. Today will be the fourth match; first grade¡¯s class five will be competing against first grade¡¯s class one. First grade class five¡¯s Teacher Wu, how many participants from your side will compete today?¡±


    Long Hengxu¡¯s mood was very complicated at this point in time. He had wanted first grade class five to be defeated quickly to prevent those black horses from climbing up. Class sorting was a duty of his, so if these participants from class five were still undefeated, he would be very ashamed of his decisions!


    The academy would then question him on his class sorting decisions. In particular, their audit would be on the possibility of first grade class five remaining undefeated. This would include some leads into the investigation of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s methods of teaching, but would ultimately cover his error in the sorting of students into classes.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s display of strength and power that day, however, had aided in easing the difficult situation for him. At least, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s teaching ability was recognised by most of the school directors. A direct advancement opportunity was thus created for this Teacher Wu into the Advanced Academy.


    After all, it would be very advantageous for the academy to have someone this powerful within Eastsea Academy.


    Competitions were rife within academies in every city, especially so within the intermediate academies. In the advanced academies, the sole purpose of these students was to bring glory to their academy by competing against higher ranked academies and winning. As these academies became more renowned, they would naturally attract better students to enroll in their academies.


    Thus, after what happened that day, Long Hengxu didn¡¯t really dare to offend Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Our class will have¡­¡± Wu Zhangkong was about to mention that two would be competing from his class when a voice traveled to him from behind first grade class five.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, please wait.¡±


    Upon hearing this familiar voice, Xie Xie and Gu Yue, who were standing behind Wu Zhangkong, broke out into surprised grins.


    The crowd parted, and a worn and weary Tang Wulin rushed to the front.


    His current appearance starved him from others¡¯ compliments as his hair was unkempt and a pale pallor painted the whole of his face. He appeared to be breathing erratically.


    ¡°Where did you run off to? Why did you only come now?¡± Xie Xie snapped at him.


    Tang Wulin grimaced as he answered. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. Let¡¯s compete first. Teacher Wu, I¡¯m able to battle.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong looked towards him with an expressionless face and nodded his head before speaking to Long Hengxu again, ¡°We have three participants from our class.¡±


    Long Hengxu replied, ¡°First grade''s class one may select three students to compete as well.¡±


    Ye Yingluo tilted her head upward. ¡°Fine.¡±


    Long Hengxu spoke again, ¡°Participants from both classes, please enter.¡±


    Gu Yue moved towards Tang Wulin¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°Do you think you can compete? How¡¯s your body?¡± While she could see that there was something wrong with Tang Wulin, his body emitted an aura that further befuddled her.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tang Wulin had regained, once again, that grin of confidence from before.


    Gu Yue nodded her head, ¡°Let¡¯s win together.¡±


    Tang Wulin moved to occupy the center position once more. Xie Xie and Gu Yue were positioned behind him as the trio walked together up towards the stage.


    On the other side, class one¡¯s three students entered the stage as well.


    ¡°I¡¯m Zhang Yangzi,¡± said the calm teenager in the center.


    ¡°Wei Xiaofeng, we¡¯ve met a while ago.¡± Wei Xiao Feng reached out his hand and stuck out his thumb before slowly twisting his wrist downward, issuing a provocative move.


    ¡°You!¡± Xie Xie was infuriated and was about to rush up towards him, but was prevented from doing so by Tang Wulin grabbing his shoulder.


    Xie Xie was shocked as he eyed Tang Wulin. This guy¡¯s strength grew again!


    ¡°Wang Jinxi.¡± The wiry student from class one introduced himself.


    Tang Wulin introduced his side. ¡°First grade¡¯s class five, Tang Wulin.¡±


    ¡°Gu Yue.¡±


    ¡°Xie Xie!¡± Xie Xie¡¯s eyes were brimming with iciness as he stared at Wei Xiaofeng.


    Long Hengxu observed both teams. There seemed to be a powerful smell of gunpowder even when the match had yet to begin. He scowled as he emphasized again, ¡°Let me make myself clear once more. This is a school tournament. In this tournament, there will only be winning and losing, nothing else. No participant shall harm the competitor. If they do so, they will be punished severely by the Academy.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± All six of the participants shouted in unison.


    ¡°Good. Prepare yourselves; both sides please step back.¡± Under Long Hengxu¡¯s supervision, both teams moved back and opened up the distance between one another.


    ¡°Start!¡±


    The crowd hollered out loud in companion to the director¡¯s command, signifying the start of the first grade¡¯s final match in the tournament.


    From both sides of class one and class five, Wei Xiaofeng and Xie Xie respectively rushed forward at the same time. They had long decided that the other was an eyesore and had since been unable to tolerate one another, even before the start of the match.


    At that instance, two yellow soul rings appeared beneath Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s feet. At the same time, a green ray of light appeared on his body and a small green snake appeared on his shoulder.


    Comparing this with Tang Wulin¡¯s tiny earthy snake, Goldlight, his snake was vastly different. This small snake was turquoise in color and had a pair of transparent green wings. Although it looked small, it seemed very powerful.


    What was even more shocking was Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s apparent changes. He grew more flexible, and his skin now had a green tint.


    To be an outstanding student in class one and to be able to maintain that title, Wei Xiaofeng was obviously not an easy opponent. This was naturally demonstrated by his attainment of the two ringed realm at such a young age.


    His spirit soul was a hundred-year Green Shadow Snake. It was an arduous and expensive task to search for this spirit soul which matched his body completely since his martial soul was the Green Shadow Snake. After fusing with this spirit soul, his enhancements when cultivating grew immediately, and within a short span of time, he advanced from one ring to two rings.


    However, a hundred year spirit soul could only add two soul rings. After twenty ranks, his speed of advancement would greatly depreciate. Nevertheless, the Green Shadow Snake soul spirit had aided him in building up a strong foundation, allowing his advancement to exceed his peers by far.


    Wei Xiaofeng was also an Agility System Battle Soul Master, and as he was charging forward, he flickered from left to right, creating illusions of himself. Although he didn¡¯t have Xie Xie¡¯s speed, he seemed to be more agile than Xie Xie.


    What shocked Wei Xiaofeng the most, however, was the two yellow soul rings beneath Xie Xie¡¯s feet. His vigor had increased greatly with the appearance of those two yellow rings.

 Chapter 101 - The Battle Begins!

    Chapter 101 - The Battle Begins!


    Tang Wulin noticed that the Light Dragon Dagger in Xie Xie¡¯s hand had reduced in size by one circle and its light had become dimmer, yet it seemed to have grown more solid. The lines on the dagger were even clearer to see and now carried a terrifying aura to it.


    Two rings? There¡¯s actually a student in class five with two rings?


    Despite having just arrived at the sidelines, Long Hengxu¡¯s mouth was already agape. In comparison to class one with its three Soul Grandmasters, the fact that a Soul Grandmaster appeared in class five was even more shocking. It was an unprecedented event in all of Eastsea Academy¡¯s history!


    Long Henxu felt his face heat in pain as though he¡¯d been smacked in the face.


    Oh Wu Zhangkong, Wu Zhangkong. You truly are capable!


    The whole of class five began to cheer when they saw that there were actually two rings beneath Xie Xie¡¯s feet.


    In a flash of light and shadow, the two of them rushing towards the other. With a grave expression, Xie Xie sped up, turning into a golden light, spiraling in an arc towards Wei Xiaofeng and pressing him back.


    Before they even clashed, Xie Xie¡¯s oppressive aura made Wei Xiaofeng feel as if he was being chopped up.


    What powerful soul power! He must have just broken through, while I¡¯m already at rank 22! How can his soul power still be so oppressive?


    Naturally, Wei Xiaofeng didn¡¯t know that with his twin souls, Xie Xie¡¯s soul power was far mightier than others at the same rank.


    None of the other four remained idle while these two clashed.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t immediately release his martial soul, but rather he rushed forward madly, making a beeline for the opponent¡¯s commander, Zhang Yangzi.


    Gu Yue¡¯s figure flickered for a moment before quickly reappearing behind Tang Wulin, as if she were his shadow. Although Tang Wulin only relied on his tyrannical strength and was nowhere near as fast as Xie Xie, he was certainly not slow either. Gu Yue was light as a feather, as if she were a ghost. From beginning to end, she stuck herself to Tang Wulin¡¯s back.


    Zhang Yangzi stood there without budging a single inch, as if he paid no mind to Tang Wulin¡¯s charge at all. Rather, it was Wang Jinxi who moved from his side.


    Similar to his teammates, Wang Jinxi also had two soul rings. His slim figure seemed to swell a bit, but what had grown in size weren¡¯t his muscles, but rather, his skeleton. He looked like a bony rack as he raised his arms to let forth a stream of black gas.


    This¡­ He actually has martial soul with the darkness attribute?


    Wang Jinxi took large strides forward to meet Tang Wulin, his arms extended in front of him the whole time. Two black flames seemed to ignite within his eyes as he advanced. His spirit soul was nowhere to be found and no one knew what it was.


    Despite this, Tang Wulin¡¯s expression remained unchanged. A white soul ring appeared underfoot as he raised his arms forward and the little Goldlight slithered out from his shirt collar to expose its tiny head.


    Of those present, it was only Wu Zhangkong in the audience who noticed that Goldlight¡¯s head had grown much larger than before. But with its body hidden within Tang Wulin¡¯s clothing, he couldn¡¯t get a clear look at it.


    A layer of earthen yellow light enshrouded Tang Wulin, causing his figure to appear even thicker than before. His speed, however, slowed down a bit.


    A red ball of light flew by his shoulder from behind, just barely missing. Surprisingly, it was a fireball!


    Pow! It struck Wang Jinxi¡¯s right hand, but in a flash of black radiance, the fireball was extinguished. In the moment following, he began his exchange of blows with Tang Wulin.


    A face to face battle was the domain of an Assault System Soul Master.


    Bang! A muffled bang was heard. Tang Wulin came to a stop with a trembling body while Wang Jinxi retreated three steps after receiving Tang Wulin¡¯s punch.


    The unmoving Zhang Yangzi¡¯s face colored with astonishment. He understood how much strength Wang Jinxi possessed, as he had a first class close combat martial soul that made him an excellent Assault System Soul Master. In fact, even he himself could not compare in physical strength with Wang Jinxi. He had been absolutely convinced beforehand that within Eastsea Academy¡¯s intermediate division and for those with less than three rings, there were few who could compete in strength. After all, Wang Jinxi¡¯s martial soul was just that powerful!


    Yet, an unbelievable scene played out before him. A mere one ring Soul Master with a ten year soul ring actually possessed strength that surpassed Wang Jinxi¡¯s? This was simply inconceivable!


    It wasn¡¯t just Zhang Yangzi who thought this way; Wang Jinxi was equally as shocked at Tang Wulin¡¯s strength. In the moment when they had exchanged blows, he felt as if he was a lone man facing an unshakable mountain. That tremendous strength of Tang Wulin¡¯s was something he was completely unable to contend with. He couldn¡¯t help but retreat.


    Gu Yue didn¡¯t follow up with another attack, but instead continued to hide behind Tang Wulin¡¯s back. They still had one opponent who had yet to make their move, so she wanted to conserve her strength.


    In the moment Tang Wulin¡¯s fist struck Wang Jinxi, the peculiar feeling within Gu Yue¡¯s heart grew even further.


    On the other side, Xie Xie and Wei Xiaofeng were still engaged in an intense clash.


    Faced with the threat of Xie Xie¡¯s assault, Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s first soul ring lit up as he used his first soul skill. His body suddenly became illusory as a series of phantoms appeared behind him. These phantoms appeared unreal as they revolved around him and he blended in among them, making it hard for others to identify the real one.


    For his Green Shadow Snake martial soul, Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s first soul skill was Green Shadow Clones.


    Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s spirit soul and martial soul backed up his arrogance. With their extreme compatibility with each other, the soul skills he obtained had been a level higher than what other Soul Masters could get.


    Although these Green Shadow Clones were simply clones, they were nearly identical to the real thing and possessed an illusory air to them. Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s foot quietly reach out, winding about Xie Xie¡¯s leg.


    Could Xie Xie distinguish between the phantoms and the true body? Naturally, the current him couldn¡¯t. But he still had means.


    Wu Zhangkong had taught him that if he ever encountered an opponent with abilities he could not analyze, the best method to deal with them was to fully display one¡¯s own abilities. With the use of his strongest abilities, Xie Xie would forcefully break through.


    Thus, Xie Xie activated his first soul ring, lighting up the Green Shadow Clones for a moment. A radiant golden blade slashed out.


    Why do I care how many phantoms you have? One attack and I¡¯ll know which one is real and which are fake.


    After reaching rank 20, Xie Xie¡¯s soul power had reached another realm, causing the might of his Light Dragon Blade to grow substantially.


    The blade of golden light was just like a crescent moon slashing out. A series of shrill sounds could be heard as the edge of the blade sliced through the wind.


    Wei Xiaofeng was startled. He hastily pulled back his foot and jumped in an attempt to evade Xie Xie¡¯s attack.


    But destroyed phantoms were still destroyed phantoms. When he leapt up in retreat, the phantoms followed right behind him. In that moment, he was revealed.


    Xie Xie exploded off the balls of his feet, raising his Light Dragon Blade as his body spun, heading straight for Wei Xiaofeng.


    Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s Green Shadow Clones were assembled together in a desperate attempt to ward off Xie Xie, but these clones only had ten percent of Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s strength. Whenever Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Blade passed by, one clone after another would be crushed. He had broken through Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s soul skill.


    The spectators from the first grade¡¯s class one were dumbstruck. Wei Xiaofeng was actually being caught in this wind? His clones had actually been annihilated with such a brute force method?


    Only Ye Yingluo was able to identify the problem. Xie Xie¡¯s martial soul was unusual. At first glance, it would appear to be merely a dagger, but it was far sharper than a dagger and possessed its own innate aura which exerted a level of pressure on Wei Xiaofeng. Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s usual confidence had been stifled and his full strength couldn¡¯t be displayed at all.


    One blue vine after another shot from the ground to bind Wang Jinxi. At some point in time, a pair of metal hammers had also appeared in Tang Wulin¡¯s hands.


    In order to face such a powerful opponent, he couldn¡¯t hold back this time. The hammers he brought out were his Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers.


    He could already tell from their previous clash that Wang Jinxi¡¯s martial soul had something to do with his bones. I don¡¯t care what kind of martial soul you have. If I can forge uncommon metals, then why can¡¯t I smash your bones?


    ¡°Hou!¡± Wang Jinxi was enraged by the loss he had just suffered in their exchange. Beneath his feet, his first soul ring began to shine and a strange transformation overcame his body.


    His entire right arm rapidly expanded, especially his hand as his five fingers fused into four extremely thick ones, his fingernails turning pitch-black. This enormous arm of his now gave off a tyrannical feeling. His transformation complete, he threw himself straight at Tang Wulin.


    Wang Jinxi didn¡¯t bother to concern himself with Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass.

 Chapter 102 - Golden Palm

    Chapter 102 - Golden Palm


    Although a blue vine twisted around Wang Jinxi¡¯s body, binding him, in the next moment, a strange scene occurred. The vines came off by themselves as Wang Jinxi¡¯s body became illusory.


    At some point in time, Wang Jinxi had activated his second soul skill, the corresponding soul ring shining brightly beneath his feet. He had actually used his soul skills in quick succession.


    Zhang Yangzi revealed a smile when Wang Jinxi had utilized his second soul skill. Even if it¡¯s him, it¡¯ll be difficult for him to defeat Wang Jinxi.


    It had to be known that Wang Jinxi¡¯s martial soul was actually a first-rate darkness type soul, the Bone Dragon King!


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s martial soul was superior to Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s in every single aspect.


    First soul skill: Bone Dragon Claw.


    Second soul skill: Bone Soul Transformation.


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s Bone Soul Transformation could transform a part of his body incorporeal. Although the transformation only lasted for a short duration, he was immune to everything during that time.


    Naturally, with his current cultivation, he could only turn a quarter of his body incorporeal. Under his meticulous control, the incorporeal part was precisely the parts that the Bluesilver Grass had latched onto.


    Despite his anger, Wang Jinxi was very cool-headed. Zhang Yangzi had told them before the battle that they couldn¡¯t underestimate class five. Naturally, it was because this supposedly trash class had the strength to defeat three classes in a row. As a result, their battle plan was to have Wei Xiaofeng engage one in close combat, while Wang Jinxi went all out, taking care of the other two. Zhang Yangzi was left to clean up.


    After all, their goal wasn¡¯t just to defeat those in their grade; it was much higher than that. They had decided to hide Zhang Yangzi¡¯s abilities in this battle. Without a doubt, Zhang Yangzi was the core of their team.


    The gigantic Bone Dragon Claw was already in front of Tang Wulin, spreading its claws wide to grab hold of him.


    Poisonous darkness came from the Bone Dragon Claw. It possessed an extraordinary strength as it made Wang Jinxi¡¯s bones ten times stronger and his strength five times greater. Furthermore, the amplification effect would be greater as he continued cultivating. One day, if he managed to attain seven rings and reach the level of martial soul true body, he would be able to transform into the Bone Dragon King and reveal its true body.


    Even Zhang Yangzi¡¯s martial soul was somewhat inferior to Wang Jinxi¡¯s. Ye Yingluo had told them before that if they cultivated to become a seven ring Soul Sage, the strongest among them would be Wang Jinxi.


    At two rings, although Wang Jinxi could only execute a single claw, he was confident in his chances of winning. Even if he faced a three ring Soul Elder, he would still be confident.


    ¡°Wulin, be careful.¡± Gu Yue moved in a flash, removing herself from Tang Wulin¡¯s back as a burst of light came from her body.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, you have me.¡± A bizarre radiance appeared within Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes and grew in intensity as he raised his right arm.


    He didn¡¯t even try to dodge  the gigantic Bone Dragon Claw; nor did he use his Bluesilver Grass to ward it off. In fact, the hammer in his right hand had disappeared too. In the depths of his eyes, a golden light flickered.


    He curled his right hand into a fist and punched straight at the center of the Bone Dragon Claw. By his side, Gu Yue suddenly heard a succession of popping sounds from Tang Wulin¡¯s bones as an astonishing aura suddenly burst forth from Tang Wulin¡¯s body.


    This aura had only appeared for a split second, with only two people on the competition stage reacting to it.


    Right when Xie Xie was pursuing Wei Xiaofeng, he body went sluggish as he felt an extreme sensation of fear flash from the bottom of his heart. Not only did it slow him down, it also caused him to tremble as his soul power became unstable.


    The other person who had reacted was naturally Tang Wulin¡¯s opponent, Wang Jinxi.


    Although Xie Xie had reacted to Tang Wulin¡¯s aura, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t directed it at him. Thus, the feelings invoked within Wang Jinxi were far stronger.


    In that split second, Wang Jinxi no longer saw his opponent as a person, but rather, he saw Tang Wulin as a ferocious beast. His power, which originated from his within blood, suddenly turned into a restrictive force. His tremendous strength transitioned into intense trembling while his claw slowed down.


    Afterward, he could only stare blankly as Tang Wulin extended his right arm. He grabbed one of the Bone Dragon Claw¡¯s digits, then exerted a tremendous amount of strength to toss him.


    How can this be?


    In the moment that Wang Jinxi had been thrown, regardless of whether it was the students on stage or the spectators and teachers off stage, everyone was dumbstruck at this scene.


    Long Hengxu had just been preparing to intervene and block Wang Jinxi, fearing that the Bone  Dragon Claw would seriously harm Tang Wulin. In fact, he was already rushing forward to intervene when the situation took a drastic turn.


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s Bone Dragon Claw had slowed for some unfathomable reason, and in the moment following, he was transformed into a human artillery shell!


    Only Gu Yue, who had been right by Tang Wulin¡¯s side, had seen his hand glow a golden color the moment he threw Wang Jinxi. Having seen this, her eyes were somewhat dull.


    That aura and power¡­ It resembles¡­


    In the depths of her beautiful eyes, an indescribable look of shock flickered. Within her heart, the same question many others were asking appeared: How can this be?


    But there was a difference between her ¡®How can this be¡¯ and everyone else¡¯s.


    Bang! Wang Jinxi landed in a confused mess in the distance. Despite the disarray he was in, however, he no longer felt that trembling.


    Wei Xiaofeng was the most fortunate. He hadn¡¯t been able to use his second soul skill in time as Xie Xie drew closer, but for some baffling reason, Xie Xie had slowed down. This had given him the chance to quickly put distance between them as he dashed towards Zhang Yangzi.


    Tang Wulin clenched his fist, his expression radiating with happiness. There really is a chance!


    Without pause, he threw the hammer in his left hand straight at Zhang Yangzi with a strand of Bluesilver Grass connected to its shaft, quietly trailing behind it. As it shot towards Zhang Yangzi, the hammer gave off an ear-piercing whistle. In a flash, it was right in front of him.


    At that moment, an ominous green light appeared by Zhang Yangzi¡¯s side. He felt his body tense up as he was no longer able to move a single inch.


    Gu Yue had used her control over the wind element to bind Zhang Yangzi.


    Her binding and Tang Wulin¡¯s hammer attack had happened in perfect concert.


    It seemed as if that hammer, which weighed over a hundred kilograms, was unavoidable. Tang Wulin held onto the strand of Bluesilver Grass connected to it. If Zhang Yangzi truly couldn¡¯t do anything to resist, then he would stop the hammer at the last second. After all, this was only a competition.


    A trace of shock flashed through Zhang Yangzi¡¯s eyes, but there wasn¡¯t a single trace of panic. Two soul rings lit up beneath his feet and immediately, the loud cry of an eagle came from his mouth. With a shake of his body, he seemed to have overcome the wind element which trapped him, allowing him to take the single step necessary to evade Tang Wulin¡¯s hammer.


    Having released his martial soul, a shadow flew out from his back as a pair of black wings appeared from his back.


    A flying-type martial soul?


    Zhang Yangzi flapped his wings and flew into the sky. The astonishing thing was that his body was now pitch black and he had violet eagle eyes. The build of an eagle wasn¡¯t too large, but its eyes were exceptionally sharp and vigorous.


    Rather than attacking Tang Wulin immediately, Zhang Yangzi used his flight speed, which surpassed even Xie Xie¡¯s speed, to arrive at Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s side in a flash. His first soul ring lit up, inducing his wings to suddenly grow ten meters in length, and became an even deeper shade of black. He enveloped Wei Xiaofeng and Xie Xie with his large wings.


    This was¡­


    When one saw a flying-type martial soul, the first thing one would think of was an Agility System Soul Master. However, Zhang Yangzi had actually used a control-type soul skill! Could it be that he was actually a Control System Soul Master?


    It was at this moment that Wang Jinxi crawled up. After leaving Tang Wulin¡¯s vicinity, that feeling of fear and dread within his heart had disappeared. Despite the unfathomable mystery they had encountered just now, he had still known Zhang Yangzi since childhood, hence knowing that he should immediately run toward the area of darkness.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t good. Xie Xie!¡± Tang Wulin shouted for Xie Xie. His foot made an indent in the ground as he madly dashed straight at that black area. Along the way, he retrieved his hammer and began spreading his Bluesilver Grass in full force, moving it to cover that area.


    A green light appeared beneath his feet, lightening his entire body. His speed increased by a margin, but at that moment, a golden light began to shine above that black mass.

 Chapter 103 - Bluesilver Whip

    Chapter 103 - Bluesilver Whip


    Under that golden light, the area of darkness dissipated, revealing four figures inside.


    Light attribute? Off stage, Ye Yingluo was shocked once again. Even Xie Xie having two rings didn¡¯t shock her to such an extent. Just what is this class five girl¡¯s martial soul? Ever since the start of the competition, she has used wind element, fire element, and now the light element. How can she control three elements? This is simply inconceivable.


    Regardless, it was useless. With Xie Xie besieged by three people, how could he possibly endure?


    What was truly astonishing, however, was that despite them assembling together, Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi, and Wei Xiaofeng were unable to catch Xie Xie in that short period of time.


    The golden ball of light that shone above the mass of darkness suddenly exploded and began to spin. Amidst the chaos of the light¡¯s flurry, a series of clashes could be heard.


    Xie Xie¡¯s second soul skill, Light Dragon Storm!


    That¡¯s right, this was the powerful soul skill Xie Xie had obtained after making his breakthrough. With his body as the axle, he would spin rapidly whilst holding his Light Dragon Dagger, turning the edge of his dagger into the winds of a violent storm that spiraled and slashed at his surroundings. This was a skill that encompassed both attack and defense!


    It was only by relying on this powerful soul skill that he was able to withstand being attacked by all sides.


    Tang Wulin had already arrived, once again punching out with his right hand.


    Just like before, only Xie Xie and Wang Jinxi reacted to his punch.


    Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Storm halted for a moment, while Wang Jinxi couldn¡¯t bear the pressure at all, his entire body turning rigid.


    One after another, strands of Bluesilver Grass entered the area, heading out to bind their three opponents. At the same time, the hammer in Tang Wulin¡¯s left hand furiously smashed at Wang Jinxi.


    Zhang Yangzi moved quickly, but with Wang Jinxi¡¯s rigid body, it was easier for Tang Wulin to fight.


    A green light wrapped around Wang Jinxi¡¯s waist and in the next moment, three shadows retreated back together. A black shadow helped open up a distance between them.


    It was Wei Xiaofeng who had grabbed Wang Jinxi. His right leg seemed boneless as it continued to bend at impossible angles.


    The three of them retreated while Xie Xie stopped his soul skill, regrouping with Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    The battle returned to a three versus three.


    ¡°Good, very good!¡± Zhang Yangzi¡¯s face was colored with excitement, but his battlelust and confidence took precedence.


    Xie Xie was gasping for breath beside Tang Wulin. He stole a glance at his teammates. He didn¡¯t know why, but from beginning to end, he felt a terrifying aura coming from Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tang Wulin whispered.


    Xie Xie shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve used quite a bit of soul power, but I can still persevere.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t the only one alarmed by Tang Wulin. The opposing Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin as if he were a monster. He was flabbergasted by Tang Wulin, but more than that, he was terrified of him.


    What¡¯s going on? How come I can¡¯t control my martial soul when I face him? Wang Jinxi¡¯s mind overflowed with questions.


    Zhang Yangzi said, ¡°Very good. You¡¯re even stronger than we thought. Still, it is only till here. The three of us have grown up together, become Soul Masters together, and cultivated together. We¡¯ll let you see our coordination next.¡±


    As he spoke, the two wings on Zhang Yangzi¡¯s back unfolded once more. The black light suddenly strengthened, hiding the three of them within it.


    The corner of Gu Yue¡¯s mouth curved into a smile. ¡°Darkness attribute control, huh?¡±


    She pulled Tang Wulin back, preventing him from rushing forward as she took two steps forwards herself. Standing in front of their opponents, a yellow ring glimmered beneath her feet. In that moment, it seemed as if Gu Yue¡¯s eyes had begun to shine.


    A faint silver light flashed in the depths of her eyes as she raised her right hand. Suddenly, a golden light burst into life above her palm, as if she were holding a miniature sun. An overwhelming radiant aura rushed forth from her.


    Xie Xie was alarmed. In the instant that Gu Yue¡¯s light element shone, his whole body felt an indescribable feeling of comfort, helping him recover his spent soul power.


    As Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Daggers were of light attribute and his Shadow Dragon Daggers were of space attribute, basking in this golden light would naturally feel extremely comfortable.


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s Curtain of Darkness received the light¡¯s attack, immediately diminishing as the three figures within were now faintly discernible.


    A blazing red light followed the golden light, fusing to create a golden-red flame that ignited Gu Yue¡¯s surroundings.


    ¡°Element fusion?¡± Ye Yingluo gaped at that one-ringed girl on stage. A genius. She is absolutely a genius! Although I don¡¯t know what her martial soul or soul skill is, for being able to merge the two elements of light and fire at such a young age, even the word ¡®genius¡¯ isn¡¯t enough to describe her!


    As the Curtain of Darkness approached the golden-red flame, it began to melt away, just like snow. It was impossible for it to come any closer.


    Right at that moment, a Bone Dragon Claw shot out of the Curtain of Darkness with lightning speed, heading straight for Gu Yue.


    Following the Bone Dragon Claw was a figure surrounded by several large green snakes. There were six in total, their mouths wide open as they revolved around the Bone Dragon Claw. Unlike the Bone Dragon Claw, the snakes went around Gu Yue and shot towards Tang Wulin and Xie Xie in an attempt to bite them.


    Devouring Green Shadow! This was Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s second soul skill.


    A golden-blue vine pulled Gu Yue back while the golden-red radiance spread across all of their bodies, covering them in a layer of light. This light warded off that darkness while Tang Wulin controlled his Bluesilver Grass to attempt a binding once more. Suddenly, Xie Xie exploded forward with great speed. In that moment, his entire body seemed illusory as light and shadow flickered upon his Light Dragon Dagger, creating an even brighter light that met the Devouring Green Shadow head on. None of the snake heads were able to press their assault.


    As Tang Wulin pulled Gu Yue back behind him, he moved up to face the Bone Dragon Claw once more. He smashed apart a snake head with his left arm while his right arm turned golden again as he threw a punch to meet the claw.


    The Bone Dragon Claw withdrew, and in its place, a black figure suddenly shot out toward Tang Wulin. The light and fire elemental light covering Tang Wulin¡¯s body clashed with that black figure¡¯s black light, causing an explosive boom. He nimbly avoided Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm and landed a punch on Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach.


    This black figure arrived too suddenly; Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been able to react at all! With regards to speed and combat techniques, he was far inferior to Xie Xie, and that black figure had cunningly avoided the Bluesilver Grass covering the ground!


    It can¡¯t be avoided! Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes twinkled as his Heavy Silver hammer once again appeared in his right hand. Since it can¡¯t be avoided, then I won¡¯t try to dodge at all!


    His hammer smashed into that darkness, warding off his opponent.


    Pu! A punch landed lightly on Tang Wulin¡¯s body while his hammer swept past.


    What was strange, however, was that the black figure, after being struck by his hammer, unexpectedly fell apart and scattered into countless black lights. Seeing this, a chill rose from within his body and numerous bones began popping as he was overcome with a cold trembling.


    Not good. I fell into his trap.


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s second soul skill, Shadow Clone, created clones of himself that possessed half of his combat strength. Anything hit by the clones would be infected by the corrosion of darkness. Their soul power would be unceasingly devoured and their body would corrode.


    Right at that moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass finally managed to penetrate the mist of darkness. Tang Wulin groaned as he resisted the corrosion within his body and suddenly exerted all of his soul power.


    A strand of Bluesilver Grass abruptly rose into the air, flying towards that curtain of black light.


    It didn¡¯t bind, but rather, it was a Bluesilver whip!


    That soft-looking Bluesilver Grass suddenly turned tough in that moment. It covered the Curtain of Darkness, striking towards the interior.


    Even if it was that Bone Dragon Claw, it still would have been driven aside.


    For a moment, Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi, and Wei Xiaofeng suffered from the move, causing them to stagger backwards at different degrees.


    Who would have imagined that the weakest-looking Bluesilver Grass with a measly ten year soul ring could actually exert such power! Zhang Yangzi had relaxed a bit when he¡¯d successfully attacked Tang Wulin, and as a result, he fell prey to this strand of Bluesilver Grass. It whipped him, sending a scorching pain throughout his body. Wei Xiaofeng also suffered at the hands of this whip, making him to lose control of his Devouring Green Shadow. Wang Jinxi, however, had relied on his powerful body to endure; but was still trembling from the pain of the whip and couldn¡¯t help but stagger back.

 Chapter 104 - Gu Yue Erupts

    Chapter 104 - Gu Yue Erupts


    ¡°Are you okay, Wulin?¡± Gu Yue gently pressed a hand onto Tang Wulin¡¯s back, causing light attribute soul power to enter him. A wave of warmth suffused through his body, lessening the discomfort.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath. Although there was still some chilliness and pain within his body, it was nothing compared to what he had experienced these past few days. If that previous pain had made him want to die, then the current pain was just like having an upset stomach.


    When Zhang Yangzi saw the condition Tang Wulin was in, he was startled. Despite being hit by his Shadow Clone and being weakest of his group members, Tang Wulin was still able to stand tall. Just what kind of situation was this?


    ¡°You can go die!¡± Gu Yue suddenly shouted. Before Tang Wulin even had a chance to grab her, she¡¯d already rushed forward.


    Gu Yue suddenly accelerated, a green light flickering around her body. As she sped towards them, she motioned with both her hands, shooting a fireball and an icicle towards her three opponents.


    While her attack shot towards the opposing trio, the green light covering her body shone brighter and brighter, her eyes growing clearer. After the fireball exploded, her hands had already taken on an icy-blue color. Then, when the icicle shattered, that icy-blue light began to blend with the green light.


    A chaotic gale screamed through the air, and the spectating students and teachers were reminded of the turbulent hurricane that had swept past just recently. In a short period of time, the wind and ice had already grown into a tornado five meters in height and one meter in diameter and quickly advanced towards Zhang Yangzi and his teammates.


    The temperature onstage plummeted as the ice shards within the swirling gale became sharp blades that cut through the air, releasing waves of ear-piercing screeches.


    The opposing trio¡¯s expressions soured. Wang Jinxi was the first to take the initiative and act as the vanguard, while the other two used their soul power to protect their bodies.


    Evade? The entire stage seemed to be under the control of this miniature tornado as it drew them into its center. Their speed had also been cut in half, making it basically impossible for them to escape its range.


    Long Hengxu looked upon the stage with a dumbstruck expression once again. This, this is the soul skill of a one ring Soul Master? Can a Soul Elder with a thousand year soul ring even achieve this?


    Blizzard! This was a combination of ice and wind.


    Among the trio from class five, the strongest one wasn¡¯t Xie Xie, who possessed both twin martial souls as well as the greatest soul power among them; rather, it was Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue had never used her true strength until this match. Today, however, Tang Wulin had been injured by their opponents, incurring her wrath. Thus, she¡¯d cast her strongest elemental attack.


    After creating her blizzard, however, her face became deathly pale, her body tottering on the verge of collapse. Fortunately, Tang Wulin gently held and supported her, preventing her fall.


    Constant collisions were heard from within the blizzard as it tore through the trio from class one. A twinkling light could vaguely be seen within the blizzard, indicating that they still had enough soul power to defend themselves.


    Xie Xie grasped his Light Dragon Dagger tightly as a light gleamed within his eyes. He had faced the blizzard¡¯s might long ago and clearly understood just how formidable Gu Yue was. As an Agility System Soul Master, he was afraid that even after obtaining a second ring and with the advantage of his twin martial souls, he wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the power of Gu Yue¡¯s blizzard. If he were forced to face it, then he would have to prepare in advance and run far away.


    Although he frequently quarreled with Gu Yue, he still respected her for her strength.


    The blizzard persisted for a full ten seconds before it began to disperse. In the end, the temperature of the stage and its surroundings had dropped drastically.


    The figures of Zhang Yangzi¡¯s trio gradually appeared from within the dispersing blizzard. Standing at the front was Wang Jinxi, his clothes in tatters and his body covered with bruises. Fortunately for him, he had blocked his face with his arms, saving him from having his face disfigured.


    Zhang Yangzi and Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s situations were somewhat better, but their faces were still pale. Their soul power was depleted after enduring that blizzard.


    The spectating students perception of Gu Yue had changed. They all wondered, Is she really a new student? Just how powerful will she become in the future?


    Light Dragon Dagger in hand, Xie Xie walked over to their opponents and said, ¡°Concede defeat.¡±


    Everyone could see that the opposing trio had used up at least half of their soul power and had been injured to varying degrees.


    Long Hengxu also approached, prepared to stop the match at any moment. Even though he didn¡¯t want to admit it, Gu Yue¡¯s strength was simply too terrifying. He finally understood why that arrogant Wu Zhangkong had wanted to accept her into his class. Long Hengxu had been the pig-brained one!


    ¡°We still haven¡¯t lost.¡± Zhang Yangzi¡¯s gaze was just as sharp as before, but these words were barely audible from behind his gritted teeth.


    Wei Xiaofeng gave him a look, before saying hesitantly, ¡°Do you really want to...¡±


    Zhang Yangzi resolutely looked at him, ¡°We can¡¯t lose. Jinxi, come!¡±


    Wang Jinxi suddenly straightened his back, releasing a roar towards the sky as a powerful black aura overcame his body once again.


    A light of ridicule flashed through Xie Xie¡¯s eyes. They still want to overturn the heavens in their current situation? In a flash, he began advancing on Zhang Yangzi. After all, Zhang Yangzi was the core of their team.


    But right at that moment, a dark figure appeared. With black light spraying from its mouth, it obstructed Xie Xie¡¯s attack and slowing him down.


    Afterward, Xie Xie was shocked to see that Zhang Yangzi had flown behind Wang Jinxi and was now holding him by the waist.


    A deep dragon¡¯s roar and the cry of an eagle resounded throughout the stage. At that moment, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi¡¯s bodies became a pitch-black color, like ink. Then, they began to undergo a sort of bizarre fusion.


    Zhang Yangzi turned into a black light, quietly merging into Wang Jinxi and becoming a pair of wings for him.


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s body began to grow.  A large tail emerged from his tailbone, while his two arms became Bone Dragon Claws, his aura soaring.


    ¡°Screw off!¡± Wang Jinxi bellowed with a deep voice, slashing out with one of his Bone Dragon Claws. Xie Xie attempted to dodge, but a black light appeared around him and made him feel like he was trying to struggle free from a swamp.


    This black light had appeared too suddenly for Tang Wulin to rescue Xie Xie with his Bluesilver Grass. The only thing Xie Xie could do was defend himself with his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger as he was sent flying through the air.


    In the air, a spray of blood escaped Xie Xie¡¯s mouth, and Tang Wulin could hear fractures come from Xie Xie¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Xie Xie!¡± Tang Wulin dashed over and caught him.


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes were shut tightly, having already lost consciousness. His Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger began to fade away with his weak aura.


    ¡°You bastard! This is only a match!¡± Tang Wulin snarled as he recklessly charged towards that Bone Dragon.


    As he charged forward, a layer of golden scales began to cover his right arm starting from his fingertips. His arm seemed to grow thicker by a whole circle.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s pupils had already turned golden, and when he suddenly stomped with his left foot, it unexpectedly caused a boom.


    He exploded forward like an artillery shell, shooting straight towards that transformed Wang Jinxi.


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s body was far different than before. With a flap of his wings, his over two meter tall body ascended into the air. Then, with a simple twist of his body, he whipped his tail at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin opened his mouth, releasing a puff of black gas. His right hand suddenly grew larger and his fingers grew longer, taking on the form of a dragon¡¯s claw.


    But it was different from Wang Jinxi¡¯s Bone Dragon Claw; Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon claw had five claws.


    Bang! Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Claw violently clashed against that air-twisting Bone Dragon tail. A golden light flashed on the tail before Tang Wulin was flung into the air from the force of the collision.


    In midair, Tang Wulin curled his body, then used the Bluesilver Grass he had wrapped around the Bone Dragon to pull himself back towards it. The Golden Dragon Claw descended once again, but this time, towards Wang Jinxi¡¯s head.


    Wang Jinxi brought his two claws together, swatting at Tang Wulin. But at that moment, Tang Wulin released an ear-piercing dragon¡¯s roar.

 Chapter 105 - Golden Dragon Claw

    Chapter 105 - Golden Dragon Claw


    A faintly discernible golden ray of light appeared from his body for a split second, causing Wang Jinxi¡¯s Bone Dragon Claw to immediately slow down.


    The Golden Dragon Claw smacked down at his head.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Long Henxu and Ye Yingluo shouted out simultaneously.


    But at the moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s mind was only filled with rage over the sight of Xie Xie¡¯s injuries. With his Golden Dragon Claw attacking at full strength, it was impossible to stop now.


    Right at that moment, a slender arm noiselessly appeared and touched Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm, softly pushing it aside. The Golden Dragon Claw that was originally heading towards Wang Jinxi¡¯s head was deflected and smacked his right claw instead.


    Bang! Despite being several times bigger than Tang Wulin at this moment, Wang Jinxi was smashed into the ground, while Tang Wulin landed softly on the other side due to the counterforce.


    ¡°Enough!¡± A cold voice rang out. Just like the morning bell and the evening drum, it caused Tang Wulin to wake from his rage.


    Wu Zhangkong stood beside him, holding the injured Xie Xie.


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s Bone Dragon Claw was snapped at an angle as it lay on the ground, while his tail clearly had a fracture where Tang Wulin had struck it.


    At that moment, a black light separated from Wang Jinxi¡¯s transformed body. When the two kids returned to normal, they released miserable shrieks of pain.


    Zhang Yangzi lay on the ground, both of his legs broken, while Wang Jinxi¡¯s right arm had fractured, bent at an impossible angle. The two of them couldn¡¯t help but utter screams of intolerable agony.


    This match had developed into something so tragic that none had expected it.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, how can you allow your students to be so violent?¡± Ye Yingluo flew onto the stage, finger pointed at Wu Zhangkong as she snarled the accusation.


    Wu Zhangkong said to Tang Wulin, ¡°Go.¡± From beginning to end, he didn¡¯t spare a glance for Ye Yingluo.


    Ye Yingluo wanted to chase after him, but Wu Zhangkong suddenly released a sharp ice-cold aura which caused her whole body to freeze up as she felt the sensation of death.


    After Tang Wulin¡¯s arm returned to normal, a wave of weakness came over him. Even though he had puffed out a mouthful of the black gas earlier, some still remained of that ice-cold feeling within the pit of his stomach.


    Following behind Wu Zhangkong was Gu Yue, who was looking at Xie Xie in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s arms. Together, the three of them got off the stage.


    Long Hengxu remained onstage with a gloomy expression as if his face was dripping with water.


    This time we have a major situation.


    In this Class Promotion Tournament, three students had been seriously injured and as the referee, he had to take responsibility! This was a major situation that hadn¡¯t happened for many years.


    Wu Zhangkong brought Xie Xie directly to the infirmary to have a teacher with a recovery-type martial soul inspect his body. Fortunately, it was only a fracture. Although his two arms had suffered some minor fractures and these injuries couldn¡¯t be considered light, his body was fine for the most part. His internal organs had only been shaken up a little, so he only needed some time to rest and recover.


    The dark energy within Tang Wulin was also dispersed by the teacher.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡­¡± Tang Wulin looked at the silent and ice-cold Wu Zhangkong, wanting to explain himself.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to say anymore as you didn¡¯t do anything wrong. You two just hurry up and go back and rest,¡± Wu Zhangkong indifferently said.


    ¡°Oh. Then Xie Xie¡­?¡± Tang Wulin hesitantly asked.


    ¡°I will be here.¡± Wu Zhangkong gave him a look.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin suddenly felt that this ice-cold teacher wasn¡¯t so cold after all.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue left the sick bay with complicated expressions. Xie Xie had broken both of his arms; this was definitely a serious injury.


    Tang Wulin was full of guilt. If he had been fast enough to pull Xie Xie back with his Bluesilver Grass at that moment, then Xie Xie wouldn¡¯t have suffered such serious injuries. He had been too careless as the team captain.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much.¡± Gu Yue turned and said to Tang Wulin, ¡°None of us had expected a situation like that. If my guess is correct, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi had used a soul fusion skill. Supposedly, soul fusion skills are nearly impossible to see nowadays in the world of Soul Masters. It can only appear if two martial souls are exceptionally compatible with each other.¡±


    Soul fusion skill? Tang Wulin had heard a bit about them in class. If two Soul Masters had martial souls that were compatible enough, then they had the possibility of using a soul fusion skill, one of the strongest types of techniques. Soul fusion skill effects didn¡¯t add the strengths of both sides, but rather, it multiplied the strength of the two Soul Masters!


    ¡°What I am curious about is how you are able to defeat them, even if their soul fusion isn¡¯t perfect! Your right hand¡­¡± Gu Yue looked inquisitively at Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm.


    Tang Wulin went silent for a moment before he gently shook his head. ¡°Gu Yue, we¡¯re friends, so I don¡¯t want to lie to you. But I really can¡¯t tell you about it. So, please don¡¯t ask, okay?¡±


    Gu Yue pondered over it for a moment before giving him her reply, ¡°Fine then. I won¡¯t ask, but you must learn to control your power. It seems to be very formidable, but such great power also requires great control. It seems that during the week of the hurricane, a change occurred in your martial soul.¡±


    That was right! A change had indeed appeared. Moreover, it was an extremely powerful change.


    Tang Wulin thought back to when he had taken those spirit medicines and attacked the seal afterward.


    ?


    Intense pain. Pain so intense that Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t even be bothered to take in the changes around him anymore. Chill, heat, itchiness. These three sensations replaced each other frequently in what seemed like an endless cycle. And when he thought it was over, he began to feel all three at the same time.


    The only reason he had been able to succeed was by clinging onto his sense of existence. Regardless of how intense the pain was, he never gave up in his heart.


    This was the reason he had been able to surpass his limits.


    After some time, he grew muddle-headed. At that moment, he could vaguely see that his body as well as his surroundings had turned golden.


    The golden veins within his skin came alive, slowly creeping up his body. With a clanging sound, it seemed that something within his body had been torn to shreds. At that time, he still didn¡¯t understand the meaning of pain. Suddenly, an indescribably powerful and fantastic energy drilled into every single corner of his body.


    Cold, heat, itchiness. All disappeared. In its place was a feeling of being bloated.


    His bones, meridians, viscera, and skin all felt as though they had inflated and would pop at any moment.


    This, this is the seal¡¯s energy?


    In that instant, Tang Wulin no longer doubted Old Tang¡¯s words. The energy that was sealed from the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul could definitely cause his body to explode if his body wasn¡¯t strong enough. Faced with the assault of such tyrannical energy, he was afraid that his entire being would shatter.


    The pain from that feeling of bloatedness gradually reached a peak before receding.


    He had survived and hadn¡¯t blown up. In that moment, Tang Wulin was sure that he was fine.


    Is the seal breaking done? His mind gradually relaxed as the pain receded, until finally, he lost consciousness.


    The golden veins along Tang Wulin¡¯s body broke apart, becoming tiny specks of light that moved away from his body while the golden veins on his vertebra became even clearer. Gradually, the golden veins reappeared on his body, but this time they were much more prominent and deeper in color. The golden specks of light slowly merged with his right arm, while the rest of his body underwent an imperceptible transformation.


    After surviving the onslaught of the seal¡¯s energy, he now had to assimilate it and undergo a transformation.


    The little Grass Snake, Goldlight, slithered onto Tang Wulin¡¯s body. It lazily curled up atop his body, the golden lines on its skin now closely resembling those on Tang Wulin¡¯s.


    Goldlight trembled slightly, as if it was experiencing tremendous agony. Its trembling, earthen yellow body gradually turned golden as it grew longer and larger. It no longer looked as weak and frail as before.


    A strand of Bluesilver Grass quietly appeared within the palm of Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand. The golden veins along its body no longer seemed as illusory as before, but rather, a golden light could clearly be seen within. This vine-like grass was now taller and straighter, no longer seeming as delicate as it had been.

 Chapter 106 - A Pleasant Surprise in the Future?

    Chapter 106 - A Pleasant Surprise in the Future?


    When Tang Wulin woke up, his entire body felt relaxed and at peace. All of the previous pain and suffering had vanished. The first thing he did was enter his mind¡¯s spiritual world.


    ¡°You have awoken.¡± Old Tang rejoiced.


    ¡°I succeeded in breaking the seal?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°En. You have succeeded in breaking the first seal and have absorbed the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul. All things begin with hardship, so this first breakthrough can be considered you laying down your foundation. After some time passes, you will experience more and more of the benefits from this breakthrough.¡±


    Tang Wulin impatiently asked, ¡°What kind of benefits? Will my soul power increase by a lot?¡±


    Old Tang said, ¡°No. The Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul will mainly affect your body. Though there will be some improvement to your soul power with each broken seal, it will not be as significant. The important thing is that your body will transform under its influence, gradually gaining the strength of the Golden Dragon King. After breaking through your first seal, you now possess a trace of a dragon¡¯s might. In the future, when facing dragon-type beasts that are inferior in rank to the Golden Dragon King, you will be able to suppress them with your dragon aura. Naturally, the larger the gap in cultivation between you and your opponent, the weaker the effect will be.


    ¡°Secondly, the part of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power you have absorbed is its right hand. After you have thoroughly absorbed this piece of its soul, you will be able to transform your right hand into a dragon¡¯s claw. The Golden Dragon Claw¡¯s strength is tremendous, and it also possesses a special property ¡ª that is, ¡®crushing¡¯. Simply said, there is almost nothing it cannot overcome. Assuming the hardness of the object is within a certain range, anything you attack with your Golden Dragon Claw will definitely be broken.


    ¡°After you break through more seals in the future and fuse with more of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power, the benefits you receive will be even greater. Do not lightly use the Golden Dragon Claw, however. Although it is now a part of your body, using it will still consume an enormous amount of your soul power.¡±


    Golden Dragon Claw? I can control the Golden Dragon Claw now?


    Tang Wulin unconsciously looked toward his right hand. With a single thought, his right hand transformed and a layer of golden scales began to cover it, but that was the extent of the current changes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so anxious. You still need some time to absorb the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul before you will be able to use it. Alright then, onto the second seal now. You must undo the seal before you turn fifteen. To do this, you will need to find or purchase four different heaven and earth treasures. I will brand their descriptions into your mind. Oh, and one more thing. If you are able to break the second seal, there will be a pleasant surprise for you.¡±


    ¡°A pleasant surprise?¡± Tang Wulin wanted to ask what it was, but Old Tang¡¯s figure was already fading away.


    ?


    When Tang Wulin returned to his dorm, Yun Xiao and Zhou Zhangxi were already there.


    ¡°How is Xie Xie?¡± asked his two roommates as they hurriedly got up.


    Tang Wulin answered with a hint of anger, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that he¡¯ll be forced to rest for a while so that he can recover. But you know, I¡¯d never have expected them to be so fierce. It was just a competition after all!¡±


    Yun Xiao and Zhou Zhangxi exchanged a glance before Yun Xiao let out a few small coughs and said, ¡°Your moves weren¡¯t light either. Both of Zhang Yangzi¡¯s legs were fractured, and Wang Jinxi¡¯s right arm was also broken. I also heard that Wei Xiaofeng was so scared of you that he pissed his pants.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned. Now that he thought about it, it did seem that Zhang Yangzi¡¯s legs had turned into Wang Jinxi¡¯s tail when they were in their combined form. That must be how his legs had fractured after suffering Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon claw¡¯s crushing property.


    He had not noticed because they had truly been in a desperate situation at the time. In hindsight, however, when he had struck the fused form of Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi, they had continued to move despite their somewhat sluggish motions. It seemed that their soul fusion skill was still far from perfect.


    Moreover, after the fusion, the suppression from Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon might on Wang Jinxi had clearly lessened. If their fusion was perfect, then Tang Wulin was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to achieve victory in the end.


    The Golden Dragon Claw increased the strength of his right hand explosively, but it also had its limits. From his estimations, it could only double his strength at the moment. The crushing property was still the most important part.


    ¡°Who did the director declare the winner in the end?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Yun Xiao shook his head. ¡°He didn¡¯t declare a winner. Long Hengxu had a truly ugly expression as he was arranging your treatments. But even so, everyone could see that if Teacher Wu hadn¡¯t stepped in, those two guys would have been crippled by you. I never expected you were still hiding such strength. So what is your right hand?¡±


    Tang Wulin bitterly smiled. ¡°A variation occurred in my martial soul. I¡¯m not sure what exactly it is either. Anyway, I¡¯m going to go meditate now.¡±


    The bitterness of this competition left a profound impression on his heart. At this moment, his heart was full of regret from his impulsive actions at the end.


    I hope they¡¯re fine.


    Fortunately, we won the match, so we should be class one after the tournament ends.


    Since he had to rush over to the match as soon as he woke up from absorbing the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul, he hadn¡¯t had any time to rest until now. As his body relaxed, he quickly entered a meditative state where he was isolated from everything.


    ?


    The president¡¯s room.


    ¡°How did this happen?¡± With a grave expression, Yu Zhen looked at Long Hengxu from across the desk.


    Long Hengxu forced out a bitter smile. ¡°The new students this time are truly prodigies. It was my fault; I wasn¡¯t able to stop them in time. I take full responsibility for this. But I must say, the new students this year are absolutely outstanding geniuses. If we can guide them properly, they will definitely become the pillars for Eastsea Academy in the future.


    ¡°The reason today¡¯s match had gone out of control was because at the very last moment, two Soul Grandmasters from class one had used an incomplete soul fusion skill. Their soul fusion skill is most likely an exceptionally powerful one that requires them to have at least three rings to be able to use to its full extent.¡±


    ¡°Soul fusion skill?¡± Yu Zhen¡¯s eyebrows rose in excitement, a light of surprise flashing through his eyes. In his delighted surprise, his anger had weakened a bit.


    ¡°Yes, a soul fusion skill. Although it isn¡¯t complete yet, its strength was able to break both of Xie Xie¡¯s arms. What¡¯s even more shocking is what happened afterward. A one ring Soul Master with a ten year soul ring from class five suddenly exploded in power. His right hand transformed into a dragon claw. With two attacks of his claw, he was able to break through the soul fusion skill. Fortunately, he was stopped just in time. Otherwise, he might have crippled the other students.¡±


    Yu Zhen was startled. ¡°A one ring Soul Master who can transform his right hand and use it to defeat the soul fusion skill of two Soul Grandmasters? Are you trying to tell me a fairy tale?¡±


    Long Hengxu sighed. ¡°I¡¯m finding it hard to believe as well, but it is a fact. Over a thousand students and teachers witnessed it. This isn¡¯t something I could make up even if I wanted to! If you don¡¯t believe me, then you can go investigate it yourself. In my opinion, that Tang Wulin¡¯s variant martial soul is likely a body martial soul from the legendary Shrek Academy!¡±


    Yu Zhen was suddenly terrified. What did a body martial soul mean? A body martial soul combined with a mecha would undoubtedly create a shining genius!


    The two words, ¡®Shrek Academy¡¯, were enough to fill the eyes of Eastsea Academy¡¯s president with a light of reverence.


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, then we can pardon the situation today. After all, it was just too unexpected. Director Long, write a detailed report on this matter for me.¡±


    Long Hengxu said, ¡°Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul was originally the trashy Bluesilver Grass, but if a variant body martial soul appeared within him, then it might mean he has twin martial souls. Then he wouldn¡¯t be trash anymore, but a genius. President, I have a proposal.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Yu Zhen suspiciously eyed him.


    Long Hengxu bitterly laughed. ¡°With the condition the first grade is in at the moment, I don¡¯t think it would be fitting for the Class Promotion Tournament to continue. From what I¡¯ve seen today, I don¡¯t think the second grade, no, not even the third grade could stand up against their might. These students might not necessarily be a good thing. As such, I think we will need to give these new students special treatment.¡±


    ¡°What kind of special treatment?¡±

 Chapter 107 - Pondering the Golden Dragon Claw

    Chapter 107 - Pondering the Golden Dragon Claw


    Long Hengxu said with sparkling eyes, ¡°With geniuses such as them, an ordinary teacher wouldn¡¯t be enough. As such, let¡¯s establish a special class in addition to the five classes we already have. The geniuses of this class will have the academy¡¯s strongest teacher to guide them from the intermediate division all the way into the advanced division. That way, they¡¯ll spend at least eight, no, nine years in the academy. As long as we guide them properly, the shining future of our Eastsea Academy¡¯s success will be just around the corner!¡±


    Yu Zhen pondered over it for a while. He had to say that Long Hengxu¡¯s words moved him. A special class for cultivating geniuses with the backing of all of the academy¡¯s resources¡­ With this year¡¯s new students and their unique talents, this proposal would give the academy a chance to truly shine in the future. If that happened, then the academy would be able to recruit even more talented new students.


    He envied those first-rate academies in major cities that were able to recruit students from all over the federation. This was exactly one of the reasons why the strong stayed strong.


    Although Eastsea Academy was in a major city flourishing with business due to the ocean¡¯s resources, many students were still dissuaded from picking the academy due to its location in a corner of the continent and the nature of the surrounding terrain. Overall, Eastsea Academy could only be considered a rank within the lower middle rankings when compared with the rest of the continent. It wasn¡¯t remarkable at all.


    Perhaps this year¡¯s new students truly were a turning point for them?


    ¡°Which teacher do you think is most suitable then?¡± Implementing this plan would be fairly easy, but the creation of the special class would necessitate pouring all of the academy''s strength into cultivating this class.


    Long Hengxu had clearly decided on someone long ago as he said without the slightest hesitation, ¡°Let¡¯s assign Teacher Wu Zhangkong to this class. He is the strongest within the academy, and the result of the tournament was clearly influenced by his teaching ability. When he was still in the advanced division, he didn¡¯t conform to the group and isolated himself from the other teachers, never displaying his full strength. I think it will be most fitting for him to train these few elite students instead.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Yu Zhen nodded. ¡°I agree with your plan. I¡¯ll go make a proposal to the board of directors. Alright then, you may leave now.¡±


    Long Hengxu respectfully said, ¡°President, I¡¯ll take my leave then.¡± He rejoiced within his heart. The president had surely been swayed by his attractive words and this matter had now come to a close without any disciplinary actions against him. His calculating methods were actually meant to allow him to shirk his responsibilities. Of course, he did have some hopes for this new class.


    ?


    When Tang Wulin awoke from his meditation, he was gifted with the sight of dawn.


    Xie Xie hadn¡¯t returned yet as he was recuperating in the infirmary. Zhou Zhangxi and Yun Xiao were both still meditating. With the provocation of class five¡¯s continuous victories, everyone was now diligently cultivating with renewed vigor.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body was brimming with a power that made him want to face the sky and just scream.


    Ever since he had broken the seal, he hadn¡¯t had any time to carefully inspect the changes in his body until now. He subconsciously began to stare at his hands. On the surface they appeared exactly the same as before, but in reality, his skin had become fairer. When he touched his skin, it was also a great deal more elastic.


    His soul power had risen by at least one rank while his control over his soul power had also grown much stronger due to his spiritual power increasing too.


    In the end, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t sure exactly how much his power had increased. After all, he had never tested himself in this way before.


    Is this the power of the first seal on the Golden Dragon King?


    When he recalled his use of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power the day before, he began to concentrate on wielding that power once more, and very naturally, a familiar feeling reappeared within his right arm.


    Immediately, a layer of convex, rhombus-shaped golden scales, covered his right arm like a layer of armor. At the same time, the feeling of power within his arm increased explosively, yet his right hand hadn¡¯t completely transformed into the Golden Dragon Claw.


    The Golden Dragon King¡¯s aura was exposed while Tang Wulin continuously and meticulously circulated his soul power and strength toward his right hand. It was only then that the bones within his right hand started to show a change. His hand slowly swelled in size and dragon claws grew from his fingernails. Apart from the feeling of immense power, he could also feel a tyrannical aura being emitted.


    This was the transformation that came from breaking the first seal on the Golden Dragon King. His right arm, now covered in golden scales, had doubled in strength. Moreover, the Golden Dragon Claw could further increase his right hand¡¯s strength by another fold in addition to its crushing ability.


    It really does feel powerful.


    Now that he unleashed the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power outside of battle, he was able to clearly inspect the changes that occurred within his body.


    The most obvious change was to his soul power. His soul power was now being consumed at an astonishing rate. After only several breaths of time, a third of his soul power had already been used up.


    According to the current consumption speed, he could only sustain his Golden Dragon Claw for about ten seconds.


    Just as he expected, a wave of weakness overcame him at the ten second mark and his right hand returned to normal. Yet, the power of the golden dragon scales was still there.


    He suddenly had an epiphany. The Golden Dragon Claw required the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline power and his soul power to sustain it, but the golden dragon scales only required the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline power.


    If it¡¯s like this, then I had been really lucky to defeat Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi yesterday!


    Looking back upon that battle, he realized that Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi couldn¡¯t completely control their soul fusion skill, so he was lucky to have been able to use his Golden Dragon Claw at just the right time to counter them. The Bone Dragon King was also of the dragon bloodline, so in the face of the Golden Dragon King, it had been suppressed and received double the effects of Tang Wulin¡¯s strikes. This was the reason why he had been able to win after two strikes.


    In other words, the reason he had been able to win was because his Golden Dragon King bloodline was able to suppress Wang Jinxi¡¯s Bone Dragon King.


    I¡¯m still not strong enough! If my opponent had fought with me a bit longer and realized that I couldn¡¯t sustain the Golden Dragon Claw for long, then he could have won by simply evading my attacks and waiting for my soul power to run out!


    Despite his harsh self-judgement, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t depressed at all. When he compared himself with his past self, he had still gained much from breaking through the first seal. His body¡¯s strength and overall power had increased, and the dragon scales could further increase his right arm¡¯s strength. He now had the explosive power of the Golden Dragon Claw.


    In short, his gains had been pretty good. At the very least, he could no longer be considered trash.


    Oh right, Goldlight experienced a transformation as well.


    Recalling this, Tang Wulin wanted to release his little spirit soul to take a look. He shook his head in disappointment, however, as his soul power had already been exhausted, and he wasn¡¯t even able to release his martial soul, much less his spirit soul! His current cultivation was still too weak!


    Breaking the first seal had helped him with his cultivation somewhat, but he was still only at rank 13. Moreover, everyone else was around rank 20 now. He was afraid that the gap between them would just keep growing larger and larger.


    More effort! I need to put in more effort!


    He leapt down from his bed, his mind crystal clear. Careful not to disturb his roommates, Tang Wulin quietly went to go wash his face and drink a glass of water before going out for a jog. It was the start of a new day, and warming up was first.


    He ran laps around the track in the sports field and shouted out, ¡°I am as lithe as a swallow!¡±


    He had always been good at running, but after absorbing a part of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul, a normal pace was simply too slow for him now. The scenery continuously flitted past him, the cool wind brushing against his cheeks. This refreshing feeling gave both his body and mind a sense of freedom and indescribable comfort.


    Right at that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. As Tang Wulin was currently engrossed with this experience, however, by the time he reacted, he had already collided with this person.


    A pure voice called out, ¡°Be careful!¡± Tang Wulin felt a gentle force move his body, causing him to spin around in circles, dispersing all of his kinetic energy.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t grow dizzy due to his powerful body, but when he stopped spinning and was able to look at the figure before him, he still experienced a split second of vertigo.


    In front of him was a tall and slender girl. Tang Wulin could be considered tall among his peers, but he was still only ten years old. The girl in front of him looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old and was already beginning to turn into a woman. She wore a pink tracksuit which offset her milky white skin and her long blue hair that was collected into a bundle with a comb.

 Chapter 108 - Ouyang Zixin

    Chapter 108 - Ouyang Zixin


    The girl was very pretty with delicate facial features and large, limpid eyes. Under the rays of the morning sun, it seemed as if a layer of golden light was drawn to her. She was simply too stunning for Tang Wulin.


    ¡°S, sorry.¡± Tang Wulin hurriedly apologized. In that moment, this girl with a golden radiance around her left a profound impression upon Tang Wulin. So pretty! She¡¯s even prettier than Senior Sister Liu Yuxin!


    ¡°Junior brother, pay attention when you¡¯re running.¡± The young lady raised her hand to rub his head as she spoke with a beaming smile.


    ¡°Ah! You¡¯re very good looking.¡± The young lady stared at Tang Wulin¡¯s large eyes, which were accented by his long eyelashes and was astonished to see that his eyes were even larger than her own. She curiously pinched his face and giggled before she quickly turned around and left.


    Her pinch had hurt a bit, but it had awakened Tang Wulin from his stupor. That senior sister is so pretty. She¡¯s jogging here so she should also be in the intermediate division, right?


    When he saw the young lady run further and further away, Tang Wulin hastened his pace to catch up with her. With his powerful body, he caught up in no time.


    ¡°Junior brother, what¡¯s your name?¡± She turned her head to look at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°My name is Tang Wulin. I¡¯m a student in the first grade. What about you, senior sister?¡± He blurted out his words with an eager heart. He hadn¡¯t mentioned that he was in the first grade¡¯s class five. Anyway, after winning the Class Promotion Tournament, they should be class one now.


    ¡°You¡¯re this young yet you¡¯re already so naughty! You want to pick up this senior sister, huh?¡± The girl shot him a crafty glance.


    ¡°I, I¡¯m not¡­¡± Tang Wulin said in embarrassment.


    ¡°Haha. Your embarrassed face is so cute! How about this then; let¡¯s have a ten lap race. If you win, I¡¯ll tell you...¡± Before she even finished speaking, she had already increased her speed and rushed forward.


    Ten laps?


    There was no way Tang Wulin was afraid of such a competition so he quickly picked up his pace and chased after her.


    The young lady was still taller than him by about half a head and had already grown into a slender and elegant woman. As she ran, her long hair flowed behind her in the breeze, while her graceful form was accented by her long and flexible legs. With each step, he could see her slender hips sway. Her whole body was just brimming with the vigor of youth.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s physical strength was exceptionally formidable, however, despite his  shorter stature, he was still faster than her. Trailing just behind her, alarms were going off within his mind for some reason, telling him to be careful of her.


    Due to this, he followed just behind her and watched her, keeping up with her pace.


    That girl¡¯s physical strength was pretty good. Not only was she able to maintain a constant running pace, but her pace was continuously increasing. Like this, the two of them continued their race, one in front, one behind.


    Soon after, they were approaching the end of the tenth lap.


    There were still a hundred meters left.


    It was only then that Tang Wulin remembered the goal of this competition. He suddenly sped up, unleashing his body¡¯s explosive power. He flew forward and overtook the girl by the fifty meter mark.


    ¡°Ouch.¡± A cry of pain suddenly came from behind him,


    Tang Wulin quickly turned his head to look but was met with the sight of that slow pink clad figure suddenly speeding up, surpassing him, rushing straight toward the finish line.


    ¡°Haha. You little dummy. You¡¯ve been fooled!¡± The girl¡¯s bell-like laughter clearly rang through the first glimmers of dawn on campus.


    He had obviously been tricked, but when he saw this smile that was like a blossoming flower, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t bring himself to grow angry at all.


    Tang Wulin ran over to the finish line where the girl waited. He scratched his head awkwardly as he said, ¡°Senior sister is so amazing.¡±


    As the young lady gazed at his bashful expression, her smile couldn¡¯t help but grow even wider. ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll stop teasing you. Junior brother¡¯s strength is pretty good. Keep it up!¡± Finished speaking, she turned around and walked over to the dormitory, waving goodbye to Tang Wulin as she left.


    Tang Wulin watched her back. A peculiar feeling had been aroused within his heart. He didn¡¯t understand what this feeling was, but he knew that he wanted to keep seeing this senior sister.


    ¡°My name is Ouyang Zixin. I¡¯m in the fifth grade¡¯s class one.¡± The girl¡¯s pure voice floated on over.


    Ouyang Zixin. What a pretty name.


    ¡°Stop staring. That senior sister is already long gone.¡± Right at that moment, a friendly voice spoke from behind him.


    Tang Wulin quickly turned around to see Xie Xie watching him with an amused expression. His arms were still bandaged up and while he had a smile, it wasn¡¯t quite a smile as he looked at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°You¡¯re better now? How are your arms?¡± Tang Wulin greeted him in surprise.


    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal now. My bones have already reconnected, and they were treated by a healing-type martial soul. I¡¯ll still need at least ten days to make a full recovery though. But you, I return one day later, and I find that you¡¯re actually chasing after senior sisters. You truly are too good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Tang Wulin hastily defended himself.


    ¡°Really now? You have enough skills to do it. That senior sister even told you her name. Have you really never heard of Ouyang Zixin before?¡± Xie Xie asked with a big grin.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t!¡± Tang Wulin blurted out.


    Xie Xie said, ¡°She¡¯s the prettiest girl in our intermediate division! I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve never heard of her before. Actually, I even heard that there are countless seniors from the advanced division chasing after her. She¡¯s in the fifth grade so she should be four years older than us. You can just give up right now.¡±


    Tang Wulin grudgingly said, ¡°You¡¯re talking about age, but why do you have such thoughts in your heart? I only think that senior sister is really pretty, and I admire her. I don¡¯t have any other ideas, okay? Don¡¯t get me wrong!¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s mouth began twitching. ¡°Fine then! You can just stare at her foolishly. You might not acknowledge it, but who wouldn¡¯t like this kind of pretty senior sister? Every man has a profound memory of a pretty senior sister.¡±


    All men have a pretty senior sister that left a deep impression on them?


    Tang Wulin was shaken by Xie Xie¡¯s words. The name Ouyang Zixin had already been engraved into his heart.


    They went to eat breakfast before going to class, where they were informed that all the students in the first grade were to gather at the sports field for a grade assembly.


    Although Xie Xie¡¯s arms were still injured, his condition had stabilized, and he was able to attend his classes.


    A grave expression still colored Wu Zhangkong¡¯s face like normal as he brought class five to assemble at the field.


    It could be said that the first grade¡¯s class one had changed now. When they arrived at the field, they attracted the gazes of all of the other classes. Most of these gazes drifted toward Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue.


    Of course, the most prominent one among them was Tang Wulin! The day before he had prevailed at the last moment in a desperate crisis, shocking countless people and engraving a deep impression upon their hearts.


    ¡°Have we become celebrities?¡± Gu Yue asked in a hushed tone.


    Xie Xie shot her a disdainful glance. ¡°With how mature you act, why are you so interested in how people see you? And besides, it would be more accurate to say that Wulin is the celebrity here. I heard he was the one who won us that match in the end yesterday. Ah, that¡¯s right. Wulin, I haven¡¯t thanked you for avenging me yesterday yet!¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I really shouldn¡¯t have acted that way. It wasn¡¯t right for them to injure you, but it also wasn¡¯t right for me to injure them. After all, we are all fellow students.¡±


    Gu Yue gave a cold snort. ¡°Take a look at Wulin then take a look at yourself. In any case, I don¡¯t care if I¡¯m a celebrity now or not. And besides, there was a certain someone who was so confident but was immediately knocked out yesterday.¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Xie Xie glowered at Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue disdainfully said, ¡°What? You weren¡¯t a match for me even when you weren¡¯t injured, yet you¡¯re still trying to show off in your current condition?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve had it with you!¡± Xie Xie said, smothering his anger. He simply couldn¡¯t bear it anymore! With his arms like this and his martial souls being two daggers, he really couldn¡¯t do anything right now.


    Tang Wulin was already used to their bickering, so he held Xie Xie¡¯s shoulder gently and said, ¡°It was just a fluke yesterday. They¡¯re actually really strong, so you should just go and recuperate properly, and we¡¯ll do our best to cultivate together after.¡±


    Class five was already assembled in the field when Tang Wulin finished speaking. He noticed that Zhang Yangzi wasn¡¯t present among the students of class one. After all, broken legs were really too troublesome. On the other hand, Wang Jinxi had a broken arm, similar to Xie Xie, and had that arm bandaged up.


    In front of the gathered students wasn¡¯t just Director Long Hengxu, but also President Yu Zhen.


    Long Hengxu looked towards Yu Zhen before he began speaking. ¡°Today¡¯s first grade assembly is to announce two things. First, due to the special circumstances of this year¡¯s first grade, the victorious class will no longer be continuing with the Class Promotion Tournament, but the classes of the first grade will still be rearranged according to the results. Namely, what was originally class five is now class one. And all of the other classes have been rearranged accordingly.¡±


    We can¡¯t continue participating in the Class Promotion Tournament anymore? An uproar appeared among the students of the new class one. If they couldn''t¡¯ continue with the tournament, then that meant they were no longer receiving the reward for being able to challenge the upper grades!

 Chapter 109 - Class Zero is Established!

    Chapter 109 - Class Zero is Established!


    Long Hengxu continued, ¡°In light of the new class one¡¯s outstanding achievements in this tournament, the entire class will be rewarded with one meal a day from the first window for one term.¡±


    After hearing these words, the previous discontent murmuring turned into cheering. What was the first window? It served the most nourishing food! Without even speaking of the taste, it had the most benefits to their cultivation but was extremely expensive. Most families couldn¡¯t afford to feed their children a meal from the first window. One term¡¯s worth of meals from the first window was worth an extraordinary sum of money!


    Right now, as the teacher in charge of class two, Ye Yingluo¡¯s face grew even gloomier at those words. Clearly, she wasn¡¯t happy with these developments.


    Long Hengxu shouted, ¡°Quiet down!¡±


    It was only then that the cheering gradually subsided.


    Long Hengxu resumed. ¡°Due to the excellence of this year¡¯s first grade, the board of directors has decided to conduct a study. We are establishing an experimental class in the first grade that will be comprised of the best students in the grade. It will temporarily be called class zero, and Wu Zhangkong will be the teacher in charge. The students for class zero have already been selected. From class one, we have Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue. From class two, we have Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi, and Wei Xiaofeng. In the future, any other student who shows exceptional ability will also be put into class zero.¡±


    Class zero?


    What the hell is this?


    All of the students assembled were in a daze. In all of Eastsea Academy¡¯s history, there had never been a class zero! Moreover, what did having Wu Zhangkong as the teacher in charge mean?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s trio was startled, while Wang Jinxi and Wei Xiaofeng had similar reactions on the other side. In an almost synchronized motion, the two of them looked towards Tang Wulin¡¯s trio.


    Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s expression was brimming with loathing and enmity, while Wang Jinxi¡¯s gaze was focused solely on Tang Wulin as he made a complicated face.


    Wu Zhangkong was expressionless as usual, but in reality he had already been notified by the board of directors last night after they decided on approving the plan.


    Long Hengxu said, ¡°Aside from these two announcements, there are still punishments to be announced. In the match yesterday between class one and class two, both sides prioritized their comrades first and the competition second, which led to three students being seriously injured. This has raised a serious concern with the six participants. As such, they will be deprived of the tournament rewards as a punishment and warning to others.¡±


    Deprived of their reward? It would seem that for this grade¡¯s Class Promotion Tournament, even if they¡¯d won, there would be no rewards. Their class would only be promoted!


    Long Hengxu had said these words harshly, but in reality this wasn¡¯t even a punishment at all!


    ¡°President, do you have any words to say?¡± Long Hengxu asked, looking at Yu Zhen to his side.


    Yu Zhen nodded and began speaking with a clear voice. ¡°Students, I am sure you are all very curious as to why we established class zero. This is because the students we have picked out have already far surpassed the level of their peers. If they were to continue advancing with the other students, their talent would be buried. In summary, if you wish to shine in the future, then you must put in even more effort! I hope that I will see more students joining class zero later on, going on to become the greatest geniuses of Eastsea Academy!


    ¡°Alright then, the assembly is over. You may all leave now. Teachers, lead your classes back. Long Hengxu will act as class one¡¯s substitute teacher until a new teacher can be found. Wu Zhangkong and the students of class zero will remain here.¡±


    Filled with shock, admiration, envy, and regret, the students of the five classes returned to their classrooms, leaving only the president as well as those of the newly established class zero.


    ¡°Children, come over here.¡± Yu Zhen beckoned everyone over.


    Although they were somewhat reluctant, the five of them still walked over.


    In the presence of the academy¡¯s president, even Wei Xiaofeng didn¡¯t dare to act in an unbridled manner. It was clear, however, that Tang Wulin¡¯s trio and the other two had some tension between them.


    As Yu Zhen observed the five children in front of him, he couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow. He coldly said, ¡°You guys are quite able, huh! Do you think that just because you¡¯re a bit more outstanding than your peers that you¡¯re great? Look at you all, what have you accomplished? Among the five of you, two have broken arms, and there¡¯s still one with broken legs resting in the classroom!¡±


    The five of them were scolded into a daze. They had never expected Yu Zhen to reprimand them like this. As soon as they arrived, they were showered with a tongue-lashing.


    Yu Zhen continued on with a stern expression. ¡°I have already said what the purpose of class zero is: it¡¯s to not hold you back. But even with how small you all are, you harbor so much pride and conceit within your hearts. I will have you all behave with integrity in front of me, otherwise, don¡¯t blame the academy for being impolite. I¡¯m warning you now; if a situation like yesterday¡¯s happens again, you will all be punished. Don¡¯t think that just because you are geniuses that you don¡¯t have to follow the rules. You are all just viewing the sky from the bottom of a well. There are plenty of people even more outstanding than you five throughout the federation!


    ¡°From the very beginning, this world has never lacked geniuses, nor has it lacked geniuses that die young. If a genius wants to become great, then they will have to invest far more effort than an ordinary person. Only then will you live up to your potential. Do you all understand?¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± In the face of the president¡¯s overbearing aura, none of the five children could raise their head.


    ¡°Sign this contract.¡± With a flip of his hand, a pile of papers appeared, and he quickly distributed them to the five children.


    The five of them subconsciously took the pen. Tang Wulin looked it over, his attention drawn to the large word at the top: contract.


    Following the title, the content below it could be summarized as saying: Person XXX voluntarily enters a contract with Eastsea Academy. Before XXX graduates from the intermediate division and the advanced division, they will not change schools.


    This was the general gist of the contract.


    What is the meaning of this? The five of them thought in a daze.


    ¡°Now that the academy has established class zero, we will invest even more resources into you. Because of this, the academy wants a guarantee that you will stay here for your studies. It isn¡¯t because of some other weird reason. Alright then. Just sign it now.¡±


    Xie Xie meekly asked, ¡°President, shouldn¡¯t we discuss with our families before signing this?¡±


    Yu Zhen blinked a few times. ¡°Of course you can! You can go back and discuss it, but you won¡¯t be able to join class zero anymore. I am a very busy person, and I don¡¯t have the time to wait for you.¡±


    In the time they had been speaking, Tang Wulin had already signed his name on the contract. To him, this contract didn¡¯t mean anything at all. Apart from Eastsea Academy, he didn¡¯t even know where else he could go to study. Just the fact that the academy would be investing more resources into him, a good-for-nothing, was a divine gift. He simply didn¡¯t have any reason to refuse.


    Gu Yue signed it in nearly the same time as Tang Wulin. Seeing the two of them signing it, Xie Xie didn¡¯t question it anymore. Not being able to leave Eastsea Academy wasn¡¯t that big of a deal.


    On the other side, Wang Jinxi had signed it as well. Only Wei Xiaofeng was currently hesitating. ¡°President, I think it¡¯s bad to not consult with my family first. I still want to discuss the matter with them before I sign. After all, my clan might have me go to an even better advanced academy in the future.¡±


    Yu Zhen nodded. ¡°You¡¯re very ambitious. You can just go back to class two. Now, there are only five students in class zero.¡± As he said this, he had already snatched back the contract from Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s hands and began shooing him off with his hands.


    Wei Xiaofeng revealed a complicated expression, but in the end he didn¡¯t take back that contract. Instead, he bowed to the president before returning to class.


    After he left, Yu Zhen¡¯s stern and cold expression melted into a gentle smile.


    Seeing his god-like face changing skills, the four students couldn¡¯t help but fall into a stupor.


    ¡°Alright then. You have all signed the contract so from now on, you are the elites of the academy. We will respect Wei Xiaofeng¡¯s decision but in the future, I definitely believe that he will regret his choice this day. Although our Eastsea Academy isn¡¯t ranked too highly on this continent, we are still the sole intermediate Soul Master academy in this major city. With all of our resources poured into you, I dare say that not even the legendary Shrek Academy could match us.¡±


    After hearing the president¡¯s confident words, the four students suddenly felt a bit better about signing the contract. Standing off in the distance, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s mouth twitched slightly when he heard those words.

 Chapter 110 - Battle Armor

    Chapter 110 - Battle Armor


    After class zero was established in Eastsea Academy, what Tang Wulin found the most shocking was just how differently the academy treated them when compared with their treatment of the normal students. The classroom changed to a much more open one while their dorm rooms had also been upgraded. They no longer shared a room with four people, but rather, they each had their own room now that were situated beside one another. Moreover, their rooms were the same as the ones given to ordinary teachers. In other words, they were enjoying the treatment a teacher would receive.


    Zhang Yangzi signed the contract without the slightest hesitation when he heard that Wang Jinxi had signed it. Including the teacher in charge, class zero comprised of six people in total.


    Wu Zhangkong was also given new living quarters alongside the dorms of his students. His previous dorm had now been replaced with a suite.


    The academy gave them one day to get themselves organized before class zero would officially begin classes the following day.


    Naturally, even if classes were to begin now, not all of them would be able to attend. After all, three of them had suffered serious fractures and could only attend theory classes for now.


    Class zero¡¯s classroom seemed a bit spacious and empty. Although it wasn¡¯t any different than the ordinary classrooms, it seemed very large with only five students in it.


    Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi sat on one side while Tang Wulin¡¯s trio sat on the other. The five of them were like two separate rivers.


    Zhang Yangzi rested his legs on top of a chair, his expression dark. Wang Jinxi was his usual silent self, but his eyes would occasionally flit towards Tang Wulin.


    Wu Zhangkong entered the classroom with a stern expression and walked to the center. He swept his gaze across the five students.


    ¡°From henceforth, your curriculum will undergo a change.¡±


    His words drew the attention of the five students. Even if it was Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi, they couldn¡¯t help but admire the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming¡¯s strength. After all, they too had been mesmerized by the battle between Wu Zhangkong and Guang Biao.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Due to the current conditions of your bodies, we will put off cultivation for a while. Instead, we will begin with theory classes. Today we¡¯ll start with mechas.¡±


    Mecha?


    When they heard this word, all five students looked at each other in confusion.


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s expression brightened a bit as he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Teacher Wu, aren¡¯t mechas a topic for the advanced division? We¡¯re still in the first grade! Isn¡¯t this just too early?¡±


    Typically, the intermediate division would only cover foundational knowledge, and they wouldn¡¯t cover mechas until they entered the advanced division. After graduating from the advanced division, they would enter an advanced academy based on their area of study, walking one step at a time towards their goal. Anyone who could graduate from an advanced academy would definitely be an elite of society.


    They had just started their first of six years in the intermediate division, yet they were already learning about mechas? Wasn¡¯t this just jumping ahead of themselves?


    Wu Zhangkong responded naturally, ¡°The topics in this mecha class will not be taught in detail, so the course load won¡¯t be too much. Among you, who wants to become a Mecha Master in the future?¡±


    The five of them went silent in unison. Mecha Masters were already synonymous with powerful experts in the views of the vast majority.


    Wu Zhangkong continued, ¡°With this being the case, you all better pay attention in class.¡± He shot a glance at Zhang Yangzi as he finished speaking, causing him to tremble from head to toe. Zhang Yangzi no longer dared to utter a single doubtful word.


    ¡°Modern day mechas have undergone ten thousand years of development while soul devices have went through several thousand more years of development, becoming more and more widespread. Technology has always been researched for one main reason: war. Soul devices are no exception. It was only after soul devices filled the battlefield that they began to be used by civilians.


    ¡°The Soul Guide Masters of the time never would have imagined that soul guided devices, or soul devices for short, could be used to empower a Soul Master by such a large margin. It was only after they discovered this that they began researching mechas.


    ¡°Soul Masters have been the most essential profession within the last several tens of thousands of years. Soul Masters were not only rare, but the majority of them were also weak. But with the advent of soul devices, this paradigm had shifted. Low rank Soul Masters could now become much more powerful by relying on their soul power and soul devices. Afterward, soul mechas began to appear, allowing Soul Masters to become even stronger.


    ¡°Soul mechas are operated by using soul power from soul power batteries, thus allowing its user to display strength far surpassing their own. The first soul mechas were developed in a larger form, the factor being that the larger they were, the larger the soul power battery they could install as well as the number of weapons it could be equipped with.


    ¡°As technology progressed, mechas became operable by ordinary people with sufficiently strong bodies. From then on, soul mechas became the main weapon of the modern army.


    ¡°In the history of mecha development, there have been periods where the form was small, medium, and large and now they have taken the form you are all familiar with. This is the basic outline of mecha development. This was a process of trial and error and its resulting improvements. It involved the perfection of soul circuits, various innovations, and the advancement of technology by leaps and bounds. Mechas have only grown increasingly more important in wars ever since their creation.¡±


    Tang Wulin earnestly listened as this was his first proper lesson on mechas. If he wanted to become a Mecha Master, this was crucial knowledge to him.


    ¡°But these are not the mechas I want to talk to you about.¡± Wu Zhangkong paused right there, letting astonishment wash over the five students.


    Not these mechas?


    Wu Zhangkong indifferently said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you all think that as technology developed, ordinary people could control soul devices better and better? Then let me tell you, that¡¯s only what ordinary people think. In the tens of thousands of years of history the Douluo Continent has witnessed, one fact has never changed: Soul Masters are the most powerful existence!


    ¡°With the aid of soul devices, an ordinary person might be able to match up to a Soul Grandmaster, and with a mecha, they could even possibly contend with a five ring Soul King. Mechas truly do offer tremendous power to its user, but even so, it cannot give an ordinary person the fighting power of an eight ring Soul Douluo or a nine ring Title Douluo. At the very least, it is impossible at this point in time.¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Then what if they use a super-weapon? There are some super-weapons that ordinary people can use.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°What you speak of is a possibility. But let me ask you in return, what if both sides possess super-weapons then? Who will have more power?  Let me tell you first though, currently, the strongest super-weapon cannot defeat the strongest person.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong spoke without the slightest hesitation, causing the five students to sit down subconsciously in shock.


    After a short pause, Wu Zhangkong continued speaking. ¡°With humanity¡¯s trend in weapon technology advancement, perhaps such a weapon will appear in the future. But at the moment, there exists no such weapon.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Wu, this powerful person you spoke of, are they a Mecha Master or a Soul Master?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°To be exact, they are both.


    ¡°The mechas you commonly see range from five to eight meters in height and have some peculiar differences depending on what type of mecha they are. These are the modern medium-sized mechas I spoke of. From their research, Soul Guide Masters came to the conclusion that a combination of bulk and flexibility along with a balance of offensive and defensive capabilities were the most suitable for the army. But these are just the standardized mechas for the army. Or it might be better to say, these are mechas for ordinary people. White and yellow mechas are of the same category, but that isn¡¯t your goal. With your talents, you absolutely cannot develop in that direction. Instead, you must develop towards battle armor!¡±


    Battle armor?


    This was the first time the five of them heard these words.


    Wu Zhangkong continued dully, ¡°The truly powerful would not allow their body to become even larger. The reason mechas exist is amplification of power, not to become larger. Purple mechas and onwards are all small in size, to the point where they are almost like armor! Due to this, they are called battle armor![1]


    ¡°Only Soul Masters with battle armor can truly be called powerful experts. They are experts who can perfectly combine their martial soul and mecha together, resulting in formidable combat power.¡±


    May have been retconned later to have mechas and battle armor be two separate paths. Will fix accordingly when I actually translate that stuff. I just skim the raws. :P

 Chapter 111 - Secondary Occupation

    Chapter 111 - Secondary Occupation


    Battle armor! This new idea completely captured the attentions of these youngsters.


    After all, armor-like mechas were considered the peak.


    ¡°As everyone knows, apart from Mecha Masters who operate the mechas, there are also mecha craftsmen who are absolutely crucial to the mechas themselves. There are three kinds of mecha craftsmen: mecha designers, mecha makers, and mecha mechanics. The main purpose of today¡¯s lecture on mechas is to impart the knowledge necessary for you all to make an informed decision on your future secondary occupation. I suggest that all of you choose one occupation from these three as your secondary occupation as it will help you in your path to becoming stronger.¡±


    Gu Yue asked in astonishment, ¡°Teacher Wu, shouldn¡¯t we concentrate all of our energy on cultivating? At most we should just learn how to operate a mecha, right? Why do we need to take on a second job?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°If you want a powerful battle armor then you must have one that is suitable for you. Thus, powerful Battle Armor Masters will definitely be extremely familiar with their battle armors. They will either design, make, or fix it themselves. Only in this way can you gradually familiarize yourself with every detail of the armor. If you don¡¯t take on a second job, you will never be able to have the most fitting battle armor made for yourselves and never ascend to a god altar.


    ¡°With the establishment of class zero, we only have one goal for you: that is to push you towards a god altar! This is a long and arduous process that you may have to dedicate your entire lives to. What I first want to do is minimize any time you may waste through inappropriate methods and then elucidate the path you must walk.¡±


    ¡°As for what occupation you choose, don¡¯t worry about it. You all still have plenty of time to think over your choices . But at the latest, you must pick one by the third grade. Even with your talents, your path will be similar to an ordinary person¡¯s, and the sooner you begin, the better. This is the reason why within three years, you must give me an answer.¡±


    ¡°Naturally, the three occupations I have given you are only the ones that I think are the best. They aren¡¯t your only choices, and there are still some occupations related to mechas that are open to you. In fact, there is even someone among you who has chosen already.¡±


    As he spoke, his gaze landed on Tang Wulin.


    A secondary occupation? Tang Wulin immediately realized that Teacher Wu was speaking about his work as a blacksmith.


    ¡°Wulin had chosen to be a blacksmith at an exceptionally young age. I believe he is most likely extremely gifted in this field. Blacksmithing is one of the jobs I also want you all to consider. That is because from a purple battle armor onward, the creation process becomes inseparable from forging. Regardless of what job you choose, you will not be lacking in cultivation resources if you can reach five stars or more.¡±


    Tang Wulin was the calmest one among them as he had already picked a job and wouldn¡¯t be reconsidering it either. He was already a three star Grandmaster Blacksmith. Not only was he valued by the Blacksmith¡¯s Association but he was also already deep into his forging studies. The more he forged, the more he understood the profundity of the craft. His father had taught him when he was young that regardless of what he chose to do, he had to focus on it wholeheartedly without the slightest bit of wavering.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t interesting in mecha design, making, or maintenance at all since he had already embarked on the path of a blacksmith and couldn¡¯t bear to change his profession.


    The remaining four students were silent. Clearly, choosing a secondary occupation was no simple matter. They were still young and weren¡¯t completely sure what they liked, but fortunately, they still had two more years to think it over. That was plenty of time to come to a decision.


    Wu Zhangkong dully said, ¡°Good then. That ends today¡¯s lesson on mechas. There are only two main points for you to remember. First, truly powerful mechas are called battle armors and all mechas of the purple grade and above are battle armors. Second, you must choose a mecha-related occupation by the third grade.¡±


    This was extremely easy for them to remember. After all, the information they learned in this class  was both simple and interesting to them.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Teacher Wu, when can we see an actual battle armor?¡± He had been listening earnestly the whole time and was now finally able to voice his thoughts.


    Wu Zhangkong gave him a look and said, ¡°I¡¯ll let you see a battle armor after you finish the first part of your combat training. Whoever finishes first will have the opportunity to see it first. As of now, none of you have the qualifications to see.¡±


    Combat training? Combat training between Soul Masters?


    Without giving a chance for them to ask another question, Wu Zhangkong continued, ¡°From now on, your curriculum will place an emphasis on combat practice. Right here. Tang Wulin, move the desks to the side and clear a space in the center.¡±


    Right here? But isn¡¯t the power of Soul Masters destructive?


    A sense of doubt arose within the hearts of the five students, but even so, they followed Wu Zhangkong¡¯s instructions.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, come over here.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded toward Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin quickly walked over.


    ¡°How do you feel about your battle yesterday?¡± Wu Zhangkong coldly asked.


    Tang Wulin considered it for a moment before speaking. ¡°I was too shortsighted. We¡¯re all students after all, so we shouldn¡¯t harm each other. We should have been careful to not overdo it.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong waved his hand in dismissal. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you about those things. I¡¯m asking about how you felt during the battle. How did you feel your team¡¯s battle went?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I¡¯m a bit confused about what happened as it was the first time we saw the strength of our opponents. Our response to their attacks was too disordered and lacking in coordination. As for the other team, they had better coordination but didn¡¯t seem to reach a level of tacit understanding yet either.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong icily corrected, ¡°Disordered? How was that disordered? It was simply a total mess.¡±


    The five of them were stunned by these words. They were geniuses of the first grade and the academy had established a special class for them specifically. Apart from Tang Wulin, they were all extremely confident in their own abilities. Where had the word ¡®disordered¡¯ even come from?


    Wu Zhangkong gazed into Tang Wulin¡¯s large eyes. ¡°To be honest, I am very disappointed. I trained you three for three months, and you had excellent coordination skills. Yet, when the battle actually started, you gave up your advantages. Xie Xie¡¯s broken arms are simply a result of this.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s expression stiffened. He never expected Teacher Wu would assess him in this way.


    Wu Zhangkong turned to look at Xie Xie. ¡°Did you actually believe that you were powerful now that you¡¯ve broken through to become a Soul Grandmaster? And that you could now just blindly charge at your opponents with your strength? Do you even remember the concept of a team?¡±


    He turned back to Tang Wulin right after. ¡°And you. I let you be the team captain because of your calm temperament, yet you actually failed to stop him or coordinate with the team. That was your responsibility. Your use of power was also a mess. You didn¡¯t truly use your martial soul at all and just charged through with brute force. What were you thinking!?¡±


    Faced with Wu Zhangkong¡¯s criticism, Tang Wulin was completely speechless. How could he explain to Wu Zhangkong about his sudden increase in strength and how his Bluesilver Grass mutated due to the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul, leading to the current situation where he wasn¡¯t even completely sure of his current abilities?


    Wu Zhangkong finally turned to Gu Yue. ¡°I told you to act as the team¡¯s glue yet with your battle tendencies, you created even more issues in coordinating with the team.¡±


    Tendencies? Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t understand what Wu Zhangkong meant with this word at all. On the other hand, Xie Xie displayed a queer expression.


    Now that he thought about it, it really was as Wu Zhangkong said. From beginning to end, Gu Yue had been at Tang Wulin¡¯s side. When she exploded, it had also been due to Tang Wulin receiving an injury. But with regard to Xie Xie, she didn¡¯t seem to care at all even though she should have been supporting him with her long ranged attacking abilities.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s few words of criticism were enough to burst a blood vessel.


    Then, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze swept over to Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi. ¡°The problem with your team is obvious too. Wei Xiaofeng has the same fault as Xie Xie. In fact, his weakness is even more severe. Zhang Yangzi, you didn¡¯t immediately engage in battle at the beginning due to your arrogance, but arrogance will only send you to your death. Among the three of you, Wang Jinxi did relatively well. Although he was suppressed by Tang Wulin, he had been cautious and focused on fulfilling his role from beginning to end.¡±


    Teacher Wu was actually praising Wang Jinxi?

 Chapter 112 - Basic Combat Training

    Chapter 112 - Basic Combat Training


    ¡°But!¡±


    Sure enough, there was a ¡®but¡¯...


    Wu Zhangkong coldly continued, ¡°All five of you have a problem in common, and this will be settled through your combat training. The problem is that you are all severely lacking in combat experience and techniques! What I¡¯m talking about isn¡¯t your experience with using your martial soul and soul skills as you are all somewhat decent at that, but still not excellent of course. No, what I am speaking about are your basic combat techniques when you aren¡¯t using your martial soul.¡±


    Basic combat techniques? Soul Masters need something like that? Don¡¯t Soul Masters only need to use their soul skills to attack their opponents?


    Apart from Tang Wulin who was deep in thought, a look of doubt appeared on the faces of the other four students.


    ¡°Do you actually think there is no meaning to having basic combat techniques?¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°I understand, but Teacher Wu, my ability is based solely on controlling the elements. As long as I can control them properly in battle, I will be able to defeat any opponent. What use do I have for basic combat techniques then? Shouldn¡¯t I focus on increasing my soul power and spiritual power?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded.


    ¡°If that is what you really think, then let¡¯s have a little test. Gu Yue, you and Tang Wulin will attack me. I won¡¯t use any soul skill, and I will suppress my soul power down to your level, about rank 13. Let¡¯s see if you can still defeat me. You may use your martial souls.¡±


    As Wu Zhangkong was speaking, he turned around to walk over to the teacher¡¯s platform and picked up a teacher¡¯s pointer before returning to the center.


    Gu Yue had already bravely stepped forward to stand at Tang Wulin¡¯s side. He¡¯s not using any soul skills? So he¡¯s not using his martial soul at all? Isn¡¯t he underestimating us too much?


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue exchanged a glance before retreating a few steps back, opening up some space between them and Wu Zhangkong. They released their martial souls in preparation to attack Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Come now.¡± Wu Zhangkong beckoned them over as he brandished his pointing stick freely.


    Tang Wulin took the initiative to charge forward. With his immense strength, he naturally held the advantage in a direct confrontation. As he charged forward, countless strands of Bluesilver Grass emerged, flocking toward Wu Zhangkong on all sides.


    Right behind him was Gu Yue, who controlled her elements with a deft wave of her hands. Suddenly, she released seven to eight swift wind blades. They sliced toward Wu Zhangkong from tricky positions that cut off all avenues of escape.


    Suppressing his soul power also greatly limited his own speed, and he was now facing Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, both of whom could be considered Assault-Control System Soul Master hybrids. If they couldn¡¯t grasp victory immediately in the beginning, then they would just have to control Wu Zhangkong¡¯s movements to increase their chances of victory at a later time.


    After cultivating together these past few months, they were able to understand the other, even without verbal communication. This led to a coordination that seemed almost telepathic.


    Wu Zhangkong stood in the center motionlessly with only his pointer raised. In his hand, that pointer was no different from the sharpest of swords.


    They all saw that when the pointer in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hand trembled, the motion was followed by a phantom image emerging behind it.


    The wind blades reached Wu Zhangkong first, but something strange happened next. Right as they entered the range of his pointer stick, the wind blades were immediately dispersed into a cool breeze.


    Trailing behind the wind blades were Tang Wulin¡¯s vines. The Bluesilver Grass twisted to surround Wu Zhangkong, but the moment they came too close, they were cut apart just like the wind blades. It was impossible to get within a one meter range of Wu Zhangkong.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue revealed troubled expressions.


    Gu Yue felt Wu Zhangkong¡¯s pointer stab the core of her wind blades each time, sowing disorder among the gathered wind elements, thus causing the wind blades to dissipate.


    Tang Wulin had found what happened even stranger. His Bluesilver Grass was like a snake the moment he released it, yet Wu Zhangkong¡¯s pointer was able to accurately stab the seventh inch point of the ¡®snake¡¯, effectively stopping the flow of his soul power to that strand. As a result, the Bluesilver Grass couldn¡¯t resist Wu Zhangkong¡¯s attacks at all as its power was now restricted.


    Just what was this?


    Gu Yue raised her hand, firing off a few fireballs. The teacher¡¯s pointer is made of wood. Maybe using fire would be more effective. By then, Tang Wulin had already arrived in front of Wu Zhangkong.


    His right hand reached out to grab at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s chest while golden scales began to cover his right arm.


    After a few experiments, Tang Wulin had gained some understanding of his Golden Dragon King power. Those golden scales weren¡¯t just for decoration. Aside from increasing his power, it also increased his defense and thus raised his overall strength by quite a bit. It was because of those scales that he decided to directly launch an attack at Wu Zhangkong.


    Bang! Wu Zhangkong¡¯s pointer struck sharply at Tang Wulin¡¯s sparkling, golden-scaled wrist.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s arm slightly swayed after being struck by the pointer, but its momentum was unchanged, and it was still heading straight for Wu Zhangkong¡¯s chest.


    Wu Zhangkong was unaffected by the approaching scaled arm as he stood there with the same icy-cold expression. He shifted backwards by a step. Despite it seeming to be a simple step back, it opened up some distance between him and Tang Wulin as well as put him out of the path of the fireballs.


    What shocked the students even more was that even as he was retreating, Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t forgotten to thrust a few times at the fireballs with his pointer, causing their power to dissipate and preventing the classroom from acquiring damages. This could only be described as brilliant!


    His pointer shot out once more, stabbing Tang Wulin¡¯s elbow. His arm felt a weird sensation spreading throughout, but the power of the pointer was not enough to pierce through his scales. It had been blocked automatically.


    A trace of astonishment finally appeared in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes, but once again, he simply took a step out of the way of Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand.


    Bang!


    A scorching pain burst from Tang Wulin¡¯s neck and seeped all the way down to the marrow of his bones. He stumbled to the side in retreat. His right arm might have scales protecting it, but his neck did not!


    The pointer in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hand struck once again, but this time, it was aimed at Tang Wulin¡¯s waist. If it made contact, Tang Wulin definitely wouldn¡¯t be in fighting condition afterward.


    But right at that moment, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression changed.


    The reason was simple. Seven to eight fireballs were shooting toward the surrounding classroom equipment in a scattered manner.


    Gu Yue¡¯s elegant face revealed a sinister smile. Aren¡¯t you afraid of the classroom taking damage? Then you¡¯ll have to stop if I attack it.


    As expected, Wu Zhangkong had no choice but to abandon his pursuit of Tang Wulin. Yet, in the next moment, the students of class zero finally understood the meaning of true strength.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s figure suddenly flickered. In an instant, his countless phantoms appeared throughout the classroom, obliterating all of the fireballs. He was so quick that the students couldn¡¯t even see him move clearly. It was all just a blur to them.


    The teacher¡¯s pointer struck Gu Yue¡¯s waist, giving rise to a sharp pain that made her collapse. Before Tang Wulin could even react, he felt a numbness overcome his body, forcing him to fall flat on his butt like Gu Yue.


    This...


    So powerful!


    Silence now enveloped the classroom. Wu Zhangkong walked over to face Tang Wulin once more. With a pensive expression, he watched the scales on Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm gradually disappear.


    Despite being unable to use his martial soul at a rank similar to theirs, he had still condensed his suppressed soul power. Yet, even with that, he hadn¡¯t been able to pierce through the defenses of Tang Wulin¡¯s joints. He had only caused Tang Wulin¡¯s arm to bend for a split second, that was all. The defensive power of those scales were extraordinarily formidable when faced with attacks of the same rank. Moreover, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t unleashed the might of his Golden Dragon Claw yet. That would only boost his power even further!


    ¡°Teacher, were you actually only using basic techniques just now?¡± Xie Xie asked Wu Zhangkong with wide eyes.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Do you still think basic techniques are useless? Basic techniques are fundamental. Although martial souls and soul skills can make a Soul Master powerful, the way they are used will determine just how powerful one will be. This is how basic techniques should be used. It¡¯s the same even when using battle armor or an ordinary mecha. Starting today, we will begin a lengthy period of combat technique training. Do not slack off; this is a crucial subject for you all.¡±

 Chapter 113 - Test

    Chapter 113 - Test


    Tang Wulin was quite miserable. As one of the two who received no injuries as well as being a male, he had been used as a living teaching example by Wu Zhangkong. With him as the opponent, Wu Zhangkong continuously used him to demonstrate combat techniques and important topics to the other students. Tang Wulin was knocked down time and time again by the teacher¡¯s pointing stick.


    He felt that this was Teacher Wu¡¯s revenge for him being late to the match. But even so, this type of training was effective as it was clear just how quickly Tang Wulin was improving. This was the so-called, ¡®pain and joy¡¯.[1]


    News of class zero¡¯s establishment quickly spread throughout the academy, turning its five students into celebrities in an instant. Naturally, they couldn¡¯t reveal what they were doing in class, so the curiosity of others died down after a few days and the academy returned to its usual tranquility.


    As their only teacher, Wu Zhangkong provided them with plenty of guidance. Their curriculum required that they study different theories from those of regular classes and become more inclined toward combat training. And just as President Yu Zhen promised, the academy poured a tremendous amount of resources into the class. Regardless of whether it were the teaching methods, nourishing food, teachers, or facilities, all were provided and of the highest quality.


    Ten days later, Tang Wulin was no longer the only one being beaten up by Wu Zhangkong¡¯s pointing stick. Xie Xie, Zhang Yangzi, and Wang Jinxi had all recovered and could now join Tang Wulin in being beaten up for combat training. Ever since their recovery, inhuman cries of pain would constantly ring out from class zero.


    They had rejoiced in Tang Wulin¡¯s misfortune when they were still bystanders that were watching him being beaten up, but after experiencing the painful strikes of the pointing stick for themselves, they had gained a thorough understand of what pain truly was.


    Wang Jinxi fared a bit better than the others as his Bone Dragon King made his body much stronger. But for Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie¡­ they were definitely suffering. Zhang Yangzi was an Agility-Control System Soul Master and Xie Xie was a pure Agility System Soul Master so both of their bodies were suited for nimbleness and couldn¡¯t compare in toughness with Tang Wulin or Wang Jinxi.


    From the very beginning, Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t even know the concept of ¡®starting off leniently¡¯. Instead, each strike of his pointing stick would create a pain that penetrated all the way to their bone marrow! Yet, despite this unfathomable pain they were subjected to, they didn¡¯t suffer any real injuries.


    In Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words: ¡®Only pain can deepen your learning!¡¯


    The only one who was fortunate enough to be spared was Gu Yue. Perhaps it was because she was a girl, but Wu Zhangkong reined in a bit of his harshness when he taught her. Even when the occasional pointer struck, it only made her feel a bit numb.


    ¡°Today we will be running a few tests on your bodies so combat training will be suspended.¡± Wu Zhangkong announced this piece of good news the moment he entered the classroom.


    They all harbored a fear of combat training now. That bone-piercing pain was simply too much.


    Tang Wulin was the only one who felt some disappointment.[2] Having absorbed a portion of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul, he had discovered over the past ten days of combat training that his body¡¯s strength had risen to another level. Apart from his right arm, any place Wu Zhangkong¡¯s pointer struck would experience extreme pain, but he would recover from it extremely fast without even leaving a bruise. Moreover, he felt that his soul power cultivation rate increased after receiving a good beating.


    After those ten days of training, he sensed as though his body was on the verge of breaking through once more. It seemed that the fragment of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul hadn¡¯t been completely absorbed by him yet. The more he cultivated, the more completely he absorbed the soul.


    He was also growing more and more skilled at controlling his bloodline power. Apart from the Golden Dragon Claw, which he couldn¡¯t use too often due to the excessive amount of soul power it consumed, he could use the golden scales as he wished due to its minimal costs. Thus, his right arm had turned into his strongest weapon.


    Wu Zhangkong brought them to a room that was filled with a scientific feeling. The interior of the room was covered in a layer of a silver metal which made them feel as if they had entered a silver world the moment they stepped inside.


    Table after table of strange apparatuses were arranged within this room.


    ¡°We¡¯ll start with the spiritual power test. Xie Xie, you¡¯re first.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong was holding onto a form, ready to record Xie Xie¡¯s results.


    Xie Xie¡¯s spiritual power growth was quite normal. Compared to last time, his spiritual power had increased by two.


    After Xie Xie was Wang Jinxi. His spiritual power was quite low, a mere 18 points.


    ¡°Wang Jinxi, you must spare no effort in improving your spiritual power otherwise you won¡¯t be able to fuse with any more spirit souls in the future,¡± Wu Zhangkong dully advised him.


    Wang Jinxi was normally very quiet. Just like usual, he merely nodded after hearing Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words.


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s turn was next.


    ¡°Spiritual power of 41. Not bad. If you do your best you might be able to break through from the Spirit Origin realm within a year.¡±


    Tang Wulin was the second last to go.


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s gaze was fixed on him. Among his three ex-opponents, he bore the greatest grudge against Tang Wulin for breaking his legs. He couldn¡¯t help but feel the need to compare himself against Tang Wulin now.


    In the past few days he had interacted with Tang Wulin, he discovered that Tang Wulin¡¯s main power came from his body that was gifted with strength and that peculiar right arm of his. As for his martial soul, it was merely Bluesilver Grass. It wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning to Zhang Yangzi. The more he found out about Tang Wulin, the more he felt that his loss that day was unjustified.


    Since he¡¯s an expert at assault like Wang Jinxi, just how high could his spiritual power be? It can¡¯t possibly be that high.


    Tang Wulin walked over to the apparatus and sat down. The spiritual power testing machine slowly descended, enveloping his head.


    The test was beginning!


    This spiritual power testing machine was the most advanced one the academy had. It displayed the spiritual power on a graduated scale with different colors. Thus, one could differentiate the spiritual power level based on the color shown.


    Spirit Origin was white. The number representing Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power kept on rising, and soon, it surpassed Wang Jinxi¡¯s 18 points.


    It steadily increased. 20 points. 25 points. 30 points¡­


    Zhang Yangzi stared at the scale in astonishment. No way. He¡¯s just an Assault System Soul Master with one ring¡¯s worth of cultivation. How can he have more than 30 points of spiritual power? Even Jinxi pales in comparison to him¡­


    40...


    43. He had now surpassed Zhang Yangzi and yet, the number was still increasing!


    Xie Xie proudly said to Zhang Yangzi, ¡°You see that? Wulin¡¯s spiritual power is so great!¡±


    Zhang Yangzi had an unsightly expression as he snorted. I refuse to acknowledge him!


    ¡°Fifty!¡± The quiet Wang Jinxi suddenly shouted.


    That was right, Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power surpassed 50. This meant that his spiritual power had progressed from the Spirit Origin realm to the Spirit Connection realm.


    Sure enough, the scale turned from white to yellow.


    Spirit Origin. Everything started from the origin and would grow from there. The moment one was born, they would be in the Spirit Origin realm with the most basic of spiritual powers. Spiritual power in the Spirit Origin realm was enough to bear a yellow spirit soul.


    The Spirit Connection realm was when the heart could connect with the spirit, conveying simple thoughts. Once one attained Spirit Connection, one would be able to truly control one¡¯s spiritual power and have it move to one¡¯s needs as well as being able to support two yellow spirit souls or one purple spirit soul.


    There didn''t seem to be much of a difference between Spirit Origin and Spirit Connection, but it was truly a qualitative leap! It was only natural for Wang Jinxi to be shocked. After all, reaching the Spirit Connection realm meant that Tang Wulin could already fuse with a purple spirit soul.


    Dumbstruck, Zhang Yangzi stared at Tang Wulin with his mouth gaping. This guy¡¯s martial soul is nothing, but his spiritual power is so amazing! He had never heard of someone who could break through to the next realm while still in the first grade of intermediate academy before!


    Anyone who could break through to the next realm in the intermediate division would already be considered talented. It had to be said that the greatest obstacle for graduating from the advanced division was attaining Spirit Connection! This one requirement had already stopped countless Soul Masters from graduating.


    Yet, Tang Wulin had already broken through while still being in the first grade! This was simply unfathomable!


    66!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power reading finally stopped at 66 points.


    Xie Xie had been bragging for him just now, but he was still stupefied after seeing this number.


    It has only been a few days yet this guy¡¯s spiritual power has already grown this much? His spiritual power growth rate is almost like a cheat!


    66? Tang Wulin was also startled when he saw the results. Although he had felt that his spiritual power had increased after absorbing the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul, he had never expected to directly enter the Spirit Connection realm. This was simply too amazing for him! Strong spiritual power would be extremely beneficial for him when he fused with another spirit soul in the future as well as when controlling his martial soul and soul skills!


    TL: I think Tang Wulin might be going down a dark path...Nooooo. Don''t embark on this path Wulin!

 Chapter 114 - Monstrous Numbers

    Chapter 114 - Monstrous Numbers


    The final one to take the test was Gu Yue.


    A thought suddenly struck Zhang Yangzi. Does the order Teacher Wu arranged us in mean anything? Aside from Xie Xie in the beginning, the spiritual power ratings have only been increasing high afterward. Spiritual power is also essential to Gu Yue¡­ Could it be? Has she also broken through to the Spirit Connection realm?


    His question didn¡¯t go unanswered for long as the testing machine gave him the results shortly after.


    Gu Yue¡¯s spiritual power flew past the white line and into the yellow zone. Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi gawked as the number broke through 100 points in the blink of an eye, and even then it was still skyrocketing! Their jaws dropped in shock!


    The final number displayed on the machine was 153.


    How, how can she be this amazing!? Even if we disregard Eastsea City, I don¡¯t think there is a single Soul Master on the entire continent that is this young yet has such high level spiritual power!


    A human¡¯s spiritual power would grow as their body matured, increasing all the way until they reached forty years of age. After the age of forty, however, an ordinary person¡¯s body would begin to deteriorate, but Soul Masters could continue increasing their spiritual power until they were sixty years old.


    Gu Yue was only nine years old, the exact same age as the rest of them, yet her spiritual power was actually in the Spirit Connection realm with over 150 points! With her talent, wouldn¡¯t she break through to the Spirit Sea realm by the time she graduated from the intermediate division!?


    In the Spirit Sea realm, the spirit was as vast as the sea and one¡¯s spiritual power could be considered to have finally attained a high enough level to be considered the foundation for an expert. The ones who stood at the pinnacle of both Mecha Masters or Soul Masters would need to have at least reached the Spirit Sea realm. At this level, one would be able to support five yellow spirit souls or three purple spirit souls. In fact, one could even support a single black spirit soul!


    Apart from the effects on spiritual power, the Spirit Sea realm could also help a Soul Master cultivate to six or seven rings. Thus, to become a powerful Soul Master, it was necessary to reach Spirit Sea.


    Silence. The room was enveloped in silence.


    Wu Zhangkong seemed to have expected this result as after Gu Yue left the machine, he casually said, ¡°Next is the strength test.¡±


    The order for the strength test was also very peculiar. The first one up was Gu Yue.


    Similar to when she tested her powerful spiritual power, Gu Yue¡¯s strength once again blinded everyone.


    The strength test simply measured the power of one¡¯s punch, and it didn¡¯t measure anything like carrying capacity or how much stress their bodies could undergo.


    After all, only attack power held any meaning to Soul Masters.


    Bang! Left fist, 115 kilograms.


    D, damn! Zhang Yangzi nearly fell flat on his butt. Isn¡¯t, isn¡¯t she an elementalist Soul Master? Isn¡¯t she just nine years old? How can she have 115 kilograms of strength?


    Xie Xie¡¯s reaction was identical to his. In fact, he was even trembling a little bit.


    As Gu Yue turned her head, she shot a cold glance at Xie Xie, her eyebrows slightly raised.


    Xie Xie swallowed a mouthful of saliva and quickly averted his gaze. This was his first time finding out that Gu Yue¡¯s strength was actually so frightening!


    Bang! Right fist, 143 kilograms.


    Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie practically had tears streaming down their cheeks now. Can¡¯t she give us just a little bit of face? Is she even a girl? Isn¡¯t she actually a female T-Rex!?


    A trace of surprise flashed through Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes as he announced, ¡°Next, Zhang Yangzi.¡±


    Bang! Left fist, 61 kilograms.


    Bang! Right fist, 69 kilograms.


    He was able to attain these results because in addition to his speed, he was also a two ringed Soul Grandmaster, making his body much stronger than an ordinary person¡¯s.


    Zhang Yangzi originally hadn¡¯t thought his strength to be subpar because after all, he mainly relied on his special attribute. Yet, when he compared his power with someone else¡¯s, and that person was one who was similar as they relied on controlling the elements, he nearly wanted to weep.


    ¡°Xie Xie!¡±


    Bang! Left fist, 153 kilograms.


    Bang! Right fist, 164 kilograms.


    Xie Xie wiped away his sweat as he relaxed and let out a deep breath. At the very least, he was physically a bit stronger than Gu Yue. Although he was an Agility System Soul Master, the nourishing effect his twin martial souls had on his body couldn¡¯t be overlooked. Thus, despite being suited for nimbleness, his body was still fairly strong, which was also the reason why Wei Xiaofeng had suffered at his hands during the Class Promotion Tournament.


    ¡°Wang Jinxi!¡±


    The slim-figured Wang Jinxi walked up to the strength testing machine. He inhaled deeply, mulling over what his results would be. Subconsciously, his gaze began to drift toward Tang Wulin, who was watching the machine for the results..


    At that moment, a thought suddenly appeared in Wang Jinxi¡¯s heart. Just how large is the gap between our strengths?


    Bang! Left fist, 423 kilograms.


    Bang! Right fist, 468 kilograms.


    Terrifying numbers appeared. These numbers exceeded those of ordinary Assault System Soul Masters by far. In fact, it was comparable to a pure Power System Soul Master¡¯s.


    The total strength of his two arms already approached one thousand kilograms.


    ¡°Good!¡± Zhang Yangzi loudly proclaimed as if to vent the gloom he felt within his heart.


    Wang Jinxi was fairly satisfied with this result. Even though his arms had recently been broken, his strength had still increased, so this result was considered to be pretty good.


    ¡°Tang Wulin.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong observed Tang Wulin with a steady gaze. Naturally, he had also arranged the students in this test according to his estimates, from lowest to highest. It was just that Gu Yue¡¯s strength had been outside of his expectations.


    Tang Wulin walked over to the strength test machine with bright eyes and an intense desire to know just what level his power had reached after absorbing the essence of the first seal.


    His hands subconsciously clenched into a tight fist, popping sounds emitting from his entire skeleton. The aura of the Golden Dragon King appeared, causing a slight change in Wang Jinxi¡¯s expression.


    He hadn¡¯t even made a move yet, but his oppressive aura already differentiated him from the previous students.


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s muscles began to twitch as he thought to himself, It won¡¯t be that high. It won¡¯t be that high. It won¡¯t be that high¡­


    Bang! Left fist, 1156 kilograms.


    Bang! Right fist, 1348 kilograms.


    A rumble resounded throughout the room, stunning the other four students.


    Even though they knew Tang Wulin was very strong, they had never expected him to be this strong.


    Even Wang Jinxi, who simply burst with power, was only barely able to match up to a third of Tang Wulin¡¯s strength.


    Wang Jinxi quickly recovered from his shock because he already had a rough estimate of the gap between the two of them from the Class Promotion Tournament match after Tang Wulin had knocked him back a few steps. He had been able to do this despite the fact that Wang Jinxi had released his martial soul together with his strength increasing soul skills. Moreover, Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul was Bluesilver Grass; would it be able to increase his strength at all? Simply put, Wang Jinxi hadn¡¯t expected the gap to be this large. He had thought Tang Wulin would only be twice as strong, not three times.


    ¡°Is¡­ Is he even a human?¡± Zhang Yangzi muttered in shock.


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t let Tang Wulin return, rather, he coldly instructed, ¡°Once more with your right hand covered in the scales.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tang Wulin raised his right arm as a golden light appeared, covering his arm with a layer of golden scales.


    As the Golden Dragon King¡¯s oppressive aura emerged, Wang Jinxi subconsciously retreated back a step as his martial soul began to tremble  in fear, and perhaps even submission toward Tang Wulin.


    Bang! 2,700 kilograms.


    Numbness. Zhang Yangzi¡¯s entire body was numb now.


    Everyone else would already be impressed when the total strength of two arms was over one thousand kilograms. Yet, for this guy, one arm already had over two thousand kilograms of strength!


    When this number appeared, everyone, including Tang Wulin, was fired up. This number was truly too monstrous!


    No wonder my Heavy Silver hammers feel so light now, especially my right hammer. So my strength has reached this level now, huh?


    ¡°Test your dragon claw now,¡± Wu Zhangkong said with a wooden expression.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Tang Wulin wanted to try it too. After raising his right fist, however, he lowered it and asked Wu Zhangkong, ¡°Teacher Wu, if I break the machine, do I need to pay for it?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong wrinkled his brows. ¡°No. This machine can bear up to five thousand kilograms of strength. Even if you somehow manage to break it, you won¡¯t need to pay.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    A golden light quietly filled Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, turning his pupils into slits while a tyrannical aura burst forth from his body.

 Chapter 115 - Martial Soul Awakening?

    Chapter 115 - Martial Soul Awakening?


    Wang Jinxi was overwhelmed with shock. He knew that under the suppression of Tang Wulin¡¯s tyrannical aura, he could only exert, at most, half of his strength. And even if he wasn¡¯t opposing Tang Wulin, the suppression he felt was still too much.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hands began to grow, his joints becoming thick and solid as his hand transformed into the Golden Dragon Claw.


    That dazzling Golden Dragon Claw was covered in fragmented scales while the three inch claws were as smooth and glossy as a mirror.


    Honglong, kacha!


    A number flashed on the screen, but not a moment later, the place on the machine where Tang Wulin had punched it exploded into bits of metal fragments, leaving only a hole behind.


    This was the effect of the Golden Dragon Claw¡¯s ¡®crushing.¡¯


    It really did break¡­


    Then just how strong was he?


    Having just witnessed Tang Wulin absolutely destroy the strength testing machine, the four students were completely in shock and couldn¡¯t even recall the number that had briefly flashed on the screen.


    Only Wu Zhangkong had been able to catch the number.


    He recorded it into his book, silently writing down ¡®3998 kilograms¡¯.


    Even the steady and ice-cold Wu Zhangkong couldn¡¯t help but swallow a gulp of saliva somewhat uncomfortably.


    Zhang Yangzi felt his legs ache, but at the same time, he no longer felt that the condition his legs were in was that bad anymore. If he didn¡¯t have the defensive powers of a soul fusion skill at that time, he feared that he wouldn¡¯t have gotten off so lightly with only broken legs.


    I don¡¯t want revenge against this guy anymore. At that moment, Zhang Yangzi only had this thought filling his grieving heart.


    Wang Jinxi was simply at a loss for words as he stood there in shock. His expression gradually returned to normal, but a slight trembling in his hands could still be seen.


    ¡°Next, reaction speed test.¡±


    Just as expected, Xie Xie had the best reaction speed. What was surprising, however, was that it wasn¡¯t Zhang Yangzi in second place, but Tang Wulin. Following Tang Wulin in third place was actually Gu Yue, leaving Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi in fourth and fifth place respectively.


    After seeing the results of this test, Zhang Yangzi¡¯s self-doubt only grew greater and greater.


    In addition to reaction speed, they continued to test all aspects of the body. Number one was Tang Wulin, followed closely by Gu Yue.


    Are they even human? Are they human? Human?


    Did they eat the fodder for beasts of burden when they were growing up?


    ¡°The testing is finished now. Today¡¯s tests were primarily on your body¡¯s abilities and doesn¡¯t represent everything. Martial souls are still crucial to Soul Masters, so some students shouldn¡¯t be discouraged. Now, class dismissed. Tang Wulin, follow me.¡± Wu Zhangkong gracefully walked away with Tang Wulin in tow.


    Zhang Yangzi stood there, as if a cold wind was blowing on his forehead.


    Some students? Which ones?


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s office.


    ¡°Take a seat,¡± Wu Zhangkong said as he pointed at a sofa.


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡± Tang Wulin sat down.


    Wu Zhangkong indifferently said, ¡°I want you to tell me what¡¯s going on with your body. Tell me how your spiritual power increased by a third in such a short period of time, how you gained control of the scales on your arm, and what that dragon claw ability is. Your strength has increased immensely in addition to the increase in your reaction speed and resilience. According to the recent events, something should have happened to you during the hurricane. Am I correct?¡±


    Tang Wulin had already guessed that this was what Wu Zhangkong had called him for. He also knew the he wouldn¡¯t be able to hide it, especially those things that could be seen on the surface.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, the bloodline transformation I talked to you about previously occurred. I endured immense suffering during the hurricane, and after I woke up, my body was like this. I¡¯m not quite sure what happened either, but it seems that there¡¯s some sort of special energy within my blood. It transformed my body and even my Bluesilver Grass and spirit soul.


    As he spoke, Tang Wulin released his Bluesilver Grass and Goldlight to show Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong exclaimed in astonishment when he saw that the little snake had grown and its scales now golden. ¡°Even your spirit soul transformed? This sort of situation is very rare¡­ This should mean the energy within your bloodline is extremely powerful. Hmm. I think I¡¯ve seen this kind of situation in some ancient records before.¡±


    There¡¯s something like this in the ancient records? Tang Wulin was startled. If that was true, then it would be great for him. At the very least, he would be able to find out how this sort of thing progressed from here


    Regardless, he wouldn¡¯t speak of Old Tang. After all, it was simply too outrageous to tell someone else.


    Wu Zhangkong paced back and forth within his office, his eyes shining as he pondered things over.


    A while later, he suddenly stopped and raised his head. ¡°I remember now. Your situation is similar to a martial soul awakening.¡±


    ¡°Martial soul awakening?¡± Tang Wulin was a bit confused.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, a martial soul awakening. Think about it; what is the most likely thing to cause a spirit soul to change?¡±


    Tang Wulin spoke without the slightest hesitation. ¡°It¡¯s when a Soul Master fuses with it. When the martial soul and spirit soul fuse, the spirit soul will be influenced by the martial soul and experience some mutations.¡± When he had first fused with Goldlight, the changes Goldlight experienced weren¡¯t that large due to how weak his Bluesilver Grass was. If it had been a powerful martial soul, the influence would have been much larger.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Correct. Your spirit soul¡¯s change is similar to the mutation a spirit soul experiences when first fusing with a martial soul. There is an example of this in the history records. That example was caused due to a second martial soul being hidden within your body. This martial soul wasn¡¯t able to awaken during the awakening ceremony, but as the Soul Master¡¯s body grew, it began to awaken and caused a series of mutations. It influenced both the Soul Master¡¯s martial soul as well as the Soul Master himself.¡±


    Tang Wulin understood one thing after hearing Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words: the two situations were completely different! Within Tang Wulin¡¯s body was the unfathomable mystery of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul and the eighteen seals, not a second martial soul.


    Wu Zhangkong continued. ¡°These types of situations usually have two paths  of development. Fortunately, both are good. The first is to completely awaken the second martial soul, so you will become like Xie Xie with his twin martial souls. The second one is to fuse it with your current martial soul, causing your current martial soul to transform even further and for the two powers to begin complementing each other. The martial soul will become much more powerful like this. It seems that your current situation is similar to that of the second path as mutations keep occurring.¡±


    Tang Wulin was secretly admiring Wu Zhangkong in his heart. Although Wu Zhangkong¡¯s guess wasn¡¯t exactly correct, he had still been able to guess much of the true situation. At the very least, this was proof of how vast Wu Zhangkong¡¯s knowledge base was. Moreover, his explanation based on his observations was the best one Tang Wulin currently had.


    ¡°That sounds about right,¡± Tang Wulin said with a monotone voice.


    Wu Zhangkong gave a slight nod. ¡°But during the martial soul¡¯s mutation process, you may encounter danger. This is because your body needs to be able to endure the mutations too. So the next time you feel something wrong with your body, you must immediately come to me. I will protect you and help ensure your mutation succeeds. I will minimize the danger you face.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded as a trace of warmth filled his heart.


    Although this shockingly handsome Teacher Wu always had a cold expression, Tang Wulin felt that on the inside, Wu Zhangkong wasn¡¯t as ice-cold as his exterior.


    ¡°En. No need to think about it too much. These changes you are experiencing will only bring you benefits. It will strengthen your body, which will be very useful to you in the future. Thus, you just need to silently bear with it. The more changes you experience, the greater your future potential. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°En. En. I understand. Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡±


    ¡°Head back then!¡± Wu Zhangkong bluntly sent him back.


    Tang Wulin quickly got up to leave.


    But right at that moment, Wu Zhangkong suddenly stopped him. ¡°Hold on a moment.¡±


    Tang Wulin halted in place before turning around to face Wu Zhangkong. He was curious as to what else Wu Zhangkong had to say.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s brows were furrowed,and his eyes filled with a pensive light. After a moment, he began to speak. ¡°Do you still remember the footwork I used during combat training? Are you interested in learning it?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were colored with surprise. ¡°Of course I¡¯m interested. Teacher Wu, are you going to teach us it?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong heavily said, ¡°This footwork is actually very mystical and doesn¡¯t actually belong to me. It belongs to a very powerful organization. If you wish to learn it, you must first join this organization. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have the authority to directly recruit you and can only recommend you to take their entry test.¡±

 Chapter 116 - Mysterious Organization?

    Chapter 116 - Mysterious Organization?


    A mysterious organization? Teacher Wu is a member of some mysterious organization? This piece of information immediately caught Tang Wulin¡¯s interest. Yet, did he really want to join it?


    Tang Wulin was somewhat hesitant. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t trust Wu Zhangkong, but his parents had disappeared due to a mysterious organization! Because of this, he harbored some ill feelings toward such ¡®mysterious organizations¡¯.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, what kind of organization is it? What does it do?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Wu Zhangkong sternly said, ¡°It is an organization with righteousness, equality, justice and protection as its main principles. This organization spans across all three continents. As for its name¡­ You will only find out after passing the test.¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Sorry, Teacher Wu, I don¡¯t think I will join.¡± He had come to this decision in an instant.


    Wu Zhangkong was slightly stunned. He had never expected Tang Wulin to decline in such a straightforward way.


    ¡°How can you refuse when you still haven¡¯t completely understood what the organization is?¡± Wu Zhangkong curiously asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head once again. ¡°My parents were taken by a mysterious organization and even now, I haven¡¯t heard anything from them. So I¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s face wrinkled into a frown. ¡°Your parents? Do you have any clues?¡±


    Tang Wulin forced out a bitter smile as he was once again forced to shake his head in denial. Apart from the one million federal coins his father had left him, he had no clues at all.


    Wu Zhangkong spoke heavily, ¡°If your parents didn¡¯t go voluntarily, then I am certain it isn¡¯t the organization I speak of. Regardless, you can take your time to think it over. If you change your mind and want to take the test, you will find out the organization¡¯s name after passing the test. I am certain that once you do, you will change your mind. But if you don¡¯t pass the test, then we don¡¯t even need to speak of this topic any further.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I think I can do it.¡± Tang Wulin no longer had any reason to decline. After all, what if Wu Zhangkong was a part of a really good organization?


    Leaving Wu Zhangkong¡¯s office, Tang Wulin did not return to his dorm and instead left the academy grounds to head for his forging workshop.


    He was short on time. After listening to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s lesson about the importance of a secondary profession, his passion for forging was rekindled and became a soaring blaze. For the sake of having battle armor in the future, he would have to persist¡­


    Tang Wulin needed to break the second seal before he turned fifteen, so he still had five years of time left. This may seem like a long period, but after seeing the list of the four spirit items he needed, he no longer felt that he had that much time.


    The four spirit items were a set, and he also wasn¡¯t too clear on what they were. But these four items all had two words in common: ¡®thousand year¡¯. He could only imagine how much they would cost¡­


    Forging was his greatest source of income. First, he still had to pay back his debt to the association, and then he would put all of his efforts into raising his forging ability to earn even more money. He would save the profits in preparation for buying those four spirit items in the future. After all, how could he be so lucky as to just find those four items? Purchasing them was a much more reliable method.


    As the tests had revealed, the absorption of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul fragment had increased his body¡¯s coordination, control of power, strength, and speed. All of these gains would be beneficial to his forging.


    The Thousand Refinements was no longer that difficult for him, so he began accepting tasks to forge all sorts of uncommon metals. In the past few days, Mang Tian had only come once to instruct him. During his visit, Mang Tian told him that he must diversify and Thousand Refine all sorts of different metals to gain a deep understanding of their characteristics. Only when he could fuse with them like he had with the Heavy Silver would he be able to take a step toward grasping the secrets of forging and thus, become a fourth rank blacksmith.


    As a result, Tang Wulin accepted tasks that required him to Thousand Refine a variety of metals.


    It had to be said that the reward for completed Thousand Refinements was still astonishingly high. Even a common metal that was Thousand Refined would still be worth at least 100,000 federal coins.


    Even so, the most profitable Thousand Refinement tasks were worth 400,000 to 500,000 federal coins. The tasks that paid that much, however, required him to infuse the spirit into those uncommon metals, which Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare to attempt yet.


    Despite that being the case, he had calculated that with his current task completion speed, it would take him three months at most to pay back the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    Tang Wulin was now accepting and completing two Thousand Refinement tasks each week.


    Moreover, he practiced forging two to three nights each week as it helped him circulate his soul power and improve his control over it. In fact, it even refined his spiritual power a bit, so the time he spent on forging wasn¡¯t wasted at all.


    Not only was he completing his final task today, but he was also going to hand in the finished products and accept a new week¡¯s worth of tasks.


    Aluminium purification, Thousand Refinements!


    This was the simplest Thousand Refinements task. After accepting it, Tang Wulin discovered that although it was easy to Thousand Refine Aluminium, sensing the mysteries hidden within was no easy project!


    Compared to ordinary steel, aluminium possessed the hardness of steel while also possessing its own resilience. With this combination of hardness and resilience, Tang Wulin could gradually sense the changes and mysteries within the metal as he Thousand Refined it. After the Thousand Refinements was completed, the aluminium¡¯s hardness and resilience increased substantially, as if it had completely transformed. It could be said that this was an uncommon metal that experienced the greatest change after being Thousand Refined.


    Tang Wulin could vaguely hear the words of Grandmaster Cen Yue echoing within his mind: ¡®Thousand Refined aluminium is the most commonly used metal for making purple battle armor.¡¯


    It was because of these words that Tang Wulin possessed such great interest in aluminium. With aluminium being so cheap, wouldn¡¯t he be able to forge his own battle armor in the future?


    Lately, he had been accepting many aluminium forging tasks and was now beginning to gain the ability to feel the inner changes of the aluminium as he forged it. There was never a shortage of Thousand Refined aluminium tasks, so by relying on the powerful Stacked Hammers effect of his Heavy Silver hammers, his output rate was simply outrageous, and he had no need to worry about making a mistake.


    Tang Wulin had a slight feeling that if he was able to gain an even deeper understanding of the essence of aluminium, of its breath of life and its character, then he would make another breakthrough on the path of forging.


    ?


    Today¡¯s forging finished without a hitch, and as he looked at the brilliantly shining Thousand Refined aluminium in front of him, he couldn¡¯t help but crack a knowing smile.


    Mang Tian had once told Tang Wulin that just by relying on his perception and innate divine strength, he was already on the threshold of becoming a fourth ranked blacksmith. After all, Tang Wulin was able to bring about simple special effects in uncommon Thousand Refined metals.


    Yet, the gap between his current level and a true, fourth ranked blacksmith was by no means small. In order to advance to the fourth rank from the third rank, it required an accumulation of experience. Also, reaching the fourth rank wasn¡¯t necessarily a good thing if one¡¯s foundation was not firm enough. This was the reason Mang Tian wanted him to understand the inner properties of all of the uncommon metals on the market and to be able to Thousand Refine them completely before attempting the fourth rank test.


    Having learned from Mang Tian for over three years now, Tang Wulin¡¯s foundations were definitely sturdy. Now he was improving his comprehension of metals in the third and fourth ranks in order to better prepare himself for Spirit Forging in the future. If he were to actually enter the Spirit Forging realm, he would then be considered to truly be one of the federation¡¯s elites.


    Just what sort of level was Spirit Forging? Was it to understand the spirit of the metal? Or was it to bestow spirit into the metal?


    Di, di, di. Tang Wulin¡¯s soul communicator rang as soon as he turned it on.


    ¡°Teacher Mang Tian,¡± Tang Wulin respectfully said.


    ¡°If you¡¯re free right now, then come to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.¡± Mang Tian¡¯s deep voice rang out.


    ¡°I was just getting ready to head over there. Teacher, are you at the association right now?¡± Tang Wulin asked in surprise as he hadn¡¯t seen Mang Tian these past few days.


    ¡°En. Come then. I¡¯m waiting for you in the president¡¯s office.¡± Tang Wulin heard a trace of loneliness in Mang Tian¡¯s voice.


    He didn¡¯t dare delay and quickly packed up the finished products for his accepted tasks. He quickly left the workshop and headed straight for the association.


    The association was nearby, so he arrived in only a few minutes.


    He then rode the elevator all the way to the top floor.


    Inside of Mu Chen¡¯s office were Mu Chen and Mang Tian. The two were seated across from one another, but Mu Chen had a serene expression while Mang Tian had a slight frown.

 Chapter 117 - Teachers

    Chapter 117 - Teachers


    ¡°Teacher, president.¡± Tang Wulin hastily greeted the two as soon as he entered the room. Since Mang Tian¡¯s call had seemed urgent, he didn¡¯t have the chance to change out of his dusty and metallic smelling work clothes.


    As soon as Mu Chen and Mang Tian saw his outfit, they knew he¡¯d come straight from the workshop.


    Mu Chen sighed. ¡°Oh Wulin! I know you¡¯re an overly anxious child and that you want to quickly repay the association, but you must take care of your body. You¡¯re still only nine years old; you can¡¯t run yourself into the ground like this. It¡¯ll affect your future development, understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin respectfully answered, but his gaze was focused on his teacher. This was his first time seeing his teacher in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    Mang Tian beckoned him over, then indicated that Tang Wulin should take a seat beside him.


    ¡°Wulin, I called you over to discuss something with you,¡± Mang Tian heavily said.


    ¡°What is it, teacher?¡±


    Mang Tian raised his head and looked into Mu Chen¡¯s eyes. He was met with a look of regret.


    Mang Tian took a deep breath before speaking. ¡°To be honest, I had originally accepted you as a disciple due to your father¡¯s request. At first, I hadn¡¯t really wanted to accept a child like you. After all, you had only been six years old at the time. But after I gained an understanding of you, of your innate divine strength, and of your effort and your perseverance, I was moved. In that moment, I could see that you were gifted. Since then, as your teacher these past three years, I have given you a solid foundation for forging.¡±


    Despite not really understanding the meaning behind Mang Tian¡¯s words, Tang Wulin repeatedly nodded. Although Mang Tian was strict, Tang Wulin knew it was for his own sake, thus allowing him to progress so quickly on the path of blacksmithing.


    Mang Tian paused at this point, letting out a long sigh, before continuing to speak. ¡°All my life, I have always dreamed of becoming a Divine Craftsman, but clearly, I did not have the talent to do so. My martial soul isn¡¯t good enough, and I had taken a detour in cultivation during my early years. The greatest achievement in my life was becoming a sixth rank blacksmith.


    ¡°You, on the other hand, are already a third rank blacksmith, and your talent gives you a chance at becoming a Divine Craftsman. In fact, I dare say that in the entire Blacksmith¡¯s Association, you are the one most likely to reach that level. Now that you are approaching the fourth rank, you will need more guidance on your path of blacksmithing. I have only just barely reached the realm of Spirit Forging, and my guidance cannot be considered complete. Therefore, I hope you are willing to accept the president as your new master and study forging under him.


    ¡°In the federation¡¯s world of forging, the president is an outstanding person. He¡¯s a Saint Blacksmith that has reached the Soul Forging level. If you study under him, you will definitely be able to go even further down this path.¡±


    Mang Tian had difficulty saying those last few words. After all, who would want their talented disciple to take on another master?


    But Mu Chen had spoken with him today and said something that moved his heart.


    Mu Chen had asked him only one question¡ªif Mang Tian wanted Tang Wulin to become even greater in the future.


    Mang Tian sunk deeply into thought when faced with that question. Until today, he had believed in his own ability to continue teaching Tang Wulin until the end. But now that Tang Wulin was preparing to attempt Spirit Forging, it was inevitable that he would eventually no longer be able to support Tang Wulin. After all, he was just barely at the Spirit Forging level and hadn¡¯t completely understood its secrets yet.


    After carefully pondering the matter over, he decided to hand over his position as Tang Wulin¡¯s teacher. Tang Wulin¡¯s emerging talent had already far exceeded his expectations as well as the scope of his teaching abilities. Having Mu Chen take over to teach Tang Wulin would be the best choice.


    ¡°Teacher.¡± Tang Wulin stood up and fell to his knees with a lowered head before Mang Tian. ¡°A teacher for a day, a father for life. This is what my own father taught me. Teacher, you can¡¯t abandon me!¡±


    His mother and father had suddenly left, and Na¡¯er had disappeared. Now, the only person he considered a close relative in this city was Mang Tian. When he heard Mang Tian renounce his position as master, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes immediately turned red as a feeling of helplessness and loneliness surged from his heart, penetrating into every corner of his body.


    ¡°Foolish child, how could your teacher want to leave you? Even if you study under me, it doesn¡¯t mean that Mang Tian is no longer your teacher. It just means that you will have one more teacher. That¡¯s all.¡± Mu Chen¡¯s gentle voice reassured Tang Wulin.


    Mang Tian looked at Mu Chen in surprise. In the world of blacksmiths, the tradition was to follow a single line of inheritance. In other words, a disciple could only have one teacher. Taking a second teacher would be equal to betraying the first, earning them the scorn of the entire association.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t aware of this fact, but Mang Tian understood it clearly. If Tang Wulin took Mu Chen as his teacher, it would mean that Mang Tian could no longer remain as his teacher.


    Yet, Mu Chen¡¯s words went against this long-standing tradition.


    Mu Chen looked at Mang Tian with sincere eyes. ¡°I have to confess, a selfish part of me wants to take Tang Wulin as my own disciple. After all, who wouldn¡¯t want to be the sole teacher of a remarkable disciple? But more than that, I want him to grow properly, eventually becoming a legend in the world of blacksmiths. You are the start of this legend. Why can¡¯t a legend have two teachers?¡±


    ¡°President, you¡­¡± Mang Tian¡¯s emotions were surging uncontrollably within his heart.


    He understood the intent behind Mu Chen¡¯s decision¡ªit meant that Mu Chen was treating him as an equal.


    Truthfully, Mang Tian really hated to part with Tang Wulin as well!


    Tang Wulin looked at Mu Chen. Another teacher? If it¡¯s like that, then¡­


    ¡°What are you still waiting for? Hurry up and take him as your master. The president is actually an outstanding Saint Blacksmith that reached the Soul Forging level many years ago. You can count the number of people who are a match for the president¡¯s forging abilities on one hand.¡± Mang Tian patted Tang Wulin¡¯s head as he urged him on.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Mang Tian, reconfirming Mang Tian¡¯s sincere wish for him to take Mu Chen on as a master. Then, he turned to Mu Chen and respectfully said, ¡°Teacher.¡± Luckily for him, he was still kneeling down so he had no need to change his position.


    Mu Chen revealed a smile. ¡°Come, stand up.¡±


    Tang Wulin hastily stood up, easing the atmosphere within the office.


    Mang Tian let out a sigh and forced a smile. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡± He gave Mu Chen a somewhat begrudging look.


    Mu Chen laughed. ¡°Why would I have told you ahead of time? You were like a zombie the whole day. And anyway, I have already seen you in a bad mood for so many years. I know that you are talented in forging, but your soul power simply isn¡¯t enough to help you progress any further. This has always been a point of discontent for you, but you still accepted reality and didn¡¯t neglect the talents you already possess.¡±


    Mang Tian¡¯s face grew awkward as Mu Chen talked about his matters. He could only bitterly laugh and say, ¡°Stop bringing up old wounds. What I want to know is how you intend to teach Wulin?¡±


    Mu Chen said, ¡°Wulin, your most important task is to study properly. I have already heard that you¡¯re in the academy¡¯s newly established class zero and that you had excellent results in the Class Promotion Tournament. This is great, and you should continue to put in your best efforts. What you need to do now is focus on improving your soul power and cultivate to a higher rank.


    ¡°Innate divine strength has allowed you to progress more quickly than other blacksmiths your age, but you must remember that in order to become a first-rate blacksmith, soul power is absolutely necessary. Nearly all of those at the peak of their professions are Soul Masters. The amount of soul power you have will determine your future level. I believe I¡¯ve told you this before, but I must stress it again. You do not need to worry about resources because the association will nurture you with all of our strength. We¡¯ll also take care of your next spirit soul and find you a method to cultivate your spiritual power. You still need to put in effort to increase your spiritual power, otherwise you won¡¯t be able to absorb another spirit soul.


    ¡°Under our guidance, you will continue to further deepen your forging studies, and I will guide you in laying down a good foundation. You must remember, the Thousand Refinements is only the gateway leading to the world of blacksmiths. If you want to enter this world, you must reach the realm of Spirit Forging. I hope you will be able to reach this level before you turn twenty years old, then Soul Forging by the time you are thirty.¡±

 Chapter 118 - Senior Sisters

    Chapter 118 - Senior Sisters


    Mang Tian was shocked at Mu Chen¡¯s words. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too quick? Saint rank by thirty?¡±


    Mu Chen revealed a wry smile. ¡°You know what they say; the sooner the better. The important thing is that people have the most energy in their youth, and if they don¡¯t take advantage of that time to accomplish something, both the body and mind will begin to decline. My plans for him might seem hasty, but don¡¯t forget, he¡¯s only nine years old. He still has 21 years until he reaches thirty. If he can¡¯t do it in 21 years, then I fear it will be near impossible for him to ever reach that level. Wulin, what level is your spiritual power right now?¡±


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°I just tested it today and it¡¯s 66 points.¡±


    ¡°Spirit Connection realm?¡± Mu Chen and Mang Tian exclaimed in unison, eyes sparkling with anticipation.


    Nine years old and already at Spirit Connection. Just what did this mean? The two of them couldn¡¯t even comprehend it.


    Mu Chen blurted out, ¡°No wonder your perception in forging is so great. It¡¯s because of your immense spiritual power. This is great; I don¡¯t have to worry anymore about whether you can fuse with another spirit soul or not. Now you just need to put all of your effort toward cultivating your soul power.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I am certain I can earn enough money through forging to buy my own cultivation resources, so long as the association can help me find the items I¡¯m looking for when the time comes.¡±


    His confidence came from the fact that his income was increasing and that he would soon become a fourth rank blacksmith.


    This was considering the fact that he still had to balance this with his studies. If he solely focused on forging, then he could support a prosperous family with his output and success rate.


    Mu Chen wasn¡¯t anxious to guide Tang Wulin on how to practice forging yet. Instead, he simply arranged a time for when Tang Wulin would come to the association next.


    Mang Tian and Mu Chen let Tang Wulin return to the academy first while the two of them stayed behind to discuss some matters.


    After handing in his task and receiving his reward, Tang Wulin left the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mood was great. After all, President Mu Chen was a Saint Blacksmith! With him as a second teacher, Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t take any detours on the path of forging and would also have the association¡¯s resources at his disposal. Those four thousand year spirit items wouldn¡¯t be that hard to find anymore, as he would be able to obtain them as long as he had enough money.


    He would forge and cultivate with all of his effort and break the second seal by the time he turned fifteen. This was Tang Wulin¡¯s goal.


    He clearly remembered what Old Tang had told him: there would be a nice surprise for him after breaking the second seal. But just what was this nice surprise?


    The golden scales and dragon claw he had obtained after breaking the first seal had already greatly boosted his power and enabled him to barely enter the class of geniuses, class zero. Wouldn¡¯t he be on the same level as those geniuses after breaking the second seal then? The only issue remaining was his low soul power.


    Although he was on the verge of breaking through to rank 14, Tang Wulin could feel the effects of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul fragment disappearing. In other words, he couldn¡¯t continue as he had before as his soul power continued to increase naturally. In the end, cultivation was an endless process! The Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul had mutated his Bluesilver Grass and made it much more powerful, but it didn¡¯t increase his cultivation speed at all.


    Tang Wulin pondered over his future cultivation path as he left the Blacksmith¡¯s Association


    ¡°Hey!¡± A voice called out to Tang Wulin, rousing his from his contemplations. When he turned around, he was met with the sight of Mu Xi standing in the doorway. She stared at him with a complex expression.


    ¡°Hello senior sister.¡± Tang Wulin was surprised to see her. He didn¡¯t have any good impressions of Mu Xi after she displayed her bossy attitude in front of him.


    Mu Xi said, ¡°You¡¯ve taken my dad on as your master, so you should call me senior disciple sister in the future.¡±


    ¡°Hello senior disciple sister.¡± Tang Wulin greeted her in a docile manner. That¡¯s right! She really is my senior disciple sister now.


    ¡°You¡¯re going back to the academy now?¡± Mu Xi asked.


    ¡°En.¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    Mu Xi said, ¡°Then let¡¯s go.¡± She took the lead to walk ahead.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly caught up to her and began to awkwardly scratch his head. He really didn¡¯t understand why Mu Xi wanted to walk with him back to the academy.


    ¡°So what do you think of Heavy Silver?¡± Mu Xi asked.


    A discussion about forging? Tang Wulin¡¯s interest was piqued. Although Mu Xi¡¯s blacksmith rank wasn¡¯t as high as Tang Wulin¡¯s, she had been learning how to forge from Mu Chen all her life. Her views were definitely much broader than his own.


    ¡°Heavy Silver is very dense, but its internal structure is actually granular. I am able to sense these granules transforming during the Thousand Refinements so I continuously try to pound them to decrease the gaps between the granules. Once the gaps are small enough, my Thousand Refinements is basically complete. I think Heavy Silver is actually very much suited for the Thousand Refinements because I can sense their joy during the process. They tell me just how much strength I need to use to make them the most comfortable. Like this, my Thousand Refinements require half the work with twice the effect.¡± Tang Wulin spoke without the slightest hesitation of his experiences with Heavy Silver.


    ¡°The metal speaks to you?¡± Mu Xi was amazed by what Tang Wulin had said. This was because Mu Chen had spoken to her of the very same thing when she was a child.


    At that time, she had asked her father how she should forge and in response, Mu Chen told her that the metal would tell her how.


    Although Mu Xi was prideful, she couldn¡¯t help but submit to Tang Wulin at this moment. He actually experienced it himself!


    The Thousand Refinements was when one understood the thoughts of the metal.


    They walked the rest of the way in silence. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t mind the silence at all, he was just cheerfully thinking about his own matters.


    Just like this, the two of them maintained a serene silence until they reached Eastsea Academy.


    ?


    The sky was now blanketed in darkness.


    As he walked toward the dormitory entrance, he saw someone sitting on the stairs leading to the door. Mu Xi was still lost in thought and didn¡¯t notice this person as she continued walking forward.


    ¡°Senior disciple sister, be careful.¡± Tang Wulin hastily pulled her back, preventing her from colliding with that person.


    Mu Xi only felt a powerful pulling force on her hand so she instinctively began to struggle. Yet the hand that held her¡¯s was simply too strong and didn¡¯t move a single inch.


    So powerful. He really does have innate divine strength.


    The person sitting on the stairs finally lifted his head to look at Tang Wulin. ¡°You¡¯re finally back.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you.¡± Tang Wulin looked at him with mild surprise. The person sitting on the stairs was his classmate and the Bone Dragon King Soul Master, Wang Jinxi.


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s expression was haggard, but his eyes were sparkling.


    ¡°You can let go now.¡± Mu Xi¡¯s cold voice interjected.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Tang Wulin quickly let go of Mu Xi¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Ah, Little Xi. You know each other!?¡± At that moment, a pleasant voice came from behind. Tang Wulin turned around, his eyes shining.


    A white-robed Ouyang Zixin stood there daintily. Under the focus of the dormitory¡¯s soul lights, her figure shown even further, making her seem even more beautiful. Her slender and straight legs created the appearance of a tall beauty who was brimming with the vigor of youth.


    Fifth grade¡¯s class one? They should be classmates.


    ¡°Zixin? What are you doing here?¡± Mu Xi brightened upon seeing her.


    Ouyang Zixin walked over to Mu Xi¡¯s side and hooked arms, quietly whispering a few sentences into Mu Xi¡¯s ear.


    Mu Xi blushed slightly. ¡°Go then. Let¡¯s go now.¡± She began dragging Ouyang Zixin into the dormitory the moment she finished speaking.


    Ouyang Zixin smiled at Tang Wulin and waved him goodbye. As he watched the two of them leave, he couldn¡¯t help but recall Xie Xie¡¯s words.


    ¡®There is a senior sister in the hearts of all youngsters.¡¯


    Is she the senior sister in my heart?


    A cold shiver overcame his body. What am I thinking? But¡­ she really is so pretty!


    Wang Jinxi had already gotten up and now stood in front of Tang Wulin. ¡°There¡¯s something I want to talk to you about. Are you free right now?¡±


    Tang Wulin helplessly said, ¡°You¡¯ve been waiting here so long already, so how can I refuse? Let¡¯s go then. Do you want to go to my place or yours?¡±

 Chapter 119 - Complementing One Another

    Chapter 119 - Complementing One Another


    After hearing the reason behind their visit, Wu Zhangkong promptly made a decision and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go test it out.¡±


    Class zero had many special privileges, among which included the right to use any of the academy¡¯s testing equipment.


    In fact, a brand new strength testing machine had already replaced the one Tang Wulin had broken.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Tang Wulin, release your dragon¡¯s might. Wang Jinxi, try attacking the strength testing machine after receiving the power boost.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Bang! When Wang Jinxi felt his soul power flare up, he threw out a powerful punch.


    ¡°Right fist, 643 kilograms.¡± Wang Jinxi and Tang Wulin were stunned speechless.


    He had only just recently taken the test and at that time, his strength was only around 400 kilograms worth. Yet now, it had increased by nearly fifty percent!


    ¡°Your feeling was correct. Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon¡¯s might has an amplification effect on you,¡± Wu Zhangkong heavily said.


    Puzzled, Wang Jinxi asked, ¡°But during the Class Promotion Tournament, why was I suppressed instead of amplified?¡±


    ¡°Hostility.¡± Wu Zhangkong answered without thinking about it. ¡°It was because you were feeling hostile toward him. His dragon¡¯s might reacts differently depending on the situation. If either of you harbors hostility toward the other, then there will be a suppressive effect. If neither of you are hostile toward each other, or even have some goodwill, then that suppression turns into amplification. This should be how it works.¡±


    Wang Jinxi asked with a foolish face, ¡°So I can never be his enemy?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°In a sense, that is true. But if your cultivation surpasses his by far, then the influence of Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon¡¯s might should be minimized. If my guess is correct, Tang Wulin might be awakening a second martial soul, and an extremely powerful dragon-type one at that. This is the reason why he has such a strong influence over you. In fact, it¡¯s not just you; all dragon-type martial souls should be under its influence. Only someone with a martial soul on the same level or higher can ignore its influence.


    ¡°Honestly speaking, this is my first time seeing this type of situation because there is very little research on martial soul suppression. It¡¯s known that top tier martial souls can certainly suppress lower tier ones, but there is no record of a situation like your own, where the suppressive effects are so powerful.¡±


    Wang Jinxi gazed at Tang Wulin with a strange expression.


    Just what kind of bloodline is this? It actually has such a strong influence over me. There¡¯s an easy solution to my problem though¡ªI just have to kill Tang Wulin. As long as he¡¯s dead, I won¡¯t have to encounter something like this again.


    Wang Jinxi came from a large clan, so his thoughts and imagination surpassed that of his peers.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Tonight, the two of you can test this out. Tang Wulin, you and Wang Jinxi will meditate together tonight and see what the effects are.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Alright,¡± Tang Wulin promptly agreed.


    Meditating together?


    Wang Jinxi had a distracted look on his face. Just a few moments ago, he had been harboring dark thoughts about murdering Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s special martial soul was a potential threat, not only to him but also to his entire clan in the future.


    If he asked an expert from his family to act, then there would definitely be a chance to have him killed. But did he really need to go that far? He was in the midst of an internal struggle. After all, nobody liked the feeling of being suppressed.


    When they returned to Wang Jinxi¡¯s room, the two of them sat cross-legged and began to meditate.


    Wu Zhangkong was also present in order to observe the changes in their aura.


    Tang Wulin soon entered a meditative state, but the turbulent condition of Wang Jinxi¡¯s heart delayed him.


    Wu Zhangkong silently observed the two of them. Their soul power circulation proceeded smoothly, but at a certain point, a slight change occurred. Unfortunately, he would have to wait until they woke up the next day before questioning them on their experience.


    As Tang Wulin quietly meditated, his soul power circulated throughout his body and he could feel the absorption of external energy as it entered his body. It was as if an excess of energy was being poured into his body, causing his cultivation to progress even faster than normal. Although the difference wasn¡¯t too clear, there was definitely a qualitative change.


    It seems that Teacher Wu¡¯s assumption was correct. There¡¯s really an effect on my body!


    The next morning, Tang Wulin was the first to rouse himself from his meditative state. He could clearly feel that his cultivation speed had been faster than normal, giving him some benefit. In fact, he was certain that he had now reached rank 14.


    Wang Jinxi opened his eyes a few moments after Tang Wulin.


    ¡°You¡¯re both awake?¡± The nearby Wu Zhangkong stood up from the floor. ¡°Tell me what you felt.¡±


    ¡°My cultivation speed increased,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    ¡°What about you?¡± Wu Zhangkong turned to Wang Jinxi.


    Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin with a complicated expression. ¡°I felt the same thing, but there seemed to be some energy leaving my body as I cultivated. The energy seemed to be floating toward Tang Wulin. Overall, my cultivation gains were larger than normal, but not by much; about ten percent more.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°It increased by about five percent for me.¡±


    ¡°You complemented one another.¡± Wu Zhangkong exposed a pensive expression.


    ¡°You two hold hands and circulate your soul power while expressing goodwill. I want to see what happens.¡± Wu Zhangkong wanted to test his hypothesis.


    Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi exchanged a glance before they grasped each other¡¯s hands and began to circulate their soul power.


    Immediately, a bizarre scene appeared. Golden scales appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm, but even more shocking was that a layer of black scales had also materialized on Wang Jinxi¡¯s right arm. Although they were not as distinct as Tang Wulin¡¯s, their existence was indisputable.


    Wang Jinxi felt his strength swelling within his body as his soul power grew even more frenzied than before. At the same time, his soul power was now being rapidly consumed.


    ¡°My strength has increased, but my soul power is being rapidly depleted.¡± He hastily announced his observations.


    Isn¡¯t that almost the same as my dragon claw? Tang Wulin thought to himself.


    The black scales continued spreading until they covered all of Wang Jinxi¡¯s right arm, then started to extend toward his neck and torso. At this point, Wang Jinxi¡¯s soul power could no longer support the transformation. Despite this, they were able to see a black vein pattern appear on Wang Jinxi¡¯s left hand.


    Tang Wulin observed the vein pattern on his own body and compared it with the one on Wang Jinxi. Wang Jinxi¡¯s was a far simpler pattern. It was just a couple of black lines that lacked any sort of decorative design to it. In comparison, Tang Wulin¡¯s golden veins had a complex arrangement with a mesh-like pattern.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Wu Zhangkong gasped. ¡°This isn¡¯t as simple as complementing one another; it¡¯s actually similar to a soul fusion. In other words, Tang Wulin can amplify your power to its peak and, for a short time, you will become extremely powerful. Although your soul power consumption rate will be great, this is still an increase to your overall strength. Tang Wulin, your martial soul has a really invasive nature!¡±


    Tang Wulin scratched his head awkwardly. He had never expected his martial soul to have this kind of effect. After all, it didn¡¯t seem to have any effect on Xie Xie when they had cultivated in their room together.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, why doesn¡¯t it affect Xie Xie? His martial souls are related to dragons as well.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because his martial soul isn¡¯t a genuine dragon, but rather a dagger. I think if it were a true dragon, he would be greatly influenced by your bloodline. On the other hand, this also means that Xie Xie doesn¡¯t experience that much suppression from you.¡±


    Wang Jinxi bitterly smiled. ¡°All dragon-type martial souls are top-tier. Wulin, if other Soul Masters know about your ability, they would think you are simply defying the heavens!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Teacher Wu, is it possible that if I cultivate with many Soul Masters with dragon-type martial souls, the amplification effect will be even greater and, thus, raise my cultivation speed?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. How did you feel when you were connected with Wang Jinxi? You were a bit distracted with absorbing that foreign energy, right?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, but it wasn¡¯t that difficult to do.¡±

 Chapter 120 - Spirit Ascension Plane

    Chapter 120 - Spirit Ascension Plane


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°This is because your spiritual power has already reached the Spirit Connection realm. With your current strength, although you are able to dual cultivate with a dragon-type Soul Master, if you cultivate with more people, it would be too distracting. Similar to fusing with a spirit soul, the greater your spiritual power, the more spirit souls you can fuse with at one time. In this case, you need to guide this foreign energy to merge with your body, so you will use up some of your spiritual power. Even if your spiritual power reaches a really high level, the number of Soul Masters you can cultivate simultaneously with is still limited.¡±


    Tang Wulin was still scratching his head awkwardly. There really were no shortcuts in cultivating! But even if there were, cultivating with Wang Jinxi was still faster than normal, and it was beneficial for the both of them too. In fact, Wang Jinxi benefitted more than Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, I will rearrange your bedrooms so that you can remain connected to Wang Jinxi with a strand of Bluesilver Grass at night. You shouldn¡¯t have any problems meditating together this way. From tonight onwards, you two will meditate together, and if you experience any other changes, inform me immediately,¡± Wu Zhangkong continued.


    ¡°Yes.¡± They both agreed simultaneously, so Wu Zhangkong left to wash himself.


    ¡°I¡¯m also going to go then.¡± Tang Wulin waved goodbye to Wang Jinxi.


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Wang Jinxi called out.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tang Wulin eyed him suspiciously.


    Wang Jinxi wore a strange expression as he began to speak. ¡°There¡¯s something that I forgot to tell Teacher Wu. After cultivating with you, without knowing why, I now feel a bit submissive when I see you. Do you think this feeling is weird?¡±


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°How is that a weird feeling? You cultivation speed increases when we cultivate together, so it¡¯s only natural that you feel friendlier towards me. Anyways, I¡¯m going now!¡± He waved goodbye to Wang Jinxi once again, before returning to his own room.


    Neither of them noticed that as Tang Wulin left, a faint golden pattern glowed on Wang Jinxi¡¯s forehead. The lines were very faint but bore a resemblance to the one on Tang Wulin¡¯s body.


    Tang Wulin was in a good mood. It was still early, so he went to wash up before heading to the field for a morning run.


    The fact that they both complemented one another by dual cultivating was a good thing for both him and Wang Jinxi. After all, they were classmates and would have to cultivate together for the next five years.


    Just as he began running, a familiar figure appeared on the track.


    It¡¯s her¡­


    Ouyang Zixin had also noticed Tang Wulin. She waved at him, before continuing on her run.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t purposefully approach her this time. Instead, he continued running at his own pace while watching the energetic and youthful figure running in front of him.


    He really enjoyed this feeling. Being able to admire something beautiful made one even more joyful, was that not so?


    Run, eat, then attend class!


    Tang Wulin was the last one to arrive to class. There was nothing he could do about it, since he had a great appetite and took longer than others to eat his fill.


    Ever since he absorbed the power of the Golden Dragon King, Tang Wulin¡¯s appetite had grown exponentially, making him a bizarre wonder within the academy.


    The benefit of joining class zero that made Tang Wulin the happiest was the fact that they were able to eat at the first window free-of-charge. With his large appetite, Tang Wulin gave Long Hengxu a constant headache, but the director endured it due to Tang Wulin¡¯s outstanding performance in the Class Promotion Tournament. After all, it wouldn¡¯t be right for him to forbid a student from eating their fill.


    ¡°Today we will be going to the Spirit Pagoda.¡± Apart from his lectures, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words were always concise.


    Going to the Spirit Pagoda? To do what? None of us need a spirit soul though?


    The five students sank into confusion, but Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t bother to explain.


    Although leaving the academy while classes were still in session made them feel weird, all five class zero students also felt superior.


    Wu Zhangkong explained as they walked. ¡°From now on, you will all cultivate in the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s spirit ascension platform once a week. You must treasure this opportunity; the academy fought hard to allocate some funds for this.¡±


    Spirit ascension platform? What¡¯s that? Tang Wulin silently thought to himself.


    Gu Yue and Tang Wulin wore similar expressions. On the other hand, Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi and Xie Xie had faces full of awe.


    Xie Xie spoke with a voice full of admiration. ¡°Wow! The academy sure knows how to spend money. Looks like joining class zero was a good choice after all!¡±


    Tang Wulin softly asked, ¡°What¡¯s the spirit ascension platform?¡±


    Xie Xie stared at him in shock. ¡°You don¡¯t know what the spirit ascension platform is? It¡¯s a great place!¡±


    Tang Wulin grew impatient. ¡°Hurry up and tell me. I really don¡¯t know.¡±


    Xie Xie explained, ¡°On our Douluo Continent, only the Spirit Pagodas of major cities have a spirit ascension platform. In total, there are eighteen on this continent. They are the best place for us Soul Masters to cultivate.


    ¡°The spirit ascension platform was created by the Spirit Pagoda. Soul Masters can go there to gain experience and increase their strength. Moreover, you can experience the charms of the ancient Soul Master¡¯s world. I¡¯m not really sure what principles it operates on, but I heard that over ten Title Douluos were involved in its creation, and the greatest researchers of the time poured their efforts into it. Only after the Spirit Pagoda invested an enormous amount of resources was the spirit ascension platform completed.


    ¡°Originally, the spirit ascension platform was used as a step in the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s research into artificial spirit souls. They hoped that it would be able to upgrade artificial spirit souls, and hence manufacture even stronger spirit souls. After completion, however, they discovered that it was only a partial success. Although the spirit ascension platform could upgrade spirit souls, its effects weren¡¯t as great as they expected, and its nature wasn¡¯t too clear.


    ¡°Naturally, after making such a large investment, the Spirit Pagoda couldn¡¯t discard the product. After another period of development, the spirit ascension platform became a unique place. To put it simply, it¡¯s the crystallization of the continent¡¯s best soul devices and the efforts of the greatest Soul Masters and researchers. After entering the spirit ascension platform, a Soul Master will feel that they had entered a whole different realm, yet they would still be protected by the spirit ascension platform. The danger inside isn¡¯t too high, but Soul Masters can battle with soul beasts to increase their combat experience in there. If you¡¯re lucky, you might even be able to improve your spirit soul. I¡¯m not sure how to attain the spirit ascension effect though, because this is only what I have heard from others. I¡¯ve never actually been in there.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s explanation had piqued Tang Wulin¡¯s interest. The spirit ascension platform can upgrade spirit souls?


    ¡°How are spirit souls upgraded?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie dismissively answered, ¡°It¡¯s not easy at all! Our spirit souls are actually pretty good. In the past, you would directly absorb a soul beast¡¯s soul ring, and its power would be limited by its cultivation age. Now, however, when we upgrade a spirit soul, we actually increase its cultivation age. This reminds me, since you have a ten year spirit soul, you have a decent chance at upgrading it. If you can cultivate for an extended period of time in the spirit ascension platform, you will have an even greater chance of upgrading it to the hundred year level. Although, I heard that the higher its age, the harder it is to upgrade it.¡±


    Tang Wulin was shocked, but at the same time, he felt his heart beginning to heat up. If he could upgrade Goldlight to a hundred year spirit soul, then his Bluesilver Grass would naturally be upgraded too!


    Although he possessed the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline, his martial soul was still the Bluesilver Grass. If he upgraded Goldlight, his soul skill would grow even more powerful too. Furthermore, a hundred year spirit soul would provide him with two soul skills, removing the need to buy another spirit soul at rank 20. This would conserve both his spiritual power and his money. After all, he still had to save enough money to buy the items necessary to break the next seal.


    ¡°What do you need to enter the spirit ascension platform?¡±


    ¡°Two things; money and space!¡± Xie Xie mischievously laughed.


    The moment he heard ¡®money¡¯, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart began to ache. Money and cultivation really can not be separated! It¡¯s a good thing I know how to forge, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have any way to continue cultivating.


    ¡°How much money?¡±


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°The spirit ascension platform has multiple layers. It costs about 500,000 federal coins per entry into the elementary spirit ascension platform. Space is even more valuable though! There are only one thousand spots each month for the elementary spirit ascension platform. There are over a million Soul Masters on the continent right now, so can you imagine the demand¡­ And spaces for the intermediate and advanced spirit ascension platforms are even fewer. This is because they consume even more resources, so the cost of entry is also several times higher.¡±

 Chapter 121 - Eastsea Spirit Pagoda

    Chapter 121 - Eastsea Spirit Pagoda


    ¡°As such, the academy spent a lot of money this time around!¡± Xie Xie¡¯s voice was full of awe. ¡°It isn¡¯t easy to buy a spot. Most of the quotas are given to the large and influential clans, so it seems that our academy actually has some influence. I reckon that if Wei Xiaofeng were to know we could enter the spirit ascension platform to cultivate, his intestines would immediately turn green with regret.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi turned around and glared at Xie Xie. ¡°Why do you say so many useless words?¡±


    Xie Xie let out a cold snort. ¡°You still haven¡¯t submitted? We can fight as much as we want in the spirit ascension platform; you can try it for yourself then.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s eyes held a cold twinkle in them. He wanted to continue arguing, but Wang Jinxi held his shoulder and reined him in. When he turned around, he saw Wang Jinxi shaking his head in disapproval.


    What¡¯s going on with him? Lately, Zhang Yangzi felt something suspicious was happening as Wang Jinxi had been acting quite restless. He had a vague idea that it was related to the suppression Wang Jinxi experienced at Tang Wulin¡¯s hands, but that had happened such a long time ago... Unless, he still hadn¡¯t recovered from it?


    ?


    Eastsea¡¯s Spirit Pagoda was incomparable to the one in Glorybound City. This Spirit Pagoda was one of the eighteen great pagodas, collectively known as the Eighteen Pillars of Heaven.


    The towering pagoda was visible from kilometers away. It was at least one hundred stories tall, surpassing a height of 400 meters. Even among a forest of skyscrapers, it was tall enough to become a giant landmark.


    Spirit Pagoda¡¯s foundation was in the shape of an octagon and covered a large area. The pagoda then narrowed every ten layers until it reached the peak of the spire.


    Even by just admiring it from a distance, one could feel its grandeur.


    This pagoda branch already looked quite grand; what would the Spirit Pagoda headquarters look like? How majestic would it be?


    Tang Wulin had heard from others that the Spirit Pagoda headquarters was situated in the heart of the continent, inside Shrek City. That was the greatest city in the entire federation! As a comparison, the federation¡¯s headquarters was instead located in Bright City, the second greatest city on the continent.


    After a long flight of stairs, the group were greeted by Director Long Hengxu. Clearly, the academy had been prepared for them.


    When Long Hengxu saw Wu Zhangkong leading the students up the stairs, he quickly walked over and greeted, ¡°Teacher Wu.¡±


    ¡°Director Long,¡± Wu Zhangkong bluntly called out, his face as wooden as usual.


    Long Hengxu said, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    After entering the pagoda¡¯s first floor, they were met with a dazzling sight of the interior. Dark gold stone tiled the floors, creating a beautiful granular pattern. Several obelisks stood tall in the center of the space, propping up a dome over ten meters in diameter. The most shocking thing, however, was that the dome being held up by those obelisks had a magnificent and colorful mural on it.


    The mural was resplendent, the scenery painted on the mural seemingly recounting its characters¡¯ tales.


    Wu Zhangkong explained, ¡°This mural portrays the tale of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder, a legendary Soul Master and inventor of spirit souls. It tells of how the Spirit Ice Douluo guided humanity¡¯s Soul Masters in resisting a tide of soul beasts. This is merely a part of the complete mural, that mural having eighteen parts in total.


    ¡°The mural within the headquarters depicts the Spirit Ice Douluo battling the strongest Soul Beast God, Di Tian. The Spirit Ice Douluo disappeared after that epic battle, never to be seen since. Yet, it is rumored that he was victorious, for the Soul Beast God, the Golden-eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian, hasn¡¯t appeared since.¡±


    Although he was only listening to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s narration of the tale, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart was filled with awe. He could feel the impressiveness of the scene that the mural depicted. Within the soul beast tide, one giant soul beast after another advanced toward the walls of a great city, creating an atmosphere of extreme terror.


    Floating above the city was a person with shining eyes. Surrounding him were several floating figures. One of them was a beautiful woman in white, another a woman dressed in green. Upon his shoulder was an existence that looked like an ice crystal, a gigantic bear, and an enormous white worm. Brilliant soul rings revolved around his body.


    That¡¯s the Spirit Ice Douluo!


    Tang Wulin had heard the legend of the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao in his childhood. He was the bastard child of the White Tiger Duke of Star Luo Empire, so his name was actually Dai Yuhao.


    He was a genius from ten thousand years ago. Despite being an ordinary child, he entered the legendary Shrek Academy and, taking one step at a time, walked the path toward becoming a peak expert, resulting in might that caused the entire continent to tremble. Rumours had it that he had broken through the boundaries of humanity and left for the Divine Realm.


    The origin of this rumour was due to the fact that his wife had disappeared soon after he did.


    Tang Wulin gazed intently at the Spirit Ice Douluo when the brilliant figure beside the Spirit Ice Douluo caught his eye.


    A beautiful woman with a pair of gigantic, radiant butterfly wings floated beside the Spirit Ice Douluo. Despite the numerous companions beside the Spirit Ice Douluo, everyone¡¯s attention would be drawn to this couple.


    ¡°Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong, wife of Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao. Look, Wulin, isn¡¯t the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s wife beautiful!? Apparently, she was also extremely powerful and possessed a formidable soul fusion skill with the Spirit Ice Douluo. Combined, they transformed into a supreme existence. In that era, that was the peak!¡± Xie Xie said as he admired the mural.


    ¡°Tang Wutong; it¡¯s so similar to your name, Wulin,¡± Gu Yue exclaimed in astonishment. ¡°Also, did you notice that Wulin looks rather similar to Tang Wutong? Especially their eyes.¡±


    ¡°No way. The Dragon Butterfly Douluo¡¯s hair and eyes are light blue, while Wulin¡¯s are black. How do they look alike?¡± Xie Xie said dismissively.


    An odd feeling grew within Tang Wulin¡¯s heart as he listened to his two friends converse. There really was a feeling of intimacy in his heart whenever he looked at the Dragon Butterfly Douluo.


    He shook his head in self-mockery. How can I compare myself to the Dragon Butterfly Douluo? I only feel like this because we have similar names, that¡¯s all.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Long Hengxu¡¯s voice roused the five students. He smiled and continued, ¡°I was just like you guys when I first came to one of the Eighteen Pillars of Heaven. I got used to it after a few more visits though. In any case, every single one of the Eighteen Pillars of Heaven has a mural worthy of admiration.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Restrain yourselves until you enter the spirit ascension platform. You¡¯ll only have yourselves to rely on once you enter.¡±


    Surprised, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°You¡¯re not entering with us?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong explained, ¡°Only Soul Masters with four rings or less can enter the elementary spirit ascension platform.¡±


    Long Hengxu nodded. ¡°But you can rest assured, we will be watching all of you carefully from the outside. If you encounter a dangerous situation, it will be your duty to take the initiative to withdraw. We¡¯ll give you the full explanation in a bit.¡±


    With Long Hengxu and Wu Zhangkong in the lead, everyone entered the elevator. Contrary to their expectations, they began to descend instead of ascend.


    A faint feeling of weightlessness told them that they were penetrating deep underground. As for how deep, it was impossible to tell.


    The Spirit Pagoda was indeed worthy of being called the number one organization on the continent; they possessed both the strongest power, as well as the greatest resources. The amount they spent on engineering such a thing was simply astronomical.


    This elevator had no numbers displayed to indicate the time or level, but at least three minutes passed before it gradually came to a stop.


    Everyone exited the elevator and entered an expansive hall where 19 staff members were present. Behind them were countless metal passages


    Long Hengxu took out a peculiar card and handed it over to one of the staff members. The staff member didn¡¯t utter a single word, simply gesturing for them to follow.


    Ten meters down the corridor, they entered another elevator and continued their descent. This time they stopped after 19 seconds, finding themselves in a circular room upon exit.


    This room was still made entirely out of metal, but hanging on the wall was a giant soul screen. An image of a green world flickered on the screen. It seemed to be a jungle.


    The staff member turned around and began to speak. ¡°There are five quotas open for entry to the spirit ascension platform. When you can no longer bear the danger, press the emergency distress button and you will immediately return here. Pay attention to what I say next.¡±

 Chapter 122 - Entering

    Chapter 122 - Entering


    ¡°The spirit ascension platform is the fruit of a millennium years of our Spirit Pagoda¡¯s efforts and knowledge. We had invested an enormous amount of resources and used our spatial technology to create a different world, therefore, the first thing you need to note is that the spirit ascension platform is a virtual world. To be precise, it is half virtual and half real. This is because a lot of the virtual data relies on your input. However, it can be considered purely virtual within the elementary spirit ascension platform, so there is no need to fear for your lives.¡±


    ¡°You can do anything you want in the spirit ascension platform, but your main objective will be to survive. Do your best to survive as long as you can. The longer you survive, the greater the benefits you will reap.¡±


    ¡°Secondly, don¡¯t believe that it is completely safe in there. Although your life will not be in danger  as only your brain waves are active in there, in some extreme circumstances, there is a possibility that your brain waves will be damaged and cause danger to your corporeal body. As such, the moment you face danger beyond your power to deal with, press the emergency exit button; and you will immediately exit the spirit ascension platform. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The five students responded quickly.


    The staff member nodded. ¡°As for the rest, you will learn them after experiencing it inside. Today is the first time you will be inside, so you probably won¡¯t survive too long, but it should leave a deep impression on you. Prepare yourselves mentally and remember this: don¡¯t panic if you run into a dangerous situation. Soul beasts aren¡¯t that scary if you know how to react properly.¡±


    The five children were filled with anticipation after listening to the staff member¡¯s explanations. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were especially excited since this was their first time learning about the spirit ascension platform.


    They would enter with their brain waves? Just how would that feel?


    With a press of a button, five metal boxes came out of the wall. These boxes were laid horizontally, each with a person sized-hollow within it, which made them slightly resemble a coffin.


    ¡°Lay down inside.¡±


    The five of them followed the staff member¡¯s instructions and laid down in the metal boxes. The boxes were so cold that it snapped their minds into focus.


    The interior was lined with electrodes, which quickly began to stick to their body snuggly.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to start now. Prepare yourselves. Relax your bodies and wait for the scan to begin. You may feel some discomfort during the scan, but just bear with it for a moment.¡±


    That was the last piece of instruction the five students received from the staff member before the five metal boxes had slowly slid back into the wall. They were enveloped in darkness.


    A sudden numbness encompassed Tang Wulin¡¯s body and agitated his excited soul power and blood; it was as if something was tunneling through his body. His body became paralyzed as the numbness grew stronger.


    This sort of pain was nothing to Tang Wulin compared to the pain of breaking his seal; in fact, this feeling made him drowsy.


    A while later, his body suddenly started trembling, rousing him from his drowsiness. To his surprise, he now stood in a brightly lit place.


    The numbness had disappeared along with the metal box, replaced by a metal device that had a big red button. It was attached to the back of his hand.


    Is this the emergency exit button?


    Where is this?


    Tang Wulin already had an initial impression of what the spirit ascension platform would be like from Xie Xie¡¯s explanation, but now that he had actually entered, he was utterly shocked. Only now could he understand how much the Spirit Pagoda had poured into their research.


    He was surrounded by gigantic trees and large thickets of shrubbery. There wasn¡¯t a single path in sight. It felt like he had entered an ancient forest.


    However, what was most astonishing to him was how realistic this place felt. He lightly pinched his own cheeks in disbelief, before examining his surroundings, touching everything, and finally, confirming that it was real.


    Heavens! This spirit ascension platform is just too magical!


    His heart overflowed with awe. Such a place was simply too magical for him to fathom.


    Only after a few moments of admiration was Tang Wulin finally able to calm himself down. In the first place, he was already far calmer than his peers. After all, his many years of blacksmithing hadn¡¯t been for nothing.


    He looked down at his hands, confirming that his bracelets and rings were still there. With this, he concluded that everything on him had been brought over to this world. Next, he roused his bloodline power, and was relieved to see the golden scales appear.


    Everything is the exact same as in reality.


    Tang Wulin was not the type of person to make rash decisions, so having heard that the spirit ascension platform wasn¡¯t completely safe, he concluded that it was probably dangerous instead. It was possible to encounter an enemy at any moment, just like Wu Zhangkong had mentioned during combat training.


    With this being the case, the only thing he could do now was to always be on guard, and to survive for as long as possible.


    Now that Tang Wulin had a clear objective in mind, he silently crouched down and surveyed his surroundings. His spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Connection realm, so it was far more sensitive to changes in the external world.


    The first thing he felt was the breath of life that permeated the forest. Only this could be considered an authentic ancient forest! Where could one even find such a forest in the modern day federation? The majority of ancient forests had already been cut down by humanity. In fact, it was said that the continent¡¯s greatest forest, Great Star Dou Forest, was only a husk of its former self, left with a meagre one percent of its original area.


    So ancient forests are actually so beautiful¡­ The air is so refreshing. Ah, it feels so wonderful here.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were twinkling with excitement as he fully absorbed this wondrous feeling. He felt as if he was back in Glorybound City, in the little park beside his home.


    His cultivation speed had always been faster when he had meditated among the Bluesilver Grass in the park back then, and it was also there that he had broken through to rank 10, becoming a true Soul Master.


    And now, he was surrounded by a breath of life that was several times stronger than the one in the little park back home. In fact, there was actually Bluesilver Grass hiding below the shrubbery! The Bluesilver Grass here, however, had flourished much better than the ones he had seen back home. It was extremely difficult for Bluesilver Grass to grow past 15 centimeters in height, yet the grass here had grown well over 30 centimeters in height, reaching up to his calves.


    Sitting down from his squat, he gently ran his fingers through the Bluesilver Grass around him. At the same time, he subconsciously released his martial soul. A strand of Bluesilver Grass had quietly appeared among the surrounding thicket.


    The aura of life he sensed grew stronger in an instant, as if all the plants in his surroundings were joyously cheering. Tang Wulin immersed himself in this quiet forest that was brimming with life, feeling everything within.


    ¡­¡­


    The fifth region of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s elementary spirit ascension platform.


    ¡°What is he doing?¡± Long Hengxu was pointing at a screen that was displaying Tang Wulin sitting down with his eyes closed. He was leaning against a tree with his mouth slightly curved, a pleasurable smile gracing his face.


    No matter how he looked at it, Long Hengxu felt that this child was taking a nap! Tang Wulin had such a wonderful opportunity to enter the spirit ascension platform, yet, he was taking a nap?


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°He seems to be contemplating something. Don¡¯t forget, his martial soul is the Bluesilver Grass, and it¡¯s rare to find such lush Bluesilver Grass in the real world. Look, he seems to have comprehended something; he has already released his martial soul.¡±


    Long Hengxu finally realized what Tang Wulin was doing. ¡°That¡¯s right, this simulation of the Great Star Dou Forest is really suitable for plant-type Soul Masters to cultivate in. It seems that this child¡¯s perception is quite good after all.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded in approval.


    Within the class of five, Tang Wulin was not the most talented student. He didn¡¯t have Xie Xie¡¯s twin martial souls or Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi¡¯s soul fusion skill. He didn¡¯t even have Gu Yue¡¯s skillful control. Yet, despite all of this, Wu Zhangkong paid special attention to this child.

 Chapter 123 - Zhang Yangzis Bad Luck

    Chapter 123 - Zhang Yangzi''s Bad Luck


    Wu Zhangkong felt that there was something special about Tang Wulin, as if he was a block of unpolished jade. Although Tang Wulin¡¯s cultivation speed didn''t seem particularly fast, Wu Zhangkong knew that Tang Wulin¡¯s rate of improvement was actually the fastest out of his five students.


    Originally, there was an enormous gap between him and the others when he had first entered the academy, but in the last few months, he had drastically changed and now stood on equal footing with his peers. The most crucial aspects to his success were his tenacious personality, remarkable perception and high spiritual power. If his bloodline power also continued to grow, then perhaps he would be the most outstanding among the five students in the future.


    ?


    After landing with a jolt, Zhang Yangzi steadied himself and took in his surroundings with eyes full of amazement.


    This, this is a forest?


    Zhang Yangzi found himself in a vibrant forest filled with the lively cacophony of insects and songbirds. The overwhelming vitality of the forest went against his dark-attribute martial soul, making him feel uncomfortable and discordant.


    After the initial shock, however, he was astounded to discover that the forest¡¯s aura had caused his soul power to circulate more quickly.


    I need to prepare myself to fight at any moment.


    Without the slightest hesitation, he released his martial soul; a pair of black wings unfurled from his back.


    His martial soul was the powerful Shadow Phantasm Eagle, so his soul fusion skill with Wang Jinxi was called the Shadow Eagle Dragon. Unfortunately, their cultivation was still too shallow and their soul fusion skill incomplete, allowing Tang Wulin to defeat them so quickly at the Class Promotion Tournament.


    That was right, Zhang Yangzi was still unconvinced. He refused to believe he was weaker than Tang Wulin, and the only reason he had lost during the tournament was because he had been unable to display his full power. He truly was bitter about it.


    Hmph! You three better not let me find you.


    With a flap of his wings, he shot up, just high enough to begin rapidly climbing a tree. He figured the best course of action for now was to secure a high vantage point and survey his surroundings.


    It would be best if he could reunite with Wang Jinxi. With their powers combined, they would mutually augment the other¡¯s strengths.


    After transforming his hands into eagle claws, he quickly climbed to the top of the tree. At a height of about ten meters off the ground, his view of the surroundings drastically increased.


    The tree he had chosen was the tallest one in the area, allowing him to view an astonishing scene.


    It was an ocean of green as far as the eye could see. There was simply no end to it. With clear skies and boundless greenery, the giant treetops gave him a feeling of indescribable, vibrant vitality. It was as if this world was simply an endless spring of life.


    This really is so lifelike!


    He had heard about the spirit ascension platform previously too, but despite his family having the means to send him, he hadn¡¯t been able to enter due to his insufficient strength and young age.


    ¡°Huh, what¡¯s that?¡± Zhang Yangzi gazed at the vast sky.


    A large, green bird was soaring high in the skies, but with a flap of its wings, it suddenly veered and headed straight for him.


    Such a pretty bird! Zhang Yangzi was moved, but at the same time, arrogance appeared within his heart. I already have a chance to engage in real combat so early on. Let¡¯s see just how strong the soul beasts are in here.


    Two soul rings appeared underfoot while his spirit soul, the Dark Devil Eagle, appeared on his shoulder. Zhang Yangzi pushed off the tree trunk and used the rebound to spring into the sky. He spread his wings while his second soul ring started to shine.


    Second soul skill, Eagle Soars the Sky.


    From the very beginning, he had already unleashed his most powerful soul skill. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to use this soul skill during the Class Promotion Tournament as he needed to coordinate with Wang Jinxi and their team. Having lost without being able to display all of his abilities, only the heavens knew how sullen his heart was.


    Now that he was in the spirit ascension platform, the first thing he wanted to do now was to vent his frustrations.


    His body shone with a brilliant, black radiance, his figure becoming illusory. As the Dark Devil Eagle fused into his body, his wings enlarged and his speed suddenly tripled. A powerful aura burst from his body, and like a black arrow, he pierced toward the large, green bird.


    An eagle¡¯s cry resounded through the sky.


    Eagle Soars the Sky increased both his speed and power, combining to create a powerful attack. Zhang Yangzi had always believed that this attack-type skill was unequalled among his peers. After all, a single use of this skill consumed over fifty percent of his soul power.


    His evaluation of his skill had greatly diminished, however, after encountering Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Claw. The tyrannical might of the Golden Dragon Claw was simply too terrifying for him to face. Furthermore, his skill was a close-combat type, which increased the risk of injury.


    The gap between him and the bird rapidly closed before his eyes.


    The large, green bird was also frightened by how quickly Zhang Yangzi had reached it. It spread its wings once more and flapped them, shooting out several green wind blades at Zhang Yangzi.


    As the wind blades shot toward Zhang Yangzi, the bird issued a sharp screech, like it was flaunting its power.


    Bang! Although the wind blades were smashed apart in the collision of black and green, they had succeeded in stopping Zhang Yangzi¡¯s momentum, forcing him to spread his wings.


    This is bad!  Zhang Yangzi cried out within his heart. He still wasn¡¯t strong enough to fly with only his wings. He depended on Eagle Soars the Sky to stay aloft for a period of time. When he smashed apart his opponent¡¯s attacks, it had forced him to halt and start falling.


    He quickly glided down with his wings spread. He really was clever. From the bird¡¯s five-meter wingspan, he had deduced that, the bird wouldn¡¯t be able to pursue him any further if he took shelter in the forest.


    However, his expression turned ghastly in the next moment.


    One green figure after another appeared from the treetops. Wind blades shot at him from all directions from a multitude of large, green birds.


    How did things turn out like this? This was the only thought running through Zhang Yangzi¡¯s mind as he pressed the emergency exit button. Only at that moment did he finally understand the profound look the Spirit Pagoda staff member had given them before they had entered.


    Darkness covered his eyes while his surroundings became tranquil. All of the attacks that had been flying toward him disappeared. He felt his body cooling down as light poured into the box.


    ¡°Get up.¡± Long Hengxu spoke without a single trace of happiness.


    It was only after he sat up that Zhang Yangzi snapped out of his stupor and realized he was back in the Spirit Pagoda.


    The screens in the room switched scenes at that moment, letting Zhang Yangzi know that he was actually the first one out. Upon realization, his face immediately blushed. He embarrassedly crawled out of the metal box.


    Wu Zhangkong remained silent, simply pointing at the chair beside him for Zhang Yangzi to take a seat.


    Taking in a deep breath, Zhang Yangzi calmed himself. He was still a bit dazed, a side effect of entering the spirit ascension platform, but he could clearly remember everything that had happened in there.


    His gaze suddenly changed when he noticed the flock of green birds soaring in the sky on one of the screens. They seemed to be searching for something. Isn¡¯t that where I was just now?


    There were no less than one hundred birds on screen, covering the clouds and the sun. Their bright cries resonated throughout the skies, bringing more green birds to join their flock.


    He swallowed a gulp of saliva when he realized that the flock of birds were actually searching for him! If it had been the real world, he would have already been dead even if there had been ten of him.


    Long Hengxu only spared him a glance before continuing to watch the events occurring on the screens. Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t give him any words of criticism either.


    True combat experience was best gained when experienced for themselves.


    Zhang Yangzi began to ponder over his mistakes.  His eyes displayed strong excitement. Apart from being embarrassed, he found that he really enjoyed entering the spirit ascension platform. It was extremely realistic inside, and he was determined to survive even longer next time.

 Chapter 124 - Xie Xies Adventures in the Spirit Ascension Platform

    Chapter 124 - Xie Xie''s Adventures in the Spirit Ascension Platform


    Xie Xie was quietly and cautiously traversing through the forest, shifting from the shadows of one tree to another. Compared to Zhang Yangzi, he was far more vigilant. This was because he had heard countless stories of the spirit ascension platform''s forest when he was a child. He knew that danger lurked everywhere in this forest. If he wasn¡¯t careful, then he would quickly turn into one of the many corpses that littered the ground.


    However, danger also meant opportunity. If he was able to kill a few soul beasts, then his spirit soul would gain some strength in the real world.


    His spirit soul was actually a metal spirit soul that had been specially manufactured by the Spirit Pagoda. When he had fused it with his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger, a mutation had occurred. Of course, this mutation was nowhere near as large as the one Goldlight had experienced after fusing with Tang Wulin. Xie Xie¡¯s metal spirit soul had received a small mutation. As long as he had enough spiritual power, he could absorb two spirit souls and fuse them together as one.


    At that time, this was the only hundred year spirit soul, so his family had to pay the equivalent of a thousand year spirit soul for this hundred year spirit soul. Thus, his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger both benefited from this spirit soul fusion. And like his first two soul skills, he also kept this hidden.


    In a certain sense, Xie Xie¡¯s twin martial souls were actually a bit weaker than true twin martial souls. This was because the Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger were originated from the same place and had very little differences between them. As a result, they did not complement one another, and their powers were only additive instead of multiplicative. The most crucial difference, however, was the fact that Xie Xie needed to obtain soul rings for both of his martial souls whenever he hit a bottleneck preventing him from reaching the next rank. This was completely different from true twin martial souls where only one of them needed a soul ring to continue advancing; the other one could be saved to upgrade in the future.


    Naturally, no one else apart from him and his family knew this secret.


    Xie Xie¡¯s first spirit soul was extremely compatible with him, but he knew that it would be impossible to find a spirit soul as compatible as his current one in the future. Despite his twin martial souls giving him an advantage in the early stages of cultivation, due to his average spiritual power, his growth would be restricted unless he had enough spiritual power to support spirit souls for both of his dragon daggers.


    The spirit ascension platform was one solution to his problems. The first thing he had to do was upgrade his metal spirit soul. If it reached the purple thousand year level, then it would be able to provide him an additional soul ring. If it reached the black ten thousand year level, then there would be another one on top of that.


    The fewer spirit souls a Soul Master absorbed, the less spiritual power they would need to sustain them. Moreover, if his spirit soul was upgraded, then the soul skills it provided would be upgraded too. This was simply the best method to increase one¡¯s strength.


    For this reason, Xie Xie¡¯s anticipation for the spirit ascension platform had also been the highest among the five students.


    Even after exploring the forest for a while, Xie Xie had yet to encounter a single soul beast. His steps were light and his breathing weak as he carefully surveyed his surroundings, just waiting for a soul beast to appear at any moment.


    It would be best if a lone soul beast appeared. Even if he could only kill one, his spirit soul would still receive some benefits.


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes twinkled with nervousness and excitement.


    ¡°Huh?¡± A strange feeling suddenly washed over his body.


    He dived forward without the slightest hesitation.


    Several dozen lights flew over him, just narrowly missing his head. He stood up with a powerful twist of his body.


    This attack¡­


    He was horrified to see dozens of pairs of twinkling scarlet eyes open up on the trees. The attacks had been from them.


    Plant-type soul beast, Scarlet Demon Tree.


    This is bad. These trees appear in large groups!


    Compared to Zhang Yangzi, Xie Xie was far more knowledgeable about soul beasts. At the very least, he wasn¡¯t one to recklessly attack a soul beast he couldn¡¯t identify.


    He didn¡¯t have any intention on fighting them. Instead, he rolled to the side and dashed away from them.


    Sure enough, the Scarlet Demon Trees shot out rays of light at him just after he moved. Had he been any slower, he would have been turned into a pincushion and died.


    So close, so close!


    Xie Xie was panting.


    ¡°Zizi!¡± A screech was heard just before a yellow shadow shot straight at Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie hastily stopped and slashed out a Light Dragon Blade at his charging opponent while veering off in another direction to escape.


    That whip-like yellow shadow twisted in the air and easily avoided the Light Dragon Blade. A gigantic mouse taller than a man dug up from the ground. That yellow shadow was actually its tail. It swung its tail like a javelin piercing toward Xie Xie¡¯s chest.


    It was a Longtail Mouse over two meters tall. This was a hundred year Longtail Mouse!


    Rather than fear, Xie Xie was filled with joy at the sight of this mouse. He knew that this was a powerful loner-type soul beast that usually preyed on insects, but wasn¡¯t a great carnivore. It could launch shrewd attacks with its fickle tail, and was also equipped with a mouth full of steel-like teeth that could chew through uncommon metals.


    Xie Xie kicked off a tree, suddenly shooting up into the air. He released a Light Dragon Blade at the Longtail Mouse while his left hand waved slightly in a seamless manner.


    The Longtail Mouse swayed a little as it thrusted it¡¯s tail at the Light Dragon Blade. A ray of light flashed on the tip of its tail.


    The Light Dragon Blade was split in half, sweeping right past the Longtail Mouse. The mouse was actually surprisingly fast and its leap exceptionally powerful as it quickly caught up to Xie Xie.


    Right at that moment, the Longtail Mouse suddenly shrieked in pain. A bloody line burst from its body and its body was splattered.


    How could Xie Xie let go of such a good opportunity? He exploded off of a tree trunk and into the air, spinning his body at the same time. With his Light Dragon Dagger as the starting point, he dropped onto the Longtail Mouse like a drill.


    The Longtail Mouse¡¯s body was swallowed by the Light Dragon Storm and turned into a splatter of blood in the blink of an eye.


    Xie Xie and the Longtail Mouse¡¯s body landed on the ground at the same time. A ball of light emerged from the hundred year Longtail Mouse¡¯s body and moved to merge with Xie Xie. Xie Xie flicked his Light Dragon Dagger happily, but he knew that he couldn¡¯t stay in the area for long, so he quickly ran off in a random direction.


    In this forest of soul beasts, the smell of blood was the easiest way to attract other soul beasts, especially carnivorous soul beasts.


    Naturally, he had only been able to kill the Longtail Mouse so quickly because he could launch a sneak attack with his Shadow Dragon Dagger.


    His second attack with his Light Dragon Blade had actually been used to mask the Shadow Dragon Blade that had been quietly heading toward the mouse. It had been surprisingly effective, and with his Light Dragon Storm prepared beforehand, he had been able to eliminate his opponent in one go.


    Bang, bang, bang! Before Xie Xie even had the chance to run too far, muffled booms resounded from the earth.


    Xie Xie was dumbstruck. That sound¡­ Why does it sound so terrifying.


    ?


    On top of a giant tree, Wang Jinxi was gasping for breath as his enlarged body began to return to normal.


    He had just fought a fierce battle; he had met a pack of ten year Wind Wolves earlier. Although they weren¡¯t strong, they were fast and numerous.


    There had been over twenty wolves in the pack. If he didn¡¯t have the great strength and sturdy defenses of his transformation, then he likely wouldn¡¯t have made it out of the encounter in one piece.


    Unfortunately, his spirit soul didn¡¯t benefit much from the slaughter as the wolves were only ten year soul beasts. HIs spirit soul was a bone spirit similar to Xie Xie¡¯s metal spirit soul in that it had also been fused directly into his martial soul.


    He only had about forty percent of his soul power left, while his physical strength was exhausted. For now, he had to rest and recover.


    What he wasn¡¯t aware of, however, was that a large figure was slowly descending toward him.


    Why does it seem a bit darker now? A peculiar feeling had crept into the back of Wang Jinxi¡¯s mind. He subconsciously raised his head to look at the sky but was shocked to find a person¡¯s face rapidly descending toward him.


    It was a beautiful woman¡¯s face. when she opened her mouth, though, a rows of sinister fangs were exposed. But what was even more terrifying to Wang Jinxi was the fact that this woman¡¯s face was actually on the stomach of a giant spider!

 Chapter 125 - Hundred Year Demon Spider and Thousand Year Soul Beast

    Chapter 125 - Hundred Year Demon Spider and Thousand Year Soul Beast


    A Man-Faced Demon Spider. This was the soul beast hunting Man-Faced Demon Spider! It was considered a powerful top-tier soul beast. Even at the hundred year level, it could contend with thousand year soul beasts on equal footing.


    Wang Jinxi threw himself away from it without the slightest hesitation. Even if he¡¯d been in good condition, it was impossible for him to win against such a powerful opponent. With his weakened strength and spent soul power, his only choice was to flee for his life.


    Pu!


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s whole body tensed as he felt something coiling around his body. Despite his enormous strength, he was unable to break free.


    Even if he wanted to, it was now impossible for him to press the emergency exit button.


    A ¡®xixisuosuo¡¯ sound emerged from the cold forest. In the next moment, Wang Jinxi felt a sharp pain before his body turned numb and cold from the inside out.


    ?


    The Spirit Pagoda staff member urgently ordered, ¡°Prepare for emergency treatment.¡±


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s body was shivering when the metal box slid out. The affliction didn¡¯t stop even after the electrodes were pulled off him.


    A dozen staff members dressed in white rushed over to him in a flash. One of them took out a needle and stabbed it into Wang Jinxi¡¯s neck, delivering its contents into his bloodstream.


    ¡°Is it that Man-Faced Demon Spider again?¡±


    ¡°Yes! That thing is so violent. It didn¡¯t even give this child a chance to press the button. Ah, this child¡¯s luck is truly terrible.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong and Long Hengxu calmly watched on as the white-clothed people busily moved to do their work.


    After no less than ten minutes, the leader of the white-clothed group heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Not bad. This child¡¯s willpower is very strong and he shouldn¡¯t have any problems now. Just let him rest for a while and he¡¯ll wake up.¡±


    Finished with his explanation, the man left with the rest of the people in white. The scene returned to normal, as if nothing had even happened.


    Zhang Yangzi had been flabbergasted since the moment the people in white came in. Wha, what¡¯s going on?


    ¡°Teacher Wu, Director Long, is Jinxi okay? Isn¡¯t the spirit ascension platform a virtual place? How did he end up like this¡­¡± Zhang Yangzi¡¯s words trailed off as he glanced at Wang Jinxi¡¯s pale face, his previous excitement now replaced by fear.


    The staff member said, ¡°I have already told you; although the spirit ascension platform is virtual, it still contains a degree of reality. Everything you sense inside of there would be just as if you were feeling it in reality. So if you¡¯re harmed inside, then you will still feel all of the pain. For example, if you had been sliced into a corpse by the wind blades of those big green birds, then you would also feel the exact same sensations as a corpse. The sensations would be exceedingly real and would attack your mind.


    ¡°Simply said, if someone witnesses their wrist being slit, then they will also feel the gushing of their blood, the sound of it dripping down. Even when the wound closes and they stop bleeding, they will still sense the blood dripping, so their brain will think they¡¯re already dead. After this thought appears in their brain, they will truly begin to die.


    ¡°The spirit ascension platform has this problem, especially so for first-timers like you. Fortunately, the effects will gradually decrease as your spiritual power increases. By the time you can ignore the effects though, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to enter the elementary spirit ascension platform anymore and will have to enter the intermediate ascension platform instead. The sensations in the intermediate ascension platform are even more different. Hehe, the intermediate ascension platform¡­¡±


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s expression took a turn for the worse at these words. He was truly afraid now. This spirit ascension platform could actually result in a true death!


    ?


    Gu Yue was wandering about the forest in a daze. The lush forest, the clean air, it reminded her of something she had seen a lifetime ago.


    So beautiful. I really like this feeling!


    The fact that the Spirit Pagoda had created the spirit ascension platform could be considered nothing short of a miracle.


    She continued to head deeper into the depths of the forest. During her travels, she had encountered several soul beasts, but fortunately, they had been weak and easy to deal with. Each time she killed a soul beast, a faint light would radiate from her body.


    Her eyes grew wider and wider every time she felt this light.


    Amongst the five students, she and Tang Wulin had the least knowledge about the spirit ascension platform.


    As she was walking, a bush rustled, then a tall figure suddenly jumped out in front of Gu Yue.


    It was a giant bear over three meters tall and covered in light brown fur. This bear had a pair of large claws and glistening yellow eyes.


    The beast released a thunderous roar when it saw Gu Yue, then charged toward her.


    ?


    ¡°Thousand year, a thousand year soul beast appeared. Do you want to warn her?¡± A staff member looked toward Wu Zhangkong with a questioning gaze.


    ¡°Just watch for now.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes were fixed on the screen.


    It was a rarely seen thousand year Crystal Bear. Even in ancient times it would be exceedingly rare.


    This thousand year Crystal Bear was a mutated from the same species as the Dreadclaw Bear. Only, its mutation made it far weaker than the Dreadclaw Bear.


    Although it was weaker than the Dreadclaw Bear, the Crystal Bear did possess a special ability. Every single one of its attacks would cause its opponent¡¯s body to crystallize by a fraction, stacking until its opponent eventually shatters from its subsequent attack.


    Only with strong soul power and a quick removal of the crystallized areas would one be able to avoid massive losses from a Crystal Bear.


    The Crystal Bear also had a weakness; it lacked ranged combat abilities.


    Even without two soul rings, Gu Yue was considered the strongest among the five classmates due to her incredible control over the elements. Furthermore, with her control over the spatial element even Xie Xie¡¯s attacks could be evaded.


    The greater the pressure, the greater the growth of a Soul Master. Wu Zhangkong firmly believed in this. He wanted to see just how his only female student would react in the face of a powerful thousand year Crystal Bear.


    Just as anticipation filled Wu Zhangkong, the Crystal Bear launched its attack.


    ?


    Gu Yue wasn¡¯t flustered at all. A single yellow soul ring rose from beneath her feet while her aura strengthened.


    First soul skill, Elemental Tide.


    Gu Yue¡¯s body grew light as a green glow flashed out. Then, with a flash of silver light, she disappeared from her current position and teleported to another.


    The Crystal Bear¡¯s charge met nothing but air. Unable to stop itself, it ran headfirst into a large tree.


    With her back to the thousand year Crystal Bear, Gu Yue ran away. Clearly, she had no intention of fighting the thousand year Crystal Bear. She waved her hands behind her, releasing a tornado. This tornado definitely wasn¡¯t meant to harm the Crystal Bear; after all, its defenses were too stout to be affected by some wind.


    However, this wind was sufficient to stir the leaves on the trees. A gale of leaves fluttered about, obscuring the Crystal Bear¡¯s line of sight. Gu Yue seized this chance to teleport once more, changing her direction then bolting.


    ?


    ¡°Beautiful. Her response was clever, fast as well,¡± praised Long Hengxu.


    Wu Zhangkong gave a slight nod. He was pleased with Gu Yue¡¯s steadiness in the face of such a terrifying opponent. She¡¯d judged her opponent''s strength at the very beginning and compared it to her own before quickly choosing how to react. In the end, she¡¯d chosen to flee. Although fleeing was easy, the difficult part was in making such a choice in an instant. This just showed how calm and intelligent Gu Yue was.


    He turned to look at another screen, one which had three dots on it. These three dots meant that there were only three people remaining in the spirit ascension platform.


    Gu Yue was actually running in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction at that moment.


    ¡°Yi!¡± Wu Zhangkong let out a light sound of surprise at this discovery.


    ?


    Two loud booms put Xie Xie on alert. The origin these booms was fairly close and he could tell it was getting nearer to him.


    One had to be truly confident in themself if they were willing to cause such a ruckus within this soul beast forest. Xie Xie didn¡¯t dare to ignore it, so he climbed up a tree with lightning speed before hiding his presence, waiting calmly.


    This time, staying still was a better option than escaping for Xie Xie. After all, he¡¯d consumed quite a bit of soul power when he killed that Longtail Mouse.


    A giant figure charged madly out of the thickets not too far from him. Xie Xie was startled by its appearance because it was actually running toward him!


    The beast stood on two feet and reached a height of over four meters. Its entire body was covered in metallic scales while a single horn grew from its head. It was actually an extremely ferocious Horned Dragon!

 Chapter 126 - The Golden Dragon Claws Might

    Chapter 126 - The Golden Dragon Claw''s Might


    Xie Xie¡¯s mouth felt a bit dry after seeing such a ferocious soul beast. He had seen all the soul beasts he had encountered today in books before.


    He had an excellent memory and could clearly remember this two-legged Horned Dragon. It was a dragon-type soul beast of the land dragon variety. It possessed tremendous physical strength and was considered among the top ranks of land dragons. Even in the complexity of this forest, it was able to maneuver around at lightning speed with its leaping ability and jerky motions. Although it lacked any ranged attack abilities, it possessed an unstoppable temperament. As long as it had a prey in its sights, it would go to the ends of the earth to kill it.


    Just what kind of luck was this to run into a hundred year Horned Dragon? In the past, Agility System Soul Masters feared this type of soul beast the most. Not only was it quick, its attack, defensive power, and endurance were all amazing.


    Xie Xie had only just recently obtained his second ring. Even at his peak, his efforts would have been meaningless when faced with such an overbearing opponent, much less to say his current condition. Why is this bastard heading straight for me?


    Bang! Just as Xie Xie was feeling panicked, the Horned Dragon had reached him and charged headfirst into the tree Xie Xie was hiding in without the slightest hesitation.


    A boom resonated throughout the forest as the tree, thicker than two people¡¯s arms wrapped around it, snapped. Xie Xie hurriedly jumped to another large tree. A doubt arose within him. This guy¡¯s front arms seem weak. It shouldn¡¯t be able to climb up here right?


    Hope was a beautiful thing, but reality was cruel. After breaking the first tree, the Horned Dragon immediately turned and charged at the tree Xie Xie had found refuge in once again. This time however, it didn¡¯t run into it headfirst; rather, it jumped. It jumped all the way up to Xie Xie, its gaping maws closing toward him.


    A golden blade of light landed on the Horned Dragon¡¯s armor of scales, leaving behind a mere centimeter deep white scar. Xie Xie understood now that he was helpless against this beast, so he could only jump to another tree.


    The Horned Dragon was both large and agile. By pushing off of a tree trunk with its powerful legs, it was actually able to continue chasing Xie Xie up in the trees. It was extremely fast and didn¡¯t lose a single inch to Xie Xie.


    It truly was worthy of being called the nemesis of Agility System Soul Masters!


    Xie Xie did not dare to face it in a direct confrontation as he knew that even with his Light Dragon Storm, he would simply be throwing his life away. This Horned Dragon¡¯s scales was as sturdy as an Armored Dragon, but it was also exceptionally nimble!


    He was escaping at full speed, yet the Horned Dragon was actually slowly gaining on him! Meanwhile, Xie Xie¡¯s soul power and stamina was being depleted; he could only run for so long¡­


    Is my only choice left to press the emergency exit button? Xie Xie¡¯s heart was smoldering with his unwillingness; after all, this was his first time in the spirit ascension platform! How could he just let it end in such an unsatisfying way?


    ¡°Hou!¡± The hundred year Horned Dragon¡¯s ear-splitting roar caused Xie Xie to slow down a step as a gale assaulted him from behind.


    Xie Xie closed his eyes and moved to slap the button. He didn¡¯t want to relieve the sensation of having his bones broken again.


    Right at that moment, he felt something tug at his waist, pulling him to the side. The Horned Dragon crashed into another tree, its attack missing completely.


    Xie Xie  secretly rejoiced within his heart; he was familiar with this feeling of being pulled. He stopped himself from pressing the button.


    The Horned Dragon was truly stubborn in its pursuit. However, just as it turned to continue chasing Xie Xie, a silver light flew past Xie Xie and whizzed toward the dragon.


    ¡°Get lost!¡±


    After that shout, the Horned Dragon¡¯s movements suddenly turned sluggish under the owner of the voice¡¯s aura. Due to its sluggishness the silver light was able to directly smash into its head.


    Bang! The Horned Dragon, which stood over three meters tall, was smashed and sent reeling onto the ground. Only after rolling a few times on the ground was it able to stand up once more.


    Although it was only one strike, there had been three booms. It shook its head a few times before looking in the direction the silver light had come from.


    Tang Wulin pulled Xie Xie back with his Bluesilver Grass and asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tang Wulin had actually been nearby, and the Horned Dragon¡¯s heavy footsteps had woken him. He had climbed up a tree to survey what was going on when he saw Xie Xie faced with the Horned Dragon¡¯s onslaught.


    It seemed that Xie Xie was actually quite lucky since Tang Wulin was nearby. During Tang Wulin¡¯s meditation, he had grown intimate with the surrounding plants and had been able to clearly detect Xie Xie¡¯s activities from the rejection of the plants. Furthermore, he had been able to vaguely tell that the plants were rejecting a human, which was why he had been able to reach Xie Xie so quickly.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Xie Xie said as he gasped for breath. He had faced a life and death situation just moments ago and now his back was already drenched with sweat. ¡°Be careful. The Horned Dragon is very stubborn and won¡¯t stop at anything once it has identified its prey.¡±


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°It seems you forgot that dragon-type soul beasts are the least terrifying to me. I¡¯ll just go compare my strength with it.¡± Golden scales covered his right arm as he spoke while a dragon¡¯s mighty aura began to emanate from him.


    Normally, with its tyrannical nature, the Horned Dragon would have already charged at them, but Tang Wulin¡¯s aura caused it to hesitate.


    Its claws were dug into the ground, as if it were waiting for something.


    The Heavy Silver hammer he had thrown earlier was retrieved with a pull of the Bluesilver Grass connected to it. Now, with a hammer in each of Tang Wulin¡¯s hands, what did he have to fear from the Horned Dragon?


    ¡°I¡¯ll harass it from the side so I¡¯ll have to rely on you to face it head on.¡± Xie Xie turned into a blur and reappeared in the shadows of a nearby tree. This was to be expected since Agility System Soul Masters excelled in backstabbing rather than frontal confrontations.


    Despite Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon aura, the Horned Dragon¡¯s instincts were beginning to take over. After only a slight hesitation, it released a dreadful roar before charging at Tang Wulin. The target of its wrath had already shifted to Tang Wulin after that hammer strike.


    A brilliant light twinkled within Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as a strand of Bluesilver Grass shot toward a tree branch and firmly coiled around it. With a pull of his hand, Tang Wulin soared into the air. He somersaulted midair over the Horned Dragon and landed atop its head. With his feet firmly planted, he released a vicious strike with his left arm onto the Horned Dragon.


    After experiencing its might once, the Horned Dragon knew just how terrifying this hammer was. It turned its head while raising it, shooting its horn toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare ignore such an attack, and so he released his Golden Dragon Claw and evaded the horn while grabbing the dragon¡¯s head.


    For a moment, The Horned Dragon clearly became more sluggish after Tang Wulin released his Golden Dragon Claw. Although it was only a moment, its reaction speed had still slowed down.


    Even though Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power and physical strength were great, it was no match for the Horned Dragon. However, this was balanced by the Golden Dragon King¡¯s influence over the Horned Dragon.


    Pu! The Horned Dragon¡¯s scale armor was strong and its skull sturdy, but in a split second, it was pierced by Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Claw like it was rice paper.


    The hundred year Horned Dragon¡¯s body lost all its strength. It was unable to even cry out as it collapsed on the spot.


    A yellow halo emerged from its body and fused into the little snake, Goldlight, who let out a cry of pleasure as a golden layer of light covered its body after the light merged with it.


    Tang Wulin stared at his right hand as it returned to normal. His heart was filled with an unfathomable feeling at the moment. When his Golden Dragon Claw had made contact with the Horned Dragon¡¯s skull, it had felt like tofu to him, unable to put up the slightest resistance to his tyrannical strength. It seemed that dragon-type soul beasts and martial souls made excellent opponents for him. Indeed, his bloodline suppression effect was too formidable. He wouldn¡¯t have had such an easy victory without it!


    He made a fist with his left hand and punched the Horned Dragon¡¯s head. A dull thud was heard. The head moved back a bit, but the rebounding force made his fist ache.


    Indeed, the Golden Dragon Claw¡¯s crushing effect was extraordinary. He needed to test its effects and limitations further so he could utilise it to its fullest.


    In any case, using it for such a short period of time had actually consumed thirty percent of his soul power. This was definitely one of the downsides of using the Golden Dragon Claw. Its consumption rate was simply monstrous. However, without his bloodline power, he likely wouldn¡¯t have been able to unleash an attack of this level.


    ¡°So ferocious!¡± Xie Xie said as he walked over, his face expressing shock. The Horned Dragon had been chasing him to the gates of heaven, yet, it had been crushed in an instant by Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 127 - The Trio Versus the Crystal Bear

    Chapter 127 - The Trio Versus the Crystal Bear


    ¡°If this was a real soul beast, then you would have been able to absorb its hundred year soul ring directly, but too bad it¡¯s not,¡± Xie Xie said as he gave Tang Wulin a thumbs-up.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been this easy if it wasn¡¯t a dragon-type soul beast.¡±


    Suddenly, a delicate voice called out from the side. ¡°It¡¯s not exactly a dragon. Now hurry up and help me!¡±


    A silver light flashed and a delicate figure appeared not too far from Tang Wulin and Xie Xie. With a green light beneath her feet, Gu Yue reached them with lightning speed.


    A howl came from behind her, announcing the giant figure as it rushed out of the thicket.


    ¡°Damn, that Crystal Bear is huge¡­¡± Xie Xie went wide-eyed at the sight of the bear, while Tang Wulin stood stunned.


    The thousand year Crystal Bear was practically no different from a bulldozer as it barrelled through the thicket. Any small trees unfortunate enough to stand in its way were simply crystallized, then smashed into fine powder. It was simply overbearing.


    The silver light flashed again, and Gu Yue appeared right in front of the two. Her face was pale from exhaustion as she mustered her strength one more time and teleported to hide behind Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin swallowed a gulp. His instincts told him that this bear was far stronger than the hundred year Horned Dragon he had just killed!


    Squatting down, Tang Wulin grabbed the stiff Horned Dragon and hefted it up with both arms.


    The scales on his right arm began to shine brilliantly when Tang Wulin released a roar and threw the gigantic Horned Dragon corpse at the thousand year Crystal Bear.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Heavens, his strength is insane!¡± Long Hengxu¡¯s eyes had widened in shock at the scene of Tang Wulin lifting up the Horned Dragon¡¯s corpse.


    At that moment, Wang Jinxi awakened from his slumber, his complexion still deathly pale. He couldn¡¯t help but shudder when he recalled the feeling of the spider¡¯s leg entering his body, and the subsequent chill that had spread throughout him. The residual sensations Wang Jinxi was experiencing were far more severe than what Zhang Yangzi went through.


    When Zhang Yangzi watched Tang Wulin kill the Horned Dragon in a single attack, his eyes had already turned dull, for he knew that even with his powerful martial soul and soul skill, he would never have been able to take out the Horned Dragon in one hit. In fact, he doubted he would even be able to penetrate its defences.


    Not to mention that now an even more powerful beast had appeared.


    A single attack from Tang Wulin¡¯s claw had killed the hundred year Horned Dragon, so Zhang Yangzi could only imagine the horrifying scene of himself receiving the claw¡¯s attack.


    Too terrifying. It was simply too terrifying for him to imagine.


    During the tests, Tang Wulin¡¯s power had merely been displayed as numbers, but now, Zhang Yangzi could clearly see just how powerful Tang Wulin was.


    He had thrown that giant Horned Dragon¡¯s corpse so casually¡­ It seemed several thousand kilograms worth of strength really was nothing to scoff at.


    Will those three really be able to kill a thousand year soul beast? Zhang Yangzi thought nervously to himself. As he watched the three of them face off against such a powerful soul beast, his grudge against the trio cooled off and he began to cheer for them.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Hou!¡± The thousand year Crystal bear roared as it grabbed the incoming Horned Dragon¡¯s corpse by the legs. Dark golden crystals formed on the dragon¡¯s legs, creeping up the upper body of the corpse. In but a moment, it covered over half of the dragon¡¯s corpse. The bear lowered its head and threw it down.


    Bang! The lower half of the dragon¡¯s corpse shattered into a shower of countless crystal shards.


    ¡°Damn, it¡¯s so ferocious. Just what kind of trouble have you brought us, Gu Yue? Why would you provoke something so powerful¡­? I think it¡¯s actually one of the strongest thousand year soul beasts in the elementary spirit ascension platform.¡± Before he finished speaking, Xie Xie had already been flying toward the bear with his Light Dragon Dagger in hand. He had to prepare to launch a sneak attack at any moment.


    Gu Yue was panting for breath as she said, ¡°Who provoked it? It was the one that provoked me, okay?¡±


    Tang Wulin remained silent as the two of them bantered. With Bluesilver Grass attached to his two hammers, he sent them flying toward the bear¡¯s head.


    Ah, this big guy is so hard to deal with! It might not be as nimble or as quick as the Horned Dragon, but its attack and defense far exceeded the hundred year Horned Dragon.


    This, this is a thousand year soul beast? The thousand year soul beasts that produced purple soul rings in the past!?


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t scared at all, rather, he was brimming with a desire to battle. After all, this was the spirit ascension platform. They could escape from the battlefield at anytime and there wasn¡¯t anything more satisfying than true combat. He had never encountered a soul beast in the real world, so today could be considered an eye-opener for him.


    Bang, bang! The Crystal Bear wasn¡¯t particularly quick as it remained in place and simply blocked the two hammers with a raised arm.


    The powerful impact of the two hundred-kilogram hammers knocked into the Crystal Bear, making it stumble back a step. However, the Crystal bear had now become infuriated..


    A yellow light flashed on the Crystal Bear¡¯s body as it charged at Tang Wulin with a roar.


    Tang Wulin shouted out, ¡°You two retreat! Xie Xie, what is this thing¡¯s weakness?¡± Although he had also studied soul beasts, Xie Xie was undoubtedly the most knowledgeable amongst the three. After all, Xie Xie had received a strict education since childhood.


    ¡°The Crystal Bear¡¯s skin is as hard as copper and its bones are as hard as iron, but its weak point is its neck. Its neck is the weakest part of its body and all of its nerves are gathered there as well.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Tang Wulin pulled on a strand of Bluesilver Grass, sending himself soaring into the air and out of the way of the Crystal Bear¡¯s pounce.


    It was good that the beast had a weak point since Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t too nimble. And maybe, just maybe, Tang Wulin would manage to defeat it with his Golden Dragon Claw.


    In any case, they were in the spirit ascension platform! If they didn¡¯t experiment with things in here, then where would they test the Golden Dragon Claw?


    ¡°You two distract it and I¡¯ll look for a chance to give it a fatal blow.¡± Tang Wulin shouted from the air.


    The thousand year Crystal Bear¡¯s attack was met with nothing but air. It was smarter than the Horned Dragon though. It tore a small tree out of the ground and threw it into the air at Tang Wulin.


    With his hammers already back in his hands, Tang Wulin smashed the tree apart, but was sent flying in the air afterward.


    The bear made a beeline for him with its arms spread wide open.


    Pu! An invisible blade of light struck its neck, sending a wave of pain throughout its body. The bear growled in rage as it turned to look at its attacker.


    Xie Xie shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°Come if you dare!¡± He slashed with his Light Dragon Dagger and sent out another blade of light flying toward the bear.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin quickly stopped falling when a green light covered his body. With another tug on the Bluesilver Grass and the aid of the wind element, he soared back into the air.


    Over a dozen icicles flew over to provide Tang Wulin with footholds in the air, allowing him to change directions once again.


    A halo appeared underneath him as vine after vine of Bluesilver Grass twined around the Crystal Bear¡¯s legs.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t expect his Bluesilver Grass to halt and bind the Crystal Bear; he had merely hoped that it would be enough to slow the bear down.


    However, a bizarre scene appeared.


    The Crystal Bear exerted its strength in an attempt to break free of the Bluesilver Grass twined around his legs. Normally, it would have succeeded, but at that moment, a golden light appeared on the Bluesilver Grass. Although it was for but a split second, it was enough to halt the bear for a second.


    It was only a second before the Crystal Bear broke free from the Bluesilver Grass, but that second was all Tang Wulin wished for.


    In that second, Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power hadn¡¯t been depleted like previously. In fact, it hadn¡¯t been consumed at all, as his Bluesilver Grass had grown far more tenacious innately after he absorbed the power of the first seal.


    Xie Xie took full advantage of the Crystal Bear¡¯s momentary stillness to turn around and retreat. His retreating speed, with the aid of Gu Yue¡¯s wind element, was simply explosive.

 Chapter 128 - Comrades!

    Chapter 128 - Comrades!


    While Xie Xie retreated, a giant fireball exploded on the other side of the Crystal Bear¡¯s head. Gu Yue was starting her assault from the side.


    The three of them stood in a triangle formation, with the Crystal Bear in the center. It stomped furiously, unable to decide which of the three to attack.


    ¡°Xie Xie, attack its belly. Gu Yue, attack its eyes.¡± Tang Wulin loudly instructed as he shot a strand of Bluesilver Grass at a tree branch, pulling on it to quickly fling himself  to the Crystal Bear¡¯s rear.


    This level of coordination was to be expected after all their time spent cultivating together. Xie Xie didn¡¯t bother to hide himself at this moment. With a flash of his figure, he brandished his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger, one tangible and the other invisible. He slashed the air, sending a pair of light blades at the Crystal Bear¡¯s belly.


    Pu, pu! The Crystal Bear was furious. It may not have known previously which one to target, but now it did.


    It immediately took large strides toward Xie Xie.


    At that moment, however, blazing fireballs flew into its eyes. Although these fireballs were smaller than the previous ones, the quantity was far greater.


    The Crystal Bear raised a paw in front of itself while lowering its head. When it had received those attacks to its belly earlier, it had already begun to lower its stance. Now, it was forced to hunch in on itself even more.


    It was then that Tang Wulin chose to sweep in. The hammer in his right hand was held back while the hammer in his left was positioned in a defensive stance in front of his chest. With a golden brilliance, he released his Golden Dragon Claw as his hammer descended on the Crystal Bear¡¯s neck with an earth-shattering force.


    Tang Wulin understood that victory or defeat would be decided by this one move. With his current soul power, he only had enough in him for this one attack. He had to bet everything on this attack;if it didn¡¯t kill the bear, then the trio would be forced to escape from the spirit ascension platform.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s attack was accompanied by an ear-piercing whistle as a green wind blade cut through the air and struck the Crystal Bear¡¯s belly. Gu Yue had exploded with strength to match Tang Wulin¡¯s gambit and conceal the sound of his attack.


    Considering the fact that they were still nine-years-old and didn¡¯t have any powerful soul skills, what they had achieved so far in this battle was already amazing.


    He arrived!


    Without the slightest hesitation, Tang Wulin swiped at the bear¡¯s nape with his Golden Dragon Claw.


    A crunching ¡®kaka¡¯ noise came from the bear¡¯s neck as Tang Wulin tightly gripped it using his Golden Dragon Claw¡¯s crushing effect at its full power. The Crystal Bear¡¯s neck had been crushed.


    It had to be said that Tang Wulin¡¯s full strength was over a thousand kilograms! And with the added crushing effect, one could only imagine its tremendous might¡­


    However, Tang Wulin discovered that compared to the hundred year Horned Dragon, the Crystal Bear¡¯s skin was exceedingly tough and had actually put up some resistance that prevented him from completely crushing its neck. If he didn¡¯t have such immense strength or didn¡¯t attack the Crystal Bear¡¯s weak point, he feared that the attack likely would have failed.


    Is it finished?


    Xie Xie stared as the thousand year Crystal Bear fell head first. This sight, in addition to the sound of its neck crunching, were enough to make him jump for joy.


    With two soul rings, he had the highest cultivation among them, so the fact that they could actually take down such a powerful soul beast was something to be proud of.


    At that moment, a layer of brilliant yellow light suddenly erupted from the Crystal Bear¡¯s body.


    The scope of this light wasn¡¯t too far, only about one meter in radius, but it actually enveloped Tang Wulin completely.


    ¡°No¡ª¡± Gu  Yue shrieked as the yellow light immediately crystallized Tang Wulin¡¯s body. His body was frozen in its stance. He gradually began to tip over and fall toward the ground.


    Crystal was frail and would fracture into shards upon impact. Tang Wulin was about to be shattered! Although this was the spirit ascension platform, there would still be residual effects after experiencing the trauma of shattering into pieces! In fact, it might even result in permanent injuries!


    Gu Yue appeared beside him with a flash of silver light. She hastily extended her arms out to hold up Tang Wulin¡¯s body.


    Not only did Tang Wulin¡¯s crystalized form increase his weight, but he was also still holding onto his Heavy Silver hammers. One could not guess how much he weighed now¡­


    Gu Yue was pushed onto the ground by the crystal Tang Wulin. The thud rang out and gave her a bout of dizziness, but she relied purely on her physical strength to keep Tang Wulin from falling onto the floor and shattering.


    As long as he wasn¡¯t smashed into pieces for a while after the crystallization, the crystals would gradually recede on their own and vanish. It was due to this that the most terrifying time was right after being crystallized by the Crystal Bear.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s consciousness was blurring, but he felt a stuffiness and a sharp pain in his chest. He couldn¡¯t perceive his surroundings, but when he looked within himself, he was astonished to find golden thread-like energy that seemed to have emerged from his stifled state to connect throughout his body.


    A dark, yellow energy poured into every corner of his body, but was resisted by the golden threads. He knew that these golden threads were not soul power since he had already consumed all of it when he used his Golden Dragon Claw. He was also certain that the appearance of these golden threads served to alleviate the suffocation he felt.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, Gu Yue!¡± Xie Xie hurriedly rushed over to their side. He carefully lifted Tang Wulin and pulled Gu Yue, who was trapped beneath him, out.


    Gu Yue had her eyes closed, her face like a golden sheet of paper and her breathing weak. She had been injured when the crystallized Tang Wulin fell on top of her.


    Xie Xie looked around him. He hesitated slightly, before slapping the exit button on the back of Gu Yue¡¯s hand. In an instant, she turned into a ray of light and disappeared.


    Tang Wulin was still covered in crystals, so it was impossible for him to hit Tang Wulin¡¯s button.


    Suddenly, the surrounding thicket rustled fiercely. It seemed there were a number of beasts approaching them.


    What do I do? Tang Wulin is still crystallized, and I can¡¯t send him back. What should I do?


    Xie Xie firmly held his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger as he mulled over his options. He should escape now while he still could, since his soul power was nearly depleted, but if he left, then the crystallized Tang Wulin would remain here all alone.


    Faced with such a dilemma, he didn¡¯t hesitate to choose the harder path. He knelt beside Tang Wulin to conserve what little remained of his strength and began to regulate his breathing. His gaze shone with a resolute light.


    His comrade was right beside him, so how could he leave him at such a moment? When he was small, his father had told him that a true man could support both heaven and earth!


    He had to be a man who could support both heaven and earth!


    Men had to be loyal, face danger head-on, and never abandon their comrades, even at the price of their lives!


    This was Xie Xie¡¯s first time encountering a situation like this, and despite the fact that he was like a newborn calf, he wasn¡¯t gutless at all. Rather, he felt himself getting fired up.


    One dark green figure after another slowly emerged from his surroundings. There were at least ten of them. They were wolves with dark green fur on their backs, their amber eyes filled with ice-cold ruthlessness. Slowly, they advanced in Xie Xie and Tang Wulin¡¯s direction.


    Half of them headed for the remaining Horned Dragon¡¯s corpse while the other half continued advancing towards Xie Xie and Tang Wulin, surrounding the two.


    Green Wolf, a ten year soul beast. Among the ten year soul beasts, it was considerably powerful, with a violent nature and naturally inclined towards living in packs.


    Powerful Green Wolves were able to cultivate to the hundred year level by relying on decaying corpses for food. Frankly speaking, they were scavengers of the forest.


    Xie Xie shifted into a defensive stance with his two daggers and watched the slowly advancing wolves. He shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°You can have the Crystal Bear¡¯s corpse, but if you attack me, then don¡¯t blame me for being rude!¡±


    He didn¡¯t know whether or not these ten year soul beasts could actually understand his words, but his yelling still made them hesitate for a few moments, and that was enough for him. As long as he could delay them for long enough, Tang Wulin would break free of the crystallization, and then they could escape together.


    However, the Green Wolves were clearly far more interested in him than the corpse of the Crystal Bear. They didn¡¯t understand a single word he said and simply continued to tighten their circle around him. Under the gaze of their grim eyes, Xie Xie¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help but race anxiously.


    I can¡¯t hesitate anymore. I have to take initiative and make the first move.

 Chapter 129 - End of the Spirit Ascension Platform Trials

    Chapter 129 - End of the Spirit Ascension Platform Trials


    Xie Xie slashed out a Light Dragon Blade while sliding to the side, rapidly closing the distance between him and another Green Wolf.


    Pu! One of the Green Wolves had their neck sliced open by the Light Dragon Blade, uttering a sad cry as blood sprayed out.


    Xie Xie agilely moved toward another Green Wolf, but it opened its mouth and released a green wind blade at him.


    Xie Xie responded to this attack by bending his body, completely avoiding the wind blade. With his back bent, he pounced on the Green Wolf. After a sweep of his two daggers, the wolf¡¯s throat was torn open and he arrived at another wolf¡¯s side. With a flick of his wrist, he cut open an artery on the wolf¡¯s neck with his Shadow Dragon Dagger, immediately releasing another burst of blood. It only took a moment before life ceased to course through the wolf¡¯s veins.


    Although his attack had gone according to his plan, causing three wolves to die, the wolves were launching their assault now too. Dozens of wind blades were flying toward him at that moment.


    Xie Xie dodged with all his might, but he sustained some injuries on his back and left leg from the wolves he had just engaged with. His jacket was already dyed crimson.


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Xie Xie screamed, then rolled to the side, evading another wind blade as he brandished his two daggers and continued to wage war against this pack of wolves.


    He didn¡¯t dare to use a soul skill with the meager amount of soul power he had left. His left leg was injured and proved to be a burden on his speed now, while his entire body was covered in scars and bruises. It had only been a few moments, yet he was already soaked in blood.


    The scene of their battle could only be described as one of desperation. For every wolf he killed, multiple wounds were inflicted on his body in exchange. Despite being completely soaked in blood, he didn¡¯t falter and retreat. From beginning to end, he was moving in circles around the crystallized Tang Wulin, protecting him from the wolves. With his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger in hand, he continued his reckless defense against the wolves¡¯ attacks.


    The dark yellow energy finally receded, and Tang Wulin¡¯s senses gradually began to return to him. The first thing he smelled was the stench of blood.


    After a moment, he saw a crimson figure that was barely able to remain standing.


    ¡°Wooo!¡± A wolf howled, drawing an especially large Green Wolf to pounce on the bloody figure.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fight you to the death!¡± Xie Xie¡¯s crazed roar woke Tang Wulin from his stupor.


    The Light and Shadow Dragon Daggers scattered at that moment. The Green Wolf landed on Xie Xie and pushed him down. It opened a mouth full of sharp daggers and bit at Xie Xie¡¯s neck.


    Bang, bang, bang!  A silver light flew over and three booms resounded one after another. The giant wolf cried out in pain as it belatedly realized that its skull had already been cracked open.


    Dazed, Xie Xie only felt someone slap the back of his hand, and in the next moment, darkness entered his eyes. He didn¡¯t know what was going on anymore.


    After crushing the skull of the wolf that was on top of Xie Xie, Tang Wulin took in the bitter scene around him, renewing his determination. He didn¡¯t see Gu Yue anywhere and guessed that she had already returned. He hit the button on the back of his hand, and darkness entered his eyes just like the others. After disappearing from the forest, the wind blades shot by the wolves were met with nothing but air.


    Darkness was replaced with light as Tang Wulin quickly shot out of the metal box and shouted, ¡°Xie Xie!¡±


    Tang Wulin squinted his eyes to avoid being dazzled by the sudden presence of light as he searched for Xie Xie.


    He saw Zhang Yangzi, the twitching Wang Jinxi and Gu Yue, who was sitting pale-faced. Then there was the open metal box beside him.


    Tang Wulin rushed over to the box that Xie Xie was in.


    ¡°Xie Xie, Xie Xie!¡± Tang Wulin anxiously called out.


    ¡°I, I¡¯m fine. Just a bit sore.¡± Xie Xie said weakly, as he struggled to open his eyes.


    Tang Wulin was finally able to relax now that he knew Xie Xie was alright. A wave of exhaustion and the feeling of the crystal¡¯s suffocation overcame him. His legs lost strength, making him fall onto his butt.


    Wu Zhangkong and Long Hengxu stood to the side. Long Hengxu was thoroughly shocked, while Wu Zhangkong remained as unperturbed as usual.


    The Spirit Pagoda staff member exclaimed sincerely, ¡°Geniuses! They truly are geniuses worth nurturing! Are you sure these children are only nine-years-old?¡±


    The gaze of the staff member was burning with expectation, especially when he turned his gaze to Tang Wulin, Xie Xie and Gu Yue.


    He had watched their whole performance.


    The most breathtaking scene was undoubtedly when Tang Wulin had taken down a powerful soul beast in only two strikes. His transformed right hand had clearly possessed strength several times higher than normal. Not only was it able to kill the hundred year Horned Dragon in a single strike, but it had also been strong enough to crush the thousand year Crystal Bear. If they had been a bit more knowledgeable about the Crystal Bear, then they wouldn¡¯t have suffered at the end, and their kill would have been considered perfect.


    Gu Yue¡¯s performance was equally worthy of admiration. Her coordination with Tang Wulin had been amazing. She had used a variety of elements at optimal moments to aid him, and it was also thanks to her that Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been harmed at the end. She had actually used her own body to hold up his crystallized form, which weighed over five hundred kilograms, to prevent it from shattering.


    The staff member knew that in situations like those, people normally wouldn¡¯t have the time to consider whether things were real or virtual. The fact that Gu Yue had been able to make such a quick decision to save Tang Wulin meant that even in reality, she would have been just as decisive.


    They were only nine-year-old children! With such a strong friendship, how could their coordination not be this deep?


    No wonder Eastsea Academy is willing to spend so much money to bring them here. Although they weren¡¯t in the spirit ascension platform for long, they were faced with the greatest obstacles the whole time!


    And Xie Xie at the end¡­ Despite knowing he was no match for the wolves, he had stayed behind for the sake of his comrade! He had continued to protect Tang Wulin until the crystallization disappeared and was finally sent out only when Tang Wulin had been freed!


    Although one wouldn¡¯t truly die in the spirit ascension platform, the injuries they sustained all felt exceedingly real.


    Xie Xie had suffered tens of cuts on his body, yet he had still continued to fight and protect Tang Wulin all the way until the end. During that whole time, he had been minimizing the injuries he sustained while maximizing the number of enemies he killed! He had simply been extraordinary!


    This staff member had never seen such outstanding first-time performances from Soul Masters before. Even more so astonishing was the fact that these children only had either one or two rings.


    Wu Zhangkong slowly walked over to the five students, his dull voice filling their ears. ¡°From now on, you five are a mini battle squadron. The captain is Tang Wulin, and the vice-captain is Xie Xie. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Finished speaking, he began leading them toward the elevator.


    The five looked at each other in dismay and shock as a single thought entered their heads. Mini squadron?


    Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin, then Zhang Yangzi, whose face was unsightly, but more than that, it was full of shame. Before coming here, Zhang Yangzi had been full of ambition and competitiveness, but after witnessing the events in the spirit ascension platform, his ambitions had been completely washed away from his heart.


    Without even speaking of his strength, just his actions in the spirit ascension platform had been severely lacking in comparison with his peers.


    Regardless of whether it was Tang Wulin who had killed two powerful soul beasts, the self-sacrificing Gu Yue, or Xie Xie who had fought nearly to the death for his comrade, every single one of them had been remarkable. When compared with those three, he and Wang Jinxi were simply too lacking.


    Wang Jinxi had met his demise after encountering a powerful soul beast, but him? He had simply been courting disaster!


    On the road home, the five students were still brooding over the events in the spirit ascension platform. Zhang Yangzi was full of remorse, while Tang Wulin pondered over the situation inside of the spirit ascension platform, the battles replaying over and over inside his mind.


    What he was certain about, however, was that their battles in the spirit ascension platform today had been incredibly stimulating.


    Tang Wulin had a particularly profound impression. I actually fought with a soul beast! So that¡¯s what it feels like to battle against a soul beast¡­ Even though I know everything was virtual inside of the spirit ascension platform, I can¡¯t help but feel a bit frightened when I recall it. That was the pressure of a battle of life and death. Cultivating in situations like that really is far better!

 Chapter 130 - Spirit Soul Evolution

    Chapter 130 - Spirit Soul Evolution


    Tang Wulin suddenly felt warmth spread from his spine to his whole body. At first, it was so faint that he could barely feel it, but the closer they got to the academy, the more apparent the feeling became. As the warmth diffused into his four limbs and seeped into his bones, he felt exceptionally comfortable, but at the same time, exhaustion washed over him.


    To his side, Gu Yue discovered that Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body was swaying as he stumbled forth. She quickly supported him, worriedly asking, ¡°Wulin, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just feel really sleepy.¡± With Gu Yue¡¯s support, it was like a switch had been flipped. His entire body went weak and collapsed into Gu Yue¡¯s arms.


    Wu Zhangkong halted mid-step and quickly turned around, astonishment coloring his face. The others had also started to notice Tang Wulin¡¯s abnormal behavior.


    In a flash, Wu Zhangkong appeared in front of Tang Wulin, quickly taking his wrist.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s skin shined with a golden-blue layer of light as he lay unconscious, his breathing haggard.


    ¡°This kind of situation¡­¡± When Long Hengxu arrived and saw the state that Tang Wulin was in, he couldn¡¯t help but think of a certain possibility. His gaze grew rapt with attention.


    Wu Zhangkong hefted Tang Wulin onto his back. ¡°He¡¯s fine, it¡¯s just that his spirit soul is evolving.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± All four students exclaimed in unison.


    Spirit soul evolution?


    On their way to the spirit ascension platform, Xie Xie had already explained to Tang Wulin how it was possible to evolve his spirit soul inside of it, but he had only been speaking of a possibility! A spirit soul evolution was so rare that it was like winning a lottery ticket.


    The opportunity to enter a spirit ascension platform even once was hard to come by, much less a chance to kill powerful soul beasts. Furthermore, the thousand year Crystal Bear they had encountered today had been an extremely formidable foe, such that even three-ringed Soul Elders would have found it challenging. In fact, they would have needed at least a team of seven people to defeat it.


    In such a situation, everyone who had paid a large price to enter the spirit ascension platform would always dispute over who would land the final strike on the soul beast and reap the rewards. However, either way, they would suffer many casualties fighting against such a powerful soul beast.


    Under the shocked stares of everyone, Wu Zhangkong spoke calmly. ¡°His spirit soul is naturally weak, so it¡¯s easier for it to evolve. For every soul beast you kill in the spirit ascension platform,  you obtain one-tenth of its cultivation energy. That energy, in turn, will be spread evenly among your soul rings. In other words, if you kill a ten year soul beast, your spirit soul will gain one year¡¯s worth of cultivation energy. If your spirit soul has 110 years of energy, then it will become 111 years of energy. When it accumulates till it reaches 1000, then it will evolve. Tang Wulin¡¯s spirit soul is only ten years. He gained at least twenty year¡¯s worth of energy from killing the hundred year soul beast, and one hundred year¡¯s worth of energy from the thousand year soul beast. Furthermore, since he only has one soul ring, all of the energy was concentrated into that one ring, allowing him to evolve his ten year spirit soul into a hundred year spirit soul. As for the rest of you, you will need to kill at least 18 or 19 thousand year soul beasts to evolve your spirit soul. With this in mind, do your best in the future.¡±


    That was right! Apart from Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, everyone else had two soul rings. This meant that the energy they obtained from killing a soul beast would be split between two soul rings, with each ring receiving five percent of the original! Although there would still be some benefits, it was far harder to evolve their spirit soul!


    Not mentioning killing a thousand year soul beast, even if it was just trying to find that many thousand year soul beasts in the elementary spirit ascension platform, it was already exceedingly difficult!


    So in the end, there were still benefits to having one ring .


    After returning to the academy, Wu Zhangkong silently dismissed everyone to return to their dorms and cultivate. They needed to digest today¡¯s combat experiences, and Tang Wulin would remain muddle-headed until his spirit soul finished its evolution. An analysis of today¡¯s events was better left for tomorrow.


    Wu Zhangkong brought Tang Wulin back to his dorm. The only thing was¡­ Wu Zhangkong stayed, even after dropping Tang Wulin off.


    For anyone else, Wu Zhangkong wouldn¡¯t do such things, but Tang Wulin was different. Tang Wulin had a unique, mutated martial soul. Wu Zhangkong had to ensure that Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t be endangered during his spirit soul¡¯s evolution.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s experience this time was a far cry from when he had broken the first seal. As his spirit soul evolved, he felt as if he was soaking in a warm pond. This warmth penetrated into the bones of his body, gently circulating inside of him. He was completely free of any worries in such a comfortable state. His body was beaten and his spirit exhausted, but his tiredness gradually dissolved under this warmth.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t even want to open his eyes as he basked in this wonderful feeling.


    As he continued to soak in the warmth, the golden halo around his body gradually turned blue.


    Strand after strand of Bluesilver Grass began to extend from his palms, surrounding him.


    Wu Zhangkong gently twirled a strand of Bluesilver Grass around his finger. He carefully examined it, eyes brightening with astonishment.


    Is this really Bluesilver Grass? It wasn¡¯t abnormal for  Bluesilver Grass to become vine-like or elastic, but what really amazed him was the fact that he could see energy channels within the Bluesilver Grass.


    These energy channels glowed with a faint, golden light. Together with the faint, blue glow of the grass itself, it greatly resembled the golden-blue light that was covering Tang Wulin¡¯s body right now.


    Moreover, Wu Zhangkong discovered that the faint, vein lines grew more distinct under the light of the energy channels, as if they were some sort of fine imprint. All of these details were noted under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s careful observation.


    Just as I thought, his bloodline is causing his martial soul to mutate again. From what I can see, this should be a very beneficial mutation. He already has his Golden Dragon Claw, which gives him power beyond his rank. Although it can¡¯t be sustained for long and is restricted to close combat, it¡¯s still a huge boost to his power. The only thing I¡¯m uncertain of is whether or not his bloodline can evolve further. If it can, that would truly be a sight to behold.


    Right at that moment, a faint golden light flashed from Tang Wulin¡¯s chest, and Goldlight slithered out. It had grown to be approximately ten centimeters long, and about as thick as Tang Wulin¡¯s little finger. Although it was still as slender as before, its golden scales were far more eye-catching now.


    The scales on its forehead were a different shade of gold. Compared to the other scales on its body, the gold shined dazzlingly. With each breath it took, the scales grew even more radiant, and its previously murky eyes clearer.


    A dim, yellow halo appeared from Goldlight¡¯s body, incomparably stronger than its previous white.


    It evolved, it really evolved!


    It was a hundred year spirit soul now!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s defective spirit soul had evolved to a hundred year spirit soul due to his hard work in the spirit ascension platform and his bloodline¡¯s power! It finally had some value to it.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded slightly. Not bad. Tang Wulin has finally made up for his shortcoming. But how will his soul skill change after his spirit soul¡¯s evolution? Will its transformation make him even stronger?


    As a teacher, Wu Zhangkong couldn¡¯t be clearer about Tang Wulin¡¯s weak points.


    His strong points were obvious; he had innate divine strength, and a bloodline power that allowed him to dominate his peers.


    His weaknesses, though, were just as obvious.


    When it came down to it, a Soul Master¡¯s strength came from their martial soul. If their martial soul wasn¡¯t powerful, then they wouldn¡¯t be able to walk far on the path of cultivation. Physical strength and bloodline power certainly had their benefits, but there had never been anyone in the entire history of Soul Masters who had climbed to the peak with just these two things.


    Tang Wulin wanted to grow stronger, so his martial soul had to grow stronger too. The spirit soul was a part of the martial soul, so any improvements to it would have a significant impact.

 Chapter 131 - Bind Post Spirit Soul Evolution

    Chapter 131 - Bind Post Spirit Soul Evolution


    Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul had already become an extension of his own body, but his control over it during combat wasn¡¯t great¡ªhe simply used it like rope.


    Wu Zhangkong was able to clearly discern these issues, but he didn¡¯t talk to Tang Wulin about them because he knew just how amazing Tang Wulin¡¯s perception was. He had faith in that Tang Wulin would discover these flaws himself.


    Moreover, Wu Zhangkong wanted to see if Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline power would gain any other effects when he reached rank 20.


    But now, he didn¡¯t even need to wait until Tang Wulin reached that rank. The answer had already presented itself.


    If it¡¯s like this, then the growth of his martial soul is something to look forward to.


    Wu Zhangkong had never believed that Bluesilver Grass was a weak martial soul. After all, the strongest member of the first generation of Shrek Seven Monsters, who was also the strongest Soul Master in history, had eventually ascended to godhood with Bluesilver Grass at the beginning. It was through using Bluesilver Grass that he had taken one step after another on the path toward godhood.


    In the last 20,000 years, apart from the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder, no one else had been able to ascend to godhood.


    Thus, Bluesilver Grass wasn¡¯t necessarily as weak as one may think.


    The radiance emitting from Tang Wulin gradually dim. Little Goldlight opened its mouth wide as if to yawn before lowering its head, disappearing into Tang Wulin¡¯s body.


    With the evolution now complete, Tang Wulin stopped glowing and entered a deep slumber.


    The evolution of a spirit soul would lead to many changes both in the martial soul and the Soul Master. An improvement in one¡¯s martial soul also led to gains for the Soul Master as a whole. Whether it be in terms of strength, speed, soul power, reaction speed, or the tenacity of one¡¯s body; all of them would be increased.


    ?


    The evolution had taken a long time and left Tang Wulin exhausted.


    That was some great sleep! Tang Wulin woke up the next day feeling incredible.


    Ever since he broke the first seal on the Golden Dragon King, he felt as if his whole body were swollen. But now, this feeling had disappeared, leaving a pleasant surprise in its place. His soul power had increased a bit, and though it had yet to reach rank 15, this increase was still something that would have taken far longer had he cultivated normally.


    It seems I benefited a lot from yesterday¡¯s battle!


    ¡°You¡¯re up?¡± The sudden voice gave Tang Wulin quite the scare. He looked over to discover Wu Zhangkong sitting legs crossed on a chair nearby.


    ¡°Teacher, you¡­¡± After staring blankly at Wu Zhangkong for a moment, Tang Wulin started to recall the events of the previous evening, and of how Wu Zhangkong had watched over him throughout the night. His heart surged with warmth as he quickly got off his bed.


    Wu Zhangkong met his eyes and said, ¡°Wash up and go eat breakfast. Your spirit soul has evolved so we can go test the changes that your soul skill gained after that.¡± Having finished speaking, he got up, patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder, then left.


    Spirit soul evolution? A spirit soul evolution! My spirit soul evolved!


    Tang Wulin stood there stunned. His spirit soul had always been a sore spot for him. His heart would ache whenever he saw his comrades and their hundred-year spirit souls. He compared them with his own mere ten-year spirit soul. With his competitive spirit, it had simply been too demoralizing!


    When Xie Xie told him about the possibility of a spirit soul evolving in the spirit ascension platform, he hadn¡¯t seriously taken it to heart. After all, it wasn¡¯t something he would even dare dream of.


    But Wu Zhangkong wouldn¡¯t lie to him!


    With a flash of light, his Bluesilver Grass appeared and a halo rose from beneath him.


    The originally white soul ring had been transformed into a soul ring with a gentle yellow glow!


    It was yellow! A hundred-year soul ring!


    Little Goldlight slithered out onto Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder. Tang Wulin lifted his hand toward it and it slithered onto his palm. After carefully examining Goldlight, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes became a bit dull as he reminisced for a moment.


    Not too long ago, he had been filled with sorrow to the point of wishing for death due to this little Goldlight. It had been a defective spirit soul that represented three years worth of hard earned money. Amidst his despair at that time, it had only been due to his sheer willpower that he had been able to persevere! At last, his source of sorrow had now turned into a source of joy!


    Goldlight could no longer be considered trash now that it had evolved. As a hundred-year spirit soul, it could provide him with two soul rings. This meant that he didn¡¯t need to purchase another spirit soul for a while longer. With Goldlight¡¯s evolution, he could save even more money and buy the spirit items needed to break the second seal.


    Tang Wulin released a long sigh as these thoughts crossed his mind. He felt that now, endless possibilities had opened up to him.


    ¡°Bind!¡± With his command, strand after strand of Bluesilver Grass shot out and bound everything in his room.


    Along with the evolution of his spirit soul, Tang Wulin discovered that his Bluesilver Grass had grown thicker, become more tenacious, and consumed less soul power than before.


    When he used his soul skill, a golden color, the same as Goldlight¡¯s color, appeared in his mind.


    This had never happened before.


    ¡°Goldlight, what¡¯s this? You¡­¡±


    Without even waiting for Tang Wulin to finish speaking, Goldlight suddenly sprang forth and sank into the numerous strands of Bluesilver Grass.


    Immediately, several strands of Bluesilver Grass turned golden as they were covered by a fine layer of scales .


    This is¡­


    Is this a fusion of the spirit soul and martial soul? It is! Little Goldlight isn¡¯t a defective product anymore. He can help me in combat now!


    When Tang Wulin tugged on a strand of golden Bluesilver Grass, he immediately discovered that not only was it tougher than before, it was also stronger than the other normal strands of Bluesilver Grass. This strand of Bluesilver Grass felt as if it were an extension of himself, like an additional limb. Although it wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as his right arm with the golden scales, it was still only just slightly weaker than his left arm.


    This is a hundred-year spirit soul! With how strong my Bluesilver Grass is now, my Bind will definitely be much more impactful from now on!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face was plastered with a knowing smile as he rushed out of his room, cheering.


    It was still early in the morning and the first glimmers of light had just then creeped up over the horizon. After washing his face, he madly rushed over to the training field.


    Evolved. My spirit soul evolved! I¡¯m the same as the others now. I have a hundred-year spirit soul too! With a hundred-year soul ring!


    Tang Wulin shouted with excitement in his heart as the wind swept past him, seemingly dispersing the haze within him.


    This spirit soul evolution didn¡¯t only upgrade his strength, it had also given him peace of mind. He was able to circulate his soul power more smoothly than before, while the power of his bloodline and martial soul seemed to fuse under these bizarre circumstances.


    Standing outside the dormitory¡¯s doors, Ouyang Zixin stared at the scene in shock. A youngster was running wildly on the training field with his arms spread wide.


    What¡¯s going on with him? Ouyang Zixin couldn¡¯t help but smile at this scene. This boy is really interesting.


    After running for some time, Tang Wulin caught sight of a beautiful figure and slowed his pace at last.


    ¡°Good morning senior sister!¡± Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t his usual bashful self today and had actually taken the initiative to call out to Ouyang Zixin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s large eyes were shining and his cheeks flushed with wildness, showing off his youthful vigor.


    ¡°Why are you so happy junior brother?¡± Ouyang Zixin curiously asked.


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°It¡¯s nothing really. I merely made a breakthrough in my cultivation so I¡¯m pretty happy.¡±


    Ouyang Zixin beamed a smile at him. ¡°That¡¯s good then. Fight on! Mn. This is how a kid should act. You shouldn¡¯t always be so depressed, looking like an old man. After all, you¡¯re still only ten years old.¡±


    Child? Tang Wulin was stunned and awkwardness filled his heart. So I¡¯m just a child in her eyes¡­


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body was feverishly hot by the time the sky had lit up and he went to the dining hall. The first window provided nourishing gourmet food that comforted Tang Wulin¡¯s gloomy heart. After all, wasn¡¯t a good frame of mind beneficial to his cultivation speed?

 Chapter 132 - Summary

    Chapter 132 - Summary


    ¡°Tell me about your thoughts on your experiences in the spirit ascension platform yesterday.¡± Wu Zhangkong stood at the lectern and unenthusiastically told his five students.


    Wang Jinxi¡¯s and Zhang Yangzi¡¯s eyes were puffy and dark. Clearly, they hadn¡¯t had a good night¡¯s rest. The difference, though, was that Zhang Yangzi¡¯s restless night was due to depression, while Wang Jinxi¡¯s was caused by nightmares. Wang Jinxi simply couldn¡¯t forget the chill the Man-Faced Demon Spider instilled in him. That chill had reached to the depths of his very soul. He had felt like he was truly about to die at that moment. It was a terrifying feeling that was permanently etched into his heart.


    Xie Xie¡¯s complexion wasn¡¯t too healthy either. After fighting a bloody battle yesterday and receiving countless injuries, his nightmares were filled with wolves throwing themselves upon him, one after another It had been impossible for him to meditate calmly and recover properly under such circumstances. In fact, he had tumbled onto the ground midway through the night, waking him from his nightmare.


    Contrary to the others, Gu Yue was just the same as usual.


    Tang Wulin was the only one in high spirits. After all, how could he not rejoice after his spirit soul evolved?


    ¡°We¡¯ll go in order of yesterday¡¯s eliminations. Zhang Yangzi, you first!¡± Seeing that no one wanted to be the first to speak, Wu Zhangkong singled out Zhang Yangzi by name.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Zhang Yangzi responded in embarrassment and quickly stood up. ¡°My performance yesterday was simply horrible. Teacher Wu, I was wrong.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong rebuked him with a wave of his hand. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to tell me you were wrong, it¡¯s your own life after all. What you can do, however, is use this chance to acknowledge your errors and improve yourself. If you had really been in a soul beast forest yesterday, then all that would have remained of you would be a corpse. In fact, your skeleton might also have been destroyed. So tell me then, what do you think of your experience and of yourself in the spirit ascension platform yesterday?¡±


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s face twitched awkwardly. ¡°The world of the spirit ascension platform is too realistic. I couldn¡¯t feel anything unauthentic about it at all! I was really curious about the world when I first entered, so I climbed up a tree to survey my surroundings. With my martial soul¡¯s ability to glide, I thought I would be able to fly in any direction I wanted, so I did.


    ¡°In the beginning, I didn¡¯t do anything wrong. My mistake was underestimating my opponent afterward. I was arrogant and didn¡¯t carefully observe my surroundings when I chose to impulsively battle it. In the end, I was besieged on all sides and was quickly eliminated.


    ¡°The next time I enter the spirit ascension platform, I will be far more careful and place preserving my life as the number one priority. That way, I¡¯ll be able to survive even longer.¡±


    Finished with his summary, Zhang Yangzi sat back down.


    Without any words of criticism or praise for Zhang Yangzi¡¯s assessment of himself, Wu Zhangkong simply moved on to Wang Jinxi. ¡°How about you?¡±


    Wang Jinxi forced out a bitter laugh. ¡°Teacher Wu, right now I can¡¯t really remember too much about what happened in there, the only thing I remember vividly is that face falling on me from above and the soul freezing chill that followed it. The way it trapped me still gives me nightmares. I¡¯m not even sure how I should react if I were to face it again in the future.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong calmly spoke. ¡°You need to relax your mind and take several days to recover. Your situation is actually a bit special. The Man-Faced Demon Spider is an extremely rare and powerful soul beast. Even at the hundred-year level, it¡¯s able to hunt thousand-year soul beasts. Although there¡¯s no shame in dying to it, you must remember to immediately press the exit button the moment you encounter such a powerful soul beast next time. You actually faced some danger to your real self when it killed you this time.¡±


    Teacher Wu is consoling someone? No way!


    ¡°Thank you, teacher.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong then turned to Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue was prepared and quickly gave her analysis. ¡°The spirit ascension platform is an exceedingly realistic world and I felt that I was truly in an ancient forest during my stay there. I really like it in there. It¡¯s great. Battles with soul beasts are really realistic, I can¡¯t see a single difference from real combat.¡±


    ¡°Is that it?¡± Wu Zhangkong made a slight frown when he saw Gu Yue sitting down so quickly.


    Gu Yue nodded.


    Wu Zhangkong prodded her on. ¡°Then explain to me, how were you able to find Tang Wulin?¡¯


    Gu Yue was stunned. ¡°It was just by chance.¡±


    ¡°Chance?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ¡°Xie Xie running into Tang Wulin can be considered chance since they weren¡¯t too far from each other in the beginning and Xie Xie had only encountered Tang Wulin after running around chaotically. But you, you were quite far from Tang Wulin, yet as soon as you encountered the Crystal Bear, you immediately chose a direction to flee in; and this was precisely in the direction of Tang Wulin. Furthermore, the direction you fled would continuously adjust for Tang Wulin¡¯s position when he moved elsewhere. How could you have encountered him by chance? It¡¯s simply impossible to be that lucky.¡±


    Gu Yue remained silent while Tang Wulin looked at her in shock. How was she able to pinpoint my position?


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t have a complete understanding of all the events that had happened yesterday. All he knew was that Xie Xie had fought a bloody battle against a pack of wolves for him. As for Gu Yue, he had no idea how or why she left.


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit it. I have a way of tracking him by controlling the elements. I can place a marker on the bodies of my comrades by manipulating the elements. This marker let¡¯s me find them easily. I thought that being with Tang Wulin would be the safest decision, so I prioritized finding him first.¡± Gu Yue finally gave a seemingly far-fetched explanation.


    ¡°I see.¡± Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t pry too deeply and simply moved on to Xie Xie. ¡°It¡¯s your turn.¡±


    Xie Xie began going over his experience. ¡°I really like it in there too. The feeling of hunting soul beasts in the forest is so invigorating. That sort of forest environment is really suitable for us Agility System Soul Masters, and my ability to survive increases with the improvement of my speed. My final battle against those Green Wolves felt amazing too. I had to carefully avoid any fatal injuries while fighting a battle of attrition. I learned the theory of such battles before, but that was the first time I had actually experienced the bitterness of such a bloody fight. I gained a lot of combat experience this time, and I learned the importance of avoiding injuries to vital parts.¡±


    The very last person to go was Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin muttered a few words under his breath, before he began voicing his thoughts. ¡°We were actually really lucky to be able to kill a thousand-year Crystal Bear this time. If we made even the slightest mistake, we would have died. Although I knew that the forest is virtual, it was so realistic that I was no longer able to differentiate it from reality. I subconsciously began treating everything like it were real. Especially the injuries; I could feel all the pains and aches of the injuries I had sustained in there.


    The sensation of battling with an actual soul beast is also very helpful to improving my combat abilities. I think that if we could continue to cultivate in such an environment, we will be able to become true Soul Masters. Furthermore, I feel that we need to strengthen our cooperation as a team, so that we¡¯ll be able to face even stronger soul beasts in the future.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded in approval after hearing their evaluations.


    ¡°If I were to score your performances in the spirit ascension platform this time, then: Zhang Yangzi, 0 points. Wang Jinxi, 1 point. Gu Yue, 5 points. Xie Xie, 5 points. And Tang Wulin, 4 points.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi expected that they would receive low scores, but when they all heard Tang Wulin¡¯s score, they were shocked. If Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t killed the hundred-year Horned Dragon and thousand-year Crystal Bear, then Xie Xie and Gu Yue would have died far earlier!


    ¡°Tang Wulin, do you know why you scored less than Xie Xie and Gu Yue?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s burning gaze locked onto Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin lowered his head and pondered over it. Although he had also been stunned when he heard his score since he thought he¡¯d done the best, Wu Zhangkong challenged him to come up with the reasoning, so he began to consider it seriously. As he continued to mull over the events of the day before, Tang Wulin gradually understood Wu Zhangkong¡¯s reasoning.


    ¡°Gu Yue¡¯s score is higher than mine because of the coordination in our joint attack. It was only because of her excellent control over the elements that we were successful in killing the Crystal Bear. Xie Xie¡¯s score is higher because he risked his life to defend me from the pack of wolves.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong corrected him. ¡°That¡¯s not all of it. If Gu Yue hadn¡¯t sacrificed herself to catch you when you were crystallized, you would have shattered into pieces. Although you wouldn¡¯t have died in reality, you would have suffered from residual effects like Wang Jinxi and experience some dangers. If we count the minor details, then Gu Yue would actually have the highest score out of all of you.


    ¡°As for Xie Xie, his score isn¡¯t higher than yours because he saved you, but because of his greater knowledge of soul beasts. You were deducted points because you were crystallized after killing the Crystal Bear. If you had studied more and had known the traits and features of a Crystal Bear, then you would have known that its soul power explodes when it is on the verge of death, crystallizing everything in a certain radius. You would also have known that the stronger the Crystal Bear, the greater the radius of its soul power explosion. Clearly, however, you were lacking in such knowledge.¡±

 Chapter 133 - Before the Final Exam

    Chapter 133 - Before the Final Exam


    ¡°If you had been able to kill the thousand-year Crystal Bear without being crystallized, then neither Xie Xie nor Gu Yue would have needed to sacrifice themselves for your sake, and together, the three of you wouldn¡¯t have had any problem taking out the pack of wolves. Their sacrifices, were all because of you.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words seemed especially cold to Tang Wulin¡¯s ears at that moment. He had been proud of the battles¡¯ results, yet, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words were like a bucket of cold water being poured over him. So the battle was actually like that?


    That¡¯s right! If it had been a true battlefield, then my mistake would have caused the whole team to collapse and my comrades to die for my sake! How can I consider that a victory then?


    Wu Zhangkong continued to speak dully. ¡°You need to strengthen your knowledge and understanding of soul beasts. Don¡¯t think that just because soul beasts are rare nowadays, studying them is useless. On the contrary, a deeper understanding of soul beasts will greatly benefit your future cultivation. Research has shown that over 90% of the soul skills we Soul Masters possess have belonged to a soul beast at one point or another, so a greater understanding of soul beasts is the equivalent of understanding your competitors. It will also increase your odds of survival in the spirit ascension platform.


    ¡°You all should understand by now that the longer you survive in the spirit ascension platform, the greater the benefits are. You all still have a long ways to go.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s previous joy from having his spirit soul evolve disappeared completely. That¡¯s right! All because I lacked knowledge, I was a burden to my comrades!


    Bitterness encroached his heart the moment he realised this. Gu Yue and Xie Xie died because of me!


    ¡°In today¡¯s morning lesson, I¡¯ll be discussing the soul beasts you encountered yesterday. I will explain any special traits they have and their abilities at each level.¡± Wu Zhangkong indifferently announced the day¡¯s lesson.


    A chill suddenly swept through Tang Wulin¡¯s body. He looked to his side to see Gu Yue giving him a nod.


    A drop of cold water slid down his neck. He trembled, which immediately cleared and awakened his mind.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Tang Wulin whispered.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Xie Xie looked over and asked.


    After their adventures in the spirit ascension platform, the five students tackled studying with renewed vigor, as if their desire to study had gained a soul ability itself. Their desire to improve left no room for Wu Zhangkong to spur them on. In fact, Zhang Yangzi even dropped his grudge against Tang Wulin¡¯s trio. All that were on their minds were studying and cultivation.


    With a strand of Bluesilver Grass connecting them, Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi attempted to dual cultivate at night. As expected, their cultivation speed was a bit faster than cultivating alone, so both of them found this arrangement to be very beneficial. Furthermore, Tang Wulin¡¯s cultivation speed was much faster now due to the evolution of his spirit soul. Even if he had yet to catch up with the other geniuses, at the very least, the gap between them was rapidly closing. Nevertheless, it was impossible for him to overtake them in such a short period of time considering the  large gap between their cultivations.


    A bustling life made one feel enriched, or, at least, Tang Wulin felt this way.


    Tang Wulin would study and cultivate throughout the week and go to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association to learn from Mu Chen on rest days.


    Mu Chen may have seemed kind on the surface, but when he acted as a teacher, he was extremely fierce. He was actually stricter than Mang Tian and, after a day of forging, Tang Wulin would be left even more exhausted than after a week¡¯s worth of studies.


    Despite his constant state of exhaustion, Tang Wulin could feel his forging abilities gradually improving under Mu Chen¡¯s tutelage.


    Mu Chen¡¯s style of teaching didn¡¯t differ too much from Mang Tian¡¯s. He hadn¡¯t started teaching Tang Wulin about Spirit Forging yet; instead, Mu Chen focused on solidifying Tang Wulin¡¯s foundation and correcting any mistakes he had. Even for the slightest errors he would force Tang Wulin to practice them until perfection.


    A perfect foundation! Tang Wulin had never thought that having a perfect foundation was important since he was already a third rank blacksmith, but after a month of studying under Mu Chen, Tang Wulin was astonished to find that he could complete third rank Thousand Refinement missions 10% faster now!


    As he continued to forge tirelessly, Tang Wulin gradually started to understand the importance of a perfect foundation. The most important aspect of a perfect foundation was that it would rid him of any useless movements.


    Put simply, if a hammer strike was perfect, it would possess its full power, but if it strayed even a little bit, then the results would also suffer! This wouldn¡¯t actually affect the refinement process, but just how many strikes did it take to Thousand Refine a metal? If every single strike was perfect, then the Thousand Refinements would be more efficient, thus saving time.


    When Tang Wulin told Mu Chen what he felt while forging now, Mu Chen smiled for the first time since he had taken Tang Wulin in as his disciple. He then explained the differences between Thousand Refinements. These differences lied in the number of hammerings a metal received during the Thousand Refinement process. The less strikes it received, the greater the effects of the Thousand Refinements. A blacksmith¡¯s ability was representative of their efficiency in Thousand Refinements!


    After understanding this point, Tang Wulin studied with greater diligence than before.


    It became a requirement for class zero to enter the spirit ascension platform once a week. After entering, the five of them were exceptionally cautious and would only engage soul beasts they encountered after thorough preparations.


    However, being cautious did not necessarily mean that they would reap the greatest benefits in the spirit ascension platform. Luck was also essential. If they were unlucky enough to meet an opponent beyond them, then they would be eliminated quickly and ejected.


    One time, as soon as Tang Wulin entered the spirit ascension platform, he met an extremely agile thousand-year soul beast. Before he could even make a move, he was heavily wounded and had no choice but to exit.


    In the blink of an eye, the end of the first term approached.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, do we also need to take a final exam too?¡± Tang Wulin asked in astonishment.


    The other four students also had surprised expressions.


    For their class, the first grade¡¯s final exam was useless. This wasn¡¯t arrogance, but confidence in how greatly they had changed in the last three months.


    Gu Yue was already at the peak of rank 19 and was only a step away from reaching rank 20.


    Tang Wulin had also reached the peak of rank 15 and wasn¡¯t too far off from rank 16. In a short six months, he had improved from rank 11 to rank 15. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t even dreamt of making such progress before coming to Eastsea Academy.


    Most importantly, however, was the increase in their combat abilities. Their experiences in the spirit ascension platform had proved useful as it pressured them to cultivate even harder. At the young age of ten, they actually had such unbelievable combat ability.


    President Yu Zhen had invested greatly into class zero; they were provided with the best teaching facilities and equipment, as well as entry into the spirit ascension platform. This was the only way for them to raise these little monsters properly.


    ¡°Yes, you need to take them,¡± Wu Zhangkong said with his usual stony expression. ¡°Your final exam will test two things. The first is the spirit ascension platform.¡±


    Spirit ascension platform?


    In these last three months, they had already entered the spirit ascension platform a total of eleven times and were already familiar with it. As long as they weren¡¯t unlucky, they would be able to survive for at least one hour each time. The current record for the longest survival time was actually held by Xie Xie, with his stay of three hours.


    The more they experienced it, the more they sensed the changes the spirit ascension platform was had on their combat abilities. Whether it was their application of soul skills, combat techniques and so on, they had all greatly improved.


    As they now understood the benefits of the spirit ascension platform, they began to greatly anticipate their weekly visits there.


    ¡°You must survive for at least an hour to pass the exam. However, this time you will be entering the rebellion spirit ascension platform.¡±


    Xie Xie asked in shock, ¡°Teacher, what is the rebellion spirit ascension platform?¡± He had never heard of it, but it seemed to be a special type of spirit ascension platform.


    Tang Wulin and the others all stared at Wu Zhangkong in shock and curiosity. If the spirit ascension platform had already proved to be extremely effective at improving their combat ability, then what about the rebellion spirit ascension platform¡­?

 Chapter 134 - Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform?

    Chapter 134 - Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform?


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Twice a year, the spirit ascension platform will rebel. At first, they were caused by the unstable energies that the spirit ascension platform was made of. As the technology progressed, however, they were able to gain control over the rebellion periods and turned them into a special feature of the spirit ascension platforms. During a rebellion period, the soul beasts will grow excited and become more visible, increasing the danger within the spirit ascension platform. The Eighteen Pillars of Heaven imposed a limit of 300 people to enter the rebellion spirit ascension platform each time. This time, you five are fortunate enough to be one of those 300 people after the academy spent an enormous amount of resources to secure five quota spaces for you. You should appreciate just how great of an opportunity this is.¡±


    ¡°During the rebellion period, you will be able to enter the spirit ascension platform as a team, but your number cannot surpass seven. Since there are only five of you, so there will be no problems for you to enter together. This will serve to test your coordination as a team. Don¡¯t forget though, in addition to soul beasts, you might encounter other Soul Masters. They will pose just as much of a danger to you as soul beasts, because if you are ejected from the spirit ascension platform within the 100 seconds it takes to absorb a soul beast¡¯s spiritual energy, the remaining energy will go to the nearest Soul Master. These are the special rules of the rebellion spirit ascension platform.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi asked, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that other Soul Masters can steal our spiritual energy, and we can steal their spiritual energy too?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong spoke dismissively, ¡°If you¡¯re confident you can try, but don¡¯t forget that Soul Masters with up to three rings can enter the elementary spirit ascension platform, and those that want to enter a rebellion spirit ascension platform have to pay an enormous price. This means that there is a high chance that three ringed Soul Masters will appear and kill as many soul beasts as they can to try to upgrade their spirit soul. If you truly decide to attack them, then you should be prepared to face a powerful opponent.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, teacher. We will rely on our strength as a team!¡±


    Zhang Yangzi¡¯s relationship with the others had mended long ago. After all, they were young and had the temperament of children. How could he hold a grudge considering that? Moreover, as Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi grew closer together, Wang Jinxi had astonishingly advanced two ranks to reach rank 23. On the other hand, both Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie had only just reached rank 22.


    ¡°You will enter the spirit ascension platform in three days. You can take the next three days off as a vacation to rest and prepare.¡±


    Vacation? Ever since they had entered class zero, they hadn¡¯t had any opportunities to rest apart from the one rest day they had every week.


    But now they were given three days off! Xie Xie and Zhang Yangzi immediately took the lead to express their joy with cheers.


    Tang Wulin turned pensive at the thought of three days of free time. What should I do in these three days? That much time isn¡¯t enough to make any improvements for battle.


    After school, they all headed back to the dormitory.


    ¡°Wulin, what do you plan on doing in these three days? How about we go out to play instead?¡± Xie Xie mischievously laughed.


    ¡°Play? Play what?¡± Zhang Yangzi looked over and asked.


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking to you.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll treat you guys to dinner then, how about it? Will you bring me now?¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to consider it then. That¡¯s right, I just remembered something. Teacher Wu said our final exam has two parts to it, and the spirit ascension platform is only one part! What¡¯s the other part then? What do you guys think?¡±


    After pondering over it, they were at a loss and could only shake their heads.


    Wang Jinxi answered with a bitter smile, ¡°The rebellion spirit ascension platform is a wonderful opportunity, but it¡¯s still a bit early for us. I heard that the competition within the rebellion spirit ascension platform is extremely fierce and there is no room for empathy inside. After all, the chance to evolve your spirit soul is simply too valuable.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°The academy has invested a lot to give us the opportunity to enter the spirit ascension platform this often. I think they want us all to evolve our spirit souls to the thousand-year level by the time we graduate. Have any of you measured and calculated the growth of your spirit soul yet?¡±


    When they heard these words, they all froze in place.


    A thousand-year spirit soul? Just what did that signify?


    A thousand-year spirit soul, a thousand-year soul ring! Their first ring would become a thousand-year soul ring!


    If their first spirit soul was a thousand-year one, then it would be able to provide them with three soul skills and help them conserve some spiritual power. They could then fuse with another thousand-year spirit soul in the future and not need to worry about obtaining their first six soul rings.


    The number of spirit souls one could support had always been one of the greatest limitations that prevented Soul Masters from reaching higher levels of cultivation.


    If one¡¯s spiritual power was insufficient, then any attempts at fusing with a spirit soul would only end in failure. This was one of the reasons why Wu Zhangkong emphasized cultivating spiritual power.


    After researching spirit soul fusion for the last 10,000 years, 3000 years ago, the great Soul Master organizations released a report which detailed that a correlation between a Soul Master¡¯s spiritual power level and the number of spirit souls they could fuse with existed.


    At the basic Spirit Origin realm, only one spirit soul could be fused with. With spiritual power at the Spirit Origin realm, one could support up to a single yellow spirit soul.


    At the Spirit Connection realm, one¡¯s spirit could then communicate with their spirit soul and gain basic control over their spiritual power. By controlling one¡¯s spiritual power, one could support two yellow spirit souls or even a single purple spirit soul.


    At the Spirit Sea realm, one¡¯s spirit became as vast and as boundless as the sea. It was at this realm that one¡¯s spiritual power could be considered high and was a sufficient foundation to become a powerful expert. All Mecha Masters and Souls Masters who reached the apex had reached this level at the very least. At this realm, one could support either five yellow spirit souls, three purple spirit souls or a single black spirit soul.


    When one entered the Spirit Abyss realm, their spirit would act like an abyssal prison. If the spirit was the world, then the upper boundary would be heaven while the lower boundary would be hell! Should one have such powerful spiritual power, they would also possess a legendary spirit soul that acted as their foundation. One could fuse with any level of spirit soul at this realm; even orange spirit souls and red spirit souls could be fused with. If one fused with an orange or red spirit soul, then their remaining power would only be at the Spirit Sea realm. However, if one didn¡¯t have an orange or red spirit soul, it was possible to fuse with a maximum of five spirit souls of any color. Normally speaking, the Spirit Abyss realm was considered the limit of humans, but there was still the Spirit Domain realm.


    Should one reach the Spirit Domain realm, their spirit sense would become a domain, a world unto itself. Their spirit sense would control the domain and their spirit souls become the foundation of their world. Their mind would then be boundless, and their spiritual power able to fuse with spirit souls of any level. In theory, the limit was nine legendary spirit souls, just like the fabled founder of the Spirit Pagoda and creator of spirit souls, the almighty Spirit Ice Douluo.


    Then, there was the rumored Divine Origin realm.  One would transform into the primordial state, while their spirit sense would become omnipotent and change into the primordial spirit. Spiritual power would convert into primordial spirit power; that was the realm of the gods. With a single thought, one would know everything under the heavens and could peek into the realm of the gods. Once one reached the Divine Origin realm, they could already be considered a demigod. Only a god¡¯s inheritance was missing.


    For Soul Masters, the first four spiritual power realms were the most important as Spirit Domain realm and Divine Origin realm were only attainable by pure spirit attribute Soul Masters.


    The Spirit Origin realm was something everyone possessed innately as soon as they were born. From there, it wasn¡¯t too hard to cultivate 100 points of spiritual power and reach the Spirit Connection realm. However, a huge gap existed between Spirit Connection and Spirit Sea, preventing the majority from ever reaching the latter.


    The Spirit Sea realm required 500 points of spiritual power.


    The Spirit Abyss realm required 5000 points of spiritual power.


    The Spirit Domain realm required 20,000 points of spiritual power.


    As for the Divine Origin realm, it required a terrifying 50,000 points of spiritual power.


    There were rumors that an even higher realm existed: the legendary Godking realm. This was the current extent of Tang Wulin and his classmates¡¯ knowledge.


    Among the five students of class zero, Gu Yue possessed the greatest spiritual power and would easily reach the Spirit Sea realm in the future. Only after reaching the Spirit Sea realm would it be possible for a Soul Master to have nine rings, assuming these nine rings were all thousand-year rings at most.


    As for the other four students, Tang Wulin was second in spiritual power strength since he was already at the Spirit Connection realm. The remaining three were all at the boundary of the Spirit Connection realm and would soon reach it.


    Even so, with how talented they were, reaching Spirit Connection would be easy, and considering their young age, it was very likely that they would be able to reach the Spirit Sea realm too.

 Chapter 135 - Closed Door Forging

    Chapter 135 - Closed Door Forging


    If they were to actually have a purple thousand-year soul ring as their first ring, then when they reached the Spirit Sea realm, they would be able to have three thousand-year spirit souls. This meant that they would have the chance to become a Title Douluo.


    Naturally, this was only a chance. An extremely small chance too, since a Title Douluo with only three thousand-year spirit souls ¡ª a total of nine purple rings ¡ª had never appeared before; they would be too weak!


    Take Wu Zhangkong for example. He currently possessed six rings and had a  ten-thousand-year spirit soul. Just how powerful was he?


    ¡°It seems like the academy really is planning for that?¡± Zhang Yangzi gulped. Although his ambitions had always been to become a powerful expert, his nature was actually that of a straightforward and kind person. It was due to these ambitions that he had acted so arrogantly when he¡¯d first met Tang Wulin¡¯s trio.


    Xie Xie said, ¡°That¡¯s probably what they¡¯re planning. If this really is true, then that¡¯ll be great for us. We will definitely have to treasure every chance we get when we enter the spirit ascension platform.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to go out to play then. I plan on going to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association to temper myself a bit.¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°I¡¯m going to meditate.¡±


    Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin with grief-filled eyes, forcing Tang Wulin to laugh. ¡°Jinxi, I¡¯ll be back at night. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Ahem! Jinxi, when did you become a jealous woman?¡± Zhang Yangzi poked fun at Wang Jinxi as he patted him on the shoulder.


    Everyone knew that Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi complemented one another when dual cultivating.


    Wang Jinxi shot him a glare. ¡°If you can help me cultivate an extra half a rank in three months, then I¡¯ll also act like a jealous woman to you too. Wulin, can I go with you? Or maybe I¡¯ll pick blacksmithing as my secondary occupation too? Do you think I have any talent for it?¡¯


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I still think it¡¯s best if we all have secondary occupations different from one another so that in the future, we¡¯ll be able to help each other out when we start making our own battle armor.¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°That makes sense. I¡¯ve already decided on my secondary occupation anyway. I¡¯ll be a mecha maker! A mecha maker doesn¡¯t require too much technical knowledge, but instead focuses on practicing technique. I think it¡¯s quite suitable for me. What about you guys?¡±


    Zhang Yangzi said, ¡°I¡¯m still not sure yet.¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°I think I¡¯ll study mecha mechanics.¡±


    ¡°Ah? You want to study mecha mechanics? But you¡¯re a girl! I thought you would choose mecha designing,¡± said Xie Xie with shock.


    Gu Yue coldly said, ¡°Only brainless people would think like that.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, you two hurry up and go back to rest and eat.¡± Tang Wulin could only helplessly look at his two quarreling friends. He¡¯d already gotten used to their bickering long ago.


    ?


    After getting to know the others these last few months, Tang Wulin discovered that Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi had the best relationship, while Xie Xie and Gu Yue were like fire and water. Although Gu Yue seemed gentle on the outside, her real personality was rather haughty, and she kept a distance from the other three.


    The funny thing was, everyone had a good relationship with Tang Wulin, so he acted as the team¡¯s mediator.


    Tang Wulin was grateful for having companions such as these. He had been born with a trash martial soul and his cultivation was the weakest among them, yet he was allowed to enter class zero and study together with these geniuses. He couldn¡¯t slack off now that he had found himself in a good situation. Although his cultivation speed was still the slowest among them, he had improved greatly compared to his old self.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s attitude went through an amazing change ever since he¡¯d come to Eastsea Academy. He no longer compared himself against these geniuses, and simply compared himself to himself. As long as his cultivation speed kept increasing, he would be satisfied.


    The final exam was approaching, and it was also a team exam. As the captain and the one with the weakest cultivation, he carried within him an enormous amount of responsibility.


    After eating dinner and doing some light exercises, he started meditating. During his meal, he had already decided on his plan for the next three days.


    ?


    Early morning of the next day.


    Tang Wulin ran out of the academy grounds and headed straight for the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. He bought a few things from there, then entered a forging workshop and began a three-day period of closed-door forging.


    Hammering sounds rang out without pause from within the workshop. For the next three days, Tang Wulin would come here during the day to forge. At night he would return to the dorms, beaten and exhausted, to dual cultivate with Wang Jinxi via a strand of Bluesilver Grass.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, come over here for a moment.¡± After he finished forging for the day, he received a call from Mu Chen, summoning him.


    ¡°Yes teacher. I¡¯ll head over now.¡±


    When he arrived at the association, he directly walked toward Mu Chen¡¯s office. By now, the association employees already recognized him as Mu Chen¡¯s disciple, but they still didn¡¯t know that this nine year-old kid was actually a third rank blacksmith.


    Under Mu Chen¡¯s special orders, all of the tasks that Tang Wulin accepted went through Cen Yue first to hide the fact that he was a third rank blacksmith.


    A nine-years-old third rank blacksmith was simply too shocking. Mu Chen instructed Tang Wulin that before he reached the Spirit Forging level, he wasn¡¯t allowed to cause a ruckus in the outside world. This was the reason why Tang Wulin never wore his blacksmith¡¯s badge, as it would give away his rank.


    ¡°Teacher!¡± The moment Tang Wulin walked in, he saw Mu Chen perusing something.


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re here. Come and take a seat.¡± Mu Chen was a mild-mannered person outside of the times he taught Tang Wulin forging.


    After Tang Wulin seated himself opposite Mu Chen, he was handed a metal card.


    Tang Wulin took the metal card and inspected it. It had unusual complex and fine lines on it. Although Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t reached a high enough level yet, he could tell that it likely held a profound soul circuit.


    Flipping it over, he saw three familiar words inscribed into it: spirit ascension platform.


    ¡°Spirit ascension platform?¡± Tang Wulin asked in surprise.


    Mu Chen nodded. ¡°The spirit ascension platform is about to enter a period of rebellion, and that will be a great opportunity for you to gain experience. This is an invitation card that will let you enter it. But be careful; a rebellion spirit ascension platform is far more dangerous than normal, and you will be under even greater pressure. Of course, the opportunities are just as great. Go participate in it and temper yourself. Temper yourself well.¡±


    Tang Wulin was well aware of how few slots a rebellion spirit ascension platform had, so when he saw how carefree his teacher was being, he couldn¡¯t help but feel warm within his heart. Ever since he¡¯d joined the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, this was the very first time he had received aid from his teacher.


    ¡°Thank you teacher, but this is too precious. You should just give it to big sister Mu Xi instead.¡± As he spoke, Tang Wulin returned the card.


    Mu Chen revealed a warm smile. ¡°She already has one. You two should look after each other inside there.¡±


    Tang Wulin, somewhat awkwardly, said, ¡°The academy has already arranged for us to take part in a rebellion spirit ascension platform as our final exam, so I already have a slot.¡±


    Mu Chen was surprised. ¡°Your class zero is actually treated this well? It seems Eastsea Academy really does value you guys!¡± Although Mu Chen knew that Tang Wulin had joined a class of geniuses, he also understood that Tang Wulin¡¯s cultivation was only just barely above average. With his young age taken into consideration, however, his cultivation speed certainly couldn¡¯t be considered slow.


    For a blacksmith, however, the martial soul wasn¡¯t nearly as important. As long as a blacksmith had sufficient soul power, they would be fine. He hadn¡¯t expected that this class of geniuses that Tang Wulin joined would actually be treated so well.


    Despite this, Mu Chen didn¡¯t accept the card back. He simply smiled and said, ¡°You can just keep it then. I obtained two cards anyway. With an extra card, you can go in one more time. After all, a rebellion spirit ascension platform lasts for seven days. Entering it another time will still be a great experience for you.¡±


    Entering another time? Tang Wulin¡¯s heart stirred at the thought.


    ¡°Tomorrow marks the beginning of the rebellion period, So you should hurry back and prepare soon. I don¡¯t have any other warnings to give you since you¡¯re already far more level-headed than your peers, but if you happen to run into Mu Xi, I hope you two will take care of each other.¡±


    ¡°Yes teacher.¡±


    The relationship between Tang Wulin and Mu Xi had never been particularly good because in Mu Xi¡¯s heart, she still harbored some rejection toward Tang Wulin. Mu Xi would often say that Mu Chen treated Tang Wulin even better than her, rousing her competitive spirit.


    While she went through the hard labor of forging, she was able to control, to some degree,  the temperature with her martial soul, which was a skill she had inherited from Mu Chen. She was gifted in forging and had a firm foundation, and was now preparing for the Thousand Refinements. Mu Xi still needed some time, however, before she could reach the third rank.

 Chapter 136 - Thousand Refined Cloud Titanium Vests

    Chapter 136 - Thousand Refined Cloud Titanium Vests


    After returning to the dormitory, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t return to his room first. Instead, he knocked on someone else¡¯s door.


    ¡°You¡¯re back. What¡¯s up?¡± After Xie Xie opened the door and saw Tang Wulin, he said these words somewhat discontentedly. He hadn¡¯t seen anyone around these last few days so he had no one to go out and play with. In the end, he could only cultivate in boredom.


    ¡°Come over to my room. I have something to tell everyone.¡± Tang Wulin waved, then proceeded to the next room.


    It was already late into the evening and everyone had just returned from dinner, so they were all resting in their rooms. It didn¡¯t take long for Tang Wulin to round them up and assemble them in his room.


    ¡°Mr. Captain, what did you call us all here for?¡± Zhang Yangzi said in a teasing manner.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I have something to give all of you. Here, try it on and tell me if I need to adjust it.¡± As he spoke, a pile of metal objects poured out of his storage ring. He then proceeded to distribute them.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± When they saw the items that Tang Wulin handed out, everyone was shocked.


    They were vests, vests forged from metal. This metal vest was made from numerous thumb-sized silver metal disks linked together in an ingenious manner to form a chainmail.


    What was even more astonishing was how flexible and light the vest was. It was made in the style of chainmail, and if one inspected it closely, they would discover faint cloud patterns sprawling across the pieces of metal, exuding an exotic aura.


    ¡°It¡¯s so light. What is it made of?¡± Zhang Yangzi curiously asked.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°It¡¯s made from an uncommon metal called Cloud Titanium. I used the Thousand Refinements to purify it then forged chainmail from it. Although it¡¯s light, it¡¯s still extremely tough. When we enter the spirit ascension platform, we¡¯re scanned and everything on our person will be brought inside, so if we wear this vest when we enter, we¡¯ll be able to use it inside and it¡¯ll increase our chances of survival.


    Wang Jinxi spoke slowly. ¡°Is this considered cheating...?¡±


    Zhang Yangzi said craftily, ¡°How could this be considered cheating? We¡¯re just taking advantage of the rebellion spirit ascension platform to improve ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Although it doesn¡¯t fit perfectly, it doesn¡¯t hinder my movements either. It doesn¡¯t encumber my agile movements. Jinxi, try punching it.¡± Zhang Yangzi said eagerly.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Wang Jinxi punched straight at Zhang Yangzi¡¯s stomach.


    With a ¡®bang¡¯, Zhang Yangzi was knocked onto his butt.


    ¡°Ouch, you should have taken it easier!¡± Zhang Yangzi complained.


    Wang Jinxi cooly said, ¡°What use is there in going easy? Captain really made these well. When I hit it, it felt as if I was striking solid armor or an iron panel. Technically, you were only pushed over by my force, you weren¡¯t knocked down.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi got up and rubbed his stomach. That¡¯s right! My stomach doesn¡¯t hurt at all.


    Gu Yue looked at Tang Wulin. ¡°Is this the reason you were gone the last three days?¡±


    ¡°Yea. It¡¯s just making some preparations before the battle. Jinxi and Yangzi were both correct, this can be considered cheating in a way, but at the very least, we can ensure that everyone won¡¯t be as fragile when faced with those soul beasts anymore. As long as we can survive even a minute longer in the spirit ascension platform, it will be considered an achievement in our exam and allow us to hunt even more soul beasts.¡±


    Xie Xie looked at the Thousand Refined Cloud Titanium vest in his hands. He then shifted his gaze to Tang Wulin, a hint of shame filling his eyes. So this is what that guy was doing¡­


    ¡°Hurry up and try them on!¡± Tang Wulin urged them on.


    Everyone started experimenting with their vests. Though Tang Wulin had little experience with making clothes, a vest was simple enough for him to make.


    He had also taken Wang Jinxi¡¯s martial soul transformation in consideration and made his vest a bit larger.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s all. Let¡¯s all do our best tomorrow.¡± Tang Wulin stretched out his right hand. Xie Xie was the first one to pick up on Tang Wulin¡¯s intent and quickly placed his own hand atop Tang Wulin¡¯s. Afterward, Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi and Gu Yue took their cue and added their own hands underneath his palm.


    The five of them cheered in unison, ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡±


    Early morning. A heavy fog had enveloped Eastsea City during the night, hindering visibility and making it seem like everything were just hazy figures.


    Despite the usual lack of cheer haunting the city at this time, the Spirit Pagoda was bustling with excitement. As one of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s Eighteen Pillars of Heaven, it was one of the entrances into the rebellion spirit ascension platform.


    A single entry card for the rebellion spirit ascension platform auctioned for over 100,000 federal coins and it had no set market price. The Spirit Pagoda organized the distribution of these cards every year. Even though the chance to achieve spirit ascension was miniscule, everyone would go crazy for that chance.


    The moment that the first glimmers of dawn peeked over the horizon, Wu Zhangkong and the students of class zero had arrived at the Eastsea Spirit Pagoda. The earlier they entered, the less likely they were to encounter any competitors.


    ¡°You all must remember that at its peak, the spirit ascension platform will be filled with many other people, of whom many will be your enemies. You only have one mission inside of there: survive! Anyone who doesn¡¯t pass the final exam will be penalized.¡±


    After hearing Wu Zhangkong¡¯s warning, Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously, ¡°Teacher Wu, what¡¯s the penalty?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shot him a glance. ¡°Your vacation days will be cancelled.¡± After every term was a month-long vacation, so when he heard that their vacation might be cancelled, Xie Xie immediately went wide-eyed in shock. He had been looking forward to the month-long vacation for so long already.


    The others also exchanged looks of panic, while only Tang Wulin maintained a calm expression. Even Gu Yue had frowned at the prospect of losing her vacation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    After the five students handed over their entry cards, they were lead by a staff member to a familiar room. As Eastsea City¡¯s only intermediate academy, not only did Eastsea Acaademy have tremendous influence, they also maintained a cordial relationship with the Spirit Pagoda. If not, they wouldn¡¯t necessarily have been able to secure spirit ascension platform spots even if they had money.


    Eastsea Spirit Pagoda had set up this room especially for them, which allowed Wu Zhangkong to monitor them. This wasn¡¯t normal but was actually preferential treatment.


    ¡°The spirit ascension platform is highly dangerous during the rebellion period. You have all entered the spirit ascension platform numerous times now and understand what it¡¯s like inside, so I don¡¯t need to give you any more warnings. Just remember to immediately hit the exit button the moment you are in danger.¡±  The staff member gave them a few words of warning.


    The more times one had entered the spirit ascension platform, the less chance one would encounter danger like Wang Jinxi had during his first time.


    The five students separated and entered their own metal boxes. Under the staff member¡¯s control, the boxes closed and the light disappeared. The scan initiated, preparing to send them into the spirit ascension platform.


    The staff member inserted five cards into a slot then pressed a big red button. This was a part of the safeguard system for the rebellion period. These cards allowed one to enter into the spirit ascension platform, as well as the designation of the coordinates one would appear at.


    After a moment, the five of them them awoke from their daze and were greeted with the sight of a boundless great forest. The forest was no different from the one they were used to, but this time, the five of them had entered together.


    The air was fresh and the plants a vibrant green, just like how they remembered it. They couldn¡¯t see any difference from the normal, peaceful spirit ascension platform.


    Tang Wulin ordered, ¡°Into formation.¡±


    He took a few steps forward to stand as the vanguard of the group while Wang Jinxi took position behind him, facing the opposite direction. Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie were arranged on the left and right. They were all facing outward, while Gu Yue was situated right in the center.


    A gentle green light flickered, covering the five of them. It was precisely Gu Yue controlling the wind elements to lighten them and increase their agility.


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand, releasing two strands of Bluesilver Grass as a yellow soul ring appeared beneath his feet. The two strands of grass were like snakes as they slithered forth and sweeped the surrounding shrubbery, creating a path for them.


    ¡°Our number one priority is to survive for at least an hour to pass the final exam, while our second priority is to hunt as many soul beasts as we can. Be careful everyone.¡± Four strands of Bluesilver Grass spread out from underneath his feet, connecting him to his four comrades by their waist. This way, he would be able to save them at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Zhang Yangzi released his spirit soul, and a little black eagle soared into the sky. Beside the boost to his combat abilities his little black eagle gave him, it was also able to share its vision with him as long as it was within ten meters of him. Like this, they would have another set of eyes with a broader view.

 Chapter 137 - Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform

    Chapter 137 - Rebellion Spirit Ascension Platform


    They weren¡¯t naive and released their martial souls as soon as they entered.


    ?


    Inside the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s monitoring room.


    The staff member turned to Wu Zhangkong and said, ¡°These kids are pretty good. Teacher Wu really is very good at teaching.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong gave a humble nod. ¡°Let¡¯s see how they do first.¡±


    Although he had always been the type to suppress his emotions and keep a stony expression, he couldn¡¯t help but feel pleased with his disciples.


    As he watched them undergo their trials, a 20,000-year-old motto popped into his mind: Shrek Academy only accepts monsters, not ordinary people.


    Regardless of the time period, Shrek Academy had never failed to uphold that motto. This motto was engraved into every single student of Shrek, instilling them with a sense of pride.


    I wonder how far these brats will be able to go.


    In order to become a monster, other than having first-class talent, one also needed unyielding perseverance. From his observations, all five of his students possessed talent, with Gu Yue being the most talented among them. There were no records of her martial soul or anything similar within Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s history. Miraculously, she was able to control five elements, and despite the fact that her soul skill could only increase how effectively she utilizes her soul power to control the elements, she was still able to combine the five elements into a variety of attacks. What need did she have for extra soul skills then?


    Her spiritual power had also reached unprecedented heights, especially when compared to her peers. Just the fact that she was able to reach the Spirit Connection realm at her age, combined with her speed of improvement, meant that by the time she graduated in six years, she might actually reach the Spirit Sea realm. If she actually managed such an unprecedented feat, then her future potential would be limitless, rocking the Soul Master world.


    Xie Xie was undoubtedly the second most talented individual. His twin martial souls were a rare and amazing gift, regardless of era, and though his twin martial souls were artificial rather than natural, they were still beneficial for him. No one could say for certain, but in the future, Xie Xie might just be able to¡­


    As for Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi¡¯s talent, it could only be considered as decent. Neither the Bone Dragon King nor the Shadow Phantasm Eagle could be considered as peak level martial souls, but the two were compatible. If they could one day perfectly control their fusion skill, their combat strength would then be on the same level as a peak genius.


    Although, only time could tell whether or not they perfect their soul fusion skill. After all, their grasp of their fusion skill was still at a rudimentary level.


    Lastly, there was Tang Wulin. Wu Zhangkong had appointed him as the team captain because he saw a quality in Tang Wulin¡¯s character that couldn¡¯t be found in his peers. He was tenacious, his so-called trash martial soul having never discouraged him from cultivating hard. He slowly followed behind his classmates, step by step. He also had innate divine strength, making him the strongest one amongst them and could make up for the deficiency of his martial soul at these lower ranks.


    What was even more notable, though, was that he had a variant martial soul and possessed the peculiar Golden Dragon Claw. Out of the five individuals, he was possibly the strongest,, but it was still too soon to tell. If his martial soul continued to mutate, then there was a high chance he would become a super genius like Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s steady temperament made him the best choice for a leader, and he was also a natural at taking care of everyone at his side. The most important point, however, was that he was brave enough to shoulder this responsibility. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s greatest hope for Tang Wulin was for him to mature and become one of the geniuses of this generation.


    The Thousand Refined hammers also made it clear to Wu Zhangkong that Tang Wulin was a first class genius in the art of forging and that he would not stray in his secondary profession.


    Although blacksmithing wasn¡¯t as popular as the three great Mecha Master professions, fifth rank blacksmiths and higher were one of the scarcest talents on the continent. Although battle armor designing and crafting were extremely high level skills, blacksmithing was the foundation they built upon. With excellent materials, the designs could be even better and the workmanship of even higher quality, allowing the battle armor to reach the peak.


    Wu Zhangkong truly wished for Tang Wulin to travel as far down this path as possible. If he had to choose which of the five students to take the exam to enter his organization, then Tang Wulin would definitely be the most suitable. He couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of Gu Yue, but he could tell that she carried many secrets and would have to keep a close eye on her.


    ?


    Tang Wulin used his Bluesilver Grass vines to part the grass in front of them and create a path, allowing them to advance slowly and carefully.


    As this was their end-of-term final exam, their number one priority now was to survive. As such, hunting soul beasts was a secondary priority placed at the back of their minds.


    Finding a safe area to occupy was their most important objective now.


    ¡°No signs of souls beasts at the rear or sides,¡± reported Zhang Yangzi.


    As Tang Wulin nodded in acknowledgement, a Heavy Silver hammer appeared in his left hand with a flash of light. His right hand was empty in case he needed to use his Golden Dragon Claw.


    Suddenly, a low growl came from ahead of them, announcing the arrival of a large beast as it leapt out.


    It was a giant ape as tall as a human. A faintly fishy odor wafted from its ash-black furred body as it glared at them with crimson eyes.


    After his first experience in the spirit ascension platform, Tang Wulin earnestly studied the various species of soul beasts. That, combined with his experiences in the spirit ascension platform, increased his understanding of soul beasts to a level incomparable with before.


    With a single look, he identified this ape to be a hundred-year Ironarm Ape, a type of human-like soul beast. It was both quick and strong and possessed arms like steel. The most troublesome aspect, however, was its crowd skill, Threaten. If someone with weak spiritual power was hit by its Threaten, then they would receive its full effect and may even lose their desire to do battle immediately. Thus, the best method of dealing with an Ironarm Ape was to strike first and gain the upper hand.


    Whoosh!


    Tang Wulin instantly threw his hammer, sending it flying in an arc toward the beast. As it flew through the air, Tang Wulin took large strides forward and charged. Golden scales crept up his right arm as he launched his frontal assault. As he did so, a strand of Bluesilver Grass slithered along the ground, twisting around the Ironarm Ape and binding it.


    Xie Xie had also acted the moment Tang Wulin made his move. He dashed forward and stuck behind Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin grabbed one of the strands of Bluesilver Grass tied around his waist and swung it upward, launching Xie Xie into the air. Xie Xie somersaulted beautifully over the Ironarm Ape¡¯s head. His Light Dragon Dagger flashing as he stabbed toward the back of the ape¡¯s head.


    As a humanoid soul beast, the back of the Ironarm Ape¡¯s head was a weak point.


    A pair of small fireballs with faintly discernable green glows pierced through the air like arrows. This might seem unremarkable, but wind accelerated the fireball. Although the fireballs may have been weak, they were blazingly fast. A silver light appeared in front of the Ironarm Ape at that moment, blocking its view of Xie Xie soaring through the air and over it.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue¡¯s coordination was amazing. It had reached a point where it could be said that they were a hair¡¯s width away from reaching the peak.


    Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi hadn¡¯t launched their own attacks. Instead, they had gathered together quickly and observed their surroundings. Even though their fusion skill hadn¡¯t yet been completed, it would still be a formidable option should they encounter a powerful foe. Their current goal was to guard against any other soul beasts that might appear while the other three took care of the Ironarm Ape.


    The hundred-year Ironarm Ape could do nothing in the face of the quick little fireballs; it couldn¡¯t even raise an arm in time to protect itself. All it could do was lower its head and knock them away with its hard forehead, sending sparks flying everywhere. At the same time, it swung its arm and met the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammer head on.


    Bang!


    The hammer flew backward, but the Ironarm Ape had also been shaken. After all, that hammer had carried over five hundred kilograms of force. It wouldn¡¯t have been easy to receive such an attack, even if the ape had innate divine strength.

 Chapter 138 - Meeting Mu Xi

    Chapter 138 - Meeting Mu Xi


    Tang Wulin was the last to arrive in front of it, yet he suddenly stopped in place and raised the retrieved hammer while a yellow ring emerged from beneath him.


    Strand after strand of Bluesilver Grass climbed up the ape¡¯s body like ivy, binding it completely. Even with its tremendous strength, the Ironarm Ape was unable to break free.


    A light flashed behind its head as Xie Xie took advantage of its reaction to the fireballs to quickly stab it in the head.


    ¡°Hou!¡± The hundred-year Ironarm Ape released a roar as its red eyes flashed with an ominous glint. It moved to sweep an arm at the back of its head.


    Before it could even raise its arm halfway, however, the glimmer of life in its eyes disappeared, and its large, two meter tall body toppled over with a loud thud.


    Xie Xie¡¯s first soul ring pulsed with light as a ball of gentle light floated over from the hundred-year Ironarm Ape and circled around him. This was undoubtedly the spirit energy of the Ironarm Ape.


    Just as they were told, the spirit energy absorption rate during the rebellion period was far slower than usual. Fortunately, it had only been a hundred-year beast, so it wouldn¡¯t take too long to digest.


    When Xie Xie had stabbed the Ironarm Ape with his Light Dragon Dagger, he hadn¡¯t been able to kill the beast immediately, as after all, the ape¡¯s skull was extremely hard. What he did to make up for it, however, was use his first soul skill while his dagger was still in the ape¡¯s head. Like that, he was able to shoot his dagger forward into the ape¡¯s brain, destroying it.


    Tang Wulin gave a thumbs up to Xie Xie and proceeded to recall his Bluesilver Grass when Zhang Yangzi called out from behind him, ¡°Reporting on the left side, it¡¯s safe for now.¡±


    Tang Wulin did not hesitate in leading the others to the left side. They didn¡¯t dare stay in one place for too long after killing a soul beast.


    From the moment the Ironarm Ape had appeared to the moment it was killed by the trio, only a dozen or so seconds had passed. During the battle, Gu Yue¡¯s only role had been to confuse it, yet it was crucial in allowing them to achieve such an amazing and neat victory with their low cultivations.


    This was the result of their three months of combat experience in the spirit ascension platform.


    An individual¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t solely dependent on their cultivation and soul skills; their application and techniques mattered just as much.


    There were many gifted Soul Masters, but the ones who lacked combat experience wouldn¡¯t be able to display their full power in a battle. As such, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s actions had all been for the sake of laying a good foundation for the students of class zero. With the growth of their combat experience, they would be able to display 120% of their strength!


    In his experience, combat Soul Masters were meant to battle, not serve as decorations. Thus, the best way for them to improve was through combat!


    For example, Xie Xie had used his Light Dragon Blade soul skill while his dagger was stabbed into the ape¡¯s head, allowing him to puncture the ape¡¯s brain. Only through combat experience could this type of decision making skill be cultivated.


    After running to their left side for several hundred meters, they hadn¡¯t encountered any other soul beasts, so Tang Wulin ordered, ¡°Stop! We¡¯ll rest here for a bit. Yangzi, you¡¯re responsible for scouting this time.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Zhang Yangzi affirmed before nimbly climbing up a nearby tree to a vantage spot. From there, he observed one side while his black eagle spirit soul observed the other, allowing him to keep an eye out in all four directions.


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie were seated cross-legged, intently recovering the soul power consumed in the previous battle.


    Although they hadn¡¯t used much soul power in that one battle, it was best to maintain their peak conditions in the spirit ascension platform. Only like this could they survive for even longer.


    ¡°There are three people approaching in our direction. Two males, one female. They seem to be about 15 or 16-years-old. One of them has three rings while the other two have two rings. One of the ones with two rings seems to be absorbing spirit energy right now.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi succinctly reported his evaluation of the approaching group. Without any warning, a red light streaked across the horizon, shooting straight towards the branch Zhang Yangzi was perched on.


    I¡¯ve been discovered!


    Zhang Yangzi immediately leapt off the tree and spread his wings while Tang Wulin and Xie Xie shot forth like a bullet.


    Xie Xie¡¯s figure blurred for a moment and then reappeared in the shadow of a tree. Meanwhile, the other four stood together, waiting for Xie Xie to alert them of their opponents¡¯ arrival.


    Three people, two male and one female, approached, giving Tang Wulin a shock when he saw them.


    There stood one girl in the middle with the two boys to her side. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t recognize the boys, but he recognized the girl. It truly was a coincidence; that girl was Mu Xi.


    Floating above Mu Xi was a fireball as fiery as the sun. Clearly, she had been the one to shoot that fireball earlier.


    Mu Xi¡¯s Shining Sun martial soul was powerful and excelled in long distance artillery, with firepower that Gu Yue couldn¡¯t even hope to compare with. The truly shocking thing was the fact that Mu Xi now had three soul rings. She actually had three soul rings now!


    ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± Mu Xi was equally shocked when she saw Tang Wulin, and her Shining Sun¡¯s radiance weakened a bit.


    ¡°Senior disciple sister.¡± Tang Wulin hastily took two steps forward and loudly greeted her.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Mu Xi nodded at him. ¡°We¡¯re going.¡± She immediately turned around and took large strides forward.


    Tang Wulin had long since become accustomed to Mu Xi¡¯s cold indifference towards him, but what he didn¡¯t see was the proud look in her eyes after she turned around to leave. She was quite proud of herself after seeing Tang Wulin¡¯s reaction to her third ring, and she also noticed that Tang Wulin still only had one ring.


    Aren¡¯t you a genius? Weren¡¯t you born with innate divine strength? Yet, your soul power is so lacking. You¡¯re making quick progress in the early stages of forging, but just wait until you reach Spirit Forging. Then you¡¯ll understand the importance of soul power. I¡¯ll definitely surpass you when that time comes!


    ¡°Senior disciple sister?¡± Zhang Yangzi gave Tang Wulin an astute look. ¡°So it¡¯s like that! Your senior disciple sister is so pretty! Why haven¡¯t you ever introduced us to her before? Senior disciple sister, won¡¯t it be better if we go together?¡± His final words were shouted at the departing Mu Xi.


    Mu Xi didn¡¯t even bother to look back and simply left with the two boys, soon vanishing into the forest.


    With her current strength, she was definitely one of the strongest Soul Masters in the elementary spirit ascension platform, so it wasn¡¯t worth her time to babysit Tang Wulin¡¯s group of one rings and two rings. And besides that, she didn¡¯t really want work together with Tang Wulin either.


    Tang Wulin said somewhat helplessly, ¡°She¡¯s the daughter of my teacher. I don¡¯t think she likes me all that much, so we haven¡¯t really interacted much.¡±


    Xie Xie let out a mischievous laugh. ¡°This senior sister of yours sure is cruel. Yangzi, you can try getting to know her better if you¡¯re interested. We¡¯ll support you as your classmates.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi shook his head earnestly. ¡°Forget about it. I¡¯m not into being subdued, and we¡¯re too young for this stuff anyways. We should focus on studying and cultivating right now.¡±


    Xie Xie raised an eyebrow at this. ¡°Just what are you thinking? I only said you could try getting to know her better. Stop thinking about it too much. You¡¯re only a brat in her eyes anyways.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Zhang Yangzi proudly raised his head. ¡°Just wait until this big brother is in the fifth grade. I¡¯ll definitely have three rings, too.¡± With his current cultivation speed, it wasn¡¯t impossible for him to reach three rings by the time he was 14.


    Gu Yue asked Tang Wulin, ¡°What are we going to do next?¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t hesitate at all with his answer. ¡°Wait. There aren¡¯t too many soul beasts in this area, so we should be able to survive in this area until we pass. After that, we can go hunt soul beasts, so there¡¯s no need to be so anxious right now.¡±


    The five of them once again moved into position and with the large trees surrounding them, they were able to to maintain a perfect defense.


    During the rebellion period, the number of soul beasts in the spirit ascension platform was far higher than normal, and they were also much more aggressive. In a short timespan of twenty minutes, they had encountered over ten soul beasts. Most of them were at the ten-year level, so they were able to make quick work of them. There were also some hundred-year soul beasts, and though they weren¡¯t particularly strong, they required more effort to kill. Everyone shared the spirit energy, not for the sake of being fair, but for the sake of quickly absorbing all of it.


    Xie Xie had taken about ten minutes to absorb the spirit energy from the hundred-year Ironarm Ape, gaining about five years each for his two soul rings.


    Evolving a spirit soul to the next level was a gradual process, and it would be a long time before Xie Xie¡¯s spirit soul reached the thousand-year level.


    They had already survived for half the necessary time to pass their final exam and were relatively relaxed as they hadn¡¯t encountered any strong soul beasts yet.


    ¡°The rebellion period isn¡¯t that bad after all.¡± Zhang Yangzi had loosened up a lot from his previous nervousness since they had only encountered weak soul beasts until now.


    The most dangerous situation for them was to encounter a powerful soul beast that they had no choice but to flee from. In their panic, they may run into one powerful soul beast after another and die.


    Although their current course of action restricted the number of soul beasts they could hunt, it was a safe, defensive plan that maximized their survival time.

 Chapter 139 - Reencounter with the Man-Faced Demon Spider

    Chapter 139 - Reencounter with the Man-Faced Demon Spider


    ¡°Captain, should we take the initiative to attack?¡± Zhang Yangzi asked Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin calmly replied, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be anxious, we¡¯ll see after one hour passes. All we need to do in this first hour is survive.¡±


    Just then, Zhang Yangzi suddenly paled and his body swaying in shock. ¡°Not good, Little Black¡­¡±


    The five of them simultaneously looked up to see a yellow-green net descending from the sky.


    At the same time, they were faced with the shocking scene of Little Black being impaled by numerous limbs. He immediately disintegrated. When a Soul Master¡¯s spirit soul was killed, they would suffer from recoil and it would take them a very long time to restore their spirit soul. In a flash, Zhang Yangzi¡¯s cultivation dropped by a third.


    A violent gale appeared within the formation of the five students. Gu Yue was the quickest one to react with her immense spiritual power.


    Yet, against all expectations, that yellow-green net didn¡¯t even sway in the face of her fierce gale and directly cutting through it.


    ¡°Retreat!¡± Tang Wulin decisively ordered as dozens of strands of Bluesilver Grass shot up to obstruct the net. However, Tang Wulin was aghast to see that the moment his Bluesilver Grass touched the net, it started smoking from corrosion.


    If Little Black hadn¡¯t been flying up in the sky, the net would have ambushed and trapped them. It was likely their trials in the rebellion spirit ascension platform would have been cut short there.


    A massive figure descended from the sky after Little Black¡¯s figure disintegrated completely. Eight long legs were extended like eight spears, surrounding the five.


    The five of them took advantage of the few seconds the Bluesilver Grass bought them to escape the range of the net. In their rush to escape, however, their formation had been broken.


    Apart from Zhang Yangzi being deathly pale, Wang Jinxi also started trembling once he saw that beast.


    Black and white lines ran along a body as large as a millstone. Every single one of its legs were over two meters in length, while its body emitted a strange splendor. They had clearly seen a beautiful human face on its abdomen when it had descended, which only served to increase their fear.


    ¡°Man-Faced Demon Spider!¡±  The five of them shouted in unison.


    That was right! It was the same Man-Faced Demon Spider that had nearly destroyed Wang Jinxi¡¯s mind. Wang Jinxi could even sense that this was the same one that had ambushed him before.


    Even with Little Black¡¯s extra vision, it hadn¡¯t been able to discover this Man-Faced Demon Spider and had been swiftly killed. The Man-Faced Demon Spider truly was a terrifying killer in the world of soul beasts.


    Gu Yue shot out a fireball which exploded on the face of the Man-Faced Demon Spider  while the others quickly assembled.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart sank. It¡¯s a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider. Even though it¡¯s only at the hundred-year level, it¡¯s far stronger than other beasts of the same level! This guy is going to be really difficult to deal with! Even if I use my Golden Dragon Claw, it would be impossible for me to approach it with those eight legs acting as defence. Its body is also highly toxic and the slightest contact could wipe out my whole team!


    Although the battle had yet to truly begin, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi were already shaken. It might not be a good idea for them to fight this battle.


    They had originally thought that they were lucky to not have met a powerful foe in their first half hour, but it seemed that their fortune had come to an end.


    ¡°Are we running?¡± Xie Xie asked Tang Wulin.


    They had learned a lot about the Man-Faced Demon Spider since their first entry. They knew that even if its cultivation was only at the hundred-year level, it was still a terrifying existence that could hunt thousand-year soul beasts! Moreover, they were currently in the spirit ascension platform, so even if they killed it, they would only gain the spirit energy of a hundred-year soul beast. Simply said, the potential profits did not outweigh the risks.


    In their moment of hesitation, the hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider revealed it¡¯s might. Two of its legs flashed, destroying all of the fireballs Gu Yue had shot out with lightning speed. All that was left of the fireballs were drifting sparks. The Man-Faced Demon Spider wasn¡¯t guarded against them at all; rather, it slowly circled around them, a yellow-green thread of silk dragging along from its spinnerets. Anything that touched this silk would immediately wither.


    ¡°We¡¯re not running! We¡¯re defeating of it!¡± Tang Wulin ordered without the slightest hesitation.


    They had already been here for a while now and had some understanding of the area, so they knew that if they carelessly ran around during the rebellion spirit ascension platform, it would be likely that they would meet some powerful soul beasts. In that situation, it would be very hard to survive for another half hour.


    Moreover, Wang Jinxi¡¯s fate was linked to the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s now. If he didn¡¯t kill it, then it would continue to influence him. They had happened to run into it today with their full team of five; if they didn¡¯t take advantage of this opportunity to kill it, then a chance as good as this one wouldn¡¯t come again.


    These were the reasonings that ran through Tang Wulin¡¯s mind when he made his quick decision. No matter what, they had to kill the Man-Faced Demon Spider before them now.


    Strand after strand of Bluesilver Grass slithered along the ground while he grasped his two hammers tightly. His mind went over all that he had learned of the Man-Faced Demon Spider.


    Man-Faced Demon Spider. Excels in quick and toxic attacks. Has a strong defense, but not particularly strong physically.


    It¡¯s the killer of the forest. Whenever it appears, fear strikes the hearts of its prey.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s greatest advantage was his strength. The best plan would be for him to land attacks on its weak points, so he didn¡¯t even think about utilizing his Golden Dragon Claw. In this situation, his Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers were the best choice.


    ¡°Everyone, stick together, we¡¯ll face the enemy head on. Gu Yue, provide assistance. Xie Xie, look for an opening. Yangzi, Jinxi, observe for now and wait for an opportunity to strike.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± Wang Jinxi¡¯s gloomy voice shouted.


    Tang Wulin turned to look at him. Although Wang Jinxi was still trembling, his eyes burned with the will to battle.


    As he and Tang Wulin cultivated together, Wang Jinxi gradually became influenced by him. His cultivation speed had increased and he had also felt slight changes to his martial soul under this influence.


    Dread had filled his heart when he had seen the Man-Faced Demon Spider, but when he heard Tang Wulin say, ¡°We¡¯re not running! We¡¯re defeating of it!¡±, a surge of courage replaced the dread in his heart.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s words had caused his blood to boil and fill him with valiance. He felt that as long as Tang Wulin was at his side, he would be able to face any trials that came his way. In a sort of special state, he locked eyes with Tang Wulin, expressing complete trust in his gaze. Rather than trembling from fear, he was actually trembling from excitement.


    Even before they had cultivated together, he had felt an affinity with Tang Wulin, but it had never been this strong. This time, faced with the Man-Faced Demon Spider, he felt as if he was about to explode.


    Defeat it!


    It¡¯s merely a hundred-year soul beast. What¡¯s there to be afraid of?


    The Man-Faced Demon Spider was still circling around them, its silk thread continuously trailing from its spinneret to form a ring.


    The Man-Faced Demon Spider was naturally cold, cruel and extremely patient. In fact, it was its patience that made it so terrifying. It would quietly stalk its prey for hours, all the way until an opportunity presented itself.


    The five students weren¡¯t anxious at all. They would wait for it to slow down. Besides, it had already used up quite a bit of its silk.


    Instantly, its thread was wrapped around a large tree. Although the tree began to wither, it still stood tall.


    Gu Yue launched a variety of elemental attacks at the spider, but they proved to be uneffective. Toxic spider threads protected it. Even flames had little effect.


    ¡°It¡¯s creating a prison for us and when it¡¯s finished, it¡¯ll shrink the prison until we¡¯re trapped.¡± Xie Xie said grimly.

 Chapter 140 - Team Battle Against the Demon Spider

    Chapter 140 - Team Battle Against the Demon Spider


    ¡°Mn! Wait for a chance.¡± Tang Wulin sternly ordered. From below his feet, strands of Bluesilver Grass arranged themselves into a formation as he continuously supplied them with soulpower. The Man-Faced Demon Spider is giving us a chance, how could he not take it?


    Gu Yue silently sat cross-legged in the middle, meditating to restore her soul power. Wang Jinxi stood next to Zhang Yangzi, trembling with excitement. The two were prepared to use their fusion skill at any moment.


    Coordination didn¡¯t matter anymore in the face of the Man-Faced Demon Spider. What was important, however, was whether they had the power to defeat it.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Claw possessed immense power, but the problem was he didn¡¯t know how to approach this gigantic poisonous spider.


    ¡°Xie Xie, if I¡¯m unable to break free, then you¡¯ll be the acting captain.¡± Tang Wulin warned Xie Xie.


    Considering the toxicity of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, the possibility of all of them to constantly evade its attacks were small.


    None of them were anxious to attack as this was their final exam. Their chances of passing were more uncertain now that they had to face the Man-Faced Demon Spider, but they still had to fight for as much time as they could get in order to pass their exam. After all, they couldn¡¯t truly die in the spirit ascension platform. As long as they were able to persevere for one hour, they would pass their exam.


    Naturally, none of them wanted to pass the exam that way.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shrunk in shock. Suddenly, he threw the hammer in his right hand straight at the Man-Faced Demon Spider. With a strand of Bluesilver Grass connected to it, it streaked through the air like a shooting star.


    The Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s legs powerfully launched its massive body out of the the web it had weaved.


    The hammer smashed into the spider webs, stretching it backwards. The webs were too resilient and elastic though, so not only was the hammer unable to break through them, it even became glued onto the web.


    Tang Wulin forcefully pulled to retrieve his hammer but the spider webs caved in and were dragged along with it. The area that the hammer touched the webs had already turned pitch-black. Fortunately, the hammers were Thousand Refined and its internal structure denser so it hadn¡¯t been corroded just yet.


    These webs¡­ are really strong.


    Tang Wulin had only thrown his hammer as a probing attack, yet he had already lost it to the webs. It seemed that the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s nimbleness and cunning was far higher than they first thought.


    They all knew that it was waiting for just the right moment to pounce on them, and the moment it did, its assault would be as swift as lightning and as powerful as thunder.


    The ball of webs tightened continuously around the five students and restricting their movements. Of course, there was a silver lining to their situation. At the very least, other soul beasts could not attack them right then.


    ¡°We¡¯re still not attacking?¡± Xie Xie asked in a hushed voice.


    ¡°Patience.¡± Tang Wulin sternly said.


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t utter another word when he saw that Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze was intently fixed on the Man-Faced Demon Spider.


    Ten minutes later, the original hundred meter radius of webbing shrunk only about a dozen or so meters in radius.


    Squatting down next to Gu Yue, Tang Wulin whispered a few words into her ear, to which she nodded in agreement. With their plan settled, the two stood up.


    The Man-Faced Demon Spider halted in place when it noticed Gu Yue stand up. With icy eyes that seemed to possess a wisdom far beyond a soul beast, it watched the five while its abdomen began to swell.


    ¡°It¡¯s preparing to attack.¡± Xie Xie shouted.


    On Tang Wulin¡¯s signal, Gu Yue¡¯s eyes narrowed as a wave of soul power surged from her body and a soul ring rose from beneath her. This was her first soul skill: Elemental Tide!


    Pew!


    The hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider suddenly turned around and shot a yellow-green net from its abdomen straight at them. After shooting out this net, it screeched and charged straight at them.


    This net was far bigger than the first one, and was large enough to cover all of the class zero students this time. They quickly retreated in this cramped space and narrowly avoided the net. There was no room for them to maneuver at all, especially since the walls were toxic. One wrong move and they would meet their end. Now that its net had failed to ensnare the students, the Man-Faced Demon Spider brandished its eight legs as if they were sharp blades.


    At that moment, however, Gu Yue stood up and released a yellow radiance from the center of their formation. From this radiance, a giant obelisk with a diameter of approximately a foot long skyrocketed out of the ground and pierced into the sky.


    The spider webs that had been woven into a net were extremely strong, but fortunately for the students, it possessed no attacking power. The obelisk shot at just the right spot, piercing through the peak of the toxic spider web dome.


    At that moment, the Man-Faced Spider was finally upon them.


    Xie Xie rapidly climbed up the obelisk while Zhang Yangzi used his first soul skill, covering him in a pitch-black fog.


    The strongest point of Zhang Yangzi¡¯s Curtain of Darkness was the fact that it could differentiate between friend and foe, so it only obstructed those he was hostile towards. Moreover, its coverage was directly proportional to the amount of soul power he expended.


    As soon as the Curtain of Darkness descended, the Man-Faced Demon Spider lost all traces of the five students. It had no choice but to slow its pursuit.


    Suddenly, a strand of Bluesilver Grass shot up from the ground toward Man-Faced Demon Spider while a figure valiantly flew into the sky. Astonishingly, Wang Jinxi had been thrown into the air by Tang Wulin.


    A pair of soul rings shined brightly on Wang Jinxi¡¯s body. Using his first soul skill, Bone Dragon Claw, his right arm quickly transformed while the rest of his body also transformed to a lesser degree under the effects of his second skill, Bone Soul Transformation. His transformation finished just in time for him to smash into the Man-Faced Demon Spider midair.


    It was at this moment that the Man-Faced Demon Spider was forced to reveal the grace of a super soul beast.


    Faced with the Bluesilver Grass shooting up from below, it spun its body while unfolding its eight blade-like legs.


    Although Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass was tenacious, it was no match for the Man-Faced Demon Spider and was promptly cut into pieces. It didn¡¯t have a the slightest chance of binding the spider.


    As Wang Jinxi descended upon the Man-Faced Demon Spider, it spun around and shot out a yellow-green spider web at him. The web this time was smaller than before, but it was still more than enough to cover Wang Jinxi.


    They exploded into battle, starting at the climax from the very beginning. Victory or defeat would be decided at any moment.


    Suddenly, the Bluesilver Grass tied around Wang Jinxi¡¯s waist pulled him back toward the ground.


    Meanwhile, a single strand of Bluesilver Grass had managed to wrap itself around the Man-Faced Demon Spider. Right then, it turned gold. The corrosion and toxicity of the spider was no longer effective against it, while the spider¡¯s body abruptly became sluggish. The binding of the Bluesilver Grass was finally beginning to bear fruit.


    At that instant, a golden whirlwind appeared out of nowhere.


    Its target was the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s rear!


    Clang!


    The golden whirlwind of light ferociously landed a sharp blow on the spider¡¯s rear, issuing an ear-piercing screech as an explosion of sparks showered from the collision.


    The Man-Faced Demon Spider shrieked in pain as it shook the figure off of its back. Yellow-green blood oozed from where its carapace had been cut open.


    The second figure who had appeared was precisely Xie Xie with his Light Dragon Storm!


    Wang Jinxi had used his two soul skills for the sole reason of catching the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s attention and drawing its second attack. After taunting it to use up its spider web, he was pulled back into the Curtain of Darkness by Tang Wulin.


    Xie Xie took advantage of that moment to launch his assault. Although his Light Dragon Storm wasn¡¯t strong enough to tear the Man-Faced Demon Spider to shreds, its powerful penetrating power could still wound the spider.


    Bang!


    The golden Bluesilver Grass finally snapped from the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s frantic struggles. To be more precise, however, it snapped after it had lost its golden color.


    Suddenly freed from the restrictive force, the Man-Faced Demon Spider was unable to adapt. Its eight legs which were using their utmost power suddenly felt no resistance, causing them to slip outwards, and its whole body to sink down. Two lumps of earth opportunely shot out, knocking against two of its legs and setting it off balance, creating a small crack in its defense.


    A figure quietly passed through the crack in its defenses, thrusting a golden claw at the human face underneath its abdomen.


    Pu!


    The Golden Dragon Claw stabbed into its abdomen, causing yellow-green blood to gush out.


    A layer of ice rapidly covered Tang Wulin¡¯s body, preventing the blood from touching him. He used his Bluesilver Grass to bind the Man-Faced Demon Spider once more while he retreated back into the darkness.

 Chapter 141 - True Control

    Chapter 141 - True Control


    The Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s giant body shuddered as yellow-green blood continuously gushed from its abdomen. It wanted to attack, to shoot some spider threads, but they only flew a few meters before hitting the ground. They were completely unsuitable to use as an attack now.


    It continually struggled like this as it grew weaker by the minute. Simultaneously, a yellow light shot out from the Curtain of Darkness.


    The darkness gradually vanished while the yellow light lingered on the pale-faced Tang Wulin. His arm had already transformed back to its normal human form, with only golden scales covering it now. Thanks to those scales, he hadn¡¯t suffered any corrosion from the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s blood.


    Hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider, killed!


    Xie Xie had already been pulled back awhile ago, so the five of them stood there, exchanging looks of astonishment from prevailing over such a calamity. Wang Jinxi couldn¡¯t help but embrace Tang Wulin with an ardent expression that overflowed with passion.


    This battle had fully displayed the team¡¯s ability and was the culmination of the knowledge and experience they had gained. In the end, the formidable Man-Faced Demon Spider had died by their hands!


    From start to finish, there had been no room for luck. They had claimed this victory purely with their own strength.


    Even as they blatantly stared at the corpse of the Man-Faced Demon Spider that was a few meters away from them, they still couldn¡¯t believe that they had succeeded. Tang Wulin was the most surprised of them all; he had been prepared to sacrifice himself in their plan, yet they had actually achieved victory.


    If his Golden Dragon Claw had been unable to resist the toxins, or if Gu Yue¡¯s ice had been incapable of shielding him from the corrosion of the spider¡¯s blood, he would have died.


    Fortunately, the two of them were able to give a perfect performance. His Golden Dragon Claw proved its might once again with its immunity to the toxin¡¯s corrosion, while Gu Yue¡¯s control of ice had been able to isolate the toxic blood for a few moments. These two elements had combined to give him enough time to break away from the corpse and toxins.


    Every single moment of their battle had been ridden with extreme danger.


    ¡­¡­


    The Spirit Pagoda staff member stared at the screen dumbstruck. He was completely speechless.


    Just how perfect were their tactics!? That was actually a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider that even four or five ring Soul Masters would avoid! They wouldn¡¯t even dare to engage it without thorough planning. Yet, this group of kids, who at most have two rings, actually performed a miracle and defeated the Man-Faced Demon Spider! This is unbelievable!


    Even Wu Zhangkong was a bit shaken by this. A smile had actually appeared on his ice-cold face.


    ¡°He meets the requirements of a Control System Soul Master,¡± he quietly muttered under his breath.


    He¡¯s also the one who has made the most progress in the last three months.


    This battle had tested not only the limits of their strength but also the breadth of their knowledge. During their battle, Wu Zhangkong took note of every single detail with his experienced eyes. Even if the students were baffled, Wu Zhangkong observed the events with clarity. It wasn¡¯t until Tang Wulin appeared beneath the Man-Faced Demon Spider that he suddenly realized Tang Wulin¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, are these children thinking about joining the Spirit Pagoda? If I send a recording of this battle to the higher-ups, I think an exception can be made to accept these children as members. Their potential is simply astonishing.¡±


    The Spirit Pagoda staff member finally snapped out of his daze, but his eyes were still filled with shock and admiration.


    As a staff member of the Spirit Pagoda, he had a comprehensive knowledge of various  soul beasts as well as Soul Master battle styles. Yet, after witnessing the unconstrained battle style of class zero, every single inch of his body was in awe.


    He could only describe the battle as ¡®shocking.¡¯


    To prevail over the Man-Faced Demon Spider, the first thing the students needed was a deep understanding of it.


    At first, he assumed the children to be foolishly standing still, letting the Man-Faced Demon Spider weave its webs and continuously tighten it around them. After their remarkable performances in their previous battles, it came as a disappointment. He¡¯d been anticipating just how these children would deal with a powerful soul beast such as the Man-Faced Demon Spider.


    The staff member thought that the best course of action would have been to immediately flee. Although the Man-Faced Demon Spider was fast, it was lacking in long-range attacks; as long as they were ahead of it, they would have a chance at escaping. The second best choice, in his opinion, was for one of them to sacrifice themselves in order to allow the others to escape. This way, they would minimize their losses.


    There was once a team of Soul Masters who similarly encountered the Man-Faced Demon Spider in the spirit ascension platform and had verified that these two choices were indeed the best.


    Yet, the response Tang Wulin initiated with his team today had widened the staff member¡¯s horizons.


    Gu Yue hadn¡¯t revealed her control of the earth element until this battle. Against the Man-Faced Demon Spider and its toxic spider webs, it wasn¡¯t her other elements, but her use of the earth element, that had the greatest impact on the battle.


    As the Man-Faced Demon Spider continuously decreased their area of mobility, thinking them trapped, it was, in truth, the one to have been tricked instead. Soul beasts were also living creatures, and so they shared some similarities with humans. Once it felt that its victory was all but assured, it subconsciously relaxed a bit.


    None of their soul power fluctuations were particularly strong, and they were trapped in a cramped space. To the hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider, they were as good as dead. It didn¡¯t consider any other possibility of survival remaining for them.


    At that moment, it decided to shoot out its largest spider web net, minimizing the maneuvering space of the five opponents.


    Thus, the five students were forced to attack the Man-Faced Demon Spider. Clearly, it never imagined an obelisk would suddenly shoot out of the ground to block the spider web though, as it had been stunned for a split second.


    Then there was the Bluesilver Grass which had shot up from the ground and bound both the spider and Wang Jinxi, who had appeared out of nowhere. Just this was enough to praise their coordination.


    The Man-Faced Demon Spider responded amazingly as well. It effectively used the sharp points of its legs to resist the Bluesilver Grass and bought it the time necessary to shoot out another spider web.


    Yet in the end, it was tricked. Wang Jinxi was pulled back by a strand of Bluesilver Grass, and the spider web it shot out was met with nothing but air. Then, Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Storm appeared out of nowhere to begin the first wave of their assault.


    It was at that moment that the staff member began to shower them with praise. After all, who wouldn¡¯t exclaim in admiration of children who could reach such a level? At the very least, they had secured a chance at victory.


    There was also the vital golden strand of Bluesilver Grass, which was the result of fusing it with a spirit soul. Tang Wulin controlled it perfectly to trap the Man-Faced Demon Spider.


    However, how could he have imagined the miraculous scene that occurred after? That strand of golden Bluesilver Grass had broken with meticulous precision and timing. Thanks to the strand¡¯s pulling force, that final moment caused the Man-Faced Demon Spider to stumble as the child dragged himself under its body. At the same time, Gu Yue had manipulated the earth to propel him even further, ensuring he slid beneath the spider completely.


    When the staff member saw Xie Xie unleash his Light Dragon Storm on the spider¡¯s rear, he thought the children didn¡¯t have the necessary understanding of the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s weakest point on its underside.


    He was proven wrong, however, in but a few moments. It turned out that the chain of attacks didn¡¯t stop with Xie Xie, and the final attack was the most marvelous and shocking one.


    Covered in ice to protect himself from the toxins, Tang Wulin pulled himself underneath the spider, his toxin resistant golden claw ready to attack.


    A total victory, it had been a total victory! They hadn¡¯t lost a single member. These children who had two rings at the most were actually able to kill a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider! If anyone heard this, they would find it completely unbelievable!


    Was the Man-Faced Demon Spider stupid? Of course not. This was all due to the meticulous planning of these five students. The staff member couldn¡¯t help but stare at the handsome, young teacher. This is the man who taught them!

 Chapter 142 - Massacre of the Toxic Spider Web

    Chapter 142 - Massacre of the Toxic Spider Web


    As a side effect of exhausting his soul power, Tang Wulin felt fatigue wash over him as he sat down on the ground.


    Right. That feeling of controlling everyone had left an indelibly deep impression upon his heart. This sense of satisfaction just couldn¡¯t be gained elsewhere.


    He had used little Goldlight to strengthen his Bluesilver Grass, but there were no benefits that didn¡¯t come with a cost. During the time his grass had been strengthened, his soul power had also been rapidly consumed.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to keep the Man-Faced Demon Spider bound the whole time. If he could do that, he would be able to easily kill the Man-Faced Demon Spider with his Golden Dragon Claw, regardless of whether he struck a vital spot or not.


    However, the soul power consumption was simply too great for him to sustain. He had no choice but to recall Goldlight from his Bluesilver Grass in order to preserve enough soul power to use his Golden Dragon Claw.


    Although his actions seemed to have been in perfect concert with Gu Yue at that final moment, in reality, it was simply that everything had gone according to their plan. Of course, no one would actually believe this. All of their actions incorporated a deep understanding of one another. In fact, even Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were surprised by the depth of their mutual understanding.


    ¡°That was an incredible victory!¡± Zhang Yangzi exclaimed, giddy with excitement and admiration. His words echoed everyone¡¯s thoughts at that moment.


    ¡°Everyone, rest here and recover your soul power,¡± Tang Wulin said weakly, before taking the lead and closing his eyes to begin meditating.


    As for the issue of safety? Why did they need to worry about that now? They were surrounded by the highly toxic spider webs of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, preventing both humans and soul beasts from approaching. They were in a perfectly safe position to rest right now.


    The five sat in a circle with Tang Wulin in the center. Although they had been acting as a team for several months already, it wasn¡¯t until a few moments ago in their triumph that they truly acknowledged Tang Wulin as their team captain.


    Tang Wulin had controlled their entire battle against the calamity known as the Man-Faced Demon Spider, and had even fought with it face-to-face. Even though he may have potentially suffered torturous pain at the hands of the Man-Faced Demon Spider, he had not backed down from his duty. His unyielding will had truly been admirable to them.


    Not only had he fulfilled his duties as the team captain, but he had also demonstrated the  Bluesilver Grass¡¯ power over control. Regardless of whether they were friend or foe, the degree of control would be unparalleled and would likely be even more amazing if his soul power had not been so weak.


    The dim yellow light of spirit energy was slowly being absorbed into Tang Wulin¡¯s body. Despite its outward similarities to other yellow spirit energies, the energy from the hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider was far different from those of ordinary soul beasts. The thousand-year soul beast¡¯s energy they had killed before hadn¡¯t been like this either. Due to it currently being the rebellion period, the energy was even more rich and distinct.


    The benefits of killing a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider soon appeared. As it was currently the rebellion period, there were more soul beasts actively roaming the forest than usual. Very quickly, soul beasts began to appear.


    Not all soul beasts possessed sharp senses and different soul beasts possessed different ways of perceiving the world. As such, they were all taking a detour around the remains of the chaotic battle.


    The Man-Faced Demon Spider possessed a terrifying toxin within its body, as well as its webs. Furthermore, its webs were extremely tough, to the point that even large soul beasts might not be able to break it if they charged into it. And after that¡­ they would only be met with tragedy.


    Ten-year soul beasts would be killed in a flash by the toxic spider web while hundred-year soul beasts would only be able to struggle for a few moments, before they too, met their demise.


    As long as one was ensnared by the spider webs, there was no hope for survival. Those with keen senses could avoid the webs, but those with dull senses could only fall prey to the Man-Faced Demon Spider.


    Spirit energy overflowed from the soul beasts that died within the webs. If it were the normal spirit ascension platform, the energy would quickly disperse, but it was currently the rebellion period so the dispersion rate was much slower. Not too far from the spider webs, the five students of class zero meditated in the only calm of the webbed chaos. They were subconsciously slowly absorbing all of the spirit energy of the beasts that fell prey to the webs.


    In the beginning, there were only a few weak soul beasts that died, but gradually, the number and strength of soul beasts increased. More and more spirit energy drifted over to the five students.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This¡­ how can this be? There must be some issue with the spirit ascension platform.¡± The staff member stood there, dumbstruck as he watched the spirit energy surrounding the five coalesce and grow stronger and stronger. His expression was almost as if he had seen a ghost.


    Could he say the five of them were cheating? Absolutely not! However, the amount of spirit energy the five would be able to absorb would only increase as time passed. This spirit energy didn¡¯t come from thin air either, its origin the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s greatest secret. Yet, it was being consumed rapidly right now.


    It could be said that the students of class zero had accidently exploited the strength of the Man-Faced Demon Spider to obtain such a wonderful opportunity.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡¯ll definitely have to report this situation to the higher-ups,¡± the staff member solemnly stated.


    Wu Zhangkong merely glanced at him. ¡°What rules have my students broken? They defeated the Man-Faced Demon Spider and now they¡¯re just meditating and recovering. Everything happened naturally. With my impression of the spirit ascension platform, you shouldn¡¯t have the power to change any of this either. The spirit ascension platform runs by itself; you can only provide maintenance, nothing more.¡±


    Beads of sweat dripped down the staff member¡¯s forehead. ¡°Yes, the spirit ascension platform cannot be easily altered. But if this continues on, your students will also experience difficulties. Can their spiritual power and body bear the pain of their spirit soul evolving to the thousand-year level? Especially the two children with only one ring, their pain will be even greater. They will definitely be in danger if their spirit soul¡¯s level surpasses what they can handle.¡±


    That was right. In their current situation, their spirit souls were continuously undergoing small evolutions and eventually, their bodies would meet the limit of what they could support. Fortunately, they were still quite far from meeting their limits.


    As for whether a one-ringed Soul Master could support the rebound of gaining a thousand-year spirit soul¡­ there was not one bit of worry in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s heart. Tang Wulin¡¯s body was far stronger than an ordinary Soul Master and he was also at the Spirit Connection realm, so a thousand-year spirit soul would be no problem for him. He was even less worried about Gu Yue. She was on the boundary of reaching rank 20 and gaining a second soul ring while both her body and spiritual power were superb.


    These brats have really gone above and beyond this time for their final exam!


    Seeing Wu Zhangkong void of any sort of reaction, hesitation crept into the heart of the staff member. Still, he picked up the communicator and dialed a number. Anyway, the original reason why they existed was to ensure that the spirit ascension platform operated normally.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body felt bloated after he finished recovering all of his soul power. When he opened his eyes, he was met with a frightening scene.


    An extremely thick yellow light surrounded him and his comrades. Is, is this spirit energy?


    A bit further away was a pile of soul beasts corpses. Some of them had already been dissolved by the spider web¡¯s corrosion, but many were still mostly intact, and there were even some that were still in their last moments of struggling for their life.


    He had exhausted the most amount of soul power, so he was also the last one to awake from his meditation. Everyone else had long awakened and were all staring dully at the scene outside.


    ¡°What..., what¡¯s going on?¡± Tang Wulin quietly asked.


    It¡¯s the toxins, the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s toxins,¡± the normally quiet Wang Jinxi said with an odd expression.


    Tang Wulin quickly understood their current situation. The Man-Faced Demon Spider truly was worthy of being called a soul beast killer; its toxic spider webs had killed numerous ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts. Moreover, all of the beasts¡¯ spirit energy had been absorbed by them. Their spirit souls had continuously evolved in such a fortunate situation.


    Without any conscious thought, Tang Wulin looked down to see Goldlight on his chest shaking its head. Its body had expanded by a whole circle.


    ¡°If we continue like this, won¡¯t our spirit souls¡­¡± Tang Wulin said in shock.


    A bitter smile forced its way onto Wang Jinxi¡¯s face. ¡°Not really. There¡¯s only so much our bodies can bear right now. Those of us with two soul rings definitely can¡¯t do it. At the very least, I know for certain that I can¡¯t support two thousand-year soul rings with my current level of spiritual power. I estimate that my limit is five hundred years for both my soul rings. Yangzi¡¯s limits should also be similar, maybe just a bit better actually. Only you and Gu Yue haven¡¯t gotten your second rings yet, so you two might still have a chance at obtaining thousand-year soul rings.¡±


    Tang Wulin immediately made an awkward expression. Considering their current situation, if their spirit souls grew saturated with spirit energy, then they wouldn¡¯t be able to enter the spirit ascension platform anymore and battle soul beasts. There was also the potential danger of their spirit souls exploding due to their insufficient spiritual power.


    ¡°You guys don¡¯t need to look so confused. The Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s webs will disappear soon. We need to prepare to depart.¡± Gu Yue¡¯s voice cut in.

 Chapter 143 - Another Chance at Spirit Ascension

    Chapter 143 - Another Chance at Spirit Ascension


    Tang Wulin swept his gaze over the spider webs in his surroundings and sure enough, they were beginning to weaken. There were even some cracks visible in the webs now. Although the Man-Faced Demon Spider was extremely toxic, there was still a limit to its toxicity. Once the protection of the webs disappeared, they would no longer be safe to rest in this spot as after all, they, too, were afraid of the toxic spider webs!


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°How much spirit energy do you all think we¡¯ve absorbed?¡±


    Gu Yue frowned. ¡°We all should have absorbed four to five hundred years worth of spirit energy. You and I have it all concentrated in our single soul ring, while the others have increased each of their two soul rings by about two hundred years. There should also still be about one or two hundred years worth of spirit energy in our surroundings, but it¡¯ll take us too long to absorb it. We¡¯ll need to be especially careful of other Soul Masters after we depart. They¡¯re a much greater threat to us now than soul beasts.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s deduction was correct. A thick air of spirit energy currently hung around their bodies, and if another party of Soul Masters saw them, they might immediately be targeted. After all, there were no true deaths in the spirit ascension platform, and who wouldn¡¯t want to absorb such rich spirit energy?


    Tang Wulin responded with a calm smile, ¡°Take it easy. In one move, we¡¯ve already passed our final exam and absorbed far more spirit energy than usual. Even if we encounter a powerful foe and get ejected from the spirit ascension platform, that¡¯s okay, too. Everyone¡¯s recovered now, right? Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s words had injected vigor into everyone¡¯s minds. He took out his hammers once more and reminded his comrades, ¡°Everyone, pay attention to how much your spirit soul can bear. If you feel like you¡¯re approaching the limits of how much it can absorb, then immediately press the button to exit the spirit ascension platform. Don¡¯t be greedy, or else your body or your spiritual power might collapse, and then you¡¯ll really be in trouble.¡±


    Although he himself was beginning to feel a bit bloated, he hadn¡¯t reached the limits yet. According to Gu Yue¡¯s assessment, he should still be able to absorb a lot more spirit energy, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about it for now.


    After all, the strength of his body and spiritual power was directly related to how strong of a spirit soul he could support. There was no need to even speak of his body¡¯s strength and his spiritual power growth rate. They were both outstanding, allowing him to already reach the Spirit Connection realm, so he certainly had the capabilities to bear a single thousand-year spirit soul.


    A thousand-year spirit soul¡­ Would he truly be able to walk this path?


    Tang Wulin led his team out, carefully avoiding the toxic webs. They left their miraculous, safe heaven and once again returned to the dangers of the forest.


    The chaos of an assortment of noises soon entered their ears. There were the sounds of collisions, the roars of soul beasts, and occasionally, some wretched screams from Soul Masters.


    It truly was a rebel period!


    Tang Wulin mulled over their choices for a moment before he decided to have everyone absorb the remaining spirit energy in the area. Normally, they would have to kill countless soul beasts before earning this much spirit energy. Though it would take awhile to absorb all of this energy, it was a rare opportunity for them. Wu Zhangkong could help them out in the matter of combat experience, but not in evolving their spirit soul. This was the most important goal in entering the spirit ascension platform after all!


    A sudden realization dawned on Tang Wulin. Those with fewer soul rings actually have an advantage in the spirit ascension platform. Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie all have two soul rings. Furthermore, Xie Xie¡¯s rings come from two spirit souls, and they¡¯ll need to evolve all of their soul rings to the thousand-year level in order to evolve their spirit soul. In other words, the more soul rings someone has, the more spirit energy necessary to evolve the spirit soul!


    The strength of a Soul Master¡¯s spiritual power and body also determine how much spirit energy they can bear to absorb.


    Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi can¡¯t handle having two thousand-year soul rings then. Their spiritual powers are both too weak.


    Having come to this realization, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart began to stir. If it¡¯s like this, then isn¡¯t being a one-ringed Soul Master the best for the spirit ascension platform? If my spirit soul actually evolves to the thousand-year level, then once I hit rank 20 and get a second soul ring, that ring will also be at the thousand-year level. And when I get my third, it will be at the thousand-year level, too! Wouldn¡¯t I save a lot of money like that?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart sped up at this discovery, but he soon calmed himself at the thought of the rare situation they were in.


    First of all, the spirit ascension platform was strictly monitored by the Spirit Pagoda, and they had already calculated the maximum level of spirit soul a one-ringed Soul Master could bear to be a little over four hundred years. Basically, it was impossible for a one-ringed Soul Master to attain a thousand-year spirit soul. However, the spirit energy they absorbed would be split when they reached rank 20 and gained a second soul ring.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s current situation could be said to be truly marvelous. One reason was that he coincidentally found himself such a wonderful cultivation environment while the other was that his body was far stronger than normal people¡¯s, allowing him to absorb more spirit energy. These two factors combined to allow him to potentially obtain a thousand-year spirit soul.


    Following this line of thinking, his original guess that the academy wanted them all to obtain thousand-year spirit souls was wrong. The others wouldn¡¯t even be able to support two thousand-year soul rings even if they wanted to! At most, they would only be able to absorb enough spirit energy until they reached their current limits.


    In the future, as he grew stronger and gained more soul rings, it would only grow increasingly harder to evolve his spirit soul. This was the reason why spirit evolution was rarely seen in the spirit ascension platform. Ordinary Soul Masters with ten-year spirit souls wouldn¡¯t even be lucky enough to enter the spirit ascension platform, and even if they did, they wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat any soul beasts. Those with the means to directly obtain a hundred-year spirit soul wouldn¡¯t opt for such a convoluted method of evolving a ten-year spirit soul either. As for those who wanted to evolve their hundred-year to a thousand-year spirit soul, the vast majority had bodies that were too weak to bear it.


    Everything was clear to him now and more importantly, he had found the path he would travel from now on. Others might not be able to evolve their spirit souls, but I can! My body is far stronger than normal, and my spiritual power is high too. Though, I can¡¯t even compare myself to Gu Yue.


    With his current circumstances, he could absorb as much spirit energy as he wanted, until his body reached the saturation point.


    He wasn¡¯t clear on the strength of his body after absorbing the power of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s first seal, but he knew he was about as strong as an ordinary Soul Master with three or four rings. With this in mind, he deduced that he would have no problems obtaining a thousand-year spirit soul. After this was over, he planned on having Wu Zhangkong assess him.


    Then there was the matter of his spiritual power. The level his spiritual power attained would determine just how much spirit energy he could absorb in the spirit ascension platform.


    Teacher Wu said that if I joined his organization, I¡¯d be able to obtain a cultivation method. It seems I should really consider joining it now¡­


    As for talent, my comrades are all far more talented than me. After all, my martial soul is just Bluesilver Grass. Tang Wulin had no way of knowing whether or not his Bluesilver Grass would continue to mutate as he broke the seals on the Golden Dragon King, but a Soul Master¡¯s spirit souls and soul rings were directly representative of their strength!


    If I can evolve my spirit soul once more, then I¡¯ll have paved the path for my next two soul rings.


    Even if I absorb as much spirit energy as my body can handle, my body will strengthen again when I break the next seal on the Golden Dragon King, and then I¡¯ll be able to absorb even more spirit energy. I need to have two rings before I break the next seal, but what if I break it when I¡¯m only approaching two rings? Will I be able to survive it?


    Countless possibilities continuously appeared within Tang Wulin¡¯s mind, as if numerous, brilliant doors were slowly opening up to him.

 Chapter 144 - Ice Staff Siblings

    Chapter 144 - Ice Staff Siblings


    Tang Wulin was unaware that his current thoughts and ideas were laying a foundation for his future. A path never traveled before was quietly opening before him thanks to the power of the Golden Dragon King.


    ¡°Careful!¡± Xie Xie¡¯s warning jolted Tang Wulin out of his exciting train of thought. He instinctively responded by activating his Bind skill to send out a mass of Bluesilver Grass at the lean leopard in front of him.


    Xie Xie reacted in a flash, his Light Dragon Blade streaking across the sky and slashing the ten-year soul beast.


    ¡°Sorry everyone, my mind was wandering just now,¡± Tang Wulin bluntly apologized while a cold shiver ran down his spine. This is still the spirit ascension platform. Instead of being preoccupied by my ideas, I must focus on absorbing the remaining energy here. That should be my main goal for now.


    Zhang Yangzi gently chuckled. ¡°My mind was wandering just now, too. After all, the events just now changed the way we think about the spirit ascension platform. In any case, our harvest this time is already quite good. Even if we¡¯re to be eliminated, it¡¯ll still be fine.¡±


    Tang Wulin sternly said, ¡°Don¡¯t think like that. Since we¡¯ve been blessed with luck this time, we have to do our best to secure the opportunity and not let it slip away!  Otherwise, we¡¯d be letting down the expectations of the Heavens. Everyone, let¡¯s all do our best.¡±


    He¡¯d prepared these words to say at the moment of their departure. With their distracting thoughts dispelled, Tang Wulin took the lead once again, ready to intercept any potential dangers.


    Soon, a roar announced the presence of a monstrous, six-armed python ahead of them.


    ¡°A hundred-year Six-armed Fire Snake. Everyone, be careful,¡± Tang Wulin grimly ordered.


    Suddenly, a bright, white light flashed from far ahead of them and heavily wounded the Six-armed Fire Snake. A bizarre ice wheel fluttered in the breeze, its points dripping with the blood of the soul beast. Although the Six-armed Fire Snake couldn¡¯t be considered a powerful soul beast, especially with regards to its defense, it was still shocking that it had been cut up so easily and quickly by that ice wheel.


    A figure with three soul rings underfoot appeared before them, quickly absorbing the spirit energy of the fallen Six-armed Fire Snake.


    It was a youth, about seventeen or eighteen years old. Two yellow soul rings and one purple soul ring coiled around his body, identifying him as a Soul Elder. In his right hand, he held a snow white staff which was topped by an icy, blue crystal. His expression was cold and arrogant, and the yellow aura around him was similar to that of the five students of class zero.


    Powerful!


    The five teammates could already tell how powerful this Soul Elder was just by his aura.


    Not only that, he actually wasn¡¯t alone!


    A girl seemingly around the same age as Tang Wulin¡¯s group popped her head out from behind the youth. Her blue hair was styled in twintails, and she looked as if cut from jade. Her beauty was stunning and far exceeded that of Gu Yue¡¯s. In her hand was a staff nearly identical to the youth¡¯s, only hers being a bit smaller. A single yellow soul ring flickered beneath her, illuminating her frightened expression in the face of such killing.


    The male youth¡¯s gaze immediately fell upon the students of class zero. When he saw the rich aura of spirit energy surrounding them, his eyes brightened a bit and he started taking large, decisive strides towards them.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes narrowed as he signaled with his left hand to those behind him.


    ¡°Withdraw from the spirit ascension platform voluntarily and leave behind your spirit energy. Then you¡¯ll be spared from some pain,¡± the youth with the ice staff stated, as if it was only natural.


    The corner of Xie Xie¡¯s lips curled in disdain. ¡°Is he some sort of soul beast in human form? Apparently, this human-shaped soul beast can even speak now. It¡¯s done a good job evolving.¡±


    The youth¡¯s eyes sharpened as a cold light flashed through them. He pointed his ice staff at Xie Xie, and immediately, an ice wheel shot straight toward him.


    Xie Xie wouldn¡¯t take it lying down, as he swiftly responded with a slash of his Light Dragon Dagger, shooting out a Light Dragon Blade.


    Tang Wulin and the others didn¡¯t make a single move. Their opponent had three soul rings, with one of them even being a thousand-year soul ring, so they couldn¡¯t underestimate his strength. It was best to let Xie Xie probe him first.


    The ice wheel flew through the air, slashing in a bizarre arc and easily avoiding the Light Dragon Blade. Then, it sped up, transforming into a whirlwind that appeared in front of Xie Xie in a flash.


    It changed directions and sped up! Such formidable control!


    This was Tang Wulin¡¯s first impression. Xie Xie was also given a fright, but he quickly adapted. He simply lowered his body to let the ice wheel fly over him.


    Just as he was about to launch his counterattack, Gu Yue shouted, ¡°Let me try!¡±


    A sparkling icicle shot forth and hit the ice wheel precisely on its core, smashing it into pieces.


    The youth was stunned for a brief moment. The weakest point of his ice wheel was the center, but it was extremely difficult to hit it due to its rapid spin and his precise control. Moreover, his opponent had accurately hit it with a mere icicle. This keenness of eyesight and level of control couldn¡¯t be considered weak at all!


    Gu Yue walked forward from beside Tang Wulin, who was shocked to see that Gu Yue didn¡¯t just have one soul ring anymore, but two!


    That was right, during the battle with the Man-Faced Demon Spider, Gu Yue had made a breakthrough! Although none of them knew what her spirit soul was, there was no doubt that it had already provided her with her second soul ring.


    A pair of yellow soul rings twinkled on her body, making her seem even more imposing than before.


    Even with a single soul ring he had been able to defeat a two-ringed Soul Master, as well as causing the twin-souled Xie Xie to cower in fear. Just how powerful was she now that she had two soul rings and had absorbed all that spirit energy? It was impossible for Tang Wulin to even guess.


    ¡°Let me take a shot at him,¡± Gu Yue told Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Okay!¡± Tang Wulin understood her intentions; she wanted to verify what her current strength was, now that she had two rings.


    The youth looked at Gu Yue and frowned. After seeing her attack with an icicle, he had come to the conclusion that she had a martial soul similar to his own.


    It was normal for Soul Masters with similar martial souls to feel an affinity with each other.


    ¡°Ice attribute?¡± the youth asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out in a moment,¡± Gu Yue indifferently said as she raised her right hand to shoot another icicle while a bright light suddenly exploded out of her left hand.


    The youth was blinded and cried out in alarm.


    Bright Light technique¡ªan application of the light element.


    The youth unleashed his strength. Despite his temporary blindness, he wasn¡¯t disoriented. He raised the staff high, releasing a series of dazzling blue lights from its peak. Everyone was bathed in the light, including the young girl beside him.


    The icicle rapidly dissolved in the light, leaving not even a drop of water.


    Although Gu Yue¡¯s teammates had also been bathed in the blue light, they were further from the source and were able to vaguely make out the youth¡¯s shining, second soul ring.


    Taking advantage of her opponent¡¯s momentary blindness, Gu Yue activated both her soul rings. With the activation of the first, it only seemed as if her aura had grown stronger, but when the second began to shine, they couldn¡¯t sense any changes to her.


    In a silver flash of light, Gu Yue suddenly appeared behind the youth. Countless lights covered the sky and flew forth, some of them attacking, while some shot straight into the sky instead.


    There were fireballs, wind blades, icicles and rocks. Water, fire, earth and wind. She brilliantly controlled all four of these elements simultaneously. In another moment, the sky was painted with these elemental colors.


    Is she even human? The youth had nearly recovered from his blindness when he heard the girl beside him cry out in fear, ¡°Big brother, big brother, I can¡¯t see anything. What do I do? I can¡¯t see.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. Just close your eyes, and you¡¯ll be able to see again in a few moments.¡± The youth¡¯s vision had already returned, only to find that his opponent had disappeared, leaving her teammates behind.


    Xie Xie kindly pointed behind the youth who automatically turned his head to look and was greeted with the sight of the magnificently brilliant Gu Yue.

 Chapter 145 - The Powerful Gu Yue

    Chapter 145 - The Powerful Gu Yue


    A green tornado gradually whipped up as Gu Yue waved her hands in a mystical rhythm mid-air. Its viciousness increased as numerous  icicles flew inside


    The youth wielding an ice staff thought he was going to lose his mind. He simply couldn¡¯t figure out what this lady¡¯s martial soul was. If he said that her martial soul was of the ice attribute, then what was with that bright light? And then, what about this current tornado¡­


    As the icicles merged with the tornado, Gu Yue¡¯s aura grew at an insane rate. Even though the youth was a fair distance away from her, he could sense just how crazy this soul skill of hers was. It¡¯s a dual attribute soul skill. So powerful!


    His second soul skill receded as his purple soul ring lit up.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s group watched the battle raptly. A thousand-year soul skill!


    They had never witnessed the might of a thousand-year soul skill before. Furthermore, a thousand-year soul skill was already considered high-end in the current era of Soul Masters. As for ten-thousand-year soul rings¡­ Tang Wulin had only ever seen the one Wu Zhangkong had.


    Extremely pure ice energy erupted from the peak of the ice staff, slowly coalescing into a spear.


    Fury of Ice! A powerful soul skill attack!


    The ice spear grew to two meters in length. Faint magic patterns shone in its shaft. The students of class zero could instinctively sense its power just by looking at it. They were certain that none of them could survive a single strike from that spear.


    This thousand-year soul skill is so powerful!


    ¡°There¡¯s still time for all of you to voluntarily withdraw,¡± the youth said to Gu Yue. His expression wasn¡¯t as cold as before. In his eyes, the fact that Gu Yue was able to release such powerful elemental waves despite only having two rings made her worthy of praise. Although he had always been prideful, he now felt a bit of pity for her.


    The corners of Gu Yue¡¯s lips curled. It wasn¡¯t a smile, as only one side of her mouth curled up. It was clearly a derisive smirk.


    The youth¡¯s eyes dulled with frost as he pointed his staff at Gu Yue once again. The ice spear shot forward in a flash, piercing toward Gu Yue like lightning.


    But in that split second, the icicle tornado in front of Gu Yue crumbled apart and she disappeared in a flash of silver.


    Space attribute soul skill? Is it that legendary teleportation skill, the godly skill that can evade the lock-on of another soul skill? How can this be!?


    Countless possibilities flashed through the youth¡¯s mind in a single moment. His Fury of Ice had already flown off into the forest and disappeared.


    ¡°Big brother, what¡¯s that above us?¡± The young girl beside him suddenly pointed at the sky.


    The youth looked up. He stared, dumbstruck, at the sight of brilliant fireworks raining down upon them from the sky.


    Even though his soul power had reached rank 35 and he was the strongest amongst his peers, it still didn¡¯t change the fact that he didn¡¯t have enough time to prepare another thousand-year skill attack which drained so much soul power.


    How can this be!?


    As that last thought ran through his head, he moved to hit the button on the back of the girl¡¯s hand. He couldn¡¯t let his little sister suffer. Immediately afterward, he was baptized in water, fire, earth and wind¡­


    Two lights flickered one after another, then disappeared.


    Only, one of them had been sent out by the button, while the other had been destroyed by the four elements.


    Tang Wulin muttered, ¡°That guy¡¯s actually decent. He knew to protect the person at his side first.¡± As he finished muttering, Tang Wulin abruptly felt as if there was something wrong with the atmosphere.


    When Gu Yue turned back to her team, she saw Xie Xie, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi standing there frozen, as if they were statues. Their faces looked even weirder since their emotions were in chaos..


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you guys?¡± Tang Wulin asked, puzzled.


    Xie Xie respectfully bowed to Gu Yue. ¡°Big sister. From now on, you¡¯re my big sister. I won¡¯t ever argue with you again.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi hastily mimicked Xie Xie¡¯s actions. ¡°Hello, big sister.¡±


    Of the three, only Wang Jinxi remained as he was, bashfully staring at Gu Yue with eyes filled with both admiration and fear.


    Gu Yue silently walked over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side and dully said, ¡°What¡¯s so amazing about defeating that arrogant guy? Come on, let¡¯s go.¡±


    As she spoke, the spirit energy that had surrounded the ice staff wielding youth flew over to them like a storm. Of course, the one who absorbed most of it was Gu Yue, followed by Tang Wulin who was standing next to her.


    The spirit energy released from a Soul Master was no different from the energy received from killing soul beasts. After losing its host, the spirit energy would be absorbed by the closest being to it. On top of that, the closer one was to it, the more one would absorb.


    Tang Wulin finally understood why the other three had reacted like that.


    That was right! That was a three-ringed Soul Master, and not just any three-ringed Soul Master; it was one with a thousand-year soul ring! That meant he had two spirit souls at the very least. They had seen just how powerful of a Soul Elder he had been when he had instantly killed the Six-armed Fire Snake. Yet, Gu Yue had only needed a few minutes to defeat him! They could only imagine how strong Gu Yue was now that she had two rings¡­


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart began to race as he guessed what Gu Yue¡¯s second soul skill was. Her first soul skill was Elemental Tide, which strengthened her ability to attract elemental energy, but in the previous battle, she had been able to launch numerous low-level attacks as well as a icicle tornado. Using those attacks, she had provoked her opponent to use his thousand-year soul skill, giving her an opening to kill him with a mass of low-level attacks afterward. This level of control was simply too powerful and was definitely impossible to attain with just her spiritual power. If it wasn¡¯t for her second soul skill, then just how had she managed to cover the sky with low-level elemental attacks?


    Although neither of Gu Yue¡¯s soul skills were directly related to attacking, did she really need them to be? She could control six elements! With this array of elements, she could not only fight in countless styles, but also constantly change her tactics. And then there was her powerful spiritual power¡­ Among the students of class zero, she was undoubtedly worthy of being called the strongest!


    It was no wonder that Xie Xie no longer had any dreams of defeating her. How could he even possibly be a worthy opponent for the powerful Gu Yue?


    Although, Gu Yue had been right. That ice staff wielding youth had been careless and hadn¡¯t even bothered trying to understand her abilities. If he had been more cautious and immediately used his second soul skill to defend, he likely wouldn¡¯t have lost so easily. Furthermore, Gu Yue couldn¡¯t possibly match him in a battle of attrition.


    ¡°Do you want to rest for a while?¡± Tang Wulin asked Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Without the protection of the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s webs, it was extremely dangerous for them to stay in place for an extended period of time.


    ¡°Soul beasts are approaching.¡± Zhang Yangzi, who was in charge of reconnaissance, urgently informed them. ¡°There are a lot. It seems to be a group of soul beasts, and there are at least thirty of them. They seem to be Blazing Demon Lions.¡±


    Horror took over everyone¡¯s faces when they heard his words.


    Lions were one of the strongest types of soul beasts that lived on land. Generally speaking, the greater a soul beast¡¯s individual strength was, the greater its inclination toward being independent. That way, they would be able to obtain even more resources. Only lion-type soul beasts were unique in this aspect. With a single leader lion as the head of a pride of lionesses, they formed a powerful force regardless of whether they were in the forests or the prairies. Even soul beasts that were far stronger than the head lion wouldn¡¯t dare to provoke the pride lightly. The combined power of the whole pride was simply too fearsome.


    ¡°Run!¡± Tang Wulin shouted the order without the slightest hesitation before turning around to flee.


    Gu Yue waved her hands and enveloped them in a green light. Its effects were stronger than before and now they felt as if they were light as feathers, giving them a large boost to their speed.

 Chapter 146 - Successive Eliminations

    Chapter 146 - Successive Eliminations


    The greatest and most powerful advantage of Gu Yue¡¯s control over the elements was the fact that she could use them to attack, defend, and control, making her strong in every aspect of combat. Now that she had gained her second soul ring and become a Soul Grandmaster, her strength had received a massive boost, firmly cementing her position as the strongest member on the team.


    Xie Xie took the lead and scouted for a path ahead while Zhang Yangzi continued to direct his little Black Eagle spirit soul to watch their rear. During his meditation, he had restored his spirit soul enough to come out again, but it was still too weak to contribute in combat and could only share its vision with Zhang Yangzi. If he wanted to completely restore it, he would need to meditate for several more days.


    A roar rumbled behind them. Soon, numerous red figures could be seen madly rushing toward them.


    Soul Masters weren¡¯t the only ones who could absorb spirit energy; soul beasts could too. It was precisely due to the powerful waves of spirit energy emanating from their bodies that had attracted the soul beasts. Blazing Demon Lions were one of the strongest soul beast races and could easily sense the student¡¯s spirit energy fluctuations, spurring their rapid pursuit.


    Run! If they could run for even a moment longer, then it was a moment longer they would live. Even a fraction of a second more would allow them to absorb a bit more spirit energy.


    They stood no chance against a whole pride of Blazing Demon Lions. Perhaps if they all possessed three soul rings, they might have had a glimmer of hope.


    In a previous trip into the spirit ascension platform, they had been unlucky enough to encounter a pride of Blazing Demon Lions and were met with a deadly fate. That horrific slaughter was still fresh in their memories.


    The Blazing Demon Lions had surrounded them, and despite their best efforts to resist, they had been slaughtered within moments. For the rest of that day, they were plagued by the sensation of being burned alive.


    This pride of Blazing Demon Lions was definitely an existence that stood at the very apex of the elementary spirit ascension platform. Though the Man-Faced Demon Spider was extremely powerful as an individual, even it wouldn¡¯t be able to survive an onslaught from a pride of wild lions. In such a scenario, its only choice would have been to flee.


    The head lion of a pride of Blazing Demon Lions was equivalent to a thousand-year soul beast. As for the remaining lionesses, every one of them had the cultivation of a hundred-year soul beast at least, if not a thousand-year level. They were able to become so powerful simply because they had very few natural predators in this forest. Regardless of whether it was an individual Soul Master or a group of them, it was practically impossible to defeat the Blazing Demon Lions with only three soul rings.


    This was the reason why Tang Wulin had immediately given the order to flee the moment he heard that they were being chased by Blazing Demon Lions. The only thing they could do now was to run until they either lost the lions or perished.


    Of course, there was a silver lining to this. The roars of the Blazing Demon Lions scared off all other soul beasts. After all, the lions were just as terrifying to soul beasts as they were to humans! Regardless of which lion species,  they all shared one thing in common: they were carnivores! They hunted both humans and soul beasts alike.


    As such, not a single soul beast dared to block their way in their mad escape. Even if a soul beast were to appear before them, they would soon flee in fear when they heard the declarations of the lions¡¯ hunt.


    Despite their best efforts to flee, however, the Blazing Demon Lions were natives and were able to traverse the great forest far more quickly than humans.


    Coordination was useless in such dire circumstances.


    Surprisingly, the slowest one among them was Wang Jinxi. Just as the lions were about to reach him, he helplessly slapped the button on the back of his hand.


    Wang Jinxi disappeared in a flash of light, the spirit energy he had yet to fully absorb drifting over to the remaining four Soul Masters.


    The next slowest person was Gu Yue. Although she could enhance her speed with the wind element, she still couldn¡¯t hope to match Agility System Soul Masters or Tang Wulin, who had been born with innate divine strength. She was the second one to hit the button on the back of her hand. Perhaps it was due to her meticulous planning, but after she disappeared in a flash of light, all her unabsorbed spirit power flew toward Tang Wulin with barely any dispersion.


    The remaining three were too preoccupied with the Blazing Demon Lions drawing closer and closer to question her control over the spirit energy.


    For the time being, they were able to gain a little breathing room thanks to Gu Yue as she had cast a giant blizzard at the pride behind them before she exited, slowing them momentarily.


    ¡°Captain! I have an idea,¡± blurted out Zhang Yangzi.


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Wulin urgently asked as he continued to madly flee. His method of running was different from Xie Xie¡¯s and Zhang Yangzi¡¯s as he wasn¡¯t an Agility System Soul Master, and lacked their raw speed. Instead, he possessed tremendous power. He would launch off the ground like an artillery shell, leaving a deep imprint in the ground each time. Every leap was filled with so much momentum that he didn¡¯t even bother dodging the branches. Instead, he plowed straight through them, just like a bulldozer. Tang Wulin¡¯s actions simply left Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie speechless.


    This wasn¡¯t the point though. The important thing was that with this method, Tang Wulin was actually a bit faster than the other two! In fact, Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie could enjoy a clear path as long as they stayed right behind Tang Wulin.


    ¡°There should definitely be some soul beasts flying in the sky. I¡¯ll try and lure them down here, and maybe they¡¯ll attack the Blazing Demon Lions.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go, It¡¯s too risky.¡± Tang Wulin immediately rejected the proposal.


    Provoking the soul beasts in the sky was an easy matter, but with one mistake, Zhang Yangzi would die.


    Zhang Yangzi smiled mischievously. ¡°This is the spirit ascension platform; we won¡¯t really be in danger. If worst comes to worst, I¡¯ll just be a bit shaken for a few days. We¡¯ve already made enough gains to make up for the losses this trip anyway. I haven¡¯t contributed much this time, so let me try this at least.¡± After he finished speaking, without even waiting for Tang Wulin¡¯s reply, Zhang Yangzi kicked off a tree branch and swiftly climbed up the tree with the aid of his wings.


    Zhang Yangzi had yet to forget his first experience in the spirit ascension platform. His failure that time had brought to light many of his shortcomings. It was then that he had truly understood he wasn¡¯t the most outstanding student in his class anymore.


    As he approached the top of the tree, a shocking scene filled his eyes.


    In his first trip into the spirit ascension platform, he had only seen a single green bird flying, but this time, he witnessed flocks of all kinds of flying soul beasts that covered the sky.


    There were a few green birds among the mass of beasts and were in a chaotic battle against each other. Every once in awhile, a killed soul beast would drop from the sky and into the forest thicket.


    ¡°What, what is this?!¡± Just as he was about to reach the tree¡¯s peak, he saw a giant nest with several pitch-black eggs within.


    The eggs were large, each similar to the size of a large ball.


    ¡°These should be a flying soul beast¡¯s eggs. Big brother is really apologetic, but I¡¯ll have to crack you.¡± Zhang Yangzi quickly picked up an egg and lifted it overhead. Utilising his second soul skill, Eagle Soars the Sky, he rushed into the sky.


    ¡°Hey, whose egg is this? Quickly come claim it!¡± Zhang Yangzi shouted at the top of his lungs.


    The nearby flying soul beasts turned their gazes to this newly ascended human. A moment later, a gigantic black soul beast released a sharp cry full of wrath.


    ¡°Hehe. Catch!¡± While saying this, Zhang Yangzi threw the egg toward the speeding red specks on the ground. After provoking the flying soul beasts, he slapped his escape button with lightning speed.


    Mission accomplished!


    Zhang Yangzi disappeared in a flash of light while dozens of gigantic flying soul beasts dove into the forest.


    As the spirit energy contained within Zhang Yangzi¡¯s body began to disperse, the flying soul beasts arrived just in time to absorb it.


    I stole your egg, but you¡¯re gaining so much spirit energy that you¡¯re profiting from this. Of course, you still need to survive the battle with the Blazing Demon Lions. These were Zhang Yangzi¡¯s final thoughts as he disappeared from the spirit ascension platform.


    The last two remaining heard a cacophony of twigs breaking and leaves rustling from behind them. Following that,  the pressure of the lions¡¯ pursuit dissipated. Tang Wulin and Xie Xie exchanged a knowing look. They knew that Zhang Yangzi had succeeded.


    ¡°Nicely done!¡± Xie Xie couldn''t help but praise their fallen comrade.


    Zhang Yangzi had given up on absorbing more spirit energy in order to create an opportunity for his teammates to survive.


    ¡°Although, I don¡¯t think he had enough spiritual power to absorb much more spirit energy anyways. Haha!¡± Xie Xie heartily laughed as he sped up once more.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but crack a smile too. Although he was absorbing more and more spirit energy, he had yet to reach his limits. As for his teammates with two rings, however, they were probably feeling awfully bloated by now.


    Suddenly, a dark golden radiance flashed ahead of them.


    Xie Xie wasn¡¯t able to stop his mad dash forward in time, so his body was instantly sliced up into pieces and scattered onto the forest floor.


    Xie Xie¡¯s corpse then disappeared in a flash of light.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s scalp began to tingle. Without any hesitation, he shot Bluesilver Grass out of his hand toward a tree, forcefully changing his direction.


    Another dark gold light flashed by and an ear-piercing hissing sound came from where he had been standing just a split-second ago. Three lines in the air could be made out.

 Chapter 147 - The True King

    Chapter 147 - The True King


    Half of Xie Xie¡¯s spirit energy flew toward Tang Wulin while the other half flew in another direction. As he watched the energy fly away, a giant figure emerged.


    It was an enormous bear, its fur dark-gold in colour. Standing over three meters tall, it had thick arms and its majestic shoulders, akin to a great wall. Four golden claws of at least one meter in length extended from each paw.


    Xie Xie! Tang Wulin screamed in agony within his heart, for he knew just what sort of backlash Xie Xie would experience after being slashed into pieces. Although dying in the spirit ascension platform did not signify a true death, Soul Masters would still face powerful mental backlash from their death experience. Though they all had plenty of experience in this by now, it was still Xie Xie¡¯s first time being killed in such a gruesome manner.


    Tang Wulin could instantly recognize the formidable soul beast before him. As a matter of fact, it would be impossible for him to not recognize it; it was simply too famous in the world of Soul Masters.


    Reputed to be the strongest soul beast in the world, the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear.


    It was rumored that the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear was one of the most powerful bears within history and when mature, it would not need to fear any predator, not even true dragons. Should a battle between titans come to pass, the outcome would be difficult to guess.


    The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear preferred to to live independently. Whether it be attack or defense, it possessed overwhelming power in every aspect. It truly was an existence that stood at the apex of the soul beast world.


    If the Blazing Demon Lions were said to be one of the top predators in the elementary spirit ascension platform, then when faced with the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, all they would be able to do was beg for their lives. The reason was simple. Throughout the ages, the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear had always been an existence that stood at the very peak!


    This Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear before his eyes was only three meters tall, but should still be at the hundred-year level, if not higher. In comparison to other hundred-year soul beasts, if it was said that a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider could kill a thousand-year soul beast, then a hundred-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear could make even ten-thousand-year level soul beasts run away in fear! That was just how frightening it was.


    Never in his wildest dreams did Tang Wulin expect to run into this legendary bear within the rebellion spirit ascension platform. After all, wouldn¡¯t such an amazing beast appear in the higher leveled spirit ascension platforms instead?


    Fight it? You have got to be joking with me.


    Tang Wulin threw his hammer straight at the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear before turning around and fleeing.


    Clang!


    A metallic note rung out as the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear tore the hammer apart with one swipe. Furthermore, it had already completely absorbed the spirit energy left behind by Xie Xie.


    Such a powerful claw!


    At this moment, a bizarre thought popped into Tang Wulin¡¯s mind. Is my Golden Dragon Claw stronger, or its Duskgold Dreadclaw?


    Pressured by the dangerous aura behind him, Tang Wulin felt as if the entire forest had darkened. As soon as the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear had appeared, the entire forest fell into a complete silence. Not even the chirping of birds could be heard.


    Having dealt with the unexpected troubles from the sky, the Blazing Demon Lions roared and rushed toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin knew that it was impossible for him to escape. He clenched his teeth and run headfirst into the pride of lions. Regardless of who kills me, you won¡¯t get off lightly either.


    He didn¡¯t immediately hit his ejection button. To him, even a little bit more spirit energy absorbed could lead to a wonderful situation. He wanted to hold out and absorb as much energy as possible.


    The head lion stood over four meters tall and had a fiery red mane like a flickering flame. Its entire body was coated in an orange fire. A domineering aura emanated from its body, which was only bolstered when it roared wrathfully as if it was proclaiming its sovereignty. It was telling all the surrounding soul beasts that it was the ruler of this forest.


    With one glance, it spotted Tang Wulin, his rich aura of spirit energy instantly catching its attention. The Blazing Demon Lion snarled a command to its lionesses, who quickly split up and surrounded Tang Wulin while it pounced directly at him. With such a fat slab of meat in front of it, how could it share with others? Its strength would leap substantially if it absorbed all of Tang Wulin¡¯s spirit energy.


    At that moment, however, Tang Wulin suddenly leapt up. A strand of Bluesilver Grass shot out. Pulling on it, he instantly changing his direction.


    A dark-gold light flew out, announcing the arrival of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear.


    Its speed was completely uncharacteristic of its gigantic body. It hadn¡¯t made a single noise while running.


    Aflame with arrogance and wildness, the thousand-year Blazing Demon Lion took one look at the bear and, as if a switch had been flipped, it immediately pressed down on all four legs and skidded to a halt. The flames on its body blew out and even its fiery mane had become dull. It flipped over a few times and landed in front of the bear with its tail between its legs. Rather than immediately trying to flee, it crawled on the floor and let our some sad cries.


    ¡°This, this is the Blazing Demon Lion King? Is it really a thousand-year Blazing Demon Lion?¡± Tang Wulin was dumbstruck as he witnessed such a shocking scene. Isn¡¯t that guy just a little kitty now?


    That was right. In front of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, the thousand-year Blazing Demon Lion and its lionesses were merely kittens. All their fires had extinguished as they crawled on the floor, swishing their tails as they begged for pity.


    The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear didn¡¯t even put them in its eyes. Its icy gaze had been fixed on Tang Wulin the entire time.


    Tang Wulin urgently raised his right claw just as a dark-gold light flashed, filling his heart with panic. He immediately pulled on the strand of Bluesilver Grass he had shot out and swung in another direction.


    A gigantic dark-gold figure destroyed everything in the place he had been just a split-second before.


    That was right! Everything!


    There wasn¡¯t even any rumbling as the trees, bushes and even the earth were torn to shreds.


    Duskgold Dreadclaw¡­ That¡¯s a real Duskgold Dreadclaw! It could even tear open a dragon¡¯s body!


    The humongous Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear soared into the air with a terrifying leap, overtaking Tang Wulin in a flash.


    I¡¯ll risk it all!


    A golden light twinkled in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he directed all his soul power into his right arm. A wave of golden scales covered his arms and his Golden Dragon Claw appeared.


    Compared to the huge Duskgold Dreadclaw, Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Claw was simply tiny. He fiercely slashed at the Duskgold Dreadclaw with his dragon claw.


    While attacking, Tang Wulin adjusted his posture in the air, keeping his head away from the bear. Even if his Golden Dragon Claw was torn apart and his body was cleaved into two, it would be fine as long as his head wasn¡¯t destroyed immediately. If it were, the split-second of pain he would experience would leave many residual effects.


    He had just decided on this retaliation, because if he didn¡¯t test the true might of his Golden Dragon Claw, he would regret it.


    Clang!


    The Golden Dragon Claw met with the Duskgold Dreadclaw in an explosive collision.


    In the brief moment that their two claws had clashed, Tang Wulin felt all his soul power being drawn out and his blood boiling. In particular, a spot between his eyebrows was burning as a faint golden light appeared.


    As the Duskgold Dreadclaw swept past, it not only missed his head, but also his entire upper body. Unfortunately, Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Claw disappeared in the next moment while the Duskgold Dreadclaw continued to slash across his body.


    Xie Xie had been torn in half vertically, while Tang Wulin was cleaved in half horizontally. The last thing he felt was his lower body separating from his upper body.


    An icy numbness washed over him as darkness enveloped his mind.

 Chapter 148 - Full Marks and 99 Points

    Chapter 148 - Full Marks and 99 Points


    ¡°Hurry! Quickly go save him! Does this child not recognize the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear? Why didn¡¯t he hit the ejection button!¡±


    An anxious voice echoed in Tang Wulin¡¯s mind as he gradually regained consciousness, the icy numbness fading from his body at the same time.


    A metallic friction sound rang out and in the next moment, light filled his eyes.


    I¡¯m back. I¡¯m fine. Those were Tang Wulin¡¯s first thoughts, but then he noticed something strange about his state. Why do I feel fine?


    His body had been shredded into pieces so he should be experiencing strong residual effects, and yet, he didn¡¯t feel anything in particular.


    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s face appeared above the metal box.


    Staff members also came over, prodding Tang Wulin¡¯s body with a sort of popsicle-looking thing. ¡°Are you conscious? Do you feel cold?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    ¡°He¡¯s awake and has feeling. This is odd! He recovered this quickly?¡±


    Tang Wulin grabbed the edge of the metal box and slowly pulled himself up.


    A burst of weakness struck his brain, as if his mind had tired. Apart from this, everything else felt normal for him.


    ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m fine.¡± After confirming that his body had no abnormalities, Tang Wulin got out of the metal box.


    Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi and Gu Yue were waiting at the side. Standing right beside his box, Gu Yue only let out a breath of relief when she saw Tang Wulin sit up.


    However, the box next to his was bustling with people.


    Xie Xie, that¡¯s Xie Xie¡¯s box.


    Xie Xie should be fine, right?


    Tang Wulin anxiously asked, ¡°How is Xie Xie¡¯s state right now?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°He managed to avoid having his head destroyed at the final moment, but the spiritual backlash for the rest of his body is still great. He¡¯s currently unconscious, but he should wake up after resting a bit. Oh, he¡¯s conscious.¡±


    A long sigh of relief escaped from Tang Wulin after hearing that Xie Xie was awake. The most important thing after exiting the spirit ascension platform was waking up. As long as one was able to wake up, the body would be able to slowly recover. After all, they hadn¡¯t truly sustained any injuries.


    Tang Wulin quickly reached Xie Xie¡¯s box and peered inside. Xie Xie¡¯s complexion was pale and his body was twitching. Abnormal twitching of the body was a typical residual effect from dying in the spirit ascension platform.


    Twitching is normal after dying in there, but there aren¡¯t any effects in my body at all. Why aren¡¯t I twitching too?


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t the only person thinking of this question. Within Wu Zhangkong¡¯s heart, he was asking himself the exact same question. It was obvious, however, that Tang Wulin was unable to answer this question.


    ¡°As long as everybody is fine, then that¡¯s good.¡± Wu Zhangkong dully said.


    ¡°Wulin, thank you.¡± Xie Xie¡¯s weak voice called out from the metal box.


    ¡°Huh? What are you thanking me for?¡± Tang Wulin smiled bitterly.


    Xie Xie forced out a difficult smile. ¡°Thank you for your Thousand Refined Cloud Titanium vest. If I hadn¡¯t worn it on my shoulders, helping to block some of the attack and giving me enough time to react, then my head might have been shredded too. That would have been truly troubling.¡±


    It was only then that Tang Wulin understood Xie Xie¡¯s words. Although it had seemed to him that Xie Xie had been sliced apart, the vest had still slightly protected him. With his sharp reflexes as an Agility System Soul Master, he had just been able to narrowly avoid having his head destroyed.


    Come to think of it, it was also like that when the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear tore me apart from the waist down. It¡¯s just that I was already dodging at that time.


    ¡°You guys cheated.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s cold voice suddenly cut in as he stood there holding a vest. That vest was undoubtedly Xie Xie¡¯s, stripped off during his post-ejection medical inspection.


    Tang Wulin immediately blushed with embarrassment and awkwardness. ¡°Teacher Wu, that shouldn¡¯t be considered cheating, right? I only made it because I was afraid everyone would suffer like Wang Jinxi the first time.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong handed the vest to Tang Wulin and indifferently commented, ¡°The craftsmanship is not bad. You can already Thousand Refine?¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Tang Wulin was stunned.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°For the first part of your final exam, everyone gets full marks except for you, the captain. You get points deducted because you cheated and encouraged your teammates to cheat. Your final exam score is¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin listened anxiously for the final verdict, his heart racing.


    ¡°Just 99 points.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Ninety-nine points? That¡¯s not a huge difference from one hundred though? At that moment, Tang Wulin was at a loss as to how to react. The Zhang Yangzi at the side had already started yelling, ¡°Long live Teacher Wu!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong coldly responded, ¡°Don¡¯t get so excited just yet. There¡¯s still one more section to your final exam. You will need to pass this section too in order to pass your exams.¡±


    A staff member brought out a machine to stabilize Xie Xie¡¯s conditions. This machine sent electric currents into his body to alleviate the side effects of the spirit ascension platform.


    Xie Xie had suffered from many residual effects after being killed, so it took him over an hour before he was able to muster enough strength to sit up.


    Everyone else had already recovered and were all waiting for Xie Xie. Tang Wulin walked to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side and softly asked, ¡°I still have another entry card for the rebellion spirit ascension platform. Am I actually able to go in again?¡±


    ¡°Mn?¡± Wu Zhangkong stared at the card in Tang Wulin¡¯s hand, a trace of astonishment flashing through his eyes.


    ¡°The Blacksmith¡¯s Association gave this to me.¡± Tang Wulin didn¡¯t bother trying to hide it.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s impression of Tang Wulin changed. He then shook his head and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to go in again. There¡¯s no meaning in it for you. As the rebellion period progresses, the spirit ascension platform will grow increasingly powerful, and even more rabid soul beasts will emerge. If you go in right now, you won¡¯t be able to survive for long at all. You can just hold onto the card for now and use it during the next rebellion period. The card itself is also worth a lot. You could auction it off for quite a sum.¡±


    Tang Wulin had originally wanted to return to the rebellion spirit ascension platform to absorb more spirit energy, but after hearing Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words, he understood that his thoughts had been too naive.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I have an idea, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s possible to achieve or not. It¡¯s about the spirit energy we absorbed. This time we¡­¡±


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to explain, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hand shot out and covered his mouth. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes shifted to the nearby Spirit Pagoda staff members then whispered, ¡°We¡¯ll discuss this when we get back.¡±


    Tang Wulin realized his error. That¡¯s right! We had absorbed so much spirit energy this time that we must have surpassed the average. I really shouldn¡¯t talk about this in front of the Spirit Pagoda members.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Xie Xie was piggybacked by Tang Wulin all the way back to the academy. Although Xie Xie was recovered now, he still didn¡¯t have full control over his body and all his movements were uncoordinated. According to a Spirit Pagoda staff member, he would need at least a day to recover from this state. Fortunately, there would be no lasting effects. As for whether a shadow had been cast over his heart, only Xie Xie could answer that.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine? I didn¡¯t even see what soul beast killed me, so why would I have a shadow over my heart?¡± Xie Xie said, all thick-skinned.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips after hearing such a typical response from Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie grumpily complained, ¡°It¡¯s so unfair. You were slashed apart too, yet why are you completely fine?¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. Anyways, I¡¯m just happy I made it out alright. Perhaps it¡¯s also related to your body strength. Your body is still too weak. How about you come with me on morning runs from now on? It¡¯ll increase your constitution and strength.¡±


    Xie Xie teased, ¡°Alright! I can go meet that senior sister with you then.¡±


    Tang Wulin blushed crimson. ¡°What meeting with the senior sister? Stop talking about things you don¡¯t know about.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s gaze instantly locked onto Tang Wulin, while Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi cast curious glances in his direction.


    Tang Wulin said dismissively, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. There are a lot of people going on runs in the morning so naturally I¡¯ve met a few seniors.¡±


    Even though the words he spoke denied it, a delicate face appeared within his heart.


    It was just as Xie Xie had said; every day he would be able to see Ouyang Zixin on his morning runs. Although he only greeted her each time and occasionally spoke a few words with her, the more he ran, the more familiar he had grown with her.


    Moreover, he was so accustomed to seeing her every morning that disappointment would fill his heart if she wasn¡¯t there one morning.


    ¡°Go back and rest properly. We¡¯ll be summarizing your experiences tomorrow. Tang Wulin, come to my quarters.¡± Wu Zhangkong immediately issued out these commands the moment they arrived at the academy.


    Tang Wulin first delivered Xie Xie to his room and laid him down to rest before heading over to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s office.


    ¡°Wulin, you must remember that in the future, regardless of whether it be the spirit ascension platform or the Spirit Pagoda, you mustn''t speak of any ideas. Instead, wait until you come back. Understood?¡± Wu Zhangkong advised.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Understood, teacher. But why? If the spirit ascension platform has a problem, shouldn¡¯t I tell the Spirit Pagoda?¡¯

 Chapter 149 - Its Possible In Theory

    Chapter 149 - It''s Possible In Theory


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°You¡¯re still young and there are some things you needn¡¯t know about just yet. As long as you remember my words, you¡¯ll be fine. The Spirit Pagoda doesn¡¯t think the same way you do. They possess so much power that even the Federation is afraid of them. Moreover, the Spirit Pagoda spans across to other continents too.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned. Other continents? The Star Luo Continent and the Heaven Dou Continent?


    ¡°Teacher, have you ever been to the other two continents? Do you know what¡¯s different about them?¡± Tang Wulin curiously asked.


    Wu Zhangkong calmly answered, ¡°There are many different kinds of places in this world, and you¡¯ll know what they are like when you visit them in the future, but for now, you shouldn¡¯t be thinking about that. Now tell me, what did you feel in the spirit ascension platform today?¡±


    Seeing that Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t wish to talk about the other two continents, Tang Wulin wisely chose to drop the topic and quickly began explaining his thoughts.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, after absorbing all that spirit energy today, I realized that it¡¯ll be extremely hard for my teammates with two soul rings to evolve their spirit souls. In fact, it¡¯s practically impossible for them to evolve them to the thousand-year level since the spirit energy is split between their two rings evenly. Even if they did evolve their spirit souls to the thousand-year level, their bodies wouldn¡¯t be able to bear two thousand-year soul rings, not to mention that neither Wang Jinxi¡¯s nor Zhang Yangzi¡¯s spiritual power is strong enough to handle a single thousand-year spirit soul yet. Isn¡¯t this the reason it¡¯s so hard for Soul Masters to evolve their spirit souls in the spirit ascension platform?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°The fact that you¡¯ve arrived at this conclusion shows just how seriously you have been thinking about this. Not bad. Even if you had enough resources to enter the spirit ascension platform more times, there is still a limit to what your body can handle. In the end, your chances of success would still be tiny. What you really should be considering isn¡¯t that.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin nodded in understanding. ¡°I think my situation is actually a bit special. My body is stronger than an ordinary Soul Master¡¯s so I¡¯m actually able to support a thousand-year soul ring despite only having one ring. I¡¯m not restricted to an up to four-hundred-years ring like other one-ring Soul Masters. My spiritual power is also at the Spirit Connection realm, so if I absorb enough spirit energy, I should be able to gain a thousand-year spirit soul, right?¡±


    For a moment, a glimmer of surprise twinkled in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes before he nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s possible in theory, but you will have to absorb enough spirit energy to evolve your spirit soul before you gain a second soul ring. Moreover, your body will need to be able to bear two thousand-year soul rings when it comes time for your second soul ring.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words immediately reminded Tang Wulin of something. That¡¯s right! If I evolve my spirit soul to the thousand-year level, that means my second soul ring will also be at the thousand-year level. It¡¯s no problem for me to handle one thousand-year soul ring right now, but will I be able to handle two thousand-year soul rings by the time I become a Soul Grandmaster?


    Wu Zhangkong continued, ¡°How about this, we¡¯ll run some tests on your body later and figure out just how much you can bear. We already know your spiritual power can support a single thousand-year spirit soul, so all that¡¯s left to determine is whether or not your body can bear two thousand-year soul rings. You¡¯ll really be a unique case if you can.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, teacher.¡±


    Teacher Wu isn¡¯t the only person I can ask about how much my body can bear. I can also ask¡­ Old Tang!


    After Tang Wulin left, Wu Zhangkong sat there in deep thought. There really is something special about Tang Wulin. I think he¡¯ll actually be able to do it.


    Should he actually obtain a thousand-year spirit soul, then even though his martial soul is weak, it will be enough to make up for it and make him strong! This set of circumstances is even rare in Shrek Academy.


    However, this isn¡¯t a certainty. After all, I¡¯ve never entered the land of the true monsters of Shrek.


    He should only be a step away from evolving his spirit soul once more. It seems I¡¯ll need to conduct some special tests on him.


    Wu Zhangkong narrowed his eyes. It¡¯s best to keep this matter a secret from the Spirit Pagoda.


    At the very least, this can¡¯t be revealed until he¡¯s stronger.


    As his train of thought traveled along this path, a series of plans began to form.


    He had never expected these children to make such a great harvest this time in the rebellion spirit ascension platform. Without a doubt, having survived the longest, it was Tang Wulin who had benefited the most. He had absorbed the most spirit energy with Gu Yue in second place. She had suddenly broke through to become a two-ringed Soul Grandmaster, gaining enough power to even defeat a three-ringed Soul Elder who had two spirit souls and a powerful martial soul! It was true that her opponent had been careless, but it would have been impossible to grasp victory without her insane control over the elements!


    Nobody knew just how strong Gu Yue¡¯s spiritual power was after gaining her second soul ring. This little girl had a chance of reaching the Spirit Sea realm by the time she turned fifteen!


    The others¡¯ spirit souls had also made some progress, but now they were faced with a problem. They couldn¡¯t enter the spirit ascension platform again for a while, otherwise they might accidently absorb too much spirit energy which would negatively influence their bodies.


    He had never expected they would make so much progress in a short six months. According to the original plan they had for class zero, they shouldn¡¯t be this powerful until the third grade.


    It seems I¡¯ll have to adjust the originally planned curriculum.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Old Tang, now that I have fully absorbed the power of the first seal, how many soul rings and spirit souls can my body handle?¡± The moment Tang Wulin returned to his room, he began meditating to call out Old Tang.


    Old Tang¡¯s body was still bathed in a golden light, but for some reason, Tang Wulin felt as though the light had grown a bit more resplendent than before. Old Tang also no longer seemed as transparent to him.


    Old Tang asked, ¡±Oh? What do you mean? Is there a problem with your soul rings?¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know why, but he placed an immense amount of trust in this mysterious Old Tang that dwelled within his body. He didn¡¯t bother to hide anything as he explained what had happened in the spirit ascension platform, as well as his thoughts on the spirit soul evolution he had already experienced.


    After hearing his explanation, Old Tang suddenly blurted out, ¡°I understand what you¡¯re thinking. You¡¯re worried that your body won¡¯t be able to absorb that much spirit energy, correct?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about.¡± Tang Wulin hurriedly added, ¡°So what level of soul ring do you think my body can bear right now? And my spirit soul?¡±


    Old Tang said, ¡°This is actually a very simple matter since there¡¯s no one more familiar with your body than I. Your spiritual power is gradually increasing, but your job to find a way to improve faster. It would be best for you to find a spiritual power cultivation method that will help you increase your spiritual power improvement rate. With your current level, you should be able to support a single thousand-year spirit soul or two hundred-year spirit souls. As for soul rings, you need not worry. Having absorbed the power of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s first seal, it¡¯ll be no problem for your body to bear two thousand-year soul rings.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Then, is it possible for me to break the second seal before I reach rank 20? And what level will my body reach after absorbing the second seal¡¯s power?¡±


    Old Tang answered, ¡°Based on your body¡¯s current condition, it should be possible. However, you will need to find the items I told you about first. You can only break the second seal after obtaining those items. You will also need to strengthen your body further by that time. Actually, if you really can evolve your spirit soul and soul ring to the thousand-year level, it will provide you with an overall improvement to both your body and essence, so I fully encourage you to evolve them before you reach rank 20. When that time comes, I¡¯ll give you some new advice. Just remember though, the earlier you break the seals, the higher the chance they will break on their own in the future and so your period of safety will become even smaller.¡±

 Chapter 150 - The Xu Clans Siblings

    Chapter 150 - The Xu Clan''s Siblings


    ¡°The seals will break on their own? They can do that?¡± Tang Wulin doubtfully asked.


    Old Tang said, ¡°Of course. If you grow old enough or accidentally run into something that purifies the Golden Dragon King¡¯s essence, then there¡¯s a chance that a seal might break forcefully. Should that happen, you¡¯ll be faced with great danger. More importantly, the latter seals will become even firmer. Basically, the more seals you break by yourself, the lower the  chances are that the following seals will break automatically and endanger your life. It would be best you if they never break by themselves, otherwise¡­¡±


    Old Tang didn¡¯t finish his sentence, but the grim tone in his voice made his meaning clear.


    ¡°Thank you, Old Tang. I¡¯ll definitely do my best! My goal now is to first evolve my spirit soul to the thousand-year level!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Do your best.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°You all scored highly on yesterday¡¯s exam, and this can be attributed to each of you doing exactly what was necessary. It seems that the last three months haven¡¯t been a waste after all. At the very least, you are now a functional team.¡± Strangely enough, although Wu Zhangkong was clearly praising his students, his voice was still as icy as ever. The five students were doubting whether they should be happy or ashamed.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, your control has obviously made much progress. Good work, and continue to do your best. Unfortunately, every one of you has absorbed too much spirit energy yesterday, so once the final exam period is over, we¡¯ll run some tests again and figure out just how much more spirit energy your bodies can bear. Keep in mind that it is absolutely crucial that you do not absorb energy beyond your limits.¡±


    Based on his initial observations, Wu Zhangkong proceeded to summarize the battles from the previous day and gave them his assessment.


    The five students couldn¡¯t help but beam proudly as he talked about the rebellion spirit ascension platform, especially when he mentioned the Man-Faced Demon Spider. A sort of wonderfully unfathomable feeling still lingered in their hearts at the thought of that battle.


    Although Gu Yue had not yet broken through to two rings at the time of that battle, her tactics had been absolutely perfect.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, I have a question for you. Was it part of your plan to use the Man-Faced Demon Spider¡¯s toxic webs after its death to kill even more soul beasts?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s burning gaze bore into Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin ardently shook his head. ¡°I was thinking that if I let it spin its web, then it would lower its guard and we would be able to use the webs as a protective barrier after it died. I¡¯d never imagined that the webs would actually kill so many soul beasts for us, letting us absorb so much spirit energy.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong gave a slight nod. ¡°While your coordination control was exceptional, you must keep in mind that the essence of a Control System Soul Master is to never let your opponent know your intent. This time, your constant, coordinated attacks served to misdirect the enemy¡¯s attention, creating a vital opening for you.¡±


    At the mention of this, Tang Wulin could only scratch his head in embarrassment.


    Wu Zhangkong continued, ¡°But you are still not calm enough! After killing the Man-Faced Demon Spider, it was clear that you all lost your previous tension. Compared to your state of mind from before the battle, the difference was too great! Did you feel satisfied after gaining that much in the spirit ascension platform?¡±


    The students looked at each other in dismay. Even Tang Wulin was no different in that he had harbored the same thoughts at that time. After all, by then, they had already gained far more than they had planned.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Then let me ask you one question. What if you had been in a real forest that time, facing a horde of rebellious soul beasts? Would you still be standing before me now?¡±


    No one dared to utter a word.


    Wu Zhangkong continued his lecture, ¡°Remember this: no matter how enticing or how beneficial something is, it cannot compare to the value of your life.¡±


    Xie Xie meekly said, ¡°Teacher Wu, I have a question. If we encounter something like the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear in the future, what should we do?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong answered without the slightest hesitation. ¡°Run. If you don¡¯t run, then you die.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Xie Xie stared at Wu Zhangkong in shock.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear is a special kind of soul beast. From the moment of its birth, it is a king. Its strength simply can¡¯t be measured in years, unlike normal soul beasts. But there¡¯s no point in continuing this conversation. It would be miraculous for you to encounter a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear in the future, since they have already been hunted to near extinction long ago.¡±


    ¡°Is it because they¡¯re dangerous?¡± Zhang Yangzi asked.


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°No. It¡¯s because there¡¯s a high chance of collecting a soul bone from them. From the perspective of soul beasts, humanity is the greediest existence in the world. Soul beasts are on the brink of extinction not because they are a danger to us, but because hunting them brings us too many benefits.¡±


    Tang Wulin was dumbstruck at these words. For the first time, he was exposed to the true relationship between humanity and soul beasts. When he thought back to all the soul beasts he had killed in the spirit ascension platform, his feelings of triumph couldn¡¯t help but turn a bit sour. Those soul beasts had only been illusory existences, but still¡­


    ?


    ¡°Big brother, don¡¯t be so angry,¡± Xu Xiaoyan timidly begged her brother.


    Xu Xiaoyu¡¯s distorted expression looked ready to erupt. He couldn¡¯t feel anything but anger at the moment. Their clan had paid such a heavy price to obtain entry cards to the rebellion spirit ascension platform for the two of them, yet, due to his moment of carelessness, they had both been eliminated!


    The sensation of being annihilated by that elemental attack remained vivid in his mind. It had taken him a full day of rest to recover.


    ¡°The only people in the rebellion spirit ascension platform region we entered yesterday should¡¯ve been Soul Masters from Eastsea City. From their age, they should currently be attending an intermediate academy. Could they really be students of Eastsea Academy?¡± Xu Xiaoyu narrated his thoughts with an ashen expression.


    Xu Xiaoyan remained stunned for a moment. ¡°Really? If that¡¯s true, then they should be my seniors.¡±


    Although Xu Xiaoyu was the only son in their clan, his stubborness and arrogance displeased the elders. On the other hand, the gentle and timid Xu Xiaoyan was an absolute treasure in their eyes.


    Despite the fact that Xu Xiaoyan was gifted with innate soul power, she didn¡¯t like to cultivate. Fortunately, with an outstanding elder brother like Xu Xiaoyu protecting her, no one dared force her.


    When she had first awakened her martial soul three years ago, the clan had run tests on her using their equipment, only to discover that not only did she have soul power at rank 17, she also had a martial soul that had undergone a starlight phenomena rarely seen throughout the history of their clan. After this, they realized that she was an even greater genius that the outstanding Xu Xiaoyu.


    The Xu family was the largest clan in Eastsea City, and Xu Xiaoyu and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s father was the minister of Eastsea City¡¯s financial affairs, which was a position with much prestige and influence. When he found out that his daughter possessed the legendary martial soul of their clan, he was simply overjoyed. He used his power and influence to obtain another entrance card so that his son and daughter could enter the rebellion spirit ascension platform together. Before they entered, he had repeatedly warned Xu Xiaoyu to take care of his little sister and to help her gain as much spirit energy as possible.


    Due to Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s timidness and her lack of Soul Master training, she had been cowering in fear behind her brother from the moment they entered the spirit ascension platform. She didn¡¯t have the courage to kill a single soul beast. Xu Xiaoyu was able to absorb a great amount of spirit power, but his younger sister, with her reluctance to kill, had barely absorbed any.


    As he tried his hardest to convince her to at least attack the next soul beast they came across, they accidentally stumbled upon Tang Wulin¡¯s team of five. Afterwards, they were met with tragedy¡­


    Upon returning home, not only did he have to suffer the side effects to his body, he also had to endure a lecture from his father. It would have been strange if he was still in a good mood after all that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let me find out who they are, otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to stop myself!¡± Xu Xiaoyu said grimly.


    Despite his words, Gu Yue¡¯s apathetic expression and serene appearance appeared within his mind. Although she wasn¡¯t as pretty as his little sister, she possessed an amazing temperament. Just how had she been able to control that many elements?


    Even now, Xu Xiaoyu¡¯s heart was in turmoil with his doubts and confusion.


    ?


    ¡°Teacher Wu, the final part of our exam is about to start. Will today¡¯s combat class be postponed?¡± Zhang Yangzi flatteringly asked Wu Zhangkong the moment he entered the room.


    This was to be expected of course. With their holidays upon them, it was only normal for students to start feeling a bit lazy.


    Wu Zhangkong dully said, ¡°Due to the amount of spirit power you all absorbed this time in the spirit ascension platform, the academy has arranged for you to test your soul ring year levels and your bodies again. Don¡¯t think that you can squander your time just because you are young. If you don¡¯t put in effort at this age, it¡¯ll be useless to begin putting in effort when you grow old. Don¡¯t you all have a good understanding of each other? Combat class will still proceed as planned. I¡¯ve thought about it for a while, and considering your current situations, it wouldn¡¯t be suitable for you all to enter the spirit ascension platform again for a while. Your combat classes will actually need to be modified a bit. Follow me.¡± Wu Zhangkong immediately turned on his heel and walked out.


    Crestfallen, Zhang Yangzi muttered, ¡°Teacher Wu is so unreasonable.¡±

 Chapter 151 - A Problem Appears

    Chapter 151 - A Problem Appears


    Xie Xie¡¯s mouth twitched as he said, ¡°Just be content with how things are. I can¡¯t even count the number of advanced department students that want Teacher Wu to teach them.¡±


    ¡°Catch up,¡± Tang Wulin cut in.


    The five students followed Wu Zhangkong to the academy¡¯s training facilities.


    These facilities were specially prepared for students to engage in real combat. It was equipped with a soul barrier to minimize the damage caused by stray soul skills.


    ¡°Are we being demoted?¡± Zhang Yangzi covertly whispered to Wang Jinxi. This training facility was frequently used by the ordinary students. After joining class zero for several months, they hadn¡¯t come here as much, so it was only natural that Zhang Yangzi was confused. Their combat training had largely been conducted in the spirit ascension platform against the various soul beasts as, after all, they wouldn¡¯t be sufficiently challenged otherwise.


    Wang Jinxi shot him an annoyed glare. ¡°You really speak a lot of nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong found the teacher in charge of the building and reserved a training field for them.


    The training fields varied in size, ranging from 30 to 50 meters in diameter. The facility had three floors in total. Each floor had four training field of differing sizes, and each field was usually bustling with students from all grades training.


    Wu Zhangkong had requested a field on the third floor as it was currently empty. This way, they would be able to train in peace.


    Wu Zhangkong brought them to a large training field that reached 50 meters in diameter.


    Xie Xie eagerly asked, ¡°Teacher Wu, are we three going to fight against them two? Hehe.¡± Xie Xie shifted his gaze to Zhang Yangzi, a mischievous grin on his lips as he geared up for battle.


    ¡°No.¡± Wu Zhangkong said in a cold voice. ¡°The five of you willing be battling me.¡±


    ¡°Five against one, that¡¯s very unfair¡­ Huh? Against you¡­¡± Xie Xie stared at Wu Zhangkong, dumbfounded.


    With his usual indifference, Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, this no longer is the spirit ascension platform. You won¡¯t revive here in the real world and I might not be able to properly hold back. I will suppress my soul power to the same rank as you all, and I won¡¯t amplify my soul rings. This time, however, I will be using my martial soul. Begin.¡±


    Without even giving the students a chance to respond, soul rings immediately rose up from beneath his feet.


    Two yellow, two purple and two black soul rings appeared. An unstoppable aura engulfed the students for a split second before his soul power rapidly decreased to about rank 20.


    An ice blue sword appeared in his right hand. It was as if his usual coldness had condensed into that glacial sword; a rarely seen tender expression graced his face.


    White robes and blue sword, sky ice and snow cold!


    These words couldn¡¯t help but pop into Tang Wulin¡¯s head.


    The memory of when Wu Zhangkong revealed his martial soul in the battle against Guang Biao was still crystal clear in his mind. He hadn¡¯t even been able to make out what sort of attacks Wu Zhangkong had used back then and the battle had already ended in a few brief moments.


    Yet today, they were supposed to face his Skyfrost Sword?


    ¡°Into formation!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s thunderous order shocked the rest of his comrades out of their stupor. Gu Yue was the first to respond, appearing behind Tang Wulin in a flash. Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi and Xie Xie moved into their positions, forming a cross with Gu Yue at the center and poised to face Wu Zhangkong.


    Tang Wulin shouted, ¡°Everyone, be careful! I¡¯ll restrain him, Gu Yue, you control the battle. The rest of you, focus on attacking. Go!¡±


    Bluesilver Grass gathered in his right hand as he spoke. Tang Wulin had learned from his experiences in the spirit ascension platform and was far more skillful in his control over the vines now.


    Strand after strand of Bluesilver Grass issued forth, closing in on Wu Zhangkong¡¯s position. At his rear, two soul rings sparkled as Gu Yue raised her hands to shoot out a series of blazing fireballs at Wu Zhangkong. With some flying straight at him and others arcing toward him, Wu Zhangkong faced a fiery assault.


    Although ice could indeed extinguish fire, fire could also melt ice. After taking into consideration the fact that Wu Zhangkong had lowered his soul power rank to their level, Gu Yue decisively chose to first suppress his attribute.


    Dozens of fireballs filled the air, some quick, some slow. Regardless of which, in the end, they all shot toward Wu Zhangkong. The fireballs besieged him from all sides, seemingly impossible for him to deal with the all at once.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass exploded forth at the same time. A multitude of strands engulfed Wu Zhangkong, binding his body.


    Xie Xie, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi dashed forward from different directions, but all three converged towards Wu Zhangkong. With strands of Bluesilver Grass tied around their waists, Tang Wulin was in complete control of them.


    The first to arrive were the fireballs. Despite this, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze never left his Skyfrost Sword. He took a slow and calculated step to the side as the fireballs seemed to slow down.


    In the blink of an eye, the Skyfrost Sword¡¯s chilly aura filled the training grounds. Dozens of fireballs extinguished quietly, and as their warm light disappeared, the surroundings returned to its original luster.


    For a brief moment, a sliver of emotion made it past Gu Yue¡¯s grim expression. She had felt the cores of her fireballs obliterated instantly by Wu Zhankong¡¯s move.


    The next second, Wu Zhangkong moved in an eerie rhythm, his mystical footwork dodging the bindings of Bluesilver Grass as they shot forth one after another.


    At that instant, he was no different from a ghostly general, his body almost illusory. This scene shocked and dazzled the assault team of three to their very bones.


    Not good! Tang Wulin pulled ferociously on several strands of Bluesilver Grass as he shouted, ¡°Withdraw!¡±


    It¡¯s best not to aim too high against an opponent like Teacher Wu. We need to avoid making any mistakes and prioritize our safety first.


    His reaction was swift enough, but his actions were still lacking in power.


    Xie Xie had understood Tang Wulin¡¯s thoughts from the very beginning, so the moment he heard the order to withdraw, he had immediately changed directions and flown back at his maximum speed.


    Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi, on the other hand, were a moment too slow. The frost had already crept onto their bodies.


    They were not fools though. Having learned from past experiences, they instantly locked hands and were enshrouded in a black light.


    Martial soul fusion skill!


    Shadow Eagle Dragon!


    They didn¡¯t dare to hold back against Wu Zhangkong!


    Waves of darkness rippled out, unveiling a monstrous scene. Wang Jinxi¡¯s aura had clearly grown stronger; however, there was a hint of dissonance between him and Zhang Yangzi. The two of them let out a groan before their bodies quickly separated.


    Two cold lights landed on their bodies, causing them to stiffen in place as Wu Zhangkong appeared before them.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He didn¡¯t continue attacking and began to examine the two instead.


    Their soul fusion skill failed?


    Although they had only partially succeeded in using their soul fusion skill during the Class Promotion Tournament, it was still considered a success. But now, their soul fusion skill had actually failed?


    Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi paled. They both knew that their martial souls weren¡¯t particularly powerful, and it was only because of their soul fusion skill that they had been able to enter the ranks of geniuses with a slim possibility of becoming famous powerhouses in the continent in the future.


    Yet, their soul fusion skill had just failed. They were dumbstruck.


    ¡°Try it again.¡± Wu Zhangkong moved back and brandished his Skyfrost Sword once again. The chill immediately returned.


    Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi exchanged a knowing look as they charged at each other once again, their soul powers pushed to their very limits.


    A pair of wing unfurled from Zhang Yangzi¡¯s back as he swept Wang Jinxi into his arms.

 Chapter 152 - Wang Jinxis Pain

    Chapter 152 - Wang Jinxi''s Pain


    Wang Jinxi mirrored Zhang Yangzi, and the two collided in the next moment.


    A deep dragon¡¯s roar rumbled from Wang Jinxi as his Bone Dragon King and Zhang Yangzi¡¯s Shadow Phantasm Eagle fused in an instant. They could feel Wang Jinxi¡¯s body rejecting the fusion immediately. It was as if his body was trying to push Zhang Yangzi out the moment it saw the Shadow Phantasm Eagle.


    Zhang Yangzi stumbled away from Wang Jinxi and landed his butt. Suddenly, he was filled with rage as he shouted, ¡°Wang Jinxi, what is the meaning of this?! Why won¡¯t you fuse with me?!¡±


    ¡°I, I didn¡¯t do anything!¡± Wang Jinxi stared at him in confusion. He couldn¡¯t comprehend what was going on either.


    Wu Zhangkong knitted his brows and turned to Zhang Yangzi. ¡°Calm down. This isn¡¯t something Wang Jinxi can control. I fear that there really might be a problem with your soul fusion skill now.¡±


    Zhang Yangzi got up from the floor, breathing heavily. On the other side, Wang Jinxi¡¯s eyes clouded with apprehension as a vague reason formulated within his mind.


    Wu Zhangkong went silent for a moment. ¡°Jinxi¡¯s martial soul has probably mutated, so now your two martial souls aren¡¯t compatible enough to use your soul fusion skill anymore.¡±


    Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin with a conflicted expression.


    Similarly, Tang Wulin also wore odd expression. Is it possible that his Bone Dragon King was influenced by our dual cultivation?


    His gaze alternating between Wang Jinxi and Tang Wulin, Zhang Yangzi began to have an inkling as to the cause. After all, he was a bright kid. ¡°Could it be because the two of you are cultivating together?¡±


    Wang Jinxi let out a sigh that was filled with all his pent up emotions. ¡°I can¡¯t think of any reason other than that.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Today¡¯s classes will end here. Tang Wulin, Wang Jinxi, you two follow me. I need to examine your martial souls.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    It was a very simple process to examine their martial souls; Wu Zhangkong simply used his own soul power to scan their bodies and observe any changes that had occurred when they used their martial souls.


    ¡°Jinxi, I am almost certain that the problem was caused by Tang Wulin¡¯s influence on your martial soul. As an individual, it¡¯s something fortunate since your martial soul is mutating to a higher level under the influence of Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline. As for how far it will mutate, I have no way of knowing. The one thing I can be certain of, though, is that if you continue to cultivate with Tang Wulin, your martial soul will continue to mutate, but you will likely no longer be able to use your soul fusion skill with Zhang Yangzi. That is the drawback of this situation. You need to carefully think things over and decide which direction you want to develop in.¡±


    Wang Jinxi stilled, completely dumbstruck. ¡°Then, will I return to normal if I stop cultivating with Tang Wulin?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong grimly said, ¡°From what I have seen so far, it should be possible. You two have only cultivated together for a few months and his soul power is weaker than yours, so he hasn¡¯t influenced you much. As a result, your martial soul mutation is still not firm, and you should be able to slowly return to normal if you stop cultivating with Tang Wulin. His bloodline¡¯s influence affects similar martial souls within a certain range though, so if you choose to stop, I will rearrange your rooms further apart from each other.¡±


    Wang Jinxi raised his head to look at Tang Wulin, his eyes flickering with conflicting emotions.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Jinxi! I didn¡¯t know things would turn out like this.¡± Tang Wulin earnestly apologized. He was well aware just how important a soul fusion skill was to Soul Masters.


    Wang Jinxi shook his head. ¡°How can I blame you for this? No one could have predicted it. Teacher Wu, is it fine if I return to my room and think about this before deciding?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Of course. This is an important decision. It¡¯s best for you to go back and think about it carefully.¡±


    Wang Jinxi looked at Tang Wulin with a deep gaze before giving him a curt nod.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°There¡¯s something else I must remind you. From my current observations, Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline is actually gradually growing stronger. If you continue to cultivate with him, your martial soul could potentially grow even stronger than a soul fusion skill. Furthermore, that would purely be your strength as an individual. This is an important point to consider.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡±


    Sadness and bitterness found its way into Tang Wulin¡¯s heart after Wang Jinxi left. He had never expected that their mutually beneficial cultivation method would have such a large drawback.


    Wang Jinxi was still benefiting either way, but what about Zhang Yangzi? Without Wang Jinxi, he would no longer be able to use their soul fusion skill.


    Tang Wulin hated to see a situation such as this, but it had already happened, and the decision rested in Wang Jinxi¡¯s hands. It wasn¡¯t his place to try to influence Wang Jinxi¡¯s decision.


    A strange mood fell over class zero from that day onward.


    Zhang Yangzi became uncommunicative while Wang Jinxi was even more taciturn than usual.


    Two days quickly passed and the second part of their final exam was upon them.


    ¡°Follow me. We¡¯re going to take the second part of the exam now.¡± Wu Zhangkong said with his usual indifference.


    ¡°Teacher Wu.¡± Wang Jinxi suddenly stood up.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Wu Zhangkong gave him a curious look. Tang Wulin also turned to stare at Wang Jinxi, a hint of dread welling within his heart as he anticipated what would happen next. Wang Jinxi hadn¡¯t been cultivating with him these last few days, and the moment they were dismissed from class he would immediately return to his room and not come out.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡¯ve decided. I won¡¯t cultivate with Tang Wulin anymore.¡± Although Wang Jinxi spoke quickly and monotonously, his voice was resolute.


    Stunned, Zhang Yangzi stared at Wang Jinxi with wide eyes.


    Wu Zhangkong gazed at him for a moment before asking, ¡°And you have really thought this over carefully?¡±


    Wang Jinxi earnestly nodded. ¡°While I might be able to reach even greater heights in the future if I continue cultivating with Tang Wulin, only I would benefit that way. I grew up with Zhang Yangzi, and we¡¯re the closest of childhood friends. We played with each other everyday. We¡¯re inseparable and are practically brothers. I can¡¯t abandon him for my own sake, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to live with myself. Besides, we¡¯re already two-ringed Soul Grandmasters and have a soul fusion skill, so we can definitely be considered geniuses already. This is why I choose to cultivate with Zhang Yangzi.¡±


    At this point, Wang Jinxi took a moment to stop and swept his gaze at Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue. He took in a deep breath, beating the drums of courage as he readied his next words. ¡°Also, Teacher Wu, thank you for this semester¡¯s guidance. I also thank my comrades as well, but I¡¯m sorry; I want to transfer academies. I¡¯ll transfer schools together with Yangzi. Wulin¡¯s bloodline influence is just too much. As long as I stay within this academy, I¡¯ll continue to be influenced by him. Even during the last two days where I haven¡¯t been cultivating with him, I still felt oppressed by him. The only thing I can do now is leave.¡±


    Tang Wulin was rendered speechless at these words. He had never expected that his mere presence would force Wang Jinxi to transfer academies.


    ¡°Jinxi, I can try to keep myself away from you if my effect is really that strong. You won¡¯t have to transfer academies then¡­¡± Tang Wulin hastily interjected.


    Wang Jinxi relaxed as he let out a deep breath. A gentle smile found its way to his lips as he shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. Wulin, you can¡¯t blame yourself for this. This decision isn¡¯t related to you at all. These changes happened to my body, not yours. You also could never have predicted that your bloodline would have such great influence either. This change won¡¯t affect our friendship at all, we just can¡¯t cultivate together any longer. It¡¯s not just my martial soul that¡¯s being affected; my mind is as well. Maybe if I leave you and go cultivate somewhere else for some time, I¡¯ll be able to return to normal. Ever since the Class Promotion Tournament, I¡¯ve felt this mental pressure, but I just never wanted to acknowledge it until now. Yangzi and I can still cultivate properly together, so you don¡¯t have to worry about us.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to handle the contract with the academy. I have already discussed things with my father and we¡¯ve decided to pay for the resources that were used on Yangzi and I this semester. I¡¯m sorry for the inconvenience.¡± Wang Jinxi bowed deeply before Wu Zhangkong, expressing his deep regret. Tang Wulin saw two water droplets fall to the floor as Wang Jinxi bowed.


    How could Wang Jinxi actually want to leave? They hadn¡¯t just become friends after a semester together, they had reached a rarely seen level of tacit understanding between Soul Masters! They had come together to form a squad; a squad that was able to kill a hundred-year Man-Faced Demon Spider! How could he be willing to part with his cherished comrades now?

 Chapter 153 - Leaving

    Chapter 153 - Leaving


    It was just as Wang Jinxi said. If he continued to stay here, he would inevitably be influenced by Tang Wulin and reap many benefits by cultivating together. During the two days they had been apart, however, Wang Jinxi discovered just how deeply he had been affected. He could no longer sleep soundly at night and he wasn¡¯t even able to meditate properly. His heart was in turmoil.


    It was only after contemplating his situation deeply these last two days that Wang Jinxi realized that if he continued to cultivate with Tang Wulin, he might not be able to part with him. In fact, he might subconsciously become Tang Wulin¡¯s vassal.


    Regardless of which type of martial soul, it was a fact that bloodlines and martial souls would affect each other. The stronger one¡¯s soul power was, the stronger their bloodline would be. Currently, he was a level higher than Tang Wulin, yet he was already being influenced so greatly; then what would happen if Tang Wulin overtook him in the future? He feared just how much he would be affected then.


    Despite his young age, Wang Jinxi clearly understood this terrifying concept. Furthermore, in consideration of his relationship with Zhang Yangzi, he had finally arrived at this decision. It was a hard decision, and although it pained him to do so, he had no other choice.


    ¡°Jinxi!¡± Zhang Yangzi suddenly rushed over and embraced Wang Jinxi. He couldn¡¯t hold back anymore; tears began to stream down his face.


    Hadn¡¯t he also been suffering these last few days? Losing his soul fusion partner would leave him as nothing more than an ordinary Soul Master. His cultivation speed would take a hit, and his clan would no longer place as much value on him. After all, strength was what decided his position within his clan.


    Yet, Wang Jinxi¡¯s staunch words had washed away all the worries within his heart. Friendship truly prevailed over all and his heart was touched by such a deep friendship.


    Wu Zhangkong still stood there like an unfeeling statue, but Xie Xie had noticed it. For just a brief moment, a tinge of sadness had flashed across the depths of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Fine then. Since you have already decided on this, you don¡¯t have to worry about the rest. I will settle things with the academy and handle it with your clan. Perhaps this really is the correct choice.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s reply was utterly simple. ¡°Then, do you two still want to take the second part of the final exam?¡±


    Wang Jinxi could only force out an awkward smile. ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t think Yangzi or I am in any frame of mind to participate in the exam today. Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, good luck! Please don¡¯t let our decision disturb you. You three are amazing. We¡¯ll meet again in the future; at that time, we might even be challenging you then. The two of us will definitely become strong soon. We won¡¯t let you leave us behind.¡±


    Tears fell down Wang Jinxi¡¯s face as he spoke with a bright smile and clenched fists. It took all his willpower to just wave goodbye at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin suddenly charged over and brought the two of them into his embrace, letting out a few quiet sobs.


    ¡°We will conduct the exam tomorrow.¡± After stating this, Wu Zhangkong left the classroom with large strides.


    ?


    Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi returned to their rooms to pack up their belongings. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know what agreement their clans and the academy had made. What he did know, however, was that class zero only had three students left.


    Wei Xiaofeng was the first to leave, and now Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi are leaving too. Mom and dad left me. Na¡¯er left me too. Why do the people I hold dear always leave me?


    Tang Wulin looked out the window, staring listlessly at the field outside as sorrow and dejection welled within his heart.


    His heart pained  from the loss of his friends, as well as self-blame.


    ¡°Hey! What¡¯s up with you?¡±  A pleasant voice suddenly called out from the field.


    Tang Wulin turned toward the voice. It was the pretty Ouyang Zixin, and she was waving at him.


    ¡°Senior sister.¡± Tang Wulin blankly stared at her. He didn¡¯t know why, but for some unfathomable reason, his mood instantly uplifted the moment he saw her.


    ¡°You¡¯re so big already yet you¡¯re still snivelling like a child?¡± Ouyang Zixin said with a teasing smile.


    Tang Wulin touched his cheeks, completely unaware that he had been crying.


    Now that he noticed his tears, he quickly wiped them away with his sleeve, embarrassed. ¡°I¡¯m fine, senior sister.¡±


    ¡°Come down here.¡± Ouyang Zixin beckoned him.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± He climbed onto the window sill. With a strand of Bluesilver Grass attached to the window, he jumped from the fourth floor which was dozens of meters tall, and landed gently.


    ¡°Wow! So cool!¡± Ouyang Zixin beamed sweetly at him.


    Tang Wulin awkwardly scratched his head. ¡°No way! I¡¯m just¡­¡±


    Ouyang Zixin giggled. ¡°Okay, okay. You don¡¯t need to explain yourself. It¡¯s normal for children to like showing off. So, why were you crying? Come tell senior sister.¡±


    Tang Wulin bravely shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. Two of my classmates are just transferring academies, so I¡¯m a bit sad.¡±


    Ouyang Zixin said with an air of maturity, ¡°You¡¯re such an emotional kid; it¡¯s not like you won¡¯t see them again in the future. They¡¯re simply transferring academies, that¡¯s all. Alright then! Life is just like this and the world is ever-changing. Who would know what tomorrow holds for them? As long as you live, then live each day happily! Go pursue your goals and your own happiness. You¡¯ll be fine as long as you do that.¡±


    She rubbed Tang Wulin¡¯s head as she spoke. ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll take you out for some good food.¡± She grabbed his hand and immediately began dragging him toward the academy gates.


    Ouyang Zixin¡¯s hand felt soft and delicate over his own, and as she pulled him forward, he was able to catch her fragile fragrance.


    Warmth filled his heart for a brief moment. He had always devoted himself wholly to cultivating his martial soul and blacksmithing, but at that moment he was in desperate need of affection.


    Both his parents and Na¡¯er had left him. All the people he held dear had also left him without a single trace. All he could do was throw himself into cultivating to numb the pain. Yet, it was precisely because of this that Ouyang Zixin¡¯s gentleness made him warm; it was the feeling of being loved.


    ¡°Big sister will bring you out for some barbecue skewers and grilled fish.¡±


    A normal person¡¯s appetite would grow when they were in a good mood and Tang Wulin was naturally no different.


    Ouyang Zixin¡¯s beautiful eyes simply stared in shock as Tang Wulin continued to stuff more and more barbecue skewers into his mouth.


    There was a mountain of bamboo skewers in front of of Tang Wulin, attracting curious glances from the surrounding customers.


    Ouyang Zixin was on the verge of crying. ¡°Junior brother, big sister brought you here to comfort you, but do you hold some kind of grudge against me? You¡¯ve already eaten a week¡¯s worth of my food budget!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin finally noticed just how much he had eaten. He looked up and was instantly attacked by Ouyang Zixin¡¯s lovable pout. His appetite today was a bit bigger than normal, especially since he hadn¡¯t eaten much in the morning with the matter of Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi¡¯s still weighing down on his mind.


    ¡°Ah, sorry! Senior sister, I¡¯ll pay today. A man should treat a lady anyways.¡± Tang Wulin hastily put on the airs of a gentleman. In any case, he had more than enough money to pay for food with all the forging he had been doing.


    Pa! Ouyang Zixin hit his head with a karate chop. ¡°What do you mean by man? You¡¯re still just a child. What kind of big sister brings her little brother out to eat and actually lets him pay? Come on, eat, eat. Even if you eat away all my money, I¡¯ll just have to rely on the academy¡¯s dining hall then. Oh right, could you be the rumored Super Rice Bucket of the lower grades? I heard that even the academy fears your appetite.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ That''s probably me¡­¡± Tang Wulin said with a hint of shame.


    ¡°Seriously though, you can eat so much! Your future wife is going to be worked to death cooking for you!¡± Ouyang Zixin teased.


    ¡°Zixin,¡± a voice suddenly called out.

 Chapter 154 - The Arrogant and Pampered Ice Staff Guy

    Chapter 154 - The Arrogant and Pampered Ice Staff Guy


    Ouyang Zixin turned toward the voice, her eyes lighting up when she saw who it was. Hastily standing up, she walked over and greeted, ¡°Senior brother, are you here to eat?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s vision was obstructed by her body, so he could only make out that the person she was talking to was a tall male youth.


    ¡°Yeah! I brought my little sister out for a nice meal. It¡¯s only been two weeks since the last time I saw you, and you¡¯re even prettier than before,¡± the youth said with a bright smile.


    Ouyang Zixin held her face as she bashfully said, ¡°Really? Thank you for the compliment, senior brother. Ah, there aren¡¯t any free tables right now. Do you want to eat with us?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± the youth said with a laugh.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know why, but a feeling of dissatisfaction crept into his heart when he heard Ouyang Zixin speaking to the youth with such a tender voice. An inkling of hostility grew within him, but he didn¡¯t raise his head, instead choosing to wallow in his bitterness.


    ¡°Damn, you guys really ate a lot!¡± the youth exclaimed in astonishment.


    Ouyang Zixin proudly explained, ¡°That¡¯s right! My little brother here has quite the big appetite. Senior brother, please, I¡¯ll treat you today.¡±


    The youth revealed a gentlemanly smile. ¡°How can I let a girl pay for me? Boss, I want to order some more food. I want to order one dish of broiled cod and one dish of roasted chicken wings. Xiaoyan, is there anything else you want?¡±


    ¡°I want some barbeque skewers. Lamb skewers and beef skewers. Big brother, can I have some beer too? I like it, and it¡¯ll be refreshing.¡± A melodious voice attracted Tang Wulin¡¯s attention.


    However, he could only stare in shock at the two people who sat across from him.


    Just how small is the world that I managed to run into you here! Isn¡¯t this the arrogant and pampered ice staff guy and his little sister?


    That was right. The one Ouyang Zixin called senior brother was actually Xu Xiaoyu, and naturally, the girl at his side was Xu Xiaoyan. He had been in a bad mood these last few days, so he wanted to bring his little sister out to eat some good food to cheer up. Yet, who would have thought that he would run into Ouyang Zixin and Tang Wulin.


    Xu Xiaoyan was excitedly picking out what foods she wanted to eat while Xu Xiaoyu was turned toward the restaurant owner, so neither of them had noticed that Tang Wulin had raised his head yet.


    ¡°Hey, little guy, slow down a bit! You¡¯re going to frighten the others.¡± Ouyang Zixin took this as a chance to scooch closer to Tang Wulin and whispered this warning into his ear.


    Indignance instantly attacked his heart. Could senior sister actually think of this arrogant and pampered ice staff guy that way? Although Tang Wulin was young, he wasn¡¯t ignorant to the affairs between men and women after all the things Xie Xie had told him.


    Tang Wulin lowered his head once more. It¡¯s best if they don¡¯t notice. Otherwise, there¡¯ll be some trouble. I¡¯ll just focus on eating then.


    Finished ordering food, Xu Xiaoyu turned back to see the sweetly smiling Ouyang Zixin and said, ¡°Junior sister, is this your actual little brother? Or does he attend our academy?¡±


    Ouyang Zixin laughed. ¡°He¡¯s not my actual little brother, I just treat him like one. Ah, that¡¯s right! This little brother of mine is actually a genius. He¡¯s in the newly created class zero!¡±


    ¡°Eh? Class zero?¡± Xu Xiaoyu¡¯s voice was full of surprise, exchanging curious looks with his little sister.


    Ouyang Zixin said, ¡°You know about class zero even though you¡¯re in the advanced division?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyu said, ¡°I only started hearing about them in the last few days. My little sister will be attending an intermediate soul master academy starting next year, but father said that he wants her to enroll early and transfer into class zero. I think his arrangements should be nearly finished.¡±


    ¡°Transfer student?¡± Without thinking, Tang Wulin raised his head and asked. The ice staff girl is joining class zero?


    His sudden outburst attracted the gazes of Xu Xiaoyu and Xu Xiaoyan. The two siblings were immediately dumbstruck when they saw Tang Wulin.


    The gloom that hovered over Xu Xiaoyu had originated from Tang Wulin and his friends, so there was no way he wouldn¡¯t recognize Tang Wulin. His gaze immediately sharpened. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan covered her mouth as she cried out in surprise, ¡°Ah! You¡­¡±


    Realizing that he had exposed himself in his excitement, Tang Wulin could only show an abashed expression.


    Ouyang Zixin directed a puzzled glance at him, before turning to ask Xu Xiaoyu, ¡°Senior brother, do you know my little brother?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyu was about to say yes, but after thinking about it once more, he realized that it wouldn¡¯t be too good for his reputation if Ouyang Zixin found out he had been beaten by a bunch of brats in the spirit ascension platform. He still wanted her to have a good opinion of him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know him. It just seems like our meeting is fated,¡± Xu Xiaoyu coldly said.


    ¡°Big brother, isn¡¯t he¡­¡± The pure Xu Xiaoyan was quickly cut off with a nudge from her brother.


    With her cleverness, Ouyang Zixin could immediately tell that something was off, but since Xu Xiaoyu didn¡¯t want to speak about it, she wouldn¡¯t pry. Instead, she cheerfully said, ¡°I¡¯ll introduce the two of you then. This little guy is from the first grade¡¯s class zero, Tang Wulin. Wulin, this senior brother is our academy¡¯s most outstanding genius. He¡¯s in the advanced division¡¯s second grade¡¯s class one; our senior brother, Xu Xiaoyu. He¡¯s already a three-ringed Soul Elder, and he might even make a breakthrough to four rings by the time he graduates. And then he¡¯ll be a Soul Ancestor! Pretty girl beside him is his little sister, Xu Xiaoyan.¡±


    Upon hearing Ouyang Zixin¡¯s introductions, Xu Xiaoyu felt his face grow hot, as if he had been slapped in the face. If not for the presence of Ouyang Zixin and his junior brother, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to restrain himself from making a scene.


    ¡°Hello, senior brother,¡± Tang Wulin said as he forced himself to offer a handshake.


    Xu Xiaoyu snorted. ¡°This junior brother sure is capable! Could your class zero be the ones I ran into the other day? Or was it someone else?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s scalp numbed. Is this guy out for revenge? Gu Yue might have defeated him that day, but that was only because he was acting so despicably! The terrifying memory of the Fury of Ice skill was still fresh in his mind, so he didn¡¯t dare utter a word to contradict him.


    Ouyang Zixin quietly prodded Tang Wulin. ¡°Senior brother asked you a question.¡±


    Shifting his gaze toward her, Tang Wulin realized that Ouyang Zixin¡¯s gaze had never left Xu Xiaoyu even when she was speaking to him. A repressed tenderness exuded from her eyes.


    ¡°Senior sister, I¡¯m full now. Let¡¯s go.¡± Tang Wulin took a napkin and wiped his fingers, then got up to leave.


    ¡°Wulin, what¡¯s going on with you?¡± Ouyang Zixin hastily scolded him before quickly turning back toward Xu Xiaoyu. ¡°Sorry, senior brother! I¡¯ll take him back first. You two go ahead to eat, I¡¯ll be back in a bit.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan watched with curiosity as Ouyang Zixin chased after Tang Wulin. ¡°So he¡¯s actually from class zero. It seems class zero is really powerful! That big sister can even defeat you, big brother!¡±


    A dark frown instantly settled on Xu Xiaoyu¡¯s face as he lightly smacked Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s head. ¡°Can¡¯t you keep quiet about that?¡±


    Feeling wronged, Xu Xiaoyan cried out, ¡°You hit me! I¡¯m going to go tell dad!¡±


    ¡°How can that be considered hitting? It was just patting, okay, patting!¡± Xu Xiaoyu helplessly denied.


    ?


    ¡°Wulin, what¡¯s going on with you?¡± Ouyang Zixin finally caught up to Tang Wulin to ask him.


    Tang Wulin had already regained his senses from the chilling winds. He realized that he had acted inappropriately. His senior sister had been so kind to treat him to a meal yet he had actually run out like a little kid.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, senior sister,¡± Tang Wulin apologized. ¡°I haven¡¯t been in my right mind these last few days. Let¡¯s go back.¡±


    Ouyang Zixin shook her head. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯m already full from watching you eat. Why don¡¯t  you just head back first? I¡¯ll go keep them company for a bit longer.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± He finally understood when he saw the look in Ouyang Zixin¡¯s eyes as she gazed back toward the restaurant. Xu Xiaoyu occupied a larger place in her heart than he did.


    ¡°Okay. Thank you, senior sister, for treating me today. I¡¯ll return the favor some day,¡± Tang Wulin said with the utmost courtesy.


    ¡°Eh, forget about it. It¡¯s fine. We can talk about it next time. I¡¯ll be going back to the restaurant now. You be careful on the road back.¡± With these parting words lingering in the air, Ouyang Zixin quickly rushed back toward the restaurant.


    Tang Wulin laughed in self-ridicule. He still liked Ouyang Zixin, but there was still the gap in their ages.


    Huh, but is there really going to be another student joining class zero? Xu Xiaoyan doesn¡¯t seem that strong though! She didn¡¯t even have the courage to attack that day. All she did was hide behind that arrogant and pampered ice staff guy.


    I¡¯ll just go back and ask Teacher Wu. If we don¡¯t get another classmate, then we¡¯ll really be a small class with just me, Gu Yue and Xie Xie¡­


    ?


    Once he got back to the academy, instead of returning to his room, he went over to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s room and knocked.


    ¡°Come in.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s cold voice penetrated through the door.


    Knowing that the door was unlocked, Tang Wulin opened it and walked in to see Wu Zhangkong clad in white, as per usual, sitting cross-legged on his bed as if he had been meditating.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Wu Zhangkong dully said.


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Teacher Wu, I met someone today who said that they¡¯re going to join class zero. Are we really getting another classmate?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong suddenly opened his eyes, a purple light flashing through them for a split second. ¡°This isn¡¯t something you should be concerned about right now. Instead, you should be thinking  about how you will pass the second part of your final exams. Let me remind you, the exam was originally prepared for the five of you to take together, but now you¡¯re down to two people. That means the three of you will be taking a test meant for five.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± How can this be called reminding? I found out just now!?

 Chapter 155 - You have the scent of a woman on you!

    Chapter 155 - You have the scent of a woman on you!


    Tang Wulin stared at Wu Zhangkong, dumbstruck. He felt dazed as a thought popped into his mind, So there really exists someone this unreasonable!


    Wu Zhangkong continued, ¡°If there isn¡¯t anything else, you may leave now.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tang Wulin left the room dejected, but could not wait inform Xie Xie and Gu Yue of what Wu Zhangkong had said.


    ?


    ¡°If it¡¯s a test for five, then it¡¯s a test for five.¡± Gu Yue was unperturbed by this revelation. On the other hand, Xie Xie was a bit nervous, but he knew that it was useless to worry about things they had no control over.


    ¡°Wulin, actually, there¡¯s something I want to try with you,¡± Xie Xie mischievously whispered into Tang Wulin¡¯s ear.


    Tang Wulin eyed him suspiciously. ¡°What is it?¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°I was thinking, when I stabbed you with my dagger back when you were still unable to control your bloodline, you suddenly exploded with power. Now that you¡¯re able to control it, do you think even more power will burst out?¡±


    After a moment of astonished silence, Tang Wulin answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡±


    That mischievous smile returned to Xie Xie¡¯s lips. ¡°Then, do you want to test it out?¡±


    ¡°Unacceptable! Why don¡¯t you go stick a knife in yourself?!¡± Gu Yue smiled brightly while kicking Xie Xie away.


    Xie Xie groaned out, ¡°I knew you would be overprotective of him! Jeez, can¡¯t you be a bit more unbiased, Gu Yue? We got to know one another at the same time, so why do you favor Tang Wulin so much?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s smile grew wider. Her smile was beautiful, giving a sense of homeliness. Despite its beauty, though, all it did was strike panic and fear into Xie Xie¡¯s heart. ¡°What, what are you smiling about?¡±


    ¡°You want to know why I treat Tang Wulin better than you? The answer is very simple; he¡¯s more handsome than you!¡± Gu Yue said maliciously.


    ¡°Eh¡­ How can you be like this!¡± Xie Xie¡¯s voice was filled with indignance.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at their banter. ¡°Settle down, you two. Let¡¯s figure out how we¡¯re going to tackle the exam first.¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°We¡¯ll just do things the same way we moved in the spirit ascension platform. We have the best coordination between just the three of us anyway, so we should just adapt to the situation as we see fit. Besides, Teacher Wu wouldn¡¯t give us an impossible test.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded in understanding. ¡°I think Teacher Wu will target our usual arrangements. How about this then, we¡¯ll change things up a bit. Xie Xie, you¡¯ll still be our main assault-support force. Gu Yue, you¡¯ll also join in the assault this time. I¡¯ll be in charge of defense and control.¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m fine with anything.¡±


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll go with that then.¡± After the two of them left Xie Xie¡¯s room, Gu Yue pulled on his arm before he could return to his room.


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Tang Wulin asked, puzzled.


    Gu Yue moved closer to him and circled around him once, sniffing the whole time. ¡°There¡¯s the scent of a woman on you. Speak; what you were doing earlier?¡±


    Tang Wulin was astonished. ¡°Your nose is so sensitive! You¡¯re actually able to distinguish the scent of a woman over the smell of barbecue. Amazing, so amazing!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to change the subject. Out with it already,¡± Gu Yue fiercely interrogated.


    Tang Wulin awkwardly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much! I wasn¡¯t in a good mood today, so senior sister Ouyang treated me to some barbecue. Can you guess who I met there?¡± He explained how he had went out to eat with Ouyang Zixin and had run into the Xu siblings.


    Even after she heard his explanation, Gu Yue still eyed him suspiciously. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me that this senior sister Ouyang likes that arrogant and pampered ice staff guy?¡±


    Tang Wulin grudgingly said, ¡°It seems so. Oh right, Xu Xiaoyan is probably joining class zero. What do you think about that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind!¡± Gu Yue¡¯s answer was normal, considering her usual attitude of indifference. ¡°That Ouyang girl is no good, valuing love over friendship. You should distance yourself from her.¡±


    Tang Wulin frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t talk about her like that. She was kind enough to treat me to a meal. Senior sister Ouyang is a kindhearted person!¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°Kindhearted? If she was kindhearted, then she would have walked you back. The restaurant you guys went to was so far away, and you¡¯re still so small¡­¡±


    ¡°Where am I small?!¡± Tang Wulin asked in dissatisfaction.


    Placing her hands on her hips, Gu Yue retorted, ¡°Anyway, just don¡¯t meet her so much in the future. One look and I could already tell that she wasn¡¯t any good. Go get some sleep.¡± Having proclaimed her decree, she quickly turned around and left.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t make any sense of what had just transpired. Choosing to forget about it, he returned to his room to focus on cultivating. Although his day had been full of gloom and suspicions, becoming a powerful expert was still his ultimate goal so he couldn¡¯t stray from his routine just because of a small psychological attack.


    ?


    After returning to her room and closing the door, Gu  Yue¡¯s eyes seemed to twinkle with an unusual light. She walked over to the window by her bed and opened it, basking in the cool night air.


    As her hair fluttered in the evening wind, her eyes gradually changed from their usual black and began to emit a faint purple light.


    She held out her palms, letting several lights dance within her palms. Blue was water, yellow was earth, red was fire, green was wind, silver was space and gold was light. Yet, a dark purple light also danced about. In the next moment, it disappeared.


    ?


    Dawn of the next day.


    Tang Wulin was jogging on the fields per usual when a familiar figure entered his sights.


    ¡°Good morning senior sister,¡± Tang Wulin called out to Ouyang Zixin in greeting.


    Beaming her usual smile, Ouyang Zixin said, ¡°How are you? Are you in a better mood now?¡±


    Tang Wulin scratched his head in embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m good now. No problems at all.¡±


    Ouyang Zixin giggled at his embarrassment. ¡°That¡¯s good then. Oh right, it was senior brother Xu who paid the bill yesterday. You should go thank him when you get the chance.¡±


    ¡°He paid the bill?¡± Once again, gloominess shrouded his heart immediately.


    Ouyang Zixin said, ¡°Yeah. He paid the bill to give me face. Ah, this sister is just joking with you. You can treat me next time instead. Come on, let¡¯s pick up the pace. Let¡¯s see if I can beat you this time.¡±


    It was clear that Tang Wulin held the advantage as they sped up. Ouyang Zixin was by no means slow, but there was definitely a gap between her and him. Tang Wulin, however, restrained himself to maintain a pace that matched Ouyang Zixin¡¯s.


    Finished with their run, Ouyang Zixin went back to wash her face as she always did. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin went about his usual routine too; rushing off to attack the dining hall with his one man Rice Bucket Brigade.


    ?


    Unexpectedly, the second part of the final exam was also not conducted on the academy¡¯s grounds. Wu Zhangkong led them out of the academy and onto a soul bus that headed to the outskirts.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, can¡¯t you at least give us a hint of what today¡¯s test is about yet?¡± Xie Xie asked with a grin.


    Wu Zhangkong merely glanced at him. ¡°You¡¯ll know when we get there. It¡¯s similar to the spirit ascension platform, but not really.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Xie Xie gave a slight nod.


    Although Tang Wulin had already lived in Eastsea City for over half a year, he hadn¡¯t really explored anywhere else besides the academy, the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, and their vicinity. He was unfamiliar with the rest of the city.


    Unfamiliar scenery flitted past them as the bus entered the suburbs.


    Although it was still crowded and bustling with activity, the suburbs were clearly more spacious than other parts of the city.


    After getting off in the outskirts, Wu Zhangkong brought them to a gigantic park called Eastsea Soul Technology Park.


    The park was filled with greenery and buildings that had a variety of styles. Every single building had its own unique characteristics, but the majority of them were made of metal.


    ¡°Do you know what this place is?¡± Tang Wulin quietly asked Xie Xie.


    In a similarly hushed voice, Xie Xie answered, ¡°I heard that Eastsea City¡¯s best tech companies are based here. Apparently, they even have a mecha factory here.¡±


    ¡°Mecha?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes instantly lit up at this word. Although Wu Zhangkong had explained to them that high-end mechas were battle armors, they had never seen one yet, so in Tang Wulin¡¯s mind, mechas were still the coolest!

 Chapter 156 - Eastseas Little Zhangkong

    Chapter 156 - Eastsea''s Little Zhangkong


    The park was enormous, so it was only after half an hour did Wu Zhangkong lead them to a smaller park within the park.


    They were greeted with a wide expanse of greenery. There was a small building in the center, tiny in comparison to the other buildings they had seen on the way there. Along with the vast emptiness that surrounded it, the scene looked disproportionate.


    When they reached the building, the students were surprised to see that it didn¡¯t have a name plaque. They couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of just what this place was. Is the second part of the exam really being conducted here?


    The building was dark blue, and its walls shimmered like a mirror, each wall seemingly cut from a block of glass. There was a bizarre sense of beauty to this reflective-like quality. Every angle refracted the light in a different way. It was breathtaking.


    No one guarded the dark blue double doors that were also made of glass. Wu Zhangkong walked up and pressed onto the glass.


    A blue light suddenly appeared. It projected an image that was accompanied by an amused voice. ¡°Oh, long time no see! It¡¯s Eastsea¡¯s Little Zhangkong!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong coldly said, ¡°Open the doors.¡±


    The voice answered back willy-nilly, ¡°You¡¯re still so boring.¡±


    With a crisp ring, the doors wordlessly opened up.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue stood there dumbfounded. Eastsea¡¯s Little Zhangkong? What in the devil?


    Zhangkong is Teacher Wu¡¯s name, and ¡®Eastsea¡¯ should be referring to Eastsea City right? But¡­ this way of calling him is just¡­ Ahem.


    Entering the door, they saw the same dark blue walls, but there was now a shining white floor and gentle fluorescent lights overhead. They came together to paint a scene of calm and order, further emphasizing the lack of people. A circular metal platform holding three metal wristbands hovered over.


    ¡°Put them on,¡± instructed Wu Zhangkong.


    Xie Xie curiously asked, ¡°Teacher Wu, what does it do?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong answered back, ¡°It¡¯s to identify you. If you wear it, you won¡¯t be considered an enemy by the defense systems here.¡±


    Xie Xie gasped. ¡°So high-tech!¡±


    Without wasting any more words, Wu Zhangkong lead the trio over to another dark blue glass door. A bright blue light swept out once more, but without the voice this time. After scanning them and taking note of their wristbands, it quieted down.


    Past the door was a long tunnel with several bends in it. As Wu Zhangkong lead them through the tunnel, he passed through another glass door and disappeared in a flash of light.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue instinctively stopped. This is...


    ¡°Spatial technology?¡± Xie Xie exclaimed. He had been born to a large clan so it was only natural that he had a deep understanding of just how advanced the continent¡¯s technology was now. He clearly remembered that spatial technology was still in its development stage, and was far from being implemented into practical uses. Yet, what they had just experienced was the result of spatial technology!


    ¡°Forward.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s voice resonated from all sides.


    Exchanging glances with his two companions, Tang Wulin lead the way forward.


    After entering the area Wu Zhangkong had just been in, an odd feeling swept over them. Tang Wulin felt as if his whole body was being wrapped up in pure energy. In the next moment, he found himself in a completely different place.


    It was a dark blue space. Dark blue stalagmite and stalactite crystals surrounded him. The walls were made from a silver-white metal. The crystals and metal came together to refract light in astonishing ways.


    Shortly after, Xie Xie and Gu Yue appeared by his side with two flashes of light.


    ¡°Wow! It really is spatial technology! Our final exam location is so high-tech!¡± Xie Xie¡¯s voice was full of awe.


    Wu Zhangkong was leaning against a wall. A moment later, some unknown mechanism seemed to have been activated as one wall suddenly split open to reveal a large screen with a myriad of symbols on it. A keyboard popped up and Wu Zhangkong began typing. The sounds of his typing was like the pitter-patter of rain that struck down with lightning speed.


    ¡°Identity confirmed. Eastsea¡¯s Little Zhangkong.¡±


    ¡°Test difficulty: medium. Participants: three. Commencing in ten seconds.¡±


    ¡°Ten¡­¡±


    ¡°Nine¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is it starting a countdown?¡± Xie Xie asked, startled.


    Wu Zhangkong turned to stare at them. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you still want more preparation time? Just go do what you always do.¡±


    ¡°Eight, seven, six... Three, two, one. Begin!¡±


    Three blue lights descended onto the trio and in a flash, they disappeared.


    Tang Wulin felt that energy wrapping him up again. This time, though, the feeling was far stronger and lasted longer.


    Tang Wulin hastily circulated his soul power and sped up his blood flow when he felt the sensation that he was being pulled apart. He could now clearly hear his own heartbeat continuously accelerating.


    Each powerful beat of his heart fended off the pain, allowing him to calm down and steady himself.


    After some unknown period of time had passed, another light flashed and Tang Wulin lost control of his body. He was enveloped with a sense of weightlessness.


    Not good!


    He didn¡¯t hesitate to release and shoot his Bluesilver Grass downwards to latch onto something while he frantically took in his bearings.


    The first thing he felt was the world spinning around him. He then felt a strong pull on his body. His Bluesilver Grass had finally attached itself to something. As two other lights descended near him, he hastily exerted all his strength in controlling his Bluesilver Grass to slow his fall and act as a spring for his other two comrades.


    The elastic force of the grass disappeared just as he gently landed on the ground.


    Xie Xie and Gu Yue were nowhere to be found. He was alone now, and astonished to discover that this place was somewhat familiar to him. The ground was white and there was no sky, yet, there seemed to be no boundaries to this world.


    This place resembled the world he had met Old Tang in. It was different, of course. This place had far more things present and couldn¡¯t possibly be the space within his consciousness.


    This...


    Just what is this place?


    ¡°Welcome to the Hall of Heroes. First trial, medium difficulty. Name: Tang Wulin. Age: 10.¡±


    ¡°Test objective for the first round: survive for thirty seconds.¡±


    Without even giving Tang Wulin a second to understand what was going on, a beam of light appeared in front of him, revealing a pretty girl. She had gentle eyes and wore a kind smile.


    ¡°Begin!¡± The electronic voice announced.


    The girl¡¯s eyes lit up and a powerful light enveloped her body. As the light grew brighter, a yellow ring rose from beneath her feet.


    Tang Wulin saw her figure flicker and in an instant, she appeared right in front of him. She struck out a palm straight toward his stomach.


    This footwork! It¡¯s similar to Teacher Wu¡¯s!


    Having experienced Wu Zhangkong¡¯s strange footwork before, Tang Wulin was prepared when the girl charged him. With a wave of his hands, dozens of strands of Bluesilver Grass shot out in front of him to create an all-encompassing defense.


    A three-legged cauldron materialized in front of her all of a sudden. Too quick for Tang Wulin to even react, the cauldron descended with an eruption of black gas.


    The ground trembled and a loud rumble resounded, jolting Tang Wulin into launching his Bluesilver Grass net upward. He was completely powerless to resist his opponent.


    Taking advantage of the opening, a delicate palm struck out.


    It was too late for Tang Wulin to even attempt to dodge. The moment her soft palm pressed into his stomach, he felt an attractive force. Combined with the sudden straightening of her arm, it delivered an explosive strike that sent him flying.


    Fortunately, he was wearing the Thousand Refined Cloud Titanium vest. When the palm had struck him, every piece of the vest had locked together and distributed the palm¡¯s force evenly. Even after distributing the force, Tang Wulin felt as if his stomach had been struck by a battering ram.


    Of course, with a body far stronger than that of his peers, he could endure it.


    He wasn¡¯t given a chance to even stand up, however, as the black cauldron was already rushing toward him. Tang Wulin simultaneously noticed that there was a purple light within the girl¡¯s eyes. A bout of dizziness struck him, and his attempts to remount his defense paused.


    The black cauldron struck like thunder, but Tang Wulin retaliated with an explosive right punch.


    A golden-scaled punch met the cauldron, their collision creating a rumbling boom.


    He had long since activated his bloodline power. Even while he was dazed, he had managed to force his fist forward.


    However, it was impossible for him to exert his full strength in such conditions, so he was sent flying once again.

 Chapter 157 - A Formidable Opponent

    Chapter 157 - A Formidable Opponent


    After a vigorous shake of his head, Tang Wulin realized how shocking his opponent was. They both had one ring. They both only had one ring! Yet, her combat prowess was so great!


    He couldn¡¯t let himself be shaken though. Taking a moment to compose himself, Tang Wulin waved his arms in flurry, sending Bluesilver Grass shooting toward the black cauldron. For now, he wanted to try binding his opponent¡¯s martial soul.


    Falling short of his expectations, the girl didn¡¯t mind her martial soul at all. Instead, she chose to accelerate her charge at Tang Wulin.


    She wants to fight me in close quarters?


    Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath as a wave of golden scales covered his right arm. He stood there, as steady as a mountain. He could tell from their previous exchange that her attack possessed tremendous power. Other than attacking with her soul power, she also seemed to have other tricks up her sleeve. Since Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t beat her in speed, he chose to steady his person and meet her head on.


    A subset of the Bluesilver Grass Tang Wulin had shot out split apart and returned to him, assembling protectively around his body.


    The girl¡¯s figure flickered again and then disappeared without a trace. This time, however, when she reappeared, she was everywhere around him. The only thing Tang Wulin could do to resist was to lash out with the few strands of Bluesilver Grass he had, trying to stop her.


    Suddenly, a phoenix¡¯s cry pierced the air.


    A flute had appeared in the girl¡¯s hands all of a sudden. The moment the harsh note attacked Tang Wulin¡¯s ears, he felt as if his entire world had slowed down, which was clear from the sluggishness of his Bluesilver Grass. In his sluggish state, the cauldron was easily able to escape the entrapment of the grass as it soared high into the sky before crashing into Tang Wulin.


    Bang!


    Tang Wulin was felt a jolt which was promptly followed by numbness. He had been sent flying with greater force than before. Meanwhile, the girl had pulled apart his Bluesilver Grass defense using her jade-like hands. His defenses having been broken, the girl reached Tang Wulin in a flash before moving to attack his stomach, this time using both hands.


    I¡¯m finished!


    Despite the intense threat he felt from the girl in that instant, only one thought occupied his mind. Twin martial souls. This girl has twin martial souls!


    And she can even use them both at the same time! She doesn¡¯t need to switch between them at all!


    The moment her white-jade-like hands landed on his body, Tang Wulin trembled as a bizarre power rushed into him, washing away his numbness.


    Tang Wulin only had enough time to sweep his right arm out in front of him.


    Bang!


    A bone-breaking force met his right arm, leaving it in tatters. It rebounded back into his chest, pushing him back even further.


    This time, however, he didn¡¯t fly too far back. As he crashed into the cauldron which was right behind him, darkness filled his eyes. Drawing strength from who knows where, the girl continued to chase after Tang Wulin. She struck out with her right hand which possessed some sort of attractive force, sending Tang Wuling flying back towards her, while her left hand curled into a fist as she punched towards his chest.


    Although his right arm was in acute pain and Tang Wulin was being continuously beaten, this had actually roused his blood.


    He let out a deep roar as his right hand transformed into the Golden Dragon Claw in a splendid burst of light. Meanwhile, he lashed out with a vine of Bluesilver Grass that Goldlight had slithered into.


    This strand of golden Bluesilver Grass was just like a spear as it pierced into the ground. Using all the strength his body could muster, Tang Wulin suddenly changed directions and barely evaded the girl¡¯s palm attack.


    Taking advantage of the attractive force of the girl¡¯s attack, he rushed toward her and soared over her head, taking this chance to grab her head with his Golden Dragon Claw.


    This had been the first time since the start of the battle that he could launch a counterattack.


    Another note of a phoenix¡¯s cry rang out. Tang Wulin immediately froze in place while a wave of dizziness assaulted his senses.


    As the girl descended from the air, she pointed one finger at Tang Wulin, commanding the black cauldron to smash him.


    Tang Wulin forced his Golden Dragon Claw to move, brazenly smacking it into the black cauldron.


    Bang!


    The black cauldron was smashed into pieces, completely falling apart. The girl¡¯s body was still swaying from the rebound when Tang Wulin descended.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin had figured her out. As he withdrew his Golden Dragon Claw after smashing apart her cauldron, a strand of golden Bluesilver Grass shot out from the ground, propelling him forward and into the air like a bullet.


    Haven¡¯t thirty seconds passed yet? They should almost have.


    The girl stared at him blankly for a moment. She charged forward in pursuit once again, but when she arrived before the golden Bluesilver Grass, she hesitated for a moment.


    In reality, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t in a good condition either. He was already running low on soul power after using his Golden Dragon Claw and golden vine.


    The Bluesilver Grass propelled him further away from her. Meanwhile, the golden Bluesilver Grass vanished as Goldlight returned to him.


    He was currently maximizing his time airborne to open up the greatest distance he could between him and the girl.


    ¡°Thirty seconds have passed. First trial over.¡±


    The long awaited voice appeared once more. He rolled when he landed to mitigate the force, then stood up and looked behind him.


    ¡°The second trial begins. Defeat your opponent or survive for another thirty seconds.¡± Tang Wulin was speechless at the ball-breaking objective the electronic voice announced.


    Just before, he had been forced to use two-thirds of his soul power just to survive the short battle against her. Yet now, he had to survive another thirty seconds?


    Seemingly unaffected by the electronic voice, the girl charged toward him once more. This time, however, she only wielded the flute.


    What do I do?


    Run? I¡¯m nowhere near as fast as her. My footwork can¡¯t compare with hers. I can¡¯t run.


    A battle of attrition?


    If she really is only a one-ringed Soul Master, then there shouldn¡¯t be a big difference between our soul power capacities. She¡¯s a bit stronger with her twin souls, but using both their soul skills consumes a lot of soul power too. Assuming my guess is true, then I need to engage her as much as possible now. Even if I can¡¯t beat her, I should be able to survive another thirty seconds.


    Arriving at this conclusion, Tang Wulin turned around and ran. A second less spent in combat meant a second more of survival.


    Though he was low on soul power, his physical strength was in no way affected. With every stomp of his feet, he shot forward like a cannonball. With this method, he was oddly quick.


    Yet, the girl was still a bit faster than him. Fortunately, it wasn''t that easy to catch up to him. With one fleeing and the other pursuing, ten seconds had soon passed. Just as the girl was about to catch up to him, Tang Wulin suddenly leaped with all his strength while summoning his two Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers.


    ¡°Wu~¡±


    Here it comes again¡­


    Tang Wuling turned sluggish, and a sense of dizziness overcame him, so he hadn¡¯t been able to fully turn his body as he wanted to. He had only managed to turn halfway when the girl arrived before him.


    This time, she didn¡¯t immediately attack him. She instead reached out and grabbed his right shoulder and pulled him toward her while kicking his calves with her right leg.


    Tang Wulin was immediately thrown off balance, dropping onto the ground.


    He waved his arms in an attempt to fight back, but the girl was jumping about like a fairy, dodging every single one of his attacks. Even while evading his attacks, she had somehow been able to land two more punches into his stomach.


    Bind!


    ¡°Wu!¡±


    Slowed!


    Once again, his Bind soul skill was slowed down. In fact, the slow effect was so great that the girl grabbed a strand of Bluesilver Grass and threw him up.


    All Tang Wulin could do now was go into a fetal position in an attempt to protect his head and vital organs.


    Bang bang bang bang bang!


    He was like a human punching bag, getting pounded from all directions.


    After some time, the electronic voice appeared once more. ¡°Thirty seconds has passed. Second trial over.¡±


    Tang Wulin felt as if his whole body had lightened and the aching of his bones had been washed away.

 Chapter 158 - Tang Sect

    Chapter 158 - Tang Sect


    Tang Wulin rejoiced that he had the Thousand Refined Cloud Titanium vest to protect his body. He also realised that the strength of the girl¡¯s attack lessened as her soul power ran out. A single glance at her martial souls made it clear that she wasn¡¯t a Power System Soul Master, but rather a Control System Soul Master. It was shocking, however, that a Control System Soul Master was able to display such attack power. If I hadn¡¯t shattered her cauldron, would I have been able to endure?


    Tang Wulin crawled up from the ground. The girl had already disappeared, but he was still in the same space as before.


    It¡¯s already been two trials. Is it possible that the test isn¡¯t finished yet? Tang Wulin harbored this suspicion in his heart.


    ¡°Advanced test, first trial. Get ready.¡± Advanced? It''s been upgraded to advanced now?


    A figure appeared with a flash of light. Surprisingly, it was the same girl as before. This time, she appeared to be slightly older. Tang Wulin felt aggrieved as he saw two soul rings rise from her feet. He knew just what he was in for now.


    ?


    Tang Wulin stumbled out of a flash of light, his face green and purple from bruises. He truly made for a sorry sight.


    When he looked up, he saw Xie Xie standing relatively close, his appearance even more haphazard than his own. Xie Xie¡¯s complexion was truly unsightly.


    ¡°How many trials did you pass?¡± Tang Wulin asked him thoughtlessly.


    Xie Xie¡¯s face darkened. ¡°One trial. This test is too hard, my opponent was way too powerful! There wasn¡¯t anything I could do against her. She surpassed me in both explosive power and speed, and even in close combat ability! I was helpless to defend against her even with my twin martial souls.¡±


    ¡°What about Gu Yue? She still hasn¡¯t come out?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie nodded. ¡°In the end, she¡¯s the strongest! How many trials did you pass?¡±


    A bitter laugh escaped Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Just two trials. I passed the second trial only because I¡¯m good at taking a beating.¡±


    From when they had entered until now, Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t moved an inch from his previous position. The screens here were different from those of the spirit ascension platform; they didn¡¯t show everything that had occurred within the test, so all he could do was wait patiently.


    Another minute passed before a pale-faced Gu Yue stumbled out of a flash of light. Tang Wulin, who just happened to be standing right in front of her, saw shock in her eyes.


    ¡°How many trials did you pass?¡± Xie Xie asked.


    ¡°Advanced, two trials. The final level was too hard, And I was defeated in the first trial. What about you guys?¡±


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie stood there, utterly speechless. They truly felt that comparing themselves to others could only lead to madness!


    Wu Zhangkong turned towards the trio and nodded. ¡°Come here.¡±


    The trio approached before him. Having the worst results, Xie Xie hung his head low, his heart filled with self-deprecation.


    As these thoughts surged in his mind, a bright light flashed, and the trio disappeared in a spatial wave.


    With another light flash, they found themselves in an expansive office. It was at least 200 square meters in area. Off to one side, there was a large office desk and a white sofa across from it.


    ¡°Take a seat. There are a few matters I need to discuss with you three,¡± Wu Zhangkong said as he pointed to the sofa.


    Confused, the three sat on the sofa nonetheless.


    Wu Zhangkong took a seat across from them.


    ¡°Each of you must have felt that today¡¯s test was strange. You all had different opponents who, at some point in time, were all Soul Masters that had lived on this continent. Unfortunately, only seventy percent of their true strength can be replicated by the simulation. How did you compare to your opponents?¡±


    They were real Soul Masters?


    Tang Wulin immediately recalled that girl with twin souls, while Xie Xie recalled the tall and beautiful girl whose waist seemed as flexible as a bow.


    As for Gu Yue, she recalled the black-haired youth whose eyes twinkled with a bizarre splendor. He had easily defeated her in the ultimate level trial. She shuddered at the memory of their battle.


    ¡°I brought you all here for two reasons. First, you are nearing the limits of how much spirit energy you can absorb in the spirit ascension platform. After entering a few more times, you¡¯ll reach that limit, so you need another place to gain real combat experience. Compared to the spirit ascension platform, the Hall of Heroes can provide even better combat experiences as the injuries you receive in there are all real. Of course, you¡¯ll automatically be ejected when you¡¯re injured to a certain degree. There also won¡¯t be any mental rebounds like you received in the spirit ascension platform when you had your bodies destroyed. In other words, the experience you gain in the Hall of Heroes is even more valuable than in the spirit ascension platform.


    ¡°Second, this test is actually unrelated to your final exam. Your final exam had already ended in the rebellion spirit ascension platform and your scores have already been given. The test here is instead an entrance test to an organization. If you become a member of this organization, you¡¯ll be able to accumulate points in the future to use the Hall of Heroes again.¡±


    Organization? This word, coupled with the memory of his opponent¡¯s footwork from earlier, made Tang Wulin realize immediately that this was the organization that Wu Zhangkong had told him about before. The very organization he had originally refused to join.


    Xie Xie and Gu Yue stared at Wu Zhangkong with curiosity while thinking, So Teacher Wu is actually part of some organization.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, what does this organization do?¡± Xie Xie asked. He was from a large clan, so he couldn¡¯t casually join any organization; the fact that this organization was able to have a base here in Eastsea City¡¯s technology park, however, meant that its background should be nothing to laugh at.


    Wu Zhangkong asked, ¡°Have you heard of the Tang Sect?¡±


    Tang Sect?


    Hearing these two words, the trio began to tremble with excitement.


    The Tang Sect? It¡¯s the Tang Sect!


    How could they not have heard of it before? There was practically no one in this world who didn¡¯t know of the Tang Sect! Legend had it that the Tang Sect had existed from the ancient era until now. It could be said that the greatest historical events of the Douluo Continent all involved the Tang Sect in one way or another.


    The Tang Sect¡¯s founder was the guardian of the continent 20,000 years ago. It was rumored that he had ascended to godhood!


    With the Tang Sect¡¯s founder leading the first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Shrek Academy had also risen to power in that era. It could be said that without him, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect would not have become such legendary existences.


    At that time, the Martial Soul Hall had been ambitious in its attempts to conquer the entire continent and unite it under one banner. Against them, the Tang Sect founder assembled the forces of nations and Soul Masters to fight with the Martial Soul Hall in a final, decisive battle. In the end, he stood on the side of victory.


    It was said that while wielding the Sea God¡¯s Trident, he had ascended as the Sea God.


    Tang Wulin had always loved to listen to the Tang Sect founder¡¯s story because he also possessed the Bluesilver Grass martial soul!


    It was possible for someone on the continent to not know of the Spirit Pagoda, but it was impossible for them to not know of the Tang Sect.


    As time went on, the Tang Sect had nearly withered away due to the advancement of soul device technology, when suddenly, another legendary figure appeared out of nowhere. That was right, he was the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, as well as the creator of spirit souls. His mark on history had completely altered the structure of the world of Soul Masters to this very day.


    After the Tang Sect¡¯s resurgence into power, they had never declined again. Though, it was rumored that, along with the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire, they had long relocated to the two other continents. In the last thousand years or so, they were rarely spoken of, but their legend had never been forgotten.


    The trio was truly shocked at the utterance of the two words that represented such a legendary organization. Could it be that we¡¯re in the Tang Sect right now?


    ¡°Teacher Wu, didn¡¯t the Tang Sect already disappear? Or move to the other two continents?¡± Tang Wulin blurted out in disbelief.


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°No, the Tang Sect never truly disappeared. While it¡¯s true that the Tang Sect has founded bases on the other two continents like the Spirit Pagoda, but the Tang Sect has never left the Douluo Continent. The federal government knows of the Tang Sect too, but for the sake of adapting to the current societal norms, the Tang Sect now operates in a low-key manner. After all, the Tang Sect¡¯s reputation is truly too great. The building we¡¯re in is actually owned by a company under the Tang Sect; the Dazzling Era Tang Sect Technology Company. They developed the Hall of Heroes as a learning system, and the opponents you just fought were once members of the Shrek Seven Monsters.¡±


    Tang Wulin was electrified. He recalled his opponent with the newfound realization of her identity. ¡°My opponent¡­ was she in the same generation as the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder from the Shrek Seven Monsters ten thousand years ago? The possessor of the Three Cycles Soul Cauldron and the Nine Phoenix Flute, Xiao Xiao the Phoenix Flute Douluo?¡±


    The dumbstruck Xie Xie gasped. ¡°Then, wasn¡¯t my opponent also from the same generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, the Demon Rabbit Douluo Jiang Nannan?¡±

 Chapter 159 - Gu Yues Decision

    Chapter 159 - Gu Yue''s Decision


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes were blank. Wu Zhangkong glanced at her, not particularly surprised at her expression. ¡°Gu Yue, your opponent was the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder, the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao back when he only possessed two soul rings.¡±


    ¡°So you three shouldn¡¯t be discouraged. You were defeated by powerful legends after all. If you do well in the Hall of Heroes and keep rising up, you might even get the chance to battle the original Shrek Seven Monsters one day.¡±


    Tang Wulin subconsciously swallowed at these unbelievable words. He didn¡¯t even need to think about his answer and directly shouted out, ¡°I want to join!¡±


    Having heard the tales of the legendary Tang Sect since childhood, one could only imagine his burning desire to join the organization. These stories, however, weren¡¯t the main reason behind his willingness to join¡ªit was his idol, the founder of the Tang Sect who possessed the same martial soul as him! Any previous doubts he held towards joining Wu Zhangkong¡¯s organization were blown away after hearing that it was the Tang Sect.


    Xie Xie came to a similar conclusion after a moment of hesitation. ¡°I want to join too.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong cautioned them, ¡°You don¡¯t need to decide so quickly. You can go home and ask your family first.¡±


    Xie Xie shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need. I don¡¯t want to miss out on such an opportunity. Teacher Wu, I will join. I¡¯m sure I can convince my family too.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s and Xie Xie¡¯s gazes drifted to Gu Yue. Neither of them knew whether she would join or not, but it was indisputable that her performance was the best out of all of them today.


    In reality, their only requirement was to pass the first trial of the medium level to be eligible for membership. The trials after that were to push them to their limits.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Teacher Wu. Wulin, Xie Xie, I won¡¯t join,¡± Gu Yue said with utmost calm. There wasn¡¯t a single shred of regret in the depths of her eyes, as if she was only dealing with a mundane matter.


    ¡°Huh, why?¡± Xie Xie and Tang Wulin asked in unison.


    Gu Yue simply shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s already another organization that I want to join, so I can¡¯t join the Tang Sect.¡±


    Tang Wulin wanted to say something, but Wu Zhangkong cut him off. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Everyone has their own ambitions, so it¡¯s fine as long as you have thought things through properly. Gu Yue, you¡¯re very talented and would be able to shine no matter where you go in the future. With this being the case, I¡¯ll make some other arrangements for the combat component of your education.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡± Gu Yue curtly nodded.


    Still in disbelief, Tang Wulin approached Gu Yue. ¡°But Gu Yue, it¡¯s the Tang Sect! The Tang Sect that has traditions from 20,000 years ago and countless mysteries!¡±


    There was a slight change in Gu Yue¡¯s expression, but her mind was firm. She shook her head once more at Tang Wulin¡¯s words. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Wulin. I had already decided to join the Spirit Pagoda before we came here, and they require that I don¡¯t join any other organization.¡±


    While Tang Wulin was stunned at these words, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyebrows jumped up in surprise. When did the Spirit Pagoda approach Gu Yue? They made their move so quickly!


    But Gu Yue¡¯s excellence had been apparent from the beginning. Regardless of whether it was during the rebellion period or the ordinary spirit ascension platform, Gu Yue had always demonstrated extraordinary strength and potential. Neither Tang Wulin nor Xie Xie could compare to her, especially with her never-before-seen martial soul which could control six elements. Moreover, her control power was formidable, allowing her strength to far surpass her peers. The Spirit Pagoda had undoubtedly paid a tremendous price to rope her in.


    It was exactly as she had said. There would be some disputes if she joined the Tang Sect after joining the Spirit Pagoda.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze returned to Tang Wulin and Xie Xie. ¡°What Gu Yue said was correct. Both the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda are top-notch organizations on the continent. An organization isn¡¯t like an association; you can only join one organization. If you choose to join the Tang Sect, then in the future, you cannot join the Spirit Pagoda. If you want to leave the Tang Sect, then you¡¯ll need to return everything you received from it, including cultivation methods. With this in mind, you two should carefully consider your decision again and tell me at a later time.¡±


    Without the slightest hesitation, Tang Wulin said, ¡°I don¡¯t need to think it over. I want to join the Tang Sect. It¡¯s my dream!¡± That was right, he had dreamed of joining the Tang Sect since childhood.


    Though he didn¡¯t want to separate from Gu Yue, he had to prioritize his dream!


    Xie Xie looked back and forth between Tang Wulin and Gu Yue before nodding to himself. ¡°Teacher Wu, I have also settled on joining the Tang Sect.¡±


    ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll end today¡¯s testing here. After filling in some forms later, you will officially become outer members of the Tang Sect. I¡¯ll explain to you at a later time everything you need to know about the organization such as rules, benefits and duties.¡±


    On the bus ride home, Tang Wulin stared off into the distance with a lonely expression.


    Wang Jinxi had left. Zhang Yangzi had left. Even Gu Yue was choosing a different path from him. His companions were leaving one by one, and he truly felt powerless since he had no basis to influence their decisions. If joining the Tang Sect hadn¡¯t been his dream, he definitely would have chosen to join the Spirit Pagoda with Gu Yue. Companions had to stay together after all!


    Yet, it was as if fate had decreed that he must be alone. His family and friends were leaving one after the other, and the only one left by his side was Xie Xie. Will Xie Xie leave me too?


    Seated beside him, Xie Xie prodded him with a few words. ¡°What¡¯s up? Are you feeling down because Gu Yue isn¡¯t joining the Tang Sect?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I just feel like everyone I hold dear is leaving. My parents and Na¡¯er left. Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi left, and now Gu Yue has chosen a different path. Maybe I really am meant to be alone.¡±


    Xie Xie heartily laughed. ¡°How can that be? Don¡¯t you still have me? I won¡¯t leave.¡±


    A depressed sigh escaped Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Maybe you won¡¯t have a choice but to leave me in the future too.¡±


    ¡°Who said I¡¯m going to leave?!¡± Gu Yue suddenly appeared beside them. She pulled Xie Xie out of his seat before stealing it to sit beside Tang Wulin.


    ¡°You¡¯re so emotional,¡± Gu Yue said, displeased.


    Tang Wulin was startled by her words. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    Gu Yue pressed on. ¡°I only chose not to join the Tang Sect, and it¡¯s not like I¡¯m leaving class zero. Whatever organization I join doesn¡¯t change the fact that I¡¯ll always be together with you guys.¡±


    Seeing an opening, Xie Xie took this chance to cut in. ¡°If you just say ¡®you¡¯ instead of ¡®you guys¡¯, he¡¯d be far more moved.¡±


    ¡°Go away!¡± Tang Wulin and Gu Yue yelled at him in unison.


    ¡°You guys are bullies!¡± Xie Xie said with grievance.


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°Sorry Gu Yue, I didn¡¯t mean to blame you. Everyone makes their own decisions. I just feel a bit frustrated. You were right. Maybe it¡¯s because my family left, but I¡¯ve been very emotionally weak. I¡¯ll do my best to fix that."


    Poking his head in once more, Xie Xie said, ¡°Just vent your feelings whenever you need to. For example, let me beat you up once.¡±


    Tang Wulin snorted. ¡°I¡¯m not so certain I¡¯d be the one getting beat up.¡±


    ?


    The end of a semester was a joyous occasion for all students as it marked the start of their one month long vacation. They could finally relax and forget about studying or cultivating during this time. Despite their status as prestigious Soul Masters, in the end, they were only children.


    After one more trip to the Dazzling Era Tang Sect the next day, class zero also began their vacation. Gu Yue and Xie Xie chose to spend their vacation away from campus.


    Naturally, they were both going home to play and relax, leaving Tang Wulin the only one left in the dormitory.


    Where can I even go? Back to Glorybound City?


    Mom and dad aren¡¯t there anymore, so can that place even be called home anymore? Tang Wulin bitterly laughed at his lonesome thoughts.


    The only place he had now was Mang Tian¡¯s workshop. He hoped that by devoting himself to cultivating and work, he¡¯d be able to forget about his family.


    He had already filled out the Tang Sect¡¯s registration form and handed it to Wu Zhangkong, who submitted it to the Dazzling Era Tang Sect for review. Only after approval would he officially become a member of the Tang Sect.

 Chapter 160 - The Rules of the Tang Sect

    Chapter 160 - The Rules of the Tang Sect


    Tang Wulin sighed as he packed what he needed for the next month¡¯s stay at the workshop.


    ¡°Wulin,¡± a familiar voice called out.


    ¡°Teacher Wu.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong stood in the hallway, patiently waiting for Tang Wulin.


    ¡°What plans do you have for your vacation?¡± Wu Zhangkong stoically asked.


    Somewhat at a loss, Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t really have any plans yet. I figured I¡¯d just focus on forging and cultivating.¡±


    Thinking it over, Wu Zhangkong set out a proposal. ¡°Since you don¡¯t have any plans, how about you come with me? I¡¯m visiting another city in order to take care of some business. If you come along, you¡¯ll be able to learn more about the world outside of school and relax at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin stared at Wu Zhangkong in astonishment.


    Wu Zhangkong considerately asked, ¡°Do you want some time to think it over?¡±


    Tang Wulin quickly shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± In that split-second, his mood brightened up from his previous lonely depression. I wonder where Teacher Wu will be taking me?


    Since Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t say, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t bother to ask.


    ?


    A short hour later, they were waiting for the train at Eastsea City¡¯s soul train station.


    As usual, Wu Zhangkong was clothed in his white garbs and carried no luggage. Clearly, he possessed a soul storage device similar to Tang Wulin¡¯s. As for Tang Wulin, he had packed lightly, only bringing along a few sets of clothes and his two forging hammers.


    The white-clad Wu Zhangkong caught the attention of many women in the train station. Regardless of their age, their eyes would naturally drift to Wu Zhangkong. Surprisingly enough, there were quite a few younger girls who chose to eye Tang Wulin instead.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s appeal was different from that of the mature and handsome Wu Zhangkong¡¯s. His large, limpid eyes as well as the calm aura that was beyond his years easily drew the gazes of girls around his age.


    Today, Tang Wulin wore white sportswear that he had purchased himself. They were the cheapest of the cheapest clothes he could find. Though he was in no way hurting for money right now, his frugal nature wasn¡¯t something he could easily change. He couldn¡¯t even imagine what kind of high-quality materials Wu Zhangkong¡¯s white robe was made of.


    After spending a semester together, it was clear to Tang Wulin that Wu Zhangkong liked silence, so as long as Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t say anything to him, he didn¡¯t try to engage him in conversation either. He was resolved to be a quiet and well-behaved child.


    The train¡¯s arrival was preceded by a low, rumbling noise. At the sight of the train they were to take, Tang Wulin finally realized their destination.


    They were headed toward Heaven Dou City.


    Heaven Dou City? Didn¡¯t that use to be the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire? It was a large metropolis that could still be considered one of the greatest cities on the Douluo Continent today.


    The distance between Eastsea City and Heaven Dou City was by no means small!


    Wu Zhangkong had bought them economy class seats. Each carriage could seat four passengers, two on each side separated by an aisle in the middle. The cheap price of the ticket was obvious from how cramped the carriage was. Tang Wulin was fine since he was still a small child, but Wu Zhangkong¡¯s long legs were already leaning against the back of the seat in front of him.


    While Tang Wulin was seated by the window, Wu Zhangkong had taken the outer seat, acting as a human barrier between him and the rest of the crowd. In his isolated space, Tang Wulin felt a sense of security.


    ¡°Here.¡± Wu Zhangkong handed him a booklet.


    Tang Wulin curiously examined it. There wasn¡¯t a single word on its cover, making him assume it was a notebook. When he opened it, however, there were drawings of people alongside many notes.


    ¡°What is this, Teacher Wu?¡± Tang Wulin inquired.


    ¡°The Tang Sect¡¯s investigation into your background shouldn¡¯t turn up with any issues, so I¡¯m giving you this booklet right now. Inside it is the Tang Sect¡¯s cultivation technique, the Mysterious Heaven Method. It can also be used to meditate, so you could also call it a meditation method. The benefits you get from it should be far better than what you¡¯re receiving now. Later, when you learn other Tang Sect techniques, this Mysterious Heaven Method will serve as the foundation.¡±


    The Tang Sect¡¯s methods? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes instantly lit up with excitement. So far, he¡¯d been using the basic cultivation methods provided by the academy, but now he would be able to replace it with a method from the legendary Tang Sect! Considering its reputation, he had no doubts about its quality.


    However, Wu Zhangkong had to caution him. ¡°When you first join the Tang Sect, you¡¯re initially only allowed to learn the Mysterious Heaven Method since it¡¯s the foundation of everything. Only after familiarizing yourself with it will you be able to cultivate in the other methods and techniques of the Tang Sect. But in your case, since you entered by passing the medium level test, you can also pick one more technique to cultivate.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Wu, wait a minute.¡± Tang Wulin suddenly interrupted Wu Zhangkong and then lowered his voice. ¡°Can we really talk about the Tang Sect¡¯s methods in such a crowded place?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head dismissively. ¡°They won¡¯t hear our voices. Listen and see for yourself.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± It was only then that Tang Wulin noticed the total silence that surrounded him. The people continued to clamber onto the train, but not a peep could be heard.


    As he focused on his surroundings, he observed a thin layer of soul power separating them from the crowd.


    ¡°What is this?¡± Tang Wulin looked back at Wu Zhangkong in astonishment.


    Wu Zhangkong casually explained, ¡°This is merely a way of using soul power. You¡¯ll be able to do this once you reach a certain level as well. Now back to the topic of Tang Sect techniques.


    ¡°There are a total of six: Mysterious Heaven Method, Mysterious Jade Hands, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Purple Demon Eyes, and Hidden Weapons Hundred Separations. Among them, Hidden Weapons Hundred Separations has already fused with the development of soul device technology and is incorporated into the Tang Sect¡¯s unique battle armors. As for the other five techniques, you¡¯d still learn them as you normally would.


    ¡°You may learn one extra technique after passing the medium level test, the advanced level test, and so on. So right now, you can choose another one in addition to the Mysterious Heaven Method. I personally recommend that you choose Purple Demon Eyes. It¡¯s a method to cultivate your eyes¡¯ strength while also increasing your spiritual power.


    ¡°Eyes are the windows to the mind, and this is the easiest way to increase your spiritual power. You will gain many advantages, so you really should pick Purple Demon Eyes.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze sparkled. It¡¯s a Tang Sect technique!


    ¡°Then, Teacher Wu, what obligations do I have to keep for the Tang Sect in return?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°You must memorize and abide by the rules of the Tang Sect. As long as take care not to break any of them, your status as a member of the Tang Sect will be guaranteed. In this world, nothing comes freely. If you want to increase your position in the Tang Sect, you will have to contribute to the sect. For example, you can complete missions in order to earn some contribution points, which you can then exchange in the sect for many different items that you can¡¯t obtain anywhere else. You may also use them to increase your contribution level in the sect.


    ¡°As for the matter of documenting your contribution points, even as you spend them, your total, recorded contribution points never change. As such, you can call that total your effective contribution points value.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain these things more in detail later, but what you really need to remember right now are the rules of the Tang Sect. If you break any of them, the lightest punishment you will receive is expulsion and having to return everything you received from the sect. In the worst case scenario, there are much harsher and more severe punishments that may follow. As such, pay attention.


    ¡°The first rule of the Tang Sect: be filial to the sect and to your teachers. This one is pretty simple. Just don¡¯t join any other sects or organizations and you¡¯ll be fine.


    ¡°Second rule of the Tang Sect: you will not commit rape or robbery.


    ¡°Third rule of the Tang Sect: you must not divulge the secrets of the sect.


    ¡°Fourth rule of the Tang Sect: It is the duty of everyone in the Tang Sect to uphold virtue and condemn evil.


    ¡°Fifth rule of the Tang Sect: you must not deceive others.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Wu Zhangkong continued to profoundly list off one Tang Sect rule after another, and Tang Wulin took each of them to heart. Though there were ten rules in total, none of them were particularly harsh. The intent behind their regulations could be summarized in one phrase: be a good person who cherishes the Tang Sect.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, are you capable of following all of these rules?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Tang Wulin solemnly answered.


    With a more solemn tone than usual, Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Remember, this is a lifelong commitment. The Tang Sect¡¯s objective is to uphold virtue and condemn evil while supporting the continent¡¯s steady development. There aren¡¯t many restrictions other than the ten rules, but you must absolutely never break them. As your teacher, as well as the person who recruited you, I will be held responsible for any mistake you make.¡±


    Sensing the sudden severity in Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin¡¯s pulse began to race, and he nodded solemnly.


    ¡°Alright then. Return the book to me after you¡¯ve finished reading it.¡± Wu Zhangkong let out a long sigh, then reclined in his chair and closed his eyes. He was now quietly waiting for the train to arrive at their destination.


    Yet, the clamoring of the crowd didn¡¯t return, and they were still enveloped in the same peaceful calm as before. Tang Wulin understood that Wu Zhangkong was maintaining the barrier of soul power so that he could read in peace.


    The section on the Mysterious Heaven Method wasn¡¯t particularly long, and Tang Wulin finished reading it within half an hour. Despite that, he still had some confusion about some of the acupuncture points and things of that nature.


    Wu Zhangkong gave him detailed explanations to any questions he asked about the cultivation method and even had him begin moving his soul power along some of the paths outlined in the booklet.

 Chapter 161 - Mysterious Heaven Method

    Chapter 161 - Mysterious Heaven Method


    Though the seat was narrow, Tang Wulin was fortunately still a child so there was just enough room for him to sit cross-legged. And with the tall and reliable Wu Zhangkong blocking any prying eyes, he could continue his lessons without any worries.


    He gently urged his soul power to slowly circulate through his body. He was still unfamiliar with the complicated pathways of the Mysterious Heaven Method, and he needed to circulate his soul power through meridians he¡¯d never even noticed before. There was one area that proved to be quite a challenge for him, where his meridians were particularly complex. The only thing he could do was slowly explore within himself and build his understanding bit by bit.


    Luckily for Tang Wulin, Wu Zhangkong was present to provide him with guidance whenever he ran into any troubles. Every time he ran into an impasse, a cold stream of energy would enter his body and guide his soul power back onto the right path. Through trial and error and with Wu Zhangkong¡¯s guidance, Tang Wulin¡¯s understanding of his meridians grew deeper and deeper.


    In such a manner, Tang Wulin was finally able to complete one cycle of soul power circulation as outlined in the Mysterious Heaven Method. He gradually tuned out his surroundings and wholly focused on the task at hand. Slowly but steadily, his soul power was on its way to completing another cycle.


    Withdrawing his hand from Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach, Wu Zhangkong gave a slight nod of approval.


    This child¡¯s perception is pretty good. He only took two hours to complete his first circulation cycle with my guidance. Not bad. When he was helping Tang Wulin, Wu Zhangkong was also pleasantly surprised to discover that Tang Wulin¡¯s meridians were far stronger than normal. Not even three or four-ringed Soul Masters had meridians that could compare. With Tang Wulin¡¯s tough meridians and his soul power at the one-ringed level, he would be able to circulate his soul power quickly without worrying about his body.


    This was the advantage of a powerful physique!


    The soul train steadily sped along, but even with its high speeds, it would take one day¡¯s worth of travel to reach Heaven Dou City. Fortunately for the passengers, there were over a dozen stops at major cities in between, giving them a chance to stretch their legs.


    Even though it was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Method, he had somehow managed to enter a state of deep meditation, not leaving it once. Wu Zhangkong could feel the soul power within Tang Wulin¡¯s body circulating more smoothly and with greater speed.


    This was the result of possessing both great perception and a strong body. The deep meditative state he was in was highly beneficial to Soul Masters, but rarely entered. Wu Zhangkong was a bit frightened though; from the looks of things, Tang Wulin might not even wake up when they arrived at their destination.


    Entering a deep meditation as soon as he was introduced to the Mysterious Heaven Method meant that he would come out of this meditative state with a complete understanding of the method and the optimal benefits from it. He would not need to familiarize himself with the method any further.


    Wu Zhangkong held up a hand to stop a passing train attendant.


    ¡°Hello, what may I help you with?¡± The train attendant¡¯s eyes widened a bit at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s handsomeness and a blush found its way onto her cheeks. Her voice was clearly sweeter now than when she had been talking to the other passengers.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to bother you, but I¡¯m looking for the conductor,¡± Wu Zhangkong said in his usual cold tone.


    ¡°You¡¯re looking for the conductor? She¡¯s busy at the moment, so could you tell me what matter you¡¯re looking for her first? Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to assist you instead?¡± Although Wu Zhangkong¡¯s handsome figure had set her heart aflutter, she still retained her professionalism.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to help me. Please ask the conductor to come here.¡± As he spoke, Wu Zhangkong raised his right hand to reveal several floating halos.


    Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black! Six soul rings rose in this order. They were visible only to the attendant as she was currently positioned in a way that obstructed the gazes of others.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The attendant couldn¡¯t help but cry out at the shocking sight.


    After the soul rings disappeared in a flash, Wu Zhangkong curtly nodded at her. On the Douluo Continent, this was the easiest way to demonstrate one¡¯s strength. Soul rings equalled strength and status after all. Not only was Wu Zhangkong a six-ringed Soul Emperor, he was even a powerful expert that possessed a pair of ten-thousand-year black soul rings! How else was the attendant supposed to have reacted?


    ¡°Hey, you, don¡¯t use your handsomeness to take advantage of young ladies.¡± A tall and robust man had appeared beside the attendant. He hadn¡¯t seen Wu Zhangkong¡¯s soul rings, but he had heard the attendant¡¯s cry of alarm.


    Wu Zhangkong only shot him a glance and remained seated with his signature cold and silent manner.


    ¡°Boy, I was talking to you. Stand up!¡± The tall man clearly had a short temper.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, nothing at all.¡± The train attendant had finally snapped out of her daze and hastily stopped the man from approaching Wu Zhangkong. ¡°I was just surprised at their credentials. They really do have an important matter to talk to the conductor about. Thank you for looking out for me, but you can return to your seat now.¡±


    The tall man cast a doubtful look at the attendant before mischievously laughing. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, little sister. I didn¡¯t like that pretty boy from the start. If he dares to try anything with you, just tell this big brother, and I¡¯ll help you punish him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine,¡± the attendant quickly assured. She turned back to Wu Zhangkong and respectfully said, ¡°Please wait a moment. I will immediately get the conductor.¡±


    Stating this, she hurriedly left. Perhaps it was because of the attendant¡¯s deferential attitude to Wu Zhangkong, but the tall man no longer bothered them.


    Not too long after, the attendant returned, followed by a middle-aged woman.


    ¡°Hello, I am this train¡¯s conductor. What may I help you with?¡± The train conductor spoke with the utmost courtesy. This was only natural of course. In front of her was a young, six-ringed Soul Emperor. Considering his age and the strength he possessed, she could only imagine how high his status must be and from what great clan he hailed from.


    The conductor saw a slight change in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression before she discovered with alarm that they had been isolated from the clamor of their surroundings.


    ¡°My disciple has entered a state of deep meditation, and I don¡¯t know how long this will last. May I know if this train is heading anywhere else after reaching Heaven Dou City?¡±


    Deep meditation? For someone who wasn¡¯t a Soul Master, these two words didn¡¯t have much meaning, but she still answered quickly. ¡°We will be resting in Heaven Dou City for one day before continuing westward all the way to Sun Moon City. This train runs from east to west, across the whole continent. That is why this train is also called the Traveler.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong frowned. ¡°Then is it possible to stop in Heaven Dou City for a while longer?¡±


    The conductor made an awkward face. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s impossible. Many travelers have already bought tickets, so we wouldn¡¯t be holding up our end of the deal if we didn¡¯t continue on.¡±


    Nodding in understanding, Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Okay. I understand. I¡¯ll think of some other way then.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Sorry for the inconvenience. If there¡¯s anything else I may help with, please notify me,¡± the conductor said with a smile.


    After she left, the tall man from before said with disdain, ¡°What kind of farce is this? The conductor came yet you guys didn¡¯t even speak a word.¡±


    As if he hadn¡¯t heard the man¡¯s complaints, Wu Zhangkong closed his eyes and ignored him.


    Bored now, the tall man didn¡¯t continue deriding Wu Zhangkong.


    Like this, the soul train smoothly reached Heaven Dou City.


    ¡°To all passengers, please make sure to take all of your luggage and exit in an orderly fashion. Due to the cramped quarters, we ask that you watch out for your belongings and your step to prevent any injuries from falling.¡±


    Speakers projected the conductor''s voice throughout the train.


    Passengers stood up one by one to make their way to the exit, but Wu Zhangkong remained still. Tang Wulin was still in a deep meditation.


    His brows wrinkled as he thought about his plans.


    Not too long after, he and Tang Wulin were the only ones left on the train. The attendant tasked with tidying up the train walked over and politely said, ¡°We¡¯ve arrived at the station. You must disembark now.¡±

 Chapter 162 - Deep Meditation Troubles

    Chapter 162 - Deep Meditation Troubles


    Wu Zhangkong stood up. ¡°I want to bring this chair with me. Here¡¯s money to compensate for the cost.¡± He took out some federation bills as he spoke.


    ¡°You want to bring this chair with you?¡± The train attendant had never met such an eccentric passenger before. What did he mean by ¡®bring the chair¡¯ with him?


    Very soon, Wu Zhangkong explained the meaning of his words with a simple motion.


    A ripple of blue light welled up in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hand as a chill swept through the surroundings. A blue flash later, the train attendant was shocked to see that the chair with the child sitting atop of it was steadily hoisted up by the white-robed man. Carrying the chair with only his left hand, he took large strides towards the train exit.


    ¡°Huh?¡± He really carried the chair away? Heavens! He detached the entire chair.


    The attendant hurriedly took out her soul communicator. ¡°Conductor, conductor, over here, there¡¯s¡­¡±


    And at this time, Wu Zhangkong had already left the train while carrying the chair that Tang Wulin sat on.


    Since he couldn¡¯t force the train to stop here, all he could do was take the chair and Tang Wulin along with him. He isolated Tang Wulin in a bubble of soul power to prevent any distractions, which could lead to deviations in his cultivation. For now, he planned on quickly leaving the train station before looking for an inn to stay at.


    Of course, as soon as Wu Zhangkong alighted from the train, he became the center of attention as he single-handedly carried a seated child. The surrounding tourists were all dumbstruck as a single thought crossed their minds: what¡¯s going on?


    At that moment, an alarm resounded as a group of police officers from the train station came running over with soul laser guns in hand.


    ¡°Freeze!¡± They formed a line in front of Wu Zhangkong, obstructing his path. The head officer stepped forward and gravely said, ¡°Sir, you¡¯ve vandalized a public train and taken a child. Please come with us and explain yourself.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Wu Zhangkong agreed without a hint of resistance.


    The officers were stunned at such an icy and tranquil response. Their impression of him changed to one of a strange man, but surprisingly easy to talk to! They were already aware of his status as a six-ringed Soul Emperor¡ªan existence impossible for them to stand against¡ªand they were nearly trembling from apprehension.


    Fortunately for them, Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t resist and was actually compliant.


    Still carrying the chair that Tang Wulin sat on, Wu Zhangkong was escorted to the police station in charge of patrolling Heaven Dou City¡¯s train station.


    An officer wearing a captain¡¯s badge welcomed them with an even larger entourage of officers accompanied by a pair of gigantic mechas surpassing ten meters in height.


    The entire police force in charge of patrolling the train station had gathered here.


    ¡°Hello, you are a Soul Emperor, correct?¡± The captain cut right to the chase.


    Wu Zhangkong was expressionless as he dropped the concealment on his aura, six soul rings rising from his feet. Coupled with the two black soul rings, the captain was at a loss in the face of the sheer power of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s aura.


    ¡°Greetings, revered Soul Emperor,¡± said the captain as he gave a slight bow. Although ordinary people could use soul devices now and possessed some degree of strength, they were still conscious of the insurmountable gap between them and true Soul Masters. And above all, before him was a Soul Emperor!


    Even for the police captain, it was his first time meeting an esteemed Soul Emperor. How could he possibly dare be disrespectful? Black soul rings were at the ten-thousand-year level, a realm that could rend the heavens and raze the earth. Even in his wildest dreams, he wouldn¡¯t dare to offend an expert of this level!


    Wu Zhangkong curtly said, ¡°I apologize for troubling you, but my disciple has entered a deep meditative state and must not be disturbed. Because of that, I could only act in such a way. If it¡¯s possible, please provide us with a quiet room and some food and water.¡±


    An odd expression made its way onto the faces of all the police officers. They had never encountered a suspect so cool that he would actually make demands before the questioning even began.


    Yet, what was even more unexpected was how the captain immediately replied. ¡°Alright. Please follow me then. I have already heard of your circumstances from the conductor and have asked the higher-ups for orders, so a quiet room has already been prepared for you. Please excuse me for cautiousness. After all, you are a very powerful individual.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way.¡± Wu Zhangkong wasn¡¯t one for small talk.


    Just as promised, the room prepared by the captain was utterly silent. Even the windows had been sealed with soundproofing material. High-class food and water were soon delivered. There really was no room for neglect when dealing with a Soul Emperor.


    In truth, the chief police officer had been quite reassured when he heard that Wu Zhangkong had left a stack of bills with the attendant after slicing apart the chair. The fact that he bothered to pay for damages meant that he harbored no malice. If he indeed possessed ill intentions, the chief would have long called for backup. Although he had two standard mechas greet Wu Zhangkong, they couldn¡¯t even be considered a match for a Soul Emperor, let alone one that possessed two black soul rings! A Soul Master powerful enough to possess a black ten-thousand-year spirit soul had a boundless future. At the very least, it was guaranteed that he would break through to become a seven-ringed Soul Sage. At that level, his status would be equal to that of a second-tier city¡¯s chief executive.


    Tang Wulin was completely unaware of his surroundings as he immersed himself in this state of deep meditation. He felt as if his body was stretching out endlessly to absorb the energy of the heavens and the earth, bringing him an indescribable feeling of comfort. The soul power within him gently undulated as they cleansed his meridians. In return, the meridians gradually absorbed the soul power. His martial soul, soul power, body, and bloodline were all harmonizing together in his state of deep meditation.


    This type of situation wouldn¡¯t give a major leap in strength by any means, but in this harmonization process, his body basked in a feeling of wonder. It laid the foundation for a stronger body and smoother cultivation in the future.


    After some time had passed, Tang Wulin awoke. As he opened his eyes, he immediately felt the changes in his body, as if it had been refined completely.


    Letting out a faint, but long breath, a rumble resounded from his body as his soul power squirmed and penetrated into every part of his body. This feeling of freedom was simply impossible to describe.


    ¡°So comfortable!¡± Tang Wulin joyfully exclaimed.


    There didn¡¯t seem to be any change even after his soul power returned to his dantian. In fact, there seemed to be slightly less than before. Yet he clearly felt that his soul power had solidified by several degrees, giving him the idea that if he used his soul skills or the Golden Dragon Claw now, he would be able to use it a longer period of time.


    Where am I?


    As his soul power calmed down, Tang Wulin finally took note of his surroundings. It was only a second later that he discovered Wu Zhangkong meditating nearby.


    Teacher Wu?


    Shouldn¡¯t we be on a train? What is this little black room we¡¯re in?


    ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± Tang Wulin was able to clearly see Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes as he opened them in the darkness.


    They seemed to contain a vast, starry sky within them. Tang Wulin felt as if his soul was being sucked into those deep eyes.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, where is this?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already reached Heaven Dou City. Since you¡¯re awake now, let¡¯s be on our way.¡± Wu Zhangkong swiftly stood up. Tang Wulin hastily followed suit and trailed behind him to exit the black room.


    A loud rumble came from Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach all of a sudden. A crimson blush immediately colored his face, but he still trembled from intense hunger.


    ¡°Hungry?¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin lowered his head in embarrassment.


    ¡°Eat then. You can eat all of the food in the room.¡± Wu Zhangkong pointed to the food.


    It was only then that Tang Wulin noticed that there was a pile of food on the floor and several cups of water.


    Unable to resist his hunger, Tang Wulin began to gorge himself.


    For the first time, Wu Zhangkong was exposed to Tang Wulin¡¯s eating habits. A quarter of an hour passed, and even Wu Zhangkong¡¯s icy expression had become dull.


    Was it really the right choice to bring this kid with me after all? He... he just really eats way too much!


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t aware that he had actually been meditating for a full seven days. All he knew was that he was ravenous and needed to fill himself up.


    It didn¡¯t take long before the pile of highly nutritious food disappeared into the abyss that was Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach. Even when all that was left was the food packaging, Tang Wulin was still hungrily licking his lips. He was actually still hungry after devouring over a dozen boxes of food!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Wu Zhangkong said in a slightly off tone.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    A team of guards respectfully escorted them out of the train station.


    Taking in the scenery around him, Tang Wulin finally began to understand the difference in scale between an ancient city such as Heaven Dou City and Eastsea City.


    Heaven Dou City has existed for over 20,000 years, as early as the era of the Martial Soul Hall. This was one of the greatest cities on the continent and had even held the title of being the greatest city back in the age of the Heaven Dou Empire.

 Chapter 163 - The Melancholic Prince Charming

    Chapter 163 - The Melancholic Prince Charming


    The pre-federation Sun Moon Empire later annexed the Heaven Dou Empire and turned Heaven Dou City into an ordinary city. Tang Wulin clearly remembered, however, that the city was founded on a splendid location. It was right beside the legendary Great Star Dou Forest¡ªwhich teemed with soul beasts¡ªand was fairly close to the great Shrek City, said to be the very core of the Douluo Continent.


    I wonder when I¡¯ll be able to visit Shrek City and Great Star Dou Forest. What will it be like?


    Heaven Dou City was completely different from Eastsea City. Tang Wulin had thought Heaven Dou City would have taller and more developed buildings, but only when he saw Heaven Dou City did he realise that it was his own imagination.


    His initial impression of the city was that it was simple and plain.


    That was right, simple and plain!


    The city was filled with old era-styled buildings, but what was most surprising was that not a single skyscraper could be seen. The tallest thing in his line of sight were actually some towering ancient trees.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, why aren¡¯t there any skyscrapers here?¡± Tang Wulin quietly inquired.


    Wu Zhangkong explained, ¡°Heaven Dou City is a historical city; in order to preserve its historical value, the city imposed regulations that buildings were not to surpass fifty meters in height and were, at most, ten stories high. These regulations are the reason why you will see plenty of ancient trees taller than fifty meters rather than skyscrapers.¡±


    ¡°A lot of history fanatics love this city and come here as tourists. This city is filled with culture and was actually where the Tang Sect was first founded. Even now, there is an important branch of the Tang Sect situated here.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s curiosity was piqued. ¡°Then what about the Tang Sect¡¯s headquarters? Where is it?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong gave him a sharp glance. ¡°The headquarters? It¡¯s in Shrek City of course.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± It suddenly struck Tang Wulin. That¡¯s right! The Tang Sect is powerful, so its headquarters has to be in a super city like Shrek City!


    ¡°Teacher Wu, what are we doing in Heaven Dou City then?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s interest had only grown with this newfound knowledge.


    Wu Zhangkong answered with indifference, ¡°I¡¯m here to see a friend. After that, I¡¯ll bring you to a few places. Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    The duo didn¡¯t board another vehicle, opting to roam the historical streets of Heaven Dou City. The weather in Heaven Dou City was pleasantly warm and slightly humid. Coupled with the abundance of plant life, the air was exceptionally refreshing.


    It only took a few minutes for Tang Wulin to develop a liking for the city. Walking along these streets was a type of enjoyment.


    ¡°Wow! Teacher Wu, what¡¯s that over there? It smells so nice!¡± Tang Wulin bounced with excitement as he pointed toward a fragrant shop.


    At a loss, Wu Zhangkong could only doubtfully ask, ¡°You can still eat?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded without a thought. ¡°Teacher Wu, let me treat you to a meal! I have money too.¡±


    Shaking his head, Wu Zhangkong responded, ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll pay.¡±


    The two entered the shop. It¡¯s signboard said ¡°Yuhao¡¯s Roasted Fish¡±.


    Seeing the name of the shop, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes instantly lit up. ¡°No wonder it smells so good, it¡¯s actually this shop.¡±


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°You¡¯ve been here before?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong answered, ¡°Yuhao¡¯s Roasted Fish is famous in the central part of the continent, especially in Heaven Dou City, Shrek City, and Star Luo City. It was said that the recipe for their roasted fish was passed down from the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Huo Yuhao. That¡¯s where the shop got its name from. It was also said that he used his roasted fish to woo the Dragon Butterfly Douluo. Speaking of which, your name is rather similar to the Dragon Butterfly Douluo¡¯s; her name is Tang Wutong.¡±


    A hint of yearning colored Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. ¡°So those legendary figures loved to eat too!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s face twitched. ¡°That¡¯s what you got out of what I said?¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Tang Wulin awkwardly scratched his head as he tried to suppress his impatience to eat. ¡°Teacher Wu, let¡¯s go in then.¡±


    Yuhao¡¯s Roasted Fish bustled with noise. Even though it couldn¡¯t be considered a proper restaurant, the shop was filled to the brim with customers savoring the delicious fragrance of the roasted fish.


    The two seated themselves in a corner. Wu Zhangkong had clearly been here numerous times so he ordered several dishes quickly, but with Tang Wulin¡¯s input, he just ended up ordering ten of every single dish.


    Roasted fish tasted the best right after it had finished roasting. The skin would be crispy yet have tender and succulent meat. The light fragrance and delicate fish stock combined to create one of the world¡¯s delicacies.


    For once, Tang Wulin was able to eat until he was satisfied. Although he could eat a lot in the academy¡¯s dining hall, there was just one problem with its food: their taste was only decent! Every meal he had had at the dining hall was only for the purpose of filling his stomach and nothing more. Yet, every bite of roasted fish was pure bliss!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face was flushed from the delicious roasted fish. A brave light twinkled in his eyes, as if he was prepared to eat his own tongue together with the fish.


    After gracefully eating two roasted fish, Wu Zhangkong shifted his attention to Tang Wulin¡¯s eating performance.


    ¡°That¡¯s ninety-one fish in total¡­ The price¡­¡± Wu Zhangkong had gotten the bill.


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡± Tang Wulin was so invigorated after eating so much that he actually wanted to eat some more.


    Wu Zhangkong merely looked at him. ¡°It must have been hard for your family to raise you.¡±


    Only after staring blankly at Wu Zhangkong for a moment did Tang Wulin realize that Wu Zhangkong meant his ability to eat. Teacher Wu actually knows how to tell a joke?


    ¡°Teacher, what are we going to do now?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll find a place to stay first. You were in a deep meditation for seven days after all. After washing up and changing into a fresh set of clothes, we¡¯ll go out again.¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    The inn Wu Zhangkong chose was by no means luxurious; in fact, it was very plain. Its only merit was that it was clean.


    Wu Zhangkong only rented out a single room with two beds.


    The first thing Tang Wulin did was wash up and take a relaxing bath. He changed into a clean set of clothes and felt completely refreshed.


    Wu Zhangkong took a little longer than Tang Wulin to wash up before changing into a set of almost identical white robes.


    His white robes fluttered about while his long hair draped behind him. He had already used his soul power to evaporate the water in his hair.


    ¡°We¡¯re going!¡± A trace of melancholy swept past his eyes as he peered out the window.


    Tang Wulin had a feeling that the moment he entered Heaven Dou City, there was a change in Wu Zhangkong.


    Leaving the inn, Wu Zhangkong chose to continue their journey on foot. It was clear though that their pace had sped up. Wu Zhangkong lead Tang Wulin with familiarity along the winding streets that gradually changed from bustling crowds to quiet cheerlessness.


    Just where are we headed?


    Turning onto a small, narrow road, there were even less people to be found. Only two soul cars could fit side-by-side on this street.


    On one side of the small road was a tall wall. A dense thicket of vegetation could be seen over it. On the other side of the road was a forest.


    Tang Wulin felt a clear change in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s mood as they walked this road. Both Wu Zhangkong¡¯s breathing and pace clearly sped up, but what was even more obvious was the disappearance of the usual coldness in his eyes, replaced by complicated feelings.


    Depression, longing and melancholy could all be seen in his eyes. If he was usually described as ¡®white robes and blue swords, sky ice and snow cold¡¯, then now he could only be called a melancholic man. He had completely shed off his shell of coldness to reveal his original warmth, but this change was still overshadowed by the complex emotions within his heart.


    They followed the road for another five hundred meters before a gate appeared in the large wall.


    ¡°Heaven Dou Public Cemetery¡±.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart trembled at these four words. This¡­ is actually a cemetery?


    A chill crawled down his spine. Teacher Wu brought me to a cemetery? Who is he paying his respects to?

 Chapter 164 - The Grave of Long Bing

    Chapter 164 - The Grave of Long Bing


    Sure enough, Wu Zhangkong led the way into Heaven Dou Public Cemetery. The plant life seen peeking from over the walls was actually part of the cemetery. A collection of large trees were orderly arranged between the gravestones.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s robes fluttered behind him as he entered, seeming to fit in as a ghostly specter.


    This was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time entering such a place, and so his gaze began to wander. There were only a few people present in the cemetery paying their respects to the deceased.


    As if possessed, Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t stop until they arrived at a gravestone just off of the cemetery¡¯s center.


    The gravestone was tall and adorned with a few simple words: The grave of Long Bing.


    Long Bing? Who¡¯s that? It sounds like a girl¡¯s name.


    ¡°Wait here.¡± Turning around to speak to Tang Wulin, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s tone had thawed from its usual iciness to a warm tenderness.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Wulin considerately moved to stand at the side.


    Now holding a white cloth, Wu Zhangkong began to clean the gravestone. Each movement was filled with heartfelt gentleness as if he was caressing a most cherished item.


    The gravestone wasn¡¯t dirty by any means; in fact, only a thin layer of dust covered it. In no time at all, it was sparkling clean as jade. Compared to the other gravestones, it was clearly much brighter.


    The tenderness in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression had completely eclipsed the melancholy and sorrow he carried before.


    As if in a trance, not a single word left his lips as he caringly wiped the gravestone clean.


    Though Tang Wulin wished to step forward and lend a hand, something told him that he shouldn¡¯t disturb his teacher in such a moment. A stifled feeling pressed down on him.


    After a full hour of earnest cleaning, Wu Zhangkong finally finished and stood up to gaze upon the gravestone, his eyes filled with a level of love and kindness never seen until now. It was as if the spring winds had blown a smile onto his face, creating a cozy atmosphere around him.


    ¡°You were always fond of white, so I¡¯m wearing white today.


    ¡°You said you liked my smile, so I will smile only for you.


    "Bing¡¯er, how are you doing in the next world?¡±


    As he softly spoke, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s fingers traced the grooves that made up the name ¡®Long Bing.¡¯ Not a single tear escaped, presenting only a gentle smile.


    By the time they left the cemetery, it was already evening.


    Wu Zhangkong had assumed his usual cold attitude, and Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare to ask anything. All he could do was follow behind his teacher. Long Bing should be a relative of Teacher Wu, right? Or could it be one of those lovers Xie Xie talked about before?


    Without bothering to explain anything, Wu Zhangkong simply led the way back to Heaven Dou City.


    Crowds of people were bustling along the warmly-lit streets of Heaven Dou City. The shops had opened long ago and were engaged in fast and hard business transactions.


    Though Wu Zhangkong had regained his composure, Tang Wulin¡¯s image of him had been irreversibly changed.


    Teacher Wu isn¡¯t really a cold person! He said his smile is only meant for that person!


    ¡°What do you want to eat for dinner?¡± Wu Zhangkong peered at Tang Wulin inquisitively.


    ¡°Huh? Anything is fine!¡± Tang Wulin was fine with anything as long as it was food.


    Not one to overcomplicate things, Wu Zhangkong decided thus, ¡°Let¡¯s go for noodles then. Some delicious noodles.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s interest was piqued. Wu Zhangkong had actually described a food as ¡®delicious¡¯, something out of character of him.


    These noodles really are delicious! Tang Wulin thought to himself for the tenth time as he devoured his tenth bowl. The noodles were cooked just right and were perfectly complemented by the rich soup. At first glance, it seemed to be a simple dish with only some meatballs and vegetables as toppings, but the taste was amazing.


    Wu Zhangkong had only eaten one bowl, but he had savored each and every noodle. The previous tenderness had resurfaced in the depths of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes, astonishing Tang Wulin. Although he wasn¡¯t smiling, that gentleness in his eyes along with his handsome looks had the mysterious effect of melting the hearts of every single woman that entered the small noodle shop.


    In fact, there were even some courageous ladies who came up to flirt with him from time to time.


    And every time, Wu Zhangkong had a simple, sure-kill answer prepared for these entanglements. He would simply shift his gaze to Tang Wulin and say with his usual indifference, ¡°This is my son.¡±


    S-son¡­?


    Neither of them looked similar to the other, especially when comparing the adorableness of Tang Wulin¡¯s large and bright eyes with the chilling handsomeness of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s narrow and sharp eyes.


    Yet, none of the pretty ladies who approached him doubted their relationship as father and son after a brief glance at Tang Wulin.


    Son? Tang Wulin didn¡¯t refute Wu Zhangkong¡¯s statement. Instead, he attentively watched the constant changes in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression. He could tell that the iciness of today¡¯s Wu Zhangkong was different from the one he was familiar with.


    After half a year of cultivating with Wu Zhangkong, he had gradually begun to understand that Wu Zhangkong¡¯s heart really wasn¡¯t as cold as it appeared. On the contrary, under the cold exterior, he was a passionate person full of love and kindness.


    A seed of fear had found its way into Tang Wulin when they had visited the cemetery this morning, but the actions of Wu Zhangkong afterward had reaffirmed his thoughts. Teacher Wu really is kind.


    He must have lost someone really important to him.


    Soon after, another shocking scene took place in the noodle shop. In front of a child lay a mountain of bowls while the handsome young man sitting across from him only had a single bowl before him. He was slowly eating each noodle one by one as if they were the world¡¯s greatest delicacy.


    Such a strange combination simply demanded the attention of their surroundings.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± After they finished eating and paid, Wu Zhangkong brought Tang Wulin back to the inn.


    ¡°Go meditate. We¡¯re getting up early tomorrow morning.¡± Taking a few minutes to wash his face first, Wu Zhangkong quickly climbed onto his bed and began meditating cross-legged.


    Taking care not to disturb Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin silently crept to the front of the bed and peered out the window. It was deep into the night, but Heaven Dou City was still thriving with warm lights and rowdy people. Tang Wulin liked this city far more than Eastsea City. Instead of the cluster of skyscrapers that made up the core of Eastsea City, there was history, culture and most importantly, human warmth that permeated throughout Heaven Dou City.


    At his young age, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t able to understand that this ambiguous feeling originated from the culture and history of the city.


    In the moments of twilight as the sky transitioned from darkness to a deep blue, Tang Wulin was stirred awake by Wu Zhangkong.


    Tang Wulin could clearly feel the Mysterious Heaven Method¡¯s greater efficacy compared to the standard methods provided by the academy. In his first session, he had entered a deep meditation and refined his body, and in this second session, there was a tangible increase in his soul power. His soul power and body had blended together and were now working in complete harmony, completely devoid of the unease his bloodline had previously brought about.


    Though Tang Wulin¡¯s body hadn¡¯t increased in power, it had definitely increased in toughness.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Wu Zhangkong beckoned to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin hastily rushed over to Wu Zhangkong, and the moment he reached him, Wu Zhangkong grabbed hold of his arm. A sudden gale struck Tang Wulin, and the next thing he knew, they were on the inn¡¯s rooftop.


    From behind Tang Wulin, Wu Zhangkong reached over to grasp his head. Two fingers poked into Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw, the thumbs pressing into the temples, and the remaining three fingers stabbed into other acupuncture points on his face.


    ¡°Feel how my soul power circulates. I¡¯ll have you start cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes soon after. Breathe according to the Mysterious Heaven Method and look to the east. Every morning, there is a streak of white rising from the east. The moment it appears, it is followed by a trace of purple qi. The Tang Sect¡¯s Purple Demon Eyes is a method to absorb that purple qi and use it to improve eyesight. When we absorb that energy, we are also cultivating our spiritual power. Understood?¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± It wasn¡¯t hard for Tang Wulin to comprehend such a simple idea.


    Thin threads of soul power began pouring into Tang Wulin¡¯s facial acupuncture points from Wu Zhangkong¡¯s fingers. His face immediately felt refreshed as if he was washing it in a crystal-clear spring. The feeling was simply indescribable. Amidst this feeling of clarity, Tang Wulin noticed that his eyes had grown stronger, and he was able to see faraway things even more clearly now.


    In complete silence, he memorized how Wu Zhangkong¡¯s soul power flowed throughout his face.


    ¡°Gather your soul power and follow my guidance. Steadily breathe according to the Mysterious Heaven Method,¡± reminded Wu Zhangkong.


    Tang Wulin quickly did as instructed.


    He was already familiar with what he needed to do and spurred on by Wu ZhangKong, it didn¡¯t take long for him to begin circulating his soul power as needed for the Purple Demon Eyes.


    Right at that moment, a streak of white crept up on the horizon and for the first time, Tang Wulin noticed the purple of the morning dawn.


    Suddenly, the purple light seemed to fill his eyes, and a comforting warmth permeated through them. He didn¡¯t know why, but tears began to well up. But instead of streaming down, they glistened and created a thin layer across his eyes. An indescribable feeling of soothing and warmth were absorbed into his eyes, merging into their depths and the minuscule acupuncture points surrounding it.

 Chapter 165 - Branchmaster Zhao of the Tang Sect

    Chapter 165 - Branchmaster Zhao of the Tang Sect


    How mystical!


    Though he couldn¡¯t feel a change in his spiritual power, there was an apparent change in the clarity of his eyesight. This really is an extraordinary eye cultivation method! It really deserves to be one of the Tang Sect¡¯s secret methods.


    The purple qi disappeared as quickly as it came. It truly was an ephemeral existence.


    Wu Zhangkong had stood behind Tang Wulin, patiently guiding Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power according to the Purple Demon Eyes method til the end.


    The horizon shone with a halo of light as the sun vanquished the darkness with its slow ascension to its zenith. With dawn¡¯s brief moment of twilight gone, Wu Zhangkong removed his hands and let Tang Wulin absorb the secrets of the method completely.


    ¡°Done. From now on draw the purple qi into your eyes every morning and immediately cultivate for half an hour. Cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes will take time and constant practice to reach a high level. You will progress rapidly in the beginning, but it will soon be difficult to improve and you will eventually stagnate. How do you feel now?¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    Tang Wulin nodded and said, ¡°I feel warm and comfortable. I can see in greater detail than before now that my vision is clearer. The colors are more vibrant too.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong eyes glazed over. ¡°You really feel like that? You¡¯re not exaggerating?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Nope! It really feels like that. Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡±


    An unknown emotion clouded Wu Zhangkong¡¯s mind. He distinctly remembered that when he had first begun cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes, it had taken him half a month to reach that stage. Could this child be compatible with the Purple Demon Eyes? This is the first time he¡¯s cultivated it yet he has already progressed so much?


    Peering into the depths of Tang Wulin¡¯s large, bright eyes, Wu Zhangkong could only nod. ¡°Continue practicing. If you have any questions, you can ask me. Let¡¯s go down now.¡±


    The two quickly washed up and ate breakfast.


    Fortunately for Tang Wulin, the inn they stayed at provided buffet-style breakfast.


    Even a child as cute as Tang Wulin was unwelcomed once the inn discovered his unparalleled eating prowess. This was a commonly heard tale of Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, what are we doing today?¡± Tang Wulin asked with youthful curiosity.


    Wu Zhangkong answered, ¡°You¡¯re staying in the room to cultivate the Purple Demon Eyes method today. This method is still beneficial to your spiritual power even without purple qi to enhance your eyesight.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay.¡± Tang Wulin deflated. He had wanted to go out and see the city with Wu Zhangkong but was tasked with cultivating inside the room.


    Tang Wulin never imagined that this continued for half a month.


    Every day in the early morning Wu Zhangkong would observe him cultivate the Purple Demon Eyes, provide guidance when necessary, then head out alone to take care of some unknown matters.


    Where was the relaxation mentioned? Tang Wulin was immersed in gloom and boredom. Although he had a relatively steady temper, he was still a child. Coming to such a magnificent city yet unable to explore it at all, it was no wonder he was dejected.


    To make things worse, Wu Zhangkong had forbidden him from meditating. He was to focus on practicing the Purple Demon Eyes method to increase his spiritual power.


    Such a monotonous life truly was dull. Fortunately, the improvements were more than enough to motivate Tang Wulin onwards.


    It seemed that not only was he exceptionally compatible with the Purple Demon Eyes, it was the same for the Mysterious Heaven Method. He had made significant and smooth progress in both of these two Tang Sect methods.His cultivation of the Mysterious Heaven Method had stabilized; while his speed was not considered fast, it was greater than before.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s most prominent discovery though was that could condense his soul power with the Mysterious Heaven Method. As such, despite not increasing its volume, his soul power had become incredibly dense. He had immersed himself into condensing his soul power after Wu Zhangkong told him that the greater degree of purity and density his soul power was, the further he would reach in the future.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s cultivation of the Purple Demon Eyes was extremely quick. He reached the first realm of the Purple Demon Eyes that Wu Zhangkong had mentioned in half a month.


    The world seemed to slow and become crystal clear in the wake of him circulating soul power according to the Purple Demon Eyes method. The smallest of details and changes were all observed by him in this state.


    For instance, every speck of dust was clearly outlined under the gentle gaze of the sun; he could even discern the faint veins of distant leaves. Without such spectacular results, Tang Wulin would have found it too dull to persevere.


    Today was their fifteenth day in Heaven Dou City yet Wu Zhangkong had only brought him around town on the first day. He had been cooped up in their room cultivating for the other days.


    After cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes and eating breakfast, Wu Zhangkong finally spoke the words Tang Wulin had been yearning to hear. ¡°Let¡¯s go, you¡¯re coming with me today.¡±


    ¡°Okay! Teacher Wu, where are we going?¡± Tang Wulin was jumping with joy at the long-awaited chance to go out.


    Wu Zhangkong turned around and said to him, ¡°Did you feel that cultivating was very dull these last 14 days?¡±


    Though Tang Wulin was taken aback for a moment, he quickly regained himself. He spoke truthfully, ¡°In the beginning, it was like that, but it got better as I continued. I like being able to see many things I couldn¡¯t before with the Purple Demon Eyes.¡±


    Nodding, Wu Zhangkong reminded him, ¡°Remember, cultivating is not for the sake of harming others but to have the strength to protect your loved ones. Strength is the basis for everything. The efforts you put in now are all to prevent any future tragedies.¡±


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t mature enough to comprehend Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words completely, but within Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes were the same emotions he had in the cemetery. Tang Wulin carved those words into his heart.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Wu Zhangkong walked away, leaving Tang Wulin to catch up.


    Just like before, they walked on foot; this time though, they weren¡¯t heading for the suburbs. No, this time, they headed straight for the core of the city. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t mind walking at all; in fact, Tang Wulin was fond of it as it gave him the chance to look around.


    Heaven Dou City truly was a city filled with beauty. Whether it be its historical sites, breathtaking scenery, or culture, it had it all. The lesser soul cars compared to Eastsea City changed the mood of the city.There was a qualitative difference between Eastsea City and Heaven Dou City, the two incomparable. Heaven Dou City, however, was far less industrialized than Eastsea City.


    Two hours on foot later, the two arrived at their destination: an antiquated garden.


    The garden was surrounded by tall, mottley walls and a vermillion door. There were no signs or markings to name this aged garden.


    Wu Zhangkong briskly strode over to the door and pressed his right hand on it with practiced movements without any regard to its outward appearance.


    This¡­ Isn¡¯t this the same action Teacher Wu did when we were at the Dazzling Era Tang Sect?


    A faint light swept over his body and beeped once before the door opened. Wu Zhangkong lead the way in.


    The vermillion doors silently closed behind them. Inside was a space that was untouched by time and without any signs of soul technology. It possessed an aura so pristine that it was almost as if they were back in the ancient era.


    ¡°You¡¯ve brought him?¡± A deep voice penetrated the silence before an elderly man walked out from the only building present in the garden. The old man¡¯s short height emphasized how fat he was. Coupled his bald head, he looked almost like a mountain of meat.


    Wu Zhangkong actually let his usual arrogance go and bowed in greeting to this old man. ¡°Branchmaster Zhao.¡±


    ¡°Come on in.¡±


    Is this really a Tang Sect branch? Tang Wulin wondered.


    Tang Wulin was awed beyond comparison the moment he entered the building. Two rows of towering sculptures lined each side, exuding a majestic air.


    The building appeared to be a single-story building that was no taller than five meters from its exterior but he was shaken to discover that once he was inside, the ceiling was well over thirty meters tall and the interior larger! The sculptures loomed over him at a height of more than ten meters.


    These sculptures were of both men and women, all appearing to be in their twenties and were displayed with an assortment of martial souls.


    Tang Wulin suddenly found a familiar figure among the sculptures. The third sculpture on his left was a smiling sweetly young lady with a delicate figure. In her left hand was a three-legged cauldron while in her right was a flute.

 Chapter 166 - The Legends of the Tang Sect

    Chapter 166 - The Legends of the Tang Sect


    She¡­ Isn¡¯t this the girl I fought in the Hall of Heroes? She appears more mature in this sculpture though; the one I fought was when she was a young girl.


    This is the Flute Cauldron Douluo, Xiao Xiao? One of the numerous titles she held was being a member of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder¡¯s generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters. Her Three Cycles Soul Cauldron and Nine Phoenix Flute twin martial souls were famed for their strength.


    Then the other sculptures should be of the remaining Shrek Seven Monsters in her generation, right?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s excitement soared as he recalled all his favorite tales of the Tang Sect that had been imprinted in his heart.


    The most famous were the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters, in particular, the illustrious Thousand Hands Douluo Tang San, leader of the Shrek Seven Monsters and founder of the Tang Sect.


    After that was the next generation that existed 10,000 years ago, the generation of Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, founder of the Spirit Pagoda. He rebuilt Tang Sect from its crumbling husk of an organization back to its former glory. Tang Sect never stopped shining majestically throughout the world from then on.


    Despite their achievements though, the federation had a less-than-kind view of them. After all, the Spirit Ice Douluo had led his comrades to force the Sun Moon Empire into a peace treaty.


    There were even some that said that the following generation¡¯s great emperor was the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s illegitimate child. No one knew whether this doubtful story was true or not, however.


    Ah! The person beside Xiao Xiao should be Caitou, right? Then the ones over there should be the Mysterious Underworld Douluo, Xu Sanshi and the Demon Rabbit Douluo, Jiang Nannan. The one at the front with shining eyes and six spirit souls should be the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder, the legendary Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao.


    Legends said that he had a million-year Skydream Iceworm as one of his spirit souls. He also had two of the ten great soul beasts of the time, the Glacial Heaven Snow Empress and the Frost Jade Scorpion Empress. The hundred-thousand-year Arctic Bear King and hundred-thousand-year Eight-Pointed Frozen Grass were also among his array of spirit souls. There was no mistaking his claim as the most legendary figure of the time!


    Unfortunately no one knew what happened after his earth-shattering, heaven-turning battle with the Beast God, Di Tian. The Beast God vanished while the Spirit Ice Douluo and his wife, the Dragon Butterfly Douluo, disappeared altogether. Perhaps only the other five members of that generation¡¯s Shrek Seven Monsters would know where the two had gone.


    Tang Wulin felt as though he were right there with them as he gazed upon the sculptures and recalled the legends of their epic adventures.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes glowed brighter when he switched his gaze to the sculptures on the right. If the left are the Shrek Seven Monsters from 10,000 years ago, then the right should be the original Shrek Seven Monsters!


    The sculpture of the Civet Douluo, Zhu Zhuqing¡ªone of the original Shrek Seven Monsters and a founding member of the Tang Sect¡ªstood at the very back.


    In front of her was Ning Rongrong, the Nine Treasures Douluo. There were rumors that said she transformed her support-type martial soul, the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, into the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda. With it, she had brought the sect 10,000 years of prosperity. The bloodline of the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda was rare even in ancient times. Now it was merely a legend of eras long gone. Many other powerful martial soul bloodlines of the ancient era shared a similar fate and were lost with the passage of time.


    The Demonic Fire Phoenix Douluo, Ma Hongjun with his flaming phoenix, stood before Ning Rongrong. As one who bore the exalted title of being one of the Shrek Seven Monsters, it was only natural for his Demonic Fire Phoenix to be known as a martial soul that stood at the world¡¯s peak.


    In front of him was the Food God Douluo, Oscar. What¡¯s that revolving around him? Is that a sausage? Ah! That¡¯s right! I heard his nickname was Big Sausage Uncle!


    Standing further along the line was a man with a regal air, the White Tiger Douluo, Dai Mubai. It was said in the stories that he was the strongest member of the Shrek Seven Monsters for a long time.


    Tang Wulin finally looked at the two most magnificent sculptures in the forefront.


    He didn¡¯t know why, but a shiver ran down his spine the moment he set his eyes on them. An incomprehensible feeling of warmth and longing filled him.


    His gaze rested on the girl in a pink dress first. Her sculpture was carved exquisitely, every line and curve capturing her essence and filling her with a spark of life. Her long scorpion braid hung down her back while her large, beautiful eyes accentuated her sweet smile.


    Even though spirit souls hadn¡¯t existed in that era, a pair of rabbit ears popped out from the top of her head. She was the co-founder of the Tang Sect and the only member in the entire history of the Shrek Seven Monsters to be a human-transformed soul beast¡ªSoft Bone Douluo, Xiao Wu!


    She was supposedly a hundred-thousand-year soul beast that gained human form and became the Tang Sect founder¡¯s lover. When her identity was revealed and others aimed for her life, the Tang Sect founder didn¡¯t hesitate to protect her with his life. Yet, just when she was about to truly metamorphose into a human, the Soft Bone Douluo chose to sacrifice herself and become the Tang Sect founder¡¯s soul ring.


    Though the Tang Sect founder lived thanks to her sacrifice, all that remained of her was a corpse. Tormented by his loss, he used a rare herb to just barely preserve the core of her life. He finally managed to resurrect her after undergoing many trials throughout the world, utilising every method he could think of and severing his own arm to return the soul bone he had received from her sacrifice.


    Such a romantic tale of tragic love moved the hearts of countless people. It was also because of such a heart-wrenching story that the original Shrek Seven Monsters were the most renowned.


    Tang Wulin took a subconscious step forward as he regarded the sculpture of such an eminent figure. His gaze wavered and his body began to feel feverish as he felt something calling out to him.


    His heart in turmoil, he turned to look at the foremost figure. This striking man had long aqua-blue hair that trailed over his shoulders while a smile warm and serene. In his left hand waved a strand of blue-gold grass and a pitch-black hammer, and spread from his back were eight spider legs that were stretched out like an array of spears. An air of simplicity and mystery clung to him.


    But it was the resplendent golden trident in his right hand that offset those previous airs. The head of the long trident had an elegant and regal design carved on it.


    It was clear that the sculptures on the right were closer to the two words, ¡®Tang Sect¡¯, than those on the left. The closest one of all was the founder of Tang Sect.


    There was no doubt that this was the ancestor as well as the founder of Tang Sect¡ªthe peerless figure who had ascended to godhood, praised as the strongest in all of history, the Thousand Hands Douluo, Tang San!


    As Tang Wulin stared at Tang San¡¯s sculpture, a sense of familiarity and security embraced his heart. Under the gentle gaze of Tang San, Tang Wulin felt his boiling blood settle down and a similarly pleasant smile found its way onto his lips.


    These two generations of Shrek Seven Monsters had each created their own eternal legends in two different eras of the Tang Sect! They brought the Tang Sect to the zenith of glory and gave birth to a Tang Sect saying: ¡®We are all Tang Sect. We are born to be peerless¡¯. These two provocative phrases were actually hanging on the wall right beside the large ¡®Tang Sect¡¯.


    ¡°Three bows.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sudden instruction roused Tang Wulin from his stupor.


    Tang Wulin hastily straightened his back and fought back the urge to keep admiring the sculptures around him. The two of them respectfully bowed three times to the two large words ''Tang Sect''.


    Pride gushed from the depths of Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. This was the pride of being a Tang Sect disciple.


    This is the Tang Sect, the Tang Sect with over 20,000 years of history!


    Seeing that they finished their three bows, the old man gave them an approving nod. ¡°Now then, you two follow me.¡±


    The old man led them to the left side of the hall.


    Wu Zhangkong pulled on Tang Wulin¡¯s hand, indicating for him to follow and quietly said, ¡°This garden was established by the Tang Sect¡¯s founder, Tang San. It¡¯s also the place with the longest history in the Tang Sect. It was seized by someone else 10,000 years ago, but Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao took it back and used this place as the starting point to rebuild the Tang Sect up to what it is today. This isn¡¯t the Tang Sect¡¯s headquarters anymore, but it¡¯s still a critical location to the Tang Sect. Every year the core disciples of the Tang Sect come here to pay their respects. The only reason you¡¯re able to come here today is because your membership has been approved now.¡±


    My membership has been approved? Then, I¡¯m an actual Tang Sect disciple now! Tang Wulin was on cloud nine at the moment.


    Old Man Zhao brought them into a side room.


    Silence pervaded the simply furnished room. Only a seemingly timeless wooden bed which exuded an air of antiquity sat in the room.


    The old man turned to face Tang Wulin, expressionlessly saying, ¡°Get on the bed.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s brain stopped working.


    Wu Zhangkong quickly asserted the order. ¡°Do what Branchmaster Zhao says.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tang Wulin replied blankly, then took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, sitting cross-legged.


    Old Man Zhao climbed onto the bed with him. When Zhao placed a hand on his shoulder, a slight floating sensation enveloped his body. A moment later, Tang Wulin found himself facing the other direction.


    Old Man Zhao sat down behind him. ¡°Pay close attention and loosen your body. Relax both your mind and body.¡±


    As he complied with the old man¡¯s instructions, two streams of soul power bore into his back, one firm while the other gentle.


    It¡¯s the Mysterious Heaven Method! His familiarity with the method allowed him to immediately recognize the root characteristics of the old man¡¯s soul power. Yet, Tang Wulin had never faced such vigorous soul power before. He felt like a small boat drifting along the tides of the sea that was Old Man Zhao¡¯s soul power.

 Chapter 167 - Tang Wulins Endurance

    Chapter 167 - Tang Wulin''s Endurance


    Very quickly Tang Wulin felt bloated as an unknown pressure expanded within his body like inflating a balloon.


    The swollen sensation transitioned from a mere discomfort to piercing pain as time ticked on. His meridians and internal organs began to groan with pain and in response, his blood grew frenzied and widened his meridians, dulling the pain until it was just a numb throb.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Tang Wulin yelped in surprise. His already swollen body began to enlarge once again, sinking his mind into a muddled state.


    After an unknown period of time, the distended feeling subsided like the ocean tide. It was if it had never been there in the first place, leaving Tang Wulin feeling utterly refreshed. A shiver ran down his spine and he woke from his involuntary slumber.


    Branchmaster Zhao stood by the bed, astonishment written all over his face. ¡°Eastsea¡¯s Little Zhangkong, just where did you find such a freak? His soul power is obviously weak, but his body is extraordinarily strong.¡±


    With a respectful tone muting his usual bluntness, Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Branchmaster Zhao, what are the maximum level of spirit souls and soul rings do you think he can bear right now?¡±


    Branchmaster Zhao paused before replying, ¡°The spirit souls¡¯ level is dependent on spiritual power, and soul rings are dependent on the body, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for his current body to support a thousand-year soul ring... up to 4000 years old.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s face now mirrored the Branchmaster¡¯s look of amazement. He hadn¡¯t expected Tang Wulin¡¯s body to actually be able to bear this much.


    An ordinary Soul Master¡¯s first soul ring could reach up to 400 years, yet Tang Wulin¡¯s body was already more than ten times stronger than his peers and his meridians had proved to be extremely durable as well. It was normal for anyone who discovered such a little freak¡¯s capabilities to feel astounded.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s voice still held a trace of surprise as he clarified, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that if his spirit soul evolved into the thousand-year level and he has sufficient spiritual power, if he had two soul rings, each will be 2000 years? By the time he breaks through to two rings, his body will have grown even stronger and at that point, wouldn¡¯t he be able to support two soul rings of the 3000-year level?¡±


    Branchmaster Zhao nodded in affirmation. ¡°You could think of it like that. Of course, that¡¯s assuming he has enough spiritual power to support a 3000-year spirit soul, which is approximately 200 points of spiritual power. What is his current spiritual power level?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong recalled Tang Wulin¡¯s remarkable results as he said, ¡°He has already started cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes and he is very compatible with it, showing much insight. With such a powerful method and coupled with his perception, he should make quick progress in his spiritual power until he reaches the Spirit Sea realm. I estimate that his spiritual power has already broken through 100-points since his spiritual power was already extraordinary to begin with, so it should be no problem for him to acquire a 2000-year spirit soul and a pair of 2000-year soul rings. His spirit soul should also improve further as he cultivates his spiritual power, but since his soul power is only rank 16 at the moment, he¡¯ll need at least half a year to a year to reach rank 20, and that¡¯s only in the best of circumstances. He should have plenty of time to increase his spiritual power.¡±


    A mysterious smile tugged at Branchmaster Zhao¡¯s lips as he ran his hands over his shiny bald head. ¡°I understand now. You¡¯ve been planning on raising him to be extraordinary from the very beginning. Not bad, not bad. He seems like a promising disciple.¡±


    Tang Wulin sat there without speaking, blankly listening to the two converse and unable to comprehend their conversation. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s voice snapped him out of his daze. ¡°Wulin, thank Branchmaster Zhao.¡±


    Tang Wulin hastily scrambled off his chair and bowed deeply in gratitude. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Branchmaster Zhao dismissed his gratitude with a wave and spoke with a profoundness that was beyond Tang Wulin. ¡°Not bad. It seems we have another promising young disciple in the Tang Sect now.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be taking our leave then, Branchmaster Zhao.¡±


    The branchmaster responded with a knowing nod. ¡°Go then. You can give him the Tang Sect badge now. This child has great potential. Teach him well.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Wu Zhangkong gave a respectful salute and made to leave the branch with Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I don¡¯t really understand what you two were talking about earlier. Were you saying I can still improve my spirit soul in the spirit ascension platform?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Branchmaster Zhao has a gentle and pure martial soul which is suited for accurate measurements of bodily endurance and tested you. Now our goal is to upgrade your spirit soul to the 2000-year level so your soul rings will be at the thousand-year level at the very least. Your physique is already strong enough so you must focus on cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes. Quickly reach the Spirit Sea realm, and don¡¯t get distracted. Once you reach that realm, you won¡¯t have to worry about your spiritual power again until you attain six rings.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± A thousand-year spirit soul? A thousand-year soul ring?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart raced with excitement and yearning.


    Wu Zhangkong was fully aware of the effect his words had on his disciple. ¡°Now we¡¯re going to the Spirit Pagoda to measure your spiritual power.¡±


    The local Spirit Pagoda branch was situated in the center of Heaven Dou City, surprisingly closer to the local Tang Sect branch than one would initially assume. Though it couldn¡¯t compare in size to the one in Eastsea City, its simplistic architecture exuded an ancient elegance.


    ¡°Be careful of what you say once we enter. Listen and observe closely instead of speaking. Do not be fooled by appearances. There are many powerful people within the Spirit Pagoda, especially so in Heaven Dou City.¡±


    With his teacher¡¯s cautionary words, Tang Wulin stepped past the pagoda¡¯s simple doors and was immediately assailed by noise. An endless stream of people entered and exited, bustling to and fro within the pagoda. Compared to Eastsea City¡¯s trickle of people, this was akin to a steady current.


    Tang Wulin suspected that not only were they all Soul Masters, they were likely far more powerful than him as well.


    They conducted the spiritual power test in a small, isolated room after paying an excessive 5,000 federal coins. The cost of living in Heaven Dou City truly couldn¡¯t be compared to Eastsea City.


    As for the results, they were unexpected, to say the least; even Wu Zhangkong had a look of shock.


    124!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power had nearly doubled! It would not have been this surprising if he were a Spiritual System Soul Master like Gu Yue with a weaker body as spiritual power and physical strength were typically inversely proportional for Soul Masters. Yet his spiritual power had actually grown exponentially, exceeding the 108-point threshold to the intermediate rank of the Spirit Connection Realm by such a large margin!


    Wu Zhangkong was more certain of Tang Wulin¡¯s chances to acquire a pair of 2000-year soul rings and a 2000-year spirit soul after seeing Tang Wulin¡¯s two unexpected results today.


    The darkness of night descended by the time they returned to the inn.


    After a sumptuous meal, Wu Zhangkong summoned Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Wulin, you should have an idea of what I have planned for you by now. In all honesty, your martial soul is very weak. After all, it¡¯s the Bluesilver Grass that is praised as a trash martial soul.¡±


    Tang Wulin was beset by bewilderment. Can calling it ¡®trash¡¯ really be called praise¡­?


    Wu Zhangkong continued without minding Tang Wulin¡¯s brooding expression. ¡°Your strange bloodline, however, has caused it to mutate and has affected your spirit soul as well. Even now, they continue to transform. This is beneficial to you. With your powerful body, you can upgrade your spirit soul further than your peers; it would naturally be upgraded too.¡±


    Perplexed, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Teacher Wu, I understand that I can upgrade my spirit soul further, but what do you mean by naturally?¡±

 Chapter 168 - Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform

    Chapter 168 - Intermediate Spirit Ascension Platform


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°There are unnatural existences too. Some large clans or sects use heavenly treasures or unique methods to stimulate their disciples¡¯ bodies. With stronger bodies, they are able to contain more powerful soul rings and spirit souls, but this isn¡¯t done normally. Only in rare situations where the disciple far excels in one aspect will such a method be considered. Take Gu Yue for example. With her high spiritual power, she only needs to strengthen her body before she¡¯d be able to upgrade her spirit soul as you did. Unfortunately, with two soul rings, it would be too difficult for her to strengthen her body to the necessary level now. This is the key point that allows one to possess a pair of thousand-year soul rings and a thousand-year spirit soul. Though Gu Yue¡¯s physique has strengthened with the addition of another soul ring, it only serves to amplify the areas she already excels in and widens the gap between her existing weaknesses. It truly is a pity. If her situation was better, I would help her regardless of whether or not she joined the Tang Sect.


    ¡°Currently, your current greatest advantage is in your soul power, which has, by nature grown inversely proportional to your physique and spiritual power. In such a situation you are able to evolve your spirit soul further than your peers without resorting to unnatural methods, which will free you from any future side effects. That¡¯s not all though; through this, you¡¯ll be able to lay a firmer foundation, so it is absolutely crucial to your future that you do not waste this opportunity.


    ¡°To aid you in evolving your spirit soul as quickly and as safely as possible, I¡¯ll enter the spirit ascension platform together with you. Before we can do this, I¡¯ll need to obtain two intermediate spirit ascension entry cards since only those with seven rings and under can enter. The soul beasts will be more vicious and harder to deal with in the intermediate level, but that also means their year levels will be higher¡ªabout the same as the ones in the Great Star Dou Forest. With my help, it shouldn¡¯t take too long to gather enough spiritual energy.¡±


    Intermediate spirit ascension platform?


    Puzzled, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°But Teacher Wu, can I really enter the intermediate level with only one soul ring?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong assured, ¡°There are no minimum rank requirements. As long as you have the necessary entry card, you¡¯ll be able to enter even an advanced spirit ascension platform. In fact, the Spirit Pagoda actually wishes to see weaker entrants¡ªquicker deaths mean fewer resources expended. And it¡¯s actually very common for large clans to escort the younger generation in like I am. The difference, however, is that their charges usually lack the necessary physique or spiritual power to fully take advantage of it, quickly reaching their limits at the hundred-year level.


    ¡°Since the advent of spirit souls, it wasn¡¯t body strength that perplexed most Soul Masters, but rather their spiritual power. In order to grow stronger, more spirit soul fusions are necessary, yet this increases the spiritual power requirements. Sadly, eighty percent of Soul Masters are just barely able to reach the Spirit Sea realm and host three spirit souls. Because they¡¯re unable to break their limits, a few are spurred into using daring methods that forcibly raise their first spirit soul to a higher level.


    ¡°Ten-thousand-year spirit souls are the hardest to obtain since they can¡¯t be artificially manufactured. Luckily, my fifth soul ring is at the ten-thousand-year level despite my spiritual power, which is only at the peak of the Spirit Sea realm. Normally, this only allows me to support three spirit souls, but with a ten-thousand-year spirit soul, I¡¯m able to have four soul rings, allowing me to cultivate to eight rings. That¡¯s my limit though. If I want to make any more progress and fuse four spirit souls, my spiritual power will need to break through to the next realm, but that is a dream that I will likely never achieve in my lifetime.


    ¡°As long as your first spirit soul evolves to the thousand-year level, you won¡¯t have to worry about your first three soul rings. Then if you obtain another thousand-year spirit soul for your second and somehow obtain a ten-thousand-year spirit soul for the third, you will have opened the path to potentially becoming a Title Douluo. These are my hopes for you, and I hope you¡¯ll make it your goal.¡±


    An epiphany struck Tang Wulin. This entire explanation had been from the perspective of a high-level Soul Master, a viewpoint so far above his young age and inadequate experience.


    ¡°Entry cards for the intermediate spirit ascension platform are hard to obtain and practically impossible to buy with money. Any cards that a city possesses is completely monopolized for internal use, which leaves us with two options: either trade for them or buy them at an auction. Tomorrow night we¡¯ll try our luck at the auction house and if that fails, we¡¯ll have to arrange a trade. You should be able to trade your rebellion spirit ascension platform entry card for two intermediate level ones.¡±


    A new question occurred to Tang Wulin. ¡°Teacher Wu, why aren¡¯t we doing this in Eastsea City? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier since we¡¯re more familiar with the area?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°The three of you are too outstanding and caught the attention of Eastsea City¡¯s Spirit Pagoda. I doubt Gu Yue would have joined them otherwise. With their growing influence, it would be troublesome to draw more attention to yourself when you evolve your spirit soul to the thousand-year level. The situation in Heaven Dou City is more favorable for our goals. There are many more geniuses and large clans here, with no clan explicitly dominant. The chances of drawing unwanted attention will be far less if your talent only shines for a moment amongst the rest.¡±


    Tang Wulin finally understood how much deliberate planning and considerations Wu Zhangkong had put into this endeavor. ¡°Okay. I understand.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t Tang Wulin¡¯s first time visiting an auction house; he had been to the one in Eastsea City before. The moment he walked through the great doors of the Heaven Dou Imperial Auction, however, he finally understood how lacking Eastsea City¡¯s auction house truly was.


    The Heaven Dou Imperial Auction hosted their weekly events in an enormous imperial hotel. Beautiful paintings lined the brightly lit hall and a magnificent crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.


    Each seat was a comfortable leather sofa, while tables to one side of the hall held a variety of refreshments, including pastries, fruits, drinks, and alcohol.


    This was to be expected of course. Wu Zhangkong had paid a deposit of 1,000,000 federal coins to gain entry for the two of them. It was only this cheap because  Wu Zhangkong had presented themselves as father and son again, meaning they only had to pay one deposit.


    They donned the masks that every guest received with a numbered sign upon entry.


    The auction house¡¯s splendor dazzled Tang Wulin, his heart trembling at such a lavish scene.


    ¡°It¡¯s so big!¡± Over three hundred people were present on the ground floor; this didn¡¯t include the occupants of the second floor¡¯s private rooms.


    Wu Zhangkong was unfazed by the atmosphere of luxury, his icy expression remaining steadfast.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, here, take my savings card,¡± said Tang Wulin as he presented it to Wu Zhangkong. ¡°There¡¯s a little over three million federal coins inside. Please manage it for me.¡±


    The intermediate entry card would definitely be expensive and Wu Zhangkong was once again acting for his sake, so Tang Wulin felt that it was only natural that he contributed his own money.


    ¡°Where did all this money come from?¡± Wu Zhangkong faced Tang Wulin with a frown.


    ¡°I earned it from blacksmithing,¡± Tang Wulin replied frankly.


    Wu Zhangkong was left speechless for a moment. He soon composed himself and asked Tang Wulin, ¡°What is your blacksmith rank now?¡±


    Tang Wulin brightly answered, ¡°Third rank!¡±


    ¡°I should have known. I originally thought those Thousand Refined vests had been partially forged by you, but they were actually all your handiwork, weren¡¯t they?¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    Only ten years old and he¡¯s already at the third rank of his secondary occupation¡­ Even with his limited knowledge about blacksmithing, he understood the significance of reaching the third rank.


    But, he chose not to comment on it or pursue the topic further.


    A half hour later, the lighting dimmed and the clamoring crowds quietened.


    ¡°Welcome, honoured guests, to the Heaven Dou Imperial Auction. Our weekly auction is about to start, and I am pleased to tell you that we have many great items to offer you. We have spirit fruits, rare metals, battle armor, mechas and other unique items. We will now be handing out tonight¡¯s program. Please look through it in the twenty minutes before the official start of the auction.¡±


    The backs of the sofas lit up with gentle lights while several scantily clad young ladies arrived, smiling seductively as they handed out the programs.


    Different auctions had different rules. Some auctions revealed the catalog in advance, but Heaven Dou Imperial Auction did not do so. This prestigious auction was highly reputed throughout the continent, and though it could not be deemed one of the best, it had its own distinguishing features. The goal of this auction was to always give its guests a pleasant surprise.


    Wu Zhangkong accepted the booklet and flipped through pages of illustrations, searching for intermediate spirit ascension platform entry cards.


    Tang Wulin wiggled close to Wu Zhangkong, curious about what items were being sold today.


    The items in the catalog were separated into several categories.

 Chapter 169 - The Backgrounds of the Four Spirit Items

    Chapter 169 - The Backgrounds of the Four Spirit Items


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were instantly drawn to the last category: battle armors. His interest was piqued. He had never seen one before.


    Wu Zhangkong diverted Tang Wulin¡¯s attention to the miscellaneous treasures category with a pointed finger. Following his finger, his gaze landed on the three intermediate entry cards listed, starting at 5,000,000 federal coins each.


    At least it was better than having no entry cards; furthermore, he had already contributed 3,000,000 coins of his own. Still, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart ached; that money was saved to buy the spirit items needed to break the next seal!


    Hearing Wu Zhangkong¡¯s explanation of his naturally advancing spirit soul the other day, Tang Wulin inwardly knew that his situation wasn¡¯t natural at all. After all, his powerful physique was a consequence of absorbing the sealed Golden Dragon King¡¯s soul.


    Ah! That¡¯s right! Wouldn¡¯t a big auction like this have the four spirit items I need for the next seal?


    Thinking of this, Tang Wulin shifted his gaze to the section containing spirit fruit.


    He was taken aback by the very first item. Thousand-year! Those two words popped out at him. Even all the spirit fruits that followed were at the minimum of a thousand-years.


    This auction doesn¡¯t sell any spirit fruit at the hundred-year level? It really is a high-class auction!


    He recalled the four items he needed, two of which were spirit fruit. Will they have it?


    Scanning the catalog once more, it didn¡¯t take long to find what he was looking for. His eyes shined upon reading the sixth line.


    Thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit!


    It¡¯s a thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit! Isn¡¯t that one of the items I need? Tang Wulin trembled at the thought. Although he had a few years until he turned 15 and had to break the second seal, the necessary items were far too rare! He had already searched Eastsea City¡¯s auction houses and even the Eastsea Museum¡¯s auction in hopes of finding them but had come out empty-handed. He couldn¡¯t enter the higher levels of the auctions, and the common level wouldn¡¯t sell anything at the thousand-year level or higher.


    How could he not be thrilled by the sudden appearance of something he absolutely needed?


    But when he saw the price¡­ his face began to twitch.


    The starting price was 2,000,000 federal coins and the estimated sale price was between 3,000,000 and 5,000,000.


    So expensive¡­


    It took half a year of hard work to earn three million, but this thousand-year spirit fruit is going to cost three to five million! So expensive!


    Nonetheless, this was his first time coming across one of the necessary items.


    Compared to when he had needed the hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit and Scarlet Flame, his mentality now was completely different. He was no longer skeptical, his belief cemented by the rapid grow he experienced after breaking the seal. He also wondered about Old Tang¡¯s promised surprise that was waiting beyond the second seal.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I want to buy this.¡± Tang Wulin pointed at the thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit.


    Wu Zhangkong frowned, asking, ¡°Why do you want it?¡±


    Tang Wulin lowered his head to think. A moment later, he answered, ¡°Actually, Teacher Wu, I have a secret.


    ¡°When my bloodline awakened, I instinctively knew what my body needed. Sometimes I could even visualize them in my mind. Do you remember my growth after the hurricane? I had used a hundred-year Ice Crystal Fruit and a hundred-year Scarlet Flame Fruit to break through during the storm. Back then, I wasn¡¯t sure if I was just imagining things or not, but after testing things out, my strength really did grow exponentially. Now new spirit items have appeared in my mind, and the thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit is one of them.¡±


    Astonishment rippled through Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that your body is this strong because you ate those two hundred-year spirit fruits?¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡±


    It only took a moment for Tang Wulin to determine the necessity of telling Wu Zhangkong. Of course, he couldn¡¯t reveal the sealed Golden Dragon King or Old Tang. Those were his greatest secrets, never to be divulged. But he knew he¡¯d be with Wu Zhangkong for years to come and it¡¯d be discovered sooner or later anyway, so he needed to give an abridged version of his situation at the very least. It was also imperative that he obtain the thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit; he knew Wu Zhangkong wouldn¡¯t aid him without a good reason, and without his teacher¡¯s help, he wouldn¡¯t have enough money!


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s mulled over Tang Wulin¡¯s story, his icy eyes pensive. He can feel what items his body needs? What kind of ability is that? It¡¯s unprecedented.


    He would have scoffed at Tang Wulin a few years ago, but he was different now. He had been forced to acknowledge Gu Yue¡¯s control over six elements, so he couldn¡¯t immediately reject the possible reality of Tang Wulin¡¯s strange body.


    He was once again reminded of Shrek Academy¡¯s motto: ¡°Shrek Academy only accepts monsters, not ordinary people.¡±


    Maybe my students really are monsters?


    ¡°Alright, I will help you buy it. What else do you need?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze bore into Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin shook his head after looking through the catalog once more. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything else in the catalog. The other three items I need are a thousand-year Azure-veined Vine, a thousand-year Land Dragon Tendon, and a thousand-year Sea Dragon Marrow.¡± Tang Wulin could only force out an embarrassed smile.


    He only knew the names and nothing else, but it was clear that the thousand-year Land Dragon Tendon was the tendon from a thousand-year land dragon. As for the other two, he hadn¡¯t been able to find any records on them. The only reason he was still so relaxed was because there was still plenty of time left.


    ¡°How will you benefit from these four items?¡± asked Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Will your body transform again? Is there any danger?¡±


    Tang Wulin was at a loss. He himself didn¡¯t know how to answer because he was just as clueless! The pain from breaking the first seal had left him on the verge of death, but he didn¡¯t know if it would be the same for the second seal.


    But how could he tell Wu Zhangkong the truth? If he knew, Wu Zhangkong would never support his decision to break the seals. ¡°My physique will improve and my bloodline will transform, and I¡¯m certain the change will be for the better. I¡¯m not sure how much my body will improve though.¡±


    His words were both true and false. While it was true that his body would grow more powerful and his bloodline stronger by breaking of a seal, he skirted around the topic of danger.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Sea Dragons are a type of deep sea soul beasts and they¡¯ve already vanished from the continent. Their marrow is mainly used for consolidating  foundations by strengthening the qi and blood, and since it¡¯s doesn¡¯t have any side effects, it¡¯s in high demand and extremely rare. You don¡¯t need to lose hope though; Eastsea City is one of the largest coastal cities on the continent so there¡¯s a chance we can find it there. As for the thousand-year Azure-veined Vine, I vaguely recall hearing in Shrek City that it¡¯s a plant-type soul beast that used to be abundant in the Great Star Dou Forest ages ago. The forest is dilapidated now, but if it¡¯s to be found anywhere, it will likely be in Shrek City.


    ¡°The thousand-year Land Dragon Tendon should be fairly easy to find in any large city, but it will be expensive. Just like the Sea Dragon Marrow, it strengthens the body without any side effects, thus is another priceless and in-demand item.¡±

 Chapter 170 - Thousand-Year Frozen Grass

    Chapter 170 - Thousand-Year Frozen Grass


    At Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words, Tang Wulin was delighted. He knew he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about finding the items needed to break the second seal in the future with Wu Zhangkong by his side.


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Wu. I¡¯ll work hard to earn enough money to buy them all in a few years.¡± Tang Wulin glowed with optimism; he saw hope now!


    According to the current estimated timeline, he still had five years to break the second seal and when he did, he probably would not have to worry about the next seal until he turned 20. He was only ten right now. He was certain that an opportunity to break the third seal would appear in those ten years of peace.


    Wu Zhangkong responded with a slight nod and didn¡¯t continue the conversation.


    Although he certainly could help Tang Wulin find the items and it would be easier for Tang Wulin, he had no intentions of doing so. One would never truly cherish something if one didn¡¯t obtain it one¡¯s self. Only by relying on one¡¯s self could one walk forward steadily. This wasn¡¯t for the sake of cultivating one¡¯s strength, but for growing one¡¯s character. Though the items Tang Wulin spoke of were expensive, they were not impossible to obtain when considering the blacksmith rank he had achieved at such a young age. It was only a matter of time before he could buy them. Wu Zhangkong determined that it was best for Tang Wulin¡¯s growth if he worked for it himself.


    ¡°Honored guests, we will begin the auction shortly.¡± A tender and melodious female voice resounded throughout the hall. The lights dimmed while the stage lights glowed, serving as a signal for a beautiful lady in a dark red dress to make her entrance onto the stage. She gave a slight bow to the seated guests.


    Several staff members that were each charged with an area of bidders appeared from the side to aid the auctioneer in controlling the bidders once the bidding started. The moment a bidder raised their sign, the staff member would point them out to the auctioneer, helping facilitate the proceedings.


    ¡°First, let me welcome all of our honored guests on behalf of the Heaven Dou Imperial Auction. Now for the first item¡­¡± The lady didn¡¯t waste any words and cut straight to the point as she walked to the back of a gilded wooden table with a smile.


    A cart was pushed onto the stage while a screen at the back of the stage lit up.


    ¡°Our first item today is the very rare spirit fruit Frozen Grass. As everyone knows, the Frozen Grass is a top-tier ice-attribute spirit fruits and will be of great assistance to any ice-attribute Soul Master. We sacrificed much to acquire this thousand-year Frozen Grass so I will tell you, our honored guests, that this is the best spirit fruit we are auctioning today.¡±


    The cart was covered by a red cloth; sitting on it was a jade-white box. Mist as cold as ice overflowed from its opening, enshrouding the light blue grass that was swaying gently within.


    A faint halo of purity surrounded the crystal-clear grass as if it was carved from a gem.


    So pretty! That was Tang Wulin¡¯s first thought upon seeing it.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s voice cut in from beside him. ¡°She¡¯s not wrong; the Frozen Grass really is the best spirit grass for those of the ice-attribute.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to Wu Zhangkong and asked with a quiet tone of consideration, ¡°Then is it of any use to you, Teacher Wu?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong bluntly answered, ¡°It does, but not this particular one; it''s too young. When the Frozen Grass reaches a certain age, its leaf will produce a point. Each point represents 15,000 years of its life. Do you remember the sculpture of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder you saw in the Tang Sect?¡±


    ¡°You mean the Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Correct. One of his spirit souls was an Eight-Points Frozen Grass, meaning it was a hundred-thousand-year level spirit grass with its own consciousness. It truly was a powerful plant-type soul beast and the fact that it became the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s spirit soul shows that.¡±


    Understanding dawned upon Tang Wulin. So it¡¯s like that! This spirit item is actually really ordinary!


    ¡°The starting price is 1,000,000 federal coins, and each bid must exceed the previous by at least 100,000 federal coins. Let the bidding begin.¡±


    A wave of signs flew up throughout the auction house the moment the bidding started. This was the auctioneer¡¯s goal and why they placed it first. Auction houses would always sell their best items within the first three to five shown¡ªthis way, they could set the most profitable mood of the auction. What the auctioneers wanted most was for the bidders to lose their rationality and make bids well over the market value of an item, thus selling the items for an exorbitantly high price and reap the profits.


    The price soon exceeded three million. While the starting price was low, anyone with a discerning eye could see just how valuable it was. It may not be worth much to a Soul Emperor like Wu Zhangkong, but it was a priceless treasure for two to three-ringed Soul Masters that could increase their soul power by two ranks and improve the basic qualities of their martial soul! The allure of such potential was irresistible.


    The chaotic bidding soon quieted down when the price reached a level where only the bidders on the second floor had wallets deep enough to afford it.


    ¡°Five million!¡± A bidder on the second floor cried out a jaw-dropping bid.


    The thousand-year Frozen Grass flickered with a blue light as though it was responding to the bidder.


    The silence was cut short, however, when another bidder on the second floor announced, ¡°Six million.¡± They immediately raised the price by one million.


    ¡°Six million five hundred thousand!¡± The previous bidder called out.


    ¡°Seven million!¡± The second bidder firmly stated.


    The smile on the female auctioneer¡¯s face grew wider and wider. Seven million exceeded the market value of the item, a mere six million. Although it was a rare species, its was simply too young, only having one point. If it had two points instead, the price would have truly been sky-high.


    ¡°Seven million five hundred thousand!¡±


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t see the bidder inside the box clearly, but then he remembered he had the Purple Demon Eyes. He activated it and his eyes easily pierced through the darkness. The bidder in the fourth box was beginning to fume with anger, gnashing his teeth.


    ¡°Eight million!¡± An unwilling voice called out from the sixth box.


    The fourth box finally ceded defeat. The price had clearly exceeded the true value of the thousand-year Frozen Grass.


    ¡°Nine million!¡± The eighth box dropped a number that left everyone speechless.


    ¡°Ten million!¡± Yet, the bidder of the sixth box was more resolute.


    Silence filled the hall.


    This time, no one raised their sign to contend.


    ¡°Ten million going once! Ten million going twice! Three times! Sold!¡± The auctioneer slammed her hammer down.


    The first item of the auction, thousand-year Frozen Grass, had been sold at the astounding price of ten million.


    Tang Wulin made a somewhat unsightly expression. He hadn¡¯t expected that a thousand-year spirit grass could sell for such a preposterous price. How much would the thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit sell for then? If it reached a similar price, he definitely couldn¡¯t afford it! If all the four items he needed were this expensive, he feared he wouldn¡¯t have enough money by the time he turned fifteen even if he poured all his efforts into completing forging tasks.


    ¡°Frozen Grass is special. The only reason I can imagine they paid such a high price is that they wanted to continue raising it. This isn¡¯t a normal price; you don¡¯t need to worry.¡± Wu Zhangkong whispered assurances into his ear.


    When Tang Wulin turned to look at Wu Zhangkong, he found Wu Zhangkong sitting upright and still with his usual icy expression.


    Is Teacher Wu really a cold person? Why does my heart feel so warm now?


    Sure enough, things proceeded according to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s words. The thousand-year spirit fruits and spirit grass auctioned afterward sold for high prices, but nowhere near as high as the thousand-year Frozen Grass. Tang Wulin let out a breath of relief.


    ¡°Next, our fourth item for today, a thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit.¡±


    ¡°Dragons are the most powerful soul beasts according to legends, and the Dragonscale Fruit thrives on soil that has been soaked in the blood of a dragon. Its name comes from the faint traces of dragon scales on it.  We don¡¯t know whether the legend is true or not, but we are certain that it really does need to be watered with dragon¡¯s blood to grow, making it extremely difficult to nurture. From our examination,it is highly probable that this Dragonscale Fruit has absorbed the blood of a highly powerful dragon-type soul beast, and thus more potent than other fruits.¡±

 Chapter 171 - Battle Armor!

    Chapter 171 - Battle Armor!


    ¡°As I¡¯m sure everyone knows, Dragonscale Fruits are usually light blue in color, but this one is actually azure. This is why we have such a high evaluation of this fruit. Unfortunately, it was plucked too early and no longer has a chance of turning into a priceless purple ten-thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit. Let us begin the auction with a starting price of one million.¡±


    The starting price is one million? Aside from the Frozen Grass, the previous items only had a starting price of a few hundred thousand! Why did it suddenly jump to one million?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s originally tranquil heart began to jump with anxiety again. Can I even win this bid?


    ¡°One million one hundred thousand!¡± A bidder made a bid. Tang Wulin clenched his fists. The auctioneer had said that this particular Dragonscale Fruit was special, stirring Tang Wulin¡¯s excitement.


    The stage¡¯s screen showed the fruit that was presented with an oval shape and that still had branches attached to ensure the preservation of its energy. It shone with a breathtakingly azure color that was as crystalline as a gemstone. Yet, what was most remarkable was the faint pattern of jagged golden veins that ran along its surface, its reputed scaly appearance. Those scales bore a striking resemblance to the golden scales on Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand when he transforms.


    Tang Wulin was filled with longing just by taking a single look. It¡¯ll definitely help me break the second seal if I can get it!


    ¡°Your luck is pretty good. This Dragonscale Fruit isn¡¯t an ordinary one; the auctioneer hadn¡¯t exaggerated at all.¡± Wu Zhangkong whispered into his ear, but all this did was leave him even more anxious. Wu Zhangkong wasn¡¯t the only one with a discerning eye, after all.


    ¡°Two million!¡± Wu Zhangkong calmly raised his sign, taking advantage of the current bid of 1,100,000 by raising it straight to 2,000,000.


    The hall quieted for a moment, but soon, another voice called out a bid.


    A few more bids later and the price already approached three million! With each bid, Tang Wulin grew more and more irritable.


    What are we going to do?


    ¡°Five million!¡± A voice boomed thunderously, so loud that Tang Wulin saw stars dance around him. Five million? It¡¯s already at five million?


    The bidder had not only subdued Tang Wulin, but dominated the entire hall. It was the same bidder from the sixth box who had previously won the thousand-year Frozen Grass!


    The beautiful auctioneer¡¯s brows jumped, not with excitement, but a frown. She had a bad feeling.


    This Dragonscale Fruit was valued at the same price as the Frozen Grass, roughly six million. The high sale price of the Frozen Grass was a pleasant surprise, but if the bidder from the sixth box threw out such a high bid once again, she feared no one would dare contend!


    ¡°Teacher Wu, what are we going to do?¡± Tang Wulin anxiously asked.


    Wu Zhangkong looked him in the eye. ¡°Let¡¯s give up.¡±


    ¡°Huh? But¡­¡± Tang Wulin was worried. He felt that this Dragonscale Fruit was particularly suitable for him and he just couldn¡¯t resign himself to give up on it!


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I want it. I need it. Can you lend me some money? I¡¯ll pay you back when we get back.¡± Tang Wulin said in distress.


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head and before Tang Wulin could say anything else, Wu Zhangkong released a chilly air. A cold shiver ran down his spine, banishing Tang Wulin¡¯s panicked state.


    He didn¡¯t know how much a thousand-year spirit fruit was worth, but since Wu Zhangkong decided to give it up, it was surely because the price had far exceeded its true value now.


    Tang Wulin possessed a far steadier temperament than his peers and it only took him several moments to accept his frustration and loss. He sat in silence, restraining himself.


    ¡°Five million going once! Five million going twice! Three times! Sold!¡±


    Tang Wulin quietly watched as an opportunity slipped away and as the auctioneer could only helplessly announce the sale. The auction house didn¡¯t harbor any resentment to the bidder; this was simply the nature of auctions. Not every item could be sold at the ideal price and when they averaged the Frozen Grass and the Dragonscale Fruit, the auction house still reaped a hefty profit from the sixth box.


    Disheartened, Tang Wulin had lost his interest in the auction. His head was filled with images of that thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit.


    Each item was sold as quickly as it was put up, facilitating an unusually smooth auction,


    Wu Zhangkong had no problem winning the bids for two intermediate entry cards at a total price of 2,600,000 coins.


    Even then, Tang Wulin was numb to their success. The Dragonscale Fruit! My Dragonscale Fruit! Incessant laments echoed in his heart.


    ¡°We only have three items left for today, and they¡¯re actually three battle armor parts! It was only after much difficulty that we were able to acquire them. I believe our honored guests should all be familiar battle armor, which is usually only sold at the great seasonal auctions. Everyone should grab hold of this opportunity today!¡±


    Battle armor?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s boyish spirit ignited at these words, his eyes shooting straight toward the stage.


    What does battle armor look like? I¡¯ve never seen one before.


    ¡°Our first battle armor piece is a battle armor belt! I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all aware that the belt acts as the energy core for a battle armor since it is the closest to the dantian, where Soul Masters condense their soul power. Powerful Soul Masters will guide their soul power into the belt then disperse it throughout the battle armor, which will give them the best results.¡±


    This is a purple battle armor leveled belt and it¡¯s entirely possible to build an entire set of battle armor centered around it. Please look at the screen.¡±


    A metal belt appeared on the screen, its exquisitely crafted body shrouded by a shimmering purple light. Tang Wulin could tell with his experience in blacksmithing that it was made from no less than three metals, but its composition wasn¡¯t particularly complicated. It only took him a single glance to know it was made from Thousand Refined metal.


    However, it was different from ordinary Thousand Refined metals. Bizarre grain lines that shone with the purple light ran around the entire belt.


    This is battle armor? It¡¯s only a bit bigger than a normal belt. At the center of the belt was a circular, unusual metal. The purple light shined the brightest there, preventing Tang Wulin from evaluating the material properly.


    ¡°Metal is shaped according to a mecha or soul circuit design after it is forged, before being assembled and engraved. These are all part of a mecha craftsman¡¯s job. An excellent battle armor requires the designer and the craftsman to be of the same mind and level, another reason why having a secondary occupation is so helpful to growing one¡¯s strength. The most important reason, of course, is to increase the familiarity between one and their battle armor and so that it¡¯s easier to find a suitable partner.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong outlined the basic characteristics of battle armor for Tang Wulin. The most effective method of learning was to use situations such as this to teach.


    Battle armor, this is a battle armor! Excitement swept away the gloom in Tang Wulin¡¯s heart, his face shining with yearning now. I¡¯ll definitely be able to forge battle armor in the future! I may not know how to design mecha and soul circuits or engrave, but I still know how to forge metal!


    I can already Thousand Refine metals right now. That should be the foundation of making a battle armor.


    Wu Zhangkong lectured, ¡°Battle armor is the second life of a Soul Master. A single excellent piece of battle armor can increase a Soul Master¡¯s strength by thirty percent. The biggest difference between battle armor and mecha lay in their compatibility; battle armor is made according to the user and their martial soul.¡±

 Chapter 172 - To Lose and Regain!

    Chapter 172 - To Lose and Regain!


    ¡°It¡¯s true that ordinary people can become Mecha Masters now and that support-type soul masters can become quite formidable with a mecha, but the origin of true strength hasn¡¯t changed in the past hundred thousand years. Only truly talented Soul Masters can become genuinely powerful entities. It is for this reason that real Battle Armor Masters are unequivocally powerful Soul Masters. On its own, battle armor doesn¡¯t have any power, only serving to amplify a Soul Master¡¯s abilities. A six-ringed support-type soul master with a mecha is merely cannon fodder in front of a similarly ranked Soul Master with battle armor. That is the unbridgeable gap between the two. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes! I understand!¡± Tang Wulin answered with a heavy breath.


    He had long known the history of soul mecha. Soul Masters were rather doubtful when they were first introduced since it narrowed the distance between Soul Masters and ordinary people. It also reduced the significance of one¡¯s martial soul; Soul Masters of similar ranks would be almost of equal strengths regardless of their martial soul.


    It wasn¡¯t until the following era that Soul Masters finished developing battle armor, returning the world to how it had always been. The strong were always strong!


    Although Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t comprehend the level of power a Soul Master possessed when equipped with battle armor, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s reverence for battle armor was clear in his tone of voice. Considering how powerful Teacher Wu is, he must have seen one before!


    ¡°The starting price is two million, and the minimum bid increase is two hundred thousand. Let the bidding begin.¡±


    The three pieces of battle armor each sold for sky-high prices, their combined bids easily surpassing twenty million. This was only natural since they were battle armor after all.


    Virtually all battle armor were custom-made for specific Soul Masters and rarely sold, so it was difficult to find a piece on the market.


    Furthermore, it was challenging to make them, each piece requiring Thousand Refined metal and a design specific to one¡¯s martial soul. For some markedly unique Soul Masters, their battle armor wouldn¡¯t sell even if they put it on the market.


    For these reasons, powerful Soul Masters devoted their time to create their own battle armor and the situation was similar for divine rank mecha.


    Even six-ringed Soul Masters rarely had a battle armor to call their own, not simply because they lacked the strength but also from a financial deficit and plain bad luck. It was impossible to master every secondary occupation, and even if they did, they most definitely wouldn¡¯t have the energy required to develop as a Soul Master. In the end, they needed to rely on craftsmen to design, make and adjust the armor for them.


    Every set of battle armor was like an extension of the user¡¯s flesh and blood, their most valued treasure as well as a sign of power and wealth.


    Battle Armor Masters had long become the most prestigious existences on the continent; even one could outshine an entire Mecha Master regiment.


    To have even a chance of using battle armor, at least four soul rings were necessary. With such a requirement, it was no wonder that the great clans of the Douluo Continent were able to maintain their positions throughout the ages as they possessed both the finances to make battle armor and the Soul Masters to equip them.


    Tang Wulin still buzzed with excitement after leaving the Heaven Dou Imperial Auction. If the Dragonscale Fruit appeared once, then it¡¯ll appear a second time. I don¡¯t have enough money right now anyway. Once I earn enough money, I¡¯ll definitely be able to get it.


    After setting his eyes on the battle armor, a burning desire had been ignited within Tang Wulin¡¯s heart, his mind filled with scenes of donning such armor on himself in the future. The domineering figure he conjured up made his blood boil as he wondered if Battle Armor Masters were like the generals of olden times.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Wu Zhangkong called out to Tang Wulin who was already making his way back to the inn.


    Tang Wulin paused, and without any explanation, Wu Zhangkong led him to stand on the side. The two quietly observed the other bidders coming out.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s didn¡¯t ask for the reason why, his mind still preoccupied with fanciful thoughts about battle armor. With his adolescent temperament, this was all it took to sweep away his gloom over the loss of the Dragonscale Fruit.


    When a familiar figure entered his view, however, Tang Wulin¡¯s brows jumped in surprise.


    Isn¡¯t that Branchmaster Zhao? The plump branchmaster exited the auction and headed straight for them. He handed a jade box to Wu Zhangkong and dully spoke, ¡°Pay back the money to the company¡¯s account. I¡¯m going now.¡± He rubbed Tang Wulin¡¯s head with a faint smile before walking away, leaving Tang Wulin baffled.


    The jade box in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hands disappeared in a flash of light.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you sell the rebellion entry card later. It should fetch enough to cover the price of the two intermediate entry cards. You can pay me for the Dragonscale Fruit once we get back,¡± Wu Zhangkong said in his usual cold tone.


    Tang Wulin was dazed. ¡°Dragonscale Fruit? What are you saying¡­?¡± Understanding hit him suddenly.


    Remembering Branchmaster Zhao¡¯s exit from the auction house, a possibility occurred to him. The mysterious bidder from the sixth box was actually Branchmaster Zhao! So he was the one who won the bid.


    From this new perspective, he realized that five million federal coins wasn¡¯t actually that expensive. Teacher Wu was taking advantage of the intimidation from Branchmaster Zhao¡¯s counterbid on the thousand-year Frozen Grass to save me some money.


    Although Wu Zhangkong had clearly stated the debt, this was just what Tang Wulin wanted¡ªto earn it through his own efforts without having to rely on other people. Only then would his conscience be clear.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back now.¡±


    The master and disciple duo returned to the inn. Back in their room, Wu Zhangkong said to Tang Wulin. ¡°Rest properly tonight. Tomorrow morning we¡¯re entering Heaven Dou City¡¯s spirit ascension platform to upgrade your spirit soul. After that, we¡¯ll return to Eastsea City.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    Tang Wulin passed the night meditating and cultivated Purple Demon Eyes at dawn. He was now practically bursting with energy. This trip had brought him generous returns. He obtained one of the four spirit items he needed and had an idea of where he could acquire the rest. Now he would enter the spirit ascension platform under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s guidance to ascend his spirit soul. It was almost guaranteed that he would return to Eastsea City with a thousand-year spirit soul! Now his rubbish Little Goldlight would transform into a powerful thousand-year Little Goldlight.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin could finally tell himself: I¡¯m not a loser anymore; I have the potential to become a powerful Soul Master now!


    Wu Zhangkong had Tang Wulin pack early in the morning before checking out of their room and boarding a soul bus headed for the spirit ascension platform.


    Compared to Eastsea City¡¯s, Heaven Dou City¡¯s spirit ascension platform was smaller in scale but brimming with heritage. The dazzling mural in the hall clearly depicted a tale that was far more complex than the one in Eastsea City.


    Yet Tang Wulin was in no mood to appreciate it, still jumping with exitement. I wonder what the intermediate spirit ascension platform will be like?


    The cards were easy to use; after a simple registration they were brought to a room resembling the one in Eastsea City except smaller in size and with glass chambers instead of metal boxes.


    The staff member who guided them didn¡¯t question the master and disciple. It was quite normal for a clan to send a powerful adult to escort members of their younger generation and aid in upgrading their spirit soul to the limit since a sturdy foundation was crucial. But while it wasn¡¯t difficult for large clans to obtain entry cards, only the most gifted children earned such an opportunity.


    Before entering the glass chambers, the two were required to strip down due to additional restrictions set before entering the intermediate level. Wu Zhangkong explained to Tang Wulin that it was a rule set by the Spirit Pagoda to prevent others from wearing battle armor into the spirit ascension platform. No one except the innermost members of the Spirit Pagoda knew the reason behind the regulation.


    It was impossible for someone entering the elementary level to possess battle armor, but the intermediate level was different, forcing strict inspections to enforce this rule.


    After finishing their preparations, metal rings fastened onto their bodies, holding them in place as the glass chamber¡¯s cover closed.


    ¡°Prepare to enter!¡±


    A golden light radiated from the metal rings, spreading a numbness throughout Tang Wulin¡¯s body. In the next moment, his vision of the outside was replaced by a blank void.


    Only after some time did the dark space transform into a sea of green filled with a refreshing air that he knew all too well.


    Intermediate spirit ascension platform, here I come!

 Chapter 173 - Ice Fire Demonic Tiger

    Chapter 173 - Ice Fire Demonic Tiger


    Lush foliage monopolized this viridian world, the differences between the intermediate and elementary levels minute but Tang Wulin was still aware they existed.


    It was highly likely he would encounter thousand-year soul beasts in the intermediate level. There was even a small chance of encountering powerful ten-thousand-year soul beasts!


    Wu Zhangkong stood beside him, his white robes fluttering from the cold aura he emanated as he observed their surroundings. Tang Wulin was filled with a  sense of security with Wu Zhangkong beside him.


    ¡°Follow me!¡± Wu Zhangkong strode forward. A ring of light rose with each step. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, and black.


    It wasn¡¯t Tang Wulin¡¯s first time seeing Wu Zhangkong¡¯s soul rings. Nonetheless, he was still shaken. This is an expert! I wonder how long it will take me to reach six rings...


    A blue light coalesced in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s right hand and transformed into the Skyfrost Sword. His actions clearly indicated how seriously he regarded the intermediate level.


    Only those with less than seven rings could enter the intermediate level.


    Tang Wulin followed behind him silently. Ten minutes later, they still hadn¡¯t encountered any soul beasts.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find this strange? Why aren¡¯t there any soul beasts?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Tang Wulin nodded. From his experiences in the elementary spirit ascension platform, he knew that they should have been attacked by now.


    Wu Zhangkong indifferently said, ¡°The spirit ascension platform is modeled after the largest soul beast forest on the continent, the Great Star Dou Forest. In the past, there were Ten Great Beasts, the strongest soul beasts in the world. All ten beasts exceeded one-hundred-thousand-years in age, and the Great Star Dou Forest was actually home to five of them.¡±


    ¡°The Great Star Dou Forest is divided into four regions. The outer region, middle region, inner region and the territory of the Great Beasts. When battle armor was introduced thousands of years ago, humanity¡¯s strength exploded and we began to suppress soul beasts. Yet even though we¡¯re developing and using most of the forest now, the territories of the Great Beasts remain untouched. I¡¯ve have never been there, but I heard that after some powerful Battle Armor Masters ventured into their territory, they have never returned. Those territories are one of the few forbidden regions on this continent.¡±


    ¡°Soul beasts surpassing one-hundred-thousand-years in age can take on a human appearance so if we send too many Battle Armor Masters to attack them, it is likely they will abandon their territories and wage guerilla warfare throughout the continent. We have a mutual understanding with those beasts now; as long as we don¡¯t enter their territory, they won¡¯t attack humanity.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s brows knitted. ¡°Teacher Wu, what about the soul beasts in the other regions then?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Soul beasts have almost all been exterminated by humanity after all these years. This is one of the reasons why the Spirit Pagoda possesses such great status. Artificial spirit souls are the only option gain soul rings for most Soul Masters now, and natural spirit souls are near impossible to obtain.  Without any soul beasts to kill, soul rings can no longer be obtained directly.¡±


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Then are soul beasts becoming extinct?¡±


    A sigh escaped from Wu Zhangkong¡¯s lips. ¡°It is certain that as soul technology continues to develop, soul beasts will eventually be extinct. Yet, this isn¡¯t necessarily a good thing for humanity. It¡¯s true that battle armor can greatly increase a Soul Master¡¯s strength, but compared to the Soul Masters of the past, we are truly lacking in terms of soul rings. Soul skills provided by artificial spirit souls are different from those given by soul beasts. Furthermore, there is no doubt that their extinction will bring about an ecological imbalance. According to the research, the number of people who possess soul power when they awaken their martial souls has dwindled over the last several hundred years. I suspect that once soul beasts disappear, Soul Masters will soon follow. That is the price for destroying the ecological equilibrium.¡±


    ¡°Now, back to the topic. Entering the elementary spirit ascension platform is similar to entering the outer region of the Great Star Dou Forest. The outer region is filled with ordinary soul beasts that reach the thousand-year level at most. Here in the middle region, however, the forest has thousand-year soul beasts, and even some at the ten-thousand-year level. With soul beasts of such power present now, the forest is definitely split up into territories, so there is a lower density of soul beasts. It¡¯s normal that we haven¡¯t run into one yet, but if we do encounter one¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong abruptly stopped mid-sentence and his gaze sharpened. An icy draft swept out as he pointed with his Skyfrost Sword.


    A deep roar reverberated through the air, announcing the arrival of a soul beast, a tiger that stood over one and a half meters in height and over six meters from head to tail.


    Purple stripes stood out in sharp relief against its bronzed fur. Its eyes were dual-coloured, frosty blue and fiery red. Its bizarre appearance was completed with a pair of blue and red wings on its back.


    ¡°It seems our luck isn¡¯t that good today. This Ice Fire Demonic Tiger is at least four-thousand-years in age. It¡¯s no wonder no other beasts roam this territory. Just focus on protecting yourself and ignore the rest. Got it?¡± Wu Zhangkong had twisted his body slightly towards Tang Wulin, but his eyes never left the tiger.


    Ice Fire Demonic Tiger? Tang Wulin recalled the records he had read on it. It wasn¡¯t as fierce as the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, but it was on the same level as the Man-Faced Demon Spider.


    It excelled in both long-ranged and close-ranged attacks and could control ice and fire. It could also fly short distances with its wings. This fearsome combination placed it as one of the most fearsome beasts. There was a peculiar legend attached to the tiger; it was said that once killed, it would provide two soul rings, one of ice and one of fire.


    Of course, in the spirit ascension platform it couldn¡¯t provide any rings, but still, encountering such a fearsome beast had broadened Tang Wulin¡¯s horizons once more.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze never left the tiger as it spread its wings open and circled them, growing closer with every pass. With each step, its wings of fire and ice flared brighter, as if foreboding the eminent devastating attack.


    Wu Zhangkong stood still, simply turning so that he always faced the tiger.


    Tang Wulin had already released several strands of Bluesilver Grass and attached them to nearby trees. The moment the situation took a turn for the worst, he would be able to launch himself out of there.


    An overpowering odor assailed Tang Wulin as the distance closed between the two parties.


    He wasn¡¯t the same ignorant boy when he first entered the spirit ascension platform; faced with a thousand-year soul beast now, it wasn¡¯t fear that overwhelmed him, but excitement.


    He obviously understood just how powerful the thousand-year Ice Fire Demonic Tiger was and knew that he was no match against it, but he didn¡¯t have to worry about that. His safety was assured, so he could whole-heartedly observe just how strong this tiger was.

 Chapter 174 - The Skyfrost Annihilation of the Demonic Tiger

    Chapter 174 - The Skyfrost Annihilation of the Demonic Tiger


    The Ice Fire Demon Tiger unleashed a heaven-shaking roar that released a blazing fireball straight at Wu Zhangkong. It paid no heed to the Tang Wulin who was hiding behind Wu Zhangkong.


    The fireball expanded as it shot forward, spanning a diameter of one meter.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s soul rings glowed as he stepped forward with his left foot and thrust his Skyfrost Sword forward. The azure sword shone with a resplendent sapphire color as a sword light flew out to meet the fireball.


    Even though the fireball burned with a scorching heat, it was no match for Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sword light and burst the moment they touched. In the face of his sword, neither heat nor flame could survive.


    Tang Wulin wanted to cheer. This is true strength! He couldn¡¯t sense any soul power fluctuating around Wu Zhangkong; clearly, Wu Zhangkong had mastered soul power compression to a high level and was able to internalize it all.


    Teacher Wu also cultivates the Mysterious Heaven Method!


    Tang Wulin had discovered that the most useful aspect of the Mysterious Heaven Method was its ability to refine soul power. His soul power would grow denser with every passing day.


    Just when Tang Wulin believed the fireball to be extinguished, blue color enveloped its body and it suddenly transformed into an icicle a half meter long. The icicle exploded into millions of jagged shards that hailed upon Wu Zhangkong.


    It seemed impossible for Wu Zhangkong to dodge this at such a close range.


    Before Tang Wulin could cry out, the Skyfrost Sword in his hand became a blur as Wu Zhangkong¡¯s first soul ring lit up.


    An icy blue arc bloomed from the tip of his sword, shattering every ice fragment. They quietly disappeared under its touch.


    This is Teacher Wu¡¯s soul skill!


    Tang Wulin stared, wide-eyed. This was the first time he saw Wu Zhangkong use a soul skill. He had assumed that Wu Zhangkong was a pure swordsman and so his soul skills would only enhance his ice attribute and the quality of his sword.


    But that was not the case; he had used an offensive soul skill. Although Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know its name, its power was unquestionable.


    The destruction of the fireball-turned-icicle marked the start of their battle.


    The Ice Fire Demonic Tiger immediately pounced at Wu Zhangkong after the fireball. Its movements were agile like a civet, at odds with its large frame.


    An iceball burst under Wu Zhankong¡¯s slash just as the Ice Fire Demonic Tiger reached him. Hovering in midair, its unfurled wings spanned more than ten meters, shining brilliantly as they unleashed a baptism of fire and ice.


    A spectacular scene played out. Its wings magnified over ten-fold, becoming light itself as they released an earth-scorching barrage.


    Tang Wulin stopped admiring Wu Zhangkong¡¯s magnificent swordsmanship and escaped to a nearby tree with a pull on his Bluesilver Grass while letting his golden scales take over his arm.


    He had no place participating in a battle of this level. The best course of action was to watch from far away. As he retreated, he saw the tempest of ice and fire swallow Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Teacher Wu!¡± Tang Wulin cried out, his heart in his throat. He knew this was the spirit ascension platform and that it wasn¡¯t a true death, but anxiety gripped him all the same.


    At that moment, a regal blue appeared amidst the chaos.


    If the tiger¡¯s wings were waves of ice and fire, then this was a royal blue reef, proud and steadfast.


    The waves gradually dispersed in the face of the reef that remained staunch and valiant.


    Tang Wulin realized what it was¡ªan arctic blue cocoon! Wu Zhangkong stood within, his figure blurred to the point it was unclear what skill he had used.


    A purple light twinkled in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he activated the Purple Demon Eyes, granting him sharper eyesight. He was just barely able to see that the cocoon was spun from countless blue threads of ice. Just how many sword slashes did that take?


    While he was still comprehending this shocking revelation, the next scene nearly stopped his heart. An azure sword light flew out to shock the heavens, growing ten meters long as it flew toward the Ice Fire Demonic Tiger¡¯s head!


    Chills ran down his spine the moment the sword light appeared. Frost formed, coating everything within one hundred meters.


    The tiger furled up its wings to shield its head.


    Boom!


    Its gigantic body froze over, splitting in half. An arctic mist erupted into the surroundings in the same instant, summoning a white drizzle of snow for hundreds of meters around them.


    The drifting snow and stagnant mist obscured Tang Wulin¡¯s sight even with his Purple Demon Eyes. Tang Wulin could only rely on his ears now that he was unable to see Wu Zhangkong, his sword lights found everywhere throughout this mist.


    A mournful roar resonated throughout the forest as countless crimson and azure lights flashed within the snowy mist. Terrifying soul power fluctuations whipped the surroundings into a frenzied tempest. Tang Wulin hugged a tree trunk with all his might for fear the turbulence would blow him away.


    Time seemed to slow and stretch on, yet it was only a few minutes later that he heard the tiger¡¯s roars be replaced with resigned whimpers.


    ¡°Come!¡± Tang Wulin was still in awe when Wu Zhangkong reappeared before him.


    With his white robes and azure sword, he seemed to be unruffled from the battle. If a difference had to be identified, then perhaps his breath was a little more ragged.


    With one hand around Tang Wulin¡¯s waist, Wu Zhangkong slashed the void before him. All of the surrounding icy mist flowed back to the sword.


    The aftermath of the battle was clear now.


    The Ice Fire Demonic Tiger laid on the ground a distance away, its wings broken and body covered in countless small cuts that were dyed red in blood.


    Wu Zhangkong brought Tang Wulin onto the tiger¡¯s back in a flash. Tang Wulin could still feel the faint beat of life within the tiger¡¯s body.


    ¡°Use your Golden Dragon Claw.¡±


    Tang Wulin understood Wu Zhangkong¡¯s intentions. Apart from his Golden Dragon Claw, he had no other method to penetrate the thousand-year Ice Fire Demonic Tiger¡¯s defense.


    Soul power surged and the Golden Dragon Claw struck out!


    His claw stabbed into the back of the Ice Fire Demonic Tiger¡¯s head, ending the life of this powerful soul beast.


    A mass of dense spirit power flowed into him. Goldlight appeared, basking in the spirit power as its eyes lit with joy.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Considering the age of your spirit soul now, your spirit soul should evolve after absorbing this Ice Fire Demonic Tiger¡¯s spirit energy.¡±


    After the rebellion period of the elementary spirit ascension platform and their constant training within the regular spirit ascension platform, Goldlight¡¯s spirit energy had already surpassed 700-years.


    This four-thousand-years Ice Fire Demonic Tiger would convert into about four hundred years of spirit energy. With this, Goldlight would reach the thousand-year level.


    Goldlight¡¯s body dazzled brighter with every bit of spirit energy it absorbed while Tang Wulin sensed a slight change within his body.


    His bloodline power stirred and the golden light emanating from Goldlight enveloped him. The golden scales on his right arm rippled. A golden-veined pattern appeared on his other hand.


    What he wasn¡¯t able to see, however, was that the gold pattern actually extended all over his body.


    My spirit soul is ascending?


    A prickling numbness spread throughout his body. Tang Wulin instinctively sat down cross-legged, silently exploring the changes within him.


    As Goldlight returned to its usual splendor, the golden light enveloping Tang Wulin also vanished along with the numbness.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡­¡± Tang Wulin looked to Wu Zhangkong in confusion, his eyes clouded with anxiety.


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. All you¡¯re doing is accumulating spirit energy here in the spirit ascension platform. This isn¡¯t your real body, so your spirit soul will only ascend properly after exiting. The process you just experienced was your spirit soul absorbing the spirit energy, and the large influx of spirit energy made your body respond.¡±

 Chapter 175 - Wu Zhangkongs Soul Skills

    Chapter 175 - Wu Zhangkong''s Soul Skills


    Tang Wulin understood now that there wasn¡¯t any problem with his body.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, then what¡¯s next¡­¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re continuing,¡± Wu Zhangkong dully answered. ¡°Let¡¯s bring your spirit soul up to two thousand years, which is just under your current limit. We shouldn¡¯t waste this trip to the intermediate level after all.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Tang Wulin earnestly nodded, happy to do whatever Wu Zhangkong wished. Although he hadn¡¯t been able to clearly see the course of the battle, it was more than enough to convince him. Teacher Wu isn¡¯t just a normal Soul Emperor if that Ice Fire Demonic Tiger wasn¡¯t able to harm a hair on him! Now that¡¯s true strength!


    The two proceeded onward, Tang Wulin following with complete faith in Wu Zhangkong.


    Not even a minute later, Wu Zhangkong grabbed Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder as a blur flitted past followed by several twinkling lights.


    Just as Wu Zhangkong gripped Tang Wulin and pedaled backward using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, a host of ivy-green needles silently rained down from the sky. Their tips stabbed into the ground and corroded the area around them to a rotten black.


    The desiccated plants cried out, but even as Tang Wulin heard them,  he had no time to share in their grief. Wu Zhangkong continued retreating before landing a few seconds later on a tree branch where he deposited Tang Wulin.


    Before their eyes, an enormous figure stepped into view.


    At five meters tall, it couldn¡¯t compare with the Ice Fire Demonic Tiger¡¯s towering figure, yet its five-meter girth made it resemble a giant sphere, larger than the Ice Fire Demonic Tiger by far.


    Its body was ivy-green and two elongated fangs jutted out of its mouth from which it issued a low growl that reverberated through the air. Without giving any more time to examine it, it madly dashed forward and rammed into the tree they were on.


    With a deep rumble, the tree snapped.


    Wu Zhangkong grabbed Tang Wulin and leaped into the air, but the beast had already anticipated this, spraying a rain of needles that blocked any path of retreat.


    This bastard¡¯s body is covered in poison!


    Wu Zhangkong thrust the Skyfrost Sword, summoning a storm of sword waves that easily cut down the needles. The defense was not perfect, however, as an overwhelmingly saccharine smell assaulted Tang Wulin¡¯s nose, bringing a bout of dizziness.


    Soon after, a chilling mist rolled off of Wu Zhangkong and enveloped the two of them, immediately restoring Tang Wulin¡¯s lucidity.


    It¡¯s a giant porcupine!


    It should be the Venomquill Porcupine! With such a large body, its cultivation should be at least three-thousand-years!


    Only now did Tang Wulin finally understand his place in the intermediate spirit ascension platform¡ªthis was not a place he could enter. With his current cultivation, coming in alone meant he would die from the first soul beast he encountered without a chance to put up an honorable fight.


    The Venomquill Porcupine possessed not only highly toxic quills but also an astonishing ability to launch them at its opponents. Upon hitting its target, the toxins would quickly invade and wreak havoc within the victim''s body¡ªtruly terrifying. And even with a bulky body that lent it a fearsome ramming power, it was also remarkably agile.


    ¡°It¡¯s covered in thorns. I don¡¯t think I can leave your side this time,¡± Wu Zhangkong stated.


    For once, Tang Wulin was able to clearly see Wu Zhangkong¡¯s attack.


    His third soul ring, the thousand-year purple one, lit up and the Skyfrost Sword slashed out, filling the sky with a ten-meter-long sword wave.


    Skyfrost Slash, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s third soul skill!


    From the side, Tang Wulin observed Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes as he attacked and saw the telltale purple shimmer of the Purple Demon Eyes, which was clearly far more advanced and powerful than his own.


    The mighty sword wave struck the Venomquill Porcupine. Despite its thick and tough defense, it was not enough to withstand the attack as a jagged gash appeared, and from its wound, an icy blue rime spread across its body until it was entirely frozen.


    Its mad snarls soon turned into miserable shrieks. Wu Zhangkong descended with Tang Wulin then activated his fourth soul skill that enlarged his Skyfrost Sword by ten-fold into an azure greatsword. He stabbed the greatsword straight into the wound, nailing the porcupine into the ground.


    Wu Zhangkong gripped the sword hilt with one hand while he lifted Tang Wulin with the other. He floated in midair, his white robes fluttering in his frosty aura. The mighty Venomquill Porcupine¡¯s spirit energy flowed into him, yet he acted as if this triumph was nothing at all. Afterward, he held Tang Wulin tightly and leaped away, out of range of the porcupine¡¯s toxins.


    So powerful!


    The gigantic icy sword shrunk back to its original form, sending chills once more down Tang Wulin¡¯s spine. He couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Teacher Wu, what is that soul skill¡¯s name?¡±


    ¡°Frost Song,¡± Wu Zhangkong indifferently said.


    ¡°Frost Song?¡± Tang Wulin repeated, baffled.   Although he didn¡¯t understand the meaning behind the icy greatsword¡¯s name, he had to admit that it was beautiful.


    This is Teacher Wu¡¯s thousand-year soul skill! I don¡¯t think that was the full power of his Frost Song. That was just a small glimpse!


    The Venomquill Porcupine wasn¡¯t considered weak among thousand-year soul beasts, but to Wu Zhangkong, it was simply a pig waiting to be slaughtered.


    ¡°First soul skill, Frost Scar!¡± Wu Zhangkong started listing his soul skills.


    ¡°Second soul skill, Frost Mist!¡±


    ¡°Third soul skill, Skyfrost Slash!"


    ¡°Fourth soul skill, Frost Song!¡±


    ¡°Wulin, take note of this: there isn¡¯t only one way to use a soul skill; in fact, there are infinite ways to utilize it. Pay attention to how you use them from now on.¡±


    As he spoke, Wu Zhangkong lightly raised his Skyfrost Sword and activated his first soul skill. A sword wave instantly flew through a tree leaf a dozen meters away, yet it remained undamaged.


    ¡°This is Frost Scar!¡±


    From off the ground he walked ten meters forward. With a slight tremble of his right hand, the Skyfrost Sword projected sword waves that flew out, interweaving to become the azure cover from before.


    The light cocoon blossomed and then unraveled into a tempest of sword waves.


    ¡°This is also Frost Scar.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s cold voice penetrated Tang Wulin¡¯s mind.


    Tang Wulin trembled with excitement. It¡¯s the same soul skill, but with minute differences in control and soul power output, the result was entirely different!


    In Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hands, the Skyfrost Sword became an instrument used to weave a work of art at any time! This is the true Teacher Wu¡ªa white-robed enigmatic man with a blue sword in hand, dominating the frozen skies!


    ¡°Understood?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    ¡°I think I understand a bit. What you mean is that even with a weak soul skill, as long as I can use it properly, it will be powerful. There are endless possibilities with soul skills, and the crucial point is how I utilize it.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Only in actual combat were lessons most effective. Wu Zhangkong believed in the saying that ¡°the master leads you to the door, but the rest is up to you.¡± In line with his beliefs, he didn¡¯t give detailed explanations but rather, he let Tang Wulin fully comprehend things on his own.


    A tremor ran through Tang Wulin¡¯s body from his revelation. He now realized his mistake. After receiving Bind as his first soul skill, he wanted to die from dejection. In his eyes, a trash spirit soul had given him a similarly trash soul skill.


    Now he realized though that the only thing that was trash was himself. There were no trash soul skills. Compared to Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Blade and its valiant brilliance, Frost Scar was an exceedingly simple soul skill, yet it had brilliantly blossomed in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hands.

 Chapter 176 - Three-Eyed Demon Ape

    Chapter 176 - Three-Eyed Demon Ape


    When Teacher Wu battled the Soul Emperor Guang Biao, he didn¡¯t use a single soul skill! He completely destroyed Guang Biao with only his comprehension of his martial soul! So in the end, it wasn¡¯t a disparity of soul power, but one of insight!


    It was as though a door unlocked within his heart, revealing a new path to him. While Soul Masters were divided into systems such as Assault, Agility, Control and so on, in reality, these classifications were not mutually exclusive but instead interconnected. This meant that the crux of the matter was in how a Soul Master utilized their martial soul and abilities.


    Why was Gu Yue so powerful? Her miraculous six-element martial soul alone couldn¡¯t make her strong; rather, it was her nimble control over the six elements.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, spiritual power isn¡¯t as simple as a container for spirit souls, right?¡± Tang Wulin suddenly asked.


    Wu Zhangkong looked back at him with pleased eyes and nodded. ¡°The fact that you¡¯ve understood this proves that you have felt it for yourself.¡±


    Thrilled to have his hypothesis confirmed, Tang Wulin vigorously nodded. I need to improve on a lot more than just my soul power!


    Perhaps it was due to the sparsity of soul beasts, but the intermediate spirit ascension platform was lush with foliage, undisturbed by wandering creatures. As the two penetrated deeper into the forest, the dense trees towered into the heavens and blotted out the sun, creating a world of evergreen gloom.


    Their advance slowed a bit when four soul beasts appeared before them, but it gave Wu Zhangkong another opportunity to gift spirit power to Tang Wulin. While one was at the thousand-year level, the others were at the hundred-year level, yielding very little spirit energy.


    ¡°Follow closely. Now that we¡¯ve entered the middle region, we could run into a ten-thousand-year soul beast at any time. At this level, soul beasts have undergone a qualitative change. Their intelligence far surpasses that of beasts at the thousand-year level, with some even on par with humans.¡±


    Intelligence? It wasn¡¯t something humans particularly cared for having grown to take it for granted over the ages. Soul beasts, however, depended on it to display their full might, especially when faced with humans.


    A truly terrifying soul beast possessed high intelligence. If Tang Wulin and his friends had encountered a shrewder hundred-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear in the spirit ascension platform, he would have had no chance of survival¡ªXie Xie would have died the moment he attempted a sneak attack.


    A ten-thousand-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear could single-handedly destroy a town armed with both foresight and strength.


    Tang Wulin calmly released his Bluesilver Grass in preparation for any sudden attacks. He understood his vulnerability in this forest that forced him to rely on Wu Zhangkong¡¯s strength. Since he¡¯d be useless in battle, all he could do was act prudently and prepare to defend himself against any soul beasts they encountered. I still have a long ways to go¡­


    ¡°Stop!¡± Wu Zhangkong halted in his tracks forcing Tang Wulin to do the same, nearly bumping into his teacher¡¯s back.


    ¡°Something¡¯s off.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression became solemn.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Teacher Wu?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong answered, ¡°It¡¯s too quiet. Even if soul beasts are sparse in the intermediate level, there should still be some insects around. Don¡¯t you feel that it¡¯s getting dimmer and dimmer? And it¡¯s not just because of the trees blocking the light either. No, this is something else. We may have encountered a powerful soul beast, and if my guess is correct, we¡¯re in for a lot of trouble.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s vigilance alarmed Tang Wulin, but even so, he could only continue relying on him.


    Tang Wulin disliked this feeling of powerlessness as if he had no control over his own fate. Unfortunately, he knew it all too well.


    Wu Zhangkong stood in place, poised with his Skyfrost Sword. Waves of frost rolled off of it as he surveyed their surroundings with icy yet calm eyes that occasionally glowed with a purple sheen.


    Tang Wulin felt it now; it was eerily quiet, devoid of even the sound of the wind through the trees. This definitely isn¡¯t normal. I wasn¡¯t paying enough attention.


    Around them, shadowy figures suddenly appeared and glided towards the duo, faintly discernable among the trees.


    What are they?


    Wu Zhangkong remained still, aware of the encroaching figures. Though the Skyfrost Sword swayed in his hands, pointing from one direction to another, the movements were calm and unhurried. The last of the light snuffed out, and an absolute darkness descended on the forest.


    Even as the shadowy figures grew near, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t sense anything.


    Then, fast as lightning, a black figure suddenly shot toward them. With the Purple Demon Eyes activated, Tang Wulin could just barely discern its true appearance. Shockingly, that black figure was himself!


    Without a doubt, it was an exact copy of Tang Wulin! The only difference was that it was shrouded in darkness and exuded a chilling, bloodthirsty aura.


    Wu Zhangkong slashed out, releasing a Frost Scar from its tip that sliced toward and through the shadow Tang Wulin. Completely unaffected, the shadow suddenly sped up and pounced on Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Wu Zhangkong let out a cold derisive snort. Purple light flashed in his eyes, and the shadowy figure shrieked as it dispersed in a puff of smoke.


    Wu Zhangkong swung his head around, glaring at a mirror figure of himself that was dashing toward him. The shadow Wu Zhangkong shrieked and turned into smoke.


    This is possible? The Purple Demon Eyes can do this?


    Tang Wulin contemplated the wonders of the Purple Demon Eyes as the purple shimmer faded from Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes. Teacher Wu is so awesome! What can¡¯t he do?


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s face still carried a grave expression. ¡°A darkness and spiritual dual-attributed soul beast. How powerful.¡±


    The remaining shadows no longer dared to approach, intimidated by the frightening power of the Purple Demon Eyes. They quietly turned around and retreated, but in their place, a black fog appeared. The moment he laid eyes on the billowing smog, fear gripped Tang Wulin¡¯s heart.


    At that moment, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s second soul ring lit up, and a chilling mist spread out to envelop the two of them, eventually clashing against the black fog.


    When the two met, the black fog condensed to become drops of black liquid that released a bizarre smell into the air.


    This was a collision between elements of ice and darkness. Could this darkness-attribute soul beast possess the rumored domain ability?


    He heard that within the domain, the ability user had absolute control. Despite some exaggerated elements, it was certainly true that their strength would be greatly amplified in the domain.


    The trouble now wasn¡¯t resisting the opponent¡¯s ability but locating their opponent! If they couldn¡¯t find their enemy, then they couldn¡¯t defeat it!


    Domain?


    Tang Wulin had a revelation. He immediately crouched down and touched the Bluesilver Grass on the ground, closing his eyes.


    As he grew to understand his martial soul, he became more intimate with all plant life, especially wild Bluesilver Grass. Sometimes, he could even sense their emotions.


    Through the network of Bluesilver Grass, he attempted to extend his sensory range. Considering the forest¡¯s lush environment, it would have been an amazing place for him to cultivate had it not been the spirit ascension platform.


    During the previous battle, Wu Zhangkong had reminded him of the importance of spiritual power and creative uses of abilities, and now he was putting that advice to use. He silently concentrated on the gentle spiritual fluctuations of the surrounding Bluesilver Grass.


    It¡¯s true! The corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth lifted; he knew how to find their opponent now. Its ability to strike fear into the hearts of both him and the Bluesilver Grass ultimately allowed him to locate their foe.

 Chapter 177 - Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill

    Chapter 177 - Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skill


    So then, where was the source of their fear? Tang Wulin tried to convey this question to the plants using his own spiritual senses.


    Although he had never attempted this before, he thought it was worth a try.


    As his conscious melded into the spiritual network of the plants, his senses broadened and the fear grew.


    Where is it? Where is the cause of our fear? He asked again.


    He suddenly felt the surrounding Bluesilver Grass¡¯s consciousness ripple in one direction.


    ¡°It¡¯s over there.¡± Tang Wulin opened his eyes and pointed.


    Trusting Tang Wulin, Wu Zhangkong immediately brandished his sword and released a gigantic Skyfrost Slash in that. It sliced through the black fog, leaving a trail of frost-covered plants in its wake.


    ¡°Awoo!¡± A deep howl filled the air, and the black fog converged into a newly-appeared purple light.


    The Skyfrost Slash collided with the purple light and dispersed.


    Tang Wulin patiently waited for the darkness to disappear and reveal their foe.


    A two-meter tall black ape appeared from the black fog. A head full of peculiar blazing gold hair, it didn¡¯t look particularly strong, though it was clearly agile.


    A shimmering purple aura surrounded its body as it stared at Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong with bright topaz eyes, incredulity on its face.


    What soul beast is this? Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t remember any records of such a beast.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Three-Eyed Demon Ape! Be careful, it has already reached the ten-thousand-year level and has opened its third eye. It will be a difficult opponent.¡± Wu Zhangkong immediately dashed forward, aiming to enter a melee combat with the ape.


    Wu Zhangkong had never acted hastily in previous battles, but this time was different. He knew that against such a formidable opponent, he would not be able to protect his charge if they stuck together.


    The Three-Eyed Demon Ape snarled, baring its large white fangs. Tension curled in its body before it shot forward like a whirlwind to welcome Wu Zhangkong.


    The fear emanating from the Bluesilver Grass fed his own until Tang Wulin¡¯s entire being screamed of danger as the two clashed. Tang Wulin instinctively dashed ahead and rolled to the side, latching onto a distant tree with his Bluesilver Grass to alter his trajectory. His gut feeling had been right. While the Three-Eyed Demon Ape and Wu Zhangkong fought back and forth, the ape suddenly turned into mist and reappeared where Tang Wulin had just been. It had swiped at the air, forming a hexagon of amethyst light. If Tang Wulin had acted any slower, he would have been pulverized.


    He broke out into a cold sweat. How terrifying. It even deceived Teacher Wu!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expressionless face finally showed traces of anger. Tang Wulin sensed something from behind him and turned around in time to see countless azure sword waves explode, swallowing the Three-Eyed Demon Ape.


    The Three-Eyed Demon Ape lacked the ability to teleport, and its sudden disappearance just now was attributed to the illusion it had created to trick Wu Zhangkong. But that¡¯s all it was, a trick. It would not work a second time.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes glowed amethyst, his Purple Demon Eyes in full force now as a barrage of Frost Scars flew out.


    The Three-Eyed Demon Ape¡¯s reaction speed was remarkable; it lowered its body and a ball of violet light burst forth and ensconced him. The light deflected the Frost Scars before exploding outwards to repel Wu Zhangkong.


    Its other arm fired a tanzanite light that flew past Wu Zhangkong and headed straight for Tang Wulin.


    Just where did I provoke it? Why is it still after me?


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare to relax and launched himself out of the way with a wrench on the Bluesilver Grass he prepared.


    A tanzanite flame blazed into existence at the spot he just vacated, crystallizing all the plants touched by its fire into amethysts that melted soon afterward. Tang Wulin paled at this hauntingly beautiful scene.


    Once the strength of a darkness attribute reached a certain level, it could achieve such terrifying effects.


    Meanwhile, Wu Zhangkong relentlessly pursued the Three-Eyed Demon Ape, unwilling to let it escape. Frost Scars cut through the air and struck the ape, but it dissipated into purple lights once more, merely another illusion.


    Wu Zhangkong, having expected this, immediately dodged to the side and evaded the ape¡¯s attack while countering with a Skyfrost Slash.


    This Skyfrost Slash was different than before; its energy was now condensed into a one-meter sword wave and shone with a blinding azure light. The soul power was condensed to the astonishing point that not even a drop of energy leaked out.


    The Three-Eyed Demon Apes violet barrier split open and the sword wave sliced right toward it.


    This was the first time the battlefield had gone out of its control, throwing it into a panic as it fiercely swung its arms and threw up another shield. The Skyfrost Slash and the shield of light collided and paused momentarily, giving the ape just enough time to leap out of the way.


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t chase after it, motionless as the sword wave and shield clashed. He switched to a two-handed grip on the Skyfrost Sword and his sixth soul ring lit up.


    That¡¯s...


    His sixth soul ring? It¡¯s a ten-thousand-year soul skill!


    Tang Wulin stood rooted in place, his eyes wide open and unblinking to capture every moment.


    Ten-thousand-year soul rings were almost on the same level as myths. In the world of Soul Masters, out of ten thousand, perhaps only one person would be lucky to have it! I wonder just how amazing Teacher Wu¡¯s ten-thousand-year soul skill is?


    The Three-Eyed Demon Ape continued moving to the side, leaping and rolling. It was fuming with fury, its eyes shining a brilliant gold and its black fur tinged with indigo. It looked like a blazing violet flame. A golden light appeared on its forehead and finally revealed its third eye. Golden light gushed out as its body swelled until it was three meters tall.


    So formidable!


    The ape stood up on its hind legs and raised its hands in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s direction. Violet light gathered in its hands and coalesced into a ball of light that kept growing larger.


    It¡¯s getting bigger? Will Teacher Wu¡¯s sixth soul skill be more powerful?


    Tang Wulin looked back to Wu Zhangkong with anxiousness. Though Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sixth soul ring still flickered, he stood as still as a statue. It was as though he didn¡¯t care about his opponent any more, and had even gone as far as to close his eyes, his mind seemingly free from mundane worries as it drifted off to another world.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the  black soul ring continued to enlarge and the increasing radiance of the Skyfrost Sword from icy blue to pure white, Tang Wulin would have believed Wu Zhangkong had given up.


    An indignant roar sounded from the Three-Eyed Demon Ape. Its palms struck the one-meter in diameter ball of violet light and the moment they touched, a beam of indigo power shot straight at Wu Zhangkong. The ape¡¯s energy quickly drained as it maintained this attack.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 178 - Breaking Through the Crisis!

    Chapter 178 - Breaking Through the Crisis!


    The Three-Eyed Demon Ape unleashed a second attack in concert with his first, shooting a golden beam of light from its third eye at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s head.


    This¡­ is a spiritual attack?


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes flashed open the instant the third eye attacked. A golden violet light, far more resplendent than before, burst from within his eyes. This was clearly the full strength of his Purple Demon Eyes.


    Purple and gold clashed mid-air, fighting for dominance as they released waves of spiritual power that rippled outwards.


    Tang Wulin was still hit by the energy waves while watching from afar. Without any methods to defend himself against a spiritual attack, pounding nausea assailed his mind before his eyes went blank and he lost his grip on reality.


    Tang Wulin had been perched atop a tree when the spiritual wave swallowed him and amidst his confusion, he fell to the ground.


    Back on the battlefield, Wu Zhangkong raised his head. His complexion was pale, blood flowing freely from his nose and ears. He had taken some damage from that spiritual confrontation just now.


    The moment the dust from their spiritual battle settled, the violet energy arrived before him.


    In the split second before it arrived, Wu Zhangkong closed his eyes. Then he finally made his move.


    His jet-black sixth soul ring rose into the air, enveloping his entire body before flaring with a resplendent white light that flew into the Skyfrost Sword.


    Both Wu Zhangkong and the Skyfrost Sword appeared to be as white as snow. His figure vanished an instant later, becoming a white blur that flitted across the battlefield.


    Ice bloomed behind the blur¡¯s wake as it shot forth and froze the light in place when it swept past it. Cracks formed at the core of light as it struggled within its icy prison.


    Then the frozen casing split open and that radiant violet light exploded in all directions.


    The white blur flashed by once more. Clad in white and armed with a white sword, Wu Zhangkong appeared behind the Three-Eyed Demon Ape.


    The ape¡¯s smug expression froze in place.


    A vertical white line appeared on top of its head, slicing through its third eye and all the way to its crotch.


    ¡°Wulin, the third eye!¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s booming voice sobered Tang Wulin. His head was still splitting from the spiritual shock-induced headache when he heard his teacher¡¯s call.


    It felt like a thousand needles were stabbing his brain, a pain that overwhelmed his senses to the point where he wanted to smash his head into a wall.


    Although his vision was fuzzy, he still managed to send out his Bluesilver Grass with a thought.


    Goldlight slithered out of his body and bore into a strand of Bluesilver Grass. The strand seemed to breathe into life as it transformed from azure to gold and hardened. It pierced through the Three-Eyed Demon Ape¡¯s third eye like a spear before penetrating into the ape¡¯s brain.


    Tang Wulin collapsed in exhaustion as dark spots darkened his vision and sweat poured from his body.


    At that moment, an immense wealth of energy flowed into him through the golden vine.


    While it wasn¡¯t his first time absorbing spirit energy, this time was the most unique. The energy was split into two; Goldlight was rapidly absorbing one part of the energy as it rested within the grass, while the other was flooding into Tang Wulin¡¯s brain. It was this latter energy that was the cause of the stabbing pain in his brain. Releasing a muffled groan, Tang Wulin immediately lost consciousness.


    Wu Zhangkong silently stood there, pale-faced as he took notice of Tang Wulin¡¯s situation. He appeared beside his disciple like a bolt of lightning, brows furrowed and eyes bewildered.


    He had been so focused on obtaining this ten-thousand-year soul beast¡¯s spirit energy for Tang Wulin, that he forgot a crucial fact; the beast was of the ten-thousand-year level that could range from the beginning of the realm all the way to the peak. If it was more than the maximum age, just how much excess spirit energy was Tang Wulin absorbing?


    During the previous evaluation, it was determined that Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power was strong enough to endure little more than two-thousand-years worth of spirit energy. Any more than that would risk his mind and body crumbling apart.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s spirit soul had reached about 1,300 years after absorbing the energy of the previous soul beasts. Currently, he was absorbing the spirit energy of this ten-thousand-year Three-Eyed Demon Ape¡ªa minimum of 1000 years worth. The question now was whether Tang Wulin¡¯s body was strong enough to endure this magnitude of spirit energy!


    Furthermore, this Three-Eyed Demon Ape was different from ordinary soul beasts; it possessed a tremendous amount of spiritual power. Although there was no method to obtain soul power in the spirit ascension platform, spiritual-attributed soul beasts possessed a special characteristic. Should a Soul Master absorb their spirit energy, they would be faced with a spiritual attack.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes held a trace of rarely seen worry. His mind had been muddled after the spiritual clash with the Three-Eyed Demon Ape, thus leading to his thoughtless decision of having Tang Wulin absorb its energy and ending up in this perilous situation.


    There was nothing he could do now but wait. The moment a Soul Master began to absorb spirit energy, it would fuse and evolve the spirit soul. No external interference was possible once this process began; even a Title Douluo could only be forced to watch on helplessly as Tang Wulin absorbed the energy.


    Not only did the spirit ascension platform increase the age of spirit souls, it also influenced the soul power and spiritual power of Soul Masters. Wu Zhangkong could only silently wait and pray for Tang Wulin¡¯s success. Should Tang Wulin fail, it would end up as more than just a major problem.


    ?


    Waves of dizziness slammed into Tang Wulin. Though he felt no pain, he was numb to any other feeling as well. Chaos reigned in his spiritual world.


    After some time, a sliver of his consciousness woke. He opened his eyes, only to find himself floating in a pitch-black space. In its wake came endless, torturous, pain.


    ¡°Wher-where am I?¡± The pain drilled into his head, making him tremble.


    The darkness gradually waned and a pale gold appeared. He watched as Goldlight slowly grew stronger, but then, so too did his pain. The pain was so unbearable that he seemingly yearned for the release that only death provided.


    Nothing could alleviate his agony, so he surveyed his surroundings. Cracks appeared within this golden world soon after, numbing his pain.


    An idea struck him. Could this be my spiritual world? The space of my consciousness?


    ¡°Old Tang!¡± Tang Wulin screamed in panic. He could sense that as the cracks gradually widened, his impending death was also likely to become a reality.


    ¡°Hah¡­¡± A sigh resonated throughout the space, announcing the arrival of the golden light before him. The golden light possessed a shape similar to that of a weapon with a long shaft, but that was all Tang Wulin could discern.


    Golden rays of light blossomed from the long-shafted weapon and entered the cracks of this golden world.


    The cracks paused before slowly beginning to repair itself and restoring the world to its original pristine.


    His piercing torture also eased as warmth filled Tang Wulin, healing his suffering mind.


    ¡°My powers are limited, you know. You absorbed more energy than you could handle, forcing me to use some of my power to aid you in this crisis. While you should be fine for now, the problem is that I won¡¯t have as much power to help you break the next seal anymore. The pressure you will have to face will be several folds higher than what it should have been. Prepare yourself. Even though you received a large upgrade this time, you absolutely must not do this again, otherwise I will run out of power needed to help you and you will risk your life each time you break a seal.¡±


    Old Tang¡¯s voice resounded throughout this golden world. Tang Wulin felt as if he had reunited with a long-lost relative, but in the next moment the gold faded away and darkness returned. He lost consciousness once more.


    ?


    A fit of dizziness unlike anything before hit Tang Wulin when he woke up and left him paralyzed, unable to move a finger or raise his head. It was one of the greatest struggles of his life just to simply open his eyes.


    It¡¯s cold!


    The first thing he noticed was the chill in the air. Sensation returned to his body, but it was still as heavy as lead and uncontrollable.

 Chapter 179 - Another Spirit Soul Evolution

    Chapter 179 - Another Spirit Soul Evolution


    The world around him gradually came into focus; then, he saw Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s white robe was in tatters and he haggardly stood while using his Skyfrost Sword as a cane.


    His long hair was a disheveled mess, creating a sight of him that Tang Wulin had never seen before. Yet he still stood tall, despite his injuries and exhaustion.


    Looking out further, Tang Wulin realized that a dozen soul beasts circled them while several beast corpses littered the ground.


    He¡¯s¡­


    He¡¯s protecting me¡­ We¡¯re still in the spirit ascension platform?


    ¡°Tea-Teacher Wu¡­¡± Tang Wulin feebly called out.


    A tremble ran through Wu Zhangkong as he looked back.


    Although Wu Zhangkong cut a sorry figure, Tang Wulin¡¯s appearance was far more frightening. Little snakes of blood seeped from his eyes, ears, nostrils and mouth.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± Wu Zhangkong dashed to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. The ice in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes thawed to reveal a burning self-blame, but Tang Wulin didn¡¯t notice this¡ªhis mind was still muddled.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin simply responded.


    Wu Zhangkong ordered, ¡°We¡¯re returning!¡± He let out a deep breath, relieved that Tang Wulin was fine. Even though it would take some time for Tang Wulin to recover, everything was good so long as he lived.


    He slapped the escape button on the back of Tang Wulin¡¯s hand before hitting his own. The two instantly disappeared with a beam of light.


    ?


    Tang Wulin remained motionless as the glass cover opened slowly. The murkiness of his mind hadn¡¯t disappeared even after leaving the spirit ascension platform but rather, it became more obvious and pronounced. His body felt bloated and he was unable to move his body.


    The glass cover of the container beside him opened and Wu Zhangkong got out. He rushed over to Tang Wulin and lifted him out of the glass case.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s case could only be described as a rag doll-like body right now. His limbs were so feeble that he could do nothing but be at the mercy of others. Wu Zhangkong helped Tang Wulin into his clothes before clothing himself. Gently lifting Tang Wulin¡¯s limp body, Wu Zhangkong carried Tang Wulin on his back.


    ¡°He absorbed too much spirit energy. Does he need an inspection?¡± A staff member asked.


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°No need. I¡¯ll be enough to take care of him and he¡¯ll be fine once he wakes up.¡±


    ¡°Alright. But once you leave it will no longer be a concern of the Spirit Pagoda,¡± warned the staff member.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded then left the Spirit Pagoda with Tang Wulin on his back. He had planned on heading back to Eastsea City immediately after their venture in the Spirit Pagoda, but right now he needed to find an inn to stay another night.


    It was necessary for Tang Wulin to adjust to the sudden influx of energy at the moment, otherwise he may be faced with some residual effects.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mind was still befuddled, so he immediately dozed off the moment he hit the bed. Wu Zhangkong also yearned for rest. His complexion was pale after a day-long adventure in the spirit ascension platform, one that was plagued with challenges far more difficult than he had expected. There were very few beasts that posed a threat to him in the intermediate level, yet they actually managed to run into one today.


    The Three-Eyed Demon Ape¡¯s advantage lay in its spiritual-attribute. Not only could it employ spiritual attack, it was also bestowed with intelligence far beyond its peers.


    Even so, it wasn¡¯t really that difficult for him to defeat the Three-Eyed Demon Ape. What he never expected was to make such a grave mistake while his mind was rebounding from the spiritual attack. If it hadn¡¯t been Tang Wulin who absorbed the energy, then the consequences would have been far worse.


    ?


    It took a full night¡¯s rest before Tang Wulin awoke, yet his mind was still murky, preventing him from sensing the changes in his body.


    ¡°Are you feeling any better?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    Tang Wulin strained himself to nod, having finally regained some control over his body.


    Wu Zhangkong helped him sit up. ¡°Your mind received a powerful attack and you will need some time to recover. I know you¡¯re in pain right now but you must still cultivate your Purple Demon Eyes to adjust your spiritual power. There may be some residual effects left otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Tang Wulin readily agreed.


    Wu Zhangkong took a seat behind Tang Wulin and pressed one palm into Tang Wulin¡¯s back while the other lay against the back of his head. A gentle stream of soul power seeped into Tang Wulin¡¯s body, facilitating his cultivation of the Purple Demon Eyes.


    Tang Wulin had never found cultivating hard, but now he faced some difficulties in controlling his soul power. Without Wu Zhangkong¡¯s help, he would have been unable to circulate his soul power properly in this state.


    He circulated his soul power according to the Mysterious Heaven Method, gradually filling every inch of his body with power. Warmth spread throughout his body and restored his vitality.


    With the immense gap between their cultivations, it required practically no effort on Wu Zhangkong¡¯s part to guide Tang Wulin along.


    After cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Method for a whole day, he was able to start practicing the Purple Demon Eyes. His body felt refreshed and his mind grew clearer, relaxing him.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s suffering gradually subsided as his mind and body regained their normalcy. It took him a few more circulation cycles before he was able to cultivate on his own again.


    Wu Zhangkong withdrew his hands and released a long sigh. This child really is a genius! Who else would be able to bear an over two-thousand-year spirit soul!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual world barely contained all of this energy but his body was more than sturdy enough. His soul power had also been refined through this process and was now at rank 16.


    His spirit soul, however, had not yet finished its evolution due to his insufficient spiritual power and it would take a while longer before the process was complete. Danger shadowed him during this process, forcing the two to sit there and wait until it finished. Even once it finished, they would have to continually examine Tang Wulin¡¯s state.


    Unexpectedly, they stayed for a whole week.


    Tang Wulin meditated nonstop the entire time. A golden glow appeared on his body the third day, signaling the beginning of the spirit soul evolution.


    Goldlight resonated with Tang Wulin¡¯s breathing and gradually began to change.


    Compared to the first spirit soul evolution, the changes were much more distinct this time. Goldlight grew to one foot in length and its scales rose up slightly, gaining a sparkling and limpid luster. Its entire body was now a dull gold while two small points appeared on its head. The golden veined pattern on it became more distinct.


    Its bright eyes possessed a violet gloss as the evolution progressed.


    It had grown from a ten-year to hundred-year to thousand-year spirit soul in such a short period of time. It was as if Goldlight had been born again, possessing an aura completely unlike before. With each breath, the golden veined pattern on Tang Wulin brightened.


    When the spirit soul evolution finished four days later and Tang Wulin roused from his meditation, there was an imperceptible change to him.


    His skin became more fair and radiant, his height had increased by at least three centimeters, his eyes were practically sparkling now, and his aura had transformed.


    Tang Wulin was well aware of these transformations. He also discovered that as he practiced the Mysterious Heaven Method, a small whirlpool of soul power began to form in his dantian. When this whirlpool appeared, both his cultivation and recovery accelerated.

 Chapter 180 - Improvement

    Chapter 180 - Improvement


    This whirlpool compressed his soul power and barely took up any room in his dantian.


    The bitterness had ended and the sweetness began the moment Tang Wulin awoke.


    ¡°We should go now.¡± Due to their one week delay, their one month vacation had already passed. In fact, as a teacher, Wu Zhangkong was supposed to report in a few days earlier than students and was already late.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, thank you.¡± Tang Wulin sincerely spoke his thanks as they walked to the soul train station.


    This trip actually wasn¡¯t particularly enriching for him as he spent most of his time cultivating, but still, he was bursting with joy.


    During this trip in Heaven Dou City, he laid eyes on the sculptures of the almighty and legendary Tang Sect figures and officially joined the Tang Sect. He also started cultivating two Tang Sect methods; the Mysterious Heaven Method and the Purple Demon Eyes. In both he had reached a relatively high level and held a basic comprehension of the two.


    He managed to acquire a thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit, one of the four spirit items he needed and later evolved his spirit soul. Every one of these events had been a major event for him.


    Although he didn¡¯t know how much his strength had grown, he could feel a fundamental change in his entire being.


    The Mysterious Heaven Method helped consolidate his understanding of the changes brought about by his spirit soul¡¯s evolution on his own body. I have a thousand-year spirit soul now, a thousand-year spirit soul! I¡¯m probably the only student in the academy whose first soul ring is at the thousand-year level!


    These events solidified his foundation and would aid him as he developed as a Soul Master. Although the timeframe posed some problem to him, especially the risk he faced when it came time to break the second seal, all of this was a problem for the future. For now, he was developing quite nicely.


    ¡°I only showed you the way. The only person you can rely on is yourself.¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    Tang Wulin stared, dumbfounded. He clearly remembered his father telling him the same thing. ¡®In this world, the only person you can rely on and trust is yourself.''


    These words were carved into his heart. He never expected Wu Zhangkong to say something so similar.


    Yearning welled up in his heart. Mom, dad, where are you? Na¡¯er, where did you go?


    ?


    After entering the soul train, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t waste any time and immediately began meditating. He didn¡¯t let his spirit soul¡¯s evolution get to his head; he clearly knew how weak his martial soul and innate soul power were as well as how his cultivation rate lagged behind Xie Xie and Gu Yue.


    Soul power was the foundation of all Soul Masters and all he could do was work hard to compensate for what he lacked. His spirit soul had evolved and he would soon become a rank 20 Soul Grandmaster.


    Tang Wulin was filled with confidence, now convinced that he would reach that level within the next year or two, depending on his luck. He would become a Soul Grandmaster by the time he turned twelve.


    A rank 20 at twelve years old was the definition of genius.


    Once they reached Eastsea City and the familiar skyline filled with skyscrapers entered his view, Tang Wulin though he gained an appreciation for the city. Every city was different and had their own unique character. It¡¯s a pity I didn¡¯t get a chance to properly sightsee inside Heaven Dou City. In the future, I definitely have to travel the continent and see all the famous sights! Maybe I¡¯ll even travel to the other continents. I wonder what kind of scenery I¡¯ll see in the other two continents?


    ¡°There are still three days left until school resumes. Use this free time for yourself and relax a little.¡± Even as his words lingered in the air, Wu Zhangkong was already walking away.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t immediately return to the dormitory but instead went to the blacksmith¡¯s workshop.


    He hadn¡¯t touched the forging hammer for a whole month and his skills were beginning to rust. I¡¯ll go visit Mu Chen first and accept two tasks to warm up my forging.


    I still owe Teacher Wu over one million coins! I need to pay it back quickly and earn enough money for the other three items.


    He had felt wealthy saving three million but after buying the thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit, he understood just how frighteningly expensive it would be to break through his second seal. He resigned himself to spending every free hour earning money.


    If I continue to improve my forging, will I be able to forge my own battle armor when I have four rings?


    The very thought of having a battle armor got his blood pumping. On the road home, he recalled Wu Zhangkong¡¯s explanation about battle armors. If I had a battle armor, that Three-Eyed Demon Ape wouldn¡¯t have even stood a chance!


    Teacher Wu is so awesome! Tang Wulin had witnessed five of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s six soul skills, and though he didn¡¯t really know what the ten-thousand-year soul skill was, the unparalleled might of that slash which killed the Three-Eyed Demon Ape was obvious.


    Will I be that strong in the future? Tang Wulin had unknowingly placed Wu Zhangkong as his goal.


    Tang Wulin visited the Blacksmith¡¯s Association and immediately went to find Mu Chen.


    ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m back.¡±


    At the sight of his enthusiastic disciple, Mu Chen cracked a smile. ¡°How are you? Was your vacation relaxing?¡± He was the most easy-going among Tang Wulin¡¯s teachers. As long as he wasn¡¯t in the middle of teaching, he would reveal a warm temperament.


    ¡°I gained a lot from it, but I didn¡¯t have a chance to practice forging the whole time.¡± Tang Wulin lowered his head in shame.


    Mu Chen let out a hearty laugh. ¡°You¡¯re such an honest child. Don¡¯t worry about it so much; relaxing is also a part of cultivating. Once you reach a certain level of forging, practicing constantly is no longer as important as accumulating and consolidating your experiences.¡±


    ¡°Dad, you¡¯re too nice to him. Why didn¡¯t you let me go out and play during my vacation? You made me forge every day,¡± a familiar voice whined. Mu Xi entered the room with a pouting face.


    Mu Chen said, ¡°When your own forging level is as good as Tang Wulin¡¯s, then you can have a vacation too.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Mu Xi shot a glare at Tang Wulin before stomping out.


    Tang Wulin was at a loss as to how to deal with his senior disciple sister¡¯s hostility. She really is unbridled.


    ¡°This kid¡­¡± Mu Chen knit his brows. He understood the competitive nature of his daughter but he never thought about correcting it. It was a virtue for youngsters to have such a personality. A competitive heart would drive one to work harder.


    Mu Xi definitely made Tang Wulin her goal, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t have acted like that. This is good, but it¡¯s a pity that her rival is a little freak like Wulin. It won¡¯t be easy for her to surpass him!


    ¡°You¡¯ve just returned; go rest first. But let me warn you, your training will be even more rigorous from now on, so prepare yourself. Since you have three days until school resumes, use one day to rest and return to learn the other two days.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The lack of any admonition set Tang Wulin at ease, but still, he resolved himself. I can¡¯t let Teacher down!


    After leaving Mu Chen¡¯s office, Tang Wulin went to accept two rank three blacksmith tasks before returning to the workshop.


    He had meditated the entire ride home so he wasn¡¯t tired at all and planned on completing these two assignments before he went to learn from Mu Chen. They would count as a warm-up and prevent his hands from being shaky when he was with Mu Chen.


    He adjusted the forging table, set the metal down, and began forging.


    He became more comfortable with the Thousand Refined Heavy Silver Hammers as time passed and was surprised to discover the truth in Mu Chen¡¯s words. He hadn¡¯t simply said them to comfort Tang Wulin. After a month away from forging, the process he made was actually going more smoothly than before. He could easily sense the fine changes within the metal and its spirit now.


    Tang Wulin had assumed he would produce a failed product the first time as he readjusted himself to forging, but contrary to his expectations the entire process flowed smoothly. Every chunk of metal was Thousand Refined successfully and was of an even higher quality than before the vacation. With the aid of the Purple Demon Eyes, his efficiency had also increased by fifty percent. His soul power had also increased, and aided by the compression due to the Mysterious Heaven Method, he now possessed more stamina to forge for longer lengths of time.


    This was a markedly pleasant surprise. In the past, he could only Thousand Refine two chunks of metal in a row, but now he could work with four and end up with even higher quality results.


    Regardless of whether they were Hundred Refined or Thousand Refined, there were several grades assigned to the quality. There were three grades for Hundred Refined: low, medium and high. The Thousand Refined had five grades total with first grade at the top and fifth grade at the bottom.

 Chapter 181 - A New Semester Begins

    Chapter 181 - A New Semester Begins


    Tang Wulin usually produced fourth-grade Thousand Refined items. When the occasional luck was with him, he would create third-grade metal, while when it was against him, he would forge fifth-grade items.


    Although making fifth-grade products were enough to complete the tasks, items of the third-grade and higher would receive additional payment. Tang Wulin was pleased to discover that after forging a third and a fourth-grade metal in the beginning, the rest were all second-grade. That was a lot of extra money!


    The fact that the quality of his products had improved signified that he had bettered his understanding of metal. Teacher Mu told me before that when I can forge first-grade metals with a thirty percent success rate, I¡¯ll be ready to try Spirit Refining.


    He had originally thought that it would take three years before he could attempt it, but now it seemed that he would be able to try it sooner than he expected. If he could easily produce second-grade metals without trying his best, how far off could first-grade be?


    What Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t aware of was that his harvest from his trip to Heaven Dou City truly was astounding. Apart from the Dragonscale Fruit, his experiences and gains in the intermediate spirit ascension platform had broadened his view on soul beasts and soul skills. What was most significant of all, however, was the complete upgrade he had received from absorbing the Three-Eyed Demon Ape¡¯s spirit energy.


    As a spiritual-attribute soul beast, the Three-Eyed Demon Ape¡¯s spirit energy was far more volatile than that of normal beasts. Combined with the excess spirit energy that surpassed his bodily limits, Tang Wulin had faced a tremendous amount of danger.


    If Old Tang hadn¡¯t come to his rescue, his cultivation would have deviated, resulting in permanent injuries at the best and an agonizing death at the worst. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s guilt had stemmed from this grave possibility.


    But, Tang Wulin had survived and made an extreme breakthrough. Although he hadn¡¯t benefited as much as breaking a Golden Dragon King seal, his gains were clear.


    His spirit soul had reached heights he never thought possible and the Mysterious Heaven Method had improved both his spiritual power and soul power.


    After refining these two energies, his fundamental strength had increased significantly. No matter which occupation a Soul Master has, these two energies were an essential part of their foundation. This was why Tang Wulin¡¯s improvement in this regard had aided his forging.


    Having finished earlier than he expected, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t immediately go turn in the tasks. Instead, he chose to cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Method. His understanding of metals deepened over the next three days as he comprehended many things during this meditation.


    Eastsea City¡¯s month-long calm came to an end with the new school semester starting and was once again bustling with noise and excitement.


    Students streamed into the academy, all of them brimming with positivity. This was their second semester. After they finished it, they would advance to the next grade. Though they looked forward to moving up a grade, the dreaded grade promotion exams loomed over them.


    For those attending an intermediate Soul Master academy, they absolutely had to have reached two rings by the time they graduated from their six years in the elementary division, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t be issued a graduation diploma. On the other hand, those in the advanced division needed to have three rings to properly graduate.


    Regardless of the academy, not every student could meet this requirement. Those in the upper grades would be extremely pressed for time.


    Students in the first two grades were still able to relax though. The urgency of advancing their cultivation was still at the back of their minds.


    Yun Xiao and Zhou Zhangxi were exploring the academy while chatting about various things. The two had become good friends after a semester together.


    ¡°Have you seen Wulin or anyone else from class zero? Speaking of them, there¡¯s something really weird! I heard that Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi transferred to another academy.¡± Zhou Zhangxi smirked. ¡°They¡¯re probably too ashamed to be in the same class as those three.¡±


    Yun Xiao rolled his eyes. ¡°Do you think a genius who already has two rings in the first grade would feel ashamed? It¡¯s definitely something else. You know, I bet Wulin is feeling the pressure now. I heard Gu Yue is already a Soul Grandmaster now and he¡¯s the only one in their class who still only has one ring. I wonder how much longer class zero will last?¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°It would be good if the class shuts down, that way they would have to come back. We¡¯re class one right now, but we both know how strong our class really is. What will we do for this semester¡¯s Class Promotion Tournament? Won¡¯t we just get demoted at this rate?¡±


    Yun Xiao shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll just drop down to class two I guess.¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi¡¯s twisted with displeasure. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel even a shred of team honor?¡±


    Yun Xiao said, ¡°You need strength to win honor. Shouldn¡¯t you focus on cultivating instead of thinking about such useless things?¡±


    The two continued to converse as they made their way to the dormitories. Suddenly, something caught Yun Xiao¡¯s eye. He nudged his friend and whispered, ¡°Look, it¡¯s Gu Yue.¡±


    Zhou Zhangxi followed Yun Xiao¡¯s gaze and found an expressionless Gu Yue that was wearing the academy uniform.


    She had a delicate appearance, but wasn¡¯t particularly pretty. At least, she was still far from Ouyang Zixin¡¯s level. Her unique temperament, however, had a dominating effect on others. Even Xie Xie found himself affected by her; only Tang Wulin seemed immune to her charms.


    Yun Xiao and Zhou Zhangxi were no exceptions. They felt suppressed the moment they saw her as if they were a low-level soul beast seeing a powerful soul beast.


    Gu Yue had grown taller and prettier over the last semester, which somehow condensed her domineering aura.


    Gu Yue didn¡¯t notice the duo and continued to walk toward the academy¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°She really doesn¡¯t have any regard for others!¡± Zhou Zhangxi waited for her to leave before he whispered to his friend.


    Yun Xiao snickered. ¡°What do you understand? I found out long ago that Gu Yue is actually the strongest in class zero. I don¡¯t think anyone below the fifth grade is her match. If class zero participates in the Class Promotion Tournament¡­ Hehe. I can¡¯t even imagine how much she will shine.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s that strong? Even stronger than Xie Xie?¡±


    Yun Xiao smirked. ¡°Should be.¡±


    Outside of the teacher¡¯s building.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, please take care of this student. We¡¯ve examined her and she definitely qualifies to enter class zero.¡± Long Hengxu solemnly told Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong shifted his eyes towards Long Hengxu before lowering his head to look at the timid girl before him. He coldly said, ¡°My class only accepts monsters, not ordinary people. Do you really think she qualifies? She only has one ring.¡±


    Long Hengxu frowned. ¡°Speaking of which, Teacher Wu, I think your class zero could use some adjustment. There¡¯s no problem with Gu Yue and Xie Xie, but why did Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi leave? The academy principal explained what happened to me, but I don¡¯t think forcing a pair of Soul Grandmasters to leave for the sake of the one-ringed Tang Wulin is right. Also, why does class zero still need to exist? I found a genius for you yet you¡¯re making all sorts of excuses. I¡¯m going to ask the academy to close down class zero since you only have three students then.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong gazed at him with icy eyes. ¡°You should say that to the principal instead of me. Students have their own choice, and I have my own choice. You¡¯re Xu Xiaoyan right? I¡¯ll give you a chance. You have one month to obtain mine and my student¡¯s approval. If you don¡¯t, then regardless of your background, I won¡¯t accept you as my student. Understood?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan listened with her head lowered, timidly nodding. She wanted to bury her little head into her chest right now.


    ¡°Follow me. I¡¯ll arrange your dorm assignment.¡± Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t bother to say goodbye to Long Hengxu, quickly turning around and leaving.

 Chapter 182 - Transfer Student Xu Xiaoyan

    Chapter 182 - Transfer Student Xu Xiaoyan


    Xu Xiaoyan hastened after Wu Zhangkong.


    Long Hengxu¡¯s gaze followed their departure as his lips quirked up at the edges. Not for a second did he think Wu Zhangkong¡¯s behavior to be unreasonable or irritable. ¡°That guy, he really cares about class zero! He wouldn¡¯t submit otherwise. This is good. It¡¯s good that he cares since it¡¯ll motivate him to give his best effort. I¡¯m looking forward to the results!¡±


    He sat down and quickly dialed a number on his soul communicator.


    ¡°Hello, President. So, I have an idea. This past semester, we poured our resources into class zero, yet ever since the two students left, the board of directors has been questioning your decision, correct? I believe it¡¯s time to display class zero¡¯s strength while also determining whether to continue supporting this endeavor or not. What do you think?¡±


    Long Hengxu listened to the other line and nodded. ¡°Right, that¡¯s exactly what I was thinking. We¡¯ll have them go. While I¡¯m unsure of how it¡¯ll develop, they¡¯re still young, so it should be fine so long as they achieve decent results and garner some prestige for our academy. This way, everyone will note the superiority of our academy¡¯s teachers. Once they realize this, won¡¯t even more geniuses apply to our school?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ll start making the arrangements.¡±


    ?


    As Xu Xiaoyan followed behind Wu Zhangkong, her sparkling eyes took in the unfamiliar surroundings. Her previous school had been an ordinary one, and since her family excessively doted on her, her life was devoid of any hardships.


    It was the mutation in her martial soul that led her onto this path.


    She had originally set on this path unwillingly, but after meeting Wu Zhangkong, her rejection rapidly diminished.


    Handsome! Teacher Wu is so cool and good-looking. Her heart hammered inside her chest.


    The next moment, however, she remembered her classmates whom she had investigated after meeting them once before when they had pummeled her brother. Big brother was careless, but they were still so strong! Brother couldn¡¯t even struggle against that girl who¡¯s only a bit older than me!


    Unfortunately for Xu Xiaoyu, he was unaware of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s thoughts, or else he would have choked to death.


    ¡°This is your dorm room,¡± Wu Zhangkong said as he opened the door and entered.


    Xu Xiaoyan followed him inside, only to be shocked by the sight of the single bed. It seemed almost too good to be true.


    What kind of student dorm has such nice conditions? I was given special treatment before, but I still had a roommate!


    ¡°Remember, everything you receive is because you¡¯re currently in class zero, but you still have one month to prove yourself.¡± Wu Zhangkong turned on his heel and exited the room.


    Left behind, Xu Xiaoyan eyed the room doubtfully, but a smile soon appeared on her charming face.


    ¡°It looks like I really need to do my best. I have a handsome teacher and strong classmates. Things are going to be fun. Huh, what¡¯s this? Why¡¯s there a hole in the wall?¡±


    After she caught sight of the depression in the wall of her new room, Xu Xiaoyan got onto her stomach to peep through it and saw another room on the other side.


    ¡°Where does this lead?¡± she mumbled to herself. She took a cloth and cautiously covered the hole, fearing any peeping toms on the other side.


    Bang bang bang!


    She gave a startled jump at the violent knocking and quickly went to open her door, thinking someone was outside.


    But when she stuck her head out, there was no one there. Instead, she saw a familiar figure rapping on the door of the room beside hers.


    He was a delicately handsome boy who carried himself with a slight aura of coldness. ¡°Wulin, are you back yet? Jeez, he always appears and disappears in a flash.¡±


    It¡¯s him! Xu Xiaoyan could immediately identify the boy. Isn¡¯t he the dagger-wielding boy?


    ¡°Hey, there¡¯s no one in there,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said.


    ¡°Who are you, and why are you here?¡± Enough time had passed since their last encounter that together with her weak presence, Xie Xie didn¡¯t recognize Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan snorted. ¡°Why can¡¯t I be here? You¡¯re in class zero, right?¡±


    Xie Xie nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be a student in class zero too. Remember this, my name is Xu Xiaoyan.¡± Away from Wu Zhangkong, the timid girl from before transformed into a pretty, little tyrant.


    ¡°I¡¯m Xie Xie.¡± No different from any other boy, Xie Xie was drawn to pretty girls.


    ¡°Thank you[1]?¡± Xu Xiaoyan stared blankly at him.


    With some annoyance, Xie Xie said, ¡°The second ¡®Xie¡¯ is the one used to write ¡®chance encounter[2]¡¯. That¡¯s my name.¡±


    ¡°Pft.¡± Xu Xiaoyan snickered. ¡°Your name is really meaningful. Please take care of me in the future.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s curiosity was piqued. ¡°How did you enter our class when it¡¯s already the second semester? I thought they weren¡¯t accepting new students anymore.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan stated matter-of-factly, ¡°My family has some connections, got a problem?¡±


    Xie Xie was dumbfounded. ¡°Teacher Wu allowed someone to enter through connections? I don¡¯t believe it.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled sweetly. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t believe me. Actually, we¡¯ve met before in the rebellion spirit ascension platform. Where is the big sister who beat my brother?¡±


    Xie Xie carefully looked her up and down before he suddenly realized her identity. ¡°Ah! You¡¯re that ice-staff guy¡¯s little sister. No wonder I thought you looked familiar.¡±


    ¡°The ¡®ice-staff guy¡¯? That¡¯s what you¡¯re calling my brother? Haha! That¡¯s hilarious. But wait, I have the same martial soul as him, what do I do?¡± Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s expression became anxious. She couldn¡¯t bear to be called ¡®Ice-Staff Girl¡¯!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t call you that,¡± Xie Xie said. ¡°How many rings do you have?¡±


    ¡°One ring!¡± Xu Xiaoyan said.


    Xie Xie became mute. How did she join our class with only one ring? That ice-staff guy¡¯s strength was extraordinary, especially his thousand-year soul skill, but he had three rings. Xu Xiaoyan was able to join us with only one? Does she have some special skill or something?


    ¡°Alright then, call me if you need anything. I¡¯m going back to my room now. My room is across from Tang Wulin¡¯s. Oh right, your next-door neighbor is our captain and boss, Tang Wulin.¡±


    ¡°Tang Wulin? Is that the big sister¡¯s name?¡± Xu Xiaoyan curiously asked.


    Xie Xie burst into laughter. ¡°Of course not. Wulin is a guy. The big sister is on the other side. Her name is Gu Yue.¡±


    Astonishment flickered through Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes.


    The battle between her brother and Gu Yue had left a deep impression on her. With her own strength, Gu Yue had been able to bridge the gap between ranks and defeat him¡ªsimply brilliant. Yet such a powerful girl wasn¡¯t the strongest person in class zero?


    With only three students in class zero, wouldn¡¯t the strongest be the captain?


    ¡°Tang Wulin also has two rings?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Xie Xie shook his head. ¡°No. He¡¯s the same as you¡ªonly one ring.¡±


    ¡°Someone with one ring is the captain?¡± Her curiosity toward Tang Wulin grew.


    She wanted to continue questioning Xie Xie, but he gave her a mysterious smile and refused to reveal any more.


    The morning of the next day, a ceremony was held to welcome the new semester. Class zero stood at the very front of the first grade, three students neatly lined up in a row.


    Indeed, there were only three students; Tang Wulin was missing.


    Starting from the outside, Gu Yue stood, followed by Xie Xie then Xu Xiaoyan.


    Meanwhile, Wu Zhangkong expressionlessly stood with the teachers, completely unconcerned about Tang Wulin¡¯s absence.


    Xie Xie whispered to Gu Yue, ¡°Wulin couldn¡¯t have forgotten that the semester starts today, right? Why do you think he¡¯s so late?¡±


    Gu Yue indifferently replied, ¡°Do you think he¡¯s you?¡±


    Xie Xie was speechless. ¡°Just how biased can you be? When have I ever been late? Wasn¡¯t it him last time, too?¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°Then he definitely has a good reason.¡±


    As the academy president began his speech, a hunched-over figure snuck over from the back to the very front before nudging Gu Yue¡¯s side.


    A radiant smile blossomed on Gu Yue¡¯s indifferent face. ¡°Why are you so late?¡±


    Tang Wulin had no excuse to give.


    The time he spent in deep meditation wasn¡¯t something he could control, so by the time he woke up, it was already the morning of the new semester ceremony. Because he had dashed out without eating breakfast, his gnawing hunger was forcibly shoved to the back of his mind.


    The deep meditation this time, however, had yielded great results; his individual comprehensions and abilities were now consolidated into a whole.


    Pronounced as xie xie in mandarin.åâåË is ¡®chance encounter. His name is лåâ.

 Chapter 183 - An Explosion of Spiritual Power

    Chapter 183 - An Explosion of Spiritual Power


    Tang Wulin resolved to thoroughly investigate the results of the deep meditation later. For now, he was certain that his soul power had increased to a stable rank 16 on the verge of breaking through to rank 17.


    His growth rate wasn¡¯t particularly outstanding when compared to Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi, or Xie Xie, but his progress came as a wonderful surprise considering that he wielded the Bluesilver Grass.


    ¡°I cultivated too much,¡± Tang Wulin sheepishly said.


    Even as he said this, he felt a stare boring into him from the direction of the stage. Looking up, he met Long Hengxu¡¯s glare and hastily straightened his posture without another word.


    Xu Xiaoyan furtively glanced his way. So it¡¯s him!


    She encountered Tang Wulin twice before¡ªthe first time in the spirit ascension platform and the second at the barbecue skewers restaurant with Ouyang Zixin¡ªand on both occasions, he had left a lasting impression on her.


    Of all the boys her age, Tang Wulin must be the most handsome one she had ever seen. Long, delicate eyelashes framed his large eyes, and paired with his rosy-white skin were his straight nose, supple lips, and rounded earlobes. From beneath his beautiful exterior, he also radiated a warm energy like that of the sun.


    Clothed in the academy¡¯s uniform, Tang Wulin seemed even brighter, and despite his tardiness, he remained unruffled. This guy is so calm! Isn¡¯t he afraid of being criticized?


    Like everyone else, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes were set on Tang Wulin but for an entirely different reason. He could distinctly see a luster in the depths of Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes which signified a breakthrough, yet he noticed no major change in soul power.


    From experience, he knew this to be the best outcome. For Soul Masters, if it wasn¡¯t a breakthrough in soul power, then it had to be one in comprehension, which was absolutely vital in progressing further in cultivation. Although Tang Wulin¡¯s innate talents didn¡¯t amount to much, his extraordinary perception weighed far more heavily than even his mutated martial soul.


    The ceremony continued without another hitch and after the customary motivational speeches, it soon came to a close. Teachers led their charges back to the classroom where they gave their own words of wisdom and encouragement before dismissing the students until the next day when classes would officially begin.


    Naturally, class zero had the simplest proceedings with only four students including the newly arrived Xu Xiaoyan.


    ¡°Introduce yourself,¡± Wu Zhangkong said to Xu Xiaoyan as soon as they entered their classroom.


    Facing Wu Zhangkong with her usual bashfulness, she stood and said, ¡°Hello, everyone. I¡¯m Xu Xiaoyan. I¡¯m 10 years old and my martial soul is the Starwheel Ice Staff. My soul power is at rank 17.¡±


    The corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth began to twitch when he heard her last sentence.


    Noticing Xu Xiaoyan the moment he arrived, he originally thought, She¡¯s a new student? A transfer student? He mistakenly assumed that with his recent progress, his soul power would at least outrank the new student¡¯s. He didn¡¯t expect that instead, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s soul power surpassed his.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Over the next month, you need to prove your strength and adaptability with class zero. At the end, I will decide whether or not you will stay.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xu Xiaoyan cutely answered.


    Wu Zhangkong turned to the other three. ¡°You¡¯ve had a month to rest, so I need to test your bodies again as well as run another combat test. You have half an hour to meditate and prepare.¡± He turned back to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Same for you.¡±


    Considering Tang Wulin¡¯s recent near explosion from absorbing an excess of spirit energy, Wu Zhangkong was curious about the other children¡¯s progress; only with accurate data could he properly plan out their curriculum. Since he knew that they wouldn¡¯t be so lucky every time, he wanted to avoid another similar problem cropping up in the future.


    In the results that followed, however, his usual calm bearing was breached.


    There weren¡¯t any major changes in their physical strengths. Only Tang Wulin¡¯s number observed a slight increase, but it was nothing of note except to Xu Xiaoyan who was left stupefied.


    She wanted to turn to Xie Xie and ask, Is this guy even human? Are you sure he isn¡¯t a soul beast?


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s body strength was feeble to the point of being tragic, no different from an ordinary person¡¯s.


    What shocked Wu Zhangkong instead were the results of the spiritual power test.


    The first to take the test was Xie Xie.


    His spiritual power had surprisingly broken past 50 and was now at 59. Finally progressing from the Spirit Origin realm to the Spirit Connection realm, he could now upgrade his spirit soul to the thousand-year level.


    The second to go according to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s plan was the newcomer, Xu Xiaoyan. He believed that since the academy allowed such a physically weak girl to join class zero, her special strength must lie in a combination of spiritual power and her ice-attribute trait.


    Contrary to his expectations, however, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s spiritual power was at 61 points, placing her in the Spirit Connection realm. Strangely enough, she only just barely eclipsed Xie Xie in this respect yet it seemed to be her strongest point.


    Tang Wulin went next; his results left Wu Zhangkong and his classmates utterly flabbergasted.


    ¡°212 points?¡± Xie Xie read out the displayed number, incomprehension clear in his voice.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, are you sure there¡¯s no problem with the machine?¡± Xie Xie blankly stared at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was also shocked. 212 points? My spiritual power went straight from the elementary level to the intermediate level of Spirit Connection?


    The threshold for the intermediate level was 150 points while the advanced level was 350 points. Once it reached 500 points, he would enter the Spirit Sea realm, marking a major breakthrough in his strength that would increase by leaps and bounds. Then he would join the vast number of powerful experts at the Spirit Sea realm.


    His mediocre spiritual power had surpassed Gu Yue''s first monstrous result now. A spiritual power of 212 points was enough to make the hearts of geniuses tremble.


    Xu Xiaoyan finally understood why Tang Wulin was the captain. Isn¡¯t this too monstrous? He¡¯s only ten years old and has 212 points of spiritual power? Her bafflement deepened further when she considered spiritual power¡¯s trend of rapid growth until twenty years of age before its growth would slow to a crawl.


    Having over 200 points at ten-years-old meant that even if he halted all cultivation, his spiritual power was still guaranteed to reach the Spirit Sea realm. He would then have the foundation of spiritual power to become a powerful figure!


    ¡°Heavens! Boss, what elixir did you drink this last month? How did your spiritual power increase by over one hundred?¡± Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin, his expression disbelieving.


    Tang Wulin understood the reason behind his monstrous results since he had absorbed the spirit energy of the Three-Eyed Demon Ape. The ape¡¯s energy changed his spiritual power in a method that was wrought with danger, yet he succeeded and made a breakthrough in his spiritual power.


    ¡°Gu Yue, your turn.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s momentary astonishment vanished, returning his expression to normal shortly after. Similar to Tang Wulin, he presumed the cause of the tremendous growth could only be attributed to the Three-Eyed Demon Ape.


    ¡°T-two-hundred-seventy-eight?¡± Once more, they were stunned, but this time by Gu Yue¡¯s number.


    Gu Yue clipped her chin towards Tang Wulin as if to say, ¡®I¡¯m still better than you!¡¯


    A trace of a smile crept onto Wu Zhangkong¡¯s lips. These two brats are really starting to look like monsters.

 Chapter 184 - Tang Wulins Thousand-Year Soul Ring

    Chapter 184 - Tang Wulin''s Thousand-Year Soul Ring


    Xu Xiaoyan had thought one month was plenty of time to prove herself but after seeing these numbers, she finally understood how large the gap between her and the other three.


    Xu Xiaoyan raised her hand. ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡¯d like to test my spiritual power again at night.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Wu Zhangkong turned to look at her. ¡°Does the night affect your spiritual power?¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Xu Xiaoyan nodded.


    This had been her greatest secret, but her competitive nature dragged it out of her.


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°The combat test will begin in a moment. You¡¯ll battle in pairs; Tang Wulin with Xu Xiaoyan, Xie Xie with Gu Yue.¡± Wu Zhangkong instructed.


    Xie Xie went silent. Gu Yue frowned and said, ¡°Teacher Wu, that¡¯s not fair. We have two rings, while they only have one ring. We should pair a one ring with a two ring. How about I go with Wulin, and the agile Xie Xie pairs with Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Starwheel Ice Staff? Xie Xie¡¯s soul power is the highest after all.¡±


    Her words nearly caused Xie Xie to be in tears. Just how much do you loathe me! Notwithstanding the fact that my soul power is the highest, if you pair up with Tang Wulin, how am is my group supposed to fight? In his eyes, Xu Xiaoyan was like a child brought from a previous marriage, void of any hope.


    ¡°Do as I said. Who said that a battle must be fair?¡± Wu Zhangkong said indifferently.


    ?


    Xu Xiaoyan stood next to Tang Wulin while Xie Xie and Gu Yue stood opposite of them. A mysterious calming aura exuded from Tang Wulin, giving her with a sense of security.


    ¡°Do you have the same aptitude as your brother?¡± Tang Wulin asked Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan nodded. ¡°I¡¯m a long-ranged elemental attacker like him. My first soul skill is the same as my brother, Ice Wheel, although my control is a bit better than his. Actually, I¡¯m a lot more powerful at night.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that it¡¯s still daytime. Well, whatever. Try to stay behind me; I¡¯ll protect you. Let¡¯s do our best together.¡± His impression of Xu Xiaoyu wasn¡¯t anything good especially after the incident with Ouyang Zixin, but he harbored no malice toward Xu Xiaoyan. In fact, he sympathized with her when Wu Zhangkong had said that she only had one month to prove herself. Her situation reminded him of the pressure he was under before his Bluesilver Grass had mutated.


    ¡°Mn, mn.¡± Xu Xiaoyan repeatedly nodded.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start then. Do your best.¡± Wu Zhangkong said from a distance.


    ¡°Then Wulin, I won¡¯t be polite. Wahaha!¡± A strange laugh left Xie Xie¡¯s mouth and a moment later, he sped towards Tang Wulin like the wind. It was obvious that he had spent his one month vacation improving, not playing around as he had said.


    Gu Yue raised her hand and shot fireballs at Tang Wulin while enveloping Xie Xie in the wind element. She slowly advanced upon her opponents.


    She¡¯s firing from so far away? Would it reach us?


    They were still separated by fifty meters. From Tang Wulin¡¯s knowledge, there was no way the fireball could fly that far.


    However, Gu Yue soon displayed the might of having 278 points of spiritual power.


    After flying ten meters, the fireball suddenly split into five small collinear fireballs. Each consecutive one sped up and rammed into the one in front from behind until they compressed together into a far more powerful and swift fireball.


    It was smaller compared to the original fireball, and an orange hue surrounded it now. It shot towards Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach like like an artillery shell.


    An ear-piercing blast tore through the air as heat mirages tailed the tangerine ball of flame.


    Xie Xie nearly jumped in fright when the little flame whizzed past him.


    The fireball finally arrived in front of Tang Wulin. He had never looked down upon Gu Yue¡¯s strength. Though he had never dueled her, he knew that she could easily restrain him, so he didn¡¯t use his Heavy Silver Hammers.


    After his trip to Heaven Dou City, he understood now that strength stemmed from one¡¯s self. Even battle armor merely enhanced one¡¯s own abilities.


    His eyes flashed violet as he abruptly stepped forward with his left foot and his right fist exploded out in a magnificent straight. Golden scales appeared in a wave on his arm while Bluesilver Grass blossomed behind him like a peacock spreading its tail. Several strands wrapped around Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s waist, connecting her to him, while the remaining strands weaved together to form a protective screen.


    Boom!


    His fist smashed into the fireball. A blazing explosion erupted, illuminating his sparkling golden scales. Under the tyrannical might of his fist, not a single spark landed on his body and the remaining vestiges were promptly obstructed by his Bluesilver Grass.


    Xie Xie sucked in a deep breath while he charged at Tang Wulin.


    When a brilliant purple soul ring arose from beneath Tang Wulin¡¯s feet, his expression froze in shock.


    Purple? That¡¯s a thousand-year soul ring!


    Goldlight slithered onto Tang Wulin¡¯s left arm. Now a full foot in length, it could coil three times around Tang Wulin¡¯s arm.


    Goldlight emitted a golden brilliance that turned all of Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass gold. The grass¡¯s veins became distinct and the strands emitted a sapphire radiance.


    Thousand-year? When did he evolve his spirit soul again? And it¡¯s thousand-year?


    Not only were the combatants flabbergasted, Long Hengxu, who had dropped by to observe, was beyond stupefied.


    Wu Zhangkong had told Long Hengxu to come watch this morning¡¯s battle in response to his doubts over Tang Wulin.


    The moment Long Hengxu arrived, he was greeted with a magnificent violet.


    It was in this split second that Long Hengxu realized that the academy¡¯s investment into class zero was worth it! Despite Tang Wulin only having one ring right now, it was a purple ring! This was an even better surprise than him possessing three rings! It was guaranteed that Tang Wulin would have soul rings at the thousand-year level and above. He couldn¡¯t be considered a genius anymore; he was a monster! No wonder Wu Zhangkong said class zero only accepts monsters and not ordinary people. That motto came from Shrek Academy and is their source of confidence and strength!


    The peacock tail-like of Bluesilver Grass went into a frenzy as Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes. Right this moment, he was filled with a new and weird sensation. He could sense the vitality of each strand of Bluesilver Grass he had released; they were all connected to his mind and he could exercise complete control over them.


    His Bluesilver Grass¡¯s thickness hadn¡¯t changed, but its very essence had undergone a qualitative change during his spirit soul¡¯s evolution. If they were said to be merely vines before, then now they were living snakes. Each strand was quick-witted, tenacious, strong, and in his control.


    This was his thousand-year Bluesilver Grass!


    Xie Xie was already within ten meters of Tang Wulin but he immediately backflipped and slashed out a Light Dragon Blade at the sight of Tang Wulin¡¯s transformed Bluesilver Grass. He also summoned his Shadow Dragon Dagger.


    The Bluesilver Grass knitted together in front of Tang Wulin to form a shield against the Light Dragon Blade.


    Light burst out in the clash between the Bluesilver Grass and the Light Dragon Blade. A moment later, the result proved unexpected. Not a single scratch was apparent on the shield of Bluesilver Grass.


    Sharing! Upon reaching the thousand-year level, his Bluesilver Grass gained the ability to mitigate damage by spreading it equally between every strand.


    This sharing wasn¡¯t a soul skill, but an ability derived from Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power control. The number of strands he could spread the damage over was wholly dependent on the number of strands he could control in that split-second.


    You want to run?


    The defensive formation of Bluesilver Grass instantly transformed into an array of spears chasing after Xie Xie. Tang Wulin activated his first soul skill, Bind!


    This was the thousand-year soul skill, Bind!


    Strand after strand of of Bluesilver Grass weaved together to form a giant net in the air. Tang Wulin recalled the difficulty they had with battling the Man-Faced Demon Spider and its dangerous spider webs. With his Bind now at the thousand-year level, he could easily imitate that spider.


    Control subdued agility, this was a known fact in the Soul Master world.


    Before, Tang Wulin¡¯s ability to control was weak and was completely unable to restrain Xie Xie¡¯s agility. Now that his first soul skill had ascended to the thousand-year level, however, everything changed.

 Chapter 185 - The Power of Thousand-Year Bluesilver Grass

    Chapter 185 - The Power of Thousand-Year Bluesilver Grass


    Xie Xie¡¯s response was just as swift. He instantly activated his second soul skill, Light Dragon Storm, and spun like a whirlwind while attacking Tang Wulin.


    But the Bluesilver Grass was too quick and tenacious! Each time Xie Xie shredded the grass another wave would overwhelm him a moment later, eroding at the power of his Light Dragon Storm.


    This isn¡¯t good!


    Xie Xie sucked in a deep breath. He descended from the air and launched a second Shadow Dragon Storm. The two skills merged together, increasing its power and speed. He returned to Gu Yue, his speed so fast that he seemed like a phantom.


    The Light Dragon Storm and the Shadow Dragon Storm combined to make the Twin Dragon Storm!


    This was Xie Xie¡¯s greatest accomplishment over the last month. After all, who wouldn¡¯t feel pressured to improve in such an environment?


    Tang Wulin was momentarily stunned. He had believed that his thousand-year Bind could easily restrain Xie Xie, but he hadn¡¯t expected Xie Xie to progress this much.


    Xie Xie landed far away, his complexion pale at the unpleasant oppression he had felt and the massive consumption of soul power by the Twin Dragon Storm.


    Gu Yue halted her advance. She gave Tang Wulin a thumbs up, an amused smile gracing her face as her eyes glittered.


    Having known each other for so long now, Tang Wulin naturally understood her intention; she wanted to battle seriously now.


    Xie Xie dashed out from the side. As an Agility System Soul Master, he shouldn¡¯t have charged from the front anyway. Meanwhile, Gu Yue waved her arms and summoned an array of elemental attacks that surrounded Tang Wulin from all sides.


    If it was Tang Wulin¡¯s previous self, he would have been hard pressed to deal with such an assault. But he had changed. His Bluesilver Grass slithered through the air as it weaved into a large net to shield him from the onslaught of elements. It was a battle of attrition now.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s advantage lay in his thousand-year spirit soul which minimized his consumption while Gu Yue¡¯s lay in her Elemental Tide and her control of the elements, which also had a relatively low consumption rate. Gu Yue gradually gained the upper hand in this battle with her higher cultivate base. After all, the two were a Soul Master and a Soul Grandmaster, separated by a whole realm!


    Yet, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t worried at all. He hadn¡¯t forgotten that Gu Yue had no one to protect her!


    Tang Wulin had completely disregarded Xie Xie¡ªwho was on the peripheral of the battle¡ªand charged toward Gu Yue.


    As long as he took out Gu Yue, then Xie Xie would be no problem. He hadn¡¯t even taken Xu Xiaoyan into consideration. They had never worked together before and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s strength was a mystery to him, so he had treated the battle as a one on two from the very beginning.


    With his thousand-year Bluesilver Grass and his intermediate level Spirit Connection realm spiritual power, he had infinite possibilities to attack and defend.


    The sharing ability of Bluesilver Grass alleviated any fear Tang Wulin had toward Gu Yue¡¯s six element assault. Of course, his confidence only lasted as long as his soul power did.


    With such a restriction placed on him,what he needed to do now was use a blitzkrieg strategy.


    Gu Yue ran backwards to escape from Tang Wulin¡¯s charge. Although her speed couldn''t compare with Tang Wulin¡¯s, each step bought her precious seconds.


    She threw up her hands and made some complicated hand gestures that forth two balls of light, one cobalt and the other crimson. Waves of unstable power rippled out as the two fused. Gu Yue quickly threw it toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin would have directly crashed into the fused elemental ball had he not cultivated the Purple Demon Eyes. Fortunately, he had and could clearly discern how volatile this fusion of ice and fire was!


    She combined the two opposing elements, fire and ice? Although the fusion was unstable, he couldn¡¯t fathom how Gu Yue managed to reach this state in the beginning! Even though the fusion was only temporary, its true power lay in it exploding!


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t hesitate to command Goldlight to retreat.


    Goldlight shot into the air, carefully avoiding the ball of ice and fire by gently deflecting it with a wiggle of its tail. At the same time, Tang Wulin saw an alarming violet glint in Gu Yue¡¯s eyes.


    A wave of dizziness struck her as she lost control over the elemental ball. The ball, deflected by Goldlight¡¯s tail swipe, flew off to the side towards the bystanders.


    Tang Wulin took advantage of this opening to close the distance between them and use Bind on her.


    Not only did the Purple Demon Eyes enhance eyesight, it could also send a powerful spiritual attack. Once cultivated to a sufficiently high level, one could kill with just a simple look.


    With Tang Wulin¡¯s talent for Purple Demon eyes, he had made rapid progress. Though he couldn¡¯t kill with a glance yet, he could easily disturb his opponent¡¯s mind.


    In this state, Gu Yue¡¯s hands moved too slowly to defend herself. By the time she regained lucidity, Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass was already in front of her.


    In this moment of crisis, Gu Yue used her strongest element, disappearing in a flash of silver light. This was her control over space!


    In the next instant, the strands of grass that had swept out grabbed nothing but air.


    Incredulity spread across Tang Wulin¡¯s face. Just when he thought Gu Yue had evaded far away from him, she appeared before him in a flash of light!


    That was right, she had chosen to teleport right in front of him. She thrusted an azure palm at his chest.


    Her actions had been too unexpected for Tang Wulin to even process, let alone react to! She had rushed past his net and turned the most dangerous area into the safest area! Against all his expectations, she charged right into his arms!


    He only had one option now: to retaliate with his Golden Dragon Claw! He was confident that even if he froze over, there was a fifty percent chance he could hit her back; but there was also a chance that she would immediately crumble apart under his claw. This was the claw that could kill a thousand-year soul beast!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s subconscious was in a state of chaos. His raised right arm lowered a moment later. She¡¯s my comrade! A loss is just a loss!


    But at that instant, Gu Yue¡¯s palm struck a white light that had enveloped Tang Wulin¡¯s chest instead!


    A chill swept out from his chest, repelling Gu Yue¡¯s palm.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t let this chance slip away. He immediately summoned his Bluesilver Grass to restrain Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin lightly pinched Gu Yue¡¯s neck with his claw, interrupting her control over the elements.


    He looked back at Xu Xiaoyan in astonishment. Her ice staff was raised and pointed in his direction and her expression the definition of smug.


    Xie Xie was the most miserable one.


    He hadn¡¯t expected Gu Yue¡¯s attack to come flying his way.


    He had just finished his preparations to break through Tang Wulin¡¯s defences with his Twin Dragon Storm and join Gu Yue in a coordinated attack, but who would¡¯ve expected that the ball of fire and ice would  out of nowhere and explode!


    The violent blast let Xie Xie experience what was called two heavens of fire and ice.

 Chapter 186 - Welcome to Class Zero

    Chapter 186 - Welcome to Class Zero


    The two elements worked in tandem, the ice freezing Xie Xie while the flame scorched him¡ªa terrifying combination. Had he not quickly reacted by using his Light Dragon Storm to mitigate the majority of the blast, he would have ended up in a far worse condition.


    Just as he celebrated his survival, an ice wheel slammed into his back out of nowhere. Disbelief spread across his face as his body went rigid and toppled over.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass trap untangled itself as he released one hand from Gu Yue¡¯s neck while supporting her with the other on her waist, thus restoring her mobility.


    Their bodies were so close that Gu Yue could enjoy Tang Wulin¡¯s clean and crisp scent. She could have easily escaped his trap by teleporting, continuing the battle and eventually winning through guerilla tactics. She chose instead to let him grab her, as only in close combat could she have a chance of defeating him in one strike.


    The result, however, went against her expectations. She had lost. She and Xie Xie had both lost.


    The battle might have looked like Tang Wulin was fighting alone against the two of them from start to finish, but, as observers, Wu Zhangkong and Long Hengxu had clearly seen Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s two decisive moves. Her actions had been made at the exact moments needed to turn the tide of battle.


    This girl¡¯s perception and control are pretty good. She supported Tang Wulin excellently. Even compared to her peers, she is excellent!


    Upon arriving at this conclusion, Wu Zhangkong met eyes with Long Hengxu and the two exchanged nods of tacit understanding.


    Long Hengxu approved of Tang Wulin, while Wu Zhangkong was beginning to approve of Xu Xiaoyan.


    ¡°You took many risks,¡± Tang Wulin said as he released Gu Yue.


    She snorted. ¡°I was just afraid I would hurt you. otherwise, I would have used even more elements that you can¡¯t defend against.¡±


    Tang Wulin came to a startling realization. That¡¯s right! Gu Yue can control many more elements; water, fire, earth, wind, light and even space. Each and every one of them is powerful. Ice is an extension of water, but it¡¯s not necessarily her strongest ability. With her control, she could have attacked me with three elements at once!


    I went easy with my Golden Dragon Claw, but wasn¡¯t she going easy on me too?


    An awkward smile tugged at his lips. ¡°You¡¯re still the most amazing.¡±


    Gu Yue laughed. ¡°You¡¯re amazing too! You would¡¯ve injured me if I didn¡¯t restrain you in time.¡±


    ¡°Ow, ow! I know you guys are busy admiring each other, but can you spare some time to help your good friend off the floor?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s painful groans interrupted their exchange. He painstakingly crawled back to his feet with an irritated expression.


    Only Xu Xiaoyan was nice enough to walk over and help him up.


    Xie Xie looked at her and rolled his eyes. ¡°Is slicing me up that fun?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled and revealed a harmless, toothy smile.


    The other two students walked over. Tang Wulin extended a hand to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Welcome to class zero.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan accepted the handshake. ¡°Thank you, class captain. You guys are too awesome though! The only thing I could do was look for opportunities to aid you.¡±


    Her words were not exaggerated. As soon as the battle begun, she found that the most she could do was just stand there foolishly!


    These guys, are they really monsters? How is this Tang Wulin¡¯s soul ring at the thousand-year level? Isn¡¯t the limit for the first soul ring about four hundred years? Even if he used some heavenly treasures, there¡¯s no way he could upgrade it to the thousand-year level! Only at three rings do people begin to have thousand-year soul rings!


    Xie Xie¡¯s swiftness and Gu Yue¡¯s control over six elements also instilled an equally deep shock. She felt utterly insignificant in front of these three monsters.


    But she had keen observation skills and hadn¡¯t acted blindly, waiting instead for the right opportunity to act. She knew she couldn¡¯t even hope to compare with this trio during the day, so she had to do her best to at least leave a good impression by grabbing any chance she got to display her strength.


    Opportunities would always come to those who were well prepared. Her success served to prove this statement.


    Two one-ringed Soul Masters had prevailed over two two-ringed Soul Grandmasters. The very notion of this coming to pass was inconceivable, yet they had accomplished it.


    Long Hengxu walked over to Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Now I have more confidence in your class. I¡¯m sure I can persuade the president to increase your resources. Teacher Wu, is there anything you need?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°The children could use more nutritious food. Nutrients are very important at their age. The martial soul is an extension of the body; it needs to be properly nourished.¡±


    Long Hengxu forced a smile. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be an issue if they all had normal appetites, but Tang Wulin is just a glutton He can clean out all the food the first window makes!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong indifferently said, ¡°You¡¯ve seen his strength and his thousand-year soul ring; do you think they just appeared out of thin air? That he can grow so strong just from eating is amazing in and of itself.¡±


    ¡°I guess there¡¯s some sense to that,¡± Long Hengxu muttered.


    Wu Zhangkong added, ¡°Eastsea City is rich in many kinds of seafood, of which some are highly nourishing sacred foods. Get some for the children. They need sturdy foundations to grow.¡±


    Long Hengxu nodded reluctantly. ¡°I¡¯ll tell the president. Teacher Wu, keep in mind that the president is facing a lot of pressure because of class zero. Just counting the cost for admittance to the spirit ascension platform, the amount of resources invested into class zero is enormous. Thankfully, things have been successful so far; you even managed to train a monster like Tang Wulin. What the academy truly desires, however, is glory. You understand, right? The academy wants your students to participate in the Skysea Alliance Tournament. You should prepare for it. Even if they don¡¯t place too high, they need to at least amaze people and win the academy some fame. The goal is to have them win the Outstanding Newcomer Award or the Outstanding Newcomer Group Award.¡±


    ¡°The Skysea Alliance Tournament?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes flashed with comprehension and he nodded without the slightest hesitation. ¡°I have no problems with fulfilling their request.¡±


    Long Hengxu stared at Wu Zhangkong in surprise. He had assumed Wu Zhangkong would refuse since the children were only ten years old, yet he had readily accepted.


    ¡°You agree?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°The best method to temper someone is through real combat. So far, they¡¯ve only focused their energy on cultivating and they lack combat experience. This is a good opportunity to fix that issue.¡±


    ¡°Excellent! I was worried you might not agree. I will immediately report this matter. I can guarantee you¡ªuntil the Skysea Alliance Tournament starts, your meals won¡¯t be lacking even when compared to those at the Shrek Academy! This time, the academy is going to spend all of its capital.¡±


    ¡°Good!¡±


    ¡°All of you, come here.¡± Wu Zhangkong stepped onto the arena and beckoned to the children.


    The four students quickly ran over.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded and turned to Tang Wulin. ¡°You still need to practice more. There were too many holes in your defences.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Teacher Wu.¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t contain his excitement. Now that his soul ring was at the thousand-year level, his combat strength and control precision had skyrocketed! He believed that after breaking the second Golden Dragon King seal, his Bluesilver Grass would evolve once more and receive another huge power up.


    Wu Zhangkong turned to Gu Yue. ¡°You were a bit unfocused. You should be stronger than that.¡±


    Gu Yue lowered her head and said quietly, ¡°But we¡¯re teammates, not enemies.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°You¡¯ve progressed quickly. Continue striving hard to improve. As for you¡­¡±


    He turned to Xie Xie. ¡°You¡¯ll have to put in more effort if you want to keep up with them.¡±


    The corner of Xie Xie¡¯s mouth began to twitch. I really can¡¯t catch a break! Or is it just that Wulin and Gu Yue improve too quickly?


    Wu Zhangkong finally turned to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°You have some ability. Just remember that you only have one month to prove yourself. Alright, you¡¯re dismissed for the day. Tomorrow, we¡¯ll start training. I will be your opponent for three fights every day.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin, Gu Yue and Xie Xie said with bitter faces. Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyan couldn¡¯t contain her excitement and eagerness towards the following day. I heard this ruthless and handsome Teacher Wu is really strong. I wonder just how strong he is though?


    ¡°I will be using my soul skills.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s left after speaking these shocking words, his white robe fluttering in the breeze.


    ¡°Sou-soul skill?¡± Xie Xie stammered. ¡°Did I hear that right? Just who is Teacher Wu? Why does he need to use soul skills against us? Did he make some mistake?¡±


    Tang Wulin gaped in disbelief. He had personally witnessed the might of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s soul skills and knew that even if he suppressed his cultivation to their rank while only using Frost Scars and Frost Mist, it was more than enough to slaughter them.

 Chapter 187 - Forging at the Skysea Alliance Tournament!

    Chapter 187 - Forging at the Skysea Alliance Tournament!


    ¡°It seems like we need to start studying tactics properly,¡± Tang Wulin said earnestly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll plan in our room,¡± Xie Xie replied.


    To them, Wu Zhangkong was a goliath that they had to face.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s soul communicator rang. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw that it read ¡°Teacher¡± and immediately knew who was calling.


    ¡°Wulin, come see me as soon as you¡¯re free. I have something to talk to you about.¡± Mu Chen¡¯s voice was lower, different from his usual calm self.


    ¡°Yes. Teacher, I¡¯m free at the moment so I¡¯ll go right away.¡± Although Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know what the matter was, Mu Chen had always treated him well. He naturally had to show respect in return.


    ¡°Mn. I¡¯ll be waiting.¡±


    Tang Wulin hung up and turned to his friends. ¡°I need to pay a visit to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. You guys go ahead and talk without me. Just update me when I return. However, I¡¯ll give you a rundown of Teacher Wu¡¯s soul skills first. We will most likely be facing his first soul skill, Frost Scar, and his second soul skill, Frost Mist¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin continued to explain what he had observed of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s first two soul skills. By the time he left for the Blacksmith¡¯s Association in a hurry, everyone was still gaping in shock at the tales of their teacher¡¯s power.


    Tang Wulin discovered that there were other people there as well when he arrived at Mu Chen¡¯s office. Apart from Mu Chen, Cen Yue and Mu Xi were also present. Mu Xi had clearly rushed over as soon as the ceremony had finished.


    ¡°Teacher.¡± Tang Wulin bowed to Mu Chen.


    ¡°Mn. Take a seat.¡± Mu Chen pointed to the two-seater sofa in front of his desk. Cen Yue was already sitting in one of its spots, and Mu Xi stood at Mu Chen¡¯s side. This pampered girl stared at Tang Wulin with an odd expression that she had never shown him before.


    When Tang Wulin sat down, he discovered a familiar object on the desk. It was a cerulean metal with irregular, life-like veins running through it. Depending on the angle from which one looked at it, the lines would take on a completely different appearance.


    It was the rare metal, Blue Coppertite. It had a powerful innate ability to amplify soul power, but its internal composition was highly complex and wrought with numerous impurities. Only after being Thousand Refined could it be used to make goods.


    Tang Wulin only needed a single glance to recognize that he had Thousand Refined this chunk himself. After all, to Thousand Refine, a blacksmith had to grow extremely familiar with the item and treat it as if it were their own child.


    ¡°Do you recognize this?¡± Mu Chen said with a frown.


    ¡°Yes, I do.¡± Tang Wulin shot up from his seat and stood straight as a pillar. ¡°Teacher, did I do something wrong?¡±


    Cen Yue awkwardly smiled at Tang Wulin. ¡°No, it¡¯s not that you did something wrong, but you did something too well. Did you know that you¡¯re quickly approaching your teacher¡¯s level?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin gave Cen Yue a blank stare.


    Mu Chen said, ¡°Tell me what the characteristics of Blue Coppertite are.¡±


    Tang Wulin quickly answered, ¡°Blue Coppertite is a type of copper alloy that is composed of thirty percent copper, a trace of coppertite, and a variety of other trace elements. Coppertite is a special compound and the origin of the metal¡¯s name. It¡¯s an excellent conductor of soul power and is even called a soul power amplifier. Soul Masters usually choose this metal when building their battle armors, but since it has numerous impurities and a complex internal structure, it is extremely difficult to forge. It cannot be properly Hundred Refined and instead needs the Thousand Refinement to purify it. Only when the properties of Blue Coppertite have been stabilized and condensed can it be considered completely Thousand Refined. Its value¡ª¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± Mu Chen interrupted him. ¡°Not only have we verified that this is the Blue Coppertite you forged, we¡¯ve also determined that it¡¯s at the peak of the second-grade. In other words, it¡¯s only one step away from being a first-grade metal. Do you understand what this means?¡±


    Tang Wulin mumbled, ¡°More money?¡±


    Cen Yue burst into laughter.


    Mu Xi helplessly said, ¡°Do you only have eyes for money?¡±


    Mu Chen shot a glance of annoyance at his daughter, warning her not to say anything else.


    Tang Wulin sunk into thought.


    Is it bad if I¡¯m focused on money?  Blacksmithing is currently the only way I have to make money, and who knows how much I¡¯ll need in the future.


    ¡°This means that you are on the verge of Spirit Refinement.¡± Mu Chen¡¯s words startled Tang Wulin out of his thoughts of self-doubt.


    On the verge of Spirit Refinement? Dazed, Tang Wulin raised his head to look at his teacher.


    In a deep baritone, Mu Chen said, ¡°Thousand Refinement is also known as Half-Spirit Refinement. This is because, at that point, blacksmiths are able breathe life and spirit into metal which they can then shape according to their will, improving the quality of the final product. Second-grade Blue Coppertite can amplify the power of a battle armor part by 110 percent, while first-grade Blue Coppertite can amplify it by 112 percent. If it were Spirit Refined, it would amplify the power of a battle armor part by 115 percent.


    ¡°This is why anyone in the blacksmithing world who can produce a first-grade metal is only a step away from becoming a Spirit Blacksmith. I inspected the metals you handed in to complete your tasks, and most of them were of the second-grade. This means you¡¯re already a fourth rank blacksmith.¡±


    Fourth rank?


    These two words finally made Tang Wulin realize the significance of his second-grade products.


    According to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association''s regulations, one needed to be able to Thousand Refine and shape two metals in a row to become a fourth rank blacksmith. Yet Mu Chen said that he was already a fourth rank blacksmith since he could forge second-grade metals. This was the first time he had heard of something like this.


    ¡°Do you find this strange? What I¡¯m saying is different from the association¡¯s regulations, right?¡± Mu Chen asked.


    ¡°Mn. It¡¯s a bit strange. I haven¡¯t even tried forging a mecha component yet,¡± Tang Wulin probed.


    Mu Chen sighed. ¡°The association doesn¡¯t have this in writing because very few people are able to forge second-rank metals before becoming a fourth rank blacksmith, not to mention you who has a success rate of over 50 percent. My original plan was to have you rest during this time as it might help with your comprehension, but you¡¯re just too amazing. You¡¯ve really surprised all of us and made major progress!. According to the unwritten rules of the blacksmithing world, just having a 20 percent success rate in forging second-grade metal makes someone worthy of becoming a fourth rank blacksmith. In light of this, congratulations!¡±


    Fourth rank? That means I can accept even harder tasks that will bring in twice as much money! If I can reach Spirit Refinement, then the money will more than just double!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes began to shine.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this little money grubber only imagining how much money he can make now?¡± a gentle voice sounded off to the side.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin unwittingly grunted in agreement, but a strange feeling came over him soon afterward. He saw that Mu Xi was standing at his side, clearly harboring some evil plans for him.


    Mu Xi let out a disdainful laugh. ¡°Dad, just look at how immature your disciple is. All he knows is money. He doesn¡¯t even have a dream.¡±


    ¡°Be quiet,¡± Mu Chen said in displeasure. ¡°You¡¯ve always been given what you wanted, but him? If he didn¡¯t need money to live, would he have to care about it at such a young age? Wulin, just ignore her. There¡¯s nothing wrong with wanting money. We¡¯re a business after all, and a business is all about money. It¡¯s good that you¡¯re currently saving money. It¡¯ll help when you are able to Spirit Refine.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Does Spirit Refining cost money?¡± Tang Wulin stared at Mu Chen in shock.

 Chapter 188 - Thousand Refined Blue Coppertite

    Chapter 188 - Thousand Refined Blue Coppertite


    Mu Chen nodded. ¡°The rarer the metal is, the easier it is for a blacksmith to Spirit Refine it. You have to buy your own metal when the time comes because if you fail to Spirit Refine it, the metal would become worthless. It wouldn¡¯t be suitable to be handed in for tasks since the value would be too low. Considering your talent, the association will gift you some metal at that time, but you¡¯ll still need to buy a lot of it yourself. Every blacksmith suffers when it¡¯s time for them to attempt Spirit Refinement.¡±


    Cen Yue laughed mischievously. ¡°It¡¯s not just suffering. It took me five years to pay off my debt, and Mang Tian still hasn¡¯t finished paying his yet. Why else do you think he accepts so many tasks?¡±


    Tang Wulin swallowed his saliva.


    Teacher Mang Tian still hasn¡¯t repaid his debt? Just how much does he still have?


    Mu Chen shook his head. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s not talk about such things just yet. I called you here today for two things. The first was to confirm your status as a fourth rank blacksmith. You need to Thousand Refine two metals in a row and submit it. If one of them is a second-rank product, we can end your test there and officially make you a fourth rank blacksmith.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Thank you, teacher.¡± In the end, Tang Wulin was still a child. Although the potential cost of Spirit Refinement made him anxious, he could easily distract his mind from a matter that was so far in the future.


    He remembered that Spirit Refinement wasn¡¯t just a forging technique¡ªit required one to have at least three soul rings to succeed. Considering this, Tang Wulin had plenty of time until he gained his third ring.


    Mu Chen said, ¡°You¡¯ve earned fourth rank status much faster than I expected, so I want you to broaden your horizons now. In the near future, the five great eastern coastal cities will be holding the Skysea Alliance Tournament, a grand tournament that is held once every three years. There are competitions for everyone¡ªMecha Masters, Battle Armor Masters, Soul Masters, blacksmiths, mecha craftsmen, mecha designers, mechanics, and so on. The events are divided according to age. There is a division for those aged fifteen and under, a division for youths aged fifteen to twenty, and a division for adults aged twenty to thirty. Anything beyond that is too old. I plan to have you and Mu Xi represent Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association in the blacksmith competition for those aged fifteen and below.¡±


    The Skysea Alliance Tournament?


    The name of the tournament itself piqued Tang Wulin¡¯s interest. ¡°Teacher, will I be competing with young blacksmiths from other cities at this tournament?¡±


    Mu Chen nodded. ¡°That¡¯s correct. You only have one objective: to come back as the champion. I¡¯m convinced that there aren¡¯t any blacksmiths in the fifteen and under division that will be more remarkable than you. Don¡¯t you want to earn money? This is a good opportunity to do that. The champion¡¯s prize is three million federal coins. In addition, the association will award you with ten chunks of rare metals if you win. That should save you plenty of money when you attempt Spirit Refinement.¡±


    The chunks of rare metal that Mu Chen mentioned had dimensions of approximately a third of a meter on each side.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll listen to you.¡± Tang Wulin was already eager for the tournament.


    Teacher Mu Chen said it would be easy for me to win the championship and win a lot of money! At the very least, it¡¯ll be enough to pay Teacher Wu back.


    Mu Chen nodded. ¡°The Skysea Alliance Tournament is hosted by the five great eastern coastal cities. As a result, it is also called the Grand Banquet of the Sea and the Sky. I¡¯m absolutely certain that you will shine brilliantly and bring glory to our Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association.¡±


    ¡°Yes, teacher.¡±


    Mu Xi pouted. ¡°Dad, I could do that even if we didn¡¯t have him.¡±


    Mu Chen shot her a glance. ¡°You think you can win? Even if you¡¯re a genius, all your competitors will also be geniuses! With Wulin here, victory is certain. You only need to work hard and prepare to attempt the Thousand Refinements. This time, the minimum requirement to participate is middle-grade Hundred Refined. They will assess you more carefully after you meet this requirement.¡±


    The Grand Banquet of the Sky and the Sea... the Skysea Alliance Tournament.


    Tang Wulin carved these words into his heart.


    ¡°Let¡¯s conduct your test then, Wulin. Mu Xi, you come along too. You can watch and learn from Wulin.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Strangely enough, Mu Xi didn¡¯t put up as much of a fight this time. She simply gave her father a cute nod.


    Only four people were present in the forging room: Tang Wulin, Mu Chen, Mu Xi, and Cen Yue. Mu Chen personally selected two metals for Tang Wulin to forge, one of which was Blue Coppertite.


    Mu Chen¡¯s astonishment regarding Tang Wulin¡¯s accomplishment could be attributed to two things. One was the sheer difficulty of Thousand Refining Blue Coppertite to the second-grade. It was even harder than forging a first-grade product using an ordinary metal. The second was the speed of Tang Wulin¡¯s development¡ªit was so fast that the only thing holding him back was his soul power. Tang Wulin currently only had a single ring, but Mu Chen was sure that he would reach Spirit Refinement within three years if he had three rings.


    Soul power, however, was extremely hard to increase! There was nothing he could do unless he spoil things by getting ahead of himself. The more that Tang Wulin¡¯s talent revealed itself, the more Mu Chen hesitated to give him any heavenly treasures that would boost his cultivation. Mu Chen didn¡¯t want Tang Wulin¡¯s foundation to be unstable; it would damage his future prospects.


    What was strength? What Tang Wulin currently displayed was strength. Tang Wulin¡¯s talent for forging was something that even a first-rate genius like Mu Chen could only spend his whole life looking up to.


    The forging began.


    Three crisp tones echoed through the air when Tang Wulin lightly tapped the Blue Coppertite. The Stacked Hammers effect was occurring in full force.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s ear twitched slightly and a violet shimmer appeared in his eyes.


    Without a doubt, Blue Coppertite was extremely difficult to forge. When he had previously forged Blue Coppertite, there were countless times during the process where he was forced to use Purple Demon Eyes to prevent failing.


    The pattern that ran along the surface of the Blue Coppertite transformed, rippling with each strike of Tang Wulin¡¯s hammer.


    This was the reason why Blue Coppertite was so hard to forge. Its internal structure constantly changed under the pressure the Thousand Refinements. A single incorrect strike could turn it into a lump of trash.


    There was no hesitation in Tang Wulin¡¯s movements. The moment one arm rose, the other fell, resolutely pounding the metal unceasingly.


    Cen Yue¡¯s eyebrows leaped upward. So quickly? Doesn¡¯t he need to examine it?


    Even if he were the one forging the Blue Coppertite, a sixth rank blacksmith like him would need at least three minutes to inspect the metal before he could begin hammering. And yet, Tang Wulin never even paused!


    The intensity of Tang Wulin¡¯s strikes continued to grow. His hammers hurtled through the air as if their several hundred kilograms of weight was the same as a straw of rice. One after another the hammers descended upon the metal like a storm. With the Stacked Hammers effect, a bizarre rhythm similar to that of rain falling upon a forest of banana trees began to resonate throughout the room. It was as if a multitude of blacksmiths were all working in harmony.


    Mu Xi¡¯s attitude toward Tang Wulin had changed significantly because of Tang Wulin¡¯s strength.


    When one person competed with another and there was a gap in strength, jealousy would appear. However, once that gap grew large enough, that jealousy would quickly disappear.


    Mu Xi had yet to become a third rank blacksmith because she was still struggling with the Thousand Refinements, yet Tang Wulin was already a fourth rank blacksmith! Such a gap couldn¡¯t be closed in only a few days.


    When she saw Tang Wulin¡¯s second-grade Blue Coppertite, the way she viewed him completely changed. She no longer saw him as just a rival and could see his other strengths now. When she saw him today, the first thing she that came to mind wasn¡¯t ¡°It¡¯s this annoying guy again.¡± She actually thought, ¡°Actually, this guy is kind of handsome.¡±


    Such a subtle psychological change went unnoticed by Mu Xi. Even if she did realize this change, she would never admit it.


    Mu Chen¡¯s eyes were electric as he stared at that chunk of Blue Coppertite. He discovered that although Tang Wulin¡¯s strikes were swift, they also hit the exact center of the Blue Coppertite¡¯s ripples. Tang Wulin took advantage of the Stacked Hammers effect to withhold the strength of his strike such that the force would be just enough. He had complete control over this chunk of Blue Coppertite.


    A moment later, Mu Chen noticed the purple glow of Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes.


    That looks like¡­


    ...


    If it really is that, it would explain a lot.

 Chapter 189 - The Halo and the Fourth Rank Blacksmith

    Chapter 189 - The Halo and the Fourth Rank Blacksmith


    The clock slowly ticked by. It was normal for the Thousand Refinements to take a few hours, but the relentless storm of Tang Wulin¡¯s twin hammers had already reduced the Blue Coppertite to one-third of its original size in only a quarter of an hour. Its blue hue grew brighter and brighter while the ripples on its surface began to slow down and stabilize.


    He¡¯s almost done?


    So fast!


    The Stacked Hammers effect may have helped Tang Wulin, but it was his strength, judgement, and understanding of the metal that allowed him to finish so quickly.


    Having already become one with his hammers, Tang Wulin¡¯s concentration could not be broken. Surprisingly enough, he was actually beginning to resemble his hammers.


    Bang bang bang!


    The final hammer strike descended, and an azure halo that was a third of a meter in diameter burst from the Blue Coppertite, fusing back into the metal a moment later and disappearing.


    ¡°A halo emerged!¡± Cen Yue cried.


    Only metals at the second-grade and above could release a halo. Furthermore, the appearance of a halo signified the degree to which spirit was imbued into the metal. This was the origin of the name, ¡°Half-Spirit Refinement.¡±


    That halo just now wasn¡¯t an ordinary second-grade halo! Cen Yue wiped cold sweat from his forehead. Did this boy just forge a first-grade metal? Is he trying to astonish us even more?


    Mu Chen¡¯s eyes lit up. He raised one hand to stop Tang Wulin and used his other to grab the metal. ¡°You don¡¯t need to do anything else. We¡¯re ending the test here. You¡¯ve succeeded at Thousand Refining a second-grade Blue Coppertite and officially passed the fourth rank test.¡±


    Since Tang Wulin could forge a second-grade Blue Coppertite, they didn¡¯t even need to check if he could do the same with lesser metals.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t of the first-grade?¡± Cen Yue asked Mu Chen.


    Mu Chen shook his head. ¡°It falls a bit short, but it¡¯s nearly there. You¡¯ll make a lot of money off of this Blue Coppertite the next time you accept some tasks. Go back and prepare for the Grand Banquet of the Sea and Sky. It begins in one month.¡±


    ¡°But... teacher, don¡¯t I still need to attend class?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Mu Chen said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry, the association will help you take care of that. You need to spend the remaining time forging. I¡¯ll continue to teach you once a week. It seems like I need to start teaching you the technique needed to forge first-grade metals.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Yes, thank you, teacher.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Mu Xi took the initiative to accompany him back to the academy.


    After the two left the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, Mu Xi suddenly pinched Tang Wulin¡¯s cheek.


    ¡°Ow! Senior disciple sister, what are you doing?¡± Tang Wulin complained.


    Mu Xi snorted. ¡°I¡¯m checking if you¡¯re even human. Isn¡¯t everyone supposed to be equal? You don¡¯t have another face, so how are you able to progress so quickly?¡±


    ¡°Senior disciple sister, I don¡¯t have a second face,¡± Tang Wulin said in embarrassment.


    Mu Xi suddenly became all smiles. ¡°I know. Can I talk to you about something? If no one ends up being better than me at the Skysea Alliance Tournament, can you let me win?  I¡¯ll give you the prize money too, and then you¡¯ll have the money for both first and second places. I¡¯ll even give you the metals that are awarded as well. How about it?¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at her in a daze. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Okay? Mu Xi thought she misheard him. He agreed so easily?


    ¡°Hey, do you even understand the significance of the Skysea Alliance Tournament? How can you agree so easily?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°It¡¯s just fame. The difference between first and second place can¡¯t be that large anyway. If I can earn more money by giving up first place for second place, then I¡¯m all for it!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m convinced now¡ªyou really only think about money!¡± Mu Xi smacked the top of his head lightly. ¡°I¡¯m just joking with you. If I stole first place from you, dad would kill me!¡±


    A trace of a smile appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Teacher wouldn¡¯t do that. He actually looks at you with doting eyes. I¡¯m serious, senior disciple sister. If no one is better than you, I¡¯ll give you first place. I¡¯ll be taking that prize money though.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s earnest insistence left Mu Xi in a daze. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to do this for my dad.¡±


    With her intelligence, she immediately realized what Tang Wulin intended. He was doing a favor to Mu Chen.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not what you¡¯re thinking. Teacher once said that the tallest tree in the forest will be ravaged by the wind. I¡¯m still very young, so what do you think would happen if I reveal that I¡¯m already a fourth rank blacksmith? I¡¯m still a long ways from three rings and Spirit Refinement, so what does first place even mean to me? If I just take second place, then I can keep a low-profile while earning some money.¡±


    Mu Xi curiously asked, ¡°Can you tell me why you need so much money?¡±


    Tang Wulin forced out a bitter smile. ¡°My cultivation path is a bit different from other people. I need a lot of heavenly treasures to continue evolving my martial soul. My strength comes from that evolution. You know that my martial soul is Bluesilver Grass. Take a look!¡±


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand and summoned his golden scales.


    The sight of the golden scales left Mu Xi speechless. She slowly raised a finger and tapped on the scales, creating a sharp metallic tone.


    ¡°This is why you¡¯re in class zero? This is the source of your strength?¡± Mu Xi asked in disbelief.


    Tang Wulin nodded.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid I¡¯ll tell my dad?¡± Mu Xi asked suspiciously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to hide this from teacher!¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Forget about it, then!¡± Mu Xi nodded at Tang Wulin¡¯s answer in satisfaction. ¡°I¡¯ll look out for you in the academy from now on. If anyone dares bully you, just tell me their name.¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. ¡°Senior disciple sister, what are you saying? I don¡¯t get into fights anyway.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t get into fights? Who was it that sent his roommates flying out of their second-floor window on the first day, hm? I can''t seem to remember...¡±


    ¡°Me¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, do you like Zixin?¡± Mu Xi asked suddenly.


    Tang Wulin was blindsided by this question, and his face immediately went beet red before he waved his arms in denial. ¡°N-No! No, I don¡¯t! I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! Look at how flustered you are! Aren¡¯t you usually super calm? I understand. You¡¯re confused about the matters of the heart and are trying to deny it, but it¡¯s clear that you like her! Just what are you learning at such a young age?¡± Mu Xi pinched his face over and over.


    Tang Wulin was distressed. ¡°I really don¡¯t! Senior Sister Zixin is just a really nice person, and we frequently run into each other during our morning jogs. Even if I did like her, it would be because she¡¯s so pretty and gentle. I can appreciate those qualities, you know! Don¡¯t go having any weird thoughts!¡±


    Mu Xi raised her eyebrows. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that I¡¯m not pretty or gentle enough for you to like¡­ and you don¡¯t appreciate me?¡±


    Tang Wulin was still a ten-year-old child, so how could he hope to win an argument against a developing young lady? Mu Xi was fourteen years old this year and was far more mature than him.


    ¡°I-I¡­¡± Tang Wulin gawked at her, speechless.


    Isn¡¯t that right though? You¡¯re not gentle at all!


    Tang Wulin had to admit Wu Xi was pretty, but he would never say so out loud.


    After pinching Tang Wulin¡¯s face a bit more, Mu Xi was satisfied.


    Bullying him is even more fun than being cold to him! Her mouth curled into a wicked smile.


    They soon arrived at the academy and Tang Wulin let out a sigh. He flew back to his dorm while rubbing his aching cheeks, the sound of Mu Xi¡¯s witch-like cackling chasing after him.


    ?


    ¡°The Skysea Alliance Tournament?¡±


    Tang Wulin mentioned the tournament during lunch and immediately caught Xie Xie¡¯s ear. He hadn¡¯t realized just how much Xie Xie knew about the tournament!

 Chapter 190 - Starwheel Ice Staff

    Chapter 190 - Starwheel Ice Staff


    ¡°That¡¯s amazing! There are eighteen first-class cities in our federation and they¡¯re divided into the five regions¡ªthe north, the east, the south, the west, and the center. Each region has a few major cities, but the center region only has two: Heaven Dou City and Shrek City. Even though that¡¯s less than the other regions, these two cities make up for it with their influence. Our eastern region actually has five first-class coastal cities that form the Skysea Alliance. Eastsea City is ranked second among the five.


    ¡°The Skysea Alliance Tournament is held every three years to scout excellent geniuses and check out the strength and development of all the cities. Naturally, those who show the most talent are practically guaranteed to shine brilliantly in the future. The most outstanding people may even be chosen to represent the Skysea Alliance in the federation-wide tournament that¡¯s held every five years! That¡¯s a grand tournament that involves the entire continent! Have you seriously never heard of this before?¡±


    Tang Wulin awkwardly scratched his head. He really hadn¡¯t heard of this before! Who would even mention such a thing in a small town like Glorybound City? Even if someone had, he would have been too young to remember it.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the federal tournament usually held in Shrek City?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked, staring at Tang Wulin in shock as he inhaled all of the gourmet food before him.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s held in Shrek City. Fortunately, Shrek Academy doesn¡¯t participate in that tournament, otherwise, the results wouldn¡¯t be suspenseful. It''s been the number one academy on the continent for the past ten thousand years after all.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan grew excited. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean we have a chance, then?¡±


    Her words made Xie Xie dispirited. ¡°What chance? We¡¯re still too young. I looked it up a long time ago. The federal tournament is being held next year, and we¡¯ll only be eleven years old then. According to our age, we would be put into the ten-to-fifteen division. Considering that we¡¯ll only be eleven years old, we would be at a severe disadvantage. We would be facing the continent¡¯s greatest geniuses after all! And that¡¯s assuming we even qualify to enter. In order to qualify, we would need to participate in this year¡¯s Skysea Alliance Tournament and place in the top six of our age group. Next time the federal tournament is held, we¡¯ll be sixteen years old and get bumped up to the fifteen-to-twenty division. It would be strange if we did well in that tournament. We really were born at the wrong time.¡±


    Tang Wulin continued to gorge himself as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about rankings. It¡¯ll be fine as long as we gain some experience and knowledge. You don¡¯t have to be so determined to win.¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°Who cares if we¡¯ll be eleven? Who said that an eleven-year-old can¡¯t be the champion? If you don¡¯t have believe in yourself, who will believe in you? If you want to do it, then do it.¡±


    Finishing her speech, Gu Yue stood up to put her tray away.


    Xie Xie¡¯s mouth curled in disdain as she left. ¡°She¡¯s talking as if we¡¯re actually going to participate in the Skysea Alliance Tournament. Aren¡¯t you the only one participating, Wulin?¡±


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t be bothered to speak anymore; today¡¯s meal seemed more filling than usual.


    That was some delicious seafood!


    Tang Wulin had grown up on the coast, yet he had never eaten such amazing seafood. Aside from the mouth-watering flavor, an indescribable feeling of warmth spread throughout his body when the food entered his stomach.


    After lunch, all of them gathered to discuss Wu Zhangkong¡¯s strength and what tactics they could use to restrain him.


    As for victory over Wu Zhangkong¡­ they had never even considered it. Their only goal was to survive against him as long as possible.


    Tang Wulin was confident about today¡¯s combat training since his Bluesilver Grass had become so powerful after reaching the thousand-year level. Furthermore, Goldlight could finally play an active role in battle. If it hadn¡¯t been for Goldlight, Tang Wulin would have been too focused on neutralizing Gu Yue¡¯s explosive ball of fire and ice to defend against her follow up attack.


    In his opinion, Gu Yue¡¯s greatest strength lay in her control over the element of space. She could teleport all over the battlefield with it and employ a myriad of different battle tactics.


    They eventually came to the simple conclusion that they could only prolong their survival by working together.


    ¡°Xiaoyan, you said you¡¯re even stronger at night, so can you show us after dinner?¡± Tang Wulin wanted a thorough understanding of his new teammate to further develop their teamwork.


    Xu Xiaoyan hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Okay.¡±


    In truth, her family had specifically warned her not to reveal her unusual power. However, now that she came face to face with the greatest geniuses of Eastsea City, she simply felt too powerless during the day. She knew that staying in class zero depended on whether or not she could obtain the approval of her new classmates.


    For this reason, she only needed a moment of thought before agreeing.


    If I don¡¯t show my strength, how am I supposed to fit in with these geniuses? There¡¯s no way I can match them with just observation skills and precise control!


    ?


    Night fell soon after they finished dinner.


    The four classmates were walking toward a grove in the corner of the fields.


    Regardless of whether it was Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, or Gu Yue, all of them were curious about what change Xu Xiaoyan would experience at night. Throughout the Douluo Continent, fantastical martial souls of every description could be found. If it was possible, then it likely existed. For example, Gu Yue¡¯s martial soul allowed her to control six elements. This was something that had never been heard of before, so just how unique was Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s martial soul?


    Inside the gloomy grove, Gu Yue raised her hand and summoned a resplendent golden light, illuminating their surroundings.


    Anticipation welled up in Xie Xie. It was only natural since they were quietly doing mysterious things in a forest at night.


    Xu Xiaoyan stepped forward and looked toward the stars. This grove¡¯s canopy was nowhere near as lush as the one in the spirit ascension platform, so starlight easily pierced through it.


    Specks of starlight twinkled in the sky. She nodded once. ¡°I¡¯m starting.¡±


    She raised a hand toward the sky while a yellow soul ring rose from beneath her feet and a slender ice staff appeared in her hand.


    The golden light from Gu Yue¡¯s hand struck the ice staff, giving it a holy aura with a golden glow.


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s expression turned grave. She raised the staff higher as light burst from her eyes.


    ¡°The stars in the heavens that shine forever tranquil, grant me strength! My starwheel!¡± Summoned by her gentle call, the tip of her staff suddenly began to shine, and a golden beam of light descended from the heavens!


    An orb of light instantly appeared at the tip of the staff. It gradually changed to become a six-pointed star of golden light.


    This is...


    A variant martial soul?


    This possibility instantly popped into Tang Wulin¡¯s mind. Furthermore, it was a mutation that could be controlled!


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s aura transformed the moment the starwheel appeared, changing from weak and delicate to confident and bold. She seemed more refined and pure under the sparkling starlight.


    Specks of starlight even found their way onto her soul ring, and a golden star adorned her forehead.


    With a wave of her staff, the starwheel shot out and embedded itself at Xie Xie¡¯s feet.


    In that moment, Xie Xie felt his body seize up as a chill permeated his body, stealing away his mobility.


    The starwheel grew bright, then exploded into icy shackles around his body.


    Xie Xie quickly circulated his soul power in a bid to resist, but he was shocked to discover that there seemed to be some sort of mysterious seal on him that slowed his circulation.


    This¡­


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s complexion paled and she looked toward Tang Wulin. ¡°I can draw upon the starwheel¡¯s strength at night, so my martial soul is called the Starwheel Ice Staff. It¡¯s different from my big brother¡¯s ice staff. The Starwheel Ice Staff is a special variant martial soul that has been passed down through my clan since ancient times. It''s been several hundred years since someone last awakened it. The power of the starwheel will grow with me, so whatever spirit soul I fuse with will influence the starwheel. However, I can only display its full strength at night. I¡¯m just an ordinary Soul Master with an ice staff during the day, but at night, I am blessed by starlight.


    ¡°The starwheel is separate from my ice attribute and is actually an astrological attribute that lets me draw power from the stars. The strongest aspect of the astrological attribute is how absolute it is. With my current strength, I can use the starwheel to seal one person for a minimum of one second, but it also depends on my target¡¯s strength.¡±


    How terrifyingly absolute.

 Chapter 191 - Requesting a Match

    Chapter 191 - Requesting a Match


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue exchanged glances, and their eyes mirrored the other¡¯s current emotion: shock!


    An astrological attribute? They had never heard of such a thing before, but its power was evident. Xie Xie, the one with the highest cultivation among them, had his soul power sealed for five seconds.


    Five seconds was a lot of time in which they could accomplish a great deal! Not even Tang Wulin was confident that he could resist Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s starwheel.


    ¡°Can you still fight after using the starwheel at full-strength?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Xu Xiaoyan shook her head and smiled bitterly. ¡°Nope. I won¡¯t be able to move once I use the starwheel, otherwise, the seal will unravel and its power will weaken. This ability is best used in coordination with a team. However, according to my clan¡¯s records, the astrological attribute will gain more abilities as my cultivation progresses. It¡¯s almost like a second set of soul rings¡ªas if I had twin martial souls. Unfortunately, during the day I¡¯m pretty weak and can only use my ice staff.¡±


    As expected, greater strength came with greater restrictions. Xu Xiaoyan couldn¡¯t move when she used her starwheel, nor could she launch any other attacks. Worst of all, it could only be used at night! These restrictions were just excessive, but even so, this ability¡¯s potential in a team setting was amazing! They could turn the tides in the crucial moments the starwheel bought, enabling them to seize victory!


    They could do a lot in a single second.


    ¡°I swear on my great aunt... that¡¯s amazing!¡± Xie Xie said bitterly.


    A sweet smile graced Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s lips. Her Starwheel Ice Staff lit up for a moment, and the golden light and icy shackles on Xie Xie quickly disappeared. In truth, she couldn¡¯t sustain the seal any longer. If her opponent was too strong, it would be very costly to maintain such an absolute seal. If her opponent struggled against those shackles, they might be able to easily break free after a second or two.


    Tang Wulin gave Xu Xiaoyan a big thumbs up. Her first soul skill, Starwheel Shackles, was a great addition to the team.


    It was a mystical martial soul found on the mystical Douluo Continent! Sure enough, nothing was impossible in this land.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that we don¡¯t have any way to change day into night, otherwise we might¡¯ve been able to give Teacher Wu a nice surprise,¡± Xie Xie said with a trembling body.


    His body still felt a bit stiff. Those shackles were a fusion of astrological and ice attributes after all. It couldn¡¯t possibly have been comfortable to be restrained by them.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We can find Teacher Wu and spar right now. There¡¯s no way he will refuse.¡±


    He exchanged looks with Xie Xie, and a wicked glint immediately appeared in the depths of their eyes. Xie Xie couldn¡¯t bear to be the only one on the receiving end of such a sinister ability.


    One second of absolute sealing¡­ Hehe. Maybe we¡¯ll be able to surprise Teacher Wu.


    In the next moment, the four sat down cross-legged in tacit understanding and began meditating.


    ?


    ¡°All of you want to challenge me right now?¡± Wu Zhangkong stared at his four students, flabbergasted.


    ¡°Yes! Please give us pointers,¡± Tang Wulin said earnestly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded. It was already late into the night and was lights out for the dorm. Instead of the designated combat arenas, he brought them to the training fields. Regardless of whether these children were looking for trouble or had a surprise in store for him, he would gladly entertain them.


    A silent darkness hung over the field. Wu Zhangkong walked to the field¡¯s center and gently removed his white robe. ¡°Come.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Teacher Wu, you¡¯re so powerful. Shouldn¡¯t you suppress your strength while battling us? The strongest one of us only has two rings, so why don¡¯t you restrict yourself and only use those two rings as well?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong narrowed his eyes. He was an adult, and if he couldn¡¯t even guess what kind of schemes these children came up with, he wouldn¡¯t be fit to call himself a teacher. From the way these kids were speaking, he could clearly tell that they had challenged him with victory in mind!


    He was well acquainted with the strength of three of them. Xu Xiaoyan, however, was still a mystery.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Wu Zhangkong answered coldly.


    Tang Wulin and his teammates exchanged looks, immediately jumped backward, and got into formation.


    As usual, Tang Wulin was in the front with Xie Xie beside him. Gu Yue was right behind him, and Xu Xiaoyan positioned herself behind Gu Yue.


    The four of them now moved as one.


    Soul rings rose from beneath their feet, even more resplendent in the dark of night. Tang Wulin¡¯s purple soul ring shone the brightest of all of them, as if it were a noble among commoners.


    Strand after strand of Bluesilver Grass appeared in the surroundings, sheltering the comrades behind him while golden scales appeared on his right arm in a burst of light. Tang Wulin released a low growl and ferociously charged Wu Zhangkong, immediately using his first soul skill, Bind!


    Hundreds of strands of Bluesilver Grass whistled through the air, a display of the thousand-year soul skill¡¯s monstrous might. A roaring tempest arose the moment Tang Wulin launched his assault. One strand of Bluesilver Grass had sneakily launched Xie Xie into the air. The moment that he arrived above Wu Zhangkong¡¯s head, he angled his body and descended upon his teacher. He didn¡¯t hold back at all and immediately initiated with Twin Dragon Storm.


    But it wasn¡¯t just a two-pronged attack. A wind blade, a fireball, and an icicle flew through a small crack in the barrier of Bluesilver Grass! They converged on Wu Zhangkong¡ªXie Xie was just the opening act!


    They knew that one thing was certain: the longer they waited, the slimmer their chance for success would be. If they wanted to succeed, they had to immediately launch an all-out attack!


    Wu Zhangkong stood rooted in place, merely raising his Skyfrost Sword and gently pinching its tip with his other fingers. In the face of the children¡¯s attacks, he remained still like an immovable mountain. Not even a flicker of emotion appeared on his face. It was as if there were nothing in this world that could affect him.


    The moment the onslaught reached Wu Zhangkong, he suddenly lashed out with his Skyfrost Sword. An azure halo that seemed to possess some sort of limitless gravitational force formed around him. The halo pulled Gu Yue¡¯s elemental attacks inside of it, ripping control of them from her hands.


    It was simple and effective, two things Wu Zhangkong excelled at.


    The Twin Dragon Storm easily drilled through the elements, but Wu Zhangkong¡¯s move had done its job¡ªthe might of Twin Dragon Storm had been greatly diminished.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes flashed with a violet hue, and Tang Wulin defended with his own Purple Demon Eyes. It was futile, however, as a wave of vertigo struck him, and the Bind slowly unraveled.


    Just how shameless is Teacher Wu? He¡¯s actually using the Purple Demon Eyes! He might not be using the full extent of its power, but that¡¯s still so shameless!


    This thought faded as quickly as it had appeared, and Tang Wulin charged again with renewed vigor and an entourage of Bluesilver Grass.


    Wu Zhangkong swung his Skyfrost Sword. Its previous dignified aura had been replaced with blinding speed. Hundreds of sword waves shot out, accurately chilling and cutting through the slithering mass of Bluesilver Grass. It was just a single slash, yet hundreds of sword waves appeared! Each one clashed against the strands of Bluesilver Grass and kept them at bay.


    In a split second, Tang Wulin had been cut off from his teammates. However, he still continued rushing toward Wu Zhangkong.


    The Twin Dragon Storm finally descended from the sky, but Wu Zhangkong disappeared in a blur. After-images of him appeared all around the field as he evaded with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    In the beginning, Xie Xie could follow Wu Zhangkong¡¯s movements and adjust his assault accordingly, but soon his teacher¡¯s movements proved too fast for him to keep up with. By the time he touched the ground with his Twin Dragon Storm, his aim had been thrown off. His attack met nothing but air.


    A wave of frost flew out and Xie Xie reflexively tried to defend against it with his Light Dragon Dagger. His strength was already exhausted, however, and he was immediately sent flying.

 Chapter 192 - For the Money!

    Chapter 192 - For the Money!


    ¡°Champion? But we¡¯re still eleven! Xie Xie told me that we would have to compete against people who are ten to fifteen years old. That¡¯s a bit¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong coldly said, ¡°Age does not determine one¡¯s strength. You just need to try your best. The outcome is not the most important thing, understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    ¡°You can leave now. Go prepare for tomorrow¡¯s trip to Skysea City. All of the participants from Eastsea City will be leaving together, so you don¡¯t have to worry about meeting up with your colleagues from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    For the past month, Tang Wulin had been entirely focused on preparing for the blacksmith¡¯s competition. Although he could not yet forge a first-grade metal, his success rate for second-grade metals had already risen to more than eighty percent. Even among other fourth rank blacksmiths, such a success rate was rarely seen.


    As Mu Chen had said, Tang Wulin¡¯s inability to forge a first-grade metal was not due to a lack of understanding, but a deficiency of soul power.


    Soul power was the foundation of soul masters, and it was also crucial to blacksmiths. The higher one¡¯s soul power, the higher the chances of imbuing spirit into metal during forging. Even if he was a divine genius in the realm of blacksmithing, his status as a one-ringed soul master would only hinder his advancement in the craft.


    According to Mu Chen¡¯s guess, Tang Wulin would immediately be able to forge first-grade metals once he possessed two rings.


    His training menu under Mu Chen did not change; it was still focused on solidifying his foundation in preparation for the future. After all, he was still young and did not need to take risks in order to achieve a first-grade Thousand Refined creation.


    What Tang Wulin had not expected, however, was that they would be one of the teams representing Eastsea Academy and they would be competing in the junior division for the soul master team battles, no less.


    Although he was shocked, he was also eager for combat.


    Locked within an abyss of suffering for the past month, Tang Wulin t had not visited the spirit ascension platform even once. Instead, he faced Wu Zhangkong in battle every day. He would rather face a ten-thousand-year soul beast than fight Wu Zhangkong; after all, he had personally witnessed his teacher slaughter a ten-thousand-year soul beast as if it were just a walk in the park!


    The only fruit that was born from that night¡¯s victory was an escalation in the intensity of their training. Even while combining their forces and utilizing the dirtiest of schemes, they could not hold a candle to a three-ringed Wu Zhangkong. As the team captain, Tang Wulin took the brunt of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s attacks, each battle leaving him covered in bruises and cuts.


    Yet, it was precisely because of such harsh circumstances that their coordination and soul power improved so quickly.


    Tang Wulin could sense that he was but one step away from reaching rank 17 now.


    However, his intense cultivation schedule conflicted with his forging practice leading him to be unable to meet his task quotas. Naturally, his income tanked.


    Whenever Tang Wulin thought of the Skysea Alliance Tournament, his pulse would pound incessantly and his eyes redden until they were bloodshot at the thought of the award money that would solve quite a few of his current problems.


    Now that he was a fourth rank blacksmith, his potential income skyrocketed and he had been able to clear his debt to Wu Zhangkong. His wallet wept at its empty pockets.


    ¡°Teacher Wu.¡± Before walking through the door, Tang Wulin suddenly spun around. ¡°Is there an award for participating in the tournament?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong stared at him. ¡°If the team performs well, there will be one. Although there is a monetary award given to the top thirty-two, the sum only becomes significant once you breach the top sixteen.  As for receiving an endowment from the academy, all of you are already draining the academy¡¯s resources dry. Especially you. Your food expenses are nearly enough to feed the entire intermediate division. Tell me, do you still want a reward?¡±


    Tang Wulin dared not speak out. Instead, he stuck his tongue out like a little rascal.


    But was the truth not spoken? He knew that he was just shoveling in that high-class, nutritious food that aided in his cultivation, seemingly to no end. Obviously, the expenses for such nourishment were high. With all that healthy food, his cultivation was progressing at a magnified rate, even to the point where preparing to break through the second seal seemed more feasible than ever


    The fact that he could even eat such delicious food often brought him joy.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, can I participate in the individual competition then?  Maybe I¡¯ll be able to enter the top thirty,¡± Tang Wulin probed. He could not afford to let a single lucrative opportunity slip away.


    His attitude toward money had changed after all the pain and suffering he went through just to be able to purchase his first spirit soul. If he had more money back then, then he would not have been forced to settle for a trash spirit soul.


    Since then, Tang Wulin vowed to rake in the money in the future, to the extent where he would never have to worry about making ends meet.


    If Mu Chen ever discovered his disciple¡¯s true reason for forging, he would have hopped up and down from rage.


    ¡°If you¡¯re not worried about being tired, then you can go ahead,¡± Wu Zhangkong answered with an apathetic edge.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°As long as the schedules don¡¯t in conflict, I¡¯m confident I won¡¯t get tired. I¡¯ll have to inconvenience you to help me sign up then.¡± At the very least, the boy had some faith in his strength. Although he did not wield two rings as of yet, he did hold a thousand-year soul ring! His thousand-year Bluesilver Grass was a major source of confidence for him.


    ?


    When he returned to the dormitory, Tang Wulin found his friends already at the door waiting for him.


    ¡°How was it? What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    Faced with their inquiries, Tang Wulin quickly briefed them on his conversation with Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°I¡¯ll join the individual competition too,¡± Gu Yue said earnestly.


    Xie Xie loftily said, ¡°Me too!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan shook her head. ¡°I think I¡¯ll pass. The competition isn¡¯t held at night, and even if it was, I lack the confidence. Participating as a substitute in  the team competition is enough for me.¡±


    A mischievous smile appeared on Xie Xie¡¯s lips. ¡°Say, if we really do become the champions, do you think Shrek Academy will come scout us? Maybe they¡¯ll invite us to join them?¡±


    The corner of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s mouth twitched ever so slightly. ¡°Quit dreaming. Even if we do win first place, it¡¯s still just an unremarkable three-man competition at the Skysea Alliance Tournament. Use your common sense and think about what sort of status they have. I heard that there have never been more than one hundred students part of the inner court of Shrek Academy at a time, and each and every one of them is a monster. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to call it a pond of dragons and a den of tigers. I also heard that even the chairman of the federation personally pays a visit to Shrek Academy¡¯s president twice a year. If Shrek Academy hadn¡¯t maintained a neutral stance during the three continent¡¯s feuds, do you think the Star Luo Continent and the Heaven Dou Continent would still exist?¡±


    In shock, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Is Shrek Academy really that great?¡±


    With utmost seriousness, Xu Xiaoyan said, ¡°That¡¯s right. My family told me that it¡¯s a place completely separate from the world of us normal people. Shrek Academy recruits students once every three years, and each time there are less than one thousand people qualified to apply. It would be a small miracle if more than one hundred people are accepted at a time. In fact, sometimes only twenty or thirty people are accepted. But of those students, only one in ten can enter the inner court. It¡¯s quite obvious just how high their standards are.


    ¡° Shrek Academy¡¯s unfathomable quality is not something we have the privilege of understanding.¡±


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie both exchanged a look. Although it was impossible for them to know what Shrek Academy was like, there was bound to be someone who did!


    Teacher Wu! Don¡¯t the rumors say that Teacher Wu came from Shrek Academy?


    If the admittance standards for Shrek Academy are that high, then just how amazing is Teacher Wu?


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Even so, this is a great opportunity for us. Don¡¯t think too much about getting a high rank everyone; just do your best and gain some good combat experience. As long as we don¡¯t give up, we¡¯ll definitely have a shot at entering Shrek Academy one day!¡±

 Chapter 193 - Setting Off for the Tournament

    Chapter 193 - Setting Off for the Tournament


    ¡°Let¡¯s do our best, guys!¡±


    Tang Wulin was the first to reach out a hand. Gu Yue placed her hand on top of his, before quickly grabbing Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s hand so that it rested on hers.


    Although he was an agility-type soul master, Xie Xie¡¯s reaction lagged behind the rest and he was the last to join in. He glared daggers at Gu Yue. ¡°Just how much do you loathe me!¡±


    Gu Yue thought it over for a moment, then flashed a smile. ¡°About as much as one would loathe a housefly.¡±


    ¡°You!¡±


    ?


    Night crept by without a peep. Once the rays of the sun pierced through the horizon, Wu Zhangkong and the four students departed from the academy. Their destination: Eastsea Square located at the city¡¯s center.


    Tang Wulin and the others wore Eastsea Academy¡¯s uniform. This time, Director Long Hengxu joined the children and Wu Zhangkong.


    There was another team representing the academy apart from Tang Wulin¡¯s group, though they were from the advanced division.


    The latter team would be participating in the fifteen to twenty youths division. Tang Wulin spotted a couple of familiar faces among the crowd. The first was Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s older brother, Xu Xiaoyu. To his surprise, the other one was the beautiful senior sister he met during his first days at Eastsea Academy, Liu Yuxin.


    It was clear that Liu Yuxin hadn¡¯t spared him a thought. Instead, her gaze was glued on the face of a man with fluttering white robes, never letting him out of her sight. Her eyes were practically in the shape of hearts.


    ¡°Xiaoyan, let me know if they try to bully you.¡± Walking past the four students of class zero, Xu Xiaoyu showcased a display of force.


    Xu Xiaoyan rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Just worry about yourself. At least make it through the preliminaries this time.¡±


    At such a statement, Xu Xiaoyu¡¯s expression stiffened. ¡°Of course. Everyone on our team has at least three rings this time. We¡¯ll definitely achieve a good result.¡± They were participating in the team competitions as well. This was not just any team event. It was the most illustrious one¡ªthe seven-man team competition.


    The corner of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s mouth twitched.


    From the conversation between the two siblings, Tang Wulin could infer at least that Eastsea Academy held some hope of glory at the tournament. In fact, their chances of attaining victory were pretty high.


    As Eastsea City was ranked number two among all the cities in the east coast, achieving glory and maintaining their status was a crucial goal and a touchy subject.


    In truth, Tang Wulin¡¯s guess hit the nail right on the head. While Eastsea Academy was Eastsea City¡¯s only intermediate soul master academy, its students were not particularly outstanding.


    The Skysea Alliance Tournament was so large that it required not just the five first-class cities on the east coast to host it but had even summoned the aid of some second and third-class cities. Eastsea City had produced dismal results for a first-class city in the previous tournaments. Both the academy and the city¡¯s government lost much face.


    It was no wonder that Long Hengxu¡¯s proposal to create a ¡®class zero¡¯ for their newly found geniuses was approved so quickly.


    If things continued on like this, then Eastsea City¡¯s prestige would definitely suffer. The city¡¯s bustling economy might also be adversely affected, plummeting the markets. The academy was placing their bets on a group of ten-year-old children this time, hoping that they would showcase the city¡¯s potential at the Skysea Alliance Tournament while also gaining the support of the city¡¯s government.


    After all, they were only ten years old. Their future was limitless.


    Crowds of people and luxurious soul busses assembled at Eastsea Square to set off together.


    ¡°Hey, why are you so late?¡± Mu Xi jogged over to Tang Wulin and grabbed him by the ear.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Before Tang Wulin could speak up, Gu Yue swatted away Mu Xi¡¯s hand and stood protectively in front of him.


    Stunned, Mu Xi stared at Gu Yue in a daze before bursting out in laughter. ¡°Not bad! Tang Wulin, you¡¯ve already become a deviant at such a young age. Who is your little girlfriend?¡±


    ¡°No, no! Senior disciple sister, don¡¯t say such nonsense.¡± Mu Xi¡¯s voice had been particularly loud, attracting the attention of those around them like bees to honey. With the proverbial spotlight shining on him, Tang Wulin flushed as red as a tomato in embarrassment.


    His handsome looks, coupled with his rosy-red, abashed face tempted Mu Xi to pinch his cheeks.


    ¡°Wow. You¡¯re bringing so many people with you?¡± Ignoring Gu Yue, Mu Xi asked Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°We¡¯re participating in the junior division¡¯s soul master¡¯s team competition.¡±


    ¡°The soul master¡¯s team competition? You guys?¡± She did not try to hide her disdain at all.


    ¡°What about us?¡± Xie Xie said indignantly.


    Mu Xi sneered. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. Just that we¡¯re also entering the junior division of the soul master¡¯s team competition. Do you guys still think you have a chance?¡± As she spoke, three soul rings appeared from beneath her feet.


    Yellow, yellow, purple! She was a three-ringed Soul Elder!


    Mu Xi was currently a fifth year in her second semester, so she was four years older than Tang Wulin. At fourteen years old, she just barely qualified for that division¡¯s age limit.


    Mu Xi said, ¡°We¡¯ll also be entering as a three-man team. Our goal is the top eight. There are currently thirty-six east coast cities competing in this tournament with over one hundred participants, and the first two rounds are knockout competitions. Can you guys even pass the first round?¡±


    At their age, every single year signified a great gap in strength.


    Tang Wulin went silent.


    Even though they had beat Xu Xiaoyu once before, they had to admit it was due to Xu Xiaoyu¡¯s carelessness and their strength in numbers.


    Yet in this coming tournament, they would be facing the most powerful of their peers. There would even be those that were older than them. Against such formidable opponents, just what kind of hopes did they have?


    ¡°Alright, don¡¯t be discouraged. I¡¯ll treat you guys to a meal after the first round.¡± Mu Xi rubbed Wulin¡¯s head then whispered into his ear, ¡°You might not have a chance at the soul master¡¯s tournament, but you can definitely rank high in the blacksmith one. I¡¯ll be cheering for you when the time comes! Go become the champion!¡±


    Since the time Tang Wulin had agreed to give up first place for her, the thorns in their relationship had blunted.


    Tang Wulin nodded helplessly. She really knew how to surprise people.


    The square was in chaos as the representatives of every association participating in the tournament organized themselves.


    There were even representatives from other academies.


    The Skysea Alliance Tournament had numerous events, including mecha and battle armor competitions.


    Like how Eastsea City held an embarrassing position in the alliance, the Skysea Alliance were ashamed of their rank in comparison to the rest of the continent. Although their economic status was unrivaled, whether it were battle armor masters, mecha pilots, mecha technology, or the quantity and quality of soul masters, they ranked near the bottom in all of these elements.


    The cities that dominated these categories were the Sun Moon City and Heaven Dou City. As for Shrek City, it could neither be evaluated by the Federation properly nor be put on the same scale as the others. Basically, Shrek City exceeded their comprehension.


    ¡°The teachers and students of Eastsea Academy, board your bus now.¡± Hearing this, the teachers began leading the students onto the sixth bus.


    Without a single break in her stride, Gu Yue sauntered forward and kicked Xie Xie out of the way, plopping down on the seat beside Tang Wulin. Xie Xie could only settle for the next best thing and sat next to Xu Xiaoyan. Unfortunately for him, however, Xu Xiaoyu picked him up and stole the seat beside his sister.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Xie Xie was annoyed, but he could do nothing against the much stronger Xu Xiaoyu. He resigned himself to sit beside Wu Zhangkong. After descending into his seat, he felt countless eyes stabbing his body as the surrounding women glared as though they wanted to rip him to shreds.


    I don¡¯t want to sit here either!


    Xie Xie immediately stood up to find another seat.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stand up if you know what¡¯s good for you.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s cold voice sounded.


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Is this counted as provoking whoever I meet?


    The Xu siblings sat right behind Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. As he stared at Gu Yue, a scowl materialized on Xu Xiaoyu¡¯s face.


    After facing defeat at the hands of Gu Yue, indignation and depression had filled his heart. As time progressed though, Gu Yue appearing in his dreams more and more frequently. Every once in awhile, Gu Yue¡¯s face would pop up in his conscious mind.


    She is so young, yet possesses such power and an amazing martial soul. Just how formidable will she be once she matures?


    This girl piqued his curiosity, as well as some of his other sentiments.


    Xu Xiaoyu was easily considered an outstanding elite in the advanced division, but that was just within the walls of the weak Eastsea Academy. He would be entering an advanced academy in a year, walking on his chosen path in life. Despite aspiring to be a battle armor master, he struggled with the fact that this was an exceedingly difficult occupation. In particular, the process of making battle armor required more than just money. Not only would he have to pour his all into cultivation, he would also need to divert his time and energy into battle armor research. He was already seventeen years old; though his potential was not lacking, it was unknown whether he had it in him to realize such a goal.

 Chapter 194 - Sleeping to Rank 17

    Chapter 194 - Sleeping to Rank 17


    If he could not obtain a suit of battle armor for himself, then he would just have to settle with becoming a mecha pilot.


    There was a reason battle armor masters were recognized as the strongest¡ªthe path to becoming one was difficult and few ever succeeded.


    The chances of failing were simply astronomical. In order to craft a battle armor successfully, one needed to accomplish multiple steps: refine rare metals, forge them, create a design, craft it, and then maintain the final product. The troubles of obtaining and owning battle armor were tenfold to that of mechas.


    To obtain a suitable mecha, one only needed to hire a capable mecha designer and craftsman. But regarding battle armor, this process was much more convoluted; one needed to be personally involved in the creation of one¡¯s battle armor. This was to determine the most suitable path such that the armor becomes an extension of one¡¯s body.


    Such a feat was not something just anyone could accomplish. It was a taxing road. Hardly any battle armor masters could create a complete set of battle armor even after ten whole years of painstaking work. Even if they did somehow finish a set by then, they might find that their growth during the years of forging rendered their final product obsolete. Once again, one would have to start anew. The act of creating battle armor truly was a form of torment.


    If too much time was spent on developing the battle armor, then one¡¯s cultivation may fall behind. When that happens, they would become even weaker than a mecha pilot. However, mechas were also tremendously powerful and their gigantic bulk gave them many options.


    For these reasons, Xu Xiaoyu decided on specializing in mecha control. He would walk down the path of becoming a mecha pilot when he entered an advanced academy.


    I might not have much hope of becoming a battle armor master, but I wonder if she can pull it off? She already has two rings at ten years old and will definitely hit three rings by the time she turns fifteen. I can¡¯t even compare to her in terms of potential!


    He did not feel any jealousy toward Gu Yue. In fact, he was confused by his own turbulent sentiments.


    Tang Wulin leaned against the window, resting with his eyes shut as he attempted to calm his muddled heart. Mu Xi¡¯s words still lingered within his mind. He had witnessed her strength before when she wielded only two rings, but now, she already possessed three. Yet with her strength, she only aimed for the top eight position.


    They¡¯re so strong, but what about class zero? I¡¯m the sole one-ringed contender among our main force. Although our teamwork is great and I¡¯m confident in my strength, there is still a significant difference in cultivation between our teams. That¡¯s a gap we can¡¯t bridge quickly enough.


    The ones who rank the best will receive a reward.


    Like Tang Wulin, Gu Yue was also resting quietly with her eyes closed.


    A tense atmosphere permeated the bus as some occupants sent hushed whispers to one another. Other more courageous students chatted loudly. Like this, the bus slowly shrank into the distance, leaving the square behind and gradually speeding out of Eastsea City.


    Those in the bus showed glimmers of optimism as soon as they left the city bounds, entering the highway and accelerating onward.


    The soul highway utilized a combination of maglev and soul technology, allowing the bus to safely maintain high speeds up to half of soul train¡¯s. For shorter distances, the bus was more suitable than the train.


    As Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes slowly opened, he took the time to observe the breathtaking landscape flitting by.


    On the east was the ocean. Since the highway was built right on the shore,  the azure sea stretched out infinitely beside him, unburdening his heart and relaxing his spirit.


    Tang Wulin could not help but recall the times he visited the beach with Na¡¯er to enjoy the scenery together. Back then, he had pulled her by the hand to gaze at the sea, watch the sunrise, and collect seashells. If luck smiled down on them, they would also catch some large crabs to bake and eat.


    ¡°Na¡¯er!¡± Tang Wulin softly called out.


    ¡°Hm? Wulin, you¡­¡± Gu Yue turned to him in surprise.


    Turning toward her voice, he was met with her astonished expression. He gave a half-hearted smile and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just thinking about my little sister. I don¡¯t know how she¡¯s doing right now or whether she¡¯s happy. I bet if she knew I¡¯ve become a soul master, she would be really happy for me.¡±


    Gu Yue nodded, a slight smile tugging at her lips. ¡°Of course she would. Would you like some water?¡± She brought out a bottle from her backpack.


    ¡°Huh? Okay. Thank you.¡± Tang Wulin twisted open the bottle¡¯s cap and took a few gulps of water. The water was pure and tepid, relieving both his throat and heart.


    After Gu Yue retrieved the bottle from him she took a few drinks herself, paying no mind that he had just drunk from it.


    Tang Wulin stared at her, flabbergasted. The light shining through the window met with her cheek, giving the illusion of sparkling purity.  She¡¯s actually so pretty¡­


    Gu Yue tilted her head and beamed an oblivious smile at him. ¡°What¡¯s with you?¡±


    Tang Wulin pulled the curtains quickly over the window, shrouding the entire space with shade. ¡°It¡¯s too bright right now. That¡¯s bad for your eyes.¡±


    Gu Yue placed the bottle back into his hands then leaned her head against his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sleepy. Let me lean on you, okay?¡±


    Tang Wulin did not know what to do. You¡¯re already leaning on me. How am I supposed to reject you?


    It seemed she really was sleepy for her breathing soon steadied as a relaxed smile appeared on her lips. It was as if to her, leaning on him was particularly comforting.


    After sucking it up as Gu Yue¡¯s personal pillow, Tang Wulin started to feel the lull of slumber. Even though he had already shut the curtains, the warmth and coziness did not dissipate!


    Unwittingly, he closed his eyes. Immediately,  his fatigue from constantly cultivating washed away.


    Totaling about four hours in travel time, the trek from Eastsea City to Skysea City was a prolonged one.


    Tang Wulin slept through the whole trip and would have likely continued sleeping once they arrived had Xie Xie not called for him.


    ¡°You two sure are enjoying sleeping, huh! You¡¯ve slept the whole trip!¡± Xie Xie slyly shot his gaze from Tang Wulin to the waking Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue stood up to stretch her body before turning back to pinch Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Is it numb?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    That was a really nice nap. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever slept that well in my whole life. Circulating some soul power within his body, he noticed that it seemed to have sped up while flowing more smoothly than ever.


    This change signified a breakthrough; he had finally broken through to rank 17!


    A strange expression stretched across his face. He had been struggling to break through the bottleneck to rank 17 these past few days but never had he expected to wake up in success.


    While his foundation was mediocre, he had progressed from rank 11 to rank 17 in the past year. Such speed was simply astonishing.


    As if only natural, Gu Yue chose to lead them to exit while Tang Wulin and Xie Xie trailed behind her. For no apparent reason, warmth filled his heart as he took in her figure.


    Partner? Little sister? He did not know why, but Gu Yue¡¯s kindness reminded him of Na¡¯er.


    Skysea City and Eastsea City were similar in that they both were situated on the coast, boasting a beautiful landscape and the continent¡¯s largest harbors and docks. The Federation¡¯s navy was stationed right outside of Skysea City. The silhouette of a gigantic cruiser anchored out at sea entered the eyes of some.


    Because of the great military forces stationed there, Skysea City was considered the top ranked city on the east coast. The area was of utmost strategic importance comparable to major cities inland.


    Ordinary people would enter military service once they turned eighteen, and for those within  Skysea Alliance¡¯s domain, Skysea City¡¯s navy was the first pick.


    Tang Wulin still had many years before he turned eighteen. As a soul master, he had some level of influence over his military service. This, of course, did not take into account his status as a fourth rank blacksmith. Fourth rank blacksmiths were considered members of the elite, enjoying a lofty position.


    For now, Tang Wulin could not see much of a difference between Skysea City and Eastsea City. As they approached the city¡¯s core, skyscrapers piercing the clouds came into view, passed by the magnificent harbor. Several types of advanced equipment and facilities lined the harbor, all of which Tang Wulin struggled to name. The harbor smelled of trade.

 Chapter 195 - Blacksmiths

    Chapter 195 - Blacksmiths


    Skysea City was situated in an area surrounded by much more mountains than Eastsea City and many buildings were built into the slopes, adding to their high-low appearance. Some skyscrapers even seemed to pierce right through the clouds.


    The official delegation from Eastsea City had already been in contact with the representatives from Skysea City.


    The four students of class zero were the youngest amongst the competitors from Eastsea City and naturally weren¡¯t too attentive to their surroundings, simply following the group.


    They were led to a luxurious hotel that was rather special; half of it was within the ocean and each room had a breathtaking view that truly emphasized to all the guests that they were by the ocean.


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie shared a room while Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan were placed in another room.


    Tomorrow was the opening ceremony of the tournament and lots to decide the matches would be drawn. Wu Zhangkong had given the bare minimum explanation which had lacked any sort of warnings or advice.


    The doorbell rang.


    Tang Wulin quickly opened the door, revealing the charming Mu Xi.


    ¡°Come with me!¡± Mu Xi grabbed his hand and dragged him out.


    Tang Wulin just barely managed to look back and shout, ¡°Xie Xie, I¡¯m going out with my senior disciple sister first. I¡¯ll be back later.¡±


    ¡°Go, just go already.¡± Xie Xie was already laying on his bed resting with his eyes closed. He hadn¡¯t had a moment of reprieve from Wu Zhangkong¡¯s glacial aura and the glares of the surrounding women during the entire trip whilst sitting next to his teacher. Now that he was free from that tormenting environment, fatigue drained his energy while sleep overwhelmed his consciousness.


    ¡°Senior disciple sister, slow down. Just what are we doing?¡± Tang Wulin pleaded.


    ¡°We have a meeting.¡± Mu Xi¡¯s short reply left no room for debate. She turned a corner and, seeing that there weren¡¯t many people around, Mu Xi quickly pinched Tang Wulin¡¯s delicate cheeks.


    ¡°Senior disciple sister!¡± Tang Wulin waved his arms in protest.


    ¡°Pinching you means that I respect you. Your cheeks are nice to pinch. Okay, we¡¯re here.¡± Mu Xi pushed Tang Wulin into a room as she spoke.


    Over a dozen people were present in the room, each wearing the familiar badge of a blacksmith.


    The leader of the delegation from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association was someone Tang Wulin knew¡ªCen Yue. Aside from Cen Yue, the others were unfamiliar faces that ranged from their late teens to their early twenties.


    Cen Yue¡¯s stern expression transformed into a beaming smile the moment Tang Wulin and Mu Xi walked in.


    ¡°You¡¯re here, Wulin? Come, I¡¯ll introduce you to the other outstanding blacksmiths of your generation.¡±


    There were a couple people that stood out to Tang Wulin¡ªa youth around eighteen years old named Zheng Tianlin and a young man a little over twenty named Tang Wenhao.


    They both had their own peculiarities. Zheng Tianlin had a pair of extraordinarily long arms that reached just past his knees and wore a third rank blacksmith badge while Tang Wenhao wore a fourth rank badge. They were the most skilled individuals in the room after Cen Yue.


    Although Mu Xi was extremely talented, she was still only a second rank blacksmith. Mu Chen¡¯s strict attitude toward her had meant that he refused to pass her as a third rank blacksmith until her Thousand Refinements stabilized.


    ¡°Now that everyone is present, I¡¯ll begin. I believe you¡¯re all aware that although Eastsea City hasn¡¯t achieved any exemplary results in the Skysea Alliance Tournaments of late, our Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association is an exception to that. We managed to attain third place in the junior division, and first in the youth division last year. Wenhao, do your best this time to bring us glory in the adult division.¡±


    Tang Wenhao had an average appearance and a sturdy body. A calm light twinkled in his eyes as he said, ¡°Yes, teacher.¡±


    It was only then that Tang Wulin realized Tang Wenhao was Cen Yue¡¯s direct disciple.


    A satisfied smile formed on Cen Yue¡¯s lips. ¡°You will definitely receive excellent results as long as you perform your usual best¡±


    Cen Yue then turned to Zheng Tianlin. ¡°Tianlin, you¡¯ve made a lot of progress in these last two years and have stabilized your foundation. If you¡¯re able to forge at your personal best, then you should do well too. I hope you¡¯ll breakthrough soon and reach fourth rank.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master Cen.¡± Zheng Tianlin nodded but not only was his attitude disrespectful, it was filled with disdain and arrogance.


    Finally, Cen Yue turned to Tang Wulin and Mu Xi. ¡°Last of all are the two of you. If you were to ask me who I was most confident in with regards to the adult, youth, and juvenile division, I would definitely have said it would be you two brats. I don¡¯t think I need to give either of you any advice. Just perform as you always do and you¡¯ll surely bring back the title of champion. I¡¯ll be waiting to celebrate.¡±


    Everyone in the room eyed the two at these words. They could accept it if it had only been directed to Mu Xi, but Tang Wulin was an unknown face.


    The matter of Tang Wulin becoming President Mu Chen¡¯s disciple had been kept confidential and the only ones who knew this were Mu Chen himself, Cen Yue, and Mu Xi. It was for this reason that none of the other blacksmiths recognized him.


    Tang Wenhao was shocked that his teacher had praised this newcomer. He glanced at Tang Wulin and gave him a nod of acknowledgment. Tang Wulin hastily reciprocated.


    Zheng Tianlin smiled. ¡°Junior sister Mu Xi is quickly approaching third rank so the junior division should be no problem for her. The champion¡¯s prize is almost already hers.¡±


    Mu Xi would have accepted such praise before having met Tang Wulin since she truly was one of the greatest of her generation. Now, however, a little monster stood beside her. How could she accept such praise knowing full well the gap between her and Tang Wulin? He was already a fourth rank blacksmith despite being four years younger than her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say such nonsense. There¡¯s no way I can become the champion,¡± Mu Xi quickly said.


    Zheng Tianlin thought she was being modest and laughed. ¡°How could you not? Being able to reach the second rank is already amazing for your age, not to mention approaching third rank.¡± He hadn¡¯t even thought of acknowledging Tang Wulin since the beginning.


    Although Tang Wulin was taller than his peers, at most, he could only be considered a thirteen-year-old child. Apart from Tang Wenhao who noted Cen Yue¡¯s expectant gaze towards Tang Wulin, everyone else held the same assumptions as Zheng Tianlin. They thought Tang Wulin was merely present to create a contrast for Mu Xi¡¯s brilliance.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t mind this assessment at all; in fact, he wasn¡¯t concerned at all. Mang Tian had repeatedly warned him to stay low-key within the Blacksmith¡¯s Association as it was only then would he be able to progress further.


    He trusted Mang Tian¡¯s advice, and Mu Chen¡¯s lectures had only served to further reinforce this idea. It was for this reason that he truly intended to give Mu Xi the championship in this competition. He would be rewarded with both the second and first place prizes anyway. What reason did he have to decline?


    Cen Yue didn¡¯t try to allay their assumptions since his primary goal was Tang Wulin¡¯s safety. B Mu Chen had explained to Tang Wulin before their departure that if it wasn¡¯t for his insane improvement speed and connection with the world of blacksmiths, Mu Chen would not have let him compete.


    What Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t aware of was that there was a limited number of spots for participating in high-level competitions and having reached fourth rank, Tang Wulin qualified for them.


    Cen Yue said, ¡°Now I¡¯ll explain how the competition will be run this time. Let¡¯s start with the junior division. You can leave after hearing the information relevant to you.¡± He still prioritized Tang Wulin in the end. Of course, in the eyes of the other blacksmiths, it was simply Cen Yue showing consideration for Mu Xi.


    ¡°The three divisions aren¡¯t that different; it¡¯s just that the junior division focuses on blacksmithing fundamentals. The first round disqualifies contestants who cannot hundred refine. No one knows what metal you will be asked to forge. The top sixty-four participants from the first round will then compete in the second round where you freely display your ability with the same metal from before. You will be awarded points based on the grade of the final product. As for the third round, you will be shaping the metal you forged in the second round. That¡¯s it. There are only three rounds. To secure a good position, however, you will need to surprise everyone. When that time comes, just do you best and you should be fine. The association will grant you an additional award if you place within the top eight, and an amazing award if it¡¯s the top three. You¡¯ll even have the opportunity to participate in other blacksmithing competitions. I hope you¡¯ll keep this in mind and do you best because the spots for other competitions isn¡¯t up to me. If you place in the top three, the medal awarded will be your ticket into the upper levels of the world of blacksmithing, understand?¡±

 Chapter 196 - Struggle to the End!

    Chapter 196 - Struggle to the End!


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin, Mu Xi and a few other youngsters said respectfully.


    In the sea of green that was this group of blacksmiths, Mu Xi stood out brightly as a speck of red¡ªthe only woman among them.


    After listening to Cen Yue¡¯s warnings, Tang Wulin and Mu Xi set off.


    ¡°Good luck, junior disciple brother!¡± Mu Xi rubbed Tang Wulin¡¯s head and pinched his cheeks before releasing him.


    Helpless to the pinching, Tang Wulin began to miss her frigid disposition. At least back then, his cheeks were spared.


    He could feel the shift in atmosphere at their hotel as the start of the tournament drew near.


    Nearly all of the hotel¡¯s patrons were here for the event. Besides participants from Eastsea City there were also numerous people from other places, all preparing hastily.


    When he returned to his room, Tang Wulin was greeted by Xie Xie¡¯s tremendous snoring, the culprit already sound asleep. Starfished on the bed, he barely resembled a human.


    Tang Wulin descended on his own mattress. Instead of pulling at the coattails of slumber, he sat cross-legged and peered out the window. His gaze wandered past the sharp edges of the deep blue sea, zigzagging across the surface to no end. The rush and ebb of the tide granted him a peace of mind. He shut his eyes slowly and began meditating.


    Just as the clumsy bird flies early to the forest, he could not squander any opportunity to cultivate. Blacksmithing, on the other hand, was not a problem. As Cen Yue had informed him, finding anyone who could surpass his craft at his age was like searching for a needle in a haystack.


    Although he would be advancing through the competition with Mu Xi, Tang Wulin understood that when the final rounds approached he would need to carefully make a decision. If Mu Xi seemed to have a shot at becoming the champion, then he would yield the spot to her. However, in the event that Mu Xi could not proceed, he would remove his handicap, aiming for victory instead.


    As for the soul master¡¯s competition, he could not shake off his nervousness. Despite being considered pretty formidable among his peers, he would be facing soul masters several years older than him in the Skysea Alliance Tournament! The difference in cultivation from a single year was tremendous. He could only imagine what a gap of five years would be like.


    While wielding three rings, Mu Xi only hoped to place in the top eight. He possessed one ring and his teammates held two at most. Just how far could he hope to go?


    At the very least, we can¡¯t lose in the knockout phase! That would be too depressing for both us and Teacher Wu.


    I¡¯ve got to do my best! Struggle to the very end!


    Tang Wulin dispelled such distracting thoughts. Regardless of what happens, I¡¯ll persevere!


    The opening ceremony of the Skysea Alliance Tournament was held in Skysea Stadium. It was the largest stadium in the Skysea Alliance, boasting a maximum seating capacity of eighty-thousand people.


    For the economic bloc that was Eastsea Alliance, the Skysea Alliance Tournament was a grand occasion that the entire federation paid attention to. Outstanding geniuses would emerge each time the tournament was held.


    In reality, the Skysea Alliance Tournament¡¯s original goal was to filter through the masses for geniuses to raise. Then they would be groomed into pillars of the alliance.


    Within the Federation existed a myriad of factions, with the Skysea Alliance being one of the greater ones. Economic-wise, though, it stood as one of the Federation¡¯s major players.


    In spite of its economic power, the Skysea Alliance was not satisfied. Although it was easy to jumpstart the economy, building a sturdy foundation was a different story. Not to mention, they had started developing later than other regions. The continent¡¯s mainland was filled with major cities, each possessing thousands to tens of thousands of years of history. These cities were littered with countless ancient clans that raised powerful geniuses with profound backgrounds.


    Due to its difference in history, the Skysea Alliance was woefully deficient in talents. In fact, the quality and quantity of its geniuses were beginning to decline.


    All of the powerful experts were found inland. Only able to boast of its economic might, the Skysea Alliance could not be considered powerful by any means and hovered around the continent¡¯s middle levels of prominence.


    But how could the Skysea Alliance resign itself to lose in power and prestige? In a bid to select and grow talents, the Alliance established the Skysea Alliance Tournament roughly two hundred years ago. They offered not only a generous amount of prize money but some unique prizes as well. This way, the talents would receive the support needed to further pursue their paths, which would bolster the Alliance¡¯s strength.


    At the crack of dawn, representatives from the various cities flooded into the stadium.


    The arena was gigantic, hordes of people teeming within as far as the eye could see. The terrace had long since been filled with spectators. It was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time in such a grand stadium. Excitement permeated the air as the opening ceremony proceeded. Surrounded by so many taller people, Tang Wulin could hardly see what was happening. He could only hear a few encouraging words that marked the end of the ceremony.


    Next came the drawing of lots for the various competitions.


    This matter was handled by the teachers, leaving class zero twiddling their thumbs.


    The stadium erupted with joy as a platform was rapidly built in the center.


    ¡°What are they doing?¡± Tang Wulin asked Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie answered, ¡°Right, you wouldn¡¯t know about this. They¡¯re about to hold an exhibition match. I heard they paid an enormous sum to invite some powerful people from Shrek Academy this time. Their opponents will be the champions of the seven-man team competition from the last tournament. The Alliance is doing this to show everyone the gap between our strengths. Though, I¡¯m not sure if this is the best decision.¡±


    Gu Yue cut in from the side, ¡°Why do you think so?¡±


    Xie Xie simply shrugged. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Within a certain range, the gap in strength can be encouraging, but once the gap surpasses a certain level, it transforms into a chasm. It¡¯ll be an insurmountable reminder that only discourages people.¡±


    A giggle escaped from Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s lips. ¡°You sure know how to explain things. You¡¯re just a child and you¡¯ve already thought it out. Don¡¯t you think the Alliance¡¯s higher-ups would have come to the same conclusion? I bet they have some plan in place on how to handle this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m starving. Does anyone have anything to eat?¡± A voice sounded out suddenly.


    Tang Wulin turned toward the source of the noise and saw a little fatty scurrying about the crowd, asking random strangers for food as they passed by.


    ¡°Huh. Another glutton has appeared.¡± Xu Xiaoyan absentmindedly said.


    Xie Xie coughed. ¡°Xiaoyan! You really have a way with words.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan realized her indiscretion. She hastily pursed her cherry-red lips and stuck out her tongue.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t mind the quip since there was no denying he was a glutton. He walked toward the little fatty.


    ¡°Here, eat this.¡± Tang Wulin handed him some dried fish.


    Due to his high energy consumption, Tang Wulin always carried some snacks on him like dried fish, beef jerky and other portable foods loaded in protein and calories.


    ¡°Thank you, thank you.¡± The little fatty¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight of the snack. He immediately began devouring it while nodding in satisfaction.


    Seeing the little fatty eating so happily, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but feel a similar urge overtake his body. Unable to fight it, he started nibbling on some fish too.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty tasty! There isn¡¯t any dried fish as good as this where I¡¯m from. Thank you, big brother.¡± The little fatty looked around Tang Wulin¡¯s age and had a way with flattery.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to call me big brother. My name is Tang Wulin. You might even be a bit older than me. How old are you?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    The little fatty said, ¡°I just turned ten. How much older than me are you? There¡¯s no way you¡¯re younger, right?¡± He stood half a head shorter than Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 197 - The Students of Shrek

    Chapter 197 - The Students of Shrek


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Then I should be about half a year older than you. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The little fatty said, ¡°My name is Xu Lizhi, but everyone just calls me Little Glutton. You can call me by that nickname too.¡±


    A bitter laugh escaped from Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°We still don¡¯t know for sure who¡¯s the real glutton between the two of us, so I¡¯ll just call you by your name. Are you here to participate in the competition too?¡±


    Xu Lizhi nodded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right! It¡¯s really nice here. This is my first time seeing the sea so I¡¯m planning on going for a swim later. Can you tell me what sorts of delicious seafood there are?¡±


    He really is a glutton! Activating his storage ring, Tang Wulin retrieved another piece of dried fish for him.


    ¡°There are tons of delicious seafood here like briny sea urchins, tasty sea cucumbers, and the bluefin tuna is pretty good too. Oh right, there are also eels that taste as sweet as honey. If you want crab try the goldhair crab; it beats the king crab at taste by a long shot. Even the meat is more tender. If you want lobster though, I still feel that our Eastsea City¡¯s eastsea lobster is the best. It might be a bit pricy, but the meat is simply delicious. The skysea lobster has firmer meat, but its nutritional value is quite lacking. Not to mention, it¡¯s a pain in the butt to chew.¡± Tang Wulin explained effortlessly like a food connoisseur.


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s eyes grew brighter as he listened to Tang Wulin¡¯s summary, swallowing down a gulp of saliva. ¡°Great! This is great! So, after the competition is finished, do you mind showing me around? I¡¯m already itching to try them all.¡±


    Tang Wulin said helplessly, ¡°It¡¯ll depend on the time, but here¡¯s my communicator number. You can call me about this later.¡± He doubted the Skysea Alliance Tournament could have prepared a meal big enough to satisfy him and already assumed he would need to hit the streets later for some grub. Therefore, having a fellow foodie tag along was not a hassle.


    Just as the two finished exchanging soul communicator numbers, an icy but pleasant voice called out. ¡°Little Glutton, how did you run all the way over here? All you know is how to eat. Hurry up and come back.¡±


    Tang Wulin and the Little Glutton, Xu Lizhi, turned toward the voice. The speaker was a girl around Xu Lizhi¡¯s age, dressed in the same green exercise clothes as him. In comparison to Xu Lizhi¡¯s fat-filled form, her clean-cut silhouette brought out the best in the clothes. Her golden hair was combed up into a ponytail, accentuating her large, bright, blue eyes framed by long eyelashes. They were nearly on par with Tang Wulin¡¯s. Her skin glistened under the light, tender, and white.


    Although she was likely Tang Wulin¡¯s age, her face was a mask of stone compared to his, as if she were a little adult.


    Upon the sight of her, Xu Lizhi was like a mouse facing a cat. He stood straight and said earnestly, ¡°Big Sister Xinglan, I know I made a mistake but I¡¯m still starving! You know right? If I don¡¯t eat enough, then I won¡¯t have any strength!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± As the girl was waving Xu Lizhi over she noticed Tang Wulin nibbling on dried fish beside him. Disdain colored her words. ¡°Don¡¯t just eat anything you get from a stranger! Don¡¯t you know how many bad people there are nowadays?¡±


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s chubby face twitched for a moment before he turned back to face Tang Wulin, gesturing that he would call him later. He swiftly ran off, obediently following the girl.


    Tang Wulin rubbed his face absentmindedly. Do I look like a bad guy?


    ¡°Who was that just now?¡± Xie Xie asked as he walked over. With just one glimpse of the blonde girl, his breath had nearly been taken away.


    Shrugging his shoulders, Tang Wulin replied. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I was just chatting with Xu Lizhi about food.¡±


    Suddenly, an announcement was broadcasted.


    ¡°Today marks the start of the Skysea Alliance Tournament. We have invited a team specially from Shrek Academy to exchange pointers with last year¡¯s champions. Accounting for the gap in strength, this match will be held between different age groups. The contenders are last year¡¯s youth division champions of the seven-man team competition and Shrek Academy¡¯s seven-man team from the junior division. Now, will both sides please come on stage.¡±


    The youth division against the junior division?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shifted to stare at Xu Xiaoyan. Everything was going according to her predictions. Sure enough, the higher-ups of the Skysea Alliance had considered the difference in strengths and came to this conclusion. However, if the youth division lost to the junior division¡­


    What happened next shocked Tang Wulin even further.


    The representatives of the Skysea Alliance arrived on the platform. Since they were the winners of the previous tournament, they were now all over twenty years old and should be placed in the adult division.


    There were five men and two women clad in silver team uniforms, standing with confidence and valiance imbued in their hearts. Their synchronous movements illustrated their rigorous training while their eyes shined with excitement.


    But that wasn¡¯t what truly caught Tang Wulin by surprise. When the delegation from Shrek Academy arrived, he didn¡¯t recognize the frontmost five people. They all wore green sportswear and were about fourteen to fifteen years old. Nevertheless, behind them were two people he could identify. In fact, he just met them not too long ago! Isn¡¯t that the little fatty Xu Lizhi and that Xinglan girl? They were far younger than the rest of the team and immediately caught everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Huh. Hey, it¡¯s those two! Why are they up there on the stage?¡± Naturally, Xie Xie recognized them too.


    Dumbfounded, Xu Xiaoyan said, ¡°Our ages are the same, yet the gap between us is so great!¡±


    That¡¯s right! We¡¯re all just ten years old yet they¡¯re already fighting in an exhibition match. More importantly, they¡¯re representatives of the legendary Shrek Academy!


    Even the usually level-headed Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but admire and envy them. No wonder that Xinglan girl was so arrogant. She has the power to back it up! Just how strong are they though?


    They¡¯re only ten years old; could they actually possess three soul rings?


    The two sides greeted each other courteously. The team of seven from the Skysea Alliance towered over the students from Shrek Academy, a manifestation of their age gap.


    After all, there was more than a difference of five years between them!


    A fifteen-year-old boy lead the Shrek Academy¡¯s team. Though his looks weren¡¯t particularly flattering, his temperament held an indescribable quality. He stood tall and astute. Simply by taking a few steps forward, he drew the attention of the whole stadium.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were peeled in anticipation of the match. It was seven versus seven, the most common form of team battles. In the last 10,000 years, this formation proved to be the optimal setup for a team of soul masters.


    The two groups on stage were the cream of the crop from two different generations, especially the youngsters from Shrek Academy. It was a mystery to all just how powerful they were. Unwittingly, Tang Wulin already began comparing himself to them. For those with ambitions, it was important to set a high goal.


    Both teams gave simple self-introductions, revealing the arrogant little girl¡¯s name. It was Ye Xinglan, a good name.


    An old man served as the referee. With his profound air, after a single glance anyone would know his strength was not shallow.


    ¡°Now, let the match begin!¡±


    The stage wasn¡¯t particularly large, spanning less area than class zero¡¯s arena.  There hadn¡¯t been enough time to build a grander one and as such it was only fifty meters in diameter. Occupied by only fourteen people, the area didn¡¯t seem too crowded. Even so, there wasn¡¯t much space to maneuver.


    Right as the referee announced the start of the match, Shrek Academy broke into action.


    Surprisingly, the first to make his move was Xu Lizhi.


    With a wave of his arm, two yellow soul rings appeared under him. Mysterious objects flew out of his hands as his first soul ring lit up. Because he was so far from the arena, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t see what were thrown. Yet for some reason, he thought they resembled steamed buns.


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s six teammates each consumed one of the objects. The female teammate beside Ye Xinglan roared as three soul rings materialized beneath her feet. Two were yellow and one was purple¡ªthe optimal soul ring configuration. Light coalesced in her right hand to form a seven-tiered pagoda.  As the first three levels of the pagoda sparkled brilliantly, its glow enveloped the stoic youth spearheading their formation.


    The youth released a draconic roar as his body swelled. His arms especially grew thick and solid. Four rings rose from beneath him¡ªtwo yellow, one purple, and one black. Shockingly, he had a ten-thousand-year soul ring!


    Tang Wulin grew feverish as an unknown feeling welled up inside of him. It continued to expand as thunder shook the arena.


    Few in the audience saw the whole process clearly. What they did see, however, was cyan light exploding on stage, followed by a baptism of lightning and thunder.

 Chapter 198 - Drawing Lots

    Chapter 198 - Drawing Lots


    Although Tang Wulin activated the Purple Demon Eyes in a moment¡¯s haste, he still could not penetrate the forest of azure and bolts of violet lightning zipping through the stage with his sight. The Purple Demon Eyes only magnified the details of each chaotic lightning strike.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin noticed that three of the Skysea Alliance team¡¯s members had four rings while the rest wielded three. He was able to discern the ring compositions of the three soul masters¡ªtwo yellow and two purple each. However, he failed to make out the individual spirit souls. At that moment, they were engulfed by the tempest of electric bolts and thunder.


    I¡­


    I can¡¯t see anything in this match!


    The rumbling storm didn¡¯t let up. Instead, it grew more potent! Tang Wulin could see the silhouette of a lightning dragon wreaking havoc within the electric blitz.


    He saw the dragon and after¡­ there was no ¡°after¡±.


    A minute later, the match ended


    The seven representatives of the Skysea Alliance collapsed on the stage while the delegation from Shrek Academy stood rooted in their previous formation. Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan were stationed in the back. The young girl didn¡¯t attack the entire battle and the little fatty was just stuffing his face with the dried fish snack, complimentary of Tang Wulin.


    Silence dominated the stands. For a single moment, not a single peep sounded from the audience of 80,000 people.


    After bending over in a slight bow, the leader of Shrek Academy¡¯s team led his teammates off the stage.


    How could a battle between generations last no more than a minute? It was simply a massacre. The Skysea Alliance team didn¡¯t even have a chance to display their strength.


    The Shrek team¡¯s assault had been swift like an eagle, arriving instantly like a howling gale. It was as if a sleeping dragon awakened to swallow its foes in the blink of an eye.


    Tang Wulin heard a gulp beside him.


    He turned to see Xie Xie wide-eyed and gaping, mouth opened as if attempting to catch a fly. ¡°Th-this is the strength of Shrek Academy? Are they even human?¡±


    A gentle sigh escaped from Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°They look human. Our gap in soul rings isn¡¯t that large, yet their coordination and explosive power are truly terrifying. No wonder Teacher Wu always stresses the importance of teamwork. These guys are just too strong.¡±


    ¡°Their teamwork doesn¡¯t seem like much on the surface, but their strengths are multiplied by supporting one another. If it wasn¡¯t so, then there¡¯s no way their leader could have single-handedly defeated the opposing seven-man team, even if he were that much stronger. They must have a secret to their strength. I don¡¯t think they only spirit souls; they must possess pure soul rings too. They¡¯ve probably hunted real soul beasts, and maybe even have a soul bone,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said with a grave expression. Within class zero, she and Xie Xie were the most knowledgeable about such matters by far.


    ¡°That¡¯s all they are.¡± Gu Yue¡¯s indifferent tone startled Tang Wulin and when he faced her, he was met with arrogant eyes.


    ¡®That¡¯s all they are¡¯? Then what does she consider powerful?


    ¡°We¡¯ll definitely be stronger than them once we reach their age.¡± Gu Yue¡¯s tone left no room for doubt.


    ¡°Surpassing them doesn¡¯t count as anything.¡± An icy voice washed over them like chilling a tide, drawing their attention. Unknown to them, Wu Zhangkong had appeared beside the group.


    ¡°They were merely Shrek Academy¡¯s outer court students,¡± Wu Zhangkong said, his voice dropping the surrounding temperature by several degrees.


    Outer court?


    Everyone knew that Shrek Academy had both an inner and outer court. Only the inner court nurtured the academy¡¯s true elites.


    This time, even Gu Yue was shocked.


    Wu Zhangkong continued, ¡°The outer court¡¯s brightest and most capable students are still required to pass an inspection in order to enter the inner court. Matriculating inner court disciples must be sixteen years old or younger. Therefore, none of those on that Shrek Academy team should be inner court disciples. The ones you should all take note of are the two youngest contenders. Since they were sent to represent Shrek Academy at such a young age, their talent surpasses that of common men without a doubt. They have likely already been selected as inner court candidates. As such, they will also be¡­ your greatest rivals.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong word¡¯s shook the hearts of his students. Our greatest rivals? What does that mean?


    ¡°Teacher Wu, why would we compete with them?¡± Xu Xiaoyan was flabbergasted.


    Wu Zhangkong glanced at her. ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m training you all to enter Shrek Academy¡¯s inner court and fulfill my unfulfilled desire.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Teacher Wu, are you saying you couldn¡¯t join the inner court?¡±


    Bitterness tugged at the corners of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s mouth. ¡°I entered, but I never graduated.¡±


    Long Bing? Tang Wulin suddenly recalled this name. Could Teacher Wu¡¯s failure to graduate from the inner court be because of that person?


    ¡°These matters are too far in the future for you to worry about. Just do your best for now. Entering Shrek Academy will be a long and arduous road. I¡¯ve drawn the lots; the matches begin tomorrow.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t bother informing them of their opponents. For both the individual and team competition, the first round would be a knockout battle. Anyone who loses would be immediately eliminated from the competition.


    Two events would be conducted the next day. One of them was the blacksmith¡¯s, which would also have a knockout round.  As such, Tang Wulin would be participating in a total of three competitions.His eyes landed on the time of each competition. Thankfully they didn¡¯t overlap, otherwise he really would be stuck between a rock and a hard place.


    His eyes landed on the time of each competition. Thankfully they didn¡¯t overlap, otherwise he really would be stuck between a rock and a hard place.


    Due to the low number of participants and minimal space requirement, the blacksmith¡¯s event would be the opening act. As for the individual and team battles, they would occur across the eight arenas prepared by the Skysea Alliance Tournament. For the individual event, Tang Wulin was assigned to the Skysea Stadium, a short trek away from the blacksmith¡¯s competition. Luck seemed to be smiling down on him.


    The team competition was also conducted in the stadium, but in the afternoon. Since the blacksmiths would compete in the morning, Tang Wulin should make the individual event by the skin of his teeth.


    Wu Zhangkong offered his students neither helpful analyses nor advice; instead, he simply told them to return to the hotel later to prepare. As for him, he would be going ahead.


    ¡°Teacher Wu is such an irresponsible man!¡± Xie Xie muttered.


    Gu Yue looked at him. ¡°Do you dare say that to his face?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan was even more direct. ¡°I¡¯m telling on you to Teacher Wu!¡±


    Xie Xie said in indignance, ¡°What have I done to provoke you two! Am I your mortal enemy?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°Who told you to grow up not as handsome as Teacher Wu and Tang Wulin?¡±


    ¡°This big bro is handsome! People will understand in the future! You just can¡¯t yet comprehend how dashing I am.¡± Disdain tinged Xie Xie¡¯s words.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back. I think the reason Teacher Wu didn¡¯t give us any advice is because it would be pointless. Since that¡¯s the case, we¡¯ll only have ourselves to rely on. We have the individual competitions tomorrow morning; let¡¯s all do our best. We¡¯ll formulate some tactics when it comes time for the team matches.¡±

 Chapter 199 - Eating Together

    Chapter 199 - Eating Together


    Tang Wulin had pretty much hit the nail right on the head in regards to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s line of thought. Practical combat experience at their age was more beneficial to their growth than anything else. The battles in the spirit ascension platform and spars with their teacher were engraved into their very being. Such experiences culminated into growth.


    So what if our opponent is strong? Today, the Skysea Alliance¡¯s team clearly had the edge in soul rings, yet they still lost in under a minute!


    So what if they¡¯re older and have better soul rings? All that matters is how much strength we¡¯re able to display and if we can grasp victory!


    Tang Wulin was convinced that no matter how formidable their opponent was, as long as they brought out their full power, then even Wu Zhangkong couldn¡¯t say anything should they lose.


    The city bustled with activity now that the Skysea Alliance Tournament was in full-swing. Tournaments attracted people, so visitors from all over the east coast had traveled to Skysea City.


    The city came to life once night fell. People swarmed the restaurants, delighting in delicacies and fine liquor.


    ¡°Did you sneak out?¡± Tang Wulin asked Xu Lizhi. The little fatty was sitting beside him, gorging himself on food.


    Xu Lizhi had invited him out to eat in the afternoon. Tang Wulin was happy to agree of course, but when they met, he saw that Xu Lizhi had disguised himself. He had clearly snuck out.


    ¡°Mhmm. This tofu fish is really good. It¡¯s delicate and soft, yet so fragrant, so delicious. Tang Wulin, you really know how to eat!¡± The little fatty Xu Lizhi exclaimed as he stuffed himself.


    Although Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t a resident of Skysea City, there wasn¡¯t much of a difference between Skysea City and Eastsea City¡¯s seafood. Furthermore, he had spent his entire life on the coast, so how could he not know what was tasty?


    ¡°Hey, why aren¡¯t you eating?¡± Xu Lizhi asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°There would be nothing left for you if I eat.¡± What he didn¡¯t mention was how expensive this food was. Eating would bring him both joy and suffering in this case. Treating Xu Lizhi to a meal was enough.


    Xu Lizhi said, ¡°Come on, eat! It¡¯s more fun to eat together. You lead the way and I¡¯ll pay. You¡¯re not a resident of Skysea City anyway so you don¡¯t have to host me, alright?¡±


    Tang Wulin burst into laughter. ¡°You really want me to eat? Are you sure you want to treat me? Let me tell you; I¡¯ve got quite the stomach.¡±


    Xu Lizhi waved a hand dismissively as if swatting a fly. ¡°It¡¯s just a bit of money to eat. Come on, let¡¯s feast. We¡¯ll deal with it after we¡¯re full.¡±


    ¡°Alright! Boss, I want to order one salt-crusted baked bluefin tuna.¡± Tang Wulin immediately called out.


    Hesitating, the boss asked, ¡°Do you have more guests coming?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head.


    The boss said, ¡°Do you know how big a bluefin tuna is?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Of course. It should be at least fifty kilograms, so you should start preparing it now since it will take a long time to bake. Right, I also want fifty rose sea urchins, two baked fish heads and¡­¡± Tang Wulin continued listing dishes.


    Xu Lizhi didn¡¯t mind and instead applauded him.


    Soon, the entire restaurant was swept up by their pace.


    Despite lagging behind Tang Wulin, Xu Lizhi could keep eating without pause, showcasing his frightening endurance. They were children after all. When they saw one another going at it, they couldn¡¯t help but compete.


    As the dishes piled up on the table, the two increased their tempo, cheeks trembling as they chewed and swallowed.


    The legend of the gluttonous Tang Wulin had been confined to Eastsea City, but today it debuted in Skysea City.


    A short while later, shells and dishes piled up like a mountain across two tables.


    ¡°You really know how to eat! This is the first time I¡¯ve met someone who could compete with me in terms of eating. Stuffing myself has never been so cool.¡± Xu Lizhi exclaimed in admiration and flashed Tang Wulin a big thumbs up.


    Tang Wulin laughed mischievously. ¡°This is also my first time meeting someone who can eat as much as I do. This seafood is really filling and high in protein. Here, try some. This rose sea urchin is delicious. Not only is the meat fragrant, it¡¯s also filled with flavor. If you let it sit for two hours, the flavor completely transforms! That¡¯s why you can¡¯t say you¡¯ve tasted its true deliciousness until you¡¯ve visited a coastal city.¡±


    ¡°Wow! It really is delicious.¡±


    Xu Lizhi gradually found it harder and harder to continue devouring food. His belly swelled until it was a perfect sphere and all he could do was lean back against his chair, gaping at Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin¡¯s pace hadn¡¯t slowed at all even now, and his stomach was still as flat as always It was almost as if he were a starved man seeing food for the first time.


    ¡°I-I can¡¯t continue. You¡¯re amazing; I concede. Since you can eat so much, I¡¯ll call you Big Bro from now on.¡± Xu Lizhi patted his stomach as he panted, his face a picture of contentment and respect.


    ¡°Ah hah! So you¡¯re here!¡± At that moment, a familiar voice cut through their sweet atmosphere like a knife.


    Without pausing from feasting, Tang Wulin turned toward the voice to see a furious Ye Xinglan barging her way in. She headed straight for Xu Lizhi.


    ¡°D-don¡¯t hit me Big Sister Xinglan! I know I was wrong, but I ate really well! Please don¡¯t hit me! I¡¯ve eaten so much so that if you do, I might puke it all out. Wouldn¡¯t that be a waste? This is really delicious. Do you want to join us?¡±


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s mood lightened at his words. This guy is such a glutton.


    But when she shifted her gaze to their table, she nearly jumped up from fright. Did a whole army come to eat?


    Plates, bowls and debris from all sorts of food were scattered across two round tables. Seated across from Xu Lizhi, Tang Wulin continued to pull apart a crab¡¯s leg with expert movements. After biting both sides, he broke open the shell, squeezed out the white crab meat and slurped it up without leaving a single scrap.


    Seeing him eat so merrily, Ye Xinglan couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit hungry herself.


    ¡°Are you the one who seduced him to come out?¡± Ye Xinglan¡¯s brows shot up as she recalled their meeting earlier today. She had taken note of him due to his good looks and large, warm eyes. The fact that he invited Xu Lizhi out, however, seemed suspicious to reek of taking advantage of their Shrek Academy affiliation to her.


    ¡°You want to join us?¡± Tang Wulin ignored her accusation.


    At that moment, the boss called out, ¡°Here¡¯s the salt baked bluefin tuna!¡±


    As Ye Xinglan turned around and saw the fish, her eyes went wide.


    That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s just too big!


    Just how massive was a fish that weighed over fifty kilograms? It was one meter in length, thick and solid. The sizeable crust of sea salt on its surface was like a mountain¡¯s peak. Due to its size, the fish was delivered to the table by trolley.


    The boss was convinced now¡ªthese two gluttons really could devour an entire bluefin tuna. The mountain of plates was a testament to that.


    Laughing heartily, the boss said, ¡°Just wait a moment, I¡¯ll get a hammer to smash it open for you. My salt-crusted baked bluefin tuna is definitely one of the best dishes in Skysea City.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t need to trouble yourself. I can do it.¡±


    He made his way to the bluefin tuna.


    To ensure that the inner meat stayed tender and juicy, it was protected by a thick coating of salt. Furthermore, because the bluefin tuna was bulky, it needed at least a centimeter of coating; any thinner and the taste would suffer, no matter how much shorter the cooking time would be. By now, dusk had already swept through the skies.


    With such a thick layer of salt, even an adult needed a hammer to crack it open.


    But to Tang Wulin, this was nothing.


    His heavy silver hammer materialized in his hands in a flash of light and he swung at the salt crust.


    A dull thump echoed throughout the room. Following that, a crack snaked its way along the crust. After two successive swings of the hammer, it split open all the way.


    Tang Wulin put away his hammer and brushed the salt off with his hands, revealing tender white meat beneath. A heavy fragrance immediately burst out, flooding his nostrils.


    This prompted Xu Lizhi to shoot up from his seat, staring at the bluefin tuna with the intent to swallow it whole.


    ¡°Y-y-you, why didn¡¯t you tell me about this sooner! What do I do, I¡¯m too full right now! N-no! I can¡¯t let things end like this. I¡¯m going to go exercise for a bit. Don¡¯t you dare finish it without me! I¡¯ll be back in a few minutes.¡± The little fatty lurched outside.


    Tang Wulin casually retrieved a clean plate and used his knife to carve a large chunk of meat for himself.


    Just as he was about to sit down and eat, he remembered the girl in front of him. Accustomed to caring for Na¡¯er in his childhood, he took another plate and handed it to her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have some?¡±


    In truth, Ye Xinglan had already succumbed to shock after taking in the size of the bluefin tuna.


    This was her first time seeing such a giant fish. Not to mention, it was served with expert cooking techniques. Although she was stronger and had a steadier temperament than her peers, she was still a ten-year-old child. Ye Xinglan couldn¡¯t help but be enticed by such a delicacy.


    ¡°Mn, okay.¡± She didn¡¯t hesitate to accept the plate. She grabbed a clean fork from the side, sat herself in Xu Lizhi¡¯s seat and began eating.

 Chapter 200 - Paying the Bill

    Chapter 200 - Paying the Bill


    Tang Wulin grinned as he approached the tuna¡¯s head and pulled apart the salt crust, and revealing its delicate meat underneath. He slid a knife between the cheekbones and cut out a chunk of meat the size of his palm with one swift circular motion before placing it on a second plate.


    He offered the plate to Ye Xinglan. ¡°Try this; it¡¯s the best part of the fish. Bluefin tuna has a lot of collagen because it swims in the deep sea, and this section is packed full of it. The collagen, when combined with its tender flesh, bursts with flavor on the tongue.¡±


    Once he handed the plate to her, he grabbed his own and carved out another piece for himself. He sat down with a grin and continued to eat.


    Such carefree indulgence brought forward a splendid feeling.


    It¡¯s really good! Ye Xinglan thought to herself as she savored the supple meat. She sent a furtive glance toward Tang Wulin. There¡¯s no way this guy can be this nice; he must be hiding something. I need to be careful of him.


    This fish is so delicious though! I¡¯ll finish eating first before dealing with him.


    The two continued to gorge themselves. The only dissatisfaction Ye Xinglan harbored was that Tang Wulin had never raised his head once to look at her¡ªhe was too preoccupied eating.


    She had thought that Xu Lizhi was the pinnacle of gluttony, but today Tang Wulin had proven she was wrong. Tang Wulin thoroughly surpassed Xu Lizhi in this regard. She found it truly frightening. Heaps and heaps of meat entered his stomach like factory products traveling on a conveyor belt, yet his pace never faltered. It even seemed to accelerate.


    Ye Xinglan mulled things over as she chewed and swallowed. This guy really is an unrivaled glutton. Well, I admit that the fish is delicious.


    The sea salt complimented the meat¡¯s savouriness, preserving the juiciness and creating an umami-filled adventure. Her plate had the most delicious tidbit, courtesy of Tang Wulin. The fragrant collagen and the tuna¡¯s soft flesh would forever be engraved in her memory, standing out as her most spectacular food experience.


    Half of the tuna had been consumed by the time Xu Lizhi returned. He howled at the sight before promptly diving in to join the glutton forces.


    In the midst of the excitement, Tang Wulin set aside a finger-licking morsel for the other boy. The moment Xu Lizhi dug into the piece of tuna cheek, his face went slack with contentment. It was as if he had transcended to a higher realm.


    A while later, the restaurant¡¯s boss stood stupefied as he stared at the trio with his mouth agape. Three kids had actually succeeded in devouring a fifty kilogram fish. Ye Xinglan¡¯s cold haughtiness cracked open like a shell, revealing a demeanor irreconcilable with the initial impression of her. She leaned back into her chair. This was the first time in her life that she had felt so full. If she moved another inch, her belly would burst.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your name?¡± Ye Xinglan asked Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Tang Wulin.¡± Despite eating the most, Tang Wulin was still as calm as ever. He may have ingested more protein than usual during this meal, but the sheer amount of food he ate didn¡¯t stray too far from the norm.


    ¡°How are you able to eat so much? Don¡¯t you feel bloated at all?¡± Ye Xinglan asked in disbelief.


    Tang Wulin beamed, ¡°Let me tell you guys a secret; actually, I have a dragon in my stomach and it¡¯s the one eating all this food.¡±


    His half truths left Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan in a daze.


    ¡°A dragon in your stomach? How did it get there?¡± Xu Lizhi asked.


    Tang Wulin shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was born with it. This is the reason why I can eat so much. By the way, your match today was so awesome! By the time I blinked, you guys had won.¡±


    A look of pride crossed Xu Lizhi¡¯s face. ¡°Of course. We¡¯re Shrek after all. We¡¯ve always been peerless.¡±


    Those words seemed to trigger Ye Xinglan¡¯s alertness. She kicked the little fatty¡¯s leg under the table before craning her neck toward Tang Wulin. ¡°We''re leaving now. You settle the bill.¡±


    ¡°I already said I¡¯m hosting!¡± Xu Lizhi was a man of his words.


    Ye Xinglan scowled at him. ¡°Do you have money?¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Xu Lizhi was at a loss for words. ¡°How did I forget about that¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin was speechless. Can¡¯t he be more reliable¡­ If I had known this earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have eaten so much!


    ¡°What kind of expression is that?¡± Ye Xinglan said as she glared at Tang Wulin¡¯s stiffened face. ¡°You should know, it¡¯s an honor to treat us to dinner.¡±


    After a moment of incredulity, Tang Wulin nodded his head. ¡°Yeah! It really is an honor. You guys sit down first. I¡¯ll go settle the bill.¡± Saying so, he stood up and walked away.


    Since they were sitting in a lounge, he had to turn and make a beeline for the front desk.


    Once he was out of sight, Ye Xinglan smacked the top of Xu Lizhi¡¯s head. ¡°Why did you sneak out! Let¡¯s see how I¡¯ll deal with you once we get back.¡±


    Xu Lizhi pulled an indignant face. ¡°Big sister Xinglan, I made a mistake, but didn¡¯t you eat happily, too? Everything¡¯s fine if you had a good time. What are you hitting me for?¡±


    Ye Xinglan snorted. ¡°We¡¯re from Shrek; just how many people do you think are scheming about us? I don¡¯t think that Tang Wulin is any good. I bet he approached us with ulterior motives.¡±


    After a few blinks, Xu Lizhi retorted ¡°No way. When we first met, he gave me some dried fish to eat. That was before he knew which academy I¡¯m from.¡±


    The corners of Ye Xinglan¡¯s mouth began to twitch. ¡°How are you so sure about that? I bet the Skysea Alliance has been watching you and making plans on how to approach you. If you don¡¯t believe me, then just wait. Once he he comes back, he¡¯ll definitely think of some way to get closer to us.¡±


    Xu Lizhi faced the direction Tang Wulin had departed. ¡°Huh, shouldn¡¯t he be back by now?¡±


    Disdain dripped from Ye Xinglan¡¯s words, ¡°He probably went to the washroom after eating so much.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    After another quarter of an hour, Tang Wulin still hadn¡¯t returned.


    ¡°He sure is taking a long time in the washroom! He ate a lot, so a lot comes out?¡± Xu Lizhi mumbled.


    ¡°Go look for him.¡± Ye Xinlan ordered Xu Lizhi, the beginnings of a storm rumbling in her chest. The reason she had been so forceful in having him pay was that she didn¡¯t have any money either! Since they were here to represent Shrek, she hadn¡¯t brought any cash.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Xu Lizhi dragged his chubby self back.


    ¡°I-I can¡¯t find him. Big Sister Xinglan, I think he left! I bet it¡¯s because you were so rude to him. He probably dipped after paying the bill. See? I told you he wasn¡¯t trying to get close to us.¡±


    Ye Xinglan said, ¡°This is the so-called ¡®capturing by letting loose¡¯, you know? Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    She got up with Xu Lizhi and set off.


    ¡°Hey, you two children. Hold up. Aren¡¯t you going to pay the bill?¡± The boss came over and stopped the two.


    ?


    On his trip back to the hotel, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but feel invigorated as the cool sea breeze brushed against his face.


    As for the bill? He wouldn¡¯t have acted that way had Xu Lizhi not promised to pay. It was a pricy meal after all! He didn¡¯t believe that students from Shrek Academy¡¯s students could be short on money.


    What really put him in a bad mood, however, was how Ye Xinglan tried to take advantage of him and how cheaply she treated him. She acted as if having a meal with me was charity work! Since that¡¯s how she views it, then she can pay the bill herself. I¡¯ll save myself some money. The thought of her made him roll his eyes.


    For this reason, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t hesitate to leave immediately. Why should I kiss the asses of those Shrek Academy students if they look down on me! If they don¡¯t want to be friends, then I¡¯ll just keep my distance. Naturally, Tang Wulin had his own bottom line and paid his share of the bill¡ªone third.


    He was really self-indulgent today, so he began meditating as soon as he returned to the hotel. Of course, he didn¡¯t forget to block Xu Lizhi¡¯s number from his soul communicator. He didn¡¯t want any trouble; he¡¯ll pretend that he had never met them.


    In reality and unknown to Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan¡¯s arrogant eyes had aroused his own pride.

 Chapter 201 - The Tournament Begins

    Chapter 201 - The Tournament Begins


    The next day.


    At the first glimmers of dawn, Tang Wulin set forth to meet with the delegation from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    The blacksmith¡¯s competition kicked off the start of the tournament. After participating in that event, he would have to rush to the individual competition. Following that would be the team battle in the afternoon. Tang Wulin¡¯s schedule was packed full. As such, there was no time to spare; he hurried to find Cen Yue right after cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes and eating a heaping pile of breakfast.


    Sporting a sixth-rank blacksmith¡¯s badge on his chest, Cen Yue led the procession of blacksmiths like a hen leading its chicks. Because they were the youngest, Tang Wulin and Mu Xi stood at the back of the line.


    ¡°Senior disciple sister, do we have to wear our badges?¡± Tang Wulin asked softly.


    Mu Xi was currently flaunting her own. Dyed in blue hues, it was adorned with two striking white stars, signifying her status as a second-rank blacksmith. Once she reached the third rank, Mu Xi would be bestowed a badge dipped in the orange glow of dusk, decorated with three yellow stars. The outline of a blacksmith¡¯s hammer was a constant theme among the ranks.


    As a fourth-rank blacksmith, Tang Wulin¡¯s badge was orange and displayed four yellow stars.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. Dad told me to tell you that you must not wear your badge. If possible, hide the fact that you¡¯re a fourth-rank blacksmith. He only wants you to place in the top three. That way, you¡¯ll qualify for advanced competitions in the future.¡± Mu Xi lowered her voice as she answered.


    Zheng Tianlin faced her and smiled. ¡°Junior sister Mu Xi, you¡¯re still worried about your placement? Let¡¯s go compete in the Shrek City¡¯s Comprehensive Blacksmith¡¯s Tournament later.¡±


    The moment Zheng Tianlin spoke, the girl¡¯s arrogant demeanor vanished like a dream. The tense wrinkle on her delicate brow transformed into a gentle smile. It was quite flattering.


    Mu Xi said, ¡°Mn. Sounds good! Good luck senior disciple brother!¡± Zheng Tianlin¡¯s teacher was Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s other Saint Blacksmith. He was also the vice-president of the association. However, since he was a seventh-rank blacksmith, his strength was a slightly less than Mu Chen¡¯s. Acknowledging his talent, Mu Chen had given Zheng Tianlin some pointers in the past. Mu Xi treated him like a senior disciple brother because of this.


    Zheng Tianlin laughed, shifting his gaze at Tang Wulin. ¡°Why are we bringing this brat? Is it so he can experience the world? Anyway, can he even lift a forging hammer at his age?¡±


    Tang Wulin cursed Zheng Tianlin in his heart. Even if you¡¯re trying to talk yourself up, you don¡¯t need to belittle me. Despite feeling indignant, Tang Wulin kept silent since he didn¡¯t want to cause trouble for his teacher.


    Mu Xi couldn¡¯t ignore this. Even though she constantly picked on him, Tang Wulin was still under her father¡¯s personal guidance. With a cold snort, she said, ¡°Senior disciple brother, are you questioning my dad¡¯s decision? Wulin is my dad¡¯s direct disciple. So, do you still think he can¡¯t lift a forging hammer?¡±


    Zheng Tianlin gawked. Never had he expected Tang Wulin to be Mu Chen¡¯s disciple. After gathering himself, a trace of jealousy flashed through his eyes like an electric bolt. Mu Chen was an outstanding figure in the continent¡¯s blacksmithing world. Including those who hid their status, there were no more than a dozen Saint Blacksmiths. Similarly, eighth-ranked blacksmiths totaled to four individuals,


    He wasn¡¯t only kissing up to Mu Xi because he liked her. Her father¡¯s lofty position was also factored in. Since his own teacher was a Saint Blacksmith, acquiring the aid of Mu Chen would greatly increase his chances of reaching a similar level.


    It was preposterous to believe that that the ten-year-old boy was actually the direct disciple of Mu Chen. This was the same Mu Chen who had refused to accept a student for several years. In Zheng Tianlin¡¯s thoughts, this legendary figure only intended to nurture and guide his daughter.


    ¡°No way! You look just like a little kid! Well, I¡¯ll be awaiting your performance.¡± The corners of Zheng Tianlin¡¯s mouth quirked up in an imitation of a smile, but his eyes revealed his hostility.


    Why¡¯s this guy acting like this? I don¡¯t remember offending him in any way!  Tang Wulin was baffled, but soon he understood how his teacher had been protecting him. The tasks he accepted came from a special channel. Such preparation was made to shield him from the eyes of jealous hawks.


    The only way to solve this problem is for me to become stronger! Once I¡¯m strong enough, then what do I care if others are jealous?


    The blacksmith¡¯s competition was held in a small gym near Skysea Stadium. Tang Wulin trembled like a newborn calf when he entered the area.


    Over a hundred forging tables were set up as far as the eye could see. Moreover, they were all from the newest generation, flaunting features superior to the one he usually used. His prior experience with this technology stemmed from the advanced tables of the association.


    Although the Skysea Alliance lacked in powerful individuals, it still possessed overwhelming economic influence.


    There weren¡¯t many spectators in the stands. To the public, blacksmithing was neither interesting nor important. People were more drawn to soul master battles, mecha crafting and other exciting things.


    Forging was a dry and dull affair in the eyes of the general populace.


    Considering Mu Chen¡¯s status, such an event was too insignificant for him to attend. However, the stage was filled with blacksmiths that Tang Wulin didn¡¯t recognize. What was more amazing was that they were all blacksmiths of the fifth rank and up.


    Cen Yue had already explained to him that the first round required proficiency in the Hundred Refinements. As long as he forged like usual, he would pass. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t feel any pressure at all since he was already a fourth-rank blacksmith.


    The junior division¡¯s competition was held first since hundred refining was a short process.


    Still, when the metals to be forged were delivered onto the stage, Tang Wulin was startled.


    It was a metal he was familiar with and was the one used in his fourth-rank blacksmith exam. The metal was blue coppertite.


    Among uncommon grade metals, blue coppertite was one of the hardest to forge. As expected of the junior division competition!


    ¡°Junior division participants, pay attention. Your objective is to hundred refine this metal. Anyone who fails to do so will be eliminated. Of those who succeed, the best will be selected to continue to the next round.¡±


    Regardless of the particular event, everyone attending the Skysea Alliance Tournament had their eyes peeled for the adult division¡¯s competitions, as those contenders were the most formidable. For this reason, the arrangements for the junior division were simple and fair.


    Indeed, requiring the competitors to hundred refine blue coppertite would weed out the sparrows from the eagles. Since they would be picking the cream of the crop, the number of individuals advancing to the second round wouldn¡¯t be large.


    I wonder how many people will make it to the next round?


    Tang Wulin glanced at Mu Xi whose station was next to his. Mu Xi¡¯s brows were creased, but her aura was as serene as a flowing river. She had already been somewhat successful in the Thousand Refinements, so hundred refining blue coppertite wasn¡¯t a challenge for her.


    ¡°Let the competition begin!¡±


    Following the proclamation from the stage, all of the young blacksmiths participating took out their hammers.


    If he wasn¡¯t in a rush, Tang Wulin would have wielded his tungsten hammers, but he needed to register for the the individual competition right after. He unleashed his heavy silver hammers instead.


    He lightly tapped the blue coppertite lightly with his left hammer, issuing out three crisp notes. His next strike followed afterward, smashing the metal with considerable force.


    A loud bang resounded throughout the gym.


    Without a doubt, Tang Wulin was the first to begin.


    Situated next to him, Mu Xi was not concerned. She was familiar with this freak¡¯s surprises and expected him to possess a thorough understanding of blue coppertite. The big shots on the stage, however, couldn¡¯t help but wrinkle their brows, foreheads scrunched up like prunes.


    An energetic, white-haired old man frowned. ¡°Children will be children. Doesn¡¯t he know that he needs to thoroughly understand blue coppertite before beginning? Just who is his teacher?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! From the sounds of it, he shouldn¡¯t be lacking in strength yet he¡¯s so impatient. But I guess it¡¯s to be expected considering his age.¡±


    Regardless of their disapproval, they soon witnessed Tang Wulin forging at full steam.


    As soon as Tang Wulin begins forging, he would lose sight of the rest of the world. Trapped in this tunnel vision, he would devote his entire focus to his craft. He failed to realize that no one else has started forging besides him. Nevertheless, Tang Wulin was already unleashing a tempestuous shower of hammer strikes on the blue coppertite.


    A queer expression slid across Mu Xi¡¯s face. This guy! I shouldn¡¯t have picked the spot next to him.


    Every blacksmith had their own rhythm. They would suffer from any outside disturbances. Cramming so many participants in a single stadium to forge simultaneously was to test their focus. If Mu Xi was this disturbed, then wouldn¡¯t all the other blacksmiths nearby be troubled too?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers were as swift as the wind, each strike carrying over 600 kilograms of force. With each hit, a boom reverberated throughout the gym, the sonic waves piercing the air.


    Mu Xi paused and sat cross-legged, biding time.


    Although the competition had a time limit, she knew that Tang Wulin would finish soon. She might as well wait for his hundred refining to complete. That way, his forging would not affect her concentration.


    Mu Xi was able to retain her composure, but the same couldn¡¯t be said of the other junior participants. Some chose to steel themselves and forge anyway. This kind of impatience would be their downfall; in the end, Tang Wulin¡¯s influence manifested as defects in their forging.

 Chapter 202 - High-Grade

    Chapter 202 - High-Grade


    While blue coppertite wasn¡¯t the hardest of metals, the main reason it was so annoying to form was its constant transformations. As a result, Tang Wulin took advantage of his heavy silver hammer¡¯s special ability: the Stacked Hammer effect. This way, he only needed a hundred or so strikes to finish hundred refining it.


    He put away his hammer and raised his hand.


    The staff member in charge of supervising the competition ran over, stumbling over his own two feet.


    ¡°You¡¯re finished?¡± The staff member retrieved Tang Wulin¡¯s number plate. Disbelief clouded his face when he saw the blue coppertite¡¯s reduced size.


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Can I leave now?¡±


    ¡°You can since you¡¯re finished. But are you sure you¡¯re done hundred refining it? If you don¡¯t succeed, you¡¯ll be eliminated,¡± The staff member reminded kindly.


    ¡°I¡¯m certain I succeeded,¡± Tang Wulin answered without a missed beat. Considering his current blacksmith rank, the Hundred Refinements was nothing to him.


    The white-haired old man was the first to speak out from the stage. ¡°Bring that child¡¯s product over here. If he isn¡¯t spouting nonsense, then he¡¯s really a terrifying genius.¡± At first, he thought Tang Wulin was rude and impetuous. However, as a Saint Blacksmith, he noticed the music in each strike of his hammer, the steady rhythm with which it beat.


    It was the innate rhythm of a blacksmith. When a blacksmith became in tune with their individual tempo, their forging efficiency would double. Blue coppertite wasn¡¯t easy to refine. Yet, Tang Wulin had still refined it. As such, wouldn¡¯t the result be spectacular?


    Afterward, the refined blue coppertite was brought onto the stage.


    The people sitting on stage were all influential figures in the world of blacksmithing. At that moment, their gazes converged on the chunk of metal like rivers to the sea.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Blue coppertite was a beautiful metal. In order to judge its quality, one must scrutinize how evenly its patterns were distributed and how close to the center its rings landed.


    That was as thorough of an inspection as it gets. As long as the ring was centered, the hundred refining was a success; the reduction in size only served as further proof.


    The white-haired old man lowered his head, carefully examining the blue coppertite. He held it in his palm and caressed it with gentle fingers, feeling the grain of the metal. His eyes lit up.


    ¡°This is a high-grade hundred refined piece! Quickly, go find out which association that child belongs to.¡±


    By then, Tang Wulin had already left, feet in a blur as he hurried off to Skysea Stadium.


    The gym wasn¡¯t far from his next destination. H even planned out his route the night before, all for the sake of not being tardy.


    There was still time before the individual competition started. After all, his forging went by without a hitch and he was the first one to finish. Moreover, according to his number plate, he would be participating in the third heat of the first round.


    Due to the significant number of competitors, several heats were compiled with each heat consisting of fifty contestants. Appearing in the third heat would mean he had at least an hour to relax. Like other event grounds, Skysea Stadium was holding separate yet concurrent competitions. Only in this way could the Skysea Alliance Tournament be finished within a reasonable amount of time and accommodate its vast amount of competitors.


    Once he reached the stadium, Tang Wulin headed toward the check-in area to begin preparing for the competition, but a figure obstructed him.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± A cold snort sounded and Tang Wulin raised his head to see who stood in his way.


    It was a baleful Ye Xinglan directing a murderous glare at him.


    Xu Lizhi stood beside her. To the untrained eye his aura exuded innocence, but underneath the layers of good will and plump cheeks was a hint of bitterness.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finally caught you! Do you have anything to say for yourself?¡± Ye Xinglan stood with her hands on her hips. Her long eyebrows stood erect as her eyes blazed with fury.


    ¡°Say what? I don¡¯t really know you that well anyway.¡± Tang Wulin remarked with indifference, ¡°Stop blocking the way. I need to go prepare.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re competing?¡± Ye Xinglan tried to shove Tang Wulin by his shoulder, but she was unable to. She was astonished to find that his body was as heavy as a stack of steel. He didn¡¯t budge a single inch from her push.


    When Ye Xinglan recalled the events of the night before, her eyes grew sharp, anger tinting them red. She had never felt so wronged before in her life.


    That night, the shop owner had stopped them and demanded payment. Neither she nor Xu Lizhi had any money on them. In the end she resigned herself to calling for help, teeth grinding together in frustration.


    Adding to her indignance, the shop owner was convinced that they had planned to dine and dash from the very beginning. In any case, the two children were forced to wash dirty dishes until someone came to pay for their meal. The only other option was to continue until their debts were paid off.


    The pitiful, delicate-skinned Ye Xinglan could only weep as she rubbed and lathered the dishes until they were squeaky clean. Not daring to break Shrek Academy¡¯s rules, she swallowed down her anger. Though hard to admit, paying for her meal was justified. They were in the wrong, so how could she make a scene?


    Thus, two students of Shrek Academy ended up washing dishes in a seafood restaurant in Skysea City.


    The very memory of it caused Ye Xinglan grief. She blamed the entire agonizing experience on the boy before her.


    First thing in the morning, she had dragged Xu Lizhi out to find Tang Wulin. Although at first they had no clue where to start looking, they soon realized one important fact: Tang Wulin was a competitor. Therefore, he would undoubtedly be at one of the event grounds. Sure enough, they found Tang Wulin using this method.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I compete? What are you trying to do by blocking the way?¡± Tang Wulin frowned.


    Ye Xinglan resentfully said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you would pay the bill yesterday? So did you? Did you pay the bill?¡±


    Tang Wulin said calmly, ¡°I paid for my share. Why should I have to pay for yours? It was Xu Lizhi who originally promised to treat me anyway. I just left after paying for myself. What¡¯s wrong with that? Didn¡¯t you eat too? Since you were trying to take advantage of me, then why are you spinning it the other way? Do you have a problem with me paying for my share of the bill? You don¡¯t even want to be friends with me, so why should I pay for you?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s words left her in a daze. He¡¯s right! Why should he pay for me and the little fatty? I don¡¯t really have much of a case here.


    ¡°You, didn¡¯t you say it was an honor to eat with us?¡± Ye Xinglan quibbled.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Do I have to pay just because it¡¯s an honor? I never said I would treat you. I wouldn¡¯t have had a problem if we were friends, but you clearly didn¡¯t want to be friends with me! I didn¡¯t take advantage of you guys in any way!¡±


    ¡°B-but, you ate the most!¡± Ye Xinglan was nearly in tears. Her resentment and indignance rushed out of her heart like a roaring river, cheeks flushing like a tomato..


    ¡°Who stopped you from eating more?¡± Tang Wulin took a step forward, moved her aside, and proceeded onward with large strides. He couldn¡¯t delay any longer if he wanted to compete in the individual competition.


    ¡°You! Stop right there!¡± Ye Xinglan shouted.


    Tang Wulin ignored her and continued straight ahead.


    ¡°You bastard!¡± Ye Xinglan angrily yelled.


    ¡°Big sister Xinglan.¡± Xu Lizhi pulled on her sleeves. ¡°Wulin¡¯s words make sense.¡±


    ¡°Are you on his side?¡± Ye Xinglan turned to face him, lips peeling back in a sneer.


    ¡°I, I¡¯m on your side of course!¡± The little fatty replied meekly.


    ¡°Tang Wulin,  just you wait.¡± Ye Xinglan narrowed her eyes and made a fierce proclamation.  She marched right into the stadium following him.


    ¡°Big sister Xinglan, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m signing up to compete! He was being reasonable, huh? Then I¡¯ll beat some real reason into him on the stage!¡±


    Unaware of the powerful opponent he had created, Tang Wulin checked-in right on time. Now all he had to do was wait; his match would start in another half hour or so.

 Chapter 203 - A Swift Victory

    Chapter 203 - A Swift Victory


    When it came to Ye Xinglan, Tang Wulin believed his efforts toward her were just and acted confidently. To him, bringing up how much he ate was illogical.


    Since she looked down on him, why did he have to pay for her? From the beginning, they existed in two different worlds, two parallel lines never meant to touch.


    The event grounds were buzzing with activity. Since junior division competitors in the individual competition wielded three soul rings at most, the space provided wasn¡¯t much. Each arena spanned about thirty meters in diameter. Arranged next to each other, the rings of battle showcased dazzling duels between all sorts of martial souls and soul skills.


    Tang Wulin watched the battles with the eyes of a hawk, understanding that every participant was a potential opponent. He possessed a single soul ring; he¡¯d need to grasp every advantage possible to win.


    Not long after, the third heat commenced.


    Tang Wulin glanced at his number plate. According to the lots drawn yesterday, his first appearance would be in the third heat in arena 16.


    A soul barrier encased the circular arena so that the audience wouldn¡¯t be harmed by any stray attacks.


    Although it was his first time participating in this sort of competition, Tang Wulin carried not an ounce of anxiety on his being. After his adventures in the spirit ascension platform and his real life combat experiences, all he felt was excitement coursing through his veins. Just how far can I go?


    His opponent soon arrived. It was a petite kid shorter than Tang Wulin. His opponent¡¯s eyes failed to mask the confusion and anxiety running rampant beneath their outward posturing.


    Every arena had a referee and theirs was a middle-aged man.


    ¡°The rules are simple. You may use any means to attack without worry. I will interfere if the need arises to ensure your safety and the result will be decided when one side concedes. In the event that participants cannot or will not concede, I will judge when one side is no longer able to continue fighting. I will also judge if the gap between contenders is too great. You both have thirty seconds to prepare. I will countdown the last five seconds. You may begin preparing now.¡±


    The moment the middle-aged man finished speaking, Tang Wulin¡¯s opponent summoned two dazzling yellow soul rings.


    Don¡¯t we still have thirty seconds? Tang Wulin was baffled by his opponent¡¯s actions since unleashing one¡¯s martial soul consumed soul power. Is he trying to show off his martial soul?


    His opponent¡¯s martial soul was a long, silver staff. A black dragon coiled around its length. It was the Coiling Dragon Staff¡ªan impressive martial soul.


    It has dragon in its name, so maybe¡­


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart hammered at the thought, pushing away his last remnants of fear toward his two-ringed opponent.


    His opponent seemed to have realized his mistake and quickly recalled his martial soul. He stared back at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Five, four, three, two, one, begin!¡±


    Following the end of the countdown, Tang Wulin stomped forward with his left foot, launching himself like an artillery shell. He wasn¡¯t an agility-type soul master, but in that hairbreadth of a second, he exploded with speed. It took a few swift steps to close the thirty-meter distance between him and his opponent.


    Once again hIs opponent released his martial soul. The Coiling Dragon Staff appeared in his hands yet no soul rings lit up; this was a clear sign he had yet to use any soul skills.


    This was because he was startled by Tang Wulin¡¯s frightening speed, completely forgetting about his soul skills.


    The youngster heard a cold snort before a dizzying wave swept through his brain, all while watching as Tang Wulin¡¯s fist drew closer. The golden-scaled fist glittered beneath the sun.  An indescribable feeling of terror gripped him.


    The sudden draconic might coupled with his nervousness caused the boy to fall back onto his butt.


    Tang Wulin slapped away the Coiling Dragon Staff then, placing his scaled hand on the boy¡¯s head. Naturally, he neither grabbed the boy¡¯s head nor revealed his Golden Dragon Claw.


    ¡°Stop!¡± The referee appeared in front of them in an instant, blocking Tang Wulin¡¯s hand. Of course, the referee could feel the lack of strength circulating through his limb.


    ¡°You¡¯re too lacking in combat experience! How can you even think of participating in the competition like this?¡± The referee reprimanded the pale-faced boy on the ground.


    ¡°B-but my soul skills are really strong. I thought I could¡­¡±


    The referee snorted. ¡°Go back and gain some real combat experience first. Even if your soul skills are powerful, you still need to be able to use them. Tell me, did you even get a chance to use them?¡±


    Essentially, Tang Wulin¡¯s first match in the knockout round was a victory.


    The referee nodded in approval before granting him a new number plate for his second match.


    Tang Wulin won his first battle without using his martial soul.


    After this match, he was brimming with confidence since his opponent had been so weak.


    Because he had finished his morning matches earlier than expected and the team competition wasn¡¯t until the afternoon, Tang Wulin headed back to the hotel.


    When he reached his destination, he found that Gu Yue and Xie Xie had arrived before him. Xu Xiaoyan didn¡¯t leave the hotel at all.


    ¡°How did things go for you guys?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Of course I won without a hitch! We¡¯re strong after all!¡± Xie Xie stated proudly.


    Gu Yue nodded in agreement.


    A smile appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Then we¡¯ve already passed the first round. Congratulations everyone.¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°Isn¡¯t our goal to become the champions? Then we need to win in the team competition too.¡±


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°Experience is extremely important here. My opponent was a two-ringed Soul Grandmaster, but he was somehow defeated before using his soul skill. Of course, he couldn¡¯t believe he lost, but if it had been a real battlefield, I would have already killed him.¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°The process isn¡¯t important; only the outcome is. Strength has always been a combination of multiple things, with soul power and soul skills being just a part of it. Even a powerful soul master could be killed by a child¡¯s dagger strike if they let their guard down. Therefore, actual combat experience is crucial as it hones one¡¯s reaction time and vigilance.¡±


    Tang Wulin let out a chuckle. ¡°I just hope that I don¡¯t get matched up with you next round.¡±


    Gu Yue was taken back for a moment before she regained herself, smiling warmly. Indeed, she didn¡¯t want to meet Tang Wulin in battle either.


    ¡°It seems we all did pretty well. So boss, what¡¯s the plan for this afternoon?¡± Xie Xie asked Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°Our opponents shouldn¡¯t be that strong, so we can just fight as we always do. We don¡¯t have to worry about our strength in the first round; we should be able to win without a sweat.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± The other three nodded in agreement.


    Long Hengxu lead Tang Wulin¡¯s group to the team competition grounds, since Wu Zhangkong was off somewhere else.


    ¡°Are you brats ready?¡± Long Hengxu smiled pleasantly at the children.


    He did not want the children to participate in the individual competition originally, but after checking their results for today, he changed his mind. They had an excellent start to the tournament.


    Needless to say, he still wasn¡¯t aware of Tang Wulin¡¯s participation in the blacksmith¡¯s competition.


    ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± Tang Wulin answered for his entire team.


    Long Hengxu nodded with approval. ¡°I¡¯ll be watching you all then. I don¡¯t know if Teacher Wu told you this, but due to the high resources invested into such a small class, this tournament is being used to test your class¡¯s success. So you should aim for the best result. If you can get a good ranking, then in the future, the academy might invest more resources into your class. Especially you, Tang Wulin. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware that you¡¯ve eaten away all of the academy¡¯s funds. So, good luck kids!¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll definitely do our best.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t spoken to them about these matters, but when Tang Wulin heard the director¡¯s words, his heart stirred. Teacher Wu has been bearing all this pressure for our sake! What¡¯s the best way to repay him? Of course it¡¯s victory!


    The space provided for the team competition was much grander than the individual competition¡¯s. The arenas for the three versus three team battles were each fifty meters in diameter.


    Their opponents this time came from a small town called Seafare City, which was a level below Skysea City. It was about the same level as Glorybound City, but the former¡¯s economy fared much better and it managed to retain an intermediate academy.


    However, the three versus three team competition wasn¡¯t that popular. That was because powerful academies would all send seven-man teams to compete instead. Only academies lacking in people or already possessing a main seven-man team would have a three-man team.


    This was another fact that Wu Zhangkong had neglected to tell them, which they learned from Long Hengxu.


    ¡®Win regardless of the opponent!¡¯ That was Wu Zhangkong¡¯s philosophy.


    After observing several matches, Tang Wulin and the others came to the conclusion that they had no serious competition within the junior division¡¯s three-man team event. Nothing of note occurred while they watched.


    ¡°Boss, why are these matches making me so sleepy?¡± Xie Xie said helplessly.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°That¡¯s because we haven¡¯t seen anyone strong yet. But don¡¯t get careless; we¡¯re only observing one part of the stadium. Let¡¯s plan our strategy now¡­¡±

 Chapter 204 - Wait and See

    Chapter 204 - Wait and See


    As Tang Wulin watched the matches progress, he formulated a plan.


    Half an hour later, they were called for their match.


    Tang Wulin led the way, followed by Xie Xie¡­ and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Indeed, Gu Yue wasn¡¯t participating.


    After scrutinizing the previous battles, Tang Wulin was confident and saw no need to reveal Gu Yue. Not to mention, their opposition hailed from a small town¡¯s intermediate academy. In Wu Zhangkong¡¯s own words, their sole objective was to become the champions. Tang Wulin understood his teacher¡¯s philosophy and as such, regardless of their opponents¡¯ strengths, their main objective would not change.


    A devious strategy was required for such a goal. Since Gu Yue was without a doubt class zero¡¯s strongest student, it was best to conserve her strength for future matches.


    Although Xu Xiaoyan wasn¡¯t powerful in the daytime, her awareness and team coordination were excellent. When a crucial moment arrived, she would be the one to capitalize on it.


    Xie Xie described her as a radiant and pretty young lady, but in reality she was a two-faced little schemer.


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes sparkled at the unexpected chance to appear in the first match. When she had heard of the others¡¯ victories in the individual competition, she was wrought with envy. However, she understood that her abilities were not suited for a one versus one scenario; it would have been foolish to follow the trend.


    Even though the team competition¡¯s first round was scheduled today, how could Xu Xiaoyan  have imagined that she would be participating? Contrary to her beliefs, Tang Wulin swapped her in.


    Once Tang Wulin¡¯s group arrived on the stage, their opponents soon appeared¡ªthree teenagers about fourteen to fifteen years old.


    When these teenagers from Seafare Academy saw the youthful faces of their opposition, joy washed over them like summer rain.


    It was as Tang Wulin had guessed: Seafare Academy was mediocre and focused all their resources on their representative team.


    When they had thought of themselves as mice in a world of men, they encountered a team of brats. How could they not feel as if Lady Luck was smiling down on them?


    Aren¡¯t these kids only about eleven or twelve? That¡¯s a huge gap in age! Their cultivation should be weak then. In an instant, their faces lit up.


    The referee climbed onto the stage. ¡°You have thirty seconds to prepare. The countdown will begin at five seconds. The rules state that you cannot deliberately disable your opponent and you must immediately cease battle if I order so.¡± His tone was monotonous after repeating the same thing for countless battles.


    ¡°My name is Mo Ka and these are my teammates, Yu Shi and Duanmu Lianlian. You kids are from Eastsea Academy?¡± They had also checked the matchups.


    Kids? Tang Wulin smiled humbly. ¡°Yeah! Seniors, we¡¯re first graders from Eastsea Academy. Please advise us.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s initial reaction was to explode in anger, but stopped himself when he saw the hand signals Tang Wulin flashed behind his back. Xie Xie understood his teammate¡¯s intentions and  lowered his head quickly to hide his face.


    Xu Xiaoyan wore an odd expression. This guy! Isn¡¯t he usually an upright and virtuous captain?


    ¡°Five, four, three, two, one, begin!


    With that declaration, class zero¡¯s first official team battle began.


    Tang Wulin took the initiative to charge forward. Like in his individual match, he did not bother to release his martial soul yet. Doing so would cost a precious second at his cultivation level. Every second mattered and all of his actions were done for the sake of efficiency.


    Though he couldn¡¯t compare with Xie Xie in speed, he was not inferior when it came to explosive power. With a simple stomp of his foot, a boom resounded. Xie Xie jumped into action after Tang Wulin, all according to their plan. The two advanced in tandem, Tang Wulin in front and Xie Xie hidden behind like a shadow.


    Following her teammates¡¯ actions, Xu Xiaoyan grasped the light coalescing into her ice staff, a soul ring appearing beneath her.


    Their opponents were taken aback by the sight of the two charging toward them, without releasing their martial souls or soul rings. Furthermore, Xu Xiaoyan brandished a single ring. What are these two kids doing not even summoning their soul rings?


    The three teenagers released their martial souls.


    All three had a pair of yellow rings. This was to be expected from the representatives of an academy.


    In that moment, a shining purple soul ring entered their view, blue vine tentacles swarming around them.


    The Seafare Academy¡¯s representatives couldn¡¯t react in time. Before they were able to activate their soul skills, the blue vines already struck at their faces. They were all tied up, their resistance bearing no fruit.


    ¡°Stop resisting!¡± Xie Xie pummeled their heads with his Light Dragon Dagger.


    Xu Xiaoyan stood in the rear with her ice staff ready, but had yet to use a soul skill.


    ¡°Stop!¡± While trying to contain his surprise, the referee shouted.


    A single two-ringed and two one-ringed soul masters were able to overcome three two-ringed soul masters.Moreover, it was over in a blitz. It was simply inconceivable!


    The battle finished too quickly. It was too much for the eye to take in.


    How can this be? Mo Ka, Yu Shi, and Duanmu Lianlian harbored the same thought. They hadn¡¯t even had a chance use their soul skills!


    It¡¯s combat experience! These words flashed through Tang Wulin¡¯s mind. Compared to him, his opponents were simply too lacking in that regard.


    He had felt this deficiency among the contenders of the individual competition. Even now in the team competition, he felt the same. Do they not have any combat training?


    In truth, his accusation was wrong. All soul master academies had combat training. However, their level of combat training could not compare with class zero¡¯s. Class zero¡¯s standard was inching on the border of masochism and its students were geniuses selected carefully by the academy. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s personal guidance was also an important contribution.


    As he had hailed from Shrek Academy, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s teaching methods came from the same place.


    Because class zero¡¯s students had been either cultivating or battling in the spirit ascension platform, they were shocked to find how lacking their peers were.


    ¡°Captain, I never knew you were so two-faced!¡± Now off-stage, Xu Xiaoyan was giggling at Tang Wulin.


    Wasn¡¯t it true, though? Before the battle started, Tang Wulin was already misleading their opponents with an innocent and naive persona. He had been the embodiment of the ideal cute kid. Once the match started, however, he discarded his facade and stormed his opponent, giving them no time to react. With such a devious strategy, Tang Wulin cinched victory easily.


    If he hadn¡¯t done this, then they wouldn¡¯t have been able to obtain such a sweeping win. Throughout the entire battle, Tang Wulin used his soul skill once. It was his thousand-year soul skill!


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°If I can save us some effort and conceal our strength a bit longer, then why not? Our goal is to be the champions after all.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of eavesdroppers?¡± An icy voice cut in.


    The trio turned to see a pair of familiar faces¡ªYe Xinglan and Xu Lizhi.

 Chapter 205 - Breaking a Record

    Chapter 205 - Breaking a Record


    Helpless, Xu Lizhi greeted Tang Wulin. Ye Xinglan glared at Tang Wulin, as if her gaze could burn him alive.


    Tang Wulin ignored her, treating her as air. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    At his actions, Xie Xie moved to whisper into his ear. ¡°Why do I get the feeling that there¡¯s some deep grudge between you two?¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. ¡°No way. We¡¯re just acquaintances.¡±


    Gu Yue approached them after seeing the current situation. Unlike Tang Wulin, she wasn¡¯t as tactful and stared at Ye Xinglan with indifference, her words as cold and piercing as ice. ¡°Just wait and see.¡±


    A disdainful snort left Ye Xinglan¡¯s mouth. ¡°We¡¯re registered too. Let me see just what it is you have to show.¡±


    They also signed up? But aren¡¯t they from Shrek Academy? Can Shrek Academy even participate in a public tournament like this?


    Tang Wulin stared at them, incredulity painting his face.


    Ye Xinglan said pridefully, ¡°We¡¯ll just join another academy temporarily before the match. No one will say anything if we do that. Tang Wulin, you just wait! You better pray that you¡¯re defeated before you meet me. If not¡­ Hmph!¡± As she spoke, she raised her fist to Tang Wulin in a menacing way. She glared at him with malicious eyes.


    The atmosphere grew heavy and tense. He had no choice but to be cautious of Ye Xinglan now. After all, she came from Shrek Academy! Everyone had watched their exhibition match. Though how they won was still unclear, the strength of Shrek Academy was not. If such a powerful opponent appeared because of his provocation, he would have wronged his teammates!


    Tang Wulin wanted to speak out, but Gu Yue stopped him.


    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll see then. Captain, let¡¯s go.¡± Gu Yue pulled Tang Wulin away, not giving him the chance to resolve anything.


    On the road back to the hotel, Tang Wulin recounted the events that nurtured hostility between him and Ye Xinglan.


    ¡°Captain, you¡¯re so cool,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said, bright-eyed. ¡°They¡¯re from Shrek Academy yet you still ran out on them! You¡¯re too awesome! Not bending to power and unshaken by poverty, you¡¯re a true role model!¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°What do you mean ¡®not bending to power¡¯! He just hates spending money!¡±


    Tang Wulin shot him a look. ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s exactly like that.¡±


    At this confession, Xie Xie stopped ridiculing Tang Wulin in an instant. Gu Yue exclaimed, ¡°That¡¯s how he really is.¡±


    Xie Xie stumbled over his own two feet. ¡°Dammit Gu Yue, can¡¯t you be a little less biased! Is everything he does just to you?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Gu Yue stated it as if it was fact.


    Fury rose within Xie Xie, bubbling like lava from a volcano. ¡°So you want to marry him when you grow up, then? Are you just planning ahead?¡±


    Gu Yue was taken aback. For a moment, she shot Tang Wulin a gloomy gaze, then rushed back to the hotel.


    Xie Xie was flabbergasted. Until now, he had not won a single verbal duel against Gu Yue. Now that he came out victorious, uneasiness crept into his heart as he watched Gu Yue storm off. Did I say something wrong?


    ¡°What¡¯s up with her?¡± Xie Xie asked in confusion.


    Tang Wulin said unhappily, ¡°Don¡¯t speak about so much nonsense. What do you understand about marriage at your age?¡±


    For the rest of the trip back Gu Yue did not utter a single word, leading them from the distance.


    Nonetheless, Tang Wulin was in a good mood. Since they won the team match, he would advance to the second round for all three of the competitions he entered. Such an achievement was worthy of rejoicing.


    He was not one bit nervous about the blacksmith¡¯s competition. However, he was starting to understand where he stood among his peers regarding the individual and team events.


    Despite lacking in soul power and soul rings from their age, their true combat strength wasn¡¯t as weak as others believed.


    As such, Tang Wulin could guess the Shrek Academy students¡¯ true strength. Their might did not come only from possessing a high cultivation base, but from the sum of their parts. Regardless of their combat experience, coordination, or martial soul, those elements were all first-rate. It was impossible to have a higher soul power at their age.


    Shortly after Tang Wulin returned to his room, he heard someone pounding on his door.


    ¡°Senior disciple sister, please don¡¯t be so loud.¡± Tang Wulin already knew who it was; only Mu Xi could be so aggressive when knocking on someone¡¯s door.


    ¡°Open up already. You brat, are you looking to get into the limelight?¡± Mu Xi charged in once the door opened.


    ¡°What did I do?¡± Tang Wulin eyed the energetic Mu Xi, his face dyed in doubt.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know you broke a record? It was the record for the fastest high-grade Hundred Refinements in the history of the Skysea Alliance Tournament. You. Broke. A. Record!¡± Mu Xi hissed the last few words through gritted teeth,


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin stood there stupefied. ¡°I was just in a hurry to get to the individual competition. I¡­¡±


    Mu Xi eyed him up and down. ¡°Did you know that after you left, a flock of people were running all over the gym searching desperately for you? I didn¡¯t dare to say anything. All I heard was that you broke the record for high-grade Hundred Refinements, and with blue coppertite at that! You only used one minute and six seconds. Way to go!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I didn''t meant to.¡± Tang Wulin had been repeatedly warned to stay low-key beforehand, yet no one had thought something like this would happen. His self-control was blown away the moment he began forging. In that state of mind, he focused on creating the best product he that could.


    Mu Xi snorted. ¡°Well, anyway, you¡¯re in the limelight now. I expect that everyone will be focusing on you in the next round. You better prepare yourself.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ What am I going to do?¡± Tang Wulin was at a loss.


    Mu Xi said, ¡°What will be, will be. Just don¡¯t let it affect you. It¡¯s not like Eastsea City is forbidden from producing geniuses, right?¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at her in astonishment. ¡°Senior disciple sister, are you saying I¡¯m a genius?¡±


    Mu Xi raised a brow in surprise then proceeded to pinch his cheeks. She kept pinching his cheeks as she gnashed her teeth. ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s right! You¡¯re a genius!¡±


    Tang Wulin was barely coherent as he spoke. ¡°Senior disciple sister, please don¡¯t pinch me when you can just talk. You should go now¡­¡±


    With great difficulty, Tang Wulin managed to fend off Mu Xi¡¯s demonic fingers from his cheeks and saw her out. Despite his aching face, his heart warmed. Perceptive since childhood, he knew that Mu Xi¡¯s bared fangs was to remind him not to draw the world¡¯s attention.


    Since they¡¯ve noticed my forging, I¡¯ll need to think of some plan.


    As the first day of the tournament came to an end, some rejoiced while others sulked. For those who failed, this was the pain of being eliminated. For those who passed, it was the anxiety for what¡¯s to come.


    The tournament schedule was packed, with matches conducted everyday.


    Tang Wulin would have to wake up early in order to attend the second round of the blacksmithing competition. This was an exceptionally important round.


    The blacksmithing tournament¡¯s champion would be decided by the sum of their marks awarded by the judges. Thus, the performance was additive. Without a doubt, Tang Wulin was the first round¡¯s frontrunner, having produced a high-grade hundred refined product in the shortest amount of time.


    The second round was a free-forge round where participants would pick a metal and forge it to the best of their ability.


    For the junior division, anyone who succeeded in hundred refining a metal was considered talented. Now, if they could succeed in the Thousand Refinements, then they would be heralded as geniuses.


    After a whole night¡¯s meditation, Tang Wulin came up with a plan.


    The next morning, a horde of blacksmiths assembled. They were heading toward the competition grounds.


    Tang Wulin trailed behind the group, whispering quietly to Mu Xi, ¡°Senior disciple sister, do you believe in me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Mu Xi retorted without missing a beat.


    Tang Wulin was stunned, a bitter laugh escaping from his lips. ¡°Can¡¯t you be a bit more pleasant? Do you really not believe in me?¡±


    Mu Xi smiled inwardly at the sight of Tang Wulin deflating, but outwardly, she snorted. ¡°Why should I believe in you? What do you have for me to believe in?¡±


    ¡°Integrity!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    ¡°You have that? How many kilograms?¡± Mu Xi said disdainfully.


    Tang Wulin was helpless to her words. ¡°Fine. If you don¡¯t believe in me then you don¡¯t.¡±


    Suspicion roused in Mu Xi¡¯s heart. ¡°Just tell me what you have to say already. Out with it.¡±


    Tang Wulin smirked. ¡°If you believe in me, then choose heavy silver later.¡±


    ¡°Heavy silver? Are you trying to harm me on purpose?¡± Although heavy silver was a decent metal, it ranked in the middle relative to other materials. Since this was a tournament, the more difficult the metal was to forge the more points would be awarded.


    Since it was far easier to forge than blue coppertite, heavy silver at the very best could be considered at the peak of mid-grade metals By choosing it, her chances of success would increase. Yet, this was still depending on chance. Should Mu Xi fail, her score would plummet and she might even be eliminated.

 Chapter 206 - Believe in Me!

    Chapter 206 - Believe in Me!


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not completely sure either. But if you believe in me, I¡¯ll definitely succeed in making you the champion.¡±


    Mu Xi stared at him in astonishment. ¡°You really want to help me win?¡±


    A smile appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°I¡¯ve already broken a record; if I don¡¯t get out of the limelight, teacher is going to punish me when I return. Besides, didn¡¯t you say you would give me the first place prize? You know how much I love money. If you take first place and I take second, then I¡¯ll get both prizes and complete teacher¡¯s assignment. It¡¯s a win-win!¡±


    Mu Xi wasn¡¯t convinced. ¡°I¡¯m your rival. There¡¯s no way I can believe you! Hmph!¡± She hastened her pace.


    Unseen by Tang Wulin, Mu Xi¡¯s expression depicted warring emotions, as turbulent as a monsoon.


    Ever since she met Tang Wulin, she would always pick on him for some reason. Later, she realized her actions stemmed from jealousy.


    In the blacksmithing world, Mu Xi was heralded as a proud girl sent from the heavens. That being said, Tang Wulin¡¯s appearance threatened her position, forcing her to see him as a rival. In the end, however, she was unable to compete with Tang Wulin.


    Whenever she drummed up the courage to challenge Tang Wulin to a blacksmithing duel, his astounding progress made her lose her confidence.


    Yet no matter how bruised her ego became, Mu Xi strived harder and harder, until her past self was incomparable with her present self. Even so, the distance between Mu Xi and Tang Wulin continued to widen. When Tang Wulin was promoted to a fourth-rank blacksmith, she could finally relinquish her jealousy. In this world there were geniuses that an ordinary person like her could never hope to match, regardless of how much effort was invested. She understood this now. With this realization, Mu Xi¡¯s heart grew calm and she was able face their relationship.


    Mu Chen had urged her repeatedly to maintain a good relationship with Tang Wulin. Now that she let go of her envy, she found that he wasn¡¯t as loathsome as she thought. The distance between the two gradually faded away and her attitude toward Tang Wulin gradually improved.


    However, she did not expect Tang Wulin to return the favor so quickly by helping her win the competition. Unaware of Tang Wulin¡¯s two-faced nature, Mu Xi thought the ten-year-old¡¯s words were ninety-nine percent serious! Nevertheless, she was the senior disciple sister here! Although Tang Wulin wanted to cede first place to her, it was only right that she cede it to him.


    For this reason, she chose to decline. It was unconscionable to deprive him of his deserved glory.


    Mind in a haze, she heaved a long sigh after entering the competition grounds. Junior disciple brother, I hope you can reach even greater heights. One day, you¡¯ll definitely become an amazing blacksmith like dad.


    ¡°Senior disciple sister, here.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s voice halted her depressing train of thought. He had appeared in front of her and held out a chunk of heavy silver.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Mu Xi stared at him, dumbfounded.


    Tang Wulin said seriously, ¡°Senior disciple sister, please believe in me. If you acknowledge me as your junior disciple brother, then trust me.¡±


    How could Mu Xi not believe in him now? ¡°Wulin, I¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin stepped forward, hugging her. ¡°Senior disciple sister, believe in me.¡± Despite standing half a head shorter than her and holding a piece metal in his hand, Tang Wulin calmed her and blew away her hesitations with his embrace.


    He released her a moment later, picking up a metal ingot. Meanwhile, Zheng Tianlin was staring at Tang Wulin from the distance. His stupefied expression grew dark. Though not in the same division, they still entered the competition grounds together.


    That little brat hugged Mu Xi? And she didn¡¯t fight back at all? What¡¯s their relationship?


    Jealousy stabbed his heart.


    Tang Wulin soon returned with a nearly identical piece of heavy silver. He smiled at Mu Xi, showing off his pearly whites, before heading to the forging tables.


    Mu Xi had no choice but to follow him. Her previous anxiety was now replaced with calm and curiosity. Just what is Tang Wulin up to? Why did he tell me to pick heavy silver? And why did he choose it as well?


    Tang Wulin placed the heavy silver onto the forging table, before calcining it. This was the required basic preparatory process.


    Not everyone chose the highest quality metal they could. The higher the metal¡¯s grade, the harder it would be to forge, thus awarding more points in its success. This encouraged competitors to balance the metal¡¯s difficulty with their proficiency in refining it..Therefore, no one thought much of Tang Wulin and Mu Xi picking heavy silver.


    Mu Xi echoed Tang Wulin¡¯s actions and began calcining the heavy silver. A moment later, she whispered to Tang Wulin, ¡°So just what¡¯s your plan, Wulin?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s whispered response could barely be heard. ¡°Senior disciple sister, when the competition begins, just follow my rhythm. We¡¯ll forge together. Heavy silver is the steadiest and sturdiest of the mid-grade metals. We¡¯ll forge in sync and you can just follow along, understanding it as you go. As long as you follow my rhythm, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems.¡±


    Mu Xi didn¡¯t understand completely. What does he mean by ¡®follow¡¯ him?


    ¡°The second round of the Skysea Alliance Tournament¡¯s blacksmith¡¯s competition is about to begin. Please finish your preparations, competitors. Only thirty percent of the initial participants remain. I hope you all treasure this opportunity and display all of your forging ability,¡± The official in charge of the competition declared.


    Passing the first round would guarantee entrance to the second and third rounds. The final rankings would be decided by the sum of those scores.


    With rapt attention, the participants stared at their forging table.


    The foundation of every blacksmith¡¯s skills was an unrelenting focus. Those who had passed the first round demonstrated a satisfactory level of this.


    Tang Wulin was no exception. His concentration could not be broken and he forged as if he were in his own world. As Mu Xi watched him, she felt that Tang Wulin¡¯s breathing and mental state existed in its own rhythm, like the personal beat of one¡¯s heart. It was as if his entire being melded with the forging table, blurring the lines between the two.


    Sure enough, there¡¯s no way someone father recognizes as a genius is an ordinary person! Mu Xi exclaimed in her thoughts. She could feel Tang Wulin¡¯s sheer talent for forging, crashing into her like a tidal wave. The source of his talent wasn¡¯t something as simple as possessing innate divine strength.


    ¡°Ten, nine, eight¡­¡±


    The countdown began.


    ¡°Three, two, one, begin!¡±


    In one full sweep, blazing scarlet chunks of metal rose to the surface of all of the blacksmiths¡¯ forging tables, signaling the start of the second round.


    Atop the stage, numerous officials swept their gaze over the myriad of tables. At the same time, the white-haired old man at the center singled out Tang Wulin from the crowd.


    ¡°Is that the brat from yesterday?¡± The old man pointed at Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 207 - Follow My Rhythm

    Chapter 207 - Follow My Rhythm


    ¡°Yes. The result of our investigations verified that he came from Eastsea City¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association. The girl next to him is Mu Chen¡¯s daughter, who is praised as one of this generation¡¯s greatest blacksmiths. Who would¡¯ve thought that they¡¯ve raised an even greater and younger genius? It seems the Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association has truly been fortunate these last few years!¡± A middle-aged man exclaimed beside the old man.


    The white-haired old man nodded. ¡°I want to see if this brat can surprise us again today. Investigate deeper into him. Determine his family¡¯s circumstances and his background.¡±


    ¡°Elder Duan, what are your intentions?¡± The middle-aged man asked in surprise.


    The old man smiled slyly. ¡°Although a fair share of geniuses has come from our Skysea Blacksmith¡¯s Association, they can¡¯t compare with those from Eastsea. It¡¯s important to constantly think of ways to improve our situation since the younger the blacksmith, the less polished they are. This could also be an opportunity for us.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll arrange it right now.¡± The middle-aged man finally grasped the old man¡¯s plan. He quickly made some calls with his soul communicator.


    Unaware of these events, Tang Wulin began forging.


    A flash of light later, his forging hammers were in his hands. However, instead of his heavy silver hammers, they were tungsten.


    He gently tapped the heavy silver, and a crisp note rang out.


    Paying attention to his actions, Mu Xi copied him.


    With her own thousand-refined hammers, Mu Xi¡¯s tap issued a second, successive note.


    Tang Wulin wrinkled his brows. He turned to Mu Xi and gave her a curt nod.


    Although Mu Xi had yet to understand Tang Wulin¡¯s plan, she was resolute and responded with a firm nod. Regardless of what Tang Wulin planned to do, she chose to believe in him and do as he said. If she could see what surprise Tang Wulin had up his sleeve, then so what if it ended in failure? They were still young and had plenty of opportunities waiting for them in the future.


    Ding!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammer descended.


    Mu Xi mirrored him. She felt the delay between their movements disappearing; furthermore, Tang Wulin¡¯s strikes seemed heavier than usual, almost as if they were her own.


    Moving in sync, Tang Wulin and Mu Xi raised their other hammer and smashed the metal.


    The surrounding blacksmiths had also begun to forge. Many had been caught up in the tempest of Tang Wulin¡¯s forging rhythm the day before, but today they had learned their lesson and threw themselves into the process as soon as possible.


    With each resounding boom of Tang Wulin¡¯s tungsten hammer, another soon followed.


    Although Tang Wulin had slowed his pace, it still possessed a peculiar tempo to it.


    Their hammers raised and fell together as they forged in unison, gradually increasing in speed and similarity.


    As Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers began to practically fly through the air, so too did Mu Xi¡¯s.


    Feeling! Rhythm!


    These two words lingered in the back of Mu Xi¡¯s mind. She had forged heavy silver countless times before, yet, this time, it was an entirely different sensation.


    As Mu Xi forged with Tang Wulin, she discovered that she could sense the heavy silver¡¯s breath clearer than usual, following her rhythm and cadence. As a genius in her own right, she soon immersed herself in this feeling.


    A smile peeked out as Tang Wulin observed her changes. Senior disciple sister really is senior disciple sister! If she puts her mind to it, then she can really do it!


    Few paid attention to them in the beginning due to their slow pace, but as the two sped up, a forging tempest like the day before appeared.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers struck faster, spurring on Mu Xi to do the same. Their hammers rained down on the metal like a whirlwind, each strike resounding.


    The most unusual thing was that the two reflected each other perfectly; even the location of their strikes and pull of the hammer were identical. Under their assault, the heavy silver slowly shrunk and transformed.


    The blacksmiths on stage soon noticed this bizarre situation, giving them no small shock. What are these two kids doing? Why are their forging rhythms identical?


    This was the first time they had ever seen anything like this.


    Now that Mu Xi was completely immersed in the process of forging, she could clearly hear the heavy silver¡¯s voice as it cheered with each strike on its body. She no longer needed to follow Tang Wulin¡¯s rhythm, using her own senses to continue.


    This was her first time experiencing such a mystical sensation. Her mind void of any distracting thoughts, she focused all her attention on forging.


    Hammer after hammer descended, gradually shaping the heavy silver. Joyful rings sounded out in response to being purified .


    Beautiful cloud patterns emerged onto the twinkling surface of the heavy silver.


    Beads of sweat rolled down Mu Xi¡¯s forehead. Although her soul power exceeded Tang Wulin¡¯s by far, she couldn¡¯t compare with his physical strength. Even after Tang Wulin lowered his strength to match Mu Xi¡¯s usual output, their pace was exhausting her.


    Only by concentrating her soul power into her arms did she just barely manage to continue this fast-paced forging. Mu Xi¡¯s years of blacksmithing came together, culminating into a sensation that made her want to sing as she was held spellbound by this feeling.


    Yes! It¡¯s like this! Exactly like this! This thought echoed within her heart.


    Bang!


    The two¡¯s final strike landed simultaneously. Two beams of light shot into the air from the heavy silver; though the light lasted no more than an instant, it had clearly been seen by everyone on the stage.


    ¡°What? A light came out?¡± The old man unconsciously shouted. Without a single exception, all the blacksmiths from the Skysea Alliance gawked at the duo.


    Cen Yue was also on the stage, but on the other end. He had been paying attention to the two since the start of the competition.


    Even with his prior understanding of the two, he was flabbergasted by their synchronized rhythms. What are those two brats doing? Why isn¡¯t Tang Wulin using his heavy silver hammers? Just what is he doing?


    However, all of his doubts were blown away when he saw the beam of light. Cen Yue was aware of Tang Wulin¡¯s ability to thousand refine second-grade metals, but unexpectedly Mu Xi had accomplished it too! It was simply unfathomable. Mu Xi wasn¡¯t even a third rank blacksmith yet and her Thousand Refinements was still unstable!


    Even if it was the dimmest of lights that came from a thousand refined metal, it still signified that from that moment on, Mu Xi was a third rank blacksmith. Reaching third rank at the young age of fourteen was no small matter.


    Not a single third rank blacksmith existed within the junior division; Tang Wulin was fourth rank, so he didn¡¯t count.


    The old man roused from his stupor by the sound of a gulp. He strode forward and leapt down from the stage with nimble movements unlike that of an elderly man.


    He no longer cared that the competition was still in progress, directly charging in Tang Wulin¡¯s and Mu Xi¡¯s direction.


    A light blue halo glimmered around the silver metal as Tang Wulin put away his tungsten hammers. The pattern spread evenly across the heavy silver¡¯s surface, covering every single inch. He narrowed his eyes as he reflected on the process.


    Mu Xi propped herself up against the forging table with her arms. That feeling just now! That feeling! Her eyes twinkled like stars as she kept recreating that feeling in her mind. She knew she had reached the next rank. It had been the first time she could perceive the will of the metal. As she carved this experience into her heart, she had a newfound appreciation for everything that came before.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go over.¡± Just as the old man was about to reach the two, Cen Yue stopped him. ¡°They¡¯re comprehending things right now. We mustn¡¯t disturb them,¡± Cen Yue said with a lowered voice.


    The old man, as well as the other blacksmiths that had followed, all halted in place. As they were all of at least the fifth rank, they understood how important times of comprehension were to blacksmiths.

 Chapter 208 - Comprehension and Mu Xis Advancement

    Chapter 208 - Comprehension and Mu Xi''s Advancement


    From where they were standing, they could clearly see the two chunks of thousand refined heavy silver on the table.


    That¡¯s definitely thousand refined heavy silver! And it¡¯s second-grade! Second-grade thousand refined heavy silver was usually in the domain of fourth rank blacksmiths, yet two kids who had succeeded in forging it now stood in front of him.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s and Mu Xi¡¯s state of comprehension was short-lived, but it told the Elder Duan everything he needed to know¡ªboth youngsters were at least third rank.


    The old man turned to Cen Yue. ¡°Little Yue, your Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association sure has some tricks up its sleeve! Mu Chen is truly formidable. I never expected that he would have groomed two young successors, especially that brat over there. I looked into him and discovered he¡¯s only ten years old. Just where did you find such a freak?¡±


    Cen Yue delighted in the old man¡¯s bitter expression. ¡°Elder Duan, you don¡¯t have to be so worried. We were just lucky. You should know that Mu Xi has shown promise since she was a child, but Wulin is our president¡¯s only direct disciple. He¡¯s quite talented. Maybe he could exchange notes with blacksmiths from Skysea City in the future.¡±


    Cen Yue¡¯s reply was truly a needle hidden in silk floss. He flawlessly explained Tang Wulin¡¯s status as Mu Chen¡¯s direct disciple, secretly warning Elder Duan to discard any ideas of preying on him.


    Each blacksmith had their own blacksmithing techniques and ways to pass down their teachings. Just like how a good master was hard to find, a good disciple was also hard to find! What master wouldn¡¯t want a disciple that could one day surpass them?


    Forging a second-grade thousand refined metal wasn¡¯t much in their eyes; what was significant, however, was how young Tang Wulin was! He was only ten years old! In the entire history of blacksmithing, a ten-year-old who could thousand refine was unheard of! This was simply¡­


    Elder Duan felt short of breath as he stared at Cen Yue. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t anyone told me that Mu Chen took in a disciple? Have any of you heard about this?¡± He swept his gaze across the other blacksmiths present.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard about this,¡± each of the blacksmiths from Skysea City said one after another, shaking their heads.


    Cen Yue¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°Elder Duan, what are you implying?¡±


    Elder Duan snorted. ¡°Nothing. Let¡¯s just head back then. We don¡¯t want to influence the children¡¯s competition.¡±


    He glanced at Tang Wulin one more time before leading the others back to the stage.


    Just after they left, Tang Wulin raised his head. His state of comprehension hadn¡¯t been as great as Mu Xi¡¯s since he was forging the familiar heavy silver, but he did manage to grasp the barest traces of what a first-grade thousand refining was like.


    The fact that Tang Wulin had used his tungsten hammers needed to be kept in mind. He wondered just what the result would have been if he used his heavy silver hammers. If he had used them, he probably would have had at least a sixty percent chance to produce a first-grade metal.


    A first-grade Thousand Refinement was also called Half-Spirit Refinement. The sooner that Tang Wulin could achieve this, the easier it would be for him to comprehend Spirit Refinement. The only thing he currently lacked was soul power. Even with his innate divine strength, Mu Chen was confident in his assessment that Tang Wulin would need to have at least three rings before Spirit Refinement would be possible. This was because, during the process of spirit refining, blacksmiths needed to infuse the metal with the vitality that came from the blacksmith themselves. In other words, the gap between the blacksmith¡¯s martial soul and the metal.


    An ordinary blacksmith needed to have at least four rings before being able to spirit refine, but with his innate divine strength, Tang Wulin only needed three rings to sustain the process.


    Nonetheless, a first-grade Thousand Refinement could be considered the gateway to Spirit Refinement. The greater the feeling and the deeper his comprehension, the closer he got to the realm of Spirit Refinement.


    Tang Wulin had set a goal for himself prior to the start of the tournament¡ªbefore reaching three rings, he would thousand refine every metal he could get his hands on to the standard of first-grade. This way, when it the time for him to attempt Spirit Refinement arrived, his chances of success would dramatically increase while lowering his material costs.


    Mu Xi let out a long sigh as she lifted her head, sluggishly gazing at the twinkling silver metal before her. The moment she laid eyes on the heavy silver, she was dazed.


    It¡¯s thousand refined second-grade!


    Although she couldn¡¯t compare to grandmaster blacksmiths, her understanding of high-level forging was still extraordinarily deep since she grew up as the daughter of a Saint Blacksmith. She was naturally able to identify the level of the metal she had just forged.


    I-is it actually second-grade? She hadn¡¯t even grasped the fundamentals of the Thousand Refinements, yet she had somehow managed to forge a second-grade metal? Mu Xi simply couldn¡¯t believe it! Furthermore, she just comprehended the true essence of the Thousand Refinements and was now confident in her ability to thousand refine any metal. Taking this into consideration, she knew that she was now a third rank blacksmith.


    She turned to Tang Wulin, her eyes welling with all sorts of emotions¡ªrelief, admiration, envy, and another emotion she didn¡¯t understand.


    A teacher guides the way, dispelling the disciple¡¯s doubts; that was exactly what it felt like with Tang Wulin leading her. He was the one who elevated her to the third rank, something not even her father had been able to accomplish.


    Using his own rhythm to spur her on, Tang Wulin pushed her into that state of complete focus and reveal the path to the Thousand Refinements.


    After putting away her hammers, Mu Xi walked over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. She reached out to rub his head and pinch his cheeks, not expressing her gratitude.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she said, leading the way out.


    A smile tugged at Tang Wulin¡¯s lips as he watched Mu Xi leave gallantly. At that moment, the two understood each other even without giving voice to their thoughts.


    Mu Xi stopped once they left the blacksmithing competition grounds. ¡°Are you participating in the individual competition?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Senior disciple sister, why aren¡¯t you participating? You¡¯re definitely strong enough to place highly.¡±


    Mu Xi currently has three rings, and from Tang Wulin¡¯s understanding, her martial soul was a powerful one.


    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± she replied and shook her head. ¡°My talent for blacksmithing can¡¯t compare with yours, and I¡¯ve had a change of heart since you arrived. I¡¯ve been contemplating whether my path is that of a blacksmith, a soul master, or a battle armor master. I want to embrace all three of these identities, but I am ultimately destined to be a blacksmith. In light of that, I¡¯ve decided to focus my time and energy on forging.¡±


    Mu Xi paused for a moment to give Tang Wulin a profound look. ¡°Wulin, you are far more talented than I am, so much so that you¡¯re a once-in-a-century blacksmithing genius. Dad told me that, if you continue to steadily develop like this, you would one day become a Divine Blacksmith. So if you enjoy forging, you need to put even more effort into it from now on.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded slightly, understanding Mu Xi¡¯s intentions. She wished to remind him that, if he wanted to be a blacksmith that stood at the peak, he could not let himself get unnecessarily distracted. However, his goal was to become a battle armor master. That was his dream.


    Tang Wulin dreamed of becoming a mecha pilot when he was a child, but after Wu Zhangkong educated him about battle armor masters who stood above mecha pilots, his dream changed. Blacksmithing had initially been a way for him to earn money that he just so happened to enjoy, but now it fueled his hope of one day becoming a battle armor master.


    ¡°Senior disciple sister... I love blacksmithing, but my circumstances are different from yours. Your martial soul is way better than mine. I only have Bluesilver Grass. People have been telling me that my martial soul is trash since I was six. Even though I¡¯ve devoted all of my energy into steadily cultivating, the results have been lackluster. Becoming a great blacksmith also requires soul power, so if I want to do that, I have to put in the effort cultivating. Aside from that, my one true dream is to become a battle armor master.¡±

 Chapter 209 - Shes the Opponent?

    Chapter 209 - She''s the Opponent?


    Mu Xi was stupefied. ¡°That¡¯s right! You still only have one ring¡­ How could I forget? You¡¯re not that great after all! You¡¯re still so much weaker than me!¡±


    Tang Wulin felt as if three black lines were sliding down his forehead. Just what is she thinking?


    An unexpected smile spread across Mu Xi¡¯s face. ¡°My heart calmed down as soon as I remembered that. Yeah! No one could be that unbelievably powerful and you¡¯re no exception. Alright, hurry up and go then. I¡¯m not participating in the individual competition, but I am in the team competition. I won¡¯t go easy on you when we face off. Well... assuming you make it that far.¡±


    Tang Wulin waved goodbye to Mu Xi as he ran off. It was nearly time for the individual competition.


    Watched his departing figure, Mu Xi¡¯s smiling expression gradually vanished. She muttered, ¡°Dad was right... I really should form a good relationship with him. That brat¡­ hmph! I really want to pinch him to death.¡±


    A smile spread across her lips as she spoke the last few words. It was far more brilliant than the one that had previously graced it.


    ?


    Once he arrived at the competition ground, Tang Wulin rushed to check the progression of the matches. Fortunately, there was still some time before his match. Since the individual competition had advanced to its second round, each match was far longer than before.


    After making sure that he was on time, Tang Wulin spotted his teammates nearby.


    Xie Xie and Gu Yue stood next to each other, observing the battles of their competition. Tang Wulin quickly walked over.


    ¡°Your blacksmithing competition is done? How¡¯d you do?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    ¡°I did great,¡± Tang Wulin answered. ¡°The champion will be decided tomorrow.¡±


    Since the blacksmith¡¯s competition wasn¡¯t very popular, it only took three days to finish.


    ¡°Have you guys fought yet?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°Not yet. I¡¯m still waiting.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s the situation?¡± Tang Wulin asked. ¡°Has anyone powerful appeared yet?


    Gu Yue answered, ¡°A few. We just saw a three-ringed soul master. A three-ringed opponent will be kind of tough.¡±


    With an upper age limit of fifteen, it was certainly to be expected that some three-ringed soul masters would be found in the junior division. Compared to Xie Xie and Gu Yue, both of which had two rings and powerful martial souls, Tang Wulin merely had a single soul ring and the trash-tier Bluesilver Grass. Although he brought his martial soul up to the thousand-year level, he was still an infant against those three-ringed giants.


    Yet, in spite of that, Tang Wulin¡¯s confidence did not waver. He never expected to do particularly well in the individual competition; he only entered in order to further temper himself. It wouldn¡¯t be much of a loss if he were defeated by an opponent that was more powerful than him.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide.


    Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi approached him like enemies meeting on a narrow road. The former led the way while the latter followed like a servant.


    There¡¯s no way she signed up for the individual competition, right?


    Tang Wulin was speechless, but anticipation flickered within his heart. The two were from Shrek Academy, so he couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how strong they were.


    ¡°Are you waiting for your match?¡± Ye Xinglan approached Tang Wulin with a sinister grin.


    Tang Wulin pretended to be disinterested. ¡°Did you sign up for the individual competition too? If I remember correctly, the competition was already underway when you decided to sign up.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with anything?¡± Ye Xinglan asked. ¡°I just needed to speak with the organizers and tell them that I wanted to spar with you guys. Of course they made an exception for me. Since I guaranteed I won¡¯t fight for the top eight, they happily agreed to my participation.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart stirred, anxiety seeping into his heart.


    ¡°Oh, right, I wanted to tell you the good news. The opponent you drew for today is unable to make it, so another opponent has been arranged for you¡ªme.¡±


    Faced with the smirking Ye Xinglan, Tang Wulin felt as if he had encountered a little devil. He knew her what she was aiming for without even needing to think about it.


    Xie Xie¡¯s and Gu Yue¡¯s faces darkened. This was especially the case for Gu Yue, whose narrowed eyes held a cold sheen.


    Tang Wulin, on the other hand, continued to meet Ye Xinglan¡¯s gaze without faltering. Their gazes locked, and he flashed a radiant smile at her. ¡°Fantastic!¡±


    Fantastic? He isn¡¯t scared at all? Ye Xinglan was stunned. This guy isn¡¯t scared of having a match with me? But I¡¯m from Shrek Academy!


    She couldn¡¯t sense the slightest bit of anxiety from Tang Wulin¡¯s confident expression. In fact, his smile was simply to dazzling for her.


    As if to tell Tang Wulin to surrender right then and there, Xu Lizhi gave him a meaningful look from behind Ye Xinglan. However, Tang Wulin ignored Xu Lizhi¡¯s warning. Instead, he was completely calm as he continued to hold Ye Xinglan¡¯s gaze.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s expression quickly turned dark. She nodded at Tang Wulin repeatedly. ¡°Good. Very good. Let me see just how skilled you are then.¡±


    After spitting out these words, she swiftly turned around and left.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips as he returned his attention to the matches in progress.


    Feeling a tug on his arm, Tang Wulin turned to see Gu Yue grabbing onto him and staring right at him with eyes filled with worry.


    The corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth curled in amusement. ¡°It¡¯s fine! We¡¯re here to challenge the powerful and gain more combat experience after all. Battling a student from Shrek Academy is a rare opportunity. You wouldn¡¯t believe how happy I am right now. Why are you guys making that face? Are you thinking it¡¯s certain that I¡¯ll lose?¡±


    ¡°Well said,¡± an icy voice interjected. ¡°Do your best and battle with all your strength. You might just have a chance at winning if you do.¡±


    The trio swiveled their heads in the direction that it came from, slightly surprised at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sudden arrival.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded at Tang Wulin in satisfaction. His appreciation for this disciple of his only continued to grow. Not only did Tang Wulin have a good head on his shoulders, his perception was sharp and his heart was large. The boy was only ten years old, so Wu Zhangkong could only imagine what he would be like when he was twenty. Tang Wulin¡¯s growth was unpredictable.


    A lot could change in ten years. Although Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul was weak, it had mutated and made the path to greatness available to him. If this trend continued, Tang Wulin would be destined to reach great heights in the future.


    ¡°Teacher Wu,¡± Tang Wulin hastily said in greeting.


    Wu Zhangkong walked to stand in front of the three, gravely saying, ¡°Do your best in your battles and don¡¯t feel pressured. Regardless of how it turns out, everything will be fine as long as you give it your all. In my opinion, the battle isn¡¯t completely hopeless for you.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin answered respectfully, eyes sparkling. Battling an opponent from Shrek Academy was a wonderful chance to test himself.


    Tang Wulin sat down where he was, closed his eyes, and began regulating his breathing. He wanted to be in top condition when he faced Ye Xinglan.


    Xie Xie was the first to have a match. His opponent wasn¡¯t particularly strong, and a little less than five minutes later, he stood victorious.


    Then it was finally Tang Wulin¡¯s turn. He sprang up from the ground, a confident smile on his face as he strode toward the arena.


    ¡°Big sister Xinglan, Wulin didn¡¯t really do anything wrong. You should go easy on him!¡± Xu Lizhi implored. He still had a good impression of Tang Wulin, especially since Tang Wulin could eat so much. Such a limitless stomach was something he had never seen before, and one could only conquer a glutton by eating more than them after all! It was only because of this that Xu Lizhi approved of Tang Wulin.


    ¡°You still have the face to say that? Would I have had to suffer so much if not for you? Stop letting this bother you so much and just watch me put him in his place. Hmph!¡± Ye Xinglan freed herself from Xu Lizhi¡¯s nagging and charged toward the stage.


    During the exhibition match that kicked off the tournament, few had taken note of her since she had been in the back. Furthermore, she wasn¡¯t clothed in the iconic green Shrek Academy uniform today. Instead, she wore a yellow dress. She only seemed to be a young, pretty girl.


    Both Tang Wulin and Ye Xinglan ascended to the stage. Upon seeing Tang Wulin¡¯s assured smile, fumes of anger poured from Ye Xinglan¡¯s head. In her eyes, that smile was provocation. Grievances filled her heart as she remembered how Tang Wulin had mooched off of her and even had the gall to pick the dishes.


    This bastard! Today we¡¯ll see how I put you in your place!


    Today¡¯s referee was the same as yesterday¡¯s. After unceremoniously announcing the rules for the match, he let the two start preparing.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s narrowed eyes were locked onto Ye Xinglan. After his short rest, his mind was sharp as a blade.


    He was like a spring¡ªthe greater the pressure placed on him, the stronger he would bounce back. At this moment, he was bursting with fighting spirit. He would rather face a powerful opponent like Ye Xinglan instead of an inexperienced one like the one from yesterday. This way, he would gain something from the battle.


    ¡°Three, two, one, begin!¡±


    Tang Wulin sprang into action immediately after the referee¡¯s declaration. He stomped down with his left foot, charging straight at Ye Xinglan while a single purple ring twinkled beneath his feet.

 Chapter 210 - Stargod Sword

    Chapter 210 - Stargod Sword


    Purple? A thousand-year soul ring? This realization shocked Ye Xinglan. She hadn¡¯t seen any of Tang Wulin¡¯s previous battles; her only impression of him was his weak soul power fluctuations.


    She had expected that he had one ring, but never did she imagine that it would be a purple ring.


    Ye Xinglan instantly reassessed the situation with this new piece of information.


    To be able to support a thousand-year soul ring, both his body and spirit must be powerful! There¡¯s no other explanation for it. Looks like he¡¯s more talented than I gave him credit for!


    But Ye Xinglan wasn¡¯t worried despite this shocking revelation. Her confidence as a student of Shrek Academy couldn¡¯t be shaken by something as minor as this.


    Two yellow soul rings rose from her feet as she reached out and grasped her coalescing martial soul. Although her ring configuration was identical to Tang Wulin¡¯s opponent from the day before, Ye Xinglan¡¯s martial soul gave him a completely different feeling.


    A long sword materialized in her hand. Sparks of light twinkled along the slender brilliance of its yellow blade like the stars in the night sky, showcasing a splendor that was attention-grabbing even in daylight. Ye Xinglan¡¯s presence faded with the appearance of the sword, her essence fusing with it.


    One with the sword!


    A ten-year-old girl has reached such a realm?


    Every powerful, perceptive observer in the stands was astonished.


    As the two approached each other, Tang Wulin forwent his Bluesilver Grass; instead, he reached out to grab her shoulder.


    Ye Xinglan made her move at the very last moment; she took a step to the right.


    This seemingly simple action had Tang Wulin¡¯s gut twisting in alarm.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s one step put her in the perfect position to strike his most vulnerable weak point. However, momentum propelled him forward and he passed through the spot that Ye Xinglan had just moved from. It was too late for him to turn around.


    Ye Xinglan slashed at Tang Wulin¡¯s ribs. Her sword stroke was casual and smooth, slow and steady. Unavoidable.


    It was in that moment of crisis that Tang Wulin displayed his body¡¯s flexibility. He twisted his body and his back arched like a bow¡ªwhile he was still within striking distance, it bought him enough time for golden scales to ripple across his arm and block the blade..


    A metallic tink rang out. Ye Xinglan spun around, dispersing the excess energy of the clash. To her surprise, she found herself two meters from where she originally stood.


    Anxiety gripped Tang Wulin. A strange chill had penetrated his scales during their clash and had violently rushed into his body. He summoned his bloodline power and soul power into action, sealing the foreign energy off. Only with the combined power of the two could he keep it at bay.


    Even then, light exploded from his right arm, sending him reeling back two steps.


    From just this brief clash, Tang Wulin was clearly the one at a disadvantage.


    However, astonishment flashed in Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes. My Stargod Sword¡¯s stargod energy couldn¡¯t invade his body? Usually even three-ringed soul masters can¡¯t defend against it! This guy¡¯s body is weird. His arm has scales on it¡­


    Despite her mind whirling with shock, Ye Xinglan did not pause. Her first soul ring lit up the moment she stopped spinning, imbuing starlight into the blade as she aimed at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin trembled in the face of this attack. Her first move had already displayed the terrifying strength of her sword; he had already been hard-pressed to defend against her sword when she wasn¡¯t using a soul skill, so he could only imagine how powerful it would be when it was combined with one.


    Tang Wulin could no longer afford to hold back. Strand after strand of Bluesilver Grass sprang out and wove together into a large net in front of him, intent on enveloping the stellar attack.


    His martial soul has nothing to do with the scales on his arm? Does he have twin souls? Ye Xinglan¡¯s mind quickly processed this new knowledge.


    The starlight and Bluesilver Grass collided. Nothing exploded. Instead,  golden light dyed each and every strand of grass it touched, wrestling control of the grass out of Tang Wulin¡¯s hands.


    What is that?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s shock deepened as Ye Xinglan pointed her sword at the sky, directing the gold-touched Bluesilver Grass into the air. Now, nothing stood between the two.


    What a strange soul skill.


    Even though he was startled, Tang Wulin quickly retreated. Violet light flickered in his eyes as he activated Purple Demon Eyes.


    Faced with such a powerful opponent, he couldn¡¯t afford not to use every trick up his sleeve.


    The moment she saw the purple glint in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, Ye Xinglan closed her own. She activated her second soul skill, shrouding herself in starlight. The defense was airtight, without a single gap for Tang Wulin¡¯s Purple Demon Eyes to attack.


    That shield can defend against spiritual attacks?


    Ye Xinglan cut through the net of Bluesilver Grass she had seized control of and thrust her Stargod Sword at Tang Wulin; flickering duplicates charged at Tang Wulin as her footwork changed into mysterious erratic steps.


    Not good!


    Tang Wulin had a wealth of combat experience, but even the cleverest housewife couldn¡¯t cook without rice! With the control of his martial soul stolen by his opponent, what else could he do?


    Tang Wulin made a surprising choice: he closed his eyes. Since he couldn¡¯t clearly ascertain the situation, he would use his other senses.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power exceeded two hundred points, meaning he was in the intermediate Spirit Connection realm. Taking his constant forging into consideration, his perception could not be compared with that of an ordinary person. With his gaze still shuttered, he willed his right hand to transform into the golden dragon claw.


    Ding!


    Tang Wulin brandished his claws, blocking the strike to his shoulder.


    His claw blocked the stargod energy. Even when the Stargod Sword released more energy, it couldn¡¯t move a single inch forward.


    Tang Wulin held the sword in place, but Ye Xinglan¡¯s responded swiftly. She freed her sword with a flick of her wrist and commanded the surrounding starlight to gather around her sword.


    The Stargod Sword grew with a brighter radiance. At the same time, Tang Wulin regained control over his Bluesilver Grass.


    Tang Wulin clawed at her, but Ye Xinglan simply swatted his attack down. His ability to sense Ye Xinglan¡¯s location, on the other hand, was increasingly accurate.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got some good tricks. It looks like I¡¯ll need to take this seriously.¡± Ye Xinglan nimbly retreated. Her eyes brightened, then shone as if they were two stars. Specks of starlight converged around her and without any warning, she charged forward again, twice as fast a before. Her Stargod Sword seemed to become the manifestation of the myriad stars in the skies as it advanced upon Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin recalled his Bluesilver Grass to fortify his defense.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword danced as she struck the thicket of grass. With each stroke of her blade, a strand of Bluesilver Grass would explode in a burst of light.


    The tip of her sword fluttered about like a butterfly. Bluesilver Grass would scatter wherever it touched, until dozens of swords stabbed at Tang Wulin simultaneously, completely surrounding him.


    This wasn¡¯t a soul skill¡ªit was pure technique!

 Chapter 211 - A Glorious Defeat

    Chapter 211 - A Glorious Defeat


    In that moment, Tang Wulin gained a newfound appreciation for Wu Zhangkong. The Stargod Sword¡¯s attack patterns were very similar to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s Frost Scars.


    Facing her formidable sword technique, Tang Wulin already knew how to retaliate.


    A radiant strand of Bluesilver Grass sprung up in front of him, golden scales lining it. The strand wrapped along the length of the sword, disturbing its stargod energy and restricting its movement. Most of the sword stabs were blocked by the troublesome grass while his dragon claw held the rest of the attacks at bay. With these defensive measures, he was barely able to endure Ye Xinglan¡¯s offensive.


    Naturally, it was all thanks to Goldlight that his Bluesilver Grass could subdue the explosive stargod energy. He activated Bind, specifically for the strands of Bluesilver grass encircling the sword, and charged forward with the aid of his spirit soul.


    An orb of starlight fell onto his Bluesilver Grass, interrupting his soul skill. Ye Xinglan¡¯s figure flickered. She bypassed his golden Bluesilver Grass and appeared just before him.


    She thrusted out her Stargod Sword, ten stabs manifesting all at once.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how you deal with this!¡± Ye Xinglan roared. She had never expected that with her abilities, she would have so much difficulty against a mere one-ringed opponent. Though his martial soul was Bluesilver Grass, it wasn¡¯t ordinary¡ªa variant. What was most alarming was his golden dragon claw.


    She felt the greatest threat from his claw and didn¡¯t dare let go of her sword. She had a gut feeling that the match would be lost if he managed to grab her sword.


    Although her Stargod Sword was powerful, once removed from her grasp, she would be helpless against his spirit soul-enhanced Bluesilver Grass. For now, she wanted to see how Tang Wulin would deal with her.


    Indeed, Tang Wulin found it increasingly hard to block all her attacks. Even if he could sense all of the incoming sword thrusts, his reaction time was too slow!!


    What do I do?


    In this moment of crisis, he made a valiant choice.


    Ignoring the incoming stars, Tang Wulin charged toward her, his golden dragon claw serving as the vanguard. He brandished his claw wildly to do two things: protect his body and grab Ye Xinglan.


    Mutual destruction!


    Tang Wulin was confident in the destructive power of his claw. He also knew that his body could endure the blow for a brief moment. In that moment before his body collapsed, he would attack her in a frenzy.


    Shooting stars were lodged into Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw, enveloping him in a bloody aura. The stargod energy was about to erupt, but he was already in front of her!


    Shock flashed through her eyes. She jabbed her sword forward and activated both her soul rings. A mass of starlight descended, encasing her body like a stellar fortress.


    Multi-colored light exploded as the golden claw and the shield of starlight clashed. Yet the starlight shield proved short-lived as Tang Wulin dug his claws into it, tearing the starlight into shreds.


    The last couple of moves illustrated just what made Ye Xinglan a Shrek student. She bent over backwards, evading the claw by an inch while thrusting her sword simultaneously at Tang Wulin¡¯s right armpit.


    Tang Wulin recoiled his arm, deflecting the sword¡¯s path.


    Finally, Ye Xinglan¡¯s defensive maneuvers came to an end; his claw gripped her sword with incredible strength, issuing out a metallic ¡®clang¡¯.


    She nearly lost hold of her sword when a sudden wave of force propagated through it.


    A  boom resounded as light shot out from Tang Wulin. With a low groan, his golden dragon claw disappeared and the explosion hurled him back through the air.


    ¡°Stop!¡± The referee shouted. He flew over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. Holding Tang Wulin with one arm, the referee used the other to apply a healing white light on the wounds, preventing further blood loss.


    Ye Xinglan sat on the ground, staring at Tang Wulin in despondency.


    Throughout her life, she had never achieved such a difficult victory against a peer.


    That guy, how is he able to fight so hard? And there¡¯s his dragon claw¡­ It¡¯s so strong! How was it able to stop my soul skill? I should have been more prepared, then I wouldn¡¯t be in such a situation.


    Is he okay?


    Tang Wulin was in a dire state. His body was dyed crimson, face pale and eyes closed. His consciousness had long since been lost.


    During their final clash, Tang Wulin had held on by sheer will alone. When he could no longer endure the stargod energy, and his soul power collapsed within his body, he was incapacitated by the damage. He could no longer sustain his golden dragon claw either. Yet, if he had been able to persevere for another second, perhaps the outcome of the match would differ.


    Wu Zhangkong ascended to the stage quickly. He retrieved Tang Wulin from the referee¡¯s hold and applied an icy mist onto the wounds. Without sparing Ye Xinglan a single glance, he exited the stage with Tang Wulin in his arms.


    Gu Yue and Xie Xie rushed over to their teacher. Upon seeing her bloodied comrade, Gu Yue emanated killing intent.


    A chilling shiver ran down Ye Xinglan¡¯s spine as she pushed herself off the ground. She turned toward Gu Yue subconsciously.


    The two girls¡¯ gazes clashed in midair, sparks shooting everywhere.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hands moved in a blur as he examined Tang Wulin. A moment later, he declared, ¡°He¡¯s fine. They¡¯re just superficial wounds. I¡¯ll bring him back first.¡± He lifted Tang Wulin and after few mystical steps, he disappeared, his silhouette but a dream.


    The second round of the individual competition concluded: Tang Wulin lost!


    After Wu Zhangkong left, Gu Yue approached the stage, her eyes gleaming with six different glints and her bloodlust exploding. Even Xie Xie, who was undoubtedly on her side, treated her like a volcano about to erupt.


    Once she descended from the stage, Ye Xinglan waited for the approaching Gu Yue, not one bit afraid.


    ¡°I want to challenge you.¡± Gu Yue¡¯s voice was ice-cold.


    Ye Xinglan snorted. ¡°I¡¯m only doing one match for the individual competition. If you want to challenge me, then do it in the team competition.¡±


    She departed after spitting out these words. Gu Yue was about to chase after her, but Xie Xie restrained her arm. ¡°Don¡¯t be impulsive Gu Yue! She¡¯s from Shrek.¡±


    Gu Yue whipped her head back at Xie Xie, giving him a fright. ¡°So what if she¡¯s from Shrek?¡±


    Xie Xie released her in haste. Embarrassed, he said, ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say is that it won¡¯t mean anything unless we defeat them in a fair match. Actually, Wulin was an inch away from victory. So you should have an idea of how strong Shrek is now.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s bloodlust gradually subsided, the thick killing intent around her lessening. She snorted before walking away.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you still have your own match?¡± Xie Xie called after her.


    ¡°I¡¯m forfeiting! I¡¯m going to go see Wulin.¡± The instant she finished speaking, she broke into a run.


    ?


    Tang Wulin awoke to a cool sensation. When he opened his eyes, he saw the usual glacial expression of Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Teacher Wu,¡± he called out softly. He struggled to get up, but the tearing pain halted his efforts.


    Wu Zhangkong glanced at him. ¡°You¡¯re awake? You still need to recover.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°But, my match¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it. Recover first. You¡¯ve done well today. You had a chance of winning in that match, but what you¡¯re lacking in now is combat ability. Once you¡¯re better, I¡¯ll teach you another secret art of the Tang Sect.¡±


    Tang Wulin was at a loss. ¡°But, aren¡¯t I only allowed to learn two right now? I¡¯ve only passed the medium level test so far.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°A third rank professional can learn an additional secret art. I didn¡¯t teach you a third one last time because I was afraid you would be biting off more than you could chew. I¡¯ll choose another art that is suitable for you. For now, you just rest and recover.¡±


    ¡°Wulin, you¡¯re awake!¡± Gu Yue brought a cup of water over to him. She added a straw for his convenience. ¡°Drink slowly; you don¡¯t want to choke.¡±


    A smile graced Tang Wulin¡¯s lips when he saw the concern in her eyes. He drank a bit of water through the straw. ¡°Thank you. What time is it right now?¡±


    Gu Yue answered, ¡°It¡¯s just past noon. Are you hungry now? I¡¯ll go get you something to eat.¡±

 Chapter 212 - Tough and Thick Skin

    Chapter 212 - Tough and Thick Skin


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t forget about the match in the afternoon. I might not be able to battle, but you guys still can. Do your best for me! I¡¯ve already been eliminated from the individual competition, so I only have the team competition left.¡±


    Gu Yue was dumbfounded. ¡°You still want to compete?¡±


    ¡°Of course! You don¡¯t have to worry; I¡¯m fine. They¡¯re just flesh wounds. I¡¯ll be all better by tomorrow.¡± A strange emotion welled in his heart.


    When he tried to move his body a while ago, he was hit with waves of ache, followed by an eerie numbness that faded into an itch. However, this was a good sign. It meant he was healing quickly.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°You felt it too?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin made a confused face.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°When I was helping you close your wounds, I discovered that your body¡¯s recovery ability is abnormally great. The sliced muscles were practically squirming to knit themselves back together and your other wounds were closing as well. That was the first time I had ever seen something like that. It is probably related to your bloodline. Does your body feel strange anywhere?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s lips morphed into a wry smile. ¡°Apart from being hungry, I feel fine.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°It seems all that food you eat hasn¡¯t gone to waste. Gu Yue, can you fetch some high-protein food for him?¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Gu Yue was overjoyed from Tang Wulin¡¯s speedy recovery and rushed off to complete her task.


    ¡°How do you feel about today¡¯s battle?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    After a moment of retrospection, Tang Wulin answered, ¡°She¡¯s really strong. Her martial soul is powerful and her control is amazing. I can¡¯t match her in martial soul control. If it wasn¡¯t for my golden dragon claw, I probably wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong made another gesture of approval. ¡°That¡¯s right. If she hadn¡¯t underestimated you, you wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance. Your golden dragon claw can¡¯t be sustained for long. If she had been more prepared against you, she could have easily stalled until you ran out of soul power. After a while, you would lose your martial soul¡¯s protection and the might of your golden dragon claw. Then defeat would be inevitable. It was only because she was too focused on a quick victory that you had a possibility of winning. You did pretty well, but in order to put perception and control into use, you need a sufficient power base.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin understood Wu Zhangkong¡¯s meaning. He was still too weak. He had only the Bind soul skill, and though his control over his Bluesilver Grass had improved, it wasn¡¯t at the point of mastery. Furthermore, the mighty golden dragon claw required close combat usage to be most effective. Not only that, but it also couldn¡¯t be sustained. The Tang Sect¡¯s Purple Demon Eyes was no exception: its power was not absolute. After all, the technique had been blocked that very day. What he needed was to expand his library of battle-skills and increase his overall combat ability.


    His first time injured so badly, Tang Wulin found his own recovery speed astonishing. This time, he had suffered quite a bit at Ye Xinglan¡¯s hands. Although her stargod energy didn¡¯t penetrate into his body, they exploded on his skin. That was more than enough to leave him in that blood-soaked state.


    Surprisingly, it took him two hours after waking up to rise. His wounds were scabbed over like bizarre patchwork on a quilt.


    By the time night settled, Tang Wulin could walk on his own and left for dinner.


    Although his body was littered with wounds, concentrated on non-vital areas like his limbs, his rapid healing left his teammates utterly speechless. They gawked and couldn¡¯t help but treat him as a monster.


    Despite Tang Wulin¡¯s absence in the team event¡¯s second round, his team emerged victorious due to Gu Yue¡¯s brazen charge. Their weak opponents were no match against her.


    Xie Xie was the sole participant from their group to fight in the individual competition. Tang Wulin was left with the blacksmith¡¯s and team competitions.


    Regardless of his swift recovery, forging required immense amounts of energy. As such, he decided to skip the final round of the blacksmith¡¯s competition after careful deliberation with Cen Yue.


    However, he was guaranteed a spot in the top two because he forged a second-grade thousand refined metal. After all, the competition was scored by the sum of all the points obtained, with a significant amount based from the quality of refinement.


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t have gotten injured on purpose to make me the champion, right?¡± Mu Xi had received the news of Tang Wulin¡¯s injuries right after dark and ran over immediately.


    The moment she saw Tang Wulin, her anxiety was washed away.


    This guy is still gorging himself on food while in bed! He hasn¡¯t even slowed down a little from his usual pace! It seems his injuries weren¡¯t that serious.


    ¡°Of course not! My opponent was way stronger than me,¡± Tang Wulin said as he continued to nibble on some pork shoulder.


    Mu Xi said, ¡°It¡¯s good if you¡¯re alright then. Be careful in the future. And you can rejoice you little money grubber; I won the championship and the money is yours.¡±


    ¡°Hehe. Thanks a lot senior disciple sister. Actually, I really lost this time since I was too injured to compete. You¡¯re such a good person though.¡±


    Mu Xi giggled. ¡°That¡¯s enough. Stop flattering me so much. We both know how much you love money. Anyway, are you hungry for anything else? I¡¯ll go buy it for you. Eat more and quickly recover.¡±


    Tang Wulin put down his pork shoulder without a peep. This was the third time that this had happened. Before Mu Xi came, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan had stopped by with the same offer. Afterward, Cen Yue paid him a visit and did the same. It was finally Mu Xi¡¯s turn. Why does everyone who visits me treat me like a glutton? Even if I really am one, can¡¯t they show some tact!


    Mu Xi giggled as she took in Tang Wulin¡¯s face that is blushing with embarrassment. ¡°Who did you lose to today that left you in such a state?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°A girl with a sword.¡± He omitted the fact that she was from Shrek since he didn¡¯t harbor any grudge against her. Besides, she was just a proud girl. In reality, she had been pulling her punches in today¡¯s match, avoiding vital parts. If not, then Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t have been so well off.


    There was a knock on the door.


    Mu Xi cracked it open slightly to check who it was. The little fatty Xu Lizhi stood outside, stunned for an instant at the sight of Mu Xi. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m looking for Tang Wulin.¡±


    ¡°Come on in.¡± Mu Xi opened the door wide for him.


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s nose twitched a couple of times, his face¡¯s fat contorting to squeeze his eyes. ¡°Pork shoulder! You have pork shoulder!¡± He walked in, swallowing a gulp of saliva at the sight of the delicacies arrayed before Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Lizhi, you want to join me for a bit?¡± Tang Wulin was taken by surprise at his visit.


    Xu Lizhi lowered his head. ¡°Sorry Wulin! It¡¯s all my fault. This all happened because I forgot my money that day and couldn¡¯t treat you guys. Xinglan is actually a really good person! She¡¯s usually taking care of me. Please don¡¯t hold a grudge against her!¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine! It was a match you know. It¡¯s only natural for there to be some injuries. How could I be angry with her? Just look, don¡¯t I seem better already? We might run into each other later in the team competition. I¡¯ll have my teammates with me, so we might just snatch victory from you then! I¡¯m by no means the strongest on my team!¡±


    Shock crept through Xu Lizhi¡¯s face, pupils blown wide. ¡°Y-you! You¡¯re fine? Big sis Xinglan¡¯s stargod energy is so fearsome, but you¡¯re already able to sit up?¡± He had been distracted by the allure of food when he first entered the room. He just noticed Tang Wulin¡¯s healthy state, his cheerful feasting the proof of his recovery. Shouldn¡¯t he still be severely injured?


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I eat a lot so my skin is a bit tougher and thicker than normal.¡±


    Off to the side, Mu Xi nodded in understanding. Her actions did not go unnoticed by Tang Wulin. ¡°Senior disciple sister, if you don¡¯t have anything else to do, then you should go back and rest.¡±

 Chapter 213 - The Third Tang Sect Art

    Chapter 213 - The Third Tang Sect Art


    Mu Xi snorted. ¡°Are you trying to shoo me away? I¡¯m not leaving then.¡± She plopped herself down on his bedside haughtily.


    She really is¡­


    He was simply helpless in front of this senior disciple sister.


    Meanwhile, Xu Lizhi circled around Tang Wulin a few times like a shark, inspecting his body. ¡°You really are a freak! I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re already okay! Incredible!¡±


    With his words dipped in annoyance, Tang Wulin said, ¡°You¡¯re not just here to look at my wounds, are you? Come eat with me. Your drool is about to hit the floor.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Xu Lizhi lowered his voice. ¡°You¡¯re really not mad at me?¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s hard to find a fellow foodie, you know? How could I be angry with you! Besides, didn¡¯t you say you would call me big brother since I can out eat you? What big brother would be angry with their little brother?¡±


    Such words coaxed a heavy sigh from Xu Lizhi¡¯s mouth, wiping his anxious expression away into a blossoming grin. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right! Since there¡¯s good food to be eaten with big brother, don¡¯t mind me if I¡¯m rude then!¡± He grabbed a pig trotter and began gnawing on it.


    Mu Xi was desperately trying not to laugh. Gluttons can really appreciate one another!


    ¡°Oh, right. Boss, there was something else I came for. Here, I have something good for you to eat.¡± Xu Lizhi raised his hand, gathering soul power within his palm as two stunning soul rings rose beneath him.


    ¡°I have a meat bun.¡± After he muttered this verse, light coalesced into a bun in his palms, his first soul ring twinkling like a star in the sky.


    Both Tang Wulin and Mu Xi stared wide-eyed at the fatty.


    ¡°You¡¯re a food-type soul master?¡± Tang Wulin and Mu Xi exclaimed in unison.


    Essentially, soul masters were divided into two categories: battle and tool types. Food-type soul masters were an exceptionally rare type within the tool category.


    The fact that he was not just a food-type soul master, but also had two rings at the age of ten, shook their hearts!


    It was common knowledge that food-type soul masters had the hardest time cultivating.


    The bun should be this guy¡¯s martial soul.


    Tang Wulin recalled the shiny white objects Xu Lizhi had thrown at the beginning of the exhibition match. Now he knew that they hadn¡¯t been steamed buns, but stuffed buns.


    Meat stuffed buns...


    This really is¡­


    After accepting the bun, he sunk his teeth into it, a puff of steam escaping from the newfound opening. Not only was it fragrant, it was stuffed to the brim with meat soaked in a rich broth.


    Once he devoured the bun in a few bites, warmth permeated his body. Soul power stirred within him, increasing his recovery speed.


    A proud look crossed Xu Lizhi¡¯s face. ¡°My first soul skill is Recovery Pork Bun. Eating it will restore your physical strength and your soul power! It¡¯s really helpful in the middle of battle too! It even has a constitution-strengthening effect! It should help you recover. Do you want to eat a few more?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± In the end, Tang Wulin savored more than ten tasty meat buns. He could feel a noticeable surge in his healing speed, his soul power recovering completely.


    In contrast, Xu Lizhi was only slightly exhausted.


    ¡°It¡¯s a miraculous martial soul!¡± Tang Wulin cried out.


    Xu Lizhi straightened his back with pride. ¡°Of course. I¡¯m a food-type soul master who has innate full soul power that you can only encounter once every hundred years. I¡¯m already guaranteed a spot in the inner court. When they tested my talent, they said it was even greater than big sis Xinglan¡¯s!¡±


    The two little gluttons continued to attack the pile of food. At the sight of their joyful feasting, even Mu Xi grew tempted by Xu Lizhi¡¯s meat buns. Once she tasted one for herself, she understood their incredible appeal.


    Tang Wulin sighed in his heart. If Xu Lizhi could just stay by my side forever, then I wouldn¡¯t have to ever worry about food. That would be amazing!


    ?


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s pork buns¡¯ efficacy was not exaggerated; Tang Wulin was fully healed by the time he started cultivating the next morning, his scabs peeling away to reveal delicate skin.


    ¡°You¡¯ve recovered even faster than I imagined.¡± Wu Zhangkong stood at Tang Wulin¡¯s side. The master and disciple duo were cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes together.


    As a fellow Tang Sect disciple, Xie Xie had chosen two secret arts too, but neither were the Purple Demon Eyes. He had selected the Mysterious Heaven Method and the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    Wu Zhangkong asked, ¡°Are you still competing in the blacksmith¡¯s competition?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. With second place secured, there was no point in him going. It would be fine to give his senior disciple sister first place.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then. Let¡¯s go back to the room. I¡¯ll teach you another secret art of the Tang Sect.¡±


    A tremble ran down Tang Wulin¡¯s spine, hairs springing up from his skin. I¡¯m going to learn another Tang Sect art? I wonder what it will be?


    The Mysterious Heaven Method increased his cultivation speed while also compressing his soul power, boosting his stamina in battle.


    The Purple Demon Eyes, on the other hand, enhanced his control and served as another form of attack. Most important of all was that it was a spiritual power cultivation method. Without it, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to evolve his spirit soul.


    Just what would the third Tang Sect art be? He trusted that Wu Zhangkong would not do him wrong in selecting his third art.


    Once they returned to his room, Wu Zhangkong closed the window blinds and lit a soul lamp.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware of your martial soul¡¯s innate weakness. Though you¡¯ve upgraded it to the thousand-year level, that doesn¡¯t make up for what its core shortcomings. There is no way it can ever compare with those first-rate martial souls. However, your advantage lies in your transformed body. Your body is far stronger than a normal person¡¯s; in fact, it¡¯s several times so. Especially when your bloodline is stirred and your golden scales appear.


    ¡°Thus, what¡¯s important right now is for you to increase your control over your martial soul. When you choose a soul skill in the future, develop in that direction while keeping your body as your main form of attack. I don¡¯t know how much more your body will mutate, so we¡¯ll take one step at a time for now. At the moment, the most fitting Tang Sect art for you is Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon.¡±


    ¡°Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon?¡± These four words penetrated Tang Wulin deeply, arousing an ineffable feeling within him.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°According to the rules of the Tang Sect, every new member may choose one art to practice. Once they¡¯ve passed the middle level test, they can pick a second art. They can learn a third art once they reach the third rank in a profession. Anyone who joins the sect by passing the high level test will also have the privilege to choose three. However, you can only learn up to three arts for free. In other words, even if you pass the high level test and reach third rank in a profession, you can still only learn three Tang Sect arts.¡±


    Tang Wulin gaped, fish-eyed.. ¡°Then, what do I do if I want to learn other Tang Sect arts in the future?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°You¡¯ll need to exchange contribution points at the sect for them. After all, the Tang Sect can¡¯t just operate on nothing. The sect needs to grow too. Once we return to Eastsea City, you can go take a look at our local branch. With your current profession rank, you should qualify for some sect missions. There, you¡¯ll learn how to earn the right to additional Tang Sect arts. Furthermore, you can also trade with other sect members for points.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Excitement sparked within Tang Wulin like a lit firework. To him, contributing to the sect wasn¡¯t bothersome. Besides, he had to repay the sect for the teachings he received. By doing so, he would gain more from the Tang Sect.


    ¡°Generally speaking, everyone will pick the Mysterious Heaven Method when they first join since it¡¯s the basis of all Tang Sect arts. For that reason, I had both you and Xie Xie select this art. You chose the Purple Demon Eyes second for its effect on your spiritual power. Picking Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon for the third is to increase your dexterity. If you¡¯re able to use the art skillfully, it can become powerful for both attack and defense. Watch.¡±


    As he spoke, Wu Zhangkong beckoned to a table on the side, drawing it toward him with some sort of soft, undulating energy. An instant later, a pen container flew in his direction, entering his hands with a soft thud.


    ¡°This is Controlling Crane.¡±


    He pushed with his right hand, sending the pen container zipping through the air. Once out of his grasp, however, it did not fall and swayed in tune with Wu Zhangkong¡¯s actions.


    ¡°This is Capturing Dragon.


    ¡°Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon is actually divided into two parts. One is the technique for Controlling Crane and the other is for Capturing Dragon. Pay attention to your control of soul power when you practice it. If you can increase your proficiency, then it¡¯s like possessing another pair of powerful soul skills. If your mastery reaches the peak, then Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon can even manipulate a mountain. The Mysterious Heaven Method is the foundation of Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon. The greater your soul power, the mightier this art becomes.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong pressed a palm toward Tang Wulin. This created a force of attraction between the two, causing Tang Wulin to stumble forward and fall flat on his face.

 Chapter 214 - Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon

    Chapter 214 - Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon


    Wu Zhangkong thrust his palm forward, shooting Tang Wulin backward to the wall like an arrow. A split-second before he slammed into the wall, an attractive force gripped him, suspending him in the air. He descended to the ground.


    It feels so strange.


    Being as clever as he was, he understood what this mystical sensation was. Ideas began popping up one after another on how he could incorporate Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon into his arsenal.


    He could draw his opponents toward him using this art, placing them within attack range of his golden dragon claw. This would tremendously improve the effectiveness of his golden dragon claw.


    Even Ye Xinglan, a Shrek Academy student who wielded the powerful Stargod Sword, treated his claw as a serious threat.


    The magnificence of Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon struck him. This art would maximize the brief window of time in which he could utilize his claw.


    So it¡¯s like this.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you the basics of Controlling Crane first. Memorize this. Controlling Crane is built upon your foundation from the Mysterious Heaven Method. You circulate the soul power in your dantian and then move it along this meridian¡­¡±


    As he guided Tang Wulin through the process with his own soul power, a string of detailed instructions flooded out of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s mouth.


    Tang Wulin soon discovered that Controlling Crane and the Mysterious Heaven Method shared several circulation paths. He circulated his soul power according to the Mysterious Heaven Method, spinning it within his meridians and into his palm to create an attractive force.


    For the rest of the morning, he immersed himself in practicing Controlling Crane. Unlike with the Purple Demon Eyes, Tang Wulin wrestled with its application. Despite receiving Wu Zhangkong¡¯s guidance, he struggled with the basics, needing more time to put it to practical use.


    Tang Sect arts are so mysterious.


    Tang Wulin applauded his decision in joining the Tang Sect. As a one-ringed soul master, his greatest weakness was the number of rings he held. The Tang Sect¡¯s secret arts were the perfect remedies.


    ?


    ¡°How are you feeling? Can you compete today?¡± After lunch, Gu Yue bombarded Tang Wulin with questions.


    Tang Wulin responded with a nod. ¡°Of course I can. Oh yeah, it should be a round-robin now, right?¡±


    According to the rules of the competition, thirty-six teams would battle it out in a round-robin tournament after the two initial knockout rounds. This segment divided the remaining teams into four groups, each consisting of nine teams. Every team would participate in eight matches and fight the other teams in their group one by one. Winning a match earned them two points while a loss gained a grand total of zero. If they somehow fought to a draw, then both teams would receive one point.


    After each team had fought against every team in their group, the top four of each group would advance. A total of sixteen teams was given this honor. From there, a final knockout tournament would be held until the champion team emerged. Only the top sixteen received awards.


    These rules applied to both the youth and adult division.


    For Tang Wulin¡¯s team¡¯s first two matches, lady luck had smiled down upon them; they didn¡¯t chance upon hidden tigers but rather docile cats Now, it was time for the round-robin.


    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re in the third group,¡± Xie Xie said.


    Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Have you guys investigated our opponents¡¯ strengths yet?¡±


    Xie Xie shook his head. ¡°I couldn¡¯t find anything at all! There are too many people to investigate and even when we were watching the others battle, we were acting like pure spectators. We¡¯ll have to adapt to the situation. Fortunately, I heard that those two from Shrek aren¡¯t in our group.¡±


    Great. We¡¯re not meeting them in this mini competition.


    Both Tang Wulin and Ye Xinglan were well aware of how they compared against each other. He was no match for her, and if she had been more cautious, Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t have lasted as long as he did. But now, it was the team competition, where a single individual¡¯s strength did not make or break the battle. He had confidence in his teammates.


    ¡°Then it¡¯ll be us three battling with Xiaoyan as the substitute. Sounds good?¡± Tang Wulin confirmed with Xu Xiaoyan.


    Nodding and beaming a smile, she answered. ¡°Captain, I heard that the finals will be held at night to maximize viewership.¡±


    The gears in Tang Wulin¡¯s head spun into action, each cog interlocking with and leading the other. This was a critical piece of information that would change their tactics.


    The Skysea Alliance Tournament had gone on for a few days now, with the blacksmith¡¯s competition rankings already announced. The champion was Mu Xi, the daughter of the eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith, Mu Chen. This outcome had long been predicted by those of the blacksmithing world. After all, Mu Chen was the sole eighth rank-blacksmith in the Skysea Alliance.


    Although Eastsea City lacked in other aspects, its blacksmiths were excellent. Mu Chen was revered in the Skysea Alliance.


    Even so, the blacksmith¡¯s competition wasn¡¯t a major attraction, especially the junior division. Regardless of the field, geniuses needed time to be polished like a lump of raw jade. A truly peerless blacksmith in theory would be no less than forty years old.


    The competitions for mecha craftsmen, designers, and mechanics were still in progress. Compared to the blacksmithing competition, these events boasted a structure that was far more complex.


    Of course, soul master events were the most popular. Whether it was the individual or team competitions, it was a feast for the eyes that came once every three years.


    Among the soul master events, the finals for the seven-man, five-man, and three-man team competitions received the highest ratings. The junior division¡¯s ratings, however, paled in comparison with the adult¡¯s, since the former¡¯s average cultivation level wavered around two rings.


    Thus, the three-man team competition was scheduled for the afternoon while the seven-man was scheduled for the night. This was prime time, when viewership would be at its peak. Those with deep pockets could be found in the spectator stands while those without would watch it at home on their soul TV.


    ?


    Skysea Stadium, box seven.


    This seating belonged to the VIPs in attendance. A towering glass screen faced the stadium, allowing those within a clear view of the battles. The glass screen also doubled as a soul screen that let the occupants select any match to watch. It didn¡¯t matter if those battles were in progress or had ended.


    Currently, two people stood in front of the screen. One was a man with long hair, snow white strands drifting in the wind and blending in with his pure white attire¡ªWu Zhangkong.


    Standing beside him was a lady about twenty-six years old. She was extremely pretty with a head of exotic long white hair. She was clad in dark green sportswear. Her viridian eyes twinkled with both vitality and ferocity.


    Her white hair and Wu Zhangkong¡¯s white robes seemed perfectly coordinated.


    ¡°I only let her stir things up because they¡¯re your disciples, you know? Aren¡¯t you the least bit worried?¡± The pale-haired lady cracked a wry smile.


    Wu Zhangkong asked indifferently, ¡°Why would I be worried?¡±


    She raised a brow. ¡°It seems you¡¯re quite confident in your disciples? Do you think your teaching skills already surpass the academy¡¯s?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve long since stopped caring about victory or defeat. I didn¡¯t have them compete with aims of victory.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the kid from yesterday doing? He has a variant martial soul right?¡± The white-haired lady asked.


    He shot her a look. ¡°If I told you that I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s going on with his body either, would you believe me?¡±


    The woman was stunned. ¡°I¡¯ll believe you. When has Sky Ice Wu Zhangkong ever told a lie? But really? Even you don¡¯t know? That¡¯s really strange then.¡±

 Chapter 215 - Tactfully Declining Temptation

    Chapter 215 - Tactfully Declining Temptation


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°His martial soul was originally ordinary Bluesilver Grass and his spirit soul was weak as well. However, his body is extraordinary. The reason I am perplexed is because his bloodline¡¯s evolution and his martial soul affect one another. Even stranger is that his bloodline¡¯s mutations have nothing to do with his martial soul. Although they¡¯re two completely different existences, they are not twin martial souls. It¡¯s my first time encountering something like this.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to bring him back to the academy? We can ask some of the elders to examine him,¡± the white-haired lady said, her words pleasing to the ear.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression grew stern, but he soon shook his head with resolution. ¡°No. If they¡¯re going to attend the academy, then it will be through their own ability and nothing else.¡±


    A gentle sigh escaped from the woman¡¯s lips. ¡°Are you still mad at them? Actually, the situation back then¡ª¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anymore. I don¡¯t hold any grudges against them. If I did, then it¡¯s only toward myself. I¡¯m just a dead man walking now. I wouldn¡¯t mind dying if I wasn¡¯t still looking for a way to revive her.¡± Pain flashed through his eyes, sharp and blinding.


    ¡°You¡¯re so stubborn,¡± the lady sighed in exasperation.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression flickered back into a frigid tone, the remnants of sorrow all but a dream.. ¡°If I wasn¡¯t, then would I still be me?¡±


    The lady laughed. ¡°That¡¯s right! If you weren¡¯t like this, you wouldn¡¯t be the man in white who brandishes a blue sword and is as cold as the frozen heavens. You wouldn¡¯t be the man that Long Bing loved.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong watched the matches silently, but his eyes were glazed over. In the deepest depths of his mind, countless memories played back.


    A while later, he muttered under his breath, ¡°Shen Yi, I went to visit her a few days ago.¡±


    The lady named Shen Yi stirred. ¡°You visited Heaven Dou? Will you really never return to the academy? Don¡¯t you know how much your teacher grieved after you left?¡±


    Agony haunted his expression. ¡°I¡¯m not worthy of my teacher. I¡¯m too ashamed to go back.¡±


    Shen Yi said, ¡°Are you raising these children to send off to the academy as an apology to your teacher?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong remained silent.


    Shen Yi sighed. ¡°You¡¯re wrong. No one can replace you.The only person who can make up for it is yourself. After all, you¡¯re still alive. You should return already.¡±


    ?


    Due to the strict schedules of the round-robin, the four students of class zero arrived at the stadium early. Each group had its own program. With nine teams per group, there would be one bye each day.


    Class zero wasn¡¯t fortunate enough to have a bye in the first round. Their opponent was Skysea Academy¡¯s B-team. For cities as large as Skysea City or Eastsea City, it was normal to send up to three teams to compete in one division. Tang Wulin¡¯s team was also one of several teams Eastsea Academy dispatched, the youngest among them.


    Skysea Academy was the greatest intermediate academy within the Skysea Alliance. As such, even their B-team¡¯s strength ranked at the top.


    ¡°Adapt to the situation as you see fit, but we¡¯ll battle according to the plan,¡± Tang Wulin declared in near whisper.


    They had already watched several of their opponent¡¯s matches during the knockout competition. Regardless of combat ability or cultivation, their opponents stood out in their age group.


    Gu Yue said, ¡°Wulin, are you sure you¡¯re fine?¡± Her concern was natural since he had been seriously injured the day before.


    A gentle smile blossomed on his lips. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Tang Wulin.¡± Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice called out.


    Tang Wulin turned to see a white-haired old man and a middle-aged man approaching him. The white-haired man had two callused hands and walked in front, his large body bursting with vigor. He carried the imposing aura of a prestigious person.


    ¡°Hello, you¡¯re looking for me?¡± Tang Wulin was certain that this man was not part of Eastsea City¡¯s delegation. Therefore, he did not recognize him.


    ¡°I heard you were injured in a match yesterday and couldn¡¯t participate in the final round of the blacksmithing tournament.¡± The old man stopped right in front of Tang Wulin.


    He stood abnormally tall, towering over the rest of the crowd. Even Tang Wulin, who was by no means short among his peers, only reached up to the man¡¯s belly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I got a bit injured. I was worried about aggravating the wounds, so I didn¡¯t compete,¡± he confirmed.


    The old man said, ¡°I¡¯m the president of the Skysea Blacksmith¡¯s Association, Duan Xuan. But you can just call me Elder Duan. You¡¯re very talented in forging. It¡¯s a pity you couldn¡¯t participate in the final round.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned. Skysea Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s president?


    ¡°Hello, Elder Duan. I¡¯ll do my best next time,¡± he said respectfully.


    Duan Xuan smiled. ¡°So here¡¯s the situation: Skysea City has a recommendation program for talented individuals. When I saw your work, I could tell you have great potential. Are you interested in coming to Skysea City to develop yourself?¡±


    He¡¯s recruiting me? Tang Wulin instantly understood Duan Xuan¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°Elder Duan, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to refuse,¡± he said hastily.


    Although he hadn¡¯t lived in Eastsea City for more than a year, he had already laid down roots in the city. Wu Zhangkong and Mu Chen were both excellent teachers to him. It was thanks to their guidance that he had grown so much in the past year. He had no reason to uproot his life.


    Duan Xuan said, ¡°Don¡¯t refuse so quickly kid. Hear out this old man¡¯s conditions first. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware that Skysea City is the largest city on the east coast. It stands above Eastsea City in both political and economic power. Whatever Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association can give you, we can also do the same. Furthermore, we can pay for all of your forging expenses before you become a Saint Blacksmith. You should know just how much money and time it costs to attack Spirit Refinement. Many blacksmiths waste enormous amounts of time, money, and energy once the time comes. Considering your talent, we¡¯re more than willing to pay for your expenses until you break through Spirit Refinement. We also guarantee to support you in the future and foster your growth to at least a Soul Emperor. This is what we¡¯re offering. How about it?¡±


    Tang Wulin had to admit, this Duan Xuan really knew how to tempt people. Covering the costs of becoming a Saint Blacksmith and guaranteeing to make him a Soul Emperor was too alluring. It was an irresistible offer for any blacksmith and even Tang Wulin was shaken.


    If he accepted Elder Duan¡¯s offer, then Skysea¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association would assist him in becoming a sixth rank blacksmith. That rank alone would make him an influential person in the blacksmithing world.


    ¡°Thank you for your offer.¡± Tang Wulin bowed to Elder Duan. ¡°But I cannot accept. I already have a teacher. I am a member of Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association. Your offer is tempting, but I cannot betray my conscious.¡±


    His words were polite, but his refusal was as firm as a mountain.


    Duan Xuan was taken aback. ¡°Kid, do you have any idea just how much resources and money I¡¯m offering you? It¡¯s simply an astronomical figure. Even if you¡¯re lucky and capable, you¡¯ll probably need an extra ten years to accomplish the same thing. In fact, it might take even longer. How much do you think ten years of a person¡¯s life is? If you miss the golden period, you will have a much harder time becoming a Saint Blacksmith. I¡¯m certain that Eastsea¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association cannot give you what I can.¡±


    Tang Wulin carried himself with determination. ¡°Elder Duan, I must thank you once again. However, I truly cannot accept. I understand how valuable what you¡¯re offering me is, but I already have a teacher. I cannot betray my teacher.¡±


    His words were resolute and quick. After expressing his refusal once more, he hung his head low like a child guilty of a mistake.


    Duan Xuan¡¯s brows creased. The middle-aged man beside him stepped forward and was about to put in a few words, but Duan Xuan raised a hand to stop him.


    The old man sighed. ¡°What a good kid. Mu Chen is so lucky. If Eastsea City isn¡¯t enough for you one day, then you may join us. Our doors will forever be open to you.¡±


    He rubbed Tang Wulin¡¯s head before turning around, leaving with large strides. As a man of his status, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for him to insist after rejection.


    Not a single word left Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth until Duan Xuan was long gone.


    ¡°The conditions seemed pretty good. Why did you reject it? Do you not want to leave us?¡± Xie Xie grinned like a fox.


    Tang Wulin forced out a bitter smile. ¡°How was that just ¡®pretty good¡¯! It was so amazing that I don¡¯t think it could have gotten any better! You guys might not know this, but Spirit Refinement is something only fifth rank blacksmiths can do and it¡¯s one of the most important steps in a blacksmith¡¯s life. It¡¯s extremely hard to breakthrough that wall and to do so requires a lot of expensive metals. And if the forging fails, then the metal is no better than scrap metal! Just think about all that money down the drain!¡±

 Chapter 216 - True Intentions

    Chapter 216 - True Intentions


    Astonished, Xie Xie said, ¡°You like money so much, so why didn¡¯t you agree?¡±


    A frown slid across Tang Wulin¡¯s face. ¡°Didn¡¯t you see how quickly I rejected him? I was afraid I would give in if I didn¡¯t do it fast enough! The conditions were just too good. Even so, my teacher has treated me well and I don¡¯t want to part with you guys. I still have several years before it¡¯s time for me to attempt Spirit Refinement. If I focus on building my foundation right now, maybe I¡¯ll be able to succeed without wasting too many resources, you know? Alright, our match is about to begin.¡±


    As he spoke, he led the way onto the stage.


    ?


    Duan Xuan ascended the stairs until he reached a box on the upper floor. The men who had followed him stood guard outside while he alone entered box three.


    Inside sat a middle-aged man.


    ¡°Teacher.¡± He bowed respectfully in greeting when he saw Duan Xuan.


    Duan Xuan joined his side. Together, they viewed the ongoing matches. ¡°Your eyes are sharp. You picked up a good kid. It¡¯s almost like the time I found you. You know, he refused me.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s even more talented than me when I was his age. I haven¡¯t told you yet, but he¡¯s already a fourth rank blacksmith.¡± The middle-aged man revealed a splendid grin.


    If Tang Wulin was present, he would be startled without a doubt. The person waiting for Duan Xuan in box three was his teacher, Mu Chen.


    ¡°Fourth rank? Are you joking with me?¡± As Duan Xuan stared at Mu Chen, his face was the picture of shock.


    Mu Chen chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s no way I would joke about something like this. He¡¯s far more talented than you could imagine. If it wasn¡¯t for his low cultivation, I think he could attempt Spirit Refinement in two years should the materials be provided.¡±


    Duan Xuan heaved a long sigh. ¡°Alright! Did you hide him from me because you were worried I would seduce him away from you? Why does it seem like his second-grade thousand refined metal had nothing to do with luck?¡±


    Mu Chen said, ¡°Out of respect for the rank, I wouldn¡¯t promote him to the fourth rank so easily. I only let him advance when he proved capable of second-grade thousand refining blue coppertite. My daughter¡¯s luck is pretty good though. Her sudden breakthrough was completely unexpected. I think Wulin instigated it. He wouldn¡¯t pick heavy silver normally. Didn¡¯t you say the two of them started and finished together? It seems Mu Xi was influenced by him.¡±


    Duan Xuan muttered, ¡°Blessed by heaven¡­ He¡¯s really blessed by heaven! It looks like I¡¯ll have to work harder to steal him.¡±


    Mu Chen smiled. ¡°Yes, yes. I understand what you¡¯re trying to say. I¡¯ll be sure to fulfill our promise. But I¡¯m going to need another fifteen to twenty years to raise this kid. Once he catches up to me, I¡¯ll continue.¡±


    Duan Xuan grumbled, ¡°Fifteen to twenty years? My bones will have turned to ash by then.¡±


    Roaring laughter exploded from Mu Chen. ¡°Don¡¯t pretend in front of me. At your cultivation level and body strength, you could easily live another fifty years. You¡¯re still such a schemer! Don¡¯t tell me you forbade me from announcing I¡¯m your disciple in case this day ever came?¡±


    The wrinkled face of Duan Xuan unfolded into a grin. ¡°Us blacksmiths have been suppressed for too long. Yet even during this time, preparation is the key to success. If you told the world that you¡¯re my disciple, would you still have received the headquarter¡¯s support and reached the eighth rank so soon? Hmph. Just wait until that kid matures. Then things will start to change. Take advantage of your youth and put in some more effort. Hurry up and advance to the next rank. As long as you can become a Divine Blacksmith, then our backing will grow even stronger.¡±


    Mu Chen sighed. ¡°That¡¯s hard! The higher I climb, the more I understand just how difficult it is.¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue ascended onto the stage, taking a triangle-formation. He was the vanguard while Xie Xie and Gu Yue flanked him on each side.


    Their opponents had climbed onto the stage as well¡ªthree youngsters about fourteen years old.


    The opposing three were dressed in Skysea Academy uniforms. Their bearing was different from that of Tang Wulin¡¯s first opponents; they carried themselves calmly without any signs of contempt toward class zero¡¯s age.


    The three youths also arranged themselves in a triangle-formation. Their leader towered over Tang Wulin by a full head. He had wide shoulders and his demeanor tranquil beyond his years.


    The two combatants behind their leader were slightly younger than him. The one on the left was slender and handsome while the one on the right stood short and stout.


    ¡°Hello, I am the captain of Skysea Academy¡¯s second team, Bi Ran.¡±


    The slender youth said, ¡°I¡¯m Wu Yuhan.¡±


    The stumpy one said, ¡°I¡¯m Lei Jun.¡±


    Finished with their self-introductions, the three said in unison, ¡°Please advise us.¡±


    They were worthy of being Skysea Academy students. Their manners were far more refined than those of Tang Wulin¡¯s previous opponents.


    ¡°I¡¯m Tang Wulin from Eastsea Academy, in class zero of the first grade.¡± Tang Wulin mimicked the other team, introducing himself.


    ¡°Xie Xie.¡±


    ¡°Gu Yue!¡±


    Bi Ran narrowed his eyes at Tang Wulin until they became slits. He released a domineering aura, sending a chill through Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. From that display of strength, Tang Wulin could tell that Bi Ran¡¯s soul power exceeded his own.


    ¡°Three, two, one, begin!¡± This marked the start of class zero¡¯s first match in the round-robin tournament.


    Bi Ran raised his right hand, an ashen light surging out to form a shield. Meanwhile, his soul rings rose from beneath his feet.


    One ring, two rings, three rings! He wielded three yellow soul rings! The captain of Skysea Academy¡¯s secondary team was actually a three-ringed Soul Elder.


    Following their leader, Wu Yuhan and Lei Jun released their martial souls, each of them sporting a pair of yellow soul rings.


    A three-ringed Soul Elder, and a pair of two-ringed Soul Grandmasters. Compared to class zero¡¯s earlier opposition, Skysea¡¯s B-team was an ambush of tigers.


    In Bi Ran¡¯s hands rested a giant shield one meter in length and half a meter wide. Wave-like patterns cascaded down the top, making the surface seem thick yet stagnant. He held it in front of him as if it was an impassable wall.


    The moment he summoned his martial soul, he charged Tang Wulin like a bull. Wu Yuhan and Lei Jun trailed behind him, maintaining their triangle-formation.


    Class zero, however, chose to abandon their positioning. Xie Xie summoned his Light Dragon Dagger before dashing off to the side. On the other hand, Tang Wulin stood steadfast, anchoring himself in place. His purple soul ring twinkled as he weaved a protective net of Bluesilver Grass in front of Gu Yue.


    A thousand-year soul ring? And only one?


    Bi Ran gawked at the purple soul ring. As for the Bluesilver Grass, it was unrecognizable to him.


    After two evolutions from the influence of his Golden Dragon King bloodline, it barely resembled the normal appearance.


    Each vine was as thick as an egg, its length shimmering with azure light and covered in twinkling scales. Within it, golden veins spread throughout like a spider¡¯s web. Its aura was sparkling and clear.


    Behind Bi Ran¡¯s left, Wu Yuhan¡¯s first soul ring lit up. His body swelled with power while cobalt and violet tendrils of electricity danced about his form. His arms lengthened and grew more muscular, razor-sharp claws sprouting from his fingertips.


    Martial soul: Thunder Wolf!


    Sparks also curled around Lei Jun¡¯s being, but unlike with Wu Yuhan, they were pure electricity. Electric snakes slithered out of his body, converging into a ball in front of him.


    Lightning shot out of Wu Yuhan, zigzagging toward Tang Wulin. At the same time, Lei Jun launched his rippling electric sphere straight at Tang Wulin. It was a pincer attack.

 Chapter 217 - The Tip of Class Zero

    Chapter 217 - The Tip of Class Zero


    Mid-charge, Bi Ran suddenly crouched ten meters away from Tang Wulin, his first soul ring lit up and he rushed forward with renewed vigor, his shield held in front of him.


    The three simultaneously attacked Tang Wulin. It seemed they planned on dealing with him first.


    Unease gripped Bi Ran¡¯s heart in a tight fist. Although Tang Wulin only had one soul ring, it was at the thousand-year level. He revised his impression of Tang Wulin as the most dangerous opponent.


    Tang Wulin stood steadfast in the face of the oncoming assault. With his speed, it was impossible to dodge all three attacks.


    Strands of grass shot at Wu Yuhan in an effort to bind his transformed body while scales rippled into existence on Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm as he defiantly reached out to grab the lightning ball.


    A silver hammer materialized in his left hand and he smashed it down upon the shield.


    He actually planned to hold back all three with just himself!


    Even the referee was shocked. A one-ringed soul master wanted to battle with three soul masters that had higher cultivation bases than him!


    The first to clash was Wu Yuhan. Facing the variant Bluesilver Grass, he dared not be careless; combat classes at Skysea Academy had taught them to spare no effort regardless of their opponent.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s purple soul ring had alarmed them. Although it was only his first soul ring, they dared not underestimate the power of a thousand-year soul skill.


    With this in mind, Wu Yuhan did not hesitate to activate his second soul skill. Electricity exploded from his body to form a spherical aura of lightning around him and repelled the Bluesilver Grass. Without the grass in his way, Wu Yuhan lunged at Tang Wulin.


    At that moment, however, one vine among the many brightened as gold color seeped into its veins. It swerved around the electric barrier, circling the perimeter and quickly tightened, breaking through the lightning to bind Wu Yuhan.


    And at that moment, Lei Jun¡¯s lightning ball reached Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s scaled hand suddenly transformed into the golden dragon claw and crushed the ball within his fist. A few sparks of electricity escaped from between his grip, dispersing instantly.


    Bang!


    The heavy silver hammer struck the charging shield.


    Iron Wave Shield¡ªthis was Bi Ran¡¯s martial soul.


    As the named implied, the Iron Wave Shield possessed layers of waves that bolstered its strength. His first soul skill was Iron Wave Strike, a skill that combined both attack and defense.


    Coincidently, his Iron Wave Strike was a three-layered attack.


    However, he was up against the thousand-refined heavy silver hammer which had a thrice stacked effect!


    Both Tang Wulin and Bi Ran trembled as they collided. Similar to Tang Wulin, Bi Ran possessed innate heavenly strength; when combined with his Iron Wave Shield and soul skill, he held absolute confidence in his strength.


    Unfortunately, his opponent was the monster Tang Wulin. The chasm between heavenly and divine strength was unbridgeable. Even though there was a large gap between their soul power levels, Tang Wulin¡¯s pure strength more than made up for it.


    After their clash, Tang Wulin swayed while Bi Ran was forced back a step.


    Every single spectator watching the match sucked in a deep breath subconsciously. It was one versus three, yet not only was Tang Wulin standing, he had dominated them!  It was simply unfathomable.


    The assault of the Skysea Academy¡¯s secondary team had suddenly encountered an iron gate, forcing them to a screeching halt.


    Tang Wulin swung his claw at the Iron Wave Shield. Close-quarters combat was his favorite.


    A figure also appeared behind Wu Yuhan¡ªit was Xie Xie, attacking with his Light Dragon Storm!


    To one side, a giant ball of water suddenly dropped on top of Lei Jun. When he was just about to launch his second soul skill, the water soaking him conducted his electricity and completely dispersed it, draining him of soul power.


    Bang!


    Another dull thud later, Bi Ran was sent flying while Bluesilver Grass converged on him.


    Although Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw hadn¡¯t crushed Bi Ran¡¯s Iron Wave Shield, it left a deep claw print. Bi Ran felt as though he had been run over by a ferocious soul beast! Just trying to keep his shield intact had required all his soul power. Feeling overwhelmed, he had no choice but to activate his third soul skill. The Iron Wave Shield tripled in size and doubled in thickness, standing as a steady wall in front of him; but in the time it took him to activate it, vines of Bluesilver Grass had already slithered around his body, trapping him.


    A green light flashed and a cool breeze enveloped Tang Wulin¡¯s feet. Meanwhile, a portion of his Bluesilver Grass encroached upon the wet Lei Jun.


    Water conducted electricity, thus rapidly sapping Lei Jun¡¯s soul power. What was most tragic, however, was that the water soon froze into ice, leaving him incapable of defending against Tang Wulin¡¯s Bind.


    Tang Wulin brazenly charged at the three-ringed defense-type soul master, Bi Ran.


    Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!


    The golden dragon claw struck five times in a row.


    Bi Ran had nearly coughed up blood after the first assault. He simply couldn¡¯t fathom how a person could possess so much strength.


    Despite using his third soul skill, the might of the golden dragon claw forced him to pour all his soul power into the shield lest it shatters. It was a three-ringed battling a one-ringed soul master, yet Tang Wulin¡¯s innate divine strength elevated him to the same level.


    One claw strike forced Bi Ran back one step, five strikes had him backing up five steps.


    Anxiety was a hard knot in the pit of his stomach. After the successive attacks from Tang Wulin, the claw print on his shield had deepened and it was on the verge of shattering.


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    The referee¡¯s voice was Bi Ran¡¯s saving grace. His legs softened and he nearly collapsed onto the ground; it was only by leaning on his shield that he was able to remain standing.


    The referee had protected Wu Yuhan from the unnoticed Light Dragon Storm. As for Lei Jun, row upon row of icicles floated in the air surrounding him, ready to impale him at a moment¡¯s notice. Frozen and restricted by Bluesilver Grass, he was practically a lump of meat on the chopping block.


    ¡°The match is finished. It¡¯s the victory of Eastsea Academy¡¯s class zero.¡±


    After recalling his Bluesilver Grass and letting his hand return to normal, Tang Wulin extended a hand to pull up the nearly collapsed Bi Ran.


    ¡°Senior, thanks for letting me win.¡±


    At the sight of Tang Wulin¡¯s dazzling smile, Bi Ran found his lips twitching too. He couldn¡¯t accept losing this fast to someone with a weaker cultivation than him, but so what? A loss was a loss.


    Gu Yue and Xie Xie regrouped at Tang Wulin¡¯s side. Although they had crucial roles in this battle, the star was undoubtedly Tang Wulin. Not only had he withstood the combined assault of three people stronger than him, he had also controlled the battlefield to setup an easy win for them.


    Bi Ran struggled to stand up, his right arm still quivering from the strength of Tang Wulin¡¯s strikes. He faintly heard Xie Xie mumble to himself, ¡°Three rings isn¡¯t that great after all.¡± He nearly coughed up blood at those words.


    Tang Wulin shared a similar sentiment with Xie Xie. Despite having three rings, the amount of pressure Bi Ran exerted on him couldn¡¯t compare with Ye Xinglan.


    Naturally, this was also part of the reason he could single-handedly restrain three opponents today.


    Their strongest opponent today was a defense-type soul master. Even if defense-type soul masters excelled in close-quarters combat, so too did Tang Wulin as it was only in this type of combat could Tang Wulin display the tyrannical might of his golden dragon claw. Bi Ran had been unable to take the advantage with his soul skills, and from there, it was all downhill for him. Tang Wulin¡¯s claw possessed as much strength as a three-ringed power-type soul master, not to mention the claw¡¯s crushing effect. Bi Ran hadn¡¯t stood a chance.


    In truth, Bi Ran was quite lucky. Not all six of Tang Wulin¡¯s claw attacks had been imbued with the crushing effect; if it had, he would have been defeated even faster.


    It hadn¡¯t activated because the effect was more likely to appear when used on living beings.


    Round-robin tournament¡¯s first round: victory.


    ?


    In box seven.


    ¡°They¡¯re pretty good.¡± It was Shen Yi¡¯s first time watching class zero battle. She had specially enlarged their match on the screen.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s display of strength left a deep impression on her.


    ¡°Is his right arm the bloodline mutation you spoke of?¡± Shen Yi asked Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded.


    A slight smile appeared on Shen Yi¡¯s lips. ¡°He¡¯s really not simple at all. In my opinion, he doesn¡¯t just have a bloodline mutation, his talent is good too. He¡¯s suited for leading.¡±

 Chapter 218 - Guide Rather Than Oppose

    Chapter 218 - Guide Rather Than Oppose


    Wu Zhangkong nodded once more.


    Shen Yi continued on. ¡°HIs first soul ring is purple and his physique is excellent. Did you raise him to be like this? If he has three rings by the time he¡¯s fifteen, his body will likely transform again. You have an eye for disciples.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°If you have time you can continue watching their matches. I¡¯m going for now.¡± He stood up to depart, his white robes fluttering along his strides.


    Shen Yi watched as he left, blinking a few times. A pensive look settled on her face as she lost herself in contemplation.


    ?


    Within box three.


    Whether it was Mu Chen or Duan Xuan, both wore faces of shock.


    For Mu Chen, this was his first time seeing Tang Wulin battle. He had rushed over not too long ago. Gaining experience or securing a spot in future tournaments was not why he had Tang Wulin compete. However, those reasons did serve as adequate veils masking his true intentions. It was more important to examine Tang Wulin¡¯s temperament.


    The most crucial aspect of a master and disciple relationship was not the disciple¡¯s ability to receive the teachings. Rather, it was that the disciple have an upstanding character.


    If problems arose and the student surpassed the teacher, then the former¡¯s immoral character would lead to ruin.


    Tang Wulin was not shy about his love for money. Consequently, Mu Chen concocted this trap to entice him. In the end, Tang Wulin¡¯s nobility triumphed over his greed, much to Mu Chen¡¯s satisfaction.


    Mu Chen had not been skeptical about whether Tang Wulin would pass this test. After all, Tang Wulin was at an easily influenced age. With Mu Chen guiding him like a hen would its chicks, there was no reason to be worried.


    Despite that, Tang Wulin was maturing too quickly. Against all expectations, he advanced to the fourth rank in less than a year. The Association needed to invest more resources into him in order to facilitate his growth. They chose to use the Skysea Alliance Tournament as a test to determine how successful their efforts had been.


    The results were satisfactory. Tang Wulin gave up first place to Mu Xi willingly and declined Duan Xuan¡¯s tempting offer.


    Furthermore, he displayed tremendous battle strength. Mu Chen was surprised pleasantly.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think this brat¡¯s combat ability would be so great. With a single ring, he beat a three-ringed opponent. And his one ring is of the thousand-year level! Those spirit items I helped him buy were probably used to help refine his body,¡± Mu Chen said with a smile.


    After a moment of stupor, Duan Xuan¡¯s brows creased. ¡°You think this is a good thing?¡±


    Mu Chen was taken aback. ¡°Teacher, what¡¯s wrong with it?¡±


    Duan Xuan sighed gently, his concern apparent. ¡°If he has talent as a soul master, then would he spend energy on blacksmithing? We want him to become a Divine Blacksmith or a battle armor master, you know?¡±


    A trace of a smile flickered on Mu Chen¡¯s lips. ¡°I¡¯ve already thought of an answer to this problem. Long ago, I had asked him what his dream was. He told me he wanted to become battle armor master. I support his plan.¡±


    Astonishment filled Duan Xuan¡¯s eyes. ¡°You¡¯re in favor of this?¡±


    Mu Chen nodded. ¡°His martial soul and body are quite peculiar. As a blacksmith, he has been blessed by heaven. He possesses not just innate divine strength but also piercing insight. In fact, his cultivation can¡¯t keep up with his talent for blacksmithing at the moment. It¡¯s a shackle restraining him to the fourth rank. To him, blacksmithing is a tool to earn money. Unlike other trades like mecha crafting and designing, blacksmithing is not tied directly to battle armor masters. However, it will still be highly beneficial in achieving his goals.


    ¡°I dare say, becoming a Saint Blacksmith would be more helpful than becoming a mecha craftsmen or designer. I¡¯m convinced that he won¡¯t choose another profession.


    ¡°This situation is the epitome of where guiding beats opposing. I won¡¯t disapprove of his efforts toward becoming a battle armor master; rather, I¡¯ll encourage it. As long as I can convince him that the foundation of a battle armor master stems from being a first-rank blacksmith, it¡¯ll be enough to steer him in the right direction. Sure, battle armor masters are the greatest occupations on the continent, but less than one in one hundred soul masters can walk that path. The requirements are astronomical. Aside from Shrek Academy, who dares say their students will definitely become battle armor masters? Nevertheless, if he advances into a Saint Blacksmith, his chances of success would be tangible. He¡¯s a clever kid; he¡¯ll know what choice is best for him.¡±


    Bearing profound eyes, Duan Xuan stared at Mu Chen with a deep and penetrative gaze.  ¡°I¡¯m so old now. My mind can¡¯t keep up with the latest trends. Maybe you¡¯re right.¡±


    Mu Chen¡¯s expression lit up. ¡°You can rest at ease. There¡¯s no one who wants this kid to be a blacksmith more than me. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing if I can raise a Divine Blacksmith.¡±


    Duan Xuan chuckled. ¡°You mean like how I, a seventh-rank blacksmith, raised an eighth-rank blacksmith like you?¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin and his teammates were in high spirits when they descended from the arena. In today¡¯s match, Tang Wulin had been able to display his full might in close combat, attaining a swift victory with a blitzkrieg strategy.


    However, after reviewing the battles from the last few days, he discovered one problem that seemed to plague the entire junior division: the participants had no combat experience! The majority of them weren¡¯t able to showcase their true strength in battle. It had been the same in both the individual and team competitions.


    While the members of Skysea Academy¡¯s secondary team were able to use their soul skills during the match, they had performed mechanically without any finesse. Not to mention Wu Zhangkong¡¯s level of skill, they couldn¡¯t even match Tang Wulin¡¯s soul skill proficiency. He could pulverize them with a lower cultivation because they were too green.


    ¡°They were so weak! It looks like soul power isn¡¯t that important after all.¡± Xie Xie came to the same conclusion and was now bursting with confidence.


    Gu Yue had a pensive expression. ¡°It¡¯s not that they were weak, but that our combat experience outweighed theirs.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan said, ¡°That¡¯s right! Teacher Wu doesn¡¯t teach us the same way as conventional soul master academies do. They focus on imparting knowledge. Even if the schools host combat practice, they do it in the safest way possible. The students just stand there using their soul skills against each other. It¡¯s completely different from our real battles!¡±


    After joining class zero, Xu Xiaoyan discovered quickly how far the original trio exceeded her in combat prowess. Because she had yet to train in the spirit ascension platform, she had been unable to comprehend the source of their strength. As such, she strived to catch up with them.  Coupled with the spars against Wu Zhangkong, she began to understand what made class zero so strong.


    Wu Zhangkong did not go easy on them during combat training. It was normal to finish each session covered in bruises and cuts. His training regimen was incomparable with a normal class¡¯s curriculum. Although the growth rate of their soul power settled, their combat strength soared.


    Xie Xie immersed himself in thought. ¡°The Skysea Alliance has always been inferior to the central and western regions in terms of soul master ability. This might be because of different teaching methods and history. Mechas exist now. Normally, anyone with four rings or less is no match for a mecha. Most people choose to take the easy way out. As long as their soul power grows to a sufficient level, they can become a mecha pilot. It¡¯s a pretty good occupation too. This is also why the majority of students entering an advanced academy choose to join the mecha department to become mecha pilots.¡±

 Chapter 219 - Powerful Opponents

    Chapter 219 - Powerful Opponents


    ¡°I heard things are different in the center and western regions. Apparently, becoming a battle armor master is a lot more popular there. That¡¯s why, many of those people choose to walk a pure soul master¡¯s path. They don¡¯t rush to increase their soul powers blindly. In order to be a battle armor master, it¡¯s important to also be a formidable soul master. Because of this mindset, there are more battle armor masters produced by the center and western regions. In their eyes, battle armor masters are the greatest military force on the continent; so, they all strive to become one. I believe this difference in perspectives has created the current gap in strength.¡±


    ¡°I think Teacher Wu¡¯s teaching methods are similar to the center region¡¯s. In fact, they¡¯re probably from Shrek Academy¡¯s inner court. This should be why we¡¯re stronger than our peers.¡±


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but raise a brow at Xie Xie¡¯s theory. ¡°How do you know these things?¡± He couldn¡¯t believe that this was something Xie Xie dug up himself.


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°When I returned home for vacation, I wanted to play but my old man was bent on testing me. I gave him a nice surprise in the end. After I explained the training we¡¯d been through, he told me about this stuff. My old man is quite perceptive, you know.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°What Uncle said is reasonable. Let¡¯s all work hard to become battle armor masters.¡± He extended his hand as he spoke.


    Gu Yue placed her hand below his. On top were Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s. The four friends smiled at each other, their confidence soaring.


    ?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team was able to attain easy victories in the following three matches. There was only one three-ringed opponent that appeared throughout the string of matches. The entire time, Tang Wulin served as the cornerstone of the team. He controlled the battlefield, protected his teammates, and dealt the most damage. Overall, he carried the team.


    Although his cultivation was weak, his innate divine strength and golden dragon claw made up for it and then some. He had yet to meet a worthy opponent in the team competition.


    By their fourth win, the other teams in their group had taken notice of them. They were wary of Tang Wulin especially.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s performances had been too dazzling, his attacks too intimidating. He also wielded a purple soul ring. The other teams realized that he always barged through as the vanguard. He kept the opposing team in check while his teammates did their part. As a result, he became a hot topic and a subject of research for those interested in his combat style, techniques, and weaknesses.


    Tang Wulin had a strict daily schedule. He would rise at the break of dawn to cultivate the Purple Demon Eyes and practice Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon. In the afternoon, he would compete, and at night he would meditate. His days were rich and productive.


    Actual combat was essential to his cultivation. As Tang Wulin grew more familiar with the basics of Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, he tried applying it in some of the matches. He couldn¡¯t wield it effectively, but his understanding of the technique continued to deepen. Not only was Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon another method of attack, it also improved his control over the soul power compressed by the Mysterious Heaven Method. His priority involved training what little soul power he possessed to burn at one hundred percent each time he summoned it.


    ¡°I heard our opponents today are strong! They¡¯re probably the most formidable team in our group.¡± Xie Xie said to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Mn. That¡¯s right! It¡¯s Sealand Academy¡¯s primary team. I heard that they have two three-ringed soul masters and one two-ringed soul master. Our group¡¯s overall strength is actually pretty low. Sealand Academy¡¯s team also has four wins in four battles so far. The top four teams in our group will enter the top sixteen. We just need to win one more match. It¡¯s practically settled already.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan for this match?¡± Xie Xie asked. ¡°You should let me show off for once. You¡¯ve been hogging all the limelight! No one¡¯s paying attention to me!¡±


    Tang Wulin lowered his voice, his words mysterious, ¡°The ones who burst out in the end are the trump cards! Those like me are the worst. I can only show my strength in the beginning.¡±


    A look of astonishment crossed Xie Xie¡¯s face. ¡°Really? But all the girls on the other teams only pay attention to you. I don¡¯t understand why since I¡¯m more handsome than you!¡±


    ¡°Your skin sure is thick. You aren¡¯t even one third as handsome as our captain.¡± Xu Xiaoyan fought hard to contain her laughter.


    Xie Xie¡¯s face soured, wrinkling like a prune. ¡°I hate people as blunt as you. Anyway, I want to show off a bit. I don¡¯t want to be a trump card. Just let me show off how awesome I am.¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°Fine! We¡¯ll change our tactics.¡±


    Although Wu Zhangkong had brought their team here, he gave them free reign to do as they saw fit. He did not impart any advice. Every single strategy they used had been drafted by Tang Wulin.


    All this freedom gave Tang Wulin a lot of space to operate. His display of strength in the previous matches were orchestrated to draw the attention away from Xie Xie and Gu Yue. Since they hadn¡¯t faced the strongest team in the tournament yet, they were saving their trump card for as long as they could. Their opponents would be tougher to defeat from now on. In fact, they might even face a Shrek team with Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi on it. It was best to focus on hiding his teammates¡¯ abilities, using his revealed skills as a veil.


    Today, they would be facing off against Sealand Academy¡¯s primary team. Sealand City was the third largest city in the Skysea Alliance, preceded by Eastsea City. It was located two-hundred kilometers to the north of Skysea City. The city¡¯s denizens were valiant and Sealand Academy was famous, even eclipsing the repute of Eastsea Academy.


    Sealand Academy¡¯s three representatives were nearing fifteen years old. The team was composed of a pair of three-ringed soul masters and one two-ringed. Even the two-ringed soul master¡¯s soul power hovered around rank 25 at least. In their previous matches, they had relied on absolute strength to crush their opponents. These adolescents were the one of the favorites of the tournament, thought to have a high chance of becoming the champions.


    Their captain possessed one thousand-year soul ring, but had yet to use it in any of the matches. Its abilities were unknown.


    ¡°Oh right, I ran into an acquaintance of ours earlier,¡± Xie Xie said with a smirk.


    ¡°Who?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie said, ¡°It was our two former classmates, Yangzi and Jinxi. They¡¯re in the fourth group. It seems they¡¯ve been able to win without a hitch guided by a senior schoolmate.¡±


    Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi? Tang Wulin trembled at the mention of their names, recalling their battle with the Man-Faced Demon Spider together. His heart ached. If it wasn¡¯t for me, they wouldn¡¯t have had to leave.


    ¡°I called out to them and chatted. Do you know what Jinxi said? The team he hopes they don¡¯t meet at all costs is us!¡± Xie Xie roared with laughter.


    A gentle sighed escaped from Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°If they were still in class zero, then we would only be one person short of participating in the seven-man team competition.


    Xie Xie wiped the smile off of his face. He let out a long sigh. ¡°There¡¯s no one to blame in this matter. Everyone has their own ambitions. In any case, we¡¯re still in class zero. Let¡¯s win today¡¯s match for the glory of class zero!¡±


    Tang Wulin raised his head, eyes shining with resolution. ¡°Victory!¡±


    ¡°Victory!¡± Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue joined in.


    The arenas used after the start of the round-robin tournament were larger and more secure than their predecessors.


    Only junior-division matches were scheduled for the afternoon. Though the battles were broadcasted, there will still disgruntled spectators in the stands. Perhaps they would pay more attention once the top sixteen teams remained. This was just the three versus three competition, after all.


    ?


    Within box one.


    Box one was set aside for officials of Skysea City. During important matches, Skysea Alliance¡¯s big shots would congregate here to watch.


    For this reason, box one was the largest box.


    However, box one was desolate this afternoon. It was the junior division¡¯s time slot, beginning from the three-man team battles. Rarely would a high-level match be seen in this division. Even so, the box was not completely empty. Two people sat in a sofa viewing the matches on the screen.


    The pair seemed to be in their fifties. One was tall and stalwart with a head full of blazing-red hair. His voice was deep, resonating throughout the box the moment he opened his mouth.


    ¡°Brother Zhenpeng, your Sealand Academy is really shining this time!¡±


    The man called Zhenpeng was slender with bronzed skin and small, sharp eyes. He smiled humbly. ¡°Brother Huantian is too modest. Your Skysea Academy is number one in the Alliance and no one shakes its position.¡±


    The two were renowned figures among the soul masters of the Skysea Alliance. The red-haired man was Long Huantian, the president of Skysea Academy and a six-ringed Soul Emperor.


    Zhang Zhenpeng was the president of Sealand Academy, and although his cultivation was still short of Long Huantian¡¯s, he too was a Soul Emperor.


    ¡°Brother Zhenpeng, what did you call me here today for? Could it be the junior division¡¯s competition?¡± Long Huantian gazed curiously at Zhang Zhenpeng.


    Zhang Zhenpeng nodded. ¡°My academy has quite a few talents currently. I wanted to discuss with Brother Huantian about granting us three quotas this time.¡±


    Long Huantian snapped into attention. Naturally, he knew what ¡®quotas¡¯ Zhang Zhenpeng spoke of. Those were the quotas to take Shrek Academy¡¯s entrance exam.

 Chapter 220 - Request for the Inner Court Quotas

    Chapter 220 - Request for the Inner Court Quotas


    Unlike other soul master academies, Shrek Academy enrolled students once every three years. The various alliances and unions on the continent would select their most outstanding talents to apply. Applicants were required to be under fifteen years old. There was no minimum soul power prerequisite; however, applicants must show excellence in at least one area.


    Because the Skysea Alliance was known to have inferior soul masters compared with other Alliances, they received fewer quotas. Each time Shrek¡¯s enrollment came around, they were granted about 120 quotas. These 120 quotas would be split between dozens of cities! On average, each city received two or three of these.


    As the number one academy in the Skysea Alliance, Skysea Academy kept twenty to itself. Meanwhile, the other academies had to rely on luck and the whims of the Alliance.


    Naturally, Skysea Academy had a higher position than other normal academies.


    ¡°Brother Zhenpeng, your Sealand Academy has always managed to secure a few quotas with your strength. Why are you asking me for more?¡± Long Huantian spoke without batting an eyelash.


    After a moment of silence, Zhang Zhenpeng said, ¡°I¡¯m not talking about the normal quotas. I¡¯m asking for the inner court examination ones.¡±


    Long Huantian stared wide-eyed at the request, a powerful aura spilling out of his body.


    ¡°What did you say? The inner court quotas?¡±


    They were given about 120 ordinary quotas. As for the inner court examination quotas, the entire Skysea Alliance was granted five. This was the same number of fingers on a hand!


    These five quotas were usually monopolized by Skysea Academy.It was atypical that one would be given to an outstanding student in another academy. Even then, many conditions and benefits had to be offered as compensation.


    There was a distinct gap between Shrek Academy¡¯s inner and outer courts. Anyone who could become an inner court disciple would be the pride of the entire Skysea Alliance. However, several years had passed since someone from the Skysea Alliance had entered the inner court.


    Rarely did Shrek Academy¡¯s inner court admit more than ten people at once. It wasn¡¯t an uncommon sight for them to accept none at all. One could imagine how difficult the exam was.


    Typically, the inner court disciples were promoted from the outer court. Only once in a blue moon would someone matriculate directly into the inner court.


    Despite this, inner court examination quotas were worth their weight in gold. Possessing this quota was like receiving the backing of the Skysea Alliance. Such lucky fellows were guaranteed admittance into the outer court if they failed the inner court examination.


    Thus, these five quotas were precious. They were practically five tickets to becoming a future battle armor master!


    Shrek Academy was very strict on its internal affairs. None of its students could participate in the continent¡¯s disputes. Even so, many of the restrictions were lifted after graduation. As long as they didn¡¯t tarnish Shrek Academy¡¯s name, the outer court graduates could choose their path without interference. Of course, becoming criminals was out of the question.


    The importance of a future battle armor master recommended by the academy was obvious.


    Zhang Zhenpeng asked for the inner court examination quotas so suddenly; how could Long Huantian¡¯s not be shocked?


    ¡°Brother Huantian, hear me out first. I know it¡¯s rude to ask this of you, but my students this time are truly excellent. If I didn¡¯t believe they could pass the inner court examination, then I wouldn¡¯t request this of you. In the end, isn¡¯t Sealand Academy a part of the Skysea Alliance? Should my students enter the inner court, that would bring glory to the entire Alliance. In fact, it might even increase the number of quotas we receive in the future.¡±


    Shrek Academy had a rule that stated any region whose student had passed the inner court examination were due extra quotas in the future.


    Long Huantian¡¯s expression was stern. ¡°Brother Zhenpeng, you should know that I don¡¯t have sole control of the inner court quotas. The decision is up to the Alliance.¡±


    Zhang Zhenpeng smiled calmly. He knew that this was just an excuse. Long Huantian had no intention of giving up the quotas.


    ¡°How about this, Brother Huantian? Watch a few of my disciples¡¯ matches first. If they can distinguish themselves in the junior division, perhaps you¡¯ll reconsider. We don¡¯t have much time until the examinations.¡±


    In a noncommittal manner, Long Huantian said, ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s see for now then.¡±


    The screen in box one displayed the arena. The two competing teams had just entered.


    On one side was a team of three girls. The leader of the three stood tall and had sky-blue hair. Though no more than fifteen years old, she was slender, bearing the elegant charms of a lady.


    To her left was a girl whose appearance mirrored hers. Only the shade of her hair¡ªlight green like meadow¡ªwas different. Such a hair color was few and far in between. The contrast between their identical faces and different hair tones drew Long Huantian¡¯s attention.


    Long Huantian understood his old friend and knew that Zhang Zhenpeng would not speak without thinking. Since he made such a request, he must hold utmost confidence in his disciples.


    Apart from the twins, the remaining girl had a head of blonde hair. Her figure was thin and she towered over her teammates. She looked like a bean sprout and her bright eyes were striking.


    ¡°The blonde one is Wang Dongqi. Her martial soul is the Thunderflash Sword. She has three rings and is a rank 32 assault-type soul master.


    ¡°The blue-haired one and green-haired one are twin sisters. They are Zhou Hanyou and Zhou Tian¡¯er, respectively. Zhou Hanyou has three rings and is at rank 31. Zhou Tian¡¯er has two rings at rank 27,¡± Zhang Zhenpeng introduced his three disciples briefly.


    Long Huantian nodded in approval. He studied their competition statistics and was alarmed, sucking in a deep breath. He was not surprised that Sealand Academy¡¯s team had four victories in the round-robin tournament. Yet, their opponents from Eastsea Academy also had four wins. Moreover, it was Eastsea Academy¡¯s tertiary team.


    Although Eastsea City was large, it was not blessed by talents often. As such, Eastsea Academy ranked slightly below the median. The fact that their tertiary team accumulated these victories added to Long Huantian¡¯s disbelief.


    A single glance was needed to see how young they were.


    ¡°Have you paid any attention to this team from Eastsea Academy, Brother Zhenpeng?¡± Long Huantian asked.


    A strange expression slithered its way across Zhang Zhenpeng¡¯s face. He gave a slight nod. ¡°I watched them for a bit. That team is really peculiar. Although they¡¯re really young, their combat strength is extraordinary.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Long Huantian directed a look of inquiry at him. He understood his friend¡¯s high standards, aware that such an evaluation would not be given lightly.


    ¡°Eastsea Academy¡¯s tertiary team is composed completely of ten-year-olds. Their captain is called Tang Wulin and he only has one ring. That being said, it¡¯s a thousand-year ring. In the previous matches, he was able to fend off the combined attacks of his opponents alone. His martial soul is supposedly Bluesilver Grass, though it is likely a variant. His body¡¯s strength is extraordinary and his right hand can transform into a dragon¡¯s claw. From my observations, he shouldn¡¯t have twin martial souls. I haven¡¯t seen a second ring appear yet. Maybe it¡¯s one of those rare soul bones.¡±


    If Long Huantian was surprised a moment ago, then now he was in denial. Zhang Zhenpeng actually paid so much attention to Eastsea¡¯s tertiary team?


    The understanding between Zhang Zhenpeng and Long Huantian went both ways. A smile appeared on Zhang Zhenpeng¡¯s lips as he stared at Long Huantian, fully aware of his friend¡¯s thoughts. ¡°You¡¯ll understand once the match begins. These kids aren¡¯t normal by any means! If they hadn¡¯t met my team, then would have continued their winning streak most likely. Eastsea Academy must have recruited an amazing teacher; otherwise, how else could they have raised such astounding talents?¡±

 Chapter 221 - Twin Sisters

    Chapter 221 - Twin Sisters


    A wry smile tugged at Long Huantian¡¯s lips. ¡°Such high praise. Looks like I¡¯ll have to see for myself just how amazing these kids are.¡±


    ?


    The two teams stood opposite of each other on the stage, having just introduced themselves.


    Tang Wulin was astonished to discover that their opponents were all girls. It was his first time greeting a team composed only of girls.


    During their introduction, Tang Wulin had been intrigued by the near identical appearance of Zhou Hanyou and Zhou Tian¡¯er. Although they were clearly twin sisters, their contrasting hair colors made for an odd sight.


    Standing as the spearpoint of her team, Zhou Hanyou stared at Tang Wulin with eyes that were as cold as ice and as unyielding as the plum blossom in winter. She had matured quite well; apart from being unripe, her height barely differed from that of an adult¡¯s. The Eastsea team seemed tiny in comparison.


    An unfathomable feeling welled in Zhou Hanyou¡¯s heart as she stared at the opposing team. Before the match, their academy¡¯s president had repeatedly warned them not to look down on their opponents today.


    But she just couldn¡¯t understand how the three kids before her had an identical winning streak as theirs. Their four victories almost guaranteed that they had a place in the top sixteen.


    Since there were only eight matches per group, it was nigh impossible for them to not make it into the top sixteen now.


    They¡¯re so young though, only ten years old!


    Compared to Zhou Hanyu¡¯s frigid demeanour, Zhou Tian¡¯er exuded liveliness. She absent-mindedly asked, ¡°Little brother, you¡¯re already competing at such a young age?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help but twitch at her question. This a competition!


    ¡°We just came here to gain experience.¡± Despite being disgruntled, Tang Wulin beamed at her. He couldn¡¯t let his opponent notice his displeasure.


    Zhou Tian¡¯er said, ¡°How about you guys just concede? It wouldn¡¯t look good if we hurt you; people might think we¡¯re bullying children.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s smiling expression stiffened. She¡¯s even advising us to surrender?


    Gu Yue couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and said in a frosty tone, ¡°The victor hasn¡¯t been decided yet. We¡¯ll see after this match.¡±


    The referee began counting down.


    Zhou Hanyou glared at her younger sister before turning to Tang Wulin and nodding.


    ¡°Three, two, one, begin!¡±


    Thus, the match between the two strongest teams in group three began.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s first move was no different from the past; he immediately charged ahead, his hands forming subtle signs behind his back as he shot towards Zhou Hanyou like lightning


    Xie Xie was right behind Tang Wulin after seeing the hand signals. His target was Wang Dongqi however, not Zhou Hanyou.


    In that moment, the students of Sealand Academy revealed the brilliance of their soul rings.


    Zhou Hanyou and Wang Dongqi had three soul rings; the former had two yellow rings and one purple, while the latter¡¯s were all yellow As for Zhou Tian¡¯er, she only had two yellow soul rings.


    It¡¯s just as we had investigated. They have two Soul Elders and one Soul Grandmaster. Their cultivation is enough to crush us!


    Having already confronted three-ringed soul masters before, the three from class zero did not fear them. Only after they had fought would they know what their opponents truly amounted to.


    Zhou Hanyou stood her ground in the face of Tang Wulin¡¯s charge. She raised her right hand, her three soul rings rising in sync as a thin sleet of icy light surrounded her body. The arena¡¯s temperature dropped as waves of glacial mist rolled off her body and her complexion slowly whitened until it was like snow.


    On the other hand, Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s aura was different. The two were clearly born from the same mother, were of the same age, and most likely twins, yet not only was Zhou Tian¡¯ers cultivation lower than her elder sister¡¯s, her martial soul was different too. What appeared in her hand was not cold air, but a green ball of light bursting with vitality.


    What is that?


    Tang Wulin was surprised by the sight of these two martial souls. He wasn¡¯t the same ignorant kid that was newly arrived from Glorybound City anymore; after studying and battling under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s guidance, his knowledge had deepened.


    A single glance was all it took for him to discern that the twins were rarely seen elemental soul masters. Zhou Hanyou had the ice element, specifically the Ice Spirit.


    On the other hand, Zhou Tian¡¯er had the wood element; similarly, it was called Wood Spirit. However, wood-type martial souls were much rarer than ice types.


    These two sisters should be twins, but their martial souls are so different. What a spectacle. It seems that their hair colors are different due to their martial souls.


    ?


    In box one.


    ¡°Hanyou and Tian¡¯er are twin sisters, but their differences were apparent since the moment they were born. Despite their parents being average commoners without soul power, their children were incredibly gifted. Hanyou has innate full soul power and the Ice Spirit martial soul. She¡¯s the most gifted student we¡¯ve had in many years. Tian¡¯er is a bit less gifted; she only had rank 8 innate soul power. Still, she has the even rarer wood spirit constitution. Furthermore, the sisters have the mental connection of twins.¡± Zhang Zhenpeng explained the background of his two star pupils.


    Long Huantian sighed in appreciation. They really are excellent talents! No wonder Zhenpeng was so confident in his request.


    Although the strength of a soul master was directly tied to their soul power, quite often it was the martial soul that was more important. A three-ringed soul master with an ordinary martial soul could never catch up to a three-ringed soul master with a peak-level martial soul¡ªthe gap was too enormous! These two girls were not ordinary by any means!


    ?


    On the competition stage.


    Zhou Hanyou¡¯s gaze clashed with Tang Wulin¡¯s. She slowly pressed her right palm forward, sending a rippling wave of misted ice at him, obscuring his vision. He could just barely make out her unmoving figure within the mist.


    Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s first soul ring lit up while a soft green light appeared on the ground. Vines grew from the light in an instant and followed her pointed finger to attack Tang Wulin.


    It¡¯s Bind...


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. It was simply impossible for him to not recognize it for what it was.


    They were both plant-type soul masters, but Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s Wood Spirit was far more powerful than his Bluesilver Grass; her Bind was like an array of vines piercing toward him.


    Although Tang Wulin was shaken, he quickly adapted to the situation. His purple soul ring rose from beneath his feet and commanded his own Bluesilver Grass to weave into a protective screen in the air. Tang Wulin charged ahead, his Bluesilver Grass shield slanted so that it deflected the onslaught of vines. He quickly advancing upon her


    Unperturbed, Zhou Hanyou activated up her first soul ring.


    White suddenly dominated Tang Wulin¡¯s vision; a wall of ice formed right before him.


    Zhou Hanyou¡¯s timing was impeccable; the wall appeared just as Tang Wulin was about to remove the screen¡¯s protection.


    He would slam into it an instant later.


    There was nothing else Tang Wulin could do. Although his speed was explosive, his control over it couldn¡¯t possibly compare with Xie Xie.


    To the Sealand Academy team¡¯s surprise, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t show any intention of slowing down; rather, he increased his speed. He raised both his arms and lowered his head, crashing straight into the ice wall.


    Bang!


    Tang Wulin completely shattered the ice wall and continued his charge at Zhou Hanyou.


    This guy...


    Zhou Hanyou stared dazedly at the sight. This was the first time she had seen someone break through her ice wall through sheer physical strength. Just what kind of freak is he!


    Tang Wulin was just fifteen meters away from her. It would take him no more than an instant to reach her.


    Zhou Tian¡¯er moved next to her sister, a sweet smile gracing her lips contrasting with her sister¡¯s unchanging mask of indifference.

 Chapter 222 - Suppressed and Restrained

    Chapter 222 - Suppressed and Restrained


    A strange energy emanated from their bodies. Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s first soul ring lit up as she raised her hand. Vines appeared from beneath the two sisters, wrapping around their legs and waist before rapidly dragging them backwards, instantly opening a wide gap between them and Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin reacted without thinking; Bluesilver Grass shot out as he activated Bind and charged ahead whilst he himself followed behind.


    To one side Xie Xie had reached Wang Dongqi.


    Rather than retreating, Wang Dongqi stepped forward to welcome him with a newly manifested sword in hand.


    Silver lightning ran in jagged lines along the length of the sword¡¯s violet blade, enshrouding it with an aura of magnificence.


    A simple slash of her sword sent a bolt of silver lightning at Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie gathered strength within his legs and forcefully leapt off the ground and into the air, evading the lightning bolt while simultaneously closing the distance between them


    Unlike Wu Zhangkong¡¯s Skyfrost Sword and Ye Xinglan¡¯s Stargod Sword, Wang Dongqi¡¯s Thunderflash Sword used soul power to enhance its lightning-attribute soul skills rather than the sword itself.


    She raised her Thunderflash Sword high into the air, calling down a storm of lightning snakes around her.


    This was her second soul skill, Chaotic Dance of the Silver Snakes.


    Wang Dongqi looked down upon Xie Xie. Although he had two rings at the young age of ten, she felt he couldn¡¯t possibly compare with her. Three rings was a major milestone for soul masters; it meant that one had reached the middle level of a soul master and often the third soul skill brought a huge power boost.


    She had decided to use Chaotic Dance of the Silver Snakes the moment Xie Xie had moved against her since this soul skill specialized in restraining agility-type soul masters.. As an assault-type soul master and with her Thunderflash Sword¡¯s characteristics, she was most effective at restraining agility-type soul masters.


    Not only did lightning have explosive power, its paralysis effect could cripple the speed of an agility-type soul master.


    The lightning blossomed into a flower of silver light that instantly swallowed Xie Xie.


    Despite not having much firepower, if Chaotic Dance of the Silver Snakes struck and paralyzed its opponent, it wouldn¡¯t take much effort for Wang Dongqi to finish them off.


    She had yet to be defeated by an agility-type soul master of the same rank as her. Their defeat was guaranteed the moment she was their opponent.


    A smile had already settled on her lips. Her team¡¯s victory would be assured once she defeated her opponent; she wasn¡¯t worried for the Zhou sisters at all. After all, the two were the core strength of the team.


    But at that instant, her smile stiffened.


    Just as the lightning snakes were about to strike him Xie Xie¡¯s figure wobbled, then duplicated into a multitude of ghostly shadow reflections that flickered forward.


    Despite the large range of Chaotic Dance of the Silver Snakes, it was not without gaps. The erratic bolts of lightning constantly changed positions, creating gaps that Xie Xie took advantage of and, with the sway of his body, he evaded the onslaught of lightning snakes and continued to advance on Wang Dongqi.


    How can this be? That isn¡¯t a soul skill! She hadn¡¯t seen Xie Xie¡¯s soul ring light up; she was utterly flabbergasted.


    She could understand if he had used a soul skill to protect himself, but she couldn¡¯t comprehend this situation. Why did his body suddenly become so illusionary? Isn¡¯t his martial soul a dagger?


    How could she have known that what Xie Xie was using right now was the Tang Sect¡¯s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    Just as they had researched the Eastsea team, the Eastsea team had researched them.


    Familiarity with one¡¯s opponent could mean the difference between victory and defeat in battle. Tang Wulin had only let Xie Xie take on Wang Dongqi after thoroughly understanding her.


    While Wang Dongqi¡¯s lightning certainly was highly effective against agility-type soul masters, that was still dependent on how fast her opponent was.


    Xie Xie had displayed spectacular combat skill the first time Tang Wulin had met him, so one could only imagine how strong he was after a year of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s guidance and learning the Tang Sect¡¯s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    Xie Xie¡¯s movements was like the drifting clouds and flowing water when using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Wang Dongqi couldn¡¯t keep track of him, but neither did he keep track of her. In his eyes, she was just a sitting duck. Chaotic Dance of the Silver Snakes had a large range, but was rife with holes. It was worthless in the face of true speed.


    Wang Dongqi¡¯s eyes rolled with panic. When Xie Xie arrived before her in the blink of an eye, she immediately stabbed her Thunderflash Sword into the ground and activated her third soul ring.


    Silver light erupted from her body.


    Xie Xie instinctively backflipped, retreating from her and delaying his assault.


    Just as he had expected, lightning snakes exploded from her sword an instant after he backed away. She had used Chaotic Dance of the Silver Snakes once more.


    It was impossible to dodge in the air¡ªwell, at least at their level. If Xie Xie hadn¡¯t called off his attack, he would have been paralyzed by those snakes.


    Golden light gathered around Xie Xie and a second later, he unleashed his Light Dragon Storm, spurring his body to fly backwards!


    Streaks of silver lightning chased after him but instantly dissipated upon contact with his Light Dragon Storm.


    Xie Xie twirled the Light Dragon Dagger in his hand after landing a distance away, taunting Wang Dongqi.


    Her expression turned unsightly. In order to protect herself just now, she had been forced to use Chaotic Dance of the Silver Snakes twice and Thunderflash Ring once.


    The consumption of those three soul skills was incomparably larger than Xie Xie¡¯s single soul skill use and even though her soul power surpassed Xie Xie¡¯s by far, the amount used was nothing to laugh at.


    Xie Xie gripped his Light Dragon Dagger and slowly circled Wang Dongqi. Not a single trace of anxiety could be found in his demeanour. Tang Wulin had only given him one mission¡ªto keep Wang Dongqi busy,, and if he had an opportunity, defeat her. If he didn¡¯t, then keeping her isolated was enough.


    While he kept her busy here, Tang Wulin found out that his Bind was useless.


    Zhou Tian¡¯er pointed at the strands of Bluesilver Grass aiming for her, shooting a group of green lights at it.


    A strange sensation suddenly washed over Tang Wulin, as if his Bluesilver Grass had been enveloped in a warm embrace that gently stole his control away from him.


    His sea of Bluesilver Grass went limp in the air and fell onto the ground, too lifeless to attack any more.


    This...


    This is attribute suppression!


    Tang Wulin understood what he faced in an instant.


    It had always been his Golden Dragon King suppressing other soul master¡¯s and soul beasts before now. He hadn¡¯t expected that a day would come when he would be suppressed instead.


    Even though his Golden Dragon King bloodline had transformed his Bluesilver Grass, in the end, it was still a wood-attributed existence. His bloodline had certainly elevated it to much greater heights, but against the Zhou Tian¡¯er who had the Wood Spirit martial soul and a higher soul power than him, being suppressed was inevitable. Even his thousand-year soul ring could do nothing to overturn this suppression.

 Chapter 223 - Gu Yue Acts

    Chapter 223 - Gu Yue Acts


    Zhou Tian¡¯er smiled sweetly at Tang Wulin, while Zhou Hanyou¡¯s pointed a finger at him, summoned giant icicles from the ground to form an ice prison around him. Not only did it restrict his movements, it besieged him on all sides.


    Zhou Hanyou¡¯s first soul skill was Ice Wall, her second Icicle. Her icicles, however, weren¡¯t ordinary; they were powerful variant icicles. There were numerous ways she could use them.


    The icicles were stronger than the Ice Wall from before, forcing Tang Wulin back when he charged at them. While he struggled to escape this icy prison, cold air circulated and invaded his body.


    Although his body was far tougher than an average person, he wasn¡¯t immune to the cold and was soon shivering nonstop.


    Those sisters work so well together! Furthermore, they¡¯re clearly still going easy on me. I would be impaled by icicles rather than imprisoned if Zhou Hanyou wasn¡¯t.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare dawdle; he summoned a strand of Bluesilver Grass to lift him out of the prison.


    Yet at that moment, the icicles lengthened until they intersected and cut off his last escape route.


    A second control! This is clearly a second controlled soul skill! She is very skillful, and she must have high spiritual power. It can¡¯t be any lower than mine.


    It seems like we can¡¯t hold back. This Sealand team is far stronger than we estimated.


    ¡°Gu Yue!¡± Tang Wulin shouted as golden scales rippled across his right arm, his hand transforming into a dragon claw before he punched the ice before him.


    Bang!


    The icicle shattered into fine powder under the crushing effect of his dragon claw. Tang Wulin rushed out of the opening in the next moment.


    Although his Bluesilver Grass was suppressed by Zhou Tian¡¯er, it wasn¡¯t absolute.


    He withdrew the remaining Bluesilver Grass, only letting a single golden strand shoot straight towards Zhou Tian¡¯er while he followed closely behind.


    Hearing Tang Wulin¡¯s shout, Gu Yue finally made her move.


    Green light enveloped her and she flew over to him, her first soul ring lighting up in the meantime before her fingers twisted to summon a fireball that blazed toward the two sisters.


    Regardless of whether it be Wood Spirit or Ice Spirit, both were subdued by fire.


    Elemental-type? And she seems to have more than one?


    Zhou Tian¡¯er and Zhou Hanyou were both startled by the sight of the green light around Gu Yue¡¯s feet and the fireball arcing toward them. As elemental-type soul master¡¯s themselves, it was only natural they could recognize another elemental-type soul master.


    They began to tremble at the realization that she could use both wind and fire.


    Fire and ice were opposites, mutually subduing one another. Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s Wood Spirit, however, was powerless against fire. Only Zhou Hanyou had a chance of fighting back.


    An icicle half a meter long suddenly appeared and clashed with the fireball. Cobalt and crimson light exploded from their collision; the two were evenly matched


    Zhou Tian¡¯er was not idle either. A vine flew toward Tang Wulin in an attempt to bind him. Her second soul ring had not dimmed the entire time, continually suppressing Tang Wulin.


    Her first soul skill was Thorny Vines and her second was Wood Spirit.


    Wood Spirit was a support-type soul skill that enhanced her other soul skills while suppressing wood-attribute soul beasts and martial souls. As long as her opponent¡¯s wood-attribute did not surpass hers, they would suffer from its effects.


    Thus, in a sense, Tang Wulin was destined to be suppressed by Zhou Tian¡¯er since birth.


    Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s Thorny Vines, after being enhanced by her Wood Spirit, had doubled in thickness and were now as wide as a child¡¯s arm. Inch-long thorns jutted out, so sharp they were sure to torment anyone caught in it.


    Tang Wulin recalled his golden dragon claw; its consumption was simply too great. He also couldn¡¯t use his Bluesilver Grass under the effects of the Wood Spirit¡¯s suppression, so the single strand of golden Bluesilver Grass was his last hope.


    The strand of grass slammed into the ground in a flash of golden light, its rebounding energy sending Tang Wulin high into the air as he evaded the Thorny Vines¡¯ attack.


    ¡°Still want to run, huh?¡± A beautiful smile blossomed on Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s lips as the Thorny Vines swayed on the ground. She believed that it was impossible for Tang Wulin to evade her attacks in the air.


    Yet at that moment a green light enveloped him, slowing his descent. In the next instant, a icicle flew under his foot.


    Though this icicle was far smaller than Zhou Hanyou¡¯s, it was more than enough to act as a foothold for Tang Wulin. He pushed off the ice step and shot down toward Zhou Hanyou.


    Seven fireballs blinked into existence around him at the same time, following his descent.


    Gu Yue did not pause for a single moment; fireball after fireball flew out without an end in sight. With soul power ranked in the twenties, her fiery assault utterly subdued Zhou Hanyou and gave her no room for distractions.


    The golden dragon claw appeared once more. Even if he faced another wall of ice or an icicle, Tang Wulin had no intention of dodging. He would charge right through and defeat Zhou Hanyou first.


    The three-ringed Zhou Hanyou was their largest threat.


    Zhou Hanyou frowned as she felt the pressure of the incoming aerial assault. She hadn¡¯t expected their three ten-year-old opponents would be so troublesome.


    They had researched Tang Wulin, understood his abilities, and formulated tactics to take him down. However, she was shocked that Xie Xie could actually single-handedly keep Wang Dongqi occupied. In fact, he even seemed to be in the advantageous position.


    Then there was Gu Yue, the biggest surprise of the trio. In the short time she made her moves, she had used three different elements. Although they couldn¡¯t tell what her soul skill was, the synergistic effect between those three elements was enough to turn the tide. At the very least, it was enough to bring both sides back to balance.


    They were already well aware of how dangerous Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw was. With him almost upon her and having an entourage of fireballs behind him, Zhou Hanyou knew she would lose if she didn¡¯t reveal her cards.


    Her purple soul ring lit up, instantly transforming her aura as the mist clinging to her body congealed into an icy blue skin. Waves of absolute cold rolled off of her.


    Ice Spirit!


    First was Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s Wood Spirit that could completely oppress Tang Wulin, and now Zhou Hanyou revealed a thousand-year Ice Spirit! Similar to Wood Spirit, it was an elemental amplification soul skill. The difference between hundred-year and thousand-year was unfathomable however, not to mention that this was actually her third soul skill!


    A giant ice wall erected in front of her the same moment she activated her third soul skill.


    The fireballs smashed into the wall and were extinguished effortlessly, but Tang Wulin crashed into it resolutely. He punched the wall with his golden dragon claw so hard that it embedded inside. Cracks ran along the surface, but the wall didn¡¯t shatter this time.


    Sharp shards of ice formed around Zhou Hanyou. She felt humiliated; to think that a mere ten-year-old child had forced her to use her third soul skill!


    Strengthened by Ice Spirit, her icicles were now no less than one meter in length and infinitely colder and sharper than before.


    She smacked her palm on the ice wall in front of her.


    Tang Wulin felt his body tremble and shouted in alarm. He hastily circulated his soul power to defend himself and in the next second the ice wall exploded, sending him flying backward.


    Tang Wulin had faced a three-ringed soul master before, but only now did he understand how dreadful a powerful three-ringed soul master was.


    Freezing air drilled into his body, his blood sluggish from the cold. Explosive energy ran along his veins. If it wasn¡¯t for his sturdier-than-normal body, he would have already lost consciousness.


    Shards from the ice wall shot toward him while icicles rained upon Gu Yue.


    When Gu Yue and Xie Xie saw that Tang Wulin was sent flying, they both cried out. While Xie Xie¡¯s was filled with astonishment, Gu Yue¡¯s was fueled with rage.


    An eery glint flashed in Gu Yue¡¯s eyes before she disappeared in a silver flash, only to reappear next to Tang Wulin. The icicle shower hit nothing but air.


    This is...


    Zhou Hanyou froze for a moment. After all, she still lacked battle experience. And in that momentary pause, the icicles escaped her range of secondary manipulation. They continued onward unguided until they shattered against the arena¡¯s barrier so hard that it rippled.

 Chapter 224 - Martial Soul Fusion Skill

    Chapter 224 - Martial Soul Fusion Skill


    Fuming with anger, Gu Yue¡¯s two soul rings lit up. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest¡ªand a fireball blazed into existence before her. Green ribbons of light swirled around it and merged together as Gu Yue¡¯s hands moved in circles.


    Fire and wind were complementary; her wind fed the fire until it turned into a giant flaming tornado.


    This firestorm was only one meter in height, but as elementalists themselves, the Zhou sisters could sense the surrounding wind and fire elements converging into the tornado. It quickly grew and a few seconds later, its height already exceeded two meters.


    ¡°She comprehends the element''s heart!¡± The always smiling Zhou Tian¡¯er finally lost her composure as she cried out in alarm.


    This element''s heart was only significant to elemental-type soul masters. If they wanted to gain true power, then they had to understand the heart of the element they controlled.


    An element''s heart was its essence and as long as one grasped it, not only could one draw upon the power within themselves, they could also tap into the elemental power found in the atmosphere. It was an ability that allowed one¡¯s strength to reach beyond their soul power.


    The strong and the weak were separated by whether one had comprehended the element''s heart. Naturally, if one called upon power beyond one¡¯s control, it could possibly devour one instead. And it was for this reason that spiritual power was absolutely crucial to elemental-type soul masters. The better control one had, the less likely one would be devoured by one¡¯s own element.


    In a sense, Zhou Hanyou¡¯s Ice Spirit and Zhou Tian¡¯er¡¯s Wood Spirit both enhanced their control over the elements. However, they were still a long way away from understanding the element''s heart.


    The only way it was possible for Gu Yue¡¯s whirlwind of fire to continue growing when she clearly hadn¡¯t fed it soul power was if she had comprehended the element¡¯s hearts and summoned the surrounding elemental power to feed the firestorm.


    Just how old is she? How can she already understand the element''s heart? And two of them at that! This is unbelievable!


    ¡°Quick! We need to act!¡± Zhou Hanyou was the first to recover from her shock. They both knew just how terrifying the might of the element¡¯s heart was.


    If she happened to lose control, then calamity would befall everyone on the stage. No one knew whether Gu Yue could control it.


    In most instances, a soul master who has comprehended the element''s heart would sever their connection with the elemental energy just before they reached the limit of their control to avoid being devoured, but Gu Yue was only ten years old! They didn¡¯t dare gamble with her!


    Zhou Hanyou extended her right hand while Zhou Tian¡¯er reached out with her left hand. The moment the two grasped hands, a change came over them.


    An azure figure twinkled behind Zhou Hanyou while an emerald figure descended behind Zhou Tian¡¯er and embraced them. In that instant, their aura of power soared to astonishing heights.


    At the same time, all of the spectators in the boxes stood up in alarm.


    This included box seven¡¯s Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi, and box one¡¯s Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng.


    Even though they were not in the same boxes, invariably, all of them were stunned beyond words.


    No one had high expectations for this three-versus-three match originally, but it now proved to be too shocking for anyone to comprehend.


    Wu Zhangkong had known that Tang Wulin and the other¡¯s opponents were incredibly powerful the moment the match started. In addition to having two three-ringed soul masters, the Sealand team¡¯s combat experience was leaps and bounds ahead of any of their previous opponents. Moreover, there were two elemental-type soul masters in that team!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s tactics proved effective as the match progressed. It was crucial that Xie Xie kept Wang Dongqi occupied; otherwise, they would have to deal with a powerful assault-type soul master whose Thunderflash Sword had some control properties. In that situation, the two elemental-type soul masters could battle with their peak performance.


    What truly left Wu Zhangkong speechless, however, was how arrogant Tang Wulin was! He hadn¡¯t let Gu Yue act in the beginning in order to conserve her strength, and it wasn¡¯t until he was suppressed that he had called her in.


    They had underestimated Zhou Hanyou¡¯s strength, but Gu Yue¡¯s comprehension of the element¡¯s heart had both Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi gaping.


    Shen Yi nearly demanded Wu Zhangkong to hand Gu Yue over to her right then and there.


    Any elemental-type soul master who understood the element¡¯s heart was a rarely found genius, not to mention the number of different elements Gu Yue wielded. Even if her soul skills couldn¡¯t affect an element directly, it didn¡¯t matter since she comprehended the element¡¯s heart! She had definitely grasped the heart of both fire and wind, making her a once-in-a-lifetime genius.


    However, their surprise didn¡¯t end there. Zhou Hanyou, backed into a corner by the firestorm, revealed her trump card. A bizarre scene unfolded behind them when she and her sister joined hands, and all the powerful spectating experts quickly realized what this was.


    The rarest and most powerful ability in the world of soul masters¡ªa martial soul fusion skill!


    Moreover, it was a dual-element soul fusion skill!


    Even at a federal-level tournament, this would still be an astonishing sight! Yet, to think it appeared in the Skysea Alliance Tournament¡¯s junior division¡¯s three-man event, a match that everyone expected to be lackluster!


    Meanwhile, Long Huantian finally understood why Zhang Zhenpeng was so confident in his request. No wonder he¡¯s so self-assured!


    Disregarding the soul fusion skill¡¯s effects, the very fact that the two sisters could use this skill made them worthy of the two inner court examination quotas.


    Even if Skysea City ruled like a tyrant, it wouldn¡¯t dare overlook such talent. After all, the prosperity of the Skysea Alliance as a whole was still in their interests.


    If these two sisters made it into Shrek¡¯s inner court, then the Skysea Alliance would be showered with honor and glory; although the Sealand Academy would benefit the most from this as they would directly receive an inner court examination quota in the future, the Skysea Alliance¡¯s status would also rise within the world of soul masters.


    At that same time, Long Huantian took note of the three kids from Eastsea Academy. These brats are so tough! Even though they might not have a soul fusion skill, that girl¡¯s elemental control is spectacular! Is that growing tornado really the work of a two-ringed soul master?


    Zhang Zhenpeng stared wide-eyed. It¡¯s too early to reveal your soul fusion skill! Although he was confident that his team would win the championship, he was still amazed by the Eastsea team¡¯s ability. He had originally thought Tang Wulin was the strongest on the team, but now he knew that it was Gu Yue.


    ?


    On the stage Zhou Hanyou and Zhou Tian¡¯er began to sparkle as if the two were spirits blossoming with radiance, plunging their surroundings into a world of cold.

 Chapter 225 - Forest of Ice

    Chapter 225 - Forest of Ice


    Blue and green lights interweaved together to form a blanket of ice-cold mist that spread across the arena, overwhelming the fire and wind element in air and slowing the firestorm¡¯s growth.


    Gu Yue¡¯s expression darkened. A soul fusion skill was beyond her expectations.


    In the next instant, a white radiance appeared in front of her before revealing a giant tree, its icy-blue body seemingly condensed of ice yet bursting with vitality.


    It unfolded right in the center of the firestorm and the two collided together, generating waves of energy that rippled through the air. Though the blazing tornado shredded the leaves from the swaying tree, the fire also dissipated with every torn leaf.


    At a distance away, Wang Dongqi noticed this scene and immediately disengaged from Xie Xie to dash off the stage. She knew how powerful the Zhou sister¡¯s soul fusion skill was.


    She took a moment to look Xie Xie in the eye as she ran off and shout, ¡°Hurry up and run!¡±


    Xie Xie also felt something was amiss and hurried after her.


    The two sisters were barely able to use this soul fusion skill with their current cultivation bases, but controlling it was another matter. Wang Dongqi understood this and knew to run.


    Gu Yue¡¯s complexion paled as the flaming tornado dispersed. To the side, the referee desperately yelled, ¡°Stop!¡±


    But it was too late to stop it now.


    Bang!


    Box seven¡¯s glass screen shattered and a white figure instantly flew toward the arena.


    A similar situation occurred in box one, but two figures flew out instead.


    Yet, no matter how fast they were, it was already too late to stop things.


    A heavy restraining power pressed down on Gue Yue as the chill gathered around her surroundings. The ground trembled, then split apart as a multitude of glacial-blue trees sprouted from the earth.


    Soul fusion skill: Forest of Ice!


    In the moment that Gu Yue spent stunned at the sudden change, she was swept off her feet by a pair of powerful arms and soon found herself staring up at the sky.


    When she looked down, she discovered she was within Tang Wulin¡¯s embrace.


    Icicle after icicle pierced Tang Wulin. These were actually the branches of the trees, but his body was tough and they didn¡¯t penetrate through him to harm Gu Yue.


    Blood blossomed before her eyes, dyeing her vision with crimson. She gazeed at Tang Wulin¡¯s face. Not a single trace of pain marred his features; only a gentle smile greeted her as his arms continued to firmly hold her away from danger.


    In that instant the Forest of Ice had appeared, Tang Wulin had slammed his claw at the ground with his claw and broken free of his restraints to lunge at Gu Yue and draw her into his embrace, shielding her with his body as he accepted the onslaught of icicles.


    ¡°No!¡± An inhuman shriek of devastation tore out of Gu Yue¡¯s throat, her voice on the verge of shattering. Six elemental lights wildly gathered around her¡ªfire, water, earth, wind, light, and space.


    A trace of amazement filtered through Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, but he had already lost feeling in his body. His body truly felt no pain, but when he saw Gu Yue like this, a sense of familiarity arose within him.


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes blazed with fiery wrath, her thirst for blood, for death, rolling off her in waves.


    ¡°Gu Yue, don¡¯t.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s feeble voice made its way to her ear.


    Her body trembled as she regained herself. She grabbed Tang Wulin, disappearing in a flash of silver light the instant before the Forest of Ice reached its climax.


    Tree after tree burst from the ground, though none were as large as the first two and each subsequent tree was smaller than the last. Although the trees were not as tall as the original two, they still released a frigid, penetrating aura.


    The snow-white figure was the first to land on the stage, but there was nothing to welcome him. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had just teleported away a moment ago.


    Zhang Zhenpeng was the second to arrive, having moved the moment he noticed the sisters¡¯ using Forest of Ice. This is bad. This is just a match! They can¡¯t even control the soul fusion skill yet! An accident is bound to happen.


    Unfortunately, he was a step too late.


    The soul fusion skill had completed in the end. The sisters collapsed onto the ground, their complexions pale as they gasped for breath. They had overspent themselves using the soul fusion skill.


    ¡°How could you two use a soul fusion skill!¡± Zhang Zhenpeng reprimanded. ¡°How are you doing? Are your bodies fine?¡±


    The two sisters regretted their actions as soon as they unleashed the Forest of Ice. They realized they still lacked experience. When facing the blazing tornado, they had panicked and mistakenly chose to use their strongest ability. Guilt had plagued them when they saw Tang Wulin¡¯s and Gu Yue¡¯s wretched states.


    ¡°Is this how you teach your disciples?¡± A cold voice stabbed into his back.


    Zhang Zhenpeng spun around to face a handsome young man dressed in white robes and harboring a demonically cold aura.


    ¡°Who are you? Why is a youngster like you here?¡± He was feeling jittery. As the president of Sealand Academy, he had to take responsibility for the trouble his disciples stirred up. He understood just how powerful the Forest of Ice was and considering the talent the Eastsea team had displayed at their age, he knew that the Eastsea Academy wouldn¡¯t let things go easily.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t bother to explain himself, but his eyes now glinted with a deep blue color. He took a step forward and his Skyfrost Sword appeared in his hand. Six soul rings rose underfoot¡ªtwo yellow, two purple, and two black.


    White robes and a blue sword, he was as cold as the frozen heavens!


    Wind raged and howled as his sword slashed forward while the surrounding frigid air remaining frigid air converged on his body. His movements seemed gentle but in that instant, the surrounding Forest of Ice disintegrated into fine powder.


    He pointed his Skyfrost Sword forward. His fifth soul ring lit up, and a gigantic azure blade materialized in the air. A breath later, nine swords hovered in the air and the entire stadium seemed to groan under his oppressive might. Even the spectators in the stands could feel the pure chill of those giant swords.


    Zhang Zhenpeng¡¯s face transformed into the very picture of horrific shock the moment he saw Wu Zhangkong¡¯s six soul rings. Although he also had six soul rings, they were two yellow and four purple. He could not be more clear on how wide the gap was between him and a Soul Emperor with black soul rings.


    The nine swords arrayed themselves to form a deadly wheel in the air. Without giving him time to argue, the wheel spun, aiming for Zhang Zhenpeng.


    While Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s fates were unknown, Wu Zhangkong found himself acting upon his rage. His fury made him both sharper and colder than before. The very atmosphere around him seemed to freeze.


    Zhang Zhenpeng was completely unable to explain himself under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s pressure, so he directly summoned his martial soul in defense. A pair of giant wings unfurled behind him, so majestic it took one¡¯s breath away. He raised his hands to the sky and called forth a ball of lightning and radiant light that struck the wheel-array of swords spinning toward him.


    Bang!


    Although they were both Soul Emperors, this first clash told the difference between them.


    A violent boom resounded as the ball of lightning dispersed and the nine swords continued onward as if nothing had obstructed them. They reached Zhang Zhenpeng in the blink of an eye.


    Zhang Zhenpeng knew that he was weaker than his opponent, but he had never imagined that the chasm would be so wide. An explosive cry rang out as he activated his fifth soul skill and a bird of lightning flew out to meet the wheel of ice.


    His martial soul was the Thunder Peng and was definitely considered powerful. Unfortunately, his opponent was Wu Zhangkong, Wu Zhangkong of the frozen heavens. This was a furious Wu Zhangkong!


    ?


    Off stage.


    In another flash of silver, Gu Yue appeared with Tang Wulin in her arms. His body was riddled with holes. Most concentrated around his upper body and his right thigh. For an ordinary person, these wounds were definitely fatal.


    Gu Yue gritted her teeth as she tightly hugged Tang Wulin, a golden light suddenly bursting from her body and enveloping the two of them. A few moments later it quickly transformed into a cocoon of light, cutting them off from the outside world.

 Chapter 226 - Powerful

    Chapter 226 - Powerful


    A draconic roar blasted through the air.


    The moment the lightning bird met with the wheel of swords, an azure dragon¡¯s form manifested. Its figure complemented that of the blue lightning bird as the two acted in concert.


    Long Huantian arrived at Zhang Zhenpeng¡¯s side. Although the two were rivals, they were still old friends. It was natural to assist one another in times of crisis.


    During the event, an ear-piercing alarm thundered through the background. Considering the scale of the Skysea Alliance Tournament, few would dare cause a ruckus and pit themselves against the entire Skysea Alliance.


    Nine booms rumbled in succession, each followed by an engulfing wave of frost spreading out to all four corners of the stadium. The remaining spectators shivered in this cold. For a hairbreadth of a moment, a strange luster gripped the sky, elemental energy fluctuating chaotically in the stadium.


    So powerful!


    All of the spectators were dumbstruck as they watched the scene unfold. This was a clash between three powerhouses, each with six rings! Calling it ¡®incredible¡¯ would be an understatement.


    Wu Zhangkong stood steadfast as he observed the clash before him with calm eyes. He was unmoved as the elemental shockwaves sent his robes billowing.


    Long Huantian and Zhan Zhenpeng both retreated ten steps, their expressions as dark as stormy skies. While the former was slightly pale, traces of blood painted the latter¡¯s mouth red.


    Long Huantian roared in indignation, ¡°Where did you come from? How dare you cause trouble at the Skysea Alliance Tournament!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong stared at them without speaking a word, his gaze cold enough to freeze. The Skyfrost Sword shined brilliantly in his hands while a ferocious aura exploded from his form. All six of his soul rings lit up.


    Although the three soul masters each had six rings, Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng felt suppressed with Wu Zhangkong facing against them. Their bodies stiffened; their soul power circulation became erratic.


    The two were overwhelmed with horror. Wu Zhangkong had yet to breach thirty years of age, yet he had two black soul rings. Their expressions soured at the thought of battling him.


    Two people had been paying attention to this match since the start¡ªXu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan. Xu Lizhi¡¯s voice wavered with anxiety. ¡°Tang Wulin should be fine, right? Yeah, he¡¯s fine. Big sis Xinglan, he¡¯s fine, right?¡±


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes were dull. She had come to watch class zero¡¯s match today in order to scout out Gu Yue in preparation for their promised battle. After all, only by knowing both one¡¯s self and one''s enemy could one emerge victorious.


    However, she had never expected the battle to play out this way. As a spectator, she had been able to see Tang Wulin shield Gu Yue in the final moments of the Forest of Ice, with his own body nonetheless. He never released her even as the branches penetrated him.


    That scene touched her heart. They were young boys and girls, so such pure actions in that time of crisis moved her easily.


    In that instant, all her grudges against Tang Wulin were vanquished, his position elevating in her heart.


    This was the first time she had seen someone sacrificing so much for another.


    His body was riddled with holes. Any of those injuries could be fatal. He was also wounded severely in our battle a few days ago! Maybe he is¡­


    Ye Xinglan didn¡¯t answer Xu Lizhi. She herself didn¡¯t know what sort of answer to give.


    She sighed within her heart. There was nothing that she could do. That man with the blue sword should be his teacher.


    Wu Zhangkong did not press his assault. While utilizing his domineering aura to stifle Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng, he descended to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s side. He examined their state, a frown soon crossing his face.


    Life emanated from the golden cocoon. He could not determine what was happening within, but Wu Zhangkong could sense two life forces¡ªproof that the two survived in tact.


    All of a sudden, giant figures swooped down from the sky.


    Upon sight of these figures, Long Huantian let out a breath of relief.


    Xie Xie looked up at the new arrivals, shock spreading gradually across his face. A squadron of twenty mechas, each ten meters in height, appeared.


    The lead mecha was painted a regal purple, its entire body emanating strength. At its posterior trailed four yellow mechas, with fifteen white ones following behind those.


    Despite the similar size of all the mechas, the energy fluctuations they emitted were of entirely different scales. The combined strengths of the mechas at the rear couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the purple one¡¯s might.


    Mechas were classified the same way as soul rings and spirit souls are.


    White mechas were the the most basic. As such, they were used for training. They had limited movement capabilities coupled with a minimal energy pool, giving rise to short operation times. Furthermore, they could not be operated with soul power or spirit souls, and were controlled manually. These units filled the ranks of city guards. They were essential for maintaining public order and even ordinary people could handle them.


    The military¡¯s standard model were yellow mechas. Its mobility surpassed the white model and it had a decent energy pool to operate on. It could run on both energy and soul power, with the option to utilize spirit souls. Like white mechas, they were also controlled by manually.


    Near the top of the hierarchy were the high-performance and custom purple mechas. These were designed and crafted with the future pilot¡¯s martial soul in mind. Therefore, its mobility was incredible, the mecha more in tune with its pilot. At this level, the fusion between the mecha and the martial soul went deep. For these reasons, this model was known as a personal mecha. That being said, even at this level, they were operated manually.


    Black mechas were also called super mechas and were in a league of their own. They were made of special materials, had unique designs, and were crafted through difficult methods. At this level, the fusion between the spirit soul and the mecha was perfect; such an integration created an illusion as though the mecha was an extension of one¡¯s body. Each super mecha was paired with a single pilot. If the pilot died, then the mecha would forever stay unoperated. In order to pilot a super mecha, one needed to be at least a Soul Emperor. Their spiritual power must also be at the Sprit Sea realm. These mechas could be controlled by the mind to an extent, but they required more skill to operate.


    Finally, red mechas were the cream of the crop, considered to be at the divine level. For its successful creation, these mechas had to be crafted personally. Apart from using top-grade materials forged by a first-rate blacksmith, one¡¯s essence and martial soul had to fuse with the materials perfectly. The result was an existence that could be deemed one thing: alive. A mecha could only be judged as of the divine level if it possessed a degree of sentience. With such a godly machine, the spirit soul could dissolve into it practically.


    Only with a red mecha could a mecha pilot fight on equal terms with a battle armor master. However, creating a red mecha was as difficult as crafting battle armor. Thus, red mechas were rarer than battle armor masters.


    Naturally, when facing a powerful battle armor master, not even a red mecha could close the gap.


    The twenty mechas surrounded Wu Zhangkong. The white mechas were all equipped with three-meter-long soul cannons, aimed right at his body. The purple mecha flew over to him.


    Beside matching a Soul Emperor in combat strength, a purple mecha also had a larger energy reserve. One of these machines was more than enough to suppress a Soul Emperor.


    Seeing the arrival of these mechas, Long Huantian was convinced that the situation would be brought under control.


    Yet, not everyone was of the same opinion; Shen Yi, who had arrived but chose to stay off-stage, was a prime example.

 Chapter 227 - Sky Ice Battle Armor

    Chapter 227 - Sky Ice Battle Armor


    Gazing at the levitating Wu Zhangkong, Shen Yi couldn¡¯t help but mutter to herself, ¡°Those fools. Now they¡¯re just provoking him! Don¡¯t they know that the calmer a person is, the more terrifying their wrath?¡±


    In that instant, Wu Zhangkong raised his head, sweeping his eyes over his Skyfrost Sword as he spit out two words.


    ¡°Sky. Ice.¡±


    Hearing those two words, Shen Yi trembled even as her eyes widened. Yet, in their evergreen depths sparked a trace of excitement. It had been ages since she had last seen Wu Zhangkong, and even longer since she had witnessed Sky Ice.


    A bright radiance enveloped Wu Zhangkong¡¯s body as his Skyfrost Sword also flashed with a brilliant light and instantly fused with his body. The expressions of the surrounding mecha pilots changed when they saw their target vanish.


    ¡°He¡¯s over there,¡± someone shouted, and they all looked to the sky.


    Wu Zhangkong had ascended higher. His classic white robes were gone; instead, shining white lights glowed from his forehead, shoulders, chest, elbows, wrists, hands, hips, knees, and feet. Silver threads woven through the lights formed an intricate design, drawing strength to him and it soon overflowed into his aura.


    A sky-blue crystal droplet materialized from the radiance around his forehead, followed by a band of white that circled his head as the droplet¡¯s support. Five snowflake-like tips rose from the top of the band to form a crown while the elegant silver thread design solidified until it exuded an aura of magnificence. Two white metal bands ran down from either side of the crown past his ears to cradle his cheeks, their very appearance like streams of cold air.


    The rest of his armor, starting from his neck, manifested after that. Wu Zhangkong was clad in a sparkling suit of armor at the end of the transformation, his attire dyed in a brilliant white and highlighted with silver.


    His body was bathed in luminescence, his eyes the most sparkling of sapphires. The six soul rings were absorbed into his armor and in his hands appeared a sword about one-and-a-half meters in length. This was the Sky Ice Skyfrost Sword.


    Both the hilt and the blade were pure white. However, while the hilt¡¯s tip resembled a snowflake, the blade¡¯s edge flaunted a crystalline-blue hue.


    Although Wu Zhangkong¡¯s looks were originally on another level, now that he wore brilliant armor that accentuated his features, he transformed into a graceful white knight. Shen Yi¡¯s eyes sparkled as she took in his splendor.


    ¡°Now this is the real him. Sky Ice Wu Zhangkong, is back.¡±


    ¡°Battle armor!¡± Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng cried out in unison.


    At this realization, the mechas that were about to attack froze suddenly. Some of the lesser white mechas even began to lay down their cannons.


    A battle armor master. He¡¯s actually a battle armor master!


    If Tang Wulin was conscious then, he would definitely be the most excited person around. He had always been yearning to see battle armor in action!


    As Wu Zhangkong pointed his sword downward, his aura continued to surge with power.


    It had been ages since he last spoke the two words ¡®Sky Ice¡¯... Bitter pain erupted from within the depths of his deep blue eyes.


    Just like mechas, battle armors had their own rankings. However, this particular ranking system was strange.


    At its core, a suit of battle armor was similar to a super mecha. This was because both were forged personally by a soul master and acted as an extension of and became a major component of the user¡¯s strength. A battle armor master would be twenty soul ranks stronger than any soul master of the same soul power rank. If a soul master had five rings and equipped a one-word battle armor, his strength would be equivalent to that of a seven-ringed soul master.A two-word battle armor master could match a soul master with eight rings, and so forth.


    Battle armor was divided into four levels. With each increase in level, another word would be added to the battle armor¡¯s name.


    One-word battle armor: Every piece of armor was made of thousand refined metal and required five rings minimum to use.


    Two-word battle armor: Every piece of armor was made of spirit refined metal and required six rings minimum to use.


    Three-word battle armor: Every piece of armor was made of soul refined metal and required seven rings minimum to use.


    Four-word battle armor: Every piece of armor was made of divine refined metal and required nine rings minimum to use.


    When Wu Zhangkong was a one-word battler armor master, he named his battle armor ¡®Ice¡¯. It was customary to add the name of one¡¯s battle armor to one¡¯s own. Therefore, he was called Ice Wu Zhangkong in the world of soul masters at that period of his life.


    Later on, he expended much time and effort to upgrade his battle armor to two-word, After his success, he stitched on the word ¡®Sky¡¯ from his Skyfrost Sword, amending his battle armor¡¯s name to ¡®Sky Ice¡¯. Thus, he became Sky Ice Wu Zhangkong.


    The ¡®Sky¡¯ originated  from his Skyfrost Sword while the ¡®Ice¡¯ came from the name of his beloved. He did not use his battle armor lightly; he feared the intense longing for her that would come with it. Though he wished to follow her into the next life, he could not until he fulfilled their promise.


    Battle armor masters held a supreme position throughout the entire continent. Even government officials would withdraw from any disputes involving one of them. In the end, they would be forced to call in another battle armor master aligned with the government to settle the problem. Indeed, only a battle armor master could face another battle armor master.


    On the Douluo Continent, they were the most regal of existences.


    The reason Shrek Academy still held onto so much power and influence was precisely because it possessed the strongest battle armor master force!


    Mecha pilots couldn¡¯t hope to compare with them. Even if there was a rarely seen black mecha, its pilot would still treat Wu Zhangkong with the utmost courtesy. Now equipped with Sky Ice, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s strength soared to match that of an eight-ringed expert.


    ¡°You have harmed my disciple. If he sustains any lasting wounds, then you will pay with your life.¡± Wu Zhangkong icy voice was quiet, but each word was clear to everyone present. He directed a domineering gaze at Zhang Zhenpeng.


    His target wasn¡¯t the two Zhou sisters; they were children after all. No, to feed without teaching was the father¡¯s fault; to teach without severity was the teacher¡¯s laziness. The one he begrudged was their teacher! When Zhang Zhenpeng had questioned him in that belittling manner, his fury had been fanned like a rising flame.


    Zhang Zhenpeng paled in front of Wu Zhangkong. A two-word battle armor master! He¡¯s actually a two-word battle armor master! Disregarding Zhang Zhenpeng, there wasn¡¯t a single person in Sealand City that would dare offend someone of this stature.


    Battle armor masters were the most powerful and unwavering of soul masters. Compared to building a mecha, it was ten-times harder to craft a battle armor of the same level.


    Considering how young Wu Zhangkong was, and the fact that he was already a two-word battle armor master, his prospects were boundless. It was likely he would one day stand at the continent¡¯s summit.


    A sudden tremble ran through Wu Zhangkong¡¯s body. His sword began to buzz as his battle armor erupted with silvery light all of a sudden. It was dazzling even in the bright of day.


    All of the mechas took defensive maneuvers while Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng were simply overwhelmed with shock. Is he actually attacking?


    In the blink of an eye, Shen Yi ascended into the skies. Viridian wafts flowed around her while strands of white hair floated behind. The green streams of air soon transformed into symbols branding her body, then metamorphosed into lights similar to those that had covered Wu Zhangkong. The only difference was their color; these spots of radiance were green.


    A halo of emerald light spiraled around her body, like a vine climbing a pole. A breath later, she was clad in green armor with viridian highlights.


    It was another battle armor!


    There were clear differences between the two battle armors. Where as Wu Zhangkong¡¯s was sleek, hers was embedded with leaves that spun outward.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s battle armor¡¯s faulds were short but Shen Yi¡¯s skirt reached past her thighs. It exuded a more feminine allure. In her hands sat a moss-toned whip. An emerald bead bursting with vitality was embedded at the tip.


    The entire set of armor breathed with life, dispelling the chill in the stadium instantly.


    ¡°Zhangkong, stop!¡± Shen Yi ordered.


    Despite the fact that battle armor masters were supreme existences, they still had their own hierarchy. One would be disciplined if one blundered. In some aspects, the greater one¡¯s strength, the greater the restrictions.

 Chapter 228 - Advancing to Soul Sage

    Chapter 228 - Advancing to Soul Sage


    Shen Yi was about to restrain Wu Zhangkong, but after realizing something, she paused in midair.


    She thrusted out her arms, unleashing a tyrannical aura that rendered all the present mecha pilots and soul masters motionless.


    As the silver halation around Wu Zhangkong receded into his body, a black soul ring appeared underneath him. It expanded, fusing swiftly with his battle armor.


    A look of helplessness crossed her face. She was at a loss for words. I can¡¯t believe this guy. He just suddenly had a breakthrough. Wu Zhangkong was no longer a Soul Emperor, but a Soul Sage!


    ¡°Congratulations, Zhangkong.¡± Shen Yi flew over to his side carrying these heartfelt words.


    Despite his breakthrough, he wore an expression devoid of joy. In that instant, he noticed that the golden cocoon of light, which encased his two disciples, was dimming. He dropped down in a flash, landing right beside them.


    Finally, the two¡¯s forms grew clear.


    Gu Yue sat on the ground, eyes closed and pale-faced as if she was drained of blood. Only the barest whispers of life lingered on her. Tang Wulin was still soaked in blood, but the enormous wounds covering him like a gruesome blanket were already healed. While his breath and pulse were weak, they both persisted at a steady pace.


    ¡°Wow! These brats sure know how to surprise people!¡± Shen Yi muttered to herself. With a wave of a hand, her body lit up with a green glow. Two lights that resembled leafy plants flew toward Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, merging with the children.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s tension eased once he saw that his two disciples were fine. Tilting up his head, he met Shen Yi¡¯s gaze. ¡°You specialize in treatment; how are they right now?¡±


    She directed a strange look at him. ¡°The boy was heavily wounded and his organs were crushed¡ªa fatal injury for an ordinary person. But as you can see, his heart wasn¡¯t touched. However, he took the full brunt of a soul fusion skill and should by all means be dead now. Somehow, he¡¯s still clinging on to life tenaciously. That¡¯s the first thing that I can¡¯t make sense of.


    ¡°The next is this girl. She¡¯s truly brave; she used her life¡¯s light to heal him. Light is the purest and brightest element, after all. It is filled with life at its core. The greatest source of vitality one can draw upon is one¡¯s life¡¯s light, and this girl had mustered hers. She ignited her own life force in order to heal the boy. His wounds and damaged organs have already been restored. You¡¯re really living up to Shrek¡¯s name by raising these little monsters!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong furrowed his brows. ¡°Just tell me, will this affect them in the future?¡±


    Shen Yi said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll have to examine them once they they¡¯ve recovered fully. Since they have overexerted themselves, it will take some time. How about this: I¡¯ll go back with you and look after these two children until they¡¯re healed.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded appreciatively. He took Tang Wulin into his arms, treating him as a fragile object. A layer of azure light radiated from his Sky Ice battle armor, sheltering them from the outside world. After gesturing with his head at Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan, he left with large strides.


    Shen Yi picked up Gu Yue and followed.


    As they exited the stadium, they paid no mind to the spectators or the two academy presidents, Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng.


    Even so, no one dared to obstruct them.


    ?


    Away from the arena, Mu Chen stood with his hands folded behind his back, dark clouds practically completing his image. Duan Xuan stood at his side.


    Considering his status as the president of Eastsea¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association, he shouldn¡¯t have made an appearance. His place was in the boxes with Duan Xuan. However, when he had seen Tang Wulin receiving such grievous injuries, it felt like a dagger stabbing into his heart.


    His martial soul did not excel in speed and as such, he had lagged behind Wu Zhangkong. Duan Xuan had restrained him, warning him not to act impulsively.


    Soon after, Wu Zhangkong displayed his godly might much to Mu Chen¡¯s delight. It was also his first time seeing how formidable Tang Wulin¡¯s soul master teacher was.


    Although Mu Chen was powerful in his own right, he hadn¡¯t expected this unassuming school teacher to exceed him. With Wu Zhangkong¡¯s appearance, Mu Chen no longer felt the need to act. Sure enough, Wu Zhangkong revealed his battle armor, suppressing everyone with unadulterated power. In the end, the threat of his might was enough, and he left with Tang Wulin in his arms as if he was taking a stroll. From such a display, Mu Chen knew that Tang Wulin¡¯s safety was preserved.


    ¡°Teacher, let¡¯s go take a look,¡± Mu Chen said.


    Duan Xuan eyes didn¡¯t leave Shen Yi as he said, ¡°No matter what the situation is, don¡¯t act impetuously. The child should be relatively fine; otherwise, there¡¯s no way that battle armor master would leave things like this. Your disciple sure is great! He actually has a battle armor master for a teacher!¡±


    Mu Chen smiled bitterly. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen his teacher too. I didn¡¯t expect it would be under such circumstances. I hope none of the injuries are permanent.¡±


    A sigh escaped Duan Xuan¡¯s lips. ¡°Hurry up and go. If you need anything, just tell me.¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin felt as if a deep, deep sleep was calling out to him, tempting him to lie in its embrace. Regaining consciousness, he opened his eyes; the first thing he saw was Gu Yue¡¯s tear-stricken face.


    Following that, a boundless golden light enveloped them like a cocoon. His body still felt cold and numb after being impaled by numerous icicles. The chill had nearly frozen his blood over. The only thing that stood in between him and death was his throbbing heart.


    Shielding Gu Yue with his body had been instinctual. In spite of that, during the event his mind had operated at max speed. He had activated the Purple Demon Eyes, barely able to avoid the incoming icicles stabbing his heart.


    The chilling numbness that engulfed his body allowed him to disregard the damage he had sustained. Yet, he had felt his life slipping away, his mind growing dim.


    Swathed in that golden world, the cold receded bit by bit, replaced with a pleasant warmth. Blanketed in this comfortable feeling, he lost consciousness.


    ?


    It¡¯s been three days. Three whole days.


    Wu Zhangkong sat by the bedside, watching his two sleeping disciples.


    Both had yet to awake and had been sleeping soundly the entire time. Although their complexions were still pale, their breathing and heartbeats had improved.


    Shen Yi determined that there would be no lasting effects and cleared them for natural recovery. Afterward, she departed. There were still many things to attend to at Shrek Academy. Tarrying for so long was already pushing the limit.


    According to Shen Yi, Tang Wulin¡¯s self-healing ability was extraordinary. Despite receiving such grave injuries, his damaged viscera were healed by life¡¯s curing light. He could now leave it to his body to do the rest. Surviving was certain for him; that being said, it was unknown whether his cultivation would be affected. Only time would tell.


    Wu Zhangkong, however, was confident in his disciple. He still recalled the root of Tang Wulin¡¯s unfathomable healing ability¡ªhis bloodline.

 Chapter 229 - Time Flies

    Chapter 229 - Time Flies


    Although Skysea Alliance¡¯s government did not investigate the prior incident, it also refrained from issuing an apology. Everything was swept under the rug.


    With two of its main members incapacitated, class zero could no longer compete in the tournament.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Wu Zhangkong was roused by a hushed groan. He turned to the source of the noise without skipping a beat.


    Gu Yue struggled to open her eyes. ¡°Wulin¡­¡± The first word that tumbled from her lips was his name, albeit in a feeble manner.


    Wu Zhangkong rushed to her side and pinched the veins on Tang Wulin¡¯s wrists. ¡°He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s right beside you. You¡¯re still weak right now. Just rest.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Wu.¡± Managing to force open her eyelids, Gu Yue aimed her gaze at Wu Zhangkong. Her eyes were red with worry. She turned to her side to check on Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin slept like a baby, free of the slightest inkling of pain.


    ¡°He¡¯s tired,¡± Gu Yue muttered to herself as she yielded to the call of slumber.


    Wu Zhangkong stared at the two blankly, brows knitted ever so slightly.


    Gu Yue¡¯s words had stirred his mind.


    Ever since he took Tang Wulin as a student, it struck him that this disciple was the most hardworking of the batch. Wu Zhangkong often saw him jogging at the break of dawn, even before the roosters¡¯ crow.


    Despite his burdens and diligence toward cultivation, not once did Tang Wulin complain. Back in the spirit ascension platform, a lapse in his judgement had nearly triggered a cultivation deviation.


    Then there was the tournament from several days ago when he was heavily injured but recovered in a single day. He then tackled another challenge which left him in his current state.


    I¡¯ve been too demanding of him. He has been too hard on himself as well.


    He¡¯s painfully aware of how much talent he lacks compared to Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan. This is what drives him forward; this is why he invests twice as much effort as all of them combined.


    He¡¯s fatigued in both body and mind. I¡¯ve been overlooking that.


    Wu Zhangkong stood up and walked over to Tang Wulin¡¯s bed. Perhaps some adjustments are in order. At the very least, I will have to make some short-term revisions. They are still children after all.


    Mu Chen had made a visit three days before with the purpose of confirming Tang Wulin¡¯s state. Only after ascertaining his well-being did he turn heel toward Eastsea City. Mu Chen¡¯s actions brought Wu Zhangkong to make a decision. Wulin can¡¯t go on like this. I must discuss his future with this president.


    As astounding as battle armor masters appearing in the tournament had seemed, in reality, it was merely a small episode. Without any follow-up, this hot piece of news sizzled away quickly.


    Thus, class zero¡¯s dazzling display was like a blossom from a night-blooming cactus, the petals withering away before dawn. Due to their amazing results in the first half of the round-robin tournament, they breached the top sixteen. However, that was as far as they could go; it was not as if they could continue to participate.


    When Long Huantian and Zhang Zhenpeng pressed for more information on class zero, Eastsea Academy had already sealed off all relevant information, leaving the two clueless.


    Class zero had disappeared¡ªnot only from the tournament, but from the Eastsea Academy itself. None of the students there ever heard from or saw them again.


    ?


    Three years later in Eastsea City, at Eastsea Soul Technology Park.


    Two figures zipped through the park side by side, not a bit uncertain of the path to their destination. Once the figure on the left confirmed that they weren¡¯t being tracked, he picked up his pace and dashed off in a blur. The other youth stepped up his pace to keep up.


    ¡°Damn. If this continues, I won¡¯t know if it¡¯s you or me who is the agility-type soul master here. Can you slow down a bit?¡± The youth on the right said helplessly.


    While they appeared to be fourteen years old, they towered over their peers.


    They both stood above 170 centimeters, their bodies toned and well-proportioned. Slender muscles rippled as they ran, faintly visible beneath their clothes.


    Despite the swift pace, their expressions showed no sign of exhaustion; they had no problem maintaining this speed.


    The teen on the left smiled. ¡°Of course you excel in explosive sprints, but you¡¯re no good at long distance.¡±


    ¡°How am I no good?¡± The one on the right was disgruntled.


    His partner laughed. ¡°Then let¡¯s have a contest later. We¡¯ll run from Eastsea City all the way to Skysea City. How about it?¡±


    ¡°Rejected!¡± He did not hesitate in his answer. ¡°I¡¯m not bored enough to do that. So I heard you¡¯ve got enough contribution points now?¡±


    ¡°Mn. It was too easy. I¡¯ve got enough now,¡± the youth on the left said, waving his arm dismissively.


    The two kept running deeper into the park, and soon arrived before a cobalt-colored building.


    Its exterior behaved like a lens, as if the glass panes were assembled specifically for this effect. The lens refracted light to produce a bizarrely beautiful scene. Light was refracted at every angle in a different way resulting in a new view with every slight adjustment.


    The door, which was made of a similar material, was unguarded. The two placed their right hands atop it.


    A blue light scanned their hands as a lazy voice sounded.


    ¡°Eastsea¡¯s Little Wulin, Eastsea¡¯s Little Xie Xie. You two sure are hardworking! You¡¯re here again. Come on in.¡±


    The two youths were precisely Tang Wulin and Xie Xie. In the past three years, they had matured substantially. Not only did they grow taller, their shoulders were now broader as well. Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were as large as ever, which, together with his increased height, served to accentuate his already handsome appearance.


    Actually, Xie Xie wasn¡¯t too lacking in the looks department himself. After all these years of intimacy with Tang Wulin, he no longer kept a cold demeanor and now seemed like a mischievous teen. Indeed, he was less attractive than Tang Wulin, and his eyes were not as large, but his gaze was lively and brimming with energy.


    ¡°Hello Uncle Cao,¡± Tang Wulin and Xie Xie greeted respectfully before entering. Undoubtedly, this was Eastsea City¡¯s Tang Sect branch.


    They passed through the familiar metal passageway, hopped on a special elevator, and soon arrived before a certain room.


    Once more, a large screen appeared before them to scan their handprints.


    Eyes blazing, Tang Wulin laid his palm on the screen.


    An electronic voice said, ¡°Verifying identity¡­¡±


    The screen flashed with rows of data pertaining to Tang Wulin.


    Identity confirmed: Outer sect disciple Tang Wulin.


    Thirteen years, five months, and six days old.


    Total contribution points: 14,670.


    Available contribution points: 7,863.


    Class four outer sect associate.


    Martial soul: Bluesilver Grass.


    Soul power rank: 28.


    Control-type soul master. Soul Grandmaster.


    Xie Xie followed suit, placing his palm on the other side of the screen. His data appeared a moment later.


    Identity confirmed: Outer sect disciple Xie Xie.


    Thirteen years, four months, and one day old.


    Total contribution points: 1,554.


    Available contribution points: 1,554.


    Class three outer sect associate.


    Martial soul: Light Dragon Dagger, Shadow Dragon Dagger.


    Soul power rank: 33.


    Agility-type soul master. Soul Elder.


    Xie Xie broke down in defeat when he saw his contribution points. His twin martial souls and soul three soul rings allowed him to only lag behind Tang Wulin by one class. He had no way of mirroring that amount of contribution points.


    He chose mecha crafting as his secondary profession and was merely a rookie first-rank mecha craftsman. The thousand or so points he managed to scrape together stemmed from contributing information acquired from his family, from doing odd jobs, and by collecting resources for the sect, among others.


    On the other hand, the entirety of Tang Wulin¡¯s points came from forging.


    In these few years, he had managed to climb to the peak of the fourth rank, not letting the restraints on his soul power hinder his drive for practicing blacksmithing. On the contrary, it spurred him on. He had accomplished the goal he had set for himself in the past¡ªfirst-grade thousand refining any metal available to him was now a piece of cake.


    By relying on his high blacksmithing level, Tang Wulin accrued an incredible amount of contribution points, leading to his promotion to a class four associate.


    The Tang Sect was split into the inner and outer sects. The outer sect had nine classes, all given the title of ¡®associate¡¯. The inner sect was divided into five halls: the Power Hall, Speed Hall, Defense Hall, Enforcement Hall, and Elder Hall.


    Moreover, the outer sect took on the form of a company called the Dazzling Era Tang Sect Corporation. A class four associate would then be the equivalent of a company manager, while a class five associate would take on the role of a department director.


    The Tang Sect was very strict when it came to recruiting disciples. Every single candidate needed to have a field they specialized in, as well as a recommendation from an outer sect associate of class six or above. One could only take the entrance exam after fulfilling these requirements.

 Chapter 230 - Spirit Item Exchange

    Chapter 230 - Spirit Item Exchange


    Because of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s identity as both a Soul Sage and a two-word battle armor master, the doors to the inner sect opened for him. The inner sect cared about neither experience nor origin; only strength and contributions mattered. Once one fulfilled both requirements, one would be let into the illustrious inner sect.


    Now that he was a part of the inner sect, he could learn the rest of the Tang Sect¡¯s secret arts and gained access to more of the sect¡¯s resources.


    ¡°Mission turn in,¡± Tang Wulin said to the screen before retrieving several chunks of metal in a flash of light. These materials were his mission¡¯s objective.


    Currently, he was accepting missions from both the Blacksmith¡¯s Association and the Tang Sect. The tasks completed for the Association gave him money. On the other hand, he accrued contribution points from the Tang Sect.


    Apart from its secret arts, the Tang Sect offered various products exclusive to the sect. It was for these products that Tang Wulin was exchanging his points.


    ¡°Three pieces of first-grade thousand-refined metal: 600 points. Available contribution points: 8463.¡± The electronic voice announced his new total.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes twinkled with excitement as he tapped the screen a few times, navigating to a list of spirit items.


    Ignoring the rest of the inventory, he scrolled down until he found the particular ingredient he wanted.


    Thousand-year Land Dragon Tendon: a legendary spirit medicine that can refine a soul master¡¯s physique without any side effects. Perfect condition. Price: 3,900 contribution points.


    Tang Wulin did not hesitate to tap the ¡®purchase¡¯ button before resuming his search.


    A moment later, he stopped looking.


    Thousand-year Sea Dragon Marrow: a legendary spirit medicine that refines a soul master¡¯s body and strengthens their qi and blood without any side effects. Perfect condition. Price: 4,500 contribution points.


    Exchange!


    After securing the item, he let out a long sigh, his eyes glistening like clusters of stars.


    During his trip three years ago to Heaven Dou City with Wu Zhangkong, he had managed to buy a thousand-year Dragonscale Fruit. Afterward, he discovered that the thousand-year Land Dragon Tendon and Sea Dragon Marrow were on the Tang Sect¡¯s inventory. After hoarding his points, he was able to lay his hands on them. Now, he only needed a thousand-year Azure-veined Vine.


    Since he had yet to turn fourteen, he was in no rush to obtain the last item. He was confident that with his savings, he could acquire the precious ingredient at an auction or through some other means without an issue.


    Once the time came, his martial soul would evolve even further.


    However, he was left with a pitiful 603 contribution points after splurging.


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to logout, the electronic voice spoke. ¡°Tang Wulin, congratulations. You have surpassed 15,000 total contribution points and will now be promoted to class five. You can now enjoy even more benefits from the Tang Sect and the exchange list has been expanded.¡±


    Class five?


    Since he neither possessed twin souls like Xie Xie nor had more than two rings, he had not been promoted in a while. He had never expected to reach class five before receiving his third soul ring. Naturally, Tang Wulin understood how rare his situation was.


    A class five associate enjoyed much higher privileges than a class four associate. The pool of available missions was enlarged; the number of Tang Sect arts currently opened to him was increased.


    Generally speaking, Tang Sect missions were not dangerous, rewarding few contribution points as a result. Despite this, the exchange rate of the goods they offered beat the market¡¯s by a long shot. Tang Wulin had accumulated a small fortune through the Blacksmith¡¯s Association and acquired these two spirit items thanks to his efforts these past three years. This much already satisfied him.


    He was a step away from finishing his preparations to break the second seal. This was a beneficial occasion for him


    The memory of his first unsealing was still fresh in his mind. Old Tang had informed him that after the second seal, a nice surprise would be waiting for him.


    Now, he could wholeheartedly look forward to it. It was so close.


    Xie Xie also turned in a resource collection mission, but received a paltry hundred or so contribution points.


    ¡°Xiaoyan has been cultivating a lot recently. She hasn¡¯t even done any missions,¡± Tang Wulin said to Xie Xie.


    Xu Xiaoyan had passed the middle level test and joined the Tang Sect a year after them. Due to the special properties of her Starwheel Ice Staff, she had ascended the ranks with remarkable speed, becoming a class three associate.


    The Tang Sect¡¯s administration was relatively relaxed and did not force members to take on missions. The missions that awarded the most contribution points were also the most dangerous. Even so, Tang Sect regulations forbade anyone under sixteen from accepting life-threatening missions. It was the sect¡¯s way of protecting its fledgling members.


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s recent devotion to cultivation was fueled by her soul rank, which hovered over the peak of rank 29. She was itching to hit rank 30, a major milestone for soul masters. Such an event wasn¡¯t limited to acquiring an additional soul ring; one could also fuse with a second spirit soul, improving one¡¯s power drastically.


    ¡°Are you going to accept another mission?¡± Xie Xie asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Aren¡¯t we about to head off to Shrek City? It¡¯s not a good time to take another mission. I¡¯ll consider it once we return.¡±


    Xie Xie winked. ¡°Maybe we won¡¯t return at all?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°That would be awesome.¡±


    The two left the Tang Sect and ran back to Eastsea Academy. In reality, class zero had continued to exist the whole time, simply hidden from the public¡¯s eyes.


    The battle three years ago had brought Wu Zhangkong¡¯s name to fame, overshadowing his four spectacular disciples.


    He was a battle armor master! The fact that an intermediate academy had a battle armor master working as a teacher took the Skysea Alliance by storm. Therefore, hordes of students applied to Eastsea Academy. Class zero¡¯s lackluster results weren¡¯t given much thought apparently.


    The academy had wanted to transfer more students into class zero on several occasions, but Wu Zhangkong refused vehemently each time. Even the academy president, Yu Zhen, could not persuade him. After all, he was a two-word battle armor master! The difference in status between the two was as great as night and day. Yu Zhen was already more than happy that Wu Zhangkong agreed to continue teaching.


    ?


    The office of Eastsea Academy¡¯s president.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, are you sure about this?¡± Yu Zhen¡¯s brows were creased, his expression grave, and his gaze wavering.


    Wu Zhangkong said calmly, ¡°From the academy¡¯s perspective, raising outstanding students who achieve great things and drawing in more talented students are of the highest priority. We have already been nourishing class zero for three-and-a-half years; don¡¯t you want them to contribute to the academy? Being admitted to that academy is a far better achievement than anything else. When the time comes, the academy can announce it to the public. Surely many will be drawn here.¡±


    Yu Zhen frowned. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit too early?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°Shrek Academy only holds its entrance exams once every three years. They¡¯re already thirteen years old; if they don¡¯t go now, they¡¯ll miss their only chance.¡±


    Yu Zhen still couldn¡¯t yield. ¡°But didn¡¯t you come from Shrek Academy, Teacher Wu? In my opinion, you should be more than enough to teach them.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes narrowed before he shook his head once more. ¡°I can to a degree, but only that much. They need to lay down a proper foundation in preparation for the future.¡±


    Yu Zhen¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°The future? Teacher Wu, in your opinion, how high can they reach?¡±


    Without any doubt in his voice, Wu Zhangkong proclaimed, ¡°Battle armor master!¡±


    Trembles gripped Yu Zhen, droplets of sweat bouncing from each hair as they descended his back. He understood the weight of those words. Sucking in a deep breath, he stood up. ¡°Fine. I only request one thing of you then: in the future, when the children are battle armor masters, have them visit us and give a talk to our students.¡±

 Chapter 231 - Final Exam

    Chapter 231 - Final Exam


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wu Zhangkong promised in his student¡¯s stead on the double. For the past three-and-a-half years, Eastsea Academy had invested a great deal into class zero. Yes, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s reputation attracted a steady stream of students. And yet, even so, the academy¡¯s enrollment rate paled in comparison with the Skysea Alliance¡¯s first-rate schools¡¯.


    Investments were always made in hopes of returns. Wu Zhangkong felt it was natural to requite the academy.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, you¡­¡± Yu Zhen hesitated. ¡°Will you return?¡±


    The reason why he asked was because Eastsea Academy neither had the means nor the power to tie Wu Zhangkong down. His investment in these children was near palpable.


    During his visit to the president¡¯s office, Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t elaborate on any of the questions asked. In truth, the answer was already engraved within his heart. If his students did make it into Shrek Academy, then the chances of his return were minute at best. There were still things he wanted to do and Shrek City was the most suitable place to accomplish them.


    ?


    ¡°Your final exam is the rebellion spirit ascension platform. Survive for twenty-four hours. Anyone who exits before then can forget about taking the Shrek exam,¡± Wu Zhangkong said coldly.


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°Teacher Wu, then is there a bonus if we survive longer than that?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°There is. Your reward will either be a duel with me or a spar against the other three. Your choice.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­


    ¡°Teacher Wu, don¡¯t be so heartless,¡± Xie Xie complained.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin and the other two giggled.


    Gu Yue sat beside Tang Wulin. She kept her hair short and orderly, but unlike her hairstyle, other things had changed these past three years. For one, she had grown to over 170 centimeters. Although she was still unripe, girls matured faster than boys, and it was evident in the nearly lady-like figure bursting with youth.


    In contrast to her youth, her expression was serene without the slightest fluctuations. She sat there completely unflustered.


    However, if comparing how much one had matured was a contest, then Xu Xiaoyan would be the winner. Although she was still half a head shorter than Gu Yue, she had grown even more pretty and often wore a sweet, childlike smile.


    Over the years, she had become closer to Xie Xie. Perhaps it was due to their similar backgrounds. Likewise, Gu Yue quarreled with Xie Xie less and less.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Wu Zhangkong was still the king of conciseness.


    Naturally, they were heading for the elementary-level rebellion spirit ascension platform. By now, none of them felt any pressure from it.


    Back when Tang Wulin had one ring, he had led his team through the rebellion spirit ascension platform in a path of slaughter, racking up spirit energy like no tomorrow, until they nearly hit their energy limits. Since they¡¯d been deepening their teamwork for a few years, they were almost too qualified for this platform. This would be a walk in the park for them.


    Moments later, they arrived at the Spirit Pagoda.


    They had visited the place at least once a month after the previous Skysea Alliance Tournament. Therefore, they knew the mural like the backs of their hands.


    Xie Xie giggled. ¡°Gu Yue, we¡¯re on your turf now!¡±


    Ever since she joined the Spirit Pagoda, she would pay it a visit every rest day, but not once had she told the others any details. No one tried to pry either. Just as before, Gu Yue was undoubtedly the strongest one among them.


    For some reason, they felt estranged from Gu Yue. Perhaps it was because she didn¡¯t enter the Tang Sect like them.


    Gu Yue had used her own life force to heal Tang Wulin three years ago. When he had awoken, he found that her attitude toward him had changed completely. She no longer acted as intimately with him and a gap opened up between them.


    Apart from attending classes and cultivating together, Gu Yue had seldom interacted with her classmates. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of her and didn¡¯t dare ask.


    Gu Yue shot Xie Xie a look. ¡°That¡¯s right! You got any bright ideas now that we¡¯re in my domain?¡±


    Xie Xie laughed mischievously like a fox. ¡°Can¡¯t we get some special treatment? Right, Xiaoyan is about to break through to three rings; can¡¯t you use your connections to help her get a good spirit soul when the time comes? Her spiritual power is strong enough for it.¡±


    Gu Yue directed inquiring eyes at Xu Xiaoyan.


    Under this gaze, Xu Xiaoyan flushed a delicious pink. ¡°Big sister Gu Yue, if it wouldn¡¯t trouble you¡­¡±


    A smile tugged at Gu Yue¡¯s lips. ¡°How could it trouble me? I¡¯ll help you choose a suitable one once you¡¯re at that point.¡±


    ¡°Thank you big sis Gu Yue.¡± Xu Xiaoyan beamed.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth also curled into a smile as he watched this scene unfold. Out of all his classmates, he needed another spirit soul the least. Because Goldlight was a thousand-year spirit soul, it could supply him with a third ring.


    He was more curious about what sort of position Gu Yue held in the Spirit Pagoda. From his observations, he noticed that the Spirit Pagoda staff members were exceptionally polite and kind toward her and Gu Yue responded in kind. It was clear that she was well-liked and popular.


    After sticking their cards into their respective slots, they laid down in their box and prepared to enter.


    They were familiar with the process; it took a moment to ready themselves.


    Space warped around them. Light replaced darkness as whips of fresh air assaulted their senses. They were back in this familiar land, the rebellion elementary spirit ascension platform!


    To class zero, the ordinary spirit ascension platform no longer posed any challenge. Once, they had even survived for seven days straight, much to the chagrin of the Spirit Pagoda. Since then, they had not been welcome.


    The soul beasts that were present were essentially energy. The more class zero killed, the greater the losses incurred by the Spirit Pagoda. Furthermore, all four of them often absorbed spirit energy close to their limits. Frequent visits were unnecessary as a result.


    ¡°Everyone, be on alert,¡± Tang Wulin ordered.


    ¡°Yes, captain!¡± The three responded in unison.


    Despite having the lowest cultivation base among the four of them, Tang Wulin had cemented his position as the team¡¯s core throughout the years.


    He used action instead of words to win over his teammates. Whenever danger reared its ugly head, he¡¯d lead his group to face their strongest enemies. He was their pillar of security and his leadership skills received their approval. Regardless of strategies or tactics, he proved himself excellent in those fields.


    In the words of Xie Xie, ¡°Just let captain take care of the annoying matters.¡±


    Tang Wulin served as the vanguard. His Bluesilver Grass ran along the ground, acting as a detection network that covered everything within a fifteen meter radius. His Bluesilver Grass was like an exterior sense organ, able to react to and determine the slightest changes in the air.


    Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue flanked him on each side while Xie Xie covered their backs. Although he walked backward to keep an eye on the rear, he kept up with the others¡¯ pace.


    Occasionally, shimmers of purple flashed through Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes¡ªthe telltale sign of the Purple Demon Eyes. His progress was incredible; he had already broken through into the second stage, boosting his spiritual power to an immense degree.


    However, Gu Yue stood as the reigning queen regarding spiritual power, the rest of them chasing after her back. She had breached five hundred points a year ago and entered the Spirit Sea realm. This was precisely why she was considered class zero¡¯s strongest after all this time.


    On the other hand, Tang Wulin was experiencing a bottleneck, stuck at 499 points of spiritual power. With a single step, he¡¯d be crossing on to the next realm. Yet. such a step was difficult to take. After putting in her all, Xu Xiaoyan had also managed to break four hundred points. At the tail of their group was Xie Xie, who lagged behind in the middle two-hundreds. Of course, they were nothing short of spectacular when compared to their peers.


    The Spirit Sea realm could support three purple spirit souls. This equaled to a total of nine soul rings; although this was only theoretical, it was still a major achievement for any soul master.


    Gu Yue¡¯s spiritual power now hovered past seven hundred. Her strength before and after her breakthrough were incomparable.


    Like a fisherman casting his net at sea, Tang Wulin waited patiently for his turn to advance. He was thirteen right now; depending on his luck, it would take him one year at most.


    ¡°It¡¯s too quiet!¡± Tang Wulin frowned. The rebellion spirit ascension platform was normally chaotic, but currently, not a trace of disorder could be heard. This meant that a mighty soul beast occupied the area and no other beasts dared intrude.

 Chapter 232 - Blazing Demon Lions

    Chapter 232 - Blazing Demon Lions


    Just as the words left Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth, Gu Yue shot a green light spiraling into the air. The light transformed into a viridescent bird, which soared through the skies and into the horizon.


    A beat later, a second light followed¡­ then a third, and fourth. They all blasted off in different direction.


    Tang Wulin waited for the results of the reconnaissance before moving forward in any direction. Although there was little of threat in the elementary spirit ascension platform, things could still go wrong. If they encountered another hundred-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear like in their first trip, class zero would be in dire straits again. Such a soul beast was too domineering! A single claw swipe could take their lives!


    ¡°It¡¯s a pride of lions.¡± Less than half a minute later, Gu Yue announced, ¡°There¡¯s activity from them on the left.¡±


    These were Blazing Demon Lions. They were one of the top predators in the spirit ascension platform and had chased them during their first rebellion period trip.


    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Can you determine how many?¡±


    Gu Yue lowered her voice. ¡°Judging from their tracks, about fifteen. Maybe more?¡±


    Eyes narrowed, Tang Wulin¡¯s mind revved into action as he formulated a plan. A pride of Blazing Demon Lions typically had one Blazing Demon Lion King leading numerous lionesses. Most likely, the king would be at the thousand-year level. The strength of the lionesses, on the other hand, was unknown. If they were also of the thousand-year standing, then taking on the pride would prove difficult for class zero. Chances were, they would not escape unscathed from such a battle.


    ¡°We¡¯re going in the other direction.¡± Tang Wulin hesitated before steeling his resolve.


    ¡°Captain, we can do it. I still remember that time they slaughtered us. It¡¯s our turn now.¡± Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin with expectant eyes.


    Tang Wulin knitted his brows. ¡°If there are two or more thousand-year beasts, we¡¯ll be in trouble. I can¡¯t risk everyone for this.¡± Even in the spirit ascension platform, he was responsible for his entire team as their captain.


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Captain, think about it like this; nothing really challenges us in the elementary spirit ascension platform anymore. So, in order to improve, we need to be pressured. In the end, this is the spirit ascension platform, you know? It¡¯s not an actual battlefield. If there¡¯s something that can challenge us, then we should give it a shot. I think we¡¯ll be fine even if there are two thousand-year beasts.¡±


    Tang Wulin shifted his gaze to Gu Yue. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Gu Yue said, ¡°I agree with Xie Xie. We can¡¯t improve without facing any difficulties. Let¡¯s try it. If we¡¯re no match, we can still escape.¡±


    Finally, Tang Wulin turned to Xu Xiaoyan and she giggled. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to whatever you say, Captain.¡±


    Tang Wulin aimed his gaze toward the sky. ¡°Gu Yue, you¡¯re in charge of reconnaissance, but make sure you maintain a safe distance. We¡¯ll start when night falls.¡±


    Despite being resolute in his decisions, he never forgot to put his team¡¯s safety first. Once night spread its wings over the horizon, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s full potential would be unleashed, her Starwheel Ice Staff power further enhanced by a second ring. In turn, their overall strength would skyrocket.


    Additionally, the Blazing Demon Lions were weakened by the night due to the decreased fire element density.


    Gu Yue summoned a wind bird larger than the previous ones and set it flying toward the lions. Tang Wulin turned, advancing in the same direction slowly and quietly.


    In the elementary spirit ascension platform, they were the only ones who dared face a thousand-year Blazing Demon Lion. Other teams composed completely of three-ringed soul masters wouldn¡¯t last even a minute.


    However, Tang Wulin¡¯s group was brimming with confidence.


    They had arrived at noon and now the evening was approaching.This was another reason Tang Wulin had chosen to take this risk.


    Xie Xie and Gu Yue both had three rings and ample room to absorb more spirit energy. Tang Wulin¡¯s own two rings had four thousand years worth of spirit energy. According to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s careful calculations, Tang Wulin could house a maximum of five thousand years of spirit energy. Once he gained his third ring, his limit would increase to six thousand years.


    However, Wu Zhangkong was unaware that his disciple¡¯s target differed from his tremendously. Tang Wulin understood what breaking the second seal meant; his body¡¯s endurance toward spirit energy would increase to new heights. Inwardly, he wondered if he would then be able to absorb enough energy to evolve his spirit soul to the ten-thousand-year level. At the very least, he would be one step closer to reaching that outcome. Either way, he planned on fusing with a ten-thousand-year spirit soul for his fourth ring.


    Under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s guidance, the students of class zero now possessed a perspective that surpassed that of their peers. All four aimed to become battle armor masters, a goal so lofty that ordinary soul masters would fundamentally never consider.


    The four proceeded toward the lions like cautious hunters. Tang Wulin discerned the best path for them, fine-tuning their direction with every step. They had to remain downwind of the lions in order to stay undetected. If the wind¡¯s direction changed all of a sudden, then they would be discovered by the Blazing Demon Lion king.


    A pride of Blazing Demon Lions was worthy of being called one of the strongest existences in the elementary spirit ascension platform; during their approach, Tang Wulin¡¯s team did not encounter another soul beast.


    ¡°They¡¯re approximately one kilometer ahead of us. They seem to be resting and there are no signs of movement,¡± Gu Yue reported.


    Tang Wulin stopped. ¡°We¡¯ll wait here until night.¡±


    In a flash, Xie Xie appeared high amidst a tree¡¯s branches, hidden from sight as he surveyed their surroundings.


    On the other hand, Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue sat down to rest while Tang Wulin stood guard. Everyone knew their roles and did not need to be ordered to act.


    Time ticked by and the dark of night soon descended upon them.


    Gu Yue was still meditating, a clear indication that the Blazing Demon Lions had yet to move.


    Then her brows wrinkled suddenly and her eyes burst open as she turned to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Wulin looked at her in inquiry.


    Gu Yue said, ¡°Another group of people has met the lions. A battle may soon break out.¡±


    ¡°Are they springing into action or acting passively right now?¡± Tang Wulin asked hastily.


    Gu Yue said, ¡°They¡¯re currently passive. Their encounter should be a coincidence. What are we going to do?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going in.¡± Light twinkled in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he announced this.


    No one questioned him; they all trusted his decision.


    As Tang Wulin broke into a high-speed dash, the other three followed closely behind. The four moved in unison, suppressing their soul power fluctuations to remain as stealthy as possible. They did not call out their martial souls in fear of giving away their locations. Instead, they relied solely on their senses to travel through the wilderness.


    A succession of lion roars rumbled soon after, a faint bloody aura now lingering in the air. Afterward, the shouts of humans resonated through the thicket, followed by ripples of soul power.


    Tang Wulin did not charge in directly but sped to the side of the battlefield.

 Chapter 233 - Waiting for an Opening

    Chapter 233 - Waiting for an Opening


    Even from a distance, Tang Wulin could make out the majestic figure of the Blazing Demon Lion King. Currently, it was engaged in battle with a group of seven soul masters.


    He signalled for his teammates to halt. Raising his right hand, his purple soul ring appeared, its light dim and suppressed. He wrapped a strand of Bluesilver Grass around a thick branch and swung himself up.


    In an instant, he recalled his soul ring, a purple light twinkling in his eyes as the Purple Demon Eyes activated.


    From this vantage point he could see everything in a two hundred meter radius, not to mention a perfect view of the battle.


    Although one lion lay motionless, seemingly dead, the rest of the pride assaulted the soul masters in a frenzy.


    Spirit energy swirled around the soul masters, a testament to their strength.


    As he observed the battle, Tang Wulin discerned the power levels of this group of soul masters: all seven were three-ringed Soul Elders and two of them possessed a purple soul ring each. They appeared to be around twenty years old.


    It was clear that they were prepared to take on this Blazing Demon Lion King.


    Including its deceased member, the pride was composed of sixteen Blazing Demon Lions. Standing in the middle tyrannically was their gigantic lord. Such a beast emanated pure might.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but suck in a deep breath as he took in the scene of the battlefield. Reality was cruel. He had guessed that this pride might have had multiple thousand-year lions. Only now did he understand just how formidable this pride was.


    Among the remaining fifteen Blazing Demon Lions, there was a total of four at the thousand-year level¡ªthree lionesses and their king. The king¡¯s gargantuan size suggested that it was an extraordinary thousand-year level beast.


    If its strength surpassed three thousand years, then this pride of lions was a walking calamity.


    Tang Wulin gestured with his hands, motioning for his teammates to be patient and not be hasty.


    If these was a real battle between humans and soul beasts, they would certainly do their best to save the other team, but this was the spirit ascension platform. Death had no true significance here. What mattered was how much spirit energy they could absorb. For this reason, Tang Wulin was the picture of patience as he monitored the present situation.


    His judgement was correct. It was evident that the group of soul masters had underestimated the pride.


    Under the lions¡¯ fierce assault, casualties occurred one after the other.


    Whether it was close or long-ranged combat, Blazing Demon Lions excelled at both. Scorching flames enveloped their powerful bodies. Each lion was about the same size, their flame¡¯s color serving as the only indicator of different cultivations. While the hundred-year lions were dressed in a bright red blaze, the thousand-year lions were swathed in yellow flames.


    The four flaming yellow lions stood out amongst the pride. Unfortunately for the team of soul masters, they had provoked the wrath of the lions after killing one. The group was now surrounded, all avenues of escape cut off.


    That being said, they were not weak. Despite suffering casualties, the soul masters managed to inflict grievous wounds on the lions.


    Members of both sides continued to collapse one by one, trading incapacitating blows. Yet, it was clear that the humans were losing ground.


    Tang Wulin continued to wait. He knew that provoking such a powerful pride was akin to playing with fire, but now that this team of seven had weakened the lions, things were looking more favorable for class zero. The could play the role of a scavenger, swooping in to seize the spoils of war after both sides had finished laying waste to one another.


    Tang Wulin descended from the tree without so much as a peep, whispering a few words into Xie Xie¡¯s ear.


    Though Xie Xie grimaced as he listened, he still nodded in the end, even flashing a big thumbs up at his captain. A moment later, he vanished into the blanket of darkness.


    Night had swept down at full blast, stretching far and wide. Such a sky was moonless, murderous winds howling through the air!


    Turning to face Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue, Tang Wulin instructed them. Following that, he snuck toward the battleground with Gu Yue at his side, blending in with the surroundings and taking advantage of the thicket¡¯s shadows.


    Three of the seven soul masters survived, one whose injuries were nothing to scoff at. As for the lion pride, there were two wounded thousand-year lions and four deceased hundred-year lions. Although the wounds were not fatal, they restrained their strength.


    The leader of the surviving soul masters was a tall and sturdy young man approximately twenty years old. He had a head full of spiky yellow hair, muscles swelling under the influence of his martial soul. Standing at two-and-a-half meters tall, he resembled a behemoth.


    He gripped a long metal rod in his hand. The rod stretched over four meters long with an enlarged tip, dark vascular lines running along the sides. From his blacksmithing experience, Tang Wulin understood that it was made of hundred refined metal. Considering its sheer size, the rod must have weighed at least five hundred kilograms.


    That this young man acted as the vanguard was the sole reason why the soul masters had held on for so long, even to the point of wounding the lions.


    His identity as a power-type soul master was evident. Despite the rod not being his martial soul, he gripped and swung it to ward off the lions, his body exuding a yellow glow.


    The giant youth crushed the skull of the first lion he had killed. As such, the surviving members of the pride were both cautious of and focused their attacks on him.


    By his side, a girl conjured up shields of white light, protecting him from the lions¡¯ barrage. Even so, exhaustion weighed down on her. Blood trickled down the corner of her mouth while her shields became progressively weaker.


    ¡°Big brother Kun, I can¡¯t hold on any longer,¡± the girl said urgently.


    With a roar, the youth swung the rod and staved off three charging lions. In a muffled voice, he said, ¡°Our luck is pretty bad to meet such a powerful Blazing Demon Lion pride this time. You guys leave first. I¡¯ll kill one or two more for vengeance.¡±


    The girl nodded and pressed the escape button on the back of her hand. The pain they felt in the spirit ascension platform was no joke. No one wanted to experience being torn to shreds by lions.


    She disappeared in a flash of light.


    Apart from the giant youth, only a slender agility-type soul master remained.


    All of a sudden, the thousand-year Blazing Demon Lion King leaped toward the robust youth, spurring a shout from the young man in return. Yellow light erupted from his body, his veins jutting out as he waved his rod with all his strength.


    However, the lion king was sly and his charge was a feint! In mid-air, it  changed directions in an instant.


    Obviously, this feat was impossible to accomplish by itself. No, it received the help of a thousand-year lioness. The lioness had pounced into the king¡¯s body, striking the male full force at the agility-type soul master.


    This redirection was too abrupt for the agility-type soul master to react to. He was engulfed in crimson flames instantly. All he managed to do was slap his escape button.


    At last, the sole survivor of the group was its leader.


    Just as he was about to succumb to despair and resolve himself to fight to the death, a blue vine shot out from the distance.


    The vines burst out of the ground and bound the ferocious soul beasts.


    Each vine was a thick as a child¡¯s arm, sparkling limpidly as if carved from crystal. Faint rays of light twinkled within them.


    The pride of Blazing Demon Lions stiffened before the vines obstructed their movements.


    To let such an opportunity slip by would be a crime. Without missing a beat, the young man charged forward and smashed open the skull of a hundred-year soul beast, sending its brain matter splattering through the air.


    Like a flash of lightning, he turned around and clubbed the head of another thousand-year lioness.


    The Blazing Demon Lions called upon infernos to disintegrate the blue vines. Unfortunately for them, the vines released their holds before burning to crisps.


    Snarling, the majestic thousand-year Blazing Demon Lion King charged at the youth, but was locked in place by a golden vine. Though the other lions continued attacking, their combined strength paled in comparison with the king¡¯s.


    At that moment, icy-blue lights showered down upon the lions like heaven¡¯s retribution.

 Chapter 234 - Total Victory

    Chapter 234 - Total Victory


    Fire and ice were mortal enemies; the half-meter long icicles were like the harbingers of death, forcing the lions to release their hottest flames to protect themselves. Nonetheless, the scorching air still cooled.


    Fueled by rage and vengeance, the giant youth clubbed another two lions.


    His body was already scorched black after receiving countless attacks from the lions. The glow of soul power surrounding him was dimming rapidly as strength left his body.


    At that moment, he suddenly saw a figure quickly approaching from where the golden vine had previously sprung.


    As the figure approached, a blue glow appeared on the ground and even thicker vines burst out. They were too sturdy for even the lions¡¯ flame shields to defend against. In an instant, the hundred-year lions stiffened and roared as the vines impaled their stomachs.


    It was also clear that every lion inside the range of the Bluesilver Grass had momentarily slowed down.


    In that instant, the approaching figure dropped from the sky and onto the Blazing Demon Lion King¡¯s back. Ignoring the flames covering the lion¡¯s body, he transformed his right arm into a golden claw and grabbed the lion king¡¯s head.


    The lion king thrashed its body, struggling free of the golden vine.


    Similarly, the other lions had also managed to break free of their restraints and transferred their attention from the sturdy youth to the youngster on the lion king¡¯s back.


    The Blazing Demon Lion King shuddered, then collapsed with a loud rumble. Tang Wulin had destroyed its backbone, taking away even the chance to struggle in its death.


    Had the sturdy youth not provided the perfect distraction, Tang Wulin could not have killed the lion king so smoothly and the outcome would have differed greatly.


    Fireballs arced toward Tang Wulin, but he was prepared. The golden vine suddenly appeared beneath him, sending him soaring into the air like a spring.


    Meanwhile, an eerie sensation descended upon the lions. The shower of icicles exploded into countless shards, fusing with the emerging blizzard which grew to swallow the group of lions..


    Although the Blazing Demon Lions had become frenzied after the death of their king, the overbearing blizzard completely suppressed them.


    The youth finally realized that saviors had arrived, triggering a breath of relief to escape his lips. Coupled with the relief, however, was shock. He had clearly seen that the youngster who killed the Blazing Demon Lion King only had two rings, but both were purple. And then, a blizzard had come out of nowhere and descended upon the lions.


    In the elementary spirit ascension platform, Soul Elders were the upper limit, but there was no way a Soul Elder could possess so much firepower.


    The sight of a girl bathed in green light casually approaching the Blazing Demon Lions as if the blizzard wasn¡¯t even there had left him utterly speechless. Unfazed by the blizzard, the girl raised a hand and summoned a ball of ice while the surrounding blizzard converged on her location.


    In just several moments, the ball had grown to over one meter in diameter and spikes covered its surface.


    ¡°Go!¡± The ball of ice flew straight at a thousand-year Blazing Demon Lion.


    It managed to respond in time by opening its mouth wide to breathe a swathe of flames toward the ball.


    A violent boom tore through the air when the ball of ice exploded in the center of the pride, shattering into a mass of shards which hailed down upon the lions.


    This¡­ was this all planned?


    The sky suddenly lit up, drawing the youth¡¯s attention. Starlight descended from the heavens, blanketing the lions to seemingly no effect. Twinkling starlight enveloped them, and in a flash, they simultaneously turned to begin mauling one another.


    For that instant, flames blazed within the blizzard, but none hit the right target, leaving only the lions themselves injured.


    Blue vines slithered out once more, binding the lions. The figure from before descended again, grabbing another lion¡¯s head with his dragon claw.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± Tang Wulin asked the youth.


    Snapping out of his stupor, the youth brandished his giant rod as he leapt back into the fray.


    With his domineering strength, the remaining Blazing Demon Lions were soon suppressed and exterminated one after another.


    The youth delighted in the slaughter, venting more of his wrath with each skull he smashed open.


    All of a sudden, the pretty, large-eyed youngster called out to him, ¡°Be careful!¡±


    As the youth attempted to respond, a cold sensation ran across his neck and then, there was nothing.


    ?


    Spirit Pagoda, room thirteen of the spirit ascension platform.


    Six young men and women stared at a screen. They were the members of the Soul Elder squadron which was decimated in the battle against the Blazing Demon Lions.


    They all broke out into cheers when they saw that reinforcements had arrived and the lions were being slaughtered.


    But suddenly, the screen went black.


    ¡°What happened?¡± asked a girl.


    ¡°I think Captain had an accident,¡± said another boy in shock. If at least one member of the team remained alive in the spirit ascension platform, they could watch the events on the screen. A black screen signified that their entire team had been wiped out, with not a single member still in the spirit ascension platform.


    Sure enough, when they checked the room, the youth¡¯s box was open. Even in his normal state, his height nearly passed two meters.


    ¡°Captain, are you alright?¡± His concerned teammates surrounded him.


    Gradually, he opened his eyes then rubbed his neck. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Captain, how did you die? Didn¡¯t you guys already wipe out the lions?¡± one of the girls asked, confused.


    The youth showed a similarly puzzled expression. ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. Those soul masters that saved me were really strong. I died right as one of them told me to be careful. Maybe another powerful soul beast appeared. Well, whatever. At least I managed to avenge you guys with their help. It was my mistake this time. I underestimated the strength of the Blazing Demon Lion pride and I¡¯ve led us to ruin. As an apology, I¡¯ll take you all out to dinner.¡±

 Chapter 235 - Starlight Reversal

    Chapter 235 - Starlight Reversal


    Within the spirit ascension platform.


    After the final Blazing Demon Lion collapsed, rich spirit energy permeated the air.


    Class zero sat in the center of this energy, drawing all of it into their bodies. Not only was the air filled with the energy of lions, it also contained the energy obtained by the Soul Elder squadron.


    Since the Soul Elders had died one by one, their unabsorbed spirit energy remained and converged onto the sturdy youth. In the end, that youth also died, releasing an explosion of spirit energy for class zero to harvest.


    The decimation of the pride of lions was truly a wretched sight to behold.


    ¡°Captain, you¡¯re really too sinister.¡± Xu Xiaoyan gestured in disdain.


    Tang Wulin simply chuckled.


    ¡°But, you know, I like it.¡± Xu Xiaoyan beamed. Happiness was plastered across her face as she bathed in the dense spirit energy.


    Now that Xu Xiaoyan was at the bottleneck of rank 29, spirit energy was crucial to her. It would enable her to fuse with a stronger spirit soul once she broke through.


    Xie Xie laughed mischievously. ¡°This is the spirit ascension platform, not the real world. We can¡¯t waste this expensive rebellion period entrance ticket.¡±


    He hadn¡¯t made an appearance during the battle with the Blazing Demon Lions because he had been tasked with a crucial mission.


    They were already exceptionally familiar with the spirit ascension platform and how the monitoring system in the outside world worked. Aware that the squadron of Soul Elders was also monitoring the situation, Tang Wulin had hatched a dastardly scheme. This was a common occurrence in the spirit ascension platform, and even more so during the rebellion period.


    Stealing from a thief was truly beautiful in its own right. The sturdy youth had no idea how he died precisely because it was Xie Xie¡¯s blade that killed him.


    The greatest advantage of his Shadow Dragon Dagger¡¯s first soul skill, Shadow Dragon Blade, was its invisibility. After Xie Xie raised his cultivation, the skill had only grown deadlier.


    Considering the sturdy youth¡¯s cultivation, he would have instantly discovered Xie Xie under normal conditions. Weary, exhausted, and on the verge of victory, however, he had lowered his guard. Xie Xie had hidden himself, waiting to strike at such a moment and reaping the spirit energy of the youth¡¯s entire team in one fell swoop.


    If they hadn¡¯t done this, then the majority of the lions¡¯ spirit energy would have gone to the sturdy youth.


    A radiant smile blossomed on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°We¡¯ve already gotten our admission¡¯s worth of spirit energy. Let¡¯s rest and recover for now, everyone. The scent of the Blazing Demon Lions will linger for a while longer, and we can take advantage of it to absorb a bit more. Our goal is to leave no spirit energy behind.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Every one of them had a few hundred years worth of energy to absorb; it was a great harvest.


    Gu Yue had long since sat down to recuperate and absorb the energy. After the battle¡¯s conclusion, she had been the calmest of them all, neither questioning Tang Wulin¡¯s scheming nor showing any excitement.


    Tang Wulin sat down beside her, smiling. ¡°How are you doing? Is your body alright?¡±


    Since she had killed the two remaining thousand-year Blazing Demon Lions, the density of spirit energy swirling around her body even exceeded that of Tang Wulin¡¯s.


    She shook her head gently. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I won¡¯t make much progress since the spirit energy will be divided between three rings. You, on the other hand, should be the one concerned about exceeding your limits.¡±


    ¡°Mn. I know. You guys will handle the rest from now on; then I won¡¯t have to worry about it.¡± Tang Wulin currently had two purple soul rings that were both at about four thousand years, whereas his limit was five thousand years. This left over a thousand years of energy for him to fill. His limit wasn¡¯t a pressing issue yet, and the pain he suffered back then had made him more cautious.


    Their soul power recovered after half an hour of rest, so they stood up and resumed their trek into the heart of Star Dou Forest.


    They still needed more time to absorb the spirit energy lingering on their bodies, but until then, its radiance was noticeable. From now on, their opponents weren¡¯t just soul beasts, but also other soul masters.


    ¡°Captain, your Bluesilver Impaling Array is pretty awesome! Even though it¡¯s not that strong, its stunning effect is great for crowd control,¡± Xie Xie quietly said from Tang Wulin¡¯s side.


    Bluesilver Impaling Array was Tang Wulin¡¯s second soul skill from Goldlight. When he was fused with it, despite being certain that his wishes would have no effect, he had focused his entire being on calling for a crowd-control soul skill. To his surprise, his wish came true and he obtained Bluesilver Impaling Array.


    Bluesilver Impaling Array primarily focusing on control with attack power taking a back seat. Of course, as a thousand-year soul skill, it was deadly to quite a degree. Its main purpose, however, was to control enemies. Through high frequency vibrations in the Bluesilver Grass, the foes struck by it would have their minds thrown into confusion and be temporarily stunned.


    As of that moment, Tang Wulin could launch Bluesilver Impaling Array from anywhere within reach of his Bluesilver Grass in a radius of fifteen meters.


    Although Bind¡¯s capacity for control was great, Tang Wulin had to pay attention to every enemy he used it against. It was more suitable for a small number of opponents, while Bluesilver Impaling Array proved effective against large groups. Furthermore, he could layer the effects of the two skills.


    Wu Zhangkong had worked with him in the past few years, helping him slowly form his path of cultivation. Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul would focus on control while his Golden Dragon King abilities would be his main method of attack. He would be lacking in ranged combat, but Wu Zhangkong had assured him that, should he reach the peak with his body, he would still be a force to be reckoned with.


    In light of this, the first thing Tang Wulin exchanged his Tang Sect contribution points for was a way to improve his body¡¯s combat ability.


    Tang Wulin gave a wry smile at Xie Xie¡¯s words. ¡°Xiaoyan¡¯s crowd control is even more amazing! Starlight Reversal is a spectacular skill.¡±


    Since they had battled under the blanket of night, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Starwheel Ice Staff had awakened, and she could use the full might of her second soul skill, Starlight Reversal.


    In contrast to Tang Wulin, she excelled in ranged combat and control, but similar to him, her two starlight skills were powerful in controlling foes. Starlight Reversal would send their opponents into disarray, forcing groups to attack each other or simply come to a halt. It was precisely because of her coordination with Tang Wulin in launching one control skill after another against the Blazing Demon Lions, keeping them in chaos the entire time, that they were able to crush them.


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. She had been always been chasing after her teammates, hoping to catch up to them, and only felt some confidence at night. Astrological skills were highly exhausting and restrictive, but extremely effective in team settings.


    Wind hissed as a dark-red figure suddenly flew out of the branches of a tree.


    The figure was humanoid, but its arms were unusually long. As it flew through the air, its target became clear¡ªit was aiming for Gu Yue. It seemed that, in its eyes, women were easy targets.


    In an instant, a blue vine shot out and bound its body, halting its speedy charge in midair and dragging it down.


    Tang Wulin raised his palms to the sky, two soul rings rising from beneath him and a white glow emanating from his body. An invisible force seemed to grab the red beast, ferociously dragging it toward Tang Wulin.


    But it quickly recovered its senses. Although its legs were bound, its arms were free, and it swung at Tang Wulin¡¯s head.


    Tang Wulin snorted, his own fists flying out to meet his attacker¡¯s.


    With a boom, the red figure was forced to stagger backward a step while Tang Wulin was unshaken.


    Tang Wulin grabbed a vine and tugged on it, pulling it back toward him. Making an instantaneous pulling gesture with his hands, the invisible force reappeared and pushed the figure¡¯s arms apart.


    Tang Wulin then delivered a powerful kick to its stomach, and its body bent forward in response, placing its head right before him.

 Chapter 236 - Onward

    Chapter 236 - Onward


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hands closed around its head.


    He twisted the red figure¡¯s head a full 180 degrees, snapping its neck in the process! Its muscular body stiffened for an instant before collapsing like a rag doll.


    A ball of spirit energy flew out to join the rest that swirled around his body.


    ¡°It¡¯s a hundred-year Brute Ape.¡± It was only now that the others could identify the beast Tang Wulin had killed.


    Only a few seconds had passed from the moment the Brute Ape leapt out to Tang Wulin snapping its neck.


    The Brute Ape possessed excellent strength, surpassing most of its peers in the same year level. Unfortunately, its foe today was Tang Wulin, a monster brimming with power. The conclusion had been set in stone the moment it decided to attack Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was also quite satisfied with himself. He had become more proficient in Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, which also complemented the Mysterious Heaven Method. Although his soul power rank was only in the twenties still, long term use of the Mysterious Heaven Method had stabilized his condensed soul power, increasing its explosiveness by far when compared to his peers.


    After leaving the Blazing Demon Lions¡¯ territory, they encountered so many soul beasts it was like an endless stream. This was to be expected of the rebellion spirit ascension platform.


    A pack of Wind Demon Wolves had attacked them on the way but were swiftly dealt with by Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Impaling Array. These types of soul beasts usually relied on their numbers rather than individual strength. Tang Wulin chose not to pursue them since their spirit energy was simply too meager to bother with.


    After warding off the wolves, they continued onward.


    They would take half an hour to rest every two hours before advancing deeper into the forest. They began to accumulate more and more spirit energy as they progressed, so much so that they exceeded their ability to absorb it all.


    The sky grew bright; they were on the eve of finishing their first day in the rebellion spirit ascension platform. They had survived for much more than ten hours now, but their final exam required they pass a full twenty-four hours.


    Of course, they had never thought that they would have any difficulty passing the final exam in the first place.


    ¡°Everyone, let¡¯s take a break.¡± hunger was not an issue in the spirit ascension platform since they were merely projections of their real selves. Naturally, they would have to satiate themselves once they exited.


    Dawn broke. Tang Wulin cultivated the Purple Demon Eyes silently as he gazed at the distant creeping white fog. He had tried cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes here in the past and discovered, to his surprise, that not only was it possible, it was also far more efficient. Though he wasn¡¯t sure why that was the case, he couldn¡¯t let this opportunity slip away.


    Wu Zhangkong had told him that once he cultivated the Purple Demon Eyes to the second level, it would become exponentially harder to make progress. He needed to cultivate it diligently every single day of the year, slowly building his proficiency toward the next level. Furthermore, his perception and luck would play a major role in whether he could break through. Even Wu Zhangkong, who was now a seven-ringed soul master, was stuck at the second level.


    Xu Xiaoyan stood beside him, also cultivating it. Xie Xie, however, had yet to reach the third rank in his profession and hence still limited to two Tang Sect secret arts¡ªthe Mysterious Heaven Method and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. On the other hand, Xu Xiaoyan had chosen the Purple Demon Eyes for the sake of raising her spiritual power.


    Xie Xie had cultivated diligently in the past few years. He had long decided that the Purple Demon Eyes would be his next art.


    Not to mention its utility in combat, its function as a spiritual power cultivation method was top-tier!


    ¡°We¡¯ll pass our final exam at noon today,¡± Xie Xie snickered.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down or daydream. Even if this is the elementary spirit ascension platform, there are still threats.¡±


    Xie Xie chuckled. ¡°There wouldn¡¯t be such coincidences! There are only a few beasts that can still be considered a threat to us here. There¡¯s no way our luck is that bad.¡±


    Gu Yue glared at him. ¡°Shut your crow¡¯s beak.¡±


    Although he snorted, Xie Xie did not retort. Her strength was truly inhuman. Now that she had three rings, not even the others of class zero knew just how strong she was.


    Although Tang Wulin could probably restrain Gu Yue in close combat, her ability to teleport away at a moment¡¯s notice left him at a loss. Thus, Gu Yue¡¯s overall strength was the greatest in class zero.


    By the time they were rested and reorganized, the sun was out in its full splendor. Tang Wulin said, ¡°We still need to be careful. We¡¯ll pass our exam first before making any other plans. Being on top of a hill, we have the advantage and can observe our surroundings. We¡¯re going to wait here until we¡¯ve passed our exam, then we¡¯ll charge into the forest¡¯s depths.¡±


    The deeper into the forest they ventured, the more powerful the soul beasts they would encounter.


    Penetrating into the depths posed no problem to them. The vegetation grew lusher and the trees more solid the closer to the forest¡¯s heart they were. They had tried to explore it numerous times before, but each attempt would be foiled by the presence of powerful soul beasts.


    Today was possibly their last chance to explore the spirit ascension platform for a while, so they wanted to investigate what lied deep in the forest.


    The location Tang Wulin picked proved excellent. Although soul beasts had attacked them several times, the terrain helped them to drive them off easily. Tang Wulin had ordered the team to refrain from killing for the sake of not attracting more beasts; they were to ward them off and only kill the most determined and vicious.


    By relying on their terrain advantage, they were able to detect powerful soul beasts in advance and avoid them. Once the beasts left, they would return to their original spot.


    Another benefit of waiting here was that they had ample time to absorb the lingering spirit energy on their bodies. Now, even if they were swiftly killed upon entering the forest¡¯s depths, neither the spirit energy would be wasted nor their trip this time.


    It was exactly noon.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty much time.¡± Excitement replaced Tang Wulin¡¯s calm as a sharp aura wrapped around him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± He shot forward like the wind, heading straight into the heart of the forest.


    Green lights enveloped all four of them, boosting their agility.


    Caution was tossed to the wind this time as they charged onward at full speed.


    However far they could go, they would go!


    Gu Yue summoned birds of wind to scout ahead. With Tang Wulin in the lead and guided by the wind birds, they were able to evade detection of several mighty soul beasts.


    They continued to advance with lightning speed just like this.


    The vegetation thickened as they progressed, forcing Tang Wulin to sweep apart the foliage and open up a path with his Bluesilver Grass.


    Maintaining this high-speed rush, they covered more distance in two hours than they had in the entire previous day.

 Chapter 237 - The Heart of the Forest

    Chapter 237 - The Heart of the Forest


    Dark shadows pervaded the forest as the sheer density of the canopy blocked the sunlight, and the earthy scents of plant life saturated the damp air.


    This place already seemed to resemble the intermediate level. Only Tang Wulin had set foot there before, and it had been an unforgettable experience in which he first bore witness to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s overwhelming power. Thousand-year and ten-thousand-year soul beasts had fallen one after the other before him, dropping like flies.


    ¡°Stay alert, everyone. The foliage limits my wind birds¡¯ vision,¡± Gu Yue warned in a low voice.


    Tang Wulin slowed his pace. It was unwise to rush forward in this environment.


    ¡°Captain, do you think we can cross into the intermediate level if we venture deep enough?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Teacher Wu never spoke about it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± Gu Yue interjected.


    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Wulin turned to her.


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°Every level of the spirit ascension platform is connected. It¡¯s possible to enter the intermediate level from here as long as you¡¯re strong enough. However, a powerful soul beast guards the barrier between levels. Only after defeating it can we cross over. Unfortunately, I think this will be difficult for us, much less ordinary soul masters. The guardian is the reason why very few people can cross between levels.¡±


    As a member of the Spirit Pagoda, Gu Yue had access to information unknown to outsiders.


    Excitement bubbled within Xie Xie. ¡°Let¡¯s give a try then. Maybe we can enter the intermediate level this time.¡±


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be that easy.¡±


    He could still recall how terrifying the soul beasts in the intermediate level were. The Blazing Demon Lion King was nothing when compared to any random beast from that level. Aside from that, the Spirit Pagoda would have definitely installed preventative measures to keep people from crossing the borders between levels. Tang Wulin and the others would face great resistance if they tried to do so.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try.¡± For once, Gu Yue agreed with Xie Xie.


    As of late, soul beasts rarely appeared before them. This lack of beasts, as well as the silence that came with it, only served to magnify the gloom of the forest. An eerie calm descended on this thriving forest.


    Tang Wulin knew from experience that they had entered the domain of a powerful soul beast, and since not a single sound could be heard, it was probably far more powerful than the Blazing Demon Lion King.


    There was only one other situation they had encountered these circumstances before.


    ¡°Xie Xie, do you remember the first time we came to the rebellion spirit ascension platform?¡± Tang Wulin quietly asked.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Xie Xie said. ¡°Our luck was pretty good that time and we were able to absorb a bunch of energy thanks to the Man-Faced Demon Spider. That was also the first time you evolved your spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°In that case, do you remember how you were killed?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    A cold shiver ran down Xie Xie¡¯s spine. He understood where Tang Wulin¡¯s thoughts were travelling to. His voice trembled as he spoke. ¡°Are you saying that this place is¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin forced out a bitter laugh. ¡°I¡¯m getting a similar vibe. Hopefully, I¡¯m wrong.¡±


    Xie Xie subconsciously drew closer to Tang Wulin, fear surfacing in his eyes. He could never forget the chilling sensation of being chopped to pieces during their first adventure in the rebellion spirit ascension platform. He had been plagued with nightmares and dread for an entire month after that.


    They hadn¡¯t come across that particular soul beast in the past few years, but the terrifying memory still hadn¡¯t left Xie Xie.


    ¡°Are you saying¡­?¡± Gu Yue¡¯s voice trailed off.


    Her expression became grim when Tang Wulin nodded.


    Dusk seemed to gather in their surroundings and an unseen pressure weighed down on them. Xie Xie¡¯s palms were sweaty and his breathing became haggard.


    ¡°How about we take another route?¡± Xie Xie asked meekly.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s voice was stern. ¡°There are some things that we can¡¯t run from. If you don¡¯t gather the courage to face the beast, then it will haunt you forever. Only by prevailing over it will you be able to advance further and become even more powerful.¡±


    Xie Xie made a bitter face. ¡°That¡¯s easy to say, but¡ª¡±


    Tang Wulin suddenly threw out his arms to stop everyone in their tracks. His eyes narrowed as he tried to make out what lay beyond the trees in front of them.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s connection to plants due to his Bluesilver Grass meant that his perception was the keenest in the forest amongst his group and he could sense what others could not; for example, he could sense the fear of the surrounding plants.


    ¡°Come out!¡± he growled.


    As if working in tandem with Tang Wulin, Gu Yue summoned a fireball and tossed it in the direction of his gaze.


    The fireball surged into the depths of the forest, exploding midair when a blur of motion attacked it.


    A majestic figure emerged from the shadows, and Xie Xie sucked in a deep breath. Fear gripped his body, his daggers trembling in his hands.


    Over three meters in height, the figure towered over them. Dark-gold fur covered its body and it had a pair of indifferent and ruthless eyes. Most alarming of all, however, were its gigantic arms. They were thick and solid, each sporting meter-long claws that were dark-gold. Faint hissing sounds could be heard whenever it slashed at the air.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s pupils contracted. ¡°The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear!¡±


    If they were to choose a single soul beast that they absolutely didn¡¯t want to encounter, it would be the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear.


    Tang Wulin had witnessed an entire pride of Blazing Demon Lions prostrate themselves before it like kittens during their first encounter. It was also the first time his golden dragon claw had been defeated.


    That memory had been carved into both his and Xie Xie¡¯s hearts.


    In the past three years, they had yet to encounter it again. As a result, they had nearly forgotten about it¡­ until today.


    Be it offense, defense, or speed, the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear excelled in everything. Its explosive power dominated both close quarters and long range combat.


    Even among other peak-level soul beasts, it stood a step above them. It was a frightening soul beast that could even contend with dragons!


    Crimson bloodthirst seeped into the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear¡¯s cold eyes as it stared at them. It advanced toward them step by step, its body starting to faintly glow.


    ¡°I¡¯m the vanguard,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡±You guys assist me. If I¡¯m defeated, exit immediately.¡±


    Tang Wulin strode forward as he spoke, his head held high. He started slow, but gradually he began to run, then he was soon charging forward courageously!


    Shame settled into Xie Xie¡¯s heart as he stared at Tang Wulin¡¯s valiant figure. Every time danger rear¡¯s its head, he¡¯s the one charging in. No! This time won¡¯t be the same!


    Xie Xie dashed to the side, suddenly moving at a high speed.


    An ice wheel arced through the air toward the bear while simultaneously, the elements in the air grew increasingly frenzied and started to gather together.


    At long last, class zero came to face its greatest opponent yet.


    Tang Wulin continued to close the distance between the him and the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, yet the soul beast came to an abrupt halt.


    The ice wheel struck the bear¡¯s head, but it didn¡¯t even blink as icy air descended upon its body and covered it in a layer of frost.


    With a booming roar, the bear brandished its claws to swipe at Tang Wulin. The ice wheel¡¯s restraining effect was nothing to it.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand transformed into the golden dragon claw and he swung at the bear. He may not have been its match three years ago, but he was different now.


    A metallic crash tore through the air. Tang Wulin staggered back seven steps before steadying himself.


    During his first clash with a hundred-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, he had been sent flying.


    He looked at his claw. It was undamaged, but he had felt a sudden spike in soul power consumption during the clash.

 Chapter 238 - Battling the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear

    Chapter 238 - Battling the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear


    The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear stilled at the odd sensation on his claw. It lowered its head, taken aback when it saw a small nick where his and Tang Wulin¡¯s claws had clashed.


    It opened its mouth to release a furious roar that shook the heavens as dark-gold light exploded from its body


    Icicles and fireballs rained down upon it, but disintegrated the moment they entered the range of this golden light.


    For a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, its claw was its most prized possession. Rage coursed through its veins at the thought of its damaged claw.


    Xie Xie had made his way to the side. He leapt into the air, his third soul ring lighting up as he silently launched his surprise attack.


    His body faded until it almost seemed illusory  and in the blink of an eye, separated into three clones that split up to assault the bear from different angles.


    Xie Xie couldn¡¯t have timed it better; he attacked while the bear was still raging over its damaged claw.


    Metallic clinks resounded as Xie Xie slashed with his two daggers. Yet, the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear was unmoved and unharmed.


    It roared once more, unleashing its golden aura with renewed fury as it spun in place while sweeping out with its claws to repel the three clones.


    The three retreated with haste. Only one succeeded, however; the other two were chopped into pieces and dissipated from existence.


    Xie Xie leaped backward. He didn¡¯t dare approach again.


    This bastard¡¯s defense is too strong.


    At that moment, a five-meter-long deep blue spear of ice shot down from the sky straight at the bear¡¯s head.


    Bang!


    The ice spear shattered! The bear raised a paw to rub its head, not amused.


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s expression paled with horror. Her second soul skill, Ice Spear, was her strongest attack! It had taken her brother his third soul ring to gain this skill that boasted formidable single-target firepower, yet the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear had simply shrugged it off! She could only imagine how tough its body was.


    ¡°Buy me some time,¡± Gu Yue shouted. Her two hands flew around in a series of wild gestures, gathering elements to her. Unexpectedly, all three of her soul rings were brightening.


    Her first soul skill was Elemental Tide, her second Elemental Control, and her thousand-year third soul skill was called Elemental Fusion!


    She bathed in the rainbow-colored light that her three powerful elemental support-type skills released, her countenance akin to a fairy.


    The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear chose to act at this moment. Rather than pursuing Xie Xie or attack Xu Xiaoyan, it charged at Tang Wulin with the force of a small mountain. Every one of its claws, now over five meters long, aimed for Tang Wulin¡¯s head!


    It resented Tang Wulin for nicking its claws and wanted revenge.


    In a flash of blue light, Tang Wulin soared into the air, Bluesilver Impaling Array activating below.


    The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear stumbled in the face of such stalagmite-like grass but still managed to slash the escaping Tang Wulin. Clearly, it was not affected by the Bluesilver Impaling Array¡¯s high frequency vibrations.


    In reality, the Bluesilver Grass hadn¡¯t even been able to penetrate the soles of its feet!


    Tang Wulin pulled on another vine of Bluesilver Grass, changing directions mid air and evading its second attack.


    His eyes sparkled at this challenge. Even if it was a stronger Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, today, he wanted to face it head-to-head.


    He twisted around to give Gu Yue a look. An instant later, a disc of ice appeared beneath him. Exerting strength through his legs, he changed directions mid air once more. Instead of opening up the distance between them, he shot right at it.


    The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear was determined to meet him head on and charged straight at him.


    A golden spike appeared behind it in a halo of golden light and slammed into the bear¡¯s back, throwing it into the air and momentarily stunning it. Although the spike¡¯s attack didn¡¯t faze the bear, it was tougher than the Bluesilver Impaling Array and broke the bear¡¯s momentum. Tang Wulin swooped in right then, and their two figures overlapped in a flash.


    Although The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear  lost control of its body, it didn¡¯t care. The golden spike did not inflict any damage, but its intense vibrations gave the bear a concussion and affected its speed.


    It was at this moment that Tang Wulin descended on its head.


    The bear waved its arms in an attempt to slash Tang Wulin to death but due to the intense vibrations of the golden Bluesilver Grass, its attacking speed was slower and its power weaker..


    Tang Wulin met the claw with his own once again, a metallic screech ripping through the air as they collided.


    Tang Wulin held his ground this time. Aided by both gravity and the effect of his golden grass, they were evenly matched and both of their arms recoiled backward from the clash.


    By then, Tang Wulin had landed on its shoulder.


    Raising his foot, he kicked the bear¡¯s neck. It felt as if he was kicking a wall of steel; if not for the fact that his body was far stronger than usual, then his foot would have snapped off.


    The bear¡¯s head went askew after being kicked and, taking advantage of this, a vine quickly ran up and wound itself around its neck. Tang Wulin grabbed the other end of the vine and turned his body to kick off the bear¡¯s back with all his strength. His muscles rippled with power as he heaved the vine.


    Tang Wulin strangled the bear with the vine in midair, causing its attack to fly off mark. Its body, flipped around by Tang Wulin, headed towards the ground.


    Tang Wulin grabbed the bear. His muscles worked furiously, using all its strength to bend over backwards and flip them both upside down!


    It would have been impossible for Tang Wulin to make such a daring move if they were on the ground as the bear weighing over five thousand kilograms. He would have been stopped dead in his tracks. However, they were in midair and the bear was caught off guard, giving Tang Wulin the chance to execute such a shocking attack.


    Boom!


    The bear smashed into the ground!


    Debris exploded outward. The dust settled a moment later, revealing a shocking scene. The bear laid on its stomach, Tang Wulin kneeled on its back.


    This was possible?


    Xie Xie was dumbstruck. That¡¯s a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear! Yet, Tang Wulin threw it down just like that?


    A chilling light gleamed in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he grabbed the bear¡¯s neck with his claws.


    The neck was the weakest point of its body, and Tang Wulin had confidence in his claw¡¯s strength.

 Chapter 239 - The Final Strike

    Chapter 239 - The Final Strike


    At that moment, however, the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear¡¯s body glowed with a golden light again. Tang Wulin¡¯s claws penetrated the light, but the force behind his strike weakened significantly. Though his golden dragon claw could resist the strength of this light, the rest of his body could not.


    Before he could slice open the bear¡¯s neck, the light blasted him away.


    Even so, he still managed to tear a small chunk of flesh off the bear¡¯s neck before being sent flying. Crimson blood dotted with specks of gold bubbled out of the wound.


    The bear bellowed in pain and bolted off of the ground. It had been many years since it had last been injured and hadn¡¯t expected that today, an insignificant human would dare to wound it.


    In the end though, its defense was formidable. Even if Tang Wulin could grab it with his claw, there was a chance that the crushing effect would be useless.


    Not giving Tang Wulin a chance to regroup, the bear brandished its claws and attacked him. Tang Wulin, still in midair, was helpless to evade. His death seemed imminent; Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s ice wheel would not make it in time, while Gu Yue was still submerged in the light, preparing her own attack.


    Tang Wulin tried to summon his Bluesilver Grass, only to discover that the dark-gold light had disrupted his internal soul power and left it too frenzied to control.


    I¡¯m done for. Tang Wulin wore a bitter smile as he bravely faced his impending doom.


    Yet at that moment, a figure jumped in front of the bear¡¯s attack.


    The figure was instantly torn to shreds, and the protective layer of soul power on his body completely scattered. However, he did manage to save Tang Wulin from this fatal strike.


    ¡°Xie Xie!¡± Tang Wulin cried out. Although no one could truly die in the spirit ascension platform and they were used to the terrifying sensation of death by now, being ripped apart was still an unbearable torture! Xie Xie would suffer terribly from the after-effects.


    As Xie Xie drew his last breath, Tang Wulin could see the determination in his eyes.


    It was as if Xie Xie was telling him, Avenge me!


    Tang Wulin managed to break free of the Duskgold Dreadclaw bear¡¯s influence by using the Mysterious Heaven Method and rolled away from its claw swipes. Despite his red eyes and emotional torment, Tang Wulin continued to dodge while sending vine after vine of Bluesilver Grass after the bear.


    The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear was overcome with bloodlust after being wounded and completely ignored Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue in favor of pursuing Tang Wulin.


    Though Tang Wulin¡¯s clothes were already in tatters and exhaustion weighed him down like shackles, his eyes shined with resolution.


    Xie Xie, I will avenge you!


    With Xu Xiaoyan occasionally shooting ice spears at the bear as artillery support and taking advantage of the terrain, Tang Wulin successfully evaded all of the bear¡¯s attacks by a hair¡¯s width.


    ¡°Wulin!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard this lovely voice.


    The Bluesilver Impaling Array appeared once more. This time though, instead of targeting the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, it was aimed at Tang Wulin himself! The spikes boosted him up into the air, neatly avoiding the bear¡¯s attack!


    At that same instant, four brilliant rays of blue, red, yellow and green light surrounded the bear. They spun around it before transforming into mystical four-colored chains that bound it in place


    The bear howled in rage as it sensed this. Dark-gold light surged out of its body, only to be routed by the elemental chains that prevented it from breaking free.


    This elemental lock could barely hold the bear for a second; blood seeped from the corner of Gu Yue¡¯s mouth as she struggled to maintain it.


    Tang Wulin dropped from the sky headfirst in a golden blur, his claws in front of him to slice the bear¡¯s head.


    Ding!


    Though his claws managed to penetrate the fur, the bear¡¯s incomparably hard skull blocked his attack.


    Tang Wulin was stunned. Don¡¯t tell me even my dragon claw can¡¯t kill it?


    The bear snarled as it struggled free from the chains. They shattered into thousands of multi-colored lights that twinkled like the starry sky. Blood gushed out of Gu Yue¡¯s mouth and she collapsed in Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Die already!¡± Tang Wulin, eyes bloodshot and growling, channeled all his strength into his claws.


    His claws trembled. Then sharp cracking sounds could be heard.. A moment later, the raised arms of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear went limp.


    Tang Wulin slumped down, his claws no longer latched onto the bear¡¯s skull. His claw¡¯s crushing effect had activated at the most crucial moment.


    The bear¡¯s ruthless pair of eyes lost their spark of life as its body slowly fell over.


    Strangely, its body did not transform into spirit energy like other soul beasts but into a dark-gold light that gradually took form.


    Tang Wulin disregarded this strange phenomenon. He leapt off the bear before it collapsed and dashed over to Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s side.


    ¡°Gu Yue, are you okay?¡± His voice was tinged with anxiety.


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes were shut tight and her complexion pale, but a faint smile could be seen on her lips. Seeing this smile, Tang Wulin let out a breath of relief. Everything would be fine as long as she was still alive.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back now. We need to check on Xie Xie.¡± The thought of Xie Xie made him anxious. Xie Xie sacrificed himself for me.


    Just as he was about to slap the button on the back of his hand, Xu Xiaoyan tugged on his arm. ¡°Captain, what is that?¡±


    She pointed in the direction the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze followed her finger, thinking something had happened with the Duskgold Dreadclaw bear. Its body had indeed disappeared into particles of dark-gold light, but in its place was a twinkling dark-gold light.


    This is¡­


    He stood up and quickly made his way over.


    He was stunned by what he saw on the ground.


    It was something he had never seen before. It resembled the bones of a human hand, but the dark-gold cloud pattern seemed to suggest it was forged from some alloy. Even more confusing was that this item was clearly not metal and felt like a living thing.


    Tang Wulin stooped down to pick it up. Wow! This bone is heavy! He returned to the other two.


    ¡°What is this? Do you know?¡± Tang Wulin asked Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan was also at a loss as she examined the dark-gold bone. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a soul bone,¡± Gu Yue feebly said. She had regained consciousness some time ago and had already opened her eyes.


    ¡°A soul bone?¡± Tang Wulin and Xu Xiaoyan trembled at the words. Of course they knew what a soul bone was; it was one of the rarest items in the world of soul masters!


    Soul bones and soul rings had their similarities and differences. Soul rings were tied to one¡¯s cultivation, and once one reached the limit, they would need another soul ring to continue cultivating.


    Soul bones, on the other hand, were not essential to soul masters and wouldn¡¯t affect one¡¯s cultivation. Since ancient times, however, soul bones were the symbol of a powerful soul master as soul bones improved the soul master¡¯s body while also granting a soul skill related to it.


    The bone in Tang Wulin¡¯s grip was clearly for the right hand. If it truly was a soul bone, then fusing with it would greatly boost the power of one¡¯s right hand and grant a soul skill related to one¡¯s right hand.


    ¡°This is a soul bone? Why did a soul bone appear? This is the spirit ascension platform. Isn¡¯t this an illusory world?¡¯ Tang Wulin asked in confusion. This soul bone was like spirit energy, it had form. So just why then, did it appear in the spirit ascension platform?

 Chapter 240 - Spirit Ascension Platform Guardian

    Chapter 240 - Spirit Ascension Platform Guardian


    Gu Yue shook her head in a gentle manner. ¡°No. As far as I know, the spirit ascension platform isn¡¯t a true illusory world. It¡¯s actually a mix of illusions and reality. The elementary level is the least authentic, but that¡¯s not to say it¡¯s entirely fake. If not, how could we absorb spirit energy?¡±


    ¡°Since a soul bone appeared, that means the beast we just killed was a spirit ascension platform guardian.¡±


    ¡°Spirit ascension platform guardian? What do you mean?¡± Tang Wulin asked. Clearly, Gu Yue was privy to many details unknown by outsiders.


    Gu Yue said, ¡°Whether it is the elementary, intermediate, or advanced level, each possesses a guardian. The spirit ascension platform is actually one entity split into three sections with different entrances. To separate the levels and to prevent soul masters from crossing over to another section, the Spirit Pagoda designates a guardian per level. Only an extremely formidable soul beast can be given such a title.


    ¡°In theory, no one with less than five rings should be able to kill that Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. They never expected it to die by our hands. Also, because the guardians are more powerful than normal beasts, they require much more energy as well as a soul bone to create. Basically, the true reward for killing it is its soul bone. You can¡¯t bring it outside of the spirit ascension platform, so you better fuse with the soul bone here. There¡¯s no other way to keep it with you.¡±


    Tang Wulin was dumbstruck. ¡°But I didn¡¯t kill it alone. We brought it down together. Anyone can fuse with it, not just me¡­¡±


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes. ¡°Just what are you thinking in that head of yours? Do you think my body is strong enough? Do you think fusing with the soul bone of a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear is a walk in the park? None of us are compatible with it, so even if we tried, we¡¯d be devoured. Maybe even killed. Then the soul bone would be wasted. You¡¯re the only one who can absorb it and furthermore, there¡¯s a chance it¡¯ll complement your golden dragon claw. Now chop chop. We don¡¯t have all day.¡±


    ¡°But like you said, I already have my golden dragon claw. Wouldn¡¯t it be a waste to add on the Duskgold Dreadclaw?¡± Hesitation still gripped him, the uneasy and indecisive thoughts running circles in his mind.


    Gu Yue frowned. ¡°Of course not. In fact, it¡¯ll strengthen your dragon claw even more. The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear¡¯s strongest part is its right claw. What¡¯s more amazing is that its core is the right claw soul bone. What we have here should be an external soul bone and not one of the normal six.¡±


    Typically, soul masters could fuse with up to six soul bones: the skull, the torso, and the four limb bones.


    However, there were some peculiar or variant soul bones outside of the typical six. These were the external soul bones, and they were far more precious.


    ¡°Captain, you should just go for it. If it wasn¡¯t for you, we never would have been able to penetrate the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear¡¯s defenses. Your attack power is crucial to our team.¡± Xu Xiaoyan urged him on.


    Relative to her teammates, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s body was the weakest. Coupled with the nature of her abilities, she was the least compatible with the soul bone. Were Xie Xie still alive, he would have declined modestly as well.


    Tang Wulin nodded. He sat down cross-legged and gripped the bone in his hand.


    The process of fusing with a soul bone was identical to that of fusing with a spirit soul; he needed to draw it into himself with his soul power.


    As he activated the Mysterious Heaven Method, his soul power surged into the precious item within his hands, emanating a dim glow. A black radiance emerged from the bone, blending with golden specks of light.


    At first, the soul bone levitated above his palm. Yet as the seconds ticked by, a white luminescence drew it into his outstretched hand. The bone grew increasingly transparent, losing its dark hues, as if it was carved from golden crystal. Eventually, the light show came to an end, and the soul bone¡¯s morphological traits transformed.


    Scales appeared across Tang Wulin¡¯s arms, rippling through his muscles and adding a golden tint throughout the white soul power.


    The soul bone trembled like it was sentient, as if refusing by its own volition to merge with this unfamiliar body.


    To combat this, Tang Wulin shot ethereal strands of gold out of his palm, which latched onto the soul bone.


    The soul bone stopped trembling at once and merged into his hand.


    Now the scales on his arm glowed with a dark-gold luster. The radiance flowed back and forth like a tidal wave, splashes of gold and dark-gold interweaving together.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s breathing came intermittently, rough at one moment and tranquil at another, the energy continuing to transform with no bounds. Then, everything became still.


    No longer did his scales gleam a dark gold. They reverted back to a dull golden hue, as if the previous color had never existed in the first place. For that reason, Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan could not discern any changes in his right hand. It did not seem stronger at all.


    ¡°It¡¯s done?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked Gu Yue, skepticism clouding her eyes.


    Gu Yue was also at a loss. ¡°I don¡¯t know! It seems so. But I don¡¯t really see a difference.¡±


    At those words, Tang Wulin opened his eyes slowly, revealing a similar trace of doubt.


    He had been hit with the same impression as his teammates while he fused with the soul bone. In the beginning, he felt the spiraling wild energy within, though it was suppressed by his bloodline instantly.


    He had thought that it would be as painful as breaking a seal. Never in his dreams did he expect it to be so easy.


    This feeling did not sit well with him; it reeked of unaltered circumstances. Perhaps his golden dragon claw didn¡¯t improve as much as he had hoped.


    Tang Wulin sprang up like a spring, glaring at his right hand with a frown tugging at his lips. My hand and blood feel a bit stronger, but just by a tiny amount. It¡¯s nowhere near what should have happened by fusing with a soul bone.


    ¡°How about you test it out?¡± Seeing the doubt written on his face, Gu Yue inquired as she took his side.


    Tang Wulin responded by nodding. He rolled his hand into a fist, knuckles glowing white as he punched the air. A sonic boom rang through the open space.


    Following that, his arm swelled with power as twinkling golden scales popped from his skin.


    He closed his eyes, recalling the sensation of that punch.


    ¡°My strength has increased by about twenty percent.¡±


    Disappointment painted Gu Yue¡¯s face. Although twenty percent wasn¡¯t something to scoff at, this was an external soul bone they¡¯re talking about! The only thing that beat an external soul bone in rarity was a ten-thousand-year soul ring! A measly twenty percent increase in power was simply inexcusable.


    ¡°Is there a soul skill?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. When a soul master merged with a soul ring, he would know right away if a new soul skill hid beneath the shadows. With practice, mastering the new soul skill would be as easy.

 Chapter 241 - Golden Dragon Dreadclaw

    Chapter 241 - Golden Dragon Dreadclaw


    Though he had fused with the soul bone, if asked whether he could sense any obvious changes, the answer would be a flat no.  His right arm was unremarkable, not a glimpse of the previous fusion in sight.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan blurted out, ¡°Was that soul bone a counterfeit?¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°No way! Even if this is the spirit ascension platform, creating such a powerful hundred-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear requires a real soul bone. It¡¯s like how ordinary soul beasts need spirit energy to be made. There¡¯s no way it¡¯s fake. But¡­¡±


    Absentmindedly, Tang Wulin transformed his hand into a golden dragon claw, the limb first showered in a burst of light.


    As his claw sprang into view, his arm swelled with power. However, neither that nor his scales seemed any different. They still sported a sparkling gold. How disappointing.


    ¡°Maybe your bloodline overwhelmed the soul bone¡¯s power?¡± Gu Yue purposed helplessly. ¡°Well, there¡¯s bound to be a difference! There¡¯s no way nothing changed.¡±


    A bitter smile crawled its way over Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Only the heavens know.¡± As he spoke, he waved his claw, urging soul power into it.


    For a split second, he felt a peculiar sensation.


    His claw trembled and a dark-gold light enveloped his fingertips.


    Although it lasted just a hairbreadth of an instant, he realized what it was.


    ¡°Woah. You two, move away from me.¡± Tang Wulin retreated a few steps back before pouring soul power into his claw.


    At his call, his scales obeyed, twinkling like the countless stars in the sky. The tips of his fingers regained their dark-gold luminescence. Though faint, their existence was undeniable..


    A strange feeling welled within him. His heart rate skyrocketed, his blood a team of horses galloping through his veins. Its destination: his right hand. Such a sensation was overwhelming, immense, and he brandished his claw out of reflex.


    Five streaks of dark-gold light zipped through the air.


    All of a sudden, a third of his soul power dissipated. His blood was practically boiling over now.


    This time, what transpired was crystal clear. Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan did not miss how the dark-gold claws, which were a whopping meter long, materialized in thin air after a single slash.  They only took form for a moment, though.


    ¡°I knew it couldn¡¯t have been worthless. How do you feel?¡± Gu Yue asked, her words nearly tripping over each other from their rush.


    Shock hit Tang Wulin like a lightning bolt as he examined his hand, eyes widened and lips parted slightly. ¡°It felt like soul power leapt out of my body. Like it extends the range of my claw attacks? But it consumes a lot of soul power; I¡¯m already down by a third. It¡¯s even more demanding than using my golden dragon claw regularly.¡±


    Amidst their discussion, a growl reverberated in the air as a jade figure peaked out from the thicket.


    It was a slender four-meter tall lizard-like beast. If not for its glowing body, it would have been camouflaged. .


    The lizard¡¯s skull was enormous and its mouth flaunted rows of sharp jagged teeth. A sawtooth-like horn sat atop its head.


    Crawling Dragons were a species of land dragon with a feeble amount draconic blood running through their veins. They had violent temperaments. Coupled with powerful streamlined bodies, these beasts took advantage of the terrain to ambush prey.


    Compared to a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, a Crawling Dragon was nothing much. Still, it was on the same level as a Blazing Demon Lion.


    ¡°Wulin, this a perfect chance for you to test it out,¡± Gu Yue said.


    Light coalesced in Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s hands, forming her staff. She raised it up high and chanted, ¡°The stars in the heavens that shine forever tranquil, grant me strength! My starwheel!¡±


    It was as if a meteor shower took place, their tails trailing along the horizon, each ending in a glimmer of stardust.


    Unwittingly, time had flew by and it was already night.


    When the Crawling Dragon sensed the reaper¡¯s scythe at its neck, it was already too late. It was impaled by starlight, its body bound by shackles made of light. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn¡¯t move an inch. This was Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s first variant soul skill, Starwheel Shackles.


    Completely in sync, Tang Wulin shot forward like a rocket, while soul power surged within his body. He paid no heed, cramming it all into his claw.


    Then he stopped just a meter short of the Crawling Dragon and brandished his claw.


    Under the tyrannical might of Tang Wulin¡¯s draconic aura, the Crawling Dragon nearly released its bladder. A split second later, a flash of five dark-gold lights flickered in the air.


    It did not stir the wind at all. In fact, the five points of radiance sliced through the beast like a knife through butter.


    Before one could blink, the Crawling Dragon scattered into a mass of spirit energy.


    Xu Xiaoyan gaped at the sight. Such terrifying power! It¡¯s just¡­


    Tang Wulin was of the same sentiment. The product of the fusion was definitely superior to his golden dragon claw.


    Although the latter was formidable, it had suffered from a lack of range. In order for it to be effective, he needed to fight in close quarters. That was all behind him after fusing with the soul bone; not only did his attack range increase, his power was not sacrificed!


    Yes, these were dark-gold blades, but under careful inspection, he noticed that they were covered in small scales! A mutation had occurred! There was no way one could compare the present form with the original.


    What made Tang Wulin overjoyed, however, was that he discovered the attack distance was related to the amount of soul power consumed. Pouring in two-thirds of his capacity equated to an increase of one-and-a-half meters to his range of attack! The best part was, the Golden Dragon Dreadclaw would grow in might along with his own cultivation. Perhaps in the future, its attacks would stretch as far as the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear¡¯s.


    Indeed, Tang Wulin had decided to name the product of the fusion the Golden Dragon Dreadclaw.


    Even so, its power came at a steep cost. He could only use it two or three times per battle before running out of soul power, and that wasn¡¯t even at its full strength.


    ¡°Congratulations, your attack range has increased.¡± Gu Yue smiled as she approached him.


    Yet, a smile was absent from Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We should hurry and check on Xie Xie.¡±


    Slapping the buttons on the back of their hands at the same time, the trio disappeared in a flash of light.


    Not long after their departure, though, a pair of jade-green eyes burst open deep in the forest, a terrifying aura swallowing the surrounding area whole.


    ?


    After exiting the metal box and clearing his head, Tang Wulin darted out of the room.


    Upon seeing Xie Xie, huddled in a blanket and twitching like mad, Tang Wulin let out a breath of relief.


    Xie Xie was in bad shape. There was no doubt about it. His body couldn¡¯t stop trembling, his pale face soaked with sweat.


    Wu Zhangkong sat beside him. He circulated soul power into his body with the Mysterious Heaven Method to stabilize his condition.


    As long as he had regained consciousness, everything would be fine. After many adventures in the spirit ascension platform, they knew the disharmony in his body disappear momentarily.


    Tang Wulin nudged close to Xie Xie with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re alright. I was worried you wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it.¡±


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°How am I ¡®alright¡¯? Don¡¯t you see me shaking? So, did you kill it?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Yeah, I avenged you.¡±


    Xie Xie managed a few laughs. ¡°That¡¯s good then. We¡¯ve finally gotten rid of that blasted thing. Now I won¡¯t be haunted by it anymore.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t the one who killed it,¡± Xu Xiaoyan interjected as she and Gu Yue arrived.


    Xie Xie said, ¡°You¡¯re always picking a fight with me! Can¡¯t you be nice to me for even a moment after seeing how much I¡¯m suffering!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°If we let you be prideful now, then who knows how cocky you¡¯re going to act in the future!¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°So you guys didn¡¯t cross over and take look?¡±


    To that, Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°We were afraid something happened to you so we rushed out. Oh right, we got a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear¡¯s right hand soul bone¡­¡± He continued to recount the events that transpired.

 Chapter 242 - Passing the Exam

    Chapter 242 - Passing the Exam


    Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t watched it happen despite having been shown on the screen, since he was preoccupied with Xie Xie¡¯s condition.


    Xie Xie¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°T-that¡¯s possible? A soul bone! You got a soul bone! Wulin, you can pay me back with it.¡±


    Gu Yue knitted her brows. ¡°Now you¡¯re trying to snatch it away?¡±


    Xie Xie snorted. ¡°Is it no good? Alright, fine. Then you can just forge my battle armor for me instead, Wulin.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°Alright.¡±


    Initially taken aback by Xie Xie, Gu Yue began smiling a moment later.


    As comrades, they  were going to help each other make their battle armors anyway! They wouldn¡¯t have chosen different professions otherwise.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s watched over them firmly. ¡°You¡¯ve all passed your final exam.¡±


    With the exam now over, the first semester of the fourth grade was concluded. Their journey, however, was only just beginning, as the next chapter of their story would soon lead them to the haven of their dreams.


    ?


    In a room pervaded by and heavy with the element of darkness, a purple halo lit up, driving back some of the oppressive atmosphere.


    ¡°My Lord,¡± a deep voice said deferentially, its owner kneeling. In spite of his human appearance, he had an aura as frightening as the abyss.


    ¡°Mn.¡± A petite figure emerged, a sight for sore eyes in the midst of the heavy gloom. She had silver hair which flowed down to the floor, and her two violet eyes seemed to pierce the darkness.


    ¡°What¡¯s the progress?¡± A delicate voice rang, as if from a young girl.


    ¡°We have already completely integrated ourselves, and collected information from all parties. Please take a look,¡± the black figure said softly.


    ¡°Mn.¡± In a blinding flash, a silver claw gripped the figure¡¯s head. Intense shudders ran through his body for an instant before gradually easing down to a slight quiver.


    ?


    On a high-speed train headed for Shrek City from Eastsea City.


    In the most ordinary of second class seats, the four students of class zero were bursting with excitement. This was their first trip to such a distant place.


    On top of that, this journey was bound to forever change their fates.


    The two girls sat on one side while Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Wu Zhangkong sat on the other, separated by the center aisle.


    Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan chirped noisily from time to time while Gu Yue looked out the window quietly. Tang Wulin¡¯s vision was also directed outside, but his eyes were unfocused. He had many things to ponder.


    Wu Zhangkong leaned back in his chair, eyes closed; he was fast asleep.


    As he stared absentmindedly out the window, Tang Wulin recalled the warnings received from his other teacher before his departure.


    ?


    ¡°Wulin, I wish you success on your trip to Shrek Academy. However, you cannot neglect your blacksmithing practice. You must forge daily. In these past three years, you have made startling progress even by my standards. I¡¯m certain that once you gain your third ring, Spirit Refinement will naturally follow.¡±


    It was clear how much Mu Chen, a Saint Blacksmith, approved of Tang Wulin for him to speak such praise.


    After recovering from his injuries three years before, Tang Wulin swiftly became able to first-grade thousand refine, and started to do so for any metal he could get his hands on. He had completed countless first-grade thousand refining tasks.


    Spirit Refinement would usually be attempted once the blacksmith reached a thirty percent success rate for first-grade thousand refining. In fact, some blacksmiths would even attempt it while only having a ten percent success rate for first-grade thousand refining.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin had reached a guaranteed success rate!!


    In comparison, Mu Chen only had a fifty percent success rate when he first attempted Spirit Refinement!


    While Tang Wulin¡¯s situation stemmed from his low cultivation, with his immense talent for forging, he quickly honed his skills to such a level that he could instead focus on cultivating.


    Yet his discipline never wavered as he continued to forge diligently while also requesting guidance from Mu Chen on every single detail about first-grade thousand refining. His Thousand Refinements were honed beyond perfection now.


    During the past three years, he had engraved into his heart every quirk and property of a myriad of metals. Even Mu Chen found such a standard too harsh to impose on anyone. He was hard-pressed to find even the slightest fault in this gifted disciple of his.


    Mu Chen did not dissuade Tang Wulin from leaving for Shrek City to take the Shrek entrance exam. If he managed to pass, not only would he grow into a powerful soul master in the future, he would also become a battle armor master.


    Soul power and blacksmithing complemented one another. Mu Chen sincerely hoped for his disciple to reach the greatest heights possible.


    ¡°Yes, Teacher,¡± Tang Wulin promised respectfully.


    Mu Chen said, ¡°If you pass the Shrek exam, give me a call and I¡¯ll make arrangements for your blacksmithing studies.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s tone grew even more respectful.


    Without Mu Chen¡¯s careful guidance, Tang Wulin would never have been able to obtain all the metals he had forged from the market! Mu Chen had provided him with many rare metals produced in small quantities. Only Master Craftsman rank blacksmiths and above had access to them for the sake of Spirit Refinement.


    Despite that, Mu Chen had provided him with countless such metals and taught him all of their characteristics one by one. Only this way could Tang Wulin manage to achieve a one hundred percent success rate for first-grade thousand refining.


    Tang Wulin was aware of that, and tried to return the favor as he could. He always forged together with Mu Xi and led her along with his own rhythm, helping her skills to progress by leaps and bounds in the last three years. She was seventeen years old now, and a fourth rank blacksmith. To the public, she was the number one blacksmithing genius of Eastsea City.


    Mu Chen rubbed Tang Wulin¡¯s head. ¡°Be safe. Even if you don¡¯t pass the entrance exam, you can just come back and I¡¯ll think of some way to get you into a good academy.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± Tang Wulin hugged Mu Chen with teary eyes.


    If he passed the exam, then who knows when the next time he returned would be. The thought of parting with Mu Chen was heartwrenching.


    Mu Chen chuckled. ¡°Foolish child. What are you crying for? With today¡¯s soul technology, can¡¯t you just visit whenever you want? Alright, go say goodbye to your senior disciple sister now. She¡¯s been depressed ever since she found out you were leaving.¡±


    Mu Xi hadn¡¯t even come to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association in the past few days. She began ignoring him when he told her he was leaving to take the Shrek entrance exam. She rejected all his calls, and he was unable to enter the girls¡¯ dormitory.


    Once he was back at the academy, Tang Wulin dialed a number.


    ¡°Big sis Zixin, is my senior disciple sister there?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s here. Come over,¡± Ouyang Zixin replied.

 Chapter 243 - The Boy and the Man

    Chapter 243 - The Boy and the Man


    After jogging together for the last three years, Tang Wulin and Ouyang Zixin had become good friends. She was now in the advanced department, and though not as talented as Mu Xi, after graduating she¡¯d get into a higher level school without a cinch. According to Mu Xi, Ouyang Zixin was a gifted mecha designer and prime new blood that many advanced academies were hoping to scout.


    Lacking the nerve to walk through the front door of the girls¡¯ dormitory, Tang Wulin snuck in through the back. With no one in sight, he scaled the wall with his Bluesilver Grass to a third-floor window.


    The window was wide open, ready for Tang Wulin to slide into.


    It led to a washroom. Luckily, it was seldom occupied throughout the day.


    Ouyang Zixin was waiting for him. Seeing Tang Wulin land with the grace of a cat, she couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Oh you! You¡¯re getting better and better at this! Don¡¯t go philandering too much when you grow up.¡±


    Tang Wulin blushed to the roots of his hair and rushed his words, ¡°Big sis Zixin, don¡¯t tease me like that. How is my senior disciple sister?¡±


    Ouyang Zixin said, ¡°She¡¯s been tiger-faced the last few days. She¡¯s so glum! Speaking of which, you¡¯re leaving so suddenly. I never expected that that boy back then would take the Shrek entrance exam so soon.¡±


    When they had first met, Tang Wulin had been no more than a boy. But now, they were the same height.


    Shrek Academy was the land of dreams for all soul masters. She knew she didn¡¯t have a chance, but when she saw the little brother she jogged with everyday prepare to take the entrance exam, frustration plagued her heart. If he was accepted, then the gap between them would widen.


    Tang Wulin smiled, the apples of his cheeks dyed a delicious pink. ¡°It¡¯s not certain if I¡¯ll pass yet. If I don¡¯t I¡¯ll just come back here!¡±


    A smile tugged at the corner of Ouyang Zixin¡¯s mouth. ¡°I believe in you, and so does your senior disciple sister! Why else would she be so depressed?¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned. He had never considered this.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll bring you over.¡± Ouyang Zixin retrieved a coat from the side and placed it over his body.


    Tang Wulin blushed at their proximity when she put it over him, her fragrance making him redder.


    To the general student population, class zero had long since faded into the backdrop, with sightings of its students as rare as that of seeing a unicorn. However, that didn¡¯t stop the two¡¯s early morning routine.


    Perhaps what Xie Xie had said back then was true; inside every man¡¯s heart was a pretty senior sister. Ever since they¡¯d met, Tang Wulin looked forward to seeing her. She was both beautiful and gentle, always looking after him like a big sister.


    However, the two rarely shared a meal. If there was one thing she couldn¡¯t handle, it would be Tang Wulin¡¯s bottomless pit of a stomach.


    Because his return was uncertain, he had come to bid Mu Xi and Ouyang Zixin farewell on the eve of his departure.


    ¡°Big sis Zixin, are you still going to jog every day?¡± Tang Wulin asked as he adjusted the hat.


    Ouyang Zixin was taken aback, lashes fluttering as her eyes widened just a tad. ¡°I will. I¡¯ll have no choice but to jog all alone.¡±


    After a moment of silence, Tang Wulin resolved himself. ¡°Big sis Zixin, I like you.¡±


    A pause. She was taken off-guard by his sudden confession, but a sweet smile soon blossomed on her lips. ¡°You foolish boy, big sis likes you too!¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t explain himself. He knew that his ¡®like¡¯ and hers were different, but try as he might, he didn¡¯t know how.


    Once they arrived at a door, she jabbed her finger toward it, whispering into his ear, ¡°Go in. She¡¯s inside. Don¡¯t tell her I was the one who brought you here! I¡¯m going to leave now.¡±


    ¡°Mn. Thank you big sis Zixin.¡± Tang Wulin pushed open the door and entered.


    As Ouyang Zixin watched it close, emotions warred within her like a storm, trembling, mystifying. She did like Tang Wulin. He was cute, handsome, and talented. Who wouldn¡¯t have a soft spot for him?


    Although Tang Wulin never bragged to her, the fact that he was in class zero spoke for itself. She had heard from Xu Xiaoyu how amazing class zero was and how Tang Wulin, sweet little Tang Wulin, was actually the team captain.


    It¡¯s a pity he¡¯s so young. I can¡¯t like a boy that much younger than me.


    Girls matured earlier than boys. There was no way she didn¡¯t understand the meaning in Tang Wulin¡¯s confession. Even so, she could only pretend to be ignorant. If not, it might affect their friendship.


    ¡°You¡¯ll definitely find a girl suitable for you in the future. If only I was four or five years younger, then maybe I would have snatched you up. I wish you the best on your path.¡± Without saying goodbye, Ouyang Zixin turned around and left, pretending the glistening tears rolling down her delicate cheeks were just a figment of a dream.


    ?


    Inside of the room.


    Mu Xi stood by the window, peering through the clear glass with her hands in her pockets.


    She was tall for a girl. In fact, even if Tang Wulin had a growth spurt now, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to beat her.


    ¡°Zixin?¡± Mu Xi asked deadpan.


    Tang Wulin stopped in place, calling out in a soft tone, ¡°Senior disciple sister.¡±


    Mu Xi spun around. She was stunned upon seeing him, but schooled her features into a mask of indifference. ¡°What are you doing here? Aren¡¯t you going to Shrek Academy? Shouldn¡¯t you be preparing? How did you even sneak into the girl¡¯s dormitory?¡±


    ¡°I¡ª¡±


    ¡°Just go. It would be bad if you¡¯re discovered. I don¡¯t want to see you either,¡± Mu Xi said coldly.


    Tang Wulin forced a smile, though it might be more accurate to call it a grimace. ¡°Senior disciple sister, I¡¯m really leaving. I¡¯m here to say goodbye. You can be assured that I will never forget my blacksmith roots. If I don¡¯t pass, then I¡¯ll return. And even if I do make it I won¡¯t slack on blacksmithing. I¡¯ll come visit you and Teacher whenever I can.¡±


    Mu Xi didn¡¯t interrupt him again. Instead, she swallowed him with her stare, eyes filled and trembling with unknown emotions.


    Tang Wulin continued speaking under her gaze. ¡°Senior disciple sister, thank you for looking after me these last few years. I¡¯ll take my leave now then.¡±


    He bowed to her before turning around to leave her room, footsteps trailing behind him.


    After closing the door gently, he was surprised to find that the hallway was empty. Ouyang Zixin was already gone. He let out a breath of relief. Senior disciple sister¡¯s gaze is so heavy!


    When his presence no longer lingered, Mu Xi¡¯s cold gaze thawed, turning into tears.


    That brat! He¡¯s really leaving!


    Since the very beginning, Tang Wulin had been a boy in Ouyang Zixin¡¯s mind, but for Mu Xi, it was different. To her, he was a young man.


    This change in perception transpired three years ago when Tang Wulin led her along with his forging rhythm during the Skysea Alliance Tournament.


    It was only after that experience did her talents blossom, elevating her to the level of a first-rate genius.


    It hadn¡¯t left a deep impression on her at the start. Yet as time went on and she mulled over her thoughts, she felt as if she had been protected and blessed by him. Despite being so much older than him, she felt at ease in his presence.


    Since then, it was as if the shackles chaining her back were broken; Mu Xi made quick progress in her forging with Tang Wulin. She was now a fourth-rank blacksmith. She was capable of first-grade thousand refining.


    According to Mu Chen¡¯s original estimates, such progress should have taken her five years!


    Ever since she was small, Mu Chen had hammered into her head the shape of humility. She was talented, but there were always those more brilliant than her. However, as she honed her craft together with Tang Wulin, her father began giving her more guidance.


    He gave me all of this, but now he¡¯s leaving. He¡¯s leaving for Shrek City.


    The day she found out, she approached her father in tears, begging him to make Tang Wulin stay.


    Mu Chen answered her, ¡°Tang Wulin doesn¡¯t belong in this small pond. His future is among the sea of stars.¡±

 Chapter 244 - Departure

    Chapter 244 - Departure


    Mu Xi didn¡¯t know why she was so broken-hearted as she wept through the night. Only in the morning did the truth sink in. She couldn¡¯t let him go and wished to stay by his side.


    However, in the end, he was still leaving. Even if she was younger than Ouyang Zixin, there was no hiding her age. She was also eighteen years old. From their four-year age gap, they were destined to walk two different paths. When she entered an advanced academy, he would still be working through his intermediate academy studies.


    He was more gifted than her, his future as boundless as the ever-expanding universe. Perhaps, she must resign herself to travelling on a path parallel to his, so close but never intersecting.


    Her emotions were in turmoil as memories of their last three years together flashed through her mind.


    Fate would not change for a single person¡¯s desires, and his departure was inevitable.


    ?


    ¡°Wulin, what¡¯s on your mind? What are you daydreaming about?¡± Xie Xie nudged Tang Wulin, a quirk to his brow.


    Tang Wulin snapped out of his stupor and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just going to miss Eastsea City.¡±


    With that, Xie Xie¡¯s jaws dropped. ¡°You, aren¡¯t you arrogant!¡±


    Tang Wulin burst into laughter. ¡°How so?¡¯


    Xie Xie looked like he swallowed a lemon. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just imply that we¡¯ll definitely pass? If that¡¯s not what you meant, then why would you miss Eastsea City?¡±


    Tang Wulin pursed his lips, the dip to his brow becoming utterly significant, ¡°You¡¯re overthinking it.¡±


    Although he dismissed his friend¡¯s accusations, in reality, buried within the deepest, softest crooks of his heart, he did feel this way. It would be a long time before he next returned to Eastsea City.


    There were tons of things he needed to do in Shrek City, such as searching for traces of his parents.


    Before his departure, he had met with Mang Tian once. Mang Tian had been convinced that his parents had left for a major city. Since Shrek City was the biggest city on the continent, it was likely they were there.


    He had received a message from his parents after their retreat, stating he would have the qualifications to search for them once he became a fifth-rank blacksmith.


    Yet, in the three years since he had left Glorybound City, he had not received a single call from them.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t bear to think of his parents. Every time he awoke from meditation, his mind would wander in that direction and daggers stabbed his heart.


    Mom, dad, where are you?


    He had matured a lot in this string of lonesome years. His resolve has sharpened like a knife. Mang Tian had said nothing, but it was evident something had transpired. No news was good news, until it wasn¡¯t. If his parents were fine, then there was no reason not to give him a call! At the very least, they should have been able to get in touch with Mang Tian!


    Tang Wulin did not strive so hard in cultivating solely for the sake of his dream of becoming a battle armor master. No, he desired the power to necessary to find his parents and protect them.


    In his spare time, he had visited his home before. However, it had become an empty husk of what he remembered. There was nothing there, no personal items of his parents, nothing to suggest it hadn¡¯t been abandoned and tossed aside like rubbish, and the four bare walls felt as if they were closing in on him. He had visited again, though. This time it was a little more than a year ago, and he discovered something interesting. A double-layered wall hid in his parents¡¯ room. Within was a peculiar-looking badge with an even more peculiar symbol, and Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t for the life of him figure out what it was.


    He had recognized the significance of the badge immediately. With it being the sole clue to the puzzle of his parents¡¯ whereabouts, he safeguarded it in his storage ring.


    As the soul train sped along, the carriage became bathed in hushed whispers until just the squeaking of the wheels could be heard. For the young students of class zero, the second-class seats were slightly cramped, but it gave them a sense of adventure.


    Outside the window, the landscape flitted by. The sound of breathing within the carriage steadied as passengers fell asleep one by one.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. Exhaled. Took a deep breath again. A journey is traveled step by step and rice is eaten by the spoonful¡­ I just need to continue working toward my goal.


    On this trip to Shrek City, the first thing on the itinerary was to find a thousand-year Azure-veined Vine. He had the other three spirit items prepared and the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear¡¯s soul bone had strengthened his body. He was ready to break the second seal now.


    Once he accomplished this, his strength would soar to new heights. His chance of passing Shrek¡¯s entrance exam would skyrocket.


    According to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s scheduling, they would arrive one week early, giving Tang Wulin just enough time to find the thousand-year Azure-vein Vine, break the seal, and take the Shrek exam.


    His expectations for the second seal¡¯s surprise continued to grow as the time approached.


    Compared to Heaven Dou City, Shrek City was slightly closer to Eastsea City.


    The train slowed when it neared their destination.


    Then, an announcement sounded.


    ¡°Dear guests and travellers, we have arrived at the greatest city on the Douluo Continent, Shrek City. Shrek City¡¯s roots extend tens of thousands of years and is a cultural hub. The legendary Shrek Academy was founded here, as well as the Spirit Pagoda headquarters. As the number one city in the Federation, Shrek City boasts immense economic and political influence. Everyone, please take a look out the left window. The tower in the distance is the headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda.¡±


    The four students of class zero flipped over to take a peek. Sure enough, a majestic tower pierced the heavens. Because it was so far away, only the upper-middle portion was visible. All eight sides sparkled with silver splendor,, slowly tapering into the clouds, the peak unseen.


    The Spirit Pagoda¡¯s headquarters was the tallest building in the continent. Everyone, including Tang Wulin, knew this. In fact, the Federation had rules forbidding buildings with greater height as a show of respect.


    If the Tang Sect was the most mysterious organization, and Shrek Academy the most illustrious, then the most powerful was undoubtedly the Spirit Pagoda.


    With their artificial spirit soul technology, the Spirit Pagoda was able to gather a horde of researchers, powerful soul masters, and amass riches on par with that of a nation. Its influence was undeniable in the Federation.


    In the Federation¡¯s parliament, seven of the 108 seats were taken by the Spirit Pagoda.


    This didn¡¯t even account for parliamentary members under their influence.


    Shrek City truly transcended the realm of the ordinary!


    An interesting array of buildings surrounded the tower. Both ancient and modern buildings stood side-by-side, an odd sight.


    It was different from Heaven Dou City¡¯s air of antiquity and Eastsea City¡¯s fresh metal scent.


    Shrek City felt like a vast melting pot.


    Its boundaries extended beyond what the eye could see!


    After entering the city, the train sped along for another hour before cruising to a stop.


    In his entire life, Tang Wulin had never laid eyes on a larger train station than this. It was at least five times larger than those of Heaven Dou City and Eastsea City.


    An enormous dome roof hovered above them, marked by simplistic architecture. Sculptures were scattered across the station for travellers to marvel.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, where are we going first? Straight to Shrek Academy?¡± Xie Xie asked eagerly. Even if he hailed from a wealthy family, it didn¡¯t mean a thing; he couldn¡¯t control his excitement after stepping foot in this city of legends.

 Chapter 245 - The Legendary Shrek City

    Chapter 245 - The Legendary Shrek City


    Though Wu Zhangkong wore his usual mask of iciness, his eyes seemed to flicker with conflicted emotions.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find an inn first.¡±


    The word ¡®luxury¡¯ didn¡¯t exist in the dictionary of the inn that Wu Zhangkong chose, simply finding one that was near the station and booked three rooms.


    The inn gave off an antique feel with its simple architecture and mottled exterior of stone and wood, and its interior was neat and tidy, though their amenities were plain.


    Each room had one bed, two bedside cabinets, a wardrobe, a desk, and a chair. Only two people could fit in the washroom at a time, and that was all. It had four white walls and a window with a view of the train station.


    Wu Zhangkong had a room to himself while the students were split by gender into two other rooms.


    Wu Zhangkong had wanted to get a three-person room, but this inn only had two-person rooms. Otherwise, they would have only needed two rooms.


    ¡°So comfortable.¡± Xie Xie pounced on the bed the instant they entered the room, and spread his limbs.


    Tang Wulin, on the other hand, went to the window to take in their new environment.


    ¡°Wulin, why do you think you think Teacher Wu is so stingy with the rooms? He should have a good salary from the academy, and he¡¯s even a battle armor master! You should have seen how awesome it was! He¡¯s got to be rich since he made his battle armor!¡±


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°Teacher Wu just doesn¡¯t care about such mundane things. Now you! You should be a bit more modest. We¡¯re not here to have fun.¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯m going to nap first then. The train was so cramped I couldn¡¯t even stretch my legs.¡± Although trains were convenient, second class seats were by no means comfortable.


    Xie Xie¡¯s breathing soon steadied.


    Tang Wulin took a bath and, after putting on some clean clothes, he went to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s room and pressed the doorbell.


    When Wu Zhangkong opened the door and saw him, he let him in silently.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, can we go now?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Wu Zhangkong glanced at the sky. ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. Auctions are held in the evening, so we still have plenty of time and Shrek City¡¯s auction has quite a selection; I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to find it. You need to be patient.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Wulin took a deep breath in and calmed himself. His nerves really were a bit jittery.


    He had never thought himself talented. His martial soul was the trashy Bluesilver Grass, and though his two soul rings were at the thousand-year level, they were still merely thousand-year Bluesilver Grass soul rings. As for his golden dragon claw, while it was powerful, it wasn¡¯t sustainable.


    He was confident in his combative skills and would only place himself below Gu Yue, but this was Shrek Academy! If he wanted to pass the exam, he had to take it up a notch!


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Wulin, let me ask you again. Are you sure your strength will increase once you have all four spirit items? If you¡¯re not absolutely certain, then I recommend that you not act hastily. The slightest mistake could negatively affect your future.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡¯m certain.¡± Tang Wulin said without the slightest hesitation. ¡°My martial soul will evolve positively and it will definitely be a success.¡± Despite being unable to tell Wu Zhangkong about the Golden Dragon King seals, Tang Wulin was certain that breaking the second seal and absorbing its power would bring great rewards for him.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t say anything else then. It¡¯s almost night; we¡¯ll set off in a bit.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡±


    Tang Wulin returned to his room and began to meditate. The sun soon sunk below the horizon, twilight eating away at the sky.


    They ate dinner at the inn. Although the place was small, perhaps because it was an inn in Shrek City, its food was unexpectedly delicious.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mind was clearly wandering even during dinner, only eating half as much as usual. Still, he ate more than everyone else combined.


    ¡°Go rest and meditate in your rooms. If you want to go out, stay within the area and always carry your soul communicators on you,¡± Wu Zhangkong warned Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan said, ¡°Teacher Wu, where are you and Captain going then?¡± She had become accustomed to calling Tang Wulin ¡®Captain¡¯ now, rarely calling him by name.


    ¡°There are some matters we need to take care of. We¡¯ll be back later.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong had never bothered to explain his plans to anyone. He quickly left with Tang Wulin after speaking.


    Before following Wu Zhangkong out, Tang Wulin signalled to his friends that there was no problem.


    Wu Zhangkong was clearly familiar with Shrek City but, unlike their time in Heaven Dou City, they hailed a taxi instead of walking.


    Soul taxis were comfortable, but more expensive than public transport. It was the first time Tang Wulin witnessed Wu Zhangkong opt for such a costly method of transportation.


    But he soon realized the reason; Shrek City was just too gigantic.


    The taxi was faster than a bus, yet it still took them forty minutes to arrive at their destination.


    Wu Zhangkong led him into a pointed building.


    A staff member welcomed them once they were inside. ¡°Excuse me, may I ask if you two are participating in the auction? Could you please take out your invitation letter.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong retrieved something out of his pocket and flashed it. The staff member instantly acted more respectfully. ¡°So it was our Esteemed Guests that have arrived. Please come this way.¡± The staff member no longer pestered them for an invitation letter and led the two inside.


    Tang Wulin finally understood what true luxury was.


    Past the door was a hall made of white wood, golden patterns swirling across them like elegant flowers while the floor was lined with a scarlet rug that had golden embroidery running down its length. Crystal lamps lining the walls sparkled on the walls, their shimmering light attracting the eyes of the guests.


    An unseen pressure weighed down upon Tang Wulin as he walked down this magnificent hall. He sent Wu Zhangkong furtive glances, but was only met with a calm expression no different than when they were at the academy.


    The two were brought to an opulent room and someone delivered drinks. A moment later, a middle-aged woman walked in.


    ¡°Honored guests, welcome. I am Ruo Ling, an auctioneer for the Yaluo Auction. May I ask if there is anything I can help you with?¡± She gave a slight bow to Wu Zhangkong and Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Bring me your catalog,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    Ruo Ling smiled. She walked over to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side and crouched. With a flash of her golden bracelet, a small soul screen appeared in her hand. After a few taps on the screen, a list of items appeared.


    ¡°May I ask what type of items you are looking for?¡± Her smile never left her lips as she furtively glanced at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s stern face from time to time.


    Together, Wu Zhangkong and Tang Wulin were a pair of peerless lady-killers! Of course, she was more attracted to the mature Wu Zhangkong and, in consideration of his status, she acted friendlier than normal to him. She valued both looks and status. If she left a good impression on him, then perhaps she could advance their relationship another step.


    A pleasant fragrance lingered on Ruo Lin. It wasn¡¯t perfume, lest she offend anyone. Her gentle smile lacked any pretense, creating a sense of familiarity.


    Unfortunately, neither her complexion, figure, nor smile could thaw Wu Zhangkong¡¯s icy heart.


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°Spirit items.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ruo Ling quickly navigated to them.


    ¡°Do you have a specific item in mind? I can help you search for it.¡± Ruo Ling sighed in her heart. He¡¯s not even sparing me a glance! Am I not even enough to enter his eyes?


    ¡°Thousand-year Azure-veined Vine,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± Ruo Ling swiftly inputted the name and the listings changed.


    There were high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade thousand-year Azure-veined Vines, each with a different price. The starting auction price and estimated sale price were listed beside each one.


    ¡°When will it be put on auction?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes sparkled. Yes! They have it! As expected of Shrek City!

 Chapter 246 - The Surprising Auction

    Chapter 246 - The Surprising Auction


    ¡°The next time an Azure-veined Vine will be auctioned is in three days, with the bids starting at eight in the evening. I believe there are three sets available.¡± Ruo Ling said, a smile so sweet it could cause diabetes.


    Wu Zhangkong frowned. ¡°If I want to buy a high-grade vine immediately, how would I do so?¡± It had been years since he last visited this auction and rarely did he visit any auction in general.


    Ruo Ling hesitated for a moment, biting back her words as she organized her thoughts. ¡°According to our rules, we¡¯re not allowed to sell items directly. But I can make an exception for someone as honorable as you. An instant purchase will cost twenty-percent more than the estimated sales price. We can offer an accurate quote once you¡¯ve considered it.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong turned to face Tang Wulin. ¡°How about it?¡±


    An extra twenty percent? That¡¯s a lot of money! Tang Wulin¡¯s heart hurt at the mere thought of it. The listed price for a high-grade vine was five million federal coins. With twenty percent added on, he¡¯d be shelling out six million!


    Yes, he saved up a small fortune over the years, but that had been earned with his sweat and blood!


    ¡°Teacher Wu, isn¡¯t the auction in just three days?¡± Tang Wulin answered finally, though not without some hesitation.


    Their eyes met, teacher and student communicating in silence before the former nodded. ¡°Fine. Give us two auction tickets. We¡¯ll come bid for the vine in three days.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Please wait a moment. I will go handle this.¡± Ruo Ling agreed with a smile before leaving. In the brief period she had been in contact with Wu Zhangkong, she understood that he was not one to offend. She was less than a speck in his eyes.


    After obtaining tickets to the auction, Wu Zhangkong left for the inn with Tang Wulin in tow. Everything had been left to Tang Wulin to decide without Wu Zhangkong making a single remark or suggestion.


    In truth, Tang Wulin had been nervous. Not only was the Shrek exam in a week, but he had to wait three days before he could lay hands on the Azure-veined Vine. That left him with four days to break the seal. Luckily, his body was stronger than it had been during the first unsealing. As such, he should just make it.


    His nerves settled at this epiphany, relief swallowing him whole.


    Tang Wulin cultivated in his room until the day of the auction. Xie Xie followed suit, his friend¡¯s diligence rubbing off on him, even though he knew deep down that sharpening the spear at the last minute was pointless.


    Three days later, Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong returned to the auction house.


    They were led immediately to the VIP seats. Only two types of people could be found here: those with money and those with strength. Wu Zhangkong belonged to the latter.


    The auction beat Eastsea City¡¯s in grandness by a longshot. Every single item auctioned was a rarity and the mood was soon set.


    ¡°The eleventh item to be auctioned is a high-grade thousand-year Azure-veined Vine. The starting price is three million. The minimum bid increase is one hundred thousand. Let the bidding begin.¡±


    It was finally time.


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists without realizing. He stared at the item like a desert-bound man would look at water.


    Nonchalantly, Wu Zhangkong slipped the number plate into Tang Wulin¡¯s hands, as if the bidding had nothing to do with him.


    He was generous when advising Tang Wulin on everything related to cultivation, but was a mute when it came to money matters. This spurred Tang Wulin to learn and adapt fast, to become independent, lest he be taken advantage of.


    ¡°Three million,¡± Tang Wulin said as he raised his number plate.


    ¡°Three million one hundred thousand.¡± A person followed quickly.


    Because of the lack of side effects and its ability to increase one¡¯s constitution while strengthening the physique, the Azure-veined Vine was expensive. Tremendously so, in fact. For large clans, it was seen as a necessity, used in rearing the younger generation. Thus, the demand for it was always high.


    ¡°Three million five hundred thousand.¡±


    ¡°Three million eight hundred thousand¡±


    The price kept increasing. The hand in which Tang Wulin held the number plate grew sticky with sweat. At the current bidding rate, the price would soon exceed five million!


    Regret crept into his heart. If he had known this would be the outcome, he would have paid six million up front!


    For every item on the program, the sales price listed was the minimum amount of money the auction house needed in order to break even. Tang Wulin had seldom attended auctions in his life. Therefore, he didn¡¯t know this important fact.


    If the treasure wasn¡¯t popular, then the final price would usually hover around the estimated sales price. Items in high demand, however, often exceeded the estimated value by far.


    In reality, the price Ruo Ling had given Wu Zhangkong was heavily discounted in consideration of his status. There was rarely enough thousand-year Azure-veined Vines to go around, and this fact was reflected in its price.


    It was Tang Wulin¡¯s ignorance that bit him in the back.


    Wu Zhangkong had known, yet chose not to warn his student. In his mind, Tang Wulin had to experience this bitterness himself so that the lesson would be carved into his heart.


    ¡°Five million four hundred thousand!¡± Tang Wulin was on the verge of tears, almost crumpling into himself as he raised his number plate.


    ¡°Five million seven hundred thousand!¡± Another person shouted out.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t have a single moment to spare in regret. Although he was stingy, breaking the seal was more important. The chances of success were the highest with a high-grade vine. There was only one being auctioned today. Even if he threw out the six million right now, he wouldn¡¯t be able to buy a second one.


    His sole option was to fight tooth and nail for it.


    ¡°Six million two hundred thousand!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s face was morphed into an unsightly expression as the price breached the six million mark. I was stupid. Why didn¡¯t I just buy it back then? I could have broken through three days earlier and saved some money!


    ¡°Six million three hundred thousand.¡± He had no choice but to continue.


    ¡°Six million five hundred thousand.¡±


    ¡°Six million eight hundred thousand.¡±


    ¡°Seven million three hundred thousand!¡± Tang Wulin gnashed his teeth as his number plate shot up once more.


    Finally, the audience was quiet. A pin drop could be heard.


    ¡°Seven million three hundred thousand going once!


    ¡°Seven million three hundred thousand going twice!


    ¡°Seven million three hundred thousand going three times!¡°And sold!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body went limp in his seat the moment gavel sounded. One million three hundred thousand¡­ I paid an extra one million three hundred thousand!


    Wu Zhangkong looked him in the eye and said, ¡°I showed them my identification as a battle armor master that day. Popular items usually exceed the estimated sales price. The price you won it for today is about normal. Do you understand now?¡±


    Tang Wulin forced out a smile. ¡°I understand, but the price is still painful.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t comfort Tang Wulin. This had been Tang Wulin¡¯s own choice; thus, he must live with it himself. It was useless to blame others. He didn¡¯t tell Tang Wulin this explicitly, and instead chose to teach him this lesson through his actions.


    Tang Wulin trembled with remorse as he paid the bill. He had earned about fourteen million federal coins after three years of hard work. The vine costed half of his entire savings!


    If it wasn¡¯t for his high chance to succeed at Spirit Refinement which would save him some material costs, he would have coughed up blood on the spot. His remaining amount of savings was a pitiful shadow of its former self.

 Chapter 247 - Ready

    Chapter 247 - Ready


    After storing a black box in his storage ring, Tang Wulin followed Wu Zhangkong into a taxi.


    ¡°Are you using those spirit items immediately once we return?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin was still the picture of agitation. So much money! I wasted so much money! I¡¯m practically burning money to break each seal.


    His only comfort was the increase in his strength per unsealing. If not for that, his money would have been wasted.


    Three years of fulfilling blacksmithing orders culminated into just four spirit items. If not for the items, he would have been able to afford to learn the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    Apart from Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, he had also exchanged contribution points for some grappling techniques and the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique. The former increased his close combat prowess while the latter improved his forging. Supposedly, the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique was developed by a great clan from an era long gone. It was the clan of the Tang Sect¡¯s revered founder, Tang San¡ªthe Clear Sky Clan.


    As time progressed, the Clear Sky Clan faded into oblivion, leaving behind the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique as its sole legacy. The technique could be used both in battle and for blacksmithing, perfect for Tang Wulin and his innate divine strength.


    However, the Tang Sect still had many arts he still wished to learn. A couple arts that he had been most taken with were the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and the Soft Bone Eight Stage Drop, the latter which was formidable in close-combat.


    To put it harshly, Tang Wulin¡¯s body was inhuman. Not only did he possess overwhelming strength, he also had astonishing flexibility that enabled him to learn this technique. Alas, his wallet woefully light at present and it would take him ages to accrue enough points for the Soft Bone Eight Stage Drop.


    Naturally, if he reached the Spirit Refinement realm, he would accomplish that goal much faster.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t like being stingy, but he had no other choice! Everything required money. He needed money to attempt spirit refining and break his seals. Not to mention, in order to become a battle armor master, just having enough cash stashed for a rainy day wasn¡¯t going to cut it. He needed mountains of gold, rivers of coins, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. No, if he didn¡¯t practice frugality now, he¡¯d be in for a big surprise in the future.


    ¡°How long do you estimate it will take?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    The helpless shake of his student¡¯s head was his answer.


    Wu Zhangkong knitted his brows. ¡°If you don¡¯t even know how long it will take, then why did you choose to bid on the vine?¡±


    The corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth twitched. Teacher Wu, do you really have to rub salt in my wounds? I¡¯m already so poor!


    ¡°I, I just wanted to save some money¡­¡± Tang Wulin muttered.


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t mind twisting the dagger as he continued, ¡°And how much did you save?¡±


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth. ¡°Nothing.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said coldly, ¡°If you rush to refine your bloodline once we return, you may miss the opportunity to take the Shrek exam. So, you have two choices: either hone your bloodline now and risk missing the test, or participate in the exam without the refinement. Think it over carefully.¡±


    Tang Wulin frowned, brow creasing as he pondered this dilemma. I don¡¯t know how much time the unsealing will take. If it goes on for too long, I¡¯ll be in a pinch.


    But can I pass the exam as I am now? It¡¯s Shrek Academy after all!


    ¡°Teacher Wu, as I am currently, what do you think of my chances of passing the Shrek exam?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Wu Zhangkong looked him over, eyes unblinking. ¡°It will be tough.¡±


    Tough? Is that good or bad?


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but loosen his lips. ¡°How tough?¡±


    ¡°Very tough!¡± With that, Wu Zhangkong turned toward the window.


    Tang Wulin felt a massive headache coming on. Can¡¯t you say anymore than that! Help me analyze this! Isn¡¯t this your responsibility as my teacher?


    However, he didn¡¯t dare speak out of turn. Instead, he endured through gritted teeth. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I rather not risk it. Teacher Wu, if you knew all this before, then why didn¡¯t you tell me to buy the vine three days ago! Then I would have had enough time.¡±


    To his outburst, Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°You¡¯ve already grown up and it¡¯s your own money. Any decision is solely your own responsibility.¡±


    There was no denying it; the truth was severe and Tang Wulin lamented in his heart. He had expected this sort of answer, but he had to ask. He had been defeated the moment he spoke.


    ¡°I choose to refine my bloodline.¡± Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath, his eyes twinkled with resolve.


    If passing the exam will be difficult without breaking the seal, then I have to risk it! At least my chances will be better!


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded and spoke no further.


    Once they returned to the inn, Wu Zhangkong spared no time pointing to his own room. ¡°You can make you breakthrough in my room. I¡¯ll guard you.¡± He opened the door and entered.


    Taking in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s regal figure, Tang Wulin experienced an ember of warmth crackling within his heart. He understood Wu Zhangkong¡¯s reasons for his hands-off teaching approach. It was for his sake, so that he would grow independant.


    Taking another deep breath, Tang Wulin stepped foot into Wu Zhangkong¡¯s room. After directing his student to the bed, Wu Zhangkong pulled up a stool beside it and sat down.


    Tang Wulin placed the four spirit items on the desk.


    Is it time to start?


    It''s been three years since the last one¡­ and now it¡¯s time for the second. What will I obtain this time?


    His pulse raced at the thought, heart thumping so hard he could almost hear it.


    But I have to finish within four days! If I succeed, I¡¯ll be able to take the exam in peak condition.


    Time waited for no one and Tang Wulin dared not tarry. He sat on the bed cross-legged and closed his eyes. He summoned Old Tang, bent on learning how to utilize these treasures.


    Ever since Tang Wulin was saved by Old Tang from spirit energy overload, he hadn¡¯t heard a peep from him. Funnily enough, he only realized this just before he attempted calling for him. He¡¯ll appear, right? Anxiety squirmed in his heart, pulsing. If he hadn¡¯t already broken a seal before, he would have doubted its existence.


    Fortunately, Old Tang did not leave him waiting.


    Within the depths of his consciousness, Tang Wulin once again found himself in that mystical spiritual world.


    ¡°You¡¯re ready?¡± Old Tang¡¯s voice resounded throughout the space.


    ¡°Old Tang.¡± Hearing that familiar voice, Tang Wulin felt the tension in his body melt away. In a burst of golden light, Old Tang appeared before him. He looked the same as he did since their last meeting.


    ¡°Mn. Long time no see you little rascal.¡± Old Tang¡¯s voice was marked with regret. ¡°You¡¯ve done well improving your body all this time. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem for you to break the second seal. Have you prepared the four necessary spirit items?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s voice was thick with agony, ¡°I have them.¡± He was still bitter over spending so much money.


    Old Tang said, ¡°Then you¡¯re ready to start. The way to use the four spirit items is a bit different from last time. You will ingest the Dragonscale Fruit directly. However, you will crush the other three items into juice. Afterward, dilute the juice with some hot water for a bath, which you will soak and meditate in.


    ¡°You need to do this simultaneously. In other words, don¡¯t eat the Dragonscale Fruit until the bath is ready. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve got it.¡± Although it was troublesome, it wasn¡¯t a difficult task.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then. You go prepare. You can start anytime once you¡¯re ready, but make sure your body is in top condition when you do.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    The four spirit items were the Dragonscale Fruit, Land Dragon Tendon, Azure-veined Vine, and Sea Dragon Marrow.


    In order to allay Wu Zhangkong¡¯s suspicions, Tang Wulin meditated first, coaxing his body to peak condition. Half an hour later, he rose.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡¯m beginning now,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded as a response. He hadn¡¯t left his seat beside the bed and was ready to probe Tang Wulin¡¯s body with his senses. Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline refinement evoked in him a sense of wonder.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I need to actually eat the Dragonscale Fruit, but I¡¯m smashing the other three into juices. Could you help me with that? I also need to dilute the juices with hot water and use it for a bath to soak in.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong stared at him, face as impassive as a blank mask. ¡°You¡¯re absorbing it by soaking?¡±


    A quirk of the brow. ¡°Is there an issue?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no problem with that, but it¡¯s not very efficient. You won¡¯t be able to absorb all of the nutrients that way.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll trouble you to help then.¡±


    After nodding, Wu Zhangkong stood up from his seat. He couldn¡¯t help but let a few words slip through. ¡°That¡¯s such a waste of money!¡±


    At his teacher¡¯s uncharacteristic outburst, Tang Wulin¡¯s face twitched. Can you not talk about the money!


    The inn¡¯s amenities were nothing special; yet, a bathtub was still provided. Tang Wulin adjusted the nozzle to let out a scorching stream of water, filling the tub halfway. Then, Wu Zhangkong brought in the four spirit items.

 Chapter 248 - Breaking the Second Seal

    Chapter 248 - Breaking the Second Seal


    Wu Zhangkong opened the case containing the thousand-year Azure-veined Vine and took it out.


    Like its name suggested, the vine was azure in color and only about as long as one¡¯s forearm. It sparkled like a crystal, and a dim glow emanated from its stalk as liquid circulated within. A sweet, refreshing fragrance capable of clearing a person¡¯s mind lingered on it.


    Wu Zhangkong pointed a finger at the vine and released a gentle stream of soul power that encapsulated it and carried it over the water. When he made a pinching gesture, an invisible force wrung the vine and broke it in half, letting its juices drip into the bathtub.


    The vine¡¯s juices quickly mixed with the water, imbuing the water and the steam that rose from it with an azure color. A heavy aroma hung in the air.


    With the last of the vine¡¯s juices extracted, only its husk was left. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes flashed as his finger swiftly moved, creating blades of Mysterious Heaven Method soul power. They stabbed the vine countless times, instantly turning it into a fine powder as if it had suddenly exploded. The powder floated down into the water without a single particle wasted.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shimmered at the astonishing sight. Throughout the entire process, Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t used his martial soul. He accomplished this feat purely through his control over the Mysterious Heaven Method!


    Now that¡¯s power!


    The Land Dragon Tendon came after the Azure-veined Vine.


    Of the four spirit items, the tendon was the least remarkable. All of its two meters of length was tan, and it was several times thicker than the vine.


    ¡°This thousand-year Land Dragon Tendon originally should¡¯ve been five meters long, but it shrunk to this size after being processed. You would normally need to boil it for three days and three nights to soften it before being able to use it. Since you want to make a broth of it, there¡¯s only one unique method to do so.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong moved his left foot one step to the left and bent his legs, maintaining half-squat position. With a wave of his right hand, the tendon floated up just like the vine did. Then he brought his hands in front of him, palms facing each other, and a gust of wind came into existence between them.


    Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon!


    Tang Wulin instantly recognized this Tang Sect art.


    He¡¯s using Controlling Crane with his left hand and Capturing Dragon with his right.


    Eyes narrowed, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hands began to move in circular, rhythmic motions. The fluctuations of his internal soul power grew stronger and stronger while the tendon began to rapidly spin.


    As the tendon¡¯s revolutions grew faster and faster, a whirring sound could be heard. Aside from the slight oscillating movements of his hands, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s upper body was completely still. His soul power fluctuations, however, increased in strength as he fought to suppress the draft. Although Tang Wulin could sense the immense power gushing from Wu Zhangkong, it didn¡¯t affect him at all.


    Teacher Wu¡¯s control over his soul power is amazing!


    The tendon¡¯s tan coloring gradually turned red. Howling wind accompanied its high speed rotations.


    The pressure from Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon; the high-speed revolutions; and the air friction all merged together to tenderize the tendon.


    The tendon slowly began curling inward, eventually resembling a scarlet dumpling


    Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon can be used like this? It was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time seeing it used in such a magical way.


    A quarter of an hour later, red liquid began dripping from the tendon. Each time a drop of the liquid hit the water, puffs of steam rose into the air. Tang Wulin could feel the temperature of the water rising.


    The scarlet tendon juice mixed with the water, making it murkier.


    Another quarter of an hour later, the entire tendon had been converted into juice and mixed with the water of the bathtub, making it dark green. It truly looked bizarre. A queer smell had replaced the pleasant fragrance. A hint of the vine¡¯s freshness was still there, but it was overpowered by a fishy odor. The two smells fought back and forth, the dominant smell changing from one moment to the next.


    Wu Zhangkong stood up and retrieved the thousand-year Sea Dragon Marrow. The marrow was  easier to turn into juice; all he had to do was use his soul power to squeeze it like he did with the vine. In fact, he didn¡¯t even need to crush it with his finger swords. When the marrow mixed with the water, nothing really changed other than the steam taking on a pink hue. No matter how one looked at it, the water now seemed terrifying.


    ¡°Go in.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded at Tang Wulin in encouragement.


    It was Wu Zhangkong¡¯s first time seeing someone absorb spirit items like this, so he was curious to see how it turned out.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath and forced any thoughts equating this bath with three years of hard-earned money out of his mind. He picked up the Dragonscale Fruit and took a bite of it.


    The Dragonscale Fruit didn¡¯t taste wonderful like its sparkling blue skin suggested. Its juices were extremely sour, and he nearly choked.


    It¡¯s three million! It¡¯s worth over three million! Tang Wulin shouted its price in his heart over and over, forcing himself to eat it bite by bite. In the end, he even ate its skin.


    With the Dragonscale Fruit now in his stomach, heat spread throughout his body. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t forget what he was supposed to be doing and quickly shed his clothes, dipping his toe into the tub¡¯s water.


    Hot!


    Perhaps due to the thousand-year Land Dragon Tendon, the water was much hotter than he anticipated¡ªso much so that he nearly cried out.


    Steeling himself, Tang Wulin managed to put both of his legs into the scalding water. He was on the verge of tears, but he couldn¡¯t bear letting his money go to waste.


    ¡°Clear your mind and calm your breathing,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mind trembled as he hastily released a long breath and circulated his soul power.


    The Dragonscale Fruit quickly took effect; warmth spread from his belly as he used the Mysterious Heaven Method.


    Tang Wulin thought that the heat within his body would help him adapt to the scalding water, but it was the opposite. Instead of adapting, he grew more sensitive to the heat, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.


    At that moment, Old Tang¡¯s solemn voice resounded in Tang Wulin¡¯s mind. ¡°Soak your entire body in it. Leave only your head exposed.¡±


    With no choice but to bite the bullet, Tang Wulin plunged the rest of his body into the water, emerging himself in the scalding heat. It took all his willpower to keep himself from jumping out.


    Endure it! Endure it!


    Eyes tightly shut, Tang Wulin willed himself to continue soaking in the water and endure the pain of being boiled alive.


    From Wu Zhangkong¡¯s perspective, Tang Wulin¡¯s body had instantly become scarlet the moment he entered the water. It was as if he were a cooked shrimp. Tang Wulin¡¯s body began to twitch.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s brows furrowed. Will he really be fine? This is the first time I¡¯ve heard of a recipe like this. Just where did Wulin get it from?


    Wu Zhangkong raised his hand, preparing to aid Tang Wulin by cooling him down with his martial soul.


    At that moment, however, a golden mark appeared faintly on Tang Wulin¡¯s forehead, shocking Wu Zhangkong. Even with his excellent eyesight, he could just barely make it out.


    The golden mark appeared to be consist of three golden lines, but Wu Zhangkong couldn¡¯t identify it.

 Chapter 249 - Dignity and the Future

    Chapter 249 - Dignity and the Future


    It only took moments from when the golden mark first appeared for Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body to be covered in a network of golden streaks. It gave him an air of resplendence.


    Once the golden lines appeared, his breathing calmed down. He seemed to be adapting to the scorching pain.


    The golden lines pulsed intermittently, spreading a peculiar energy which enveloped his body. It wasn¡¯t soul power, but something far more special.


    Wu Zhangkong narrowed his eyes at the sight. He used only his senses to silently investigate.


    His blood essence is so powerful!


    It was inconceivable for someone¡¯s blood to course so vigorously.


    Golden scales emerged on Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm, stopping just shy of turning into the dragon claw. In contrast with their usual appearance, however, the current scales were far more brilliant and jagged. A golden radiance shone through them in a dazzling display.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s frame trembled gently when the water began to bubble, seemingly boiling him alive.


    The golden pattern covering his body became more distinct as it began emitting a rumbling noise. Streams of golden air left through his nose and mouth, with each breath serving to further refine his body.


    His bloodline really is getting refined.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded to himself. He could now be certain this endeavor would prove beneficial for Tang Wulin and that he could bear it.


    ?


    Three days later.


    ¡°Zhangkong, why are you staying in a place like this? Why not pick a place closer to the academy?¡± Shen Yi frowned as she inspected his ordinary room.


    Wu Zhangkong calmly replied, ¡°It¡¯s enough as long as I can rest here. What difference does it make if I stay somewhere else? Besides, I don¡¯t like how noisy it is near the academy. ¡±


    He had already contacted Shen Yi before departing for Shrek City.


    The Skysea Alliance had a little more than one hundred quotas for Shrek¡¯s entrance exam each time, and it was only after racking his brains and making many compromises that President Yu Zhen had been able to acquire four of them.


    Naturally, these four quotas were for the outer court exam. Considering their standing in the Alliance, the Eastsea Academy had no way of procuring any of the prized inner court exam slots.


    Shen Yi had been caught off guard by Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sudden call, but she rejoiced when she heard he wanted to bring his disciples to take the exam. Her joy sprung once from the news of his return, and twice at the thought of his promising disciples.


    They had left a deep impression on her three years earlier, during the Skysea Alliance Tournament. Their captain had a keen awareness of the situation and was decisive enough to sacrifice himself for the sake of his teammate. In her eyes, Tang Wulin stood out among the others. Following closely, however, was Gu Yue. When Tang Wulin was gravely injured, she chose to give up some of her own life force to heal him. She had wanted to take Gu Yue for herself right then and there!


    Gu Yue¡¯s control over the elements was truly shocking!


    Three years later, Wu Zhangkong was finally bringing those children to Shrek Academy. Shen Yi looked forward to seeing how much they had matured under his guidance.


    ¡°The exams are tomorrow. Are your students ready?¡± Shen Yi changed the subject as she sat down in a chair.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s forehead wrinkled. ¡°I asked you to come because I have a favor to request of you. The others are ready, but I have one student who has entered deep meditation and still hasn¡¯t awakened. So, is there a way to delay the exam?¡±


    Shen Yi went silent, her brows drawn together as she considered. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s impossible. You know how strict the academy¡¯s rules are. Besides, we have so many applicants of which only one hundred will pass, and there are many rounds of examination. We can¡¯t change the exam time just for your students. It wouldn¡¯t do to make them all wait for one person¡¯s sake. It¡¯s a tough situation. Which student are you talking about?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said, ¡°The captain, Tang Wulin.¡±


    Shen Yi¡¯s heart skipped at the sound of that name. She recalled the scene of him rushing forward in the face of a soul fusion skill, using his own body to shield his teammate.


    Deep meditation was a rare opportunity that brought many benefits for soul masters. If disturbed, a backlash would likely occur.


    ¡°Zhangkong, you know how hard it¡¯d be. Virtually impossible. Don¡¯t you know how inflexible teachers are?¡± Shen Yi said helplessly.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll have my other students take the exam first.¡±


    Present in the room together with Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi were Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie. Wu Zhangkong had already told them about Tang Wulin¡¯s state of deep meditation.


    Hearing that Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t take the exam, Xie Xie immediately said, ¡°Teacher Wu, that¡¯s out of the question! Wulin has been looking forward to taking this exam for years, and this is our only chance! He would regret missing it for the rest of his life.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong frowned. Even after three days of bathing in the medicinal water, Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline refinement had yet to finish. Disturbing him was out of the question, so the most they could do was wait patiently. But time waited for no one.


    Xu Xiaoyan said, ¡°Yeah! Teacher Wu, how can we accept Captain not participating?¡±


    For soul masters, it was practically a once-in-a-lifetime chance to enter Shrek Academy. If Tang Wulin missed it, then regret would haunt him forever.


    Calm returned to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression. Shen Yi sighed and said, ¡°There¡¯s no point in thinking about it any further. Nothing can be done. Unless he wakes up before the exam starts, he¡¯ll have to miss it. I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t help you.¡±


    Having been silent the entire time, Gu Yue suddenly walked to stand before Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi. ¡°Hello, Teacher Shen. May I ask if it¡¯s possible to take the exam as a substitute? Is there a way for me to renounce my exam qualifications so Wulin can take the exam? He¡¯s stronger than I am, so he could surely pass the exam if I¡¯m able to.¡±


    Shen Yi was taken aback. This girl that she regarded so highly actually made such a daring proposition, leaving her unsure whether to laugh or cry. ¡°Little girl, you¡¯re overthinking it. Just what kind of place do you think Shrek Academy is? If normal academies don¡¯t allow for substitutions, why would Shrek? It¡¯s true that you¡¯re strong and have a high chance of being admitted, perhaps even into the inner court, but you shouldn¡¯t be so naive.¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°If Wulin can¡¯t go, I won¡¯t go either. If he can¡¯t join Shrek, I also refuse to join.¡±


    Her voice was steady, and her eyes blazed with resolve. Shen Yi was astonished that Gu Yue possessed such deep devotion despite her young age. She had met many people like her in Shrek Academy. As long as they decided on something, they would never falter. In fact, Wu Zhangkong was also this type of person!


    Like teacher, like student.


    ¡°Zhangkong, your students are excellent. You shouldn¡¯t let one person hold them back,¡± Shen Yi said.


    Dead silence permeated the air as the clock ticked on. Seconds felt like years until Wu Zhangkong finally raised a hand to pat Gu Yue¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Take your mind off of this issue. Just go back and rest. I will handle it.¡±


    Gu Yue stared at him in shock. His words left no room for debate; they carried the same type of unwavering determination hers did.


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡±


    Gu Yue left first. Xie Xie wanted to speak out but held his words back when Wu Zhangkong raised a hand.


    After leaving the room, uncertainty flickered in Xie Xie¡¯s eyes. Xu Xiaoyan said quietly, ¡°What did you want to say just now?¡±


    A moment of silence later, Xie Xie asked, ¡°Tell me, Xiaoyan, our friends or Shrek Academy, which do you consider more important?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan laughed. ¡°You don¡¯t need to ask me that. As far as I¡¯m concerned, Captain is the most important. My chances of passing were low anyway.¡±


    Xie Xie chuckled and hung an arm around her shoulder. ¡°Comrades truly think alike! If Wulin can¡¯t take the exam, then I won¡¯t either!¡± As the words left his lips, his heart seemed to be relieved of a great burden and his entire being relaxed.


    ?


    Staring at the door, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s breathing grew rapid. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    Shen Yi asked, ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong replied, ¡°Back to the academy.¡±


    A tremble ran down Shen Yi¡¯s spine. ¡°You¡¯re going back to the academy? You¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong said indifferently, ¡°The children all understand, so how could I not? If I can trade my dignity for their future, that¡¯s a small price to pay. I will go back with you and apologize.¡±


    ?


    The bathtub¡¯s water had long since become clear, leaving behind only a golden mist to shroud Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 250 - The Academy City

    Chapter 250 - The Academy City


    Shrek Academy, the number one academy that was located in the number one city of the continent, was a place that countless people yearned to enter.


    Shrek Academy¡¯s campus was vast, a small town unto itself.


    It actually used to be the original Shrek City until Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder, proposed an expansion. Only then did the city grow much larger.


    Every three years, Shrek Academy would recruit new students, signaling a grand occasion for soul masters.


    Merely qualifying for the entrance exam of Shrek Academy was a point of pride for many young soul masters. The continent even had a saying: Each and every soul master that qualified to take Shrek¡¯s entrance exam and failed would still be scouted by advanced academies.


    This saying was grounded in truth. People who qualified to take this exam were the cream of the crop.


    Despite being the elite of the elite, only a fraction of the examinees were admitted to Shrek Academy¡¯s outer court.


    Shrek Academy only accepted two hundred outer court disciples every three years. Among the two hundred, fifty were set aside for those who failed to pass the inner court exam.


    Only fifty people were allowed to take the inner court exam at a time. Passing the exam was obviously the desired outcome, but failing to do so still allowed entrance to the outer court, as well as the chance to enter the inner court in the future.


    This was the exact reason why President Long Huantian of the Skysea Academy treasured the five inner court quotas. It essentially guaranteed five students entrance to Shrek Academy!


    Those students would naturally be expelled if they didn¡¯t measure up to even the outer court¡¯s standards. Shrek Academy¡¯s history had seen its fair share of such situations.


    Anyone who graduated from Shrek Academy¡¯s outer court would already be considered a person capable of standing at the summit of the continent. Great clans and organizations would spare no expense to invite such a person into their fold.


    The inner court, however, was a realm of prodigies. Graduates of the inner court rarely chose to leave Shrek Academy. Most would stay.


    In the world of academia, the inner court disciples of Shrek Academy were destined to become battle armor masters. This fact was undisputed.


    Every single battle armor master was an existence of strategic importance to the Federation! There were always a few students who chose to leave the inner court for some reason or another, of course. Any such student would instantly attract the attention of the world¡¯s superpowers.


    Since today was the eve of Shrek Academy¡¯s entrance exams, every inn in the city was filled to the brim with hopeful examinees, their teachers, and the heads of their families. The city was overrun with people.


    Merchants seized this opportunity to turn a profit by selling old exam questions and rules. Some sold spirit items while others sold soul devices.


    These masses of people worked in tandem, benefiting from one another.


    The Shrek Academy entrance exam had three requirements. First, examinees had to be sent by a major city. Second, examinees could be no more than fifteen years of age. Third, the soul power of an examinee had to be rank 25 at the very least.


    These were the basic requirements, but the most important requirement of all had been decreed 20,000 years ago.


    Shrek Academy did not accept ordinary people. On the contrary, they only accepted monsters. As a result, Shrek Academy has championed the moniker of ¡°Monster Academy¡± since ancient times.


    Wu Zhangkong slowly approached Shrek Academy¡¯s western gate. His wore a solemn expression, but something else seemed to be lurking in the depths of his eyes.


    Upon seeing ¡°Shrek Academy¡± carved into a sign board hanging from the city-turned-academy gates, he couldn¡¯t help but come to an abrupt stop. His heart stirred as he pursed his lips.


    Shen Yi walked over to stand beside him. ¡°Go inside. Teacher has missed you all these years. You¡¯re both just too stubborn to make up. I was really happy when you agreed to come back, you know!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong wordlessly lowered his head. He walked toward the gate, his pace brisk and faster than before. It was almost as if he were afraid of getting cold feet.


    Two youths clad in dark-green uniforms guarded the western gate of Shrek Academy, also known as ¡°Shrek Inner City¡±.


    The two saluted in respect when they saw Shen Yi. ¡°Senior sister.¡±


    ¡°This is my friend,¡± Shen Yi said. ¡°Please grant him entry.¡±


    As she spoke, she took out a hexagonal metal plate and handed it to them. One of the youths examined it for a moment, then nodded to Shen Yi and stepped aside.


    Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong entered Shrek Inner City.


    ¡°I originally prepared this entry token for that female disciple of yours. I didn¡¯t think I''d end up using it for you.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t expected Wu Zhangkong to return with her when she set out this morning.


    Wu Zhangkong remained silent; his mind was already wandering in a world of its own.


    Once they entered the inner city, it seemed as if they were in a completely different place. In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the outer city, here, silence reigned. Stores lined the sides of a wide street paved with black brick. The architecture of every store was ancient, and they were mostly made of wood. It was as if Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi had been transported ten thousand years into the past.


    The architecture resembled that of Heaven Dou City, but the buildings weren¡¯t as closely concentrated. Vegetation grew through the gaps and alleys between the buildings of Heaven Dou City, instilling it with a sense of grace.


    All the stores were open, but few people wandered the streets. Wu Zhangkong quickened his pace, quickly heading into the city¡¯s core.


    Shen Yi walked at his side, her eyes glazed over as she reminisced about years ago when she would shadow him on a stroll through the inner city.


    However, that time had long since passed. Everything was different now. The sunny youth who always wore a brilliant smile had become a man as cold as heavenly frost that wore white robes and carried a blue sword.


    Shen Yi didn¡¯t know how many years had gone by since she had last seen Wu Zhangkong smile. When his beloved passed away, his smile froze. Since then, he spent years in isolation at Eastsea City, refusing to return.


    Sometimes, Shen Yi felt as if Wu Zhangkong¡¯s spirit had already faded away and that he only continued living because of a promise to his beloved. A promise to preserve her name alongside his within his battle armor.


    Even after leaving Shrek Academy, Wu Zhangkong continued to demonstrate how outstanding he was. He was only thirty-two years old, yet he was a seven-ringed Soul Sage. He could now work on crafting three-word battle armor. Shen Yi was convinced that, even if it were several times more difficult, he would still be able to accomplish it because of his unyielding will.


    When she met his disciples and saw how carefully he guided them, Shen Yi had rejoiced. Wu Zhangkong finally had something important in his life again. Along with his beloved, four more people had made their way into his heart.


    Wu Zhangkong had returned to the academy for the sake of his disciples.


    After passing through several streets and finding himself in a familiar area, Wu Zhangkong came to a sudden halt.


    Shen Yi bumped into his broad back, yelping in surprise.


    ¡°Why did you stop so suddenly!?¡± she protested as she rubbed her nose.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s cold eyes thawed a little as he remembered the junior sister that had always followed him around in the past. She always said the same exact thing.


    More than ten years had passed in the blink of an eye. He was no longer the Wu Zhangkong from back then, and she was no longer the young lady with a sweet smile. They had grown up. They had matured. However, doing so came at a price, and he had definitely paid the most.


    ¡°Where is Teacher?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.

 Chapter 251 - Let Him Kneel

    Chapter 251 - Let Him Kneel


    ¡°Where is Teacher?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked once more as he subconsciously tousled Shen Yi¡¯s hair.


    Tears began to pour out of Shen Yi¡¯s large, evergreen eyes. Dumbfounded, she threw herself into Wu Zhangkong¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Senior brother!¡± she said, choking back sobs.


    The pitiful sound of her weeping attracted curious glances of passersby.


    Shen Yi¡¯s white hair was extremely easy to recognize even without taking her fame within the academy into account.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the White-haired Witch, senior sister Shen Yi? What is going on with her?¡±


    ¡°She never smiles and all the juniors are afraid of her. What¡¯s she doing?¡±


    ¡°Who is that man? He¡¯s so handsome!¡±


    ¡°Whoa. He seems sort of familiar. Who is he?¡±


    As a stream of chatter reached Wu Zhangkong¡¯s ears, he patted Shen Yi on the back and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Shen Yi raised her head sheepishly, her eyes still full to the brim with tears. ¡°You¡¯re still my senior brother, right?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong forced himself to form a bitter smile.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t up to me. Let¡¯s go,¡± he said as he dragged her by the arm, taking large strides toward the inner city¡¯s core.


    ¡°Teacher is in the inner court,¡± Shen Yi said softly as she wiped away her tears.


    Inner court! Wu Zhangkong began to shake at the words. These words used to be an important part of his life! He had worked tirelessly for them, but as a result, he had also¡­


    Forcefully taking a deep breath, Wu Zhangkong abruptly released Shen Yi¡¯s hand and sprinted madly down the street.


    He rapidly accelerated toward the eastern part of the inner city, air chilling in his wake because of his exertion.


    Shen Yi hastened to catch up to him, dashing forth in pursuit.


    Soon enough, a building surrounded by a tall, mossy-green wall came into view. The wall prevented anyone from seeing what lay beyond it and converged on a lavish archway. At the top of the archway, the words ¡°Inner Court¡± were visible on a sign that hung from it.


    There were no guards manning the gate to the inner court. In spite of this, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s swift approach came to a sudden stop once he saw the sign that read ¡°Inner Court¡±. It was there that every fiber of his being froze. It was as if those words possessed an infinite magical power.


    This was, without a doubt, the legendary inner court of Shrek Academy. This was the place that enjoyed continent-wide fame, one which countless soul masters yearned to enter. This was the place that struck fear into the Federation.


    Lush greenery covered all of the inner court. Only geniuses privileged enough to enter it would know that it resembled a park.


    Guards were not needed here. The words on the sign were enough of a deterrent.


    ¡°Senior brother.¡± Shen Yi stopped by Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side, having finally caught up to him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. I¡¯m no longer qualified to be your senior brother. If Teacher hears you, you¡¯ll be punished.¡± Wu Zhangkong dropped to his knees as he spoke.


    Like jade pillars and mountains of gold crashing to the ground, the normally arrogant and stern white-robed man with the blue sword had suddenly kneeled before the inner court sign.


    Shen Yi¡¯s heart trembled, but she did not comment on what just happened. Instead, she simply said, ¡°Wait here, senior brother. I¡¯ll go get Teacher.¡±


    She sucked in a deep breath, then charged into the inner court as swift as the wind.


    The turbulent emotions inside of Wu Zhangkong gradually settled down as he continued kneeling on the ground, and a sense of peace washed over him. A cool breeze swept by, carrying the refreshing scent of nature that could only be found in Shrek Academy.


    The air of this place was humid and aromatic, perpetually bringing warmth and serenity to the people present.


    Finally, I¡¯m back. After thirteen years... today, I have returned.


    As he kneeled, Wu Zhangkong felt that everything was currently as it should be.


    Thirteen years ago, I was so impulsive and proud. Now I¡¯m able to understand, but can I get back what was lost?


    I¡¯m sorry, Bing¡¯er. I¡¯m sorry, Teacher. It was all my fault.


    Bing¡¯er, just wait for me. I will preserve your name with my battle armor. We will be together forever.


    As long as you desire it, I will not hesitate to sacrifice everything for you.


    Time ticked by slowly, yet also quickly at the same time. When Shen Yi returned, Wu Zhangkong was already immersed in his own reminiscence.


    She approached Wu Zhangkong, face pale, and her hesitant footsteps came to a stop a short distance away.


    Moments later, she gathered up her courage and stepped in front of him.


    ¡°T-Teacher doesn¡¯t want to see you.¡± Shen Yi¡¯s voice wavered as the words left her mouth.


    ¡°Mn. Thank you,¡± Wu Zhangkong replied softly, his tranquil attitude undisturbed. He continued to kneel as he had been doing.


    Hesitation showed in Shen Yi¡¯s expression, but in the end, she spoke up. ¡°Teacher said, ¡®just let him kneel there.¡¯¡±


    Wu Zhangkong lifted his head, trembling as he stared at Shen Yi in astonishment.


    He was trembling because he understood that his teacher¡¯s fury was no reason to be terrified, but his teacher¡¯s disregard certainly was! As long as his teacher was angry with him, he still had a chance.


    ¡°Thank you, Shen Yi.¡± Wu Zhangkong bit his lips, as he continued to kneel, his back straighter than before.


    ¡°Just keep kneeling for now, senior brother,¡± Shen Yi said. ¡°You know what Teacher is like. He spouts harsh words, but his heart is soft. When I told him that you had returned, I could see a trace of joy in his face for a split second. He couldn¡¯t hide it at all. He still cares deeply for you. After another round of persuasion, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll forgive you.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head gently. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve Teacher¡¯s forgiveness, but for the sake of my disciples, I implore you.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Shen Yi turned around and re-entered the inner court.


    ?


    ¡°The sun is going to rise soon. Why hasn¡¯t Teacher Wu come back yet?¡± Xie Xie paced around the room anxiously. After Wu Zhangkong left, he called them once to tell them he was handling business and that they should return to their rooms to avoid disturbing Tang Wulin¡¯s deep meditation.


    Instead, the three stayed in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s room and meditated while waiting for Tang Wulin to awaken.


    They had opened the door just a crack to take a peek at Tang Wulin, but Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan faces turned crimson when they saw him soaking in the bathtub naked.


    Gu Yue had immediately covered Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes with her hands, leaving her own eyes wide open to take in the sight.


    A moment after that, Xie Xie took the high road and peeled them away from the doorway, depriving both of them of the eye-candy that was Tang Wulin.


    With Tang Wulin stuck meditating and Wu Zhangkong gone, Xie Xie¡¯s heart was in a frenzy.


    Although he had resolved to stick with Tang Wulin, taking the entrance exam would still be the best outcome! They were currently thirteen years old, and in another three years, they would be sixteen. They would be too old to take the Shrek Academy entrance exam by then. This was their only shot at entering Shrek Academy, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!


    Gu Yue, the calmest of the three, sat cross-legged in a chair. She had been thinking about something ever since she saw Tang Wulin soaking in the bathtub.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just wait,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said meekly. ¡°Xie Xie, can you stop walking in circles? We¡¯ve already made our choice. If we don¡¯t end up taking the exam, we¡¯ll just treat this trip as a holiday and nothing more. In any case, we¡¯re on vacation right now. Once Captain wakes up, we can go sightseeing at Shrek Academy. At the very least, we can have him treat us to dinner. I bet his cheeks will be sore considering how stingy he is.¡±


    She giggled at the thought.


    Xie Xie made a strange expression because he knew it was true. Aside from the bare necessities, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t paid for anything else. All of his money went into his savings. He rarely went out to eat because the price to fill his stomach was simply too steep!


    As the sky slowly began to brighten, Xie Xie¡¯s impatience disappeared. He knew that it would be too late even if Tang Wulin awoke at that very moment. Time waited for no one!


    Their inn was quite far from Shrek Academy, and the exam would start in one hour. Even if they left right then and there, they still wouldn¡¯t make it in time.


    If they missed it, they missed it. Although they would have some regrets, all of them had decided on this, valuing their comrades more than Shrek Academy.


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes shot opened, her gaze directed at Xie Xie. ¡°I¡¯ll stop mocking you in the future.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Her sudden statement had Xie Xie at a loss for words.

 Chapter 252 - The Breakthrough of the Second Seal

    Chapter 252 - The Breakthrough of the Second Seal


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Xie Xie eyed her with suspicion.


    Gu Yue said, ¡°I guess you can be considered a male.¡±


    His voice held a flurry of annoyance. ¡°Are you saying you treated me like I was a girl before?¡±


    Gu Yue giggled, a glint to her eyes. ¡°You can take it however you want.¡±


    Then, Xu Xiaoyan approached Xie Xie and latched on to his arm. ¡°So we¡¯re actually a group of sisters! I wouldn¡¯t have known if big sis Gu Yue didn¡¯t tell me.¡±


    He rolled his eyes in exasperation, lips pinched as he wrested his arm free. ¡°You girls are always bullying me! I bet you don¡¯t have what it takes to mess with Wulin. Oh, whatever. I¡¯m hungry now. You two guard him while I get some breakfast. Do you want me to bring anything back?¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°I want meat, steamed buns, juice, and yogurt. Oh right, some vegetables too.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan counted on her fingers as she said, ¡°I want some bread, jam, yogurt, and a fried egg. Actually, make that two. Yeah, I¡¯m still growing after all.¡±


    Xie Xie said, ¡°Yeah, growing as round as a fried egg!¡± He knew enough to run off after his snarky comment, escaping before Xu Xiaoyan had the chance to erupt.


    Not long after his getaway, there was a knock on the door.


    ¡°He¡¯s back so quickly?¡± Xu Xiaoyan mumbled as she walked to the door. However, when she opened the door, the person outside was the white-haired lady from yesterday rather than her teammate.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. Auntie, where¡¯s Teacher Wu?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Shen Yi entered the room. ¡°Your teacher is fine. He¡¯s just taking care of some matters for you all at the academy right now. Has your captain awakened yet?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan shook her head. ¡°Not yet.¡±


    A sigh escaped Shen Yi¡¯s lips. ¡°Then all we can do is wait. When he¡¯s conscious, I¡¯ll bring you all over.¡±


    Confused, Xu Xiaoyan asked, ¡°You¡¯re bringing us over? But it¡¯s already too late!¡±


    Shen Yi wore a faint smile as she tousled Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s hair, the same way Wu Zhangkong had done with hers the day before. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Your teacher has already settled things. Your tests might be a bit harder, but you still have one last chance. We¡¯ll depart once your captain is awake.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s awesome! Teacher Wu is the best!¡± Xu Xiaoyan bounced with joy.


    Although they had sacrificed the test for Tang Wulin, having both was still the best! Missing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would have been a tragedy!


    Gu Yue stared at Shen Yi in surprise. She hadn¡¯t expected a second chance and it was as if a heavy mountain had been lifted off of her.


    ?


    In the washroom.


    Tang Wulin remained soaking in the bathtub. The water had lost some of its heat, but was still lukewarm.


    Golden mist gathered in the air, shrouding his body in a radiant haze.


    ¡°Have I succeeded?¡± Inside of his spiritual world, Tang Wulin found himself in the mystical hall once more.


    Compared to the first seal, the second one was much easier to break. After the initial sensation of being boiled alive, he grew accustomed to the pain, feeling his blood rampage through his body as the latter transformed. From then on, the process was painless.


    Later, a mysterious sensation filled him.


    Just like the first time, his senses had dulled to the point where comprehending the situation was fruitless. The only thing he could make out was the shattering of something within his body, the jaws of danger closing in on him.


    During the breaking of the first seal, he had endured unspeakable pain, as if his entire body was on the brink of explosion, so much so that death would have been a sweet release.


    This time, however, things were different. While he had felt something fill his body, he did not feel like bursting at the seams. Any semblance of pain had been a hollow image of itself.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, you¡¯ve succeeded.¡± Old Tang said, chock-full of satisfaction.


    Old Tang appeared near him in a flash of light, his body clearer and more human-like than before.


    Old Tang smiled. ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Good. It wasn¡¯t as painful as the first time.¡±


    Old Tang said, ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re more prepared this time. Both your body and soul power have made remarkable progress in the last three years, especially since your soul power is compressed by your new cultivation method. It has refined your meridians and increased the load that they can bear. You also found high-quality spirit items this time. All of these factors eased the process.¡±


    Tang Wulin rejoiced, ¡°That¡¯s great! I didn¡¯t waste my time then. Old Tang, what changed with my body this time? I remember back then you said there would be a nice surprise for me!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, there¡¯s a surprise,¡± Old Tang said. ¡°But you need to go experience it for yourself. I suggest you don¡¯t worry about it for now and instead focus on breaking the third seal in the near future.¡±


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°Isn¡¯t the deadline when I¡¯m twenty? I still have six years until then. That¡¯s plenty of time to prepare.¡±


    Old Tang seemed to arch a brow. ¡°Who said the deadline is twenty years old for the third seal?¡±


    Tang Wulin stared back deadpan. ¡°But isn¡¯t it? The deadline should be five years apart, and I¡¯ve broken the second seal one year early! Five plus fifteen is twenty years old!¡±


    Old Tang shook his head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not how it¡¯s calculated. Your next seal needs to be broken by the time you turn sixteen. In other words, you have three years left. Fifteen years old was the absolute latest for the second seal, and the earlier your break a seal, the easier the later seals are. The countdown for the next seal to be broken starts immediately after you¡¯ve breaking the previous one. So, you have three years to prepare.¡±


    Tang Wulin stood dumbfounded. ¡°Are you telling me the time between seals is going to continue shrinking?¡±


    Old Tang said, ¡°That¡¯s right. It shortens each time. You¡¯ll be under a lot of pressure from now on.¡±


    This shocking revelation wiped the smile right off of Tang Wulin¡¯s face. If the time shortens after each seal and there are eighteen seals¡­ then just how much time will I have for the later ones? And if I fail to destroy a seal, I¡¯ll probably die!


    ¡°What is the minimum amount of time I will have to break a seal in the future?¡±


    Old Tang said, ¡°Your preparation time will shorten by three months each time. After the ninth seal, you will only have one year to prepare for each.¡±


    Tang Wulin let out a long sigh. One year per seal after the ninth seal? Can¡­ can I manage that?


    He may have broken two seals already, but only now did he realize how menacing they were.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what you need for your next seal. But before that, let me remind you that the more your body and soul power progress in the next three years, the easier the unsealing. You will face a tribulation if you¡¯re not prepared, and you might even¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded in silence. He understood what Old Tang implied.


    Several spirit items popped into his mind. He first checked their prefixes, and was relieved to discover that they were thousand-year spirit items. If they were ten-thousand-year items, he would have just given up right then and there.

 Chapter 253 - To the Exam!

    Chapter 253 - To the Exam!


    ¡°You can go now. Continue working hard.¡±


    The world before Tang Wulin melted away, fading into nothing.


    Cold.


    His eyes shot open, surprised to find that the bathwater had cooled significantly. Still, it was refreshing for him.


    Tang Wulin looked down to inspect his body but didn¡¯t see any drastic transformations. Then, a visceral clawing need within the pits of his stomach had his mind elsewhere. I¡¯m starving! How many days has it been?


    Climbing out of the bathtub, he dried himself and quickly dressed, in a hurry to stave off his hunger with food.


    But when he opened the washroom door, he nearly jumped with fright.


    Instead of Wu Zhangkong, four people sat in the room, one of which was an unfamiliar white-haired woman.


    He hadn¡¯t seen her during his trip to Skysea City years ago.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally awake!¡± Xie Xie leapt toward him.


    ¡°So I woke up in time?¡± Seeing them, his hopes rose. There should still be time before the exam, otherwise, his teammates wouldn¡¯t be here.


    Xie Xie grumbled, ¡°What do you mean ¡®in time¡¯? We¡¯re already late.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin was so shocked, he even forgot his hunger.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Shen Yi stood up, giving Tang Wulin a meaningful look before walking out.


    Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue also got up, the former beaming at him while the latter had an apathetic expression. Only, her eyes were far more expressive, concern lingering in their depths.


    Tang Wulin nodded to them, then turned to Xie Xie. ¡°Who is that?¡±


    Xie Xie replied, ¡°She¡¯s a friend of Teacher Wu¡¯s from Shrek. We¡¯re already three hours late; Teacher Wu is helping us out at the academy right now, so we need to hurry over, otherwise, we might miss our chance.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. This is all my fault.¡± Tang Wulin slumped with shame and hung his head. His stinginess had started a domino-effect, from delaying the evolution of his bloodline to holding his teammates back and possibly missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! And all this, just for the sake of saving money !


    Xie Xie chuckled. ¡°What¡¯s the point in talking about it now? When you protected us at the forefront all those times, have we ever said thanks? How¡¯s your body? How did your deep meditation go?¡±


    Unable to tell Xie Xie about his seals, Tang Wulin could only smile bitterly and say, ¡°I don¡¯t know either, but I feel great.¡± He had realized that, apart from hunger, he was in good condition. Strength surged through his body, his soul power having grown. He estimated that it was around rank 27 or rank 28 now. Just like the first time, his soul power had not increased by much.


    Though hunger still clouded his mind, he sensed that his body had strengthened by a third and, when considering his already immense physical power, it was a tremendous improvement.


    What he truly looked forward to, however, was how his bloodline power had evolved, as well as the surprise Old Tang spoke of.


    But now was not the time to test it out. In fact, he didn¡¯t even have time to eat.


    ¡°Do you have anything to eat?¡± Tang Wulin asked Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie shook his head.


    But at that moment, Gu Yue held out a bag to Tang Wulin.


    He accepted the bag, immediately knowing what it was just by the weight and feel of it. It was steamed buns and meat! They weren¡¯t spectacular, but they were better than nothing!


    He didn¡¯t thank Gu Yue. Although they had grown estranged in the past three years, experiencing life-or-death situations together was a bond that would never break. Thanks was not needed for such a trivial matter.


    It was three steamed buns and a portion of meat. They didn¡¯t smell particularly appetizing, but desperate times called for desperate measures.


    Tang Wulin devoured the food with such shocking speed that no one in the entire continent would dare say they were number one at speed eating in his presence. Not a single crumb was left by the time they reached the first floor.


    Shen Yi had driven here. Her sleek, dark-green soul car was parked in the front.


    ¡°Get in,¡± Shen Yi said as she got into the driver¡¯s seat. Xie Xie sat in the back but was promptly dragged out and forced to the front by Gu Yue.


    Xu Xiaoyan, sitting next to the window in the back seat, covered her laugh with a hand. Tang Wulin sat by the opposite window, Gu Yue sandwiched between them.


    Xie Xie silently cursed. Gu Yue is too controlling, hogging Wulin all to herself!


    Gu Yue remained expressionless despite her actions, but Tang Wulin had long since become accustomed to it. He could see how much she cared just by the fact that the food she had given him, though meager, was enough to temporarily alleviate his hunger.


    Gue Yue nudged him. He turned to see that she was offering him a juice box.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart warmed at the gesture. He smiled at her, before quickly drinking the juice.


    Happiness flashed in Gu Yue¡¯s eyes before she closed them to rest.


    The two sat shoulder-to-shoulder, a cozy and peaceful atmosphere between them as Gu Yue¡¯s cool arm pressed against Tang Wulin¡¯s warm one.


    Shen Yi drove fast but smooth, her reactions precise. She handled her car with skill, lacking any unnecessary movement so that it could display its full speed.


    The scenery flitted by outside the window. It was class zero¡¯s first time seeing the rest of Shrek City.


    The city was just too lively and gigantic.


    When Tang Wulin first left Glorybound City, he had thought Eastsea City was too much to behold, an entire world itself.


    And now, he felt the same about Shrek City; only, this time, he was comparing to Eastsea City.


    This really is the continent¡¯s number one city!


    With Shen Yi¡¯s speeding, they arrived at the legendary Shrek Academy within an hour.


    Ancient city walls extending beyond their vision towered over them like an enormous dragon coiled around the academy, plain and undecorated without even a signboard to mark the location.


    A large crowd was currently assembled outside the gate. It was a sea of people rowdy with noise and excitement.


    Instead of entering through the front gate, Shen Yie drove off to the side. After seven or eight turns, they found themselves before the wall again and in front of a small gate.


    Shen Yi pressed a button and the gate opened, revealing a new road and the soul car turned into the street.


    The gate closed behind them. Their new surroundings were peaceful and tranquil as if by passing through that door they had cut their connections to the outside world and entered an era long gone.


    ¡°Are we in Shrek Academy now?¡± Xie Xie asked Shen Yi.


    Shen Yi nodded. ¡°This is Shrek Academy, or as some call it, Shrek Inner City. It was the original Shrek City, but after the city expanded, it became part of the academy. The entire city was built for the sake of the academy, so this is the core of the city as well as where students study. Only those recognized by the academy are permitted to enter Shrek Inner City.¡±


    The car did not slow one bit as she explained, continuing to speed toward the academy¡¯s core.


    ¡°Because you were late, your exam will be harder than normal. You¡¯ll be tested on the same things, but will have less time to finish and might not even have a chance to rest throughout the entire process. Furthermore, if you do pass, you¡¯ll only be working students.¡±


    ¡°Working students? What¡¯s that?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Shen Yi said, ¡°It means you¡¯ll have to pay for the costs to attend Shrek by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Dread gripped Tang Wulin at the mere mention of spending money.


    Xie Xie laughed and said proudly, ¡°That¡¯s fine. Our captain is great at making money. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll help us out.¡±


    Tang Wulin was helpless to retort. He was the one who put them in this predicament after all.


    Shen Yi said, ¡°You¡¯re not paying the school money, but working for the school to pay for your tuition. Do you think Shrek Academy is short on money? Normal students all attend for free.¡±


    Work?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mood uplifted the moment he heard this. He had never been one to back down from hardship. Xie Xie, on the other hand, made a sour expression as words tumbled out of his mouth. ¡°What work?¡±

 Chapter 254 - The Golden Dragon and the Black Dragon

    Chapter 254 - The Golden Dragon and the Black Dragon


    Shen Yi spared him a glance. ¡°Ask me again if you pass. It¡¯s still early for you to know.¡±


    The car cruised to a snail¡¯s pace, a giant plaza soon coming into view.


    The ground at the plaza was made of ashen-gray stones, which were larger than the black rocks that paved the roads. There were buildings of similar height and ancient architecture arranged on the perimeter of half of the circular plaza. Using just their eyes to estimate, class zero and Shen Yi determined that the plaza was at least one kilometer long in diameter. The buildings was made of stone, various figures carved into it.


    Contained within semicircle of buildings was the plaza, and in the plaza¡¯s center was a circular man-made pond approximately one hundred meters in diameter. At the middle of a fountain stood a majestic sculpture..


    When Tang Wulin realized the identity of the sculpture was similar to the one in Tang Sect, his heart thumped against his chest.  Life-like, the art piece featured the only person who could compare with Tang San, the founder of the Tang Sect. It was the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder, the master of the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion within Shrek in that era. The Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao.


    He was carved as the center and revered figure, his great spirit souls surrounding him as if they were his guardians.


    Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao was the sole being of his era to ascend to godhood! That his sculpture could be found here was testimony to his great influence.


    His sculpture was in the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, and even here! Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes sparkled with awe.


    ¡°This is Spirit Ice Plaza. It was built ten thousand years ago when Shrek Academy started to expand into what is now the inner city. Currently, the main school buildings for the outer court are located here. As you may have guessed, it was named after the world-shaking Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve all heard of his legends, so I¡¯ll leave it at that. Let¡¯s enter the school building now.¡± After her simple explanation, Shen Yi led them toward the ring of buildings.


    With each step closer to the building, the sculptures carved into surface of the buildings became easier to make out.


    ¡°These are all sculptures of inner court disciples. Every student admitted into the inner court will have a sculpture shaped in his likeness, in commemoration as well as for evidence of Shrek¡¯s history,¡± Shen Yi explained when she noticed the wonder flashing in their eyes. Without letting them admire the art further, Shen Yi shepherded them into the building.


    The first thing that jumped out at them was the size. The ceiling towered over them at least ten meters in height, despite the fact that the building had six floors. There were fine illustrations drawn into the walls and domed ceiling, which caused onlookers to stop and stare, overwhelmed by the grandeur. Even so, such a sight was not tacky at the slightest, and was able to maintain an air of elegance.


    Shen Yi talked while walking. ¡°This building is called House Shrek. The murals on the walls and ceiling detail our twenty thousand years of history.¡±


    So prestigious! Twenty thousand years of history!


    A foundation spanning across eras was truly awe-inspiring. All four students of class zero felt the urge to kowtow before this history of magnificence.


    Only now did they understand why Shrek Academy was known as the sacred temple of soul masters. Traveling to Shrek Academy was like making a pilgrimage! If they were privileged enough to study here, they would have an unforgettable experience for the rest of their lives.


    As his shame grew heavier, Tang Wulin¡¯s blood boiled, his hands balling into fists and knuckles glowing white. I almost made my teammates miss the Shrek exam!


    We¡­ we all have to get in here!


    Although it was his first time so close to Shrek Academy, a mere taste of its glory, he knew in his heart that he must enter it.


    There wasn¡¯t a single soul master who could resist the temptation of Shrek Academy.


    After passing through the dome-roofed area, they climbed a flight of stairs with arching windows on each side, which provided a view of the yard outside. There were plants kept in tip-top shape throughout the green field, and on the other side of that was a stone structure similar to the one class zero was in. Everything in sight was part of the Shrek House, illustrating how large the building was. The semicircle of buildings  they had first been introduced to was just the tip of the iceberg! Even the imperial palaces of eras long gone might not be able to compare with this building.


    No wonder Shen Yi said Shrek doesn¡¯t lack any money. Just how much money did it cost to construct something so big?


    Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath. Immersing himself in the environment felt wonderful.


    After passing through two more corridors, they arrived in a round hall. Its domed ceiling stretched twenty meters high. Additionally, there was a mural painted on the ceiling just as the previous hall had been.


    As class zero took in the detailed painting, their bodies trembled, their knees buckling beneath them. Despite the twenty-meter distance separating them and the mural, it felt as if a mountain weighed down upon their shoulders.


    There was a large black dragon in the mural. Its eyes glowed golden, even more striking against the backdrop of its ebony face, and its wings were spread wide. Violet light exploded from its body. It was obviously a painting, but it was vivid to the point of blurring the lines between fiction and reality. Each dragon scale could be counted with no difficulty, without missing a single one. The mural imposed an unstoppable pressure on the onlookers, as if the room itself was caving in under the dragon¡¯s might.


    Compared to his teammates, Tang Wulin¡¯s reaction was more subdued. When the unseen pressure attempted to dominate him, his blood roared into action, arrogantly refuting the black dragon¡¯s might and fueling him with courage. He managed to stand tall before it, unaffected.


    Gu Yue¡¯s valor nearly matched his. After a moment of trembling and surprise, she regained herself.


    Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie, on the other hand, were deeply affected.


    Xu Xiaoyan trembled and verged on collapsing, her face pale with shock.


    Xie Xie was in a worse state. His knees had given in immediately, but he was caught by Tang Wulin before he hit the ground. A bizarre sensation enveloped him the moment he came in contact with his captain¡¯s aura, dispelling his fear enough that he could stand firm again..


    At some unknown time, Shen Yi had disappeared, leaving the four students by themselves.


    Wave after wave of pressure came crashing onto them, each more terrifying than the last.


    Tang Wulin brows furrowed. He could sense Xie Xie shaking with each wave of pressure, nearing the point of collapse.


    Snapping out of his stupor, Tang Wulin had noticed that Shen Yi was no longer present. As such, he came to the conclusion that this place held more secrets than it did at first glance. This was likely part of their test.


    Tang Wulin snorted, golden light flaring in the depths of his eyes as his bloodline power spurred into motion.


    Golden scales rippled into existence across his right arm, pulsing with more power than ever before. He could feel his blood overflowing with strength.


    After the scales had spread up his arm, they continued past his shoulder to his collarbone, and then down his torso¡¯s right side. The right portion of his neck was not left excluded.


    His blood essence stretched beyond his body and enveloped his comrades in a bid to protect them.

 Chapter 255 - The Potential of a Little Monster

    Chapter 255 - The Potential of a Little Monster


    Tang Wulin himself found this phenomenon strange, but dismissed it. With a cold snort, he dispelled some of the black dragon¡¯s crushing pressure. Now that Xie Xie was surrounded by Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence, he was finally able to regain his composure.


    Though Xie Xie could not perceive Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence, he felt an unshakeable sense of security standing next to him. As long as he was next to Tang Wulin, everything would be okay.


    ¡°Huh.¡± Shen Yi appeared from around the corner of a stone pillar, an elderly man following behind her. The old man wore a dark-green robe, his face the very definition of surprise. He nodded in approval when he saw Tang Wulin. ¡°Not bad. He has the potential of a little monster. It has been many years since I¡¯ve last seen someone capable of withstanding the Gold-eyed Black Dragon King¡¯s pressure.¡±


    Unknown to class zero, the mural above them was painted by a Title Douluo who specialized in painting. However, the only reason it could invoke such terror in their hearts was because it was painted with one drop of blood from the strongest soul beast in the Great Star Dou Forest, the fearsome Gold-eyed Black Dragon King.


    The drop of blood obtained from the legendary battle between the dragon and Shrek Academy¡¯s most powerful members.


    This mural tested the spiritual power of examinees. The longer they lasted, the higher their score.


    Shen Yi was also astonished. She had originally labelled Gu Yue as the most promising student of class zero, but now, Tang Wulin had emerged as another promising student.


    In the long history of this Black Dragon Hall, no one had ever used their own aura to resist the might of the mural. Examinees had always been forced to resist it with their own strength.


    ¡°Elder Li, this trial¡¯s score¡­?¡±


    Elder Li glanced at Tang Wulin. ¡°Give that boy full marks. As for the other three¡­ I suppose luck is an aspect of one¡¯s strength. Give the rest eight points.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Elder Li.¡± Shen Yi¡¯s eyes lit up with joy.


    Without needing to be told, the four students turned to the elder and bowed.


    The elder smiled humbly. ¡°I¡¯m just giving face to that old fellow, Zhuo Shi. It doesn¡¯t change the fact that you were all late!¡± He made to leave, but turned back once more to give Tang Wulin an approving nod before walking off. His actions were incomprehensible.


    ¡°The exam is split into many trials. Each trial has a maximum score of ten points, but to pass you need a minimum of six and your points are totalled at the end of the exams. Points will be deducted for failed sections and added for full-score sections. So actually, your luck was pretty good for the first section.¡± Shen Yi nodded in satisfaction.


    ¡°Follow me.¡±


    We¡¯re done the first trial already?


    Xie Xie gave Tang Wulin a thumbs up. They had only realized then that the trial tested their spiritual power. The greater their spiritual power, the longer they could endure the pressure.


    Although Xie Xie¡¯s spiritual power surpassed the norm, he still fell flat compared to Shrek¡¯s standard; if not for Tang Wulin, he would have failed this trial.


    Gu Yue¡¯s score could have been higher, but it would¡¯ve been impossible for Xu Xiaoyan and her to get eight points.


    The realization that they had just passed their first trial hit them hard, and they subconsciously moved to assume their battle formation as they walked. Tang Wulin stood at the front as the spear head, Xie Xie slightly behind him, while  Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue were in the backlines.


    After passing through a corridor, they arrived in another hall. Shen Yi stopped and spun around to face the four students. ¡°Wait here. The second trial will begin in a moment.¡±


    She left without explaining the content of the next trial. It was already generous of Shrek Academy to let them to take the exam despite being late. Unlike the other examinees, they did not need to line up and as such could only power through the trials without resting.


    With a glance, Tang Wulin signalled to  Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan, who then immediately sat down cross-legged and began meditating. They were a bit spent after resisting the spiritual pressure of the previous trial.


    Gu Yue, however, shook her head, indicating she was fine.


    At that moment, the hall darkened as if night had descended.


    But it was just noon! It¡¯s too soon for it to be night time!


    Mysterious silver lights lit up on the ground. They wove together, presenting a dazzling scene while the night sky painted on the domed roof transformed into a boundless expanse of space that seemed almost impossibly real.


    Gu Yue¡¯s brows jumped in surprise while Tang Wulin roused the barely rested Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan.


    The silver pattern on the floor gradually faded away. At that moment, it was as if they were floating in the starry sky of a magical world.


    ¡°Hold hands!¡± Tang Wulin ordered as he grabbed Xie Xie with one hand and Gu Yue with the other. Gu Yue held Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s hand and she, in turn, took Xie Xie¡¯s, completing the circle.


    Two purple rings rose beneath Tang Wulin as Bluesilver Grass burst from his body to wrap them all in a protective barrier.


    Without knowing what the enemy was, this was the only action he could take. Once their safety was secured, they would have leeway to formulate a response plan.


    Suddenly, their surroundings changed.


    Light appeared in the still night. Now, however, they found themselves in a large space.


    Where are we?


    Just as they thought this, a deafening roar broke the air and the tyrannical pressure slammed into them.


    A soul beast appeared before them, a monstrous thing over ten meters long and five meters tall. Two horns jutted out of its skull, one slightly longer than the other. Its skin looked as tough as armor, encasing its scarlet eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s an Earth Demon Rhinoceros. It should be at least three-thousand-years,¡± Xie Xie said solemnly.


    They had never encountered such a beast in the spirit ascension platform since it wasn¡¯t an inhabitant of the forest, but a lord of the savanna.


    Although it was not as mighty as the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear of the forest, its strength was not to be underestimated.


    ¡°Its attribute is earth,¡± Gu Yue judged.


    Tang Wulin remained silent, only making a few hand signals.


    Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan turned around and ran to open up distance while Xie Xie rushed to the side.


    Sparkling strands of Bluesilver Grass bound their waists, connecting the four teammates. In a flash of golden light, a small snake appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    Goldlight had grown much since three years ago. It was  about half a meter in length and as thick as a chestnut now. Meanwhile, its golden scales had transformed and appeared similar to those on Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm, thicker and sharper than before.


    Goldlight slithered down his left arm and coiled around his forearm, its eyes sparkling gold.


    The Earth Demon Rhinoceros let out another thundering roar and pawed the ground twice before charging at Tang Wulin.


    Rather than fear, Tang Wulin felt his blood rouse and shouted in unstoppable excitement This was the perfect opportunity to test his growth after breaking the second seal!


    Which was why, instead of retreating, he charged forward to clash head on with the beast!


    Xie Xie had positioned himself to the side at that moment, while a yellow light blossomed on the ground in front of the rhinoceros.


    The earth softened as Gu Yue gestured with hands enveloped in yellow light. Not only could the earth element be used to harden the ground, it could also create a marsh.


    The crimson eyes of the Earth Demon Rhinoceros were full of bloodthirst. Just before it fell prey to the marsh, a yellow light appeared beneath its feet and the earth hardened again. Without slowing down, it continued to charge at Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 256 - Golden Soul Ring

    Chapter 256 - Golden Soul Ring


    Tang Wulin shot forward like a rocket, activating Bluesilver Impaling Array as he propelled himself into the air.


    The Earth Demon Rhinoceros charged straight into his array, its large and thick body barely restrained for a moment.


    Tang Wulin took advantage of the opening to edge closer and, drawing all his strength into his fist, punched it right in the face.


    The rhinoceros roared, lowering its horns to counter the fist.


    In terms of strength, the Earth Demon Rhinoceros would rank in the top three among soul beasts of the same level. The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, however, would only rank in the top ten.


    Bang!


    It was like being hit by a train. Tang Wulin flew back like a cannonball, his entire arm numb from the impact. Still, he flung a strand of Bluesilver Grass to bind the rhinoceros¡¯s neck like a lasso.


    The Earth Demon Rhinoceros also recoiled from the clash. Although it hadn¡¯t been hurt, Tang Wulin was proud of his achievement. After all, the Earth Demon Rhinoceros was feared for its sheer brutal strength!


    Tang Wulin took the opportunity to survey his surroundings while midair. This place reminded him of the beast arenas of old; a place where people with courage and riches gathered, a place where soul masters fought each other or soul beasts, a place that seduced others with the promise great rewards. And this place felt the same.


    The Earth Demon Rhinoceros¡¯s strength was formidable, its defense surpassing even that of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. All it lacked was attack power.


    He pulled hard on a strand of Bluesilver Grass and, like a compressed spring, he went flying through the air as the tension released in a burst of muscle and adrenaline. Xie Xie, positioned at the rhinoceros¡¯s side, chose this moment to act. His second soul ring lit up as he activated Light Dragon Storm.


    With his rich combat experience, Xie Xie pinpointed the rhinoceros¡¯s head as its weakest point. The best target.


    Agility-type soul masters had the most explosive attacks among their peers. Xie Xie was no exception.


    The Earth Demon Rhinoceros twitched in its effort to pursue Tang Wulin, giving Xie Xie the perfect opportunity to strike. He took it.


    Though such an attack could not breach the rhinoceros''s thick skin and even thicker defenses, It still stung. This was enough to accomplish Xie Xie¡¯s objective.


    Grunting in pain, the rhinoceros raised its right foot and stomped. Tang Wulin, still in mid flight, grabbed the strand connecting to Xie Xie and pulled him into the air.


    Boom!


    Yellow light exploded outward as the rhinoceros¡¯s foot descended, only dissipating after traveling for twenty-five meters in radius. A little more and it would have reached Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan.


    It was War Stomp, an attack soul skill that possessed formidable paralysis effects.


    Tang Wulin had been quick enough to evade it, but Xie Xie was one step too late as he lost control of his body to a numb sensation. He urged his soul power into motion, circulating it throughout his body.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin landed on the rhinoceros¡¯s head. Golden scales ripped across his skin as his arm transformed into his supreme golden dragon claw.


    Among all the elements, earth had the strongest defense and stability. Rarely could the other subdue it; as such, the biggest obstacle in defeating an Earth Demon Rhinoceros was breaking its stalwart defense. Even so, this posed no problem for Tang Wulin. As long as he could penetrate its hide, then his golden dragon claw¡¯s crushing effect would take care of the rest. The rhinoceros¡¯s defeat was only a matter of time.


    However, something unexpected happened.


    The instant his golden dragon claw materialized, his body blazed with heat as fire seared his blood. His two purple soul rings vanished.


    And in their place, a golden soul ring appeared.


    A golden soul ring?


    Both Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue were dumbstruck by this unprecedented scene, completely forgetting to prepare their soul skills. Even Xie Xie, who was planning for a second assault from the air, gaped at the sight.


    The golden soul ring shone with resplendent light, showering Tang Wulin in a splendid gold. No longer were the scales on his arm and the claw a dull color. Now, they dazzled brighter than a diamond.


    A powerful aura of of blood essence gathered around him while his body swelled with power.


    Bang!


    The Earth Demon Rhinoceros threw its head back, hurling Tang Wulin off.


    Too preoccupied with the changes in his body, Tang Wulin missed his opportunity to attack. He only managed to raise his scaled arm to block the rhinoceros¡¯s horn.


    This time, he neither trembled nor did his arm go weak from the impact.


    Confused, he took in the golden glow of his body. Gu Yue called out, ¡°Be careful!¡±


    Yellow light surged in his direction, earth spikes following in its wake. Having just landed on the ground, he braced himself for the onslaught.


    Yet, a strange scene played out. Just as the earth spikes stabbed him, the golden light merged with his skin and he was sent flying into the air, unharmed.


    Tang Wulin groaned as the impact ran through, but he quickly came to a realization.


    That golden light strengthened my body?


    Is this the surprise Old Tang spoke of?


    With no time left to ponder, he spun in mid air and grabbed the strand of Bluesilver Grass wrapped around the rhinoceros¡¯s head, diving down like a hawk.


    His reinforcements finally arrived. Still in flight, Xie Xie split into three clones that headed for the rhinoceros. Another set of three shadows followed behind them, hidden from sight.


    The strongest suit of his Shadow Dragon Dagger was its ability to stay hidden within the shadows. In this hairbreadth of a second, Xie Xie displayed the full might of both of his third soul skills, combining them into Twin Dragon Clones!


    Both Light Dragon Clones and Shadow Dragon Clones could create three clones each, a total of six clones. Each one zipped toward the soul beast, assaulting it from a different angle.


    Two of them attacked head-on, aiming straight for the eyes. No matter how strong the skin, the eyes would be weak points.


    As if understanding this, the Earth Demon Rhinoceros used its thick eyelids to shield against Xie Xie¡¯s barrage.


    Because the Twin Dragon Clones required maximum control and soul power, Xie Xie was unable to utilize other soul skills simultaneously; but he didn¡¯t need to. The disruptive effect of six clones attacking at the same instance was enough.


    Without pausing, Xu Xiaoyan activated Starlight Shackles beneath the rhinoceros, binding it in place. The chains prevented the rhinoceros from charging at the two girls. Despite being effective for just an instant, the shackles had upset the soul beast¡¯s center of gravity and sent it toppling.


    Stars littered the sky. Though it was just an illusion, such a sight was enough to set off her soul abilities. Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Starwheel Ice Staff accepted the night as fact, granting her the absolute control of her Starlight Shackles.

 Chapter 257 - Bloodline Soul Skill: Golden Dragon Body

    Chapter 257 - Bloodline Soul Skill: Golden Dragon Body


    If Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s soul skill could restrain even an expert of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s level, it was pointless to even mention the Earth Demon Rhinoceros.


    Despite her attack being ready, Gu Yue did not launch it. Instead, she recalled her soul power and soul rings.


    After Xu Xiaoyan recovered from her initial surprise, she created an opening with her Starlight Shackles. Tang Wulin did not let this chance slip away and swiftly remounted the rhinoceros¡¯s head.


    His resplendent golden dragon claw descended upon the rhinoceros¡¯s nape.


    The rhinoceros¡¯s defenses were strong, and Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know if his claw could penetrate its skull. Since its neck was a significantly weaker in comparison, it was the next best target.


    The moment his claw touched the beast¡¯s skin, the golden light clinging to his body converged on it, bathing it in a magnificent glow.


    The crushing effect of his claw immediately activated and shattered the rhinoceros¡¯s outer armor of skin. He thrust his claw into the breach.


    A moment later, the Earth Demon Rhinoceros collapsed with a loud rumble. Tang Wulin had severed its spine, seizing both its control over its body... and its life.


    It¡¯s really strong. As Tang Wulin stared at his sparkling claw that lacked even the tiniest of bloodstains, he felt a flurry of emotions.


    He had reaped many benefits from breaking the second seal.


    First was this mysterious golden soul ring that seemed to appear when he unleashed his golden dragon claw. If Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass consumed his soul power, then this golden soul ring consumed his physical strength and blood essence.


    His golden dragon claw no longer used up his soul power, but he could feel his blood essence drain away to sustain it. If he used up all of his blood essence, however¡­ he would get hungry.


    As a result of that change, Tang Wulin could now sustain his golden dragon claw for longer periods of time. It also became stronger, while the golden scales amplified Tang Wulin¡¯s strength even further. In addition to that, the scales now covered the entire right side of his body, greatly strengthening the parts they covered.


    All of this was a substantial improvement. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to slaughter this Earth Demon Rhinoceros so easily without it.


    In the back of Tang Wulin¡¯s mind, he vaguely knew that the name of the golden soul ring¡¯s soul skill was Golden Dragon Body.


    Golden Dragon Body increased Tang Wulin¡¯s strength, speed, attack power, and defense as an all-around ability amplifier. However, it increased his strength the most. This was made clear by how he was able to go toe-to-toe against the Earth Demon Rhinoceros without backing down.


    Of course, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Starlight Shackles played a huge role in his swift kill. Without its absolute restraining power, he wouldn¡¯t have had a chance to kill the rhinoceros in one attack while facing the many soul skills it possessed.


    Just as he started reviewing the battle, the beast arena faded away, returning everything to darkness.


    The stars in the sky warped, giving everyone a short bout of dizziness before their vision became clear again.


    The four stood face to face with one another, hands joined together, just like before. It seemed as though everything they just experienced had been an illusion.


    They had experienced fighting in an illusory world during their time in the spirit ascension platform, but that had only been possible through the usage of sophisticated technology! Yet this place was not like the spirit ascension platform. It felt different here¡­ truly strange.


    They couldn¡¯t fathom the magic behind it, but they were awestruck nonetheless!


    Shen Yi reappeared before them, her expression stranger than ever.


    The beast arena was the second trial of Shrek Academy¡¯s entrance exam.


    The strength and number of soul beasts in the trial varied depending on the number of participants. Surviving for one minute was the minimum requirement for passing the trial, while harming the beasts awarded bonus points.


    Shen Yi had purposefully neglected to tell them the minimum requirement to pass this trial, but she had never imagined that they would be so fierce.


    They had faced an Earth Demon Rhinoceros after all! Even for her, it would¡¯ve been annoying to kill one with over three thousand years of cultivation without her battle armor. The rhinoceros¡¯s defenses were simply too strong.


    Yet these kids had slaughtered it! She wondered whether Tang Wulin¡¯s claw would still be able to penetrate the rhinoceros''s defenses if it had been a bit stronger. Furthermore, there was the mystery of his golden soul ring. No matter how she looked at it, the boy had to have twin martial souls. But surely Wu Zhangkong would have mentioned such a thing to her.


    ¡°The results for second trial, the beast arena: Tang Wulin, ten points; Xie Xie, ten points; Gu Yue, eight points; Xu Xiaoyan, ten points.¡±


    ¡°Wow, how did we score so high?¡± Xie Xie asked in surprise. He hadn¡¯t expected to score a full ten points.


    Shen Yi nodded. ¡°You scored highly because you killed the Earth Demon Rhinoceros together. The criteria for passing didn¡¯t involve killing it, so even Gu Yue, who didn¡¯t attack it, got a high score. We shall now continue. Follow me.¡±


    As she led the way, Shen Yi¡¯s heart welled with expectation. These kids really match Shrek¡¯s motto. They¡¯re like little monsters.


    Their combat ability is high, and in addition to good teamwork, they are capable of remaining calm during battle.


    Shen Yi was perceptive. She had seen that not a single one of the four had panicked during their battle against the Earth Demon Rhinoceros. Gu Yue was the calmest of them all, but the rest had excitement in their eyes!


    Xie Xie had even spoken the Earth Demon Rhinceros¡¯s name out loud, meaning all of them knew how formidable the beast was. Even with that knowledge, they did not cower back. Confident in their strength, they rose to the challenge. It was clear they had faced tougher foes before.


    Senior brother, it seems you¡¯ve made sure to give them a lot of combat experience!


    In contrast to Shen Yi¡¯s feelings of admiration, Tang Wulin furrowed his brow, overcome by confusion. He shot Gu Yue an inquisitive look, and she nodded in response.


    Although they had scored well in the last two trials, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t relax. Their exam would continue, all of it administered in one go without giving them time to rest.


    With their current cultivation base, their soul power would be severely limited without any chances to meditate. They didn¡¯t know how many more trials there were, but at this rate, their soul power would definitely be exhausted.


    Fortunately, Tang Wulin now wielded a powerful bloodline soul ring in addition to his martial soul. However, Xu Xiaoyan had used one-third of her soul power to restrain the Earth Demon Rhinoceros for a split second with her Starlight Shackles. If he had been any slower in finishing it off, even more of her soul power would have been consumed.


    He had looked at Gu Yue to check on her condition, and her nod told him that she was alright.


    After the last two trials, all four of them understood just what sort of entrance exam Shrek Academy had. Many more unknown trials awaited them. This was just the beginning.


    Shen Yi pulled a sliding door open and brought them to a space between the stone buildings. This was the site of the third trial.


    A series of gates sat in rows, one after another, with at least a hundred covering the area in total. The number of gates in each row varied.


    These gates were called guillotine gates. Each gate had a gigantic, two-meter wide, one-meter tall, half-a-meter thick guillotine blade. With such an enormous blade, even a full-grown cow would instantly be split in half.


    ¡°The third trial tests your ability to adapt. Once I tell you to get ready, you will have one minute to prepare. Once I shout for you to begin, you will have to pass through all of the gates. If you finish within thirty seconds, you get six points. For every three seconds you finish early, you get an additional point. For every three seconds you¡¯re late, you will lose one point. There are two things you need to know about this trial. First, the closer you are to each gate, the faster its guillotine will fall. Since these are real guillotines, you will die if they strike you. Second, you can get a negative score for this trial. If you can¡¯t even pass this trial, then forget about taking the later trials. Raise the guillotines!¡±


    When she finished speaking, she gestured to the side, and the clank of metal resounded as the guillotine blades began to rise.


    The front-most gate¡¯s guillotine fell with a booming clang, sparks erupting from it as it thudded into the recess below. The sound struck terror into the students¡¯ hearts. Then, the blade rose back up and descended again...

 Chapter 258 - Dominating the Third Trial

    Chapter 258 - Dominating the Third Trial


    Following the first guillotine blade, the rest began falling one after another, a metal clamor filling the air.


    ¡°Get ready. The one-minute countdown begins now.¡± Without giving Tang Wulin and the others even a moment to digest the situation, Shen Yi began counting down.


    The gears of Tang Wulin¡¯s mind began turning. ¡°We need to cross through the guillotine gates within thirty seconds. The shortest path has six gates¡­ Gu Yue, test the power of the guillotine blades.¡±


    Having a cool head was essential to passing such trials.


    While Xie Xie was eager to speed through the gates, Xu Xiaoyan stared at them pale-faced.


    Gu Yue was just as calm as usual, and following Tang Wulin¡¯s order, she held out her hand and turned her palm to the sky. Blue light condensed in her hand, forming a two-meter long icicle that she shot through the bottom of the guillotine.


    Clang!


    The guillotine blade fell, instantly turning most of the icicle into a fine powder while splitting the thickest part of it into two.


    ¡°The descent of one blade produces about three thousand kilograms of force,¡± Gu Yue announced. Her precise analysis was only possible because of her spiritual connection with the elements.


    ¡°Can you do it?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°I can protect one person,¡± Gu Yue responded.


    ¡°How about you, Xie Xie?¡±


    Leaping from the ground, Xie Xie said, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Just as Tang Wulin was about the state their plan, Gu Yue said, ¡°How about I protect Xu Xiaoyan and you carry me on your back. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem with your physical strength. Xie Xie can then follow right behind us. That should work.¡±


    Tang Wulin considered it for a moment. The plan he thought up would have Gu Yue and Xie Xie pass through the gates by themselves while he carried Xu Xiaoyan. It was the most logical plan. Gu Yue¡¯s arrangement would also work, but he felt that there was something strange about it, so he eyed her suspiciously.


    A slight blush appeared on Gu Yue¡¯s face, but she quickly returned to normal.


    ¡°Ten... nine... eight...¡±


    Shen Yi had begun the final countdown. They only had a few seconds left before the trial started.


    Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath. There was no time left to change the plan. Gu Yue approached his back and quickly mounted him. With a wave of her hand, green lights enveloped Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Paralyzed by fear, she just stared at the guillotines.


    ¡°Xiaoyan, don¡¯t be afraid,¡± Gu Yue said. ¡°You go first. I¡¯ll use the earth element to hold the guillotine blades up and we¡¯ll follow right behind you. All you have to do is run through quickly.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan clenched her jaw and nodded.


    ¡°Three... two... one... begin!¡±


    With Shen Yi¡¯s declaration, the third trial began.


    Gu Yue chanted quietly, her hands raised toward the sky. She only managed to stay pressed close to Tang Wulin¡¯s back by using her legs. They straddled his waist tightly, his hands gripping the flesh of her thighs. A yellow light flashed as a stone pillar shot up underneath the first gate.


    Clang!


    The blade hurtled into the stone pillar, crashing against it. The pillar shook as cracks webbed throughout its stone.


    ¡°Quickly!¡± Gu Yue shouted.


    In that instant, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes became resolute. After all these years together, she had come to completely trust in her teammates. She leaned forward and dashed through the first gate, joining Xie Xie who had flashed through it earlier.


    With Gu Yue clinging to his back, Tang Wulin went through last. However, right when he passed directly underneath the guillotine, the stone pillar suddenly collapsed.


    The gigantic guillotine blade plunged downward!


    Gu Yue shut her eyes tightly, arms wrapped tightly around Tang Wulin¡¯s neck as if she had no intention of leaving him.


    Her heart was racing, probably because of the tense situation.


    Tang Wulin, however, only felt her drawing closer to him, her arms and legs wrapped around his neck and waist.


    Faced with the incoming blade, Tang Wulin showed neither fear nor joy.


    Isn¡¯t this just three thousand kilograms of force? And it has even been weakened by the stone pillar.


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand, his blood roaring as his golden dragon claw appeared. He thrust his arm above him, struck the enormous blade...


    ...and held it aloft.


    From her position on the sidelines, Shen Yi was dumbstruck


    She had witnessed countless students face this trial in the past. Each and every one of them approached it differently, yet this was the first time she had seen someone brazenly grab the blade!


    That blade weighs over a thousand kilograms! With gravity added to that, that should¡¯ve been over three thousand kilograms of force!


    He can¡¯t...


    Shen Yi nearly shut her eyes subconsciously. She was afraid of the bloody scene she anticipated.


    But... of course that didn¡¯t happen.


    Clang!


    Tang Wulin easily caught the blade, only squatting a bit to compensate for the force.


    ¡°Up!¡± he shouted, his right arm filling with strength as fiercely pushed it up. Holding it high in the air, he stepped through the first gate with Gu Yue on his back.


    ¡°Boss, are you even human!?¡± Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin in horror.


    On the other hand, shock showed in Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes, forcing her fear into the back seat.


    ¡°Gu Yue, you don¡¯t need to do anything else. I can do this by myself.¡±


    Now that he had experienced the strength of the guillotine himself, Tang Wulin was confident. He walked toward the second gate with large strides.


    As the blade dropped, he held up his hand once more and grabbed it. He pushed the blade back up, letting Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie pass through before him and Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin and his golden dragon claw treated the dreaded guillotine blades like toys. He held up each and every one of them easily.


    The four of them soon passed through six gates, the shortest distance possible.


    Shen Yi was speechless.


    This kid is looking more and more like a monster! This trial was supposed to test their ability to adapt, their reaction times, and their courage!


    Against such terrifying guillotines, with only a minute to plan, the ability to adapt quickly was essential to passing the trial. Furthermore, such adaptability could only be founded in courage.


    Many students who had what it took to pass the trial relied on things such as speed and strength. However, the enormous guillotines struck fear into these examinees who were under fifteen years old, leaving many of them too scared to move even an inch.


    For the students of class zero, this trial had been exceptionally easy, but for most examinees, it was the hardest trial of them all!


    With their time limited and their courage tested, many could not make it through the trial within the time limit.


    Even if examinees were the elite of the elites that major cities recommended, the first trial eliminated a majority of them because their spiritual power was usually just too weak. In comparison, most examinees passed the second trial since it was a simple battle. As for the third trial, over half of the remaining examinees were usually weeded out due to their lack of courage in the face of death.


    Examinees would normally go through the gates one at a time since they usually couldn¡¯t formulate a plan of cooperation in the one minute given. Furthermore, there was the question of whether their courage, adaptability, and judgement were up to par. It was only because Tang Wulin possessed all of these qualities in excess that the third trial was so easy for his team.


    In such a trial, Tang Wulin single-handedly dealt with everything! The trial¡¯s difficulty had never crossed his mind. The entire time, he just focused on passing.


    His courage wasn¡¯t even tested here. Even if it were, he had never lacked it. If he had, then he wouldn¡¯t have been able to decisively shield Gu Yue from a soul fusion skill with his own body.


    As for the rest of his team, they rode his coattails to the finish line.


    It was as if he were a propping up the heavens.


    Shen Yi called out their final time. ¡°Fourteen seconds!¡±


    Tang Wulin swung his arm a bit, flexing his shoulder as he withdrew his claw and his hand returned to normal.

 Chapter 259 - Testing Specialties

    Chapter 259 - Testing Specialties


    Tang Wulin was quite pleased with the results of this trial. Apart from himself, who had called upon his blood essence and soul power, his team conserved almost all of their energy.


    Now that the third trial was over, Tang Wulin understood how crucial it was to ration soul power for the upcoming trials. If they didn¡¯t, they wouldn¡¯t be able to last until the end.


    He had stopped Gu Yue from exercising control over the elements precisely to conserve her soul power. As the strongest of the four, she was better suited for handling the later trials. Tang Wulin took the brunt of the earlier ones.


    ¡°You all scored ten points.¡± Shen Yi strained herself to maintain a mask of tranquility, promptly leading the way to the next test after announcing the results.


    She had harbored some worry for these kids in her heart, since taking these trials consecutively without rest would be tough, but now it was apparent she had been anxious for nothing. They had scored well on the first three, and even got full-marks on the third and hardest test. Although they didn¡¯t break any records for speed, they were the only ones in history to have dominated the trial. That Tang Wulin really deserves to be class zero¡¯s captain! No wonder the talented Gu Yue submits to him so willingly.


    ¡°You can get down now,¡± Tang Wulin said, patting Gu Yue¡¯s arms that were wrapped around his neck.


    Gu Yue buried her head into his back, clinging on to him, pretending as if she hadn¡¯t heard his words.


    Confused, Tang Wulin asked anxiously, ¡°Did you get injured back then?¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head softly and under her breath said, ¡°J-just carry me for a bit longer. I¡¯m a bit scared.¡±


    Both Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan pulled strange faces as they watched the two from the sidelines. What is there for Gu Yue to be afraid of? Does she even understand the meaning of fear? In the two bystanders'' eyes, Gu Yue was unaffected by such things, a paragon of indifference. Besides maintaining good relationships with her teammates, she would ignore everyone else. She looked at all strangers with cold, apathetic eyes.


    In the past three years, she hadn¡¯t interacted much with Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, or Xu Xiaoyan. Whenever she had a day off, she would bury herself at the Spirit Pagoda. Yet, for some reason, after the start of the Shrek Academy entrance exams, she seemed to warm up a bit. More precisely, she became warmer toward Tang Wulin. The change was quite obvious, and now it was even clearer.


    Just what is going on here?


    What they didn¡¯t know was that currently, in Gu Yue¡¯s mind, there was the image of a naked Tang Wulin soaking in the bathtub, golden mist lingering around his toned body. His muscles shimmered in the moist, wet steam. Although she had gotten just a glimpse of his sculpted assets, it was engraved in her memories, anything and everything. It was at that precise moment that her attitude toward Tang Wulin began changing.


    Gu Yue¡¯s legs were wrapped around Tang Wulin too tightly for him to peel her off. He resigned himself to carrying her.


    While Gu Yue¡¯s heart pounded, Tang Wulin¡¯s face grew crimson by the second. Though they were still young, the differences between boys and girls were already becoming apparent, making their marks. Tang Wulin¡¯s figure was not bulky, but sturdy and lean. On the other hand, Gu Yue¡¯s body was soft, and softness brought toughness, a sweet scent hanging over her form. As he carried her, locks of her hair fell onto his face, tickling him.


    Once they re-entered the building, they proceeded through another corridor, climbed up the stairs, and finally reached the building¡¯s second floor. The walls and ceilings were pure white with gold lines etched into them, as if to portray something.


    ¡°Those are¡­ soul device blueprints?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked. She had chosen mecha designer for her secondary profession, and as such she could instantly recognize what these golden lines represented.


    Why are they decorating the walls with soul device blueprints? Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t make sense of the complex diagrams. If his spiritual power was weaker, then perhaps he may have gone dizzy just staring at the diagrams.


    They entered a large room as he was in mid-thought. Shen Yi pointed to some chairs on the side. ¡°Wait here. I¡¯m going to go get this trial¡¯s administrators. This trial will test your personal strength. Only one of your specialties will be examined, so consider carefully what you will present. Your greatest specialty is directly related to your strength.¡± Finished speaking, she about-faced and left.


    ¡°Our specialty?¡± Xie Xie was at a loss.


    Gu Yue finally got down from Tang Wulin¡¯s back and sat cross-legged first, meditating and not uttering a word.


    Tang Wulin took a seat beside her. ¡°This trial is pretty simple. Our specialty is just our greatest strength as a soul master. For example, Xie Xie, you¡¯re an agility-type soul master, so you just need to show the limit of your speed. You just need to embody what it means to be an agility-type soul master. Of course, you¡¯re not a normal one since you have twin martial souls, so I think you should show off both: a combination of speed and your twin martial souls. It should be the same for everyone else, so just show them what you¡¯re best at.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan furrowed her brows. ¡°Captain, then what should I do? My full potential only comes up at night.¡±


    Tang Wulin flashed a wry smile. ¡°You¡¯ll just have to make do by describing it with words. You already used it during the second trial, so it shouldn¡¯t be hard to find proof. It should be fine as long as you explain your ability thoroughly. As long as you¡¯re speaking the truth, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll demand you to show it.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s expression eased. ¡°I got it.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Alright, rest as much as you can everyone. This is a rare opportunity.¡± He closed his eyes in an instant and began meditating the moment he finished speaking.


    The strength of his blood essence was closely related to his soul power. The greater his soul power, the mightier his blood essence.  With no food in sight, his only option was to recover his soul power.


    However, they weren¡¯t given much time to rest. Not even five minutes later, Shen Yi returned with three people in tow. Two were middle-aged while the third was an elderly lady.


    The elderly lady held a walking stick in her hand, her gait unsteady as she walked over to a long table and took a seat. The two middle-aged men treated her with respect, sitting down on each side of her after she was seated. This left Shen Yi to stand on the side.


    The old lady scrutinized the still-meditating four examinees across from her, who were unaware of the three¡¯s arrival.


    A smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, she said in a hoarse voice, ¡°These kids sure know how to make the most of their time. Alright then, Little Yiyi, tell them we¡¯re beginning.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Elder Cai.¡± Shen Yi showed no discontent at how the old lady addressed her, and instead, answered deferentially. She took quick steps toward the four examinees to wake them up.


    ¡°This trial¡¯s administrators are here now.¡± Shen Yi asked, ¡°Which of you will go first?¡±


    Tang Wulin studied his teammates as he considered. Since they were a team of four, he had to determine the best method for the whole group, especially since the first to go up would likely leave the deepest impression. The order they went in was crucial. The first to proceed needed to go with a bang.


    ¡°Xie Xie, you¡¯re up first.¡± After announcing his decision, he shifted over to Xie XIe¡¯s side and whispered a few words into his ear.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Xie Xie nodded then stood up, walking to the center of the room.


    ¡°Hello teachers,¡± he said as he bowed deeply to the three examiners.


    The old lady chuckled. ¡°Kid, go on and begin. You only have once chance, so show me what you¡¯re best at.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xie Xie answered respectfully while three soul rings appeared beneath him.


    Two yellow and one purple, the three soul rings twinkled in the air. A moment later, his third soul ring, the sole purple one, lit up.


    His body blurred into three identical clones standing side-by-side. They couldn¡¯t be differentiated by the naked eye.


    The three Xie Xie¡¯s bowed to the teachers, then, in an instant, their figures became transparent as they dashed off in separate directions with bizarre steps. Each one held a Light Dragon Dagger.


    The air hissed as each of the daggers sliced through the air. The slashes grew faster, blurred, until each of the three figures seemed like a thrashing whirlwind. The clones flitted around the area, the wind raging as they fought an imaginary opponent at the eye of the hurricane.


    The two middle-aged teachers were astonished. Using their soul power to envelop the arena, they could tell that these invisible clones were tangible existences!

 Chapter 260 - The Fourth Trial

    Chapter 260 - The Fourth Trial


    Soul skills that produce clones weren¡¯t anything special, and were actually a common sight among agility-type soul masters. Three clones were fairly impressive, but still couldn¡¯t be considered much to Shrek Academy. Six clones, however, were a different story, especially since half of them were invisible.


    Thirty seconds later, the three clones merged back into one figure. Sweat dripped from Xie Xie¡¯s forehead as he bowed to the three teachers three times. ¡°I¡¯m finished with my performance.¡±


    The old lady looked at him with interest. ¡°Kid, your twin martial souls are similar to one another, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Xie Xie wasn¡¯t surprised at the elder¡¯s insight into his secret. This was Shrek Academy after all!


    The old lady nodded. ¡°Not bad, but you still lack control. You¡¯ve only scratched the surface of the Tang Sect¡¯s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Don¡¯t try to rush progress and don¡¯t bite off more than you can chew. Refine your Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track more before giving all of your clones the same abilities. Furthermore, your spiritual power is too weak at the moment. It¡¯s impossible for you to have complete control over three clones at once. Focus on strengthening your spiritual power first. If you can reach the Spirit Sea realm within three years, your future will be boundless.¡±


    Xie Xie had been quite proud of himself. With his Twin Dragon Clones, each one utilizing Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track against one target, he considered himself quite formidable.


    However, he couldn¡¯t say a single word to refute the old lady¡¯s criticism. She had hit each nail right on the head, pinpointing each and every one of his weaknesses.


    Xie Xie happily bowed once more, his head nearly dipping below his knees. Admiration welled from the bottom of his heart.


    ¡°Thank you for your guidance. I will do my best to improve myself.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± The old lady nodded. ¡°Next.¡±


    Xie Xie returned to the others in humiliation, shoulders drooping and his face bitter. The next person to go up was Xu Xiaoyan. Similar to Xie Xie, she had received some instructions from Tang Wulin.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Are you depressed?¡± Tang Wulin asked Xie Xie softly.


    Xie Xie laughed bitterly in response. ¡°That¡¯s right! I originally thought I was pretty amazing, but I don¡¯t think I did too well in this trial.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled calmly. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Actually, I think it¡¯s the opposite. I bet you scored quite highly. That grandmother is clearly the central figure among the three teachers. If she thought you were rotten wood that couldn¡¯t be carved, would she have given you so much advice? Besides, we¡¯re students! We came to Shrek to learn. What would be the point of coming if we already know everything?¡±


    Xie Xie was dumbstruck.


    That¡¯s right! I¡¯m not horrible, that grandmother was just telling me how to make future progress!


    Tang Wulin patted him on the leg. ¡°Let¡¯s watch.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan stood in the center of the room and bowed to the three teachers.


    ¡°You may start,¡± the old lady said.


    ¡°My sincerest apologies to the three examiners¡± Xu Xiaoyan said. ¡°I am unable to show you my specialty because it is still daytime. My martial soul is different at night. From a certain perspective, I can be considered a monster of a soul master. That is why I have come to Shrek.¡±


    Moving the examiners with words alone was not an easy task. Tang Wulin knew this, so he had instructed her to immediately point out her uniqueness. Being a ¡°monster¡± was Shrek¡¯s motto. Calling herself one would instantly draw the attention of the examiners.


    ¡°Oh? Then how are you different at night?¡± the examiner on the old lady¡¯s left asked.


    Xu Xiaoyan summoned her ice staff and grabbed it with her right hand, two yellow soul rings rising as she did so. ¡°During the day, my martial soul is just the Ice Staff, which excels at controlling the battlefield and long-ranged attacks. At night, I gain the power of starlight, and my martial soul transforms into the Starwheel Ice Staff, changing my soul skills.¡±


    A spark of excitement appeared in the old lady¡¯s eyes. ¡°I know of the Starwheel Ice Staff. It came from the Xu family long ago, but not many of them had it. Your surname is Xu?¡±


    The old lady¡¯s words took Xu Xiaoyan by surprise. ¡°That¡¯s right! You know about my family?¡±


    The old lady smiled calmly. ¡°There are very few things in the world of soul masters that Shrek doesn¡¯t know about. You can go back now.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan gaped at her. ¡°But I¡¯m not done explaining.¡±


    The old lady¡¯s brow wrinkled. ¡°Since I know about your origins, why wouldn¡¯t I know about the absolute control of your starlight soul skills? Now go on back to your friends.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xiaoyan bowed again before leaving.


    Tang Wulin was already standing to welcome Xu Xiaoyan back, nodding with approval. ¡°You did great. Relax.¡±


    His words of assurance caused the tension to flow out of her body. Tang Wulin walked past her toward the center of the room.


    The old lady inspected Tang Wulin curiously. ¡°You seem quite confident!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Her words caught him off guard, but he quickly realized his mistake and bowed. ¡°Greetings to the three examiners.¡±


    The old lady smiled strangely. ¡°They seem to trust you. Show me what you can do. Show me... why they have so much faith in you.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin didn¡¯t explain himself. He now realized that the three examiners had likely heard everything he whispered into Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s ears. They were truly formidable, worthy of being teachers of Shrek Academy!


    ¡°My speciality is power,¡± he said.


    A golden light flashed in his eyes and his blood essence erupted outward.


    In a world of his own, he could hear the sound of his blood pumping through his veins like a mighty river. His right arm swelled with strength, golden scales covering it. Then a golden soul ring appeared.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Shock wiped the smile off the old lady¡¯s face, her eyes wide at the resplendent soul ring.


    Beside her, the other two examiners similarly gaped at the sight before them.


    All of the colors a soul ring could be had long since been established in the world of soul masters. White represented a ten-year soul ring, yellow meant hundred-year, purple stood for thousand-year, black indicated ten-thousand-year, and red signified hundred-thousand-year.


    Normal soul rings could be one of those five colors. However, in the entire history of the Douluo Continent, soul rings with special colors had appeared. The appearance of such a soul ring signified immense power.


    In the history of Shrek Academy, a golden soul ring had appeared once.


    Tang San of the original Shrek Seven Monsters, the founder of the Tang Sect, had killed a million-year soul beast and obtained a golden soul ring.


    Yet million-year soul rings had only appeared twice in the history of the Douluo Continent. The second person to possess a million-year soul ring was the legendary figure that the plaza was named after, the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao!


    However, Huo Yuhao¡¯s million-year soul ring was different from Tang San¡¯s. His was white and could easily be disguised as a ten-year soul ring. According to the analyses of later generations of soul masters, Tang San¡¯s million-year soul ring had been directly obtained from a soul beast, resulting in its golden color. Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, had been lucky enough to fuse with the million-year Skydream Iceworm which had slept all the way until it reached the million-year level. This was the supposed reason for the difference in color. Although the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s soul ring became very powerful, it wasn¡¯t on par with Tang San¡¯s golden soul ring.

 Chapter 261 - A Test of Strength

    Chapter 261 - A Test of Strength


    After creating spirit souls, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao managed to obtain an orange-gold soul ring somehow, one that provided multiple soul skills from a vicious spirit soul. He was truly outstanding.


    Soul rings with special colors rarely appeared throughout history, and the legendary Huo Yuhao and Tang San were the most prominent examples of people who possessed them.


    In light of this, even though Tang Wulin only had a single golden soul ring, it immediately attracted everyone¡¯s attention.


    After recovering from her surprise, the old lady furrowed her brows. ¡°Your soul ring is quite unique. It doesn¡¯t seem to be made of soul power. I sense blood essence fluctuations coming from it, but your soul power is completely serene. Just what is going on?¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know either,¡± Tang Wulin answered calmly. ¡°I only know that my blood essence is very powerful. I think this ability came from my bloodline, but since it granted me a soul skill, it seems to be a type of soul ring.¡±


    As Tang Wulin spoke, the golden ring lit up, and the roar of a dragon erupted from his body. His muscles swelled as a layer of golden light enveloped him.


    ¡°Th-this is¡­ Golden Dragon Body? You have the Golden Dragon bloodline?¡± the old lady sputtered.


    Her words stunned Tang Wulin.


    The name of the soul skill appeared in my mind, so how does this old lady know it? Has someone been in a situation like mine in the past?


    No. That¡¯s not possible. She said Golden Dragon, but what¡¯s sealed inside my body is the Golden Dragon King. They should be two different things.


    As his mind worked in overdrive to understand the situation, the old lady appeared in front of him in a flash.


    ¡°Punch me.¡± The old lady stared at him with profound, thoughtful eyes.


    ¡°Punch you?¡± Tang Wulin hesitantly asked, clearly taken aback.


    Although he knew how mighty a Shrek Academy examiner had to be, the old lady before him looked as if she already had one foot in the grave. He doubted that she could take one of his punches.


    My strength surpassed five hundred kilograms long ago, but with Golden Dragon Body, I think it might be over five thousand kilograms!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me,¡± the old lady said impatiently. ¡°My old bones are quite tough. If you actually kill me, you can just immediately enter the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion.¡±


    At her words, Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath and said, ¡°Please be careful then.¡±


    And he threw a punch at her.


    Bang!


    Tang Wulin suddenly felt something strike his arm, instantly slapping his punch aside.


    ¡°Have you not eaten yet?¡± the old lady barked in a scolding tone. ¡°Use some strength!¡±


    The people watching from the sidelines had clearly seen what happened. The moment Tang Wulin¡¯s scaled fist shot out, the old lady casually swatted it away as if it were a housefly!


    Their awareness of his strength only made this sight all the more shocking. Even if it wasn¡¯t a full-power punch, Tang Wulin was still a dragon in human form! Yet... she simply¡­


    Realizing what had happened, Tang Wulin felt better about punching the old lady. He sucked in a deep breath, his belly seemingly inflating as a sharp whistling sound pierced in the air. His arms swelled with even more power than before, their golden scales shining brilliantly. With a loud grunt, he threw all of that power into an explosive punch directed at the old lady.


    However, this punch was different. A deafening boom rumbled through the room in the wake of his fist, even leaving a golden afterimage.


    Bang!


    His fist came to an abrupt halt in the old lady¡¯s palm.


    The old lady hadn¡¯t moved an inch and was just as expressionless as before. Tang Wulin felt as if he had struck a wall of rubber, all of his force instantly dissipating.


    This...


    Tang Wulin felt just as powerless as Xie Xie had. She can actually take my punch without using her martial soul or soul power? She¡¯s crazy strong!


    ¡°Is that all?¡± the old lady asked dryly. ¡°You¡¯re only this strong?¡±


    The disappointment in her eyes provoked his sense of pride.


    ¡°I¡¯m even stronger than this,¡± he declared, preparing his fist once more. Golden tendrils of light danced about as it transformed into a golden dragon claw.


    With Golden Dragon Body activated, low rumbles could be heard radiating from his claw, as if its oppressive magnificence alone was enough to make the air tremble.


    Light flashed through the old lady¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Come,¡± she said.


    Breathing in deeply, Tang Wulin hurled his third punch screaming outward.


    This time he held nothing back, pouring all his strength into this punch. Unlike the second punch, his blood howled as all of his blood essence converged on his right arm. The roar of a regal dragon filled the air as he punched. No sonic boom accompanied his fist this time because the air itself parted before its might.


    Although the old lady remained nearly as motionless as before, this time she threw a punch of her own.


    Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan saw light warp around the old lady as nine resplendent rings of light appeared. Before they could comprehend what was happening, the two fists met.


    Boom!


    Flying backward like an artillery shell, Tang Wulin struck the wall twenty meters behind him, embedding himself into it.


    The old lady remained where she had been standing, unmoving. After a moment, she returned to her seat at the table. ¡°Next.¡±


    ¡°Captain!¡±


    ¡°Wulin!¡±


    The members of class zero shouted in unison, immediately rushing to his side.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Tang Wulin said with a cough.


    Debris tumbled from the wall as he extricated himself from it.


    This wall is really thick!


    Tang Wulin truly was fine. During the clash of their two fists, he felt as if he were punching a gigantic balloon. A simply overwhelming elastic force had sent him flying into the wall.


    His was more than tough enough to experience being embedded into the wall and walk away unscathed, but still, it wasn¡¯t a pleasant experience. Those three punches had depleted him of blood essence, and now his body felt weak.


    Gu Yue helped him up. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Relax. I just need to rest for a moment and I¡¯ll be in prime condition. Actually, I guess I¡¯m still a bit hungry.¡±


    If I had a good meal right now, would my blood essence recover even faster? Too bad there isn¡¯t any food here.


    Preoccupied with Tang Wulin¡¯s condition, the students hadn¡¯t seen the looks of shock painted on the faces of Shen Yi and the other two examiners. Their jaws had dropped.


    Tang Wulin sat on the chair, took in a deep breath, and began using the Mysterious Heaven Method to adjust his soul power and recover his blood essence. His breathing was still a bit rough as his eyes flitted toward the old lady, awe lingering within them.


    Her strength is unfathomable! I don¡¯t think that even Teacher Wu could compare!


    Gu Yue walked to the center of the room, her expression somewhat grim. She did not bow like her three classmates before her. Instead, she simply nodded. ¡°I¡¯m beginning now.¡±


    Shen Yi frowned. This was the first time someone ever dared act so haughty in front of a Shrek Academy examiner.


    The old lady narrowed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. ¡°Go on then.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes sparkled as three soul rings appeared beneath her, two yellow and one purple. She flipped her hands to form the shape of a bowl with her palms, a yellow light gathering in them a moment later.


    That yellow light was steady and gentle, the characteristics of the earth element.


    The earth element spun within her hands and gradually congealed into a physical form.


    Elemental control. So she¡¯s showing the strength of her spiritual power.


    The three examiners instantly came to the same conclusion.


    However, what happened next challenged their understanding.


    Gu Yue took the ball of yellow light in her left hand, then began sculpting it with her right. Each soft touch of her fingers created a petal, until finally, she held a yellow flower with nine petals.


    The nine-petaled flower spun slowly, its otherworldly nature a mesmerizing sight.


    The middle-aged man on the right gave a slight nod of approval. Elemental-type martial souls were rarely seen, and Gu Yue¡¯s wealth of spiritual power and steadfast control over the element proved impressive. However, this still fell within the boundaries of what was considered normal.

 Chapter 262 - Title Douluo

    Chapter 262 - Title Douluo


    Gu Yue suddenly reached out and grabbed the air, then slowly opened her hand to reveal sparkling specks of blue light. They began to multiply and merge together until a spherical blue light levitated above her palm


    She¡¯s using the water element?


    Just like the earth element, Gu Yue fashioned azure water-element petals from the light ball and floated them above the yellow earth petals. There was one less water petal than earth petals, the two layers occasionally overlapping as they rotated in sync.


    Gu Yue¡¯s three soul rings lit up in turn, each aiding her in a specific manner.


    Dual element control! What a remarkable martial soul! The two middle-aged examiners nodded in approval.


    But it didn¡¯t end there.


    Gu Yue grabbed at the air again. Strands of green light winked into existence and flew in her hand.


    Wind element?


    The two middle-aged examiners leaned forward in anticipation. Dual element soul masters existed in Shrek Academy, but a soul master that wielded three elements was unprecedented!


    More elements was not necessarily better; soul rings usually only affected one element at a time, and it was difficult to control multiple elements as they exerted a greater influence on the body In fact, it was impossible in theory for soul masters to wield so many.


    The green light transformed into a whirlpool in Gu Yue¡¯s hand, condensing into a ball of the same color. It flew above the water petals before separating into seven petals.


    This¡­


    She can actually manipulate three elements, and with such precision and harmony! What skillful control! Her spiritual power and comprehension of the elements must be deep!


    But this was still not the end.


    When Gu Yue clutched at the air once more, the examiner on the right couldn''t help but shoot out of his seat. Even Shen Yi¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief.


    She had witnessed Gu Yue use multiple elements simultaneously before, but not to this degree!


    The air came alive as embers of red light gathered in Gu Yue¡¯s palm. A blink later,  a fireball stood in its place. Despite the telltale beads of sweat rolling down her forehead, her eyes were never lost their calm.


    The old lady leaned over slightly, cracks forming in her mask of indifference.


    Four elements? She¡¯s actually controlling four elements!


    The difference between wielding three and four elements was an uncrossable canyon.


    The Douluo Continent¡¯s soul masters all understood that everything was composed of elements. Moreover, earth, wind, water, and fire were the four fundamental elements that made up the world.


    For her to be capable of wielding these four elements, it meant she also possessed the power of creation! . Shrek Academy had records of a three-element soul master, but that person only reached the Soul Sage level before he was overwhelmed by the difficulty of balancing all three elements..


    Legends had it that should the four basic elements ever come into harmony, harnessing their immense power would become possible.


    And she was to wield all four elements in the entirety of Doulou Continent history!


    Gu Yue¡¯s performance won over all the examiners.


    The fire in her hand trembled as all three of her soul rings lit up.


    Not much of each element was used, but in order to give them each a concrete form, she needed to split her mind into four parts, paying attention to the equilibrium between elements.


    The relationships between earth and water, water and wind, and wind and fire strained her mental faculties, with each additional one increasing the burden exponentially!


    Yet, she managed to maintain this fragile balancing act!


    The fire congealed into six blazing petals, blossoming above the previous ones.


    The quad-colored flower slowly spun, a peculiar sight to behold.


    Not to mention the examiners, even the three people most familiar with Gu Yue, the other students of class zero, gaped at her display. Now that her elemental control was so great, she could unleash a four-element fusion attack in battle! Of course, whether she¡¯d have enough time to prepare one in battle was questionable, but the fact that it was possible was a testimony to her skill.


    The examiners knew that Gu Yue had reached the Spirit Sea realm; otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to accomplish such a feat.


    Still, she was not finished. Gu Yue clawed and grasped at the air for the fifth time.


    This time, even the old lady couldn¡¯t help but stand up. There¡¯s still more?


    The light beaming in through the windows became tiny golden specks, all converging in Gu Yue¡¯s hand. However, she did not force them into petals, but instead, spun them around the four-colored flower.


    ¡°I present this to you!¡± She raised her head, shooting her gaze at the elderly lady like a laser beam. Suddenly, the flower vanished from her palm in a flash of silver light, reappearing before her target.


    ¡°Careful.¡± Shen Yi cried out in alarm.


    No longer controlled by a soul master, the four elements composing the flower descended into chaos and could explode at any moment!


    Gu Yue was fully aware of this fact, but chose to do so through a grudge. She did not like that the woman had harmed Tang Wulin.


    The old lady¡¯s surprise quickly dissipated and she bent her lips into a smile, waving her arm, billowing sleeves trailing behind. A crescent moon appeared behind her, shining down upon the flower.


    Nine soul rings rose from beneath her.


    This time, the four students of class zero could make out their levels.


    Four purple, four black, and one red. Power rolled off her body as the soul rings surrounded her.


    The moment the moonlight engulfed it, the flower froze in place, as if caught in a trance. Then, ever so slowly, it melted away. The elements returned to their origin. Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.


    Nine rings! She¡¯s a Title Douluo!


    It was class zero¡¯s turn to shoot out of their seats.


    All of the children trembled with shock.


    Nine rings! She¡¯s a nine-ringed Title Douluo! I-is that a legendary hundred-thousand-year soul ring? Heavens! She has a hundred-thousand-year soul ring!


    She¡¯s a Title Douluo¡­ This Shrek Academy examiner is a Title Douluo!


    Their hearts were all thrown into pandemonium. Even the calm Gu Yue had a lifeless look in her eyes.


    To annihilate a four-element explosive flower in an instant, the same flower that took Gu Yue five minutes and over sixty percent of her power to create, spoke volumes of the old lady¡¯s strength. She hadn¡¯t even used her full power!


    ¡°Good, good, good!¡± A grin was plastered on the old lady¡¯s face as she turned to Shen Yi. ¡°Zhuo Shi did quite well to have me extend the exam period for these kids. This girl doesn¡¯t need to take the following trials. Let¡¯s have her directly enter the inner court. Even I can¡¯t help myself at the thought of a six-element soul master. This has to be a first in the entire history of the continent!¡± The old lady walked over to Gu Yue and looked her up and down.


    ¡°Girl, do you want to become my disciple?¡± she asked with a smile.

 Chapter 263 - I Dont Want To!

    Chapter 263 - I Don''t Want To!


    ¡°Girl, do you want to become my disciple?¡± she asked with a smile.


    Gu Yue was taken aback, but immediately shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to?¡± The old lady was dumbstruck. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°No reason. I just don¡¯t want to.¡±


    ¡°Gu Yue, don¡¯t speak like that.¡± Shen Yi quickly approached to reprimand her. ¡°Do you have any idea who this is? Elder Cai is an elder of Shrek Academy¡¯s most guarded Sea God¡¯s Pavilion. Her title is Silver Moon. She¡¯s the Silver Moon Douluo that stands at the summit of the continent! You¡¯re lucky to have the chance to become her disciple!¡±


    Obviously, none of the students were familiar with of this esteemed old lady before.


    However, the mere mention of the Silver Moon Douluo sent shivers down countless people¡¯s spines.


    Six years ago, she had a reputation throughout the continent as a heaven-shaking eccentric,  yielding to no one and always doing as she pleased. Her common rampages had flipped the entire soul master world upside down. Peace only returned to the continent when Shrek Academy dispatched people to retrieve her. Like so, she vanished without a trace from the public¡¯s eyes.


    Gu Yue met Shen Yi¡¯s eyes, but she gnawed at her lip, shaking her head again. ¡°She hit Wulin so I don¡¯t want to be her disciple.¡±


    Neither Elder Cai nor Shen Yi had expected this to be Gu Yue¡¯s problem! Her petulant behavior was actually fueled by Elder Cai¡¯s punch that had sent Tang Wulin flying.


    Disgruntled, Elder Cai said, ¡°Nonsense! That kid¡¯s claw is special! If I hadn¡¯t used some strength to send him flying, his claw would have gripped my old bones and injured me. I didn¡¯t even harm him.¡±


    The two middle-aged examiners were stunned at the elder¡¯s outburst. There¡¯s an apology hidden in her words! She¡¯s actually apologizing to a thirteen-year-old kid?


    Gu Yue turned to face Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Gu Yue, I¡¯m fine! Really! Think about this carefully!¡± The words tumbled out of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth, clumsily and without grace. He understood how great an opportunity this was.


    Gu Yue turned back to Elder Cai, her eyes earnest. ¡°Wherever they are, I will also be. We won¡¯t be separated. If they enter the inner court, then I¡¯ll enter too.¡±


    ¡°Why are you such a handful? Fine, have it your way then. I don¡¯t care anymore.¡±  Elder Cai flicked her sleeve before storming off.


    Elder Cai¡¯s fury shocked Shen Yi. A moment later, she quickly followed to explain on behalf of the students, but Elder Cai would not have it.


    Tang Wulin approached Gu Yue, tugging her arm. ¡°Why did you do that? Why did you let such an amazing chance slip away? Didn¡¯t you see how strong that Elder Cai is? She¡¯s a nine-ringed Title Douluo! And her weakest soul ring is still at the thousand-year level! She even has a hundred-thousand-year red soul ring! Do you have any idea how rare people at her level are on this continent? I can¡¯t believe you turned down her offer.¡±


    Gu Yue met his gaze, the pools of her eyes swirling with honest intention. ¡°She hit you so I¡¯m not happy.


    These simple words put a lid on Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth. Meanwhile, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan pulled strange faces.


    Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°You know, I always thought I was prideful, but now I know what true arrogance is. Gu Yue, you¡¯re so awesome!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan laughed. ¡°Big sis Gu Yue is so honest. Really¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin sighed within his heart. Will this affect our exam? That Elder Cai seems to be really influential in Shrek Academy. Is there anything good waiting for us now that we¡¯ve offended her?


    Sure enough, Shen Yi returned moments later with an ashen expression. She pointed a trembling finger at Gu Yue. ¡°You! Who do you think you are? Do you know how many people dream of the chance to become Elder Cai¡¯s disciple?¡±


    Gu Yue remained silent, her head lowered. She had already given Tang Wulin her only explanation; there would be nothing else coming out of those lips.


    Anxious, Tang Wulin said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was our fault. Gu Yue is a bit tired right now so she¡¯s not thinking properly. Teacher Shen Yi, can we still continue with the exam?¡±


    Shen Yi sighed. ¡°Your exam should finish here, but you can all continue. I¡¯ve notified Teacher already, so hopefully he can placate Elder Cai¡¯s rage. Let¡¯s go now.¡±


    In a quick shuffle, she led them out of the large hall and into the depths of the school building.


    ¡°The fifth trial tests your talent. Well, more like your second profession,¡± Shen Yi said.


    Xie Xie asked full of confidence, ¡°Teacher Shen, how many points did we get for the fourth trial?¡±


    ¡°Zero points. You all got zero points.¡± Shen Yi glared at him.


    ¡°Zero points? Isn¡¯t that too little? Even if we weren¡¯t amazing, shouldn¡¯t we still go some points? Or are you telling me Shrek Academy can¡¯t be impartial? Is this because we offended that Elder Cai?¡± Xie Xie nearly exploded on the spot when he heard their score. This was a major setback! Moreover, he felt that their performance had been quite spectacular!


    Shen Yi swept a deep gaze at them. ¡°In Shrek Academy, the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion makes the rules. If Elder Cai says you get zero points, then you get zero points. No one can dispute it, not even another elder. And now that you¡¯ve scored zero points, you can¡¯t enter the inner court even if you¡¯re absolutely amazing in the later trials.¡± Her eyes shifted to Gu Yue. ¡°Do you understand the consequences of impulsiveness now?¡±


    Gu Yue did not retort, following Tang Wulin in silence.


    They soon arrived at another chamber. It was about the same size as the previous one, but there were tables spread out across this room, mountains of of miscellaneous items littered all over.


    After surveying the room, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up. Among the many tables was one suited for blacksmithing.


    However, his elation was short lasting. Sitting behind the examiner¡¯s table was a familiar figure. It was the elder who had stormed off in the previous trial. Elder Cai. She sneered at him when their eyes met.


    ¡°Elder Cai, you..¡± Shen Yi was at a loss for words.


    Elder Cai snorted. ¡°For the fifth trial, you all score zero points.¡±


    Rage bubbled to the surface of Gu Yue¡¯s eyes at Elder Cai¡¯s words, but just as she was about to lash out, Tang Wulin pulled her behind him. Then, he directed a forceful look at Xie Xie to stop him from speaking out too.


    This was Shrek Academy, the home turf of Elder Cai. It would be pointless to argue against her here.


    ¡°Elder Cai, isn¡¯t this a bit too much¡­¡± Shen Yi made an expression of helplessness and surprise. Although Elder Cai was famed for being an eccentric, righteousness was not part of her character. In the years where she had been stirring up trouble across the continent, she had acted a bit too excessively. Otherwise Shrek Academy wouldn¡¯t have dispatched people to retrieve her.


    But her current conduct¡­


    ¡°Don¡¯t say I didn¡¯t give Zhuo Shi any face. If they do well in the following trials, they will still be able to enter the inner court despite scoring zero twice. If not, they can go back to where they came from.¡±


    Zero points. We got zero points again. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know how many trials there were, but this was already their fifth one. The burden would be hard to overcome. Just what is the passing score?


    When Gu Yue squirmed behind him, he restrained her with an iron grip. It would be stupid to infuriate Elder Cai any further. He suppressed his fury for the sake of the team. As the captain, he couldn¡¯t act first and think later. The future of his team depended on him.


    Shen Yi¡¯s face twisted into a mask of ugliness and she didn¡¯t move until a while later.


    She knew that the entrance exam had ten trials, each testing something different and awarding a maximum of ten points. The highest score possible was one hundred points, with sixty needed to enter the outer court. On the other hand, entry to the inner court required at least eighty-five points scored.


    Normally in every outer-court entrance exam cycle, one or two outstanding individuals would make it into the inner court. It was a tremendous challenge to do so.


    Now that the students of class zero had lost twenty possible points, they had no choice but to score exceptionally in all of the following trials! However, these trials were no laughing matter.


    Shrek Academy¡¯s entrance exam was comprehensive. Although they had done well in the first three trials, that did not necessarily mean they would be as lucky in the rest. The upcoming trials all tested different aspects of their ability, not just their combat strength.


    Shen Yi did not criticize Gu Yue. There was no point in doing that now.

 Chapter 264 - Trial of Eating? Please

    Chapter 264 - Trial of Eating? Please


    Elder Cai left, slamming the door shut behind her. Unseen by everyone present though, a smile had formed on her lips.


    ¡°Hehe. I bet that old fart Zhuo Shi is fuming right about now. Serves him right. Those brats are pretty good, tempering them a bit more should be fine.¡± She snorted at the thought of Gu Yue. ¡°Since you dare to reject me, there will be a time when you come back begging.¡± She crossed her arms behind her back, her steps light as air as she departed.


    ?


    Aggrieved and indignant, class zero arrived at at the site of the sixth trial.


    The sixth trial was truly strange. It tested their capacity¡­ to eat.


    That¡¯s right, it was a trial of eating.


    In front of every person was a giant silver tray, and on top of that tray was a mountain of¡­ steamed buns!


    To one side was a sign that listed the requirements to receive points. It said that eating fifteen buns was a passing score and for every additional five buns eaten, another point would be rewarded. However, they weren¡¯t permitted to circulate their soul power while eating and could only rely on their own stomachs.


    They were stupefied by this trial¡¯s rules.


    Both Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s and Xie Xie¡¯s eyes shifted to Tang Wulin.


    Something flickered beneath Tang Wulin¡¯s calm mask as he turned to Shen Yi and asked, ¡°Teacher Shen, can we help each other eat for this trial?¡±


    Still depressed, Shen Yi grumpily replied, ¡°If you can eat enough to score full points, then you can help the others.¡±


    This trial was truly strange, but then again, this was expected from an academy as monstrous as Shrek! In truth, what this trial tested was willpower.


    They had to eat until their stomachs burst! For a normal fifteen-year-old, fifteen steamed buns was an enormous amount of food. Furthermore, by restricting the use of soul power to aid digestion, it was almost impossible for most people to finish! One would need willpower to overcome one¡¯s bodily limits! Of course, there were medical staff supervising this trial to ensure that the examinees wouldn¡¯t become sick from overeating. The sturdier-than-normal bodies of soul masters prevented their stomachs from exploding, but that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t fall ill from overeating. This seemingly simple trial was, in fact, a devil in disguise, innocently dragging examinees through the depths of hell and making them wish for the sweet release of death.


    However, today an irregularity had appeared!


    ¡°Thank you Teacher Shen,¡± Tang Wulin said sincerely. In his mind, this trial was practically made for him!


    He reached out his hands, picking up two buns in each. The steamed buns were soft and bouncy, their round fullness delighting him even as his stomach rumbled from the delicious aroma of buns assaulting his nose.


    Though Gu Yue had given him food in the morning, it was a meager portion and barely able to fill his stomach. This, coupled with him using up his blood essence in the series of trials, meant that he was starving! The sudden appearance of food in this trial was the most beautiful scene he had ever witnessed.


    Tang Wulin devoured each bun in three bites and an instant later, four buns had already been demolished.


    Hearing Tang Wulin could eat on their behalf, Xie Xie relaxed, placing his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair as he leisurely waited. Xu Xiaoyan was a bit more reasonable, sitting down cross-legged to meditate. Gu Yue was the only one who picked up a bun to accompany Tang Wulin in his meal.


    Shen Yi frowned. What are those two doing? Why aren¡¯t they starting?


    ¡°You only have thirty minutes for this trial. However many you have eaten at the end of the thirty minutes will go into your score calculation.¡±


    Xie Xie smiled. ¡°Teacher Shen, just wait and see.¡±


    In the few seconds they had conversed, eight buns had already vanished into Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach. He let out a gentle sigh as he patted it. I feel a lot better now with some food in my belly.


    The reason why Tang Wulin could eat so much was that his bloodline consumed a lot of energy. This, when combined with his digestive ability, meant that his stomach¡¯s capacity was ten times that of an ordinary person¡¯s. Those eight buns had instantly broken down into nutrients to replenish his starved body.


    Thinking he was feeling unwell, Shen Yi said, ¡°Eat slower. It doesn¡¯t matter how fast you can eat as long as you can eat enough for this trial. If you eat too quickly, your digestion will slow down and later affect how¡ª¡±


    Before she could even finish her sentence, Tang Wulin had snatched another four steamed buns and stuffed two of them down with ease.


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°Teacher Shen, you don¡¯t need to worry about our captain. His greatest strength isn¡¯t his combat ability, but his stomach! He managed to eat our dining hall into poverty, so what are a few steamed buns to him?¡±


    His words rang true. The first window at Eastsea Academy served nutritious food, but that came at a steep price. Even then, Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach had only been satisfied because the higher quality of food had made up for the lower quality.


    And the steamed buns before them were just average buns, their nutritional content negligible.


    Shen Yi then witnessed what it truly meant for one to be called a Rice Bucket; no, a Rice Tub!


    Tang Wulin calculated as he ate. If fifteen buns equaled six points and twenty was seven points, then he needed to eat thirty-five of the fifty buns on the tray to get a full score.


    No more than eight minutes from the start of the trial, Tang Wulin had already inhaled thirty-five steamed buns while Gu Yue had only eaten about four or five.


    Tang Wulin sauntered over to Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s tray and, as if his previous record was just a warm-up, he devoured thirty-five buns in seven minutes. Then, he went over to Xie Xie.


    Shen Yi was merely surprised at first but her expression soon changed to shock, then dumbfoundedness, and finally, stupification.


    Twenty-two minutes in, he finished eating thirty-five buns for Xie Xie too. He had eaten a total of 105 steamed buns now, but his belly hadn¡¯t bulged one bit.


    Shen Yi was certain that they weren¡¯t using any soul power at all, which only served to deepen her and the other examiner¡¯s shock. In all his long years of supervising this trial, that examiner had never seen such a glutton.


    Tang Wulin finally came to Gu Yue¡¯s table. She stood up and gave him her seat and began handing him buns as Tang Wulin continued gorging himself.


    The speed at which Gu Yue handed him the steamed buns could only just keep up with the rate they disappeared into his belly.


    At the twenty-eight minute mark, he finished thirty-five buns for Gu Yue. However, he showed no signs of slowing down.


    ¡°Time is up.¡± The stupefied examiner just barely remembered to call the time.


    He had eaten forty-eight of the fifty buns on Gu Yue¡¯s tray, leaving only a lonely pair.


    How can he do this?


    Tang Wulin patted his belly, still wishing to continue. ¡°Teacher Shen, we got full marks, right?¡±


    Shen Yi nodded and immediately turned to leave. A monster¡­ He really has the potential of a monster. Was he always such a monster? Is his stomach a bottomless pit?


    ¡°Teacher Shen, can I take the leftover steamed buns with me? I didn¡¯t eat breakfast this morning¡­¡±


    Shen Yi stumbled. She waved her hand, indicating for him to do as he wished.


    Tang Wulin showed no restraint and swept all the leftover buns into a few bags then stored them in his storage ring. Only then did he follow behind Shen Yi with a content smile plastered on his face.


    After a half-hour¡¯s rest and a good meal, his blood essence was nearly fully replenished. Unfortunately, the steamed buns weren¡¯t that nutritious, otherwise, his condition would be perfect.


    ?


    ¡°All four got full points for the sixth trial?¡± Elder Cai currently sat in a luxurious room, her face contorting into a strange expression as she listened to the report from the middle-aged man in front of her.


    ¡°Yes, they got full marks. It was reported that they even took the leftover buns. It seems the majority was eaten by Tang Wulin.¡±

 Chapter 265 - Points

    Chapter 265 - Points


    Elder Cai kept silent for several long moments before muttering, ¡°It looks like I won¡¯t have to secretly give them some bonus points. At this rate, they¡¯ll manage to get to sixty! Hmm. Maybe that brat¡¯s strength is related to his stomach. Where did Zhuo Shi even find these little monsters? Especially that Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡­¡±


    ?


    The first trial tested spiritual power, the second, combat ability, while the third tested for adaptability and courage. The subsequent fourth, fifth, and sixth trials tested talent, a second profession, and willpower. As for the seventh trial, it was a marathon of endurance!


    Indeed, it would push their bodies to the limit.


    When Tang Wulin and the others arrived at the room of the seventh trial, they were surprised to find other examinees still present.


    Time mattered less for this trial of endurance. It was split into three tests: running ten kilometers, squatting fifty kilograms one thousand times, and one thousand chin-ups. Any exam taker who finished all three tests would be awarded six points, while finishing within an hour would net them full marks. Every additional ten minutes would cost them one point, down to a minimum of six.


    These tests would be the same no matter what type of soul master the examinee was.  Beyond a shadow of doubt, power-type soul masters held the advantage in this trial.


    Fairness was not a concern. Had the trials been fair, the first one would not have tested spiritual power, seeing how power-type soul masters clearly lacked in that area. Just like in the first trial, this one would see many souls master eliminated from the exam. It was difficult for any single soul master to score well in all of the trials since they each favored different types of ability. This was also the reason why Shrek Academy¡¯s acceptance rate was so low.


    Even so, this trial was kinder than the others in that it had no hard restriction on time. Thus, hours after the exam started, there were still some examinees working hard to obtain those six points.


    Hearing the trial¡¯s requirements, Tang Wulin cast a nervous glance at Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan. Both he and Xie Xie could easily pass the tests, but it would prove difficult for the two girls since they weren¡¯t physical types!


    They scored a total of zero points in the fourth and fifth trials, so they had to make it up by getting high scores in the following ones. However, this trial fundamentally worked against Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Suppressing his anxiety, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Teacher Shen, how many trials does the exam have? And how many points do we need to pass?¡±


    Shen Yi said, ¡°There are ten trials and you need sixty points to pass.¡±


    Tang Wulin immediately took to calculating. If we need sixty points and we can get a maximum of eighty points, then we only have twenty points of leeway. With how many points we each have now, Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan should still be able to pass if they get zero points in this trial. But who knows how hard the last three trials will be?


    ¡°Can you tell us what the remaining trials will test?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Shen Yi answered immediately, ¡°I can¡¯t.¡±


    Tang Wulin continued, ¡°Then can you tell us how many points each of the three endurance tests are worth?¡±


    ¡°Two points,¡± Shen Yi said.


    Tang Wulin made a few more calculations before turning to Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°You two only need to run ten kilometers. Xie Xie, we¡¯ll complete all three. Let¡¯s get started,¡± he told them, his voice resolute.


    They didn¡¯t need to go out to run, they had specialized soul treadmills.


    Neither of the girls inquired about Tang Wulin¡¯s calculations. They both trusted that someone as stingy as him would definitely have the necessary practice with numbers,


    Tang Wulin began running on the soul treadmill, his pace mysteriously fast. As an agility-type soul master, Xie Xie could burst with even greater speed on this straight path, yet Tang Wulin would not lose out in a long distance run.


    Shen Yi walked over to the side of Tang Wulin¡¯s treadmill, eyes wide at his speed. ¡°Why do you only want them to score two points? Aren¡¯t you worried that they won''t be able to score enough points later on?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Their bodies aren¡¯t that strong, so it¡¯s basically impossible for them to finish the chin-ups and squats. If I urged them to complete those, they would end up wasting not only their time but also their stamina, which would put us at a disadvantage in the later trials. I would rather have us conserve our strength and do our best in the final three trials. After all, we did score quite well in the trials we got points for. We still have a chance this way.¡±


    Shen Yi smiled. ¡°Excellent. What a thorough analysis.¡±


    Tang Wulin and Xie only took about ten minutes to finish their runs. They then immediately tackled the second test, squats!


    Tang Wulin could do fifty-kilogram squats like they were nothing, and he didn¡¯t slow down one bit for the whole duration. Xie Xie was in a similar situation since he had a sturdy body as an agility-type soul master. Even without using soul power, he would still swiftly clear the squats. But fortunately, this trial didn¡¯t restrict the usage of soul power!


    It was during this test that the might of Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon King bloodline revealed itself. Not even ten minutes later, he had finished one thousand squats then began his one thousand chin-ups.


    Thirty minutes had yet to pass when he finished all three tests.


    Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan had both taken about twenty minutes to finish their ten kilometer runs. They were resting by the side while waiting for the others.


    Xie Xie lagged behind Tang Wulin, taking forty-five minutes to finish all three tests. Even so, it was enough to get a full score.


    Not in any rush to continue, Tang Wulin and the others rested for fifteen more minutes. As long as they left within an hour of starting, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie would get full points. The girls just had to give up on the other two trials and they would be fine.


    ¡°Teacher Shen, how many points do we each have now?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Shen Yi glanced at a form she was holding. ¡°After the seventh trial, Tang Wulin, you have fifty points.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but glance at Tang Wulin when she read that. Excluding the points lost in the fourth and fifth trials, he currently had a full score! So far, he received maximum points possible on every trial.


    ¡°Gu Yue, thirty-eight points. Xie Xie, forty-eight points. Xu Xiaoyan, forty points.¡±


    Since Gu Yue had conserved her strength in the earlier trials and only completed one of the endurance tests, she had the lowest number of points of the four.


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie were both in the safe zone, with them being only short by ten and twelve points respectively. In any case, it was impossible for them to directly enter the inner court, so they only had to meet the minimum passing threshold.


    On the other hand, Gu Yue was in a tough spot. She only had a leeway of eight points in the next three trials. In other words, she couldn¡¯t lose more than three points on each trial. If she did, then she would be eliminated. Although Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t as precarious, it wasn¡¯t much better either.


    After resting and adjusting their bodies, Xie Xie¡¯s fatigue was relieved while Tang Wulin was already in tip-top shape. As for the two girls, considering they had only run ten kilometers, they fared quite well. With the wealth of soul power they possessed, it only took them a moment to get back to top condition.


    The eighth trial would soon be upon them.


    Tang Wulin calculated their possible points while formulating a plan.


    ¡°The eighth trial is a comprehensive battle. You will fight a current student of Shrek Academy. The available opponents are random, so your luck will also be a factor. Last ten minutes against your opponent to pass. Defeat them, and you will receive full points. Alternatively, marks between six and ten will be awarded based on your performance.¡±


    Upon hearing that the following trial would be a battle, Tang Wulin let out a sigh of relief. He was sure that, at the very least, Gu Yue wouldn¡¯t face any difficulties this time around.


    As for Xu Xiaoyan, it would depend on her luck.


    Tang Wulin looked up to survey the sky¡¯s color. With seven trials behind them, evening twilight now covered the horizon.


    His heart thumped as he asked, ¡°Teacher Shen, will the four of us take this trial together or one at a time?¡±


    Shen Yi glanced at him. ¡°You¡¯ll take turns.¡±


    ¡°Great. Then can we decide on the order?¡±


    Shen Yi said, ¡°There will be ten opponents for you all to choose from, so it isn¡¯t just your strength being tested, but also your judgement. There are both strong and weak people hidden among the ten. Some may naturally restrain you, while others may be restrained by you. This means a large portion of your performance will be determined by your choice of opponent.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    They now found themselves in a large, circular room, much larger than the previous few trial rooms. While they were taking the seventh trial, Shen Yi was preparing the current one, which meant that their ten possible opponents were already waiting for them.

 Chapter 266 - To Battle

    Chapter 266 - To Battle


    The opponents class zero would face had only joined the academy a grade before them, so there wasn¡¯t much of a gap between everyone¡¯s ages. However, they were all geniuses who passed Shrek¡¯s entrance exam and had been educated by Shrek Academy.


    This was a trial of true combat, a battle between two soul masters.


    An air of indifference in her words, Shen Yi said, ¡°You may begin selecting your opponents. Once you¡¯ve made your choice, you may no longer change your mind¡ªall selections are final. This trial¡¯s only rule is that you are not permitted to use soul devices during battle. You have ten minutes to choose.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded to Shen Yi then gathered his teammates.


    Tang Wulin lowered his voice. ¡°I have already put together an order for us to go in. I¡¯ll be the first, second will be Xie Xie, and Gu Yue will follow afterwards. Xiaoyan, you¡¯ll go last. Xie Xie, Gu Yue, you two need to drag out your battles for as long as possible. Especially you, Xie Xie. It should be easy for you since you¡¯re an agility-type soul master. We need to stall for nightfall  so that Xiaoyan can use her Starwheel Ice Staff.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes sparkled as she nodded. Gu Yue also gave a slight nod.


    Tang Wulin continued, ¡°As for selecting your opponents¡­ Just pick whoever you feel is best.¡±


    The four eyed the ten possible opponents.


    Generally, a soul master¡¯s outward appearance reflected the qualities of their martial soul. Power-type soul masters would have robust bodies while range or spiritual-type soul masters would have more delicate physiques.


    After inspecting his options, Xie Xie¡¯s gaze settled on a strong-looking student. Just as he was about to announce his choice, Tang Wulin grabbed his arm.


    He then said in a hushed voice, ¡°Let me remind you all that this is Shrek Academy, the legendary Monster Academy. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware of the school¡¯s motto: they only accept monsters, not ordinary people. That means we can¡¯t judge our opponents as we normally would. Looking at them from the opposite perspective might even prove more accurate.¡±


    Xie Xie felt as if he was struck by lightning. He gave Tang Wulin a big thumbs up before once more examining the ten students lined up in a row.


    Attribute compatibility between soul masters was crucial at lower levels. If Xie Xie faced a control-type soul master, then he would be thoroughly subdued. On the other hand, power-type soul masters feared range-type soul masters due to their ability to keep the former at a distance while also attacking them. All things considered, it was crucial to pick opponents they would do well against. Despite Tang Wulin¡¯s confidence in their ability, he was aware that the world had no shortage of geniuses, especially here, in the continent¡¯s number one academy.


    Xie Xie pointed. ¡°I choose number two as my opponent.¡±


    The student he pointed at had a slender figure that was almost certainly of an agility-type soul master.


    Xu Xiaoyan picked the sturdy man Xie Xie had nearly picked beforehand. He was number six.


    Gu Yue said, ¡°Number one.¡± The first student had the most ordinary appearance of the ten. He lacked any unique traits whatsoever.


    The last one to pick was Tang Wulin. His eyes wandered for a moment before finally settling on one student. ¡°I choose number ten.¡± His legs were already taking him to the arena as he spoke.


    Student number ten was a tall, slender girl whose eyes displayed a trace of arrogance. Her looks were above average, but still a whole notch below Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s. She was at about the same level as Gu Yue.


    Shen Yi said, ¡°I will be supervising this match. You must listen to my commands during the match and you must stop the moment I tell you to. Understood?¡± Her words were clearly directed at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin said in deference.


    ¡°Good. Get ready¡­ Begin!¡±


    Without any superfluous words, the match began. Student number ten¡¯s eyes lit up as she instantly shot forward. Like a cheetah, she pounced on Tang Wulin with lightning speed.


    Xie Xie gaped at her speed. He had always been confident in his speed, but he couldn¡¯t even compare with her!


    Three soul rings appeared around the girl, two of them yellow and one purple.


    Her ears twitched as silver streaks appeared in her hair and her pupils squished into vertical slits.


    A beast martial soul. The Snow Leopard? Tang Wulin identified it instantly.


    He didn¡¯t have much of an impression of the Snow Leopard martial soul. All he could recall was it being a rarely seen beast from cold climates that possessed both speed and ice-attribute attacks.


    A smile blossomed on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. What agility-type soul masters feared most were control-type soul masters! As a control-type himself, he already held the advantage! Moreover, he possessed the Purple Demon Eyes.


    He may be nowhere near as fast as her, but his eyes could still keep up with her.


    Two purple soul rings appeared beneath him while strands of Bluesilver Grass shot out like a giant net.


    An agility-type soul master being bound by a control-type essentially signaled the end of the battle.


    The very next moment, however, a startling scene unfolded.


    Student number ten suddenly halted in the air, snowflakes exploding out of her body as her first soul ring lit up.


    Snow whirled around her body which sent the temperature within the arena into a plummet. Popping noises blanketed the air as streams of snow collided with the swarm of Bluesilver Grass.


    The Bluesilver Grass turned sluggish under the snow¡¯s influence. Had it not evolved several times already, perhaps the grass would have shattered on the spot.


    Isn¡¯t she an agility-type soul master? These snowflakes seem to come from a control or assault-type! She¡¯s so quick, yet she isn¡¯t approaching like an agility-type? Shrek Academy really is filled with a bunch of deceptive freaks.


    As the two martial souls clashed, the blizzard grew in density. Tang Wulin amassed his Bluesilver Grass, but it still couldn¡¯t penetrate the wall of snow as it drifted around his grass and toward his body.


    Tang Wulin turned tail without any hesitation. Behind him, Bluesilver Grass spun like a blender, whipping away all the snowflakes nearing him.


    ¡°Coward.¡± His opponent coldly snorted, the air hissing as she willed the snow to pursue him.


    She soon vanished amidst the blizzard while the snow itself gathered into the form of a leopard that leapt into pursuit.


    The students had a different assignment from that of the examinees. They were tasked with ending their battles as quickly as possible. The faster they were, the better they would be rewarded.


    The girl¡¯s second soul ring lit up. The appearance of her leopard had triggered a second drop in temperature inside the arena which served to lower the speed of Tang Wulin¡¯s grass even further. The leopard instantly broke through the sluggish grass and and rushed Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s appearance was unsightly as he madly fled in a winding path. Bluesilver Grass continuously whipped at the leopard chasing him in an attempt to slow it down as much as possible. He cut quite the sorry figure.


    The girl held her spot in the center of the arena, commanding her leopard to continue its pursuit. Trying to stall for time? Then let¡¯s see just how quick you are!


    After running for a while, Tang Wulin could feel that something was amiss. There was something off about the temperature.

 Chapter 267 - The Snow Leopard of Ten

    Chapter 267 - The Snow Leopard of Ten


    Tang Wulin¡¯s movements slowed down as the temperature lowered even further and a layer of ice formed on the ground. His Bluesilver Grass continued to whip at the pursuing leopard, but his soul power was quickly depleting.


    Despite his situation, Tang Wulin kept running and exhaling white fog with each breath.


    ¡°Hmph! Let¡¯s finish this already.¡± A streak of blue flashed through the girl¡¯s eyes as her third soul ring lit up. She leaned forward and dashed toward Tang Wulin, reaching out towards him with her right hand. A white light enveloped her, sending an overflowing sensation of strength through her body.


    Behind her appeared the image of a giant Snow Leopard swiping its claw at Tang Wulin.


    Her third soul skill, Snow Leopard Claw, was a thousand-year level soul skill with both spiritual and physical attributes. Anyone it struck would become dizzy for five seconds and endure extreme cold to the point of freezing. It even possessed the ability to send opponents flying.


    That was when the girl noticed a golden flash in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. The grass around him sprung into the air and then dove into the frosty ground, striking at the leopard behind him, and at the Snow Leopard Claw.


    The leopard received the attack in its entirety and disintegrated into snowflakes, while the Snow Leopard Claw met the Bluesilver Impaling Array in an explosive clash.


    In the end, the gap in soul power proved too deep. The Bluesilver Impaling Array was routed into the icy ground which left the Snow Leopard Claw a clear path to Tang Wulin.


    He sent out a punch with his right fist to meet the attack, but he was promptly sent flying backward with a loud bang.


    Let¡¯s see if you can still endure this. Is having two thousand-year soul rings even that amazing? The girl wore the smile of a victor. She was confident that, at the very least, the Snow Leopard Claw¡¯s extreme cold would sap Tang Wulin of all his fighting strength, not to mention the dizzying effect. The leopard previously destroyed by the Bluesilver Impaling Array had also scattered into snowflakes, dropping the arena¡¯s temperature even lower. She couldn¡¯t see any way for Tang Wulin to continue fighting back.


    However, though he had been sent flying, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t crash into the floor and a sudden descent of snow obscured his figure from her eyes.


    It was cold, but not nearly frigid enough to stifle him. He willed his bloodline into power, speeding up his blood circulation to expel the chill from his body. With his bloodline in effect, the cold now had little effect on him.


    Tang Wulin stooped down towards the ground before dashing out to the side, using the cover of the snow to create some distance from the girl.


    As for the Snow Leopard Claw¡¯s dizzying effect¡­


    The skill hit Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm, but his golden scales made first contact, so the dizzying effect couldn¡¯t spread to the rest of his body. At the same time, his Purple Demon Eyes dispelled the spiritual effect of the attack.


    On the surface, it looked as if Tang Wulin was being greatly pressured. But in reality, a battle of wits and courage was being fought, a battle which Tang Wulin ended up winning. His biggest gain was finding out what his opponent¡¯s three soul skills were.


    As the snowflakes landed on the ground, the aftermath became clear. Just as the girl was about to report to Shen Yi, she was left dumbstruck at the sight of Tang Wulin standing in the arena, at the furthest point from her.


    How can this be? Isn¡¯t he cold? The girl gawked at Tang Wulin.


    A resplendent smile formed on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. He simply waited there, not making a single move.


    The girl snorted and pointed a finger at him, commanding snowflakes to shoot toward him. Just like before, snow besieged him from all sides. This time, however, the girl also rushed alongside it.


    Naturally, as a Shrek student, she wouldn¡¯t be discouraged this easily. Moreover, she had yet to use her full strength.


    Bluesilver Grass spread outward from Tang Wulin¡¯s position and began spinning. Not even by using his Purple Demon Eyes could he completely penetrate the snowy mist.


    However, the whirling grass around him warded off attacks from all directions.


    The strands of grass twinkled limpidly, simply refusing to yield to the oncoming blizzard as they spun into a giant protective net.


    Tang Wulin waved both his arms and began pouring soul power into the grass to strengthen it. As he did so, the Bluesilver Grass¡¯s inner veins displayed a faint golden glow.


    His martial soul might have been Bluesilver Grass, but it was Bluesilver Grass that had already evolved twice. With the aid of his two thousand-year soul rings, it was more than enough to hold his opponent at bay for the moment.


    The leopard, now reformed of snow, rammed into the net with a big thump, pushing it inward toward Tang Wulin. It looked like it might reach him any second.


    However, the Bluesilver Impaling Array appeared and surrounded the leopard in a spiky embrace. The now filled with holes leopard was left stunned in mid-air. Tang Wulin took advantage of this by using his Bluesilver Grass to cover his retreat, opening up some distance between him and the leopard. As this exchange took place, his Bluesilver Grass spun around him without pause. It continued to protectively whip around him from start to finish.


    At that moment, a figure burst out of the leopard, charging toward Tang Wulin with lightning speed. It was student number ten!


    She was too quick for him to react. Like a bolt of white lightning, she instantly appeared before him.


    But in that same instant, golden light exploded from Tang Wulin¡¯s body. He shot into the air like a spring while his Bluesilver Grass moved in to bind the girl.


    The girl was startled. She had created the snow leopard precisely for the sake of this sneak attack. By relying on its speed, she suppressed his Bluesilver Grass.


    But a strand of golden Bluesilver Grass had launched Tang Wulin into the air before she could execute her attack! She wanted to pursue, however, the swarm of grass trying to bind her forced her to take evasive action. The grass would simply entangle her if she chose to follow him into the air.


    From the very beginning of the battle, they assumed the roles of fleeing rabbit and chasing fox. There wasn¡¯t a single upset as the girl took the role of attacker and Tang Wulin the defender. He had undeniably just been passively enduring an onslaught of attacks.


    The girl¡¯s cultivation base was undoubtedly higher than Tang Wulin¡¯s, the gap between three rings and two rings nearly unbridgeable. As the assailant, however, she consumed slightly more soul power than him, and with her constant use of area control skills, she would soon be left without the soul power necessary to erupt with one final decisive attack.


    After seeing several of her attack plans fail, her head cooled. If I continue this way, I might lose! What an annoying guy.


    Tang Wulin had circulated his soul power according to the Mysterious Heaven Method throughout the battle. Having practiced it for all these years now, his soul power was purer and denser than normal, giving him the advantage among his peers.


    In truth, he found battles of attrition uncomfortable. He was far more accustomed to ending them explosively. But his only choice was to battle like this so that he could buy enough time for Xu Xiaoyan. His purpose in this fight was to stall for time. Naturally, his soul power consumption was just as severe as his opponent¡¯s.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s plan was meticulous. By going first, he would have plenty of time to rest and recuperate while his teammates fought. With the Mysterious Heaven Method and his low soul power capacity, it wouldn¡¯t be long before he was back to full.


    Snowflakes blotted the sky and the girl disappeared into the flurry once more. Then, as if the snow had gained eyes of its own, it shot toward Tang Wulin in one giant stream.


    The girl had swiftly adjusted her tactics. Didn¡¯t you want a battle of attrition? Then let¡¯s see who gets exhausted first. How could you possibly compete against me with only two rings?


    The Bluesilver Grass spun into a protective screen in front of Tang Wulin, diverting the incoming attack. Icy mist invaded his body and the grass, sapping away his strength. In this manner, the two continued to wear each other out.


    Both of them were currently using their first soul skills, as they were the most efficient in terms of soul power consumption. While previously they would use their souls skills freely, they were now more conservative.

 Chapter 268 - Battle of Patience, Biding Time

    Chapter 268 - Battle of Patience, Biding Time


    The girl displayed judgement worthy of a student of Shrek Academy. When her initial attacks failed, she immediately switched to a more conservative style of fighting. Rather than being anxious to achieve victory, she slowly whittled away at Tang Wulin in a battle of attrition. She resembled a cheetah stalking its prey, patiently waiting for the best time to end everything with one strike.


    Although both combatants were only using their first soul skills, the constant clashes quickly ate away at their soul power. Despite the fact that Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass only needed to cover a far smaller area, the blanket of cold steadily sapped his strength.


    Even madly circulating the Mysterious Heaven Method could not make up for his deficiency in soul power, and the gap between the two soon reared its ugly head. The range of his Bluesilver Grass¡¯s defense grew smaller and smaller, and the girl¡¯s offensive slowly pushed him back. A layer of frost covered the strands of grass while icicles sprouted out of the ground. Regardless of how one looked at it, he was being forced into a corner.


    The situation continued like this until the requirement to earn six points had been met. Tang Wulin persisted for ten whole minutes.


    As the clock ticked on, the girl grew more and more astonished. She had never expected her opponent to be so troublesome to deal with. Like a small boat, he tenaciously endured wave after wave of her attacks, not yielding even once. Such resilience gave her a headache. However, she didn¡¯t dare to attack rashly since her opponent was a control-type soul master. If he had any tricks up his sleeve, the tables would instantly be turned.


    So she just chose to engage him in this battle of attrition. Allowing her opponent to earn a passing score would be fine since it just meant she wouldn¡¯t get a reward. However, if she were defeated, the girl would have points deducted.


    Seconds slowly became minutes as time passed. The power behind each combatant¡¯s attacks began to wane, a clear sign that they were approaching the limits of their soul power.


    The snow in the air had thinned by this point, and the girl¡¯s figure could be seen. Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass, on the other hand, no longer thrashed about as violently as before, the glow along the length of its strand significantly dimmer.


    Without warning, the snowflakes came at him with renewed strength. Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes flashed as he subconsciously retreated two steps, urging his Bluesilver Grass to whip at the snow.


    The girl made her move at the same time.


    Only thirty percent of her soul power remained after their long stalemate. Considering her own condition, she was certain Tang Wulin was like an arrow at the end of its flight. Regardless of what he did, he wouldn¡¯t have enough soul power to continue. It was time for the victor to be decided.


    Hidden in the flurry of snow, the girl stealthily approached Tang Wulin like a snow leopard revealing its fangs before pouncing.


    Snow assailed Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass, eating up the last of his soul power. Overall, he only had about forty percent of the soul power capacity that his opponent did. He wouldn¡¯t have lasted this long without the Mysterious Heaven Method.


    A white figure burst through the snow cover in front of Tang Wulin, covering him in sleet and chilling him down to the bone. As his body grew rigid from the cold, a white, clawed hand seized the opportunity to reach for his shoulder.


    In the blink of an eye, twenty-five minutes of battle had passed under Shen Yi¡¯s supervision. Tang Wulin had earned nine points by this point, so it would be fine if he lost now.


    I guess this kid isn¡¯t that talented after all. Ignoring his golden soul ring, his martial soul is merely Bluesilver Grass. Yet... he wouldn¡¯t have gotten a near-perfect score if he weren¡¯t able to calmly come up with a strategy and execute it. He might not be a peak-level genius, but he¡¯s still quite talented!


    However, in her opinion, Tang Wulin¡¯s strength still didn¡¯t make the cut. If student number ten hadn¡¯t approached the battle cautiously, Shen Yi suspected that the match would have ended in just a few minutes. Yet Tang Wulin was now being thoroughly suppressed by someone who wasn¡¯t even a control-type soul master. With the addition of the girl¡¯s power and speed, Shen Yi didn¡¯t see a way for him to overturn the tide of battle.


    Despite having come to her own conclusion, Shen Yi found the composure of the rest of class zero puzzling. Not a single one of them batted an eye at what seemed to be the impending defeat of their captain.


    Do these kids just have cool heads, or¡­


    An eruption of golden light interrupted her thought.


    The moment the snow-white hand touched his shoulder, Tang Wulin smiled.


    It¡¯s about time!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s two purple soul rings disappeared with his Bluesilver Grass, and a tyrannical aura of blood essence exploded from his body to replace them.


    He hadn¡¯t eaten all those steamed buns for nothing! They had fueled a complete recovery of his blood essence.


    His powerful aura immediately dispelled the chill in the surroundings. Soul power receded from his veins, and in its stead, pure, unadulterated power coursed through!


    The girl struck Tang Wulin¡¯s right shoulder, but was shocked to discover that it was as hard as a block of metal. She recoiled from the impact, her white hand numb.


    I only have thirty percent of my soul power left, so shouldn¡¯t he have even less? Isn¡¯t he a control-type soul master?


    Yet she refused to give in. As a student of Shrek Academy, she immediately reacted to this sudden turn of events and switched from aiming for the best possible result to damage control.


    The moment she raised her head to make her move, however, a pair purple eyes came into view. Her plan to retreat and put distance between them was instantly destroyed as the world began to spin around her.


    Before she could flee, a large golden hand darted toward her shoulder in the same way she had tried to strike Tang Wulin¡¯s. In the next instant, it moved to her neck and closed tightly around it, squeezing down on her carotid. With her soul power sealed and her blood flow cut off, she eventually went limp.


    Soon enough, the snow dispersed and the golden light died away, revealing the scene for all to see. Tang Wulin held the girl in one arm, keeping her from collapsing to the ground. She had fainted.


    This¡­


    He actually won?


    Soul masters with leopard martial souls excelled at biding their time, yet in today¡¯s battle of patience, student number ten had lost!


    Xie Xie smacked a hand to his forehead. ¡°Captain is really getting sneakier and sneakier! He actually spent thirty entire minutes to lure her into his trap. In the end, that girl never realized that Captain actually excels at brute force, not control!¡±


    In reality, Xie Xie¡¯s claims were wrong. Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t fond of such roundabout tactics. He preferred annihilating his opponents in a quick, efficient manner.


    However, for Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s sake, he had to stall for time. And his opponent was a student of Shrek Academy! If an all-out attack failed, he would¡¯ve put himself in a bad position.


    The outcome had been decided the moment the girl decided to charge at Tang Wulin. Even more than pure strength, Tang Wulin excelled in close combat!


    His skills at close range were absolute. In fact, it could even make up for a soul ring disadvantage and make people with one more ring than him weep.


    ¡°Tang Wulin¡­ ten points.¡±


    Shen Yi¡¯s eyes were wide with disbelief as she declared the result.

 Chapter 269 - Xie Xies Terrifying Opponent

    Chapter 269 - Xie Xie''s Terrifying Opponent


    Not only had Tang Wulin won... it had been a stomp.


    ¡°Was he waiting for this the entire time?¡±


    Even though Xie Xie muttered this under his breath, Shen Yi heard him clearly.


    He¡¯s just a thirteen-year-old kid! How could he be so patient? This is just¡­


    Unknown to Shen Yi, Tang Wulin¡¯s second profession was that of a lonesome blacksmith. Since the day he met Mang Tian, his temperament had been taken to the grindstone and continuously sharpened to this very day. He had been forging since he was six years old. Seven years was more than enough to forever alter the life of a person without talent, let alone the peerless blacksmithing prodigy that was Tang Wulin.


    Student number ten soon woke up, her eyes instantly moving to stare at Tang Wulin in disbelief. She reflected on the match and how she lost, but no matter how she looked at it, she couldn¡¯t understand how he had snatched victory with his soul power depleted.


    What is up with his body? And just what was that purple light in his eyes?


    She had fainted in the final moments of the battle, and the snow had obscured everyone else¡¯s line of sight, so no one had clearly seen what happened.


    ¡°Next,¡± Shen Yi said.


    Xie Xie and student number two, the slender one, entered the arena at the same time.


    Tang Wulin returned to his companions. Not a single word was exchanged as he immediately sat down cross-legged and began meditating using the Mysterious Heaven Method. His opponent had been powerful and had pressured him immensely, draining all of his soul power.


    There were two mysterious trials remaining, and although he already had the sixty points required to pass the exam, he still needed enough strength to help his teammates pass them. His number one priority was to have the entire team enter Shrek Academy.


    For his sake, his teammates had nearly lost their chance to enter this sacred academy. Although he didn¡¯t say anything about it, such deep loyalty had been engraved upon his heart.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    The two combatants burst into action.


    Xie Xie charged straight at his opponent. As an agility-type soul master through and through, close-quarters-combat was his only option.


    Student number two rushed at Xie Xie as well, his eyes possessing an eerie calm beyond his years.


    The gap between the two rapidly closed. In terms of speed, Xie Xie was definitely the victor.


    Neither had released their martial soul yet. They were both waiting for an opening.


    Their soul rings only appeared when the distance between them had shrunk to a mere ten meters.


    Their soul ring configurations were identical: two yellow and one purple. However, the way in which they manifested was completely different.


    While Xie Xie now wielded the Light Dragon Dagger, his opponent underwent a monstrous transformation.


    The instant their soul rings had appeared, student number two¡¯s slender body swelled with strength, his purple soul ring flashing with light.


    He¡¯s already using his thousand-year soul skill?¡±


    The Shrek Academy student¡¯s body inflated like a balloon, his clothes bursting into shreds and leaving only undergarments made of some insanely elastic material.


    Brown hair now covered his body. Although he still retained somewhat of a humanoid shape, he definitely didn¡¯t look human anymore. At four meters tall, he towered over Xie Xie with two burly arms attached to his broad shoulders. His body seemed to rumble with raw power.


    Upon seeing this, Xie Xie wanted to run back to Tang Wulin and give him a big thumbs up for his suggestion.


    We really can¡¯t judge Shrek Academy students by appearances alone! This guy¡¯s martial soul has to be a giant gorilla! Maybe it¡¯s even the¡­


    As Xie Xie pondered this, his opponent finished transforming and launched an attack.


    Two massive arms recklessly smashed the ground.


    Xie Xie leaped into the air in response, brandishing his Light Dragon Dagger to unleash a golden blade of light.


    Lines cut into the walls and floor of the arena, rippling with golden light and working to counter the quaking ground.


    The shock wave below Xie Xie left him astonished. If he had been just a second slower, he would have immediately lost.


    Student number two didn¡¯t even bother to dodge the Light Dragon Blade. He simply lowered his head and met it head-on, then shot toward Xie Xie, clearly unaffected by the attack.


    Even though Xie Xie was an agility-type soul master, his opponent¡¯s leap far surpassed his own. Student number two looked like a monster as he soared toward Xie Xie, his two arms swinging toward Xie Xie with the might of a mountain.


    He¡¯s so strong!


    Unable to exert any force in the air, Xie Xie split into three clones, each kicking off of the other two and speeding in three different directions. It was an ingenious play to keep out of range of the monstrous student number two.


    This...


    Shock filled the faces of the Shrek Academy students. Unknown to Xie Xie, all of them were observing his match with keen interest since he had actually picked student number two, the strongest of the ten arranged opponents!


    Xie Xie splitting into three clones didn¡¯t phase student number two. His first soul ring lit up, and he threw three lighting-fast punches.


    The pressure of his punches made the air hiss. Xie Xie was stunned to find each of the three blasts of air heading for each of his clones.


    Heavens! What sort of monster is this guy? How can his attacks be this terrifying¡­


    However, even in such a helpless situation, the three shimmering clones dashed through the air once more, seemingly kicking off of thin air to escape the attack by a hair¡¯s breadth.


    A trace of surprise finally flashed through his opponent¡¯s eyes. He had just witnessed Xie Xie¡¯s third soul ring light up a second time.


    Both sides returned to the ground at the same time.


    Considering what happened up to this point, it was clear that student number two held the upper hand, but it wasn¡¯t an overwhelming advantage. Even though he used his third soul skill to immediately, try to smash the nimble boy, Xie Xie managed to escape his barrage of air blasts.


    In a battle, the attacker always became exhausted faster than the defender. Since their ranks were about equal, Xie Xie managed to seize a tiny advantage this way.


    However, that was all in theory. The reality of battle had yet to be tested.


    Xie Xie was painfully aware of his own shortcomings. Although his opponent had gone all-out with their third soul skill, he had done the same! The overwhelming pressure his opponent exuded forced him to use Light Dragon Clones to get some breathing room, but the three punches that followed had forced him to bring out Shadow Dragon Clones too!


    Xie Xie¡¯s response had been clever, but it took a lot out of him¡ªmaybe leaving him a bit more tired than his opponent. Xie Xie could only rejoice in the fact that he possessed the Mysterious Heaven Method. With its recovery power, he was confident that he would be able to barely outlast his opponent.


    Without making a move, student number two patiently observed Xie Xie¡¯s three clones running around in different directions. Although he had mighty ranged attacks at his disposal, it was still impossible for him to attack in three directions at once. The range of his attack couldn¡¯t cover the entire arena.


    As a Shrek Academy student, he naturally had an abundance of combat experience, so he had a hunch that his opponent would strike soon. Using a thousand-year soul skill that produced three clones had to be a huge drain on Xie Xie¡¯s soul power, that left him no other option.


    And student number two¡¯s hunch was correct.

 Chapter 270 - The Ambitious Xie Xie

    Chapter 270 - The Ambitious Xie Xie


    The instant Xie Xie¡¯s feet touched the ground, he shot toward his opponent; with both Light and Shadow Dragon Clones now active, he had no time to dally. His opponent was a power-type soul master who also had frightening ranged options, these two traits placing him in a league of his own. Without his clones, Xie Xie would have found it difficult to endure his opponent¡¯s onslaught, but with them out, his soul power was quickly running out.


    The three visible clones, now much faster than before, charged at the solitary figure in the center of the arena.


    Xie Xie rushed in, this time without employing his Light Dragon Blade.


    Student number two simply stood there, his grim face and titanic figure lending him the impression of an immovable mountain.


    As Xie Xie¡¯s second soul ring lit up, his three Light Dragon Clones burst into action to unleash a Light Dragon Storm.


    Xie Xie was an agility-type soul master, which meant he had exceptionally high attack power. His current opponent, however, possessed equally impressive defensive capabilities, to the point where he could simply shrug off the Light Dragon Blade.


    However, Light Dragon Storm was on a completely different level. Xie Xie was confident the attack would injure his opponent as long as it landed.


    Student number two responded to the attack, the motion of his burly arms all too familiar for Xie Xie.


    If Tang Wulin weren¡¯t currently meditating, his eyes would definitely go wide. Student number two was using a Tang Sect secret art, Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon!


    Xie Xie felt an aura expand outwards violently from student number two¡¯s position. Upon impact, his clones were knocked out of Light Dragon Storm. He then saw his opponent make a pressing motion with his hands, his second soul ring lighting up as he did so.


    There air in the arena suddenly changed. As it began to rumble like thunder, Xie Xie¡¯s three Light Dragon Clones and his three Shadow Dragon Clones were sent flying backwards.


    The thundering roars roused Tang Wulin from his meditation. He opened his eyes, only to see Xie Xie¡¯s clones being sent flying, and then converging in the air to reform into one.


    Student number two stomped off the ground, launching himself into the air like an artillery shell. His first soul ring lit up and he threw a punch.


    A shockwave propagated outwards. This time, Xie Xie was in no position to use his clones to dodge. Repeated usage of his soul skills had left his soul power and mind in chaos, not to mention the damage he had received from being sent flying.


    A green light flashed over, dragging Xie Xie toward the ground and out of the shockwave¡¯s path.


    Student number two ceased his advance. He bowed to Shen Yi and returned to the side of his fellow Shrek Academy students.


    The match was over. It was Xie Xie¡¯s defeat.


    From start to finish, only five minutes had passed. Xie Xie was suppressed the entire time, and without Shen Yi¡¯s timely intervention, he would have even been gravely injured.


    This was the strength of a Shrek Academy student.


    In the face of true strength, twin martial souls or soul master type compatibility meant nothing.


    Tang Wulin was stunned. What if I had been the one to pick him? Would I have been able to last that long? Could I defeat him?


    He had no answer to these questions! He simply couldn¡¯t fathom the depths of student number two¡¯s strength.


    Student number two had already returned to his original form, his clothes back to fitting tightly around his slender figure by the time he reached his classmates. Tang Wulin gulped. This guy is really powerful!


    Xie Xie¡¯s defeat wasn¡¯t disgraceful. He was able to display his full strength, but his opponent was simply overwhelming.


    Xie Xie returned to his teammates with his shoulders hanging low. Not only did he receive a measly three points on this trial,  he would also have more points deducted at the end for failing a trial. Shrek Academy didn¡¯t care how overwhelmingly powerful his opponent was since he had chosen his opponent by himself.


    Tang Wulin cast a solemn look at him. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just keep running away from him? You knew how strong he is.¡±


    Xie Xie bitterly laughed. ¡°My clones use up too much soul power, but without them, I had no way of resisting his ranged attacks. I never stood a chance in this tiny arena! If the arena was larger, then I might have had a chance.¡±


    Tang Wulin furrowed his brows. ¡°You! Reflect on your battle! Yes, your clones do use a lot of soul power, but have you forgotten? Your opponent was only that strong because he was also using his thousand-year soul skill! How could his rate of consumption be any lower than yours? You have twin martial souls and the Mysterious Heaven Method. Soul power consumption is the last thing you should lose in. Why couldn¡¯t you at least last ten minutes? There¡¯s no way his attacks can cover the entire arena. You have three clones, so if you had sent them in different directions, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do anything. You just had to control the distance between you and your clones. Instead of acting first, you should have just fought a battle of attrition. It might take more soul power to maintain your clones the further they are from each other, but that¡¯s still better than being defeated in one hit! Do you have anything to say for yourself?¡±


    After listening to Tang Wulin¡¯s lecture, Xie Xie slapped his thigh. ¡°You¡¯re right! I can¡¯t believe I forgot that guy was also using his thousand-year soul skill. I¡¯ve been fighting too many soul beasts lately so I even treated him like a soul beast!¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s voice had carried all the way to the other end of the room. Having just finished putting his jacket back on, student number two went stiff for a moment before raising his head to scowl at Xie Xie.


    Sensing his opponent¡¯s gaze, Xie Xie turned to meet it. His expression was haughty, as if to declare he would win the next time they fought.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. He had pointed out Xie Xie¡¯s mistakes not only to help him, but also to raise his morale.


    Isn¡¯t this guy a bit too resilient though? He was all depressed just a minute ago!


    When they finished talking, Gu Yue had already entered the arena. She looked at student number two, a strange light flickering in her eyes.


    Her opponent entered the arena. It was student number one.


    This student was ordinary beyond belief, practically indistinguishable from any random person found on the street. He calmly walked over to stand opposite of Gu Yue.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    With Shen Yi¡¯s declaration, the third match started. This was a crucial match for Gu Yue. If she scoring badly, would essentially mean that she wouldn¡¯t pass the exam. Winning was her only option.


    Soul rings rose up beneath both of them, but to everyone¡¯s shock, student number one¡¯s three soul rings were all purple.


    He had three thousand-year soul rings!


    Student number two had been terrifying powerful, but he only had two yellow and one purple soul rings. Gu Yue could only begin to guess how strong her own opponent was.


    Generally, only range-type soul masters would immediately release their soul rings the moment a battle started. From the actions of both parties, it was clear this would be ranged battle.


    In reality, it really did play out this way.

 Chapter 271 - Bizarre Battle

    Chapter 271 - Bizarre Battle


    In reality, it really did play out this way.


    Student number one¡¯s eyes glinted as his first soul ring lit up. He shot his hand into the air, an illusory sphere of light materializing close to his palm, strands of blue, green, and white light dancing around his fingers.


    He chanted a few verses and a protrusion clawed its way out of the initial sphere. Once it reached the ground, it transformed into an enormous illusory hound.


    The hound¡¯s body was lit in a wreath of flames, and as the yellow and orange grew brighter and more turbulent, its shape began to resemble a lion. Though smaller than lion-type soul beasts, it still seemed domineering.


    A lion mastiff?


    Is this a soul skill or a spirit soul?


    Tang Wulin was in awe. Could it be a summoning-type martial soul? But this lion mastiff doesn¡¯t look like something a Soul Elder should be able to summon!


    The lion mastiff roared at the heavens, the air trembling at its declaration of might. Its gaze landed on Gu Yue, killing intent almost tangible.


    ¡°Materialize!¡± Student number one jabbed a finger at the beast, conducting rays of light into its form. In an instant, the lion mastiff¡¯s body became more corporeal.


    ¡°Little Lion, go!¡± Student number one was dead set on Gu Yue¡¯s defeat. Like a flash of lightning, the lion mastiff pounced on her.


    He has three purple soul rings, so that means he only has one spirit soul. Since the summoned beast has a name, maybe that¡¯s his spirit soul?


    Never before had Tang Wulin witness someone using their spirit soul as the primary means of battle. But it was nothing too bizarre in Shrek Academy.


    It wasn¡¯t as if Gu Yue stood twiddling her thumbs while her opponent prepared his attack. She waved her hands in the air in a controlled beat, her three twinkling soul rings revolving around her. Then, her rhythm changed. All three soul rings lit up at once, trembling slightly in unison. Which soul skill she was using was anyone¡¯s guess.


    In a flash of azure light, Gu Yue conjured a ball of ice in her palm that was half a meter in diameter. She slapped it again and again, and the sphere of frozen water trembled with each strike.


    The lion mastiff charged at her. As it accelerated in speed, its fur stuck out like the tail end of a blazing meteor.


    Yet, Gu Yue was the picture of boredom. To her, this was nothing more than a chore. She shot an ice ball at the beast when it neared..


    Her next action was incomprehensible to class zero. Gu Yue began walking back toward Tang Wulin with her back to the lion mastiff.


    Just what is she doing?


    While almost everyone was flabbergasted, the lion mastiff stretched its maw wide, firing a scorching golden-red fireball.


    However, the meeting of fire and ice played out breathtakingly.


    The ice ball exploded into countless icicles, all homing toward the lion mastiff. Jaws dropped when the projectiles flickered, changing from a frigid blue to a deep green mid flight. At the same time, a third of them vanished in a flash of silver, before reappearing right in front of student number one¡¯s nose. These paragons of sharpness surrounded him in a dome and attacked on the spot.


    ¡°Not good!¡± This was his first time encountering something like this. Because his priority had been strengthening the offense of his lion mastiff, he left himself open to attacks.


    Several of the green wind icicles melted on impact, but some evaded that fate. Aided by gusts of wind, the projectiles spiraled in the lion mastiff¡¯s direction, leaving it to endure the barrage. The lion mastiff roared, its coat of flames diminishing, its figure growing transparent.


    And then, it disappeared. The battle ended.


    Before student number one was impaled, Shen Yi jumped in to protect him. Lucky for him, or else he¡¯d be a glorified pincushion.


    Shen Yi had not been optimistic about student one¡¯s chances from the very beginning. True to that, Gu Yue¡¯s control of the elements utterly suppressed him.


    After all, she was someone the Silver Moon Douluo had recognized! It was obvious that Gu Yue, the girl who caught Elder Cai¡¯s fickle eye, would emerge victorious. Though, Shen Yi hadn¡¯t expected the match to finish so quickly.


    By the battle¡¯s official end, Gue Yue was standing at Tang Wulin¡¯s side, looking as calm as ever. She had decided on an instant victory since night had already descended.


    There was no doubt that Gu Yue got a full ten points, granting her a total of forty-eight. Her chances of entering the outer court were looking hopeful with two trials left.


    Xu Xiaoyan was the last to go. Before she went up, Tang Wulin whispered a few words into her ear.


    She raised her head in astonishment. ¡°Really? Like that?¡¯


    Tang Wulin raised a brow, a gentle smile on his lips. ¡°Just try it out. It¡¯s time for you to go.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Xu Xiaoyan nodded.


    She didn¡¯t have much confidence in herself. Among the students of class zero, she was undoubtedly the weakest. Assisting in team battles was doable with her control abilities, but fighting one-on-one was practically out of the question. To make up for her weaknesses, she focused more on her strengths than her brother, as evident in the differences between their Ice Spears.


    While her brother¡¯s focused on penetrating power, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s was all about freezing. In fact, Tang Wulin¡¯s cultivation plan for her perfectly maximized her strengths!


    So, this trial was disadvantageous for her either way. Night or day, it didn¡¯t matter.


    Thankfully, she calmed down once she stepped foot in the arena. After three years of combat experience with her teammates, Xu Xiaoyan obtained a firm grasp on her emotional state. Besides, she was just as devious as her captain.


    Her opponent was the muscular young man, student number six!


    ¡°Begin,¡± Shen Yi promptly declared.


    Two yellow soul rings materialized around Xu Xiaoyan, making her seem weak and pitiful. She stumbled to catch the item conjured in her hands.


    Her opponent also released his soul rings, but when he saw her nearly topple over, he hesitated.


    The scene of the frail little girl before him screamed outlandish.


    Although Xu Xiaoyan held her staff after releasing her soul rings,  her right hand gripped a jet-black hammer. No one could make it out clearly from the distance. Even so, its heaviness was noticeable, since she had to lean on her staff to keep balance.


    Just what is going on? Is that a soul device? But this trial forbids them!


    Shen Yi eyed Xu Xiaoyan for a moment, but she held her tongue in the end. The reason was simple; that hammer wasn¡¯t a soul device because it lacked the slightest bit of soul fluctuations!


    After Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s first soul ring lit up, a massive ice wheel appeared in front of her, its diameter no less that a third of a meter. Then, she duct-taped the hammer to it.


    She levitated the wheel of ice, which swayed back and forth from the added weight.


    Looking like a struggling kitten, she raised her staff, directing the contraption at her opponent.


    Her actions went beyond strange. They transcended to the realm of bizarre!


    Bearing the weight of the hammer, the ice wheel flew forth like an inebriated snail. It looked like it would drop at any moment.


    T-this is how she¡¯s attacking?


    The Shrek Academy students watched with odd expressions, furrowed brows and pinched noses. They had seen astonishing things before, though never something so uncanny!


    It was an unprecedented battle style. She expects to win like this? Will that toy even reach him?


    Xu Xiaoyan paid no regard to their stupor. Her second soul ring lit up and a spear of ice congealed before her.

 Chapter 272 - Nice Acting!

    Chapter 272 - Nice Acting!


    Student number six finally made his move, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Is this girl a comedian? How did she make it all the way to the eighth trial? Did she give up on all the previous trials? Does that mean she¡¯s just going through the motions of taking the trial now?


    But when he thought of the guillotine trial, a shiver ran down his spine. No way, that trial isn¡¯t that easy! I can¡¯t underestimate her just because of how delicate and strange she looks.


    A flash of light lit his surroundings and, a crystal ball, flickering with opaque light, appeared in front of him. His three soul rings moved to hover above it.


    Tool martial soul: Crystal Ball.


    ¡°Crystal, crystal, deviate!¡± He shouted, ignoring the ice wheel in the air. It was just a slow plaything that posed no threat to him.


    His first soul ring lit up and white filled his eyes. The crystal shone in response. Suddenly, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s ice spear changed paths mid-flight and instead, flew toward the ice wheel that slowly spun in the air.


    His move was quite clever, using Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s ice spear to attack her own ice wheel.


    This isn¡¯t good! Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s heart thumped. If she let him have his way, then she would lose this match! Left without a choice,, she chose this critical moment to reveal her cards.


    Purple light shone within her eyes, stunning her opponent.


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Purple Demon Eyes wasn¡¯t any weaker than Tang Wulin¡¯s, powerful enough to disturb her opponent¡¯s mind despite his strong spiritual power. His control over the ice spear slipped.


    Xu Xiaoyan waved her staff, regaining control of her ice spear. With spiritual power over two hundred points now and an elemental control-type martial soul,long distance control was her forte.


    The ice spear traced an arc in the air, aiming at student number six again.


    At this moment, everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the ice spear. No one noticed the ice wheel speeding up. Though it wasn¡¯t much, there was a clear difference.


    Xu Xiaoyan raised her staff high in the air, an air of divinity enveloping her.


    ¡°The stars in the heavens that shine forever tranquil, grant me strength! Starwheel!¡±


    Lines of resplendent starlight descended onto her Ice Staff, transforming it into the Starwheel Ice Staff


    Her first soul ring lit up again, a golden starwheel appearing beneath student number six.


    The moment Xu Xiaoyan used her Purple Demon Eyes, she dropped her epitome-of-clumsiness act and her moves became smooth like a cat¡¯s! Everything, including her ice spear, changed under the influence of her mutated martial soul.


    Once her staff transformed into the Starwheel Ice Staff, it cut her connection with the ice wheel and ice spear.


    And only now did the others notice the ice wheel above student number six¡¯s head. No longer supported by Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Ice Staff, it plummeted under the weight of the hammer straight toward student number six¡¯s head. At the same moment, the ice spear arrived before him.


    The dazed student number six abruptly discovered that the ice spear had appeared right in front of him.


    His second soul ring lit up. His Crystal Ball followed suit, light spiralling out to disintegrate the ice spear into specks of ice element that quickly melted. He had used his second soul skill, Decomposition.


    In a certain sense, Xu Xiaoyan had chosen the weakest of the ten available opponents. Student number six was an support-type soul master, and was not suited for direct participation in battles.


    But this did not mean he was weak. His forte was givings others a taste of their own medicine.


    His instincts screamed warning.He raised his head just in time to see the spinning hammer fall toward him.


    Is she trying to distract me with the ice spear so her hammer will hit me? Isn¡¯t her plan weird?


    But if I get hit by that hammer, even I will¡­


    He subconsciously tried to take a step to the side, the easiest way to evade the hammer.


    However, something strange happened.


    The starwheel underneath him illuminated. He hurriedly roused his soul power to activate his third soul skill, but it was too late.


    Chains of starlight shot out of the ground and bound him tightly. His head still looking upward, he could only watch in horror as the hammer descended and arrived before his eyes in a flash.


    That hammer would surely knock him out, or even break his skull!


    However, no matter how he struggled or urged his soul power to move, his body remained motionless.


    This was the absolute control of astrological-attributed soul skills!


    Bullets of sweat ran down student number six¡¯s forehead. The hammer had stopped an inch above his head.


    Shen Yi took the hammer in her hand, curiously weighing it before moving to stand in front of Xu Xiaoyan. An odd smile peeked out. ¡°Girl, nice acting!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled sweetly, ¡°Thank you for your praise.¡±


    Though those thousand refined tungsten hammers weren¡¯t light, they weren¡¯t heavy for a two-ringed soul master. Even a ranged-type soul master wouldn¡¯t stagger when holding it. Xu Xiaoyan had purposely pretended to stagger under the weight of the hammers to draw everyone¡¯s curiosity and mislead her opponent into , giving her the chance to set up her attack. This was why Shen Yi had called it an act.


    This girl would have lost if she made the slightest mistake. Who would¡¯ve thought a metal hammer without the slightest bit of soul power would be the deciding factor in this match?


    The greatest weakness of the Starwheel Shackles was its lack of offensive power. Apart from that, it also immobilized Xu Xiaoyan during its use, meaning she could not follow up with an attack.


    So, Tang Wulin had secretly given her one of his heavy silver bracelet rings when he whispered the battle plan into her ear, telling her how to take out the tungsten hammer.


    He hadn¡¯t needed to instruct her any further than that. She knew best how to take advantage of her frail appearance to win.


    Shrek Academy¡¯s students may have plenty of combat experience, but they were sorely lacking in emotional matters. Xu Xiaoyan, being the little enchantress pampered by the elders in her family, would have them in the palm of her hands in such a battle.


    Ten points!


    Apart from Xie Xie, the other three all received ten points.


    After the eighth trial, Tang Wulin had sixty points, Gu Yue had forty-eight points, Xie Xie had fifty-one points, and Xu Xiaoyan had fifty points.


    With two trials left, their chances of passing were great. Of the four, only Tang Wulin no longer needed to worry as much about the following trials. It was for this reason that Tang Wulin had gone all out in the eighth trial.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move on to the next trial.¡± Complex emotions twisted within Shen Yi¡¯s heart.


    Senior brother¡¯s four disciples are really excellent. Though their martial souls aren¡¯t spectacular, they don¡¯t need to be; after all, not everyone has a mighty martial soul. The only one who stands out in this regard is Gu Yue. That Xie Xie has homogeneous twin martial souls, but they can¡¯t compare with true twin martial souls. While Xu Xiaoyan is quite capable, the restrictions on her abilities are too harsh.

 Chapter 273 - Survive

    Chapter 273 - Survive


    Now that Tang Wulin is a real freak. He got full marks in six trials. I can¡¯t make heads or tails of him. His martial soul is plain old Bluesilver Grass, but that golden soul ring...It¡¯s definitely unrelated to his martial soul. He hasn¡¯t had any trouble so far either. Throughout the entire exam, he has steadily progressed, getting one full score after another.


    Though his talents aren¡¯t great, his strength is formidable. This isn¡¯t the fruit of just his potential, but his potential combined with his temperament.


    Gu Yue is far ahead of the rest of class zero in talent and potential. But in overall strength and temperament, Tang Wulin shines the brightest and fully deserves the position of captain.


    Senior brother, your insight is so great!


    Thoughts weighing on her mind, Shen Yi led the four students into a small room.


    This room was different from the rest so far. The lighting was dim and the surroundings lacked lavish decorations, with only a single large screen hanging from the metal walls.


    A sense of familiarity flooded the four students. This place seems similar to the spirit ascension platform! Is the ninth trial like that?


    ¡°Your goal for the ninth trial is to survive. I believe you¡¯ve all been in the spirit ascension platform before. Well, this is similar to that. In a sense, all the soul beasts in it are real. If you kill one and are at a bottleneck, then you¡¯ll be able to gain a soul ring. Alright. Prepare to enter.¡± Shen Yi pressed a button and several metal capsules slid out of the walls.


    Survive?


    When Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan had heard this, they shifted their gazes in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction, eyes brimming with confidence.


    After receiving a paltry three points from the previous trial, Xie Xie had felt anxious. The details of the ninth trial blew away all his insecurities.


    They had spent countless days in the spirit ascension platform over the years, so anything that resembled that would be a walk in the park. As long as they didn¡¯t jump head-first at a high-level beast, of course.


    In that case, Tang Wulin¡¯s leadership and the team¡¯s coordination would pull through splendidly. Together, they were unbeatable.


    ¡°Teacher Shen, will we be taking this trial together?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Shen Yi eyed him. ¡°Yes. No matter the number of participants, they will all take the trial together. This trial tests your coordination in addition to your ability to survive. You all came together, so you have an advantage here. Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Shen.¡±


    The four examinees split up and entered the metal capsules. This marked the start of the ninth trial.


    Unknown to the four, two people entered the room after the capsules slid back into the walls. Among them was a cranky old lady they were all too familiar with, the Silver Moon Douluo!


    An old man was by her side. His nose was high and his deep-blue eyes sunken. He stood tall with gray hair down to his shoulders, accenting his unyielding aura. Just his presence could stifle others. .


    ¡°Teacher,¡± Shen Yi respectfully greeted the old man.


    The old man nodded. ¡°How have these kids done so far?¡±


    After a long moment of contemplation, Shen Yi found the right words. ¡°They¡¯re unbelievable.¡±


    The Silver Moon Douluo laughed. ¡°That¡¯s right! They¡¯re really unbelievable! I didn¡¯t let them take the fifth trial, but there¡¯s actually someone who managed to score full points so far! That Tang Wulin is marvelous! His blood essence is strong, almost a bit like yours, Zhou Shi. Let me be frank. I don¡¯t care about the other three, but I¡¯ve already set my eyes on that Gu Yue.¡±


    Zhuo Shi shot her a look. ¡°What do you mean you¡¯ve set your eyes on her? Don¡¯t forget that they¡¯re all my granddisciples. They don¡¯t have anything to do with you.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The Silver Moon Douluo arched her brows. ¡°Are you trying to go back on your word?¡±


    Zhuo Shi smirked, the domineering air around him receding. ¡°I¡¯m not going back on my word! I¡¯m just stating a fact. I¡¯m saying you eye them as much as you want, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll just hand them over to you. They have to be willing too. You¡¯ll need to ask Gu Yue if she wants to be your disciple first. If she rejects you, then there¡¯s no use in forcing it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nonsense! I like how stubborn she is.¡± She stomped with fury. ¡°What would separate kids from walking corpses if they didn¡¯t have such strong wills? Her temperament is precisely what attracts me.¡±


    Shen Yi silently watched from the sidelines. She dared not speak out of turn in front of these two elders.


    Zhuo Shi said, ¡°We can talk about this after they finish this trial. If they can¡¯t pass it, then it doesn¡¯t even matter how high they scored on the other ones.¡±


    Unexpectedly, the Silver Moon Douluo reigned in her vexation and nodded. It seemed she held the ninth trial in high regard as well.


    ¡°Teacher, what test level are they taking?¡± Shen Yi softly asked.


    Zhuo Shi contemplated for a moment. ¡°The highest level.¡±


    Dumbstruck, Shen Yi tried to steady her thoughts. The highest level? Even adults find that level hard! That¡¯s¡­


    ¡°Hurry up now,¡± Zhuo Shi urged when he noticed her hesitation.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ?


    Space warped around him, a minor matter to Tang Wulin who had experienced the spirit ascension platform countless times. With his sturdy body and sharp mind, this sudden sensation didn¡¯t affect him at all.


    In a flash of light, the four examinees found themselves in an empty space. A world came into view in a blink of an eye.


    Class zero appeared in this world together, and after exchanging glances, they immediately shifted into their usual battle formation.


    Bluesilver Grass sprang out from beneath Tang Wulin¡¯s feet, slithering out to probe their surroundings.


    Their environment was similar to the spirit ascension platform. That said, the lush forest here seemed more ancient.


    ¡°So the ninth trial tests our ability to survive. Fantastic. Isn¡¯t this the easiest possible trial for us?¡± Xie Xie rejoiced.


    Tang Wulin raised his hand, silencing him. After a moment, he said in a hushed voice, ¡°This place is different from what we¡¯re used to. At least from the elementary one, anyway. I¡¯ve been in the intermediate level once before with Teacher Wu, and I can say for a fact that the plants here and there are similar. Don¡¯t forget that this is still part of the Shrek Academy entrance exam. Teacher Shen said that we have to survive, but she never mentioned for how long. We need to be careful. If my guess is right, and this place is like the intermediate spirit ascension platform, then we¡¯ll run into a lot of thousand-year soul beasts. Maybe even some at the ten-thousand-year level.¡±


    Ten-thousand-year soul beast? His three teammates sucked in a deep breath at the thought.


    Xu Xiaoyan said quietly, ¡°Captain, if I can breakthrough to rank 30, then can¡¯t I get a soul ring here? If there¡¯s a ten-thousand-year soul beast¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it,¡± said Tang Wulin, frowning. ¡°With your current abilities, it¡¯s impossible to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring, let alone kill a ten-thousand-year soul beast. Don¡¯t forget, this would just be your third ring. Normally, soul masters don¡¯t get a ten-thousand-year soul ring until rank 50. Your body isn¡¯t that strong to begin with, so don¡¯t think so wishfully. Otherwise, you might encounter a problem. Like the time I evolved my spirit soul to the thousand-year level.¡±


    Hearing the severity in his voice, Xu Xiaoyan stuck out her tongue. ¡°Got it!¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. We should find a vantage point to survey the land first. Once we have a good line of sight, we¡¯ll rest and recover the energy spent on the previous trials.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    The four proceeded cautiously. Gu Yue was in charge of scouting, sending off wind birds further into the surrounding thicket. On the other hand, Tang Wulin monitored their immediate vicinity.


    When the wind birds discovered nothing, as if this was just a normal forest, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t believe it for a second. This was part of the Shrek exam after all.


    A while later, they chanced upon a hill with a large field of view. Tang Wulin took out the steamed buns from his storage device and began handing them out to everyone. After eating, they took turns resting.


    All was tranquil without the slightest hint of trouble.


    Two hours later, they were fully recovered.


    ¡°Captain, something¡¯s strange! It¡¯s been two hours already yet we still haven¡¯t met any soul beasts, ¡° Xie Xie said in a low, nervous voice. ¡°Do you have any idea what¡¯s going on?¡±

 Chapter 274 - The Ninth Trial

    Chapter 274 - The Ninth Trial


    Tang Wulin harbored the same doubts as Xie Xie. Naturally, they would earn more points the longer they survive this trial, yet two hours had passed without the slightest peep. How could this be called a trial of survival then? It was easy to forage for food in a forest and survive.


    ¡°Should we go exploring?¡± Xie Xie asked.


    Tang Wulin looked at the sky before answering, ¡°Not yet, it¡¯s still early in the afternoon. We¡¯ll wait until nightfall. It¡¯ll be safer if Xu Xiaoyan can use her Starwheel Ice Staff.¡±


    Impatience was their number one enemy. Tang Wulin refused to give in to anxiety, calmly contemplating the best way to help his teammates maximize their points.


    Since we¡¯re safe here, we can wait until everyone¡¯s in their best condition before exploring.


    The sun gradually sunk beyond the horizon. In the twilight, Tang Wulin stood up and quietly climbed up a tree to gaze into the distance.


    The world he found himself in truly resembled the Great Star Dou Forest. In the last glimmers of daylight, he could make out trees as far as the eye could see.


    Then a howl shattered the silence and flipped the forest upside down.


    Tang Wulin broke out into goosebumps as terror racked his body, but his blood essence chose that moment to flare up. It quickly dispelled his fear, his heart finally calming and returning to its earlier state.


    What was that?


    Then realization hit him and he climbed down the tree madly.


    If just a single howl could upend the forest, just how terrifyingly powerful was this beast?


    The Three-eyed Demon Ape, of which he had absorbed its spirit energy, was the strongest soul beast he had encountered so far. He could never forget the battle between the ten-thousand-year Three-eyed Demon Ape and Wu Zhangkong. Yet, this howl had shaken him to his very core!


    The moment he landed on the ground, he saw his companions all had horror-stricken expressions.


    ¡°W-what was that sound? That scared me to death.¡± Xie Xie was pale, his face aghast.


    Everyone wore a similar expression, though Gu Yue was more restrained.


    Tang Wulin grimly said, ¡°I don¡¯t know either, but it doesn¡¯t seem too far from here.¡±


    Another roar thundered just as he spoke. Compared to before, this one was sharper and seemed to penetrate their bodies, instantly dispelling their fear.


    This...


    This is so strange!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡± Gu Yue said to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    There was no way a trial would be as simple as they first thought. Even if they didn¡¯t check it out, perhaps the two soul beasts would come looking for them instead. It was far better to take the initiative to attack.


    After all, regardless of who held the exam, there must be a way for examinees to pass the exam. .


    Gu Yue released her wind birds to scout far ahead of them and the four began to advance toward the origin of the roar.


    Tang Wulin took the lead, opening a path for his teammates while also doing his best to help mask their scent. Since they weren¡¯t strong enough, this was all they could manage.


    Gu Yue¡¯s face twitched and she whispered, ¡°There¡¯s a valley up ahead on the left. It¡¯s over there. My wind birds were dispersed by a gust of wind, though.¡±


    ¡°Everyone, be careful. Follow closely behind me.¡± Tang Wulin urged his blood essence to greater heights. Golden scales rippled into existence from his arm to his shoulder while a golden soul ring appeared beneath him. Not only did his blood essence aura mask their smell, it also calmed everyone¡¯s nerves. At the very least, they no longer felt oppressed by the roars.


    Just as Gu Yue had said, a lush valley lay before them as soon as they exited the forest. The closer they approached it, however, the more stifled they felt.


    The four circulated their soul power to resist the waves of power emanating from deep within the valley. They proceeded cautiously and solemnly.


    ¡°We¡¯re crawling from here onward.¡± Tang Wulin dropped to the ground, and the pressure instantly lessened. The other three also copied him and together, they inched to the edge of the valley and peered over it.


    They sucked in a deep breath at the scene before them.


    Inside the valley, booms resounded as two lights over thirty meters in diameter clashed countless times.


    Every time they struck each otherr, the earth trembled while the air whipped into a frenzy.


    This...


    A purple light appeared in his eyes. When Tang Wulin looked back at the two lights again, shock rooted him to the ground. It was a pair of soul beasts!


    One shone with dark-gold light, its immense figure intimately familiar to Tang Wulin. They had encountered this beast several times before, and every encounter had struck fear into their hearts.


    It was the ruler of the forest, the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear.


    However, this bear was far mightier than the ones they met previously, a colossus towering over ten meters in height. Dark-gold light spilled from its body and flowed down its thick, solid arms. Every slash of its claws had the power to tear open the heavens and destroy the earth. They sent boulders flying everywhere and left numerous deep gouges in the walls of the valley.


    That should be a thousand-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, right? Or maybe it¡¯s a ten-thousand-year one?


    A hundred-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear had forced a pride of Blazing Demon Lions to beg for mercy. A thousand-year one could rule as the absolute tyrant of the forest. So then, what about a ten-thousand-year one?


    A ten-thousand-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear could easily tear apart normal hundred-thousand-year soul beasts! Its destructive power was simply incomprehensible.


    Yet this formidable beast was currently locked in battle with another beast no weaker than it.


    Tang Wulin strengthened his eyesight further and examined the other light.


    Inside the ball of blinding golden light was another soul beast.


    It had body translucent like crystal, its form similar to that of a lion but with flaming draconic claws and a longer snout. Fine golden scales peeked out from beneath its fur. Most peculiar of all, it had a vertical slit on its forehead wherein its third eye rested.


    Its two ordinary eyes were gold, but its third eye glared with a bewitching red glow.


    What soul beast is that? Tang Wulin had never heard of such a beast, let alone seen one.


    He turned to his friends and described what he just saw.


    ¡°Xie Xie, do you have any idea what that golden soul beast is?¡± Tang Wulin knew Xie Xie was the most knowledgeable of them all.


    Xie Xie furrowed his brows. ¡°From what you¡¯ve said, I think I might know. Give me a moment to think.¡±

 Chapter 275 - Auspicious Emperor

    Chapter 275 - Auspicious Emperor


    ¡°These two soul beasts are too powerful,¡± Gu Yue said. ¡°They could instantly eliminate all of us with a single swipe. I don¡¯t think being here will help us pass this trial, but why else would they have us discover these soul beasts?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s quietly observe the two first. They seem to be evenly matched. If we wait until they¡¯re both exhausted, maybe we can reap some rewards? If they defeat each other and only have a single breath of life left, then even we should be able to deal with them!¡±


    He knew his own strength, as well as the strength of his team, better than anyone else. He also knew it would be foolish to these mighty lords of the forest head on.


    The single difference between this place and the spirit ascension platform was the lack of an escape button! In other words, dying was the only way to get out early. Having encountered these two beasts, death had become a very real possibility for them, one in which not even a single scrap of their corpses would remain. They needed to exercise extreme caution if they wanted to avoid such an agonizing end.


    The four of them gathered at the edge of the valley and peered at the soul beasts once more.


    The clashes between the two lights grew increasingly fierce. They couldn¡¯t tell which one held the advantage.


    Suddenly, the two lights shined intensely bright, explosively colliding one more time. After separating, the lights grew dim and revealed the soul beasts within them.


    The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear was in terrible condition, and its opponent showed no sign of weakness, almost as if it were a spirited horse. Its third eye shone a brilliant red. Fear crept into the bear¡¯s eyes as the dark-gold light that surrounded it dimmed even further.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± Xie Xie blurted.


    ¡°So what is it?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°I think that golden soul beast is the auspicious beast of legends!¡± Xie Xie answered.


    ¡°Auspicious beast?¡±


    Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan looked at him doubtfully.


    Xie Xie nodded.


    ¡°Legend has it that, in the Great Star Dou Forest, there once lived an auspicious beast known as the Auspicious Emperor. It has been said that, as long as it resided in the forest, fortune would smile upon all the beasts that inhabited the forest and their cultivation would progress much faster than normal. However, when it died, misfortune plagued the Great Star Dou Forest and drove the soul beasts to attack Shrek City in a beast tide. You guys should remember this from the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s legend.


    ¡°The Auspicious Emperor is a Three-eyed Golden Lion. The legends say that the Spirit Ice Douluo absorbed its soul ring and soul bone. It provided a skull, the strongest spiritual-type bone that has always ranked number one. It¡¯s no wonder that not even the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear is able to beat it. This is the Auspicious Emperor after all! It¡¯s on a whole different level!¡±


    A Three-eyed Golden Lion¡­ called the Auspicious Emperor? Even its name sounds powerful!


    ¡°It looks so cool!¡± Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed, her eyes practically twinkling with stars. ¡°It would be great if it could become my spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°Keep dreaming,¡± Xie Xie scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s a Three-eyed Golden Lion, a beast that is supposedly even smarter than humans. Oh, right! I just remembered something. In the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s biography, the story says that the Three-eyed Golden Lion transformed into a human and fell in love with the Spirit Ice Douluo. It later sacrificed itself to become his soul ring and save him from a deadly crisis. Yet its selfless act then led to the decline of the Great Star Dou forest and the wave of beasts attacking Shrek City.¡±


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t I ever seen anything like that in the biography I read?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°My family collects biographies! We have biographies that normal people would never have access to.¡±


    ¡°So soul beasts are approaching extinction because that Three-eyed Golden Lion sacrificed itself?¡± Gu Yue asked, a pensive expression on her face. ¡°But... why would the Auspicious Emperor sacrifice itself for a single human? Didn¡¯t it even consider its fellow beasts?¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t understand,¡± Xie Xie said. ¡°Logic doesn¡¯t matter when someone falls in love. A person would forsake everything for love. I bet that¡¯s the reason why the Three-eyed Golden Lion sacrificed itself. Didn¡¯t it fall in love with the Spirit Ice Douluo?¡±


    Love?


    Gu Yue couldn¡¯t understand why, but she suddenly glanced at Tang Wulin.


    The earth shook as a deep rumble resounded throughout the valley.


    Tang Wulin attached strands of Bluesilver Grass to his three teammates, keeping them safe as the four of them crawled away.


    The wind whistled, suddenly growing in intensity. Tang Wulin turned around to see the two beasts taking their battle elsewhere.


    The end of the valley was nowhere in sight. The sounds of battle continued to grow quieter and quieter as the two clashing beasts disappeared into the distance.


    ¡°Are they gone?¡±


    The four of them let out a collective sigh of relief.


    They were mere ants before those two almighty beasts, and they were lucky to avoid being noticed.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those two the reason why we didn¡¯t meet any soul beasts in the forest?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°This valley and the surrounding area are probably a part of the territory belonging to one of them. The other must have come to seize it or some other benefit..¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know whose territory it is though. It would be great if this region belonged to the Three-eyed Golden Lion. Since it¡¯s a sign of good luck, there would definitely be some treasures hidden here.¡± Xie Xie¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Didn¡¯t they say we could bring anything we find in here back to the real world?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at him. ¡°How about we go take a look then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s go!¡± Xie Xie exclaimed, bursting with excitement. ¡°This is an illusory world anyway. Even if we die here, we won¡¯t really die in the real world. This is an amazing opportunity. If we don¡¯t go take a look, we¡¯ll regret it forever!¡±


    Tang Wulin shifted his gaze to the two girls. Gu Yue nodded.


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled. ¡°It¡¯s up to you, Captain.¡±


    ¡°Then we¡¯re going!¡± Fire seemed to blaze to life in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he quietly stood up and ventured into the valley.


    Like a newborn calf that didn¡¯t fear a lion, they didn¡¯t fear death in this illusory world. Since failing didn¡¯t have any real consequences, they confidently ventured into what could be the lair of a legendary Auspicious Emperor.


    Using Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass, the four of them slowly rappelled down the side of the valley. Although it was steep, it didn¡¯t prove much of a challenge for them. Progressing slowly and steadily, they soon reached the bottom.


    Gazing at the thick mist in the distance, they could no longer see any trace of the two great soul beasts. It seemed like they wouldn¡¯t return anytime soon.


    They proceeded deeper into the valley, their guards up as they scanned in different directions.


    The scene of the two formidable beasts battling was still fresh in their minds. Their hearts thumped louder and louder with each step.


    The battle had truly been terrifying.


    As they moved, they saw countless deep scars that the wandering battle had left throughout the winding valley. The stone of the valley was no different than tofu in the face of the attack of the beasts. The vast expanse of the valley floor was devoid of vegetation. This was evidently the work of the heaven-shaking battle from before.


    ¡°Captain, look!¡± Xu Xiaoyan pointed.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze followed her finger and his eyes then lit up.


    Not far from them was a cave, the entrance of which was about five meters tall. Darkness shrouded this cave, and its destination was a mystery.


    ¡°Is that the lair of one of the two beasts?¡± Tang Wulin muttered to himself.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go find out!¡± Xie Xie immediately began running, forcing the other three to chase after him.


    After reaching the entrance to the cave, Xie Xie took a moment to scout the area before waiting for his teammates to catch up.


    ¡°Captain, I think this could actually be the lair of the Three-eyed Golden Lion!¡± he shouted, gulping nervously.


    ¡°Huh? What makes you think that?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Since we¡¯ve fought a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, you might remember its rancid odor,¡± Xie Xie said. ¡°This cave, however, smells fresh, yet a bit musky. Legends have described the Three-eyed Golden Lion smelling like this, so I think this is its lair.¡±¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go see for ourselves,¡± Tang Wulin immediately decided. This was not the time to hesitate, just in case those two beasts suddenly returned!


    The four of them dove into the cave, swiftly advancing into its depths.


    The cave was pitch-black, as if it were a completely different world. The ceiling soon grew beyond five meters tall and opened up into a wide space.


    After they came around a bend, twinkling lights appeared.


    Gemstones littered the ground, shining with a myriad of brilliant prismatic lights.

 Chapter 276 - Three-eyed Golden Lion

    Chapter 276 - Three-eyed Golden Lion


    To young boys and girls like Tang Wulin and the others, gems were nothing more than pretty stones. They were far more interested in the kind of place a Three-eyed Golden Lion would choose to reside in.


    ¡°Do you think we can take the gems?¡± Xie Xie gazed at the mountain of jewels longingly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so greedy,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Do you see me trying anything? If anyone could just waltz in and take those gems, why would Shrek even leave them for us? Use your common sense.¡±


    After they turned another bend, the cave opened up into a wide open space. A growl reverberated through the air, and a figure shrouded in golden light pounced at them.


    Not good!


    The instant he heard that growl, goosebumps appeared all over Tang Wulin¡¯s body. He instantly came to the conclusion that a second Three-eyed Golden Lion lived here!


    Three-eyed Golden Lions were beasts that could fight head-to-head with a ten-thousand-year Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear!


    Tang Wulin and the others no longer had a chance to escape since this one noticed them.


    ¡°Run!¡± Tang Wulin shouted as he exploded with golden light. He activated Golden Dragon Body and his right arm swelled with power. His right hand transformed into a claw as he swiped at the incoming golden figure.


    He held nothing back in the face of death. Three meter-long dark-gold blades of light shot from his claw.


    The golden figure dropped to the ground with a metallic thud, landing near Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin retreated seven or eight steps backward before finding his footing. He stood firm, waves of blood essence rolling off of his body.


    At that moment, his teammates got into their usual battle formation. Their refusal to obey his order filled him with joy.


    Gu Yue had created a shield of water to cover Tang Wulin¡¯s retreat.


    Instead of surprising him, her action delighted Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Even if it doesn¡¯t seem as powerful as the other one, we still need to be careful,¡± he said, holding his claw in front of them protectively.


    They could now make out the appearance of the beast shrouded in golden light. While similar to the Three-eyed Golden Lion they saw before, this one was much smaller! It was probably best to call it a miniature Three-eyed Golden Lion.


    This Three-eyed Golden Lion stood less than one and a half meters tall, and its shoulders were about two meters wide. Aside from its size and the fact that its third eye wasn¡¯t open, it was identical to the one they saw before.


    ¡°Is this¡­ a juvenile Three-eyed Golden Lion?¡± Xie Xie cried. ¡°Could we be any luckier?¡±


    ¡°Luckier?¡± Tang Wulin glanced at him.


    ¡°Having a third eye is the strongest trait of Three-eyed Golden Lions,¡± Xie Xie said. ¡°Although they can only open their third eye upon reaching a certain level, they can become super powerful once they do! They can also bring a good fortune to their companions. This one isn¡¯t that powerful though. I¡¯d say that it¡¯s probably at the ten-year level, maybe the hundred-year level at most. This is an amazing opportunity for us! Xiaoyan, don¡¯t let the fact that it¡¯s probably a hundred-year soul beast bother you. If you can absorb its soul ring, it¡¯ll be more powerful than a ten-thousand-year soul ring! It could even yield a soul bone! Soul bones from Three-eyed Golden Lions are ranked number one you know!¡±


    Gu Yue furrowed her brow and whispered to Tang Wulin. ¡°Is this a good idea?¡±


    ¡°I think we can do it,¡± he answered.


    Tang Wulin had just knocked the Three-eyed Golden Lion down, but it wasn¡¯t such an easy nut to crack. Although its defenses were formidable, its scales bore a few deep claw marks. They were no match for Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Dreadclaw.


    Tang Wulin was a bit weaker than the lion, but the difference was negligible. Their first clash had only sent him backward a few steps, after all.


    Tang Wulin had no cowardly thoughts. He stepped forward and beckoned to the lion, welcoming this challenge with open arms.


    ¡°Come. Let¡¯s fight.¡±


    Bluesilver Grass flew out from under Tang Wulin as he swiftly advanced toward the lion, and his three teammates released their martial souls.


    Tang Wulin was in peak condition. He held his claw to his chest as he rushed forward. His blood essence surged, but his golden soul ring grew faint while his two purple soul rings became distinct. The three soul rings emitted a purple-gold light.


    This was the first time since breaking the second seal that Tang Wulin used both his bloodline power and his martial soul at the same time. He felt his blood essence envelop his Bluesilver Grass, slowly changing its innate nature.


    However, this change wasn¡¯t something that would finish in just one or two days. Just like when he broke the first seal, it would take a while for him to fully adapt to his new power. Given enough time, his Bluesilver Grass would evolve once more.


    Bluesilver Grass swarmed toward the Three-eyed Golden Lion as Tang Wulin activated his first soul skill, Bind!


    The lion was quick to retreat, disappearing in a flash. Its body burst with golden light, shooting out a beam of light that resembled lightning at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin snorted. Not moving a single inch, he brought his Golden Dragon Body to full power, his blood boiling as he struck out with his claw.


    Tang Wulin and the luminous Three-eyed Golden Lion met with an explosive boom. He was forced to back a few steps, but the lion completely overpowered.


    Strengthened by both his soul power and bloodline, Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw soared to new heights of power. Its nails were now longer by an inch, and more importantly, it consumed much less soul power. Since his greatest weapon was now fueled by his blood essence, it could be used much more freely.


    Stone spikes sprouted out of the ground around the lion on after another, imprisoning it.


    The lion¡¯s golden light flared up, instantly demolishing the stone prison. Having freed itself, a dangerous light flashed through its eyes as it leaped out of the remains of the prison.


    A wave of dizziness struck Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, forcing them to take two steps backward.


    The Three-eyed Golden Lion took advantage of this opening to slash its claws at Tang Wulin, its strike aiming to disembowel him!


    In that instant, three figures descended like a tornado to obstruct the lion.


    Light Dragon Storm!


    His Light Dragon Clones and Light Dragon Storm combined to unleash a terrifying attack. A series of sounds reminiscent of a knife tapping glass rang out as he used an onslaught of attacks to hold the lion in mid-air.


    As expected of a juvenile Three-eyed Golden Lion, its defenses were sturdy. However, it wasn¡¯t without weakness. Although it was quick and excelled at both physical and spiritual attacks, the strength of its body wasn¡¯t really that impressive. At the very least, it wasn¡¯t tough enough to endure the endless assault from the class zero team.


    ¡°Xiaoyan, we¡¯re blitzing it!¡±


    As Tang Wulin said this, his second soul ring lit up and his Bluesilver Grass surrounded the lion in the spiky embrace of the Bluesilver Impaling Array.


    A blitzkrieg strategy was their only option since the adult Three-eyed Golden Lion could return at any moment. Once it returned, any hope of survival would be gone.


    Bizarre golden light gushed from the lion to hold off the grassy spears. The Bluesilver Grass went limp when they touched the light, barely failing to pierce the lion.


    But at that moment, a starwheel appeared beneath the Three-eyed Golden Lion, and its body instantly went stiff.


    In a flash of silver, two figures appeared right in front of the lion.


    It was Gu Yue and Tang Wulin.


    Gu Yue¡¯s control over space allowed her to bring one person along when she teleported short distances.


    No other ability could have been more appropriate for this situation.

 Chapter 277 - Decisions

    Chapter 277 - Decisions


    Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon claw descended upon the Three-eyed Golden Lion¡¯s head.


    Tang Wulin flew into the air high above the Three-eyed Golden Lion¡¯s head. Since Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s starwheel immobilized it, the lion couldn¡¯t do anything but watch as Tang Wulin swung his claw down at it.


    He struck the lion¡¯s head, using his claw to spike it head-first into the ground. However, instead its crushing effect activating, the dragon claw rebounded off of the lion¡¯s head.


    The Three-eyed Golden Lion crashed into the floor of the cave with a resounding boom, unconscious, but alive. For the moment.


    ¡°Captain!¡± Xie Xie hurriedly spoke up. ¡°Don¡¯t destroy its head, it could leave us a soul skull.¡±


    Tang Wulin withdrew his claw, deciding not to follow up with another attack. Having struck the lion, he an odd hunch that the crushing effect wouldn¡¯t activate no matter what he did. It was undoubtedly the influence of the Auspicious Emperor¡¯s luck. It truly was a strange soul beast!


    ¡°I think it¡¯s only a ten-year Three-eyed Golden Beast. If it were at the hundred-year level, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to beat it so easily.¡±


    The unconscious lion that lay before them was practically a lamb ready for the slaughter! Its tough scales were nothing in the face of Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw.


    His claw may have bounced off of the lion¡¯s head, but the scales on it had been smashed to bits. Golden blood trickled from the wound..


    ¡°Now we need to decide who gets the spoils,¡± Tang Wulin said, turning to his companions. ¡°Xiaoyan, if you can make a breakthrough, then the soul ring goes to you. I¡¯ll pass on the soul bone... so Xie Xie and Gu Yue, you two talk it over.


    His three companions went silent.


    This was an Auspicious Emperor, a Three-eyed Golden Lion! They could no longer be found in the real world, yet they encountered one here and even had the chance to obtain its soul ring and soul bone. Anyone who fused with either would receive a massive boost in strength.


    Despite the fact that it was only a ten-year soul beast, its soul bone wasn¡¯t ranked number one for no reason. Its effect on one¡¯s spiritual power was unfathomable.


    ¡°Why are you giving up on the soul bone, Captain?¡± Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed suddenly.  ¡°It¡¯s the soul bone of a Three-eyed Golden Lion!¡±


    ¡°I already got the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear¡¯s right hand bone, so it wouldn¡¯t be right for me to take this one too,¡± Tang Wulin answered. ¡°We¡¯re a team after all. I can¡¯t hog all the good stuff, so go on. You guys decide how you want to distribute it.¡±


    Xie Xie looked at Gu Yue, then at Xu Xiaoyan.


    It would have been absolutely spectacular if Xu Xiaoyan were already at rank 30 and could absorb the soul ring of a legendary Three-eyed Golden Lion. However, she was currently one step shy of it at rank 29. The gap seemed small, but it was actually enormous, so all they could do was decide on who gets the soul bone.


    The three of them were supposed to split a single soul bone¡ªa priceless one at that!


    Xie Xie gazed at the lion on the ground, then reluctantly took a step back to stand beside Tang Wulin.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pass on it as well.¡± After retreating from the lion, he seemed to relax. ¡°I¡¯m a man, so I understand that ladies go first. Besides, the Three-eyed Golden Lion¡¯s skull bone mainly affects spiritual power, which doesn¡¯t matter as much to me anyway. It would be better for either of you girls to get it. You two can decide. Or you can play rock-paper-scissors if you can¡¯t.¡±


    Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan stared at him in astonishment.


    While Xie Xie seemed aloof on the outside, in reality, he was a guy who really cared about his friends. He was the first one to bring up the value of the Three-eyed Golden Lion¡¯s soul bone, yet he still chose to give it up so quickly. Such a decision wasn¡¯t easy to make!


    Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan looked each other in the eye.


    They both excelled at ranged elemental attacks, and there was no doubt that the lion¡¯s soul bone would suit either of them. Whoever fused with it would experience a fundamental change to their cultivation base. It was hard to come by such and opportunity and even rarer to encounter one like this again.


    Fusing with this soul bone could even have a permanent effect on their fates! Just how would they decide? Who would get it in the end?


    Tang Wulin stood there silently, lips pressed together tightly. He had no suggestions to give them in this situation. As their captain, whatever he proposed would be unfair to the person who ended up with nothing.


    This situation would have been far easier to resolve if it were an ordinary soul bone. All of them would have plenty of chances to obtain one in the future. However, this was the soul bone of a Three-eyed Golden Lion! It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!


    Gu Yue turned around and walked over to Tang Wulin. Meeting his gaze, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s give it to Xiaoyan. I¡¯m passing on it too.¡±


    ¡°Big Sis Gu Yue!¡± Xu Xiaoyan yelped.


    Gu Yue turned around, a gentle smile playing at her lips. ¡°The Three-eyed Golden Lion¡¯s soul bone will grant you luck. I don¡¯t want luck. I want strength. Besides, you¡¯re the youngest, and weakest, of the four of us. If you want to catch up, you¡¯ll have to take every chance you get. Go on. Absorb it.¡±


    Tears welled in Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes.


    First Tang Wulin backed off, then Xie Xie, and now Gu Yue.


    All of her companions had renounced the soul bone.


    If it were a matter of compatibility, then Gu Yue was definitely the most suited to the soul bone. The power of her Elementalist martial soul would increase proportionally to her spiritual power. Absorbing the soul bone of this Three-eyed Golden Lion would definitely allow her to break into the Spirit Sea realm and experience an explosive increase strength.


    Yet, she still chose to give it up without complaint.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s only response was a thumbs up. He was proud to have teammates like them!


    One by one, they turned their backs on a precious treasure capable of tempting every soul master in the world. To them, their companions were far more important than material items. This refusal was proof of their camaraderie.


    Xu Xiaoyan crouched down and examined the Three-eyed Golden Lion.


    She shook her head and stood up once more, quickly walking back to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Captain, I¡¯m giving up on it too.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± He stared at her in shock. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°If it were a different soul bone, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate at all, but this¡­¡± Xue Xiaoyan shook her head. ¡°This is the soul bone of a Three-eyed Golden Lion. My heart would never be at ease if I took it for myself. And besides, it¡¯s still a child. It can¡¯t have been born too long ago. Just think about how sad its mother would be if she came back to see her child dead! We might have already killed a lot of soul beasts, but all of them attacked us first. We acted in self defense. This time, however, we were the ones to break into its home. It wouldn¡¯t be right to kill it for our own benefit, and I definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to bear doing such a thing. So¡­ I don¡¯t want the soul bone. Let¡¯s leave.¡±


    Her words surprised Tang Wulin, but a moment later, a smile formed on his lips and he gave her a big thumbs up.


    That¡¯s right!


    It would be best for us if we didn¡¯t get this soul bone. Besides, my gut tells me that this trial definitely isn¡¯t as simple as we think it is.


    It didn¡¯t matter which of the four them took the soul bone. All of them would forever be haunted by it.


    Furthermore, Xu Xiaoyan had a point. This Three-eyed Golden Lion was just a cub. They weren¡¯t monsters who would indiscriminately slaughter beasts. No, all the beasts they had killed until then had attacked them first. This cub had merely been hiding in its home. It didn¡¯t actively target them in any way.


    Xie Xie and Gu Yue were both moved. In their adolescent mindsets, slaughtering soul beasts in the spirit ascension platform had always been a game.


    Yet, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s choice had sparked a flame their hearts.


    Is it right for us to kill soul beasts? Or is it wrong? Are soul beasts evil? Do they harm people? Or is it just our greed that has driven them to the brink of extinction¡­?


    Some soul beasts still exist in the world today, but what about in a hundred years? Or a thousand? If soul beasts really become just a part of history, what will happen to humanity?


    ¡°Since you¡¯ve all decided to give it up, let¡¯s get out of here. I¡¯m afraid the big one will return any minute now.¡± Tang Wulin swiftly made a decision. As their captain, he had to put his team¡¯s safety first.


    He started running for the cave¡¯s entrance.


    We can talk more after we leave.


    The cave¡¯s exit soon came into view. Stars filled the sky, casting a mystical light onto the valley.


    Off in the distance, three eyes appeared, two golden and one a demonic red.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan immediately froze as the space around them hardened, locking them in place.

 Chapter 278 - No Regrets!

    Chapter 278 - No Regrets!


    Frozen in place, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan saw the lion¡¯s maw open wide. In the next instant, a torrent of flames spewed forth.


    I-it came back! That adult Three-eyed Golden Lion is back!


    Do I regret this?


    All four of them asked themselves the same thing as they were engulfed by in flames.


    Tang Wulin resolved himself. No! I have no regrets. I¡¯m lucky to have comrades like them.


    Xie Xie had similar thoughts. I¡¯m a man, and a man doesn¡¯t second-guess his decisions!


    Gu Yue didn¡¯t have any regrets either. She felt perfectly calm. Renouncing the soul bone had been the easiest choice for her since she never wanted it in the first place.


    Xu Xiaoyan was at ease. Like the others, she harbored no regrets.


    Why would I regret anything? I already made my choice. At least the mom lion will be happy when she sees her child is fine. They¡¯re just data anyway. To us, this is just a virtual world¡­ but to them, this is reality.


    A soul bone could change a person¡¯s life forever, but so could loss of a child!


    And their vision went black.


    In the next instant, light shone through the darkness as their metal capsules slid out of walls.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan each lay in a capsule, and all four of them sat up at the same time.


    They were in the same metal room as before. A large screen displayed the cave they were just at.


    Inside of the cave, the mother lion crouched to her cub¡¯s side and enveloped it in golden light. The light healed the cub¡¯s wounds, and it opened its eyes.


    Once she saw her child regain consciousness, the mother lion took the cub into her bosom, a gentle golden light surrounding them both.


    Tang Wulin and his companions silently watched the scene play out on the screen. For some reason, when they saw the mother lion nuzzling its cub, the weight in their hearts disappeared.


    The four of them couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    Tang Wulin was the first to get out of his metal capsule, then he went around the room to help his teammates out of theirs.


    ¡°I have no regrets!¡± Tang Wulin grinned at his teammates.


    ¡°Me neither!¡±


    ¡°No regrets here!¡±


    ¡°My conscience is clear!¡¯


    The other three responded in kind, sharing the same knowing smile. Tang Wulin extended his right hand. Familiar with his personality, Gu Yue placed her hand on top of his. Then Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan placed their hands on top of theirs. At that moment, their joined hands symbolized their camaraderie.


    All of a sudden, steady clapping resounded throughout the room.


    The four of them turned to see Shen Yi watching at them, eyes filled with admiration.


    ¡°I have been overseeing the entrance exams for many years now, but I still remember when I took mine. Back then, I was just like you four. You might not know this, but you just took the hardest level of the ninth trial. The challenges presented to you were the most difficult that we had available. This trial tested your patience, your ability to survive, and most importantly, your character.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I tricked you earlier. Your individual character was the true focus of this trial. If a powerful soul master lacked kindness, honesty, and justice, they would be a danger to the entire Federation. Shrek Academy refuses to accept such people.


    ¡°Your first test in this trial determined whether or not you had the patience to find the valley. No points are assigned for the first test. The second test checked if you could recognize the power of the Three-eyed Golden Lion and the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. To pass the third test, you needed to have the courage to enter the cave. This is the most important test of the three, and you needed to pass it in order to get any points.


    ¡°You faced your fourth test after encountering the lion cub. If you had lost to it, you would have gotten zero points. However, the most important test in the entirety of the ninth trial began after you were presented with the possibility of acquiring the soul ring and soul bone of a Three-eyed Golden Lion cub.


    ¡°You were faced with a choice. Who would get the treasured soul ring and soul bone? I have witnessed many teams fall apart at this decision, turning their backs on their companions and fighting over the soul bone out of greed. They would quickly descend into an abyss of wickedness.¡±


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but speak up. ¡°So when you told us that we could fuse with the soul rings and soul bones in that world, it was all a lie? It isn¡¯t possible to fuse with the soul bones in there, is it?¡±


    ¡°The Auspicious Emperor, the Three-eyed Golden Lion, has only appeared once in the past twenty thousand years,¡± Shen Yi said. ¡°Even if Shrek Academy possesses many detailed records on it, we wouldn¡¯t be able to create perfect imitations of two of them, let alone allow examinees to absorb them. They were just illusions. Nothing more.¡±


    Her words made odd expression come over the faces of the four of them..


    Seriously? That¡¯s just¡­


    ¡°If you had killed the Three-eyed Golden Lion and then calmly decided who got the spoils, everyone would have gotten six points,¡± Shen Yi continued. ¡°However, you four made a decision that surpassed our imagination. All of you chose not to kill.¡±


    She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in.


    ¡°I now understand how kind you four are. As you saw on the screen just now, soul beasts are living beings too. Shrek Academy has never advocated the mindless slaughter of soul beasts. Unfortunately, the Great Star Dou Forest has only declined while humanity has grown stronger and stronger. Battle armor has given us a decisive advantage over soul beasts. Humans were too greedy for what soul beasts could offer us, and that greed has led to soul beasts being driven to the verge of extinction. If we of Shrek Academy participated in this, soul beasts would have already been completely wiped out.¡±


    Shen Yi calmly looked into the eyes of all four of them one at a time.


    ¡°You need to remember that, if you become students of Shrek Academy, you must not enter the Great Star Dou Forest to hunt soul beasts.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up with respect. Although he was only thirteen years old, he could kind of understand the gravitas of Shen Yi¡¯s words regarding the relationship between humans and soul beasts. Savage soul beasts definitely existed, but that didn¡¯t mean that all soul beasts were savage!


    ¡°Judging by your performance in this trial, I can give you nothing less than a full score. I¡¯ll also tell you this¡ªif you had failed this trial, you would have been rejected by Shrek Academy even if you had earned a full eighty points up to now. We call this the overruling trial. If you were lacking in moral character, nothing else would have mattered.¡±


    Tang Wulin and the others were startled, but secretly rejoiced on the inside.


    Their choice hadn¡¯t been wrong.


    ¡°With the conclusion of this trial, Tang Wulin has seventy points. Xie Xie, you have sixty-one points. Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue have sixty points and fifty-eight points respectively.¡±


    Three of them already earned the minimum number of points required to pass the exam. Now, only Gu Yue lacked two points.


    ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Shen Yi nodded to them as she pushed open the door that led out of the room.


    All four students of class zero shared a smile. They were one trial short of joining Shrek Academy. After all of their efforts, it was nearly time.


    Shen Yi led them down the hall and up another flight of stairs to the roof where three people awaited them.


    In the center of the three was an elderly grey-haired man. On his left was Elder Cai, the Silver Moon Douluo, and on his right was the elder that had administered the first trial.


    The three of them stood in a row, inspecting the new arrivals.


    The expressions of Tang Wulin and the others soured when they saw Elder Cai.


    What does she have to do with the last trial?

 Chapter 279 - Grandteacher?

    Chapter 279 - Grandteacher?


    Shen Yi walked over and bowed to the three elders, then stood to the side.


    ¡°The tenth trial is also known as the Three Hall Review. These three elders will evaluate your previous performance in the trials and give you a comprehensive score that will be added to your total,¡± Shen Yi explained.


    Three Hall Review?


    But with that Elder Cai who failed us twice here¡­ This trial is¡­


    Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue. Though she furrowed her brows, her eyes still shone with a stubborn light.


    She¡¯s only short two points! This trial¡­


    The elder in the middle spoke up, his voice deep as he said, ¡°Tang Wulin, come up.¡±


    Tang Wulin hastily stepped forward and bowed.


    ¡°Full marks for seven trials and zero for two¡­ Your performance has been remarkable, simply outstanding. You¡¯re brave, wise, and a capable leader. We¡¯ve been watching you the entire time. However, we will hold off on your score until later as we want you to take a makeup trial.¡±


    A makeup trial? Tang Wulin thanked the elder despite his confusion and quickly returned by his companion¡¯s side. With seventy points, he was safe either way.


    ¡°Xie Xie,¡± The grey-haired elder called out.


    Xie Xie rushed forward.


    ¡°Your talent is slightly higher than average and your situational awareness is poor. However, you have the courage to charge head-first in the face of danger. So, overall, your performance has been satisfactory. You get six points.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Elder.¡± Xie Xie let out a breath of relief. He had sixty-one points so he feared getting a negative score the most. After all, his performance in some trials had been quite embarrassing. And yet, unknown to him was that his accomplishments had already surpassed the average.


    ¡°Xu Xiaoyan.¡±


    ¡°Your talent is average, but your uniqueness lies in your absolute control with the astrological attribute of your variant martial soul. Not only that, you work well with your team and have a clever mind, undiscouraged by your weaknesses. Your potential is actually quite impressive. So, you get seven points.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Elder.¡± Xu Xiaoyan smiled shyly as she returned to her friends. Now she had caught up to Xie Xie.


    ¡°Gu Yue.¡±


    Gu Yue went up and bowed.


    This time, the grey-haired elder did not say anything. Instead, he looked to the Silver Moon Douluo at his side.


    Elder Cai coldly snorted. ¡°Gu Yue, you¡¯re arrogant and insolent. Though you might be gifted, you lack situational awareness and have impacted your entire team with your actions. Not only that, you¡¯re both impulsive and unreasonable. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re suitable for Shrek Academy. One point. Your total is fifty-nine.¡±


    One point? She only gave Gu Yue one point?


    Gu Yue raised her head to glare at Elder Cai, biting her lip as she trembled.


    The grey-haired elder said, ¡°Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, you have been accepted into the academy. Tang Wulin, you will take the fifth trial again in a moment. Gu Yue, you only have fifty-nine points, so you can go now.¡±


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan were stupefied.


    Fifty-nine points? Everyone shared the opinion that Gu Yue was the most amazing of them four, yet she had only received fifty-nine points. She was just one point shy of making it into Shrek Academy, but that one point meant she was rejected and had to return home now.


    When they had first arrived in Shrek City, they all assumed that if only one of them made it to Shrek Academy, it would definitely be Gu Yue! None of them expected this outcome.


    Gu Yue¡¯s curled her hands into tight fists but obstinately remained standing there, her face full of pride.


    A hand grabbed her shoulder.


    She turned around, and her gaze connected with Tang Wulin¡¯s resolute eyes. He gathered her trembling body into his arms, then looked straight at the elders.


    ¡°I don¡¯t accept this!¡±


    Zhuo Shi was taken aback. He wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if Gu Yue had spoken these words, but no, it was Tang Wulin who said them!


    ¡°Why do you not accept this?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Respected elders, may I ask if Shrek Academy is fair?¡±


    A cold smile formed on Elder Cai¡¯s lips. ¡°Nothing is fair in this world. If you want fair, then you need strength. Justice is fought for, not freely and willingly given. Of course, that is under the condition you¡¯re powerful enough to suppress everyone.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned. He had never expected such a reply.


    He nodded to Elder Cai and gave a slight bow. ¡°Thank you for your advice, I have learned from it. Since this is how things are, I have nothing more to say. Elders, I renounce my Shrek Academy admittance. One day, I will return. One day when I¡¯m strong enough, I will come back to enforce justice.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned towards Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan and sternly said, ¡°You two don¡¯t need to follow me, this is just mine and Gu Yue¡¯s business. You should stay and properly cultivate.¡±


    Xie Xie chuckled. He stuck his hands into his pant¡¯s pockets and, as if he hadn¡¯t heard Tang Wulin¡¯s words, casually strolled over. ¡°Since my talent is only average, it seems Shrek Academy doesn¡¯t think too highly of me. Captain, are you trying to ditch me? No way. Back when you defeated that Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear and avenged me, I swore I would follow you for the rest of my life. I can only become strong by following you. I like your plan. We¡¯ll return when we have the strength to demand justice.¡±


    He arrived next to Tang Wulin and placed his hand on his captain¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°I never wanted to be a soul master anyway, it was my old man that forced me. The pressure here is a bit too high for me. Let¡¯s go back now.¡± Xu Xiaoyan also stood beside them. Speaking as if this was a trivial matter.


    ¡°You guys¡­¡±  Tang Wulin was at a loss for words.


    He turned to Shen Yi. ¡°Teacher Shen, my apologies. I¡¯m afraid we aren¡¯t qualified to be Shrek students. It was once my dream, but now my dream has shattered. May I ask where Teacher Wu is?¡±


    Emotions warred within Shen Yi¡¯s heart as she stared at them.


    At that moment, the grey-haired elder said with a gloomy expression, ¡°Good, you¡¯re all really stubborn. That stubbornness must have been taught to you. Very good, nicely done. Now leave. You can all get out now.¡±


    His cold words stunned the four that were preparing to leave.


    Shen Yi sent them a meaningful look as she quietly explained, ¡°This elder is senior brother Wu¡¯s teacher as well as your grandteacher. Hurry up and pay your respects.¡±


    Grandteacher? Teacher Wu¡¯s teacher?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped. He tugged on Gu Yue¡¯s sleeve then bowed to Zhuo Shi. ¡°I pay my respects to grandteacher.¡±


    Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan quickly followed suit. Nudged by Tang Wulin, Gu Yue was the last to bow.


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s expression lightened a few shades, but his voice was as cold as before. ¡°Do you guys think you¡¯re something amazing, renouncing everything for the sake of your companions huh? You fools. Each and every one of you are fools. Why did you even come here? Was it to show off your stubbornness? Your pride? Do you not know what effort is? All you know is how to fight, but not how to beg? Did Wu Zhangkong teach you his stubbornness? It really is just as they say: like teacher, like student. You¡¯re all a bunch of stubborn fools.¡±


    The corner of Shen Yi¡¯s mouth twitched as she silently cursed. Aren¡¯t you the one who taught senior brother? Don¡¯t your words apply to yourself too?


    ¡°Grandteacher, may I ask you a question?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked in a cute voice.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Zhuo Shi eyes shifted to her.


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes welled, then reddened as she choked back sobs. ¡°Grandteacher, is this grandma more amazing than you?¡±


    Her question completely blindsided Zhuo Shi, and he was left unable to answer. He sneaked a glance at Elder Cai. ¡°We¡¯re about equal.¡±


    Tears escaped from the corner of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes before it began to stream down her face. ¡°Grandteacher, it¡¯s said that once a teacher, forever a father. We¡¯ve treated Teacher Wu like a father, and Teacher Wu definitely treats you like one too, so you¡¯re our grandfather. How can you let your grandchildren be bullied when you¡¯re such a powerful Title Douluo and a battle armor master? We would have had enough points to pass the exam long ago if it wasn¡¯t for this grandma. Is it because you are afraid of her, you don¡¯t speak out when your granddaughter is being driven out?¡±


    Zhuo Shi was stunned. He was famed for his old-fashioned ways and stubbornness throughout Shrek Academy, and he had a stern expression that cowed all the inner court students into submission. Yet, he never expected the girl before him to speak such words.


    ¡°Me, afraid of her?¡± He inadvertently let slip his thoughts.


    Xu Xiaoyan, throat stifled with emotion, said, ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of her, yet you don¡¯t care when your granddaughter is being driven out?¡± After a dumbstruck moment, Zhuo Shi said, ¡°That¡¯s right! Why wouldn¡¯t I care if my granddaughter is being driven out? Cai Yue¡¯er, what are you trying to pull? Why are you bullying my granddaughter?¡±

 Chapter 280 - Fifth Rank for a Full Score

    Chapter 280 - Fifth Rank for a Full Score


    Elder Cai was stunned. ¡°Stop bullshitting! You¡¯re an old hermit without a wife! Where did you get a granddaughter from?¡±


    Zhuo Shi snorted. ¡°This girl is right. I don¡¯t care what you say. Today, I want all four of these children to join Shrek Academy. Don¡¯t forget the final score is decided by the three of us together. You say Gu Yue deserves one point, and I think she¡¯s earned at least four. That should give her enough to enter the outer court.¡±


    ¡°Enough with your nonsense.¡± Elder Cai¡¯s voice dripped with wrath. ¡°We decided on this earlier. What are you trying to pull now? No, I refuse.¡±


    Tang Wulin lowered his head, a trace of doubt growing in his heart. That grandteacher sure changed his mind quickly!


    ¡°Then what will it take for you to accept?¡± It was obvious Zhuo Shi was not taking her stubbornness well.


    Elder Cai eyed him, cold enough to freeze. ¡°Have you forgotten why we¡¯re having Tang Wulin take a makeup trial?¡±


    Eyes shimmering, Zhou Shi came to a startling realization and swerved toward Tang Wulin. ¡°Right! The makeup trial. According to Shrek Academy¡¯s rules, a student can make one request if they score full marks on all the trials. Tang Wulin, you¡¯re on the road to this in the seven trials that you got points. Just one more full score and you can request an extra point for that girl.¡±


    Tang Wulin flicked his gaze from Zhuo Shi to Elder Cai. ¡°But the fourth trial¡­¡±


    Elder Cai said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll give you ten points for the fourth trial. If you manage a perfect score for the fifth in the makeup, then your tenth trial will also have full marks.¡±


    The fifth trial? The second profession test?


    Although Tang Wulin felt something was amiss, he nodded immediately anyway. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll take the makeup trial.¡±


    Gu Yue remained silent throughout the exchange. Tang Wulin had been waving a finger behind his back at her the entire time, warning her to keep calm, and she did so obediently for the time being. She wasn¡¯t a fool. Of course she wished to enter Shrek Academy! Besides, her friends would follow if she was forced to leave, and that would harm their futures!


    ¡°What is your second profession? Are you confident?¡± Zhuo Shi asked.


    Tang Wulin answered without any hesitation, ¡°I¡¯m certain I¡¯ll ace this test.¡±


    This prompted a snort from Elder Cai. ¡°Don¡¯t be so confident, brat. Do you even know the requirements to get a full score?¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Please advise me, Elder Cai.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to get a full score unless you have reached the fifth rank in your second profession,¡± Elder Cai said.


    At her words, Zhuo Shi and Shen Yi¡¯s eyes popped wide, almost comically. When did the fifth trial start demanding fifth-rank professionals?


    Most outer court graduates don¡¯t reach that level. In fact, isn¡¯t that a requirement to enter the inner court? He¡¯s just an examinee for the outer court though!


    Tang Wulin was dumbstruck.


    Fifth rank?


    For a blacksmith, reaching the fifth rank meant being capable of Spirit Refinement! Which, unfortunately, he had not accomplished yet. Tang Wulin was at the peak of the fourth rank and had been in the fourth rank for quite some time now, but he lacked the soul power necessary to advance further, even though Mu Chen had taught him the techniques of Spirit Refining.


    Spirit Refinement was the great divider for blacksmiths, separating the ordinary grandmasters from the master craftsmen. The chickens from the phoenixes. Bridging the gap was like ascending from the earth to the heavens.


    To put this in perspective, thousand-refined metals were required to make one-word battle armors, whereas two-word or higher battle armors had to be forged using metals that were spirit-refined. Not only that, one-word battle armors weren¡¯t much stronger than mechas. So only two-word battle armors and higher were considered real battle armor.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue, sparks of worry settling in his heart, but she met his gaze with a gentleness like no other.


    As he stared into her eyes, Tang Wulin was overcome with courage, turning to Elder Cai and nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    ¡°What is your second profession?¡± Zhuo Shi asked with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Blacksmith!¡±


    ¡°Follow me then.¡±


    The three elders led him into a room, instructing staff members to bring out a forging table and rare metals.


    Zhuo Shi, Elder Cai, and Elder Li stood to the side while Tang Wulin¡¯s companions watched behind him.


    He approached the forging table. Then, he shut his eyes.


    After the string of trials, Tang Wulin was both mentally and physically exhausted. Not only did he have to mind himself, he had to keep an eye out for his teammates as well, wracking his brains in order to get each and every one of them inside Shrek Academy¡¯s doors.  All this responsibility weighed heavily on him, and he wasn¡¯t even fourteen years old yet! Even if he was more mature than his peers, he was still a boy.


    He stood there contemplating in silence.


    Spirit Refinement normally required a blacksmith to have four soul rings. However, because of his innate divine strength and talent for forging, Mu Chen said he only needed three rings to attempt it.


    Spirit Refinement connected one¡¯s soul power with the metal in question. He needed to imbue the metal with spirit. It was the process of breathing life into metal.


    The Thousand Refinements brought out the full potential hidden within a chunk of metal, but Spirit Refinement completely transformed the metal at a fundamental level!


    In order to succeed at spirit refining, Tang Wulin¡¯s body and mind had to coexist in harmony and his focus must be absolute. In the moment of completion, he would have to bring the metal to life.


    In fact, Mu Chen had mentioned just this: to spirit refine was to create life.


    Tang Wulin recalled his teacher¡¯s evaluation of Spirit Refinement and reviewed the techniques needed, countless images flashing through his mind.


    He stood there for a full quarter of an hour without moving.


    No one hurried him. The three elders watched in silence.


    Finally, Zhuo Shi shot Elder Cai a look and whispered, ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you? Why are you acting so crazy? Are you calm yet?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who taught Zhangkong how to be so stubborn? So what are you then?¡±   Elder Cai retorted.


    ¡°What are you trying to accomplish by setting such a high requirement? Really? Fifth rank? Last time I checked, you only needed a third-rank second profession to score full marks. Do you think he¡¯s some sort of child prodigy? When have you ever heard of a thirteen-year-old fifth rank professional?¡±


    A chilling smile formed on Elder Cai¡¯s lips. ¡°You used such a flimsy pretense to create this situation earlier, so why does it matter if I take it another step further? Anyway, you just need to come up with some explanations after this. Wouldn¡¯t it be easy to get them to stay? These children are far more mature than others their age.¡± She rolled her eyes.  ¡°They need to be challenged if we want them to continue growing. The more pressure they experience young, the stronger they will become. That Tang Wulin is the most resilient of the bunch. How else are we going to get him to reach his max potential without putting him a tight spot? I¡¯m sure you know he showed off a golden soul ring in the fourth trial right? You saw it in action in the ninth trial too. He has the soul skill of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, so what can¡¯t he accomplish? If you don¡¯t force him, then will he give it his all?¡±


    Zhuo Shi snorted. ¡°Let¡¯s just wait and see.¡±


    At that moment, Tang Wulin opened his eyes, a purple light twinkling in their depths. He darted to the shelf of metals and picked an ingot he was all too familiar with: heavy silver!


    Heavy silver was the very first metal he thousand refined, and he chose to use it this time as well.


    He placed it on the forging table and pressed a button, lowering it into the furnace to be calcined.


    In a flash, his heavy silver hammers appeared in his hands.


    He closed his eyes once more, losing himself to the  vein-like patterns spanning throughout his hammers with his fingertips. It was as if his blood was melting into them.

 Chapter 281 - The Heart is the Hammer, the Martial Soul is the Guide

    Chapter 281 - The Heart is the Hammer, the Martial Soul is the Guide


    At that moment, he was no longer Tang Wulin the soul master, but Tang Wulin the blacksmith. He had stagnated for three years at the fourth-rank. Nevertheless, he had kept steadily forging and consolidating his foundation at the fourth rank.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes flew open and with the push of a button, the molten chunk of heavy silver appeared.


    He sucked in a deep breath and straightened his back.


    ¡°This brat isn¡¯t normal at all!¡± Elder Cai said to Zhuo Shi.


    He had also noticed it. ¡°Judging by how well he carries himself, he must¡¯ve had a good teacher. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing what heights he will reach with his potential and foundation. I heard that the Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s greatest genius is a young girl named Mu Xi, a fourth-rank blacksmith yet to reach twenty years old. Looks like I¡¯ll have to pay the Blacksmith¡¯s Association a visit and find this kid a good master. Maybe he can reach the same level as that Mu Xi.¡±


    Tang Wulin began.


    Three crisp rings rang throughout the room as he lightly tapped the metal with his hammer, breaking the silence.


    Power pooled at Tang Wulin¡¯s feet and ran up his spine, surging into his arm then his wrist. Tang Wulin twisted his body, the air whistling past as he simultaneously swung his two hammers in an explosive strike.


    Two booms thundered out, the sound loud enough that the entire room and glass window panes trembled.


    My god! Is he forging or is he trying to smash apart that table?


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s eyes flashed in surprise as he felt his body resonate with Tang Wulin¡¯s strike. He then frowned, quickly releasing a strange aura to dispel the sensation.


    Tang Wulin whirled around, using the momentum of the rebounding force of the hammers to attack the heavy silver with greater ferocity than before.


    The room reverberated with the resulting blasts of sound. If one listened carefully though, one could hear quieter, fragmented rumbles.


    The thunderous booms and subdued rumbles slowly fused together into a fantastical rhythm, every beat of his strikes wild and deafening. Still, it made everyone¡¯s blood race and their fingers twitch.


    Tang Wulin continued to rain his hammers down on the metal, each swing powered by his full strength. The heavy silver began to shrink under his furious tempest, slowly revealing minute transformations that began to shine with a muted brilliance.


    Zhuo Shi knitted his brows, turning to Elder Cai as he asked, ¡°Have you ever seen forging like this? I don¡¯t seem to remember blacksmiths doing it this way.¡±


    Elder Cai was similarly bewildered. ¡°I agree, that¡¯s definitely not a normal forging technique, but it does seem familiar. I think I recognize it. Though it looks wild, it has a delicate rhythm to it. Do you hear it? This brat¡¯s hammers aren¡¯t bad. They have the rare stacked hammers effect, and he can actually fully control them. He¡¯s definitely a third-rank blacksmith at the very least. The Blacksmith¡¯s Association has done well to hide a thirteen-year-old third-rank blacksmith like him!¡±


    Zhuo Shi smiled, his eyes curving upward with satisfaction.  ¡°As expected of my granddisciple.¡±


    Elder Cai rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Yeah, yeah, he¡¯s your granddisciple. Just don¡¯t fight with me over that girl.¡±


    He snorted in response. ¡°She¡¯s also my granddisciple. Seeing how your relationship with her is already so strained, I don¡¯t think she¡¯d be willing to accept you as her master. You know the saying, when the heavens bring calamity, there is a chance of forgiveness, but when one has sinned, there is no escaping punishment.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers flew faster and faster even as the two spoke, whirling like a tornado as he hammered the heavy silver without end. The metal shrunk rapidly under his assault, its vein lines becoming more distinct while the booming sounds turned into sharp rings, a clear sign of the metal transforming on a fundamental level.


    The three Shrek Academy elders were powerful individuals, but none were blacksmiths. If Mu Chen was present, he would be thoroughly speechless.


    Tang Wulin had hundred refined the heavy silver in ten strikes. His hammers continued to gain momentum with every strike until soon, the forty-eighth strike fell.


    A blast tore through the air, quickly followed by a soaring pillar of silver light.


    Everyone present could hear the heavy silver cheer as the light flew up like a roaring dragon.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s arms finally stopped. His eyes flashed purple, two purple soul rings rising from underneath him.


    ¡°He thousand refined it with spirit! It¡¯s first-grade thousand refined!¡± Elder Li finally broke his silence, his eyes filled with shock.


    Neither Zhuo Shi nor Elder Cai were blacksmiths, but as powerful experts, they had a rudimentary understanding of blacksmithing and were similarly dumbstruck.


    A fourth-rank blacksmith had to second-grade thousand refine a metal, but this heavy silver possessed spirit and was first-grade thousand refined! This meant Tang Wulin was at the peak of the fourth rank! This was a far more shocking than his combat prowess or his leadership skills. There wasn¡¯t no better word to describe him than a ¡®monster¡¯. In fact, he was a monster that surpassed all other monsters!


    Purple light shot from Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he stepped to one side of the metal. He tapped it lightly. A crisp, tinkling sound rang through the air.


    As if resonating, the heavy silver sang in response.


    A far different scene then played out. Tang Wulin began circling around the metal, tapping it lightly. Each knock carried a spark of white light, as he had imbued soul power into his hammers.


    Meanwhile, Bluesilver Grass wrapped the scorching hot metal. The strands shriveled, burning under the metal¡¯s heat. Still, not once did Tang Wulin¡¯s expression waver. He continued to circle the metal while gently tapping it.


    ¡°You two have made a mess of things,¡± Elder Li sighed as he glanced at Zhuo Shi.


    Zhuo Shi looked over. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Elder Li shook his head and explained solemnly, ¡°I dare say that this kid is the greatest blacksmithing genius in the history of the world. At the tender age of thirteen, he¡¯s already at the peak of the fourth rank. This is simply unheard of! But, this kid is actually trying to spirit refine! Spirit refining is far different from thousand refining as one has to infuse life into the metal using one¡¯s martial soul as the bridge. When metal has spirit, it¡¯s nothing more than first-grade thousand refined. But, if it has both spirit and life, then things are completely different. This is impossible to accomplish unless the blacksmith has enough soul power.


    ¡°Usually, blacksmiths don¡¯t even entertain the idea of spirit refining before they have four soul rings. Even then, the chances of failing are high. Every spirit refining is a major ordeal for blacksmiths as they must harmonize soul power, life force, and metal together, and this process is taxing on the mind. This child only has two spirit rings. He isn¡¯t ready to even attempt to spirit refine! If he fails, he¡¯ll face a major backlash that may be impossible to recover from.¡± Elder Li groaned. ¡°You two really have done it now. If this destroys his future as a blacksmith, you will face Feng Wuyu¡¯s wrath.¡±


    Zhuo Shi began to panic. ¡°Can we still stop him?¡±


    Elder Li shook his head helplessly. ¡°We can¡¯t, he has already begun connecting his life force with the metal. Any disturbances while he guides life into the metal will harm him, and he might even die. All we can do now is pray this child¡¯s failure won¡¯t be the end of his life as a blacksmith.¡±


    Zhuo Shi spun to glare at Elder Cai. ¡°This is all your fault!¡±


    She, however, didn¡¯t take it lying down. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you stop me then? How was I supposed to know blacksmiths are so strange, or that this brat is such a monster that can try for fifth-rank right now?¡±


    Tang Wulin was oblivious to the discussions of these three elders, immersed in his own world.


    Metal gains a spark of intelligence from spirit after being thousand refined, and it was the martial soul¡¯s job to fan it, bridging the gap between it and life.


    The heart as the hammer, the martial soul as the guide, their minds become one in ten thousand refinements of life. This was Spirit Refinement.

 Chapter 282 - One Step to the Heavens! Ten Thousand Refinements of Life!

    Chapter 282 - One Step to the Heavens! Ten Thousand Refinements of Life!


    The difference between spirit and thousand refining was as great as night and day, much like the power of a one-word battle armor versus a two-word¡¯s.


    Once spirit refined, the metal sublimated to another level. It was for this reason that fifth-rank blacksmiths were rarer and no weaker mecha craftsmen or designers of the same rank.


    To break through the fifth rank, Tang Wulin only needed to successfully spirit refine once. This was considered a major milestone for any blacksmith.


    Three years ago, Mang Tian had attempted this, and though he succeeded, it came with a price. Unknown to Tang Wulin, the man had sustained several injuries as a result and could not endure more advanced forging requests from then on.


    Mu Chen would never have permitted Tang Wulin to spirit refine if he were present. For this process, the demands placed on the blacksmith¡¯s mind were immense. It could be dangerous for a soul master at Tang Wulin¡¯s level..


    Fortunately, Tang Wulin was no ordinary blacksmith.


    Compared to his peers, his spiritual power towered over the rest at over two hundred points. With this, he could keep a clear mind as he poured his heart and soul into forging.


    Immersed in his connection with the heavy silver, he could feel its joy and timidness. It was afraid of taking the next step, but Tang Wulin coaxed it along.


    One step to the heavens! Ten thousand refinements of life!


    The ten thousand refinements of life was to continuously connect with the metal. Each tap preserved the spirit of the metal, pouring soul power into it to obtain life.


    Cultivating intelligence in metal was similar to that of soul beast. For soul beasts, there was a slight difference in intelligence between a ten-year soul beast and a normal animal. However, a soul beast¡¯s intelligence skyrocketed once it reached the thousand-year level, until breaching the ten-thousand year mark. At that point, its intelligence rivaled a human¡¯s. From there, it accumulated wisdom until it reached the ten-thousand-year level where it was no less intelligent than a human.


    Higher leveled soul beasts weren''t stronger just because of their energy growing, but also due to their increase in intellect.


    Metal was no different. The greater its spirit, the closer the metal was to obtaining its own ego and changing on a fundamental level.


    Oddly, under Tang Wulin¡¯s gentle taps, the heavy silver trembled. Each tap coaxed a burst of light, a pattern of a whirling cloud pushing its way into existence on the metal¡¯s surface. As its bulk shrunk, the silver grew brighter and brighter.


    This signified a successful spiritual connection between Tang Wulin and the heavy silver, hinting at a smooth process until the end.


    Now it was a matter of maintaining this connection and leading the heavy silver to transform and complete its refinement.


    Tang Wulin drove his soul power into the heavy silver, using his Bluesilver Grass as the bridge. Although he relied on the Mysterious Heaven Method to restore as much of the lost soul power as possible, the chunk of heavy silver was a bottomless pit. This was a dire problem.


    I have to succeed! Everyone¡¯s acceptance depends on me! I have no choice but to succeed!


    Three years of body tempering and experience gaining. The fruits of his labor were now revealed. He willed every ounce of strength and skill hidden in the nooks of his body to the surface.


    Since two years prior, he¡¯d been able to first-grade thousand refine. Owing to his diligence, Tang Wulin had not fooled around the slightest, striving to improve his foundation. Now he stood at the apex of the fourth rank. He only lacked the soul power necessary to take the next step forward. Otherwise, he would have long since attempted to spirit refine.


    With his full strength unveiled, every strike of his hammers transformed the heavy silver more than before. His connection with the metal thrust him to new heights.


    He would likely succeed if this continued on.


    What was most frightening about spirit refining was the possibility of a premature disconnection. Should this happen, the metal lost its spirit, turning it into its normal, inert counterpart. This was why Spirit Refinement was expensive to attempt.


    Countless blacksmiths failed at this step and never crossed into the next realm. Apart from talent and skill, money was a limiting reagent. Blacksmiths backed by large clans had better chances than the rest. They could succeed through brute force of resources.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s circling speed accelerated. Had he known Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, the process would have gone even smoother. Unfortunately, he had been forced to spend his contribution points on spirit items instead of Tang Sect secret arts.


    As the silver light flourished and the heavy silver shrunk, Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers resonated with the lump of silver and emitted a similar hue of light. Crimson veins crawled over the surface of his hammers, the mark of his blood sacrifice.


    These two hammers had always accompanied him in the last few years, his go-to tools for his innumerable first-grade thousand refined pieces. After he had performed the blood sacrifice, he fueled the hammers¡¯ growth, to the point where they were now first-grade thousand refined.


    The moment the hammers struck the heavy silver simultaneously, a strange connection opened between them.


    Under careful inspection, one would notice the shrinking in size of Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers. They also grew smaller and brighter with each strike.


    His soul power consumption was too high. Ten minutes had passed and he was approaching his limits. The second he ran out, his connection with the heavy silver would be broken. Despite the smooth start the connection was fragile, and could break at any moment.Once the spirit refining failed, this chunk of heavy silver would become useless and its spirit would attempt to devour the blacksmith in its fury.


    Even four-ringed blacksmiths would need a long time to recover from the backlash, not to mention Tang Wulin who had two rings. Perhaps, he would never be able to recover from such a setback.


    What can I do?


    My soul power is almost depleted but I¡¯m not done yet. The heavy silver has a speck of life in it now. However, I still need to feed it more energy.


    I can¡¯t stop. No matter what, I can¡¯t stop.


    Tightening his resolve, Tang Wulin¡¯s next move astonished everyone.


    He held both hammers in his left hand, grabbing the ingot with the one that¡¯s free. Not once did the pounding stop.


    As his skin met with the heavy silver, thick white smoke released from the metal¡¯s surface, loud sizzles permeating the air. His hand convulsed from the sharp tendrils of pain, the temperature enough to melt off a person¡¯s hand!


    But Tang Wulin was spared of this fate. Besides a few wisps of smoke rising from his palm, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He called back his Bluesilver Grass in favor of his golden soul ring, gold scales appearing over his arm.


    Determined, Tang Wulin suppressed the daggers of pain stabbing into his body, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead as ignored wave after wave of exhaustion, his soul power depleting by the second.


    He held the connection, though blood essence replaced soul power as the bridge.


    Tang Wulin shouted with resolve. His clothes burst into shreds, revealing the lean and rugged body, the golden scales snaking across his toned torso and arm.The scales shined resplendently under the effect of Golden Dragon Body.


    A golden fog rose from the scales, enveloping the chunk of heavy silver. This prompted him to circle around the mass of metal once more, striking its sides with the two hammers in his left hand the entire time.

 Chapter 283 - Spirit Refined

    Chapter 283 - Spirit Refined


    The moment Tang Wulin switched to a blood essence bridge, he sensed the heavy silver¡¯s life diminishing and his heart nearly leaped out of his throat.


    However, before scales had popped from his arm, his blood essence ignited and flowed into the heavy silver, feeding it the life force needed to stabilize.


    With blood essence pouring into it, the heavy silver gained a faint golden luster, a glint of crimson melding with its silver radiance as well.


    He¡¯s substituting soul power with blood essence?


    As the three elders looked at each other, dismay plagued their expressions.


    Yet, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes glistened.


    I can do this! I can replace my soul power with blood essence to spirit refine!


    Rather than unaware of the heavy silver¡¯s scorching temperature, he had chosen not to summon his scales previously and let his hand burn!


    Blood essence seeped out of the gaps between his scales, the heavy silver gurgling as it drank it up.  Peculiarly, as his hammering slowed, a portion of the heavy silver would separate and attach to his hammers upon contact.


    This scene baffled Tang Wulin himself. However, he paid it no mind. His hammers cheered with each strike against the heavy silver, and with his blood essence connection, the sensation was crystal clear.


    This was the blood sacrifice¡¯s basic effect. Since his hammers were of the highest quality and had undergone the blood sacrifice, and he was currently pouring his blood essence into the heavy silver, they could transform to the next level.


    The chunk of heavy silver grew smaller and smaller and Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand dropped lower with each strike. Meanwhile, his hammers gained a faint layer of gold. The cloud patterns underwent metamorphosis, now resembling a ferocious dragon baring its fangs.


    The heavy silver absorbed his blood essence quicker than it did his soul power. Exhaustion penetrated into his bones.


    I have to hold on! I must! He was determined to create a miracle.


    A wonderful melody rang through the air, brought out by the tinkling of metal.


    At this moment, everyone was on the eve of witnessing a miracle.


    The silver glow weakened, the gold attaching itself to Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers.


    At last, an ounce of heavy silver remained; the rest had been absorbed by his hammers. Tang Wulin trembled, coughing up a mouthful of blood onto the metal¡¯s remnants.


    He shuffled a hammer into his hand and, holding it high above his head, struck down like lightning!


    Thunder boomed as golden light soared one and a half meters into the air. Yet, the most baffling part was the dragon¡¯s roar rumbling past the pillar of light, as if a real dragon was soaring to the heavens. The golden light burst with an aura of life, a peculiar sensation for everyone present. The heavy silver had gained life and was declaring its existence for all to hear!


    It was born!


    The thousand refinements with spirit, ten thousand refinements of life. Now, it was spirit refined!


    The golden light persisted for tens of seconds before gradually dying off. Tang Wulin fixed his eyes on his hammers. His hammers were completely colored a dull gold, the faint form of a golden dragon now on its surface. Instead of connecting to him through blood, his hammers had become extensions of his body. A flash of gold and the hammers melted into his hands. Indeed, they merged into his hands and not into his storage devices.


    To spirit refine was to connect one¡¯s life with the metal!


    Spirit refined metals could dissolve into the user¡¯s body. This was what made the products so precious.


    Anyone who wanted to use spirit refined metal had to be present during the forging, feeding the metal with their blood drip by drip. This was the only way to fuse with a spirit-refined metal once it was completed.


    This was also the reason Wu Zhangkong¡¯s battle armor had instantly appeared once he had summoned it. Spirit Refinement connected one¡¯s mind with the metal¡¯s. The metal composing a suit of battle armor existed as an extension of one¡¯s body; as such, it was like a another part of their martial soul, and all powerful battle armors shared this trait


    Although a one-word battle armor was formidable and lightweight, it couldn¡¯t hold a candle to a two-word battle armor, in which spirit refined metal had melded with the user¡¯s body. That was true battle armor. Only then would the battle armor¡¯s amplification effect shine, amplifying the armor¡¯s might and existing as one part of the user¡¯s martial soul.


    Spirit Refinement could evolve into Soul Refinement, but the Thousand Refinements could not evolve into Spirit Refinement. This was the unbridgeable gap between one-word and two-word battle armor.


    Possessing a two-word battle armor granted one a battle armor master¡¯s impressive might.


    The instant the hammers fused into his body, Tang Wulin lost all strength and fell backward, straight as a steel rod.


    Xie Xie managed to catch him. Tang Wulin¡¯s complexion was snow-white, his breaths feeble.


    After exhausting both his soul power and blood essence, he fainted.


    Elder Cai and Zhuo Shi shared a glance, mouths parted.


    ¡°H-he succeeded?¡±


    Zhuo Shi gaped. He succeeded¡­ He actually succeeded at spirit refining! He¡¯s a thirteen-year-old fifth-rank blacksmith, a master blacksmith!


    Can he still be called a mere monster? Even Shrek Academy would scramble to recruit him! He¡¯s definitely a future Divine Blacksmith!


    In the entire Douluo Continent, there was only one Divine Craftsman. Because of this, the most powerful battle armors in Shrek Academy were only three-word. Only Divine Craftsmen could create could create four-word battle armor.


    If Shrek Academy can raise him into a Divine Blacksmith, then all of our three-word battle armor masters will be able to get an upgrade...


    The thought funneled all sorts of excitement through Zhuo Shi¡¯s veins, and he gulped. He rushed toward Xie Xie and took Tang Wulin into his arms.


    Drained of energy, Tang Wulin was fast asleep, eyes shut tight.


    Xie Xie flipped his gaze at Zhuo Shi. ¡°Grandteacher, are we finished with the exam now?¡±


    Zhuo Shi nodded. His eyes shined bright as stars and in the next instant, he encased Xie Xie with a red light, delivering him to the side.


    The red aura around Zhuo Shi seemed almost corporeal, possessing a scarlet jade-like luster. The aura towered above everyone present, weighing down upon them.


    Then, it lifted Tang Wulin into the air.


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s eyes flashed crimson as the scarlet light around him unleashed a dragon¡¯s roar. The redness condensed, the roar becoming clearer, a change proceeding over Tang Wulin.


    Golden lines zipped over his body like makeshift veins, as if their birth was instigated by the scarlet light. Compared to before, however, these lines were much dimmer. Even so,  they appeared to suck in the scarlet light, infusing it into his body.


    ¡°Woah.¡± Despite his surprise, Zhuo Shi did not stop the crimson aura¡¯s transmission. It continued to pour into Tang Wulin¡¯s body, growing brighter and brighter.


    If not for the golden lines snaking their way through his body, Tang Wulin¡¯s form would have been indiscernible, enveloped in the thick scarlet aura.


    Elder Cai drew near to Gu Yue slowly, the latter¡¯s fists balled and breath bated as she took in Tang Wulin¡¯s unusual circumstance. She didn¡¯t bat an eye to Elder Cai¡¯s approach.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that you¡¯re done with tests now that you¡¯ve passed. If you¡¯re not battle armor masters by the age of twenty, you can forget about entering the inner court.¡±Elder Cai snorted then left.


    Gu Yue turned a deaf ear to the old lady¡¯s words, gripped with tunnel vision toward Tang Wulin. Face was wracked with worry and heart aching.


    Elder Li examined the three students, his gaze falling on Xu Xiaoyan for a hairbreadth of a second. Smiling, he  exited the area, arms folded behind him.

 Chapter 284 - Master Craftsman

    Chapter 284 - Master Craftsman


    As Tang Wulin absorbed the scarlet light, the golden veins snaking their way across his skin grew more pronounced. In a blink of an eye, golden scales rippled into existence across his right arm, his blood essence growing vigorous.


    The light vanished from Zhuo Shi¡¯s eyes and he directed Tang Wulin¡¯s body down to the floor, a finger withdrawing the scarlet aura with a curl. However, something out of the ordinary occurred, as the light prepared to leave Tang Wulin¡¯s body. The golden pattern on his skin issued out a dragon¡¯s roar, sucking back the scarlet light, not permitting it to leave.


    Zhuo Shi was baffled out of his wits. He waved his hand, cutting off the aura¡¯s connection to Tang Wulin, leaving only a bit of the scarlet light for Tang Wulin¡¯s body to gobble up. After the majority of the scarlet light was absorbed, Tang Wulin became visible. The golden lines mapping out his body slurped up the aura¡¯s remnants.


    This¡­


    The three from class zero gaped as they took in the bizarre sight, but Shen Yi knew exactly what was happening! Without a doubt, Tang Wulin was devouring Zhuo Shi¡¯s soul power. Considering Zhuo Shi¡¯s cultivation level, it was obvious his soul power would be extremely dense. Yet a kid with only two soul rings was gobbling it up. This meant Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul restrained Zhuo Shi¡¯s!


    H-how is this possible! Teacher¡¯s martial soul is the Scarlet Jade Dragon! It isn¡¯t some second-rate dragon, it¡¯s a supreme martial soul possessing a true dragon¡¯s bloodline.


    Zhuo Shi thrust out his finger and poked Tang Wulin with a beam of red. A groan released from Tang Wulin¡¯s lips, and he slowly flicked his eyes open.


    Tang Wulin felt cosy, something he hadn¡¯t experienced for a long time. He was less feeble than before and his soul power was filled to the brim. Soon his blood essence would reach its normal level through the help of soul power circulation.


    He sat up, rubbing his head. His pallor gave snow a run for its money, after losing so much blood. But in the end, he had succeeded.


    ¡°Grandteacher.¡± Tang Wulin rose and saluted.


    Zhuo Shi wore a gentle expression. ¡°You four, follow me.¡± He turned around and strode away.


    Gu Yue ran to Tang Wulin¡¯s side in an effort to steady him.. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked softly.


    Tang Wulin nodded, a wry smile on his lips. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m fine.¡±


    She let out a breath of relief. ¡°Why did you do something so risky? Do you know how much danger you were in just now? If you had overdrafted any more of your energy, you might have sustained permanent injuries!¡±


    Tang Wulin opted for a meek smile, not a word of argument leaving his mouth.


    Class zero¡¯s members followed Zhuo Shi and Shen Yi out of the room. Although Zhuo Shi gave the appearance of walking slowly, they had to use their soul power to keep up with him.


    Where are we going?


    Tang Wulin pondered over spirit refining as he followed behind Zhuo Shi.


    He had profited from a disaster this time. Somehow, he was able to pull through and succeed despite not yet having his third soul ring. He never expected to triumph, but solely by coincidence, his hammers had also been made of heavy silver and were blood sacrificed, enabling them to absorb the metal he had forged. Tang Wulin studied his hand. He could feel the blood connection between him and the hammers.


    Normally, thousand refined metals could not evolve and become spirit refined. The circumstances this time, however, were too abnormal. In fact, a miracle had occurred, facilitated by his blood sacrificed hammers and blood essence.


    Though he did not have the time to examine his hammers at the moment, he expected them to be incomparable with before. He had given them some of his life force, and in turn, they became an extension of his existence. It was a mystical sensation.


    He also felt his soul power strengthened and more harmonious with his blood essence after succeeding at spirit refining.


    In reality, his soul power was nowhere near the level necessary to spirit refine. His blood essence helped him make up for his lacking soul power.


    Because Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence carried the energy of the Golden Dragon King, it could be considered an unconventional source of energy for him. He could use this energy to improve his combat ability through Golden Dragon Body, the soul skill from his golden soul ring.


    So, though he only had two rings, if his blood essence soul ring was counted, he would have three rings in total.


    To succeed at spirit refining, a blacksmith needed conviction, and it was only because he possessed such firm conviction that he succeeded. The first spirit refining was the most important to a blacksmith. Subsequent attempts would proceed much more smoothly.


    Of course, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare attempt it again before he obtained his third soul ring. The danger of having an insufficient cultivation base was terrifying. It was just like Gu Yue said; he couldn¡¯t count on his luck. If he had overdrafted any more of his energy and the damage had been irrecoverable, failing the trial would be the least of his troubles.


    However, succeeding at spirit refining meant he had ascended to the level of a Master Craftsman.


    Tang Wulin overflowed with pride. He was a thirteen-year-old Master Craftsman, the youngest in history to accomplish spirit refining. He had set a heaven-defying record.


    He was certain no one but him could accomplish such a feat.


    The four chased after Zhuo Shi through the campus until he finally slowed as someone came into view.


    It was a person they were all extremely familiar with.


    He kneeled with his back straight and proper, long blue hair cascading over his shoulders and making for a picturesque scene.


    Tang Wulin yelped in surprise and rushed over to his teacher¡¯s side. ¡°Teacher Wu?¡±


    Indeed, it was their teacher, the white-robed man who carried a blue sword, cold as the frozen heavens, Wu Zhangkong.


    At the sound of Tang Wulin¡¯s voice, Wu Zhangkong raised his head. He watched as his four students sprinted toward him, Shen Yi and the mountain-like Zhuo Shi trailing behind.


    When his gaze fell on Zhuo Shi, trembles gripped his form. His icy face thawed to reveal a tumult of emotions warring within him.


    Before his students even reached him, he turned to Zhuo Shi and kowtowed, his head dropping to the ground.


    Once close to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side, his four students stood behind him with thumping hearts as the witnessed this shocking scene. Tang Wulin kneeled down next to Wu Zhangkong, paying respects to Zhuo Shi as well. He may not be aware of the circumstances surrounding his teacher and Zhuo Shi, but he was smart enough to know what he should do.


    At his example, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan quickly got on their knees, leaving Gu Yue standing behind Tang Wulin. Rather than kneel, she sat down beside Tang Wulin.


    Zhuo Shi faltered mid-step. He no longer approached with the ferocity of a dragon, but his expression kept its stiffness. A few steps later and he was right before Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Stand up.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± Wu Zhangkong met his gaze, surprise coloring his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m not your teacher. I don¡¯t have a disciple as troublesome as you,¡± Zhuo Shi coldly said.


    Wu Zhangkong hung his head in silence, though something unexpected happened in the next instant.


    ¡°These granddisciples though, I¡¯ll recognize them.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes popped wide and he kowtowed once more. ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± He understood his teacher better than anyone else. Zhuo Shi was stubborn, strict, and uncompromising. Although he did not explicitly state he forgave Wu Zhangkong, he did not rule out the possibility either.

 Chapter 285 - Sea Gods Island

    Chapter 285 - Sea God''s Island


    Tears welled in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes as he recalled the years he spent under this strict teacher. A teacher is a father, yet I¡­


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Zhuo Shi furrowed his brow then turned around and entered the inner court.


    ¡°Teacher!¡±


    Hearing Wu Zhangkong call out, Zhuo Shi stopped moving.


    ¡°I was wrong.¡±


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s large body went stiff for a moment before he continued walking, this time moving even faster.


    Wu Zhangkong stumbled as he stood up, his legs numb. Tang Wulin hastened to support him and help him into the inner court.


    Welcoming green grass covered the ground of the inner court, and various trees and shrubs encompassed the area. A set of majestic sculptures stood a bit farther in.


    Tang Wulin instantly recognized them as depictions of the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters, legendary figures who were also spoken of in the annals of the Tang Sect.


    The likenesses of three middle-aged people stood in front of those seven legendary figures, two men and one woman.


    Already familiar with the story of Shrek Academy, it only took Tang Wulin a moment to guess their identities. These three were the true founders of Shrek Academy. In the center stood Flander, the first president of Shrek Academy. The man to his left was the one known as Grandmaster, the teacher of Tang San, Yu Xiaogang! On the right was Liu Erlong. Together, they were known as the Golden Iron Triangle. They were the ones who founded Shrek Academy with the help of the first generation of Shrek Seven Monsters.


    Zhuo Shi stopped in front of the sculptures and bowed.


    Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi did the same. Following their lead, Tang Wulin and his teammates bowed as well.


    After everyone paid their respects, Zhuo Shi turned left onto a small path.


    As he walked, Tang Wulin discovered that an azure lake lay beyond the towering trees. The lake was clear as crystal. Night had already fallen by now, and the lakewater glistened under the moonlight as mist hung around the surrounding plants to create a scene of pure tranquility.


    Tang Wulin instantly liked this place. It¡¯s so peaceful here!


    Zhuo Shi waved a hand, sending out a wave of red light that enveloped everyone. One moment Tang Wulin¡¯s feet were placed firmly on the ground. In the next, he found himself in a completely different place.


    Everyone was now on a small island in the middle of the lake.


    An island? Could this be the legendary Sea God¡¯s Island?


    Countless rumors about Shrek Academy circulated throughout the continent. They included whisperings about the most important part of Shrek Academy, as well as its core, Sea God¡¯s Island. It was said that Sea God¡¯s Island sat in the center of Sea God¡¯s Lake. In addition to that, one other place in Shrek Academy was called Sea God¡¯s Pavilion. All of Shrek Academy¡¯s most important decisions were made in Sea God¡¯s Pavilion. In other words, whatever was decided there would send waves throughout the continent.


    Tang Wulin had never even dared to imagine he would be able to visit Sea God¡¯s Island so soon.


    Viridian trees and shrubs sprouted everywhere on the island, as if it were a miniature forest.


    Zhuo Shi led them further into the island. After climbing two hills, they arrived at a two-story wooden house. He opened the door, and warm light flooded from within.


    This¡­ this is his home! Wu Zhangkong stopped at the doorway, a conflicted look in his eyes.


    ¡°Come in already,¡± Zhuo Shi called out.


    Wu Zhangkong sucked in a deep breath, bowed his head, and entered. His four students followed closely behind.


    The house was decorated in a simple manner. Everything was crafted from wood, including the worn chair that Zhuo Shi sat down in.


    ¡°Shen Yi, tomorrow, take these kids to get registered. Tang Wulin gets a full score. Calculate the points for the other three as usual.¡± Zhuo Shi shifted his gaze to the four students. ¡°From this moment onward, you are working students of the outer court.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Shen Yi responded quickly.


    ¡°Are you going to leave now that you¡¯ve brought them here?¡± Zhuo Shi glanced at Wu Zhangkong.


    It was then that Wu Zhangkong dropped to his knees.


    ¡°I won¡¯t run anymore, Teacher,¡± he said. ¡°Even if I have to work part-time, I want to stay. I won¡¯t run. My only request is that you allow me take care of you. I¡¯ve come to understand that a person can¡¯t live for themselves alone. I made a mistake back then, and now I wish to spend the rest of my life making up for it.¡±


    He lowered his head to the floor, kowtowing. ¡°Please allow me to stay, Teacher.¡±


    Before returning to Shrek Academy, Wu Zhangkong had stubbornly held onto his past grudges. After arriving in this familiar place, however, his those grudges washed away when he saw how much his teacher had aged.


    Zhuo Shi was dumbstruck. Never had he expected Wu Zhangkong to say such words.


    It was exactly as Elder Cai had said. Like teacher, like student.


    Zhuo Shi understood just how stubborn Wu Zhangkong was. He had just picked up Wu Zhangkong, an orphan, while out on a stroll one day. Since Zhuo Shi had always pursued the pinnacle of strength, he had very few disciples, all of whom he considered his own children. But of them all, Wu Zhangkong was undoubtedly his favorite. Only he could match Zhuo Shi¡¯s stubbornness. He even aimed for the pinnacle of strength as well.


    Yet despite his stubborn nature, Wu Zhangkong sincerely acknowledged his mistake. Never in his wildest dreams would Zhuo Shi have imagined this. The  Wu Zhangkong he knew would choose death rather than lower his head.


    ¡°Teacher¡­¡± Shen Yi tugged at Zhuo Shi¡¯s sleeve, pleading with her eyes.


    ¡°Fine, you can stay,¡± Zhuo Shi said indifferently. ¡°I need someone to make tea and keep the house tidy anyway.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher!¡± Wu Zhangkong rejoiced.


    The four students quietly exchanged knowing looks. Although they were still children and weren¡¯t exactly sure what happened between their teacher and their grandteacher, they were smart enough to see that Zhuo Shi was firm in speech but soft in heart.


    Tang Wulin secretly signalled to his companions and the four of them hurriedly said, ¡°Thank you, Grandteacher!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong stood up and walked over to stand at Zhuo Shi¡¯s side. His icy eyes had thawed and were now full of vigor. It was the first time Tang Wulin had ever seen his teacher so passionate.


    Zhuo Shi nodded, then looked at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°You will visit me once a week so I can examine you. Your body is very strange. Despite the fact that your martial soul is just Bluesilver Grass, your blood essence is extremely robust. I paid careful attention to the changes in your body while you were forging and I¡¯m certain you don¡¯t have a second martial soul. That golden soul ring¡¯s power seems to be a special soul ring that came from your blood. I think you¡¯re somewhat similar to me. After you¡¯ve settled in, come visit me next week when you have a day off, and I will... inspect your body.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you, Grandteacher,¡± Tang Wulin said, barely able to contain his joy. He could clearly tell that this grandteacher of his was a major figure in Shrek Academy!


    Zhuo Shi swept his gaze over Xu Xiaoyan, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue. ¡°All of you will need to work hard. Just as Elder Cai said, you will be working students since you were late to the exam. In order to enter the inner court, you have to become one-word battle armor masters by the time you turn twenty. You have a long way to go and six years left to do it. Rest here tonight and Shen Yi will take you to complete the registration process in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you, Grandteacher.¡±


    Of the four students, Zhuo Shi clearly considered Tang Wulin the most important, a fact that made even Xie Xie green with envy. But in any case, they had succeeded. They were now Shrek Academy students. They could hold their heads high and proclaim themselves as part of Shrek Academy.


    As for becoming a one-word battle armor master before they turned twenty¡­ that was a daunting task. Becoming a one-word battle armor master meant having at least five soul rings.


    Zhuo Shi turned around and began climbing the stairs. Shen Yi gave Wu Zhangkong a meaningful look. Only then did he go and help Zhuo Shi up the stairs.


    Instead of struggling free from Wu Zhangkong¡¯s arms, Zhuo Shi simply accepted the help. After many years apart, the troubles between master and disciple seemed to have been resolved.


    Seeing that her grandteacher and teacher had left, Xu Xiaoyan slid over to Shen Yi¡¯s side and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on between Teacher and Grandteacher? Did something happen in the past?¡±


    Shen Yi glanced at her.


    ¡°It was just a difference in beliefs,¡± she answered. ¡°In a sense, your teacher was not in the wrong. However, neither was your grandteacher. The troubles between them arose from a combination of many different factors, but they¡¯ve resolved the issue now, so everything is well. Come, I¡¯ll bring you kids to somewhere you can rest. I¡¯ll have you know, not even inner court disciples have the privilege to come to Sea God¡¯s Island. You should consider yourselves lucky to have this opportunity.¡±

 Chapter 286 - Dreams of Battle Armor

    Chapter 286 - Dreams of Battle Armor


    With Wu Zhangkong and Zhuo Shi settling their differences, Shen Yi was in a stellar mood and was, without a doubt, the person most pleased with this outcome.


    ¡°Gu Yue, remember to be conscious of your behavior, especially within the academy. In front of the countless seniors who have experienced world-shaking events, we are nothing. It¡¯s essential that you pay your respects to them, otherwise your stay here won¡¯t be long. Moreover, your companions will be affected too. Got it?¡±


    Gu Yue nodded silently.


    Tang Wulin pulled her hand. ¡°Gu Yue, Teacher Shen is right. You were too impulsive today. Elder Cai was only testing my strength in the fourth trial, I wasn¡¯t injured at all. Teacher Shen, can I trouble you to bring us to Elder Cai later to apologize?¡±


    Shen Yi stared at him in shock. This kid is just too mature.


    When Tang Wulin had first started forging, his father had thoroughly drilled this lesson into his head, and as he grew older and broadened his horizons, his maturity surpassed his peers. Besides, he was the captain of class zero. As the leader, he always had to consider what was best for his team. It was precisely because of both his maturity and leadership that Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan accepted his decisions so willingly.


    Gu Yue furrowed her brows slightly, puffing her cheeks in an adorable pout.


    Tang Wulin looked her directly in the eyes and said, ¡°I know you acted for my sake, but we¡¯re a team, Gu Yue. Your actions affect the rest of us too, just like how my deep meditation forced us to become working students. Don¡¯t be so stubborn. Elder Cai wants you as her disciple because she saw how talented you are. This is an amazing opportunity for you. It¡¯s not easy to become a one-word battle armor master by twenty, you know? Having such a great teacher would


    be an amazing stroke of luck for you.¡±


    Under his sincere gaze, Gu Yue couldn¡¯t do anything but lower her head and quietly mutter, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was impulsive today. I want to go apologize to Elder Cai.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled at her words, reaching out to give her a big hug. ¡°That¡¯s the way.¡±


    Though Gu Yue blushed crimson, she did not push him away.


    Xie Xie sauntered over, a sly smirk tugging his lips. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the way.¡± He opened up his arms.


    Gu Yue¡¯s leg shot out. ¡°Go away.¡±


    Xie Xie dodged, immediately grumbling, ¡°You¡¯re so biased. How come you let Captain hug you?¡±


    ¡°Because he¡¯s handsome,¡± Gu Yue stated matter-of-factly.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Captain is way handsomer than you.¡± Xu Xiaoyan also did not forget to dig deeper into Xie Xie.


    Shen Yi smiled as she watched their antics. They reminded her of herself at their age, bouncing with excitement when she was first admitted to Shrek Academy.


    ¡°Alright. We¡¯re registering tomorrow and you¡¯ll need to be alert, so go sleep early. Being a working student isn¡¯t an easy thing.¡± Shen Yi¡¯s words seemed to carry some hidden meaning.


    The wooden house didn¡¯t have many rooms, so the boys shared one room while the girls shared another.


    Wu Zhangkong also didn¡¯t reappear again that night. The instant they hit the bed, they fell into a deep sleep. It had been a long day for them.


    Of the four, Tang Wulin was the last to enter meditation.


    Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he looked down at his hand. Golden light burst from his palm and, an instant later, his spirit refined heavy silver hammers appeared within them.


    Tang Wulin reveled in this magical sensation. Now that it was connected to him by blood, it had become an extension of his own body.


    Although mechas were powerful, first-grade thousand refined metals were the strongest materials they could be made from. Even then, that would just be a first-rate mecha. If spirit refined metals were to be used to create a mecha, soul masters would need to be involved in the creation process. That very fact, as well as the sheer size of a mecha, made such an endeavor practically impossible..


    Mu Chen had told Tang Wulin that though blacksmiths were viewed as less important than mecha designers, makers, and mechanics, they were indispensable for creating battle armor. In fact, the first battle armor prototypes wouldn¡¯t have existed without the discovery of spirit refining..


    Mechas, with their bulk, couldn¡¯t fuse with a person. Battle armor, on the other hand, molded to a soul master¡¯s body and could perfectly fuse with and improve the user¡¯s abilities.


    Battle armors were like a circuit carved into the user¡¯s martial soul that granted the martial soul its own set of armor and sublimating it.


    With the advent of battle armor, humanity¡¯s strength soared onto a whole different level. However, their newfound superiority also drove soul beasts to the brink of extinction.


    The Spirit Pagoda was originally established to mediate peace between humans and soul beasts. However, for the sake of their research into the invention of artificial spirit souls, there was a period of time where the Spirit Pagoda slaughtered countless soul beasts with the Federation¡¯s support. Under the relentless pursuit for science, the soul beast world crumbled. The value of soul beasts plummeted with the invention of spirit souls and with the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s current research speed, they would only need another few thousand years to create ten-thousand-year spirit souls.


    Golden lines swirled around the spirit refined heavy silver hammers, similar to the ones on Tang Wulin when he cultivated. A golden dragon could be faintly discerned on the hammers, but rather than a pattern, it seemed to be a living entity as it roamed around the hammers.


    This was clearly the effect of their blood connection!


    Spirit refining granted metal life and made it a part of one¡¯s own body. If one were to evolve it into soul refined, it would then be a part of one¡¯s martial soul. Soul refining was akin to forging one¡¯s own martial soul into a higher realm.


    It was for this reason that Saint Blacksmiths were revered throughout the continent. Their status was no less than that of a three-word battle armor master, because without them, three-word battle armors would never exist.


    As for Divine Blacksmiths¡­ Tang Wulin could only imagine what sort of realm that was. Even Mu Chen could not explain it to Tang Wulin as he himself didn¡¯t know what it was like. It was his life¡¯s goal to reach that level.


    With Tang Wulin¡¯s recent success in spirit refining, it meant he could now forge his own battle armor. Not only that, he had set his sights on not one-word, but two-word battle armor!


    As for why he set his goal so high, it was because he understood now that battle armor didn¡¯t have such strict soul power requirements, just like how he could spirit refine despite only having two soul rings.


    For a blacksmith to even attempt spirit refining, the normal standard was four soul rings as only then would they have enough the necessary life force to sustain the entire process.


    Yet he had succeeded with only two soul rings! This feat was only possible due to the combination of his innate divine strength, talent, profound understanding of the metal, and his blood essence soul ring.


    If that was the case, then perhaps the soul power requirement he needed for battle armor would be lower too. At the very least, it couldn¡¯t hurt to try.


    A set of battle armor wasn¡¯t made all at once. Each item was made piece by piece. He decided to start experimenting with the simplest part!


    Tang Wulin brimmed with confidence now that he was successful at spirit refining and firmly believed that he didn¡¯t need five soul rings to become a one-word battle armor master. With his blood essence soul ring, he could make it with just four soul rings! Besides, since he could already spirit refine, he wouldn¡¯t settle for just one-word battle armor. It would be a waste of time to start there. Instead, it was more efficient to make two-word battle armor that could continue to evolve with spirit refined metal.


    Once that time came, he could immediately name his battle armor with two words!

 Chapter 287 - Black Steamed Buns

    Chapter 287 - Black Steamed Buns


    Teacher Wu¡¯s battle armor is called Sky Ice, which means he¡¯s Sky Ice Wu Zhangkong. So¡­ what should I call my battle armor then?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s blood raced at the thought. He looked forward to the day he obtained his own battle armor.


    He didn¡¯t know when he began meditating, but when he awoke, the sun already shone through the window.


    He had meditated longer than usual and missed his chance to train his Purple Demon Eyes this morning.


    However, Tang Wulin could clearly feel that his cultivation speed was faster than it was before.


    ¡°You¡¯re up?¡± Xie Xie said. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go eat.¡±


    ¡°Xie Xie, can you feel that?¡± Tang Wulin asked suspiciously.


    Xie Xie nodded and smiled. ¡°I knew you would ask. I feel it too. This Sea God¡¯s Island is extraordinary! The energy here is far thicker than outside. I bet this island is connected to how Shrek Academy is capable of producing so many powerful experts. The speed of our cultivation would increase significantly if we could stay here and cultivate! Why don¡¯t you go see if Grandteacher will let us stay longer? Maybe he¡¯ll let us live here.¡±


    ¡°Keep dreaming.¡± Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t amused. ¡°Shrek Academy¡¯s rules are very strict, you know. Anyway, let¡¯s get going. Aren¡¯t we gonna eat? I¡¯m about to starve to death.¡±


    He only had one full meal the day before, and that consisted of the steamed buns from the sixth trial. Those buns didn¡¯t pack anywhere near enough nutrition for him!


    The wooden table in the living room held a spread of food. The others were already eating when the two boys arrived.


    Zhuo Shi pointed at the seat beside him. ¡°Come sit, Wulin.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Wulin went over to sit.


    Zhuo Shi then pointed at a bamboo basket on the table. ¡°Zhangkong told me you have a big stomach, so let¡¯s see how much of this basket you can finish.¡±


    Inside of the basket were odorless, black objects. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t figure out what they were, but he knew they didn¡¯t look appetizing.


    ¡°Alright,¡± he said.


    There were twenty black objects in total. They resembled fist-sized steamed buns. It would be apt to call them black steamed buns.


    Tang Wulin scoffed inwardly at the food. This is nothing to my stomach!


    He quickly grabbed two buns in each hand. It was now a habit of his to grab as much food as he could at a time. Considering his voracious appetite, he would waste too much time if he ate slowly.


    Tang Wulin took a bite of a bun. It was tender and sticky, had a decent texture, gave off the faintest trace of a fishy aroma. No matter how he considered it, this bun could not be called delicious.


    However, after chewing it a bit more and swallowing, his expression changed.


    He felt a clear wave of warmth travel down his throat and spread throughout his body. His blood essence seemed to react to this and surged toward the source. As it did, that warmth instantly dispelled some of his hunger.


    This is good stuff!


    When Tang Wulin was at Eastsea Academy, he ate food from the first window every day, so he naturally knew that if he ate more nourishing food, he wouldn¡¯t have to eat as much. Yet these seemingly unimpressive black steamed buns were the most nutrient-packed food he¡¯d ever eaten! Although he didn¡¯t actually know what they were, he knew for a fact that they could fill him up!


    After two more bites, the bun disappeared into his stomach. Several more bites later and his hands were empty. Tang Wulin happily patted his stomach as he smiled at Zhuo Shi and grabbed four more buns.


    ¡°Can you really digest all of that? Overeating isn¡¯t good for your body.¡± Zhuo Shi furrowed his brow.


    ¡°I should be able to. Thank you, Grandteacher.¡± Since Tang Wulin had exhausted his blood essence and only eaten one meal the previous day, there was no way he would let such great food out of his grasp.


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s narrowed eyes slowly widened in shock as he observed Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence grow stronger and stronger with each bun he ate. Zhuo Shi could even hear the pulse of Tang Wulin¡¯s blood and aura strengthening. This change was completely unrelated to soul power.


    The cause of everything¡­ was his blood essence..


    Your bloodline is truly extraordinary, boy!


    Only after Tang Wulin swallowed the sixteenth bun did he finally stop eating.


    Is he full now? Zhuo Shi thought.


    The buns were just too filling. Tang Wulin felt his blood essence surge through his body like a raging river. He was now in peak condition. He felt relaxed as he his soul power circulated throughout his body, unable to eat any more.


    If I can eat this stuff every day, it¡¯ll be much easier to break my seals!


    All of a sudden, Old Tang¡¯s voice echoed in Tang Wulin¡¯s head. These are fantastic. You¡¯ll benefit from them greatly if you can eat them daily. You might even be able to break the third seal without an spirit items.


    Tang Wulin looked at Zhuo Shi with shining eyes. ¡°Grandteacher, may I eat these every day?¡±


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s face twitched. ¡°You can have the rest.¡±


    After saying this, he stood up and left.


    Puzzled, Tang Wulin turned to Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Teacher, did I say something rude?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong made a strange face at him. Shen Yi, who was beside him, spoke up.


    ¡°These are Teacher¡¯s monthly rations. He usually only lets himself eat one per day,¡± she said. ¡°Do you have any idea what those black steamed buns are? They¡¯re made from a deep sea fish that lives three kilometers underwater. This fish isn¡¯t a soul beast either, so you can imagine how strong it must be to survive at such a depth. Only elders of the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion are given the privilege of eating these buns, yet you actually ate more than half of Teacher¡¯s monthly share! And you even have the guts to ask if you can eat them every day? Such a thing would only be possible if all of the elders yielded their shares to you!¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Tang Wulin scratched his head awkwardly. ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave the rest for Grandteacher.¡±


    ¡°Teacher told you to take them, so just take them.¡± Shen Yi smiled warmly. ¡°An old man like him wouldn¡¯t be upset over something as trivial as this. When you have a free day next week, Wu Zhangkong will bring you over here to visit. It seems your grandteacher is quite fond of you since you two are so similar.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    After eating breakfast, Shen Yi brought the four students off the island on a boat. Wu Zhangkong chose to stay, so they waved goodbye to him before leaving.


    Sea God¡¯s Lake was even more breathtaking during the day. Refreshing air lingered around it, the rippling waters like a giant sapphire embedded into the earth as sunlight reflected off its surface.


    After leaving Sea God¡¯s Lake and the inner court, they ventured back to the outer court¡¯s school building.


    A whole day had passed since they had taken the entrance exam.


    ¡°You will have to work harder than others as working students,¡± Shen Yi said as she walked. ¡°Normal students only have to pay twenty percent of the tuition since it¡¯s subsidized for them. You, however, will have to pay the entire tuition through doing jobs for the academy. For example, the most basic task could be to sweep the campus. Of course, you could take some jobs related to your secondary profession too.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Shen, is the tuition expensive?¡± Tang Wulin asked


    Shen Yi glanced at him. ¡°Very. Shrek Academy grants you access to resources impossible to obtain anywhere else. These resources are invaluable, so working students will have to take on many jobs to pay off their fees each year. Don¡¯t worry, the administration will arrange things for you all.¡±


    Although it wasn¡¯t their first time there, the four were still awed by the grandeur of the main school building.


    Shen Yi brought them to the administration to handle their registration and enlist them in their class.


    A scholarly administrator in his fifties issued each of them a dark-green school uniform after completing their enrollment. ¡°Don¡¯t bring shame to the working students,¡± he said.


    Don¡¯t bring shame to the working students? What does he mean by that? As clever as Tang Wulin was, he couldn¡¯t comprehend the meaning behind the administrator¡¯s words. He sent a questioning look at Shen Yi, but she simply smiled and shook her head. She clearly had no intentions of explaining.


    ¡°Your first job is to clean Spirit Ice Plaza. The deadline is before dusk.¡± The middle-aged administrator spoke in a bored manner.


    Clean the plaza? I can¡¯t even see the end of the plaza!


    ¡°Dispose of any trash and mop the floor. Not a single speck of dust is to be seen, otherwise points will be deducted.¡±


    Their enrollment was complete now that they were assigned a job. They were then led to their dormitory.


    To be precise, they were brought to the dormitory for working students.

 Chapter 288 - The Status of a Working Student

    Chapter 288 - The Status of a Working Student


    Since the main school building was so enormous, Tang Wulin thought that their dormitory would be as well. Reality, however, begged to differ.


    Shen Yi brought them to a building in a forest west of Spirit Ice Plaza.


    ¡°This is the dormitory for working students,¡± she told them ¡°Go find the room corresponding to the number on your key. Classes will start for you tomorrow. In the meantime, you can complete the job you were just assigned. I¡¯ll be leaving now.¡±


    Shen Yi left while Tang Wulin and the others were in the middle of exchanging looks of dismay.


    All of them thought the same thing.


    Isn¡¯t this building a bit too crude? It¡¯s basically a slum compared to the school building!


    The building only had one floor and was extremely run-down. It sat in the middle of the forest, but it was now clear that this was done to hide the building and save face for the academy.


    It was a truly unsettling place.


    There seemed to be about twenty or so rooms in the mottled building. Some of the rooms didn¡¯t even have windows. They had long since broken, the wood around them completely rotten.


    Checking the numbers on their keys, they soon discovered that they had only been given a single room.


    This room had no walls to separate the boys from the girls. It was about thirty square meters in area. Although it wasn¡¯t small, there were only two metal-frames of bunk beds in the room. Other than that, it was completely bare.


    A thick layer of dust covered the floor and two of the windows were broken. A single string dangled from the light bulb in the ceiling. Considering the state of the room, determining whether that bulb was a useless ornament or a functional light source was a coin toss.


    ¡°This¡­ isn¡¯t this just too cruel? Are we sure we¡¯re currently in Shrek Academy and not a slum?¡± Xie Xie was dumbstruck. Compared to their dormitory at Eastsea Academy, the difference was like heaven and earth! No basic necessities were provided, not even a mattress.


    ¡°Quit complaining. If you have spare time, spend it tidying up instead,¡± Tang Wulin said. Since they were here now, they might as well make the best of things. He knew that working students wouldn¡¯t have it as good as normal students, but he was still shocked at the conditions of their dormitory.


    ¡°Captain, how are all of us supposed to live in just a single room? Men and women shouldn¡¯t be in the same room,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said with a hint of worry.


    Xie Xie laughed. ¡°How old do you think you are? You haven¡¯t even kissed anyone yet.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Xu Xiaoyan looked to Gu Yue for support, but Gu Yue only had eyes for Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin stood rooted in place, his face pensive. ¡°Since we¡¯ve been assigned to this room, all we can do is make the most of it. Let¡¯s get our basic necessities in order first. We can start by cleaning this place up and getting something to cover the broken windows. We can then use some curtains to separate the room in halves, one side for the boys and the other for the girls. Yeah, let¡¯s start with that and improve things as we go.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Gu Yue said.


    It was clear how much Tang Wulin¡¯s teammates trusted him. Everyone immediately leaped into action. As soul masters, it wouldn¡¯t take them long to clean up.


    As they tidied the place, they began to understand the pain of being a working student.


    Their only source of clean water was a single faucet meant for the entire dormitory. It didn¡¯t even provide any hot water. They had to go to the school building to get hot water and bath.


    Aside from that¡­ well, they didn¡¯t have anything else. There were no other facilities at the dormitory for working students. The dining hall could be found in the main school building, so they had to cross the enormous plaza each visit.


    With the four of them working together, the room was soon neat and tidy. They even found a cloth to cover up the windows. As for curtains to separate the room with, they would buy them in the evening.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go clean the plaza now.¡±


    Since they were working students, they still had to complete their job.


    Spirit Ice Plaza was truly enormous. They had to start sweeping early in the morning if they wanted to finish by the evening of the same day.


    When they went get some water to clean with, they discovered that someone was already using the faucet. That someone was a frail-looking boy. He had a towel draped over his shoulder as he collected water in a bucket.


    Upon seeing this boy, astonishment filled Tang Wulin and the others.


    Xie Xie gulped. He was particularly taken aback because he knew the boy more intimately than the others.


    This boy was student number two, the one who had beaten Xie Xie in the entrance exam with explosive power. He was a mighty power-type soul master and the greatest three-ringed soul master that they had encountered thus far. Even Gu Yue¡¯s chances of defeating him were slim. His martial soul was simply too powerful and overwhelming.


    Carrying a bucket, Tang Wulin walked over to the other student¡¯s side and flashed a radiant smile.


    ¡°Hi!¡± he said. ¡°We meet again. I¡¯m Tang Wulin.¡±


    The youth gave him an apathetic look, and only acknowledging him with a slight nod.


    His bucket was nearly full, so he picked it up, nodded to Tang Wulin once more, and left.


    Four sets of eyes followed him until he was out of sight.


    Xie Xie looked at his companions in shock. ¡°That guy¡¯s a working student too? He¡¯s so amazing... yet he¡¯s a working student? I thought he was an inner court student!¡±


    Tang Wulin contemplated this realization.


    ¡°Do you guys remember what the administrator said before we left?¡± he asked. ¡°He told us not to bring shame to the working students. I think there¡¯s some secret about working students that we don¡¯t know about. Well, we can think about it after finishing our task.¡±


    ¡°The administrator didn¡¯t say we couldn¡¯t use our martial souls to clean, right?¡± Gu Yue interjected.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°He didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t think it would be possible without the use of martial souls anyway.¡±


    ¡°Then we don¡¯t need to bring water. I¡¯ll be enough.¡± A faint smile appeared on Gu Yue¡¯s lips, her eyes shining.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up in understanding, and he grinned. ¡°Alright!¡±


    Gu Yue turned and began marching toward Spirit Ice Plaza, her three companions in tow. Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan bubbled with excitement as they also understood her intentions.


    Gu Yue stopped beside the plaza. She took a deep breath, narrowed her eyes, then summoned her three soul rings.


    Her first soul ring lit up as she activated Elemental Tide.


    She held her hands up in the air, gathering specks of green light in her palms. Blue light soon followed until the two equally-sized lights swirled in her palms.


    She exuded an aura of serenity as she manipulated the two elements. She moved much slower than she would if she were in combat.


    However, Tang Wulin could sense how stable the elements she gathered had become. They were far stabler than usual.


    Moreover, she was currently only using her first soul skill.


    The green and blue lights grew ever brighter as they spiraled within her hands, transforming into a tiny whirlpool. It rotated faster and faster until the two elements completely mixed.


    Gu Yue¡¯s second soul ring lit up and the elements poured into the whirlpool faster than before. With both Elemental Control¡¯s amplification and her spiritual power in the Spirit Sea realm, the whirlpool of elements soon grew two meters tall and didn¡¯t stop there.


    Her third soul ring then lit up and she activated Elemental Fusion. The two elements completely fused into one. Armed with her mighty spiritual power, she had absolute control over the swirling elements. She was one of a handful of people who possessed three soul rings and had reached the Spirit Sea realm.

 Chapter 289 - Tang Wulin the Wicked

    Chapter 289 - Tang Wulin the Wicked


    The whirlwind of elements grew until it was five meters high. Just when Tang Wulin and the others felt it was about to go berserk, Gu Yue gently said, ¡°Go!¡±


    Spirit Ice Plaza wasn¡¯t dirty to begin with, merely covered in dust. There wasn¡¯t even a single piece of trash in sight.


    A bizarre scene played out the moment Gu Yue¡¯s whirlpool landed on the plaza. Dust gathered together, whirling around the hurricane in a frenzy before being sucked inside and leaving the floor as spotless as if it had been scrubbed by a brush.


    Gu Yue withdrew her first and third soul skills, leaving only Elemental Control in effect as she followed the whirlpool forward. They began to walk around the plaza, watching everything within its path become clean.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Xu Xiaoyan clapped gleefully.


    She really is amazing! Tang Wulin inwardly gave Gu Yue a thumbs up. She was the most skilled master of elements he had ever seen. Moreover, not only could she wield six different elements she could even fuse them together into infinite offensive and defensive moves.


    Her future was boundless. She was the first soul master in history to wield so many elements. With fire, water, wind, earth, light, space, and the variant ice attribute, nothing was impossible for her.


    If they were ordinary people instead, even two days worth of time wouldn¡¯t be enough to finish cleaning the plaza. Yet, in the face of Gu Yue¡¯s water-and-wind whirlwind sucking in dust and cleaning everything within a twenty meter radius, this task would be completed without breaking much sweat. At their current speed, they would be finished within three hours. This was obviously assuming that Gu Yue¡¯s soul and spiritual power would last.


    In truth, Gu Yue was no superhuman. She was forced to recall the now black whirlpool and drain it into sewers after cleaning a third of the plaza. She then walked off to the side and sat down cross-legged to meditate.


    ¡°I¡¯d be embarrassed if I let Gu Yue do it all,¡± Xie Xie mischievously grinned.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Then you can just treat us to dinner tonight.¡±


    Xie Xie saw through Tang Wulin¡¯s scheme, however. ¡°Sure, as long as you¡¯re not coming! Those two girls can¡¯t eat much, but if we add you, I¡¯d be concerned if the restaurant even has enough stock. I swear, your stomach is an endless hole!¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re so insincere.¡±


    ¡°Fine!¡± Xie Xie ground his teeth as he reluctantly said, ¡°I¡¯ll treat you all to dinner. But! You have to finish those black buns before we go out.¡±


    Those black steamed buns would do well to curb Tang Wulin¡¯s appetite.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    They left the rest of the plaza to Gu Yue. In the meantime, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan would spruce up their dorm room.


    They had only received two sets of school uniforms and a Shrek Academy identification card when they were registered.


    The card was made of metal and had obvious signs of soul circuits running within it. The administrator had told them they needed this card to go anywhere within the academy, as well as leaving and entering.


    Shrek Academy¡¯s administration wasn¡¯t extremely strict though. They didn¡¯t actually restrict its student¡¯s passage in and out of the academy. Besides, the outer court was a small town in of itself. Students could find everything needed for their daily lives here and rarely needed to leave campus.


    While Gu Yue cleaned up the plaza, Tang Wulin went to go buy some planks. He had Xie Xie use his daggers to fashion proper beds out of them. As for the mattress, they had actually brought their own. After buying a cloth to divide the space, the room had shaped up quite nicely.


    But they stopped there. Tang Wulin believed that since the dormitory was for working students, it would be best if they didn¡¯t live extravagantly compared to the others. At the very least, they all understood how fatal it could be for them to act blindly without thinking.


    Tang Wulin had already noticed that not all the rooms in the dormitory were occupied. In fact, only three or four rooms had signs of any recent occupation. Even then, those rooms appeared simple and crude on the outside.


    Since this living condition seemed to be a tradition among working students, it wasn¡¯t their place to break the status quo.


    Gu Yue¡¯s cleaning speed was unbelievably quick with the use of her martial soul, but it still took her until noon, a total of four and a half hours to finish cleaning the gigantic plaza. Of those hours, half were simply spent recovering her soul power.


    The four meditated in their room together in the afternoon. Though they had just enrolled and were still unfamiliar with Shrek Academy, they could already feel a mountain of pressure weighing down on their shoulders.


    All the continent¡¯s geniuses gathered here in this haven and while Tang Wulin and the others may be exceptionally talented, Shrek Academy had no shortage of students of their caliber. There were people like that student number two who had stomped Xie Xie. None of the four companions would dare say they could absolutely defeat him.


    The only way they could flourish in Shrek Academy was to become stronger faster.


    The dining hall was enormous and filled to the brim, as if all of the outer court students were packed into the place. Unlike normal students, working students had to pay for their meals here with points obtained from completing jobs.


    Since it was their first day at the academy, however, they were allowed a free meal. They would only start paying tomorrow.


    They had received one hundred Shrek contribution points each after completing their assignment at the administration building, but it was then that Tang Wulin discovered that one hundred points was only enough to feed them for one day. Moreover, they faced another problem; to be more precise, Tang Wulin faced a problem. His stomach was simply too gluttonous and the dining hall wasn¡¯t a buffet.


    Fortunately, the dining hall served food comparable to Eastsea Academy¡¯s first window.


    It¡¯d be great if I could eat here for free. Tang Wulin exclaimed inwardly as he ate lunch.


    Since their dinner was free tonight as well, Xie Xie would treat them on another day.


    Perhaps, because he had to start paying for his meals the next day, Tang Wulin finally revealed his true wickedness during dinner.


    He first found a large table. Then, he started collecting food. The dining hall was large enough to accommodate one thousand diners at a time, so his actions were laid bare for all to see. He went from window to window, showing his Shrek ID card to get as much free food as he could carry.


    At first, few took notice of his actions, but by the time his table had three levels of food stacked up, people began to watch.


    A stern-looking man around twenty years old wearing a red armband walked over.


    ¡°I¡¯m Xie Peichen, a member of the discipline committee. Which class are you from? Why did you get so much food? Don¡¯t you know that according to the academy¡¯s rules, if you waste food, you have to pay ten times its weight as a fine?¡±


    Tang Wulin stopped mid-step. ¡°Hello senior. I can finish all of this food.¡±


    ¡°You can finish all of this? By yourself?¡± Xie Peichen¡¯s voice raised an octave. He had originally thought that all this food was for him and his classmates to eat together, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Tang Wulin had filled a table for ten with enough food to feed thirty!


    ¡°Yeah. I can finish this all myself. I still have three friends joining me though,¡± Tang Wulin sincerely answered.


    ¡°Four people can finish all of this?¡± Xie Peichen was evidently not convinced. With how nourishing the dining hall¡¯s food was, people generally didn¡¯t need to eat as much to become full.


    Tang Wulin nodded earnestly.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see you eat it all then. If you can¡¯t finish, don¡¯t blame me for being rude.¡± Though Xie Peichen¡¯s had a dark expression, but he couldn¡¯t do anything as Tang Wulin had yet to violate any rules. He stood to the side and watched.


    Tang Wulin smiled, exposing his sparkling white teeth. ¡°Senior, how about we make a bet? If I finish all this food, you¡¯ll help me get another round. If I can¡¯t, you can punish me as you wish.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Xie Peichen agreed immediately.


    With the bet established, Tang Wulin began eating. He ate leisurely, taking his time. Nonetheless, his eating speed was shocking.

 Chapter 290 - Ceramic Mountain

    Chapter 290 - Ceramic Mountain


    Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan had long since gotten trays full of food and sat themselves at a neighbouring table, pretending not to know Tang Wulin out of embarrassment. .


    Tang Wulin restrained a sigh from escaping his mouth. He always hated it when he couldn¡¯t eat his fill. Since Shrek Academy didn¡¯t offer free food, he partook in the ancient art of penny pinching, calculating exactly how much it would cost to feed himself. With a free pass tucked within his pocket, he was determined to eat a mountain¡¯s worth, enough to last him through breakfast the next day.


    Xie Peichen stood calmly behind Tang Wulin at first, but as he took in Tang Wulin¡¯s gorging, his jaw dropped.


    I-Is he even human?


    Xie Peichen subconsciously gulped as he stared at the mountain of empty plates in front of Tang Wulin, whose momentum increased by the bite.


    It wasn¡¯t long before other diners took notice of this spectacle.


    ¡°Did this guy starve to death in his past life? How can he eat so much?¡±


    ¡°Heavens! Don¡¯t tell me he cleared all those dishes by himself?¡±


    ¡°Wow! Awesome! I¡¯ve always admired people who can eat a lot.¡±


    People began gathering around Tang Wulin, drawn like moths to a flame. The sight of his gluttony drove their stomachs wild with hunger, and they dug into their meals with renewed vigor.


    ¡°Senior, can I trouble you to get me ten orders of that dish, the one that looks like sea cucumbers? Thanks.¡± Tang Wulin beamed at Xie Peichen.


    Xie Peichen was numb with shock. He obediently went and got Tang Wulin ten orders of the dish. This was his third time getting Tang Wulin more food. There wasn¡¯t much food per dish, but the number of dishes was astronomical!


    This guy¡­


    The second Tang Wulin cried out in delight, drooling over the steaming dishes, the crowd parted to let a middle-aged man through, face grim and pinched. His body trembled when he saw the staggering pile of dishes. As the manager of the dining hall, he had miraculously received a notice that there was a shortage of food. He was well aware they overstocked on ingredients each day and had more than enough to accommodate extraneous circumstances. So it goes without saying how flummoxed he was after hearing their stock was empty.


    But when he saw Tang Wulin, he finally understood the situation.


    When did they recruit such a glutton?


    ¡°Hey you, student over there. Your stomach is beyond the realm of normal. The Academy can¡¯t feed someone like you. If you ate this much for every meal, then I¡¯ll petition the Academy to get rid of your right to a free meal,¡± the middle-aged man said.


    Tang Wulin blinked in surprise. ¡°Teacher, you don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯m a working student so I can¡¯t eat this much for free starting tomorrow. This is my last free meal, so can¡¯t I eat my fill?¡±


    Working student?


    Everyone¡¯s expression changed after those words. The peanut gallery quickly retreated into the backdrop, and minded their own business.


    ¡°So you¡¯re a working student! Alright then. Have a good meal.¡± After saying this, the middle-aged man left as well.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me you¡¯re a working student earlier?¡± Xie Peichen asked, clearly flustered.


    ¡°What about being a working student?¡± Tang Wulin curiously asked.


    Xie Peichen groaned, refusing to pay any more attention to Tang Wulin and disappearing into the crowd.


    It looks like there really is a backstory surrounding working students! Tang Wulin suspicions were confirmed, his curiosity growing, but he kept shoving the food into his mouth.


    This was the most enjoyable meal Tang Wulin ever had in his life. Perhaps because he broke the second seal, his appetite was greater than ever. The dining hall had twenty windows serving food, and Tang Wulin had cleared them all. He felt embarrassed.


    ¡°Are you still not full? Here, eat this.¡± An older girl placed a steamed bun on his plate before going off on her merry way. Under her breath, she said, ¡°He¡¯s so pitiful. He¡¯s still not full after eating all that.¡±


    She was the first, but not the last to offer him food. Not long after, another student came and handed him a bun.


    The corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth twitched.


    Am I dreaming? Maybe I won¡¯t have to complete jobs to feed myself! One hundred points isn¡¯t enough to keep me full anyway. It¡¯s only enough for five or six meals for a normal person.


    His eyes lit up at the thought.


    Tang Wulin had scouted out the prices at every window, and the cheapest dish was ten points. The meal he ate today costed over a thousand. Come tomorrow, and he might starve to death.


    He staggered out of the dining hall once he finished eating. With every step, he felt closer to bursting.


    ¡°Captain, can¡¯t you restrain yourself a bit?¡± Xie Xie wore an odd expression. ¡°Everyone in the outer court recognizes you by now.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at him wide-eyed. ¡°How will restraint feed me? Do you have any idea how painful it is to be hungry?¡±


    ¡°Fine. Just pretend I didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    ¡°You know, I seem to remember someone saying he would treat us all to dinner. Let¡¯s go.¡± Tang Wulin smirked.


    ¡°Y-you¡¯re still hungry?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s jaw dropped.


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll be done digesting by the time we get there.¡± In truth, there was something strange bubbling in his veins. His blood essence was surging through his body before he ate, as if it were boiling. The sensation reminded him of fusing with the Golden Dragon King¡¯s energy after breaking a seal.


    He was the one who understood his body best. After gorging himself, his blood essence thickened, growing more vigorous, and his blood seemed richer than before. Perhaps this was a method of cultivation for him.


    Due to this sensation, he prodded Xie Xie to go out for another round of food. He wanted to test what was going on with his blood essence, along with the effect more nutritious food had on it.


    ¡°Fine, you win. Let¡¯s go eat. Let¡¯s see if your belly will burst.¡± Xie Xie turned to the girls. ¡°Come on, I¡¯m treating you all. We can stroll through the outer court too! The outer court is practically a town itself. We¡¯ve gotta explore!¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Both Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan approved of his plan.


    The four left Spirit Ice Plaza and entered a street lined with warm orange lights and bustling with people.


    Soon after they arrived on this street, they found a shop full of rowdy people.


    ¡°What¡¯s that place?¡± Xu Xiaoyan looked with curious eyes.


    Xie Xie peeked into the shop. ¡°It looks like this place sells drinks. Huh, so Shrek Academy has this kind of thing too. Let¡¯s go in. We can grab some juice or something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s go. I want ice cream!¡± Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed in delight.


    The drink shop was busy and was nearing capacity. The server dashed to and fro, taking orders and bringing customers their orders, the latter who mostly wore Shrek Academy uniforms.


    The four managed to find a table with great difficulty and sat down. They waved for a waitress, ordering juice and ice cream.


    It seemed that no matter the place, girls couldn¡¯t resist ice cream. Not even the detached Gu Yue could keep her paws off of it. Once their orders arrived, the two girls happily dug in.


    After taking a sip of his orange juice, Tang Wulin nudged Xie Xie, whose eyes wandered everywhere. ¡°What are you looking at?¡±


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°I¡¯m just scouting the place to see if there are any pretty senior sisters here! I need to prepare for adulthood, you know?¡±


    Doubt clouded Tang Wulin¡¯s features. ¡°How are you preparing?¡±

 Chapter 291 - Give Me Her Number!

    Chapter 291 - Give Me Her Number!


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard of Shrek¡¯s Sea God¡¯s Fated Date Festival?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s wide eyes drilled into Tang Wulin¡¯s. ¡°I heard if you are in the inner court and are of a certain age, you¡¯ll qualify to participate in the festival. It¡¯s a grand occasion for everyone in the inner court! Even us outer court students can catch glimpses of it later.I¡¯m not sure about the details, but apparently the festival has been held ten thousand years straight! Countless couples sprang up there. Legend has it the Spirit Ice Douluo and the Dragon Butterfly Douluo started dating at this festival!¡±


    Tang Wulin was not amused. ¡°You¡¯re already thinking about those things at your age? We¡¯re too young for that stuff. Besides, you have to get into the inner court first if you want to participate! We still have a long ways to go, you know? Think about the student number two who beat you into a pulp during the trials. He¡¯s that strong and he¡¯s not even an inner court student.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out once I have a target. And we definitely have a shot at making it into the inner court if we give it our all.¡± Xie Xie bounced up and down from his seat.


    Tang Wulin smiled, raising his cup. ¡°Congratulations everyone! We¡¯ve made it into Shrek Academy. Let¡¯s consider this a late celebration.¡±


    Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan perked up when they heard Tang Wulin¡¯s words, their ice cream forgotten on the table. The four exchanged smiles. Not just anyone can get accepted into Shrek Academy!


    Calling it the continent¡¯s number one academy was no understatement. Merely the entrance exam alone tested so many aspects: strength, potential, secondary profession, character, and patience among other things. It was a thoroughly comprehensive exam. Failing a single trial would have greatly hindered their chances of making it into the academy.


    Yet now, they sat there as students of Shrek Academy. Wu Zhangkong and Eastsea Academy hadn¡¯t wasted their time grooming the four afterall.


    Expectation filled their hearts. They all wondered what they would learn here at Shrek Academy, and just how different it would be from a mundane academy such as Eastsea Academy.


    ¡°Waitress, over here!¡± During the four¡¯s celebration, the person at the table next to them shouted.


    They turned a deaf ear to the commotion, but that was only the beginning.


    ¡°Give me your number.¡± The stranger¡¯s words were coated with arrogance.


    Who dares to be so demanding in Shrek Academy?


    Tang Wulin and the others turned to check out who this self-important person was.


    A  young man sat at a neighboring table. He didn¡¯t wear a Shrek Academy uniform, and instead accentuated his handsome features with a white suit. He seemed about one or two years older than Tang Wulin and his group. His hair was reminiscent of spun gold, combed back and held in place with some product, not one hair out of place.


    A strange air exuded from the depths of his mystical golden eyes, as if his existence itself radiated light.


    Of all the customers in the drink shop, only Tang Wulin could rival this person in the looks department. Even so, Tang Wulin was no match for the golden-haired young man¡¯s overbearingness.


    The waitress stood in front of him. She wore a long black skirt and a white apron. She had jade-white skin, short fiery-red hair, and a pair of large and beautiful black eyes. Her beauty made men want to protect her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, that is out of the scope of my job responsibilities,¡± she politely responded.


    ¡°Then what will it take for me to get your number?¡± he asked.


    The waitress shook her head and turned around to leave.


    ¡°What kind of service is this? Get me your manager.¡± The man slammed his palm on the table, instantly attracting the eyes of the surrounding customers. Yet for some reason, those wearing the Shrek Academy uniform averted their gazes when they saw it was this young man making the commotion.


    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± After saying this, the waitress scurried off.


    A few moments later, a middle-aged man came forward to the table. ¡°Sir, may I ask what the problem is? I am the manager of this drink shop.¡±


    ¡°Give me her communicator number.¡± The young man pointed at the waitress.


    The manager made a regretful face. ¡°My apologies, but I cannot divulge the private information of the staff.¡±


    The young man raised a brow. ¡°Then what do I need to do to get her number?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that we can¡¯t help you. Please don¡¯t make things difficult for us. I can¡¯t tell you her private information no matter what.¡± The manager¡¯s tone was polite, but firm.


    The pressure within the shop increased tenfold.¡°Get me your boss.¡±


    Though the manager hesitated, brows dipping, he nodded in the end. ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± He turned around and left.


    True to his word, the manager returned soon after, a richly-dressed middle-aged man in tow.


    ¡°Sir, how can I help you?¡±


    ¡°I want that waitress''s number.¡± Once again, he exhibited the arrogance of someone used to getting their way.


    The owner of the shop didn¡¯t flinch at the demand. ¡°I heard your request from the manager, but I¡¯m sorry, we won¡¯t divulge the private information of our employees no matter what. Please excuse me for being unable to help you.¡±


    The young man narrowed his eyes. ¡°So you won¡¯t agree no matter what?¡±


    The owner nodded.


    ¡°Fine.¡± The young man rose from his seat and snapped his fingers.


    A finely dressed man stood up from a nearby table and approached the scene, giving the young man a slight bow. ¡°Young master, what is your command?¡±


    ¡°Negotiate with the owner. I want to buy this drink shop.¡±


    The owner was stunned, but his expression soon turned ugly. ¡°Sir, I¡¯m sorry, but I have no intentions of selling.¡±


    Stepping forward, the butler greeted the owner with a smile. ¡°Hello, I am Sun Bo. How about we speak in private?¡± He handed a golden card over to the shop owner as the words left his mouth


    One look at the card and the owner¡¯s eyes went wide with shock. He obediently nodded to the butler¡¯s suggestion and led the butler away to discuss matters.


    While the corner of Xie Xie¡¯s mouth twitched, Tang Wulin sighed at the farce. ¡°These city people sure know how to play.¡±


    Gu Yue coldly snorted.


    Contrary to her companions, Xu Xiaoyan was all smiles. ¡°So, do you guys think he¡¯ll be able to get that girl¡¯s number?¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll see soon enough. I never expected to have such a show play out in front of us when we¡¯re going out for drinks. The shop owner seemed stubborn, but that young man is probably from a wealthy family. Let¡¯s see if the owner can be swayed by money.¡±


    Just as Tang Wulin finished speaking, the butler and the shop owner returned.


    ¡°Young master, I have negotiated a price with Boss Yang over here, and I¡¯ve already sent payment. From now on, this drink shop is your property.¡± The butler spoke with measured disinterest as if this was a normal occasion.


    The young man nodded, flicking his gaze back at Boss Yang. ¡°Give me her number.¡±


    From the beginning, the young man had not bothered to restrain his voice. Everyone around could hear him loud and clear, flabbergasted expressions plastered over their faces. For the sake of a single girl¡¯s number, he spent loads of money to acquire this drink shop. The shops in Shrek Academy¡¯s perimeter had unimaginable property values. Not just anyone could waltz in. As such, the golden-haired young man¡¯s background was a topic of high discussion for spectators.


    Boss Yang sighed, approaching the red-haired waitress.


    At this scene, Tang Wulin shrugged once more. ¡°It seems money can sway anyone.¡±


    A moment later, the waitress walked over to the young man.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    The young man smiled. ¡°Nothing much. I just thought you were pretty and wanted to get to know you better.¡±


    Without uttering another word, the girl began unbuttoning her apron.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you to undress!¡± the young man shouted, flabbergasted by her actions.


    Snorting, the girl threw her apron on the table. ¡°I quit, so I¡¯m not your employee anymore.¡± She turned to leave.


    The young man¡¯s smile grew wider as he mirrored her actions. ¡°Even better!¡± he said as he chased after her shadow.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe something like this can happen in Shrek City. Really, if this is tolerated, then what isn¡¯t?¡± Xie Xie shot out of his seat and followed the two.


    Unable to stop Xie Xie, Tang Wulin went after him.


    Even if you want to fight for justice, at least pay the bill first! He thought this as he threw some bills on the table.


    With one foot out the door, Tang Wulin felt a powerful wave of soul power rippling through the air, golden light permeating the sky and dispelling the shadows of the night.

 Chapter 292 - The Holy Angel and the Fallen Angel

    Chapter 292 - The Holy Angel and the Fallen Angel


    The golden radiance of this young man that had been harassing the waitress stunned Tang Wulin. His entire being emitted an aura of holiness. A pair of pure white wings unfolded from the man¡¯s back, and his holy aura skyrocketed.


    This¡­


    Three soul rings rose from beneath the golden-haired young man.


    The truly shocking thing, however, was that all three were purple!


    The red-haired girl not far from the man turned around, her expression glacial and grave. She eyed him coldly then spread her arms. Darkness began swirling around her, twisting and shifting as a pair of jet-black wings extended from her back, a dark aura now surrounding her.


    That¡¯s...


    Those white wings¡­ Tang Wulin thought to himself. They should belong to the legendary martial soul, the Holy Angel! But then... what are those black wings?


    ¡°It seems like I was right.¡± The man in white smiled. He flapped his wings, golden light radiating from his body. ¡°Just as I thought. How interesting. So very¡­ interesting¡­¡±


    The girl stared at him with an icy expression. She flapped her wings, lifting herself from the ground as two purple soul rings appeared beneath her.


    ¡°Two rings versus three rings,¡± the man in white said. ¡°You don¡¯t stand a chance. Just surrender and let me take you to be judged.¡±


    The girl pursed her lips. Her eyes flashed and darkness enveloped her.


    ¡°Trying to run?¡± The golden-haired man snorted, his first soul ring shining as golden light erupted from his body.


    The man¡¯s holy radiance dispelled the encroaching darkness and spread toward the girl. He thrust a hand forward as his second soul ring lit up, commanding the holy light to surge toward the girl enveloped in a violet-black aura.


    With a flap of his wings, he flew at her.


    ¡°I already told you,¡± he said. ¡°You have two rings and I have three. You don¡¯t stand a chance against me, so stop resisting.¡±


    Seeing the man rushing at her, a sneer surfaced on the girl¡¯s face. She furled her wings again and withdrew her martial soul.


    ¡°This is Shrek, you dumbass.¡±


    A sharp wave of force split the clouds and obliterated the light and the darkness. The force pressed down on the golden-haired man, suppressing him and forcing him to the ground.


    A tall man appeared in the sky. His figure was indistinct, but his imposing voice reverberated throughout the street.


    ¡°Who dares break the laws of Shrek City?¡±


    The golden-haired man answered first.


    ¡°Honorable enforcer, I am the Angel Clan¡¯s Yue Zhengyu, a student from the second grade¡¯s class one. I discovered a Fallen Angel on campus, and as everyone knows, Fallen Angels always become evil soul masters. In light of that, I chose to take action and capture her to take her to my clan for judgement.¡±


    His words had no effect on the girl. She simply took a card out of her pocket and presented it to the enforcer. ¡°Respected enforcer, I am a working student here at Shrek Academy. The Academy has already verified my identity and determined that I am not an evil soul master.¡±


    She¡¯s a working student?


    This revelation stunned Tang Wulin and the others. They never expected that this Fallen Angel girl with two rings would be a working student like them. Unlike Yue Zhengyu, however, she didn¡¯t bother to reveal her name.


    An attractive force pulled the card from her hand and to the enforcer. After inspecting the card, he turned to Yue Zhengyu. ¡°I have confirmed her identity as a working student. It¡¯s impossible for her to be an evil soul master. I won¡¯t punish you since you thought you were apprehending an evil soul master, but next time you¡¯ll be punished two-fold. Now break it up.¡±


    The enforcer sent the card back to the girl then disappeared in a blur.


    Tang Wulin and the others trembled in awe.


    Now this is Shrek City!


    In Shrek City, they couldn¡¯t do whatever they wanted or harass others. Doing so would they provoke the wrath of the enforcers.


    The girl put her card away then turned to Yue Zhengyu.


    She punched a fist out, stuck her thumb up, and slowly turned it to point down at the ground.


    ¡°You...!¡± Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes went red with fury.


    The girl snorted and left, her figure quickly disappearing into the dark of night.


    Yue Zhengyu moved to pursue her, but his butler grabbed his arm.


    ¡°You mustn¡¯t offend the dignity of Shrek, young master,¡± the butler said, shaking his head. ¡°Since Shrek Academy has confirmed her identity, there is no point in pursuing this matter any further.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu snorted in response. ¡°So they¡¯re saying a Fallen Angel isn¡¯t an evil soul master? It seems like Shrek is¡­¡±


    ¡°Young master!¡± the butler exclaimed, hastily silencing him with a ripple of power. ¡°Watch what you say!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu stormed off in a huff.


    Though this farce finally came to an end, Tang Wulin and the others wanted to see it play out a little longer. They were beginning to understand how abnormal Shrek Academy was.


    Not a single one of them felt tired when they returned to the shabby dormitory for working students.


    ¡°Captain, don¡¯t you think there¡¯s some strange secret about working students?¡± Xie Xie whispered to Tang Wulin. ¡°Everyone in the dining hall became respectful the moment they heard you were a working student. They even seemed to fear you a bit. The guy who defeated me during the exam, and even that red-haired girl from earlier¡­ both were working students. Maybe we should investigate this?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head.


    ¡°We¡¯re new here,¡± he answered. ¡°Our number one priority at the moment is to get used to Shrek Academy and understand its customs. We¡¯re still insignificant here, so it¡¯d be best for us to not look for trouble. We can investigate once we¡¯ve settled in, but we currently don¡¯t have the energy to spare for it. Put your curiosity aside for now.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Xie Xie replied glumly then turned around to look at Xu Xiaoyan. They had yet to rest because the curtain for separating the room still hadn¡¯t been set up.


    ¡°How come you''re such a gossiper?¡± Xu Xiaoyan rolled her eyes at him. ¡°And you call yourself a man¡­¡±


    Gu Yue stood up and hung the curtain, splitting the room into two halves, and the four of them began to meditate.


    Although he had stopped Xie Xie from sticking his nose into the matter, Tang Wulin felt restless. He had heard of the Angel and Fallen Angel martial souls in legends before. For the red-haired girl to face off against the golden-haired man on even ground, her martial soul must¡¯ve been just as powerful as his.


    Then there was the matter of evil soul masters. He didn¡¯t know what they were, but judging by their name, they clearly weren¡¯t good news. The young man wouldn¡¯t have persecuted the girl if they were.


    The soul master world is even more amazing than I thought! I wonder if Teacher Wu will continue to instruct us when we start classes tomorrow?


    The night passed in silence. When morning came, Tang Wulin and Xu Xiaoyan woke up early to cultivate their Purple Demon Eyes together.


    After washing up, they faced their first problem of the day¡ªbreakfast.


    As working students, their first order of business in the morning was to go to the administration building to receive their jobs for the day. Fortunately for Tang Wulin, he still had black steamed buns and was able to eat enough to tide him over until lunch.


    When they arrived at the administration building, they ran into a student number two.


    Being a working student himself, it was natural for him to come here in the morning as well.


    They then went to the administrator who said, ¡°You four, continue cleaning Spirit Ice Plaza today. You did well yesterday. Continue working hard today.¡±


    Thus Tang Wulin and the others had their jobs for the day.

 Chapter 293 - The Headmaster of the Outercourt

    Chapter 293 - The Headmaster of the Outercourt


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Teacher, besides cleaning the plaza, can we accept other jobs?¡±


    ¡°You want more?¡± Startled, the administrative teacher looked up from his papers and stared at Tang Wulin with curiosity. It would be more normal for working students to be unaccustomed to doing jobs.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin made a bitter face. Without contribution points, he couldn¡¯t eat! He also couldn¡¯t go out to buy food. When he paid for the bill at the drink shop the night before, the amount had almost given him a heart attack! Everything was far more expensive in Shrek City, and he couldn¡¯t bear to part with his most beloved money.


    ¡°Alright, you can.¡± The administrator handed him a soul screen. ¡°. Look through this list and choose for yourself.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan, Gu Yue, and Xie Xie peered at the screen over Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder. At that moment, a young man entered and went to the administrator.


    ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ve finished my job.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? The design plans are done? That was quite fast. Yuanen, your efficiency is improving.¡± The administrative teacher took his card and added contribution points to it.


    ¡°Come take another job.¡±


    So his name is Yuanen. Tang Wulin glanced at him. This person¡¯s outer appearance was truly too unassuming for his strength. He had no striking traits and seemed utterly average.


    Yuanen quickly selected a job and departed in silence. Throughout the entire time, he had only given Tang Wulin and the others a single nod of acknowledgement. Even then, Tang Wulin believed that this small greeting was only because they were fellow working students.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take this one.¡± Tang Wulin pointed to a first-grade thousand refining job.


    The administrative teacher stared at him in surprise. ¡°Are you sure?  Your points will be deducted if you fail and you will be expelled if you don¡¯t have enough points to pay for your studies. As working students, all four of you have to pay three hundred contribution points a month as tuition.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m certain.¡±


    Tang Wulin was surprised when, while scrolling through the job list, he found there were just as many thousand refining tasks as Eastsea City.


    After thinking it over some more, Tang Wulin realized why. Shrek Academy could not be compared with other places¡ªnot a single one of its students aimed to become a mecha pilot. No, they strove to become battle armor masters!


    Thousand refined metal was the foundation of one-word battle armors! Though Shrek Academy had stringent requirements to accept a student, the outer court still had over a thousand students. He didn¡¯t understand how the outer court worked yet, but with this large population of prospective battle armor masters, thousand refined metal would definitely be in high demand.


    A mere first-grade thousand refined job was worth one thousand points.


    The average fourth-rank blacksmith couldn¡¯t produce first-grade thousand refined products with absolute success, but it was a walk in the park for Tang Wulin.


    But now he was a fifth-rank blacksmith! While he had barely stepped into the rank and couldn¡¯t spirit refine again at the moment, he had still breached it! This, coupled with all his thousand refining practice, meant his first-grade thousand refining success rate was almost one hundred percent! Completing such a job was beyond simple for him. If not for fear of drawing too much attention to himself, Tang Wulin would accept a few more thousand refining jobs. As a newcomer, however, it was best not to rock the boat.


    ¡°Teacher, where can I buy some metal and forge?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Naturally, he needed a forging table to do his work.


    The administrative teacher waved dismissively. ¡°Just wait until after the opening ceremony. You can ask your teacher then.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay.¡±


    After leaving the administrative building, Xie Xie slid over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. ¡°So that guy¡¯s called Yuanen.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to Xie Xie. ¡°What, are you still holding a grudge? I don¡¯t think you can beat him as you are now. Besides, I think we¡¯ve misunderstood something. Second grade students here aren¡¯t older than us by just a year, but by three years.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know that for certain,¡± Xie Xie retorted. ¡°Shrek Academy accepts anyone fifteen and under. We¡¯re thirteen and got accepted, so maybe he was accepted at an even younger age than us! We can¡¯t just go assuming his age. Anyway, we¡¯ll be relying on you from now on, Captain.¡± His tone suddenly became flattering.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t having any of it. ¡°Alright! You can buy my contribution points for money. I¡¯m fine with that.¡±


    Xie Xie glared at him. ¡°Boss, you¡¯re not that much of a money grubber are you?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded earnestly. ¡°Yeah, I really am that much! Did you only realize that today? I¡¯m a super money grubber, so don¡¯t even think about touching my money! Self-reliance is one of the Tang Sect¡¯s traditions, you know?¡±


    Xie Xie scowled. ¡°You¡¯re too heartless.¡±


    Tang Wulin patted Xie Xie on the shoulder. ¡°If you want to earn more contribution points, then work hard on improving in your second profession. The money will flow naturally if you do. Besides, I don¡¯t think our points are used just for food and tuition. Since Shrek Academy has this point system, I¡¯ll bet there are a bunch of other useful services and goods we can purchase with them.¡±


    ?


    The opening ceremony was held within the sparkling clean Spirit Ice Plaza.


    It was only then did Tang Wulin understand the true immensity of Shrek Academy¡¯s size.


    Just like any other academy, they had six grades. Each grade had around one hundred students give or take ten or twenty, and together they totalled a little over seven hundred students.


    Upon careful observation, Tang Wulin discovered that the oldest group of students appeared to be in their thirties. Not only did they have extraordinary cultivation bases, they held themselves with solemnity and gravity. Yet they were outer court students. People usually graduated from an advanced academy in their early to mid-twenties, but the age range for Shrek Academy students was bizarrely wide. If Wu Zhangkong were to be placed in an outer court grade, he would probably only be in the fifth grade.


    This academy is really strange.


    The newest students were naturally the youngest ones, and were fifteen or younger, with most being thirteen or fourteen.


    Second grade students seemed older than them, but only by an average of three years.


    Each grade of students were put into a single class instead of several classes.


    So this is Shrek Academy¡¯s outer court! I wonder how many students are in the inner court? I heard there¡¯s not many of them and they stay cooped up in the inner city cultivating.


    As Tang Wulin¡¯s mind thought of Sea God¡¯s Lake, he couldn¡¯t help but grow envious of the inner court students. How long until I can go cultivate there too?


    Much to Tang Wulin¡¯s surprise, there wasn¡¯t a podium or stage setup for the opening ceremony. When the ceremony started, however, shivers ran down the spines of the new students.


    Twenty people slowly descending from the sky, their majestic aura and presence awe-inspiring.


    In the middle of this formation was a figure Tang Wulin and the others were all too familiar with and could never forget. It was Elder Cai, the Silver Moon Douluo.


    She wore a dark-silver robe today, her long hair coiled into a bun and her hands behind her while gazing upon the students with awe-inspiring might. Backing her up on either side of her were imposing men and women ranging from their thirties to fifties.


    Tang Wulin only recognized Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi among them.


    Will Teacher Wu be a teacher here now? Then does that mean he is going to continue being our teacher?


    If Tang Wulin could be taught by someone he was familiar with in this unfamiliar environment, that would be the best.


    Tang Wulin trembled as he watched Elder Cai and the group of teachers hovering in mid-air. Each and every one of of them emitted a domineering aura that made everyone watching hold their breath.


    Apart from flying-type soul masters, only those with at least seven rings could fly. In other words, all of these teachers had breached the realm of seven rings.


    A middle-aged man moved a step forward in the air.


    ¡°A new academic year will begin again. At this time every year, Shrek welcomes new blood to our academy. I invite the headmaster of the outer court, the illustrious Silver Moon Douluo,  Elder Cai, to say a few words.¡±

 Chapter 294 - A Turn for the Worse

    Chapter 294 - A Turn for the Worse


    Tang Wulin¡¯s group shared looks of dismay, their hearts filling with apprehension. In the past, Elder Cai had proclaimed they needed to become battle armor masters before the age of twenty in order to enter the inner court. They finally understood where her outrageous demand had come from: she was the headmaster of the outer court! As such, she had the authority to impose such requirements on them!


    Elder Cai wore a mask of indifference. ¡°Shrek Academy has never forced its students to cultivate nor is our education compulsory. There is an annual minor exam and a major one every three years. Failing the minor exam twice will result in expulsion. So, the number of students  in each grade will decrease in the next three years.


    ¡°For those in the sixth grade who have yet to meet the graduation requirements, I hope you will all work hard and fulfill them before you turn thirty-five. As for our new students, you have the option to relax and take it easy, but then you might not be here in three years.


    ¡°Of course, Shrek Academy will not hold back in your education. You can ask for guidance from your teacher and make use of the numerous facilities on campus. Naturally, you must exchange contributions points to utilize them. You new students will soon realize the importance of contribution points.


    ¡°Now, on the eve of the new academic year, let us celebrate Shrek¡¯s generations of honor and glory, and to many more generations of magnificence. But whether you¡¯ll be part of the glory or left on the sidelines in the future will be up to you.¡±


    That¡¯s it? Isn¡¯t her speech a bit too short?


    And here Tang Wulin had thought the opening ceremony at Eastsea Academy had been brief. It never crossed his mind Shrek Academy¡¯s would make record time!


    Even so, he learned many new things from Elder Cai¡¯s speech. Shrek Academy¡¯s elimination system lived up to its fame. Anyone who wanted to graduate from Shrek would have to put in blood, sweat, and tears, progressing step by step until the day they stood at the world¡¯s summit.


    I have to work hard! Tang Wulin subconsciously clenched his fists.


    With the ceremony concluded, the teachers in the air split up, each heading to their respective classes. The eyes of Tang Wulin and his friends shimmered when they saw Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi flying toward them.


    So Teacher Wu and Teacher Shen are our teachers¡­ Wait, what? Why is she flying here too?


    Their smiles stiffened. Someone they never wanted to interact with again was soaring through the skies in the four¡¯s direction.


    Her lips curled into a mocking smile as she locked her eyes on them.


    No way¡­ No way. No way!


    Yet there was nothing they could do to stop her.


    ¡°I will be personally managing this year¡¯s new class. Beside me are my assistant teachers, Teacher Shen Yi and Teacher Wu Zhangkong. Now to the classroom.¡±


    The moment these words left Elder Cai¡¯s mouth, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide, Xie Xie¡¯s jaw dropped, Xu Xiaoyan gasped, and Gu Yue¡¯s lips began to quiver.


    Wha...


    What is this?


    They had never expected Elder Cai to do such a thing.


    Just how far will she go to trouble us? How much does she hate us?


    After Elder Cai finished speaking, she flew toward the school building, leading the way for the rest of the class. Unknown to Tang Wulin and the others, Elder Cai¡¯s lips curved into a sly smile, her eyes shimmering with satisfaction.


    There was a reason she hadn¡¯t lost any sleep over Gu Yue¡¯s rejection. As the headmaster of the outer court, she had them in the palm of her hands from the moment she stopped them from entering the inner court.


    That was why she stipulated that they would have to become battle armor masters before the age of twenty just to enter the inner court. Not even Zhuo Shi could go against her words in this case. The division of labor between elders of the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion were clear and absolute, and the the outer court was Elder Cai¡¯s jurisdiction.


    ¡°Her schemes are cunning and her foresight is deep!¡± Tang Wulin lamented. Compared to this veteran, they were the most naive of rookies.


    The three teachers landed further ahead, leaving the students to hurry after them. Perhaps Tang Wulin and the others were relegated to the back of the congregation due to their working-student status, even though they had initially been at the front.


    The school building felt different from how it did during the exam. Although the four felt depressed from Elder Cai¡¯s presence, because they were now Shrek Academy students and their previous instructor, Wu Zhangkong, would still be teaching them, their situation couldn¡¯t be too bad.


    They entered the outer court¡¯s classroom for the first grade, which was on the first floor.


    It was a lecture theater large enough to hold three hundred people. Elder Cai ascended the platform and stood behind the lectern. On the side, Shen Yi said, ¡°Students, please take your seat according to what I announce. Tang Wulin, row one seat one.¡±


    Row one seat one? I¡¯m the first one called? Tang Wulin suppressed his surprise as he scrambled to his seat.


    Row one seat one was neither on the left edge, nor the right, but dead center.


    ¡°Gu Yue, row one, seat two!¡± This seat was on Tang Wulin¡¯s right.


    ¡°Xie Xie, row one, seat three!¡± And this was on Tang Wulin¡¯s left.


    ¡°Xu Xiaoyan, row one, seat four!¡± She sat next to Gu Yue¡¯s other side.


    Their seats were the closest to the lectern, no more than five meters apart. They were practically within arm¡¯s reach of the lectern and in full view of whoever stood there.


    Each of them pulled odd faces once they took their seats. A dark cloud settled over Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan was pale as a ghost. On the other hand, Gu Yue seemed to handle herself better, maintaining a semblance of calm with only her brows furrowed. They all knew Elder Cai had arranged for them to sit in this spot.


    Because they had offended the head instructor before school started, there would be hard days in store for them.


    Xie Xie shot a look at Tang Wulin, as if asking for the next course of action. Tang Wulin gave him a slight nod, acknowledging his concerns but affirming their lack of control over the situation.


    Apart from waiting to see her plans unfold, there was nothing else they could do.


    With rest of the students seated, the lecture theater was only one-third full.


    ¡°Elder Cai, there should be 101 students in this year¡¯s new class, and I¡¯ve counted 101 students. Everyone is present,¡± Shen Yi reported.


    Elder Cai didn¡¯t pay any mind to Tang Wulin and company, indifferently saying, ¡°I believe you¡¯ve all heard what I said at the opening ceremony, so I won¡¯t be repeating any of that. Here at Shrek Academy, your teachers will show you the door, but it is up to you to step through it. Your success here depends on your own efforts. Well, that¡¯s enough about that. Today you will be familiarizing yourselves with how things are done here. Teacher Shen will explain the rules and education style in a moment. Teacher Shen, if you will.¡±


    Elder Cai made to leave immediately after finishing her speech. Before she exited the lecture theater¡¯s doors, however, she flicked a glance at Tang Wulin¡¯s group.


    All four of them let out a collective sigh of relief once she left. Without a doubt, it was better for them if she wasn¡¯t present. In fact, it would be best if she wasn¡¯t managing the class of new students.

 Chapter 295 - The Pressure of Shrek

    Chapter 295 - The Pressure of Shrek


    Since Elder Cai left the lecture hall, Shen Yi replaced her at the lectern and swept her gaze across all the students.


    ¡°On behalf of Shrek Academy, I welcome you. Everything I¡¯m about to say concerns your future studies, so take note. It¡¯s important that new students like you know these things, and I will not repeat myself.


    ¡°All of you are now members of Shrek Academy. Whatever you do in the outside world represents Shrek Academy. If you overstep your bounds, the Academy will punish you. Punishment will be completely unrelated to whatever the Federation decides.¡±


    Her voice grew somber as the last few words left her mouth.


    Shrek Academy, and by extension, Shrek City, was a powerful independent organization in the Douluo Continent. Laws and punishments were determined solely at Shrek¡¯s discretion. The Federation had no jurisdiction over it.


    ¡°Each one of you has a student identification card with your information and contribution points stored in it. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all curious about what you can use contribution points for. Simply put, they can be used for anything in the outer court. You can exchange them for cultivation resources, spirit souls, time in special facilities on campus, personal guidance from a teacher, and entrance to the spirit ascension platform. Working students, in particular, need them to buy food. Within reason, you can exchange them for anything and everything you want.


    ¡°You¡¯re all probably curious as to how you can obtain more points. Let me get this out of the way first: you cannot purchase contribution points with money. You have to complete jobs for the Academy in order to earn contribution points. There is a large variety of jobs for you to choose from. For example, you have physical labor, metal forging, mecha design, mecha making, mecha maintenance, and so on. As long as you are able to complete the job, you will be awarded contribution points. They can also be transferred between students. Private transactions will not receive the Academy¡¯s protection, but you can choose to make such transactions through the Academy¡¯s public platform at a small cost. The points will be valid as long as Shrek Academy still stands, and what you spend them on is up to you. Of course, if you¡¯re expelled, you will be given an opportunity to spend all your points before being forced to leave.


    ¡°Classes are only held in the morning. You are free to do whatever you want in the afternoon and evening. You can study on campus in any way you wish or even go out into the city. Anything is fine as long as you do not miss your morning classes. Apart from special circumstances and the approval of a teacher, tardiness will not be excused. Instances in which you are late to class will be considered absences. Anyone who is absent three times will face expulsion.


    ¡°Continuing on, you are not allowed to bring anything bought with Federation money onto campus. Anyone who is caught doing so will be fined contribution points ten times the price of the items. You can try your luck in smuggling things in, but I wouldn¡¯t suggest it. Some places on campus do accept Federation money, but as I¡¯m sure those of you who have been there already know, they are very expensive.¡±


    ¡°Those of you who are working students will have it harder. You will have to pay for your own meals. No one will stop you from going off-campus to eat, but I advise that you consider how much time would be wasted if you did. Time is the most important thing for students here. If you fall behind, you risk being expelled.


    ¡°There¡¯s one thing you should know that Elder Cai didn¡¯t mention earlier. In Shrek Academy¡¯s elimination system, anyone in the bottom five of the yearly minor exams will be expelled. Shrek Academy only raises monsters. You could spend your time here in a leisurely manner, but then your stay would only last a year.


    ¡°A list of optional courses will be passed around later. Some of those classes are free to normal students while others require payment. Working students, however, will have to pay for any optional classes they choose to take. All students will need to exchange contribution points for the resources used in these classes.


    ¡°That is all you need to know for now, so we will stop here for today. You can go familiarize yourselves with the campus or perhaps try doing some jobs to earn points. Oh, right, be careful of point deductions. If any of you reach negative one thousand points, you will be expelled.¡±


    Shen Yi explained how Shrek Academy worked as if she were reading from a script, but every word stabbed at Tang Wulin¡¯s heart.


    The curriculum seemed easy, and classes only took place in the morning, yet the elimination and contribution point systems pushed students to strive for the best. Anyone who didn¡¯t spend their afternoons and evenings improving themselves risked falling behind. They also had to find time to do jobs and earn contribution points. In truth, they had a packed schedule.


    It was clear to Tang Wulin that competition here was fierce. Shrek Academy was far more challenging than Eastsea Academy, and he could only rely on himself to get what he needed.


    Even so, there was nothing he could do but work hard. Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shone with confidence. Now that he was a fifth-rank blacksmith, he and his teammates wouldn¡¯t have to worry about contribution points. He only told Xie Xie to improve in his second profession that morning because he feared that the others would become dependent on him for contribution points, letting their second professions stagnate. They needed to be involved in the creation of their own battle armor to be able to use it. Before they could do that, they had to improve in their respective professions and reach the fourth rank. To forge two-word battle armor, however, they had to reach the fifth rank. This requirement was not up for negotiation.


    The greatest benefit that Shrek Academy provided the four of them was the broadening of their horizons. Here, they could truly develop themselves as future battle armor masters!


    ¡°Alright,¡± Shen Yi said. ¡°I¡¯ve finished explaining the important stuff. Let¡¯s move on to the topic of this morning¡¯s class.¡±


    She¡¯s jumping straight into lecturing? Things move so quickly at Shrek!


    ¡°Today¡¯s first topic is battle armor masters.¡± Shen Yi¡¯s words immediately caught everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°What is a battle armor master? What does it mean to become one?¡±


    Every single soul master dreamed of becoming a battle armor master. Regardless of where they came from, each and every student here was a genius at their previous academy, and it was obvious where their goals lay.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure some of you are confused as to why the first class is about battle armor masters,¡± she continued. ¡°Well, that¡¯s because you already learned the basics before you came here. If you hadn¡¯t, you wouldn¡¯t have passed the entrance exam. In light of that, we won¡¯t be covering them here. For the next five, ten, fifteen, or maybe even twenty years, your goal is to become a battle armor master.


    ¡°As all of you heard from Elder Cai¡¯s speech during the opening ceremony, you will only be able to stay in the outer court until thirty-five years of age. If you fail to become a one-word battle armor master before you turn thirty-five, you will be sent home without graduating. If you do manage it, however, you will be able to graduate from the outer court. This is the standard for all of Shrek Academy¡¯s students. Let me tell you all right now¡ªonly thirty-three percent of outer court students graduate. In other words, a third of all outer court students have what it takes to become a battle armor master.


    ¡°If you¡¯ve already laid down a sturdy foundation for your secondary professions before coming here, then congratulations. It will be easier for you to progress from here on out. However, if you haven¡¯t, you better put more effort into improving in your profession.


    ¡°Anyone capable of becoming a one-word battle armor master at twenty-five years old or younger will be eligible to join the inner court. If you don¡¯t pass the inner court exam, then you will just graduate as an outer court student and leave. Unlike what you all may think, you don¡¯t have that much time here.¡±


    She paused, letting her words hang in the air for just a moment.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s move on to the topic of battle armor masters. Just what is a battle armor master?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m confident that most of you will say they¡¯re just more powerful mecha pilots, yes?¡±


    A wave of subconscious nods spread throughout the class.


    ¡°Then you are all gravely mistaken.¡±

 Chapter 296 - Time Waits for No One

    Chapter 296 - Time Waits for No One


    ¡°If all of your believe battle armor masters are merely that, then you are all gravely mistaken.


    ¡°Battle armor masters are completely different from mecha pilots,¡± Shen Yi firmly stated.


    ¡°A mecha pilot puts clothes on their person, but a battle armor master puts clothes on their martial soul because at their core, they are still soul masters. This is the fundamental difference between the two. Let me emphasize this. One-word battle armor masters are simply the beginning. Only at two words, when you¡¯re one with your armor and it becomes an extension of your body and martial soul, are you truly considered a battle armor master.¡±


    ¡°It is for this reason that you must fuse your battle armor with your martial soul first. They must resonate with each other, attract each other until they become whole.¡±


    ¡°There are four levels of battle armor: one-word, two-word, three-word, and four-word battle armor.¡±


    ¡°Four levels may not seem like much, but the gap between each one is immeasurably deep. If you want to become a battle armor master, you must pick a secondary profession relating to building the armor. At the moment, the most efficient professions are mecha maker and mecha designer. Mecha makers carve circuits into their battle armor, easing the fusion of battle armor and martial soul. Designers create battle armor that perfectly complements their martial soul as you know yourself better than anyone. I suggest you all choose one of these two. Of course, you¡¯re all free to choose to become a blacksmith or a mecha mechanic instead. Blacksmithing is both demanding and strenuous, and forging armor is much more difficult. However, it is the most appropriate profession for creating powerful battle armors.¡±


    ¡°Not one person can reach the peak of all four professions, so choose wisely. Don¡¯t forget that you also need others to help you finish creating your armor, so consider how to best earn contribution points in order to commission them. If their work is good, I suggest befriending them and helping each other out. Personal relationships is a part of one¡¯s strength too.¡±


    ¡°The strength your battle armor can exert depends on your compatibility with it. Perfect unity can boost your power by twenty soul ranks.¡±


    ¡°The requirement to become a one-word battle armor master is five soul rings and the third rank in your second profession. Not only that, the metal must be thousand refined, the design drafted by a grandmaster designer, and the armor assembled by a grandmaster maker. Its compatibility rate must be at least sixty percent, and at least nine pieces of armor are needed for it to be considered battle armor.¡±


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan attentively listened to Shen Yi¡¯s lengthy explanations, not daring to miss a single word about how to become a battle armor master.


    Tang Wulin also realised at that moment just how much more Elder Cai demanded from them than normal students. Normal students had to become battle armor masters by twenty-five years old, but Tang Wulin and his team members were only given until they were twenty years old! That five year difference was huge!


    Reaching soul rank 50 was challenging enough. They needed to increase 20 soul ranks in six years! The fact that soul power cultivation slowed with progression only made things worse. Yet apart from that, they also had to advance in their secondary professions so they could actually make their battle armor. They really had their work cut out for them.


    But time waited for no one!


    Tang Wulin lamented inwardly. He couldn¡¯t waste even a second of his life for the next six years.


    Morning classes didn¡¯t have breaks in between, just one lecture after another.


    After classes finished, Tang Wulin pondered over Shen Yi¡¯s explanation of battle armor while they walked towards the dining hall.


    ¡°Captain, what are you going to eat?¡± Xie Xie asked.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin snapped out of his daydream, surprised to find they were in the dining hall already. The tantalizing aroma of food assaulted his senses and his stomach immediately growled in response. Hunger overwhelmed his mind.


    It was at this moment Tang Wulin faced his greatest crisis of the day: lunch. He only had one hundred contribution points, and that was nowhere near enough to fill him.


    Despite the mountain of food he ate the day before, his appetite was just as large today. Even the leftover black steamed buns he had for breakfast could only temporarily tide him over and save him a few points. One hundred points was enough to feed twenty people, but he could eat for far more than twenty!


    Recalling the blacksmithing job he accepted, Tang Wulin said, ¡°You guys go eat first. I¡¯ll figure something out for myself.¡±


    Then he turned and walked towards the dining hall¡¯s door, internally making some calculations. Once he completed it, he would have the points necessary to eat.


    His friends turned to look at each other.


    ¡°Where is Captain going?¡± Xie Xie asked doubtfully.


    ¡°Why do I feel like he¡¯s up to something?¡± Xu Xiaoyan muttered. ¡°Well, let¡¯s just eat first.¡±


    Standing next to the door, Tang Wulin retrieved a board from his storage device, wrote a few words, then held it in front of himself.


    Fourth-rank blacksmith capable of first-grade thousand refining. I¡¯m short on points, so I¡¯d trade first-grade thousand refining for a year¡¯s worth of meals. Anyone who is interested, please treat me to a meal.


    Xie Xie, who was walking over to see what Tang Wulin was up to, bolted back the moment he read the board.


    ¡°Boss really is willing to do anything for food! But isn¡¯t this a bit too embarrassing? Why is he selling his body to everyone?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°Captain doesn¡¯t care about anything as long as he can eat. Let¡¯s quickly eat lunch then leave. Besides, after his display yesterday, I don¡¯t think anyone is going to take him up on his offer. Imagine the cost to feed him for a year! It would be way more expensive than all of his first-grade thousand refinings. A month might work, but Captain¡¯s stomach is just a bottomless pit.¡±


    Watching Tang Wulin advertise himself at the door Gu Yue frowned. She lowered her head and ate with renewed vigor, her mind seemingly occupied.


    An unending stream of people passed through the door during this lunchtime. Many of them noticed Tang Wulin, but not a single person showed any interest.


    Tang Wulin had chosen to act modestly and omitted the fact that he was fifth-rank blacksmith. Yet, considering his age and how he looked no more than fifteen years old, no one would believe him anyway. It was almost unheard of for there to be such a young fourth-rank blacksmith.


    In Shrek Academy, mecha designers or makers were as common as clouds. On the other hand, blacksmiths were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.


    Just as Shen Yi said, it was hard to become a blacksmith, and even harder to climb up the ranks. Most importantly, blacksmiths took longer to progress through the first three ranks compared to designers and makers.


    Once mecha designers and makers reached a certain amount of soul power, their growth relied solely on their comprehension. Of course, progressing past the third rank becomes exponentially harder.


    Blacksmithing was a whole other story.. Understanding the metal was not enough. No, a blacksmith had to steadily build themselves up to the next level. They needed to wield their hammer every day, devoting their heart and soul to the craft.


    With his innate divine strength and comprehension level, Tang Wulin was a naturally gifted blacksmith. He started forging at six years old. Now, seven years later, he was coincidently able to harness the power of the Golden Dragon King to spirit refine at thirteen years old. This feat was unprecedented in all of history!

 Chapter 297 - Working Student Yuanen

    Chapter 297 - Working Student Yuanen


    In the past, some heaven-defying genius mecha designers and makers had reached the same heights as Tang Wulin at his age. However, it was easier to progress through later stages as a blacksmith than as a designer or maker.


    After reaching the fifth rank, blacksmiths only needed to keep forging in order to one day reach the sixth. Designers and makers, on the other hand, had to overcome huge hurdles to progress to each rank after the fifth.


    Most people found designing or making mechas more appealing, and due to the fast rate of growth early on, many chose to become designers or makers. Not all soul masters were suited for blacksmithing. Forging took a toll on one¡¯s body, and it was a tedious job.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach growled. It had been ten minutes since he had begun advertising at the door, yet no one had so much as looked at him.


    Gloom haunted Tang Wulin as he fought back his hunger. I¡¯m starving! If no one bites, then I¡¯ll just have to chug some water to fill my stomach. At least I¡¯ll earn one thousand points after completing the forging job and have enough for dinner. If I have to miss a meal, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it.


    Tang Wulin came to terms with his misfortune with gritted teeth.


    All of a sudden, he heard a soft voice.


    ¡°You can thousand refine?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin raised his head and to his astonishment, saw his fellow working student, Yuanen. ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s right!¡±


    Yuanen looked as ordinary as he usually did, but his eyes blazed with intensity.


    ¡°Instead of treating you for a year, I¡¯ll give you 1100 points for a first-grade thousand refining,¡± Yuanen offered. ¡°What do you say?¡±


    Eleven hundred? That¡¯s more than what the Academy is offering!


    ¡°Alright!¡± Tang Wulin had no reason to refuse. Right now, food was the most important thing. ¡°But you have to pay me first. I don¡¯t have any money to buy food.¡±


    ¡°Fine. You cover the transaction fee though,¡± Yuanen said.


    ¡°Transaction fee?¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed, confusion on his face.


    ¡°All contribution point transactions between students are subject to a one percent fee that the Academy takes,¡± Yuanen explained.


    That¡¯s horrible! Absolutely criminal! Tang Wulin thought in horror.


    ¡°How about you just treat me to a meal instead?¡± Tang Wulin countered ¡°You won¡¯t have to pay me directly.¡±


    Tang Wulin calculated the costs and came to the conclusion that, if he didn¡¯t gorge himself as much as he did yesterday, 1100 points would be enough to feed him for the day.


    After yesterday, however, he understood how important it was for him to eat good food.


    Highly nutritious food helped increase his blood essence. Furthermore, Old Tang said that breaking later seals would be easier if he ate such food every day. An increase to his blood essence meant an improvement in his body as well as his blood essence soul ring, so eating was another method of cultivation for him.


    During today¡¯s class, Shen Yi told them that the stronger a soul master¡¯s body was, the sooner they could try using battle armor. Even two-ring soul masters could use battle armor, but they would obviously only be able to use the smallest of parts. If a blacksmith spirit refined the metal used to create battle armor, the user¡¯s body would then have to be even stronger to use it.


    Rank fifty soul power was required to become a battle armor master because, by then, a soul master¡¯s soul power would have tempered their body enough. The process of a user fusing with battle armor would cause a shock to their mind, body, and martial soul. The more armor parts they fused with, the stronger the shock would be.


    Since that was the case, refining and increasing his blood essence would not only help him break seals in the future, it would also increase his chances of becoming a battle armor master. Investing his hard-earned contribution points was painful for Tang Wulin, but first-grade thousand refining was nothing to the current him. Now that he was a fifth-rank blacksmith, completing ten first-grade thousand refinings in a day posed no problem.


    However, such success required him to devote all of his attention to forging. Despite him being such a penny pincher, even Tang Wulin understood there were some things he couldn¡¯t cut corners on!


    ¡°Alright,¡± Yuanen agreed readily. Many students did such things to avoid paying the fees.


    Tang Wulin put away his advertisement board and followed Yuanen into the dining hall. In spite of how hungry he was, he didn¡¯t dare to cause a scene like the night before. He utilized all of his experience eating at Eastsea Academy¡¯s first window to choose the most nourishing foods to feast upon.


    Once he had picked them out, his meal totaled roughly 420 contribution points. He had never eaten so extravagantly before. After all, if a meal paid for with a first-grade thousand refining wasn¡¯t luxury, then nothing was.


    ¡°I have a question for you, Tang Wulin.¡± Having finished eating long ago, Yuanen watched Tang Wulin digging in, an eyebrow raised.


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s up?¡± Tang Wulin set aside his thirtieth plate and wiped his mouth. He nearly felt satisfied now, but he definitely still had room for more.


    Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan had long since finished eating and left. Yuanen had only stayed because he still needed to pay for Tang Wulin¡¯s food.


    ¡°Are you really human?¡± Yuanen asked earnestly.


    ¡°Eh¡­ Of course I am,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°I can just eat a bit more than normal, that¡¯s all.¡±


    ¡°But... you know that overeating is bad for you, right?¡± Concern filled Yuanen¡¯s voice.


    Tang Wulin shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m not overeating,¡± he replied. ¡°Overeating is when you occasionally gorge yourself beyond your limit. I, however, eat this much every day, so you can¡¯t call it that. This is normal for me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I didn¡¯t promise to feed you for a year then. I¡¯d go broke if I had. Well, let¡¯s go then. You still need to forge for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. I wanted to ask you, where I can find a workshop to use?¡± Tang Wulin asked as the two got up from the table.


    They had already discussed things over lunch. The cost of the meal would be considered Yuanen¡¯s down payment. Tang Wulin would then thousand refine a metal of Yuanen¡¯s choice. After that, Yuanen would pay the value of the product minus the cost of lunch by treating him to dinner. If that still wasn¡¯t enough, he would cover Tang Wulin¡¯s breakfast too. ¡°The Academy¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association has some,¡± Yuanen replied. ¡°But if you¡¯re not a member, you¡¯ll have to pay a fee to use one.¡±


    ¡°Blacksmith¡¯s Association?¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed in astonishment. ¡°The Academy has its own Blacksmith¡¯s Association?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. There are a lot of associations on campus. All of them were established by students that have rented land on campus though. Since they provide experience related to cultivating, you new students will probably receive invitations from the various associations soon. You won¡¯t be able to improve in your second profession without joining an association here. Since you¡¯re a blacksmith, you might as well join the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.¡±


    As they conversed with each other, someone ran through the doors of the dining hall. Since Tang Wulin and Yuanen were just about to leave, that person barred their way.


    The person standing before them was a middle-aged man with disheveled hair as red as flame and a scorching hot aura. He wasn¡¯t particularly tall, only about 170 centimeters tall, but his shoulders were broad. His arms were thick with muscle, each much larger than Tang Wulin¡¯s waist. He looked like a human fortress as he stood there.


    His thick beard blazed red, working with the hair on his head to give him the appearance of a lion.


    Immediately after entering the dining hall, he took a deep breath in and roared.,


    ¡°Who is Tang Wulin? Come here!¡±


    Although the man¡¯s presence wasn¡¯t all that impressive, his shout instantly silenced the droning of over a thousand students and attracted all of their gazes.


    Tang Wulin stood only ten steps away the red-haired man, struck numb by his explosive aura..


    What kind of strength is that? He exclaimed inwardly, staring at the man in awe. He¡¯s so powerful!


    ¡°I-I am.¡± Tang Wulin inadvertently raised his hand. With this man blocking the doorway, he couldn¡¯t leave anyway. Besides, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t offended him, so he had no reason to hide his identity.


    ¡°You are?¡± Confusion spread across the man¡¯s face as he glared at Tang Wulin with his crimson eyes. Tang Wulin could now tell that the man was about fifty years old. He just didn¡¯t care about his appearance and dressed slovenly.


    ¡°Come with me!¡± The red-haired eccentric walked over and reached out to grab Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Tang Wulin asked, subconsciously raising his hands to stop the man.


    He took a step backward, bent his leg, and shoved both hands outward.


    Yet his attack was useless against the man.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s two hands were no match for the single hand the man reached out with. The force in his arms were easily diverted to the side, and as if the man¡¯s arm had instantly grown longer, his large hand clamped down onto Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    A wave of dizziness washed over Tang Wulin as the man abducted him from the dining hall.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Yuanen shouted. Seeing that he was about to be left behind, he quickly ran after the two.


    He still needed to get his first-grade thousand refining after all.

 Chapter 298 - Meteoric Iron

    Chapter 298 - Meteoric Iron


    ¡°Hey!¡± Yuanen shouted. Seeing that he was about to be left behind, he quickly ran after the two. After all, he still needed to get his first-grade thousand refining.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s surroundings blurred as they flew. He struggled within the man¡¯s grasp, but the scorching energy enveloping him made all attempts futile. Several seconds later, his body lightened and he found himself standing in an unfamiliar location.


    It was in a large, messy room. Two shelves lined the walls, filled with an assortment of metals that made Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes light up. If not for his teacher back in Eastsea City, it would have been near impossible for him to obtain some of the truly precious metals on the shelves.


    A large forging table stood in the center of the room, its sparkling silver exterior a clear testament to its grade.


    T-this workshop is enormous!


    ¡°You can spirit refine?¡±


    Tang Wulin turned around and came face to face with the red-haired eccentric. ¡°Who are you? Why did you bring me here?¡±


    ¡°Answer my question first. Can you spirit refine?¡± the man insisted.


    Tang Wulin answered, ¡°I succeeded once by chance.¡±


    The red-haired man¡¯s brows jumped, then he pointed to the forging table. ¡°Good. Then show me your luck again.¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°No, I won¡¯t try it. Last time was a fluke. I don¡¯t even have three soul rings yet, how can I even hope to succeed? I¡¯ll be gravely injured if I fail. I¡¯m not doing it.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have your third ring yet?¡± Taken aback, the red-haired man scratched his head as he took in this piece of information.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, I¡¯m only thirteen years old right now! You can¡¯t expect everyone at my age to have three soul rings.¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    ¡°Indeed, that¡¯s a bit too low.¡± The man nodded seriously. ¡°Then thousand refine for me. I want to watch.¡±


    Tang Wulin instantly hatched a scheme in his devious mind. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll thousand refine for you. But I have a condition.¡±


    The red-haired man rubbed his forehead. ¡°You have a condition for me? Fine! I¡¯ll accept one condition. Tell me, what is it?¡±


    ¡°You let me forge any metal I like in here and keep it after I¡¯m done,¡± Tang Wulin stated.


    ¡°No problem.¡± The man answered without the slightest hint of hesitation as he nodded.


    ¡°Then can you tell me how to use this forging table? I¡¯ve never touched one this expensive before,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    The man used a few simple words to explain the mechanics of the forging table. With his years of forging experience, Tang Wulin instantly grasped how to use it.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m going to start now.¡± Tang Wulin walked over to the shelf of metals as he spoke.


    Just a while ago he had agreed to first-grade thousand refine for Yuanen. Now, luck had practically delivered a shelf full of metal to his doorstep. Although he also had the metals obtained from participating in the competition on behalf of the Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association, those were his own. It was best if he didn¡¯t use them, as he still needed to make money and earn contribution points at the Tang Sect. Fortunately for him, he had obtained some rare metals for a relatively cheap price back in Eastsea City


    Tang Wulin sood before the shelf and inspected each metal. When he spotted two chunks of metal on the lowest shelf, he smiled anddidn¡¯t hesitate to take them.


    ¡°Hey! Not those ones,¡± the red-haired man shouted.


    The two chunks of metal Tang Wulin held in his arms were ashen-gray, as remarkable as random stones on the ground.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say I can choose anything? Are you going back on your word now?¡±


    ¡°Only those two won¡¯t do. You only need to thousand refine once, what do you need two for?¡± The man¡¯s cheeks ached as he tried to conceal his agitation.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I use two? Efficiency is important to us blacksmiths, so to save time I usually forge two metals at once! Since I have a one hundred percent success rate, this is the most efficient way for me to forge.¡±


    Tang Wulin put the two chunks of metal in the forging table as he spoke and began the calcining process.


    This forging table was truly advanced. With enough space to calcine five different metals at once, any blacksmith of sufficient skill could continue forging without stopping with this table. Moreover, its advanced soul battery meant it could reach higher calcining temperatures.


    ¡°You¡­¡± The man anxiously rushed over when he saw what Tang Wulin was doing, but he was too late. The two metals already entered the furnace.


    Tang Wulin beamed at him.


    Anger blazed in the red-haired man¡¯s eyes. ¡°If you can¡¯t thousand refine, no, if you can¡¯t least second-grade thousand refine it, then you¡¯re dead! You¡¯ll work for me until you pay off those two chunks of meteoric iron.¡±


    Meteoric iron was a first-rate metal that didn¡¯t form naturally on the Douluo Continent and could only be extracted from meteorites. It was extremely dense and heavy, but its most interesting trait was the unusual energy contained within it. Weapons forged from meteoric iron possess a penetrating effect, so it was a common material for the weapons of powerful mechas.


    However, meteoric iron was just too rare. Few were fortunate enough to even lay their eyes on it. Even Tang Wulin was only able to recognize this unassuming metal because of the countless detailed lectures on metals found within the world Mu Chen had given him.


    Although this piece of meteoric iron had a dull gray appearance, Tang Wulin¡¯s Purple Demon Eyes would never let the dark golden lines running through them go unnoticed. These two chunks were undoubtedly the most precious metals in the room and were the only pieces of meteoric iron present. It was no wonder that the red-haired man was distressed.


    Of course, Tang Wulin also had another reason for choosing it. Meteoric iron was impossible to spirit refine, so it was only used for one-word battle armor or mechas. This trait drastically lowered its value, such that only mecha pilots and a few battle armor masters would use it.


    If not for this fact, the red-haired man never would have permitted Tang Wulin to forge it.


    The calcining soon finished, and Tang Wulin pressed a button to make the blazing-red chunks of metal emerge.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to start then?¡± Tang Wulin glanced at the man.


    The man nodded. ¡°Kid, you better be careful with that.¡±


    Tang Wulin responded with a radiant smile, choosing to let his actions speak for him. Two hammers appeared in his hands in a flash of golden light. Then he struck down.


    A series of booms reverberated throughout the room, pleasantly surprising Tang Wulin.


    Last time he had been fortunate to forge his thousand refined hammers to spirit refined, but hadn¡¯t had the chance to test them out yet. This single strike, however, was all he needed to determine the wonders his spirit refined hammers.

 Chapter 299 - The Might of Spirit Refined

    Chapter 299 - The Might of Spirit Refined


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers weighed so little to him, he might as well have been holding air. Due to the spirit refinement, they were connected to Tang Wulin as an extension of his own body. Even though their weight meant nothing to him now, he could still feel the recoil from every blow he struck against the iron. That recoil was enough to tell him that the hammers, despite not increasing in size, were twofold heavier than they were before.


    The stacking effect of the hammers still remained, but Tang Wulin was surprised to discover that the number of stacks increased by one. Each of his hammers now stacked three times. On top of this, he could now make use of the connection between himself and his hammers to sense and control the power of each individual stack, making every strike more precise than it had ever been before.


    The strangest change he noticed was the way his soul power naturally flowed into his hammers, which not only empowered his strikes, but also enabled him to enlarge the hammers at will.


    That one blow from his spirit refined hammer was now more effective than five strikes from his thousand refined hammer.


    A ringing peal echoed through the air as Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers cleaved into the two pieces of meteoric iron, despite the extreme density that made it notoriously difficult to forge. The iron was nothing before his soul power imbued strikes and the stacking effect of his hammers.


    So this is the effect of spirit refining! Not only does it help me forge even better, it also helps bridge the gap between me and the metal. It tells me what the metal is feeling and how best to forge it!


    The instant Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers descended, the eyes of the red-haired man behind him flashed with astonishment.


    Spirit refined forging hammers?


    But immediately after the thought occurred to him, the man furrowed his brow. Are those hammers the reason he can perform such high-level forging? If someone forged those hammers for him, it would only be natural he would be ahead of his peers. But then that would mean his foundation is lacking.


    Tang Wulin continued his forging, completely obliterating the man¡¯s presumptions in the process.


    Tang Wulin raised his hammer into the air, beginning to twist his body at the same time.


    This was a secret art of the Tang Sect¡ªthe Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique!


    This was one of the first arts that Tang Wulin bought from the Tang Sect. The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique utilized the centripetal force that a person created by winding up their body, channeling it into their hammers. As one continued to build momentum, winding up their body strike after strike, the power in their hammers increased. The only drawback that this technique had was the recoil. The user had to be strong enough to endure it.


    Before he succeeded at spirit refining, Tang Wulin had only been able to use his innate divine strength and Golden Dragon King bloodline to successfully execute forty-eight strikes in a row. He needed to strengthen his body in order to increase that number.


    According to legend, the Disorder Splitting Wind Technique had the potential to reach eighty-one consecutive strikes. If anyone reached that level, they would be a force to be reckoned with. Even the blacksmithing prodigy, Tang Wulin, had stagnated at forty-eight consecutive strikes for more than half a year now. He could only begin to imagine how arduous it would be to walk the path to eighty-one strikes.


    The room shook with a constant, ear-splitting pounding. The steady rhythm of Tang Wulin¡¯s hammering, as well as how immersed he was in his task, served as a testament to his level of skill.


    Spirit refined hammers could be forged for other people to use, but such a tempo could only be achieved when one forged day in and day out.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammering continued to transform the two chunks of meteoric iron, their dull gray giving way to a faint golden sheen. Evidently, this was an effect caused by the spirit refined hammers. With every fall of his hammers, the two pieces of iron became smaller and more of the gray exterior faded away.


    When Tang Wulin spirit refined the heavy silver, it only took him a few hits to hundred refine it. Yet this time, with his improved hammers and the meteoric iron, it took him over ten strikes to achieve hundred refinement.


    Booms continued to thunder without end, growing more frequent as his hammers flew faster and faster. His hammers whirled through the air, creating powerful, hissing gusts of wind that flowed throughout the room.


    As the rumbling continued, two soul rings rose up from beneath Tang Wulin. He poured soul power into the iron through his hammers, taking advantage of the special properties of spirit refined metal to increase the efficacy of his forging.


    It would have been impossible for Tang Wulin to simultaneously forge two metals prior to reaching the fifth rank. Not only would he have had to focus on one at a time, it would have taken him longer as well.


    Yet now that he had spirit refined hammers, he needed to remember the experience of spirit refining and use it to elevate his work. By using what he learned from spirit refining to thousand refine, he could make it so that he only put in half the effort for twice the gain.


    A boom thundered when Tang Wulin spun around, unleashing the forty-eighth strike. He no longer had any control over the power coursing through his body, yet despite that, confidence blossomed forth from his heart. As he spun around once more, his purple soul rings disappeared and his golden soul ring rose. A suffocatingly thick aura of blood essence poured out, increasing the strength of his body to a new plateau.


    He swung his hammer!


    The forty-ninth strike exploded, the rumble of hammer on iron tearing through the air.


    A pair of golden lights soared into the air, a clear sign that this was a thousand refining with spirit, and an indication that it had reached the first-grade.


    The two pillars of light gradually dissipated after ten seconds, accompanied by the faint draconic roar emanating from the pulsing dragon pattern on Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers.


    Tang Wulin stood there pensively, his mind deep in contemplation.


    So it¡¯s actually like this¡­


    The red-haired man watched with bated breath from behind Tang Wulin. When the forty-ninth strike fell, he sucked in a deep breath, his crimson eyes bright as stars.


    ¡°I understand now!¡± Tang Wulin shouted in excitement, bouncing with joy.


    The red-haired man made a strange face at the proclamation. ¡°What do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Now that my hammers are spirit refined, they need to be fed blood essence in order to bring out their full power. They can also give me feedback, sending the shock of the collision into me through our blood connection. This allows me to conserve my stamina, enabling me to forge longer and more effectively.¡±


    The feedback that the forty-ninth strike sent to his Golden Dragon King Bloodline made his blood boil over with excitement. In that instant, his body exploded with strength and the effects of his forging soared!


    Since it¡¯s like this, my chances of successfully spirit refining will be greater and less taxing than normal. Once I get my third ring, the next time I spirit refine will be easy!


    Seeing the excitement in Tang Wulin¡¯s expression, the red-haired man said, ¡°Good. You pass. From this moment forth, you are a member of Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association. You can rejoice at the achievement.¡±


    As he spoke, the red-haired man conjured a black badge out of nowhere and moved his hand toward Tang Wulin¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Huh? Wait a second! I haven¡¯t agreed yet!¡± Tang Wulin jumped back in alarm, but the red-haired man was too quick. All Tang Wulin felt was a warmth on his chest, and the next thing he knew, the badge was stuck to him.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have the right to refuse. As a blacksmith yourself, what association are you going to enter but the Blacksmith¡¯s Association?¡± the man drawled nonchalantly.


    Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. ¡°How can you be so forceful? You haven¡¯t even told me who you are yet.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± The red-haired man pushed his bangs out of his eyes, revealing a pair of arrogant yet tender eyes. ¡°I am the president of Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association and the eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith, Feng Wuyu! So, do you still dare refuse?¡±


    A Saint Blacksmith? Tang Wulin was shaken by the revelation. So Shrek Academy also has a Saint Blacksmith!


    ¡°Alright, I accept,¡± Tang Wulin said sincerely.


    ¡°Then hurry up and pay your respects to me as your teacher. In light of your prodigious talent, I shall graciously accept you as my disciple, take you under my wing, and guide you,¡± Feng Wuyu said.


    Shrek Academy has so many eccentrics! Tang Wulin thought.


    ¡°My apologies! I already have a teacher so I cannot kowtow to you as my teacher.¡±


    ¡°You already have a teacher? Who? Who could possibly be as great as I?¡± A trace of anxiety appeared in Feng Wuyu¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°My teacher is also an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith. He¡¯s the president of Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association. He should be a few years younger than you.¡±


    Though Tang Wulin didn¡¯t explicitly say Mu Chen was better than Feng Wuyu, just mentioning his age was more than enough to get his point across.

 Chapter 300 - Feng Wuyu

    Chapter 300 - Feng Wuyu


    Feng Wuyu pinched his lips so tight they seemed to disappear into his face. ¡°You mean that kid Mu Chen? What kind of dog shit luck does he have to snatch you as a disciple?¡±


    This didn¡¯t sit well with Tang Wulin, prompting a strained frown. ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s lucky enough to study under him. I still have another teacher as well, Teacher Mang Tian. It was only thanks to their guidance that I am here today. Someone like you, the president of Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association, shouldn¡¯t be asking me to betray my teachers.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Feng Wuyu was at a loss for words. ¡°Betraying them isn¡¯t that serious. That kid Mu Chen is pretty good at forging, but his strength is a bit lacking. He barely managed to break through as a Soul Douluo, and that was with external help. He isn¡¯t even a Title Douluo. It¡¯s damn near impossible for him to become a Divine Blacksmith, but me? I¡¯m different! My cultivation base puts his to shame! See for yourself.¡±


    As the last word left his lips, a red aura permeated the air from which Feng Wuyu stood, the temperature in the room surging several degrees. All this through the exertion of his soul power.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he¡¯d been tossed into a furnace, taking a few steps back out of reflex. At the same time, he urged his blood essence to protect him from the inferno. But it still wouldn¡¯t have prepared him for what was coming next, his pupils dilating from shock.


    Ring after ring rose from beneath Feng Wuyu, surrounding him like blinding stars in a spiraling nebula.


    Purple, purple, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, and red!


    He has nine soul rings! He actually has nine! He even has a red one! From his soul ring configuration, he shouldn¡¯t be any weaker than Elder Cai!


    Never had it struck Tang Wulin that the person who abducted him would be a Title Douluo. And it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to call him exceptional among this group either.


    If he counted his grandteacher, then Shrek Academy already boasted at least three Title Douluos. It blew his mind to think he met so many, all who had unimaginable soul ring configurations.


    In tandem with his materializing soul rings, Feng Wuyu¡¯s body grew a bit fuller, a bit wider, but otherwise not disturbing his overall appearance. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t recognize his martial soul. This was the strength of a Title Douluo: total control on how much of the martial soul was revealed.


    ¡°Take a good look. Aren¡¯t I powerful? No matter where you go on the continent, no one will dare cross you if you become my disciple. And if anyone does touch a hair on your head, I¡¯ll burn them to ashes!¡± There was a fire blazing in Feng Wuyu¡¯s eyes.


    This guy isn¡¯t normal at all! Tang Wulin laughed in his heart. Nevertheless, he did not immediately reject the offer. After witnessing Gu Yue¡¯s dealings with Elder Cai, he had learned better. Any response he gave had to be nuanced and tactful. ¡°Senior, you are too great. However, I cannot forsake my teachers for your strength. If I¡¯m willing to betray them today, then wouldn¡¯t that make me capable of betraying you in the future?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. You won¡¯t ever meet a blacksmith better than me. At the very least, not one  who¡¯s more powerful.¡± Feng Wuyu¡¯s eyes caught a glazed look, mind wandering the universe, before snapping back into the present. ¡°Even that guy¡¯s cultivation base isn¡¯t as good as mine.¡±


    It was as if the words were pilfered out of his mouth, and Tang Wulin could not summon anymore in the face of such a demanding person.


    ¡°Alright, how about this. Next time I receive lessons from my teacher, I¡¯ll ask if he agrees with you guiding me as well. And if he does, I¡¯ll have no objections. Is that fine? I¡¯ll also accept joining this Blacksmith¡¯s Association for now. In any case, I¡¯ll be spending a lot of time on campus, so you won¡¯t have to worry about me disappearing, right?¡±


    Feng Wuyu scratched his head as he mulled it over. ¡°Okay. Fine. You¡¯re such a troublesome kid. But like they say, the able ones cause all the trouble, just like how others always say I¡¯m causing always trouble.¡±


    ¡°Senior, can I go then?¡± Tang Wulin probed.


    Feng Wuyu waved his hand dismissively. ¡°Go on, leave. But don¡¯t forget, you can¡¯t join any other association!¡±


    ¡°Got it! If anyone tries to lure me into their association, should I make use of your name?¡±


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s glare was hot enough to melt butter. ¡°Of course you should! No one would dare steal you from me!¡±


    Tang Wulin returned to the forging table, grabbing the two pieces of meteoric iron and moving them into his storage ring.


    The metals were a dusky gold, speckles of light twinkling over the surface, reminiscent of the night sky. He made off with quite a profit this time.


    Didn¡¯t Yuanen say the Academy can sell things on our behalf? I¡¯ll bet these two chunks of meteoric iron are worth a lot. I won¡¯t have to worry about my meals for a while.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come find you later!¡± Feng Wuyu shouted at Tang Wulin¡¯s retreating figure, throwing his thoughts asunder and causing him to stumble.


    With his back to the room, Tang Wulin was surprised to find himself on one of the upper levels of the school building. He patted his chest a few times to settle his heartbeat. For Tang Wulin, Feng Wuyu was an enigmatic puzzle and facing him had been terrifying. He was lucky, pure and simple, to catch the fancy of a Saint Blacksmith. That said, he couldn¡¯t shake off the tendrils of doubt clinging to his body.


    He¡¯s a nine-ringed Title Douluo! I wonder what¡¯s his title¡­ I need to go ask a teacher about it later.


    Still unfamiliar with the layout of the school building, Tang Wulin took some time to find the stairs. As he descended, he ran into Yuanen.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking for you for half a day now, and you¡¯re here just as I thought. Are you alright?¡± Yuanen asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Yuanen¡¯s eyes drifted toward Tang Wulin¡¯s chest. ¡°You¡¯ve joined the Blacksmith¡¯s Association?¡±


    At his inquiry, Tang Wulin followed Yuanen¡¯s gaze to his chest. He didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw a crude looking badge depicting a black hammer. Without a doubt, it was what Feng Wuyu had forced upon him.


    ¡°I guess you could say so.¡± Tang Wulin forced a smile out.


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty lucky to have Elder Feng personally recruit you. You must be quite the blacksmith.¡± Yuanen nodded in approval and heaved a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Mad elder[1]?¡± A twitch of Tang Wulin¡¯s lips.


    That guy really is crazy!


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s no need to leave now. The Blacksmith¡¯s Association is based here on the fourth floor. You can use the forging tables for free since you¡¯re a member, but you¡¯ll still have provide your own metal for forging.¡±


    ¡°Huh? So the Blacksmith¡¯s Association is on this floor. Can you take take me to it?¡± Ever since he had stepped foot in Shrek City, Tang Wulin had craved for a forging table to call his own. Especially so now that he was a fifth-rank blacksmith.


    The workshop Feng Wuyu had taken him to was at the edge of the fourth floor, tucked deep within winding corridors and the such. Yuanen led him elsewhere, back straight and proper, brimming with confidence. They arrived at the foot of a large sign shortly after..


    Blacksmith¡¯s Association!


    The words were written with an air of grandeur.


    He pushed the door open and entered. The first thing he saw was a counter stretching over twenty meters long, with more than fifteen windows for helping visitors. At the moment, three staff members with youthful appearances sat behind the windows. They were likely students as well.


    Yuanen spoke softly, ¡°It¡¯s quiet right now because it¡¯s lunchtime, but once that¡¯s over this place will be bustling The Blacksmith¡¯s Association is very popular because even though there are so few blacksmiths in Shrek, the demand for their forging is off the charts.¡±


    Hearing these words, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped.


    In a flash, he was in front of one of the windows. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m a new student and my name is Tang Wulin. I just joined the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. Elder Feng gave me this badge.¡± He pointed to his chest. ¡°I was wondering if there is anything else I need to do?¡±


    A young man, about eighteen years old, glanced at the badge from behind the window. At the sight of it, he asked, ¡°Elder Feng personally recruited you?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin said.


    It''s a pun on Elder Feng. Elder Feng is ·ãÀÏ (Feng Lao) while Mad Elder is ·èÀÏ (also Feng Lao).

 Chapter 301 - Titan Giant Ape Martial Soul

    Chapter 301 - Titan Giant Ape Martial Soul


    ¡°Alright. Do you have a blacksmith¡¯s badge? I¡¯ll begin your registration. In case you¡¯re not aware, Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association goes by rules similar to those governing other Blacksmith¡¯s Associations across the continent.¡± The clerk glanced at the badge in Tang Wulin¡¯s hand as he continued his explanation, ¡°The greater the blacksmith, the greater their authority¡­¡±


    It was an orange badge with four yellow stars on it.


    T-this badge¡¯s color scheme... He¡¯s a fourth-rank blacksmith?


    Although fourth-rank blacksmiths weren¡¯t too hard to find at Shrek Academy, he hadn¡¯t encountered one this young before!


    The average age of Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association members trended higher than those of other campus associations. After all, blacksmithing required a long accumulation of experience and a lengthy sharpening of skill..


    When Tang Wulin had first stepped foot into the room, the clerk was intrigued. When the fourth-rank badge came into the picture, he was astounded.


    Is that real?


    Trembling hands took hold of the badge, slipping it into a tiny slot on the identification device. A detailed record of the owner¡¯s personal information would be swiftly retrieved, regardless of their profession.


    ¡°Tang Wulin. Male. Born in Glorybound City. Member of Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association. F-fourth-rank blacksmith. Second place winner of the junior division blacksmithing tournament, Skysea Alliance Tournament. Total number of completed forging missions¡­¡±


    His voice dipped lower and lower as Tang Wulin¡¯s picture flashed on the screen, confirming his identity.


    The clerk didn¡¯t doubt who he was; it was impossible to fabricate the information on the badge. Not to mention, counterfeits were so easy to expose that it wasn¡¯t worth the time making them.


    Meanwhile, Yuanen was frozen by Tang Wulin¡¯s side.


    He¡¯s a fourth-rank blacksmith?


    He¡¯d guessed Tang Wulin was talented, judging by how Feng Wuyu had personally recruited him, but never had he imagined the youth sported such a high rank!


    Fourth-rank professionals were rare in the fourth grade, not to mention the first grade. People of such caliber only became common in the fifth and sixth grades.


    I¡¯ve found a treasure! Since he¡¯s a fourth-rank blacksmith, he has to be capable of second-grade thousand refining at the very least!


    ¡°Here¡¯s your badge back,¡± the young man said, his tone clearly more polite than before. As a fellow blacksmith, he understood better than Yuanen the unprecedented genius a thirteen-year-old fourth-rank blacksmith represented, how much it shook the foundations of blacksmithing history! Perhaps the Academy bent the rules and made an exception in order to recruit him for his rich talent.


    ¡°You¡¯re a working student?¡± the young man asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded.


    The clerk held his stare and something flashed within his eyes, something close to understanding. ¡°I¡¯ll explain how the pay works here.. Since the badge you got says you¡¯re a fourth-rank blacksmith, you¡¯ll receive two thousand points a month and access to a private twenty square meter workshop. That¡¯s suitable for your rank, and will be upgraded as your rank advances. Also, the Association will provide you with ten chunks of metal each month to use as you wish, and an eight percent discount when purchasing additional metal from the Association.


    ¡°You can also get a job with the Association. If you want the Association to sell products on your behalf, then you¡¯ve got to relinquish five percent as a fee. Obviously, the rest will go to you. In exchange for all these benefits, you must complete three jobs each month. Of course, the three jobs will be suitable for your rank.


    ¡°Last but not least, if you run into any problems, please don¡¯t hesitate to come by the Association for assistance.¡±


    There are so many benefits for joining!


    Throughout his path to becoming a blacksmith, Tang Wulin had stumbled upon many an impenetrable mountain along the way, and only now had he tasted the sweet fruits born of his labor. No matter where, blacksmiths would always be in high demand, as evident by the benefits offered by Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to accept some jobs. Please assign me a workshop.¡± These were his two items of priority today. A personal workshop would allow him to practice forging and complete jobs, raking up contribution points on the way.


    A Tang Sect branch was likely hidden in the belly of Shrek Academy. Tang Wulin would have to ask Wu Zhangkong where it was. And once he had the information, he¡¯d go and report in, settling into a hectic schedule packed full of missions for both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.


    He would consolidate his fifth rank foundation while completing forging jobs for the next year, taking a slow and steady approach to spirit refining.


    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡±


    A while later, the clerk led Tang Wulin down a long and narrow corridor, winding and tortuous like a coiling snake, doors lining both sides. Upon closer inspection, Tang Wulin realized the how similar to a tube the hall was.


    With every step, the clerk babbled on, reminding him of certain important details. For example, that every association had their own space, and all of the rooms on either side of the corridor were for blacksmiths of the fourth rank and up. Every workshop was soundproofed, so no matter how furiously one swung the hammer, not a peep would leave the rooms.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s workshop number was easy to remember: 88.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your workshop door card. It¡¯s free to use. If you need to buy metal or want to accept some jobs, hop by the front desk and we¡¯ll assist you immediately.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll trouble you when the time comes.¡±


    Tang Wulin entered his workshop with Yuanen in tow. It was neat and tidy, empty shelves on either sides, not a dust mote in place. Right smack in the center of the room stood a forging table. One glance, and Tang Wulin knew it was the standard type, the type that, although not as fancy as Feng Wuyu¡¯s, was what he was most familiar with.


    The room was bare otherwise. Each wall was forged from metal. If he didn¡¯t know any better, he could have sworn he¡¯d stepped foot into a world of metal.


    Even though it¡¯s not very large, it¡¯s still good. I can consider this workshop mine from now on.


    Earlier, Tang Wulin had taken his monthly allotment¡ªten chunks of metal. Fourth-rank blacksmiths were treated well.


    Although none of the ten metals were particularly valuable or rare, they were all free! No way could he turn that down.


    He arranged his newly acquired metals with some of the less valuable ones from his storage ring on the hungry shelves. And with that, the workshop no longer seemed so bare.


    ¡°Take your pick.¡± Tang Wulin pointed to the shelves.


    Yuanen returned his gesture with a blank stare. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what I want. I need a full set of armor, so I¡¯ll just go with whatever you recommend.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were peppered with surprise. ¡°You want to create a full set? You¡¯re already preparing to become a battle armor master?¡±


    Yuanen nodded.


    ¡°I think that¡¯ll be difficult since your body grows too big when you use your martial soul.¡± Tang Wulin smiled in spite of himself. ¡°Oh right, what¡¯s your martial soul? It¡¯s so powerful! It¡¯d make things easier if I knew.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Titan Giant Ape,¡± Yuanen replied after hesitating for a moment.


    ¡°Titan Giant Ape?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes popped. Of course he had heard of it before. The Titan Giant Ape was known as the king of the forest, royalty among soul beasts. But this was the first time he met someone with it as their martial soul.


    ¡°So what do you think?¡± Yuanen asked.


    Tang Wulin pondered for a moment, gears whirring in overdrive in his mind. ¡°Spirit refined metal would be best for you. That¡¯ll allow you to merge your armor with your body and accommodate you no matter how large your transformation. In today¡¯s lesson, my class¡¯s teacher said battle armor is meant for the martial soul to wear. So, one-word battle armor can¡¯t really be counted as true battle armor. In anycase, I¡¯m too unfamiliar with how battle armor is made and don¡¯t know if one-word battle armor can transform along with your martial soul.¡±


    ¡°It can,¡± Yuanen said. ¡°But the crafting process is very complicated. Alright, how about you just thousand refine a highly ductile metal for me?¡±


    Again, Tang Wulin delved deep into his thoughts. ¡°Then you¡¯ll want the same metal as my hammers. Heavy silver. It¡¯s extremely ductile and is considered one of the best mid-grade metals. As for making the armor, you¡¯ll have to find a mecha designer and maker.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Thousand refining heavy silver was a walk in the park for Tang Wulin. As Yuanen was his first customer since coming to Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin allowed him to stay and watch.


    Several strikes of the hammer later, a silver light shot out from the metal, leaving Yuanen gasping for his words. ¡°Y-you¡¯re too fast.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re getting quite the deal this time. It¡¯s thousand refined with spirit, so it¡¯s first-grade thousand refined. Don¡¯t you think one thousand contribution points is too cheap for something like this?¡±


    Yuanen carefully accepted the heavy silver and put it away, nodding. ¡°It¡¯s cheap. I¡¯ll tell you a secret about Shrek Academy if you¡¯ll agree to continue forging for me at that price.¡±


    ¡°Done!¡± Tang Wulin agreed to the bargain immediately, heart thumping in beat with the palpable anticipation in the room. ¡°I¡¯m going to want you to answer a few more questions about working students also. Throw in those answers and I promise to continue forging thousand refined products for you at that price. This deal is only for you though.¡±

 Chapter 302 - Genius Working Students

    Chapter 302 - Genius Working Students


    ¡°Deal,¡± Yuanen happily said.


    Tang Wulin perceived from Yuanen¡¯s tone that he was selling his thousand refinement for cheap this time, but information could make or break newcomers like him. Besides, Yuanen was only one person. He couldn¡¯t possibly need too many thousand refinements.


    ¡°The Academy purchases first-grade thousand refined metal for a minimum of two thousand contribution points.¡±


    The corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth began twitching. ¡°But the working student thousand refining jobs rewards are all one thousand points!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you hadn¡¯t joined the Blacksmith¡¯s Association yet. Aren¡¯t the fees only five percent now that you¡¯ve joined? Apart from us working students who are required to accept a few missions every month, no one will bother with the jobs given by the administration. You¡¯ll only get cheated if you do.¡±


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Okay. I get it now. It¡¯s a good thing I didn¡¯t find out too late. So I want to ask you, is there some secret about working students? Why do people act strange when they find out I¡¯m a working student?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because working students are freaks,¡± Yuanen answered bluntly. ¡°The Academy usually accepts any person who doesn¡¯t pass the exam but performs spectacularly in one area as a working student. Well, those with extraordinary qualities are admitted as working students too. For example, that Elder Feng you met earlier used to be a working student. Relying on his blacksmithing talent, he graduated from the outer court at the age of thirty-four. But in that same year, he succeeded at soul refining and broke into the seventh rank, becoming a Saint Blacksmith. The Academy made an exception for him, the youngest Saint Blacksmith on the continent, and accepted him into the inner court. Then his cultivation soared. He rose from six to nine rings in twenty years. He became a Title Douluo and an eighth rank Saint Blacksmith. He¡¯s the greatest blacksmith of Shrek Academy and holds an exalted position.


    ¡°Working students created a precedent of reaching to the top. In the eyes of ordinary students, working students are unpredictable and absolutely must not be offended. The chances for graduating working students to enter the inner court is thirty percent, much higher than ordinary students. Naturally, we¡¯re under a lot more pressure than them too.


    ¡°The Academy established the working student system for those who excelled in one particular field, but didn¡¯t meet the criteria for admittance. But now, after many generations of working students, these two words alone are enough to demand respect from ordinary students in the outer court.¡±


    Tang Wulin finally understood why the administrator had told him not to bring shame to the working students that day.


    So then, Elder Cai wasn¡¯t punishing us by making us working students!


    ¡°Do you have any other questions?¡± Yuanen asked.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°I still have a question. You¡¯re so strong, so why haven¡¯t you entered the inner court yet? How old are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fifteen years old. I entered Shrek Academy when I was twelve. As for why I haven¡¯t entered the inner court yet, I can¡¯t tell you. It¡¯s a secret.¡±


    A trace of loneliness flickered in Yuanen¡¯s eyes. ¡°Alright, if you don¡¯t need anything else, I¡¯m leaving now. I still need to finish my own tasks. Oh right, I¡¯m a third-rank mecha designer. If you need any designs in the future, come find me and I¡¯ll give you a discount.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Not for free?¡¯


    Yuanen stared at him. ¡°Free? Shrek Academy advocates a system where the more work you put in, the more you benefit. In order to gain something, you have to pay the price.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine, stop being so serious. Let¡¯s go. We¡¯re going the same way so I¡¯ll leave with you.¡±


    Tang Wulin had gained much this outing. Joining the Blacksmith¡¯s Association would make his life much easier; that is, providing him with the means to feed himself.


    ¡°You got what you wanted, so don¡¯t forget to treat me to dinner.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re such a glutton.¡± Yuanen gave him a helpless look.


    They left the school building and walked back to their dormitory. Just as they exited the forest, however, Yuanen raised his head and stared into the distance.


    Tang Wulin noted Yuanen¡¯s sudden stillness. He also looked in the same direction.


    A person sat on the edge of the forest, his body turned to face the dormitory.


    The man wore the green uniform of Shrek Academy, his golden hair neatly combed back. Tang Wulin thought he looked a bit familiar.


    Yuanen stopped walking. At the same time, the golden-haired man also noticed them and turned his head.


    Tang Wulin instantly recognized him.


    Isn¡¯t he the rich kid from yesterday who bought out the drink shop because he wanted a girl¡¯s number? He also had the angel martial soul, right?


    Seeing Tang Wulin and Yuanen, the man stood up and strode over.


    ¡°Have you two seen a red-haired girl here? Actually, does a red-haired girl live here at all?¡± The man stared at them arrogantly, his mere presence stifling to others.


    He¡¯s still looking for that Fallen Angel girl?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped.


    That¡¯s right! Didn¡¯t she say she was a working student as well?


    He subconsciously turned toward Yuanen. As a second grade student, Yuanen knew more about working students. Besides, this Yue Zhengyu man was also a second grade student. The fact that he didn¡¯t recognize Yuanen was puzzling.


    Yuanen looked at Yue Zhengyu with indifference. ¡°I don¡¯t know anyone like that. Please move out of the way.¡± Not waiting for his reply, Yuanen began walking forward.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes flashed. ¡°I¡¯ve already waited half a day, but I¡¯ve only met you two working students. Now, you say you don¡¯t know anything?¡± He raised a hand to push Yuanen in the chest.


    Yuanen¡¯s expression instantly darkened. An imposing aura burst forth from his body, and he rammed Yue Zhengyu with his shoulder.


    Astonishment flickered in Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes. He hadn¡¯t been in Shrek Academy for long despite being an outer court student. If not for his clan¡¯s requirements, he would have entered the inner court long ago. He had been forced by his clan to go into seclusion to awaken his martial soul immediately after being admitted, so he started straight in the second grade upon completion. This was why didn¡¯t recognize Yuanen.


    Facing Yuanen¡¯s attack, he also lowered his shoulder to ram into Yuanen¡¯s.


    Tang Wulin retreated two steps. He didn¡¯t want to become collateral damage.


    As Tang Wulin expected, the aftermath of their collision resulted in Yue Zhengyu being sent flying. A burst of radiance later, wings unfurled behind Yue Zhengyu¡¯s back and he fought to steady himself in mid-air. Finally, his body righted itself. Yet, tremors still ran down his right shoulder.


    Though the Holy Angel martial soul was formidable, its strength did not lie in power. When facing the tyrannical might of the Titan Great Ape, a soul beast whose mere punch could cause shockwaves, even Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t confident in his strength! It would take all of his bloodline power for Tang Wulin to contend against Yuanen.


    If Yue Zhengyu were fine after receiving such an attack, it would be strange


    ¡°You!¡± Fury blazed in Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes.

 Chapter 303 - Mu Chen Resigns

    Chapter 303 - Mu Chen Resigns


    The look Yuanen shot Yue Zhengyu was cold enough to freeze. ¡°This area is for working students only.  Please leave. Are you aware of the consequences for private battles on campus?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu snorted, eyes flashing with irritation. ¡°Private battles are not permitted on the Academy¡¯s premises. But swapping pointers? That¡¯s a different story. It¡¯s pretty much encouraged. In fact, come join me in a spar if you think you¡¯ve got what it takes.¡±


    ¡°Not interested.¡± Without sparing him another glance, Yuanen left for the dormitory, footsteps trailing behind him.


    ¡°You!¡± Yue Zhengyu cut himself short before he boiled over. Somehow, he had the sense of mind to understand his place; it wouldn¡¯t do for him to erupt here. Chest heaving, he huffed, ¡°You¡¯re hiding an evil soul master. It wouldn¡¯t be in your best interests to cover for her.¡±


    Yuanen stopped mid-step, turning his neck and fixing him with a heated glare. ¡°Evil soul master? The Academy has judged there to be nothing of the sort here, so who are you to say there are?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu returned his stare, intense.  ¡°I saw it with my own eyes.¡±


    ¡°Then think of a way to prove it,¡± Yuanen said dismissively. ¡°Let me remind you that only working students can enter the working student dormitory. If you set foot in our territory, by the Academy¡¯s rules, we have the right to deal with you as we see fit. You¡¯ll be disciplined harshly as well.¡±


    There are rules in place for the working student dormitory? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes popped. Being a working student seemed more attractive than ever.


    ¡°You! What¡¯s so amazing about working students!¡± Yue Zhengyu scoffed in disdain.


    ¡°I invite you to try something then. Can I take your words as a declaration of war against all working students?¡± Word after word of Yuanen stabbed into Yue Zhengyu like daggers.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s determined expression wavered. He had some understanding of working students. For one, they were basically a group of geniuses. Disregarding the current batch, working students of previous generations had stepped foot within the inner court, cultivating much power and influence, rising up to become inner court elites.


    ¡°Of course I have a way to prove it!¡± Yue Zhengyu narrowed his eyes so tight they resembled slits. A crafty smile crawled its way across his lips in the meanwhile. With a soft thud, his feet touched the ground, and he flicked one last glance at Yuanen before leaving.


    At the sight of the other man¡¯s departure, Tang Wulin approached Yuanen¡¯s side. ¡°Do we really not have a red-haired student here?¡±


    Yuanen furrowed his brows. ¡°Why are you asking too?¡±


    Following this question, Tang Wulin recounted what he had witnessed at the drink shop back then. At the end of his story, a crack appeared in Yuanen¡¯s calm mask, though he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m absolutely certain there isn¡¯t anyone like that here. Anyway, I¡¯m going to return first.¡±


    Watching him leave, Tang Wulin had the sinking suspicion Yuanen was brushing this matter under the rug. A normal person wouldn¡¯t have caught on, but the advancement in his bloodline amplified his perception. There was something off about Yuanen.


    Back in his room, Tang Wulin was surprised to find his teammates nowhere in sight. He hadn¡¯t a clue where they went, and as he contemplated their location, he was hit with the reminder to do something he¡¯d planned a while ago. Shoving a hand into his pockets, he pulled out a soul communicator. He dialed a number with practiced precision.


    ¡°Teacher, I made it into Shrek Academy.¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t contain the excitement in his voice, and it spilled through the device.


    ¡°You did it? Great! As expected of my student.¡± Mu Chen broke into roaring laughter.


    There was no denying it; Mu Chen felt happy for his student from the bottom of his heart. Although Tang Wulin was a heaven-defying genius blacksmith, his lacking soul power restricted his growth in that field. But things were different now that he was in Shrek Academy. Even if Tang Wulin only managed to graduate from the outer court, his cultivation foundation would be incredibly stable, guaranteeing success as a soul master. With a wealth of soul power to draw on, there¡¯d be few bumps in his path as a blacksmith. Not to mention, he was just fourteen years old! His future was boundless!


    ¡°Teacher, there¡¯s something I need to talk to you about,¡± Tang Wulin said after a moment of hesitation.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve broken through.¡±  Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes gleamed.


    ¡°Broken through? To rank 30? No way. Weren¡¯t you just rank 26 or 27 before you left? How could you break through so quickly? Did you eat some heavenly treasure?¡± Mu Chen asked, shock thick in his voice.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. I made a breakthrough in forging. I tried spirit refining and succeeded.¡±


    The line went silent.


    ¡°Teacher, are you still there?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m still here. Explain to me what happened.¡± Mu Chen¡¯s lack of reaction left Tang Wulin flabbergasted.


    Isn¡¯t becoming a fifth-rank blacksmith at thirteen something surprising?


    ¡°On the day of the exam¡­¡± Tang Wulin proceeded to recite the events, not sparing a single detail. He even explained how he had felt during the process, the sensations that cascaded through his body, in hopes that Mu Chen would help analyze the entire situation and shed light on his current level.


    ¡°Good preparation is the key to success!¡± Mu Chen said, after listening to Tang Wulin¡¯s recount. ¡°But that was far too dangerous. You absolutely must not attempt spirit refining again before you reach rank 30. I¡¯ll come visit you in a few days and we can continue our conversation then.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Teacher. You¡¯re coming to Shrek?¡± Tang Wulin asked, astonished.


    ¡°Mhm. I¡¯ve been here too long now. It¡¯s about time for a change in scenery and Shrek is a pretty nice place. In any case, congratulations. Although you¡¯ve only succeeded spirit refining once, you¡¯re still a fifth-rank blacksmith now, and you¡¯ve accomplished this at the tender age of thirteen! You¡¯re an outstanding genius no matter the profession.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± Tang Wulin grinned.


    Tang Wulin then recounted in vivid detail his experience right after his classes began and his encounter with Feng Wuyu. Through it all, Mu Chen listened in silence, withholding his opinions.


    ?


    Over in Eastsea City, Mu Chen wore an expression that was anything but calm. After the call with Tang Wulin ended, he quickly dialed another number.


    ¡°I want two train tickets to Shrek City, scheduled for three days from now.¡±


    I can¡¯t sit here twiddling my thumbs anymore. If I don¡¯t go, my disciple might get snatched away! No matter what, I can¡¯t let him steal my treasured disciple.


    Following this thought, Mu Chen made another call.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Mu Chen. Please connect me to the President.¡±


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s holding a meeting right now? Okay. Tell him that I¡¯m resigning.¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin sat there at a loss. He didn¡¯t know how much of a shock he had given Mu Chen nor where his teammates were. He chose to remain in the room.


    After joining Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association, he secured a steady source of contribution points. He gained a deep insight regarding the background of working students too. Now standing at the top of his list was self-improvement, his goal set at reaching rank 30.


    He spent an entire afternoon meditating. The Mysterious Heaven Method was slow to cultivate, but it emphasized creating a firm foundation.


    Tang Wulin met with Yuanen for his free dinner, engaging in his alternative cultivation method once more.


    For the sake of not drawing too much attention, he found a table in the corner and dragged his friends to eat with him, introducing them to Yuanen at the same time.


    ¡°Senior Yuanen, how many working students are there right now?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s eyes sparkled after hearing the legend of the working students, and couldn¡¯t help himself from asking this question.


    Yuanen turned to him. ¡°There were six of us last year. Two graduated, two entered the inner court, and one withdrew from the Academy. So I¡¯m the only one left of the previous batch. Counting you guys, there are five of us now.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one left?¡± Tang Wulin stared at Yuanen in confusion.


    But I clearly remember seeing a working student¡¯s badge on that girl! Even the enforcer recognized it! If Yuanen¡¯s telling the truth, then who is that girl?


    Huh. Then those rooms that looked lived in should be empty now.


    Before he could finish his thoughts, someone came over to their table. ¡°Who are you trying to trick, saying you¡¯re the only working student left in your year? What about that red-haired girl?¡±


    Yuanen glowered toward Yue Zhengyu. ¡°You¡¯re really a leech that never lets go!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu made a dignified face. ¡°To eradicate evil is the duty of every Holy Angel soul master! This is merely my responsibility. Stop hiding her from me, otherwise you¡¯ll face the consequences of doing so once I catch her.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not welcome here,¡± Yuanen said coldly.


    A smile formed on Yue Zhengyu¡¯s lips. He pulled a chair from another table over and sat down. ¡°Why aren¡¯t I welcome? Don¡¯t you working students have to pay for your food? I¡¯ll treat you all this time.¡±


    ¡°No thank you,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Yue Zhengyu flicked a leisurely glance at him. ¡°You sure do have a lot of backbone.¡±

 Chapter 304 - Yue Zhengyu

    Chapter 304 - Yue Zhengyu


    ¡°This has nothing to do with having a backbone,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Today¡¯s meal has already been paid for.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu was taken aback by this fact. ¡°Tomorrow then.¡±


    Gu Yue made a grim expression, eyes narrowed and face pinched. ¡°We won¡¯t accept food from someone as dishonest as you.¡±


    At the sound of her words, Yue Zhengyu¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Then what if I were an honest person? It embarrasses me to say this, but please take care of me in the future. I went to the administration earlier and had my working student application approved.¡±


    Yuanen¡¯s brows arched when he heard this, his eyes instantly locking on to Yue Zhengyu.


    With a smirk, Yue Zhengyu met Yuanen¡¯s glare head-on, not at all fazed.


    This guy actually became a working student?


    Dread creeped into Tang Wulin¡¯s heart as he imagined their future as working students.


    ¡°I¡¯m done eating.¡± Yuanen stood up with his food tray and left, not sparing the group another glance.


    At his departure, Yue Zhengyu beamed as if he were proud of an accomplishment. ¡°Now I can enter the dormitory for working students too. If that girl is there, I¡¯ll definitely find her!¡±


    ¡°You! You¡¯re such a senseless person!¡± Xie Xie said, nostrils flaring in irritation.


    ¡°How am I senseless?¡± Yue Zhengyu demanded.


    ¡°How could you be anything but senseless to go to such lengths to find one person? Especially since the enforcer already said she isn¡¯t an evil soul master. Even if you find her, what do you think is going to happen?¡± Xie Xie stared at Yue Zhengyu with eyes of ridicule.


    ¡°How could a Fallen Angel soul master not be an evil soul master?¡± Yue Zhengyu fired back, unconvinced. ¡°I¡¯ll definitely dig up proof that she is! And by that time, she won¡¯t have any way to cover it up. Just you wait and see.¡±


    After speaking, Yue Zhengyu also stood up to leave. But Tang Wulin raised a hand to stop him.


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Remember when you bought that drink shop? Well, we were there too and witnessed everything. I have some questions I want to ask you.¡±


    ¡°You guys were there? Oh! I think I remember you now. You were sitting at the table next to me, right? So what do you guys think? Didn¡¯t that girl seem like an evil soul master?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re unrelated to that matter,¡± Tang Wulin cut him off. ¡°What I wanted to ask you is this: since you¡¯re so rich, does that mean you have a lot of contribution points too?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu straightened his back with pride. ¡°How could my Holy Angel clan be lacking in contribution points? In fact, we have a lot of businesses on campus. We have no shortage of points.¡±


    Unflinching, Tang Wulin said, ¡°Then do you need any metals forged? I¡¯m a blacksmith, and I¡¯m sure you know how poor us working students are.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a blacksmith? What can you forge?¡± A hint of disdain crept into Yue Zhengyu¡¯s voice.


    Tang Wulin paid it no mind, a smile sliding across his mouth. ¡°See for yourself.¡± He revealed his fourth-rank blacksmith¡¯s badge, waiting for Yue Zhengyu to examine it.


    As a member of the Holy Angel clan, it was natural for Yue Zhengyu to recognize the badge for what it was. He was instantly struck stupid. ¡°Y-you¡¯re a  fourth-rank blacksmith?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tang Wulin nodded. He didn¡¯t dare proclaim himself a fifth-rank blacksmith before obtaining his fifth-rank badge.


    ¡°How old are you?¡± Yue Zhengyu felt shivers coursing down his spin, hairs springing.


    ¡°Thirteen.¡±


    ¡°What? Working students really are monstrous! Are you all new students?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! What about you? How old are you?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m fifteen and a second grade student,¡± Yue Zhengyu answered. ¡°But I had to spend all of my first grade in seclusion with my clan, so I haven¡¯t attended classes until now.¡±


    Puzzle pieces began falling into place in Tang Wulin¡¯s mind. So that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t recognize Yuanen even though they¡¯re in the same grade!


    ¡°I¡¯ll come find you when I need things forged in the future!¡± Yue Zhengyu shot out of his chair like a rocket, a giant grin plastered on his face. ¡°But you¡¯re still just at the fourth rank, so keep on working hard! Blacksmiths are only truly amazing once they reach the fifth rank.¡±


    As Yue Zhengyu finally departed, Xie Xie watched his shrinking back with discontent eyes. ¡°Boss, that guy is way too arrogant! Why are you trying to get closer to him?¡±


    Tang Wulin responded with a wry smile. ¡°Since he¡¯s a working student now, we¡¯re standing on even ground with him. Besides, just think of how many contribution points we can milk from someone that rich.¡±


    ¡°What are the plans for tonight?¡± Xie Xie bounced from his seat, the previous topic already forgotten. Still unfamiliar with Shrek Academy, they were filled with curiosity.


    ¡°I need to report to the local Spirit Pagoda branch,¡± Gu Yue said.


    A thought struck Tang Wulin like a stray lightning bolt. ¡°The rest of us also need to report to the Tang Sect. But first thing¡¯s first, we must find Teacher Wu.¡±¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we look for him after tomorrow¡¯s class? Let¡¯s go have some fun tonight,¡± Xie Xie said eagerly.


    Tang Wulin shot him a stern look, face drained of anything less than serious. ¡°We may have passed the entrance exam, but that doesn¡¯t mean we can slack off. The competition here is fierce. A single mistake could leave us behind in the dust. Don¡¯t forget, Shrek Academy emphasizes the importance of secondary professions since we need them to become battle armor masters. Because we have to be personally involved with at least one part of the battle armor creation process, we must spend our free time practicing our professions. Xie Xie, curb your playfulness for now. In fact, you should all join the associations of your respective professions and begin climbing to the next rank with their support.¡±


    Both Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue were mecha designers, and Xie Xie was a mecha maker. Of the three, Gu Yue had advanced the furthest, already at the second rank. The other two were still stuck at the bottom. So, there was actually a silver lining to them missing the fifth trial during the entrance exam.


    Xie Xie deflated like a balloon. ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s go join an association first.¡±


    He understood just as well as Tang Wulin did that time waited for no one!


    Taking in Xie Xie¡¯s look of resignation,Tang Wulin sighed in his heart. He knew without a doubt their hardships at Shrek Academy had just begun.


    From then on, Tang Wulin cultivated, went to eat dinner, and immediately returned to the dormitory, not letting a second go to waste. He was beginning to fall into a routine now. He attended classes in the morning, spent two hours forging in the afternoon, then utilized every spare second cultivating. He wasn¡¯t anxious to enter the spirit ascension platform since all of their spirit souls had been saturated with spirit energy. Soul power cultivation was his number one priority now. He needed to reach rank 30 as soon as possible and obtain his third soul ring. When that time arrived, he could attempt to spirit refine once more.


    A single success in spirit refining did not mean he had a complete grasp of the process. He still needed to practice and refine his skill.


    What set fifth-rank and fourth-rank blacksmiths apart were that fifth-rank blacksmiths only needed to present their identification to accept spirit refining jobs, and they bore no consequences in the event of failing to forge a metal.


    These were the advantages of being in the fifth rank, which made sense in light of spirit refining¡¯s enormous rate of failure. If blacksmiths had to guarantee the success of a spirit refining, no one would want to be one.


    This was why Yue Zhengyu had said blacksmiths only became formidable at the fifth rank. By then, one could accept commissions while using those requests to practice spirit refining.


    Back in Eastsea City, Tang Wulin had saw that the minimum reward for spirit refining was ten times that of thousand refining. His eyes hadn¡¯t been playing tricks on him; it was actually ten times!


    Although Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t familiar with Shrek Academy¡¯s inner-workings, he found it safe to assume the same rate existed here as in Eastsea City. After all, spirit refined metal was the foundation of two-word battle armor. Tang Wulin was convinced that two-word battle armor masters were rare in the outer court. As such, the entire outer court should be his potential customers.


    In order to break the next Golden Dragon King seal, not to mention purchase items to assist his cultivation, Tang Wulin would have to farm contribution points bit by bit.It was a cycle of working and cultivation that continually fed back into itself.


    The order of things was important. As long as Tang Wulin had a clear-cut plan, he would know what to focus on in each stage as he progressed.

 Chapter 305 - The Battle for Class President

    Chapter 305 - The Battle for Class President


    ¡°Today we will be electing the class representatives.¡± With Elder Cai absent as usual, Shen Yi took charge of the lectures while Wu Zhangkong stood to the side in silence. He swept his icy gazy over the entire class.


    ¡°Here at Shrek, strength reigns supreme. We have already tested your characters, so we don¡¯t care who becomes a class representative. A class battle will be held, and the final victor will be the class president. Those who demonstrate exceptional talent will fill in the other positions. There are seven representatives in total. One class president, two vice-presidents, and a council made up of the four secondary professions.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look down on the position of class representative. Each representative will be in charge of different parts of the class and receive bonus contribution points. The president and vice-presidents are the leaders and represent the whole class. Each month the class president will receive one thousand contribution points, the vice-president six hundred, and the members of the profession council will each receive five hundred points. As long as a representative can become a battle armor master by twenty-five years of age, they will automatically be admitted into the inner court upon graduation. Also, they may take the graduation exam at any time they wish. Remember, you must graduate from the inner court by the time you turn thirty-five. Don¡¯t even dare to proclaim yourself a member of Shrek otherwise. Anyway, these seven positions will be filled in today. First, I will declare Tang Wulin as the blacksmith representative.¡±


    Tang Wulin did not expect this at all.


    ¡°Stand up. Let your classmates get acquainted with you,¡± Shen Yi said.


    Tang Wulin stood up, turning around to face all of his classmates.


    Everyone¡¯s gazes landed on Tang Wulin, each with different reactions. The girls instantly brightened the moment they saw him, for one simple reason: he was handsome!


    Tang Wulin, at the young age of thirteen, stood 165 centimeters tall and was only a head shorter than an adult. Long eyelashes accentuated his large eyes. With a lean build and a radiant smile, his pretty-boy look  easily captured the hearts of the girls.


    The boys, however, did not look too kindly on him. Just by the fact that they attended Shrek Academy was enough to attest to their genius status and so they all naturally regarded themselves highly.


    ¡°Teacher!¡± A student in the back row raised his hand.


    ¡°Speak,¡± Shen Yi said.


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he need to compete for the blacksmith representative position?¡± The young man stood up, revealing his unbelievably muscular build. He stood over 190 centimeters tall and had a deep voice. Oddly enough though, his eyes were extremely small. So small, that they were like slits.


    ¡°Yang Nianxia, you¡¯re not exactly wrong. Tang Wulin doesn¡¯t need to compete for the blacksmith representative position because no one can compete with him. He¡¯s a fourth-rank blacksmith.¡± Shen Yi¡¯s words roused the entire class.


    Fourth-rank blacksmith? A fourth-rank blacksmith who¡¯s not even fifteen years old? That¡¯s just ridiculous!


    Yang Nianxia froze, stunned. Originally, he had objected because he himself was a third-rank blacksmith, a remarkable achievement for his age.


    Now, however, words failed him¡ªhe couldn¡¯t hope to compare to a fourth-rank blacksmith!


    He stared at Tang Wulin in shock. Though he could not accept it just yet, he sat back down.


    Tang Wulin gave Yang Nianxia a nod, his expression unchanging.


    ¡°Any other questions?¡± Shen Yi swept her gaze across the class.


    Little did the class know, Shen Yi was still understating Tang Wulin¡¯s level. After all, he had yet to receive his badge for the fifth rank and couldn¡¯t spirit refine at the moment.


    Everyone changed their suspicious attitudes within an instant. Although Shrek Academy students constantly competed against each other, assisting each other was also possible. After all, it would be foolish not to form close ties with talented people. Everyone was painfully aware that they could not become battle armor masters through their own efforts alone. They would need outside help, and their classmates were their best bet.


    These students, having come from all over the continent, had all heard numerous tales of Shrek Academy that instilled caution into their hearts. Everyone knew that they had direct all their efforts into self-improvement.


    In the end, they were all geniuses that made it into Shrek Academy.


    Seeing no one else object, Shen Yi smiled. ¡°Good, that¡¯s settled then. A competition will be held for the other positions. The contest for the president and vice-president seat will start in a moment. We¡¯re going to a practice field where you can fight to your heart¡¯s content. There¡¯s only one requirement to become the class president: survive until the very end. The two runner-ups will be the vice-presidents. Let me remind you, it¡¯s not a fight to the death. As long as your four limbs or your torso touches the ground, you will be eliminated.¡±


    ¡°Of course, if you wish to withdraw from the position, that¡¯s fine too. There are many perks to being the class president, but the responsibilities are just as heavy. If there¡¯s one benefit that makes it worth it though, it would be the extra credit you receive when you take the inner court entrance exam in the future, and the greater influence on campus. As I¡¯m sure you all know, the highest authority in Shrek City and Shrek Academy is the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion. Nearly all the elders of the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion were past class presidents or vice-presidents. The Academy has six grades and only six classes, so there are only six class presidents in total. Every one of them has a higher chance of making it into the inner court.¡±


    How can she say withdrawing is fine? Now she¡¯s just trying to provoke us!


    Still standing up, Tang Wulin clearly saw Shen Yi¡¯s words ignite a fire in the eyes of his fellow classmates.


    And he was no exception. There wasn¡¯t anyone who didn¡¯t want to stand above their peers This was especially true at Shrek Academy. But in order to climb to the top, they had to fight.


    ¡°Alright, you have fifteen minutes to prepare. Naturally, you can also form groups, it¡¯s up to you. We will only observe the battles.¡±


    Fifteen minutes to form teams?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped. He understood the underlying meaning in Shen Yi¡¯s words. This wasn¡¯t merely a test of their individual strength; in order to become the class president, it would take more than a single person¡¯s power.


    The Shrek Academy entrance exam already weeded out every weakling. Right now, wisdom was more important than strength.


    Tang Wulin sat down silently. He sent a meaningful look to Xie Xie. Then, in a voice only audible to his teammates, Tang Wulin said, ¡°Xie Xie, Xiaoyan, you two go make another group. Understood?¡±


    A knowing smile instantly appeared on Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s lips. Xie Xie, though taken by surprise,  soon curled his lips into a mischievous grin.


    Understanding Gu Yue¡¯s temperament, Tang Wulin did not tell her to do the same. She was too prideful to take the initiative to form her own group.


    The reason why they weren¡¯t teaming up this time was simple. After being seated together, they were already perceived as their own clique. Now that Tang Wulin was the blacksmith representative, even more eyes were on him. There was just too much attention on them right now.


    If they wanted to take full advantage of the ensuing chaos, first they had to take the heat off of themselves.


    The lecture theater soon grew rowdy as people turned towards the person sitting next to them in search of comrades.


    With only three positions available, the teams remained small. If the team was too big, there would be conflicts over who received the positions!


    Though strangers at first, the classmates soon became friendly.


    ¡°Can I join you guys? I¡¯m a control-type soul master, so I¡¯ll definitely be useful. I don¡¯t want to be class president, I¡¯m just afraid of getting hurt. If you¡¯ll have me, I¡¯ll withdraw when we¡¯re the only team left.¡±

 Chapter 306 - Forming Groups

    Chapter 306 - Forming Groups


    Xu Xiaoyan had a delicate appearance, like that of a frail flower. She was undoubtedly unrivalled among her peers. It didn¡¯t take much for a relatively large team to accept her, making them a team of five with her addition.


    Ignoring her team¡¯s discussions, she glanced at Tang Wulin, completely pleased with herself.


    Xie Xie also managed to join a team without a hitch. Agility-type soul masters excelled in chaotic battlefields, so he was easily able to recruit two other agility-type soul masters to form a team of three. He even came up with a name for his team, the Scavengers.


    Someone spoke up while Tang Wulin was immersed in observing his fellow classmates.


    ¡°Hi, are you really a fourth-rank blacksmith?¡±  It was that Yang Nianxia who had previously doubted him.


    ¡°Mn. I am.¡± Tang Wulin took out his badge as proof. Considering Yang Nanxia¡¯s sturdy build, Tang Wulin was certain that he was a blacksmith as well. As fellow blacksmiths, they were bound to run into each other often in the future, so it was best to maintain a cordial relationship.


    ¡°Let¡¯s team up then. I¡¯m a power-type soul master. My martial soul is the Duskgold Bear,¡± Yang Nianxia said, cutting right to the chase.


    The Duskgold Bear? Tang Wulin was startled.


    The Duskgold Bear was a variant of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. In all of history, a soul master with the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear as martial soul had never appeared. Maybe it was just too overbearing for a human to contain.


    The Duskgold Bear, however, was lauded as the most powerful bear-type martial soul. It possessed all the traits of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, except for its famed claw. Both its strength and defense were tyrannical, making it an amazing meat shield.


    Tang Wulin could be considered a sort of assault-type soul master. If he were to team up with such an amazing human shield, his survivability would soar to new heights.


    Tang Wulin nodded without the slightest hesitation. ¡°Sure! Welcome to the team! I¡¯m Tang Wulin, and this here is my companion, Gu Yue. I¡¯m a control-type soul master and Gu Yue is an elemental-type soul master that specializes in control, support, and ranged attacks.¡±


    ¡°Hi.¡± Yang Nianxia offered his hand to Gu Yue in greeting. However, she only gave him a nod. She never let anyone apart from Tang Wulin touch her.


    Tang Wulin smiled sheepishly. ¡°That¡¯s just the kind of person Gu Yue is. Don¡¯t mind it too much, Yang Nianxia.¡±


    Yang Nianxia chuckled and he rubbed the back of his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. Oh, right, how old are you? It¡¯s amazing that you¡¯re a fourth-rank blacksmith at such a young age. We should compare notes sometime.¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯m thirteen. How about you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fourteen.¡±


    The two stared at each other in astonishment. Yang Nianxia¡¯s surprise stemmed from how young Tang Wulin was, while Tang Wulin found Yang Nianxia¡¯s enormous size shocking for someone at his age.


    ¡°The three of us make quite a good team. Do you have any idea what we should do later? I¡¯m not very good at strategizing. What are your specialties?¡± Yang Nianxia asked, full of vigor.


    All of the new students still weren¡¯t familiar with each other, so this battle royale served as the perfect stage to showcase their strengths. The more formidable one appeared, the easier it would be for them to form relationships with others. Furthermore, it would elevate one¡¯s status in the class. Everyone was eager to prove themselves.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°It¡¯s quite simple really. Isn¡¯t your martial soul the Duskgold Bear? The Duskgold Bear has amazing strength and defense. All you need to do is focus on displaying them and we¡¯ll be fine. Leave the rest to me and Gu Yue. I¡¯ll pull people to you, and you¡¯ll beat them up. Gu Yue will be in charge of ranged attacks and supporting us.¡±


    With the addition of Yang Nianxia, Tang Wulin was satisfied with the composition of their team. He had no doubts about Yang Nianxia¡¯s strength. He had passed Shrek¡¯s entrance exam too after all. At the very least, he had to have three soul rings. Those who had been admitted with only two soul rings like Tang Wulin were an oddity.


    As this thought crossed Tang Wulin¡¯s mind, the image of that red-haired Fallen Angel girl popped into his head. Doesn¡¯t she only have two rings as well? And she has purple ones like mine. The same goes for Yue Zhengyu. He has three purple rings. It seems like both Holy Angels and Fallen Angels have the physical strength and spiritual power to support a powerful spirit soul.


    Fifteen minutes soon passed. Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong majestically led the 101 students of the first grade out of the classroom. They walked down a long hall, venturing into the depths of the school building.


    The school building was simply enormous. It would take someone several years to become familiar with every nook and cranny of it.


    They soon arrived in a large circular room.


    Strangely enough, this room was barely large enough to fit all of the students, but nowhere near enough room for them to do battle.


    ¡°In just a moment, all of you will enter an illusory world. I believe everyone here has been in the spirit ascension platform before, so you can consider this world as something similar. Now, everyone move outside of the white circle on the floor,¡± Shen Yi said.


    The students did as Shen Yi ordered and withdrew from the center of the room, leaving a large empty space there.


    Shen Yi walked over to the wall and operated some kind of mechanism. A series of soul circuits lit up in response, zig-zagging all over the room. A moment later, the floor of the center of the room opened up, and egg-shaped globes shot out.


    Each globe was about 2.5 meters tall with a diameter of 1.2 meters. All of them split open to reveal a peculiar cockpit within.


    ¡°You may choose to enter whichever one you want. After entering, you will find yourselves in a forest. The boundaries of this forest are small, so you will quickly encounter each other. If you want to be near any companions, enter eggs that are near each other. You have three minutes to sort things out. Don¡¯t forget to buckle your seat belts once you¡¯ve entered your cabin.¡±


    So high tech!


    Tang Wulin stared at the oval cabins in admiration. They were clearly entering the same kind of world as the spirit ascension platform! Taking the world they entered during the entrance exam into consideration as well, he could barely even begin to imagine what technology Shrek Academy possessed. Perhaps he would no longer need to visit the spirit ascension platform and could just come here instead.


    Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Yang Nianxia swiftly chose three cabins that were clustered together. After entering, they buckled their seat belts, and the opening of their cabins closed, leaving each of them in darkness.


    Soon after that, specks of starlight twinkled into existence around Tang Wulin, as if he were floating amidst a sea of stars. Waves of energy began rippling around him, and the egg began to spin.


    Dizziness struck him and left him dazed, but just as he was about to throw up from the nausea, his mind went blank.


    His nausea completely vanished, and he could feel his feet planted firmly below him. He immediately dropped to the ground in a low crouch.


    Crouching reduced how big of a target of he was and also gave him a chance to let his soul power and blood essence settle. It was essential for him to be in peak condition.


    Tang Wulin had a clear view of his surroundings. Just as Shen Yi had said, he found himself in a lush forest. He couldn¡¯t see anyone else, but the dense flora severely limited his line of sight.


    Now that he was in a forest, Tang Wulin felt like a fish back in water. Plant-type soul masters like him had a definite advantage in such an environment.


    Tang Wulin dashed to the side and jumped into some shrubbery to hide himself. A moment later, purple eyes appeared within the shrubbery.


    ¡°Tang Wulin? Gu Yue? Where are you guys?¡± a voice roared nearby.


    Tang Wulin was stunned, but his expression soon darkened. This guy¡­


    The owner of that voice was clearly Yang Nianxia!

 Chapter 307 - Duskgold Bear Martial Soul

    Chapter 307 - Duskgold Bear Martial Soul


    Shen Yi had said that this small forest would be filled with the students of the first grade. Tang Wulin was appalled that Yang Nianxia would brazenly shout like this, revealing himself the instant the battle royale started.


    Tang Wulin leaned forward as he stealthily dashed through the shadows of the bushes toward Yang Nianxia¡¯s voice. He had to join up with Yang Nianxia immediately and change their location before they were surrounded.


    Sure enough, he quickly located Yang Nianxia by following his booming voice.


    Yang Nianxia stood in the middle of a clearing, a perplexed look on his face as he swept his gaze through his surroundings. He was tall and muscular and practically had a giant target painted on his back.


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to join up with Yang Nianxia, he noticed something and stopped, remaining in the bushes.


    A figure quietly approached Yang Nianxia from behind him. It was truly strange. A shadow on the ground was the only sign of someone approaching, but no one was there to cast it.


    But when the shadow reached Yang Nianxia, it suddenly burst into existence in the shape of a person. The shadow person threw a garrote around Yang Nianxia¡¯s neck and pulled.


    What martial soul is that? It¡¯s so strange. Although Tang Wulin was startled, he didn''t rush out to save Yang Nianxia. Their alliance wasn¡¯t that solid to begin with, and he had to be cautious of any enemies that appeared. Only the heavens knew how many people had set their sights on Yang Nianxia now.


    The assailant braced themselves against Yang Nianxia, taking advantage of their difference in height to push off of Yang Nianxia¡¯s back to strangle him.


    This was an illusory world in which even death wasn¡¯t real, so the attacker showed no mercy and immediately aimed for a fatal blow.


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s body instantly went stiff as he resisted the force pressing against his neck. The fact that his attacker aimed for a vital part like his neck from the very beginning meant that they were a fairly powerful agility-type soul master. Three soul rings rose from under the attacker¡¯s feet, but only his second ring lit up.


    Yang Nianxia jabbed his elbow backward, intent on striking the attacker¡¯s chest.


    However, since the attacker stood on his back, his elbow couldn¡¯t reach.


    Yang Nianxia ferociously stomped the ground and his body began expanding. He quickly grew from 190 centimeters to 250 centimeters tall. Although his transformation wasn¡¯t as drastic as Yuanen¡¯s Titan Giant Ape, Yang Nianxia¡¯s hair became dark-gold, a dark-gold luster covered his skin, and three purple soul rings rose from his feet.


    This guy¡­


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes widened in shock.


    Seemingly sensing that his advantage was gone, the assailant kicked off of Yang Nianxia and put some distance between them.


    At that moment, Yang Nianxia¡¯s first soul ring lit up and dark-golden light erupted from his body.


    The light revealed the true form of the illusory figure behind him, slowing them down as well.


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s hand shot backward to catch the enemy by their ankle. With a firm grasp on the enemy¡¯s ankle, he smashed them into the ground like a rag doll.


    An instant later, the ambusher¡¯s body disappeared in a flash of light.


    After confirming his victory, Yang Nianxia returned to his normal appearance, minus the clothes that had been torn apart by his transformation.


    ¡°Tang Wulin! Gu Yue! Where are you two!¡± Yang Nianxia shouted, clearly having no intention of stopping.


    As he watched from the shadows, Tang Wulin felt a chill go down his spine.


    Just as expected, no one who passed the entrance exam can be considered weak! He might be exposing himself while looking for us, but he has the strength to do so! His powerful martial soul and strange soul skill allowed him to easily take care of that ambusher. That wire didn¡¯t even do anything to him!


    I shouldn¡¯t go out yet. He looks honest, but he has a cunning heart. He¡¯s an excellent teammate candidate!


    ¡°What are you hollering for?¡±


    Three figures emerged from the forest, a group of two boys and one girl. All of them had two purple soul rings and one yellow soul ring. The girl led the way. She had a dazzlingly pretty face and was an even match for Xu Xiaoyan in the looks department, but she was far more arrogant. A dark-green snake coiled around her right arm, surrounded by a gloomy aura.


    The two boys behind her were average in terms of height and looks, but their faces were identical.


    The moment he saw the twins, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but recall the twin sisters he had encountered at the Skysea Alliance Tournament. He had lost to their powerful soul fusion skill back then. Considering the fact that these two boys were also twins, he wondered if they also had a soul fusion skill.


    Since classes had just started, Tang Wulin was still unfamiliar with his classmates. He didn¡¯t know who was powerful and who was weak!


    Judging by the sound of the voice, it was clear that the girl had spoken.


    Yang Nianxia responded with an innocent smile.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Yang Nianxia. I¡¯m looking for my teammates right now.¡±


    The girl stepped forward. ¡°I¡¯m Zheng Yiran. You should just withdraw right now and save yourself from some pain. The position of class president is already mine.¡±


    Yang Nianxia stared at her in astonishment. ¡°Didn¡¯t the teacher say we need to fight for the position? How is the position already yours?¡±


    Zheng Yiran frowned. ¡°Are you stupid? I obviously meant that no one else is worthy of being my opponent. It¡¯s guaranteed that I¡¯ll beat everyone here and become the class president. Alright, enough of this nonsense. Zheng Long. Zheng Hu. Send him on his way.¡±


    ¡°Yes, young miss.¡± The two boys behind her shot forward, their first soul rings twinkling as an aura of darkness enveloped them.


    A green tint appeared on their skin as they dashed toward Yang Nianxia. They opened their mouths and shot green lights straight at him.


    Yang Nianxia stood there as if he had been stunned, not moving an inch. Then he suddenly released his martial soul and his body swelled once more.


    Isn¡¯t he being too cocky? Tang Wulin frowned from his position in the bushes.


    The two green lights struck Yang Nianxia. He shuddered as a dark-green hue corrupted the golden luster that covered him.


    ¡°Ah! Poison!¡± Yang Nianxia cried out as a sudden trembling gripped him.


    Zheng Long and Zheng Hu approached Yang Nianxia with lightning speed. Their martial souls could only faintly be discerned as a jade-green haze. Death clung to them, and the surrounding plants wilted wherever they went.


    It was poison, just as Yang Nianxia said. It was a rarely seen poison-attribute martial soul! Considering the fact that they had passed the Shrek entrance exam, they had to be powerful in their own right. That Zheng Yiran, who seemed to have a similar martial soul, was also there. They likely hailed from a family of poison-attribute martial souls.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s horizons were truly broadened today. Since entering Shrek Academy, he had seen countless rare and powerful martial souls.


    In the blink of an eye, Zheng Long and Zheng Hu reached Yang Nianxia.


    Yang Nianxia trembled more intensely than before as each of the twins raised a foot to kick him, a transparent jade-green spike sprouting from their feet. Although the spikes were beautiful, the association of the color with their martial souls took away from that.


    If the two spiked kicks struck Yang Nianxia¡¯s neck, his bid for class presidency would definitely be done.


    Even so, Tang Wulin did not act. Yang Nianxia wasn¡¯t really his comrade after all. Besides, considering how crafty Yang Nianxia was, Tang Wulin was confident that he wouldn¡¯t lose to just two poison-attribute soul masters.


    ¡°So poisonous! How scary!¡± Yang Nianxia wailed.


    But just as the two spikes were about to stab him, he stopped trembling.


    His arms shot out like lightning to grab each twin by the ankle.


    A grim smile formed on his lips. ¡°Isn¡¯t that enough now?¡±


    He stomped on the ground, dispelling the green haze on him with a burst of dark-golden light.


    The light made the air tremble, and when it struck Zheng Long and Zheng Hu, their bodies went weak.


    They had been completely sapped of strength.

 Chapter 308 - Jade Snake Zheng Yiran

    Chapter 308 - Jade Snake Zheng Yiran


    Yang Nianxia ruthlessly slammed the twins onto the ground. Zheng Long and Zheng Hu disappeared in two flashes of light before Zheng Yiran could even react.


    ¡°You!¡± She stood there, stunned beyond belief. Never had she expected that the twin¡¯s poison would be ineffective against Yang Nianxia.


    ¡°Hi Zheng Yiran, I¡¯m Yang Nianxia. Please advise me.¡± Yang Nianxia, without giving her a chance to process the situation, charged toward her like an unstoppable tank.


    ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡± Zheng Yiran screamed. A bright green haze covered her as she dashed forward. The snake curled around her arm glowed, then spat green mist at Yang Nianxia.


    Yang Nianxia snarled. Dark-gold light burst from his body, disintegrating the mist when they touched. He reached her an instant later.


    Zheng Yiran regarded him with icy eyes as she still rushed forth, clearly not intending to dodge. Yang Nianxia was just about to smash into her, when her body went soft as if her bones had liquified and her arm shot out to meet his fist.


    Light exploded around her, concealing which soul skill she used. A split second later, she wrapped herself around Yang Nianxia, constricting him.


    She lifted up her now jade-green right hand and stabbed it at his neck. At the same time, the snake on her arm glowed again and sprayed another puff of mist at Yang Nianxia¡¯s face.


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s third soul ring lit up and he howled, his already enormous bulk growing to three meters in height. Dark-gold fur sprouted all over his body like a bed of steel needles. Light exploded from his body in an attempt to throw Zheng Yiran off of him.


    However, unlike Zheng Long and Zheng Hu, she held fast onto Yang Nianxia like glue. Even as the light increased in intensity, she held on. The two were locked in a stalemate.


    At that moment, a palm appeared out of nowhere and gently rested on Zheng Yiran¡¯s back. She trembled, then stiffened as a layer of blue frost spread across her back.


    Yang Nianxia roared as he tensed his muscles, shattering Zheng Yiran¡¯s frozen body into brilliant shards of ice. A second later, and all that remained of her was a few particles of light.


    A girl with long black hair flashed next to Yang Nianxia¡¯s side. She wasn¡¯t particularly pretty, but she had a particular air about her. It was Gu Yue.


    She had teleported in and used frost palm on Zheng Yiran, instantly turning the tide of battle.


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s body rapidly shrunk back to normal and he turned to Gu Yue to give her a thumbs up.


    Gu Yue responded with a polite smile, holding her hands behind her back as if this matter wasn¡¯t worth mentioning.


    To Tang Wulin¡¯s astonishment, Gu Yue¡¯s eyes darted toward the bushes he hid in for a fleeting second before shifting away.


    Wow! The Spirit Sea realm is amazing. Her perception is so keen now, she instantly discovered me.


    Yet, even so, she did not call out to him, nor did he come out.


    ¡°Gu Yue, what should we do now?¡± Yang Nianxia asked with an innocent look on his face.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you doing well just now? Continue.¡± Gu Yue walked toward the bushes Tang Wulin hid in once she finished speaking.


    ¡°But my soul power will run out!¡± Yang Nianxia said with a wronged expression.


    ¡°That¡¯s your problem.¡± Gu Yue didn¡¯t look back. Instead, she crouched down and entered the bushes.


    She casually sat next to Tang Wulin.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes flashed and his right arm shot out like lightning.


    A ding rang through the air as a pair of sharp talons were knocked away by Tang Wulin¡¯s arm. They had been aimed at their backs.


    Spears of bluesilver grass shot out from the ground and shook the surrounding bushes so violently, they released two people whose bodies were paralysed.


    In the same instant, a pair of meter-long wind blades flew out and turned the two attackers into flashes of light.


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t turned around the entire time. Even now, he only revealed a smirk as he gave a thumbs up behind him.


    A figure crawled forward not too far from behind Tang Wulin and picked up a strand of bluesilver grass. Not a sound came from this person, as if he had completely blended in with the environment. It was precisely Xie Xie.


    The team he had formed with two other agility-type soul masters had eliminated five other people beforehand. After all, agility-type soul masters had both speed and attack power Ambush was their forte.


    But when Xie Xie¡¯s two teammates had set their eyes on Tang Wulin, neither sensed their impending doom.


    It was a pity. They had been betrayed. After spending all these years together, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie didn¡¯t need to verbally communicate.


    As soon as Xie Xie realised that the person within the bushes was Tang Wulin, he pinched a strand of bluesilver grass found everywhere because he knew of Tang Wulin¡¯s grass surveillance network.


    After being warned, Tang Wulin had passed this on to Gu Yue with a signal only their team knew.


    The tragic fates of the two agility-type soul masters played out afterward. The most important part of this chain of events, though, was that they had never suspected Xie Xie¡¯s betrayal.


    Once restrained, only one path left for agility-type soul masters. It wasn¡¯t that they weren¡¯t strong, but their advantage lay in ambushing and guerilla tactics. With their speed, it naturally lowered the strength of their defences.


    Yang Nianxia noticed this commotion and approached the bushes, his pupils contracting in shock when he saw two flashes of light. However, he soon regained his calm and gave a thumbs up. He ran over to join Gu Yue in the bushes.


    ¡°Y-you! When did you get here?¡± Yang Nianxia exclaimed, surprised to see Tang Wulin in the bushes as well.


    Tang Wulin gave a wry smile. ¡°I just got here a moment ago.¡±


    A naive smile formed on Yang Nianxia¡¯s lips. ¡°Oh. Keep watch for me then. I need to recover some soul power.¡±


    They had already eliminated six people within a few short minutes. Moreover, all of their opponents had been powerful, especially that Zheng Yiran with her tyrannical poisonous martial soul. Despite this, the Duskgold Bear¡¯s stalwart defences restrained her martial soul and she met her demise at the hands of Gu Yue¡¯s frost palm. Of course, victory wouldn¡¯t have been so easy for them had she not been so arrogant.


    Yang Nianxia sat down and began meditating without a hint of worry. He had complete faith in Tang Wulin and Gu Yue to protect him.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue exchanged a look. They didn¡¯t speak as Tang Wulin willed his buesilver grass into the ground to link with the surrounding plants. He poured soul power into the plants through his grass, empowering them to mask their aura.

 Chapter 309 - Demon Scythe

    Chapter 309 - Demon Scythe


    The sound of combat pierced through the air.  It was chaos incarnate, thundering booms shaking the earth and sending debris flying sometimes meters away. Battles had broken out throughout every corner of the forest, spreading like wildfire.


    However, this was natural, as 101 participants were scrambling for a measly three positions. They all believed themselves destined to stand at the summit, special and extraordinary among crowds of the mundane.


    And today was the best chance to showcase just that to their teachers.


    ?


    ¡°Senior brother, who do you think will become the class president?¡± Shen Yi asked, eyes glued to the large screen on the wall, analyzing.


    ¡°Tang Wulin,¡± Wu Zhangkong answered.


    ¡°Tang Wulin? Are you sure?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded.


    ¡°But Gu Yue and several other students are stronger than him. He doesn¡¯t shine in any aspect and we have a lot of good newcomers flooding in this year,¡± Shen Yi said. ¡°The inner court¡¯s standards are extremely strict now. In fact, the outer court is practically used to toughen students without letting them enter the inner court directly. Do you really think Tang Wulin has a chance against those students?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not his strength that will allow him to win, but his character. I know Tang Wulin isn¡¯t the most gifted of his classmates, and Gu Yue is obviously stronger than him. In fact, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan are about equal to him as well. Not to mention, there are numerous students with more talent than him. That said, I am certain no one is more suited to be class president.¡±


    Shen Yi was taken aback. ¡°Is it because he¡¯s a schemer? Because he¡¯s so two-faced?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head again. ¡°No. It¡¯s because he has the temperament of a leader.¡±


    ¡°A leader¡¯s temperament? Aren¡¯t you exaggerating a bit too much?¡± Shen Yi prodded.


    Once more, Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not. Watch him carefully from now on. It took me three years to uncover what sort of person he is. He may be rotten at times, but his character truly shines when he¡¯s faced with a challenge and still manages to make the right decision. You say he¡¯s two-faced, but when his comrades are in danger, he doesn¡¯t hesitate to step forward to help. Even then, he somehow manages to minimize the damage. Furthermore, his situational awareness is a level above his peers. If he wasn¡¯t in charge of his team, then their fighting strength would decrease by twenty or maybe even thirty percent. But under his lead, they act as one cohesive whole.


    ¡°His charisma unites the people at his side and makes the willingly accept his commands. Both Gu Yue and Xie Xie are proud kids, but they never forget to call him captain. It¡¯s his actions that demand their heartfelt admiration. So like I said before, just watch. I am convinced that out of everyone out there, he¡¯s the most likely to become class president.¡±


    Shen Yi hummed, eyes glazing over thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯ll sit back and observe then. And I¡¯ll await an excellent performance from him.¡±


    ?


    Farther out into the distance, a blood-soaked figure dressed in tattered attire leaped out of the bushes. On his back were a pair of white wings, nothing like the Holy Angel ones Tang Wulin had seen before. Instead of feathers, white hair covered the surface area of the wings, black stripes knitted like spiderwebs.


    These same stripes snaked throughout his body. If not for his humanoid form, it would be easy to mistake him for a tiger.


    This person had a muscular body covered in wounds. Yet, he managed to rush forward like a roaring gale.


    They said clouds come from dragons and winds come from tigers. Tiger-type martial souls were powerful, but he outdone even that by possessing a winged tiger martial soul!


    As he dashed from the bushes, three figures followed chase. Leading was someone shrouded in a black haze! The pack moved in complete silence; not a single rustle of a leaf could be heard as they shot through the forest. The area around them dimmed as if the light was being sucked into their pitch-black haze.


    The black figures flashed forward, leaving afterimages behind as they closed the gap between them and their prey. It seemed that the winged tiger wasn¡¯t truly capable of flight, especially with a gaping hole in his right wing.


    Compared to their leader, the two behind the shadowy figure were slower, trailing behind as the one in front overtook the winged tiger soul master.


    A jet-black light exploded. Even fifty meters away, Tang Wulin broke out into a cold sweat at its sheer power. This chill came not from the weather, but from the very depths of his soul.


    What martial soul is that?


    Stricken with dread, the winged tiger soul master barrel rolled in the air, activating his purple third soul ring. His body expanded, a golden shine dusting his hair  as he spun around roaring to face the attack.


    As soon as he did, a wave of darkness descended, engulfing both the winged tiger and the shadowy figure pursuing him!


    A blink, and the winged tiger soul master blasted  out of the darkness like a rocket. He smashed into the ground and slid through it, his damaged wing snapped off clean.


    Then the shadowy figure left the darkness¡¯ embrace, the black haze covering their body thin enough for Tang Wulin to discern their appearance.


    Ashen hair. Sickly pale skin. It was a youth whose physical appearance bore nothing attractive to say so the least, and the only features worth a second glance were perhaps his hair and eyes. That said, he seemed to have sprang out from another world.


    In his right hand was a large scythe. The handle was no less than three meters long and its blade stretched to one meter, alluring violet patterns etched into the metal. In fact, those decorations sucked in the soul of the observer.


    That¡¯s¡­


    The gray-haired youth lifted his scythe as he approached the winged tiger soul master, one leisurely step at a time.


    ¡°Show some mercy!¡± begged the wounded party.


    But his pleas were left unanswered. A flash of shadow, followed by blinding white light. And the powerful winged tiger soul master was no more.


    Moments later, the two people following the ashened-hair youth finally caught up to their leader.


    ¡°Captain, you¡¯re so awesome!¡± One of them flashed a big thumbs up.


    Wearing a perfect impassive mask, the aforementioned captain continued on as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Hidden in the trees far away, Tang Wulin and his team had witnessed this one-sided battle with bated breath.


    Their eyes trembled with shock.


    It wasn¡¯t just the strength of the gray-haired youth that came as a bombshell. It was his soul rings too.


    He had four yellow soul rings! Although none of them were of the thousand-year level, he still had four rings! A whopping four!


    Since he was a new student like them, he was fifteen at the oldest. Yet he was a Soul Elder! Only one word came to mind to describe him: terrifying!


    However, what was truly baffling was despite his strength, he did not have a single thousand-year soul ring.


    Then again, this was to be expected of Shrek Academy, the congregation point of all things bizarre.


    ¡°I recognize him. He¡¯s from Bright City.¡±


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue turned to the owner of the voice, Yang Nianxia.


    Gone was the sparkling honesty in his eyes. Instead, a fierce light flickered in their depths, as if he were some ferocious beast on alert.


    ¡°Bright City? Who is he?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°His name is Xu Yucheng. It¡¯s an ordinary name, but he¡¯s super famous in Bright City. He¡¯s from the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy. I hear he is nicknamed ¡®Immortal¡¯! Immortal Xu Yucheng! His martial soul is the Demon Scythe, also know as the Reaper¡¯s Scythe. Pay attention to him. The reason he has four rings with not a single purple one is because his body can¡¯t handle it.


    ¡°The Demon Scythe isn¡¯t a peak-level martial soul. But that¡¯s not because it isn¡¯t powerful. No, it¡¯s because it¡¯s so powerful it begins devouring the soul master¡¯s body. Because of that, his body is so frail he doesn¡¯t dare fuse with a thousand-year spirit soul yet. In fact, having that many hundred-year soul rings is impressive for his situation.¡±


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s eyes grew wide, his words becoming more and more grave. ¡°He¡¯s not just the strongest student under fifteen at the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy¡ªhe even dominated everyone eighteen years old and under! Remember that. I never expected him to enter our class! This is going to be troublesome. Also, the two following him should be from the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy. Like Shrek Academy, that academy has over ten thousands years of history, and I even hear that back then, they stood toe to toe with them.¡±

 Chapter 310 - Continental Rankings

    Chapter 310 - Continental Rankings


    Xu Yucheng truly was a formidable opponent. With four soul rings, he stood at the peak of the first grade.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team would have to face him sooner or later, but from what they had seen, victory would be no easy feat.


    ¡°He really is too powerful. I¡¯m not sure if we even stand a chance against him. Big brother Yang, do you think you can withstand his attack?¡± Tang Wulin asked with a worried face.


    Yang Nianxia thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°I can probably endure for a short while,¡± he replied. ¡°I think suppressing him with ranged attacks is the best approach. If we do face him, I¡¯ll keep him occupied while Gu Yue showers him with her ice-attribute attacks. He has a frail body so he will be more susceptible to elemental attacks. Don¡¯t worry, we still have a chance. Wulin. You¡¯re a control-type soul master, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    ¡°Our team composition is pretty good then. You control, I¡¯ll be the vanguard, and Gu Yue can attack from a distance. Alright, we got this!¡± Fire blazed in Yang Nianxia¡¯s eyes.


    Tang Wulin relaxed, a trace of admiration flashing through his eyes. ¡°I have a suggestion, big brother Yang. I think you should be the captain of our team. Gu Yue and I are from Eastsea City, a distant place, so we¡¯re not as knowledgeable as you. You¡¯re strong and experienced. With you as captain, we¡¯ll be able to last even longer in this competition. If we last until the end, you should be class president and we¡¯ll be your vice-presidents.¡±


    Yang Nianxia smiled wryly and patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder. ¡°Sure, sure. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll definitely protect you two.¡±


    Gu Yue lowered her head, hiding the twitching of her mouth from Yang Nianxia as she fought to contain her laughter.


    Tang Wulin beamed. ¡°Big brother Yang, what should we do now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve almost fully recovered, and my martial soul is still fine. Once I¡¯m ready, we¡¯ll go join the fray and pick some fights too,¡± Yang Nianxia answered. ¡°The class president is whoever lasts the longest, but if someone wins the position by just hiding the entire time, I don¡¯t think our classmates would accept them. The class president isn¡¯t just a figurehead after all. They¡¯re responsible for leading the class. To that end, strength is paramount.¡±


    ¡°Oh. So it¡¯s like that,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°I thought just being the last person standing would be enough.¡±


    A slight smile formed on Yang Nianxia¡¯s lips, then he stood up. ¡°You have to look at things on a deeper level. Now let¡¯s get going.¡±


    Tang Wulin pulled Gu Yue in front of him so she stood behind Yang Nianxia. She turned around and glared at him, puffing her cheeks out. He simply smiled in response.


    Yang Nianxia was cautious as they advanced. Their path always zigzagged to take advantage of the shadows the foliage provided, and they silently made their way toward the most chaotic part of the forest.


    A flash of white light suddenly bathed the area before them. Yang Nianxia raised a hand and Tang Wulin and Gu Yue came to a halt.


    Another competitor had been eliminated.


    A group walked out ahead of them. It was a team of seven.


    Leading the way was a tall youth with a shield in his hands. He had three soul rings, two yellow and one purple.


    Behind that youth was a handsome boy, the most eye-catching of the seven. He had long blue hair flowing down his back and an air of stability around him. Wu Zhangkong also had blue hair, but their auras differed like black and white. Wu Zhangkong was the Icily Arrogant Prince Charming, whereas this youth wore a lukewarm smile as if he had everything under control.


    He was slender and had pale skin, blue hair, and blue eyes. Every single one of his movements was as natural as drifting clouds and flowing water, as if he were one with nature.


    Even watching from afar, Tang Wulin could tell that this person was the core of that team.


    Two people flanked the blue-haired youth, both of whom looked slender and agile.


    But behind him was someone that Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were all too familiar with.


    It was Xu Xiaoyan.


    With her cute face and sweet smile, Xu Xiaoyan naturally found her place behind the blue-haired youth, occasionally exchanging a few words with him.


    Following Tang Wulin¡¯s team from a distance, Xie Xie had climbed a tree. When he saw Xu Xiaoyan with that team, the corner of his mouth began to twitch.


    ¡°The old saying really is true,¡± Xie Xie mumbled. ¡°Life really is like a drama, and everything is an act!¡±


    Yang Nianxia motioned to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. He quietly squatted into the shrubbery, concealing his presence as much as possible.


    There were 101 students in the first grade, but surprisingly enough, there was a seven-man team. This was likely the largest team in the competition. Considering how organized their ranks were, they definitely worked well together.


    Yang Nianxia turned to Tang Wulin and whispered, ¡°It¡¯s actually a seven-man team. This is a bit troublesome. Three-man, five-man, and seven-man teams all have different tactics, and a team of seven is the optimal number. They are able to advance or retreat however they want without a single member being redundant. We should avoid them for now and let other teams weaken them first.¡±


    ¡°Do you recognize them?¡± Tang Wulin asked. ¡°I know that girl in their team. She¡¯s also from the Skysea Alliance. Her name is Xu Xiaoyan. She has an ice staff martial soul, and she¡¯s a ice-attribute controller. Her abilities are a bit similar to Gu Yue¡¯s, but slightly weaker. I don¡¯t recognize any of the others.¡±


    ¡°I only know about the guy in the center. He¡¯s really annoying to deal with, maybe even more than Xu Yucheng.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin stared at Yang Nianxia in astonishment. ¡°He¡¯s more powerful than that Demon Scythe guy?¡±


    Yang Nianxia shook his head. ¡°He isn¡¯t more powerful¡ªhe can¡¯t even hope to compare with Xu Yucheng. However¡­¡±


    Yang Nianxia paused for a moment, then said, ¡°He¡¯s from Heaven Dou City. His name is Luo Guixing. He¡¯s a control-type soul master that has three soul rings, but his spiritual power is his most noteworthy quality. I heard that he¡¯s already reached the Spirit Sea realm. Aside from that, he¡¯s a space-type soul master. I was in the same entrance exam group as him. I was there to witness him get a total of ninety-three points in the end, which is supposedly the highest score in the last fifty or so years. Considering his ability, he shouldn¡¯t have any problems with entering the inner court. His space abilities are extremely powerful, and he¡¯ll be annoying to deal with when he has such a large group of teammates.¡±


    Space-type? Tang Wulin subconsciously glanced at Gu Yue.


    Elemental-type soul masters were rare, and the most common elements wielded were the four base elements: water, fire, earth, and wind. As for light, darkness, and space, they were called the three higher elements and were the most powerful. Of the three, space was the most mysterious and deceptive. Developing the space element for control would only result in a powerful combination. Furthermore, all space-type soul skills were strong.


    ¡°Luo Guixing also has a nickname: Shackler. Both Shackler Luo Guixing and Immortal Xu Yucheng are top geniuses of our generation and were supposedly already chosen to enter the inner court. The girl that Gu Yue helped me defeat a while back is also quite famous. She¡¯s a poison-type soul master, and her martial soul is the Jade Phosphorus Snake Emperor, a martial soul that excels at guerrilla warfare. She¡¯s quite arrogant, but fairly weak in one-on-one combat. Her name is Zheng Yiran, also known as Jade Snake Zheng Yiran. Have you guys heard of the Continental Rankings?¡±


    ¡°The Continental Rankings? What¡¯s that?¡± Tang Wulin blankly shook his head. This was his first time hearing of it.


    Yang Nianxia stared at him in shock. ¡°You really don¡¯t know about it? It looks like Eastsea City really is a remote place. The Continental Rankings is a series of rankings specially curated by the Spirit Pagoda for us soul masters. The objective of these rankings is to promote the development of soul masters as a whole, as well as individually. Several smaller lists make up these rankings. The main one is the Douluo Continent Ranking, which lists the top one hundred battle armor masters in order.¡±

 Chapter 311 - The Number One Genius of the First Grade

    Chapter 311 - The Number One Genius of the First Grade


    ¡°There are a lot of other rankings as well, such as for blacksmiths, mecha designers, makers, and mechanics. Then there¡¯s the Genius Youths Ranking.


    ¡°It¡¯s considered a secondary ranking outside of the Continental Rankings. Anyone on it is destined to make it onto the Continental Rankings, assuming they don¡¯t meet with an unfortunate accident. ¡°Only those eighteen and under can have their names listed there, with their talent, strength, secondary profession, and soul power all assessed. There are thirty spots on this list altogether.


    ¡°Of these thirty slots, the majority are held by students of Shrek Academy. And of those Shrek students, seven are under fifteen years old. In our class, there¡¯s the rank 17 Shackler Luo Guixing, the rank 19 Immortal Xu Yucheng, and the rank 30 Jade Snake Zheng Yiran.¡±


    Tang Wulin felt his heart tremble from hearing of this ranking system for the first time. ¡°Big brother Yang, you must be part of that seven, right? Probably ranked even higher than Zheng Yiran too. You¡¯re so strong.¡±


    Yang Nianxia chuckled. ¡°I just made it on to the list, ranked 27. Everyone calls me Dark Bear.¡±


    Dark Bear?


    Tang Wulin snickered in his heart.


    The nickname suits him! He¡¯s cunning and can hide it so well.


    ¡°Actually, the rankings aren¡¯t absolute. The difference in strength between us isn¡¯t that great. For example, take Xu Yucheng. He has a higher cultivation than the three-ringed Luo Guixing, but he ranks lower. So you see, the ranking is a comprehensive evaluation of talent. Luo Guixing isn¡¯t the highest ranked person in our class either. There¡¯s a person under sixteen who¡¯s made it to rank 9.¡±


    ¡°Rank 9?¡± Tang Wulin gaped.


    He controls the space element but he isn¡¯t at the top of the list?


    Yang Nianxia nodded, solemn in his action. ¡°It¡¯s said that there hasn¡¯t been a class of new students as powerful as ours in a hundred years. To have two or three students on the Genius Youths Ranking in a batch of new students is already considered excellent. But the current Shrek Academy? It has seven on the list! To be fair, two of them are already in the second grade, so technically we have five in our class. The highest ranked person is called Wu Siduo. I¡¯m not sure how we compare in strength, but I know she¡¯s from Star Luo City. She has four soul rings, but unlike Xu Yucheng, all of them are thousand-year. She¡¯s praised as a once-in-a-century genius in Star Luo City, and it¡¯s likely she¡¯ll reach the top of the Genius Youths Ranking by the time she turns eighteen. And besides that, she¡¯s also a fourth-rank mecha designer. Truly amazing. Actually, she¡¯s similar to you in that regard. You¡¯ve also reached the fourth-rank, right? It¡¯s surprising that you¡¯ve managed to do that with only two soul rings.¡±


    The way in which Gu Yue watched Tang Wulin shifted at that moment. Originally, she had disapproved of teaming up with Yang Nianxia, not to mention his decision to lay low. However, she was beginning to see the wisdom in his actions. At the very least, they gained a thorough understanding of the Genius Youths Ranking from Yang Nianxia and knew who the five strongest students in their class were.


    ¡°Does that Wu Siduo have a nickname too?¡± Tang Wulin asked. Nicknames spoke volumes about the person.


    ¡°Her nickname is ¡®Hell¡¯. Hell Wu Siduo. She¡¯s supposedly a beauty, but to earn that kind of nickname in addition to her looks? I have no idea how powerful she could be.¡±


    Hell Wu Siduo, Shackler Luo Guixing, Immortal Xu Yucheng, Dark Bear Yang Nianxia, and Jade Snake Zhen Yiran who already got eliminated.


    These are the five strongest people in our class, and they¡¯re all on the Genius Youths Ranking.


    Tang Wulin turned his focus to Gu Yue. He was convinced if Gu Yue revealed her full might, she would make it far on that prestigious list.


    As if psychic, Gu Yue met his gaze, a flash of pride and yearning for battle in her eyes.


    It caught him by surprise. This really is Shrek Academy! Everyone is so much more talented than me. I¡¯ll have to work even harder if I want to make it on that list.


    He liked this sort of pressure.


    Of course, he wanted to pick up the class president¡¯s mantle. But he¡¯d be lying to say it was necessary to him. No, his true aim in this competition was to gain a sense of how powerful his classmates were.


    Learning about the five rankers was enough for today. Now he could focus on the competition.


    Yang Nianxia waited until there were no signs of Luo Guixing¡¯s group before leading Tang Wulin and Gu Yue in the opposite direction.


    The competition had gone on for about half an hour.


    All of a sudden, Shen Yi¡¯s voice shook the very skies.


    ¡°Forty-eight students remain. The combat zone shall be reduced by fifty percent.¡±


    Space warped in the next moment, the forest twisting and transforming into somewhere entirely new.


    The terrain changes at the half-hour mark?


    Luckily, Tang Wulin had subconsciously grabbed Gu Yue when that had happened.


    After everything settled, Tang Wulin caught sight of a group of people before him.


    Yang Nianxia was still at his front, but now, about thirty meters further off in the distance, stood Luo Guixing¡¯s group. In addition, a girl stood off to the left and two boys to the right.


    A mass of people were thrown into this clearing in the blink of an eye.


    This¡­


    Luo Guixing reacted first. ¡°Tidy up the battlefield!¡±


    The vanguard, a youth with a shield, immediately charged at his nearest opponent, the two boys on the side. The entire team of seven moved in sync with him, rapidly closing in on the duo.


    ¡°Do we run?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Yang Nianxia waved his hand. ¡°No. This is a good opportunity.¡±


    As he spoke, he approached the girl on the left.


    Tang Wulin took note of this tall girl. She had wavy, auburn hair, pale skin, and large eyes. Her beauty was contrasted by her cold attitude that seemed to warn all to stay away.


    She didn¡¯t withdraw from them. Instead, she walked forward to greet them while releasing her martial soul.


    ¡°Let¡¯s team up against Luo Guixing¡¯s group.¡± Yang Nianxia shouted when they were twenty meters apart.


    Surprise was evident on her face. She narrowed her eyes, weighing the pros and cons.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Her voice was sweet and gentle. Without another word, she switched targets to Luo Guixing¡¯s group and shot off like a rocket.


    ¡°Prepare for battle!¡± Yang Nianxia shouted as he rushed forward, his body expanding and dark-gold hair covering his body as he summoned his martial soul.


    A pair of purple soul rings rose from beneath Tang Wulin while bluesilver grass followed Yang Nianxia¡¯s wake. All the while Gu Yue remained situated at Tang Wulin¡¯s side.


    No sooner had they broke into a sprint, a green light shot out and enveloped Tang Wulin and Yang Nianxia, boosting their speed.


    Yang Nianxia glanced backward in shock. Wind element?


    It was now that he recalled Tang Wulin¡¯s words about Gu Yue¡¯s support.


    She used ice before, and now wind? Does she have twin martial souls?


    Even so, Yang Nianxia¡¯s astonishment was short lived. After all, he had never heard of anyone named ¡®Gu Yue¡¯ on the Genius Youths Ranking.


    Silver lights twinkled and rose from the feet of the two boys in battle. Suddenly, the shield-bearing youth accelerated and crashed into his opponents. Yet instead of sending them flying, the two boys seemed glued to the shield. Then with a wave of her staff, Xu Xiaoyan impaled the other boy with an ice spear. In a flash of light, both boys were eliminated.


    From beginning to end, only a few seconds had passed. In fact, Yang Nianxia had drawn the other girl to his side at the same time Luo Guixing¡¯s group neutralized the two boys. Their battle efficiency was shocking.


    Through it all, Luo Guixing never stopped smiling. His three soul rings, two yellow and one purple, twinkled in turn. Without pause, the shield youth turned to charge at the girl coming from Tang Wulin¡¯s side.


    Silver light swallowed up the ground beneath her. This time, Tang Wulin could clearly see space warping around her, compressing her and locking her in place.

 Chapter 312 - Hell Wu Siduo

    Chapter 312 - Hell Wu Siduo


    Luo Guixing¡¯s first soul skill: Spatial Lock! Using its powerful imprisonment ability, he had neutralized the two students earlier. The soul skill could not completely freeze the target and could only root them in place for a moment, so it required precise judgement to be used effectively, something Luo Guixing did not lack.


    Judging by the charging girl¡¯s momentum, he ruled out breaking into a direct confrontation.


    But at that moment, everyone¡¯s eyes went wide. The girl¡¯s body became illusory and soul rings rose from beneath her.


    One ring, two rings, three rings, four rings! A total of four purple rings appeared around her!


    ¡°Wu Siduo!¡± Half of the students present shouted in unison, including Tang Wulin.


    They had just mentioned her and now she appeared. Then it struck Tang Wulin why Yang Nianxia had only asked for her cooperation because he recognized her.


    Although Luo Guixing¡¯s team was larger than theirs and in good condition, it was difficult to say which team would come up at the top, especially with the rank 9 Hell Wu Siduo and rank 27 Dark Bear Yang Nianxia on their side.


    Even at the same soul level, the gap between soul masters could be as great as that of the heavens and the earth. It was a rare opportunity for them to eliminate Luo Guixing¡¯s large team as well as establish a relationship with Wu Siduo. Yang Nianxia¡¯s actions would benefit them immediately as well as in the long run.


    Wu Siduo twisted in the air as if boneless, leaving an afterimage in a forward dash.


    An aura of darkness shrouded her now, but this darkness was different from that of Xu Yucheng¡¯s. She seemed more agile than before, an otherworldly air clinging to her form.


    Her figure flickered as she suddenly accelerated, appearing before Luo Guixing¡¯s team in a flash of lightning.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time most of Luo Guixing¡¯s team had worked together. The shield youth did not falter at Wu Siduo¡¯s mad dash, his three soul rings lighting up in an instant.


    With that, Wu Siduo abruptly changed direction, shifting her charge toward the shield-wielding youth.


    The shield youth had activated his thousand-year soul skill, Pull! The skill allowed him to attract the attention of his enemies for ten seconds. For defense-type soul masters, this was a soul skill with tremendous use.


    Not a single person in Shrek Academy could be considered ordinary.


    It only took an instant for him to draw Wu Siduo¡¯s charge toward him.


    A boom thundered through the air.


    Defense-type and control-type soul masters naturally restrained agility-type soul masters to a degree, but what happened was the entire opposite.


    Just before Wu Siduo and the shield youth collided, the youth¡¯s expression blackened, and a second later, he was sent flying backward.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s first soul ring dimmed while her second lit up. She continued her charge like a civet, countless afterimages of slashing claws tearing through Luo Guixing¡¯s team.


    She had single-handedly decimated the entire team! This was the strength of the greatest genius of the first grade, Wu Siduo!


    The two agility-type soul masters barely managed to brandish their blades in defense against the claws.


    However, they could do nothing in front of Wu Siduo¡¯s mighty cultivation base. The disparity between four and three rings became apparent now, and the two soul masters went reeling backward, blood spurting out of their mouths in scarlet arcs. Luo Guixing¡¯s flank was now exposed.


    All of a sudden, a whirlpool of silver light swirled around Wu Siduo, engulfing the rest of her shadow claws and dragging her body from mid-air into its belly.


    A grunt, and Wu Siduo¡¯s body flickered, becoming more illusory than before. She brought her hands together above her head, form bursting with a sharp sword¡¯s aura, and an enormous blade of pitch-black light materialized in her hands, contrasting with milky skin. She swung the blade down ferociously at the silver vortex.


    In an explosion of black and silver, the vortex disintegrated, the blade of black light scattering into nothingness. Luo Guixing retreated two steps back, groaning. White light struck him and the two agility-type soul masters from the back, restoring their strength. The shield youth had also recovered by now and once again used his soul skill to draw Wu Siduo¡¯s attention in a charge.


    This was the strength of a team. Wu Siduo might possess explosive strength, but Luo Guixing had survived her fierce combo. Now it was time for his team¡¯s retaliation.


    And retaliate they did. A wheel of ice appeared above Wu Siduo¡¯s head, melting into a threads of blue light rendering her movements into a snail¡¯s pace.


    Xu Xiaoyan only had two soul rings, no doubt about it. But that did not mean her control ability was weak. Afraid of being left behind by her teammates, she had worked hard to improve in the last three years. Though usage of her Starwheel Ice Staff was limited to nighttime, she had slowly mastered all of her ice staff¡¯s soul skills. Her impressive spiritual power helped her utilize them with maximum efficacy.


    Wu Siduo felt trapped in a quagmire under the effects of both the shield youth¡¯s and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s control skills. Wrapped in such a tough situation, she fought to steady her breath.


    In a moment¡¯s glance, a blue vine pulled her to the side. Despite not completely out of harm¡¯s way, she was outside of the shield youth¡¯s soul skill¡¯s range.


    With a roar, the transformed Yang Nianxia barreled past her. He smashed his fists into the ground. The earth shuddered, rocks peppering Luo Guixing¡¯s group. And then Wu Siduo was free.


    A giant icicle floated above Luo Guixing¡¯s team. Wu Siduo felt a tug on her waist again and next thing she knew, she was whisked to the side.


    It felt warm, like being kept in someone¡¯s embrace. Turning her head, Wu Siduo found herself staring straight at a pretty face, mesmerized by large eyes framed with long eyelashes.


    It¡¯s him¡­


    As students of the same class, she recognized who he was: the blacksmith representative, Tang Wulin.


    ¡°I''ll send you over.¡± As he held her by the waist, his eyes never left the battlefield. He rotated his body halfway, strength poured into his muscles, and then he exploded! In an instant, Wu Siduo found herself soaring into the air.


    All in the blink of an eye!


    Tang Wulin wasted no time in activating his second soul ring. Underneath Luo Guixing¡¯s team bursted Bluesilver Impaling Array while a hail of icicles fell from above.

 Chapter 313 - Twin Souled Wu Siduo

    Chapter 313 - Twin Souled Wu Siduo


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team worked in perfect concert with Wu Siduo. While she soared into the air, Dark Bear Yang Nianxia charged toward the shield youth like a tank, his soul rings twinkling and his dark-golden hair shining radiantly.


    He soon entered the range of the shield youth¡¯s Pull, but he wasn¡¯t trying to avoid it in the first place.


    At that moment, Luo Guixing demonstrated his astonishing battlefield control ability that made him the core of his team.


    Inches before Yang Nianxia crashed into the shield youth, the youth disappeared in a silver flash of light and Yang Nianxia charged through thin air.


    The two agility-type soul masters instantly appeared at Yang Nianxia¡¯s sides, dashing around him and toward Tang Wulin and Gu Yue in the backline.


    It was clear that Yang Nianxia¡¯s might easily suppressed both agility and defense-type soul masters, so when the shield youth reappeared, he stood at Luo Guixing¡¯s side.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s eyes glinted as his first and second soul rings lit up. Silver light flashed around Yang Nianxia.


    Spatial soul skills were powerful because no one could do anything to avoid being teleported. In the blink of an eye, Yang Nianxia found himself fifteen meters away from his previous position and rooted in place by Spatial Lock.


    This short-range teleportation and Spatial Lock would probably only slow him down by two or three seconds, but on a battlefield, victory or defeat could be decided in that time.


    With Yang Nianxia teleported away, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were left wide open for the two agility-type soul masters to swoop in. It only took them a second to close the distance.


    Meanwhile, the shield soul master thrust his shield into the air with a grunt. Soul power flooded out of him to form walls around him, Luo Guixing, and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Their remaining two teammates stood behind them. One had his hands raised into the air, conjuring a giant bird of fire that soared into the air. The other was their support-type soul master. Light bloomed around him, flowing out to empower the soul power of his teammates. Soul power amplification was a powerful support ability that scaled with the user¡¯s growth. Its influence was tremendous and could turn the tide of battle, especially for a seven-man team.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s smile had already vanished from his face. An eerie calm set in him, his eyes shining with a light as if they were able to see through everything.


    The impromptu cooperation between Wu Siduo and Yang Nianxia¡¯s team was undoubtedly the greatest challenge he had ever faced, but he was confident in his victory. He wasn¡¯t fighting them alone. He had a team with him. He firmly believed that the power of an individual person was limited, but that of a team was infinite. Furthermore, as the team¡¯s leader, it was crucial for him to have the skills that allowed his teammates to display their full potential.


    Luo Guixing had complete control of the battlefield. The firebird melted the incoming icicle hail and the shield youth trampled the bluesilver grass into oblivion.


    Yang Nianxia had been teleported away since he was the most important foe on the battlefield. Although Wu Siduo was powerful, Luo Guixing was confident that his team would be able to defeat her.


    He currently needed to weaken his opponents and solidify his advantages, so his first priority was to get rid of the weakest two-ringed enemy. After doing so, he would be able to consolidate his team¡¯s strength and focus it on eliminating Dark Bear Yang Nianxia and Hell Wu Siduo.


    In a flash of blue light, bluesilver grass wound itself around Gu Yue¡¯s waist. Tang Wulin used the grass to pull Gu Yue into his arms and dropped to one knee, activating Bluesilver Impaling Array to form a shield around them.


    The two agility-type soul masters charging toward Tang Wulin weren¡¯t fools. The instant the bluesilver grass erupted from the ground, they leaped into the air. However, the grass was too thick, and they soon lost track of their targets.


    Meanwhile, Yang Nianxia broke free of the spatial restraints and charged at Luo Guixing with a roar. Wu Siduo, on the other hand, finally displayed the might of someone in ranked in the top ten.


    Light exploded from Wu Siduo as she soared through the air. Her aura was completely different from what it had been just moments before.


    Her fourth soul ring lit up and she split into three clones, each of which dove in different directions. The clones were transparent, as if they were made of murky water.


    Then her second soul ring lit up. Its radiance combined with the splendor of her fourth ring to illuminate the sky. Claws of shadow filled the sky, completely encompassing the firebird and the shield wall.


    She was meeting force with force! Even though speed was her forte, she chose to clash with them head-on!


    A continuous rumbling resounded throughout the forest as the claws struck the shield wall and the firebird. Luo Guixing¡¯s face darkened as he stared at Wu Siduo. He knew all too well just how much of an advantage Wu Siduo has because of her higher cultivation base. Her reputation wasn¡¯t just empty words.


    The shield youth and the soul master who summoned the firebird groaned as they fought the storm of claws. Though they trembled before Wu Siduo¡¯s might, they barely managed to hold on due to the soul power amplification from their support.


    A silver vortex appeared once more. Luo Guixing, with his thousand-year soul skill, was the only one who could contend with Wu Siduo.


    However, the instant the silver vortex appeared, Wu Siduo¡¯s second and fourth soul rings went dim. Instead, her first soul ring shone. With a sudden burst of speed, she shot through the air and sped toward the support-type soul master like a laser.


    It was Hell Rush!


    This was Wu Siduo¡¯s true aim. She didn¡¯t climb to rank 9 through brute force alone! No, she had been carefully planning her moves the entire battle.


    Yet at that moment, an ice spear shot at her from the side, intercepting her mid-rush.


    The spear gleamed with a cold light. Anyone hit by it would definitely be in for a bad time.


    Wu Siduo had just used a succession of soul skills, so she clearly had to be running low on soul power.


    Luo Guixing turned around and gave Xu Xiaoyan a thumbs up.


    Although Xu Xiaoyan only had two soul rings, she always managed to act at crucial moments throughout the competition for class presidency, making her move at just the right time to change the tide of battle. She didn¡¯t need any direction from Luo Guixing to blend in and cooperate with her teammates. It could be said that she was the glue that kept the team in sync. As a result of this, they approved of her despite her low cultivation base.


    At that instant, however, something completely unexpected occurred.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s mouth curved into a frightening smirk. She didn¡¯t move to dodge the ice spear. Instead, her four purple soul rings vanished and were replaced by a single purple soul ring. White light exploded from her body. White hair appeared all over her, and power surged through her flesh.


    Her single soul ring flared bright, and right before the ice spear struck her, she slapped it with a golden-clawed hand, shattering it into a puff of frost.


    She then crashed into the support-type soul master.


    Light flashed.


    He was eliminated.


    ¡°Twin martial souls!¡± Luo Guixing blurted.


    The situation was just as he said. In that instant, Wu Siduo¡¯s four soul rings were swapped with a single soul ring and her martial soul transformed. There was only one possible explanation for this.


    She had twin martial souls!


    Very few knew about this fact.


    Luo Guixing wasn¡¯t the only one shocked by this. Even her impromptu ally, Yang Nianxia, was dumbstruck!


    Though she only had one soul ring for this martial soul, her cultivation base still reached at least rank 40, so her single soul skill¡¯s might was equivalent with that of a fourth ring¡¯s!


    Upon landing, Wu Siduo didn¡¯t pause for even an instant. Shrouded in an aura of golden light, she charged at the soul master that summoned the firebird, barrelling through the bird that barred her path.


    Just as the ranged-type soul master was about to be crushed by Wu Siduo, a silver flash teleported him off to the side.


    Although he had saved his ally, Luo Guixing¡¯s power wasn¡¯t limitless. Doing this meant that he had to turn his back to the battlefront against Yang Nianxia.

 Chapter 314 - Self-Soul Fusion Skill

    Chapter 314 - Self-Soul Fusion Skill


    Gritting his teeth, the shield soul master charged forward and attacked with his shield!


    Yang Nianxia had suffered quite a bit after being helplessly teleported out of the fray by Luo Guixing. Now that he had finally rejoined the chaos, he couldn¡¯t bear to restrain his strength.


    A boom tore through the air as Yang Nianxia smashed the shield out of the shield youth¡¯s hand and sent him flying backward. Before the youth could hit the ground, Tang Wulin sent a strand of bluesilver grass shooting out from behind Yang Nianxia to wind its way around the youth''s waist. Then Tang Wulin yanked backward, flinging the young shield soul master right into Yang Nianxia''s fist.


    White light blossomed, signaling the youth¡¯s elimination.


    Yang Nianxia turned around to face Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. To his surprise, he found no trace of the two agility-type soul masters from Luo Guixing''s side they should have been fighting with.


    They already got rid of those two?


    Yang Nianxia was shocked. Tang Wulin is just a two-ringed control-type soul master¡­ Was he actually able to suppress those two agility-types? But... this is Shrek Academy! None of the people here are weak. Maybe Gu Yue¡¯s strength is the reason they won?


    However, his conjecture only went that far. They were just temporary allies after all.


    With the mysterious disappearance of his two agility-type teammates in addition to the other two losses, Luo Guixing¡¯s face twisted into a frown. In spite of that, he didn¡¯t give up. He conjured up another silver vortex, but this time, it expanded from his body to repel instead of pull.


    Be it Wu Siduo who rushed him from the rear or Yang Nianxia charging at him from the front, both were repelled.


    Silver light exploded from Luo Guixing¡¯s body, engulfing Xu Xiaoyan and the firebird soul master.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡± he cried.


    At that instant, however, the silver light around him became chaotic, the spatial energy going out of control.


    This is bad!


    The power of space was mysterious and terrifying. Any other element becoming chaotic wouldn¡¯t be as dire. If a soul master lost control of any other element, they could simply run away, but escaping from chaotic space was easier said than done.


    The spatial energy that was supposed to teleport them away exploded, and a rift opened up in the sky. Wave after wave of terrifying energy lashed out at Yang Nianxia and Wu Siduo.


    Luo Guixing shouted defiantly, but in the next instant, the spatial rift swallowed him up.


    The firebird soul master was swallowed along with him, and the chaotic space crushed and tore the two of them apart. A second later, all that remained of them were a few particles of light.


    In the limbo before awakening to reality, Luo Guixing wracked his brain trying to understand how the space he always had perfect control of suddenly went into disarray at that moment.


    In reality, he had been careless. With both his soul and spiritual power exhausted, his control had slipped.


    In the aftermath of Luo Guixing''s failure, a solitary figure landed on the ground. Without the slightest hesitation, she threw her arms high up in the air.


    ¡°I surrender! I surrender! I¡¯ll follow whoever wins!¡±


    It was Xu Xiaoyan.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s team had collapsed in an instant, and she was the only survivor out of the original seven. Wu Siduo¡¯s stern expression didn¡¯t waver. Yang Nianxia, on the other hand, heaved a sigh as he relaxed. However, his gaze was glued to Wu Siduo.


    If Tang Wulin¡¯s team didn¡¯t count Xu Xiaoyan, they outnumbered Wu Siduo three to one. Not only had she exhausted a lot of her strength in the battle against Luo Guixing¡¯s team, using thousand-year soul skills one after another, she had also switched to her second martial soul and used its soul skill. Even for a four-ringed soul master, her soul power reserves would be nearly depleted. Now was the time for Tang Wulin¡¯s team to strike! If they could win against Wu Siduo, then the position of class president was as good as theirs.


    Wu Siduo narrowed her eyes at Yang Nianxia. She stood there staunchly, golden light flashing around her body.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got no time to lose!¡± Yang Nianxia shouted then charged at Wu Siduo.


    Yang Nianxia knew all too well that, if they let Wu Siduo recover, not even the combined power of his entire team would be able to defeat her and her four purple soul rings. They either defeated her now or never!


    Even as he charged at Wu Siduo, he did not forget about Xu Xiaoyan.


    ¡°We have more people,¡± he cried. ¡±Join us!¡±


    Yang Nianxia had to take advantage of everyone he could. Even if his words only distracted Wu Siduo for an instant, it would be worth it. Besides, Xu Xiaoyan was only a two-ringed soul master. He didn¡¯t really care if she joined them.


    But he failed to notice that, as he rushed forward, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue simply stood by!


    "Okay!" Xu Xiaoyan said, accepting his offer, but she didn''t even raise her staff as he continued charging forward.


    Yang Nianxia and Wu Siduo collided, the air around them whipping into a frenzy.


    The Duskgold Bear was a formidable martial soul. Wu Siduo¡¯s second martial soul was also an assault-type, yet the clash had actually forced her a few steps backward. Her exhausted soul power left her at a disadvantage.


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s confidence soared as he saw her fall back. The dark-golden light around him shone more intensely as his third soul ring lit up, and he grew to become three meters tall. He didn¡¯t hesitate at all when it came to attacking a girl, resolutely sending the brute force of his fist to smash Wu Siduo.


    At that moment, Wu Siduo accelerated, a black light streaking out of her body.


    She¡¯s switching martial souls?


    Yang Nianxia rejoiced. He didn¡¯t fear her four-ringed martial soul at all. From what he saw of her in the previous battle, he understood that her first martial soul was an agility-type. Her cultivation base was higher than his, but she was depleted right now.


    Aside from strength, the Duskgold Bear also possessed a formidable defense. With his third soul skill now activated, Yang Nianxia was confident that Wu Siduo wouldn¡¯t be able to break through his defenses. In addition to that, he had Tang Wulin and Gu Yue for backup. His victory was all but assured.


    Just as Yang Nianxia began to revel in his impending victory, something strange started to occur to Wu Siduo. A black aura appeared around her, but the golden light didn¡¯t disappear. Both auras fused into a chaotic radiance of dark-gold as the golden hair on her body took on a crystalline luster. Her human form disappeared and she became a transparent white tiger.


    What¡¯s this? Yang Nianxia stared at her with dull eyes. He had never heard of something like this happening before. There¡¯s no way this is a martial soul avatar! Even if her martial soul is the White Tiger, she would need to be a seven-ringed Soul Sage to manifest her avatar! She¡¯s just a four-ringed Soul Ancestor!


    The thought only crossed his mind for a split-second before he had to snap back to attention as the Hell White Tiger swiped at him. Try as he might, there was nothing he could to do dodge it. An instant later, a white light flashed. Another contestant was eliminated.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were dumbstruck.


    ¡°Is that¡­ a self-soul fusion skill?¡±


    To execute a soul fusion skill, two highly compatible soul masters were needed. When they came into contact with each other, their martial souls would fuse and release an explosion of power.


    This reminded Tang Wulin and Gu Yue of their battle against the twin sisters that unleashed their soul fusion skill to instantly reverse the tide of battle. The power that Wu Siduo currently displayed exceeded that of the twin sisters and was well beyond what Tang Wulin and Gu Yue could comprehend. In Tang Wulin¡¯s mind, there could only be a single reason for the strength she just exhibited.


    It had to be a self-soul fusion skill!

 Chapter 315 - The Importance of Class President

    Chapter 315 - The Importance of Class President


    Wu Siduo¡¯s soul fusion was undoubtedly mighty. A single attack was all that was needed to disintegrate Yang Nianxia and reduce him to motes of light.


    ¡°Run!¡± Tang Wulin immediately ordered.


    Gu Yue moved without hesitation. Silver light flashed, teleporting Tang Wulin and herself just outside the clearing and into the depths of the forest.


    They had tasted defeat at the hands of a soul fusion skill before. Not daring to underestimate it, they chose to exercise caution and retreat in the face of such power.


    The air stirred. A moment later, the Hell White Tiger appeared where they just stood, its powerful claws slashing out only to hit nothing..


    ¡°I surrender!¡± Xu Xiaoyan shouted as she sat on the ground with her hands high in the air.


    The Hell White Tiger landed on the ground. In the next moment however, its figure faded, turning illusory before twisting and disappeared, leaving Wu Siduo in its place.


    Despite her pale complexion, she stood with her back straight and head held high.


    Her strength served as proof that she more than deserved her position as the strongest student of the first grade. With four purple soul rings, twin martial souls, and a self-soul fusion skill, it was impossible for her not to stand at the peak. Her most important ability was her soul fusion skill. It was unprecedented on the Douluo Continent. All of her abilities combined to earn her a spot in the top ten of the Genius Youths Ranking!


    ¡°A-are you okay?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Wu Siduo turned around, shooting Xu Xiaoyan a cold look. ¡°I¡¯m very weak right now. My body is in a bad condition, and I¡¯ve overdrafted my soul power. If you plan to act, then do it now. Come on.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan waved her hand dismissively. ¡°How could I take advantage of you like that? I¡¯m not that kind of person. I already surrendered, so I¡¯m on your team now!¡±


    Wu Siduo frowned at Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s sweet and innocent smile, then sat down on the ground.


    ¡°Then protect me. I¡¯m going to meditate.¡± She closed her eyes.


    It was Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s turn to stare blankly at Wu Siduo. Was my acting too good?


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue watched from the shadows of a tree. Gu Yue knitted her brows. ¡°What are we going to do now?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°There¡¯s no hurry. Such a large battle definitely attracted the attention of others. With the competition nearing an end, who wouldn¡¯t take this opportunity to defeat Wu Siduo? We¡¯ll wait here. Her soul fusion skill might be powerful, but it also consumes a lot of soul power. Right now, she¡¯s not a threat so we¡¯ll just use her as bait. Besides, she probably has another card up her sleeve since she dares to meditate out in the open. Rather than taking a risk and going out to search for others, we should wait here and let Wu Siduo weaken them before we jump in.¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m okay with waiting, but I don¡¯t want anyone to disturb her.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at her in surprise. ¡°Why?¡±


    Gu Yue met his gaze. ¡°I want to duel her at her best condition.¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°Oh, you! You¡¯re just as stubborn as always. Alright, fine. We¡¯ll protect her while she meditates then.¡±


    ¡°You two sure have big hearts. Wouldn¡¯t it be better if I just deal with her right now?¡± Xie Xie popped up by their side. He had been quietly trailing them from a distance the entire time.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°No, Gu Yue is right. If we defeat her right now, would she really accept us as the victors? There¡¯s no way she would, and others wouldn¡¯t either. If any of us wants to become the class president, we¡¯ll need to show our strength. This is Shrek; only the strong are welcomed. Wu Siduo is a challenge we have to overcome.¡± He turned to Gu Yue. ¡°But I want you to promise me one thing, Gu Yue.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I know you refuse to accept this, but don¡¯t deny that a four-ringed soul master with a self-soul fusion skill is stronger than us. It will be difficult to defeat her, so let¡¯s fight together, alright?¡±


    Gu Yue smiled. ¡°Our opponent isn¡¯t just her. Wulin, is class president really that important to you?¡±


    Tang Wulin was taken aback. His heart thumped, but he smiled a moment later. ¡°I understand. Thanks for your reminder. We¡¯ll do this together!¡±


    ¡°Captain, why are you excluding me from this?¡± Xie Xie pouted.


    Tang Wulin whispered a few words into Xie Xie¡¯s ear, and he mulled over them. ¡°That makes sense. Okay. I¡¯m fine with that. Just remember to compensate me later.¡± Xie Xie giggled mischievously.


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. ¡°Even without this matter, would I owe you anything?¡±


    The forest gradually settled. Contrary to Tang Wulin¡¯s expectations, no one came.


    ¡°Twelve people remain. The arena will be reduced now for the final battle.¡± Shen Yi¡¯s voice resounded throughout the forest, and the world before them blurred. When everything came back into focus, Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and the meditating Wu Siduo were beside each other.


    They had originally been deep within the forest, surrounded by giant trees and dense foliage. Now, however, the terrain was nothing like before. A clearing of at least one hundred meters in diameter appeared in front of them, not a tree in sight and every inch of its ground covered in bluesilver grass. It was as if they were on an elevated dueling arena.


    In this space were twelve people.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s group of four, with the addition of Wu Siduo, were grouped together. To their left was the group of three led by Immortal Xu Yucheng, and on their right was a group of four. This group of four, however, were in dire straits. Blood soaked every one of them, and their soul power fluctuations barely noticeable.


    Tang Wulin finally understood why no one had come to eliminate Wu Siduo. It turned out that there were only a dozen of them left, a third of which were barely clinging onto life and devoting all their energy into recovering.


    After taking everything in, Xu Yucheng was the first to act. He charged at the four injured soul masters like a bolt of lightning, his two followers darting out an instant later. They were clearly were well-rested and in peak condition. Rather than attacking the injured group though, the two followers moved to the side to guard Xu Yucheng from Tang Wulin¡¯s team.


    The first grade had a total of 101 students. Only twelve of them remained now. This was the eve their final battle for presidency.


    Tang Wulin and his comrades remained still, simply watching Xu Yucheng charge.


    The team of four was trapped, an arrow at the end of its flight. The scythe slashed down. They disappeared in flashes of light.


    Now only eight remained! They were the three from Xu Yucheng¡¯s team, and the five on Tang Wulin¡¯s side.


    Tang Wulin took the lead, approaching his opponents. His gaze fixed on Xu Yucheng. Now that the competition had come to this point, scheming and waiting no longer had any purpose. Now was not the time for wisdom to shine, but for strength to show its supremacy.


    The only way to convince others was to show strength.


    Xu Yucheng turned to look at Tang Wulin, his expression grim as he lifted his Demon Scythe up. His two companions released their martial souls.


    But when they saw that Tang Wulin only had two soul rings, a mocking smile tugged their lips.


    They assumed their usual battle formation; Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan in the rear, Tang Wulin as the vanguard, and Xie Xie on the side.


    Neither side spoke a word. They all knew that this was the final battle. Xu Yucheng didn¡¯t understand what the situation was with Wu Siduo, who was seated off in the distance, but he knew that his only option now was to defeat his opponents.


    ¡°Save your soul power,¡± Tang Wulin said to Gu Yue. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with Xu Yucheng.¡± His words were filled with confidence.


    Since the start of the competition, Tang Wulin had been patiently biding his time. For the sake of his comrades, he didn¡¯t display his full strength and maintained himself in peak condition the entire time. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to fight and show off his power, but that he couldn¡¯t. He had to act in consideration of his team.


    But he no longer had to hold himself back. He wanted to see who was stronger, him or Immortal Xu Yucheng. He wanted to see just how strong a ranker was.


    Previously, Gu Yue had asked him if being class president was important. The class president seat was important. However, it just couldn¡¯t compare with the pleasure of battle.


    Xu Yucheng¡¯s two gray teammates turned illusory and dashed out. These two were agility-type soul masters! As for Xu Yucheng, he was undoubtedly an assault-type.

 Chapter 316 - The Final Battle

    Chapter 316 - The Final Battle


    At the sight of the fire crackling within Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, Gu Yue stopped right in her tracks. That confidence made her not want to interfere in his battle against Xu Yucheng.


    Taking on the four-ringed Xu Yucheng in a one-on-one match was exactly what Tang Wulin wanted to do.


    There was no doubt that out of the entire first grade, Xu Yucheng was second to only Wu Siduo. His tactical prowess might not match Luo Guixing¡¯s, but his individual strength was far higher.


    Wu Zhangkong had always drilled into them that only by facing truly powerful opponents would they grow to their full potential.


    To Tang Wulin, Xu Yucheng was a towering challenge, but one he desperately yearned for.


    Gu Yue turned around, her eyes drifting to the seated Wu Siduo. She sat down and closed her eyes. She wanted the both of them to duel in their best conditions.


    The instant Tang Wulin and Gu Yue resolved themselves, the scent of the battlefield changed. The two had chosen their opponents for the final battle. Defeat was of no consequence to them, so long as they could grow from combat.


    A faint golden aura spread around Xie Xie, and in a flash, a figure of the same bright color shot out of his body, dashing toward one of the gray opponents. Clearly, he would be fighting both of them by himself.


    Further off, Xu Xiaoyan brandished her staff high in the air, her mouth moving as she mumbled some chants. Yet she did not unleash a soul skill. Instead, she closed her eyes, the reasons for her actions anyone¡¯s guess.


    The gray youth on the left became more tangible as he summoned his martial soul, a pair of dark-silver sais. Their sharp points were excellent for stabbing and the prongs enabled them to catch any weapon.


    He crossed his sais together. The meeting of metal resulted in a burst of energy, which combined into a gray halo launching toward Xie Xie.


    He isn¡¯t an agility-type, but a control-type! Xie Xie instantly realized.


    The two were about to clash. Inches before collision, Xie Xie¡¯s figure flickered like a ghost, and he appeared outside of the halo¡¯s range. At the same time, he unleashed a Light Dragon Blade that reached his opponent''s neck in the blink of an eye!


    He had used the secret art of the Tang Sect, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to evade!


    On the other front of battle, Xie Xie¡¯s clones were similarly flickering all over the battlefield with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. There was nothing their opponent could do to stop their approach in face of such an attack.


    Xie Xie had engraved Elder Cai¡¯s criticisms into his heart after the entrance exam. Using both of his third soul skills, he could produce six clones for six targets. However, he couldn¡¯t perfectly control all of them, his cultivation and spiritual power too lacking to do so.


    Her criticisms had forced him to wonder whether six clones of that caliber were anything special.


    After pondering this question, he experimented with his skills and discovered that his current limit was fully controlling two clones. Especially if he chose to have both clones use Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. By limiting himself to two clones, he could freely use the secret art by splitting his mind into two parts, which also benefited his spiritual power growth.


    This was his first attempt at putting his theories into practice. Xie Xie had summoned two clones,splitting his mind in two. He had ignored every other soul skill in his arsenal, choosing to focus on Light Dragon Blade instead, in order to bring out the true potential of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Aiming for the best possible result was not on his list. Rather, avoiding mistakes was. He would use these two powerful opponents to temper himself.


    The pair of quick gray youths turned out to be control-type soul masters. They had assumed that delaying an agility-type soul master who used clones would be easy. But reality wasn¡¯t as forgiving. Not only did their opponent¡¯s speed surpassed their expectations, he also possessed a bizarre footwork that was impossible to trace. It wasn¡¯t long until they were backed into a corner.


    Xu Yucheng stood his ground, watching Tang Wulin approach him. His pale face revealed nothing, no emotions of any sort. A deathly cold aura lingered around him as ripples of black air clung to his scythe.


    Bluesilver grass gathered and danced in a frenzied swarm around Tang Wulin with each step he took. Tensed around his arm, Goldlight fixed its dazzling golden eyes on Xu Yucheng.


    After countless mutations, Goldlight looked nothing like it did originally. Its entire body was covered in glistening golden scales, a spark of intelligence dancing in its eyes.


    A mere ten meters from Xu Yucheng, Tang Wulin burst into action. Bluesilver grass pounced like snakes upon Xu Yucheng, striking from all directions. Strength swelled in Tang Wulin¡¯s legs as he accelerated, dashing toward his target.


    Narrowing his eyes, Xu Yucheng slashed with his scythe, sending a black wave at the incoming swarm of grass.


    As if alive, the grass zigzagged in the air, swooping toward the ground beneath the black wave.


    The wave soon reached Tang Wulin. Listening closely, a hum could be heard in the air.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t try to dodge. Instead, golden light flashed as he his right hand turned into a claw and he thrust it at the wave, tearing it to shreds. He leaped at Xu Yucheng.


    The bluesilver grass broke into a frenzy, shooting out to shackle Xu Yucheng, courtesy of Tang Wulin¡¯s Bind ability.


    Xu Yucheng finally made his move. He shot up like a bolt of lightning, his scythe painting a shadow in the sky as darkness trailed from his body.


    The grass reaching for the heavens were cut down one after another. Then, the darkness receded and shot toward Tang Wulin.


    He was pressured from all sides. Tang Wulin was fully aware of his fate should he receive a direct attack from the powerful Demon Scythe. However, retreat was not an option. After observing Xu Yucheng¡¯s previous battle, he understood that his adversary¡¯s battle style centered on suppressing his opponents with brute force and cutting off all routes of escape.


    So, Tang Wulin could not retreat. His only choice was to advance. With a grunt, his two purple soul rings dimmed for the appearance of a golden one.


    A dragon¡¯s roar pierced the forest, resplendent golden light flooding out of his body. His claw and scales bled a brilliant gold, even seeming to empower Goldlight.


    Tang Wulin used Golden Dragon Body!


    He swung both his arms out, the full power of his blood essence erupting. In that instant, a bright aura clung to his form and he shined like a miniature sun, his radiance blinding. The black light distorted when it came in contact with the gold, deflected to the side at Tang Wulin¡¯s command. It was another Tang Sect secret art¡ªControlling Crane, Capturing Dragon!


    In a flash, purple light blossomed in his eyes.


    The darkness swathed Xu Yucheng in mid air and his movements turned sluggish. His third soul ring went dark, his soul skill interrupted.


    A strand of bluesilver grass under Tang Wulin bled gold. It coiled like a spring, then ejected Tang Wulin into the air. He pierced through the darkness like an arrow of light.


    Blades of darkness sliced him as he flew through the air, planting several wounds and gashes over his body, but they were all superficial in the face of Golden Dragon Body.


    Not a second later, Tang Wulin reached Xu Yucheng.

 Chapter 317 - A Thousand Stones Breaks the Scythe

    Chapter 317 - A Thousand Stones Breaks the Scythe


    Xu Yucheng¡¯s Demon Scythe definitely had a long reach. In order to keep him from taking advantage of that, Tang Wuling threw his clawed fist straight at him.


    Xu Yucheng, now recovered from the Purple Demon Eyes¡¯s spiritual attack, stared at Tang Wulin straight in the eye. He loosened his grip on his scythe and slid his hand up toward the blade¡¯s curved edge, then, his expression as impassive as ever, slashed at the incoming claw with his shortened scythe.


    A crisp note rang through the air, and violet darkness ran up Tang Wulin¡¯s scaled arm. Xu Yucheng borrowed the force of their clash to jump backward.


    However, he staggered a few times as he retreated. Clearly, he had underestimated Tang Wulin¡¯s strength.


    Now that Xu Yucheng opened up some distance between them, it would be difficult for Tang Wulin to penetrate the range of the Demon Scythe again. He was disadvantaged in both reach and soul power.


    It was too late to use Bind. Xu Yucheng would simply shred all the bluesilver grass Tang Wulin threw at him.


    Xu Yucheng was stunned by Tang Wulin¡¯s strength.


    Although Tang Wulin revealed a shocking golden ring, he only had two soul rings and the soul power to match. It was on this basis that Xu Yucheng was confident he could overwhelm Tang Wulin in a contest of power. Even when he was forced to retreat, he still felt confident he could defeat Tang Wulin.


    Now, however, he realized that Tang Wulin¡¯s strength was beyond his expectations. Despite the disparity in their soul power, their clash had resulted in his complete and utter loss. Uncontrollable tremors still gripped him from the impact.


    He probably thinks I specialize in long weapons. Unfortunately for him, my Demon Scythe is just as good for close quarters fights! I can use it like a short weapon instead. He might be able to unleash explosive strength, but there¡¯s no way he can keep it up for long.


    Xu Yucheng¡¯s judgement was accurate, but he didn¡¯t know just how differently Tang Wulin viewed the situation.


    Trying to open up distance?


    Bluesilver grass shot out to hinder his opponent while Tang Wulin brandished his claw once more.


    Golden Dragon Body blood essence surged out, instantly dispersing the black haze surrounding his right arm. Then he lifted his arm up, the brilliant gold luster of his claw darkening as he slashed down. Five dark-gold waves of light shot out.


    A magnificent scene unraveled before the spectators, demanding their full attention. Even Wu Siduo opened her eyes in awe.


    They watched Tang Wulin lift his arm, then slash down and release those five waves of light. The waves tore through the sky, rapidly closing in on Xu Yucheng.


    Apprehension dawned on Xu Yucheng¡¯s face, but it came too late. He only managed to turn around and hold his scythe in front before the attack reached him.


    The deafening screech of metal tearing metal resounded, and Xu Yucheng was sent crashing into the ground.


    He coughed up some blood, his complexion paler than usual. Despite his condition, his scythe only had a few cracks in it. He truly was worthy of being a ranker.


    The lower half of his body was buried in the ground, as if he was a nail waiting to be hammered.


    Tang Wulin descended upon him, his claw held high in preparation to attack him. Xu Yucheng could only feebly raise his scythe in defense.


    Metallic shrieks pierced the air every time Tang Wulin¡¯s claw clashed with the scythe. Although his attacks weren¡¯t fast, each one carried tremendous power. Xu Yucheng sunk deeper into the ground with every strike, and the cracks in his scythe spread like a web.


    Blood began to trickle out of his mouth and nose, then his ears and eyes. All seven apertures of the head had blood streaming out of them, the flow only increasing with each blow.


    When the fifth strike landed, Xu Yucheng coughed out a spray of blood and his scythe shattered. A moment later, he disappeared in a flash of white light.


    This¡­


    Everyone watching gaped.


    That was the Immortal! He had just defeated Immortal Xu Yucheng, ranked 19 on the Genius Youths Ranking!


    Even if he consumed a lot of soul power to defend against Tang Wulin¡¯s attacks, he was still a four-ringed Soul Ancestor! He was one of the only two Soul Ancestors in the first grade!


    He was defeated? Just like that?


    When Tang Wulin defeated Xu Yucheng, Xie Xie unleashed his full might as well.


    Xu Yucheng¡¯s two teammates were stunned by his defeat. Xu Xiaoyan took advantage of this, finally making her move.


    She shot an ice spear toward the youth on the left, piercing through the air like a bolt of lightning. Just as the two youths noticed the incoming ice spear, a violet light flashed at the eyes of the one on the right.


    Xu Xiaoyan was undoubtedly a master at exploiting any momentary openings her opponents revealed. Since her martial soul¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t compare with that of her companions, so she had focused her efforts in this direction.


    The trajectory of the ice spear put the youth in a tight spot. If he wanted to dodge it, he would fall right into Xie Xie¡¯s hands. Xie Xie activated Light Dragon Storm while releasing Light Dragon Blades, his appearance like a radiant whirlwind of death as he headed towards the two gray youths. Between the pincer attack and the shock from Xu Yucheng¡¯s defeat, there was no suspense in his fate. White light sparkled, signalling his demise. As for the remaining youth, the Purple Demon Eyes stunned him. One of Xie Xie¡¯s clone promptly sliced his neck.


    It was only because of Xie Xie¡¯s preserved strength and deepened understanding of his third soul skill that he could corner the two with such ease.


    Xu Yucheng was not well versed in the art of scheming, he¡¯d relied on sheer brute force to charge through every battle thus far. This resulted in his two teammates being exhausted and ripe for the picking.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s golden aura faded as he dispelled Golden Dragon Body, revealing a somewhat pale complexion. His battle with Xu Yucheng may have been short, but he didn¡¯t hold anything back from the very beginning and even brought out one of his trump cards.


    Xu Yucheng had been shocked to death at the end. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t forgotten Yang Nianxia¡¯s evaluation that Xu Yucheng¡¯s body was too frail to contain a thousand-year soul ring. His plan was simple; overpower Xu Yucheng from the very start! In the face of absolute strength, it didn¡¯t matter even if Xu Yucheng¡¯s soul power was stronger. Tang Wulin just pounded Xu Yucheng until his body couldn¡¯t hold out anymore.


    It was thanks to Golden Dragon Body that he could pull off such a daring plan. Without this skill and the physical enhancements it wrought on his body, it would have been impossible for him to suppress Xu Yucheng so thoroughly.


    Tang Wulin panted heavily, but a radiant smile blossomed on his lips all the same as he regrouped with his teammates. Oddly enough, Xie Xie stood there without the slightest hint of a victor¡¯s excitement. Rather, he wore a pensive expression.


    Tang Wulin took care not to disturb him. It was clear he was in the middle of some kind of enlightenment.


    Wu Siduo was still seated, but a fire blazed in her eyes as she looked at Tang Wulin. She had always assumed that Tang Wulin was Yang Nianxia¡¯s underling even though all his soul rings were purple. He only had two, after all!


    When he had saved her in their battle against Luo Guixing, it left a deep impression on her. Yet now, he was burned into her memories. She finally understood what it meant to disguise one¡¯s self as a pig to devour a tiger.


    This guy is so good at hiding himself! I¡¯m not sure about others, but the strength he displayed in his battle against Xu Yucheng is no less than Yang Nianxia¡¯s!


    ¡°Captain,¡± Xu Xiaoyan called out with a smile. Gu Yue stood up and returned to his side.


    For Wu Siduo to make it in the top ten of the Genius Youths Ranking, there was no need to doubt her intelligence. She instantly connected the dots and understood the relationship between the four.


    So that girl from Luo Guixing¡¯s team was his comrade all along!


    ¡°Come!¡± Wu Siduo shot to her feet, a cold glint in her eyes.


    She wasn¡¯t resigned to defeat.


    One versus four? So what!


    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue. He stared deep into her eyes. The fire burning in their depths told him everything he needed to know. He pulled on Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s sleeve. ¡°We¡¯re just going to observe.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± She looked at him in astonishment.


    Tang Wulin responded with a reassuring smile. ¡°Believe in Gu Yue.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Xu Xiaoyan immediately agreed. ¡°Big sis Gu Yue, good luck!¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Gu Yue nodded, then took three steps forward. She regarded Wu Siduo with a calm gaze, her demeanor as serene as a still lake.

 Chapter 318 - One Versus One

    Chapter 318 - One Versus One


    ¡°One versus one?¡± Wu Siduo stared at Gu Yue in astonishment.


    She really wants to duel me one-on-one? Why is she so confident? Isn¡¯t she just a support-type?


    ¡°One-on-one.¡± Gu Yue nodded.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Wu Siduo coldly answered. Four soul rings rose from her feet. She lightly tapped the ground, then her figure became illusory as she dashed straight for Gu Yue.


    She reached Gu Yue in an instant, black light flashing as she extended her claws and swiped down.


    Tang Wulin stood away from the battlefield, watching attentively. During their brief alliance, he hadn¡¯t gotten a sense of Wu Siduo¡¯s abilities. Now that she released the brunt of her power onto Gu Yue though, he could see just how oppressive her speed and power were.


    Despite Wu Siduo¡¯s speed, her attack failed.


    A split-second before the claws could tear Gu Yue apart, silver light burst out, and she disappeared. Wu Siduo¡¯s claws slashed through nothing but air.


    Gu Yue reappeared ten meters away, her expression as tranquil as ever. Three soul rings, two yellow and one purple, revolved around her. They began to glow, then shine brilliantly as her hands moved in the air like fluttering butterflies, teasing the natural elements of the world to do her bidding.


    With four soul rings, Wu Siduo¡¯s elemental perception was keener than most soul masters. She sensed that Gu Yue¡¯s entire being was turning into a whirlpool that crazily sucked in the surrounded elemental energy. She even felt a slight tugging on her own soul power.


    This is¡­


    With a snap of Gu Yue¡¯s fingers, an icicle coalesced and shot toward Wu Siduo.


    This icicle, however, was completely different from a normal icicle. It was tri-colored icicle with a blue tip, silver body, and a fiery red base. The red section exploded when it shot out, accelerating the icicle missile to unbelievable speeds and was in front of Wu Siduo before she could even blink.


    Even so, Wu Siduo displayed the power of an assault-type soul master by instantly slashing the icicle with her claw.


    The icicle exploded into millions of shards, and the air temperature around Wu Siduo rapidly plummeted. Then, the air around her seemed to distort, tightening around her and hindering her movements.


    This¡­


    Is that a three-element icicle? An icicle with the fire element included?


    Wu Siduo may be shocked, but Gu Yue was only getting started.


    Gu Yue summoned another icicle, identical to the last. Like before, it shot forward with lightning speed. It was several times faster than an ordinary icicle due to the explosive power of the fire element, leaving its target no time to react at all. Wu Siduo managed to slice it apart once more, but that only strengthened the space element constricting her. Although the restraining effect wasn¡¯t as powerful as Luo Guixing¡¯s Spatial Lock, it was enough to slow her down.


    A cold light flashed in Wu Siduo¡¯s eyes. Her fourth soul ring lit up and she split into two clones, each heading towards Gu Yue from different angles.


    Gu Yue began spinning in place. The air stirred. Wind picked up, circling around Gu Yue. More and more strands of wind joined in until a green tornado surrounded her, howling as it quickly grew in size. Soon, Gu Yue was no longer visible.


    The winds roared their fury as Gu Yue emerged for a moment. White started to drift down from the sky. It increasingly fell faster as she called down more snow, then she disappeared into the resulting snow storm.


    The tornado sucked in the snow, quickly merging to become a blizzard.


    Wu Siduo stiffened when she came into contact with the extreme cold, but still courageously rushed in to find Gu Yue. Her instincts told her that the longer she stayed in this blizzard, the worse her position would be.


    Her martial soul is too strange! How many elements does this make now?


    Yet just when she found Gu Yue and prepared to strike, a wall of earth burst from the ground and blocked her path.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s ferociously attacked the wall, breaking it and sending stones flying. However, Gu Yue was nowhere to be found. The blizzard tornado immediately absorbed the stone fragments as well, becoming a storm of ice and stones. The chaos surrounding Wu Siduo completely cut off her vision, enveloping her in a whirlwind of death.


    Tang Wulin stood protectively in front of Xie Xie. He was wary of the aftermath of the tornado, alert for the first signs of danger. Gu Yue had improved her control and could effortlessly wield three elements at once. In fact, she could even exploit her opponent¡¯s attacks to hasten the fusion of the elements and economize on her soul power.


    The tornado alone did not possess much destructive power. It was the fusion of multiple elements that made it dangerous. In the eye of the storm, Wu Siduo could neither see anything around her nor sense Gu Yue¡¯s location.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s first soul ring lit up as she decisively chose a direction and charged.


    I need to get out of this tornado first. Something this big can¡¯t last very long!


    Hell Rush was her first soul skill. It momentarily doubled her speed while condensing her soul power into an explosive attack in front of her. It was perfect for breaking out of a siege. Furthermore, all of her soul rings were powerful purple ones.


    Relying on her soul power to protect her body, she braved the assault of the biting cold winds and dashed fifty meters out with Hell Rush.


    Her vision cleared and the air pressure around her normalized. A smile graced her lips.


    I made it out!


    Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Light twisted around her and the next thing she knew, she was back in the eye of the storm, the pressure stronger than before. It was as if the storm¡¯s eyewall was trying to rip her apart.


    Tang Wulin stood right in front of where Wu Siduo had broken out of the tornado, so he clearly saw what happened.


    Wu Siduo really had succeeded in rushing out. A second later, however, Gu Yue had teleported behind her and then teleported the both of them away.


    Tang Wulin chuckled. There was no need to doubt Gu Yue¡¯s strength; after all, her martial soul gave her control over six elements! Her only weakness was her lack of explosive attack power. Although she could unleash powerful elemental fusion attacks, those required time to prepare.


    The best strategy to use against Gu Yue is to rush her and instantly decide the battle so that she doesn¡¯t have time to prepare any large-scale attacks. The longer the battle is drawn out, the stronger Gu Yue¡¯s position is. With her Elemental Tide and Elemental Fusion soul skills, as well as her ability to call upon the elemental energy found in the world itself, create a truly terrifying combination.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s mistake is not knowing the extent of Gu Yue¡¯s abilities. If she had known beforehand, she could have immediately used her Hell White Tiger transformation to clinch victory. Not even Gu Yue¡¯s teleportation could escape the Hell White Tiger¡¯s might.


    But it¡¯s too late. Perhaps Wu Siduo can put up more of a fight if she transforms into that Hell White Tiger, but Gu Yue has complete control over the battlefield now. Besides, Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger consumes too much soul power to be effective here. Now it¡¯s a battle of attrition. The outcome of the battle is pretty obvious.


    In reality, Tang Wulin¡¯s conjectures were slightly off. Wu Siduo simply could not use Hell White Tiger again right now.


    Hell White Tiger was her powerful self-soul fusion skill. However, the laws of the world were fair. Such a powerful ability naturally came with harsh restrictions. Just like how the power of Xu Yucheng¡¯s Demon Scythe was balanced by the corrosion of his body, Wu Siduo needed three days of rest before she could use Hell White Tiger again. It was impossible for her to use it again right now!

 Chapter 319 - The Victor

    Chapter 319 - The Victor


    Wu Siduo had thought her soul power recovered enough to defeat Gu Yue, but evidently, that was not the case.


    In a flash of white light, Wu Siduo switched martial souls.


    White hair sprang up into existence and covered her body in a blanket of fur, a golden aura swallowing up her form. Her muscles expanded, the sinewed shape of her limbs impressive to eye. Instead of breaking out into a dash, she used her body¡¯s newfound strength to gradually pull free from the tornado.


    However, she soon found herself obstructed by earth walls. The walls hardly put up a fight, crumbling to fine dust with a single punch. But in the time it took her to shatter one, the tornado would have snuck up to obscure her vision. She couldn¡¯t maintain a straight path as she tried to escape. Fleeing from these obstacles¡¯ clutches was just out of her reach.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s expression turned sour. Although she was an agility-type soul master first and foremost, she favored direct confrontations. Winning her battles through brute force brought her all sorts of satisfaction. It pained her to endure such a muddled battlefield where she couldn¡¯t even locate her opponent.


    She was confident that if she could use Hell White Tiger, she could break free. Out of caution for that skill, Gu Yue must have maintained a large distance between them. That said, Wu Siduo held complete faith in her fusion soul skill¡ªjust a few seconds of it and she¡¯d instantly get the upper hand.


    But as the seconds ticked by, the wind grew more turbulent, thrashing and tearing through the surroundings. The storm swelled in its excitement. All the while, Gu Yue funneled external elemental energy into the storm using Elemental Tide, building upon its power.


    A silver flash, and Gu Yue appeared at Tang Wulin¡¯s side, face dusted with pallor.


    ¡°Let¡¯s run! I can¡¯t control it any longer.¡± There was a limit to how much elemental energy she could manage with Elemental Tide, and if left unchecked, it would rampage and explode.


    Since her opponent was Wu Siduo, she didn¡¯t dare hold back. Now, the result was an unstable elemental storm on the verge of erupting.


    There was no need to consider Wu Siduo anymore. Gu Yue¡¯s Elemental Tide condensed the elemental energy to a level far beyond both her control and soul rings. Wu Siduo¡¯s tragic fate was sealed.


    The four teammates turned tail and bolted. Though pale, Gu Yue managed a satisfied smile. She had succeeded. The battle may not have gone as she had initially intended and Wu Siduo may not have been at her peak, but she still won. In a one-on-one battle, she stood the victor.


    Through their escape, the world bent and distorted. A beam of light shined down on them, warping and rippling as the wave-light particles hit skin. A moment later, they found themselves in darkness and utterly stupefied.


    After a while, they recovered their grip on reality. The doors to their cabins slid open and the four stepped out into the initial wide room.


    The emergence of Tang Wulin¡¯s team had brought out a wave of silence.


    Nearly a hundred pairs of eyes surveyed the new arrivers. Several of those gazes dripped with complex emotions, unreadable.


    One of them belonged to the stoic Yang Nianxia. His brows were knitted as he studied Tang Wulin. After being eliminated, he watched the rest of the competition through the viewing screens. All sorts of emotions warred within his heart, melding together into a puzzling mess. All he could manage at present was a bitter smile.


    Of the five geniuses of the first grade, Luo Guixing seemed the least touched by excitement. He sat in a corner of the room, knees held close to his chest and eyes staring off into nothingness. Though it was evident his mind roamed far away in thought.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s feats caused Jade Snake Zheng Yiran to regard him in a newfound light. Although her attention mostly remained on him, occasionally a scornful glare or two flickered over to Gu Yue.


    On the other hand, Xu Yucheng was just as pale as usual. He fought hard to suppress the twitching in his hands, the stare he threw over at Tang Wulin cold enough to freeze.


    Losing to Tang Wulin had been disgraceful. No matter what a monstrous variant his opponent¡¯s martial soul was, in the end he was still a two-ringed Soul Grandmaster. As a Soul Ancestor, Xu Yucheng had no excuse for losing.


    Last but surely not least was Wu Siduo. Her face was twisted into a rage, an ugly flush painting her cheeks and the sides of her neck. She had exited the cabin before Tang Wulin¡¯s team and stared daggers at Gu Yue as she walked past, teeth gritted so hard it was a wonder they didn¡¯t crack


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were on the four, though it was safe to say they concentrated on Tang Wulin and Gu Yue especially.


    It was of no consequence what sort of devious strategies and tactics they had drawn up. What mattered most was that they had defeated Immortal Xu Yucheng and Hell Wu Siduo in one-on-one combat! The two were both four-ringed soul masters widely accepted as the strongest in their grade. But Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had two and three rings respectively!


    ¡°The difference in strength between the four of you is clear, so there was no need for the competition to continue any longer,¡± said Shen Yi who was standing next to Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, you two are on the same team, so choose who will be the class president and the vice-presidents.¡±


    Unlike Tang Wulin, Gu Yue immediately took a step back, a clear sign of her opinion.


    Tang Wulin turned to look at her, only to be met with a sweet smile. He didn¡¯t bother trying to decline modestly. Sometimes, one just had to accept the responsibility.


    Shen Yi nodded, then directed her attention to Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Normally, we only take into consideration who¡¯s left standing at the end. Although you two showed remarkable power, it isn¡¯t enough. You both survived, so you have two choices: insist on your candidacy for vice-president, or step back. Let me remind you that there¡¯s a reselection for class representatives once every term, and strength will always be the decider.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give up,¡± Xu Xiaoyan instantly said. She had a clear understanding of her abilities. To further drive in her resignation, she walked into the crowd to join the spectators, finding her position at Luo Guixing¡¯s side.


    The corner of Xie Xie¡¯s mouth twitched as he watched her leave.


    That girl¡¯s acting is the real deal!


    ¡°I give up too!¡± Although he hesitated for a moment, Xie Xie resolved himself. ¡°But I¡¯m sure that I¡¯ll one day be able to be a challenger for president or vice-president!¡±


    An eerie calm settled upon him, his demeanor unlike his normal jittery one. On the battlefield, he had gained a deeper comprehension of his position. Each time an opponent stronger than him appeared, it stimulated him to improve faster.


    Shen Yi regarded them calmly. ¡°So you both choose the second option. Since the two of you lasted until the end and chose to give up on being the vice-presidents, you will be rewarded with two thousand contribution points to distribute among you two. As for filling the remaining vice-president seat¡­ Wu Siduo, would you like to take the position?¡±


    Wu Siduo glanced at Gu Yue, then Tang Wulin. She drew a deep breath. ¡°I¡¯ll do it!¡±


    Shen Yi smiled. ¡°Good. Then everything is settled. The class president is Tang Wulin, and the two vice-presidents are Gu Yue and Wu Siduo.¡±


    This was the best scenario she could have hoped for. While Xie Xie was by no means weak, he couldn¡¯t compare with Wu Siduo. If not a single one of the five genius rankers held a position as a class representative, the entire class would be stricken with restlessness. With Wu Siduo, the strongest of the rankers, as a vice-president, the rest would be too intimidated to throw a big fuss. At the very least, discontent would be curbed.


    ¡°We¡¯ll hold competitions for the remaining three representative positions accordingly. The blacksmiths representative is already settled, with Tang Wulin being both class president and the blacksmith representative, so this leaves the mecha designers, makers, and mechanics. Now, would all designers, makers, and mechanics rank two and above come sign up to compete.¡±


    Tang Wulin listened, his body language the picture of tranquility. He occupied two of the seven representative positions. He had a firm standing in the class now. Besides that, he obtained a deeper understanding of his classmates thanks to the battle for presidency.


    Gu Yue left his side and walked over to sign up.


    She¡¯s trying to be the designer representative?


    Not a beat later, Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, and Xu Yucheng also went to register.


    As members of the Genius Youths Ranking, they were both strong and skilled in their professions. Only Yang Nianxia remained still as he directed an awkward smile at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Junior brother, you really know how to act lowkey!¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°I was just lucky. If Xu Yucheng hadn¡¯t been so exhausted, I don¡¯t think I could have won.¡±


    Yang Nianxia shook his head. ¡°You can¡¯t be so sure about that.¡±


    ¡°Anyone who isn¡¯t signing up for the profession competitions can leave now. Class is over. Meet back here for class tomorrow,¡± Shen Yi announced.


    A chuckle escaped Yang Nianxia¡¯s lips. ¡°Let¡¯s go then, oh great class president. Take good care of me in the future!¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°Let¡¯s look after each other.¡±


    Tang Wulin understood how important it was to obtain the approval of his classmates as class president, but it was a gradual process, one more in tune with coaxing than force. He would take things slowly for now.

 Chapter 320 - The Class Representatives

    Chapter 320 - The Class Representatives


    While the rest of the class filtered out of the room, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes glimmered with doubt as they settled upon Wu Zhangkong, who had been silent throughout the assembly. However, Wu Zhangkong did not so much as twitch his fingers.


    What¡¯s going on, Teacher Wu? You haven¡¯t taught us once since we got here.


    It didn¡¯t make any sense to Tang Wulin, but he swallowed it up anyway, leaving quietly with Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan.


    After stepping foot into the hall, Xie Xie broke into an immediate dash for his dorm He was eager to reflect upon what he had learned today, on the verge of making a breakthrough.


    Xu Xiaoyan was the picture of uncertainty. ¡°Captain, do you think I can thrive at Shrek? Everyone¡¯s so amazing here.¡±


    Although she had lasted to the end of the competition, it was due in large part to her cleverness. She had hidden herself in Luo Guixing¡¯s team, then later reunited with her true teammates. It was only under their wing that she had lasted so long. As such, she understood well just how weak she was, especially during the day.


    Tang Wulin responded with a reassuring smile. ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate yourself. You know, when my martial soul first awakened, it was just bluesilver grass! But I never gave up and moved forward step by step. And now, I¡¯ve come all this way. You can do the same. Besides, your martial soul is an amazing variant. I¡¯m confident once your soul rank is higher, you¡¯ll be able to show off it¡¯s true power. With your battlefield awareness and an improved martial soul, who knows how brightly you can shine?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan glowed. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re right. I have to do my best and become stronger.¡±


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you don¡¯t lose confidence in yourself that easily.¡± Her previously troubled expression was nowhere to be found. If her second profession was being an actor, then she¡¯d be the class representative for that no doubt.


    When they arrived at their dorm room, they found Xie Xie already meditating. Tang Wulin joined him without skipping a beat. Lunch was approaching, but he couldn¡¯t let even a second go to waste.


    By lunchtime, the class representatives for the first grade were settled. Gu Yu became the designer representative, holding two positions like Tang Wulin. He found out later from Yang Nianxia that she was a fourth-rank designer. She had never bothered to tell him.


    Numerous people chose to walk the path of a mecha designer, yet she had managed to beat everyone else in their class. It was clear how skilled she was.


    The maker seat went to Luo Guixing, who was at the peak of the third rank. That wasn¡¯t to say he had no competition; Xu Yucheng fought fiercely with him for that position, to the point where Lu Guixing had almost lost.


    Despite what her beauty suggested, Wu Siduo was actually a skilled mechanic. She took the crown of mechanic representative.


    Mechanics weren¡¯t to be looked down upon. They had to be well-versed in both the design and making process. It was practically a hybrid profession. Although a mechanic would never reach the pinnacle in both fields, they had to know enough to synthesize the two sides to repair damaged mechas.


    At the sixth rank, mecha mechanics would be skilled enough to repair battle armors. They were talents that took a long time to blossom. Moreover, because fewer people chose to become mechanics, skilled mechanics were in higher demand than skilled designers or makers. The number of people who chose this path was only a step above of blacksmiths. The amount of knowledge required scared most hopefuls away.


    Although all seven representative positions were occupied,there were only four representatives: class president and forging representative Tang Wulin, vice-president and designer representative Gu Yue, vice-president and mechanic representative Wu Siduo, and lastly, maker representative Luo Guixing.


    By chance, Tang Wulin had overheard during lunch the situation was similar in the other grades. Those who had managed to become the president or vice-president were usually superb in their professions, and more often than not, held multiple positions.There had even been a genius who was the designer, maker, and mechanic representative, as well as vice-president. They eventually entered the inner court, so now only the Academy knew the height of their abilities.


    With this matter settled, classes went into full swing.


    Tang Wulin forwent stepping foot into the Blacksmith¡¯s Association in the afternoon. He didn¡¯t lack in contribution points for now and he had more than enough to feed himself. His current priority was to improve his cultivation and obtain his third soul ring. And once he accomplished this, he would attempt to spirit refine once more. Improving his soul rank was crucial due to the imbalance between his soul rank and blacksmith rank.


    There were no shortcuts to increasing one¡¯s soul power. All he could do was ceaselessly cultivate and slowly grow.


    Xu Xiaoyan followed his lead and jumped into meditation. She was a step away from breaching rank 30 and obtaining her third soul ring. She trembled with excitement thinking of what new soul skill she would get her hands on, not to mention her second spirit soul.


    However, as they meditated in peace, an uninvited guest appeared at a different corner of the working student dormitory.


    ¡°So I¡¯m gonna live here from now on.¡± Yue Zhengyu plopped down onto the bed opposite of Yuanen¡¯s.


    Almost immediately, Yuanen scowled. ¡°This is my room! Get out!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu sneered. ¡°Yours? This is the Academy¡¯s, not yours! The Academy assigned me to this room, so we¡¯re roommates now. We¡¯re both second grade students you know. Or are you afraid I¡¯ll discover your secret?¡±


    ¡°No. I just really hate you,¡± Yuanen bit out.


    Yue Zhengyu had just joined the second grade and had already been kicking up a fuss all day in class. If not for his lack of experience, he probably would have challenged the class president for their position. Unfortunately for him, the second grade¡¯s class president was none other than Yuanen, a highly respected working student.


    Yuanen rose and made for the door.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to request a room change.¡± Yuanen responded with ice in his voice. ¡°I feel sick at the thought of sharing a room with you. You¡¯re a bad influence on my cultivation.¡±


    ¡°You! If you think you¡¯re so good, then spar with me.¡±


    But Yuanen left the room without saying another word.


    Yue Zhengyu let out a silent scream, eyes still glued to the shut door.


    That guy!


    He had to suppress his desire to battle with Yuanen. Despite his goading, Yuanen refused his sparring requests every single time. He had thought a public provocation in front of the whole class would do the trick, but not once did the cool class president persona let out a crack.


    Just how thick is his skin!


    But the reality was that Yuanen¡¯s status far surpassed Yue Zhengyu¡¯s imagination. Every one of their classmates had looked at him with disdain as he tried to provoke Yuanen. No one thought him a worthy opponent for their class president.


    Afterward, he was reduced to the status of a pariah..


    That wouldn¡¯t discourage him though. One of the reasons why he had wanted to be a working student was to find the Fallen Angel girl. But after asking around, it became clear to him there was no red-haired girl among the working students.


    With no other paths to explore, he could only go report his findings to the Academy. Yet what he was told was still the same as the first encounter. They told him the Academy would handle it, and as a student, his job was to study instead of chasing fruitless endeavours.


    There was a silver lining to all this, though. Yue Zhengyu had always been taken with the legends of the working students. Now that he was a working student himself, he was even more curious. Even though entering the inner court was a given for him, he wanted to know more about the types of people waving the working students¡¯ banner. Now, he would be able to see for himself.


    As for becoming Yuanen¡¯s roommate, that was truly out of his hands and of the Academy¡¯s doing. They were both second grade students after all.

 Chapter 321 - Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua

    Chapter 321 - Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua


    ¡°You sure have the cheek to threaten me!¡±


    The entire room shook as the voice thundered through, splitting eardrums along the way. It was a peculiar-looking room, stretching over three hundred square meters in area and made entirely of metal. Be it the chair, the table, or the equipment, all of it was metal. It was a futuristic metal world in here.


    The voice belonged to a tall man with long legs and lean muscles. His thick black hair accentuated his features, drawing out his chiseled jawline and fierce gaze. It was hard to guess his age from his appearance alone.


    He didn¡¯t look to be more than thirty years old, but his eyes betrayed the wisdom of one had had experienced many decades. The hair at his temples was a snowy white, contrasting with the rest of his dark mane.


    But most striking of all were his hands. They were much larger than an ordinary person¡¯s. The joints were inconspicuous, fair and slender like a maiden¡¯s, and his palms were as translucent as jade.


    But his eyes. They blazed like fire.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯m threatening you!¡± chirped a middle-aged man, his lips revealing a carefree and daring smile.


    If Tang Wulin were here to witness this scene, he would hardly believe his eyes.


    Currently, his mild and refined teacher looked the part of a ruffian.


    The grinning man was, without a doubt, the President of Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association and the Skysea Alliance¡¯s greatest blacksmith, Mu Chen!


    ¡°When you said you wanted to move to that city where even the birds won¡¯t shit at, I let you have your way. The Skysea Alliance¡¯s economy is thriving under your guidance, yet now you¡¯re telling me that you want to resign? Did you get kicked in the head by a donkey?¡± The black-haired man¡¯s voice was thick with irritation. He gritted his teeth as he settled the raging fire of his thoughts.


    Why does this guy get my blood boiling every time I see him?


    Mu Chen was all smiles. ¡°It¡¯s precisely because the Skysea Alliance is on the right track that they don¡¯t need me anymore! So I want to resign now. I¡¯m a Saint Blacksmith, and I want to one day become a Divine Blacksmith. Zhen Hua, you¡¯ve already eaten your fill, so you don¡¯t understand what it¡¯s like to still be hungry. This whole time I¡¯ve been slowing consolidating my foundation in preparation to attack the next level.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! You¡¯re not even a Title Douluo yet. Trying to become a Divine Blacksmith now is nonsense. Tell me your actual reason otherwise I won¡¯t allow you to resign.


    The smile on Mu Chen¡¯s lips gained a touch of mischief. He eyed Zhen Hua, the President of the Douluo Continent Blacksmith¡¯s Association and the only Divine Blacksmith on the continent. ¡°Whatever. I don¡¯t care if you approve or not anymore. I¡¯m leaving.¡±


    Mu Chen rose from his seat and made for the door.


    ¡°Get back here!¡± In a flash, Zhen Hua threw his body in front of Mu Chen, obstructing his path.


    ¡°I¡¯ll allow it, but you have to give me a legitimate reason first. In case you didn¡¯t realize, I still need to give an explanation to the other high-ranking members in the Association! As one of the Association¡¯s pillars, how can you just leave like this?¡± Zhen Hua shook a finger at him. Voice growing louder by the second. ¡°What do you want me to do? Aren¡¯t we brothers? I can¡¯t believe you would just abandon me like this. Have you no conscience?¡±


    Mu Chen¡¯s eye twitched. ¡°Don¡¯t try that with me. It won¡¯t work. We¡¯ve known each other for far too long for you to play that kind of game. Alright. Fine. I¡¯ll give you some face. I won¡¯t completely resign, but I want you to transfer me to another branch. I¡¯ve been in the outskirts of the continent for too long now. I want to live in the core of the continent.¡± He placed a hand to his chin, giving off the impression of thinking hard. ¡°You know, Shrek City seems pretty nice. Make me the president of the branch over there. If you do, I¡¯ll stay in the Association. If you don¡¯t, then I guess it¡¯s time for me to go.¡±


    ¡°You want to be the president of the Shrek City branch? Was this your aim all along?¡± Just as Mu Chen understood him, he understood Mu Chen.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t hard for this to be so. They had known each other since childhood and became blacksmiths together. Both were geniuses, inspiring the awe of those around them. There were many similarities between them. And while they were best friends, they were also rivals.


    In fact, they had even fallen in love with the same girl.


    In the end, the two were faced with a difficult choice: chase the dream or chase love.Zhen Hua chose to further his career. Mu Chen chose to marry the girl.


    Mu Chen wasn¡¯t at the remote Eastsea City just because it was his hometown.


    ¡°Fine. Go to Shrek City then. But let me remind you of what sort of place Shrek City is. All associations are weak there because of Shrek Academy¡¯s influence. Don¡¯t forget, Shrek¡¯s own Blacksmith¡¯s Association houses that lunatic. You need to be careful if you¡¯re going there. You and that old lunatic are at the same blacksmithing level, but in a fight? Not even ten of you could match one of him. Don¡¯t provoke him.¡±


    Mu Chen smiled wryly. ¡°So what if he gets angry? Don¡¯t I have your backing? If he troubles me, I¡¯ll just throw him your way.¡±


    The corner of Zhen Hua¡¯s mouth began to twitch. ¡°Do I owe you something?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±


    Taken aback, Zhen Hua forced out a bitter laugh. ¡°Fine, fine. You win. Is Bao¡¯er doing well?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s doing great,¡± chirped Mu Chen.


    Zhen Hua scratched the back of his head. ¡°You always know how to take advantage of people. Back then, if it wasn¡¯t for¡­ Oh whatever. I¡¯m done with you. I¡¯ll just treat this as a favor to you and your wife. When do you plan on leaving for Shrek City?¡±


    ¡°Immediately,¡± Mu Chen answered. If he didn¡¯t hurry, he was afraid his disciple would be swiped right under his nose.


    ¡°Is Little Xi going with you too?¡± Zhen Hua asked.


    ¡°Yeah. My daughter and wife are coming along. Can you pull some strings to get Little Xi into Shrek Academy?¡±


    Zhen Hua¡¯s cheek twitched again. ¡°Why are you blabbering that like that¡¯s an easy thing to do?¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t it?¡± said Mu Chen, wiggling his eyebrows.


    ¡°Simple?¡± The room shook once more from thundering voice. ¡°You¡¯re just trying to make me suffer, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±


    ¡°Get out! Get out now! I don¡¯t want to see your smug face any longer!¡±


    ?


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Tang Wulin watched as Yuanen washed some items in front of the tap, eyes curious.


    He¡¯s already cleaning so early in the morning? Is he a clean freak?


    Yuanen held a dour expression, gaze settling on the younger boy. ¡°An annoying pest came, so I switched rooms. Now I need to clean.¡±


    ¡°Yue Zhengyu?¡±


    ¡°You know about it?¡± Suspicion peppered Yuanen¡¯s expression.


    ¡°Yeah. I heard it from him. You guys are in the same class anyway.¡±


    Yuanen nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t want anything to do with him.¡±


    ¡°Is he in the dormitory now?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go welcome our new fellow working student.¡± With that, he made his way to Yuanen¡¯s old room.


    Yuanen frowned while watching him leave. For some reason, he had the gut feeling Tang Wulin was up to no good. Well, he¡¯s scheming against Yue Zhengyu, so it¡¯s fine.


    Once he reached his destination, Tang Wulin knocked on the door.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± After opening the door, Yue Zhengyu was surprised to come face to face with Tang Wulin.


    ¡°I heard you¡¯ve moved in, so I came to welcome you.¡±


    ¡°Come on in.¡± Yue Zhengyu didn¡¯t seem at all happy.


    This was because after exploring the entire dormitory, Yue Zhengyu came to a depressing realization. The conditions here were far too shabby for a young master like him.


    But true to his proud nature, he found it impossible to abandon a plan halfway through. And if Yuanen could live here, then so could he!


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s dorm room was like Tang Wulin¡¯s, simple and practical. It was already quite clean, a sign of Yuanen¡¯s previous efforts. He sat on the side of his bed.


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t have much to entertain guests with yet. Just take a seat wherever you can. I¡¯ve got to say though, the living conditions for you working students are absolutely horrible.¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged¡°You¡¯re a working student now too, you know. Well, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it. We¡¯ll just have to suffer some hardships. Oh right, there¡¯s something I wanted to talk to you about. Maybe you¡¯ll be interested.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Tang Wulin extended both his hands, and in a flash of light, two pieces of metal appeared in his palms.


    The moment the metals materialized, light scattered off of them into an array of bright specks, painting the room like a sea of stars.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight. ¡°This is¡­ meteoric iron?¡± With his background, there was no way he wouldn¡¯t recognize what was in front of him.

 Chapter 322 - Everyone Schemes

    Chapter 322 - Everyone Schemes


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°It¡¯s just as you say. This is first-grade thousand refined meteoric iron. I¡¯m sure you know of its high quality. Unfortunately, because of how arrogant it is, it¡¯s impossible to spirit refine it. So, its limit is first-grade thousand refined. But this is still the best material for a mecha or one-word battle armor. If you¡¯re interested, then make me an offer.¡±


    Indeed, the metal in his hands were the two chunks of meteoric iron he had obtained from Feng Wuyu. He could sell them to Yuanen, but that would mean he couldn¡¯t gouge him for a high price: they had too good of a relationship for such schemes.


    Not only was meteoric iron rare, it possessed many amazing qualities. Because of this and several other reasons, these two pieces of first-grade thousand refined meteoric iron were comparable to spirit refined metals of other kinds. He would be ashamed if he couldn¡¯t sell these two pieces for a high price! No way was he missing a single contribution point. After all, those points added up to pay for expensive meals.


    ¡°State your price,¡± Yue Zhengyu said.


    With a flip of his hands, the two metals vanished from sight. ¡°I guess you¡¯re not that interested then.¡± Tang Wulin spun on his heel to leave.


    ¡°Hey! Hold on a second! How can you be so impatient?¡± Yue Zhengyu hastily called out.


    The number one priority for people their age and cultivation level was to become a one-word battle armor master.  As a result, top quality metal was in high demand at Shrek Academy. It was a miracle for meteoric iron to even be put on sale!


    ¡°I don¡¯t have too many points,¡± Yue Zhengyu said helplessly. ¡°I just resumed my studies here at the Academy. But what I do have is money. Since it¡¯s impossible to buy points with money, why don¡¯t I just pay you with money?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s pulse quickened, his greed creeping to the front of his mind. But in the end, he shook his head. ¡°No. I¡¯ll only accept contribution points or spirit items.¡±


    ¡°Spirit items? What spirit items do you want?¡±.


    ¡°I want a thousand-year Earth Dragon Crystal, Ice Essence, Dragon Spiritgrass, and Longevity Grass.¡±


    ¡°Are you a bandit? That¡¯s robbery!¡± Yue Zhengyu huffed, shaking his head. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m an idiot? The total value of those four spirit items is way higher than that of your two pieces of meteoric iron. There¡¯s no comparison! Just a thousand-year Longevity Grass is already so much rarer than meteoric iron. It can extend longevity, you know? Anyone who eats it will have their lifespan increased by five years! You can search as hard as you want, but it¡¯ll be a miracle if you find it on the market. And even if you do, it¡¯d cost an arm and a leg! No deal. You¡¯re asking for far too much. At best, I can get you two of the four spirit items.¡±


    ¡°Two?¡± Tang Wulin was taken aback. He quickly regained himself, however, a smile blossoming on his lips. ¡°Alright. We¡¯re both working students so I understand how hard things are for us. Two is fine. I want a thousand-year Longevity Grass and a thousand-year Dragon Spiritgrass. Sound good?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu rolled his eyes. ¡°Tell me how you got these two pieces of meteoric iron first.¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t hide anything. He explained how he was abducted by Feng Wuyu, forced to thousand refine some metal, and came out of it successful.


    ¡°So you¡¯re telling me you first-grade thousand refined these two pieces yourself? And at the same time?¡± With each question, Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes sparkled brighter and brighter.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°There¡¯s no point for me to lie about it. If you don¡¯t believe me, then just ask Elder Feng. Here, take a look at my fourth-rank blacksmith¡¯s badge.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu carefully accepted the badge in his hands. After a moment of inspection, he nodded. ¡°Yeah. This badge is definitely real. Alright. You¡¯ve got a deal then. I¡¯ll get you a thousand-year Longevity Grass and a thousand-year Dragon Spiritgrass. It¡¯ll take me about a week, so don¡¯t you dare sell the meteoric iron in the meantime!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s settled then.¡± Tang Wulin held out his hand. In a matter of seconds, Yue Zhengyu accepted and they shook hands.


    One step out of Yue Zhengyu¡¯s room, Tang Wulin sported a fox-like expression. He had originally aimed for one spirit item, and even then he hadn¡¯t thought he¡¯d get it. Although meteoric iron was valuable, it was not much rarer than other metals. It couldn¡¯t compare in rarity or value with spirit items. Tang Wulin estimated each piece of his meteoric iron to be worth about two or three million federal coins. So, about five or six million in total.


    Each of the listed spirit items was necessary for breaking his third seal, and any one of them alone was well worth over six million federal coins. Yue Zhengyu had been spot on about Longevity Grass. It was extremely rare with few opportunities to purchase it. Money was important, but even more so was life.  Throughout the ages, lifespan increasing spirit items were always the most expensive.


    So, Tang Wulin had fought to contain a grin when Yue Zhengyu offered to pay with two spirit items.


    For the previous seal, he had barely been able to buy the four required spirit items after saving up money for three years straight. But now, he was already halfway done for the third seal!


    With this stroke of luck, he could relax and focus on cultivation for a while.


    However, with his back turned to Yue Zhengyu, he didn¡¯t see the older youth¡¯s expression.Yue Zhengyu revealed a similarly sly and fox-like smile.


    ¡°Working students really are geniuses! He has to be at the peak of the fourth rank to first-grade thousand refine! I¡¯ll butter him up for now and make him feel like he¡¯s in the superior position. Then he¡¯ll give priority to my requests in the future! My clan doesn¡¯t lack in money or spirit items anyway.¡± He laughed, mischief thick in his voice. ¡°That guy¡¯s only about thirteen years old too. I¡¯ve never heard of a fourth-rank blacksmith so young. Moreover, he¡¯s at the peak of the fourth rank! I have to forge a firm connection with him!¡±


    In Yue Zhengyu¡¯s view, not just anyone could act like a rich man. A rich man had to be knowledgeable. By suffering a loss now and giving Tang Wulin the illusion of the upper hand in their relationship, he would become one of Tang Wulin¡¯s favorite customers! For the rich, networking was far more important than money. Fledgling businessmen could never compete with the networks of old money.


    The chances of treasure falling into old money¡¯s hands were higher than for new money. The reason was simple: established businessmen could leverage their connections for access to these treasures!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mistake had been only considering the market price of meteoric iron. He had failed to consider his value as a blacksmith prodigy. Yue Zhengyu had eyes for the future and sprang at the chance to create a favorable relationship. No matter how one thought of it, Yue Zhengyu had been cheated in their deal, but he still came out ahead!


    ?


    Shen Yi stood at the lectern, a stern expression on her face. ¡°Before I start teaching today, I want to say two things. First, for the council representatives, count the number of people in your profession after class and have them register for the appropriate association. Of course, membership is not required. But they will receive preferential treatment if they join. All of you will also need the backing of the associations to progress in your profession, otherwise you¡¯ll have to pay for the costs out of pocket. Naturally, the price is in contribution points.


    ¡°Second of all, Wu Zhangkong will be instructing the class today.¡± Shen Yi nodded to Wu Zhangkong, offering her position at the lectern to him.


    Teacher Wu! Tang Wulin subconsciously straightened his posture.


    Once Wu Zhangkong ascended to the lectern, he swept his icy gaze through the whole class like a winter tide. The entire lecture theater¡¯s temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, everyone¡¯s focus sharpening.


    ¡°Today is the first official day of class. The curriculum here will be nothing like what you¡¯re used to. For any questions about your martial souls or what cultivation path to take, you may ask Teacher Shen or me after class. Today, we will be going over the basics of mecha making.¡± Mecha making? Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze was devoid of their usual spark as he stared at Wu Zhangkong. Teacher Wu, why are you teaching us that? Aren¡¯t we working to become battle armor masters?

 Chapter 323 - Dividing the First Grade

    Chapter 323 - Dividing the First Grade


    ¡°Among you, there are designers, makers, mechanics, and blacksmiths,¡± Wu Zhangkong said, cold as usual. ¡°Simply put, creating a mecha requires these four professions to work together. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all curious about why the Academy is teaching you the basics of mecha making. In order to become a battle armor master, you first have to study the foundation of battle armor: mechas!


    ¡°High-end mechas are just about as powerful as low-end battle armor. A blacksmith forges the metal used to make the mecha, a designer drafts the mecha¡¯s blueprint, a maker assembles the mecha, and a mechanic decides how long the mecha can be used. Battle armor is made in much the same way.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s discuss the fundamental principles of mechas¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong began his lecture. However, he didn¡¯t cover the basics of mecha making alone. He also discussed how makers worked with blacksmiths, designers, and mechanics. It was a comprehensive lecture.


    By the time morning classes were over, Tang Wulin¡¯s understanding of mechas had grown far more profound.


    After counting the students of each profession, this class of 101 students discovered that it only had eight blacksmiths. This was reportedly the highest number of blacksmiths in a class in recent years, not to mention blacksmithing geniuses like Tang Wulin and Yang Nianxia.


    Mecha designers were the majority, tallying up to thirty-four in total. Mecha makers followed closely at thirty-one, and the remainder were mechanics. The three main professions were relatively balanced.


    ¡°Class is over,¡± Shen Yi announced. ¡°Class council members, stay behind.¡±


    Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Wu Siduo, and Luo Guixing stayed in their seats.


    ¡°Go to your respective associations and get their help with registering all of the people in your profession. Then discuss how to divide the class into groups with an even balance of each profession. We only have eight blacksmiths. Excluding Tang Wulin, you need to distribute seven, so it would be best to create seven groups, one around each blacksmith. Get familiar with the abilities of the students in your profession and divide them so that the groups are about equal in talent.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. The class council received an allowance of contribution points, but it definitely wasn¡¯t free!


    ¡°Here are everyone¡¯s school registration forms. The profession and rank of each student is recorded. Their martial soul and soul power rank are listed as well. You four will have to go over every single form and analyze the strengths of each student.¡±


    As the last of the other students trickled out of the classroom, only Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Wu Siduo, and Luo Guixing remained in the classroom. The four of them flipped through the stack of papers in silence. It wasn¡¯t unusual for Luo Guixing to keep quiet, but Tang Wulin occasionally caught a glimpse of a rare, mysterious smile on his lips. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t even begin to guess what was going on in Luo Guixing¡¯s mind.


    On the other hand, Wu Siduo crossed her arms and gave Tang Wulin a cold glare.


    Gu Yue simply leaned back in her chair, an aura of serenity around her.


    ¡°This is our first time working together, so I¡¯ll say a few words.¡± Tang Wulin flashed a radiant smile at them. As class president, he couldn¡¯t shirk his responsibilities. His position was lofty and his responsibilities were just as heavy. ¡°According to Teacher Shen¡¯s instructions, we¡¯ll be dividing everyone into groups centered around the profession with the lowest number of students. Aside from me, we have seven blacksmiths, so we¡¯ll have seven groups with one blacksmith each. I have already skimmed through the papers and ascertained that we have one blacksmith at the first rank, five at the second, and one at the third. There¡¯s a gap between the second and third ranks, but it isn¡¯t too large. The difference between first and second ranks, however, is gigantic. In order to be fair, I will be troubling you three to help me place stronger designers, mechanics, and makers in the first-rank blacksmith¡¯s group. After all, Teacher Shen was pretty clear about wanting the overall skill level of each group to be balanced.¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°I have no problems with that. Designers make up a majority of the class. With thirty-four of them, there¡¯ll be six groups with five designers and one group with four. The third-rank blacksmith¡¯s group should have four designers. I¡¯ll make sure the skill levels are balanced.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with that either,¡± Luo Guixing gave Tang Wulin a friendly grin as he spoke. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too hard to distribute them fairly. I¡¯ll get started. The sooner we finish, the sooner we get off.¡±


    Wu Siduo simply nodded silently.


    Making each group wasn¡¯t too hard. It was impossible to make every group perfectly equal in ability, but they got as close as they could.


    After a while, the four of them finished up and Tang Wulin took the papers in his hands.


    ¡°Alright, looks like we¡¯re done,¡± he said. ¡°You guys can go home and rest. I¡¯ll submit the groups to Teacher Shen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll trouble class president to do so then,¡± Luo Guixing said, and he stood up and left.


    A grim expression on her face, Wu Siduo stood up without saying a word and left as well.


    After the other two left, Gu Yue¡¯s impassive expression thawed a bit as she shot a glance at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Wow, the president is so well respected,¡± she cooed. ¡°Neither of them accept him yet.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s to be expected,¡± Tang Wulin replied, giving her a wry smile. ¡°Everyone at Shrek is a genius, so who wouldn¡¯t be proud? I¡¯ll just win them over slowly. In the future, if I no longer qualify for the position or someone better comes along, I wouldn¡¯t want to be class president anyway. Well, let¡¯s get going. I¡¯ll deliver these papers to Teacher Shen then go back and meditate.¡±


    Although food consumed a large chunk of his contribution points every day, Tang Wulin could clearly feel how beneficial it was for for his blood essence and the cultivation speed of the Mysterious Heaven Method. Regardless of the circumstances, increased growth in soul power was a good thing. Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t far from reaching rank 30. He understood that gaining his third soul ring was currently his number one priority. He would then be able to spirit refine and his contribution point worries would vanish.


    It was possible to fail when making battle armor. In fact, the usage of higher quality materials increased the probability of failure. In light of this, every student in Shrek Academy, all of whom were prospective battle armor masters, was always on the prowl for spirit refined metal.


    Tang Wulin already had a sneak peek at the benefits of being a high-ranked blacksmith. He knew that, once he firmly established himself in the fifth rank, he would have no problems obtaining anything he needed in exchange for his work.


    His current plan was to reach rank 30 and perfect his spirit refining skills all while studying mechas and battle armor. He could push combat practice and other things back until later. Goldlight was a thousand-year spirit soul, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about obtaining one for his third soul ring either.


    Once Tang Wulin arrived at the teacher¡¯s office with Gu Yue, Shen Yi accepted the papers from him. She quickly flipped through them before giving him a nod of approval. ¡°Excellent. All of you have worked hard. Tang Wulin. As class president, you will be burdened with many responsibilities in the future. Prepare yourself.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Tang Wulin knew that, as his responsibilities grew, he would learn even more.


    ¡°Shrek Academy has always focused on nurturing well-rounded geniuses, but we also raise specialized geniuses. As a blacksmith, you are blessed by the heavens, but that doesn¡¯t mean you can relax just yet.¡± Shen Yi watched him carefully. ¡°I heard you were abducted by Elder Feng the other day?¡±


    Tang Wulin forced out a bitter smile and nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯m a member of Shrek¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association now.¡±


    When it came for Feng Wuyu, Tang Wulin was at a loss. The man was a true eccentric, but fortunately for Tang Wulin, his teacher would arrive soon. At the very least, he was confident in his teacher when it came to blacksmithing skill.


    ¡°Who said my name?¡±


    At that moment, the blazing-haired Feng Wuyu walked in.


    Upon seeing Tang Wulin, his eyes lit up and he roared with laughter. ¡°I was just looking for you! I sure am lucky to find you so soon. Wait to the side for a bit, kid. I have to talk to that girl Shen Yi about something.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Elder Feng.¡± Shen Yi had long since stood up and given Feng Wuyu a respectful salute.


    Feng Wuyu waved his hand dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. I just have a small matter to talk with you about. It¡¯s about this kid actually. He¡¯s a blacksmithing genius blessed by the heavens, and I want to carefully nurture him, but he won¡¯t accept me as his teacher. What do you think should be done here?¡±


    Shen Yi stared at him, dumbstruck. How am I supposed to know what you should do? Am I a blacksmith? No! I can¡¯t force him either!


    She sent a pleading look over to Wu Zhangkong who stood nearby.


    ¡°Hello, Elder Feng,¡± Wu Zhangkong spoke up as he walked over. ¡°As I¡¯m sure you know, we only have the authority to make suggestions regarding our students¡¯ professions. We can¡¯t force anything upon them, and it¡¯s up to them to decide. Could it be that you haven¡¯t been able to persuade him?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression was as icy as usual, but his words were sharper than ever. He passed the ball right back into Feng Wuyu¡¯s court.

 Chapter 324 - Rejection

    Chapter 324 - Rejection


    Feng Wuyu snorted. ¡°You brat. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve forgotten how many years you¡¯ve been away without so much as a peep. You want to talk back to me?  Fine. I won¡¯t bother with you two anymore. Anyway, I¡¯m just here to tell you not to give him too many responsibilities in the future. He needs as much time as he can get to learn from me. Well, I¡¯m off then. Kid, come with me. Since you¡¯re a student here at Shrek, you should treat me as a teacher. I don¡¯t care if you agree or not. I¡¯m your teacher now.¡±


    He grabbed Tang Wulin and threw him over his shoulder as he walked out.


    Tang Wulin was helpless against Feng Wuyu. ¡°Elder Feng, can you put me down? I¡¯ll walk with you.¡±


    Feng Wuyu revealed a sly smirk as he acceded. ¡°So you¡¯ve finally accepted me as your teacher?¡±


    ¡°What you said is right. Here on campus, I¡¯m already one of your students!¡± Tang Wulin forced his stare upon Feng Wuyu as if daring him to look away.


    Feng Wuyu exhaled forcefully, underscoring his contempt, before continuing,¡°It¡¯s taken you so long to finally understand this simple fact. Follow me and you¡¯ll have a future much brighter than with that brat from that whatever Blacksmith¡¯s Association.¡± The moment they stepped foot outside the teachers¡¯ office, Feng Wuyu grabbed Tang Wulin once more and dashed off, arriving at his workshop a few seconds later.


    Back in the office, Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong exchanged looks of dismay. ¡°Elder Feng acts so quickly!¡± Shen Yi muttered. ¡°Do we need to tell Teacher about this?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°We definitely need to inform Teacher. Elder Feng has an eccentric personality, and though Wulin is clever and knows how to behave himself, he¡¯s still stubborn at heart. It¡¯d be good to have Teacher around as insurance in case those two get into an argument.¡±


    A hint of worry flashed through Gu Yue¡¯s eyes. ¡°Teacher Wu, Wulin¡¯s not in danger, right?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°Most likely not. Elder Feng is one of the most powerful people on campus. He might be strange, but he is very devoted to blacksmithing. To be fair, he isn¡¯t suited for blacksmithing in the traditional sense. Elder Feng got to where he is now through sheer perseverance alone. He started blacksmithing when he was twenty-eight years old, and after pouring blood and sweat into his work, he¡¯s now an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith. For that reason, Elder Feng has his own unique perspective on blacksmithing. Wulin could potentially learn a lot from him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then. Teacher Wu, Teacher Shen, I¡¯ll be taking my leave.¡±


    Gu Yue didn¡¯t immediately set forth for the dormitory. Instead, she headed off-campus after a moment of thought..


    ?


    Cornered in Feng Wuyu¡¯s workshop, Tang Wulin stared helplessly at the eccentric man. ¡°Elder Feng, I can¡¯t forge right now.¡±


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s glare could scorch. ¡°Why not? Are you getting arrogant now that you have some achievements under your belt? Let me tell you, perseverance is the key to success. ¡®Perseverance is victory.¡¯ Haven¡¯t you ever heard that saying before? Don¡¯t get complacent just because you have some talent. No matter the profession, you will have to devote blood and sweat to reach the peak.¡±


    This prompted Tang Wulin to throw up his hands. ¡°I understand everything you¡¯ve just said, and I¡¯m not just being lazy. But I have to deal with more important matters first! Like cultivating! I¡¯m sure you can sense I haven¡¯t yet reached rank 30. In fact, I¡¯m only at rank 28 at the moment My soul power is holding me back as a blacksmith. We both know I could spirit refine right now if not for my soul power. Although my body is far stronger than my peers¡¯, if I want to spirit refine safely, my soul power needs to be at least rank 30. I would love to study spirit refining under you, but my soul power is too lacking right now. There¡¯s nothing that can be done about it!¡±


    Taken by surprise, Feng Wuyu¡¯s blazing confidence dimmed, his eyes glossing over as he digged through his thoughts. He scratched his head. ¡°That makes some sense. Oh right! You¡¯re already at the peak of the fourth rank at your age, so you can try to spirit refine now. You said you¡¯ll try it once you hit rank 30?¡± When Feng Wuyu had started blacksmithing, his cultivation base was firmly laid out. As such, he didn¡¯t have to consider soul power restrictions. Only after this exchange with Tang Wulin did he realize this was a legitimate issue.


    ¡°My innate strength is adequate and my body is sturdy, which makes up for some of my lacking soul power. But even so, I need to at least be rank 30 to spirit refine without risk.¡± There was a qualitative leap between two and three rings, and the boost in power would be more than enough to ensure his safety when spirit refining.


    Feng Wuyu knitted his brows then nodded. ¡°Alright. That¡¯s reasonable. But kid, don¡¯t think this is enough to stop me from teaching you how to forge. Isn¡¯t it just rank 30? I know some methods to get you there. But it¡¯ll cost you.¡±


    ¡°There are ways?¡± Tang Wulin was taken by surprise.


    There are shortcuts to soul power cultivation?


    Feng Wuyu threw his head back and laughed, a mischievous glint in his eyes. ¡°Of course there are! I can help boost your soul power to rank 30 and help you breakthrough, but the price... It¡¯s a bit high. It¡¯ll cost you ten spirit refined metals once you¡¯ve become a fifth-rank blacksmith. How about it?¡±


    ¡°No thanks,¡± Tang Wulin declined straightaway.


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s face froze. ¡°Kid, what are you saying? As a soul master, you should be jumping on this chance to increase your soul power. I can even guarantee there will be no side effects! Don¡¯t you know a soul master¡¯s age and rank have a huge influence over their future? Your current level isn¡¯t anything remarkable, so if you don¡¯t put in the time now and grab any opportunity that comes by, the gap between you and your peers will continue to widen.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned a deaf ear to Feng Wuyu¡¯s advice. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Elder Feng. I think it¡¯s best if I take cultivation one step at a time. I¡¯m certain I¡¯ll reach rank 30 in two months at the latest.¡± After breaking the second seal, his blood essence had grown more vigorous and his soul power climbed to rank 28. His cultivation speed had increased thanks to the seal breaking, and he was confident in his estimate of two months. Although he lagged behind his teammates at the moment, he would surely overtake them one day as long as he continued breaking the Golden Dragon King seals.


    It was obvious Feng Wuyu didn¡¯t understand Tang Wulin¡¯s character. Ten spirit refined products was worth an enormous sum of money, with a conservative estimate of at least fifty thousand contribution points! That would be enough to feed Tang Wulin for several months. His ravenous appetite didn¡¯t allow him to ignore such a large sum.


    Tang Wulin would rather have taken his cultivation step by step and not lose himself of a fortune for a shortcut. So, it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t feel anxious to reach rank 30, but that he absolutely couldn¡¯t bear to give up ten spirit refined products.


    ¡°Kid, is your brain rotting? Tell you what, I¡¯ll even provide you with the metal to spirit refine. And Don¡¯t forget, you¡¯ll benefit a lot from this too! With ten spirit refinings to your name, you¡¯ll be famous in the outer court.¡±


    ¡°I appreciate the offer, but no thanks.¡± Tang Wulin continued to shake head as if that was all he knew how to do.


    ¡°Kid, you really know how to anger me!¡± Feng Wuyu fumed, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do in the face of Tang Wulin¡¯s stubborn refusals.


    ¡°Elder Feng, you don¡¯t have to be so hurried. I¡¯ll steadily cultivate, and once I reach rank 30, I¡¯ll definitely come learn from you. I¡¯ll take my leave now then.¡± Tang Wulin made to leave swift as a breeze, his back burning from Feng Wuyu¡¯s heated glower.


    Feng Wuyu didn¡¯t stop him from leaving. Everything Tang Wulin had said rang true as a bell! Namely, that he couldn¡¯t practice spirit refining until he hit rank 30. Not only that, when Tang Wulin forged the meteoric iron, Feng Wuyu had seen for himself where Tang Wulin had stood in the realm of blacksmithing: he was a prodigy at the peak of the fourth rank. More practice wouldn¡¯t help him grow at the moment.


    But that kid won¡¯t accept my good intentions! Isn¡¯t it a great deal to get my help in boosting him to rank 30? Ten spirit refinings is a cheap price for what he¡¯d get! I¡¯d have to put aside my pride just to acquire some of the items needed for the procedure, yet he actually refused!

 Chapter 325 - Seeing What Shouldnt Be Seen

    Chapter 325 - Seeing What Shouldn''t Be Seen


    With Feng Wuyu¡¯s workshop behind him, Tang Wulin felt his whole body relax, limbs no longer held tightly together by ropes of tension. Just thinking about how an unreasonable madman like Feng Wuyu would respond to rejection sent shivers down his spine. Fortunately, Feng Wuyu showed a modicum of rationality today and let him off the hook. That wasn¡¯t to say Tang Wulin didn¡¯t understand the importance of blacksmithing, but it was not his number one priority right now.


    However, Tang Wulin would be lying to say he wasn¡¯t at least curious about Feng Wuyu¡¯s special method. Especially if it could boost his soul power without any side effects. It likely required the consumption of heavenly spirit items. Even so, ten spirit refined products was too large of a price for Tang Wulin to hand over.


    He had no choice but to be stingy. In order to refine his blood essence, he had to shell out the money for the spirit items necessary to break his seals. This was impossible to accomplish unless he saved every penny! Once sixteen, he would have to break one seal a year, and judging from the items required to shatter the third seal, he could only imagine the outrageous treasures needed for the later ones. There was no way he had enough cash stashed right now.


    ?


    Night creeped along, each working student nestled within their dorms not letting out a peep.


    Flitting his eyes open, Xie Xie spared a glance at Tang Wulin. He was currently cultivating in his bed, a thick aura of blood essence lingering around him. His body burst with vitality. Whenever he cultivated with Tang Wulin, Xie Xie felt more motivated. And while his soul power rank may be higher than Tang Wulin¡¯s, he had never felt superior to him.


    Climbing off his bed with the full grace of a cat, a slight tap from his feet touching the ground and nothing more, Xie Xie crept past Tang Wulin¡¯s bed. Careful to not alarm the two girls, who slept on the other side of the curtain splitting their room in half, he kept this act and snuck out the door.


    Xie Xie basked in the refreshing night breeze once outside. He looked to the sky, eyes trembling with one part frustration and two parts resolve.


    For the past few days, he had been working hard reshaping and improving himself. His understanding of himself grew twofold after the competition for presidency.


    Stepping foot into Shrek Academy had forced Xie Xie to reevaluate his strength relative to his peers. It was a hard thing to swallow. Back in Eastsea City, he had been among the cream of the crop, but now, he was barely above average. He had understood Tang Wulin was strong back then, but he had thought he could still compete with his speed. However, Tang Wulin¡¯s improvement rate went beyond his imagination. He didn¡¯t believe it at first. Tang Wulin¡¯s advancement did not slip one bit.The combination of his destructive golden dragon claw and Tang Sect secret arts placed him higher than Xie Xie now.


    But perhaps most important was their difference in combat ability. Xie Xie had never been his match in this regard.


    Elder Cai¡¯s criticism had served as a wakeup call for him. Since then, he redoubled his efforts into mastering the mysterious Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track


    He could produce clones with both his martial souls, not to mention invisible ones using his Shadow Dragon Dagger. Heeding Elder Cai¡¯s advice, he worked on polishing his advantages and minimizing his weaknesses.


    He realized he lacked control, since he had never invested much effort to improve it. This realization spurred Xie Xie to practice Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track with one clone. Because of this, he managed to achieve favorable results in the class competition. He had accomplished the amazing feat of winning a one-against-two match at Shrek Academy, not to mention that his opponents were both control-types.


    But after the class competition, Shen Yi had asked him and Xu Xiaoyan if they wanted to throw their hats into the ring for the vice-president positions. Although he had given up in the end, he wasn¡¯t completely convinced.


    Despite that, he understood why Shen Yi posed the question to him. He wasn¡¯t strong enough! Not even he could deny this fact. Furthermore, he lacked the confidence to fill a vice-president¡¯s shoes.


    As Xie Xie recalled that scene, he couldn¡¯t help but clench his fist. Aside from that, one other thing left a deep impression on him: Wu Siduo¡¯s self-soul fusion skill.


    Just like her, he had twin martial souls, though they weren¡¯t considered true ones since he had to get each of them soul rings at the same time. However, because Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger were extremely similar, there was a possibility he could pull off a self-soul fusion skill as well. This idea had been gnawing at Xie Xie lately.


    With his current cultivation and the characteristics of his twin martial souls, Xie Xie was confident he could ascend to the Genius Youths Ranking with a self-soul fusion skill under his belt.


    As such, he had been wracking his brain on how to do this. Unfortunately, he found little success.


    Unable to focus on meditation tonight, Xie Xie sought fresh air. The cool night breeze cleared his mind of clutter. If I can¡¯t do it by myself, then I¡¯ll just have to ask Teacher Wu for help. Maybe he¡¯ll have an idea on how to get me a self-soul fusion skill.


    As he mulled things over, Xie Xie strolled around the dormitory. The walk helped ease his mind.


    A few minutes later, he saw a bright glow spreading from one of the rooms.


    Huh. Isn¡¯t there supposed to be no one living there? Why¡¯s the light on? Xie Xie¡¯s gaze sharpened.


    Gently pushing off the ground, he skulked over to the room¡¯s window. He took a peek.


    Although the lights were on inside the room, the curtains were pulled close and obstructed his view. That said, he could hear the faint slosh of running water.


    He summoned his Shadow Dragon Dagger. In addition to making himself invisible, it could also hide his presence and silence his actions. He stabbed the dagger into the window sill, making sure not to let out any noise, pried it open, and pushed the curtain out the way.


    Then his eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.


    Inside the room was a fair-skinned girl wiping herself with a wet towel, long red hair draping over her back and curling slightly from the moisture. And she was completely naked.


    Xie Xie could only see her profile from his position, but the curves of her body were unmistakable.


    I-isn¡¯t this her?


    Even with just the side of her face in view, he instantly recognized her immediately. This girl was the red-haired waitress he and his friends had ran into on their first day at Shrek Academy. The Fallen Angel girl who had fought with Yue Zhengyu. Why is she here now? Why did she only appear now if she had been a working student?


    As a thirteen-year-old, Xie Xie had just been exposed to the charms of the opposite sex for the first time. His face grew warm, a flush spreading across his cheeks and down the sides of his neck. He gulped.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡± As soon as the shout broke through, a thick black fog swallowed up the room.


    Not good! Adrenaline coursed through Xie Xie¡¯s veins as he shot backward, retreating into the shadows.


    But it was too late. Soon enough, he found himself in a pitch-black world, the darkness surrounding him whole. He felt a wave of fury and madness propagate through the air toward him, nearly tangible in its intensity.


    In the blink of an eye, the window was smashed to smithereens. The girl leaped out of the gaping hole and chased after him with the full force of a lion. Trapped in darkness, Xie Xie could hardly move at full speed. It felt as if he were trudging through a quagmire, feet sloshing along  heavy mud. He was practically a sitting duck.


    Armed with no other choice, he flipped around and readied his Light Dragon Dagger.


    But an explosion sent Xie Xie flying backward through the air.


    The red-haired girl landed on the ground with her face flushed and her charming eyes blazing with fury. On her was the Shrek Academy uniform.


    Her anger crescendoed when she saw that the peeper was male. ¡°You bastard!¡± Her second soul ring lit up and a violet-black sword materialized in front of her.


    Once the sword¡¯s handle met her hand, her imposing aura seemed to rise a level. Again, an intense darkness seeped out of her, curling around her form and darting at Xie Xie¡¯s direction.


    He had to remember to close his mouth. Even with two soul rings, he could sense that her cultivation base was far superior to his. Drowning in the muddy darkness, Xie Xie could do nothing to resist. Not only that, he was undoubtedly in the wrong for peeping on her. No matter which way it was put, he was at a loss.


    Since the girl couldn¡¯t read his mind, there was no way she had an inkling of his mental conflict. She appeared before him in a flash and slashed down with her sword.


    Three meter-long blades of light left the tip of her sword. Ghostly wails accompanied the strike, and the instant the lights were dispatched, the darkness around him seemed to thicken, slowing his movement, increasing his fear.


    She¡¯s trying to kill me! Xie Xie could feel her terrifying killing intent wrapping around his limbs like chains, his neck in a noose. Startled, he summoned his Shadow Dragon Dagger as well and spun with his daggers extended. He used Twin Dragon Storm!


    He spun like a top as his two daggers guzzled down his soul power. While he may not have true twin martial souls, having two martial souls still granted him an edge in the soul power department compared to normal soul masters.


    Unfortunately, Xie Xie¡¯s soul power advantage was useless here.

 Chapter 326 - Fury

    Chapter 326 - Fury


    As soon as Xie Xie¡¯s Twin Dragon Storm collided with the sword lights, a boom tore through the air. The explosion sent him crashing into the dormitory¡¯s wall.


    The girl¡¯s eyes gleamed with killing intent as she pressed her attack.


    Suddenly, a burst of golden light erupted, bright and blinding, as if a miniature sun had descended from the skies. An arrogant chuckle cut through the air. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d try your hand at killing a student at night. I¡¯m really curious what excuses you have this time.¡±


    As the radiant figure reached the ground, his brilliance dispelled the murky darkness. A pair of white wings unfurled to protect Xie Xie from the girl. It was Yue Zhengyu.


    Something blazed in his eyes as he stared the red-haired girl down. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can run away again this time.¡±


    The girl shot a cold glare at him. ¡°Screw off.¡± Despite how pleasant her voice sounded, the intensity of her killing intent was as palpable as ever.


    Yue Zhengyu snorted. ¡°So you¡¯ve finally revealed your true colors as an evil soul master! How could a Fallen Angel possibly be anything but evil? Today, I¡¯ll judge you in place of the heavens!¡±


    His second soul ring lit up and a sword brimming with holy light materialized in his hand. Compared with the girl¡¯s blade, the embodiment of darkness and a mixture of shadowy violet tones, Yue Zhengyu¡¯s sword seemed entirely the opposite: radiant and golden. It was a sacred weapon created to banish evil.


    She scoffed at his display, her eyes bottomless pits. ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m afraid of you?¡± In the blink of an eye, a third purple soul ring appeared beneath her and her aura thickened and soared.


    Yue Zhengyu went on high alert, heart thumping and ears straining. He flapped his wings, absorbing the light element energy in the air. It struck him that this girl might possess a soul skill that concealed her true cultivation level. Perhaps during the day, he could defeat her with complete confidence. But it was currently nighttime, the domain of darkness-attribute soul masters. Moreover, her cultivation base was equal to his.


    All of a sudden, three people arrived on scene¡ªTang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Noticing the crumpled body of his friend on the ground, Tang Wulin rushed to Xie Xie¡¯s side.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Tang Wulin asked gravely.


    Before Xie Xie could respond, Yue Zhengyu interjected, ¡°Don¡¯t you see? Under the cover of night, this Fallen Angel snuck into the Academy to attack us working students. Tang Wulin, what are you waiting for? Help me defeat her and bring her to the administration for judgement.¡±


    When Tang Wulin saw blood trickling out of the corner of Xie Xie¡¯s mouth, his expression turned grim. His friend had been injured! This was unforgivable.


    After taking another glance at the mysterious girl, he recognized who she was. He marched over to Yue Zhengyu¡¯s right and Gu Yue walked to his left. Xu Xiaoyan stood in front of Xie Xie like a shield,releasing her martial soul without another second wasted.


    Under the sea of twinkling stars, she called upon the power of her Starwheel Ice Staff!


    Despite facing off against four working students alone, the red-haired girl didn¡¯t betray a hint fear. She pointed her sword at them. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you!¡±


    Her third soul ring lit up and once again darkness flooded the surrounding space. Her figure flickered, and she shot forward like an arrow, charging straight at Xie Xie. As she flew toward him, her wings took on a deep purple hue. Under the effects of her third soul skill, she melted into the wave of darkness.


    ¡°Sacred radiance!¡± Yue Zhengyu¡¯s first soul ring gleamed and holy light erupted from his body.


    The holy light fought back against the encroaching darkness, revealing the girl¡¯s flickering figure within. Each of her dancing afterimages seemed ethereal, yet tangible at the same time. The sheer intensity of her aura was like a sharp spear piercing toward them. She charged straight for Xie Xie, not a single thought paid to her defense.


    Tang Wulin was taken aback. How deep is her grudge? She¡¯s ignoring her safety just to get to Xie Xie!


    As Yue Zhengyu¡¯s third soul ring began to hum with light, he aimed his holy sword at the red-haired girl. ¡°Light of Judgement!¡± A beam of light descended from the heavens.


    Tang Wulin made his move as well. The girl¡¯s killing intent toward Xie Xie fanned Tang Wulin¡¯s fury, drummed up his resolve. Golden scales rippled into existence along his right arm, and he charged forward with a punch.


    Because they were still on campus, Tang Wulin restrained himself a bit and didn¡¯t bring out his golden dragon claw. That said, even a chunk of metal would stand not a chance before his tyrannical strength.


    A flash of silver, and Gu Yue appeared at Xie Xie¡¯s side, a condensed icicle in her hands. At the same time, Xu Xiaoyan raised her staff into the air, summoning a starwheel beneath the red-haired girl.


    Starwheel Shackles!


    True to its name, shackles shot out of the ground an instant after the starwheel appeared, binding the red-haired girl. No matter how powerful she was, she could do nothing for at least a second in the face of the absolute restraints.


    Her Starwheel Shackles had even restrained Wu Zhangkong in the past. Under the blanket of night, Xu Xiaoyan was a terrifying opponent.


    Trapped by Starwheel Shackles, the red-haired girl couldn¡¯t escape the falling Light of Judgement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt her!¡± Xie Xie croaked out.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue stopped in their tracks, but Light of Judgement continued to fall.


    A thundering explosion shook the very ground. The shockwave from the blast kicked up a cloud of dust and debris in a five meter radius, tossing Tang Wulin and the other three away from the blast zone.


    The Holy Angel martial soul truly was formidable. While it might not be as powerful as Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger, it wasn¡¯t far off! And Yue Zhengyu seemed like he still had some strength left.


    Most importantly, he only had three soul rings!


    The point of impact was now a charred crater, smoke hissing from it surface.


    ¡°You!¡± Xie Xie screamed, flinging himself toward the huge hole.


    But before he reached the edge, a dark purple light shot out from the crater.


    ¡°Xie Xie, be careful!¡± Tang Wulin shouted, reeling in the frozen Xie Xie with a strand of bluesilver grass right before the light made contact with him. His eyes popped when he noticed how close the attack had been, missing by a few inches.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s actions illustrated his meticulousness. The moment he had arrived on scene, he had wound strands of bluesilver grass around the waists of his comrades, connecting them with him. It was preparation for yanking his friends out of harm¡¯s way.


    From the corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, he noticed a line of blood oozing from Xie Xie¡¯s skin. ¡°Xie Xie!¡± The second he recognized what it was, Tang Wulin burst forward like a cannonball, face contorted into a snarl. With a roar, he summoned his golden dragon claw. He didn¡¯t bother holding back anymore. He unleashed his most powerful attack, Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, firing lines of dark-gold light.


    She wasn¡¯t playing around! She truly wanted to kill Xie Xie! Even when Xie Xie told his friends to hold back, she still chose to launch a sneak attack. If Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t pulled Xie Xie out of range, he would be dead now.


    This was neither the spirit ascension platform nor some illusory world. In the real world, people die when they were killed.


    Before the blades of dark-gold light collided with the fiery-haired girl, her body expanded, swelling with power and bursting with a tyrannical aura. The ground cracked under her power, the crater¡¯s radius doubling in size, the dormitory¡¯s glass windows shattering and falling upon the earth like solid rain..


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s jaw dropped as he watched the spectacle. His first impression of Tang Wulin was a new student who managed to get into Shrek Academy on the merit of his blacksmithing genius. However, he now understood how wrong he had been. Tang Wulin was far more formidable than he had imagined! Even with his three soul rings, Yue Zhengyu felt a chill run down his spine when Tang Wulin unleashed his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw.


    Despite this, the girl in the crater managed to defend against that power.

 Chapter 327 - Consequences

    Chapter 327 - Consequences


    The red-haired girl was nowhere to be seen. A five-meter tall titan now stood in her place.


    The girl had taken on a new, clearly stronger form, yet blood trickled from the five long gashes that ran from her right shoulder and down her arm. It was impossible to come out of a clash with Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Dreadclaw unharmed. It was a skill derived from the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear after all!


    Tang Wulin did not come out unscathed either. The shockwave of their clash sent him flying backward. Fortunately, Gu Yue conjured a wall of air to cushion his impact.


    But when the dust settled and the form of the titan grew clear, everyone¡¯s jaws dropped.


    The titan¡¯s majestic body exuded pure strength, seeming to constrict the atmosphere itself.


    I-isn¡¯t this the Titan Giant Ape? This is Yuanen¡¯s Titan Giant Ape! What¡¯s going on? Why did it appear here?


    The titan glared at Xie Xie with eyes full of crimson fury. It was as if they were on the verge of exploding. Next to Tang Wulin, Gu Yue frowned, wind and rain swirling around her, birthing a storm. Off to the side, Yue Zhengyu flapped his wings with an aura of majesty and ascended to the air where he eyed her warily.


    She took my Light of Judgement and Tang Wulin¡¯s claw attack head-on, but there isn¡¯t a single scratch on her! She¡¯s no simple evil soul master!


    As doubt crept into his heart, Tang Wulin¡¯s rage dissipated. ¡°A-are you Yuanen?¡±


    All of a sudden, a wave of pressure swept through the surrounding space, suppressing all everyone present.


    The first to suffer was Yue Zhengyu, who was knocked from the air. He slammed face first into the ground, a human-shaped crater beneath him.


    Next to fall were Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan. With Xie Xie¡¯s injuries and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s weak body, neither could put up much of a fight.


    Fortunately, Tang Wulin had pulled Gu Yue into his arms the moment of the pressure wave¡¯s inception. His golden soul ring flashed into existence and he activated Golden Dragon Body. Blood essence, thick and powerful, flooded out of him in an effort to quell the mysterious pressure. Even so, he lasted no more than a second before also falling to his knees.


    Compared to the others, Yuanen resisted the longest. She let out a rebellious roar before dropping down to all fours. That said, she towered above the rest, an unyielding flame burning within her eyes.


    But that was all the resistance she could muster. In the eyes of this force, they were nothing but ants.


    Two figures in their thirties descended from the sky. One wielded seven glittering soul rings and the other six. Perhaps most shocking of all was their shining armor.


    Battle armor! That has to be battle armor!


    The difference in strength between them and a six or seven-ringed soul master, while large, would not have suppressed the youths so thoroughly. Such dominance was possible due to the amplification effect of battle armor!


    With battle armor equipped, the user¡¯s strength would increase by two soul ring levels. From the armors¡¯ complex designs, they had to be at the two-word level! Now this was true battle armor!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Why are you working students fighting?¡± The seven-ringed battle armor master¡¯s chilling voice was like a bucket of cold water over their heads. Catching sight of the injured Xie Xie, he raised a finger, shooting a beam of light into his body. A moment later, Xie Xie¡¯s chest stopped bleeding.


    Yue Zhengyu struggled to get up from the ground, his face still dusty and red from impact. ¡°R-reporting!¡±


    With a wave of his hand, the seven-ringed battle armor master dispelled the pressure weighing down the students.


    ¡°Speak!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu pointed at Yuanen without so much as missing a beat. ¡°It¡¯s her! She¡¯s an evil soul master! Her second martial soul is a Fallen Angel. She infiltrated our working student dormitory and attacked Xie Xie at night. She even said she was going to kill him! When we discovered Xie Xie in his tattered state, we rushed to subdue her and ended up engaging in battle. Esteemed enforcer, please arrest her. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find truth in my words after some investigation!¡±


    The seven-ringed enforcer cast a doubtful look at Yuanen. ¡°Are you the second grade¡¯s Yuanen?¡±


    Yuanen¡¯s body rapidly shrunk until she was once more a delicate looking red-haired girl. Since her transformation wrecked her uniform, bursting it to pieces, all she had on now was a skintight black suit.


    She threw on a jacket before returning the enforcer¡¯s icy gaze. ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± The enforcer looked at her doubtfully. ¡°You¡¯re the president of the second grade¡¯s class. Why would you attack another student?¡±


    ¡°Just ask him!¡± Yuanen¡¯s face flushed crimson as she jabbed a finger toward Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie¡¯s face contorted with pain as he struggled to get up. While the bleeding might have stopped, the dark energies of Yuanen¡¯s sword had still invaded and corroded his meridians. If not for his Light Dragon Daggers light attribute, his condition would have been far worse.


    ¡°I-I¡­¡± He stared at Yuanen, tongue limp and as heavy as lead.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear their explanation after we return,¡± said the six-ringed enforcer to the seven-ringed one.


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ?


    Half an hour later, everyone involved in the incident assembled in the teacher¡¯s office of the outer court school building.


    Along with them were Shen Yi, Wu Zhangkong, and the teacher in charge of the second grade, all whom had been summoned directly. However, none sat down. The only person seated was the headmaster of the outer court and an elder of Sea God¡¯s Pavilion, Elder Cai.


    Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan stood with strange looks painted on their faces.


    Because a teacher had treated Xie Xie¡¯s wounds, he was able to stand alongside his classmates. Perhaps feeling regretful, he hung his head low.


    Yuanen, sporting a fresh change of the school uniform, stood on the other side of the room and glared daggers at him the entire time. She looked like the incarnation of a demon bent on destroying him.


    Yue Zhengyu wore the oddest expression of all. He was next to Tang Wulin, his face twitching as he fought to restrain himself.


    ¡°Elder Cai, the situation has been explained to us already. The battle this time was all due to a misunderstanding.¡±


    ¡°Misunderstanding? A misunderstanding that all of the working students participated in? One where someone got injured? Tell me then, what was this misunderstanding?¡± Elder Cai¡¯s words dripped with danger.


    ¡°From our investigations, we have concluded that the working student in the first grade, Xie Xie, went out for an evening stroll. Because he wasn¡¯t aware Yuanen changed rooms, he mistakenly believed that a thief had broken into their dormitory and went to investigate. However, Yuanen Yehui happened to be taking a bath at that time¡­¡± The enforcer¡¯s mask of seriousness cracked, revealing an awkward expression.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes darted to Yuanen. So her full name is actually Yuanen Yehui.


    ¡°Afterward, Yuanen Yehui discovered that Xie Xie had peeped on her maiden body. In her fury, she attacked Xie Xie. Yue Zhengyu knew of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Fallen Angel soul, so he misunderstood the situation. Later, Tang Wulin, Xu Xiaoyan, and Gu Yue also arrived on the scene and misunderstood as well. This is what led to their battle.¡±


    Elder Cai was speechless after listening to the enforcer¡¯s explanation. After a few seconds of gathering herself, she spoke, the temperature in the room dropping with each successive word. ¡°So you¡¯re telling me this was all because that brat Xie Xie peeped on a girl?¡±


    The whole night had been one surprise after the next. And now that Elder Cai summarized the entire incident in this way, the situation was even more unexpected. Clearly, she stood on Yuanen¡¯s side. Poor Xie Xie would be penalized heavily.


    Tang Wulin took a step forward, grabbing the room¡¯s attention. ¡°Elder Cai, it¡¯s not quite like that. The only reason Xie Xie was outside of Yuanen¡¯s room was because he thought someone had broken into our dormitory. He didn¡¯t know Yuanen lived there at all. It really was just a misunderstanding.¡±


    Normally, Elder Cai would not normally appear to oversee such trivial matters. But in this specific case, she was also the teacher in charge of the first grade. Therefore, it was her responsibility to figure out what happened.


    Elder Cai directed a calm gaze at Tang Wulin. ¡°So you¡¯re saying Yuanen Yehui should let others see her body for free?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Tang Wulin was at a loss. There was no one in the right or wrong in this situation!


    Elder Cai snorted. ¡°The matter is clear already. All six of you working students are such a handful. You¡¯ve only been here how long? Yet you¡¯ve already caused such a ruckus. If I don¡¯t punish you, then the heavens wouldn¡¯t be fair. Xie Xie, as the main instigator, you will be fined five thousand contribution points. I don¡¯t care if this was a misunderstanding on your part and I don¡¯t care if you had good intentions. Three months is all you¡¯re getting. If you don¡¯t pay the fine before then, you¡¯ll be expelled. In addition, you¡¯ll pay Yuanen Yehui ten thousand contribution points as mental trauma compensation. You have one year to pay her.¡±

 Chapter 328 - The World Isnt Fair

    Chapter 328 - The World Isn''t Fair


    Tang Wulin sighed. There¡¯s nothing that can be done then. I¡¯ll just have to help Xie Xie pay off his debts.


    ¡°Xie Xie, do you accept your punishment?¡± Elder Cai asked.


    In response to those words, Xie Xie lowered his head. ¡°Yes, I accept it. This was all my fault. If I had striven to be more aware of what was going on around me, Yuanen Yehui wouldn¡¯t have had to suffer such an embarrassment. I¡¯ll accept the punishment.¡±


    Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, Elder Cai nodded, her expression softening. She turned to Yuanen. ¡°Yuanen Yehui, he peeped on you and has admitted to being guilty. However, you were still wrong to injure him in your rage. According to the investigation, if not for the other students stepping in to stop you, you really might have killed Xie Xie. I can understand your embarrassment as a girl, but Xie Xie¡¯s mistake is not worth his life. Moreover, you already injured him heavily, so don¡¯t think about getting revenge on him later on.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s breathing grew more ragged by the second, jaws tight and hands balled into shaking fists, though she managed to remain silent.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Within Elder Cai¡¯s eyes shined a perceptive light, a wave of pressure instantly crashing upon everyone present.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Yuanen Yehui finally nodded, tears streaming down her face.


    Satisfied, Elder Cai turned to Yue Zhengyu. ¡°As for you, Yue Zhengyu, I know that your Holy Angel clan takes it upon yourselves to eradicate evil soul masters, but Yuanen Yehui isn¡¯t one. She has twin martial souls, with the the main one being the Titan Giant Ape. Moreover, the Academy has even investigated her and judged that she isn¡¯t an evil soul master. Despite being warned by an enforcer previously, you chose to act independently against her. Since you ignored the judgement of the Academy, we cannot pardon you for your actions this time. For your punishment, you will have to clean Spirit Ice Plaza by yourself for an entire month. In addition, you will pay five thousand contribution points to Yuanen Yehui for her mental trauma, understood?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Yue Zhengyu still didn¡¯t believe he had done wrong and was reluctant to accept punishment. However, as a member of the Holy Angel clan, he understood just how terrifying the Silver Moon Douluo was. Talking back was not an option for him! He could have broken something with how fast he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll accept my punishment.¡±


    Elder Cai now directed her lion¡¯s gaze at Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan.


    ¡°As working students, you should have understood the situation clearly before you acted.  Especially you, Tang Wulin. Don¡¯t forget you are the class president of the first grade. Yet, all of you charged in like idiots. I don¡¯t care what you thought the circumstances were, you all mishandled the situation. Except for Gu Yue who didn¡¯t act, and as such won¡¯t be penalized. Xu Xiaoyan, you¡¯re fined one thousand contribution points, and Tang Wulin, you¡¯re fined ten thousand contribution points. Five of those ten thousand are to be paid to Yuanen Yehui as mental trauma compensation. Understood?¡±


    W-what? Tang Wulin raised his head to look at Elder Cai, eyes wide. Ten thousand? But Xie Xie was fined fifteen thousand for peeping on her! Why am I being fined so much when I didn¡¯t even do anything?


    ¡°I don¡¯t accept this!¡± Tang Wulin blurted out without the slightest hesitation. He would have been fine with a punishment like Yue Zhengyu¡¯s, but it was different when it came to money! First-grade thousand refined metal could be sold for about two thousand contribution points, but that didn¡¯t take into account the material costs. Acquiring the metal to forge took quite a large chunk out of his profits.


    Everyone stared at him in shock the moment the words left his mouth. He actually dares talk back to Elder Cai?


    ¡°You don¡¯t accept? Twenty thousand then.¡± Elder Cai said indifferently.


    Gu Yue stepped forward. ¡°This isn¡¯t fair.¡±


    Elder Cai sneered. ¡°You should all remember this: you¡¯re in the real world now. Fairness? That¡¯s ridiculous. If you don¡¯t have strength, how can you even think of talking about fairness? If you were a small country and a larger neighbouring country attacked you, would you complain to them about the unfairness? Do you think they would have their army retreat, or fight you in one-on-one battles instead? Come back and talk to me about being fair when you have the strength to stand on the same ground as me. If you still don¡¯t accept this, then you can just drop out.¡±


    Elder Cai got up and stormed out, leaving these words lingering in the air.


    Tang Wulin stood there, dumbstruck. He didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Although he didn¡¯t want to admit it, he knew Elder Cai was right. He pinched his thighs as he fought to steady his breathing. In this world, fairness did not exist. No, it could only be achieved through a foundation of strength. The powerful made the rules, not the weak.


    But he couldn¡¯t stomach the thought of having to pay twenty thousand points! My punishment is even worse than Xie Xie¡¯s! Who¡¯s trying to provoke who here!


    Filled with grief and indignation, Tang Wulin led his companions back to their room. Not a hint of joy were on their faces.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry! Wulin, I¡¯m sorry I got you caught up in this. Just let me handle your twenty thousand point punishment! I¡¯ll work hard and earn enough points to pay it all off!¡±


    Tang Wulin let out a bitter laugh. ¡°Who are you trying to trick? That¡¯s twenty thousand points! In any case, we¡¯re brothers! Don¡¯t even mention something like that. We¡¯ve all suffered a loss this time, so in the future, we have to be more careful.¡± With his blacksmithing skills, Tang Wulin could make the most money of them all.


    Before they had left, Shen Yi had called him over and whispered a few words into his ear. She advised him that Elder Cai¡¯s strictness stemmed from his title as class president.


    The class president represented the entire class when they interacted with teachers. Naturally, their status was high among their peers. For that same reason, class presidents were punished more harshly than other students for the the same mistakes.


    After Shen Yi pointed this out, Tang Wulin understood the significance of his position and error. He knew now that there was nothing he could do but accept his punishment.


    Xie Xie forced a smile out. ¡°It¡¯s my fault for being too curious. If I had just come back and asked you, none of this would have happened. I still need to thank you for saving me. If not for you guys, I might have really been cut down by Yuanen Yehui. By the way, why do you think she hides the fact that she¡¯s a girl?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s because of her martial soul,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Her main martial soul is the Titan Giant Ape, and it probably has a lot of influence over a girl¡¯s body. Maybe she¡¯s afraid of people mocking her for it. Then there¡¯s her Fallen Angel martial soul, which makes it easy for others to mistake her as an evil soul master. So it¡¯s likely she hid her gender to protect herself. In any case, she¡¯s amazing! Both of her martial souls are peak-level existences. It¡¯s no wonder that she¡¯s the class representative for the second grade. I don¡¯t think I can stand against her at all.¡±


    ¡°So what if she transforms into the Titan Giant Ape?¡± Xie Xie muttered. ¡°That¡¯s just during battle. Isn¡¯t she still really pretty during other times?¡±


    Hearing his hushed words, Tang Wulin raised a brow. ¡°Alright. No need to think so hard about it. Let¡¯s head to bed early.¡±


    While Tang Wulin had some idea what sort of circumstances Yuanen Yehui had, he decided not to look any deeper. It would be rude to pry into someone else¡¯s secrets after all. Considering the formidable natures of both her martial souls and her talent, which surpassed even Wu Siduo¡¯s, he assumed her abilities had certain restrictions. If that wasn¡¯t the case, then Tang Wulin was clueless as to why her second martial soul didn¡¯t also have three soul rings.


    After climbing onto bed, Tang Wulin jumped into meditation. He focused on circulating soul power throughout his body via the Mysterious Heaven Method. In his dantian formed a whirlpool of soul power, sucking in more of that energy and dispersing it among his body. His blood essence coursed through his meridians, hastening the circulation. Although his martial soul and soul power improvement rates were both slow, his cultivation speed kept pace with those of powerful martial soul users.


    At the first signs of light breaking through the horizon, he switched to practicing his Purple Demon Eyes. Following that was breakfast with his friends.


    He caught sight of Xie Xie and frowned. Although Xie Xie had been treated the night before, he was still pale from the blood loss. On the way to class, Xu Xiaoyan teased him for peeking at what he shouldn¡¯t look at and that his injuries only served him right. Gloom hung around Xie Xie, making him seem like a shadow of his former self. It was as if he carried a heavy burden in his heart.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Xie Xie? Are you still thinking about what happened yesterday?¡± Tang Wulin nudged him with an elbow.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Xie Xie raised his head and looked straight into Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. ¡°Wulin, do you think I acted horribly yesterday? A girl would obviously be angry if someone peeped on her, right?¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°Of course. You saw her naked. So, you should quickly earn enough to compensate her. But be careful if you run into her again. Absolutely do not do anything to anger her. She was really trying to kill you yesterday, you know?¡±


    Xie Xie nodded in silence.


    Soon, the four found Wu Zhangkong waiting for them in the lecture hall. He continued where he had left off in the previous lesson, diving into the basics of mecha making. The topic had intrigued him since childhood so he listened with rapt attention, enjoying the intermission before thinking of his staggering debt again.

 Chapter 329 - Mecha or Battle Armor?

    Chapter 329 - Mecha or Battle Armor?


    ¡°This semester, you all have one assignment: create your own mechas. Now, I will be announcing your groups. Group one: Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Luo Guixing, and Wu Siduo.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at Wu Zhangkong in astonishment. Everyone else was organized into seven groups. We¡¯re the eighth?


    After declaring that group one was composed of the four class representatives, Wu Zhangkong announced the rest of the groups. Each group had at least ten people, and the sum of every group¡¯s talents were basically on par with the rest.


    ¡°You must be able to use the mechas you make. As for how you make it, that¡¯s up to you. I have only covered the basics of mecha making up to this point, so you should go to the library to learn about things like what materials should be used.


    ¡°In order to make your mechas, you will need the help of everyone in your group. You must make your mechas by the end of the term. If any group has a single person without a completed mecha, the entire group will lose marks. A single member failing this assignment means the elimination of an entire group, and all of you will be made to withdraw from Shrek.


    ¡°Additionally, all of you can forget about completing the assignment half-heartedly. In the second half of the semester, you will be taught how to pilot ordinary mechas. Shrek Academy¡¯s curriculum aims to raise well-rounded students, so part of the final exam will be a class-wide mecha competition. The students that rank in the bottom ten for that competition will be expelled.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s proclamation sent chills down everyone¡¯s spines and increased the pressure they were under.


    Even if everyone was strong individually, it was impossible to make a mecha without the help of their classmates. In other words, they had to rely on each other. Cooperation was indispensable for this assignment.


    ¡°The exam at the end of the semester also includes a group competition where each group will select their four strongest mecha pilots to compete as a team. The specific rules will be announced closer to the date of the competition.¡± Wu Zhangkong paused to let this information sink in, then gravely said, ¡°I will now give you half an hour to gather into your groups and discuss your plans. Be warned, you do not have as much time for this task as you think.¡±


    Shrek Academy¡¯s teaching methods were clearly different from what these students were used to. Here, independent studies were encouraged. Very little time, a few hours at most, was spent in class every day. Students could procrastinate and play around and no one would bother with them. However, if they didn¡¯t pass the exams at the end of the semester, they would be expelled, and no one wanted to be expelled from Shrek Academy.


    So, their only option was to pour blood and sweat into their studies.


    It was a long-established rule that the ten students that ranked at the bottom of the class would be expelled at the end of each semester. That was ten percent of the class. This danger pushed everyone, especially the weaker students, to work hard. For them, the possibility of expulsion was all too real.


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to begin discussing plans with his group, he felt someone¡¯s gaze. Upon turning to see who was staring at him, he saw Xu Xiaoyan with a miserable expression on her face.


    Worry filled her eyes.


    In terms of overall strength, Xu Xiaoyan had been the weakest of the four in class zero. She was also weak individually and only made up for it by taking advantage of openings in team battles. In one-on-one battles, however, almost anyone could defeat her, even if it were nighttime. Although astrological-attribute soul skills had absolute power, Xu Xiaoyan couldn¡¯t move when she used her¡¯s. She couldn¡¯t follow up with an attack while her opponent was restrained.


    Tang Wulin stood up and walked over to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Feeling anxious?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan nodded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Just work on reaching rank 30 for now. Soul masters get a major power spike at rank 30, you know? We¡¯ll help you make a mecha that¡¯s appropriate for your strength then. Besides, we¡¯re just making mechas until we move on to battle armors. We¡¯ll definitely pass our final exams.¡±


    ¡°Mn!¡± Xu Xiaoyan nodded, her spirit renewed. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    Tang Wulin returned to his group and looked at Gu Yue, Luo Guixing, and Wu Siduo.


    ¡°Our group isn¡¯t as simple as it appears,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve already got our jobs set out for us. I forge, Gu Yue designs, Luo Guixing makes, and Wu Siduo will take care of maintenance. However, we still have some things we need to decide on. What kind of mecha will suit each of us? What materials will we use? Here¡¯s what I propose: we¡¯ll buy our own metals, Gu Yue will draft designs accordingly, and then I¡¯ll forge them. I guarantee that every piece will be at least first-grade thousand refined.¡±


    ¡°Every piece?¡± Luo Guixing stared at him in shock. ¡°What¡¯s your success rate?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked him in the eye and revealed a mischievous smile.


    ¡°One hundred percent.¡±


    Tang Wulin normally wouldn¡¯t have boasted about his success rate, but after successfully spirit refining and reaching the fifth rank, first-grade thousand refining was beyond easy for him. Furthermore, his heavy silver hammers had evolved to become spirit refined, further aiding him when he forged.


    Just like Luo Guixing, Wu Siduo also couldn¡¯t hide her surprise. First-grade thousand refined was already good enough for making battle armors. Using such material to make mechas was extravagant. If they really used metal of such quality, their mechas would have an overwhelming advantage against others of the same tier.


    All of a sudden, Gu Yue spoke up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just make battle armors then. We can skip making mechas.¡± Her words stunned Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing.


    ¡°Thousand refined metal is the basic requirement to make battle armor,¡± Gu Yue continued. ¡°Since first-grade thousand refined is already close to spirit refined and possesses some hints of life, we should be able to make one-word battle armor. We¡¯re the class council, so we need to do better than our peers. Learning how to control mechas is just a waste of time. We¡¯re going to become battle armor masters in the future anyway. I¡¯m a fourth-rank designer, so if all of you are willing to trust me, I think I have a seventy percent chance of drafting a proper battle armor design. It won¡¯t be anything particularly amazing though, just a one-word battle armor design. It might not even be much stronger than a mecha, but I¡¯m sure you all understand what it will mean if we actually manage to do it.¡±


    Tang Wulin was just as shocked as the others, but he had to admit that, although it was daring and reckless, Gu Yue¡¯s proposal made sense. After seeing and learning about battle armor, he longed for the day he would have his own set. All of them hoped to become battle armor masters one day. If there was a chance that day would come sooner, even if they would only be using one-word battle armor, they would be hard-pressed to fight the temptation. Besides, this plan would give them experience useful for making their two-word battle armor in the future.


    ¡°Do we even have enough time?¡± Luo Guixing asked in a tone lower than normal, his usual carefree smile nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°I should be able to finish all the designs,¡± Gu Yue replied curtly. ¡°You¡¯ll have to begin making them while I design though. But... if you¡¯ll be the only one making them, we definitely won¡¯t have enough time.¡±


    Battle armors weren¡¯t like mechas. Mechas were made of several large parts that could be roughly put together, and as long as the inner circuit core was fine, it could be used. On the other hand, battle armors required meticulous craftsmanship since they had to work as an extension of the user. Not even one-word battle armor had room for error when it came to this. Battle armors were composed of numerous small parts, each with its own circuit core. Furthermore, each circuit core had to be compatible with the soul master using the battle armor. As a result, the complexity of battle armor designs were much higher than those of mechas, which didn¡¯t even take the difficulty of making battle armor into account.


    Luo Guixing knitted his brow. ¡°I¡¯m a third-rank mecha maker. Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t think I can make battle armor. It¡¯s too difficult. I¡¯m not sure if I could make even a single set by the end of the semester.¡±


    ¡°I like Gu Yue¡¯s idea,¡± Wu Siduo chimed in. ¡°I want to try making battle armor too. Teacher Wu didn¡¯t say that we needed to make a full mecha. Even if each of us only have an incomplete set of battle armor and fight against the other students who will be using mechas, why would we need to be afraid? A soul master has to have five rings in order to be able to use one-word battle armor, but you know we aren¡¯t ordinary soul masters. We should be able to use incomplete sets of battle armor. I can help you with make them. We should only strive to make quality products. If we can¡¯t finish in one semester, we¡¯ll finish in two. If I¡¯m not mistaken, we¡¯ll probably start learning how to make battle armor in the third grade. Becoming one-word battle armor master is the requirement to graduate after all. We should start laying a solid foundation for entering the inner court as soon as possible.¡±


    Luo Guixing looked at Tang Wulin. ¡°What do you think, class president?¡±


    ¡°This plan is quite a gamble,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    Wu Siduo frowned at Tang Wulin, Gu Yue stared at him with blazing eyes, and Luo Guixing gave him a slight nod. This truly was a risky plan. They were assigned with making a mecha, yet they wanted to play with fire and make battle armor! Success would be fantastic, but if they failed or made too few battle armor parts, their evaluation at the end of semester exams would be uncertain.


    ¡°If we succeed, we will definitely reap spectacular rewards. I think making battle armor would be the best way to further our skills in our professions as well.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shone with resolve as he clenched his hands into fists. He had never been one to back down from a challenge.


    ¡°I think we should try it.¡±

 Chapter 330 - Objective: One-word Battle Armor

    Chapter 330 - Objective: One-word Battle Armor


    Ever since he had awakened the weak bluesilver grass as his martial soul, Tang Wulin had no choice but to trudge forward, persevering until he found his path to greatness. Now that one had presented itself, he¡¯d be an idiot not to take the risk.


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s give it a shot.¡± Luo Guixing¡¯s eyes brightened with determination like the rest of them. Naturally, he understood the advantage of making their battle armors in the first grade. While this plan was a challenge, it was also an opportunity.


    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Since we¡¯ve decided on this, we should begin as soon as possible. We¡¯ll need a place to make the battle armor first. Furthermore, we¡¯ll need to keep what we¡¯re doing a secret. Even the teachers can¡¯t catch a whiff of it. Second, I¡¯ll need you all to pick out metals most suitable for your battle armor. We can¡¯t use a complete set of battle armor as we are now, so I suggest choosing one metal for the meanwhile. That way, there will be fewer possible complications during process of making them.¡±


    Gu Yue, Luo Guixing, and Wu Siduo nodded. Attempting to make battle armor was beyond the scope of their abilities, an additional weight on their shoulders. However, if they settled for mechas, then they wouldn¡¯t be challenged at all. Ordinary mecha didn¡¯t require rare metals, and only needed to be hundred refined. They understood that without challenge, their improvement would be limited.


    That said, they had to exercise caution in the execution of their plan. Battle armor was not to be underestimated.


    ¡°So, figure out what metal you want as soon as possible,¡± Tang Wulin continued. ¡°After you¡¯ve decided, bring it to me. I¡¯ll thousand refine it for you. I¡¯m very confident in my thousand refining skills. Gu Yue, begin drafting the designs immediately. We don¡¯t have time to waste. But I don¡¯t think you should design a whole set at once, since if you did that for everyone it would take too long. We should approach this one part at a time. For example, we should start with a right forearm piece for everyone. You¡¯ll design, then Luo Guixing and Wu Siduo will make them. Then once we all have a right forearm piece, we can move on to the next part. That way, we¡¯ll complete each step gradually and methodically. This should be the most efficient method.¡±


    While the rest had been voicing their thoughts on Gu Yue¡¯s proposal earlier, the gears in Tang Wulin¡¯s head had spun in overdrive. He understood that because they had just been acquainted  and forced to cooperate, there was limited trust between them. Making one person¡¯s armor first wouldn¡¯t appear fair and their motivation would drop.


    All four of their professions were required in the battle armor creation process. For example, as a mechanic, Wu Siduo had the crucial job of improving and fine-tuning mechas and battle armor.


    Luo Guixing smiled. ¡°Class president is really insightful. I think this way is the best as well. Let¡¯s quickly begin then. I¡¯m sure we all have several metals in mind that might be most suitable for ourselves. Tang Wulin, I¡¯ll tell you what metal I choose tomorrow.¡±


    Wu Siduo hesitated for a moment, before relaxing her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you tomorrow too.¡±


    Gu Yue also made her acceptance clear.. As for Tang Wulin, this wasn''t an issue for him. With his years of forging experience, he already knew what sort of metals suited him.


    Tang Wulin swept his gaze through the group. ¡°Remember, when you¡¯re choosing the metal you want to use, take into consideration the extent of your abilities. Five rings is the requirement to use one-word battle armor, and we all fall very short of that. Wu Siduo, your cultivation base is the highest though, so you have some more leeway. However, the other three of us can¡¯t choose a metal that¡¯s too strong. If we do, we might not be able to use the finished product.¡±


    The other three nodded, their spirits blazing with eagerness.


    Making one-word battle armor might be a towering challenge to face, but even if they didn¡¯t succeed, they would learn far more than they would have by making mechas.


    Compared to them, other groups were bustling with discussion. There were far more people in the other groups, so naturally there was more they needed to discuss.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s was the first to wrap up. As he observed the other groups in their heated discussions, he couldn¡¯t imagine them finishing before night came. Perhaps this was what the Academy wanted to see.


    As for what metal suited Tang Wulin the best, he already knew the answer!


    Oftentimes, one had to believe in fate. Heavy silver was the first metal he thousand refined, the first he first-grade thousand refined, and the first he spirit refined.


    It could be said that heavy silver was his lucky charm. Even his prized hammers were made of a spirit refined version of this metal.


    Heavy silver was considered a lower mid-tier metal. It had decent ductility and soul power amplification. The one-word battle armor he planned to make was a crucial stepping stone on his path to becoming a full-fledged battle armor master. However, his current goal wasn¡¯t to create  a powerful one-word battle armor, but to succeed in making one in the first place. He had to succeed and find the type of battle armor most suitable for him. After all, only two-word battle armor could fuse with its user¡¯s body, and only then was it  considered to be true battle armor. When that time came, he would need higher quality metals to upgrade his his set. He would walk this path for the rest of his life.


    I¡¯ll use heavy silver. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t bother overthinking things.


    ¡°Gu Yue, do you know what metal you want to use?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    As he had thought, Gu Yue met his expectations and already had something in mind. ¡°Magic silver.¡±


    ¡°Magic silver?¡± Tang Wulin stared at her, face caught in a mixture of astonishment. Then, he nodded approvingly. ¡°Good choice. It¡¯s very fitting for you. Although magic silver isn¡¯t as ductile or hard as heavy silver, it possesses the property of element connection. It¡¯s very suitable for the circuit core of long-ranged soul devices. It¡¯s also a mid-grade metal. Relatively speaking, magic silver is more precious than heavy silver. Luckily, it¡¯s not too expensive. Magic silver is used extensively for circuit cores after all, especially in the equipment of high-ranking army officers. Because your martial soul is Elementalist, the elemental connection property is crucial for you. I can¡¯t say it enough how great your choice is.¡±


    ¡°How about you?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m choosing heavy silver,¡± Tang Wulin answered. ¡°We¡¯re already aiming for something beyond our abilities, so maximizing the chances of success is our number one priority.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to try to spirit refine? Couldn¡¯t we try making two-word battle armor immediately?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to aim too high. Currently, I¡¯m still at two soul rings. It¡¯ll take me about two months to reach three rings. Even then, three rings is nowhere near the six ring requirement for two-word battle armor. I don¡¯t think I could spirit refine anything good enough for two-word armor either. Once it¡¯s at the two-word level, the armor will likely follow us for life. We¡¯ll have to connect our hearts with it and treat is as an extension of our bodies. That¡¯s why we need the perfect metal. I had actually thought about going for two-word armor once I have four rings and am a sixth-rank blacksmith. Unfortunately, that''ll take at least three years. But your idea has its merits! Once we have some experience making one-word armor, it¡¯ll be easier to make two-word armor in the future.


    ¡°So, here¡¯s what I think: we¡¯ll complete a full set of battle armor within two years and then master using it. Once we enter the fourth grade, we can probably start on two-word armor. If we can finish a two-word set before the graduation exam, then it¡¯ll be easy to enter the inner court.¡±


    Gu Yue nodded in agreement. ¡°That makes sense. We shouldn¡¯t bite off more than we can chew. What about Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan? They¡¯re weaker in their professions. I don¡¯t think things will go too well in their groups.¡±

 Chapter 331 - Mu Chen Arrives

    Chapter 331 - Mu Chen Arrives


    Tang Wulin knitted his brows. After seeing Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s anxious face hours ago, he had been caught in mental turmoil over what to do about her and Xie Xie.


    In their mecha making groups, the most influential people were those who were strong or skilled in their professions. Neither Xie Xie nor Xu Xiaoyan were particularly outstanding in these two aspects, especially in the second. Both were still at the first rank, dangling at the bottom of the ladder.


    ¡°How about we ask the teachers to move them to our group?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Sometimes, setbacks aren¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. It can serve as pressure to make someone work harder. When I first discovered my martial soul was bluesilver grass, I was crushed. At that time, I had even lost hope of ever becoming a soul master. And when my first spirit soul turned out defective, I was close to giving up. But I pushed on, taking one step forward at a time, striving to improve myself and never giving in to laziness. I knew if I did, I was sure to fall behind the rest of you and would never be able to catch up. That¡¯s why I think we can subtly help them but not do too much. Besides, our group is made of all four members of the class council,. We¡¯re stronger than the rest of the groups. If we added anyone else, the other students would be discontent.¡±


    Gu Yue mulled over his words, a hand to her chin. ¡°That makes sense. Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan are both from large clans and have been spoiled since childhood. They never had to face any real setbacks or had been forced to put in as much effort as you do, and as such haven¡¯t displayed their full potential. Some stress will be good for them. Let¡¯s do as you say then.¡±


    ¡°If it becomes necessary, we¡¯ll step in and help them,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Xie Xie is a mecha maker and Xu Xiaoyan is a designer. Xie Xie needs to become stronger by himself, so you don¡¯t have to worry about him so much. I¡¯m confident he¡¯ll be able to pull through. As for Xiaoyan, you can help her improve as a designer. Oh right, when did you become a fourth-rank designer? You¡¯re amazing!¡±


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Are you complimenting me or yourself? Don¡¯t forget, you¡¯re already a fifth-rank blacksmith. Plus it¡¯s easier for designers to progress in rank than blacksmiths. My spiritual power is really high, so I have a large advantage when it comes to designing. Because Xiaoyan¡¯s spiritual power is approaching five hundred points, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for her either. It¡¯s only a matter of time before she increases her rank.¡±


    The next course of action was to obtain heavy silver and magic silver. Fortunately, Tang Wulin had some in stock.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin¡¯s soul communicator rang.


    A smile formed on his lips when he saw the number.


    ¡°Teacher.¡±


    ¡°Mn. I¡¯m at Shrek City now. When can you come out?¡± Mu Chen¡¯s voice came across clearly through the communicator¡¯s speakers.


    ¡°In the afternoon¡ªI don¡¯t have class then. Where are you staying?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    A few moments later, Tang Wulin scribbled down the address, a place tucked within the outer city.


    ¡°Gu Yue, I need to go out for a bit after we finish eating. I won¡¯t be on campus in the afternoon, so if you need anything, just call me.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± She didn¡¯t pry any further.


    After finishing an enormous lunch, which was basically a cultivation method for him, he left campus and hailed a taxi, heading straight for the address Mu Chen gave him. Tang Wulin could hardly contain his joy knowing his teacher was here. Mu Chen had traveled a long journey for his sake to Shrek Academy, a strange and unfamiliar place for him, not to mention gigantic!  Even on a soul taxi, it took a bit more than an hour for Tang Wulin to reach his destination.


    But when he saw the sign hanging on the side of the building, he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.


    It was a shabby three-story building. It wasn¡¯t particularly large despite being located in the city center and facing the street. Most shocking of all, the building¡¯s sign said ¡®Blacksmith¡¯s Association: Shrek Branch¡¯!


    The Blacksmith''s Association was a top-notch association that spanned the entire continent. Furthermore, every major city had an imposing Blacksmith¡¯s Association branch. Even Eastsea City¡¯s had been a towering building that had left Tang Wulin awestruck the first time he laid eyes on it.


    The branch before him shocked Tang Wulin as well, but for the opposite reason.


    This was Shrek City, the greatest city on the continent! It was unfathomable for such a majestic city to have a desolate, downright shabby, Blacksmith¡¯s Association branch.


    Pushing the door open, Tang Wulin felt a wave of deja vu after looking around the first floor. The floorplan identical to the one in Eastsea City, the only difference being the smaller size.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, over here.¡± Hearing his name called, he turned toward the sound of the voice, coming face-to-face with Mu Xi¡¯s sweet smile.


    ¡°Senior sister.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up as he rushed to her side. His heart couldn¡¯t help but warm at meeting an old friend in a foreign place.


    Once he was a step away, Mu Xi¡¯s expression hardened, a grim edge tugging at her lips. She pulled his ear. ¡°You still remember this senior sister of yours? Why haven¡¯t you called me even once since you came to Shrek? Did you forget all about me?¡±


    ¡°Ow! Senior sister, please take it easy on me! My ear is going to rip!¡± Tang Wulin cried out, attracting the attention of the surrounding people.


    Mu Xi¡¯s face flushed red as she let go of his ear. ¡°What are you screaming for? Come with me to see Dad.¡± She turned around and led Tang Wulin up a staircase on the side. With her back to Tang Wulin, he couldn¡¯t see her grin.


    With only three floors, there naturally wasn¡¯t a need for an elevator in the building. Soon, the two arrived at the third floor.


    The moment they stepped foot on this floor, they heard the telltale metallic clanging of blacksmiths at work.


    Mu Xi brought Tang Wulin to the deepest chamber, opened a sliding door, and ushered him in.


    It was an office about one hundred square meters. The furniture looked old and worn, clearly antiques. Mu Chen beamed at Tang Wulin from behind his desk.


    Not skipping a beat, Tang Wulin stepped forward and bowed. ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Mu Chen chuckled. ¡°Take a seat. Little Xi, go pour a cup of water for Wulin.¡±


    Mu Xi snorted, but still did as she was told.


    Accepting the cup and taking a sip, Tang Wulin was surprised to discover it was actually a cup of freshly-squeezed orange juice¡ªhis favorite. It was clearly prepared a while ago. He turned to Mu Xi, wide-eyed. She smirked at him before taking a seat at his side.


    ¡°Wulin, congratulations!¡± Mu Chen said.


    ¡°Teacher, I was just lucky that day. I don¡¯t think I could succeed if I tried again right now.¡±


    ¡°How can it just be luck? It¡¯s the fruit of your efforts. You were already a fourth-rank blacksmith three years ago, and since then, you¡¯ve been polishing your skills every day, slowly preparing to spirit refine. Preparation is the key to success, and without your efforts, you wouldn¡¯t have succeeded. If not for your lacking cultivation base, you would have become a fifth-rank blacksmith long ago. So, how far are you from rank 30?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still at rank 28,¡± Tang Wulin answered. ¡°But I¡¯m very close to rank 29. I¡¯m confident that I¡¯ll reach rank 30 within two months.¡±


    ¡°Fantastic. Have you gotten used to life at Shrek yet?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing well. There¡¯s a lot of pressure though, so I can¡¯t relax for even a moment.¡±


    Mu Chen smiled. ¡°That¡¯s good. Pressure will strengthen you. I¡¯m not worried with your perseverance and endurance. As long as you can continue increasing your soul power, you¡¯ll definitely have the chance to become a Divine Blacksmith in the future. Just remember to never become complacent. Your number one priority right now is to increase your soul power. I have hope that you¡¯ll become a Saint Blacksmith before your twentieth birthday. If you do, then you might become a Divine Blacksmith by thirty.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t that too quick?¡± Tang Wulin had never expected his teacher to have such high expectations for him.


    Mu Chen shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not too fast. Everyone¡¯s body reaches its peak in their twenties. For us blacksmiths, it becomes exponentially harder to attack the next rank once we reach our thirties. Take Mang Tian for example. He became a fifth-rank blacksmith in his forties, so it¡¯s virtually impossible for him to ever become a Saint Blacksmith.


    ¡°Blacksmithing is a profession that¡¯s energy-demanding to the extreme. The only way we can climb to higher ranks is with a strong body, an abundance of blood essence, and a clear mind. Later on, you¡¯ll understand how important your perception is, that in a split-second, it could elevate you to the next level. From spirit refining and onward, your understanding of metal is just as important as your talent and luck. Therefore, the faster you increase your rank, the higher your chances of becoming a Saint Blacksmith.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tang Wulin nodded, resolving himself to work even harder than before.

 Chapter 332 - Second Grade Senior Sister

    Chapter 332 - Second Grade Senior Sister


    ¡°Are you shocked by how pitiful the Blacksmith¡¯s Association branch here is?¡± Mu Chen asked.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Isn¡¯t Shrek the greatest city on the continent? The branch of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association here should be amazing! Why is it like this¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because this is Shrek City that this branch is so pitiful. Shrek Academy controls everything in this city. Basically, you can consider the city an independent state. Shrek Academy has set up an association for every trade and profession. I believe you¡¯ve already joined the Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association, correct? For the sake of not stirring up conflict between their association and ours, we only maintain a small branch here. The Blacksmith¡¯s Association, which has branches you can find all across the continent, is completely different from the Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is¡­¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean Shrek is really oppressive?¡±


    Mu Chen shook his head. ¡°Shrek isn¡¯t oppressive. This is them governing themselves. In truth, there are plenty of elites from every profession here, more than enough to support their associations. You mentioned that Old Man Feng is looking for you. Did he do anything to you?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Elder Feng wanted to take me as his disciple, but I didn¡¯t agree.¡±


    ¡°That old man is a real maniac. He only began blacksmithing in his forties, yet he still managed to become a Saint Blacksmith. He has his own unique blacksmithing philosophy, so there¡¯s no harm in you learning from him. If he asks again, you may accept him as your teacher as well. Just make sure he doesn¡¯t force you to make him your only teacher.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin never expected Mu Chen to say something like this. ¡°Teacher, I won¡¯t abandon you! Don¡¯t misunderstand!¡±


    Mu Chen waved his hand dismissively. ¡°I¡¯m being serious. Shrek City is different from other places. It isn¡¯t easy to establish yourself here. There¡¯s no doubt about your forging talent, but your strength is still lacking. Having a supporter would be good for you. Elder Feng is very powerful and infamous for his furious temper. However, everyone also knows that he treats the people at his side exceptionally well. The things he can teach you will complement the things I teach you.¡±


    Then a troubled smile surfaced on Mu Chen¡¯s face. ¡°In all honesty, I can¡¯t defeat him. If you continue to refuse him, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll come knocking on my door one day. Rather than have that happen, it¡¯d be better off to just let you have another teacher.¡±


    Mu Chen naturally didn¡¯t want to share Tang Wulin with Feng Wuyu. No one would want to share their student after all. However, Tang Wulin would spend many years at Shrek Academy. Refusing to accept Feng Wuyu as his teacher had the potential to affect his future cultivation and hinder his chances of becoming a Divine Blacksmith. Above all else, Mu Chen wanted to avoid this.


    So Mu Chen finally made the decision to share Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Teacher, I¡­¡±


    Before Tang Wulin could say anything else, Mu Chen raised a hand to stop him. ¡°Tell me what happened when you spirit refined. I¡¯m very interested how things went. You¡¯re the first blacksmith in history to spirit refine with only two soul rings.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Wulin proceeded to recount the events of the entrance exam and how he bore the burden of taking the trial to help Gu Yue get admitted. Thanks to that pressure, he managed to successfully spirit refine.


    Mu Chen nodded as Tang Wulin told his story. When Tang Wulin got to the part about his golden blood essence soul ring, Mu Chen¡¯s face filled with shock.


    ¡°Show me that golden soul ring,¡± Mu Chen said.


    ¡°Understood!¡± Tang Wulin replied, summoning it forth.


    ¡°It really is different from a normal soul ring.¡± Mu Chen examined the energy that the golden soul ring emitted, complete and utter awe on his face. He was an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith and an eight-ringed Soul Douluo. Although he did not excel in combat, he did possess a vast wealth of knowledge about martial souls. Even after racking his brains, he could not recall anything like this golden soul ring. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this actually exists. I¡¯ve never heard of anything like it.¡±


    Eventually Mu Chen nodded to himself. ¡°No wonder you managed to spirit refine. It was all thanks to this peculiar soul ring. Once you get your third soul ring, come find me immediately. I want to watch you spirit refine.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Teacher. Oh right, I have something I wanted to discuss with you.¡±


    Tang Wulin then proceeded to explain his groups plans to make battle armor. He was convinced that Mu Chen, as a Saint Blacksmith, definitely produced many metals for battle armor before, meaning that he would be experienced with making battle armor.


    ¡°It¡¯s great that your group thought of this.¡± Mu Chen nodded in approval. ¡°The earlier you start getting experience with battle armor, the easier it will be for you to make powerful battle armor in the future.¡±


    ¡°Battle armor is split into four levels. The difficulty to make it increases exponentially with each level after the first,¡± Mu Chen continued. ¡°While you may not have any problem with forging the metal for one-word battle armor, let me remind you that you cannot neglect the processes that come afterward. You have to participate in the designing, the making, and the fine-tuning of the battle armor. When the time comes for you to make higher level battle armor, you will have to consider the design, the making, and all sorts of other things, not just forging the metal. There¡¯s a saying among us blacksmiths: ¡®Half of a battle armor¡¯s quality is determined by the blacksmith.¡¯ The best blacksmiths are well acquainted with all parts of the battle armor creation process. A deeper understanding of the battle armor that is to be created will make you better prepared to forge the metal it needs.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Tang Wulin replied solemnly.


    Mu Chen¡¯s advice cleared many doubts from the back of Tang Wulin¡¯s mind. Although he was only responsible for forging the metal for the battle armor, he now understood that becoming familiar with the entire battle armor creation process would be beneficial to him as a blacksmith! The battle armor creation process shared many similarities with metal refinement. Even the best refined metals had to be compatible with the battle armor they would be used in, and it was the blacksmith¡¯s responsibility to make sure of that.


    Forging was currently the least problematic part of creating battle armor for his group, so, what Tang Wulin had to do now was quickly start forging his best products to lower the burden on his groupmates. His efforts would have the most influence on the making part of the process. With this in mind, Tang Wulin¡¯s confidence soared.


    However, this confidence was quickly forgotten in the face of Mu Chen¡¯s next words.


    ¡°Mu Xi will also be joining you at Shrek.¡±


    Tang Wulin gawked at Mu Xi who was sitting beside him. ¡°Senior sister will be attending Shrek Academy?¡±


    Mu Xi glared at him. ¡°Got a problem with that? Can I not join Shrek just because you joined first?¡±


    ¡°O-of course you can! Senior sister is a once-in-a-generation genius! I¡¯m just surprised.¡± The surprise in Tang Wulin¡¯s voice smoothly transitioning into a teasing tone. ¡°Senior sister didn¡¯t enter the inner court directly?¡±


    Mu Xi batted her eyelids. ¡°It¡¯s only been a few days since you left yet you¡¯ve already become so glib. Do you use that sly tongue of yours on other girls too?¡±


    Her words left Tang Wulin dumbstruck. Even Mu Chen couldn¡¯t think of a response to his daughter¡¯s astonishing jab, leaving an awkward silence hanging in the air.


    Mu Xi was older than Tang Wulin by four years, making her seventeen this year. Considering the gap between their ages, Mu Chen originally hadn¡¯t thought anything of Mu Xi and Tang Wulin¡¯s relationship. Now, however, he was beginning to reconsider.


    After a moment, Mu Xi realized her mistake and broke the silence with a cold snort. ¡°I¡¯m just worried that you aren¡¯t working hard. You have to properly study now that you¡¯re in Shrek. Studying is the most important thing for a student, got it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, senior sister. Do you know what class you¡¯ll be joining?¡±


    ¡°Using the designated quota for the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, Little Xi was admitted as a special exception for her talent.¡± Mu Chen stepped in to explain. ¡°She should be placed directly into the second grade. While she might be a bit older than her classmates, she¡¯s still within the acceptable range for Shrek. You two will need to take care of each other in the future.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Teacher.¡±


    The second grade? Doesn¡¯t that mean senior sister will be in the same class as Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui?

 Chapter 333 - Im Here to Apologize

    Chapter 333 - I''m Here to Apologize


    So senior sister will be in Yuanen Yehui¡¯s class...


    The thought of Yuanen Yehui reminded Tang Wulin of the twenty thousand contribution points he had been fined, and his heart soon began to ache. If not for the exceptional circumstances, he probably would have given Xie Xie a good beating. After all, this fine came about because Xie Xie peeped on a girl! However, Tang Wulin could tell that there was something amiss with Xie Xie lately. Even though they were basically sworn brothers, there wasn¡¯t much he could do beyond offering a few words of comfort.


    In the past, Tang Wulin had a fairly good relationship with Yuanen. However, now that Yuanen became Yuanen Yehui, and after the recent incident, he was afraid it wouldn¡¯t be easy to repair their relationship. The entire incident had been Xie Xie¡¯s fault, and Tang Wulin had taken action without completely understanding the situation. He resolved to find her and apologize when he got back.


    Mu Xi escorted Tang Wulin to the entrance of the building. ¡°I¡¯m going to campus to report tomorrow. I¡¯ll give you a call once I get there.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Tang Wulin replied. Senior sister, there¡¯s a lot of freedom at Shrek. Since you¡¯re a fourth-rank blacksmith, you¡¯ll definitely be very popular!¡±


    Mu Xi snorted. ¡°What¡¯s so great about being a fourth-rank blacksmith? You¡¯re already at the fifth rank. Who knows when I¡¯ll finally catch up to you.¡±


    Tang Wulin gave her a wry smile. ¡°What¡¯s your soul power rank at now, senior sister?¡±


    ¡°Rank 38,¡± she answered.


    ¡°Wow! You¡¯re almost at rank 40! I¡¯ll probably get to rank 30 around the time you reach rank 40. When that happens, let¡¯s try spirit refining together. Senior sister, have you decided to become a battle armor master?¡±


    Mu Xi paused for a moment, staring at him blankly. ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about that before. I¡¯ve only ever wanted to be a great blacksmith.¡±


    ¡°I think you should work toward becoming a battle armor master like me!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed. ¡°Shrek is a place where geniuses grow and prosper¡ªnot taking advantage of it would be a waste. Becoming a battle armor master is the requirement for graduating from the outer court anyway. Making battle armor will definitely help us a lot. It¡¯ll make us more powerful, aid in our cultivation, and will also improve our blacksmithing skills. With it boosting our cultivation, we will be capable of higher-level blacksmithing even sooner. We¡¯ll be doing half the work for double the results!¡±


    Mu Xi mulled it over. Although her soul power rank was higher than Tang Wulin¡¯s, she was seventeen years old this year. She couldn''t be considered anything great in Shrek Academy. In fact, she was a bit below average.


    ¡°What you¡¯re saying does make some sense, but can I really do it?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re determined, nothing¡¯s impossible. Let¡¯s do our best, senior sister!¡±


    ¡°Mn. Alright.¡±


    As Mu Xi watched Tang Wulin¡¯s departing figure, she subconsciously clenched her fists.


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely do my best,¡± she muttered. ¡°I won¡¯t fall too far behind you! I¡¯m going to catch up one day!¡±


    ?


    At the working student dormitory, Xie Xie paced back and forth in front of a door, occasionally rubbing his hands nervously.


    The dormitory had been cleaned up and all the broken windows replaced. Xie Xie had done it all himself. Even after replacing the window panes, he wiped all of them until they were sparkling.


    He was the only person in the dormitory at the moment. Xu Xiaoyan had gone to report to the Designer''s Association, Gu Yue had disappeared as she usually did, Tang Wulin had gone out as well, and neither Yuanen nor Yue Zhengyu had returned yet.


    Xie Xie continuously replayed the forbidden scene he had witnessed that day. Although he only remembered her hazy silhouette, the room had been misty with only a dim light, the image was burned into his mind. To a youth of no more than thirteen years old, the impact of that scene had been too much for his innocent heart.


    All of a sudden, the sound of footsteps rang out. Xie Xie¡¯s heart leaped to his throat and he quickly hid. After a moment, he realized that it was just Yue Zhengyu.


    Yue Zhengyu wore a dour expression. He thought he had finally caught an evil soul master, but instead he had misidentified her and was punished. It was as if fate were playing a cruel joke on him. The sight of Xie Xie made his face darken even further.


    ¡°What are you doing here? Oh, all of the windows are fixed!¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Xie Xie nodded.


    Yue Zhengyu walked over to Xie Xie, a slight smirk on his lips. ¡°Are you waiting here to admit you were wrong?¡±


    Xie Xie knitted his brow. ¡°Why does it matter if I admit it? It¡¯s only natural for me to acknowledge my mistakes.¡±


    ¡°Then you can just wait here patiently.¡± Yue Zhengyu chuckled and casually placed his hands behind his head as he turned toward his room. ¡°Be careful though! Tang Wulin and the others aren¡¯t here this time, so don¡¯t make her mad again. You¡¯ll be toast if you do.¡±


    Xie Xie grumpily shooed Yue Zhengyu away then turned to to the dormitory entrance and waited.


    Just as he turned around, he was astonished to see Yuanen Yehui returning. She walked in complete silence, completely ignoring Xie Xie as she returned to her room.


    Yuanen Yehui currently wore her usual men¡¯s uniform and had her Yuanen disguise on. If Xie Xie hadn¡¯t confirmed her femininity with his own eyes, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to claim that she was wearing a disguise.


    Summoning his courage, Xie Xie ran over before she could enter her room.


    ¡°Yuanen!¡± he exclaimed.


    Yuanen Yehui stopped and turned to him, both of her eyes icy to their very cores. Before her aura of fury, Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but falter.


    ¡°Screw off!¡± she yelled, going into her room and slamming the door in Xie Xie¡¯s face.


    ¡°I¡­ I came to apologize,¡± Xie Xie mumbled to the door.


    A loud bang resounded from within the room, startling Xie Xie. Fearing for his life, he immediately took off running.


    He was still traumatized by Yuanen Yehui¡¯s killing intent from that night.


    Inside of her room, Yuanen Yehui threw herself onto her bed. The ice in her eyes instantly thawed, and in its place was emptiness. She lay there unmoving, and soon enough, tears began streaming down her face.


    Yet she did not sob a single time.


    ?


    By the time Tang Wulin returned to the dormitory, Gu Yue had come back as well.


    Tang Wulin frowned when he saw Xie Xie sitting on his bed, staring off into nothingness. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why do you look so dazed?¡¯


    Xie Xie slowly turned to Tang Wulin, his blank expression transitioning into one of defeat.


    ¡°I went to go apologize to Yuanen Yehui, but she completely disregarded me.¡±


    Tang Wulin made dumbfounded face.


    ¡°You can''t be so impatient!¡± he said. ¡°You have to wait for her to calm down before you try apologizing. Just forget about it for now and focus on earning enough contribution points to pay off your fine. You can just work on slowly making amends. As she is now, however, things between you two won¡¯t be easy to fix. Anyway... just be careful and try to not make her angry.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Xie Xie smiled bitterly. ¡°I know. I don¡¯t want to die just yet.¡±


    ¡°Your thinking has been wrong these past few days,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Xiaoyan is practicing her designing, so why aren¡¯t you over at the Maker¡¯s Association? The competition here is so fierce yet you¡¯re not making good use of your time. Are you trying to be one of the ten people that¡¯ll be expelled? Stop overthinking things. The past is the past. Just focus on improving yourself first. If you don¡¯t, you won¡¯t survive even a minute against Yuanen.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s words lit a fire in Xie Xie¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re right!¡± he cried. ¡°I¡¯m still too weak compared to her. First, I need to become strong!¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, he leaped from his bed and made for the door.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to the Maker¡¯s Association to practice!¡± Xie Xie shouted as he dashed out the door.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but smile. That guy¡¯s mood changes so often. Well... at least he recovers quickly too.


    Tang Wulin climbed onto his bed, closed his eyes, and began meditating. As of now, nothing was more important for him than reaching rank 30.


    ¡°Tang Wulin! Kiddo, are you here?¡±


    Just as Tang Wulin began clearing his mind of distracting thoughts, a familiar voice called to him from outside and his eyes shot open.


    Why¡¯d he come all the way here to find me?


    Having no other choice, he got up and went outside. The moment he set foot out of his room, Tang Wulin saw the energetic Feng Wuyu.


    ¡°I¡¯m here, Elder Feng,¡± he said. ¡°What are you here for?¡±


    ¡°What? Am I not welcome here?¡± Feng Wuyu scowled at him.


    Tang Wulin smiled apologetically. ¡°You¡¯re welcome here! Of course you are. There¡¯s no way you wouldn¡¯t be welcome. Did you need something from me?¡±


    Feng Wuyu snorted. ¡°It¡¯s your win, kid. I admit defeat. Now come with me.¡±


    With no further explanation, he grabbed Tang Wulin, threw him over his shoulder, and rushed off like a gale.


    Seconds later, they were in Feng Wuyu¡¯s workshop.


    Tang Wulin sighed in resignation. ¡°Elder Feng, can you stop doing this all the time? I¡¯ll give you my number, so you can just call me when you need me. You don¡¯t have to abduct me every single time, you know?¡±


    Feng Wuyu threw Tang Wulin to the ground. ¡°We can talk about that later. First, I¡¯m going to help you get to rank 30.¡±


    ¡°Elder Feng, I don¡¯t have any money or contribution points!¡± Tang Wulin shouted. ¡°I still have a twenty thousand point fine to pay off! You can¡¯t force me to do this!¡±


    Tang Wulin still owed Yuanen Yehui twenty thousand contribution points. Even if he paid her by way of thousand refining, he would have to buy the raw metal himself. If he needed to pay Feng Wuyu ten spirit refinings as well, it would take even longer to for him to pay off his debt. The success rate for spirit refining was low, and countless pieces of metal would be reduced to scraps in the process of successfully spirit refining ten times.

 Chapter 334 - Breaking Through

    Chapter 334 - Breaking Through


    ¡°Quit complaining. I¡¯ll lower the price to five spirit refinings just for you. And in case that¡¯s not enough, the Association will provide you with the metal to forge.¡±


    Tang Wulin stopped struggling at Feng Wuyu¡¯s words. Just five? And they¡¯ll give me the metal free of charge too? If I don¡¯t have to buy the metal, I¡¯ll save a ton of money!


    Sensing the change in Tang Wulin, Feng Wuyu scowled. ¡°I get it now. Kid, you¡¯re a super stingy money grubber!¡±


    Tang Wulin broke into a smile that fell a bit short of being straight. ¡°Elder Feng, I¡¯m not a money grubber! I¡¯m just from a poor family. If I don¡¯t plan each cent of my spending every day, then I can¡¯t afford to eat. Don''t forget, I¡¯m a working student. I have to pay for my meals too. I can¡¯t afford not to be stingy. How about you cover all my meals too? If you do, then I¡¯ll listen to anything you say.¡±


    ¡°Give me a break already!¡± Feng Wuyu groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll cover your meals. But only if you accept me as your teacher.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± Mu Chen had urged him to be his student. Feeding himself was currently his biggest challenge after all!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s quick response left Feng Wuyu in a daze. He narrowed his eyes seconds after, suspicion thick in the air. ¡°Why¡¯d you agree so quickly? You¡¯re acting like a little thief! What¡¯s going on!¡±


    Tang Wulin revealed a fox¡¯s smile. ¡°It just so happens I met Teacher Mu Chen today, and he agreed to let me accept you as my teacher. Of course, Teacher Mu Chen is still one of my teachers too. Elder Feng, your words have a lot of weight, you know? So you have to keep your promise!¡±


    Feng Wuyu understood now. ¡°Kid, you really know how to take advantage of opportunities! That kid Mu Chen is also quite tactful. I was actually planning on paying him a nice visit and rampaging a bit. Hmph!¡±


    If Mu Chen were present to hear Feng Wuyu¡¯s words, he definitely would have broken out into a cold sweat. Feng Wuyu was a true madman! Besides Mu Chen, not even Zhen Hua, a Divine Blacksmith and president of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, dared provoke him.


    ¡°Elder Feng, so you agreed to pay for my food, right?¡± To Tang Wulin, this was the most important part of their deal.


    ¡°You¡¯re still calling me ¡®Elder Feng¡¯?¡± Feng Wuyu massaged his forehead with his hands, his previous irritation snuffed out. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m senile?¡±


    ¡°Teacher!¡± Tang Wulin quickly corrected himself.


    For a moment, because of the pride from acquiring Tang Wulin as a student, he let slip a giant grin. After enjoying his new disciple¡¯s salute for a while longer, he kicked Tang Wulin from the ground. ¡°Alright. Get up you brat. You¡¯re my disciple from now on. If anyone dares bully you on campus, just tell me and I¡¯ll go beat the crap out of them.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± Tang Wulin lowered his head, the picture of respect.


    Now that Feng Wuyu was his teacher, Tang Wulin acted completely differently than before. There was a limit to how impudent Tang Wulin could act. He understood the saying: ¡®a teacher for a day, a father for life¡¯.


    That he made it this far and accumulated what little achievements he had were in large part due to the guidance and life lessons of his teachers: Mang Tian, Mu Chen, and Wu Zhangkong. If not for them, perhaps Tang Wulin would still be in Glorybound City, doomed to mediocrity.


    But he had had the fortune of learning under those three, and now he was the first grade¡¯s class president at the continent¡¯s greatest academy.


    ¡°Are you your class¡¯s blacksmith representative?¡± Feng Wuyu asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded, a proud smirk forming on his lips. ¡°I¡¯m the class president too.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± His voice hitched up an octave from the shock.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin nodded happily as he waited for his teacher¡¯s praise. Although he wasn¡¯t the strongest person in his class, he was still the class president! There were only six class presidents in the entire outer court! However, reality was not as forgiving.


    ¡°So a two-ringed soul master is the class president¡­ Looks like this year¡¯s batch of new students isn¡¯t anything special.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face fell.


    ¡°Alright, enough nonsense. Let¡¯s get you to rank 30 now. The longer you can practice spirit refining, the better. Same thing with starting earlier. Now sit upright and stabilize your body.¡±


    Tang Wulin quickly straightened his back and steadied his core.


    Sitting behind Tang Wulin, Feng Wuyu raised both hands. In an instant, absolute silence descended on the workshop.


    Tang Wulin noticed this change, but he couldn¡¯t begin to fathom what had happened.


    Then Feng Wuyu placed his hands on Tang Wulin¡¯s back and said, ¡°No matter how painful this is, just endure it. You have to persevere. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    Pain? I¡¯ve already endured the torture from breaking the seals! There¡¯s no way it could be worse.


    Two gentle, gurgling streams of energy poured into his body, filling him with a soothing warmth.


    The two energies stirred and merged with Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power and blood essence.


    ¡°Circulate this energy the same way you would when you cultivate,¡± Feng Wuyu said.


    Applying the Mysterious Heaven Method, Tang Wulin willed his spiritual power to guide the warm energy, moving it along with his soul power.


    He could feel his meridians being purified as the energy ran through them, leaving behind a faint golden hue wherever it traveled. Somewhat elastic as his meridians were, they were not immune to feeling bloated. Despite this, Tang Wulin experienced no pain.


    As soon as Feng Wuyu let out a bewildered grunt from behind him, the flow of warm energy grew from a stream to a torrent. Tang Wulin felt more and more bloated as time passed, but as Feng Wuyu had instructed, he continued to circulate the energy through his body. While the amount of energy within his meridians continued to increase, he maintained skillful control of it. Soon, he finished one cycle of the Mysterious Heaven Method.


    His meridians and body were saturated with energy now. Each of them pulsed, seared as if on fire. Even so, Tang Wulin went through it all, knowing his soul power was increasing.


    ¡°Endure it!¡± Feng Wuyu commanded.


    Tang Wulin obeyed, continuing to circulate his soul power.


    After familiarizing himself with the energy, the next cycle went by faster than before. With each circulation cycle, Tang Wulin felt the improvement in his soul power and the purification of his meridians, not to mention the fading of the bloated feeling.


    Teacher, what sort of soul power is this? How can it have this kind of effect? Is it actually refining my meridians?


    This was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time experiencing something of this nature. However, he wasn¡¯t naive to its value; he understood how incredible this procedure was, hand what a stroke of luck this was. Not only did the warm energy refine his meridians, it also strengthened his viscera and bones. Comfort washed over him, replacing the previous bloated feeling.


    It¡¯d be great if cultivating was always like this!


    After Tang Wulin completed his forty-ninth circulation cycle, the warmth began to make its way into his dantian, spiraling toward the center.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Feng Wuyu ordered. The energy swirled within Tang Wulin¡¯s dantian, combining with his soul power to form a whirlpool. Something was pressed to his lips all of a sudden, leaving behind a cool tingle.


    ¡°Open your mouth!¡±


    Right when he complied, a cool object fell down his throat, melting into a liquid then flowing into his dantian.


    Immediately, Tang Wulin felt a burst of cold energy within him. The cool sensation morphed into a freezing chill, spreading to every corner of his body in an instant.

 Chapter 335 - The Class President is Absent!

    Chapter 335 - The Class President is Absent!


    Shivers ran down Tang Wulin¡¯s spine as the freezing sensation entered his body. He willed his dantian to spin even faster, its speed quickly increasing by threefold. As he continued to circulate Feng Wuyu¡¯s warm energy through his body, the chilling liquid he consumed no longer seemed as harsh and the explosion of cold slowed.


    Energy flooded Tang Wulin¡¯s meridians once more. Fortunately, they were tough enough to withstand it. After forty-nine circulation cycles, his meridians, bones, and viscera formed a protective outer layer that staunchly resisted the cold.


    The freezing onslaught lasted a mere few moments before fading away, absorbed by his spinning dantian. As it entered his dantian, the cold energy gradually merged with the swirling soul power inside.


    Tang Wulin broke through to rank 29 in an instant, and yet his soul power showed no signs of stopping its ascension.


    ¡°Continue circulating,¡± Feng Wuyu commanded, removing his hands from Tang Wulin¡¯s back. The warm energy faded from Tang Wulin¡¯s body, but he had already learned how to deal with the cold energy. He continued to use the Mysterious Heaven Method to absorb it and rapidly increase his soul power.


    Feng Wuyu stood up and stared at Tang Wulin, his eyes narrowed slightly. This kid¡¯s body is extremely strange!


    Each time a soul master reached the next rank, soul power would saturate their body and increase their strength. This was especially true for major milestones like fusing with a new soul ring. Soul rings allowed a soul master to improve on a fundamental level, refining both body and mind. The exact amount of growth a soul master experienced depended on their martial soul.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body, however, experienced improvements far beyond that which a two-ringed soul master would. In preparation for ingesting the spirit items he had, Feng Wuyu had spared some of his inner energy to warm Tang Wulin¡¯s meridians.


    Yet Tang Wulin¡¯s body exceeded his expectations. The boy¡¯s meridians were as tough as a six-ringed soul master¡¯s.


    In other words, Tang Wulin would have easily been able to digest the spirit item even without Feng Wuyu¡¯s help. However, just to be sure, Feng Wuyu had helped Tang Wulin complete forty-nine circulation cycles to warm up his meridians, and Tang Wulin¡¯s meridians had devoured all the warm energy without a fuss.


    This kid is a real freak! His blood essence is so potent and powerful that not even an adult power-type soul master could match him! No wonder he made it into Shrek with only two rings¡­ and was able to become the class president.


    ?


    Wu Zhangkong stood behind the lectern of the first grade¡¯s classroom. Today was his third and final lecture on the basics of mechas. Shrek Academy progressed through its curriculum at breakneck speed. All the students had to be diligent. They needed to do their homework and finish their readings every day to keep up. If they didn¡¯t, then they would eventually be expelled.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin class,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    The students in the classroom didn¡¯t make a sound. According to tradition, once the teacher announced the start of the class, the class president had to command everyone to stand and salute. Only then would the class officially begin.


    Yet at that moment, silence pervaded the room. The order to stand up was nowhere to be heard.


    A minute later, a girl said, ¡°Stand up!¡±


    That girl was Gu Yue.


    As everyone stood and saluted, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes darted to Tang Wulin¡¯s seat. Since Tang Wulin¡¯s seat was in the very first row, everyone could clearly tell that he wasn¡¯t present.


    ¡°Sit down,¡± Wu Zhangkong said. Once all of the students took their seats, he turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Where¡¯s Tang Wulin?¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°I don''t know. He didn¡¯t come back to the dormitory last night.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong frowned. ¡°He did not tell me that he would be absent or provide any excuse, so that¡¯s one strike against him.¡±


    Here in Shrek Academy, it was abnormal for the class president to skip class.


    At that moment, a loud banging resounded from the door of the lecture theater. The door had already been open, and Wu Zhangkong turned to see a man in his late twenties standing there.


    ¡°Hello, Teacher Wu,¡± the man said. ¡°Elder Feng sent me to tell you that Tang Wulin is currently at a crucial point in his cultivation and shouldn¡¯t be disturbed, so he won¡¯t be attending class. Please excuse his absence today.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong was stunned. ¡°Elder Feng? As in Feng Wuyu?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The young man nodded.


    ¡°Alright. I understand.¡±


    The young man left and Wu Zhangkong began his lecture. However, all of the students had one question on their mind: Where was the class president? School had only started a few days ago, yet he was already missing class. However, everyone remembered that Tang Wulin only had two soul rings, so they wondered if he was in the middle of getting his third.


    Only students that were members of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association knew who Elder Feng was. Under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s icy gaze, however, none dared say anything during the lecture.


    The lecture continued, but it was clear that Gu Yue¡¯s mind was not present. She understood Tang Wulin best and knew it wasn¡¯t time for him to make a breakthrough. It was only two days ago that he said he was at rank 28, so even if he did make a breakthrough, he would only reach rank 29. Such a minor accomplishment wouldn¡¯t take up much time. In the same vein, it was impossible for Tang Wulin to make a breakthrough in his blacksmithing. He had just became a fifth-rank blacksmith and couldn¡¯t attempt spirit refining again until he got his third ring. In light of all this, she wondered just what kind of breakthrough he could be making.


    Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan were similarly curious, but because they also knew how much of a madman Elder Feng was, anxiety filled their hearts.


    ?


    In the second grade¡¯s classroom, Long Xiu, the teacher in charge of the class, smiled from behind the lectern.


    ¡°Now let me introduce all of you to a new student who will be joining our class.¡±


    Mu Xi walked over to him.


    ¡°This is Mu Xi,¡± Long Xiu said. ¡°The Blacksmith¡¯s Association transferred her to our class. She¡¯s seventeen years old and an outstanding blacksmith of the fourth rank. At the latest, she¡¯ll be able to attempt spirit refining in one year. Our class has had a shortage of blacksmiths, so I hope you¡¯ll treat her well.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui sat in the first row, and Yue Zhengyu sat in the last row. Just like all of the other students, their eyes were glued to their pretty new blacksmith classmate.


    Few students were blacksmiths to begin with, fewer were excellent blacksmiths, and barely any were female.


    Mu Xi could sense the overwhelming goodwill in the gazes of her classmates.


    Everyone in the second grade was already preparing to make their battle armors. Once they reached the third or fourth grades, they would officially begin making them. In pursuit of that goal, a skilled blacksmith classmate was indispensable.


    ¡°Introduce yourself, Mu Xi,¡± Long Xiu said with a smile.


    Mu Xi nodded to Long Xiu. ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m Mu Xi. I¡¯m from Eastsea City, which is part of the Skysea Alliance. My goal is to become a Divine Blacksmith. Please take care of me.¡±


    ¡°Take a seat.¡± Long Xiu pointed to an empty seat in the back.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Mu Xi went to her seat. Since Yue Zhengyu had only joined the class a few days before, it happened to be next to him.


    Yue Zhengyu smiled at her. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Yue Zhengyu.¡±


    ¡°Hello.¡± Mu Xi acknowledged him with a nod.


    ¡°Are there a lot of young fourth-rank blacksmiths in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association?¡± Yue Zhengyu asked.


    His sudden question surprised Mu Xi, but after a moment, she shook her head. ¡°There aren¡¯t that many.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu lowered his voice. ¡°So, do you have a boyfriend?¡±


    Mu Xi rolled her eyes at him. ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°Fifteen,¡± he answered.


    Mu Xi snorted. ¡°You¡¯re just a kid, yet your head¡¯s already filled with such thoughts. Just pay attention to the lecture.¡±


    After saying this, she ignored Yue Zhengyu, crossed her arms, and glued her gaze to the blackboard.


    Yue Zhengyu was speechless.


    This girl...


    ?


    Tang Wulin truly hadn¡¯t finished his breakthrough yet. If it was just his soul power reaching rank 30, he would have long since finished. Although rank 30 was considered a bottleneck, charging straight through it was a simple matter for him.


    However, Tang Wulin¡¯s current breakthrough had nothing to do with reaching rank 30.


    When he absorbed the cold energy from the spirit item, he felt his body become lighter and his soul power surge through the bottleneck.


    He had succeeded at reaching rank 30. In an instant, his soul power seemed to boil over. The soul power in his dantian spun even faster than before. It felt as if his soul power had condensed into a liquid, forming a whirlpool that grew smaller and denser.


    Tang Wulin knew this was what happened when a soul master jumped from two rings to three.


    He was now a Soul Elder.


    Meanwhile, Goldlight slithered out and stretched itself along Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder. Then popping sounds echoed from its body as it grew longer by half a foot and became much thicker than before. Its golden scales grew larger, and its eyes shone brighter.


    Spirit souls grew with their masters, but Goldlight¡¯s growth far surpassed the norm.


    Feng Wuyu stood off to the side, watching all of this occur. Astonishment riddled his face.


    What kind of spirit soul is that? Why is it growing so much? Even if it¡¯s a thousand-year spirit soul, is it really possible for it to grow to this extent?

 Chapter 336 - Three-ringed Soul Elder

    Chapter 336 - Three-ringed Soul Elder


    The sole way to cultivate a spirit soul involved the absorption of spirit energy from the spirit ascension platform. That said, it was possible for the spirit soul¡¯s owner to strengthen it by advancing their soul rank. This type of growth, however, rarely surpassed ten percent, if it grew at all. Yet before Feng Wuyu¡¯s eyes, Tang Wulin¡¯s spirit soul had increased by fifty percent and that didn¡¯t seem to be the end!


    Goldlight¡¯s taut body relaxed one vertebra at a time, coiling around Tang Wulin like a protective vest. A flash, and golden veins sprang up over Tang Wulin¡¯s skin, his blood essence roaring with strength as they popped into existence. His figure let off a faint layer of gold light.


    Eyebrows arching toward the sky, Feng Wuyu muttered, ¡°He really fits our school¡¯s motto. What a little monster.¡± Before he knew it, he was shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before.¡±


    Unknown to Feng Wuyu was Tang Wulin¡¯s current state of being, calm as a still lake. Unlike his new teacher, he understood what was happening to his body.


    The third soul ring was a major bottleneck for soul masters, but he had succeeded. Along with Goldlight¡¯s growth, it offered a third soul ring to Tang Wulin. Besides gaining another ring, Tang Wulin¡¯s body and meridians strengthened and his blood essence richened.


    However, he had yet to absorb to its entirety the reservoir of cold energy spiraling within him. There was still more to improve his soul power rank with, still more to be done.


    His body pulsed with energy in a sudden jolt. Following that, his third soul ring condensed into existence. He immediately fused with it, diving straight into breaking through rank 31, but even then there seemed to be enough energy left to tread deeper..


    At that moment, Tang Wulin heard a voice.


    ¡°Take this opportunity to break a seal.¡± Old Tang¡¯s voice resounded in his head.


    ¡°C-can I really?¡± Tang Wulin asked in astonishment.


    ¡°Normally, you wouldn¡¯t be able to since you just broke the second seal, but your blood essence has been improving rapidly these days. And that warm energy helped strengthen your meridians. But most important of all, what you ingested earlier was a ten-thousand-year spirit item of extremely high purity. It¡¯s more than enough to substitute for the spirit items I previously told you to get. Moreover, now that you have three rings, you¡¯re strong enough to break the third seal. Don¡¯t waste this opportunity. I¡¯ll help you convert that spirit item¡¯s energy into blood essence. Right now, increasing your soul power isn¡¯t as important as breaking the next seal. The earlier you break the seal, the stronger your blood will become, especially if you break the third seal right now. That¡¯ll give you plenty of time to prepare for the fourth seal.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± There was no hesitation in Tang Wulin¡¯s answer.


    With that said, Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence took on a full boil, vapors rising from his body in angry hisses, feasting upon the cold energy within his meridians. He continued to circulate his soul power whirlpool, carefully containing it within his dantian.


    To the spectating Feng Wuyu, this was an utterly baffling scene.


    The golden veins webbing all over Tang Wulin¡¯s body periodically pulsed with light as if they were alive. His blood essence surged out while a golden mist enveloped his body. A few moments later, his blood essence finished devouring the last bits of the cold energy, rushing into his dantian, merging with his soul power. Together, the two energies whirled in his dantian like a turbulent tornado.


    Of the eighteen seals, he had sixteen left to break including this one. Soon, a familiar bone-scraping pain clawed its way to every inch of his body.


    Tang Wulin had just broken the second seal not too long ago, and now by coincidence, he was breaking the third. He was nowhere near as prepared as the previous time. This time, the pain was comparable to that of the first seal breaking, and before long his body felt as though it were on the verge of exploding.


    Feng Wuyu knitted his brows, eyes glued to the spectacle before him. The fluctuations of Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence grew more and more pronounced, and it wasn¡¯t long before he began to tremble.


    I can¡¯t figure out what¡¯s going on with him. Just what is happening to his body? This isn¡¯t as simple as just breaking through to rank 30. Although Feng Wuyu came to this conclusion immediately, he knew that he shouldn¡¯t interfere without knowing everything. He sat himself behind Tang Wulin, ready to intervene at a moment¡¯s notice if things went south.


    To his surprise, a golden soul ring emerged from Tang Wulin¡¯s body. It quivered and released a dragon¡¯s roar. The ring prowled around Tang Wulin like a golden dragon, haughty yet curious, and with each revolution his golden veins turned more distinct, bulging from his skin.


    Scales rippled into existence across Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm, shoulder, and chest, his hand morphing into a claw. His shirt was ripped to shreds by the transformation. His entire body shined with a radiant golden light.


    Now his body no longer trembled, and Tang Wulin reabsorbed his free flowing blood essence into his body. Save for his golden aura, he reverted back to his normal state.


    ¡°Is this the power of blood essence condensing?¡± Feng Wuyu stared at Tang Wulin in shock. Such an aura was unheard of!


    A blood essence ring? And a blood essence soul ring at that? This kid¡¯s body is too strange! He really benefited from what I made him ingest.


    A while after, Tang Wulin¡¯s skeleton began to crackle, bones vibrating with the immense energy flowing through his body. He trembled once more. The golden scales spread from the right half of his chest to the left, sneaking up his left shoulder. His blood essence was more powerful than previous, and the golden aura around him shrunk back to a golden soul ring, glowing brighter than before.


    A watchful hawk from the beginning, Feng Wuyu made out a few differences in Tang Wulin. He was taller for one, and his skin was the type maidens dreamed of, glossy and sparkling. His blood essence coursed through his body like a raging river, so loud that if he strained his ears, Feng Wuyu could hear it roaring. Tang Wulin¡¯s body was so full of vitality that his blood essence fluctuations saturated the room. Never had the golden scales upon his flesh glistened more brilliantly, seeming to reflect light with a regal magnificence.


    ¡°Interesting¡­ How interesting.¡± Feng Wuyu observed with narrowed eyes, his mouth parting into a slight smile.


    It looks like I¡¯ve picked up quite a treasure! This kid¡¯s strength clearly comes from his bloodline and not his martial soul! His bloodline is influencing every part of him.


    At that moment, Goldlight slithered out of Tang Wulin¡¯s hair. Its scales deepened in its golden splendor, sharpening like blades. Two small protrusions appeared on its head. Goldlight¡¯s length extended again, now about two feet long. It scrutinized the area with sparkling eyes.


    Is his spirit soul evolving again? It¡¯s still not done? Feng Wuyu finally understood His strange bloodline is causing it to evolve a second time! It¡¯s making his spirit soul¡¯s growth beyond normal! His future is limitless!


    When Tang Wulin peeled his eyes open, he felt about on the verge of collapse, exhaustion tempting every bit of his body. Pain sizzled through his nerves like electricity at the mere drawing of breath.


    He barely managed to endure the pain. It was even worse than that of the first seal breaking. Fortunately, his Golden Dragon Body helped him bridge the crisis.


    When Tang Wulin completed the process, he was too far gone from fatigue to sense the effects of gaining his third soul ring and breaking the third seal. He went down like a bag of bricks without another word.

 Chapter 337 - Gorging

    Chapter 337 - Gorging


    Feng Wuyu held Tang Wulin up anxiously, his right hand pressed onto his student¡¯s chest as he poured soul power into him.


    A scorching energy purified Tang Wulin¡¯s meridians, setting his body at ease. However, the fatigue remained.


    ¡°You overdrafted your energy and might have injured your core. Just what is going on with you? People are usually as lively as a dragon when they break through, but you.¡± Feng Wuyu eyed Tang Wulin, his gaze peppered with doubt. ¡°You look like you¡¯re about to die.¡±


    Tang Wulin forced out a bitter smile. ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m hungry. Can you get me some food? I¡¯ll be fine once I¡¯ve got something in my stomach.¡±


    ¡°Food? Okay, let¡¯s go to the dining hall then.¡± Feng Wuyu helped Tang Wulin up. ¡°Do you have some spare clothes? Or do you plan on going to the dining hall butt naked?¡±


    He whipped out a new set of clothes from his storage ring and put them on in response. Absorbing his teacher¡¯s soul power had made him feel significantly better. But that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t tired.


    This time, he didn¡¯t struggle at all when Feng Wuyu dashed off with him in tow, lacking the strength to do so. The dining hall had yet to close this evening. Feng Wuyu deposited Tang Wulin at a table and returned with food a moment later.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up at the sight of food. Unable to hold himself back any longer, he began stuffing his mouth.


    This was all for a good cause though. The third seal¡¯s tenacious nature exceeded the previous two¡¯s, forcing Tang Wulin to go through a long battle  before breaking it and absorbing the essence of the Golden Dragon King within. That same essence fused with his own blood essence, spreading to every corner of his body. Moreover, by the time he finished absorbing the power, his blood essence was depleted. As a result, he felt as if he had been starved for a month.


    Feng Wuyu had happily brought Tang Wulin food. He took joy in the simple sight of Tang Wulin devouring everything he had brought and even wanted to praise his disciple¡¯s eating prowess.


    Twenty minutes later, however, his bright expression melted away into unadulterated shock. It was his first time witnessing Tang Wulin eat, his first time realizing what it meant for one to be a King of Gluttony! Despite the hill of empty plates littering the table, Tang Wulin showed no sign of slowing down. This was no stomach, but a bottomless pit! It didn¡¯t bulge regardless of all the food he kept shovelling in.


    Furthermore, the change in his vigor was almost jarring. Upon arriving at the dining hall, Tang Wulin had struggled to sit upright. But with each bite, he grew more spirited, and in turn, his eating pace quickened. Table manners were nowhere to be seen. The table was a battlefield, and Tang Wulin was winning.


    Feng Wuyu finally understood why Tang Wulin had accepted him as his teacher once he agreed to pay his food expenses. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t lied. Since working students needed to pay for their own meals, it would cost Tang Wulin an astronomical sum to feed himself.


    Can I really handle a disciple like him?


    By the time Tang Wulin¡¯s gorging reached the forty-minute mark, Feng Wuyu began to tremble. Tang Wulin had not slowed at all.


    On the other hand, Tang Wulin was having a blast. The highly nourishing food replenished his spent blood essence, leaving behind excess nutrition for his body to absorb, to use to stabilize itself after the arduous third seal breaking.


    Shrek Academy is great! If this was Eastsea Academy, it would be impossible for me to eat such good food! Tang Wulin he stuffed himself to the beat of his musing.


    His feasting finally ended an hour later. The aftermath of his battle was clear for all to see. A mountain of plates lay before him so tall that he couldn¡¯t see Feng Wuyu on the other side.


    ¡°Do you always eat this much?¡± Feng Wuyu asked, voice trembling as much as his heart.


    Tang Wulin choked back a cough. ¡°Today¡¯s special. Teacher, did I scare you?¡± He rose from his seat and walked over to Feng Wuyu¡¯s side. On his face was the mask of a child who was afraid he had done wrong, and he peered up at Feng Wuyu with large watery eyes. ¡°You won¡¯t refuse to take me as your disciple just because I eat a lot, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Feng Wuyu felt like he had a fish bone stuck in his throat. No matter what he said, he would be trapped.


    ¡°Teacher, you can be relieved. I don¡¯t normally eat this much,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Feng Wuyu let out a small sigh of relief. ¡°So this was all because of your breakthrough?¡±


    ¡°Mn!¡±. His next words, however, caused Feng Wuyu¡¯s expression freeze.


    ¡°I usually only eat about half as much. Of course, I¡¯ll eat more if I can.¡± Tang Wulin beamed.


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s face began to twitch. ¡°Can you really digest all this food? Does this have something to do with your strange blood essence?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. For me, eating food is another way to cultivate. You should be able to sense it, right? My blood essence is far stronger than other people¡¯s. I¡¯m not sure why though. What I do know is that it can offer me a lot of strength and power similar to a soul ring¡¯s. My bloodline possesses the power of a dragon.¡±


    At Tang Wulin¡¯s last words, Feng Wuyu¡¯s eyes narrowed. He gave a slight nod. Just as Tang Wulin had said, he could sense the abnormal strength of his student¡¯s blood essence. And he had clearly felt the golden soul ring¡¯s might when it had materialized, comparable to that of a peak existence..


    It also helped that Feng Wuyu¡¯s martial soul was the Blazing Fire Dragon, with his title, Blazing Dragon, taking a bite out of that. He and another powerhouse in Shrek Academy with a dragon martial soul were famed as the Holy Twin Dragons. The Blazing Fire Dragon was of the true dragon bloodline and stood at the peak of fire-attribute martial souls. As such, he could feel the draconic might emanating from Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline, calling out to his own, even though they were nothing alike. Yet if not for the gap in their soul power ranks, Feng Wuyu was certain that he would experience some martial soul suppression from Tang Wulin.


    Simply put, Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline came from a terrifying soul beast.


    ¡°Eat, eat. If you think you can, then eat all my money away.¡± Feng Wuyu snorted.


    ¡°Teacher, how long have I been cultivating? Judging from the color of the sky, could I have missed a day of class?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°One day? That¡¯s funny. You¡¯ve already missed three days of school! But don¡¯t worry, I requested a leave of absence for you. You can go explain yourself tomorrow. Now get going. Find me tomorrow afternoon so I can teach you forging.¡± After saying this, Feng Wuyu could no longer bear the sight of the mountain of plates and ran out.


    T-Three days? Tang Wulin sat back down, mouth gaping. I haven¡¯t even attended classes for three days yet¡­ But I¡¯ve already missed three classes?


    This is just...


    It wouldn¡¯t be so bad if he wasn¡¯t the class president, and he had skipped plenty of classes back at Eastsea Academy. But he was the class president now, and everyone had their eyes on him. Just imagining how much he had missed in three days¡¯ worth of lectures drove him nervous.


    Oh no. I can¡¯t go back to rest right now. I need to find Teacher Wu first! I need to catch up on what I missed!


    Tang Wulin burst through the doors of the dining hall at lightning speed, but out in the cold evening air, he realized there was an error in his plan. Doesn¡¯t Teacher Wu live on Sea God¡¯s Island? I can¡¯t get there without someone taking me!


    Fortunately,  soul communicators existed.


    Tang Wulin whipped out his communicator and dialed Wu Zhangkong¡¯s number. The call connected and he heard Wu Zhangkong¡¯s icy voice on the line. ¡°You¡¯re done cultivating?¡±


    ¡°Mn. Teacher Wu, please let me explain myself. I was caught up in an extraordinary situation, so I¡ª¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need an explanation right now. Come to the inner court. I¡¯ll be waiting at the gate. Tell me when you get here.¡± Wu Zhangkong hung up the call.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t tell from Wu Zhangkong¡¯s voice what sort of mood he was in. Oh whatever. If I get scolded, then I get scolded. Teacher Wu will probably empathize with me anyway.


    Not daring to keep Wu Zhangkong waiting any longer, Tang Wulin dashed toward the inner court, feet in a blur. Although he had been there once, the path was burned into his mind.


    As he zipped past buildings and the like, he could feel his body absorbing the nourishment he had consumed. His blood essence was more vigorous than when he had awakened; it was now like blood coursing through his veins instead of energy. It had a clear rhythm to its flow, bringing warmth to his body wherever it went.

 Chapter 338 - Heartwarming

    Chapter 338 - Heartwarming


    I may have used most of that spirit item¡¯s energy to break the third seal, but it was originally meant to boost my soul power. Well, my body has gotten a lot stronger after breaking it anyway. Even though my soul power rose above rank 30. I¡¯m not sure how much higher it is now. Maybe around rank 32?


    Tang Wulin had finally made it out of the bottom of the pack. He rejoiced, tears practically streaming down his cheeks. Now that he had three soul rings, his soul power circulated throughout his body with more vigor than before, and the soul power within his dantian liquefied. This was a major power spike for him. Now, he had to use the Mysterious Heaven Method to liquefy the rest of his soul power. Only then would his cultivation sit firmly at the three-ring level.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know what Feng Wuyu fed him, but it was definitely worth the five spirit refinings he promised. He had saved all the money he would have spent on getting the spirit items needed for the third seal! Furthermore, according to Old Tang, he now had until he was sixteen to break the fourth seal.


    As he ran along the path toward the inner court, Tang Wulin felt invigorated by the cool night air. He now felt free, and his stomach digested his large dinner while he ran, so his entire body brimmed with energy. Even his soul power recovered rapidly under the influence of his blood essence.


    Wu Zhangkong stood waiting at the gates. His expression was as icy as usual, but something stirred in his eyes when he saw Tang Wulin. Before Tang Wulin could even call out to him, Wu Zhangkong appeared before him in a blur. He grabbed Tang Wulin¡¯s wrists and felt his pulse.


    ¡°Three rings?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked in astonishment.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin nodded, his excitement clear as day.


    Three soul rings was a dividing line for soul masters. Soul masters born with an innate soul power of three or less would generally never overcome the wall that was obtaining three rings. Most would spend their entire lives withering away as two-ringed soul masters. Additionally, one could only call themselves a true soul master upon reaching the three-ring level.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    ¡°Elder Feng fed me some treasured spirit item and then helped warm my meridians. After that, I broke through.¡±


    ¡°Why did he do that?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    ¡°He wanted me to learn blacksmithing from him and start practicing spirit refining, but I needed to reach rank 30 before I could.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong stared at Tang Wulin blankly for a moment. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. What spirit item did you eat?¡±


    This question left Tang Wulin stupefied. That¡¯s right! I have no idea what Elder Feng fed me!


    ¡°I¡­ I forgot.¡± Tang Wulin gave him a troubled smile.


    ¡°Come in first.¡± Wu Zhangkong turned around and walked into the inner court. Tang Wulin hastened to follow. Once they arrived at the shore of Sea God¡¯s Lake, a boat floated over to receive them. It was Tang Wulin¡¯s second time coming to this lake, yet the sight of moonlight reflecting off of the limpid lakewater and the refreshing breeze set his heart at ease. The scene brought him joy, and the loneliness, stress, and depression from his last few years of cultivation were wiped away in an instant. His heart felt unburdened here.


    Sensing the change in his student, Wu Zhangkong turned to see Tang Wulin, eyes closed and breathing the air in deeply. Instead of disturbing his student, he simply waited.


    Ten minutes later, Tang Wulin opened his eyes. ¡°This place is really beautiful. I definitely need to make it into the inner court. I¡¯ll be able to come here if I do, right?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°Yes, now get in the boat.¡±


    Tang Wulin followed Wu Zhangkong aboard the boat. With a wave of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hand, a breeze began pushing them straight toward Sea God¡¯s Island. The boat gently cut through the water, its passing current seemingly filled with life as though it were blood coursing through a vein.


    Tang Wulin stood at the bow of the ship. He felt free and content, basking in the moist evening breeze.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, my bloodline¡¯s power improved again. The process took a long time, so I was absent from class,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Your bloodline improved again?¡± Wu Zhangkong stared at Tang Wulin in shock.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin took in a deep breath then punched the empty space before him. The air exploded with an audible bang, the force rebounding from the punch and causing the boat to sway. Wu Zhangkong clearly sensed that Tang Wulin¡¯s punch had created a two-meter shockwave. Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t using Golden Dragon Body right now. That power had come from the strength of his body alone. He was just as surprised as Wu Zhangkong. My strength has increased by about fifty percent. If I summon my golden scales, I should be able to exert over five thousand kilograms worth of force! Then, if I add on the power up from Golden Dragon Body, a single one of my punches would be as powerful as a soul skill!


    As Tang Wulin thought about the possibilities, his eyes full of excitement, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s face grew pensive. ¡°It looks like your bloodline is improving in a good direction. Was this quick evolution caused by that spirit item Feng Wuyu gave you? What price did he have you pay?¡±


    ¡°I owe him five spirit refinings. Once I¡¯m able to spirit refine, the first five successful products will be his as payment.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s definitely worth it,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    Tang Wulin scratched his head in embarrassment. ¡°Elder Feng originally wanted ten spirit refinings, but I didn¡¯t agree, so he lowered it to five.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong stared at Tang Wulin in shock. ¡°Just refining your meridians is worth more than that. Elder Feng¡¯s martial soul is the Blazing Fire Dragon, so his control over fire is extremely precise. With his current cultivation level, he can purify meridians with his flame, and it¡¯ll be like having your muscles and bones completely cleansed. However, doing this is very exhausting for him and consumes the source energy of his martial soul. He rarely offers to do this for anyone. Do you have any idea what it costs to get him to do this for someone?¡±


    This sudden question took Tang Wulin by surprise. ¡°There¡¯s a price on it?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°It costs ten million contribution points.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin gaped.


    Ten million? Ten million contribution points?


    Wu Zhangkong icy¡¯s expression thawed into a gentle, rarely seen smile. ¡°Don¡¯t let the price scare you. Elder Feng set it so high because he didn¡¯t want to help just anyone refine their meridians. The fact that he offered to do it for you shows just how much he values you.¡±


    ¡°I understand,¡± Tang Wulin said, warmth blossoming in his heart.


    Tang Wulin originally felt apprehension toward Feng Wuyu. After all, the crazy old man had abducted him in their first encounter, so he had only wanted to avoid him. Only the heavens knew what sort of crazy things the madman would do. However, as Tang Wulin spent more time with him, Feng Wuyu agreed to cover his meals, lowered the price from ten spirit refinings to five, and had now refined his meridians. Each time, Tang Wulin warmed up to the crazy old man even more. Some things didn¡¯t need to be said aloud, and in Tang Wulin¡¯s heart, he had already fully accepted Feng Wuyu as his fourth teacher.


    He was the type to treat every one of his teacher''s like a lord for the rest of his life.


    As they approached the island, the boat slowed down and came to a stop just short of the shore. The two of them disembarked, and Wu Zhangkong led Tang Wulin along the path they took last time.


    ¡°Teacher, are we going to Grandteacher¡¯s place?¡± Tang Wulin asked quietly. In his mind, Sea God¡¯s Island was a sacred land, so it would be disrespectful to shout in such a place.


    ¡°Your grandteacher said to come back after a week. Did you forget already? ¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Tang Wulin really had forgotten. Ever since he came to Shrek Academy, his days had been packed with new experiences and constant cultivating. He had forgotten such an important matter amidst all the hustle and bustle.


    It¡¯s a good thing Teacher Wu reminded me¡­

 Chapter 339 - Dragon Shocks the Heavens

    Chapter 339 - Dragon Shocks the Heavens


    Arriving at the small house, Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong saw that the lights were on. They entered the living room, but no one was there to receive them.


    ¡°Wait here,¡± Wu Zhangkong pointed to a chair, then headed for the stairs. ¡°I¡¯m going to find Teacher.¡±


    Despite Wu Zhangkong¡¯s directions, Tang Wulin chose to remain standing. After a short period of waiting, Wu Zhangkong returned with Zhuo Shi. Seeing Tang Wulin, Zhuo Shi¡¯s eyes lit up and he rushed over to his granddisciple. Only, something seemed different. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the boy intently.


    ¡°Grandteacher!¡± Tang Wulin said respectfully.


    Zhuo Shi raised a hand, silencing him.


    A moment later, his stern expression changed into surprise. ¡°Your blood essence improved so much in just a week? What happened? You had a breakthrough, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right,¡± said Tang Wulin. ¡°The food here is very nourishing. After eating a lot, I discovered that it improves my blood essence. Eating is basically a way for me to cultivate my blood essence.¡±


    Silence descended as Zhuo Shi stood there in shock. He eats to cultivate? I know we¡¯re famous for raising monsters here at Shrek, but I¡¯ve never heard of anything like this before! Food-type soul masters can cultivate by eating, but it¡¯s their soul power that improves, not their blood essence!


    Generally, richer blood essence strengthened the body so that it was more suitable for cultivation. However, Tang Wulin¡¯s ridiculously vigorous blood essence had reached the level of becoming a part of his strength.


    His miraculous eating cultivation method was definitely one of the strangest cultivation methods at Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin continued to recount his experiences in the past week. When he reached the part about accepting Feng Wuyu as his teacher, Zhuo Shi¡¯s eyebrows twitched in alarm.


    However, immersed in his own story, Tang Wulin did not notice.


    It took him a full half-hour to summarize his entire week.


    ¡°Not bad. You¡¯ve broken through very quickly, so you can try spirit refining now and truly become a fifth-rank blacksmith. Keep up the good work.¡± After saying this, Zhuo Shi turned around and went back upstairs.


    That¡¯s it?


    Tang Wulin stood there with a blank expression. He had expected advice from his grandteacher, but his expectations shattered in the face of reality. To the side, Wu Zhangkong frowned.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, Grandteacher, he¡­¡± Tang Wulin cast doubtful eyes at Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong only shook his head and said, ¡°Follow me. I¡¯ll help you catch up on what you missed in class so you can resume class without any issues tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Tang Wulin followed Wu Zhangkong to his room. Shrek Academy¡¯s teachers covered material at a punishing pace. Missing even a single class would put someone far behind their peers. One of Tang Wulin¡¯s goals today conveniently happened to be catching up on the lectures.


    Once Zhuo Shi arrived on the second floor, his calm expression finally cracked. Fury blazed into life within his eyes as he ran into his room, whipped out his soul communicator, and rapidly dialed a number.


    ¡°What do you want? If it¡¯s nothing, I¡¯m hanging up,¡± answered an impatient voice.


    ¡°If you dare hang up then I¡¯ll destroy your house!¡± Zhuo Shi yelled.


    ¡°What crawled up your ass and died?¡± the person replied angrily.


    ¡°Feng Wuyu you old bastard! When did I give you permission to take Tang Wulin as your disciple?¡± Zhuo Shi spat out in rage.


    ¡°Why do I need your permission?¡± Feng Wuyu said in disdain.


    Zhuo Shi snorted. ¡°Tang Wulin is my granddiscple! What do you have to say now?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re his grandteacher?¡± Feng Wuyu asked in shock. ¡°Bullshit! Stop lying. I already checked, he¡¯s from Eastsea City. How could you possibly be his grandteacher?¡±


    ¡°My disciple, Wu Zhangkong, taught Tang Wulin at Eastsea City. You got anything to say now?¡±


    ¡°Wu Zhangkong? The one you cut off ties with?¡±


    ¡°I was just letting him get some experience outside. Who said I cut off ties with him? He brought back wonderful students to pay respects to me this time, you know! Explain your actions!¡±


    ¡°Explain my ass! You¡¯re just conveniently his grandteacher whenever you want, huh? What have you given him? What have you taught him? Are you tell me you didn¡¯t refuse to eat for half a month after that disciple of yours left? Stop bullshitting me.¡± Feng Wuyu didn¡¯t budge at all.


    ¡°You! Fine, have it your way! Let¡¯s fight! Whoever wins gets to be his teacher!¡± shouted Zhuo Shi.


    ¡°As if! You can fight all by yourself. Why should I bother? He¡¯s already taken me as his teacher and I¡¯ve given him benefits. Just try to get him to back out,  I won¡¯t lift a single finger if he does. He¡¯ll just become infamous as someone who turns his back on his teachers then.¡± Feng Wuyu hung up after leaving these words.


    Zhuo Shi held the communicator to his ear, stunned at the droning dial tone of an ended call. Then he threw it on the floor and stomped, raging, ¡°Bastard! That old bastard! How shameless can he be!¡±


    Meanwhile, Feng Wuyu was roaring with laughter. He had been meditating when the call came in, but now he was dancing with joy.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect I could infuriate that old bastard Zhuo Shi just by accepting this disciple of mine! Ha! I¡¯m so happy I could die. Hurray for my disciple! Hahaha!  Zhuo Shi, you old bastard, you¡¯re always bullying me, but this time you can¡¯t do anything!¡±


    Unaware of the commotion he had caused, Tang Wulin spent the night catching up on the content he missed with Wu Zhangkong. With his teacher¡¯s permission, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t return to the dormitory and remained within the room to meditate.


    Minutes before the break of dawn the next morning, Tang Wulin woke up to Wu Zhangkong¡¯s call. Together, the teacher and student went outside and looked towards the east, waiting for the rising sun to practice the Purple Demon Eyes.


    As the last hints of purple clouds vanished over the horizon and they finished practicing their Purple Demon Eyes, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Teacher Wu, where¡¯s the Tang Sect branch in Shrek City? Shouldn¡¯t I go with Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan to report?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in Shrek Inner City and is actually very close to the campus. I¡¯ll bring you three later.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach growled at that moment. He looked up at Wu Zhangkong in embarrassment. ¡°Teacher, can I go back to the outer court to eat breakfast?¡±


    ¡°Just stay here to eat.¡±


    ¡°But I¡­¡± stammered Tang Wulin. ¡°But I think my appetite is bigger than before.¡±


    ¡°Teacher will be able to provide you with one meal at least. Come on, let¡¯s go.¡±


    They turned around and made their way back to the house. Zhuo Shi was outside, casually waving to them as he did his morning exercises.


    ¡°Teacher.¡±


    ¡°Grandteacher.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong and Tang Wulin respectfully greeted Zhuo Shi.


    Zhuo Shi glanced at them. ¡°Tang Wulin, come here.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin walked over.


    ¡°Watch carefully,¡± said Zhuo Shi. He slowly raised his right hand, circling it in front of him before pushing outward.


    His actions were utterly simple. If observed from afar, it would seem like he was just an ordinary old man doing his morning exercises. Yet, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t see anything except for this move.


    When Zhuo Shi had raised his right hand and drawn a circle with it, Tang Wulin had, for a split second, thought that his grandteacher had become the very center of the world. A dragon¡¯s roar resonated from deep within himself and his blood essence frantically surged through his body in response. His mind shuddered and his vision went blurry.


    It was as if a dragon within him roared at the sky and shocked the heavens.


    In Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, the moment Zhuo Shi thrust his palm out a crimson-scaled dragon filled with terrifying majesty and tyrannical blood essence rushed out. The world trembled before its might. The air in front of the palm rent apart and revealed darkness, as if space itself had been torn.


    The surrounding space continued to tremble for a few minutes. When it finally faded away, so too did the darkness in Tang Wulin¡¯s vision. Everything returned to normal.


    ¡°You can use the power of your bloodline like this. Go back and comprehend it. This move is called Dragon Shocks the Heavens. My martial soul is the Scarlet Armored Dragon so when I use it, the move is called Scarlet Dragon Shocks the Heavens.¡± After saying this, Zhuo Shi turned around and entered the house.


    Tang Wulin stood frozen, completely unresponsive to his words. He raised his palm in a dazed manner, his body swaying slightly as  he copied Zhuo Shi¡¯s actions. Golden light flashed around his body from time to time.

 Chapter 340 - The Blazing Fire Dragon and the Scarlet Armored Dragon

    Chapter 340 - The Blazing Fire Dragon and the Scarlet Armored Dragon


    Concerned, Wu Zhangkong followed Zhuo Shi back into the small house, leaving Tang Wulin to his thoughts and their softening footsteps. ¡°Teacher, isn¡¯t this too soon? That¡¯s the first part of the most powerful soul skill you created! Can Wulin learn it as he is now?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± said Zhuo Shi, waving his hand dismissively in the air. ¡°His draconic bloodline is very pure and noble. It¡¯s at least a grade above mine. Besides being limited to dragon-type martial souls, my self-created soul skill requires an extremely powerful blood essence from the use. I¡¯m only teaching it to him because his bloodline resembles my martial soul. It¡¯s bizzare how his martial soul isn¡¯t dragon related at all despite his powerful draconic bloodline! But that¡¯s not important right now.¡± He stared Wu Zhangkong straight in the eye. ¡°What matters is that he¡¯s strong enough to start learning my soul skill. It¡¯s just a matter of how much he can comprehend. Dragon Shocks the Heavens is the first of my Divine Dragon¡¯s Nine Moves. If he can understand it, then that means he has talent. If not, his bloodline will ensure no harm to be done..¡±


    Zhuo Shi paused, seeming to remember something. Then he snorted. ¡°Besides, if I don¡¯t teach him anything, that shameless bastard Feng Wuyu is going to snatch him away. I gave him a call yesterday and you wouldn¡¯t believe how arrogant he was, asking me what I¡¯ve done for Wulin. Hmph! We¡¯ll see who¡¯s able to give the most to Wulin soon enough. He¡¯s just a three-word battle armor master right now. He hasn¡¯t even become a Divine Blacksmith yet. Let¡¯s see if he dares fight with me!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong pulled a helpless face. ¡°Teacher, Elder Feng is after Wulin¡¯s forging ability. You don¡¯t have to worry about it.¡±


    Zhuo Shi groaned. ¡°Nonsense! Are you saying I don¡¯t understand that old bastard¡¯s character? He¡¯s utterly selfish and does nothing that wouldn¡¯t benefit him! I don¡¯t believe for even a second that he hasn¡¯t taken notice of Wulin¡¯s special bloodline. But Wulin is most suited studying under me. I don¡¯t care if he also has a dragon-type martial soul. It¡¯ll be a pain in the ass if that bastard teaches Wulin as well. So no matter what that bastard says, Wulin is still my granddisciple. Oh, that¡¯s right. Since he accepted Wulin as his disciple, and Wulin is my granddisciple, doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯m the elder between us?¡±


    Zhuo Shi lit up at the thought, any trace of sourness about the situation completely washed away. The sight left Wu Zhangkong gaping


    Ever since the two had entered Shrek Academy, Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu strived to one-up the other. Both wielded peak-level dragon-type martial souls, one being the Blazing Fire Dragon and the other the Scarlet Armored Dragon. Consequently, it was  natural for them to become rivals.


    Later on, Feng Wuyu had taken a liking to forging and diverted much of his energy to becoming a blacksmith. His cultivation lagged behind Zhuo Shi¡¯s as a result  and he was soon suppressed by his rival¡¯s might. Disgruntled, Feng Wuyu swore to become a Divine Blacksmith and create a four-word battle armor, all in the name of defeating Zhuo Shi.


    Regardless of their fame as Shrek¡¯s Holy Twin Dragons, the two rarely came into contact interestingly enough, and despised the rare occasions they did.


    Left alone in the front yard, Tang Wulin immersed himself in the memory of Zhuo Shi¡¯s Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Every bit of the move was scorched vividly into his mind, leaving behind an exhilarating motion picture for him to relive. He could even remember the way the blood coursed through Zhuo Shi¡¯s palm, the crimson scales popping from his arm the moment he struck out.


    He found the circulation of blood essence within his body strange after replicating that action. Little by little, his blood essence moved opposite of its usual direction. Though it felt awkward, he couldn¡¯t shake off his desire to unleash the same might as Zhuo Shi.


    I can do it!


    Reversed blood flow be damned, Tang Wulin thrust his palm out, feeling his blood essence spiraling into a frenzy, the energy contained within boiling over as it tried to escape. The effect was similar to that of his Golden Dragon Body.


    This isn¡¯t just an offensive technique; it¡¯s also a blood essence cultivation method!


    So blood essence can be used like this too.


    Before he knew it, his blood essence burst into a rage. He doubled over as though knives had stabbed into his stomach, lost and dizzy,  and he had no choice but to stop. But that was not to say he did not grasp an understanding of Dragon Shocks the Heavens, and his hunger skyrocketed as a result.


    Half an hour later, Wu Zhangkong understood the frightening meaning of Tang Wulin¡¯s appetite increasing.


    Tang Wulin cleared out all the food in Zhuo Shi¡¯s house all by himself. Yet even so, his hunger was not satisfied. He went to pay the dining hall a visit after returning to the outer court.


    ¡°Why are you so late?¡± Feng Wuyu stood at the dining hall¡¯s entrance, hands clasped behind his back.


    ¡°Good morning, Teacher. Were you waiting for me here?¡± Tang Wulin asked, astonished.


    Feng Wuyu nodded, handing something over to his student. ¡°Take this. It¡¯s a dining hall card. Whatever you buy with it will be charged directly to my account. Now go on. Eat.¡±


    The card was black with silver engravings. It weighed a lot for its size as well. In fact it was ten times heavier than a silver card of the same size. What metal it was made of left Tang Wulin guessing.


    As his trailing foot left the entranceway, he heard Feng Wuyu shout. ¡°So Zhuo Shi is your grandteacher?¡±


    ¡°Huh? How¡¯d you know?¡±


    Feng Wuyu revealed a mischievous smile. ¡°How could I not? Now hurry on and go eat.¡± With these words said, he departed.


    Sparing the new card a final glance, Tang Wulin rushed off  into the dining hall. He was about to wage war on the cooks.


    It¡¯s all free! I can eat as much as I want!


    Since eating was a cultivation method for him, he had to consume as much nourishing food as possible. Due to not having enough contribution points, he had been restraining himself at meal time the past few days. But not anymore. He gorged himself like a king now.


    After terrorizing the cafeteria a while longer, Tang Wulin dragged his stomach to class just in the nick of time.


    He was too content after his meal, practically radiating an aura of satisfaction as he walked through the lecture theater¡¯s doors.


    However, he was hit with the sudden sense of unease. The moment he stepped through the doorway, absolute silence reigned in the classroom and all eyes turned to him.


    Tang Wulin wiped the satisfied smile off his face and nodded sternly to his classmates. He quickly made his way to his seat.


    Xie Xie elbowed him as he sat down. ¡°What happened with you? Why were you absent the last few days?¡±


    Tang Wulin knitted his brows but before he could respond, he felt a thorny gaze digging into his back. He turned around.


    It was Wu Siduo. She glared at him with icy eyes, not masking her dissatisfaction at all.


    Tang Wulin nearly had a heart attack when he realized the reason for her glare. Right after they had decided to make battle armor, he went missing for three days. Those three days were absolutely invaluable! He sent her an apologetic smile. He knew his absence had inconvenienced everyone.


    Wu Siduo rolled her eyes, looking away from him.


    With that out of the way, Tang Wulin shot a glance at Luo Guixing, but the young man was all smiles as usual. He couldn¡¯t piece together his groupmate¡¯s true emotions.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start discussing our battle armor design plans. Everyone has already chosen the metal they want to use,¡± Gu Yue whispered into his ears. ¡°You need to get to working, Wulin. I have to finalize the design for everyone¡¯s right hand armor soon.¡±


    ¡°Mn. I know. I apologize, I¡¯ve troubled all of you. I¡¯ll forge everyone¡¯s metals today,¡± Tang Wulin said, almost tripping on his words.


    ¡°You broke through?¡± Gu Yue asked in astonishment, voice still low.


    Tang Wulin faced her, eyes wide. ¡°You can tell?¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°Your aura is different from before. It¡¯s clear that you¡¯ve reached a higher level. You have three rings now, right?¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin answered with a smile.


    ¡°Wow, Captain! You broke through too?¡± Although Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had whispered to each other, Xu Xiaoyan still overheard from her seat next to Gu Yue¡¯s. She had a good pair of ears on her.


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®too¡¯?¡± Tang Wulin was surprised to find Xu Xiaoyan in such high spirits.


    Xu Xiaoyan smirked, waves of satisfaction dancing off her. ¡°I broke through to rank 30 two days ago. I feel great! Tomorrow is rest day, so Big Sis Gu Yue promised to take me to get a new spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to come with us?¡±

 Chapter 341 - Sparring

    Chapter 341 - Sparring


    Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. ¡°Count me out. I have too many things to do and not a second to spare. I¡¯ve missed a lot of class after all.¡± More than ever before, Tang Wulin felt pressed for time. He had to keep pace with the intense lectures at Shrek Academy, and now that he had three soul rings, there were two blacksmith teachers waiting to guide him. He¡¯d be damned if he let a second go to waste .


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°What kind of spirit soul do you guys think I should get this time? I have plenty of money, and Big Sis Gu Yue said she could snatch me a discount.¡±


    Tang Wulin thought for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s best to get a spirit soul that¡¯s compatible with you. Of course, since it also depends on the selection available, chance will play a large factor in this. Good luck.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡±


    Before they could say anything else, Shen Yi arrived on the platform and approached the lectern. ¡°Let¡¯s begin class.¡±


    Tang Wulin whipped his head around to find her staring right at him. Taking the cue, he shot up like a rocket from his seat and shouted, ¡°Stand up!¡±


    The entire class rose with him. ¡°Good morning, Teacher.¡±


    Shen Yi nodded, satisfied. ¡°Take your seats.¡±


    Her gaze moved from Tang Wulin to the rest of the class, sharp and discerning like a hawk¡¯s. ¡°Today we¡¯re having combat class. You¡¯ll be fighting together in your mecha making groups. You won¡¯t be sparring with each other, but with either me or Teacher Wu. Group leaders, lead your groups out! We¡¯re leaving now.¡± Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong made for the door without a second glance.


    A combat class?


    The thought left Tang Wulin shocked. Then excitement practically bubbled out of his chest. After all, he¡¯d just received his third ring and shattered another Golden Dragon King seal. If not for his potent self-control, Tang Wulin would have rushed out of his seat, eager to test out his new strength.


    I wonder how combat class will be at Shrek? My group only has four people and we¡¯ll be going against Teacher Shen and Teacher Wu¡­ However, we¡¯re much stronger than the other groups. We also have Wu Siduo and her four rings. The rest of us have three rings. In fact, Wu Siduo¡¯s soul fusion skill is already as powerful as an entire group combined!


    The sparring arena sat on the south side of the school building¡¯s first floor. After passing through a wide corridor, the students found themselves in the large circular arena. It was over one hundred meters in diameter, with all sorts of machines lining the perimeter for recording battles, analyzing said battles, and acting as safeguards in case of accidents.


    Unlike where they had fought it out for the class presidency, this was a genuine sparring arena!


    While injuries inflicted in the virtual battlefield also made their way into reality, the danger of death did not loom above the students. They could not die in there and as such fought more aggressively, taking more risks than they would have had they been in the real world.


    This was not the case here.


    Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong ascended the stage. The students diverted to the sides and lined up at the edges of the platform. Aware of the chit-chat, Tang Wulin gestured for his classmates to quiet down but found that none particularly paid much attention to him. Some outright ignored him.


    He let out a long sigh. It seems my absence has made me less important in their eyes!


    There¡¯s nothing that can be done about it. I¡¯ll just have to work hard to earn their respect.


    Shen Yi swept her piercing eyes through the crowd. ¡°Naturally, combat class consists of live combat. Today¡¯s focus is teamwork. As I¡¯ve said previously, together with your groups, you will fight me or Teacher Wu. Apart from our battle armors, we will use our full power.¡± Her lips curled slightly upward. ¡°Any group that defeats us will get full marks. Otherwise, your score will depend on your performance. Decide who you want to fight: me or Teacher Wu. We will also be judging your decision. You will have five minutes to discuss, then the battles will start with the class council group.¡±


    Gu Yue, Luo Guixing, and Wu Siduo shuffled closer to Tang Wulin¡¯s side.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face was the picture of apologetic. ¡°Sorry about my absence. After breaking through to rank 30, my body encountered some unexpected issues. I had to miss class until my meditation finished.¡±


    Wu Siduo acted as though she had not heard his apology at all. ¡°We can talk about that after the battle. So, who should we choose?¡±


    ¡°Teacher Wu,¡± Tang Wulin answered immediately.


    ¡°Why?¡± Wu Siduo raised a brow at him. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that Teacher Wu is strong. In fact, he should be stronger than Teacher Shen.¡±


    ¡°Gu Yue and I came to Shrek Academy from Eastsea Academy with Teacher Wu. He was our teacher during our time there, so we understand his abilities. Since both teachers are strong, I think it¡¯d be best to minimize the unknown factors in the battle. That¡¯s why if we pick Teacher Wu, we can at least plan around his capabilities.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Luo Guixing said. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time. Give us a quick rundown of Teacher Wu¡¯s soul skills.¡±


    His tone was strong. It gave him the appearance of being the team¡¯s leader.


    Tang Wulin observed his groupmate for a moment, not quite knowing how he felt about that. Shaking his head once, he proceeded to describe Wu Zhangkong¡¯s soul skills and the characteristics of his martial soul.


    ¡°What are our roles?¡± Wu Siduo asked. As she usually fought solo, she was unfamiliar with team tactics.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, you¡¯re good at control, but you¡¯re even better at attacking. You should be the vanguard,¡± said Luo Guixing. ¡°Wu Siduo, you should launch a sneak attack from the side. I¡¯ll be in the center to control the flow of battle, and Gu Yue will provide cover fire from the back. It¡¯s our first time fighting together, so our plans can¡¯t be too complicated. Simple is key here.¡±


    Just as Gu Yue opened her mouth to say something, Tang Wulin pulled her hand and said, ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do as you say.¡±


    Luo Guixing smiled. Their five minutes had come to an end. The four of them climbed the stage.


    ¡°We choose Teacher Wu,¡± Luo Guixing said.


    Tang Wulin stood at the front with Luo Guixing right behind him. Gu Yue was at Luo Guixing¡¯s rear, and Wu Siduo stayed by Tang Wulin¡¯s side. It was a peculiar battle formation.


    Wu Siduo flicked her gaze to Tang Wulin. ¡°Can you keep him occupied?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°No way. Teacher Wu has seven rings. I can only buy us a little bit of time.¡±


    ¡°Mn. Do your best,¡± said Wu Siduo.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, just get us three seconds,¡± said Luo Guixing. ¡°I¡¯ll support you, so don¡¯t hold back at all.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Buzzing filled the air as a dome of light covered the arena.


    Tang Wulin took in a deep breath, his eyes focusing on the figure before him.


    Standing fifty meters away was Wu Zhangkong, his usual white robes gently billowing in his frigid aura.


    ¡°Begin,¡± announced Shen Yi, crisp voice piercing through the buzzing.


    Tang Wulin burst into action in the blink of an eye. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he exerted his strength. He leapt toward Wu Zhangkong, his soul rings appearing around him mid-flight, dying him in their purple glow.


    He had three purple soul rings now! This was beyond the textbook optimal configuration, and symbolized his strength.


    Off-stage, his peers instantly recognized that he had broken through.


    Bluesilver grass shot out from all around him at his command. They glistened more brightly than before, the veins within them more complex, as if they had transformed from a leaf¡¯s to a human¡¯s. Although he didn¡¯t have a full grasp of the changes in his bluesilver grass, Tang Wulin knew it had become more powerful.


    This growth wasn¡¯t solely attributed to gaining his third ring. Breaking another Golden Dragon King Seal had also aided in the sublimation of his martial soul.


    The grass rushed toward Wu Zhangkong like a giant wave of vines.


    It was his first soul skill, Bind! While the vines swarmed Wu Zhangkong, a light flashed in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, his blood essence boiling over. Golden scales rippled into existence along up his right arm, across his right shoulder, and through most of his torso. HIs hand transformed into the deadly golden dragon claw. He dared not hold back against Wu Zhangkong, not when Shen Yi had clearly said the teachers would fight at their full strength!


    Only now did Wu Zhangkong make his move. Soul rings materialized beneath him, first two yellow ones, followed by three purple rings. Finally, two black rings appeared, completing this terrifying configuration. The Skyfrost Sword materialized in his hand in an instant, the temperature of the arena instantly plummeting.


    He pinched the sword¡¯s tip with his left hand. With a wiggle of his right, the sword expelled a light into his left palm, blossoming into a flower.


    It was his first soul skill, Frost Scar!


    Rather than relying on his swordsmanship, he resorted to his soul skills without another thought!


    Tang Wulin faced off the mighty aura of the seven-ringed Soul Sage with clenched teeth. Not once did his bluesilver grass relax in its assault against Wu Zhangkong, though a portion had split from the rest and returned to him. It spiraled in front of him to form a shield.

 Chapter 342 - Team Battle Against Wu Zhangkong

    Chapter 342 - Team Battle Against Wu Zhangkong


    Frost Scars flew through the air, threatening to tear into the tide of bluesilver grass. The instant they collided, however, the grass released a dazzling azure light. Instead of slicing the it apart, the Frost Scar only managed to coat it in a layer of frost, freezing it in place.


    This scene made Wu Zhangkong narrow his eyes, and he nodded to himself in understanding. I may not have used my full strength, but I focused all of my Frost Scars on a single spot. Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass really has grown stronger. It¡¯s at least twice as strong as before.


    At that moment, a silver light blossomed at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s feet. Luo Guixing used Spatial Lock, timing it so that it activated immediately after Wu Zhangkong used Frost Scar, the exact moment he was about to send out another soul skill.


    The enormous difference in their cultivation meant that Luo Guixing couldn¡¯t completely restrain Wu Zhangkong. However, he did barely manage to interrupt Wu Zhangkong and keep him from chaining soul skills.


    Wu Siduo swooped in at that moment. From the very beginning of the battle, she made sure to stay just one step behind Tang Wulin, ready to pounce at any opening. The instant Luo Guixing tripped up Wu Zhangkong, she dove in with her first soul skill, Hell Rush.


    She arrived in front of Wu Zhangkong in a shadowy blur, clawing at his ribs.


    Although it was their first time fighting together, the four of them synced up perfectly.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s white robes fluttered as he twisted his body to meet the claw strike. His sword blocked it with a resounding metallic ringing, his perfect defense stunning Wu Siduo. She looked as if she had been struck by lightning. Before Wu Zhangkong could punish her for her mistake, Luo Guixing teleported her away.


    Tang Wulin took advantage of Wu Siduo¡¯s attack to close the distance between him and Wu Zhangkong. Now in front of Wu Zhangkong, he slashed out with his dragon claw, tearing through the air with an audible hiss. Five dark-gold lights streaked out of his claw.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s icy mask finally cracked, revealing a hint of astonishment. His sword shot up to to meet this attack with a white sword beam of its own. This beam was much larger than the previous Frost Scar, but it was far simpler in construction, merely resembling a long blade. However, Tang Wulin saw through its plain appearance. In reality, it was an attack composed of thousands of Frost Scars fused together. Although it was Wu Zhangkong¡¯s first soul skill, his masterful use of it transformed it into a terrifying beast to be reckoned with!


    The white sword beam and the golden lights collided in an explosion of particles. Tang Wulin came out of the exchange covered in a layer of frost, but Wu Zhangkong had also been forced back.


    He blocked it!


    Tang Wulin unleashed a primal roar and his three purple soul rings faded away. A radiant golden soul ring appeared in their place. Blood essence bubbled within him, madly coursing through his body as he activated Golden Dragon Body!


    Goldlight slithered out and coiled around Tang Wulin¡¯s body. The roar of a dragon thundered throughout the stadium, and Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body took on a golden hue. His right sleeve exploded, revealing his golden-scaled right arm bursting with power. Every single scale was erect, and his claw seemed to have grown a bit larger.


    The power of his surging blood essence instantly dispelled the frost on his body. He slashed with his claw once more, sending another five dark-gold beams that were each over two meters long. The moment they appeared, the space between Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong seemed to distort, the dragon roar becoming louder than ever.


    Moments before this, Luo Guixing teleported Wu Siduo behind Wu Zhangkong. Taking advantage of the time that Tang Wulin bought with his explosive clash against Wu Zhangkong, she summoned her second martial soul. Black and white light swirled around her, her body grew larger and transforming into the Hell White Tiger!


    Their opponent was a seven-ringed Soul Sage and a teacher at Shrek Academy. There was no point in holding back or stalling. All they could do was go all out from the beginning.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s plan entailed playing to each of their strengths and having them release their greatest attacks on Wu Zhangkong at the same time. As long as they did that, they would at least be able to properly display their strength.


    While Tang Wulin attacked Wu Zhangkong from the front with Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, Wu Siduo attacked him from behind in her Hell White Tiger form. At the same time, quad-colored spears materialized in the air and shot toward Wu Zhangkong¡¯s head following a precisely plotted arc.


    The jaws of basically every spectating student had already dropped. The combined attack of their class council was too ferocious, especially Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Dreadclaw and Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger! Everyone could feel the tempestuous might of the two attacks.


    Facing attacks from three separate directions, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s fourth soul ring lit up as he simply thrust his Skyfrost Sword toward the sky.


    Tang Wulin and Wu Siduo immediately felt as if they were no longer fighting a human. Instead, they were opposing a towering mountain! They knew they wouldn¡¯t be able to shake this mountain no matter what they tried.


    A hurricane of energy burst forth from Wu Zhangkong. It swept across his opponents, routing Wu Siduo, overwhelming Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, and finally dispersing the incoming hail of quad-colored spears.


    A thundering boom shook the arena, the barriers that surrounded it trembling before the shockwave. Tense silence descended upon the spectators as they watched the dust filled stage with narrowed eyes, impatiently waiting for the dust to settle and reveal the results of the clash.


    All of a sudden, a buzzing cut through the quiet, and a blue light pierced the sky. It stretched seven meters into the air, then revealed itself as a gigantic azure greatsword. A wave of cold erupted from it, knocking Tang Wulin and the Hell White Tiger off their feet. The giant sword then split into nine separate swords and shot toward Tang Wulin and Wu Siduo. Even the spectating students off-stage found it hard to breath in the face of the sword¡¯s might.


    Silver light enveloped Wu Siduo, teleporting her out of harm¡¯s way once again. With one of their targets gone, the nine swords changed direction, focusing all of their frigid power on Tang Wulin.


    Even if he had nine lives, Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t survive this onslaught!


    Wu Zhangkong had used both his fourth and fifth soul skills, Frost Song and Frost Song Moon. He hadn¡¯t held anything back, immediately using two of his strongest soul skills.


    There was no way for Tang Wulin to avoid these nine swords. However, inches before they sliced him to pieces, he disappeared in a flash of silver light.


    Amazing!


    All of the spectators turned to gaze at Luo Guixing in awe. This was the second time he teleported his teammates out of harm¡¯s way in the nick of time! Furthermore, the second teleport occurred just a split-second before Frost Song cleaved Tang Wulin to bits! Even Tang Wulin had been bracing himself to take the attack with his dragon claw!


    However, the students soon realized that something was wrong. Like them, Luo Guixing wore an expression of shock! He slowly turned his head to look behind him.


    Earlier, he had teleported Wu Siduo in front of him to protect him from the wave of cold. Tang Wulin, however, had been teleported to the rear, right next to Gu Yue!

 Chapter 343 - Total Defeat

    Chapter 343 - Total Defeat


    Luo Guixing stared at Gu Yue in shock. ¡°Y-you can control space?¡±


    Gu Yue calmly met his gaze. ¡°If you can do it, why can¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Be careful,¡± Wu Siduo warned as she turned to take on Wu Zhangkong. She roared into the sky and shot forward, her enormous tiger form becoming transparent.


    Frost Song Moons filled the sky. In the face of Wu Siduo¡¯s charge, Wu Zhangkong only raised his right hand to grasp the enormous Frost Song greatsword. He pointed it toward the heavens, sweeping an icy gaze over his four opponents.


    Instead of attacking with his sword, he thrust his other hand at the incoming Wu Siduo. His second soul ring lit up, and a white mist burst out of his palm, swallowing the Hell White Tiger up in an instant. Then, he used Frost Song and slashed at the other three with dozens of Frost Scars.


    Tang Wulin walked in front of Luo Guixing, a cool calm settling on his face. Even though he was facing Wu Zhangkong, he wasn¡¯t flustered at all. His soul rings appeared and lit up, and with him at the center of it all, his surroundings started turning translucent. Bluesilver grass swarmed out of the ground, clambering up to form a giant net around him, Luo Guixing, and Gu Yue.


    The tightly-woven net of vine-like grass did manage to resist the onslaught of Frost Scars, buying the three of them time, but vines soon began to shatter one after another.


    Tang Wulin willed spears of bluesilver grass to erupt from the ground, sending debris flying everywhere. The spears reinforced the net, acting as a secondary defense against the Frost Scars. With their arrival, the rate at which the Frost Scars tore through his defenses immediately slowed down.


    ¡°Spin!¡± shouted Gu Yue. With a wave of her hands, her three soul rings lit up one by one, conjuring a giant green tornado around her and Tang Wulin. The tornado sucked in the surrounding debris and expanded, quickly turning into a sandstorm similar to the one she used against Wu Siduo the other day.


    Luo Guixing, however, hadn¡¯t been in the eye of the tornado. It sent Luo Guixing stumbling out of its chaos.However, a vine shot out, wrapped around his waist, then pulled him back to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue glared at Tang Wulin. ¡°You¡¯re too kind-hearted. Don¡¯t you see that he¡¯s targeting you?¡±


    Tang Wulin could only give her a meek smile while Luo Guixing¡¯s expression darkened.


    However, shock soon spread across both their faces.


    Right before their eyes, Gu Yue stepped forward. She wore a grave expression, her three soul rings twinkling as waves of power rampaged around her. Her hands danced like butterflies, orbs of light continuously popping into existence and dancing in the winds of the tornado. The tornado started out with a green hue, but Gu Yue added icicles to it as it grew larger, mixing with the loose earth to give it a tinge of blue. With the addition of the icicles, the three of them could clearly feel the chilling suppression of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s Skyfrost Sword decrease.


    Luo Guixing stared blankly at the scene before him. It still isn¡¯t over?


    Gu Yue¡¯s hands now took on a silver hue as she shot silver lights into the tornado, giving it a hint of darkness.


    Luo Guixing was at a loss for words. She can control four elements? How can this be?


    Gu Yue wielded fire, earth, ice, and space. But that wasn¡¯t all. She could even fuse them together. Combining two elements created a tornado at the peak of the three-ring level. Three elements allowed it to reach the level of four rings. Fusing four elements allowed it to rival the might of Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger. However, this was not the end of the quad-element tornado.


    At this point, a tinge of gray tainted the tornado¡¯s original green hue. It howled with deathly stillness.


    A Frost Scar flew into the tornado but was instantly ground to powder. Another flew in right afterward, but the result was exactly the same.


    Shen Yi had shut off the screens for the final battle. There were some things she couldn¡¯t let everyone see after all. This meant that Luo Guixing hadn¡¯t seen Gu Yue¡¯s final showdown against Wu Siduo during the competition for the position of class president, so he was completely unaware of how strong she was. It wasn¡¯t the sort of thing Wu Siduo would mention either.


    As a result, this was Luo Guixing¡¯s first time witnessing Gu Yue¡¯s strength.


    Luo Guixing hadn¡¯t accepted Tang Wulin becoming the class president. In his view, Tang Wulin¡¯s control ability and strength were decent, but nowhere near the peak of power. He thought Tang Wulin had won due to his schemes and luck. In fact, he was confident that he could completely restrain and dominate Tang Wulin in a one-on-one battle.Yet, upon witnessing today¡¯s display of the terrifying might of Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, his opinion changed. Although the Dreadclaw couldn¡¯t compare to Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger, it didn¡¯t need time to prepare like a soul fusion skill and could instantly explode with deadly power. Moreover, now that he gained his third soul ring, Tang Wulin¡¯s aura was far more overwhelming than before.


    However, none of that could match Gu Yue¡¯s quad-element tornado. The fact that she could wield four elements to create a fusion attack in the middle of battle proved that she possessed spiritual power in the Spirit Sea realm at the very least. Even as a ranker, Luo Guixing felt lacking before her.


    So she¡¯s the strongest person in our class! But... she yielded the class president position to Tang Wulin. Does that mean there¡¯s still something more to him?


    Countless questions popped into Luo Guixing¡¯s head.


    As the tornado raged on, the Frost Mist covering the area outside of it receded. The Hell White Tiger was nowhere to be seen, and only a motionless Wu Siduo stood in its place. Her entire body sparkled in the light, frozen solid.


    Wu Zhangkong withdrew the Frost Song Moons filling the sky. Then his third soul ring lit up, indicating that the time for his Skyfrost Slash had arrived.He didn¡¯t move a single step forward. Instead, he simply commanded his giant Frost Song greatsword to slash downward. A ten-meter-long sword light shot out, traveling fifty meters to slice the tornado apart, instantly dispelling it. Not even a quad-element fusion attack could withstand the might of the Skyfrost Slash enhanced by Frost Song. Furthermore, the collision of soul skills only slowed the sword light down, causing it to just dim slightly.


    The tornado was destroyed in an instant.


    By the time Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Luo Guoxing could be seen, Wu Zhangkong had already sheathed his sword.


    ¡°Fools.¡± He stared at them with icy eyes.


    The word resounded with truth. The battle had ended, and Tang Wulin¡¯s group had lost. Without Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger, and considering how exhausted the rest of them were, if Wu Zhangkong had pressed the attack, they would have been defeated in an instant.


    This single word of criticism made the three feel ashamed. All of them understood what he meant. They only coordinated with each other properly at the beginning of the battle. However, they fell apart shortly after Luo Guixing teleported Wu Siduo out of danger and Gu Yue did the same for Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s teamwork was nowhere near perfect, especially when the reluctant Luo Guixing was added to the mix. Their coordination had self-destructed in a splendid fashion.


    The four of them combined couldn¡¯t stand on equal footing with Wu Zhangkong, let alone when their teamwork was in shambles.


    Wu Zhangkong slammed one of his palms against Wu Siduo¡¯s body, dispelling the frost that covered her and jolting her awake. Although she had been completely frozen moments before, not even the slightest shiver could be seen in her now thawed body.


    The four of them hung their heads as they descended from the stage.


    Shen Yi didn¡¯t contribute any words of criticism and simply ordered the next group to go up.


    Wu Siduo looked from Tang Wulin to Luo Guixing. She then snorted and walked away, wearing an ugly expression as she looked for somewhere to sit.


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°This was my fault. I underestimated Teacher Wu. Now that he has seven rings, he¡¯s at least two times stronger than before. I also didn¡¯t properly coordinate with everyone either.¡±


    Luo Guixing didn¡¯t respond. He just walked away silently, searching for a place to sit as well.


    ¡°Are you the team leader?¡± Gu Yue glared at Tang Wulin. ¡°No, you¡¯re not, so why are you taking all the blame? He¡¯s the one who made a plan for the team, but you don¡¯t hear him saying anything.¡±


    Hearing this, Luo Guixing turned to look at Gu Yue, anger flashing in his eyes, but Gu Yue ignored him.


    Tang Wulin knitted his brow. It was impossible to become a battle armor master alone. To do that, he needed everyone¡¯s wholehearted cooperation.


    Things definitely weren¡¯t happening as he had hoped they would.

 Chapter 344 - Dispelling Doubts

    Chapter 344 - Dispelling Doubts


    Making a one-word battle armor at their level called for surpassing their limits. If Tang Wulin and his group didn¡¯t stand united, this would all be a pipe dream.


    However, it was clear that neither Wu Siduo nor Luo Guixing respected Tang Wulin. This was natural since he was the class president, the position making him the target of much attention and hostility in his class.


    Do I really want all of this?


    But Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t one to shrink back from his responsibilities. Now that he was the class president, he would do his best to fulfill the role no matter the challenges.


    He patted Gu Yue on the shoulder, conveying to her that he didn¡¯t need her to speak up for him. He approached Luo Guixing¡¯s side and took a seat.


    ¡°You¡¯re very strong and good at commanding. But you can¡¯t deny that right now, I am the first grade¡¯s class president,¡± Tang Wulin said quietly.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s brows arched. ¡°So what?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. I just wanted to tell you that you have no chance of taking my position this semester. You¡¯re a smart person, so you should know internal strife will just set us all back. Even if you don¡¯t respect me, you still have to cooperate with me. We are in the same group currently, a team, and we¡¯re also the first grade¡¯s class council. Cultivating is like rowing a boat upstream. It¡¯s not easy and takes a lot of effort. If we want to exceed our peers, then we need to discard our grudges and focus on cultivating.


    ¡°I guarantee you that as a blacksmith, I¡¯ll treat everyone equally and forge to the best of my ability. I will work myself to the bone to meet everyone¡¯s expectations, especially so we can succeed in making one-word battle armor. I will also promise you that by the end of the semester, we will all have several pieces of battle armor. We will all be on the same stage when it comes to that. So if you plan to snatch the class president seat from me, work hard. Grow and improve. Then come next semester, try to defeat me.¡±


    He left Luo Guixing alone to mull over those words and made his way to Wu Siduo.


    Because she had a good pair of ears and sat not too far from Luo Guixing, Wu Siduo had heard everything Tang Wulin said. She raised her head as he drew near, eyes fixed on him.


    ¡°I¡¯m the one to blame for this battle¡¯s loss.¡± Tang Wulin returned her stare, the words leaving his lips steady and unfaltering. ¡°I didn¡¯t coordinate properly with everyone and underestimated Teacher Wu¡¯s strength. We might not be friends, but we have to be comrades. So, I¡¯ll be honest with you. I¡¯m not a fourth-rank blacksmith. I¡¯m actually a fifth-rank one.¡±


    That statement brought all sorts of shivers down her spine.


    Catching sight of her reaction, Tang Wulin broke into a smile. ¡°Becoming friends with me, someone who could be a Divine Blacksmith in the future, is a good idea. After all, our goal is four-word battle armor in the future, right?¡±


    He extended his hand to Wu Siduo. After a moment of hesitation, she took it and gave it a firm shake.


    ¡°Today after class, I¡¯ll go forge the metal for our battle armors.¡±


    As they drew back their hands, a voice sounded off to their side.


    ¡°What you said was right,¡± Luo Guixing said as he walked over, clearly finished with his thoughts.


    Tang Wulin turned to face him. This time, Luo Guixing took the initiative to offer his hand. ¡°You are the class president and our group¡¯s leader. But if you ever make a mistake, then you¡¯ll have to take responsibility. I¡¯ll be waiting for that time to come.¡±


    Tang Wulin accepted his gesture. ¡°Thank you for your encouragement.¡±


    Their gazes clashed in the air, sparks firing off all around. Despite Luo Guixing¡¯s arrogant nature, he had no choice but to concede, for he couldn¡¯t face off against Tang Wulin at this moment. He had to get stronger. Luo Guixing¡¯s number one priority was always improving himself after all. If he couldn¡¯t outclass Tang Wulin during their time in the outer court, then he would never stand at the peak.


    Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, and Wu Siduo were all targets for him to surpass.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin beckoned Gu Yue over to him.


    He released  Luo Guixing¡¯s hand and placed his own face down in the center.


    Gu Yue dropped her hand above his with practiced movements. Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing exchanged a glance before adding their hands on top of the pile.


    Shen Yi, who had been paying attention to their group since the beginning of the battle, curved her lips into a satisfied smile as she watched the four finally attaining group solidarity.


    Challenges aren¡¯t scary, but not knowing how to overcome them is. I have no doubt that Tang Wulin doesn¡¯t lack in that regard. Senior brother¡¯s judgement was correct. He¡¯s a born leader.


    As the rest of the battles rolled by, Tang Wulin¡¯s group watched them carefully. The group immediately after them also chose Wu Zhangkong. Afterward, some decided to try their chances with Shen Yi. They were all crushed in the end.


    Only Xu Yucheng and Yang Nianxia¡¯s groups lasted more than a few minutes.


    Both Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi had seven soul rings. As Soul Sages, the soul power they consumed to defeat the students was but a drop in the ocean.


    Following this exercise in group combat, the students came to acknowledge the two teachers¡¯ might. They were all powerless before the two.


    After combat class, everyone had made various gains and losses from the battles, but neither Shen Yi nor Wu Zhangkong stepped forward to comment. They simply ended classes for the day.


    This was Shrek Academy¡¯s teaching style. Students were left to ponder and comprehend on their own without excessive pointers from others. Whether the students could identify the problem and come up with a solution was up to them.


    Only those who could walk this path to the very end were called true geniuses.


    ¡°Let¡¯s grab lunch before we discuss making the battle armors.¡± Tang Wulin had grabbed hold of Luo Gui Xing, Wu Siduo, and Gu Yue as soon as class ended. Together, the four of them made for the dining hall.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s bottomless pit of a stomach shocked their two new companions. By the time he finished eating, Wu Siduo was staring at the mountain of dishes, face pallid and taut. ¡°How can you eat this much? Who raised you like this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business,¡± Gu Yue blurted out.


    Seated to the side, Luo Guixing moved his gaze to Tang Wulin then to Gu Yue. And he got the picture.


    At the same time, Wu Siduo glared at Gu Yue, cold enough to freeze. Just as she was about to speak out, Tang Wulin interrupted. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We need to rent a room. There are lots of workshops at the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, so let¡¯s just rent one there and use it as our base.¡±


    Making battle armors was definitely their top priority at the moment, and the four left for the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. Tang Wulin found Feng Wuyu when they got there, quickly going over the purpose of their visit.


    ¡°Mn. Alright. I¡¯ll give you kids a room. It¡¯ll cost you kids one thousand contribution points every month,¡± Feng Wuyu said with a smile.


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡±


    Tang Wulin made to leave with his companions, but Feng Wuyu suddenly grabbed his arm. ¡°Wait. I¡¯ll give you two hours. After that, come find me. We¡¯ll go over forging. You don¡¯t have any time to waste, right?¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Two hours should be enough.¡± Tang Wulin smiled wryly.


    He feared the crazed light gleaming in Feng Wuyu¡¯s eyes. This teacher of his was unpredictable to the extreme! However, he couldn¡¯t help but be curious about what Feng Wuyu would teach him now that he was capable of attempting spirit refining again. Two hours was more than enough time to thousand-refine some metal.


    Although Tang Wulin already had heavy silver and magic silver in stock, Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing had just chosen their metals at the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s was stygian iron, a rare darkness-attribute metal with a chilling aura of gloom. Its nature was peculiar and few could use it properly. As a result, it was fairly inexpensive.


    Luo Guixing chose thousand moment copper, a space-attribute metal. It was perfect for him, and wasn¡¯t too pricey for a mid-grade metal.


    Tang Wulin could barely conceal his approval of their selections. No one had overestimated their abilities and chosen top-grade metals beyond what they could use. Doing so would have severely hindered the battle-armor-making process, no matter how well he could forge the metals.

 Chapter 345 - The First Battle Armor Piece

    Chapter 345 - The First Battle Armor Piece


    The main purpose of making one-word battle armor was to prepare for the future. Once the time came for Tang Wulin¡¯s group to make two-word battle armor, they would be able to use completely new materials. They wouldn¡¯t be restricted to the metals they chose now.


    Upon entering their rented workshop, awe shone in Luo Guixing¡¯s eyes when he saw how large it was. ¡°Elder Feng treats you really well.¡±


    The workshop was at least 150 square meters in area. The space was at least twice as large as what people could normally rent, and it was filled with all the best equipment and tools. An empty shelf for metals stood off to one side. All of this came at the cheap price of one thousand contribution points a month. Now this was the benefit of having connections.


    Tang Wulin smiled shyly. ¡°We can talk about that after I thousand refine your metals. Gu Yue, have you drawn up any rough designs yet? We¡¯ll need to discuss them before I get to forging.¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve already been getting feedback from the other two these past few days. I understand your situation as well, so I was able to get some first drafts done.¡±


    She walked over to the forging table and took blueprints out of her storage ring. With one in hand, she turned to face them. ¡°For the first piece of our battle armors, I decided on armor for our right hands. I chose this piece because it¡¯s the easiest to use in combat and will immediately result in the largest increase in power.¡±


    She unfurled the blueprint in her hands, then pointed at the various drawings. ¡°Hand armor is made of separate parts that cover the actual hand, extend past the forearm, and go all the way to the elbow. So really, it¡¯s armor for both your hand and forearm. This is the design I drafted for you.¡±


    ¡°You chose heavy silver, the main property of which is soul power amplification. After thinking about what would suit you best, I concluded that, since your hand can transform into the golden dragon claw, it would be essential for your hand armor to expand alongside it. To accomodate that, I added a transformation circuit core in the palm that will allow the armor to transform along with your arm. I also left holes in the fingertips of the armor for your claws since they¡¯re already extremely sharp weapons anyway. To amplify your blood essence and soul power, I added circuit cores to the back of the hand armor. This is a dual-loop circuit core I specially designed¡­¡±


    Gu Yue went over the entire design without leaving out a single detail. Tang Wulin was stunned by how meticulous and complex her work was.


    Designers are awesome! This was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time learning about circuit cores and seeing the complexity hidden within designs. Making this design a reality would clearly be difficult.


    Tang Wulin stole a glance at Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing. He couldn¡¯t discern any strange change in expression, a clear sign that Gu Yue¡¯s design was on the right track.


    ¡°Any piece of one-word battle armor needs at least three circuit cores,¡± Gu Yue said, wrapping up her explanations. ¡°In comparison, each piece of two-word armor needs five circuit cores. These circuit cores have to be built into the metal itself, so high-quality refined metal is required. Thousand refined metal is the bare minimum for making one-word armor.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing I saw your designs first. Now I know what to focus on improving when I forge the metal. After I finish refining it, I¡¯ll shape it according to the designs. While I shape it, I¡¯ll refine it a second time and make the metal stronger or more flexible, whichever is more suited to the design.¡±


    Luo Guixing look at Tang Wulin in shock. ¡°You can refine a metal twice?¡± He once heard that twice refined metal was essential in making battle armor.


    Tang Wulin nodded.


    Luo Guixing looked him in the eye. ¡°If that¡¯s true, then I feel a lot better about the plan now. Making our battle armors should be easier than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get started,¡± Tang Wulin replied. ¡°We¡¯ll take one step at a time. Gu Yue, iron out the rest of the designs and make them flawless. I¡¯m going to begin the first refining of our metals. Once you¡¯ve perfected your designs, I¡¯ll do the second refining.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Each of the four had their respective profession, and all were talented in their own field. With their common goal to become battle armor masters, they temporarily set their differences aside to work together.


    An hour later, four twinkling metals sat on the forging table. They were chunks of first-grade thousand refined heavy silver, magic silver, stygian iron, and thousand moment copper.


    It had only taken Tang Wulin an hour to thousand refine four chunks of metal! Every time he finished, a beam of light shot a meter into the air, signifying that it had been imbued with spirit. Tang Wulin had appeared utterly relaxed throughout the entire process. Despite the discontent harbored for him, Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing had to admit that he was the best blacksmith they could¡¯ve hoped for. The four shining pieces of refined metal were proof of that.


    ¡°Do you have any suggestions for my hand armor design?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Tang Wulin thought to himself for a moment, stroking his chin. ¡°I think it¡¯s perfect as is. My right arm is my main means of attack, so making my golden dragon claw stronger is the best thing for my hand armor to do. As for my bluesilver grass¡­ it¡¯ll be fine as long as the armor doesn¡¯t hinder it. I trust in your skills.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± said Gu Yue. ¡°I¡¯ll have you approve my designs once I finish them. We¡¯re going to discuss the rest of the designs and the making process now. If you have something to do, feel free to leave.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going to find Elder Feng. If you guys need anything, give me a call.¡±


    Luo Guixing¡¯s watched Tang Wulin as he went out the door, then he turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Has he always been this good at blacksmithing?¡±


    Gu Yue looked at him in disdain. She obviously still held a grudge against him for his actions in the match. ¡°Don¡¯t you know? Some people are just blessed by the heavens.¡±


    Luo Guixing just smiled meekly in response. He went over to the blueprints and examined them. ¡°This part of the design is too complex. It¡¯ll be too hard for me to make it like this, so you should revise it¡­¡±


    The three of them continued discussing the designs without Tang Wulin. As for him, he went to go find Feng Wuyu.


    Tang Wulin liked how busy his life was. Everything was going according to the plan he set for both himself and his companions. Although Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan weren¡¯t a part of his group, they would forever be members of class zero and his trusted comrades. He naturally hadn¡¯t forgotten about them and already had the perfect solution for their predicaments.


    ?


    Yuanen Yehui was in her male disguise as usual. Not a single thing about her was out of place. Just as she entered the dormitory, its tidiness astounded her. The floor had been swept, not a single speck of dust to be seen. Then she arrived at her room and found a bucket of clean water sitting just outside the of it.


    Who did this? She opened her door and carried the bucket in, her brow furrowed. A few people flashed through her mind. Could it have been Tang Wulin? No way. Considering how much he eats, I bet he¡¯s still gorging himself at the dining hall.


    Only the heavens knew how Tang Wulin would react if he knew what Yuanen Yehui¡¯s thought of him.


    Was it Yue Zhengyu then? ...there¡¯s no way that guy is this nice. Even though he definitely knows I¡¯m not an evil soul master now, he still tries to pick fights with me in class... could it be him then? A tall, thin figure popped into her mind, his handsome features fixed into a mischievous smile that held a hint of haughtiness. Then she imagined herself beating him up.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Yuanen Yehui clenched her fists at the thought of the boy. She grabbed the bucket of water, stomped to her door, opened it, then threw all of the water out, and slammed the door shut.


    After putting the bucket down, she placed her hands on her hips. That hadn¡¯t lessened her anger one bit!


    It took her a long time to calm down. Letting out a long sigh, she pulled open the blinds. Since they know now, there¡¯s no point keeping this charade up while at the dormitory.


    She walked over to her bed and took off her coat and wig, exposing her dark-red hair. She took a moment to rub her face, her pretty features soon resurfacing. Then a popping sound emanated from her bones and she grew a bit taller, her womanly curves becoming more pronounced.


    My original appearance really is the most comfortable!


    She touched her cheeks, basking in the change, when all of a sudden, pain flashed through her eyes. She stumbled over to her bed, hands clutching her head as she toppled onto it. Her body began to twitch, and her jaw clenched so tightly that it was on the verge of breaking. Spasms wracked her body as her eyes gradually went scarlet. Tears streamed down her face as dread began to creep inside of her. All she could see before her eyes was a sea of blood.


    ¡°No!¡± she screamed, forcing herself upright.


    As she sat on her bed gasping for breath, the door flew open with a bang, and a figure charged into the room. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Are you okay?¡±

 Chapter 346 - Alloy

    Chapter 346 - Alloy


    Yuanen Yehui looked up at Xie Xie, who had barged in. He met her scarlet eyes and gulped, then meekly asked, ¡°A-are you okay?¡±


    Xie Xie had been waiting for her the entire time. Just like Yuanen Yehui had suspected, he was the one who cleaned the dormitory. He had drawn the bucket of water outside her door as well, using his Shadow Dragon Dagger to invisibly lurk in the vicinity, waiting for Yuanen Yehui to return. When he saw her dump out the bucket of water, he felt as though he were getting punched in the gut. Just as he was about to leave, however, he heard her pained screams and charged into her room without a second thought. Only as he stared into her crimson eyes did he start to feel awkward.


    ¡°Get out!¡± she screamed.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Xie Xie turned tail and ran off. Fear continued to linger in his heart when it came to her. The memory of her attempting to kill him had been burned into his mind, and even as he ran out, Xie Xie did not forget to close the door behind him.


    Yuanen Yehui panted for breath as she wiped tears from her face. She then curled up in her bed, gripping her blanket tightly.


    ?


    ¡°Do you know what the greatest difference is between blacksmiths who can spirit refine and those who can¡¯t? Feng Wuyu asked Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Well... they can spirit refine,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s a shit answer. It¡¯s nowhere near as simple as that! Just what has Mu Chen been teaching you?¡± Feng Wuyu glared at Tang Wulin, the intensity in his gaze forcing the boy to stumble backward a step.


    ¡°Teacher Mu said that I shouldn¡¯t bite off more than I can chew¡­ that he¡¯ll teach me what I need to know about spirit refining when I could actually do it,¡± Tang Wulin answered meekly. ¡°That way, I can focus on improving my skills.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Feng Wuyu shouted. ¡°His way of teaching is half-assed. Only with a comprehensive understanding of your blacksmithing path will you be able to properly prepare and progress on it. Now pay attention. I¡¯ll teach you just what a grandmaster blacksmith is.


    ¡°Prior to spirit refining, blacksmiths only need have to work according to routine. In other words, they just have to practice skilled labor. After spirit refining, blacksmiths can finally show their flair and character in their work. This is a major milestone for blacksmiths.¡± Feng Wuyu paused for a moment, letting the information sink in. ¡°Herein lies the greatest difference between fourth and fifth-rank blacksmiths. From now on, in addition to single, homogenous metals, you¡¯ll be forging alloys.¡±


    ¡°Alloys?¡± The idea left Tang Wulin dumbstruck, and an inkling of what was to come began forming in his mind.


    ¡°To spirit refine is to bestow life upon metals,¡± Feng Wuyu declared. ¡°You¡¯ve succeeded in doing so once before, so let me ask you this: when you were spirit refining, what was the hardest part of the process?¡±


    ¡°Giving the metal life,¡± Tang Wulin answered instantly. ¡°The metal gradually gains intelligence while being forged, and after reaching a certain level of intelligence, its very nature transforms. At that moment, we blacksmiths need to imbue it with our vitality to awaken the metal and grant it true life. Only then will the spirit refining succeed. Also, since metal has no life to begin with, the degree to which we can awaken its intelligence is crucial to the chances of successfully spirit refining.¡±


    ¡°Not bad, kid. That¡¯s a pretty good explanation. Now, what does the innate nature of the metal have to do with the difficulty of bestowing it life? The better the metal, the easier it is to spirit refine. The creation of life is one of the universe¡¯s most important matters. In the split-second life is created, there is a burst of unperceivable energy. This energy is what we call life energy, and it¡¯s the basis of all life. While we may not be able to sense this energy, lifeless objects are extremely sensitive to it. If an object manages to absorb that energy, it gains life, but if it doesn¡¯t, it¡¯s ravaged by that energy and reduced to garbage. This is why failed spirit refinings result in metal that can no longer be used.


    ¡°Your overwhelming vitality is a large part of why you succeeded in your first spirit refining. Your life force poured into the heavy silver along with your blood essence, strengthening it and ultimately allowing it to gain life. You accidently succeeded at an extremely difficult procedure that we blacksmiths call Fledgling Life Guard. Not all blacksmiths are capable of this, and even Saint Blacksmiths only succeed thirty percent of the time. So, after countless experiments, we came up with another method to increase the success rate of spirit refining. The basis of that method is the improvement of the metal¡¯s strength and its ability to absorb life energy. In order to do that, we forge alloys!


    ¡°Alloys are just what you¡¯re thinking of: a combination of multiple metals into one. Although they see extensive use in mechas, they¡¯re different from the kind I¡¯m talking about. Alloys used in mechas are made by simply melting different metals into liquid, mixing them together, fixing the ratios, and shaping the completed product. Some chemicals are even used to help with the process. The alloys I¡¯m referring to, however, are forged by hand and hammer alone.


    ¡°Blacksmiths also need to carefully mix metals and make sure that the ratios are correct, but we merge them by forging them together, evenly shaping the resulting alloy to strengthen it and bring out the best of its properties. We then finish off the alloy by spirit refining, and at higher levels, soul refining it. The moment a metal is spirit refined, the future of its growth is decided.


    ¡°From today onward, I will be teaching you how to forge alloys. Once you can skillfully forge ten alloys, we¡¯ll move on to spirit refining. This way, your chances of success will be higher.¡±


    Tang Wulin had been listening earnestly the entire time, but Feng Wuyu¡¯s final words made his eyes start sparkling with excitement.


    After he managed to reach a one hundred percent success rate with first-grade thousand refinement, Tang Wulin had actually had no idea how to progress further. After years of forging, he was exceptionally familiar with a wide variety of metals, and his thousand refining technique had been polished to perfection. While spirit refining did bestow life to a metal, it did not significantly improve the metal¡¯s properties. Spirit refining was mainly done to allow metal metal to merge with its user. Tang Wulin knew all of this, but he didn¡¯t know what his next step was supposed to be. Even though he knew about soul refining, he didn¡¯t know how to do it or what it did. Beyond that was the fabled heavenly refining, something he only knew the name of.


    Tang Wulin had been at a complete loss as to how he should proceed, but hearing Feng Wuyu¡¯s explanation of alloys was like a seeing new door open before him. Learning how to forge alloys would allow him to reach greater heights as a blacksmith, and he had no doubt that higher level battle armors used alloys as a base.


    This is probably what Teacher Mu wanted to talk to me about... Everything is different now that I¡¯ve reached the fifth rank. It¡¯s a whole new world.


    Feng Wuyu continued to teach Tang Wulin about alloys, how to forge them, and most importantly, their formulas. Countless rounds of trial and error resulted in the creation of formulas that were passed down through the generations from master to disciple. Each and every formula was a precious inheritance.


    Alloy formulas were categorized as either common or rare. Rare formulas could be considered secrets that only a few privileged individuals were allowed to know. Common formulas, on the other hand, were basically available to the general public.


    The more metals used in forging an alloy, the harder it was to forge it. This happened because the number of transformations that occurred in the mixture went up with each additional metal. This made formulas that included more metals all the more valuable. Common-grade alloy formulas generally used two to three metals. Any formula that listed more than three metals was considered a rare formula, and rarity increased with the number of metals involved.


    Unknown to Tang Wulin, inheritance became important once a blacksmith began learning how to forge alloys. The Blacksmith¡¯s Association even restricted the sale of common-grade alloy formulas to talented blacksmiths alone.


    Fortunately, Tang Wulin had Feng Wuyu and Mu Chen, two Saint Blacksmiths, as masters. He didn¡¯t need to worry about obtaining alloy formulas.

 Chapter 347 - Picking up a Treasure

    Chapter 347 - Picking up a Treasure


    Unknown to Tang Wulin, inheritance became crucial once a blacksmith began learning how to forge alloys. Even the common-grade alloy formulas were restricted in sale by the Blacksmith¡¯s Association to talented blacksmiths. Fortunately for Tang Wulin, he had Feng Wuyu and Mu Chen, two Saint Blacksmiths, as his masters. He needn¡¯t worry about obtaining alloy formulas at all.


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s teaching style was completely different from Mu Chen¡¯s. While Mu Chen was gentle and understanding, Feng Wuyu was short-tempered and impatient. If Tang Wulin made a single mistake, the workshop would shake with Feng Wuyu¡¯s roars.


    Only after four long hours of forging did Tang Wulin¡¯s sturdy body finally give in to exhaustion.


    ¡°Teacher, I¡¯m hungry¡­¡± Tang Wulin said feebly.


    ¡°Alright, go eat then. Come back when you¡¯re done. We can still fit in three more hours of blacksmithing tonight. Did you think blacksmithing was all fun and games? Don¡¯t be a fool. If the metal ratio of the mixture is even a tiny bit off, it won¡¯t qualify to even be called an alloy. Combining multiple metals into one is a slow and complicated process. If the ratio is off, they won¡¯t form a cohesive whole.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin listened earnestly.


    Although this teacher of his had a terribly violent nature, his critiques always hit the nail on the head, and he answered all of Tang Wulin¡¯s questions with ease. Besides, Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t give in to merely this much pressure.


    ¡°Now shoo.¡± Feng Wuyu waved him off. ¡°Go and get dinner.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned and ran out the door. The instant he was out of sight, Feng Wuyu¡¯s angry expression eased into grin, and he began dancing around the room in joy.


    ¡°Haha! I¡¯ve really picked up a treasure this time! That kid¡¯s well worth his price, he¡¯s a real prodigy! He¡¯s already forged alloy of this level on his first try. If he isn¡¯t a prodigy, he¡¯s a monster! Haha! I have such good eyes.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hardships were only beginning. He attended classes in the morning and learned from Feng Wuyu in the afternoon thrice a week. He was slowly figuring out the trick to forging alloys, and his blacksmithing skills were rapidly improving. Yet Feng Wuyu still forbid him from attempting to spirit refine.


    ?


    ¡°What? He taught you how to forge alloys?¡± Mu Chen stared at Tang Wulin in astonishment.


    ¡°Is there something wrong with that, Teacher?¡± Tang Wulin met his teacher¡¯s gaze with doubtful eyes. Between making battle armor, learning from Feng Wuyu, and keeping up with his cultivation, Tang Wulin had recently been deprived of nearly all his free time. He only managed to pay Mu Chen a visit after scraping together every second he could.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± The corner of Mu Chen¡¯s mouth began to twitch. ¡°Do you know what rank people usually begin learning about alloys? The sixth! The sixth rank! Fifth-rank blacksmiths only need to know how to spirit refine. Even if their chances of success are extremely low, a single successful spirit refining elevates a blacksmith to the fifth rank. However, to get to the sixth rank, a blacksmith needs to be able to forge at least six two-metal alloys and three three-metal alloys. Teaching you about alloys when you haven¡¯t even solidified your spirit refining foundation is just irresponsible!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes widened at Mu Chen¡¯s words.


    Elder Feng, why do you always stray from the beaten path!


    A pensive expression appeared on Mu Chen¡¯s face. This lasted for a few moments, and then he leaped to his feet. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Mu Chen led Tang Wulin into a workshop on the same floor that was taller and larger than the others. This was the personal workshop of the Association¡¯s president. He stopped in the center of the room, then turned to face Tang Wulin. ¡°Many different alloys exist, a large number of which are available for civilian use. Alloys are one of the government¡¯s key areas of research. While there are some alloys that can be processed by machines, us blacksmiths don¡¯t even consider them true alloys. Those are just several metals melted down and mixed together. That mechanical process destroys both the strengths of the metals and the life they held, so we call them spiritless alloys. Only true alloys forged by blacksmiths are called spirit alloys. The difference between the two is evident in their value. If you compare two alloys, a spirit alloy and a spiritless alloy, the spirit alloy would be a thousand times more valuable. To display their full potential, spirit alloys need to be spirit refined at the very least. You also need to become skilled at forging spirit alloys if you want to become a Saint Blacksmith because, when the time comes for you to soul refine, you won¡¯t be able to use just any metal. Regular metals aren¡¯t strong enough endure being soul refined, so you will only be able to use alloys. Since Feng Wuyu has already begun teaching you how to forge them, I don¡¯t want to overwhelm you. Instead of teaching you how to spirit refine on top of that, I¡¯ll teach you the specifics of forging alloys.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Show me what you¡¯ve learned,¡± Mu Chen ordered. ¡°Let me see you forge an alloy. Just make whatever you¡¯re best at.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin walked over to the shelf of metals and quickly picked out two. One was heavy silver and the other was magic silver. If he used heavy silver and magic silver, he could create an alloy called jade silver.


    The most important part of forging spirit alloys was ensuring that the product retained the spiritual nature of its components. This was what separated them from spiritless alloys. Jade silver possessed the strengths of both heavy silver and magic silver. As one of the better two-metal alloys, it reinforced those strengths.


    Tang Wulin put the two metals into forging table¡¯s furnace and began calcining them. He stood there in silence, eyes shut, patiently waiting for the moment they would be ready for hammering.


    Off to the side, Mu Chen observed Tang Wulin¡¯s steady breathing and nodded in approval. This child is outstanding. Unlike most people, he¡¯s able to remain calm.


    Seconds ticked by, and soon enough, the calcining of the metals had completed. Tang Wulin pushed a button, bringing out the heavy silver first. He raised his hands, his twin hammers appearing in them in a flash. He lightly tapped the heavy silver with the hammer in his left hand, then struck with the one in his right. The stacked hammers effect triggered, and three booms resounded in a row, marking the beginning of the forging process.


    The hammers carried a tremendous amount of force, each strike visibly distorting the resilient heavy silver. No more than a minute later, Tang Wulin finished hundred refining it. Then the magic silver emerged, and he hundred refined it as well.


    The pair of hundred-refined metals sat on the table side-by-side. Tang Wulin spread his arms wide in a sweeping gesture, then brought them hurtling toward the two metals. His hammers smashed the metals together, and a series of booms thundered throughout the room, overlapping to become one unified burst of sound.


    Mu Chen¡¯s watched this scene unfold with rapt attention. This was a high-level blacksmith technique. A single difference in angle or force between his two strikes would make the fusion fail.


    Tang Wulin swung his arms out again, and this time three purple soul rings popped into existence around him. Then he swept his arms inward once more, his hammers whistling toward the fusing metals.


    Forging alloys wasn¡¯t as simple as smashing two metals together. The process required a constant infusion of soul power to bridge the gap between the metals until they reached a balance. Only this could preserve the spiritual nature of the metals and sublimate their properties in the finished product.


    Three rings? Mu Chen stared at Tang Wulin in shock. He wasn¡¯t aware that Tang Wulin had gained his third soul ring. This progress is too fast! Wasn¡¯t he just rank 28 the other day? He¡¯s already broken through to rank 30?


    He thought that Tang Wulin¡¯s strength had increased, but now he realized the boy had grown much more than just that.


    Two hammers descended once more, filling the room with thunder. A layer of white soul power enveloped the partially fused metals. The Mysterious Heaven Method influenced soul power, having it flow out in a steady but vigorous stream to connect the two metals.


    Under Tang Wulin¡¯s steady hammering, the metals kept transforming. They squished together, and the line that indicated which metal was which began to blur.


    An hour later, when the two metals completely merged into one, Tang Wulin¡¯s hammering lightened up from crashing strikes to gentle taps. He tapped it with the hammer in his left hand, the hammer in his right quickly followed at the opposite end to keep the metal in place. His two hammers alternated in this way as they lightly tapped the metal, causing it to slowly start spinning. Tang Wulin continued tapping the metal as it spun, each gentle strike adding to its momentum. It was as if he were forging a metal whirlwind on the table.

 Chapter 348 - Spirit Alloy

    Chapter 348 - Spirit Alloy


    Spin forging? Is he capable of doing even this?


    Mu Chen finally came to realize he had not known his disciple as well as he thought. His philosophy had dictated that as long as a student established a solid foundation and he was there to steadily guide them, success would follow like water downstream.


    As such, he had been livid after catching wind of Feng Wuyu¡¯s actions. That eccentric taught Tang Wulin about alloys, breaking the gradual pace he had set for his student. Yet before his eyes, Tang Wulin was forging the alloy without a hitch, his hands full of care and his craft methodical.


    At first glance, Mu Chen had thought his disciple would create the alloy by press forging, but now it was clear that would not be the case. He switched to spin forging, a far more demanding process.That said, in exchange for requiring more skill, taking longer, and consuming more soul power, it produced alloys with greater harmony and consistency.


    Normally, five soul rings were required to spin forge. Tang Wulin only had three. Nevertheless, he had been aware of this, and applied a trick in order to bypass this obstacle; by press forging it in the beginning, Tang Wulin treated the alloy to the point where he could finish the process with spin forging.


    And he had more than one trick up his sleeve.


    His hammers came crashing down nonstop, emitting light as the metal spun faster and faster.


    Is he alternating between using soul power and raw strength? Mu Chen stared in shock.


    Can he really succeed without soul power strengthening his body?


    Soul power was mainly used in forging to create a connection between blacksmith and metal. If the blacksmith stopped supplying soul power, however, the connection could hold for a while longer before sizzling out. Tang Wulin took advantage of this phenomenon, only working in bursts of pure strength. While it was mentally exhausting to maintain the residual connection, providing soul power at the cusp of its death, this technique saved him a wealth of soul power in the long run!


    Seconds ticked by. Then minutes. Yet not once did Tang Wulin pause in his time-consuming task. He needed to constantly adjust for the changes and harmonization of the two metals. It was taxing and sipped away at his soul power.


    An hour soon crept by. Tang Wulin¡¯s focus had not waned since the beginning, his mind and body working at optimal settings and his soul power dwindling at a steady rate. By carefully timing his switches and using the Mysterious Heaven Method, which had improved after he obtained his third soul ring, he could persist in spin forging.


    Astonishment practically dripped from Mu Chen¡¯s form. He had never thought his disciple was this advanced.


    Alloy forging was a completely different beast from spirit refining. While spirit refining taxed a blacksmith¡¯s mind, body, and soul power, alloy forging tested a blacksmith¡¯s technique and understanding of metal.


    Tang Wulin had spent three years polishing his thousand refining skills, which helped him build an exceptional foundation and an understanding of metal far beyond his same-ranked peers. He had unknowingly prepared for this the whole time.


    After two hours, Tang Wulin¡¯s forehead became slick with sweat, his body swaying from fatigue. Not much was left in his soul power reserves after three. Even so, the strikes of his hammer never stopped and the metal continued to spin.


    Sucking in a deep breath, Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze sharpened and his blood essence roared. His three purple soul rings, a golden one appearing in their place.


    His body shuddered in tune to the golden soul ring¡¯s radiant shine, his right arm swelling with strength. Golden scales rippled into existence across his arm and chest.


    With each stroke of the hammer, a hint of gold spread further into the white whirlpool of light gathering around the metal. The gold ate away at the white with every strike, and soon the whirlpool was a brilliant gold throughout.


    His unrestrained blood essence rose the temperature in the room several degrees. It coursed through his body so loudly even Mu Chen could hear it.


    Although Mu Chen had been aware of Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence soul ring, this was the first time he experienced for himself the extent in which Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence had strengthened since coming to Shrek Academy.


    If there was something Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t accomplish with three soul rings, then he would pull through with his blood essence soul ring and bodily strength!


    However, now that he activated Golden Dragon Body, he could no longer use the previous switching method to conserve soul power. He redoubled his efforts, his forging more touched of frenzy than ever before. Now whenever his hammers struck the metal, a radiant ring of light blossomed. Coupled with the golden whirlpool, the spectacle was more than awe-inspiring.


    Suddenly, Tang Wulin dropped one of his hammer-wielding arms and raised the other high into the air.


    ¡°Rise!¡± And he slammed his hammer down.


    A beam of light shot out of the metal toward the skies. The golden whirlpool accelerated its spin, a droning buzz filling the surrounding space.


    The light rose five feet into the air!


    For a moment it quivered, then tendrils of blue bloomed from its peak. A second later, a dragon¡¯s roar shook the room as golden light sprouted from the blue, rising another three feet in height.


    ¡°It¡¯s thousand refined with spirit, forged together to give rise to the spirit,¡± Mu Chen proclaimed.


    The label of first-grade thousand refined was different between alloys and homogeneous metals. An alloy becoming thousand refined with spirit marked the success of the metal fusion. Or at the very least, an initial success.


    A pleased smile formed on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. It was his first successful alloy forging since he began learning about them.


    The beam of light shooting from the metal represented its spirit rising and signified a successful alloy forging. That light only appeared when the metals completely fused while retaining their spirit. The act of spirit rising differed for every blacksmith as it was affected by their martial souls. Furthermore, the tendrils of blue light came from Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass and the golden light stemmed from his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    Since the golden light reached five feet into the air, it was clear as day that his Golden Dragon King bloodline eclipsed his bluesilver grass. The height of the light correlated with the degree of the metal¡¯s fusion and the characteristics of the soul master¡¯s martial soul. Generally,  a foot-tall light was considered rare. Yet Tang Wulin managed to get it to three feet. This was a blacksmithing miracle.


    The light of white, blue, and gold persisted for over twenty seconds before gradually dissipating.


    An oval lump of metal sat on the forging table. Its body glistened like jade, the cloud pattern within it dancing like mist. Even though it wasn¡¯t spirit refined, it was full of life, a silver aura hovering around it.


    This was jade silver!


    Mu Chen stood up from his seat, grabbed the metal, and placed it in an apparatus. ¡°The harmony rate is ninety-one percent,¡± he declared.


    ¡°Only ninety-one percent?¡± Tang Wulin thought his forging had been perfect and was disappointed by how far he was from one hundred percent.


    Mu Chen¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°Only? What do you think alloy forging is? Just a sixty percent harmony rate is enough to be considered a success, and with every five percent increase, the level of the metal also increases. The ninety-one percent harmony rate isn¡¯t due to solely your blacksmithing skills. No, it¡¯s also influenced by your martial soul and bloodline. Without those two, you never would have been able to produce something of this calibre.¡±


    Kid, that¡¯s a ninety-one percent harmony rate! Even a Saint Blacksmith like me isn¡¯t guaranteed to produce this kind of feat!


    Of course, Mu Chen didn¡¯t forge alloys as easy as jade silver. In addition, heavy silver and magic silver shared many of the same qualities, which eased the alloy forging process. However, Tang Wulin was only thirteen years old! Once again, he set a new record in the blacksmithing world!


    Before he could think further, a voice derailed his thoughts.


    ¡°Teacher, can I keep this piece of jade silver?¡± asked Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 349 - Saint Blacksmiths Notebook

    Chapter 349 - Saint Blacksmith''s Notebook


    Mu Chen glanced at the jade silver in Tang Wulin''s hands and then switched his attention to his student. "Of course you can take it," he said.


    This piece of jade silver was first-grade thousand refined. Normally, the grade of the metal was finalized after the first forging, but alloys were different. If the alloys forged still retained their life, then they could be reforged a second or third time. The higher the grade of the alloy, the more times this was possible. By the second forging, most blacksmiths were able to grasp the essence of the metal and bring out it¡¯s true potential. Compared to most spirit refined metals, the jade silver in Tang Wulin¡¯s hands was far more valuable.


    Mu Chen¡¯s stare grew blank. He was at a loss, unsure how to progress with his student¡¯s instruction.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s success proved the validity of Feng Wuyu¡¯s teaching methods. After a few short days of lectures, he was able to fuse forge. His next step was to polish his technique and practice forging more alloys. Spirit refining would naturally follow, and by the way things were looking he would become a sixth-rank blacksmith in no more than three years. Not only that, Tang Wulin made up for his lacking soul power with his blood essence soul ring, and coupled with his powerful draconic bloodline, he was stronger than other blacksmiths.


    Now this was what it meant to be gifted! He belonged at Shrek Academy truly, no doubt about it.  Only here could his monstrous talent blossom into a stunning flower.


    ¡°Take this.¡± Mu Chen retrieved from his storage ring a book and handed it over


    Tang Wulin accepted the book. He inspected it, noticing its lack of any titles.


    ¡°This notebook contains everything I know about spirit refining and alloy forging.¡± Mu Chen watched as the sound of his words brought his student¡¯s line of sight back to his own. ¡°I was going to wait for you to become more familiar with spirit refining before giving it to you, but it seems you¡¯re ready.


    ¡°Honestly speaking, you¡¯re growing faster than I ever expected. Once you reach a certain level, there wouldn¡¯t be much I can do for you besides warning you if you ever stray down the wrong path. Never forget that your perception and efforts are crucial to advancing as a blacksmith. Take a look through the notebook when you have some time. Every blacksmith has their own forging style, so cross-reference it with both Feng Wuyu¡¯s and your own. Keep it safe and don¡¯t lose it. I wrote some of my secret alloy formulas in there. You can¡¯t let anyone else read it, understood?¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Tang Wulin gazed at the notebook like it was a treasure. Its pages contained all of an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith¡¯s knowledge pertaining to spirit refining and alloy forging! Not to mention, secret formulas. It was truly priceless no matter how anyone thought of it..


    Mu Chen smiled warmly at Tang Wulin¡¯s gentle handling of the notebook. ¡°This is all I can give you for now. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re busy with various things at Shrek Academy, so you don¡¯t have to visit me so often in the future. Just come once a month. Feng Wuyu¡¯s teachings won¡¯t be any worse than mine. Study the contents of the book, focus on deepening your comprehension of blacksmithing, and find your own path. Think of spirit refining as gathering your strength and soul refining as taking flight. But I don¡¯t want you to be anxious to become a Saint Blacksmith. Build a solid foundation in the spirit refining stage, just like you did for thousand refining. That way, you¡¯ll be able to immediately grasp the meaning of soul refining when it comes time. The stronger your foundation, the higher your chances of becoming a Divine Blacksmith.¡±


    A flash of light, and another object appeared in Mu Chen¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Here. This is your new blacksmith¡¯s badge.¡± A pleased smile formed on his lips.


    Compared to Tang Wulin¡¯s current one, which was orange in color with four yellow stars, this badge showcased five twinkling purple stars peppering a white background. It was the noble and elegant badge of a fifth-rank blacksmith.


    In other words, those five stars represented a grandmaster blacksmith!


    Tang Wulin  carefully exchanged his old one with the five-star badge. The moment his fingers grazed the surface, he felt a cool breeze enveloping his body. His concentration grew. The badge felt heavy in his hands, at least twice as heavy as his old badge.


    ¡°Five-star badges are all forged by Saint Blacksmiths. I personally forged yours and added a soul circuit. More specifically, a focus circuit. It clears and invigorates your mind. Wearing the badge will help your spiritual power grow and increase your concentration when you forge. I soul refined the stars on the badge. That way, you can inspect them and have a glimpse of what soul refined metal feels like. I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be helpful for your development.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t keep his eyes off the badge, marvelling at it. After a moment of hesitation, he finally put it on and hid it under his clothes.


    The cool breeze spread to the rest of his body, his mind sharpening and his perception expanding from three meters in range to five. I


    Although Mu Chen had explained the uniqueness of the badge in simple terms, it was far from that. Tang Wulin¡¯s strong mind and the added effects of the badge brought him to a shocking revelation: his spiritual power was now on par with those in the Spirit Sea realm.


    Teacher went through all the trouble just to make this for me!


    ¡°I¡¯ll add another star for you once you get to the sixth rank.¡± Mu Chen smiled.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin grinned.


    ¡°How did Elder Feng assess your blacksmithing skills?¡±


    Tang Wulin hesitated then lowered his head, not knowing how to answer.


    Mu Chen stared at Tang Wulin in surprise. ¡°What? Was he dissatisfied with you?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°He¡¯s not dissatisfied. He just always says I¡¯m a slow learner and stupid.¡±


    ¡°Is he crazy?¡± Mu Chen blurted out, realizing how inappropriate his comment was a moment later. ¡°My bad. I¡¯m not trying to insult him. I think Elder Feng is treating you like this because of how highly he values you. Therefore, his expectations are similarly high. Since you succeeded in forging an alloy, it¡¯s clear that his teaching methods aren¡¯t wrong.¡±


    Mu Chen kept his more negative thoughts hidden. He thinks Wulin is stupid? Then are there any smart blacksmiths at all? Wait, isn¡¯t he also insulting me then?


    ?


    After stepping foot outside the building, Tang Wulin felt invigorated by the effects of his new badge. He was now officially a fifth-rank blacksmith. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth when he thought about the jade silver he forged. It was definitely worth loads of money.


    Despite successfully forging a few alloys during Feng Wuyu¡¯s instruction, he had not been permitted to keep them. The old man had kept them all. It wasn¡¯t unreasonable, however, since Feng Wuyu provided the metal for him to practice with. Moreover, forging alloys was the same as spirit refining. Failure resulted in a useless spiritless metal.


    The jade silver was the first alloy Tang Wulin had been allowed to keep.


    By the time he returned to his dormitory, the sun had set beyond the horizon. He didn¡¯t head to the dining hall at once as he grew accustomed to late-night meals. By arriving later, he could avoid becoming a spectacle, the working student with a bottomless pit for a stomach.


    The trees rustled in a gentle night breeze, the cool scent of evening dew filling his nostrils. Shrek Academy was marvelous. Tang Wulin had come to fall in love with this place even with his hectic cultivation schedule. He was certain that he would enjoy his time here even more if he weren¡¯t so busy.


    The working student dormitory was as spotless as usual, not a single speck of dust to be seen. Instead of returning to his own room, he paid Yue Zhengyu a visit.


    Tang Wulin knocked on the door. ¡°Anyone home?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu opened it, peeking his head through the crack. ¡°Come in.¡± Then he turned around and walked back to his desk without another word.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being too cold? I only switched out one of the items from our previous agreement,¡± said Tang Wulin, smiling.


    After his breakthrough, Tang Wulin had visited Yue Zhengyu to amend his order, requesting the spirit items needed for his fourth seal instead. However, Yue Zhengyu had already obtained one of the spirit items he had originally asked for and was furious. The whole event created a rift between them.


    ¡°It¡¯s shameful to not keep your word and alter the conditions at the last moment.¡± Yue Zhengyu spat, jaws clenched..


    Tang Wulin scratched his chin in embarrassment. ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice. Besides, didn¡¯t I lower the terms for you? It was originally two spirit items but now it¡¯s one. I¡¯m losing out a lot as well.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit. The two spirit items you originally requested were both one-thousand-year, but now you want something that¡¯s two-thousand-year. You really have the gall to say you¡¯re taking a loss?¡± Yue Zhengyu glared at him.


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°Alright, alright. How about I just give you one piece of meteoric iron, and you don¡¯t have to pay me anything anymore? We¡¯ll just call it even.¡±


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 350 - Shocked

    Chapter 350 - Shocked


    Yue Zhengyu was taken aback by Tang Wulin¡¯s suggestion. ¡°Really?¡± Such an offer was definitely in his favor. First-grade thousand refined meteoric iron was one of the best materials he could hope for to make his one-word battle armor, and all the better if it was free!


    True to his word, Tang Wulin retrieved a piece of meteoric iron from his storage ring and handed it over.


    Yue Zhengyu accepted it, inspecting it with a sharp eye. The way light reflected off the metal confirmed it was the real deal, and he gulped as his surprise grew.


    ¡°And here I thought you were a stingy person. I would never have expected you to be so generous! Let¡¯s do as you said and call it even between us. Also, if you make any good stuff in the future¡­¡±


    He almost swallowed his tongue as Tang Wulin unbuttoned his shirt, revealing something white beneath. It was a dazzling five-starred badge..


    That¡¯s!


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets. He pounced on Tang Wulin and ripped open his shirt.


    At that very moment, Xie Xie happened to be passing by Yue Zhengyu¡¯s room, a bucket of water in his arms. His attention strayed to the window, and he caught a glimpse of the scene within.


    Huh? Isn¡¯t that Wulin? What¡¯s he doing in Yue Zhengyu¡¯s room?


    From his perspective, Xie Xie could only see Tang Wulin from behind. Then he nearly yelped in surprise when he saw Yue Zhengyu crash into Tang Wulin and tear his shirt open like a madman. And most shockingly of all, drop his head to a very suspicious level.


    What the hell are they doing?


    Then it hit him like a speeding bullet. N-no way! It couldn¡¯t be¡­


    ¡°Oi! Just what are you trying to do?¡± Tang Wulin shoved Yue Zhengyu off of him, recoiling back as he covered himself.


    ¡°Fifth rank? Y-you¡¯re a fifth-rank blacksmith?¡± Yue Zhengyu could hardly believe it. In the brief moment he had come in contact with the badge, he felt its energy and knew it was a genuine fifth-rank badge forged by a Saint Blacksmith. A scion of the Holy Angel clan, he definitely wouldn¡¯t be wrong about such thing. Not when there were seventh-rank craftsmen in his family.


    For every profession, the fifth rank existed as a great divider that separated peasants from lords. The moment a blacksmith hit the fifth rank, their status increased a hundredfold! At that rank they could forge spirit refined metals, material that served as the foundation of two-word battle armors! But in the face of all this, all Yue Zhengyu could think about was Tang Wulin¡¯s age. Despite being a few years his junior, Tang Wulin had reached the fifth rank!


    This¡­ Yue Zhengyu¡¯s heart lurched, and countless thoughts flooded his mind in an instant. He was certain that Tang Wulin was the youngest fifth-rank blacksmith in history!


    ¡°Yeah, so? If that¡¯s all you wanted to talk about, I¡¯m leaving.¡± However, just as Tang Wulin turned away, an object fell out of his sleeve.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes darted to the object.


    Isn¡¯t that jade silver?


    Meteoric iron was precious, but in no way could it compare to jade silver, an alloy!


    ¡°I-is this a spirit alloy? Yue Zhengyu asked, bending to pick it up. Tang Wulin was a step ahead of him, however, and he snatched it from the floor..


    ¡°D-did you forge that?¡± The words tumbled out of Yue Zhengyu¡¯s mouth.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°Yes, though it was a fluke. I can¡¯t even remember how many times I failed before I succeeded in forging that. The harmony rate isn¡¯t that great.¡±


    ¡°How high is it?¡± Yue Zhengyu asked, suspicious.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. My teacher just said it isn¡¯t that high.¡±


    If Mu Chen were present to witness this exchange, he would be struck speechless. Never in a million years would he have guessed that his treasured disciple possessed such a cunning side.


    ¡°Let me have it. I can deliver it to my family and have them check. It¡¯s important to know exactly how high the harmony rate is, you know.¡±¡±


    ¡°I can just check it at the Blacksmith¡¯s Association,¡± said Tang Wulin..


    Yue Zhengyu didn¡¯t flinch. ¡°You still don¡¯t trust me?¡±


    A chuckle escaped from Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Alright then.¡± He handed the jade silver to Yue Zhengyu, departing with a wave goodbye.


    Yue Zhengyu resolved himself as he took in Tang Wulin¡¯s departing figure.


    If he really can forge alloys, then I need to form a relationship with him no matter the cost. It¡¯ll be worth it!


    By the time Tang Wulin was out the door, his face had morphed into a pleased smirk. His charade wasn¡¯t for the sake of teasing Yue Zhengyu, but to manipulate him in an effort to carve out a good relationship between them. Tang Wulin still remembered how haughty Yue Zhengyu had acted the day they first met, throwing his weight around and purchasing a drink shop to get a girl¡¯s number. The Holy Angel clan must be wealthy and influential, a great help in acquiring spirit items he would later need.


    There were eighteen Golden Dragon King seals, each one stronger than the previous.  Each required spirit items more expensive than the last to break. Fortunately,Tang Wulin shattered his third seal without paying anything, but the process still required a ten-thousand-year spirit item! He couldn¡¯t rely on luck or the free gifts of others. He had to prepare to buy what he needed himself.


    Only by becoming a great blacksmith could he afford the materials needed to cultivate, break the seals, and preserve his life! Because of this, blacksmithing had crawled its way to the top of his priority list without him realizing.


    Every seal he broke made him more powerful, but poor as he was and struggling to buy the items needed, he feared more for his life. The strength the Golden Dragon King offered him was as dangerous as it was great. Failing to shatter a seal would mean death!


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t for the life of him guess what he would need to break the later seals. Just the fourth required spirit items of the two to three-thousand-year level. Perhaps ten-thousand-year spirit items before the ninth seal were in order. But then there was the problem of finding them.


    For now, he had to prepare for the future.


    His stomach wailed midstep. Even if the sky shattered to pieces and fell tomorrow, food always came first!


    Tucked within the shadows, Xie Xie watched Tang Wulin march for the dining hall, face twisted into a grimace. He glanced behind him, zooming in on Yue Zhengyu¡¯s room, gulping. He fled.


    After eating dinner, Tang Wulin returned straight to the working students dormitory. Finished forging for the day, he planned to extend his cultivation period for the night.


    Instead of walking to his room however, he made a detour once he stepped inside, heading for the grove behind the dormitory. It was a quiet place, generally untouched by the hubbub of many people living under the same roof. More often than not, he was the only person there.


    Tang Wulin stood in the center, basking in the tranquility of the forest, silently adjusting his soul power and blood essence.


    Little by little the range of his perception expanded, and he became in every sense of the word aware of the surrounding plants. He could feel the life pulsing from them, their simple emotions. Joy. Anger. Fear. He could feel it all.


    Although bluesilver grass was not strong in the traditional sense, it enabled him to connect the the world of plants. In addition to his increased cultivation speed, his perception range grew in this state as well.


    Not only that, because he was also a fifth-rank blacksmith, which had raised his spiritual power, his senses were especially sharp today. He could hear the murmuring voices of the trees, the gurgling of the blood within his veins. The powerful and rhythmic beat of his heart that pumped the scarlet liquid of life throughout his body.


    Tang Wulin took pleasure in those sensations.


    He slowly swung his hands in circles, a gentle breeze lingering in their wake. Pure white light emitted from them. It was the soul power of the Mysterious Heaven Method, and circles of the same white light formed with the movement of his hands.


    And Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon kicked into action.

 Chapter 351 - The Right Path

    Chapter 351 - The Right Path


    A golden soul ring appeared around Tang Wulin, bathing him in its glow. He activated Golden Dragon Body, and the ring¡¯s glow intensified, enveloping his figure with brilliant light. His aura surged forth blood essence flooded through his body, filling it with strength. Then his hands slowed down, and the flow of his blood essence reversed. He pulled one hand back toward him, then moved both of them along a peculiar path. As he did, his blood essence became more potent, and the golden light around him grew even more radiant. The faint roar of a dragon broke the quiet of the forest. It didn¡¯t come from Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth, but instead resonated from his blood essence. Despite how soft the roar was, its oppressive might was clear.


    It sounded as if a slumbering dragon were awakening.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hands continued to move slower and slower and the draconic roar grew weaker. After ten minutes, the roar faded into silence and his blood essence returned to normal.


    He let out a long breath, then shook his head. This isn¡¯t how it went!


    Ever since Zhuo Shi showed Tang Wulin Dragon Shocks the Heavens, he had been practicing it every day after dinner. He had determined that his blood essence was the most potent around that time. However, he had yet to succeed in mimicking Zhuo Shi movements even once.


    It was hard for Tang Wulin to control his blood essence. When he practiced, his heartbeat would accelerate, and his blood essence would surge through his meridians, filling them to the brim and straining his body. Despite all the progress he had made thus far, Tang Wulin could only succeed in circulating his blood essence one-third of the way. Even so, he felt his blood essence grow thicker every time, toughening up his meridians, muscles, and viscera. He was certain that this would aid him in breaking future Golden Dragon King seals. The only unfortunate side effect was that his appetite had grown as well.


    It was then that Tang Wulin understood just how much he needed to thank Feng Wuyu. If he hadn¡¯t met that crazy old man, he would still be wracking his brains trying to figure out how to feed himself every day. With that taken care of, he could wholeheartedly throw himself into cultivating and blacksmithing!


    After his blood essence settled, Tang Wulin sat down and began practicing the Mysterious Heaven Method. Cultivating in the forest allowed him to put in half the work for twice the benefits!


    ?


    Back in their dorm room, Xie Xie paced back and forth, struggling with indecision. In the end, he resolved himself and walked over to the curtain dividing the room. ¡°Come here for a second, Gu Yue. I have something I need to talk to you about.¡±


    Gu Yue was usually gone in the afternoons, be it to draft battle armor designs or go to wherever she usually disappeared to, but it was evening now, and she had returned not too long ago.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Gu Yue answered with suspicion, but got up and walked over to Xie Xie nonetheless.


    ¡°Can I listen too?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    ¡°No way,¡± Xie Xie said firmly.


    Xu Xiaoyan clicked her tongue. ¡°Why are you being so mysterious? I¡¯m going to tell Captain about this when he gets back!¡±


    Xie Xie followed Gu Yue out of the room. After glancing around for a moment, Xie Xie led her toward a quieter location.


    The nervousness on Xie Xie¡¯s face piqued Gu Yue¡¯s curiosity. He called me out so seriously... Just what does he want to talk about?


    Soon enough, they arrived in a secluded area, and Gu Yue spoke up. ¡°So, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Listen to what I have to say, Gu Yue, but don¡¯t be mad¡­¡± Xie Xie said anxiously.


    Gu Yue frowned. ¡°Out with it already! What do I have to be mad about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like this¡­¡± Just as he was about to speak, he looked into her doubtful eyes and deflated like a balloon. ¡°Oh, nevermind. Just forget about it. Let¡¯s head back.¡±


    He turned around to leave for their dorm room, but Gu Yue grabbed his arm. ¡°Don¡¯t just hum and haw like that. If you have something to say, spit it out. Are you even a man, or were you just pestering me with your chirping?¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s mouth twitched. Then he gulped. ¡°Okay, fine. I¡¯ve been thinking about this all day and wasn¡¯t sure if I should tell you, but I¡¯ll just say it. We¡¯re still young, so we still have a lot to look forward to in the future.¡±


    ¡°What are you on about?¡± Gu Yue stared at him in complete bewilderment.


    Xie Xie gathered his resolve, his chest puffing out courageously, when he suddenly saw someone enter their dormitory.


    Yuanen Yehui walked by, wearing a male uniform as usual. She saw Xie Xie and Gu Yue, and Xie Xie saw her. She stared at them in surprise.


    ¡°Out with it already!¡± Gu Yue shouted, growing impatient.


    ¡°Shush! I¡¯ll tell you in a bit.¡± Xie Xie gestured to Gu Yue, indicating that Yuanen Yehui was present.


    Then Gu Yue saw her and acknowledged her with a nod. Yuanen Yehui responded with a cold nod of her own and left with large strides.


    Xie Xie let out a deep breath, regaining his composure, and moved to whisper into Gu Yue¡¯s ear, but she pushed him away. ¡°You can tell me from over there,¡± she said.


    ¡°Why do you have to be so difficult!¡± Xie Xie said grumpily.


    Gu Yue raised an eyebrow. ¡°Who¡¯s the annoying one between the two of us? Are you going to tell me or not?¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯ll tell you now.¡± Xie Xie looked around, checking for any eavesdroppers. ¡°Wulin and Yue Zhengyu have an improper relationship with each other!¡±


    Quite a distance away, Yuanen Yehui was just about to enter her room. Her was hand on the doorknob when her ear suddenly twitched and she went stiff.


    Meanwhile, Gu Yue just stood there in utter stupefaction. She regarded Xie Xie with a blank stare. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®improper relationship¡¯?¡±


    Xie Xie lowered his voice. ¡°Do I really need to explain? It¡¯s exactly as you think. I never expected Captain to swing that way, but he¡¯s still young! I¡¯m sure we can still bring him back to the correct path. If I¡¯m not mistaken, you like him, right? We need to think of a way to fix this. Maybe there¡¯s some remedy for it. If we can¡¯t fix it, then Captain is¡­¡±


    Gu Yue took an unsteady step backward. ¡°N-no way! He never showed any signs of that! That¡¯s impossible! Are you sure you¡¯re not just imagining it?¡±


    Xie Xie grimaced. ¡°I saw Captain in Yue Zhengyu¡¯s room today. Yue Zhengyu tore his clothes from him, and it looked like he was rubbing him somewhere near his stomach. I didn¡¯t see anything more than that, but it was clear to me¡­¡±


    Gu Yue immediately went pale. Without another word, she ran like the wind, heading straight for the grove. Left behind, Xie Xie scratched his head awkwardly. He saw where she was running off to, and worry welled up inside of him. He let out a long sigh. ¡°Captain, I¡¯m doing this for your sake. We might be free to do whatever we want here, but if you do that, Gu Yue would just be too pitiful.¡±


    Gu Yue rushed toward the grove like a mad gale, fully aware that this was where Tang Wulin meditated every day. She was certain that he was there right now. The moment she entered the grove, she found Tang Wulin sitting at its center.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin cried out in surprise. ¡°Gu Yue?¡±


    Gu Yue approached him in an instant, grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt, and shook him. ¡°Why? Why are you doing this?¡±


    The shaking addled Tang Wulin¡¯s brain and it took him a moment to get over his confusion. ¡°What? What did I do?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s lips quivered, her face ghostly white as she stared at him with soulless eyes. ¡°Why do you like men? What¡¯s so good about men? Tell me! Why!¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned. ¡°Who told you I like guys? Where¡¯d you get that idea? Gu Yue, why are you thinking about such things at our age? We¡¯re students! Our job is to diligently study and cultivate. Aren¡¯t we working toward becoming battle armor masters? Just what has been going on in that head of yours?¡±


    His words left her in a daze. ¡°B-but... Xie Xie said you¡­¡± Then she suddenly realized something. She was far more familiar with Tang Wulin than Xie Xie was, and she was certain he had never shown any signs of veering toward that path. Realizing the error of her impulsive actions, she blushed a furious crimson. This misunderstanding had caused her to embarrass herself.


    She bit her lower lip, then stammered out what Xie Xie had told her.


    ¡°Xie¡­ Xie¡­¡± Tang Wulin seethed with anger. Now that he knew who caused this commotion, he turned toward the dorm and flew off.


    Gu Yue stood there in a daze, watching Tang Wulin leave. After a moment, she couldn¡¯t help but giggle. ¡°His angry face is cute too.¡±


    Tang Wulin burst through the door to their dorm room, his face a stone mask devoid of emotion. Xie Xie looked up to see who had arrived, concern flashing on his face when he saw that it was Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Captain, did you see Gu Yue?¡± Xie Xie asked. ¡°She was just looking for you.¡±

 Chapter 352 - Tower Attack

    Chapter 352 - Tower Attack


    ¡°Yeah, I saw her.¡± Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Xie Xie, I really have to thank you for what you did. How about we go out for a moment and you explain what happened? We¡¯re good brothers, aren¡¯t we? There shouldn¡¯t be any misunderstandings between us.¡±


    Upon hearing Tang Wulin¡¯s words, Xie Xie sighed in relief. He shot up from his bed and followed Tang Wulin outside.


    Just beyond the curtain dividing the room, Xu Xiaoyan stared at the door in confusion. ¡°What happened today? They¡¯re all acting so strange.¡±


    After closing the door behind them, Tang Wulin headed for a secluded location with Xie Xie in tow.


    ¡°Captain, it¡¯s good that we¡¯re getting this matter out in the open,¡± Xie Xie said as they walked. ¡°It¡¯s easy to get confused at our age, and Yue Zhengyu isn¡¯t a good guy either. If it weren¡¯t for him, would the misunderstanding between Yuanen and I have occurred? Well, don¡¯t worry! I won¡¯t tell anyone your secret. Actually, I have nothing against you for having that kind of preference, but I still think girls are the best. So, what did you want to tell me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Tang Wulin replied. ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    They soon turned a bend, arriving in the forest that separated the working student dormitory and Spirit Ice Plaza.


    Xie Xie wore a carefree smile as he walked over to Tang Wulin and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°You really scared me though! So what happened between you and Yue Zhengyu today? I happened to catch a glimpse of you two while I ran some errands, otherwise I¡¯d still be in the dark¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled in response, but it didn¡¯t quite show in his eyes.


    ¡°C-captain, what are you doing?¡±  A shiver ran down Xie Xie¡¯s spine, and he stumbled backward. Fear and suspicion began creeping into his heart. ¡°Hey! Didn¡¯t you say you were going to explain things to me?¡±


    Tang Wulin cracked his knuckles. ¡°Explain things your ass!¡±


    ¡°Ah! No! Captain, please! Have mercy!¡±


    Miserable screams pierced the serenity of night¡¯s embrace.


    ?


    Back at the dorm, Gu Yue entered her room and flopped onto her bed. She thrust her face, still flushed crimson, into her blankets.


    ¡°Big Sis Gu Yue, you¡¯re finally finished? What is it that all of you are hiding?¡±  Xu Xiaoyan asked, pouting. ¡°I thought we were friends!¡±


    Gu Yue glanced at her. ¡°If you don¡¯t know¡­ that¡¯s probably for the best. Where¡¯s Xie Xie?¡±


    ¡°Captain came back and took him outside to talk. He said he had to explain something to Xie Xie¡­ to clear up some sort of misunderstanding? What¡¯s that all about?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked curiously.


    After a moment of hesitation, Gu Yue went over to Xu Xiaoyan and whispered into her ear.


    The longer Xu Xiaoyan listened, the wider her eyes opened. They eventually got to the point where they were almost popping out of their sockets. ¡°N-no way! Xie Xie¡¯s just talking out of his ass! I bet he¡¯s feeling miserable right about now.¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°No, not just miserable. He probably regrets being alive at all!¡±


    Half an hour later, Tang Wulin walked in with Xie Xie slung over his shoulder. He threw Xie Xie onto his bed, snorted, then climbed into his own.


    Silence reigned on the other side of the curtain.


    Xie Xie¡¯s face twitched with pain as he lay on his bed. No bruises or wounds could be seen on his body, but his convulsing limbs betrayed his suffering.


    Then, without warning, Gu Yue¡¯s voice cut through the air.


    ¡°Xie Xie... don¡¯t you need to explain things to me as well?¡±


    The ice in Gu Yue¡¯s voice made Xie Xie¡¯s eyes open wide. His entire body began to spasm violently, and terror grasped his heart.


    The remainder of the evening passed quietly. The usual chirping of crickets couldn¡¯t be heard. Instead, a constant slap of fist against flesh softly resounded in its place, the calming rhythm lasting well into the night.


    ?


    Early the next morning, Gu Yue returned to the dorm just as Tang Wulin and Xu Xiaoyan finished practicing with their Purple Demon Eyes. Her entire being seemed refreshed and free of all pent up stress. She walked over to Tang Wulin and Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Wulin, I made a few inquiries at the Spirit Pagoda for Xiaoyan and discovered that students at Shrek Academy can get spirit souls by means other than purchasing them. There¡¯s even a way to get higher quality spirit souls. Considering Xiaoyan¡¯s situation, she absolutely has to get a thousand-year spirit soul, but such a spirit soul would cost an astronomically high price and it isn¡¯t even guaranteed that she¡¯ll get one that¡¯s suitable. There¡¯s another method to get spirit souls at the Spirit Pagoda, but it¡¯s much more difficult than simply gathering funds.¡±


    ¡°Oh? What method is that?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xu Xiaoyan, on the other hand, stared at the two of them with a strange look on her face. The way they acted, pretending as if the song of pain from last night hadn¡¯t been sung, clearly surprised her.


    ¡°The tower attack,¡± Gu Yue answered. ¡°The Spirit Pagoda has it set up so that it¡¯s possible to get a thousand-year spirit soul from the tower attack. They built a spirit soul tower with 108 floors and different defense mechanisms on each one. If we conquer a floor, we¡¯ll get the opportunity to purchase the spirit soul found on that floor at a fifty percent discount.


    ¡°There are only two types of people who can do the tower attack: members of the Spirit Pagoda or prodigies that the Spirit Pagoda has bestowed its approval upon. I can help Xiaoyan with getting approved, but I can¡¯t help her clear the tower myself.


    ¡°Since different soul masters need different kinds of spirit souls, and also taking support-type soul masters into account, the Spirit Pagoda allows the tower attack to be done in teams of up to seven people. As a result, the difficulty is also tailored to fit a seven-man team. The first eighteen floors are filled with thousand-year spirit souls, but the strength of those souls increases with every floor. The Spirit Pagoda has populated each floor from the eighteenth to the thirty-sixth with ten-thousand year spirit souls that it has collected over the years. Hundred-thousand-year spirit souls can be found from the thirty-sixth floor onward, and the final nine floors supposedly contain the spirit souls of the strongest soul beasts to ever exist.


    ¡°The Spirit Pagoda only allows soul masters aged thirty or under to participate in the tower attack, so even a member of the Spirit Pagoda like me won¡¯t be able to enter the tower to get spirit souls once they pass the age of  thirty. From then on, we¡¯ll have to buy them. I heard that Shrek Academy also has a way to grant spirit souls, but that privilege is reserved for those in the inner court. Right now, our best bet is to gather some people to help Xiaoyan clear the tower. It¡¯ll be a learning experience for us as well. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°No problem!¡± Tang Wulin replied instantly. ¡°Of course I¡¯ll help.¡±


    ¡°Ugh. How come I never knew about something as great as that until now¡­¡± a voice groaned from the side of the room, and a person walked over.


    It was Xie Xie, but his face was so bloody and swollen that, if the others hadn¡¯t known him for years, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to recognize him. Tang Wulin had shown him some mercy by avoiding his face when he beat him, but Gu Yue hadn¡¯t been nearly as kind.


    Gu Yue glanced at Xie Xie. ¡°I only found out after coming here. The tower attack is only available here at the headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda, and no other spirit soul tower exists on the continent. Even the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s staff members need to undergo strict audits before they can be approved for entry.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°It¡¯s settled then. When do you want to go?¡±


    ¡°The audits will take several days, so I think our next day off should work,¡± Gu Yue interjected. ¡°We still need to prepare and find three more people. If we want to get as far up the tower as we can, we¡¯ll need a full team of seven. Wulin, I¡¯ll let you handle the search for more team members. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find the best people to join us.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go think about who to invite. Are there any specific requirements for our teammates?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. The ages of everyone on the team have to fall within a range of three years.¡±


    Tang Wulin furrowed his brow. The first person to pop into his mind was Wu Zhangkong. He knew for a fact that their teacher had yet to turn thirty. If they could bring him, then the first eighteen floors would pose no problem. However, it was clear that the Spirit Pagoda has foreseen such situations and created rules to prevent people from gaming the system.


    ¡°Then we can only invite people from our grade or the second grade.¡±


    ¡°How about Yuanen Yehui?¡± Xie Xie flubbed with his swollen face. Tang Wulin looked him in the eye. She¡¯d be a pretty good choice, but... considering how rocky our relationship is at the moment, would she agree to come?

 Chapter 353 - Ninety-one Percent

    Chapter 353 - Ninety-one Percent


    Although Yuanen Yehui only had three soul rings, she was a force to be reckoned with. In fact, with her two great martial souls, the likelihood of her strength surpassing the four-ringed Wu Siduo¡¯s was high.


    ¡°Let me think about it first. If we¡¯re looking for someone from our class, then Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, and Yang Nianxia each fit the bill. But if we want someone from the second grade, then our choice is cut short to only Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu.¡±


    This event was a rare opportunity that would be packed full of new experiences. It was set in stone that the four teammates from the original class zero would be going together. For the last three spots on their team, however, Tang Wulin would choose from a pool of six people.


    After mulling it over some more, he was hit with a sudden idea, his eyes lighting up.


    However, he didn¡¯t voice it for now.


    ¡°Captain,¡± whispered Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t really want to ask for help from people in our class.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at her in bewilderment. ¡°How come?¡±


    ¡°Everyone in our class is competing against each other, and at the end of the academic year, ten percent of the class will be expelled. I don¡¯t want to reveal the spirit soul I obtain or my Starwheel Ice Staff so early. Besides, we can do the tower attack whenever we want. I don¡¯t want to put myself in a disadvantageous situation before the end of the term.¡± Due to Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s weakness in one-on-one combat, she had to be especially prudent, hiding several tricks up her sleeve.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°That makes sense. Then we¡¯re down to only Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu. We¡¯re still missing one person. It¡¯s fine though, I have someone in mind. If he¡¯s up for going, then he¡¯ll be a major asset to our team.¡±


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked curiously.


    Taking care to look for eavesdroppers, Tang Wulin whispered a name to his companions. As the words left his lips, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes glistened and Gu Yue and Xie Xie gestured their approval.


    ¡°Alright, now I¡¯ll see if I can persuade Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu.¡±


    ¡°Mn. Okay.¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin banged on the door.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Yue Zhengyu called out from inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s me!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu opened the door, still wearing his pajamas, eyes full of sleep. He stifled a yawn. ¡°Why are you bugging me so early in the morning? What do you want?¡±


    ¡°I have something I want to talk with you about.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Come on in.¡± Yue Zhengyu ushered Tang Wulin into his room. The difference between his current attitude and yesterday¡¯s was day and night.


    ¡°So, how did the appraisal go?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu rolled his eyes. ¡°Just how greedy do you think I am!¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°What? You¡¯re a scion of the Holy Angel clan. Why would I be afraid of you stealing from poor little me?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s laugh was sharp as a knife. ¡°I see now. Wulin, shouldn¡¯t we be good brothers to each other?¡± As he said this, he moved to wrap his arm around Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    Tang Wulin sidestepped in one fluid motion, dodging the incoming physical contact. His plan to reveal his status as a fifth-rank blacksmith yesterday had worked out perfectly, minus Xie Xie getting the wrong idea. With the mishap fresh on his mind, Tang Wulin was desperate not to act in a way that would birth a new misunderstanding. His reputation couldn¡¯t take another hit.


    ¡°If you have something to say, then say it. Don¡¯t go groping me.¡± Tang Wulin glared.


    Taking a step back, Yue Zhengyu said, ¡°Alright, so it¡¯s like this. I had your jade silver appraised and I found out its harmony rate is really high. Ninety-one percent! Are you sure you¡¯re the one who forged it?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Then can you forge more metals with the same quality?¡±


    ¡°How would I know? The harmony rate is affected by my mood that day, the quality of the metal, and all sorts of other tiny factors. Do you have any idea how hard it is to forge spirit alloys?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu let out a dark laugh. ¡°Of course, of course. That¡¯s good then. I want to order a large batch of jade silver from you, but they must have at least a ninety percent harmony rate. You can set the opening price, contribution points or spirit items, you name it. How does that sound?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll let me set the opening price?¡± He stared at Yue Zhengyu, eyes wide.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to think about this. But even if I do agree, I can¡¯t guarantee success. It¡¯s too hard to forge alloys with above a ninety percent harmony rate. I don¡¯t have the money to buy all the raw materials either.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll supply you with the raw materials.¡± Yue Zhengyu fired back, flaunting his riches.


    ¡°I¡¯ll trade the spirit item you asked for the other day for your piece of jade silver. I¡¯ll also put down a thousand kilograms each of high-grade heavy silver and magic silver for you to forge into jade silver. But you¡¯ll have to sign a contract that stipulates any pieces above a ninety percent harmony rate will be sold to me. We can discuss a price later. How about it?¡±


    ¡°Things are a bit more complicated than that,¡± Tang Wulin countered. ¡°I¡¯ll trade you the jade silver now and we can discuss the price for the future jade silver later on.¡± Although that piece of jade silver was very valuable, it was only thousand refined. Its price would skyrocket if it were spirit refined. That said, it was about as valuable as the meteoric iron he had sold Yue Zhengyu in the past, definitely worth a two-thousand-year spirit item.


    ¡°Alright, the heavy silver and magic silver will be delivered to you within three days.¡± Yue Zhengyu said without missing a beat, a twinkling light in his eyes.


    Unknown to Tang Wulin, Yue Zhengyu had his family¡¯s butler test the jade silver immediately the day before. When the results came back as a ninety-one percent harmony rate, the butler could not believe his eyes. Not even their clan¡¯s Saint Blacksmith could forge an alloy with such a high quality!


    Moreover, their clan¡¯s Saint Blacksmith wouldn¡¯t bother to forge for the clan¡¯s younger generation. The Holy Angel clan¡¯s rules were strict, and unless one reached a certain level, the support given by the clan would be very limited. All the children in the clan had to claw their way up by their own efforts.


    As a result of the clan rules, Yue Zhengyu had learned to take full advantage of every resource available to him since childhood.


    The reason he was so interested in the jade silver was because it was highly compatible with his martial soul. Jade silver amplified the elemental and physical attributes, both of which the Holy Angel martial soul was concerned with and balanced. Despite not being a top-grade metal, it was the perfect material to make his two-word battle armor. Of course, that was assuming it was spirit refined.


    The harmony rate of an alloy was significant because for every five percent above sixty, it was possible to reforge the alloy with an additional metal.


    It was common knowledge the more metals an alloy consisted of, the stronger it was, assuming the ratios were correct.


    An alloy with a ninety-one percent harmony rate allowed for six reforging attempts! The success of future reforgings was anyone¡¯s guess, but this piece had six tries to succeed. This was why it was so valuable.


    Jade silver with a sixty percent harmony rate was nowhere near the price of the spirit item Tang Wulin wanted. His jade silver with the ninety-one percent harmony rate, however, was a priceless treasure well worth Yue Zhengyu¡¯s offer, even if it was only thousand refined.


    While Tang Wulin had his schemes, Yue Zhengyu wasn¡¯t sitting around twiddling his thumbs either.


    With the matter settled, Tang Wulin flashed Yue Zhengyu a pleasant smile. ¡°Zhengyu, I need your help with something else. If you agree, I¡¯ll give you the other piece of meteoric iron.¡± As stingy as he was, Tang Wulin knew how to treat his best clients.


    ¡°What do you need?¡¯ Yue Zhengyu asked.


    ¡°Are you familiar with the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s spirit soul tower?¡±


    ¡°Of course I know. Are you going to do the tower attack? Aren¡¯t all your soul rings already thousand-year?¡± Yue Zhengyu asked, puzzled. Since Tang Wulin had a purple spirit soul, he had automatically obtained his third soul ring when he made his breakthrough. For the time being, he had no need for another spirit soul.


    ¡°It¡¯s not for me, but my friend. She¡¯s also a working student and her name¡¯s Xu Xiaoyan. She¡¯s ready to get her third ring, but needs another spirit soul to do so. You¡¯re strong. Will you lend us a hand?¡±


    ¡°No problem!¡± Yue Zhengyu answered in delight. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to exercise my body.¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. Achieving his goal, he casually tossed the promised piece of meteoric iron to Yue Zhengyu. ¡°I¡¯ve paid you now, so make sure you get me my spirit item. As for the jade silver matter, let me try it out first. We can discuss a price when I actually manage to forge another one of that level.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu was powerful. Although he wasn¡¯t quite Yuanen Yehui¡¯s match, he didn¡¯t fall too short of her. The Holy Angel martial soul combined high offense, support, and control into one deadly package. The Fallen Angel didn¡¯t lose out to the Holy Angel in terms of offense or control, but wasn¡¯t able to provide support to the vast majority of soul masters.


    After leaving Yue Zhengyu¡¯s room, Tang Wulin glanced at the door leading to Yuanen Yehui¡¯s chambers. In his moment of hesitation,, he decided not to disturb her. Their paths crossed every morning anyway, courtesy of busy student life, and they attended classes in the same building. There was still time to talk to her late

 Chapter 354 - Yuanen Yehuis Condition

    Chapter 354 - Yuanen Yehui''s Condition


    Shrek Academy¡¯s curriculum was by no means simple. The available lectures spanned a wide variety of topics. However, there were few assessments of learning. The students were responsible for making sure they thoroughly understood the material. The Academy followed an old saying: the master shows the door, but the student walks through it. Every student of Shrek Academy was a genius, so a teaching style fit for geniuses was necessary.


    Everyone spent their afternoons consolidating their knowledge, cultivating, refining their bodies, studying, or practicing their professions. Everyone had their own path, so none of the teachers could tell students how to cultivate. Students could ask a teacher if they had any questions, but this cost contribution points.


    It only took a few days for new students to realize the importance of contribution points. Contribution points could buy the very best cultivation resources that Shrek Academy had to offer, but without them, one would get nothing. In the case of the latter, the only thing students could do was earn points or work hard cultivating the old fashioned way.


    Plant-type soul masters like Tang Wulin could spend their contribution points on entrance to a special cultivation space called the Boundless Forest. This forest was constructed by Shrek Academy, and it was filled with every plant imaginable. It practically pulsed with life. If a plant-type soul master cultivated there, their cultivation speed would double! However, entry came at a steep price. An hour in the Boundless Forest cost five hundred points.


    Back when they first entered Shrek Academy, Yuanen Yehui bought Tang Wulin lunch in exchange for his services. Tang Wulin managed to save points that way, and he later used those points to try cultivating in the Boundless Forest. The effects of that miraculous space had been clear to him. In the time he spent there, both his soul power and bluesilver grass grew far more than they would have in the outside world. Tang Wulin had calculated the cost-efficiency of using the Boundless Forest. He came to the conclusion that, if he continued using it everyday, it would only take him at most three years to reach rank 40, and that was a conservative estimate.


    The Academy offered everything its students could ever need. Even the selection of spirit items here surpassed that of the auctions in the outside world. However, federal coins were useless in the Academy. Only contribution points were accepted. Every student lacked contribution points. The thought of exchanging points for federal coins never crossed their minds.


    Although Tang Wulin was embarrassingly short on points at the moment, he was happy enough that he no longer had to worry about food expenses. He currently devoted all his time to improving his forging skills and had no time to think about making a profit.


    Amidst the hustle and bustle of student life, everyone trudged forward, one step at a time. They all prayed and worked hard, desperate to not be one of the first students facing expulsion.


    Shrek Academy gave the students just as much freedom as it did stress. This was the only way that one¡¯s potential could truly blossom.


    Tang Wulin was busy. Gu Yue was busy. Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie were busy. They understood where they stood among their peers. They knew they couldn¡¯t relax for even a moment. This was clearest to Xu Xiaoyan. Back at Eastsea Academy she had been lazy, and that laziness had compounded. Now that Tang Wulin had surpassed her, out of the four of them, she was the weakest.


    ?


    ¡°Are you there, Yuanen?¡± Tang Wulin said as he knocked on the door to her room. They had only two days until their day off. After thinking about things over and over again, he came to the conclusion that Yuanen Yehui was the best person to invite to their group, and he finally found time to come visit her.


    The door opened, and Yuanen Yehui stepped into view with a cold glare. ¡°What do you want? Are you here to pay me the contribution points you owe?¡±


    ¡°Contribution points?¡± Tang Wulin nearly choked. ¡°I, uh, don¡¯t have enough just yet.¡± He smiled meekly.


    Yuanen Yehui rolled her eyes at him and began closing the door.


    ¡°Wait a second!¡± Tang Wulin thrust his hand toward her, sticking a metallic object into the gap of the door before it could close.


    She opened the door once more and took the metal object in her hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry about the incident from before, Yuanen, but our side was already punished for it. We¡¯re all working students, so we shouldn¡¯t be hostile to one another. I came to make amends. If you have anything to say to me, please say it.¡±


    ¡°What is this?¡± Yuanen asked, looking at the metallic stone in her hand. It was cool to the touch.


    Tang Wulin grinned. ¡°It¡¯s a spirit alloy. Have you heard of it?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes shot up to meet his. ¡°This is a spirit alloy?¡± She clearly wasn¡¯t as knowledgeable as Yue Zhengyu.


    ¡°Yes. This is jade silver. Yue Zhengyu ordered it from me. It¡¯s an alloy made from heavy silver and magic silver. The harmony rate of this piece isn¡¯t too bad. It¡¯s a little over seventy percent, but it¡¯s too low for him, so I was planning on selling it to the Academy.¡±


    ¡°You can forge spirit alloys?¡± Yuanen Yehui asked, her tone far more respectful than it had been just moments before.


    Tang Wulin snickered in his heart. Everything was going according to plan. He had suffered countless hardships growing up as a blacksmith, and he knew how to make the best of any situation.


    ¡°Mn. I¡¯m a fifth-rank blacksmith,¡± he said, rubbing his blacksmith¡¯s badge as he spoke. After the incident with Yue Zhengyu, he didn¡¯t dare to flaunt it as casually as he used to.


    In that instant, a crack formed in Yuanen Yehui¡¯s mask of indifference, but it immediately disappeared. She returned the jade silver to him and said, ¡°Alright. So what did you come here for?¡±


    Here¡¯s my chance! Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°You were my first client, and I remember my promise to sell you first-grade thousand refined metal at a cheap price. That promise still holds weight, and I came here because of it. I¡¯ll come forge for you whenever you need it. You don¡¯t have to pay me either, just consider it part of what I owe you.¡±


    His words eased her stern expression. ¡°Mn.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s something else I wanted to talk to you about,¡± Tang Wulin continued. ¡°Xu Xiaoyan is ready to get her third ring, but she needs to get a new spirit soul as well. We¡¯re planning on bringing her to the Spirit Pagoda to climb the spirit soul tower and help her get a strong spirit soul. As of now, we still need one more person to round out our team, so we would like you to join us. We aren¡¯t asking you to help for free, of course. I¡¯ll spirit refine a metal or forge a spirit alloy of your choice afterward.¡±


    ¡°Spirit soul tower?¡± Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°Yeah, the spirit soul tower. I¡¯ve always wanted to build a good relationship with you. After all, out of everyone in the first and second grades, you¡¯re the strongest. If you¡¯re willing to help us, our chances of success will be far higher. Xiaoyan is weak, and we don¡¯t want to see our comrade get expelled at the end of the year. So... please. Help us.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin never thought she would agree so easily.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want your spirit refining or spirit alloy though. We can talk about that in the future. I have a different condition for my help.¡± Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes twinkled as she stared at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°A different condition?¡± he echoed.


    ¡°I want approval for the tower attack.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped, and when he realized the meaning behind her words, and blurted, ¡°You¡¯ve already reached rank 40?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui had three purple soul rings and two powerful martial souls. The only reason she would want approval for the tower attack was to get another spirit soul. Only the spirit soul tower offered spirit souls suitable for martial souls as great as hers.


    She¡¯s only fifteen, yet she¡¯s now rank 40! I can¡¯t even dream of reaching rank 40 by the age of fifteen! Tang Wulin would turn fourteen in half a year. He didn¡¯t have a shred of confidence when it came to reaching rank 40 in just a year and a half. Even if he spent every waking hour cultivating in the Boundless Forest, he still believed he had no chance of getting to rank 40 in such a short time.

 Chapter 355 - Little Fatty Became a Big Fatty!

    Chapter 355 - Little Fatty Became a Big Fatty!


    ¡°That¡¯s my only condition. If you agree to it, then I¡¯ll go.¡± Yuanen Yehui¡¯s expression gave no room for negotiation.


    ¡°I can¡¯t give you an answer to that right now. I¡¯ll have to discuss with my friends first,¡± said Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Yuanen Yehui closed the door on him in one swift motion, clearly still wary of him.


    Left standing in the hall, Tang Wulin returned to his room and explained her condition to his friends.


    ¡°Just forget about her then. We¡¯ll be fine without her. I don¡¯t want to trouble Big Sis Gu Yue too much,¡± said Xu Xiaoyan.


    Although she didn¡¯t know the price Tang Wulin had paid to invite Yue Zhengyu, she could vaguely guess it had not come cheap.


    Similarly, she had no idea what Gu Yue would have to pay for another spirit soul quota for the tower attack.


    Gu Yue waved dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s fine. No trouble at all. Yuanen Yehui is a really strong assault-type. I¡¯m certain if we have her on our team she¡¯ll be a huge help to us and you¡¯ll get a good spirit soul. It¡¯s worth it to consider accepting her condition.¡±


    ¡°Besides,¡± Tang Wulin interjected. ¡°This is a chance to ease our tense relationship with her. We can restore it to what it was like before the incident. She¡¯s really skilled too, and she¡¯s practically guaranteed to enter the inner court in the future. Since we¡¯re all working students, we should be friends.¡±


    ¡°I agree,¡± Xie Xie chimed in, leaping up from his bed.


    Xu Xiaoyan shot him a dirty look. ¡°Of course you agree. Everyday you¡¯re cleaning the front of her room, wiping the windows, drawing water for her, and wagging your tail for her like a good little puppy¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin threw his gaze at Xie Xie, eyebrow quirked. ¡°What are you up to?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to atone.¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head in resignation, then turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Are you sure it wouldn¡¯t be too much trouble to get another quota?¡±


    ¡°It should be fine. I¡¯ll go ask tomorrow after lunch. Whether we get another one or not doesn¡¯t really matter. If we don¡¯t, we¡¯ll be short one person, but we¡¯re more than strong enough to tackle the tower.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    All of a sudden, a knock sounded at the door.


    The four friends looked at each other in surprise, pondering the identity of the uninvited visitor. The only possible people they could think of were Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui.


    Xu Xiaoyan jumped off her bed and made a beeline for the door. To her surprise, her entire line of sight was obstructed upon opening it.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked, shocked.


    A perfectly round meatball towered over her. Despite standing slightly over 180 centimeters tall, his waist was as wide as he was tall. He grinned at her, chubby cheeks round like a chipmunk¡¯s.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m looking for Tang Wulin. Is he in?¡± His voice was gentle and pleasing to the ear.


    Hearing his name, Tang Wulin approached the doorway. ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± He had a guess as to who the visitor was from their voice, but upon laying eyes on the meatball before him, he grew unsure.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Xu Lizhi!¡±.


    Tang Wulin was stunned. In the past few years they hadn¡¯t met, the little fatty had grown into a big fatty!


    ¡°Come on in.¡± Tang Wulin quickly waved him over to the boy¡¯s side of the room.


    Apart from nighttime, when they retired, the curtain dividing the room was kept open. Xu Lizhi swept his gaze from Tang Wulin and Xie Xie on the left to Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan on the right, surprise painting his face. ¡°Y-you guys are rooming together?¡±


    The two girls immediately blushed crimson, glaring at him once they recovered themselves. Tang Wulin pointed at the curtain dividing the room. ¡°It¡¯s not what you¡¯re thinking. We¡¯re sharing this room because the living conditions for working students aren¡¯t good.¡±


    Xu Lizhi nodded in understanding. ¡°You really surprised me when you called me the other day. I never expected you to join Shrek, and even become a working student. Congratulations! Also, don¡¯t worry about how fat I¡¯ve gotten. I just ate something I shouldn¡¯t have eaten, which made me inflate like a balloon.¡±


    Tang Wulin had decided on Xu Lizhi for their seventh man a few days prior. Considering the utility of Xu Lizhi¡¯s martial soul, there was no better choice.


    As an inner court student, Xu Lizhi could be counted on for his abilities as a food-type soul master. Having tasted Xu Lizhi¡¯s buns in the past, Tang Wulin was aware of their incredible effects. In fact, they were especially beneficial for him, restoring his depleted blood essence so he could continue using more of his Golden Dragon King abilities. With Xu Lizhi¡¯s support, his strength would increase by thirty percent, not to mention how his teammates would benefit. The missing cog of their machine had been a pure support-type soul master.


    Unlike Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu, Xu Lizhi had jumped at the opportunity to help Tang Wulin with no strings attached.


    And today, he had personally come to visit.


    ¡°Xu Lizhi, what¡¯s the inner court like compared to the outer court?¡± asked Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Lizhi awkwardly scratched his head at the question. ¡°It¡¯s not really that different. The teachers are just stricter. Things are slightly relaxed for me though, since I have a food-type martial soul. The only thing It have to focus on is cultivating soul power everyday. That¡¯s about it.¡± His mouth suddenly widened as he clapped once. ¡°Oh yeah, I heard the inner court is being reformed soon. I¡¯m not too clear on the details though. With how low my cultivation base is, there¡¯s a good chance I¡¯ll be kicked into the outer court. It looks like the inner court might change their acceptance requirement to battle armor masters from now on. Honestly, I¡¯m not sure what to do.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re coming to the outer court?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up. Xu Lizhi was about their age, so if he were to enter the outer court, there was a high possibility he would join the first grade! Which was great, as there was no one who liked Xu Lizhi¡¯s martial soul more than Tang Wulin.


    Xu Lizhi chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. Anyway, did you say you guys are going to do the tower attack? Have you decided a time yet? I¡¯ve already freed up my schedule on our day off, so just give me a call and I¡¯ll come running.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan was touched by his sincerity. ¡°Thank you. I can¡¯t thank you enough for agreeing to help me.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I didn¡¯t have anything planned anyway.¡± He blushed when he saw Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s teary-eyed expression, doing his best to hide his bashfulness.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go eat then. Lizhi, I¡¯ll treat you to dinner.¡±


    Due to how fat he was, Xu Lizhi¡¯s eyes were normally crescents, but at the mention of food, they opened wide. He vigorously nodded, rows of fat from his chin rippling. ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s go! You know, I still can¡¯t forget the taste of that baked fish. It was so good!¡±


    Xie Xie slapped his forehead. These two really are a pair of gluttons!


    The closer they got to their destination, the more apprehension crept into his heart, causing sweat to drench his back. He pictured the disastrous scene of the two gluttons tearing through the dining hall, shuddering. Nothing would be left.


    Although the dining hall always had extra food in stock for extreme situations, ever since Tang Wulin had stepped foot into the area, the staff were forced to increase their stockpiles. Because Xu Lizhi was accompanying Tang Wulin today, without a doubt the dining hall¡¯s stores would be eaten clean.


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s appetite had grown to match his body¡¯s size over the years, rivaling Tang Wulin¡¯s hunger on a regular day.


    However, Tang Wulin¡¯s ability to eat, large as it had been, was amplified by the joy he felt reuniting with Xu Lizhi. The two were evenly matched in the art of gorging, revealing the true extent of their gluttonous tendencies in each other¡¯s company.


    In order to thank Xu Lizhi, Xu Xiaoyan took it upon herself to ferry over a continuous stream of dishes. Soon, a mountain of dirty dishes piled high before them, the dining hall completely devoid of any morsel. But they were still not satisfied.


    ¡°Eh, I didn¡¯t get to eat my fill.¡± Xu Lizhi patted his belly as he flashed a silly smile at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin forced out a bitter one. ¡°Me neither. I remember you couldn¡¯t eat more than me  before, but it looks like your appetite has grown even faster than mine! You¡¯re amazing!¡±


    Xu Lizhi chuckled. ¡°Back then, I couldn¡¯t accept that I lost to you in eating, so I immediately began gorging myself when I got home. I strove to eat as much as I could every day and surpass my stomach¡¯s limits. By coincidence, my cultivation speed increased quite a bit as well. But unfortunately, so did my waist size. Hehe. I really envy you. You don¡¯t get fat no matter how much you stuff yourself!¡±


    ¡°You should train your body. Being too fat isn¡¯t good for you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Like I said before, I¡¯m this fat right now because I ate something special and couldn¡¯t slim up afterward. It looks like I¡¯m stuck this way now. Well, let¡¯s go then. We can eat some more in the city. I know it like the back of my hand and there¡¯s this amazing noodle place I have to take you to. We¡¯ll get ten bowls of noodles each. The bowls are really big and the noodles are delicious!¡±


    ¡°Go on without us.¡± Gu Yue groaned, rubbing her face with her hands. During their meal, she had been earnestly reflecting on Wu Siduo¡¯s words, and had acknowledged the mental and physical fatigue watching Tang Wulin¡¯s gorging brought.


    Free in their own world, Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi happily left for the city to eat noodles, arms wrapped around each other¡¯s shoulders as they rejoiced. For gluttons like them, it was a true miracle to find a comrade, and was a manner worthy of celebration. In fact, Tang Wulin decided to indulge himself a bit today and take some time off from cultivating to eat with Xu Lizhi. In any case, eating also benefited his body.

 Chapter 356 - The Miracle of Food

    Chapter 356 - The Miracle of Food


    A sign that read ¡®Founding Noodle Shop¡¯ hung above the entrance to a store. A fragrant aroma wafted from that entrance, filling Tang Wulin¡¯s nose and making his fingers twitch.


    ¡°Boss!¡± Xu Lizhi shouted.


    A stout, middle-aged man with a rugged appearance walked out of the store. He had a stern look on his face, which was accented by his short hair and bronze complexion, and wore black pants and a black button-down gown. He carried himself like a royalty, as if daring anyone courageous enough to talk back to him. Yet, as soon as he saw Xu Lizhi, his expression softened and a smile formed on his lips.


    ¡°Ah, Little Fatty, you¡¯ve returned!¡± he exclaimed.


    ¡°Yep! I¡¯m back to eat some of your delicious noodles again, and this time I brought my friend, Tang Wulin. I really missed your wife¡¯s succulent noodles. I wanna order ten bowls for each of us! The extra big bowls!¡± By the time he finished speaking, Xu Lizhi was already drooling.


    The boss turned his gaze to Tang Wulin in astonishment. ¡°This little brother is going to eat ten bowls as well?¡±


    ¡°Yep, yep! He can almost eat as much as I can!¡± Xu Lizhi pulled Tang Wulin into the noodle shop as he spoke. ¡°He¡¯s my food buddy!¡±


    Founding Noodle Shop wasn¡¯t very large at all, but its furniture and decorations were exquisite. They lent an air authenticity to the noodle shop. Tang Wulin may not have known much about architecture or furniture, but he could tell that this place emphasized the elegance of simplicity. Customers filled half of the shop, all eating quietly. Although the dishes the customers were enjoying appeared simple, the aroma coming from them told Tang Wulin otherwise. The smell alone was enough to elicit a growl from both his and Xu Lizhi¡¯s stomachs.


    The boss led the two of them to a private room in the very back of the shop. The room was quite large, and an unassuming table sat in the middle of it. Upon closer inspection, however, one would notice the remarkable amount of detail in its craftsmanship.


    ¡°Take a seat,¡± the boss said. He then turned and left, and a few minutes later, he returned with a bowl in each hand. Both were over a foot in diameter and held generous portions of noodles. Before the bowls even arrived at their table, a sumptuous smell of chili peppers struck Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi, soliciting a growls from their stomachs. Their hunger was back in full force.


    The boss placed the bowls in front of the two of them, and they examined the food like ravenous beasts. The noodles were thin but wide, drenched in slightly sour-smelling meat sauce that sang to their souls. Then a wave of spiciness roiled from the peppers, mixing with the sour scent and making Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi go mad with desire. The two gluttons immediately began slurping up the noodles, and both could tell that they had been cooked to perfection, and not the slightest bit past. Each bite brought joy to their taste buds, wave after wave of noodles coated in fatty meat juices sliding down their throats.


    Neither Tang Wulin nor Xu Lizhi spoke. At that moment, their bowls of noodles became their world. Each noodle that entered their stomachs filled them with comforting warmth. Sweat began to pour from Tang Wulin as he ate. He could feel his blood essence surge throughout his body.


    These noodles are amazing! He turned to look at Xu Lizhi, and he was met with a smirk.


    ¡°You can tell, right? Boss¡¯s noodles aren¡¯t just any noodles!¡± Xu Lizhi said smugly. ¡°He added some spirit herbs to the dough, so not only are his noodles delicious, they¡¯re also extremely nourishing!¡±


    ¡°Then this must be expensive, right?¡± Tang Wulin asked in a whisper.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Xu Lizhi nodded. ¡°He accepts contribution points and federal coins here. Each bowl costs about twenty thousand federal coins or two thousand contribution points.¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­ how much?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice went up an octave.


    Xu Lizhi shushed Tang Wulin hastily. ¡°Don¡¯t be so loud! I know it¡¯s a bit expensive, but the noodles are so good! They¡¯re good for your body too! Anyway, don¡¯t worry about the price today. It¡¯s my treat. I¡¯ve saved up a lot of contribution points since there aren¡¯t many places in the inner court to spend them. We can talk about that kind of stuff after our bellies are full.¡±


    After eating ten bowls of noodles, Tang Wulin felt that his blood essence had become more lively than ever before. He felt as if he were about to soar into the sky at any moment. He could feel his entire body grow feverish, and he knew he needed to let off some steam.


    Xu Lizhi went to pay the bill, which came up to a total of forty thousand contribution points. It was a sum that Tang Wulin found it impossible to imagine for just a meal, and his heart ached when he saw the receipt. All those points just for one meal! No wonder the boss personally received Lizhi.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to head back and exercise a bit. That meal was a bit too heavy for me,¡± Tang Wulin said with a wry smile.


    ¡°Okay. I gotta say though, I can¡¯t believe your stomach surpassed mine yet again!¡± Xu Lizhi patted his stomach in satisfaction, his plump face sweating a bit from the nourishment of the spirit herb noodles. ¡°Well, see you later then.¡± Xu Lizhi waved goodbye.


    In contrast to Xu Lizhi¡¯s mellow blood essence, Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence raged through his body like a flood. This marked a clear difference in the way both of them digested the noodles.


    As Tang Wulin made for the exit, the boss handed him a card. On it was the word ¡®Founding¡¯ and a soul communicator number.


    No longer able to suppress the energy within his body, Tang Wulin picked up the pace and was soon running back toward campus. Since the shop wasn¡¯t very far away, it only took him a few minutes to arrive at the Academy¡¯s gates.


    Tang Wulin thought his blood essence would settle down during the run back, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Instead, his blood essence grew more vigorous as it continued to course through his body, almost as if it were trying to escape. Tang Wulin rushed into the grove near the working student dormitory, golden light emanating from him as his golden blood essence soul ring grew restless and struggled out of his body. The moment the soul ring left his body, his tense nerves began to relax, and he finally had room to breathe. His blood essence surged through his body like a roaring river, filling every inch of him with a comforting heat. However, this energy had to be released somehow.


    He raised his hands and slowly moved them in a circle, guiding his blood essence along the pathway of Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Due to the excessive vigor of his blood essence, just this small gesture was enough to form a whirlpool of energy within himself. He had been practicing Dragon Shocks the Heavens for a little over ten days now. He hadn¡¯t made much progress up to this point, however, and his blood essence could trace no more than fifty percent of the pathway. But today was different. His blood essence was more forceful than ever before, and it attacked the walls in his meridians with blazing rage. The flow of his blood essence reversed, the resistance within the whirlpool of energy gradually faded away, and then, all of a sudden, he broke through the fifty percent barrier!


    A faint golden mist enveloped Tang Wulin¡¯s body, and a draconic roar resounded from his blood essence. It pierced the night with unprecedented might, and he was now completely immersed in this mystical state. Golden scales appeared on his right arm and chest, and the soul ring activated Golden Dragon Body on its own, bathing him in a light far more radiant than before. His blood essence raged within him, washing his meridians and viscera in seething energy as it poured from his body and heated up the air around him.


    As Tang Wulin grew feverish from the burning energy, his eyes flashed crimson-gold as if they were ablaze. He began to tremble, his meridians convulsing, and the energy surging from him forced the air around him to become a swirling tempest. His hair whipped back in forth in the frenzy, his clothes burned to ash, and golden lines appeared all over his body, making him resemble a young dragon preparing to soar into the heavens. Even as his blood essence rampaged with him and fought to erupt skyward, he remained steady.


    Although his clothes had been burned to ash, his blacksmith¡¯s badge remained glued to his chest. A purple-white aura emanated from it, struggling to keep him calm.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence gained momentum as his arms moved slower and slower. All of the nourishment from the food he ate had been completely transformed into blood essence. As the rumbling of the dragon¡¯s roar grew louder, his body began to expand as well.

 Chapter 357 - Little Goldlight

    Chapter 357 - Little Goldlight


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes now shone a brilliant gold as his blood essence continued to surge toward the heavens. It rapidly progressed along the Dragon Shocks the Heaven¡¯s pathway, going past the fifty percent mark and reaching sixty percent, then seventy percent! Once his blood essence travelled eighty percent of the pathway, a bottleneck appeared. Tang Wulin felt as if his entire being were working to stop his blood essence from advancing any further. The whirlpool of energy that raged inside of his body rapidly expanded, but try as it might, it could not break through the barrier within him.


    As his stomach ballooned, Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body turned gold. He suddenly found it difficult to breathe, almost as if the air had grown thinner. Pain tormented him, but he couldn¡¯t stop now. He could only let his blood essence continue to gather and compress in his stomach. All of the blood essence in his body move with his soul power to gather at that one spot. Despite how tough his body and his meridians were, he felt as if he were about to explode.


    Not good! My energies are deviating! Tang Wulin knew he had acted too impulsively. His blood essence was currently too wild for him to practice Dragon Shocks the Heavens.  His actions were a far cry from progressing step by step. He was advancing by leaps and bounds! As positive as this was, it had also lead to his current crisis.


    A few days ago, he visited Zhuo Shi seeking guidance. Zhuo Shi had told Tang Wulin that he would help him advance to the next level once he could fill sixty percent of the circulation pathway.


    Yet he had rushed straight through eighty percent of the pathway! He had yet to learn what to do from here and now faced a fatal problem.


    If his energies completely deviated, he truly would explode!


    ¡°Fool.¡± A voice suddenly resounded in his mind. ¡°Reversing the flow of your blood essence is indeed a way to refine both your viscera and meridians, but you were too hasty. You are nowhere near ready to breakthrough. Divert some of the energy to your spirit soul.¡±


    It was the voice of Old Tang. Once again, he appeared at a critical time to save Tang Wulin.


    Spirit soul? That¡¯s right! I have Goldlight! At his bidding, Goldlight slithered out of Tang Wulin¡¯s body and coiled around his torso.


    Goldlight gently absorbed a portion of Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence, thin threads of gold leaving him and entering the snake. Tang Wulin¡¯s body quickly returned to normal, and he was no longer in danger of cultivation deviation. If his raging blood essence had broken past his meridians and moved on to attack his viscera, his life would have been in danger. Now, however, his blood essence gradually calmed to the point that he could once again control its flow and direct it throughout his body. Warmth washed over him, soothing his pain as everything returned to normal.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so impatient next time,¡± Old Tang said sternly. ¡°Take your time and slowly improve your body. It is a marvelous treasure, one you must care for by progressing one step at a time. Only by advancing at a steady pace will you be able to endure.¡±


    With the danger averted, Tang Wulin drifted into a deep meditative state.


    The sun was rising from the horizon when he awoke, and his body was damp dew.


    He noticed that his senses were sharper than before. The life force of the grove¡¯s surrounding flora seemed to linger around him, and he could hear the voices of the plants more clearly than before. Immediately after that, he sensed the presence of someone nearby. He could even discern their steady breathing. He turned to that person.


    A short distance away from Tang Wulin, still wearing her school uniform, Gu Yue sat at the base of a tree. Her legs were oriented to her side, her eyes were closed, and her long eyelashes were wet with dew. Soft morning light washed over her, bathing her in breathtaking radiance.


    Although he had never considered her particularly beautiful in the past, at this moment, the sight of Gu Yue seized Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. He stared at her in a daze, burning this scene into his mind.


    Then Gu Yue¡¯s voice snapped him out of his reverie. ¡°You¡¯re awake, I see,¡± she said. She slowly opened her eyes, meeting his gaze with a warm smile as she stretched her body.


    ¡°Why were you sleeping here?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t come back to the dorm no matter how late it got, so I came here looking for you. When I saw that you were deep in meditation, I didn¡¯t want to disturb you, so I went to sleep.¡± She spoke as if this was just the natural thing to do.


    Tang Wulin walked over to her and ruffled her hair. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. It¡¯s time for breakfast.¡± He wanted to thank her, but for some reason he couldn¡¯t comprehend, he didn¡¯t want to say the words.


    After they returned to the dorm, Tang Wulin broke from his daily routine and didn¡¯t practice his Purple Demon Eyes. Instead, he quickly washed up, ate breakfast, went to class, then had lunch when classes finished. After lunch, Gu Yue left for the Spirit Pagoda while the others practiced their professions. It was a normal, busy day for them.


    By the time evening fell, Gu Yue returned, and she brought good news with her. The Spirit Pagoda had granted them a second quota.


    ¡°Wow! The Spirit Pagoda is so generous!¡± Xie Xie was beaming as he gave a thumbs up. His bruised face had almost completely healed.


    With Yuanen Yehui¡¯s condition fulfilled, they could now count her as a comrade in the tower attack and were all the more confident because of it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let her know then,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s our day off, so what time do you guys want to go?¡±


    Gu Yue thought for a moment before answering. ¡°Going too early would be bad, so how about after breakfast?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Tang Wulin replied.


    Xu Xiaoyan quietly clenched her fists, her eyes shining with determination. Her friends rarely spoke words of encouragement to her. They encouraged her with their actions instead. She understood that she was the weakest member of their team, the one most likely to be expelled. While Xie Xie might not be as strong as Gu Yue or Tang Wulin, he still had twin martial souls and could hold his own in battle. Xu Xiaoyan and her Starwheel Ice Staff, however, were only useful at night.


    I have to do this no matter what! I can¡¯t drag my friends down!


    ?


    Clouds filled the sky the next morning, their shadows painting the city in bleak colors. In spite of this, the working student dormitory was as lively as ever.


    Everyone gathered together after eating breakfast. The plump Xu Lizhi instantly grabbed Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui¡¯s attention. Twice as wide as an ordinary person, he was simply too large to overlook. Yuanen Yehui stood off to the side, away from the rest of the group, and especially Yue Zhengyu. On the other hand, Yue Zhengyu stood beside Tang Wulin, whispering into his ear. Xu Xiaoan was nervous as she stood there waiting for everyone else. Gu Yue, however, was the very definition of serenity. Xie Xie looked almost as anxious as Xu Xiaoyan, but for a completely different reason. He occasionally snuck glances at Yuanen Yehui, but never drummed up the courage to walk over to her. He was afraid of being beaten to a pulp.


    Tang Wulin clapped his hands twice, attracting everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Alright! Since everyone is here now, let¡¯s get ready to go. First thing we need to do is plan our approach to the tower attack today. Does anyone have any suggestions?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at Yuanen Yehui. She was the strongest of them all and wasn¡¯t a member of Tang Wulin¡¯s usual team.


    Yuanen Yehui shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t have any. I¡¯ll do whatever you tell me to do. You guys just need to help me continue climbing the tower after Xu Xiaoyan gets her spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Tang Wulin turned to Yue Zhengyu. ¡°How about you?¡±


    Considering how strong they were, both Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had the qualifications to take over as leader. Before Yue Zhengyu could say a single word, Yuanen Yehui cut in. ¡°I¡¯ll take orders from anyone but him.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu glared at her. Just as he was about to retort, however, Tang Wulin pulled him to the side and whispered into his ear.


    Yuanen Yenhui¡¯s cheeks reddened a bit at the sight, then she averted her gaze.


    Yue Zhengyu suppressed his pride and snorted. ¡°Fine. Wulin, you take command. Aren¡¯t you the captain of your team anyway? This matter concerns your team, so I¡¯ll just do as I¡¯m told.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled and nodded. He only had to whisper ¡®jade silver¡¯ into Yue Zhengyu¡¯s ear to get him to submit. Tang Wulin had been lucky in the past few days and managed to forge a piece of jade silver with a harmony rate over ninety percent. He had immediately given it to Yue Zhengyu, but had yet to ask for compensation. This was why he trusted Yue Zhengyu so much right now, why he dared to be so confident.


    Before Tang Wulin could turn and ask him, Xu Lizhi waved his hand dismissively. ¡°I just came to have some fun with you guys and help out!¡±

 Chapter 358 - Warm and Soft

    Chapter 358 - Warm and Soft


    Although Xu Lizhi stood off to the side like a harmless lamb, neither Yuanen Yehui nor Yue Zhengyu dared look down on him. The reason was simple. The badge on his belt that spelled out ¡®Shrek Academy¡¯ was red. They both understood the significance of that color. That was the mark of an inner court student! He was one of the geniuses who stood at the peak of the continent, destined to become a battle armor master!


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t question any of his three friends, simply nodding at them instead. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll lead the team then. Xie Xie is our only agility-type. We have three assault-types: Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and me. Yuanen Yehui will be positioned in the center, and Yue Zhengyu and I will support her by her side. Gu Yue will support me with control and ranged attacks. Last but not least, Xiaoyan will be our backline fire support.¡±


    Everyone nodded, not a spark of dissent present.


    Since they were a seven-man team put together at the last minute, they must rely on brute strength to climb the tower. Fortunately for them, Yuanen Yehui was on their team. Her attack power was worth that of several soul masters in the same ring level. Additionally, Yue Zhengyu and Tang Wulin were also coming along. Although Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t their match in overall strength, he could stand their equal when it came to explosive power. Besides, he was also responsible for commanding the team and controlling the battlefield.


    He considered the rest of his team. Gu Yue was their hidden ace. Given enough time to charge up, she could unleash thunderous elemental attacks from afar. In contrast, Xu Xiaoyan was proficient in creating and taking advantage of openings, a skill she had honed from the nature of her martial soul. As an agility-type, Xie Xie wasn¡¯t to be trifled with either. Then there was Xu Lizhi as their support. Under the influence of his food-type martial soul, Tang Wulin¡¯s battle power increased by thirty percent! For now, he only knew of Xu Lizhi¡¯s Recovery Pork Bun, the rest of his arsenal a mystery. Either way, the combination of their strengths formed an incredible seven-man team!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The seven teammates departed for the campus gates. Before Tang Wulin could call for a taxi, a luxurious business van pulled up to their feet.


    The door to the driver¡¯s side opened, Yue Zhengyu¡¯s butler stepping out to open the passenger¡¯s side for them.


    Flashing Yue Zhengyu a thumbs up, Tang Wulin turned to face the rest of his teammates. ¡°Hop in.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu sat in the front and the rest shuffled into six seats behind him. Normally, six seats would have been more than enough room to ride comfortably, but Xu Lizhi¡¯s plumpness occupied a seat and a half.


    Tang Wulin sat in the middle row, lodged in between Xu Lizhi and Gu Yue. Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan sandwiched Xie Xie in the back row. It forced him to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with Yuanen Yehui. His heart thumped in his chest, his mind unable to forget the forbidden scene he had witnessed.


    ¡°If you have any lewd thoughts, I¡¯m going to kill you,¡± whispered Yuanen Yehui.


    A shiver went down his spine and he hastily said, ¡°No, no. There¡¯s no way I would think that!¡±


    His voice came out a louder than expected, and the three sitting in the middle row flashed him an inquisitive look, Xu Xiaoyan doing the same.


    Apart from Xu Lizhi, who wasn¡¯t aware of the background story, the rest understood the situation.


    All eyes on her, Yuanen Yehui immediately flushed crimson. She was still dressed in a male uniform, her masterful makeup skills masking her blush.


    Xie Xie blanched. Two fingers pinched his thigh, rotating the flesh a full 180 degrees!


    He covered his own mouth to prevent himself from screaming in pain. Everyone watched him with helpless smiles, not a single person speaking up in his defense.


    In truth, he wasn¡¯t the only one embarrassed. Tang Wulin found himself in a similarly awkward situation.


    Xu Lizhi was simply too fat. He excessive size forced Tang Wulin toward Gu Yue, pushing him against her. But this wasn¡¯t enough to offset Xu Lizhi¡¯s body mass. Gu Yue had no choice but to angle her body and lean toward the window, no choice but to sit on Tang Wulin¡¯s thigh.


    There were occasional bumps as the van sped down the road, rocking those within it. As their positions moved with each bump, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s faces began to flush.


    The tender warmth of flesh against flesh ferried heat to their cheeks, awkwardness filling the air between them. But there was nothing they could do. They couldn¡¯t adjust their seating arrangements while the van was in motion. As a last ditch effort, Tang Wulin tried to push back into Xu Lizhi, but the fat refused to budge.


    Tang Wulin could feel the beat of his heart, the dryness of his mouth, and the butterflies fluttering about in his stomach. Never had he felt this way before. He was only thirteen years old, at the start of puberty. He was still ignorant of the matters between boys and girls. All he could do was sit straight as an arrow, trying his best to avoid eye contact with Gu Yue.


    Soon they left the inner city, speeding toward the iconic Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    All was quiet within the van. Xie Xie had regained his normal complexion and sat like a child afraid of iminent punishment, hands clasped tightly on his knees and head hung low, not daring to look up at Yuanen Yehui.


    The smell of youth was in the air.


    After forty minutes on the highway, they finally reached the Spirit Pagoda. Shrek City was truly enormous..


    The van cruised to a stop. As soon as the doors opened, Gu Yue burst out.


    Tang Wulin could still feel her warmth on his thighs, and her scent lingered. But he finally had some room to breathe. He let out a relieved sigh as he exited the vehicle.


    The Spirit Pagoda stood right before him. He had to crane his neck just to take in its entire magnificence. Even so, he could not see the top of the pagoda. The upper half of the building pierced through the clouds, only its silhouette vaguely discernable from that point onward. It was a surreal image for him.


    Following his actions, the others disembarked one after the other. Those who were visiting the Spirit Pagoda headquarters for the first time were similarly caught in a state of awe. This was a location of absolute authority on the continent!


    All in all, Shrek City was the greatest city on the continent because of two main reasons: Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    If the two great organizations combined forces, even the Federation could only tremble before them.


    Shrek City was highly autonomous. Apart from the region surrounding the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, the entire city was solely self-governed. The Spirit Pagoda, on the other hand, was far more influential. It maintained a good, cooperative relationship with both the Federation and Shrek Academy. The Spirit Pagoda¡¯s council had wisely chosen to abstain from politics and to not control any soul masters. Thirty-six members made up the entire core council. Not only that, it was run differently from the way large clans and other organizations were operated. Furthermore, some of the council members were sent by the Federation. Although numerous soul masters joined the Spirit Pagoda, the core of the forces under its command numbered less than three thousand. Coupled with the advancement of soul technology, these soul masters were no threat to the Federation.


    As such, the Federation and the Spirit Pagoda shared an amicable relationship.


    The Spirit Pagoda¡¯s founder, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, founded the council system that allowed the Spirit Pagoda to persist for ten thousand years. And now it stood as one of the continent¡¯s greatest powers.


    No one knew how deep Shrek Academy¡¯s foundation ran, and the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s wealth and number of masters were anyone¡¯s guess.

 Chapter 359 - Entering the Tower

    Chapter 359 - Entering the Tower


    No one knew just how deep Shrek Academy¡¯s foundation ran, and neither did anyone know how rich or how many masters the Spirit Pagoda had.


    ¡°Gu Yue, where¡¯s the spirit soul tower?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    No trace of the awkwardness from the heated car ride remained.


    ¡°It¡¯s inside the headquarters,¡± said Gu Yue. ¡°It¡¯s not actually a physical building. Think virtual. The technology used to make it is even more advanced than what was used for the spirit ascension platform. The tower is one of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s most important assets. Follow me everyone.¡±


    They climbed the stairs to the entrance. After registering their identities, they could step foot within.


    ¡°When did getting admittance into the Spirit Pagoda headquarters become so fast? They¡¯ve really raised their efficiency!¡± exclaimed Yue Zhengyu.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue. He recalled her flashing a badge at the staff member while they were registering.


    The first floor was a majestic hall larger than those of other Spirit Pagoda branches Tang Wulin had visited.


    Murals covered the walls, stretching along the domed ceiling. Although these murals weren¡¯t eye catching in size, through sheer number they depicted an epic tale of an age long gone.


    Tang Wulin spun around in place as he searched for the mural that began the tale. He spotted it a moment later. It hung above the center of the domed ceiling, a gigantic eye of a color Tang Wulin could not put into words. A simple glance and it were as though it was sucking out one¡¯s soul.


    A Spirit Eye? Is that the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s martial soul?


    Each mural in the Spirit Pagoda headquarters depicted scenes from the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s legend.


    Tang Wulin could spot Shrek Academy among the artwork. This hadn¡¯t surprised him as The Spirit Ice Douluo was originally a Shrek Academy student! The murals recorded all of his great accomplishments.


    ¡°The murals are beautiful. Look, that¡¯s the Spirit Ice Douluo¡¯s wife, Dragon Butterfly Tang Wutong.¡± Xu Xiaoyan pointed at a mural. ¡°The legends say that together with the Spirit Ice Douluo, they have a grand total of four amazing soul fusion skills!¡±


    Tang Wulin followed her finger and took in the image of a gigantic blue butterfly, a golden ¡®V¡¯ emblazoned on its back. The word beautiful couldn¡¯t begin to describe her. She was a goddess.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We have business to take care of.¡± Since Gu Yue was familiar with the hall, the murals didn¡¯t affect her much. She took the lead, heading deeper into the building.


    This section of the hall was vast and empty. The only things present were a reception counter and some elevators. Gu Yue led them to a red elevator, flashing her badge. The door opened and she ushered everyone in.


    ¡°The red elevator is specially reserved for high-ranking Spirit Pagoda members!¡± Yue Zhengyu exclaimed. ¡°Gu Yue, just who are you?¡±


    She spared him a glance, then shook her head in silence.


    The elevator ascended for a full minute before coming to a stop. They had their breaths stolen away the moment they stepped out of the elevator.


    Through the glass walls of the pagoda, a sea of clouds stretched as far as the eye could see. They could vaguely make out the shape of Shrek City through the gently billowing clouds and mist.


    Gu Yue fetched her soul communicator from a pocket and dialed a number. She stepped to the side, talking in hushed tones for a minute before rejoining her friends.


    Beneath the youths were milky-white patterns stretching across the floor. Coupled with the scenery outside, the impression that they were floating high above the clouds was inescapable.


    Farther in was a silver sliding door. After knocking a few times, Gu Yue  slid it open and continued to escort her teammates.


    Before them stood a perfectly put together and spacious room.


    Sitting behind a desk was a tall woman in her thirties. She had a neat look to her, red hair falling straight down her back like a curtain. The woman was the most beautiful decoration within the room, her mere presence bringing life to it.


    She smiled warmly after recognizing the identities of her visitors, walking over to greet them and revealing her black uniform.


    ¡°Welcome to the Spirit Pagoda. I¡¯m Gu Yue¡¯s teacher, Leng Yaozhu.¡±


    ¡°Hello, senior,¡± everyone said in unison.


    Gu Yue¡¯s teacher? It was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time hearing this. Out of everyone in the group, only Yue Zhengyu seemed to react to her self-introduction. His brows wrinkled as if he were trying to recall an important fact.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy to get to know young talents from Shrek Academy like you all,¡± Leng Yaozhu said. ¡°Well, let¡¯s not delay any further then. I¡¯ll escort you to the spirit soul tower.¡±


    She made for the door with a gentle grace, her body exuding the unforgettable charms of a mature woman.


    Leng Yaozhu¡­ Leng Yaozhu¡­ Just where have I heard that name before? Try as he might, Yue Zhengyu couldn¡¯t figure out what the name was associated with.


    Tang Wulin cast a questioning look at Gu Yue, but she responded with a smug smile.


    Right! There¡¯s no way the Spirit Pagoda wouldn¡¯t see how talented Gu Yue is! Her teacher¡¯s probably some big shot here.


    Leng Yaozhu led the seven students down a corridor. Whenever they ran into another staff member, the staff member would stop and stand to the side in deference, their head slightly bowed as they snuck glances at the students.


    They soon arrived before a large golden elevator. Leng Yaozhu pressed her hand on the door and it immediately slid open.The students followed her in.


    The elevator was spacious enough to accommodate a dozen people, not to mention a mere eight. The interior was painted a sparkling gold, energy humming in the air.


    With a jolt, the elevator sprang into motion. It came to a stop seconds later, ushering the group into a circular hall several hundred meters in diameter and fifty meters tall. At the top of the roof sat a triangle with a gem dangling from its midpoint. It emitted a faint golden light.


    At the center of the hall was a lofty hexagonal platform, a flight of stairs leading to its top. It gave off the impression of an altar. The platform covered at least one hundred square meters, and in the center was a golden door towering fifteen meters.


    All sorts of equipment were littered throughout the room, staff members bustling about.


    Leng Yaozhu¡¯s arrival hadn¡¯t affected them. Only those that noticed her stopped to salute before continuing with their work.


    ¡°You kids can go now. I¡¯ve already arranged things for you.¡± She pointed at the large golden door.


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher.¡± Gu Yue smiled. Rather than treat her teacher respectfully, she was more intimate in their interactions.


    Leng Yaozhu beamed a doting smile. ¡°It¡¯s your first time entering the spirit soul tower, so don¡¯t be careless. It isn¡¯t the same as the spirit ascension platform. Everything you encounter in there is real. Pay attention to your safety. I¡¯ll be monitoring you all from outside, so the moment you¡¯re in danger, I¡¯ll bring you out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, senior.¡± Tang Wulin stepped forward and expressed his gratitude as the team captain.


    She examined him for a moment, then warmth entered her smile. ¡°I take it you¡¯re Tang Wulin?¡±


    ¡°Mn. I am.¡±


    Leng Yaozhu sighed and shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s a real pity. I¡¯d definitely want to recruit you if you hadn¡¯t joined the Tang Sect. Well, alright then. You kids go on now. We can continue that topic after you¡¯re done. I¡¯m opening the spirit soul tower.¡±


    The moment those words left her lips, the surrounding staff members immediately changed gears and saluted Leng Yaozhu, shouting out, ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes lit up. He remembered who she was now. But at that moment, Tang Wulin gave the order to enter the door.


    Gold filled their eyes the second they stepped through the doorway, their figures vanishing into the golden light.


    Watching them disappear, Leng Yaozhu revealed a trace of disappointment in her eyes. ¡°Weren¡¯t we like this back then too? Seeing them, I¡¯m reminded of how we used to be,¡± she muttered. ¡°But you¡¯ve long since forgotten about me.¡±


    Unlike entering the spirit ascension platform, the seven students weren¡¯t hit with a wave of dizziness. Instead, everything felt normal, as if they had walked through an ordinary doorway. The gold faded from their vision, eyes sharpening as they took in their surroundings.


    They found themselves in a large hall. Thick pillars jutted out from the ashen-gray brick floor to support the ceiling. The hall was humongous, over one thousand square meters in area, empty apart from them. The place felt ancient, like they had travelled back in time.


    Not a second after they finished examining their surroundings, the golden door behind them disappeared. Then, right before their eyes, an illusory pagoda formed, layer after layer swirling into existence.

 Chapter 360 - Charging Through the Tower

    Chapter 360 - Charging Through the Tower


    As soon as it completely took shape, the illusory spirit pagoda faded away, and moments later, the hall was empty once more. Octagonal in shape, the hall had a diameter of at least three hundred meters. Tang Wulin¡¯s team of seven stood in the center of the hall. Eight doors, each ten meters tall and five meters wide, surrounded the students, towering before them.


    ¡°Yuanen, Zhengyu, triangle formation. Xie Xie, adapt to the situation. Gu Yue, Xiaoyan, Lizhi, stay in the center,¡± Tang Wulin barked as he stepped forward to form one of the triangle¡¯s points. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu immediately did as they were told and moved into position.


    And three soul rings appeared beneath Xu Lizhi, all of them purple.


    Tang Wulin was certain that Xu Lizhi only had two yellow soul rings the last time he saw him. Shock filled him as he realized that Xu Lizhi¡¯s spirit soul had ascended. He knew just how hard it was for a food-type soul master to have their spirit soul ascend, especially when they already had two soul rings.


    ¡°I have a pork bun,¡± Xu Lizhi muttered, and his first soul ring lit up. A pork bun appeared in his hands and he threw it to Tang Wulin, who caught it and devoured it two bites. Warmth filled Tang Wulin after eating the bun. His blood essence roared and his mind sharpened. He and Xu Lizhi truly were a perfect match! Xu Lizhi recited the chant several more times and distributed buns to the rest of the team. These pork buns restored their stamina and soul power, as well as providing some basic healing. Without looking back at Xu Lizhi, Tang Wulin gave him a thumbs up.


    At that moment, a low rumble resounded throughout the hall as all eight doors slowly slid open.


    Just beyond the doors, dozens of green eyes peered through the darkness at Tang Wulin¡¯s team.


    ¡°They¡¯re wolf-type soul beasts,¡± Xie Xie said. ¡°They excel at attacking in packs.¡±


    Tang Wulin firmly met the gazes of the predatory eyes. His three purple soul rings rose up while bluesilver grass began swarming out of the ground around him, swiftly slithering outward to cover a radius of around a dozen meters.


    ¡°Conserve your soul power. We won¡¯t have a chance to rest as we climb the tower,¡± said Gu Yue.


    This was everyone¡¯s first time here. Even Yue Zhengyu didn¡¯t have the strength to participate in the tower attack when he got his first soul. No one within a three-year age range of him had been able to help him either, so there was no point in him even trying back then.


    After distributing pork buns, Xu Lizhi sat down on the floor and began meditating. He was no combatant. In spite of that, Tang Wulin had undoubtedly been right to invite Xu Lizhi. Although he couldn¡¯t fight, his support would allow them to endure longer and display even more strength.


    Soul beasts began pouring out of the doors, wolves with dark-green fur and emerald eyes. They were wind wolves, a type of soul beast usually found in forests. Despite the fact that none of them were powerful alone, they were terrifying in packs. Their strength lay in their numbers and how they didn¡¯t fear death. They would attack until either they or their prey were wiped out.


    Over a hundred wind wolves surrounded Tang Wulin¡¯s team. The wolves slowly circled around the seven students, gradually drawing closer and closer. This was just the first floor of the spirit soul tower, and they were beginning to understand just what sort of challenges awaited them now.


    ¡°Stay back, everyone. Gu Yue and I will take care of this,¡± said Tang Wulin.


    Yuanen Yehui stood stock still while Yue Zhengyu withdrew his soul rings. In order to advance as far as possible, they had to work as a team and take advantage of each other¡¯s strengths.


    The wolves drew nearer, but had yet to breach the domain of Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass. They continued watching from the perimeter, patiently waiting for an opportunity to pounce. The seven that made up Tang Wulin¡¯s team remained unmoving. The battle would begin the moment either side took action.


    Tang Wulin looked at the wolves with contempt, and the bluesilver grass suddenly stirred, shooting out like vipers and binding several wolves. The grass then yanked the wolves toward Tang Wulin. A wall of earth erupted from the ground, protecting everyone but Tang Wulin, and the pouncing wolves crashed into it.


    As if he had just poked the hornet¡¯s nest, the wolves reacted instantly, swarming toward him in a ferocious onslaught. Wind wolves had the innate ability to lash out with blades of wind, and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of criss-crossing wind blades slashed at the earth wall. Most of the wolves, however, focused on Tang Wulin, and although he wasn¡¯t protected by the first earth wall, another sprang up to defend him from the slicing winds. He thrust his hands into that giant wall and hoisted it into the air, using it like a shield against the onslaught of attacks.


    All of the wind wolves pounced at Tang Wulin at the same time, but his second soul ring lit up. Spears of bluesilver grass skewered the closest ones mid-air. Many of the wolves were impaled through their stomachs by the grass spears, and all of them went rigid upon getting struck. At the same time, an icy light burst from the center of the earth wall, shooting three meters into the air and exploded into a storm of countless jagged icicles.


    A baptism of ice rained down upon the wind wolves, every single icicle aimed at their eyes.


    Death came for the wolves, raining from above and piercing up from below. Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Impaling Array stabbed them from the ground and Gu Yue¡¯s icicles speared them from the sky.


    Everyone knew that wolf-type soul beasts had bones as hard as metal, but their bellies were as soft as tofu. As a result, most soul masters took advantage of that. However, be it the lowliest soul beast or a tyrannical overlord, the eyes were always a weak point. If the icicles were just an inch off target, they would harmlessly shatter against the hard skulls of the wolves. However, they struck the eyes with keen accuracy.


    The grass spears swiftly withdrew and the earth wall collapsed. When Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui stepped out from the rubble, they only saw was a sea of corpses. The sight stunned them. Not a single wolf had survived.


    They understood how amazing such a feat was. After they were enclosed in the earth wall, Tang Wulin displayed powerful crowd control abilities and restrained all of the wolves. But that wasn¡¯t what amazed them. The truly amazing person was Gu Yue, who had masterfully directed hundreds of icicles to pierce through the eyes of all the wolves! Not a single wolf didn¡¯t have an icicle sprouting from their eye sockets. They couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom just how much spiritual power she possessed. Even Tang Wulin, as familiar as he was with Gu Yue, turned to look at her in surprise. Her spiritual power had definitely progressed by leaps and bounds once again. There was no way she would be able to control each and every icicle so precisely otherwise. Tang Wulin had thought that he and Xie Xie would need to clean up the stragglers.


    But Gu Yue proved him wrong.

 Chapter 361 - Advancing

    Chapter 361 - Advancing


    ¡°First trial cleared,¡± an electronic voice announced. ¡°You may choose to absorb a thousand-year wind wolf spirit soul! You have ten seconds to decide.¡±


    A golden door appeared before Tang Wulin and his team. It wasn¡¯t as large as the one that brought them here, but it was equally as mysterious and a transparent wind wolf hovered in front of it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Tang Wulin waved to his companions as he stepped through the door.


    All of them could choose to fuse with the transparent wind wolf floating in front of the door. But they simply rejected it and continued to the second trial. They stepped through the doorway in a flash of light, and the next moment, they found themselves in a room identical to before. It was an octagonal room with eight metal doors as well.


    Light flashed in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he motioned to his companions. They reformed their triangle formation without another word. Xu Lizhi, however, sat down to meditate instead of using his soul skills. All seven hailed from Shrek Academy, so every one of them possessed exceptional judgement and perception. Xu Lizhi didn¡¯t use his soul skills because, after the first trial, he became confident in the strength of his teammates. As a support-type soul master, it was crucial for him to properly decide how much soul power to spend on each of his teammates.


    Furious roars suddenly began filling the air as the eight doors suddenly opened. Eight giant flaming lions emerged, one from each door. They were blazing demon lions, old friends of class zero.


    A smile formed on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. It looks like the spirit soul tower isn¡¯t that different from the spirit ascension platform. Both possess similar soul beasts!


    Judging from their figures and energy levels, Tang Wulin could tell that they were all female blazing demon lions of the hundred-year level. However, they were at least five-hundred-years or above.


    Before anyone could say anything, Xie Xie stepped forward. ¡°Let me handle this,¡± he said, dashing straight at the lions.


    Tang Wulin sat down and began meditating, and the others followed suit. Their goal was not on the lower floors. Even if these floors yielded thousand-year spirit souls, they wanted high-grade thousand-year spirit souls. Wind wolves couldn¡¯t satisfy anyone, and neither could blazing demon lions. This was only the second floor. Xie Xie was more than enough to handle a few hundred-year blazing demon lions.


    The lions were still mid-roar when Xie Xie reached his first target. He soared into the air, his figure twisting to avoid the spewing flames before suddenly accelerating toward the lion. A second later, the lion went weak in its knees and collapsed.


    A single dark spot could be seen on the lion¡¯s back, the only sign that Xie Xie had stabbed it. His feet barely touched the ground before he rushed toward his next target.


    Tang Wulin nodded approvingly. Xie Xie had grown more skilled at Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and no longer seemed to be struggling with it. Now he looked as though he were dancing.


    After the first lion died, the remaining seven worked themselves into a frenzy. Four pounced at Xie Xie while the other three charged Tang Wulin¡¯s group. Relying on his insane speed, Xie Xie eliminated another lion. This left three lions surrounding him. He used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to zigzag between them like a wraith, unleashing his soul skills at the same time to leave countless cuts on their bodies. At the center of the room, a hazy figure darted out from Tang Wulin¡¯s group to meet the other three lions. In the blink of an eye, one of them collapsed onto the floor, dead. The instant after that, the other two collapsed as well.


    It was Xie Xie¡¯s Shadow Dragon Clone!


    Tang Wulin stared at it with narrowed eyes. Even with his high spiritual power, he could only, just barely, make out the outline of the clone.


    All of a sudden, the clone flew toward Xie Xie. However, before it could reach him and fuse, Xie Xie¡¯s body exploded with light, and both he and the clone leaped into the air. They met face to face, momentarily crossing paths in midair. Then, in the next instant, the remaining lions dropped dead.


    So he¡¯s learned a new trick! Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes gleamed. He¡¯s using his clone withdrawal as a combat technique now! His clone moves faster than it normally does when it¡¯s returning to fuse with him, but he doesn¡¯t actually have to fuse with it! He can use that technique to call back his clone for some quick assistance. He has really grown¡­ now he can skillfully control two bodies at once. How long will it take for him to gain full control over all of his clones then? By the time that happens¡­ he¡¯ll be a force to be reckoned with.


    The two Xie Xies fused back together and returned to his companions as one. The electronic voice filled the room once more, but this time they had ten seconds to choose whether or not they wanted a thousand-year blazing demon lion spirit soul.


    Xie Xie grinned at Yuanen Yehui as he passed her.


    She regarded him coldly, growling, ¡°Don¡¯t block the way.¡±


    Another door of light formed and the team entered it, proceeding to the next trial. They didn¡¯t need everyone to clear the following trials, so they took turns clearing each one. None of them even worked up a sweat clearing the first eight trials, but the soul beasts they faced grew stronger as they continued. In the eighth trial, they faced six soul beasts around the two-thousand-year level. Yuanen Yehui had instantly taken care of them like a bolt of lightning. They promptly reached the ninth trial.


    Upon arrival, Tang Wulin spoke up. ¡°We¡¯ll be fighting together for this trial,¡± he said.


    At this point, it was too difficult for only one or two of them to clear a floor. Doing so would consume too much soul power. It was time for them to fight as a team.


    Just like before, they found themselves in an octagonal hall with eight doors. This time, however, only four of them opened. A burly soul beast stepped out of each doorway for a total of four. They were covered in snow-white fur and  possessed an air of majesty. It was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time seeing such soul beasts. They clearly weren¡¯t inhabitants of any forest.


    ¡°Those are ice bears!¡± Xie Xie exclaimed. ¡°They¡¯re powerful soul beasts found in the far northern lands! The they¡¯re huge and should possess cultivation levels over three-thousand-years!¡±


    ¡°Be careful everyone,¡± Gu Yue warned. ¡°The ninth floor of the spirit soul tower is a major milestone. This trial will be far harder than the ones we¡¯ve faced until now. What do you think of them, Xiaoyan?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes glittered. ¡°They¡¯re great! Amazing! These bears are so cute! I want to cuddle them!¡±


    Cute¡­? Everyone looked at her strangely. You¡¯re choosing your spirit soul based on cuteness?


    The ice bears glared at Tang Wulin and his team. The air started getting colder and colder the moment the they had appeared. Frigid fog already began to fill the room. The breathing of the ice bears grew deeper and deeper, as if fanning the flames of their fury. The four bears didn¡¯t attack them from all sides. Instead, they gathered together and advanced slowly.


    Tang Wulin stared straight into the eyes of the bears. ¡°Everyone, stay vigilant! These ice bears are far more intelligent than the soul beasts we faced up to this point.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui moved toward the ice bears, her three soul rings appearing beneath her as she walked.


    Yue Zhengyu summoned his soul rings as well and advanced alongside her.


    Bluesilver grass slithered out of the ground and surrounded Tang Wulin.


    In the end, this was just the ninth trial.


    At that moment, the lead ice bear made its move. It roared toward the ceiling, and the entire room trembled before its declaration of might. Snow began materializing out of thin air, rapidly intensifying into a blizzard that obscured everyone¡¯s vision.


    A snort resounded through the icy onslaught and a blazing fireball erupted from the center of Tang Wulin¡¯s group, dispelling the surrounding snow. Yet the remaining bears roared one after another and the blizzard returned, howling and wailing with renewed vigor.


    It was a blizzard powered by the combined strength of four ice bears!

 Chapter 362 - Battling the Ice Bears

    Chapter 362 - Battling the Ice Bears


    As students of the legendary Shrek Academy, none of Tang Wulin¡¯s group were particularly impressive. In spite of that, they were still stronger than soul beasts of the three-thousand-year level. The four ice bears knew this, and indicative of their intelligence, they chose to engage in a battle of energy. Nothing short of an ironclad defense could endure their omnidirectional attack. Gu Yue paled at this realization. Facing one ice bear of this level would be no problem for her if she used Elemental Tide, but the combined force of all four bears was a different story.


    ¡°Relax, Gu Yue!¡± Tang Wulin shouted as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes and charged into the blizzard. ¡°Follow me!¡±


    The blizzard put Tang Wulin¡¯s team under considerable pressure. Yuanen Yehui summoned her Titan Giant Ape martial soul and used her third soul skill, Diamond Titan! Her body swelled with strength, but even so, she was just as affected by the blizzard as her teammates. Only attacking the ice bears would dispel it, and Tang Wulin¡¯s Purple Demon Eyes could pierce through the flurry of snow and locate the bears.


    Then, out of nowhere, the pressure of the icy onslaught eased up.


    For the first time since they entered the tower, Xu Xiaoyan took action.


    Ice wheels shot out one after another, spinning in the air to suck the swirling snow away from the team. Since Xu Xiaoyan could also wield the element of ice, she had a connection with the blizzard. She could control the blizzard to some extent, and each one of the ice wheels she summoned could weaken it. Although she only had two soul rings, control was her forte. The effects of her efforts were clear.


    As Tang Wulin approached the bears, one of them suddenly roared. To his surprise, the four bears turned tail and ran off in different directions.


    How crafty! Are they planning on keeping us at a distance and letting their blizzard do all the work? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shined a brilliant purple as the realization occurred to him. No. I can¡¯t let them do that. If I do, we lose.


    ¡°Xiaoyan!¡± Tang shouted. ¡±Attack with Yuanen and Zhengyu! Gu Yue, protect Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie! We¡¯re splitting up!¡±  Then he darted off to the side, rushing deep into the blizzard.


    One of the ice bears suddenly stumbled and fell to the floor with a groan, the blizzard growing weaker. Tang Wulin had used the spiritual attack of his Purple Demon Eyes, disturbing the bear¡¯s focus and impairing its mind. Resisting the storm of ice raging around him, Tang Wulin charged onward. Bluesilver grass rapidly spread toward his target. As long as he defeated this ice bear, the blizzard would drastically weaken and it would be far easier to deal with the rest.


    But he was underestimating the ice bear.


    The bear slashed out with its claws, shredding the encroaching bluesilver grass to bits, then curled up into a ball and rolled away, retreating across the icy floor.


    This bastard¡­!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s three soul rings disappeared, a single golden ring appearing in their stead. Powerful waves of blood essence rippled from his body as golden scales appeared on his right arm and torso. As blood essence surged through him, the biting cold no longer hindered him, and he instantly sped up.


    A few meters from his prey, Tang Wulin stomped the ground and pounced on the rolling bear. He landed right in front of it, his dragon claw brandished threateningly. The ice bear used the momentum of its roll to fling itself forward, immediately standing upright and lashing out with its own claws. Tang Wulin met the bear¡¯s claws with his own, and a shockwave erupted from the resulting collision. This three-thousand-year ice bear could generate at least five thousand kilograms worth of force, and there was no way Tang Wulin could compete with that. The clash sent him flying backward, but the bear wasn¡¯t unharmed either. Its right claw had been crushed by Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon claw.


    Tang Wulin stabbed his claw into the ground, skidding to a grinding halt, and then he charged forward once more. He directed his blood essence to flow according to the path of Dragon Shocks the Heavens, and its strength instantly increased by several times. Although he still couldn¡¯t use Dragon Shocks the Heavens to its fullest potential, after the incident that happened the other day, he discovered that he could now control the flow of his blood essence to an extent. Now he could move it around his body like soul power, empowering certain parts of himself. This method rapidly drained his blood essence, but it also provided him with an explosive burst of power. He reversed the flow of his blood essence and concentrated it in his right arm. The scales on his arm began to shine brilliantly, dyeing the surrounding snowfall with golden light.


    Unleashing a ferocious roar, he charged at the bear. Icy blue light exploded from the bear as it nursed its wounded claw. It launched itself forward and rolled toward Tang Wulin once more, resembling an enormous ball of ice.


    Tang Wulin felt neither joy nor fear. He activated Golden Dragon Body and his blood essence ascended yet another level, golden light bursting from his body. Furthering strengthening his claw, he punched at the ice bear.


    A boom tore through the air, sending tremors throughout the hall. Everyone turned toward the noise to see a flash of golden light. The blizzard died off in that area, revealing Tang Wulin standing there alone. He stumbled back to his companions, then steadied himself. His right arm trembled visibly. Only he knew what had just happened.


    In its ball form, the ice bear had increased attack and defense power, but it had faced Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon claw, which had been enhanced by both Golden Dragon Body and reversed blood essence flow!


    In the instant before the two had collided, a foot-long beam of golden light had shot out of the fist to slice apart the bear¡¯s defenses. Then a split-second later, the fist came rushing in. The bear¡¯s body had been blown away with a single punch.


    Although Tang Wulin had been knocked back by the rebound, the bear was dead.


    It had lost in a barbaric contest of pure force!


    Tang Wulin panted for breath, his right arm spasming as he worked to regulate his internal energies. He may not have used much soul power, but the amount of blood essence he consumed was enormous. Using Golden Dragon Body and reverse blood essence flow at the same time left him drained.


    Yet, after doing so, the blizzard clearly weakened. Sensing that their comrade had fallen, the three remaining bears roared with rage. These roars soon became mournful, and the blizzard gradually dissipated. Xu Xiaoan had used her Purple Demon Eyes to lead Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu to the remaining three bears. However, just as Yuanen Yehui was about to finish off the last ice bear, Tang Wulin shouted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill it just yet!¡±

 Chapter 363 - Teasing

    Chapter 363 - Teasing


    Yuanen Yehui turned to Tang Wulin, confusion in her eyes as she watched him direct his bluesilver grass.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just restrain it for now to buy some time to rest and recover,¡± he explained as the grass slithered over to tie up the surviving ice bear. He then turned to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Are you sure you want this one, Xiaoyan?¡±


    The four ice bears had actually been quite powerful and could be considered top tier thousand-year soul beasts. Furthermore, these bears were of the three-thousand-year level, which was perfect for Xu Xiaoyan. She would be in danger if she absorbed a spirit soul that was too strong for her, so Tang Wulin wanted her to be certain.


    And Xu Xiaoyan nodded immediately.


    Even if there was a chance of encountering stronger ice-attribute soul beasts later on, she wasn¡¯t tempted to try her luck. If they encountered such beasts, they would still have to defeat them. In addition to that, she would have to be strong enough to fuse with the resulting spirit soul. Desire was all well and good, but greed definitely wasn¡¯t. Besides, she liked how fearsome the ice bears were. She had no doubt that fusing with one of their spirit souls would greatly increase her strength. She especially hoped to obtain their blizzard ability. With it, she would be able to exhibit a wider range of control and even work with Gu Yue.


    ¡°Quick!¡± Tang Wulin said to Xu Lizhi as he sat down. ¡°Give me ten pork buns!¡±


    Xu Lizhi rolled his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t give buns away, I sell them! But¡­ fine. I have a pork bun!¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled as he took the pork bun that appeared and devoured it. His stomach instantly converted the bun into a flood of blood essence that rapidly restored his reserves. After eating a few, Tang Wulin realized that each bun provided very little soul power. Considering the fact that they came from Xu Lizhi¡¯s first soul skill, it made sense. The important thing was how they restored stamina. Soul masters usually disregarded physical stamina since soul power was far more potent, but Tang Wulin definitely didn¡¯t. He could convert his stamina into blood essence, so these buns were perfect for him. Xu Lizhi¡¯s first soul skill didn¡¯t eat up too much of his soul power, so he was an excellent match for Tang Wulin.


    The rest of the team quickly gathered by the tied up ice bear and began resting as well. Compared to the previous trials, the ninth exhibited a sharp increase in difficulty. The rest of the team understood that, if not for Tang Wulin¡¯s quick decision-making, they would have been in trouble. The blizzard had drastically restricted their vision and only those with Purple Demon Eyes could see through the veil of swirling snow.


    They had been quite lucky. Their team composition countered this trial.


    Xu Xiaoyan walked over to the tied up ice bear, which now resembled a giant rice dumpling, and gently rubbed its head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re real or if you¡¯re an illusion, but I¡¯m really sorry about this. We couldn¡¯t just sit back and let you attack us. You are quite cute though. Nice and chubby. You look reliable.¡±


    The ice bear seemed to be taken aback by her words, but it quickly regained its composure and continued to regard her coldly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve decided!¡± Xu Xiaoyan muttered to herself, her eyes shining with resolve. ¡°I want an ice bear for my second spirit soul. I know you probably don¡¯t want to join me since we killed your friends, but the spirit soul tower will reward me with an ice bear spirit soul once we kill you. There¡¯s nothing I can do about that, and I¡¯m sorry. You¡¯ll be able to rest easy though. I¡¯ll treat my ice bear spirit soul really well.¡±


    Fear flashed in the ice bear¡¯s eyes, and it let out a low roar.


    ¡°So... how do you want to die? I think Wulin pummelled his bear to death. It was a cruel way to go. I couldn¡¯t even bring myself to look at the corpse. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be so harsh with you. I¡¯ll make sure you die in one piece. How does that sound?¡± Blue light flashed and a spear of ice condensed in her hand. She brandished it right in front of the bear, the tip nearly touching its eye. ¡°I¡¯ll make it quick so you don¡¯t feel too much pain. I sincerely hope you¡¯re just a virtual projection and not a real ice bear. If you¡¯re real¡­ I pray that, in your next life, you¡¯ll be able to hide far away from humans. That your next life will be a good one.¡±


    The bear roared frantically, it¡¯s eyes filled with terror.


    ¡°Huh? What did you say?¡± Xu Xiaoyan stared at it in bewilderment, but the bear only continued to roar in panic. ¡°You¡¯re not making any sense. I don¡¯t speak bear! Well, I guess I¡¯ll get it over with. Bye!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan hefted her spear, poised to strike, but the ice bear roared once more. Instead of fear or frustration, a hint of sad resignation could be heard. Without warning, the bear¡¯s body collapsed in on itself and turned into specks of light. These tiny lights then formed a miniature ice bear that floated toward Xu Xiaoyan. Using one of its claws, it pointed at her, then pointed at itself.


    Xu Xiaoyan beamed. ¡°You want to be my spirit soul? Really?¡±


    The bear grunted and nodded vigorously.


    ¡°But¡­ I¡¯m not forcing you to. Are you sure you want to?¡± Xu Xiaoyan gave it a sweet smile.


    The miniature ice bear nodded.


    ¡°Alright then! I accept.¡± In reality, Xu Xiaoyan had planned to tease the ice bear for a while as soon as she saw how cute it was. But she never expected the bear to be so afraid of dying that it would willingly become her spirit soul. She had a vague feeling that fusing with a spirit soul in this way had more merits than fusing with the spirit soul that the spirit soul tower provided. Because of this, she accepted immediately. The ice spear disappeared from her hand and she sat down. The little bear then flew into her body, exploding upon contact and enveloping her with a frosty mist. ¡°Captain!¡± she exclaimed in embarrassment. ¡°We might need to cut our break short¡­¡±


    The moment she began fusing with the ice bear spirit soul, the electronic voice resounded throughout the room. ¡°Ninth trial cleared. You may choose to absorb a three-thousand-year ice bear spirit soul or continue ascending.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue. ¡°What do you think we should do?¡±


    ¡°We need to continue,¡± Gu Yue responded. ¡°We¡¯re still obligated to help Yuanen Yehui. If we stop here, her only option will be to absorb the ice bear spirit soul. Xiaoyan will be fine if we leave her here. She¡¯ll be sent out once she finishes fusing with her new spirit soul.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan had found a suitable spirit soul, so now it was Yuanen Yehui¡¯s turn.


    ¡°Okay then. We¡¯re continuing,¡± Tang Wulin declared. He was in high spirits since he had eaten over a dozen pork buns. In contrast, Xu Lizhi was a little haggard from continuously using his first soul skill. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    With Tang Wulin in the lead, six people entered the door of light, leaving Xu Xiaoyan behind to focus on fusing with the ice bear spirit soul. Icy mist hung around her as her body pulsed with soul power. The mist slowly gathered behind her, taking on the faint shape of a miniature ice bear. Then it began entering her body, and her aura started to transform. A golden star appeared on her forehead, the surrounding mist awash with a noble light.


    ?


    When Tang Wulin stepped through the door of light into the hall of the tenth trial, he was shocked to discover that this hall was completely different from previous ones. Instead of having an octogonal shape, the hall his team of six now stood in was round. Instead of eight metal doors, there was only a single one that stood thirty meters tall and twenty meters wide.


    Just as Gu Yue had said, the first nine trials were one level, and now they were on the second level.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes lit up. Now that Xu Xiaoyan had found a spirit soul, it was her turn. Her Titan Giant Ape was a power-type martial soul, so she had to find a martial soul that matched it. However, she sought a spirit soul for her fourth soul ring, which was a drastically different situation than Xu Xiaoyan getting one for her third. Yuanen Yehui could support a spirit soul around the four-thousand-year level, and having a pair of peak-level martial souls meant that she could push that limit to the six-thousand-year level.


    ¡°We¡¯ll probably be facing only one beast at a time from now on,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Be on your guards.¡±


    The moment these words left his mouth, the gigantic door gradually began to open. They couldn¡¯t even see the beast, yet an oppressive wave of strength washed over them. A loud rumbling resounded from beyond the doorway, then another. One violent shake after another traveled through the hall, growing stronger and stronger until a gargantuan being stepped into view. It stood at over ten meters in height, its body covered in dark violent scales and had to weigh at least five thousand kilograms. It stood on four legs, and it touted gigantic tail that whipped the air behind it. The ground quaked with every step it took.


    At first glance, it simply looked like a giant lizard. However, its head was far larger than that of a normal lizard, and two horns sprouted out from it.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s a Demon Lizard Dragon!¡± Xie Xie exclaimed.


    In the distant past, the Demon Lizard Dragon was known as a mighty, savage land dragon. Despite its enormous body, it was strangely agile, and it controlled the darkness element. It would slaughter other soul beasts not for food, but pleasure. It possessed an extremely aggressive nature, and just like the Man-faced Demon Spider, it was considered an outcast in the world of soul beasts.


    The Demon Lizard Dragon was a soul beast only mentioned in ancient texts. It was their first time seeing such a beast in person. It raised its head to the sky, its powerful aura exploding forth as it unleashed an ear-piercing roar.


    A shockwave of sound struck Tang Wulin and his six companions, leaving them rattled. It was almost as if they had just experienced a spiritual attack. Xie Xie and Xu Lizhi, the two people of their group that were weak in spiritual power, instantly went pale.


    Tang Wulin, however, charged forward without hesitation.


    ¡°Let me handle this.¡±

 Chapter 364 - Seconds

    Chapter 364 - Seconds


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Both Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu frowned at the idea of Tang Wulin going in alone. The Demon Lizard Dragon in front of them was definitely above the four-thousand-year level, and like any other draconic beast, it was extremely powerful and savage.


    ¡°Just let him handle it,¡± Gu Yue said, already sitting on the ground off to the side. She didn¡¯t even bother looking to see how Tang Wulin was doing before closing her eyes to meditate. ¡°We can use this time to rest.¡±


    The Demon Lizard Dragon had a fiery temper, so Tang Wulin¡¯s approach was more than enough to draw its full attention. It pounced at Tang Wulin at an unimaginable speed that didn¡¯t match its bulk, one that would leave any who saw it move flabbergasted. Six webbed wings spread from its back while its tail whipped at the ground and hissed through the air. The room seemed to grow dim, and the dragon reached Tang Wulin in the blink of an eye, its mouth open wide to devour him.


    At that moment, a low roar shook the room. Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui stopped their bickering and turned to see Tang Wulin soar into the air, his body surrounded in golden light. A golden soul ring appeared around him, and the roar grew to its full intensity, the air trembling before its draconic majesty. In the face of this mighty roar, the arrogant Demon Lizard Dragon froze in mid-air. Then its wings went limp and it crashed to the ground with a dull rumble.


    This scene left everyone stupefied, overwhelmed by confusion. They saw Tang Wulin drop through the air and neatly land atop the Demon Lizard Dragon¡¯s head. He readied his claw, then thrust it into the back of the dragon¡¯s head, burying his entire arm into its skull and piercing into its brain.


    The dragon¡¯s body spasmed for a moment, then went still.


    Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui stood there dumbstruck, racking their brains to try and make sense of what they just witnessed. Yuanen Yehui was confident in her strength, but she knew it would be a challenge for her to take down a four-thousand-year Demon Lizard Dragon on her own. Yet Tang Wulin singlehandedly slaughtered the beast as easily as cutting paper. This was simply inconceivable!


    Tang Wulin turned to his team with a casual look on his face, almost as if nothing noteworthy had happened. On the inside, however, he was actually quite surprised.


    The second he engaged the Demon Lizard Dragon in battle, Tang Wulin used Golden Dragon Body and reversed the flow of his blood essence. The aura of the Golden Dragon King exploded from his body and stunned the dragon, leaving it open to Tang Wulin¡¯s attack. This made its demise a swift one, but when he thrust his right arm into the dragon¡¯s head, a warm energy flowed into him and caused his blood essence to flare up.


    The energy stimulated his blood essence and pushed Dragon Shocks the Heavens from eighty percent to eighty-five!


    Tang Wulin needed to practice restraint when progressing with Dragon Shocks the Heavens. According to his original expectations, it was supposed to be incomparably harder for him to finish the last twenty percent of Dragon Shocks the Heavens, more so than all eighty percent he had completed thus far.


    Yet he had just made a month¡¯s worth of progress in the blink of an eye!


    Killing draconic soul beasts makes me stronger? I never felt anything like this in the spirit ascension platform... Is it because this Demon Lizard Dragon is real?


    Just as the idea formed in his mind, the Demon Lizard Dragon faded into particles of light and disappeared. The electronic voice sounded off once more, announcing that they had ten seconds to decide if they wanted the Demon Lizard Dragon martial soul. Yuanen Yehui simply waved at Tang Wulin dismissively, a wry smile on her lips. It had been killed in one shot by Tang Wulin! There was no way she would choose such a fragile spirit soul!


    As he rejoined his companions, Tang Wulin thought about the sensation of that warm energy entering his body. It seemed to him that, after breaking another Golden Dragon King seal, his blood essence had grown stronger along with his influence on draconic soul beasts. He was certain that the Demon Lizard Dragon wouldn¡¯t have been so affected by him otherwise. It had just been bad luck for it to encounter him. If it had at least refrained from flying into the air, its death wouldn¡¯t have been so brutal.


    Having completed ten trials, they understood just how much time they had to recover between each one. Tang Wulin¡¯s team of six didn¡¯t enter the golden door until the last possible second. Once they did, they found that the eleventh floor was the same as the tenth. Only a single gigantic door stood in the hall. True to form, the door slowly slid open. This time, however, there was no burst of oppressive might. Every floor contained soul beasts far stronger than the one before it, especially from the ninth floor onward. They were now on the eleventh floor, and there was no way the coming trial would be easier than the previous ones.


    ¡°Careful, everyone. Triangle formation!¡± Tang Wulin commanded. His soul rings appeared around him as bluesilver grass came twisting out of the ground to secure the perimeter. Tang Wulin now spearheaded their triangle formation. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu flanked him as the other two points of their formation. It was their job to protect their three teammates inside of the triangle.


    With a twirl of her hands, Gu Yue sent out three green lights to her guards, boosting their agility. Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui weren¡¯t even fazed by the versatility of Gu Yue¡¯s martial soul anymore. They had tried to figure out just how great her abilities were in the previous trials, but she never revealed the full extent of her hand. They could only tell that her martial soul was capable of providing just as much well-timed support as it could dish out damage, and that she had many elements at her disposal. It was their first time encountering such an incomprehensible martial soul.


    Soon enough, a refreshing scent wafted to their noses. It smelled of air after a long day of baking in the sun. Yet all it did was make Tang Wulin even more cautious. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the gaping doorway, and bluesilver grass instantly shot up to form a dense net around them. A split-second later, lightning shot out of the doorway and bombarded the net with a thunderous crash. The explosive impact left their ears ringing. A shockwave rippled from the point of impact in the net, and Tang Wulin groaned under the strain. He struggled to support their defense, his entire body going numb in the process.


    Only then did the attacker finally step out of the darkness beyond the doorway.


    The strength of the soul beasts they faced before seemed to match their size, but that wasn¡¯t the case for this one. It was actually quite small, standing at about a foot in height, with tiny yet sharp claws, and sported large violet-blue eyes. It also had bright sunny fur that Tang Wulin and the others had never seen on a soul beast before. The color extended to its tail, which was shaped like a lightning bolt. Electromagnetic power propelled it through the air, currents of electricity coursing through its body as it headed toward them.


    ¡°Is that¡­ a thunder beast?¡± Xie Xie sputtered.


    Confusion filled Tang Wulin, Zu Lizhi, and Yuanen Yehui, Gu Yue knitted her brow in thought.


    Yue Zhengyu, on the other hand, had realization written all over his face.

 Chapter 365 - Opposites Attract

    Chapter 365 - Opposites Attract


    ¡°We¡¯re facing a thunder beast!¡± Yue Zhengyu exclaimed. ¡°As expected of the Spirit Pagoda! They have such a rare soul beast! Be careful everyone, we can¡¯t underestimate it. It¡¯s extremely quick, and its lightning is lethal.¡±


    Before Yue Zhengyu could say any more, the thunder beast made its move. It whipped its crooked tail around, sending another bombardment of violet-blue lightning at Tang Wulin¡¯s team.


    Yuanen Yehui snorted as she strode forward. Three purple soul rings appeared around her as a pair of pitch-black wings unfurled from her back. Inky darkness spread from her body, rapidly eating away at the surrounding light and swallowing up the bluesilver grass around them. It also engulfed every lightning bolt that shot toward them, soaking them up like a blighted fen. The darkness spread beyond the net of bluesilver grass, but it soon reached the boundary where electricity crackled in the air, and it stopped.


    By that point, Tang Wulin recovered from his numbness, and he commanded his bluesilver grass to shoot up toward the thunder beast. Yuanen Yehui launched herself into the air. Her second soul ring lit up and a violet blade of darkness appeared in her hand. She flew straight at the thunder beast, blade in hand!


    But at that moment, golden light burst at her side, a holy radiance that pushed back her darkness. Yue Zhengyu flew off as well, moving to the other side of the thunder beast to avoid Yuanen Yehui¡¯s aura of darkness.


    Doubt welled within the hearts of Tang Wulin and the others when they saw the clash of light and darkness. They were certain that the two would cancel each other out, but something even stranger happened. Both of their blades seemed to be drawn to the other, changing their courses mid-flight. Before they could even get anywhere near the thunder beast, they crashed into each other.Light and darkness came together, roiling, struggling, and an instant later, a booming shockwave tore through the air.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu extricated themselves from the clash, putting distance between each other, and yelled at the exact same time.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing!¡±


    The rest of their teammates watched in stupefaction. It was like the attraction between yin and yang!


    Light and darkness could never coexist, but, the truth was, light and darkness usually didn¡¯t behave like that when they came into contact with each other. This explosive clash occurred because they both had angelic martial souls, one holy and the other fallen. The two were destined to always stand opposite of one another. Their martial souls were so incompatible that, upon sensing the other¡¯s aura, they felt more inclined to target one another! They simply couldn¡¯t help themselves from doing so.


    While the two bickered with each other, the thunder beast transformed into a streak of lightning. It appeared a hundred meters away, completely out of reach of Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass and wholly unscathed.


    Xie Xie sprang into action. He understood that the thunder beast relied on its lightning attacks and nimbleness to dominate its opponents. As an agility-type soul master, it was his job to take it down. He sped forward like a wisp of ghostly fire, zigzagging toward the thunder beast, leaving afterimages in his wake. As he did, Gu Yue unleashed a barrage of wind blades, sieging the thunder beast from all sides.


    No elements actually countered the lightning attribute, so they couldn¡¯t restrain it in that way. Lightning possessed both explosive might and frightening speed. It did have drawbacks, however, being more taxing on its user and not very suitable for defense.


    Tang Wulin calmly stayed back to guard Gu Yue and Xu Lizhi. Ever since the ninth trial, he realized that their opponents were far more intelligent than before. The thunder beast was a clear example of that. Strength itself was nothing to fear, but strength and intellect were a frightening combination. It was clear to him that this thunder beast was exceedingly clever. It didn¡¯t engage Xie Xie in combat immediately, but chose to evade and draw him away from his companions first. Just thinking about what sort of schemes a soul beast could hatch left him terrified.


    Xie Xie continued to chase after the thunder beast, and when he finally drew close, he used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to soar into the air and sent a Light Dragon Blade slashing toward it. At that moment, he saw the panic in the thunder beast¡¯s eyes disappear, confidence taking its place within their amethyst depths.


    Not good!


    A ball of lightning one meter in diameter suddenly appeared between him and the thunder beast. Before he could react, it extinguished the Light Dragon Blade with a flicker of electricity, then paralyzed Xie Xie¡¯s body with another. Leaving him no time to recover, the thunder beast shot the ball of lightning at him. Its violet fury engulfed Xie Xie¡¯s body and promptly burned it to ash.


    All of this happened too quickly. Xie Xie had been lured too far away for anyone to reach him, even if they had taken action earlier.


    No one could save him.


    ¡°Xie Xie!¡± Tang Wulin screamed as he charged forward.


    However, to both his and the thunder beast¡¯s surprise, the lightning ball suddenly exploded in a burst of sparks.


    Amidst the crackle of electricity in the air, Xie Xie fell to the ground. Wisps of smoke trailed from his body, which had been burnt black, and every hair on his body stood on end.


    Only then did Tang Wulin realize what happened. He used a shadow clone to escape at the last minute! It was just his clone that died!


    When he came face to face with the thunder beast¡¯s might, Xie Xie realized that this was an opponent he couldn¡¯t handle by himself. Only by working as a team did they have a chance at seizing victory.


    But the thunder beast had reacted to Xie Xie¡¯s reappearance too quickly. Before he could retreat, it sent another barrage of lightning at him. Xie Xie used Shadow Dragon Storm to defend himself, and this time, the lightning strikes only numbed his body instead of sending daggers of searing pain into it.


    The fact that this thunder beast¡¯s cultivation was at the five-thousand-year level made Tang Wulin¡¯s heart go cold with dread. He shot a strand of bluesilver grass out to wrap around Xie Xie¡¯s waist then dragged him back. Fortunately, Xie Xie was still in one piece.


    Xie Xie¡¯s entire body had been burnt black. Smoke rose from every inch of him. If he hadn¡¯t reacted in time and used Shadow Dragon Storm to defend himself, he would¡¯ve been on the verge of death if not completely dead. Every single one of his muscles twitched rapidly, making it seem as if his body were trembling without end.


    Tang Wulin willed his bluesilver grass to wrap around the waists of Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu and drag them back into their triangle formation.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Gu Yue said from her place behind Tang Wulin. ¡°We were too far from Xie Xie just now. I can¡¯t teleport things at that distance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± Tang Wulin said with steel in his voice. ¡°On your guards, everyone.¡± He slowly raised his hands, his blood essence flow beginning to reverse.


    For the first time since he gained it, Tang Wulin¡¯s third soul ring lit up.


    Due to his limited spiritual power, he couldn¡¯t use his bluesilver grass soul skills and reverse the flow of his blood essence at the same time. However, his third soul skill could activate independently, freeing him to prepare Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Golden light gathered around Tang Wulin while a draconic roar rumbled from his body. The thunder beast flinched as the roar flooded over it, its ears suddenly perked ramrod straight. It scratched its cheeks anxiously, and its eyes began to wander, searching for its next target.


    Yet Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu continued to glare at each other.


    ¡°You idiot!¡± shouted Yuanen Yehui. ¡°Look what you did! If it weren¡¯t for you, I would have already killed that thunder beast!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu snorted in response. ¡°Bullshit! How would you be able to kill it without my help? It¡¯s at the five-thousand-year level! It¡¯s both fast and powerful! It¡¯s one of the beasts that stands near the peak. Don¡¯t you know why you never see ten-thousand-year thunder beasts? If it reached that level, it¡¯d be too domineering! All of the other soul beasts kill it before it comes to that! That¡¯s why!¡±


    He clearly had a deeper understanding of thunder beasts than Yuanen Yehui.


    ¡°Y-y-yeah. T-t-that¡¯s right,¡± said Xie Xie. ¡°T-this thunder beast is really p-p-powerful. I-it¡¯s much more powerful than we are! Unless you have f-five soul rings and a powerful martial soul, killing it alone is impossible.¡±


    ¡°All of you be careful,¡± said Tang Wulin. ¡°Just wait for an opening.¡±


    A hundred meters away, the thunder beast smirked and whipped its tail, hurling a lightning bolt at them. It streaked across the room, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. Tang Wulin smiled as he watched the bolt approach. Golden light gathered around him and poured into a vine of bluesilver grass, causing it to grow rapidly and become as thick as a man¡¯s thigh. Scales sprouted from the vine as well. They quickly covered the vine, making it resemble an enlarged snake striking at its prey as it shot forward to meet the lightning bolt head on.

 Chapter 366 - Goldsong

    Chapter 366 - Goldsong


    Lightning arced through the air, striking the golden serpentine grass in a burst of sparks. The grass¡¯s glow dimmed a bit, but it had more than enough energy to keep advancing. It continued to shoot toward the thunder beast, a deathly screech resounding within the hall.


    Is¡­ is that Goldlight? Did Tang Wulin fuse Goldlight into the bluesilver grass?


    This was the the first time anyone present had ever seen Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass behave like this, even Gu Yue and Xie Xie.


    Goldlight whipped its tail and the grass behind it stood up straight. It took on a golden luster and began moving to form a gold snake of which Goldlight was the head. Below the snake, an enormous formation, a battle array, blazed into existence.


    ¡°Is that a spirit soul skill?¡± Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu asked in unison.


    Generally speaking, spirit souls could only assist their soul master indirectly. Some especially powerful spirit souls could actually participate in battle of course, which was possible for the exceptional few who possessed both a strong martial spirit and a spirit soul capable of matching its strength. However, since all spirit souls started out relatively weak, a soul master would prioritize compatibility over strength when choosing a spirit soul.


    A spirit soul skill was the product of fusing a spirit soul with a soul skill, something that would normally only be possible with one¡¯s second or third spirit soul. It would also require said spirit soul to be extremely compatible with the soul skill. Although spirit souls granted soul skills, in this particular situation, martial souls would first process the granted power. Spirit soul skills couldn¡¯t compare to soul fusion skills, but they were still far more powerful than ordinary soul skills. .


    At this moment, Goldlight served as the heart of Tang Wulin¡¯s third soul skill, Bluesilver Golden Array! Under Goldlight¡¯s control, Tang Wulin¡¯s vines could attack in more intelligent ways and display even greater strength.


    Goldlight had completely changed from when Tang Wulin first got it. It was originally a defective spirit soul only capable of granting a single weak soul skill.


    But with Tang Wulin, it grew.


    Under the influence of Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline, and after absorbing a wealth of spirit energy, it ascended and grew to what it was today. However, in the end, Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon King bloodline had influenced Goldlight the most. All snakes possessed a sliver of draconic blood in them. A defective spirit soul like Goldlight possessed an infinitesimally small amount of draconic blood, yet Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon King bloodline was that of a peak-level dragon. Simply being fused to Tang Wulin constantly exposed Goldlight to a supreme bloodline, gradually transforming it over time. Wang Jinxi had also received many benefits from the Golden Dragon King bloodline when he cultivated with Tang Wulin, but Goldlight¡¯s transformation was completely beyond that. This was especially true after Tang Wulin broke the third seal and poured the blood essence he couldn¡¯t handle into Goldlight. Its body had grown another by yet another level and now possessed formidable combat strength.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Golden Array only became like this because Goldlight initially couldn¡¯t grant Tang Wulin three soul skills. This particular soul skill came into existence through the combined factors of the Golden Dragon King bloodline¡¯s influence, Goldlight becoming a thousand-year spirit soul, and Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass mutating! This was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time using this soul skill. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to use it earlier. He just hadn¡¯t quite grasped its power yet, and he didn¡¯t have any chances to test it beforehand because he had focused solely on forging alloys instead of gaining combat experience.


    Another boom rang out as the golden snake formed by the Bluesilver Golden Array dispersed yet another bolt of lightning. This infuriated the thunder beast, and it summoned a lightning bolt that pulsed with power that was far greater than before. In the next instant, it descended upon the giant snake. The lightning bolt struck the snake, sending electricity surging across its glittering golden scales and through every grassy vine, but the grass simply went erect and spread the electricity into the air.


    Now a curtain of lightning lingered around the grass snake.


    ¡°What! Elemental guidance?¡± Gu Yue gaped.


    Elemental guidance was a powerful ability that allowed a certain amount of control over every element! Gu Yue could tell that elemental guidance was a passive ability of the Bluesilver Golden Array. This meant that as long as Tang Wulin didn¡¯t face an overwhelming assault, he could simply shrug off elemental attacks using the Bluesilver Golden Array! He could just scatter any elemental attacks like dust in the wind!


    Lightning continued to pour through the air, rumbling booms filling the hall as electricity soaked bluesilver grass. The barrage grew more and more intense as the thunder beast continued to rage at how well the grass snake weathered its attacks. Soon enough, dark thundering clouds filled the hall, continuously smiting the Bluesilver Golden Array!


    Everyone stood inside of the array, staring at the spectacle in shock. Tang Wulin himself was no exception! There was no way any of them could withstand such electrical might on their own. Even if they all worked together, they would have had to pull out all of their reserved strength to survive the attack, and probably would have been crippled in the process. The thunder beast had gone berserk and its speed had increased several times over! After clearing nine floors and entering the second level of trials, the difficulty had ramped up. Now their only chance at passing this trial was for Tang Wulin to use his Bluesilver Golden Array to exhaust all of the thunder beast¡¯s soul power!


    Yet that could hardly be called a victory.


    Goldlight continued to glare up at the stormy clouds, hissing its defiance. Lightning continued to flood the bluesilver grass, but each bolt that did was drawn out by elemental guidance, and electricity continued to build up and shroud the grass. The array gradually turned violet-blue, and the area completely became saturated with crackling energy.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power reserves declined rapidly, but compared to the thunder beast, his rate of consumption was much lower. It was far easier to defend and disperse the potency of the lightning bolts than it was to summon them. What shocked him, however, was that his blood essence slowly depleted along with his soul power! He now realized that his Bluesilver Golden Array had some connection to his bloodline, which most likely stemmed from Goldlight acting as the heart of the soul skill!


    Goldlight¡¯s hissing grew louder and louder, and although none of Tang Wulin¡¯s team understood what it meant, its arrogance was extremely apparent. This led everyone to the realization that it was sneering at the thunder beast!


    Shivers ran down Xie Xie¡¯s spine. ¡°Even Boss¡¯s spirit soul is as two-faced as him! Boss, ¡®Goldlight¡¯ just isn¡¯t a suitable name for it! The name doesn¡¯t do it justice at all! Look at how much it likes to hiss. Why don¡¯t you change its name to Chatterbox!¡±


    Gu Yue glared at Xie Xie as she slapped the back of his head. ¡°You¡¯re the chatterbox!¡±


    Ever since the day Gu Yue beat him, he no longer found himself able to muster even an ounce of defiance toward her. He zipped his mouth shut and lowered his head in embarrassment.


    ¡°How about calling it Goldsong?¡± Gu Yue said with a thoughtful smile on her face.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just a nicer way of calling it a chatterbox?¡± Tang Wulin asked helplessly.


    At that moment, Goldlight turned around and yelped at Gu Yue. The difference between how it regarded the thunder beast and Gu Yue was clear. It was practically fawning over her.


    ¡°See? It likes the name,¡± Gu Yue said, nodding earnestly at Tang Wulin. ¡°Let¡¯s call it Goldsong from now on!¡±


    Tang Wulin resigned himself. ¡°Alright, fine.¡± He always felt that Goldlight had been too simple of a name anyway. Goldsong was definitely a more pleasant name to say.


    Then it shall henceforth be known as Goldsong.


    Little did they know that Goldsong would become a name known and revered by all, once Tang Wulin rose to prominence in the future.

 Chapter 367 - Elemental Stripping

    Chapter 367 - Elemental Stripping


    After Goldsong¡¯s renaming, the barrage of lightning began the weaken. The forest of lightning that filled the sky grew thinner and thinner, and soon enough, the thunder beast¡¯s visage could clearly be seen. Lightning snaked from its body, its face wreathed in fury and its pupils now vertical slits. It no longer summoned bolts lightning, but instead gathered violet-blue electricity into its body. This voltaic energy now held a hint of gold, and a moment later, the thunder beast transformed into an enormous ball of lightning!


    ¡°Did it stop caring about its own life?¡± Yuanen Yehui stepped forward, taking the lead. ¡°Be careful, everyone!¡±


    ¡°Use your Titan Giant Ape soul!¡± shouted Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Yuanen Yehui nodded in understanding. She had twin martial souls while Yue Zhengyu only had the Holy Angel. In order to keep their martial souls from clashing, she had to switch to her Titan Giant Ape martial soul.


    A third soul ring appeared around Yuanen Yehui and her body swelled with strength, her clothes ripping apart until only the skintight, highly elastic outfit she wore underneath remained. She roared and swung her gigantic arms around, her aura flaring up, and only then did Tang Wulin realize why Yuanen Yehui always disguised herself as a boy. A girl transforming into a Titan Giant Ape truly wasn¡¯t a pretty sight.


    Yuanen Yehui immediately activated her third soul skill, Diamond Titan. It was a formidable soul skill that temporarily boosted her physical strength by an obscene amount! Only with this skill could she truly be considered strong when using her Titan Giant Ape martial soul.


    Without warning, the sky warped for an instant, making everyone¡¯s vision blur. The golden-violent ball of lightning shot toward Goldsong! However, Goldsong showed no fear and instead wielded the Bluesilver Golden Array at full power. With a flick of its tail, the entire array grew brighter and golden strands of grass shot up into the sky. The grass twisted as it spread upward, forming a giant whirlpool that sucked in the lightning.


    In a strange turn of events, the swiftly approaching lightning ball suddenly slowed down once the Bluesilver Golden Array surrounded it. From the outside, Tang Wulin and the others could see the whirlpool of grass draining the lightning from the ball of energy. Gu Yue stared at the Bluesilver Golden Array, too shocked to even prepare her own attack.


    Goldsong hadn¡¯t used elemental guidance. That only worked when an elemental attack struck it! No, Goldlight was using elemental stripping, a stronger form of elemental guidance!


    Elemental stripping¡­ Gu Yue¡¯s eyes widened at the thought. Elemental stripping was an ability purely meant to counter elemental soul masters, a control ability that all elemental soul masters yearned for. The Bluesilver Golden Array¡¯s elemental stripping wasn¡¯t as powerful as the real thing, however. The target had to enter the scope of the array for it to activate. Even with that limitation, it was a powerful ability for the three-ringed Tang Wulin. He would now be a nightmare for all ranged elemental soul masters. That array can be used for both attack and defense!


    As Gu Yue thought about it, the Bluesilver Golden Array faced some problems. The bluesilver grass that Goldsong controlled could resist the lightning, but the normal strands of grass couldn¡¯t. The lightning of the thunder beast burned that grass black, strand after strand cracking and crumbling to ash.


    As he currently was, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t handle something like a five-thousand-year thunder beast on his own. He could feel his blood essence and soul power drop with every second that passed, his face growing pale.


    Yuanen Yehui snorted and stepped forward. She focused her strength into her legs and rocketed her gigantic frame into the air, punching at the thunder beast with her second soul skill, Air Cannon! Under the effects of Diamond Titan, Air Cannon became far more formidable. A white streak shot from her fist, a condensed burst of air speeding toward the thunder beast like an artillery shell. The air shell struck the lightning ball, and the resulting shockwave of the clash sent rumbles throughout the entire hall.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Golden Array failed at that moment, and the glowing formation lines that surrounded Goldsong faded away. In a flash, Goldsong returned to its normal size and slithered onto his shoulder.


    At the same time, the weakening lightning ball dissipated entirely and the thunder beast came flying out of it.


    ¡°Judgement!¡± Yue Zhengyu exploded with holy might and shot a beam of light down at the thunder beast. The thunder beast trembled in the face of the light, fighting to resist its vindictive glow. But its resistance was futile. It had already been exhausted to the brink of collapse. The light slammed the thunder beast into the stone floor, which cracked under the force of impact.


    The moment Yue Zhengyu summoned the holy light, Xie Xie darted forward. He held a grudge against the beast after their previous clash, and he arrived at the downed thunder beast in a flash, attacking with a Light Dragon Blade. However, right as he did, a shield of light formed around the thunder beast. Xie Xie¡¯s dagger bounced off the shield, almost as if he had just struck an elastic wall.


    Then, in a brilliant flash of light, the thunder beast disappeared.


    ¡°Eleventh trial cleared,¡± the electronic voice announced.


    Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Despite passing the trial, none of them looked happy. It had been a hard-won trial. If not for Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Golden Array restraining and exhausting the thunder beast, they would have had to pay a far higher price to prevail. Even so, they won, and could continue their search for a spirit soul for Yuanen Yehui.


    Yuanen Yehui looked at Tang Wulin. ¡°Are you able to continue?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Tang Wulin met her gaze. Success was one thing, but he made a promise, and he kept his promises. ¡°No matter what happens, we¡¯ll do our best to help you.¡±


    ¡°Here.¡± Xu Lizhi handed a bun to Tang Wulin.


    It only took Tang Wulin two bites to finish it. Bringing a food-type soul master really was a great idea! He¡¯s just perfect for helping me fill my stomach!


    With the conclusion of the battle, Tang Wulin became acutely aware of how empty his stomach was. After devouring the pork bun however, he felt much better, leading him to look at Xu Lizhi with a heated gaze.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that! I¡¯m not a girl, Wulin!¡± Frightened by the way Tang Wulin looked at him, Xu Lizhi hastily chanted and summoned a few more buns for him.


    Yuanen Yehui saw this exchange occur and grimaced, then directed her eyes away from the two gluttons toward the door of light. Oddly enough, the electronic voice hadn¡¯t urge them to enter the door or begin a ten second countdown. Since they weren¡¯t being forced to enter the door, they relaxed and spent the time they had recovering. Tang Wulin focused on absorbing the nutrients of the buns as he observed their surroundings.


    ¡°Did something change, Gu Yue? Are they giving us time to rest now?¡± asked Tang Wulin.


    Gu Yue furrowed her brow. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I asked my teacher about the spirit soul tower, but she just told me to experience it for myself and that knowing too much ahead of time would ruin it.¡±


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll just wait and see then.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui sat in front of the door. If anything happened, she would enter immediately. It was only ten minutes later that the electronic voice sounded off once more.


    ¡°You have ten seconds to enter the door.¡± A small illusory thunder beast appeared beside the door, floating in the air. ¡°Or absorb the thunder beast spirit soul.¡±


    Tang Wulin was actually quite fond of this thunder beast. If he possessed a lightning-attribute martial soul, he would have jumped at the chance to take it as his second spirit soul. Unfortunately, neither he nor anyone else on his team possessed the lightning attribute. No one aside from Yuanen Yehui could absorb another spirit soul at the moment anyway.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Tang Wulin shouted. His soul power hadn¡¯t recovered much, but with the help of the buns, he had recovered most of his blood essence.


    ¡°I have a red bean bun, I have a red bean bun!¡± Xu Lizhi chanted, his third soul ring lighting up.


    The others were were already walking toward the door when they heard his chant and turned see a bunch of white buns appearing in his hands. They were tiny, but emitted an alluring fragrance. He¡¯s using his third soul skill?


    ¡°What are those for?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you on the next floor. Here. Each of you gets one.¡±


    Everyone nodded in confirmation and walked through the door of light.

 Chapter 368 - Yuanen Yehuis Choice

    Chapter 368 - Yuanen Yehui''s Choice


    Light blinded Tang Wulin¡¯s team of six as they stepped into the hall of the twelfth trial. Once it dimmed enough for them to see their surroundings, they found themselves in a hall identical to that of the eleventh trial. Wasting no time, Xu Lizhi quickly distributed red bean buns to the rest of the team.


    ¡°Pay attention to your teamwork, guys,¡± he said. ¡°My Bloodthirst Bean Buns can boost your physical strength up to fifty percent and your soul power by twenty. Power-type soul masters or soul masters with vigorous blood essence will have their physical strength boosted even more. I call it the bloodthirst effect.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were glued to Xu Lizhi, not a single one of them paying any attention to the door of light disappearing behind them. These red bean buns boost both physical strength and soul power? And he can even give one to everyone? What an amazing food-type soul master! Is that really just his third soul skill?


    Xu Lizhi smiled wryly. ¡°I¡¯m a bit surprised by it myself. My teacher told me that it¡¯s a variant soul skill. Its effect might be potent, but it only lasts for three minutes. It¡¯ll also leave you in a weakened state after expiring, the length of which differs between people. Wulin, for example, will probably only be weak for ten minutes. However, if you rely on spiritual power to fight and have a weak constitution, I think the weakened state will last about an hour.¡±


    Bloodthirst lasts for three minutes! Tang Wulin gulped, eyes glued to the red bean bun in his hand. ¡°What happens if I eat more than one?¡±


    Xu Lizhi frantically waved his hand. ¡°No, don''t eat more than one! The side effects will be too great if you do. Well, you might be able to handle two, but the bloodthirst effect would only last one minute, its effect would be twice as strong, and you¡¯d be weak for a whole day afterward. No one else¡¯s body is strong enough to eat two, and if they did, they¡¯d die. Bloodthirst is supposed to ignite one¡¯s soul power and essence to draw forth a burst of strength, but the buns allow this to happen without any permanent side effects. So, just to be safe, don¡¯t eat more than one of them a day.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing enough as it is!¡± exclaimed Yue Zhengyu.


    Xu Lizhi hadn¡¯t participated in a single battle throughout the entire tower attack, but that was just common sense for a food-type soul master like him. This didn¡¯t upset anyone because they all knew that, without his pork buns, they would have long since exhausted all their soul power and never would have made it this far. Now he revealed the secrets baked into his shocking red bean buns!


    As everyone stowed their buns away, the hall¡¯s giant metal door began rumbling.


    ¡°Prepare for battle!¡± Tang Wulin shouted. The thunder beast from the eleventh trial had left a deep impression on them, as did the Demon Lizard Dragon. If it weren¡¯t for Tang Wulin, the dragon would have been a far more challenging opponent. With the last two soul beasts fresh in their memories, thoughts of what the twelfth trial¡¯s beast would be filled them with anticipation. They couldn¡¯t possibly be lucky enough to perfectly counter every soul beast they came across.


    The door slid to a grinding halt, and they watched the opening with bated breath, waiting to see how fortune would treat them this time. A soul beast emerged from the darkness, its movements rough and heavy. Its head drooped as it stepped into the hall, but even so, the beast stood over ten meters tall. It had a massive frame, with shoulders spanning seven meters and arms like pillars that could hold up the heavens, thick and solid. Its figure exuded regal might, one that even a Demon Lizard Dragon would cower before.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes gleamed the second she saw it. ¡°I-is that a Diamond Baboon?¡±


    A Diamond Baboon was a power-type soul beast, one of the most powerful ape-types. In fact, its strength even surpassed that of the Titan Giant Ape. The greatest of Diamond Baboons stood over forty meters tall, a true goliath of a beast with strength to match its size. They were hailed as one of the freaks of the soul beasts world. Few possessed greater physical strength than a Diamond Baboon, and it could definitely claim to be the king of strength. The Diamond Baboon¡¯s might lay in its pure strength, and strength led to terrifying speed. This earned it the title of King of the Jungle.


    Yet the Titan Giant Ape remained superior, not because of its strength or abilities, but because of its intelligence! In comparison, the Diamond Baboon was all brawn and no brains, and therein lay its greatest weakness.


    Ape-type soul beasts were generally smarter than other soul beasts, but Diamond Baboons went against this trend. In fact, some wondered if they even had brains. They possessed violent dispositions, were fond of slaughtering others, and seemed to act based on instinct alone. Apart from their monstrous strength, they only possessed a single soul skill, Enrage! As the name suggested, it produced effects similar to that caused by Xu Lizhi¡¯s red bean buns. Unlike bloodthirst, however, Enrage strained the user¡¯s body, not their soul power, and even granted a greater boost of strength that could reach as high as fifty percent!


    Thousand-year soul beasts with only one soul skill were very rare. For any other soul master, the Diamond Baboon would have simply been a hassle to deal with, but considering her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, it was perfect for Yuanen Yehui. It would be a wonderful boon for her to acquire its Enrage soul skill.


    ¡°I want it,¡± declared Yuanen Yehui.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Tang Wulin nodded at her. ¡°We¡¯ll do our best.¡±


    This Diamond Baboon was around the five-thousand-year level. As a power-type soul beast, it possessed formidable strength, speed, and physical defense. In exchange for having no long-ranged abilities, it was unparalleled at close quarters. With their current team, whether or not they would be able to defeat it was a coin toss.


    The reality of their grim situation shone through Yuanen Yehui¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it occupied,¡± she said, popping the red bean bun into her mouth. Her third soul ring lit up as she activated Diamond Titan with a swing of her arms. She had finally found a spirit soul that suited her, but she still had to defeat it. Without hesitation she rushed forward, playing the part of vanguard, the most difficult role in this battle.


    She shot toward the Diamond Baboon, cutting through the air as the aura of the Titan Giant Ape erupted from her body. The aura washed over the Diamond Baboon, stirring it from its sluggish stupor, and its eyes began turning a bright crimson.


    Although the Diamond Baboon and the Titan Giant Ape were both ape-type soul beasts, they were mortal enemies. In ancient times, Diamond Baboons were subservient to Titan Giant Apes. Titan Giant Apes were individually stronger than Diamond Baboons, but the baboons far outnumbered their lords, and one day, an exceptionally intelligent Diamond Baboon was born. With a leader to rally them, the Diamond Baboons rose up against the Titan Giant Apes. The resulting rebellion led to many losses on both sides and started a war between the two races that rocked the world of soul beasts. Titan Giant Apes were peak-level soul beasts, while Diamond Baboons only fell slightly short of them. A war between such powerhouses shocked the heavens as well!


    This war continued for hundreds of years until the Titan Giant Apes paid a steep price to kill that intelligent Diamond Baboon. Without a leader, the Diamond Baboons collapsed. Yet the Titan Giant Apes paid dearly for their victory. A great number of them died because of the war, and they lost their position as one of the ruling factions in the world of soul beasts. Although they still held onto their power as kings of the forest, they no longer acted as boldly as before. Anyone well-versed in soul beast history knew of the grudge between these two races. Saying that this grudge ran as deep as the sea would be an understatement!

 Chapter 369 - The Mighty Diamond Baboon

    Chapter 369 - The Mighty Diamond Baboon


    Even back when soul beasts littered the land, Titan Giant Apes and Diamond Baboons would be at each other¡¯s throats the moment they laid eyes on each other. Diamond Baboons knew they couldn¡¯t kill the Titan Giant Apes, but they would rather die trying. Yuanen Yehui bore no grudge against this Diamond Baboon, but as soon as she unleashed her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, her eyes went crimson with fury. The Diamond Baboon beat its chest and roared, then dropped onto all fours and bounded toward her.


    Tang Wulin understood how powerful this baboon was and chose not to use his bluesilver grass. It couldn¡¯t possibly stand up to the baboon¡¯s strength as it currently was. Instead, he opted to use his Golden Dragon King abilities, immediately activating Golden Dragon Body. A brilliant golden soul ring appeared beside him as he devoured a red bean bun, and charged at the baboon.


    ¡°Yuanen is just becoming less and less womanly,¡± Xie Xie muttered to himself. He sighed, then rushed over to join Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui, approaching from the Diamond Baboon¡¯s flank like a proper agility-type soul master.


    Once the three rushed out, Yue Zhengyu unfurled his pure white wings and used his second soul skill, a holy sword materializing in his hand. Gu Yue directed the elements in the air, her hands moving nonstop.


    Every single one of them acted in perfect sync!


    As the rest of her team sprang into action, Yuanen Yehui crashed into the Diamond Baboon, the air around them exploding into a frenzied gale.


    With Diamond Titan activated, she stood a little over five meters tall. Although her frame was far bulkier than before, she was still a far cry from the Diamond Baboon¡¯s muscular mass. She also couldn¡¯t match its overwhelming physical strength. The clash sent her flying, but the baboon only staggered back two steps.


    The red bean bun had boosted Yuanen Yehui¡¯s strength by no small amount, but she was still lacking in comparison with the Diamond Baboon.


    Just as the Diamond Baboon recovered from the recoil, Tang Wulin arrived.


    Standing before the towering ten-meter tall baboon, Tang Wulin resembled a baby. However, his blood essence surged within him, its flow reversing as a dragon roared from the depths of his body. Although he had eaten numerous pork buns after the previous trial, his blood essence hadn¡¯t been fully replenished. Yet the Bloodthirst Bean Bun more than made up for him not being in peak condition. It made him feel the same as when he had eaten those ten gigantic bowls of noodles. It made his blood boil, and his blood essence flowed in reverse, breaking through the eighty-five percent bottleneck to reach ninety percent! His blood essence bubbled with power. Under the effects of Golden Dragon Body and the bloodthirst of the red bean bun, his strength reached an all-time high!


    Tang Wulin clenched his clawed hand into a fist and sent it straight at the Diamond Baboon!


    At precisely this moment, the Diamond Baboon made a mistake. All of its attention was focused on Yuanen Yehui. It saw Tang Wulin as a nuisance and only raised its left hand up to swat at Tang Wulin as if he were a fly.


    Golden dragon claw and palm met.


    The impact sent Tang Wulin flying away and he slammed into the wall like an artillery shell, embedding deeply within. While his strength was great, Tang Wulin still couldn¡¯t compare with Yuanen Yehui, let alone the Diamond Baboon.


    However, the Diamond Baboon hadn¡¯t come out unscathed.


    Although Tang Wulin¡¯s punch was nowhere near as powerful as the baboon¡¯s casual swat, there was still a matter of difference in the sizes of their hands. With all of Tang Wulin¡¯s strength concentrated on his comparatively tiny fist, the pressure he exerted was far higher, and this was without taking in consideration his claw¡¯s crushing effect.


    The same instant Tang Wulin was sent flying away, a crunch could be heard as the Diamond Baboon¡¯s left hand exploded, leaving a bloody hole half a meter in diameter on its palm. The Diamond Baboon grimaced, roaring its rage to the sky. Pain seared its nerves, and its entire arm began to twitch.


    Yet it wasn¡¯t given a single moment of reprieve. Holy light descended from the heavens at that moment, bathing the Diamond Baboon in flames that ate away at its flesh! Although the Diamond Baboon wasn¡¯t of darkness-attribute, holy flames burned the soul in addition to flesh. This was one of the defining traits of a Holy Angel.


    The excruciating pain of its flesh burning and the bloody hole in its palm was too much for the Diamond Baboon. It went crazy, its eyes bleeding red while its golden hair stood on end, the gold color rapidly replaced by scarlet.


    Entering its enraged state, the Diamond Baboon¡¯s strength multiplied as its intelligence, low to begin with, disappeared entirely. It couldn¡¯t feel the pain from its palm anymore. It exploded into action, throwing its enormous bulk at Yuanen Yehui.


    The enraged Diamond Baboon was terrifying. Its originally gigantic body grew even more muscular, its height now twelve meters. A simple swing of its arms left aftershocks in their wake. The baboon was difficult enough to deal within its normal state, so there was no way they could stand against it now that its abilities were increased by fifty percent.


    ¡°It¡¯s not at the ten-thousand-year level yet, so its enraged state can¡¯t last more than ten minutes. We just need to survive for that long. Be careful everyone,¡± warned Yuanen Yehui.


    She hadn¡¯t expected the Diamond Baboon to be so easily enraged. Despite her surprise, her heart remained calm. She already knew that unless they were able to utterly suppress the Diamond Baboon, then it would become enraged sooner or later, and sooner increased their odds of victory.


    Yuanen Yehui leaped to the side as the Diamond Baboon thundered towards her. She was still under the effects of the red bean bun, and wanted to take advantage of it to run away while she still could. She understood that fighting the enraged baboon right now would only lead to defeat.


    Tang Wulin had slid down onto the ground long ago. He got up and frowned at the enraged Diamond Baboon, pondering how they would overcome this challenge. The red bean buns¡¯ effect would end in three minutes, but the Diamond Baboon¡¯s enraged state would last far longer. In their weakened state, a single strike from the powered-up baboon would eliminate them.


    An idea popped into his head and he spun towards Yue Zhengyu. ¡°Zhengyu, don¡¯t eat your red bean bun yet. Conserve your soul power,¡± Tang Wulin shouted.


    ¡°Roger that!¡± Yue Zhengyu hovered in the air, wondering what Tang Wulin had planned even as he agreed. He kept shooting holy light at the baboon.


    In the previous trial, because he couldn¡¯t reconcile with Yuanen Yehui, the majority of the workload had been shifted to Tang Wulin. Yue Zhengyu wasn¡¯t satisfied with this. His pride didn¡¯t allow himself to be a burden on someone else. If he wanted to properly work together with his teammates, then he could only force himself to accept orders. His confidence in Tang Wulin had improved over time as well, the original scorn he held toward Tang Wulin gone. Tang Wulin¡¯s overwhelming victory against the Demon Lizard Dragon had left deep impression on him. He had defeated it within seconds! Regardless of what stars had aligned to produce such a result, only the outcome mattered! It was only after facing the thunder beast and their current foe, the Diamond Baboon, that he understood the true difficulty of the spirit soul tower.


    ¡°Gu Yue, use the wind element to lighten us!¡± shouted Tang Wulin.


    Gu Yue was conjuring an ice spear in front of her. Green, gold, and blue, it was, a three-element attack. Soul power fluctuated from within it as the immense power caged by the ice fought for its release. It had taken her over a minute to shape the spear, and considering her cultivation level and spiritual power, it was anything but weak.


    A distance away, Yuanen Yehui struggled to survive. Even boosted by the red bean bun and facing the Diamond Baboon in such a large hall, the baboon¡¯s speed had risen to insane heights in its enraged state. It chased after her in a craze, nearly overtaking her with its long strides several times. ¡°Yuanen, change to your Fallen Angel and fly into the air! Zhengyu, prepare to take us up!¡± Tang Wulin orderedas he shot bluesilver grass at Yue Zhengyu, Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue.

 Chapter 370 - Dont Judge a Bun by its Folds

    Chapter 370 - Don''t Judge a Bun by its Folds


    Xie Xie and Gu Yue, being the most familiar with Tang Wulin, instantly understood his intentions.


    Holding her three-colored ice spear in one hand, Gu Yue shot orbs of green light at her teammates from her other hand.


    Xu Lizhi chanted, creating more buns.


    Tang Wulin tugged on the bluesilver grass connected to Yue Zhengyu, who shot into the air, lifting Tang Wulin up with him.


    The hall was about fifty meters high. Yue Zhengyu flew high up with Tang Wulin in an instant. Tang Wulin then pulled Xie Xie and Gu Yue up.


    Yue Zhengyu finally understood why Tang Wulin had told him to conserve his soul power. Taking three passengers into the air would drain his soul power immensely. To help lighten Yue Zhengyu¡¯s load, Tang Wulin sent Goldsong into a strand of bluesilver grass and shot it into the ground as support. He proceeded to pull Xu Lizhi up as well.


    With all five of them in the air now, Yuanen Yehui also understood what the plan was too. She turned around, gathered strength within her legs, and leaped. Her body rapidly shrunk as she soared upward, narrowly avoiding the Diamond Baboon¡¯s sweeping palm. Strong gusts of wind buffeted her progress mid-air, but she switched to her Fallen Angel martial soul. A pair of black wings sprouted from her back and she flew herself higher into the air.


    Unwilling to let its enemy get away, the Diamond Baboon continued to chase. It ran towards the wall, clambered up several tens of meters, then leaped off the wall toward Yuanen Yehui.


    At that moment, the ice spear left Gu Yue¡¯s palm. Fire exploded from the tail of the ice spear and, in the blink of an eye, it reached the Diamond Baboon.


    The collision disintegrated the ice spear into an icy mist. Despite the baboon¡¯s formidable defense, the impact sent it really backward and it fell from the air. Frost coated the baboon¡¯s fur as the icy mist burrowed into its body. Furious, the Diamond Baboon and roared, its blood essence surging forth to dispel the mist. But now Yuanen Yehui was out of its reach..


    Yuanen Yehui gave Gu Yue a thumbs up as she flew over.


    Tang Wulin threw the Goldsong-infused bluesilver grass down and used the resulting rebound force to thrust Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Xu Lizhi, and himself a dozen meters higher into the air. They were now over twenty meters above the ground.


    Yue Zhengyu continued to flap his wings, straining himself to ascend higher. Carrying four people in the air with a cultivation level of only three soul rings was not an easy task, especially when one of those four was Xu Lizhi. Yue Zhengu barely managed to ascend another couple of dozen meters pushing himself to his limits.


    ¡°Yuanen!¡± Tang Wulin threw a strand of bluesilver grass toward her.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Fallen Angel was inferior to Yue Zhengyu¡¯s Holy Angel in terms of divine power, but with her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, it enhanced her strength beyond Yue Zhengyu. This applied to her wing strength as well. Yuanen grabbed onto the strand of bluesilver grass connected to her teammates and beat her wings harder, relieving the pressure onYue Zhengyu as she ascended.


    The berserk Diamond Baboon leaped back into the air, swinging its arms straight at Xu Lizhi. The fist missed, hitting air a few meters away. Despite this, Xu Lizhi could feel its deadly wind pressure. Fortunately, most of it dissipated and only knocked the team back a few meters from their height forty meters above the ground.


    After becoming enraged, the Diamond Baboon had grown to twelve meters tall. With its strength boosted, it could jump over thirty meters high, nearly forty. This was astonishing for a soul beast with no ranged attacks!


    ¡°Bring us to the top!¡± shouted Tang Wulin.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu exerted themselves to bring them higher, straight to the ceiling.


    Tang Wulin stabbed his claw into the ceiling. It was abnormally sturdy for stone. His claw only penetrated halfway, but that was enough. With Tang Wulin using his own strength to stay up high, it lightened Yue Zhengyu¡¯s burden and he could now stably fly in the air with just three people attached to him.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s plan had been simple, but they were shocked nonetheless.


    The enraged Diamond Baboon¡¯s strength far exceeded their expectations, its power seemingly great enough to crush anything that stood in its way. None of them dared take one of its attacks.


    However, Yuanen Yehui¡¯s words earlier had reminded Tang Wulin. Since Enrage produced a similar effect to the red bean buns and the power boost was even greater, then the effective time had to be shorter.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have too much time. How long do you think you can hold out for?¡± Yuanen Yehui asked Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I¡¯m fine, I have plenty of strength left. Even if I didn¡¯t, it still wouldn¡¯t be a problem for me to carry you guys.¡± His strength had long since surpassed five thousand kilograms worth of force. All together, the six of them weighed no more than five hundred kilograms. This burden was nothing to him.


    Yue Zhengyu flew over to Tang Wulin and wrapped a strand of bluesilver grass around his waist and shoulders. ¡°Let me know if you can¡¯t hold on. I¡¯ll use the red bean bun and we¡¯ll be able to last another three minutes.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t carry them all as he was now, but it wouldn¡¯t be a problem under the bloodthirsty effort.


    ¡°I have a mini soup bun, I have a mini soup bun, I have a mini soup bun¡­¡± chanted Xu Lizhi.


    Small buns appeared in his hand one after another. He handed one over to Tang Wulin. ¡°This is my second soul skill, Agility Soup Buns. They reduce someone¡¯s weight, which gives them greater agility. They¡¯re useful for me in this situation.¡± He popped one into his mouth right after speaking.


    His Agility Soup Buns were just perfect for their current predicament. Everyone became lighter after eating one.


    Yue Zhengyu eyes lit up after feeling the effects. ¡°Fatty, your buns are great!¡± He was awed by the effects of Xu Lizhi¡¯s Recovery Pork Bun, Agility Mini Soup Bun, and Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun.


    Although the effects of their food didn¡¯t manifest immediately, the greatest advantage of food-type soul masters was the length of the effects. Having a food-type soul master in a team could mean the difference between victory and defeat in a prolonged battle.


    Xu Lizhi grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t judge a bun by its folds!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re so fat you¡¯re panting, but I¡¯ll admit that your support is very effective.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui flew over to join them. After facing the Diamond Baboon together, something had changed in their relationships. They had shared joys and sorrows, trials and tribulations, and they all grew closer as a result. Yuanen Yehui no longer regarded them coldly. Well, except for Xie Xie.

 Chapter 371 - Marginal Victory

    Chapter 371 - Marginal Victory


    Tang Wulin smiled as he watched the furious Diamond Baboon. ¡°Now we just need to wait. Lizhi, give Yuanen a few pork buns. We need her in top condition as soon as possible. Once she¡¯s ready, we¡¯ll kill it.¡±


    Challenging one trial after another without much rest had exhausted them. If not for their luck and their wits, they would never have made it this far.


    Tang Wulin admired Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui¡¯s strength. With two flight-capable soul masters in their team he could use many more tactics and pull off much more daring plans while maintaining minimal casualties.


    The Diamond Baboon roared and kept jumping toward them, only to always fall short. Fifty meters was an impossible height for it to reach, and there was nothing it could climb. All it could do was howl at them.


    The Bloodthirst effect on Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui soon dissipated and their complexions paled with the loss of strength. However, their bodies were strong and they could endure the feeling of weakness. They quickly ate a few pork buns, color returning to their cheeks as they did so.


    The Diamond Baboon¡¯s howls gradually died down as the crazed look in its eyes retreated and its body shrunk. Before the ten minute mark was reached, its enraged state seemed to have ended.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go first!¡± Yue Zhengyu announced.


    He extracted himself from the bluesilver grass and unfurled his wings, golden flames bursting into life as he dove down to the baboon. His holy sword manifested in his hand as an ethereal gold light surrounded him. All three of his soul rings were lit, as he constantly switched between his three soul skills. That golden light around his body seemed to have come from his third soul skill! This was an advanced soul skill manipulation technique that required high mechanical skill and powerful soul skills.


    Yue Zhengyu stopped his descent meters away from the Diamond Baboon and hovered in place, his figure obscured by the light and flames.


    ¡°Light of Judgement!¡± He raised his sword toward the heavens. Light gathering around the tip of his sword, lighting the entire hall up like a miniature sun. Soon, the holy sword grew to ten meters in length!


    Tang Wulin looked over at Yuanen Yehui, noticing the shock in her eyes.


    This was Yue Zhengyu¡¯s true power, which he had concealed this entire time. He really hid this much strength? Is this what a rich kid does, only choosing to reveal his power at the very end of the tower attack?


    In that split-second, Yue Zhengyu¡¯s Holy Angel was far stronger than Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Fallen Angel! While having twin martial souls made her stronger overall, individually her martial souls were weaker since she had to spread her efforts between the two.


    The air trembled as Yue Zhengyu slashed at the Diamond Baboon and sent it flying backward, golden flames devouring its body.


    He had combined the power of all three of his soul skills to produce this frightening slash!


    Yuanen Yehui chose this moment to attack too, transforming from a Fallen Angel into a Titan Giant Ape as she fell straight onto the Diamond Baboon¡¯s head. The others dropped after her. There was no suspense in the outcome of the battle anymore.


    The Diamond Baboon was still struggling to get up when Yuanen Yehui arrived, bringing her fists down to smash its head. Yet, a few feet before she struck it, its body twitched and instantly shrunk by a third. Her fists missed and struck the stone floor instead.


    What?


    Everyone stood there, stunned. Before they could react, the Diamond Baboon shot to its feet and headbutted Yuanen Yehui, sending her flying with a resounding thud. The Diamond Baboon followed up on its attack, delivering a punch to her stomach.


    No one had expected the weakened Diamond Baboon to suddenly unleash such strength! They couldn¡¯t comprehend what had just happened. Tang Wulin wanted to rush in to save her, but she was too far away and he wouldn¡¯t make it in time. Everything had happened too suddenly. By the time he realized Yuanen Yehui was under attack, the baboon was already in pursuit.


    The Diamond Baboon wasn¡¯t injured, its eyes still filled with bloodlust. The entire time it had led them by the nose and luring them into a trap. Its enraged state hadn¡¯t ended at all! This wasn¡¯t a normal stupid Diamond Baboon. No, it was intelligent like the one that led the other Diamond Baboons in an uprising against the Titan Giant Apes long ago!


    Yuanen Yehui barely managed to twist her body in time to, thrust out her fists to meet the baboon¡¯s attack. Inches before the baboon¡¯s fist struck her, she disappeared in a burst of silver light.


    However, the Diamond Baboon¡¯s fist didn¡¯t strike empty air.


    A whirlwind of light collided with its fist. The resultant shockwave shook the room and a blurry projectile shot back, headed towards the wall. A shield of water appeared between the projectile and the wall in an attempt to cushion the impact. The projectile was Xie Xie. He had done his best to mitigate the force behind the Diamond Baboon¡¯s punch with his Light Dragon Storm, but he was no match for its strength.


    ¡°Xie Xie!¡± shouted Tang Wulin.


    Everyone else had recovered from their shock now. Yue Zhengyu flew toward the Diamond Baboon, brandishing his holy sword once more.


    The Diamond Baboon swelled once again as strength surged through its body again, but the bloodlust in its eyes was rapidly fading. Its enraged state was about to end. Yuanen Yehui attacked it as well, completely forgetting her differences with Yue Zhengyu.


    With a boom, the Diamond Baboon was sent backward again. This time, however, its defenses were weaker, and its entire body was engulfed in holy flames. Yuanen Yehui descended, smashing her fists onto its head. Feet firmly planted on the ground now, she followed up with a straight punch, then an uppercut!


    The Diamond Baboon was too weak to put up any resistance and could only get pummelled by her.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin rushed to Xie Xie¡¯s side.


    Gu Yue had teleported Yuanen Yehui out just as Xie Xie arrived in front of the Diamond Baboon¡¯s fist. It had taken his all to put up a defense with Light Dragon Storm.


    Originally, he was going to take the hit for Yuanen Yehui, but it was impossible for him to receive the attack and come out unscathed. The difference in strength between him and the Diamond Babon was simply too great. Instead, he planned to push her out of the way at the last minute.


    However, Gu Yue had teleported Yuanen Yehui out of the way, foiling his plan to be the white knight saving the princess. Rather, he was even sent flying by the Diamond Baboon.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s vision reddened with rage. Xie Xie was an agility-type soul master! It was fundamentally impossible for him to endure such an attack. Xie Xie was lucky to not have died from the five-thousand-year Diamond Baboon¡¯s attack! Even Yuanen Yehui in her Titan Giant Ape form would have been gravely injured by the baboon¡¯s attack, not to mention Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie lay prone on the floor, his eyes looking down at his limbs that were twisted in impossible angles. His spine was crushed. Even with the water shield cushioning the impact, his body couldn¡¯t survive the attack.


    ¡°Xie Xie, Xie Xie!¡± Tang Wulin screamed. He rushed over to pick Xie Xie up.


    As Tang Wulin held Xie Xie in his arms, his friend¡¯s crippled body dissipated into specks of light. A moment later there was nothing left in his arms and a pale-faced figure appeared in the distance.


    ¡°Xie Xie¡­¡± Tang Wulin looked up to see Xie Xie, not a single hair out of place. Relief flooded him.


    Xie Xie¡¯s body swayed, then fell onto his butt. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his complexion paling. It was his clone that had taken the attack. Yet even though it was his clone, he still received much of the damage the clone sustained. Fear filled his eyes as he looked toward the Diamond Baboon.

 Chapter 372 - Heavenly Phoenix Douluo

    Chapter 372 - Heavenly Phoenix Douluo


    Yuanen Yehui continued to pummel the Diamond Baboon. It weakly tried to defend itself, but the attacks left it too disoriented. The baboon fell to its knees, no strength left to resist. Yuanen Yehui grabbed its head and twisted it a full 180 degrees. A resounding crack filled the hall. Then the baboon crumpled onto the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. It was dead.


    Turning back, she saw how pale and frightened Xie Xie was, and unsettling butterflies upset her stomach. After a moment though, she cooled down and shrunk back down to normal size.


    Yue Zhengyu touched down beside her, his wings folding back into his back. He furrowed his brow. ¡°What a cunning Diamond Baboon.¡±


    ¡°Twelfth trial cleared. You may choose to fuse with the Diamond Baboon spirit soul or continue onward.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui strode over to Xie Xie.


    He gave her a wide, shaky smile. ¡°I¡¯m fine. You don¡¯t have to thank me.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t owe me anymore,¡± she said quietly, then turned around and walked over to touch the floating illusory Diamond Baboon beside the door.


    The baboon scattered, turning into golden specks of light and gathered around her shoulder. It tried to struggle away from her, unwilling to become her spirit soul. But Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t care. She sat down and began absorbing it, not taking no as an answer.


    Tang Wulin sat down behind Xie Xie and placed his hands on his friend¡¯s back, using the Mysterious Heaven Method to help Xie Xie recover. Although their martial souls were different, their soul power was similar since they both cultivated the same method. Tang Wulin gently sent soul power into Xie Xie, helping steady his breathing. Color quickly returned to Xie Xie¡¯s face.


    ¡°You¡¯re so reckless!¡± grumbled Tang Wulin.


    Xie Xie smiled wryly in response.


    Tang Wulin was the only one who had clearly seen what happened. When Yuanen Yehui was in danger, he decided to use his Purple Demon Eyes to attack the Diamond Baboon¡¯s mind. It was his only ranged attack, but he didn¡¯t know how effective it would be.  A side effect of Purple Demon Eyes was improved eyesight, and it was while he was preparing his attack when he saw Xie Xie rush in with his real body!


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the Diamond Baboon was weak and slow after its enraged state ended and Tang Wulin had attacked its mind to delay it, then Xie Xie wouldn¡¯t have been able to summon his clone in time. He only had a split-second to summon a Shadow Dragon Clone and use Shadow Dragon Storm to defend himself. Even with his Purple Demon Eyes, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been able to see Xie Xie use his soul skills. It nearly gave him a heart attack when he thought Xie Xie had taken the attack with his real body. Xie Xie truly would have a crippled and mangled body right now if he hadn¡¯t managed to summon his clone in time.


    ¡°Pfft. Didn¡¯t you also take a hit for Gu Yue?¡± Recalling the moment he jumped in to save Yuanen Yehui, a magical feeling filled Xie Xie. He hadn¡¯t thought things through at all, throwing himself between her and the baboon without any hesitation. It wasn¡¯t until he was staring at death right in the eye that he remembered to use his clones.


    The only explanation was that dire situation compelled him to move. Fortunately for him, he had benefited from facing this danger and managed to fuse his second and third soul skills in that moment of peril to save his life.


    Xu Lizhi ran over with some pork buns in hand. Xie Xie accepted the buns and happily ate them. I almost died! I wouldn¡¯t have been able to eat anything anymore! That was way too dangerous.


    They finally understood just how different the tower attack and the spirit ascension platform were. Any wounds they received here were real. Xie Xie truly had brushed by death just then.


    Yuanen Yehui sat to one side, quietly fusing with the Diamond Baboon spirit soul. No one dared disturb her.


    The twelfth trial was their limit. They wouldn¡¯t survive against the soul beast on the next floor. The beasts they faced would only got stronger with each trial they cleared. Luckily, they had accomplished their mission. Both Xu Xiaoyan and Yuanen Yehui found a suitable spirit soul.


    Everyone sat down and began to recover their soul power. Ten minutes later, the door of light disappeared. Two hours later, beams of light descended on them. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in the room they had entered the tower from.


    Xu Xiaoyan stood there waiting, beaming when she saw them. To her side was Leng Yaozhu, who smiled warmly and exclaimed, ¡°I thought you kids would only make it to the ninth floor, but you actually cleared the twelfth! As expected of geniuses from Shrek. Let me tell you, it normally requires a full team of four-ringed soul masters to clear the twelfth trial! Your bravery and wits are truly admirable. If you¡¯re interested, the Spirit Pagoda would love to welcome you to join us. We would provide you with the best cultivation resources we have. This won¡¯t affect your studies at Shrek Academy either.¡±


    Everyone looked at each other silently. Tang Wulin was the first to step forward. He shook his head and said, ¡°Senior, my apologies. I already belong to an organization.¡±


    Everyone else tactfully declined as well. No one else wanted to join the Spirit Pagoda, and Gu Yue had already joined them.


    ¡°Mn. That¡¯s fine. Here¡¯s the bill then.¡± Leng Yaozhu smiled understandingly.


    Bill? Oh right! We still have to pay for the spirit souls we got in the tower, but they¡¯ll be half price!


    ¡°Senior, how much does my ice bear cost?¡± asked Xu Xiaoyan.


    ¡°Yours is ten million federal coins. The Diamond Baboon is thirty million. That¡¯s after the discount, by the way.¡±


    Tang Wulin gulped. That¡¯s already half price? It¡¯s still so expensive! If thousand-year spirit souls are this expensive, then just how much are ten-thousand-year ones? Wouldn¡¯t the price be astronomical?


    Leng Yaozhu smiled wryly at his reaction. ¡°Do you think this is expensive? It¡¯s quite normal considering they¡¯re both first-rate thousand-year spirit souls. Actually, all the spirit souls in the tower were carefully gathered and selected by the Spirit Pagoda over hundreds of years. It costs a lot of manpower, resources, and money to replace them each time. What you¡¯re paying for them is nothing in comparison. The spirit soul tower was established to help promising young soul masters and forge a relationship with them. If you bought the spirit soul directly, then you would have to pay the full cost to replace it. Don¡¯t worry though, you have a month to pay us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, senior.¡± They all bowed to her.


    Leng Yaozhu shook her head. ¡°Yue¡¯er, you can escort them out.¡± Then she left.


    A moment after she was gone, Yue Zhengyu turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Hey Gu Yue, is Senior Leng the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s Heavenly Phoenix Douluo?¡±


    Gu Yue nodded.


    Leng Yaozhu was a Titled Douluo! Her title itself was enough to fill their hearts with awe. They couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine how powerful she was.


    Yue Zhengyu gulped. ¡°S-she¡¯s a four-word battle armor master.¡±


    Apart from Gu Yue, everyone¡¯s eyes went wide. After learning about battle armor in class, they understood just what sort of important position and power she occupied.


    A four-word battle armor was a supreme existence, their power on a strategic scale, with the might to split the heavens and sunder the earth!

 Chapter 373 - Four-word Battle Armor Master

    Tens of thousand of years had passed and technology had made several leaps since humanity grasped the power of martial souls. With the advent of Titled Douluos, humans no longer ran from soul beasts with their tails tucked between their legs.


    The number of soul rings a person possessed reflected the strength of their cultivation. Mankind had advanced to the point where amassing more than nine soul rings was no longer a dream. Every soul power rank from 90 onward provided a surge in strength.


    In order to become a Titled Doulou, one needed to break through the threshold of rank 90. After reaching rank 95, they would stand at an even higher peak and possess the powers of a Hyper Douluo. Ultimately, a soul power of rank 99 gave rise to a Limit Douluo. Only with a Limit Douluo could humanity contend with the greatest of soul beasts, for the two types of existences stood on equal footing.


    The first appearance of a Limit Doulou marked a turning point in mankind¡¯s history, opening the door to humanity¡¯s rise as the masters of the continent. Then came the mythical generation in which the Tang Sect Founder, Thousand Hands Douluo Tang San, was born. With his Tang Sect arts and twin martial souls, he surpassed his limits, rose to the summit of the world, and ascended to godhood. He was the sky beyond the sky.


    But he wasn¡¯t the only legendary figure to appear. His six companions, which along with him wore the banner of the Shrek Seven Monster¡¯s first generation, also reached the heavens.


    To this day, after thousands of years of progress, no subsequent generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters surpassed the first.


    Another turning point for humanity occured ten thousand years after Tang San¡¯s ascension. That was when the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao appeared, bent on reviving the Tang Sect. In a time of a declining soul beast population, he created spirit souls in order to ease the tensions between soul beasts and humanity. With spirit souls as the basis, he founded the Spirit Pagoda.


    From then on, soul technology rapidly progressed and mankind invented all sorts of soul devices and mechas.


    After a few thousand years, battle armour was introduced to the world. This marked the occasion in which mecha technology could finally transcend the might of soul masters.


    Battle armor gave a soul master an incredible power boost. With four-word battle armor equipped, a new Titled Douluo could match a Limit Douluo in might!


    Although a Limit Douluo was the highest form of existence attainable by mortals, aided by battle armor, no soul beast could stand a sliver of a chance. In the end, most of the common soul beasts were wiped out.


    So, Tang Wulin and the others clearly knew how formidable a four-word battle armor master was. They could count the number of these powerhouses on the continent on their fingers! The most revered of beings. Rumor had it that the other two continents also had their share of four-word battle armor masters, the residents of the Douluo Continent wholeheartedly believed that with their homeland being the birthplace of soul masters, theirs were the greatest!


    Tang Wulin was already acquainted with a few Titled Douluos: his grandteacher, Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi, his blacksmithing teacher, Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu, and the Silver Moon Douluo, Elder Cai! However, according to Wu Zhangkong, none of them were four-word battle armor masters!


    There were people at Shrek Academy who were capable of being four-word battle armor masters. But they were stuck with three-word armor due to the academy¡¯s limited resources, unable to advance to the next level. This was because creating a set of four-word battle armor was nigh impossible.


    Yet just a moment ago, Tang Wulin and the others met the youthful-looking Heavenly Phoenix Douluo who was a four-word battle armor! From that alone, they could piece together the puzzle. Her authority in the Spirit Pagoda must be astonishing.


    For once, Yuanen Yehui reacted to Yue Zhengyu¡¯s words. ¡°The Heavenly Phoenix Douluo? The vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s council?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu forced out a smile. ¡°Who else could she be? I never expected I would be so lucky to meet the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo today! That¡¯s three lifetimes worth of luck right there!¡± Yearning filled his face, as if he had just met his idol.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue and was met with a smirk.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Tang Wulin.


    They were finished with everything they had set out to do today. It was up to Xu Xiaoyan and Yuanen Yehui to think of a way to pay for their new spirit souls.


    ¡°Tang Wulin,¡± Yuanen Yehui called out.


    He flashed her an amiable smile. ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me. We¡¯re all working students here, so we should help each other out.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not thanking you,¡± she said. ¡°I wanted to tell you to pay me my twenty thousand contribution points as soon as possible. I need to raise money to pay for my spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s face froze, prompting Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan to burst out laughing.


    Then his expression soured. Twenty thousand contribution points¡­ twenty thousand! I¡¯m never getting into debt again! Never, dammit!


    As soon as they arrived back on campus, Tang Wulin made a beeline for his blacksmithing workshop. Being in debt gave him an unbearable, unpleasant itch. He wanted to work it off as soon as possible.


    Just as he was about to begin forging, a knock sounded on the door. He opened it to find Yue Zhengyu outside.


    ¡°Why are you here? Are you here to watch me work? Oh right, you still need to pay me for the jade silver. I¡¯m sure you saw Yuanen Yehui asking me for her money,¡± Tang Wulin said helplessly.


    Yue Zhengyu smiled. ¡°I came here for exactly that reason. I don¡¯t have enough contribution points to pay you yet, but I do have federal coins. According to the Academy¡¯s exchange rate, it should be one hundred federal coins per contribution point. She needs federal coins to pay for her spirit soul anyway, so you can just pay her two million federal coins. I thought I¡¯d pay you two million federal coins as a downpayment for the jade silver, and I¡¯ll make up the rest with metals. That should be better for you, right?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Tang Wulin.


    With the way blacksmiths slowly chipped away at their work, raw metal was far more valuable to Tang Wulin than contribution points. He needed materials to forge battle armor in the future. Since Feng Wuyu was paying for his food now and he didn¡¯t have anything to spend points on, he didn¡¯t need to hoard points for the time being.


    With a wealthy customer like Yue Zhengyu lined up, he didn¡¯t need to worry about how to obtain spirit items in the future either. He could just forge for Yue Zhengyu in exchange for what he needed.


    Lately, forging jade silver had been on the top of his blacksmithing list. It was better to focus on one goal at a time. He would forge other alloys once he was satisfied with his jade silver


    His current success rate for alloy forging was thirty percent, which amounted to seven out of ten forgings being trash. Of the successes, most barely reached a sixty percent harmony rate. He had only forged two pieces with over a ninety percent harmony rate so far, and he had given both to Yue Zhengyu. As for the low harmony rate pieces, he just kept them to himself. There were over a dozen pieces he saved to spirit refine them properly in the future.


    The value of spirit alloys and spirit refined metals were pretty close, but a spirit refined alloy was on an entirely different level. Everyone yearned to use such metal and the price was exponentially higher. For this reason, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t too anxious about making money from forging at the moment, patiently waiting to reap greater rewards down the road instead.


    There was another reason why he wasn¡¯t losing sleep about this. Even though spirit refined alloys might contain impurities, the higher the harmony rate of the alloy, the more chances he had to reforge and perfect it.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s scheme was coming to fruition as well. He wasn¡¯t in a hurry for Tang Wulin to spirit refine the ninety percent harmony rate pieces of jade silver. With his current cultivation level, a one-word battle armor was his limit. As such, thousand refined metal was sufficient. If he created his one-word battle armor with thousand refined jade silver, then he could add another metal to the jade silver in the future, spirit refine it, and directly upgrade his armor to two-word.


    Going about his battle armor this way was luxurious. Tang Wulin had been reluctant to comply with Yue Zhengyu¡¯s requests at first, but now that he understood what Yue Zhengyu was aiming for, his heart raced as he imagined the possibilities.


    Two-word battle armor could fuse with its user. Whether it was spirit refined metal or a spirit alloy, both possessed some intelligence and life. Because of this, the longer one was in contact with it, the greater their compatibility rate.

 Chapter 375 - Eyes

    Chapter 375 - Eyes


    Gu Yue snorted, indignant about their situation.


    Tang Wulin pressed his lips into a meek smile. ¡°They think it¡¯s impossible for us, so we¡¯ll just have to show them. Gu Yue, we¡¯ll still use magic silver in your armor. But heavy silver isn¡¯t suitable for you. That means no jade silver either. I think essence gold would be a better alternative. Magic silver and essence gold can be forged together into spirit gold, an alloy with great elemental amplification properties.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll just listen to you,¡± Gu Yue said immediately. ¡°What about you then? What are you going to use?¡±


    ¡°For me¡­ I¡¯ll still try my hand with heavy silver as the base since I¡¯m so familiar with it. It¡¯s also very dense, perfect for a foundational metal. Then I¡¯ll add star iron to form star silver.¡± He rubbed his chin. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do. Star silver is really strong, has good soul power amplification properties, and can give way to so many possibilities when I add more metals to it in the future. My bloodline might be special, but I can¡¯t rely on just it. I have to think about how to grow my bluesilver grass as well, so star silver is the most suitable metal for me right now. The two alloys are about as hard to forge as jade silver. Well, actually, your spirit gold is a tad bit more difficult, but I think I¡¯ll be able to pull it off. As for how high the harmony rate will be¡­ that¡¯ll be up to luck.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s settled then. Since you already have heavy silver and magic silver, I¡¯ll go get some star iron and essence gold for you,¡± said Gu Yue.


    ¡°You will?¡± Tang Wulin stared at her in astonishment. Star iron and essence gold were far more valuable than heavy silver or magic silver. The only reason he had decided on these alloys was because Yue Zhengyu was providing him with heavy silver and magic silver.


    Gu Yue had never talked about her family before and always lived a simple life, seldom indulging in any luxuries. He always thought her situation was similar to his own.


    ¡°Where are you going to get all that money from?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about it. Just focus on forging. I¡¯ll handle the metal. We have lots of metal at the Spirit Pagoda, you know? And I¡¯m the vice-chairman¡¯s direct disciple.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t force yourself! We can work on it together, and if worst comes to worst, I can just sell some of my alloys to get the funds necessary. They should fetch quite a sum if I do.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I can handle this,¡± said Gu Yue.


    Her determination moved him, bright like a flame. ¡°Let¡¯s tell Xiaoyan and Xie Xie about this when we get back. We¡¯ll let them practice with their group first, then once they¡¯re more skilled, we can help them make a one-word armor as well.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll head back first,¡± said Gu Yue. ¡°There¡¯s a lot I have to change in the designs now that we¡¯re going to use spirit alloys. The original circuit core isn¡¯t suitable anymore. I¡¯ll need to think about this.¡±


    Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing¡¯s concerns had made sense. If Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t guarantee high harmony rate alloys, then it was too risky for them to make their one-word battle armor with alloys. This was also why Tang Wulin agreed to find another maker.


    Since those two weren¡¯t making their battle armor now, he had to find someone else to fill the gap. As for who, he had no clue.


    Originally, he had originally been uncertain about this plan, but Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing¡¯s attitude toward him and Gu Yue helped him steel his resolve. Everyone had their own pride and Tang Wulin was no exception.


    He convinced himself that he could prevail through his efforts. Although his martial soul was the trashy bluesilver grass and his Goldlight had been a defective spirit soul, through sheer perseverance, he grew stronger. Now he was the class president of Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade. Even Goldlight evolved to become Goldsong. Compared to everything that he had been through, this challenge was nothing. A speck at the bottom of his shoe. No matter what obstacles came his way, he¡¯d face them one step at a time.


    ?


    A cool evening breeze greeted Gu Yue once she stepped outside. She frequently left campus for the Spirit Pagoda to handle her personal affairs.


    Not long after she passed through the gates, a glossy black SUV pulled up in front of her. A tall man got out of the driver¡¯s seat and walked over to open the door for her.


    If Tang Wulin were present, he would have been shocked. It would have been the most luxurious soul car he had ever laid eyes on.


    Gu Yue entered the vehicle. The interior flaunted red leather seats and tanned wood covers accented by shiny metal linings and gems.


    She took her seat calmly. ¡°Prepare ten tons of essence gold and star silver for me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, young miss,¡± answered the driver.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going to the Spirit Pagoda then.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The black SUV pulled onto the road and sped off. Despite how fast the vehicle was going, Gu Yue didn¡¯t experience a single bump or hear anything from outside. She relaxed into the soft leather seats, leaning against the window as she watched cars zoom by. As she stared out at the world, her eyes gradually lost focus.


    A while later, the SUV rolled to a stop in front of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters. Once again the driver got off to open the door for Gu Yue, a hand hovering protectively over her head as she got disembarked.


    As Gu Yue headed toward the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, the driver returned to the vehicle and drove off into the darkness.


    Gu Yue made straight for the elevator and up to Leng Yaozhu¡¯s office.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here?¡± Leng Yaozhu smiled in greeting. ¡°Your mom just called me and asked how you were doing. She¡¯s really worried about you, you know!¡±


    Gu Yue laughed. ¡°What¡¯s there to be worried about? With you around, who would dare harm me?¡±


    The corner of Leng Yaozhu¡¯s mouth quirked up a bit, but it wasn¡¯t quite a smile. ¡°Yueyue, I found out about your little secret now.¡±


    ¡°What secret?¡± Gu Yue asked suspiciously.


    Leng Yaozhu smirked. ¡°Your eyes.¡±


    ¡°My eyes?¡± Her confusion was evident by her creased brows.


    ¡°There¡¯s something different about your eyes when you look at Tang Wulin. You weren¡¯t looking at him like he was just anybody. So, you¡¯ve got something going on with him?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t!¡± .


    ¡°I¡¯ve looked into Tang Wulin¡¯s background. He obtained a defective spirit soul from us in the past yet he was still able to make it into Shrek Academy. Unbelievable.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°You investigated him?¡±


    Leng Yaozhu chuckled. ¡°Of course I investigated the person our little princess is interested in. But you don¡¯t have to worry. We won¡¯t interfere with your life. If you really do like him, then that¡¯s that. As a student at Shrek, he¡¯s got the qualifications to be with you. Your family is really open-minded too, so they won¡¯t act all melodramatic about it. Just don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re only thirteen years old. It¡¯s too early for you to be thinking about this kind of stuff. If you¡¯re serious about wanting to date him, then at least wait a few years until you two are both more mature.¡±


    Gu Yue blushed, blurting out in a fluster, ¡°No way! Stop talking such nonsense, Teacher! We¡¯re just classmates and nothing more!¡±


    ¡°Mhm. Sure. If that¡¯s what you want to call it,¡± Leng Yaozhu said with an eyebrow raised. ¡°That Tang Wulin¡¯s quite a catch though. He might not be very powerful right now, but he shows great potential. I watched his battle with the Demon Lizard Dragon, and was shocked when he completely suppressed it with his aura and killed it in one hit. You guys wouldn¡¯t have made it to the twelfth floor if not for him. If my guess is right, he has a draconic bloodline. I¡¯m not sure which one it is, but it¡¯s definitely inclined towards pure strength.


    ¡°Although the Demon Lizard Dragon is a land dragon, its draconic blood is quite strong. The fact that he could suppress it shows how formidable his bloodline is. Though, it¡¯s a pity about his martial soul. A strong bloodline won¡¯t be enough to make up for that. Are you sure he doesn¡¯t have twin martial souls?¡±


    Gu Yue frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. His body¡¯s situation is special. HIs bloodline can produce a golden ring, but I¡¯m absolutely certain it¡¯s not an actual soul ring. The aura is completely different. He¡¯s able to use that power even without a single drop of soul power in his body.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Let¡¯s just watch for now then. It¡¯s really a pity that the Tang Sect has already snatched him away,¡± said Leng Yaozhu, sighing. ¡°Otherwise, I¡¯d definitely have recruited him. Those other kids are quite something as well. They may not be as talented as you, but they can still be considered geniuses. Well, that¡¯s to be expected from Shrek.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin,¡± Gu Yue said.


    ¡°Mn.¡± Leng Yaozhu waved her hand and a metal door on the side of the room opened.

 Chapter 376 - Reunion with Ye Xinglan

    Chapter 376 - Reunion with Ye Xinglan


    Gu Yue took the lead walking toward the door. Behind her followed Leng Yaozhu. ¡°Yueyue, your cultivation is coming along nicely and your design skills are improving quickly. Shall I help you start a one-word battle armor? I can get it done for you within half a year. Considering your design skills, a three-metal alloy would work out well. You¡¯ll be able to upgrade it easily in the future.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. But thank you, Teacher. Please allow me to handle my own battle armor.¡± Not batting an eye, Gu Yue refused an offer ordinary soul masters would only dream of, and with that matter settled, the master and disciple pair stepped through the door.


    ?


    Tang Wulin returned to his dormitory late in the evening, his muscles as heavy as lead. He flopped onto his bed. After struggling to sit and bend his legs into a pretzel, he let himself drift into meditation.


    His efforts these past few days paid off. He helped two of his friends obtain a new spirit soul, gained valuable combat experience in the process, and settled his path toward creating a one-word battle armor. Gu Yue¡¯s support lit the embers of confidence in his soul. He was convinced that as long as he kept persevering, he would one day become a mighty battle armor master.


    It didn¡¯t matter if it took him a little longer than others. There was still plenty of time before the outer court graduation deadline. The path he chose would cause him to endure some difficulties and be pressed for time, but the reward would be worth it in the end.


    After Gu Yue handed him a staggering amount of star iron and essence gold, he was curious over her method of obtaining it. However, he didn¡¯t press the issue. Everyone was entitled to their secrets.


    With the materials gathered and their daring plan ready for execution, gone were Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s free time. Tang Wulin attended classes in the morning and forged in the afternoon. Under Feng Wuyu¡¯s personal guidance, he made much progress with alloy forging and added spirit gold and star silver to his repertoire.


    Although his success rate was low, it was steady. As his perception and experience increased, his success rate would naturally follow. Now was the time to forge like his life depended on it, no matter how tedious it was.


    Feng Wuyu still criticized him as harshly as before, nitpicking every mistake, small or otherwise. Compared with Mu Chen¡¯s, their teaching styles were as different as night and day. Initially, Tang Wulin had been shocked by the difference, but he adapted to his situation and soaked up Feng Wuyu¡¯s knowledge and experience. He harbored no resentment toward Feng Wuyu for he knew that the crazy old man had his best interests at heart.


    ?


    ¡°It¡¯s been a month since the beginning of the school year and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve all grown quite a bit. We will be holding a competition between the first and second grades in the four main professions and combat,¡± Shen Yi announced from behind the lectern, sweeping her gaze through her students.


    ¡°In order to decide on the participants fairly and put forth the best combatants, you will be tasked to form your own teams. Then each team will sign up for a competition where the winners will represent our class. Each team may have no more than seven people and no less than three. The class council will be representing us for the profession competitions. When forming your teams, keep in mind that for the sake of fairness, the second grade¡¯s team will have one less person than ours. So if our representative team has three people, then the second grade¡¯s team can only have two. Now, let¡¯s begin the process for selecting the representative team. Tang Wulin.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin stood up.


    ¡°Once class is over, record all the teams and submit a report to me.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    After class, the entire classroom erupted into chatter. Everyone was tantalized by the possibility of representing their class in a battle against the second grade. It was an opportunity for them to earn extra credit, boosting their chances of entering the inner court in the future. There wasn¡¯t a single person willing to let this chance slip through their hands.


    Gu Yue nudged Tang Wulin. ¡°Who¡¯s going to be in our group?¡±


    Tang Wulin glanced at Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing. He knew that their best chance was to gather all of the class¡¯s greatest talents into one team.


    In their class, apart from himself and Gu Yue, the five most powerful people were Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, Yang Nianxia, Zheng Yiran, and Xu Yucheng. Each of the five were on the Genius Youths Ranking, so if they formed a seven-man team with him and Gu Yue, their chances of winning over the second grade were high.


    Within the second grade, Tang Wulin knew of Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu. Just thinking about those two was enough to make him sweat. The strength Yue Zhengyu revealed during the tower attack sent him into a state of awe, and he didn¡¯t even want to think about Yuanen Yehui with her new Diamond Baboon spirit soul. Coupled with four soul rings, her power undoubtedly reached a frightening new level. Holding back against such opponents meant certain defeat!


    If they didn¡¯t fill the first grade¡¯s team with the cream of the crop, then even with a one-man advantage, they¡¯d have to fight tooth and nail for victory.


    Tang Wulin glanced at his classmates. Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, and Yang Nianxia stood beside each other, huddling together as they exchanged some hushed words.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like they plan on grouping with us.¡± Gu Yue sneered.


    Lately, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue felt ostracized by their classmates under the lead of the five rankers. This change started after Tang Wulin and Gu Yue chose to make their battle armor from alloys. Since then, they became estranged with Wu SIduo and Luo Guixing.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just make our own group,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Turning to face him, Gu Yue was astonished to see the confidence burning within his eyes.


    She liked this look on him best. That determined expression that appeared in the face of challenge. He never backed down, always sweating tears and blood to strive for victory, never cowering from tribulations, even when all hope seemed lost. He always advanced with sheer willpower, guiding his teammates like a shining beacon. Being shunned by the five rankers was but a trifling matter to him.


    Tang Wulin cast his attention to his other friends. ¡°Xie Xie, Xiaoyan, let¡¯s form a group.¡±


    Their individual power wasn¡¯t particularly remarkable. However, a team¡¯s strength didn¡¯t necessarily stem from the sum of its members. Teamwork was just as important. Tang Wulin¡¯s team made up for its lack of power with its extraordinary teamwork. As comrades for so many years, they held a deep understanding of each other¡¯s strengths and weaknesses. Together they had been through thick and thin. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say they had forged unbreakable bonds. In comparison, the team of rankers were practically strangers with one another. A team in name only. Since that was the case, Tang Wulin was bent on showing everyone their might. He only had eyes for the goal: to become the class representative team!


    While Tang Wulin¡¯s heart burned with resolution, Shen Yi returned to the classroom with two people in tow.


    As soon as he recognized them, Tang Wulin was shocked. A moment later, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.


    ¡°Everyone, quiet down,¡± Shen Yi said.


    The entire class went silent, everyone¡¯s attention focusing on Shen Yi.


    ¡°Two new students will be joining our class today. This here is Ye Xinglan, an assault-type soul master. The other one is Xu Lizhi, a food-type soul master. Give them a warm round of welcome.¡±


    Amidst the scattered applause, some whispers could be heard between the students. ¡°When did Shrek get so relaxed? Why are they only joining us now? Isn¡¯t this strange?¡±


    Tang Wulin still remembered the beating Ye Xinglan had served him on a silver platter, and he had reunited with Xu Lizhi a few days ago. His smile grew bigger as he recalled Xu Lizhi¡¯s tremendous help during the tower attack.


    If we have him, then...

 Chapter 377 - Genius Youths Ranking? Whats That?

    Chapter 377 - Genius Youths Ranking? What''s That?


    The rotund Xu Lizhi immediately became the center of attention, but Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were glued to Ye Xinglan. He was surprised at how much she had changed over the past few years.


    They were ten years old the last time they met. Three years later, Ye Xinglan had blossomed into a beauty. She stood around 160 centimeters tall, her slender figure accented by legs that seemed to go on forever. Like Xu Xiaoyan, her looks caused the hearts of all to tremble, drawing everyone¡¯s gaze after they had recovered from Xu Lizhi¡¯s hulking mass.


    However, she still had on a serious expression. It was one thing that didn¡¯t change since their last meeting. She still regarded everyone else coldly, an invisible barrier forming around her.


    ¡°Since you two transferred in late, you can take the empty seats in the back. We¡¯re preparing for our match against the second grade right now. You¡¯re free to join a team as well. I hope you¡¯ll be able to fit in quickly,¡± Shen Yi said.


    When Xu Lizhi had said he and Ye Xinglan might transfer to the outer court, Tang Wulin was doubtful at first. It seemed like such an improbable situation. Yet here they were. Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan were now his classmates.


    Ye Xinglan had left a deep impression on Tang Wulin. Her Stargod Sword had reminded him of Wu Zhangkong, and he knew her strength couldn¡¯t simply be measured by her cultivation.


    Shen Yi left, but everyone¡¯s eyes were still focused on the two newcomers. The majority of the gazes, however, zeroed in on Ye Xinglan.


    Luo Guixing approached them first, greeting Ye Xinglan with a warm smile. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Luo Guixing. May I ask how many soul rings you have?¡±


    Ye Xinglan glanced at him before walking toward the back of the classroom, not bothering to say a word.


    Luo Guixing stood there, stunned. His handsome good looks, gentle smile, and status as someone on the Genius Youths Ranking had never failed to charm anyone before. He had absolute confidence in himself, yet Ye Xinglan didn¡¯t even spare him a second glance! Her attitude toward him was frigid as ice.


    The other students cleared a path as Ye Xinglan strode off. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin ran to Xu Lizhi¡¯s side, patting him on the shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re classmates now, so you should join my team. I really want you.¡±


    Xu Lizhi hushed him. ¡°Can¡¯t you be a bit quieter? People are going to misunderstand!¡± Gu Yue couldn¡¯t help but giggle as she watched the two from the side.


    After fighting shoulder-to-shoulder in the tower attack, Tang Wulin trusted Xu Lizhi, and his companions knew Xu Lizhi¡¯s strength was more than sufficient to make him a good teammate.


    ¡°Wulin,¡± Xu Lizhi said in near whisper. ¡°Can you invite Xinglan too? With her personality, she¡¯ll just end up all alone if you don¡¯t. I can¡¯t bear to see her like that!¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± Tang Wulin held no grudge against her. Their team would gain another cornerstone if she agreed to join. He could only imagine how much stronger she had grown in the last three years.


    Since Ye Xinglan refused Luo Guixing¡¯s advances, no one else dared approach her. Among the students in the first grade, Luo Guixing was one of the most respected, more so than Tang Wulin. Everyone wanted to enter the team of a ranking control-type soul master like him. Although Tang Wulin was the class president, everyone knew that his martial soul was bluesilver grass. Even after he showed some of his power, his classmates placed him below the five rankers.


    Tang Wulin sauntered over to Ye Xinglan. ¡°Long time no see!¡±


    Ye Xinglan glanced at him, her brow wrinkling when she recognized who it was. ¡°Who let you drag Lizhi off to the tower attack? You¡¯ve still got to answer to me for that.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± She¡¯s still as stubborn as a mule!


    ¡°So? What about it?¡± Gu Yue interjected. She couldn¡¯t stand Ye Xinglan¡¯s attitude.


    Ye Xinglan snorted but remained silent.


    However, Tang Wulin met her cold snub with a warm smile. ¡°Ye Xinglan, you should join my team. The competition this time requires teams consisting a minimum of three people to participate, so it¡¯s impossible with just you and Lizhi.¡±


    ¡°I just won¡¯t participate then.¡± Ye Xinglan glared at him.


    ¡°Okay. Tell me then, why are you cultivating?¡±


    Ye Xinglan was surprised he didn¡¯t press the issue but instead posed such a question.


    ¡°To become strong!¡± she answered.


    ¡°Oh. I see. Well, our opponents will be in the second grade. There are some powerful people in their class. Don¡¯t you want to spar with them?¡±


    ¡°Powerful people?¡± Ye Xinglan¡¯s cheek twitched.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s smile grew bigger at her show of interest. ¡°How about you try battling them? How else will you know if they really are strong or not? Even the most boring things have value in doing. Join my team and you¡¯ll have a chance to fight them.¡±


    ¡°The class president sure is confident, huh?¡± someone interjected from the side.


    Tang Wulin turned to see Zheng Yiran looking at him dismissively. Indeed, it was Jade Snake Zheng Yiran, the poison-wielding ranker!


    ¡°Confidence is important for soul masters to have.¡± Tang Wulin smiled wryly at her.


    ¡°Oh my. Then let¡¯s see you defeat everyone in our class and battle the second grade¡¯s representatives.¡± She pointed at him. ¡°Our team isn¡¯t too powerful either. We just have Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and me. But we don¡¯t need any deadweight. Just us five on the Genius Youths Ranking will be enough to win.¡±


    Tang Wulin frowned. He cast his stare at the direction of the rankers, and sure enough, Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, and Yang Nianxia stood together. Wu Siduo was expressionless while Luo Guixing wore his usual half-smile. Yang Nianxia waved at him with an amiable expression.


    Those five are joining hands?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s frown deepened. He understood that they were targeting him. All five were rankers and had the strength to match. Yet he became class president without fully displaying his power. It was natural that they held no respect for him.


    Alright, then. Bring it on!


    ¡°Genius Youths Ranking? What¡¯s that?¡± Ye Xinglan asked Zheng Yiran.


    Zheng Yiran was stunned. ¡°You don¡¯t even know what the Genius Youths Ranking is? It¡¯s one of the minor rankings under the Continental Ranking! It¡¯s a list of the top thirty young soul masters, and the five of us are on it!¡± Pride filled her eyes as she proclaimed her status. Her sense of pride was rightly so, as she was able to climb into such a prestigious roll.


    Ye Xinglan shook her head. ¡°Never heard of it. I only know of the Continental Ranking. I guess you five are alright since you made it onto that ranking though.¡±


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s change of attitude took Tang Wulin by surprise. Huh. So she does have a cute side to her.


    Zheng Yiran sneered. ¡°Fine! If we meet in the arena, I¡¯ll show you just what it means for someone to be on the Genius Youths Ranking!¡± She turned to Tang Wulin and smiled with narrowed eyes. ¡°Class president, good luck. Really though, what meaning is there in you being the class president?¡±


    Tang Wulin maintained a warm smile as he raised a hand to stop Gu Yue from speaking out.


    Zheng Yiran flipped around and brushed past them. There had been some stragglers nearby, but after Zheng Yiran¡¯s last remark, they all shifted further from Tang Wulin.


    So the five of them are working together to shun us? To shun me?


    Tang Wulin had never expected the situation to get this far. But now, he began to understand where he had gone wrong. It was his fault for not forming connections with his classmates after becoming class president, always too busy cultivating or blacksmithing. He had neglected to socialize. This served to compound their lukewarm opinion of him.


    Debating over their battle armor plans with Wu Siduo ad Luo Guixing kindled their bad ill against him, ultimately leading to the current situation.


    Luo Guixing approached him.


    ¡°Class president, I¡¯ve discussed things with Wu Siduo and have come to a conclusion. Since we can¡¯t help you as a maker or mechanic, then it¡¯s not right for you forge for us. I have spoken to the teachers today and received approval to split up our group. Sorry for inconveniencing you.¡±


    Now he¡¯s turning his back on me? Breaking up the class council group?


    ¡°Fine.¡± Tang Wulin said quietly, almost in a whisper.


    Luo Guixing kept his eyes trained on Tang Wulin. ¡°Class president, the future is long.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled once more. ¡°You¡¯re right. The future is long.¡±

 Chapter 378 - New Companions

    Chapter 378 - New Companions


    ¡°Did they plan this?¡± Xie Xie was fuming. ¡°They¡¯re just taking advantage of this competition to single you out. I bet they knew about the match a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Tang Wulin shook his head, then turned to Ye Xinglan. ¡°As you just saw, I¡¯m being shunned by our classmates right now.¡± He made to return to his seat.


    ¡°Wait a second,¡± she called out.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin stopped in his tracks, turning back to face her.


    Knowing the situation, he thought that no reasonable person would want to join his team.Ye Xinglan singlehandedly shattered his expectations.


    She rose from her seat and looked him straight in the eye. ¡°Actually, I like being isolated. I¡¯ll join you guys.¡±


    Like an ocean wave, her words swept through the classroom, leaving everyone drenched in shock. She likes being isolated? There are actually people like this? Is she crazy?


    Unlike the others, Tang Wulin picked up on the unwavering solemnity in her eyes. This girl¡¯s got some story to her!


    ¡°Alright. Welcome to the team.¡± Tang Wulin offered his hand and Ye Xinglan accepted.


    Xu Lizhi grinned as he watched. ¡°Great! This is fantastic!¡±


    After shaking hands with Ye Xinglan, Tang Wulin flipped around, shifting his attention to the spectators in the room. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone¡¯s aware of the situation by now,¡± he said, making sure to project his voice. ¡°There¡¯s this idea floating around that I¡¯m unjustly occupying the position of class president. And to that, I have to say no. I earned this position with my strength. Since some of you don¡¯t believe that, use this competition to verify for yourselves. If me and my team aren¡¯t selected to represent our class, I will resign from being the class president.¡±


    Tang Wulin paused to let his words sink in, directing his gaze toward Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran. His eyes flickered gold, his pupils narrowing into vertical slits as he stared them down, blood essence surging within his body. ¡°But if my team wins, don¡¯t you dare provoke me!¡±


    His declaration struck everyone mute. The crowd parted as he made his way to the front of the classroom, confidence dripping from his body.


    ¡°Report your groups to me here,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Luo Guixing was the first to approach him, a faint smile on his lips. ¡°Class president, here¡¯s my group of five.¡±


    The two locked gazes. Luo Guixing wore his usual insincere smile, which contrasted with Tang Wulin¡¯s serene expression. No one could fathom their thoughts.


    An explosive aura around the two, akin to a ticking time bomb, kept the rest of the class holding their tongues. One by one each group signed up, letting slip not a peep in the process. Some looked at Tang Wulin with eyes of contempt. Some sneered, others were indifferent, and some even showed sympathy.


    However, there was no one who truly saw him for who he was. Luo Guixing¡¯s team of five rankers was powerful, especially with a top ten ranker like Wu Siduo amidst them. On the other hand, the cornerstones of Tang Wulin¡¯s group were him and Gu Yue. Compared to them, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan weren¡¯t anything special. Even with the addition of the two new students, no one believed they could overcome that golden team.


    ¡°You may all leave now,¡± Tang Wulin said after accomplishing his duty, promptly making for the door.


    Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, and Ye Xinglan followed him out.


    The moment the last of their team left the classroom, everyone exploded into chatter.


    ¡°Who does he think he is to provoke the Five Greats?¡± This statement mirrored the majority¡¯s thoughts.


    Yang Nianxia frowned and motioned to Luo Guixing. ¡°Why is he so confident?


    In terms of strength, he should fall a bit short of us. Gu Yue¡¯s the one we should be concerned about. Even so, that only makes two of them who are worth something.¡±


    ¡°Please. Confidence? It looks to me like he¡¯s just bluffing,¡± Zheng Yiran said mockingly. ¡°Things have already progressed so far, but he just refuses to admit defeat. Now we just have to come up with the best method to knock him down in the class tournament. Didn¡¯t he say he would resign if they¡¯re defeated? Let¡¯s see if he keeps his word when the time comes.¡±


    Luo Guixing narrowed his eyes. ¡°It wasn¡¯t merely coincidence or luck that Tang Wulin became the class president. Strength also played a role. Besides, I¡¯m certain he wouldn¡¯t make such a declaration without some basis. He probably knows those two new students. I don¡¯t think that Ye Xinglan is any ordinary person.¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± Wu Siduo didn¡¯t seem one bit concerned. ¡°Just me alone is enough to deal with their entire team.¡± Her words rang true. With Hell White Tiger, there was no one in her soul ring level that could stand against her. Not only that, she had four soul rings! Because Tang Wulin had just gained his third ring, she barely gave him another thought.


    Not only did they join hands to target Tang Wulin, they also wished to fight in the match against the second grade. Defeating those stronger than them yielded the most course credit, and like how water flows downstream, a team of five powerful people would result in a powerful team!


    ?


    The first thing Tang Wulin did after leaving the classroom was pay a visit to the teachers¡¯ office, handling the matter of his previous group¡¯s division. He didn¡¯t explain the situation to them. If he did, it would have have come off as him complaining. His pride forbid him from doing that.


    As soon as he concluded his business in the teacher¡¯s office, he led his teammates to his blacksmith¡¯s workshop. From start to finish, his expression was nothing less than tranquil.


    They were isolated from the world once the door shut behind them. Tang Wulin swept his gaze across his teammates and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve dragged you all into my troubles. I¡¯ve been neglecting my responsibilities as class president too much and that has lead to the current situation.¡±


    Gu Yue frowned. ¡°How can you be blamed for that? They were clearly targeting all of us. And so what if they¡¯re working together now? What do we have to be afraid of?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly at her response. ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that. Actually, I brought you all here to discuss the plans Gu Yue and I had for the future. Perhaps you guys will be interested in joining in. I won¡¯t lie, there are a few quirks that need to be hammered out, but if we succeed, our future growth will be tremendous!


    ¡°Luo Guixing and Wu Siduo withdrew from our group, so I went to the teachers¡¯ office and applied to form a new mecha making group with the six of us here. But we¡¯re not going to make mechas.¡± The corners of his lips tilted upward. ¡°We¡¯re going to make battle armor.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes went wide at the mention of battle armor, her gaze firmly fixed on Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin explained his and Gu Yue¡¯s plan regarding the usage of spirit alloys for their one-word battle armor.


    Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan could only listen passively. Their knowledge on blacksmithing was surface-level at best, but from the vibrant way in which Tang Wulin spoke of spirit alloys, they understood that such metal was powerful and challenging to work with.


    However, Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglang were from the inner court. It was impossible for them not to know how amazing spirit alloy was.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s expression finally broke from its usual cool indifference. ¡°I never expected such ideas from the outer court. Count me in.¡±


    Tang Wulin faced Xu Lizhi. ¡°How about you?¡±


    Xu Lizhi grinned. ¡°Count me in too.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie exchanged a look, their expressions grim.


    Forcing out a bitter smile, Xie Xie said, ¡°Boss, I¡¯ve been working hard, but I can¡¯t advance in my profession in just one or two days. There¡¯s nothing I can do to contribute to this plan!¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it and take it easy. We still have time. We have six years to make a one-word battle armor. This method might require more time than the normal way, but if we¡¯re successful, we¡¯ll speed through making two-word battle armors. The normal way won¡¯t be able to compare.¡±


    He turned to Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan. ¡°So, what are your professions?¡±

 Chapter 379 - Divine Alloy

    Chapter 379 - Divine Alloy


    ¡°I¡¯m a fourth-rank mecha mechanic,¡± said Xu Lizhi.


    ¡°Mecha maker, fourth rank,¡± Ye Xinglan stated.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue rejoiced when they heard the two¡¯s professions.


    A huge grin lit up on his face as he stared at them. ¡°You guys are just what we needed! This is fantastic! Xie Xie, you can help Ye Xinglan and learn from her. You¡¯ll need to improve if you want to make your own battle armor in the future. Xiaoyan, you can learn from Gu Yue.¡±


    Xu Lizhi looked at him curiously. ¡°So you¡¯re a blacksmith and Gu Yue¡¯s a designer?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s a fourth-rank designer.¡±


    ¡°Can you really forge alloys?¡± Ye Xinglan asked. Although he had filled her in that he was a fifth-rank blacksmith, and thus capable of forging alloys, she found it hard to believe. Blacksmiths were the rarest of the four main professions due to how much time it took and how difficult it was to advance. As a result, the average age of blacksmiths tended to be much higher than those of other professions in the same rank.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°I understand you¡¯re skeptical, so see for yourself.¡± He walked over to the shelf of metals, picked out two chunks, then brought it to the forging table.


    ¡°I can only forge two-metal alloy at the moment and my success rate is thirty percent. The metals I¡¯m currently able to forge are jade silver, spirit gold, and star silver. I¡¯ll need you guys to decide on an alloy soon. That way, I can start working on it.¡±


    At the sound of his words, Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You can forge jade silver?¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡±


    ¡°I want jade silver then!¡± she blurted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have star silver,¡± said Xu Lizhi. Clearly, the two had already put much thought into their own battle armor.


    ¡°Great. That saves me some trouble. Also, we might all need to pitch in for the metals,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Ye Xinglan grunted her affirmation.


    Receiving the responses he desired, Tang Wulin broke into a smile. ¡°Alright, one jade silver coming right up.¡±


    A minute later, the two metals needed to create the alloy were heated to a glowing red. Tang Wulin summoned his two hammers into his hands. Both arms swinging at once, he began slamming down into the metal.


    It¡¯s been several days since he started forging alloys, yet his success rate was stuck at a measly thirty percent. It was a bottleneck restricting him from taking the next step.


    As Tang Wulin forged, his world shrank until all he could perceive was the glow of the metals. Even the weight of his hammers and the burn of his muscles faded away. Each of his strikes contained near-tangible focus as he vented his frustrations.


    He had been putting up a brave front in the classroom. If he hadn¡¯t been affected by the gossip and bullying, he wouldn¡¯t have made such a provoking declaration! He was still only thirteen years old after all. He was determined to prove himself to his classmates as the legitimate class president.


    As such, to say that he was itching to battle against the five rankers was an understatement. In the event he met defeat by their hands, he would resign as class president.


    ?


    ¡°What do you think of the situation?¡± Shen Yi sat on the sofa in the teacher¡¯s lounge with one leg crossed over the other, a half-smile on her lips.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression was stern as usual. ¡°I think it¡¯s best to treat them the way our teacher treated us. Shrek Academy offers a lot of freedom to its student and refuses to suppress their individuality. I do have one concern though.¡±


    ¡°What concern?¡± Shen Yi asked.


    ¡°The match doesn¡¯t give Tang Wulin enough pressure.¡±


    ¡°Not enough? Just how great do you think your disciple is?¡± Shen Yi stared in astonishment. She didn¡¯t view Tang Wulin¡¯s chances at victory in an optimistic light. The team of five rankers was just too powerful, especially with Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger. No one could stand against it. Gu Yue may have won against Wu SIduo previously, but it was during a time when Wu Siduo had been exhausted and unable to use Hell White Tiger. Wu Siduo in peak condition was a more frightening foe than any of them could imagine. Moreover, she was supported by Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran. In their team of five, two had four soul rings. This was one of the most powerful teams to appear in recent Shrek Academy history.


    Yet Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t believe that yielded enough pressure for Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hold back Ye Xinglan from the coming match. We¡¯ll let her fight in the match against the second grade,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t that too mean?¡± Shen Yi gaped.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand Tang Wulin. He¡¯s resolute and patient. Even after teaching him for three years, I still can¡¯t see his limits. Time after time, he has accomplished the impossible. Ye Xinglan came from the inner court, so there¡¯s no need to doubt her strength. If we let her help Tang Wulin against the rankers, they¡¯ll gain an easy victory. Tang Wulin is like a spring. The more pressure on him, the harder he¡¯ll push back. In that respect, Gu Yue and him are quite similar. Her limits are a mystery to me as well. As for Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan¡­ They¡¯ve finally realized how far behind they are after coming here, and are working hard to catch up. What they need now is confidence. The four of them plus Xu Lizhi makes exactly five. It¡¯s suitable to have a five-on-five battle.¡±


    Shen Yi remained silent. Suitable, huh...


    ?


    A humming radiance shot up, glittering like jade.


    Ye Xinglan stood rooted in place, utterly shocked. She hadn¡¯t thought much of Tang Wulin beforehand. Her memory of him amounted to a stingy kid, a boy who ran off and left behind an outrageous dinner bill for her and Xu Lizhi. She still held a grudge for that. That said, Ye Xinglan also remembered how unyielding he had been in the Skysea Alliance Tournament match afterward. Yet what Tang Wulin had just accomplished shattered her previous view of him. He succeeded at forging an alloy! There were few fifth-rank blacksmiths who could forge them due to their lack of spiritual power. Most only started learning how to after becoming a sixth-rank blacksmith skilled at spirit refining. So she was absolutely shocked!


    From the moment he landed the first strike of his hammer to the last resounding bang, she and Xu Lizhi had been drawn in by his forging tempo, utterly mesmerized. It was their first time witnessing such a sight. In their eyes, it was as though Tang Wulin and the metal had become one. His hammers rose and fell nimbly yet forcefully. His movements flowed like river water.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to appraise its harmony rate now.¡± With that said, Tang Wulin took out a small device he had borrowed from the Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association and placed it on the jade silver. Although he had technically borrowed it, with a wave of Feng Wuyu¡¯s hand, that borrowing became long term. It was practically his now.


    A moment later, a number appeared on the screen that left him dumbstruck. Peering over his shoulder at it, Gu Yue was similarly left speechless.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth quivered for a second before he let out a long sigh.


    ¡°Is it low? It looks like you succeeded though. Even a harmony rate in the sixties is good,¡± Xu Lizhi said as he approached the two. But when he saw the number displayed on the screen, he inhaled sharply.


    ¡°N-ninety-five! No way!¡±


    Without a doubt, the number flashing brightly was ninety-five! It was Tang Wulin¡¯s greatest piece yet!


    Ye Xinglan rushed over to see for herself. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw the number.


    ¡°Why did you sigh when the harmony rate is so high?¡± Ye Xinglan asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. ¡°I sighed because I can¡¯t use it! It would have been better if I chose to forge star silver instead. This piece of jade silver is enough for one battle armor part.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s mine.¡± Ye Xinglan snatched it up and stored it into her storage ring.


    ¡°Well aren¡¯t you shameless,¡± Gu Yue groaned.


    Ignoring Gu Yue¡¯s comment, Ye Xinglan said to Tang Wulin, ¡°I¡¯ll pay you for it later.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± The corners of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth twitched. He was heartbroken to part with a ninety-five percent harmony rate piece! Seven more metals could be added to it in the future to make it a nine-metal alloy!


    Although at first glance there didn¡¯t seem to be much of a difference between ninety-five percent and ninety-one percent, among blacksmiths, a ninety-five percent alloy was called the foundation of divine alloy.


    Two-metal alloys were known as basic alloys, three-metal ones were quality alloys, four-metal was top-quality, and five-metal was holy. But alloys with five or more metals were extremely rare, their value comparable with that of soul refined metal.


    The greatest alloy in recorded history thus far was an eight-metal alloy. The more metals added, the harder it was to succeed. A nine-metal alloy had yet to be created, though many had tried, including the all seven of the Divine Blacksmiths to have appeared in history. To forge a nine-metal alloy was to forge a divine alloy. Such a metal could allow Limit Douluos to progress to the next level of strength. But that next level wasn¡¯t something to scoff at. That level was godhood!

 Chapter 380 - Divine Foundation Metal

    Chapter 380 - Divine Foundation Metal


    Considering that an alloy with a ninety-five percent harmony rate opened a path to godhood, its value was clearly astronomical. The possibility of becoming a divine alloy, no matter how miniscule, was enough to make it the one of the most expensive metals in the world. Rarely would blacksmiths sell such a metal. Instead, they would keep it for themselves.


    Forging alloys and forging regular metals was different; luck was an important factor. Even a Divine Blacksmith couldn¡¯t guarantee to forge an alloy with a harmony rate ninety-five percent or higher. The average harmony rate of their products were just higher.


    Unknown to Tang Wulin, he had broken yet another record! In the history of blacksmithing, never before had a blacksmith below the sixth rank forge an alloy with ninety-five percent harmony rate. Tang Wulin had achieved the impossible as a fifth-rank blacksmith and set a new bar!


    Suddenly, Ye Xinglan spoke up. ¡°Don¡¯t say I¡¯m taking advantage of you. I¡¯m actually a fifth-rank maker,¡±


    A fifth-rank maker?


    Everyone was stunned, unable to form words. Among the four professions, designers progressed the fastest since the profession mainly relied on spiritual power and perception. As long as a designer was sufficient in those two aspects, they would reach the third rank.


    In comparison, it was much harder for makers to advance. It required constant and repetitive practice, and a strong perception was essential as well. After all, without being able to understand the design, the mecha or battle armor they created would only ever be subpar


    Ye Xinglan was just thirteen years old, nearing fourteen. She was the same age as the rest of them. Being a fifth-rank maker at her age made her a genius!


    Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan exchanged a glance, shame colouring their cheeks red. The two of them were the lowest ranking professionals in their group.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget, Lizhi is a fourth-rank mechanic,¡± Ye Xinglan said.


    Tang Wulin nodded enthusiastically. ¡°This is great. Gu Yue is in charge of the designs, so tell her any specifications you have for your armor. We¡¯re going to make our battle armors one part at a time, starting from the right hand. I¡¯ll work hard to forge the alloys, but don¡¯t expect another ninety-five percent alloy. I will guarantee we¡¯ll use alloys of at least ninety percent though.¡±


    A single successful piece of alloy was enough for one hand armor. After that, the most pressing concern was whether the metal could be successfully transformed into hand armor. Although failure wouldn¡¯t turn the metal into scrap, its quality would decline.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Ye Xinglan nodded. Contrary to her calm expression however, her heart was quite disturbed. A fifth-rank maker their age was rare, but a thirteen-year-old fifth-rank blacksmith was an impossibility! There was no one within all of Shrek Academy whose blacksmithing talent could compare with Tang Wulin¡¯s. She would be able to grow even faster working together with a genius blacksmith like Tang Wulin. Upon this realization, her ill feelings toward him dissipated.


    Shrek Academy¡¯s policies seemed to grant much freedom, but she knew that this was to put even more pressure on the students! Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi had moved to the outer court to gain experience and face greater pressure to improve. If they didn¡¯t complete enough achievement, then they couldn¡¯t return to the inner court. They had to make a set of battle armor for themselves to do so and there was no one better to help them than a blacksmith capable of forging alloys!


    After directing Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi to Gu Yue, Tang Wulin continued to forge. With Yue Zhengyu providing the materials, he was going to take advantage of this and save the high harmony rate alloys for himself and his companions, while selling the agreed pieces to Yue Zhengyu. As for the low harmony rate ones, he would just sell them. Meanwhile, Gu Yue discussed the designs for their armors with everyone else. The entire workshop buzzed with energy as everyone rushed to complete their part in the plan.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart gradually calmed as he continued to forge, each reverberating strike of his hammer venting his frustrations at being suppressed by the rankers. Now, more than ever, did he understand that the only way to obtain the respect and acknowledgement of others was through strength! Everything else would follow after obtaining power. He still remembered what his father had told him. In this world, the only one he could rely on and trust was himself! Relying on others would only lead to failure. Only by striving relentlessly and depending on himself could his talent blossom and let him stand tall and proudly before his peers.


    His pride pushed him to greater heights. His forging improved, and his alloy success rate was higher than ever. He forged into the night, until he finally collapsed in exhaustion. He had succeeded in forging eight pieces of spirit alloy. Among them, one was a spirit gold with a ninety-three percent harmony rate. With that, Gu Yue¡¯s metal was finished. The remaining seven ranged from seventy to eighty percent harmony rate, which was fairly good. Tang Wulin collected them into his storage ring to set them aside for the future. He still needed to obtain the spirit items necessary to break the fourth Golden Dragon King seal, and these alloys would help.


    ?


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin stared at Shen Yi in shock, mouth gaping.


    ¡°Why? Teacher Shen, why can¡¯t Ye Xinglan participate in the class representative selection tournament?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mind went blank the moment Shen Yi had told him Ye Xinglan couldn¡¯t participate in the class representative selection tournament, his plans crumbling apart. He had felt pressured to face the five rankers, but with Ye Xinglan¡¯s help, especially after three years of growth, he had been confident of their victory. Although she did not have four soul rings yet, her combat power was on par, if not better. Her skillful techniques were still etched into his memory. His original plan was to have Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan and himself be the main attack force of their team. That way, they would have a chance against Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger. But without Ye Xinglan, their chances of victory dropped to next to zero! The disparity between his team and the five rankers was too great!


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me why. There is no reason. But your mecha group reassignment has been approved. The condition, of course, is that Ye Xinglan cannot participate in the tournament. Now go back to prepare. You don¡¯t have much time.¡±


    Throughout the rest of his classes, Tang Wulin was lost in a daze with his brow furrowed. The atmosphere in the classroom was charged the moment he stepped in, and the majority of his classmates took care to maintain a distance from his group. He and his friends were being shunned by everyone. Even his new companions, Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi, were being treated the same way.


    The addition of Ye Xinglan¡¯s combat strength and Xu Lizhi¡¯s buns had given Tang Wulin confidence in their victory. But now Ye Xinglan was no longer allowed to participate. Their odds for victory were laughable without her strength. His mind occupied by this problem, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t pay attention in class for the first time since coming to Shrek Academy.


    ¡°Good luck in the tournament, class president. Well, you don¡¯t have to worry about it too much. Even if you resign from being the class president, you can still be the blacksmith representative,¡± Luo Guixing said as he approached Tang Wulin after class.


    Yang Nianxia followed closely behind Luo Guixing and looked at Tang Wulin with sincere eyes. ¡°You¡¯re the most suitable person to be the blacksmith representative. Please don¡¯t force yourself.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean force himself? He¡¯s just overestimating himself!¡± Zheng Yiran cut in as she walked by, not even bothering to look back as she left.

 Chapter 381 - Undiscouraged

    Chapter 381 - Undiscouraged


    Wu Siduo passed Tang Wulin without speaking a word. Xu Yucheng followed, staring at Tang Wulin with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°What the hell are you looking at? Beat it!¡± Gu Yue said, shooting up from her seat.


    Xu Yucheng glanced at her coldly, then turned back to Tang Wulin. He raised his hand, pointed his thumb up, then turned it down.


    ¡°You!¡± Gu Yue was about to explode, but Tang Wulin grabbed her arm.


    Tang Wulin looked straight into Xu Yucheng¡¯s arrogant gaze. ¡°We¡¯ll settle things on the stage.¡±


    After the five rankers left, half of the class stood up and left as well. Xie Xie hung his head, his fists clenched tightly. Steeling his resolve, he stood up and exited the classroom. Xu Xiaoyan looked to Tang Wulin anxiously, who returned her gaze with reassuring steadiness before standing up as well and leading his friends out.


    Tang Wulin had already told Ye Xinglan about the restriction placed on her. She watched the entire confrontation with cold detachment from her seat in the back.


    ¡°Big Sis Xinglan, just what is the Academy thinking?¡± Xu Lizhi asked from beside her.


    She flicked her gaze to him. ¡°You still don¡¯t get it? The administration thinks very highly of Tang Wulin.¡±


    ¡°Huh? And this is how they¡¯re showing it?¡± Xu Lizhi was dumbstruck.


    ¡°Yes. They view him as very important,¡± Ye Xinglan answered without hesitation. She got up from her seat and followed Tang Wulin out.


    ?


    Thoughts looped around endlessly in Tang Wulin¡¯s mind the entire day, but in the end they all focused on one thing: just how can we win? The coming tournament would be a great challenge for him. If he didn¡¯t emerge victorious, then his status among his classmates would plummet and his reputation dragged through mud. With all eyes watching him, there was no backing down now.


    ?


    Xie Xie rushed back to the working student dormitory, but he wasn¡¯t returning to his room. Instead, he headed straight for Yuanen Yehui¡¯s room and banged on the door with all his strength.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Yuanen Yehui opened the door but upon seeing it was Xie Xie, her expression instantly chilled and her eyes reflected wariness.


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes were red, his nails digging into his palms as his entire body trembled from an unknown emotion. Upon seeing Yuanen Yehui, he stepped forward and bowed deeply.


    ¡°Please help me!¡±


    Yuanen Yehui took a step back, still leery. ¡°Explain the situation to me first.¡±


    Xie Xie sucked in a deep breath. Determination shone in his eyes as he resolutely said, ¡°Please spar with me. I want to improve myself.¡±


    Surprised,Yuanen Yehui asked, ¡°What¡¯s got you so worked up?¡±


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t answer. He bowed to her once more. ¡°I beg of you, help me! Please!¡±


    Yuanen Yehui raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down. Xie Xie was clearly like a volcano, about to erupt at any given moment.


    ¡°Alright. Fine.¡± She nodded.


    Xie Xie raised his head, stunned. Then he let out a long breath of relief. ¡°Thank you. Let¡¯s spar then. I¡¯ll pay for all of the costs!¡±


    ¡°Of course you are,¡± snorted Yuanen Yehui.


    ?


    Tang Wulin was deep in contemplation while sitting on the forging table in his workshop when Ye Xinglan walked over. ¡°Tang Wulin, do you feel discouraged now?¡±


    He raised his head. Ye Xinglan started with surprise. Instead of looking defeated, Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze held immeasurable willpower and determination. He shook his head. ¡°No. This is just another obstacle for me to surpass. When my martial soul awakened, it was bluesilver grass, and I only had an innate soul power of rank 3. My family is utterly normal and didn¡¯t have money to support my cultivation. I began blacksmithing at six to earn enough money for a ten-year spirit soul, but then the Spirit Pagoda staff member told me that I could only afford the random spirit soul draw. It was from that draw that I got Goldsong. Do you know what the staff member told me back then? He said Goldsong is a defective spirit soul. No one had any hope for me. Even my parents tried to dissuade me from walking the path of a soul master. They wanted me to focus on blacksmithing instead. I possess innate divine strength, so they thought being an ordinary blacksmith suited me.¡±


    A faint smile formed on his lips and he jumped off the forging table. ¡°I overcame all of it.¡±


    He didn¡¯t need to say anything more. Everyone understood his meaning. He started out as a mediocre person. Yet now, through his tenacity and hard efforts, he became the class president of Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade class! The coming tournament may pose a great challenge to him, but it was nothing in comparison with his martial soul being bluesilver grass, nothing compared to having a defective first spirit soul. He always forged forward, step by step, and this time would be no different!


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll help you then. Gu Yue has already finished the design for your hand armor. I need a piece of star silver to make it,¡± Ye Xinglan said.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Star silver? Will you make it in time¡­?¡± The match between the first and second grade was set to take place in a week, and the representative selection tournament in three days time. With only three days, there was no telling whether she would succeed in making a battle armor part.


    Although spirit alloys were capable of maximizing the amplification effects of battle armor and opened a path for improving one-word armor in the future, the difficulty of crafting with it also increased proportionally.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot,¡± answered Ye Xinglan. ¡°I took your divine foundation metal, so I have to return the favor.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll begin forging star silver,¡± said Tang Wulin.


    At that moment, a beeping noise sounded in the workshop. Tang Wulin took out his communicator to check who was calling him. Upon seeing the name on the screen, he immediately picked up the call. ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s deep voice was transmitted through the line. ¡°Come see me.¡± His words were short and concise.


    ¡°I¡¯ll head over right away.¡± Tang Wulin turned to his companions. ¡°Elder Feng just called for me. I¡¯ll see what he wants, then come back right away.¡± He left after saying this.


    Reaching Feng Wuyu¡¯s office, Tang Wulin knocked once then entered. He lowered his head in respect. ¡°Teacher.¡±


    ¡°I heard what happened in your class. Sounds like the class president isn¡¯t that great!¡± Feng Wuyu said.


    ¡°Mn. That¡¯s right. I¡¯m not qualified for the position.¡± Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. He didn¡¯t bother explaining himself. With the situation coming to a head like this, explanations were useless. He had to settle the problem with action.


    Feng Wuyu snorted. ¡°Are you ready for the tournament?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    Feng Wuyu was taken aback, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Tang Wulin. ¡°I heard your opponents are quite something. Are you confident?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shined with courage. ¡°I have to be even if I¡¯m not.¡± His conviction was unshakeable.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then. You have to face hardship head-on. You¡¯ll grow a lot from this ordeal. Here, take this.¡±


    Tang Wulin hurriedly reached out and caught the object Feng Wuyu tossed to him. It was a brilliant silver metal, specks of gold accenting its silver aura.


    ¡°Star silver?¡± he blurted out. Tang Wulin looked at Feng Wuyu. ¡°Teacher¡­¡±


    Even without testing it, Tang Wulin could tell that it was an extremely high quality piece! Its harmony rate was ninety percent at the very least.


    ¡°It¡¯s ninety-nine percent. It¡¯s a masterpiece from my early years. There¡¯s no point just leaving it lying around, so I¡¯m giving it to you.¡±


    Tang Wulin was stunned. Warmth filled his heart. He had always thought Feng Wuyu was a harsh teacher and had never expected the old man to show such care and concern for him.


    ¡°Teacher, I can¡¯t accept this.¡± Tang Wulin walked forward and placed the star silver on Feng Wuyu¡¯s desk.


    Feng Wuyu smiled. ¡°Where¡¯d all your greed go, kid? I thought you would just accept it right away instead of acting so politely.¡±


    Tang Wulin scratched his head in embarrassment. ¡°I have my own pride too!¡±


    ¡°What pride? Enough of that! Just accept it. Don¡¯t let it go to waste.¡± Feng Wuyu grinned at him.


    A long sigh escaped Tang Wulin, and he shook his head. ¡°Teacher, you¡¯re right that I¡¯m greedy. But that¡¯s because I grew up poor. Even so, I can¡¯t accept this. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m embarrassed to accept it. I would never feel embarrassed with you. But it¡¯s because I¡¯m a blacksmith!¡±


    Feng Wuyu was dumbstruck, but he quickly understood what Tang Wulin meant and nodded. ¡°Excellent! Your heart isn¡¯t swayed so easily. I¡¯m convinced that you really are confident now.¡± He waved his hand and put the star silver back into his storage ring.


    In order to craft the best battle armor, one had to be involved in the crafting process regardless of whether it was as the blacksmith, designer, maker, or mechanic. Feng Wuyu understood the meaning behind  Tang Wulin¡¯s words. He wanted to create the greatest battle armor possible for himself, so he had to be the one to forge the metal with his own hands!

 Chapter 382 - A Small bet

    Chapter 382 - A Small Bet


    ¡°I was just about to try to forge star silver when you called, Teacher. The design for my one-word battle armor¡¯s right gauntlet is completed, so now I just need a high-quality piece of star silver to forge it. It would be of great help to me if you had any good star iron I could use. I won¡¯t ask for much. Just as much star iron as that piece of star silver you wanted to give me would be greatly appreciated,¡± Tang Wulin said, a smile forming on his lips.


    ¡°Get out of here!¡± Feng Wuyu barely restrained the impulse to kick Tang Wulin out of the room. He had doled out a few words of praise, yet his disciple wasn¡¯t satisfied with that!


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°I know you have it, don¡¯t you? I¡¯m willing to bet there aren¡¯t many blacksmiths in the entire world with a greater stash than you! Is there really a need to be stingy with me? Just hand it over, please.¡±


    Who¡¯s being stingy here¡­ Feng Wuyu¡¯s anger dissipated in the face of Tang Wulin¡¯s radiant smile. He took out some star iron and placed it on his desk.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anymore, take it and go. Before I get angry.¡± Feng Wuyu waved his hand in dismissal.


    Tang Wulin giggled at his teacher¡¯s resignation. ¡°When are you going to teach me how to forge three-metal alloys?¡±


    Feng Wuyu eyed him up and down. ¡°You haven¡¯t even mastered walking, and now you want to learn how to run? Wait until you can forge ten different two-metal alloys, spirit refine consistently, and forge a divine foundation metal. Then we¡¯ll talk about three-metal alloys.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m still far from that.¡± Tang Wulin sighed, his head drooping. He made for the door, muttering to himself, ¡°I still have two of the three goals to complete. It¡¯s going to take me at least a year to do the other two.¡±


    ¡°Hold on a minute!¡± Feng Wuyu shouted when he heard what Tang Wulin muttered.


    ¡°Huh? Is there something else?¡± Tang Wulin looked back.


    ¡°You said you only have two goals left? Which one did you complete?¡± Feng Wuyu stared at Tang Wulin wide-eyed. Impossible! Asking him to meet those three goals was harsh! Even I couldn¡¯t complete all of them until I reached the sixth rank!


    Feng Wuyu set those three requirements in an effort to put more pressure on Tang Wulin. Of the three, learning to forge ten different two-metal alloys and becoming skilled at spirit refining were fairly easy to master and would come naturally with time. Tang Wulin had already succeeded once at spirit refining, but he hadn¡¯t practiced that since his first success. As far as the alloys went, he¡¯d been practicing for a few days now and could forge a couple of them. Yet he still muttered about completing one of the three requirements!


    Feng Wuyu never even considered the possibility that Tang Wulin had forged a divine foundation metal. A sixth-rank blacksmith only had a sliver of a chance to succeed, and even a Saint Blacksmith had to rely more on luck than skill to forge a two-metal divine foundation alloy. A fledgling fifth-rank blacksmith succeeding was unheard of.


    Tang Wulin smirked, but remained silent.


    Feng Wuyu threw a bit of iron at Tang Wulin¡¯s head. ¡°What are you smiling for? Tell me before I beat your ass! Which one did you finish? Did you sneak off to Mu Chen to learn how to forge more alloys? Or did you secretly practice spirit refining? There¡¯s no way you did any of that with what little time you have!¡±


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I have forged a divine foundation metal?¡± Tang Wulin words dripped with condescension.


    Feng Wuyu rolled his eyes and snorted. ¡°In your dreams maybe. But this is reality! Wake up and tell me. Or did that not hurt?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked wronged. ¡°Of course it hurt! How about we make a bet? If I managed to forge a divine foundation metal¡­¡±


    Feng Wuyu glared at him. ¡°Still talking about divine foundation metals? Do you want another bump on your head?¡±


    ¡°Teacher, you shouldn¡¯t bully kids! There¡¯s no way I can fight back against you! How about this? If I win the bet, you pay me twenty thousand contribution points. I was penalized for the fight last time and I need to clear some debts. But the thing is, cultivating and blacksmithing is taking up all my time so I can¡¯t earn more points. What if the Academy expels me because I don¡¯t pay the fine?¡±


    Feng Wuyu fought down his laughter at his disciple¡¯s overacting, and forced his face into a serious expression. ¡°Save it! You¡¯ve successfully forged more than one alloy. Twenty thousand points is nothing if you sell some off. Besides, you¡¯re my disciple. Do you really think the Academy would dare expel you?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re too scared to bet with me, then I¡¯ll just go to Grandteacher.¡± Tang Wulin turned around to leave.


    ¡°Now you just hold on a minute! Who said I¡¯m too scared? You little brat, do you actually think that senile old fool Zhuo Shi has more guts than me? Fine! I accept your bet. Let¡¯s see if you really can forge a divine foundation metal. But first things first, what do I get if I win?¡±


    Hmph! You dare question me? Let¡¯s see what you can do¡­


    Tang Wulin¡¯s smile had all the character of a predator about to pounce. ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ll do anything you want if you win!¡±


    Feng Wuyu thought about it for a moment before saying, ¡°Alright. If I win, I get everything you forge in the next three months.¡± That was an enormous sum. Even with Tang Wulin¡¯s current success rate, the number of alloys he could forge in three months clearly exceeded 20,000 contribution points.


    ¡°Deal!¡±


    Tang Wulin knew his victory was assured. The stakes didn¡¯t matter.


    The sheer confidence that Tang Wulin displayed started to unnerve Feng Wuyu. ¡°Kid, did you really forge a divine foundation metal?¡±


    ¡°Follow.¡± Tang Wulin smiled proudly and he turned to leave.


    Feng Wuyu followed Tang Wulin back to his workshop. Doubt, curiosity, and excitement intermingled and growing with every step.


    Inside the workshop, Gu Yue, Xu lizhi, Ye Xinglan, and Xu Xiaoyan were in the middle of discussing their battle armor designs. When they saw Feng Wuyu walk in behind Tang Wulin, they shot up to their feet.


    ¡°Where is it?¡± Feng Wu scanned the workshop.


    Tang Wulin looked to Ye Xinglan. ¡°Could you let Elder Feng see the jade silver? He can help appraise it.¡±


    Ye Xinglan looked at him, then at Feng Wuyu. A second later, she took out the jade silver from her storage ring and presented it to Feng Wuyu.


    The moment Feng Wuyu saw the it, his pupils contracted and his hand flew out to snatch it. He brought it close to his face for inspection. He stared at the gentle jade-silver glow of the metal for a long time, before finally handing it back. He turned to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°You really did forge a divine foundation metal.¡±


    Without another word, he turned around and left. From beginning to end, his face showed no emotion.


    ¡°Teacher, you see¡­¡± Tang Wulin hastened to follow.


    Feng Wuyu glanced at him. ¡°I¡¯ll send you the points.¡± Then he shoved the door of the workshop open and left, letting it slam shut behind him.


    After the door shut behind Feng Wuyu, Tang Wulin turned to his companions and made a victory sign with his hand.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled mischievously. ¡°Nothing. I just made a bet with him. A small bet. Nothing to worry about.¡±


    The moment Feng Wuyu stepped out of Tang Wulin¡¯s workshop, his face contorted in annoyance. ¡°That kid really got me.¡± Then his features softened into a smile of satisfaction. ¡°But it¡¯s good that he knows how to pull one over on people.¡±


    He shook his head and chuckled, ¡°Kid, you really gave me a nice surprise!¡±


    ?


    Three days later in the first grade¡¯s classroom, Shen Yi announced from behind the lectern, ¡°In order to fully examine your combat abilities, Teacher Wu and I have decided for our selection tournament to be decided via real combat. Now, let¡¯s depart.¡±


    The students stared blankly at her. Shouldn¡¯t we be fighting in a virtual space? We could get injured in live combat!

 Chapter 383 - The Selection Tournament

    Chapter 383 - The Selection Tournament


    Hushed whispers broke out in the classroom and everyone¡¯s gazes shifted towards Tang Wulin and his companions. He was the class president, the representative of the entire first grade, yet the five rankers had joined hands to usurp him. To the Academy, this was a simple tournament. However, to Tang Wulin, the five rankers, and the rest of the first grade, the outcome of the selection tournament would determine the narrative of the class from then on.


    Tang Wulin sat in the front, his face a mask of indifference. By his side, Gu Yue wore a similar expression. Neither seemed to care about the announcement at all.


    Luo Guixing wore his standard polite smile. When he looked at Wu Siduo however, a silent conversation passed between them. Yang Nianxia lazed in his seat. Xu Yucheng looked gloomy like usual, as different from Luo Guixing as night and day. Zheng Yiran glared at Tang Wulin, her gaze like a predator about to devour him whole.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Shen Yi said.


    ¡°Everyone stand up!¡± Tang Wulin shouted. Regardless of how precarious his position was right now, he still did his duty as the class president.


    The entire class of 103 students stood up and walked out in order. Everyone was bursting with excitement, eager to witness the battle between dragons and tigers. To most of the students, it didn¡¯t matter who won. The competition to choose the class president was different as it was possible to avoid confronting powerful foes. This tournament, on the other hand, would be a direct clash between giants. Whoever won would carry the banner of their class.


    Ye Xinglan followed at the back of the line, her complexion abnormally pale. She even needed Xu Lizhi¡¯s assistance to walk steady. Yet, in comparison to her weak state, her eyes shone with excitement.


    ¡°Big Sis Xinglan, don¡¯t go. You should rest. I can go request a leave of absence for you.¡± Xu Lizhi said softly.


    Ye Xinglan instantly turned towards him with fire in her glare. ¡°Fatty, don¡¯t make us lose face for the inner court!¡±


    Xu Lizhi was stunned. Her words stabbed at him. All he could do was smile. ¡°Okay then.¡±


    Shrek Academy had the most advanced sparring facilities. Students could use them by paying a fee. The main benefits of this arena were that it was isolated and prevented energy from running wild. A seven-ringed healing-type soul master was also always monitoring the facilities. The moment a participant suffered a grievous injury, staff members would extricate the person from the arena and treat their injuries. For some reason though, when the first grade class entered the facility, they only saw a single person.


    A pure and elegant beauty stood on the stage, long evergreen hair flowing down her back. With a slender figure and bright complexion full of life, she seemed to be in her thirties.


    Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong quickly walked over the moment they saw her and bowed. ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Please, no need to stand on etiquette.¡± The woman smiled gently at them, filling the room with a comforting warmth.


    Tang Wulin was surprised. He stood at the front of the line, so he had heard how his teachers addressed the woman.


    Your Highness? Only Titled Douluos are referred to like that. This beautiful woman is a Titled Douluo? Tang Wulin was further shocked by the respect within Wu Zhangkong¡¯s normally icy eyes. That was all it took to convince Tang Wulin. This woman was a powerful Titled Douluo.


    Just how many Titled Douluos does Shrek have¡­?


    ¡°Everyone, pay your respects to the esteemed Holy Spirit Douluo,¡± Wu Zhangkong ordered.


    ¡°Greetings, Your Highness!¡± Tang Wulin stepped forward and bowed. The rest of his classmates bowed a second later.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo? Wow! Her title is so cool!


    The Holy Spirit Douluo looked kindly upon them. ¡°You¡¯ve come to the arena to compare notes, but you also need to display your strength and stimulate your potential. Alright, enough of that. I¡¯ll leave you all to your matches.¡± She then floated up into the air, drifting towards a tall chair at the fringe of the arena.


    Wu Zhangkong turned around to face the students, his face stern. ¡°This selection tournament will be held in public, and will be judged fairly. There are seventeen teams, so matches will be decided through lots. One team will get a pass. It will be a knock out tournament. Whoever the victor is today will represent our class against the second grade in four days. The representatives for the four professions will be the members of the class council. Let us begin.¡±


    Tang Wulin went up and drew his lot. ¡°The empty lot has been drawn by Tang Wulin¡¯s team.¡± He stared at the stick blankly.


    After getting off the stage, Tang Wulin sat down cross-legged, his expression wholly serene. His companions sat down beside him, all six of them meditating together.


    Shrek Academy lived up to its reputation. Even the first round of battles was fierce, every participant fighting hard to shine the brightest.


    The Holy Light Douluo acted as the tournament¡¯s referee today. She would make a move when a victor emerged, or someone was in dire straits. With a simple wave of her hand, light would descend on the arena and halt the match. What truly left everyone amazed was her healing ability. By the time the next match started, the participants of the previous match would be in perfect condition.


    The eight matches of the first round took about an hour to finish. Luo Guixing¡¯s team breezed through their matchup as their opponent had immediately forfeited. Although they hadn¡¯t drawn the pass, the result was the same.


    In the second drawing, Luo Guixing¡¯s team drew the empty lot. Everyone¡¯s face scrunched up in disbelief as they began to understand what was going on. Considering that Tang Wulin¡¯s team had drawn the empty lot first then Luo Guixing¡¯s team, the tournament was clearly rigged so the two teams would only face each other in the finals!


    The tournament demanded teams of at least five, so Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi stepped onto the stage. They had the first match of the second round. Their opponents was a team that had won the first round, though only barely. They understood how large the gap was between them and Tang Wulin¡¯s team.


    Tang Wulin controlled the flow of battle and served as the vanguard, Xie Xie stood ready in the battlefield in wait of an opening, and Gu Yue provided ranged control. They achieved victory without much effort.


    The second round finished twice as fast as the first. Nine teams trickled down to five, and the third round began.


    ¡°We surrender!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re forfeiting!¡±


    ¡°Forfeit!¡±


    Before any of the matches of the third round even began, the other three teams forfeited. It wasn¡¯t that they weren¡¯t confident, especially against Tang Wulin¡¯s team. However, they didn¡¯t wish to get in the way of the five rankers. They all understood that the rankers were unsatisfied with his leadership and targeting Tang Wulin. It was because of this that they thought it was better to step out of the way and let the final confrontation come quicker. Even if they managed to defeat Tang Wulin¡¯s team, the outcome wouldn¡¯t necessarily be good for them. Luo Guixing had already declared that they would crush Tang Wulin with their own hands.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo looked at them in surprise, but when she saw the sparks flying between the two remaining teams, she understood what happened.


    ¡°Okay. Since it¡¯s like this, we¡¯ll immediately begin the final match. Tang Wulin¡¯s team versus Luo Guixing¡¯s team,¡± Wu Zhangkong announced.


    Tang Wulin looked up and met Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze. In his teacher¡¯s eyes, he saw encouragement and a fire hidden behind his icy expression


    Wu Zhangkong could also see the conviction in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes.


    The two teams of five ascended the stage and stood opposite of each other.


    Tang Wulin stood in the very front of his team¡¯s formation and Yang Nianxia stood at the front of his. When Yang Nianxia met Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze, a chill ran down his spine.


    The final match of the tournament was about to begin. Whoever won would represent their grade in the match against the second grade.  They would win honor and glory, and bear the weight of being their class¡¯s champions.

 Chapter 384 - The Decisive Battle of the First Grade

    Chapter 384 - The Decisive Battle of the First Grade


    If every soul master¡¯s dream was to enter Shrek Academy, then it was the dream of all soul masters in Shrek Academy¡¯s outer court to enter the inner court! However, that was easier said than done. Getting in, even if it were a sliver of a chance, required two things: the unceasing tempering of the self and a chance encounter with good fortune.


    Yang Nianxia trembled when he saw the fire blazing in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. Not a trace of anxiety or impatience manifested. Only burning ferocity prevailed! In fact, Tang Wulin¡¯s mask of calm had cracked to reveal his conviction, hot to the touch. His entire being seemed to be engulfed in flames, his determination shocking his foes.


    Yang Nianxia wasn¡¯t the only one affected. All five rankers were struck astonished. They couldn¡¯t fathom how Tang Wulin could possess such fierce battlelust. Does he actually think he can win?


    The rankers had done their research on Tang Wulin¡¯s team. Tang Wulin was fairly strong but still possessed many weaknesses, the greatest being his martial soul. He also recently gained his third soul ring. The only reason he could rise to their level was his strange bloodline. Rather, they saw Gu Yue as their greatest foe, for she had beaten Wu Siduo during the cooldown of Hell White Tiger. But that was it. The other three members might as well be invisible.


    Xie Xie was an average agility-type soul master in their eyes, an insurmountable gap separating him from them. They found Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s ability to exploit openings favorable, but no matter how they looked at it, she must have gotten into Shrek Academy by a fluke. She was just too weak in everything else. According to their digging, she had been part of Tang Wulin¡¯s original team, so they surmised that Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had helped her get in. The only mystery was Xu Lizhi. All they could gather about him was his status as a support-type soul master, one without much combat ability. Finally, there was Ye Xinglan. She seemed strong. Yet for some unknown reason, she had been forbidden from participating. As such, faced with such nameless opponents, they had no fear of Tang Wulin¡¯s team.


    However, the fighting spirit Tang Wulin displayed was baffling! Does he actually think they can win? Even against Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger?


    ¡°Get ready. I will begin the five second countdown.¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s chilling tone came down like a bucket of ice water over the five rankers¡¯ heads.


    So what if he has fighting spirit? That¡¯s nothing in the face of true power.


    Each of their names were etched onto the Genius Youths Ranking. Moreover, Wu Siduo was a super genius who entered the top ten at thirteen, the youngest in history! No one else could compare with her at her age. She had four soul rings and twin martial souls! She was a dazzling star in Shrek Academy destined to enter the inner court.


    The five of them had brimmed with pride. Yet their inability to seize the class president position crushed it. The dissatisfaction smoldered until it exploded into this decisive battle!


    Tang Wulin was quite strong, but nowhere near as strong as Gu Yue according to their evaluation. But even Gu Yue didn¡¯t enter their eyes. With her cultivation level, they refused to believe she could handle the five of them together! At best, she could stand toe-to-toe with Luo Guixing.


    All five rankers believed that Tang Wulin¡¯s true strength lay within his blacksmithing skill. The reason they hadn¡¯t rebelled against him at first was precisely due to this. Such a talented blacksmith was hard to come by, and they couldn¡¯t afford to sour their relationship with him. However, conflict arose between Tang Wulin, Luo Guixing, and Wu Siduo. They found his ideas too impractical, so while Yang Nianxia couldn¡¯t compare with Tang Wulin, he was enough for their needs. Having come to this conclusion, they no longer cared about crossing Tang Wulin. Luo Guixing chose to gather up the rest of the rankers and isolate Tang Wulin.


    For rankers like them, there was no backing down, only advancing forward!


    ¡°Five! Four! Three! Two! One!¡± Wu Zhangkong announced.


    Three purple soul rings appeared around Tang Wulin, bluesilver grass swarming out of the ground by his feet. The grass slithered to the front and formed a protective shield around his companions.The rest of his teammates summoned their martial souls as well, glittering soul rings materializing around them one by one. To the spectators¡¯ surprise, Xu Xiaoyan now had a purple soul ring in addition to two yellow ones. But the rankers didn¡¯t notice. Tang Wulin had used his bluesilver grass as a screen to block their vision.


    Tang Wulin had carefully planned out their opening moves to the tiniest details. No one but him thought such meticulous preparations would affect the tide of battle.


    Without skipping a beat, the five rankers summoned their martial souls as well.


    When both Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng revealed four soul rings, even the Holy Spirit Douluo was taken aback. Four soul rings was nothing to her, but it was an astonishing achievement for a thirteen-year-old. Even Shrek Academy, the number one academy on the continent, had few talents like them!


    ¡°Begin!¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s shout marked the start of the first grade¡¯s battle for supremacy.


    Yang Nianxia roared to the sky, his body swelling with strength as he transformed into a Duskgold Bear. He grew to two meters in height and was now covered in dark-gold fur from head to toe. Like a wild beast, he charged at Tang Wulin. Light shimmered around Luo Guixing as he disappeared behind Yang Nianxia, hiding behind the muscular bulk.


    Wu Siduo shot out to the side like lightning, instantly overtaking Yang Nianxia. There was no doubt that out of the ten combatants, she was the fastest. Her winding path led her straight to the one who had defeated her before, Gu Yue!  When it came to speed, Xu Yucheng was only second to Wu Siduo, and he sprinted from the other side to form a pincer attack with her. Because he was a pure agility-type, he could just keep up with her. Meanwhile, a green aura enveloped Zheng Yiran¡¯s body as she also burst into action. Although not as quick as the others, she brought along a green fog of death in her advance.


    Yang Nianxia charged down the middle, Luo Guixing stayed in the center, Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng rushed in from the side, and Zheng Yiran slowly advanced. Their actions held not a hint of unfamiliarity, their teamwork flawless. They hadn¡¯t been wasting time twiddling their thumbs the last few days. The five had ran drills to hone their teamwork, not to defeat Tang Wulin¡¯s team, but the second grade¡¯s. Not once had they considered Tang Wulin¡¯s team a threat.


    There was a great difference in strength between grades at Shrek Academy, where each was  separated by an age gap of two to three years! Rarely would a lower grade defeat an upper one. However, this year¡¯s class of new students was the most promising in the last century!

 Chapter 385 - Tang Wulins Third Soul Skill!

    Chapter 385 - Tang Wulin''s Third Soul Skill!


    The rankers had come to the conclusion after much thought that improving their teamwork was essential to defeat the second grade. This was the best way to gain the achievements necessary for entering the inner court.


    The eyes of the spectating students sparkled with excitement. They¡¯re going in for the slaughter! In their opinion, only Tang Wulin and Gu Yue stood a chance against the combined assault of Wu Siduo, Yang Nianxia, and Xu Yucheng. However, it was two against three. With combatants being eliminated once they suffered grievous injuries, they faced impossible odds..


    Faced with such powerful opponents, Tang Wulin showed neither fear nor hesitation. Instead, he advanced on Yang Nianxia with calm indifference. Bluesilver grass spread out to cover a large area around him. Then his third soul ring lit up, and the grass turned into a sea of gold.


    His third soul skill?


    The rankers had never witnessed Tang Wulin¡¯s third soul skill before. It was information that they couldn¡¯t dig up since he acquired it recently. Humans naturally feared the unknown, and the rankers were no exceptions. Wu Siduo and Yang Nianxia¡¯s footsteps faltered. Why¡¯s he using his third soul skill already? Isn¡¯t he afraid of exhausting himself?


    While those two were taken aback, Gu Yue¡¯s hands danced together to form complex seals. Pressing the two thumbs together, she twisted her hands in counter directions so that her fingers on her left hand pointed up, while those on her right pointed down. A wave of elemental energy gathered around her, converging into a frigid white light. The light pulsed, then rapidly shrunk until they condensed into icicles that shot towards Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng!


    A cold light flashed in Wu SIduo¡¯s eyes. She suddenly accelerated, reaching her maximum speed in an instant! So what if you¡¯re using your third soul skill, Tang Wulin? He was beneath someone as talented and bold as her.


    In their analysis before the match, the five rankers concluded that Gu Yue was their most powerful opponent. Given enough time, her control over the elements could turn the tide of battle. Her strength truly was too frightening. Furthermore, without Gu Yue¡¯s support, Tang Wulin would collapse shortly after. This was why they decided that Gu Yue was their main target and to eliminate her as soon as possible.


    Hell Rush! Wu Siduo¡¯s speed reached new heights even as her attack and defense power increased. Although Hell Rush was only her first soul skill, it was a powerful tool in her hands.


    Xu Yuchengshot forward as well, his figure blurring and leaving countless afterimages behind him. He rested his Demon Scythe on his shoulder. Its deadly blade gleamed with a dark-purple lustor.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s and Xu Yucheng¡¯s aura of soul power met the incoming onslaught of icicles and destroyed them with little effort. Such weak icicles couldn¡¯t even touch them. A moment later, they penetrated through Tang Wulin¡¯s team¡¯s formation from opposing sides. Their target was Gu Yue. Even while resisting Tang Wulins¡¯ third soul skill, they aimed straight for her.


    Xie Xie chose that moment to act. His body flickered forward to intercept Xu Yucheng, his Light Dragon Dagger in hand. At the same time, all three of Gu Yue¡¯s soul rings lit up as she used Elemental Tide, Elemental Control, and Elemental Fusion simultaneously! Her control over the elements shot up to the peak!


    Gu Yue gathered light into her palm, then threw it at Xu Yucheng! His movements slowed and his sinister aura dimmed as he drew closer to the light. If Yue Zhengyu were present, he would have been shocked. It was holy light! Not only that, her holy light was extremely similar to his soul skill! Although his holy light was still a stronger, it was only by twenty or thirty percent.


    Xu Yucheng¡¯s Demon Scythe undoubtedly was of the darkness-attribute,  so this light was enough to suppress him despite not being particularly powerful.


    Xie Xie took this chance to rush Xu Yucheng. In their battle plans, he was assigned with handling the Immortal.


    Wu Siduo arrived in front of Gu Yue at that moment! There wasn¡¯t enough time for Gu Yue to counterattack. She couldn¡¯t defend herself.


    Tang Wulin didnt pay any attention to his teammates. He charged at Yang Nianxia, leaping forward to close the distance between them with his right fist rocketing toward Yang Nianxia¡¯s chest.


    Yang Nianxia smirked, stopping in place. He steeled his body, then his right fist punched out to meet Tang Wulin¡¯s! He was completely confident in his strength. While they were both power-type soul masters, he refused to believe Tang Wulin could surpass him in strength!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes began to change, gold seeping into his irises at the same time as light rippled across Tang Wulin¡¯s arm. Golden scales appeared in place of the light, transforming his fist into the golden dragon claw as it rendered through the air.


    Yang Nianxia bellowed, a dark-gold radiance shimmering around his fist. His objective was simple. He just needed to keep Tang Wulin occupied. In the meantime, his teammates could wipe out the rest. Then, victory would be theirs.


    Yang Nianxia was a meticulous person who was not a risk taker. He he didn¡¯t punch with all his strength, withholding just enough to meet his objective. However, inches before their fists clashed, Tang Wulin disappeared! Yang Nianxia stumbled forward in surprise, booms rumbling in the wake of his fist hitting air. The feeling of being tricked made his blood boil.


    At that same instant, Wu Siduo reached Gu Yue and unleashed Hundred Hell Claws! The claws closed in on Gu Yue, packed so densely it left her no chance to escape. Wu Siduo was on high alert, wary that Tang Wulin¡¯s third soul skill would activate at any moment.


    ?


    Luo Guixing stood before his four companions. ¡°Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng, you two will attack Gu Yue once the battle starts. Gu Yue can also control space, so if she tries to teleport away while you¡¯re attacking her, immediately switch targets to the other three. It should be a breeze for you two to eliminate the rest. Once Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s support is gone, it won¡¯t matter where she teleports to. Victory will be ours.


    ¡°Zheng Yiran, you¡¯ll stick with me. Even if she teleports to us, the two of us will be able to take her on. If she doesn¡¯t teleport away, then, Wu Siduo, it¡¯ll be your chance to make up for your defeat.¡±


    ?


    As the distance between Wu Siduo and Gu Yue diminished, she could finally make out Gu Yue¡¯s expression. She was neither surprised nor panicked. It wasn¡¯t a facade either. She exuded a calm confidence instead. How¡¯s she going to take my attack with her body? She can¡¯t defend herself in time with the elements.


    Single element attacks were useless against someone as powerful as Wu Siduo, but attacks of multiple elements took time to prepare. Gu Yue¡¯s only choice was to teleport away at that moment. Knowing this, Wu Siduo marked Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi in the corner of her eye.


    Wu Siduo saw silver light gather around Gu Yue and tensed, preparing to switch her targets. However, instead of watching Gu Yue teleport, the telltale sign of space distorting opened up to a brilliant gold light! A golden scaled fist shot out, no particular technique behind its movement. It was a simple and crude punch! Wu Siduo could feel the tremendous power behind the fist at just a foot away from it, but she was going too fast. It was too late to evade it now.


    A boom tore through the arena. The hundred claws disintegrated and the collision sent Wu Siduo reeling backward.


    Tang Wulin stood tall in front of Gu Yue. She had teleported him away from his clash with Yang Nianxia to ambush Wu Siduo!


    Watching from a distance, Luo Guixing frowned. He hadn¡¯t been able to do anything to stop Gu Yue. She was beating him at his own forte! With his third soul skill, Luo Guixing could teleport his comrades to his side. It was because of this skill that he was able to establish himself on the Genius Youths Rankings. However, there were limitations to this soul skill. If the target resisted, then he couldn¡¯t teleport them. Yet, Gu Yue could manipulate space just as skillfully as him!

 Chapter 386 - Xie Xies Bravery

    Chapter 386 - Xie Xie''s Bravery


    The moment Luo Guixing saw the golden grass covering the floor stir, he realized that it was a trap. Tang Wulin finally used his third soul skill. He teamed up with Gu Yue to deal with Wu Siduo!


    Luo Guixing could teleport Wu Siduo back to his side with Spatial Retreat, but he couldn¡¯t use the soul skill continuously. If he teleported Wu Siduo back to him, then Xu Yucheng would be left isolated behind enemy lines! Conflicted about what to do, his decision came late. He chose to believe in Wu Siduo¡¯s strength and trust she could handle Tang Wulin and Gu Yue for a time. Then the sooner Xu Yucheng defeated Xie Xie, then the faster he could regroup with Wu Siduo to take care of Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. He ran some calculations in his head, and came to the conclusion that with Yang Nianxia, Zheng Yiran, and him backing the two up, victory was certain.


    Xie Xie intercepted Xu Yucheng. Gu Yue¡¯s light attack had slowed the Immortal enough for him to catch up.


    Xu Yucheng scoffed at Xie Xie¡¯s approach. He slashed out a shadowy beam at Xie Xie with his Demon Scythe. Xie Xie was merely a hinderance, so he decided to quickly chop Xie Xie apart before continuing his attack on Gu Yue.


    However, as the shadowy beam flew toward Xie Xie, his body began to sway and his figure multiplied. He was using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step! He sent out a Light Dragon Blade of his own. It pierced through the shadow beam and onward to Xu Yucheng!


    Xu Yucheng frowned as he lowered his scythe and his figure flickered. Instead of using a footwork technique like Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, he was advancing with pure speed! He left afterimages in his wake as he dashed forward. He sliced apart the Light Dragon Blade and sent back another onslaught of dark-violet shadow beams! The beams overlapped to form a giant net of death that collapsed onto Xie Xie.


    Xu Yucheng¡¯s four soul rings may have all been yellow, but he still had four! This attack saturated the air with his soul power, which suppressed Xie Xie¡¯s speed. The only safest choice for Xie Xie was to retreat in this situation, but Gu Yue and Tang Wulin were right behind him. Retreat was not an option.


    ?


    Inside of his workshop, Tang Wulin stood around a table with his teammates. ¡°Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng are very fast, so they¡¯ll definitely be rushing us to get some early eliminations. If we want to win, we need to stop them and defeat either one of them as quickly as possible. Our only chance at victory depends on it.


    ¡°Wu Siduo is the strongest of them and the greatest threat to us with her Hell White Tiger. Gu Yue and I will work together to handle her. We¡¯ll create a situation where Luo Guixing can¡¯t teleport Wu Siduo out without sacrificing Xu Yucheng. But keeping Xu Yucheng occupied is our biggest problem right now. Xie Xie, Xiaoyan, how long would the two of you be able to hold out against him if you worked together?¡±


    ¡°I can handle him alone! I¡¯m certain of it!¡± Xie Xie said confidently.


    ?


    Light Dragon Storm!


    Xie Xie turned into a shining whirlwind of death to meet the onslaught from the shadow blade beams.


    He¡¯s facing it head-on? Many of the spectators, including Wu Zhangkong, frowned.


    Three rings against four was a hopeless battle, especially when the latter specialized in attack power. The gap between their cultivation levels was too immense. Xie Xie gave up on using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step to face that attack directly instead. He was going all in on in this clash!


    The instant the two collided, the Light Dragon Storm began to collapse. Light dispelled darkness, but darkness devoured light. Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger had never been on the same level as Xu Yucheng¡¯s Demon Scythe, not to mention the gap in their soul power ranks. The outcome of their clash was predetermined. After a series of ear-piercing booms, Light Dragon Storm was dispelled and the scythe found its way right above Xie Xie¡¯s head, slicing down to reap the life of its next victim.


    Wu Zhangkong glanced at the referee, the Holy Spirit Douluo, but she continued to watch calmly without raising a single finger.


    Xu Yucheng even hesitated for a split-second as he slashed down. When everything was said and done, he and Xie Xie were still classmates. Although this was live combat, he didn¡¯t expect anyone to die. But the call never came from the teachers and neither did Xie Xie surrender. His scythe tore through Xie Xie, leaving behind nothing but wisps of smoke. No blood was spilled.


    Xu Yucheng¡¯s eyebrows jumped up in surprise, then he snorted. So he still had another card up his sleeve. His scythe slashed through nothing but air, which hissed in the blade¡¯s wake. Although he hadn¡¯t defeated Xie Xie with that strike, he was still confident in his victory. Gu Yue was right in front of him now, so Xie Xie had to come out if he charged her!


    A brittle clanging filled the air as Xie Xie became visible again in mid-air as he intercepted Xu Yucheng. He crossed his two daggers together and accepted the attack with a grunt. To Xu Yucheng¡¯s surprise, Xie Xie wasn¡¯t sent flying backward. Instead, his eyes flashed crimson and his body exploded with power. He used Twin Dragon Storm to stop Xu Yucheng¡¯s advance!


    Fury filled Xu Yucheng. He thumped the handle of his scythe into the ground as his soul rings lit up and a dark-violet beam flew out!


    The moment the beam appeared, Xie Xie felt as if he was being pulled toward it. It struck him in mid-air, knocking him out of Twin Dragon Storm. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as he slid to the side from the impact of the attack. Without taking a single second to recover, he used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to close the distance between them, thrusting his daggers right at Xu Yucheng¡¯s neck.


    You¡¯re just an arrow at the end of its flight! Xu Yucheng sneered as he slashed his scythe down at Xie Xie.


    Xu Yucheng¡¯s judgement was accurate. Xie Xie had been injured after one of his clones had been defeated, then he was further weakened when he was forced to take on that attack. After suffering so much damage, he was running on fumes. Fortunately for Xie Xie, Xu Yucheng didn¡¯t care about defeating him. He only cared about breaking through and regrouping with Wu Siduo. Since the very beginning of the exchange, not once had Xu Yucheng considered Xie Xie a threat.


    In the eyes of their classmates, the fact that Xie Xie could obstruct Xu Yucheng for so long was reason enough to be proud. However, none held any hope for him.


    Just as he was falling back, Xie Xie suddenly exploded with speed as if he had never been injured, and pushed himself into the trajectory of the scythe. The scythe sliced into his left shoulder, nearly cutting his arm off, and pierced through the other side. Blood sprayed onto Xu Yucheng, leaving him stunned. But in the moment his mind went blank, a golden dagger stabbed into his shoulder. Light exploded from the dagger as Xie Xie used Light Dragon Blade.


    All Xu Yucheng managed to do was divert all of the soul power in him to defend against the dagger. But it was already stabbed into him! When their soul power collided, the two of them were sent flying backward!

 Chapter 387 - All Out

    Chapter 387 - All Out


    Rays of gold seeped into Xu Yucheng at an alarming rate, mixing with the darkness of his frail body and sending his muscles into a spasm. He collapsed onto the ground.


    A moment later, Xie Xie sank to the floor as well. A beam of light enveloped his body and transported him out of the arena. His complexion could rival snow and pain seared every inch of his body, but a proud smile tugged at the corner of his lips.


    If it were a one-on-one battle with more space to move around, it would have taken much longer to decide the battle. However, this was a team event! As such, he had succeeded in taking out Xu Yucheng!


    ?


    A thundering explosion. Xie Xie flew backwards in the air and collided with the arena¡¯s barrier. He groaned, blood seeping out of his nose and mouth.


    ¡°You¡¯re too weak,¡± said Yuanen Yehui, cold enough to freeze.


    Xie Xie gritted his teeth as he struggled to stand. Without a word, he charged at her.


    This scene had played out countless times. His body had long since been littered with bruises and lacerations. But not once did he relent. No matter how tattered he was, he would push himself back on his feet and launch his body at Yuanen Yehui. He neither complained about the pain nor did he hesitate in the face of more. Futile as it was, Xie Xie refused to back down.


    Indeed, he didn¡¯t stop. Not until his body was completely drained of strength. Not until he collapsed and his shaking limbs were numb and lame.  However, at this point he couldn¡¯t even curl his pinky finger anymore.


    As Yuanen Yehui approached him, the way she looked at him changed. ¡°Why are doing this?¡±


    ¡°I want to help my friends win the tournament. I have to go all out,¡± croaked Xie Xie. ¡°The only way I can grow strong enough is by learning from you.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re prepared to give it your all, then¡­¡±


    ?


    In the span of a moment, a wheel of ice materialized and zipped toward Xu Yucheng without making a sound. The timing was impeccable, as expected from Xu Xiaoyan.


    Silver light flashed around Xu Yucheng as Luo Guixing finally used Spatial Retreat. Although Yang Nianxia was only ten meters away from Xu Yucheng, that was ten meters too far! He would never have made it in time to save their weakened teammate, and Luo Guixing couldn¡¯t afford to sit idly as he was eliminated.


    The second Xu Yucheng disappeared to safety, a furious hiss filled the air. Tang Wulin¡¯s punch sent Wu Siduo flying. Then golden vines shot out of the ground to impale her.


    Although Wu Siduo was an agility-type, it was impossible for her to evade this attack! Her only option had been to defend herself with an attack of her own. But to her surprise, the golden bluesilver grass was extraordinarily tough and left no openings. If she wasn¡¯t careful, then she would be restrained. Faced with these obstacles, Wu Siduo had no choice but to use her third soul skill, Hell Slash, and breakthrough by force!


    Before she could activate it, however, a golden strand of grass had struck her from behind. On the other hand, the grass that had attempted to shackle her movement retreated, evading her Hell Slash. She thrust out her palms and switched her martial soul. White Tiger Diamond Transformation! Letting out a beastly roar, Wu Siduo flipped around to swipe at her pursuers, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue hurled her signature ice spear composed of ice, fire, and wind. Upon release, the fire component exploded and accelerated the icicle to breakneck speeds. Following that, the wind component kicked in and sped it up even further!


    Wu Siduo slapped the approaching projectile, smashing it to smithereens. But she didn¡¯t come out unscathed. She flinched from the impact, her movements growing sluggish as a chill invaded her body.


    In that split-second opening, Tang Wulin worked in unison with his bluesilver grass to attack from both the front and the rear! His golden soul ring lit up as he activated Golden Dragon Body and a radiant aura burst from his body. It looked as if his entire being were lit ablaze. He clenched his claw into a fist and punched at Wu Siduo while making a pulling motion with his left hand! He was also using the Tang Sect secret art, Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon! Then he turned his attention to Yang Nianxia, who was madly charging his way. His eyes flashed purple and Yang Nianxia stumbled, nearly tripping!


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Driven into a corner, Wu Siduo decided to show off her power. She didn¡¯t care about the grass¡¯s rear assault. She circulated soul power into her palm and held it out, ready to receive Tang Wulin¡¯s second punch.


    A boom tore through the air. Tang Wulin stood firm and immovable, but Wu Siduo retreated three steps backward.


    Although her soul power exceeded Tang Wulin¡¯s, she had just taken Gu Yue¡¯s attack and the amplification effects of Golden Dragon Body completely overshadowed those of White Tiger Diamond Transformation!


    While she recovered from the clash, the bluesilver grass zipped toward her like lightning, binding her body in a vice-like grip.


    Wu Siduo sent all her strength into her arms, struggling to escape. ¡°Break!¡±


    In her mind, there was no way some measly bluesilver grass could restrain her while White Tiger Diamond Transformation was in effect, even if this was Tang Wulin¡¯s third soul skill. However, the more she struggled, the more brilliantly the grass shined golden. The grass showed no sign of tearing.


    This is bad! It¡¯s his spirit soul!  Wu Siduo finally realized what was going on, but it was too late. Tang Wulin arrived before her, his golden dragon claw swinging toward her head. In the face of his claw, even iron would flatten, not to mention bone.


    Because Luo Guixing had recently used Spatial Retreat, it was impossible to teleport Wu Siduo out of danger. Recently recovering from the effects of Purple Demon Eyes, Yang Nianxia resumed his charge at Tang Wulin. However, there were still three meters separating them It was impossible for him to make it in time to save Wu Siduo.


    You can only rely on yourself! Tang Wulin recalled the words of his father from long ago during his attack.


    Fire roared in Wu Siduo¡¯s eyes as light exploded from her body, repelling Tang Wulin and destroying her golden shackles. She caught up to Tang Wulin in an instant and finally unleashed her soul fusion skill, Hell White Tiger!


    It wasn¡¯t her first time using the skill, yet the overwhelming might she exuded elicited many cries of alarm from spectating students.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger was a skill that lifted her strength far above those of her peers. It was this skill that crystallized her position as the ranker team¡¯s supporting pillar. As long as they had the Hell White Tiger, they were invincible.


    During these events, The Holy Spirit Douluo watched with rapt attention. Xie Xie now lay before her, wrapped in a cocoon of light that obscured his figure. After witnessing Wu Siduo¡¯s activation of Hell White Tiger, she gave a subtle nod of approval. Hell White Tiger allowed Wu Siduo to display strength that exceeded a five-ringed Soul King¡¯s! It was extremely rare for a thirteen-year-old to possess such power.


    But the Holy Spirit Douluo also noticed Gu Yue¡¯s retreating figure even as Tang Wulin¡¯s fist was in the process of thrusting forward. She withdrew all the way back to Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s side, and the two girls joined hands. Icy light swirled around and swallowed their bodies whole.


    What are those two girls doing¡­?


    Little did she know, these actions had been sketched in advance. In a team planning session, Tang Wulin had proclaimed that he would handle Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger. If he put every ounce of energy into the confrontation, he might be able to suppress her until her transformation ended. Tang Wulin had then instructed the rest of his team to deal with the remaining rankers.


    Meanwhile, Wu Siduo chased after Tang Wulin, but in doing so, she blocked Yang Nianxia¡¯s charge.


    Tang Wulin retreated, reaching into his back pocket to retrieve two buns. Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan also took out a bun each.


    Without hesitation, Tang Wulin popped them into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Strength surged through his body. A layer of red mixed in with his golden scales and his eyes glowed a crimson-gold. Now he truly looked on fire. He straightened his shoulders and stood tall, giving off a more mature aura.. His bones popped, eerie and unsettling, as the scales on his arm grew larger. His top ripped apart and revealed the well-toned body underneath covered in glowing golden lines. Golden scales peppered his entire right arm, extending halfway across his chest.


    He moved his arms in circles and a dragon¡¯s roar arose from deep within his body. His impressive aura became three times as majestic as before! Even in her Hell White Tiger form, Wu Siduo instinctually felt an inkling of fear when facing him. Yang Nianxia was awed, his stare never leaving Tang Wulin.


    What is he doing? How did his aura become so mighty? Yang Nianxia no longer dared to attack him.. Instinct told him to absolutely avoid Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw!

 Chapter 388 - Battle Armor of Resplendent Light!

    Chapter 388 - Battle Armor of Resplendent Light!


    Upon closer inspection of Tang Wulin¡¯s golden claw, Yang Nianxia¡¯s pupils dilated, his jaw dropping in one undignified motion. A starry light manifested on the back of the claw and spread to his forearm. Once the light dimmed, it seemed apparent a transformation had occurred. An additional layer of golden scales peppered his forearm, three sharp blades protruding from the side.


    The scale armor was imposing and valiant.


    I-is that...


    ¡°Battle armor!¡± Countless people cried out in alarm off-stage.


    It wasn¡¯t just any ordinary one-word battle armor either! It had arose from his body! That was possible with spirit refined two-word battle armor!


    Wu Siduo froze in place as she raised her claw up to block his punch, a single thought permeating the fabric of her mind. He did it! He really did it!


    It wasn¡¯t just spirit refined two-word battle armor that could appear from one¡¯s body. One-word armor made of spirit alloys also had that feature!


    How is this possible? How did he actually succeed? He would need at least a fifth-rank maker to craft it! This was why she had broken off from his group back then. She had thought he had bitten off more than he could chew. Yet before her very eyes was proof of the contrary!


    ?


    Ye Xinglan stared at the piece of metal before her. Specks of silver twinkled on its surface as if it contained the cosmos and the power of the stars.


    He really did it. He forged a piece of ninety-one percent harmony star silver. Under all that pressure, he advanced step by step and succeeded! That guy...


    ¡°Lizhi, prepare to aid me at any moment,¡± she said, turning to her teammate.


    Xu Lizhi hesitated before saying, ¡°Big Sis Xinglan, isn¡¯t this too hard for you? You might be able to craft a one-word battle armor as a fifth-rank maker, but this isn''t just thousand refined metal! This is a spirit alloy! It¡¯s way harder to work with!¡±


    Ye Xinglan shot him a sharp look. ¡°He can forge a divine foundation alloy, so why can¡¯t I craft a piece of one-word battle armor from spirit alloy? Enough nonsense. Get ready.¡±


    She flicked her gaze back to the star silver, determination blazing within her eyes. She was stubborn and proud. Having been part of the inner court, she possessed an uncompromising will. The only reason she had been quick to snatch it up was because it was a divine foundation metal. The moment she acted, she resolved herself to help Tang Wulin complete his battle armor. In her mind, that was the only way she could repay him for such a treasure.


    In a flash of light, bright enough to dazzle, her Stargod Sword materialized in her hand. It shined more brilliantly than it had three years ago, three purple soul rings revolving around it. Following a flick of her hand, the sword sliced through the air with a hiss, its tip glowing brilliantly enough to rival the sun. Not wasting a second, she jumped straight into action.


    Before long, she had sliced the metal into the basic shapes of the hand and forearm pieces, the metal¡¯s starry resplendence reflecting off of her blade. When Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue laid their eyes on it, they were struck with awe.


    Ye Xinglan shut her eyes, clearing out distracting thoughts and leaving only the design blueprint she had so carefully studied within her mind. Precision was key in the crafting of the armor, and where it mattered the most was for the circuit core. There was no room for error. The slightest mistake would throw off the compatibility between the alloy and the circuit core. Her technique, soul power, spiritual power, and perception were required to come together in order to generate success. Therefore, the profession with the most requirements was undoubtedly the mecha maker.


    Tang Wulin could sense the change in her. She had fused her being with her surroundings and became one with the world. She drew every last drop of her soul power to support her body. The fact that she could do this was a testament to her strength. Although she had yet to possess four soul rings, Tang Wulin was certain it was only a matter of time.


    Ye Xinglan suddenly stepped forward, her eyes bursting open and reflecting the splendor of both her Stargod Sword and the star silver. She thrust out her sword as fast as lightning, the sharp edge driving into the metal in one clear stab. Long threads of silver light swarmed around her sword, forming what appeared to be a giant hand holding the star silver aloft.


    Ye Xinglan nimbly danced around and sprinkled more threads of starlight onto the star silver. Detailed markings gradually appeared on the surface of the metal, which grew increasingly brilliant with each emergence. These markings, however, were shallow. The star silver was like a proud young maiden who refused to yield to her man. While spirit alloys were several times stronger than ordinary metals,since they were forged from multiple metals to give rise to superior properties, the maker needed to possess a thorough understanding of the alloy to craft with it. Not only that, they needed sufficient soul power and spiritual power to carve out the circuit core. This was what made crafting battle armor so difficult.


    Tang Wulin knitted his brows as he watched the scene play out before him. Star silver was much harder to forge than he had expected, especially so for this ninety-one percent harmony rate piece. Similarly, Ye Xinglan¡¯s Stargod Sword was struggling to cut through it, which would prolong the armor crafting process and lower the chance of success. Can she last long enough? Crafting battle armor was a taxing process!


    Only after overcoming many hurdles had Tang Wulin been able to breathe life and spirit into the star silver. But in order to craft battle armor with it, Ye Xinglan had to improve its vitality by arousing those two components. If Tang Wulin was this piece of star silver¡¯s father, then Ye Xinglan was its adoptive mother! She was the one who would raise it to maturity, turning it from a clumsy eaglet to a majestic eagle that soared high in the sky! It was impossible to say who had the harder job. Both were indispensable. In the process of granting life to the metal, a single error was the dividing line between trash and treasure!


    Hundreds of thousands of starlight threads overlapped and reinforced one another, finally leaving a mark deep enough for the circuit core. Each mark had to take into account the character of star silver to transform its internal structure, an extremely complex task. Ye Xinglan steadily and gently sliced up the metal with the threads of overlapping starlight.


    Her fundamentals were strong. Tang Wulin sighed in admiration at her soul power control. It was rare for someone as young as her to possess such skill. He understood now why she didn¡¯t use a normal knife to carve out the circuit core. By utilizing her Stargod Sword instead, she could also practice her sword technique! If she¡¯s always been training like this, then it¡¯s no wonder she¡¯s so strong! As expected from someone from the inner court!


    Time crawled forward An hour passed, then two, then three. Finally at the fifth hour, the markings of the star silver had grown from shallow to deep, a simple design to a complex one. Every single carved line was now connected, intertwining and resonating with one another.


    The star silver shined brighter than ever, specks of dazzling starlight dancing over its body in an aura-like manner. The breath of life was strong within it. As its creator, Tang Wulin could sense its emotions, could see the eagle enjoying the miracle of flight for the first time.

 Chapter 389 - Starlight Threads Draw the Finished Battle Armor

    Chapter 389 - Starlight Threads Draw the Finished Battle Armor


    After observing each of Ye Xinglan¡¯s steps, every slice and stab of her Stargod Sword, Tang Wulin understood the importance of being involved in the crafting process. Without doing so, one would never grasp the essence of their battle armor! Only through true comprehension could one fuse with it and bring out its full potential!


    This is battle armor,  my very own battle armor! Ye Xinglan, do your best!


    Seven hours in, Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword finally slowed. The circuit core carving was halfway completed. However, she didn¡¯t have enough soul power to finish it off! Not skipping a beat, she reached out a hand to Xu Lizhi. throwing the pork bun he subsequently gave her into her mouth. Meanwhile, her sword never paused,,its magnificence never waning as it steadily released threads of starlight.


    The Recovery Pork Bun replenished both her soul power and physical strength, a major boon to her. Three minutes later, she stuffed another pork bun into her mouth. For the next hour, she would eat a pork bun every three minutes or so. This was the only way she could maintain her strength to finish the carving. Yet her soul power was consumed faster than it was replenished.


    To Tang Wulin¡¯s alarm, he could see her belly swelling like a balloon. Unfortunately, not everyone¡¯s stomach was as great at digesting as his. By now, she had eaten twenty buns, which was a far greater amount than her normal meal. The way things were progressing, it was a only a matter of time before she reached her limit. Although food created by a soul master replenished one¡¯s energy, it was still food in the end! Eating too much would be harmful!


    Ye Xinglan was in a sticky situation. Her digestion couldn¡¯t keep up with how much she gobbled up, and the buns weren¡¯t providing enough soul power to cover her expenditure. She would fail at crafting the battle armor at this rate.


    Tang Wulin had thought such a situation might occur, so he had pulled Ye Xinglan aside beforehand with questions. But she spoke confidently for her success, not leaving any room to argue. All he could do now was believe in her.


    Ye Xinglan extended her left hand once more, but this time, her fingers twitched, her limb frozen in a halfway reach before she retracted it. She couldn¡¯t eat another bite. She had hit her limit with twenty buns. Anymore, and she feared it would disrupt her control over her Stargod Sword.


    Without a supplementary source of soul power, her reserves dried up. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, her brows scrunched in concentration as she forced herself to maintain her crafting tempo. She carved line after line into the metal without pause.


    ¡°Bean bun!¡± Ye Xinglan shouted.


    Xu Lizhi hesitated, but used his third soul skill in the end, calling forth a Bloodthirst Bean Bun. Ye Xinglan took a deep breath before throwing it into her mouth.


    Bloodthirst Bean Bun was Xu Lizhi¡¯s most potent soul skill. Ye Xinglan¡¯s aura transformed after she ate it and her weak soul power fluctuations exploded with power, her physical strength rapidly climbing to the point where it surpassed her limits!


    Certainly, one¡¯s soul power doubled after consuming the Bloodthirst Bean Bun, but that effect was secondary to the boost in physical strength and blood essence.


    Following that, Ye Xinglan¡¯s bloated belly rapidly shrunk, the boost to her blood essence increasing her digestive ability. With the pork buns digested and absorbed, another burst of strength flooded her body.


    Her Stargod Sword shined more brilliantly than ever, the threads of starlight released from each slash thicker than the ones before it. Every stroke of her sword was bold and decisive, and the speed in which the piece of battle armor took shape accelerated.


    However, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t relax. In fact, he was more nervous than ever. The effect of the bean buns weren¡¯t long-lasting and once it wore off, her strength would tank. At that point, failure was inevitable. Can she finish it in the next three minutes? This was the limit he calculated for her. That said, she was already working as fast as possible.


    Before long, two minutes passed. Although she made much progress in that period, at this rate , she wouldn¡¯t finish!


    For that reason, Ye Xinglan pushed herself past her limits. She slashed her Stargod Sword furiously, letting out countless threads of light that wove together in a net. Before, it took a hundred thousand overlapping threads to cut into the star silver. Now it only took a hundred! Her efforts paid off, the gauntlet¡¯s form crisp and clear. Starlight swallowed it whole, its surface twinkling resplendently. But such progress came with a price. With each stroke of her sword followed another wave of trembles coursing through her body. The Bloodthirst Bean Bun¡¯s effect was beginning to pass.


    Not yet! Just a bit more! Tang Wulin subconsciously took a step forward, his fists clenched.


    You have to succeed!


    He took in Ye Xinglan¡¯s face. Despite her weakening appearance, forehead drenched in sweat, her focus was as sharp as a blade, her will unshakeable.


    Tang Wulin paused in his steps as he was walking toward her. The determination in her eyes filled him with confidence. At a time like this, belief was important!


    ¡°Another!¡± Ye Xinglan shouted.


    ¡°Big Sis Xinglan.¡± Xu Lizhi¡¯s voice was soft like the wind, a shiver zipping down his spine.


    ¡°No back talking! Just give it!¡±


    With gritted teeth, Xu Lizhi summoned another Bloodthirst Bean Bun and handed it over to her.


    She¡¯s going to eat two? Can she handle it?


    Tang Wulin was shocked. Whether it was him, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, or Xu Xiaoyan, they all approved of her now. For the sake of her comrades, she was willing to risk eating a second Bloodthirst Bean Bun! They were delighted to have someone like her in their team.


    The gaze Gu Yue directed at Ye Xinglan softened, the resentment she held for the other girl fading into the air. Xu Xiaoyan stared in admiration, and a whirlpool of emotions filled Xie Xie.


    After Ye Xinglan ate the second bean bun, her strength had shot up to its peak, then surpassed it! Each thread of starlight was thicker than before. They cut into the metal swiftly, countless lines appearing on the star silver with each passing second. Several holes opened up in the metal, a golden glow surrounding gauntlet.


    Is she going to succeed?


    No one could be sure and watched with bated breath. The final juncture approached.


    Ye Xinglan bit her lower lip, her eyes shining like the most brilliant of stars. From beginning to end, her focus had never deviated from her task, her sword never wavering as she focused on her conviction!


    The countless threads of starlight had sliced up the metal, shaping it into a radiant gauntlet.


    ¡°Tang Wulin!¡± Ye Xinglan shouted.


    In the blink of an eye, he was by her side.


    Without any hesitation, he slashed open the palm of his right hand and dripped blood onto the gauntlet. The metal drank it up, its golden color taking on a tinge of crimson. Rays of light burst from the surface, illuminating the entire workshop like a miniature sun.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward and made a pulling gesture with his right hand. Threads of starlight shot out and wrapped around it. The threads sliced into his skin, leaving behind a complex design. Before blood could even seep out of the cuts, his hand was enveloped in the starlight. Daggers of pain seared the nerves in that limb. Then, he felt a familiar aura. It grew timid as it sensed his bloodline, the pain transforming into heaviness.

 Chapter 390 - Blood Essence Reversal, Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!

    Chapter 390 - Blood Essence Reversal, Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Ye Xinglan slashed the star silver nine more times. Streams of light burst from the metal in an instant and it soared into the air.


    A dragon roared from within Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand, his blood essence trembling with excitement. A pattern of golden lines surfaced on his skin. As he subconsciously raised his right hand, a golden light enveloped it and traveled up his forearm.


    She succeeded?


    Everyone was entranced by this scene. Ye Xinglan fell on her butt, her complexion pale, but her eyes never left the miracle around Tang Wulin¡¯s hand.


    The golden light around his hand condensed, vaguely taking on the form of a dragon¡¯s head. It curled around his forearm and roared, shining brighter than before.


    They had succeeded. They successfully created the first piece of Tang Wulin¡¯s battle armor.


    ?


    Battle armor!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s right gauntlet drew everyone¡¯s eyes like moths to a flame. The three protruding blades added an aggressive touch, emphasizing the sharpness and danger of his enlarged claws. Its power was obvious with just a glance.


    Normally, in order to possess a body capable of equipping a full set of one-word battle armor, one must have at least five soul rings. Tang Wulin currently had three. Logic dictated that he shouldn¡¯t be able to equip even a single piece of armor!  However, his gauntlet was made of spirit alloy. As such, the requirements to use it were lower. Besides that, his right hand was the strongest part of his body, and with the power of the Golden Dragon King flowing through his veins, his body was sturdier than an ordinary person¡¯s. These factors all came together to produce the strength necessary to equip the gauntlet.


    At the start, the entire first grade had been convinced of Tang Wulin¡¯s team¡¯s inevitable defeat. After this amazing display, with the spectacle before them emblazoned vividly into their minds, doubt crept into their hearts.


    It¡¯s actually battle armor! The thing we¡¯re all aiming for! I can¡¯t believe the class president would keep quiet about this! Oh right! He¡¯s an amazing blacksmith. Maybe he really is suited for being class president?


    Recovering from her shock, Wu Siduo threw her massive body at Tang Wulin, swiping a claw at him with lightning speed.


    So what if you have battle armor? I have a soul fusion skill! It¡¯s just one piece anyway. Even if it¡¯s made of spirit alloys, there¡¯s still a limit!


    Tang Wulin formed a fist with his claw and punched forward. The ground cracked beneath his feet, the surrounding air whipping into a frenzy as his fist shot out. Although there was soul power imbued in this punch, its true power came from his absolute strength!


    A shockwave erupted at the moment of collision.


    At the same time, the spectating students hung from the edge of their seats. What they were viewing might be the deciding clash!


    The Hell White Tiger¡¯s claw swipe sent Tang Wulin crashing into the arena¡¯s barrier.


    ¡°Oh!¡± the spectators exclaimed in unison. So the Hell White Tiger is stronger in the end! Even with battle armor, he can¡¯t win?


    However, the students with good eyes were able to pick up one important detail. Although Tang Wulin was sent flying backward, the Hell White Tiger¡¯s paw flickered transparent upon impact. Is the Hell White Tiger really the one who won that clash?


    Tang Wulin answered their questions in the next moment. He took advantage of the barrier¡¯s elasticity as he slammed into it and bounced right back, the draconic roar from his body growing louder and piercing through the air!


    Blood essence reversal!


    His body shined a radiant gold as his blood essence thrashed and thundered, giving him the appearance of golden ball of flames.


    That¡¯s¡­


    Wu Siduo felt as if she were facing a blazing sun. A split second later, Tang Wulin arrived in front of her.


    The Hell White Tiger raised its head, its form no longer flickering. Finally feeling threatened, she gathered all her strength into one swipe of the claw!


    An impassioned roar pieced the hearts and ears of everyone present, the rage and depth of it forcing them to squeeze their eyes shut for a second. When they opened them again, they saw an enormous illusory dragon stretched wide across the entire stage, roaring at the heavens. Its existence shook the world!


    Tang Wulin had used his battle armor as a distraction to eat two Bloodthirst Bean Buns and complete the technique taught to him by his grandteacher, Dragon Shocks the Heavens! When Zhuo Shi used it, it was Scarlet Dragon Shocks the Heavens. But for Tang Wulin, it was Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    The golden dragon released another thundering roar, its regal might weighing down on everyone present!


    The Hell White Tiger no longer seemed so massive in its presence. The two clashed in an explosion of light. Everyone squinted their eyes but to no avail, the sharp glare too blinding to see what was happening.


    A boom tore through the air and a figure rolled out. It was Dark Bear Yang Nianxia!


    Zheng Yiran burst out next. Her poison fog had been dispersed by the chaotic energy, so she regrouped at the edge of the arena with Luo Guixing. Her face was twisted into a scowl.


    Never had it crossed her mind Tang Wulin was hiding such a powerful move! Just having battle armor alone wasn¡¯t enough to achieve such might.


    Just who¡¯s going to win? This one question echoed through the minds of everyone watching.


    The light gradually died down, the forms of Wu Siduo and Tang Wulin growing crisper and more defined by the second. Wu Siduo staggered back a few steps before falling to her knees. Tang Wulin was in no better state, and he fell to his but with his face pale as ash.


    The two locked gazes. Tang Wulin¡¯s face was grim, but his eyes blazed with fighting spirit . On the other hand, Wu Siduo had no life to her stare, still in denial about what had just happened. In a one-on-one battle where she had used Hell White Tiger, she tasted defeat! Her belief that she was the strongest among her peers was overturned today!


    Another person had been swept up by the explosion and was transported to the Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s side. Xu Yucheng. If the Holy Spirit Douluo hadn¡¯t saved him, he would have suffered grave injuries. However, this meant that he was the second person to be eliminated from the battle.


    The blizzard that Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan had been casting to target the rankers was dispersed by the explosion. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t expected such an outcome.


    Gu Yue stood in front of Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi, crumbling ice and earth walls in front of her. It had taken all her strength to defend them from the chaotic energies.


    Two beams of light shot out from the Holy Spirit Douluo, then Tang Wulin and Wu Siduo appeared at her side.


    They were both eliminated! It was three versus three now!


    Yang Nianxia crawled up from the floor, his complexion pale, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth. He had received explosion¡¯s blast directly. Even if he had a sturdy body, he had still taken the most collateral damage. Yet despite his tattered state, he still possessed some fighting power.


    Zheng Yiran wore an ugly expression. Without Yang Ninaxia acting as the vanguard, she knew she was in a precarious position due to her poison specialty and lack of any real defensive ability. Like Yang Nianxia, a stream of blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth.


    Of the ranker team, only Luo Guixing was in perfect condition.

 Chapter 391 - Three Versus Three

    Chapter 391 - Three Versus Three


    Three against three, huh? Luo Guixing narrowed his eyes. Tang Wulin, you may have taken down Wu Siduo, but victory is still ours!


    To Luo Guixing, he only needed to be wary of Gu Yue. However, while she may be strong, he didn¡¯t believe she could defeat all three of  them alone. Xu Xiaoyan wasn¡¯t worthy of his attention, and Xu Lizhi was just a food-type soul master. Even with Xu Lizhi¡¯s support, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to turn the tide of battle.


    Luo Guixing held absolute confidence of his team¡¯s victory. In his mind, Tang Wulin¡¯s defeat had decided the battle. Tang Wulin was simply too important to his team.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t powerful compared to Wu Siduo, but he evened out the playing field with battle armor! He was the first person in all of the first grade to own a piece of battle armor!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s blacksmithing talent had earned him the position of blacksmith representative. Everyone in their class wanted to work with him. Now that he revealed his battle armor and proved his skills, his popularity would undoubtedly skyrocket! Everyone aspired to become a battle armor master, and he took the lead! He had used his strength to prove he deserved to be the class president!


    If Luo Guixing wanted to snatch away the position, he had to win this battle and defeat the second grade¡¯s team! His team still had a chance!


    It wasn¡¯t only because of his intellect that Luo Guixing ranked higher than Xu Yucheng. It was also his willpower!


    Absolute silenced reigned over the spectators. The two strongest members of the ranker team were eliminated, and the victor was yet to be decided. No one had predicted Tang Wulin and Xie Xie would be able to take out Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng.


    Shen Yi glanced at Wu Zhangkong to her side, her heart filled with shock. Senior brother really does understand his disciples best!


    They both understood what sort of strength Ye Xinglan possessed. If Ye Xinglan had participated in the battle, then the combination of her, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan meant certain victory! Without her, the battle still held some suspense.


    No one was absolutely certain in the ranker team¡¯s victory anymore. If Xie Xie could defeat Xu Yucheng, then it was also possible for the remaining three to surprise them.


    Dark Bear Yang Nianxia roared at the sky, then charged at Gu Yue.


    Neither Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, nor Xu Lizhi were skilled at close quarters combat. In Yang Nianxia¡¯s mind, victory was assured.


    Luo Guixing and Zheng Yiran stood right behind Yang Nianxia, determination blazing in the depths of their hearts. They hadn¡¯t expected to be battered into such a sorry state. Now, only victory could wash away the disgrace.


    Luo Guixing locked eyes on Gu Yue. It was a contest of control now. If he could restrain her, then his opponents would have no way of putting up a fight.


    Gu Yue met his gaze with cold arrogance in her eyes. Holding Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s left hand in her right, their soul rings beginning to shine.


    It was then that Luo Guixing¡¯s team finally realized Xu Xiaoyan had gained a third soul ring.


    The first to act was Xu Xiaoyan. Her third soul ring lit up completely. Immediately, a blizzard took over and plummeted the stage into sub zero temperatures.


    Then Gu Yue¡¯s first soul ring began to glow as she activated Elemental Tide! She didn¡¯t have a soul fusion skill with Xu Xiaoyan, but she could control the water element in the air to gather around them, increasing the strength of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Ice Bear Blizzard by 30 percent!


    The blizzard immediately obscured everyone¡¯s vision.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s expression darkened, his gaze sharpening. This isn¡¯t good!


    The frigid winds suppressed the potency of Zheng Yiran¡¯s poison and without her poison, her combat strength dropped significantly. Moreover, with the poor visibility and both sides having an equal number of three-ringed soul masters, it would devolve into a battle of attrition!


    Luo Guixing raised his hand and used Spatial Lock on Gu Yue. It was a battle over the control of space. Silver light flashed around her, as if it had succeeded. But a split-second later, it disappeared! Luo Guixing failed to seal her!


    The biting winds of the blizzard soon bore down on them with full force, swallowing them between its icy maws. The blizzard was composed of both the ice and water elements! There was no one better than Gu Yue for bringing out the full power of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s soul skill!


    Earlier on that had tried to use this skill but but were interrupted by the explosion of energy from Tang Wulin and Wu Siduo¡¯s clash. Now, they were able to unleash it and show of its might!


    Yang Nianxia bore the brunt of the blizzard. A layer of ice instantly formed on his body, but his body was too strong to fall from just that. He pushed forward with large strides! I just have to get close to them and we¡¯ll win!


    Luo Guixing switched tactics. He quickly conjured a multitude of silver lights in front of Yang Nianxia instead, deflecting some of the blizzard¡¯s strength.


    Zheng Yiran rushed in behind Yang Nianxia. By using him as a shield, she could just endure the frigid winds. Her entire body was dark green, her pupils two vertical slits. She was unable to spread her poison fog in this blizzard, but she also had some confidence in her abilities as long as she could get closer.


    Gu Yue raised her left hand, unleashing a barrage of wind blades! They were only a foot long, but in this raging blizzard, they rapidly gained momentum. Wind blade after wind blade merged into the blizzard and with every new wind blade, the blizzard strengthened in ferocity and power. From the perspective of the spectators, it was nigh impossible for the rankers to penetrate the blizzard and reach their opponents.


    We can¡¯t let her go unchecked!


    The three rankers all understood how terrifying Gu Yue¡¯s storms were given sufficient time.


    Yang Nianxia raised his burly arms to protect his head, then ducked down and charged forward! He didn¡¯t care what sort of injuries he would suffer. He was prepared to accept it all if it meant victory!


    A small snake shot from Zheng Yiran in a flash of light, quickly growing until it was a five-meter-long python! It slithered after Yang Nianxia, keeping pace right behind him.


    At that moment, a dozen one-meter-long wind blades appeared out of nowhere, swerving around Yang Nianxia and straight for Zheng Yiran!. Luo Guixing¡¯s face darkened as he hastily used Spatial Retreat! A flash of silver later, Zheng Yiran appeared back by his side. The snake, her spirit soul, wasn¡¯t as fortunate.


    A mournful wail pierced the air. Zheng Yiran shuddered, then fell on her butt.


    The python turned into a mass of green light that re-entered her body. It would take a while before it could resurrect. Zheng Yiran suffered serious damage from her spirit soul dying.


    Meanwhile, Yang Nianxia took this opportunity to close the gap between him and his targets. Only ten meters remained between him and Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan. Yet, as he rushed toward them, a golden ring appeared on the ground. It didn¡¯t target Yang Nianxia, but the distant Luo Guixing!


    With Luo Guixing and Zheng Yiran together, it was the perfect time for this golden ring to make a move! Luo Guixing had just used Spatial Retreat, and there was a brief moment where he couldn¡¯t use any soul skills!


    Golden chains shot out of the ground and bound the two of them. Then a flurry of wind blades appeared, flying straight for them!


    What the hell is this?


    How is this possible?


    The smile on Luo Guixing¡¯s face froze. To his shock, he realised that he couldn¡¯t use his soul power. He was like an ordinary person now! No matter how hard he fought against the chains, he couldn¡¯t move a single bit of soul power to his will. The wind blades arrived.


    As a controller of space, he didn¡¯t have much defensive power, and Zheng Yiran had just suffered a grievous injury! There was nothing they could do to defend themselves!

 Chapter 392 - Xu Lizhi of the Tang Sect

    Chapter 392 - Xu Lizhi of the Tang Sect


    The instant death of the python was proof of the wind blades¡¯ lethality. Only death awaited Luo Guixing and Zheng Yiran if they were hit by it while unable to use their soul power.


    A beam of light descended and enveloped the two of them. The light swallowed up the wind blades without letting any harm come to the two students.


    Then in the next moment, the light brought Luo Guixing and Zheng Yiran to the Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s side. They were eliminated!


    While this was happening, Yang Nianxia finally reached Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan stepped forward and shot an ice spear at him.


    Yang Nianxia swatted it with his bear paw, smashing it into pieces!


    ¡°Gu Yue, run!¡± Xu Xiaoyan shouted as she threw open her arms and rushed forward to stop Yang Nianxia. She knew that as long she could hold back Yang Nianxia and buy some time, Gu Yue would be able to defeat him.


    Contrary to Luo Guixing¡¯s gloom, Yang Nianxia was filled with satisfaction now. In the end, it all comes down to my strength! He was almost upon them. There was no way he would let the two girls escape now.


    He grabbed for Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s shoulder with his left hand, careful not to seriously harm her, as he stomped with his right foot. The trembling ground was sure to disrupt Gu Yue¡¯s concentration.


    All four of my teammates have been eliminated, and in the end, it¡¯s all up to me save the day!


    His hand landed on Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s shoulder and he moved to throw her over his shoulder. But at that moment, he was kicked behind his right knee! His leg lost power and his stomp went wide, kicking into nothing but air. The sudden change in his center caused him to stumbled, and he nearly fell down. Then, to his astonishment, Xu Xiaoyan disappeared from his grasp. In her place was the chubby Xu Lizhi!


    ¡°Hehe. Don¡¯t forget about me.¡±


    It¡¯s him?


    The the spectators¡¯ jaws dropped.


    What¡¯s he doing?


    Yang Nianxia was struck dumb as well. From beginning to end, he had never seen Xu Lizhi as a combatant! However, the fatty now stood between him and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Isn¡¯t he a food-type soul master? What was his name again? Xu Lizhi I think?


    Xu Lizhi stood face-to-face with him, staring at Yang Nianxia in defiance. He moved his hands in a circular motion, gentle waves of white soul power emanating from his palms.


    His actions startled his teammates, not to mention his opponent! Xu Lizhi¡¯s kick had saved both Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue.


    Isn¡¯t he a food-type soul master? Why do his actions feel so familiar? Tang Wulin stared wide-eyed.


    Yang Nianxia snarled and threw a punch at Xu Lizhi. He couldn¡¯t forgive himself for being stopped by a food-type soul master.


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s feet danced in a mystifying pattern, moving his plump body with shocking nimbleness! He moved to the side, evading Yang Nianxia¡¯s punch. Then he pushed out with both palms, sending Yang Nianxia staggering back several steps. This brief exchange decided the battle!


    A giant fireball flew over and exploded in Yang Nianxia¡¯s face!


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s dark gold fur flared up when the blast struck him, mitigating the majority of the impact. But he still stumbled backward, and Xu Lizhi seized this opening. He hooked his foot behind Yang Nianxia¡¯s heel while he thrusted his palm into his opponent¡¯s stomach. Yang Nianxia stumbled back another few steps. If not for his excellent sense of balance, he would have fell onto his butt.


    Then another fireball flew into him and exploded.


    Yang Nianxia just barely managed to raise a fist to protect himself from the blast, but Gu Yue¡¯s bombardment was just beginning. Fireballs slammed into him rapidfire. A series of booms shook the arena. Though he could just barely defend himself with his fists, there was no advancing for him now.


    Xu Xiaoyan casually walked over while condensing an ice spear in her hand.


    There was no suspense left in the battle. Anyone with half a brain could see that it was Tang Wulin¡¯s team¡¯s victory. The spectating students all stood in dumbstruck silence. They had thought the odds favored the rankers at the beginning, and then were sure of their victory when Wu SIduo transformed into the Hell White Tiger. But Xie Xie took gravely injured Xu Yucheng and Tang Wulin took Wu Siduo down with him. Even then, they thought the rankers the likely victors. They believed Yang Nianxia coculd easily deal with Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan. However, their expectations were overturned once more! In the end, Tang Wulin¡¯s team seized victory against all expectations!


    Xu Xiaoyan gave a brilliant smile as she approached. Her third soul ring didn¡¯t only grant her Blizzard, but also granted a soul skill to her Starwheel Ice Staff. She could now use the Starwheel Shackles in broad daylight. It was this final hidden card that won them victory.


    She believed that even if Xu Lizhi hadn¡¯t acted, Gu Yue would have easily been able to take down Yang Nianxia with her control over the elements and ability to teleport. Only their team understood how strong Gu Yue truly was. She hadn¡¯t even gone all out in this battle!


    ¡°Stop!¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s cold voice resounded on stage.


    Yang Nianxia stumbled a few more steps backward after the bombardment of fireballs stopped, lowering his fists to reveal a face full of shame.


    ¡°The match is over. Victory goes to Tang Wulin¡¯s team,¡± Wu Zhangkong announced as he ascended to the stage.


    ¡°We did it! We won!¡± Xu Xiaoyan grabbed Gu Yue¡¯s hand and bounced up and down with joy, tears streaming down her face.


    A distance away, Tang Wulin supported Xie Xie up, who had been treated by the Holy Spirit Douluo. Although Xie Xie was pale, stubborn pride gleamed in his eyes. We won! We really won! I wasn¡¯t a burden on my friends!


    In contrast, Tang Wulin¡¯s lips were pursed together grimly. We did it. I¡¯ve finally proved myself.


    Lending an arm to Xie Xie, the two walked over to join their friends on the stage. Once they were all together, they exchanged hugs and cried together, proclaiming their victory.


    ¡°We won! We¡¯re the winners!


    ¡°We¡¯re the strongest!¡±


    Wu Siduo watched from the side of the stage, utterly dumbstruck. Xu Yucheng¡¯s complexion paled further when he saw them celebrating. Luo Guixing¡¯s face was ashen, not a trace of a smile on his lips. Zheng Yiran watched in contempt. She hadn¡¯t had a chance to display her full strength throughout the entire battle.  Only Yang Nianxia still stood on stage, but he was just like the rest of the audience. The victory celebrations had nothing to do with him. The losers would be forgotten.


    In the middle of their celebrations, Gu Yue extracted herself from her friends and walked over to the edge of the stage, jumped down, and walked over to Ye Xinglan, who had stood up at some point and watched with clenched fists. Without giving her a chance to react, Gu Yue took her into a big hug.

 Chapter 393 - United

    Chapter 393 - United


    ¡°Thank you. It¡¯s because of you that we won!¡± Gu Yue whispered into Ye Xinglan¡¯s ear as she embraced her.


    Ye Xinglan froze, then relaxed. A hint of a smile played on her face as her cold indifferent attitude slowly thawed. Without saying a word, she hugged Gu Yue back.


    They had endured hardships together, sacrificed for each other, all for the sake of their team¡¯s glory! In this battle, they unleashed their entire pent-up frustration upon the rankers and attained victory, restoring their pride! That wasn¡¯t everything though. It was in this battle that their tentative bonds became unbreakable!


    Gu Yue grabbed Ye Xinglan¡¯s hand and pulled her up onto the stage with her. Tang Wulin and the other three watched her approach, warmth in their gazes. Now that the whole team was together, they jumped up and cheered. Young as they were, they couldn¡¯t contain their excitement.


    As they celebrated, the defeated rankers slowly trudged off the stage with dark expressions. No one spoke a word. Despite having all the odds in their favor, they lost. This match was a nightmare for them.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo walked over to Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong, a gentle smile gracing her lips. ¡°These kids are very promising. They¡¯re strong, brave, determined, and clever. You¡¯ve taught them well.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong looked at her respectfully. ¡°No. This is all their own ability.¡±


    Shen Yi smiled. He may have projected calmness, but his eyes had betrayed the pride he felt when Gu Yue attained victory for her team!


    Wu Zhangkong approached his disciples.¡°Now then.¡± His words reminded Tang Wulin and his friends that they were still on stage, and they turned to face him.


    ¡°You are the victors of the selection tournament and will represent the first grade in our match against the second grade. If you wish, you can select up to two more people from the class to join your team for a total of seven.¡±


    The rankers¡¯ ears instantly perked up at his words, especially Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing. Tang Wulin¡¯s right gauntlet was proof that at their current level, it was possible to use spirit alloys to make their one-word battle armor. They both now regretted their decision to part with Tang Wulin. They hoped that Tang Wulin would invite them back into the team. They believed that with the addition of them in Tang Wulin¡¯s team, they would become the strongest team and have a good chance of beating the second grade.


    Tang Wulin turned to his comrades. ¡°Do any of you want to?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan shrugged. ¡°Want to what?¡±


    Xie Xie feigned ignorance. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean.¡±


    Xu Lizhi gave a toothy smile. ¡°I¡¯ll go with whatever you guys decide.¡±


    Gu Yue and Ye Xinglan exchanged a glance, then said in unison, ¡°We¡¯re good!¡±


    Tang Wulin turned back to Wu Zhangkong and smiled wryly. ¡°Well, it looks like we don¡¯t want anyone else.¡±


    The audience exploded into an uproar the moment the words left Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. This was a true slap to the rankers¡¯ faces! He was paying them back with interest!


    Wu Zhangkong was asking him if he wanted any of the rankers to join him, but the answer was a resounding no! Tang Wulin¡¯s team would be fine without them! He didn¡¯t care if they were rankers. That meant nothing to him!


    Wu Siduo turned to leave. Thunderclouds seemed gather around Luo Guixing as he made a gloomy expression. Xu Yucheng snorted then turned to leave as well. Zheng Yiran glared at Tang Wulin, huffing as she left. Only Yang Nianxia stayed where he was, his brows drawn together pensively.


    The battle for supremacy finished with a surprising outcome. Tang Wulin proved his strength and would remain as the class president.


    Wu Zhangkong declared that class was dismissed, so the students quietly shuffled out of the hall. They were all still stunned.


    So the class president is actually this strong!


    Wu Siduo isn¡¯t the strongest one in our class! The class president is strong enough to be her rival!


    I can¡¯t believe Xie Xie could take Xu Yucheng down with him!


    Wow! Xu Xiaoyan isn¡¯t just a pretty face!


    I never thought a food-type soul master could fight in close combat!


    So we were all wrong!


    This battle had overturned many assumptions. Tang Wulin¡¯s position in his class was unshakeable now! Time after time, he  revealed new depths to his strength.


    Supporting each other, Tang Wulin¡¯s team of six left the hall. Their hearts were at ease now. Everyone wore huge grins, even Ye Xinglan.


    ¡°Lizhi, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d keep us in the dark like that! Why didn¡¯t you tell me you¡¯re a fellow Tang Sect disciple?¡± Tang Wulin said as he wrapped an arm around Xu Lizhi¡¯s shoulder.


    During the match, Xu Lizhi had used Mysterious Jade Hands, Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step! Although he didn¡¯t possess the strength to directly confront Yang Nianxia, by utilizing these secret arts in the decisive moment to shield Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan, he had bought them enough time to win victory!


    It was wrong to assume a food-type soul master didn¡¯t have combat power. With the Mysterious Heaven Method reinforcing Xu Lizhi¡¯s soul power and the other Tang Sect secret arts, he was more than capable of defending himself!


    ¡°Hehe. Well, you never asked! Are the others members too?¡± Xu Lizhi asked.


    ¡°Apart from Gu Yue, who joined the Spirit Pagoda, we¡¯re all disciples of the Tang Sect. It¡¯s actually been a while since we last visited a branch and checked our class. Do you mind taking us to visit the branch later?¡±


    Xu Lizhi smiled. ¡°Sure! By the way, Xinglan is a Tang Sect disciple too. It looks like we¡¯re all fellow disciples.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at Ye Xinglan and spoke from the bottom of his heart. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Ye Xinglan glanced at him. ¡°No need. It was the least I could do after taking your divine foundation metal. We¡¯ll be fighting together against the second grade later. Don¡¯t drag me down.¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±


    Ye Xinglan cracked a smile.


    Tang Wulin expression turned stern. ¡°The second grade¡¯s class is really powerful. It won¡¯t be easy to defeat them.¡±


    Xie Xie coughed. ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s right!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan rolled her eyes at him. ¡°A certain someone who¡¯s always getting his ass beaten by the enemy better not leak any info!¡±


    Xie Xie turned beet red, not a word of retort.


    They knew Yuanen Yehui was in the second grade. Her strength made her a far tougher opponent than Wu Siduo. The Hell White Tiger soul fusion skill may have elevated Wu Siduo into a top-class soul master, but Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Titan Giant Ape and Fallen Angel martial souls both stood at the peak! This wasn¡¯t even mentioning Yue Zhengyu, who was almost as strong as her. Then there was the other students of the second grade that they knew nothing about. It was impossible for those two to be the only powerful people in their class.


    ?


    In contrast to the excitement of Tang Wulin¡¯s group, gloom weighed down the gathered rankers.


    ¡°How did we lose?¡± Zheng Yiran still couldn¡¯t accept the result. She just couldn¡¯t fathom how it happened.


    They had all believed it would be a crushing victory. They even thought that just sending out Wu Siduo and two others would be enough to win. But they lost. They were thoroughly defeated, right in front of all of their peers, in a simple contest of strength without any trickery.


    Even now, they couldn¡¯t comprehend how Tang Wulin¡¯s team could be so strong. Tang Wulin¡¯s team may have better teamwork than them, but that shouldn¡¯t have been enough to overcome the gap in strength! Still, there was no use in arguing over that now.


    Yang Nianxia looked the calmest of them all. He simply shrugged. ¡°The important thing is that they surpassed our expectations. Who would have thought Xie Xie would stake it all to take down Xu Yucheng? We never expected Tang Wulin to be able to hold his ground against Wu Siduo either. It wasn¡¯t just because of his battle armor. The dragon¡¯s roar and the aura around him towards the end was terrifying. I didn¡¯t even dare approach him. He might only have obtained his third soul ring recently, but he¡¯s improving everyday. His speed of growth is frightening.¡±


    Everyone but Luo Guixing nodded in agreement with Yang Nianxia¡¯s analysis. Wu Siduo narrowed her eyes. ¡°Yeah. We underestimated him. I didn¡¯t believe he would succeed in making the gauntlet with a spirit alloy. Its amplification effects are far better than an ordinary one-word battle armor piece. There¡¯s no way he could have unleashed so much power otherwise.¡±

 Chapter 394 - Secret Weapon

    Chapter 394 - Secret Weapon


    At this point, Wu Siduo still could not accept that she had lost to Tang Wulin. To be accurate, they had both fallen by each others¡¯ hands, but that still hurt her pride. Although she had the edge on him, she couldn¡¯t contend with his body¡¯s absolute strength. Plus, he had the aid of a food-type soul master. His recovery speed naturally would be faster than hers. On the other hand, Wu Siduo would be left severely weakened after using Hell White Tiger. Considering it took three days to recharge, any misuse was a detrimental. Because of this, she could justify her first loss to Gu Yue, pinning it on being weakened after using Hell White Tiger. This time, however, she had no excuses.


    The most frustrating part was that Tang Wulin had succeeded in crafting his right gauntlet. Although a single piece of armor was far from a complete set, it still marked an excellent start to the path of a battle armor master. The implication was that the rest of Tang Wulin¡¯s one-word battle armor would be as exceptional as his gauntlet! Not to mention, advancing to a two-word battle armor master would be several times easier in the future. The might of his armor would surpass those of the same level, and he would be far more compatible with it.


    Wu Siduo held absolute confidence in her martial souls. However, she understood that be it her, Luo Guixing, or the others, they were all late for start of the race, the race in becoming battle armor masters. Furthermore, without the aid of a fifth-rank blacksmith like Tang Wulin, it would be impossible to craft one-word battle armor with alloys. She already cut ties with Tang Wulin, and it was nigh impossible for her to restore their relationship. There was no going back now. This was the path she chose!


    ¡°We didn¡¯t lose in strength. We lost in teamwork,¡± said Luo Guixing. His brows were relaxed, features permeated with his usual calm.


    ¡°Each of us is stronger than any one of them. Just as we anticipated, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue are formidable and the other three pale in comparison. Still, Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi¡¯s strength went beyond our expectations. This is what sealed their victory. But if you meticulously review today¡¯s events, you¡¯ll recall their confidence in winning since the very beginning. Where did that confidence come from? Well, let me tell you. It¡¯s their team cohesion. They moved together as one while we acted independently. That¡¯s the cause of our defeat.¡±


    He shook his head, a hint of humility in his smile. ¡°It was my mistake. As the leader, I wasn¡¯t able to meld you guys into one whole unit. I was too lacking. This defeat is my responsibility to bear.¡±


    Zheng Yiran stared at him in a daze. ¡°You¡¯ll bear this responsibility? What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only natural that there¡¯s a price to pay for making a mistake,¡± Luo Guixing said. ¡°Once everyone has cooled their heads, I¡¯ll go find Tang Wulin.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to find him for?¡± Wu Siduo asked in confusion.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s smile grew a bit wider. ¡°To apologize! Even if we can¡¯t be friends with him, we don¡¯t have to be enemies either. In the end, we¡¯re still classmates. Wouldn¡¯t it be a waste to not be friendly with such an outstanding class president and blacksmith?¡±


    His words struck them hard.


    Slowly rising from his seat, Xu Yucheng  stared Luo Guixing straight in the eyes. ¡±My skin definitely isn¡¯t as thick as yours. I can accept why I¡¯m ranked below you now.¡±


    Luo Guixing sighed. ¡°That¡¯s precisely the issue. We care too much about the rankings. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have underestimated Tang Wulin¡¯s team. I¡¯m not going to treat myself as a genius anymore. No, I¡¯m someone who has fallen behind. We need catch up step by step and not fall behind any further. At the very least, we need to make sure we¡¯re part of the strongest first grade class in all of history! We may have been defeated this time, but failure is the mother of success. We need to improve our team cohesion.¡±


    He extended his right hand, determination blazing in his eyes.


    To his surprise, it was Xu Yucheng, the one who had disagreed with him the most, who threw his hand on top of Luo Guixing¡¯s first. The two shared a look, sparks flying. Defeat had roused their competitive spirit. That said, a single loss was not the end of the world for them. They just had to work hard not to taste defeat again.


    Yang Nianxia chuckled, then placed his hand on top of Xu Yucheng¡¯s. Zheng Yiran¡¯s mouth twitched. Even so, she slowly added her hand to the pile as well


    Watching the scene before her, Wu Siduo sucked in a deep breath. ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯re playing catch up now.¡± She was the last to throw her hand in.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s words resonated with all of them, kindling the fire in their hearts. What they needed now was cohesion!


    ?


    Back in the working students¡¯ dormitory, a knock sounded on the door of Tang Wulin and the others¡¯ room. Xu Xiaoyan was the quickest to jump off her bed and ran over to answer it.


    To her surprise, it was Yue Zhengyu. There was a strange gleam in his eyes, a hint of hesitation in his stance.


    ¡°Zhengyu, come on in!¡± Tang Wulin was fully recovered by now. Two Bloodthirst Bean Buns were nothing to his body. In contrast, Xie Xie still lay immobile on his bed.


    Everyone¡¯s gaze fell on Yue Zhengyu as he entered the room. Since it wasn¡¯t bedtime yet, the curtain wasn¡¯t pulled up to seperate the boys¡¯ half from the girls¡¯. Out of Tang Wulin¡¯s team, only Xie Xie, Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and himself were present.


    Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan were nowhere in sight. Because they weren¡¯t working students, they didn¡¯t live in the working students¡¯ dormitory, and slept in the dormitory in the school building instead. However, for the sake of convenience, they applied to become working students as well and were preparing to live together with Tang Wulin and the others. With three boys and three girls, it would be easy to split the group into two rooms when the time came.


    He flashed them a smile in return. ¡°I heard you guys won in your class¡¯s tournament. Congratulations.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to him, suspicion thick in his stare. ¡°You¡¯re not here to probe us?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu laughed. ¡°Of course not. Do you really think I would do something like that? It¡¯s just that I heard some rumors about you equipping a piece of battle armor in your battle. Is that true? Have you already made a piece of battle armor, and from spirit alloy?¡±


    Tang Wulin struggled to suppress the bubbles of laughter from erupting from his mouth, failing in the end. ¡°Wow. You heard about it real fast. It¡¯s true, all thanks to Xinglan.¡±


    ¡°Xinglan? Who¡¯s that?¡± Yue Zhengyu stared blankly at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°We¡¯re about to face each other as opponents. Why would I give you any info?¡± Tang Wulin smiled mysteriously.


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m a mecha maker. I was about to start making my battle armor. I¡¯m not trying to take advantage of you.¡±


    At the sound of those words, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped hard within his chest. ¡°We have our own secret weapons, you know? All I¡¯ll tell you is that with them, our success rate for making battle armor rises to thirty percent.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Thirty percent? Are you sure?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. The Bloodthirst Bean Buns certainly increased their chances that far! Although food-type soul masters were weak in battle, their versatility was matchless, even better than support type masters¡¯! If not for Xu Lizhi¡¯s talents, directly entering the inner court would have been a fruitless dream.


    Yue Zhengyu could barely keep his excitement from bursting out. His eyes were lit ablaze as he stared down Tang Wulin. ¡°How about you lend me your secret weapon? I¡¯ll pay you contribution points.¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°Sure! But you¡¯ll have to wait until after our match.¡±


    In a flash, Yue Zhengyu¡¯s expression soured. ¡°That¡¯s so petty. The match is just three days away. Even if you lend me your secret weapon, I won¡¯t be able to make a piece of battle armor that quickly. The designs for my battle armor aren¡¯t even finished yet.¡±


    Being in the second grade, he was in a greater rush than a first-grade student in creating a battle armor set. When he heard Tang Wulin had created a piece of armor with a spirit alloy, his heart was provoked.


    All of a sudden, there was knock on the door. Xu Xiaoyan laughed, jumping to let in the guest. ¡°There sure are a lot of people visiting today. I bet it¡¯s Yuanen. If you guys don¡¯t believe me, then just watch.¡±

 Chapter 395 - The Real Class President

    Chapter 395 - The Real Class President


    Xu Xiaoyan opened the door. Just as she had said, it was Yuanen Yehui in the flesh.


    The sight of Yue Zhengyu took Yuanen Yehui by surprise, lips morphing into a frown as she stepped into the room. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu glared halfheartedly at her. ¡°Why can¡¯t I be here?¡± Though he spoke sarcastically, there was no steel to his words.


    After helping Yuanen Yehui obtain her fourth soul ring, Yue Zhengyu understood the gap that existed between them. Coupled with the fact that she wasn¡¯t an evil soul master, he had no reason to trouble her anymore.


    Yuanen Yehui promptly ignored him and turned to Tang Wulin. ¡°Help me make my battle armor. What do you want in exchange?¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°I need to know what your profession is first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a third rank mecha maker,¡± said Yue Zhengyu. ¡°But I¡¯m on the edge of the fourth rank. It shouldn¡¯t take me more than a month to break through.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui furrowed her brow. ¡°I¡¯m a mechanic, fourth rank.¡±


    A mechanic? Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t expected her to be a mechanic, and a fourth rank one as well.


    A pensive look crossed Tang Wulin¡¯s face. ¡°Okay. Zhengyu, you can make your own and we¡¯ll lend you our secret weapon for a fee. But for you, Yuanen, we¡¯ll need to cover the alloys and provide a maker for you. Do you have a design? How about other options?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve always been cultivating with a focus on harmonizing my two martial souls. Plus, because I have twin martial souls, it¡¯s harder to craft a battle armor for me. I haven¡¯t been satisfied with anyone¡¯s designs yet.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes gleamed, her excitement practically tangible. ¡°Designing battle armor for twin martial souls sounds like a good challenge. I¡¯ll need a lot of time to do it though. Also, if you really want a satisfying design, I think we¡¯ll have to wait until I¡¯m a higher rank.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll start saving contribution points then,¡± Yuanen Yehui said.


    She spun on her heel to leave, stopping abruptly at the door. Then she turned back around. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Xie Xie shot up from his bed.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s expression froze, body stiffening like plank. Then she made a one-eighty and left.


    At the sound of the door shutting, everyone exchanged glances before staring at Xie Xie.


    ¡°Pfft.¡± Xu Xiaoyan was the first to giggle, the rest following after her until they were roaring with laughter.


    Xie Xie flushed beet red as he shouted, ¡°What¡¯s so funny about getting up when my name¡¯s called? Hmph!¡±


    Eventually, Yue Zhengyu got up to leave. He needed to save up contribution points. No matter how good his relationship with Tang Wulin was, he couldn¡¯t ask Tang Wulin to do this as a favor. They were all students at Shrek Academy. They all carried a mountain of pressure on their shoulders. Rarely would someone take time out of their own busy schedule to help someone else out of the goodness of their heart, especially if the latter wasn¡¯t even in the same class.


    Tang Wulin made for his workshop after taking his time to recover. He shouldered the most responsibility of anyone on his team. He needed to forged alloys both for his teammates and for his clients Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu. Eight people in total. Although they were each working on one piece of battle armor first, making it one piece of alloy per member, it was still hard to produce! He had to forge as much as possible to produce pieces he deemed adequate.


    Tang Wulin was no perfectionist, but he refused to compromise when it came to his own battle armor, only using alloys with a ninety percent harmony rate or higher. Yue Zhengyu and Ye Xinglan were just as unyielding as him, so there was no way he¡¯d skimp on the metals for his teammates. However, forging such alloys was easier said than done.


    Now that he had his third soul ring, cultivating was no longer his main priority. On the top of his list was improving his blacksmithing skill.


    Additionally, Tang Wulin¡¯s routine changed. No longer did he run in the morning, as it did nothing to improve his body the way he was now. His time was better spent cultivating, blacksmithing, or eating. After all, eating was an important method of cultivation, especially when there was an abundance of nutritious food available. These days, Xu Lizhi joined Tang Wulin for every meal. Eating together kindled their appetites


    ?


    The news of how Tang Wulin lead his team to victory spread like wildfire. He was already famous throughout the first, second, and third grades, his name whispered wherever he went.


    It was a complete upset, no doubt about it! The Genius Youths Ranking held a lot of weight in the outer court. The five rankers were still too young and weak to be on the Continental Rankings, but etching their names onto the Genius Youths Ranking was proof of their strength. Yet the team of rankers, led by Wu Siduo in the top ten, was defeated by a bunch of nameless people!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team¡¯s victory went beyond inconceivable. It was a miracle.


    The Academy respected the privacy of its students, so there were no recordings of the battle available to the public. As such, Tang Wulin became an enigmatic figure, the subject of many rumors. This also marked the first time he entered the sights of the other grades.


    Due to Tang Wulin¡¯s newfound fame, countless eyes were on him during breakfast. Many of those eyes belonged to girls his age attracted by his pretty face. In Shrek Academy, a pleasing appearance wasn¡¯t the most captivating trait. Strength was! However, after strength came looks. Tang Wulin fit the bill for what many girls were looking for in a man. Although he was only thirteen years old, he possessed a mature temperament. Large doe eyes framed by long eyelashes. Neat, symmetrical face. These were all to the girls¡¯ liking. In fact, he was swarmed by girls on the way to the dining hall, from both his class and other classes. They asked for his number, and good natured as he was, he complied without any complaints.


    ¡°Wow! Wulin, you¡¯re so popular!¡± Xu Lizhi was green with envy.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°That¡¯s because of yesterday¡¯s victory.¡±


    Xu Lizhi shrugged at his words. ¡°I¡¯m part of the team too, so why aren¡¯t any girls asking for my number? Don¡¯t try to trick me. It¡¯s your good looks that¡¯s getting you all the girls.¡±


    He threw his head back, belly shaking in a laugh. ¡°I got my good looks from my parents. There¡¯s nothing I can do about it! It¡¯s just genetics!¡± After this healthy bit of banter, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan finished their meals and left for class. This left Tang Wulin to stew in his thoughts about his parents. His heart trembled. Several years had passed since he lost word of them.


    If his parents returned, or contacted Mang Tian, they would definitely give him a call. Sadly, he waited for that call everyday to no avail.


    ¡°Hello, Class President.¡± Someone¡¯s voice interrupted his thoughts.


    Tang Wulin looked up to see a familiar-looking classmate.


    ¡°Hello,¡± he answered with a faint smile on his lips.


    Just like this, countless people greeted him before he even stepped foot in the classroom. This reaffirmed something he knew, branding it to his heart. If I want others to respect me, then I can only rely on myself.


    Tang Wulin neither let yesterday¡¯s victory get to his head nor bore a grudge for the way his classmates treated him previously. He always answered their greetings with a splendid smile, as if they had never ostracized him.


    As he finally reached the classroom, stepping through the doorway, one other person received him respectfully.


    ¡°Good morning, Class President.¡±


    ¡°Good morning¡­¡± Tang Wulin answered subconsciously, freezing for a second when he recognized the voice.


    He whipped his head to the direction of the speaker. It was Luo Guixing!


    Their gazes locked. Luo Guixing smiled his trademark smile and stepped to the side, gesturing for Tang Wulin to proceed.


    Currently, the classroom was two-thirds full. No one had thought much of Luo Guixing waiting by the door. But at the sight of Luo Guixing respectfully greeting Tang Wulin, the entire class went silent in an instant. What they had witnessed just now signified one thing.


    Luo Guixing was admitting defeat!

 Chapter 396 - Freely Admit Defeat, Bow and Submit

    Chapter 396 - Freely Admit Defeat, Bow and Submit


    Luo Guixing was admitting defeat on behalf of the rankers! The other students still harbored doubt since Tang Wulin¡¯s team had won by the skin of their teeth, but the five rankers were backing down. Each of the five continued to shine individually, but they now fully recognized Tang Wulin as their class president. No one else dared to challenge him, his position as the class president firmly cemented.


    Luo Guixing¡¯s actions stunned him, but after a moment, Tang Wulin smiled and nodded, then walked over to his seat.


    As if nothing major just happened, Luo Guixing returned to his own seat as well, wearing his usual carefree smile.


    Zheng Yiran stood nearby at Yang Nianxia¡¯s side, her lips curled into a sneer. ¡°No wonder Xu Yucheng said he couldn¡¯t match up to Luo Guixing yesterday. That guy¡¯s skin is just too thick! I would never be able to kiss ass like that.¡±


    Yang Nianxia glanced at her. ¡°You could learn a thing or two from him. A man of character knows when to bow and submit. But still. Compared to Tang Wulin, Luo Guixing lacks a certain charm... a kind of charisma.  Now that I¡¯m looking at him properly, Tang Wulin really is fit to be the class president.¡±


    Zheng Yiran stared at Yang Nianxia. ¡°Have you gone crazy?¡±


    ¡°Are you still not convinced?¡±


    Zheng Yiran snorted. ¡°I¡¯m different from you guys. Poison users like me focus on one strike kills. So what if he¡¯s strong? He¡¯s nothing compared to my jade phosphorus snake venom. Why should I acknowledge him?¡±


    Yang Nianxia shrugged. ¡°You do you then. I¡¯m gonna go sit down.¡±


    ¡°Coward.¡± Zheng Yiran watched Yang Nianxia leave, her eyes full of disdain. Then she looked back to Tang Wulin. She didn¡¯t know it yet, but she now saw Tang Wulin in a different light. Even if she were aware of this, she would refuse to admit it.


    Class went by like normal. Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi didn¡¯t comment on the match from the day before. Everyone who made it into Shrek Academy was extremely bright and could make their own conjectures.


    No matter how strong one was, a loss was a loss, and conclusions reached on the battlefield were eternal.


    Attending class was actually the most relaxed part of Tang Wulin¡¯s daily schedule. His spiritual power was quite high now, so he had no trouble soaking up the lecture material. It was only during class that he had the chance to relax his body. His afternoons were spent blacksmithing and his evenings were spent cultivating, both of which left him exhausted.


    He currently didn¡¯t bother with combat training. The match against the second grade was only three days away. There was no use sharpening his blade any further. He and his team were as prepared as they would ever be.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were definitely going to be on the opposing team, so Tang Wulin drew up some plans against them. The only thing that made him nervous was what Yuanen Yehui got for her fourth soul skill.


    ?


    Three days later, Elder Cai faced Wu Zhangkong, Shen Yi, and the teacher in charge of the second grade. ¡°Today, I will be personally overseeing the match between your two classes. The Academy has decided to reward the winners with contribution points.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi exchanged a look, then looked to the second grade¡¯s teacher. They were all astonished by Elder Cai¡¯s words.


    Although Elder Cai was the headmaster of the outer court, she rarely intervened in its affairs. At her level, her time was better spent cultivating. Becoming a Titled Douluo was not the end of a soul master¡¯s path. One still had to continue cultivating, improving themselves, and consolidating their energies. This, along with the aid of battle armor, would slow down their aging. Yet the Silver Moon Douluo deigned to spend some of her time watching today¡¯s match between the first and second grades! It was clear just how much she valued them. This also wasn¡¯t the first time she observed the first grade¡¯s battles. She had also been present for the selection tournament, just hidden from the view of the students.


    ¡°Am I not welcome to do so?¡± Elder Cai swept her gaze across the three teachers.


    ¡°Of course you are,¡± Shen Yi said hastily. But Elder Cai normally wouldn¡¯t care about such trivial matters!


    ¡°Good. Let¡¯s go then.¡± Elder Cai had arrived like a storm and left just as quickly.


    Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi were helpless when it came to Elder Cai. They were about to head over to the arena for the match when Elder Cai summoned them.


    Since the headmaster of the outer court would be observing, this match instantly became an event of utmost importance. But this wasn¡¯t what Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi wanted. The age gap between grades wasn¡¯t a single year, but three! They weren¡¯t really optimistic about their class¡¯s chances of winning.


    Although five of the rankers were in the first grade, the Academy kept every student¡¯s personal data a secret from the outside world. This meant that the rankings didn¡¯t account for students of Shrek Academy from the moment the began attending. The amount of growth one could achieve in three years at Shrek Academy definitely wasn¡¯t small.


    With the eyes of the Academy¡¯s higher ups now trained on the first grade, a devastating loss would be horrible.


    The arena was bustling with students from the first and second grades, all of them bursting with excitement and anxious to witness the battle between the champions of each grade. The first grade¡¯s students were all thirteen or fourteen years old. The second grade¡¯s students, on the other hand, ranged from ages fifteen to seventeen. This was due to the fact that there was a limit on how old new students could be, yet there was no minimum requirement. The students of the first grade were jumping with enthusiasm while those of the second grade were relatively calmer. The difference between them was clear.


    Yuanen Yehui stood at the fore of the second grade. The reverence the second-grade students held for her showed in their eyes. It only took a single look from her for the entire class to quiet down. Every student in that class united under her.


    Several days had passed since the selection tournament, and things had calmed down in the first grade. Since Luo Guixing backed down, none had reason to oppose Tang Wulin any further.


    But habits weren¡¯t so easily broken.


    Tang Wulin watched Yuanen Yehui and she watched him. Neither said anything. Right now, they stood as representatives of their respective classes, and as opponents.


    The teachers walked into the arena. At the very front of the procession was the stunning Holy Spirit Douluo. To the astonishment of the students, the Silver Moon Douluo walked beside her. However, what truly shocked Tang Wulin was the fact that Elder Cai was a half a step behind the Holy Spirit Douluo. This served as proof of the Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s status in Shrek Academy. Tang Wulin was certain she still had many secrets. Her main ability had to do with healing, yet her position was even higher than that of her fellow Titled Douluo, the Silver Moon Douluo.

 Chapter 397 - The Twin Dragons Arrive

    Chapter 397 - The Twin Dragons Arrive


    Huh? He came too? To Tang Wulin¡¯s surprise, Elder Li followed the Holy Spirit Douluo and the Silver Moon Douluo, both of which came from the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion. Is he from the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion? Even if he isn¡¯t, his position has got to be really high up!


    Trailing behind these three illustrious figures were Wu Zhangkong, Shen Yi, the teacher in charge of the second grade, and some profession teachers.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of important people here today, Boss!¡± Xie Xie whispered anxiously.


    Tang Wulin looked at him. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to do our best then.¡±


    Xie Xie nodded in agreement, then snuck a glance at Yuanen Yehui. He didn¡¯t know why, but he felt that there was something different about her. As the powerful leader of the second grade, she wasn¡¯t their dorm member that day. Xie Xie felt a bit nervous in the face of her imposing aura.


    He still remembered the thrashings she had given him, fear lingering in his heart.


    The teachers took their seats on a raised platform that overlooked the arena. Not even a moment later, the door to the arena opened and two more people walked in. They were arguing with each other as they entered.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡± the elderly man on the left said to the one on the right.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to see my disciple stomp his competition. At the very least, none of those brats in the second grade can challenge him. I¡¯m more interested in seeing his progress. Why are you here? Don¡¯t you have things to do on Sea God¡¯s Island? This is the outer court. You shouldn¡¯t have any business here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to check how much my granddisciple has grown. I heard he defeated the Hell White Tiger, so I¡¯m curious if he was able to because he mastered the secret art I taught him.¡±


    ¡°Bah! You¡¯ve taught him nothing but shit! Don¡¯t lead my disciple astray with your tricks.¡±


    ¡°Have you gone mad? You crazy old bastard! I swear, if you dare deceive my disciple, I¡¯ll butcher you!


    ¡°Butcher me? I¡¯m the one who¡¯ll kill you! Bring it on!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think I won¡¯t do it! You¡¯re just a craftsman! If you think you got what it takes, let¡¯s fight! I only need one minute to beat you to a pulp!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit!¡±


    The people who had just entered were Tang Wulin¡¯s blacksmithing teacher, Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu, and his grandteacher, Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi. As the two quarrelled, their eyes landed on Tang Wulin. Fortunately for him, they still had some reason left in them and didn¡¯t run over to him. They ascended the platform and took their seats with the rest of the elders. They gave a slight nod of greeting when they saw the Silver Moon Douluo, but as soon as they saw the Holy Spirit Douluo, they leaped to their feet, backs ramrod straight.


    Zhuo Shi ran over to her hastily. ¡°Yali, how are you today?¡±


    The Holy Spirit Douluo glanced at him. ¡°I¡¯m here as the referee today!¡±


    Feng Wuyu popped up on the other side of her, rubbing his hands nervously. ¡°Yali, long time no see!¡±


    With his Purple Demon Eyes, Tang Wulin could clearly see what was happening on the platform. He was stunned by the expression on Feng Wuyu¡¯s face. Since when could Teacher act so bashfully? Why¡¯s his face so red?


    Zhuo Shi turned to the Silver Moon Douluo. ¡°Why don¡¯t we talk for a bit, Yue¡¯er?¡±


    Elder Cai rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Why are you two here? If you want to watch the match, then do so quietly. Otherwise, get lost!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it normal for me, an elder of the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion, to come watch matches in the outer court? I¡¯m not a blacksmith just coming for entertainment.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that about blacksmiths? If it weren¡¯t for us, would you have battle armor? Just you wait. Once you reach the four-word level, I¡¯ll tell Zhen Hua to leave your ass uncovered when crafting your battle armor. Then you can go fight with a bare ass!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already tolerated you for a long time, Feng Wuyu, but don¡¯t you dare provoke me in front of Yali! I¡¯ll whoop your ass!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of you! Bring it on!¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡± the Holy Spirit Douluo barked, giving them a sharp look. Like obedient dogs, the two old men ceased their bickering and shut up. Despite their anger, they said no more.


    ¡°You two were late, so sit in the second row. Don¡¯t disturb the children,¡± said the Silver Moon Douluo.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Feng Wuyu tiptoed to the back row.


    ¡°Okay!¡± Zhuo Shi rushed to the seat directly behind the Holy Spirit Douluo. ¡°I¡¯ll sit behind you.¡±


    Feng Wuyu was a step too late. He glared at Zhuo Shi, but Zhuo Shi didn¡¯t budge. The two then began shoving each other.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo frowned, and without turning back to face them, said, ¡°If you two can¡¯t settle down, then leave.¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Zhuo Shi pointed at Feng Wuyu. ¡°Settle down!¡±


    That got the Holy Spirit Douluo to turn around, and she glared at them. Her burning gaze immediately silenced the Twin Dragons, and they quietly took their seats. She shook her head helplessly, turning back to the stage.


    Only then did Elder Cai gesture to Shen Yi.


    ¡°Hello students of the first and second grade,¡± Shen Yi said, rising from her seat. ¡°I am Shen Yi, the teacher for the first grade. Today¡¯s competition will be overseen by the Holy Spirit Douluo and the Silver Moon Douluo. After speaking with the second grade¡¯s teacher, we have decided that, in the interest of saving time, each profession¡¯s match will consist of one challenge. Now, would both grades¡¯ representative blacksmiths come up to the stage.¡±


    Two massive forging tables had already been prepared on-stage. Today¡¯s competition had the two classes competing in every aspect. They would first begin with the professions: blacksmiths, designers, makers, and mechanics. The team battle would come last. As his class¡¯s blacksmith representative, the first battle was Tang Wulin¡¯s to fight. He went up onto the stage.


    Feng Wuyu had a proud look in his eye as he turned to Zhuo Shi. ¡°You¡¯ll see what it means to steamroll someone in just a moment.¡±


    Zhuo Shi rolled his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s just because my granddiscple is that talented. This has nothing to do with you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m his blacksmithing teacher. How does it have nothing to do with me?¡± Feng Wuyu fumed.


    ¡°Alright, fine. Let me ask you then. What blacksmith rank was my granddisciple when he first got here?¡±


    ¡°The fifth rank!¡± Feng Wuyu answered immediately.


    ¡°And what rank is he now?¡±


    ¡°The... fifth rank¡­¡± Feng Wuyu failed to realize his mistake in time.


    Zhuo Shi gave him a look of disdain. ¡°My granddisciple was already a fifth-rank blacksmith when he arrived, which is more than enough to show that he¡¯s a blacksmithing genius. He¡¯s still a fifth-rank right now, which shows you¡¯re a useless teacher. He hasn¡¯t improved one bit.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Feng Wuyu growled and grabbed Zhuo Shi by his collar. ¡°Things aren¡¯t that black and white!¡±


    Zhuo Shi didn¡¯t resist, and instead simply snorted. ¡°What are you doing, attacking those above you?¡±


    A red hue seeped into Feng Wuyu¡¯s eyes. ¡°How the hell are you above me?¡±


    Zhuo Shi smirked. ¡°You¡¯re my granddisciple¡¯s master, and I¡¯m his grandteacher. You and I are from different generations. When you see me, you should at least call me Uncle Master, if not Master. Doesn¡¯t that mean you¡¯re offending your senior by grabbing me?¡±


    The Holy Spirit Douluo turned around and glared at them once more. ¡°You two! Behave or get out!¡±


    Feng Wuyu let go of Zhuo Shi and lowered his head, acting as if the commotion had nothing to do with him at all. Zhuo Shi lifted his hands helplessly and shrugged. Then he pinched his fingers and zipped his mouth shut. He didn¡¯t say another word.


    Shrek¡¯s Twin Dragons finally settled down.


    Elder Cai smiled and whispered into the Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s ear, ¡°As expected of you. You¡¯re the only one who can keep those two in line. I¡¯m no match for you when it comes to them!¡±


    The Holy Spirit Douluo shook her head. ¡°They¡¯re just a pair of buffoons!¡±


    At that moment, Tang Wulin and his opponent arrived on-stage. The boy that stood across from Tang Wulin looked far older than him, about sixteen or seventeen years old. He had an average appearance and height. The only thing that really caught Tang Wulin¡¯s attention was the boy¡¯s large hands and muscular arms. He clearly had a calm disposition. His eyes had been glued to the forging table since he arrived. He didn¡¯t spare Tang Wulin a single glance.


    Tang Wulin nodded to himself at his opponent¡¯s behavior. As expected of the second grade! He¡¯s definitely their best blacksmith.


    This wouldn¡¯t be an easy win for him.


    ¡°Greetings, Senior. My name is Tang Wulin.¡±


    The boy finally looked at him and nodded. ¡°He Xiaopeng, blacksmith representative of the second grade.¡±

 Chapter 398 - The First Match

    Chapter 398 - The First Match


    Shen Yi stepped forward, coming to a stop at the edge of the platform that overlooked the arena. ¡°The first match of today is the blacksmith¡¯s exchange. The subject is metal purification. Both of you will be granted a piece of titanium crystal and will have thirty minutes to purify it. Whoever is able to purify it the most will be the winner. They will also be granted one thousand points, some course credit, and permission to keep both finished products. The first grade will receive thirty percent more if they win.¡±


    Titanium crystal? Tang Wulin furrowed his brow at the thought.


    Some metals were especially hard to forge, a fact that was almost always the result of extreme innate qualities. They were usually too hard or too soft. Titanium crystal was definitely one such metal. It was infamously hard to purify, exceedingly tough, and just as brittle. If a blacksmith used too much strength to forge it, or too little even, they would fail. Blacksmiths had to put a lot more effort into forging metals like it to get a decent result, and because of this, few were capable of forging titanium crystal.


    However, titanium crystal became far stronger than other metals after being purified and refined. It was common for highly-skilled blacksmiths to add some to an alloy to raise that alloy¡¯s strength. As a reflection of its amazing properties, titanium crystal cost sixty times more per kilogram than heavy silver!


    With all that in mind, when Shen Yi declared that the winner could keep both of the forged products, Tang Wulin and He Xiaopeng¡¯s gazes sharpened. Their eyes burned hot with determination, which was especially true for Tang Wulin since he understood just how valuable titanium crystal was. It was nearly impossible for the wealthy to obtain, not to mention normal civilians. The Federation considered it a strategic military resource and heavily restricted its supply. Tang Wulin never expected the Academy to offer two pieces just like that.


    A piece of titanium crystal sat atop both of the forging tables on the stage. Each was about a foot in diameter and abnormally round, almost resembling a crystal ball. Countless intertwining golden threads could be seen within both pieces.


    The difficulty in forging titanium crystal lay in the need to simultaneously reduce its bulk while untangling the golden threads inside of it. The better the threads were handled, the better the final product would be. It was said that the Tang Sect¡¯s founder had used the golden threads of a titanium crystal to craft a powerful hidden weapon.


    Back in Eastsea City, Tang Wulin had been fortunate enough to get the chance to forge some titanium crystal. Mu Chen was the one to thank for that opportunity, but in return, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been allowed to keep the titanium crystal after forging it. To the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, it was a rare commodity. Yet, just the experience of forging it was extremely valuable to Tang Wulin. And that experience now brought him confidence.


    With practiced movements, Tang Wulin and He Xiaopeng placed their pieces within the forging table and began calcining the titanium crystal. Different metals took different lengths of time to calcine. The forging table they both used was top of the line, loaded with the latest tech that made it beyond easy to control the temperature and calcining period. Every blacksmith had their own forging style, and this included how they calcined metal. It was a matter of what forging philosophies they followed.


    ¡°The timer will begin once you finish calcining the metal,¡± Shen Yi said.


    Tang Wulin and He Xiaopeng focused on calcining the metal. Neither spoke a single word. Coincidentally, the two also closed their eyes.


    The Titled Douluos watching from the platform gave slight nods of approval. Shrek Academy had spared no effort in raising blacksmiths in recent years, even granting extra credit to skilled blacksmiths who took the entrance exam. The Academy was simply too lacking in the blacksmith¡¯s department. This was also why Feng Wuyu personally led the Blacksmith¡¯s Association and focused on rapidly developing it. Shrek Academy aimed to nurture a Divine Blacksmith. It had numerous Titled Douluos, but few four-word battle armor masters. This was all due to the fact that only one Divine Blacksmith currently lived.


    That was Zhen Hua, the President of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, and the only person in existence who could heavenly refine metal!


    As the President of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, there was a limit to how much preference Zhen Hua could show Shrek Academy. There were other major powers that he needed to forge for. His schedule was packed beyond belief, and he could only meet a small portion of the forging requests he received. All powers were doing their best to entice him to work for them, but in the end, he was only one man, the only Divine Blacksmith in the world.


    Feng Wuyu had been a Saint Blacksmith for many years now, but he knew he was a ways away from becoming a Divine Blacksmith. Truth be told, it was practically impossible for him. He had started walking the path of a blacksmith too late. His high cultivation level allowed him to reach his current level in blacksmithing, but in order to advance further, he needed more than just that.


    This was why he placed his hopes on Tang Wulin. In his eyes, Tang Wulin was a promising youth who could one day learn to heavenly refine and become the next generation¡¯s Divine Blacksmith.


    Although there were far fewer blacksmiths than any other profession, Shrek Academy had a total of twenty in its first and second grades because of the resources it put into recruiting them. Eighteen of them sat in the audience with bated breath, waiting for Tang Wulin and He Xiaopeng to start forging.


    Tang Wulin spread his arms, a silver hammer appearing in each of his hands. He pressed a button on the forging table, signalling that the titanium crystal was done calcining. The forging table split in the middle, opening up and allowing a glowing red piece of titanium crystal to rise from its depths.


    Situated across from Tang Wulin, He Xiaopeng noticed what was happening. His ear twitched and he furrowed his brow.


    The blacksmiths in the audience all cried out in alarm. ¡°He finished so quickly?¡±


    A barrier sealed the stage off from the outside world, so neither Tang Wulin nor He Xiaopeng could hear the surprised shouts. The audience was utterly shocked.


    Even the blacksmiths of the first grade, Yang Nianxia included, didn¡¯t dare believe their eyes. They all knew that, due to how brittle titanium crystal was, it required a longer calcining period than normal. Only by calcining it longer would it become soft and easier to forge.


    To them, Tang Wulin had calcined it too quickly. He had only allowed it to calcine for as long as any other metal. Everyone in the audience was more or less thinking the same thing. Could it be¡­? Does he not understand what titanium crystal is? If he doesn¡¯t, then he¡¯s in trouble!


    When forging titanium crystal, a blacksmith¡¯s greatest fear was the possibility of it cracking. If it did, its quality would immediately plummet. This fear, as well as any other kinds of damage, was also the reason why it was stored away immediately after being mined.


    Has our Class President never forged this metal before? To be fair, it is really rare.


    Tang Wulin was oblivious to what was going on off-stage. His eyes only reflected the glowing piece of titanium crystal. The forging table had closed back up, and the titanium crystal now sat atop it. Without even the slightest bit of hesitation, Tang Wulin swung his left hammer. Tang Wulin was about to show them the art of forging.


    He¡¯s already starting?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammer struck the titanium crystal, three melodious notes filling the air. They were the gentlest of strikes, all of which sounded like a pin dropping to the ground. Each note was crisp and clear for everyone to hear. They were music to the ear.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s right hammer followed soon after, and another set of sweet sounds rang out. His hands moved deftly in concert with each other, gently striking the titanium crystal as if he were softly pricking it with needles, filling the air with a delicate symphony.

 Chapter 399 - A Powerful Opponent

    Chapter 399 - A Powerful Opponent


    Tang Wulin¡¯s arms began moving faster and faster, his hammers thundering down upon the titanium crystal like a raging storm. Although forging hammers didn¡¯t have a standard weight, hammers were generally better if they weighed more. Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers certainly weren¡¯t light. In spite of that, he swung them easily, his arms resembling a windmill as he continuously struck the titanium crystal. Crisp metallic notes resounding throughout the arena, and the sounds soon began ringing out so fast that they blended together to form one clear, everlasting note. The music of a craftsman filled the air. It was a wondrous experience for everyone in the audience.


    Tang Wulin circled the metal as he forged it, continuously adjusting the angle of his strikes, but as time passed, no change seemed to occur to the titanium crystal¡¯s mass. It was almost as if Tang Wulin¡¯s strikes were too soft.


    Can you even call that forging? Many of the spectating blacksmiths doubted Tang Wulin¡¯s forging method. Although they were shocked by how precise Tang Wulin¡¯s control was, they didn¡¯t see how such light taps could be effective for refining the metal. Is he just using a flashy technique to try and show off? All that matters in the end is how much he can purify the metal! He¡¯s only got thirty minutes. There¡¯s no way he¡¯ll be able to finish in time with such a gentle forging technique!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s forging astonished He Xiaopeng as well. The rhythmic hammering sent shivers down his spine, but a moment later, he regained his wits and turned his attention back to his own table.


    The worst thing that could happen when two blacksmiths forged in close proximity was one being disturbed by the other. He Xiaopeng was just a youth, but he had started blacksmithing at a young age. His foundation as a blacksmith was impressive, and he easily pushed any distractions out of his mind. He made himself deaf to Tang Wulin¡¯s hammering and focused on his own work.


    Of all the blacksmiths present, only Feng Wuyu subtly nodded in approval of Tang Wulin¡¯s actions, a proud smile forming on his lips.


    ¡°Why is he forging like that?¡± Zhuo Shi couldn¡¯t help but ask Feng Wuyu. He may have been the powerful Scarlet Dragon Douluo, but he knew little more than the next person when it came to blacksmithing.


    At that moment, possibly because he was overcome with pride in Tang Wulin, Feng Wuyu didn¡¯t just outright patronize Zhuo Shi. ¡°Look carefully. It might look like Wulin is forging it very gently, but each strike carries just enough force to penetrate the titanium crystal. Although it hasn¡¯t reduced in size, the golden threads inside the metal are being manipulated, almost as if he were spinning silk from it. He¡¯s straightening the golden threads first so he can find the veins and life source of the titanium crystal. Once he accomplishes that, he will then awaken its spirit. He¡¯s forging it from inside out! This is the most suitable forging method for a high-quality metal like titanium crystal. Of course, laymen like you would never have heard of this. Only blacksmiths rank fifth and above are capable of using this technique, and even then, not everyone can do it.¡±


    Feng Wuyu chuckled with satisfaction. ¡°Just you wait. You¡¯ll see how skilled my disciple is!¡±


    Zhuo Shi rolled his eyes at Feng Wuyu¡¯s smug expression, but didn¡¯t bother responding. He was just happy that someone knew how talented his granddisciple was.


    And Feng Wuyu was right. Anyone watching closely would be able to see the golden threads within Tang Wulin¡¯s piece of titanium crystal gradually transforming. The rough edges of the metal started becoming smooth, and most importantly, the golden threads shone brighter and brighter as he continued to hammer the metal.


    It was then that He Xiaopeng finally started his forging process. He pushed the button on the table and a glowing hot piece of titanium crystal appeared. Unlike Tang Wulin¡¯s piece, the golden threads within He Xiaopeng¡¯s couldn¡¯t be seen at all. It simply looked like a ball of fire.


    A pair of pitch-black hammers appeared in He Xiaopeng¡¯s hands, and he struck with both hammers. Two thundering bangs resounded throughout the arena. The titanium crystal quivered from the impacts, but thanks to the calcining process, it didn¡¯t shatter. He Xiaopeng continued forging like so. His method was no different from what other blacksmiths considered the norm. His hammers descended like lightning, the boom of each strike ringing out in unison.


    While Tang Wulin¡¯s forging sounded like the pitter patter of symphonic rain, He Xiaopeng¡¯s was a raging thunderstorm! Each and every one of his strikes rumbled. One blacksmith worked as fast as possible while the other progressed slow and steady. Their forging styles were on the opposite ends of the spectrum.


    The blacksmiths in the audience guessed that Tang Wulin was using some special forging technique, but they couldn¡¯t fathom why he chose a different method from He Xiaopeng.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Zheng Yiran nudged Yang Nianxia who stood beside her. ¡°If it were you, would you do the same thing as Tang Wulin?¡±


    Yang Nianxia answered in a hushed tone. ¡°I would do what He Xiaopeng is doing. He¡¯s relying on the strength of his hammer strikes to untangle the golden threads within the titanium crystal and purify it. However, this method is difficult to us because of the metal¡¯s strength and brittleness. The titanium crystal has to be heated to a really high temperature and one has to have perfect control over their hammers to use that method. If He Xiaopeng uses too much strength, the metal will shatter. Too little strength, and nothing will happen. It takes a lot of skill and practice to control hammers that well. He¡¯s definitely a better blacksmith than me. He should be a fourth-rank blacksmith. This will definitely be a good show.¡±


    ¡°What about Tang Wulin?¡± Zheng Yiran asked.


    Yang Nianxia furrowed his brow. ¡°I can¡¯t make sense of what he¡¯s doing. It might be accurate to say he¡¯s using gentleness to forge the hardness, but I¡¯m not sure why he¡¯s doing that for titanium crystal. He probably has his own reasons.¡±


    ¡°You sure have a lot of faith in his skills.¡± Zheng Yiran raised an eyebrow.  ¡°Are you sure we won¡¯t lose this match?¡±


    Yang Nianxia smiled wryly. ¡°I¡¯ve always thought of myself as crafty, but the Class President is just downright two-faced! That guy doesn¡¯t do anything if he isn¡¯t confident he¡¯ll succeed. Besides, blacksmithing is his forte. He can even forge a spirit alloy for a piece of one-word battle armor. Do you really think he could lose? To me, that¡¯s impossible! Oh, right. Don¡¯t you know? He¡¯s a fifth-rank blacksmith.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a blacksmith. How would I know?¡± Zheng Yiran began to stare at Yang Nianxia in astonishment as this news registered in her mind. ¡°Wait, where¡¯d you hear that?¡±


    ¡°Do you really need to ask? He has a spirit alloy! It normally takes a sixth-rank blacksmith to forge a spirit alloy. There¡¯s no way he¡¯s at the sixth rank, so he¡¯s got to be at the fifth! He is really talented after all.¡±


    Fifth-rank¡­ The thought made Zheng Yiran feel shame. Tang Wulin was only in the first grade, yet he was a fifth-rank blacksmith! Never before in Shrek Academy history had a blacksmith as talented as him appeared. And, out of all the professions, it was the hardest to advance as a blacksmith!


    Seconds ticked by, and soon enough, fifteen minutes had passed for Tang Wulin. He only had another fifteen remaining.


    Judging by how much smaller each titanium crystal had become, He Xiaopeng was the clear winner. His piece had shrunk by one-tenth of its original size and it showed no signs of cracking. This was a testament to his skill. In contrast, Tang Wulin¡¯s piece was now orange, but it hadn¡¯t shrunk at all. Indeed, such gentle strikes couldn¡¯t possibly reduce the titanium crystal¡¯s mass.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t look concerned. His entire being was focused on forging, his eyes narrowed as he swung his hammers at a steady pace.


    All of a sudden, an earsplitting boom shook the arena as He Xiaopeng slammed his hammers into his titanium crystal one final time. A beam of brilliant golden light shot out of it, reaching a foot into the air.


    It had been first-grade thousand refined with spirit!


    Cries of astonishment echoed from off-stage. The appearance of the beam of light signalled a successful thousand refining, and a first-grade one at that! A first-grade thousand refined metal simply couldn¡¯t be compared to normal metal.


    He Xiaopeng put away his hammers and stepped back. His chest moved up and down as he worked to catch his breath. The beam of light persisted for a few seconds then gradually dispersing.


    He Xiaopeng was now finished forging. All he needed to do now was let the metal slowly cool down from its glowing red state.

 Chapter 400 - Resplendent Gold, Titanium Crystals Spirit Ascends

    Chapter 400 - Resplendent Gold, Titanium Crystal''s Spirit Ascends


    He Xiaopeng¡¯s titanium crystal had become twenty percent smaller than before. The originally tangled mess of golden threads inside of it had also been transformed into a uniform sheet of brilliant light. A resplendent golden aura shimmered around the metal. There was no doubt that it was first-grade thousand refined.


    He Xiaopeng put away his hammers and smiled in satisfaction. He understood that this was the limit of his abilities right now. Despite being under a lot of pressure today, he was able to bring the entirety of his ability to bear. It wasn¡¯t easy to first-grade thousand refine titanium crystal in a mere half-hour, yet he had pulled it off perfectly. For the current him, this was a masterpiece.


    Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong furrowed their brows. In their eyes, He Xiaopeng had just claimed victory. He had started forging later than Tang Wulin, but still finished first-grade thousand refining the titanium crystal first! Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t win with a first-grade thousand refining anymore, and they knew that was his limit! Even if he succeeded in first-grade thousand refining his piece, he would still lose to He Xiaopeng.


    Time passed by slowly. Tang Wulin continued forging, his focus just as intense as it had been when he began. Apart from developing a slight orange hue, no other visible changes had occurred to his piece of titanium crystal. The internal workings of the metal remained obscured.


    Wu Zhangkong knew Tang Wulin was a genius blacksmith, but he didn¡¯t understand exactly what that meant. He only knew that Tang Wulin came from a poor family. Could it be that he¡¯s never forged titanium crystal before?


    The thought cast a shadow of worry over his heart.


    This was the first match of the competition between the two grades, the one they should have had the highest chance of winning! If they lost this match, the first grade¡¯s morale would plummet, and their faith in Tang Wulin would waver! Now, there was nothing they could do but believe in him and pray that he performed a miracle.


    As the time limit approached, the banging of Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers became more intense. He Xiaopeng watched him attentively. Even as a fellow blacksmith, he couldn¡¯t figure out what Tang Wulin was doing. At this point, no matter how he looked at the situation, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t possibly surpass him.


    ¡°Ten seconds left!¡± Although Shen Yi felt anxious, she acted as a proper referee and began the countdown. ¡°Nine! Eight! Seven¡­¡±


    ¡°Six¡­¡±


    A bead of sweat ran down a first grade student¡¯s forehead.


    ¡°Five¡­¡±


    Some fidgeted anxiously.


    ¡°Four¡­¡±


    Another gulped.


    ¡°Three...¡±


    In that split second, Tang Wulin¡¯s entire being seemed to grow taller, and he ferociously slammed his hammers down onto the metal. A draconic roar exploded from his body, a golden light emerging from it. The light shot into the orange piece of titanium crystal before him. It trembled for a moment, then its exterior peeled apart like the skin of a tangerine. A brilliant golden glow emerged from the titanium crystal, then shot into the air as a luminescent beam of light. The same instant that beam shot out of the metal, Tang Wulin turned into a ball of golden light. The draconic roar continued to reverberate in the air, a faint illusion of a golden dragon¡¯s head phasing into existence behind him. The ethereal dragon head opened its maw and turned it to the sky, almost as if the thundering roar had been coming from it all along.


    In a blaze of resplendent gold, the titanium crystal¡¯s spirit ascended!


    Compared to the beam of light that came from He Xiaopeng¡¯s piece, Tang Wulin¡¯s piece generated a beam that was five times taller! The golden light stretched a full five feet into the air, and at its very apex a dragon¡¯s head could be vaguely seen. It looked exactly the same as the dragon head floating behind Tang Wulin! It even faced the sky and roared in the same way!


    Tang Wulin smiled softly. After winning the representative selection tournament and being accepted as the class president, his mind, body, and spirit had come into harmony. He was in peak condition, and as a result, he was capable of creating a work that surpassed his current skills! Today, at this very moment, he had succeeded in doing just that!


    Now everyone could see just how bizarre Tang Wulin¡¯s piece of titanium crystal was. It was a perfect sphere, the golden threads from before nowhere to be seen. In their place was a plain golden ball. The veinlike lines within the ball were finely organized into a blanket of gold, as if it had been sewn from the golden threads. It was clear that Tang Wulin¡¯s skill far surpassed He Xiaopeng¡¯s.


    What happened next, however, shocked everyone to their very cores. The body of the titanium crystal began to shrink until it was two-thirds its original size!


    The crowd went wild with disbelief. How can this be? What kind of forging is this? It¡¯s amazing!


    A figure dropped from the sky, landed on-stage, and smacked Tang Wulin in the back of his head.


    ¡°What the hell are you dilly-dallying for? Hurry up and finish it! Its spirit has formed, so you¡¯ll definitely succeed if you spirit refine it! Do you still need me to teach you this? If you waste this piece of titanium crystal, I¡¯ll make sure you don¡¯t get any sleep tonight!¡±


    Tang Wulin rubbed the back of his aching head and looked up to see the furious Feng Wuyu. Its spirit has formed? Oh! It really has!


    He had never seen such a light from a thousand refining, but Feng Wuyu had lectured him on this. Thousand refining with spirit referred to bringing the spirit out of a metal by thousand refining, but spirit refining would grant life to the metal. However, once the spirit formed from a thousand refining, signifying that the metal¡¯s life force was on the verge of awakening and only needed one last push to fully awaken. This meant that spirit refining was practically guaranteed to succeed! This was why it was said that the formation of a spirit would lead to spirit refining.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare talk back to Feng Wuyu. Ignoring the small lump of pain gathering at the back of his head, he took a deep breath and stepped forward, preparing to swing his hammers again.


    ¡°Elder Feng.¡± He Xiaopeng bowed to Feng Wuyu. As a blacksmith in the second grade, it was only natural that he was a member of Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association and recognized Feng Wuyu.


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s fury died down as he turned to address He Xiaopeng. ¡°Your performance today was not too shabby, but you still have a long ways to go. Keep working hard. You have a good foundation, but your metal lacks in spirit. You need to deepen your understanding of metals.¡± Even after giving these few words of advice, he showed no intention of getting off the stage.


    Up on the platform for the elders, Shen Yi turned to Elder Cai. ¡°What do we do now?¡±


    Just when they thought Tang Wulin lost, he produced a miracle! However, Feng Wuyu then went on-stage, which was clearly against the rules.


    Elder Cai glanced at her, then went back to looking at the stage. ¡°Let him continue forging. This match is the first grade¡¯s win. We¡¯ll push the second match back a little.¡±


    Shen Yi walked over to Elder Cai, and in a hushed tone, she said, ¡°If we let Tang Wulin continue forging, he¡¯s going to be exhausted afterward. He still needs to participate in the team battle later, and he¡¯s one of his team¡¯s pillars! It¡¯s...¡±


    The Holy Spirit Douluo smiled and interrupted her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll take care of him.¡±


    Shen Yi hastily nodded in agreement, saying no more. She turned her attention back to Tang Wulin, who was already back to forging at full speed.

 Chapter 401 - Spirit Refined Titanium Gold

    Chapter 401 - Spirit Refined Titanium Gold


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers glowed with soul power. Gone was the gentleness from before. They came down upon the titanium crystal like an endless, crashing waterfall, thundering booms now shaking the arena. The explosions of sound were further amplified by the stacked hammers effect. Upon being thousand refined, his hammers were capable of drawing on his soul power. However, after being spirit refined, they could now use his soul power to its fullest potential.


    Soul power surged through Tang Wulin¡¯s body like roaring waves. He didn¡¯t hold any part of himself back. Compared to his first spirit refining, he now had enough soul power to spare. Even if he did run out of soul power, he still had the power of his bloodline at his disposal. In addition to that, the two bean buns he had previously eaten roused his blood. He could take advantage of that to reverse the flow of his blood, the technique that had helped him complete Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and defeat Wu Siduo.


    After successfully activating Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and reversing his blood flow, Tang Wulin perfected the technique and could now use it on command. In doing so, his blood essence became thirty percent stronger, and when he used Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, his power doubled! As of now, his strongest attack consisted of his dragon claw, his gauntlet, and Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Tang Wulin had long since been able to harness the power of his bloodline to reduce his stamina consumption, improving his forging efficacy. Spirit refining titanium crystal was nothing to him now. He could use his blood essence as a substitute for his soul power, and doing so would also increase his chances of successful spirit refining a metal! During the past few days of forging alloys, he noticed that his success rate had increased. It was clear to him that the bond between metal and blood essence was deeper than the one between metal and soul power. After that discovery, Tang Wulin¡¯s level of forging entered a whole new realm. He didn¡¯t increase in rank, but his success rate soared.


    This was the reason why he could forge the titanium crystal so perfectly today.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers rained down on the titanium crystal. The golden ball inside of it grew brighter with each heavy hit, growing larger as the crystal that encased it became smaller. This was a truly bizarre scene to behold. It looked as if he were actually granting life to the metal.


    Everyone knew that titanium crystal was spirit refined the moment that only its gold remained. Titanium gold had an astronomical value. It was one of the top ten metals and could be reforged into an alloy. Forget normal soul masters, even Titled Douluos desired such a metal! All who were not yet four-word battle armor masters would! A single piece of titanium gold could drastically boost the toughness and other properties of battle armor. It was an absolute treasure. Titanium crystal was rare, but finding titanium gold was like spotting a unicorn! A piece once appeared in an auction auction and sold for a whopping eighty million coins! It was so rare that it didn¡¯t have a set market value!


    Tang Wulin had imbued the metal with his blood essence as he forged. He was the only one who could finish forging it now. If that weren¡¯t the case, Feng Wuyu would have jumped in to finish it himself. No one would pass up an opportunity to obtain some titanium gold. Even with Feng Wuyu¡¯s cultivation level and status as a three-word battle armor master, only three pieces of his battle armor had titanium gold infused in them!


    Feng Wuyu balled his hands into tight fists. You have to succeed!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power depleted rapidly as he forged the titanium crystal. Every strike of his hammers sent a burst of soul power into the titanium crystal, reducing its size and granting it life. Titanium crystal was much faster to spirit refine than other metals. However, this speed came at the cost of increased soul power consumption during the refining process. The amount of consumption was so shocking that Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t keep up. Only fifteen minutes had passed by the time Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power ran out. As soon as it did, his three purple soul rings disappeared and a resplendent golden one took their place. Tang Wulin called his blood essence forth in a surge of awesome power, activating Golden Dragon Body as an intense, draconic roar resounded from deep within him. Anyone with sharp eyes would see golden scales shimmering faintly in the air around him.


    From his seat on the platform that overlooked the arena, Zhuo Shi gawked at Tang Wulin. ¡°He succeeded! That brat succeeded at learning my Dragon Shocks the Heavens with just three soul rings! I had to wait until I had five rings before I could refine my bloodline to half that of a true dragon¡¯s and complete it! No wonder he can forge like that¡­ he¡¯s using the power of his bloodline to supplement his forging!¡±


    Golden light streamed from Tang Wulin¡¯s spirit refined heavy silver hammers as his blood essence coursed through them. The golden ball on the forging table before him shrank rapidly as he continued to forge. He could feel the connection between the metal and his bloodline growing deeper and more intense. The titanium crystal was an infant about to be born and on the verge of gaining awareness.


    Tang Wulin could feel his blood essence roar within him. It was being consumed at a much slower pace than his soul power had been. He allowed its flow to reverse, feeling no need to really control it. The aura of his blood essence immediately grew thicker, a warmth spreading throughout his body.


    Boom after boom filled the air. The song of Tang Wulin¡¯s forging now followed the same tune as He Xiaopeng¡¯s had. In fact, it was even louder. The titanium crystal grew brighter with each strike, the golden ball rapidly filling the space that the crystal of the metal previously occupied.


    W-what! He¡¯s about to succeed at spirit refining? H-he¡¯s actually a fifth-rank blacksmith?


    He Xiaopeng stared at Tang Wulin in shock. At the age of seventeen, he was the oldest student in the second grade. He always thought himself a prodigy for becoming a fourth-rank blacksmith at the age of seventeen. Yet  Mu Xi, being a fourth-rank blacksmith herself, transferred in and showed him that wasn¡¯t the case. If she hadn¡¯t transferred in late, she might have threatened his position as blacksmith representative of the second grade. Even before this match, some said she should go up instead of him. They had believed it impossible for the first grade to win and thought it would be a good chance for her to show off her skills. In the end, however, the teacher had settled on him being the one to go up, saying that the first grade had an extremely talented blacksmith.


    He Xiaopeng hadn¡¯t minded the teacher¡¯s words back then, but he hadn¡¯t looked down on his opponent either. He believed that, as long as he did his best, victory was certain.


    Yet reality had played out differently.


    He Xiaopeng had performed to the very best of his ability today, even surpassing his limits a bit. He had been completely satisfied with the result.


    But then Tang Wulin did the impossible!


    He¡¯s still young! He can¡¯t be more than fifteen, much younger than me, yet he can actually spirit refine! I don¡¯t even know when I¡¯ll be able to!


    In the audience, a pair of shining eyes stared at Tang Wulin in astonishment. These eyes belonged to Mu Xi!


    Mu Xi knew Tang Wulin was a fifth-rank blacksmith, but this was her first time seeing him spirit refine. He really can do it! That golden light should be his blood essence... I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s already so strong. He¡¯s even more amazing than before.


    As Tang Wulin¡¯s senior sister, no one understood his blacksmithing skill and his comprehension level better than her. She had been absolutely certain that Tang Wulin would be the first grade¡¯s blacksmith representative, so she hadn¡¯t fought He Xiaopeng for their own grade¡¯s position. She didn¡¯t want to compete with Tang Wulin because she never won against him before, and she knew this time would be no different.


    Mu Xi¡¯s smile grew wider and wider as she watched him forge. He¡¯s advanced step by step, and now he¡¯s able to spirit refine titanium crystal. Is there anything he can¡¯t do? Fortunately, none of her classmates paid any attention to her. They were all focused on the spectacle happening on-stage. If some had seen her face, they surely would have doubted which side she was on.


    Tang Wulin brought his hammers down upon the titanium crystal once more. They struck the metal, sending a thundering tremor through the arena and everyone present. The golden light around Tang Wulin began to fade, and all of a sudden, a crack appeared in the titanium crystal.


    Everyone stared at the metal, eyes wide. A crack! There¡¯s a crack in it! Did he¡­ did he actually fail?


    The crack spread. The process was slow at first, the first crack slowly giving way to another, gradually making its way across the surface of the crystalline metal like a web being patiently spun. Yet that patience was soon forgotten. Cracks quickly ran rampant across the metal ball, branching off into two, then four, then eight, until a myriad of them completely covered the ball.


    Then, after a tense moment, the crystal broke apart. Thin translucent flakes fell away from the ball one by one, each coming to rest atop the forging table to reveal a flawless golden ball that exuded life. The Holy Spirit Douluo could clearly feel the life force within the metal. She nodded imperceptibly, a warm smile forming on her lips. Awe filled her eyes.


    The golden ball resembled a bird that had just hatched. It slowly floated up into the air, then it began circling Tang Wulin like a baby bird greeting its mother, breaking the silence of the arena with cheerful humming.


    Tang Wulin smiled. He had granted this metal life and sentience. He had succeeded at spirit refining before, but the product hadn¡¯t been anywhere near as intelligent as this golden ball before him. This was his first time seeing such intelligent spirit refined metal.


    It was a miracle.

 Chapter 402 - Life-bestowed Titanium Gold

    Chapter 402 - Life-bestowed Titanium Gold


    Tang Wulin raised his hand and the golden ball landed into his palm. It hummed softly in his hand, nuzzling his palm affectionately.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face twitched. If every piece of spirit refined metal is like this from now on, could I bear giving them away? It feels like it''s my own child!


    At that moment, Feng Wuyu spoke up. ¡°Disciple! Why don¡¯t we discuss some things?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked up to see a sleazy smile on his teacher¡¯s face. ¡°Okay! As long we don¡¯t talk about my titanium gold, I¡¯m fine with anything. It¡¯s bound to me through my blood essence, so giving it to you would be a waste.¡±


    ¡°You stinking brat!¡± Feng Wuyu smacked the back of Tang Wulin¡¯s head, but eventually revealed a helpless smile. This kid really doesn¡¯t care about how I feel!


    Tang Wulin smirked. ¡°Teacher, I¡¯ve already delayed the competition long enough. I need to go down and rest. I¡¯ll visit you in the evening.¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Feng Wuyu nodded, still unable to hide his smile.


    Tang Wulin had bestowed life onto the titanium crystal. He had succeeded in spirit refining it into titanium gold. He was no longer a fifth-rank blacksmith in name alone. Although he had focused solely on forging alloys since reaching this rank, it had imperceptibly influenced his refining ability, particularly his control and perception. Feng Wuyu had no right to be fussy with such a talented disciple.


    ¡°The match is over. Tang Wulin of the first grade is the winner,¡± Shen Yi declared. The result had long since been clear to everyone, but this made it official. He Xiaopeng quietly descended from the stage while Tang Wulin returned to his classmates amidst their cheers.


    Tang Wulin flashed a smile at his classmates then gestured to Xu Lizhi. Upon seeing that signal, Xu Lizhi jogged over and handed Tang Wulin some pork buns he had prepared beforehand. Tang Wulin devoured them, then sat down cross-legged to meditate. Spirit refining the titanium crystal had drained him, but he would soon have to go up for the team battle. He had to take every moment he could to recover.


    ¡°The second match will be fought through mecha-designing,¡± Shen Yi announced. ¡°Would the representatives please come up.¡±


    The students of the second grade could hardly believe that they lost the first match, but they weren¡¯t too concerned. He Xiaopeng had still put on a splendid performance. Tang Wulin was just a freak of nature. He Xiaopeng never had a chance.


    Gu Yue looked at Tang Wulin for a moment, her eyes slightly narrowed, then took the stage. Gu Yue¡¯s opponent took the stage as well. She was a tall and no less beautiful than Mu Xi. Unlike the girls of the first grade, she possessed a hint of maturity. She looked to be the same age as He Xiaopeng, about sixteen or seventeen, a young lady in the prime of her youth. In comparison, Gu Yue had average looks. Nothing about her really drew the eyes of others. The most charming thing about her was her cool temperament.


    For this match, the forging tables remained on the stage. Their flat surfaces would do just as well for design drafting as they would forging.


    The girl from the second grade glanced at a boy in the audience and flashed a sweet smile at him. The boy nodded in response.


    That ¡°boy¡± was Yuanen Yehui.


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t miss this. He gawked at the two, his mind reeling from the exchange. What¡¯s going on? If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d think they were a couple!


    Satisfied, the girl then turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Bai Hanying from the second grade. Please advise me.¡±


    ¡°First grade¡¯s Gu Yue.¡±


    Shen Yi looked between the two girls, then walked to the edge of the platform once more. ¡°This designing match will test your reasoning and the quality of your design. You have thirty minutes to design a right gauntlet for a set of battle armor. You can use your old designs. Elder Cai will personally select the winner.¡±


    A gauntlet? Upon hearing that, the students of the first grade cheered. Tang Wulin¡¯s team had crafted his right gauntlet. Considering the relationship between Gu Yue and Tang Wulin, they were certain that she designed it! Since she was capable of creating a design for a piece of one-word battle armor, they believed they had this match in the bag.


    Graph paper and writing instruments were immediately delivered to the stage and placed on the forging tables. The moment everything was set up, Shen Yi cried, ¡°Begin!¡±


    With that declaration, the pencils of the two competitors began to dance, the contents of their minds pouring out onto the paper.


    It was fundamentally impossible to create a design from scratch in just thirty minutes. What this match truly tested was their design fundamentals. Gu Yue didn¡¯t draw too quickly or too slowly. Her pencil moved steadily across the paper, never stopping for even a moment. The form of a gauntlet quickly took shape on her paper. On the other side of the stage, Bai Hanying drew much faster, constantly erasing and revising her design. In spite of that, she made quick progress.


    Soon enough, the thirty allotted minutes ran out. The second they did, Bai Hanying and Gu Yue put their pencils down at practically the same time.


    The two designs were delivered to Elder Cai. She handed one of them to the Holy Spirit Douluo. The two Titled Douluos took a few minutes to inspect the designs and discuss them. Once they came to a consensus, Elder Cai stood up.


    Gu Yue and and Bai Hanying looked up at the platform expectantly.


    ¡°This match is a draw.¡± Elder Cai looked between the two girls. ¡°Gu Yue, your design for a one-word gauntlet incorporates spirit alloys and is very comprehensive. It¡¯s a practical and effective design. Bai Hangying, your design is much more complicated, and it implemented many advanced theories perfectly. However, the overall design is flawed. If you manage to complete it, you¡¯ll have become a fifth-rank designer. Is your design meant for someone with twin martial souls?¡±


    Bai Hanying nodded. ¡°Yes, Elder Cai.¡±


    Elder Cai continued. ¡°In order to perfect your design, you should work together with Gu Yue. You will be able to complement each other and make up for your deficiencies, making it far easier to complete the design. Adding spirit alloys to the design would vastly improve a one-word gauntlet meant for someone with twin martial souls. You would waste a lot of time if you work independently.¡±


    Bai Hanying turned to look at Gu Yue, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes. Designing battle armor for someone with twin martial souls was already a difficult task. Adding spirit alloys to the design would push it beyond the domain of her current abilities. Feeling Bai Hanying¡¯s gaze, Gu Yue turned to look her in the eye. She already understood what the girl¡¯s goal was. That design was most likely for Yuanen Yehui.


    It was in this way that the second match concluded. The first grade now led the competition with one win and one draw.


    Gu Yue was over two years younger than her opponent, but she was able to bring the match to a draw. This was victory enough for them.


    Both competitors left the stage. The students in the first grade welcomed Gu Yue back with loud cheers. They had done well in the first two matches so far, and this boosted their confidence.


    However, the first grade suffered a crushing defeat in the third match.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t recognize the mecha maker the second grade sent out. He was a fourth-rank maker, but the first grade only had the third-rank Luo Guixing. The difference between the two clear, and defeat came swiftly.


    The fourth match, on the other hand, was surprisingly even. Wu Siduo was quite the gifted mechanic, but her opponent was the class president of the second grade, Yuanen Yehui. Yuanen Yehui won by a thin margin in the end, but she knew that she was older than Wu Siduo by a year, so she couldn¡¯t feel satisfied by the win.


    With the conclusion of the fourth match, the second grade had two wins, one draw, and one loss. It seemed as though their victory were certain, but they didn¡¯t seem happy at all. Considering the age difference, it became clear that the second grade was actually weaker than the first grade.


    If they did win, it wouldn¡¯t be a true victory.

 Chapter 403 - Six Versus Six

    Chapter 403 - Six Versus Six


    ¡°Now, for the final match of this competition,¡± Shen Yi announced. ¡°The team battle. Both teams will now come up. The first grade¡¯s team may have between three and seven people. The second grade¡¯s team may number one less than the first grade¡¯s.¡± Her voice didn¡¯t hold even the slightest hint of bias.


    ¡°No,¡± Elder Cai cut in. ¡°The second grade team field the same number of combatants as the first grade.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Shen Yi said without batting an eye. ¡°The second grade¡¯s team will number the same as the first grade¡¯s. How large is the first grade¡¯s team?¡±


    Seated cross-legged, Tang Wulin slowly opened his eyes. ¡°The first grade¡¯s team has six people.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui looked at him. Their gazes clashed like a burst of sparks. She could see the blazing determination in his eyes. This guy certainly lives up to his position as their team captain!


    Shen Yi turned to the second grade. ¡°The second grade¡¯s team may send out six people. You all have three minutes to prepare. After that, the match will begin.¡±


    Off among the spectators, Wu Siduo stared at Tang Wulin. Her fingers twitched as she hesitated to say something, but in the end, she held her silence. She had heard about the strength of the second grade¡¯s class president. This made her yearn to battle him. But she hadn¡¯t earn the right to. If it weren¡¯t for her and Luo Guixing being so stubborn in the past, they would have been going on that stage as well!


    The first grade¡¯s team was composed of Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan, Xu Lizhi, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie. At the opposite end of the arena, Yuanen Yehui, He Xiaopeng, Bai Hanying, Yue Zhengyu, Ye Xingmo, and Duan Hunxiao gathered.


    Up on the elevated platform, the Holy Spirit Douluo turned to Elder Cai and smiled. ¡°Which side do you think is going to win, Yue Yue?¡±


    Elder Cai laughed. ¡°Why are you asking me that, Elder Sister Yali? The first grade has essentially already won. Do you not have faith in them?¡±


    ¡°I watched the selection tournament and saw for myself just how powerful this year¡¯s new students are. They actually could have sent out a full team of seven and increased their odds of winning.¡±


    ¡°The second grade¡¯s team isn¡¯t weak either,¡± Elder Cai said. ¡°Their class president, Yuanen Yehui, is a working student, has two peak-level martial souls, and is quite the hard worker. I¡¯m well aware of the first grade¡¯s team¡¯s strengths too. It looks like this match will be a showdown between class presidents. If Tang Wulin can take care of Yuanen Yehui, then the first grade¡¯s got a shot at winning, but it will still be tough.¡±


    The Holy Spirit Douluo chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see. I¡¯m here to referee the match anyway.¡± She stood up, attracting everyone¡¯s attention. Stepping off the platform, she gently floated down to the stage.


    Tang Wulin and his teammates finished up their hushed discussion and walked onto the stage. He stood at the front of his team. To his left was Xie Xie, his right Ye Xinglan. Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi were positioned behind him. Seeing that their opponents had taken stage, Yuanen Yehui led her team up as well.


    Having yet to release her martial soul, Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t seem very imposing with her average size. However, in the split second she locked eyes with Tang Wulin, an oppressive aura began to swirl around her. Tang Wulin may have already been familiar with her, but this would be his first time actually facing her as an opponent, and just as he was familiar with her, she was familiar with him. She knew that he was the heart of his team, and as long as she defeated him, victory would belong to the second grade.


    Her five teammates quickly got into position. He Xiaopeng stood to her left, Yue Zhengyu to her right. Ye Xingmo and Duan Hunxiao stood behind them with Bai Hanying sandwiched in the middle.


    Tang Wulin was already drawing up plans the moment he saw how they were arranged. Considering their battle formation, they shouldn¡¯t have a support-type soul master. All of them should be combat-oriented. That Bai Hanying is probably a control-type, so the rest should be assault or agility-types. His eyes swept from Bai Hanying to the others. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu are definitely assault-types. He Xiaopeng probably is too. That means Ye Xingmo and Duan Hunxiao are probably agility-types. Their team composition wouldn¡¯t be balanced without any agility-types after all.


    Standing at one edge of the stage, a hint of a smile played at the Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s lips as she looked between the two teams.


    ¡°You have thirty seconds left,¡± Shen Yi announced from the platform. ¡°Prepare for battle.¡±


    Right on cue, Tang Wulin took a step forward, power radiating from his body in waves. He knew that Yuanen Yehui was the cornerstone of the opposing team, and now both he and her were posturing. He sucked in a deep breath and his eyes became a bright gold, a mighty aura thickening around him. The droning of a faint roar emanated from deep within his body. A golden vein flickered to life at the base of his neck, throbbing with power. Yuanen Yehui urged her aura to soar higher in response. They partook in battle of wills before the match even began. Tang Wulin was an unstoppable wave while Yuanen Yehui was an immovable mountain. The clash of their resolves whipped the surrounding air into a frenzy.


    Tang Wulin understood how formidable Yuanen Yehui was, but defeat had never crossed his mind. His eyes had always been set on winning!


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Without even summoning his martial soul, Tang Wulin shot forward like a cannonball, hurtling straight at Yuanen Yehui. A single golden soul ring appeared as he activated Golden Dragon Body instead. His body swelled with strength and golden scales materialized down his right arm, the hand transforming into a dragon claw. Light then gathered around the claw and become a fitting gauntlet! With the resplendent golden battle armor gauntlet equipped, his strength soared to its peak.


    He¡¯s going all out from the get-go? All of the second grade students were shocked. Yuanen Yehui, however, took action in a similar fashion. The instant the match started, she leaped forward, her body undergoing the Titan Giant Ape transformation in midair. As she finished transforming, she activated Diamond Titan. She hit the stage with a rumble, leaped forward again to soar directly at Tang Wulin!


    The battle had just begun, yet the champions of each team were already clashing!


    As for their teammates, they all did their own thing.


    Xu Xiaoyan held Gu Yue¡¯s hand as she stepped forward and conjured up a blizzard. Xie Xie vanished into the blizzard. Xu Lizhi stood in place, muttering chants to himself as he produced bun after bun. Ye Xinglan replaced Tang Wulin at the front of the formation, standing guard over those who remained.


    At the other end of the stage, the second grade students all summoned their martial souls. Two yellow soul rings and one purple soul ring appeared around He Xiaopeng. His martial soul was a large silver hammer, the head of which resembled a flower in full bloom. His martial soul was called the Eight-petal Plum Blossom Silver Hammer. Unfortunately for him, it was only a single hammer, otherwise, he could have forged with it. Just as Tang Wulin guessed, he was an assault-type soul master! Yue Zhengyu also summoned his Holy Angel martial soul. His second soul ring lit up and a holy sword appeared in his hand. Together with He Xiaopeng, he advanced on the first grade¡¯s team in a pincer attack.


    Behind them, Ye Xingmo and Duan Hunxiao jumped into action. Ye Xingmo shot forward, now wielding a sword in hand. A golden star shone on his forehead. He moved astonishingly fast, overtaking He Xiaopeng in a single flash of movement. With another, he would reach his targets. In the same breath, Duan Hunxiao summoned a flute with a wave of his hand. Four soul rings revolved around it, two yellow and two purple. He snatched it out of the air and blew on it, filling the arena with a melancholic tune. It washed over the first grade competitors, overwhelming them with a wave of dizziness.


    This was Duan Hunxiao¡¯s crowd control soul skill, Soul Tuning!

 Chapter 404 - A Battle of Kings

    Chapter 404 - A Battle of Kings


    Duan Hunxiao¡¯s melancholic tune continued to resonate throughout the arena. The intensity of the blizzard began to weaken, clearly showing it was having an effect on the other team. Bai Hanying smiled and took a step back, letting Duan Hunxiao take her place. A tree branch covered in beautiful blossoming flowers appeared in her hand. This was her martial soul, the Cherry Blossom! She swung it with a flourish, dispersing the petals through the air. They floated to her teammates and released a gentle light as they came to rest on each of them.


    Tang Wulin was wrong. They did have a support-type soul master. That was Bai Hanying!


    This single move drastically bolstered the strength of the second grade team.


    At the very center of the arena, the two class presidents met. A boom tore through the air, the ground trembling as their fists met in midair. Yuanen Yehui was shocked to find herself being pushed by Tang Wulin¡¯s strength. The golden aura around Tang Wulin flared as he exerted strength through his legs and leaped after her in pursuit.


    Although Yuanen Yehui was sent retreating, she didn¡¯t suffer any real injuries. With some breathing room now, she retaliated and used Air Cannon, sending a bombardment of shockwaves back at Tang Wulin. Duan Hunxiao took this chance to blow another note. Tang Wulin¡¯s strength dipped under the note¡¯s influence.


    Yet Tang Wulin¡¯s expression was as serene as still water. He thrust his hands out before him and used Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon! A powerful repulsive force deflected Yuanen Yehui¡¯s barrage to the side. Turning his head, Tang Wulin sent a look Duan Hunxiao¡¯s way. Duan Hunxiao had just been about to blow another note, but Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes flashed purple as he spiritually attacked him.


    Soul Tuning was a powerful crowd control soul skill. Once someone fell prey to its effects, it would be hard for them to break free. However, these effects took time to appear. That was Soul Tuning¡¯s fatal flaw. The moment Tang Wulin interrupted it, the blizzard regained its frigid strength and rapidly swelled to envelop the entire battlefield.


    It was at this moment that Ye Xingmo reached the first grade team. He Xiaopeng and Yue Zhengyu followed right behind him, the three forming a spearhead to penetrate through the first grade team¡¯s formation. They had practiced this tactic before, their spacing between each other was perfect. All three were just close enough to support each other at a moment¡¯s notice, yet far enough to not hinder one another.


    On the first grade team¡¯s side, only Ye Xinglan stood in their way. Ye Xingmo raised his sword and thrust it outward before him, the golden star on his forehead shining as a golden beam extended from his sword¡¯s tip.Ye Xinglan struck out with her own sword to meet Ye Xingmo¡¯s. A sprinkle of light trailed behind her sword, outlining the path it took. The instant the two swords met, a baptism of light engulfed the stage. The miserable shriek of metal against metal pierced the air.


    The clash swept Ye Xingmo¡¯s sword aside. A hundred threads of starlight burst from the tip of Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword, threatening to swallow him up.


    Is this¡­ martial soul suppression? This realization left Ye Xingmo dumbstruck, but he didn¡¯t stay defenseless. His Starsaint Sword began to shine as he used his third soul skill. He became one with his sword as he fell back, an aura of starlight gathering around him and deflecting the incoming threads of starlight to either side of him.


    Threads also flew toward He Xiaopeng, who brandished his hammer with both hands like a sledgehammer, obliterating the threads with a single swing. Beside He Xiaopeng, Yue Zhengyu slashed out with his holy sword. Nine afterimages of his blade appeared in the air, and an instant later, the criss-crossing threads of starlight scattered into thin air. He didn¡¯t pause at all while doing this and continued to advance on Ye Xinglan.


    As Yue Zhengyu slashed at her, Ye Xinglan¡¯s first soul ring lit up. Starlight burst from her sword. This soul skill bore a striking resemblance to the one Ye Xingmo used just now, except it was far brighter. She swung her sword to meet Yue Zhengyu¡¯s, and a metallic clang rang out. His weapon having been readily deflected, Yue Zhengyu retreated two steps while Ye Xinglan retreated one.


    They were evenly matched.


    This is¡­ The spectating students of the first grade stared blankly at the the two. The sight even had Wu Siduo at a loss. It initially seemed rash for Tang Wulin to rush forward without a care for his companions, but Ye Xinglan proved herself strong enough to hold the line. She had managed to fight alone against three opponents! All three were in the second grade and either had four soul rings or were just short of that number! Yet Ye Xingmo had been easily suppressed by Ye Xinglan and Yue Zhengyu had been blocked. This turn of events utterly confused He Xiaopeng.


    Despite facing three powerful opponents, Ye Xinglan kept her momentum going. She pulled back her sword and pinched its tip between the fingers of her other hand. In a clear martial form, her foot slid out from underneath her, and she lashed out with her sword. A shard of starlight shot out of it, zipping straight for Ye Xingmo before he could land. She was still using only her first soul skill.


    Stuck in mid-air, Ye Xingmo had no way to dodge. However, a beam of holy light came flying out of nowhere and intercepted the starlight! A hint of embarrassment showed on Ye Xingmo¡¯s face as he knew he had just been saved. At that same moment, He Xiaopeng reached Ye Xinglan. He brandished his hammer and used his first soul skill, Tremor Burst! A series of explosions rent the air, engulfing everything in a three meter radius. He Xiaopeng¡¯s Eight-petal Plum Blossom Silver Hammer was no ordinary martial soul. It possessed an inkling of the space attribute!


    Yet Ye Xinglan still showed no fear. Her second soul ring lit up as she responded with a stroke of her sword, a net of starlight instantly blossoming into existence. The net was wide enough to encompass both He Xiaopeng and Yue Zhengyu! She wasn¡¯t going to retreat in the face of just three opponents.


    Meanwhile, the blizzard continued to build up strength. Its frigid winds stabbed chilling daggers into everyone on the second grade team. Even the students in the audience that were closest to the stage could feel the temperature dropping.


    Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui clashed once more at the center of the stage, rocking the entire arena with shockwaves of energy. The exchange sent both of them reeling backward. They were still evenly matched!

 Chapter 405 - Devil Titan

    Chapter 405 - Devil Titan


    By bringing the full power of his draconic blood to bear and using Golden Dragon Body, Tang Wulin and his three soul rings were able to stand on even ground with the five-meter tall Yuanen Yehui whose strength was bolstered by Diamond Titan!


    Out of everyone present, this undoubtedly shocked Yuanen Yehui the most. She knew that Tang Wulin was strong, but she thought he wouldn¡¯t be able to match her, especially since she just got her fourth soul ring. She had been certain that the gap between them had widened. Yet Tang Wulin¡¯s strength surpassed all her expectations. His battle armor equipped dragon claw astounded her most of all. She had no choice but to bring out her reserve strength to resist the claw¡¯s crushing effect. Even with a cultivation base of four soul rings, she couldn¡¯t get off lightly before Tang Wulin¡¯s attacks.


    Just how strong is this guy¡¯s blood essence? Even with Diamond Titan activated, I can¡¯t match his strength! Is this the difference between men and women? That can¡¯t be! I¡¯ve never met a guy as strong as him before!


    Tang Wulin felt free. His blood essence flowed in reverse, smooth and unhindered. His entire body felt as if it were aflame, blazing with strength. Every single one of his attacks hit like a truck, especially those he made with his right arm. The gauntlet amplified the effects of his blood essence, added weight to his punches, and made his golden dragon claw deadlier than ever.


    The basis of a battle armor¡¯s power was the armor¡¯s ability to fuse with its user. Only when it became one with its user could battle armor truly amplify its user¡¯s abilities. Then, by nurturing it and increasing the compatibility rate, the user would be able to have the battle armor grow stronger alongside them.


    Although Tang Wulin didn¡¯t craft his gauntlet with his own hands, by forging the star silver it had been made from, it was exceptionally compatible with him. The strength of his blood essence exceeded the norm to begin with, but with the gauntlet, his strength reached new heights. The gauntlet fully integrated with his Golden Dragon King bloodline, and after a few days of adapting to him, the gauntlet also brought newfound strength to it.


    Although he couldn¡¯t defeat Yuanen Yehui right at that instant, he could easily keep her occupied.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s gaze sharpened. Her first soul ring lit up, switching off with her third to use Titan Strength. Her immense body seemed to become more solid, an aura of unstoppable might growing thick around her. She had always been a straightforward person, so she refused to show weakness in the face of Tang Wulin¡¯s strength.


    The two clashed again, the stage rumbling from the shockwaves created by their fists colliding once more. This time, Tang Wulin was the loser. He moved eight steps backward while Yuanen Yehui only retreated by three. However, the greatness of battle armor was apparent now. The majority of the impact had been mitigated by a burst of starlight that Tang Wulin¡¯s gauntlet had released. Considering how tough his dragon claw was, he had sustained virtually no damage. His arm simply ached a little. He held his hand in front of his stomach, the scales on his arm rippling as if it were breathing. Taking that attack had depleted a lot of his stamina, and although he had lost that exchange, he suffered no actual setback.


    Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath, his abdomen swelling as his lungs filled with air. His eyes shone with golden light, his aura of gold solidified, and a thundering draconic roar emanated from his body, reverberating through the air!


    From his seat up on the platform, Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi stared wide-eyed. That brat really succeeded?


    Streams of gold converged around Tang Wulin to form an illusory dragon¡¯s head behind him. He thrust his palms toward the sky and the dragon¡¯s roar grew more intense. The space around him went into a frenzy, preventing the blizzard from even approaching him.


    A grim look appeared on Yuanen Yehui¡¯s face. She took half a step forward with her left foot, squatted low to the ground, and used her fourth soul skill for the first time!


    The hair covering her titan body turned golden. Her body shrank a bit, but in exchange, her arms became twice as thick. Bent on all fours like a gorilla, her final form exuded a primal might. Crimson bloodlust filled her eyes.


    She went into a berserk state exactly like that of the Diamond Baboon!


    This was no simple berserk state. Yuanen Yehui¡¯s body had also transformed under its effects, combining the strongest traits of both the Titan Giant Ape and the Diamond Baboon. Although her eyes were crimson now, they were still clear and bright. The berserk state hadn¡¯t affected her mind. This was the power of her fourth soul skill, which she got from her second soul ring, Devil Titan!


    As a result of the enmity between her Titan Giant Ape blood and the Diamond Baboon spirit soul, she had endured an arduous trial trying to fuse with the spirit soul. She had nearly faced cultivation deviation! But in the end, she succeeded in fusing with the Diamond Baboon spirit soul by using her Fallen Angel martial soul to suppress the two antagonistic bloodlines.


    The conflict between the bloodlines ultimately caused a mutation in her Titan Giant Ape martial soul. This led to her Titan Giant Ape form shrinking from five meters to four when she used Devil Titan. However, this certainly didn¡¯t signify a decrease in her strength. On the contrary, her strength increased as much as it did when she used Diamond Titan! In addition to that, Devil Titan doubled the potency of all of her abilities!


    However, such power came with numerous restrictions. Yuanen Yehui had to use both Titan Strength and Diamond Titan before she could activate Devil Titan. Furthermore, she had to fuse with the Diamond Baboon spirit soul while using it. With three soul skills and the Berserk state piled atop each other, she consumed an immense amount of soul power. With her current cultivation level, she could only maintain this state for three minutes.


    But that would be a terrifying three minutes for her opponents.


    She hadn¡¯t used this soul skill a single time when she sparred with Xie Xie, yet she was already feeling the pressure from her brief clashes with Tang Wulin. She had no choice but to play this card.


    A dark-gold sheen now covered her body, the madness in her crimson eyes striking fear into the hearts of all who saw them. The oppressive aura around her could practically be touched at this point. Those around her found it hard to breathe. Three minutes? That¡¯s more than enough!


    Watching from the edge of the stage, astonishment colored the Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s face. Kids are so advanced these days! She¡¯s so strong with just four rings! Extraordinary!


    Yuanen Yehui ferociously charged forward, swinging a gigantic fist toward Tang Wulin. While Yuanen Yehui underwent her Devil Titan transformation, Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence had recovered to peak strength. He pushed his palms out before him, the illusory golden dragon head roaring along with his movements and shooting forward. Everything within a five meter radius of him was instantly dyed gold.


    He unleashed Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Tang Wulin may not have eaten a bean bun this time, but he had spent the past three days refining Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. The one he unleashed this time wasn¡¯t any weaker than the one he used against Wu Siduo!


    Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens met Yuanen Yehui head on!


    A shockwave erupted from the center of the stage where both powerful forces met. It tore through the arena, stirring up a frenzy of air and dust and shaking the hall with a deafening thunderclap. The dust cleared quickly, revealing Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui struggling against one another. A blazing red aura surrounded him, and her clenched fists were completely dyed gold, an effect of receiving Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Then the two suddenly broke away from each other, a gust of wind rising up into the vacuum their energies left between them. The gust dispersed the frigid winds of the blizzard around them. The next instant, both closed the gap once again, throwing another punch at each other. An even louder shockwave rocked the arena, the barrier covering the stage slightly wavering before the combined might of the two.


    The clash sent Tang Wulin flying backward, and he crashed into the barrier, bouncing off of it and onto the ground. Yuanen Yehui, on the other hand, managed to stand her ground, but her aura faded a bit. Five streaks of blood could be seen on her right fist, her right arm hanging limply at her side.


    Despite her injuries, Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t let up on her assault. She raised her left fist and punched at the center of the blizzard with Air Cannon.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s so powerful!


    All of the spectating students watched with bated breath.


    Wu Siduo, who had been so confident of her strength, clenched her fists tightly. Could I stand toe-to-toe with Yuanen Yehui? Even if I used Hell White Tiger, I would only last a minute against her! That soul skill of hers is just too domineering! It¡¯s even mightier than my Hell White Tiger. I was defeated after Tang Wulin unleashed that attack, but she still has strength to spare!


    The blast of air that came from Yuanen Yehui¡¯s punch wasn¡¯t colorless this time. It was a dull gold! It pierced through the blizzard with ease. She understood that the second strongest person on Tang Wulin¡¯s team was Gu Yue. She didn¡¯t know if Tang Wulin could still fight, but as long as Gu Yue still stood, then victory was not yet theirs!


    While her right arm hadn¡¯t been ruined in her clash with Tang Wulin, the crushing effect of his dragon claw had still activated briefly and severely injured her.


    Her Devil Titan transformation now had one minute remaining. She had to secure her team¡¯s victory in that minute!

 Chapter 406 - An Opening in the Chaos

    Chapter 406 - An Opening in the Chaos


    The clash between Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui¡¯s had momentarily created a large gap in Gu Yue¡¯s blizzard, the resulting shockwaves hindering the movements of both teams. Despite the danger, two figures traversed the stage in a flash of silver light. Everyone else was too preoccupied to pay any attention to them, however. Especially Xu Lizhi. He threw bun after bun at his teammates to keep their soul power reserves topped up, all while taking the time to defend Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan. Noticing the peril that Tang Wulin was in, he threw a bun straight at him.


    Is that a Bloodthirst Bean Bun? Yuanen Yehui recognized it from their adventure in the spirit soul tower. I can¡¯t let him eat it!


    She punched out again, sending an air cannon toward the bun, the golden blast of air striking and obliterating it. She then turned her attention from Gu Yue back to Tang Wulin. She couldn¡¯t afford to focus on anyone else until she thoroughly defeated him.


    Tang Wulin struggled to his feet and wiped away the blood streaming from his nose and mouth. He didn¡¯t retreat or try to avoid Yuanen Yehui. Instead, he charged forward to welcome her. A draconic roar rumbled from the depths of his body once more, and the two collided in midair.


    Yuanen Yehui aimed a punch at Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder, but she held back. Considering his wounded state, she was afraid that she would fatally injure him if she used her full strength. But Tang Wulin noticed this. Sliding his foot to the side, he ducked under her punch. He made to grab her right arm with his claw and sweep his left foot behind her knee.


    It was a grappling technique from the Tang Sect!


    This stunned Yuanen Yehui, but only for a moment. She recovered her wits instantly and stomped her left foot into the stage. The ground cracked and shook under her strength, throwing Tang Wulin off balance and forcing him to miss his grab! Taking advantage of his broken stance, Yuanen Yehui threw another punch at his shoulder, no longer caring about Tang Wulin¡¯s condition!


    Tang Wulin rolled his shoulder backward as her fist struck him, trying to mitigate as much of the force as he could. A resounding crack rang out as Tang Wulin flew backward, bouncing across the stage like a ragdoll.


    Concern flitted into Yuanen Yehui¡¯s mind, but she pushed it aside and continued advancing toward Tang Wulin. This was a match, and she represented all of the second grade right now. Defeat was not an option.


    As the two of them brawled, a sudden change occurred on the other side of the battlefield. A pair of figures emerged from the blizzard, appearing in the backline of the second grade team.


    It was Xie Xie and his Shadow Dragon Clone!


    Xie Xie stabbed his dagger toward Bai Hanying¡¯s shoulder. Since this wasn¡¯t a real battle to the death, he had refrained from aiming to slit her neck. The other Xie Xie approached Duan Hunxiao like lightning, stabbing its own dagger toward his hand before he could play another note.


    Xie Xie caught Bai Hanying wholly unawares, but she still reacted instantly. Xie Xie¡¯s dagger passed through empty space as her body disappeared in a burst of cherry blossom petals, only for her to reappear a short distance away. As a support-type soul master, it was only natural that she had a life-saving soul skill for times like this. Meanwhile, Duan Hunxiao flicked his wrist to meet Xie Xie¡¯s dagger with his flute. This Xie Xie pulled back his dagger before he struck the flute and retreated with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step. Then he began circling around Duan Hunxiao.


    With his own strength alone, Xie Xie was keeping both of them occupied! He only chose this moment to strike because he had been waiting for the blizzard regain its intensity and fully envelop the stage to obscure everyone¡¯s vision.


    On the frontline, Ye Xingmo had been utterly suppressed by Ye Xinglan. He was battered, exhausted, and blood seeped from his chest, streaming from the wounds where her starlights threads had cut into him.


    Ye Xinglan was currently locked in battle against Yue Zhengyu and He Xiaopeng. Her Stargod Sword danced through the air as she alternated between her three soul skills, raining a barrage of deadly attacks upon them. She used her soul skills perfectly. Each had just enough soul power to get the job done. Despite facing two powerful opponents alone, she was never forced to go on the defensive.


    Ye Xingmo was undoubtedly the person in the worst position on the battlefield. Fighting Ye Xinglan reduced him to half his original strength. After several exchanges with her, each time experiencing martial soul suppression, he realized that her martial soul was the Stargod Sword.


    Martial soul suppression was a rare phenomena that only occured with martial souls of common origin. Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon King bloodline suppressing everything with draconic blood was a perfect example of this.


    Ye Xingmo¡¯s Starsaint Sword was a powerful martial soul, but the Stargod Sword completely surpassed it! He and Ye Xinglan came from the same clan, but her martial soul was a variant. The Stargod Sword had only appeared seven times in all of the Ye clan¡¯s history. The wielder of the Stargod Sword always became the head of the Ye clan and led them into a new generation of prosperity.


    Ye Xinglan was this generation¡¯s heir to the Stargod Sword.


    It was only natural that Ye Xingmo would have a sour face now. It was impossible for him to contend with the wielder of the Stargod Sword with his Starsaint Sword. His martial soul had been completely suppressed.


    So his only option was to change targets.


    He broke away from Ye Xinglan and aimed his blade at Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan. He wasn¡¯t worried about this teammates. His team also had their vice-president, Duan Hunxiao, whose strength was only second to Yuanen Yehui¡¯s. He also had many tricks up his sleeve. Trusting in his team¡¯s strength, he decided to try and take out the two girls and the food-type soul master.


    Ye Xingmo thrust out his Starsaint Sword, aiming straight for Gu Yue. But at that same moment, starlight burst into existence beneath his feet. His connection with his sword was cut off, and a pure-white palm smacked his head. Frigid cold pierced his body. His eyes only saw white now.


    The combo of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Starwheel Shackles and Gu Yue¡¯s elemental control made defeating a soul master as simple as that.


    Ye Xingmo walked the path of an agility-type soul master, so his defenses hadn¡¯t been much to begin with. A single second of absolute control with the Starwheel Shackles was all it took to stop him in his tracks. Xu Xiaoyan had spent the entire battle waiting for this opening. None of her other abilities were much to talk about, not even her Blizzard. Her greatest strength was her Starwheel Shackles. Although it had a simple effect, the number of ways it could be used in combat were endless. If used at the correct moment, it could turn the tide of battle.


    Gu Yue turned to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Go help Xinglan. I¡¯ll help Wulin.¡± Green light enveloped her and she ran over to Tang Wulin.


    The time had come. In the three minutes they had before the match, Tang Wulin planned for Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan to lure one of their opponents in for an easy takedown. As long as they could take out one member of the second grade team, they could move on to the next phase of his plan. Xie Xie¡¯s task was to take advantage of the blizzard to launch sneak attacks on support or control-type soul masters. Ye Xinglan was charged with keeping her opponents occupied.


    Now, it was time for Tang Wulin and Gu Yue to join forces to defeat Yuanen Yehui.


    Yuanen Yehui sent Tang Wulin flying with another thundering bombardment of attacks. Astonishment filled her crimson eyes. This was now her second time absolutely thrashing him. She thought it would be impossible for him to get back up again, but he overturned her expectations! Tang Wulin struggled to his feet once more and rolled his shoulders with a wince of pain.


    Then he charged her once more.


    Is he made of steel? Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t dare underestimate Tang Wulin. She witnessed him crushing a draconic soul beast instantly before, so she understood just how deadly his golden dragon claw was.


    After another brief exchange, she sent him flying again.


    At that moment, Gu Yue arrived. She raised her hand and sent a barrage of icicles and wind blades hurtling toward Yuanen Yehui.


    This surprised Yuanen Yehui. What are you doing getting near me? A elemental-type soul master getting into close-range is just seeking death!

 Chapter 407 - Exchange

    Chapter 407 - Exchange


    Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t bother dodging Gu Yue¡¯s assault. Devil Titan increased her defenses just as much as it increased her strength. Even Tang Wulin¡¯s attacks, which were empowered by Golden Dragon Body, only sent tingles through her body. The barrage of wind blades and icicles only tickled her. She swatted at Gu Yue in annoyance, but before she could land a hit, a strand of bluesilver grass wrapped around Gu Yue¡¯s waist and pulled her away. Tang Wulin had crawled back up from the floor once again and pulled Gu Yue out of harm¡¯s way. Yet, even as she retreated, Gu Yue continued to unleash an onslaught of elementals attacks upon Yuanen Yehui.


    This guy! He¡¯s as tough as leather! Yuanen Yehui punched at Gu Yue, this time sending a blast of air at her, but Tang Wulin pulled her out of the way again. He then charged Yuanen Yehui with renewed vigor, throwing a bun into his mouth as he ran.


    A Bloodthirst Bean Bun? Yuanen Yehui recognized it instantly. That¡¯s why Gu Yue ran over! She was delivering a bean bun! Yuanen Yehui knew that Devil Titan wouldn¡¯t last much longer. She was already finding it difficult to defeat Tang Wulin, but now he had a Bloodthirst Bean Bun! If she didn¡¯t finish him now, then it would be impossible for her to win. The Bloodthirst effect would definitely outlast her transformation. I can¡¯t let things go his way!


    She steeled herself, resolution glimmering in her eyes. She raised her muscular arms then smashed them down onto the stage! The ground rumbled and quaked, a seismic wave spreading outward and knocking Tang Wulin and Gu Yue into the air.


    Yuanen Yehui immediately continued her offensive. She leaped over to the two with lightning speed and smashed her fists down on them!


    Tang Wulin had only just swallowed the bean bun when the shockwave knocked him into the air. The effects of the bun had yet to take hold.


    But in that moment of crisis, the most unexpected thing occurred.


    In a flash of silver, Tang Wulin was teleported to Gu Yue¡¯s side. She wrapped an arm around his waist and thrust a palm outward to meet Yuanen Yehui¡¯s fists. Only those with the keenest of eyes were able to see that, right before her palm met Yuanen Yehui¡¯s fists, an iridescent flash of energy appeared in it.


    It was a whirlpool of space, light, water, fire, and earth!


    In the next instant, Yuanen¡¯s fists made contact, and Gu Yue and Tang Wulin were spinning backward. Tang Wulin subconsciously wrapped his body around Gu Yue¡¯s as they were sent flying. Yet Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t come away from the exchange unscathed either. The whirlpool of elements had latched on to her arms and began to spread, sending shivers through her body.


    ¡°Elemental chaos?¡± The Holy Spirit Douluo stared wide-eyed. All of the Titled Douluos on the platform above moved to the edge of their seats.


    A small golden snake appeared in a flash of light, wrapping around Tang Wulin and Gu Yue to soften their landing. It absorbed the impact as they bounced to the ground, allowing Tang Wulin to remain on his feet upon touching down. He managed to only stumble a few steps even with Gu Yue in his arms. After skidding to a stop, Tang Wulin coughed up a mouthful of blood. His body had taken quite the beating from going round after round with Yuanen Yehui. Even after eating the bean bun, his body felt heavy.


    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. The Bloodthirst effect is kicking in.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Go help Xinglan then. I can handle this.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Tang Wulin took in two deep breaths, then took off running toward Ye Xinglan.


    While the two were talking, Yuanen Yehui had been waving her arms frantically in an attempt to rid herself of the whirlpool¡¯s effects. In the end, she managed to disperse the five elements clinging to her, but not before the hairs on her arms were heavily damaged. In the interest of dealing a decisive blow, she had even used her broken right arm in the strike she just threw, relying on pure willpower to move the fractured bones. Her strength was waning. Devil Titan was wearing off.


    Gu Yue took a step toward Yuanen Yehui. The instant her toes touched the ground, she disappeared in a flash of silver light, only to reappear directly in front of Yuanen Yehui. Her face held no expression as she calmly raised a palm and thrust it at Yuanen Yehui. Red, yellow, and blue energies shrouded that palm strike.


    She¡¯s engaging in close quarters? Yuanen Yehui instinctively reacted with a punch, only for Gu Yue to disappear in a silver flash once more. A split-second later, she appeared to the side of Yuanen Yehui. She struck Yuanen Yehui with her tri-colored palm, the whirling elemental energies exploded upon contact! Even with all the strength that filled Yuanen Yehui¡¯s bulky body, this strike sent her reeling backward.


    What happened next left everyone in shock.


    Gu Yue continued to teleport around Yuanen Yehui, dodging each punch at the last possible instant, countering with an tri-element palm strike, then teleporting away again. If Yuanen Yehui slammed the floor to create a shockwave, then Gu Yue struck from above. She was like a specter, impossible to catch.


    The spectating second grade students were dumbstruck. The first grade had someone like this?


    It had been shocking enough that Tang Wulin could go toe-to-toe with Yuanen Yehui, but now Gu Yue appeared and toyed with her with this unorthodox battle style.


    Even someone as skilled at spatial control as Luo Guixing couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. Just how powerful is Gu Yue? She¡¯s teleporting nonstop! Her spiritual power has got to be immense! Then there are those three-element palm strikes! How is she able to unleash them so quickly? She¡¯s never showed anything like this before! Even in the selection tournament, her strength was still within the realm of plausibility! Is this her true strength?


    Two booms suddenly rang out from the other side of the stage, on after the other.


    The first came from He Xiaopeng, having been sent careening backward by an explosive barrage of starlight threads. Xu Xiaoyan had rooted him in place with her Starwheel Shackles. Ye Xinglan then took advantage of this opening to unleash a barrage of starlight threads. A moment after that, white light enveloped him, and he disappeared.


    Of Ye Xinglan¡¯s two remaining opponents, one had been defeated.


    In the next instant, her second opponent, Yue Zhengyu, advanced with furious power. His radiant sword burst with holy flame, and he slashed it at Ye Xinglan, striking her Stargod Sword at an odd angle. Ye Xinglan twisted to face the blow and muster up the best defense possible, but it sent her flying, her body erupting in holy flame. White light enveloped her, and she departed the stage, having been eliminated as well.


    It was then Tang Wulin arrived at that side of the battlefield. He glanced at where Ye Xinglan had been and growled. Oh Xinglan! You¡¯re too arrogant for your own good!


    With her strength, Ye Xinglan would have had no problems stalling until Tang Wulin reached her, but in her arrogance, she chose to bring her battle to a head! She struck out and managed to take out He Xiaopeng. In doing so, she left herself open to Yue Zhengyu. Although she ended up falling to his blade, in a one-versus-two situation, she managed to take one opponent down and exhaust the other. She had already displayed her strength.


    The first and second grade students in the audience watched with bated breath. On the first grade¡¯s side, Ye Xinglan had been eliminated. The second grade had lost both Ye Xingmo and He Xiaopeng. The first grade now held the advantage.


    It was five against four!

 Chapter 408 - A Dire Situation

    Chapter 408 - A Dire Situation


    After dispatching Ye Xinglan, Yue Zhengyu took stock of the situation. He quickly noticed that his team was at a disadvantage and promptly took action. A holy aura enveloped him, and he raised his holy sword, his three soul rings taking on an intense sheen at the same time. He lit up like a soul bulb, radiant as a the sun itself. Powerful waves of holy might rolled off of him. With his sword raised to pierce the heavens, holy light descended around him. The entire stage basked in the brilliant splendor, an expanse of golden clouds gathered in the sky above. The very sight filled everyone with awe.


    ¡°Judgement!¡± Yue Zhengyu¡¯s voice resounded throughout the arena, the entire stage trembling before his holy might. Three golden beams of light fell upon Tang Wulin, Xu Lizhi, and Xu Xiaoyan. They swallowed them up in an instant, their figures disappearing.


    The beams were made of pure holy energy. Inside of them, Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan felt as if their souls were ascending to a higher realm. They felt no pain or suffering, only a comforting warmth. However, the soul power in their bodies gushed out of them uncontrollably. In the blink of an eye, half of their soul power reserves were gone. Then weakness took hold of their bodies.


    Before this could go on any further, two beams of white shot out. They disrupted the beams of holy energy, taking their places on Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi to whisk them away in a flash of light.


    Both were eliminated.


    No one had expected Yue Zhengyu to explode with such power. His attack carried the might of his three soul skills, possessing the power to dissolve the energy within his the bodies of his targets. The tide of battle had been turned in an instant.


    The moment his two teammates were eliminated, Tang Wulin¡¯s golden soul ring shone brightly. A golden aura blazed into existence around him and fought back the holy light. Compared to Yue Zhengyu¡¯s brilliant aura, Tang Wulin¡¯s aura held a hint of darkness.


    Five streaks of dark-gold sliced through the holy light and continued onward to Yue Zhengyu. Spatial cracks appeared around Yue Zhengyu as the streaks approached him. In another flash of white light, Yue Zhengyu disappeared from the stage. With just a wave of her hand, the Holy Spirit Douluo saved another student from fatal harm.


    And Yue Zhengyu was also eliminated!


    Tang Wulin may have defeated Yue Zhengyu by using both his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw and Bluesilver Golden Array, but he did not come away from the holy light unscathed. Immediately after retaliating, he fell to one knee, gasping for breath. The concentrated bombardment of holy judgement had depleted Tang Wulin¡¯s energies and washed away the Bloodthirst effect. After taking a beating from Yuanen Yehui, and now this, his reserves had now run dry.


    The first grade team now found itself facing a dire situation. If Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t continue fighting, then only Gu Yue and Xie Xie remained. To make matters worse, at that very moment, Duan Hunxiao cornered Xie Xie¡¯s clone.


    As expected! The second grade is stronger in the end! Confidence glimmered in the eyes of the second grade students.


    Weakness weighed down on Tang Wulin¡¯s body. This battle had placed him under the most pressure. He had gone toe-to-toe with Yuanen Yehui and kept her occupied, had taken a full blast of holy might, and had even mustered the strength he still had to take out Yue Zhengyu!


    But the battle wasn¡¯t over. Neither side had won yet.


    Tang Wulin pushed off the ground with his right hand, swaying and teetering until he found his footing. He then took in a deep breath, raised his hands, and began moving them in circles. The flow of his blood essence reversed once more.


    As he did that, the showdown between Gu Yue and Yuanen Yehui reached its climax.


    Gu Yue danced like a specter, her figure flickering in and out of existence around Yuanen Yehui. Each time she appeared, a tri-element palm strike quickly followed.


    Despite all her strength, all Yuanen Yehui could do was passively defend. As the countdown on Devil Titan¡¯s duration reached its end, her expression grew darker and quickly soured into a frown. She had never considered switching to her Fallen Angel martial soul for this match. She kept it a secret that few were privy to. If she did use it, her true gender would be revealed. However, Gu Yue¡¯s strength far exceeded her expectations. Isn¡¯t she supposed to be a ranged attacker? How is she able to condense the elements and use it in close quarters combat like this?


    Although Devil Titan did power her defenses up to an impressive level, Yuanen Yehui still needed to move soul power through her body to dispel the elemental energies left by each of Gu Yue¡¯s palm strikes. The elemental energies quickly accumulated on her body, fusing together to produce more potent effects.


    If Yuanen Yehui were in peak condition, she would have had nothing to fear from Gu Yue. She could have just used a wide-ranged attack to force her away. Teleportation was indeed a powerful ability, but Yuanen Yehui could have just created a spatial disturbance with a full-strength punch. That, by itself, would have prevented Gu Yue from teleporting all over the place.


    Unfortunately for Yuanen Yehui, the effects of Devil Titan were about to expire. Her strength was already plummeting rapidly. She wouldn¡¯t be able to hold out much longer. She couldn¡¯t sustain her Titan Giant Ape form much longer either. Her soul power was nearly depleted. Even if she switched over to her Fallen Angel martial soul, her combat power would take a massive hit.


    What can I do?


    At that moment, a sharp, melodic sound pierced the air. On the other side of the battlefield, two figures stumbled backward and fused into one. Xie Xie stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. He had no way of defending against Duan Hunxiao¡¯s attack.


    Duan Hunxiao¡¯s eyes had a frosty edge to them. Despite being his team¡¯s control-type soul master, he had failed to stop the enemy agility-type soul master from attacking his teammate. He felt utterly humiliated. He had his own pride, and Yuanen Yehui was the only person in his class that he respected.


    Xie Xie had used his surprise attack to throw Bai Hanying and Duan Hunxiao into disarray, then worked with his clone to keep them occupied. However, his clone had been dispelled and he no longer had enough soul power to call another one.


    Duan Hunxiao didn¡¯t let this opportunity go to waste. His third soul ring lit up and he blew into his flute. A screech pierced the air, a baleful aura enveloping Xie Xie.


    It was his third soul skill, Death Song, a sound wave attack that also affected the target¡¯s mind!


    Bai Hanying chose this moment to act. She waved the branch in her hand, scattering cherry blossom petals into the air. The petals drifted over to Yuanen Yehui. The moment they touched her, her back straightened, ferocity returned to her gaze, and a shimmering aura of white enveloped her. With her strength restored, she stomped at the ground.


    Space in a ten meter radius of her warped and trembled. Gu Yue suddenly appeared out of thin air and dropped to the ground. After retreating a few steps, she took up her battle stance.


    Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong furrowed their brows at this sight. Yuanen Yehui slowly strode over to Gu Yue. With Xie Xie completely restrained by Duan Hunxiao, his fate was decided. No suspense remained in this battle.


    Bai Hanying¡¯s cherry blossom petals were like a bridge between her and Yuanen Yehui. She revealed a sweet smile as she stared at Yuanen Yehui¡¯s back. This soul skill was called Lover¡¯s Bridge! Once formed, it linked the soul power reserves of the user and the target. The connection allowed Bai Hanying to funnel her soul power into Yuanen Yehui! With access to a Soul Elder¡¯s soul power reserves, it was only natural that Yuanen Yehui would be able to continue to fight in her Titan Giant Ape form.


    Today¡¯s battle was full of surprises. With Tang Wulin¡¯s schemes and Ye Xinglan¡¯s strength, the first grade team had been able to take out Ye Xingmo and He Xiaopeng.


    However, they hadn¡¯t expected Yue Zhengyu to unleash such a powerful attack. Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi had been eliminated in an instant. Although Tang Wulin took Yue Zhengyu down swiftly afterward, their supply line had already been cut off. The first grade team¡¯s situation only worsened from there, yet the second grade team still had Yuanen Yehui, the four-ringed Duan Hunxiao, and the support-type Bai Hanying.


    It was clear which side would win.


    The roar of a dragon filled the stage. Tang Wulin¡¯s body glowed gold as he walked to Gu Yue¡¯s side. The two now stood shoulder-to-shoulder. At that moment, a white light flashed and Xie Xie disappeared from the battlefield. He reappeared beside the Holy Spirit Douluo an instant later. He hadn¡¯t been able to endure the Death Song any longer.


    Duan Hunxiao turned to face them Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. It was now two versus three.


    If Tang Wulin were in peak condition, then maybe there would have been hope. However, since the Bloodthirst effect wore off, he was in a weakened state. His golden aura wasn¡¯t as magnificent as it usually was. With just him and Gu Yue remaining, there was no hope for victory.


    Yuanen Yehui came to a stop and looked Tang Wulin in the eye. ¡°Surrender.¡±


    Even if they lost, they had already earned enough glory. There was a three-year age difference between grades at Shrek Academy. The gap in strength that three years of time created was like that of heaven and earth.


    But Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t give up here. Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze did not possess its usual calm. Determination still burned brightly in it, so bright that his eyes resembled a pair of fireballs. He held his head high as he strode forward, the dragon¡¯s roar growing louder with each step.


    He stopped a short distance ahead of Gu Yue. She stared at him blankly, the sight of his broad shoulders filling her eyes.


    Duan Hunxiao brought his flute back up to his mouth. With a cold glint in his eyes, he sucked in a deep breath and prepared to blow. If Tang Wulin and Gu Yue didn¡¯t concede, he would immediately launch his attack.


    Yuanen Yehui sighed. Defeating her opponent in a battle was a show of respect.


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have asked.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. He slowly raised his dragon claw and squeezed out the last shred of strength in his body, pushing his golden soul ring shine brightly once more.

 Chapter 409 - Soul Fusion Skill

    Chapter 409


    Tang Wulin knew the battle was hopeless, but he did not cower and surrender. Even in defeat he would stand with his back straight and head held high. It wasn¡¯t just his own pride that he had to protect. He stood there on the stage as the champion of the entire first grade.


    Defeat was acceptable, but surrender was not!


    All of the first grade students got to their feet, standing straight and watching the finale with clenched fists. At that moment, all of their hearts were united as they desperately hoped Tang Wulin would create a miracle.


    That¡¯s our Class President!


    Wu Siduo clenched her fists tighter than anyone else, her knuckles strained white. She yearned to be up on that stage with them! Maybe, just maybe... if I were up there too, maybe we could have won this match! You¡¯re not allowed to lose, Tang Wulin!


    Up on the platform, Elder Cai nodded slightly. ¡°Even in defeat, there is honor. He¡¯s living up to the legacies of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.¡±


    Feng Wuyu snorted, but didn¡¯t say a word.


    Zhuo Shi furrowed his brow. His granddisciple had already proven himself, but this was Shrek Academy! There had never been a shortage of monsters here. Tang Wulin was not weak. His opponent was too strong!


    None of them believed that Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had a shot at winning.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo watched the scene unfold with calm eyes. Yuanen Yehui raised a fist and strode across the stage to meet Tang Wulin. Duan Hunxiao took a deep breath and prepared to blow on his flute. A faint smile tugged at the corner of the Douluo¡¯s mouth as her gaze moved to Tang Wulin.


    But an instant later, shock replaced the calm!


    Gu Yue snapped out of her daze and stopped staring at Tang Wulin¡¯s back. She took a step forward and hugged him from behind.


    W-what is she doing? Even if you like him, do you really have to do that during a battle? And you two are so young too! What on earth is she doing? No one could comprehend what they were seeing.


    Yuanen Yehui and Duan Hunxiao were dumbstruck. The Lover¡¯s Bridge that connected Bai Hanying and Yuanen Yehui wavered. The teachers on the platform had blank looks on their faces.


    The lifeless dragon roar coming from Tang Wulin¡¯s body suddenly grew stronger. His blood essence surged with power. Strands of red, blue, yellow, green, gold, silver, and black rose from Gu Yue¡¯s body, intertwining to become one before merging into Tang Wulin¡¯s body. The seven colors spread across his golden scales, painting them with their hues, and the regal majesty of his aura grew even further.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t understand what was happening. All he knew was that his body was now bursting with power. The unprecedented level of power thrashing within him made his entire body tremble. His seven-colored scales grew thicker, turning transparent as they spread to cover the rest of his body. He was soon clad in an armor of shining translucent scales. The dragon within him roared, looking upon the whole world with disdain.


    Up on the platform, Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi and Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu groaned. Their faces contorted with horror, clearly feeling their martial souls being suppressed. If their cultivation levels weren¡¯t so much higher than Tang Wulin¡¯s, they would have already been prostrating themselves before him.


    What¡¯s going on?


    Tang Wulin floated a few meters into the air. His dragon claw now gleamed with seven resplendent colors. Clenching it into a fist.


    Duan Hunxiao reacted quickly to the change. His fourth soul ring lit up and he blew an ear-piercing note, creating a sound wave so powerful that it may as well have been tangible. The wave rolled toward Tang Wulin, threatening to swallow him whole, but when it was only five meters away from him, the space around him warped and the sound wave disappeared. The flute went silent.


    Then Tang Wulin turned to Yuanen Yehui, instantly crossed the distance between them, and punched.


    Only then did Yuanen Yehui recover from her shock. She let out a battle cry and threw both her fists forward to meet Tang Wulin¡¯s attack, drawing out every last drop of strength from her body. However, inches before Yuanen Yehui¡¯s fists met Tang Wulin¡¯s, the space around her distorted. She felt as if she were trying to move through a quagmire. No matter how much strength she exerted, her body refused to move forward.


    A seven-colored light engulfed the entire battlefield in an instant. The colors mingled together, swirling back and forth until all the spectating students could see encompassing the stage was pitch-black darkness. The battlefield was completely devoid of light.


    What¡¯s happening? No one understood what they were seeing.


    Then, in the next moment, light appeared to illuminate the darkness. This light was a familiar white. It retrieved Yuanen Yehui, Bai Hanying, and Duan Hunxiao from the darkness, moving them from the stage. Then it transformed into a net and covered all of the students the Holy Spirit Douluo had extracted from the battle. Once it did, the darkness began to fade away, revealing the transformed Tang Wulin floating in the air. He slowly descended, coming to a gentle landing on the stage. Gu Yue then separated from his body. The instant she did, the blossom of seven lights vanished into nothingness. The two of them stood there with their eyes closed, completely and utterly motionless.


    W-what just happened? Just what is going on? What was that seven-colored light? And those multi-colored scales? Everyone stared at Tang Wulin and Gu Yue with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Even the elders watching from their platform were at a loss. What was that?


    ¡°They¡¯ve lost consciousness.¡± The Holy Spirit Douluo was the first to speak. ¡°Both sides have been defeated, but since I had to save the remaining second grade students at the end, victory goes to the first grade!¡±


    Although both Tang Wulin and Gu Yue lost consciousness, they remained standing. Both were leaning into each other, neither one allowing the other to fall.


    The students of the first grade did not cheer. Passionate tears flowed from their eyes instead. At that moment, all of them recognized Tang Wulin as their rightful class president, and Gu Yue as their vice-president.


    Then realization dawned on them.


    Glory went to the first grade. They had won.


    We¡¯re students of the first grade! They all shouted within their hearts, fire blazing in their eyes.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s mask of calm finally cracked. She clenched her fist and stared at the two people nestled against each other on the stage.


    Up on the platform, Elder Cai stared at the duo in astonishment. ¡°It¡¯s a soul fusion skill.¡±


    That was the only explanation she could come up with. There was no other way to explain the transformation that occurred when Gu Yue hugged Tang Wulin.


    Zhuo Shi wore a pensive expression. ¡°That punch¡­ it created a vacuum.¡±


    Instead of immediately refuting what Zhuo Shi said, Feng Wuyu nodded in agreement. ¡°Yes. It was a vacuum. All seven elements were stripped away, leaving only a space that needed to be filled. No energy remained, no fire, water, earth, wind, light, darkness, or even spatial energy. Wulin¡¯s punch created a vacuum devoid of the seven elements. I never would have thought they would be able to use a soul fusion skill like that with two unrelated martial souls. I¡¯ll call that move the Dragon King Vacuum Punch.¡±


    Are their martial souls really unrelated? Zhuo Shi stared at the two students on stage, his eyes narrowing to slits. Zhuo Shi had taught Tang Wulin the basis of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, so he understood it best. If that¡¯s truly the case, why did I feel his blood essence explode with strength when they transformed? Has his bloodline sublimated? No, that can¡¯t be. Even if he used a soul fusion skill, there¡¯s no way that could have happened.


    When they went to move Tang Wulin and Gu Yue from the stage, they were surprised to find her latched onto him like a clamp. It was impossible to remove her from him.

 Chapter 410 - Unconcious

    Chapter 410 - Unconcious


    Since they couldn¡¯t separate Gu Yue from Tang Wulin, Feng Wuyu, Zhuo Shi, and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali ended up bringing them back to the working student dormitory in one bundle.


    ¡°Yali, are their bodies okay?¡± Zhuo Shi asked.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s no real problem with their bodies. They¡¯re just exhausted. That transformation was too much for them to bear, so they¡¯ll need time to recover. Truth be told... their soul fusion skill is quite strange. Generally speaking, a soul fusion skill can be used when both soul masters have at least three rings. But it looks like the soul fusion skill of these two is far more demanding. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that it¡¯s exceedingly powerful. It simply consumed too much of their energy. Fortunately, they have good foundations, so they just need time to rest and recover now. They¡¯ll need a full month of rest.¡±


    ¡°One month?¡± Hearing this from Shrek Academy¡¯s most powerful healer left Feng Wuyu and Zhuo Shi flabbergasted. The value of a soul fusion skill that required a month¡¯s rest after using it was dubious. However, this also served as proof to just how overbearing Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s soul fusion skill was.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t actually complete their soul fusion skill either,¡± Yali said. ¡°Yet I felt my heart race when they used it. The more compatible two people are, the more powerful their soul fusion skill is. Even if we searched all of history, it would be hard to find more than a handful of people whose fusion rate exceeded eighty percent. The highest fusion rate ever recorded is that of Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao and his wife, Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong. They both had twin martial souls that enabled them to use a total of four soul fusion skills. They are praised as the strongest duo in all of history. It¡¯s been said that their fusion rate even approached one hundred percent compatibility!


    ¡°Some historians whose research focused on Huo Yuhao and his wife stated that any soul fusion skill capable of reaching one hundred percent fusion rate would be considered a divine fusion. If both soul masters were at a sufficiently high enough level, using such a soul fusion skill would allow them to exhibit power on par with a god! Although I only have an inkling of a suspicion, the soul fusion skill of these two children might be on par with a divine fusion soul skill. I can¡¯t imagine any other reason why their soul fusion skill would be so powerful. We''ll need to keep a close eye on them. If my suspicion turns out to be correct, then Shrek Academy will have picked up a pair of real treasures.¡±


    Feng Wuyu and Zhuo Shi looked at each other in dismay, both sharing a bitter smile.


    It was impossible to examine Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s soul fusion skill at the moment. One use alone left them bedridden for a month. This was too high a price to ask the two children to pay. They were in the spring of their youth. The amount they could grow in a month was enormous.


    ?


    Blood essence bubbled, surging forth like a raging river. Tang Wulin opened his eyes to find himself within his spiritual world. It stretched out before him like a sea of stars. Countless specks of gold floated, suspended in space. The golden hall from before was nowhere to be seen.


    Then he looked up. To his astonishment, an enormous golden dragon floated above him. It was too large for him to even fathom. Its body seemed to stretch on forever. There were eighteen rings of light around the dragon¡¯s body. Three glowed a soft blue, while the rest were a blazing red.


    Is this the Golden Dragon King sealed within my body? Those rings of light must be the seals then, right?


    Tang Wulin began to collect his thoughts, but he couldn¡¯t quite recall what happened before he woke up in this spiritual world. All he remembered was the warmth of Gu Yue¡¯s body when she hugged him, his blood essence surging with power, and himself subconsciously unleashing a punch. His mind had already been a haze by then. The last thing he could recall was the moment when the translucent scales began covering his body.


    Everything after that was blank.


    ¡°Old Tang, are you here?¡± Tang Wulin shouted. Maybe Old Tang can explain what happened.


    However, only silence answered him. Old Tang was nowhere to be found.


    The golden dragon floating above Tang Wulin suddenly stirred. It raised its head and unleashed a heaven-rending roar. A wave of dizziness struck Tang Wulin, stars dancing in his vision. Then the scene before him blurred and changed. He saw an enormous dragon with a seven-colored aura floating in midair. Countless beasts on the ground below it and in the air around it roared in respect, shaking Tang Wulin down to his very core. The horde of beasts then began rushing in one direction like a giant wave.


    A thundering voice boomed in Tang Wulin¡¯s head, so loud that it felt like a spiritual attack.


    ¡°My fate is mine to decide! Not the heavens!¡±


    Then he lost consciousness again.


    Some time later, Tang Wulin woke up, the scene of the dragon and the horde of beasts still fresh in his mind. Simply recalling that scene made his heart race.


    He groaned in pain. His eyes shot open. A familiar ceiling told him he was back in the working student dormitory. He tried to sit up but didn¡¯t have the strength. His head immediately fell back onto his pillow.


    Then he noticed a warmth pressing against his body. He heard the gentle sound of breathing. Looking down, he was stunned to find a pair of arms wrapped around him.


    Huh? Is that¡­ Gu Yue?


    ¡°Ow! My head hurts¡­¡± Tang Wulin leaned back and finally noticed that Gu Yue was embracing him from behind. Both of them were still wearing the clothes they had battled in. He tried to pry her arms from him gently. There¡¯s no other way!


    ¡°Don¡¯t move...¡± A dissatisfied voice grumbled into his ear. An instant later, he felt the arms around him tighten their hold. He felt like he was being constricted by a pair of snakes. Throwing caution to the wind, he hastily separated himself from her. That was when Gu Yue finally woke up.


    ¡°W-what are you doing in my bed?¡± she cried.


    Tang Wulin seized the opening and jumped off the bed. A bout of vertigo washed over him and he stumbled. His body was still weak.


    Gu Yue stared at him, her eyes full of astonishment.


    Tang Wulin felt his throat go dry. ¡°Uh, t-this... is actually my bed.¡±


    Gu Yue tried to get up, but a wave of dizziness struck her. Tang Wulin rushed to support her. He could smell the freshness of spring wafting from her. She blushed crimson and struggled free from his grasp, then stumbled over to her own bed.


    No one else was in the room. The sun already shone brightly outside.


    It looks like it¡¯s morning, so everyone else should be in class. Tang Wulin looked at Gu Yue, but she averted her gaze and lowered her head. Awkward tension filled the air.


    Amidst this strange atmosphere, another bout of vertigo hit Tang Wulin and he had to lay down. Gu Yue seemed to experience the same thing and fell onto her bed as well. The curtain dividing the room was open. Both of them could hear each other breathing.


    A few moments later, Gu Yue managed to compose herself. She drummed up all of her courage, preparing to speak. But then she noticed that Tang Wulin¡¯s breathing had calmed down.


    ¡°That pig!¡± Gu Yue grumbled. Yet a wry smile appeared on her lips a moment later. Tang Wulin had fallen asleep just as she was about to say something. Perhaps it was due to fatigue. Maybe he just wanted to escape from her.


    When Tang Wulin next woke up, the room was bustling with activity. He heard Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s voice first.


    ¡°Big Sis Gu yue, how are you doing?¡± she asked. ¡°Are you feeling okay? Please take it easy and rest some more. I heard the teachers talking about how the Holy Spirit Douluo said you and Tang Wulin would need a whole month to recover. Please don¡¯t force yourself. You can take this week of classes off.¡±


    ¡°How long were we unconscious?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Xu Xiaoyan stuck out three fingers. ¡°It''s been this many days.¡±


    Gu Yue pouted. ¡°Why was I in his bed when I woke up?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan snickered. ¡°You were holding onto him so tightly that none of us could separate you! You sure know how to make a move early on, Big Sis Gu Yue!¡±


    ¡°Stop making stuff up.¡± Gu Yue blushed crimson. ¡°What does a kid like you understand? Just focus on your cultivation instead of this nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Hehehe. How am I talking nonsense? Did you forget already? We¡¯ve already moved to the next room over. Why did you choose to stay in this room if you didn¡¯t want to? You could have just walked next door as soon as you woke up!¡±


    ¡°Huh? I¡­ I forgot. I¡¯m telling you, I really forgot!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan was correct. Right after Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan joined their group, they became working students and got another room to move all the girls into. Gu Yue couldn¡¯t believe she had forgotten this.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Gu Yue shot to her feet and rushed out the door, the sweet laughter of Xu Xiaoyan following close behind.


    Tang Wulin pretended he was still asleep until he could no longer hear them. Then he opened one eye halfway and took a peek at the room to make sure no one was there. Confident that he was alone, he let out a sigh of relief.


    But then a round face popped out of his blindspot and peered down at him.

 Chapter 411 - The First Semesters Final Exam

    Chapter 411 - The First Semester''s Final Exam


    ¡°Woah!¡± Tang Wulin cried out.  ¡°Lizhi, what are you doing? You scared me!¡±


    ¡°Nothing really.¡± Xu Lizhi smirked.  ¡°I was just waiting to see when you would wake up.¡±


    Tang Wulin sat up in his bed, fighting against his body¡¯s lack of strength. Fortunately, dizziness did not strike him this time.


    ¡°Are you hungry?¡± Xu Lizhi asked.


    Tang Wulin subconsciously rubbed his belly. It felt so empty that he could swear he felt his spine on the other side just by poking it. ¡°I¡¯m starving.¡±


    After devouring some pork buns, Tang Wulin let out a sigh of satisfaction. He felt much better.


    ¡°Did we win?¡± he asked.


    Xu Lizhi nodded. ¡°We won. We won in the overall competition as well. Everyone who competed was rewarded with a lot of contribution points. You should go with Gu Yue to visit Wu Zhangkong later. You know, I really can¡¯t believe you two hid it so well. Seriously! A soul fusion skill! That¡¯s amazing!¡±


    Tang Wulin forced a smile. ¡°Would you believe me if I told you that was our first time using it?¡±


    Xu Lizhi stared at him with a dumbfounded look. ¡°Your first time? No way!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not lying! It really was our first time!¡±


    ¡°What was your first time?¡± Yuanen Yehui asked as she walked into the room with Xie Xie. Seeing Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi together and hearing their mention of a ¡°first time¡±, her expression contorted into a strange grimace.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t notice her expression. ¡°We were talking about my soul fusion skill with Gu Yue! I honestly don¡¯t know what happened. Were you guys hurt, Yuanen?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui shook her head and stopped about five meters from Tang Wulin. ¡°The Holy Spirit Douluo saved us. Listen. That attack of yours felt really strange. It was almost as if I were cut off from the rest of the world. Like the world itself was rejecting me. Did you guys really come up with it in the heat of battle?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. ¡°Do I need to make some sort of pledge for you to believe me?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui snorted. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Just remember, you guys may have won this time, but you might not be as lucky the next. I¡¯ll definitely pay you back.¡±


    ¡°Sounds great.¡± Tang Wulin chuckled.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to rest then. And once you¡¯ve recovered, you can get back to forging.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so selfish,¡± Tang Wulin said with a wry smile.


    Yuanen Yehui waved goodbye then left.


    Why was she acting so distant? Tang Wulin got an odd feeling from Yuanen Yehui. He didn¡¯t know when it started, but he felt as if she were actively avoiding him. I¡¯m not ugly¡­ and she wasn¡¯t like that when we first met.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind her, Wulin.¡± Xie Xie spoke up.  ¡°Cultivating is the only thing she¡¯s got on her mind.¡±


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. ¡°Whose side are you on?¡±


    The question caught Xie Xie unawares. ¡°Yours, of course!¡±


    ¡°Why are you speaking up for her then?¡± Xu Lizhi asked.


    Xie Xie glared at him. ¡°I¡¯m just stating the facts. What would you know? Now give me a bun and help me save some money.¡±


    ¡°I refuse. Buns cost soul power, you know!¡± Xu Lizhi snickered.


    Tang Wulin shrugged helplessly. ¡°Alright then. I¡¯m going to cultivate for a bit, so you two keep it down.¡±


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s pork buns had given him some strength, enough for him to focus on recovering with his own effort. He sat down, crossed his legs, and began meditating. The second he began, he exhaled deeply. No wonder the Holy Spirit Douluo said Gu Yue and I would need a month to recover. My body¡¯s condition is even worse than I imagined! I¡¯m lucky my meridians weren¡¯t damaged.


    He was shocked by the state of his body. Only a few drops of soul power remained in it, his blood essence had no vigor, and his complexion was pale. He urged the energies within him to circulate slowly, careful not to harm his organs. If not for the pork buns, he wouldn¡¯t have had even the energy to sit with his legs crossed. Just what was that soul fusion skill? My entire body is a mess! Well, all I can do now is take my time to recover. I¡¯m lucky I didn¡¯t suffer any lasting injuries.


    All Tang Wulin could do was use the Mysterious Heaven Method to direct his feeble blood essence and soul power throughout his body. A trickle of soul power soon formed within him.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s evaluation of him had been wrong. His body far exceeded the norm. With the addition of Xu Lizhi¡¯s pork buns, it only took him three days to gather some soul power in his body. With this bit of soul power, his recovery hastened rapidly. He only needed ten days to recover to eighty percent of peak condition. The remaining twenty percent couldn¡¯t be forced, and he would have to slowly work at it. According to his own observations, it would take him another ten days to get back to tip-top condition.


    Tang Wulin spent those ten days going through a monotonous routine.


    Attend class. Forge. Cultivate. Study.


    But there was one difference. The students of the first grade were far more united than they had been at the beginning of the school year. All of Tang Wulin¡¯s classmates now greeted him with sincere smiles when they saw him. Everyone was in a frenzy to grow stronger.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t try the soul fusion skill with Gu Yue again. The side effects were costly. He had asked Wu Zhangkong, Feng Wuyu, and Zhuo Shi about it, but none of them could make heads or tails of their situation. The only thing they were certain about was that their soul fusion skill was so extremely domineering that it could possibly even be on the level of a divine fusion. The two Titled Douluos told him to wait until he gained another soul ring before attempting to practice using it.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dispute this. Being decommissioned for an entire month was too high of a cost for him. He couldn¡¯t afford to lose a month of cultivation.


    As for Gu Yue, she acted as if nothing had happened, although she did distance herself from everyone else a bit more than usual. However, since everyone was busy with cultivating, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t find it odd that he saw her less.


    Ye Xinglan held off from making any more pieces of battle armor. At this point in time, she needed to increase her soul power rank. She had just barely succeeded in making Tang Wulin¡¯s gauntlet by a hair¡¯s breadth. It was too dangerous for her to attempt making something of that level again, so everyone agreed that she had to wait until she had four soul rings.


    All of them walked their own unique path of cultivation, all striving to advance. Xie Xie conspicuously disappeared the most often. As soon as lunch ended, he would scurry off somewhere only to return late in the evening and pass out on his bed. Xu Xiaoyan also went missing for large chunks of time. They were all busy working toward their own goals.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s schedule was the most rigid of them all. He focused on forging, cultivated on the side, and gorged himself to improve his blood essence. He made small gains every day.


    The days passed just like this, and in the blink of an eye, the end of the semester was upon them.


    Shen Yi stood behind the lectern in the classroom with a shining smile on her face.


    ¡°The first semester¡¯s final exam you¡¯ve all been looking forward to is almost here,¡± she said.


    Countless students sat up straight when she swept her gaze across them. The exam we¡¯ve all been looking forward to? No way! No one looks forward to exams!


    Apprehension gripped the hearts of many students. Ten students would be expelled this year, and they didn¡¯t know how many would be given the boot in this exam.


    Sure enough, Shen Yi¡¯s next words made the weakest students pale.


    ¡°Five people will be expelled according to the results of the exam. Work hard if you don¡¯t want to be one of those five.¡±


    Five people¡­ Tang Wulin clenched his fists.


    Shen Yi looked at him. ¡°Speak.¡±


    Tang Wulin steeled himself. ¡°Teacher Shen, is there any way to avoid having anyone expelled?¡±


    She quirked a brow at his question. ¡°There is.¡±


    Huh? There is? Everyone had expected Shen Yi to say no. This was Shrek Academy after all!


    Yet she said there was a way!

 Chapter 412 - Preparing to Set Out

    Chapter 412 - Preparing to Set Out


    Tang Wulin lit up at Shen Yi¡¯s words. ¡°What do we have to do so no one is expelled?¡±


    Shen Yi glanced at him before returning her gaze to the rest of the class. ¡°The results of the final exam will be based on how many points you score. If everyone meets the minimum score, then everyone might be able to pass. But then the bar for next semester¡¯s exam would be raised by five percent.¡±


    Tang Wulin furrowed his brow. He wasn¡¯t naive enough to think Shrek Academy¡¯s exams would be simple. Passing the exam was definitely easier said than done.


    Shen Yi smiled. ¡°The only leeway we¡¯ll allow is the option to share points with other students. However, let me remind you that these points are the same ones that will determine whether you get into the inner court. Be careful of how many points you give away. They could be the difference between making into the inner court or not.¡±


    Her words caused a stir, hushed murmurs breaking out among the stronger of the students. They all yearned to enter the inner court, but giving away their points would hurt their chances of making it in.


    Tang Wulin lowered his hand and said no more. His strength was limited. Even if he wanted to help his classmates pass the exam, there were only so many he could help. He decided it was better to consider this matter closer to the end of the exam.


    ¡°Now, here are the details of the exam. The exam will span fifteen days. In those fifteen days, you will go to Bright City. You must visit at least ten cities, including Bright City, and in every city you visit, you must defeat a soul master at least five soul power ranks above you. You may not receive any help with finding your opponents, defeating them, or travelling to Bright City. All of you will have to figure out how to do this on your own.


    ¡°Furthermore, your soul storage devices, communicators, and any other resources you possess will be confiscated before you head out. That includes money. You will all leave empty-handed. Remember, you will only have fifteen days. As long as you can complete the assigned tasks and return within fifteen days, you¡¯ll pass the exam. The number of points you earn will depend on the strength of the opponents you defeat. If you don¡¯t manage to accomplish the assigned tasks in those fifteen days, you will unconditionally fail the exam and have half your points deducted. Do not worry about how your points are being counted during the exam. The Academy will be dispatching teachers to shadow all of you.


    ¡°But don¡¯t expect them to help you under any circumstances.¡± She paused, letting the words sink in. ¡°Even if your life is in danger, they will not intervene. So act with caution during the exam. Don¡¯t pick a fight with someone you can¡¯t handle.¡±


    Tang Wulin could hardly believe his ears. There are exams like this? But after a moment of thought, he understood the aim of Shrek Academy. The exam was structured like this to be a comprehensive test of their abilities. Previous benefits of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation were all stripped away. Without a single penny, they had to visit ten cities, find and defeat opponents stronger than them, then make their way back.


    Bright City was located on the western part of the continent while Shrek Academy sat right in the continent¡¯s heart. Even traveling via high-speed train would take three straight days of travel from Shrek City to Bright City. In other words, that was at least six days of travelling, not to mention the time they would have to spend in each city looking for opponents.


    A grim silence descended upon the class following Shen Yi¡¯s announcement. Every student was deep in thought, planning just how they would tackle the exam.


    ¡°You may not form groups,¡± Shen Yi continued. ¡°Everyone must take this exam alone. If any cooperation is discovered, everyone involved will fail.¡± Then she departed.


    A smile tugged at the corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth. Interesting!


    He glanced at his friends. They were all deep in thought as well, but none showed any worry. Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes blazed with determination. Gu Yue calmly contemplated the exam as if it were no big deal. Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie both looked excited, and Xu Xiaoyan simply wore a sweet smile on her face.


    The exam would begin the morning of the next day.


    ?


    Sitting behind at desk in the headmaster¡¯s office, Elder Cai smiled at Shen Yi. ¡°So the arrangements for the exam are complete?¡±


    Shen Yi nodded. ¡°Everything is in order.¡±


    ¡°Good. There has always been a few surprises during the first final exam for new students. Let¡¯s see what happens this year. Remember to be thorough with the body search. These are clever kids we¡¯ve got. Who knows what they¡¯ll do for an advantage?¡±


    Shen Yi chuckled. ¡°You can rest easy. I¡¯ve gone through this once before, so I know exactly what they¡¯re all thinking. Anything they can come up with, their seniors have already done. Senior brother and the other proctors have already set out.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. This will be a good learning experience for them,¡± Elder Cai said.


    With their business finished, Shen Yi left. Elder Cai laid back in her chair deep in thought. After a while, she stood up and walked over to the window. She peered out and stared at a towering building on the horizon that pierced through the clouds. Then her mind began to drift among the clouds, moving back to another time.


    ¡°Cai Yue, Gu Yue is my disciple. Stop meddling in her business.¡±


    ¡°How am I meddling?¡±


    ¡°Do you believe I don¡¯t understand how you think? She has already joined the Spirit Pagoda and become my disciple. I¡¯m certain she¡¯ll do better under my tutelage than yours.¡±


    ¡°Phoenix!¡±


    ¡°You want to go again? How many times have you lost already? Enough of this. We¡¯ve already known each other for years. If you still can¡¯t accept this, then you can come find me whenever you want. But in the end, I will take Gu Yue once she graduates from the outer court.¡±


    And then she was back.


    Elder Cai took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes as she opened the window. She stepped out into empty air.


    Then her figure flickered, and she was gone.


    ?


    Tang Wulin and his friends stood gathered around a map. He pointed to a few lines drawn on it. ¡°This is the best route. It¡¯s the shortest path possible to Bright City with nine other cities on the way. We¡¯ll take the least amount of time possible if we follow it. We¡¯re not allowed to work together though, so each of us will have to find our own way.¡±


    Xie Xie eyed the map. ¡°Wulin, I know we¡¯re not allowed to bring anything, but what if we could sneak some things past the inspection?¡± he asked in a hushed tone. ¡°We would have a huge advantage. Do you think there¡¯s any way?¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to him. ¡°We can¡¯t try anything sneaky like that. It¡¯s a waste of time. Do you think the Academy would impose such rules without a way to enforce them?  The pre-exam inspection will definitely be extremely strict. Besides, this a test of our abilities. We need to show that we can accomplish the tasks with just our own abilities.


    ¡°Our first problem is money. Without any money, we can¡¯t take the soul train. Everyone use tonight to think of a way to earn some money.¡±


    Xu Lizhi smirked. ¡°I¡¯ll just sell some buns.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°I¡¯ll put on a sad face and ask some senior brothers to lend me some money. The rest of you are going to need another way though.¡±


    Xie Xie shrugged. ¡°If worst comes to worst, I¡¯ll just do some street performances. Wulin, you¡¯re planning on going to do some forging assignments, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the fastest way for me.¡± Tang Wulin nodded. Then he looked over to Gu Yue and Ye Xinglan. ¡°How about you two?¡±


    Gu Yue and Ye Xinglan shared a look, then answered at the same time.


    ?


    In the early morning of the following day, all of the first grade students were gathered in Spirit Ice Plaza to prepare for their departure.


    Any student who could make it into Shrek Academy undoubtedly possessed a soul storage device. The first thing Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi did when they arrived was collect all of them. Apart from the clothes on their backs, the students were left with nothing.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even bring my forging hammers?¡± Tang Wulin asked in shock.


    ¡°All you are allowed to bring are the clothes you¡¯re wearing. Nothing else is permitted,¡± Wu Zhangkong answered coldly.


    Tang Wulin reluctantly put his hammers back into his storage rings and handed the rings over. After using those storage rings and hammers for so long, he felt uneasy without them. It had already become a habit for him to put the storage rings on every day. Furthermore, those rings were filled with valuable chunks of metal and forged alloys.


    Apart from the occasional alloy that had a harmony rate over ninety percent, those he gave to his friends, the majority of his successfully-forged alloys were in those rings. He hadn¡¯t been in a hurry to sell the alloys. He instead chose to wait until he needed to break his fourth seal before using them to gain funds. They were sure to fetch a good price at Shrek Academy since it was a place where alloys were in high demand.


    It was time for Tang Wulin to hand over all of his things, but his greedy nature made it hard for him to do so!

 Chapter 413 - This Mountain is Mine!

    Chapter 413 - This Mountain is Mine!


    The students of the first grade were divided by gender for the body searches. Most of the students had nothing to hide, but a few tried their luck at smuggling things out. However, one teacher¡¯s martial soul was his eyes, and with his soul skills, he could see through every kind of deception the students tried.


    A cold gust of air blew in through the gates. Although none of them truly felt cold, a few still shivered from the wind chill.


    ¡°That search was so thorough!¡± a student exclaimed as they shuffled through the gates.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you in fifteen days, Class President.¡± Luo Guixing waved to Tang Wulin as he left.


    ¡°Good luck everyone. Do your best to avoid getting eliminated. I¡¯ll start forging for you guys next semester, so get the materials and your payment ready.¡±


    The shivering students cheered. Tang Wulin was the only person in their grade who had a piece of battle armor at the moment. Even considering the fact that they chose to use ordinary metals for theirs, the rankers were still far behind in that regard. Making battle armor wasn¡¯t an easy task after all.


    Using spirit alloys may have made the crafting process harder for Tang Wulin, but the results were worth it. He could spirit refine it in the future and upgrade it. Crafting battle armor like this was practically unheard of in the outer court. Therefore, the only way to get spirit alloys or spirit refined metal was to request it from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association at a high price.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s promise was enough to buy the hearts of all his classmates. However, he only made this promise now because his alloy forging success rate had risen to forty percent recently. It was good enough for him to start profiting off of it.


    After a semester at Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin had formed clear plan for his cultivation path.


    It could be summed up in three words.


    Forge, eat, and battle!


    Blacksmithing would make him money. With money he could buy food. With a full belly he would have the energy to fight!


    Eating had already been incorporated into his daily cultivation routine. Shrek Academy¡¯s food was highly nutritious. This fueled his powerful blood essence, which in turn led to faster soul power cultivation.


    In truth, anyone could eat nutritious food to cultivate as well. The only problem was digestion! This path was only viable to Tang Wulin because his stomach had amazing digestive capabilities. In spite of this, the amount he could grow through eating ordinary meals still had its limits. If he wanted to improve his soul power and blood essence, he would need even more nutritious food! The food had to be packed with the natural energies of the world until it was fit to burst. Then it wouldn¡¯t be ordinary food, but spirit food! It was spirit food that had helped him break his third seal.


    Tang Wulin was confident that if he could eat one or two spirit foods a month, his cultivation level would quickly surpass that of his peers. However, to do so required tremendous amounts of money, and the best way for him to earn money was to forge!


    On top of all of that, Wu Zhangkong had also told him there was only one true way to get stronger. Battle!


    So Tang Wulin had come to that conclusion. He would do three things: forge, eat, and battle!


    The students left one after another. Fifteen days seemed like a long while, but they had lots to do in that time. They had to earn some money immediately. Without any, they wouldn¡¯t be able to advance!


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go find some people to pamper me.¡± Xu Xiaoyan waved goodbye to her friends as she walked back toward Shrek Academy.


    ¡°I¡¯m going too. If you guys hear about a Shrek student doing street performances later, don¡¯t find it too weird!¡± Xie Xie took off running.


    Xu Lizhi walked over to the side. He took off his coat and lay it on the ground, then he began conjuring up buns.


    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue and Ye Xinglan. ¡°So are you two really going to...?¡±


    The girls smiled at him and nodded.


    Tang Wulin sighed and facepalmed. He didn¡¯t have the guts to look them in the eye. ¡°Then I¡¯m going to head out first.¡±


    He needed to pay the Blacksmith¡¯s Association a visit.


    As soon as Tang Wulin left, Ye Xinglan turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Who¡¯s going first?¡±


    ¡°You can go,¡± Gu Yue said.


    Ye Xinglan nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±


    ?


    It was still early in the morning. Classes had yet to start, and students trickled through the gates in twos and threes. Not all of the students lived on campus. Some came from wealthy families that bought houses in the city for them to cultivate in.


    But today was different from usual.


    Someone was peddling goods right at the entrance. ¡°Don¡¯t miss your chance to buy a bun! A single Recovery Pork Bun will fill you with vigor and make your body healthier! An Agility Soup Bun will make you as lithe as a swallow! Or get a Bloodthirst Bean Bun and instantly double your fighting strength! It¡¯s always good to be prepared! All buns stay fresh for a day.¡±


    A boy about sixteen or seventeen years old instantly recognized that person as he walked through the gates. ¡°Woah! Aren¡¯t you the fatty from the first grade? Junior Brother, why are you selling buns here?¡±


    Xu Lizhi chuckled. ¡°I have no other choice! I need to make some money for this semester¡¯s final exam. How about, Senior Brother? You want some buns? They¡¯re cheap and delicious!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good. I don¡¯t have any use for your buns. They only last a day anyway. Welp, I¡¯ve gotta get to class. Good luck.¡± The student waved goodbye and continued walking through the gates. However, before he could go much farther, he was stopped.


    Two girls stood in the way. The gate was very wide though, so they couldn¡¯t block the entire path. The second grade student tried to walk around them, but someone moved in front of him to bar his path.


    ¡°This mountain is mine. These trees were planted by me. Uh¡­ Hey Gu Yue! What was the last line?¡±


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes. ¡°¡®If you want to pass, you must pay the mountain toll.¡¯¡±


    What¡¯s going on?The second grade student stared at them with in utter stupefaction. ¡°Junior sisters, there¡¯s no mountain here,¡± he said monotonously. ¡°And there aren¡¯t any trees either! Even if there were, they wouldn¡¯t belong to you two!¡±


    ¡°Pay up.¡± Ye Xinglan held out her hand. ¡°The toll is one hundred thousand Federal credits.¡±


    The boy was stunned. ¡°What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to rob me?¡±


    ¡°No. We¡¯re borrowing money from you. We¡¯ll pay you back twice as much later on,¡± Ye Xinglan answered.


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t lend you money?¡± The corner of the boy¡¯s mouth began to twitch. Ye Xinglan was a pretty girl and he didn¡¯t want to make a bad impression on her, but there was a limit to his restraint when she was being so demanding.


    A few other students had arrived by then and now watched from the side. One of them was a student who looked to be about twenty years old. He was clearly from one of the upper grades.


    ¡°Alright!¡± Ye Xinglan took a step forward, three soul rings appearing beneath her. Her Stargod Sword manifested in her hands, shining radiantly. ¡°You don¡¯t have to pay the mountain toll if you can beat us!¡±

 Chapter 414 - Loan

    Chapter 414 - Loan


    The aura around Ye Xinglan intensified, her eyes twinkling brightly, sword in her hand. The second grade boy felt his entire body tense up as he summoned his own martial soul in response. Three soul rings rose from beneath him, a match for Ye Xinglan¡¯s own!


    Battle? There¡¯s no way I can beat her! He had witnessed the match between the first and second grades, which led to the first grade becoming renowned as the strongest class of new students in the last century. None of the five rankers in the first grade had joined the battle, yet the first grade had won! It was widely known that Ye Xinglan was one of the pillars of that team. She had single handedly taken on Yue Zhengyu, He Xiaopeng, and Ye Xingmo after all! The boy knew that she was out of his league.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys afraid of being punished by the Academy?¡± the boy asked meekly as he retreated a step.


    ¡°We¡¯ll deal with that when we get back,¡± Ye Xinglan tapped her foot impatiently. ¡°Besides, this is just a loan. A fifteen day loan! And we¡¯ll even pay you back double when we get back.¡±


    She took in a deep breath and raised her sword, resplendent starlight gathering around it. She didn¡¯t want to waste anymore time. One hundred thousand credits would be enough to cover all of their travel and food expenses.


    ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll give it to you!¡± the boy shouted in despair.


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± someone said from behind him.


    The boy looked back to see Xu Lizhi holding some buns in his hands, his fat jiggling as he jogged over to the second grade boy. ¡°Senior Brother, if you eat one of my buns, you might not necessarily lose to them! My Bloodthirst Bean Bun is very potent. It can boost your strength by thirty percent. You don¡¯t have to defeat them. You just have to get past them! Do you think they would dare act so arrogantly once you¡¯re on school grounds?¡±


    The boy looked at Xu Lizhi suspiciously. ¡°If I remember correctly, weren¡¯t all three of you on the same team?¡±


    Xu Lizhi stuck out his chest indignantly. ¡°No way. We¡¯re not a team right now. Everyone in the first grade is busy with our first semester¡¯s final exam. We might get expelled if we perform badly, so we¡¯re all rivals here.¡±


    The boy¡¯s heart began to race. He was an agility-type soul master, so he felt quite confident that he could breakthrough if his power were boosted by thirty percent. Furthermore, neither of the two girls were agility-types.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll give it a try. Give me a bean bun and a soup bun. How much are they?¡±


    ¡°The Bloodthirst Bean Bun is thirty thousand credits and the Agility Soup Bun is ten thousand,¡± Xu Lizhi answered.


    ¡°How is that offer any better? You¡¯re just trying to rob me too!¡± The boy rolled his eyes.


    Xu Lizhi looked him straight in the eye. ¡°You would save sixty thousand credits.¡±


    ¡°Fine! But I get a refund if the buns don¡¯t work!¡± The boy looked back at Ye Xinglan as if she were a devil. He paid Xu Lizhi and immediately threw the bun in his mouth. As promised, the effects instantly took hold. He felt as lithe as a swallow, his body surging with strength.


    ¡°I¡¯m charging through!¡± The boy instantly broke into a run, heading straight for the gate. He was extremely swift, just as expected from an agility-type soul master who made it into Shrek Academy. Although his legs didn¡¯t look particularly muscular, every step he took catapulted him forward. He flew like an arrow.


    However, a yellow light suddenly enveloped his body and weighed him down. His entire body felt sluggish now. Then a thread of starlight wrapped around him.


    ¡°Why are you guys ganging up on me?¡± the boy shouted.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to rob you! Oh, wait. I meant to say we¡¯re here to borrow money. Who would face you by themselves?¡± Ye Xinglan poked her sword into the boys shoulder, pressing him to the ground. ¡°So, will you lend me money?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll lend you money!¡±


    Ye Xinglan accepted the money from the boy then counted it. ¡°Yeah. This is one hundred thousand. You can go now,¡± she said as she put her sword away.


    The boy got to his feet and glared at the two girls before leaving for class.


    ¡°Hold on a second,¡± Ye Xinglan shouted after him.


    The boy turned back to look at her angrily. ¡°What do you want now?¡±


    ¡°What class are you in? And what¡¯s your name?¡± Ye Xinglan asked.


    The boy eyed her suspiciously. ¡°Why do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°So I can pay you back.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The boy was dumbfounded.


    Ye Xinglan frowned. ¡°What nonsense are you thinking about? Just hurry up and tell me. Stop wasting my time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in the second grade. My name is Xia Yuekong,¡± he answered in embarrassment before running off.


    Seeing that the matter was settled, one of the students that had been watching walked over. ¡°Junior sisters, are you still borrowing money?¡± This upperclassman smiled courteously.


    ¡°No. We have enough now.¡± Ye Xinglan didn¡¯t even look at him as she left with Gu Yue.


    When the two girls passed by Xu Lizhi, Ye Xinglan turned to him. ¡°You only managed to sell your buns because of us, so you¡¯re responsible for one third of the debt.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Xu Lizhi beamed. Although he had a big appetite, forty thousand credits would be more than enough for the entire trip if he dieted. He had asked the teachers beforehand if he could team up with another student since he was a support-type soul master, and they had agreed. He had originally been eyeing Tang Wulin, but after some thought, he chose Ye Xinglan. However, the number of opponents they had to defeat together doubled to twenty.


    ¡°So they were actually working together!¡± The spectating students were dumbstruck as they watched the trio leave. There really are all sorts of people in this world!


    ¡°Those juniors are really creative! How come we never thought of this back then?¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin stood outside of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association of Shrek City. However, Mu Xi stood in his way.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Wulin looked at her curiously. ¡°What are you doing here, Senior Sister?¡±


    Mu Xi smiled. ¡°I heard you had an exam, so I¡¯m here to see you off!¡±


    A hint of anxiety crept into Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. ¡°Why are you seeing me off? I don¡¯t have much time. I want to go take some forging missions to earn some money.¡±


    ¡°Forget about it,¡± she replied. ¡°The Academy has already contacted us and every other association in the city. None of us will lend any of you help. You¡¯re all forbidden from earning money at the associations, so you¡¯ll have to think of another way to make money. You can still make money by forging, just not in this city. By the way, the Tang Sect is also cooperating with this. Hehe.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this!¡±


    Mu Xi shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about it. If you don¡¯t want to waste anymore of your time, then quickly think of some other way to make money.¡±


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t retort. He really was wasting his time here. What else can I do?


    A moment later, his eyes lit up. I got it!


    Tang Wulin waved goodbye to Mu Xi then ran straight for Shrek City¡¯s train station. When he arrived, Tang Wulin looked around and was certain that he was the first of his class to come. Everyone else was still busy with earning money.


    Tickets were checked before the train could be boarded. Tang Wulin casually walked over to the departure schedule and examined it. He soon found what he was looking for. According to his plan, the first city Tang Wulin would visit was Heaven Dou City, which lay north-west of Shrek City. It was a major city, so he wouldn¡¯t have any problems finding a suitable opponent. There were also many trains from Heaven Dou City to Bright City.


    Tang Wulin quickly found his way to the right platform. There were still five minutes left before ticket checking would commence, yet there was already a long line at the ticket checking window.


    This time, truly everything had been confiscated from him. Even his student ID and blacksmith¡¯s badge had been taken. He was completely empty-handed.


    He walked over to the back of the line and took his place.


    The ticket checking soon began and the line started moving forward. One by one, people had their tickets checked then passed into the next area. His turn soon arrived.


    ¡°Please show me your ticket,¡± said the clerk.


    Tang Wulin moved his hand to his pocket, reached in, and rummaged around for a moment. Then he looked off to the side and suddenly pointed.


    ¡°Snake! There¡¯s a snake!¡±


    His shout frightened the people around him and they all where he was pointing. Sure enough, there was a golden snake about one meter long sitting on the wall. It swiftly slithered over to the crowd. Several frightened shouts rang out and a portion of the crowd went into a panic. A moment later, a golden flash of light filled the area, and the snake disappeared.


    ¡°Huh? Where¡¯d the snake go?¡± The panicked passengers and staff members searched everywhere for the snake, but it was nowhere to be found.


    Tang Wulin had also long since disappeared. He had taken advantage of the distraction to leap past the ticket checking window. He then ran off to find a corner to hide in and retrieve Goldsong. He had succeeded in getting past the train station¡¯s checkpoint.


    Tang Wulin boarded his train and went to find some seats that weren¡¯t tied to a ticket.

 Chapter 415 - Onward to Heaven Dou City

    Chapter 415 - Onward to Heaven Dou City


    Once the train station staff confirmed that there was no snake in the vicinity, the crowds of people quickly calmed down. The brief snake scare had passed, and the train heading for Heaven Dou City quickly filled up. Once the embarkation process was complete, the train then started moving forward, gently at first, then picking up speed until it was zipping toward Heaven Dou City.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Xu Lizhi, Ye Xinglan, and Gu Yue had just arrived at the train station and could see the train carrying Tang Wulin leave the station. ¡°We just missed the train. Well, at least there are a lot of trains going to Heaven Dou City. We¡¯ll just have to wait half an hour.¡±


    ¡°According to the rules of the exam, it¡¯s time for us to part ways here. Good luck.¡± Ye Xinglan fist bumped Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s see who gets back first then. I¡¯m going to go buy my ticket.¡±


    The vast majority of the first grade students were still busy making money. Tang Wulin was the only one whose journey had truly begun.


    The soul train rapidly picked up speed until it reached a high-speed cruise. Tang Wulin found himself in the dining car along with around a dozen other people. He soon realized that he had made a mistake.


    He was getting hungry.


    The aroma of food hung in the air of the dining car. The food served on these trains couldn¡¯t be called spectacular, but it didn¡¯t matter to Tang Wulin when his stomach was growling! However, he was penniless. He couldn¡¯t buy any food. Money hadn¡¯t been an issue when he snuck onto the train, but it was an issue now.


    The other people in the dining car were already seated and eating breakfast. Tang Wulin patted his empty stomach as he looked around.


    The Academy is so mean! They didn¡¯t even let us eat breakfast before starting the exam. Tang Wulin felt depressed. He firmly believed that if his stomach weren¡¯t full, his strength wouldn¡¯t be at one hundred percent. Well, there¡¯s nothing I can do. I¡¯ll just have to bear with it for now...


    Tang Wulin soon faced another problem. The staff were checking tickets again! Tickets were checked once more on the train to prevent stowaways like Tang Wulin. The dining car was at the very center of the train. Since the staff started checking tickets from the front and back ends of the train, they would check here last.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin saw ticket checkers appear from both doors of the car. He knew he was cornered, and he had no plans to lie either.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a ticket,¡± Tang Wulin calmly told the train attendant.


    ¡°Huh? You don¡¯t have a ticket?¡± The train attendant put on a grave expression. ¡°So you¡¯re a stowaway then. Please buy a ticket immediately.¡±


    Tang Wulin could only force out a bitter smile. ¡°I don¡¯t have any money either.¡±


    The train attendant sized him up. ¡°Kid, your clothes are so clean. How could you not have any money on you? Did you run away from home?¡±


    Tang Wulin was only fourteen years old now. Even if he was tall, he still had baby fat left on his face.


    ¡°Yeah. I ran away from home.¡± Tang Wulin looked at the train attendant helplessly. ¡°I have relatives in Heaven Dou City. I can get money from them to pay for a ticket. Would that be alright?¡±


    ¡°Come with me.¡± The train attendant brought Tang Wulin to the train conductor was. Since he was just a child, the train attendant didn¡¯t treat him too harshly. There was nowhere to run on the train anyway. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t escape.


    They quickly arrived at the conductor¡¯s room in the operations carriage, which sat at the center of the train.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, this kid is a stowaway and he doesn¡¯t have any money for a ticket. What should we do with him?¡±


    The conductor was a lady who looked to be in her late twenties. Although she wasn¡¯t particularly beautiful, she did have a dignified air around her.


    ¡°A stowaway? Kid, why are you doing such things at such a young age?¡± asked the conductor. ¡°Come on, tell me. What¡¯s your situation?¡±


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m a student from Shrek Academy. I¡¯m currently in the middle of an exam and all of my possessions were confiscated by the Academy before I was sent out. My exam requires me to go all the way to Bright City, so I had no choice but to sneak on. Big Sis, I know I was wrong in doing this. I would be fine with you having some of your attendants escort me to get money to pay for a ticket once we arrive in Heaven Dou City. I have ways to get money there. I¡¯ll pay double the ticket price I swear.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a student from Shrek Academy?¡± The conductor and the train attendant stared at him in shock. Shrek Academy was a legendary existence. It was practically a holy site for ordinary people like them! Yet the ordinary looking kid before them claimed to come that holy place.


    ¡°Kid, you¡¯ve already snuck onto the train. Don¡¯t go lying now too,¡± the conductor said sternly.


    Tang Wulin pouted. ¡°I¡¯m not lying! I really am a Shrek Academy student. I¡¯ll prove it right now! Just watch!¡± He took a step back and urged the soul power within his body into action. Three purple soul rings rose from his feet and revolved around him, thrumming with a trace of power. This display stunned the conductor and attendant.


    On the Douluo Continent, everyone had a martial soul, including the ordinary people. Those who were ordinary understood exactly what a soul master was, so when the conductor and attendant saw three purple soul rings, they could hardly believe their eyes. Most ordinary people would never personally see a purple soul ring in their entire lives.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s purple,¡± the attendant muttered. ¡°Is that a thousand-year soul ring? How are all three of them thousand-year soul rings?¡±


    "Because I¡¯m a student of Shrek Academy!¡± Tang Wulin proclaimed proudly.


    His plan had been simple. All he had to do was flaunt his status as a soul master. Shrek Academy may have confiscated all of his possessions, but they couldn¡¯t seal his martial soul. As long as he had his martial soul and soul power, most problems could be solved with his status as a soul master. He had only realized it after Mu Xi had turned him away from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. In the end, he was a soul master!


    Soul masters stood at the peak of society tens of thousands of years ago. They still did so to this very day. Everyone looked up to soul masters. Minor money problems could easily be swept under the rug as long as he revealed his status.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s current number one priority was saving time. He no longer even planned on going to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association when he arrived in Heaven Dou City. His focus was completing the exam as quick as possible, which would then allow him to use his excess points to help his classmates.


    ¡°Little Brother, you¡¯re a three-ringed soul master. That makes you a Soul Elder, right? Are you really from Shrek Academy?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Yeah! Big Sis, Shrek Academy is just too mean. They want everyone in my grade to to visit ten cities within fifteen days. Then we have to defeat a soul master at least five ranks above us too! And after all that, we still have to get back to Shrek Academy within the exam period. I won¡¯t pass unless we do all of that.¡±


    The conductor stared at him blankly. ¡°And they¡¯re having you do this all alone? Just how old are you? I can¡¯t believe they would send a boy like you out all alone! They¡¯re terrible!¡±


    The attendant tugged at the conductor¡¯s sleeve. She was bad mouthing the legendary Shrek Academy!


    Even silent cursing was not usually permissible. It was a holy land after all.


    The conductor immediately realized her mistake and turned back to Tang Wulin with a warm smile on her face. ¡°How may we be of help to you then, Little Brother? At the very least, I can use my authority to excuse you from paying for a ticket.¡±


    Tang Wulin beamed as he recalled his soul rings. ¡°Thank you, Big Sis! I need to visit a bunch more cities on the way and challenge some people too. Do you know if there are any places in Heaven Dou City where lots of soul masters gather? Um. Also, could I borrow some money from you? I¡¯m getting kind of hungry. Don¡¯t worry though! I¡¯ll definitely pay you back once I return to Shrek Academy.¡±

 Chapter 416 - Terrorists

    Chapter 416 - Terrorists


    Tang Wulin was a good-looking boy. He had large sparkling eyes that roused the maternal instincts of the conductor. Shrek Academy is just awful! I can¡¯t believe they would force a child like him through so much hardship.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry! This big sis will help you out,¡± the conductor said. ¡°You need to visit ten cities right? Hm¡­ How can I help you? There¡¯s nothing I can do about finding opponents for you, but I do know that the security captains for train stations are all soul masters with mechas. The thing is just that their strengths vary. Hmm. The captain at Heaven Dou City¡¯s train station should meet your criteria. Do you really have to fight him though? He¡¯s an adult, and he¡¯s really strong.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up. If he could battle a suitable opponent as soon as he reached the train station, he would be able to save a lot of time!


    ¡°Alright! Sounds great! Please help me with that then, Big Sister!¡± He sighed in his heart. He was lucky to meet such a kindhearted person He had begun calling her ¡®Big Sister¡¯ to act cute. Only in the end did he truly mean it.


    ¡°Xiaohu, please go get some food for this little brother while I step out for a moment. He¡¯s just so pitiful. He wasn¡¯t even allowed to eat breakfast.¡±


    Tang Wulin restrained his appetite in order to avoid scaring the conductor, but even so, he ate enough food to feed five people.


    The smell of food¡­ It¡¯s¡­ Tang Wulin lamented his weak willpower. However, the train only carried so much food on it.


    ¡°Wulin, I¡¯ve already made the arrangements. The security captain at Heaven Dou City¡¯s train station will be waiting for you. After you finish your battle, I¡¯ll help you get a monthly train pass. With that pass, you''ll be able to ride any train on the continent. And here. Take this money. You can use it to feed yourself during your journey.¡±


    The conductor had only stepped out for a moment, yet she had already taken care of everything. It was clear that she had risen to the rank of a conductor through her own merit.


    When Tang Wulin received twenty thousand credits from her, his heart burst with warmth.


    She¡¯s so kind!


    At that moment, the communicator in the cabin crackled to life. ¡°Conductor! Conductor! Please come to the fifth carriage immediately! Terrorists have hijacked it! Please hurry!¡±


    A hijacking? The conductor looked dazed. Damn it! This is a disaster!


    A few months ago, another hijacking had occurred in the western part of the continent. That incident resulted in the train exploding. Over five hundred casualties had been recorded. It was a tragedy that rocked the entire continent.


    The conductor went deathly pale, yet she quickly regained her wits and spoke into the mic. ¡°Attention all train attendants! Attention all train attendants! This is your conductor speaking. We have an emergency. Anyone with a weapon should head to the fifth carriage. Remain calm and do not alarm the passengers. Try to mitigate the disturbance.¡±


    She rushed into her room and pulled out a key. She then opened a safe and took out a soul pistol.


    ¡°Wait here, Wulin. Don¡¯t go in that direction.¡± After warning Tang Wulin, she ran out. Tang Wulin caught a glimpse of her face as she left. He could see the conviction blazing in her eyes.


    The conductor was determined. She would do everything she could to protect the lives of the people on her train.


    Tang Wulin called out to her as he ran to catch up. ¡°Big Sis! I¡¯m going with you.¡±


    ¡°You? No way. You¡¯re just a child! What if you get hurt? What would I tell your parents?¡± the conductor came to a stop and pushed him back.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Big Sis, have you already forgotten? I¡¯m a Shrek Academy student! And a three-ringed Soul Elder! Trust me! I can help you deal with them.¡±


    The conductor hesitated for a moment when she recalled this fact, but in the end, she shook her head. ¡°Wulin, listen to me. I know you¡¯re a soul master, but the security captain on the train is too. Let us grown-ups handle this. You¡¯re still a kid. You have a bright future ahead of you. Just stay here and be safe. If it really does get too dangerous, then I¡¯ll have the eleven rear carriages disconnect from the rest of the train. Just be good and stay put!¡± She pushed Tang Wulin back into the room, locked the door behind her, then ran off.


    Tang Wulin bit his lip as he watched her leave. There are terrorists!


    After leaving the operations carriage, the conductor slowed down to a walk and hid her gun in her pocket. She didn¡¯t want to alarm the other passengers yet. She had to minimize the panic as much as possible. She plugged a pair of earphones into her communicator and put them on. Turning to the side slightly, she whispered into the mic. ¡°I¡¯m almost there. What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    ¡°There are six terrorists in total, Conductor. They¡¯re heavily armed. They somehow managed to smuggle beam guns onto the train. Four of them are armed with beam assault rifles and one is armed with a soul cannon. They¡¯ve already planted soul bombs all over the carriage. It could blow up at any moment. We have ten staff members in position and engaged in a standoff with the terrorists. But they¡¯re better armed than we are.¡±


    What the hell are those safety screenings for? They actually missed a load of bombs! The conductor took a deep breath. She cursed within her heart. This is a serious issue. These terrorists have bombs and heavy weapons. We¡¯re on a high-speed train right now, and there aren¡¯t any stops before Heaven Dou City. We can¡¯t let a firefight break out here.


    The conductor promptly came to a decision. ¡°Tell the operators to immediately cut off the sixth to sixteenth carriages after I enter the fifth. Are we able to contact headquarters?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve already sent a message. Conductor, you¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut it. Just carry out my orders.¡± The conductor looked forward, facing the direction of the fifth carriage. Once the eleven rear carriages were separated from the rest of the train, there would be no path of retreat. She would share the fate of the remaining passengers and staff. They would either live or die.


    Yet this was all she could do. She had made her decision and now it was time to follow through. She had to minimize losses. At the very least, the terrorists wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy the entire train.


    The situation in the carriages beyond the fifth one was unclear. All attempts to communicate with them resulted in radio silence. The terrorists had already blocked them off. She had to handle them personally.


    As she walked forward, she took out her wallet and opened it. Inside of it was a picture of a cute, chubby baby. It looked to be only a few months old. Tears welled in her eyes as she took the picture out, brought it to her lips, and kissed it. ¡°Mommy¡¯s so sorry for this, my baby...¡± Then she tucked it back into her wallet and put her wallet away.


    She wiped away her tears and picked up the pace.


    The passengers in the sixth carriage had been evacuated to the seventh. A dozen or so armed staff members stood to the sides of the door to the fifth carriage. They were in a standoff against the terrorists.


    The only weapons the train held in case of emergencies were beam pistols. They weren¡¯t particularly powerful.


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡± the conductor asked the security captain as she approached.


    The captain wore a grave expression. ¡°It isn¡¯t good. They¡¯ve taken passengers as hostages. The carriages in the front are probably under their complete control as well. They¡¯ve already installed bombs all over the train and a countdown has started.¡±


    The conductor took a deep breath. She had to remain calm right now. Terrifying as the situation may be, as the conductor, she had no other choice but to handle it.


    She took a few steps forward and shouted into the fifth carriage. ¡°Please don¡¯t act impulsively! We can negotiate. Do you have any demands? I''ll do my best to fulfill your them, but please don¡¯t harm the hostages!¡±


    The fact that they could smuggle so much weaponry onto the train showed that they weren¡¯t any ordinary terrorists. Neither surrender nor threats would be effective in dealing with such people. Her best option was to delay for time and hope for help.


    ¡°No need for bullshit!¡± a voice replied. ¡°You¡¯re the conductor, right? Our demands are very simple. Tell the Federal government to safely release the people they arrested twenty days ago. If they do that, I¡¯ll release these hostages. I know you can cut off the carriages in the rear, but let me warn you: the first five carriages have already been rigged with bombs. I¡¯m sure you know how many passengers are here. You don¡¯t have much time. The bombs are set to detonate in thirty minutes. If you can¡¯t fulfill our demands in thirty minutes¡­ hehe. Looks like you¡¯ll be buried along with everyone else.¡±


    The conductor¡¯s heart thumped. Twenty days ago? Who did the Federal government arrest twenty days ago? There wasn¡¯t any news about that. These demands confused her, but she was certain these terrorists wouldn¡¯t make impossible demands.

 Chapter 417 - Obeying Orders

    Chapter 417 - Obeying Orders


    ¡°Have you informed headquarters of their demands?¡± the conductor asked the security captain.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent a message,¡± said the security captain. ¡°But headquarters said they would have to consult the higher ups first. It¡¯s impossible to fulfill their demands in half an hour. The people these terrorists want released are all extremely heinous criminals. If we give in to these demands¡­¡±


    The conductor clenched her jaw. ¡°When will backup arrive?¡±


    ¡°They should be here in twenty minutes, but... since the bombs are already ticking, by the time backup arrives¡­¡± Cold sweat ran down the security captain¡¯s back.


    An eerie look washed over the conductor¡¯s face. ¡°Have the crew withdraw to the sixth carriage.¡±


    The security captain looked at her in shock. ¡°Conductor, don¡¯t tell me we¡¯re sacrificing the hostages?¡±


    ¡°Who said we¡¯re sacrificing them! Just carry out your orders,¡± the conductor barked.


    In case of emergencies, the conductor held the highest authority on a train. The attendants stood by, waiting for their orders. The security captain clenched his teeth, then commanded the attendants to withdraw with a wave of his hand.


    The conductor turned back to the fifth carriage. ¡°Please don¡¯t act impulsively! We¡¯re fulfilling your demands as we speak, but we need more time! Thirty minutes is too short. Please extend the timer on the bombs. I beg of you to trust me. I will do my best to mediate and get you what you want. But I also need you to promise me you won¡¯t hurt the hostages.¡±


    All of the attendants and security staff withdrew to the sixth carriage.


    ¡°How do I know you¡¯re not just stalling for time?¡± a hoarse voice shouted back.


    The conductor remained calm. ¡°You have bombs installed, so even if mechas come as backup, they wouldn¡¯t be able to storm your carriage. Hundreds of lives are at risk after all. I¡¯ve already contacted headquarters and they agreed to your demands, but this matter involves the Federal government. We need to get someone with more authority to approve it. It¡¯ll take about one hour to do that. If you can trust me, extend the time limit to one hour. I¡¯m certain you have some way to detonate the bombs at any time, so you don¡¯t have to be worried if I¡¯m lying.¡±


    The terrorists in the fifth carriage went silent for a while, then the same voice as before spoke up again. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll trust you this time. We¡¯ll extend the bomb timers to one hour. But if you¡¯re lying, everyone dies.¡±


    The conductor took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s discuss the demands then. Let me introduce myself first. I am this train¡¯s conductor. My name is Mo Lan. I¡¯m an ordinary person without any soul power. My father is the administrator of Heaven Dou City, Mo Wu. I¡¯m sure that I am far more valuable as a hostage than ordinary people. So, I request that you release all the elderly, women, and children you have taken hostage. Take me in their stead.¡±


    ¡°Conductor, you can¡¯t!¡± The security captain grabbed her arm.


    Mo Lan threw him off. Despite being a mere ordinary person, she was able to shake off the grip of a two-ringed soul master. She turned to glare at him. The security captain couldn¡¯t help but avert his gaze when he saw the imposing determination in her eyes.


    The hoarse voice finally spoke up once more. ¡°We can¡¯t agree to your request. We have no way of verifying your identity.¡±


    Mo Lan sucked in a breath of air, then stepped into the doorway, exposing herself to the guns of the terrorists. ¡°You can search me up on soulnet and verify my appearance. If you also cross-reference my name with my father¡¯s, you should have no trouble confirming my identity.¡± She scanned the carriage as she spoke. Most of the passengers were huddled at the back. She could see a bomb stuck to the roof of the carriage from where she was standing, but she couldn¡¯t see the terrorists. Instead, their guns poked out of gaps between the hostages, aimed straight at her.


    Perhaps affected by her calmness, one of the terrorists spoke up after a few moments. ¡°Alright. We have confirmed your identity. We will release all the elderly, women, and children. But don¡¯t even think about pulling any stunts. This is a game of trust now. We¡¯ll release ten people first, then you¡¯ll walk over. After that, I¡¯ll release the rest. If you don¡¯t keep your promise after we release the first ten people, I¡¯ll kill ten others to make up for it.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Mo Lan answered without hesitation.


    The terrorists acted quickly. A few moments later, ten hostages walked out of the carriage and into the other. They thanked Mo Lan in between sobs as they passed her. Mo Lan remained stone-faced. She simply patted each hostage on the back as she directed them to the security captain, who inspected them to make sure no bombs had been planted on them.


    ¡°We¡¯ve fulfilled our part of the deal. Now it¡¯s your turn!¡± shouted the hoarse voice.


    Mo Lan took out her beam gun and passed it to the security captain. With both hands high in the air to indicate she wasn¡¯t armed, she walked into the fifth carriage. Her movements were slow and steady, and she soon reached the other hostages. A hand stretched out to point a gun right at her forehead.


    Mo Lan kept her cool. ¡°You can release the rest now.¡±


    ¡°Alright. You¡¯re very brave, Miss Mo Lan. You certainly live up to your status as the daughter of an official. I really admire you. Release the others!¡±


    There were about four hundred passengers in the first five carriages, with elderly, women, and children making up about a third of that number. Over a hundred people were released and began trickling into the sixth carriage.


    A terrorist completely garbed in black restrained Mo Lan from behind. He held a gun to her head as he watched the procession of people leaving for the sixth carriage, not noticing the faint smile she wore. ¡°We¡¯ve shown our sincerity, so now it¡¯s your turn. You guys have forty minutes remaining to meet our demands.¡±


    Mo Lan was about to speak when a young voice called out from the sixth carriage. ¡°Big Sis! Big Sis!¡± A small figure ran out, and was instantly met with three beam guns pointed at his head.


    ¡°Wulin? W-what are you doing here?¡± Mo Lan¡¯s face turned pale.


    Indeed, it was Tang Wulin who had just barged into the carriage. He stumbled a few steps forward, tears in his eyes and panic on his face. A couple more steps and he arrived in front of Mo Lan and hugged her waist. ¡°Big Sis, don¡¯t abandon me! They told me there are bad guys here.¡± He glared at the terrorist with childish rebellion. ¡°Don¡¯t hurt my Big Sis!¡±


    ¡°Huh? Is this kid your brother? How come you two don¡¯t look anything alike? Is he a bastard child?¡± the hoarse voiced terrorist teased, soliciting hoots of laughter from his comrades.


    ¡°He¡¯s my cousin. Stop talking nonsense,¡± Mo Lan said furiously as she sneaked a questioning glance at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t abandon me, Big Sis!¡± Tang Wulin still wore the mask of a sobbing child. ¡°I don¡¯t care what happens! Just let me stay with you!¡±


    This kid¡­ Mo Lan looked to the distant security captain. They were in a desperate situation now. She gave him a slight nod.


    The security captain steeled his resolve and stepped into the fifth carriage. ¡°Take me as a hostage too,¡± he said with his hands raised in the air.


    ¡°Conductor!¡± ¡°Captain!¡± a few train attendants cried.


    As the terrorists debated what to do, the sixth carriage detached from the fifth.

 Chapter 418 - Wulin Acts

    Chapter 418 - Wulin Acts


    ¡°Stop!¡± Mo Lan shouted, nary a hint of fear in her voice. ¡°What do you guys have to be afraid of? I¡¯m your hostage now, and you still have a couple more. Protocol dictated that we disconnect the carriages, to minimize the losses. Do you not understand this?¡±


    ¡°Fine. Stay your hands!¡± the leader of the terrorists commanded. ¡°Miss Mo Lan is right. We have a lot of leverage. The Federal government is a democracy, right? Let¡¯s see if they¡¯ll release our comrades in exchange for these hostages. Take her cousin to the back. Miss Mo Lan, you can continue talking with your headquarters. Just understand that, from this moment on, I will execute ten hostages every five minutes until the remaining forty minutes are up. Then boom! We all go to heaven.¡±


    ¡°Ow! That hurts!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed as one of the terrorists pushed him toward the fourth carriage. Before he left, he managed to sneak a wink at Mo Lan.


    That brat! Can he really do something? Helplessness gripped Mo Lan, then she shook it off and gritted her teeth. Trading her life for those of the elderly, women, and children was all she could do to minimize the collateral damage. She understood just how vicious these terrorists were. She had no other options.


    Tang Wulin let the terrorist drag him to the fourth carriage. Many more hostages huddled together in this carriage, too many to have all been from just one. As the terrorist pulled him along, he examined the carriage with his peripheral vision and added that information to what he already learned.


    From what he had seen so far, only the leader of the terrorists was a soul master. He had the detonator for the bombs in his possession. The engine of the train was located in the first carriage, so it continued to glide along the tracks after the eleven carriages behind the fifth were detached. There was a terrorist armed with a soul cannon standing in the corner of that fifth carriage. Now, he needed to figure out how many more terrorists there were and how they were situated in the other carriages.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch anything in here, kid,¡± the terrorist dragging Tang Wulin barked. ¡°Number Three! Watch this kid. He¡¯s a VIP.¡±


    There were three armed terrorist standing guard over more than two hundred hostages in the fourth carriage. The women, children, and elderly were released. The people here should be the majority of the remaining hostages.


    ¡°Alright, hand him over.¡± The terrorist kicked Tang Wulin in the shin, forcing him to fall to the ground with a yelp of pain. ¡°You better behave yourself, brat.¡±


    The kick hurt Tang Wulin, but it was nothing he couldn¡¯t handle. Yet instead of weathering the blow, he took the opportunity to get a better vantage point. He peeked through the gap between the terrorist¡¯s legs into the third carriage.


    He saw carnage. The floor had turned crimson, dyed with blood. There was nothing in the carriage other than death. Tang Wulin stared at the corpses strewn about, aghast. It was the first time he had seen a dead body.


    ¡°What are you doing to him? He¡¯s just a kid!¡± A man in his forties pulled Tang Wulin up and stepped in front of him. The terrorist snorted and pointed his gun at the man, forcing him to retreat a few steps.


    Tang Wulin put on an expression of fear. ¡°Uncle, I saw blood. There¡¯s a lot of blood over there!¡± He pointed to the third carriage.


    ¡°They¡¯re all dead.¡± A youth standing off to the side shuddered. ¡°They killed anyone who resisted. They¡¯re demons. Demons!¡±


    They¡¯re all dead¡­ Tang Wulin clenched his fist. The youth was warning him. These hostages were gathered in the fourth carriage because the terrorists had killed the rest.


    There were still forty minutes left on the clock before all of the bombs detonated. Six of the terrorists were gathered in the fifth carriage, and three in the fourth carriage. A grand total of nine. All of them were armed with soul weapons, including a soul cannon. One was also a soul master, whom Tang Wulin judged to be a Soul Elder. He considered all the information gathered from his observations, and came to a quick decision. His eyes flashed gold.


    I can do this. Let¡¯s begin!


    Tang Wulin concealed his right hand below a table that was nearby and slowly released tendrils of bluesilver grass, his heart thumping nervously. He suppressed his anxiety and jitters with the experience gleaned from years of blacksmithing.


    His heart was calm, his mind was clear.


    With his spiritual power in the Spirit Connection realm, Tang Wulin could perceive his surroundings to a greater degree than ever before. He had an accurate grasp of the situation in the fourth carriage. Most of the hostages were in this carriage, and the bombs posed the greatest threat. He soon located every single bomb. Let¡¯s deal with these first.


    The hostages huddled together in fright, the terrorists watching their every move. The first sign of trouble, and they would shoot.


    If only I had learned Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step¡­ I¡¯d be a lot more confident about this. Frustration welled in Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. He had been hard at work cultivating at Shrek Academy all this time. His soul power rank and blacksmithing skills progressed a significant amount, but this also led to him failing to visit the Tang Sect. I just need to complete a few more missions. Then I¡¯ll probably be able to learn Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step. I¡¯ll do that after the exam. I have to focus on what¡¯s in front of me first.


    He did his best to suppress the flash of purple beneath his feet, but the terrorists still noticed. All of them turned to look at him at the same time.


    But it was already too late!


    Three shining vines of golden bluesilver grass shot out from under their feet and impaled them! They were but ordinary people, not soul masters. Wielding soul guns didn¡¯t change the frailty of their bodies, and despite being skewered, they failed to even let out a scream. The effect of Bluesilver Impaling Array took hold of them too quickly. Their bodies went stiff, their voices silenced.


    The sudden attack sent the hostages into a panic, startled shouts filling the carriage. Tang Wulin had considered the possibility of this, but he didn¡¯t bother trying to warn any of them to be quiet. He leaped into action, his right hand transforming into a dragon claw in a flash of gold. He thrust it into the roof of the carriage and tore it open as if it were tofu. He then grabbed one of the bombs and hurled it out of the opening.


    Three bombs had been planted in different parts of the carriage. Tang Wulin quickly grabbed the second bomb and threw it out as well. Just as he was about to go for the third, one of the terrorists walked in.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on!¡± he yelled as he entered. Before he could even survey the scene, a vine of bluesilver grass wrapped around his neck and constricted, preventing him from speaking another word. Tang Wulin continued his work and threw out the third bomb, then darted to the terrorist, knocking him out with a chop to the neck.


    Four terrorists down, five to go.


    Tang Wulin stepped into the corridor connecting the fourth and fifth carriages. The second he did, he began slashing at the walls around him. His movements were quick and decisive, befitting a student of Shrek Academy. His claw tore through metal, glass, and wiring until, with one final swipe, he separated the carriages. The fifth carriage buckled slightly at the sudden change, then slowly began to drift away from the rest of the train with all of its occupants.


    ¡°Boss, one of the cars was cut loose!¡± one of the terrorists shouted as he opened fire on Tang Wulin, showering him in beams of soul energy.


    Tang Wulin crouched down behind his claw. Threads of light swirled around his claw, materializing into his gauntlet. Soul guns were nothing in the face of battle armor. Even one-word battle armor stood high above mechas after all. Tang Wulin came out of the barrage of beams unscathed.


    A vine of bluesilver grass wrapped around the waist of the terrorist who shot at Tang Wulin and promptly threw him out of the train. Then more vines whipped out, intercepting another two terrorists and tossing them out as well. By this point, Tang Wulin had cleared out more than half the terrorists.


    But the crisis wasn¡¯t over yet. Now wasn¡¯t the time to think twice about his plan of action. He could only resolve this situation with brute force!


    Tang Wulin walked into the fifth carriage to face the last two terrorists. The leader already had Mo Lan in his clutches. He held a gun to her head with one hand, his other hand tightly gripping a detonator. The last of his terrorist flunkies stood with his soul gun pointed at the doorway.

 Chapter 419 - Sacrifice

    Chapter 419 - Sacrifice


    Hostages screamed in terror, all of them shrinking against the walls of the fifth carriage as the two terrorists opened fire on Tang Wulin. Their soul guns spat beams that were too fast too dodge. His gauntlet couldn¡¯t protect his entire body, but Tang Wulin had walked into the carriage prepared. Bluesilver grass sprang up in front of him to form a shield. While soul guns were powerful, these weren¡¯t the heavy beam guns that the military used.


    They couldn¡¯t penetrate the shield of thousand-year bluesilver grass.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass was able to withstand the onslaught of beam fire because he was strong. Like all students of Shrek Academy, he was courageous and possessed a martial soul of exceptional quality. In addition to that, he was capable of exerting an exquisite level of control over his martial soul. Only with such control was he able to bring out the full potential of his martial soul.


    Ever since he first took action in the fourth carriage, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t so much as paused for even a moment.


    Everything was going according to plan.


    ¡°Use the cannon!¡± the terrorist leader shouted, and his subordinate moved to obey.


    But he didn¡¯t have the soul cannon. Not at that very moment.


    Before the carriages were detached, the train attendants had been doing their best to deescalate the situation. Then, when the security captain entered the carriage, the terrorists were able to easily beat him into submission. From that point onward, the terrorists figured that any threat to their control over the situation had been dealt with, so they let down their guard. This particular terrorist hadn¡¯t seen any harm in setting the soul cannon aside for the time being.


    Of course, there was no way Tang Wulin would let him just pick it back up.


    A burst of golden light flooded the carriage. A long tail whipped forth to wrap around the cannon. The light faded to reveal Goldsong, and with a flick of its tail, it hurled the cannon at the terrorist! It struck him with a resounding crack, breaking bone and tearing muscle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t come any closer!¡± the terrorist leader shouted. He began backing away from Tang Wulin, dragging Mo Lan along in a chokehold. She quickly realized that the situation had changed and started struggling. The moment she did, the terrorist struck her with the butt of his gun, leaving a large gash on her forehead. The blow left her dazed. Blood trickled down her face.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Tang Wulin shouted, taking a step forward. His soul rings flared with energy.


    ¡°Take another step and I¡¯ll blow your big sister¡¯s brains out!¡± the man said with a cold snort, bringing the gun back up and pressing the tip of its barrel to Mo Lan¡¯s head. Three yellow soul rings rose up from beneath him to display their brilliance.


    The terrorist¡¯s heart, however, was filled with disbelief.


    This is insane! He never expected the teenage boy standing before him to be a three-ringed soul master, one even more powerful than he was! This brat has to be from some prestigious clan! He has three purple soul rings!


    The leader of the terrorists knew that a soul gun of this caliber would be useless against a Soul Elder. He might have been able to put up a fight if he had the soul cannon, but Tang Wulin had already seized it. In addition to that, his men had been decimated. Out of the original nine terrorists, only he remained.


    A metallic groan reverberated through the carriage, and Mo Lan was the first to realize what caused it. She could immediately tell that the fifth carriage had begun decelerating. That meant it had been detached from the rest of the train!


    She knew exactly what would happen next.


    ¡°Forget about me!¡± she cried. ¡°Save everyone else!¡±


    ¡°Amazing! You sure are something, brat!¡± the terrorist exclaimed as he caught on. His expression hardened. His chokehold on Mo Lan tightened. He brandished the detonator. A hint of madness shone in his eyes as he realized that his last bargaining chip had disappeared. ¡°All of you can just die with me then!¡±


    His thumb moved to trigger the detonator, but right at that moment, a flash of purple and gold blinded him. Pain seared his mind into oblivion, his thumb freezing mid-motion as his body went stiff.


    The terrorist leader was only a Soul Elder with hundred-year soul rings. He had just entered the Spirit Connection realm and was weaker than Tang Wulin by over a hundred points. Even if he did possess the higher cultivation level, he still wouldn¡¯t have been able to resist Tang Wulin¡¯s Purple Demon Eyes.


    Just as the button was a hairsbreadth from being pressed, the arm restraining Mo Lan went slack. She had been struggling as hard as she could to try and stop the terrorist. Now she wrenched the man¡¯s arm down, tearing the detonator from his grasp. The second she did, Tang Wulin shot forward like a bullet and seized the terrorist¡¯s neck in a vice-like grip.


    He snapped it without hesitation.


    The leader of the terrorists was never a threat to Tang Wulin. The combination of his Golden Dragon King bloodline, his bluesilver grass, and his one-word gauntlet elevated his power far beyond that of a four-ringed soul master. The terrorist hadn¡¯t even thought of facing Tang Wulin as a soul master. But all feared death, and Tang Wulin¡¯s heart had nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw the terrorist trying to detonate the bombs. He had only just managed to save everyone using his Purple Demon Eyes. Now the final terrorist was dead, and none of the hostages died.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Mo Lan shouted.


    Dread gripped Tang Wulin. He could see a beam of light out of the corner of his eye, but it wasn¡¯t headed for him or Mo Lan. It shot toward a bomb!


    A tenth terrorist had been hiding among the hostages! He had used a beam pistol to shoot at the bomb, which had more than enough power to detonate it. This would then cause a chain reaction, trigger the rest of the bombs in the carriage, and take everyone to the afterlife with him!


    Only two people reacted in time. The first, Mo Lan, threw herself forward to block the beam with her body.


    The second was the train¡¯s security captain! After being beaten into submission by the terrorists, he spent the entire time nursing his wounds and biding his time. He knew he¡¯d be able to do something eventually, and that time was now.


    He leaped toward the beam at the same time as Mo Lan, placing himself in front of it before she did. He wasn¡¯t as sturdy as Tang Wulin. He wouldn¡¯t survive this shot. But as it pierced his chest, he managed to absorb enough of the beam to change its trajectory. The beam continued through the security captain, slicing the air and through Mo Lan¡¯s shoulder before burying itself into the wall of the carriage, leaving a small hole mere inches from the bomb.


    Before Tang Wulin could even give a command, Goldsong rushed out with a swarm of bluesilver grass to capture the last terrorist. The surrounding hostages realized they were now free to move and quickly jumped away from the man.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin caught Mo Lan as she fell. No blood seeped from the wound that the beam left. Instead, a dark green liquid bubbled from it. The smell of burning flesh lingered in the air. Soul weapons possessed piercing capabilities and destructive power. A single shot killed nearly all victims.


    Fortunately, Mo Lan had only been wounded in the shoulder. She didn¡¯t feel any pain, only a scorching heat. Tears ran down her face. The security captain¡¯s corpse lay right in front of her. The beam had burned straight through his heart.


    ¡°Li Feng!¡± Mo Lan cried.


    ¡°Pull yourself together, Big Sis Mo Lan.¡± Tang Wulin sent soul power into Mo Lan¡¯s body as exhaustion washed over him. Mo Lan was pale. An unbearable, numbing heat dominated her body. But as Tang Wulin''s soul power coursed through her, a searing pain slowly began to radiate from her shoulder.


    It¡¯s over, but I¡¯m still too inexperienced. I didn¡¯t notice the terrorist hiding among the hostages. If those two hadn¡¯t jumped out¡­ we¡¯d all be dead. Tang Wulin could hear the boom of mechas rapidly approaching. Mo Lan and the captain¡­ they saved everyone.

 Chapter 420 - Running

    Chapter 420 - Running


    It took around an hour to reach Heaven Dou City. It was the first time Tang Wulin rode a mecha.


    Standard issue military mechas were yellow-grade. They required a lot of skill to pilot and could be powered by both electricity and soul power. All the controls were manual, and the mecha utilize spirit souls in a simple manner.


    The mechas stood at twelve meters tall. Their cockpits were large enough to fit two people and were quite snug, with the pilot¡¯s entire body firmly fastened inside. All movements by the pilot corresponded with how the mecha moved. The greatest mecha pilots could even maneuver their mecha as nimbly as a human, but this was very demanding on the pilot¡¯s skills and physical body.


    Twelve yellow-grade mechas participated in the rescue operation. However, they had never expected the situation to already be resolved when they arrived.


    There were ten terrorists. Eight were dead, while the rest severely injured. Not a single bomb had gone off. Despite that, there were over a hundred civilian casualties. The third carriage was a scene of a bloody carnage where even even the elderly and children could be found dead in pools of blood. Those terrorists had been absolutely ruthless.


    During the hijacking, the security captain had sacrificed himself, while Mo Lan was gravely injured in an attempt to save everyone. Tales of their fearless acts spread like wildfire throughout Heaven Dou City. As for Tang Wulin, his actions to save everyone instantly elevated him to hero status.


    Tang Wulin quietly slipped away from the train station when he overheard some staff members gossiping that the city officials wanted to award him with a medal of honor. He had no choice but to run. Time was still ticking on his exam! He could only imagine how long and tedious the award ceremony would be.


    In truth, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t feel proud of his achievements at all. The security captain still died, and Mo Lan was in a serious condition. It was the first time he encountered such sinister people. The terrorists were vile and regarded human life like it was grass.


    Tang Wulin left the station with a heavy heart. However, he soon realized that his pockets were much lighter than his heart.


    Mo Lan had given him twenty thousand Federal credits and had said she would get him a one-month pass once they arrived in Heaven Dou City, but she was currently in critical care in the hospital. She was in no position to help him find an opponent in Heaven Dou City either. Tang Wulin gained nothing from staying.


    ¡°I really can¡¯t count on anything going according to plan!¡± Tang Wulin lamented.


    What do I do now? I have to be decide quickly! Tang Wulin quickly thought things over, before gritting his teeth and hailed a taxi to the local Blacksmith¡¯s Association branch.


    If he spent frugally, he might survive the entire exam with just twenty thousand credits. . However, Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach posed a problem! Twenty thousand credits was only enough to sustain him for a day or two and nothing more! He couldn¡¯t bear the thought of starving himself.


    All Tang Wulin ate today was a box meal, which was nowhere near enough to fill him. Right after that, he had been thrown into a harrowing battle against the terrorists. His stomach was already growling.


    Damn it, Lizhi! Since you can team up with someone, you should have teamed up with me! Tang Wulin longingly thought of Xu Lizhi¡¯s buns. I wouldn¡¯t starve if you were here!


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s Agility Soup Bun and Bloodthirst Bean Buns boosted a soul master¡¯s strength by a large margin and were sought after by many. However, Tang Wulin loved Xu Lizhi¡¯s Recovery Pork Buns the most. Not only did the pork buns replenish his blood essence, they also filled his belly. Tang Wulin and the pork buns were a match made in heaven.


    I¡¯ll grab some food first, then I¡¯ll forge some metals and earn some money. I need to earn enough for the rest of the trip. After that, I¡¯ll ask the Association to help me find a suitable opponent. This was the best plan Tang Wulin could come up with.


    Heaven Dou City wasn¡¯t as large as Shrek City, so it didn¡¯t take long before he arrived at the local Blacksmith¡¯s Association. After paying the expensive taxi bill, he got off and found a restaurant in the neighborhood.


    I¡¯ve gotta eat as much as possible! Tang Wulin thought as he walked into the restaurant.


    When he walked out, the restaurant was completely cleaned out of all its ingredients. Hushed murmurs followed his footsteps. ¡°That child is so pitiful. Did he starve to death in his past life?¡±


    Tang Wulin had long since become accustomed to people talking about him. He rubbed his flat belly, his face full of satisfaction. Although the food wasn¡¯t the most nutritious, it was still decent. He had come and left like a storm. Now that his belly was full, he could concentrate on his work.


    Tang Wulin looked up at the large signboard that said ¡®Heaven Dou Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯, then walked in.


    ?


    In Heaven Dou Soul Train Station, a tall and sharply dressed man stood there with a furious expression. ¡°What? He disappeared? How could you let this happen? You can¡¯t even look after one person?¡±


    This man was Mo Wu. His mood couldn¡¯t be any worse right now. As the administrator of Heaven Dou City and one of the high-rank officials in the Federal government, his words carried a lot of weight.


    When he received the news that his daughter had been taken hostage by terrorists who hijacked a train, his vision had gone black and he almost fainted. In his busy life, his only daughter was the apple of his eye.


    Just a few months earlier there had been terrorists attacking another train. This incident was extremely tragic. Hundreds of innocent citizens had died. At that time, he feared for his daughter¡¯s safety and asked her to resign, but she simply smiled and refused. He hadn¡¯t expected another attack so soon, and that it would involve his daughter this time as well.


    News on the situation slowly trickled in, but all of it was bad. Bombs were planted throughout the train, and the terrorists even had a soul cannon. The situation only got worse and worse. Then he learned that Mo Lan chose to trade herself for the other hostages before disconnecting the carriages, and he feared the worst.


    According to the military¡¯s analysis, the chances of successfully rescuing Mo Lan were slim. Even if they dispatched powerful soul masters and mechas, it would be difficult to rescue hostages in an enclosed space. If they had a soul master with certain abilities the chances of success would be higher, but it was impossible to find someone like that on short notice!


    Just when all hope seemed lost, they were notified that the crisis was resolved. Mo Lan was gravely injured but she would live, along with the rest of the hostages.


    He could hardly believe his ears when he found out that his daughter¡¯s savior was a young teen. Then he learned that this teen was from Shrek Academy! His doubts disappeared and he rushed to thank his daughter¡¯s savior. Yet when he arrived, Tang Wulin had already run off.


    He was about order his subordinates to search for him when a person appeared in their midst.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± They were currently in a secure room where civilians were forbidden from entering, so Mo Wu was stunned to see a stranger in the room.


    The stranger was a handsome young man,his expression stern and full of frost. ¡°Did Tang Wulin leave already?¡±


    Mo Wu¡¯s heart raced. ¡°Are you from Shrek Academy?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a teacher there,¡± said Wu Zhangkong.


    Mo Wu relaxed and he let out a sigh of relief. No wonder he could sneak in. He¡¯s from Shrek Academy!


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for him too. He was resting here earlier, but then he disappeared.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong furrowed his brow. He had specifically chosen to tail Tang Wulin. His disciple¡¯s growth could only be described as miraculous. Tang Wulin started with a trash martial soul, yet he surpassed all expectations and rose to become the class president of Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade. Such an achievement couldn¡¯t simply be attributed to hard work. Wisdom, talent, hard work, and perseverance were all required to bring about such a miracle.


    Out of all his disciples, Wu Zhangkong was proudest of Tang Wulin. This was why he had volunteered to follow Tang Wulin during the exam. He wanted to personally watch just how Tang Wulin would tackle each problem and his growth in the process.


    Tang Wulin had boarded the train so fast, Wu Zhangkong had missed it and was forced to take the next one. Halfway through the trip though Wu Zhangkong¡¯s train was forced to a stop because the carriages detached from Tang Wulin¡¯s train blocked the tracks. Wu Zhangkong only managed to find out about the terrorist attack after the information blackout imposed by officials was lifted. He had asked around to understand the situation then immediately rushed over here.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave then.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded curtly to Mo Wu, then turned to leave.


    Just as Wu Zhangkong took a step, he suddenly stopped and grabbed Mo Wu.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Mo Wu shouted in anger, but was powerless to resist as he was an ordinary civilian. He found himself by Wu Zhangkong¡¯s side an instant later.


    ¡°Come out!¡± Wu Zhangkong shouted. His eyes flashed as he looked at a corner of the room.


    Then a hoarse voice rang out.


    ¡°As expected of someone from Shrek Academy¡­¡±

 Chapter 421 - Emissary of Pestilence

    Chapter 421 - Emissary of Pestilence


    A man emerged from the shadows. He was shrouded in a pitch-black cloak and held a scepter in his right hand. The instant Mo Wu laid eyes on this man, his back went cold with sweat. A sinister air gathered in the room.


    ¡°I was looking for the kid who foiled our plans, but I never expected to run into an administrator and one of you loathsome Shrek people. I might as well kill you while I¡¯m here and take the administrator with me.¡±


    Soul rings rose from beneath the man. However, unlike the usual away soul rings would appear, his materialized in an eerie green mist. He had six soul rings, two yellow, two purple, and two black. The mist spread to surround him.


    A chill went down Wu Zhangkong¡¯s spine, and he pushed Mo Wu behind him. ¡°An evil soul master!¡±


    Mo Wu didn¡¯t try to flee. As a government official, his willpower had to be strong. He also understood that the safest place he could be right now was beside this teacher from Shrek Academy. Running would be useless, and if Wu Zhangkong couldn¡¯t defeat this evil soul master, then his fate was sealed.


    ¡°You may call me the Emissary of Pestilence.¡± The man raised his scepter, his soul rings lighting up. Green mist poured out of it and began to fill the entire room.


    Wu Zhangkong snorted. A freezing aura exploded from him as soul rings appeared from beneath his feet. A total of seven appeared, two yellow, two purple, and three black. The Skyfrost Sword manifested in his hand and he slashed at the air, sending a sword beam straight for his opponent¡¯s stomach.


    The emissary trembled in shock at the sight of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s soul rings, but he didn¡¯t leave himself unprotected. He pointed his scepter forward. The green gem at the tip of the scepter shined as it met the sword beam.


    A crisp note could be heard as sword beam met scepter. The beam split into countless threads of ice. It was Frost Scar!


    After gaining his seventh soul ring and becoming a Soul Sage, Wu Zhangkong had grown far stronger than before. In the past half a year, apart from teaching, all he had done was cultivate. He had progressed by leaps and bounds.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s frigid aura slowed the Emissary of Pestilence¡¯s movements, and a storm of Frost Scars quickly enveloped him.


    ¡°Excellent!¡± the Emissary of Pestilence howled. He dropped to one knee, and a green light exploded from his body. The light expanded like a gas, pushing back Wu Zhangkong¡¯s frigid aura.


    If Wu Zhangkong had been alone, he would have been able to just use his soul power to protect himself and charged in. However, Mo Wu was there! Mo Wu would die in an instant if he were exposed to the poison mist of a six-ringed soul master. Wu Zhangkong had to protect him.


    Icy determination flashed in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes. He burst into action, and kicked at a wall, breaking it down in one strike. He grabbed hold of Mo Wu, hoisted him in his left arm, and leaped into the air. With his free hand, he brandished the Skyfrost Sword and used Frost Song, willing it to transform into an enormous sword!


    Mo Wu watched in awe as an enormous crescent of ice slashed through the room they were just in, cleaving it in two and sucking in all of the green mist. When the dust settled, the Emissary of Pestilence was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that remained was a tunnel leading to the unknown.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± An electronic voice cut through the air. Guards had been alerted by the commotion, and over a dozen mechas came flying over. Spotlights lit up and illuminated Wu Zhangkong as the mechas completed their encirclement. All of them locked on to him with their soul cannons.


    Wu Zhangkong released Frost Song and frowned. His encounter with the evil soul master weighed on his mind. Evil soul masters had begun to stir in recent years. It was clear that they were behind this recent act of terrorism as well. He had to report this matter to Shrek Academy as soon as possible.


    Since its very conception, Shrek Academy opposed evil soul masters. Ten thousand years ago, the Spirit Ice Douluo led his generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters, along with many other powerhouses, to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult. The cult was wiped out and no more trouble arose from them.


    Until the past few years at least.


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot!¡± Mo Wu shouted. ¡°This man is a Soul Sage from Shrek Academy! He saved me!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong awoke from his thoughts. He looked down at Mo Wu, who was dangling by his coat. With the flick of his wrist, Wu Zhangkong pulled him upright. Mo Wu quickly regained his stately appearance and ordered the mechas to stand down. Standard-issue military mechas wouldn¡¯t be able to touch a hair on a Soul Sage from Shrek Academy anyway. Mo Wu had no doubt that Wu Zhangkong was a battle armor master. Even if there were ten times as many mechas present, he would still be able to obliterate them all.


    ?


    ¡°I can¡¯t accept any missions without my badge?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Knock it off kid. You¡¯re holding up the line,¡± the Blacksmith¡¯s Association clerk responded tersely. When a young boy came asking to take on some fourth-rank blacksmithing missions, the clerk had thought it was a joke. The boy didn¡¯t even have a badge. There was no way he could allow this boy to accept any missions.


    ¡°Could I trouble you to look me up in the database then? I¡¯m certain you¡¯ll find me in there. I¡¯m a fifth-rank blacksmith. Please, I¡¯m absolutely certain I¡¯m in there.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Fifth-rank?¡± The clerk laughed. The people behind Tang Wulin laughed as well.


    Heaven Dou Blacksmith¡¯s Association was the headquarters of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, as well as the largest one on the continent. Countless blacksmiths were based in Heaven Dou City and came to accept missions every day. All the clerks were busy from dusk until dawn.


    ¡°Just how old are you, kid?¡± a gruff blacksmith asked as he moved to pat Tang Wulin¡¯s head.


    Tang Wulin evaded the man¡¯s hand. He was at a loss. He didn¡¯t realize how inconvenient things would be without his badge. He had already been pestering the clerk for ten minutes now, and had been subject to the jeering of the surrounding blacksmiths.


    The man¡¯s insulting question incited Tang Wulin¡¯s childish nature. ¡°I¡¯m fourteen! What about it?¡±


    ¡°A fourteen-year-old, fifth-rank blacksmith, huh? You must be the number one genius in the entire association!¡± The man burst into laughter, and his fellow blacksmiths quickly joined in.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, then turned back to the clerk. ¡°What do I need to do to accept some missions?¡±


    The clerk looked at him helplessly. ¡°Kid, I admire your passion, but you¡¯re causing a disturbance. Where are your parents? You¡¯re at the right age to start learning how to blacksmith, so come back when you¡¯ve got your badge. Then you can accept some missions.¡±


    ¡°Where can I take the blacksmith¡¯s exam?¡± Tang Wulin was growing impatient.


    ¡°You want to take the exam? Alright. Go to the second floor to register for a slot. There are a lot of people today though.¡±


    At that moment, a ringing sound filled the hall, alerting everyone that an announcement was being made.


    ¡°Attention all blacksmiths! Attention all blacksmiths! The President will be holding a half-hour lecture in the hall of the first floor in five minutes. Please wait in orderly lines.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± the gruff blacksmith cried. ¡°The President!¡±


    The man rushed off, and everyone else also began to realize what was happening. Regardless of whether they were accepting a mission or waiting in line, they all turned around and ran off. They were currently on the third floor, but all were undoubtedly headed for the first. Even the clerk was gone!


    Tang Wulin hastened to catch up, and once he reached the clerk, he asked, ¡°Uncle, what¡¯s going on? Does the President lecture often?¡±


    The clerk spoke as he ran. ¡°The President lectures at random times, and he only does so here in our Heaven Dou branch. A lot of blacksmiths come here everyday and hang around hoping he¡¯ll hold a lecture. Attending a single one of the President¡¯s lectures is worth a year of blacksmithing by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Is the Association President here really that amazing?¡± Tang Wulin could hardly believe it. He was certain that the President of any city¡¯s branch could only measure up to his teacher at best.


    The clerk stared at him. ¡°You foolish kid. Don¡¯t you love blacksmithing? This is an amazing opportunity for you. The President isn¡¯t just the president of this branch, but the Blacksmith¡¯s Association as a whole! He¡¯s also the continent¡¯s only Divine Blacksmith! He¡¯s a very busy person. If he takes the time out of his schedule to give a lecture, just think about how valuable the must be! You¡¯re really lucky. Just follow me to the hall, listen closely, and don¡¯t be noisy.¡±

 Chapter 422 - The Divine Blacksmith

    Chapter 422 - The Divine Blacksmith


    A Divine Blacksmith! Tang Wulin¡¯s heart raced at the thought. His mind buzzed with excitement. Yeah! I can¡¯t believe I got so lucky! I came here to make money, but I get a lecture from a Divine Blacksmith instead? Awesome! I can¡¯t do anything about the duration of the exam, but I can¡¯t let this chance slip away!


    The hall of the first floor was already packed by the time Tang Wulin and the clerk arrived. At the center of the hall, a space twenty meters in diameter had been left empty. It was fully furnished with all the necessary equipment to forge.


    Everyone was bustling with excitement and expectation.


    The clerk could only manage to bring Tang Wulin to the edge of the crowd. Although Tang Wulin was tall, the blacksmiths in the crowd were all muscular giants. He couldn¡¯t see above the sea of heads at all. Tang Wulin ducked and squirmed his way through the crowd, slowly heading to the center.


    ¡°Kid, be careful! Don¡¯t squeeze in! You¡¯re going to get trampled!¡± the clerk shouted after him, but he was already gone.


    Tang Wulin pushed on through. Despite how lean he was built, his frame hid monstrous strength. With that strength and Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, he quickly reached the center of the crowd and got a front-row spot.


    Tang Wulin was surrounded on all sides with blacksmiths bursting with anticipation. No one even noticed a kid like him sneak to the front.


    Five minutes soon passed, and the crowd split to allow a man walk through to the center. A retinue of staff surrounded the man, and everyone cheered when they saw him.


    ¡°President! President!¡± they shouted zealously. The hall seemed to boil into a frenzy.


    Tang Wulin looked over to see a handsome man with black hair and black eyes. He looked to be in his thirties, but his eyes showed profound depths far beyond his years. His sideburns were completely white, a bright contrast with the rest of his black hair. But the most eye-catching thing about him were his hands. They were at least fifty percent larger than an ordinary man¡¯s, but instead of being bulky and rough, they were slender and fair. They looked like the hands of a young lady, but much larger. In fact, his hands sparkled like jade.


    This man was a Divine Blacksmith, the greatest blacksmith in the entire Blacksmith¡¯s Association, and a Titled Douluo! He couldn¡¯t compare with Feng Wuyu in terms of combat strength, of course, but Shrek Blacksmith¡¯s Association had never concerned itself with the continental Blacksmith¡¯s Association anyway.


    He¡¯s Zhen Hua, the continent¡¯s only Divine Blacksmith! As a blacksmith himself, Tang Wulin had long since heard of Zhen Hua. He was a legend among blacksmiths. Contrary to his youthful appearance, he was actually forty-five! He had become a Divine Blacksmith at the age of thirty seven, and that had been eight years ago.


    He was in his prime as a blacksmith, but even in his youth, he hadn¡¯t been arrogant. He was originally the president of a small town¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association. From there, he advanced step by step until he became the President of all of the Blacksmith¡¯s Associations across the continent, and the continent¡¯s only Divine Blacksmith.


    He had wanted to forge a four-word battle armor when he was a Saint Blacksmith, and with the help of some Titled Douluos, and countless hours at the forge, he barely succeeded. However, the product could not be called true four-word battle armor. It was at the pseudo-four-word level at best. He only truly succeeded eight years ago when he became this generation¡¯s Divine Blacksmith. After that, he began forging four-word battle armors for Titled Douluos. Being the sole Divine Blacksmith, he held an exceptionally influential position.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes sparkled as he watched this legendary figure. He would be fortunate to learn even the tiniest thing from him.


    ¡°Hello, everyone.¡± Zhen Hua waved his arms at the crowd.


    Hundreds of voices overlapped in a deafening greeting. ¡°Hello, President!¡±


    Zhen Hua gestured for everyone to quiet down, and the hall immediately went silent. It was as if the sound had never occurred in the first place.


    Now this is true prestige!


    Zhen Hua smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t have much time, so I¡¯ll begin immediately. I¡¯ve been really busy lately, and it''s been quite some time since my last lecture. Today, I¡¯ll explain some of my deeper understandings to all of you. I encourage you to go and test what you glean from my lecture on your own time.¡± He walked over to the forging table as he spoke and placed his large hands on the table.


    ¡°This is a little trick for alloy forging I discovered not too long ago. As everyone knows, forging alloys is an important stage for us blacksmiths. You can start forging alloys at the sixth rank, and as you progress, you become able to forge alloys composed of more and more metals. Of course, the more metals added, the harder the forging process becomes. This trick I¡¯m about to teach you¡­ well, it¡¯s really a technique. This technique can lower the difficulty of forging alloys.


    ¡°It can be said that this technique is derived from melding or the way catalysts work. Different metals have different characteristics, and when two metals come together, there is always some sort of chemical reaction. For example¡­¡±


    Zhen Hua explained his thoughts in a clear and gentle voice, and everyone grew calm as they listened. They did their best to commit the details of this trick to memory.


    Tang Wulin grew more and more amazed as he listened. He had heard of a similar technique from Mu Chen, but since he hadn¡¯t reached the sixth rank yet and could only forge two-metal alloys, he wasn¡¯t ready for it. Mu Chen hadn¡¯t explained the technique then, and now that Tang Wulin was hearing about it from Zhen Hua, he felt as if everything was clicking into place. He had been practicing alloy forging for the past half year, so this lecture couldn¡¯t have come at a better time. His understanding of alloy forging deepened, and countless possibilities opened up to him.


    ¡°...and so, by mixing this in, your workload will decrease, and the chances of your alloy being successfully forged will increase significantly.¡± Zhen Hua smiled as he concluded his lecture.


    ¡°Amazing!¡± a young voice applauded.


    Until this point, the audience had been watching with quiet reverence. So, when this voice suddenly obliterated the silence, everyone turned to look at its owner.


    In reality, most blacksmiths didn¡¯t really understand the underlying concepts behind alloy forging. Blacksmiths of the sixth rank and above were rare after all. However, such knowledge would still be helpful for any blacksmith¡¯s future growth. In fact, many made a pilgrimage to Heaven Dou City just to listen to the Divine Blacksmith¡¯s lectures. Therefore, it was blasphemy for someone to cheer so loudly!


    When everyone saw the owner of the voice, they were dumbstruck. It was a kid still in his teens!


    Zhen Hua was astonished by the excitement shining in Tang Wulin¡¯s large, bright eyes. He gave him a warm smile. ¡°Did you understand my lecture?¡±


    ¡°Mn!¡± Tang Wulin nodded. He was currently absorbed in his thoughts, pondering the concepts he just learned. His mind in a world of its own, just like when he forged. He didn¡¯t notice the peculiar gazes of his peers at all.


    ¡°What a heroic child.¡± Zhen Hua chuckled.  ¡°Excellent. It looks like the future of our Blacksmith¡¯s Association will be a bright one indeed.¡±

 Chapter 423 - Can I Try?

    Chapter 423 - Can I Try?


    ¡°President, can I try?¡± Tang Wulin bubbled with excitement. The concepts Zhen Hua had introduced were already mixing with what he understood about alloy forging, but he still needed to put it all to the test. His was itching to give them a try.


    Zhen Hua stared at Tang Wulin in astonishment. ¡°You want to¡­ try forging an alloy?¡±


    Hushed whispers spread throughout the crowd. The clerk who had led Tang Wulin here was already pressing a hand to his face. This kid... he¡¯s got too much courage for his own good! He¡¯s just like a newborn calf in front of a tiger!


    Tang Wulin nodded, taking a step forward. ¡°President, may I?¡±


    Zhen Hua smiled. ¡°If you think you can, then sure.¡±


    The clerk ran over Tang Wulin, squatted down, and whispered, ¡°Kid! Stop causing trouble! Just get out of here already, the President still has many matters to attend to.¡±


    Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°Just let him come. It wouldn¡¯t be right for us to trample over a child¡¯s passion for blacksmithing. I can tell from his eyes. His love for blacksmithing is real. Come here, child.¡±


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t even glanced at the clerk. His eyes had been glued to Zhen Hua the entire time. He ran over to Zhen Hua¡¯s side and began speaking immediately. ¡°I need some heavy silver, star iron, and that universal catalyst you talked about, the skymoon powder.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Bring him what he asked for,¡± Zhen Hua said, gesturing to some of his staff members. Tang Wulin surprised him. In addition to a deep-rooted passion for blacksmithing, his eyes showed unwavering confidence. Not even the tiniest bit of stage fright could be seen on his face.


    The blacksmiths in the audience shared in Zhen Hua¡¯s surprise, but to Zhen Hua, none of them had so much as a fraction of Tang Wulin¡¯s steadiness. Someone as excited as Tang Wulin currently was would usually at least be trembling, but Tang Wulin was steady as a rock. Zhen Hua also noticed that the boy¡¯s hands were larger than average, and his fingers moved in a steady patterns. This was a clear identifier of an experienced blacksmith, a sign of Tang Wulin¡¯s deep understanding of blacksmithing.


    Very few things could catch Zhen Hua¡¯s attention, but now his interest was piqued. He wanted to see just how high this child could reach.


    The Blacksmith¡¯s Association did not lack any metals whatsoever. Everything Tang Wulin asked for was quickly delivered to the forging area that had been set up in the hall of the first floor.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t stand on ceremony and immediately got to work. He walked over to the back of the forging table and opened it up. He put two pieces of metal into it, adjusted the calcining temperature, and turned the table on.


    Then he turned to Zhen Hua. ¡°President, could I trouble you for one more thing?¡±


    Zhen Hua smiled warmly. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°May I borrow your hammers?¡±


    The entire audience went into an uproar. Borrowing another blacksmith¡¯s hammers was rarely seen in the world of blacksmiths, not to mention the hammers of the world¡¯s only Divine Blacksmith!


    Zhen Hua was stunned as well. This kid is really interesting!


    Tang Wulin had no other choice. At this moment, he was completely broke. All of his worldly possessions confiscated by his teachers. Even his thousand refined tungsten hammers had been taken.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhen Hua answered. He muttered a few words to himself, and a pair of hammers appeared in his hands in a flash of light. He handed them to Tang Wulin. The hammers glistened in the light, their shape completely adhering to orthodox methods. However, they were a rarely-seen white. In addition to that, blue clouds danced across the surfaces of both hammers, giving them an aura of mystical beauty.


    ¡°They¡¯re spirit refined hammers!¡± Tang Wulin ascertained this with a single glance. The hammers were forged from spirit refined cloud gold, an alloy composed of cloud copper and platinum crystal. Considering the fact that the hammers were crafted from a spirit refined alloy, he could only imagine how much better they were compared to his own spirit refined heavy silver hammers.


    ¡°I forged these hammers fifteen years ago, and they¡¯ve been with me ever since,¡± Zhen Hua said. ¡°I used them all the way until I could soul refine. See how they feel in your hands. If you really manage to forge an alloy today, I¡¯ll give them to you as a gift.¡±


    Although he didn¡¯t believe Tang Wulin would succeed, he still wanted to encourage him. He himself had set a new record when he became the youngest sixth-rank blacksmith in the world at eighteen years of age. He knew from experience that such miracles were possible, and wasn¡¯t as critical of Tang Wulin as the rest of the crowd. He could also sense that Tang Wulin had a solid foundation in blacksmithing. Yet he couldn¡¯t fathom why Tang Wulin didn¡¯t have his own forging hammers with him. A blacksmith¡¯s hammers were their life. A proper blacksmith would never be without them. This was one of the first things a blacksmith learned.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Tang Wulin gripped the hammers, one in each hand, then closed his eyes. When the staff and blacksmiths of the fourth rank and higher saw how easily he held the hammers, astonishment crept onto their faces.


    Cloud gold was famous for its density. While the two hammers forged from cloud gold may have looked light, they were anything but. In fact, they weighed over two hundred kilograms.


    Strength was critical for blacksmiths. Zhen Hua lent these hammers to Tang Wulin as a test, yet Tang Wulin held them up with no difficulty at all. They were steady in his hands, as if he were merely holding a pair of ordinary hammers.


    This kid is actually a blacksmith? Everyone in the crowd could hardly believe their eyes.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin pressed the button on the side of the forging table, and a glowing piece of heavy silver rose to the table¡¯s surface. He tapped it lightly with the hammer in his left hand. A melodic note rang out, echoing throughout the hall. Tang Wulin froze after that tap, his brow furrowed. His ears twitched slightly as he listened to how the metal answered him.


    The faint smile on Zhen Hua¡¯s face finally cracked as he witnessed this. The lower level blacksmiths in the hall might not have understood what Tang Wulin was doing, but as a Divine Blacksmith, it was impossible for him to not.


    Tang Wulin was listening to the heavy silver, conversing with the metal and deepening his understanding of it. But, more importantly, he was listening to the voice of the hammer. Forging with hammers they had never touched before was a massive challenge for a blacksmith. Listening to a hammer¡¯s voice was one way for a blacksmith to get familiar with it. Only after understanding the character of a hammer could a blacksmith use it.


    Zhen Hua had been testing Tang Wulin from the moment he handed the boy his hammers. The weight was merely the first part of the test. How Tang Wulin would use these hammers was the next, more important part. He¡¯s so young. He couldn¡¯t be older than fifteen or sixteen. Even if he isn¡¯t able to forge an alloy yet, he may be a promising successor. Let¡¯s see just how talented he is.


    The cloud gold hammers were the best test. Zhen Hua wanted to see if Tang Wulin could bring out their full potential.


    These hammers were bloodbonded to Zhen Hua, and contained a piece of himself in them. They possessed a special effect similar to the stacked hammers effect of Tang Wulin¡¯s heavy silver hammers.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s first strike was flawless. The resultant ringing made his eyes go wide with realization.. ¡°Tremor!¡±


    Golden light flashed in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, and he struck down with the left hammer once more. This time, it descended upon the metal like thunder! A boom tore through the hall when the hammer struck the glowing red piece of heavy silver, yet it did not rebound off the metal. The hammer remained firmly pressed to the heavy silver, and a moment later, a low hum began to fill the hall.


    This was the tremor effect of the cloud gold hammers! The hammers harnessed the power of the vibrations that came from hammering metal to assist their wielder! Tremor was a high-grade effect, just like stacked hammers.


    Tang Wulin kept the hammer pressed tightly to the heavy silver to bring out the tremor effect¡¯s full power.


    The crowd went silent. That strike was testament to Tang Wulin¡¯s strength! The fact that he could wield the cloud gold hammers and prevent them from rebounding off the metal showed that his arms were strong enough to handle the recoil. Furthermore, the fact that he was able to stabilize the hammer showed how firm his blacksmithing foundation was.


    Zhen Hua nodded in approval, a genuine smile forming on his lips. This kid is remarkable!


    Three seconds later, Tang Wulin lifted the hammer and struck again!

 Chapter 424 - Shocking the Divine Blacksmith

    Chapter 424 - Shocking the Divine Blacksmith


    A thunderous crash shook the room. A spray of powder burst from the heavy silver. This was proof of the tremor effect at work! It could vibrate impurities out of a metal!


    Although the result was simple, this wasn¡¯t something that just anybody could do. In order to bring out the full potential of this effect, a blacksmith needed to possess overwhelming strength, a firm foundation of soul power, immense spiritual power, and a deep understanding of the metal they were forging. If the blacksmith did not fulfill even one of these requirements, it would be impossible for them to use tremor effectively. In fact, the tremor effect could even become a disadvantage.


    And Tang Wulin¡¯s second strike used it to his advantage. A third strike followed, then a fourth, and then a fifth. Three seconds separated each one.


    As he watched the boy in front of him forge away, Zhen Hua¡¯s amicable smile gradually grew concerned. A trace of doubt flickered in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin continued hammering, and soon enough, his seventh strike landed. The heavy silver trembled, and in a flash of light, the impurities were separated. It was hundred refined!


    It only took him seven strikes to hundred refine the heavy silver! Zhen Hua straightened his back slightly, and the more knowledgeable blacksmiths in the audience gaped. As a Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua could easily hundred refine a piece of metal with a single strike.


    A child in his teens had done it in seven!


    It was then that Tang Wulin finally moved his right hand. He pressed a button to reveal the star iron, which had just finished calcining, and struck down with his right hammer. The blow sent tremors through the star iron.


    H-he¡¯s dual forging! The clerk who led Tang Wulin here was already speechless. He couldn¡¯t have possibly imagined that a teenage boy like Tang Wulin could be so skilled! This child is actually dual forging! And he¡¯s dual forging two different metals at that! Even if he¡¯s just hundred refining them, that¡¯s a feat only a third or fourth-rank blacksmith would be capable of!


    Both of Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers crashed down, forging both the heavy silver and the star iron simultaneously. Every strike shook the hearts of the spectating blacksmiths.


    Blow after blow thundered throughout the hall, and Tang Wulin¡¯s world shrunk down to just him and the metals. He was itching to put what he just learned about alloy forging into practice. He wanted to test it out and deepen his understanding. The itch began at the back of his consciousness at first, but as he continued forging both metals, it grew in intensity until, finally, he felt as if he were about to explode.


    Everyone stared in shock as Tang Wulin hammered the metals with unbelievable might. Another droning hum, a fraction different in pitch, soon filled the hall to overlap with the first. Two lights shot into the air, one a resplendent silver, and the other a coalescence of countless specks of starlight. The two combined, rising six feet into the air as a two-colored beam. It illuminated the hall, a magnificent sight that bathed the onlookers in a bright glow for one moment and faded to nothing in the next.


    Two hammers! Two metals! And both metals were first-grade thousand refined with spirit!


    It was plenty amazing for the light of a thousand refining to ascend five feet into the air, yet the child before everyone¡¯s eyes had simultaneously refined two metals and summoned light that reached six feet high! That was the sign of a fabled saint-grade thousand refining, a feat that only Saint Blacksmiths should have been able to achieve!


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t notice the reactions of the audience. In truth, this result was thanks to the cloud gold hammers he had borrowed. They were a spectacular pair of hammers that had accompanied Zhen Hua for many years. They had taken in some of his strength, which bolstered the tremor effect. Tang Wulin had been absorbing some of Zhen Hua¡¯s essence every time he swung the hammers. He was also in perfect condition. This combination of factors helped him to just barely succeed in a saint-grade thousand refining.


    However, he was not done yet!


    Three purple soul rings rose up from beneath Tang Wulin. Soul power coursed through his body and into the cloud gold hammers. A cloudy, misty aura immediately materialized around the hammers. A breath of life came from them, and they suddenly grew lighter. As a result, Tang Wulin was able to wield them even faster than before.


    The hammers moved in perfect sync, closing in on the pair of thousand refined metals like lightning. They struck with a resounding boom, smashing the two metals together!


    The hardest part was over! From that point on, it would be smooth sailing.


    Every strike of the cloud gold hammers held tremendous power and smashed the two metals closer and closer together. Tang Wulin used each blow to pour both life force and soul power into the metals, washing them from the inside out. The beam of light that stemmed from the two metals began warp, and the separate colors started intermingling and fusing together.


    It was time to start forging the alloy!


    The entire crowd collectively gasped. Where did this kid come from? He¡¯s actually attempting to forge an alloy! Just how old is he! Not even the President could forge alloys at such a young age! It doesn¡¯t look like this is his first time doing this either!


    If it were up to the higher ranked blacksmiths, they would have spirit refined the metals then used both to forge an alloy. Yet Tang Wulin chose a different approach. He had jumped right to forging the alloy after thousand refining the metals. In the end, however, he ended up choosing this approach because of his weak soul power. He would deal with spirit refining the metals once they had actually been forged into alloys. This was all for the sake of his one-word battle armor after all. Heavy silver and star iron were needed to forge star silver, an alloy he needed to craft the rest of his one-word battle armor set in the future. To that end, thousand refined metal would be sufficient for the time being. He could think about spirit refining once he was more powerful and skilled. Besides, forging alloys was a walk in the park for him now.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t dare spirit refine the metals because the cloud gold hammers didn¡¯t belong to him. He feared that the finished product wouldn¡¯t be completely his if he did. He had actually considered spirit refining the alloy as well, but the chances of success weren¡¯t too high. Furthermore, his current priority was to learn Zhen Hua¡¯s alloy forging technique!


    As Zhen Hua watched Tang Wulin assault the metals like a raging tempest, he subconsciously stepped forward to get a better look at the metals on the table. The heavy silver and star iron gradually fused into one, their resplendent auras merging together as well.


    Tang Wulin maintained a steady forging tempo. His upper body never stopped moving, but his lower body remained an unshakeable foundation. He didn¡¯t move a single inch from where he stood. Tang Wulin¡¯s three soul rings thrummed in the hall, giving off a gentle light that seemed to envelop him.


    He¡¯s a three-ringed Soul Elder! And all of his rings are purple! No one dared ridicule Tang Wulin now. The gruff blacksmith who had voiced his doubts about Tang Wulin earlier was now staring at the scene before him with a blank expression. He was a third-rank blacksmith in the middle of delving into the mysteries of thousand refining. Tang Wulin, on the other hand, popped out of nowhere and showed off his skill as a fourth-rank blacksmith! I can¡¯t believe I was mocking him¡­


    All of Tang Wulin¡¯s focus was on the two metals. He stared at them with rapt attention, watching every reaction as they fused. As he hammered away, he brought forth the skymoon powder, sprinkling it over the metals in between strikes. The powder coated the heavy silver and the star iron as they slowly mixed together. The results of this turned out just as Zhen Hua had said they would. The metals became tougher and harder to forge, but the chance of failure drastically decreased.


    That was when Tang Wulin began to forge faster. The hardest part about forging an alloy was preserving the spiritual nature of the component metals used. Blacksmiths couldn¡¯t let the spirit of the metals die, so they needed to use their spiritual power to protect the metals. Zhen Hua¡¯s technique made this part of the process much easier.


    And all it required was skymoon powder.


    Tang Wulin could sense the profoundness of what was happening with the two metals. It didn¡¯t take long before they completely fused into one alloy. The barest hints of a star silver¡¯s splendor could now be seen.


    But at that moment, Tang Wulin withdrew his soul rings.


    Zhen Hua broke out into a cold sweat. Did his soul power run out?


    But then a golden soul ring appeared, and he sensed Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence go wild.

 Chapter 425 - Creating Trouble

    Chapter 425 - Creating Trouble


    If this were any other alloy, Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t have needed to bring out his golden soul ring. However, he was forging this piece of star silver for his own use! He needed to bind his flesh and blood to it by injecting it with his blood essence! Then, once it was made into a piece of his battle armor, it would be even more compatible with him.


    A golden aura enveloped the cloud gold hammers, and Tang Wulin hammered his blood essence into the emerging piece of star silver. Earsplitting booms shook the hall as he pounded away at the fusing metals. Every strike possessed tremendous weight and speed. The forging table trembled from the shock. The star silver gradually shrank under the weight of each blow.


    Tang Wulin struck down with both hammers at once. He let out a draconic roar as a pair of golden lights flowed through each of the cloud gold hammers and into the star silver.


    An illusory dragon soared out of the metal, spiraling up into the air. All the while the star silver twinkled bright with ample shine, its surface touched by specks of starlight in the shape of a dragon.


    That dragon was Tang Wulin¡¯s personal brand on the metal.


    Tang Wulin was beyond pleased with the results. He roared for a full minute before settling in silence. In his eyes burned inextinguishable flames. He had the instinctive impression that he had broken through a boundary as a blacksmith. His growth was tremendous and his alloy forging success rate would undoubtedly eclipse the one prior.


    He did it! He really did it! He forged a spirit alloy!


    Zhen Hua stared with his brows furrowed.


    ¡°Thank you for lending me your hammers. I understand the technique now. Thank you for teaching me,¡± Tang Wulin said respectfully to Zhen Hua. The strong were no stranger to secrets, and blacksmiths were not excluded from this rule of life. A good forging technique could help a blacksmith dramatically improve their skills and bolster their success rate. Especially a technique as invaluable as the one Tang Wulin just learned. Yet, Zhen Hua had imparted it for free. It was this action that solidified a previous notion within Tang Wulin¡¯s heart, that Zhen Hua was a man worthy of respect and admiration.


    Zhen Hua put on a stern expression. ¡°Whose disciple are you? How old are you?¡±


    These questions startled Tang Wulin. It was only now that he realized he had revealed himself. He had forgotten all about hiding his talents amidst his excitement. As such, before all these blacksmiths and the sole living Divine Blacksmith, there was no use lying anymore.


    ¡°My teacher is Mu Chen. I¡¯m fourteen this year.¡±


    The moment the words left his mouth, the entire hall went into an uproar.


    He¡¯s only fourteen? And he can forge alloys?


    Zhen Hua¡¯s chest huffed as he listened, but a blank look crossed his face at the mere utter of Mu Chen¡¯s name.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your blacksmith¡¯s badge? What rank are you?¡± Even as the President of the whole Blacksmith¡¯s Association, Zhen Hua couldn¡¯t help but harbor some doubts regarding Tang Wulin¡¯s blacksmith rank. With his discerning eyes, he picked out an amazing fact: the harmony rate of the star silver Tang Wulin forged was over ninety-five percent!


    ¡°I¡¯m in the middle of an exam right now, so all of my possessions were confiscated. I¡¯m a fifth-rank blacksmith.¡±


    He¡¯s a fifth-rank¡­


    Everyone had guessed it, but hearing it out loud still brought out a tumult of gasps. He¡¯s a fourteen-year-old fifth-rank blacksmith! He broke the record! And Zhen Hua¡¯s, at that!


    Zhen Hua smiled. ¡°That damn Mu Chen. I can¡¯t believe he was able to hide you so well! That bastard!¡±


    ¡°President, can I take this piece of star silver? I can pay for it by taking missions.¡±


    Zhen Hua frowned. ¡°No need for payment. It belongs to you in the first place. As promised, those hammers are yours now too.¡±


    The cloud gold hammers that possessed the tremor effect were priceless treasures! Still, Tang Wulin shook his head, something else more important weighing heavily in his mind. ¡°I don¡¯t need them since I already have a pair of hammers, but thank you, President. Uh, instead, could I trade them back for money?¡±


    Trade for money¡­ He wants to trade them for money¡­


    The clamoring crowd instantly went silent, shocked and frozen at the sight before them. The Divine Blacksmith was gifting his hammers to Tang Wulin, but he wanted to trade them in for money! They couldn¡¯t believe their eyes.


    Zhen Hua couldn¡¯t maintain his poker face anymore. His jaw dropped, utterly dumbstruck. Is he just here to cause trouble? That¡¯s gotta be it, right? Yeah! It has to be! That bastard Mu Chen must have sent him here to annoy me! He picked such a good time too! Just when I decided to give a public lecture! That bastard!


    ¡°Fine!¡± In front of such a large crowd, there was nothing else he could do. He signalled to one of the nearby staff.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± he said to Tang Wulin as he approached the elevator.


    Hushed whispers broke out behind Zhen Hua, fanning around him like the petals of a flower, incoherent in their volume but clear in their overall sentiment all the same. Everyone in the hall had just witnessed the first appearance of this generation¡¯s greatest blacksmithing prodigy.


    Tang Wulin followed Zhen Hua into the elevator.


    ¡°Did Mu Chen tell you to come here?¡± Now that they were alone in the elevator, Zhen Hua sought to confirm his suspicions.


    Once more did Tang Wulin shake his head, hanging it in embarrassment a moment later. ¡°Actually, I came here because I¡¯m broke. The Academy took all of our money to teach us how to be self-reliant and how to adapt to society. I need to earn some money with my own methods to complete my exam.¡±


    A thought struck Zhen Hua, bright and piercing like a lightning bolt. ¡°Shrek Academy?¡±


    Tang Wulin jerked his head up in astonishment. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±


    Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°No wonder Mu Chen resigned from the Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association to suffer in Shrek City. It was all for your sake. He sure knows how to keep a secret! I had always thought Little Xi was this generation¡¯s greatest blacksmithing prodigy, but you were hidden away all along!¡±


    Tang Wulin scratched his head awkwardly. Teacher Mu, there was nothing I could do! This was all just a coincidence!


    He focused his attention back on Zhen Hua. ¡°President, I still have my exam to finish. Can you give me the money for the cloud gold hammers now? I promise I¡¯ll come visit you again in the future when I have time.¡±


    The elevator cruised to a stop, the doors sliding open to the highest floor of the building.


    ¡°You¡¯re so young yet all that goes through your head is money. You¡¯re just like your teacher.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything without money,¡± Tang Wulin mumbled. ¡°If you¡¯re not going to give me any, then I¡¯ll just go do some missions. But since I don¡¯t have my badge right now, the staff won¡¯t let me take on any. Can¡¯t you bend the rules a little for me?¡±


    Zhen Hua let out a chuckle. ¡°Fine then, kid. I¡¯ll have someone bring over some money in a bit. Go accept some missions now, just don¡¯t let anyone see you. Right, I wanted to ask you this. Since you¡¯re Mu Chen¡¯s disciple, did you also join Shrek¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I have a teacher there too.¡±


    ¡°Are you talking about that old madman?¡± Zhen Hua asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded.


    Zhen Hua¡¯s expression darkened. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up. ¡°What do you need to do for your exam?¡±


    Tang Wulin, without withholding a single detail, honestly explained the exam¡¯s requirements.


    ¡°Wow! Shrek Academy sure is strict! Well, I can help you find an opponent for Heaven Dou City. I can arrange transportation for you too.¡±


    Tang Wulin beamed. ¡°Thank you, President!¡±


    Zhen Hua flashed a warm smile of his own. ¡°You know, Mu Chen and I were actually apprenticed to the same master. I¡¯m his senior brother. You don¡¯t have to call me President. Just call me uncle-master.¡±


    Uncle-master?


    Never had Tang Wulin heard such a thing from Mu Chen before.


    ¡°Uncle-master.¡± Tang Wulin didn¡¯t hesitate. It was a wonderful thing to have a Divine Blacksmiths as his uncle-master!


    Zhen Hua nodded in approval. ¡°Take a rest here. I¡¯ll go arrange an opponent for you.¡± Before he could do anything else, Tang Wulin spoke again.


    ¡°Uncle-master, I¡¯m hungry.¡± Tang Wulin had consumed a lot of blood essence during the alloy forging, and the one meal he chanced upon today was only meant for ordinary people.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll have someone bring you over to my personal dining hall.¡± Zhen Hua smiled gently. He felt the embers of approval spark brighter and hotter in his chest. This kid isn¡¯t the least bit nervous. Not bad.


    As the President of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, his personal dining hall only served the best of the best. Blacksmithing was an exhausting job, and especially so for a Divine Blacksmith. There were few people on the continent who ate better than him. Moreover, unlike most people, he had plenty of money!


    As a Divine Blacksmith, each of his products were worth more than their weight in gold. His wealth rivaled that of a small nation.


    Because blacksmiths needed a lot of money in the early and middle stages of their career, advancing was difficult. However, once they broke through the boundary of the sixth rank, the profits came pouring in. At that point, blacksmithing was undoubtedly the most lucrative profession.


    Nevertheless, Zhen Hua¡¯s personal dining hall was quite small, only about twenty square meters in area. A plain, round table sat at the center of the room, further contributing to the image of austerity.


    When the dishes arrived, Tang Wulin was moved to tears.


    The first dish was a thousand-year land dragon¡¯s tendon. This was one of the spirit items Tang Wulin had needed to break one of his previous seals, yet Zhen Hua treated it merely as food!


    To be fair, the piece of tendon was small. It had been stewed for a long time and was soft and sticky, a tantalizing aroma rising from it, ensnaring the senses with a single whiff. Indeed, one sniff and Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence thrummed in excitement. He began to drool.


    The rice served with this tendon was the premium moonlight rice. It could only be found in extremely cold climates and took three years to grow and harvest. A small amount was produced each year. The grains of rice seemed to bend moonlight around it to produce a silvery aura and carried a refreshingly cold scent. When Tang Wulin took his first bite of this dish, the sweet flavor of the rice mixed with the warmth of the stewed tendon, blending together in a magical combination of textures and flavor. It was heaven for his taste buds.

 Chapter 426 - Amazing

    Chapter 426 - Amazing


    Amazing!


    That was the only thought that crossed Tang Wulin¡¯s mind as he gobbled down the rice and tendon. The plate of thousand-year land dragon tendon disappeared in a flash, along with six bowls of moonlight rice.


    The chef, a wizened man in his fifties, had smiled happily as he watched Tang Wulin eat in the beginning, but by the end, his delight changed into astonishment. This kid really knows how to eat!


    Though his servings were a far cry from their usual abundance, the moonlight rice and dragon tendons were much more nutritious than ordinary food. A single grain of moonlight rice would be enough to satisfy an ordinary person for a day. Tang Wulin still craved for more after six bowls.


    Sensing Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence growing stronger with each bite, the chef jokingly thought to himself that all of the food was being turned into blood essence.


    A while later, after soup was served and Tang Wulin finished his seventh bowl of rice, he looked up at the chef. ¡°Uncle, is there any more?¡±


    The chef didn¡¯t know what kind of expression he should make. ¡°You can even eat more than the President! There¡¯s nothing left.¡±


    Tang Wulin put down his bowl with a whimper.


    ¡°You¡¯re really still hungry?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. My stomach is only a bit more than half full. Well, I¡¯ll be fine. But what is Uncle-master going to eat?¡±


    The chef flashed Tang Wulin a thumbs up, then stood up and walked back to the small kitchen in the back. ¡°Wait a bit.¡±


    Meanwhile, Zhen Hua was busy pacing the floor in a different room as Tang Wulin had been stuffing his gut.


    ¡°Mu Chen, I can¡¯t believe you!¡± he shouted into his soul communicator the moment the call connected, his voice an octave higher than usual.


    On the other end of the line, Mu Chen felt his heartbeat quicken. ¡°Is something wrong? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Zhen Hua sneered. ¡°You have the nerve to ask me that? Are you telling me you didn¡¯t deliberately send your disciple here to stir up some trouble?¡±


    ¡°Disciple?¡± Mu Chen¡¯s pitch rose as well. ¡°Did you meet Wulin?¡±


    ¡°Who else could I be talking about?¡± Sarcasm dripped from Zhen Hua¡¯s words.


    The line went silent.


    ¡°Say something! When did you pick up such an incredible kid?¡± Zhen Hua asked. The calm expression he had shown Tang Wulin was but a facade. It had taken all of his willpower from to hide the shock from his face. There was no way a Divine Blacksmith such as himself didn¡¯t understand the significance of a fourteen-year-old fifth-rank blacksmith.


    Tang Wulin had a sturdy foundation, good wits, and a godly talent for blacksmithing. All of this Zhen Hua had discerned from Tang Wulin¡¯s handling of the cloud gold hammers.


    Tang Wulin was destined to become the next generation¡¯s Divine Blacksmith! As long as he grew steadily, this was inevitable. Of course, that meant he had to become a Titled Douluo. However, it was much easier for blacksmiths to become Titled Douluos than for combat-oriented soul masters. They could simply use some heavenly treasures to boost them up to that level. Although this would result in an unstable foundation, they would still become a Titled Douluo and have the necessary soul power for their path to a Divine Blacksmith.


    Aware of these facts, Zhen Hua wasn¡¯t worried about Tang Wulin¡¯s growth as a soul master. He was one of the ten richest people on the continent. He had more than enough resources for the items necessary to nurture a prodigy like Tang Wulin. The sole issue so far had been finding one!


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Mu Chen shouted back.


    ¡°Mu Chen,¡± Zhen Hua said gently.


    Mu Chen¡¯s laugh was thick with sarcasm, voice coming out gruff from the other side of the line. ¡°Don¡¯t bother. I already know all about your tricks.¡±


    Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°Weren¡¯t we once fellow apprentices?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we were. But that has nothing to do with this.¡± In fact, Mu Chen understood Zhen Hua better than anyone else precisely because Zhen Hua was his senior brother.


    Zhen Hua ignored the frost practically spreading through his speakers. ¡°Junior Brother! Don¡¯t you remember how we were back in the old days? We were praised as the two greatest prodigies of the blacksmithing world. We¡¯ve been through thick and thin together! Just tell me, didn¡¯t I take care of you as your senior brother?¡±


    But Mu Chen was an impenetrable fortress. ¡°Anything else is fine, but not my disciple!¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I let you have my beloved Yuan Bao¡¯er back then? And now you have an adorable daughter thanks to that! What about me? I have no wife, and I never will. The only woman in my heart is Bao¡¯er. Do you have any idea how much it pained me to make that decision? I don¡¯t really want a disciple. I want a son that can look after me as I age!¡± Zhen Hua cried, choking back sobs.


    Mu Chen went silent.


    Years ago, Zhen Hua, Yuan Bao¡¯er, and Mu Chen had been apprenticed to the same master together. Zhen Hua was the eldest disciple, followed by Mu Chen and Yuan Bao¡¯er in that order. Out of the trio, Yuan Bao¡¯er was the only girl. She had a mischievous personality and, compared to the others, was a bit of a slacker in learning blacksmithing. Even so, she was the target of affection for her two senior brothers. As the three grew up together, so did their emotions for each other. But in the end, Zhen Hua chose to dedicate his life to blacksmithing, and Yuan Bao¡¯er ended up with Mu Chen. In a sense, Zhen Hua truly had given her to Mu Chen. Blacksmithing had simply pulled ahead from the other important thing in his life, his beloved Yuan Bao¡¯er.


    Still, Mu Chen felt guilty. He had no retort to Zhen Hua.


    ¡°Eldest Brother, are you crying?¡± a gentle voice interjected through the communicator.


    A cold shiver traveled down Zhen Hua¡¯s spine. ¡°Is that you, Bao¡¯er?¡±


    ¡°Eldest Brother, how about I kick Mu Chen to the curb then run over to you?¡± she said sweetly.


    ¡°No! It¡¯s fine!¡± Zhen Hua answered immediately. ¡°Junior Sister, how could you say something like that? Mu Chen and I are brothers, I couldn¡¯t possibly¡­¡±


    ¡°Then stop talking out of your ass! Don¡¯t call if you have nothing to say!¡± Yuan Bao¡¯er shouted. A moment later, the dial tone played.


    Zhen Hua didn¡¯t know how to react to all this.


    On Mu Chen¡¯s side, he stared at his wife, stupefied. He had never seen his wife act so violently before. She was usually mild-tempered.


    ¡°Bao¡¯er, are you feeling alright?¡± Mu Chen rubbed her forehead.


    Yuan Bao¡¯er took advantage of this and sat on his lap, throwing her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. All traces of her previous temper were wiped off the face of the earth. ¡°I¡¯m fine. In fact, I¡¯m great! My kindness is only meant for you though.¡±


    Mu Chen looked at her curiously. ¡°What about Eldest Brother then?¡±


    Yuan Bao¡¯er snorted. ¡°I was just warning him not to use what happened back then to threaten you. I¡¯ve already kept it a secret for so many years for his sake, but it looks like he doesn¡¯t care about saving some face.¡±


    A blank look crossed Mu Chen¡¯s face. ¡°What do you mean? What secret?¡±


    Yuan Bao¡¯er snickered. ¡°Do you really think he fearlessly chose to devote himself to blacksmithing back then? You dummy. That¡¯s too naive! Eldest Brother is really cunning. He had long since asked me to marry him by that time. You were so oblivious about it! Eldest Brother is a good person, but he¡¯s too stubborn and ambitious. I couldn¡¯t love someone like that. I just wanted someone who I could have fun with. You might have been a bit dumb back then, but you were a lot more reliable than him. You only have me in your heart. If it had been him, then it would have been me and blacksmithing in his heart. And I¡¯m sure blacksmithing would have still placed higher than me. Who would choose a guy like him? So I told him I liked you. After that, he went into seclusion. I didn¡¯t mention any of this before only because I wanted to spare him the embarrassment.¡±


    Mu Chen was dumbstruck. At first, he couldn¡¯t believe what his wife was telling him, but as the seconds ticked by, the puzzle pieces started coming together.


    ¡°No wonder you chose me. You¡¯re definitely more suited for a laid-back lifestyle. You would never be able to devote your life to blacksmithing life Zhen Hua did. You broke contact from a lot of people when we moved to Eastsea City too! Some people even think you died.¡±


    Yuan Bao¡¯er smiled. ¡°I like this sort of simple life. It¡¯s enough as long as I have you and Little Xi.¡±

 Chapter 427 - Ruby Shrimp

    Chapter 427 - Ruby Shrimp


    When Zhen Hua returned to his personal dining hall, his expression was already back to normal.


    Tang Wulin stood up straight from his seat at the sound of the door opening.¡°Uncle-master,¡± he said.


    Zhen Hua waved for him to sit back down. ¡°Are you done eating?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I ate.¡±


    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s good,¡± Zhen Hua said. ¡°I just called your master to tell him you came over. He told me to take good care of you. I¡¯ve also arranged an opponent for you. They¡¯ll be waiting for you in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s sealed space. I¡¯ll record the match so you can use it as proof.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle-master,¡± Tang Wulin said. After eating the moonlight rice and dragon tendon, he felt his body swell with warmth. His blood essence bubbled within him, and his mind was sharp as a blade. He was in peak condition.


    ¡°No need to thank me. You¡¯re my junior so this is only natural. So you¡¯re a student at Shrek Academy with three soul rings, right? Do you have any plans for the future?¡± Zhen Hua asked.


    Without skipping a beat, Tang Wulin replied, ¡°I want to become a battle armor master!¡±


    Zhen Hua cracked a smile. ¡°How ambitious. You know, I forged most of the metals used to make the battle armors at Shrek Academy. Next time I visit, how about I find you and give you some pointers?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please! That would be awesome!¡± Tang Wulin could hardly contain himself with excitement. Not when a Divine Blacksmith had agreed to afford him guidance!


    ¡°It¡¯s settled then. Give me your number and I¡¯ll call you next time I¡¯m in town.¡±


    Zhen Hua was a man of determination who reached the peak in his field! There had been more to his call with Mu Chen than just as an avenue to vent his frustration. In fact, underneath the many layers of subtext and his own personal brand of care, he was also telling Mu Chen that there was no use in hiding Tang Wulin anymore. Mu Chen may be able to teach Tang Wulin soul refining, but teaching him how to heavenly refine was a different story. That was where Zhen Hua came in. When that time came, things would be much easier for Tang Wulin under a Divine Blacksmith¡¯s watchful eye.


    Therefore, Zhen Hua¡¯s current plan was to develop a good relationship with Tang Wulin, whom he had taken quite the liking to. Tang Wulin might be greedy, but greed was good motivation for a blacksmith! As long as Tang Wulin put in the work as a blacksmith, he would drown in money later on.


    At that moment, the kitchen door swung open, the chef carrying a platter as he passed through the doorway.


    Before the chef arrived at the dining table, Tang Wulin could already smell the tantalizing aroma wafting over from the platter. His eyes widened, mouth instantly watering. It was as if a wave of deliciousness had assaulted his nose. The strong aroma roused his blood essence far more than the previous dishes.


    What dish is it?


    The platter was half a meter in diameter. Six humongous shrimps lay plump on its surface, and the heads were similarly gigantic. The shells were already peeled, revealing their glossy flesh, a bold shade of crimson. There were no seasonings or sauces to enhance their scent. The alluring aroma had come from these shrimp.


    ¡°What¡¯s the special occasion? Why did you bring out the ruby shrimp? You¡¯d normally never do that!¡± Zhen Hua exclaimed.


    The chef snorted. ¡°Your mind is always elsewhere, so how could you appreciate a true culinary delicacy? This kid has got quite a stomach, and he loves my food from the bottom of his heart. I¡¯m cooking this for him. You¡¯re lucky to have met him.¡±


    Tang Wulin was surprised by how the chef treated Zhen Hua. Despite there not being a single shred of soul power radiating from the chef¡¯s body, they gave off the image of being equals.


    Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°Count me a lucky man then. My little nephew-disciple is so amazing. But aren¡¯t you suffering a loss here too? In a sense, isn¡¯t he one of your people?¡±


    The chef smiled, mischief dancing in his eyes. ¡°Did you think I couldn¡¯t tell? Kid, eat up. These are ruby shrimp, also known as blood shrimp. They¡¯re one of the bizarre creatures living three kilometers below the Blood Trench. Their blood essence is similar to that of humans. I think you should be able to handle eating three of them.¡±


    Which meant that the other three were clearly meant for Zhen Hua.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Tang Wulin rose from his seat and bent into a slight bow to the chef. Never had he come across the name ruby shrimp before, but he was certain that it was an absolute delicacy!


    The last fibers of his self restraint snapped. He grabbed a shrimp by its tail and popped it into his mouth.


    The meat was sweet and tender, a hint of fruitiness dancing at the edges. When he pressed his teeth together for a chew, warm, flavorful juices gushed out of the shrimp and trickled down his throat.


    His body submerged into a pool of comfort. He could hear a buzz permeating his mind as his skin blushed red. A burst of warmth spread through him and the golden veined pattern of the Golden Dragon King surfaced all over his body. His blood essence surged. Without any conscious control, it flowed in reverse, following the path set by Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    At the sight of Tang Wulin¡¯s golden skin and raging blood essence, Zhen Hua and the chef froze, stupefied. When a golden soul ring made its debut, the chef¡¯s jaw finally dropped. His eyes were glued to Tang Wulin.


    Sucking in a deep breath, Tang Wulin looked within himself to inspect his body. He was astonished to find his blood essence attacking the fourth seal on the Golden Dragon King. Wave after wave of blood essence crashed against the seal, wearing it down bit by bit, and the seal flashed brilliantly each time.


    Concerned at the scene, Zhen Hua shot the chef a doubtful look. ¡°Is he digesting it immediately? Doesn¡¯t it usually take a whole year to digest ruby shrimp?¡±


    The chef shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. You¡¯re the one who brought this little monster here.¡±


    Zhen Hua smiled. ¡°Yeah. He really is a little monster. He¡¯s from Shrek Academy.¡±


    Once the chef heard that fact, a light flashed in his eyes, his cheeks beginning to twitch. ¡°If I knew earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have fed him the shrimp! But his body really is interesting. You weren¡¯t wrong to say he¡¯s one of my people.¡±


    For over ten minutes Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence continued to bubble within him before gradually settling down. In the end, the seal still held, but the feverous blood essence flaring within him was undeniable. It was as if his entire body had been refined and he felt utterly comfortable. His soul power surged, two months worth of cultivation added on after just a few moments of eating.


    ¡°Thank you, Senior,¡± Tang Wulin said to the chef respectfully. There were only two shrimp left. The other three had already been eaten by Zhen Hua.


    The chef shook his head. ¡°This is an opportunity for you. If you want to take me as your master and eat food like this every day, then leave Shrek Academy. It¡¯s your decision.¡±


    Tang Wulin was taken aback. The chef¡¯s food left a deep impression on him. If he could eat food of such quality every day, then his cultivation would progress by leaps and bounds! He wouldn¡¯t have to worry about his blood essence for the first nine seals either. That said, he was also a person of integrity.


    ¡°Senior, thank you for your offer, but I¡¯m a student of Shrek Academy. I can¡¯t leave just yet. If you¡¯re still willing to take me in after I graduate, then when that time comes¡­¡±


    The chef waved in dismissal. He stood up in one brisk motion and returned to the kitchen.


    Witnessing such a strange scene, Tang Wulin turned to Zhen Hua for guidance. ¡°Uncle-master, is that chef uncle angry?¡±


    ¡°Chef? Hehe. He¡¯s not angry. He just knows he has no hope. People from Shrek aren¡¯t fools. Would they really let a talent like you graduate from the outer court? You¡¯re definitely bound for the inner court. He knows he doesn¡¯t stand a chance, so there was no point in staying. Here. These last two shrimp are yours. Kid, I¡¯ve got to say, your stomach is amazing!¡±


    Tang Wulin quickly took the remaining two shrimp and threw them into his mouth. His blood essence surged once more and assaulted the fourth seal. However, his body¡¯s ability to handle blood essence had improved, so the attack on the seal wasn¡¯t as powerful as the first time. Even so, Tang Wulin could feel the fourth seal growing slack.


    But he had no plans of breaking the fourth seal right then. Despite having enough soul power to do so, he also had to take into account the amount of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power he could absorb after the seal was broken. His body wasn¡¯t ready yet. Plus, there was still time to find the spirit items Old Tang had informed him.


    Zhen Hua waited until Tang Wulin finished digesting the remaining shrimp before standing up from his seat and walking to the door. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. I¡¯ll bring you to battle your opponent. Afterward you can be on your way to finish your exam.¡±


    There was still one thing of interest, though. ¡°Uncle-master, who was that chef uncle?¡± Tang Wulin asked.

 Chapter 428 - Temptation

    Chapter 428 - Temptation


    ¡°He¡¯s just an eccentric guy! I¡¯m his only friend. Well, in any case, I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ll ever meet him again. But I¡¯ll tell you this.¡± Zhen Hua motioned for Tang Wulin to lean closer, covering part of his mouth with a cupped hand. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have a good relationship with Shrek Academy, and he doesn¡¯t like dealing with them.¡±


    Zhen Hua¡¯s ambiguous words left Tang Wulin puzzled, but he didn¡¯t think much about it. Right now, he had to focus on finishing his exam.


    A spatial door opened before them. The door reminded him of the one to the spirit soul tower at the Spirit Pagoda. He hadn¡¯t expected the Blacksmith¡¯s Association would also have such a space.


    ¡°Are you familiar with this?¡± Zhen Hua noticed the glint in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Yeah. The Spirit Pagoda headquarters has a door just like this.¡±


    ¡°Yes, they¡¯re similar. Similar, but different. Apart from Shrek Academy, no other society can compare with the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s resources. However, our Blacksmith¡¯s Association also has a few tricks up its sleeve, and this sealed space is used for storing important treasures and classified materials. You could call it our warehouse. Only high-level members of the Association can enter it. Once you become a Saint Blacksmith, you¡¯ll gain access to it too. The key is a Saint Blacksmith¡¯s badge.¡±


    Saint Blacksmith¡¯s were seventh-rank blacksmiths. Tang Wulin yearned for the day he could finally step on that plane of existence.


    ¡°Uncle-master, is it hard to soul refine?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Zhen Hua smiled and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s both hard and not hard at the same time. You have a strong foundation and good wits. But you¡¯re lacking in soul power. I can help you with that, though. I have many treasures that can boost your cultivation. Would you like to go that route?¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at him in astonishment. ¡°Uncle-master, what do you mean?¡±


    Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°I can see it in your eyes that you already understand. Don¡¯t you feel embarrassed keeping up an act?¡±


    Tang Wulin scratched his head, showing a meek smile. Of course he would want to get his hands on some treasures.


    ¡°If you use treasures to boost your cultivation, I guarantee you¡¯ll become a Titled Douluo and Divine Blacksmith within fifteen years. However, I must warn you, your foundation won¡¯t be firm and you¡¯ll likely never advance into a Hyper Douluo. Still, that should be enough for you in my opinion. Battle armor will improve your strength anyway. As long as you get a set of four-word battle armor and become a Titled Douluo, you¡¯ll stand at the very peak of the world,¡± Zhen Hua said.


    ¡°Uncle-master, I¡¯ve always been curious about that. If battle armor can make a Titled Douluo as powerful as a Limit Douluo, why do they still continue to cultivate to become Hyper Douluos?¡±


    Zhen Hua sighed. ¡°They¡¯re not quite the same. You¡¯ll understand once you reach that level. Even if you compared two Limit Douluos, or two Titled Douluos with the same amount of soul power, the combat strength of the one who boosted their advancement through the use of treasures and the one who advanced normally would differ. And more importantly, only by relying on their own strength can they hope to ascend to godhood. No one has ascended in the last ten thousand years. But who doesn¡¯t wish to ascend like the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San? Or the Spirit Pagoda founder, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao?


    ¡°Think about this carefully. If you choose to accept my offer, then I¡¯ll nurture you into a Divine Blacksmith by the time you¡¯re thirty. You¡¯ll be the youngest Divine Blacksmith in all of history and stand at the world¡¯s summit. However, you¡¯ll also be turning your back on the path of battle, forgoing the mysteries of the world.¡±


    A moment of silence slipped by. ¡±Uncle-master,¡± Tang Wulin eventually said. ¡°Can you give me some time to consider it?¡±


    Zhen Hua¡¯s offer was enticing. Tang Wulin¡¯s cultivation wasn¡¯t advancing quickly, but when it came to blacksmithing, he was blessed by the heavens. If he became a Divine Blacksmith and a Titled Douluo, he could easily proceed to become a four-word battle armor master as well. However, he had to consider if this was what he truly wanted. With this sudden choice thrust upon him, he didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Zhen Hua smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it too much. I didn¡¯t know what to do back when I was your age too. Just pick whatever route you think is best for you. And even if you choose to cultivate with your own efforts, you still have a good chance of becoming a Divine Blacksmith. Consider your options carefully, and when you make your decision, make sure you do so with the resolve to see it through to the end with no regrets. There are countless treasures in this world, but there are none that can cure regret.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle-master.¡±


    The two stepped through the spatial doorway and entered the sealed space. It was enormous, utterly different from that of the spirit soul tower. Truly a gigantic warehouse. Countless doors lined the perimeter and stood all around, leading to unknown spaces.


    With a wave of his hand, Zhen Hua brought Tang Wulin to the center of the space. Jarring was the brisk, instantaneous movement for Tang Wulin.


    Zhen Hua placed a palm upon a door and entered with a gentle push. Inside was a large hall brimming with energy. A barrier created an arena in the middle of the hall, and a man in his twenties waited in the center.


    The man bowed when he caught sight of Zhen Hua. ¡°President.¡±


    Zhen Hua cracked a slight smile. ¡°Prepare to begin. Wulin, let me introduce you. This is one of our Association¡¯s guardians, Xie Yinling. Please take care of each other.¡±


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Tang Wulin.¡±


    Although Xie Yinling couldn¡¯t be called handsome, he had a refreshing aura to him, and examined Tang Wulin with curious eyes. What sort of background does this kid have that the President would recommend him to have a match with me?


    Zhen Hua withheld from him details about Tang Wulin. All he let slip from his lips was that he had found a good opponent him. Xie Yinling had never expected his opponent would be just a kid!


    ¡°I¡¯m Xie Yinling. Please advise me.¡± Without another word, Xie Yinling retreated a few steps. He extended his right hand and gestured for Tang Wulin to make his move.


    Despite his youth, Tang Wulin had plenty of battle experience. He took a few paces forward to face Xie Yinling in a battle stance.


    Two yellow and two purple soul rings rose from beneath Xie Yinling. Just as Tang Wulin had requested, Zhen Hua found him an opponent stronger than him.


    Xie Yinling was twenty years old this year, and a rank 43 Soul Ancestor.


    As Tang Wulin strode forward, three purple soul rings rose past his feet. The sight startled Xie Yinling.


    ¡°Begin,¡± Zhen Hua declared.


    In a split second, Tang Wulin jumped into action. Rather than summoning his bluesilver grass, he stomped on the ground and shot forward like a cannonball. He didn¡¯t want to waste any more time.


    Xie Yinling took a step back. His lungs swelled with air as he let out a piercing bird¡¯s screech. A pair of wings unfurled from his back and a green aura spread throughout his body as he ascended into the air.


    His martial soul is a flying-type! It¡¯s the eagle! Tang Wulin instantly judged. As a student of Shrek Academy, he could identify a martial soul at ease


    Tang Wulin leaped after him. Unfortunately, he only reached eight meters into the air while Xie Yinling hovered at a height of ten. Seeing that, Xie Yinling relaxed his guard a bit, confident in his ability to take the win. The moment Tang Wulin¡¯s three purple soul rings had materialized, apprehension chewed at the edges of his calm. But as soon as he was up in the air, his domain, his doubts had been extinguished. Especially when Tang Wulin could not reach him in a leap


    When facing a flying soul master, one of the greatest mistakes a soul master who couldn¡¯t fly could make was jumping into the air to engage. At that point, they were practically sitting ducks. Flying soul masters boasted exceptional speed in the air.


    That said, Xie Yinling¡¯s confident smile froze in the next instant.

 Chapter 429 - True Strength

    Chapter 429 - True Strength


    Shooting a golden vine at the ground, Tang Wulin bounced upward using it as a spring.. His sudden acceleration brought him in front of Xie Yinling in a flash.


    Not good! Xie Yinling was a bit slow to react. He pushed his hands forward as soon as he snapped free of surprise, stopping his ascent. His wings took on a sharp metallic shine as he brandished them and used Eagle Wing Slash! The wings came slicing down on Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder. At the same time, Xie Yinling circulated his soul power within his body to keep him afloat in the air.


    Eagle Wing Slash was his second soul skill. Yet, he didn¡¯t dare underestimate Tang Wulin, his third soul ring lighting up as a result.  His third soul skill was linked with his fourth, and eclipsed soul skills of the same level in aerial combat. As such, he was convinced after blocking Tang Wulin¡¯s charge victory would swiftly follow.


    However, his plans were dashed in an instant.


    Tang Wulin scrunched up his body in mid-air as the wings bore down on him, hands shooting out to deflect the attack. He stared Xie Yinling straight in the eye, his irises flashing purple. Bluesilver grass sprang out of the ground and curled around Xie Yinling like an iron chain. With his opponent restrained, Tang Wulin whipped out his right fist for a powerful knockout punch.


    Although Xie Yinling was restrained, his arms were still still mobile, extended in front of him in an effort to meet Tang Wulin¡¯s attack. Unable to use his third soul skill in his current position, he had no choice but to divert Tang Wulin first!


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t withdraw his fist as those two arms chopped down. His fist continued its trajectory, swift and brisk, easily evading Xie Yinling¡¯s parry. In that hairbreadth of a moment, golden scales glimmered, popping into existence on his arm.


    Xie Yinling was stunned at the sight of the transformation. The golden claw reached his chest in an instant.


    I¡¯m finished!


    His mind went blank. But rather than the scalding pain of claw tearing through flesh, he felt a more subtle sensation. The claw lightly bumped him and disrupted his internal soul power circulation. Then Tang Wulin grabbed the bluesilver grass binding him and yanked, throwing him against the ground like a rag doll, the earth crackling beneath him upon impact.


    Tang Wulin landed next to Xie Yinling and released him from his restraints then took two steps back. ¡°Excuse me.¡±


    Xie Yinling was speechless.


    I didn¡¯t even get a chance to fight! He was frustrated by how helpless he had been throughout the entire battle. He had only been able to use one soul skill before losing, the battle having ended too quickly. It pained him to swallow the bitter pill of reality. He had lost. Admitting it wasn¡¯t easy, especially since he hadn¡¯t been able to work out Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul.


    Zhen Hua had stood by, watching from a distance with cold detachment. Even for him, the battle had ended too quickly. A few moves and it was settled. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t wasted any strength, each move wrapped tightly in a blanket of precision and consideration. Xie Yinling thought he hadn¡¯t had a chance to show off his true strength, but in Zhen Hua¡¯s eyes, it was Tang Wulin who had been reserved.


    Are all students from Shrek Academy this strong? He had thought that with a one ring difference, Tang Wulin would have struggled a bit.


    He was jolted out of his thoughts by the sound of Tang Wulin¡¯s voice, the young man approaching him with steady steps. ¡°Thank you for helping me, Uncle-master.¡±


    ¡°Mn. Let¡¯s go then.¡± Zhen Hua patted Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    Tang Wulin dropped one final glance at Xie Yinling and a curt nod before following Zhen Hua out.


    Meanwhile, Xie Yinling still refused to accept the outcome of the match. However, as one of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s guardians, it would be too impudent to request a rematch in front of the President. If he knew Tang Wulin was the class president of Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade, his attitude would have been far different.


    ¡°Wulin, I never would have thought you would be so strong. Not bad. Since this is the case, I don¡¯t recommend you take me up on my offer. You¡¯re still young. You can just wait until you¡¯re twenty before you decide. And at that time, if you still don¡¯t have five rings, then I would suggest the route I presented to you. Once you¡¯re boosted to six rings, you can go the rest of the way with your own efforts. Your soul power is very strong, but it¡¯s impossible to heavenly refine without becoming a Titled Douluo,¡± Zhen Hua said.


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Before Tang Wulin left, Zhen Hua handed him a card containing one million Federal credits. It was enough for the rest of his trip. Zhen Hua also threw a storage ring into the mix, one much better than his previous few. The storage space was larger with many compartments for easy organization. In Zhen Hua¡¯s own words, this was a gift, and it contained everything that he exchanged the cloud gold hammers for.


    Tang Wulin peeked inside the ring. Despite not containing money, there were eighteen different types of valuable metals stored within. Twelve of them he had only heard of but had never seen before. There were also over a dozen bottles of the alloy forging catalyst refined by Zhen Hua.


    Zhen Hua didn¡¯t make a fuss about the gift, and neither did Tang Wulin.


    He didn¡¯t see Tang Wulin out, but he did direct him to use the backdoor. Tang Wulin¡¯s performance had been too outrageous. Everyone was still talking about him. Tang Wulin would draw too much attention if he left through the front, especially if he was escorted by the President himself.


    After Tang Wulin stepped out through the back, as he was about to call a taxi, he paused at the sight of Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Teacher Wu,¡± he greeted.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression remained icy, not a hint of surprise. ¡°I knew you would be here.¡±


    Tang Wulin rushed to his side. And then, after thinking it over, he threw the hand with the ring behind him. ¡°I got this ring after I left campus. You can¡¯t say I¡¯m cheating!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong eyed him. ¡°From now on, I will be following you closely until the end of the exam. Just do whatever you have to without minding me.¡±


    Tang Wulin was taken aback. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be watching from the shadows? Could it be that¡­?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong furrowed his brow. ¡°An evil soul master appeared. The terrorist attack you foiled was arranged by that same person. I already notified the Academy, and they¡¯ve dispatched more teachers to come protect the examinees. I will be watching over you personally. Due to the limited number of teachers, however, you will need to act as a group.¡± He pointed to the side as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin tracked his gesture to see familiar faces. Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, and Xie Xie stood a distance away, smiling brightly. Although they missed Tang Wulin¡¯s train, they boarded the very next one with Wu Zhangkong, arriving at Heaven Dou City as a group. They were following the same route after all.


    When Wu Zhangkong had lost Tang Wulin, the gears in his head spun in overdrive. Penniless yet possessing such high blacksmithing skills, Tang Wulin was most likely to be found near the local Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    ¡°Hi guys.¡± Tang Wulin beamed.


    His mood soared. After visiting the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, he no longer felt guilty over the security captain¡¯s death.


    Xu Lizhi took the initiative to walk over. He sized Tang Wulin up, then sniffed. Astonishment filled his face. ¡°Did you eat something good?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    Xu Lizhi gave a toothy grin. ¡°Us food-types have an amazing sense of smell! Come on! Hurry up and tell me what you ate!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the use in telling you? It¡¯s not like you can eat it now. I don¡¯t want to make you hungry.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong interjected. ¡°Have you won a match yet?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded.


    ¡°Alright. None of the others have finished yet. You guys decide on your plan. Don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯ll just follow along quietly.¡±


    Tang Wulin understood that Wu Zhangkong was there to protect them, and a soft warmth brushed his heart. He turned to his friends and smiled. ¡°It looks like we¡¯re together again. Where do you guys want to go to find some opponents?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s head to the Spirit Pagoda,¡± Gu Yue said, her eyes shining as she looked at him.


    The Spirit Pagoda? Tang Wulin¡¯s smile flashed even brighter. That¡¯s right! There¡¯s tons of soul masters over there! Gu Yue has a high status there too, so it should be easy to find some opponents!


    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Heaven Dou City was bustling with activity. It didn¡¯t take them long to find a taxi, and soon they were on their way to the local Spirit Pagoda.


    In the car, Tang Wulin let Wu Zhangkong view the video of his fight with Xie Yinling and sent him the file soon after. Wu Zhangkong did not comment on the battle. With that, Tang Wulin had cleared his first city.

 Chapter 430 - These Trees Were Planted by Me!

    Chapter 430 - These Trees Were Planted by Me!


    Heaven Dou City¡¯s local Spirit Pagoda was only second to the headquarters in Shrek City. It towered over the surrounding buildings, breathtaking in its height.


    Currently, Xu Lizhi and Tang Wulin were walking together.


    ¡°I can feel that your blood essence is thicker than before! It¡¯s definitely because of whatever you ate. I can¡¯t believe you won¡¯t tell me!¡± Xu Lizhi cried. ¡°Aren¡¯t we brothers?¡±


    ¡°Fine. I give. It was ruby shrimp.¡± Although the thousand-year land dragon tendon was potent as well, it couldn¡¯t compare with the ruby shrimp.


    At the sound of those words, Xu Lizhi trembled. ¡°Ruby shrimp? Where did you get it?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at him suspiciously. ¡°Someone else gave it to me. Do you know of it? It wasn¡¯t until it was right in front of me that I even heard of its name.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the ruby shrimp from the Blood Trench, right?¡±


    ¡°Mn.¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    Xu Lizhi was dumbstruck. After gathering himself for a few moments, he spoke. ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s what you had? All soul devices malfunction near the Blood Trench because of its bizarre magnetic field. The trench is also several kilometers deep and teeming with soul beasts. It¡¯s known as one of the world¡¯s forbidden areas! That ruby shrimp you said you had are only found in the Blood Trench. Even four-word battle armor masters have trouble retrieving them. Are you sure that¡¯s what you ate?¡±


    Tang Wulin had guessed that the ruby shrimp was precious, but he had never expected it to be to this degree! It was a delicacy that could only be obtained by four-word battle armor masters! It was no wonder that even a Divine Blacksmith like Zhen Hua regarded it as precious.


    ¡°Who gave it to you? I want to try it too!¡± Xu Lizhi sulked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know his name,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°He¡¯s my uncle-master¡¯s friend. There aren¡¯t any left anyway. Or do you want me to puke it out for you to try? I think there¡¯s still a bit left in my stomach.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re disgusting!¡± Ye Xinglan, who was walking ahead of him, shot a dirty look in his direction.


    Xu Lizhi went silent with gloom. He was depressed that he missed out on such an experience.


    They soon reached the Spirit Pagoda, their chatter culled to an attentive quiet. Wu Zhangkong followed behind them without a word, simply watching them with his cold eyes.


    Tang Wulin glanced at his teacher. The thought of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s lover buried in the cemetary of Heaven Dou City lingered in his mind.


    Wu Zhangkong returned his glance with a sharp look. Then his eyes drifted elsewhere.


    Gu Yue flashed her ID and was immediately admitted inside. She led them up to a conference room on the third floor.


    Before long, a middle-aged man entered the room.


    ¡°Hello, Miss Gu Yue,¡± the middle-aged man said.


    ¡°Hello.¡± Gu Yue stood and nodded to him.


    The man made an awkward face. ¡°I¡¯ve passed on your request to the rest of the staff, but it would break too many rules. We¡¯re an organization that serves soul masters after all. We can¡¯t just ask visitors to have a match. It would be too troubling for them. We have no duty to do that either.¡±


    Gu Yue furrowed her brow. ¡°Is there any other way?¡±


    The man shook his head. ¡°I asked the higher ups, but I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s impossible. The Heavenly Phoenix Douluo called and said you had to handle this yourself. We aren¡¯t to lend you any help.¡±


    Gu Yue went silent for a moment. ¡°Teacher knows about this?¡±


    The man smiled meekly but remained silent.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Gu Yue nodded, then turned to her companions. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    They followed Gu Yue out in silence, Tang Wulin jogging to her side in the process. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We¡¯ll just find some other way. And if we can¡¯t, we can just go to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. I¡¯m sure my uncle-master will help us.¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°That would be too inconvenient and take too much time. I have a plan.¡±


    Ye Xinglan pursed her lips.¡°Are you saying¡­?¡±


    The two shared a glance, eyes lighting up in mutual understanding. Tang Wulin felt a chill travel down his spine, apprehension creeping up on him.


    ?


    Sun Runyu left the Spirit Pagoda in high spirits. His body felt light with his new and suitable spirit soul.


    At thirty-five years old, he possessed two spirit souls before this one. Due to his average martial soul, his spiritual power wasn¡¯t particularly strong, and he had only been able to sustain two spirit souls that allowed him four soul rings. After devoting blood and sweat to cultivating, he finally reached rank 50. He knew that he had no hopes of ever reaching seven rings, but he still wished to obtain a spirit soul capable of taking him that far. At the very least, he would be acknowledged within the world of soul masters.


    He saved up money by living frugally until he scraped enough to visit the Spirit Pagoda. Luck smiled upon him. He obtained a good purple spirit soul and fused with it, becoming stronger than before..


    From then on, he was a genuine five-ringed Soul King. Not to mention, he could now boast a thousand-year soul ring.


    Soul Kings were quite respected among soul masters. Furthermore, he was a mecha pilot. With a strong spirit soul to fuse with his mecha, he now had the strength to reach the rank of lieutenant colonel and command a squadron of thirty mechas.


    Sun Runyu was filled with excitement as he thought about his future. His hard work was finally paying off. Even if he couldn¡¯t become a Soul Sage, becoming a Soul Emperor was not beyond reach. Once he stepped into that level, he would have the qualifications to be promoted to a colonel. He would be a decently high-ranking officer in the military at that time. Then he could settle down with a good wife.


    As he entertained these thoughts, a few figures snuck up in front of him, dodging his peripheral vision.


    ¡°This mountain is mine!¡±


    ¡°These trees were planted by me!¡±


    ¡°If you want to pass!¡±


    ¡°You must pay the mountain toll!¡±


    Sun Runyu could not believe his eyes. Four strangers stood in a line in front him, forming a makeshift barrier between him and the path. Confused, he took some time to scan the area, confirming he had just exited the Spirit Pagoda. What mountain are they talking about? What trees?


    When he shifted his attention back to his obstructors, he was taken aback by their youthful appearances. The last vestiges of baby fat clung to their cheeks, skin soft and tender. It was obvious they were no more than teenagers. He could even pick out a young fatty crouching and another teen covering his face. .


    ¡°What are you kids doing? You shouldn¡¯t be playing jokes around the Spirit Pagoda. Hurry up and go home!¡± Sun Runyu shouted with the imposing airs of a military officer.


    Gu Yue had been the first one to recite their mugging play. The instant Tang Wulin had heard it, he turned his back to them and facepalmed. Similarly, Xu Lizhi had crouched down into a ball immediately, turning his back to them as did his best to fight back his laughter. Meanwhile, Wu Zhangkong stood far off in the distance, his figure barely visible.


    Indeed, this was Gu Yue¡¯s plan. It was simple. All they needed to do was fight a soul master stronger than them, and there were plenty of people who fit the bill at the Spirit Pagoda. So, they would threaten the people that came out of the Spirit Pagoda and force them into a fight. After beating their opponent, they would hightail it out of there.


    The only issue was finding someone stronger than them. As for their mountain bandit charade, it just piqued her fancy.


    Ye Xinglan, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan had shouted the last three verses in that order. Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan grinned with excitement.


    ¡°What now?¡± Ye Xinglan asked Gu Yue.


    ¡°We get started,¡± Gu Yue said as soul rings rose from beneath her.


    After spending a lot of time with Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan had found her quite compatible, and the sentiment was reciprocated. She charged forward the moment she saw Gu Yue¡¯s soul rings, the Stargod Sword manifesting in her hands as she ran. She slashed the air, shooting out a sword beam toward Sun Runyu.


    The sudden attack startled Sun Runyu. The military experience engraved in him took hold and he subconsciously retreated a step. He summoned his martial soul. A thin mist spread from his body, condensing into a liquid shield and deflecting the sword beam in the nick of time.

 Chapter 431 - Instant Victory

    Chapter 431 - Instant Victory


    ¡°One, two, three, four, five. He¡¯s a five-ringed Soul King!¡± Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed.


    Gu Yue jumped into action, sending a barrage of icicles toward Sun Runyu.


    At first, Sun Runyu had held back from attacking the kids, their youthful faces serving as a reminder of sorts. But that changed the second they all revealed their soul rings, a shocking three each. He gritted his teeth, his second soul ring lighting up as the mist condensed into larger, more distinguishable water droplets. The droplets ripped through its path forward in a massive wave, the air hissing in their wake.


    The power of five soul rings was undeniable. Even if Sun Runyu¡¯s martial soul and spirit souls were unremarkable, his soul power was still firmly seated at rank 51.


    Imbued with soul power, the wave of water droplets formed an impenetrable barrier blocking the incoming icicles. Each droplet was a miniature cannonball, exploding upon impact into a fine spray of mist, a second layer to his powerful shield. This was the might of a Soul King!


    However, such strength could not have prepared him for what happened next. As soon as Gu Yue¡¯s first soul ring lit up, Sun Runyu felt his control over the water element torn from him.


    This was the effect of Gu Yue¡¯s Elemental Tide! After a few moments of investigation, she had a clear image of Sun Runyu¡¯s martial soul. It was mist, and although on the surface it appeared to be a pure water-element soul, she could tell in reality it wasn¡¯t. Otherwise, he  wouldn¡¯t have had to settle for four yellow soul rings. That said, she was still able to interfere with his control.


    The next instant, a golden circle of light appeared beneath Sun Runyu. The mist enveloping him sank to the ground, swallowed by the golden light. A sick pallor crept upon him at the realization of what was happening. The effectiveness of his mist martial soul naturally plummeted without any water in the air.


    Without warning, a sword beam grazed his belly and he jerked back from the sensation. At the same time, he felt a sharp aura looming behind him, the sharp edge of a dagger prickling his neck. The golden light from below flashed as chains shot out and wrapped around his body in a tight embrace.


    With Sun Runyu bound by Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s shackles of starlight, his martial soul rendered useless, the battle¡¯s conclusion was already reached. Wu Zhangkong had suffered to this tactic when he had beena Soul Emperor, so a Soul King like Sun Runyu wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.


    Convinced of their victory, Gu Yue stopped absorbing the surrounding water element with Elemental Tide. The golden light beneath him also faded away. The boy who had covered his face in the beginning stepped forward, Tang Wulin, stepped forward, three purple soul rings hovering around him.


    ¡°Sorry. I couldn¡¯t help myself when I saw an elemental martial soul,¡± Tang Wulin said with a regretful face. He had used Bluesilver Golden Array to strip away the water element around Sun Runyu.


    ¡°W-what are you kids doing? This is the Spirit Pagoda!¡± Sun Runyu was fully on guard now, fear creeping into his heart. The teenagers before him had been swift and decisive in their attacks. He hadn¡¯t been able to keep up with them. Their teamwork had been superb, exceeding his understanding. When did kids these days get so strong?


    What truly struck fear into him, however, was the fact that they were fearless and young! He had no idea what they would do to him. They might even beat him to death on the spot. He couldn¡¯t stand for that. He didn¡¯t even have a wife yet.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Wu Zhangkong¡¯s faraway figure, then returned his attention to his companions. Xie Xie and Ye Xinglan retreated at the unspoken words in his eyes.


    Sun Runyu felt his body return to normal, his soul power circulating within him steadily once more.


    Tang Wulin smiled charmingly as he walked over. ¡°Sorry about that, uncle. We were dispatched by our academy to seek out opponents in battle, which is how things turned out this way. Please don¡¯t be angry. We had no intentions of harming you.¡±


    Sun Runyu couldn¡¯t make sense of what he was hearing. His mind worked in overdrive to comprehend the situation. Inwardly, he felt relieved. At least they weren¡¯t out to kill him.


    He snorted, then stormed off in a huff. He didn¡¯t have the face to stay here any longer.


    Tang Wulin cracked bitter smile as he watched Sun Runyu¡¯s departing silhouette. ¡°You guys¡­¡±


    ¡°It worked, didn¡¯t it? We don¡¯t have much time, so stop complaining,¡± Ye Xinglan said.


    ¡°Well, I guess since Teacher Wu didn¡¯t stop us, it¡¯s alright. We had numbers on our side too, so we didn¡¯t win alone though.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll just do it again if we have to,¡± Gu Yue muttered. ¡°We caused a commotion. The Spirit Pagoda¡¯s law enforcers should be on their way already. The average enforcement officer has four rings and pilots a mecha. There¡¯s three people per patrol.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°You would even plot against your own people?¡±


    Gu Yue clasped her hands behind her back and turned her head, midnight strands fluttering in the wind. ¡°I¡¯ve never fought a mecha before.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s cheek began to twitch at her stoic posing. He was starting to regret working with them.


    ¡°Who dares create a disturbance at the Heaven Dou Spirit Pagoda?¡± An electronic voice resounded throughout the area. A moment later, three enormous figures whizzed over. One was purple, and the other two yellow. Three mechas in total.


    Just as Gu Yue had said, a squadron of three mechas had arrived. But she had failed to predict one of them would be a purple mecha!


    The purple mecha led the trio. It was about eight meters high with a streamlined and delicate-looking body. Instead of a soul cannon, it was armed with a pair of giant swords.


    Military officers were generally only issued yellow mechas since purple mechas were considered personal mechas. Due to the high cost of making purple mechas, only wealthy organizations like the Spirit Pagoda could afford to create them for their staff.


    Purple mechas were designed specifically for a single soul master in order to maximize the power amplification effects. For example, a pilot with four rings would have the firepower of a five-ringed Soul King, and an even higher defense.


    Aware of all this, Tang Wulin paled once the purple mecha came into view.


    Upon landing, the pilots froze at the sight of the children. They had come to investigate the area after their radars had picked up soul power fluctuations, the use of soul power and soul weapons forbidden within a one kilometer radius of the Spirit Pagoda. But they had never expected the culprits to be children.


    ¡°What are you kids doing? Who set off the soul power alarm?¡± the purple mecha¡¯s pliot asked.


    ¡°It was him!¡± Ye Xinglan jabbed a finger at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s expression froze. I¡¯m being framed!


    Ye Xinglan smirked. The message was clear: she was telling him it was his responsibility as the captain to deal with this situation.


    ¡°You!¡± The purple mecha pointed at Tang Wulin. ¡°Come with me. The rest of you go get your teacher.¡±

 Chapter 432 - Assault

    Chapter 432 - Assault


    Tang Wulin cracked a bitter smile, drawing his limbs closer to his body in a show of submission. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, uncle enforcement officer, I made a mistake. Please don¡¯t bring me in. I promise I won¡¯t do this ever again!¡±


    Ye Xinglan was splitting her sides with laughter. This guy¡­


    The enforcement officer snorted. ¡°The Spirit Pagoda¡¯s rules are strict and you will not get any special treatment. Come with me. Don¡¯t worry. You just have to explain your story properly and have your teacher come get you. Your punishment won¡¯t be too harsh.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked up and flashed his large doe eyes. ¡°How much is not ¡®too harsh¡¯?¡±


    The enforcement officer was growing impatient. ¡°At best, you¡¯ll just be fined.¡±


    ¡°Fined?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice rose an octave. ¡°I have no money, but I do have my life! Money is my life! You can get it over my dead body!¡± Tang Wulin turned tail and sprinted away, his shouts trailing after him like an old robe.


    At the sight of tang Wulin¡¯s fleeing figure, the enforcement officer in the purple mecha grunted in surprise at. Don¡¯t kids his age usually look up to mecha pilots? Why¡¯s he so disobedient?


    He chased after Tang Wulin a split second later. Rules were rules. He couldn¡¯t let Tang Wulin escape.


    However, he was separated from his two patrolmates by doing so.


    Without exchanging a word, the rest of Tang Wulin¡¯s team striked.


    Ye Xinglan pounced like a cheetah, a yellow mecha serving as her prey. The surrounding air crackled with a scorching heat while Gu Yue conjured an enormous fireball. With a snap it ripped through the air toward the other yellow mecha. Meanwhile, Xie Xie slunk into the unseen world, his own brand of invisibility. In one fluid motion, Xu Xiaoyan raised her ice staff and a spear of ice materialized in the air.


    With their attention still focused on their leader, the mecha pilots failed to react to the attacks.


    The first to reach them was Ye Xinglan. Her Stargod Sword shined resplendently as she brandished it and used her first soul skill, Sword God¡¯s Star. In that instant, she became one with her sword.


    In terms of soul power, Ye Xinglan was the strongest in their team, on the verge of obtaining her fourth soul ring. She was swifter than an agility-type like Xie Xie. Moreover, she was a powerhouse when it came to combat strength. Even Yue Zhengyu felt apprehensive facing her. The second she unleashed her strength, the yellow mecha¡¯s fate had already been sealed.


    The mecha could barely raise an arm to block her attack. A metallic screech filled the air upon impact, waves of starlight bursting bright and blinding. It shoved back the mecha¡¯s arm, dense and pulsing with soul power.


    Ye Xinglan pushed off against the earth with her feet as her third soul ring lit up, cool air making way for her mobile body. This was her most powerful attack. Deadly might gathered into her sword and her soul power flared. She could hear the alarm blare in the distant Spirit Pagoda. She couldn¡¯t afford to waste any time.


    At the same moment, Gu Yue¡¯s fireball came a breath away from its target. But the other yellow mecha was quicker to react. It raised its right arm and summoned an energy shield. Upon collision, the fireball exploded into a scatter of flames. However, Gu Yue didn¡¯t stop there. She fired an onslaught of fireballs, wind blades, and icicles.


    The mecha crouched down and hid behind its shield as it retrieved a four-barrel soul cannon. It took aim.


    Mixed in among the icicles was a spear of ice. It suddenly accelerated, shot past the mecha¡¯s energy shield, and crashed into the cannon-bearing arm. It disintegrated into a fine spray of ice that landed on said arm and froze it in place.


    Xie Xie appeared out of thin air behind this mecha. Pinpointing a chink in the armor, he stabbed his dagger into the weakness, arm and weapon a blur of motion.


    Although mechas were heavily armored, this one in particular had its armor concentrated at its front. It wouldn¡¯t be energy efficient otherwise. The weaknesses of mechas was one of the first things Shrek Academy taught.


    Xie Xie dug his dagger deeper into the armor and severed one of the central cables for operating the mecha. In the blink of an eye, the mecha¡¯s lights dimmed and its movements slowed to a halt, leaving it a sitting duck for the incoming elemental bombardment.


    The resounding booms of impacts startled the purple mecha pilot during his pursuit of Tang Wulin. The pilot turned his attention to his rear as he continued his chase.


    Right at that moment, Tang Wulin dug his foot into the ground and pivoted his body. He thrust his arms toward the sky to intercept the mecha¡¯s giant hand. Golden light enveloped him as a shining golden soul ring rose from his feet. It was Golden Dragon Body!


    With the purple mecha pilot distracted, Tang Wulin took the opportunity  to grab its hand and throw it over his shoulder, courtesy of his incredible strength.


    Before it smashed into the ground, the mecha summoned an energy shield at its back. It stopped just short of collision. At the same time, the mecha released an electric blast at Tang Wulin.


    A strand of golden bluesilver grass shot out of the ground, catapulting Tang Wulin into the air and out of danger.


    The purple mecha pushed off the ground with one arm and fixed its stance. A sharp scrape, and it unsheathed the two giant swords from its back, gripping them with large mechanical hands.


    Still, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t retreat to regroup with his companions. He wanted to buy them enough time to defeat the two yellow mechas. Fighting against three mechas that were working together spelled defeat. These pilots from the Spirit Pagoda were well-versed in teamwork, no doubt.


    He urged his blood essence to flow in reverse, calling out the power of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens! A draconic roar shook the air. His right hand transformed into a dragon claw, swathed in threads of starlight, his gauntlet manifesting in their wake.


    This was his first battle against a mecha. Not giving his all was calling for failure.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s aura flared and his dragon scales sparkled brilliantly, rivaling the sun. Like a bolt of lightning, he flashed forward and threw a punch! A giant dragon head manifested in front of his fist, bursting out in a blaze of gold.


    The purple mecha swatted its swords at the attack like it would a fly. After all, it was just a child¡¯s strike. Even if the child was exceptional, the pilot had to practice restraint.


    As the pilot poured his soul power into the mecha and summoned his spirit soul, electricity flickered along the length of the swords. This was a fusion of technology and a soul master¡¯s might! The air within a ten meter radius crackled with electricity, an astringent odor thick and furious spreading.


    The swords knocked back Tang Wulin with a boom, but the mecha didn¡¯t come out unscathed either. Prior to this, Tang Wulin had beaten Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger with Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Although the fusion of a purple mecha and its pilot was as powerful as a Soul King, that still couldn¡¯t compare with the might of Hell White Tiger.


    The mecha crossed its swords defensively, guarding against the bombardment of power from Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Yet, the draconic might still knocked it off balance.


    A strand of bluesilver grass of sprang from the ground and formed a makeshift spring behind Tang Wulin, bouncing him straight back at the mecha with tremendous speed.


    Once more, the mecha produced a defensive stance, summoning a full-powered energy shield.


    But it was to no avail. In the blink of an eye, Tang Wulin reached the mecha and thrust his claw into the shield. With the aid of his soul power, the claw¡¯s crushing effect, and his gauntlet, he easily tore through it.

 Chapter 433 - Speaking Righteously!

    Chapter 433 - Speaking Righteously!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s claw slammed into the purple mecha, forcing the purple mecha backward and leaving five deep gashes in the chest armor.


    The other battle finished as well. One of the yellow mechas had its central cable severed by Xie Xie, while the other had been decapitated by Ye Xinglan¡¯s third soul skill, Starfall Sword. She had descended like a meteor, smashing through the mecha¡¯s barrier with a slash of her sword and destroyed the head. Fortunately for the pilot, the cockpit was located in the torso of mechas so he only jumped in fright at the sudden loss of vision.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice cut through the chaos of the battlefield.


    He swiped his claw in front of him. Five dark gold beams shot out and tore through the earth, leaving deep lines in the dirt. The purple mecha instantly stopped in the middle of its counterattack.


    Tang Wulin had merely fired off a warning shot. If the purple mecha took on his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, the pilot would be gravely injured, if not die immediately.


    The battle finished just as quickly as it started.


    In terms of absolute strength, Tang Wulin¡¯s team of six couldn¡¯t compare with the three mechas. However, the mechas hadn¡¯t fought to their fullest potential. Seeing that their opponents were young children, they had underestimated them and Tang Wulin¡¯s team took full advantage of this to launch a surprise attack and secure a victory.


    No one would have expected a group of kids to attack a patrol squadron of mechas!


    The yellow mecha pilots couldn¡¯t accept their defeat. They hadn¡¯t even brought out the full capabilities of their energy shields or had a chance to launch a counterattack before they were incapacitated in a flash.


    The purple mecha pilot harbored similar feelings. The pilot had underestimated Tang Wulin, and this was a costly mistake. He couldn¡¯t react in time to Tang Wulin¡¯s sudden attack and the appearance of battle armor.


    Under the effect of his gauntlet, Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw doubled in attack power! It could easily tear a hole in the purple mecha¡¯s shield. Furthermore, he had Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, helping him cinch victory.


    ¡°Just who are you kids?¡± the purple mecha¡¯s pilot asked, fear, anger, and wariness intermingled in his voice.


    Tang Wulin stood up straight, any hint of his previous timidness gone. ¡°Do you realize your mistake?¡±


    ¡°Mistake?¡± The pilot was taken aback by the confidence in Tang Wulin¡¯s voice.


    Tang Wulin raised his chin righteously. ¡°We¡¯re enforcers sent by Headquarters to evaluate the ability of the local enforcers to adapt to new situations. You have been disappointing. Just because we¡¯re young children, you underestimated us and neglected to consider the possibility that we were hostile. Do I need to remind you that evil soul masters launched a terrorist attack not too long ago? Those evil soul masters excel at disguising themselves. If you¡¯re all so lax, then what would you do when danger really comes? We¡¯re just here to keep you all on your toes. Go back and reflect on this, then write a report to headquarters. Understood?¡±


    The pilot¡¯s back broke out into a cold sweat. He couldn¡¯t help but believe Tang Wulin. They were so young yet so strong and hadn¡¯t dealt any lethal blows throughout the whole battle, despite being in perfect position to do so. Then Tang Wulin said they were sent by Spirit Pagoda headquarters. It was the only plausible explanation in his mind.


    As the pilot mulled things over, Tang Wulin signalled to his companions. ¡°Alright. We¡¯re done here. We still have many cities to visit. Gu Yue, show them our ID.¡±


    Gu Yue instantly understood what Tang Wulin was doing. She took out her badge and showed it to the enforcement officers.


    The moment the patrol leader saw the badge, any lingering doubts disappeared. But now he was tongue-tied. He didn¡¯t know what to say. He couldn¡¯t admit to making a mistake to children.


    His cockpit opened and he jumped out.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡ª¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything. Just report to headquarters. I hope this is the first and last time you make such a mistake. I don¡¯t want a repeat of this incident.¡± Tang Wulin acted with the solemness of a young adult.


    After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked away with his head held high. His companions calmly followed his lead. Tang Wulin stood at the head. Gu Yue and Ye Xinglan were right behind him, and in the very back were Xie Xie, Xu Lizhi, and Xu Xiaoyan. The six of them formed a triangle and left with their heads held high.


    At that moment, a figure ran out of the Spirit Pagoda and over to the scene of the commotion, over a dozen mechas trailing behind it. When they neared the scene, they saw three badly damaged mechas. Strangely enough, none of the pilots were injured. The mechas landed while staff members flocked over.


    The moment Tang Wulin led his friends around a corner and out of sight of the Spirit Pagoda members, he growled, ¡°Run!¡± Then he booked it toward town. His friends ran after him in a mad sprint escape the scene. They ran for over ten minutes, zigzagging through small alleyways and main roads until they wound up in a cafe.


    ¡°Boss, I really admire you!¡± Xie Xie said. Despite the long run, he wasn¡¯t short of breath or tired. He was an agility-type after all. He stared at Tang Wulin with eyes full of awe.


    Gu Yue giggled. ¡°What do you admire him for?¡±


    Xie Xie cracked an odd smile. ¡°Of course it¡¯s his ability to tell such a bold lie with a straight face! If I were one of those pilots, I would have believed him too! Gu Yue, are there really enforcers like that at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters?¡±


    ¡°There are, but the enforcement departments of each branch are independent of each other for the most part. Next time, we should say we¡¯re supervisors. Supervisors have jurisdiction over all of the branches, so it¡¯ll be more believable.¡±


    ¡°Next time? What next time?¡± Tang Wulin grumbled. ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m bailing you guys out next time! Do you guys have any idea how dangerous that was? If we had been detained, what would happen to our exam? Oh right. Gu Yue, where did your Spirit Pagoda badge come from? Wasn¡¯t it confiscated?¡±


    Gu Yue went silent for a moment before speaking. ¡°You have to admit, it worked. We accomplished our task really quickly. We can head to the train station to leave for the next city right away. As for the badge, I made it myself.¡±


    Tang Wulin groaned. ¡°If the Spirit Pagoda alerts the other branches and gets the cooperation of the city officials to seal us in, do you think we¡¯ll still be able to run?¡±


    Gu Yue smiled. ¡°That won¡¯t happen. They still have to give some face to my teacher. It¡¯s their fault for not helping us with our exam in the first place. Besides, we didn¡¯t do anything wrong. Your lie was really good too! We might not be actual supervisors, but the lesson we taught them is still valid. The Spirit Pagoda won¡¯t care about something as minor as this.¡±


    At that moment, the door opened and Wu Zhangkong walked into the cafe. He walked straight over to Tang Wulin¡¯s table and took a seat.


    ¡°Teacher Wu,¡± they all greeted him respectfully.


    The corner of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.


    Tang Wulin cautiously asked, ¡°Teacher Wu, we passed this part of the test, right?¡±


    ¡°Technically, yes.¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    Tang Wulin let out a breath of relief. ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong looked out the window, averting his gaze. But he wasn¡¯t fast enough. Tang Wulin had glimpsed the laughter in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes before he could hide it.


    Is he trying not to laugh? Really?


    In truth, Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. These students of his were simply too daring. They first caused a great ruckus at the local Spirit Pagoda, then Tang Wulin stepped forward and showed off his wits and talked their way out trouble.


    If this kid doesn¡¯t grow up brave and wise, then he¡¯s going to end up as a vicious criminal. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s attention focused on Tang Wulin.


    Unknown to Tang Wulin, Wu Zhangkong was planning on harshly disciplining him.


    After grabbing some drinks and eating Xu Lizhi¡¯s pork buns, everyone was back in peak condition. Under Tang Wulin¡¯s suggestion, they bought some local attire to blend in and look the part. After changing, they headed for the train station.


    However, when they arrived, they were shocked to discover that the station was closed down. At that moment, Tang Wulin remembered that the terrorist attack was just this morning! Heaven Dou City was still on guard about it. It was only natural that the train station closed down. The problem was, they didn¡¯t know when it would re-open.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Gu Yue asked Tang Wulin.


    An idea popped into his head. ¡°Any of you know how to drive?¡±


    ¡°I do!¡± Xie Xie said.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go rent a car and drive to the next city.¡± They couldn¡¯t afford to waste any time. If they couldn¡¯t take the train, then they could only drive. Driving may not be as fast as the train, but it was better than waiting an indefinite time for the station to re-open. Besides, the train station was a hub of human activity. The Spirit Pagoda might send people there to search for them.

 Chapter 434 - Losing Face

    Chapter 434 - Losing Face


    In a conference room located near the top of the Heaven Dou Spirit Pagoda, over a dozen high-level executives sat glued to a large screen, some sporting a few patches of grey hair and others more advanced in their years. On screen played a recording of a battle between six children and three mechas. The video had high resolution and crisp audio, courtesy of the mechas¡¯ recording devices.


    ¡°We¡¯re enforcers sent by Headquarters to evaluate the ability of the local enforcers to adapt to new situations. You have been disappointing. Just because we¡¯re young children, you underestimated us and neglected to consider the possibility that we were hostile. Do I need to remind you that evil soul masters launched a terrorist attack not too long ago? Those evil soul masters excel at disguising themselves. If you¡¯re all so lax, then what would you do when danger really comes? We¡¯re just here to keep you all on your toes. Go back and reflect on this, then write a report to headquarters. Understood?¡±


    Once the leader of the band of children delivered these words, he went calmly on his way. Not once did he glance back. Doubtful expressions flickered across the faces of everyone present.


    ¡°Pagoda Master, does the enforcement department of Headquarters have jurisdiction over us? Isn¡¯t that the job of the supervisory department?¡± asked a middle-aged man, his eyes on the elderly man at the head of the table. ¡°Isn¡¯t what he said wrong?¡±


    The elder snorted. ¡°Forget about these kids¡¯ backgrounds for now. Let me ask you, were their words not correct? How is our enforcement department so lax that they can¡¯t even deal with kids? There was a terrorist attack just earlier today! And according to a reliable source, an evil soul master attacked the train station afterward! I¡¯ve already dispatched some people for an internal investigation. If our enforcement department¡¯s standard has really dropped so low, then everyone there can just forget about their paycheque!¡±


    The entire room lost their tongues at such a display of fury.


    ¡°Raise the enforcement department¡¯s alert level to orange. We¡¯ll use the internal investigation to examine the state of affairs. Now that I think about it, it¡¯s not enough for just those three pilots to write reports. Have everyone in the enforcement department write one as well. And double their training.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± The meeting adjourned and the heavy atmosphere in the room lifted as everyone shuffled out. Everyone but the Pagoda Master and a middle-aged man.


    ¡°Has the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo said anything?¡± the Pagoda Master asked.


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t said a word. It seems like she¡¯s leaving it to our discretion and won¡¯t intervene with our decision. Pagoda Master, should we capture those kids?¡±


    ¡°Do you like losing face that much? Put a hush order on this matter. Don¡¯t let it leak out to the public.¡±


    ¡°Got it! Kids these days sure are daring though.¡±


    The Pagoda Master glanced at him. ¡°You said that they have to visit ten cities for their exam?¡±


    The middle-aged man nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what Gu Yue told me.¡±


    A sly smile slid across Pagoda Master¡¯s lips. ¡°Make sure this doesn¡¯t leak to the other branches then. We won¡¯t be the only ones to lose face.¡±


    The middle-aged man¡¯s cheek twitched. Pagoda Master, what kind of attitude is that?


    The Pagoda Master finally rose from his seat and approached the window, peering out to the cityscape. ¡°We¡¯ve been at peace for too long already. We needed something to put us on our toes. Just five more years¡­¡±


    ?


    He could hardly feel his legs. Or breathe, for that matter. Despite looking long and hard, Tang Wulin and his companions were unable to rent a car. At least, they couldn¡¯t find one that could take them out of Heaven Dou City. Left clear of other options, they purchased a small soul car for eight hundred thousand credits instead. That was nearly all of the money Tang Wulin had received from his uncle-master, and it was only enough for one car. Sadly, this car could only seat five comfortably, which was kind of an issue seeing that they had seven people.


    Right after his purchase, Tang Wulin apologized to Wu Zhangkong. There was no room for him, not even with everyone squeezing together. He had to find his own way.


    Xie Xie was the driver, Xu Lizhi rode in the front, and Tang Wulin was squished into the back with the three girls. Fortunately for Tang Wulin, the girls were quite skinny. Unfortunately for him, he was not. He found himself pressed against the window like a strange specimen. Beside him sat a triple layered cookie of Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan, and Xu Xiaoyan in that order.


    Xie Xie was an adequate driver yet was driving without a license. He did have one, but of course, it had been confiscated along with his other belongings. There was no choice but to rely on him, though. They could only cross their fingers not to be caught.


    As the car cruised through the highway, Tang Wulin did his best to tolerate the discomfort. The back was so crowded that he couldn¡¯t even move.


    ¡°When we get to the next city, how about I go earn some more money forging and get us a bigger car?¡± Tang Wulin forced a bitter smile.


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Are you trying to avoid me already?¡±


    In truth, Tang Wulin felt quite comfortable with her pressed up against him. She was soft in all the right ways. ¡°Gu Yue, did you put on some weight? I don¡¯t remember you being so soft.¡±


    At the sound of those words, Gu Yue whipped her reddened face away from him, fumes rising from her head.


    Xie Xie chuckled, catching a glimpse of that exchange from the rearview mirror. ¡°Wulin, you¡¯re so innocent. That¡¯s called puberty. It¡¯s normal for girls this age to be developing like that.¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± the three girls shouted in unison.


    ¡°Eh¡­ Lizhi, what do you think? Am I right?¡± Xie Xie sent a pleading glance to Xu Lizhi.


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m feeling kind of sleepy. I¡¯m going to take a nap.¡± Without another word, Xu Lizhi closed his eyes and pretended to snore.


    Pressed up against the door, Tang Wulin had no choice but to watch the landscape fly by. His heart gradually became at ease.


    A pleasant fragrance drifted over to him. Blinking out of his reverie, he realized it had come from Gu Yue. He swallowed. Oh my god. Xie Xie was right! She¡¯s really going through puberty, already starting to grow up. A sigh escaped his lips. We¡¯re not kids anymore.


    Gloom settled in his heart, thick and heavy like fog. To this day, Tang Wulin still hadn¡¯t heard from his mother or father, and as a result saw his friends as the most important people in his life. Nothing would be too much for them; even sacrificing himself for their sake wasn¡¯t off the table. They were what drove him to live on, what gave meaning to his life. For this reason, Tang Wulin was afraid both of losing them and of anything that might change the foundation of their relationships.


    Years ago, when Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi had left their group, he  struggled with depression. The world had seemed covered in a shroud of grey, cold to the touch. It took him a long time to recover.


    Noticing the shift in his mood, Tang Wulin shook his head and set himself back in a positive mindset. It would do no good to dwell on the past.


    ¡°It¡¯s boring in here. Let¡¯s talk about something,¡± Tang Wulin said. He had regained his calm by now, his heart an example of virtue.


    Gu Yue glanced at him. They were still stuck together, side pressed to side. She had been the one to push him to the window seat and place herself between him and the other girls. She hadn¡¯t even bothered to hide her intentions. Everyone knew what she was doing and didn¡¯t dare get in her way. Young they might be, the rest of the group could practically smell the sexual tension, especially from how well Gu Yue treated Tang Wulin. The only perplexing thing was how often she ran hot and cold, as if she was deliberately maintaining some distance from him.


    ¡°What do you want to talk about? Battle armor? I should be able to break through rank 40 when we return and get another spirit soul. We can continue making battle armor then,¡± Ye Xinglan said.


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°We¡¯re finally away from school, so let¡¯s talk about something unrelated. Okay. How about our ambitions? Xinglan, you start. What¡¯s your heart set on?¡±

 Chapter 435 - Ambitions

    Chapter 435 - Ambitions


    After a moment of silence, Ye Xinglan opened her mouth. ¡°I want to stay at Shrek. I want to stay there forever and never leave. I may have been demoted to the outer court, but I¡¯m certain I will return to the inner court one day. Once that happens, I¡¯ll work hard to become a battle armor master and one of the Academy¡¯s guardians.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at her in astonishment. ¡°Really? You don¡¯t want to go out and explore the world?¡±


    ¡°I can still do that. Shrek Academy is just a place. However, from the moment my martial soul awakened as the Stargod Sword, elders of my clan told me that I¡¯m the clan¡¯s hope and future. They told me to grow strong and revitalize the clan. I¡¯m not interested in any of that. I like the sword, but I dislike clan politics. I only realized what I really wanted when I went to Shrek. I like everything about Shrek; the peace, the tranquility, the overall atmosphere. As long as I remain a part of Shrek, my clan can¡¯t force me to do anything. I want to stay there forever.¡±


    Xie Xie couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°So you basically want to live the life of a quiet young lady?¡±


    Ye Xinglan groaned. ¡°You understand.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled and turned to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°What about you, Xiaoyan? What do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°Eh? Me? I don¡¯t really know! I just want to find a nice guy to marry when I grow up. Then I¡¯ll become a housewife. I get what Xinglan¡¯s thinking. I don¡¯t want to be involved with my clan¡¯s politics either. I just want to keep living as an idle princess. It would have been great if my martial soul weren¡¯t the starlight variant.¡±


    ¡°No ambition, huh!¡± Xie Xie snorted. ¡°I¡¯m aiming way higher than you are. I want to become one of this generation¡¯s Shrek Seven Monsters. A new generation is only selected to replace the old one every fifty years, and I heard that the next generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters will be chosen in four! Any student of Shrek Academy twenty-five or younger can compete for a spot. I¡¯ll definitely make it in.¡±


    ¡°The Shrek Seven Monsters?¡± Tang Wulin said in awe. A reverent atmosphere filled the car at the mere mention of the title.


    ¡°I want to become one too.¡± Ye Xinglan eyes shone.


    There was a lot of weight to the name of the Shrek Seven Monsters. Each generation served as a cornerstone of Shrek Academy, and perhaps even for the entire soul master world.


    Tang San, the legendary founder of the Tang Sect, had led the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters. That generation revolutionized the power structure of the entire continent. The next, most well-known generation was that of the Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao. They had shocked the entire continent with their feats of valor, and then the Spirit Ice Douluo founded the Spirit Pagoda.


    The title of Shrek Seven Monster was one of the greatest honors on the Douluo Continent. Only students of Shrek Academy were eligible to take up the mantle, and even then, the opportunity depended on luck. The selection for each generation only came once every few decades! If one were born too early or too late, they would forever miss their chance.


    Fortunately, Tang Wulin and his friends came at the right time. They could take a shot at becoming one of the Shrek Seven Monsters. The only downside was that they would only be eighteen when selection time arrived. At that time, they would be facing geniuses with an advantage of up to seven years.


    ¡°I have lofty goals!¡± Xie Xie proudly stated.


    ¡°What use are goals if you can¡¯t accomplish them?¡± Xu Xiaoyan jabbed at him.


    Xie Xie fumed. ¡°Who are you to say I can¡¯t? I¡¯ll stake everything on it! This is my life¡¯s goal.¡±


    ¡°Where did you hear about all this?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°From Yuanen!¡± Xie Xie answered subconsciously.


    ¡°Hm¡­¡± Everyone apart from him hummed thoughtfully.


    ¡°You guys!¡± Xie Xie glared at them in embarrassment. As he did, the car drifted to the side. It nearly hit the railing, but he managed turn his attention back to the road and frantically swerve away.The sharp turn caught the others unaware. Gu Yue, in particular, was thrown toward Tang Wulin. She fell upon him, hitting his nose, and his eyes teared up from the pain.


    ¡°Watch the road!¡± Tang Wulin shouted. ¡°You¡¯re responsible for six lives here!¡±


    Gu Yue rushed to rub Tang Wulin¡¯s nose in apology.


    Xie Xie grumbled, ¡°Who told you guys to make such a strange noise?¡±


    Once the situation grew calm once more, Xu Xiaoyan shifted forward in her seat. ¡°So, are you putting in all that effort to become one of the Shrek Seven Monsters and catch up to Yuanen Yehui?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s so strong. Doesn¡¯t she make a good goal to strive for?¡± Xie Xie quibbled.


    Tang Wulin smiled warmly at the verbal sparring before turning to Xu Lizhi. ¡°Hey, Lizhi, what about you?¡±


    Xu Lizhi snapped out of his feigned sleep. ¡°I want to stay at Shrek too. I¡¯m really lazy and Shrek suits me, but making it into the Shrek Seven Monsters is a pipe dream for me. As long as I can stay there, I¡¯ll be content.¡±


    ¡°Why is that a pipe dream?¡± Tang Wulin asked. ¡°There was a food-type soul master in the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters, and he even ascended to godhood in the end! If he could, why not you?¡±


    Xu Lizhi sat up straight in his chair and turned to look at Tang Wulin with excitement in his eyes. ¡°Wulin, do you really think I can do it? You¡¯re talking about Big Sausage Uncle Oscar, right?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I read that he worked as hard as he could and managed to develop combat strength. Then he cultivated his sausage to the pinnacle and even gained a godly resurrection soul skill. Let¡¯s do our best together. Lizhi. I¡¯m certain we can do it as a team!¡±


    ¡°Alright! Want a bun?¡± Xu Lizhi showed his gratitude in a simple way.


    Tang Wulin accepted the bun and quickly devoured it in a couple of bites. After he finished, he glanced at Gu Yue. ¡°How about you? What do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°Marry you.¡±


    The entire car descended into silence. Gu Yue hadn¡¯t been the one to speak. Xie Xie had imitated Gu Yue¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Hey, Xie Xie, I didn¡¯t know you were looking to die today.¡± Gu Yue¡¯s words carried a cold edge to them.


    Xie Xie quickly put on a fearful smile. ¡°Sister-in-law, I made a mistake! I talked about what¡¯s in your heart. Don¡¯t forget that I¡¯m driving right now! Remember what Wulin said? There are six lives in this car! Don¡¯t kill me!¡±


    Tang Wulin was red with embarrassment. ¡°Just shut up!¡±


    Scared for his life, Xie Xie didn¡¯t dare utter another word.


    ¡°So, what are your ambitions?¡± Tang Wulin asked, turning to Gu Yue. He wanted to quickly change the topic.


    After a moment of silence, Gu Yue spoke up. ¡°I don¡¯t want to lie to you guys, so I won¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Everyone was astonished by her answer. They heard the gloom in her voice.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Everyone has their secrets. You don¡¯t have to tell us¡±


    Gu Yue looked at him. ¡°It¡¯s your turn now.¡±


    ¡°I want to join the military,¡± Tang Wulin answered without hesitation.


    The others could hardly believe their ears. They had assumed his goal was to become one of the Shrek Seven Monsters, so this answer caught them completely by surprise.


    ¡°Why do you want to join the military?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s a secret.¡± Tang Wulin smiled wryly. In truth, he wanted to join the military to gain the strength necessary to find his parents and take them back. However, he didn¡¯t want to burden his friends with his own problems.


    Without missing a beat, Xu Xiaoyan smiled sweetly. ¡°Good luck, everyone! I hope all of our dreams come true!¡±


    Tang Wulin looked out the window, a huge grin on his face. I really do hope my dreams come true. I wouldn¡¯t even care if my days passed idly by as long as mom and dad come back. And Na¡¯er too. It¡¯s already been so long.


    Beside him, Gu Yue stared into empty space, deep in contemplation.


    Traffic was good and they sped along the highway. Riding the train would have taken only two hours, but it took them three and a half hours by car The only silver lining was that there weren¡¯t any incidents along the way.


    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived at Heaven Spirit City. How are we going to find an opponent?¡± Xie Xie glanced at Tang Wulin. It was already dusk, the last glimpses of sunlight fading in the distance.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find somewhere to stay first,¡± Tang Wulin replied. ¡°It¡¯s been a long day and everyone¡¯s tired. We can figure things out in the morning once we¡¯ve rested.¡±

 Chapter 436 - Youre the Corrupt One Here!

    Chapter 436 - You''re the Corrupt One Here!


    Overall, Tang Wulin and his friends had wasted a lot of time due to the terrorist attack. Fortunately, now that they had a car and ample amounts of money, they could focus on finishing their exam.


    Heaven Spirit City was fairly populated. Following the route that Tang Wulin had meticulously planned, they would hit ten cities, all of which were at least medium-sized. The reason was simple. Finding a suitable opponent in a less populated city would prove difficult.


    After they found themselves an inn, Tang Wulin brought Xie Xie and Xu Lizhi out shopping for food to eat in the car later. That way, they didn¡¯t have to waste time looking for restaurants in each city. Not when they must clear more than one city per day. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be able to earn extra points for their classmates.


    What made soul cars so attractive was their ability to be refueled using energy at power stations or soul power. Since Tang Wulin and the others were all soul masters, they could take turns refueling the car.


    With their shopping list fulfilled, they ate dinner and finally succumbed to sleep.


    ?


    Near the crack of dawn, a dusty car pulled up to the local Spirit Pagoda. Compared to the one in Heaven Dou City, Heaven Spirit City¡¯s Spirit Pagoda was much smaller.


    Squeezed between the sides of the car and his classmates, Tang Wulin unfurled a map and spread it out nice and wide, pointing an index finger to a particular spot under Xie Xie¡¯s focused gaze. ¡°You got the route memorized now, right? We¡¯re going to leave immediately after we finish here. The plan is to hit three cities today and rest in the fourth. If we can manage that, we should be able to finish our exam in five days and head back to Shrek Academy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I already committed the route to memory. The Spirit Pagoda opens at nine, so we should get ready now.¡± Xie Xie glanced at Gu Yue. ¡°Hey Gu Yue, there won¡¯t be anyone too powerful in a medium-sized city like this, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course there will be. But we¡¯re kids, so no one will pay much attention to us. Wulin¡¯s bluffing and my badge are more than enough to scare them off anyway. We just need to select someone a bit younger. Less experienced. We¡¯ll beat them up, draw a patrol squadron to us, then beat them up too. After that, we¡¯re out of there.¡±


    Tang Wulin sighed as he wiggled a bit, managing to extend his hand to the empty space at the car¡¯s center. ¡°I¡¯ve been corrupted by you guys.¡±


    Gu Yue placed her hand on top of his, and the others quickly followed.


    ¡°You¡¯re the corrupt one here!¡± they shouted in unison at Tang Wulin.


    They were far better prepared than they were yesterday, crisp white uniforms covering youthful and powerful bodies like spun authority. They had purchased the clothes the night before under Gu Yue¡¯s advice, and the new attire bore a striking resemblance to the uniforms of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s headquarters. Fortunately, the supervision department¡¯s set lacked any distinguishing emblem or feature that they might need to improvise.


    As the sun climbed up the horizon, the Spirit Pagoda grew more and more lively. The doors swung open, giving way to the trickling stream of soul masters.


    The six of them mixed in with the crowd and spread out to choose an ideal target.


    They avoided those with strong soul power fluctuations, those too old or too young. Someone between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five fit their preferred profile. In that age range, a fairly talented soul master would likely have four soul rings.


    They soon found a target. She was pretty and dressed in sportswear, about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old. She had come to the Spirit Pagoda as soon as it opened and left half an hour later with a smile.


    Xie Xie had been the one to mark her. He had sensed from her soul power fluctuations four soul rings, maybe even five, and signalled the others about his find. She was just what they were looking for.


    The others quickly regrouped, followed her out, then blocked her path.


    The woman was startled from her good mood by the sudden appearance of six people barring her way. But at the sight of their youthful faces, she relaxed slightly, the stiffness in her posture bending into less straight edges and more curves. ¡°I don¡¯t work for the Spirit Pagoda. I can¡¯t sell you a spirit soul.¡± She waved dismissively at them, misunderstanding their intentions.


    ¡°Big Sister, we want to spar with you,¡± Tang Wulin said. After much discussion, they decided to forgo the mountain bandit charade. It was too embarrassing.


    ¡°Spar? Stop joking around, kids. Hurry up and go home.¡± The woman laughed.


    ¡°Big Sister, I¡¯m not joking.¡± Tang Wulin summoned his soul rings. Their goal was to draw out a patrol of enforcers after all.


    Numerous soul rings, bright and shining, appeared around his comrades in the wake of his own. Each of them had three, amassing into a troubling eighteen. Not to mention, the fully purple set of Tang Wulin!


    Three rings? These kids all have three rings?


    Bluesilver grass burst out of the ground as Tang Wulin used his first soul skill, Bind! The strands of grass shot toward her arms and legs. The others released their soul power at once to draw the attention of a patrol.


    The woman was quick to react. The moment she saw Tang Wulin summoning his martial soul, she summoned her own.


    Five soul rings rose from her feet, two yellow and three purple! The air around her suddenly seared with heat. She was a five-ringed Soul King!


    But Tang Wulin and his comrades weren¡¯t afraid. They had already fought a Soul King back in Heaven Dou City. Moreover, she seemed to be a fire-attributed soul master. Tang Wulin could strip away her fire element with Bluesilver Golden Array.


    Despite her cocoon of flames, the woman could not ward off the incoming strands of bluesilver grass. Tang Wulin drew upon the full might of the Golden Dragon King as he charged her, his bluesilver grass swarming her in a squirming mass.


    Suddenly, a flaming gourd materialized above the woman¡¯s head. One of her soul rings lit up, and just before the bluesilver grass bound her, she was sucked into the gourd.


    She disappeared¡­ Shock painted their faces.


    Bluesilver grass met nothing but air. They had encountered strange martial souls before, but this bizarre disappearing act was a first.


    A blink later, the flaming gourd spun to Tang Wulin¡¯s direction, unleashing a fiery barrage.


    A wall of ice sprung up in front of Tang Wulin before the flames could engulf him. But the flames were fierce, melting away the ice wall instantly.


    The moment the ice wall liquified, Tang Wulin and his comrades leaped backward in retreat. Bluesilver grass pierced the earth as Tang Wulin used Bluesilver Golden Array and unleashed the power of elemental stripping. The bane of all elements, it was with this skill that they had defeated the Soul King with a mist martial soul.

 Chapter 437 - Running Into a Steel Wall

    Chapter 437 - Running Into a Steel Wall


    The moment Bluesilver Golden Array activated, the flames grew dim. Then the array sucked all of the flames up! But the flaming gourd wouldn¡¯t be defeated so easily. It turned its mouth up a bit and spewed yet another burst of fire, rocketing itself out of the golden array¡¯s domain.


    All of this happened in the blink of an eye!


    She¡¯s a tough one! Tang Wulin¡¯s expression hardened. They needed to defeat her as soon as possible, otherwise the enforcers would arrive to back her up.


    The gourd rotated downward and ejected the woman in a fiery blaze. Fury filled her eyes. ¡°What the hell are you kids doing?¡±


    Before she could continue questioning them, golden light flashed beneath her and her body went stiff.


    Tang Wulin took advantage of this opening and commanded his bluesilver grass to bind her. Ye Xinglan then rushed in and thrust her sword at the woman¡¯s chest. Xie Xie took action as well, appearing behind the woman and swiping his Light Dragon Dagger at her neck. Their movements were in perfect sync!


    Against a single opponent, there was nothing better than Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Starwheel Shackles. Its power was absolute!


    Just when they thought they had defeated the woman, the Stargod Sword and Light Dragon Dagger inches from taking her life, the woman¡¯s eyes flashed and a phoenix¡¯s cry pierced the air. Fiery light glowed beneath her clothing, bursting forth to envelop her entire body in an instant. Rings of light appeared all over her body, and with it, the intensity of her soul power fluctuations surged to an even higher level. She was several times stronger than before, her soul power manifesting around her as a giant ring of flames. A golden pattern appeared on the gourd above her, and it grew to two feet diameter.


    The flames around her forced Ye Xinglan and Xie Xie away from her, then continued to linger on their bodies and feed on their soul power. The phoenix¡¯s cry continued to grow stronger. The woman stood up straight. She began to exude an air of grandeur as a crimson set of armor manifested to cover her entire body. A phoenix helmet materialized into being, snug on her head. Crimson body armor traced the elegant silhouette of her womanly figure. Veins of fire spread from her shoulders to her fingertips. A fiery golden phoenix emblem was engraved onto her breastplate. The armor itself wasn¡¯t particularly beautiful, but it emphasized her womanly charm and elevated it to another level.


    ¡°Battle armor!¡± Tang Wulin sputtered. Then a bitter smile formed on his lips. From the complexity of the design and the strength of power fluctuations, Tang Wulin knew she was wearing one-word battle armor. She had used the rings of light from earlier as a method of storage. Normal one-word armor couldn¡¯t merge with the user after all. Yet this was a full set of one-word battle armor! This five-ringed woman now possessed might comparable to that of a seven-ringed soul master!


    Yan Feng was furious right now. She had been in a good mood when she set out for the Spirit Pagoda this morning to register as a one-word battle armor master. She was the youngest one-word battle armor master in Heaven Spirit City, and this gave her the leverage to sign a retainer contract with great benefits. The Spirit Pagoda promised to invest in her and bring her up to the two-word level, upon which she could be considered a powerful figure on the continent. Yet right after she left the Spirit Pagoda buzzing with joy, she was ambushed by a bunch of kids! These kids weren¡¯t weak either, and they managed to force her to bring out her battle armor. She couldn¡¯t possibly have known that Tang Wulin¡¯s gang meant no harm, and she had felt genuinely threatened by the Stargod Sword and Light Dragon Dagger.


    The moment Yan Feng brought out her battle armor, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s voice rang in the ears of everyone in Tang Wulin¡¯s group. ¡°If you are able to defeat her, you will fulfill the quota for this city.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth twitched. Teacher Wu, oh Teacher Wu! How could you do this to us! She¡¯s a one-word battle armor master! She¡¯s as strong as a seven-ringed Soul Sage! How are we supposed to defeat someone like that?


    Before Tang Wulin could continue his train of thought, Yan Feng pointed at Tang Wulin and the gourd expelled flames toward him.


    I can¡¯t talk her down anymore! Tang Wulin could see the inextinguishable fury in her eyes. They could only give it their all. We have no other choice!


    Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath even as the flames flew at him. His three purple soul rings disappeared, and in an instant, they were replaced by a single golden one. Golden light erupted from him as scales rippled into existence to cover his right arm, and his hand transformed into a dragon claw. Threads of starlight shot out of his hand and wrapped themselves around it, manifesting as a gauntlet. He couldn¡¯t afford to hold back against a real battle armor master!


    ¡°Battle armor?¡± Yan Feng was startled by the gauntlet on Tang Wulin¡¯s claw. Impossible! He¡¯s so young! There¡¯s no way he could have a piece of battle armor! It came from within his body too! Could it actually be a piece of two-word armor?


    Even though it was just a one-word gauntlet, it was unthinkable for such a young kid to have it. Yan Feng got her first piece of battle armor when she was twenty-one years old, and she was considered a genius for it. She had been hard at work these past few years and finally managed to craft a full set.


    Yet Tang Wulin was years ahead of her.


    The instant Tang Wulin made his move, so too did his comrades.


    Positioned in the backline, Xu Lizhi did the only thing he could do. He threw soup buns and bean buns to the others. Tang Wulin caught it the buns from behind with his left hand and immediately ate them. He had to finish this as soon as possible. Even one-word battle armor possessed the ability to boost its user¡¯s soul power recovery. A prolonged battle guaranteed defeat for them.


    Tang Wulin stomped the ground with his left foot and shot forward, shattering the ground below. His blood essence boiling as the power of the Golden Dragon King surged within him. His eyes became a resplendent gold, and the oppressive aura of his blood essence coalesced. Brandishing his dragon claw, he swung it in front of him and split the incoming flames apart, opening a path to Yan Feng.


    As the captain of his team and an assault-type soul master, it was Tang Wulin¡¯s duty to lead the charge. He couldn¡¯t shrink back in the face of an opponent. He had to create an opening for his comrades.


    His blood essence and soul power skyrocketed under the influence of the bloodthirst bean buns. Golden scales covered his entire body now, but shone brightest on his right arm and torso.


    He has twin martial souls? Yan Feng went wide-eyed with shock.


    But only for a moment.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± She glared at Tang Wulin and stood her ground. The gourd above her turned from Tang Wulin to his comrades, spewing flames to isolate him. She wanted to deal with the enemy leader first.


    Yan Feng met Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw with a fist of her own. The instant before the two collided, a draconic roar erupted from Tang Wulin¡¯s body. A golden dragon head half a meter in diameter shot out of his fist and toward Yan Feng¡¯s!


    It was Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Tang Wulin may not have broken the fourth seal after eating the ruby shrimp, but they had still boosted his power and refined his control over Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Alarms went off in Yan Feng¡¯s head. She sensed a powerful force suddenly appear in front of her, then her flames were devoured. The golden claw opened up and clamped down on her fist.


    Tang Wulin tightened his grip on Yan Feng¡¯s fist, and her battle armor flared up in defense, all of the fiery veins on her armor blazing to life. The phoenix emblem emblazoned on her breastplate began to glow fiercely.

 Chapter 438 - Big Sister, This Is All a Misunderstanding!

    Chapter 438 - Big Sister, This Is All a Misunderstanding!


    So this is what battle armor is like! Attack and defense are one and the same! Tang Wulin could feel the battle armor mitigating the destructive might of his claw, spreading the force evenly from Yan Feng¡¯s gauntlet to the rest of her armor. The crushing effect couldn¡¯t even come into play.


    Even with Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and his one-word gauntlet, Tang Wulin¡¯s strength only reached that of the peak of four rings. He was no match for a battle armor master clad in a full set of one-word battle armor!


    As this realization hit Tang Wulin, Yan Feng retaliated. Now blazing like a miniature sun, the phoenix emblem on her breastplate suddenly burst with energy. A transparent phoenix erupted from the emblem! At the same time, the flaming gourd above Feng Yan¡¯s head suddenly turned to Tang Wulin. One of the woman¡¯s soul rings lit up and her gourd spewed a gold-tinged fireball!


    Tang Wulin reacted immediately, bending his arm in an attempt to transition his crushing grip into a throw. If there was one thing he had confidence in, it was his strength. A strand of bluesilver grass wound around his legs and drilled into the ground. It acted as an anchor, helping him pivot in place. But none of this allowed him to avoid the fireball and phoenix!


    All of a sudden, an ice spear pierced the phoenix! It exploded in flames, the resulting blast sending Tang Wulin flying. Ye Xinglan walked forward, conjuring a net of sword beams that flew out to protect Tang Wulin from the fireball that pursued. It splashed against the net, dispersing and dissipating into nothing.


    Her soul power is on a completely different level! Even under the effects of bloodthirst, Tang Wulin still had to endure the agonizing pain that the flames scorched into his body. In terms of combat experience and combat techniques, he and his team could stand toe-to-toe with Yan Feng. However, the fundamental difference in cultivation level was too great a hurdle to overcome with just experience and technique. Furthermore, with a full set of battle armor her defense was impenetrable.


    Xie Xie silently appeared behind Yan Feng and slashed at her shoulders with his daggers. However, the woman¡¯s armor simply released a blast of flame, sending him staggering in retreat.


    Tang Wulin gaped at her overwhelming might. She was setting the pace of the battle now.


    How are we supposed to beat her?


    A brilliant burst of color suddenly interrupted Tang Wulin¡¯s thoughts. A fist-sized ball of blue, red, yellow, and green light shot through the air, bearing down upon Yan Feng in an instant. The woman didn¡¯t dare hold anything back. Her fourth soul ring lit up and the gourd spit out golden-red fireballs in rapid succession. The fireballs hurtled toward the quad-colored ball of light one after another, the two forces exploding into an elemental storm upon contact.


    Tang Wulin lay on the ground, hurriedly using the Mysterious Heaven Method to counteract the burning sensation running rampant throughout his body. His body was strong and he hadn¡¯t received any real injuries, but as he watched Gu Yue face off against Yan Feng, he came to understand just how impossible it would be to seize victory. After persisting for about five seconds, the elemental storm began to die. The air slowly cleared, and Yan Feng stood in the same place, just as imposing as before. There wasn¡¯t a single scratch on her or her armor.


    And the gourd turned back to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°B-big Sister! Th-this is all a misunderstanding!¡± Tang Wulin stuttered through a strained smile.


    At that moment, an ear-piercing alarm filled the air. Three yellow mechas flew over and slowed to hover above everyone. A droning voice echoed from the lead mecha. ¡°Halt!¡±


    Yan Feng froze just before she attacked, the gourd turning away from Tang Wulin to point up at the sky. She snorted then turned to glare at Tang Wulin, the leader of her ambushers. To her astonishment however, he wore a face full of indignation. The three mechas descended to separate Yan Feng from Tang Wulin¡¯s group, their ten-meter-tall bulks causing the earth to rumble. Xu Xiaoyan grabbed on to Ye Xinglan¡¯s arm, hid behind her, and began to cry. Xie Xie lowered his head, a gloomy expression on his face. Ye Xinglan just stared straight ahead in a daze. Xu Lizhi crouched to the ground with his back to everyone else. Gu Yue remained expressionless, but light twinkled in her eyes.


    Tang Wulin stood up straight and pulled Gu Yue behind him, the anger in his eyes growing hotter. ¡°Enforcers! You came just in time to save us! If you had taken just a second longer, she would have killed us!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Yan Feng was speechless. She was the one who had been attacked!


    The leader of the enforcers turned to Yan Feng. ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Why are you attacking these kids? Wait... are you a one-word battle armor master?¡±


    Yan Feng had just registered as a one-word battle armor master before this incident, so the enforcers didn¡¯t recognize her. However, when they realized she was a one-word battle armor master, they became vigilant. They may have had three mechas, but all three were yellow grade and wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to his lies!¡± Yan Feng shouted. ¡°They were the ones who attacked me!¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked innocently, trying to solicit as much pity as possible, then fear crept onto his face. ¡°W-what? You¡¯re accusing us of attacking you? You¡¯re a one-word battle armor master! We¡¯re just young soul masters! Uncles, I¡¯m only fourteen, and the youngest of my friends is thirteen! Do you think we would dare attack a one-word battle armor master?¡±


    Yan Feng trembled with anger. ¡°You lying brat! Don¡¯t try to pin this on me! You didn¡¯t even know I was a battle armor master before you attacked! We never met before this!¡±


    ¡°If we didn¡¯t know each other, then why would we attack you?¡± Tang Wulin asked. ¡°I remember hearing you say that you just became a one-word battle armor master and wanted to find someone to spar with. Then, as soon as you saw us, you attacked! There¡¯s no way we could do anything against you. Our teacher taught us that great power leads to enormous responsibility. You¡¯re a battle armor master yet you¡¯re bullying the weak! You beat up kids like us and you¡¯re still trying to lie about it?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s sobs grew louder, and she pressed her face into Ye Xinglan¡¯s clothes. Ye Xinglan continued staring straight ahead.


    Xie Xie sighed. He had known Tang Wulin for a long time now and was always amazed by his friend¡¯s talent for acting.


    Everyone went silent. The enforcers were confused, but they were inclined to side with Tang Wulin¡¯s group. They were just kids. The idea of them picking a fight with a battle armor master was too unbelievable.


    ¡°All of you, you¡¯re coming with us back to the Spirit Pagoda. We¡¯ll watch the security recording before passing judgement,¡± the leader of the enforcers said.


    ¡°Okay!¡± Tang Wulin answered immediately.


    Yan Feng gnashed her teeth. ¡°You little bastard! Let¡¯s see you talk your way out of this when we see proof!¡± It took all of her self-control to not attack him.


    The mechas formed a triangle around her. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Please put away your battle armor.¡± They were clearly worried that she would try to flee!


    Yan Feng¡¯s fury blazed to even greater heights. ¡°Are you guys blind? You can¡¯t even tell who¡¯s right and who¡¯s wrong here! So what if I don¡¯t put away my armor?¡±


    The mechas instantly pointed their cannons at her.


    ¡°You see, uncles? She¡¯s so arrogant and despicable!¡± Tang Wulin cried as he ran away in fear.


    Yan Feng couldn¡¯t hold back her anger any longer. ¡°I¡¯m going to burn you to ash!¡±


    She rushed after Tang Wulin, but the instant she moved, the mechas opened fire!

 Chapter 439 - The Handsome Man and the Blushing Lady

    Chapter 439 - The Handsome Man and the Blushing Lady


    The enforcers reacted according to their training, and immediately bombarded Yan Feng with their cannons. The ground shook upon every explosion, thick clouds of dust being kicked into flight.


    Even with battle armor equipped, Yan Feng¡¯s stance crumbled under the hefty barrage. As their thrusters pushed them airborne, the three mechas unleashed the next round of energy blasts. Holding back against a one-word battle armor master meant disaster! The lead enforcer had already called for backup. The only thing left to do was to stall.


    Tang Wulin and his friends stood awed by the power of the mechas. In their hearts, they realized one thing: had they not taken the mechas in Heaven Dou City by surprise and teamwork, they would have lost.


    These three mechas exemplified superb coordination. They surrounded Yan Feng in an instant, trapping her in an uninterrupted barrage. Powerful one-word battle armor master she might be, Yan Feng was still a fledgling one. Her martial soul and battle armor compatibility was low. As such, the mechas were able to suppress her for now.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t let this opportunity slip through his fingers. He dashed off with his friends as he yelled, ¡°Be careful everyone! Don¡¯t get blasted by those cannons! Let¡¯s get away from the battlefield! Enforcer uncles, good luck!¡±


    Xie Xie was the fastest of the bunch, quickly overtaking Tang Wulin and jumping into the driver¡¯s seat of their soul car. The others crammed in a moment later. For once, Xu Lizhi hadn¡¯t struggled to squeeze in.


    Xie Xie floored the pedal. The wheels spun in place as they fought for traction, and a second later they were off. Neither the enforcers nor Yan Feng noticed their disappearance. Their attention was focused on each other, and the explosions drowned out the sound of the car.


    Xie Xie turned into a back alley and the car accelerated.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we ran into a battle armor master! Our luck is horrible. Aren¡¯t they supposed to be really rare? How did we manage to pick one?¡± Xu Xiaoyan said as she wiped away her tears.


    Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. ¡°It looks like we¡¯ll need to think of another way to go about this. Our current method contains too many variables, and we offend a lot of people like this. It was never a good plan to begin with! At this rate, we¡¯re going to get blacklisted by the Spirit Pagoda!¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. I¡¯m with you guys.¡±


    ¡°Boss, you just keeping getting more awesome!¡± Xie Xie exclaimed. ¡°You were born to be an actor!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s expression soured. ¡°Do you think I wanted to lie? That was a battle armor master we just fought! Not even several mechas together can take her on! If I hadn¡¯t lied, we would have been rounded up with no way to escape. We couldn¡¯t afford to waste that much time. In the future we¡¯ll think of a way to apologize to them.¡±


    ?


    Within the walls of the Heaven Spirit City¡¯s Spirit Pagoda, Yan Feng slammed her hands onto the metal table, flames flickering around her body. ¡°You guys get it now? Those kids were the ones at fault! They attacked me first!¡± After watching the security recordings, the enforcers who brought her in were speechless.


    By the time Yan Feng had managed to struggle out of the encirclement of the three enforcers, Tang Wulin and his friends had disappeared without a trace. She wanted to chase after them, but that thought was dashed as soon as three purple mechas arrived. As powerful as she might be, she couldn¡¯t fight against six mechas at once. She had no choice but to let them apprehend her. Even if she could escape them, she would gain nothing.


    ¡°Our apologies, Miss Yan Feng. We have confirmed your identity. We¡¯re really embarrassed about what happened and never expected those kids to be so cunning.¡±


    Yan Feng¡¯s glare was hot enough to scorch. ¡°What are you waiting for then? Hurry up and go catch them!¡±


    A pained smile crawled its way across the enforcer leader¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t do that. The Spirit Pagoda may have a lot of power and influence, but we can¡¯t infringe on the Federation¡¯s jurisdiction and capture someone outside of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s general vicinity. We can¡¯t afford to butt heads with the Federation. We¡¯ve already informed the government, so we¡¯ll hand over the reigns from here. Besides, honestly speaking, we don¡¯t have much evidence to go on here and you¡¯re unharmed. Even if we caught them, there isn¡¯t much we can punish them for. At most, they¡¯ll have to spend a few days in a detention center.¡±


    His words were like a bucket of cold water over Yan Feng¡¯s head. He¡¯s right! I wasn¡¯t injured, so there isn¡¯t really anything to convict them of. They were probably telling the truth about their ages too, which means they¡¯re still minors. If we arrested them, it¡¯s likely their families only have to pay a fine and give them a stern lecture at home. I can¡¯t believe those kids!


    ¡°Miss Yan Feng, please calm down. Please let us apologize for this matter first.¡± The enforcers stood up and bowed to her.


    Yan Feng¡¯s anger dissipated when she recognized their sincerity, and she gestured for them to stop. ¡°Forget about it. Those kids better hope they never run into me again though. If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯m going to leave now.¡±


    The enforcers escorted her to the entrance. She held great status as a battle armor master registered with the Spirit Pagoda. Someday, she might even become their superior!


    After exiting the Spirit Pagoda, Yan Feng scanned the surroundings, hoping to catch a glimpse of Tang Wulin and the others lurking nearby. But they were nowhere to be found.


    Right at that moment, her gaze landed on a handsome, slender man about her age. He was clothed in white robes and his long, lustrous hair gently draped down his back. He exuded a chilling aura.


    Yan Feng¡¯s martial soul was of the fire-attribute, her personality fiery. The moment she laid eyes on this man, however, she found her fury fading into dying embers.


    He¡¯s so handsome! Yan Feng gulped. There wasn¡¯t a girl in the world who didn¡¯t fancy themselves a handsome man, especially a man as handsome as this! Moreover, she was shocked to find herself unable to determine his cultivation level despite sensing his status as a soul master.


    He¡¯s even stronger than me? Her body tingled, a strange sensation fire-attribute soul masters felt when in the presence of an ice-attribute soul master. Yeah, he does seem like an ice-attribute.


    The mysterious man took a step.


    H-he¡¯s walking toward me? Yan Feng¡¯s heart raced.


    She wasn¡¯t sure before, but now it was obvious he was approaching her, his steps slow and steady. Their eyes met.


    His eyes are so pretty! Oh my god! I can¡¯t even! He¡¯s too handsome! Yan Feng could see herself reflected in those limpid pools, before realizing her current haphazard state. Her clothes and hair were still in disarray from the previous incident. She hurriedly put herself together, fixing up her attire, doing her best to hide all traces of the previous scuffle. Her face burned hot with embarrassment.


    ¡°Hi,¡± the man said, his voice a chilling breeze. Yan Feng gasped. The contrast between its frigid nature and the pleasure it brought brushed the deepest, softest nook of her heart.


    ¡°H-hi!¡± Yan Feng couldn¡¯t help her nervousness. He was a sight to behold!


    ¡°I¡¯m Wu Zhangkong.¡± He gave her a curt nod.


    ¡°Oh, uh, I¡¯m Yan Feng.¡± She barely managed to introduce herself.


    ¡°I wanted to apologize to you. Those kids you ran into today are my disciples. They¡¯re currently in the middle of an exam for our academy, so they had to find sparring partners. But they meant no harm. I want to apologize in their place.¡± Wu Zhangkong bowed.


    ¡°Oh. Uh. It¡¯s fine.¡± Yan Feng¡¯s heart raced and settled back down in the span of a moment. Her eyes widened, voice rising an octave. ¡°What? T-those kids are your disciples?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    Yan Feng¡¯s breathing grew frantic. ¡°So, you taught them to attack people like that?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong was unperturbed. ¡°No, but as their teacher, the responsibility falls upon me.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Yan Feng was astonished. Try as she might, she couldn¡¯t grow angry at him.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded at her again. ¡°Once more, I apologize. Goodbye.¡± Without another word, he turned to leave.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Yan Feng shouted after him.


    He stopped in his steps and moved to face her. ¡°Is there something else?¡±


    ¡°Just saying sorry won¡¯t cut it!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong went silent for a moment before speaking. ¡°Then what do you propose?¡±

 Chapter 440 - Take Me Out for Lunch!

    Chapter 440 - Take Me Out for Lunch!


    ¡°You need to show sincerity when you apologize,¡± Yan Feng said, twirling a finger through her hair. ¡°At the very least, you need to take me out for lunch.¡±


    The moment the words left her mouth, her face glowed a bright red. But she couldn¡¯t back down! She was in her twenties now, but because she had focused on cultivating, she never once had a boyfriend. She believed that love at first sight was just something out of a fairy tale, but that changed when she met Wu Zhangkong. He was simply too handsome! Even if he had some sort of baggage, that didn¡¯t matter. To her, his good looks would make up for anything!


    ¡°Fine.¡± Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°What do you want to eat?¡±


    Yan Feng lit up. ¡°You decide!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Okay. Follow me.¡± Then he turned and walked away.


    He¡¯s even handsome from behind! Yan Feng patted her chest to calm herself down, then chased after him with a blushing face. Those kids aren¡¯t that bad. They couldn¡¯t possibly be bad kids with such a handsome man for a teacher! I guess I just have to forgive them.


    Wu Zhangkong walked at a steady pace, neither slow nor fast. Yan Feng followed just behind him, utterly captivated by her view of him from behind. She was committing every detail to memory. Her eyes never left him!


    Wu Zhangkong was truly eye-catching. As he walked down the street, he drew the gazes of all the nearby women, no matter their age.


    As a Soul King, Yan Feng possessed exceptional hearing. She could hear the murmurs of smitten women praising Wu Zhangkong. They were echoing the countless thoughts that Yan Feng already had in the past few minutes.


    Soon enough, the two turned a corner into an alley and reached a small restaurant. The front of the restaurant was no more than four meters wide. Peering inside through the window, Yan Feng only saw four tables. Noon had nearly arrived, and she could smell a fragrant aroma wafting out from the restaurant.


    Wu Zhangkong silently stood at the door, his mind wandering off in a daze. Yan Feng could see the ice in his eyes thaw, revealing a tenderness that made her heart skip a beat.


    A plump, short-haired man in his fifties opened the door and exclaimed, ¡°Zhangkong! You¡¯re back! Hurry up and come in.¡± He hugged Wu Zhangkong then beckoned him inward.


    If Tang Wulin had been present, his jaw would have dropped. Wu Zhangkong was actually quite the clean freak, yet he didn¡¯t mind this man hugging him. In fact, he looked at the man warmly, nodded, then entered. Yan Feng followed closely behind him.


    The restaurant was just as tiny on the inside as it had looked from the outside. It was a bit dirty and had flies darting around the place. If any other man had brought Yan Feng here, she would have given him zero points. The place was simply too crude. But since Wu Zhangkong was the one who brought her here, she simply thought the place had character! She figured that a handsome guy like him had a good reason for coming here after all!


    Indeed, the world wasn¡¯t fair!


    The plump man led them to a table by the window. ¡°Zhangkong, it''s been so long. How have you been?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong sat down and leaned back in his chair. ¡°I¡¯ve been alright.¡±


    ¡°Is this your friend?¡± The man glanced at Yan Feng. She couldn¡¯t be considered a world-shaking beauty, but she did possess her own charm. She was in her prime and brimming with youth.


    ¡°Hello!¡± Yan Feng smiled at the man, then took a seat across from Wu Zhangkong.


    The man gaped at her. Her bright demeanor didn¡¯t fit Wu Zhangkong at all.


    ¡°Get us the usual.¡± Wu Zhangkong said. Only then did the man regain himself.


    ¡°Alrighty then. The usual it is. I¡¯ll go whip it up right away.¡± The man turned to walk back to the kitchen, but he paused for a moment, then turned back and said, ¡°It¡¯s good to see you Zhangkong. It really is.¡±


    After the man left, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression grew icy once more. Seated across from him, Yan Feng could finally examine him properly. His eyelashes are so long! He has pretty eyes, and his nose is high! His lips are really full too. If we got married¡­ oh my god, what am I thinking?


    Yan Feng blushed crimson.


    ¡°Do you come here often?¡± Yan Feng asked.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s cold gaze focused on her. ¡°I used to.¡±


    ¡°No wonder the boss recognized you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Do you live in Heaven Spirit City?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Surprise tinged Yan Feng¡¯s voice. ¡°Where are you from then?¡±


    ¡°Shrek,¡± he answered.


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    Taken aback by the question, Wu Zhangkong went silent for a moment. Then he shook his head, declining to answer.


    A playful light glinted in Yan Feng¡¯s eyes. ¡°Okay. Let me guess. Twenty seven?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong remained silent.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it, huh? Are you twenty-six? Or are you actually twenty-eight?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong furrowed his brow. ¡°Thirty-three.¡±


    ¡°Wow! Thirty-three?¡± Yan Feng stared at him in astonishment. ¡° But you look so young! You have such nice skin. If you weren¡¯t so mature, I would have thought you in your early twenties. I¡¯m about to turn twenty-seven myself, so you¡¯re six years older than me.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so concise. Do you usually talk like this?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on with your disciples?¡± Yan Feng asked. ¡°You said they were in the middle of an exam?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes brightened a bit. ¡°It¡¯s their end-of-semester exam.¡±


    Yan Feng groaned. ¡°The boy that was leading them is no good, you know. He attacked me, then he lied and said I attacked him! He¡¯s a real actor that one. Did you teach him that?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong made a helpless expression. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡±


    ¡°Who taught him that then?¡±


    The corner of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s mouth twitched, and Yan Feng¡¯s heart nearly skipped a beat. It was her first time seeing his mask crack.


    ¡°He was born with that talent,¡± Wu Zhangkong said with a hint of resignation.


    ¡°You need to be more careful with how you pick your disciples,¡± Yan Feng said sagely. ¡°That aside, the boy¡¯s like a sapling. As his teacher, it¡¯s your responsibility to make sure he grows up straight and proper.¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t go astray. He¡¯s a good kid.¡±


    Yan Feng pursed her lips. ¡°I disagree. But enough about that, let¡¯s talk about you. Where do you teach? Which academy?¡±


    At that moment, the plump restaurant boss brought the food over. There were candied yellow vegetables, fishy stir-fried strips of pork, spicy chicken, and a big bowl of tofu soup. Two bowls of rice accompanied the soup and the three side dishes.


    Yan Feng was actually quite hungry. Due to her excitement this morning, she had skipped breakfast. Wu Zhangkong was hungry as well. Although the shop was small, the dishes sang to their appetites.


    ¡°No need to be polite. Let¡¯s eat!¡± Yan Feng grabbed her chopsticks, picked up her bowl, and began eating. She picked up a piece of pork and put it in her mouth. One bite, and her eyes flew wide open. ¡°Delicious! I never thought such a small restaurant could have such good food. It¡¯s even better than big and fancy restaurants. Good pick!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong picked up his own bowl and began eating slowly. He stared at the dishes in a daze as he ate. He picked up a piece of the yellow vegetable and put it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, as if savoring it and examining the flavor.


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question,¡± Yan Feng said as she ate. ¡°What academy do you teach at?¡±


    ¡°Shrek,¡± Wu Zhangkong answered quietly.


    ¡°Shrek Academy, huh? Good one...¡± Then the realization hit her, and Yan Feng nearly dropped her bowl. She stared at Wu Zhangkong with wide eyes, her voice going up an octave as she yelped, ¡°Y-you¡¯re a teacher at Shrek Academy?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong glanced at her, then went back to eating. ¡°What about it?¡±


    ¡°N-nothing.¡± Yan Feng fought to suppress her astonishment, but in her heart, she rejoiced. He¡¯s perfect!

 Chapter 441 - Yan Feng and Sky Ice

    Chapter 441 - Yan Feng and Sky Ice


    He¡¯s handsome. And he¡¯s a teacher at Shrek Academy! He couldn¡¯t be any more perfect!


    ¡°Shrek Academy? Amazing!¡± Yan Feng suddenly batted her eyelashes at Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Years ago, I really wanted to be a student there, and I even took the exams! But as you can see, I didn¡¯t make it in. It¡¯s a pity I didn¡¯t, I might have been able to study under you.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Wu Zhangkong said. ¡°When you were still in school, I was a student as well. You¡¯re not young enough to be my student.¡±


    ¡°Jeez!¡± Yan Feng pouted. ¡°Is that how you always talk to a girl? Don¡¯t you know how to make small talk?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t utter another word. He simply ate in silence.


    This guy! Yan Feng pursed her lips and glared at him, but after a while, she couldn¡¯t bear the silence. ¡°Since you¡¯re a teacher at Shrek Academy, you should be a battle armor master, right? Are you a one-word or two-word battle armor master?¡±


    ¡°Two-word,¡± Wu Zhangkong answered.


    Yan Feng¡¯s eyes went wide. He¡¯s only thirty-three and he¡¯s a two-word battle armor master! He¡¯s incredible! No wonder I couldn¡¯t tell how strong he was.


    ¡°Oh,¡± she responded, trying to come off as nonchalant. ¡°I just became a one-word battle armor master myself. For my first word, I chose ¡®Phoenix.¡¯ To tell you the truth, it isn¡¯t a great fit for me. My martial soul is the fire gourd, and battle armor is usually named after a soul master¡¯s a martial soul or spirit soul. But I couldn¡¯t have possibly used ¡®Gourd¡¯, so instead I used the meaning of my own name. What about you? What did you name your armor?¡±


    ¡°Sky Ice.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s so cool!¡± Yan Feng exclaimed. ¡°Why did you pick that? Is it because you have an ice-attribute martial soul?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong finally looked up from his food and looked her straight in the eye. ¡°¡®Sky¡¯ is the first part of my martial soul. ¡®Ice¡¯ comes from the meaning of my wife¡¯s name. Don¡¯t talk while eating. Just eat.¡±


    His wife? Yan Feng was dumbstruck. He has a wife! Of course he has a wife! There¡¯s no way a man as great as him wouldn¡¯t!


    A feeling of loss hit her like a truck, and her appetite disappeared.


    The two ate in silence. Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t eat much, and he ate as slowly as ever, his mind wandering off to another time.


    ?


    ¡°Wow! Zhangkong, those candied yellow vegetables were amazing! The eggs were so delicious too! I can¡¯t imagine how he cooked them so well. Just you wait. I¡¯ll go learn how to make them and then cook the for you too, okay?¡±


    ¡°Hey, leave some tofu for me too! I heard tofu is good for the skin. My skin might be nicer than yours, but I still have to put in the effort!¡±


    ¡°These fishy stir-fried pork strips are delicious! Do you think I should eat another half-bowl of rice? I won¡¯t get fat, right?¡±


    ¡°You dummy! Look at you. You have some rice stuck to your face. I¡¯m not gonna kiss you while you¡¯re like that. Ah! Don¡¯t rub it on me!¡±


    ?


    By the time Wu Zhangkong and Yan Feng finished eating and left the restaurant, the sun had reached its zenith.


    Yan Feng flashed a smile at Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Thank you for lunch.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m going then.¡±


    ¡°Can you give me your number? I¡¯m gonna go back to the Spirit Pagoda now and ask them to revoke the investigation request I made. I¡¯ll call you once it¡¯s done.¡±


    After a moment of hesitation, Wu Zhangkong gave in and handed her his number.


    ¡°Next time I¡¯m in Shrek City, I¡¯ll go find you and we can have dinner, okay?¡± Yan Feng beamed.


    Wu Zhangkong eyed her coldly. ¡°I¡¯m going. Goodbye.¡± Without another word, he turned and left.


    As she watched his departing figure, Yan Feng let out a gloomy sigh. ¡°All the good men are always taken. Really! When am I going to find a good man of my own! Heaven Spirit City is too small for me. Maybe I should head to Shrek City. I am a one-word battle armor master now, after well. Yeah. I¡¯ll go ask the Spirit Pagoda to transfer me there.¡±


    ?


    After their defeat in Heaven Spirit City, Tang Wulin and his friends had no choice but to change their plans. They ended up taking a detour, promptly piling into their soul car and heading straight for the next city.


    Although they thought long and hard about it, they couldn¡¯t come up with a plan more efficient than raiding someone at the Spirit Pagoda to draw out the enforcers. They had no other option but to go with the old plan. Fortunately for them, things went quite well. They cleared the next few cities without issue. No one questioned their supposed identity as supervisors, and a couple days later, they were halfway done with their exam.


    ¡°We¡¯re on day four now,¡± Tang Wulin said as he studied their map. They were once again in their soul car, heading for the next city on their route. ¡°We need to speed up a bit. We¡¯ll do two cities today and another two tomorrow. Then, the day after that, we¡¯ll arrive at Bright City. It has a lot of strong people, so we shouldn¡¯t have to raid the Spirit Pagoda there. It¡¯s the capital city of the Federation after all. Though we will need to be more careful once we arrive.¡±


    At first they were anxious as they travelled from city to city, but their nerves had calmed down along the way. The challenges they had faced over the course of their travels were profound, and as they overcame them one by one, they grew more confident. The greatest challenge they had faced was Yan Feng, and from it, they came to understand the kind of might a battle armor master wielded.


    As students of Shrek Academy, it was easy for them to take down a Soul King or even a Soul Emperor when they ganged up on one. However, when it came to battle armor, they couldn¡¯t even penetrate its defenses!


    ¡°Wulin, I know a place in Bright City where we can find some opponents,¡± Ye Xinglan said abruptly.


    ¡°Huh? Where?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s interest was piqued.


    ¡°Ten thousand years ago, we were rivals with an academy in Bright City, and even today, our rivalry continues. Their students are some of the best. They can¡¯t compare with Shrek, of course, but they can still be counted as one of the best academies on the continent. We should go pay them a visit.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes lit up with understanding. ¡°You¡¯re referring to the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy? The one that has already been renowned as one of the great academies for ten thousand years?¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡± Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes glimmered with excitement. ¡°I heard both academies still harbor grudges against each other. Imagine how awesome it would be if we beat them!¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°That makes sense. I think it¡¯s a good idea. Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    ¡°Alright. It¡¯s settled then.¡± Ye Xinglan clenched her fists.


    ¡°Talk about that later,¡± Xie Xie said, his voice trembling slightly. ¡°First we need to deal with the problem in front of us.¡±


    Everyone looked out the window to see what was ahead of them. What they saw left them stunned.


    Twenty mechas lined the highway in the distance. Five were purple-grade and the rest were yellow. They had just arrived and formed a checkpoint. They wore the emblem of the Spirit Pagoda on their chest armor.


    Tang Wulin and his group had cleared five cities, and the Spirit Pagoda had finally come to judge them.


    ¡°Wulin, what do we do?¡± Xie Xie asked as he slowed their car to a crawl.


    Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes. Those familiar with him knew that whenever he made this face, something bad was about to happen.


    ¡°Stop the car!¡± he shouted. Without even waiting for the car to stop, Tang Wulin punched the car door and sent it flying. Then he grabbed the roof tore it open.


    All six of them knew that they couldn¡¯t afford to be captured. Although they would only be fined and forced to apologize if they were caught, there was a possibility that they could be sent back to Shrek Academy! Not only would that be shameful, they would fail their exam as well. Never in all of Shrek Academy¡¯s history had a class president been expelled.


    Tang Wulin refused to be the first. He didn¡¯t want to drag his friends down with him either.


    Xie Xie slammed his foot on the brakes, causing the car to swerve to the side. All of them had sturdy bodies. Even Xu Lizhi, with the defensive Tang Sect secret arts he learned, was just as resilient as the others. They were all unfazed when the car crashed into the highway divider and inertia sent them flying out of the roof in every direction.


    Gu Yue grabbed onto Xu Xiaoyan the moment they landed. She promptly shouted, ¡°Blizzard!¡±


    On Gu Yue¡¯s command, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s third soul ring lit up as she used Blizzard. She had already summoned her martial soul before they had been thrown out of the car. Combined with Gu Yue¡¯s Elemental Tide, the blizzard rapidly grew until it swallowed the highway and the surrounding forest on either side.


    ¡°Into the forest! Quickly!¡± Tang Wulin commanded his companions.


    Yet he, himself, stood still as he faced the approaching mechas.

 Chapter 442 - The Almighty Gu Yue

    Chapter 442 - The Almighty Gu Yue


    The mechas readied their cannons as they flew over. They flew with incredible speed, and it was clear that the only chance of escape for Tang Wulin¡¯s group was through the forest.


    The only reprieve Tang Wulin found as he stared down the approaching mechas was that they were sent by the Spirit Pagoda and not the government. These mechas wouldn¡¯t dare kill him. Not in Federation jurisdiction at least. Therefore, Tang Wulin concluded that the mechas were here to capture. With this in mind, he was confident that his friends had a shot at escaping.


    Just as Tang Wulin expected, the mechas put away their cannons as they approached. They were all empty-handed now, with the five purple mechas leading the charge.


    Tang Wulin leaped toward them, a brilliant golden soul ring appearing beneath him as he used Golden Dragon Body. Strength surged through his body and golden scales rippled into existence across his right arm and torso. His right hand transformed into a claw, then threads of starlight spun around it and manifested into a gauntlet. He immediately unleashed the all of his might! A draconic roar emanated from his body as he took in a deep breath and moved both hands in a circle. His blood essence flowed in reverse. Right forearm clutched in his left hand, he swiped at the air with his claw, unleashing an attack that used both Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Dreadclaw!


    Tang Wulin urged all of the soul power in his body to converge into his claw, Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens further amplifying his Dreadclaw. He hadn¡¯t dared to attempt this before the exam, but since his blood essence had grown stronger and he was on the verge of breaking the fourth seal, he now felt that his body could handle the might of this attack.


    Five shining claw marks tore through the air, leaving behind a tail of dark-gold splendor. The blades themselves shined a brilliant gold, a faint pattern of scales etched across their spans. A meter long at the start, they grew to ten times that length as they charged toward the mechas! Although incorporeal, their overwhelming might stopped the five purple mechas mid-flight, a dazzling display of power.


    The mecha pilots were startled by the claw blades. Generally, the power of a soul master¡¯s attack directly correlated to its distance traveled. Despite concluding that Tang Wulin¡¯s golden ring was a soul ring, they couldn¡¯t make sense of the fact that it was gold. Therefore, as the claw blades grew longer in their approach, the mecha pilots¡¯ instincts screamed for them to take a defensive stance. They summoned their energy shields at full power.


    But it was to no avail. The claw blades tore through cleanly like a knife in butter, shockwaves rippling through the air. A sickening crunch later and the purple mechas flew backward, sent flying by the heavy force. Cracks littered their energy shields, on the verge of shattering..


    Every spectator couldn¡¯t believe their eyes.. A young boy had faced twenty mechas alone, but with a single swipe of his claw, he knocked five purple mechas into the air, swatting them like flies. Such domineering might!


    As the yellow mechas that had lagged behind witnessed such a sight, they immediately slowed down and went on guard against Tang Wulin. Anyone who could do that could tear apart yellow mechas like they were paper!


    Tang Wulin crashed onto the ground, then immediately plunged into the thick of the snow storm, disappearing from the view of the mechas. An instant later, Gu Yue pulled him to her.


    With Gu Yue¡¯s aid, Xu Xiaoyan unleashed a powerful blizzard. By focusing her strength into empowering it, the blizzard instantly enveloped an area several hundred meters in radius, the snow obscuring the mechas¡¯ vision.


    Tang Wulin had attacked not only to stall for time, but also to intimidate the rest of his opponents. He wanted to instill apprehension in their hearts, to kindle the embers of wariness about engaging in combat alone. That way, they wouldn¡¯t split up to search the area and instead rely on their radar.


    One of the many important lessons Shrek Academy had provided them was how to avoid detection by radars, and using a blizzard was one of those methods. The radar couldn¡¯t differentiate between noise and signal in the tumultuous snow storm.


    Tang Wulin dashed forward with Gu Yue. A couple steps later, his heart nearly jumped out of chest. One moment his feet were on solid ground, then the next, nothing. He found himself suspended in  all-encompassing darkness, a hole with no way out.


    A second later, a ball of light flickered into existence, dispersing the darkness.


    They stood in a small underground chamber. The rest of their companions were present as well, waiting for their arrival. The ball of light floated gently above Gu Yue¡¯s palm.


    She let go of his hand, focusing on her next task in silence. Using both Elemental Tide and Elemental Control, she moved them deeper underground and created a thicker ceiling above them. Everyone stared at her in astonishment, even the prideful Ye Xinglan.


    Her control over the earth element was amazing. By bringing them deeper underground, she used the earth element to hide them from the radar.


    Previously trapped in a hopeless situation, they were set free by Gu Yue¡¯s quick thinking and remarkable power. Those mecha pilots would never think to search for them deep underground, and their sensors wouldn¡¯t pick them up either. If the mechas had opened fire immediately, Tang Wulin and his group would have been incapacitated or dead by now. Fortunately for them, they hadn¡¯t committed any major crimes and had only caused some disturbances at best. As such, the mechas had not utilized deadly force, leaving them an escape route.


    About ten minutes later, sweat started to cling to Gu Yue¡¯s skin, and she finally stopped transporting them deeper underground.


    ¡°Control your breathing guys. The air in here is getting thin,¡± Tang Wulin said. Although they were safe from pursuit, they might suffocate to death instead!


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Gu Yue said. She summoned a ball of water with a wave of her left hand. She lightly rubbed it with her other hand. The ball began to shrink and the air grew thicker.


    ¡°Teacher taught me how to separate oxygen from water. We should be fine for a while longer.¡±


    ¡°Big Sis Gu Yue, you can do anything!¡± Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed in admiration.


    Gu Yue cracked a faint smile. ¡°No I can¡¯t. Anyway, they shouldn¡¯t be able to find us. After they¡¯ve given up, we can return to the surface. But what do we do then? The Spirit Pagoda is searching for us, so I¡¯m guessing the order has been passed on to the other cities. Any branch we visit will be on high alert. We can¡¯t continue with the same plan. We need a new one.¡±


    Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes as he pondered. ¡°We still have several cities to visit, and they¡¯re all hugely populated. Big cities should have good soul master academies with plenty of people stronger than us. Hmm. Maybe we can...¡±


    His eyes glazed as his words trailed off, his mind falling deeper and deeper into thought. Challenging the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy looked more attractive than ever. Since they couldn¡¯t raid the Spirit Pagoda anymore, they had no other choice.


    An hour later, the returned to the surface. Sure enough, the mechas were nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, their car was wrecked.


    Tang Wulin unfurled the map and checked through it. They were two hundred kilometers from the next city. Needless to say, there was no option but carry out on foot.


    With the support of Gu Yue¡¯s wind element and Xu Lizhi¡¯s Agility Soup Buns, they were able to advance quickly. Tang Wulin lent some support to Xu Lizhi, more prone to exhaustion as he was. Similarly, Ye Xinglan offered a shoulder to Xu Xiaoyan. But when it came down to it, Tang Wulin and company marched forward to the next city.

 Chapter 443 - Challengers

    Chapter 443 - Challengers


    Two hundred kilometers were nothing to Tang Wulin, but how Xu Lizhi handled it was another story. Even though he ate pork buns and soup buns as they ran, he could feel himself get thinner and thinner.


    ¡°Damn you, Spirit Pagoda!¡± Xu Lizhi shouted, shaking an angry fist at the sky.


    Gu Yue glanced at him curiously. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Xu Lizhi turned to her. ¡°I¡¯ve decided that I¡¯m never going to sell my buns to them!¡±


    Ye Xinglan scoffed. ¡°We¡¯ll see what the future holds.¡±


    Tang Wulin, on the other hand, was deep in thought. ¡°The plan was to clear two cities today, but we¡¯ll only be able to clear one at this rate. We¡¯ll take a break when we reach the city, then we¡¯ll go visit the local academy in the afternoon.¡±


    They soon found a small inn to stay at, and after a couple hours of rest, they would be good to go. They were soul masters after all.


    They were currently in Skyorder City, about two thousand kilometers from Bright City. Several cities still sat between them and their end goal of Bright City, and they no longer had a car nor the money to buy another. After clearing this city, they would have to hop on a train to continue their journey west.


    Tang Wulin asked around to see where the local soul master academy was. Just as he expected, there was a fairly respectable academy here. It was called Skyorder Star Ocean Academy and specialized in flying-type soul masters. In fact, that was a requirement for potential students seeking admission. However, it wasn¡¯t an advanced academy.


    Advanced academies were institutions that raised genius soul masters, mecha pilots, and battle armor masters. Of course, such academies didn¡¯t actually have to produce battle armor masters. They just had to have a program oriented toward raising them. Students usually graduated from advanced academies between the ages of twenty-two to twenty-five. Even at Shrek Academy, it was rare for a student to become a one-word battle armor master around those ages. Other academies couldn¡¯t even hope to compete.


    ¡°I have to call him!¡± Tang Wulin muttered to himself. He was the only one of his team not resting at the moment. He wasn¡¯t too tired yet, and he had something more important to do. He took advantage of the complementary soul communicator in the inn¡¯s lobby to make a call.


    As soon as the call connected, Tang Wulin said, ¡°Uncle-master!¡±


    ¡°Wulin? How is your exam? Is everything going well?¡± Zhen Hua asked in a warm tone.


    ¡°Things aren¡¯t going well,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°I ran into some trouble, and I need more money to finish the exam. I¡¯m in Skyorder City right now, but I can¡¯t take any blacksmithing missions without my badge. Can you pull some strings to have the association branch here let me take some alloy-forging or spirit refining missions? And have them lend me some hammers too? I need the money for travel expenses.¡±


    The line went silent for a moment, then Zhen Hua spoke up once more. ¡°It sure must be tough for you. Just go over to the Skyorder Blacksmith¡¯s Association. You don¡¯t have to forge, it¡¯ll be too much of a hassle to convince them considering your age and rank. I¡¯ll just have them give you money.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle-master!¡± Tang Wulin rejoiced in his heart. Amazing! Uncle-master¡¯s so generous! Having an uncle-master like him is the best!


    ¡°No need to thank me.¡± Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°It is only natural that I do this much for you. Just come visit me when you have a chance.¡±


    ¡°Definitely!¡± Tang Wulin said eagerly. If he visited, he would have a Divine Blacksmith to teach him, not to mention all the delicious food he would be able to eat! Nothing could stand between him and food!


    By the time Tang Wulin left to visit the local Blacksmith¡¯s Association and came back with another million credits added to his card, his companions had finished recovering.


    ¡°Let¡¯s buy another car,¡± Xie Xie said, his eyes shining with excitement.


    ¡°What does everyone else think?¡± Tang Wulin swept his gaze across the rest of his companions.


    Ye Xinglan was the first to voice her thoughts. ¡°I think having a car would be really convenient. It won¡¯t be as fast as a train, but it¡¯ll good for getting around within cities. We will also be able to use the onboard GPS to save some time finding our way around.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s buy another one!¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long for Tang Wulin¡¯s group to buy a car. Fortunately for them, they managed to find one that was the same make as the one they had wrecked, and for roughly the same price too. With everything in order, they continued onward to Skyorder Star Ocean Academy.


    Skyorder Star Ocean Academy was situated in the southwest corner of the city limits. The academy was established two thousand years ago, and though its history was not nearly as long or prestigious as Shrek Academy¡¯s, it was still a prominent, well-known academy.


    This academy produced their fair share of geniuses, and since flying-type soul engineers were favored for military recruitment, they also had close ties with the military. Although soul engineers could fly using soul devices, those capable of flight through their own abilities dominated those who were not.


    That being said, even those that did not have a strong martial soul could become powerful with the aid of soul devices. The advent of soul devices reduced the gap between ordinary and genius soul masters. Then, when mechas appeared, the playing field was leveled. Only when battle armor was created did talented soul masters regain superiority.


    Skyorder Star Ocean Academy was a soul master academy that focused on producing flying-type soul engineers. As a result, they were famous in the Federation for producing excellent mecha pilots and military aces. With the support of the military, they had grown exceptionally fast, so much so that they ranked among the best of second-tier academies.


    ?


    A soul car came to a stop in a small alleyway near Skyorder Star Ocean Academy. Six people got out of the car, all dressed in eye-catching green sportswear. They were Tang Wulin and his teammates. They had just bought these clothes, the specific shade of green being the same as Shrek Academy¡¯s.


    Tang Wulin led them to the metal gates of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy. The gates were a daunting twenty meters talls and forty meters wide, a size that allowed even mechas to pass through easily. The academy¡¯s walls were just as tall and surrounded an enormous campus. The academy occupied the entire southwest section of the city.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Xie Xie and signaled for him to start.


    Xie Xie¡¯s mouth twitched, but he quickly took out two long poles, both of which were actually two parts of a banner. He unfurled the banner to its full length of ten meters, words written in provocative green ink spanning its white cloth. The writing wasn¡¯t the neatest, but it got the message across. Xie Xie then grabbed one pole and Xu Lizhi took hold of the other, the two of them propping it upright.


    Countless people were streaming into the academy, so everyone immediately noticed this curious bunch of people standing right outside the gates. Most importantly, they saw the banner.


    ¡°We are from Shrek Academy! We are here to challenge your strongest team of students under the age of twenty!¡± A passerby¡¯s voice rang out in a bored tone. Then the meaning of the words suddenly hit them. W-what? They¡¯re here to challenge us?


    Indeed, this was Tang Wulin¡¯s plan! It was simple, direct, and efficient!


    The morning had just begun, and students were walking through the gates in droves. But the moment the banner was unfurled, they froze in place and stared. Many were astonished, some frowned, a few showed anger, and others were simply curious.


    It only took a few minutes for a crowd of people to form at the gates, all attracted by the fabled name of Shrek Academy. For young soul masters like them, Shrek Academy was a legendary holy land!


    Students from Shrek Academy came to challenge our academy? They¡¯re challenging a team of us under the age of twenty? But they can¡¯t be any older than fifteen!


    Tang Wulin stood at the front of his group, completely stone-faced. He was confident that Skyorder Star Ocean Academy wouldn¡¯t refuse a challenge as direct as this. The academy¡¯s prestige and the morale of the student body would plummet if they did.


    A boy suddenly approached them. He seemed to be around seventeen years old. ¡°Are you guys really from Shrek Academy?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Yes, we are. We want to have a match with your academy.¡±


    The boy eyed them with suspicion. ¡°Do you have any proof that you¡¯re from Shrek?¡±


    Tang Wulin gave him a vague smile. His eyes flashed golden, and a golden soul ring appeared from beneath him. Cries of astonishment echoed throughout the crowd.


    The boy in particular seemed petrified. A gold soul ring? He has a gold soul ring? Didn¡¯t the legends say that the strongest spirit soul is only orange? How is his gold? Wait! Legends say that soul rings of the gods are golden!


    No one here could have known that Tang Wulin¡¯s golden soul ring was actually a blood essence soul ring!


    Tang Wulin felt a bit annoyed. He had no real way of proving their identities. Anything that could be used to identify themselves had been confiscated! So he had no choice but to reveal his golden soul ring, which was far more shocking than three purple ones. This was the only way he could dominate the minds of the students of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy, leaving them no choice but to believe that they were from Shrek Academy!


    And it worked. The boy in front of them paled at the realization and stumbled backward in awe.

 Chapter 444 - Skyorder Star Ocean Academy

    Chapter 444 - Skyorder Star Ocean Academy


    As the crowd reached the height of its excitement, a few people walked out of the gates. Their leader was a tall, muscular man with short graying hair and a sharp gaze. He made his way through the crowd and quickly laid eyes on Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence soul ring. His surprise only lasted a moment, a brief flash across his face, but he instantly regained himself. He didn¡¯t even break stride. Soon enough, he stood before Tang Wulin¡¯s group.


    ¡°You kids are from Shrek Academy?¡± he asked, his eyes moving from the golden soul ring to meet Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze. ¡°Are you from the outer or inner court?¡±


    Tang Wulin stood his ground, staring the man down in turn. ¡°I¡¯m the class president of the outer court¡¯s first grade. My name is Tang Wulin.¡± Unlike their raids on the Spirit Pagoda, there were certain formalities that came with using the name of Shrek Academy to challenge another academy.


    ¡°Class president?¡± Shock was visible in the man¡¯s eyes, even greater than when he saw the golden soul ring. ¡°You can put away your banner now. Please come in.¡± The man gestured for them to follow.


    Tang Wulin nodded at Xie Xie and Xu Lizhi and the two quickly put away the banner. The first and most crucial step of their plan was complete. It wouldn''t do to continue provoking the people of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy at their doorstep anyway. They had to leave them some face.


    ¡°Go to class,¡± the man said as he swept his gaze through the crowd. ¡°There¡¯s nothing else to see here.¡± The man clearly commanded a lot of authority in their academy. At his command, students scattered like birds, rushing through the gates and off to their classes.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s group of six followed the man in. They were impressed with the campus. As expected of an academy with millennia of history, its campus was enormous. It boasted beautiful fountains, well-groomed trees and shrubs, and numerous sculptures scattered in careful design.


    The man glanced back at them as he led the way. ¡°I am Li Zhilong, the headmaster of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy. This academy has been around for millenia and is the best advanced-level soul master academy in the city. We specialize in teaching flying-type soul masters, soul engineers, and mecha pilots. We also have an excellent graduate program for prospective battle armor masters. You came here as representatives of Shrek Academy?¡±


    The mere mention of Shrek Academy left Tang Wulin prickling with guilt, and he made the decision to tell the truth. ¡°To be completely honest with you, Headmaster Li, we aren¡¯t representatives of Shrek. We are only representing ourselves. The six of us are in the middle of an exam right now, and we need to fight opponents stronger than us in each city we visit. All of our IDs and uniforms were confiscated, so we had no choice but to pull that stunt at the gates. We chose to challenge Skyorder Star Ocean Academy because we believe it¡¯s the best academy in the entire northwest region. Please forgive us for our rashness.¡±


    Gu Yue and Ye Xinglan gawked at Tang Wulin. Does he have split personalities? What left them even more shocked, however, was Li Zhilong response.


    ¡°As expected of kids from Shrek! You¡¯re fearless!¡± The man broke out into laughter. ¡°You¡¯re living up to our academy¡¯s reputation. I¡¯m just glad you guys didn¡¯t outright ambush our students at the gates. Back when I was your age, one of my seniors raided a military base to complete his exam. It was pandemonium!¡±


    ¡®Our academy¡¯? Tang Wulin and his friends stared at Li Zhilong blankly.


    Then realization struck Tang Wulin. ¡°You attended Shrek Academy!¡±


    Li Zhilong cracked a smile. ¡°Yes! I graduated about fifteen years ago. Unfortunately, I barely managed to graduate from the outer court.¡± Although he spoke poorly of himself, his expression brimmed with pride. Just being able to graduate from Shrek Academy¡¯s outer court, if only barely, was an amazing accomplishment.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but smile as well. ¡°Then we should greet you appropriately. Hello, Senior. We¡¯re really sorry about the incident this time. If it¡¯s too much trouble, then we¡¯ll leave immediately and think of another way to complete our exam.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Li Zhilong waved a hand dismissively. ¡°It¡¯s no trouble at all. You¡¯re here already, so there¡¯s no point leaving empty-handed. Besides, with all the noise you made at the gates, it would be anticlimactic if nothing happened, and I wouldn¡¯t have any explanation to give to my students. I¡¯ll find you some opponents. They¡¯ll be our strongest students under twenty years old, just like you wanted. I¡¯m also itching to see just how large the gap is between them and you. You know, speaking of Shrek, I haven¡¯t visited in so many years. I really miss Spirit Ice Plaza! Back then, I desperately wanted to enter the inner court and study at Sea God¡¯s Lake¡¯s. It¡¯s a pity I never made it in.¡± A trace of disappointment filled the man¡¯s eyes as he recalled the past.


    Surprise continued to color the expressions of the others, but Tang Wulin had fully expected this sort of result. In the first place, he had accurately read Li Zhilong¡¯s body language, prompting him to tell the truth. Tang Wulin had sensed an inkling of intimacy under the man¡¯s dignified air whenever Shrek Academy came up. Tang Wulin surmised that the headmaster was an alumnus of their academy, so by telling the truth, he was able to move the man¡¯s heart.


    Skyorder Star Ocean Academy¡¯s main school building was enormous. It stretched multiple stories into the sky, reaching about a hundred meters in height. A giant domed roof adorned the top of the building, its grandeur nearly on par with Shrek Academy¡¯s school building. The only thing it lacked in comparison was size. It was far smaller than Shrek¡¯s.


    Li Zhilong first brought them to a lobby to rest. ¡°Ah, right, do you want to use mechas in this match?¡± he asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head immediately. ¡°No, no. Just look at us. Do you think Shrek would have let us bring mechas?¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± the man said thoughtfully. ¡°Rest here for a bit. Drink some water and rehydrate. I¡¯ll go arrange your opponents then come back later to chat.¡±


    The moment Li Zhilong walked out the door, Xie Xie gave Tang Wulin a curious look, brow raised. ¡°Since when were you so honest?¡±


    ¡°He obviously picked up on some clue that Li Zhilong had some connection with our academy,¡± Gu Yue chimed in. ¡°Why else would he tell the truth? Right, Wulin?¡± She hadn¡¯t understood what Tang Wulin was doing in the beginning, but her suspicions had quickly formed as she listened to the conversation develop.


    Tang Wulin answered with a wry smile and pointed at his head smugly.


    Ye Xinglan snorted. ¡°Yeah, right¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s get ready, everyone,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°I don¡¯t expect an easy match. Headmaster Li might be our senior and is helping us out with our exam, but he¡¯s part of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy now. He''ll definitely pick the strongest possible opponents for us. Most of the soul masters here are flying-types. They¡¯re going to be annoying to deal with, but we¡¯ll proceed with our previous plan.¡±


    They all nodded in affirmation. With the matter settled, Tang Wulin closed his eyes to rest.


    A short while later, Li Zhilong returned. ¡°Your opponents are ready. Do you need a moment to prepare?¡±


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes and stood up. ¡°Senior, we¡¯re fine. We still have more cities to visit after this one, so the faster we finish the battle, the sooner we can complete our exam.¡±


    Li Zhilong chuckled. ¡°Even the class president is scared of being eliminated?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of that. I just hope to earn some bonus points to give to my classmates later. I don¡¯t want any of them to get eliminated.¡±


    Li Zhilong was taken aback by this answer. It moved his heart. ¡°Excellent! You¡¯re a good class president. Alright. Follow me.¡±


    To Tang Wulin¡¯s group¡¯s surprise, the enormous building had no elevators. There was only a giant swirling staircase at its center. Li Zhilong explained that the building was designed like this to help temper their students. They climbed stair after stair until they reached the highest floor of the building. The ceiling of the room on this floor was over thirty meters tall. They were in the topmost section of the dome they saw earlier. After passing through a corridor, they found themselves in an enormous hall. They were shocked when they looked up at the ceiling. The domed roof opened up to the sky outside.


    ¡°This is our academy¡¯s astronomical observatory and our most important arena for combat training,¡± Li Zhilong explained proudly. ¡°The hall is about three hundred meters in diameter. Since we specialize in flying-type soul masters, this space was designed to have no height limitations.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at the open area with eyes full of wonder. ¡°It¡¯s so cool! You could stargaze here at night! I bet it would be a beautiful sight.¡±

 Chapter 445 - Astronomical Observatory

    Chapter 445 - Astronomical Observatory


    Li Zhilong smiled at Tang Wulin, a hint warmth in his eyes. ¡°You can stargaze if you want. Just wait a moment. Our observatory has a little something special. Be it day or night, we can bring the stars closer to us for closer viewing. This observatory is actually a giant soul machine that gathers starlight out in space. Then it beams it back down to us as pure stellar energy. That energy is really beneficial to our students¡¯ cultivation, but entry is limited to the most talented. Normally, only the graduate students can cultivate here and use the stellar energy to refine their body and battle armor.¡±


    Astonishment colored Tang Wulin¡¯s face. He hadn¡¯t expected Skyorder Star Ocean Academy to have such an exceptional cultivation space. It looks like this match is going to be a tough one! Wait, did he say stellar energy? From starlight?


    Tang Wulin snuck a peek at Xu Xiaoyan. Her face was blank.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to experience it for yourselves in a moment. Your opponents will be here shortly.¡±


    The walls of the observatory stood thirty meters tall, giving way to the vast expanse of sky above. Straining his eyes, Tang Wulin could make out various lines criss-crossing through the walls to form some sort of design. Recalling Li Zhilong¡¯s explanation, he came to the conclusion that these were soul circuits, and they hid a tremendous amount of energy within them.


    Soul circuits had been in use for ten thousand years and counting, and after all these years of development, their designs and engineering grew in complexity and grandeur. There were circuits for every function. One of the major consumers of large scale soul circuits was the military, who used it for their national defense facilities.


    The circuitry used in this observatory was the largest and most advanced Tang Wulin had ever seen. Still, he believed in the fact that Shrek Academy had something similar, despite not being completely certain. It was Shrek Academy after all!


    Amidst Tang Wulin¡¯s musings, a group of people entered the hall. They were fitted in black uniforms with stars embroidered, the signature look of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy. Each star symbolized a soul power rank. The color of the stars were also significant: silver for undergraduate students and gold for graduate students.


    The group that had entered consisted of four boys and two girls, each sporting silver stars on their uniforms, their ages ranging from eighteen to twenty. They cast curious looks at Tang Wulin¡¯s party as they had walked in.


    Tang Wulin swept his gaze over them and instantly discerned their strength.


    The strongest one had forty-six stars, and of the others, none had less than forty. They ticked all the right boxes for adequate opponents in the eyes of Tang Wulin¡¯s team.


    As students of Shrek Academy, facing opponents a ring-level higher than them was nothing. However, Tang Wulin was wary of the arena itself. Li Zhilong wouldn¡¯t have picked the observatory merely on a whim.


    Li Zhilong smiled at the sight of his students. ¡°Let me briefly introduce you all. They,¡± he said, pointing to Tang Wulin¡¯s crew, ¡°are talented students from Shrek Academy. And over here are our strongest undergraduate students. I¡¯ll let you all complete your own self-introductions.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded, then faced the opposing team. ¡°I¡¯m Tang Wulin, the captain of my team. I¡¯m an assault-control-type soul master.¡±


    A slender young man from the opposing team stepped forward, a confident smile on his lips. ¡°Hello. Welcome to Skyorder Star Ocean Academy. I¡¯m the captain of our team, Xiao Tiantian. Coincidentally, I¡¯m also an assault-control-type.¡±


    The two captains had a battle of stares, sparks shooting off where their gazes met. Although they both wore amicable smiles, they were appraising each other. Due to the difference in age, Xiao Tiantian was a bit taller than Tang Wulin, but stood his ground, a fierce edge to his eyes.


    Gu Yue stepped forward next. ¡°Gu Yue, assault-type.¡±


    The corresponding second of the other team went next. He was a short and skinny man with no remarkable traits. However, he had the second highest number of stars on his team, forty-four in total. ¡°Ye Zishu. Agility-type.¡±


    ¡°Xie Xie. Agility-type.¡±


    The opposing team¡¯s third member was tall and well-built. He looked to be the sturdiest on their team. ¡°Gu Tianming. Agility-type.¡±


    As soon as those words left their opponent¡¯s lips, Tang Wulin widened his eyes by just a fraction. He¡¯s an agility-type? Not an assault-type? Those muscles though¡­


    ¡°Ye Xinglan. Assault-type.¡±


    ¡°Zhang Xining. Control-type,¡± said the fourth opponent. He was a handsome young man with an average build and wore a charming smile as he spoke, voice suave


    ¡°Xu Xiaoyan. Control-type.¡± Her eyes were still wider than usual, mind somewhere far off in the distance.


    A girl with sparkling good looks stepped forward, giggling. She was the fifth opponent. ¡°I¡¯m Li Yaoyao, an assault-type.¡±


    ¡°Xu Lizhi. Food-type.¡±


    The final member of the Skyorder Star Ocean Academy team, a frail-looking girl with a jaw dropping figure, said, ¡°I¡¯m Han Yuchang. I¡¯m a control-type soul master.¡±


    Another control-type? The warning bells rang within Tang Wuliin¡¯s mind, their team composition spurring all sorts of doubts. Their captain, Xiao Tiantian, was an assault-control-type, and they had two more pure control-types. Half of them were control-types!


    Taking into consideration Skyorder Star Ocean Academy¡¯s reputation, Tang Wulin guessed that they were flying-types as well. Coupled with the fact that they had the home field advantage and were all over rank forty, he could already taste the incoming struggle of a match.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue and she met his gaze. The two nodded in understanding.


    ¡°Alright now. The teacher in charge of controlling the observatory is ready. We¡¯ll start the observatory¡¯s barrier in a moment. This is just a friendly match, so stop when you¡¯re ordered to,¡± Li Zhilong said, beaming.


    Although a proud Shrek Academy alumnus, he hoped with all his heart that the students he personally nurtured could defeat this team from Shrek Academy!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team might be younger than his students, but as a class president, he was more than enough to serve as a representative of that illustrious school. If the Skyorder Star Ocean Academy team won, that would be an accomplishment worthy of pride regardless of their age difference. They would be able to parade the fact that they had beaten a team from Shrek Academy!


    Both teams retreated to their side of the arena. According to agreed upon rules, they would start the battle one hundred meters apart.


    Determination blazed in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. Those closest to him knew that the more pressure he was under, the stronger he became. His opponents may be formidable, but he refused to believe they eclipsed the five rankers in his class!


    After overcoming a powerful soul fusion skill, Tang Wulin had complete confidence in their ability to win, even in a disadvantageous battlefield. This was the conviction of a Shrek Academy student. They weren¡¯t just representing themselves, but Shrek Academy as well!


    They took up their usual triangular formation. Tang Wulin at the head, Xie Xie and Ye Xinglan flanking him on either side, and Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi in the rear.


    Their opponents didn¡¯t assume any particular formation. They stood in a row as before, straight and neat.


    It was six versus six. While individual strength was important, teamwork was more crucial.


    ¡°Get ready!¡± Li Zhilong stepped into the arena as the referee.


    He chopped the air, hand extending. The lines of circuitry covering the walls flared to life. Energy surged through the circuits to the ceiling, out into the sky and converging to form a giant beam.


    Amazing! Tang Wulin¡¯s heart trembled before the observatory¡¯s energy fluctuations.


    Darkness began to devour the sunlight. Soon, the sky was pitch black. One by one twinkling stars flickered into existence among the darkness, until finally, an ocean of stars hung above them. Stellar energy descended from the stars, bathing everyone present in its warmth.


    Tang Wulin noticed a faint golden glow surrounding their opponents. He could tell that they had grown stronger. Not by much, but the stellar energy gave them an edge.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Tang Wulin whipped his head to the direction of that puzzled gasp. His eyes went wide at what he saw. Golden light flared from the source of the sound, manifesting as mist of the same color. He could just barely make out the person shrouded within it.


    ¡°Xiaoyan,¡± Tang Wulin said beneath his breath.

 Chapter 446 - The Battle Begins

    Chapter 446 - The Battle Begins


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. In fact, I feel great!¡± Xu Xiaoyan said with barely-contained excitement.


    Li Zhilong was astonished as well. With his familiarity of the observatory, he knew that stellar energy was only effective on flying-type soul masters. After all, the foundation of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy was this observatory!


    Battles fought within this space strengthened the soul power of flying-types and significantly improved their recovery speed.


    How can that girl from Shrek also be affected by stellar energy? What¡¯s her martial soul?


    Every person absorbed stellar energy at different speeds based on how compatible they were with the energy. The golden aura Tang Wulin saw around their opponents was the effect of the stellar energy. Only a few students in all of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy could harness stellar energy to the point that it was visible as a golden glow.


    The golden mist surrounding Xu Xiaoyan was so thick that it was nearly tangible. Li Zhilong couldn¡¯t comprehend how this could be possible.


    ¡°Start!¡± Li Zhilong shouted.


    The three frontliners of Shrek Academy¡¯s team immediately rushed forward. Tang Wulin quickly overtook the others, stomping the ground and shooting towards their opponents like a missile. As he did, three purple soul rings materialized around him and bluesilver grass swarmed out of the ground


    His bluesilver grass looked nothing like its namesake anymore. Each strand was now sparkling blue, golden veins running throughout the vine and tiny patches of scales barely discernible to the eye littered along its length.


    Ye Xinglan and Xie Xie were right behind Tang Wulin. Xie Xie¡¯s movements were akin to a wraith, his eerie yet graceful speed different from Tang Wulin¡¯s brutish charge. Ye Xinglan kept pace as well, moving so fast her limbs were blurs. Three rings appeared behind them both too, and together with Tang Wulin they advanced in a triangle formation.


    Their opponents all jumped into the air at once.


    Xiao Tiantian hunched over as a crimson aura burst from his body and his eyes took on the same hue. An enormous pair of bat wings unfurled from his back, while four purple soul rings rose up behind him. He flapped his wings, kicking up a gust of wind as he soared into the air.


    What martial soul is that? Tang Wulin wondered.


    Ye Zishu¡¯s brought his hands together in front of him and summoned a bamboo branch into his hands. The moment his second soul ring lit up, bamboo leaves erupted from the ground. They swirled in the air, trembling before flying over to form a pair of wings on his back. Pushing off with his pole, he leaped into the air and hovered gracefully as if he were as light as a feather. He didn¡¯t seem to be truly flying, but simply floating.


    A pair of wings unfurled from Gu Tianming as he threw his head back and let out a sharp eagle¡¯s cry, while his hair transformed into feathers He flapped his wings and ascended as well. His martial soul was the soaring eagle!


    A pair of wings formed behind Zhang Xining as well but compared to Gu Tianming¡¯s, they were much smaller and nimbler. The wings were pure white. A single flap later and he was positioned behind Gu Tianming, as if he was a startled chick.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw nearly dropped when Li Yaoyao summoned her martial soul. Her entire body burst into flames when she soared into the air. Her skin took on a charcoal shade and her arms transformed into giant rocks. The flames acted like jets, constantly propelling her into the air. Though they all took off at the same time, she was the fastest of them all.


    What kind of martial soul is that? As expected of an academy specializing in flying-types! I can¡¯t even imagine what soul she has!


    Han Yuchang had the most normal martial soul of them all. Butterfly wings sprouted from her back and she flew into the air.


    They really are all flying-types!


    Three ringed soul masters could close a gap of one hundred meters in mere seconds. At the fifty meter mark, Tang Wulin paused, rooting himself in this position. He grabbed the strand of bluesilver grass connecting him and Xu Lizhi and began to spin in place. Once he had enough momentum, he threw Xu Lizhi into the air! Then he did the same with Xie Xie and Ye Xinglan. He sent all three of them straight for their opponents!


    Since none of them could fly, they had no way to stop their opponents from taking to the sky. The only thing they could do was ground them before they rose too high.


    Xu Lizhi curled into himself, turning into a giant meat cannonball that shot straight toward Gu Tianming and Zhang Xining!


    Tang Wulin firmly believed that control-types were more troublesome than assault-types, so he wanted to eliminate the opposing control-types first.


    Xie Xie flew toward Han Yuchang and Ye Xinglan went straight for their captain, Xiao Tiantian.


    The fact that Tang Wulin could accurately throw his teammates  at their targets was testament to his strength and control.


    Even as they soared through the air, they were still anchored to Tang Wulin with strands of bluesilver grass wrapped around their waist.


    Gu Yue shot fireballs about a foot in diameter at Ye Zishu and Li Yaoyao and let the fireballs explode in their proximity, suppressing them and ensuring they stay in place.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s plan was simple. They would disrupt their opponents in the opening act of battle, then Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan would provide long-ranged fire support while he positioned himself to take advantage of any openings.


    He didn¡¯t expect to instantly wipe out their opponents, but he wanted to take care of at least one of them. If his team could do that, then they could take their time taking down the rest. Although flying-types had a clear advantage against grounded opponents, that came at the cost of high soul power consumption. He wasn¡¯t afraid their opponents would fly beyond their reach.


    Being the first team member that Tang Wulin threw, Xu Lizhi was also the first to engage his targets. His immense mass, combined with Tang Wulin¡¯s arm strength, made him a high-speed projectile.


    Just as Gu Tianming reached a suitable altitude, he found a giant ball of meat flying toward him. Zhang Xining, who hid behind him, used his first soul skill and let out a melodious cry. His martial soul was the skylark.


    Although he could fly, he relied on his voice to control his enemies. His first soul skill slowed and weakened his target.


    However, this had no effect on Xu Lizhi. He wasn¡¯t flying thing the air with his own power! He had been thrown by Tang Wulin!


    Gu Tianming eyes widened. Isn¡¯t this fatty a food-type? Is he being used as cannon fodder? He snapped out of his daze. Lighting up his first soul ring, he beat his wings towards Xu Lizhi and unleashed ten feather arrows.


    Long-ranged attacks were crucial for aerial battles since it was easy for either party to open up distance.


    The feathers pierced through the air in succession.


    Unfortunately for Gu Tianming, Xu Lizhi was a disciple of the Tang Sect, a sect that specialized in hidden weapons!


    Xu Lizhi straightened from his ball form and thrust out his hands. Despite facing danger, he still wore his usual silly smile. His palms shone like jade as he moved them in circles, sucking in the arrows as if they were invisible whirlpools.

 Chapter 447 - Disparity

    Chapter 447 - Disparity


    Xu Lizhi had used Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon to stop and gather the arrow feathers in his hands, redirecting them to Zhang Xining with Fairy Scatters Flowers! They whizzed through the air faster than before. At the same moment, Xu Lizhi reached Gu Tianming.


    Faced with the hulking young man before him, Gu Tianming found it hard to split his attention efficiently between protecting Zhang Xining and dealing with Xu Lizhi. His second soul ring lit up and his wings doubled in size. As he spread his wings as wide as possible, an attempt to intercept all of the incoming feathers, he used his second soul skill, Eagle Wing Strike!


    Yet to his disbelief, the fatty grinned.


    Xu Lizhi thrust out his hands and stopped in mid-air just short of crashing into Gu Tianming. Something shot out of the flat of his palms, a cold glint to his eyes. It swerved past Gu Tianming and flew straight for Zhang Xining!


    This was Xu Lizhi¡¯s real attack! The feathers he returned had merely been a distraction!


    The second before Eagle Wing Strike connected, Xu Lizhi waved his hands at Gu Tianming, his grin growing wider.


    Not good!


    But it was too late for Gu Tianming to save Zhang Xining. Despite blocking most of the incoming feathers, a couple had passed through his defenses.


    Zhang Xining was a control-type, but his control ability stemmed from his voice! While his control power was higher than most of his teammates¡¯, he was weak in direct confrontation.


    All Zhang Xining could do was bat his wings forcefully in a bid to dodge the feathers, and even then he had barely managed to evade a fatal wound. The feathers streaked across, swift and sharp, leaving long crimson lines of blood in their wake.


    Right as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, he caught sight of a flash in his peripheral vision and turned toward it. His stomach dropped. A torrent of needles pursued him in a deadly chase, hundreds in number, imbued with thick soul power! He had no avenue of escape!


    Wha¡ª


    A sigh reached his ears, then a series of tinkling sounds filled the air. His body fell limp to the ground.


    ¡°Zhang Xining is eliminated,¡± Li Zhilong declared. He had been forced to intervene and save his student.


    Their first exchange against a team without any flying-types, and already one of their important control-types was eliminated!


    Shrek Academy truly was the academy of monsters.


    Zhang Xining flushed red with fury. He couldn¡¯t accept such a quick elimination. But the match was treated as if it were an actual battle to the death. His incredulity meant nothing.


    Xu Lizhi tumbled toward Tang Wulin. Seconds prior to impact, Tang Wulin held out his hands and used Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, gently depositing his teammate at his side.


    Xu Lizhi tossed Tang Wulin a pork bun in gratitude, and Tang Wulin immediately devoured it.


    Meanwhile, Xie Xie was nearly upon Han Yuchang. Control-types restrained agility-types, but that was only when they had the space to do so. Xie Xie was already within engagement distance.


    Despite being forced to enter close quarters combat, Han Yuchang kept her cool. Her second soul ring lit up, though no visible change occured. She pulled on the air in front of her and batted her wings.


    Xie Xie felt the world warp with him situated at the center, colors stripped from everything around him, leaving behind shades of morose black and blinding white. The shapes before his eyes bent and stretched, finally collapsing into themselves like dying stars. He could vaguely make out Han Yuchang in front of him, so he pressed on. He raised his Light Dragon Dagger and slashed at what he believed to be her. It caught nothing but air. Pain seared his shoulder, angry and sharp, and with no foothold, he was falling to the ground.


    From the perspectives of the others, Xie Xie had moved to the side on his own accord and slashed at air. Afterward, Han Yuchang had flown over and heel kicked his shoulder, launching herself to a higher altitude simultaneously.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. She¡¯s a spiritual control-type too!


    Xie Xie would never have missed by such a large margin. The only possible explanation was that Han Yuchang had hindered his senses.


    As Xie Xie continued to free fall, the thick scent of combustion spread nearby. Rather than from Gu Yue, the flames belonged to Li Yaoyao!


    It was difficult to discern which of her soul rings had lit up. Still, it was clear she was using a soul skill. She curled up in the air and her body transformed into a boulder. Flames spurted out of her rock form and propelled her at Xie Xie! Her speed was simply overbearing!


    What kind of martial soul is that? A meteor? Tang Wulin wondered.


    Even as an agility-type, there was no way Xie Xie could dodge an attack while he was falling through the air. Furthermore, agility-types had weak defenses. It was clear that Li Yaoyao and Han Yuchang had used this tactic many times before.


    Gu Yue released a fireball to intercept Li Yaoyao. Yet she simply charged through it, ignoring the flames.


    Left to his quick thinking, Tang Wulin tugged on the bluesilver grass tied to Xie Xie, jerking him out of Li Yaoyao¡¯s path. However, that didn¡¯t stop her. Free falling, she changed her target to Tang Wulin instead! As the captain and an assault-control-type, it was obvious he was the heart of the Shrek Academy team! Therefore, if she took him down, the tides of the battle would turn!


    Even so, Tang Wulin barely batted an eyelash at Li Yaoyao. Rather, he whipped the bluesilver grass tethered to Xie Xie, tossing his teammate back at Han Yuchang.


    Meanwhile, Ye Xinglan and Xiao Tiantian had engaged in combat as well. Ye Xinglan became one with her sword as she brandished it, using Sword God¡¯s Star.


    Xiao Tiantian¡¯s starlight aura flared. His wings stretched as wide as possible, and he thrust his palms at Ye Xinglan. A giant crimson ball of light formed before him, obstructing Ye Xinglan¡¯s approach.


    Sword God¡¯s Star burst out, countless golden stars blossoming around her. All of the stars in the sky seemed to grow brighter at that moment.


    She slashed apart the crimson ball and drove her sword at Xiao Tiantian.


    He was shocked. Never had he expected Ye Xinglan to be able to draw power from starlight as well, and that she could harness more stellar energy than him!


    His third soul ring lit up, and a pair of horns sprouted from his forehead. Crimson electricity crackled along his body, forming a protective sphere around him.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword screeched as she slashed at the electric barrier. Unfortunately, it bounced off without a scratch, and with nothing to keep balance, she began to tumble through the air. All of a sudden, her third soul ring came to life. Light flared around her. Her body began to float, defying gravity. Then she soared!


    What? Li Zhilong stared in shock. Like Xiao Tiantian, he could tell that Ye Xinglan¡¯s martial soul was related to stars, otherwise she wouldn¡¯t have been able to harness the stellar energy. Apprehension creeped into his heart.


    On a different side of the battlefield, Li Yaoyao descended upon Tang Wulin a mere second after he had whipped Xie Xie back at Han Yuchang. The howling winds accompanying her fiery dive blew his hair out of place, the scorching heat drying his skin. Awe was kindled in his heart for her explosive power.


    Tang Wulin stood his ground before this meteor. Golden scales rippled into existence along his right arm and his hand transformed into a dragon claw. He clenched his claw into fist as he urged the blood essence within him to flow in reverse. A golden aura encased him. Unlike with the others, this aura wasn¡¯t from harnessing stellar energy, but stemmed from his blood essence¡¯s might! He threw a punch straight at the meteor.


    A shockwave tore through the stage when fist and meteor met, kicking up a cloud of dust. Time seemed to freeze. Everyone spared a moment from their battles, eager to witness the result of the clash, ensnared by the incredible development.

 Chapter 448 - Starlight Burst

    Chapter 448 - Starlight Burst


    Li Yaoyao¡¯s martial soul was in fact a meteor, and her attack was the embodiment of power. By relying on the jets of flame shooting from her back, she could mimic flight, propelling herself to high altitudes and crashing into her target upon freefall. Her assemblage of soul skills revolved around empowering this method of attack.


    With her four rings, a full power assault carried the force of over three tons! Even if she somehow missed, there was nothing to stop her from trying again. Coupled with the defensive strength of a meteor, this proved to be a terrifying combo. With her ability to change targets mid flight, she was their team¡¯s trump card, her presence enough to suppress the entire battlefield.


    However, adjusting her flight path toward Tang Wulin would have been unnecessary. He had not attempted to dodge.


    In their explosive collision, both stood their ground, neither gaining an inch on the other.


    How is this possible? Li Zhilong dashed over to the side, prepared to intervene at a moment¡¯s notice. No matter which side lost, he had to be ready to save them. His eyes went wide at the conclusion of the clash.


    Cracks lined the area of impact. They rapidly spread to every corner of the meteor, and a blink later, the meteor shattered into a thousand smithereens.


    Li Yaoyao groaned as she crawled out of the debris. Before she could escape, a strand of bluesilver grass shot out in her direction, wrapping around her body.


    Her complexion pale, she trembled uncontrollably from pain. However, the trembles of her heart were far stronger than those of her body.


    How did he do that? He stopped my full-power attack with a single punch!


    Tang Wulin shook his right arm in an attempt to alleviate its numbness. That was a pretty strong attack!


    Indeed, for Tang Wulin, her attack was only ¡®pretty strong¡¯.


    Of the Skyorder Star Ocean Academy team, Li Yaoyao was the second person to be eliminated!


    Tang Wulin raised his head and looked toward Ye Xinglan¡¯s battle. She descended with her third soul skill, Starfall Sword. In this observatory filled with stars, she streaked across the air like a comet. The strongest attack Tang Wulin had ever witnessed her unleashing.


    Stellar energy really is useful, especially for us.


    Xiao Tiantian put on a grim expression as his fourth soul ring lit up. Darkness obscured his face, leaving only a pair of crimson eyes piercing through the shadows. Inky black flames blazed around him. He drew circles in the air with his hands, gathering darkness into something reminiscent of a whirlpool.


    Ye Xinglan charged forth into the dark rotating mass with Starfall Sword. Her whole form was swallowed by the darkness. For a moment, it trembled. Then, it collapsed. When the light and darkness settled down, both Ye Xinglan and Xiao Tiantian were nowhere in sight.


    Tang Wulin gaped. What happened? Did they teleport? Wait, no! There weren¡¯t any spatial fluctuations!


    As he stood there in shock, Xiao Tiantian reappeared in mid-air following a flash of crimson. But Ye Xinglan was still missing.


    What kind of soul skill is that?


    Farther off in the battlefield, Xiao Tiantian spread his wings as he steadied himself. He dove through the air heading straight for Gu Yue. During his descent, he unleashed a crimson sphere at Tang Wulin. Once near its target, the sphere burst into a black hole, sucking Tang Wulin toward its center.


    At the same time, numerous bamboo leaves ripped through the air, obscuring their summoner¡¯s, Ye Zishu¡¯s, figure. Seven of the leaves absorbed the surrounding stellar energy and took on a golden hue.


    Ye Zishu¡¯s martial soul was the Seven Star Bamboo. Each soul ring gained would advance his martial soul another step. His ability to fly stemmed from one of those evolutions. These seven golden bamboo leaves were his strongest method of attack and utilized his fourth soul skill.


    In the opening acts of battle, his team was already two people short. Although the students from Shrek Academy had lower cultivation levels than his team, their combat strength far surpassed the norm. If his team couldn¡¯t turn the tide of battle now, then they would have no chance of victory. Therefore, he unleashed his full power along with Xiao Tiantian. His main target, the opposing team¡¯s captain, Tang Wulin.


    Meanwhile, Gu Tianming spread his wings and threw himself at Xie Xie, positioning himself in front of Han Yuchang.


    Han Yuchang¡¯s fourth soul ring shone. The thin, colorful membranes sprouting from her back doubled in size. She turned to face Tang Wulin, flapping them in her fourth soul skill, Butterfly Wings.


    The world seemed to spin as a spiritual wave crashed into Tang Wulin.


    He could tell in an instant that Han Yuchang¡¯s spiritual power resided in the Spirit Sea realm, just like Gu Yue!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s own spiritual power was only in the border of the Spirit Sea realm, still a step short from lying within. The Spirit Sea realm was one of the great dividers for spiritual power. He was diligent in cultivating his Purple Demon Eyes, hoping to break through as soon as possible. By his estimations, he would reach the Spirit Sea realm by the time he broke the fourth seal at the latest.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s head pounded from the spiritual wave¡¯s after effects. He simultaneously had to deal with Xiao Tiantian¡¯s attack. Pressure on his shoulders, he summoned his golden soul ring, activating Golden Dragon Body. His golden aura flared, the scales on his arm spreading to cover the rest of his torso. Veins of the same color came to life all over his body, his blood essence surging. He squatted and curled into a ball.


    On a different side of the arena, Xie Xie flashed forward mid-flight as he slashed with his Light Dragon Dagger, sending out a beam of light at Gu Tianming. His figure flickered as he accelerated, leaving a trail of afterimages.


    In Gu Tianming¡¯s eyes, Xie Xie seemed to have multiplied. He couldn¡¯t make sense of what he was seeing and flapped his wings, sending barrage after barrage of feathers at Xie Xie. Yet, each time they were about to hit their target, Xie Xie evaded them.


    He reached Gu Tianming in a flash.


    However, Xie Xie¡¯s Light Dragon Dagger was blocked. Still, as Gu Tianming attempted to counter, a golden light flashed beneath his feet. His leg went rigid, the sensation slowly spreading up his body. Seizing the opportunity, Xie Xie changed grips on his Light Dragon Dagger and slashed at Gu Tianming¡¯s wings, relying on the momentum to somersault over him.


    Body frozen by the golden light, Gu Tianming was defenseless before Xie Xie¡¯s swift and continuous assault. Xie Xie danced around in the air, too fast for his opponent to react. Mobility stripped away and unable to keep up with Xie Xie, a sense of dread began to close in on Gu Tianming.


    When one of his wings finally went stiff, Xie Xie took advantage of the opening and somersaulted above him once more. He launched into Light Dragon Storm and beat the older youth to the ground.


    But he had backup. After Han Yuchang sent a spiritual attack in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction, she hurried toward Gu Tianming to help restrain Xie Xie. Yet her instincts screamed danger. Indeed, she fell from the air before she could react.


    Something had flown right past her. Something invisible. Her eyes went wide with alarm.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± someone said from behind her. An arm wrapped around her waist, a cold blade held to her neck. ¡°Your spiritual attacks are really strong. I¡¯m not sure I would be able to resist them. But what I am certain of is that if you attack, my dagger will slice your face or your neck. So descend slowly.¡±


    Never had Han Yuchang been treated so roughly. She flushed with fury. Despite that, there was nothing she could do. She couldn¡¯t risk trying to break free. Her only option was to suppress her anger and land at a snail¡¯s pace.


    Along with subduing Han Yuchang, Xie Xie had wrapped things up with Gu Tianming as well. Two people down by his own hands.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin was still curled up weathering Ye Zishu¡¯s attacks. Bamboo leaves filled the sky as they swarmed Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Xu Lizhi, and Xu Xiaoyan, whose starlight aura shone brilliantly. The seven golden leaves were hidden among the swarm, each with their own target.


    Gu Yue remained calm before the incoming assault. Gales whipped around her, creating a wind wall that stopped the leaves from approaching. In a flash of silver, she teleported out of Xiao Tiantian¡¯s path to Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s side. As for Xu Lizhi, he remained near Tang Wulin. He didn¡¯t need to babysit the two girls.


    Just as Gu Yue was about to unleash an elemental barrage to protect Xu Xiaoyan and herself, she felt an intense energy fluctuation beside her. She turned to Xu Xiaoyan in astonishment.


    In a soft voice, Xu Xiaoyan said, ¡°Starlight Burst.¡±

 Chapter 449 - Star Evolution

    Chapter 449 - Star Evolution


    Xu Xiaoyan raised her radiant Starwheel Ice Staff high into the air. Starlight burst out of it like fireworks, bathing the entire arena in its brilliance.


    Under the starlight, the bamboo leaves dispersed into nothing, leaving the seven golden leaves to hover in the air. Xiao Tiantian, Ye Zishu, Han Yuchang, and Gu Tianming, who was tied up by Goldsong, glowed with a golden light, before collapsing to the ground completely drained of energy.


    Suddenly, the world dyed gold.


    Xu Xiaoyan slowly stood up straight, starlight shimmering brightly around her as if she was a descended goddess. Her forehead began to shine, then a mark similar to her starwheel appeared branded between her brows.


    As soon as the mark appeared, the starlight settled into a gentle glow. They had found their master. All the circuits in the observatory flared, and the stars in the sky shined brighter. As starlight eagerly rushed to bestow their stellar energy on her, Xu Xiaoyan started to float into the air.


    Tang Wulin straightened from his curled form and gaped at the scene before him. He was both amazed and sincerely happy for Xu Xiaoyan. Even in his wonder, he didn¡¯t forget to finish restraining Xiao Tiantian, throwing a strand of bluesilver grass to catch the falling Ye Zishu as well.


    Xie Xie separated from the falling Han Yuchang before they crashed into the ground and rolled upon landing to minimize any damage. He stood up and stared at Xu Xiaoyan, awed by the magical sight of her.


    Everyone could tell from her aura that she was transforming on a fundamental level. This was a martial soul evolution! Only a soul evolution could produce such powerful energy fluctuations and display..


    Li Zhilong stared in shock, utterly dumbfounded. He never imagined such a thing would happen.


    In reality, even if Xu Xiaoyan hadn¡¯t made a move, victory would have been theirs. Neither Xiao Tiantian¡¯s attacks or Han Yuchang¡¯s spiritual attacks posed a threat to Tang Wulin. Furthermore, after taking on Yuanen Yehui¡¯s attack directly, Tang Wulin¡¯s ability to take a beating was undoubtedly the best.


    The Skyorder Star Ocean Academy team may be filled with excellent and powerful students with four soul rings, but they were nothing compared with Yuanen Yehui. The gap between them wasn¡¯t something as small as a single level. If she were present, she would decimate the entire Skyorder team by herself.


    The only reason why Tang Wulin was so cautious was because of the observatory. He never imagined that it would actually help them instead, even evolving Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s martial soul.


    Ye Xinglan reappeared in the air in a flash of light. A golden glow emanating from her  as she basked in the starlight, her Stargod Sword shining brilliantly. She was absorbing the stellar energy as well. Compared to Xu Xiaoyan, however, she was absorbing far less.


    She gently descended to the ground and immediately sat down cross-legged to  begin meditating. Opportunity only knocks once, and as a student of Shrek Academy, she knew not to let opportunities slip out of her hands.


    The golden aura of the Skyorder Star Ocean Academy students gradually dissipated and their abilities returned to normal. They all stared in shock at the scene before them. They all knew that there was no need to continue fighting. The victors had long since been determined.


    Tang Wulin walked over to Li Zhilong with swift steps, and said in a hushed voice, ¡°Senior, what do you think?¡±


    Li Zhilong snapped out of his daze. ¡°Does her martial soul have some connection with stars?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded.


    Li Zhilong took in a deep breath to calm himself. ¡°I have never seen anyone with such a strong affinity with stellar energy before. It¡¯s really just¡­¡± He wanted to say that it would be fantastic if she joined his academy, but held his tongue. After all his years at Skyorder Star Ocean Academy, he had gained a profound understanding of the observatory. Xu Xiaoyan clearly would grow stronger by leaps and bounds thanks to this baptism of starlight. She couldn¡¯t be anything but a genius! If she were one of his students, then Skyorder Star Ocean Academy could progress to the next level!


    Unfortunately for him, she was from Shrek Academy.


    ¡°Senior, can I request that you don¡¯t turn off the observatory? Xiaoyan, she¡¯s...¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s words trailed off as he glanced back at Xu Xiaoyan.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Li Zhilong interrupted. ¡°She might not be a student of my academy, but what she¡¯s experiencing right now is also valuable research data for us. We¡¯ll record what¡¯s happening for further research on how stellar energy can be used. Don¡¯t worry, Stellar energy is infinite. There¡¯s no harm in letting her absorb as much as she wants.¡±


    He turned to his six students. ¡°You guys better pay attention and focus on sensing what¡¯s happening with the stellar energy. Do your best to understand its secrets.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Xiao Tiantian answered in place of his teammates. After their defeat, they weren¡¯t in the best condition.


    As the geniuses of the next generation at Skyorder Star Ocean Academy, they were a proud bunch. They would definitely have six rings by the time they turned twenty, and three of them were expert control-types. They dominated all of the tournaments and competitions in the vicinity of Skyorder City. Xiao Tiantian in particular stood out the most with his mighty Demon King martial soul.


    Yet today, they had lost to kids from Shrek Academy who didn¡¯t have a single flying-type soul master and had weaker cultivation bases compared to them. It was a crushing defeat and had hit their pride deeply.


    Xu Xiaoyan continued absorbing stellar energy for a little over an hour before she slowly descended to the ground. Her entire body was covered in specks of light. Tang Wulin counted them. There were 365 in total.


    Xu Xiaoyan sat down cross-legged, circulating her soul power according to the Mysterious Heaven Method. The 365 twinkling specks of light faintly pulsed with life as her staff hovered upright in the air. It transformed from blue to gold, the starwheel on the tip of her staff morphing into a symbol similar to the stars. Simply looking at it felt like peering into the vast expanse of the starry heavens.


    Her martial soul had evolved, strengthening her starwheel, and while her soul power hadn¡¯t increased, it was much more purer than before. Her body had also been refined by the starlight and improved.


    Xu Xiaoyan had always been the weakest member of her team, only able to contribute in a significant way at night with her Starwheel Shackles. Now, however, she was entirely different


    The stars in the observatory gradually dimmed and returned to normal as Xu Xiaoyan finished absorbing the rest of the starlight lingering around her. Her pretty face now had an enchanting luster to it, almost to the point of sparkling.


    Taking a deep breath in, she slowly opened her eyes. When everyone¡¯s curious stares greeted her, she immediately blushed crimson.

 Chapter 450 - The Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy

    Chapter 450 - The Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xu Xiaoyan knitted her brows. ¡°Wonderful. I can¡¯t quite explain it, though.¡±


    After taking in her expression, Tang Wulin understood the meaning behind her words. This wasn¡¯t the place to talk.


    ¡°Senior, sorry for troubling you today. Xiaoyan is fine now, so we¡¯ll take our leave,¡± Tang Wulin said to Li Zhilong.


    ¡°Junior sister,¡± Li Zhilong said, turning to Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Your transformation is very interesting. We recorded it for research purposes. Would you mind giving me your contact information so we can discuss any findings we have in the future?¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± After gaining so much from the encounter, Xu Xiaoyan had no reason to refuse. Still, he wouldn¡¯t be able to contact her until she returned to Shrek Academy, seeing that she had left behind her communicator.


    They tiptoed through the gates of Skyorder Star Ocean Academy and jumped into their beat-up car. Xie Xie turned on the ignition, driving to the next city without relying on a map.


    ¡°Our match with the local academy went pretty well,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°We learned a lot too. Let¡¯s do the same in the next city, but more tactful this time.¡±


    Gu Yue glanced at him. ¡°Will we be as lucky in the next city? It definitely helped to meet a Shrek alumni back there.¡±


    Tang Wulin smirked and thrust a hand into a pocket, retrieving a piece of paper. ¡°Shrek Academy is the greatest academy on the continent, so who wouldn¡¯t want to hire our alumni? Before we left, I asked Senior Li to give me a list of alumni at different academies and their contact information. With this list, we can just call ahead to arrange a formal match.¡±


    ¡°That works¡­¡± Gu Yue stared at him, gaping.


    ¡°Was this your plan from the beginning, Captain?¡± Xu Xiaoyan practically sparkled. ¡°I like! We should have just done this from the start.¡±


    Tang Wulin beamed. Her enthusiasm was contagious. ¡°Xiaoyan, your martial soul evolved, right? How are you feeling?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan aimed her gaze elsewhere, a pensive look to her eyes. ¡°Yeah. It did. I still can¡¯t believe the amount of stellar energy they had there! At first, I couldn¡¯t understand what was happening, but after a moment I realized that the stellar energy was fusing with my martial soul and causing it to rapidly grow. I guess you could call it an awakening.


    ¡°If my guess is correct, then before this match my martial soul had yet to finish maturing. Or maybe you could say it was flawed. That¡¯s why it had different abilities between day and night. Although I made up for that flaw as I cultivated, the reality was that it was still there, lurking. It would have affected me in the future. By absorbing the stellar energy, I washed away the impurities of my martial soul.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why didn¡¯t your soul power increase more?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled wryly. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as a free meal. The flaw in my martial soul was erased, but so was something else. My Starwheel Ice Staff is just a Star Staff now. The stellar energy cleaned my martial soul of its ice-attribute, leaving only the star-attribute.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at her, eyes wide. ¡°Really? So your ice-attribute soul skills are gone?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan nodded.


    ¡°And after your staff changed, your soul skills changed too?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled. ¡°Of course. My gains wouldn¡¯t make up for the loss otherwise. All of my soul skills evolved along with my martial soul. They¡¯re nothing like before. I¡¯ll show you guys in the next match. I¡¯m like Captain now. An assault-control-type.¡±


    Tang Wulin flashed her a thumbs up. After her transformation, her confidence was near tangible.


    He turned to face his other teammate with a star-attribute martial soul. ¡°Xinglan, what about you? You absorbed a lot of stellar energy back there too. How do you feel?¡±


    Ye Xinglan smirked. ¡°My martial soul was already stable to begin with. The stellar energy only helped me increase my soul power. I¡¯m at rank 40 now.¡±


    Rank 40!


    Xie Xie and Xu Lizhi flipped around in their seats, looking at her in shock.


    Xu Lizhi beamed at her. ¡°Big Sis Xinglan, congratulations! You¡¯re finally at rank 40.¡±


    Ye Xinglan returned his smile and nodded.


    Once she fused with one more spirit soul to gain her fourth soul ring, she would become a Soul Ancestor. She was the first of their team to reach rank 40. With her skills and her powerful Stargod Sword, she would be on par with Yuanen Yehui.


    Following the initial surprise, Tang Wulin diverted his attention to Xie Xie. ¡°Don¡¯t enter the highway just yet. We need to buy a soul communicator first.¡±


    Understanding Tang Wulin¡¯s intentions at once, Xie Xie quickly did as he was told.


    Soul communicator in hand, Tang Wulin began calling some numbers. ¡°Hello, are you Senior Zhang, an alumni from Shrek Academy? We¡¯re current students from Shrek Academy¡­¡±


    Just as Tang Wulin had expected, in the cities on their list, the Shrek Academy alumni working at local academies were more than happy to help their juniors. They all instantly agreed to arrange a match for Tang Wulin¡¯s group. Additionally, it would benefit their own students.


    The next couple of days went by without a hitch. They had two matches each day, and pretty soon they soon finished their ninth. All that was left was a match in Bright City.


    ¡°Does the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy really not have any Shrek alumni? Aren¡¯t they ranked as one of the best academies on the continent? How can that be?¡± asked Xu Xiaoyan, scanning through the list of Shrek Academy alumni once more.


    Tang Wulin cracked a faint smile. ¡°I heard from one of our seniors that the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy had once been destroyed, and that it had something to do with Shrek. Since then, they¡¯ve been hostile with and refuse to recruit anyone from our academy. Of course, none of our seniors would want to work there anyway. Even though they can¡¯t compare with us, the grudge the Sun Moon Academy holds against us is as deep as ever.¡±


    ¡°Then why are we picking that place?¡± blurted Xie Xie. ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, their students are the elite of the elites. A lot of the higher-ups in the Federation graduated from there. Shouldn¡¯t we pick a different place?¡±


    A confident smile flashed across Tang Wulin¡¯s face, eyes bright with determination. ¡°Did you forget what the point of this exercise is? Shrek took away our belongings and kicked us out so that we could learn as much as possible. We can¡¯t just slack off on this exam. We need to gain something from this journey. Or,¡± Tang Wulin stared Xie Xie straight in the eye. ¡°Are you telling me you¡¯re scared?¡±


    A pause. Then, as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, Xie Xie¡¯s eyes popped. Grinning, he flashed Tang Wulin a thumbs up.


    Xu Xiaoyan fidgeted in her seat, energy and excitement twisted so tightly like a cord about to snap. ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s go! I haven¡¯t had a chance to do anything in the last few matches.¡±


    Ye Xinglan shrugged. ¡°Yeah. I need to show off too.¡±


    Meanwhile, Gu Yue caught Tang Wulin¡¯s attention, holding his gaze. ¡°It¡¯s the final match.¡±


    He broke into a grin. There was no better opponent to finish their exam with than an old rival. They couldn¡¯t afford to lose.


    ¡°If you win, you¡¯ll get bonus points.¡± The imposing, cold voice resounded in the car, giving everyone a fright.


    ¡°Teacher Wu?¡± Tang Wulin cried out in surprise as he looked out the window.


    Wu Zhangkong ran alongside their speeding car, easily keeping pace while maintaining measured breaths.


    The corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth twitched. ¡°Teacher Wu, you heard us?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shot him a sideways glance, nodding. ¡°You¡¯ll all have the honor of representing Shrek Academy and you¡¯re not allowed to lose against them. I¡¯ll accompany you as your team¡¯s teacher.¡±


    With a teacher accompanying them, their challenge would be recognized as an official match.


    ¡°How many bonus points?¡± Tang Wulin asked hesitantly.


    ¡°If you win, all of you will get full marks plus ten bonus points each. Each and every one of you will have over fifty points to spare for your classmates.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± Tang Wulin said.


    They could easily accomplish their goal with so many extra points. Tang Wulin had done the mental math. Three hundred points to spare was a great incentive. Just imagining how many people they could save from failing the exam and being expelled fired him up even further.


    However, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s next words served as a pail of ice water over their heads. ¡°But if you lose, you all fail.¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s so harsh!¡± Tang Wulin dropped his jaw, dumbstruck.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand just how deep the grudges between our two academies run. If you lose, I¡¯ll shoulder the responsibility and resign from Shrek Academy as well,¡± Wu Zhangkong declared solemnly.

 Chapter 451 - The Fierce Teacher Wu

    Chapter 451 - The Fierce Teacher Wu


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s sober words brought Tang Wulin¡¯s heart into a tremble. Teacher Wu¡¯s not just being hard on us. He¡¯s being hard on himself too! He¡¯s so fierce!


    That he had chosen the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy as their last target was starting to foster in him all sorts of regret. The responsibility of winning against them in a match weighed so heavily on his shoulders!


    He peered through the window, past their teacher¡¯s elegant and white-clad figure. Farther off into the distance where the city stood in all its gleam and glamour. Bright City was the most advanced city on the continent. It was situated in the west, the beating heart of the region. A technological marvel filled with sights that couldn¡¯t be found anywhere else.


    ¡°I-is that a flying car? A high-altitude flying car?¡± Xu Xiaoyan cried out as she pointed at the sky.


    Xie Xie nodded. ¡°Yeah. Most likely. HAF cars still in the experimental phase though. Bright City is the Federation¡¯s technological hub of the Federation after all! It looks like the project is going well!¡±


    The traffic ahead slowed. They could see a dozen or so mechas forming a line at the highway exit.


    A hint of anxiety filled Xie Xie¡¯s eyes. ¡°That¡¯s not an identification checkpoint, right?¡±


    Their hearts nearly skipped a beat at his words. Naturally, every citizen had been issued a metal identification card at birth, but theirs were confiscated for their exam!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face lit up. It all made sense. ¡°The Academy made Bright City the final destination, so they had to have known this! This is just a part of the exam! No wonder they took our IDs too.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do?¡± Xu Lizhi asked.


    If they failed to produce their IDs at the checkpoint, they were sure to be interrogated at the very least. Tang Wulin and company were going at this blind, their first time experiencing such an inconvenient situation.


    The moment Tang Wulin scanned the highway, he grinned. ¡°Xie Xie, pull over.¡±


    A shrill squeak of tires, and Xie Xie skillfully maneuvered the car toward the side of the highway.


    ¡°Are we abandoning the car?¡± Xie Xie asked. ¡°Do you think Teacher Wu would help us with our IDs? Wasn¡¯t he right beside us just a while ago?¡± But once Xie Xie looked out the window, the sheer naivet¨¦ of his words struck him.


    Wu Zhangkong was nowhere to be found.


    ¡°Oh forget about it. Pretend I didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    Shrugging, Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue. He made sure to hold the rest of his team¡¯s attention before saying, ¡°Alright, so the plan is¡­¡±


    ?


    The cars trudged forward in a neat line leading to the highway exit, which was manned by inspectors checking everyone¡¯s IDs.


    In a flash of silver, Gu Yue disappeared from their car. She reappeared a second later, tens of meters in the air directly above them. She threw out her hands. A gigantic fireball shot from her widened palms in a reverberating roar. And she once again vanished in a silver flash.


    It seemed outrageous that such an enormous thing, which dwarfed even some fully grown men in height, had come from the hands of a petite girl. The fireball was as radiant as the sun. It grew even larger as it soared high into the air, leaving a trail of flames.


    Such a loud sound caught everyone¡¯s attention and the people present turned to find the source. Although several of the stationed mechas powered their thrusters in search of Gu Yue, the majority of them were focused on the fireball.


    Xie Xie stealthily pulled over to the side just as the fireball exploded. Sparks scattered through the air like fireworks. Gu Yue had opted to sacrifice attack power for maximal visual impact.


    They opened the doors and quietly slipped out of the car. Instead of breaking into a sprint, they blended in with crowd, looking up at the rain of sparks in curiosity.


    Tang Wulin swept his gaze through their surroundings before whispering, ¡°Run.¡±


    The six of them jumped over the railing and broke into a mad dash away from the highway. They swiftly took cover behind some nearby buildings.


    The alarm finally sounded. Tang Wulin pulled Xu Lizhi along. Ye Xinglan helped Xu Xiaoyan keep up with their pace. With the aid of both Agility Soup Buns and the wind element, they sped through the city like cheetahs on the hunt.


    After running for several kilometers, they boarded a bus heading deeper into Bright City.  As a group of young kids, no one took much notice of them.


    Right after Tang Wulin paid the bus fare for his group, he spotted a familiar face in the back of the bus. Wu Zhangkong. He was nestled in a corner of the bus, exuding a frosty aura as he peered through the window deep in thought.


    Tang Wulin approached him and took a seat beside him.


    ¡°Can we visit the Sun Moon Academy right now, Teacher Wu? Can you lead us there so we can save some time from getting lost?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong glanced at him. ¡°Your reactions were pretty good.¡±


    Tang Wulin cracked a mischievous grin. But his smile froze a beat later.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you usually more frugal?¡±asked Wu Zhangkong, voice as impassive as always. ¡°Doesn¡¯t it hurt to lose two cars already?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s expression soured. Of course it hurts! But I had no other choice! It¡¯s all the Academy¡¯s fault for framing the exam like this!


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze returned to the window, the man uninterested in continuing small talk. Then he closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the headrest.


    The Academy is just too ruthless! Tang Wulin grumbled in his heart.


    However, now that he had been reunited with Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin felt at ease. All they had to do was follow their teacher and they would not get lost. Furthermore, they didn¡¯t have to worry about points anymore. Wu Zhangkong had told them that if they defeat the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy, Shrek Academy would award them with full marks as well as bonus points for their other classmates.


    Tang Wulin shuffled closer to the window opposite of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s. His eyes gleamed as he took in the sights passing before him. Bright City¡¯s architecture was a stark difference from Shrek City¡¯s. While Shrek City projected an air of classical culture mixed with the subtle taste of modernity, Bright City was a technological steel forest. Skyscrapers filled the cityscape, each with their own unique flair.


    The city was enormous. The streets were congested and it took a full hour before they reached their transfer, which gave them ample time to sight-see.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes snapped open when the bus stopped. He rose from his seat and rushed out, the six students following closely at heel.


    He led them to a different bus station, onto a different bus. They changed busses two more times.


    The city was like a neverending metal jungle. Although Bright City didn''t actually cover as much area as Shrek City did, due to its numerous skyscrapers and population density, it was far harder to get from place to place.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like this city. It¡¯s too crowded and stuffy.¡± Xu Xiaoyan pouted.


    Xie Xie nodded. ¡°Me neither. Everyone¡¯s in such a hurry.¡±


    And then, as they turned a corner in the narrow streets, they stumbled to a stop.


    At the very peak of a building before them hung a sign that read ¡®Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy¡¯. The building was made entirely of metal, its base gradually sloping outward to join with three other buildings in a giant connected complex.


    Is this really the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy? It¡¯s so different from Shrek!


    Tang Wulin stared at Wu Zhangkong. His eyes danced with a million questions. Before he could ask his teacher whether they needed to verify their identities before entering, Wu Zhangkong was already walking toward the entrance.


    Once he reached the gates, a megaphone materialized in his hands in a flash of light. He brought it up to his lips.


    This odd action caused Tang Wulin to gawked at his teacher.


    Before his students could stop him, Wu Zhangkong shouted into the megaphone, ¡°Pay attention students of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy! The six of us come from Shrek Academy! We¡¯re all fourteen years old and we¡¯re here to challenge your strongest team under the age of twenty! We¡¯re here to show you once again the gap between you and the greatest academy on the continent!¡±

 Chapter 452 - Do You Have to be so Ruthless?

    Chapter 452 - Do You Have to be so Ruthless?


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s chilling voice thundered throughout the area, courtesy of the soul megaphone.


    Following that, he pressed down a button on the megaphone and pushed it into Tang Wulin¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, do you have to be so ruthless?¡± Tang Wulin groaned.


    Wu Zhangkong looked him right in the eye. ¡°Did you think getting full marks would be that easy?¡±


    Before Tang Wulin could retort, the megaphone sounded again. ¡°Pay attention students of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy! The six of us come from Shrek Academy! We¡¯re all fourteen years old and we¡¯re here to challenge your strongest team under the age of twenty! We¡¯re here to show you once again the gap between you and the greatest academy on the continent!¡±


    Shit! This thing even has this kind of functionality¡­


    Wu Zhangkong disappeared in a blur, leaving only a rustle in the air.


    Tang Wulin buried his face in his free hand. Teacher Wu, didn¡¯t you say you were going to lead us? We trusted you!


    As the megaphone repeated itself for the third time, Xie Xie shot Tang Wulin a fearful look. ¡°We¡¯re trapped.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan swallowed down a mixture of saliva and trepidation. ¡°We must have been smoking something if we thought we¡¯d get all those points for the same amount of work! I take it back. This is a crappy idea!¡±


    On the other hand, Ye Xinglan seemed entirely in her natural habitat, cracking her knuckles with a shrug. ¡°Let¡¯s do it. If you want, I¡¯ll shout too.¡±


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s hand shot up straight in the air. ¡°I agree!¡±


    Gu Yue approached Tang Wulin to examine the megaphone. ¡°It¡¯s not like Teacher Wu¡¯s declaration was wrong.¡±


    All Tang Wulin could do was let out a relenting sigh. ¡°Teacher Wu should just be called the ¡®Trap King¡¯.¡± After messing around with the megaphone, he finally found the power button, turning the device off before it could repeat the confrontational announcement a fifth time.


    However, it was too late. In the short moment that the megaphone had been on, a giant crowd formed around them. Students and staff of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, as well as people passing by.


    A blonde, middle-aged man walked out of the school building. His expression clouded over as he approached Tang Wulin, the bearer of the megaphone. ¡°Shrek Academy?¡± he asked.


    Tang Wulin stored the megaphone in his storage ring and stepped forward. ¡°We¡¯re from Shrek Academy¡¯s outer court. The first grade class.¡±


    ¡°If you want to challenge us, then so be it. Follow me,¡± the man said, sweeping his imposing gaze past them.


    Tang Wulin felt like an ant before this man, his sharp aura cutting down any courage he could muster.


    ¡°Now everyone else, get moving. If you want to know the outcome of the match, we¡¯ll be broadcasting it live later.¡± The man¡¯s overpowering aura suddenly retracted, and he turned around to lead them into the academy.


    That easy? Tang Wulin glanced at his companions, a chill running down his spine. That that man was leagues above them in terms of strength rang clear. He was likely at the same level as Wu Zhangkong. Perhaps even higher.


    The Imperial Sun Moon Academy was famed throughout the continent, renowned as being only second to Shrek Academy. Tang Wulin was beginning to understand the extreme difficulty of the task their teacher had instigated. However, they couldn¡¯t retreat now. They had no choice but to gather their courage and advance. The pressure weighed heavily on them. They represented not just themselves, but also Shrek Academy.


    At the corner of the street, Wu Zhangkong quietly watched Tang Wulin¡¯s group follow the man into the academy grounds. His expression was still as icy as usual, but the corner of his mouth quirked up. This was the match that would truly temper his students.


    The moment Tang Wulin entered the school building, he felt as if he had walked into a high-tech factory. It was a surreal world of metal. A giant metal ball floated in the center of the hall, soul power pulsing through its circuits, powering its core. It produced a gentle light that bathed the entire hall. The reception desk mirrored that of a large conglomerate, not a trace of academia to be found on top of it. It was sparkling white, undulating waves clear on its surface.


    What is that? Tang Wulin wondered. The desk was clearly made from some sort of rare, expensive metal. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t forged by hand, otherwise Tang Wulin would have had the urge to re-forge it and purify it.


    The man led them along silently. As he approached the reception desk, two receptionists, both pleasing to the eye, stood up and bowed.


    There were numerous people of various ages scattered throughout the hall. Most were students dressed in the impeccable white uniforms of their academy. They stared at Tang Wulin¡¯s group of six, some with curiosity, others hatefully. Most places would welcome people from Shrek Academy with open arms, but not here. Here they were sworn enemies. Fortunately for Tang Wulin¡¯s group, not all of the student body seemed to bear enmity against them.


    Tang Wulin silently cursed in his heart as he examined his surroundings. He just hoped that the match would be held with fair rules. If not, the traps such a powerful academy could lay could be deadly.


    They entered a large elevator made of the same shining white metal as the rest of the building. It seemed that white was a color of honor here.The elevator ascended rapidly but smoothly.


    The man had been silent the whole way, causing Tang Wulin¡¯s group to exchange doubtful glances with each other. None dared speak to break the silence.


    At the sixteenth floor, the doors to the elevator slid open. The man once again led them, this time to a conference room.


    ¡°Sit,¡± he commanded.


    Tang Wulin was fully aware of the situation. They were the ones who came to challenge the Imperial Sun Moon Academy. It would be strange if they were treated politely, especially with the way in which they had declared their challenge. Teacher Wu, you really are the Trap King!


    ¡°You¡¯re here to challenge us?¡± the man asked in confirmation.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°We want to have a match.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s possible. I¡¯ll prepare an arena and some opponents for you in a moment. They¡¯ll be opponents of a suitable age for you all.¡± His piercing gaze fell upon Tang Wulin¡¯s group. His curiosity about their ages went unspoken.


    Tang Wulin relaxed a little and let out a sigh of relief. He wasn¡¯t afraid of facing others his age.


    ¡°We¡¯re all about fourteen years old,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    The man narrowed his eyes. ¡°Excellent. The students I had in mind are all fifteen at the oldest. Your ages just about match. There are two things I need to inform you of first though. Number one: the match will be held in front of the entire academy. Number two: the match will be broadcasted to all of Bright City.¡±


    Tang Wulin shuddered. ¡°A private match is fine with us. There¡¯s no need to make it such a big deal,¡± he said probingly.


    ¡°No! It has to be this way. If you win, it wil spur all of our students to work harder. If you lose, then we can trample Shrek Academy¡¯s reputation. Those two requirements are non-negotiable.¡±


    Just how deep is their grudge? He¡¯s so fierce! It was now clear to Tang Wulin why Wu Zhangkong had used such a provocative method to challenge the Imperial Sun Moon Academy. It seemed that the grudges between the two academies ran far deeper than he had ever thought. But there was no escape now. This was a match they must win.


    ¡°Fine!¡±


    ¡°Good. Wait here.¡± The man stood up and exited the conference room, leaving Tang Wulin¡¯s group behind.


    As Gu Yue was about to speak, Tang Wulin raised a hand to stop her. ¡°Prepare yourselves. We¡¯re going into battle soon.¡±


    This was the home turf of their opponents. Whether or not there were hidden cameras or microphones monitoring them, he didn¡¯t know. As such, they had to watch what they spoke. They couldn¡¯t afford to risk the walls having ears.


    As Tang Wulin had expected, Gu Yue instantly understood his intentions. The six of them sat cross-legged in their chairs and began to meditate, adjusting their internal energies to peak condition.


    Unknown to them, the entire Imperial Sun Moon Academy had jumped into action to prepare for the match. It only took them one hour to set up the arena, opponents, and advertising. They didn¡¯t just advertise in Bright City, but throughout the entire continent. In fact, there wasn¡¯t a person on the continent that didn¡¯t know of the match.


    The Sun Moon television channel broadcasted the match to every city in which they were available. The match was promoted with a slogan: the ¡®Battle of the Greatest Soul Masters of the Next Generation¡¯!


    On the streets, Wu Zhangkong took in the giant screen attached to the side of a skyscraper. His eyes narrowed as he listened to the repeating announcement of the match.


    Right at that moment, his communicator rang.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Shen Yi asked frantically.


    Wu Zhangkong remained as calm as ever. ¡°Everything is fine. Those kids are challenging the Imperial Sun Moon Academy. I just helped encourage them a bit.¡±

 Chapter 453 - Intimidation

    Chapter 453 - Intimidation


    ¡°This matter is far bigger than that! Senior Brother, you should have told us ahead of time. We would have done something if you did. Now the Imperial Sun Moon Academy managed to advertise before us. There isn¡¯t a single person in Bright City or the surrounding cities who doesn¡¯t know of the match. In fact, everyone in the Federation knows about it! If we lost this match, the shame would be too great. Did you even consider any of this beforehand?¡± Shen Yi spoke solemnly.


    ¡°I know my disciples,¡± Wu Zhangkong said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have decided to do this if I wasn¡¯t confident in them. I want them to face a difficult challenge, only then will their potential be roused. If they lose, I¡¯ll bear the responsibility and resign. But if they win, I¡¯m certain one day they¡¯ll become the next generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters. I trust them. I¡¯m willing to sacrifice myself to save Shrek¡¯s reputation if needed, but I¡¯m confident in their victory.¡±


    The line went silent for a moment before Shen Yi spoke again. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll handle things over here. I¡¯ll give you their answer in a bit.¡± She hung up.


    Five minutes later, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s communicator rang again.


    ¡°Elder Cai agreed to allow you to do as you wish. Regardless of if they win or lose, you have to bring those kids back safe and sound. They¡¯re our hope for the future. She also said¡­¡±


    ¡°What did she say?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    ¡°She said she wants to see Tang Wulin and his team lose this match. That sometimes, losing isn¡¯t a bad thing.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong immediately replied, ¡°Failure is the key to success, but they can only reach the peak by continuously achieving victories. They will win this match. I¡¯m certain of it.¡±


    ¡°Well then. We¡¯ll arrange everything from over here, so you just watch over them.¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes and glanced at the clock in the conference room. He couldn¡¯t help but knit his brow. Two hours had already passed, yet no one had come to get them yet. Are they doing this on purpose?


    After meditating for so long, his body was in peak condition and his mind incredibly focused. Just as Wu Zhangkong had said, Tang Wulin performed best under pressure. There was an unyielding intensity about him at that moment.


    One by one, his friends woke up from their meditation after him.


    ¡°Still nothing? Should we go see what¡¯s going on?¡± Xie Xie asked Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait a bit longer,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°We¡¯re the ones who challenged them, I don¡¯t think they would just leave us here. They¡¯re probably preparing a lot of things, or maybe it¡¯s taking some time to find the right opponents for us. Let¡¯s just wait and see.¡±


    Just as Tang Wulin finished speaking, the door to the conference room opened and the same middle-aged man from before walked in.


    ¡°Everything is ready now. The match will be held in our academy¡¯s arena,¡± the man said. ¡°Do you need more time to prepare?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re ready,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Follow me then.¡± Even now, the man had yet to introduce himself or ask for their names. Without another word, he turned and walked out the door.


    They followed him into an elevator and headed up, changing elevators once they reached the thirty-sixth floor. This time, they moved horizontally for a while before going downward. Two minutes later, the elevator came to a stop.


    When the doors opened, the previous manufactured world of metal was nowhere to be seen. Before them was a wide and open hall made of stones. These seemingly simple stones released powerful energy fluctuations, making them seem ancient. Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power began to shift restlessly inside of him under their influence, circulating more freely than ever within his body.


    The man forged on ahead in silence.


    This hall spanned over five hundred square meters, and high up on the ceiling was a mural.


    Tang Wulin looked up at it, awed by the sight. A single youth wearing Shrek Academy¡¯s uniform sat in the center of a plaza, surrounded by numerous students fitted in the white uniform of the Sun Moon Academy. Compared to their modern uniform, this design was far simpler, but it was still clearly the Sun Moon Academy uniform..


    W-who is that? Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t understand why, but he felt a sense of familiarity as he gazed at the figure of that Shrek Academy student.


    At the end of the hall was a pair of giant arched doors standing at fifteen meters tall and thirty meters wide. Mechas could easily pass through them.


    ¡°This is the waiting area of the arena. You¡¯ll be sent in momentarily.¡± The man pointed to a stone bench on the side, indicating for them to sit and wait there.


    A waiting area is this huge? Tang Wulin had assumed this was the arena. He could faintly hear clamoring roars beyond the gates.


    The pressure of this match was weighing heavier and heavier on his shoulders. They must have made a lot of preparations in the last two hours.


    The man opened a small door to the side and walked through. Tang Wulin¡¯s group nearly jumped in fright as the loud roars of the crowd suddenly burst into the hall.


    They could hear someone yelling, ¡°Shrek Academy has come to challenge us! Are we going to let them trample all over us? No! Students of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy, we must stand united and cheer for our champions! We have to beat these brats from Shrek Academy and send them back where they came from with their tails between their legs! We will show the continent that we are the greatest academy!¡±


    I-is that coming from the arena?


    The crowd roared with approval in response to the provocative speech. Curses against Shrek Academy were thrown about, amidst the shouting.


    ¡°Are they trying to show off?¡± Gu Yue asked, eyes narrowed.


    ¡°Yeah, they want to intimidate us. Just relax, everyone,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°What intimidation? How much money does that cost per pound?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan bubbled with excitement. ¡°It sounds like there¡¯s a lot of people! They¡¯ll all be able to see how awesome my martial soul is now. Do you guys think I have a chance at entering the inner court?¡±


    Ye Xinglan crossed her arms. ¡°My Stargod Sword thirsts for their tears!¡±


    ¡°Pft! ¡®Thirsts¡¯? Is that really something a girl should be saying?¡± Xie Xie smirked.


    ¡°Do you want to die?¡± Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi said in unison. Xu Lizhi threw a pork bun at Xie Xie¡¯s mouth.


    Xie Xie dodged and hid behind Tang Wulin, grabbing the bun out of the air as he did so. He pretended to be timid as he said, ¡°Captain, I¡¯m so scared.¡±


    It was Tang Wulin¡¯s turn to roll his eyes. ¡°Your acting sucks. Xinglan, I don¡¯t know him. If you want to beat him up, I¡¯ll help you hold him down.¡±


    Ye Xinglan snorted. ¡°I¡¯ll remember that. We can discuss it later. Wulin, what¡¯s the battle plan?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he nodded towards Gu Yue. Gu Yue raised her hands, her soul rings rising up from beneath her as she created a dome of ice around them. They were isolated from any eavesdroppers now.


    Ten minutes later, a cold voice said, ¡°The match is about to begin. Please enter the arena.¡±


    The dome of ice melted away from the top and immediately evaporated into the air.


    The middle-aged man¡¯s heart trembled at the sight. Their control power is strong!


    The giant arched doors slowly pulled open and the crowd grew even louder than before, their excitement thundering throughout the arena.


    What lay beyond the doors was far brighter than the stone hall, blinding Tang Wulin¡¯s group. Before their eyes could adjust, the man led them in.

 Chapter 454 - Into the Arena

    Chapter 454 - Into the Arena


    Tang Wulin strode forward with his head held high, his comrades trailing him. They walked with their backs straight and chests puffed out. They weren¡¯t just here to complete their exam. They also had to win glory for Shrek Academy!


    Only upon entering the arena did Tang Wulin understand its size. Not even Shrek Academy could boast an arena as large as this. Modeled after coliseums of old, where champions fought soul beasts to the death for others¡¯ entertainment, the arena spanned long and wide. The spectators¡¯ stands could easily accommodate 150,000 people. To Tang Wulin¡¯s knowledge, this might even be the largest stadium on the entire continent. It stood in the heart of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, surrounded by numerous skyscrapers.


    The stands were nearly full. It was clear that not all of the spectators were students, as an academy rarely had a student population over ten thousand. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t fathom where they had all come from.


    The moment his team had entered the stadium, the roaring excitement stilled. Over a hundred thousand gazes converged on them at once.


    Even as strong-willed as they were, they couldn¡¯t help but falter under the weight of so many hostile stares. Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi suffered the worst out of them all, their faces paling before the audience.


    All of Tang Wulin¡¯s team were affected by the concentrated hostility..


    Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath. It looks like this is going to be harder than I thought.


    He stepped forward and summoned his golden soul ring. It glowed most resplendently, calling forth his blood essence to surge within him. He straightened his back and stood taller than before, an aura of blood essence flaring around him, spreading to envelop his comrades.


    They felt the pressure on their minds easing as it did. The world around them seemed to grow smaller, and themselves bigger. Supported by Tang Wulin¡¯s aura, they were able to stand tall and confident once more.


    On the platform, an elderly man knitted his brow. ¡°A golden soul ring?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen one before. Is that a million-year soul ring? Impossible!¡± a middle-aged man exclaimed at the elder man¡¯s side. ¡°Not even the Spirit Pagoda has a million-year soul beast! Million-year soul rings have only appeared twice in all of history!¡±


    ¡°But both those two times were at Shrek Academy. We have to keep an eye on him,¡± the elder said.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Before the regal might of the golden soul ring, the spectators¡¯ gazes no longer seemed so stifling. But such a reprieve didn¡¯t last. Soon after, the stands were filled with crude swearing, all directed toward Tang Wulin¡¯s team.


    Head held high, Tang Wulin ignored the jeers and continued his march toward the center of the arena. Six people waited in that space. They wore the white uniforms of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, faces betraying a youth that rivaled Tang Wulin¡¯s own.


    Apart from those six, a man in his forties hovered on the side of the stage, his feet quite far from the ground. He was equipped with battle armor, and from the beauty of it, Tang Wulin estimated it to be of the three-word sort. Is he the referee? Or did they deliberately bring him here to intimidate us?


    Entering such a grand stage for a match would frighten most people. But not Tang Wulin. He embraced the challenge and would rise up to overcome it. This was so ingrained into his nature that his friends had fallen into the habit of calling him a spring. The harder he was pressed, the greater the force he would bounce back.


    A confident smile on his lips, he approached his opponents to greet them. Both teams were lined up side-by-side to face each other. Unlike the Imperial Sun Moon Academy¡¯s team, however, Tang Wulin¡¯s team did not wear their academy¡¯s uniform. Instead, they were dressed in common, green sportswear. It was the best they could do, seeing that their uniforms had been confiscated upon the exam¡¯s start.


    ¡°I will now announce the rules of the match,¡± the referee said.


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Wulin placed a hand to his ear.


    ¡°I said, I will now announce the rules of the match!¡± the referee said, raising his voice.


    ¡°What did you say? I couldn¡¯t hear you! It¡¯s too noisy in here,¡± Tang Wulin said, blinking his large, doe-like eyes.


    The man¡¯s expression clouded over. ¡°Are you here to battle or not?¡±


    ¡°Sorry! I didn¡¯t catch that! Can you repeat that again? There ares too many flies buzzing around in here, so I couldn¡¯t hear you. Could you use some bug spray to make these flies quiet down first?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice rang loud and clear in the stadium. He had poured soul power into his voice to make sure it did, but the broadcast equipment would have picked it up anyway.


    ¡°Raise the barrier,¡± the referee ordered, his face sour.


    A transparent white film burst from the ground, curving toward the top of the arena to form a dome. The barrier was soundproof, cutting them off from the jeers of the crowd. Silence returned to the arena.


    ¡°Can you hear me now?¡± the referee asked, an edge to his voice.


    Tang Wulin nodded, then reached for his ears and removed a pair of ear plugs. He flashed a smile. ¡°It¡¯s finally quiet again.¡±


    The rest of his comrades followed suit, removing their ear plugs in one fluid motion.


    The referee felt his cheek twitch. If there weren¡¯t so many witnesses present, he would have beat them to death right there.


    It wasn¡¯t only those present in the arena who were watching. The match was being broadcasted to every television station on the continent! Everyone was watching.


    The Imperial Sun Moon Academy had arranged all of this to intimidate the Shrek Academy team. Even if they were strong, they were still young children. It was extremely unlikely they would possess the maturity to be unaffected by these scare tactics. If it meant that their chance at victory would increase even by the slightest hint, then all of the resources the Imperial Sun Moon Academy had poured into this endeavour would be worth it.


    However, they had never expected to encounter someone as audacious as Tang Wulin. His simple action of taking out ear plugs had shocked everyone present. By the time the spectators had broken out of their surprise and began hurling curses with renewed vigor, the barrier was erected, soundproof and all. Those watching on their televisions didn¡¯t have much of an opinion on the posturing, except for those affiliated with Shrek Academy, who were grinning and leaning forward in their seats.


    Shrek has raised a real clown this time. The referee sent a heated look at Tang Wulin. ¡°I will now announce the rules.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Go ahead,¡± Tang Wulin said with an earnest shine to his eyes.


    ¡°The main purpose of this match is to learn from one another, but in order for both sides to unleash their full strength, I will only intervene in three situations: when someone is at risk of receiving a fatal attack, becoming handicapped, or dying. The condition of victory is wiping out the opposing team. Understood?¡±


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is, apart from killing each other, anything goes?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    The members of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy team glared daggers at him, but not a word left their lips.


    ¡°You could take it like that,¡± the referee said, contempt flashing in his eyes.

 Chapter 455 - Ill Stop Joking Now

    Chapter 455 - I''ll Stop Joking Now


    ¡°Can I say something?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± the referee said. It would be too shameful if they didn¡¯t allow their challengers boast as well.


    ¡°Thank you. First of all, I want to say that although we¡¯re students from Shrek Academy, we didn¡¯t come here to offend. We came here to challenge the Imperial Sun Moon Academy because we respect your strength and wanted to experience it for ourselves. But here¡¯s the thing. We¡¯ve only been part of Shrek for one semester. Not only that, we¡¯re some of the weakest students in our academy. As such, we can¡¯t be considered actual representatives of Shrek, and will instead only be representing ourselves in this match.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± The referee¡¯s jaw dropped. Neither he nor the other higher-ups of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy expected Tang Wulin to say such a thing.


    In the hours leading up to the match, they had rushed to prepare the stage for this match. It was all for the sake of bolstering their reputation. Better yet if they could stomp on Shrek Academy¡¯s pride while they were at it. Confident in their chances of victory for this match, the higher-ups of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy were looking forward to the boost in prestige should they defeat Shrek Academy. But what Tang Wulin had done dashed those plans. Now even if the Imperial Sun Moon Academy grasped victory, it would be a victory of lesser worth. And if they lost, the shame would be even greater!


    From his position in the air, the referee stared down upon Tang Wulin¡¯s smile. His mind froze at how harmless it appeared. He slowly descended and landed in front of Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys contradicting yourselves? Back then you said you were challenging us to a match as representatives of Shrek Academy!¡± the referee sneered.


    Tang Wulin sighed. He flipped his hand and a megaphone appeared upon it in a flash of light. He pushed a button and Wu Zhangkong¡¯s icy voice filled the arena. ¡°Pay attention students of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy! The six of us come from Shrek Academy! We¡¯re all fourteen years old and we¡¯re here to challenge your strongest team under the age of twenty! We¡¯re here to show you once again the gap between you and the greatest academy on the continent!¡±


    ¡°Our challenge never mentioned that we were representatives of Shrek! We only said that we were from Shrek Academy, our age, and the reason for our challenge.¡±


    The referee nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood. We spent so much energy preparing for the match, and now you¡¯re telling us this?


    But there¡¯s no mistake that these kids are in their mid teens! How could kids like them be so shameless?


    Although the Imperial Sun Moon Academy had clashed countless times with Shrek Academy, they had no doubts about their rival¡¯s strength and dignity. Without this basic respect for Shrek Academy, they wouldn¡¯t have trusted Tang Wulin¡¯s words so quickly and arranged this match, all while scheming to undermine Shrek Academy¡¯s reputation. They had never expected to miss their mark so badly.


    The referee could barely restrain himself from asking them when Shrek Academy had become so shameless. However, they would lose more face if he asked! He didn¡¯t dare insult Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times. ¡°So, is the match still on? You guys can just admit defeat and we can call this off.¡±


    The referee¡¯s aura flared, his battle armor shining bright and sharp as he sent a heated glare towardt Tang Wulin. He was a three-word battle armor master, his strength the level of a Titled Douluo! He could crush Tang Wulin¡¯s entire team with a snap of his fingers!


    ¡°Woah there! I''ll stop joking now,¡± Tang Wulin said, his innocent expression hardening up. ¡°We are representatives of Shrek Academy and we¡¯re here to fight for our academy¡¯s glory. Our victory is predetermined!¡±


    Despite being taken aback by Tang Wulin¡¯s sudden change in demeanor, the referee could now relax, letting out a breath of relief. If things had gone on like that any longer, he would have been forced to call off the match! That the great Imperial Sun Moon Academy was being taken so lightly by these kids shocked his very bones.


    ¡°Prepare for the match to begin,¡± he said, rising back into the skies.


    But Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t quite finished. ¡°Oh right, I was lying about not being Shrek representatives, but everything else was true. We really are the weakest at Shrek,¡± Tang Wulin said, deliberately emphasizing the word ¡®weakest¡¯.


    The referee faltered in the air, nearly dropping to the ground.


    A meek smile hanging from his lips, Tang Wulin stepped forward to face his opponents. ¡°My name is Tang Wulin. I¡¯m a student in the first grade.¡± He took care to omit the fact that he was the class president.


    Each and every word that Tang Wulin spoke had been carefully crafted, serving as knives to cut down any pride and satisfaction the Imperial Sun Moon Academy could derive from this match. His words even shook the faith his opponents had in their victory.


    The leader of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy team approached Tang Wulin¡¯s group. ¡°I¡¯m Long Chen!¡± He was tall and handsome, his entire being radiating strength. He looked to be about the same age as Tang Wulin, maybe a bit older. He stood as tall as a grown man, as steady as a mountain, the only one on his team unaffected by Tang Wulin¡¯s provocative words.


    Tang Wulin examined him. ¡°Whew. You¡¯re huge. Are you sure you¡¯re not over twenty? If you are and you win, then it doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    Long Chen rolled his eyes. ¡°I hope you¡¯re as strong as you are good at talking.¡±


    Gu Yue jumped to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. ¡°Gu Yue of Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade.¡±


    A member of the opposing team maneuvered herself to stand by Long Chen. ¡°Xue Liushuang!¡± She was a striking beauty, her figure slender yet curvy. The two of them painted a perfect image of a perfect couple.


    Tang Wulin had the edge on Long Chen in terms of looks and build, but he lost in height. Xue Liushuang ignored Gu Yue and focused her gaze on Tang Wulin instead, eyeing him with interest.


    Ye Xinglan was next to step forward. ¡°Ye Xinglan.¡±


    The third member of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy team took his place next to Long Chen. ¡°You Dingqi!¡± Although he was of average height, his shoulders were broad and his arms thick. The strength contained in his body was obvious.


    The remaining members of Shrek Academy¡¯s team introduced themselves at once. Following that,  the opposing team did the same.


    ¡°Jian Mochen!¡± He was a boy that could rival Xu Lizhi in fatness.


    ¡°Kuang Zhantian!¡± a petite girl yelled.


    Tang Wulin was surprised by the disconnect between her delicate appearance and how fierce her name sounded. He stopped himself just short of saying, ¡®You should come to Shrek Academy! With a name like that, you¡¯re definitely a monster!¡¯


    ¡°Weng Daimin!¡± The final member of the opposing team was a frail girl with short blue hair, not a wrinkle in sight on her uniform.


    It was six versus six, but this match wasn¡¯t like their previous ones. Neither side took the initiative to reveal their soul master type.


    ¡°Prepare for battle. Both teams fall back to your corners. There must be one hundred meters between you,¡± the referee said. His blood no longer thumped with held back rage, as he had calmed down during each side¡¯s self-introductions. No matter what troubling details surrounded the match, as long as his academy¡¯s team won everything would be fine. Even if Tang Wulin¡¯s team denied being representatives of Shrek Academy afterward, it wouldn¡¯t matter. They were still students at Shrek Academy.


    Both teams slowly retreated to their starting locations. Tang Wulin¡¯s carefree smile was wiped from his face. Although their opponents this time were the same age as them, they possessed an aura of undeniable might and had the home-field advantage.


    This would be an uphill battle, and he would have to exercise full caution.


    Once they reached their starting location, Tang Wulin¡¯s team assumed their usual triangle formation.


    The opposing Imperial Sun Moon Academy team took on a similar formation. Long Chen spearheaded their triangle. The burly You Dingqi and rotund Jian Mochen flanked him on either side.


    Could they be agility-types? Tang Wulin wondered.


    At their rear were Xue Liushuang, Weng Daimin, and Kuang Zhantian, lined up side-by-side in that order.


    Judging from their formation, Weng Daimin should be a control-type. I¡¯m not sure about Xue Liushuang and Kuang Zhantian. Tang Wulin glanced between them.


    Situated one hundred meters away from each other, both teams locked gazes, each determined to win victory.


    ¡°Let the match begin!¡±

 Chapter 456 - The Battle Begins

    Chapter 456 -  The Battle Begins


    With the referee¡¯s declaration, the ultimate battle between the Imperial Sun Moon Engineering Academy and the Shrek Academy began.


    Instead of taking the lead and rushing forward like he usually did, Tang Wulin summoned his martial soul along with his companions. His aura flared as three purple soul rings rose from beneath his feet. Although he only had three, it was impressive for his age.


    Their opponents summoned their martial souls as well. Long Chen took a step forward and he let out a draconic roar. Four purple soul rings appeared around him, his body growing taller by three inches at the same time.


    Tang Wulin stared in shock. He has the same amount of soul rings as Wu Siduo! Wait, isn¡¯t there a Long Chen on the Genius Youths Rankings? Yeah, and he was just a few spots below her!


    While Wu Siduo had twin martial souls and a self-soul fusion skill, Long Chen only had a single martial soul! The fact that he was only a couple of ranks below her instantly put Tang Wulin on guard. At the same time, anticipation swelled within him. He should be the strongest student within his age in the Imperial Sun Moon Academy.


    At Long Chen¡¯s side, Jian Mochen and You Dingqi called forth their martial souls as well.


    You Dingqi¡¯s martial soul was a hammer, the chain attached to the handle wrapping around his arm. It was the Meteor Hammer. Three purple soul rings appeared around him. Although his strength was impressive, Long Chen still overshadowed him.


    Four soul rings sprung up around Jian Mochen, two yellow and two purple. A round shield large enough to hide his bulk manifested in his hands. A tiger¡¯s face was engraved on its front. He was clearly a defense-type!


    Of the three girls, Xue Liushuang had four purple soul rings, while both Weng Daimin and Kuang Zhantian had three purple rings.


    Uh oh. Three of them are Soul Ancestors! They¡¯re almost as strong as the rankers in our class. Tang Wulin exclaimed in his heart.


    Is that it?


    The Imperial Sun Moon Engineering Academy¡¯s team was definitely outstanding, but they didn¡¯t hold a candle against Wu Siduo¡¯s team. Considering the fact that his own team defeated Wu Siduo¡¯s, he didn¡¯t hold any fear at all. Unfortunately for the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, they just didn¡¯t understand what sort of monsters were in Shrek Academy. This year¡¯s first grade class was simply terrifying.


    Tang Wulin was unaware of this, but the Imperial Sun Moon Academy did investigate Shrek Academy. They knew of the five rankers in Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade, but that was it. While they did research Tang Wulin¡¯s group, they didn¡¯t look any deeper when they found out none of them were rankers. With their shallow knowledge of their opponents, they felt assured of victory.


    Long Chen stomped the ground and shot forward towards Tang Wulin. His second soul ring lit up and he opened his mouth wide, letting loose Dragon Roar. Light burst from his body, surging out like a wave with the faint form of a dragon.


    His martial soul was the Holy Radiant Dragon, and he was the Imperial Sun Moon Academy¡¯s ace of aces! He was the genius most likely to become a four-word battle armor master in his generation within the Imperial Sun Moon Academy.


    When Long Chen saw that the Shrek Academy team didn¡¯t have a single Soul Ancestor, he was beginning to believe that Tang Wulin¡¯s team really was the weakest Shrek Academy had to offer.


    He knew that this match was being broadcasted to the entire continent. It was the perfect chance to show off his power! If he could stomp these students from Shrek Academy, then his status among soul masters would be cemented.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth curved into a secretive smile. He waved his companions back signalling that he alone was enough.


    He copied Long Chen and dashed forward to meet him. Unlike his opponent, his movements were light and relaxed as if he wasn¡¯t worried at all. His purple soul rings disappeared, an intimidating golden one rising to take their place. Golden scales rippled into existence along his right arm.


    Long Chen roared as he approached.


    One on one! Let¡¯s see who¡¯ll win, your three rings or my four! My martial soul is the Holy Radiant Dragon! Long Chen brimmed with confidence. He was already planning what he would do after eliminating Tang Wulin, the opposing team¡¯s captain.


    When they were only meters away from each other, Long Chen finally felt that something was off. His opponent didn¡¯t seem to be affected by his Dragon Roar at all. In fact, Tang Wulin looked at him with pity in his eyes.


    Huh? Pity? Why?


    Right before they would clash, Tang Wulin jumped into the air. His golden soul ring lit up and his blood essenced flowed in reverse as he used Golden Dragon Body. The wild aura of the Golden Dragon King burst out at that same moment.


    Long Chen jumped up to meet him. He used his first soul skill, Dragon Claw, and slashed down with both hands! As a genius of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, he possessed a calm temperament and dignity. He didn¡¯t dare look down on his opponent, no matter who they be. Although he was confident he could suppress Tang Wulin, he wouldn¡¯t risk holding back.


    The instant after he used his first soul skill, his fourth ring lit up as well. Using two soul skills at the same time was an advanced soul master control technique! His fourth soul skill was Dragon¡¯s Might!


    The power of the Holy Radiant Dragon surged through his veins, his dragon claws blossoming with a brilliant light. Tiny scales surfaced on his body. Although they weren¡¯t mature dragon scales, they were still fledgling ones.


    Long Chen wanted to instantly eliminate Tang Wulin to bolster his team¡¯s morale then use the momentum to annihilate the rest of his opponents. By that time, it wouldn¡¯t matter if Tang Wulin¡¯s team was the weakest at Shrek Academy. They were still Shrek Academy students! Such a miserable defeat would be shameful regardless.


    But at that moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s draconic aura burst out.


    The instant their auras touched, fear rose up inside of Long Chen¡¯s heart so fast he felt like he was drowning in it, his instincts screaming out for mercy.


    He couldn¡¯t comprehend what was happening What¡¯s going on? Why do I feel so scared?. His entire body shuddered in despair. Tang Wulin seemed to grow several times larger as he approached while he himself became smaller and smaller.


    The power of his claw plummeted. Gritting his teeth, he pushed on with his attack, doing his best to control his trembling body. But he was helpless before Tang Wulin¡¯s might. Even Dragon¡¯s Might was forcefully pushed down, stripping him of its empowering effects. His bloodline was completely suppressed. He couldn¡¯t even use a single soul skill. The gap between his Holy Radiant Dragon and Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon King was like that of heaven and earth.

 Chapter 457 - The Stargod Sword Versus the Spectral Sword

    Chapter 457 - The Stargod Sword Versus the Spectral Sword


    Before Long Chen¡¯s very eyes appeared a golden dragon claw multitudes larger than his own. Each and every one of its scales sparkled with regal might as it smashed down. The instant their claws touched, an intense tremble ran down his spine and his soul power scattered apart.


    The entire Imperial Sun Moon Academy was speechless. Their champion, the Holy Radiant Dragon Long Chen who ranked tenth on the Genius Youths Rankings, was smashed into the ground face first!


    Tang Wulin landed beside him a moment later. He had stopped short of using his claw¡¯s crushing effect. That would have been overkill. With this, the Holy Radiant Dragon Long Chen was defeated.


    The entire arena was silent. Even without the soundproof barrier, it was so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop .


    No one had expected to witness such a scene. After all, Long Chen was tenth on the Genius Youths Rankings! He was a Soul Ancestor with the Holy Radiant Dragon martial soul! Yet he had be thoroughly defeated in a single clash!


    The entire exchange had happened in the blink of an eye. Long Chen had frozen just before they were about to crash, leaving himself wide open to Tang Wulin¡¯s claw attack.


    It had been a textbook example of restricting movements while mid-air! Except, this was normally something only mechas were capable of.


    The Imperial Sun Moon Academy¡¯s team had five people remaining, and they were all gaping at Tang Wulin. They couldn¡¯t comprehend what they just saw. Tang Wulin had swatted down their almighty captain like a fly, and done it with ease. He hadn¡¯t displayed any sort of overwhelming power when he defeated Long Chen. They couldn¡¯t accept something like this!


    You Dingqi snarled. He swung his Meteor Hammer over his head by the chain a few times, then threw it at Tang Wulin like a flail.


    Tang Wulin kicked Long Chen¡¯s limp body off the stage to avoid any collateral damage. Once a soul master lost consciousness, their martial soul would disappear, along with the empowering effects.


    Jian Mochen moved at the same time as You Dingqi. He hefted up his round shield and threw it at Tang Wulin.


    Kuang Zhantian let out a battle cry as she attacked too, wielding a greataxe that was engraved with a tiger pattern. It was her martial soul.


    Tang Wulin faced them and waited. He raised his hands, his left curled into a fist and his right in its claw form.


    He punched the Meteor Hammer with his left hand, sending it flying back with a boom without moving back an inch. Then he grabbed the shield flying at him with his claw. The instant he touched it, the tiger emblem suddenly lit up began vibrating. A tiger burst out of the shield, biting at Tang Wulin¡¯s face.


    Is that his spirit soul? So he hid it inside his shield. Tang Wulin was unfazed.


    Kuang Zhantian arrived at that instant, descending on Tang Wulin her greataxe raised high above her head. She let out a barbaric cry as she chopped down, the power behind her strike frightening.


    But Tang Wulin ignored her. Focusing on the shield in his hand, he forced his blood essence to surge in reverse and drew forth the power of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    A draconic roar far mightier than Long Chen¡¯s rumbled through the arena. Before the tiger could reach Tang Wulin, it was struck dumb and retreated back into the shield in fear. Tang Wulin tightened his grip on the shield, exerting his claw¡¯s crushing effect on it.


    Cracks ran through Jian Mochen¡¯s Skytiger Shield. Seeing this, Jian Mochen immediately used his third soul skill. The shield suddenly disappeared from Tang Wulin¡¯s claw and returned to Jian Mochen.


    Kuang Zhantian¡¯s greataxe was upon Tang Wulin now.


    A metallic clang rang out as Kuang Zhantian¡¯s greataxe was blocked by something and she was beaten back. Ye Xinglan stood between them. She had stepped in to defend her captain. After all, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t facing them all alone!


    Kuang Zhantian and You Dingqi retreated to regroup with their teammates. None of them made a move, all of their expressions clouded over.


    In the opening clash, their team captain was eliminated. They were now at a disadvantage of five versus six. They still couldn¡¯t believe this happened.


    Xue Liushuang glanced at her teammates. ¡°I¡¯ll act as the substitute captain. Be careful everyone.¡±


    Tang Wulin regrouped with his comrades as well. Both teams stared each other down.


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°And I thought they were supposed to be strong. They¡¯re all bark and no bite!¡± he said, deliberately raising his voice so the opposing team could hear.


    Xie Xie knew that his captain was the ultimate weapon against dragon-type martial souls. His bloodline could suppress any and all dragons.


    If Long Chen had been prepared for the mental shock of facing Tang Wulin, with his superior cultivation level, he wouldn¡¯t have been so easily defeated. Of course, no one would expect that a peak-level martial soul like the Holy Radiant Dragon could be suppressed. He had been caught completely off guard, opening himself to be instantly eliminated.


    As Tang Wulin stared down his opponents, he couldn¡¯t help but harbor some approval of their actions. Despite their captain being eliminated, they didn¡¯t rashly attack, instead regrouping and remaining calm. It was an impressive show of discipline. They still had two Soul Ancestors left as well. The match was far from over.


    Jian Mochen still stared at Tang Wulin in disbelief. His martial soul was special in that it combined both attack and defense into the same thing. His shield also acted as a lethal weapon, and when combined with his spirit soul and Shield Return soul skill, he could easily switch between defense and attack at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Although Tang Wulin had punched back the Meteor Hammer easily, he was still impressed by its strength. It possessed a shock effect and had caused even his body empowered by Golden Dragon Body to tremble. His left hand ached a bit after receiving that attack. He hadn¡¯t come out completely unscathed.


    Tang Wulin turned his eyes to Kuang Zhantian. She¡¯s nothing like a girl, she¡¯s a berserker! That axe is huge! It¡¯s taller than her! If Ye Xinglan hadn¡¯t intervened, Tang Wulin would have been in a tough spot.


    They were lucky to be able to take out Long Chen immediately, but Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t so naive as to think that victory was theirs now. Nothing was certain until everything was over.


    Tang Wulin grew taut as a bowstring. Then, as if releasing all that energy at once, he shot ahead!


    With Long Chen out of the battle, Tang Wulin could charge straight in. He planned on breaking their formation so that his companions could clean up the resulting mess. While they had been regrouping, Xu Lizhi had passed Tang Wulin a bean bun. Tang Wulin was ready to enter bloodthirst mode.


    Jian Mochen took up Long Chen¡¯s position as the vanguard with Xue Liushang right beside him.


    Xue Liushuang held out her hand. A pure white sword manifested in it, releasing a chilling breeze that blew through the arena and cooled the surrounding temperature significantly.


    Woah. Her martial soul is similar to Teacher Wu¡¯s Skyfrost Sword! Tang Wulin was on alert now.


    Xue Liushuang charged forward to meet Tang Wulin.


    While Tang Wulin barreled onward like a bulldozer, Xue Liushuang advanced with elegance. Her Glacial Sword danced in the air as she unleashed a barrage of frost beams at Tang Wulin while they were still a dozen meters apart.


    Tang Wulin thrust out his right claw to meet those frost beams. They shattered with a brittle sound upon impact, but a wave of cold frost followed right behind, seeping into his body and slowing the flow of his blood essence.


    Xue Liushuang reached him at that moment. Her figure flickered, then her swords split into three, one stabbing at his head, another at his chest, and the final one to his stomach.


    ¡°The Spectral Sword? Your opponent is me.¡± The three swords were instantly routed, shattered into fragments. Ye Xinglan stood in front of Tang Wulin, staring down Xue Liushuang.


    Tang Wulin called forth the might of the Golden Dragon King and dispelled the cold from his body, then continued past Xue Liushuang. She didn¡¯t move to stop him. Her opponent now was Ye Xinglan.


    ¡°Stargod Sword Arts!¡±


    ¡°Spectral Sword Arts!¡±

 Chapter 458 - A Fierce Clash

    Chapter 458 - A Fierce Clash


    Ye Xinglan pointed her sword at the ground, her eyes flashing with battle lust.


    The Stargod Sword Arts and the Spectral Sword Arts were ancient sword arts passed down through their respective clans.  Both were worshipped as divine techniques for thousands of years.


    In the continent of Douluo¡¯s lengthy history, rarely had these two sword arts surfaced. But now, they clashed.  The two girls sought for dominance and fought for curiosity. For pride.


    Like its name suggested, the Stargod Sword Arts harnessed the power of the stars. The Spectral Sword Arts, on the other hand, harnessed the cold to split light into its spectrum. Both were profound sword arts. As such, victory would be decided by cultivation level and sword comprehension.


    Upon the activation of her first soul skill, Sword God¡¯s Star, Ye Xinglan¡¯s Stargod Sword pierced through the skies. Thousands of stars manifested, bathing their surroundings in their brilliant glow. They condensed rapidly until they were in the form of a sword. And these stellar swords burst forward


    Xue Liushuang flicked her Glacial Sword, tracing an arc in the air to deflect the attack. The clink of metal filled the air.


    Their showdown was in full swing.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin had bypassed Xue Liushuang, charging straight at Jian Mochen.


    Skytiger Shield. A shield-type martial soul special in that its offensive power was as great as its defensive capabilities. It was rated as one of the best martial souls. When Jian Mochen combined it with a tiger type spirit soul, the effect was amazing.


    In the short period they had stood in a stand-off, the cracks on his shield faded away. But Jian Mochen was still on alert against Tang Wulin, especially his golden dragon claw. As Tang Wulin approached, he thrust out his shield in defense.


    Purple light flashed around Tang Wulin¡¯s form. In the next moment, spears of bluesilver grass pierced through the ground. Bluesilver Impaling Array!


    No one could have imagined that after showing such domineering might, Tang Wulin would unleash a crowd control skill!


    In Jian Mochen¡¯s moment of shock, he left himself open to the attack. His body went rigid as the grass impaled him. Then Tang Wulin was upon him, slashing down his claw at the Skytiger Shield.


    As long as he could take out Jian Mochen, he believed victory would be theirs.


    A pair of roars thundered through the arena. Though stunned, Jian Mochen watched as his two tiger spirit souls jumped out of his shield in his defense. One was shrouded in flames. The other gave off a brilliant radiance. They were fire-attribute and light-attribute spirit souls!


    The two tigers pounced on Tang Wulin simultaneously, their flames and light combining to create an effect reminiscent of Yue Zhengyu¡¯s holy aura. Tang Wulin retreated a step, giving Jian Mochen the space needed to break free. He quickly recalled the tigers to his shield to empower it once more.


    During the offensive, Jian Mochen was limited to one spirit soul in empowering his shield. On the defensive, however, he could utilize two. He was like a fortress.


    A gigantic axe burst out from behind Jian Mochen, zooming toward Tang Wulin like a bolt of lightning. Tang Wulin punched it away with his claw. But what came next hit him with surprise. The axe carried a spiritual attack! A tiger erupted out of the axe, identical in appearance to the light-attribute one from the Skytiger Shield. It opened its maws wide in an attempt to bite off his head.


    Man! Their teamwork is great! Tang Wulin grinned, not showing any fear. He dodged the attack at the last second, flying backwards in defiance of gravity.


    It was all thanks to Xu Lizhi. He had yanked on the bluesilver grass connecting him and Tang Wulin, pulling his captain out of harm¡¯s way.


    At the same time, a golden array of light flared underneath Jian Mochen. Chains of starlight shot out and bound him. The core of the array burst, changing the axe¡¯s trajectory and sending it flying toward Jian Mochen! Similarly, the moment the array had shined, Weng Daimin¡¯s ice spears froze in mid-air and headed right back at her!


    The Skytiger Axe struck Jian Mochen¡¯s shield. Due to his restraints, his stance instantly broke and he staggered backward.


    These were the effects of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s second soul skill, Starlight Reversal! Even she was bewildered at the differences between both versions of her starlight soul skills. The more she used them, the more differences she discovered. For instance, her Starwheel Shackles¡¯ absolute control effect had increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds! Although this improvement seemed small, half a second could turn the tide of battle!


    Yet somewhere deep within Xu Xiaoyan, she knew that she wasn¡¯t bringing out the full potential of Starlight Reversal.


    Tang Wulin regrouped with the others briefly. He dashed forward once more, reaching Jian Mochen just as he had staggered backward. He smashed his claw onto the Skytiger Shield, bringing out the full power of its crushing effect.


    Cracks spread through the shield, reminiscent of spider webs. If the shield were any weaker, that would have been the end of it.


    Blood sprayed from Jian Mochen¡¯s mouth. He stumbled backward, knees buckling and collapsing beneath him. Which exposed the Imperial Sun Moon Academy¡¯s rearline, You Dingqi, Kuang Zhantian, and Weng Daimin.


    A scorching heat flew past Tang Wulin and toward those three. Three roaring fireballs. They drew magnificent arcs in the air, each with its own target, perfectly timed to exploit the opening.


    They were certainly awe-inspiring. An otherworldly shade of blue, a hue that, upon first glance, seemed to ensnare the soul. Those from the stands could sense traces of wind and water elements within them in addition to the obvious fire. Rather than an attack of compartmentalized elements, it was a true fusion of all three! This was Gu Yue¡¯s true strength. She had been preparing this attack since the very beginning of the match and named it ¡®Blazing Blue Fireball¡¯!


    Although Xue Liushuang had noticed the fireballs, she didn¡¯t have the leeway to turn her attention to them. While she had the advantage against Ye Xinglan in terms of cultivation level, Ye Xinglan¡¯s understanding of the sword far surpassed hers!  It was to be expected, as Ye Xinglan was originally an elite of Shrek Academy¡¯s inner court!


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s Stargod Sword Arts were already at their pinnacle. Xue Liushuang couldn¡¯t contend. In fact, she felt as if the mystical power of the sea of stars were wrapping around her tighter and tighter. Breaking free proved to be impossible.


    The Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy had erred. They had thought that victory was assured since they had an advantage in cultivation level, but they had forgotten that their opponents were from Shrek Academy! Common sense couldn¡¯t be applied to them! Not only that, but cultivation level had never been Shrek Academy¡¯s basis of strength!


    It was obvious that if those blue fireballs struck their targets, the latter would meet a gruesome end. The victors of the match were about to be decided.

 Chapter 459 - Another Soul Fusion Skill

    Chapter 459 - Another Soul Fusion Skill


    Were Long Chen not eliminated in the beginning of the match, the Imperial Sun Moon Academy team might have had a chance to turn things around. But without their captain, they were stuck on the defensive.


    Long Chen finally regained consciousness. Jaw clenched in pain and neck sore, he slowly recovered sight of the arena as he roused. The view before him, that of a spectator looking in, confused him at first. Eventually, he came to the conclusion he had been defeated, though how in which he had been taken down he could not recall. His face soured.


    Through sheer will, Long Chen slowly but surely grasped at the bits of memory floating in his mind. The process of bringing out his full strength, soul power coursing through his veins. The strange sensation that overtook his body right after. His brow furrowed as he remembered his source of power snuffed out like a candle wick. His body had frozen, leaving him open to his opponent¡¯s attacks and an instant knockout.


    He was disappointed with himself. He knew how important this match was for his academy, yet he had gotten eliminated and left them at a huge disadvantage. Even so, the match wasn¡¯t over yet. He had faith in his teammates. Although he was the captain, he wasn¡¯t the true ace of their team.


    You guys have to win! He clenched his fists.


    ¡°Skytiger!¡± Jian Mochen shouted, blood streaming down the corner of his mouth.


    Kuang Zhantian threw her Skytiger Axe. Not at Tang Wulin or anyone else on the Shrek Academy team, but at Jian Mochen.


    In one quick motion, Jian Mochen tossed his shield to meet the axe.


    The instant the two touched, a blinding light illuminated the arena, swallowing Jian Mochen and Kuang Zhantian whole. From the light burst a gigantic winged tiger, heading straight for Gu Yue¡¯s blue fireballs.


    Upon impact, the dazzling blue explosions shook the arena. Knocked back, the tiger let out a roar of pain as the flames penetrated into its body and dyed it blue.


    Is that a soul fusion skill? It¡¯s gotta be! Tang Wulin¡¯s evaluation was correct. Jian Mochen and Kuang Zhantian fused their martial souls to summon a Skytiger.


    As powerful as the tiger was, the might of the fireballs had been unquestionable and wasn¡¯t something it could just shrug off. The tiger¡¯s form flickered transparent, brought forth by its great energy consumption to endure the attack.


    Tang Wulin straightened his back, a determined light gleaming in his eyes. His blood essence surged in reverse and starlight shrouded his claw, manifesting as a golden gauntlet.


    ¡°Battle armor!¡± the referee blurted out from the air.


    I-is that actually a piece of two-word armor? No way. It can¡¯t be. He¡¯s too young to handle such a thing! It must be something else, like a one-word armor piece made of spirit alloy! Although the referee and the higher-ups of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy held Shrek Academy in contempt, upon sight of Tang Wulin¡¯s gauntlet they were overcome with shock and disbelief.


    If it had only been something out of the ordinary, they wouldn¡¯t be so bitter. But the sheer impossibility of Tang Wulin¡¯s actions was what drove them up the wall. How strong his body must be to handle such a powerful gauntlet at his age, the higher-ups of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy couldn¡¯t begin to comprehend. Normally, only blacksmiths of the sixth rank or higher could craft one-word battle armor with spirit alloy, let alone a fifth-rank blacksmith! Generally, academies didn¡¯t allow their students to enlist outside help and forced them to cooperate with each other. Only then would they be able to truly walk the path of a battle armor master.


    There were unwritten rules for battle armor masters. During the creation of a set of two-word battle armor, which included the process of designing, forging, crafting, and tuning, none of those involved could be more than one soul ring level apart. The gap in ages no more than three years. This way, everyone¡¯s blood essence and aura were similar to one another, enabling the end user of the battle armor to fully fuse with it.


    Two-word battle armor was considered a turning point and threshold for ¡®true¡¯ battle armor because such armor could fuse with the user and become an extension of their body. During the fusion, every detail mattered,.and the slightest mistake could ruin everything. In comparison, it was far easier to advance from two-word to three-word. At that point, the user could borrow help from not just their peers.


    This was why battle armor was so rare and difficult to craft. Many conditions had to be met to successfully create a two-word armor.


    Although one-word battle armor didn¡¯t face the same restrictions, what Tang Wulin had wasn¡¯t ordinary one-word armor! Since it was crafted from spirit alloy, it already had the basic functionality of a two-word armor! It was practically a prototype two-word gauntlet! He couldn¡¯t replace it anymore since it had fused with his body, so it had been under the same restrictions as a two-word piece of armor.


    From this, the higher-ups of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy deduced that Tang Wulin had personally had a hand in crafting it. Not only that, the people who helped him were within three years of age and one soul ring level from him! Such restrictions were nigh impossible for those his age to fulfill. He wasn¡¯t just strong, but he was also backed up by a group of prodigal professionals! That was far more terrifying than his strength.


    Despite only possessing a gauntlet at the moment, Tang Wulin had a likely future as a battle armor master from his foundation. It was shocking. No one at the Imperial Sun Moon Academy had ever considered the same path as him, and neither did the teachers. All of them thought it was impossible. They shared the same narrow perspective as the rankers had.


    But Tang Wulin and his friends had shattered all expectations, and the evidence was there for all to see.


    A mighty draconic roar shook the arena as Tang Wulin drew circles in the air with his arms. Then he punched with his claw, unleashing Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    A giant golden dragon¡¯s head rushed out of his fist, roaring toward the flickering Skytiger.


    The tiger snarled and beat its wings at the incoming phantom dragon head. The two clashed high in the air, a blinding explosion filling the sky followed by a shockwave. Tang Wulin showed no fear. He was completely confident in Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Other soul masters may have been terrified to face a soul fusion skill, but not Tang Wulin. He had encountered so many already, like the Forest of Ice or Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger.


    The Skytiger was stronger than Hell White Tiger since it was powered by two people. Still, Tang Wulin had grown far stronger since the time he faced Wu Siduo! His soul power, blood essence, and body had all improved!  Furthermore, the Skytiger was already weakened by Gu Yue¡¯s bombardment. He had nothing to be afraid of.


    When the dust cleared, the Skytiger was nowhere to be seen. Instead, two people fell from the skies, their robes rippling from freefall..


    From those in the stands to those watching at the comfort of their homes, the millions of spectators could not rein in their shock. Before their very eyes had occurred a match between fourteen and fifteen-year-olds, yet everything about it screamed otherwise, from the explosive displays of power to the quick-witted teamwork.


    He¡¯s able to beat a soul fusion skill with only three soul rings? This question rang loud in everyone¡¯s thoughts.


    Everyone knew that Shrek Academy was powerful, but few truly understood the extent of that power. Until now. Tang Wulin had shown them just that. Of what sort of monsters Shrek Academy nurtured. Be it strength or technique, Shrek Academy¡¯s students were perfect.


    Captain¡¯s so awesome! Xie Xie descended from the air, heading straight for Weng Daimin and You Dingqi. While everyone¡¯s eyes had been glued to Tang Wulin, Xie Xie had quietly slipped into the enemy¡¯s rearline. He appeared out of thin air like a wraith and slashed at the two of them. Dumbstruck by Tang Wulin¡¯s performance, You Dingqi couldn¡¯t react in time to defend himself.


    The battle was practically over. After using their soul fusion skill, Kuang Zhantian and Jian Mochen would drastically weaken. Gone was the suspense. Victory was within Tang Wulin and his team¡¯s grasp, and with that came acing their exam.


    All of a sudden, Weng Daimin let out a ear-piercing wail. It erected a wall of ice in front of You Daimin, which then exploded and sent Xie Xie flying backward.


    ¡°Liushuang!¡± Weng Daimin shouted, icy blue light swirling around her. She opened her arms wide toward the air, a fairy ascending to a higher realm.


    A blue light enveloped Xue Liushuang as well, the same moment Ye Xinglan¡¯s Stargod Sword pierced her. But Ye Xinglan felt no resistance, as though she stabbed air. Taking advantage of Ye Xinglan¡¯s confusion, Xue Liushuang leaped into the air and fused with Weng Daimin.


    It was at that moment Tang Wulin landed, his complexion pale after unleashing his strongest attack. His stared at the scene before him wide-eyed. What? They have a second soul fusion skill?


    It finally struck him why the Imperial Sun Moon Academy was so confident in their victory, to the extent that they pushed to have the match broadcasted throughout the continent. They truly were worthy of being one of the greatest academies on the continent. Had Tang Wulin not  eliminated Long Chen instantly in the beginning, the Imperial Sun Moon Academy team would have been able to overwhelm them with their two soul fusion skills!

 Chapter 460 - Dragon King Vacuum Punch

    Chapter 460 - Dragon King Vacuum Punch


    Up in the air, the glowing blue figures of Weng Daimin and Xue Liushuang fused. In their place was a two-meter-tall woman wearing a long blue dress. In her hands, an icy blue sword. A circle of light shined behind her head, illuminating her beautiful features, which were a combination of Weng Daimin and Xue Liushuang¡¯s best physical traits. As soon as she had come to be, the temperature in the arena plummeted.


    From her form emanated waves of power far stronger than that of the Skytiger. Their fusion rate was much higher.


    Ice Goddess! It was the Imperial Sun Moon Academy¡¯s true trump card.


    ¡°Starlight Burst!¡± Xu Xiaoyan shouted. Starlight converged into a beam that pierced through the Ice Goddess, establishing absolute control.


    It dyed the body of the Ice Goddess golden. Left it frozen in the air.


    Not a beat later, a brilliant star descended from the sky. It was Ye Xinglan with her third soul skill, Starfall Sword!


    Such perfect coordination between Xu Xiaoyan and Ye Xinglan!


    A metallic clang. Ye Xinglan bounced off the Ice Goddess, feeling as though she had flown face first into a wall. There was no moving it. At the same time, the Ice Goddess dispelled the golden starlight from her body, returning to her normal icy hue. She floated in the air just as before, not a dent in sight.


    Ye Xinglan bit her lip. Their fusion rate has to be at least eighty percent! They¡¯re at least as strong as that battle armor master we ran into the other day!


    The Ice Goddess brandished her sword, sending out three beams of blue light. Spectral Sword Art! However, it had nothing in common with the version Xue Liushuang had used. Each beam possessed an incomparably sharp aura, enough to slice through bone.


    The three beams each had their own target: Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, and Xu Xiaoyan. The three people who the Imperial Sun Moon Academy team deemed the greatest threats!


    Gasps filled the stands as Xie Xie jumped in front of the beam meant for Xu Xiaoyan, shielding her with his body. He disintegrated into a cloud of dust the next second.


    This was just a match, not a battle to the death!


    But the spectators¡¯ shock was unneeded. Xie Xie reappeared a short distance away, coughing up a mouthful of blood. It had been a clone that was destroyed.


    The instant the Ice Goddess had appeared, Tang Wulin stuffed the bean bun he had since been carrying into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. His strength further amplified, he brought forth the full might of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens once more.


    The phantom dragon head slammed into the Ice Goddess. A shockwave erupted. But the Ice Goddess was unharmed, a soft blue light glowing around her. At the same time, the collision sent Tang Wulin flying backward, wounds opening up all over his body and leaving a trail of blood.


    Alarmed, Ye Xinglan struck again, her Stargod Sword blazing. Yet, she too was dealt with easily, blood spraying from her mouth.


    Xu Lizhi rushed to her side, using his soul power to help stabilize her condition.


    When he was finally satisfied with her status, he glared at the Ice Goddess, eyes bright with fury.. He bellowed and made to charge her, but a hand grabbed his shoulder and held him still. ¡°Leave her to us.¡±


    In a flash of silver, the hand disappeared and Gu Yue appeared at Tang Wulin¡¯s side. ¡°They¡¯re not the only ones with a soul fusion skill.¡± As she spoke, she wrapped her arms around Tang Wulin¡¯s wounded and freezing body from behind.


    A powerful buzzing filled the arena, gradually growing in strength until the entire arena trembled.


    Light enveloped Gu Yue. She channeled it into Tang Wulin, dispelling the icy blue of his skin.


    Red, blue, yellow, green, gold, silver, and black. Specks of light of these very colors danced around Tang Wulin, entering his body.


    The Ice Goddess slashed down, sending a blue sword beam at the two. But the sword beam collapsed the moment it neared the seven-colored lights.


    Scales rippled into existence across Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body, dressing him in seven-colored draconic armor. Regal draconic might exploded from him.


    Long Chen stood awed before this dragon lord. He couldn¡¯t help but fall to his knees and prostrate himself to Tang Wulin. He shook uncontrollably down to his core.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s seven-colored scales quickly grew transparent and thicker. He now held the appearance of a shining dragon knight. An almighty roar ripped from his throat that demanded all to bow before him.


    Seven-colored light burst around his body, a gale that originated from such an aura picking up his dark locks in flight. His pupils became reptilian, slit-like in nature, and a seven-colored light shined in their depths. He saw within his mind a strange scene, akin to a memory, in which countless soul beasts prostrated themselves eagerly, all in worship of him.


    His gauntlet took on a seven-colored hue. He couldn¡¯t comprehend what level of power he had achieved, but if there was one thing he knew, it was this: everyone before him was insignificant.


    Once more did the Ice Goddess strike down with her sword, focusing all her strength this time. Tang Wulin¡¯s surroundings froze before her might, the chill of her attacks absolute.


    He thrust his seven-colored claw out, clutching the blade. A metallic clang pierced the air. He exerted his strength and shattered the blade into thousands of shards!


    Arching a brow, Tang Wulin balled his claw into a fist and punched toward her. ¡°I¡¯ll go easy on you.¡±


    Before the punch met, the referee descended from the sky into the space between Tang Wulin and the Ice Goddess. His battle armor shined, bright and blinding as he braced himself to take the punch.


    A shockwave tore through the arena. Tang Wulin was motionless, his fist still caught by the referee.


    The referee¡¯s hand gained a seven-colored light. An instant later, seven explosions rumbled in succession, each growing in intensity. Each enough to send trembles through his body.


    The referee was a three-word battle armor master! Yet he had so much trouble taking Tang Wulin¡¯s punch.


    He had never expected that even with his three-word battle armor and his Titled Douluo strength, he would feel fear toward Tang Wulin¡¯s punch. Moreover, the seven elemental explosions had shook him to the core. This is the soul fusion skill of a pair of three-ringed kids! Just what kind of fusion rate do they have to be this powerful?


    As the blue glow receded from the Ice Goddess¡¯s form, her figure faded away, leaving Xue Liushuang and Weng Daimin to fall through the skies.


    Pale and stricken with fear, they came to realize what sort of tyrannical might Tang Wulin possessed once their sword had shattered in their Ice Goddess form. Their instincts screamed danger. If the referee hadn¡¯t intervened, they were certain they would have died.


    Just what kind of soul fusion skill is that?


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue descended from the air, and she separated from his back. With her departure settled an emptiness within him, as if a part of him had been removed. The seals of the Golden Dragon King trembled and the fourth loosened as though attacked by some energy.


    Xu Xiaoyan dashed to Gu Yue in support, the latter pale and on the verge of collapsing. Xie Xie rushed to Tang Wulin¡¯s aid.


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and shot his gaze at the referee. ¡°Did we win yet?¡±


    His simple question resounded throughout the entire arena.


    All eyes were glued on him. In this match between the titans of the next generation, the victors were now clear. There was no room for doubt.


    The Imperial Sun Moon Academy team had the Holy Radiant Dragon, a Skytiger soul fusion skill, and a Ice Goddess fusion skill. Yet they still lost! It was a complete and utter defeat!


    ¡°Can you tell us what the name of your soul fusion skill is?¡± the referee asked.


    Tang Wulin stared back at him blankly. Its name? He hadn¡¯t a clue. The first time he had used it, he and Gu Yue lost consciousness for a long time and they didn¡¯t dare try it again. Today was only his second time using the skill. Perhaps it was due to their increase in strength that they hadn¡¯t immediately passed out. After all that was said, he still didn¡¯t have a name for the fusion skill!


    But it turned out he didn¡¯t need to worry. ¡°Divine Dragon Transformation.¡± Gu Yue croaked.

 Chapter 461 - The First Transformation: Divine Dragon Awakens

    Chapter 461 - The First Transformation: Divine Dragon Awakens


    ¡°Divine Dragon Transformation?¡± The referee cracked a bitter smile. ¡°Fine. You win.¡±


    Tang Wulin grinned. He waved at the silent audience, who were too stunned to make a peep. Then with a smirk, he moved a finger to his lips and shushed them.


    Xie Xie nudged Tang Wulin as he supported his captain, urging him to make their getaway. If not, then they would soon be drenched in a rain of spit. He paused to readjust his grip on Tang Wulin. ¡°You really are a glutton.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at him, confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Rolling his eyes, Xie Xie said, ¡°You¡¯re so heavy. Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±


    Silent, Tang Wulin brought a hand to his belly, patting and prodding the flesh. Xie Xie rolled his eyes again at the sight.


    Finished with his inspection, Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue. Her eyes were closed, and she was only standing thanks to Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s support.


    He leaned toward Gu Yue, speaking softly into her ear. ¡°Is the skill really called the Divine Dragon Transformation? Or did you just come up with that name?¡±


    Her eyes burst open. She stared into his own, whispering, ¡°Divine Dragon Transformation. The first transformation is Divine Dragon Awakens.¡±


    ¡°Is there a second transformation?¡± Tang Wulin asked, eyes wide.


    ¡°Yes. Divine Dragon¡¯s Nine Transformations.¡± Though weak, her voice carried a forceful edge.


    A shiver ran down Tang Wulin¡¯s spine. But he was too exhausted to pursue the topic any further.


    Imperial Sun Moon Academy¡¯s staff and students alike watched as the six left the premises, faces pinched in conflict. No matter how prideful they might be, they couldn¡¯t deny the strength of the Shrek Academy students. In a six versus six battle, despite having three Soul Ancestors and two soul fusion skills, their team still suffered a total defeat.


    The words from the megaphone rang true: today they were shown the gap in strength between Shrek Academy and themselves.


    ?


    Tang Wulin and his friends stumbled out of the elevator, arms flailing and elbows jutting into each other. They were in a hurry to leave the Imperial Sun Moon Academy.


    The moment they crossed the gates, they were startled by an impenetrable crowd. They knew Bright City was highly populated, but this went beyond their imagination.


    The match had been broadcasted to every household and public television in all of Bright City. Countless people had watched the entire match with bated breath, on the edge of their seats. Now many of them were coming to see the victors with their own eyes.


    Tang Wulin stuffed a pork bun into his mouth and took a deep breath. He gritted his teeth. He couldn¡¯t fall unconscious now. Gu Yue, on the other hand, didn¡¯t seem to carry that same goal, eyes shut tight. Whether she was awake or not was anyone¡¯s guess.


    It¡¯d be great if we had a car right now! Tang Wulin rubbed his forehead. Unfortunately for them, they had abandoned their car on the highway.


    As he was drowning in self-pity, a car dove from the sky and landed right in front of them. The door swung open to reveal Wu Zhangkong in the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Get in.¡±


    Teacher Wu! Tang Wulin burst into a smile.


    The six young men and women dashed into the car. Once they were strapped in, the doors closed and Wu Zhangkong took off. They sat nervously in their seats as the vehicle soared, accelerating through the sky.


    ?


    In a conference room tucked within the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, elderly and middle-aged men sat at a round table, their faces grim.


    ¡°Well, speak up. What do you all think of the match?¡± All eyes moved to the speaker, an elderly man sitting at the head of the table.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I should say,¡± said a middle-aged man seated next to the first speaker. ¡°Be it in terms of martial soul or battle prowess, we should have been superior. But they still managed to beat us in the end. Although there were six of them, one of the Shrek Academy students was a food-type. As such, they basically had five combatants.¡± Shaking his head, he said ¡°The one we should pay the most attention to is that Tang Wulin. He was able to tip the scales in their favor by defeating Long Chen in an instant. I still can¡¯t understand how he did it. Just how was Long Chen eliminated so quickly? From what we saw of his strength afterward, Tang Wulin shouldn¡¯t have been able to overwhelm Long Chen like that.¡±


    ¡°I asked Long Chen about that earlier,¡± said another man. ¡°Apparently, his martial soul and soul power were struck with fear when he faced Tang Wulin. It made it impossible to bring out his full strength. Just think about their seven-colored soul fusion skill. It was outrageously oppressive. It was the aura of a tyrant.¡±


    The elder at the head of the table frowned. ¡°It¡¯s not just tyrannical might. No, it must have been martial soul and attribute suppression as well.¡± His eyes flashed with a solemn light. ¡°A higher being dominating those below it.¡±


    ¡°How can that be?¡± blurted out one of the academy executives. The rest broke into speculative murmurs.


    They could not comprehend such a situation. Long Chen¡¯s martial soul was the Holy Radiant Dragon! It was one of the martial souls that stood at the very apex of the world. In fact, his was a stronger variant. They had nearly spent their entire annual budget just to lure him away from joining Shrek Academy.


    Furthermore, among draconic martial souls, the Holy Radiant Dragon was among the cream of the crop. It was hard for them to believe that there was a dragon higher up on the hierarchy.


    ¡°The facts are facts, even if we struggle to believe them. That Tang Wulin must have a dragon martial soul as well, and one that outclasses every other dragon. Out of the countless dragon martial souls, only a few like the Beast God of the Great Star Dou Forest can overwhelm the Holy Radiant Dragon,¡± said the elder, deep in thought.


    As the Headmaster of the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, it was true that he couldn¡¯t tolerate their shameful defeat. But that was just it. Shame. What truly sank his heart, the elephant in the room, was the disparity in strength between Shrek Academy and themselves.


    He had placed his hopes on this generation¡¯s representative team. In fact, the full team numbered seven, not six. They were the Imperial Sun Moon Academy¡¯s Seven Shining Stars. They were the champions that were supposed to defeat Shrek Academy¡¯s team. Yet in their debut match, they themselves were defeated.


    This has to be one of their schemes! The headmaster gritted his teeth I bet Shrek already knew about our Seven Stars. They specially targeted them. There¡¯s no way we would have lost otherwise!


    A senior executive interrupted his internal agony. ¡°Is the Beast God you¡¯re talking about the Gold-eyed Black Dragon King, Beast God Di Tian?¡±


    The Headmaster nodded. ¡°Yes, him. He¡¯s the reason why the Great Star Dou Forest still exists. His cultivation level is already over eight hundred thousand years, the true lord of the soul beasts. I¡¯m not sure how many four-word battle armor masters it would take just to stall him in his human form. He had escaped with a several other soul beasts years ago when we attempted to neutralize them, and now they hide in the heart of the Great Star Dou Forest. With them occupying the forest, it¡¯s become a forbidden area.


    ¡°That Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul¡¯s aura was really bright, nothing like the Gold-eyed Black Dragon King¡¯s. It must be another supreme dragon that Shrek Academy dug up. He only has three rings at the moment, but he already possesses a piece of one-word battle armor. His future is unimaginable. We have to investigate him.¡± Bringing a hand to his chin, the Headmaster continued, ¡°Investigate that Gu Yue girl as well. Her three blue fireballs consumed over half of the Skytiger soul fusion skill¡¯s power. Despite acting only once throughout the battle, she had done so at a crucial moment. We can¡¯t underestimate her.


    ¡°There¡¯s also that Ye Xinglan.¡± He started counting on his fingers. ¡°She¡¯s even stronger than Liushuang. Her Stargod Sword Arts are simply at a higher level. And that girl who summoned the gold light. Her control skills are unbelievable. She was even able to restrain the Ice Goddess for a split second.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that even in a one-on-one scenario, each of their members outclass ours. Examine the match thoroughly. I want data and an analysis of every second.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡±


    ?


    Moments after the car had taken to the air, a wave of dizziness crashed upon Tang Wulin. Darkness encroached on his vision from the sides. His body felt heavy and limp, and he could barely sit up straight in his seat. The pressure of the match and the Divine Dragon Transformation had drained him of energy. Not only did it consume his soul power, but his blood essence and mental strength as well. A second later, he gave in to the call of slumber.


    In his dreams, the Golden Dragon King¡¯s fourth seal bulged and bent to some unseen force, on the verge of cracking entirely.


    ¡°Wake up,¡± someone whispered into his ear.


    He opened his eyes and found himself in the palace in the depths of his mind. Standing before him, a shimmering golden figure.


    ¡°Old Tang,¡± Tang Wulin said. It had been a while since they last met.


    ¡°Boy, you really know how to make people worry!¡± Old Tang sighed.


    Tang Wulin stared at Old Tang, concern clouding his eyes. ¡°Old Tang, what happened?¡±

 Chapter 462 - Crisis of the Fourth Seal

    Chapter 462 - Crisis of the Fourth Seal


    ¡°Your fourth seal will only last three more months. You have to find the necessary spirit items and break the seal before then,¡± Old Tang said grimly.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin gaped. ¡°Isn¡¯t that too soon? Didn¡¯t I have plenty of time?¡±


    ¡°At first, things were fine. Your strength was growing fast enough to handle the later seals and you were eating food that bolstered your blood essence. However, you did something that  loosened the Golden Dragon King seals. Cracks have appeared in the fourth sea and the suppressed Golden Dragon King power within is beginning to stir. If you don¡¯t break the seal and take the power for yourself soon, the seal will collapse and the energies will run rampant in your body. At that moment, you might die. Tell me what you have been doing that may have caused this.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped. The first thing that came to his mind was his soul fusion skill with Gu Yue.


    ¡°A soul fusion skill?¡± he blurted out.


    ¡°Soul fusion skill?¡± Old Tang asked in astonishment. ¡°There¡¯s someone you can use a soul fusion skill with? Impossible!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Gu Yue told me our soul fusion skill is called the Dragon God¡¯s Nine Transformations. I didn¡¯t get a chance to ask her about its specifics though.¡± Tang Wulin proceeded to recount all that had happened to him recently.


    Old Tang listened quietly, knitting his brows from time to time, and pressing his lips tightly together as his shimmering figure hovered there.


    ¡°I can¡¯t make any sense of it either. No one should be able to use a soul fusion skill with you. The Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline has transformed your body into something that is is nothing like an ordinary human anymore. According to your story, that soul fusion skill consumed your soul power, blood essence, and spiritual power. All of these are the markers of a one hundred percent fusion rate for a fusion skill, meaning  that Gu Yue girl¡¯s martial soul is compatible with yours. Except, you said her martial soul is the Elementalist. That can¡¯t be. I can¡¯t think of any other martial soul that could be compatible with you either.¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t expect that even Old Tang was baffled by this. ¡°If even you don¡¯t know, then should I go ask my teachers?¡±


    Old Tang shook his head. ¡°They don¡¯t understand your situation, let alone your soul fusion skill. I¡¯ll think about this carefully and see if I can find any clues. In the meantime, you have two urgent matters to attend to. First, you need to find the four spirit items within three months. With your current body strength, absorbing the power of the fourth seal should be easy. Second, absolutely do not use that soul fusion skill in the future unless you absolutely have to. It provokes the Golden Dragon King¡¯s energy within you and weakens the seals. If you use it again, you might have to break two seals at the same time and you¡¯ll be doomed to death. Understood?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart tightened and he quickly nodded. ¡°Got it. I won¡¯t use it unless I have to.¡±


    ¡°Good. Also, since the fourth seal has been weakened, the timeline for the other seals have shifted as well. I¡¯ll tell you how long you have as we go. Even I can¡¯t evaluate them properly right now. Just do your best to prepare.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled bitterly. ¡°Just be direct with me. I need to go make more money to buy spirit items.¡±


    Old Tang gave a warm smile. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s pretty much it. You don¡¯t need to be too anxious about it though. With your body as strong as it is now, you should be able to handle the next three seals. Your constitution will also continue to improve as you absorb the power of the Golden Dragon King. The effects will become far more apparent once you have four soul rings.¡±


    The Golden Dragon King bloodline was like a double-edged sword for Tang Wulin. Although it offered immense power, it came at a high price. Tang Wulin¡¯s head started to ache as his thoughts reached to how he would acquire the four spirit items needed for the seal. Fortunately, he lived in Shrek City now, the greatest city on the continent. Spirit items were in abundance there. He wasn¡¯t too worried about money either. As long as he could smith, earning money wouldn¡¯t be too hard.


    I¡¯ll go visit the Tang Sect when we get back. I need to earn some contribution points. The prices for spirit items are a bit cheaper there.


    Light and darkness swirled before his eyes. A moment later, Old Tang and the golden hall disappeared and he was back in darkness. As his consciousness faded away, a question appeared in his mind. If I gain a blood essence soul ring every two seals, then what kind of soul skill will i get from my second gold ring?


    ?


    When Tang Wulin woke up, he was lying on a bed. He raised a sore arm to rub his aching head, letting out a long groan as he opened his eyes.


    A chubby face popped out above him. ¡°Wulin, you¡¯re awake!¡± Xu Lizhi flashed his usual silly smile.


    ¡°Ugh. My head hurts. Where are we?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re already back at Shrek. Don¡¯t you recognize our dorm room?¡±


    ¡°Huh? We¡¯re back?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. Before he lost consciousness, they were still in Bright City! The distance between Shrek City and Bright City was by no means small. Just how long was I asleep?


    ¡°Teacher Wu¡¯s flying car is really fast, much faster than a soul train! It only took us five hours to get back,¡± Xu Lizhi explained.


    ¡°That fast? Wow! Flying cars are so convenient! We should buy one next time!¡± Tang Wulin was amazed but also disappointed that he hadn¡¯t been conscious for the ride. He had missed out on an amazing experience!


    On the other hand, Xu Lizhi broke out into a cold sweat. ¡°It¡¯s nowhere near as amazing as you think. I feel sick just remembering the ride. Xiaoyan puked from the shaking, and I almost did too. Only Xie Xie and Xinglan seemed unfazed. You and Gu Yue were shaking in your seats too! Lucky for you, you weren¡¯t awake. Anyway, that soul fusion skill is so awesome! You¡¯ve gotta be hungry after that. You want something to eat?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m starving! I¡¯ll eat until you¡¯re out of soul power,¡± Tang Wulin said happily.


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been exaggerating. For the next hour, he shoved pork buns into his mouth so fast it was like a raging waterfall. The only reason he hadn¡¯t eaten for longer was that Xu Lizhi¡¯s soul power ran out, so he had to meditate.


    After Tang Wulin filled his belly with pork buns, a comfortable warmth spread throughout his body. His energy was quickly replenishing.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body was far stronger than the last time he had used soul fusion skill, so the side effects weren¡¯t as serious this time. In fact, they were relatively minor.


    After examining his condition for a bit, Tang Wulin decided to test it in the future. First though, he had some matters to attend to. After the end-of-semester exam was a month of vacation. He needed to get his affairs in order before then, and find out whether his entire class passed or not.


    Tang Wulin had to meditate for a bit before he had the strength to walk. When he got out of his bed, he found that all of his confiscated possessions were arranged neatly on his desk. He picked up his soul communicator and called Wu Zhangkong.


    The moment Wu Zhangkong picked up, he told Tang Wulin he would come right over and to wait in his own room.


    Minutes later, the handsome Ice Prince, Wu Zhangkong, entered.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, how did we do on our exam?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Full marks and bonus points.¡±

 Chapter 463 - Tang Sect Headquarters

    Chapter 463 - Tang Sect Headquarters


    Tang Wulin let out a deep breath, expelling the tension within him. ¡°That¡¯s great. Please divide my bonus points between my classmates who are in risk of failing.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked. ¡°Your points will determine whether you can enter the inner court or not.¡±


    Tang Wulin stood firm. ¡°Yeah. I have no doubts that the points are only one aspect of the assessment anyway. Isn¡¯t strength also a deciding factor? Plus, we won a lot of honor for Shrek this time. The Academy should be giving us more than just bonus points! Did the higher-ups say anything about a reward?¡±


    ¡°Yes. In fact, the academy has rewarded me already. They docked one year¡¯s bonus for using Shrek¡¯s name in a conflict with a rival academy and nearly damaging our reputation. Do you still want a reward? I can ask the Academy for you.¡±


    Tang Wulin gawked at Wu Zhangkong, his hands a pair of blurs in his gesture of refusal. ¡°N-no! I¡¯m fine! I don¡¯t have any money! None at all!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong couldn¡¯t help but crack a wry smile. ¡°Are you sure? Don¡¯t blame me later, okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I don¡¯t want it!¡± Tang Wulin answered, no hesitations. Just thinking about the fines Elder Cai had imposed on him still brought him to tears.


    ¡°I see. Then I shall refuse in your stead. Though, you wouldn¡¯t be penalized for your match since it was part of your exam and I promised  to take responsibility as your teacher.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll inform Elder Cai that you don¡¯t want a spot in the Shrek Seven Monsters competition.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin struggled to break free of shock. ¡°Teacher Wu, why do you have to be like that? You¡¯re just playing tricks on me again!¡±


    Voice tinged cold, Wu Zhangkong said ¡°Trick you? What do you mean by that?¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times, taken aback by his teacher¡¯s sudden change in aura. It¡¯s fine to tease me, but could you not put on such an cold expression while you¡¯re at it? I can barely tell you¡¯re joking! Jeez!


    ¡°Apart from that, the entire class was awarded ten extra points in celebration of your victory. With these extra points, no one is in danger of failing this semester. You¡¯ve proven yourself an excellent class president.¡±


    Tang Wulin stood silent and still, clearly trying to process what had just been said. A beat later he was up in the air, pumping his fist with a grin. Yes! This is great!


    ¡°There are still a few more days until the rest of your classmates get back. Just rest for now, said Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Will you be staying on campus or going somewhere for the upcoming vacation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to stay. I don¡¯t have anywhere to go anyway.¡± With Tang Wulin¡¯s parents still missing and with no other family to speak of, staying on campus was the best option. Besides, he still had to obtain the four spirit items needed to break the fourth seal. Otherwise, to say things wouldn¡¯t look too good would be an understatement. There was no way he¡¯d risk letting the seal collapse on its own. He had to take the initiative.


    ¡°Hm. Alright. Teacher told me to relay a message to you,¡± said Wu Zhangkong. ¡°You are invited to stay with him for a few days during your vacation. He wants to guide you in your cultivation.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Tang Wulin could hardly stop smiling, eager to learn more from Zhuo Shi. Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens had strengthened him by leaps and bounds. As such, he could only imagine what else Zhuo Shi had in store for him, especially with Zhuo Shi¡¯s status as a TItled Douluo and his draconic martial soul.


    Wu Zhangkong pointed at the bed. ¡°Now go rest. The exam ends in five days. After everyone else returns, there¡¯ll be a simple class meeting to conclude the semester.¡±


    ?


    Severe. This one word fully described the side effects of the Divine Dragon Transformation. It was a struggle to regain his strength, a heavy lethargy clinging to his body, weighing him down like a sack of bricks. Tang Wulin spent every free moment for the next five days meditating. Although his recovery rate greatly improved since the last time, five days only resulted in regaining seventy percent of his strength. He still couldn¡¯t exert himself much either, otherwise his body would feel hollow again.


    Tomorrow marked the final day of class for the semester. Therefore, Tang Wulin decided to visit the local Tang Sect. It had been a long time since he last stepped through its doors, so he needed to report in. He called up Xie Xie and Xu Lizhi and the three went together.


    The local Tang Sect was located in the inner city, which Shrek Academy occupied only half of. The other half, naturally, was the domain of the Tang Sect.


    The Tang Sect had two headquarters. One in Shrek City and the other in Heaven Dou City. The headquarters in Heaven Dou City was the original while the one in Shrek City was where, under the leadership of the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao,  the Tang Sect experienced a resurgence in power.


    The Spirit Ice Douluo had restructured the Tang Sect. He launched an initiative to research soul devices, combining them with hidden weapons to create weapons of mass destruction. His reforms revived the Tang Sect¡¯s dying glory and elevated the Tang Sect to heights greater than before, a phoenix bursting forth from its ashes. From then on, the Tang Sect¡¯s foundation was unshakeable.


    Back in that era, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had cooperated to establish Tang Sect¡¯s half of the inner city. The two organizations had close ties for a while, both working together to further the usages of soul devices.


    However, with the advent of battle armor, Shrek Academy was quick to adopt the new technology and no longer placed as much emphasis on soul devices. Since then, the two organizations had slowly drifted apart once more.


    Upon arriving at the headquarters, Tang Wulin caught sight of a vermillion door. Above it hung a sapphire signboard with golden trim. Golden letters spelled out ¡®Tang Sect¡¯. The building had an antique feel to it, short and humble, not spanning an excessive amount of space. Like a building straight from a small town.


    Tang Wulin and the others placed their palms on the identification scanner and a moment later, the doors opened to let them in. Having visited once before with Wu Zhangkong, this was nothing new to them.


    The first thing on their agenda was to report in and finish the missions they had previously accepted. Updating their personal records was also on the list. They were eager to see how much they had grown.


    A smile slide across Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. His soul power reached rank 34. All the food he had shovelled into his stomach hadn¡¯t gone to waste. His cultivation speed had increased ever since he entered Shrek Academy, especially after eating those treasures from Feng Wuyu.


    The report didn¡¯t end there. Tang Wulin still had to register his gauntlet.


    Although he couldn¡¯t register himself as a one-word battle armor master with the Spirit Pagoda or name his armor until he completed the full set, it was worthy of being recorded down at the Tang Sect. Especially with how much it empowered him.


    After the three of them finished reporting, Tang Wulin approached the mission desk. He didn¡¯t have any missions to turn in. Instead, he browsed the spirit item list in search of the four he needed to break his fourth seal. This was his main objective today.


    He was soon able to cross two of them off his list. The other two spirit items, while technically on the listings, were of the wrong age level. If he got something too old, then it would be wasteful. Too young and it wouldn¡¯t be strong enough. He sighed. He would have to come up with some other way to get the last two items.


    While Tang Wulin calculated his points, contemplating whether he could afford to buy the two spirit items on the listings, a stranger called out to him. ¡°Tang Wulin?¡±


    Tang Wulin stood up straight and turned to see who it was. A middle-aged man of average stature walked over. He had an honest-looking face and a simple smile.


    ¡°Hello. May I ask who you are?¡± Tang Wulin was on high alert. After improving his blood essence, his senses had grown keener. Not even Wu Zhangkong could sneak this close to him without him noticing. But this man had done so. This man had given him a fright. Even as he looked the man straight in the eyes, he couldn¡¯t sense his presence at all. It was as if there were a void where the man stood, as if he were a phantom. But Tang Wulin was certain that the man was real and existed. He simply had a cultivation level far higher than Wu Zhangkong¡¯s.


    ¡°Hello, Tang Wulin. I¡¯m Guo Xiaoxu, the general manager of this Tang Sect headquarters.¡± He examined Tang Wulin as he spoke, looking him up and down. His gaze was gentle, but his eyes were deep and profound and upon first glance, could swallow everything whole.

 Chapter 464 - Palace Lord

    Chapter 464 - Palace Lord


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. The general manager of the Shrek City Tang Sect Headquarters?


    Tang Wulin was well acquainted with the hierarchy of the Tang Sect. The associate rank, which was divided into nine classes, was at the bottom. Tang Wulin, himself, was a class six associate. Once an associate reached class nine and earned enough contribution points, they could be promoted to manager. There were three levels of managers: probationary manager, outer hall manager, and inner hall manager. Tang Wulin remembered hearing that Wu Zhangkong, a two-word battle armor master, had the qualifications to be an inner hall manager. Above managers were the true executives of the Tang Sect.


    The Tang Sect had various branches across the continent, each with inner and outer halls. An outer hall was typically made up of subdivisions, specifically an Agility Hall, a Defense Hall, and a Power Hall. Outer hall disciples belonged to one of the three and primarily took care of external affairs related to the Tang Sect¡¯s corporate operations. An inner hall of the Tang Sect was composed of an Enforcement Hall, a Battle Hall, and a Holy Hall. Very few disciples were allowed into the inner court, and those that were also had their own specializations.


    Only managers had the privilege of entering an inner hall. They also enjoyed a high salary as part of their position, unlike associates who were stuck working for their outer hall until they earned a promotion. Regardless of position, however, the Tang Sect did not impose strict work requirements on its disciples, especially those like Tang Wulin who were under twenty years of age. Younger disciples only had to focus on cultivating and improving themselves.


    Above managers of inner halls, each branch had a branchmaster and a general manager. General managers held authority comparable to that of a Branchmaster. Beyond the various branches, however, there was the Douluo Palace, the core of the Tang Sect where all administrative power was concentrated. Only those with the highest levels of authority were allowed to enter the Douluo Palace. That meant that every hall and its subdivisions reported to those of the Douluo Palace, all of whom were equivalent to branchmasters!


    Guo Xiaoxu, the man standing before Tang Wulin now, was a general manager. Normal general managers held authority on par with that of an outer branchmaster, but this man was the general manager of the headquarters in Shrek City! Although Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know exactly how much authority Guo Xiaoxu possessed, he could safely assume that the man wielded quite a bit.


    ¡°Hello, General Manager Guo.¡± Tang Wulin bowed in respect.


    Guo Xiaoxu smiled. ¡°You really are a smart kid. I watched your match with the Imperial Sun Moon Academy. It was a great performance. You did well. You kids weren¡¯t just representing Shrek Academy, the five of you are Tang Sect disciples! To encourage you to keep working hard, the Douluo Palace has decided to reward you.¡±


    Reward? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up. He could barely contain his excitement as he said, ¡°Thank you, General Manager Guo.¡±


    Guo Xiaoxu looked at Tang Wulin warmly. ¡°Each of you can choose one Tang Sect secret art to learn, free of charge. You will also be awarded ten thousand contribution points each. However, these points are only meant for buying things and will not count toward your total points.¡±


    Since the points didn¡¯t count toward their total point count, Tang Wulin and his team couldn¡¯t use them to be promoted. Even so, ten thousand points could buy a lot. If Tang Wulin accounted for the points he already had, that meant he would have enough to buy two spirit items. These points couldn¡¯t have come at a better time!


    ¡°You three go ahead and pick what art you want,¡± Guo Xiaoxu said to Tang Wulin, turning to Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie as well. The two had arrived some time ago. ¡°When you get back, tell Ye Xinglan and Xu Xiaoyan to do the same.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you!¡± the three exclaimed in unison. They were completely satisfied with their rewards.


    Tang Wulin currently knew three Tang Sect secret arts: Purple Demon Eyes, the Mysterious Heaven Method, and Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon.


    Xu Lizhi knew Mysterious Jade Hands, Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, the Mysterious Heaven Method, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, and a few hidden weapon techniques.


    Xie Xie only knew two secrets arts: the Mysterious Heaven Method and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step.


    Xu Xiaoyan knew the Mysterious Heaven Method and Purple Demon Eyes.


    Ye Xinglan knew the Mysterious Heaven Method, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, and the Mysterious Jade Hands.


    Once all five of them learned another Tang Sect secret art, their strength would grow significantly.


    Tang Wulin chose Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step without hesitation. He already had plenty of attack power, and his lack of mobility was currently his greatest weakness on the battlefield. Since he only had close-ranged attacks, learning Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step would provide him with a way to close in on his targets. It was a better choice than the Mysterious Jade Hands since he already had his dragon claw.


    Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie both chose Purple Demon Eyes in order to cultivate their spiritual strength. They needed to have sufficient spiritual power for when they fused with another spirit soul. Furthermore, Purple Demon Eyes enhanced its user¡¯s eyesight and could unleash a spiritual attack once it had been trained to a high enough level.


    Apart from the foundational Mysterious Heaven Method, everyone in Tang Wulin¡¯s group agreed that Purple Demon Eyes was the most useful art.


    Although he now had enough points to buy two spirit items, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t in a rush to buy them. He refrained from doing so because he was worried about how he would store them afterward. He decided that he would buy them after obtaining the two he couldn¡¯t get at the Tang Sect. Having come to this decision, he asked Guo Xiaoxu to reserve the two items for him for a fee of one thousand points.


    Guo Xiaoxu watched the trio of kids leave in high spirits, then he wandered off to a conference room. The room exuded an air of ancientness. Every single item in the sparsely decorated room was clearly there for a reason. Each was a priceless treasure.


    Guo Xiaoxu walked over to the table in the room and took a seat, giving a curt nod to the six men who were already seated. A young man in his twenties sat at the head of the table. He had long black hair that reached his shoulders and a pair of silver eyes.


    ¡°How were they?¡± asked a bald man seated across from Guo Xiaoxu. Tang Wulin would have recognized this man to be Branchmaster Zhao.


    Guo Xiaoxu cracked a wry smile. ¡°You can rest easy, Shiny Head! Let me tell you all about them.¡±


    ¡°Call me that again and I¡¯ll kick your ass!¡± Branchmaster Zhao rubbed his shiny, bald head.


    ¡°Those kids aren¡¯t too shabby,¡± Guo Xiaoxu said, ignoring the remark. ¡°Tang Wulin in particular, he¡¯s something special. I think we can accept him into the Battle Hall as soon as he gets his fourth ring. Xu Lizhi isn¡¯t too bad either, he¡¯s a rare food type. Xie Xie isn¡¯t quite as good, but since he has twin martial souls, he would be good material for us to work with. We¡¯ll definitely need to give him a lot of guidance though. Actually, I think we can take all three of them into the Battle Hall once they get their fourth rings.¡±


    The young man at the head of the table nodded. ¡°What do you think, everyone?¡±


    The man¡¯s voice was sweet, charming, and had a sort of magnetism to it. The moment he spoke, everyone at the table sat straighter in their chairs and turned to him with eyes full of respect.


    A muscular middle-aged man said, ¡°I think having them go directly to the inner hall from the outer hall after getting their fourth rings is too hasty. They would do well to spend some time at my Defense Hall first.¡±


    Branchmaster Zhao snorted. ¡°Your Defense Hall only does odd jobs. If they¡¯re gonna do anything in the outer hall, then it should be with my Power Hall!¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡± The young man eyed the two. ¡°Jade needs to be sculpted carefully, but we can¡¯t be wasting time either. Have them join the Battle Hall. I¡¯ll let you handle them, Xiaoxu. You can invest more resources in them than usual. That kid Wu Zhangkong should be close to becoming a three-word battle armor master as well. We¡¯ll have him join the Holy Hall with a silver ribbon when he does.¡±


    Guo Xiaoxu stood up and bowed. ¡°Yes, Palace Lord.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all for today,¡± the Palace Lord announced.¡± I still need to go back to the Academy. There has been a lot of evil soul master activity lately. Send a message to all of our branches. Warn them to stay vigilant. Our Battle Hall will lead the operation to clean things up.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Everyone stood and bowed. ¡°Goodbye, Palace Lord.¡±


    The lights in the room flickered, going dim for a moment.


    Then the Palace Lord was gone.

 Chapter 465 - Gu Yue, Confess!

    Chapter 465 - Gu Yue, Confess!


    ¡°Xie Xie and Lizhi, please keep what I¡¯ll be saying next in mind. The Purple Demon Eyes is an art that requires daily morning cultivation, and the cultivation is slow to say so the least. You can¡¯t rush it. I¡¯ll teach you two how to train it tomorrow morning,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Xie Xie brought a hand to his lips. ¡°Then how about I teach you the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step in the afternoon?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± Tang Wulin flashed a smile.


    A distance away, Yue Zhengyu leaned against a wall, lips pursed and eyes glued to the trio. ¡°They¡¯re so lucky. How come I never have such luck?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t go out much. Have you hit rank 40 yet?¡± asked Yuanen Yehui, careful to keep a five meter space between them.


    ¡°Yeah. I did. Just wait until I get my second spirit soul¡­ Hehe. You better watch out for your class president position.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui snickered.


    Snorting, Yue Zhengyu continued, ¡°We¡¯ll see once the next semester starts.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t go easy on you. Don¡¯t blame me if you lose a limb or two.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu sent a heated glare her way but otherwise said nothing.  He didn¡¯t have much confidence facing her.


    ?


    The door to the dormitory shut behind Gu Yue with a muted click. As Ye Xinglan and Xue Xiaoyan had gone to receive their rewards from the Tang Sect, their shared room was now empty with her departure.


    A bit of color returned to her pale cheeks as she breathed in the fresh air and stretched her limbs.


    In the middle of practicing the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, Tang Wulin immediately noticed Gu Yue. Dropping everything he was doing, he broke into a jog toward her.


    ¡°How are you feeling? Doing any better?¡± Tang Wulin asked, concerned over her slower recovery rate.


    ¡°Yeah. A bit. Don¡¯t worry about me. I just need some more time,¡± Gu Yue said. If Tang Wulin weren¡¯t right in front of her, he would have missed her words.


    He cracked a small smile, hesitating before asking, ¡°Can we go to your place for a minute? There¡¯s something I want to talk to you about.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Gu Yue tilted her head slightly, peering at him through thick lashes. Eyes bright and wide. But she nodded a moment later. ¡°Okay. Come on then.¡±


    Watching from a distance, Xie Xie whistled and blew kisses at the couple. Standing nearby was Yuanen Yehui, who curled her lip in disgust. She made for her room without looking back.


    As soon as Tang Wulin stepped into the girls¡¯ room, he was submerged in pink and softness. The beds were made and the desks stood free of clutter. He rubbed a fingertip across a window pane and stared at the clean, dust-free patch of skin. Totally different from the boys¡¯ room.


    Gu Yue sat on her bed then pointed at a chair for Tang Wulin.


    Although they were together every day for classes, the two rarely had time to talk alone. Especially since she at times would give him the cold shoulder.


    ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡± The object of her affections sitting so near, Gu Yue¡¯s heart raced.


    Despite being only fourteen, Tang Wulin already carried the makings of a man, and they were becoming more and more apparent each day. Standing over 170 centimeters, he had a muscular but lean build. His face, handsome and bright, combined with large eyes framed by long lashes, brought most girls to a blush. But not Gu Yue. She was different. She was used to looking at those appealing features.


    ¡°Gu Yue, confess!¡± Tang Wulin demanded.

 Chapter 466 - Against the Wall

    Chapter 466 - Against the Wall


    Gu Yue¡¯s face flushed a delicious pink. She wrapped her arms around herself, around the curves that were starting to grow more pronounced. Girls developed faster than boys after all. And like most other girls, she already entertained herself with thoughts of romance.


    Never in her life had Gu Yue allowed another boy to touch her. Not even Xie Xie or Xu Lizhi. But for some reason, for some strange and wonderful and mysterious reason, she didn¡¯t mind it with Tang Wulin. In fact, sometimes she even took the initiative. Owing to her dominating personality, she would often separate him from other girls. And Tang Wulin, oblivious to this the first couple of instances, couldn¡¯t help but notice these actions as time passed. As they occured more and more often. He soon grew used to Gu Yue¡¯s hot and cold attitude toward him and her indifference toward everyone else. His special relationship with Gu Yue brought him joy, but deep in his heart he always knew there was some sort of barrier standing between them. He didn¡¯t know what it was, but he knew it existed.


    ¡°Confess? Confess what?¡± Gu Yue asked, her cheeks still rosy and panic flashing in her eyes.


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®confess what¡¯? We both know what I¡¯m talking about. Out with it.¡±


    Her fingers played with the hem of her clothes. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Wulin asked, looking straight into her eyes.


    Gu Yue shook her head, averting her gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°What is the Divine Dragon Transformation? You¡¯re the one who said its name, so how could you not know?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes glazed over, her mind blanking out in shock. She turned back to face him. ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re talking about?¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times. ¡°Yeah. What did you think I was talking about?¡±


    Gu Yue kicked his shin angrily and Tang Wulin chuckled, not bothering to dodge it. He even brought his leg up hopping, exaggeratedly howling in pain.


    ¡°That really hurts! I think you broke a bone. Gu Yue, you have to take responsibility!¡± Tang Wulin said, a mischievous smile tugging on his lips.


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes. ¡°Serves you right. If you have something to say, then say it. Don¡¯t just come to joke around.¡± She pointed at the door. ¡°If you¡¯ve had enough fun, then hurry up and leave.¡±


    The pained screams came to an abrupt halt. Tang Wulin¡¯s expression grew serious, eyes narrowing into slits. ¡°What is the Dragon God¡¯s Transformation?¡±


    ¡°I made it up,¡± Gu Yue said.


    ¡°M-made it up?¡± Tang Wulin gaped at her. ¡°Then that stuff about the first transformation being Divine Dragon Awakens was made up too?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Doesn¡¯t it sound cool?¡± Gu Yue said with her hands on her hips.


    ¡°You win.¡± Tang Wulin rose to his feet and made to leave. Gu Yue didn¡¯t say a word to stop him.


    At the door, Tang Wulin finally glanced back. ¡°You really came up with those names on your own?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Lying is bad you know!¡±


    Gue Yue snorted. ¡°So childish.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. In fact, I can tell you¡¯re lying. I see it in your eyes. Good kids don¡¯t lie!¡± Tang Wulin said righteously, wagging his finger.


    Gu Yue arched her brow. ¡°So what are you going to do about it?¡±


    In one quick, fluid motion, Tang Wulin appeared right before her, his hands clutching at her shoulders. She yelped. Next thing she knew, he had her pressed against the wall, his arms on either side of her, a makeshift cage..


    Their eyes met. Tang Wulin brought his face closer to hers. A couple of inches separated their noses. She could feel his warm breath against her cheeks, could smell his unique and masculine scent with each breath. She somehow managed to blush even redder.


    ¡°W-what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Interrogating you!¡± Tang Wulin declared.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you!¡± Despite Gu Yue¡¯s meek voice, something foreign flickered in her eyes. Something bold. It was right there. Tang Wulin¡¯s face, fierce and determined, mere inches from hers. She closed her eyes, lashes splaying like a fan. And she pursed her lips. Faint elemental fluctuations rippled around her, ready to rampage at any moment.


    A rustle of cloth. Gu Yue opened her eyes. To her surprise, Tang Wulin had dropped his arms and let out a sigh.


    ¡°Fine. I can¡¯t do this. You win,¡± Tang Wulin shook his head and turned to leave. If she won¡¯t answer, then so be it. She did smell nice though.


    ¡°Get back here!¡± Gu Yue shouted after him.


    Tang Wulin glanced over his shoulder. ¡°No. If you won¡¯t trust me, then what¡¯s the point?¡±


    Gu Yue glared daggers at him. ¡°Fine. Leave then. I won¡¯t tell you.¡±


    In a flash, Tang Wulin appeared in front of her using his newly learned Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step.


    ¡°Tell me.¡± He pulled a chair over and sat down, looking at her inquisitively.


    She lowered her head in silence.


    ¡°Out with it already. You only have to tell me and no one else. I¡¯ll keep it a secret.¡±


    ¡°Actually, my martial soul is a dragon,¡± she muttered.


    ¡°A dragon?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s heartbeat quickened, blood thumping in his ears. His shirt stuck to his back, suddenly damp and sticky. ¡°Isn¡¯t it Elementalist?¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s also a dragon. Control over the elements is just how my martial soul manifests.¡±

 Chapter 467 - Seven-colored Dragon

    Chapter 467 - Seven-colored Dragon


    When it became clear Tang Wulin had no more to say, whether in surprise or focus, Gu Yue continued, words barely audible. ¡°Have you heard of the Seven-colored Dragon?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. Dragons were the most powerful type of soul beast on the continent and there were countless species and offshoots. Even those with true draconic blood flowing in their veins were numerous.


    Gu Yue smiled, sugary sweet. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to know anyway.¡±


    ¡°Well, tell me what it is then. I can¡¯t sense any bit of draconic aura on you! Your martial soul doesn¡¯t seem one bit like a dragon either,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Of course. The Seven-colored Dragon doesn¡¯t have scales and its looks shares few characteristics with most other dragons. The dragon side won¡¯t manifest until my cultivation reaches a higher level, and I¡¯m still far off from it. My Seven-colored Dragon is one of the strongest dragons you know! It¡¯s far more powerful than one of those single-element dragons. It¡¯s an elementalist, so I called my martial soul ¡®Elementalist¡¯ as well to hide its true nature. Look.¡± Gu Yue extended her hand and a black mass appeared in her palm. It was completely opaque, its shape everchanging, compressing and expanding like wisps of smoke.


    Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath the moment he laid eyes on it. ¡°I-is that darkness?¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°It is. I¡¯m able to control darkness, so I can use seven elements. Not six.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s like that,¡± Tang Wulin murmured, realization dawning on him. ¡°But why are you hiding the fact that you can use it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I really want to hide it. I just don¡¯t want people to misunderstand me for an evil soul master. It¡¯ll be really annoying if they did. My mom told me not to reveal it. Light and darkness conflicts anyway, so I can¡¯t use both at the same time.¡±


    ¡°How does this relate to our soul fusion skill then?¡±  Tang Wulin asked.


    A faint smile appeared on Gu Yue¡¯s lips. ¡°The Seven-colored Dragon controls the elements and the Golden Dragon controls the body. Legend has it that the Divine Dragon was split into two, becoming the Golden Dragon and the Seven-colored Dragon. You see how they¡¯re related now? That¡¯s why our soul fusion skill is like that.


    ¡°It¡¯s also normal that you can¡¯t sense any dragon aura from me. None of my martial soul¡¯s draconic characteristics will appear until I have seven soul rings. But I can still sense the Golden Dragon bloodline in you. It¡¯s so pure, so I¡¯m always drawn to you¡­¡±


    Gu Yue blushed, averting her eyes. ¡°A-anyway. That¡¯s the way it is. Our Divine Dragon Transformation combines the power of the elements and blood essence to unleash unstoppable might. Our cultivation bases are still too low though. We can¡¯t bring out the true power of the Divine Dragon Transformation yet, and that¡¯s also why the aftereffects are so severe.¡±


    Tang Wulin finally understood. Gu Yue hadn¡¯t activated their soul fusion skill by chance. She had known about it from the beginning. It was no wonder that she treated him so differently from others. It was all because of her martial soul.


    A trace of gloom settled in Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. Unfortunately, he had to avoid using the soul fusion skill in the future. His seals couldn¡¯t take it. At the very least, he couldn¡¯t risk using it until he broke his fourth seal. At that thought, expectation welled in him as he looked forward to the day all eighteen seals were broken.


    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s it. You can go now,¡± Gu Yue said, shooing him off.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°What¡¯s the rush? Shouldn¡¯t we discuss the Divine Dragon Transformation? Actually, I wanted to tell you, the Divine Dragon Transformation is harmful to my body. We can¡¯t use it in the future, even as a last resort.¡±


    ¡°It hurts you? Are you pretending to be weak, or¡­?¡± Gu Yue stared at him, wide-eyed.


    Tang Wulin went silent as he thought about how to respond. He couldn¡¯t possibly tell her about the Golden Dragon King seals. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to tell her, but that he was afraid of being called a freak. His circumstances were beyond strange after all. But Gu Yue had told him her secret, so he felt compelled to reciprocate her trust.


    Don¡¯t tell her. Old Tang¡¯s voice resounded in his head. Tang Wulin¡¯s heart trembled. He sucked in a breath and made his decision then and there.


    ¡°It¡¯s too powerful. All of the energy that it unleashes harms my meridian channels,¡± Tang Wulin said as he got up to leave. ¡°Well, I should be on my way.¡±


    Gu Yue watched as he made for the door, unease settling in her heart. It was clear Tang Wulin had wanted to tell her something but chose not to in the end. What was he going to say?


    After the door to Gu Yue¡¯s dorm room shut behind him, Tang Wulin headed straight back to his own and sent his consciousness into the depths of his mind.


    ¡°Old Tang, why not?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of the Seven-colored Dragon before. There are a few things off about what she told you. Although it¡¯s true that the Dragon God was split into two, those two halves were the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King. You have the powers of the Golden Dragon King sealed within you, not some regular Golden Dragon. The Golden Dragon is merely one of the children of the Golden Dragon King. Perhaps the Seven-colored Dragon is a descendent of the Silver Dragon King, but then shouldn¡¯t it be a Silver Dragon? That¡¯s the strange part. I¡¯ll need to think about this carefully. If the Seven-colored Dragon really does come from the Silver Dragon King, then her story is somewhat believable. Even so, you must never tell anyone about the eighteen Golden Dragon King seals within you.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    This complicated background story puzzled Tang Wulin. That the Golden Dragon King was one of the supreme dragons in the world, outclassing even the Holy Radiant Dragon, was no news to him. But the fact that Gu Yue¡¯s martial soul was the Seven-colored Dragon, which might have descended from the Silver Dragon King, shocked him. He needed time to put his thoughts in order.


    ?


    The end-of-semester exam soon concluded. Thanks to the bonus points awarded to everyone in the first grade, no one failed and celebrations for the whole class was in order.


    Shen Yi gave a brief summary of the exam¡¯s outcomes then announced the end of the semester and the start of their vacation.


    Although it was only their first semester, every student had gone through countless trials and gained much experience under their belts. Fearing expulsion, they had fought tooth and nail to improve themselves, more so than before entering Shrek Academy.


    Time had flown by during the semester. Each student was now clear on their objectives and the paths they must take to accomplish those. While they had yet to learn any profound secret or mystery of the world under Shrek Academy¡¯s wings, the students of the first grade developed an iron-hard work ethic. The illustrious environment of Shrek Academy had pushed them so.


    News of Tang Wulin¡¯s team¡¯s victory against the Imperial Sun Moon Academy had already spread like wildfire in the outer court. Since they had also defeated the second grade class, they were now known as century¡¯s strongest class of new students.


    After class was dismissed, Tang Wulin called his friends to his dorm room, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu included.


    ¡°Do you guys all have plans for your vacation? Who¡¯s staying and who¡¯s going home?¡± Tang Wulin asked. The dining room closing down for vacation would prove to be a problem.

 Chapter 468 - Reunion with Mo Lan

    Chapter 468 - Reunion with Mo Lan


    ¡°I¡¯m paying my home a visit first. Then I¡¯m going to train in the Spirit Pagoda for a bit. We only have one month off after all,¡± Gu Yue said.


    ¡°I¡¯m going home. I¡¯ll still be cultivating hard though,¡± Xie Xie said.


    ¡°I¡¯m going home too,¡± Xu Xiaoyan chimed in. ¡°I live in the same city as Xie Xie.¡±


    ¡°Same,¡± said Yue Zhengyu, shrugging. ¡°I need to go home to get my next spirit soul for my fourth ring.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m staying,¡± Ye Xinglan said. ¡°Though, I¡¯m not going to be on campus much. I¡¯ll be training my sword in seclusion until Gu Yue returns to help me get another spirit soul.¡±


    ¡°If you need our help with the spirit tower, just call,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Ye Xinglan shook her head. ¡°My spirit soul requirements are a bit specific. I won¡¯t be doing the tower assault. I need to buy mine instead.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Wulin didn¡¯t pry any further. Everyone had their secrets.


    Xu Lizhi chuckled. ¡°Guess it¡¯s my turn. Well, I¡¯m going to visit my family. I¡¯ve been feeling a bit homesick. Right, Xinglan.¡± He turned to face her. ¡°When do you plan on going to the Spirit Pagoda? I want to go too!¡±


    ¡°In about half a month,¡± she answered.


    ¡°Great. Count me in.¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a smile at those two, turning to Yuanen Yehui. ¡°What about you? Are you going anywhere?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any family to visit so I¡¯m going to stay and cultivate.¡± Yuanen Yehui cut a lonesome figure.


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t have any family either, so I¡¯ll be staying on campus as well. I might go on a trip sometime during the vacation, but for now it looks like it¡¯ll just be the two of us here.¡±


    Gu Yue glanced at Yuanen Yehui, then at Tang Wulin. She hesitated, lips opening and closing, but in the end she remained silent.


    ¡°It looks like everyone has their own plans, so we¡¯ll be parting ways for a while. But don¡¯t lose sight of our goal, guys. Xinglan will have her fourth soul ring soon. That¡¯s why once the next semester rolls in, we can finally start churning out some battle armor. Let¡¯s all do our best.¡±


    Somewhere along the line, the eight working students had formed a tight little circle. Tang Wulin reached forward with his hand, placing it in the center of the ring. Without missing a beat, Gu Yue placed her hand flat on top. The rest joined in a moment later, sharing smiles and a look of trust. Following a shared nod, they cheered, ¡°Let¡¯s do our best!¡±


    And with that, the members of Tang Wulin¡¯s trusted friends filtered out of the room. All except one.


    ¡°Escort me to the gates,¡± Gu Yue said to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    Tang Wulin folded his hands behind his head and relaxed. He enjoyed the freedom between semesters. As soon as they stepped out of the dormitory, a chill breeze swept by, touseling their hair. The trek toward the gates carried a certain sense of gloom, empty of students, most of who had left for vacation. That it was peaceful was undeniable however, and the two walked on in silence.


    It wasn¡¯t until Gu Yue had stepped through the gate and walked a few paces more did she flip around, breaking the quiet between them. ¡°You can go back now. I¡¯ll see you next semester,¡± she said, waving him goodbye.


    Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, Tang Wulin flashed a radiant smile. ¡°See ya!¡±


    Gu Yue bit her lip. Her hand twitched in the air before she waved stiffly once more. It fell to her side. A black limousine pulled up and she got in without saying another word.


    As the limousine drove off, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped in his chest. Gu Yue really does come from a wealthy family!


    He stood at the gates for a while longer, staring off into nothingness. The wind blew past him again, chill and crisp. Snapping back to attention, he made a beeline for the sidewalk and hailed a taxi to the train station.


    He would go on a trip. Everything was already prepared.


    Sitting at the top of his current priorities was obtaining the four spirit items necessary to break his next seal. He didn¡¯t want to finish just short of the three month deadline. He wanted to break the fourth seal during his vacation. Once that happened, he would obtain a second blood essence soul ring, a major boost in power. Another reason why he was in a such a rush was because it was possible that the seal would break early. That could spell disaster.


    After eating so much nutritious food this semester at Shrek Academy and at his Uncle-master¡¯s place, he was confident that his body could endure the surge of power. Furthermore, his control over his blood essence had improved by leaps and bounds after mastering Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. In fact, his third seal breaking had been easy. He wasn¡¯t too worried about the fourth.


    Once Tang Wulin reached the train station, he bought a ticket for the first train to Heaven Dou City. To his good luck, Zhen Hua had agreed to prepare the remaining spirit items at a low price. It saved him the hassle of searching through the whole continent. Stopped him from overturning rock and stone.


    Tang Wulin was actually quite rich now. He had plenty of alloys ready to auction off.


    But it was hard to find what he needed in Shrek City, and the selling price for the alloys didn¡¯t satisfy. These two reasons made traveling to Heaven Dou City all the more appealing. Once he obtained the last two spirit items, he would return to the Tang Sect headquarters in Shrek City to obtain the other two spirit items needed to shatter the fourth seal. Then he would visit Zhuo Shi for cultivation guidance. A tight schedule indeed.


    The train smoothly cruised to a stop at the station and Tang Wulin boarded. He found his seat and sat down. Taking in his surroundings, he was astonished by the crowded rows and even more crowded seats. A trace of anxiety gripped his heart. If he closed his eyes, he could still picture in vivid detail the corpses that spilled over the carriage. The red that stained the ground. No matter the fact he had survived and neutralized the terrorists, it didn¡¯t erase what had transpired that day. A tragedy.


    His eyes fluttered open. Tang Wulin could not help but wonder how the kind female conductor was faring. Mo Lan. Her name stayed with him, etched into his heart, along with the brave manner in which she had offered herself as sacrifice.


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, please sit down. Please don¡¯t block the aisle. You may store your belongings on the compartment above your seats if so desired. Oh sir, please watch your step.¡±


    Tang Wulin flipped around in his seat to the owner of the voice and caught sight of a familiar face. It¡¯s her!


    ¡°Big Sis Mo Lan!¡± Tang Wulin was up in his seat before he knew it. He waved. To see her in good health brought him joy,


    Hearing her name, Mo Lan turned around and nearly jumped in surprise. ¡°Wha! It¡¯s you!¡±


    In a few brisk steps, she was right before him. And then, her arms wrapped around Tang Wulin in a deep embrace.


    Swathed in warmth, Tang Wulin could pretend he lay in the embrace of nostalgia, his mother, and most of all, home. It had been such a long time. He could hardly remember the feather touch of such warmth.


    He looked up, keeping her gaze with sorrowful eyes, the start of tears building at the corners. ¡°Big Sis Mo Lan!¡±


    Mo Lan hugged him tighter. ¡°Thank you. Thank you, Wulin. I can¡¯t thank you enough. But why did you run off that day? I didn¡¯t even get a chance to thank you before you left.¡±


    She sniffed, her expression mirroring Tang Wulin¡¯s. The surrounding passengers all fell into a hush, stunned to see the stoic, professional train conductor suddenly break into tears.


    ¡°Come with me,¡± Mo Lan said, rubbing at her reddened eyes with the back of a sleeve. She led him away by the hand, fingers intertwined.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t resist.


    The moment they were alone in the conductor¡¯s chambers, the dam fell once more. Mo Lan hiccuped as she sobbed, soft enough so that only sighs and gasps could be heard. Ever since that fateful day, her outlook on life had changed. She would stand resolute even at the threat of her life.


    When Mo Lan had finished recovering, her father tried to persuade her to quit her job as conductor. But she was determined to continue. Her reasoning had been simple. If she hid from danger because she was a city official¡¯s daughter, then her father would lose the public¡¯s trust and his authority would plummet. In the end, he couldn¡¯t dissuade her. All he could do was reinforce the security on the trains and stations.


    Mo Lan, lauded as a hero for how well she had handled the terrorist attack. However, deep in her heart, she knew that to be untrue. The real hero was Tang Wulin. Yet the information regarding him had been all but suppressed, wiped off the face of the earth.

 Chapter 469 - The Ashen-robed Man

    Chapter 469 - The Ashen-robed Man


    From her father¡¯s own lips, the pressure to keep quiet about Tang Wulin had been issued by the higher-ups. What Mo Lan did not know, however, was that Shrek Academy had a huge hand in the secrecy surrounding all things Tang Wulin. And that they had done so for the sake of his safety. It was best if such a young person was cast out of the spotlight, away from the evil soul masters¡¯ dangerous gazes.


    ¡°Big Sis Mo Lan, don¡¯t cry! See, I¡¯m fine!¡± Tang Wulin put on his brightest smile. ¡°How have you been? Have you fully recovered?¡± He grabbed some nearby tissues and offered them to her.


    Mo Lan accepted the tissues and dabbed at the corners of her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m doing good, thanks. Jeez. You should have listened to me when I told you to leave that day. But still. Thank you. You saved my life.¡±


    ¡°Big Sis, you¡¯re exaggerating. Any soul master would have done the same. By the way, has that evil soul master been captured yet? I heard from my teacher that he was able to escape.¡±


    Mo Lan shook her head. ¡°Vile bastards like him are crafty. There¡¯s no trail to follow. But the Federation has still dispatched a task force to hunt him down and crack down on other criminals. They¡¯ll catch him sooner or later.¡± Her eyes lit up. ¡°Oh right! It¡¯s a good thing we ran into each other today. Here, take this,¡± she said as she retrieved a card from her pocket. She handed it to him.


    ¡°This is¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a train pass that works throughout the entire Federation. The pass I promised you last time was an ordinary civilian one, but since you¡¯re a hero who saved so many people, I got permission to issue you a pass with the highest privileges. Whenever you ride a train in the future, just show them this card and they¡¯ll let you in for free and give you a private room fit for four. You can bring people along with you too.¡±


    ¡°Huh? This card is awesome!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    Mo Lan smiled. ¡°A hero¡¯s treatment befits a hero. You deserve it. Now keep the pass safe. If you lose it, give me a call and I¡¯ll have another one issued for you. Right, what¡¯s your number?¡±


    A few taps later, she had Tang Wulin¡¯s number saved as a contact.


    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll take you to your private room. You can experience it for yourself.¡±


    Wiping away the last of her tears, Mo Lan bounced at every step and pulled him along to a carriage located at the center of the train.


    All trains had an area for VIPs. No one but honored guests could enter and there was no way to buy a ticket in. Only those such as high-ranking politicians, powerful soul masters, or eminent military personnel qualified. There was no doubt that anyone found in this VIP area had made great contributions to the Federation and weren¡¯t just throwing their money around.


    Since she was the train conductor, Mo Lan knew which of the rooms were occupied and which ones weren¡¯t. She brought Tang Wulin to one tucked in the center.


    It was hardly spacious. It was built within a train after all. A dozen or so square meters in area, the room boasted  a small sofa, a desk, and two bunk beds. It was just large enough to comfortably accommodate four people. Of course, the room was luxurious compared to ordinary seats.


    ¡°Wulin, just rest here for now. The train will be departing soon so I have some things I need to attend to first. I¡¯ll come visit you once I¡¯m done,¡± said Mo Lan, smiling warmly.


    ¡°Okay. See you in a bit, Big Sis!¡±


    At the click of the door¡¯s lock, Tang Wulin fell back against the mattress, eagle sprawled. He rolled over once, pressing his face into the sheets. He breathed in. The scent of fresh laundry felt calming, and with how tranquil the room was, he could meditate in peace here.


    But he didn¡¯t meditate. Rather, taking a long-deserved rest seemed more attractive. As was expeling his pent up tension and stress through slumber-fueled breaths. So there he lay, enjoying the peace and quiet.


    His eyelids grew heavy and his mind fell into a sleepy haze.


    When Tang Wulin awoke, he felt refreshed, more energetic than he had felt in weeks. He sighed in pleasure as he stretched his body.


    The pit-a-pat of feet against floor echoed during Tang Wulin¡¯s short walk to the desk. He picked up the complimentary water bottle. Drank a few gulps. Taking a seat at the desk, he peered out the window and watched the landscape flitting by. Gone were thoughts of responsibilities and duties. It was only him and the lush scenery now.


    Suddenly, the train shuddered, rousing him from his serene state of mind. What¡¯s going on?


    Tang Wulin shot up to his feet. With the last train incident fresh on his mind, he was instantly on high alert. He pulled open the door to his room and surveyed the area. There was no sight of anyone else.


    Just as Tang Wulin ran out to investigate, the train broadcasted a garbled voice, ¡°Mo Lan, come to the ninth carriage right now. If you don¡¯t, I will blow up the entire train.¡±


    A sense of dread creeped into Tang Wulin¡¯s heart the moment he heard the voice. Another attack!


    Tang Wulin dashed from his private room in the thirteenth carriage to the ninth.


    Do terrorists just love attacking the train from Shrek to Heaven Dou?


    The entire train was already the picture of chaos. With the previous terrorist attack only happening a couple weeks prior, the passengers were all trembling with fear, panic in their hearts. They fled from the ninth carriage, trying to get as far away as possible.


    It was hard for Tang Wulin to push against the flow. Without his astounding physical strength, he would have been shoved away by the tide of frantic passengers..


    He heard a scream as soon as he reached the ninth carriage, and he immediately identified it as Mo Lan¡¯s. Shit!


    Throwing caution to the wind, Tang Wulin broke down the door to the carriage and charged in.


    He was greeted with a gruesome sight. The entire carriage. Crimson. The metallic scent of blood thick in the air. Dozens of mutilated corpses littered the ground, still warm from their recent deaths. All of it assaulted his senses, a wave of nausea crashing into him.


    Most of the dead were staff, and they were better armed than in the last incident. But clearly, it still wasn¡¯t enough.


    A short, ashen-robed man stood in the center of the carriage, blood pooling at his feet. A bone spike sprouted out of his right index finger. It pierced through Mo Lan¡¯s shoulder. He held her up in the air with arms that were strangely thick compared to the rest of his body.


    ¡°Tell me, who is the kid who saved you last time? How can I find him? Tell me, and I¡¯ll grant you a swift death,¡± the man said, his voice torture to the ears and mind.


    Mo Lan trembled in fear, but she gritted her teeth and remained silent.


    ¡°Refusing to talk? I¡¯ll give you a taste of my Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement then.¡± An eerie smile spread across the man¡¯s face as he brought his other claw-like hand out. A dark green flame appeared in his palm and he moved it toward Mo Lan¡¯s forehead.


    ¡°Stop! I¡¯m right here!¡± Tang Wulin charged at the man, his eyes flashing purple as he used his Purple Demon Eyes¡¯ spiritual attack.


    The moment their gazes met, Tang Wulin froze. Those haunting green eyes. He gasped and clutched his head, the pain searing his mind and reflecting his attempt to shock the man¡¯s mind. Against him, Tang Wulin was nothing, an ant before an elephant.  His eyes regained their obsidian hue and he collapsed to the ground, still clutching his head, still screaming.


    ¡°Hehe. That was easy. Very good, very good. You¡¯ve saved me a lot of time.¡± The man grinned, lips peeling back to reveal sharp teeth. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t let the two of you die as easily as the others. You¡¯ll both experience my Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement.¡± He turned back to Mo Lan, the last of the green flame slipping within her.

 Chapter 470 - Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement

    Chapter 470 - Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement


    Mo Lan screamed. Her body jerked as it tried to resist the pain, agitating the wound on her shoulder. Bright red blood splattered the ground with every movement. Then the green flame fully submerged into her head and dyed it green.


    After taking the backlash of his failed spiritual attack, Tang Wulin could do nothing but lay there on the ground and watch, helpless to save Mo Lan.


    Tang Wulin had overcome countless challenges since entering Shrek Academy, growing stronger step by step. After defeating the Imperial Sun Moon Academy in their team battle, he finally felt like he found his place. But now, facing this sinister man, he realized just how insignificant he still was. He had barely started to walk on the path to power and didn¡¯t understand what true strength was. He couldn¡¯t even see the end to this man¡¯s power.


    Even so, he would stake it all to save Mo Lan!


    Tang Wulin bit down on the tip of his tongue hard enough to draw blood in order to clear his mind of the piercing headache. Gathering his willpower, he forced himself to stand up. He stomped down. The train shuddered, and he shot forward like a bullet. His blood essence flowed in reverse and draconic aura reached its peak in an instant. His golden dragon claw appeared an instant later and he unleashed Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, concentrating all of his might into this one attack.


    From the spiritual backlash he just received, Tang Wulin knew that he was no match for this man. He was utterly insignificant before this monster. All Tang Wulin could hope for was that a surprise attack would be effective.


    But he still had to avoid accidentally harming Mo Lan in his attack!


    The man flicked his gaze to Tang Wulin, dark humor in his eyes. He swung Mo Lan in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction bringing her between him and Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin had never faced someone as devilish as this man before, but with all of his combat experience, he was prepared for this.


    Mid-run, Tang Wulin angled himself to the side with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, grabbed a seat with his left hand and used it as an anchor point to fling himself toward the wall. Then he kicked off the wall, altering his trajectory to go around Mo Lan and attack the man from the side.


    Under so much pressure, Tang Wulin¡¯s skill in the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step reached the next level.


    The man raised his left hand. Long bone spikes burst from his fingertips and rushed forward to pierce Tang Wulin¡¯s body.


    It was too late for Tang Wulin to back out now, so he pressed onward. The man suddenly noticed that there was something weird about Tang Wulin. His eyes shone with a golden light!


    Tang Wulin let out a draconic roar. He slashed at the man, releasing five dark gold beams of light. With the might of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens supporting it, this Golden Dragon Dreadclaw became Tang Wulin¡¯s most powerful attack!


    Knowing the gap in strength between them, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t hesitated to unleash this attack. This was his only chance, and his only hope of dealing any damage to his enemy.


    With how cramped the train carriage was, there was no way for Tang Wulin to avoid the bone spikes. However, the same held true for the man too. He couldn¡¯t avoid Tang Wulin¡¯s attack either.


    With a shout, a gray force barrier burst around the man.


    Mo Lan was sent flying away into the next carriage, and threw Tang Wulin into a wall. The metal wall caved in, forming a small crater with Tang Wulin embedded in the center.


    Tang Wulin struggled to open his eyes. He could vaguely make out five gashes in the man¡¯s barrier.


    The man let out an inhuman howl, akin to a terrifying beast.


    A determined light flashed in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. He shot out a strand of bluesilver grass to wrap around a seat near the carriage Mo Lan landed in and pulled himself over. Without any hesitation, he brandished his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw again and slashed apart the walls, disconnecting her carriage from the one he and the man were in.


    The two halves of the carriage drifted away from each other leaving a giant hole. Using his bluesilver grass, Tang Wulin maneuvered onto the roof of the carriage.


    When the gray barrier disappeared, five lines of blood trickled out of the man¡¯s chest, the wounds bone-deep. Realizing that a mere three-ringed kid had managed to harm him, his eyes went red with rage. He chased after Tang Wulin to the roof of the carriage, leaving after images behind.


    Tang Wulin brandished his claw once more, cutting off the other end of carriages. Only he and the gray-robed man remained.


    A chilling wind brushed past Tang Wulin¡¯s back. He stiffened, then immediately threw himself to the side. Not daring to look back, he threw out Goldsong and using it as a spring to launch him out into the wilderness.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s number one priority was the safety of the passengers. He knew that the ashen-robed man¡¯s target was him, then Mo Lan. With Mo Lan already wounded, all he could do was draw the man as far away as he could from her. He was confident that the government had already been alerted and had dispatched a force to take out the evil soul master. All he had to do now was survive until they arrived.


    The man let out a sinister laugh as he watched Tang Wulin run away. He spread his arms wide, then jumped off the train to chase after Tang Wulin. He was swift as a bird, instantly catching up.


    Starlight wrapped around Tang Wulin¡¯s claw. An instant later, his gauntlet appeared on his arm. Tang Wulin gathered his remaining his soul power and channeled it into his claw, unleashing another dreadclaw attack at the man. At the same time, countless strands of bluesilver grass shot out of his body in different directions and he used Goldsong to alter his trajectory.


    But before he could escape, green flames shot out and burned every single strand of grass, including the one Goldsong fused with. Goldsong felt as if it was electrocuted.


    Tang Wulin felt Goldsong disappear in a blaze of flame. Pain assailed his heart with its disappearance, leaving him paralyzed. He fell to the ground. A second later, the man landed on top of him.


    The gap in strength was simply too great. The ashen-robed man had at least six rings and a powerful martial soul.


    Tang Wulin lost consciousness momentarily, but when he roused seconds later, he looked down to see five bone spikes penetrating his chest. The golden scales on his chest were nothing before the sharp spikes.


    It¡¯s over. Am I going to die? The fear of death surged into Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. A rueful smile crossed his lips.


    Tang Wulin had never expected to die like this. Mom, Dad, I can¡¯t go save you anymore. Na¡¯er, I can¡¯t search for you anymore. I can¡¯t become a great soul master anymore.


    Countless regrets ran through his mind as he stared death in the face.


    ¡°Kid, I won¡¯t let you die so easily,¡± the man said grimly. He had been careful to avoid piercing any fatal organs like the heart and arteries.


    The man hoisted Tang Wulin up by the spike, widening Tang Wulin¡¯s wounds. Blood gushed out. ¡°Now, let me hear you scream!¡± He stared at Tang Wulin with gleeful madness in his eyes.


    Raising his other hand, a moss green flame appeared in his palm and he thrust it into Tang Wulin¡¯s forehead.


    Cold invaded Tang Wulin¡¯s body, slowly crystallizing his blood and left him shivering uncontrollably.


    Cold! It¡¯s too cold! His very spirit felt like it was freezing, then smashed with a sledgehammer while his insides were being torn apart and sewn back together over and over. He couldn¡¯t even let out a single scream.

 Chapter 471 - Annihilation

    Chapter 471 - Annihilation


    Tang Wulin hissed. His body shuddered without end, limbs tense and joints locked, teeth chattering. Chaos. His blood essence thrashed in chaos. A searing heat engulfed his mind, and if he were any less in pain, any more lucid, he would have wondered if it was actually set ablaze. The Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement was undoubtedly one of the world¡¯s most vile torture methods. He screamed, the pain sharp and unforgiving, all-encompassing. He screamed, begging for it to end.


    At the sound of Tang Wulin¡¯s miserable cries, the ashen-robed man broke into a grin full of sharp teeth. The greater his victim¡¯s spiritual power, the greater their spirit¡¯s resentment after refinement. And the larger his revitalization.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t bear it. He lost consciousness as the green flame encroached on his spiritual world. But just as he was about to succumb to it, his forehead shone with a mysterious golden mark, the light bright enough to coax tears. In a flash, his spiritual world was rid of the flame.


    When the man laid eyes on the golden mark, his eyes dyed the same gold, superego and ego snapping momentarily. Then he let out a miserable shriek, retracting his bone spikes from Tang Wulin and retreating as if he had just encountered a monster.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s blood sprayed from his open wounds, but he didn¡¯t collapse. He stood there, motionlessly. His eyes still shut.


    ¡°You bastard! What was that? What the hell did you do to my fire?¡± the man howled.


    The phosphor fire was the source of power for his martial soul. Every bit of it added to his strength. He had spent decades torturing and refining people¡¯s souls to increase the hungry flames, to coax them brighter and brighter. But to his shock, a tenth of it had just disappeared.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you!¡± The man soared into the air. The bone spikes on his finger transformed into large claws and he slashed down at Tang Wulin.


    Suddenly, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shot open.


    A wave of dizziness struck the man when he looked into Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, his movements slowing to a crawl. Those eyes! What are they?


    No longer their original obsidian, Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes had bled into a brilliant gold. A tinge of blue danced at the outer perimeter. Gone was youthful innocence, in its place an aura of omniscience.


    His body jerked, tilting backward until it was almost parallel to the ground. And then it bounced back like a coiled spring. His limbs twitched, his muscles spasmed, the crackle of joints echoing throughout the carriage. He brought his right hand over the gaping holes in his chest. Waved it once. The wounds hissed and sewed themselves back together, the leaking of blood obstructed in the process. Then the golden mark appeared on his forehead again.


    This time, the man recognized the mark for what it was and felt his soul power freeze.  A golden three-pronged trident.


    The person before him was not the brave young boy who had dashed head-first into danger for the ones he loved. No, this was someone different. Someone else entirely.


    He raised his right hand, but didn¡¯t bring out his dragon claw. Instead, golden light converged within his palm, manifesting as three-meter-long double-headed spear.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s figure flickered, reappearing right in front of the man¡¯s nose, his spear in a thrust.


    The man howled. His prey had become the predator. His instincts screamed doom as the spear closed in. He urged his body to the side, desperate to avoid the impending stab. But no matter how much he yelled  at his body, it refused to move.


    The spear impaled him.


    What? But he was just over there a second ago! The man groaned, disbelief in his eyes at the spear protruding from his chest. His soul power would not circulate despite his desperate attempts. Then a chilling cold seeped into his body, the spear greedily sapping his soul power and life force away. Out from his body and into Tang Wulin.


    The ashen-robed man shuddered. He could feel himself rapidly aging, skin sagging and bones thinning by the second. W-what¡¯s happening to me? How is he taking my life force?


    Not only was he a Soul Emperor who had slayed Soul Sages in the past, he was also a one-word battle armor master! He was utterly shocked to be powerless before Tang Wulin¡¯s spear.


    Those with the least regard for life feared death the most, and this man was no exception. Organs failing, body shriveling up, and life force flowing away, he could only stay still and watch as the spear grew brighter and brighter until it was a dazzling gold. He let out a silent scream at the thought of his inevitable, impending death. He screwed his eyes tight. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself surrounded in suffocating green. Mournful wails filled the air, countless flaming green wraiths in tow. They flocked to him. Embraced him. They swallowed him whole in their flames.


    ¡°Evil leads to destruction!¡± Tang Wulin said in a faint but clear voice. Far from his usual brand of boyish determination. He touched his face with his left hand, feeling the features, then smiled warmly.


    He let out a sigh. Tang Wulin lifted his spear with the man still dangling from its end, flicked it to rid the spear of the shrivelled up husk of a body.


    A second sigh slipped from his lips. The spear disintegrated into specks of light. They flowed back into his hand, disappearing among his skin. He lowered himself to the ground and lay still as the golden mark on his forehead dimmed and vanished.


    A minute later, a red glow spread through the skies. But it disappeared as quick as it had come. In its wake, a person clad in scarlet armor descended to Tang Wulin¡¯s side.


    The armor had flames engraved onto it, each and every one unique, each and every one a powerful circuit core. The flames were numerous, as if intent on devouring the world. A scarlet visor obscured the user¡¯s identity. Large bat-like wings sprouted from the person¡¯s back, enabling flight, and with a single flap of the wings the flames flared to life.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone over there!¡± someone shouted from a distance.


    A whistle pierced the air. Moments later, the silhouettes of a dozen mechas approached, most of them sporting purple models. They were led by a single black mecha with three pairs of wings, flames spewing from its propulsion jets. As the black mecha neared the person in the scarlet armor, it unfurled all six of its wings. It slowed to a halt a hundred meters away.


    ¡°Hello, Your Eminence. I am Captain Liu An of Heaven Dou City¡¯s 1st Mecha Regiment.¡± His voice rang loud from the speakers. ¡°May I ask you to identify yourself?¡±

 Chapter 472 - Four-word Battle Armor Master

    Chapter 472 - Four-word Battle Armor Master


    The flames dancing around the scarlet armor receded, and the armor dissolved into specks of light, layer by layer, disappearing into the body it had surrounded.


    ¡°I¡¯m Zhen Hua of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. I had received a request for help from my nephew-disciple and came to save him. No traces of hostiles were spotted when I arrived.¡± His voice carried the authority of a Titled Douluo and a four-word battle armor master.


    Since there only existed a handful of red mechas, black mechas often stood in as the top of the hierarchy. But Liu An, the pilot of the black mecha, had stopped and respectfully greeted Zhen Hua. It wasn¡¯t for nothing. No, it was because he could sense that the difference in strength between them was not gap but a chasm, simply insurmountable. Untouchable.


    After verifying Zhen Hua¡¯s identity, Liu An relaxed and let out a deep breath. If Zhen Hua had been a hostile, then this place would have been his grave.


    ¡°My respects, Lord Zhen Hua. Please forgive me for not exiting my mecha to properly greet you. I am unable to at this moment due to my mission,¡± Liu An said, his tone far more humble than before. The man before him was the continent¡¯s only Divine Blacksmith after all!


    There was no one on the continent of Douluo who dared offend a person of such status. In addition to battle armor, mechas also used metals forged by blacksmiths during the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the higher grade the mecha, the better the metal needed. Even among black-grade mechas, apart from their circuit cores, it was the quality of their metals that determined superiority. Liu An¡¯s own black mecha was made of thousand-refined metal and a core of spirit-refined metal. In order to upgrade his mecha, he would need to replace its parts with ones made of higher quality metals. Only then could the mecha advance to red grade. Therefore, Liu An treated the Divine Blacksmith with the utmost respect.


    Zhen Hua landed on the ground with a soft thud and a curt nod. He picked up Tang Wulin¡¯s unconscious body. Inspected his condition. His face clouded over when he saw the bloodstains blossoming on Tang Wulin¡¯s chest. No, I can¡¯t let a genius as great as him fall. He¡¯s a gift to us blacksmiths. He clenched his jaw. And how would I even explain to Mu Chen if he becomes crippled?


    During his rush to the ninth carriage, Tang Wulin had called Zhen Hua for help since Heaven Dou City was closer to the train than Shrek City. Although Zhen Hua had dropped everything to rush to the scene, the trip still took him over ten minutes. And when he arrived, the battle was already over.


    Zhen Hua pressed a finger to the smooth skin of Tang Wulin¡¯s inner wrist, feeling for a pulse. His eyes lit up. He¡¯s alive! He quickly poured his soul power into Tang Wulin¡¯s body. Sure enough, Tang Wulin¡¯s heart still beat. But it was weak. A soft fluttering of butterfly wings against the thick of his chest. Even so, he had a chance to live.


    ¡°I¡¯m bringing this kid back with me to Heaven Dou¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association first. Investigate the crime scene and look for the tracks of any hostiles. When the kid recovers, I¡¯ll have him cooperate with your investigation.¡± Without another word, Zhen Hua soared into the air, Tang Wulin cradled securely in his arms. And they disappeared in a streak of scarlet.


    There was nothing Liu An could have done to stop Zhen Hua. Hell would freeze over before he purposefully sparked the ire of a Titled Douluo and a four-word battle armor master. Also holding the title of a Divine Blacksmith, he sat at the top of the list of people who couldn¡¯t be offended on the continent.


    Liu An gave the order to his regiment to search the surroundings. But in the end, they never found any trace of hostiles. Not even a single hair to go on. The only evidence of the tragedy, besides the blood and the corpses and destruction, was a small mound of ashes tinged green. The rest of the terrorist¡¯s remains had already been blown away by the wind.


    ?


    Tang Wulin sat adrift in a sea on a small boat. The waves ushered the boat around, up and down. Up and down. He held back the urge to empty the contents of his stomach. Pain drilled into every inch of his body.


    This must be the limbo between life and death. He couldn¡¯t imagine any other outcome but death after being subjected to the Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement.


    The boat gradually steadied, the waves dying down. The pain subsided and a comforting warmth filled him.


    A while later, the warmth disappeared and his mind churned awake. He opened his eyes. Spotless white, spanning above him and marred only be the thin ridges differentiating each ceiling tile. I¡¯m not dead? Tang Wulin stared into space, motionless.


    Minutes later, he finally snapped out of his reverie and jerked into a sitting position. A groan ripped through his throat, past gritted teeth. His body felt sore, the muscles heavy and tight like a coiled spring, and his chest. His chest felt on fire.


    The pain brought him back to his senses. I¡¯m alive! He heaved a sigh of relief.


    But how am I not dead?


    He scanned the room. There was nothing of note besides the lack of clutter and dust. He couldn¡¯t imagine this being a room for a prisoner. There was no way the evil soul master would treat him this well either. That man was the vilest of the vile, capable of committing unspeakable acts without batting an eye.


    Tang Wulin sent his senses inward, examining the state of his body. To his surprise, he was completely fine. Aside from the slightly damaged meridian channels in his chest, he couldn¡¯t find anything wrong. All of his energies were normal, indistinguishable from before. But what truly astonished him was that his spiritual power had grown significantly. It was to the point that he could now sense the smallest of changes within all his meridian channels.


    The sensation left him in a state of awe. He knew what this meant. He had broken into the Spirit Sea realm. This was a major milestone. His cultivation wouldn¡¯t be restricted by his spiritual power until he hit seven rings, and that was if it didn¡¯t grow any further by then. Furthermore, he could theoretically fuse with three purple spirit souls, enough to provide nine rings. The path to becoming a Titled Douluo was now open.


    The requirements for admission into Shrek Academy¡¯s inner court were as followed: status as a one-word battle armor master, possession of five soul rings, and achieving the Spirit Sea realm.


    Achieving five soul rings was the easy part. Tang Wulin may still be far off, but he had six years. He could easily reach that level and possibly exceed it in that timeframe by absorbing the power of the Golden Dragon King. Having reached the Spirit Sea realm, his only real obstacle was becoming a one-word battle armor master. Furthermore, his gauntlet made of spirit alloy pushed him a step ahead.


    Tang Wulin grinned. He was well on his way to becoming an inner court student.


    After a few cycles of the Mysterious Heaven Method, Tang Wulin¡¯s mind cleared the lingering traces of his sleepy haze. His memory rang free of obstruction, the pallor of Mo Lan¡¯s face during her abuse a ghost haunting his psyche. He had survived the Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement, but he couldn¡¯t assume the same for her. He needed to find her to know. For closure. He couldn¡¯t forgive himself if he didn¡¯t.


    Tang Wulin jumped off his bed and changed into a set of clean clothes from his storage ring. The second he finished changing, the door opened and a man entered.


    ¡°Uncle-master!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    ¡°You can stand already?¡± Zhen Hua¡¯s voice was thick with concern. The image of Tang Wulin¡¯s still and bloody body was vividly emblazoned in his mind.


    Zhen Hua had gotten a first-rate soul master medic to heal Tang Wulin as soon as they returned to Heaven Dou City. While Tang Wulin¡¯s heart hadn¡¯t been damaged, his other internal organs had not been as lucky.


    But to the medic¡¯s astonishment, there was minimal blood loss and his body was on the road to recovery. What should have been serious, unsightly wounds had already healed.


    The medic had concluded that Tang Wulin would recover naturally given enough time and recommended against doing anything special to hasten the process. The best way to avoid any adverse effects was simply disinfecting the wounds, bandaging them, and making sure his body was well nourished.


    Yet the surprise didn¡¯t end there. A mere two days later, Tang Wulin was already well enough to leave his bed. Zhen Hua could hardly believe his eyes. This kid¡¯s body is way too tough!

 Chapter 473 - Statement

    Chapter 473 - Statement


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re fine? You don¡¯t have to force yourself.¡± Concern coated Zhen Hua¡¯s voice.


    Tang Wulin flashed a smile. ¡°Yes, Uncle-master. Thanks for rescuing me!¡±


    Zhen Hua shook his head. ¡°There was no trace of any hostiles when I arrived. You can¡¯t exactly say I¡¯m the one who saved you. But really, your body¡¯s recovery speed is amazing. Without any help, you healed so quickly. How about I take you for another examination?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Tang Wulin said, shrugging. ¡°I already inspected myself. There¡¯s just some minor clogging in my meridian channels from the wounds. They''ll unblock themselves in a few days. Everything else is under control.¡± He frowned, clearing his throat. ¡°Uncle-master, what happened to the conductor? She was attacked too.¡±


    Zhen Hua knitted his brows, sinking deeper within his sea of thoughts until only his head stayed unsubmerged. ¡°If I remember correctly, she isn¡¯t doing too well. I heard she was sent into emergency care, but her brain.¡± He sighed. ¡°Her brain¡¯s pretty damaged and so is her spirit. I¡¯m sorry Wulin, but they don¡¯t know when she¡¯ll wake.¡±


    Tang Wulin felt as if he were plunged in freezing water, sinking deeper and deeper, the light at the top shrinking into silent darkness. The air surrounding him condensed, thick and viscous and hard to contain in his lungs. He had guessed it. He had guessed this outcome but had turned his cheek in the face of reality, and was now suffering the stinging slap. His hands, cold and damp, curled into fists at his side. How could this happen to Big Sis Mo Lan?


    ¡°Uncle-master,¡± he broke the silence after what seemed like hours, ¡°can you bring me to see her? Big Sis Mo Lan is a good person. She did all she could to protect the passengers both this time and the last. She didn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice herself for their lives.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s voice grew frantic, uncontrolled. ¡°She¡¯s a saint! Please! Can¡¯t you help her?¡±


    ¡°I must escort you to give a report on what happened first. The only eyewitnesses of the whole ordeal are you and that train conductor. Since you¡¯re the only one in any condition to talk¡­¡± Zhen Hua frowned, not sure how to frame his words. ¡°Anyway, you¡¯ll give your statement first, then we can go visit her. Alright?¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    With that settled, Zhen Hua led Tang Wulin out of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association and the two boarded a car to the city¡¯s administrative offices.


    The Blacksmith¡¯s Association had a good relationship with the city administration. Captain Liu An of the 1st Mecha Regiment was specially sent to receive them.


    ¡°Hello, Your Eminence,¡± Liu An said as he opened the car door for Zhen Hua.


    Zhen Hua and Tang Wulin got off the car. The sight of Tang Wulin startled Liu An. He clearly recalled how severe Tang Wulin¡¯s state was a few days ago. He could hardly believe how quickly Tang Wulin recovered.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We can talk inside.¡± Famous as he was, Zhen Hua was in a hurry to get out of the public eye.


    ¡°Your Eminence, this way please.¡±.


    Their footsteps echoed upon the pavement. ¡°I have already informed Administrator Mo of your arrival,¡± Liu An said as he walked. ¡°He¡¯s currently in a meeting, but he will come meet you as soon as it concludes.¡±


    Even without a government position, Zhen Hua was one of the most influential people on the continent. That Mo Wu stayed in the meeting rather than receive Zhen Hua personally spoke volumes of its importance.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t want to trouble him. I¡¯ve brought Tang Wulin to give his statement. Perhaps he can provide assistance in catching the criminal.¡± Zhen Hua smiled kindly. He was sure there wouldn¡¯t be any problems. He had questioned Tang Wulin himself during the ride here, and was satisfied with how Tang Wulin handled everything.


    ¡°Please wait a moment then. I¡¯ll take his statement right away,¡± Liu An said courteously, wasting no time in escorting them to a private room. A black-grade mecha pilot might have high status, but he was nothing compared to Zhen Hua. He couldn¡¯t afford to waste such a man¡¯s time.


    ¡°Please state your full name, age, and what school you attend.¡±


    ¡°Tang Wulin. Fourteen years old. Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    Liu An raised a brow. No wonder the Divine Blacksmith values him so much! He¡¯s a Shrek student! Knowing this, he instantly eliminated any possibility of Tang Wulin¡¯s involvement in the act of terrorism. There was no need to question the morals of a Shrek Academy student.


    ¡°Please tell me what happened that day.¡±


    Tang Wulin did. From the moment he boarded the train to the point when he lost consciousness, he left nothing out.


    Liu An gasped. ¡°So you¡¯re the young hero who saved all those passengers during the last terrorist attack?¡± Respect welled in Liu An¡¯s heart for this brave boy. Although he had known more than most about the true hero of the last terrorist attack, namely that they came from Shrek Academy, and that said academy kept the student¡¯s identity secret, he didn¡¯t expect to come across the hero so soon. Yet here he was, in the flesh.


    Tang Wulin could make out muffled voices from the other side of the door before it swung open, revealing Mo Wu. His expression was dark, eyes bloodshot and clothes flaunting fifty shades of disarray.


    ¡°Lord Zhen Hua,¡± Mo Wu said, bowing slightly.


    ¡°No need to be so formal, Administrator. I¡¯m just here with this junior of mine to help with the investigation.¡±


    Mo Wu¡¯s grave expression refused to budge. ¡°I have to take responsibility for this incident. It happened in my jurisdiction.¡±


    ¡°Nobody can blame you for what happened. Those evil soul masters are too cunning. It won¡¯t be easy to catch one. You¡¯re all doing your best anyway.¡±


    Liu An approached Mo Wu. ¡°Administrator, I¡¯m nearly done taking his statement. This boy and the hero of the last attack are one and the same. He just happened to get involved in this incident as well.¡±


    Mo Wu¡¯s eyes were bright as he studied Tang Wulin. ¡°You¡¯re Tang Wulin? The young hero who saved Mo Lan?¡±


    ¡°Hello Administrator. I¡¯m not really a hero. I¡¯m just Tang Wulin.¡±


    Finally, the cold exterior of Mo Wu¡¯s expression melted away. ¡°I want to thank you on behalf of Heaven Dou City. If it weren¡¯t for you, the previous tragedy would have been far worse. I reviewed the reports and accounts of the recent incident as well. The other carriages were cut from the ninth carriage, saving many lives. Were you the one responsible for that?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded.


    ¡°Once again, thank you for your bravery.¡± Mo Wu managed a faint smile.


    Liu An handed his written record of Tang Wulin¡¯s statement to Mo Wu. After skimming through a few pages, Mo Wu frowned. ¡°Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°That¡¯s what the terrorist called it. Administrator, is Big Sis Mo Lan alright? She¡¯s not in danger, is she?¡± His voice came out in near whimper.


    Tears formed at the corner of Mo Wu¡¯s eyes, threatening to fall.  He did his best to hold back from breaking down. ¡°Thank you for your concern. To tell you the truth, I¡¯m her father. You don¡¯t have to be so formal with me. Just call me Uncle.¡± He sighed. ¡°You¡¯ve saved her life twice already. She¡¯d be dead if it weren¡¯t for you.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. He had found the administrator to look somewhat familiar, unsure of where to place his face. To hear that he was Mo Lan¡¯s father was unexpected, but at the same time, given a better opportunity to examine the man, Tang Wulin was able to pick up the striking resemblance between them.


    ¡°So where¡¯s Big Sis Mo Lan?¡± The Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement had been pain incarnate. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but worry for Mo Lan, couldn¡¯t hope for an ordinary person like her to be as resilient as him, a soul master.

 Chapter 474 - Coma

    Chapter 474 - Coma


    ¡°She¡¯s in the hospital. Critical care unit.¡± Mo Wu rubbed at the bridge of his nose.


    ¡°Is she¡­ I heard she¡¯s in a coma,¡± prompted Tang Wulin, hoping it wasn¡¯t true.


    Mo Wu¡¯s face contorted in grief. His entire body sagged, the weight of the world upon his shoulders. ¡°The medics managed to preserve her life but we don¡¯t know when she¡¯ll wake up.¡±


    The familiar sensation of drowning was back, yet Tang Wulin pushed it to the far recesses of his mind. This was no time to lose himself to sorrow. But he couldn¡¯t ignore the fact that the brain was an extremely complicated and weak organ. Unlike soul masters, ordinary people did not have the luxury of spiritual power to protect their brains. It would take a miracle for Mo Lan¡¯s brain to recover completely from the abuse it had sustained.


    ¡°The doctors and soul master medics can''t do anything?¡± Tang Wulin asked, grasping for any straws.


    Mo Wu heaved a sigh. ¡°They¡¯ve tried everything. Nothing worked. It¡¯s just too difficult to restore someone¡¯s mind. The best they can do for now is preserve her life.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to Zhen Hua. ¡°Uncle-master, is there anything you can do?¡±


    Mo Wu¡¯s eyes lit up. As a Divine Blacksmith, he might know a soul master powerful enough to heal Mo Lan.


    After a moment of thought, Zhen Hua said, ¡°I can¡¯t let a hero¡¯s sacrifice go unrewarded. Administrator Mo, I will do my best to help her. Let me make a few calls. I¡¯ll be back in a moment.¡±


    Mo Wu laughed, deep and hoarse, and with one look it was certain he had brightened, shrugging off the greys that had colored his being. While he had put up a brave front as an administrator of Heaven Dou City, Mo Lan was still his daughter! His life would lose all meaning without her. Zhen Hua¡¯s help rekindled the dying embers of his hope. He clung to it. If Zhen Hua¡¯s contact still could not save her, then that would be the moment he despaired.


    A few minutes later, Zhen Hua returned. He said to Mo Wu, ¡°I asked a Titled Douluo healer to come treat your daughter.  Let¡¯s hope for the best.¡±


    Mo Wu rejoiced, bowing his head again and again as he thanked Zhen Hua.


    In terms of cultivation difficulty, food and healing-types ranked the highest among soul masters. A healing-type Titled Douluo was as rare as a unicorn! The best healing-type Heaven Dou City had to offer was a Soul Sage. That was a difference of two whole soul rings. With a Titled Douluo treating her, the chances of Mo Lan¡¯s recovery were high! But if a Titled Douluo failed, then Mo Lan¡¯s fate was sealed. Even so, Mo Wu couldn¡¯t help but desperately cling to this thread of hope.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me,¡± Zhen Hua said. ¡°I just happened to be here and have the ability to help, so I did. The Titled Douluo should be here in about an hour. Get ready to receive her.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Mo Wu, can you take me to see Big Sis Mo Lan?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Mo Wu nodded, his eyes still red with tears. He glanced at Zhen Hua, wondering what the man''s plans were.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen my friend in a long time. I¡¯ll come with you and wait for her arrival. I don¡¯t have any plans today anyway.¡± He had to see things through the end.


    Mo Wu couldn¡¯t express how grateful he was to Zhen Hua. As a Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua was undoubtedly one of the busiest people in the world. There was no way he hadn¡¯t had any plans for the day.


    Mo Wu called for a car to take them to the Heaven Dou Hospital a few blocks away. This was where Mo Lan was being treated. Careful to not cause a disturbance, he brought his guests in through the VIP entrance, then led them straight to the critical care ward.


    Due to Mo Lan¡¯s condition, they weren¡¯t allowed into her room. They could only watch her through the thin glass wall.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s vision blurred as he took in the sight of Mo Lan. He could barely recognize her. Her head was swollen and her features deformed, layers of gauze covering the worst of the worst. Tubes and wires ran through her, hooked up to a monitor, sustaining her life.


    ¡°Big Sis Mo Lan¡­¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t hold it back any longer. The tears flowed, down, down. His shoulders shook as much as his hands.


    The last memory he had of her, not the red and still body crumpled on the cold ground nor the white of her face as the life flashed dimly in her eyes, but the real Mo Lan, full and healthy, was when she had brought him to the private room. She had hugged him as she shed her own tears, those of joy and thanks and not the bitter taste of sorrow of his own. He closed his eyes. Opened them again. She still lay there, silent. Hooked up to a hundred different things, life hanging on by a single thread.


    A quick glance at Mo Lan, and Mo Wu had retreated to a corner, one hand covering his face and the other pounding the wall like a defeated drum.


    Zhen Hua¡¯s expression hardened at the sight.


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists tight, his head lowered as tears trailed down his face. He hated how weak he was. How he failed to protect Mo Lan. And most of all, he hated how vicious that evil soul master had been. You damn scum of the earth! Never again! I¡¯ll become strong and protect everyone I love! You won¡¯t get to hurt someone like you did to Big Sis Mo Lan! I swear on it!


    ¡°Why you cry?¡± someone asked in a childish voice.


    Tang Wulin widened his eyes. A toddler stood closeby, a little over three years old. He tugged at his pants and looked up at Tang Wulin with large, innocent eyes.


    Tang Wulin was taken aback. He crouched down and looked the boy at eye level. ¡°Big Brother is a bit sad right now, so I¡¯m crying. What¡¯s your name? Where¡¯s your mom and dad?¡±


    The boy blinked a few times. ¡°Mommy sleep. I wait.¡± He seemed to deflate upon saying those words.


    Tang Wulin trembled, legs giving in beneath him. He¡¯s Big Sis Mo Lan¡¯s son! He sniffed. He rubbed furiously at the tears that seemed to overflow in the face of this child¡¯s innocence.


    Nodding once, he opened his arms wide. The little boy seemed to take the hint, edging closer to him, until their feet brushed. Tang Wulin threw his arms around the small boy, hugging him tightly, as if he were afraid any looser an embrace and the boy would disappear. He choked back sobs, saying, ¡°Your mom is just tired. She¡¯ll be better in no time. She just needs to sleep some more.¡±


    The boy didn¡¯t resist Tang Wulin¡¯s hug. ¡°I want mommy.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart sank. He decided to pick the boy up, but just as he was about to stand, he felt a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Don¡¯t pick him up,¡± someone said with a hoarse voice.


    Tang Wulin turned to see a handsome man in his late twenties. This man was doing his best to hold back his tears. He gave Tang Wulin a curt nod. ¡°Don¡¯t let my baby see his mom like that.¡±


    Realization hit Tang Wulin like a speeding bullet. With how small the boy was, he couldn¡¯t see Mo Lan through the glass. Tang Wulin¡¯s heart felt like it was being wrung out. He¡¯s just a child but his mom¡¯s already¡­


    Releasing his hold on the toddler, Tang Wulin stood up. ¡°Mister, it¡¯s all my fault. I wasn¡¯t able to save Big Sis Mo Lan.¡±


    The man sighed, shaking his head. ¡°Don¡¯t blame yourself. If it weren''t for you, last time she would already have been¡­ She would never listen to me. She always said that if everyone hid because they were afraid, the Federation would go down in chaos. She always put others before herself. She¡­¡± He broke down in tears.


    The boy looked up at Tang Wulin, then at his father, and began crying as well. His father quickly crouched and hugged his son, patting the small head. ¡°Don¡¯t cry baby. Everything is fine. It¡¯s all fine.¡±


    Tang Wulin stood there in shock. Every since he was young, he wanted to become strong so he could be like one of the heroes of legends. Later he wanted strength to find his missing family. But now, he wanted strength to protect those he cherished and bring justice to the world.


    If he had strength, he could have prevented this tragedy. But there was nothing he could do now. He was powerless to help Mo Lan as she lay there, her fate uncertain. All that was left was to pray. This sense of powerlessness pained him.


    I have to work harder! The hopelessness of the situation twisted into something else, a fire rekindling his resolve.


    He would never let something like this happen again. Never.

 Chapter 475 - The Angel of Hope

    Chapter 475 - The Angel of Hope


    In the end, Mo Lan¡¯s husband had led their young son out of the critical care unit. Reining in his emotions had been a hard task in that cold, clinical wing. Yet, he also could not for the life of him keep away from it. He had specially rented a suite near the hospital to that end, hired a nanny to help look after his son. If it weren¡¯t for his son¡¯s constant cries, he never would have brought him to the ward to begin with.


    Noticing his nephew-disciple¡¯s distress, Zhen Hua approached Tang Wulin¡¯s side and patted him on the shoulder. Tang Wulin glanced up, despair in his eyes. ¡°Uncle-master, why must so many people do evil upon others?


    Releasing a long sigh, Zhen Hua said, ¡°There¡¯s no real reason. When there¡¯s good, there must be bad. Two sides of the same coin.¡± He frowned. ¡°There¡¯s no use in praying for justice. Work hard and gain the strength to protect those dear to you with your own hands.¡±


    A cloud settled upon Tang Wulin¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m still too weak. I couldn¡¯t protect Big Sis Mo Lan.¡±


    Zhen Hua pressed his lips into a thin smile. ¡°Foolish child. You¡¯ve already done all that can be expected of you at your age. In fact, you¡¯ve exceeded all expectations. Do you know how scared I was when I found you completely soaked in blood? Just remember, no matter what, your safety comes first. If you die, that''ll be the end of everything.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Zhen Hua grinned. ¡°I¡¯m telling you this for your sake. I want to see you thrive! Your master¡¯s got a really good disciple. I¡¯m really envious.¡± His words of praise were shocking, but they came from the bottom of his heart. It was rare for him to evaluate someone so highly. Tang Wulin was an unprecedented blacksmithing prodigy with the unyielding will, dedication, and passion needed for success. But what made him truly shine was his character. He had the courage to sacrifice himself for others. Noticing this trait about Tang Wulin, Zhen Hua couldn¡¯t help but put aside his competitive streak against Mu Chen and come to love Tang Wulin like a son.


    It was unthinkable for a fourteen-year-old boy to accomplish such heroic feats. He was a fearless newborn calf, turning heads with the unadulterated good of his actions.


    When Zhen Hua had rescued Tang Wulin, he had resolved himself to raise Tang Wulin to greatness. Even if Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t his disciple, Tang Wulin was still a member of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. As a Divine Blacksmith, it was his responsibility to nurture such a talented boy.


    An hour soon passed. Light footsteps approached from the hall. Zhen Hua looked up when the door opened. A woman entered with brisk steps and before he could take another breath, she stood before him.


    Anxiously waiting the whole hour, Tang Wulin tilted his head upward to see the identity of the mysterious woman. To his astonishment, it was someone he recognized: Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    Yali acknowledged Zhen Hua with a nod, then turned to Tang Wulin with a warm smile. ¡°So it was you again. I heard about what you did last time too. You¡¯ve done well. You bring honor to Shrek Academy.¡± She placed a hand on Tang Wulin¡¯s head, rubbed it, and poured a warmth into him, dispelling the dark energies whispering in his core. A sense of ease settled in his heart.


    Mo Wu quickly walked over and bowed in respect. He didn¡¯t recognize Yali, but her high status was obvious by her interactions with Zhen Hua. ¡°Hello. I am Mo Wu, Mo Lan¡¯s father.¡± He refrained from mentioning his position as an administrator because at this moment in time, before anything else, he was a father worried about his daughter.


    Yali peered through the glass, her gaze settling on Mo Lan¡¯s pale and still body. Her brows knitted, a frown sliding across her lips. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going to examine her.¡±


    The doctors and nurses Mo Wu had called in preparation for Yali¡¯s arrival offered her a set of sterile garments. She rejected them, and with a wave of her hand, sterilized her entire body with a flash of light. She proceeded to enter the room, passing through two sets of doors before she reached Mo Lan¡¯s sickbed.


    Tang Wulin anxiously watched from behind the glass. Mo Wu did the same. Although Mo Wu didn¡¯t know who she was, he had no doubts in her ability.


    Yali caressed Mo Lan¡¯s shaven head gently, fingers feeling for every bump and dent. She examined her patient. Her eyes held compassion as she took in the immense swelling. Nine soul rings appeared around her, seven black and two red. Besides Zhen Hua, everyone else around was astonished by the sight.


    Tang Wulin had seen the soul rings of Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu before, but neither had rings as impressive as Yali¡¯s. Her soul ring composition was only possible with two ten-thousand-year spirit souls and a hundred-thousand-year spirit soul. In this current era, few, if any, soul master could top that!


    Longing flickered in Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. When will I reach that level? I have to become as strong as her! Not even Elder Cai or Grandteacher can compare with the Holy Spirit Douluo!


    Meanwhile, Mo Wu stared with his mouth wide open. ¡°The Holy Spirit Douluo?¡± Voice weak and barely audible. ¡°Lord Zhen Hua, is that her?¡± As a politician of the Federation, he naturally had basic knowledge of all the known Titled Douluos, and the only healing-type soul master known to reach the Titled Douluo level was the Holy Spirit Douluo. She had a unique healing-type martial soul. The Angel of Hope. It was exceptionally hard to cultivate. As the realization dawned on him, his heartbeat quickened, a joyful staccato for the impending tune. With the Holy Spirit Douluo treating his daughter, there was no need to worry. Mo Lan would wake up. He couldn¡¯t begin to express his gratitude.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s legend was far from publicized. She had never been one to chase fame. However, all the higher ups of the Federation were privy to her existence.


    Yali¡¯s heart had always been kind, an ocean deep with empathy. Although she had been born in the slums, when she became a soul master and obtained the opportunity to leave, she chose to stay. She chose to help those that society had turn its back on. By doing so, Yali unknowingly cultivated the Angel of Hope, the energy from patients¡¯ faith a prime factor for her martial soul¡¯s growth. Before she knew it, she had stepped forward into the realm of Soul King.


    Of course, her cultivation did not stop there. About fifty years ago, when she was still a seven-ringed Soul Sage, an epidemic spread across the continent, ruthless in its approach. Millions gone, some without the luxury of a marked grave.


    Yali would not have it.


    In the span of fifteen days, she traveled through all fourteen provinces of the continent, bringing only herself and the clothes on her back.  Not a single person was turned away from her treatment. Over that period, she continuously drew on her faith energy and life force to push on. It slashed fifty years from her lifespan, drove her onto her deathbed at the very end of it, and she was delivered back to Shrek Academy comatose.


    But her sacrifice had been worth it. From the next day onward, those plagued by the disease showed signs of recovery. The energy of their faith trickled into Yali at first, gradually transforming into rushing river.


    One year later, she awakened. A Soul Sage into a Titled Douluo, the quickest in history.

 Chapter 476 - The Idol of Douluo

    Chapter 476 - The Idol of Douluo


    Despite treating countless people, Yali kept her name secret. Her patients simply called her the Angel of Hope. The mere mention of that name sent waves throughout Douluo.


    The Federation had offered her a high-ranking office for her deeds, but she rejected it, asking for her identity to be kept under wraps. She wished to save people, pure and simple. She had no desire for fame. Soon after, Yali went into seclusion in Shrek Academy, only coming out whenever a disaster occured.


    Innumerable were tales of men besotted with her. They waxed rhapsodic about her kind heart, her charming looks, the greatest in both categories on the continent. Her goodness was contagious, spreading to every person she encountered, changing them into better people. They couldn¡¯t help but adore her. Love her. Those in powerful positions throughout the continent had been drawn to her, all vying for her affection.


    She became the idol of Douluo.


    Such an eligible bachelorette was bound to garner suitors. One day, a man declared to the world that he would take her as his bride. He was resolute in this, unyielding. He challenged his rivals in love to face him in a duel. When the time came, he single-handedly defeated sixteen other Titled Douluos, three of which were three-word battle armor masters and the rest two-word. After every victory, he told his opponent with heartfelt sincerity to be at ease. He would protect Yali with his life.


    Ten years later, the man stood at the peak of the world, the greatest of his generation. He and Yali had wed and were proclaimed as a couple fated by the heavens. Wherever Yali went, he would follow.


    The realization of his love had changed him. He turned his back on worldly affairs, his wife the only thing that mattered to him. The perfect gentleman, he did his best to support her in her endeavors.


    This story was well known among the upper echelons of society. Mo Wu couldn¡¯t help but tremble as he recalled it. He had just met a legendary figure!


    He studied her once more. Time was kind to the Holy Spirit Douluo. She had the appearance of an attractive woman in her twenties, when in reality, she was well over eighty years old. In fact one hundred might not be pushing it.


    Mo Wu remained silent watching Yali through the glass, heartbeat relaxing at the sight of the Holy Spirit Douluo caressing his daughter¡¯s head. Light bloomed around Yali, soft and pure. A small angel appeared out of her back. It had three pairs of wings and curled up into a ball upon landing on Mo Lan¡¯s body. A second later, it dissolved into wisps of golden light and entered through Mo Lan¡¯s nose.


    Yali waved her hands, commanding streams of golden light to enter Mo Lan. Some, rather than enter her, wrapped around her tightly, cradling her in a cocoon of light. It floated a few inches in the air, growing brighter, thickening, too blinding for anyone to peer within..


    Still, Mo Wu held complete faith in Yali. According to legend, the Holy Spirit Douluo could save someone¡¯s life as long as they had a single breath left to breathe!


    The golden light slowly receded until it was but a dim glow.


    At that moment, Mo Lan¡¯s husband returned. In a few quick strides he was right before Mo Wu. After a brief explanation from his father-in-law, his face brightened with joy.


    In the moments that had passed since Yali started her work, those on the other side of the glass could vaguely make out Mo Lan¡¯s state making remarkable progress. The swelling of her head rapidly receded. A dark green gas was expelled from her eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth, immediately swallowed by the surrounding golden light. Not a trace of it remained.


    Shudders ran through Mo Lan¡¯s body, her brows knitting together and eyes closing tight. Ten minutes later, her head showed no signs of swelling. Expected results of the Holy Spirit Douluo, the most powerful healer in the world.


    Another ten minutes later, the golden light faded away and the little angel slipped out of Mo Lan¡¯s body, returning to Yali. She gently pressed her index finger on Mo Lan¡¯s head. A beat later, black hair sprouted from the top of Mo Lan¡¯s head. A hint of color to her cheeks. She no longer appeared to be sitting on death¡¯s doorstep.


    Shock painted the faces of the current medical staff. This was nothing short of a miracle! Without knowledge of Yali¡¯s identity or the legend of the Holy Spirit Douluo, they were still able to comprehend something incredible had happened, how amazing she was.


    Yali¡¯s soul rings faded. She left the room, robes swaying behind her.


    In a blink of an eye, Mo Wu was by her side, tears streaming down his cheeks. ¡°Thank you. Thank you, Your Eminence.¡±


    Yali heaved a long sigh. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me just yet. She hasn¡¯t fully recovered yet.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Yali¡¯s words were a bucket of ice water over his head. If even the Holy Spirit Douluo could not guarantee her recovery, then all hope was lost.


    ¡°Her situation was too extreme,¡± Yali said, her lips pressed together in a frown. ¡°The brain damage from the Phosphor Fire Soul Refinement is severe, and unfortunately for her, the most complex part of the human body is the brain. There are numerous regions of the brain, each that control various functions of the body. Not only that, her spirit was damaged. I did manage to treat the damage to her brain and piece back together her spirit, but as I said before, they¡¯re complex things. I can¡¯t be one hundred percent certain that I didn¡¯t miss something, or that she¡¯ll be able to make a full recovery.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. Her life is no longer in danger. But the important question now is whether she will wake up. If she does, then she¡¯ll be fine. She might lose some of her memories, but that¡¯ll be it.¡± She pointed to Mo Lan¡¯s slumbering form through the glass. ¡°Even though she¡¯s unconscious, I want you to talk to her. The sooner she wakes up, the better. You can also move her to a normal room now.¡±


    Mo Wu and Mo Lan¡¯s husband let out a sigh of relief. Before this, the doctors had told them her condition was critical. Not even a seven-ringed soul master could heal her. They couldn¡¯t hope for anything more from Yali. Just her life no longer in danger and her body recovering was good enough, especially since she still had a chance of a full recovery.


    ¡°When she wakes up, call me. I''ll come back to help her sort her memories and heal any remaining cracks in her spirit. I want to minimize her memory loss.¡± Yali handed a card to Mo Wu.


    ¡°Thank you. Thank you, Your Eminence.¡± Mo Wu accepted the card and bowed. Although he was a city administrator, he knew that he didn¡¯t have the means to pay back Yali¡¯s kindness, and that this kindness came with no strings attached. The Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s desire to save others was generous, altruistic. Was pure.


    Yali smiled. Her aura was peaceful and lightened the burdens everyone around her, their fatigue washing away.


    Zhen Hua approached and bent in a curt bow. ¡°Your Eminence, you¡¯ve worked hard,¡± he said, careful to respect her seniority.


    ¡°It was nothing. I will now take my leave.¡± She turned to Tang Wulin, affection in her eyes. ¡°Wulin, do you want to go with me?¡±


    Mo Wu and Mo Lan¡¯s husband dropped their jaws. They were not without knowledge of Tang Wulin¡¯s enrollment in Shrek Academy, but this. The Holy Spirit Doulou¡¯s acknowledgement. This was on a whole new scale.

 Chapter 477 - Returning to the Academy

    Chapter 477 - Returning to the Academy


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Your Eminence. I still have things to do with my uncle-master.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I forgot you¡¯re a blacksmith,¡± Yali said. She turned to the Divine Blacksmith. ¡°Zhen Hua, I¡¯ll leave this child in your care.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll send him back right after his business is done here.¡± Zhen Hua was alarmed by Tang Wulin¡¯s bad luck as well. In both instances that he came to Heaven Dou City, terrorists attacked his train. An evil soul master nearly killed him the second time. It was a blessing of the heavens that he survived until now. Zhen Hua couldn¡¯t let such a great blacksmithing prodigy die so early and resolved to personally deliver Tang Wulin back to Shrek Academy afterward.


    Yali nodded at Zhen Hua, then turned around and left. Mo Wu bowed deeply at her retreating figure. He could not treat his daughter¡¯s saviour with any less respect! Even if she never asked for payment, he would never forget her kindness, or the might of Shrek Academy as well.


    A doctor walked over. ¡°Miss Mo¡¯s vitals have returned to normal, so we can move her to an ordinary room now. We heard what the lady said earlier. Please talk to her so she¡¯ll wake up earlier.¡±


    Tang Wulin finally let out a sigh of relief at the doctor¡¯s words.


    ¡°Please notify Wulin when she wakes up,¡± Zhen Hua said to Mo Wu, gesturing to his nephew-disciple. ¡°Wulin, you can come visit her when she¡¯s better.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Wulin wrote down his number on a scrap piece of paper and gave it to Mo Wu.


    ¡°Wulin, thank you,¡± Mo Wu said, gratitude welling from the depth of his heart. ¡°If you need anything in Heaven Dou City in the future, just give me a call.¡± The words were said gently, but they carried the weight of a mountain.


    After leaving the hospital, Tang Wulin¡¯s body relaxed as the tension from the heavy and grim atmosphere in the emergency room drained away. Zhen Hua took him back to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. They entered from a back door, taking an elevator straight to Zhen Hua¡¯s office.


    ¡°Hungry?¡±


    ¡°Starving!¡± Tang Wulin answered, his eyes shining at the thought of eating the food in Zhen Hua¡¯s personal dining hall. He quickly wiped drool from the corner of his mouth.


    Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°We should celebrate after going through all that. I¡¯ll have some food prepared. Right, aren¡¯t you on vacation? Stay in Heaven Dou City for ten days this time. I¡¯ll give you pointers on your blacksmithing technique. Your alloy forging fundamentals are good, so I¡¯ll help you refine your technique and increase your success rate.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle-master.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve also prepared the two spirit items you asked for. You don¡¯t have to pay me back, I¡¯ll just take everything you forge in the next ten days as payment. I¡¯ll consider the money you borrowed last time paid off as well.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    Tang Wulin knew that Zhen Hua was just making excuses so he could personally teach him. The guidance of a Divine Blacksmith was worth far more than some alloys.


    In the next ten days, Tang Wulin dedicated himself to learning from Zhen Hua and eating first-rate food. By the third day, thanks to the nourishment of such excellent food, not only did he completely recover, but his blood essence and soul power also grew significantly.


    The more Zhen Hua spent time with Tang Wulin, the more shocked he was. He was startled to discover that Tang Wulin¡¯s blacksmithing foundation may be better than even his own. The boy¡¯s skill with his heavy silver hammers was superb and his control over the stacked hammers effect masterful. With the badge crafted by Mu Chen supplementing him, his alloy forging success rate had already reached fifty percent. Such a rate was rare even among sixth-rank blacksmiths.


    If not for Tang Wulin¡¯s low cultivation level, Zhen Hua would have moved right on to spirit refining. Even so, Zhen Hua still considered Tang Wulin as a sixth-rank at the very least.


    On the final day, Zhen Hua called Tang Wulin to his office.


    ¡°Wulin!¡±


    ¡°Uncle-master,¡± Tang Wulin said respectfully. He had learned much in the past ten days.


    As a Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua¡¯s philosophies and teaching methods differed greatly from Mu Chen and Feng Wuyu. He was especially keen on researching new techniques, and had generously taught Tang Wulin as many as time permitted. A prodigy of Tang Wulin¡¯s calibre was worthy of inheriting his techniques. The boy possessed the potential to understand metal on a level far deeper than even him.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done well as a blacksmith,¡± Zhen Hua said. ¡°You¡¯ve already reached the peak of what you can achieve with your current cultivation level and are ready to learn how to forge three-metal alloys and resume your spirit refining practice now. Since your blood essence is so potent, I estimate you¡¯ll firmly cement yourself in the sixth rank once you gain your fourth soul ring. When the time comes, I¡¯ll personally forge your sixth-rank badge.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Thank you, Uncle-master!¡±


    ¡°Your cultivation level is restricting you as a blacksmith right now. However, your soul power foundation is firm. The Tang Sect¡¯s Mysterious Heaven Method is indeed an excellent method, but your martial soul is weak and grows slowly. Fortunately, you¡¯re still young. Since you¡¯ve chosen the path of cultivation, I will support you as much as possible. Just remember this: in order to become a Divine Blacksmith, you must become a Titled Douluo. Even if your blood essence grows stronger, it won¡¯t be a substitute for the power of a Titled Douluo and you¡¯ll never gain the enlightenment necessary to cross the threshold of a Divine Blacksmith. Heaven refining is to understand the mysteries of the universe. Only Titled Douluos can do that.


    ¡°That¡¯s why when you get back to Shrek Academy, focus on cultivating your soul power. Since your martial soul is bluesilver grass, I suggest you find a place rich in the natural energies of the world to cultivate in. You¡¯ll grow much faster in such an environment.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Zhen Hua took out two boxes from his storage ring and handed them to Tang Wulin. One was purple and the other yellow, both about a foot long and wide. ¡°Here are the two spirit items you wanted. Be careful when you use them, they¡¯re very potent. Well, with your strength, you shouldn¡¯t have any problems.¡± Zhen Hua had spent 10 days teaching Tang Wulin. He had come to understand that the boy was tough, strong enough to rival an adult soul master already.


    Tang Wulin stored the two boxes into his storage ring. Excitement stirred within him. As soon as he got back to Shrek Academy and bought the remaining two spirit items from the Tang Sect, he could break the fourth seal!


    ¡°I was planning on sending you back myself, but something important came up so I can¡¯t do that anymore. Instead, I¡¯ve arranged an escort for you. They¡¯ll take you back to Shrek.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle-master. I¡¯ve already troubled you enough,¡± Tang Wulin said with heartfelt sincerity.


    Zhen Hua rubbed Tang Wulin¡¯s head. ¡°Alright, enough of that. If you have any blacksmithing questions, just give me a call.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    The person Zhen Hua had arranged to escort Tang Wulin back to Shrek City was the black-grade mecha pilot and captain of Heaven Dou City¡¯s 1st Mecha Regiment, Liu An. With his strength and his black mecha, he could even keep a Titled Douluo occupied for a while.


    Tang Wulin had learned the basics of mecha piloting at Shrek Academy, but it was his first time being inside a black-grade mecha.


    All mecha cockpits had enough space to accommodate two pilots, although only one operated the mecha at a time usually. The second pilot only came into play when they engaged in long distance combat.


    Typically, the higher the grade of the mecha, the smaller it was. The standard issue yellow-grade mechas stood over twelve meters tall while the purple-grade were around ten meters. Black-grade mechas were around eight. Red-grade mechas were supposedly no more than six meters tall. In contrast to mechas, battle armor fit snugly to its user without any excess bulk.


    Once in the cockpit, Tang Wulin looked around curiously. Liu An had a similar look in his eyes, but his gaze was focused solely on Tang Wulin. This kid¡¯s already saved two trains from terrorist attacks. He¡¯s saved hundreds of lives and he¡¯s from Shrek. His future is limitless.

 Chapter 478 - Tang Wulins Plan

    Chapter 478 - Tang Wulin''s Plan


    Although Shrek Academy had asked Heaven Dou City to keep quiet about Tang Wulin¡¯s heroic deeds, Mo Wu still granted him the title of Honored Citizen, and along with it, a badge. With that badge, Tang Wulin could buy anything in Heaven Dou City with a twenty percent discount, auction house included.


    The title of Honored Citizen was the highest honor that could be awarded in Heaven Dou City. It was non-hereditary, given only to the most outstanding of people. Even as the city¡¯s administrator, Mo Wu had to apply in order to grant two of them. One for Tang Wulin, and the other for his daughter. Both deserved it.


    ¡°Uncle Liu, isn¡¯t it hard to operate the mecha in such a cramped space?¡± Tang Wulin asked, his eyes shining with curiosity as he looked around.


    A typical mecha contained a human-shaped groove for the pilot within the center of the cockpit, located at its belly region. Here, the pilot controlled the mecha¡¯s every movement, mecha operation relying mainly on the pilot¡¯s own movements, supplemented by their thoughts. Due to the method of operation, strong bodies was a must for pilots. Partial control of the mecha could be given over to the mecha¡¯s operating system during combat, but high-grade mechas had minimal such programs and operation relied mainly on the pilot.


    Liu An explained some of the unique traits of his cherished mecha, one of the few black-grades on the continent.


    Black-grades had astronomical production costs. Furthermore, since the Federation only supplied the circuit cores, the rest of the materials and labor had to be provided by the pilot. But the mecha belonged solely to the pilot who put forth the resources to produce it. As long as they earned enough achievements, they would be able to take their mecha with them whenever they chose to leave the military.


    The circumstances were similar for purple-grade mechas. Lower-grade mechas, while built upon mass-produced chassis, were customized by their pilots. As such, mecha pilots treated their mecha as their second life, an extension of themselves.


    Both strength and money were needed to become a mecha pilot. If the pilot didn¡¯t come from a wealthy clan, then they would have to earn the money necessary to advance, be it via their salary, bonuses, or sponsorships.


    During his lecture, Liu An touched upon all sorts of troubles and issues faced by mecha pilots. In the end, however, they all revolved around one thing: the metals necessary to build and upgrade mechas were expensive!


    ¡°Ugh. I think you get it by now, but being a mecha pilot isn¡¯t as glamorous as it seems. It might be a prestigious job, but life grows harder by the day! Pilots can never stop working hard, competing in competitions for the prize money, and working for bonuses if they want to have a mecha they can truly call their own. Really, the Federation¡¯s treatment of us high-level pilots is inhuman. We don¡¯t have any time to think about anything but making money and growing stronger.¡± Liu An sighed, shaking his head. ¡°Still, I have to say I¡¯m doing pretty well for myself actually. My mecha is a solid black-grade, so I¡¯m just focusing on upgrading all of its parts with spirit refined metal. I think I¡¯ll be able to accomplish that in my lifetime.¡±


    ¡°Wow! It¡¯s tough being a mecha pilot!¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Liu An let out another long sigh. ¡°Yeah. You still need to temper the iron after forging it. Anyone can become a mecha pilot as long as they¡¯re strong enough for the training. But a good one? That¡¯s a different story. It¡¯s hard to advance from there, so that¡¯s where the real value of pilots emerges.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped, an idea forming in his mind. ¡°Uncle Liu, do pilots buy their metals directly from the Blacksmith¡¯s Association?¡±


    Liu An nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. We generally make requests for what we want, then pay the price. It¡¯s pretty straightforward and the Blacksmith¡¯s Association fees aren¡¯t too bad. But things get troublesome when it comes to spirit refined metal. There aren¡¯t enough blacksmiths capable of spirit refining! The demand far outstrips the supply, so the price is skyhigh to match. And even with money, a blacksmith still needs to take on the request. With the low odds of success for spirit refining, they¡¯re cautious when it comes to taking on requests and we clients have to bear the burdens of failure for them. It¡¯s just a tough situation all around.¡±


    ¡°Huh. So it¡¯s like that,¡± Tang Wulin murmured. The metals required by mechas were lower quality than those of battle armors, but their demand far oustripped the supply. His eyes flashed with a calculating glint. A golden opportunity!


    ¡°Uncle Liu, I¡¯m a member of Shrek Academy¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association. If you need some metals forged in the future, feel free to come find me. Our prices over there might be a bit cheaper and we¡¯ll definitely finish on time.¡± Tang Wulin beamed.


    Tang Wulin had no intentions of scamming Liu An. Rather, he wanted to tap into the market of mecha pilots. After all, he could undercut the market as much as he wanted, but he needed access to the buyers to actually move his products. There was no need to conduct business under the table anyway.


    During the ten days he spent with Zhen Hua, Tang Wulin learned just how costly it was for the higher levels of blacksmithing. This translated into battle armors being expensive to make as well. With the growing speed of Tang Wulin¡¯s seal breaks,  he would need more and more money to keep up with the rarer and rarer spirit items needed. Even if his uncle-master treated him well, he couldn¡¯t expect the man to buy him items with astronomical prices. In the end, it all came down to making more money!


    ¡°Sounds great!¡± Liu An said immediately, his eyes shining.


    Tang Wulin had taken care not to explicitly reveal who would be taking on the requests. Namely, him. He was aware how hard it was to trust a young blacksmith, especially one who declared himself a genius. On the other hand, Shrek Academy¡¯s name demanded trust and was very effective for his purpose.


    Nearly an hour later, they finally arrived at the outskirts of Shrek City. As a mecha pilot from Heaven Dou City, Liu An didn¡¯t have permission to enter Shrek City with his mecha. After exchanging numbers, Liu An flew off in his mecha, leaving a streak of flame in the sky.


    Tang Wulin hailed a taxi for the local Tang Sect headquarters. He wanted to get the remaining two spirit items as soon as possible, and return to campus afterward.


    Fraught with danger and challenge his trip to Heaven Dou City had been, Tang Wulin was quick to remember he had gained more than his troubles. The path ahead now sprawled neat and clear before him. With his newly-secured Honored Citizen discount, he could purchase things cheaply from Heaven Dou City, forge items for himself and his friends, and sell the rest. A grin slid its way across his lips. The fact that he had secured Liu An as a potential buyer brought all sorts of tickling in his belly. And perhaps best of all, he could take advantage of the discount to acquire any spirit items he needed in the future. His uncle-master backing him and the title of Honored Citizen attaching to his chest like a badge, he was sure to get the best price.


    It would all result in a positive feedback loop.


    Of course, Tang Wulin still needed to earn contribution points with both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. He decided to sell any spirit alloys with a less than eighty percent harmony rate, and with this plan, his bank account would continue to grow.

 Chapter 479 - The Four Spirit Items

    Chapter 479 - The Four Spirit Items


    Upon obtaining his two remaining spirit items, Tang Wulin skipped merrily to his dorm, stopping by a restaurant to buy lunch on the way, the campus dining hall closed as it was. By the time he returned, the sun had just reached the middle of the sky.


    His agenda was to break the next seal immediately to empower his blood essence, then visit Zhuo Shi for guidance.


    With that in mind, he made his way to Yuanen Yehui¡¯s room and knocked on her door.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    Tang Wulin did, catching the strangely domestic sight of Yuanen Yehui in the middle of cleaning. She was lightly dressed in a tank top and short skirt to fight off the sweltering summer heat, bent over with a washcloth, thighs exposed.


    Tang Wulin felt his face catch fire, averting his eyes and stopping in place. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be a bit more cautious?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t bother looking up. ¡°Why should I? It¡¯s not like you like girls.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin could hardly utter a word. I don¡¯t like girls?


    Finally finished cleaning, Yuanen Yehui rose from her bent position. ¡°You just got back from your trip to Heaven Dou City, right? Everything go well?¡± She was quick to change the subject. The image of Tang Wulin and Yue Zhengyu¡¯s clandestine affair was still seared into her mind, the most awkward brand. It gave her goosebumps just thinking about it. But she wasn¡¯t one to judge, the type to let others live their lives as they saw fit.


    Tang Wulin cracked a bitter smile. ¡°It went well. I nearly died, but that¡¯s about it.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What happened?¡±


    Expression slightly hardening, Tang Wulin recounted the tale of his brush with death on the train.


    ¡°An evil soul master?¡± Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes went wide and she clenched her hands into tight fists.


    ¡°What¡¯s with you?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    She shook her head, her complexion pale. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just remembered something from the past. Anyway, I¡¯m surprised you managed to survive that.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I have no idea what happened at the end or how I survived. I fell unconscious at the last minute, and when I woke up, my uncle-master had already rescued me. He told me he found me unconscious, so he doesn¡¯t know what happened either.¡± He brought a hand to his lips. ¡°Maybe the evil soul master thought I was dead and left, or he sensed my uncle-master coming and didn¡¯t have enough time to finish me off. I have no clue.¡±


    A pause. Eventually, Yuanen Yehui spoke. ¡°I don¡¯t think either of those things happened. But I can¡¯t think of any other explanations either. Were you injured?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Fit as a dragon,¡± Tang Wulin said, flexing his biceps with a sunny smile.


    ¡°I forgot how tough you are.¡± Yuanen Yehui smiled wryly, remembering his perseverance in their last battle, his refusal to give up. Like a cockroach.


    ¡°Yuanen, can I ask a favor of you?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m about to make a breakthrough and I want to go into seclusion for a few days. If you don¡¯t have anything to do off campus, could you help protect me during it? There shouldn¡¯t be anyone passing by, but still. All you¡¯ll have to do is make sure no one bothers me for a few days,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Hmm. How many days will it take?¡± Yuanen Yehui asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I think at least three. At most seven.¡± With the fourth seal already weakened and his body stronger than ever, Tang Wulin was confident it wouldn¡¯t take too long.


    She shrugged. ¡°Okay. Call me when you¡¯re ready.¡±


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ll pay you back with a piece of spirit alloy after.¡±


    Her eyes shone. ¡°Those were your words. Remember that! You can¡¯t back out! I want one with a harmony rate over ninety percent!¡±


    A tight smile formed on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Are you after my life? Ninety percent is way too much and will take too long. Let¡¯s make it eighty percent and we¡¯ll have a deal. Shouldn¡¯t take too long to forge one.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± Yuanen Yehui got what she had wanted, pitching higher than necessary. The odds of success for a ninety percent harmony rate were too low after all. Even if Tang Wulin had agreed, no one knew how long it would take.


    After a moment of thought, Tang Wulin said, ¡°I need to prepare some things first. I¡¯ll be ready in about two hours.¡± With no proper way to store his four spirit items, he didn¡¯t want to delay any further. It was better to break the seal while the potency of the items was at its peak.


    Once he returned to his room, Tang Wulin shut the curtains, then got on his bed to meditate.


    This was his fourth time breaking a seal. He had been fully prepared for the first two. Abruptly broke the third. There wasn¡¯t a trace of anxiety in his heart for the fourth. Rather, he eagerly looked forward to what he would gain. He wanted to experience the rush of power into his veins and the might of his second blood essence soul ring. The first golden soul ring granted him the Golden Dragon Body skill, providing a massive boost in strength and combat power. He could only imagine what the second would grant him.


    Tang Wulin hoped that the next skill he gained would be a long-ranged attack skill. No matter how he looked at it, ranged attacks were definitely his weakness right now, completely unbalanced with his close combat ability.


    As Tang Wulin mulled over his thoughts, he brought out four boxes from his storage ring and placed them on his desk. One box was made of wood, two of jade, and one of metal.


    He opened the wooden one first. An intense aroma immediately struck him. Within sat a brilliant flower with over a hundred golden petals. Each petal was covered in fuzz, the entire flower coiled up to fit in the box. A single sniff got his blood essence boiling.


    The flower was a thousand-year mystic heaven chrysanthemum. A rare spirit medicine that strengthened a person¡¯s limbs. Even at the thousand-year level, it was extremely rare.


    Tang Wulin opened the next box, a small one made of yellow jade. Inside was a sepia lump. It was ugly compared to the chrysanthemum, but an air of power swirled around it, its aroma thick and heavy.


    It was a thousand-year pine spirit mushroom, also known as the scarlet spirit mushroom. It had a gentle character and mellow energies that nourished one¡¯s internal organs. While not the best spirit mushroom around, there was no denying it had the most mild character, able to tame  the wildest of spirit medicines when ingested together, allowing the user to absorb the energies easily. And the mushroom fell slightly short of the chrysanthemum in value, an almost insignificant difference.


    Next was a green jade box. Tang Wulin slowly lifted the lid, sighing as he breathed in a bright fragrance, life and vitality incarnate. A string of small fruits sat inside the box, about forty of them altogether. They were all the size of a bean, a shade of lush green jade. In truth, the box had originally been pure white, dyed the fruit¡¯s color after holding it for some time. Simply breathing the air from the box invigorated him.


    A thousand-year life fruit. Its name stemmed from its tenacious will to live, the fruit growing only in the most barren of lands, praised as the greatest treasure of the deserts. If anyone lost their way there, they would be saved as long as they found this fruit. A single berry was enough to sustain a person for ten days. A truly magical fruit. Its existence in such barren terrain, one of the many mysteries of the world.


    Tang Wulin had purchased it from the Tang Sect. It had cost quite a large sum of contribution points. Old Tang had reminded him several times to get one with at least thirty berries. He went above and beyond that, getting his hands on a life fruit with forty. It was even more valuable than the mystic heaven chrysanthemum.


    He moved on to the final box. The box was made of a silver metal, completely sealing any fragrance that lay within. He pressed a button to unlock it, the lid opening up in one fluid motion. A black object with a metallic luster sat at the base, and upon closer inspection, a pattern of eleven dark purple rings could faintly be made out on its surface.

 Chapter 480 - The Fourth Seal

    Chapter 480 - The Fourth Seal


    This was thousand-year purple cloud wood, a wood with peculiar characteristics. It was harder than most metals, and was actually toxic. Ingesting it would cause metal poisoning. It only took a small amount to endanger an ordinary person¡¯s life. Fortunately, its hardness made it difficult to ingest.


    In spite of how dangerous purple cloud wood could be to normal people, for soul masters it was a wonderful treasure. By pouring soul power into it, a soul master could transform the wood¡¯s toxicity into an energy that could strengthen their body and increase their flexibility. This thousand-year piece of purple cloud wood couldn¡¯t be found in ordinary markets. It was priceless.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but sigh as he gazed at the four spirit items. He needed all of them just to break the fourth seal! The mere thought of what the future seals would require made him start to sweat a little. He had to make more money.


    Tang Wulin stood up from his desk and brought over a basin of water he prepared earlier. He placed the pine spirit mushroom in it first, letting it soak for ten minutes. Next he put in the mystic heaven chrysanthemum. The water took on a weak golden hue the moment the chrysanthemum entered it. After another ten minutes, a sepia color seeped from the mushroom and encroached upon the chrysanthemum¡¯s golden domain. Third was the purple cloud wood. The instant it touched the water, inky colors spread from it, giving the water a muddy quality.


    This was a secret recipe Old Tang had told him about. Of the four spirit items, purple cloud wood was the cheapest. This was mainly due to its excessive hardness that made it difficult to use, as well as its strong toxicity. A single mistake could endanger the user¡¯s life, so few dared to use it. However, when combined with mystic heaven chrysanthemum, the situation became entirely different. This recipe took advantage of that.


    The chrysanthemum excited the wood, and their medicinal properties spread through the water, mixing together. The wood¡¯s toxicity faded away. It was now usable as medicine.


    The value of this recipe couldn¡¯t be measured. Purple cloud wood only cost a sixth of the mystic heaven chrysanthemum accepted value, but if this recipe became widely known, the purple cloud wood¡¯s price would skyrocket.


    When the water finally grew calm and its color deepened to an impenetrable darkness, Tang Wulin took the thousand-year life fruit out of the basin and ate it.


    The fruit wasn¡¯t tasty at all. It was painfully sour to the point that it made Tang Wulin¡¯s teeth ache. Even so, he endured the unpleasantness and ate every single one of the fruit¡¯s berries. As he did, life energy surged through him. Saliva welled up in his mouth, transforming the sourness to a burst of sweetness. He then swallowed his saliva, and the sweetness spread through him as well. An ethereal high filled his body, a sensation that he quickly became drunk on. He felt as if he were an ascetic that had reached enlightenment.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s skin took on a green glow as he finished eating the fruit. Oblivious of this, he picked up the basin and gulped down its contents.


    Ugh! It tastes gross.


    The murky liquid ran down Tang Wulin¡¯s throat, combining with the life fruit he had just eaten. A sharp bitterness joined the sweet and sour that pulled at his tongue. His brow furrowed, a frown of disgust warped his mouth, and a groan escaped him, but even so, he forced himself to drink. The thought of how much money this dark mixture was worth gave him every reason to keep drinking. He absolutely couldn¡¯t waste it.


    It was now that Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach showed its might. He withstood the harsh taste of the liquid, which waned as he drank, and all of the it disappeared into his belly. It left his belly fuller than before, but that was it. He still had room for more.


    The remains of the three spirit items sat at the bottom of the basin. They hadn¡¯t completely dissolved into the water, but all three looked nothing like they had before. The mystic heaven chrysanthemum had transformed from a dazzling gold to a dull gray, its aroma completely absent. The purple cloud wood now looked like an ordinary chunk of wood, the purple rings gone from its surface. Although its spiritual energies were gone, the pine spirit mushroom had fared better than the others, simply turning from sepia to black.


    Tang Wulin was amazed by the recipe. It used the properties of the three spirit items, exploiting how they reacted to one another to draw out all of their energies and medical potency.


    Then Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach started to churn and ache. He rushed to his bed and began meditating. Only now would the breaking of the seal truly commence.


    The mystic heaven chrysanthemum and purple cloud wood both possessed powerful medicinal properties, and with their toxic edge having been dulled from being combined, their medical potency had grown exponentially. The inclusion of the pine spirit mushroom in the recipe, on the other hand, was meant to mellow out the other two spirit items further and nourish the user¡¯s organs. The life fruit was added to boost the user¡¯s life force. The four came together in a perfect fusion, minimizing risk and maximizing benefits.


    In spite of all of that, Tang Wulin was in intense pain. He could feel his stomach and the surrounding muscles spasming. He had to fight back the urge to vomit everything he just ingested. He couldn¡¯t afford to squander all the money he had spent on them! Spirit items worth millions of credits and points were in his belly!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s miserly nature easily overcame such an insignificant level of pain. He clenched his jaw and endured, urging his soul power to circulate within him, carrying the medicine along with it. The pain gradually transformed into a blazing heat. The green glow of Tang Wulin¡¯s skin became scarlet, as if he were a human lobster.


    The heat inside Tang Wulin grew hotter and hotter, rampaging through his body. All of his pores opened up, releasing a thick medicinal aroma.


    Outside of Tang Wulin¡¯s room, Yuanen Yehui sat cross-legged, guarding the door. Her nose twitched, smelling the aroma. Astonishment colored her face. She couldn¡¯t believe how potent it was. A single whiff of it had relaxed her body. She straightened her back and continued to take in the medicinal aroma, breathing deeply through her nose.


    Back in the room, Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body felt like it was on fire. A faint golden glow rippled within him, through his veins, muscles, bones, and organs. He somehow knew that this golden light was the reason for his insane recovery ability. It was this recovery ability that had saved him numerous times now.


    It¡¯s time to break the fourth seal!


    Spurred on by his soul power, the medicinal energies assaulted the fourth seal. The seal shuddered, a boom rumbling within him. Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body trembled. He saw a golden light envelop his body and heard a draconic roar echo from deep within himself. He could feel everything inside of him being dyed a radiant gold.


    Before this, every time Tang Wulin broke a seal he had either been unconscious or had his eyes closed. This was his first time seeing the changes that occurred to his body when he broke a seal. He could feel the fourth seal splitting open, releasing a torrent of energy that dyed his entire body gold. This energy began fusing with his flesh, bones, and blood as it devoured the remaining medicinal energy to empower him further. The golden energy filled him, and he felt bloated, fit to burst.


    But his body, hungry, ravenously so, ate it all up.

 Chapter 481 - Another Look at the Forbidden

    Chapter 481 - Another Look at the Forbidden


    Pain. That was all Tang Wulin could comprehend at the moment, his flesh bubbling from a searing heat, blood vessels bulging from his skin. But it was insignificant compared to what he had endured in previous seal breakings. The radiant energy of the Golden Dragon King poured into his body, rushing quicker and quicker, to the point of bursting. Yet the pressure began to decrease, his body gobbling up the energy and repurposing it into his own strength.


    A sense of liberation and excitement washed over him, the cells of his body singing, brimming with energy. They resonated with the crescendoing draconic roar within him..


    The parts of his body hidden from his view took on a pattern of golden veins. They were mostly concentrated on his back, shining resplendently so.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s aura of might rose to the sky, gusts kicking up around him. His blood essence raged through his meridian channels like a roaring river.


    Golden scales manifested on his forehead. They gradually turned translucent, sparkling crystals that encrusted his skin. Scales spread across his right arm, shoulder, and the right-side of his torso. Then they spread further. Empowered by the energy of the Golden Dragon King, they encroached up his neck, claiming it as their domain. Then they turned their sights to the unscaled side of his torso and shoulder. They stopped short of covering his left arm.


    The golden veins across his body flared brighter than ever, tracing deeper and wider into his skin. The cry of his blood essence. A golden soul ring emerged from his body, spinning around him. Then a second emerged. A faint trim of white at its edges, this new ring bled pure gold an instant later.


    The cracking and popping of bones. Tang Wulin now stood a few centimeters taller.


    Blood essence and soul power mixed within him, the soul power growing purer under the blood essence¡¯s influence, strengthening his body further. Unknown to Tang Wulin, his blood essence had always influenced his soul power, but at this particular moment it was to a higher degree. Rather than directly increasing his soul power, his blood essence continuously refined and compressed it.


    The body was a vessel in which its volume and the strength of its meridian channels and itself were closely entwined. But there were limits to how large it could grow, even for a Titled Douluo. In order to maximize their strength, they compressed their soul power so that a denser, more potent form of the energy filled them. Usually, only Soul Kings and stronger compressed their soul power, since that was when the limits of the human body began revealing themselves. Tang Wulin, however, had long since started compressing and refining his soul power thanks to his blood essence. This was the true cause of his slow cultivation speed, and were it not for this, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to stand on the level as Yuanen Yehui.


    The value of compressed soul power became more apparent with strength.


    Wrapped in a blanket of warmth, Tang Wulin submerged into the depths of his mind, throwing himself fully into meditation. His soul power and blood essence resonated, a gentle thrum to the energies as his scales twinkled in the darkness of the room. Now was the time to consolidate the power he gained from the fourth seal into his own.


    ?


    When the medicinal aroma finally faded from the air, Yuanen Yehui opened her eyes. A day had passed. The sun shone brightly in the morning sky.


    She stood up and stretched her back. Astonishment colored her face. She felt like a new person. She had drawn out all the impurities in her body, a sticky layer of a mucus-like substance on her skin. It felt disgusting, but the fact that she had become stronger from this cleansing was a comforting thought..


    She did, however, face a problem. Because of her deal with Tang Wulin, she was currently in the middle of guarding him and couldn¡¯t leave to wash herself! But to continue on in such a dirty state was unthinkable. She took a tentative sniff of her body. And nearly choked.


    She scanned the area, ears perking up. Sure enough, there was no one else to be found in the working students dormitory. She directed her gaze back to Tang Wulin¡¯s door, heard his deep and steady breaths, and decided he wouldn¡¯t wake up anytime soon. It would be fine for her to wash off in the courtyard.


    Yuanen Yehui always kept her promises. Since she agreed to guard Tang Wulin, she would do so until the end. She had benefited from the leaked medicinal aroma too, so she couldn¡¯t just leave, especially with her righteous heart.


    She drew up two buckets of water, grabbed a set of clean clothes, and walked back to the courtyard to wash herself. She could handle the cold water. Checking once more that Tang Wulin was deep in his meditations and assured that he would stay that way, she threw her dirty clothes off to the side, emptying a bucket over herself.


    A smile graced her lips as soon as the water met her skin. She felt refreshed with the muck off her body. Her wet skin glistened under the sunlight, a hint of pink to it, a shine to it that wasn¡¯t there before.


    Just what is Tang Wulin up to? His medicine is so potent!


    Yuanen Yehui was without a doubt quite lucky. Because Tang Wulin already had a strong body and only had three soul rings, he couldn¡¯t absorb the full extent of the spirit items¡¯ medical potency. For that reason, Yuanen Yehui was able to use the energies that had leaked. Furthermore, if she hadn¡¯t been there guarding him, the energies leaking out of his pores would have gone to waste. Fortune allowed her to absorb a third of that medical potency.


    Another cause for the medicinal energy leakage was that Tang Wulin¡¯s body had already been full to the brim of the energy of heavenly treasures, courtesy of Zhen Hua¡¯s beneficial foods.


    Yuanen Yehui looked down at her rosy skin, astonished. Before this event, her figure had been slender yet still possessing the curves and charm of one stepping into the sphere of womanhood. Now this coupled with her newly clear complexion, her delicate and pink skin. She had grown even more beautiful.


    She stretched her body, which glistened under the sun. A radiant aura around her, she could have been a goddess for all the world knew.


    She ran her fingers through her hair, tugging past the odd tangle and knot, the cool droplets still running down her skin and leaving tracks wherever they went. Satisfied, she moved to turn around and dressed when all of a sudden her ears caught a muted click. The sound stood out among the quiet ambient noises of nature. She hastily grabbed her clothes and threw on her jacket. A modicum of decency restored, she directed her glare to the bushes behind  bushes. There were a few splatters of blood there, an oddity in the peaceful courtyard.


    With a shout, she leaped toward the bush, her body already swelling with size and power as she summoned her Titan Giant Ape martial soul.


    Someone yelped in the bushes. ¡°No! Don¡¯t hurt me! I just got here! I didn''t do it on purpose!¡± A scream filled the air as the figure in the bushes dashed out and away with ghostly steps.


    Yuanen Yehui threw a punch at the peeping tom, sending in their way a blast of air powerful enough to obliterate a boulder.


    They were as slippery as an eel, figure a blur as they ran through the courtyard. In the end, Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t land a single shot.


    And then she recognized who it was. ¡°You bastard! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡± Xie Xie.


    The question of why it was always him peeping on her ran through her mind the first second her brain had put two and two together. Then her fury caught up and before she knew it, she vowed to deliver her wrath.

 Chapter 482 - Wrath

    Chapter 482 - Wrath


    While Xie Xie was home during break, he found that his cultivation speed had slowed. This made him want to work harder, to improve his cultivation. The thought of Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui, both of whom had stayed behind on campus, motivated him. He decided to return early to cultivate with the two, and thought it would be fun to keep it a surprise. He never expected his work ethic to serve trouble to him on a platter!


    Blood trickled from Xie Xie¡¯s nose as he fled. He wiped it away, struggling to process what just happened.


    He had walked in on Yuanen Yehui in the nude! Although he had only stayed for a fraction of a second, barely long enough to catch the smallest glimpse of her, his own body had betrayed him. Blood had rushed to his head, leaked from his nose, and ruined any chance of a stealthy retreat.


    Xie Xie could complain as much as he wanted, could shout his grievances deep inside his heart, but he understood what sort of character Yuanen Yehui was. It had taken so much pain and effort just to build and maintain a normal relationship with her, but now he had accidently peeped on her again!


    This time, however, Xie Xie refused to take the blame! She had been washing herself in public! Since she didn¡¯t go back to her room to wash up, he could only assume she did so on purpose. He wondered whether talking could settle things peacefully, but that line of thought was quickly derailed by a blast of air that rushed past his head, narrowly missing him. The blast of air exploded a short distance from Xie Xie, unleashing a mighty gust of force, the full brunt of which he only managed to avoid by using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step. Having used the secret art so much this past semester, he had grown exceptionally skilled in executing it. His footwork resembled the ethereal movements of a wraith. Yuanen Yehui couldn¡¯t hope to catch him.


    ¡°Stop and pay for your crimes!¡± the girl snarled.


    ¡°I refuse!¡± Xie Xie shrieked as he moved even faster. I¡¯m too young to die!¡±


    In truth, Xie Xie could just flee the working students dormitory grounds right now and call for help. Any teacher still on campus, but that would bring disciplinary action upon both of them, Xie Xie for peeping and Yuanen Yehui for assault. Furthermore, news of her being seen naked would spread and bring shame to her. He refrained from making the easy choice, not for his sake but hers! This meant that all he could do was try his best to evade her attacks while staying within the ground of the working student dormitory. So he gritted his teeth and pushed onward.


    ¡°You think you can run?¡± Yuanen Yehui hissed. She drummed her chest with both arms, her fourth soul ring lighting up as she activated Devil Titan!


    Yuanen Yehui punched out with both her fists, shooting two blasts of air at Xie Xie. The air streaked toward Xie Xie, swift as lightning, and collided with each other a few meters away from him. They erupted in an explosive tempest, throwing Xie Xie off his feet and into the air.


    She¡¯s so strong! Xie Xie¡¯s eyes went wide as he struggled to stabilize himself in the air. It had been quite a few days since he last sparred with her, but she had already grown so much!


    Yuanen Yehui crouched to the ground, then leaped into the air, hurtling toward Xie Xie like a cannonball. She was upon him in a flash, bearing down upon him. Xie Xie was just an ant before her tyrannical might.


    However, Xie Xie¡¯s heart had calmed down during the chase. Outclassed as he was, he still managed to react to the sudden attack. His third soul ring lit up and he summoned a Light Dragon Clone. In a shimmer of light, Xie Xie split into two to create two identical Xie Xies. The two pushed off against each other, narrowly avoiding Yuanen Yehui¡¯s attack.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Yuanen Yehui thought her attack was going to hit, but Xie Xie had managed to dodge it. Ignoring the hiccup in her attack plan, she threw a fist out at each of the Xie Xies. Booms rang out, and two blasts of air were immediately chasing after the clones.


    The two clones landed on the roof of the nearby dormitory, then raced away with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step and descended back to ground level.


    Xie Xie had spent countless hours practicing his control over his clones, and now his efforts were bearing fruit.


    Although Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Air Cannon attacks were powerful, they didn¡¯t have a large area of effect, and she couldn¡¯t go on a rampage while on the grounds of the working students dormitory either. Minutes passed, and she still couldn¡¯t catch either of the Xie Xies.


    ¡°Stop and fight me if you have the balls!¡± she shouted.


    ¡°I¡¯d be stupid not to run!¡± he shouted back. After all of this running away, he had grown just as fed up with her as she was with him. He couldn¡¯t believe how unreasonable she was being. If any of her air blasts had hit him, his skin would have been torn off. He could only imagine what she would do to him if she caught him.


    ¡°Fine! Keep running!¡± Yuanen Yehui suddenly shrunk back to normal size, but her muscular bulk was replaced by a pair of pitch-black wings that blossomed from her back. She had exchanged the domineering four-ringed power of her Titan Giant Ape for the speed of her three-ringed Fallen Angel martial soul.


    Yuanen Yehui suddenly accelerated, a devilish sword manifesting in her hands. She flew a few circles in the air, sowing seeds of darkness all over the dormitory grounds. Darkness encroached upon the region, enveloping everything with a gloomy stillness. It was the descent of Curtain of Darkness!


    Ever since she lost to Tang Wulin¡¯s team, Yuanen Yehui had thrown herself into her cultivation. Both her martial souls were the best of the best, so she needed to do was get better at using them and her strength would skyrocket.


    Curtain of Darkness took advantage of the angelic characteristics of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s martial soul to unleash all of its might. A third of her soul power had been spent in an instant, converted into this shroud of dark fog. It was thick and corrosive, a large-scale crowd control attack.


    Yuanen Yehui excelled in both long range and close range combat. Her only weakness was her lack of speed, and she had trouble facing agility-type soul masters like Xie Xie. In order to compensate for this weakness, she used Curtain of Darkness as a brief attack to restrain her opponent. Although it consumed quite a bit of soul power, she just needed it to last long enough for her to close in on her enemy. Then she could switch back to her Titan Giant Ape to beat down her foe. This was a tactic she hadn¡¯t used before, and unfortunately for Xie Xie, he was to be the first test subject for this combination attack.


    Both Xie Xies felt their bodies slow down as if they were trying to run through a quagmire. The encroaching darkness dulled the light that shone from their bodies and drastically decreased their speed. In this murky fog, their steps faltered, and they were no longer able to use Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step to its fullest potential.


    Then they saw Yuanen Yehui flying toward them. Her body swelled with power as she descended, and in a flash she was back in her Titan Giant Ape form, smashing her fists down at them.


    Yuanen Yehui understood how Xie Xie¡¯s clones worked. As long as a single clone remained, the main body wouldn¡¯t be damaged. There was no reason for her to hold back yet, and she attacked before the shroud of darkness could fade away.


    Right before her fists connected, Xie Xie sensed the power behind them drop. She didn¡¯t use Air Cannon either. Is she going easy on me?


    With no way to evade, Xie Xie gave in. He stopped trying to run, closed his eyes tight, and braced his arms in front of him to receive the blow. A bitter smile spread across his face.


    A boom thundered through the dormitory courtyard. Xie Xie stumbled back a few steps, but he was astonished to discover that he felt no pain. He slowly opened his eyes to see a gallant golden figure standing in front of him.


    It was Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Boss!¡± Xie Xie yelled.


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°How did you provoke her this time?¡±

 Chapter 483 - The Unlucky Boy

    Chapter 483 - The Unlucky Boy


    Yuanen Yehui stared at Tang Wulin in shock. Golden scales covered his chest, shoulders, and right arm. He held Yuanen Yehui¡¯s fist in his scaled hand. Although she held back at the last second, he had stopped her punch far too easily. He had grown even stronger!


    Xie Xie, on the other hand, gazed at Tang Wulin in admiration. His was broad and imposing, and it instilled a sense of safety into Xie Xie.


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°Could you stop for now, Yuanen? Help me understand what¡¯s happening here. How did Xie Xie offend you this time?¡±


    ¡°This is all your fault,¡± Yuanen Yehui growled. She shot a glare at Tang Wulin, and ran away.


    Tang Wulin turned to Xie Xie, his golden scales fading away as he gave him a curious look. ¡°What did you do now? Explain from the beginning. Why¡¯s she so mad?¡±


    ¡°I saw something I shouldn¡¯t have seen,¡± Xie Xie said with a strained smile. He explained exactly what happened without omitting a single detail.


    As Xie Xie recounted the events, a nervous expression formed on Tang Wulin¡¯s face. It seemed some blame really did lay with him. To keep her promise to guard him, Yuanen Yehui had chosen to risk washing herself in the courtyard, and Xie Xie happened to return while she was doing so.


    It was actually hard to say who was at fault here. Unlike the previous incident in which Xie Xie looked into Yuanen Yehui¡¯s room on his own, this time was just a coincidence. It wouldn¡¯t be fair to lay all the blame on Xie Xie. All three of them shared the blame this time.


    Soon after Xie Xie finished explaining things to Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui returned fully clothed. Her face was ashen, and her gaze was glued to Xie Xie. It held a ferocity that could tear him to pieces. This was the second time he had peeped on her. The second time! She refused to believe that was mere coincidence. I¡¯m going to beat that bastard to death!


    Xie Xie stared back at her in abject awe.


    Tang Wulin had no choice but to step in to mediate. ¡°Yuanen, I¡¯m really sorry about what happened. It¡¯s all my fault. This happened because you promised to guard me.¡± He scratched his cheek awkwardly. ¡°Xie Xie didn¡¯t mean to peep on you. He wanted to surprise us by returning early. He only just got here, so he barely caught a glimpse of you before you noticed him. Xie Xie, hurry up and apologize to her.¡±


    No matter how Tang Wulin framed things, Xie Xie was still in the wrong. He had violated Yuanen Yehui¡¯s privacy.


    Xie Xie bowed deeply, his head low. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have returned without telling you. I barely saw anything, I promise.¡±


    Although Xie Xie said this, Yuanen Yehui¡¯s bare womanly charms were seared into his mind! He had been enchanted by her tempting figure bathing in the sunlight. He harbored no dark desires, he simply admired her beauty. Even after she transformed into her Titan Giant Ape form, he found her stunning.


    Yuanen Yehui fought to control her ragged breathing as she held up two fingers. ¡°That¡¯s two times now. Two! He¡¯s an agility-type! Who knows when he arrived? How could I possibly trust him when he says he only got a glimpse of me? And even if he were telling the truth, a glimpse is still unacceptable!¡±


    Xie Xie remained silent, maintaining his deep bow.


    ¡°Yuanen, I really am sorry!¡± Tang Wulin said hastily. ¡°This is my fault. As an apology, how about I give you a spirit alloy with a harmony rate of eighty-five percent or higher, no charge?¡±


    ¡°No way!¡± Yuanen Yehui shouted him down. ¡°Are you saying my body is only worth a single spirit alloy?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled awkwardly. ¡°Then what do you want to do about this? We aren¡¯t adults yet, and Xie Xie truly didn¡¯t peep on purpose. It was just an unfortunate coincidence. Tell us what you want to happen and we¡¯ll do our best to make it so.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui glared at him. ¡°Of course a guy attracted to other guys wouldn¡¯t understand the value of a girl¡¯s body! I just want¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Tang Wulin raised a hand to interrupt her. ¡°Wait just a minute now. What did you say?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui realized what she said and averted her gaze. ¡°Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t bring up your sexual preferences here. My bad. But still¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hold on!¡± Tang Wulin shouted this time. ¡°Where did you get the idea that I like guys? Who told you that?¡±


    Stunned, she slowly raised a finger toward Xie Xie. ¡°He did! He said you and Yue Zhengyu¡ª¡±


    Tang Wulin whirled on Xie Xie, a grim look in his eyes.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Xie Xie looked at Yuanen Yehui in astonishment. ¡°Didn¡¯t I explain things to you? That was just a misunderstanding.¡±


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists, then turned back to Yuanen Yehui. ¡°You thought I was into guys this whole time?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui finally picked up on the fact that something was amiss. She looked back to Xie Xie and barked, ¡°When the hell did you explain anything to me?¡±


    ¡°Just listen to me!¡± Xie Xie sputtered, shaking his head frantically. ¡°It was all a misunderstanding!¡± Desperate to save himself, he hastily explained what really happened between Tang Wulin and Yue Zhengyu.


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists even tighter. He tilted his head as he stared at Xie Xie. ¡°Not only did you cause a misunderstanding, you spread it as a rumor too! Why don¡¯t you tell the rest of the academy while you¡¯re at it? Yuanen, I understand what you¡¯re feeling now, so tell me, who¡¯s beating his ass first? Me or you?¡±


    ¡°No way! Boss, I made a mistake! I just forgot to explain things to Yuanen!¡± Xie Xie begged. He no longer even entertained the idea of running. With both Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui working together, he had no hope of escape.


    Tang Wulin flashed a brilliant smile at Xie Xie, grabbed him, and pulled him to Yuanen Yehui, maintaining his smile the entire time. ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate that this guy is such a bastard. I won¡¯t try to protect him anymore. He¡¯s all yours.¡± Tang Wulin pushed Xie Xie toward Yuanen Yehui before returning to their room.


    Yuanen Yehui locked eyes with Xie Xie. She raised her hand and made a fist.


    Xie Xie shut his eyes tight, his face contorted in fear He didn¡¯t move an inch. He blamed himself for seeing what he shouldn¡¯t have. He was prepared to face her wrath.


    Yet even after a minute of torturous waiting, he didn¡¯t feel the pain of fist connecting with flesh. All he heard was the cries of birds in the distance.


    Xie Xie slowly opened his eyes, one at a time. Yuanen Yehui wasn¡¯t facing him anymore. She was running back to her room. He could see something twinkling under the sun as she fled. It was a tear falling through the air. He moved to catch it, blurring from one spot to another, and it landed in his palm. He had no real reason to do this, but the sight of it made his heart throb with pain. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have come back early.


    Xie Xie returned to his room in a daze. When he entered, he saw Tang Wulin sitting cross-legged on his bed. ¡°Boss, I... all of this¡ª¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s done is done,¡± Tang Wulin interrupted him. ¡°You¡¯re just unlucky. There¡¯s no point piling more misfortune onto you. So, she didn¡¯t beat you?¡±


    Xie Xie shook his head and looked down at his feet, forcing out a bitter laugh. ¡°I would have preferred it if she did. Instead, she cried.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked Xie Xie up and down, examining his forlorn friend. ¡°Do you like her?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Xie Xie looked up, his mind clearly blank. Moments later, he nodded slowly. ¡°But it¡¯s hopeless! After all this, there¡¯s no way she would like me back!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand the ways of the heart, but I do know that, no matter what happens, there is always a chance as long as you try. Give up, and your chances are zero. Think about that. I¡¯m going to get some food.¡±


    Xie Xie watched Tang Wulin walk out the door before laying down on his own bed in a daze. The image of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s figure flashed through his mind. He remembered each and every one of her frowns and smiles. She was already deeply imprinted on his heart.


    He leaped to his feet, ran out the door, and found the basin Yuanen Yehui had been using to wash herself. He also found her dirty clothes laying on the ground and threw them into the basin. Then he grabbed the other basin filled with water and cleaned up the courtyard. Once the courtyard was neat and tidy, he washed Yuanen Yehui¡¯s dirty clothes and hung them up to dry. He brought the basins back to where she usually kept them, surprised to discover just how much he knew about her.

 Chapter 484 -The Chipped-tooth Man

    Chapter 484 - The Chipped-tooth Man


    All who remained on the working student dormitory grounds were Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie, the former in her room and the latter still loitering in the courtyard.


    Xie Xie stared holes at her door, biting his lip and clenching his fist. Wulin is right. There¡¯s a chance if I try, but none if I sit around moping! He steeled his resolve, walked to the door, and knocked.


    ¡°Yuanen, I washed your clothes for you. They¡¯re hanging to dry in the courtyard. You can go grab them later.¡± Caution peppered his voice.


    Not a sound was heard from within the room. Several moments later, Xie Xie spoke again. ¡°Yuanen, Captain went to get some food. We¡¯re the only ones left here now. Can I talk to you? I want to be honest.¡±


    ¡°Screw off!¡±


    Xie Xie winced at first, but immediately settled with slapping his cheeks twice. Determination glinted in his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll just say it from here then. The first time I saw you naked, I was stunned. I didn¡¯t see anything clearly, and before I knew it I was beaten into a pulp by you. But if there was one thing I realized at that moment, it was that you were a girl. So I decided to help you clean the place every day. Sweep the floor, wash the windows, dust things off. I didn¡¯t know what else I could do for you.¡±


    Inside her room, Yuanen Yehui¡¯s rage burned hotter as Xie Xie began his monologue. The longer she listened, however, the more she surrendered to an unseen force, standing up from her bed and staring at the door in a daze.


    ¡°Then helping you clean the dorm just became a habit for me. I felt uneasy whenever I couldn¡¯t tidy up. Honestly, I don¡¯t regret what happened. If not, I wouldn¡¯t have known that you¡¯re a girl. You¡¯re so beautiful. Being ignorant of that would be the greatest mistake of my life, and I¡¯ll gladly receive any punishment to avoid it.


    ¡°Later on, I came to understand that my habit wasn¡¯t tied to cleaning. It was just an excuse to see you every day. My heart ached on the days I couldn¡¯t. It¡¯s for that same reason I returned early to campus.¡± He sighed. ¡°Originally, the plan was to show you guys how much stronger I got when I came back after cultivating earnestly at home. But I just couldn¡¯t focus. I could never bring my mind off Shrek. I wanted to return as soon as possible the entire time. I¡¯ve only realized the truth recently. I didn¡¯t miss Shrek. I missed you.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry for peeping on you again! But I really didn¡¯t do it on purpose. And I really only got a glimpse. Although I did get a clearer look than the time before, it was still only a glimpse.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui couldn¡¯t bear it anymore. Her fury bubbled out of her throat, ¡°Go to hell!¡±


    Xie Xie coughed, then continued, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have seen it, but as a man, I feel responsible. So let me take responsibility for you. Yuanen, please marry me. Be my wife, won¡¯t you?¡±


    Silence descended. Xie Xie¡¯s heart raced, so much that he could hear it pounding in his ears. He swallowed. ¡°Yuanen, I think we¡¯re quite a match while you¡¯re in your normal form. I think I¡¯m pretty handsome too. We¡¯re still young though, so we can just get engaged for now. I can get approval from my family at this moment, and then we can get married for real after we graduate. I promise to take responsibility and take care of you.¡±


    The door burst open. Yuanen Yehui stomped out.


    At last, Xie Xie saw a beautiful smile on her lips. Even with her eyes red and swollen, there was no denying the beauty of her smile.


    ¡°Yuanen.¡± Xie Xie stepped forward.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you on your way out.¡± Her expression suddenly changed. Gone was her smile, in its place a grim mask. Her body swelled with muscle as she grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt. Flexing every muscle in her body to draw up maximum power, she threw him into the air.


    Xie Xie streaked through the skies like a shooting star out of the working student dormitory grounds, his screams trailing his shrinking form.


    With that, Yuanen Yehui shrank back to her normal size. She glanced at the clothes Xie Xie washed, then took them down and returned to her room. She slammed the door shut behind her.


    ?


    A towering tree in Spirit Ice Plaza shook. Xie Xie fell through its branches, fortunate enough to have them cushion his fall. He landed face first, shooting up to his feet a moment later.


    ¡°Holy shit that scared me,¡± he exclaimed, gasping for breath. He scratched his head awkwardly. He didn¡¯t know if it was right for him to like Yuanen Yehui or not. Such a violent girl.


    ¡°Whoa! A flying man! Interesting!¡± someone said joyfully in the distance.


    Huh? There¡¯s still people on campus? They didn¡¯t leave for vacation?


    Xie Xie looked up to see a middle-aged man smiling at him, his build as average as they came. He wore his hair short, and his small eyes shone with warmth. A toothy grin that wasn¡¯t quite whole, a front tooth chipped in half. He swept the floor with a broom, giving the appearance of a neighborly uncle.


    ¡°Uncle, who are you?¡± Xie Xie asked.


    The man¡¯s face froze. ¡°Uncle? Am I that old already? Boy, you were really quick on your feet just now. Are you an agility-type?¡±


    Xie Xie chuckled. ¡°Uncle, you really do deserve to be Shrek¡¯s janitor. You can even tell I¡¯m an agility-type!¡±


    A mischievous smile played across the man¡¯s face. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t underestimate people. Boy, how about we make a bet?¡±


    ¡°What bet?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stand right here. If you can snatch this broom from me within ten minutes, you win. Otherwise, it¡¯s my win.¡±


    Xie Xie shook his head. ¡°No thanks. There¡¯s no point.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet you one hundred contribution points! Even us janitors get points,¡± the man said.


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°Uncle, now you¡¯re just gifting me a hundred points. You work a hard job, so I¡¯ll still have to say no.¡±


    The man¡¯s face soured. ¡°Huh? I wanted to win some points from you for breakfast. I didn¡¯t think you wouldn¡¯t even have the balls to accept such a small bet.¡±


    Xie Xie felt his chest tighten. It was an easy bet anyway. He simply had to snatch the broom from the man¡¯s hands while the man stood still. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll take you on!¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s figure blurred the moment the words left his mouth. He reached the man in an instant, his hand stretching for the broom. After spending so much time with Tang Wulin, he had learned a few cunning tricks.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± the man cried out, letting go of the broom. But this act caused Xie Xie¡¯s hand to miss the handle.


    The broom fell onto the man¡¯s toes. Xie Xie stepped in and stooped low to grab it.


    The man turned, the broom sticking to his foot as if glued on. Xie Xie missed again.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Xie Xie¡¯s eyes went wide. He realized now that this was no ordinary man. His competitive spirit was stoked. His figure blurred again and his speed doubled, his daggers materializing in his hands.


    The man kicked the broom back into his grasp. He faced Xie Xie with a huge grin. ¡°Come on. The clock is ticking.¡±


    Xie Xie remained silent. Using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, he surrounded the man with his afterimages. It was near impossible pick out the real Xie Xie.


    However, the broom came alive in the man¡¯s hands. It jumped, danced, and twisted around, avoiding Xie Xie¡¯s grasp each time, no matter the angle of attack. Through it all the man didn¡¯t move a single step, his lower body practically motionless!

 Chapter 485 - The Rising Sun of the West Mountain

    Chapter 485 - The Rising Sun of the West Mountain


    ¡°I refuse to believe this!¡± Xie Xie cried. His third soul ring lit up, a clone splitting from his body. Now he controlled four hands at once to snatch the broom.


    Not a single crack marred the man¡¯s smile. He gently swayed in place, moving the broom out of Xie Xie¡¯s grasps by a hair¡¯s width each time.


    For a while, their figures overlapped as Xie Xie continued his assault, and the man easily evaded. There was still plenty of time left in their bet.


    Xie Xie drew out all of his strength, pushing his speed and control to the max. Yet even with both clones moving fast enough to blur, even after he tried every trick in the book, the broom always eluded him, swerving beyond his fingers at the last moment.


    Xie Xie clicked his tongue. At this point it was clear as night and day that it wouldn''t be easy to win against the seemingly harmless man. But he couldn¡¯t admit defeat yet. He refused to. As long as there was time left, he still had a chance.


    ¡°Time¡¯s up!¡±


    In a blur, the broom struck both Xie Xie and his clone on the head. The clone and original fused back together, and Xie Xie groaned in pain as he gasped for breath.


    ¡°Who sent you flying earlier?¡± the man asked, brushing aside their bet for the moment.


    Xie Xie¡¯s expression froze. Not a word left his lips. Unlike the man, he was still fixated on the bet. He could have sworn that the broom had been in his hands several times, but in the blink of an eye, it disappeared.


    ¡°Well, regardless of who threw you, it¡¯s obvious that your skill doesn¡¯t match up to theirs. Passable speed, but compared to your peers your skill certainly leaves much to be desired.  You won¡¯t be able to keep up like that. The issue isn¡¯t with your stance, but the moment you strike. You react too slowly, so your target has plenty of time to attack, counter, you name it.¡± He shook his head. ¡°This also means your lethal power isn¡¯t enough. For an agility-type, lethality is even more important than speed. Do you understand?¡± the man said, all smiles.


    Xie Xie studied him, eyes narrowing. ¡°Agility-types are all about fast attacks! Why would how lethal I am be more important?¡±


    ¡°Because attacking is the core of everything! Speed allows you to catch up to your target, but what¡¯s the point if you can¡¯t take them out? With all those mechas and battle armor out there, who doesn¡¯t have a strong defense nowadays? Your attack power isn¡¯t enough. All you have is speed. Raise your dagger for me.¡±


    In his shock, Xie Xie had forgotten to withdraw his martial soul. Without properly understanding or registering the order, Xie Xie¡¯s body obeyed and held up his Light Dragon Dagger. A breath later, and the man¡¯s figure twisted out of sight.


    Xie Xie missed it completely. All he felt was a prickling pain in his shoulder and a light push on his dagger. When he whipped his gaze to the direction of his pain, hungry and curious to see what had just transpired, his eyes went wide. A strand of hair pierced through his dagger like the world¡¯s most flexible needle, caught and impaled into the flesh of his shoulder. W-what happened? That¡¯s just hair!


    Confused or otherwise, there was no denying reality. The erect hair loosened and went limp. Pouring a bit of soul power into his dagger, Xie Xie easily destroyed the hair. But his shoulder still stung. He couldn¡¯t fathom what had just happened.


    ¡°Lethality, speed, and power are all related. Once your speed reaches a certain level and you can concentrate all your power into a single point, lethality will naturally follow. Boy, you still have a long ways to go.¡±


    Convinced and won over, the beat of excitement drumming in his heart, Xie Xie said, ¡°C-can you teach me?¡±


    The man shrugged. ¡°Pay up for the bet first. I¡¯ll teach you for a bit after.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Xie Xie immediately took out his contribution points card and paid the man one hundred points.


    ¡°Since you just got back, we¡¯ll start tomorrow morning. I¡¯ll be waiting for you here.¡±


    ¡°Got it. I¡¯m Xie Xie by the way. How should I address you?¡±


    The man smiled. ¡°I¡¯m Liang Xiaoyu. You can just call me Big Brother Liang. Some people also call me the Rising Sun of the West Mountain. It¡¯s because my family lives on the west side of a mountain, and back then, we had a super handsome guy in our family. He moved to the city later on and became a superstar. All of the people in my village say I look like him, so they started calling me that.¡±


    Xie Xie fought hard to keep a straight face. ¡°Big Brother Liang, honestly speaking, there¡¯s a bit of a gap between you and being handsome.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t it just a small difference though?¡±


    Xie Xie glanced at Liang Xiaoyu¡¯s balding head. ¡°Also, you should stop using hair to stab people. I doubt it¡¯s any good for you.¡±


    After a moment of silence, Liang Xiaoyu shouted, ¡°Serves you right to get thrashed!¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin, famished as he was, decided to curb his hunger at the noodle shop Xu Luzhi had recommended. According to his teammate, the noodles were absolutely divine, especially the ones lathered with a thick meat sauce.


    He recalled the conflict between Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie earlier. As soon as he had awakened from breaking the fourth seal, his feet brought him to the site of all the commotion. When he had stopped Yuanen Yehui¡¯s flying punch, he felt the power coursing within him. His blood essence had surged through his body like a dense river. Although it had cost him four unbelievably expensive spirit items to break the fourth seal, he could tell by his astronomical increase in strength that they were well worth the price.


    But on this exact moment, Tang Wulin hungered. It clawed at him. The energy of the Golden Dragon King, rather than grant him relief from this, only stoked his hunger. He could tell that his meridian channels had grown wider following the breaking of the fourth seal. All the more reason for more nutrients to fill the new space.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power had grown denser as well. As it condensed, the space it occupied in his dantian had shrunk, allowing him additional space to do as he willed. In light of this, he concluded that he needed to redouble his efforts. At his current cultivation speed, he feared he might not gain his fourth ring by the time he turned fifteen. Improving the speed of his cultivation was a must, for he couldn¡¯t become a sixth-rank blacksmith until he had the foundation of a Soul Ancestor. All he could do was work even harder.


    After devouring ten bowls, Tang Wulin stretched his body, his mind wandering back to Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui. He couldn¡¯t help but crack a smile. Those two really do have an affinity with each other. Well, whatever. I¡¯ll just let them sort things out themselves.


    Although Xie Xie¡¯s luck was horrible, he still had many avenues he could use to settle the problem. Tang Wulin was confident the two would turn out just fine given enough time and space.


    Tang Wulin took out his communicator and called Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Are you back?¡± Wu Zhangkong answered the call in his usual cold voice. Tang Wulin felt himself relax.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve returned to campus. Teacher Wu, when should I visit you in the inner court?¡± Tang Wulin asked. His vacation was already halfway done, but he still had much to do.


    ¡°You can come right now. Just head to the inner court and I¡¯ll be there to receive you.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    After quickly paying his bill, Tang Wulin did just that. Eager he was to test his limits now that his his blood essence had strengthened and he had gained a second blood essence soul ring. Hopefully the ring granted him a ranged ability.


    Standing by the gates to the inner court, Tang Wulin heard only the occasional gentle breeze and his own thoughts. The gates were open, revealing a crooked path leading inward. Not a single person stood guard. It appeared easy for anyone to just waltz right in, but Tang Wulin knew that it was anything but so. Shrek Academy was a holy site for soul masters and a den of dragons for enemies.


    I wonder if Big Sis Mo Lan is awake yet? The Holy Spirit Douluo really is amazing at healing! When will I be as strong as her? His thoughts lay with the Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s powerful soul rings. The sight of six black and three red rings had sent tremors down to the depths of his heart. He was still an insignificant boy when compared to her, a person who stood at the peak.


    He felt his heart calm, his mind relax with every step farther down the crooked path.  A gentle breeze weaved through the trees, a clean scent refreshing his mind. His clothes soon began to stick to his skin. He was nearing Sea God¡¯s Lake. He walked past several sculptures, the legendary Shrek Seven Monsters of ages past, and rounded the curve onto the lakeside.


    The lake glittered under the sun, the waters clear to the bottom. A few aquatic plants sprouted from the wet dirt, breathing life into the lake.


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to make a call to Wu Zhangkong, his eyes caught the figure of a boat embarking from Sea God¡¯s Island. The boat slowly floated toward the shore, an impassive Wu Zhangkong at its bow. He was dressed in his usual white robes with his hands folded behind him. A light breeze picked up the ends of his robe and hair. A mystical ascetic.


    Damn! Teacher Wu is handsome! Those white robes look so cool! Tang Wulin stared, entranced. I need to get a set of white robes in the future too! I¡¯ll get some as soon as I graduate!


    The boat slid up to the shore right in front of Tang Wulin. ¡°Get on,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    Once both of his feet were on the boat, Wu Zhangkong urged it to float back to the island with a wave of soul power.


    ¡°I heard about what happened on the train. You met an evil soul master?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re sinister people. You can¡¯t compare them to ordinary soul masters at all. If you meet one in the future, be on full alert. So that you¡¯re aware, you¡¯ve been marked by their organization. Don¡¯t leave campus for any light reason, and if you do, tell me first.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Teacher Wu, mark my words. One day I¡¯ll be strong enough that I won¡¯t fear the evil soul masters ever again!¡± A fire lit in his heart at the mention of them. He wouldn¡¯t forgive those bastards who treated life as lightly as grass!

 Chapter 486 - The Silver-haired Beauty

    Chapter 486 - The Silver-haired Beauty


    The moment Tang Wulin set foot on Sea God¡¯s Island the sharp edge of his determination, while still present, slightly dulled, calmed by his surroundings. He felt invigorated, the air thick with energy. His bluesilver grass perked up, tendrils uncoiling and stretching to take it all in. Giant mulberry trees towered over the heavens. Their trunks were thick and weathered by time, their branches holding up a shield of leaves that protected Sea God¡¯s Island from weather, be it rain or thunder.


    It was Tang Wulin¡¯s second time here. Still, his experience was different from the last; he could peer deeper into the mysteries of the island. Perhaps it was because he had reached the Spirit Sea realm and his perception abilities increased.


    Tang Wulin followed Wu Zhangkong into the heart of the island. As his eyes wandered around, he noticed another boat approaching the shore. A girl stood in the boat, her silver hair waving in the wind. She looked about thirteen or fourteen years old, dressed in red uniform. As a stronger breeze picked up the bottom of her dress and her flowing hair,  his breath was taken away.


    She¡¯s pretty! If Tang Wulin had to admit it, he was quite easy on the eyes himself. And his teacher, Wu Zhangkong, was the definition of an icy prince. When he laid eyes on this girl, however, any sort of immunity to beauty he might have carried withered into ash, and he found himself lost in a heat of infatuation toward her. Gentle silver eyes. Slender legs. Simply too charming, a fairy of the lake. Not a single flaw could be found in her features, as if her face had been carefully sculpted by the greatest artist in the world. Despite her youthful appearance, she had the makings of a woman already, curves rounding out her figure, an elegant air around her. Tang Wulin could hardly piece together thoughts at the sight of the girl, let alone speak.


    Red was the color of the inner court, her uniform marking her as a member of those elites. But didn¡¯t Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan get booted out for not being battle armor masters? Is she actually a one-word battle armor master already? No way!


    ¡°Hm?¡± Because the footsteps behind Wu Zhangkong went quiet, he paused in his steps and looked back. For his efforts, he was given the unseemly image of Tang Wulin¡¯s dumbstruck face. He moved to Tang Wulin¡¯s side in a flash, hand chopping his student¡¯s head.


    Tang Wulin yelped, waking from his stupor. ¡°Teacher Wu.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong followed Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze to the silver-haired girl, then angled his gaze back to his student. ¡°What are you staring for?¡±


    ¡°I-is she an inner court disciple?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong nodded.


    Disbelief colored Tang Wulin¡¯s face. ¡°But¡­ doesn¡¯t the inner court only accept battle armor masters? That rule was just implemented, right? Does that mean she¡¯s a one-word battle armor master?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shot a look at him. ¡°She isn¡¯t. She¡¯s special.¡±


    ¡°How come?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the Pavilion Master¡¯s only direct disciple. Of course she¡¯s special. There¡¯s no need to doubt her potential. She will be one of the continent¡¯s powerhouses in the future, so the Pavilion Master decided to take her in and nurture her.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. Naturally, he knew what the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion was. It was the organization that stood at the very top of Shrek Academy, administering the academy¡¯s laws and choosing its direction! He had heard many rumors about what sort of person the Pavilion Master was, but not once had he received a concrete answer. The identity of the Pavilion Master was shrouded in secrecy. Not even Wu Zhangkong mentioned the Pavilion Master save for this time. Yet despite not knowing anything about this illustrious figure, Tang Wulin still harbored deep reverence for them. There was no doubt in his mind that anyone who could hold such a position was powerful and worthy of respect.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Wu Zhangkong. He spun on his heel and continued onward.


    The girl¡¯s boat docked off in the distance and she made her way into the island on another path. Her figure quickly shrank into the horizon, disappearing with her long strides.


    I don¡¯t know why, but she seems familiar. Tang Wulin furrowed his brow, bothered by a strange feeling he couldn¡¯t place, an incessant nagging in his inner thoughts. But in the end, he hurried after Wu Zhangkong.


    When Tang Wulin caught up to him, he asked, ¡°Teacher Wu, what¡¯s the name of that inner court disciple?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong glanced at him. ¡°And just how old are you again? You¡¯re too young to get distracted by such things. Focus on cultivating.¡±


    Tang Wulin pouted. ¡°Teacher Wu, I¡¯m not like Xie Xie. She just seemed familiar. Maybe I¡¯ve seen her somewhere before.¡±


    ¡°All men think a pretty girl looks familiar when they first lay eyes on them.¡± Wu Zhangkong wasn¡¯t willing to entertain Tang Wulin, cutting off any advancement of the inquiry, his voice clipped. Discouraged, Tang Wulin could only follow in silence until they arrived at Zhuo Shi¡¯s small house.


    Shen Yi was meditating cross-legged on a stone bench in the front courtyard. Tang Wulin could vaguely make out dark green streams of air converging around her. Her soul power fluctuations thrummed with steady power. Yet Tang Wulin also found a sense of comfort in it. He felt an affinity for her since they both possessed plant-type martial souls.


    Since Shen Yi rarely revealed her strength, the only thing that Tang Wulin could pick out was that her martial soul was in some way related to vines. But he did know that she wasn¡¯t one to be taken lightly. She couldn¡¯t be. She was a teacher at Shrek Academy. At the very least, she was a two-word battle armor master.


    Wu Zhangkong led Tang Wulin into the house. To Tang Wulin¡¯s surprise, Zhuo Shi was sitting in the living room.


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s face lit up the moment he saw Tang Wulin, a warm smile forming on his lips. He beckoned for Tang Wulin to come over.


    Tang Wulin advanced with quick steps and bent into a slight bow for his grandteacher.


    ¡°Enough with that. No need to be so polite. You¡¯ve shown enough respect already.¡± Zhuo Shi was pleased with his granddiscple. He had watched Tang Wulin¡¯s team¡¯s match against the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy and had only words of praise for how the team handled the match. More specifically, how they handled facing two soul fusion skills and sealed their own victory. That had been no easy feat. But his feelings of approval didn¡¯t end there. A few days earlier, the Holy Spirit Douluo had informed him of how much she liked Tang Wulin¡¯s personality. That was when Zhuo Shi knew for certain his granddisciple was a treasure, a youth with a kind heart and a sound mind on how to show respect.


    ¡°Thank you for the praise, Grandteacher.¡± Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°You taught me Dragon Shocks the Heavens last time. I¡¯ve mastered it, so may you teach me another skill now?¡±


    Tang Wulin clasped his hands together, trying to calm his fidgeting fingers. He was eager to learn more. Dragon Shocks the Heavens helped him so much in the past, and he knew for a fact it would continue to help him in the future. In fact, it was only second to the Mysterious Heaven Method in terms of effectiveness. He had high expectations for what he would gain from the next skill.


    Zhuo Shi nodded. ¡°No need to rush. Of course I have more to teach you. But first, show me your Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Let¡¯s move to the courtyard.¡±


    Tang Wulin had no complaints, obediently following Zhuo Shi out. This was a good chance to test how much stronger he grew after breaking the fourth seal as well. Zhuo Shi walked to the center of the courtyard and beckoned to Tang Wulin. ¡°Come. Give me your best Dragon Shocks the Heavens.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Tang Wulin positioned himself ten meters from Zhuo Shi. Spectating from the side were Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi, who had awoken by the time the granddisciple and grandteacher pair stepped foot into the courtyard. The two teachers understood Tang Wulin¡¯s strength well. They had watched him mature with their own eyes since his arrival at Shrek Academy. They had witnessed his explosive growth after breaking the third seal. Although his soul power was hardly special, his combat prowess and leadership skills could be summed up in one word: exceptional.

 Chapter 487 - The Second Blood Essence Soul Skill

    Chapter 487 - The Second Blood Essence Soul Skill


    Bluesilver grass. Tang Wulin¡¯s current greatest weakness. It limited the speed of his soul power¡¯s growth, and the effect rippled out, stunting every other aspect of his abilities. Fortunately, he was still young. He could use other methods to increase his soul power if his growth was lacking by the time he turned eighteen.


    Neither Wu Zhangkong nor Shen Yi were worried about Tang Wulin¡¯s chances of entering the inner court. The boy was the youngest fifth-rank blacksmith in all of history. That alone was enough to permit him entry. Moreover, his blacksmithing skills made it easy for him to become a one-word battle armor master. He already had his gauntlet, so it was only a matter of time now before he completed a full set!


    Tang Wulin took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the refreshing air of Sea God¡¯s Island. His blood essence flowed in reverse as he used Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Waves of might rolled off him, golden lines flaring to life from head to toe. His right arm swelled with strength, scales of the same bright gold manifesting upon it, transforming his hand into a claw.. The scales spread to his shoulders, his chest, then up his neck.


    Wu Zhangkong was familiar with Tang Wulin¡¯s use of blood essence, his eye always on his hopeful student. But when he saw the scales crawl up to cover Tang Wulin¡¯s neck as well, he nearly forgot to breathe. His blood essence became stronger?


    At that moment, two golden rings rose from beneath Tang Wulin. He straightened his back, seeming a couple centimeters taller than before, steady as a mountain. He shone a brilliant gold. The air whipped up into a frenzy around him. His blood essence roared like a raging river, audible even to Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi a distance away.


    Zhuo Shi watched with bright eyes. He had high expectations for Tang Wulin to begin with, but now the boy was blasting past them! A second golden ring? Didn¡¯t he only have one last time? Just how far will his bloodline go?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body flashed a brighter gold, his first golden ring lighting up. Strength surged through his swelling muscles. The golden lines on his body transformed into fine scales, thinner than the rest. Apart from his face, the scales covered his entire form.


    Golden Dragon Body. This soul skill further empowered his blood essence.


    Then his second golden ring shone. Eager he was to traverse in newfound territory, to test out the abilities of the second ring.


    From Tang Wulin¡¯s body burst forth a ringing of metal, and once again did his scales shine more resplendently for a moment. Each and every scale a miniature mirror, dazzling in the light.


    Zhuo Shi, Wu Zhangkong, and Shen Yi remained glued to the sight, jaws hanging. What did Wulin do? Why are all of his scales shining?


    In truth, not even Tang Wulin knew what was happening. Rather, he had been too wrapped up with investigating his second blood essence skill. He had tried concentrating, taking in the sensation of the whole transformation. Had concluded it definitely wasn¡¯t a ranged attack. And nothing happened to his soul power after activating the skill. Instead, the skill consumed a large portion of his blood essence reserves, enough to weaken Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Then, just two seconds after he had activated the skill, his scales dimmed and returned to their original state. There was no other change.


    I-is that it? Is that my second blood essence skill? All it does is make me shiny? What am I? A peacock? He gritted his teeth. I might look good while my scales shine, but what good is that?


    Tang Wulin curled his hands into fists, on the verge of tears. He had looked forward to his second blood essence soul skill for so long, had wished and hoped and dreamt of it, but when time came to actually activate the skill, it wasn¡¯t a ranged attack at all. It wasn¡¯t even anything of value, just made him shine from head to toe like a beacon.


    Even so, he there was no way he could just stop midway through Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. He needed to show Zhuo Shi his progress. Fortunately, breaking the fourth seal had strengthened his blood essence. He still had enough energy to unleash the technique.


    A dragon¡¯s roar thundered. He thrust his palms out, the phantom of a giant dragon¡¯s head rushing out. It was clearer and more visible than ever before.


    Zhuo Shi knitted his brows, a shiver running down his spine. He could feel his own martial soul trembling in fear before Tang Wulin. He threw a curtain of fire to shield himself from the rage of the phantom dragon head.


    Shockwaves rumbled through the courtyard, leaves raining down from the shaking trees.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence, turbulent like a storm within him. Three waves of might crashed into the curtain of fire, each resonating with the last to reach new heights.


    The curtain of fire shimmered under the bombardment. Several seconds later, the assault stopped. Gold receded from the air and the roaring dragon calmed.


    When the dust settled, a pleased smile danced along Zhuo Shi¡¯s face. ¡°Not bad. You¡¯ve mastered about thirty percent of Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Keep up the good work. I can teach you something new now.¡±


    The reverse blood essence flow of Dragon Shocks the Heavens was only the first step. For Zhuo Shi had created the Nine Arts of the Scarlet Dragon and each art drew out the full potential of blood essence.


    Although Zhuo Shi didn¡¯t say it, he was beyond satisfied with Tang Wulin. The boy¡¯s blood essence is even stronger than mine when I was his age! His bloodline is also superior to my Scarlet Dragon. He¡¯s a suitable heir to my techniques. He had been searching for a good disciple to inherit his techniques for years, but he never expected to find one as perfect as Tang Wulin. The boy soaked up all of his teachings like a sponge.


    Tang Wulin earnestly listened to Zhuo Shi as the elderly man lectured him, but gloom had settled on his heart after testing his second blood essence soul skill. He couldn¡¯t understand what to make of it. It was absolutely useless if all it did was make him shine, especially with how much strength it consumed. He resolved to go ask Old Tang about it later.


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s lecture went on for an hour before letting Tang Wulin off to cultivate. Sea God¡¯s Island was saturated with the natural energies of the world and ancient plants. As such, it was a perfect cultivation ground for Tang Wulin.


    As Tang Wulin meditated, he called out for Old Tang, eager to have his questions answered. But there was only silence.


    Is Old Tang on strike? Tang Wulin smiled wryly to himself. Forget about it. If he¡¯s not answering, then he¡¯s not answering. I¡¯ll figure things out on my own.


    Tang Wulin tried using the skill again, but apart from shining for two seconds, nothing happened. His attack power didn¡¯t increase nor was his blood essence empowered. All the skill did was consume a vast amount of blood essence, double that of Golden Dragon Body. It seemed to weaken him in the middle of battle for no gain.


    He was vexed. The only thing that stopped him from going crazy was the new teachings Zhuo Shi imparted on him. Under Zhuo Shi¡¯s guidance, he rapidly progressed in refining his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. He practiced until the sun fell and night took its place. Dinnertime.


    Just as Tang Wulin expected, Zhuo Shi had handled dinner. The food laid out on the table was luxurious and highly nutritious. The black steamed buns Tang Wulin had eaten last time were present as well. He didn¡¯t bother standing on ceremony and dug in, greedily devouring the food.


    Zhuo Shi got to witness a storm ravaging his dining table for the first time. He had asked Shen Yi to prepare more food than usual, but the force of nature that was Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach showed no signs of satisfaction. Common sense couldn¡¯t be applied to the boy¡¯s appetite. His appetite had grown with the breaking of the fourth seal, and he had tired himself practicing Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens today as well. His hunger was unstoppable. It was unbelievable.


    ¡°Wulin, do you have enough money to sustain your eating habits?¡± Shen Yi asked in concern.


    Tang Wulin smirked. ¡°Teacher Shen, you don¡¯t have to worry about that. As long as I don¡¯t leave Shrek, Elder Feng promised to cover all of my food expenses! That was a condition for me to become his disciple.¡±


    Zhuo Shi perked a brow. ¡°That penny-pinching Feng Wuyu would actually be that generous?¡±


    Knowing how much his grandteacher liked him, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t restrain himself. He grinned wide. ¡°Yep! I¡¯m just that amazing! Grandteacher, when I visited Heaven Dou City and studied blacksmithing under my uncle-master, he told me that as soon as I got my fourth soul ring, I would be a sixth-rank blacksmith.¡±


    Zhuo Shi¡¯s gaze hardened. ¡°Four rings and you¡¯ll hit sixth-rank? So you¡¯re saying you¡¯ll be a sixth-rank blacksmith if I feed you some heavenly treasures right now?¡±

 Chapter 488 - Face Slapping!

    Chapter 488 - Face Slapping!


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Probably, but it wouldn¡¯t be good for me as a soul master to take a shortcut.¡±


    Zhuo Shi pressed his lips together, his expression stony. ¡°Alright. But Wulin, just don¡¯t bite off more than you can chew. Especially when it comes to cultivation. I don¡¯t know who your uncle-master is, but you don¡¯t need to take his words too seriously. Blacksmithing is the hardest of the four main professions. The difference becomes even more apparent when you get to the later ranks. That¡¯s also why there¡¯s only one Divine Blacksmith in the world right now. You need to focus on establishing a firm foundation. Don¡¯t put too much faith in the praise others give you. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin dared not say anything more to Zhuo Shi¡¯s displeased face.


    Suddenly, a barking laugh sounded. ¡°Zhuo Shi you old fool! I have arrived!¡± In walked Feng Wuyu.


    Tang Wulin wasted no time in standing up and bowing. ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Feng Wuyu waved him off. ¡°You stinkin¡¯ brat! You should have visited me first when you got back instead of this nest for old codgers. What can a clueless fool like that teach you?¡±


    A loud slam. Tang Wulin whipped his head to the direction of the sound, eyes widening at the small dent on the table top beneath Zhuo Shi¡¯s palm. ¡°You crazy bastard! You trying to start shit? How am I clueless? You better watch your mouth in front of my granddisciple. Don¡¯t you dare spite me or I¡¯ll kick your ass out of here!¡±


    Feng Wuyu snorted. ¡°You don¡¯t need to bullshit with me. Tell me, do you know who Wulin¡¯s uncle-master is?¡±


    Zhuo Shi scowled. ¡°How would I know who his uncle-master is? Probably just one of your senior brothers. Wait, do you even have any?¡±


    ¡°Nope. In fact, Wulin¡¯s uncle-master is a generation younger than us.¡±


    ¡°Then was I wrong? A talented kid like Wulin doesn¡¯t need excessive praise. I¡¯ll beat that guy¡¯s ass if he¡¯s leading Wulin astray. Now enough with this farce. If you don¡¯t have anything important to say or do then leave. I¡¯m losing my appetite just looking at you,¡± Zhuo Shi said, mouth twisted into a scowl.


    Feng Wuyu smirked. ¡°I¡¯ll leave when I want to leave. Right after I give you a good slap to the face. By the way, Wulin has another teacher too. His name¡¯s Mu Chen. You know of him, right?¡± He took a step forward, not even blinking in the face of Zhuo Shi¡¯s irritation. ¡°He was the President of the Eastsea Blacksmith¡¯s Association branch and an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith. He has a senior brother who is the uncle-master Wulin was talking about. Hmm. If I remember correctly, his name was Zhen Hua or something like that. Right, Wulin?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked between his teacher, then to his grandteacher. He didn¡¯t dare utter a word.


    ¡°So what about this Zhen Hua, he¡¯s ju¡ª¡± Zhuo Shi¡¯s eyes went wide, his breathing ragged. Zhen Hua? Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua? If it¡¯s that Zhen Hua, then who else could judge a blacksmith better than him?


    Feng Wuyu patted his own cheeks, feeling for the upward tug of his lips, the muscles forming his cheeks. ¡°Ooh! Now that feels good. How about your face, Old Zhuo? Does it hurt?¡±


    ¡°Screw off!¡± Zhuo Shi shouted, sending a punch at Feng Wuyu.


    Feng Wuyu chuckled, catching the fist in his hand effortlessly. The two began brawling on the spot, throwing punches back and forth.


    Tang Wulin had long since backed away to a safer distance. But a child before them, he didn¡¯t dare intervene in a fight between Titled Douluos. Even Shen Yi and Wu Zhangkong had retreated.


    ¡°Here we go again,¡± Shen Yi sighed. ¡°I swear we can¡¯t go more than a week without them fighting.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong beckoned Tang Wulin to his side. ¡°They¡¯ll finish up soon enough. Get some exercise in the meantime. Take a walk. Just don¡¯t go too far and don¡¯t enter any forbidden areas.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to Wu Zhangkong, a pout on his lips, eyes with a dash of pitiful flavor. ¡°But Teacher Wu, I¡¯m not done eating yet.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shot him a dark look. ¡°I¡¯ll save some for you to eat later tonight. Sea God¡¯s Island is already having a tough time accommodating your stomach.¡±


    Each food item on the island was a handpicked delicacy. Even Zhen Hua would be satisfied with the food here. But not Tang Wulin. His appetite was monstrous. The island had enough supplies to easily accommodate one more resident, but adding one Tang Wulin was a whole different story. He alone could eat for well over ten people.


    Tang Wulin left the house in resignation. The sky was painted in hues red and orange, dusk settling in. He took in a deep breath, enjoying the taste of clean, fresh air. It filled him with vigor. He had eaten half his fill, just enough so that he didn¡¯t feel hunger¡¯s brush.


    He strolled around the island, heading for the densest, thickest areas of vegetation. The stronger nature¡¯s embrace, the more at ease he felt.


    Uncle-master said the most efficient way to cultivate was to surround myself with all this green. There should be plenty of places like that on Sea God¡¯s Island.


    He paused for a second. Like this place. It¡¯s not bad. Oh, and over there¡¯s pretty good too.


    Amidst his wandering, Tang Wulin had walked his way deep into the island. Though the land itself didn¡¯t stretch far since it was contained within a lake, the thick and ancient vegetation made it hard to traverse.


    As he trekked onward, Tang Wulin encountered several forbidden areas, dodging past them like a scurrying animal. He didn¡¯t dare intrude. This was Sea God¡¯s Island.


    Laughter like the tinkling of bells. Before he knew it his feet took him toward the source of the familiar voice. After pushing away a branch obstructing his view, he gasped, struck surprised by the steep cliff in front of him, over twenty meters in height. Two thick vines hung down it, a makeshift swing at the bottom.


    On the swing sat a handsome young man, his robes pressed neat, his posture impeccable. He looked to be in his late twenties, and from what Tang Wulin could discern, carried a gentle touch to his gaze. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t recognize him. He didn¡¯t sense a hint of power on the man either, and entertained the thought that he might be an ordinary person.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze moved, and he blinked when he finally registered the other stranger. A woman who sat on the man¡¯s lap. She had her arms around his neck as she leaned on his shoulder, a warm smile on her lips. She was the source of the laughter.


    Despite the lack of breeze or other external force, the swing gently swung back and forth. A real fairytale couple.


    Tang Wulin gulped, stunned. He didn¡¯t know the man¡¯s identity, but the woman was someone he would never forget. The Holy Spirit Douluo Yali! A woman even his uncle-master respected!


    At that moment, the swing came to a stop. The man smiled at Yali. ¡°Looks like we have a young visitor. He seems startled. Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    Yali blushed furiously as she glanced at Tang Wulin. She waved her hand and disappeared with the man in a flash of light.


    The swing teetered in place from their abrupt disappearance. If not for that, Tang Wulin would have thought his eyes had been playing tricks on him. He still couldn¡¯t believe what he had just seen. The illustrious Holy Spirit Douluo had sat on a man¡¯s lap, giggling like an innocent school girl!


    Tang Wulin swallowed. He immediately spun on his heel toward Zhuo Shi¡¯s house. He felt like he just saw something he shouldn¡¯t have.


    But just as he walked, he caught sight of silver hair and a brush of red. Isn¡¯t that the girl from earlier?


    The twilight hour did nothing to hide her beauty. In fact, she shone more brilliantly than ever.

 Chapter 489 - Naer

    Chapter 489 - Na''er


    On the narrow path, Tang Wulin and the silver-haired girl locked gazes. Shivers ran down their spines.


    Previously he had only received the privilege of a fleeting glance before he was whisked away by Wu Zhangkong. But now, standing face to face with the girl, he could finally see her face clearly. Could finally register those familiar features.


    ¡°Na¡¯er?¡±


    At first, her expression stayed blank, revealing nothing beneath her cold exterior. Then the confusion slowly melted from her eyes and tears welled up. She let out a cry.


    Tang Wulin froze as she threw herself into his arms.


    Na¡¯er¡­ It¡¯s Na¡¯er! It¡¯s really her! He snapped out of his shock, his heart quivering. He had used his connections to search for her far and wide, but in the end she had been so close at hand. The beautiful girl before him was Na¡¯er, his little sister.


    She had been just six when she disappeared, and now before he knew it six years had passed. A blossoming young lady. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t even recognized her at first glance. But he never forgot her warmth, her smell, and her smile. He could hardly believe that it was her, that he wasn¡¯t dreaming. That he didn¡¯t somehow make a mistake and confused resemblance for the real thing. In fact, when he had blurted out her name, his mind had yet to catch up with his body. Never had he expected this.


    Na¡¯er hugged him tight, her body trembling as she sobbed. ¡°Big Brother! Big Brother! Is it really you? This isn¡¯t a lie, right?¡± she asked, eyes bright. Her heart tingled with excitement.


    Tang Wulin shared her sentiment, if not more. He was strong and brave, but in the end, the scars of having  his family leave him would never fade. He had grown up an orphan. This reunion with Na¡¯er, his little sister, was more than he could hope for.


    Na¡¯er¡¯s really big now! And she¡¯s so slender. I can¡¯t believe she used to be a glutton like me. She¡¯s only twelve but she looks a bit older. Wow.


    But she remembers me! I¡¯m still her big brother!


    Minutes later, the two finally put a stopper on their overflowing emotions.


    Na¡¯er smiled brilliantly at Tang Wulin. ¡°Big Brother, why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an outer court student. What about you? I heard from Teacher Wu that you¡¯re the Sea God Pavilion¡¯s master¡¯s disciple? I thought your martial soul didn¡¯t awaken?¡±


    Na¡¯er wiped away the last of her tears. ¡°Big Brother, you first! What have you been doing these past years?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes reddened once more at her question. He did his best to fight back the tears as he told her of what happened after she left. When she heard about his parents¡¯ disappearance, her brows drew tight in a frown. She remained silent throughout the story, an attentive listener. By the time he was finished, the sky was pitch black.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, what about you?¡± Tang Wulin asked. But right before she could answer, his communicator rang. He took it out and looked at the name on the screen. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s my teacher,¡± he said, a meek smile.


    ¡°Yes, Teacher Wu?¡± he answered the call.


    ¡°Come back quickly,¡± said Wu Zhangkong, voice cold as usual.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin answered, though he¡¯d much rather catch up with Na¡¯er and talk into the night. But this was Sea God¡¯s Island, hallow ground for Shrek Academy. He must obey his teacher.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, I gotta leave first. My grandteacher is Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi, so I¡¯m staying with him. Let¡¯s meet up here again tomorrow and you can tell me what you¡¯ve been up to.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Na¡¯er smiled sweetly, nodding shyly.


    Tang Wulin hugged her again before running off.


    Na¡¯er stood there, watching him leave. When she could no longer see him, she bit her lip. ¡°Big Brother¡­¡±


    Upon returning to the house, Tang Wulin waited for any orders from Wu Zhangkong. However, his teacher remained silent and sent him off to bed early.


    As Tang Wulin shrugged off his shoes and climbed into bed, he settled himself into meditative position. But try as he might, he could not fall into that familiar feeling. Reuniting with Na¡¯er had brought forth an intense joy within his heart, and it still clung to him, feeding his restlessness.


    As direct disciple to the Pavilion Master, Na¡¯er¡¯s position was unrivalled among the students of Shrek Academy.


    He was happy for her. She was a soul master now too. Despite this, he could not wrap his mind around how she had Awakened her martial soul and became so strong.


    Na¡¯er¡¯s reappearance ignited Tang Wulin¡¯s longing for his parents. Mom, Dad, I¡¯ve finally found Na¡¯er. Where did you two go?


    ?


    Tang Wulin woke up early the next day and practiced Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens under Zhuo Shi¡¯s supervision through the morning. Although he didn¡¯t get much sleep, he felt invigorated. He looked forward to his meeting with Na¡¯er in the afternoon.


    By the time he reached their meeting spot, Na¡¯er was already there waiting for him.


    Catching sight of her silver eyes, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Na¡¯er, weren¡¯t your eyes purple? What happened to them? Why did they change?¡±


    Na¡¯er smiled. ¡°It¡¯s because my martial soul Awakened. Big Brother, I¡¯m sorry I left without saying goodbye. My family found me and took me away.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped. ¡°They found you?¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Yeah. Then brought me back to our clan right away. After that, they held a ceremony and Awakened my martial soul.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡±


    ¡°My family brought me here when I was eight to study under my teacher. That¡¯s about it. My story is pretty boring compared to yours. I really missed you though!¡±


    He had an inkling she was keeping something from him. Still, he refrained from prodding. Anything she withheld must be a clan secret.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you reunited with your family. I missed you too.¡±


    Na¡¯er stepped forward and grabbed his hand, placing it on her cheek. ¡°Big Brother, when are you going to take me out to eat some good food?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart melted. ¡°How about right now?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s go!¡± A smile blossomed on Na¡¯er¡¯s lips.


    Tang Wulin led her by the hand to the lakeside. He called Wu Zhangkong and gave an excuse to get the afternoon off, saying he had something important to attend to.


    On the small boat, Tang Wulin forced Na¡¯er to sit and watch as he pushed the heavy oars. The boat cut across the clear waters, straight for the shore. Na¡¯er watched him with a grin, her chin cradled in her hands. He met her smile with one of his own. Finally could he taste a hint of peace. What he had yearned for, familial bonds, wrapped tight around him in an embrace. His little sister was back. Even if her original family had reclaimed her, in his heart she would forever be his little sister.


    Upon arriving on shore, Tang Wulin hopped off first and offered a hand to help Na¡¯er disembark the boat. After a semester of studying in Shrek Academy, he knew the city like the back of his hand. They wove through the streets excitedly, especially on Tang Wulin¡¯s part, his favorite food stand their destination.


    ?


    ¡°You¡¯re still too slow,¡± said Liang Xiaoyu, his eyes never leaving the sight of Xie Xie, who was running around the working student dormitory. ¡°You need to pay attention to the way you move, how you preserve momentum and your acceleration. You need to imbue your speed into your attacks, bring both speed and power into harmony. It¡¯s similar to being one with the sword. Only once you attain that state will you be able to bring out the full potential of speed.¡±


    Xie Xie slowed to a jog and stopped in front of Liang Xiaoyu. He listened earnestly, not daring to miss a single word.


    ¡°Follow the path of killing with a single blow. You need to concentrate all of your speed into empowering your attack to accomplish that. Speed, power, martial soul and soul skills, patience, and an opportunity are all essential to pulling off such a strike.¡±


    Just listening to Liang Xiaoyu¡¯s lecture caused his heart to beat quicker, his blood to roar. He felt certain, like he was no longer lost. Like he was finally stumbling on to his true path. Everything Liang Xiaoyu said resonated with him. New doors were opening.


    Shrek Academy followed a hands-off approach in nurturing their students. Students could ask for guidance, but the more profound the answer, the more contribution points it would cost. Even then, a meticulous answer like Liang Xiaoyu¡¯s was hard to find! Not to mention, Liang Xiaoyu demonstrated attacks, footwork, and techniques as he lectured.


    Xie Xie understood his shortcomings well. He was lacking in lethal power and his speed was nothing remarkable either. If he couldn¡¯t increase his attack power, then he would be useless on the battlefield. He still hadn¡¯t tapped into the full potential of his daggers. But now a path had opened up for him.

 Chapter 490 - Coincidence

    Chapter 490 - Coincidence


    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s end things here today. Practice some more when you get home and we¡¯ll meet again at the same time tomorrow. I want to see your progress,¡± Liang Xiaoyu said as he patted Xie Xie on the shoulder. Then he disappeared in a flicker.


    Damn he¡¯s fast! Xie Xie surveyed the area, trying to catch a glimpse of Liang Xiaoyu. There were many mysteries surrounding the man. Such as why Liang Xiaoyu would choose to impart his techniques onto him. They were practically strangers! Liao Xiaoyu didn¡¯t seem to be a teacher either, yet he was allowed to freely come and go through school grounds.


    Xie Xie had voiced his questions before. All he received for his efforts was for Liang Xiaoyu to brush it off, telling him not to worry. Xie Xie didn¡¯t push the issue afterward.


    He dragged his exhausted body back to the dormitory. Letting out a sigh, he found himself fixated at Yuanen Yehui¡¯s door. Then his gaze drifted to the window. Another pair of eyes met his. An instant later, the curtains jerked closed.


    Xie Xie recalled the scene he witnessed yesterday. His heart quivered. I have to cultivate harder! If I can at least match Yuanen¡¯s strength, I might still stand a chance! The fatigue vanished from his body. Determination pumped through his veins as he ran to the sink and splashed water on his face.


    He heard a creak behind him and spun around just in time to see Yuanen Yehui open her door and walk out. She was back in men¡¯s clothing, not sparing him a single glance as she walked away.


    Heart thumping hard, Xie Xie raced after her. ¡°Yuanen, where are you going?¡±


    She remained silent, ignoring him.


    ¡°Are you grabbing food? I¡¯ll go with you. How about it? I¡¯m hungry too.¡± Xie Xie remained at her tail like a puppy.


    Faster than lightning she stopped in place and turned to face him, an eerie calm in her expression. Xie Xie averted his gaze and looked to the sky, a whistle from his lips.


    ¡°You bastard!¡± Yuanen Yehui spat out. She had no intention of letting him do what he wanted, and picked up her pace until it resembled a sprint.


    But Xie Xie did not drop his pursuit. This time he kept silent, maintaining a measured distance of half a pace behind her, matching her every step.


    Yuanen Yehui left campus, her steps quickening as she joined the people littering the streets. She ignored Xie Xie, trying to lose him in the crowd. But he stuck to her like gum, never leaving her side the entire time.


    She stopped, spinning on her heel to smack him with a sharp glare. ¡°Are you done yet?¡±


    After scanning the area, Xie Xie bowed his head slightly, his view in line with his feet. He snickered. ¡°Your family doesn¡¯t own this street, right? If you can walk down it, then so can I.¡±


    ¡°Shameless!¡± Yuanen Yehui snarled, but she didn¡¯t dare lay a hand on him on the busy street.


    Xie Xie smiled. ¡°How¡¯d you know my nickname? Everyone called me that when I was a small kid.¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Yuanen Yehui stared him down. Although she wanted to thrash him right then and there, Xie Xie preemptively took a step back from her. There was no way she could match the reaction time of an agility-type. Snorting, Yuanen Yehui decided to stick with the original plan: ignore him. He could follow her all he wanted, but as soon as she finished eating she was heading back to campus.


    Just like that, a delicate balance of mere paces from each other, the two turned into a small street filled with food stands. Besides them, there were few people present. Usually, students frequented this little street, but for now they were all gone for vacation. That didn¡¯t stop hard-working vendors to set up shop anyway, and several food stands lined the sidewalk, each flaunting a diverse range of appetizing aromas. These smells drifted along the street, mixing together in harmony to entice customers.


    Xie Xie realized how hungry he was once he felt the heat of the grills, took in the sweet and savory smells. His stomach growled.


    Yuanen Yehui looked around a bit before approaching a shop that sold grilled meat skewers. ¡°Can I get two skewers of squid, and two tofu skins?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have the same thing,¡± Xie Xie said to the shop owner, stepping in front of her. ¡°I¡¯m paying for the both of us.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to pay for me.¡± The look Yuanen Yehui gave him could freeze.


    Xie Xie smiled wryly. ¡°We¡¯re classmates. You don¡¯t have to be so serious.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re in the first grade, and I¡¯m in the second. We¡¯re not classmates.¡±


    ¡°Well, we still attend the same academy! You¡¯re the senior brother here, so are you saying it¡¯s your treat? I won¡¯t refuse if you do.¡± Xie Xie smirked playfully.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s expression darkened, a fierce glint in her eyes. ¡°What did you call me?¡±


    ¡°Senior Brother!¡±


    Yuanen Yehui snorted, then turned away and ignored him once more.


    ¡°It smells good! Big Brother, can we grab some grilled squid?¡± said someone with a sweet voice a short distance away.


    ¡°Boss, get us fifty squids skewers please.¡±


    Xie Xie was all too familiar with that voice. He turned around, and sure enough he his eyes caught the sight of his captain, Tang Wulin. Then his gaze went further. Tang Wulin was holding the hand of a girl their age. The instant he laid eyes on her, he felt faint. What a beauty! A goddess-like beauty!


    Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, Xu Xiaoyan, and Gu Yue were all charming and pretty girls, but they couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the girl accompanying Tang Wulin. Enchanting silver hair. A natural beauty that was neither lively nor cold. It was as if her beauty was decreed by the heavens.


    ¡°Huh? Xie Xie, what are you doing here? And Yuanen, you¡¯re here too?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui finally flipped around. The moment she she saw Na¡¯er, her mind reeled in shock. Holy shit! He really is straight! But in that case, what about Gu Yue? Now that there¡¯s proof he likes girls, doesn¡¯t it seem like there was something going on between the two of them?


    Na¡¯er glanced at Tang Wulin, then back at Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui.


    ¡°We¡¯re grabbing food. Who¡¯s this with you?¡± Xie Xie eyed Tang Wulin suspiciously.


    ¡°Oh. This is Na¡¯er, my little sister. We lost touch for a few years, but we surprisingly ran into each other on Sea God¡¯s Island. Na¡¯er, this is Xie Xie and Yuanen. Xie Xie¡¯s name means ¡®thankful encounter¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± Na¡¯er said with a slight bow.


    Finally comprehending the situation, Xie Xie stared Tang Wulin straight in the eyes. ¡°Is she your little sister by blood? Oh wait, is this the little sister that embroidered that blanket for you? The one you beat some guy up for when we first got to Eastsea Academy? Cause he stepped on it? This is her?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Yep!¡±


    Xie Xie studied Na¡¯er, awed by her looks. He hastily stretched out his hand. ¡°H-hi! I¡¯m Wulin¡¯s best friend, Xie Xie. I¡¯m an agility-type Soul Elder.¡±


    Na¡¯er giggled, then hid behind Tang Wulin, avoiding Xie Xie¡¯s hand. Xie Xie looked away, cheeks flushed, but didn¡¯t take any offense. He turned his head again to face Tang Wulin, a hint of something flickering in his eyes.


    Yuanen Yehui simply acknowledged Na¡¯er with a nod.


    ¡°Come take a seat. You kids ordered a lot, so it¡¯s going to take a while,¡± said the owner of the food stand.


    There were some tables set up behind the stand, situated out in the open. A cool breeze blew through, carrying an odd mixture of scents, food and nature. Only one table remained available, and it was just large enough to seat the four of them.


    Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er sat on one side. Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui were forced to sit on the other. The shop was too small for anything else.


    Xie Xie broke the short silence. ¡°Boss, how come you haven¡¯t been around these past few days?¡±.


    Tang Wulin grinned. ¡°I¡¯ve been cultivating on Sea God¡¯s Island, so I didn¡¯t have a chance to go back. You guys were watching the dorm anyway.¡± He placed a hand to his mouth. ¡°Right, Yuanen, I¡¯ll forge your spirit alloy once I get back.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Their squid arrived just then. Fifty-four skewers of squid and four skewers of tofu skin served hot on a platter.


    To Tang Wulin, this was just a drop in the bucket. Even so, he set aside two squid skewers and handed them to Na¡¯er before beginning to eat.


    As Na¡¯er ate, she snuck gleeful glances at Tang Wulin. ¡°Big Brother, you can eat so much!¡°


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°My appetite couldn¡¯t have changed in just a few short years. You should eat some more too. I haven¡¯t forgotten how much you loved eating either!¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Na¡¯er finished her two skewers in a few quick bites, then grabbed another two.


    ¡°Boss! Can we get another fifty squid, fifty chicken, fifty lamb, and fifty beef?¡± Tang Wulin called out. Eating together with Na¡¯er after so long stoked his appetite. He was ready to indulge.


    Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie had average appetites, so they quickly finished eating. With nothing else to do, they watched Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er gorge themselves, their eyes growing wider and wider by the minute.

 Chapter 491 - Feng Ling

    Chapter 491 - Feng Ling


    Tang Wulin was known for having a bottomless pit of a stomach. He had already conned Yuanen Yehui once into treating him to a meal in exchange for smithing a metal for her. But now before their very eyes was Na¡¯er, shoving bite after bite of meat skewers into her little mouth, tossing each used stick into a pile at a rate that was almost on par with Tang Wulin¡¯s.


    Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui both thought they were dreaming. Although she wasn¡¯t as active as her brother, Na¡¯er still managed to strike fear into the hearts of onlookers at how quick she made the food disappear. A third of the dishes ended up in her stomach.


    Xie Xie gulped, his eyes wide as they drifted to Tang Wulin. ¡°Boss, is everyone in your family a glutton? Na¡¯er, you shouldn¡¯t learn from your brother. He¡¯s a bad example to follow.¡±


    Na¡¯er giggled and reached for another meat skewer.


    Rolling his eyes at Xie Xie, Tang Wulin said, ¡°Please. Don¡¯t you understand how wonderful eating is? Na¡¯er, you want some more?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m good, Big Brother. I¡¯m full. That was good food! It¡¯s been a long time since I had something like this.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled, warmth in his gaze. They weren¡¯t the same young children from six years ago, wide-eyed and innocent. From when Na¡¯er had been taken out of his life. They both grew since then. But if Tang Wulin had to be honest, she had changed more than he had.


    He could tell that she was deliberately avoiding certain topics, such as those regarding her family. She always directed the conversation in another direction whenever he even slightly tested the waters. After the second time, he took the hint and stopped prodding. He didn¡¯t want to make things difficult for her. As long as she was his little sister, it was enough.


    The grill shop was getting busier and busier, a long line already twisting down the street. Guests had cycled to and from the tables, and only Tang Wulin¡¯s party had remained throughout.


    Through the clamoring of the guests, Tang Wulin heard someone say in a hushed voice,¡°Wow! That little missy really knows how to eat!¡± Having detected ill intent in their voice, he looked up from his food to identify the speaker, his sense of hearing heightened from breaking his fourth seal.


    Since Yuanen Yehui was currently in her male disguise, Na¡¯er was the only person in their group that looked like a girl.


    Tang Wulin soon pinpointed where the voice had come from. A group of three young men in their twenties, chests exposed and arms covered in unseemly tattoos. A single look was enough for him to tell they were thugs. The crowd parted to let these men through. Not even the shop owner dared to say anything. He just lowered his head, focusing on the grill as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. As if his customers weren¡¯t about to get harrassed.


    The one who had spoken stood at the front left of their group. He looked like a monkey, exposing his chest despite being all skin and bones.


    ¡°Little Lei, you talking about that silver-haired girl?¡± asked the man in the center. He wore his hair in a fauxhawk and had bulging muscles. A real bull of a man. The tattoos running along his arms gave him a violent and fierce edge.


    ¡°Yeah! Big Bro Feng, it¡¯s that girl! She¡¯s quite the looker already. I bet she¡¯ll be smoking hot in a few years.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t she kinda young?¡± asked Feng.


    Lei exposed a smile that was more teeth and gums than anything. ¡°Young is good! Haven¡¯t you heard? You gotta groom pretty girls from childhood! That¡¯s how you get close to them.¡±


    The other thugs hooted with laughter and grunted in agreement. Their filthy gazesl converged on Na¡¯er. Not bothering to keep the voices down since the beginning, the thugs basically broadcasted their dirty thoughts to everyone in the shop. Many of the other patrons sent sympathetic looks to Tang Wulin¡¯s party.


    Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er just continued eating as if nothing happened.


    The shop owner pushed through the door and walked into the fenced eating area, bringing over five freshly grilled skewers of squid to Tang Wulin¡¯s table.


    Astonished, Tang Wulin looked up at the owner. ¡°Boss, we already got all we ordered!¡±


    The owner placed himself between Tang Wulin¡¯s group and the thugs, using his body as a makeshift wall. ¡°These are my treat. But you kids should leave immediately. Those guys who just walked in are good-for-nothings looking for trouble. You shouldn¡¯t get involved with them.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯re right by Shrek Academy. They actually dare misbehave with the academy next door?¡±


    The owner smiled bitterly. ¡°Even if they¡¯re right outside, they don¡¯t police everything. Shrek City¡¯s public order is pretty good to begin with, but you can¡¯t be rid of all the criminals. Those guys had probably gotten expelled from Shrek Academy at one point. Or maybe they¡¯re one of the hopefuls who failed to get in. Either way, they harbor a lot of resentment and refuse to leave the city, straying further and further from the right path.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Then they¡¯re also soul masters?¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡± The owner shot him a meaningful look, eyes gesturing to the exit.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We were just about to leave anyway.¡± He picked up the skewers the owner just brought out and devoured them each in a couple of bites. Then he settled the bill.


    Xie Xie glanced at Tang Wulin, asking in a hushed voice, ¡°Captain, do you want me to¡­?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. We¡¯re going. Na¡¯er, are you ready to leave?¡±


    Na¡¯er nodded and smiled wide, a bit of sauce at the corner of her mouth. Grabbing a napkin, Tang Wulin gently wiped it away.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡±


    The four of them stood up to exit the shop. But the thugs barred their way at the door.


    ¡°Hey kids, you leaving already? I saw that you only ate food earlier. How about having some drinks with us too? Booze is good stuff. Let¡¯s all grab some drinks,¡± said the skinny man, his smile reminiscent of filth as he placed a hand on Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder.


    Tang Wulin returned a polite smile. ¡°No thanks. We¡¯re already full. And we¡¯re still minors, so we can¡¯t drink.¡±


    ¡°Well, you kids can leave then. But you know, that girl looks familiar. She sure looks like my little sister who I haven¡¯t talked to for many years.¡± The man¡¯s beady little eyes swept up and down Na¡¯er¡¯s body lecherously. ¡°How about we chat a little?¡±


    Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er had blank looks on their faces. Even Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui couldn¡¯t help but crack up a bit.


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± said the muscular man, the one who seemed like the leader of the thugs.


    ¡°Big Bro Feng, what¡¯s up?¡±


    Feng stared down Tang Wulin. ¡°Are you kids from Shrek Academy?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped. ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡±


    The man clicked his tongue. ¡°You kids are able to remain so calm and confident even in a situation like this. The only kids this ballsy around here are from Shrek Academy.¡±


    The other thugs looked at Tang Wulin¡¯s group, jaws dropping, the predatory glints in their eyes disappearing in a flash. Every single citizen of Shrek City prided themselves on being neighbors with Shrek Academy.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. We¡¯re students at Shrek Academy,¡± Tang Wulin answered calmly. ¡°Now, do you mind moving out of the way?¡±


    The man advanced two steps on Tang Wulin, until the two were staring at each other face to face. ¡°I¡¯ll let you go. But first, have a spar with me. You¡¯re free to leave after that.¡±


    Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes. ¡°What if I refuse?¡±


    ¡°My name is Feng Ling. If you refuse, then I will still let you pass. But I will proclaim that Shrek Academy¡¯s students are no match for Feng Ling.¡± There was a provocative glint in Feng Ling¡¯s eyes, just daring Tang Wulin to refuse.


    ¡°Now you¡¯re just taking advantage of me! You¡¯ve probably got a whole decade on me!¡± Tang Wulin said, never breaking eye contact as he grinned. He was sure that if not a decade, then Feng Ling was at least seven or eight years his senior.

 Chapter 492 - What About Gu Yue?

    Chapter 492 - What About Gu Yue?


    ¡°Taking advantage?¡± Feng Ling crossed his arms. ¡°Fine. If any one of you can take a single attack from me, then I¡¯ll let you all go.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, let me take care of this.¡± Na¡¯er stepped past Tang Wulin before he could react. A wave of power burst from her body, her silver eyes shining iridescently.


    Feng Ling felt as if hundreds of swords were aimed at him, their razor sharp edges grazing his skin. He instinctively summoned his martial soul to defend himself. But he was too late. In a flash, a silver spear pricked his throat. The chill of metal on skin froze his blood. If the spear had moved a centimeter further, he would be dead. His martial soul summoning was interrupted, his soul power unable to circulate properly to call forth his martial soul. He stood still, sweating. Paralyzed by fear.


    From start to finish, the whole encounter lasted no more than a tenth of a second. Her movements had been too fast to follow, no more than a blur. A mere flicker. Whether it were Tang Wulin or Yuanen Yehui or anyone else present, no one could keep track of what had happened.


    Four soul rings revolved around Na¡¯er. Three purple, one black. She held a silver spear nearly four meters in length against Feng Ling¡¯s throat with a single, still hand.  A fine layer of silver hexagonal scales decorated the slender shaft, spanning the entire length. At the end of the spear was a single blade. It made up a third of the total length of the spear and featured a conical tip. On it were twelve grooves, perfect channels for the blood of any it pierced.


    A shiver ran down Feng Ling¡¯s spine. His knees buckled, legs collapsing beneath him. Something warm and wet ran down the sides of his thighs to his ankles, but he didn¡¯t have the capacity to care at the moment. Complexion deathly pale, he wore not a hint of his previous bravado. All the while his underlings watched in fearful silence, postures no longer as proud, mouths wiped of shameless grins. None of them dared to make a move.


    They were all soul masters and understood what the soul rings of Na¡¯er signified. Such a soul ring configuration at the age of thirteen held only one explanation. She was from the inner court. As one who belonged to Shrek Academy¡¯s elite class, she was destined to one day overturn the continent! Her young age only amplified her status. An inner court student as young as her was as rare as a phoenix!


    Na¡¯er hadn¡¯t even spared Feng Ling a glance the entire time, her gaze fixed on Tang Wulin, a sweet smile dancing on her lips. ¡°Big Brother, let¡¯s get going. I still wanna chat with you some more. Let¡¯s not waste time on these guys.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at her blankly. When he first began cultivating, she hadn¡¯t even Awakened her martial soul! Yet now she was more powerful than him, already attaining the strength of a Soul Ancestor with four mighty soul rings. She possessed the black fourth soul ring he so desperately hoped for as well.


    Is that spear her martial soul? Is she an agility-type? She¡¯s so great! Tang Wulin had felt his blood essence rousing when her spear appeared. It piqued his interest.


    The spear disappeared in a silver flash. Then Na¡¯er walked past the thugs. Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Yuanen Yehui snapped out of their dazes and followed. While Xie Xie kept a straight face, Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes shone brightly, her gaze glued to Na¡¯er¡¯s back. She wanted to know where she stood relative to Na¡¯er. If she could handle the speed Na¡¯er exhibited.


    Na¡¯er acted as if nothing had happened. She latched onto Tang Wulin¡¯s arm the entire way back, sneaking tender glances at him from time to time, smiling adorably while she praised the food they just ate.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart warmed at the sight of her so animated. But buried deep was an inkling of doubt. That silver flash. He couldn¡¯t get it out of his head.


    After Tang Wulin¡¯s party left, Feng Ling and his thugs eventually regained themselves. They were pale, trembling with fear still. But in the end, they returned home with their tails tucked between their legs. What the thugs had seen was merely the tip of Na¡¯er¡¯s power. They couldn¡¯t even fathom the gap between them.


    Once Tang Wulin¡¯s group returned to campus, Tang Wulin directed his attention to Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui. ¡°You guys go on ahead. I¡¯m going to go cultivate on Sea God¡¯s Island for a few more days. I¡¯ll be back by the start of the semester. Yuanen, I¡¯ll deliver what I promised you then.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Yuanen Yehui said, before heading for her room.


    Xie Xie swept his gaze from Tang Wulin to Na¡¯er. A few words danced at the tip of his tongue,but in the end he said nothing. He waved goodbye to Tang Wulin and ran after Yuanen Yehui like a puppy.


    Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er turned onto the path to the inner court. She skipped along ahead of him, humming a cheerful tune.


    As he watched her, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. Mom, Dad, I¡¯ve finally reunited with Na¡¯er. I¡¯ll find you two next. I will reunite our family.


    ?


    ¡°Yuanen, wait for me!¡± Xie Xie shouted as he chased after her.


    Yuanen Yehui headed straight for their dormitory without sparing him a glance.


    Owing to his speed, Xie Xie eventually caught up with her. ¡°Yuanen, there¡¯s something I want to talk to you about.¡± He made sure to scan the area for onlookers before speaking in a hushed voice.


    ¡°What are you being all secretive for?¡± From the corner of her eye, she snuck a peek at him. Her anger had subsided in the last two days. Looking back with a clear head, she had determined that Xie Xie truly hadn¡¯t peeped on purpose, and his confession had moved her. He was the first boy to show her any affection. Even if she didn¡¯t like the circumstances under which he confessed, it still left a deep impression in her heart. No one disliked being loved. She kept telling herself to ignore him, but she wasn¡¯t angry enough to follow through anymore.


    Then there were the chores. Xie Xie cleaned the dormitory daily, and had recently picked up the task of bringing her a fresh basin of water every morning. He kept at it even at her act of ignoring. Even at her scorn.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think Wulin and his little sister are close? Like, too close? They¡¯re not siblings by blood! And his sister is so pretty too!¡± Xie Xie exclaimed.


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± She narrowed her eyes as she watched him.


    ¡°Nothing much. I¡¯m just a bit worried. His little sister¡¯s girl power is too strong. She¡¯s absolutely stunning and super attached to him. There¡¯s no way a man won¡¯t be attracted to her. Of course, I¡¯m not talking about me! You¡¯re the only one in my heart!¡±


    ¡°Get away from me.¡± Yuanen Yehui hastened her steps.


    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t run! Hear me out on this!¡± Xie Xie said as he tailed her. ¡°I¡¯m worried. What about Gu Yue? None of us are blind here. It¡¯s obvious that she likes Wulin! You¡¯ve been around us for a while now too. What do you think will happen to Gu Yue if Wulin ends up with his little sister?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui froze, her eyes once again focusing on Xie Xie. ¡°What does that have to do with you? Just mind your own business. Let them sort out their relationships themselves.¡±


    Worry flitted in Xie Xie¡¯s eyes. ¡°But we¡¯re friends! I don¡¯t want anything to come between that! And you¡¯ve seen how differently Gu Yue treats Wulin.¡±


    ¡°So what if I¡¯ve seen it? Or if I haven¡¯t? You¡¯ve barely started puberty and your head¡¯s already full of this rubbish. No wonder you¡¯re so weak.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s face soured. ¡°How am I weak? Aren¡¯t you just saying I don¡¯t meet your standards?¡±


    Indifference coated Yuanen Yehui¡¯s words. ¡°As long as you understand, then it¡¯s fine. You don¡¯t have to say it out loud.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Xie Xie glared at her. ¡°Then if one day I¡¯m able to defeat you, marry me!¡±


    Yuanen Yehui stopped in her steps. Bit by bit her neck turned, robotically, until her eyes were aligned with Xie Xie¡¯s for a third time. Her lip twitched but she uttered not a word. Then she lurched forward and broke into a mad dash for her room.


    Naturally, Xie Xie was not one bit discouraged, pumping his fist in the air. She didn¡¯t say no! So if I become stronger than her, I¡¯ll have a chance! Beating her though¡­ The grin on his face that had just formed quickly melted away. That¡¯s going to be hard. Both her martial souls are amazing. It¡¯s not fair. I have twin martial souls too, but mine can¡¯t compare! Damn it! I have to work harder! I have to defeat her!


    Xie Xie¡¯s thinking was on the right track. He had to show off his manly appeal for any hope of winning Yuanen Yehui¡¯s heart.

 Chapter 493 - Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth

    Chapter 493 - Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth


    After a short while, Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er reached the lakeside of Sea God¡¯s Lake.


    ¡°Big Brother, aren¡¯t you going to ask about my martial soul?¡± Na¡¯er prompted as she summoned her spear. With a flick of her hand, it writhed and undulated, no more than a silver blur. ¡°It¡¯s called the Silver Dragon Spear.¡±


    Silver Dragon Spear? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide, his heart racing with anticipation.


    With a giggle, her martial soul vanished. She hopped onto the small boat parked on the shore with the grace of a fairy. Tang Wulin quickly followed suit.


    The moon hung clear in the evening sky. Below, the lake caught the lunar and celestial glow, a cascading reflection upon the calm surface. Their small boat cut through the lake of stars, ripples distorting the still image in their wake.


    ¡°The stars are pretty tonight!¡± Na¡¯er said, a gleeful smile tugging on pink lips.


    Tang Wulin took in her joyful expression and found it contagious. His heart was at peace. It didn¡¯t matter to him that she was a powerful soul master. No. All he cared about was that his little sister was safe and sound. That they had reunited.


    This beautiful, serene scene was fleeting, the boat slowly approaching Sea God¡¯s Island. But it was precious all the same.


    After docking on Sea God¡¯s Island, the two disembarked, their feet taking them toward the center of the island. Na¡¯er clung to Tang Wulin¡¯s arm, her lips never changing from an adoring smile. He couldn¡¯t help but ruffle her hair the way he did when they were kids. The love in her eyes. He could see them glowing so.


    ¡°This is where I live,¡± Na¡¯er whispered, her arm slowly rising, a finger pointed at a small wooded hill to the side.


    Tang Wulin stopped and faced her. ¡°Okay. Hurry on home.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, are we meeting at the same place tomorrow?¡± she said, looking up at him.


    ¡°Sure! I¡¯m not sure if I can stay out this long tomorrow though. I still need to cultivate.¡±


    ¡°Yay! I¡¯ll be happy as long as I get to see you.¡± With that, Na¡¯er waved him goodbye, then left for the hill, her figure shrinking with every step.


    After she was no longer a speck in the distance, Tang Wulin took in a deep breath. In and out. The joy in his heart for reuniting with Na¡¯er burned radiantly, warming his chest in soft brushes.


    In the next few days, Tang Wulin diligently practiced Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Since his blood essence was as vigorous as it was and he had already achieved the foundation of reversing his blood essence flow, he quickly picked up everything from Zhuo Shi¡¯s next lesson. Which was on the sixth day, and covered the second of the Nine Arts of the Scarlet Dragon. Dragon Shakes the Earth. For Tang Wulin, the art was more personalized: Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. After shocking the heavens, shaking the earth next seemed the most appropriate.


    Tang Wulin was able to progress quickly thanks to his foundation in Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. However, he was still sullen. Try as he might, he still couldn¡¯t figure out the purpose of his second blood essence soul skill. Apart from causing his scales to shine, that was. All that trouble to break the fourth seal, but the soul ring he gained appeared to be useless.


    Although he didn¡¯t pay too much mind to Na¡¯er¡¯s strength, her four soul rings and masterful spear technique ignited a fire to cultivate in his heart. He had spent the last few days fervently cultivating, his dates with Na¡¯er his only periods of rest. He was desperate to grow, to improve his combat strength and increase his soul power.


    ¡°Big Brother, what¡¯s got you down these last couple of days?¡± Na¡¯er¡¯s eyes held concern.


    ¡°It¡¯s my second golden soul ring. I still don¡¯t know what its skill does,¡± Tang Wulin said. He did not hide from her anything about his bizarre bloodline or golden soul rings, only keeping the seals a secret.


    With both his parents missing, Na¡¯er was his last remaining family.


    ¡°What about it?¡± Na¡¯er asked. ¡°How about you show me? Maybe I can help you.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Wulin urged his blood essence. Golden scales manifested on his body and two golden rings appeared around him. ¡°Take a look.¡±


    His first soul ring lit up and the golden scales became finer and more lustrous. Then he lit up the second ring. Tang Wulin was helpless to activate the skill any other way, stuck using Golden Dragon Body first, which increased his blood essence consumption significantly.


    The scales on his body shone with a dazzling light, miniature mirrors each and every one of them. Two seconds later, the shining faded.


    ¡°That¡¯s it. All it does is make me shiny for a couple of seconds. And it consumes a lot of blood essence. I have no idea how I¡¯m supposed to use it. Nothing happens to my blood essence or soul power apart from them being consumed. I can¡¯t attack with it either.¡±


    After some thought, Na¡¯er said, ¡°What about defense? Did anything change about your defense?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went blank as he searched within himself. Defense? I never thought about that! He had been too focused on improving his attack power. That was natural, since even his bluesilver grass¡¯ functionality was mainly crowd control. Maybe it really is a defense skill?


    ¡°I didn¡¯t feel any changes to my defense though.¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s test it out first,¡± Na¡¯er said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± But Tang Wulin¡¯s interest was waning. Even if it were a defense skill, he couldn¡¯t see how it would be useful or increase his combat power.


    He roused his blood essence once more and used the second blood essence soul skill. Again, his scales shone brightly.


    Na¡¯er summoned her spear into her hand in a flash of light. She swung the spear at his stomach without any hesitation.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s lit scales flashed. As soon as that happened, Na¡¯er felt a sucking force on her, the blood essence within her raging as it rushed out to be absorbed by Tang Wulin. After absorbing the blood essence, Tang Wulin shone even brighter. He felt the whole action keenly, the energy behind Na¡¯er¡¯s attack being drained to empower him, his own blood essence boiling with strength in the process.


    A dragon roared deep within him and he subconsciously directed a palm of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens toward the sky. The roar thundered, a phantom dragon head on the cusp of being tangible bursting out his open palm. Tang Wulin noticed the radiance of his body dim, but this Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens he released was four times more powerful than normal. W-what happened? Na¡¯er¡¯s attack didn¡¯t hurt at all!


    Na¡¯er examined him pensively. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s more than just a defense skill.¡±


    It occured to Tang Wulin after finishing Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens that not only was it far more destructive, it also consumed less energy and was released faster than usual. Is it some sort of support skill?


    ¡°Big Brother, can you use it again?¡± Na¡¯er asked.


    ¡°Yeah. I should be able to.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s try it again then.¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s second golden ring lit up on command.


    Instead of swinging her spear this time, Na¡¯er thrust it hard. It pierced through the air like a lightning bolt, straight for Tang Wulin¡¯s right arm where the scales were thickest.


    Upon impact, Tang Wulin¡¯s scales flashed brightly once more. Rather than facing the sky this time, he spun around and stomped on the ground. Eight phantom dragons burst from below him. Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth.

 Chapter 494 - Golden Dragon Tyrant Body

    Chapter 494 - Golden Dragon Tyrant Body


    Na¡¯er used her spear to vault into the air in an effort to avoid the phantom dragons. But it was to no avail. The pressure from Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth proved unescapable. A couple times she span in the air, silver hair whipping in the wind, silver light enveloping her body the moment she landed on his head. As Tang Wulin had informed her beforehand, the only safe location when he used Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth was on top of him.


    ¡°Did it hurt?¡± Na¡¯er asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. The instant the spear had struck him, his scales lit up and he felt as if a burst of blood essence energy had been poured into him. Body urging to let out all that energy, he did so with Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. During the whole event, he hadn¡¯t once felt pain, nor had his scales been damaged.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then. I think I know what your soul skill does too.¡± Na¡¯er smiled.


    Tang Wulin looked at her curiously. ¡°So what is it?¡±


    ¡°The first half is invincibility for about two seconds.¡± She wrinkled her nose. ¡°Well, not quite invincibility. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of such skills before. Ones where your defense triples for a moment, but it¡¯s practically invincibility during that time. The second half of the skill absorbs the opponent''s attack energy and converts it into your own, empowering your next attack. When I hit you just now, I felt my soul power and blood essence being sucked into you.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Wulin had already spent a semester at Shrek Academy, but he never heard of a soul skill like this.


    A smile continued to dance on Na¡¯er¡¯s lips. ¡°This isn¡¯t too strange for a soul skill. Besides, this isn¡¯t an ordinary soul skil to begin with. Anything is possible. If you use it well, you¡¯ll be unstoppable on the battlefield.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart raced. He mulled over her words, considering the possibilities. A potent counter-attack skill. If he mastered it, it had the potential to be godly!


    ¡°Na¡¯er, try hitting me again. But harder this time. Let¡¯s see how strong my defense is,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Na¡¯er nodded. ¡°Alright. Be careful.¡±


    Tang Wulin grunted his affirmation, then called forth his blood essence. He could easily use his second blood essence soul skill four or five times.


    Na¡¯er took in a deep breath, a sharp glint in her eyes. Her aura completely transformed.


    Silver light burst from her body, obscuring her figure from Tang Wulin¡¯s view. She became one with her spear, a meter long beam of light shooting out the spear¡¯s tip.


    Tang Wulin braced himself, not daring to underestimate the power within her spear.


    A shout brought forth her full might. She pointed her spear to the sky, her aura flaring. A wave of power crashed into Tang Wulin and all of his scales went erect, his soul power rapidly circulating to protect him.


    ¡°I¡¯m going!¡± Na¡¯er declared.


    Tang Wulin sucked air into his lungs, his second golden ring lighting up. His scales shone once more, resplendent gold fighting back the wave of silver.


    Silver streaked through the air, no more than a blur to the untrained eye. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t follow it at all. Before his mind could catch up, a metallic clink rang out and two dragons roared, one roar reverberating and the other melodic. Which came from his body was anyone¡¯s guess.


    Energy flooded into him. In order to vent the excess energy, he released a Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, the phantom dragon head far larger and tangible than previous. It was nearly indistinguishable from a real dragon. The phantom soared into the sky, tearing through the air. Tang Wulin had to do his best to redirect it from attacking Na¡¯er.


    The Silver Dragon Spear retreated, then softened and coiled around Na¡¯er. Silver light pulsed around it, fighting back against Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Tang Wulin had never unleashed such a mighty Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. All of the seeds Zhuo Shi had sowed with his teachings bore fruit, their mysteries coming together into one powerful attack. His internal energies were bubbling, both his soul power and blood essence sublimated.


    The phantom dragon head persisted for three more seconds before fading. With it followed Tang Wulin¡¯s scales and dominating blood essence aura. He couldn¡¯t sustain such power for very long with his current blood essence levels. Exhaustion finally caught up to him, weakness washing over him in a giant wave. But he didn¡¯t care about that. He was still overcome with joy. All the lesser techniques of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens had culminated into a single attack.


    ¡°Big Brother, I don¡¯t think I can penetrate your defenses when you use that skill even if I attack with my full power. How do you feel now?¡± Na¡¯er withdrew her spear and walked over to his side.


    Tang Wulin nodded, a grin on his face. ¡°Tired but great. I¡¯ve got it now. The stronger the attack is, the more energy I absorb and the more powerful my counter-attack. But it¡¯s a double-edged sword: the stronger the attack I take, the more of my blood essence is consumed. So in order to penetrate my defenses, your attack needs to overwhelm what my blood essence can handle. And if that happens, I¡¯ll be gravely wounded. But for the most part, it¡¯s exactly like you said. I¡¯m practically invincible when I use it. An attack probably needs to be two or three times more powerful than my defense to overwhelm me.¡±


    Na¡¯er wholeheartedly agreed. ¡°It¡¯s a godly skill.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s grin grew even bigger. ¡°I have to thank you. If it weren¡¯t for you, I would never have been able to figure out what this skill does. Once my blood essence has recovered tomorrow, let¡¯s do some more testing. I need to experiment with it more if I want to master it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to break through your defense. If you had directed that attack earlier at me for real, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to come out unscathed. That attack contained both your power and mine. Big Brother, what are you going to name this skill?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at her, eyes misting in thought, before shrugging.


    Na¡¯er giggled. ¡°How about I name it then?¡±


    ¡°Sure! What do you wanna call it?¡± Tang Wulin beamed.


    Na¡¯er thought about it for a moment. ¡°Let¡¯s call it Golden Dragon Tyrant Body. Isn¡¯t that cool?¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°Yes, yes. We¡¯ll go with that.¡±


    It was quite fitting. Tang Wulin¡¯s first Golden Dragon King blood essence soul skill was Golden Dragon Body. Now the second was Golden Dragon Tyrant Body!


    Although Tang Wulin didn¡¯t gain a ranged attack skill like he hoped, he was excited for the possibilities of Golden Dragon Tyrant Body after these initial tests. it was a skill that could reverse the tide of battle! The effect would be especially great when faced with an opponent far stronger than him.


    This skill was of great help to him in cultivating the Nine Arts of the Scarlet Dragon. Unleashing Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth while empowered by this skill beat using the two arts normally.


    By the time the new semester started, Tang Wulin had mastered the tricks of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and nearly grasped the basics of Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. In Zhuo Shi¡¯s eyes, he was nothing short of a genius.


    ¡°Wulin, you need to focus on cultivating your soul power now. These arts I taught you are powerful and can help you out in battle, but soul power is still the basis of a soul master¡¯s strength. Quite a few of your classmates have already obtained their fourth ring. Don¡¯t fall behind. And once you gain another ring, many more doors will open up for you,¡± Zhuo Shii said as he saw Tang Wulin off.


    A chill ran through Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. All of my teachers keep telling me to focus on cultivating my soul power. Looks like I really need to put more time into that once the new semester starts. If I can¡¯t reach rank 40 by the end of the second semester, then I¡¯ve gotta do it by the end of the third.


    Each semester was a year long, and once the fourth semester came along, they would be in the second grade.


    Before leaving Sea God¡¯s Island, Tang Wulin sought out Na¡¯er.


    Harboring a lush forest, the island was eternally saturated with a refreshing scent. If Tang Wulin had a choice, he would never leave. He would be able to cultivate faster on this island, but in the end, he had no choice in the matter. He wasn¡¯t an inner court student yet. Even if he were, not just anyone had the qualifications to step onto Sea God¡¯s Island. He had to spare no effort to grow and earn the right to be here.


    ¡°Na¡¯er, I''m going back to the outer court now. Work hard in the inner court.¡± Tang Wulin placed his hand on top of her head, ruffling the silver locks.


    Her eyes were red, brimming with tears. ¡°But Big Brother, I don¡¯t want you to go.¡±

 Chapter 495 - A New Semester

    Chapter 495 - A New Semester


    ¡°This time it¡¯ll be different,¡± said Tang Wulin, smiling as he attempted to soothe Na¡¯er¡¯s worries. ¡°We both have soul communicators now, so just give me a call whenever you miss me. You can come out and visit me too. I won¡¯t be able to travel here to see you though. The only reason I was at Sea God¡¯s Island to begin with was because of special circumstances.¡± He ruffled her hair. ¡°I stay at the outer court¡¯s working students dormitory. You can find me there.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Na¡¯er threw herself into Tang Wulin¡¯s arms, locking him in a tight embrace. ¡°Big Brother, no matter what challenges you face, do your best for me. You have to become strong. I¡¯ll be waiting for you here.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll step foot on Sea God¡¯s Island with my own qualifications next time!¡± Tang Wulin declared, youthful passion flaring.


    With their goodbyes said, Tang Wulin wasted no more time and left. Minutes after his figure had disappeared, Na¡¯er still stood there, glued to the floor, looking in the direction he had departed. Her eyes betrayed a deep sorrow.


    ¡°How are you doing? Your brother left?¡± The voice, though gentle, snapped Na¡¯er out of her daze. She responded with a nod. From the corner of her eye, she could make out a fair white hand landing on her shoulder.


    ¡°You¡¯re both still young.¡± A squeeze. ¡°You have plenty of time in the future. You foolish girl, your teacher is going to get jealous if you show so much attachment to him.¡±


    Na¡¯er looked up, pouting. ¡°Mistress, I really like you and Teacher too!¡±


    Had Tang Wulin been present, he would have been shocked out of his wits. The woman beside Na¡¯er was the Vice-Master of Sea God¡¯s Pavilion, the kindest woman on the continent, Holy Douluo Yali!


    Yali responded by wrapping her arms around Na¡¯er. ¡°I like you too. Your teacher and I don¡¯t have any children of our own, so we see you as our own daughter. Don¡¯t worry. Your big brother is an excellent student. He¡¯ll definitely enter the inner court one day.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Thank you, Mistress. But can¡¯t you just let him into the inner court right now? I think Big Brother is strong enough,¡± Na¡¯er said, hope in her eyes.


    Yali sighed and shook her head. ¡°Now isn¡¯t the right moment. He¡¯s still an unpolished gem. He needs more time to refine himself first. He won¡¯t be able to do that here. For that same reason, your teacher and I have been preparing to send you out to gain experience. Spending all of your time cultivating here will stunt your future growth. Wait another year. Then we¡¯ll send you out.¡±


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to leave you and Teacher!¡± Her cheeks puffed up as she returned Yali¡¯s hug, squeezing tighter for good measure.


    ?


    By the time Tang Wulin reached the working students dormitory, Xu Lizhi had already returned.


    ¡°Lizhi!¡± Tang Wulin smiled as he approached his friend. ¡°Where did you and Xinglan go? How come I didn¡¯t see either of you the entire break?¡±


    Xu Lizhi chuckled. ¡°Big Sis Xinglan was cultivating in a place well suited for her, and since I can cultivate my martial soul anywhere I want, I followed her. Both of us just got back actually. Now then, Captain, it looks like you broke through again!¡±


    Xu Lizhi could tell that something about Tang Wulin was different. The changes were minute, and most people would have missed them, but Xu Lizhi possessed keen senses. Tang Wulin was a bit taller, sturdier too. And his aura seemed strangely subdued.


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Tang Wulin grinned. ¡°It¡¯s just a minor breakthrough though. Nothing special. I¡¯ve been focusing completely on cultivating lately.¡±


    ¡°Nice. I never thought there would be so much pressure even in the outer court. We¡¯ve got quite a few four-ringed people in our class already. We gotta keep up.¡±


    ¡°Are Xiaoyan and Gu Yue back yet? And where¡¯s Xie Xie?¡±


    Xu Lizhi shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen Xiaoyan or Gu Yue. Xie Xie ran out early in the morning and I¡¯ve yet to see him since. Yue Zhengyu¡¯s back in his room though. And Yuanen too, I think.¡±


    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll go pay them a visit then.¡± Tang Wulin still had his promise to Yuanen Yehui to fulfill.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s door was shut tight. Ever since Xie Xie had peeped on her, she had secluded herself in her room. She wouldn¡¯t even open the curtains during the day.


    Tang Wulin knocked on the door. ¡°Yuanen, you in?¡±


    A beat later the door swung open. She watched him like a hawk through the doorway. ¡°Back so soon?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I¡¯m planning on forging the metal for you now. Nothing changed about the requirements?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°No. But the higher the quality, the better.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best. It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve forged, so I¡¯ll need some time to get back into the groove of things.¡±


    ¡°No rush. If there isn¡¯t anything else, I¡¯m going back to cultivating.¡±


    Before she could usher him out, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Do you know where Xie Xie went?¡±


    Her face went cold. ¡°I don¡¯t know. You guys are roommates. What are you asking me for?¡±


    Tang Wulin averted his eyes sheepishly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about what happened last time. But it was a misunderstanding and we¡¯re all classmates, so you¡ª¡±


    Yuanen Yehui slammed the door on him.


    Tang Wulin rubbed his nose, aware of just how close he came to having it broken. Whatever. I¡¯ll just go forge first. It''s been a while since I touched my hammers. I can¡¯t wait. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. The image of Feng Wuyu, proud as he stormed Zhuo Shi¡¯s home, still flashed vividly in his mind.


    Feng Wuyu wasn¡¯t supervising Tang Wulin¡¯s blacksmithing at the moment. All of his teachers told him the same thing: he needed to increase his soul power. That was his greatest weakness.


    Right before he left for the workshop, he received a call with good news. From Mo Lan¡¯s husband.


    After the call ended, Tang Wulin practically leaped into the air cheering. ¡°Big Sis Mo Lan is awake! Yes!¡±


    Besides still missing some of her mental faculties, she recognized all of her loved ones. This was fantastic considering the condition she was in. The Holy Spirit Douluo was also informed and would be paying her a visit sometime soon. It looked like Mo Lan would make a full recovery.


    ¡°Captain, what¡¯s got you so happy?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked as she walked onto dormitory grounds, inquisitive.


    Tang Wulin beamed. ¡°One of my friends recovered, so I¡¯m happy for her.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan felt herself smiling as well. ¡°That¡¯s great. I¡¯m going to put away my things first then.¡±


    A month had passed, and while none of them had changed drastically, Tang Wulin could tell that Xu Xiaoyan held herself with more confidence than before. Her bearing had elevated ever since her martial soul evolved. Her sense of inferiority had been slowly washed away. With her three stellar soul skills, her crowd control abilities were absolute. A force that could turn the tide of battle.


    They were all maturing rapidly. There was no other choice in Shrek Academy. They couldn¡¯t afford to waste a single moment. Such a competitive environment would drive anyone into having tunnel vision, bent on self-improvement.


    The moment Tang Wulin walked out the dormitory¡¯s gates, he ran into another acquaintance. Luo Guixing.


    ¡°Hello, Class President,¡± Luo Guixing said.


    ¡°Guixing, what are you doing here? Are you applying to become a working student too?¡± Tang Wulin asked, a quirk of a smile on his lips.


    Ever since Tang Wulin and his team defeated the five rankers in his class, his prestige had skyrocketed. And it didn¡¯t stop there. After their victory against the second grade there wasn¡¯t anyone left who could shake his position as the class president. His relationship with the rankers had improved as well. In the end, they were still classmates. There was no need to burn bridges over a class competition.


    ¡°I wanted to invite you to have a friendly match with us. It is a new semester after all, and we¡¯ve been cultivating at Shrek for a year now. It¡¯s a good opportunity to practice. What do you say?¡± Luo Guixing said, a friendly smile on his face.

 Chapter 496 - Gu Yue Returns

    Chapter 496 - Gu Yue Returns


    Tang Wulin smiled at Luo Guixing. ¡°Hmm? You guys still aren¡¯t convinced? Want another go at it?¡±


    Luo Guixing shrugged. ¡°We just want to see how much we¡¯ve grown and you guys are the best opponents to compare our strength with. Even though we probably won¡¯t win, we still want to try. We¡¯ve been training our asses off to reach you guys.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Alright. When?¡±


    ¡°How about tomorrow afternoon? We¡¯ll have nothing to do tomorrow after the morning opening ceremony. The losers pay for the arena rental fee. What do you say?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Tang Wulin, a quirk to his lips. It was good to compare notes with his classmates, and he had absolute confidence in his comrades.


    ¡°Class President, you better not underestimate us! We¡¯ve grown a lot stronger. Our teamwork has improved too. We won¡¯t make the same mistake as last time.¡± A sheepish smile slid across Luo Guixing¡¯s lips. ¡°But how about you guys lay off that soul fusion skill? It¡¯s just too overpowered. Plus, isn¡¯t the backlash quite large?¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled, soft and low. ¡°Guixing, the way you¡¯re talking just shows how little confidence you got! You don¡¯t have any chance of winning to begin with if you keep this up.¡± He saw right through Luo Guixing, his little plans and schemes. Luckily for his classmate, he didn¡¯t plan on using the  Divine Dragon Transformation anyway. Old Tang had advised him not to.


    ¡°Great. See ya tomorrow.¡± And off Luo Guixing went.


    As soon as he was gone, Tang Wulin made his way to his workshop. He didn¡¯t bother notifying his friends about the challenge. Despite having not forged for a while, he was surprised at how much better the hammers felt in his hands than before. He chalked it up to the improvement in his blood essence and senses, and having some time to settle down. His alloy forging success rate increased, as well as the quality of his products. After an afternoon of work, he produced a piece with a harmony rate of eighty-nine percent, which prompted a grin from Yuanen Yehui upon his delivery. By the time he finished and left for his dormitory, it was already evening.


    Xie Xie wasn¡¯t anywhere to be seen and Gu Yue had yet to return. Tang Wulin knitted his brows, concern tickling his heart. He pulled out his soul communicator and called Gu Yue.


    ¡°Wulin?¡± She picked up immediately. His body instantly relaxed at the sound of her voice.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s me. School starts tomorrow. How come you aren¡¯t back yet? Where are you?¡±


    ¡°Hehe. I¡¯m almost there. I¡¯ve got you some tasty treats. Just wait a moment and I¡¯ll see you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at the gates,¡± Tang Wulin blurted out. It surprised him, this impatience in his heart, and he hadn¡¯t a clue why those words left his mouth.


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    Tang Wulin leaped off his bed, threw on some shoes, and ran out of his room, the door slamming shut behind him. And Xu Lizhi had watched him leave, a wry smile forming on his lips.


    During his sprint, Tang Wulin bumped into Xie Xie a soon as he was one step off the dormitory grounds.


    ¡°Woah! Boss, you¡¯re back?¡± Xie Xie asked. Drenched in sweat and coated with dust, he cut quite the sorry figure. His hair was sticking to his face in a disheveled mess, his complexion a bit pale.


    ¡°What have you been up to? You¡¯re a mess,¡± Tang Wulin said, looking Xie Xie up and down.


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°It¡¯s a secret!¡±


    ¡°Fine fine.¡± Tang Wulin knew when not to pry. He waved Xie Xie goodbye and continued running toward the academy gates.


    A few moments later, Xie Xie found himself in front of a sink. He washed his face of sweat and dust. Rinsed his hair. He turned off the sink and felt refreshed, the water still dripping from his face and hair.


    It made him cringe to think about the training he put himself through. But he could only blame himself. If he hadn¡¯t been so quick to ask Liang Xiaoyu for guidance that day, he wouldn¡¯t have to endure such excruciating training.


    But still, he persisted, excitedly even. Under Liang Xiaoyu¡¯s watchful eye, he felt himself quickly growing stronger each day. He was discovering the potential hidden within his body and martial souls, the training drawing out more and more of it. Contrary to what he had first thought, he wasn¡¯t weak or untalented. Xie Xie just hadn¡¯t understood the essence of his martial souls yet, or what it meant to be an agility-type.


    Naturally, after being under the man¡¯s guidance, Xie Xie had learned of his identity. On the second day of training, Liang Xiaoyu had brought him to a specialized training facility. And it belonged to the Agility Hall of the Tang Sect¡¯s three outer halls! The Rising Sun of the West Mountain, Liang Xiaoyu, was actually the master of the Agility Hall! He was tasked with intelligence gathering, public relations, and keeping tabs on the markets. The scope of his responsibilities was huge, countless bullet points needed to detail all of them.


    The Agility Hall exclusively recruited agility-types, and Xie Xie had been scouted by Liang Xiaoyu. He was now an associate of the Agility Hall, and under Liang Xiangyu¡¯s guidance, walking the true path of an agility-type.


    The old Xie Xie wouldn¡¯t have been able to endure such harsh training, but after the incident with Yuanen Yehui, a burning desire to grow stronger appeared within him. His tenacity astonished Liang Xiaoyu. He put his all into his training every day, not stopping until his body was spent and on the verge of collapse. He had always treated his opponents with a touch of ruthlessness, but now he was directing that merciless edge at himself. He didn¡¯t allow himself to make any excuses. No matter what it took, he would achieve his goal to surpass Yuanen Yehui, defeat her, and marry her!


    Everyone needed a goal. A goal to strive for, to struggle for. The greater it was, the harder the struggle. With a goal branded on his heart now, Xie Xie had nothing holding him back anymore. He embraced the pain and exhaustion, even if he was a husk of himself after training. These were all signs of growth.


    As Xie Xie had washed up and ran through his thoughts, Yuanen Yehui stood at the edge of her window, peeking out through a crack in the curtains. Her gaze never left him.


    She had been drawn to the window after hearing the voices of Tang Wulin and Xie Xie. Just where has that bastard been lately?


    ?


    Tang Wulin slowed his jog as he approached the gates, stopping just past them. He looked around, scanning for Gu Yue. But she wasn¡¯t there yet.


    It had been a month since he last saw her. Even so, he still remembered her face clearly. What¡¯s going on with me? Why am I thinking about her so much?


    As he was reflecting, a luxurious black car pulled up to the gates. The driver got out and opened the passenger door. Gu Yue stepped out of the car. Once she saw Tang Wulin, a dazzling smile blossomed on her face. She beckoned to him, then walked to the trunk of the car.


    Tang Wulin jogged over. ¡°Why are you back so late?¡±


    ¡°I had some stuff to do. I couldn¡¯t come back until I finished it all. Here, look at what I got you,¡± Gu Yue said as she pulled out a few boxes from the trunk and handed them to Tang Wulin.


    From the weight of the boxes, Tang Wulin could tell they were packed full. ¡°What¡¯s in them?¡±


    ¡°Open them and see for yourself. They should still be warm.¡±


    Tang Wulin placed them on the car¡¯s roof and lifted the lids. An appetizing aroma struck him. What is that? It¡¯s smells delicious! He peered inside. There were nine large dishes of food split between the three boxes, in addition to twenty steamed buns.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to make too many. I was afraid they¡¯d get all messed up on the road. They should be enough to fill you up though. Have you eaten dinner yet?¡± They had walked into a nearby garden at this point, and Gu Yue placed the boxes over a stone table.


    ¡°Not yet,¡± Tang Wulin said. He followed behind her, his eyes glued to the boxes.


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat first before heading back then.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Unable to restrain himself any further, he grabbed a steamed bun and threw it into his mouth.


    Amazing! So good!  After years of gluttony, Tang Wulin was an expert on fine food. Yet to his surprise, the bun could stand its ground against the extremely nutritious black buns his grandteacher had fed him!


    Huh, that¡¯s a wild sea cucumber. It¡¯s really nutritious. It¡¯s pretty big too. Probably at least twenty years old. Tang Wulin examined the ingredients of the dishes as he ate. The other dishes weren¡¯t quite as delicious as the buns, but the ingredients used were all treasures. He had nothing to complain about, a huge grin on his face as he gorged himself.

 Chapter 497 - You Made It?

    Chapter 497 - You Made It?


    Gu Yue watched Tang Wulin eat in silence, a faint smile on her lips. After every finished plate, she swiftly replaced it with a new one. They sat close to the academy gates lost in their own little world.


    A while later, all of the food in the three boxes was gone, swept within Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Are you full?¡± Gu Yue asked, eyeing his barely bulging stomach, his capacity to eat more still  apparent.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Yeah. There weren¡¯t many dishes, but they were all very filling! Where did you even get all that? Must have cost a small fortune.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s smile grew a crack wider. ¡°I made them. All of them. I¡¯ve been practicing how to cook at home. I think I did pretty well, judging by how good everything smelled.¡±


    ¡°You really cooked all those dishes by yourself?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. For people like them, students of Shrek Academy, time was their most valuable resource. Yet Gu Yue had spent her vacation learning how to cook for his sake.


    Warmth washed over him. He looked her straight in the eye. Just giving his thanks was not enough, could not be enough to begin expressing his gratitude.


    He stood up and helped her tidy up the boxes, then stored them into his storage ring. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said, beckoning to her.


    The two walked back to the dormitory shoulder-to-shoulder, enjoying the evening air. The moon shone bright in the sky, meeting the street in a soft spray, peeking through the branches of the trees. Neither Gu Yue or Tang Wulin spoke a word.


    In Tang Wulin¡¯s heart, Gu Yue felt different from before. Something had changed since the last time he saw her. After spending the last month hard at work cultivating, and even reuniting with Na¡¯er, he had felt worried when Gu Yue had failed to appear. Then she returned, and joy flooded his heart. He had never experienced anything like it.


    A single glance, and Tang Wulin was treated with a spectacular sight. Moonlight shimmered around Gu Yue, accentuating her delicate features. While she wasn¡¯t the most beautiful of girls, at that moment, he was enchanted.


    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Gu Yue asked, aware of his heated gaze.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°You.¡±


    Gu Yue blinked. ¡°I¡¯m not that pretty. What¡¯s there to look at?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong. You are pretty,¡± Tang Wulin said, his smile growing bigger.


    Gu Yue knit her brows together, lowering her head in thought. She clenched her fists, then slowly unclenched them. They kept silent and resumed their trek to their dormitory.


    ¡°Big Sis Gu Yue!¡± Xu Xiaoyan had called out to them the moment she saw them, dragging Gu Yue into the girls¡¯ room.


    But Tang Wulin had other ideas. Once standing at the center of the dormitory courtyard, Tang Wulin shouted, ¡°Everybody! Please come out for a moment! I have something important to talk about!¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan, Gu Yue, and Ye Xinglan immediately left their room. Xie Xie and Xu Luzhi also responded, rushing out of the room meant for the boys. To Tang Wulin¡¯s surprise, even Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu left the comfort of their rooms. Though he probably shouldn¡¯t have been too shocked. Yuanen Yehui did slightly warm up to him after he had delivered the spirit alloy to her. Of course, that was only with Tang Wulin. Her attitude hardly changed toward Xie Xie.


    ¡°Sorry, this doesn¡¯t involve you guys. It¡¯s just a class matter,¡± Tang Wulin said to his upperclassmen.


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll still listen in. Just consider me a little spy. Let me tell you, the second grade students still aren¡¯t convinced of your strength. Who knows if there¡¯ll be a chance for a rematch this year?¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°Well, we¡¯re happy to take your points whenever you want.¡±


    ¡°Wow! Sure are confident, aren¡¯t ya? Have you grown stronger recently?¡± Yue Zhengyu said, a teasing grin on his lips.


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. ¡°You got your fourth ring yet?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu puffed out his chest. He didn¡¯t say a word, but his display of confidence was answer enough.


    ¡°We¡¯re not too far from four rings either,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°If you guys still can¡¯t accept your loss, then we¡¯ll show you exactly the true meaning of power.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu glanced at Yuanen Yehui. She had remained silent throughout the exchange. As the class president of the second grade, only she could speak for their class.


    Tang Wulin moved on, turning to face his teammates. ¡°Luo Guixing paid me a visit today. His team challenged us. The match is tomorrow afternoon. Prepare yourselves.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xiaoyan nodded, not a word more.


    Xie Xie was a different picture. ¡°Yes!¡± he shouted, bubbling with excitement. His captain¡¯s words brought forth the image of Xu Yucheng popped to mind. In their last battle, he had managed to incapacitate Xu Yucheng at the cost of himself. But Xie Xie had changed, had become stronger, more confident. He was eager to discover the winner of their next exchange.


    ¡°A good chance to practice,¡± Ye Xinglan said, a faint glint to her eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got your spirit soul now?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Ye Xinglan nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m down for it,¡± Gu Yue said. ¡°If they can¡¯t accept their loss, then we¡¯ll beat them until they do.¡±


    Xu Lizhi chuckled.


    None of them had any reservations about the match. They may have struggled the last time they faced the rankers, but now was a completely different story.


    Wu Siduo likely had grown much stronger, but that held true for them as well. The perfect chance to verify the results of their training.


    Soon enough, night descended, yet instead of returning to his room, Tang Wulin hid himself within the woods, cultivating amidst plant and tree. For this was the best environment for his cultivation.


    Tang Wulin had the lowest soul power among his teammates. Even after breaking the fourth seal, he was only at rank 35. Xu Xiaoyan had surpassed him a while ago with the incident at the observatory, reaching rank 37. Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie were both rank 38, Gu Yue rank 39, and Ye Xinglan rank 41.


    Tang Wulin was far behind his teammates. Although he could supplement his strength with the power of the Golden Dragon King, soul power was still the basis of strength for soul masters. He resolved himself to forge less over the next semester and devote more time to cultivating.


    In addition to improving his body, Tang Wulin¡¯s consumption of nutritious foods aided his soul power cultivation. As for his spiritual power, he wasn¡¯t worried about it. It was steadily growing ever since he attained the Spirit Sea realm.


    Through the night, Tang Wulin slowly consolidated and strengthened his soul power.


    Only when the birds began to chirp and the first glimmers of dawn peeked over the horizon did he wake. He gazed at the dawning sun, sweeping his gaze over Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, and Ye Xinglan, who just joined him in the forest. They cultivated Purple Demon Eyes together, gazing upon the purple wisps. They shared in the sensation of their spiritual power pulsing, growing by the tiniest amount. A faint mist surrounded their eyes before entering.


    Reaching the Spirit Sea realm didn¡¯t seem like much to most soul masters, but in reality the change penetrated into every aspect of life. Before reaching this realm, although Tang Wulin could to tell that his spiritual power was growing whenever he cultivated his Purple Demon Eyes, he could not discern by how much. Now, however, he could. He was certain his spiritual power was growing faster than before.


    He thought of Gu Yue, who had attained the Spirit Sea realm long ago. He could only guess her current level.


    Taking in a deep breath, Tang Wulin used the Mysterious Heaven Method. The gentle surge of energy cleared his mind. This was his daily life now.


    ¡°Captain, you don¡¯t need to cultivate here at night. There are lots of plants, but the life and natural energies are lacking. You should rent a specialized cultivation space from the Academy like I do!¡± Xu Lizhi said.


    Blinking a few times, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°A specialized cultivation space?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Wait. You do know what they are, right? All you have to do is pay the Academy some points and you get to use a personalized cultivation space. It¡¯s been a whole year. Do you really not know that?¡±


    Tang Wulin groaned. Of course he knew! The teachers had mentioned it when they first came to Shrek Academy!

 Chapter 498 - Challenging the Third Grade

    Chapter 498 - Challenging the Third Grade


    Shrek Academy had a variety of private cultivation spaces suited for all types of soul masters available for rent. However, all things came at a cost, and these cultivation spaces were especially expensive. Too much for Tang Wulin to have even considered using until now. He had always been embarrassingly low on money and points, needing every single bit to purchase metals for forging and spirit items for breaking his seals. That left him with no resources to increase his cultivation efficiency.


    As he recalled, these cultivation spaces cost one hundred points per hour. To put that in perspective, a single day of cleaning Spirit Ice Plaza netted one hundred points. Fortunately for him, after reaching the sixth rank of blacksmithing, things were different now. His alloy forging success rate had skyrocketed. Enough so that he had a positive net income. Even so, one hundred points per hour was practically highway robbery.


    ¡°You think that¡¯s expensive?¡± Ye Xinglan asked, able to discern Tang Wulin¡¯s inner turmoil with just a glance.


    Tang Wulin coughed. ¡°I¡¯m just afraid of wasting my money!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. The rental is well worth the price. You should give it a try.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Fine. I will. If it really is effective, then I can bear the cost.¡± He still had a batch of spirit alloys waiting to be sold. And with the semester just started, he could offload the metals for a nice amount. Since he had a forging agreement with Yue Zhengyu, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the cost of raw materials either. His sole concern was affording the spirit items needed to break the fifth seal. He could spare the rest of his points of cultivation resources.


    I''ll try it tonight! Tang Wulin resolved himself. But for now, it¡¯s breakfast time! I¡¯m starving.


    Following the beginning of the new semester was the reopening of the dining hall. And it couldn¡¯t have come soon enough, especially for Tang Wulin.


    After gobbling up his breakfast, he attended the opening ceremony. It was simple enough. With six classes, one for each of the six grades, the whole assembly only contained several hundred students. Elder Cai spared few words and casually praised Tang Wulin¡¯s team for their victory against the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy. Then the ceremony concluded. The teachers led their students back to their respective classrooms, marking the start of the semester.


    Naturally, close congregation of students led to conversations, and conversations led to gossip. Shen Yi¡¯s class was no exception. ¡°Have you heard? Luo Guixing and the other rankers challenged the class president¡¯s team to a match. It¡¯s happening this afternoon. I heard it from a teacher yesterday. Luo Guixing has already rented an arena.¡±


    ¡°Really? They¡¯re fighting again? Those rankers still haven¡¯t had enough?¡±


    ¡°Of course they¡¯re not convinced! They¡¯re all on the Genius Youths Rankings while none of the members of Class President¡¯s team are on it. It¡¯d be weird if they kept quiet. Well, good for us. Just means we have a show to watch this afternoon. Who knows how strong they all are now?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. One thing¡¯s for sure: they¡¯ve left us in the dust. You know, back then I had believed Luo Guixing and Wu Siduo would definitely win, but who would have thought Class President¡¯s team was so powerful? I still don¡¯t see anything too special about them, even though they managed a victory. And they even defeated the second grade¡¯s class. I don¡¯t think Luo Guixing¡¯s team has got much of a chance.¡±


    ¡°Totally. I feel the same. But let¡¯s wait and see. Luo Guixing wouldn¡¯t have posed the challenge if he didn¡¯t have some confidence. We gotta go watch this match.¡±


    Patience wearing thin, Shen Yi swept her cold gaze through the classroom. The students quieted immediately. Satisfied, she went over the objectives for the academic year. Their task this year was simple: start the construction of a set of one-word battle armor.


    In order to enter the inner court, they must become one-word battle armor masters by the age of twenty. So it was best to start early. Crafting battle armor was no simple task, and it would take much time, effort, and luck to accomplish. In fact, many had secretly begun this after witnessing Tang Wulin¡¯s one-word gauntlet. But making progress was another story. While they could buy the required metals, a bottleneck existed in the designs and crafting department. None of them were sufficiently skilled in their professions.


    Still, after spending a year in Shrek Academy, students of the first grade had grown by leaps and bounds. The end-of-semester exam had stimulated them further, presenting numerous challenges for them to overcome and learn from.


    Pride had filled their hearts when their class president prevailed over the second grade¡¯s team. And in that moment they had been crowned the most powerful class of new students in the past hundred years. Tang Wulin¡¯s team and the rankers were the idols of the first grade. The goal they strived for, hoped to one day overtake.


    Despite the difficulty of obtaining inner court seats, they still dreamed of getting in. Still fought hard for even the barest sliver of a chance.


    After class ended, Wu Zhangkong called Tang Wulin to his office. ¡°I¡¯ll be your referee this afternoon.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Even you know about it?¡± Tang Wulin said, astonished.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s expression betrayed nothing as usual. ¡°Don¡¯t be careless. Luo Guixing¡¯s team is very talented. As talented as yours. They¡¯ve learned from their mistakes. Their loss had only driven them to work harder, and all got full marks on the semester¡¯s end exam too.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I understand. We won last time because their teamwork was uncoordinated. In fact, their cultivation bases were better than ours. I¡¯m sure that they¡¯ve fixed their teamwork by now and are much stronger. But¡­¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shot a sharp look at him. ¡°But what?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled, almost blindingly so. A fierce light flashed in his eyes. ¡°We¡¯re even stronger than that!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s cold mask cracked for a second, taken aback by Tang Wulin¡¯s blazing spirit. Wasn¡¯t I just like him back then?


    ¡°Let the facts speak for themselves!¡± Wu Zhangkong declared.


    ¡°Yes. Teacher Wu, I actually had something I wanted to talk to you about too.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± His eyes narrowed slightly.


    ¡°This is our second academic year, so I was thinking of challenging the third grade in the latter half of the semester. Will you permit that?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong blinked a few times. ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I want to see how we compare against our seniors. It¡¯ll be great motivation for us. Any time is fine, even if it¡¯s soon. I¡¯m not sure how well we¡¯ll do, though.¡±


    Unblinkingly, Wu Zhangkong studied Tang Wulin. This brat. Is he trying to bite off more than he can chew? Just how ambitious is he? Challenging the third grade?


    The third grade differed tremendously from those before it. Due to the structure of Shrek Academy¡¯s academic calendar and the three-year length of grades, everyone in the third grade was approaching twenty years old, if not just over that. Third grade students had been studying at Shrek Academy for seven years, and the most talented of the bunch were preparing to take the inner court exam. The third grade simply couldn¡¯t be compared with the second. They probably had one-word battle armor masters!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team was extremely talented, but talent alone couldn¡¯t overcome the divide between a battle armor master and a regular soul master. Tang Wulin knew this all too well from the incident with Yan Feng.


    Generally, anyone who didn¡¯t enter the inner court by the end of the third grade no longer had hopes of ever making it in. Most of the students who stayed for the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades were gifted people who needed that final push to become a one-word battle armor master before graduating. Even if it was just from the outer court, Shrek Academy¡¯s name carried a prestigious and hefty weight.


    ¡°Why do you think you¡¯re strong enough to challenge the third grade?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    ¡°Because of our efforts! By the second half of the semester, we¡¯ll be fifteen years old. Xinglan has four rings now so we''ll be able to start creating battle armor pieces in earnest. We have plenty of materials too. I think in half a year, we¡¯ll each be equipped with a decent number of battle armor pieces. Even if we don¡¯t manage to complete a full set, having a few pieces will make us much stronger. The most important part about battle armor is compatibility rate.¡± Tang Wulin flashed him an earnest look. ¡°It¡¯ll be helpful to know how our seniors are making their battle armor too. Naturally, we want to win. But what¡¯s more important is the opportunity to learn from our seniors.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about this when the time comes,¡± Wu Zhangkong said, no room for negotiation.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°Alright then.¡±

 Chapter 499 - Rematch

    Chapter 499 - Rematch


    Tang Wulin took in the entirety of the arena. Luo Guixing had rented the one specifically meant for internal matches. While it lacked a barrier, there was a self-restoration system in place, and within the perimeter, students could unleash their full strength without concern. The danger of their battles was also minimized in the presence of a teacher referee. Naturally, such a space came at a high price.


    Other than Tang Wulin¡¯s own team, Luo Guixing¡¯s had arrived as well. And filling up the spectators¡¯ seats were countless students from the first and second grade. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu included. The audience members practically fell from their seats, eager to watch the second confrontation between the two teams.


    Tang Wulin approached Yuanen Yehui until he was able to reach her with just the stretch of a hand. He bent his neck toward her, whispering, ¡°Here to check us out?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui graced him with a glance. ¡°Yeah. So what? Don¡¯t want us to see your tricks?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°I¡¯m scared you guys will lose confidence!¡± In terms of trash talking, not even three Yuanen Yehuis could compare to him.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± Yuanen Yehui said, keeping up her calm facade.


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled from the side. ¡°Wulin, let¡¯s have a match again sometime too. I can¡¯t really accept how the last one went.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit late for a team battle, but a duel would be fine. I¡¯ll take you on anytime,¡± Tang Wulin said, his smile full of teeth.


    To which Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes shone. ¡°You¡¯re the one who said it! No take backs!¡±


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t ignorant. He knew that Yue Zhengyu had obtained his fourth soul ring. Even so, he wasn¡¯t afraid. ¡°Alright. How about we add a bet to this too?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eyes glazed over. He understood Tang Wulin¡¯s character all too well. Here was a person who would never gamble without confidence in victory. Fortunately for Yue Zhengyu, he was only here to observe the battle today and didn¡¯t have to commit to a bet yet.


    The rankers made their way to the center of the arena right before the stage, Luo Guixing and Wu Siduo at the lead. After spending a full year at Shrek Academy, everyone was more calm and mature than they had been when they had first arrived.


    ¡°Class President,¡± Luo Guixing said, beaming.


    Wu Siduo gave Tang Wulin a curt nod.


    Tang Wulin smiled back with a nod of his own. ¡°Looks like everyone¡¯s here. Let¡¯s get ready to start.¡± A glance told him all he needed to know: the five rankers brimmed with energy. It was proof of their growth.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Wu Zhangkong to arrive.


    ¡°Hello, Teacher Wu,¡± the students of each team said respectfully.


    Wu Zhangkong swept his gaze through them. ¡°Get up there.¡± Then he ascended the stage.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu watched Tang Wulin¡¯s team with renewed vigor. To say the two were not a bit interested in their growth would be a lie, especially by the confidence they exuded. And although Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were not ignorant of the five rankers, they had never witnessed the rankers¡¯ strength first hand. They had only had a taste of Tang Wulin¡¯s team and only cared about his team. The one that had been strong enough to face the second grade.


    The Genius Youths Rankings only meant anything when the students first entered the academy. The ranking had no bearing on their growth afterward. However, Yuanen Yehui was on the ranking herself, so she had some understanding of it.


    Ever since she had lost to Tang Wulin¡¯s team the previous semester, Yuanen Yehui had devoted herself to cultivation. Two extremes had occured on that day: the first grade had won glory, and the second grade had been disgraced. Even though she considered Tang Wulin a friend, she still had to win back her class¡¯ honor. No matter what, defeating him was a must this year.


    To that end, another reason Yuanen Yehui had attended this event was to scout any potentially troubling opponents in the first grade apart from Tang Wulin¡¯s team. She had to be wary of any reserve members he could employ. Tang Wulin¡¯s team only had six people, just one short of the standard seven-man team. It was likely that the last member would be selected from one of the rankers.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu sat in the audience together, along with the rest of their team. But apart from them and a few second graders scattered in the benches, no one from a higher grade took the time out of their schedule to attend.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team was young and hopeful, naive to the gap between them and the upper grades. Many of those who had yet to turn twenty were doing their best to become one-word battle armor masters. And those who had already accomplished this feat were fiercely competing for the inner court examination quotas. A battle between first graders would never reach their eyes.


    Like the last time, the battle was five versus five! However, , Tang Wulin chose to field Ye Xinglan instead of Xu Lizhi. After a year, only her teammates knew the extent of her strength. She normally kept a low profile and cultivated in seclusion, no more than a quiet pretty girl to her classmates. Even the rankers only knew she was strong, but how strong they could only guess.


    Tang Wulin stood at the front of their triangle formation.Ye Xinglan and Xie Xie were the other two points of the triangle, and Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue stood in between them.


    Opposite them, Yang Nianxia stood at the head of the ranker¡¯s formation. On his left was Wu Siduo and his right Xu Yucheng. Zheng Yiran was positioned right behind him in his shadow, and Luo Guixing was positioned in the very back, the safest position possible. As the core of their team, it was the only logical position for him.


    Their formations gave an inkling of their tactics, but not all of their cards had been laid out yet. They stared each other down, their auras flaring up.


    Wu Zhangkong, at the center of the arena, glanced at both teams. ¡°Let the match begin!¡± he declared without warning.


    A boom, and Tang Wulin burst off the ground, shooting forward like a cannonball.


    The force in which Tang Wulin had launched himself shocked Yang Nianxia to the very bones. Strong! He¡¯s even stronger than me!


    Tang Wulin reeked of confidence, a dominating edge to his whole being. His continuous run of victories had fed into a tyrannical aura.


    But Yang Nianxia refused to be cowed. He roared. His muscles swelled with strength as he unleashed his Duskgold Bear martial soul. He charged forward to meet Tang Wulin in a confrontation of brute force!


    Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng dashed out to the sides to bypass Tang Wulin. Their targets: Ye Xinglan and Xie Xie! But soon after, a shiver ran down their spines. They turned their heads for brief moment and gasped. Tang Wulin was approaching too quickly, barrelling toward them as a one-man army!


    In a split second, Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng altered their trajectories, trapping Tang Wulin in a triangle formation with Yang Nianxia.


    The scene caused Yuanen Yehui to knit her brow, her lips pressed firmly together. Given his wealth of combat experience, there was no way Tang Wulin could make such a simple mistake.

 Chapter 500 - Dead End?

    Chapter 500 - Dead End?


    Luo Guixing threw out his hands and a burst of silver light manifested in the center of the arena. Sharp and blinding, the light held a nearly tangible quality to it, and upon its inception, everything within a fifteen meter radius trembled.


    It was then that Tang Wulin¡¯s team discovered the root of the other team¡¯s confidence: Luo Guixing had not three, but four rings! Two yellow and two purple, not an average configuration as well.


    The soul skill Luo Guixing had used was his fourth, Boundary Division! A potent spatial soul skill that instantly split open space and everything in its path! Nothing could escape once within the skill¡¯s range. Tang Wulin was no exception to that. Trying to leave the boundary would just toss him back in. Boundary Division, a godly skill!


    In fact, Luo Guixing had immediately used Boundary Division for the express purpose of trapping Tang Wulin. He was well aware that, out of the entire opposing team, Tang Wulin had the highest attack power and control. The cornerstone and captain. As long as Luo Guixing could take Tang Wulin out, victory was in sight.


    During the match between the first and second grade, the rankers had witnessed with their own eyes the power of Tang Wulin¡¯s team. Ever since that, they¡¯d been drafting battle tactics for this rematch, bent on uncovering any sliver of an opening to exploit. With those discerning lenses strapped on, they had discovered an interesting detail; Tang Wulin¡¯s tendency to charge in as a one-man army at the start of battle only worked with Gu Yue backing him up. Because she could teleport him out of harm¡¯s way at a moment¡¯s notice. Once he created an opening, the rest of his team would concentrate their efforts in one mighty assault. The end result, victory. Luo Guixing chose to exploit this. Along with its other effects, his Boundary Division isolated everyone within it from spatial fluctuations. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t be teleported out. While the skill only lasted five seconds, Luo Guixing was confident his teammates could take down Tang Wulin in that time, especially three against one.


    As long as they defeated Tang Wulin, he was certain the rest would be a walk in the park. Everything was going according to plan. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a subdued grin. This was their chance.


    Wu Siduo, Yang Nianxia, and Xu Yucheng had thrown away their rankers¡¯ arrogance, working  together to defeat Tang Wulin. Since their last match, Luo Guixing had made sure to fix his team¡¯s coordination. After much practice, they had absolute trust in each other and knew what each one was doing at any given time. Their strength as a team was incomparable to before.


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s soul power was at rank 39, and with Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng both having four rings, it was no wonder they thought Tang Wulin to be finished.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart pounded. They really did have a plan!  From his wealth of combat experience, he had instantly determined that Gu Yue couldn¡¯t support him the moment Boundary Division activated. Luo Guixing¡¯s specialization in spatial skills was a huge hint, and this was likely a countermeasure against Gu Yue. No backup is coming! It¡¯s all on me!


    Despite being outnumbered, Tang Wulin snuffed out that ember of panic in his chest.


    Bluesilver Impaling Array. The ground lit up gold and dozens of grass spears erupted around him, forming a makeshift barrier. He didn¡¯t bother using the skill offensively. It wouldn¡¯t work on Wu Siduo or the others. All it could do was buy him time.


    For a brief moment, the three rankers slowed in their assault by the edge of the spears.


    Steeling himself, Yang Nianxia charged in to the heart of the spears, relying on his body¡¯s tenacity to endure. His arms swelled with strength along the way, doubling in size as he swung them at the obstacles.


    At the same time, Xu Yucheng reaped the grass with his scythe, mowing open a path for himself.


    And Wu Siduo jumped into the air before using Hell Rush, heading straight for Tang Wulin, bypassing the grass spears on the ground.


    As the three came upon their target, a silver ring of light appeared beneath him. Luo Guixing¡¯s soul skill, Spatial Lock! Four rankers attacked Tang Wulin simultaneously with their full power, backing him into a corner! A grim smile spread on Luo Guixing¡¯s face. Wu Zhangkong watched from the stage, prepared to intervene at any moment.


    Luo Guixing didn¡¯t hope to truly keep Tang Wulin restrained, but even slowing his movements for a split-second was enough. With a three-man assault upon Tang Wulin, that delay sealed his end.


    His fingers shook with anticipation. Once the battle became five versus four, victory was in the bag.


    Tang Wulin was the core of his team, and without him the mighty Divine Dragon Transformation soul fusion skill could not be used. Though the others were powerful in their own right, they couldn¡¯t compare with their captain.


    As according to Luo Guixing¡¯s plan, Zheng Yiran expelled a green fog of poison around his team. Once Tang Wulin was taken care of, they would regroup in the fog and then launch a final assault.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin¡¯s teammates did what they could. Xie Xie and Ye Xinglan immediately rushed into the spatial boundary, but they were expelled in an instant. Three seconds remained on the boundary. They couldn¡¯t intervene until then.


    Xu Xiaoyan raised her staff, determination blazing in her eyes.


    The elements swirled around Gu Yue, ready to rampage. Unable to keep her warring emotions in check any longer, Gu Yue thrust a finger forward. With a shout, two blue fireballs burst forth from her fingertips at the boundary, curving around it under her control.


    Both teams had one thought crashing through their minds: this was the end for Tang Wulin! Yet when all hope seemed lost, Tang Wulin smiled.


    The first to reach him, Wu Siduo couldn¡¯t comprehend what she was seeing. How can he still smile? Does he still have an ace up his sleeve? Impossible! The moment she wavered, she caught sight of two golden rings appearing around him. Two? Two golden rings? She had an ill premonition.


    Originally, she had been keeping her power in check in fear of harming him fatally. But now, her fear pushed her to draw out her full strength. Her soul power surged, empowering her Hell Rush to the peak.


    Golden scales rippled into existence on Tang Wulin¡¯s body, his right arm swelling with power. Although Spatial Lock restricted his movements, it couldn¡¯t do anything to the internal flow of blood essence.


    He had activated his first golden ring, Golden Dragon Body!

 Chapter 501 - The Might of Golden Dragon Tyrant Body

    Chapter 501 - The Might of Golden Dragon Tyrant Body


    Tang Wulin¡¯s second golden ring lit up. His body shone, a dazzling mirror of gold.


    Then his opponents were upon him.


    He put up no defense or attempt to break free of Spatial Lock. Instead he stood there, still, a smile on his face as he looked the beast in the eyes.


    Hand partly raised, Wu Zhangkong paused once he caught sight of Tang Wulin¡¯s expression.


    In the audience, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu dropped their jaws. A second golden ring? What does this one do?


    Without the empowerment of Golden Dragon Body, Tang Wulin never would have stood a match against Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger. Or Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Titan Giant Ape. Additionally, a second golden ring meant he had another powerful soul skill. They now knew the root of his confidence. But what the skill did was anyone¡¯s guess.


    Wu Siduo slashed Tang Wulin¡¯s chest with Hell Rush, and a clang reverberated through the air. She felt as if she were striking a steel wall. An odd one at that. It sucked on her soul power and blood essence, her body going rigid for an instant.


    Meanwhile, Xu Yucheng¡¯s scythe tore down on Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder. He restrained himself at the last moment, afraid he would fatally harm Tang Wulin. But his scythe stopped the second it touched the mirror-like scales. Unable to move any further.


    The last to reach Tang Wulin, Yang Nianxia struck with his bear paw. A boom resounded upon impact. But Tang Wulin did not so much as budge, and he felt a portion of his strength stripped away.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s scales flashed iridescent, blinding.


    The three gaped, dumbstruck. How can this be? He took on our combined attack like it was nothing! Is he even human? Even Teacher Wu would be affected by our attack without his battle armor!


    A draconic roar rumbled from Tang Wulin¡¯s body, waking the rankers from their stupor. Tang Wulin stomped on the ground, a golden aura flaring around him. He was divinity incarnate. A split-second after his stomp, the stage tremored. With a boom, eight small phantom dragons burst out of the ground.


    Once again, the rankers were stunned. Never before had Tang Wulin used an attack like this. Because of this, they were unable to dodge.


    The phantom dragons struck the three rankers like bolts of lightning. Their entire bodies spasmed.


    Xu Yucheng fared the worst of the three with his frail body. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he faltered backward. Before the phantom dragon could finish him off, a beam of white light descended on him. And he disappeared. Wu Zhangkong had pulled him out of battle.


    Although Yang Nianxia was built the toughest of the three, he was still caught off guard. Unable to strengthen himself in time with soul power, he sustained heavy damage.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s skill forced Wu Siduo to use Hell White Tiger. But under the bombardment of phantom dragons, her tiger form rapidly lost solidity. A mere flickering illusion by the end.


    Immediately after, two blue fireballs swerved over to Wu Siduo. Still restricted by the phantom dragons, she failed to put up much of a defense. The arena groaned and shook as the fireballs crashed into her. She screamed. Her Hell White Tiger form faded.


    Finally, the three phantom dragons disappeared as well. But that wasn¡¯t the end of the assault against her. Xie Xie flickered into existence behind Wu Siduo pressing a dagger to her throat. And a beam of light took her from the arena, marking her elimination.


    Just as Luo Guixing moved to back up Wu Siduo, a mass of starlight exploded in the sky. Starlight Burst! He felt his stomach drop, his instincts screaming danger. Teleport. He had to teleport.


    It was almost too late. A beam of light descended from the sky and struck the place Luo Guixing had once been. A shockwave tore through the arena, dispersing the poison fog. Ye Xinglan stepped out of a miniature crater, flicking her Stargod Sword to the side nonchalantly with a frown, dissatisfied that she had just missed Luo Guixing.


    Right before Yang Nianxia broke free of the phantom dragons, he caught sight of Tang Wulin charging his way, eyes blazing gold and claw brandished.


    The claws of the bear and dragon clashed. A shockwave blasted through the arena.


    Yang Nianxia was knocked right into the ground, a crater crumbling around the impact. Even at his greatest, Yang Nianxia stood no chance against Tang Wulin. The power of the two golden rings simply tyrannical.


    Starlight gathered under Luo Guixing¡¯s feet before Ye Xinglan dashed toward him. Poison fog quickly spread their way. But it was too slow. Her sword stopped an inch away from Luo Guixing¡¯s chest. That moment marked his elimination. Satisfied, Ye Xinglan disappeared in a silver flash and reappeared at Gu Yue¡¯s side.


    Tang Wulin turned away from Yang Nianxia, sweeping his gaze through Luo Guixing and Zheng Yiran. Now only Zheng Yiran was left in fighting condition.


    The entire arena was silent.


    Back then, Wu Zhangkong had lacked confidence in Tang Wulin¡¯s desire to challenge the third grade. But now, he saw a glimmer of hope that this team might reign in glory. Considering their growth over their break, he could see their victory given another year of training.


    Luo Guixing stared blankly. We lost. It¡¯s our total defeat. Yiran is the only one left and they still got a full five. Even if it was just Gu Yue left, Yiran wouldn¡¯t stand a chance. He had never expected such a swift, crushing defeat.


    He had been confident in his battlefield control skills, but just as his plan had clicked into place, it was smashed to pieces. An unbelievable match.


    Yue Zhengyu slowly gulped. I shouldn¡¯t challenge Wulin. That guy, he¡¯s just¡­


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes shined fiercely. She had worked harder than ever to grow stronger since her defeat at Tang Wulin¡¯s hands, hoping to settle the score the next year. However, she now realized her odds were growing slimmer and slimmer. Just when did he get so strong? She recalled the day she had guarded Tang Wulin. That¡¯s probably when he got his second gold ring. Just where does that power come from? His defense is as tough as a defense-type Soul King¡¯s! How am I supposed to deal with that?


    She couldn¡¯t forget Tang Wulin¡¯s teammates either. While they had felt worried for Tang Wulin when he had been forced into a tight spot, they never lost their cool. The moment Tang Wulin launched his counter attack, they immediately followed up and turned the tide of battle, tying up loose ends in a blitz and leaving only Zheng Yiran standing. They hadn¡¯t gone all out either.


    For such a team of talents, the future was limitless.


    ¡°It¡¯s our loss,¡± Luo Guixing said, a bitter smile on his face.


    Tang Wulin flashed a smile of his own, his golden scales receding and golden rings fading. He approached Luo Guixing and raised a hand high.


    With a hint of meekness, Luo Guixing high-fived Tang Wulin. ¡°I thought we had caught up to you guys, but the gap has only gotten bigger. Class President, are you even human?¡±


    A chuckle escaped Tang Wulin. ¡°Let¡¯s all do our best. We can have another match once we¡¯re battle armor masters.¡±

 Chapter 502 - Specialized Cultivation Space

    Chapter 502 - Specialized Cultivation Space


    At the mention of a rematch, Luo Guixing slowly nodded. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m down.¡± He wasn¡¯t one to admit defeat. His eyes, once dim, blazed with determination once more. But there was no denying that Tang Wulin had changed. He seemed taller and more mature than ever before. He¡¯s grown so much in one year. For the first time, Luo Guixing was regretting his decision to part ways with Tang Wulin. If he hadn¡¯t, perhaps they would still be on the same team!


    Wu Zhangkong approached them, regarding them silently.


    All the while the trio of Wu Siduo, Xu Yucheng, and Yang Nianxia watched on with sour faces. They were absolutely miserable. Despite their efforts, they had been defeated once again. And this time, it was even more crushing. Wu Siduo¡¯s soul fusion skill had stood no chance against Tang Wulin¡¯s team.


    They¡¯re way too strong! Tang Wulin¡¯s counter attack had overwhelmed them all. His burst of power unstoppable.


    Naturally, Tang Wulin kept the ability of Golden Dragon Tyrant Body secret. He was well aware that such an opportune time to use this skill was rare, and that either way his opponents would meticulously study it for any weaknesses. There was no point in making it any easier for them. In the end, that skill was his lifeline.


    By achieving victory in this battle, Tang Wulin had gained the absolute confidence of his classmates and cowed the second grade.


    After consoling the rankers, Tang Wulin regrouped with his teammates and high-fived each and every one of them.


    In the eyes of the spectators, Tang Wulin¡¯s team seemed to have bulldozed their way through their opposition. Tang Wulin knew, however, that they won thanks to both his new soul skill and the surprise it inspired. Luo Guixing had been deceived. The gap between them wasn¡¯t as large as he had thought. Luo Guixing¡¯s team had three Soul Ancestors after all!


    But this did not mean victory had been on the table for the rankers. With Ye Xinglan, Tang Wulin, and Xie Xie¡¯s explosive burst of strength supported by Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s crowd control skills, Tang Wulin¡¯s team was already an unstoppable force. The addition of Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was just overkill. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t felt an inkling of fear toward Wu Siduo¡¯s soul fusion skill. Xu Yucheng¡¯s deadly attacks were also blunted by his frail body.


    There was no way they could have lost.


    ¡°It looks like he can make a team completely of Soul Ancestors if he wanted to. That¡¯s already better than us,¡± Yue Zhengyu said to Yuanen Yehui.


    Yuanen Yehui remained silent, turning to leave. She knew that they¡¯d be better off not facing the first grade this year. Tang Wulin¡¯s strength had shook her confidence. Unless she could think of some plan, some ingenious way to exploit any and all openings, her team would struggle to defeat them. Especially with the threat of Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s soul fusion skill.


    Following the end of the match was leisure time for the remainder of the day. Tang Wulin headed straight for the area with specialized cultivation spaces. He would bite the bullet. Pay the hefty cost to use one of them. He was curious to see if it would be worth the points.


    ¡°It¡¯s one hundred points per hour. How many hours do you want?¡± the staff member asked Tang Wulin.


    Suppressing his inner miser, Tang Wulin said, ¡°Teacher, is it possible to get a discount if I buy hours in bulk?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the staff member said, almost rolling his eyes. ¡°The price is set and won¡¯t budge no matter how many hours you buy.¡±


    Tang Wulin clenched his jaw. ¡°I want one hour then.¡± Frugal was his nature and he decided to test the waters first before diving straight in, lest it was a waste.


    ¡°What attribute is your martial soul?¡±


    ¡°Plant-type.¡±


    The staff member handed Tang Wulin a green emblem, then pointed to the seventh room on the left. ¡°That¡¯s your room. Let it scan the emblem and it¡¯ll unlock for you. You have one hour. If you want to continue using the space while inside, you can tap your student ID on the emblem and it¡¯ll automatically deduct points and add more time. You can also just come out here to buy more time.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Tang Wulin inspected the emblem for a moment, then made his way to the room. He presented the emblem to the door and a light sweeped over it, scanning it. The door unlocked with a click and slid open.


    After stepping foot within, Tang Wulin took in the space around him. It was typical, The only thing that seemed a bit out of the ordinary was a flight of stairs at the center leading below. Looks like I gotta go down. He dashed down the stairs not wanting to waste time.


    After descending dozens of meters, he finally found himself in a verdant world. Lush plants surrounded him, covering the floors and scaling walls. The space glowed with vitality. He took a deep breath and felt invigorated. He could feel his bluesilver grass cheering, eager to bask in the purity of nature.


    And so he indulged it like a good master, summoning it out and letting the long tendrils crawl and connect with the other plants.


    The specialized cultivation space wasn¡¯t large, only about ten square meters in area. So even if plants ran thick and free within, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t wrap his head around the vitality in the air. Just how did Shrek do this? As expected of Shrek!


    Not wasting another moment, he weaved a mat of bluesilver grass at the center of the room and plopped onto it. He crossed his legs into a pretzel and began to meditate.


    His spiritual power quivered, stretching to encompass the space around him. It struck him immediately how rich the natural energies in this space were. Nearly comparable with those of Sea God¡¯s Island. He came to a shocking revelation: the greatest advantage inner court students had over outer court students was access to Sea God¡¯s Island, free of charge.


    Having experienced the boost in cultivation speed Sea God¡¯s Island had offered him, Tang Wulin finished evaluating the cultivation space quickly. Increasing his cultivation speed by twenty percent, it was well worth the price paid.


    Looks like I can¡¯t sell off all my metals to Heaven Dou City anymore. I need more points to continue using this room.


    Though his soul power grew slower than his peers, with the help of a specialized cultivation space, he might reach rank 40 by the end of the second year. By then, the rest of his teammates would surely have reached rank 40 as well.


    According to Wu Zhangkong, most students didn¡¯t become five-ringed Soul Kings until the end of the third grade. Soul power was easy to cultivate for the first thirty ranks, but the growth speed would slow from there on. And when a soul master reached rank 40, their advancement speed would plummet. This wasn¡¯t due to a decrease in soul power growth speed. Rather, the root of the issue lay in the difficulty in compressing soul power.


    The earlier Tang Wulin reached rank 40, the greater his advantage. He understood just how unique his constitution was. Once he obtained his fourth ring, he could become a sixth-rank blacksmith and prepare to advance into a Saint Blacksmith. Furthermore, his body would be strong enough to equip a full set of one-word battle armor.


    Rank 40 would be a turning point for him.

 Chapter 503 - Earning Points

    Chapter 503 - Earning Points


    Now that Ye Xinglan had her fourth ring, Tang Wulin could focus on producing the metals needed for their one-word battle armor pieces. According to his plan, she would create his armor first before moving on to the others.


    For now however, Ye Xinglan would be working on crafting her own gauntlet. Because once finished, her success rate would increase and stabilize. So in the meanwhile, Tang Wulin¡¯s priority was to get his fourth ring. As long as he had a full set of one-word battle armor, making it into the inner court would be a breeze. Especially considering the armor would be made of spirit alloys.


    Tang Wulin aimed to have four rings by the time he turned sixteen. And by the time he turned eighteen, a one-word battle armor master. He wanted to be in the running for the inner court once entering the third grade.


    An hour of cultivation later, Tang Wulin breathed out slowly, pleased by the results. Tranquil and isolated, the cultivation space was perfectly suited for meditation. Not to mention the thick natural energies swirling in the air.


    He finally yielded. Through gritted teeth, Tang Wulin tapped his student ID to the emblem, buying enough time to last him until the next morning. The rest of the night was spent cultivating in the room. He only left briefly for dinner. In one fell swoop, he had spent over a thousand points!


    Still, it was necessary. With the arrival of a new semester, Tang Wulin diligently studied in the mornings, using every available sliver of time in the afternoon to cultivate. And he wasn¡¯t the only one so studious..


    The match between Tang Wulin¡¯s team and the rankers had roused the first grade, sparking their work ethic and determination. None of them wanted to be left behind.


    ?


    ¡°Elder Feng, I want to sell some metals to our association for contribution points. Can you help me appraise what I have?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Feng Wuyu, also wanting his disciple to reach rank 40 as soon as possible, had reduced Tang Wulin¡¯s blacksmith training to weekly sessions. Of course, he still kept an eye on Tang Wulin¡¯s progress.


    After absorbing Zhen Hua¡¯s teachings, Tang Wulin saw his two-metal alloy forging success rate increase significantly. He even managed to forge a three-metal alloy occasionally. Always exceeding expectations, he had Feng Wuyu flustered throughout.


    ¡°You want to sell some alloys? How many you got?¡± Feng Wuyu¡¯s eyes shone.


    Alloys were in high demand with the Blacksmith¡¯s Association as well! The alloys Tang Wulin forged were only thousand refined, but they could still be reforged twice. They were perfect for two-word battle armor masters.


    Tang Wulin brought a hand to his chin, eyes hazy as he stood lost in contemplation. A moment later, he spoke. ¡°I¡¯ve got about ten pieces each of jade silver, star silver, and gold crystal. Their harmony rates are all between sixty-five and eighty percent.¡±


    ¡°Thirty pieces? That much?¡± Feng Wuyu¡¯s jaw nearly dropped, the way he looked at Tang Wulin changing to something strange. Even a sixth-rank blacksmith would have difficulties producing so many spirit alloys in such a short period. Of course, there was a huge difference: Tang Wulin¡¯s alloys were thousand refined instead of spirit refined.


    ¡°Bring them out for me to see. The Association will buy it all.¡± Feng Wuyu rarely forged spirit alloys himself. While Shrek Academy had few high-rank blacksmiths, those in its possession were also powerful soul masters. They rarely forged for the sake of money. But students from both inner and outer courts, and even teachers, wanted to buy spirit alloys. Needless to say, the massive demand was left largely unfulfilled.


    Tang Wulin retrieved all of the metals from his storage ring.


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s gaze sharpened at the sight. The metals pulsated with life, shining splendidly. I really do have a great disciple! I can teach him for now, but he¡¯ll surely surpass me soon! He¡¯ll reach the peak of blacksmithing! This kid¡¯s gonna become a Divine Blacksmith!


    ¡°They really are all between sixty-five and eighty percent harmony. Well, the price will be set according to their harmony rate and alloy type. I¡¯ll also give you a bonus ten percent from my own pocket since you¡¯re selling in bulk.¡±


    But Feng Wuyu was not aware that Tang Wulin still had another fifty pieces sitting in his storage ring. And those were only the ones he was willing to sell. There were still the pieces he set aside for his friends¡¯ battle armors.


    In the ten days Tang Wulin had spent training under Zhen Hua, he hadn¡¯t had to consider the cost of raw materials and had gained quite a bit.


    Of the remaining alloys in his storage  ring, Tang Wulin planned to hand in twenty to the Tang Sect. He had gained much from the Tang Sect¡¯s secret arts and contribution points, so it was only appropriate to repay them.


    In the future, he planned on returning to Heaven Dou City to sell the remaining thirty metals, since the prices were even more to his favor there. He still needed to save Federal credits to buy spirit items.


    ¡°Altogether, I¡¯ll pay you 1,635,300 points. I¡¯ll transfer them to you directly.¡±


    I¡¯m rich! Tang Wulin rejoiced. High-level blacksmithing really is lucrative! I can use the cultivation space so many times with that many points. And I can grab anything I need on campus too! I won¡¯t have to worry about points for a while.


    ¡°Elder Feng, does Shrek offer driving lessons? I¡¯m thinking about getting a license.¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    After all he¡¯d been through, riding in a train was far from a pleasant and calm experience. Driving seemed like a better alternative. In fact, anything that didn¡¯t involve him being blown up by a terrorist seemed like a better alternative. Fortunately, the distance between Shrek and Heaven Dou City wasn¡¯t too far. He could even make a round trip in a single day by leaving early in the morning. But it would be taxing. His weekly day off was perfect for making such trips.


    ¡°There are. I¡¯ll refer you to someone. What do you need a car for though?¡±


    Tang Wulin coughed, averting his eyes slightly. ¡°Uncle-master told me to visit him from time to time.¡±


    Feng Wuyu snorted at the mention of Zhen Hua, but didn¡¯t say more. In the end, Zhen Hua was still a Divine Blacksmith.


    ¡°Alright. Get your license then. And once you¡¯ve got some money, you can move on to piloting a mecha. I know a guy who can help you register with the Federation and get a flight-capable mecha permit.¡±


    ¡°A mecha?¡± Tang Wulin asked, doubtful. He wanted to become a battle armor master, not a mecha pilot!


    ¡°You idiot, there¡¯s no reason you can¡¯t have both a mecha and battle armor,¡± Feng Wuyu said as he smacked Tang Wulin on the head.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s thoughts ran wild. That¡¯s right! Mechas and battle armor don¡¯t conflict at all! I can keep my battle armor inside of me until I need it and pilot a mecha whenever else. Mechas are a good defense too.


    The image of Liu An¡¯s black-grade mecha was still vividly emblazoned in his mind. It was fast as a bullet, yet remained steady throughout its flight. As they flew through the skies, they peered down upon the flitting landscape with disdain. Gods among ants.


    He hadn¡¯t considered the possibility of becoming both a mecha pilot and battle armor master. His thinking had been too inflexible, but Feng Wuyu was correcting that now.


    ¡°On the battlefield, a mecha is your first line of defense. Although  powerful mechas can¡¯t compare with battle armor, they still have their own advantages. Mechas are the most efficient way to utilize the pilot¡¯s soul power no matter the environment. The strongest of battle armor masters recognize this, so they¡¯re also mecha pilots themselves. You kids should be taking a mecha piloting class this year. Don¡¯t sleep on it.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Thank you for your reminder, Teacher,¡±  Tang Wulin said, slightly lowering his head. If not for Feng Wuyu¡¯s words, he wouldn¡¯t have bothered to pay attention in the piloting class. He had enough on his plate as it was.


    Feng Wuyu had him sold. With both battle armor and a mecha, he¡¯d be a fortress.


    Looks like I need to build myself a mecha now too.

 Chapter 504 - To Buy a Car or a Mecha?

    Chapter 504 - To Buy a Car or Mecha?


    There were many important differences between battle armor and mechas. While battle armor used a soul master¡¯s soul power, mechas had their own power sources. Battle armors were far more powerful than mechas, but mechas were extremely energy efficient! They were also much cheaper than battle armor.


    Tang Wulin already knew the basics of manufacturing a mecha, but that didn¡¯t mean he could. In order to make one, he would have to forge loads of metals and acquire other components and circuit cores, all of which would cost a hefty sum. Only after doing that could he begin making a mecha.


    Feng Wuyu¡¯s words had opened a door in Tang Wulin¡¯s mind.


    ¡°We have an association just for mechas here at Shrek. You can just give them the raw materials and have them make a mecha for you. It won¡¯t be cheap, but I think you might as well just skip buying a car and go straight for a mecha,¡± Feng Wuyu said, delivering temptation with every word. ¡°Once you get a flight permit, you¡¯ll be able to zoom around the continent in your mecha. It¡¯ll be more taxing on you than just driving, but you won¡¯t even notice.¡±


    Tang Wulin grew feverish with excitement. That makes sense. Piloting a mecha is way cooler than driving. Screw it! I want a mecha! I¡¯m gonna get my own!


    ¡°I actually got a list of quotes from the Mecha Association,¡± Feng Wuyu said, handing a tablet over to Tang Wulin. ¡°Take a look.¡±


    Tang Wulin took one look at the screen and his eyes glazed over. He had just made over 1.6 million contribution points so he started considering himself quite rich, but the prices for commissioning mechas brought him back to reality.


    Yellow-grade mechas cost a million points? And purple-grade cost nine million? Wait, black-grade are thirty million, and I¡¯d have to bring my own materials and blueprints? Holy shit! No wonder Liu An¡¯s so broke! This is practically robbery! Tang Wulin gulped and looked back to Feng Wuyu. ¡°You know what, I think I¡¯ll go with a car after all. It¡¯s, uh, more practical.¡±


    Feng Wuyu chuckled. ¡°Mechas are much cheaper if you bring your own materials. You just have to go to the association in person to find out just how much cheaper. In any case, I¡¯m only telling you this is a possibility. Whether or not you go through with it is up to you. Just keep forging and you¡¯ll make plenty of contribution points. Once you become a sixth rank blacksmith, a purple-grade mecha will be easily obtainable. A purple mecha would serve your purposes fine. In fact, even a yellow mecha would be far faster than a car. You could buy one of those right now if you wanted.¡±


    Tang Wulin froze. Right! I just need a mecha to get around. I don¡¯t need the most powerful one. I won¡¯t be using it for battle just yet, but I can still practice piloting.


    Tang Wulin grinded his teeth, staring at the 1.6 million points on his card. It was an agonizing decision to make, but he knew he had already decided.


    ?


    At the Mecha Association, a man called Zhang Yang manned the reception desk. Visitors rarely came by, so he was just sitting there idly. He had only taken this part-time job to make some pocket money. He was a fifth-grade student, twenty-six years of age, and his soul power was at rank 51. However, he had yet to complete a full set of one-word battle armor. He was still missing a few circuit cores. Unlike his first year at Shrek Academy, Zhang Yang didn¡¯t feel any pressure to work hard. It was already impossible for him to enter the inner court, but he was on track to graduate from the outer court, merely a step away.


    At Shrek Academy, grades one through three were the most stressful times of a student¡¯s life. Everyone would be at least twenty years old at the end of those nine years. They had to become one-word battle armor masters before then if they wanted to make it into the inner court. After turning twenty, however, any hope of entering the inner court was gone, so they could take it easy. They just had to become a battle armor master in the next nine years to fulfill graduation requirements, a fairly easy task by that point. Graduating from the outer court was also an achievement to be proud of.


    Zhang Yang was the embodiment of this mindset. Senioritis had already begun to take root in him. Graduating from Shrek Academy would be enough to land him a job as chief of security for a mega corporation. He just had to finish his battle armor then wait to graduation. Even so, after spending so many years at Shrek Academy, he was reluctant to leave. Once an outer court student left the Academy, they would never be able to return to cultivate, so he decided to enjoy the remainder of his time here. He only needed two more pieces to complete his battle armor. He had the foundation for them ready and could have them made at any moment, but he chose to prolong his time here.


    I¡¯ll breakthrough in the next three months. Zhang Yang sighed. He knew he wasn¡¯t that young anymore. He was twenty-six years old. It was about time for him to get married and start a career. Yet the thought of leaving filled him with doubt once more. He wasn¡¯t ready to move on with his life yet.


    The doorbell chimed and someone walked in, a boy in his teens. He had large, clear eyes that bewitched even a fellow male like Zhang Yang.


    It was Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Hello, Senior Brother!¡± he said.


    ¡°Hey, Junior Brother, what can I help you with? You wanna join the Mecha Association?¡± Zhang Yang asked, going through his usual script.


    The Mecha Association was actually the most unpopular association at Shrek Academy since every student was aiming to become a battle armor master. In Zhang Yang¡¯s mind, the Mecha Association only continued to exist because the Academy was protecting it. It only had twenty members. It was awful.


    Just as Zhang Yang expected, Tang Wulin shook his head. The only people who joined were those who still held onto childhood dreams of mechas.


    ¡°Senior Brother, I want to commission a custom yellow-grade mecha.¡±


    Zhang Yang nearly fell out of his seat, eyes wide. ¡°What did you just say?¡±


    ¡°I want to commission a custom yellow-grade mecha,¡± Tang Wulin repeated.


    ¡°Junior Brother, do you know how much a yellow-grade mecha costs? One million points! Not a hundred thousand. One million!¡± Despite all the years he spent at Shrek Academy, Zhang Yang hadn¡¯t saved up anywhere near one million points. That didn¡¯t mean that yellow mechas were luxurious items though.


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Tang Wulin took out his student card and handed it to Zhang Yang. ¡°I have enough points to pay for it.¡±


    Holy shit! Zhang Yang gulped when he saw over 1.6 million points display on Tang Wulin¡¯s card. He could barely suppress the impulse to ask if he had just robbed the administrative office. He knew such a thing was impossible.


    ¡°O-Okay then,¡± Zhang Yang said. ¡°Please fill out this form. After that we¡¯ll go take your measurements.¡± These measurements were needed to construct a cockpit that was perfect for Tang Wulin, all to optimize the ergonomics within the mecha and his piloting efficiency.


    ¡°I want a long-ranged attack type mecha,¡± Tang Wulin said, listing his requirements. ¡°I want to focus on saving energy. The armor can be light. I want some powerful energy cores too. It needs to be able to stay operational for long periods of time...¡±


    Zhang Yang worked at the Mecha Association because he was a mecha fanatic to begin with. He couldn¡¯t help but furrow his brow when Tang Wulin finished listing all his requirements. ¡°Junior Brother, the type of mecha you¡¯re describing is what we call a ¡®brittleskin¡¯ mecha. Long-ranged mechas obviously don¡¯t do well in close combat to begin with, and on top of that, you want light armor. If we make your mecha like that and it takes a single hit, its energy core could explode. That¡¯s dangerous and could even be fatal.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Tang Wulin replied. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I want. Oh, right. If I provide the necessary metals, how much of a discount can I get?¡±


    ¡°The price would drop down to 480,000 points,¡± Zhang Yang said. ¡°The metals need to be high quality though.¡±


    ¡°Great! Let¡¯s go with that.¡±


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 505 - Ten Tons of Star Iron

    Chapter 505 - Ten Tons of Star Iron


    It didn¡¯t take long for Zhang Yang to jot down Tang Wulin¡¯s basic measurements. Hmm. That¡¯s 174 centimeters and 66 kilograms. Pretty good for his age.


    Many things had to be considered in the mecha¡¯s design, including Tang Wulin¡¯s age and build.  And the fact that he was still in the middle of puberty. It took a full two hours to adjust the design after taking more specific measurements.


    ¡°You¡¯ll need to pay one hundred thousand points as a down payment. If you decide later on that you no longer want a mecha, well tough luck. No refunds. The final design will be done in about ten days. After you go over it and give your approval, bring the materials and we¡¯ll start on your mecha,¡± Zhang Yang said.


    Tang Wulin nodded. He paid the down payment and left.


    Once he stepped foot outside the Mecha Association Tang Wulin let out a long sigh. This was his biggest purchase to date. His hands still shook and he locked them together to stop the shaking. But he understood why a mecha was so necessary, so important. He¡¯d be a fortress with both a mecha and a set of battle armor. He¡¯d save a lot of energy this way too. It went without saying that the best battle armor masters eached rocked a mecha.


    That was the mindset Tang Wulin must adopt if he wanted to justify the purchase. Buying a mecha simply for transport wasn¡¯t going to cut it. Especially since it used more energy to operate than a car. Still, there was another reason he purchased a mecha. The most important reason. This way, once piloting classes started, Tang Wulin would have his own mecha to practice with. It¡¯d save him money in the long run; otherwise, he would be forced to rent one from Shrek Academy. And the rental added up and wasn¡¯t cheap. After considering that, he decided it was better to just bite the bullet. Buy his own.


    Generally, the lower-tier white mechas could be made from simple cast metal and were mass produced. In fact, even yellow-grade mechas contained parts made of cast metal. Tang Wulin naturally refused to stoop to such a level. While he had asked for his mecha to be made with light armor, the thinness of the armor wouldn¡¯t matter if he used thousand refined metals. With his current skill, he could thousand refine the metal needed for an entire mecha in a short ten days.


    ?


    ¡°You want how much star iron? The hell are you going to do with all that?¡± blurted Yue Zhengyu, eyes wide as he stared at Tang Wulin.


    A sly grin played across Tang Wulin¡¯s face. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Just tell me if you have enough or not.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu gulped. ¡°Ten tons of star iron is a lot, you know? That¡¯s over ten million credits of metal.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll trade you some spirit alloys for them. I¡¯ve already paid you four of pieces of jade silver, each over eighty-five percent in harmony rate. According to your armor design, you should need seven more. If you get me the star iron, then you won¡¯t have to pay me any money for the remaining pieces of jade silver, and I guarantee to finish them within three months. How about it?¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± Yue Zhengyu grabbed Tang Wulin¡¯s hand and forcefully shook it.


    On paper, Yue Zhengyu was the loser of the deal. He was already tasked with supplying Tang Wulin the raw materials and now ten tons of star iron on top of that, all for about a dozen pieces of jade silver. But the guarantee of so many pieces over an eighty-five percent harmony rate within three months was well worth the price.


    When Yue Zhengyu obtained his fourth ring, he came to an agreement with Yuanen Yehui to help each other craft battle armors. He was sixteen years old, just four years shy of twenty. Even so, he was anxious to become a one-word battle armor master. The more materials he had, the higher his chances of success. Furthermore, jade silver with an eighty-five percent harmony rate could be reforged five times. Failing once or twice wouldn¡¯t be much of an issue.


    ¡°I can¡¯t supply you with ten tons immediately. It¡¯ll have to be in batches. I can deliver it all within half a month,¡± Yue Zhengyu said.


    ¡°Sure. No problem.¡±


    ?


    ¡°Hey! Wulin, what have you been so busy with lately? I never see you around,¡± Xie Xie asked, grabbing a halfway-out-the-door Tang Wulin by the sleeve.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s schedule had been packed lately and he rarely returned to the dormitory. Xie Xie only managed to see him in class.


    Tang Wulin cracked a mysterious smile. ¡°It¡¯s a secret. You¡¯ll find out soon enough though. Oh right. I wanted to remind you guys that the optional mecha piloting classes start next week. It¡¯s two hours long starting every afternoon at three. We need to all learn how to pilot properly.¡±


    Xie Xie narrowed his eyes, taken aback. ¡°What are we learning to pilot for? We¡¯re aiming to become battle armor masters.¡±


    Standing right beside them, Xu Lizhi chimed in, ¡°Wulin¡¯s right. We gotta learn how to pilot. We can use mechas and battle armor at the same time. There¡¯s no reason not to.¡±


    Doubt creeped into Xie XIe¡¯s heart, but he pushed it down and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m good. I¡¯m an agility-type. It¡¯d be weird to use a mecha. I don¡¯t have the extra energy to invest in it anyway. It¡¯s better for me to just focus on using my speed better.¡± In the few weeks since classes started, Xie Xie had been training under Liang Xiaoyu every afternoon. He made rapid progress but the exercises exhausted him afterward.


    Xu Lizhi goraned. ¡°Man, I feel bad with how little I¡¯m doing compared to you guys. I really gotta put in effort into mecha piloting. Well, it¡¯ll be fine if you don¡¯t learn, Xie Xie. A mecha can seat two people anyway.¡±


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°Huh? You¡¯re gonna carry me? What a good friend!¡±


    Xu Lizhi shook his head, smirking. ¡°As if. I¡¯ll take Big Sis Xinglan. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s gonna learn how to pilot either.¡±


    ¡°Wow! I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re putting girls before bros!¡±


    Xu Lizhi chuckled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not the one sweeping the floor, wiping the windows, and drawing water for a girl everyday. A fatty like me has gotta be a bit lazy. Can¡¯t be acting so whipped like a certain someone!¡±


    ¡°You damn fatty! You trying to start shit? I¡¯ll whoop your ass!¡± Xie Xie said, shaking his fist.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but crack a wry smile. ¡°Don¡¯t bully Lizhi. It¡¯s not like anything he said was a lie! And since we¡¯re talking about it, how are things going with you and Yuanen?¡±


    Xie Xie instantly deflated like a balloon. ¡°Nothing is going. She still hasn¡¯t responded to my confession. Jeez. Do you think it¡¯s easy for me to do all those chores for her everyday? I¡¯m working myself to death here.¡±


    Tang Wulin patted Xie Xie on the shoulder. ¡°Just persevere. Who knows what rewards your efforts will bring?¡±


    Xie Xie balled his hands into fists. ¡°That¡¯s not enough. She¡¯s way too strong. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ve got a chance unless I can surpass her. I have to devote myself to getting stronger than her.¡±


    At Xie Xie¡¯s serious expression, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but snicker. ¡°Good luck then.¡± The gap between Xie XIe and Yuanen Yehui was by no means small.


    With the matter settled, Tang Wulin ran off to clear the rest of his daily objectives. His schedule really left no wiggle room. After morning classes, he thousand refined star iron for three hours. Then came dinner and a night of cultivation in a specialized cultivation space. When morning came, he would cultivate his Purple Demon Eyes. Rinse and repeat. It was only natural that his friends rarely saw him.


    But Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t the only one in such a rush. The rest of his team were hard at work cultivating and studying too. The first three years at Shrek Academy were always the most stressful.


    ?


    ¡°What? Why do you need more money?¡± Tang Wulin asked Zhang Yang, his face sour.


    ¡°Junior Brother, you¡¯re too great. You¡¯re actually bring out a pile of thousand refined metal just for a yellow mecha? Don¡¯t you know this is harder to craft with than normal metal? The Mecha Association will be taking a loss if we don¡¯t charge you more. Well, it¡¯ll be fine to build the frame like this, but the most important part are the circuit cores. You¡¯re giving us thousand refined heavy silver to make those. In order to do that, we need to carve inscriptions and whatnot into the metal. But you know that this heavy silver is five times harder than ordinary metals, right? All you need to pay is an extra three hundred thousand points. It¡¯s not that much more,¡± Zhang Yang said earnestly.


    Zhang Yang had been dumbstruck when Tang Wulin took out several tons of thousand refined metals. The armor wouldn¡¯t have to be that thick when constructed from thousand refined star iron, which was among the toughest of metals. A top-tier mecha was guaranteed to be made from such high-quality materials. In fact, such materials would be luxurious even for a purple-grade mecha.


    Zhang Yang couldn¡¯t comprehend why Tang Wulin was using such expensive metals just for a yellow-grade mecha. But Tang Wulin¡¯s reasoning was simple: he wanted a durable mecha.


    ¡°You really should go for a purple-grade mecha instead,¡± urged Zhang Yang.


    Yet Tang Wulin just laughed. ¡°You¡¯re joking right?¡± It cost nine million points to commission a purple-grade mecha. Even if he supplied the raw materials, it would still be at least four million. No way he could afford that! To begin with, he didn¡¯t need this mecha for combat. He only planned on using it for practice and getting around. The extra functionality of a purple mecha would be useless to him, and he¡¯d rather just skip to buying a black-grade mecha in the future when he had the money.


    A yellow-grade mecha would do in the meantime.

 Chapter 506 - Everyones Brother-in-Law

    Chapter 506 - Everyone''s Brother-in-Law


    After he had haggled over the price for the mecha, Tang Wulin managed to bring it down to 280,000 points. It had still pained him to part with the points, though he could bear it. Two months and his mecha would be finished.


    But a week later and his piloting classes were about to begin.


    ¡°I¡¯ll sign up for the afternoon class,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said when the topic of the optional mecha piloting class came up. Her eyes shone with interest.


    In the end, the only people from Tang Wulin¡¯s team to take the class were him, Xu Lizhi, and Xu Xiaoyan. The other three decided to spend their time elsewhere.


    Gu Yue was still busy as usual, disappearing for the Spirit Pagoda every afternoon and only returning for dinner. Often with a bundle of food, which she''d give to Tang Wulin without a word.


    Once, Tang Wulin had tried to share some of the food with Xie Xie and Xu Lizhi. But Gu Yue had stared him down into submission. In complete silence. Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie had ran for their lives, tails tucked between their legs. Since then, it became a known fact that her food was meant for Tang Wulin and Tang Wulin only.


    ¡°You want to learn how to pilot?¡± Gu Yue asked, tilting her head.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I¡¯m gonna give it a shot. It¡¯s not like mechas and battle armors conflict with each other. If I can use both, then I¡¯ll be even stronger. Safer too. And don¡¯t forget, my goal is to join the army. They mainly use mechas in the army, so if I don¡¯t even know the basics of piloting, what sort of position could I get my hands on?¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m just worried that you might be wasting your time,¡± Gu Yue said.


    A smile tugged at the corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. When I was a kid, I dreamed about being a mecha pilot. I never even thought about becoming a battle armor master, or even knew what one was. I was born in a small, backwater town. That''s what all the boys there dreamed about. To soar through the skies in a mecha, free as a bird.¡±


    Gu Yue giggled. ¡°Sure. It¡¯s up to you.¡±


    ¡°Class is dismissed,¡± Shen Yi declared from behind the lectern. She left for the teacher¡¯s door, but stopped upon opening it. Her eyes went wide.


    ¡°Hello, Teacher!¡± said a beautiful, silver-haired girl.


    Shen Yi schooled her features back in order. ¡°Na¡¯er? What are you doing here? Did you need me for something?¡±


    Na¡¯er shook her head and pointed a finger past Shen Yi, a huge smile blossoming on her face.


    Shen Yi followed the finger, frantically wracking her brain as to why the direct disciple of the Sea God Pavilion Master would be here. Na¡¯er was known as the number one genius in the inner court, raised under the direct and meticulous care of Sea God¡¯s Pavilion. The fact that her talent earned the notice of the Pavilion Master was testament to her status as a peak prodigy.


    Who could she be looking for in the first grade? Does she actually know someone here? Shen Yi finally stepped back from the doorway and out of the way. She was curious to see who was acquainted with the little princess of the inner court.


    Na''er''s figure stood out clearly upon the backdrop. A single glance and the entire first grade froze, enchanted by her adorable smile. Eyes widening, they felt their heart beats quicken, mind wandering the universe, lost in the wispy nebula. How a girl their age could be so dazzling and ethereal they would never know.


    Naturally, Tang Wulin was among the crowd that saw her. He approached her, unfazed by her beauty. ¡°Na¡¯er, what are you doing here?¡± The second those words left his lips, the entire class looked his way.


    Xie Xie, the only other person beside Tang Wulin who had met Na¡¯er before, glanced nervously at Gu Yue, subconsciously taking a few steps back.


    Na¡¯er latched onto Tang Wulin¡¯s arm. ¡°Big Brother, can¡¯t I come just because I miss you? Oooh! Is this what your classroom looks like?¡± she said as her eyes wandered around. ¡°This place is huge. You know, it took me a super long time to find this place.¡±


    Murmurs swept through the room. ¡®Big Brother¡¯? Is she his little sister? Damn! She¡¯s the Class President¡¯s little sister!


    Quick as an arrow, Yang Nianxia rushed forward from the crowd, the picture of naive enchantment. ¡°Beautiful lady, my name is Yang Nianxia. I¡¯m a good friend of the Class President.¡±


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. Since when were we good friends? This guy sure knows how to bluff.


    Na¡¯er gave a slight bow and a gentle smile. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Na¡¯er.¡±


    Luo Guixing appeared in a silver flash beside Tang Wulin. ¡°Hi Na¡¯er, I¡¯m Luo Guixing,¡± he said, revealing his best nobleman¡¯s smile.


    This guy actually teleported here! Tang Wulin could hardly believe what was happening.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Na¡¯er said politely.


    The rest of the male students snapped out of their stupor as well and rushed forward to introduce themselves. Barely at the cusp of adulthood, these boys knew not the meaning of restraint. Na¡¯er was just too charming. Her gentle beauty, tender smiles, and kindness were nothing like they had ever encountered. She greeted each and every one of them with sweetness. Before her, all enraptured fools.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough you guys. We¡¯re going.¡± Tang Wulin peeled his classmates off Na¡¯er and pulled her away.


    Yang Nianxia¡¯s expression grew stern as he watched the two leave. ¡°From today onward, Class President is my big brother! I¡¯ll do my best to make him my brother-in-law!¡±


    ¡°As if!¡± someone scoffed.


    ¡°You¡¯re shameless!¡±


    ¡°No way! He¡¯s going to be my brother-in-law, not yours!¡±


    As the boys argued, Shen Yi glanced at the door Tang Wulin and Na¡¯er had just left through. She still couldn¡¯t comprehend what she had just witnessed. ¡®Big Brother¡¯? Na¡¯er is Wulin¡¯s little sister? They don¡¯t look anything alike though!


    Before long, Tang Wulin led Na¡¯er all the way to Spirit Ice Plaza.


    ¡°Jeez. You sure are popular, Na¡¯er,¡± he said, scratching his chin as he looked at his cute little sister.


    Na¡¯er wasn¡¯t just popular with the first grade students. During their stroll, she had attracted many gazes from students of the upper grades. But since Tang Wulin had been pulling her by the arm, they only sent envious glares at him from afar.


    Na¡¯er giggled. ¡°You don¡¯t like that? I won¡¯t visit your classroom next time then. We¡¯ll just set a place for our next date.¡± She placed a finger on her chin. ¡°Well, I¡¯m busy cultivating most of the time, so I can only come out once a week. How about from now on we meet up on this day of the week for every week? Three in the afternoon. You can take me out for food.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± Tang Wulin rubbed her head, affection in his eyes. ¡°What do you feel like eating today?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you decide. Either way, I¡¯ll eat anything you throw at me!¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡±


    Whenever Tang Wulin was in Na¡¯er¡¯s presence, he always felt in a good mood and did his best to pamper her. It reminded him of his childhood, of simple times with his family. Reuniting with her had thawed his lonely heart and lifted some of the pressure weighing heavily on his shoulders.


    He spent the entire afternoon with Na¡¯er.  He did not cultivate until evening in a rented cultivation space.


    ?


    Tang Wulin left for class early the next morning. The moment he entered the classroom, he felt that something was off.


    In an instant, over half of the boys rushed over to him and bowed deeply. ¡°Good morning, Big Brother!¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked twice as he took in the sight of their groveling. What the hell is going on?


    ¡°Get away from me! You guys are way too close!¡± he said, rushing to his usual seat.


    ¡°Big Brother, I got you some water,¡± one of the boys said.


    ¡°Have some snacks, Big Brother!¡± another boy said.


    ¡°Enough of that!¡± Tang Wulin rubbed his face furiously in his palms, trying to escape from reality.


    ¡°Big Brother, when is Na¡¯er visiting again? How about we go out for some food together next time she comes?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean go out?¡± came the sound of Gu Yue¡¯s voice, stern and chilly. Cold enough to freeze. In one swift motion she shot up from her seat, a rampaging blizzard upon the boys crowding Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 507 - Naer is Just My Little Sister

    Chapter 507 - Na''er is Just My Little Sister


    The tension in the air was thick enough to carve into. Whipping ferociously around Gu Yue were elemental energies, her eyes glowing as she glared holes through the male students. Even Tang Wulin felt suffocated just by being next to her.


    Damn! Is this Gu Yue¡¯s true power? Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t blind to the fact that Gu Yue held back during their matches. In fact, he knew he wasn¡¯t a match for her in one-on-one combat, and this confirmed it.


    Gu Yue¡¯s sudden flare of anger and might stunned everyone, including Wu Siduo who had just walked into the classroom. Doesn¡¯t she still only have three rings? How¡¯s she so powerful?


    ¡°Gu Yue, they¡¯re just joking,¡± Tang Wulin said, tugging her hand.


    She brushed his hand away, eyes remaining cold. ¡°Whatever.¡± She sat back down, stone faced.


    What¡¯s going on with her? Tang Wulin leaned toward Xie Xie and whispered, ¡°Did you make her mad again?¡±


    Xie Xie clicked his tongue, fighting down a retort. On his other side, Xu Xiaoyan hid her twitching lips with a carefully placed hand, nearly bursting into laughter. Xu Lizhi was the most honest of them, simply pointing at Tang Wulin himself.


    ¡°Huh? What about me?¡± Tang Wulin tilted his head. ¡°What¡¯d I do? I didn¡¯t even see Gu Yue at all yesterday!¡±


    Xie Xie covered his face with a hand. ¡°Ugh. Boss, you just don¡¯t understand girls, do you?¡±


    ¡°What? I don¡¯t get it. What are you talking about? Say things more clearly,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Tang Wulin. I have something to ask you,¡± Gu Yue cut in, grabbing him by the arm and forcibly turning him to face her.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Tang Wulin asked, still bewildered.


    ¡°That girl from yesterday is your little sister, right? Are you two related by blood?¡± Gu Yue stared him down with the intensity of a storm.


    ¡°Yep. She¡¯s my sister. We might not be blood-related, but we might as well be. I picked her up off the streets when we were children and my family adopted her.¡±


    ¡°And she¡¯s just a sister to you?¡± Gu Yue asked, her nails digging into his arm, leaving little red marks.


    Then it struck him. He could hardly believe the absurdity of the situation. ¡°What¡¯s it have to do with you? Jealous?¡± Tang Wulin smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. No matter how pretty my little sister is, she¡¯s still just my little sister. Besides, she¡¯s still only twelve.¡± He swept his gaze through the rest of the boys. ¡°So you guys better not even think about touching her. Unless you want to get beaten to death.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s only twelve! God damn she¡¯s pretty though!¡± Yang Nianxia exclaimed.


    Tang Wulin shot a glare at him.


    ¡°My bad, Class President. But it¡¯s okay! I¡¯m willing to wait! I¡¯ll wait until she¡¯s eighteen!¡±


    ¡°Wait all you want then. Let¡¯s see if you guys got what it takes by then. Let me remind you all though, she¡¯s not just another student here. She¡¯s from the inner court. If you guys want a shot, you better give it your all,¡± Tang Wulin beamed.


    ¡°Holy shit! The inner court?¡±


    ¡°No wonder she¡¯s here so young! She was actually an inner court student!¡±


    ¡°Class President, you¡¯re too much! This kind of encouragement is just¡­ Damn it! I don¡¯t care anymore! I¡¯ll work myself to death to make it into the inner court!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough now guys. Class is about to start,¡± Tang Wulin said, calming and dispersing the crowd. From the corner of his eye, he saw Wu Zhangkong enter the classroom. Then he glanced at Gu Yue. Her expression was much better and she sat prim and proper, as if she hadn¡¯t been about to raise hell a few minutes ago.


    Tang Wulin nudged her shoulder, giving her a coy smile. ¡°So you¡¯re jealous, huh?¡±


    ¡°Go away.¡± She rolled her eyes.


    Tang Wulin chuckled and shook his head. ¡°Jeez. Just all you kids got your minds in the gutter. We¡¯re still too young for that kind of stuff. We should be focusing on our studies and cultivation instead. In case you haven¡¯t realized, we¡¯re not even fifteen yet.¡±


    ¡°Screw off! What¡¯s it matter to you what I¡¯ve got on my mind?¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. Do whatever.¡± Tang Wulin retreated, stifling more laughter.


    Behind the lectern, Wu Zhangkong felt a strange mood in the air. He stood there, astonished to see the atypical sight of his students more focused than usual, absorbing each and every one of his words like a sponge. It made the lesson seem like it passed by quickly.


    ¡°For anyone who signed up for this afternoon¡¯s mecha classes, make sure you¡¯re not late. That¡¯s it for today,¡± said Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Class dismissed.¡± He made for the door and left.


    Tang Wulin stood up and stretched, his mind turning to the afternoon. He knew the basics of mecha piloting and it had been more difficult than he had imagined. Fortunately, as a soul master with vigorous blood essence, he could bear the physical burden.


    ¡°Gu Yue, let¡¯s go grab lunch together,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    He turned to the others. ¡°Hey Xie XIe, Xiaoyan, Xinglan, Lizhi, let¡¯s all go together.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good. I gotta go visit the Tang Sect in the afternoon so I¡¯ll just eat there,¡± Xie Xie answered swiftly.


    Xu Lizhi scratched his cheek. ¡°I can¡¯t either. I¡¯ve got some stuff to handle with Big Sis Xinglan. You guys go ahead.¡±


    ¡°Sorry! I need to go study! I got an important mecha designing class in the evening, so I¡¯m just gonna get a quick bite then go review the class notes. I have to cram it all in during lunch since we got piloting class in the afternoon,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said.


    They¡¯re all ditching me! Tang Wulin was speechless. Left with no other option, he left for the dining hall with just Gu Yue.


    ¡°What are you feeling? I¡¯ll get it for you,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Anything¡¯s fine,¡± Gu Yue answered sweetly, not a trace of the morning¡¯s fury in sight.


    While Tang Wulin inhaled plate after plate of food, Gu Yue watched patiently having long since finished her own meal. When he finally finished, she took out a napkin and wiped clean his mouth. There was no hesitation, as if she had done this thousands of times before. But Tang Wulin was still taken aback


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going. You need some time to digest and you got piloting class in the afternoon, right?¡± Gu Yue said as she stood up and made for the exit.


    Is she feeling the pressure? Tang Wulin broke into a huge grin. He rose to his feet and quickly caught up with her, walking shoulder-to-shoulder back to their dormitory.


    The working student dormitory was quiet. Unoccupied. Only Yuanen Yehui¡¯s door and curtains were closed.


    As soon as Tang Wulin reached the door of his room, he glanced back, grabbing Gu Yue¡¯s sleeve before she could leave. ¡°Gu Yue, do you have something to say to me?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± she said. Voice flat, deadpan.


    Tang Wulin flashed a smile. ¡°i¡¯m telling you, Na¡¯er really is just my little sister.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes flicked back to him momentarily, settling for his face. ¡°Remember those words.¡± Then she left for her own room, the door shutting with a click behind her.


    Tang Wulin rubbed his nose. He had watched every action of hers without averting his gaze, from her opening the door to her closing it.


    After meditating for a bit, he made his way to the mecha piloting class.


    ?


    Before Tang Wulin knew it, a few days had passed and his third mecha piloting class was about to begin. Like previously, it was held in a custom field located in the southwest corner of the campus. Fifteen first grade students were assembled in a neat row on the piloting field, eager for their lesson to start.


    Their teacher was a tall, middle-aged man named Duan Shang.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Teacher,¡± the students said under Tang Wulin¡¯s lead.


    Duan Shang gave a slight nod. ¡°We¡¯ll be continuing with fundamental pilot drills today. Now then, get into your mechas and get on the comms channel.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± The students ran to their white-grade training mechas. Each one stood a good twelve meters tall and weighed over ten tons. They had no equipment and only medium armor. At the chest region of each mecha slid open a door, giving the students a way into the cockpits.


    Inside, Tang Wulin pressed a series of buttons with practiced movements and started it up. The breastplate cockpit door closed. He strapped on a helmet while metal rings fastened his limbs in place.


    In front of his hands were a pair of small keyboards that allowed for small adjustments to optimize mecha operations. Although modern mechas were operated from circuit cores amplifying and translating pilots¡¯ movements into information understood by the mecha, actions of a more fine-tuned nature still relied on a technology of days past: the keyboard.


    ¡°Unit 1 connected to channel,¡± Tang Wulin said after flicking a switch. A moment later, all fifteen students reported in on the comms channel.


    ¡°Good. Now let¡¯s get started,¡± Duan Shang said. ¡°First, always remember that balance is crucial to mecha piloting. By the end of this course, you¡¯ll be operating mechas like they¡¯re an extension of your body. So then, how do you make your mecha move nimbly?¡± His own mecha shrugged, arm-like appendages unfurling sideways in a wave. ¡°Well, you have to be nimble yourself to begin with. Then you have to project yourself onto the mecha. Understand what it¡¯s like to have a ten meter tall body made of a dozen tons of metal. The operation systems installed are really sensitive. The slightest mistake will be reflected.¡± Hidden in the safety of their cockpits, several of the students fidgeted nervously.


    ¡°So, the very foundation of this is balance. Now follow after me. Raise your left leg.¡±

 Chapter 508 - Mecha Piloting

    Chapter 508 - Mecha Piloting


    The students were just beginning to learn how to pilot, so starting with the fundamentals was crucial. Even for Tang Wulin, with his superb physical abilities, he needed two classes before he could properly balance in a mecha.


    Alright! Teacher Duan said I need imagine myself being as huge as the mecha, then I need to find my balance. Tang Wulin was also only student who didn¡¯t fall over during their first session.


    Mecha piloting was strenuous and deliberate work. Even the slightest twitch in the pilot¡¯s muscles would be reflected in the mecha¡¯s movements. The pilot had to maintain absolute control over every muscle to control the mecha properly.


    For example, a single muscle going taut in the arm would cause the mecha¡¯s arm to move as well. If they were shooting a soul cannon, that would affect their shot¡¯s trajectory.


    Piloting was a practice of controlling one¡¯s own body. This control was the foundation required of any hopeful pilot.


    ¡°Good. That¡¯s enough drills now. Does anyone want to volunteer to demonstrate some more advanced movements? You kids can choose whatever you want,¡± Duan Shang said through the comms channel.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mecha did a little hop. ¡°Teacher Duan, let me do it.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Come over here,¡± Duan Shang said as his mecha pedalled backward to the center of the field. His expectations were high for Tang Wulin, class president of the first grade. In all his years of teaching piloting, Tang Wulin was the first class president to sign up.


    Generally, all class presidents had a solid chance of making it into the inner court, so they spent all their time on either making battle armor or cultivating. Tang Wulin, on the other hand, signed up for the class and attended with genuine enthusiasm. He had a talent for piloting too. With his powerful body, he quickly progressed. Duan Shang couldn¡¯t be more satisfied with him.


    This was their third class of the semester, yet Tang Wulin had already fully grasped how to balance and basic mecha maneuvers. If he kept this pace, he would be able to pilot a yellow-grade mecha within a year! He truly had a talent for this.


    Tang Wulin lifted a leg and and made his mecha take a step forward, ever so slowly. Then he took another, and another, onward to the center of the field.


    ¡°Excellent. Your balance is really good,¡± Duan Shang said.


    When Tang Wulin finally reached the center, he let out a deep breath and calmed his nerves. His senses were spread outward, his spiritual power encompassing the entire mecha. Become one with the mecha. One with the mecha.


    He raised his arm and lifted a leg, then brought them back in, slowly and steadily. Not a bit of impatience could be found in his body.


    These basic movements were no issue for him, but he couldn¡¯t neglect practicing the fundamentals, especially as a fledgling pilot. Even so, he went through the routine quickly, already quite skilled after a few piloting sessions.


    His mecha took half a step over its left foot with its right, crossing them. It twisted its body as its left leg fell back, a concise turn. The mecha wobbled, slightly off kilter, but Tang Wulin swiftly reigned it in and continued walking around the field, making small circles and tight turns from time to time. His mecha moved far quicker than in the beginning, but it was still by no means fast. He quickly picked up momentum, the mecha¡¯s movements becoming more and more fluid.


    Duan Shang narrowed his eyes, watching in disbelief. Tang Wulin¡¯s maneuvers weren¡¯t too complex, but they were concise and perfectly suited for dodging attacks by a hair¡¯s breadth. But most importantly, his footwork was highly irregular. Without any sort of rhythm, it would be hard for enemies to hit him with attacks. This kid¡¯s got potential! His footwork might be too direct, but he¡¯s only a beginner. He¡¯s genius at this!


    Tang Wulin was completely immersed in piloting. He was doing his best to display a watered-down version of the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step with his mecha. However, mechas were far larger than humans and had a different joint physiology which made it impossible to perfectly replicate the technique. Despite the limitations, this practice brought him closer to acting as one with the mecha.


    My mecha¡¯s going to be done soon. I¡¯ll be able to practice a lot more then.


    Mechas were the culmination of modern technology while battle armors were the fusion of technology and soul masters. The two were different and had their own paths.


    Tang Wulin had loved mechas since he was a boy. Just the thought of having his own mecha got his blood boiling.


    Tang Wulin soon finished his performance and Duan Shang showered him with praise before ending class.


    After leaving the mecha field, Tang Wulin returned to the dormitory to go shower before going cultivating for the night when he ran into someone unexpected. Guo Xiaoxu was waiting for him.


    ¡°Hello,¡± Tang Wulin said, unsure of how else to address the man.


    Guo Xiaoxu smiled kindly. ¡°Come with me. I have some things to talk to you about.¡± He led the way out.


    Tang Wulin was happy to oblige. Guo Xiaoxu was one of the higher-ups of the Tang Sect, and Tang Wulin owed a lot to the sect. Without the Mysterious Heaven Method, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to cultivate faster and make it into Shrek Academy. He also knew about Xie Xie joining the Agility Hall to learn from Liang Xiaoyu. Are they looking for me to specially train me too? The image of the profound depth of Guo Xiaoxu¡¯s eyes flickered into his mind and excitement bubbled up.


    Guo Xiaoxu led Tang Wulin to the middle of a forest before stopping. ¡°Hello, Wulin, I¡¯ll be speaking on behalf of the Tang Sect today.¡± His kind smile set into solemness.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s nodded with resoluteness.


    ¡°Do you have any interest in entering the Tang Sects inner halls and joining the Battle Hall?¡±


    ¡°Battle Hall?¡± Tang Wulin asked. He didn¡¯t have much knowledge about the inner halls.


    Guo Xiaoxu nodded. ¡°The Battle Hall is the very core of the Tang Sect. You could say that it¡¯s the very reason we nurture talents for. At the same time, it is also the hall that bears the greatest responsibility, taking on the most important and dangerous missions. If you join the Battle Hall, there¡¯s a good chance you¡¯ll encounter some particularly tough enemies in the future. But as a member of the Battle Hall, you would have the Sect¡¯s full backing, and we would do our best to help you grow.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been keeping an eye on your growth and achievements. You have a firm foundation, are highly talented, and possess unheard of blood essence soul rings. Under Wu Zhangkong¡¯s recommendation, we¡¯re inviting you to join the Battle Hall. Whether you join or not is up to you.¡±


    Tang Wulin had heard mentions of the Battle Hall, Enforcement Hall, and Holy Hall before, but he only knew a bit about them. He knew that the Enforcement Hall dealt with upholding the sect¡¯s rules and punishing rule breakers, and that the Holy Hall only admitted exceptionally powerful soul masters. But he didn¡¯t have any idea what the Battle Hall did.


    ¡°General Manager Guo, could you possibly tell more more about the Battle Hall first?¡±

 Chapter 509 - Battle Hall: White Agent

    Chapter 509 - White Agent of the Battle Hall


    Guo Xiaoxu bluntly said, ¡°There¡¯s not much I can tell you. Battle Hall is the core of the Tang Sect. Until you join us, everything is classified. What I can tell you, however, is that this world is not fair. Evil lurks in the shadows and there are many problems the Federation can¡¯t handle by itself. The Battle Hall is the one that takes care of those matters. We don¡¯t brag about our exploits. We simply defend the weak and destroy evil. One of our biggest enemies are evil soul masters.¡±


    A shiver ran down Tang Wulin¡¯s spine as his mind flashed back to Mo Lan in a coma. She was fortunate to have recovered, but would never be able to act as a train conductor anymore due to the lingering effects. Now she resigned herself to working in an office. No matter how many rewards the Federation showered her with, the damage done to her was irreversible.


    Tang Wulin had witnessed with his own eyes just how little regard evil soul masters held for life.


    ¡°I¡¯ll join,¡± Tang Wulin answered, his thoughts only serving to solidify his decision.


    Throughout its long history, the Tang Sect had always stood on the side of justice. The heroic deeds performed by the Tang Sect was the reason why he originally joined them.


    From Guo Xiaoxu¡¯s vague explanation of the Battle Hall, Tang Wulin had an inkling of what he was signing himself up for, and he was certain this was what he wanted.


    Guo Xiaoxu cracked a satisfied smile. ¡°Welcome. Now that you¡¯re a member, I can tell you more about us. The members of the Battle Hall don¡¯t follow the same ranking system as the rest of the sect. The members of the Battle Hall are called agents. There are four classes of agents: white, yellow, purple, and black. We currently have about two hundred agents. As a new recruit, you¡¯ll start out as a white-class agent. All agents receive a monthly salary of contribution points. That¡¯s how important our work is. The only requirement is that you complete at least three missions a year. For members who also happen to be students like you, only one mission a year is required. Of course, you¡¯ll be rewarded for completing those missions as well.


    ¡°Furthermore, Battle Hall agents enjoy certain privileges other sect members don¡¯t. Don¡¯t let any of this get to your head though. I guarantee you will face danger in your missions. When that happens, prioritize your own safety over the mission¡¯s completion. For the remainder of your time in school, I suggest you schedule to complete a mission over any extended breaks you get. Missions take quite a few days.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s get you registered. Follow me.¡±


    Tang Wulin followed Guo Xiaoxu to the Tang Sect headquarters, where they entered an area he had never been to before. After passing through numerous scans and inspections, they arrived at an underground space.


    ¡°Here. These are your standard issue agent equipment. Keep in mind that agents work in shadows. The public does not know of us, so whenever you¡¯re on a mission, you must mask your identity and avoid drawing the attention of enemies.¡±


    Guo Xiaoxu handed Tang Wulin a silver tray. A pristine white robe lay on top, its style reminiscent of the ancient Tang Sect yet the unknown material was stunningly modern. There was also a white cloak and white metal mask that covered the entire face except for two holes for the eyes. The last item on the tray was small pure white medal that seemed to vibrate with energy.


    ¡°This is the white-class agent badge. It¡¯s fine to carry it on you at all times. In fact, I encourage you to do so. You can use it to call for backup anywhere you are. Just press this button on it and any agents within a hundred kilometer radius will rush to help you. The higher ranking members of the Tang Sect will be alerted as well. With that badge, other agents can also call you for help. If you receive a call, then drop whatever you¡¯re doing and rush over to help them.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    ¡°You¡¯re an agent now, but due to your young age, you don¡¯t have to take on any missions yet. Just focus on cultivating. In order to become a yellow agent, you need to become a one-word battle armor master and complete ten missions. The monthly allotment of points and missions available also differs between classes of agents. The privileges granted are different too.¡±


    ¡°Um, General Manager Guo, why do you have so much trust in me? Don¡¯t I need to take a test or something to enter the Battle Hall?¡± Tang Wulin knew it was important for an organization to have a strict recruitment process.


    Guo Xiaoxu chuckled. ¡°While I am the General Manager of this Tang Sect headquarters, I¡¯m also the Master of the Battle Hall. Your test started the day you joined the Tang Sect. We¡¯ve been observing you these past few years, taking note of your character, actions, and achievements. It¡¯s only now that we decided to invite you. Just take your friends for example. They weren¡¯t invited to join the Battle Hall with you because they don¡¯t have the qualifications yet. In a way, you got in with bonus points.Your heroic actions during the two terrorist incidents tipped the scale in your favour. Sacrificing yourself for the sake of others, even when faced with an impossible enemy, is worthy of praise. You¡¯re right; usually there is a test, but you¡¯re just so outstanding that we can skip that part. Now that you know this, don¡¯t let it get in your head that joining the Battle Hall is easy. You¡¯re just too great.¡±


    Shock gripped Tang Wulin. He had never expected the Tang Sect to know this much about him.


    ¡°Come, let¡¯s give you a taste of just what the Battle Hall has to offer.¡± Guo Xiaoxu led Tang Wulin into another room.


    The room rumbled and began descending, revealing itself to be a gigantic elevator. When the elevator stopped, a path opened up and they ventured onward.


    They soon stood before a gigantic sliding bronze door with numerous mysterious symbols carved on it.


    ¡°In the field of space research, our Tang Sect, the Federation, and the Spirit Pagoda each have our own strengths. The Tang Sect specializes in pocket spaces. Go in and search for a space suitable for yourself. The system will tell you how long you have in there. It should be about twelve hours.¡±


    ¡°Twelve hours?¡± Tang Wulin did a quick calculation in his head. Twelve hours later would be still be early morning of the next day, so he shouldn¡¯t be late for class in that case. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Tang Wulin pushed against the heavy door, slowly forcing it open to reveal a portal of shimmery light behind it. A sign above it read ¡®Battle Hall¡¯. This was the entrance to the pocket space of the Battle Hall.


    Taking a deep breath in and calming his nerves, Tang Wulin cautiously stepped through the portal.


    The scene before him immediately blurred. Light flashed past his vision, making him feel nausea and battering the shield of spiritual power protecting his mind. A moment later, everything righted itself and he could see his surroundings.


    He stood in a long corridor, indistinguishable from the one before. Taking a look behind him, he saw the portal he had just come out of. It was quietly closing, the last of its shimmering glow disappearing a second later.


    Huh¡­ I haven¡¯t eaten dinner yet. Tang Wulin pouted. Bah! Whatever. Since I¡¯m here already, I¡¯ll just have to press on. I can endure the hunger tonight.


    The corridor was similar to a cellar, only about five meters wide with doors lining the walls. Tang Wulin continued onward, looking at the signs on each door. The first sign read ¡®Hall of Heroes¡¯.


    ¡®Hall of Heroes¡¯? Isn¡¯t that where I took my entry test to the Tang Sect? I can enter the Hall of Heroes here? Despite his curiosity, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t immediately go in. He wanted to know all his options before making a choice.


    Walking further, he saw some familiar signs. There was a design room, making room, blacksmithing room, mecha piloting room, a battle armor fusion room, and so on. Eventually, he found a plant-type cultivation room as well. There was a room for every purpose imaginable.


    Is this space used for raising Tang Sect members? I wonder how it compares with the ones at Shrek Academy? In the end, Tang Wulin chose the plant-type cultivation room. Since it was his first time here, he decided to play it safe.

 Chapter 510 - Benefits of the Battle Hall

    Chapter 510 - Benefits of the Battle Hall


    As soon as he stepped inside the plant-cultivation room, Tang Wulin almost tripped.


    How is this a room? This is already an entire forest! A dense thicket of trees surrounded him. There were no paths discernable, nothing but towering trees that stretched toward the skies. The air pulsed with vitality, a single breath enough to fill him with vigor. His ears caught the distinct melody of bird songs. The whole experience almost surreal.


    This place reminds me of somewhere else¡­ Tang Wulin gasped. Right! The spirit ascension platform! The platform is modelled after the Great Star Dou Forest, so if they¡¯re so similar, does that mean this place modelled after it too? But the life energy is a lot thicker here. And the plants are more lush. Wow. Shrek Academy¡¯s cultivation space is nothing compared to this. This place has three times the energy density! I can cultivate way faster here!


    Mindful of his limited time, Tang Wulin immediately sat down cross-legged and began to meditate. His eyes closed, he sent his senses outward, entangling with the life energy around him. Then he absorbed the energy, fully descending into a deep meditative state.


    Time flew by. Tang Wulin finally stirred awake at a faint disturbance. When he opened his eyes, he was astonished to find himself back in the corridor of rooms. The portal of light was right before him.


    So my time is up? Tang Wulin understood immediately.


    He felt invigorated after his cultivation session and was happy with his progress. His soul power had grown twice as much as in a night in the campus cultivation spaces. His blood essence had grown purer and stronger as well. Is this the effect of bathing in life energy? Amazing! That place is great! As expected of the Tang Sect! They¡¯re just as great as the Spirit Pagoda!


    Stepping through the portal, Tang Wulin experienced another bout of vertigo before arriving outside the bronze door.


    Guo Xiaoxu was there waiting for him, welcoming him back with a warm smile. ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°Amazing! I can cultivate so quickly in there! If I could cultivate in that plant-type room every day, I¡¯m absolutely certain I¡¯ll reach rank 40 within a year.¡±


    A chuckle escaped Guo Xiaoxu. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s a bit of a waste to use your time in there cultivating.¡±


    ¡°A waste? How come?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Just follow me and you¡¯ll find out,¡± Guo Xiaoxu said, making for the exit. The doors of the Tang Sect had shut behind them, the evening sky looming above.


    ¡°Huh? It¡¯s not morning yet? I guess I didn¡¯t cultivate a full twelve hours?¡± Tang Wulin looked around in confusion.


    Guo Xiaoxu shook his head. ¡°No. You did in fact cultivate for a full twelve hours. But only one hour has passed here in the outside world.¡±


    Tang Wulin staggered.


    ¡°The Battle Hall¡¯s pocket space isn¡¯t just seperated from the rest of the world,¡± continued Guo Xiaoxu. ¡°Time passes quicker in there than outside, about twelve times faster. So for every twelve hours you spend in there, only one hour passes out here. Couldn¡¯t you use this time to hone your combat skills? Perhaps go blacksmithing? There are all sorts of things you could spend that time on. So don¡¯t focus so much on cultivation next time. That¡¯s a bit of a waste.¡±


    Tang Wulin struggled to overcome his shock throughout Guo Xiaoxu¡¯s lecture. W-what? Time flows differently? Twelve times as quickly? How is that even possible? There¡¯s so much I can accomplish if I use those rooms often! His heart raced, imagination running wild.


    ¡°Hall Master, doesn¡¯t that mean if I cultivated in a pocket space for one year, it would be equivalent to cultivating for twelve years?¡±


    Guo Xiaoxu smiled wryly and shook his head. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t think of it like that. If you stay in there too long, your life energies will become attuned with the quickened time flow. And the change will become irreversible. Once you finally leave the space, you¡¯ll age twelve times quicker too. After a lot of testing, we¡¯ve found that for the best results, the first session should be twelve hours long. After that, you can enter once a week for twelve hour sessions. That way, your life energies will stay attuned to the outside world¡¯s timeflow.¡±


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°I guess I was expecting too much. If you could spend as much time as you want in there, that would defy the laws of the world too much.¡±


    Amusement lit up in Guo Xiaoxu¡¯s eyes. ¡°Kids at your age have too much on your plates and not enough time to clear it all. The benefit of the Battle Hall is an extra eleven hours a week in the best cultivation environment on the continent. Make sure you come every week and spend your time doing something important.¡±


    ¡°These benefits are amazing.¡± Tang Wulin smiled gleefully. ¡°I never expected the Tang Sect to have such advanced space-time technology.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let all this get to your head. In order to become strong, you must rely on your own efforts and not on others. Your path of cultivation is excellent so far, but I can¡¯t comment about your bloodline¡¯s growth since something like that has never appeared in all of Douluo history. You¡¯ll have to be careful about it. If you ever have anything you¡¯re not sure about, I encourage you to come ask me.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Thank you, Hall Master!¡± Tang Wulin said, bowing his head.


    ¡°Remember to keep it a secret that you¡¯ve become a Battle Hall agent and don¡¯t worry about completing a mission for now. You can hold off on that until the vacation at the end of your academic year. Now carry on. I¡¯m sure you have a lot to do. You can come back next week.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡±


    If there was a word to describe Tang Wulin at this moment, it would be overjoyed. He now had an extra eleven hours each week in a wonderful cultivation environment. This couldn¡¯t have arrived at a better time. Lately, he had felt pressed for time, left struggling to balance his schedule, especially with the addition of mecha piloting practice to his long list of responsibilities.


    Mecha piloting was heavily reliant on skill and technique and required a large time investment for proficiency. Tang Wulin had been at a loss originally as to how he would fit in piloting practice outside of class with his already busy schedule. Combat practice, blacksmithing, and cultivation were all too important to be sidelined. But now, with an extra eleven hours per week, he could fit everything in. He could practice piloting, blacksmithing, or combat training in the Battle Hall, depending on which he felt like.


    The Hall of Heroes had left a deep impression on Tang Wulin. The oppressive might of the replicated historical figures was awe inspiring, and he had been able to sense chasm between their strength. The Battle Hall was just too great of a boon for him.


    Once Tang Wulin left the Battle Hall, he returned to his busy life, working hard to learn and grow as fast as possible alongside his classmates in the first grade.


    Although it was Wu Zhangkong¡¯s first time teaching at Shrek Academy, Shen Yi had left all teaching responsibilities to him. The students were much more diligent compared to when she had led the class, so she needn¡¯t get involved. Watching their growth though the days brought a smile to her lips.

 Chapter 511 - Challenging the Third Grade

    Chapter 511 - Challenging the Third Grade


    Once Tang Wulin left the Battle Hall and returned to his busy life, he strived to learn and grow as fast as possible alongside his classmates in the first grade.


    Although it was Wu Zhangkong¡¯s first time teaching at Shrek Academy, Shen Yi had left all teaching responsibilities to him. The students were much more diligent compared to when she had led the class, so she needn¡¯t get involved. Watching their growth though the days brought a smile to her lips.


    The teams of Tang Wulin and the rankers led their class in terms of growth. With their current pace, it was very possible that they would make it into the inner court!


    Half of the academic year passed by in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, come to my office after class,¡± Wu Zhangkong said one day at the end of lecture.


    ¡°Yes, Teacher Wu.¡± In the past several months, Tang Wulin had grown a few centimeters and now stood nearly 1.8 meters tall. His face had shed much of its baby fat, revealing handsome and sharp features that further accentuated his large, clear eyes and high-bridged nose. He was already more charming than the Ice Prince Wu Zhangkong. If not for his immature age, Tang Wulin would have been the focus of affection for just as many ladies as Wu Zhangkong. Among those the same age as him, however, he was a prince.


    ¡°Any idea what Teacher Wu wants you for?¡± Xie Xie asked, elbowing Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin shrugged as he put away his textbooks. ¡°No clue. I¡¯ll see soon enough I guess. Well, catch ya later.¡±


    When Tang Wulin arrived at the office, Wu Zhangkong looked up from his desk and beckoned Tang Wulin over.


    ¡°Here, take this,¡± Wu Zhangkong said, a hand with a silver card outstretched toward Tang Wulin a silver card.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, what¡¯s this for?¡±


    ¡°Your mecha has been approved. Stick this into the slot in your mecha. It¡¯ll show up when you get scanned at checkpoints and they will let you through. Now you can fly anywhere on the continent.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Tang Wulin grinned. His mecha had been finished months earlier, but bureaucratic red tape dragged out the process of issuing his legal permit. An incredible hassle. Despite having Wu Zhangkong¡¯s referral and his own heroic deeds in Heaven Dou City, Tang Wulin had waited months for his legal permit to be approved.


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me just yet. There¡¯s something else I wanted to talk to you about. I remember in the beginning of the year you said you wanted to challenge the third grade. I asked Elder Cai for approval and she did. You can begin preparing now. But it won¡¯t just be the first grade challenging the third. You¡¯ll be teaming up with the second grade for the match.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the format of the competition then?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Three one-on-one battles, one two-on-two battle, and a final match between seven-man teams. You¡¯ll combine forces with Wu Siduo¡¯s team for the competition. The second graders will send some people as well. This competition will be used as your annual assessment and will influence your end of semester exams.¡±


    Tang Wulin forced back a gasp. The competition format was the most traditional one there was!


    ¡°Does the second grade know yet?¡±


    ¡°They should be notified today as well,¡± Wu Zhangkong answered. ¡°You can go discuss who will be participating with Yuanen later.¡±


    ¡°Choosing is going to be hard. Both our classes have more than enough people to fill in for all the battles. How are we supposed to choose?¡± Tang Wulin said, furrowing his brow.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me,¡± Wu Zhangkong said, his face a stone mask. ¡°Decide it yourselves. Strength will speak for itself.¡±


    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll handle it.¡± For a competition like this, the larger the pool of potential participants, the better. This way, they could be more selective and choose the best of the best.


    Tang Wulin left the office and returned to the working student dormitory, heading straight for Yuanen Yehui¡¯s room. He knocked on the door. After a few seconds without answer, he concluded she had yet to return. I guess I¡¯ll have to wait until she¡¯s back.


    He returned to his own room, an unsettling sensation filling him upon entering. He rarely spent time here, always cultivating his nights away in the specialized cultivation spaces. Mornings were spent in class, and afternoons brought him out to a variety of locations for blacksmithing, pilot practice, or combat training. There was simply no need to return.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t the only busy person in his group. The rest of his friends were hustling to grow stronger. They had their own paths of cultivation and could only rely on themselves to walk them. Morning classes marked the only period they spent time in the same location. For that reason, their room was unoccupied except for himself.


    Tang Wulin lay in his bed and enjoyed the silence and calm. Relaxation was a luxury nowadays. He did his best to enjoy these moments when he could, mindful of Wu Zhangkong¡¯s warning not to overwork himself and burn out. Before he realized it, he fell asleep. It was a deep slumber without any dreams to disturb it.


    When Tang Wulin woke up, he felt refreshed, a warm, cozy feeling enveloping him. That was great! He stretched and uncurled his body in bed. So what if his schedule had gone awry. He surely didn¡¯t mind at this point.


    This afternoon he had planned to forge enough metals to ensure Ye Xinglan has an ample supply. So that it wouldn¡¯t matter if she failed a few while crafting the battle armor pieces. With her current success rate, Ye Xinglan averaged about ten days per piece. She was currently equipped with three pieces herself, the most out of any of them. Right gauntlet, right pauldron, and circlet.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s battle armor was prioritized as each piece increased her crafting success rate. Before making her third piece of armor, it had taken her an average of fifteen days per armor piece. Now she focused on crafting everyone else¡¯s right gauntlets.


    Tang Wulin had no idea how much battle armor Yuanen Yehui or Yue Zhengyu had, but he was certain that Yuanen Yehui was at least a match for Ye Xinglan as a mecha maker.


    Rolling off of bed, he set his mind back to work. The nap had washed away his mental fatigue and he was raring to go. I should take naps more often. My head feels so clear.


    The room was still empty aside from him. Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie had yet to return.


    Glancing back once at the unoccupied room, Tang Wulin left to find Yuanen Yehui. The moment he stepped outside, he was astonished to find the sky already dark, the lights of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s room a glowing beacon in the night. He knocked on her door.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Yuanen Yehui called out from inside.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Tang Wulin.¡±


    The door opened swiftly and Yuanen Yehui greeted him, dressed in her comfortable female clothing.


    ¡°You sure are a busy person! I rarely see you around!¡± she said, a teasing smile on her lips.


    Tang Wulin smiled back wryly. ¡°Aren¡¯t we all? None of us has got any time to spare with all this pressure on our shoulders.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Well, come on in.¡± She pulled the door open wide and ushered him into her room.


    ¡°You¡¯re here about the competition with the third grade, right?¡± Yuanen Yehui asked.


    ¡°Yep.¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s expression grew severe


    ¡°Have you decided who will participate yet?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what I¡¯m here to discuss with you?¡± Tang Wulin said, crossing his arms. ¡°How are things on your side? We got three singles, one duo, and one seven-man team battle. Which ones did you want to send your people out for?¡±


    ¡°Wulin, this competition should have been between the second grade and third grade originally. Shrek doesn¡¯t usually have grades challenging anything higher than the next grade. The age gap is just too significant at that point. And there¡¯s not much to gain either.¡±


    ¡°But you guys lost to us!¡± Tang Wulin said with brutal honesty, though blinking with an undeniable pureness.


    Yuanen Yehui snorted. ¡°One of these days, I¡¯m gonna beat that pretty face of yours into a pulp.¡±


    Tang Wulin fought to suppress his laughter but couldn¡¯t in the end. ¡°Alright alright. Enough probing. Let¡¯s just get straight to the point. We¡¯ll be honest about who we can send up and how strong they are, okay? Tell me who you¡¯re considering and we¡¯ll discuss if they¡¯re good enough.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Since this competition should have been ours to begin with, I want two of the singles battles, the doubles battles, and four people in the final team battle. You¡¯ll get the remaining three and one singles battle.¡±


    Tang Wulin quirked a brow. ¡°Wow. Now that¡¯s just bad faith! If you¡¯re gonna be like that, I¡¯ll go complain to the teachers and challenge the third grade without you guys. This is a competition, so we need to do what has the highest chance of victory. Do you really think you can win with your current proposal?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui sneered. ¡°And you think you can win with your team? I¡¯ll be straight with you. We understand the third grade far better than you do. They have two one-word battle armor masters. Do I need to say any more?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. They already have two one-word battle armor masters? Damn! This isn¡¯t good! He had experienced first-hand the might of a one-word battle armor master. Facing two would be near impossible.


    ¡°So you can win with your class?¡±


    With stunning indifference, Yuanen Yehui said, ¡°At the very least, we would be able to last longer than yours.¡±


    ¡°Let strength speak for itself then. We¡¯ll choose the participants through matches. The winners will get to fight the third grade.¡±

 Chapter 512 - Ill Give Up!

    Chapter 512 - I''ll Give Up!


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s expression grew strained. Tang Wulin struck her right in her weak spot. Full of talented students the second grade might be, they couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the first grade. After witnessing the complete beatdown Tang Wulin¡¯s team served on a platter to Wu Siduo¡¯s, her confidence in victory faltered. Tang Wulin¡¯s growth, a speeding bullet.


    Taking her silence as an opening, Tang Wulin said, ¡°Here¡¯s what I propose then: For the best chance of victory, we¡¯ll have you, Ye Xinglan, and Wu Siduo participate in the singles battles. Gu Yue and I will take care of the doubles battle since we have the best teamwork and a soul fusion skill. I¡¯m sure you have no complaints about that. For the team battle, we¡¯ll send out five people. Me, Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan. From the second grade, we¡¯ll want you and Yue Zhengyu. This plan should maximize our odds of victory.


    ¡°In summary, we¡¯ll handle two of the singles battles, the doubles battle, and the team battle will have five from my class and two from yours.¡±


    ¡°Impossible,¡± Yuanen Yehui blurted. ¡°You¡¯ve got to be joking with me. If I accept these terms, how would I even explain it to the rest of my class?¡±


    Tang Wulin looked her right in the eyes. ¡°Yuanen, honestly, we¡¯re stronger than you guys.¡± His gaze held an undeniable power.


    Taking a deep breath, Yuanen Yehui spent a few moments to collect her thoughts. ¡±Fine. I¡¯ll admit that you guys are stronger. But can you really say your intentions are completely pure when it comes to this plan? That there isn¡¯t a hint of selfishness involved? I understand most of your choices, but why Xie Xie over Wu Siduo? She¡¯s stronger than him, and he still only has three rings. In what scenario could he possibly be more useful?¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times, taken aback. He had not expected her to be so against Xie Xie. His brows furrowed, a frown taking place. ¡°Why can¡¯t he match her? He has twin martial souls too. Did you forget about that? He¡¯s also my comrade, so our coordination will be better.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui pressed her lips together tight. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    Right at that moment, the door burst open and an ashen-faced Xie Xie walked in. ¡°I¡¯ll give up my spot,¡± he said, sharp and cold.


    Without another word, he turned and ran off.


    ¡°Xie Xie!¡± Tang Wulin chased after him.


    Meanwhile, Yuanen Yehui watched them depart, frozen in spot. He heard what I said? D-did I hurt his feelings? She clenched her fists.


    Why did I have to say that?


    When Yuanen Yehui surfaced from her thoughts, she found herself pacing, struggling to come to a decision. In the end, she suppressed her anxiety and went to present Tang Wulin¡¯s plan to the rest of her class, which they discussed and came to a consensus on.


    ?


    Tang Wulin caught up to Xie Xie, grabbing his shoulder just as they left dormitory grounds. ¡°Xie Xie!¡±


    Xie Xie stopped, turning to face Tang Wulin with cold indifference. ¡°Wulin, I¡¯m fine. Just give me some time to calm down.¡±


    Tang Wulin threw his arms around him. ¡°Don¡¯t let her words get to you. We all recognize your efforts. You¡¯re our comrade and we believe in you. If anyone questions your strength, then we¡¯ll show them their error with our might. You¡¯re a great agility-type, never forget that.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s stiff expression finally softened when he saw the sincerity in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. Pacing around, he heaved a sigh and let out a shout as he punched a tree. ¡°I just don¡¯t get it. Why does she treat me like that? Like I¡¯m the bottom of the barrel. I¡¯ve been working myself to death every day cultivating and rising early to do chores for her. Anything she needs help with, I¡¯m there. Yet she won¡¯t even spare me a minute. I¡¯m not upset that she called me weak. I¡¯m upset that that¡¯s all I am to her. Augh! Jeez. Forget about it.¡±


    He sucked in deep breaths and expelled them just as hard, huffing like a wounded beast.


    Tang Wulin approached him. ¡°It¡¯s up to you to decide what to do, but my advice is to persevere. As long as you can press on forward, you¡¯ll win in the end. If you throw in the towel now, who¡¯s to say the next girl you chase won¡¯t give you trouble too? I can¡¯t say I have much experience with relationships, but in my opinion, if you like a girl, then you can¡¯t give up so easily. Don¡¯t worry about whether they like you or not first. What matters is that you like them. And from there, do your best so that they¡¯ll like you back.¡±


    Xie Xie directed a dejected look Tang Wulin¡¯s way. ¡°Boss, you know how to talk. But like you¡¯ve said, you¡¯ve got no experience with this. You already have Gu Yue on one arm and Na¡¯er on the other. When have you ever had to use your own advice?¡±


    Tang Wulin lightly chopped Xie Xie on the head. ¡°If you got time to think about these things, then spend that time on cultivating instead. The clock is ticking. We¡¯re about to turn fifteen. Once we¡¯re in the inner court we can worry about girls all we like. For now, we should be focusing on growing stronger.¡±


    Xie Xie cracked a small smile. ¡°Study and cultivate properly every day, is it?¡±


    Tang Wulin returned a grin. ¡°A lot of times, the simplest advice is the most meaningful. You get it now?¡±


    Xie Xie relaxed, his shoulders drooping. ¡°You¡¯re right. The harder I¡¯m pushed, the harder I need to push back. If someone doubts my strength, then I¡¯ll show them just how strong I am. I won¡¯t give up.¡±


    ¡°Great. That¡¯s a good attitude to have.¡±


    Xie Xie raised a brow. ¡°So you support my way of thinking?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Tang Wulin answered. ¡°If I had to use one word to describe you, it would be ¡®brazen¡¯!¡±


    Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin, lips mouthing out words that would not come out.


    ¡°Alright now, I¡¯m going to go cultivate at the specialized cultivation spaces. You coming?¡±


    Xie Xie shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. My cultivation speed isn¡¯t slow since I¡¯ve got twin martial souls. Oh right, did I tell you yet? I just hit rank 40.¡±


    Tang Wulin went rigid. ¡°Really?¡±


    Tang Wulin knew that Gu Yue and Xu Lizhi were close to rank 40, but he hadn¡¯t expected Xie Xie to suddenly reach that rank too. Only he and Xu Xiaoyan out of their group were a ways off from their fourth ring. This left him feeling sullen.


    ¡°Hehe. Don¡¯t we have a match with the third grade coming up? We¡¯re even stronger now.¡± Since Xie Xie already had two spirit souls, there was no need to get another one for his fourth soul ring. He had immediately obtained his new soul ring when he broke through.


    Tang Wulin flashed a thumbs up. ¡°Nice. Looks like I need to work even harder.¡±


    ?


    Later in the evening, Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui met up to finalize the matter of the competition against the third grade. She explained the opinions of her classmates and teachers before informing him that the second grade class rejected his proposal.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a selection competition. No one can complain about the results that way. Strength will speak for itself,¡± Yuanen Yehui said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Tang Wulin had absolute faith in his companions.


    ¡°We need to figure out how this competition will run then,¡± Yuanen Yehui said.


    ¡°Do you have any issues with my proposed candidates for the singles matches?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui shook her head. ¡°No complaints here. But I have to ask, is Ye Xinglan stronger than you?¡±


    It didn¡¯t take a second for Tang Wulin to nod. ¡°In a one-on-one battle, I only have a thirty percent chance of winning against her.¡±


    Astonishment colored Yuanen Yehui¡¯s face. For Tang Wulin to regard Ye Xinglan so highly was something she had never expected. But after recalling the match between their two grades, she had to admit that Ye Xinglan was powerful.

 Chapter 513 - Challengers

    Chapter 513 - Challengers


    ¡°How about the two-on-two then? What are your thoughts on that?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll settle that with a match too. Yue Zhengyu and I will face you and Gu Yue,¡± Yuanen Yehui answered.


    ¡°Alright. That¡¯s another match to schedule then. All that¡¯s left is the team battle. There are seven slots we need to fill.¡±


    ¡°We have no problems with you, Gu Yue, and Ye Xinglan participating. But Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie? Not so much. I¡¯ll put forth two students from my class and they¡¯ll face Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie in a two-on-two battle. Of course, it won¡¯t be Yue Zhengyu and I facing them. Whichever side wins will participate in the team battle. Sound good to you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Looks like we¡¯ve come to a conclusion.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s quick agreement unsettled Yuanen Yehui. ¡°What¡¯s got you so confident?¡±


    He cracked a wry smile. ¡°To be honest, apart from you and Yue Zhengyu, no one else in your class is even a match for Wu Siduo¡¯s team.¡±


    ¡°Just how arrogant can you be?¡± She glared at him.


    ¡°You want to see for yourself? We can organize a match between Wu Siduo¡¯s team and five students from your class, excepting you and Yue Zhengyu. Let¡¯s see who wins.¡±


    ¡°Enough with your nonsense.¡± Yuanen Yehui stomped off, seething. She wasn¡¯t angry at Tang Wulin¡¯s arrogance, but the sharp truth to his words. Her class was truly eclipsed by the first grade overall.


    Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes as he watched her leave. This selection competition was a good opportunity for Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan. It wasn¡¯t just the second grade students who doubted the two, but their own classmates as well. Since there were extra slots for the team battle, there was no way the rankers would be satisfied with not participating. Through the selection tournament, the two could prove with their strength that they deserved to be there.


    Two days later, they held the selection tournament at the training arena.


    There were to be two matches, both two-on-two. The first was Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan against the second grade¡¯s Duan Hunxiao and Ye Xingmo. The second was Tang Wulin and Gu Yue versus Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu.


    Everyone held these matches in high expectation.


    On one side stood Ye Xingmo and Duan Hun Xiao. In the previous battle between the two grades, Ye Xinglan had suppressed him. But that didn¡¯t mean he was weak. The martial soul suppression was just too potent. He was also a control-type and had been the first to reach four rings in his team. Faster than Yuanen Yehui.


    On the other side stood Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan. Both were commonly deemed as the weakest links of Tang Wulin¡¯s team. Neither seemed to have any particular specialty, perhaps besides Xie Xie¡¯s willingness to go all in.


    These matches would decide who stood with the others in the team battle against the third grade. However, everyone knew the second match was the one to watch out for.


    While Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had weaker cultivations than Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu, their supreme soul fusion skill more than made up for that. No one was sure who would win, but general sentiment favored Tang Wulin and Gu Yue at the moment.


    To their surprise, Elder Cai had deigned to personally oversee this selection tournament.


    Students of the first and second grades filled the stands, eagerly awaiting the battles to start.


    After approaching his teammate¡¯s side of the arena, Tang Wulin patted Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan on the shoulder. ¡°Feeling confident?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Xie Xie said, determination flashing in his eyes.


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine as long as he doesn¡¯t get in my way.¡±


    Xie Xie shot her a glare. ¡°So even you¡¯re looking down on me! I¡¯ll show you! I¡¯ll show you all just how great I am!¡±


    Meanwhile, Luo Guixing sat in the audience, turning to Wu Siduo. ¡°Did you ask Wulin why none of us are in this selection competition?¡±


    Wu Siduo¡¯s bit her lip with agitation and forced out a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t you know what sort of guy he is? He may look kind and gentle, but he¡¯s two-faced with a black heart. He told me that if Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan lose this match, then we can jump in to challenge the second grade duo. That guy doesn¡¯t play by the rules at all¡­¡±


    Luo Guixing wrinkled his nose. ¡°Really? Just how shameless can he be?¡±


    ¡°You know, he was super self righteous when he told me all that! Then he went on to say that since we¡¯re younger, the second grade should yield this opportunity to us! And that this isn¡¯t shameless at all!¡±


    Luo Guixing covered his face with his palm. ¡°Then what if Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan win?¡±


    ¡°He said that if they do, he wants us to consider if we can bring out any pair that could defeat those two. For example, you and Xu Yucheng.¡±


    Luo Guixing raised a brow. ¡°What did he mean by that? Is he saying Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan are stronger than me and Xu Yucheng?¡±


    Wu Siduo crossed her arms. ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. What I do know, however, is that Wulin isn¡¯t the type of guy to shoot blindly.¡±


    Luo Guixing frowned. ¡°Did they get a giant boost in strength? You remember our match in the start of the year. Did you get the feeling that they were anything special back then?¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t even use their full strength. How am I supposed to judge them? Well, all we can do is wait and see.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    The selection tournament was free of needless formalities. Elder Cai simply walked up and said, ¡°Both teams come up.¡±


    Duan Hunxiao and Ye Xingmo ascended the stage. They were calmer than they had been during the battle between grades. Ye Xingmo¡¯s gaze in particular carried an edge .


    Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan ascended next.


    For some reason, Yuanen Yehui felt queasy in her stomach at the sight of them. Ever since the day Xie Xie ran off in anger, she had been restless. But her pride didn¡¯t allow her to admit her mistake. Didn¡¯t allow her to apologize to him.


    She had thought he wouldn¡¯t reappear before her after that outburst, but just as in the days before, she woke up to evidence of his presence: a clean swept ground outside and a fresh basin of water. It took her over a minute to process what she saw, to realize the extent of Xie Xie¡¯s earnestness. Since then, her grievances against him had faded. She no longer grew angry at the mere sight of him. Instead, she became aware of the great effort he put into pleasing her. To keep up with her, a person destined to enter the inner court.


    After this realization, doubt flooded her heart. She wondered why her thoughts kept revolving around him in such a way. He was handsome, Yuanen Yehui had to admit. He was just outshined by Tang Wulin most of the time. A hint of envy flickered within her as she watched him ascend the stage with Xu Xiaoyan. They looked like a couple out of a fairytale.


    On stage, both sides stared each other down.


    Elder Cai stepped forward and said, ¡°The match will proceed as I see fit. My word will be final in all rulings. Begin.¡±


    Xie Xie acted instantly, a breeze trailing behind him as he flew forth. His Light Dragon Dagger was already in his hand and he was halfway across the arena when everyone finally registered the start of the match.


    He¡¯s fast! The sentiment was shared by everyone in the arena. All of the agility-types compared themselves to Xie Xie, judging whether they could stand a match. It only took a second for them to come to the harsh truth: Xie Xie left them in the dust.


    As the representatives of the second grade, Duan Hunxiao and Ye Xingmo wouldn¡¯t let a bit of speed shake them. Ye Xingmo took a step forward to stand in front of Duan Hunxiao. Brandishing his Starsaint Sword, he thrust out to meet Xie Xie.


    Just as the two were about to collide, Xie Xie stopped in place abruptly. No deceleration at all. He raised his dagger high into the air, his aura flaring with power and enlarging his presence. It was only then that everyone got a good look at his soul rings: two yellow and two purple.


    In the stands, Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, and Xu Yucheng felt their hopes wither slightly. They lost their soul power advantage over Xie Xie. The only reprieve was that only three rings appeared when Xu Xiaoyan summoned her Star Staff.

 Chapter 514 - Power Bide

    Chapter 514 - Power Bide


    Xie Xie tracked the movement of Ye Xingmo¡¯s sword, clad in resplendent starlight as it was and piercing straight toward him. He used Purple Demon Eyes in the nick of time, stunning his opponent. In that brief opening, Xie Xie thrust with his dagger, still firmly rooted to where he stood. Domineering might rippled from him, his dagger shining iridescent like the sun and bathing the entire arena in its light.


    Ye Xingmo narrowed his eyes. I-is this Power Bide?


    Power Bide was not a natural soul skill. Rather, it was a skill developed by humans to defy the heavens. Isn¡¯t Power Bide supposed to be lost? How does he know it?


    In the rear, the distinct trill of a flute. As a control-type, Duan Hunxiao had the abilities needed to counter Power Bide.


    But before he could do anything to intervene, starlight blossomed beneath him and his body stiffened, the soul power circulation within him forcibly interrupted.


    Ye Xingmo¡¯s thrust whistled through the air but struck nothing. Pivoting off his front foot, he recouped his posture and lunged at Xie Xie once more. He had to stop Xie Xie from completing his Power Bide.


    Inches before the sword pierced Xie Xie, his figure flickered and disappeared. Ye Xingmo¡¯s eyes went wide as a blur flew past him.


    Xie Xie¡¯s Power Bide was complete. His dagger roared as he flew forth, so fast that he was merely a streak of light shooting straight for Duan Hunxiao.


    Having just broken free from the chains of starlight, Duan Hunxiao was in no position to defend himself. All he saw was a flash of light when he looked up.


    With a clang, Duan Hunxiao¡¯s flute was split in two and a line of crimson warmth blossomed from his throat.


    W-what happened?


    Xie Xie had been no more than a streak of light. A blink and he had drawn blood. From the corner of his eye, Duan Hunxiao could see the blazing light subside.


    Elder Cai waved her hand and a beam of light brought Duan Hunxiao off the stage. There was no doubt that the strongest control-type of the second grade had just been eliminated! Xie Xie had  given a brilliant performance of a one-hit knockout. Even Elder Cai couldn¡¯t help but give an approving nod.


    Yuanen Yehui looked on in disbelief. She was aware of Duan Hunxiao¡¯s strength, especially in combination with Ye Xingmo. Yet Xie Xie had eliminated him in a flash. She had caught a glimpse of Xie Xie¡¯s eyes and they had shocked her. Nothing like she had ever seen. The conviction swirling within them too hot to endure, sending shivers down her spine.


    Ye Xingmo had turned around just in time to see Duan Hunxiao disappear in a beam of light and Xie Xie fade into invisibility. He gripped his sword tight, the blade flaring with light. Now he also has four rings!


    The stellar light bloomed, enveloping the entire stage. Specks of starlight, all carrying a sharp edge, gathered around Ye Xingmo. They began to spread, swarming toward Xu Xiaoyan.


    This was Ye Xingmo¡¯s fourth soul skill, Sword Star Rain. It was an attack that encompassed a large area and a perfect counter to agility-types. His only choice now was to eliminate his opponent¡¯s control-type to level the playing field.


    Although threat of elimination sped toward Xu Xiaoyan, Xie Xie was nowhere to be seen. Like a wraith, he dodged each and every one of the specks of starlight. None so much as grazed him.


    Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s second soul ring lit up. Starlight Reversal! Golden light enveloped her, forming a mirror of starlight. The rain of stars froze in mid-air, heading right back at Ye Xingmo!


    Having evaded Sword Star Rain, Xie Xie finally re-appeared behind Ye Xingmo. He slashed with his Light Dragon Dagger, but this strike didn¡¯t carry the might of Power Bide. It flew swift and light like a spark.


    Ye Xingmo felt the hairs on his neck spring up and threw himself forward. At the same time, he released a wave of starlight with a slash of his sword in an effort to protect himself. While he managed to narrowly evade Xie Xie¡¯s slash, there was a disturbance in the surrounding starlight as Xie Xie darted away.


    His eyes darted back and forth, chasing after Xie Xie¡¯s figure. But Xie Xie was too fast. Knowing he could not rely on his eyes, Ye Xingmoe closed them and relied on his other senses.


    In an instant, the mist of starlight condensed into a point in front of him. A clang. Xie Xie stood before Ye Xingmo, his attack blocked by the condensed starlight.


    The students of the second grade let out a collective sigh of relief. Agility-types excelled in speed, so they were at their weakest the moment they were not in motion. This was Ye Xingmo¡¯s chance to utilize his strength as an assault-type. To dominate Xie Xie.


    However, their relief was cut short. Ye Xingmo was pushed back in his clash with Xie Xie. They could hardly believe it, an assault-type losing to an agility-type in a confrontation of strength.


    Out of his cloak of invisibility, Xie Xie immediately switched back to his Light Dragon Dagger and went all out. He was no longer an assassin lurking in the shadows, but a radiant sun with scorching might! He charged up for Power Bide once more.


    Ye Xingmo regained his posture. It was clear as day to him that he must stop Xie Xie from storing more energy. Fear creeped into his heart. His close brush with defeat left him cautious. He drew back and gained distance between them, but just that wouldn¡¯t save him. Xie Xie was using Power Bide. He had to intervene.


    Preoccupied by the threat Xie Xie proposed, Ye Xingmo forgot one crucial fact: Xie Xie wasn¡¯t alone. Starlight burst beneath Ye Xingmo¡¯s feet and chains lunged his way to bind him.


    Xie Xie took this opening, brandishing his blazing dagger as he flew past Ye Xingmo in a streak of light.


    He didn¡¯t bother turning back to see the results. Ye Xingmo stood there, paralyzed with fear. A second later, a line of blood dripped down his neck.


    The battle was over.


    Xu Xiaoyan grinned at Xie Xie and the two high-fived. Victory achieved.


    The second grade students could hardly believe what just happened. Just how strong is the first grade class? Since when was Xie Xie this powerful? And Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s control skills too! She completely countered Duan Hunxiao! Ye Xingmo didn¡¯t even stand a chance in the end!

 Chapter 515 - Rematch Against Yuanen Yehui

    Chapter 515 - Rematch Against Yuanen Yehui


    Since when was Xie Xie this strong? And Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s control skills too! She completely countered Duan Hunxiao! Ye Xingmo didn¡¯t even stand a chance in the end!


    Without executing any spectacular combos, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan bashed their way to an overwhelming victory..


    When the spectating first grade students finally snapped out of their stupor, they exploded into applause. Only five were silent: the rankers.


    ¡°Can you beat him one-on-one?¡± Luo Guixing asked, glancing at Xu Yucheng.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Xu Yucheng said, his usual arrogance blunted.


    Yuanen Yehui stood dumbstruck among the second grade students. The burning gaze Xie Xie had sent her way before taking down Duan Hunxiao and Ye Xingmo still burned vividly in her mind, scorched on like a brand. Words weren¡¯t needed to convey his intention. Am I still not good enough for you?


    She couldn¡¯t deny his growth. His strength. Xie Xie had maintained control of the battle¡¯s tempo and displayed a deeper understanding of his martial souls than before. He was incomparable to his past self.


    With Tang Wulin shining as bright as the sun, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan had been hidden in his shadow. But that did not mean they were weak. They stood as equals with the rest of the team, each one of them excellent talents.


    When did Xu Xiaoyan get this strong? Yuanen Yehui had never seen Xu Xiaoyan use Starlight Reflection before. No wonder Tang Wulin was so confident! They¡¯re stronger than I ever expected.


    The students of the second grade sported pale faces. The match had finished all too quickly, not even a full minute in length. Duan Hunxiao didn¡¯t even have a chance to use a soul skill. It was an absolute thrashing! Utterly shameful for them. Despite their posturing, they were the losers.


    The second match pitted Tang Wulin and Gu Yue against Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu. They ascended the stage after the previous combatants exited. The stands fell into silence once more, everyone watching with bated breath. If the previous match was a contest between the average talent in either grade, then this was a match between the peaks!


    Yue Zhengyu beamed as he met Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. ¡°Wulin, there¡¯s a little something I wanted to talk with you about. Why don¡¯t you chill it with the soul fusion skills today? That would be too unfair. It¡¯ll also weaken you, so if you use it how will you participate in next week¡¯s competition?¡±


    ¡°Alright. We won¡¯t,¡± Tang Wulin answered, leaving Yue Zhengyu in momentary disbelief. This wasn¡¯t the Tang Wulin he knew. He had expected Tang Wulin to keep the soul fusion skill as an ace up the sleeve, a show of might.


    ¡°That¡¯s a promise, alright?¡± Yue Zhengyu prodded.


    Tang Wulin smirked. ¡°If you¡¯re scared, you should just surrender already.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu raised a brow. ¡°You two only got three rings each, while we got four. What do we have to be afraid of? Well, we¡¯ll see what you got.¡±


    ¡°Enough trash talking!¡± Elder Cai barked. ¡°Begin!¡±


    Both teams immediately summoned their martial souls. Purple soul rings appeared around Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu, four each. They basked the two in their regal glow. On the other side, four purple soul rings rose around Gu Yue, and three around Tang Wulin.


    Yuanen Yehui unleashed a roar as her body rapidly swelled with strength. She used her third soul skill: Diamond Titan!


    Off-stage, Xie Xie covered his face with his hands. Damn it! Why¡¯s she so damn violent?


    Tang Wulin rushed forward, each powerful step leaving cracks in the ground. He forewent his bluesilver grass for his Golden Dragon King abilities. Two golden soul rings appeared around him, the first lighting up. Empowered by Golden Dragon Body, Tang Wulin felt his muscles ripple with strength, his scaled gaining more toughness and durability.


    Yuanen Yehui and Tang Wulin were long since familiar with each other¡¯s abilities and tendencies. As Tang Wulin slashed at her with his claw, Yuanen Yehui punched back a shockwave with Air Cannon.


    At the same time, Yue Zhengyu spread his holy wings wide and unleashed two beams of holy light Tang Wulin.


    In terms of soul power and rings, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu undoubtedly held the advantage. They were certain to have improved their teamwork after a year of training together as well. On the other hand, Gu Yue¡¯s full potential relied on Tang Wulin acting as a shield to buy her time. She was the greatest talent in their team, hidden by Tang Wulin¡¯s brilliance.


    In a flash of silver, Tang Wulin disappeared. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu¡¯s attacks tore through nothing but air. Raising their heads, they caught glimpse of Gu Yue¡¯s fourth soul ring shining brightly. She¡¯s already using her fourth soul skill?


    Amidst everyone¡¯s astonishment, a seven-colored light spread from her hands, manifesting into a staff. It shone silver, crowned with a lustrous seven-colored gem within which tendrils of light danced. The elements in the arena roared upon its appearance.


    Her fourth soul skill: Elemental Staff.


    Gu Yue gripped the staff tight and raised it. The gem bled green, summoning a tornado to obstruct her opponents¡¯ advance.


    But Yuanen Yehui pushed on, unleashing a second blast of Air Cannon.


    With a wave of her staff, Gu Yue vanquished the attack. Yuanen Yehui felt her connection to the blast dissolve, the air and its momentum breaking down into nothingness.


    Then the gem on the staff shone gold. Gu Yue conducted it toward Yue Zhengyu. In a snap, he felt the light element within him rapidly escape, seduced to Gu Yue¡¯s side.


    God damn! Just what sort of ability is that?


    Tang Wulin held his position, merely standing in front of Gu Yue as her guardian. He was just as shocked as the others. It was his first time seeing her use her fourth soul skill as well. From what he surmised, the Elemental Staff further boosted her control over the elements to the extent where she could steal control of elements within someone else.


    Enduring the relentless assault of the tornado, Yuanen Yehui let out a snarl as she charged through.


    Yue Zhengyu followed right behind her, taking advantage of her powerful body as a shield. The holy glow around him was subdued as he exerted his control over the light elements within him.


    Tang Wulin watched with an expectant glint to his eyes. The dragon within him roared, demanding battle. Raising his hands, he unleashed a giant golden phantom dragon! Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s fourth soul ring lit up and her body shrunk slightly. But her aura exploded with might. It was the assault of the Devil Titan!


    This was the first clash between Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui since their battle between their grades!


    A boom rippled through the arena as the phantom dragon and Devil Titan collided.


    During the last time, Tang Wulin had been no match for Yuanen Yehui¡¯s strength. But now, he only stumbled a few steps backward instead of being hurled through the air.


    And the impact sent Yuanen Yehui tumbling to the ground instead. At that moment, a blue fireball arced around her, shooting toward Yue Zhengyu.


    With a slash of his holy sword, Yue Zhengyu cleaved the fireball in two. But the flames spread out afterward, leaving him no choice but to retreat from the area. He was now separated from Yuanen Yehui.


    From the very beginning, the battle between the champions of the first and second grades had been white-hot. Yet the climax had yet been reached.


    Yuanen Yehui leaped into the air, her body rapidly shrinking as she switched to her Fallen Angel martial soul. Jet-black wings unfurled from her back and darkness descended as she summoned the Curtain of Darkness.


    Why is she using her Fallen Angel martial soul? Light and darkness are opposites! Are they not afraid of the danger? Or do they have some sort of combo attack? As his mind worked in overdrive, Tang Wulin stood on alert, ready to face whatever they prepared. They couldn¡¯t possibly gamble in such a high-stakes game for no apparent reason.


    Upon using Bluesilver Golden Array, Tang Wulin saw his golden rings fade, replaced by shining purple soul rings. A large golden circle of light shone beneath him, so large that it covered the ground upon which Gu Yue stood. Wherever the golden light touched, the darkness fled!


    Elemental stripping!

 Chapter 516 - Gu Yues Fury

    Chapter 516 - Gu Yue''s Fury


    The Bluesilver Golden Array stripped its surrounding of light and darkness, but could not completely dispel the darkness in the arena. It could only provide a safe haven for Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue raised her staff. The gem shone bright gold and light exploded around her, rushing


    towards the array to help push back the encroaching darkness.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu¡¯s forms could slowly be seen as the dark haze thinned. Yue Zhengyu held a shimmering holy blade by his side while Yuanen Yehui¡¯s demonic blade exuded a dark auras. Both raised their swords above their heads to pierce the sky. They let out mighty shouts as five-meter tall elemental phantoms appeared behind them.


    Darkness and light shot outward as they snapped open their wings, the two auras incompatible like fire and water and struggling to dominate over the other.


    This was Yuanen Yehui¡¯s third soul skill, Fallen Angel Descends and Yue Zhengyu¡¯s fourth, Holy Angel Descends. They had used the Curtain of Darkness to buy themselves enough time to empower themselves to their peak.


    The two turned to face Tang Wulin and slashed down with their swords. Gold and violet beams of light surged out of their swords, flying toward Tang Wulin. As they neared their target, they converged, then met. An explosion erupted with the collision of the two beams, their chaotic energies mixing and rejecting each other kicking up a frenzy of winds and reaching Tang Wulin.


    This was the result of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s efforts after losing to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s soul fusion skill. She had wracked her brains to come up with a way to defeat the two and ultimately began researching methods with Yue Zhengyu. Under normal circumstances, light and darkness reject each other. However, their swords were condensed forms of light and darkness respectively. As long as they didn¡¯t touch, there was minimal interference between them. With the amplification of Fallen Angel Descends and Holy Angel Descends, their swords reach new heights of power and when the two unleashed attacks of condensed light and darkness energy, the resulting explosion would produce an attack far greater than they could ever achieve by themselves.


    Today was the first time they put this combo attack into action. Not even the Bluesilver Golden Array could disperse this much elemental energy at once. Their attack was unstoppable.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes shone with expectation as she watched the explosion of light and darkness bloom. Come on! Use your soul fusion skill! You guys can¡¯t endure this any other way!


    After carefully researching Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s Divine Dragon Transformation, she came to the conclusion that such a powerful form couldn¡¯t be maintained for an extended length of time. The earlier she could bait them into using the skill, the more advantageous her position would be. She planned to wait out the Divine Dragon Transformation, then use her and Yue Zhengyu¡¯s combo attack again to finish Tang Wulin and Gu Yue off. The longer the battle was drawn out, the better their position.


    But just before the explosive blast struck Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui saw his scales shine bright as mirrors. He stepped in front of Gu Yue and spread his arms wide, taking the full brunt of the elemental attack. His scales flashed even brighter as he weathered the storm of elemental energies.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he was being torn to shreds. The elements of light and darkness clashed and raged bigger and brighter like oil and fire. While Golden Dragon Tyrant Body enabled him to endure up to three times his body¡¯s limit, this elemental explosion surpassed his expectations. Despite his blood essence rapidly depleting, he gritted his teeth and continued to endure.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had been caught off guard when the twin beams converged, and by the time they realised what was happening, the elements were thrown into chaos and Gu Yue was unable to teleport them out.


    I have to endure! I can¡¯t retreat! Gu Yue is right behind me! Tang Wulin¡¯s body groaned with the strain, his eyes going bloodshot from resisting. Light surrounded his right hand and manifested his gauntlet. Then it spread to his chest, which turned into a breastplate. With the power of two pieces of battle armor, he could hold on.


    The chaos of elemental energies gradually died down. The dust settled, revealing Tang Wulin¡¯s tattered form. Despite his sorry state, he had not yielded a single inch. There was a fierce glint in his eyes and he let out a draconic roar.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward with the oppressive aura of an absolute tyrant. After absorbing the elemental attack, his body was filled with energy. His first golden soul ring lit up as he marched onward. A golden array spread out beneath him. Empowered by Golden Dragon Body, it spanned the entire stage and was much stronger than before.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhenyu felt their elemental energy drain from their body. Soon, they couldn¡¯t even support their wings which disappeared into the background. Bluesilver Golden Array had them utterly helpless.


    In a silver flash, Gu Yue appeared before them. She slammed the butt of her staff into the ground, unleashing a barrage of fire, water, wind, and earth elements that joined together to form an elemental storm in an instant. The storm crashed into Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu, sending them flying.


    Yuanen Yehui switched martial souls and confronted the storm in her Diamond Titan form, so she wasn¡¯t seriously injured. Yue Zhengyu, however, didn¡¯t have a second martial soul to fall back on and took the full brunt of the storm. A beam of light descended on him and he was beside Elder Cai the next second.


    Gu Yue¡¯s face was emotionless like a calm lake. She simply pointed her staff at Yuanen Yehui to direct its full might at her.That wasn¡¯t all. Gu Yue kept firing small balls of blue fire, wind, ice, and earth into the storm to increase its strength.


    Yuanen Yehui had nowhere to escape to now. Anywhere she moved and she would be attacked by the elemental balls. Even if she tried to break out through brute strength, Gu Yue could control this elemental storm with her inhuman spiritual power and make it collapse on her.


    This was Gu Yue¡¯s fury, her wrath. This was her full might unleashed upon those who hurt Tang Wulin.


    When Gu Yue had teleported to the frontline, she had caught a glimpse of Tang Wulin¡¯s tattered state. Of the pain and blood dripping out a corner of his mouth.


    The first grade students collectively gulped nervously. They knew the consequences of angering her.


    The elemental storm bombarded Yuanen Yehui with attack after attack, battering her defenses like paper being shredded. Her Air Cannons were useless against the elemental balls as the intense heat of the blue fireballs distorted the flight path of the air blasts and the wind tore it to shreds. Then the ice deflected the blasts with extreme centripetal velocity and the earth acted as indestructible impact absorbers. There was nothing she could do but to endure with Diamond Titan. She was completely suppressed!


    Tang Wulin was caught in astonishment as well. He had known Gu Yue was strong and that he was no match for her, but he hadn¡¯t known just how wide the gap between them was until now.

 Chapter 517 - Yuanen Yehui and the Tempest

    Chapter 517 - Yuanen Yehui and the Tempest


    With all seven elements at her fingertips, Gu Yue¡¯s tactical options were limitless. Instinct told Tang Wulin that even with Bluesilver Golden Array, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do much against her.


    Another fireball crashed into Yuanen Yehui. Exploded in a burst. Her expression was grave, betraying the whirlwind of calculations flying through her mind. She used Titan Strength and Diamond Titan to take on the elemental storm instead of the more taxing Devil Titan. Screw it! I¡¯ll go all in!


    In truth, Yuanen Yehui knew that losing was inevitable. The moment Tang Wulin escaped the light and darkness sword combo attack in one piece had marked the beginning of the end. But she couldn¡¯t give up yet. Not even when Gu Yue¡¯s outburst had been beyond their expectations. She would fight until the very end. If she could outlast Gu Yue¡¯s soul power, then she could force a one-on-one duel with Tang Wulin. With the injuries he had sustained, she had the barest sliver of a chance at turning the tables.


    Yuanen Yehui was confident that her soul power capacity was greater than Gu Yue¡¯s. Having twin martial souls and a higher soul power rank was the main reason. She was rank 43. Since cultivation became much harder past rank 40, and Gu Yue had just broken through, she couldn¡¯t be any higher than rank 41. Yuanen Yehui was certain that Gu Yue¡¯s repeated use of the staff was rapidly depleting her soul power.


    One after another, balls of elemental energy slammed into Yuanen Yehui. She clenched her jaw and took on dozens of attacks. Yet there seemed to be no stop in sight.


    How is her soul power lasting so long? Unbelievable! Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes widened more and more the longer she stared at Gu Yue.


    Elder Cai was already on the stage, waiting for the moment her intervention was needed. She watched with narrowed eyes, aware of the entirety of the situation. It was true that Gu Yue¡¯s soul power couldn¡¯t outlast Yuanen Yehui¡¯s. But her martial soul controlled the elements and there was a fundamental difference between it and other martial souls. Wielding the elements required both soul power and spiritual power. In fact, spiritual power was more important for this than soul power. Because of this,Gu Yue¡¯s spiritual power was greater than her soul power, and far surpassed Yuanen Yehui¡¯s. Without this basis of strength, Gu Yue would never have been able to wield such great might for so long.


    Another fireball crashed into Yuanen Yehui. She staggered but held her ground. I can¡¯t get pushed back any further or I¡¯ll be off the stage! She growled and finally resorted to her fourth soul skill, Devil Titan. It was all or nothing!


    With a swirling aura of might, she punched an incoming ice ball into smithereens! She sent blast after blast of air to intercept her opponent¡¯s attacks. But the moment she had done this, her eyes caught Tang Wulin approaching Gu Yue with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough now,¡± Tang Wulin said, patting Gu Yue on the shoulder.


    Gu Yue¡¯s staff dimmed as she stole a glance at him before fixing her gaze on Yuanen Yehui again. Without saying a word, she withdrew her attack.


    Yuanen Yehui gasped for breath as the winds settled down around her. Her hands shook and her whole body sagged from taking that assault and sustaining Devil Titan. She locked eyes with Tang Wulin for a moment before jumping off the stage. She knew well enough to admit her loss. There was no chance of victory in a one against two. Tang Wulin was giving her enough face as it was.


    The first grade students erupted into cheer.


    If anyone thought the first grade¡¯s previous victory over the second grade was due to luck, then today proved them wrong. This was an absolute victory with no room for debate. They had won both of the two-on-two matches. The second one was even between the two class presidents, and in the end, Yuanen Yehui lost.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Gu Yue asked Tang Wulin, worried eyes looking him up and down.


    Tang Wulin shook his head and flashed a smile. ¡°I¡¯m fine. That attack hurt a bit, but I¡¯m fine.¡± Thanks to the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power, his recovery speed and resilience were far beyond normal. Although the elemental combo attack made him felt as if he had been burned alive, his internal energies were already settled and his wounds already disappearing. There was just some mild discomfort left.


    Right when Tang Wulin and Gu Yue hopped off the stage, Yue Zhengyu ran over in high spirits. ¡°Wulin! What was that flashy skill you used?¡± He had tested the power of his and Yuanen Yehui¡¯s combo attack countless times and was confident that not even a five-ringed Soul King would come out unscathed. Yet Tang Wulin had took it on alone, and barely wounded at that. The only explanation was that he used a soul skill.


    Tang Wulin cracked a small smile. ¡°You really want to know?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu nodded.


    ¡°Stay back a grade and I¡¯ll tell you,¡± said Tang Wulin.


    Yue Zhengyu stumbled. ¡°Stay back a grade?¡±


    Wait. If I stay back a grade as a second grade student, wouldn¡¯t I be joining the first grade class?


    ¡°Hey! We¡¯re not even allowed to repeat grades! We just get expelled if our scores are too low!¡± Yue Zhengyu grumbled. But Tang Wulin and Gu Yue hadn¡¯t heard a word of what he said. The cheers had drowned out his voice.


    The participants for the competition against the third grade was settled. For the one-on-ones, Yuanen Yehui, Wu Siduo, and Ye Xinglan would participate. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue would tag team for the two-on-two match. And for the team battle, the captain was Tang Wulin, vice captain Yuanen Yehui, and general members Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi. The competition was set to happen five weeks later.


    Despite all her training after the first defeat, Yuanen Yehui suffered a second today. As a result, she was more motivated than ever. The weight of defeat was heavy on her shoulders. She couldn¡¯t let there be a third.


    Aside from her loss, Yuanen Yehui still could not comprehend how Xie Xie had become so strong. She was familiar with Duan Hunxiao and Ye Xingmo¡¯s strengths and knew they shouldn¡¯t have lost so miserably. But Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan had controlled the tempo of battle throughout. Xie Xie¡¯s growth was remarkable. Be it speed or lethality, he was incomparable with his old self. The blazing might of his attacks when he went all out even gave her goosebumps. How is he so strong already? How are all of them growing so quickly?


    If Xie Xie could read Yuanen Yehui¡¯s mind, his answer would be conviction! He had the conviction to surpass her and win her heart.


    Meanwhile, Gu Yue sent worried glanced at Tang Wulin throughout their walk back to their dormitory. When they reached their rooms, she finally asked, ¡°Are you really okay?¡±


    ¡°Really. I swear I¡¯m fine. Just look at how thick my skin is!¡± Tang Wulin said, poking his arm. ¡°Right. Anyway, we¡¯ve got a day off tomorrow. Are you going to the Spirit Pagoda?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t have anything else planned but that,¡± Gu Yue said, a small nod.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly, scratching the back of his head. ¡°You sure know how to keep a secret! I never thought you would already be this strong! I¡¯m not even a match for you anymore. If you keep at it, the gap is just going to get larger from now on.¡±


    Gu Yue smirked. ¡°Anxious?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m worried about how many teeth I¡¯ll have left if I ever have to fight you!¡±


    Gu Yue was caught off guard, astonishment painting her face. There was a flicker of gloom that if Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been paying attention, he would have missed.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± he asked, his playful tone hardening.


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Do you have any plans tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Hmm. I think I might go visit Heaven Dou City. I¡¯ve saved up a lot of alloys these past few months, so it¡¯s a good chance to sell them, buy some more raw materials and get some pointers from my uncle-master.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Gu Yue blurted out.


    ¡°Huh? Oh, uh, sure! Yeah! Let¡¯s go!¡± Tang Wulin said, his look of surprise transforming into a huge grin. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to go out with her since the start of the academic year. They had been too busy with their own cultivation paths.


    Satisfied, Gu Yue said goodbye and returned to her room.


    When Tang Wulin entered his room, the reality of the situation finally hit him. He was nervous and full of anticipation for his outing with Gu Yue. Since he had received his mecha license from Wu Zhangkong, the two of them could fly straight to Heaven Dou City. He could be the dashing young man showing her the skies.

 Chapter 518 - A Date With Gu Yue

    Chapter 518 - A Date With Gu Yue


    In the evening, Tang Wulin rented out a specialized cultivation space as usual. He sat down cross-legged in the room meditating, attuning himself to nature. A soft blue glow enveloped him as bluesilver grass crept from the ground, rising to gently sway in the air.


    Goldsong slithered out along with the grass, boasting a blue aura as well. It was much larger than before, nearly reaching 1.5 meters. Although its body was still slender, it clearly hid a wealth of power. It was Tang Wulin¡¯s only soul skill, the one that had accompanied him until now. As he grew, so did it. It shared in the benefits of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s essence, otherwise it would not have been able to evolve to such an extent. In a sense, it had also inherited some of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline.


    In the end, soul power and soul rings were secondary to Tang Wulin¡¯s growth. What truly mattered was unlocking the full potential of his bloodline. Every seal broken allowed him to harness more of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power, and some of that power leaked into Goldsong. Tang Wulin understood the importance of it all too well, especially after breaking the fourth seal. Apart from Goldsong¡¯s physical growth, his bond with it had grown deeper. They could communicate on a more fundamental level now.


    In addition to empowering a soul master¡¯s martial soul, spirit souls could also physically manifest by borrowing their master¡¯s soul power to fight alongside them.


    Goldsong¡¯s transformation after the fourth seal was shocking. Not only did the effects of the soul skills it granted increase by half, it also gained a bloodline skill. The effects were exactly the same as Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Body, capable of instantly boosting Goldsong¡¯s physical abilities. Moreover, its version of the skill drew upon its own blood essence, and once depleted, it would need to absorb Tang Wulin¡¯s energies to recover. His appetite had grown once again after the fourth seal, and part of that was due to Goldsong¡¯s increased demand for his blood essence.


    So it was only natural that Goldsong wrapped its slender length around Tang Wulin, soaking up his soul power and blood essence. It was completely at ease, its head gently leaning against Tang Wulin¡¯s thighs. There was no hint of cold-bloodedness from this snake. Goldsong¡¯s eyes emenanted a gentle warmth as it snuggled up to its parent.


    Tang Wulin took in a deep breath, his chest rising high. The swaying grass froze. In an instant, they glowed gold like Goldsong. His bluesilver grass was evolving under the Golden Dragon King¡¯s influence! With each seal broken, they grew thicker, lusher, and more tyrannical. Inheriting the regal air of the Golden Dragon King, Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass gained the ability to demand obedience from lesser plant-type martial souls. A king of bluesilver grass.


    After holding that breath for nearly a minute, Tang Wulin finally let it out in one slow exhale. Then he repeated. In and out in accordance with the Mysterious Heaven Method.


    Not too long after, he opened his eyes and withdrew his bluesilver grass. Goldsong slithered up his body, coiling around his neck and rubbing its head on his cheek.


    Tang Wulin gazed at it warmly, a smile tugging at his lips as he stroked its head. This was the bond between a boy and a snake. ¡°You can stay out a bit longer if you want.¡±


    Goldsong shook its head. It transformed into light that started flowing into Tang Wulin. The golden pattern on his body pulsed with life before disappearing once Goldsong was completely back within him.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but smile. He could feel the strength of his bond with Goldsong cementing. Soon, he might be able to summon Goldsong to fight by his side.


    While this was already within Yuanen Yehui and Gu Yu¡¯s power, they benefited more by having their spirit souls empower their other abilities.


    Two conditions had to be met in order for a soul master to fight alongside their spirit soul. One, they had to have at least four soul rings, which was the threshold for when a spirit soul¡¯s intelligence was sufficiently developed for autonomous action. Two, the spirit soul was at least thousand-year level, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to participate in combat. An exceptionally intelligent spirit soul, one that the soul master had spent many years bonding with, was akin to having a second body. In fact, this was one of the greatest changes when a soul master advanced into a four-ringed Soul Ancestor. A summoned spirit soul increased their combat potential significantly. However, soul masters needed to become a Soul King before their spirit souls could truly fight on their own.


    In order to properly raise a spirit soul, a soul master needed a powerful bloodline, a vast capacity of soul power, and exceptional spiritual power. The last was to nurture the spirit soul¡¯s intellect. Tang Wulin undoubtedly ticked off all three of these checkboxes.


    As Tang Wulin took in the nature around him, his eyes twinkled. He pressed his palms together in front of his chest. The air around him warped. Bluesilver grass swarmed out like snakes, slithering into every corner of this cultivation space. A golden glow washed over the grass, scales and veins rising to its surface.


    I don¡¯t know how the competition against the third grade will go, but all I can do now is give it my all! Well¡­ I do have some time to drive a mecha to Heaven Dou City. Tang Wulin was filled with expectation. It would be his first time going out in a mecha, and Gu Yue would be accompanying him too. It was pretty much a date.


    Finishing up cultivating for the day, Tang Wulin left the cultivation space, trained his Purple Demon Eyes, and returned to the working student dormitory. It was still early in the morning, and the moment he walked through the dormitory gates, he caught sight of Xie Xie sweeping the courtyard.


    Seeing how earnestly Xie Xie was working, Tang Wulin¡¯s lips curved up in amusement. This guy just doesn¡¯t know how to give up! I hope things work out for him. He seems more confident now too. Really have grown a lot.


    Xie Xie stopped sweeping once he noticed Tang Wulin.¡°You¡¯re back early today! Shouldn¡¯t you take today¡¯s day off to cultivate more?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m only back early ¡®cause I¡¯m going out later to Heaven Dou City. You want me to get you anything?¡±


    Xie Xie shook his head as he resumed sweeping the ground. ¡°What could I need that I can¡¯t get here at Shrek? I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. He left for the girls¡¯ room and knocked on the door. He was sure that Ye Xinglan and Xu Xiaoyan were already up since they had cultivated their Purple Demon Eyes with him.


    The door swung open and Xu Xiaoyan poked her head out. ¡°Huh? Captain, what are you here so early for?¡±


    Tang Wulin flashed a smile. ¡°I¡¯m looking for Gu Yue. Is she up yet?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m up. Coming!¡± Gu Yue said from within.


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled and retreated back inside. A moment later, Gu Yue stepped out the doorway.


    One word described tang Wulin precisely: shocked. Her lush black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, giving her a more energetic look than usual. She wore a spotless white dress fitted to her emerging womanly curves, elegant without excess decorations. She wasn¡¯t a world-shaking beauty, but there was a certain charm about her, an air of nobility and grace.


    ¡°Y-you¡¯re really pretty today,¡± Tang Wulin stuttered.


    Gu Yue¡¯s face flushed faint red. ¡°Have you had breakfast yet?¡± she asked, averting her eyes and desperate to change the topic.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Nope. I came to get you first, then we¡¯ll go visit the Tang Sect.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Alright.¡± Gu Yue nodded.


    ¡°Ooooh! What¡¯s that? You guys going on a date?¡± Xie Xie teased.


    ¡°Go back to sweeping!¡± Gu Yue glared at him.


    Xie Xie instantly tucked tail and lowered his head, focusing on his work. Gu Yue had instilled fear into him through countless beatings over the years, and the scene of her wrath from the day before was still fresh in his mind. He didn¡¯t dare act too cocky around her.

 Chapter 519 - Tang Wulins Mecha

    Chapter 519 - Tang Wulin''s Mecha


    After eating breakfast, Tang Wulin called a taxi and soon he and Gu Yue were off to the Tang Sect.


    Mechas were gigantic, much too large to fit in Tang Wulin¡¯s current storage ring. In fact, most pilots needed a hangar specifically to house and maintain their mecha. Only the richest, most powerful pilots had spatial storage devices large enough to hold an entire mecha. Considering how much such a storage device would cost, Tang Wulin settled for a hangar.


    Once the taxi arrived at the Tang Sect, the two got out.


    ¡°I just need to go in and pick something up really quick,¡± Tang Wulin said, flashing a smile at Gu Yue. ¡°We¡¯ll head to Heaven Dou City as soon as I¡¯m done.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll wait out here.¡± Gu Yue didn¡¯t know what rules the Tang Sect had, but she was sure an outsider like her wouldn¡¯t be welcome.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed as he rushed into the grounds of the sect.


    The gates to the Tang Sect were simple. The only decoration adorning its austere appearance was the signboard that hung directly above them. On it were the words ¡®Tang Sect,¡¯ and in a smaller script below that was the name ¡®Huo Yuhao.¡¯


    Gu Yue she stared at the sign. Huo Yuhao was the legendary Spirit Ice Douluo and founder of the Spirit Pagoda. She furrowed her brow at the implication of his name being there, but she didn¡¯t dwell on it for long. Rather, she couldn¡¯t. She woke from her thoughts and turned her gaze up to the sky. She could hear a faint whistling in the air. It grew louder and louder, and soon enough, she saw a mecha flying over. In spite of the distance, she estimated it to be about ten meters tall. Its body was a bright yellow, a reflection of its grade. It slowed as it approached and eventually came to a stop a dozen meters above the ground, just in front of the door. Then it slowly descended to the ground. The landing was soft, nearly silent. For a hunk of metal like this, that was an unbelievable achievement. The mecha¡¯s pilot had superb control over it.


    Gu Yue took a few steps backward. Huh. So the Tang Sect has mecha pilots too.


    As a mecha designer, Gu Yue could immediately tell that the mecha¡¯s sleek design facilitated swift, nimble movements. It was a long-ranged mecha, so its primary weapon was the soul cannon on its back. The cannon itself was just over six meters long and was equipped in such a way that it could be readied and fired in an instant. It had a range of one kilometer and shot eighty millimeter rounds, each of which could match the power of a Soul Ancestor.


    The advent of mechas had displaced soul masters for a time since they gave ordinary people the ability to stand on even ground with soul masters. It was only with the creation of battle armor, the support of spirit souls, and their inherent physical superiority that soul masters were able to retake their throne as rulers of the continent. Even the strongest of ordinary people could generally only pilot mechas up to yellow-grade. Soul masters could pilot mechas of purple-grade and higher.


    When the mecha turned to face her, Gu Yue eyed it suspiciously. What¡¯s it looking at me for?


    An electronic voice boomed from the mecha. ¡°Hey pretty lady! Wanna go for a ride?¡±.


    Gu Yue¡¯s expression darkened and she turned around to leave. She had no doubt that she could take down this yellow-grade mecha. However, she had no choice but to suppress her anger to avoid causing trouble at the Tang Sect¡¯s doorstep.


    At that moment, the mecha raised a hand a shot a golden light at her.


    Gu Yue couldn¡¯t believe how brazen the pilot was being, and only then did she decide to take action. The golden light wrapped around her waist, but just as she was about to teleport away, she stopped. The light felt familiar. She looked down at her waist and realized it was actually a golden vine that glowed a faint blue.


    Gu Yue directed a glare at the mecha, just in time to see Tang Wulin get out of its cockpit.


    Tang Wulin waved at her, a radiant smile painted on his face, and yanked her over to him. Gu Yue yelped in surprise, and he caught her by the waist and set her down in the co-pilot¡¯s seat.


    Pilots operated mechas while standing for the sake of control. All of the interior equipment was firmly attached to the walls and floor of the cockpit. The only seat available, which was located just behind the pilot¡¯s operation space, was for the co-pilot. The cockpit was designed like that in case anything happened to the pilot. It enabled the co-pilot to take control of the mecha at a moment¡¯s notice. Such a configuration was useful for long-ranged artillery mechas. It was also handy when it came to transporting civilians. Many rich heirs to prestigious families had their own personal mechas that they used to bring girls on joyrides.


    Once she sat down in the leather seat and fastened her seat belt, Gu Yue rolled her eyes at Tang Wulin. ¡°You came all the way here to borrow a mecha?¡±


    Tang Wulin snickered. ¡°Nope! Not borrowing. This mecha is mine. I commissioned it from the Mecha Association and had the Tang Sect keep it for me. I¡¯m kind of afraid of trains now. I always get caught up in something whenever I ride one. And besides, even if trains are cheap, they can¡¯t beat a mecha for practicality.¡±


    ¡°Is this why you¡¯re taking the mecha-piloting class?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    ¡°Well, yes.¡± Tang Wulin scratched his chin and nodded.  ¡°But I can also use mechas and battle armor at the same time. If I have both, that¡¯s even more combat power! Teacher Wu said that the strongest soul masters are both battle armor masters and mecha pilots. That makes sense. And, uh, I always dreamed of becoming a mecha pilot when I was a kid. Since I actually can, I figured I might as well give it a try.


    ¡°Look! This entire mecha is made of thousand refined star iron. It¡¯s technically yellow-grade, but it was made using materials fit for a purple-grade mecha! The only difference is that I opted for a weaker circuit core. They¡¯re just way too expensive. Aside from the materials, this mecha was made according to the specifications of your typical yellow-grade mecha, and it still cost me loads of points, you know. And now you¡¯re my first passenger!¡±


    One of the reasons Tang Wulin had the Tang Sect keep his mecha for him was so he could practice piloting in the Battle Hall during his weekly visits. The training grounds for mechas here were much better than the ones at Shrek Academy too. The equipment they had, the courses and the drills they offered, all of it would allowed him to learn advanced skills faster. Thanks to his robust physique, Tang Wulin was already a skilled pilot that could easily execute complex maneuvers.


    The breastplate of the mecha closed, sealing the cockpit shut. Tang Wulin¡¯s hands danced across the dashboard, tapping screens and flicking switches to verify the mecha¡¯s status. The Tang Sect¡¯s maintenance crew was superb and there were no abnormalities in the mecha.


    Tang Wulin took out the ID card Wu Zhangkong gave him and stuck it into a slot. The mecha¡¯s interface beeped, and a few lines of green text appeared at the corner of the main screen. His mecha was now authorized to travel the continent.

 Chapter 520 - Together in the Mecha

    Chapter 520 - Together in the Mecha


    The Federation had strict laws regarding mechas. They were giant robots capable of mass destruction after all. Without any oversight, a low-grade mecha could easily lay waste to a few neighborhoods and cause countless casualties. As a result, getting a license to pilot a mecha was extremely difficult. Although it wasn¡¯t too hard to get a license to pilot a mecha in a single city, getting a continent-wide license like Tang Wulin¡¯s was a painstaking process for most.


    Tang Wulin had been approved for his continent-wide mecha authorization in only a few months because Wu Zhangkong recommended him through Shrek Academy. He also had his status as an Honored Citizen, as well as Mo Wu¡¯s referral. In fact, Tang Wulin¡¯s mecha license was worth more than his mecha.


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t aware of all that. He simply knew that this card allowed him to travel the entire continent in his mecha. As long as he followed the law, of course. If he caused any trouble, his license would immediately be revoked and his name would be blacklisted. Wu Zhangkong hadn¡¯t told Tang Wulin about any of this because he had utmost confidence in his disciple¡¯s moral character.


    Tang Wulin turned around to look at Gu Yue. ¡°Let¡¯s get going!¡±


    The cockpit of Tang Wulin¡¯s mecha was by no means large. The co-pilot¡¯s seat was right behind him. Gu Yue was petite, so she didn¡¯t take up much space, but that didn¡¯t mean it was comfortable. In this enclosed space, Gu Yue¡¯s womanly aroma filled the air, making Tang Wulin acutely aware of her.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Gu Yue nodded.


    The mecha took a step forward, jets of flame spouting out of its back, and an instant later, they were rocketing into the skies.


    Civilian mechas were limited an altitude of one thousand meters. Since this included his mecha, Tang Wulin stopped ascending once they reached an altitude of eight hundred meters. The mecha¡¯s three pairs of wings spread, and its main thrusters spewed flames. A moment later, he and Gu Yue were speeding toward the horizon, headed straight for Heaven Dou City.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mecha had navigation systems built in, as well as a radar to help avoid collisions with planes. His mecha would show up on other radars as well, and when it did, his identification card would be scanned, thus enabling him to fly through various areas safely. If he tried to fly over a city¡¯s airspace without that card, that city¡¯s anti-air defenses would immediately try to shoot him down, and a mecha squad would be sent to intercept him.


    ¡°Wow! Flying feels great!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    Gu Yue leaned over and took in his smiling face, a small smile forming on hers as well. From the moment he tried to show off his mecha by picking her up, she realized she found his boyish excitement amusing. It was rare for her to see him expressing such pure, childlike joy. She could tell just how much he loved mechas.


    The mecha settled into leisurely cruising speed as they flew toward Heaven Dou City. Cars and trains on the ground were practically motionless because of how fast they were going, and the landscape below became a blur. They experienced a bit of turbulence from time to time, but overall, the ride was a fairly smooth one, a clear testament to Tang Wulin¡¯s  skill as a pilot.


    ¡°So,¡± Tang Wulin said smugly, glancing back at Gu Yue. ¡°Aren¡¯t I just the coolest?¡±


    Gu Yue stifled a laugh. ¡°How come you didn¡¯t tell us you bought a mecha?¡±


    Tang Wulin snickered. ¡°It¡¯s my little secret! If I told everyone, wouldn¡¯t that just be flaunting how rich I am?¡±


    In truth, Tang Wulin really was quite rich. Owning a personal mecha was outside the realm of possibility for ordinary people.


    Gu Yue raised an eyebrow. ¡°Then why did you tell me? Aren¡¯t you worried I¡¯ll let your secret out?¡±


    ¡°No way,¡± Tang Wulin answered, nonchalantly taking the mecha through a barrel roll. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t do that.¡±


    His answer took Gu Yue by surprise. Then her smile slowly widened until it reached up all the way to her eyes.


    Tang Wulin was fully enjoying the feeling of soaring through the skies. While he did get a chance to fly a mecha during class training, the area he had been allowed to fly in was limited. Flying through the open skies was completely different. It satisfied a craving he never knew he had. He finally understood why so many men dreamed of soaring through the sky. It was a magical experience.


    Soul trains usually took two hours to travel from Shrek City to Heaven Dou City. It took Tang Wulin and Gu Yue only one hour aboard his mecha. By the time they reached Heaven Dou City, it wasn¡¯t even noon.


    After gaining entry to the city, Tang Wulin flew straight for the local Blacksmith¡¯s Association. He had called Zhen Hua beforehand and gotten permission to dock his mecha there. Once his mecha connected with the docking system, it gently landed on the roof of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. Only then did Tang Wulin let out a breath of relief. His first long distance flight had gone well.


    The cockpit opened and Tang Wulin and Gu Yue climbed out. As the two walked toward the elevator, Tang Wulin glanced back at his mecha proudly. He was a mecha pilot now.


    Right at that moment, something called out to him and he looked over at the other docked mechas that were in the middle of recharging. Beside his yellow mecha were two purple mechas and one black mecha. The fact that they were parked here meant their pilots were no ordinary people. But they weren¡¯t what caught his eye. As his gaze reached the very end of the docking area, Tang Wulin saw a gate to a subspace slowly closing. Before the gate closed completely, he caught a glimpse of a single mecha. The only thing he could really see were its legs. They were painted a deep scarlet.


    Tang Wulin was thunderstruck. W-was that a red-grade mecha?


    White-grade mechas were the basic, yellow-grade were standard-issue, purple-grade were high-end, and black-grade were top-notch. Red-grade mechas, however, were divinity incarnate. Their pilots had to personally make them, and they needed to be made of the highest quality of forged metals. They would then be bonded to their pilot¡¯s blood essence and soul power, linking it to their pilot¡¯s life force. Such a mecha would even be compatible with spirit souls, and could be further empowered by fusing with one.


    The number of red-grade mechas that existed on the entire continent could be counted on two hands! It was said that there were no limits to how powerful a red-grade mecha could be. It was even possible for one to face off with a three-word battle armor master. However, a soul master needed to at least be an eight-ring Soul Douluo to pilot a red-grade mecha. The requirements to even make one were even higher. In fact, it was as hard as crafting a full set of three-word battle armor, and even had some advantages over battle armor.


    It was generally accepted that battle armors were absolutely superior to mechas. That was only because red-grade mechas weren¡¯t taken into consideration.


    Tang Wulin was stunned. He could barely believe he had just laid eyes on a red-grade mecha. Its sleek form left him breathless.


    Right beside him, Gu Yue said, ¡°Is that one of those legendary red-grade mechas?¡±


    ¡°I think it is!¡± Tang Wulin nodded with excitement.  ¡°Let¡¯s go! We can ask my uncle-master about it. He¡¯s gotta know something. After that, it¡¯ll be time for me to train with him. Once I¡¯m done with that, I¡¯ll go sell off some metals and we can go sightseeing. I should be ready to meet up in the evening. Whatever you want to do tonight, I¡¯m game.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Gu Yue responded.


    The two took the elevator down to Zhen Hua¡¯s office using a special keycard that gave them access to his floor. When the doors opened, Tang Wulin ran out happily and knocked on Zhen Hua¡¯s door.


    ¡°I bet the kid¡¯s here,¡± Zhen Hua shouted from the other side of the door. ¡°Come on in!¡±


    Tang Wulin entered with Gu Yue right behind him. Zhen Hua was sitting at his desk. Someone was seated across from him.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed, instantly recognizing the man as the chef he saw last time he visited.


    The chef was a rugged man in his fifties. This time he wasn¡¯t dressed in a chef¡¯s outfit, but a traditional gray robe. The fact that he was casually sitting in the Divine Blacksmith¡¯s office proved he was no ordinary man.

 Chapter 521 - Divine Mecha (I)

    Chapter 521 - Divine Mecha! (I)


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯ve brought a guest!¡± Zhen Hua said, a welcoming smile forming on his lips. ¡°Wulin, why don¡¯t you introduce us?¡±


    Tang Wulin bowed slightly. ¡°Uncle-master, this is my classmate, Gu Yue.¡± Then he turned to her and said, ¡°Gu Yue, this is my uncle-master. That man is his friend.¡±


    Tang Wulin had already told Gu Yue about Zhen Hua¡¯s status as Divine Blacksmith, so he didn¡¯t bother mentioning it.


    Gu Yue stepped forward and bowed. ¡°Hello, Your Eminence.¡±


    Zhen Hua examined Gu Yue for a moment, then looked back at Tang Wulin, raising an eyebrow. ¡°And here I thought all you knew how to do was blacksmith and cultivate! I didn¡¯t think you knew how to get a girl! Not bad! Well, take a seat, girl. Make yourself at home.¡±


    Gu Yue smiled at Zhen Hua and nodded.


    ¡°Uncle-master, I saw a red mecha when we got here! It was awesome! I didn¡¯t get a good look at it though. Whose mecha is it? Is it yours?¡± Tang Wulin asked. Knowing how pricy black-grade mechas were, he could only imagine how much a red-grade mecha costed. They probably sported a price that ordinary people would never encounter in their lives. It was an unthinkable sum for even Soul Douluos, but it wouldn¡¯t have been strange for a Divine Blacksmith to pilot such a mecha.


    Zhen Hua shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not mine.¡±


    Tang Wulin hung his head in disappointment. He had hoped the red-grade mecha belonged to Zhen Hua so he could take a look at it.


    ¡°Oh, that reminds me. You flew here in a mecha, right?¡± Zhen Hua asked curiously. ¡°How did you find the time for mecha training?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve liked mechas since I was a kid!¡± Tang Wulin replied. ¡°And Teacher Wu said I can use mechas and battle armors at the same time, so I wanted to try it. I commissioned a yellow-grade mecha to be made at school.¡±


    Zhen Hua chuckled and shook his head. ¡°Your teacher isn¡¯t wrong, but remember! People don¡¯t have endless amounts of time and energy. It¡¯s easy to pilot yellow-grade mechas, but piloting higher-grade mechas is more difficult. You should be able to handle purple-grade, but black-grade will definitely be a challenge for you.


    With that, Zhen Hua launched into a lecture. ¡°Pilots need a high compatibility rate with top-tier mechas in order to demonstrate that mecha¡¯s full power. To do that, they need to have used said mecha for countless hours to grow familiar with it. They also need to be just as involved in the manufacturing and testing of that mecha. It takes just as much time to do that as it does to craft a set of battle armor. Many of the best battle armor masters also have mechas, but that¡¯s just because it¡¯s far too difficult for them to improve their battle armor any further. As a result, they spend their time on mechas instead. You shouldn¡¯t try to juggle so many things at your age. It¡¯s fine to have a yellow-grade mecha, but you shouldn¡¯t go any further than that. Mechas have their own charm, a charm I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll get addicted to. Just focus on becoming a battle armor master for now.¡±


    Zhen Hua¡¯s words hit Tang Wulin like a bolt of lightning. He¡¯s right! I¡¯ve been able to manage mecha training with the extra time I get thanks to the Battle Hall, but twelve hours a week won¡¯t be enough if I want to continue!


    ¡°Uncle-master, I understand,¡± he said. ¡°I mainly planned on using my mecha for transportation, so I you don¡¯t have to worry. I won¡¯t waste anymore time on mecha training.¡±


    Zhen Hua smiled. ¡°Having a good understanding of mechas doesn¡¯t hurt. At your current pace, you¡¯ll have no trouble finishing your battle armor once your cultivation increases. You can think about mechas again once you¡¯ve reached your peak as a battle armor master. Ah, right! You want to take a look at that red-grade mecha, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded excitedly.


    ¡°Great! I¡¯ll take you to see it on behalf of its owner.¡± Zhen Hua stood from his desk. ¡°It¡¯s always good to broaden your horizons. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Well aren¡¯t you generous!¡± the chef said, standing up as well.


    Zhen Hua let out a barking laugh as he went to the door of his office and led the way out.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue followed close behind him. Just the thought of seeing the red-grade mecha made Tang Wulin¡¯s blood boil with anticipation. Even Gu Yue had an air of excitement about her. After all, red-grade mechas were existences that stood at the peak of the world!


    When they got on the elevator, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Uncle-master, do you not have your own red-grade mecha?¡±


    Zhen Hua shook his head. ¡°My mecha is black-grade. You¡¯ll understand why that is when you reach a higher level. Getting a red-grade mecha is a troublesome thing. I can¡¯t spare any of my time because of the forging I need to do. That, and I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll get too absorbed in it. When a person gets a red-grade mecha, upgrading it to the limit becomes their life. Every pilot I know that has a one is like that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± the chef chimed in. Then he sighed. ¡°Red mechas really are a poison!¡±


    Tang Wulin glanced at the chef curiously. He couldn¡¯t fathom just how strange red mechas were. Even his uncle-master didn¡¯t dare make one. He had a feeling they were even greater than the legends made them out to be!


    Once they arrived at the roof, Zhen Hua led them to the spot where the spatial gate had been earlier. As soon as they reached it, the gate automatically opened. Zhen Hua didn¡¯t so much as lift a finger, and the red-grade mecha materialized from the gate, feet first.


    This time Tang Wulin got a more than just a good look at the mecha, and it was gorgeous. Its sleek frame shone spectacularly in the light. Gold lines ran along its scarlet armor, giving it an aura of magnificence. It was smaller than average mecha, the ankle joints seamlessly connecting its feet with the rest of its legs.


    The gate grew bigger and bigger, revealing more and more of its form, and Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. The mecha looked more like a giant metal man than a robot. Its slender form matched the proportions of a human, and it had no equipment on it. What truly shocked Tang Wulin was that, despite all the experience he had accumulated in blacksmithing, he couldn¡¯t identify what metals the mecha was made from. This meant the metals were far beyond spirit refined. They had to be soul refined at the very least.


    In just a few moments, the entirety of the mecha was revealed. It stood about six meters tall, several meters shorter than the usual mecha, but its body was much thinner too.


    Tang Wulin was in absolute awe. Unarmed, its scarlet body held a striking grace. He could barely consider it a mecha. It was more like a giant suit of armor that legends would speak of. It lacked the rugged, powerful exterior that other mechas had. Instead, it seemed more like a sculpted piece of art. People with more specific aesthetic tastes would find themselves hard-pressed to identify a flaw in it. This was a divine red-grade mecha!


    Zhen Hua walked over to Tang Wulin, amusement in his eyes. ¡°Can you see what¡¯s so special about it?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded subconsciously.


    ¡°Ruby,¡± the chef said as he stepped forward to stand beside them. The red mecha whirred to life, the golden lines running across its armor glowing brightly. The scarlet armor shone in the light.


    Then the mecha spoke, its voice gentle and feminine. ¡°Boss. What is your command?¡±


    It can talk? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes widened, his jaw dropping as he turned to the chef.


    The chef walked forward, stopping to stand right in front of the mecha. ¡°I don¡¯t have a command right now, but some kids here are interested in you. Show them just how different you are from other mechas.¡±


    The mecha replied in a sweet voice. ¡°Roger that, Boss.¡±

 Chapter 521 - Divine Mecha! (II)

    Chapter 521 - Divine Mecha (II)


    ¡°Roger that, Boss.¡± The mecha disappeared in a flash, only to reappear a second later, ten meters away.


    Tang Wulin stared at the mecha, eyes wide. Teleportation?


    ¡°Teleportation,¡± the chef grunted. ¡°That¡¯s one of its core functions. It can freely teleport anywhere in a one kilometer radius.¡±


    In another flash of crimson, the mecha landed on the ground and transformed into a sleek two-seater sports car. Then it transformed again, shooting into the sky to become a deadly fighter jet. It soared through the air for a moment, then vanished in another flash to reappear before the group in its humanoid form. However, it wasn¡¯t finished. Its arms began to spin, revealing countless soul cannons built into them. It sat down and transformed into a veritable fortress bristling with a main meter-long cannon and hundreds of smaller ones.


    Tang Wulin was blown away. Can this even be considered a mecha still? Teleporting? Transforming? What in the world? Just how much can it do? And it belongs to the chef?


    As the mecha returned to its original form, the crackle of its feminine voice split the air. ¡°Is that enough, Boss?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Ruby,¡± the chef said. ¡°That¡¯s enough. You can go back to resting.¡±


    In one final flash, Ruby, returned to its original position on the docking platform. The golden lines pulsing across its body grew dim, and it fell dormant.


    ¡°Once mechas reach a certain level, they essentially become the same kind of entities as spirit souls,¡±the chef said, turning to Tang Wulin. ¡°In fact, you can even fuse them with your spirit souls, which is what I did with my mecha. Now it¡¯s like an extension of my body. Even when I¡¯m not piloting it, it¡¯s just as effective in combat as when I do. With it, an infinite number of tactical possibilities present themselves. How could a mecha pilot resist that?¡±


    The chef gazed up at Ruby, eyes feverish with passion. He looked back to Tang Wulin again and said, ¡°You must choose carefully. If you decide to continue as a mecha pilot, you¡¯ll have to give up on other paths. I don¡¯t regret my decision. I love mechas.¡±


    The chef loved mechas so much that he gave up on becoming a battle armor master. He was a rank 94 soul master, which was great for someone his age, but was also far too low considering his identity and lineage. Yet he had no regrets. His love for mechas knew no bounds.


    For a few moments, everyone just stood there, basking in the mecha¡¯s magnificence.


    Tang Wulin gulped. Now that¡¯s a mecha! The peak of all mechas!


    Then the chef¡¯s voice snapped him out of his reverie.


    ¡°You can¡¯t take the same path as me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Wulin blurted. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You have true talent,¡± the chef said. ¡°The heavens have blessed you, and the path of mechas does not suit you. Red mechas may be powerful, but still they cannot beat four-word battle armors. They just can¡¯t. Even red-grade mechas have their limits. Well, that isn¡¯t exactly right. Some believe that a level beyond red-grade mechas exists. I¡¯ve strived toward that for many years but have barely made any headway. No one in our time will ever be able to reach it. You, on the other hand, will have no problem becoming a four-word battle armor master. It will be far easier for you to do that than pioneer the next level of mechas.¡±


    Then the chef¡¯s words took on a harsher tone. ¡°You don¡¯t know how to make mechas. You¡¯re already a fifth-rank blacksmith, so it¡¯s already too late for you to switch to being a mecha maker. The best mechas need to be personally made by their pilot. I¡¯m a mecha maker myself, as are all of the other red-grade mecha pilots. Tell me, do you think you should become a mecha maker?¡±


    Tang Wulin was speechless. He¡¯s right! I can¡¯t just quit being a blacksmith! I¡¯ve already been smithing for years, and the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power makes me great at it. I can¡¯t waste nine years of progress just for mechas. Who knows how long it¡¯ll take me to become a fifth-rank mecha maker?


    He looked over at Zhen Hua, finally realizing why he had brought him to see the red mecha.


    Zhen Hua looked Tang Wulin straight in the eye. ¡°Wulin, you must remember to never stray from the path you choose. Deviating from it will only lead to disaster. Countless geniuses have risen throughout history, but many of them strayed from their path because they were simply too talented. They chose to pursue too many things at once and lost sight of their path. In the end, such foolishness made them lose everything. When they tried to focus on a single path once more, it was already too late. Do not grow complacent. Be strict with yourself, and throw all of your being into the path you choose. Do you understand?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide with comprehension. ¡°Yes, Uncle-master. I understand.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Zhen Hua continued, his stern expression melting into a gentle smile. ¡°I speak for myself and on behalf of your teachers when I say this. All of us are watching you grow and doing our best to lead you down the correct path. You¡¯re progressing just fine as a blacksmith. All you need now is time. Do you remember how you chose not to boost your cultivation with medicines? In doing so, you had already decided on the path of a battle armor master. You will one day become a four-word battle armor master and stand at the top of the world. When that day comes, you¡¯ll have the time to do whatever interests you. Getting a mecha for transportation was a good idea, but do not delve any deeper until you have the time for it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Uncle-master!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    ¡°You¡¯re a clever kid, Wulin,¡± Zhen Hua said. ¡°I won¡¯t lecture you any longer.¡±


    It was then that the chef spoke up, breaking the tension. ¡°Well, it¡¯s almost noon, so I¡¯ll cook us lunch!¡±


    He walked over to the rear of his mecha and pressed a button. In a sudden flash of light, box dropped from the belly of the mecha, landing on the floor with a thud. The box was a meter in length on all sides. The mecha clearly had a built-in spatial storage, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t have had room for the box.


    Tang Wulin rushed over to help, but the chef waved him away.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± he said. ¡°I can do it myself.¡±


    With a swift kick, the lid of the box came flying off, and the chef caught it in one hand. Then he and the box disappeared. He hadn¡¯t vanished in a flash of teleportation, but a blur of sheer speed.


    The chef truly was a strange person. He was powerful enough to have a red-grade mecha, yet he chose to spend his time cooking.


    Zhen Hua tracked the chef¡¯s leaving figure and quietly said, ¡°Jeez, that guy! He gets distracted way too easily.¡± Then he glanced at Tang Wulin. ¡°He¡¯s just as talented as you are, you know, but he¡¯s never been able to cross the threshold and become a Hyper Douluo. He just has too many things on his mind. He agreed to show you his mecha today because he wanted to serve as an example of what not to do. Considering his background, he should have been able to stand at the very peak of the continent.¡±


    ¡°Just who is he, Uncle-master?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Zhen Hua gave him a wry smile. ¡°You can ask him yourself when we eat. You¡¯ve actually caused him a bit of trouble for a while now. When he found out you were coming today, he rushed over and prepared ingredients that even I wouldn¡¯t normally be able to eat.¡±


    ¡°Because of me?¡± Tang Wulin tilted his head in confusion.


    Zhen Hua nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot to digest, so I won¡¯t be teaching you blacksmithing today. Let¡¯s go wait for the food.¡±


    On the short trip back to Zhen Hua¡¯s office, Tang Wulin was filled with curiosity. Just who is that chef? Uncle-master said he couldn¡¯t become a Hyper Douluo, but that means he¡¯s still a Titled Douluo! And he has a red-grade mecha! He¡¯s gotta be famous. He''s probably as strong as grandteacher! Hm. But it seems like Uncle-master feels sorry for him. I wonder why?


    Curiosity quickly became doubt, and they arrived at the office. Zhen Hua led them past his working area and into a dining room, then to a waiting table where they sat down. Tang Wulin sat beside Gu Yue, and Zhen Hua across from them, an empty chair for the chef beside him. After an hour of waiting, the chef brought out a whole spread of delicacies, each intricately assembled in appetizing ways. The aromas that wafted from the foods sang to Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach.


    The first dish to be served was soup. A clear broth with a sweet fragrance was ladled into four separate bowls and placed before everyone at the table.


    Zhen Hua¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as he saw the dish, and he chuckled. ¡°Wulin, I¡¯m really lucky to have you here today! This is immortal spirit mushroom soup. It¡¯s amazing stuff!¡±


    Immortal spirit mushroom? Tang Wulin¡¯s mind stirred as he recognized the name.

 Chapter 522 - Stability

    Chapter 522 - Stability


    Immortal spirit mushrooms were the kings of mushrooms. They only grew in locations where extreme amounts of yin and yang converged, and such locations were extraordinarily rare. It was hard for its spores to survive on the earth, but when they did and the mushroom itself formed, it was instantly at the thousand-year level. Every year of growth after the mushroom¡¯s formation was equivalent to a thousand years of cultivation until it reached the ten-thousand-year level. At that point, the mushroom would no longer be able to contain the energies it developed, and that energy would rapidly fade away. Immortal spirit mushrooms could not develop sentience, but they naturally condensed all of their energies once they hit the limit of how much they could contain. Only after they did that, effectively shrinking themselves, were they ripe for harvest.


    These mushrooms were even rarer than ten-thousand-year soul beasts. The conditions needed to grow one were far too harsh, but if a person put in the blood and sweat required to do so, they would be rewarded handsomely. Immortal spirit mushrooms balanced the yin and yang in the body of the being that ingested them. Put simply, they stabilized the energies of the body. This significantly lowered the chances of a soul master experiencing cultivation deviation and suffering irreparable damage, and also made it easier for them to breakthrough to the next level.


    This mushroom couldn¡¯t be considered mere food. It was a divine treasure!


    A single immortal spirit mushroom bobbed up and down in each of their soup bowls, painting the clear broth a soft tan. Although everyone at the table had been served a mushroom, the one in Tang Wulin¡¯s was clearly the largest and most nutritious.


    ¡°Here, Uncle-master!¡± Tang Wulin quickly exclaimed. ¡°I¡¯ll trade you mine.¡±


    Zhen Hua smiled. ¡°I appreciate your respect, but the chef gave you that mushroom. I couldn¡¯t possibly steal his kindness from you. Hurry up and drink it. Immortal spirit mushrooms aren¡¯t just nutritious. They¡¯re also super delicious.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded and spooned himself a mouthful. The moment the broth touched his tongue, he felt as though he were floating on clouds, as if all his burdens had been lifted from his shoulders. His face flushed crimson as he forced himself to swallow down the heavenly soup, and he immediately began gasping for breath.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Zhen Hua chuckled.  ¡°That¡¯s just the mushroom purifying your body. I was like that when I drank this soup the first time too, but I made it out fine. It happens to everyone.¡± Then he turned to Gu Yue, ready to reassure her in the same way, when his eyes widened. ¡°Huh? Girl, have you eaten immortal spirit mushrooms before?¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. Unlike Tang Wulin, she had shown no reaction to drinking the soup.


    Zhen Hua¡¯s gaze sharpened. Immortal spirit mushrooms could not be obtained by any ordinary person. He himself had to go to great lengths to obtain some!


    ¡°Uncle-master, Gu Yue is a member of the Spirit Pagoda,¡± Tang Wulin hurriedly explained. ¡°She¡¯s also the direct disciple of the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo.¡±


    Zhen Hua blanched at the sudden explanation, and it took him a moment to collect himself. ¡°So you¡¯re her disciple, huh? No wonder. Well, that¡¯s just fantastic!¡±


    Zhen Hua had no grudges against the Spirit Pagoda. As the continent¡¯s only Divine Blacksmith, he had to forge strong relationships with every major power. In fact, those powers were the ones who approached him first. They had no choice but to do so. He was the one who created every set of modern four-word battle armor..


    Gu Yue simply nodded once more. Not a single word left her mouth.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin was surprised to find that he was nearly full after finishing his soup. He was beginning to understand just how potent the immortal spirit mushroom was. He felt like all the pores on his body had opened up and he was now breathing through all of them. With each breath he took, he felt lighter. Impurities left his body bit by bit, his soul power grew, and even his blood essence became purer.


    Tang Wulin had absorbed most of the energies from the fourth seal already, but some still resided in his bones. With the help of the immortal spirit mushroom, his body was rapidly absorbing the last bits of it. He was overjoyed with the progress. Eating truly was a form of cultivation for him.


    More dishes were served after the soup, eight in total. Each was small, but had been made with the finest, most treasured ingredients, all packed full of nutrients and exquisite flavor. After finishing all the food, for the first time in his life, Tang Wulin felt bloated. He lay on the floor in a food coma, sweating profusely. He could already tell that he wouldn¡¯t need to eat dinner that evening. His body would still be digesting this meal.


    Tang Wulin could hardly believe how satisfied he felt. His body usually digested anything he ate as soon as he ate it, and was always hungry for more. All the treasures he had just eaten, however, were enough to stuff him full. He knew that breaking the fifth seal would be much easier now.


    ¡°The food was great!¡± Tang Wulin said to the chef, reverence in his eyes. ¡°Thank you!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me.¡± The chef smiled.¡°But I do have something I want to talk to you about.¡±


    ¡°Sure! Whatever you need!¡±


    The chef paused for a moment, then stood from his chair. ¡°Let¡¯s get some privacy first. Follow me.¡±


    Although Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know what this was about, he trusted his stomach, and his stomach told him this chef was a good guy. He hastily got up to follow the man.


    But right at that moment, a bell rang throughout Zhen Hua¡¯s dining room.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Zhen Hua furrowed his brow. None would normally disturb him during meals. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°President, a situation is developing in the hall!¡± a frantic voice came from outside the door. ¡°Some people are here to cause trouble!¡±


    ¡°Alright. Come in and tell me about it.¡±


    A middle-aged man quickly entered the room and walked over to Zhen Hua. ¡°President, two unidentified people are here, one old and one young. The older one seems to be a Saint Blacksmith. He issued a blacksmithing challenge. However, he isn¡¯t the one participating in the challenge. The younger one is, a child that looks to be about fifteen or sixteen years old.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Zhen Hua raised an eyebrow. Throughout his years as President of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, this was the first time someone came to issue a challenge.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go take a look,¡± Zhen Hua said, standing up and turning to the chef. ¡°You guys can go ahead. I¡¯ll join you after I handle this.¡±


    The chef frowned. ¡°If they dare to challenge the Blacksmith¡¯s Association, they must have a reason to be so confident. I¡¯ll come with you. My business with Tang Wulin can wait.¡±


    Zhen Hua looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue followed right behind the two, and all four took the elevator to the hall at ground level. The elevator doors opened to reveal that the hall was packed with burly blacksmiths.


    ¡°President!¡±


    ¡°Thank god you¡¯ve come, President!¡±


    The men hastily paid their respects to Zhen Hua as they parted to make a path to the center of the hall. There, an old man and young lady stood alone. The man looked to be in his sixties or seventies and sported a head of white hair. He had a large, muscular build and a pair of sharp eyes. The girl was a pretty young woman with a mature figure that belied her youth. The part of her that stood out the most, however, were her hands. Her fingers were long and thin, skin fair as marble, but in spite of their tender beauty, they were quite large, nearly matching the size of a man¡¯s hands yet far more slender.


    The two gazed out into the crowd, watching it part, and their eyes eventually drifted over to Zhen Hua¡¯s party of four. The old man looked straight at Zhen Hua in particular.


    ¡°Are you Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua?¡± he asked.


    Zhen Hua smiled and nodded. ¡°And who might you be?¡±


    ¡°My name is Zhanggong Yan,¡± he said. ¡°My background does not matter. I have come here today to issue a challenge to the Blacksmith¡¯s Association¡¯s rising generation. I want to see if you have a young blacksmith talented enough to match my disciple.¡±

 Chapter 523 - Tang Wulins Battle

    Chapter 523 - Tang Wulin''s Battle


    Zhen Hua crossed his arms and frowned. ¡°Our association is a place for exchanges between blacksmiths, so we can, indeed, have a match. However, we should take this elsewhere so we don¡¯t disturb the others.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zhanggong Yan said. ¡°I just wanted to see if the Blacksmith¡¯s Association lived up to its fame. Are you telling me the Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua himself, is afraid of losing?¡±


    Disgruntled shouts rang through the crowd. Zhen Hua was a sacred symbol for the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. None of the blacksmiths here could forgive anyone who besmirched his name.


    Zhen Hua raised a hand to calm the crowd. ¡°Alright then, sir. How would you like this match to be conducted?¡±


    Zhen Hua had been challenged right in the middle of the lobby of the association¡¯s headquarters. He had no choice but to accept. If he didn¡¯t, the association¡¯s prestige would fall. Whatever the case was, he needed details.


    Zhanggong Yan pointed to the girl at his side. ¡°This is my disciple, Lin Yuhan. I want a fair competition between her and your greatest talent under twenty years of age. If you win, we¡¯ll join your association and obey your assignments.¡±


    Zhen Hua smiled, his gaze unwavering. ¡°And if we lose?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Zhanggong Yan replied. ¡°The great Zhen Hua acknowledging that he lost is good enough.¡±


    While the proposed conditions seemed fair, and even advantageous, for Zhen Hua, there was actually a trap. Obeying Zhen Hua¡¯s assignments was only a vague condition at best, and Zhen Hua acknowledging a loss was no laughing matter. He was the Divine Blacksmith of this generation, the greatest blacksmith alive, and the President of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. Him acknowledging a loss, that was the same as the entire association acknowledging a loss!


    ¡°No way!¡± one of the cleverer blacksmiths in the crowd shouted. ¡°That¡¯s not fair at all!¡±


    As soon as others began to echo the sentiment, Zhen Hua shouted, ¡°Everyone calm down!¡± Once silence blanketed the hall again,  Zhen Hua looked back to Zhanggong Yan. ¡°I accept your conditions. However, you don¡¯t have to join my association if you lose. It¡¯s fine if just you continue to have friendly exchanges with our members. All blacksmiths are part of one family. For us, nothing matters but reaching the pinnacle of our craft.¡±


    Zhanggong Yan¡¯s stiffened at Zhen Hua¡¯s lofty words. He stared into the Divine Blacksmith¡¯s eyes, searching for weakness, but all he saw was absolute confidence.


    ¡°Prepare two blacksmithing tables!¡± Zhen Hua ordered the nearby staff members.


    ¡°Yes!¡± they responded, and in a short few minutes, two tables were arranged in the center of the hall.


    ¡°President Zhen Hua, which youngster will be your representative?¡± Zhanggong Yan asked.


    Zhen Hua cracked a thin smile. ¡°Come here, Wulin.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Uncle-master!¡± Tang Wulin walked over to one of the tables. Many in the crowd instantly recognized him. His achievements from his previous visit had caused quite a stir.


    Zhanggong Yan furrowed his brow. This kid looks even younger than Yuhan! She¡¯s a once-in-a-century genius. Can he match her?


    Lin Yuhan stood opposite Tang Wulin, behind the other table. When she saw that he seemed to be around the same age as her, and how handsome he was, her mind froze. She was dumbstruck.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s charm had grown with each year that passed. His large, bright eyes and the high bridge of his nose lent a feeling of warmth to his handsome features. He gave off a sunny aura that could attract the attention of any girl.


    ¡°Brother Zhanggong,¡± Zhen Hua said. ¡°How do you want to conduct the match?¡±


    ¡°The simplest way to measure a blacksmith¡¯s ability is how well they can refine metal,¡± Zhanggong Yan said. It was obvious he had a plan from the very start, so he didn¡¯t feign ignorance.  ¡°Let¡¯s have two rounds. In the first, our side will choose a metal for both parties to forge. Then, for the second round, you will choose. After both rounds are complete, we¡¯ll see who did better. There are plenty of skilled individuals here, and President Zhen Hua, you¡¯re the only living Divine Blacksmith. Deciding the winner should be easy.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhen Hua agreed, not bothering to fuss over the details, and he stepped away from the center of the hall. Like Zhanggong Yan, he had absolute faith in his disciple. He couldn¡¯t even imagine a scenario in which Tang Wulin would lose.


    ¡°Please pick the metal,¡± Tang Wulin said, gesturing toward Lin Yuhan.


    Her answer was immediate. ¡°I choose blue coppertite.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes widened a bit. Blue coppertite was among the most difficult metals to forge. Its chaotic internal structure demanded all of a blacksmith¡¯s attention. Refining it was simply a headache.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°As you wish.¡±


    A moment later, two chunks of blue coppertite of roughly the same size were delivered to their tables. Be it Zhen Hua, Zhanggong Yan, or any of the other experts in the audience, all could tell at a glance that the two chunks of metal were nearly identical.


    Lin Yuhan glanced at Tang Wulin, to which Tang Wulin responded with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡±


    Lin Yuhan turned her gaze to the table before her and focused on the coppertite. All that reflected in her sapphire eyes was its metal.


    She held both her hands out, and a pair of lustrous blue hammers appeared in a flash of light. A spiral pattern danced along their lengths, showing that their internal structure had been thoroughly shaped. They brimmed with life, filling the air with a faint buzzing. These were a pair of spirit refined blue coppertite hammers!


    A shiver ran down Tang Wulin¡¯s spine. This isn¡¯t going to be as easy as I thought. She¡¯s gotta be talented if she can use blue coppertite hammers!


    Gaze hardening, he held his hands out as well and summoned his spirit refined heavy silver hammers.


    Zhanggong Yan heaved a sigh of relief. He had expected Tang Wulin to be talented since he earned the confidence of Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua, but heavy silver simply couldn¡¯t compare to blue coppertite. The two just weren¡¯t on the same level. Hammers were the most important tool for blacksmiths. A difference in their quality would lead to a significant difference in the metals they produced.


    After the two chunks of blue coppertite finished calcining, they sprang out of the furnace within the table. As soon as they landed, both young blacksmiths leaped into action, mirroring each other as they tapped the coppertite with their left hammers.


    The effect, however, was completely different. Three soft dings resounded from Tang Wulin¡¯s strike, the effect of stacked hammers. Lin Yuhan¡¯s strike, on the other hand, gave off a faint hum. The spirals of her hammers and the coppertite they were made from constantly moved. They were rippling, almost writhing in place. This was the special effect of her own hammers: nurture! Nurture wasn¡¯t particularly effective against most metals, but when used on blue coppertite, it could produce astonishing results.


    Zhen Hua furrowed his brow. These guys really were prepared!


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t pay attention to Lin Yuhan. As soon as the match began, he was in his own world. The only things that existed were him and the chunk of blue coppertite before him. Only like this could he reach his maximum potential. He couldn¡¯t afford to do any less than that. He was representing his uncle-master and the entire Blacksmith¡¯s Association! Defeat was not an option.

 Chapter 524 - Rivals

    Chapter 524 - Rivals


    As Tang Wulin got into the flow of blacksmithing, his arms became whips. He brought his hammers crashing down with roaring thunder and soon conjured a whirlwind around him. The blue coppertite shuddered with each booming blow, each impact spreading to shake the hall. With the stacked hammers effect amplifying each strike, Tang Wulin¡¯s blacksmithing table was like the target of a soul cannon bombardment.


    Lin Yuhan was the complete opposite. While Tang Wulin was a raging tempest, she was a steady mountain.


    Lin Yuhan¡¯s hammers crackled with electricity and pounded the energy into the coppertite. Every time they struck, they rested on the blue coppertite for one second, showing no sign of rebounding off of it. The swirling pattern on the metal changed rapidly under this purification of lightning.


    Zhen Hua eyes hardened as he observed all of this. She has a lightning-attribute martial soul!


    Refining a metal with lightning was an extremely difficult process that required exceptional skill. Lin Yuhan had to have extraordinarily high spiritual power to execute this method of refining.


    As the two young blacksmiths continued hammering away, Zhanggong Yan and Zhen Hua stared at each other¡¯s disciples in awe.


    Zhanggong Yan couldn¡¯t feel any soul power fluctuations from Tang Wulin. This meant Tang Wulin was forging with pure strength of muscle! Although he didn¡¯t think much of the heavy silver hammers, he was well aware of the fact that heavy silver became exceptionally heavy once they were spirit refined. Yet the hammers were whirling through the air as though they weighed nothing and crashing down upon the metal with at least ten thousand kilograms of weight!


    This left Zhanggong Yan in absolute awe of Tang Wulin¡¯s innate divine strength. Anyone who possessed innate divine strength were undoubtedly suited to blacksmithing. They would always hold an advantage over other blacksmiths. Soon enough, he also noticed how Tang Wulin delivered each strike perfectly, landing them in the best place to disperse the waves within the coppertite. He clearly had a high comprehension of metals.


    Damn! The Blacksmith¡¯s Association had a genius after all! He has to at least be at the fourth rank. No wonder Zhen Hua was so confident.


    A boom echoed from the center of the hall, and beams of light soared from the two forged pieces of coppertite at the exact same time. A minute had yet to even pass, and they had already finished hundred refining their metals. Both pieces of blue coppertite were much purer than before, but neither competitor showed any sign of stopping. Both were still wholly focused on their work, not sparing so much as a single glance to the other.


    In spite of the violent tempest that was Tang Wulin raging right in front of her, Lin Yuhan maintained a steady pace. She delivered swift, electrifying strikes to her metal. Her hammers crackled with increasing intensity as time went on, and as she poured more soul power into them, her soul rings rose one by one. In total, four appeared. All were purple. She was a four-ringed Soul Ancestor! Considering how old she was, that made her a genius soul master as well!


    Lin Yuhan¡¯s eyes saw only the blue coppertite. She wielded her hammers as extensions of her own body, bringing them down time and time again. Every strike thundered five times each, imbuing the coppertite with electrical might.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s storm raged on, each hammer strike crashing down upon the metal like meteors upon the earth. The blue coppertite visibly transformed with each strike.


    Their blacksmithing styles were completely different, but their goal was the same: Refine the metal!


    It was then that a pair of overlapping booms rang out, happening so close together that it was nearly impossible to distinguish between the two. Both pieces of coppertite had been first-grade thousand refined! Beams of light shot up from the metals, rising a meter and a half high. There were no clear differences between the beams of light. They had even risen at the same time.


    Tang Wulin and Lin Yuhan finally stopped forging for a moment, looking up from their respective tables to lock eyes with one another. They were astonished that their opponent had achieved such a feat and had to acknowledge each other as equals.


    However, the fact that Zhanggong Yan dared to challenge the Blacksmith¡¯s Association meant that thousand refining couldn¡¯t possibly be the limit of Lin Yuhan¡¯s abilities. In much the same way, this couldn¡¯t be Tang Wulin limit either. He was talented enough to represent the illustrious Blacksmith¡¯s Association and earn Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua¡¯s recognition.


    The moment passed and the two returned to their work with renewed vigor.


    Lin Yuhan¡¯s hammers hummed with power as they steadily came down over and over. The light around her piece of blue coppertite fluctuated, answering the song of her smithing.


    Zhen Hua frowned. Forging blue coppertite with hammers made of blue coppertite was undoubtedly an advantage, and that was especially true with hammers that possessed the nurture effect. Lin Yuhan would have an easier time spirit refining blue coppertite, and the odds of her succeeding were much higher as well. It wouldn¡¯t be easy for Tang Wulin to defeat her in this round.


    Tang Wulin, on the other hand, didn¡¯t hold any particular advantage. In fact, his torrent of hammer strikes had slowed down. Three purple soul rings rose from beneath him, and only then was he prepared to begin spirit refining.


    Zhanggong Yan¡¯s lips pressed into a thin smile at the sight of Tang Wulin¡¯s three rings. As a blacksmith advanced, soul power became more and more critical. A few ranks of it could mean the difference stagnation and progression.


    All of the blacksmiths in the crowded hall were stunned by the talent of their two young peers. Tang Wulin¡¯s foundation was unbelievably strong and seemed to have come straight out of a textbook. He had laser focus and always hammered the blue coppertite in the spot that would most effectively call forth the metal¡¯s life and spirit.


    As the two continued to steadily forge, the auras of their blue coppertites began to diverge. The spiral pattern on Lin Yuhan¡¯s piece of blue coppertite was perfectly symmetrical and orderly on all sides. The electric might of her strikes no longer served to purify the metal, but instead charge it with energy, dying its spirals black. Gazing at it now, sparks bursting from its surface, was like peering into a world of storms.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s blue coppertite looked beautiful as well, but it was clearly no match for Lin Yuhan¡¯s. Everyone could tell that even if he succeeded in spirit refining it, the end product wouldn¡¯t hold a candle to hers. The difference in equipment and methodologies was too great.


    The clock ticked on, and soon half an hour passed. Lin Yuhan swung both her hammers down as she did before, but this time was different. The moment they touched the coppertite, a deafening rumble filled the hall. Lightning surged through the hammers and into the metal. It shuddered from the infusion, and wisps of lightning danced across the surface as it glowed with life. A ring of light manifested around it, a faint cry of joy marking the metal¡¯s birth. She had successfully spirit refined the blue coppertite!


    Lightning continued to crackle and arc around Lin Yuhan¡¯s body for several minutes after she finished before finally fading into nothing. Her piece of blue coppertite was now one-third its original size and was a deep, dazzling blue. The spirals churned with life, like an electricity-charged whirlpool in the sea.


    This was no ordinary spirit refined metal. It was an element-imbued! In addition to its original properties, the metal now possessed the power of lightning! It was worth at least triple that of normal spirit refined blue coppertite. The fact that a teenager no more than sixteen years old had forged this metal was jaw-dropping. Not even a fifth-rank blacksmith could achieve such a feat. At that moment, everyone watching was thinking the same thing: Tang Wulin had lost. He had yet to finish spirit refining, and he only had three soul rings in comparison to Lin Yuhan¡¯s four! No one saw any way he could win this round.

 Chapter 525 - Spirit Refined and Nurtured Life

    Chapter 525 - Spirit Refined and Nurtured Life


    Tang Wulin was completely focused. The only thing that mattered was his craft. Every swing of his hammers was filled with purpose. Time mattered not. His work was slow but thorough as he coaxed the blue coppertite to life.


    The clock ticked on, and soon another half hour passed. Tang Wulin had been forging twice as long as his opponent had, and only then did a gentle glow finally appear around the coppertite. The spirals on the coppertite¡¯s surface danced, swirling across it until they gathered at the front of the metal. The spirals were a pure blue, the same as the sparkling sea. The coppertite had not a single mar and life energy radiated from it in waves.


    Lin Yuhan stared wide-eyed. She had been watching Tang Wulin work ever since she finished, barely starting to understand just how skilled her opponent was. She originally believed he didn¡¯t stand a chance at winning this round, especially since he was taking more than twice as long as she had. Even if he succeeded in spirit refining the blue coppertite, she hadn¡¯t seen any way his piece could surpass the quality of hers. The fact that he was taking so long meant his chances of success were low, and there was no way Zhen Hua could skew the results with so many people watching.


    However, Lin Yuhan was now shaken to the core of her being. While she had granted her coppertite life, Tang Wulin was calling forth the life within his! Instead of simply using his soul power to give his coppertite life, he had been nurturing the ember of sentience that had appeared when he thousand refined it.


    There were many ways to spirit refine a metal. Tang Wulin was using the most difficult way, the one that produced metals with the most powerful life energy, and greatest spirit. It was an extremely difficult method that required vast amounts of both soul power and life energy. It was impossible for most blacksmiths to use it since martial souls related to life energy were rare, and none dared pay the cost with their own life energy. Tang Wulin was only able to use it because of his wealth of blood essence.


    Zhanggong Yan furrowed his brown, frowning as he watched Tang Wulin forge. He couldn¡¯t help but think there was some deeper meaning to him choosing such a difficult method. It was unthinkable for a three-ringed soul master to succeed. The only chance of success he saw was in Tang Wulin¡¯s dense soul power, which seemed unaffected as he continued to forge.


    It wasn¡¯t until half an hour later that Tang Wulin suddenly took a deep breath and slammed both his hammers onto the blue coppertite. The metal cried with joy, the wails of a newborn child. Life energy burst from it, so dense that nearly tangible motes of energy floated in the air, rushing into Tang Wulin¡¯s body. The child was repaying its parent for granting it the gift of life! It was spirit refined with life, the highest level possible for spirit refined metals!


    Zhen Hua gawked at the sight. He can already spirit refine to such a degree?


    Cheers erupted from the crowd. Every blacksmith in the hall was proud of their young colleague¡¯s accomplishment. In the midst of it all, a small smile tugged at Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth. After so long, his soul power was nearing rank 40. Having been compressed and purified by the Mysterious Heaven Method and influenced by his bloodline, his soul power was much more potent than other soul masters at his level. His understanding of life far exceeded that of his peers as well, a testament to the countless hours he spent in Shrek Academy¡¯s specialized cultivation space immersing himself in the vibrant life of plants. He infused all this into his hammers to produce his latest shining achievement. His spirit refining success rate already surpassed most fifth-rank blacksmiths, especially when spirit refining with life.


    Although Tang Wulin had taken much longer than Lin Yuhan, his product was of higher quality. It also had potential for growth. While it could never be soul refined, it could still be used to forge an alloy. The value of spirit refined metal that possessed life was far beyond that of ordinary spirit refined metal.


    The gentle hum of Tang Wulin¡¯s coppertite persisted a full minute before slowly fading. This piece wasn¡¯t as dazzling as Lin Yuhan¡¯s, but it had an aura to it that pulsed with life, just like a heart. It was enchanting to all who looked upon it.


    Lin Yuhan opened her mouth to speak, clearly unable to accept this result, but no words came out.


    Zhen Hua walked over to Tang Wulin, a proud smile plastered on his face. He picked up the piece of blue coppertite and examined it. ¡°Not bad. You¡¯ve improved.¡±


    Tang Wulin grinned, then sat down cross-legged on the floor. He immediately began meditating, seeking to recover his strength after that hour-and-a-half of intense forging. He was exhausted in both mind and body.


    ¡°What do you say, Brother Zhanggong?¡± Zhen Hua asked, turning his gaze to the elderly man.


    ¡°It looks quite good. I¡¯ll concede this round to you,¡± Zhanggong Yan said with a hint of bitterness on his face. He thought his disciple was guaranteed to win this round, yet they had been defeated.


    Both Tang Wulin and Lin Yuhan had succeeded in spirit refining their respective pieces of blue coppertite, but granting life and nurturing life were on two completely different levels. Nurturing life was the peak of spirit refining. Even for Zhanggong Yan himself, it was a difficult task. Nurturing life in metal wasn¡¯t a simple matter of being at the appropriate level of cultivation or possessing sufficient blacksmithing skill. The difference between the two was fundamentally dependent on one''s martial soul. Without a martial soul that possessed intense life energy, it was impossible to reach the peak of spirit refining.


    However, Zhen Hua shook his head. ¡°Although Wulin spirit refined his piece to a slightly higher grade, your disciple took much less time and even imbued her piece with lightning. Realistically speaking, unless another spirit refined metal of the same grade is found to forge an alloy with this piece of blue coppertite, there¡¯s no difference between Wulin¡¯s piece and an ordinary spirit refined one. He also took three times as long to refine it. It¡¯s our loss.¡±


    Zhanggong Yan couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. He blinked a few times before gathering his wits and saying, ¡°But Yuhan had the advantage with her blue coppertite hammers.¡±


    Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°Both sides get to choose a metal. Of course you would choose one that was favorable for you. Wulin will do the same in the next round. You¡¯ve won the first round. Now let us prepare for the second. We¡¯ll begin in ten minutes.¡±


    Determination returned to Zhanggong Yan¡¯s eyes like roaring flames. He felt the absolute confidence radiating from Zhen Hua and could tell just how strict the man was himself. Zhen Hua stood at the peak of all blacksmiths. He left no room for bargaining when it came to assessing a metal¡¯s quality. It was true that in terms of practicality, Lin Yuhan¡¯s piece was a match for Tang Wulin¡¯s. But the quality of a product was what usually won a match like this, now how practical it was.


    Yet Zhanggong Yan couldn¡¯t bring himself to deny Zhen Hua when he framed things like that. He desperately desired this victory. Furthermore, Zhen Hua had declared that both competitors would only be able to rest for ten minutes. This was clearly disadvantageous for Tang Wulin who was far more exhausted than Lin Yuhan. Ten minutes was not nearly enough time for him to recover completely. Even if Tang Wulin got to choose a metal he favored for the second round, his advantage wouldn¡¯t be much. The gap in soul power, however, would pose a challenge for him. Lin Yuhan had a great chance to win again.


    Despite accepting this freebie from Zhen Hua, Zhanggong Yan couldn¡¯t help but admire the Divine Blacksmith. This was a man worthy of being the President of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    Ten minutes later, the second round began.


    Behind his table, Tang Wulin declared, ¡°I choose heavy silver.¡±


    Heavy silver didn¡¯t have any peculiar characteristics and was one of the metals that most blacksmiths started with. Compared to blue coppertite, it was a much more common, normal metal to work with. All blacksmiths knew it well.


    Lin Yuhan raised an eyebrow. Did he choose heavy silver because it¡¯ll easier for him to spirit refine it? There¡¯s no way he¡¯ll be able to forge another life-nurtured metal.


    Nurturing life in metal was a difficult and exhausting task. It taxed every fiber of a blacksmith¡¯s being. Unless that blacksmith was a Saint Blacksmith, it was impossible to spirit refine life-nurtured metal two times in a row.


    As they heated up their respective pieces of heavy silver, Lin Yuhan watched Tang Wulin carefully. Feeling her gaze, Tang Wulin flashed a refreshing smile at her. The sight caused her heart to thump. Warmth rushed to her cheeks, and she looked down at her table, trying to focus on the task at hand. She refused to let herself be influenced by him. She couldn¡¯t. Above all else, blacksmiths needed to concentrate.


    Moments later, the heavy silver finished calcining, and a glowing red piece of it rose from within each of their tables.


    Lin Yuhan took a deep breath and gently tapped her piece with her hammer. Heavy silver, huh? Spirit refining will be no problem at all. I wonder if he¡¯ll be able to do it too?


    A boom shook the hall.


    Tang Wulin had slammed his hammer down upon his piece of heavy silver.

 Chapter 526 - Vicious Spirit

    Chapter 526 - Vicious Spirit


    Caught off guard by the deafening noise, Lin Yuhan jolted, throwing her wide gaze up at Tang Wulin. Isn¡¯t he going to probe it first? He¡¯s just going to start like that?


    Tang Wulin swiftly followed up with another booming strike, and the moment it connected, he rode the rebound momentum, spinning in place and delivering another strike with his hammers. He continued this technique, alternating between each hammer as he steadily forged the heavy silver. His pace was slower than when he had forged the blue coppertite, but each strike carried far more weight.


    Zhanggong Yan¡¯s jaw dropped, his gaze quivering. That¡¯s the Tang Sect¡¯s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique!


    Thunder crashed again and again. The room trembled.


    Upon the seventh impact, the heavy silver let out a burst of light. It was now hundred refined!


    Without pause, Tang Wulin continued on with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique. The greatest strength of the technique was how it built upon itself, each strike growing stronger than the last. Hammer after hammer slammed into the heavy silver, building a tempestuous song of metal. The picture of power.


    Even before such tyrannical might, the heavy silver showed no signs of damage. No signs of yielding. Rather, it shone more radiantly with each strike received.


    The sixteenth strike landed. Another beam of light burst from the heavy silver straight into the air, no less than two meters tall. Silver resplendence dyed the hall, close at chase with a draconic roar. It grew louder, rumbling as it did so. And in response, Tang Wulin¡¯s piece of heavy silver shone even more brilliantly, resonating with the roar.


    Having just finished hundred refining her piece, Lin Yuhan glanced up from her work. Her breath caught in her throat, the culprit the combination of Tang Wulin¡¯s two golden soul rings and the golden scales creeping across his torso.


    A wave of might exploded from within him. His blood essence surged into his hammers, dying them a dull gold.


    Tang Wulin continued with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique without missing a beat. He struck down for the seventeenth time. Six booms shook the hall, each one successively louder.


    Howling winds accompanied Tang Wulin¡¯s hammers as they whirled through the air. Draconic roars filled the hall with each strike. By this point, whether the roars came from Tang Wulin¡¯s body or his thousand refined piece of heavy silver was indistinguishable. He was a storm incarnate. Nothing could stand before him!


    In fact, some of the more attentive spectators noticed that Tang Wulin¡¯s forging table had sunk into the ground. How much force his hammers carried they could only imagine.


    The thirty-third strike landed and the hall shuddered, the boom ear-splitting. This time, instead of a roar, something more akin to a dragon¡¯s snarl ripped through the arena. A phantom silver dragon erupted from the heavy silver. Its target, Tang Wulin!


    Spirit-refining rebound? The spectators¡¯ eyes went wide. Such a phenomenon was extremely rare. Nurturing life in metal came with the risk of birthing a vicious spirit as well. When such a situation arose, the metal became far more fierce and deadly weapons could be crafted from it. However, the chances of this happening were so low that only a life-nurtured spirit refining had it beat! There was also the risk of injury when spirit-refining rebound occurred, which can lead to failure in the spirit refining.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s scales flashed brilliantly. Upon impact, the phantom dragon ricocheted with a wail. Still, it refused to return to the heavy silver.


    Cloaked in iridescent light, Tang Wulin stood in place, no longer whirling around. He raised his twin hammers high, body drawn taut like the strings of a bow, then unleashed a smite of thunder.


    The dragon let out a mournful cry. Cowed into submission, it finally circled around the heavy silver.


    Tang Wulin stored his hammers away in a flash of light. His body swayed, teetering back and forth, but Gu Yue made it in time to catch him before he collapsed. She gently lowered him to the ground, letting him sit down to meditate. In hindsight, Tang Wulin was just happy he had eaten a lot for lunch.


    He had spirit refined twice in a row. Two products of the highest tier. The first time he had nurtured life, and in the second ruthlessly fought down the rebound. Usually, accomplishing such feats was enough to qualify him as a sixth-rank blacksmith. In truth, he would have long since reached the sixth rank had Zhen Hua not demanded he succeed in spirit refining an alloy first. Tang Wulin¡¯s actions today had showed himself to be the youngest sixth-rank blacksmith in history.


    But spirit refining twice in a row, especially two top-tier spirit refinings, left Tang Wulin exhausted. His soul power had been drained after the first round, so he had chosen to use the most forceful and tiresome method for the second, substituting soul power with blood essence in order to succeed. With his tanks empty of both soul power and blood essence, he felt utterly hollow.


    He wouldn¡¯t have reached the thirty-third strike of the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique if not for all the treasures he had eaten for lunch. While he would have normally made it further with the technique, this spirit refining required control in addition to power. Throughout the whole process, he had been toeing the line between exciting the heavy silver and damaging it. Taxing on both mind and body. But Tang Wulin had persevered. From the very beginning of the competition, he had resolved himself to win honor for the Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    Zhen Hua spared no effort in nurturing Tang Wulin and invested an immense amount of resources into his growth. Tang Wulin took his uncle-master¡¯s kindness to heart. When this chance to repay that kindness appeared, he refused to let it slip through his hands.


    Ears picking up the mournful cry of the dragon, Lin Yuhan stopped forging and looked up to take in Tang Wulin¡¯s work in awe. Her hammer no longer descended.


    In the first round, Lin Yuhan had finished spirit refining first. Yet Tang Wulin succeeded in spirit refining metal with a nurtured life, even if he had taken three times as long to finish. Now Tang Wulin¡¯s second spirit refining shed light on his true forging speed. Although it was true that he was exceptionally familiar with heavy silver, Lin Yuhan knew the results of the match would not have changed even if she were to have shared the same depth of understanding for the metal.


    As Lin Yuhan stared at the meditating Tang Wulin, she could taste the bitter taste of loss. A total defeat. A fifth-rank blacksmith at her tender age, she had always thought herself to be a prodigy. For this reason, she had never expected another person her age to so thoroughly surpass her. No matter how unbelievable it was, she could not deny the truth.


    Zhanggong Yan was dumbstruck, his mind grinding to a halt as it failed to understand what had transpired. Eventually, the shock eroded and comprehension of their defeat slowly came to him. Even a first-rank blacksmith could reach the same conclusion, especially since Lin Yuhan showed no signs of finishing her spirit refining.


    ¡°It¡¯s our loss.¡± Zhanggong Yan cracked a bitter smile.


    Zhen Hua smiled as well. ¡°Well, we were really lucky. If Wulin didn¡¯t happen to be here today, I don¡¯t know if I would be able to find someone comparable with your disciple. Anyway, you¡¯re welcome to join the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. Or don¡¯t. It¡¯s up to you.¡±


    After a moment of hesitation, Zhanggong Yan nodded.


    But with that nod followed a red blur, shooting from behind Zhanggong Yan toward Zhen Hua.


    It was all too sudden. Despite his high cultivation level, Zhen Hua failed to sense the attack,  and also to react until the blur was right before him. His eyes burst wide open in that split-second, gut screaming out danger.


    Moments before it could strike him, he disappeared in a silver flash. Even so, the spectators weren¡¯t as fortunate. The red blur continued on toward them, holding enough power to threaten a four-word battle armor master. Enough might to decimate the crowd.

 Chapter 527 - Enemy Traces

    Chapter 527 - Enemy Traces


    But before the red blur reached the crowd, someone snatched it out of the air. Held in place, the object was now easily discernable: a double-edged sword, slender and scarlet. In the next instant, it disappeared, leaving only the savior of the crowd. The chef.


    Then he disappeared too, off to pursue the assassin.


    Feeling a rush of wind, Tang Wulin turned around to see Zhen Hua now clad in magnificent four-word battle armor. The mighty aura he emitted crushed everyone in the hall with the weight of an ocean.


    ¡°Nobody move!¡± Zhen Hua ordered, directing the weight of his aura to suppress Zhanggong Yan.


    The assassination attempt was clearly planned. It had happened all too suddenly, too quickly, for him to react. Without Gu Yue¡¯s timely intervention, he would have been dead now. That sword carried enough power to kill him without his battle armor equipped, and only a Hyper Douluo could have prepared such a weapon! Not only that, but the assassin couldn¡¯t be wearing battle armor either, otherwise he would have noticed the uncontrollable aura of power and brought his guard up.


    Zhen Hua¡¯s mind reeled at first from the initial shock of his brush with death, but it was quickly consumed by his flaring rage as he recognized the reality of the situation. His wrathful aura forced the crowd to kneel in submission.


    Zhanggong Yan pulled Lin Yuhan behind him, thrusting his arms out in an effort to protect her. Two yellow, two purple, and four black soul rings rose up around him, revealing his status as an eight-ringed Soul Douluo. But he was nothing before a four-word battle armor master. His show of strength only allowed him to stand a bit straighter. Clear to the eye was how he restrained himself. How he held back from equipping his own battle armor.


    ¡°President Zhen Hua.¡± Zhanggong Yan¡¯s tone was firm but respectful.


    Zhen Hua drew back some of the pressure emanating from him.


    But the blacksmiths in the crowd had other ideas. ¡°Execute them!¡± they screamed in frenzy. They were out for the blood of any who would dare to assassinate their illustrious president. Killing the only living Divine Blacksmith would be an unforgivable act, for without a Divine Blacksmith, creating four-word battle armor was impossible. For this reason, while the assassination attempt had struck fear into the crowd¡¯s heart, their fury burned hotter. Zhen Hua was a mentor to all blacksmiths, his dazzling skills inspiring them all to reach for greater heights.


    Zhanggong Yan pressed his lips tight together as he stared down Zhen Hua. Any explanation he had would be useless. He was the one to pose this challenge, and the assassin had taken this opportunity to strike.


    ¡°You¡¯re from a Blacksmith¡¯s Association on one of the other continents, aren¡¯t you?¡± Zhen Hua asked, sneering.


    Zhanggong Yan felt his heart race.


    Apart from Douluo, there were also the continents of Star Luo and Heaven Dou. The hostility shared between the continents was no secret. If not for the oceans separating them, they would likely be embroiled in all-out war. Still, there were plenty of minor conflicts to go around. On the list of people who wanted Zhen Hua dead, the rulers of the other two continents sat at the top.


    With his origins identified, Zhanggong Yan lost all hopes of weaseling his way out. How did it come to this?


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t us!¡± Lin Yuhan poked her head out from behind her master and locked eyes with Zhen Hua in defiance.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t you two, then who was it?¡± the blacksmiths in the crowd demanded.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t us,¡± Lin Yuhan repeated, her eyes shining fiercely, refusing to be cowed.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Zhen Hua beckoned to Zhanggong Yan, then gathered Tang Wulin and Gu Yue as well.


    Zhen Hua¡¯s actions confused Zhanggong Yan. He¡¯s not going to kill us? Although he was also a battle armor master, he was merely at the two-word level. An ant before the four-word Zhen Hua.


    Maintaining his guard, Zhanggong Yan followed Zhen Hua into the elevator, his disciple in tow. The elevator delivered them straight to Zhen Hua¡¯s office.


    Zhen Hua unequipped his battle armor and took a seat behind his desk. He gestured to the sofa across from him. ¡°Please, take a seat.¡±


    Zhanggong Yan furrowed his brow, anxiety biting at the back of his mind. ¡°Do you believe us?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± Zhen Hua said in a smooth voice. ¡°But I believe in blacksmiths. When you conceded in the first round, there wasn¡¯t the slightest hint of pretense in your words. So I believe that you are at the very least an upright blacksmith.


    ¡°Now let¡¯s cut to the chase.¡± Zhen Hua locked his fingers before him and lowered his head. ¡°How did you come here and why did you challenge us?¡±


    Behind Zhen Hua stood Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. Tang Wulin still felt shaken by what had happened. Utterly inconsequential before the might of that scarlet sword. If it had struck him, there wouldn¡¯t be anything left to mourn afterward.


    But the chef had caught it, and in that moment Tang Wulin had seen his hands bleed gold. Other than that, the chef had not displayed anything out of the ordinary.


    A bitter smile spread across Zhanggong Yan¡¯s lips. He was backed into a corner. Hiding even the smallest detail could mean death. It would be as easy as squashing a bug for Zhen Hua to kill them in his home turf, especially since they were from another continent. No one would dare question Zhen Hua if he justified his actions as taking care of some spies.


    ¡°You were right. We aren¡¯t from Douluo. We¡¯re actually from Star Luo. I¡¯m the vice-president of Star Luo¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s Association.


    ¡°President Zhen Hua, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re well aware of how much soul technology has progressed in recent years. The hatred between our continents doesn¡¯t burn as hot anymore. In fact, it¡¯s just your government stoking the flames now. I¡¯ve come with my disciple as representatives of Star Luo to engage in cultural exchange. We¡¯re part of an official delegation. As a blacksmith, I¡¯ve heard many tales of your accomplishments and wanted to see your skill first hand. Our visit wasn¡¯t part of the official plans. We¡¯re here solely as blacksmiths, not as people of Star Luo.¡±


    Zhen Hua listened intently. Leaned back into his chair. He now understood the situation, that some third party had provoked Zhanggong Yan¡¯s competitive spirit and urged him to come here with the challenge.


    ¡°As for the assassin, I have no idea who it could be. That¡¯s all I have to say for ourselves. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.¡± Fate was out of Zhanggong Yan¡¯s hands now. ¡°But please. If you do blame us, then only blame me. This has nothing to do with Yuhan. I know she¡¯s a foreigner, but she¡¯s still a blacksmithing prodigy. I don¡¯t care what punishment I receive. Just please spare her.¡±


    Zhen Hua sighed. ¡°The way things are now, I can¡¯t let you guys go without gaining anything. Can you at least tell me who incited you to come here? Was it another member of the Star Luo delegation?¡±


    Zhanggong Yan lowered his head, shoulders slumping. ¡°No. I doubt you¡¯ll believe me, but it really wasn¡¯t. When we arrived, I met a blacksmith called Ning Fengzhi. I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s his real name or not. He was a Saint Blacksmith and skilled at forging with one giant hammer. After I narrowly won a friendly competition between us, he told me of how great the Divine Blacksmith was, and how no one could compare to you.¡±


    Zhen Hua furrowed his brows as he listened, confusion swelling up within him. According to Zhanggong Yan¡¯s words, this Ning Fengzhi person wasn¡¯t from Star Luo. Rather, he was a blacksmith of Douluo. As for whether this man was part of the Douluo Blacksmith¡¯s Association, that was a mystery. However, it was clear that they had some relation with the assassination attempt. Now Zhen Hua had to decide just how much he could trust Zhanggong Yan¡¯s words.


    ¡°Brother Zhanggong, please stay here with your disciple as guests for a while. We need to conduct an investigation into this incident and notify your delegation before we can proceed further.¡±


    Zhanggong Yan jerked his head up, eyes wide. ¡°You believe me?¡±


    Zhen Hua chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m just trusting my gut.¡±


    The door suddenly swung open and in walked the chef.


    Unfazed, Zhen Hua asked ¡°Did you get them?¡±


    The chef shook his head. ¡°They were too quick. An agility-type Hyper Douluo, I¡¯m sure of it. While they might not be as strong as me, damn they¡¯re way faster. Even at my full speed, they easily threw me off their tail. Looks like you¡¯ve got quite a handful to deal with now. A Hyper Douluo assassin. Whew.¡± He grinned, lips peeling back to show teeth.

 Chapter 528 - Mu Ye

    Chapter 528 - Mu Ye


    Zhen Hua broke into a sharp grin. ¡°Looks like someone wants me dead!¡±


    The Chef lowered his head in thought, hand cupping his chin. ¡°They¡¯re powerful too. The assassin was able to draw on their own blood essence to strengthen their soul power. I can¡¯t even guess what their martial soul was. It¡¯s strange. Really strange.¡±


    ¡°Could they be an evil soul master?¡± Tang Wulin asked, breaking his silence.


    ¡°An evil soul master?¡± Zhen Hua, the Chef, and Zhanggong Yan crossed eyes the moment they blurted these words simultaneously.


    ¡°Hmm. Maybe,¡± the Chef continued. ¡°If it¡¯s an evil soul master, then that would explain everything. They¡¯ve become active in recent years, launching a whole slew of terrorist attacks across the continent. I can¡¯t believe they would target you, Zhen Hua, when they are under heavy scrutiny by the Federation. That they dare to must point to someone powerful pulling the strings for them in the shadows.¡±


    ¡°I think I might have a clue,¡± Zhanggong Yan said. ¡°That Ning Fengzhi guy had a particularly chilling aura. There was definitely something off about him.¡±


    Zhen Hua¡¯s smile spread wide, a predatory grin. ¡°Excellent! An evil soul master! I haven¡¯t fought an evil soul master before.¡± He turned to the Chef. ¡°You can speak with Wulin about the previous matter now. I need to handle this assassination attempt first.¡±


    The Chef looked him straight in the eye before he nodded. Turning to Tang Wulin, he said, ¡°Come with me to the dining hall. Just you.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Wulin sent Gu Yue an apologetic glance, sure to take in her answering smile prior to going off on his way.


    He was filled with anticipation for this private meeting now that he had caught a glimpse of the Chef¡¯s true power. This was a man that stood at the summit! A Titled Douluo with a godly red-grade mecha! His strength could earn him a position as an elder in Sea God¡¯s Pavilion.


    Upon returning to Zhen Hua¡¯s private dining hall, the Chef exhaled, expelling soul power that formed a thin green barrier around them.


    Tang Wulin looked at the membrane curiously. It were as if they were in a gigantic bubble. Is this a high-level soul power technique?


    ¡°Uncle, I still don¡¯t know how to address you.¡± Tang Wulin cautiously said.


    ¡°My name is Mu Ye. You can just call me Uncle Ye,¡± Mu Ye said with a chuckle.


    ¡°Yes, Uncle Ye!¡± And with that, Tang Wulin brought his charms, flashing the sweet smile that had won over so many elders.


    ¡°You¡¯re probably wondering why I wanted to speak to you privately. Well, what I¡¯m about to say is something I¡¯ve considered for a long time and only decided on recently. I¡¯ll cut to the chase. I want you to inherit my legacy. More specifically, I want you to inherit the legacy of my sect.¡±


    For a split second, Tang Wulin stood speechless. He coughed. ¡°Uncle Ye, what do you mean?¡±


    Tang Wulin already had three teachers for blacksmithing, four if he counted his uncle-master, Zhen Hua. For cultivation, there were Wu Zhangkong and Zhuo Shi. Now he was being hunted by another teacher.


    Mu Yu let out a sigh. ¡°I was hesitating in the beginning since you¡¯re a Shrek student. In a sense, my sect has always been rivals with Shrek Academy. It¡¯s just that as the years went by, my sect declined and can¡¯t compare with Shrek anymore. I¡¯ve heard from Zhen Hua that you¡¯re a member of the Tang Sect too. Correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin nodded.


    ¡°Are you willing to leave the Tang Sect? If my assumptions are correct, you should still be an outer disciple. Leaving shouldn¡¯t have too many penalties.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. His immediately shook his head. ¡°No. I can¡¯t. The Tang Sect is too beneficial for my cultivation. The cultivation method I¡¯m using right now is from them. I can¡¯t leave.¡±


    Mu Ye furrowed his brows. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Body Sect¡¯s cultivation methods are just as good as the Tang Sect¡¯s. I¡¯m actually the master of the Body Sect. As long as you study under me, you¡¯ll definitely learn things even more useful than from the Tang Sect. We might not be as large as them, but we value our members far more. Our best secret arts can rival those of the Tang Sect.¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Uncle Ye. I can¡¯t agree to that. I like the Tang Sect and it¡¯s where I belong. No matter what, I will never betray them. Besides, I¡¯m already a member of the Battle Hall.¡± Since the moment he joined the Tang Sect, he had only benefited. He had gained far more than he had given back. It was unthinkable for him to leave now.


    Mu Ye grabbed Tang Wulin by the shoulders, his arms two blurs during the motion. ¡°You entered the Battle Hall? Shit. That¡¯s a bit troublesome. Well, whatever. As long as you say you want to leave, I¡¯ll personally visit the Tang Sect and pay them back for all the benefits you received.¡±


    Tang Wulin raised his chin, staring straight into Mu Ye¡¯s eyes. ¡°Uncle Ye, why are you so set on me?¡±


    ¡°Because your talents are suitable for the Body Sect¡¯s secret arts. A lot of people think that the martial soul is the most important for body cultivation methods, but it isn¡¯t. Bloodlines is the correct answer. If you don¡¯t have powerful blood essence, you can¡¯t truly cultivate your body. Most people don¡¯t know this, but each generation of our sect masters didn¡¯t actually have a particularly powerful martial soul. It was their blood essence that was remarkable.


    ¡°I noticed the first time I laid eyes on you how blessed you were. Your blood essence is extraordinarily powerful, far more powerful than those of common soul masters. Even my blood essence wasn¡¯t as strong as yours at your age. But I hesitated when I found out you were from Shrek.


    ¡°When I returned to the Body Sect, I thought things over. I quickly realized that there¡¯s likely no one as suitable for inheriting the Body Sect¡¯s legacy in this world as you. That¡¯s all that matters. I believe using many different methods will produce a complementary result. For example, Shrek Academy is just a school. Once you graduate, it¡¯s only natural that you leave and accomplish things in the world. As for the Tang Sect, I¡¯m willing to pay whatever it takes to have them accept your withdrawal.¡±


    Tang Wulin could hardly believe what he was hearing. ¡°So, your Body Sect focuses on cultivating blood essence?¡±


    ¡°You got it,¡± Mu Ye said, lifting his chin up ¡°In terms of cultivating the body, there¡¯s no one in the world who can compare with our techniques and methods!¡±


    Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes, placing a hand on his chin. After a moment, he shook his head once more. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Uncle Ye. I really can¡¯t agree to this. There¡¯s room for discussion regarding Shrek, but I absolutely refuse to betray the Tang Sect. I¡¯ve gained so much from the Tang Sect and I truly like it. I¡¯ve been listening to stories about the Tang Sect since I was a child. Becoming a member was a dream come true. Thank you for your kindness, but sorry.¡±


    ¡°Stories of the Tang Sect, huh? You never heard any legends of the Body Sect?¡± Mu Ye growled.


    ¡°I-I-I¡­¡± Tang Wulin tried to answer, but he had no words. He had never heard of the Body Sect until now!


    Despair crept into Mu Ye¡¯s face. Just how far have we declined? We used to stand at the peak. All of our sect masters were Hyper Douluos, and a few were even Demigod Limit Douluos. Shrek Academy has only grown stronger with time while we¡¯ve fallen to ruin. And I still haven¡¯t broken through to being a Hyper Douluo yet!


    ¡°Uncle Ye, are you okay?¡± Tang Wulin asked, concerned about Mu Ye¡¯s paling expression.


    ¡°Get out!¡± Mu Ye snarled. With a wave of his hand, the bubble of soul power around them dissipated and he disappeared in a flash of light.


    Tang Wulin stumbled backward a few steps from the sudden wave of energy. When he raised his head, he was alone in the dining hall.

 Chapter 529 - Jinx

    Chapter 529 - Jinx


    Tang Wulin let out a long sigh. In truth, he really wanted to become Mu Ye¡¯s disciple. No way he wouldn¡¯t be enticed by body tempering methods and delicious food. Especially the food. If he could eat Mu Ye¡¯s cooking on a daily basis, he¡¯d be a happy young man, not to mention see his cultivation progress skyrocket. But betraying the Tang Sect for the sake of his belly was just something he couldn¡¯t do. Ugh¡­ If only the Tang Sect had a chef as amazing as Uncle Ye.


    He raised his hand, wiping away his drool with a sleeve as he left the dining hall. When he returned to Zhen Hua¡¯s office, Zhanggong Yan and Lin Yuhan were nowhere to be seen. Only Zhen Hua and Gu Yue were present.


    ¡°Uncle-master.¡± Tang Wulin gave a slight bow.


    Zhen Hua cracked a smile. ¡°How¡¯d it go? What did you two talk about?¡±


    Tang Wulin scratched his chin as his eyes darted back and forth the room. ¡°Unfortunately I couldn¡¯t meet Uncle Ye¡¯s expectations. Then he left. I think he might be angry.¡±


    Zhen Hua roared with laughter. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. That¡¯s just the kind of guy he is. He¡¯s still got the temper of a child at his age.¡± He rubbed off a single tear threatening to drip from his eye. ¡°No need to worry, Wulin. I¡¯ll go talk to him later. Anyway, I really have to thank you two kids today! Especially Gu Yue.¡± He turned to her. ¡°You saved my life.¡±


    Gu Yue quickly shook her head. ¡°Please, Your Eminence, I did nothing worthy of praise. I just acted subconsciously.¡±


    ¡°Well, if it wasn¡¯t for you subconsciously saving me, I¡¯d either be dead of fatally injured. I still can¡¯t believe you managed to react in time to that sudden attack.¡±


    Gu Yue lowered her gaze, fidgeting with her fingers as her ears glowed red.


    Chuckling, Zhen Hua angled his body to once more face Tang Wulin. ¡°Your performance today was excellent. I didn¡¯t think you would progress so much in just a few short months. You can already nurture life and subdue vicious spirits in your spirit refining. You¡¯ve done well. Keep up the good work in building a solid foundation. Make sure you gain experience spirit refining all sorts of metal too. You¡¯ll need all of that when you attempt soul refining in the future.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Uncle-master.¡± Tang Wulin nodded in earnest. He was currently at a blacksmithing bottleneck. Until he gained his fourth soul ring, he couldn¡¯t truly be considered a sixth-rank blacksmith, despite his skills surpassing the overwhelming majority of those at the sixth rank. The final task he needed to advance was spirit refine an alloy, which was impossible until his cultivation advanced first. Furthermore, the soul power requirements were even higher if he wanted to soul refine.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Zhen Hua clapped once. ¡°I still have some matters to attend to, so you can spend your leisure time freely. Oh, right. Lin Yuhan had a message for you. She says she¡¯ll definitely surpass you. Wulin, you better not slack off.¡±


    ¡°Understood!¡± And with that, Tang Wulin went on his way, a clear goal in mind: selling his metals. To his surprise, the two metals he spirit refined today went for a jaw-dropping price. But he shouldn¡¯t have been so shocked. Spirit refined metals with nurtured life or vicious spirits were extremely rare. So rare that two newly promoted fifth-rank blacksmiths approached him to purchase the metals before he even got to the sales counter. Bent on studying the metals to further their own spirit refining skills, they offered a price he couldn¡¯t refuse.


    While Tang Wulin had made quite a name for himself the last time he visited the Heaven Dou Blacksmith¡¯s Association, it couldn¡¯t compare with the legend he established through the match with Lin Yuhan. He was now famous for being the most talented rising blacksmith in a century.


    ¡°Where do you want to go tonight?¡± Tang Wulin asked Gu Yue after the two left the Blacksmith¡¯s Association. To avoid skipping any classes, they decided to return early the next morning. Tonight was the only time they could play around in Heaven Dou City.


    ¡°Hmm. I don¡¯t know much about this place,¡± said Gu Yue, pinching her nose. ¡°You take the reins.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ve got just the place in mind then. Heaven Dou City is great! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love it.¡± Tang Wulin beamed.


    As one of the first cities to be built on Douluo, the cityscape of Heaven Dou City was short and sparse. Tang Wulin led Gu Yue through the winding alleys until they arrived at a street filled with restaurants, thick with the scents of an era long gone.


    ¡°Wulin, you need to be more careful. You were nearly killed by an evil soul master last time. Maybe we should just head back early,¡± Gu Yue abruptly said.


    Tang Wulin smiled gently. ¡°It¡¯s fine. There are so few of them, so what are the chances we run into one again today?¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± A chilling voice sounded right behind them.


    Tang Wulin whirled around and pulled Gu Yue behind him. But then reality smacked him hard in the face. Gone was the cosy antiquated street, in its place a world of crimson reeking with the pungent spice of blood. He staggered. The world spun before him, round and round until everything was swallowed by darkness.


    Then the crimson world vanished, almost as quick as it had appeared. The street returned. Not a single pedestrian noticed the disappearance of the two teenagers, all continuing with their daily lives without blinking an eye..


    ?


    Piercing cold. The damp spray of mist. Tang Wulin stirred. His stomach dropped upon opening his eyes to find himself high in the clouds. The rusty smell of blood struck him. Within seconds he noticed Gu Yue across from him, eyes shut tight and complexion pale. They were both held like sacks under someone¡¯s arms.


    An evil soul master? It seemed that way to tang Wulin, after recalling what happened before he passed out. Shit. I was too careless. I didn¡¯t expect them to attack me in broad daylight in the middle of a city! Was I their target all along? This evil soul master is probably the same one who tried to assassinate Uncle-master. Shit! We¡¯re screwed. They¡¯re a Hyper Douluo!


    ¡°Good! You¡¯re awake!¡± the evil soul master said.


    Just hearing that voice nearly drove Tang Wulin to insanity. He screwed his eyes closed and kept his mouth shut. If there was nothing he could say to save him and Gu Yue, he might as well not waste his breath.


    Then his stomach lurched. Free fall. He screamed. His eyes burst open, the clouds parting before him to reveal the rapidly approaching earth. His heart thrashed against his chest, unrelenting in its show of fear. A hundred meters from the ground, he suddenly stopped falling. The inertial shock almost caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood. After the abrupt stop, he and Gu Yue gently landed on the ground.


    The two were in an isolated area far from the city. Glancing at the horizon, Tang Wulin determined they were caught in the belly of dusk. He shifted his gaze to their abductor. Wreathed in ashen gray robes, the evil soul master wore a mask with only slits for their eyes. They were clearly visible too, eerie gray irises matched with red pupils.


    The evil soul master pushed Tang Wulin and Gu Yue down to their knees. ¡°Were you the one who killed Dark Ghost?¡± they asked in a sneer.


    ¡°Who is Dark Ghost?¡± Tang Wulin was suddenly aware of how dry his throat was.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know? You, a survivor of the train he attacked, don¡¯t know of him? He disappeared after that.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°You¡¯re talking about that soul refinement guy? I don¡¯t know what happened to him. You think I can kill him with my cultivation level?¡±


    It was the evil soul master¡¯s turn to be surprised. This kid¡¯s right. He¡¯s only got three rings while Dark Ghost had six. Us evil soul masters are stronger than normal ones at the same cultivation level too. There¡¯s no way this kid killed him.


    Tang Wulin pushed himself off the ground into a sitting position. To his surprise, he didn¡¯t feel that much pressure weighing down on him. Their gap in cultivation level was so great that the evil soul master didn¡¯t feel the need to suppress him.


    He crawled over to Gu Yue¡¯s side and felt her wrist for a pulse. Thankfully, her heart still thumped. She was merely unconscious. Relieved, he struggled to a stand. There was still some hope since they hadn¡¯t been killed immediately. That meant they still had some value to this sinister man.


    ¡°Senior, what did you abduct us two kids for?¡± Tang Wulin asked, doing his best to draw out the innocent curiosity in his eyes.


    The evil soul master sneered. ¡°Kids? You¡¯re Tang Wulin, class president of Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade and granddiscple of Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi. You led your class to defeat the second grade. In the end-of-semester exam, you challenged and defeated the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. Was any of that wrong?¡±


    Tang Wulin suppressed his shock. This person had clearly done his research. ¡°Your Eminence, what have you investigated this insignificant young soul master for?¡±


    ¡°Someone insignificant today may not be tomorrow. Isn¡¯t Shrek Academy the best at raising young talents? Killing you while you¡¯re young would be the most effective way of eliminating a future threat, no?¡±


    Tang Wulin leaked out a strained smile. ¡°Now you¡¯re just bullying the weak.¡±


    ¡°Call Zhen Hua for me,¡± the evil soul master said, disregarding Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 530 - Blood Servant

    Chapter 530 - Blood Servant


    Shock and numbness spread deep into Tang Wulin¡¯s core, knowing he had been captured for the sole purpose of luring out his uncle-master. He cast a quick glance at the evil soul master before carefully reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his soul communicator. He grasped it hard in his palm and carefully looked at the evil soul master again. Then he took a deep breath in, steeling himself to do what needed to be done. Tang Wulin threw the soul communicator at the ground, smashing it to pieces!


    A hand struck out like lightning, a loud smack reverberating throughout the air. Tang Wulin went flying backward and crashed into a tree. On his left cheek spanned an ugly red handprint.


    The sudden force took his breath away, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. But he had no regrets. He refused to make the call. To put his uncle-master in danger. And now that his only form of reaching Zhen Hua had been smashed by his own hands, he and Gu Yue were completely expendable.


    During moments of crisis, Tang Wulin¡¯s thinking was always quick and clear. However, this time was an exception, courtesy of the beatdown he had just received. The world still spun around him, too fuzzy for him to make out. He tried to stand up, legs heavy as lead. After several attempts, he gave up, slumping to the ground.


    Under the mask, the evil soul master¡¯s ashen eyes bled completely scarlet. In a blur of movement, they arrived in front of Tang Wulin. They squatted down, and with a finger, wiped a bit of blood trickling from the corner of his lips. Lifting their mask, the evil soul master revealed a sculpted chin and strangely bright lips. A woman. She brought her bloody finger to her lips and sucked it clean. She shuddered, pupils shrinking into needles. The woman rose to her feet, staggering backward a few steps as she stared at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°How is this possible? A kid like you has such pure blood and powerful blood essence. Good. Very good. You¡¯re a virgin too. Hehe. Who cares about Zhen Hua when I can suck your blood. I¡¯ll be able to recover and not suffer from that damn blood sea soul refinement anymore. Hehe! Yes, I¡¯ll drink you dry.¡±


    A hysterical cackle filled the air. She grabbed Tang Wulin by the arm and pulled him up from the ground. ¡°Kid, I bet you didn¡¯t expect this. You tried so hard to protect Zhen Hua yet you revealed your blood¡¯s secret. Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t kill you. I¡¯ll just use you like cattle. With how powerful your blood essence is, you¡¯ll survive even if I have a drink every now and then. You¡¯ve got a good build too. Excellent. I never thought my luck would be this good.¡± She smiled, revealing two sharp fangs.


    Tang Wulin struggled to break free. But a chill embraced him, draining him of his energy. No matter how strong his blood essence was, he couldn¡¯t fight off this chill.


    The woman licked her fangs like a predator about to feast on its prey. As she moved closer and closer to him, he could make out her scent clearer. A tempting aroma.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Tang Wulin croaked.


    To his luck, she did. ¡°Fine.¡±She waved a hand flippantly. ¡°Since your blood is so delicious, I¡¯ll allow you to speak. But don¡¯t you dare bore me by begging for mercy.¡± The woman crossed her arms, emphasizing her womanly charms.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to beg. I don¡¯t have any hope of escaping anyway. But you said my blood is really beneficial for you, right? So after drinking my blood, you¡¯ll need to find a place to cultivate as soon as possible. Can you please spare my friend then? She¡¯s weak and of no value to you. She can¡¯t threaten you at all. Just take me alone and drink my blood. Please? You can even just dump her here. I don¡¯t want her to see me after the, uh, sucking.¡±


    The woman was frozen in shock. ¡°You¡¯re staring death in the face yet you still have it in you to put another person¡¯s life above your own? Do you love her? A kid like you is already dabbling in romance?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what love is. There¡¯s no use talking about love in the face of death anyway. So, will you accept my request? It¡¯s all I ask before I give up my life.¡±


    The woman sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe such selfless people actually exist. You¡¯re a good kid. No wonder your blood is delicious. I always thought all the men were scoundrels, but it seems young boys like you are still untainted by the world. I¡¯m looking forward to drinking your blood even more now.¡±


    At the beginning of her speech, Tang Wulin¡¯s hopes had risen. But now his heart plummeted, dragged down by despair.


    ¡°Fine then. I¡¯ll let her go.¡±


    ¡°But who says anyone is going to let you go?¡± Those words were uttered with a domineering voice, the source untrackable. The world trembled. Crushing pressure surrounded them, sealing off all avenues of escape.


    The woman whipped her body around to see a tall man slowly walking toward her. How is this possible? How did he get so close without me noticing? She clenched her fists tight, back damp with sweat. This man was dangerous. It had been ages since her instincts last screamed like this.


    The man exuded a thick aura of bloodlust. On his face was a stern expression. He stood straight and tall, approximately 2.5 meters in fact, with broad shoulders and bulging muscles. His skin was deep bronze as if he were cast from metal. And his unwavering eyes. They shone topaz, a hue so rare that the woman had never before seen it on another.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± the woman asked, her voice resuming to its unemotional tone. She tossed Tang Wulin to the side, preparing for battle.


    Tang Wulin felt the chill from earlier enveloping him tighter and more forcefully, muddying the waters of his mind.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have the qualifications to know who I am,¡± the man said as he continued his slow approach. With each step closer, the pressure he exuded grew.


    The woman snorted. Her scarlet eyes shone as a blood-crimson aura burst out around her. She held out her right hand and a sword of blood formed in her palm. The blade of the sword was thin, quivering at the slightest motion. Countless tiny crimson orbs formed around her. They rapidly enlarged until they resembled a most chilling sight: a sea of glowing red eyes encircling a woman.


    Waves of blood essence whipped up around her as she thrust out her palm. Thousands of eyes sprang forward.


    The man did not falter. He stomped on the ground, the earth cracking beneath him with a boom. Space distorted around him. A mere ten meters away, the eyes struck a barrier of shimmering dark-gold light.

 Chapter 531 - Limit Douluo

    Chapter 531 - Limit Douluo


    An incalculable chain of booms sang through the air as the bloody eyeballs pummeled into the dark gold barrier. When the onslaught ended, however, the barrier remained standing, completely intact.


    As suddenly as it had appeared, his tyrannical aura receded and the space around them locked in place. Then the mysterious stranger¡¯s right arm enlarged and morphed into something inhuman as he raised it up. He slashed out with this arm at the evil soul master, unleashing five dark-gold beams that could rend the heavens.


    The evil soul master could do nothing except watch in horror, shock, and awe as the man¡¯s arm grew and his slash screamed through the space between them. There was no possible way for her to evade this attack. Just how strong is this man? With no other choice left to her, she pulled the thousands of bloody eyeballs in the air back to her body to form a crude armor and a crimson light appeared on her forehead. Her aura exploded out from the power she gathered and crimson vampiric wings unfurled from her back. Bracing herself, she sliced out with her blood-formed sword and unleashed a torrent of crimson beams.


    Booming thundered out and the ground rumbled and groaned as the two titanic attacks clashed. The powerful fluctuations of soul power tore space itself apart.


    There was a faint hum in the air, then the woman shot out from the cloud of dust and smoke created by the attacks. She was sent flying backwards for hundreds of meters before crashing into the ground. Five deep gashes marred her battle armor, and without it, she would have been torn to shreds.


    ¡°Y-you¡¯re a Limit Douluo?¡± the woman asked incredulously, her voice trembling. She was a three-word battle armor master and a Hyper Douluo! With her armor equipped, her strength neared that of a Limit Douluo. This man had no armor equipped and still dominated the clash, the only possible explanation was that he was a Limit Douluo! Battle armor allowed one to unleash power comparable to that Limit Douluo. But they would never match up to a true Limit Douluo, who had one foot in the domain of gods, something battle armor could not emulate.


    Without any hesitation, the woman abandoned Tang Wulin and dispersed into a cloud of blood, flying off in all directions. A moment later, she was gone without a trace.


    The man didn¡¯t bother chasing after her and walked over to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue instead. His right arm returned to its normal size, the sharp blades protruding from his fingers retracting. He stopped in front of Gu Yue, just in time for her to sit up.


    ¡°Young Miss,¡± the man said as he lowered down on one knee and bowed his head.


    Gu Yue grunted her acknowledgement as she stood up and walked over to Tang Wulin. She squatted down beside him and gently caressed his cheek. A soft light left her hand and entered his face. The healing brought the swelling in his cheek down rapidly and his face returned to its normal appearance. The man stood stood behind Gu Yue, unyielding and severe, watching indifferently with his topaz eyes.


    ¡°Are you wondering why I didn¡¯t let you kill that evil soul master?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± answered the man.


    ¡°The enemy of an enemy is a friend. We have to make use of everything we can.¡± replied Gu Yue. She paused for a moment and then said, ¡°You can go now¡±, dismissing him with a wave.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The man turned around and slowly walked off into the darkness of the night.


    Gu Yue continued to sit beside Tang Wulin, staring blankly at his face for several minutes. Finally, she laid down and nestled herself on his chest.


    ?


    ¡°Damn it! Those bastards are crazy!¡± Zhen Hua cursed, face ashen.


    Mu Ye rolled his eyes. ¡°The kids are fine, I¡¯ve already examined them. But it seems Heaven Dou City isn¡¯t as secure as we thought. Have you reported this to the Federation yet? You should probably tell Shrek Academy too.¡±


    Zhen Hua nodded, the flames of fury dying down within him.


    ¡°They¡¯re really lucky to make it out fine.¡± Mu Ye commented as he surveyed the area. ¡°It looks like there was an intense battle here. Should¡¯ve only lasted a few attacks, since the surroundings aren¡¯t too damaged. Based on how chaotic the elemental energies in the air still are, two Hyper Douluos must¡¯ve been fighting, at the very least. I¡¯m guessing the evil soul master ran away. Do you think the other guy was someone from Shrek?¡±


    Zhen Hua shook his head. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be, I already asked and confirmed. When Wulin wakes up, I¡¯ll escort him back to Shrek City myself. It looks like he¡¯s a target for these evil soul masters now too. We can¡¯t let him leave campus as he pleases anymore. He¡¯ll be safe there since no evil soul master would dare attack Shrek, its that guy¡¯s territory.


    ?


    When Tang Wulin finally came to, he felt himself swaddled in cocoon of warmth. He sat up, still dazed, and felt his face and body for injuries. Then he blinked to clear his eyes and absentmindedly glanced around at the room he was in.


    I¡¯m not dead?


    His mind snapped into focus. He directed his senses inward and felt the blood coursing through his veins, into his heart which thumped with life, and fresh air filling his lungs. His body was in perfect condition! Relief and joy washed over him. He jumped off his bed and pulled open the curtains on the window. Huh? Am I in the Blacksmith¡¯s Association? He realized he was not just alive, but also safe.


    The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was the evil soul master throwing him to the ground and the growl of a man¡¯s deep voice. He could only guess at what happened after, but this unknown man had probably driven the evil  soul master off. Who was he? Did he save us?


    While Tang Wulin pondered these questions and many more, Zhen Hua walked in. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re up.¡± He walked over and clapped Tang Wulin on the back to check on the boy¡¯s health. Wow. This kid¡¯s already as lively as a dragon!


    Tang Wulin grinned. ¡°Uncle-master!¡± After staring death in the face and waking up with more questions than answers, he was overjoyed to see his uncle-master.


    Zhen Hua let out a long sigh. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve to be your uncle-master after letting you face so much danger. I never expected those evil  soul masters to be so daring.¡±


    ¡°Uncle-master, were you the one who saved us? How¡¯s Gu Yue? Is she okay?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s fine. She¡¯s resting in another room. And I wasn¡¯t the one who rescued the two of you. By the time we arrived, both of you were unconscious and there wasn¡¯t a trace of that evil soul master. Do you remember what happened?¡±


    Tang Wulin recounted what happened, not missing a single detail.


    ¡°Bloodsucking? That evil soul master must be using a blood cultivation method,¡± Mu Ye said as he walked over.


    ¡°Uncle Ye!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed. Now that he knew Mu Ye here too, he felt more even more reassured that everything was okay.


    ¡°You guys have class today, don¡¯t you?¡± Zhen Hua asked. ¡°It¡¯s already too late to make it for your morning classes. If you don¡¯t have anything else to take care of here, I¡¯ll escort both of you back to campus.¡±


    Tang Wulin agreed and after grabbing Gu Yue, they were soon off in Zhen Hua¡¯s HAF car.


    Sheepishly glancing at Gu Yue, Tang Wulin quietly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry! It¡¯s my fault you got involved in all that trouble.¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head.


    ¡°Are you okay? You don¡¯t have any internal injuries, do you?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Gu Yue said, shaking her head again.


    Tang Wulin wanted to ask more, but Gu Yue placed her hand in his and held it. He didn¡¯t know why, but the sensation of her small, cold hands set his heart at ease. The two continued on in silence.


    Meanwhile in the front passenger''s seat, Zhen Hua was in a sour mood but didn¡¯t say a word. Tang Wulin could feel his Uncle-Master¡¯s anger in the stuffy air of the car, but they started moving before he could ask anything. The speed of the HAF car astonished Tang Wulin and drove every other thought out of his mind. It flew exceptionally fast, far faster than his mecha. Zhen Hua bypassed all of the checkpoints and flew straight to the campus gates before landing.


    ¡°Wulin, take this before you go to class.¡± Zhen Hua said. handing Tang Wulin a ring.


    Tang Wulin found himself enchanted by the ring¡¯s elegant jade-green body that was inset with a silver gem. The craftsmanship of it was art. A refreshing aura of vitality lingered around it as well. He tested it and found that it fit well on his left pinky finger. ¡°Uncle-master, this is¡­¡±

 Chapter 532 - Return

    Chapter 532 - Return


    Zhen Hua cut Tang Wulin off, ¡°The trouble you were involved in this time was due to me, so I got you that ring as a gift in apology. It has your mecha inside.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw dropped. A storage ring with the capacity necessary for a mecha was a treasure! The number of rings like this found throughout Douluo could likely be counted on his fingers alone!


    ¡°Uncle-master, this is too much. I can¡¯t accept this.¡± Tang Wulin shrunk into his seat, shell-shocked.


    Zhen Hua clenched his jaw. ¡°Enough of that. Just take it.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s reluctance instantly disappeared and he snickered. ¡°Well, if you insist, I¡¯ll happily accept!¡±


    A smile couldn¡¯t help but break through Zhen Hua¡¯s stern expression. ¡°You greedy kid. Hurry up and go to class now.¡±


    Tang Wulin beamed, then he and Gu Yue got off the car and were on their way. The two ran, anxious to not be any later than they already were.


    As Zhen Hua watched them go, his face settled back into calmness. He glanced at the driver and said, ¡°Take me to the inner court.¡±


    The HAF car ascended and flew straight into the depths of Shrek Academy. None barred their way, and they arrived in a minute.


    Zhen Hua stepped out of the car and strode through the gates into the inner court. Although he could go where he pleased for the majority of Douluo with his HAF car, Shrek Academy¡¯s inner court was an exception. Even if only out of respect, he had to disembark and walk to his final destination.


    Zhen Hua took in the fresh air as he walked to Sea God¡¯s Island. When he reached the lake, he sped up, flickers of movement across the surface of the water and he reached the island. Then he stopped and waited.


    A few moments later, Zhuo Shi arrived and gave Zhen Hua a nod of acknowledgement. ¡°Let¡¯s go. The Pavilion Master is waiting for you.¡±


    Zhuo Shi in the lead, the two headed for the center of the island. A large wooden house sat at the island¡¯s core, leaning against a giant tree. This was the heart of Sea God¡¯s Island and Shrek Academy. This golden house was Sea God¡¯s Pavilion!


    The highest order of authority in Shrek Academy laid with the Master of Sea God¡¯s Pavilion. The Pavilion Master was one of the most powerful and influential people in the world. The Federation couldn¡¯t even decide on policies without consulting him. The man¡¯s strength simply could not be ignored.


    The interior of the house was simple and rustic, wholly unexpected of the location of the greatest power on Douluo. A long wooden table sat in the center, eight people seated on either sides of it and one person at the head. Nine in total.


    Zhuo Shi gestured for Zhen Hua to go on. Without any hesitation, Zhen Hua went and stood by his seat at the end of the table. Zhuo Shi followed, taking the fourth seat from the head.


    Tang Wulin would be astonished to see who led this party of influential figures at the head of the table. It was the young man who had been enjoying a pink-filled time with the Holy Spirit Douluo on the swing. He was handsome with a warm smile and looked to be merely in his late twenties. All those present looked at him with reverent eyes.


    Yali sat on the man¡¯s right, the very first seat. On his other side was a tall elderly man with a face pale as silver.


    Feng Wuyu was present as well, and sat across from Zhuo Shi. One seat down from him was Elder Cai.


    All those present were the pillars of Shrek Academy, the elders of Sea God¡¯s Pavilion. At the head of the table was their leader, the Pavilion Master.


    ¡°Hello, Your Eminence,¡± Zhen Hua said, lowering his head.


    The Pavilion Master smiled and gestured for him to take a seat.


    Although Zhen Hua was the only living Divine Blacksmith, he didn¡¯t dare disrespect this man. Years ago, before Zhen Hua had even been born, the Pavilion Master had shook the world with his power. This was the man proclaimed as the most powerful on all of Douluo, the one who looked down upon all others from the peak of the world. It was said that if the Realm of Gods hadn¡¯t been closed off, he would have long since ascended to godhood.


    Under his protection, Shrek Academy¡¯s position was unshakeable. No one dared provoke Shrek Academy, not even the Federation. This was why Shrek City operated as an autonomous city.


    ¡°Zhen Hua, please explain the situation for us,¡± the Pavilion Master said. A meeting at Sea God¡¯s Pavilion was never convened lightly. Only matters of grave importance would call for such a summons.


    Zhen Hua nodded and proceeded to recount the attempt to assassinate him and Tang Wulin¡¯s abduction.


    ¡°You said there was evidence of a battle when you arrived?¡± asked the Pavilion Master.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhen Hua stood up and took out a small metal stick. He pressed a button on it and projected onto the wall a video of the area he found Tang Wulin in. After the video was done playing, everyone present had pensive expressions.


    ¡°Hmmm. It looks like it was an intense battle. According to what Tang Wulin said, the evil soul master who abducted him practiced blood sucking and was at least a Hyper Douluo. The fact that whoever intervened could drive her off means they were at least a Hyper Douluo as well,¡± Elder Cai said, brows furrowed.


    The Pavilion Master¡¯s eyes narrowed as he stared at one particular area of the replaying video. ¡°Duskgold Dreadclaw.¡±


    The rest of the elders turned to him in astonishment.


    Yali put her hand on the Pavilion Master¡¯s. ¡°The Duskgold Dreadclaw is really rare! I¡¯ve never heard of any soul master who cultivated it to this level.¡±


    The Pavilion Master frowned, his mind sinking into thought for a moment. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re right. I can¡¯t think of anyone either. But that¡¯s definitely the Duskgold Dreadclaw. And they¡¯re at least a Hyper Douluo. All of you, look at the ground. There aren¡¯t just gashes in the earth. Much of the surrounding soil and rock were turned into powder. That¡¯s a clear sign of someone cultivating the Duskgold Dreadclaw to its peak. Zhuo Shi, I remember you saying Tang Wulin has the Duskgold Dreadclaw too?¡±


    Zhuo Shi nodded. ¡°But his is different from a normal Duskgold Dreadclaw. It combined with his bloodline to become what he calls ¡®Golden Dragon Dreadclaw.¡¯ He obtained his dreadclaw from the spirit ascension platform. Wait, are you saying¡­ that the person who saved them is from the Spirit Pagoda?¡±


    The Pavilion Master gave a slight nod. ¡°I think it¡¯s definitely a possibility. Any soul master this powerful that we¡¯re unaware of has a high chance of being part of the Spirit Pagoda. They¡¯ve become more and more mysterious lately.¡±


    Due to the fact that every soul master needed spirit souls in this era of cultivation, the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s strength and influence had rapidly grown. Their growth even accelerated in recent years as new breakthroughs in spirit soul research allowed them to offer many more powerful spirit souls. Their wealth and influence was simply immeasurable now.


    ¡°That¡¯s a very likely possibility. Gu Yue is a core disciple of the Spirit Pagoda, and the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo is her master,¡± Elder Cai said, her eyes flicking to Yali.


    Yali¡¯s eyes widened at the mention of the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo. At her side, the Pavilion Master showered a flash of being unsettled, but he quickly covered it up. Even so, everyone present noticed and suppressed a snicker in their hearts. The legends said that the Pavilion Master once had a fling with the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, and his reaction this time seemed to support that legend.


    The Pavilion Master forced out a cough. ¡°I¡¯ll go confirm with the Spirit Pagoda. Let¡¯s move on to the evil soul master now.¡±


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 533 - Council of the Sea Gods Pavilion

    Chapter 533 - Council of the Sea God''s Pavilion


    The Pavilion Master said, ¡°The evil soul masters are becoming increasingly audacious with their actions lately. We cannot afford to continue holding back when dealing with them. But it''s damn near impossible to track them! We can only reinforce the security of cities and dispatch military forces to keep an eye out. The Federation has also requested our assistance in retaliating against them, and I¡¯ve agreed to lend our strength.


    ¡°Our inner court students will participate in the subjugation of the evil soul masters! We will also be working with the Tang Sect to create a network of informants, so we can root out their scheming and have some advance warning. The moment either of us discovers anything, we¡¯ll report it to the other.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± the elders said in a chorus.


    Elder Cai interrupted him before he could continue the discussion, ¡°Pavilion Master, there is a smaller matter to discuss first. The delegation from Star Luo would like us to send a group of our students to an academy on Star Luo in an student exchange program.¡± She handed him some papers before continuing, ¡°Here, take a look at their proposal.¡±


    The Pavilion Master flipped through the proposal for a couple of seconds. Then he looked up and smiled. ¡°Tell them that this student exchange is acceptable to us. We¡¯ll send the best students from the outer court¡¯s first and second grades. Let¡¯s say¡­ ten students, and Wu Zhangkong will take charge of the group. Our two recent classes have been excellent, especially the latest one. That Tang Wulin is always getting into trouble, so make sure he¡¯s in the exchange group. This is a good opportunity to place him far outside the sight of the evil soul masters.¡±


    Zhen Hua clenched his teeth when he heard the last part of the Pavillion Master¡¯s plans. He opened his mouth to voice what might have been a protest, but then thought better of it and closed it without saying a word.


    ¡°Pavilion Master,¡± Zhuo Shi said. ¡°Those kids are still growing. If we let them go now¡­¡±


    The Pavilion Master waved dismissively. ¡°The delegation from Star Luo won¡¯t be returning any time soon. While we¡¯re waiting for them, let¡¯s invest extra resources into the students going on the exchange. We¡¯ll help them grow as much as possible! Besides, this is just a simple exchange to foster relations, we don¡¯t have to be that concerned about peacocking. It isn¡¯t necessary to send a group of our senior inner court students out. We just need to send the best of our younger students.¡±


    Elder Cai nodded. ¡°I agree. The exchange should take place roughly half a year from now, so the students will have that time. I suggest that we begin by creating a shortlist of candidates.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled,¡± declared the Pavilion Master. ¡°Yue¡¯er, please handle the shortlisting and selection of students for the exchange.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Cai Yue¡¯er answered.


    Since the relatively straightforward matter of the student exchange was settled, they returned to the discussion of countermeasures and retaliation against the evil soul masters.


    ?


    Meanwhile, completely oblivious to the machinations being devised behind the curtain, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue reached their classroom. Fortunately for them, today¡¯s class was led by Shen Yi instead of Wu Zhangkong. She was, of course, astonished by how late they were but she let them join the class without interrogating them.


    ¡°Oh? Mister Class President finally decided to show up? This late? Did he get too caught up enjoying himself and completely lose track of time?¡± Xie Xie snickered as he elbowed Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin glared at him. ¡°That¡¯s right! I was absolutely enjoying myself! How about this, next time I¡¯ll let you have a taste and you¡¯ll understand exactly how much I was enjoying myself.¡± He crossed his arms. Let¡¯s see how happy he is after he nearly dies! Tang Wulin was so caught up in his resentment that he was completely unaware of what he had just implied, and invited Xie Xie to participate in, with his sarcastic outburst. Xie Xie gave him a dastardly wink, enjoying the moment. On the other hand, the looks that Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, and Ye Xinglan gave him and Gu Yue as his quip sunk in contained hints of awkwardness. Farther away, Wu Siduo also heard their conversation. She stared at Tang Wulin. Then her eyes darted to Gu Yue briefly, and then back to him. She frowned, unknown thoughts swirling in her mind.


    When class ended, Shen Yi called out, ¡°Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, both of you stay behind.¡± Then she led them to the teachers¡¯ office to speak to them privately. When she opened the door to the office, she found Elder Cai was already there waiting for her.


    ¡°Shen Yi, tell those two to wait outside for a minute. There¡¯s something I need to speak to you about,¡± Elder Cai said as they entered. Shen Yi nodded at Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, and they stepped out and closed the door behind them.


    Once they were alone, Elder Cai briefed Shen Yi on everything that had taken place at the Council of the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion, focusing on the student exchange with Star Luo and the shortlist that she was building. Then Elder Cai left the office. Moments later, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue walked back in.


    ¡°Why were the two of you so late? The class President and Vice Presidents are supposed to be role models for everyone else in the class. You showed up to class an hour late! So, tell me why? What happened?¡± Shen Yi asked, her tone firm but fair. She wasn¡¯t as strict as Wu Zhangkong was, but she couldn¡¯t afford to be lax with them either. With all of the first grade¡¯s shining achievements, the many eyes of the other teachers and students from other grades remained fixed upon them.


    Tang Wulin scratched his head, while his eyes darted around the room. ¡°Uh, we ran into a evil soul master and nearly got killed.¡± While he wasn¡¯t trying to be glib, he realized from Shen Yi¡¯s shocked expression that this was not sufficient and that he needed to explain. He recounted every detail of their entire trip to Heaven Dou City, the deadly incident, finally culminating to how Zhen Hua had personally escorted them back.


    ¡°I cannot believe that the evil  soul masters would have the temerity to do something like this!¡± Shen Yi exclaimed, her complexion still pale from Tang Wulin¡¯s story.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Tang Wulin nodded quickly. ¡°They even tried to assassinate my uncle-master! It''s obvious that they¡¯re conspiring to weaken all of us good soul masters!¡±


    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll forgive you for being late this time,¡± Shen Yi said. She crossed her legs and slumped back in her seat, her thoughts consumed with everything she had just learned. ¡°Run along now. You¡¯ve only got a few more days until the competition with the third grade, you¡¯d better be preparing to win.¡±


    Tang Wulin grinned, ¡°If you put it like that, then we¡¯re definitely going to lose!¡±


    Shen Yi scowled as she realized that Tang Wulin had no understanding of the stakes behind this particular competition.¡°You better win! If you do, everyone on your team will have all of the materials needed to make their one-word battle armor completely covered by the Academy.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Tang Wulin asked, eyes shining. The amount of raw metal needed for a single set of battle armor was enormous, and expensive to boot. Then there were the circuit cores to consider, which required special gemstones that served as the conduits for soul power. The circuit cores were essential, battle armor wouldn¡¯t be functional without them, and each set required two. One for the chest plate and one for the helmet. These circuit cores were the most expensive component in battle armor.


    ¡°Yes, I just got approval from Elder Cai. She also mentioned that the Star Luo delegation wanted Shrek to send over a group of students as part of an exchange, and she wants the group to be from the lower grades of the outer court. If you show enough strength in this competition, you¡¯ll stand a good chance of being chosen. That means you¡¯ll have extra resources invested into your development.¡±


    ¡°Wow! That sounds great!¡± Tang Wulin was on the edge of his toes, holding back the urge to jump up in excitement. Shrek Academy had tens of thousands of years to accumulate resources, and he was certain that they would have have a treasure trove fit for an emperor. He had learned that while the Spirit Pagoda had astronomical amounts of money, not everything could be purchased. He was confident that with Shrek Academy investing resources into his team, they would be able to complete their one-word battle armor in no time at all.


    Since she had said everything that needed to be said, Shen Yi dismissed Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Once they were outside the teachers¡¯ office, Gu Yue asked, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go to the specialized cultivation rooms. Gotta sharpen the blade before the battle, you know,¡± Tang Wulin replied. Then he looked right at Gu Yue before continuing, ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to worry about our teamwork. So how about this, we¡¯ll all just think about battle tactics and share our ideas tomorrow or the day after? We¡¯ll see how well we match up against the third grade soon enough. Who knows if we stand a chance or not against them?¡±


    Gu Yue pursed her lips in thought for a brief second and then said, ¡°Our odds aren¡¯t good, that¡¯s for sure. Our real opponents are one-word battle armor masters, and none of us will be before the competition. We just don¡¯t have enough time to complete a set. Let¡¯s not forget that the battle armor masters produced at our academy are nothing like the ones outside,¡± Gu Yue said. Their greatest obstacle to victory were the two one-word battle armor masters in the third grade.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just have to do our best then.¡± Tang Wulin said, shrugging.


    ?


    Time flew by, and it was now the eve of their competition with the third grade. There was a tense atmosphere had settled on the shoulders of the students from the first and second grades during the past few days, and this was especially true in the working students dormitory.


    For two whole days, they exhaustively discussed tactics and countermeasures against the third grade. They had debated endlessly on who would be going up for each of the matches, trying to decide on the best strategy. The duels were each worth a single point, the two-on-two battle earned two points, and the final team battle granted the victorious side five points. On top of this, there were other ways to have points awarded. The team that had the most victories overall would be given three points, and there were two points to be handed out for meritorious conduct. In order to win, they needed to score at least six points. Every single match mattered.


    Unlike the match between the first and second grades, this particular competition had garnered the attention of the entire outer court. It was rare even in Shrek Academy¡¯s long history for a competition to happen between classes with such a large age gap. A difference of six years was the divide between heaven and earth.


    ?


    Over at the third grade classroom, the students were quite boisterous.


    ¡°Class President, the Academy has gotta be spurring us on with this competition! I can¡¯t believe those kids in the first and second grades think they can challenge us. They¡¯ve ridiculously overestimated their abilities,¡± said a slender young man. His lips curled up in an arrogant smile as he crossed his legs and glanced at the young man beside him.


    Since they were in the third grade, they were all around eighteen years old.


    The class President of the third grade was a tall man with ruggedly handsome looks, akin to a young Nathan Fillion with almond eyes. Although some would argue that he wasn¡¯t exactly handsome, there was an air of mischievous dignity about him. He sat upright with perfect posture, perfectly still as the pillar of the room or as a captain would on the bridge of the Serenity. Even if the sky fell down or the show was cancelled, he seemed as if he could easily hold it up.


    He was Li Qiankun, the third grade¡¯s class president and one of their two battle armor masters. He was eighteen years old and a rank 52 defense-type. His martial soul was a peculiar one that was known as the Orb of Heaven and Earth, a rare variant tool martial soul.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard some rumors about the first and second grades. We cannot underestimate them,¡± Li Qiankun rumbled in his bassy voice.


    The arrogant man beside him sat up. ¡°Boss, there¡¯s no need to worry so much. The strongest ones they got only just reached rank 40. How strong could they be? Let me go up for one of the duels. I reckon the Academy also wanted this competition to serve as motivation for those kids to work harder and make sure they don¡¯t get too arrogant.¡±


    This young man was Ye Wu, an agility-type. His battle armor was 70% done. Currently seventeen years old, he expected to finish his armor by the time he turned twenty and enter the inner court. He was one of the core members of the third grade.

 Chapter 534 - The Competition Begins

    Chapter 534 - The Competition Begins


    ¡°Ye Wu, how long is it going to take you to fix that arrogance?¡± a gentle yet hauntingly piercing voice chimed out.


    The instant that lilting rebuke fell on Ye Wu¡¯s ears, he drew back and shot up to stand at perfect attention before turning to face the direction the words came from. ¡°Big Sis Mo! It''s just small talk. No reason to worry at all! I¡¯m taking this very seriously.¡±


    A young lady glided over with ethereal grace and reclined herself beside Li Qiankun. Her long black hair cascaded in waves over her back, and all that was best of dark and bright met in her aspect; in her eyes. Her stunning features carried the cold perfection of marble. She was the portrait of femininity. Despite her beauty, it was apparent that attempting to breach that frosty temple would result in penile frostbite.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that those children have at least two soul fusion skills, one of which is a self-soul fusion. They use both the elements of light and darkness in a combo skill. Nearly everyone on that team is above rank 40. Some even have battle armor pieces crafted from various spirit alloys. I don¡¯t believe the children are our equals, but that difference in power that you¡¯re so confident of, it''s not as great as you imagine. If we do not take this seriously, we will be the architects of our own humiliation,¡± said Mo Jue in her peculiar melodic yet stern way.


    Mo Jue was one of the Vice Presidents of the third grade class. A rank 51 Soul King and the other battle armor master from the third grade. She was even more respected among her classmates than Li Qiankun, due in part to her strong and selfless character. She had helped many of her classmates. This, combined with her honesty and empathy, made her one of the pillars of the third grade alongside Li Qiankun. It was thought that both she and Li Qiankun were certain to enter the inner court in the future. They were ready to take the entrance examination at the end of the academic year. As long as they made it through the trial by fire, admittance to the inner court was guaranteed.


    Li Qiankun turned to her, a brow raised. ¡°Two soul fusion skills? How powerful are they?¡±


    Mo Jue shook her head. ¡°I couldn¡¯t find out. They shouldn¡¯t be much of a threat though, according to my estimates, since we have battle armor. Once we equip our armor, we¡¯ll have the strength of a normal Soul Sage.¡± She let out a little laugh that sounded like bells tinkling on a warm breeze before continuing, ¡°Even though the gap in strength is still large, I do have to admit that our juniors really are quite talented. I heard that one of them is already inches away from becoming a sixth-rank blacksmith. That¡¯s how they got the spirit alloys for their battle armor. What¡¯s even more astonishing is that the spirit alloys are all rumored to have had a harmony rate over eighty percent. We should have a word with that blacksmith once we pass the inner court exam and start on our two-word armor.¡±


    Li Qiankun understood what Mo Jue was subtly pushing for and cracked a wry smile. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be too harsh on our dear juniors then. We gotta control ourselves.¡±


    Mo Jue nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll just compete like normal. The team battle is the only one we need to win, so we can let them win a couple of the matches before that. That¡¯ll allow them to gain some confidence, too. As far as strategy goes, how about you and I split up? One of us will fight in the team battle, and the other in one of the duels. That way we¡¯re guaranteed at least six points. That¡¯ll be enough.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me. We¡¯ll go with that. Which one do you want to participate in?¡±


    Mo Jue¡¯s lips curved up in a slim smile. ¡°Naturally, I already know which one. I¡¯ll take one of the duels. If those children are much stronger than we¡¯re expecting, I¡¯ll also join in on the team battle. If we dominate in the early matches, I¡¯ll abstain from it.¡±


    Li Qiankun chuckled. ¡°Alright. It¡¯s settled.¡±


    ?


    The day of the competition had finally arrived, and Tang Wulin was rushing to finish last minute preparations.


    ¡°Give me some more buns,¡± Tang Wulin said, leaning on a chair as he beckoned for Xu Lizhi to hurry up.


    Worry flashed in Xu Lizhi¡¯s eyes. ¡°Boss, can you really eat this many? Aren¡¯t you full yet?¡±


    Unfortunately for Xu Lizhi, Tang Wulin¡¯s appetite had grown by fifty percent in the past few months. He didn¡¯t even know what it felt like to be satiated anymore. A bitter smile tugged at the corner of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth. ¡°I can¡¯t help it! If I don¡¯t eat enough now, what¡¯ll happen if I run out of blood essence this afternoon? You can¡¯t give me buns in the middle of a battle either. Just make sure you prepare a bunch of buns for me to eat after my two-on-two match!¡±


    Every student of the outer court had their eyes on this competition. The way things worked out, the third grade was the strongest in the outer court. This was primarily due to the fact that those in the fourth through sixth grades no longer had any chance of entering the inner court, and were now completing their battle armor at their own leisure. Since they were over twenty years old, graduation swiftly followed the completion of their battle armor and they would be booted out. Thus, none remaining in the upper grades had a full set of battle armor and the strongest, those with the most potential and talent, of the outer court were all found in the third grade.


    It was rare for such an exciting competition to be held. Students and teachers alike welcomed this exciting break from the monotony. This competition was sure to entertain with the participants being the greatest talents of the outer court, the ones with the most hope of entering the inner court. It was a clash between the shining stars of the new generation.


    The students of the first and second grades arrived early. From the moment they took their seats, they were on edge, desperately hoping for a miracle.


    Meanwhile, the third grade students reclined in their seats and watched without a care. To them, this was just a few friendly matches. They saw no possibility of their juniors winning. Talented soul masters with powerful martial souls could perhaps challenge a grade up and win, and they could even be worthy of challenging another grade up. However, that was the limit. It was nigh impossible to win against battle armor masters without being battle armor masters themselves.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were the first of the team to arrive. They walked into the stadium and stopped breathing for a moment. The intense gaze of hundreds of spectators bore down on them. But this only urged them on. They could not accept the shame of losing to the first grade, this was a chance for redemption.


    Up on a platform for observing the arena sat Elder Cai, Yali, and another teacher of the outer court. Behind Yali were Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu, who were both here to watch Tang Wulin¡¯s performance. Yali was clearly the leader of this group of Titled Douluos.


    Before the assembled team of the first and second grade, Wu Zhangkong swept his gaze over them. ¡°Are you all ready?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re ready!¡± they shouted in unison.


    ¡°For the first duel, we¡¯ll send Yuanen Yehui. Remember, don¡¯t hold back at all. Don¡¯t worry about conserving your strength for the later matches and just focus on winning. Now for the second duel, we¡¯ll have Wu Siduo go, and Ye Xinglan for the third.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± the three girls nodded.


    Xu Xiaoyan smirked, glancing at Xie Xie to her side. ¡°You boys ashamed yet? Sending out all girls for the duels.¡±


    Xie Xie snorted. ¡°I have my own battle to fight. I¡¯m just letting you girls go first.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan snickered.


    ¡°¡®Hehe¡¯ my ass!¡± Xie Xie retorted.


    She snickered again.


    Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes as he thought over Wu Zhangkong¡¯s plan. They had to get at least one victory for the duels, hopefully two. Then they absolutely had to win the two-on-two match. He and Gu Yue were responsible for that, and the burden weighed heavily on his shoulders. There were too many obstacles to overcome. All they could do was give it their all for those two points. If they somehow won three or four points and earned some merit points for the team battle, they would achieve their goal for this competition. With how great the gap in strength was, that would be the best possible outcome.


    ¡°Yuanen, good luck!¡± Xie Xie shouted after her, waving his arms.


    Yuanen Yehui shot a glare at him, then sat down and began meditating. She had to bring herself to peak condition before her battle. As the class president of the second grade, she was confident in her victory.


    On the other side of the arena, the third grade team was gathered before their teacher, a middle-aged woman named Song Lin. She was a veteran teacher of the outer court and a two-word battle armor master. The talents of the third grade had been guided by her hand since their admittance to Shrek Academy.


    ¡°Wu Rui, you¡¯re up for the first match,¡± Song Lin said as she glanced at a young man about eighteen years old. ¡°Go easy on them.¡± A gentle smile graced her lips.


    Wu Rui was rank 48 control-type. His martial soul was the Heaven¡¯s Book and he was the strongest control-type of the third grade team. However, duels were a weak point for him.

 Chapter 535 - Replication

    Chapter 535 - Replication


    Song Lin, one of the teachers of the third grade class, was a teacher at Shrek Academy. She had no intention of utterly crushing either the first or second grade team at this competition. It wouldn¡¯t be beneficial to their growth and development. At the end of the day, they were all students and there was no reason to be so brutal. This was her mindset when she decided to send Wu Rui, one of the top five students in the third grade, to fight in the first duel. Whoever the second grade decided to send, they wouldn¡¯t be utterly demolished by Wu Rui. Nor would it be possible for them to defeat him, not without great difficulty.


    Elder Cai stepped off the platform and disappeared in a silver flash. She appeared an instant later on the stage and announced, ¡°The participants of the first duel will now step up on the stage.¡±  Two figures entered from opposite ends of the stage and cheers erupted from the stands.


    Wu Rui gracefully levitated himself up and landed on the stage, light as a feather. He looked like a scholar with an ephemeral air to him. With one arm in front and one behind, his hair was combed back without a single loose hair. A hint of a smile could be seen as he waved to the audience. He carried himself like a sage. If not for the fact that romantic relationships were forbidden by the Academy, he would surely have been one of the most prolific playboys.


    Yuanen Yehui entered the arena with a thud. She wore her usual male disguise, any unique features she once had were blurred. Her arrival on the stage was followed by a surge of cheers from the second grade.


    ¡°I¡¯m Wu Rui of the third grade,¡± he said, revealing a shining smile. There wasn¡¯t the slightest hint of provocation or contempt in his expression. It was a perfect pretty boy¡¯s smile. A most mysterious smile, one that tugged on the heartstrings of both men and women with no clear indication of whom that smile was intended for.


    ¡°Im Yuanen Yehui of the second grade,¡± she grunted unenthusiastically.


    ¡°So you¡¯re the president of the second grade!¡± Wu Rui said. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that you have twin martial souls. Amazing! Well, good luck.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui stared back at him, not uttering a word, expression deadpan.


    Wu Rui continued, blissfully unaware that his charm was having no effect, ¡°Don¡¯t force yourself if things get too tough. No need to worry either, I¡¯ll start off easy on you. I am your senior, after all, and we¡¯re schoolmates anyway. If you work hard, I¡¯m positive that one day, you¡¯ll become as strong as me.¡±


    On the sidelines of the arena, Song Lin was beginning to regret her choice. She cringed with every word of Wu Rui¡¯s imperious monologue, and she was embarrassed by his arrogant posturing. Although Wu Rui was strong, he didn¡¯t know when to shut his glib mouth. He loved to act the pretty boy and play up how much of a saint he was. Before students that were six years his junior, his shortcoming was showing its ugly head.


    ¡°Shut up! Enough with this rubbish!¡± Elder Cai barked.


    ¡°Uh¡­ Elder Cai, I was just being friendly with my junior.¡±


    Elder Cai glared at him. ¡°Begin the match.¡±


    ¡°Junior brother, be careful¡ª¡±


    Before Wu Rui could even finish, Yuanen Yehui burst into action. Foot slamming into the ground, she leaped toward him. Her body swelled with strength as she manifested her third soul skill, Diamond Titan!


    Wu Rui¡¯s eyes went wide when he realized a giant was hurtling toward him. He unleashed his martial soul and shouted, ¡°Shit! You¡¯re damn huge!¡±


    Yuanen Yehui came crashing down with a fist. But before she hammered Wu Rui, a gust of wind blew her away. This was his ability as a control-type, which naturally countered assault-types.


    In a burst of light, a thick blue book appeared in front of him and flipped open to the first page. Countless thick vines shot out of the book to restrain Yuanen Yehui.


    With how large Yuanen Yehui¡¯s body was now, it was impossible to evade the vines. Not that she intended to anyway. Her fist continuing smashing its way to Wu Rui, ripping apart all of the incoming vines like cobwebs.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a smart move, Junior Brother,¡± Wu Rui said, a smirk on his lips as he licked his finger and flipped to the next page. Light enveloped him and he disappeared. An instant later, he reappeared ten meters a way, completely out of range of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s attack. Now the remaining vines completed their work, restraining her limbs.


    Plants and space? He¡¯s a dual-attribute? As Tang Wulin watched, astonishment flickered in his eyes. What kind of martial soul is that?


    Wu Zhangkong put a hand to his chin as he observed. ¡°His martial soul is the Heaven¡¯s Book. It doesn¡¯t control the elements. Rather, it carries a stock of abilities. Each soul ring he gains unlocks another page in the book and allows him to store a soul skill in the page. The vines and teleportation were both soul skills he stored. It looks like he chose the path of a control-type. Not a bad choice. His martial soul doesn¡¯t have any set inclination, so he has the freedom to grow in whatever direction he wants. But his strength is reliant on his stored soul skills and their synergy. He¡¯s a tough opponent.¡±


    Tang Wulin was reminded of how nothing was impossible for martial souls once again!


    Yuanen Yehui was in a trouble. The vines rapidly tightened around her, restricting her movements. They were even tougher than Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass.


    She growled as her first soul ring lit up. Titan Strength! Power rippled through her arms, and she ripped apart the vines. Mere vines were nothing before the combined might of Diamond Titan and Titan Strength. In this form, the only person who stood a match against her in terms of pure strength was Tang Wulin, and that was only with the aid of Golden Dragon Body.


    ¡°Damn you¡¯re strong! Junior Brother, you¡¯re great! Let¡¯s get this show on the road!¡± Wu Rui said. Another wave of vines shot out of his book, so numerous this time that they blotted out the sky as they swarmed Yuanen Yehui.


    Wu Rui¡¯s battle tactics were simple: restrain Yuanen Yehui until she ran out of soul power. As long as he did that, it would be an easy victory. Of course, he could simply throw her off the stage and win too. The truth was, Wu Rui wasn¡¯t running his mouth off for no reason. He was trying to provoke Yuanen Yehui since he could easily evade her attacks with his teleportation ability. He was a cunning opponent and a force to be reckoned with!


    Yuanen Yehui snorted. She charged straight at him, the vines barely slowing her down as she easily tore them apart. Then she punched out and sent an air blast at him.


    The sudden air blast took Wu Rui but surprise, but his hands moved swift as wind as he flipped to another page and summoned a multitude of mirrors in front of him. The air blasts struck the mirrors and reflected right back to Yuanen Yehui.


    It was his third soul skill, Mirror Reflection! This skill was particularly effective in team battles.


    Faced with a barrage of her own air blasts and having her movements restricted by the vines, Yuanen Yehui could only use her free arm to unleash air blasts to intercept the reflected ones. She was a puppet now, dancing along on Wu Rui¡¯s strings. It was only natural since control-types were counters to assault-types.


    Yuanen Yehui clenched her jaw. Her body rapidly shrunk and purple-black flames blazed into existence around her, burning away the vines to ashes.


    In her Fallen Angel form, all she wore was a skintight suit. Her dull male disguise disappeared, revealing her feminine beauty. Jet black wings unfurled behind her. She summoned her sword of darkness, the flames coating it pulsing.


    In a blur of movement, she appeared right in front of Wu Rui. Now in her Fallen Angel form, she had both the power of an assault-type and the speed of an agility-type.


    ¡°Holy shit! The dude turned into a chick!¡± Wu Rui shouted, then he teleported away. Flipping to another page, a beam of golden light descended from the heavens upon Yuanen Yehui.


    Basked in the light, a second Yuanen Yehui split apart from the original. It was a clone, the spitting image of her in both face and martial soul. It was Replication, Wu Rui¡¯s fourth soul skill!


    With the soul skills of Bind, Mirror Reflection, Teleport, and Replication, Wu Rui had cinched the position as number one control-type of the third grade and earned himself a potential future in the inner court.


    Yuanen Yehui froze for a moment as she stared at her replica. Just how many damn abilities does this guy have? But with her wealth of combat experience, she immediately realized that the replica¡¯s strength had to be lower than the original¡¯s. Otherwise, the soul skill would be too ridiculous.


    In a blur of movement, Yuanen Yehui unleashed a sword dance and summoned her Curtain of Darkness. The darkness encroached on the arena.


    While the replica had all of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s soul skills, it could only produce sixty percent of her strength. If Wu Rui could ascend his soul skill from purple to black, then its strength would increase to eighty percent. And should it reach red level, it would be ninety percent. But that was all just future potential. For now, it was sixty percent.


    Wu Rui used Replication to buy himself some time, waiting for an opening. With a wave of his hand, he commanded vines and the replica to attack at once.


    In that time, darkness had fully descended over the arena. Within this darkness, the efficacy of teleportation was reduced. No matter where Wu Rui teleported, Yuanen Yehui would instantly know his location.

 Chapter 536 - Shocked

    Chapter 536 - Shocked


    Wu Rui was thunderstruck. The third grade class had Yuanen Yehui thoroughly investigated prior to the competition beginning, because she was the class president of the second grade and posed the greatest potential threat. None of their predictions and strategy forecasts accounted for the possibility of her coming out for the first match. Their evaluation of Yuanen Yehui was that she was a power-assault-type with potent ranged and melee attacks, the champion of the second grade. They had unanimously agreed that it would be a mistake to underestimate her strength. What they had not discovered in all of their scouting was that she  possessed the Fallen Angel martial soul.


    When Wu Rui first found out his opponent was Yuanen Yehui, he was overjoyed. His abilities were the perfect counter to a power-type like her. With his control abilities and greater soul power, he could easily win a battle of attrition. However, Yuanen Yehui swiftly switched to her Fallen Angel martial soul. The Fallen Angel soul possessed speed, power, and control. It was an apical and superlative martial soul with nary a weakness. Even Heaven¡¯s Book was no match for the Fallen Angel.


    Wu Rui managed to buy some time with the replica, but the gap between the replica and the original was obvious. With the Curtain of Darkness raised over the arena, the efficacy of teleportation was suppressed as well. He had to admit that bitter truth: he was outmatched and in a bind. Wu Rui was cunning and intelligent, he knew exactly how much of a disadvantage he was at. He was facing someone with twin martial souls, both of the same ring level as his own martial soul. He couldn¡¯t even outlast her in terms of soul power.


    Even so, he couldn¡¯t back down. Defeat was not an option!


    Deep within the shadows of the Curtain of Darkness, a sphere of resplendent light blossomed and grew, pushing back against the endless night. At the center of the light was the Heaven¡¯s Book, now several times larger than before.


    Wu Rui¡¯s form was once more visible now. Tendrils of white light whipped out from his abdomen, spreading across his body to form a shining chestplate. His aura overflowing with power. Then with a flick of his hands, items poured out of his storage rings and combined with his breastplate. A moment later, he was equipped with pauldrons, gauntlets, and faulds. All he was missing was a helmet and leg armor.


    He was clad in six shining white pieces of battle armor. His armor¡¯s design was plain and he couldn¡¯t fuse with them, but their effect on his strength was staggering.


    Waving his hand over the Heaven¡¯s Book, he flipped the pages and summoned vines. The vines were all a minimum of 30% larger than before. In an instant, they spread throughout the entire arena to form a giant trap for Yuanen Yehui!


    Six pieces of battle armor! As expected of a member of the third grade class! The spectators in the stands were awestruck. Wu Rui was a genius, one who was likely to become a one-word battle armor master by the time he turned twenty! He was a potential recruit of the inner court! This was the true strength of the strongest control-type of the third grade!


    Yuanen Yehui snorted and looked up at the sky. Then she let out an ear-splitting shriek, her aura of darkness bursting with might. A beam of purple shot into the sky, then her aura waned and her wings grew in size. Her eyes shifted to a deep maroon as a swirling void of black and purple formed behind her. It was her third soul skill, Fallen Angel Descends!


    With a wave of her sword, countless beams flew out, shredding the incoming vines to tatters. Then she flapped her wings, shooting towards Wu Rui.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m supposed to call you Junior Brother or Junior Sister, but it doesn¡¯t matter. There¡¯s a simple reason battle armor masters are the greatest on Douluo! It¡¯s strength!¡±


    His armor began to shine along with his Heaven¡¯s Book, the two resonating. He called down another beam of light to smite Yuanen Yehui from the heavens, a combo attack with the replica of her.


    The replica was clearly stronger than before, now that it was empowered by his battle armor. It was able to duplicate 70% of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s strength.


    ¡°With my battle armor equipped, my soul power will last twice as long now. And my replica is even stronger! Your Curtain of Darkness won¡¯t be able to restrain my teleportation either! I can even chain together teleports! There¡¯s no way you can catch me. Give up now and concede. You might as well save some strength for the later matches,¡± Wu Rui said, smirking as his vines joined in on his combo attack. Yuanen Yehui was cornered now.


    After equipping his battle armor, Wu Rui had instantly seized the advantage once again. Despite this, Yuanen Yehui continued to meet his onslaught with a steady gaze. A slash and she pushed back the replica. Then she froze, as if she turned into a stone statue.


    What¡¯s she doing? Wu Rui watched in confusion but did not relent in his attacks.


    Vine after vine shot forth to bind Yuanen Yehui while the replica charged right back at her with its single sword of darkness.


    But right before the attacks landed, a inky-black soul ring appeared around Yuanen Yehui. It marked the fourth soul ring for her Fallen Angel soul. This black soul ring towered above the rest of her purples, its might awe-inspiring. Black meant a ten-thousand-year soul ring, and that had to have come from a ten-thousand-year spirit soul!


    The blurred void behind her solidified into a more mature version Yuanen Yehui, one formed of shadows. It stepped forward and engulfed Yuanen Yehui just as the replica¡¯s slash arrived. Then the replica too was engulfed by darkness.


    What the hell was that? Wu Rui scanned the arena and flipped to summon another replica. She was actually hiding this skill all along! This has got to be her true strength!


    The replication light landed upon Yuanen Yehui, but no replica appeared. She had resisted his skill.


    In the stands, every single student was stunned, even those on Yuanen Yehui¡¯s team. When did she manage to sneak in a ten-thousand-year soul ring?


    The darkness over Yuanen Yehui¡¯s body stretched. Her body soon grew to three meters in height while retaining her Fallen Angel features. The demonic sword in her hand solidified its existence, runes now pulsing with power down the purple blade wreathed in violet sparks. Her eyes radiated a deep violet.


    On her shoulder sat a small three-winged purple angel that stared at Wu Rui with eyes full of bloodthirst. It was her new ten-thousand-year spirit soul!


    With a wave of her demonic sword, a clap of thunder rumbled through the arena.


    Wu Rui tried to teleport, but was aghast to discover he couldn¡¯t. Did she seal the space around me with her control over darkness? How the hell is that possible? He sent forth a swarm of vines at Yuanen Yehui in a bid for time.


    But all his struggle was for naught.

 Chapter 537 - The Mighty Yuanen Yehui

    Chapter 537 - The Mighty Yuanen Yehui


    Wu Rui threw up his arms to defend himself.


    Darkness crashed into him. A boom rumbled through the arena. An instant later, he was sent flying backward, violet sparks arcing across his body. Even with his six pieces of battle armor equipped, he had barely survived Yuanen Yehui¡¯s sword strike. Without his armor, he would¡¯ve been cleaved in half right now.


    How is she so strong?  Wu Rui¡¯s mind was in turmoil as he flew through the air. Before he could regain his poise, a mountain of pressure slammed into him.


    Wu Rui crashed into the ground. When the dust settled, the spectators saw Yuanen Yehui on kneeling atop Wu Rui¡¯s stomach, her sword pointed down ready to impale him. All that stopped her was his battle armor. But she could just as easily skewer his exposed head.


    ¡°The match is over!¡± Elder Cai declared.


    Yuanen Yehui lifted off Wu Rui with a flap of her wings and smoothly glided backward ten meters.


    Cheers erupted from the crowd, the beating of victory drums thundering. Among the crowd, the second grade was undoubtedly the loudest.


    ¡°She¡¯s gotten even stronger,¡± Tang Wulin muttered. ¡°If she was this strong during our two-on-two, it would have been a close match. Her true strength is actually her Fallen Angel soul, not her Titan Great Ape!¡±


    Gu Yue looked at him from the side. ¡°Generally, a person¡¯s second martial soul is stronger than their first. It¡¯s just that their progression will lag behind a bit. I never would have thought she would get a second spirit soul for her Fallen Angel so fast. She probably made a breakthrough in her spiritual power.¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°We better not slack off then! We can¡¯t afford to fall behind the rest.¡±


    Unknown to Tang Wulin, he was one of the direct causes for her rapid growth. Her pride didn¡¯t allow her to lose to these talented juniors of hers, and so she spared no effort to grow stronger. In fact, her black soul ring was just recently acquired. With it, her might was incomparable with before.


    ¡°For the first duel, the first and second grade team win,¡± Elder Cai announced.


    Wu Rui hadn¡¯t suffered any serious injuries, but he was down in the dumps. Even with six pieces of battle armor, he had lost to his junior. He was utterly ashamed.


    Song Lin furrowed her brow. The third grade had lost the first match and this was a hit to their pride!


    As a teacher, she had to acknowledge that the match was won fairly. Yuanen Yehui was far stronger than she had expected. It was no wonder that the administration agreed to let the first and second grades challenge the third grade.


    Looking purely at her capabilities, Yuanen Yehui was an absolute genius. She had twin martial souls and both had four rings. She even had a ten-thousand-year spirit soul. Such strength put her at the top of even the third grade. Li Qiankun and Mo Jue couldn¡¯t match her in talent. Once she completed her battle armor in the future, she would be able to crush the third grade class. But fortunately for Song Lin, that was the future. Yuanen Yehui was not yet a battle armor master.


    Narrowing her eyes, Song Ling glanced at Ye Wu. ¡°Go up for the second round.¡±


    She didn¡¯t bother to caution them or advise them further. These kids had been under her tutelage for seven years now and they shared a mutual understanding between each other.


    Excitement burned in  Ye Wu¡¯s eyes. As he walked over to the arena, he slapped Wu Rui on the shoulder and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry you blabbermouth. I¡¯ll avenge you.¡±


    Wu Rui¡¯s cheeks twitched. ¡°I hope you face someone even stronger.¡±


    He still couldn¡¯t accept his defeat. He had been suppressed by the might of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s ten-thousand-year soul ring. If not for that, his soul skills would have worked as they normally did and he wouldn¡¯t have lost. But even so, he was confident of his strength with his six pieces of battle armor. He had no choice but to acknowledge the gap in talent between him and Yuanen Yehui.


    On the other side of the arena, Wu Zhangkong looked between Wu Siduo and Ye Xinglan.


    Wu Siduo took a step forward. ¡°Teacher Wu, please let me handle the second match.¡±


    After a moment of thought, he nodded. ¡°Alright. You can go up. Don¡¯t do anything risky.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Wu Siduo answered, and without another word, she leaped into the arena.


    Ye Wu stood on the opposite end of the arena waiting. Then Wu Siduo appeared before him. He was stunned by her womanly charms. Despite being only fourteen years old, she looked just as mature as him.


    ¡°Hello, Junior Sister. I¡¯m Ye Wu of the third grade,¡± he said, beaming. There wasn¡¯t a single trace of he previous battlelust he showed Wu Rui.


    ¡°Wu Siduo of the first grade,¡± she answered.


    A flash of astonishment colored Ye Wu¡¯s face. He had heard of her before. She was one of the top ten rankers on the Genius Youths Ranking. She was the possessor of twin martial souls and a self-soul fusion skill. Her talent was obvious for anyone who heard of this. Although her souls themselves couldn¡¯t compare with Yuanen Yehui¡¯s, her self-soul fusion skill was a powerful trump card. Furthermore, she already had four soul rings.


    These first graders are terrifying! Given a few more years, she¡¯ll probably break rank fifty! Maybe even as soon as when she reaches the second grade. As expected of one of the representatives of the strongest incoming class of the century! Ye Wu steeled himself, not daring to underestimate his opponent.


    ¡°Begin!¡± Elder Cai shouted.


    Both sides immediately burst into action, fast as lightning.


    Ye Wu charged forward, his entire body igniting. A blast of flame shot out behind him, further accelerating him to mach speeds!


    In the stands, the first and second grade students had their hearts jump to their throats, especially the agility-types. They had never witnessed such speed before.


    Ye Wu moved so fast that he was a streak of fire to the untrained eye! A blink and he reached Wu Siduo!


    While Wu Siduo was also quick with her Hell Civet, she had only closed a third of the original distance between them when Ye Wu reached her. Her eyes went wide. What kind of speed is that? She suppressed her shock and used her first soul skill, Hell Rush!


    In an instant, she used the sudden acceleration of her skill to adjust her trajectory to slant to the side. A ball of flame flitted past her. Ye Wu and her and just narrowly missed each other.


    An instant later, Ye Wu was on the opposite end of the arena. As he approached the barrier, he made a large arc back around to charge Wu Siduo once more.


    ¡°He¡¯s fast, but he doesn¡¯t have much control,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°He might be lacking control precisely because of his speed. He¡¯s moving too fast for himself to react.¡± Xie Xie chimed in, offering the expertise of an agility-type. In fact, he himself had been shocked by Ye Wu¡¯s speed. Ye Wu¡¯s velocity in a straight line was even too fast for the eye to follow. However, it was clear that this shocking speed came at the cost of control.

 Chapter 538 - Flame Body

    Chapter 538 - Flame Body


    Ye Wu¡¯s martial soul was Flame Body! It was a martial soul that integrated both attack and defense into one. However, he had opted for a stranger path. By harnessing the air around him to produce large blasts of fire to propel him, he became an unconventional agility-type.


    With the synergy of his abilities, he was quicker than even an agility-type one ring level above him. However, he could only display such shocking speed in a straight line.


    Relying on her wealth of combat experience, Wu Siduo had judged herself to be in a disadvantage in a direct clash and so she had evaded to the side. Her decision proved correct.


    Glancing back to watch Ye Wu swinging back around in a giant circle, power began to fill her as she called forth her martial soul. Might rippled through her muscles as she stood taller than before. Her hair took on streaks of black and white while tufts of hair appeared on her neck. Then her arms swelled thick and solid and her nails grew into claws. Her transformation was complete. This was her White Tiger form!


    Ye Wu finished turning around now and was accelerating rapidly toward Wu Siduo. His cheek twitched when he saw her current burly form. What the hell is it with girls these days? Why do they all have such brawny martial souls? Like damn they¡¯re scary!


    In a white blur, Wu Siduo flicked her arms to the side and readied her claws. She would meet him directly this time.


    Ye Wu was lightning quick. They two crashed into each other a blink of an eye later.


    A boom rumbled through the arena. Flames burst from the collision.


    Wu Siduo was sent sliding backward a dozen meters, but she remained standing. On the other hand, Ye Wu¡¯s momentum had been destroyed.


    In a clash between a power-type and an agility-type, the power-type won out. This was why Wu Siduo opted for her White Tiger martial soul. By relying on the White Tiger¡¯s increase to her physical strength, she could easily disrupt an agility-type.


    Both combatants¡¯ blood was boiling now. They refused to back down.


    Ye Wu let out a loud grunt and the flames around him danced with life. As the flames transitioned from orange to jade-green, the temperature around him rapidly rose. The air around him shimmered in a heat haze. Even a dozen meters away, Wu Siduo could feel the heat beating on her skin.


    Wu Siduo¡¯s White Tiger was still immature, incomparable as a second martial soul to Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Fallen Angel. She currently only had three soul rings for it and had yet to find a suitable second spirit soul.


    Her third soul ring lit up and glittering gold cascaded down her fur while her body swelled with even more strength. Taking a step forward, she suddenly pounced toward Ye Wu.


    In a blur of movement, Ye Wu dashed to the side in a long winding arc. He began madly dashing around the arena in circles.


    Ye Wu was undoubtedly an oddity among agility-types. He did not rely on deftness, but the force of impact of ultra high speeds. Combined with his Flame Body, he was a crashing meteor each time he struck. Such unconventional combat tactics had allowed him to rise above the masses and claim a spot at Shrek Academy.


    However, there were steep disadvantages to this combat style. It was exceptionally hard for him to coordinate with teammates. He had only been able to cultivate the strength to become the strongest agility-type of the third grade through blood and sweat.


    Ye Wu diverged from the perimeter of the arena and headed straight for Wu Siduo once more. He was a mere streak of fire as he dashed toward her.


    Rumbles filled the arena and the two were sent flying backward from their clash.


    After rolling a few times on the ground, Wu Siduo bounced back to her feet. Her gaze sharpened as she focused on her opponent. Her blood boiled. His attacks hurt! He¡¯s no ordinary agility-type. Even empowered by White Tiger Diamond Transformation, it was difficult for her to withstand his attacks. Her body was already littered with cuts and bruises.


    Similarly to Wu Siduo, Ye Wu had rolled across the ground a few times before getting back on his feet.


    Relying on the flame elements that wreathed him, he could instantaneously raise the force of his attack¡¯s impact. This was the core of his combat style.


    Wu Siduo pondered how to deal with him. Ye Wu was too fast for her to chase after him in her Hell Civet form and she couldn¡¯t continue to endure his attacks in her White Tiger form much longer either. Even with White Tiger Diamond Transformation, the assault of his flames was shaving away at her defenses. It might have been possible for her to overcome him if her White Tiger had four rings, but it didn¡¯t.


    She had no other choice now. Taking a deep breath in, her eyes began to shine with resolution. She threw out both hands and two beams of light shot out of her ring and onto her hands. An instant later, the lights manifested a pair of white and gold gauntlets. Then another two lights shot out and manifested a pair of pauldrons. She was now equipped with four pieces of battle armor!


    The two clashed for the third time, winds kicking up around them from the impact.


    Ye Wu was the loser this time. He had been moving too quickly to react when he saw Wu Siduo equip battle armor and was sent flying backward. On the other hand, Wu Siduo suffered no damage at all, unmoved from her position.


    There was finally an opening in Ye Wu¡¯s defenses as he flew through the air. Wu Siduo instantly switched martial souls and pounced upon him. Her battle armor shimmered transparent as she darted forward with Hell Rush! In a flicker of movement, she reached Ye Wu and slashed with her claws!


    Off-stage, Song Lin¡¯s eyes went wide with astonishment, then she furrowed her brow and pressed her lips tight together. Just how strong are these first graders? This one already has four pieces of battle armor! And they were made with her twin martial souls in mind! Battle armor for twin martial souls is way harder to make! If she keeps going at this rate, she should just about complete a set of one-word armor by the time she enters the second grade! Impossible!


    In the audience, Luo Guixing smirked as he glanced at Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Those pieces of armor were the results of the rankers¡¯ blood and sweat. Although the pieces weren¡¯t made of spirit alloys, they were still designed for twin martial souls. However, the armor was weaker than normal one-word level due to how short on time they had been and how demanding the production process was.


    After seeing Tang Wulin¡¯s team pull off crafting battle armor with spirit alloys, the rankers had resolved themselves to succeed in crafting battle armor as well. After some discussion, they had decided to pour their efforts into making armor for Wu Siduo, resulting in these four pieces while leaving the rest with one or two each. They had elected her their champion to lead them on the path of catching up to Tang Wulin.


    In the entire first grade, Wu Siduo had the highest rank of soul power of 44. While there was still a gap between her and Ye Wu¡¯s rank 48, it was not insurmountable. Now with the appearance of those four pieces of battle armor, the gap was closed and the tide of battle shifted.


    Just before Wu Siduo struck him down, Ye Wu¡¯s cloak of flames turned from jade to azure.


    Wu Siduo felt the heat recede, but burning pain struck her the next instant. Her entire body was aflame, and even her spiritual power was being eaten away.


    Then Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell Rush struck. Ye Wu thrust his arms out to defend. Shining blue armor clad his arms. It was battle armor!


    The two clashed, each pushing to gain ground on the other. Ye Wu was in a disadvantage as his posture had yet to recover when Wu Siduo struck. With a spurt of strength, Wu Siduo¡¯s tide won over and she sent Ye Wu flying backward once more.


    But Ye Wu fixed his stance mid-air with the grace of a dancer. The azure flames burst to life on his body and he propelled himself further backward in retreat, cutting off Wu Siduo¡¯s opportunity to finish the battle.


    With the large distance opened up between them, Ye Wu took the chance to throw on one piece of battle armor after another. Gauntlets, pauldrons, cuisses, and greaves. Eight pieces of battle armor in total. Although he didn¡¯t have a chestplate to connect them all, he still had twice as much armor as Wu Siduo. This was his true strength and the advantage of time the third grade had over the first. With his armor equipped, he was twice as fast as before and his flames blazed with unrelenting might.


    I can¡¯t block his attacks anymore!  Wu Siduo knew his strength far eclipsed her¡¯s now. She had no hopes of defending with any soul skills from either of her martial souls. As expected of a senior in the third grade!  But even so, she did not back down. Her eyes shone with determination.


    Wu Siduo released her battle armor and they returned to her storage ring in streams of light. In their wake, a tribal pattern began to glow on her body. This was the prelude to her soul fusion skill, Hell White Tiger!


    A phantom Hell White Tiger appeared around her, larger and more corporeal than the last time she used this skill. The instant it appeared, the space around it began to warp.

 Chapter 539 - Intercept

    Chapter 539 - Intercept


    A resounding slam filled the arena. In that split moment, Ye Wu had collided with Wu Siduo, cloaked in flames both blooming and azure. And he had been sent flying with a single paw of Hell White Tiger.


    The Hell White Tiger¡¯s forelegs were each equipped with armor that looked like a coat of scales. These were the four battle armor pieces from before her transformation. It had taken much design ingenuity to create armor pieces that worked in all three of her forms.


    With the advent of Wu Siduo¡¯s Hell White Tiger form, she had closed the gap between them.


    Ye Wu¡¯s rough collision disoriented him, but he shook it off and steeled himself. His armor shone with pale blue light, enveloping him in a sapphire aura. But no matter how brave he tried to act, he couldn¡¯t hide his shock. Damn she¡¯s strong! She¡¯s even more powerful than a Soul King! As expected of a soul fusion skill!


    The Hell White Tiger leaped through the air, pouncing on Ye Wu.


    Knowing better than to face Wu Siduo directly now, he turned tail and ran. The biggest weakness of soul fusion skills was its duration. With his speed advantage, he could evade the Hell White Tiger¡¯s pursuit until the skill wore off. His highest chance of victory lay in this.


    However, the Hell White Tiger was much faster than Ye Wu had anticipated, twice as quick as the Hell Civet. But more importantly, the achilles heel to Ye Wu¡¯s combat style was revealing itself! As the Hell White Tiger chased after him, he couldn¡¯t afford to make sharp turns. He was quickly running out of places to run to!


    Wu Siduo had noticed long ago that in order to maintain insane speeds, Ye Wu had to keep his trajectory as straight as possible. Any sudden turns and he would fly off the rails. To keep up his speed while turning around, he had been forced to make large arcs. Back in her Hell Civet or White Tiger forms, Wu Siduo hadn¡¯t been able to exploit this weakness.


    She could now.


    The Hell White Tiger chased after Ye Wu in hot pursuit, angling its path to intersect in front of his. She was planning to cut him off!


    She wasn¡¯t on the top ten of the Genius Youths Ranking for nothing! Wu Siduo had clawed her way there by her wits and strength! Not even Tang Wulin could completely eclipse her talent. Of the first grade, she was undoubtedly one of the strongest.


    Upon seeing the Hell White Tiger attempt cut off his path, Ye Wu knew he was in trouble. He gritted his teeth, his armor bursting with azure might to from a barrier of light. And he leaped forward, curling up into a ball with his core protected by battle armor. He was going all in!


    Unfortunately for Ye Wu, as he bent his body he had missed the aura blazing to life around the Hell White Tiger. While its form waned, its eyes opened wide and shone with stunning light.


    Collision. An ear-splitting crash traveled far and wide, accompanied by howling winds.


    Wu Siduo was sent through the air, her Hell White Tiger¡¯s form fading into motes of light, leaving only her in its place.


    On the other hand, the barrier around Ye Wu was smashed into oblivion. He tumbled backward. Slammed into the barrier and bounced right off like a ragdoll.


    Pale and panting for breath, Wu Siduo crawled off the ground and onto one knee, straining to raise her head as her body quivered. She had ignited the remainder of the Hell White Tiger¡¯s energy to unleash a burst of power. She was confident of her victory.


    Two beams of light descended to envelop her and Ye Wu. A blanket of warmth wrapped around her, alleviating the pain and fatigue of her body. Even the rebound from drawing so deeply upon her energy reserves was reduced.


    Taking a deep breath in, Wu Siduo stood up straight.


    A few seconds later, Ye Wu struggled up from the ground as well. His battle armor was dim and he was covered in wounds from head to toe, a smear of blood at the corner of his mouth. Even with the protection of eight pieces of battle armor, his injuries were serious.


    ¡°Wu Siduo of the first grade is the victor!¡± Elder Cai announced, sweeping her gaze over the spectators.


    However, in truth, neither side had won. While Ye Wu had been stunned by the impact, he still had an ounce of fight left in him while Wu Siduo was completely spent. But a match was a match, no matter how small of a sliver Wu Siduo¡¯s margin of victory had been.


    Ye Wu bit his lip as he processed the results of the match. Within the light of the Holy Spirit Douluo, his injuries rapidly healed and his strength restored. He smiled wryly as he turned to Wu Siduo and flashed a thumbs up, before exiting the arena.


    Wu Siduo furrowed her brow. She didn¡¯t consider this a real victory. If they were to given enough time to recover and fought once more, she was sure to be defeated. This was because although the Holy Spirit Douluo¡¯s holy light could heal injuries and restore strength, it couldn¡¯t repair the damage done by the rebound of her soul fusion skill. Without access to all the power of Hell White Tiger, she would not be able to defeat a recovered Ye Wu a second time.


    Wu Siduo looked up with determination in her eyes. I¡¯m still too weak. I have to get stronger. But despite this setback, she was confident that in one or two years¡¯ time, Ye Wu would no longer be a match for her.


    I really do need to find a suitable spirit soul to fuse with my White Tiger, just like Yuanen Yehui. Wu Siduo wasn¡¯t conscious of it, but she had set Yuanen Yehui as her goal.


    This marked the second victory for the combined first and second grade team. The third grade students didn¡¯t dare utter a word. All their previous confidence melted away. Meanwhile, the first and second grade students buzzed with excitement. Each grade had an age gap of three years! In such circumstances, the glory of claiming victory against an opponent was of the highest degree!


    The Holy Spirit Douluo withdrew her holy light and nodded in approval. ¡°This new generation is filled with rising stars. Those two with twin martial souls are really talented and their potential is boundless. Hmm. But when is Tang Wulin going up?¡±


    Zhuo Shi, seated behind Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, said, ¡°Wulin should be in the two-on-two battle with Gu Yue. Then he¡¯ll fight in the team battle too.¡±


    Yali¡¯s eyes darted across the arena to the first and second grade team, her face coated with surprise. ¡°Then who are they sending out for the last duel? That brat from the Holy Angel clan?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. It should be Ye Xinglan, the one who came from the inner court.¡±


    ¡°Xinglan? Oh. That girl. Let¡¯s see how strong she¡¯s grown.¡±


    ?


    Sour as Song Lin¡¯s expression was, she didn¡¯t criticize Ye Wu when he returned. Their two losses weren¡¯t due to her students not taking things seriously. Or bad luck. They had lost in a fair battle of strength.


    With an age disadvantage of five years, the fact that Wu Siduo and Yuanen Yehui could defeat their opponents meant they were destined for the inner court. In fact, they were likely to even become leaders in the inner court.


    Even so, Song Lin couldn¡¯t accept this. It was too shameful for the third grade to lose to the lower grades.


    ¡°Mo Jue,¡± Song Lin said, glancing at said girl.


    ¡°Got it. Teacher Song, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll absolutely win the third round!¡± Mo Jue said as she walked to stand beside Song Lin, her head raised high.


    Song Lin¡¯s anxiety settled when she saw how confident her student was. ¡°Not just this round. We¡¯re going to win every round from now on. We have to maintain the honor of the third grade.¡±


    She had said her words calmly, but it had struck a chord with the third grade team. Yeah! Who cares how talented you are! Right now, us third graders are the strongest!


    The audience stirred when they saw Mo Jue slowly walking up the steps to the stage.


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s Mo Jue!¡±¡°Oh yes! Mo Jue is coming out!¡±

 Chapter 540 - Black Swan

    Chapter 540 - Black Swan


    Since the strongest students of the outer court entered the inner court or graduated, the peak of the outer court were one-word battle armor masters. Currently, there were only two such students and both were in the third grade: Mo Jue and Li Qiankun. They were the strongest in the entire outer court and this had earned them many fans such that the entire audience zealously cheered when they saw Mo Jue ascend the stage.


    Mo Jue and Li Qiankun would soon be taking the exam for the inner court. Passing would be simple for them, and they would be able to hold their heads up high as students of the inner court afterward.


    The third grade team sending out Mo Jue meant that the winning the third duel was a certainty. The final score for the duels would be two to one in favor of the first and second grade team. It was only a question of how much of an inconvenience could the first and second grade team¡¯s combatant put up against her.


    On the other side, Ye Xinglan cooly walked up the steps to the stage. She maintained silence the entire time. With her mind was wholly focused on her opponent since before the match, she hadn¡¯t even spoken with her teammates. As she neared the top of the stairs, a bit of oppressive might leaked out from her, sending fluctuations in the air. She was a tempest ready to rage at any moment.


    ¡°She¡¯s restraining herself,¡± Yali said in astonishment, leaning forward in her chair.


    Mo Jue walked onto the stage first, just in time to watch Ye Xinglan arrive on the other side as well. A girl, huh? They¡¯ve only sent out girls so far.


    Compared to Yuanen Yehui and Wu Siduo, Ye Xinglan didn¡¯t have much of a reputation in the outer court. While this was partly due to her late entry to the first grade, it was mainly because she kept a low profile. Apart from during class, rarely would other students see her around.


    Everyone knew she was talented since she was part of Tang Wulin¡¯s team, but they didn¡¯t realize the depths of her strength with how radiant Tang Wulin was. Most people glossed over her and focused on him instead. In fact, most people didn¡¯t understand just how powerful the other members of Tang Wulin¡¯s team were. The exceptions to this were Yuanen Yehui and the rankers. They knew first hand just how powerful his entire team was.


    The crowd quieted its rowdy cheers now that both combatants were on the stage, leaving only hushed murmurs exchanged as they waited in anticipation.


    Off-stage, Xu Lizhi stood up and watched as he clenched his fists. Just as the third grade had investigated the first and second grades, so too had they investigated the third grade. He knew that Mo Jue was one of the third grade¡¯s one-word battle armor masters! But there was some hope. Of the three combatants the first and second grades sent up so far, Ye Xinglan was undoubtedly the strongest.


    Elder Cai floated in the air above them. She looked at Mo Jue, then Ye Xinglan. ¡°Begin,¡± she declared with a wave of her hand then flew back to her seat among the elders.


    Unlike the previous matches, the two did not immediately charge at each other. They remained poised, calmly evaluating one another.


    The space around Mo Jue dimmed and darkness gathered around her as she began her advance. Soul rings rose up around her, five purple rings in total! This meant she possessed a pair of thousand-year spirit souls. However, her rings weren¡¯t as simple as that. The ones that rose up later were far deeper in color, their edges even tinged black. They were approaching the ten-thousand-year level.


    Soul masters could ascend their spirit souls in the spirit ascension platform, but it became increasingly difficult with each additional ring they possessed. Yet Mo Jue¡¯s fourth and fifth rings were clearly on the threshold of reaching the ten-thousand-year level. The audience could only imagine how much time and effort she had invested into raising her spirit soul to this level considering she was a five-ringed Soul King!


    Barely nineteen years old and she was already a Soul King and a one-word battle armor master. Talents like these were rare, but not at Shrek Academy. She stood as one of the twin peaks of the outer court.


    Jet black feathers appeared along her long hair, flowing down to cover the front of her body. Regal might overflowed from her, showcasing the power of her martial soul: Black Swan!


    Swans were noble creatures and most species of swan soul beasts possessed potent healing powers. The legends had it that among the Ten Great Beasts, one was the Jadeite Swan and it ranked in the front in terms of cultivation level.


    However, Mo Jue¡¯s Black Swan did not specialize in healing and she was most definitely not a support-type soul master. She was fully committed to battle as an assault-type that excelled at using curses and ranged attacks using the darkness-attribute Black Swan. With her skills, she was even reputed in the third grade as being stronger than Li Qiankun. If he was said to be the grounding foundation of the third grade, then Mo Jue was the pillar that held them all up.


    Every grade of Shrek Academy had their own leaders. The second grade had Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and Duan Hunxiao, and the third had Li Qiankun and Mo Jue. However, the first grade having so many powerhouses capable of serving as pillars for the entire class was a rarity.


    Ye Xinglan calmly waited in place as Mo Jue approached without bothering to summon her soul rings. She locked gazes with her opponent, determination blazing in her eyes. She was not the slightest affected by her opponent being a one-word battle armor master and stood straight as a rod, poised to engage.


    Mo Jue narrowed her eyes as she advanced, examining Ye Xinglan. She could sense the tense aura around her opponent, so sharp that already felt pressured. Her opponent was no ordinary soul master. Knowing all too well the sort of monsters Shrek Academy raised, she didn¡¯t dare underestimate Ye Xinglan.


    She had thought it impossible for Wu Rui to lose, but he did. Then Ye Wu went up and held dominated, but had the tables turned on him as well. Now that it was her turn, she refused to grow careless no matter how much of an advantage she held.


    Mo Jue raised her right hand and her first soul ring lit up. A void appeared in front of her palm facing Ye Xinglan. Then a black skeleton flew out.


    Ye Xinglan stirred from stillness. Starlight exploded from her body and she unleashed her sword intent. The barrier surrounding the arena trembled before her power.


    Shooting forth like a meteor, Ye Xinglan cut down the skeleton and continued onward to Mo Jue.


    Mo Jue¡¯s face contorted in shock. How is this possible?


    Her first soul skill was Weaken. It shot out a curse in the form of a skeleton, and upon striking its target, it would bypass their physical and elemental defenses to weaken them for ten seconds and suppress their soul power by twenty percent. The only way of resisting its effects were with high spiritual power.


    However, Ye Xinglan clearly had not used spiritual power to overcome the curse¡¯s effect. She had used sword intent instead! Her congealed aura of sword intent sliced right through the curse.


    Her sword intent is already so refined at her age? Mo Jue suppressed her astonishment and summoned two orbs of darkness with a wave of her hands while a pair of wings spread out from her back. With a powerful flap, she ascended into the air. Pressing her hands together, the two orbs fused to form a dark green skull. Then she directed the skull at Ye Xinglan and it belched up dark green flames at her.

 Chapter 541 - Torrent of Sword Intent

    Chapter 541 - Torrent of Sword Intent


    The conflagration spit out by the skull was Mo Jue¡¯s second soul skill, Dark Demon Flames! The flames burned away at both body and spirit and it was exceptionally potent for a mere second soul skill. Furthermore, it possessed corrosive and adhesive properties. Anyone misfortunate enough to be slathered in it wouldn¡¯t be able to shake it off and have their flesh burned away to the bone.


    Ye Xinglan faced the flames with serenity. Her eyes held not the flames nor Mo Jue. Her sword was her world, her world of shining stars. It looked as if her pupils had turned into vertical slits, but that was just the form of her sword reflected in her eyes.


    Brandishing her sword, Ye Xinglan unleashed Sword God¡¯s Star. Motes of resplendent starlight surged forth, piercing through the demonic flames to strike the skull.


    A small crack formed on the skull, then it scattered into embers. But those embers gathered into a stream and shot toward Ye Xinglan. Yet a meter away from reaching her, they parted to the sides, as if cut apart by an invisible blade.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword intent charged the heavens! Slashing out with her sword, she weaved countless sword beams into a giant net flying toward Mo Jue.


    Mo Jue threw up her hands to summon a defense of murky darkness, but it was all cut to tatters by the sword beams.


    What the hell! Many of the audience members swallowed their spit, wetting their throats that had dried from hanging mouths. Prior to the start of the match, they had assumed this would be a sure victory for Mo Jue. Yet in the opening moments, Mo Jue was already pressed into the defensive. Her mighty Black Swan soul skills were nothing before this unknown Ye Xinglan girl. They couldn¡¯t believe it. A girl from the first grade was gaining ground on Mo Jue, a five-ringed Soul King and a pillar of the third grade!


    Such a situation couldn¡¯t be because of a difference in the quality of martial souls. The Black Swan was a top-tier darkness-attribute martial soul after all. Even if the Stargod Sword was powerful, it couldn¡¯t suppress the Black Swan. No, the difference was due to something else entirely. It was a fundamental gap in their comprehension of their martial souls.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s strength was not her soul skills, but her sword intent! She had trained for many years to understand her path of the sword, and it was he sword intent that she cultivated that earned her entry into Shrek Academy¡¯s inner court. If not for the change in admission requirements so only one-word battle armor masters were admitted, a talent of her caliber would still be in the inner court.


    Tang Wulin had been helpless against her the first time they fought. He had been utterly suppressed by the might that stemmed from her understanding of her Stargod Sword.


    All that existed in Ye Xinglan¡¯s world was the sword, and the sword reflected herself as her Stargod Weave twisted into a maelstrom that saturated the air with sword intent.


    Mo Jue choked on the oppressive aura and grimaced as she darted backward to evade. She knew that she had lost the initiative, and if she let this continue on, she would be completely suppressed. She refused to lose to this first grader!


    Mo Jue flared open her wings as her third soul skill lit up. Dark green light enveloped her wings, and with a powerful flap, she sent a wave of light crashing toward the Stargod Weave. The net of sword beams was dyed deep green upon contact with the wave of light, then they corroded into nothingness. The wave of light was so potent that it had even corroded holes in the air itself.


    This was the power of her third soul skill, Dark Corrosion! It was an attack of hyper-condensed darkness element that devoured all that stood in its way. In fact, Mo Jue had first gained admittance into Shrek Academy by relying on this dreadful soul skill.


    Ye Xinglan did not falter before Dark Corrosion. She swung her sword up from the earth to rend the heavens, unleashing a roaring sword wave.


    The instant the two attacks collided, the sword wave shined resplendently, as if laughing to itself, then it pierced through Dark Corrosion with its honed sword intent. Trailing right behind, Ye Xinglan completely avoided taking any damage by leaping through the hole created by her attack, soaring straight toward Mo Jue.


    She¡¯s strong! The audience members stared slack-jawed. They could tell from her bearing that she harbored no thoughts of defeat even before an opponent as great as Mo Jue.


    Hot anger flashed through Mo Jue¡¯s eyes. It was unthinkable for her to let a junior get this far. She could just summon her battle armor right now, but as a five-ringed Soul King, it would be shameful to use battle armor first against a four-ringed opponent. Her pride wouldn¡¯t allow it. Absolutely not.


    Mo Jue¡¯s fourth soul ring lit up as she waved her hand and conjured a dark green lance that was topped by three skulls. Then the lance began to spin and energies streams of gray, green, and crimson gathered around it and poured into the skulls, one stream each. Each of those skulls brimming with energy possessed the power of a curse: weakness, fear, and pain. Then the skulls let out a burst of light that swept through the entire arena.


    It was impossible for Ye Xinglan to evade in mid-air, and an instant later she was slathered in three eerie energies. Her aura dwindled and sword intent dulled.


    Inflicted with the curses of weakness, fear, and pain Ye Xinglan no longer posed such a great threat to Mo Jue. Letting out a sigh of relief, Mo Jue stilled her hands'' slight trembles as she remembered the oppressive might of Ye Xinglan¡¯s rising slash. It was her first time facing such a fierce attack from someone whose soul power was so much weaker.


    Mo Jue pointed her lance at Ye Xinglan, gathering the power of curses to its tip. In an instant, the lance was fully charged and it unleashed a dark green beam at Ye Xinglan.


    Having just touched the ground, Ye Xinglan¡¯s head was lowered and she didn¡¯t see Mo Jue¡¯s attack. But the moment looked up, she revealed eyes filled with dazzling determination. Her eyes bloomed with starlight as she raised her sword to the heavens and howled, unleashing a burst of starlight! A torrent of sword intent rushed out of her and fused with the twinkling starlight in the air, dispelling the curses on her.


    Upon the platform for elders, Zhuo Shi nodded as he observed with approving eyes. ¡°One sword to slay all truths. This girl has really reached the peak.¡±


    Sword energy filled the sky, lingering in the air, tangible with permanence. When the dark green beam of curses met the sword energy in the air, the two rapidly consumed each other. But the sword energy held the advantage, maintaining its form longer than the beam of curses.


    Ye Xinglan looked beyond the clash of energies to meet the gaze of her astonished opponent. Her third soul ring lit up and her eyes flickered gold. Then she shot into the air cloaked in golden radiance. Becoming one with her sword, she unleashed her third soul skill, Starfall Sword!


    Mo Jue furrowed her brow. Her opponent exceeded her expectations by far. None of her curses had been effective, which was partly related to the Stargod Sword possessing the attribute of light, but more so Ye Xinglan¡¯s honed sword intent. Her sword intent¡¯s edge was keen enough to slice apart even curses.


    Mo Jue flapped her wings and unleashed an onslaught of jet black feathers at the rising star. Some of the feathers diverged and swirled around her.


    Ye Xinglan shot toward Mo Jue as a shooting star, her sword intent slicing through the air with a shrill shriek. Even the audience members could feel the dreadful power of her sword intent which caused goosebumps all over their body. All of that sword intent was concentrated into this single attack.


    Ye Xinglan had devoted herself to cultivating her sword. All that mattered to her was her sword, and not even her friends could get in the way of that. Every day she trained with her sword and nothing else. She practiced with the patience of a sage and unrivaled determination. None of her peers could compare to her in these two qualities.


    The students of the second grade knew all too well the tyrannical might of the Stargod Sword. She had easily held her ground one against three with her sword and skills. Every time she appeared in battle, she was far stronger than the last.


    The black feathers collided with the starlight but couldn¡¯t withstand its power and were rapidly destroyed. But the feathers had done their job of weakening the starlight attack and buying Mo Jue some time.


    Those feathers had been Mo Jue¡¯s fifth soul skill, Swan Feathers! Yet her fifth soul skill, the ultimate power of a Soul King, was an even match for Starfall Sword, a mere third soul skill. And this was despite their gap in soul power.


    Mo Jue continued sending onslaught after onslaught of feathers at Ye Xinglan, further imbuing them with the dark green energy of curses to erode her light-attribute stellar sword energy.


    Moments later, the Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword energy dimmed back to normal and the stalemate was broken. Mo Jue had retaken the initiative.


    While it was obvious to anyone with eyes that Ye Xinglan had better martial soul control than Mo Jue, it was undeniable that Mo Jue¡¯s cultivation was far superior!

 Chapter 542 - One-word Battle Armor Master

    Chapter 542 - One-word Battle Armor Master


    Waves of purple rippled through the sky, the splendor of a purple soul ring blossoming. Ye Xinglan finally used her fourth soul skill!


    Taking advantage of the knockback from Mo Jue¡¯s Swan Feathers, Ye Xinglan kicked off them and ascended higher into the air. With a twist of her body, she whipped out her sword and repelled the rest of the feather onslaught. The golden light around her kindled with renewed life, blinding light bursting from her body.


    The heavens froze as Ye Xinglan ascended in a golden streak accompanied by countless streaks of sword energy, thin as threads. They poured down like a starry rain and washed away the encroaching darkness of the Swan Feathers. After the feathers of darkness, the torrent continued on toward Mo Jue, a baptism of stellar sword energy!


    How is this possible? Her fourth soul skill is stronger than my fifth! Mo Jue¡¯s eyes widened in shock and furrowed her brows. Letting the shock pass through her system, she gritted her teeth and pressed on, summoning all of her soul power to continue her assault of feathers. But the difference in might was clear. In this back and forth between the stellar rain and the feathers of darkness, the rain was gaining ground.


    Mo Jue had yet to directly face Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword intent, but her palms were growing sweaty as she felting the encroaching mass of condensed sword intent.


    This was the might of Ye Xinglan¡¯s fourth soul skill, Stellar Sword Rain.


    As wave after wave of rain crashed into the feathers, Mo Jue was pushed back. She wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on much longer. She glared at Ye Xinglan and bit her lap, but resolved herself. Even if she didn¡¯t want to resort to this, she refused to lose. She understood that she could not win in a battle with just their martial souls. Her eyes shone with passionate determination now.


    Mo Jue threw out her right hand and a lump of dark green light flew out. It swerved back to her in an arc and into her stomach. A metallic ding rang out, and a breastplate appeared on her well-endowed chest. She thrust out both hands next, pieces of armor flying out of her storage rings and onto her body.


    In an instant, Mo Jue was clad in dark green armor. Its design was plain without any decorative patterns, but every piece fitted her well and accentuated her womanly features. With the armor equipped, the strength of her aura doubled and her Swan Feathers were empowered. At last, she began to gain ground in the clash between feathers and stellar rain.


    Now that the stellar rain was no longer right upon Mo Jue, her battle armor was clear for all to see. It was a complete set of magnificent dark green armor and a circlet decorated with three feathers crowning her head.


    As she floated in the air, she stretched out her body and her armor let out a reverberating cry as it began to glow. Her aura blazed with power, its might rapidly rising. Her Swan Feather¡¯s multiplied in number and thoroughly suppressed the stellar rain now.


    Off-stage, Song Lin put a hand to her chin and furrowed her brows as she watched. A dull sigh left her lips. There was no doubt that this match was Mo Jue¡¯s victory now. Once equipped with her battle armor, Mo Jue¡¯s strength rivaled that of a Soul Sage. But anyone with decent eyes could tell that she was losing beforehand. If she hadn¡¯t equipped her battle armor, she would have eventually lost to Ye Xinglan. She had only summoned her armor because she was backed into a corner. Damn these first graders are real monsters! Just how strong can they get?


    ¡°The name of my battle armor is Heaven!¡± With her battle armor a complete one-word set, she had the qualifications to name it. The name she chose stemmed from the reference to the heavens in the meaning of ¡®swan¡¯. Thus, she was Heaven Mo Jue!


    Although the difference between Mo Jue¡¯s full set of eleven battle armor pieces versus Ye Wu¡¯s eight seemed small, the change to Mo Lan¡¯s aura refuted such assumptions. It was as great as night and day.


    Darkness descended upon the arena, choking out the stellar rain. Another wave of Swan Feathers flew out at Ye Xinglan, whose aura of iridescent starlight was dimming back to normal as her second soul skill wore off. The tables had turned!


    Even as the last of the starlight extinguished from her body, Ye Xinglan remained unperturbed. But in the very depths of her light was a frenzied light. She had never given up, and today wouldn¡¯t be the day she did. In fact, it was because of her unwillingness to admit defeat that she and Tang Wulin had fought so fiercely until the end of their first meeting. She cared not that her opponent was a five-ringed Soul King, nor that they were a one-word battle armor master. None of that mattered. If losing was inevitable, then she would only do so after displaying her full strength. Once she did that, she could lose with her head held high.


    Ye Xinglan tightened her grip on her Stargod Sword. A light enveloped her hands and manifested as gauntlets. Then the light on her right hand spread up her arm and formed a pauldron as well. With the appearance of her battle armor, the waning power of Sword Star Rain surged forth once more.


    This was Ye Xinglan¡¯s might! A pair of gauntlets and a pauldron for her right shoulder, three pieces of battle armor crafted of spirit alloys! Although her armor was few, they empowered her Sword Star Rain enough to hold back the dark tide of feathers.


    Three pieces of battle armor? She¡¯s already got three pieces in her second year here? And they¡¯re all crafted of spirit alloys¡­ All of the teachers and students of the upper grades were shocked. These kids are monsters!


    The higher-ups of Shrek Academy had long since heard murmurs of the first grade class possessing pieces of one-word battle armor made of spirit alloys. However, they had thought those only to be rumors. This was their first time verifying with their own eyes, and the proof was not one, but three pieces of such battle armor!


    Across all of the grades, there were few who recognized battle armor crafted of spirit alloys. Those who didn¡¯t recognize it could only marvel and wonder why Ye Xinglan¡¯s battle armor seemed as powerful as two-word pieces. The difference in power amplification between spirit alloy battle armor and normal armor pieces of the same grade wasn¡¯t too great. But because it was made of spirit alloys, there was definitely an increase in its amplification effects and durability. Even so, three pieces of spirit alloy battle armor should only match five pieces of ordinary armor.


    Among Tang Wulin¡¯s entire team, Ye Xinglan possessed the most pieces of armor. It was the most efficient choice to focus on her armor first since she was their main armor maker. With each additional piece of armor she gained, her success rate and quality of work increased. The answer had been obvious from the beginning, so as soon as everyone on their team had one piece of armor, they shifted gears to focusing on her armor. Once her set was finished, she could rapidly churn out armor for the other members. Her three pieces of battle armor were the result of this decision.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s battle armor shed specks of starlight as it empowered her Sword Star Rain to push back against the flood of feathers. However, her opponent was a true one-word battle armor master! Her mere three pieces only increased her Sword Star Rain enough to push back momentarily before the feathers began to gain ground again.


    In the face of the storm of darkness, Ye Xinglan¡¯s gaze remained resolute, and her first and third soul rings began shining at the same time.


    The audience watched with anticipation. Using multiple soul skills at once was a high-level technique that was difficult even for students of the legendary Shrek Academy. It required a deep understanding of one¡¯s martial soul and precise control to pull off. It was clear that Ye Xinglan had succeeded in the technique as the stellar aura around her reignited with strength.


    The rain of starlight reversed flow in the sky and converged on Ye Xinglan. Her figure disappeared in the congregation of starlight, and a moment later a giant Stargod Sword floated in her place, the fusion of countless strands of condensed sword intent. It was the result of combining Sword Star Rain, Starfall Sword, and Swordgod¡¯s Star.

 Chapter 543 - Ye Xinglans Conviction

    Chapter 543 - Ye Xinglan''s Conviction


    The torrent of Swan Feathers engulfed the shining sword, leaving it a shining beacon in a sea of darkness. The sword weathered wave after wave of feathers, its immaculate blade growing dimmer as it resisted the attacks.


    Now empowered by Mo Jue¡¯s set of one-word battle armor, the feathers sliced through the air with deadly might, their auras of darkness thick and inky. The entire stage was dancing along to Mo Jue¡¯s tune now, and she regarded Ye Xinglan from up above as if she were looking at an ant. She knew all of Ye Xinglan¡¯s struggles were futile and were only delaying the inevitable.


    But as Mo Jue basked in her power, the floating Stargod Sword began to hum. The sword slashed down and blew away the feathers around it, opening up a path to Mo Jue for it to jet through. Before the trailblazing sword, all the feathers obstructing its path disintegrated and a shockwave of imposing might followed swiftly behind it.


    Mo Jue¡¯s brows jumped in astonishment, a short yelp escaping her lips. Despite the gap in strength opened up by her equipping her battle armor, the Stargod Sword still attacked relentlessly. The baleful aura the sword emitted as starlight swirled around her sword-form would not forgive any restraint on Mo Jue¡¯s part. Even as the sword endured the tempest, it quickly advanced on Mo Jue. With a beat of her wings, she retreated and opened up a cautious distance between them.


    While maintaining a safe distance between them, Mo Jue unleashed wave after wave of Swan Feathers at the sword. The gap in strength between them made her insurmountable!


    In the stands, the audience watched with peeled eyes, all refusing to miss a single moment of the battle. They could never forgive themselves for not witnessing the entirety of the power of a one-word battle armor master!


    The Stargod¡¯s Sword glow rapidly faded under the onslaught of feathers, its advance slowing to a crawl. But it pressed on. No matter how much it wavered or how clear defeat was, it pressed on. The battle was already decided.


    A hint of a smile spread across Mo Jue¡¯s face. Although this wasn¡¯t a clean victory, it was still a victory she could delight in.


    Just as Mo Jue was reveling in her victory, stray specks of starlight enlarged and shot toward her. They swerved through the small openings in the storm of feathers and advanced upon her, arriving a meter away from her before she even noticed. Then the starlight coalesced into Ye Xinglan¡¯s form just as the light of the Stargod¡¯s Sword was extinguished by the tempest of feathers behind her. But she held another Stargod Sword in her hand and leaned forward to slash Mo Jue from shoulder to waist.


    Mo Jue¡¯s battle armor burst with light as it fought to counter Ye Xinglan¡¯s blow. The sword slash stopped at Mo Jue¡¯s shoulder, but empowered by three pieces of spirit alloy battle armor, the torrent of sword intent enveloping the sword was able to penetrate Mo Jue¡¯s armor and into her body. A cry of pain escaped Mo Jue¡¯s lips as the energy rampaged within her.


    Ye Xinglan pressed her attack and didn¡¯t give Mo Jue a moment to react. In a flicker of movement, she moved to Mo Jue¡¯s rear and struck with her shining Stargod Sword and unleashed Stargod Weave at point-blank range!


    As the sword blades blossomed into Mo Jue¡¯s back, her battle armor shined resplendently as they fought to neutralize the attack. But her armor couldn¡¯t mitigate all of the attacks and crimson lines appeared all over the exposed parts of her back, eliciting a shrill shriek. Even after slicing her flesh, the energy of the Stargod Weave continued and penetrated into her core, wreaking havoc on her internal organs and meridians.


    Everything had happened too fast to process, lasting no longer than a blink of an eye. Not even Elder Cai had expected such a turnaround just when the battle seemed over.


    Mo Jue¡¯s battle armor shone radiantly in the eye of the storm of sword beams as she frantically defended herself. Yet every time she tried to summon a defense by countering with her own soul skills, a coffin of thousands of sharp needles of sword intent would pierce her body and interrupt her soul skill invocation. No matter how great her battle armor was, it was not absolute. There were plenty of chinks in the armor to exploit. Now trapped in close quarter combat, Mo Jue¡¯s ability to counterattack was thoroughly suppressed.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword intent was mighty to begin with, but after resolving herself and focusing her mind, its edge grew even sharper. Her third soul ring lit up as she pulled back her sword to ready her next attack: Starfall Sword! This time, the golden light of the soul skill did not envelop just herself, but Mo Jue as well.


    The two transformed into streaks of gold as they shot toward the ceiling, not slowing the slightest as they crashed into the barrier. While waves rippled out in the barrier from the site of impact in the barrier,  it was wholly intact still. It was as expected since the barrier could withstand attacks from up to an eight-ringed Soul Douluo. As a result of its defensive ability, it acted as a giant rubber band while the two crashed into it and bounced them away with several times their initial speed.


    The golden streak slammed into the ground with a bang, webbed cracks forming in the ground around it and dust flying into the air. As the golden light died, the two girls were revealed.


    Ye Xinglan sat on top of Mo Jue with her knees jabbed into the latter¡¯s stomach. She had a death grip on her Stargod Sword, which had penetrated through a chink in Mo Jue¡¯s armor and drew blood. She hung her head low, utterly motionless.


    On the other hand, Mo Jue lay on the ground, expression blank as she stared at the ceiling in a daze.


    No one had expected this battle to grow so heated. It was unimaginable for a one-word battle armor master like Mo Jue to have trouble against an ordinary soul master with fewer rings than her.


    Elder Cai and Yali shot out of their seats and sped toward the two combatants, reaching them in an instant.


    Mo Jue still retained consciousness thanks to her battle armor mitigating most of the damage, but the ferocity Ye Xinglan displayed had struck fear into her. Her eyes quivered as she stared at Ye Xinglan kneeling atop her. Despite Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes shut tight, chilling sword intent still rolled off her in swathes. It all sent shivers down Mo Jue¡¯s spine, cold sweat running down her spine.


    When Ye Xinglan had sent the two of them soaring toward the ceiling, Mo Jue had a chance to stare into eyes filled with unyielding tenacity. Ye Xinglan¡¯s fervent gaze was seared into Mo Jue¡¯s mind.


    Considering Ye Xinglan¡¯s current strength, she shouldn¡¯t have been able to penetrate the defenses of a full set of one-word battle armor with merely three pieces of armor herself. However, she had taken advantage of Starfall Sword and the barrier¡¯s rebound to make a small crack in Mo Jue¡¯s armor and impale her shoulder.


    As the last of Ye Xinglan¡¯s remnant sword intent dissipated, Mo Jue¡¯s mind gained some freedom to become conscious of the cold blade pierced through her shoulder and the warm blood leaking out.


    This girl is insane! Mo Jue trembled, her limbs refusing to move as she desperately tried to throw Ye Xinglan off and run away. She had always been a shining star in the third grade, and her status had only grown loftier when she became a one-word battle armor master and her entry into the inner court became certain. But today, she realized just how much she was lacking. While she had more than enough strength, she couldn¡¯t compare with Ye Xinglan in battle intent, the thirst for victory.


    When Ye Xinglan finally collapsed onto the ground, Mo Jue was finally able to crawl away. Then Yali walked over and picked up Ye Xinglan and began healing her with soft tendrils of light from her fingertips.


    Mo Jue had burned up all of her soul power in that final clash as she unleashed a full power Dark Corrosion. And in the final moments, she had used her pauldron to defend against the Stargod Sword, but her shoulder had still been pierced.


    With Elder Cai¡¯s assistance, Mo Jue was able to slowly stand up. In spite of this being her victory, her eyes were lifeless. It was the obvious conclusion since Ye Xinglan had only managed to make a chink in Mo Jue¡¯s armor and draw a trickle of blood. The wound was far from fatal. In fact, it would have been easy for Mo Jue to turn the tables on Ye Xinglan after they had crashed since Ye Xinglan collapsed, cinching her victory. But this couldn¡¯t truly be considered a win. Not in her heart at least.


    ¡°The third grade wins,¡± Elder Cai announced in a tone of indifference.


    Blood trickled out of the wound in Mo Jue¡¯s shoulder and her body swayed gently. The proclamation of her victory sounded like ridicule to her ears. Victory had never felt so hollow.


    The students of the third grade harbored much the same emotions as Mo Jue. None cheered for their victory. They couldn¡¯t bring themselves to. There was no honor in this win.


    After a beam of light descended on Mo Jue and healed her injuries, she turned and walked off stage, back to her teammates. Song Lin was waiting to greet her when she returned. When she arrived in from of Song Lin, she finally remembered to unequip her battle armor and crack a deprecating smile. ¡°Teacher Song, did I really win?¡± After this quip, all strength left her body and she toppled forward.


    Song Lin hurriedly caught Mo Jue in her arms. After seeing the exhaustion in her student¡¯s face, she raised her head suppressed a snarl. She knew that while Mo Jue had not lost the match, she had lost in conviction. Mo Jue¡¯s heart had been too weak and her mental state was damaged. Wounds of the mind were the hardest to cure. If Mo Jue could not overcome her mental blocks, then she would never be able to enter the inner court.


    The entire third grade was enveloped in silence. The duels were concluded with two losses and one victory, but that victory had been hard earned. Furthermore, Mo Jue was in no condition to participate in the team battle anymore. It was tough for them to swallow the fact that a one-word battle armor master like her hadn¡¯t completely dominated their junior schoolmate.

 Chapter 544 - Shocking the Audience

    Chapter 544 - Shocking the Audience


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s intensity left everyone in the audience stunned. She didn¡¯t have a full set of battle armor, yet she still put Mo Jue on the defensive. She showed them all that even a soul master could stand up to a battle armor master.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo carried Ye Xinglan back to her teammates. ¡°I didn¡¯t wake her. She didn¡¯t suffer any permanent injuries, but she pushed herself too far. She needs rest. She won¡¯t be able to participate in the other matches. ¡±


    Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan took Ye Xinglan from Yali¡¯s arms. The douluo¡¯s words were stern, but when they looked at her, they could only see warmth in her face.


    Yali smiled at them. ¡°She¡¯s quite amazing, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    None of the students said anything. Their eyes blazed with determination. In their hearts, Ye Xinglan hadn¡¯t lost. She only had four soul rings and still she pushed a five-ringed battle armor master to the brink of defeat! It was clear that Mo Jue was in no condition to take part in the following matches. Ye Xinglan was the true winner of this battle.


    Yuanen Yehui walked over to Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan, took Ye Xinglan from their arms, and carried her to a quiet place where she could rest.


    As he watched Yuanen Yehui depart, Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue. She nodded at him in return.


    ¡°We have to win the team battle,¡± Tang Wulin said. He and the others hadn¡¯t hoped to win this competition against the third grade, but the scene of Ye Xinglan charging through a tempest of feathers, the way she penetrated Mo Jue¡¯s armor and drew blood, all of it ignited something deep within them. They finally found their resolve. So what if they¡¯re one-word battle armor masters? Who said we can¡¯t beat them? We¡¯ll do it. We will win.


    All the first grade students in the stands were quiet. They had lost the match, so none were cheering, but Ye Xinglan¡¯s tenacity had moved them so much that it got their blood boiling.


    In the front row, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran sat in stunned silence. They used to believe that one day they would catch up to Tang Wulin¡¯s team. That if they worked hard and put in the effort, they would be able to match them. Now they understood that the gap between them would never close. It only grew larger. Ye Xinglan¡¯s strength was something they couldn¡¯t even hope to overcome. The disparity between them was becoming insurmountable!


    Luo Guixing clenched his fists, his fingernails cutting into his palms and drawing blood.


    Xu Yucheng, on the other hand, was trembling. From beginning to end, his gaze never left Ye Xinglan.


    ¡°She¡¯s a goddess,¡± he suddenly said. ¡°From today onward, I will worship her.¡±


    The others raised a brow at him, but he ignored them. His lips were pressed tight together. His eyes were shining. They held no despair, only a thirst for battle. Ye Xinglan¡¯s battle helped him to finally understand what his own path was. Who cares if I¡¯m frail? That my spirit souls are low level? If I don¡¯t have the heart to take risks, how could I possibly hope to stand at the peak of the world?


    Talent was one thing, but courage was something else entirely. Only those with the courage to risk their lives could stand at the summit!


    Zheng Yiran sat there with a grim expression on her face. She had always held Tang Wulin¡¯s team in contempt, believing that their success, their victories, were all dumb luck. Now, however, she realized just how large the gap between them had grown.


    Unlike the others, Yang Nianxia wasn¡¯t looking at Ye Xinglan. He was looking at Tang Wulin. In the final moments of the battle, right before she fainted, he noticed that Ye Xinglan was looking at Tang Wulin. Upon noticing that, he felt something new burn within his heart, a deep, stifling emotion. He envied Ye Xinglan, but not for her strength. He envied how much her teammates trusted her, and the trust she had in them.


    ¡°Kids these days! Feng Wuyu muttered to himself up on the elders¡¯ viewing platform. ¡°They¡¯re crazy, they¡¯re all goddamn crazy!¡±


    For once, Zhuo Shi didn¡¯t argue with him. ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right! This new generation really is the strongest of the century. Jeez. That girl¡¯s even wilder than you were! And she didn¡¯t lose herself in her madness either. She continued to act with a tactic in mind. Every single move of hers led up to that one final attack! Her skill with the sword is amazing too! If I¡¯m not mistaken, when she used that Sword God¡¯s Star soul skill of hers, she reached the realm of becoming-one-with-the-sword and combined it with the Tang Sect¡¯s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step. She used this to close the distance between her and her opponent. By doing so, she was also able to deal far more damage than expected to a ranged-type one-word battle armor master. That¡¯s gotta be it! At the very last moment, she didn¡¯t just surprise her opponent. She surprised us all. She¡¯s crazy, and clever! I¡¯m looking forward to her growth. She may even join the next generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters.¡±


    Elder Cai stood from her seat, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. In a sense, all of the outer court students could be considered her disciples, so she felt pride whenever any of them received such praise. However, she was a bit worried about the third grade.


    She walked over to the edge of the platform and swept her gaze across the audience. ¡°Combatants for the two-on-two match, come forward!¡±


    The representatives of the third grade took the stage. They were a boy and a girl that closely resembled each other. They seemed to be siblings, twins even. Opposite to them, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue climbed the stairs of the stage with large strides. Both pairs were suppressing their emotions, like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Once all four arrived, both sides introduced themselves.


    ¡°Li Mengyang of the third grade!¡±


    ¡°Li Mengtian of the third grade!¡±


    ¡°Tang Wulin of first grade!¡±


    ¡°Gu Yue of the first grade!¡±


    Murmurs began to spread among the audience. ¡°It¡¯s Li Mengtian and Li Mengyang! I heard they¡¯re assault-types with amazing teamwork and a soul fusion skill! Apparently they¡¯re the core of the third grade¡¯s team. Their strength earned them a nickname. They¡¯re the Invincible Twin Suns!¡±


    ¡°The other side is sending out first grade students again. They actually sent out two first graders for the two-on-two! Wasn¡¯t the girl from the previous match a first grader too? The first graders are really strong this time!¡±


    ¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t heard? That Tang Wulin guy, he¡¯s the class president of the first grade. He only has three rings, but he¡¯s a fifth-rank blacksmith already! And everyone in the first grade seems to accept him as their leader! Then there¡¯s Gu Yue. She¡¯s one of the vice presidents, but I¡¯ve never heard of them working well as a duo.¡±


    ¡°I heard the first and second grades had a showdown last year and the first grade won!¡±


    ¡°No way! The second grade has Yuanen Yehui! She¡¯s an absolute monster! I don¡¯t think anyone in the third grade is a match for her except the battle armor masters. How the hell could the first grade have won against her?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s totally possible! Didn¡¯t you see how powerful Ye Xinglan was, or are you just blind? Our underclassmen this year are scary. If we don¡¯t work hard, they¡¯ll surpass us in the blink of an eye.¡±


    ¡°Just shut up and watch. The battle¡¯s about to start. We¡¯ll find out just how strong they are soon enough.¡±


    As the audience¡¯s chatter died down, Elder Cai stepped forward and looked between the combatants. Her gaze lingered on Tang Wulin and Gu Yue for a moment, then she looked forward.


    ¡°Begin.¡±


    As soon as the word left her lips, the Li siblings leaped into action. With a sweep of their arms, they summoned their battle armor from their storage rings, and in an instant they were equipped. They wore five pieces of armor total, gauntlets, pauldrons, and faulds, all a deep crimson with flame patterns running along their surfaces. It was as if they had erupted in flames.

 Chapter 545 - Crushed

    Chapter 545 - Crushed


    The Li twins entered Shrek Academy at the young age of twelve. Now, at the age of eighteen, both possessed five pieces of battle armor each. They were quite far from completing a full set of armor, but they still had two years left to qualify for the inner court. Furthermore, they had a soul fusion skill, which meant they would probably be given extra time to meet the requirements if necessary.


    As their figures transformed, actual flames soared from their armor to fill the air. Bestial cries rumbled from the twins and shook the arena. Both possessed fire-attribute martial souls, but there were key differences between them. Li Mengyang roared, their voice booming broad and deep like a lion¡¯s. Li Mengtian, on the other hand, growled with the curt tenor of a tiger. A wave of might exploded from them as they summoned their soul rings, two yellow and two purple each.


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been idle. As soon as the match began, even as his opponents summoned their battle armor, he was already low to the ground and charging forward. Two golden rings appeared around him, bathing him in a regal glow. Although he could restrain his opponents¡¯ fire attribute with Bluesilver Golden Array, he didn¡¯t feel the need to. The desire to fight burned within him, and it would not be sated until he beat them into submission with his bare hands.


    Gu Yue walked forward in Tang Wulin¡¯s wake, elemental auroras manifesting around her in a shimmering display. Her eyes were glued to his back, never straying for even an instant.


    The Li twins took one step forward at the same time, as if they were of one mind. Their soul rings lit up, the resulting surge of energy whipping their hair into a fiery blaze. Then they took another step, and Tang Wulin was upon them.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s first golden ring shone with majestic light as golden scales rippled into existence across his body. It began at his right arm, continued up and across his torso, and only stopped right before it reached his left arm. His right hand twisted and transformed into a powerful dragon claw. All of this happened as he continued to rush forward, every single move of his filled with resolve. There was no hesitation in his decision to confront two people in direct combat at the same time.


    He stared at Li Mengtian, his eyes seemingly glued to the girl. Just as he reached the pair, however, he immediately stomped a foot into the ground, forcefully changing course to dart directly at Li Mengyang. He ducked low and wound up his clawed fist, and unleashed a powerful punch!


    Li Mengyang snorted, gaze dripping with disdain. He reared back, then leaned forward to belch a torrent of flames right at Tang Wulin. At such close range, it was impossible for Tang Wulin to evade. But he didn¡¯t bother to. Instead, he put more strength into his fist!


    Right at that moment, a wall of ice sprouted out from the ground between Tang Wulin and Li Mengyang. The wall blocked Li Mengyang¡¯s flames, but an instant later, it melted into a puddle and evaporated. That was when Tang Wulin¡¯s fist followed through, rushing into the space the flames had just occupied.


    The elders up on their viewing platform nodded in approval. Gu Yue¡¯s ice wall had been timed perfectly to defend Tang Wulin from the flames. On top of that, it melted quickly enough to allow his attack to continue through. In fact, two walls had been made. The first wall had been thin, just enough to block Li Mengyang¡¯s flames. The second one had appeared to the side of the two combatants, positioned just so to prevent Li Mengtian from interfering.


    Li Mengyang never expected such a perfect combo from Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. However, this didn¡¯t shake him at all. Caught off guard as he was, he still had the advantage as an assault-type soul master of a superior soul power rank. He had nothing to fear.


    Li Mengyang threw out a fist of his own to match Tang Wulin¡¯s. The instant they clashed, he felt as if he had been rammed by a train. A jolt of searing pain ran up his arm, and the force of the hit sent him spinning through the air like a ragdoll.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body had been overflowing with strength ever since he broke the fourth seal of the Golden Dragon King. Such power was unimaginable for someone of his age and number of soul rings. The third grade had investigated him, but the results of their efforts only yielded shallow and vague impressions of him. They knew he was extremely strong, but they never expected him to reach such heights.


    Li Mengyang had to force himself to go completely limp the moment he was sent flying. If he hadn¡¯t been so quick to do that, his arm likely would¡¯ve been fractured by now. Taking the hit like that also allowed him to react immediately. Still hurtling through the air, his second soul ring lit up. His hair burst into flames as he opened his mouth. Lion¡¯s Roar!


    A terrifying roar shook the arena once more, filling the air around Li Mengyang. The roar struck Tang Wulin, slowing his movements for an instant. At the same time, the ice wall broke apart. Li Mengtian charged through the crumbling ice, swinging at him with her tiger-pawed hands.


    Li Mengyang¡¯s martial soul was a Fire Demon Lion, and Li Mengtian¡¯s was a Fire Demon Tiger. Both souls shared a deep connection with one another. The moment one acted, the other would be swift to follow up.


    It was then that Tang Wulin reversed the flow of his blood essence. He planted his right foot into the ground, right as a draconic roar erupted from within him. This sudden show of draconic might interrupted Li Mengyang¡¯s roar, and in that moment, eight phantom dragons shot out of Tang Wulin and toward the twins.


    Tang Wulin had unleashed Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, an art that harnessed the power of the Golden Dragon King and his powerful blood essence. It was so mighty that not even Yuanen Yehui could stand against it. In terms of individual strength, Li Mengyang and Li Mengtian were no match for Yuanen Yehui, and only just barely made up for this difference with their advantage in battle armor. But still, a gap existed between them. Furthermore, neither of the siblings had armor for their legs yet, so their mobility was just average.


    Li Mengtian tried to redirect her paw strikes into the ground to rebound off the floor and evade. Up in the air, Li Mengyang could do nothing. The phantom dragons crashed into them with a boom that filled the arena. Both were sent flying in radiant arcs, their battle armor shining in an effort to mitigate the impact.


    Tang Wulin pressed the attack, letting out another draconic roar, and in a blur of movement he leaped at Li Mengyang. A predatory sheen flashed through his eyes as he slashed out with his claw and unleashed five beams of dark gold. It was his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw!


    Li Mengyang was struggling to orient himself in the air when he sensed a tempest of power rapidly approaching him. His instincts screamed at him, urging him to dodge, and without hesitation he used his fourth soul skill. The corresponding soul ring lit up, and a cloak of scarlet light enveloped him. His body swelled with strength. Power surged through his enlarged arms, and he threw them over his head, using his gauntlets as a shield.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s dark gold beams scraped against Li Mengyang¡¯s armor with a metallic screech. Then the full brunt of the Golden Dragon Dreadclaw came down upon Li Mengyang, smacking him downward and creating a huge crater in the ground. Li Mengyang wasn¡¯t stunned by the blow for long, and as he struggled to get his bearings, he looked up to see fragments of metal falling through the air around him. He looked down at his gauntlets and realized that they had fissures running through them. Then he coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    Li Mengtian fared a bit better than her brother, and the moment she landed, she rushed to his side. The both of them had to admit it. These first grade students were absolute monsters. Now their path to victory could only be made with their soul fusion skill.


    Just as she was about to say something to her brother, Gu Yue appeared in front of them both in a flash of silver.


    ¡°Screw off!¡± Li Mengtian snarled, thrusting out with her tiger paws and summoning two larger phantom tigers in front of her.


    Gu Yue thrust out with a palm of her own, shooting an azure fireball in response.


    The phantom paws and fireballs collided with a bang! The fireball overpowered the paws and slammed into Li Mengtian in a brilliant explosion. The blast sent her careening backward, and even as she did, a wheel of ice chased after her.


    Li Mengtian twisted to gain control of her trajectory and threw her arms down at the wheel of ice, relying on her gauntlets to smash it into pieces! Then she hit the ground rolling before springing to her feet. A grating growl rumbled in her throat. She was even further from her brother now.


    Li Mengyang had barely managed to stand when Tang Wulin walked over and stomped the ground, unleashing Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth again. Li Mengyang immediately lost his balance, the quaking earth leaving him vulnerable to a fresh barrage of summoned phantom dragons. The dragons struck him into the air yet again, but Tang Wulin did not stop there. He immediately followed up with Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and summoned an enormous dragon head that opened its maw and bore down upon Li Mengyang. Unable to recover mid-flight this time, Li Mengyang was defenseless as the dragon head shot toward him. It was going to swallow him whole!


    But right as it threatened to chomp down on him, a silver light bloomed between them. In a flicker of movement, Elder Cai appeared above Li Mengyang. She had saved him.


    Elder Cai grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, then turned to Tang Wulin and nodded in satisfaction.


    A mountain of pressure crashed down upon Li Mengtian¡¯s shoulders as she realized that her brother had just been eliminated. Her fourth soul ring lit up, and yet another roar shook the arena. A tiger manifested before her, her martial soul having been empowered by fusing with her spirit soul. It immediately moved to pounce upon Gu Yue and use its fiery wrath to tear her apart.


    Yet Gu Yue stood her ground, the barest hint of a smirk forming on her mouth. A flash of silver, and Tang Wulin appeared before her, a shining knight clad in golden scales. They flashed with iridescent light, turning into a multitude of mirrors. The flaming tiger slammed into him, but the attack had no effect. His scales simply shone brighter than ever. An instant later, a draconic roar burst from him, and he thrust out his palms, summoning the dragon head once more and sending it toward Li Mengtian.


    A shimmer of silver, another barrier, appeared in front of Li Mengtian to block the phantom dragon head. Unlike the last time, however, the dragon head struck the silver in a cacophony of booming sound. The collision caused numerous ripples to form in the silver barrier.


    Silence reigned over the audience! They couldn¡¯t believe their eyes. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue stood at the center of the stage as the victors. Even now, Tang Wulin¡¯s shining scales and tyrannical aura demanded their attention. All he did was stand there, and still they felt a pressure emanating from him as though he were an immovable mountain.


    Off-stage, Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin and muttered, ¡°Holy shit! Boss really doesn¡¯t know how to hold back! Damn! He¡¯s absolutely brutal! I love it! That¡¯s how a man fights!¡±


    Elder Cai put Li Mengyang down beside his sister then flew into the air. ¡°The victors of this match are Tang Wulin and Gu Yue of the first grade.¡±


    That made it official. Against all expectations, the first grade had won yet again.

 Chapter 546 - Conceding

    Chapter 546 - Conceding


    Compared to the previous duels, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue secured a wholly different sort of victory for this two-on-two, down to the very fiber. Rather than winning by the skin of their teeth, they blasted through to victory.


    At the beginning of the match, the Li twins had tried to play it safe, carefully sounding out their opponents¡¯ strength. But in the end, they were blitzed. They hadn¡¯t even had a chance to unleash their soul fusion skill before getting eliminated. Devastating to the core.


    The twins stared at Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, faces pale and eyes wide like saucers. This wasn¡¯t just the product of their injuries, but the fear that Tang Wulin¡¯s draconic roar had struck into their hearts. Their instincts were clear: any attempt to go against this monarch would prove futile.


    Clad in golden scales and surrounded by a pair of golden soul rings, Tang Wulin was a majestic knight of shining gold. Even without the use of his battle armor, he had annihilated a pair of soul masters with superior cultivation levels and five pieces of battle armor each. While twins couldn¡¯t accept that they lost despite having so many advantages, subconsciously they had long since given up.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s scales quietly withdrew into himself and he returned to his normal form. Basking in the cheers of the first and second grades, he showed no signs of leaving the stage. Up next, the team battle.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had decided on such domineering tactics for this match in order to set the tone for the team battle. They wanted to fire up their teammates and instill fear into the hearts of their opponents, whom they had been certain would also participate in the team battles.


    From the first and second grade teams¡¯ waiting area, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, Xie Xie, and Xu Lizhi ascended the stage one by one. They convened at Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s sides, putting up a united front.


    Since Ye Xinglan was unfit for battle, Xu Lizhi had been chosen to take her place. Face sullen, he handed Tang Wulin a bunch of recovery buns.


    All seven of them stood there in solidarity. An immense wave of pressure filled the arena.


    Faced with these mighty juniors of theirs, the third grade team sat frozen in silence. Moments later, Li Qiankun alone rose from his seat and made for the stage. Before he reached it, Song Lin raised a hand. ¡°Please wait a moment.¡±


    Li Qiankun turned back and looked at her in confusion.


    Song Ling screwed her eyes shut and let out a long sigh. When she opened them again, they were filled with resolution. She walked onto the stage. ¡°Excuse me, Elder Cai.¡± Her voice rang low but steady. ¡°We¡¯re withdrawing from the team battle. We concede.¡±


    The entire arena went silent, the only sounds heard being the whirring of the gears within everyone¡¯s brains as they processed what they had heard. They¡¯re conceding? The third grade is surrendering? No way. They still have a one-word battle armor master! The strongest of the third grade, Li Qiankun, hasn¡¯t even gone up yet! How could they give up?


    ¡°Teacher Song, why?¡± Li Qiankun exclaimed.


    Song Lin turned back to face him, then cracked a bitter smile. She shook her head. ¡°Look at your teammates. See what state they¡¯re in. We don¡¯t have any chance in the team battle like this.¡±


    Li Qiankun gaped. After shaking himself out of his stupor, he finally directed his gaze at his teammates.


    And he then understood how true his teacher¡¯s words were.


    Mo Jue slumped over a seat in the corner like a zombie. When Li Qiankun¡¯s gaze chanced upon Ye Wu, he could clearly make out the dead fish feel of his teammate¡¯s eyes. Even more demotivating was Ye Wu¡¯s fearful stare and gulping whenever caught a glance of Tang Wulin. Sighing, Li Qiankun turned back to the stage to observe the Li twins. The two were holding each other for comfort, obviously afraid of their opponents, and if observed long enough, slightly shaking. Finally, he turned to get a good look at his companions who had yet to battle. Or tried to, anyway. Whenever he met their eyes, they would avert their gazes and lower their heads.


    All of their confidence was shattered by their juniors.


    ¡°Teacher Song, I want to fight in this match. Even if it¡¯s one against seven, I want to do it,¡± Li Qiankun said, his fists clenched tight.


    Song Lin shook her head again. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to end up like Mo Jue. My decision is final.¡±


    Li Qiankun¡¯s breathing went ragged as he once more turned to the stage, this time to study the team of seven. It wasn¡¯t until he saw the fire in their eyes that he realized he truly was no match. After bellowing in frustration, he withdrew.


    This marked the defeat of the third grade, the class that was supposed to be the strongest in the outer court. It was an utterly disgraceful defeat, so much so that not even the final match had been fought in fear of earning more shame.


    Although the third grade still had the one-word battle armor master Li Qiankun in reserve, he was the only one left in his team that was fit to fight. While he thirsted for battle with these seven mighty opponents, the rest had fear and shame struck into their hearts. Taking this into consideration, Song Lin had made the right choice. If she had let them go up and suffer another defeat, she feared that not even Li Qiankun was resilient enough to weather such a setback. She didn¡¯t want to see her students fall any further than they already had.


    Upon the stage, Tang Wulin stood at the front and center of his team, the rest flanking him on either side. All seven carried themselves as valorous young men and women. They exuded confidence and a will to prove themselves burned within. Every student of the outer court stared at them in awe.


    ¡°These kids are excellent,¡± said Yali. She had struggled to keep her voice low in the elders¡¯ viewing platform.


    Tang Wulin and his teammates did not cower before the sea of gazes. They stood with their backs straight and chests puffed with pride.


    After having spent a little over a year in Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin and his friends in the first grade had grown to a point incomparable with before. In addition to their peerless talent, they fostered a conviction that victory was certain. They would not grow timid even before a full team of battle armor masters. This was the courage of youth, the fruits of their efforts, and their strength.


    Zhuo Shi glanced at Feng Wuyu just as Feng Wuyu happened to glance at him. They stared at each other for a moment and nodded in agreement for once. Both of them smiled as they watched Tang Wulin, their hearts bursting with pride. They were also satisfied with the other kids on his team. Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu were certain that once those kids turned eighteen or nineteen, they would become central figures in Shrek Academy, and lead it into a shining new era.


    ¡°The Pavilion Master was right. What kids that are as talented as them need is experience,¡± muttered Zhuo Shi.


    ¡°Well shit. I agree,¡± Feng Wuyu said.


    Having ascended into the air, Elder Cai declared, ¡°The third grade has conceded. The first and second grade team wins.¡±


    A crescendo of cheers erupted across the stadium as the audience snapped out of their stupor. The loudest claps and stomps came from the first grade. They were the proudest of them all! As newcomers to Shrek Academy, they had finally established their place and cemented their position today with a feat deemed nigh impossible. They had defeated the third grade, the greatest of the outer court, to now stand at a new peak. The chances of a class appearing in the next few years to dethrone them was zero


    While Tang Wulin pumped his fists into the air and cheered with his teammates, Xu Lizhi was all smiles as he ran off-stage, arms outstretched to a newly awake Ye Xinglan. She yelped when he scooped her up into his arms and ran back on stage.


    ¡°We¡¯re the best!¡± Xu Lizhi grinned.


    Ye Xinglan blushed crimson. ¡°L-let me down!¡± Her body was still too weak to put up a resistance.


    ¡°Huh? What did you say?¡± Xu Lizhi shouted back at her, his voice nearly drowned out in the cheering.


    ¡°I said let me down!¡± Ye Xinglan glared at him.


    ¡°Huh? Are you afraid I¡¯ll drop you? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll hold you tight!¡± Xu Lizhi said, tightening his arms around her.


    ¡°You damned fatty!¡± Ye Xinglan pinched his arm. It made Xu Lizhi look down, facing her with a goofy grin.


    In a dour mood, Li Qiankun led the third grade out of the arena. They didn¡¯t belong in this scene of glory.


    But before the the of seven could bask in their glory for longer, Elder Cai spoke again in a booming voice. ¡°I have something to announce.¡± Her aura flared with a hint of the strength a Titled Douluo held, silencing the arena in an instant.

 Chapter 547 - The Continent of Star Luo

    Chapter 547 - The Continent of Star Luo


    The gazes of everyone present converged on Elder Cai. She held her head high, peering down at the arena. ¡°The first and second grades displayed exceptional strength today. The Academy has decided to pick a group of students from the lower grades in sixth months. They will be sent on an exchange trip to Star Luo and it will last one year. You would all do well to earn a spot in this exchange.¡±


    Star Luo? Tang Wulin stared at Elder Cai in astonishment. Star Luo was a whole different continent and a land he knew nothing about! He could only imagine the sort of marvels there.


    Being chosen for the delegation was certain in Tang Wulin¡¯s opinion. After all, he was the class president of the first grade. Confident, he felt his thoughts wandering. That master-disciple pair who challenged Zhen Hua and him to a blacksmithing match should also be from Star Luo. So I¡¯m going on an exchange to their homeland? I can¡¯t believe it.


    Although a wonderful opportunity to broaden his horizons, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t actually excited about it. Ever since entering Shrek Academy, his growth skyrocketed thanks to the wealth of resources available, as well as the Tang Sect¡¯s offering. By the time Tang Wulin moved to the second grade, he reckoned that with a bit of luck, he would already be a one-word battle armor master. At that po8int, he would only be sixteen years old, surely a famous figure in all of Shrek Academy. Tang Wulin would have no trouble entering the inner court, slowly and steadily walking down the path to greatness. However, this exchange trip to Star Luo threw a wrench in his plans. He had no idea what to expect from it.


    It wasn¡¯t just Tang Wulin who was at a loss. The companions at his side were also taken by surprise. They stared Elder Cai vacantly. All except for Gu Yue, who was deep in thought, and a frowning Yuanen Yehui.


    With the announcement over and the competition concluded, the audience began leaving in droves, each heading off to cultivate with renewed resolution. After the were the competitors.


    Tang Wulin maintained a thoughtful silence all the way back to the working students dormitory before he spoke. ¡°Yuanen, Zhengyu! Don¡¯t go to your rooms just yet. We should discuss what Elder Cai said today.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu answered together, stopping and turning to face Tang Wulin. They stared at him, the dormitory still and quiet.


    ¡°What do you guys know about Star Luo?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie perked up. ¡°Oh! I know a bit!¡± He cleared his throat, practically hopping in excitement. ¡°Tens of thousands of years ago, there were two great empires on Douluo.The Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire. There were a few small countries sprinkled between them, but they were pretty much insignificant. About ten thousand years ago, the tectonic plates shifted and moved the Sun Moon continent toward us, so that they bordered Douluo. At that point, the Heaven Dou Empire had been split into two smaller countries. The Sun Moon continent was rich in resources and possessed soul technology. With those two factions so close to each other, war naturally broke out.¡±


    His voice lowered, a sense of solemn growing. ¡°That was the beginning of the era that the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had lived. In the end, the Sun Moon Empire won and annexed the two nations that once composed the Heaven Dou Empire. Then just as the Sun Moon Empire was preparing to attack the Star Luo Empire, Spirit Ice Huo Yuhao and Dragon Butterfly Tang Wutong led their comrades to defend it. What happened during that battle isn¡¯t clear, but the Sun Moon Empire halted their assault and they were stuck in a stalemate for many years.


    ¡°The surviving members of Heaven Dou¡¯s imperial family led their people to escape overseas and found a new continent to occupy. This is what we now know as the Heaven Dou continent. Meanwhile, the Sun Moon Empire gained strength on the Douluo continent. But Spirit Ice Huo Yuhao and Dragon Butterfly Tang Wutong had already ascended to godhood, so they couldn¡¯t intervene in the politics of mortals. Without their help, the Star Luo Empire was put on the defensive. They secretly sent out a fleet to explore the seas and also found a new continent, this one rich with resources.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s gaze darkened. ¡°And so began their top secret plans to migrate their entire population there. They all left at once. From then on, the Sun Moon Empire had total control of the entire Douluo continent. As time passed, the Sun Moon Empire changed into the modern day Sun Moon Federation. So according to history, both the Star Luo and Heaven Dou people were originally natives to Douluo. And they¡¯ve fostered a deep grudge against the Federation. If we really do go on this exchange to Star Luo, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be received well. There''ll be a lot of challenges.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu nodded. ¡°Yeah. Xie Xie¡¯s got the gist of it. My understanding is about the same as his. If we go to Star Luo, there¡¯ll definitely be lots of people who want to cause us trouble. But still, I find this opportunity very interesting. Exploring a foreign country sounds fun! The Academy will definitely ensure our safety anyway, and I heard that Star Luo is sending a group of students here on exchange too.¡± He shrugged. ¡°In any case, we have no idea what the culture is like over there and there¡¯s no harm in going, so I think it¡¯s a good idea. I bet they¡¯re not as advanced as us though.¡±


    Tang Wulin glanced at Yuanen Yehui. ¡°What are your thoughts on this?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui had her lips pressed together tight. After a moment, she nodded. ¡°I¡¯m accustomed to life here, so I don¡¯t really want to go. We¡¯re all making good progress on our cultivation too. We could accomplish a lot in one year.¡±


    Tang Wulin put his hand to his chin and nodded. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re going to get picked for the exchange. You¡¯re the class president of the second grade after all. And since they¡¯re having us go, I¡¯m certain the Academy will aid us in our cultivation as compensation.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui shrugged again. ¡°Eh, if we¡¯re going then we¡¯re going. You think you¡¯ll be able to forge enough spirit alloys in the next six months?¡±


    Tang Wulin scrunched his nose. ¡°Huh? You¡¯re that anxious to become a battle armor master? Well, I can definitely forge the metals, but there¡¯s no way in hell I can craft the armor!¡±


    Yuanen Yehui rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Pft. Let¡¯s at least create one full set by then. If all eight of us work together, it¡¯s definitely possible.¡±


    A light flickered into existence within Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°All you have to do is forge enough spirit alloys for the eight of us to make a complete set of armor. Focus on that and don¡¯t worry about anything else. Then we¡¯ll all work together and to complete a set for one person. During the year abroad in Star Luo, we¡¯ll continue using the stockpile of metal to craft more pieces of battle armor. If we do this, our progress shouldn¡¯t be impacted too much.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes flicked over to Ye Xinglan. She was the most talented armor crafter they had.


    ¡°I¡¯m still just a fifth-rank mecha maker,¡± said Ye Xinglan. ¡°Before I reach the sixth rank I can¡¯t complete a full set. And I¡¯m not skilled enough to craft some of the final core components yet. I guess I¡¯ll just have to do my best to break through in the next six months.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded, a grin forming on his face. ¡°Great! Then we¡¯ll be focusing on getting you a complete set of armor! Once you¡¯ve got a full set, making the rest of our armors will go by much faster. Yuanen and Zhengyu, you two are fine with this?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Sounds fine,¡± Yuanen Yehui said, slowly nodding.


    ¡°Same with me,¡± Yue Zhengyu said. ¡°But I¡¯m a mecha maker too. I have to craft my own armor. I¡¯ll just take it slow I guess.¡± He smiled. ¡°I¡¯m fine with investing resources into Xinglan.¡± Having just reached the fifth rank, it would be more efficient to pour their resources into Ye Xinglan. Furthermore, he had been convinced of her strength after witnessing the battle earlier today. She had won honor even in defeat and paid a hefty price for the sake of their team¡¯s final victory. If she hadn¡¯t taken out Mo Jue from the team battle, then there was no way the third grade would have conceded, not with a pair of one-word battle armor masters in the team battle. Their chances of winning would have been abysmal against such opponents.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s work hard together for the next few months,¡± Tang Wulin said as he put his hand in the center of their circle for a cheer. Gu Yue quickly claimed the spot above his with her own. Then the rest of the team followed. They cheered. Today was a day worthy of celebration. On this day, the working students united as one to work toward a common goal.


    The days that followed were bustling with activities. With Tang Wulin and his friends setting a prime example, the studious atmosphere enveloped the first grade was far more focused than any of the other grades. The entire first grade was burning with the desire to become strong and gain the acknowledgment of their peers at Shrek Academy.


    Apart from Tang Wulin, every one of his teammates already possessed four soul rings. As such, he only had two objectives each day: cultivate soul power and forge spirit alloys.


    The students selected for the exchange to Star Luo were soon revealed. Of the first grade, Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan, Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan were picked. For the second, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu made it. To no one¡¯s surprise, all eight working students were selected. Wu Zhangkong was assigned as the teacher in charge of them while Silver Moon Douluo Cai Yue¡¯er would act as their leader.


    Tang Wulin and his friends were happy that Wu Zhangkong was coming with them, but the fact that Elder Cai was as well gave them mixed feelings about the whole exchange. How hard she had been on them during their entrance exam, they hadn¡¯t forgotten.

 Chapter 548 - Dreams of Rank 40

    Chapter 548 - Dreams of Rank 40


    Half a year flew by like the wind.


    Na¡¯er sat at a stone table tucked away at the edges of Spirit Ice Plaza, swinging her legs gently in the air. Her dress, long and well-fitting, allowed a glimpse of the fair skin below her thighs. Her hair was draped over her back, silver strands gently swaying as a breeze passed by. She angled her face toward the twilight sky. ¡°Big Brother, when are you leaving?¡±


    Also enjoying the view above, Tang Wulin turned to Na¡¯er and answered, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Probably in the next few days.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ Teacher wouldn¡¯t let me go with you.¡± Na¡¯er pouted.


    Tang Wulin chuckled and ruffled her hair. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m going away forever. I¡¯ll be back in a year.¡±


    But that didn¡¯t seem to alleviate her concerns. Her expression became morose. ¡±Are you really going to leave me all alone here? We don¡¯t know what things are like in Star Luo either. I¡¯m worried.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s playful smile melted into one of warmth as he began stroking her hair. ¡°Na¡¯er, be good for me. Everything has already been decided.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°Anyway, how¡¯s your one-word battle armor coming along?¡±


    Na¡¯er shook her head and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m still missing the last piece.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with it. I know you can do it! And who knows, by the time your Big Bro returns, maybe I¡¯ll already be a one-word battle armor master!¡± Tang Wulin grinned, and Na¡¯er couldn¡¯t help but grin as well.


    ¡°No way that¡¯ll happen,¡± She cocked her brow. ¡°You still only have one piece of armor! How could you possibly finish a complete set in one year?¡±


    ¡°Psh. Ever heard of talent?¡±


    Na¡¯er giggled. ¡°Big Brother, when did you become so arrogant? You haven¡¯t even reached rank 40 yet. And you¡¯ve been so busy lately that you haven¡¯t even had any time to play with me. Jeez. How far are you from breaking through?¡±


    Feeling the heat on him, Tang Wulin nervously laughed. ¡°I¡¯m at rank 38. Still got two more ranks to go. Uh¡­ I¡¯m a late bloomer, you know? That¡¯s why my cultivation is slow.¡± This matter had been giving him a headache for the past six months. Despite all his efforts, he was still chasing after rank 39. He had hoped to make rank 40 by the time he left for the exchange. That way he could officially become a sixth-rank blacksmith and nab a second spirit soul for a fourth soul ring. But looking at the few days he had left, that hope was impossible. Which was a shame, since simply by raising his soul power rank, these strength bottlenecks would have been eliminated.


    Meanwhile, his comrades had all made good progress. Yuanen Yehui had the highest cultivation at rank 45. Gu Yue and Yue Zhengyu tied for second at rank 44. Ye Xinglan sat comfortably at rank 43, and Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi all achieved rank 42. In contrast, he the captain was a whopping four ranks below the weakest of his friends!


    Ever since they had broken rank 40, his comrades saw their strength skyrocket. On the other hand, Tang Wulin made little progress even after pushing himself hard to grow his soul power. The only significant growth he saw was in his blood essence, which became even more vigorous than before. As time passed and he continued making little progress, his fear of getting left behind grew greater and greater. Thinking about this was a surefire way to depress his mood.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll break through soon enough! Just think about how awesome you¡¯ll be once you get your fourth ring!¡± Na¡¯er beamed.


    Tang Wulin perked up immediately, her words hitting their mark. As he broke more of the seals on the Golden Dragon King, his soul power evolved. Although it didn¡¯t increase quantitatively, it grew more dense and solid. The pure white soul power he cultivated with the Mysterious Heaven Method was now a golden liquid energy. So even though he was only at rank 38, his combat strength was no weaker than that of his companions. The real problem was that although his foundation was solid, his low soul power rank prevented him from breaking through to the next level in any of his other skills.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take your words to heart and be hopeful.¡± Tang Wulin had been thirsting for rank 40 for a long time now, eager to become stronger and gain the qualifications to become a one-word battle armor master.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin¡¯s communicator rang. He whipped it out and smiled when he saw the number of the caller. It was Mu Chen.


    ¡°Hello Teacher Mu,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    ¡°Are you on campus?¡± Mu Chen asked in his clear and calm voice.


    ¡°Yes, Teacher.¡±


    ¡°Come to the front gates,¡± Mu Chen said.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll be there in a moment.¡± Tang Wulin hung up the call, turning to Na¡¯er. ¡°Teacher Mu is here so I need to go see him. You¡¯re going back to the inner court now?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Na¡¯eer said somewhat reluctantly.


    ¡°Great!¡± Flashing a smile, Tang Wulin waved goodbye and ran off for the campus gates without another glance.


    As Na¡¯er watched Tang Wulin leave, a voice snapped her out of her longing gaze. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for you to go with him.¡±


    Na¡¯er turned around. Standing right before her was Gu Yue, the latter¡¯s eyes shining bright. Na¡¯er pushed down on the stone table and rose to her feet. She climbed on top of the table. ¡°Why not? Don¡¯t you know what love is?¡± Her words dripped with ire.


    Gu Yue met Na¡¯er¡¯s gaze in silence. Faced with no counterattack, Na¡¯er quickly regained her calm. She shot Gu Yue a glare then jumped down, her hair waving as she stormed off.


    When Na¡¯er¡¯s figure could no longer be seen, Gu Yue finally moved from her spot. Alone in this corner of the Spirit ice Plaza, she allowed herself one soft muttering of a sentence.


    ¡°Do I know what love is?¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin reached the front gates in a flash. To his surprise, it wasn¡¯t just Mu Chen waiting for him at the gate. Zhen Hua was present as well. Upon seeing Tang Wulin, Zhen Hua grinned, his eyes lighting up with his face. Tang Wulin hurried over to greet them. ¡°Teacher! Uncle-master!¡±


    Mu Chen smiled. ¡°That was fast. I thought you would be another couple of minutes.¡±


    Tang Wulin laughed bashfully. ¡°Why are you two here? If there¡¯s something you wanted, you could have just called me and I would have went over to you.¡±


    ¡°Private matters shouldn¡¯t be discussed at the Association,¡± Mu Chen said.


    ¡°Private matters?¡± Tang Wulin raised a brow.


    Mu Chen glanced at Zhen Hua, passing the ball to him.


    ¡°We¡¯re here this time to give you a gift,¡± Zhen Hua said as he held out his right hand to Tang Wulin. Sitting in his palm was a white badge. Six twinkling stars graced its surface.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw dropped as he looked back and forth between the badge and Zhen Hua. ¡°But Uncle-master, I haven¡¯t reached the sixth rank yet!¡±


    Zhen Hua smiled wryly. ¡°Actually, common sense would dictate that you¡¯ve long since earned the qualifications to call yourself a sixth-rank blacksmith. It was only because of your weak soul power that you haven¡¯t been able to make the last step. Once you achieve a breakthrough, spirit refining should be easy for you. Your foundation is more than sturdy enough now. You¡¯re about to leave for Star Luo for a whole year, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to break rank 40 sometime during that. That¡¯s why I decided to award you your badge now. I¡¯m certain you¡¯ll have earned it by the time you return.¡±


    ¡°Take it,¡± Mu Chen urged. ¡°Your Uncle-master personally forged it for you.¡± There was a sour note in his voice with the last few words. He had no choice but to admit that he couldn¡¯t compare with Zhen Hua as a blacksmith. There was no competing with the only living Divine Blacksmith!


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle-master! Thank you, Teacher!¡±  Tang Wulin bowed his head low. It was unprecedented for the President of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association to personally forge the badge for a sixth-rank blacksmith. And to award it early too!


    ¡°Be safe and quickly make a breakthrough in your cultivation,¡± Zhen Hua said, tone hardening. ¡°Again, your foundation is superb, but your soul power is lagging behind. If your soul power is still growing so slowly when you return from Star Luo, we¡¯ll help you think of a method to fix that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle-master.¡± Tang Wulin understood just what methods Zhen Hua was alluding to, but he didn¡¯t want to walk that path. He still wanted to progress solely with his own efforts.


    In the past year, Tang Wulin may not have increased his soul power much, but his soul power perception skills had improved and his understanding of his bluesilver grass had deepened. If he used heavenly treasures to boost his cultivation, the cultivation foundation would definitely suffer.


    Zhen Hua¡¯s stern expression melted back into a kind smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll encounter a few nice surprises during your trip to Star Luo.¡±


    ¡°Nice surprises? What?¡± Tang Wulin furrowed his brow inquisitively.


    Zhen Hua smirked. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t ruin the surprise for you. You¡¯ll find out soon enough, so just be patient.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked to Mu Chen in an appeal for help. Unfortunately for him, Mu Chen merely shook his head and gave a mysterious smile of his own.


    ¡°Well then, that¡¯s about everything. We should get going now,¡± Said Zhen Hua. ¡°Have a good trip!¡± With that he and Mu Chen left together.

 Chapter 549 - Whats Going On With You Today?

    Chapter 549 - What''s Going On With You Today?


    As Tang Wulin watched Zhen Hua and Mu Chen depart, he started to wonder what surprises they were talking about. There¡¯s no way I would come across someone I know in Star Luo¡­ is there? Nah, that¡¯s impossible! What could they have meant?


    This mystery stumped Tang Wulin, so he decided to worry about it later and just went back to campus. He only had a few days before his departure, and there were many things he still had to take care of. First he needed to visit the Tang Sect. He was currently a white-class agent of the Battle Hall, so he needed to report whenever he left campus.


    Ever since he joined the Battle Hall, Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been assigned a single mission, yet he still received an immense amount of cultivation resources. He was even awarded bonus contribution points when he sold metals to the Tang Sect. He was reaping the benefits of membership, so it was important to report that he would be gone for a year.


    Tang Wulin absentmindedly walked to the Tang Sect, not even thinking about the path he took. The moment he arrived, he found Guo Xiaoxu, Hall Master of the Battle Hall, standing outside the door.


    ¡°I already know you¡¯re leaving for Star Luo,¡± Guo Xiaoxu said as Tang Wulin approached, giving him a warm smile. ¡°While you¡¯re there, remember to keep quiet, observe your surroundings, and stay safe. Come back in one piece, and don¡¯t forget to bring your white-class agent badge.¡± He rummaged through his coat for a moment, then took out a letter. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to contact us all the way in Star Luo, so take this letter to the local Tang Sect headquarters and give it to the person in charge. If you run into any trouble, you can ask them for help.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin gawked at the man. ¡°Hall Master, we have a branch on the Star Luo continent?¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Guo Xiaoxu chuckled. ¡°We even have branches on the Heaven Dou continent. We¡¯re not the only ones either. The Spirit Pagoda can be found on all three continents as well, and they have even more overseas branches. The ocean cannot confine organizations like ours. But Shrek Academy doesn¡¯t have any overseas branches, of course. That would just be silly. They don¡¯t care about expanding over there at all.¡±


    Then Guo Xiaoxu¡¯s gaze sharpened. ¡°You¡¯re still young, so going on this trip will broaden your horizons. You¡¯re calm, mature for your age, so I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll keep a cool head if anything happens. Don¡¯t forget that your agent badge has a button you can press to call for help. Don¡¯t hesitate to press it. The moment you do, any agents in the vicinity will rush to your aid.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Tang Wulin replied. He actually wouldn¡¯t have remembered this function of the badge if the Hall Master hadn¡¯t said anything.


    With that, Guo Xiaoxu bid Tang Wulin farewell. As he left the Tang Sect, he looked up at the sky above him. It seemed strangely dull, more so than usual.


    I hope something good comes out of this exchange trip. Tang Wulin sighed and looked back on his progress. He originally planned to break through to rank 40, become a sixth-rank blacksmith, and gain a second spirit soul and a fourth soul ring before he left. All he had managed to do was become a sixth-rank blacksmith, and he had only accomplished that through his connections with Zhen Hua. This left him disappointed in himself.


    Then his mind turned to his team¡¯s progress. Since they had chosen to focus on completing Ye Xinglan¡¯s battle armor first, she was only three pieces away from having a full set. Everyone else still only had one piece of armor, but Tang Wulin had no complaints about that. Once Ye Xinglan became a one-word battle armor master, she would be able to crank out armor pieces far faster than before. Then the rest of the team would quickly become one-word battle armor masters as well. Tang Wulin had forged more than enough spirit alloys needed to complete everyone¡¯s armor, so they could continue making armor even in Star Luo.


    Tang Wulin took out his soul communicator and tapped the screen a few times, placing a call.


    The call was quickly answered, and Gu Yue¡¯s voice rang in his ear. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Gu Yue, can you get me a ticket for the spirit ascension platform? The intermediate one.¡±


    ¡°I should be able to. What are you planning?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been working hard at cultivation, but I haven¡¯t seen much progress,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°I want to go vent my frustration. I¡¯m not going to reach rank 40 by the time we depart anyway, so I thought some exercise would be good for me.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Where are you?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m by the Tang Sect headquarters.¡±


    ¡°Wait for me there. I¡¯ll head over now and we can go together.¡±


    ¡°How reliable.¡± Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    A few minutes later, a cab pulled up in front of Tang Wulin. The door opened to reveal Gu Yue, who gestured for Tang Wulin to get in. He did just that, strapped himself in, and they were off.


    ¡°You¡¯re coming with me into the spirit ascension platform?¡± Tang Wulin asked. When she nodded in response, he grinned and he took her hand in his own. ¡°Great!¡±


    As if she had been struck by lightning, Gu Yue yanked her hand from his.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mind swirled with confusion. He had always been one for skinship, and Gu Yue had never rejected him like this. Only now did he realize that she seemed to be in a strange mood. He looked into her eyes and saw himself, as if he were gazing at his own reflection in a cold, indifferent mirror.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Boys and girls should not do anything inappropriate before marriage,¡± Gu Yue said coldly.


    Tang Wulin was baffled. ¡°You didn¡¯t have a problem with it before. Remember all those times you pulled me by the hand?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s expression went stiff. She slowly turned her head away from him and looked out the window, refusing to acknowledge him.


    Tang Wulin scratched his chin awkwardly. A woman¡¯s heart truly was as turbulent as a stormy sea. Such inexplicable behavior made him want to scream in frustration. It was impossible for him to comprehend the vast machinations of a woman¡¯s mind. He had no other choice but to stay silent and keep to himself.


    The cab quickly took them out of Shrek Inner City. The entire drive consisted of awkward silence in which Gu Yue ignored Tang Wulin, and him trying to avoid her ire. This continued until they reached the headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda. Once there, Gu Yue paid the driver exited the cab and led the way to the Spirit Pagoda with Tang Wulin rushing to keep up with her. With a flash of her badge, the two of them were granted entry.


    Tang Wulin had been busy cultivating ever since he arrived at Shrek Academy, so he hadn¡¯t had a chance to visit the local spirit ascension platform yet. In fact, today he was only here on a whim. He recalled his time in the spirit ascension platform back in Eastsea City, how his team¡¯s combat skills had been honed through countless visits.


    The spirit ascension platform was located in the rear of the building, and it took them two different elevator rides to reach it. After passing through two checkpoints, they arrived at a room filled with high-tech equipment, screens lining the walls, and familiar capsules.


    ¡°We want to enter the intermediate spirit ascension platform,¡± Gu Yue said to the staff member in the room.


    ¡°Got it,¡± the staff member answered. They didn¡¯t say anything, but they did raise a curious brow at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin leaned over to Gu Yue and whispered, ¡°How much does it cost to enter the intermediate spirit ascension platform here?¡±


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes at him and just entered a capsule.


    Tang Wulin furrowed his brow. What¡¯s with her today? Did I do something to upset her? If I knew she was going to be like this, I wouldn¡¯t have even asked to come here. It doesn¡¯t seem like we¡¯ll work well together at the moment. As we are now, how long will we even last in there?


    Despite all of Tang Wulin¡¯s reservations, he was already here. It was too late to back out. Besides, the last time he had entered the spirit ascension platform was back in Eastsea City. He was eager to see just how much stronger he was now.


    After entering a capsule of his own, the door closed over him. As various instruments scanned him, he shut his eyes, and soon enough, energy fluctuations enveloped him and a wave of vertigo washed over his body. A minute later, the sensation faded. He took a breath of fresh air and opened his eyes to see a verdant forest around him. He had arrived in the spirit ascension platform.


    The first thing he noticed was the forest. He could see no difference between it and what he could remember of the spirit ascension platform back at Eastsea City. Then after a quick scan of his surroundings, he saw Gu Yue standing a few meters away from him.


    Tang Wulin immediately walked over to stand in front her, guard up and eyes scanning the perimeter for movement. He then began to slowly advance. Although it had been a long time since he came to the spirit ascension platform, his still remained vigilant. A powerful soul beast could attack them at any moment. Caution was key to their survival.


    As he was focused on that, Gu Yue just stood there gazing at him from behind. His back was broad and taut with power. His dashing figure left her heart in turmoil. He just looked so reliable.


    Tang Wulin had grown over the past half-year. He was taller, his shoulders broader, and his face more handsome. He was young, only fifteen, yet he was nearly two meters tall. His face still contained traces of immaturity, but he already looked like a man. He also possessed strength that earned him the position of class president of the first grade. That only served to make him even more appealing. Countless girls in the first and second grades swooned whenever they saw him. A majority of those girls had made advances toward him. In fact, Gu Yue had even noticed Wu Siduo¡¯s heated gaze fixed upon him at times.


    But Tang Wulin was oblivious to all of it. He was too busy with cultivation and blacksmithing.


    Gu Yue bit her lip and furrowed her brow. Do I really not know what love is?


    It was then that Tang Wulin glanced back at her. She was rooted to her original spot, having yet to take a single step to follow him. Gu Yue¡¯s odd behavior was acceptable outside, but such actions would only put them in danger in the intermediate spirit ascension platform. Danger was always lurking around the corner, and soul beasts would not miss an opportunity to strike.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tang Wulin asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been acting weird all day.¡±


    His voiced snapped Gu Yue out of her stupor, and she walked over to join him.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tang Wulin asked again. He raised his hand to touch her forehead.


    Gu Yue quickly brushed his hand aside. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Tang Wulin studied her face for a moment, then he turned around and continued to lead the way forward.

 Chapter 550 - Diamond Boar Herd

    Chapter 550 - Diamond Boar Herd


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s spiritual powers were both in the Spirit Sea realm, so their senses were able to reach as far as a hundred meters away and perceive even the slightest stir in the grass.


    Gu Yue summoned two spheres of wind element in the palm of her hand. With a slight push she infused it into their bodies, boosting their speed.


    Sensing that her mood was back to normal, Tang Wulin finally relaxed a bit. ¡°If we stay until tomorrow morning, then we should have about fifteen hours to spend here. After that, we should pick up the pace and head deeper within the forest.¡±


    With their current strength, ordinary soul beasts posed no threat to them. Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t even thought of advancing his spirit souls and was here purely to release some stress. Brutally beating some soul beasts would do that for someone.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power spread like the tendrils of some mighty vine, instantly increasing his range of perception several times. Indeed, he could access the network of shared consciousness of bluesilver grass. While he hadn¡¯t made much progress in his soul power cultivation in the past six months, the same could not be said about his connection with plants.


    Far off in the distance, a light flashed in the air. Tang Wulin immediately leaped after it. But before his fingers could even graze the unknown object, it pulled away in a blur of motion. And off it flew.


    ¡°I think it was a bird,¡± Tang Wulin said when he landed. He had no interest in fighting weak soul beasts. He quickened his pace and they trod further into the forest.


    Mere seconds later, something akin to the sound of muffled thunder shook through the trees. It startled Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, but the source of the sound was clearly far away.


    To gather more information of where the sound originated, Tang Wulin dropped down to his belly and pressed his ear to the ground. He silently listened for the voices of the bluesilver grass, his important network. What he heard instead were cries of fear.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a pack of soul beasts. Let¡¯s climb up a tree and get to a good vantage point first.¡± Tang Wulin swiftly approached Gu Yue, grabbing her by the waist as he used Ghost Perplexing Step to scale the trunk of a nearby tree. In an instant, they reached the canopy, perched on a particularly thick branch. Tang Wulin steadied himself by grabbing on to a small branch above him while Gu Yue leaned against the rough bark of the trunk.


    ¡°It sounds like they¡¯re coming toward us, and there¡¯s a lot of them!¡± Tang Wulin furrowed his brow at the rumbling thunder coming their way. From the sounds of the footsteps, the beasts seemed large and heavy. The tree they had climbed began to sway as the pack neared. Just what kind of beasts are coming? How big could they be?


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth as he used his Purple Demon Eyes to peer toward the incoming pack. As soon as it entered his view and his complexion paled. ¡°Shit. This is going to be troublesome. It¡¯s a herd of Diamond Boars.¡±


    Diamond Boars were a type of soul beast that moved in large herds. Weighing over two tons, while also five meters long and two meters tall, Diamond Boars were the epitome of gigantic. They had no concept of fear and acted erratically, to the point that even lions and tigers feared them. They had heads as hard as steel and three pairs of spear-like tusks. Once Diamond Boars charged, there was no stopping them. In fact, even some of the physically strongest soul beasts would rather run than face a stampeding herd of Diamond Boars. Each and every boar came charging with the force of over twenty thousand kilograms.


    The tusks of Diamond Boars were exceptionally hard and dense, perfect for carvings. As a result, in the distant past, they were hunted to extinction for those prized tusks. Yet they had been perfectly recreated in the spirit ascension platform.


    Soon, the splintering of whole tree trunks was added to the cacophony. It was impossible for ordinary trees to stand before full grown Diamond Boars.


    Tang Wulin peered down. His shiver was fueled by an ill premonition. This tree¡¯s probably only a hundred years old. If it¡¯s slammed into¡ª


    Right at that moment, adjacent trees groaned and toppled down. He could see the boars easily through the cleared space after the dust had fallen. In the lead was a boar twice as large as the rest of the herd, covered in thick, black hair that stood erect like steel needles. No tree, thin or thick, could stand in its way.


    Shit! Just how bad is our luck? We just got here and we¡¯re already facing such a troublesome opponent.


    ¡°Gu Yue, be careful,¡± Tang Wulin said. All they could do was pray that the boars would somehow miss their tree. However, the chances of that seemed slim as the leader of the herd was heading toward them.


    A boom filled the air as their tree split apart and toppled. In a flash of silver, the two teleported high into the air. But since Gu Yue¡¯s teleportation range decreased when taking someone along with her, they were still many meters away from the nearest tree.


    With Gu Yue holding onto his back tightly, Tang Wulin shot out a strand of bluesilver grass toward the nearest tree branch. Just before they could land, the herd of Diamond Boars plowed through this tree as well.


    Free fall. Tang Wulin¡¯s instincts screamed for him to take action, his mind operating with renewed clarity. He released a strand of bluesilver grass once more toward another tree.


    But the boars continued their rampage. Splintered bark littered the forest floor in the herd¡¯s wake. Tang Wulin had no choice but to frantically and continuously swing from tree to tree with Gu Yue on his back, using his Bind soul skill to keep them off the ground.


    Gu Yue wrapped her arms around Tang Wulin¡¯s neck and her legs around his waist, pressing her body so tight to his that she could hear his thumping heartbeat. The way Tang Wulin didn¡¯t panic in this crisis and calmly responded as needed warmed her heart with a sense of security. She rested her cheek on his neck and closed her eyes. As they flew through the air, the warmth and security he gave her melted her icy mood. A gentle smile spread on her lips. We don¡¯t have much time left together, so I might as well enjoy what we have left.


    ¡°Hey, can you loosen your hold?¡± grumbled Tang Wulin. ¡° You¡¯re strangling me!¡±


    Gu Yue hadn¡¯t realized she tightened her hold around his neck. Embarrassed, she quickly relaxed her grip. She clicked her tongue. ¡°How could a weak girl like me possibly strangle you?¡±


    Tang Wulin shot out another strand of grass and swung from it, sending them soaring into the air. As the wind struck his face and gravity began to pull him back into free-fall, he felt as if he were a monkey freely swinging through the trees. He couldn''t¡¯ help but smile at the thought. ¡°And I¡¯m just a weak pretty boy. You should be the one protecting me.¡±


    Gu Yue snorted at his remark and lightly slapped him on the shoulder.


    The herd had finally passed by, leaving only a trail of destruction behind them. Tang Wulin landed them on a branch near the top of a tree, then jumped toward the ground.


    ¡°Teleport,¡± Tang Wulin said to Gu Yue. As long as Gu Yue teleported them down, they wouldn¡¯t pick up any more momentum and crash-land. Yet she just clung onto him tightly without doing anything, lost in her daydreams.

 Chapter 551 - The Terrifying Tyrant Dragon

    Chapter 551 - The Terrifying Tyrant Dragon


    ¡°Whoa!¡± Tang Wulin cried out. The ground was rapidly approaching. With no other choice, he braced himself for impact. The moment his feet hit the ground, he bent over and rolled forward. Fortunately, his powerful legs allowed him to withstand most of the landing. Although rolling mitigated the rest, Gu Yue was on his back. This made her his main concern, and he twisted to make sure he protected her as well.


    The two of them rolled across the grass, tumbling end over end until they were splayed flat on their backs side by side. Tang Wulin looked over at Gu Yue helplessly, but in spite of this little incident, Gu Yue was smiling at him.


    Tang Wulin groaned and stared up at the sky. ¡°Seriously, what is up with you today? You¡¯re acting super weird.¡±


    Gu Yue smiled grew wider. ¡°For a couple days every month, girls have to deal with a bit of trouble. Get it now, mister?¡±


    ¡°A bit of trouble every month?¡± Tang Wulin turned back to Gu Yue, a blank look on his face.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s that time of the month,¡± Gu Yue said, hints of crimson warming her cheeks.


    ¡°What time of the month?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yue turned sour at that, and she muttered, ¡°You don¡¯t need to know.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at her in confusion. ¡°You¡¯re not picking up on any cues today. Our teamwork feels horrible. Do you think we can keep going? If not, we might as well just call it quits.¡±


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m done with you.¡±


    Tang Wulin opened his mouth to retort, but as soon as he did, the forest suddenly grew dark. Both of them turned their attention skyward to see a gigantic head. It was looking down upon them with eyes as large as water jugs.


    Tang Wulin immediately shot to his feet and grabbed Gu Yue. What the hell is that?


    Thanks to the Diamond Boars¡¯ devastation of the surrounding trees, they had a clear view of this colossus. It stood over sixty meters tall and had a bulky body, as if it were a small mountain. It was covered ashen scales of irregular shapes. Its enormous head accounted for nearly a quarter of its size, and its large eyes seemed to peer down at them as if they were ants. Its tail was thick and weighty, and its mouth was large enough to swallow even the biggest of the Diamond Boars whole.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t believe their luck. Shit! I should¡¯ve known that a herd of Diamond Boars wouldn¡¯t act so wildly unless they were running away from something! This thing has got to be one of the strongest beasts in the forest!


    The beast opened its mouth and let out a roar that resounded through the forest and seemed to shake the heavens and earth. The resulting wave of sound slammed into Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, sending them flying backward and crashing to the ground.


    Damn, it¡¯s strong! Tang Wulin stood back up and looked at the colossal beast. He couldn¡¯t tell what year-level it was at, and he certainly didn¡¯t remember what it was.


    A moment later, the scene before him changed. Gu Yue had teleported them behind the cover of a tree.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Tyrant Dragon,¡± Gu Yue whispered into Tang Wulin¡¯s ear. ¡°A king of land dragons.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s a land dragon?¡± Tang Wulin whispered back.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± she replied. ¡°I never thought the spirit ascension platform would have something anything like it. Tyrant Dragons went extinct ages ago, so our textbooks don¡¯t even bother mentioning them anymore. I only know of them because I¡¯ve read some of the older books in the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s library. Fully grown Tyrant Dragons can stand toe-to-toe with true dragons. This one seems to be at the ten-thousand-year level, but it would crush ordinary ten-thousand-year soul beasts. We¡¯re in trouble. It has an extremely keen sense of smell.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try and fight it!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed. ¡°If my bloodline doesn¡¯t weaken it, you need to escape immediately!¡±


    Before Gu Yue could get a word in, Tang Wulin dashed from cover. He had no other choice. The Tyrant Dragon was upon them. He couldn¡¯t believe that a beast so gigantic could move so silently. It managed to get so close without them noticing.


    Tang Wulin leaped directly at the Tyrant Dragon, opened his mouth wide, and let out a draconic roar. He urged his blood essence into action and unleashed Golden Dragon Body! His blood essence surged in reverse, making his body burst with a powerful aura. He raised his hands toward the sky and used Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens to summon a gigantic phantom dragon head. However, he didn¡¯t use it to attack the Tyrant dragon. Instead he directed it straight into the sky.


    Judging by the size of the beast, as well as Gu Yue¡¯s description of it, Tang Wulin knew he couldn¡¯t beat it. It was in an entirely different league from the current him. His only option was to try and scare it away so they had a chance to flee. Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens was the one ability that boosted the might of his blood essence the most. He had bet everything on it succeeding!


    Just as Tang Wulin predicted, the Tyrant Dragon was nearly on top of them the moment he leaped into the air. It simply cocked its head to the side, staring at them as if it had never seen humans before, like it wasn¡¯t sure whether they were tasty or not. It wasn¡¯t afraid of Tang Wulin¡¯s attack. It was just curious about what sort of attacks foreign creatures like them could unleash with their insignificant levels of soul power. It didn¡¯t see any reason to kill such weak prey right away.


    A moment after Tang Wulin roared, the Tyrant Dragon looked up and roared as well. Its roar sent shockwaves throughout the area.


    Tang Wulin felt his blood essence boil over. A mighty will exploded from the depths of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power. The dragon head he summoned unleashed a roar that eclipsed his own and brimmed with oppressive might. Although it wasn¡¯t as loud as the Tyrant Dragon¡¯s roar, it was just as clear. Tang Wulin felt power blossoming within him, then the space around him shifted, pulling him up into the air.


    Then he saw the Tyrant Dragon crouch low to the ground and bow to him. At the very center of its head, he could see a brilliant golden light.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t understand what he was seeing. He heard a quiet whisper deep inside of himself, but he couldn¡¯t understand that either. Before he could even try to make sense of all this, the invisible force holding him up pulled him toward the Tyrant Dragon.


    The golden light at the center of the Tyrant Dragon¡¯s head flashed, and only then could Tang Wulin finally make out what it was. Right at the center of its head, shining amongst its ashen brethren, was a single golden scale. In addition to its unique color, it was also the only one that wasn¡¯t curved like an oval. Instead, it resembled a rhombus. It looked exactly like one of Tang Wulin¡¯s golden scales.


    What is this¡­? Tang Wulin he stared at the scale, then into the giant scarlet eyes of the Tyrant Dragon. The Tyrant Dragon was a small mountain in itself and was definitely the largest soul beast he had ever laid eyes on.


    A hint of anxiety settled into Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach. He realized now that he wasn¡¯t floating through his own power. The Tyrant Dragon was using its own soul power to hold him up.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped. My bloodline can actually influence it this much?


    He had used his bloodline to suppress many beasts before, some even to the same extent as this Tyrant Dragon, but those beasts had all been weaker than him or at the same level! His bloodline had minimal influence over beings that were stronger than him, such as the Scarlet Dragon Douluo and the Blazing Dragon Douluo. His bloodline probably wouldn¡¯t affect those two until he was a Titled Douluo as well.


    Tang Wulin and the Tyrant Dragon stared each other down. In the middle of that deadlock, a question surfaced within his mind.


    I wonder how much backlash my spiritual power would suffer if it tore me to shreds right now?


    He might have reached the Spirit Sea realm, but that wouldn¡¯t do much to ease his suffering in the event that this took a turn for the worst. He gulped at the realization, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. At this very moment, he was a lamb on the chopping block. All he could do was push the power of his bloodline to its max and maintain Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens as long as he could.


    The Tyrant Dragon began to open its mouth, granting Tang Wulin a clear view of its many rows of jagged teeth. Each tooth was over a meter long and thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around. Bloody chunks of meat were strewn across this forest of ivory. Tang Wulin watched as its mouth opened wider and wider, to the point where he felt it could swallow a small hill in a single gulp.

 Chapter 552 - The Disappearance of the Tyrant Dragon

    Chapter 552 - The Disappearance of the Tyrant Dragon


    Shit! I¡¯m at my limit! Alarm bells ringing in his head, Tang Wulin could no longer sustain Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. His only choice was to press the emergency escape button. But to Tang Wulin¡¯s horror, his body was kept frozen in place by a bizarre energy. The culprit none other than the Tyrant Dragon.


    This energy connected with and provoked strange changes to his blood essence. Through this connection Tang Wulin was like a puppet, unable to move as according to will as he floated in the air. Every avenue of escaping the spirit ascension platform gone with the wind.


    Damn it! What do I do? Tang Wulin could not even cry out for help. All he could do was watch in fear as the Tyrant Dragon¡¯s maw gaped, closing in on him by the second. Shit! If you¡¯re going to kill me, at least swallow me whole! He was consumed by unadulterated terror. His palms went damp as his mind spun nightmarish threads, flashing images of those razor-sharp teeth descending, ripping him apart into bright, bloody shreds.


    Then those jaws were right upon him.


    Shit! I¡¯m dead! Tang Wulin closed his eyes tight and held his breath, bracing himself for excruciating pain.


    But pain did not come. Instead, something warm and wet brushed against his body, leaving him damp and sticky. Following that sensation, he slipped into free-fall. His eyes snapped open. Tang Wulin could move again. Heart pounding, he hurriedly channeled soul power through his body to mitigate the impact of landing.


    As he fell, he stole a glance at the Tyrant Dragon and saw its tongue retreating back into its mouth. Confusion flickered across Tang Wulin¡¯s face, then settled into surprised understanding. It wasn¡¯t trying to eat me, but lick me? Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Either way, he was relieved to escape death.


    The Tyrant Dragon lowered its head to catch him in his landing, which occured right at the spot of its golden scale. Tang Wulin touched it, and the instant he did, the Tyrant Dragon raised its head toward the sky. A deafening roar escaped from that impressive maw, shaking the forest far and wide. Somehow, Tang Wulin understood that this was a cry of joy.


    The golden aura seeping out of Tang Wulin slowly extended. It creeped toward the Tyrant Dragon, enveloping the soul beast in its embrace, starting from the single golden scale down to the tail.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence bubbled with excitement, the remaining fourteen seals quivering. A burst of energy came forth from the depths of his blood essence, its very origin. Sensing this change, the Tyrant Dragon lowered itself until it was prone on the ground.


    Tang Wulin stood up and jumped down from the Tyrant Dragon¡¯s head. With his feet firmly planted on the ground once more, he turned to face the colossal dragon bathed in gold. To his shock, the Tyrant Dragon closed its eyes, its figure fading. In that moment, the two understood each other. The dragon¡¯s golden scale dispersed into a golden mist toward him.


    As the golden mist fell upon him, Tang Wulin felt a powerful energy entering his body. It grew stronger with each passing moment. He felt as if he were the sea in which all rivers terminated.


    Tang Wulin had been too preoccupied to notice, but the moment he had landed on the Tyrant Dragon, Gu Yue broke into a mad dash toward him. She stopped a short distance away, a difficult expression on her face. ¡°How could I have forgotten?¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°Tyrant Dragons are the king of land dragons because they possess the blood of the Golden Dragon King! It¡¯s not pure, but it¡¯s still powerful.¡±


    The golden mist lingered around Tang Wulin for a while before fusing with his body. He could once more see the world around him. And he gasped when the giant body of the Tyrant Dragon was nowhere to be found. The only evidence that it had not been a dream were the enormous tracks left in the ground.


    After getting over his surprise, Tang Wulin realized something different about his body. It felt fuller than usual, but no matter how he tried to examine himself, he couldn¡¯t figure out what had changed. The remaining fourteen seals were intact, and neither his soul power nor blood essence showed any differences. Even when he summoned his bluesilver grass and soul rings, all seemed just as before. Just what was that golden mist that entered me? What did it do to me?


    Although almost everything in the spirit ascension platform was illusory, and there was no evident change in his body, he was absolutely certain that he had gained something from that mist.  He just couldn¡¯t figure out what it was.


    Well, at least the Tyrant Dragon is gone. Tang Wulin let out a long sigh, his heart finally relaxing.


    The crisis he had just faced once more reaffirmed his lack of strength. Before the truly strong, he was no more than an ant. Damn. But I bet even Teacher Wu would have had to run from that Tyrant Dragon! It was ridiculously huge!


    Tang Wulin searched for Gu Yue and quickly found her a short distance away looking back at him. He broke into a jog in her direction. ¡°Were you watching all of that? Did you see how the Tyrant Dragon disappeared? You got any idea what happened? I feel like something has changed about me, but I have no idea what.¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head, a pensive look on her face. ¡°From what I saw, it looked like the Tyrant Dragon was overjoyed to fuse with you. Like one of those contracts between soul masters and spirit souls back when the Spirit Pagoda was first established. Back then, it was a mutual pact between both parties instead of how one-sided it is nowadays.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°There¡¯s no way it became my spirit soul. I haven¡¯t even reached rank 40.¡±


    A mysterious smile formed on Gu Yue¡¯s lips. ¡°Then I don¡¯t know. Anyway, I¡¯m just glad we didn¡¯t turn into its food. You think we should take a moment to rest now?¡±


    Tang Wulin immediately dropped to the ground on his behind. ¡°Of course we should. You have no idea how scared I was just now. That thing was gigantic! My ears are still ringing from its point-blank roar.¡± He chuckled, falling gently on his back. ¡°I definitely need a bit to recover from that. Anyway, I doubt any soul beast will come near after all that roaring from earlier. We should be fine for a while.¡±


    In a flash, he was sitting back up again. ¡°Right! Your Spirit Pagoda¡¯s management has got some issues! What the hell was a thing like that doing in the intermediate section¡ª¡±


    The space around him and Gu Yue began to warp. They jumped back on their feet, surprised, alert, and alarmed. But their vision faded as quick as their reaction had been.


    Moments later, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue awoke, shocked to find themselves out of the spirit ascension platform and back in their capsules.


    When the doors to their capsules opened, Gu Yue immediately crawled out. Tang Wulin sluggishly sat up. Adding to his shock was the sight of a crowd of people surrounding them led by Gu Yue¡¯s teacher. The Heavenly Phoenix Douluo and the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, Leng Yaozhu.


    The crowd immediately focused on Tang Wulin the moment he sat up. Leng Yaozhu stepped forward from the rest and studied the two young soul masters, eyes bright. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be nervous. There was just an unexpected issue with the spirit ascension platform so we¡¯re investigating right now. Well then, you two come with me.¡±

 Chapter 553 - Willful Spirit Soul

    Chapter 553 - Willful Spirit Soul


    If it had been anyone else besides the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo standing before him, Tang Wulin would have felt nervous. Instead, he felt at ease. It wasn¡¯t because he trusted Leng Yaozhu, however. It¡¯s because he trusted Gu Yue, her disciple. Gu Yue would step in to help him if needed.


    While the staff members rushed to run diagnostics on the spirit ascension platform, Leng Yaozhu took her time leading Tang Wulin and Gu Yue to her office. She sat down behind her desk then gestured for them sit as well.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already seen what happened to you two in the platform, and it was our mistake that you encountered the Tyrant Dragon. It¡¯s one of the guardians for the path between the intermediate and advanced platform. The strongest one, actually. Due to our carelessness, it wandered to away from its designated zone.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°To be honest, there wasn¡¯t much we could have done to control a soul beast of its level anyway. At most we could have tried to lure it in the direction we wanted.¡± She tapped the desk with a finger. ¡°And now it¡¯s been absorbed by you.¡± Leng Yaozhu glanced at Tang Wulin and furrowed her brows. It was the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s mistake to let the Tyrant Dragon out on a rampage, and normally they would have had to compensate any soul masters who suffered from it. However, the boy before her had absorbed the Tyrant Dragon whole. When the Spirit Pagoda staff members first caught wind of this situation, they had been shocked silly.


    The moment Leng Yaozhu had heard that her disciple, Gu Yue, was in the spirit ascension platform and in the vicinity of the rampaging Tyrant Dragon, she rushed over prepared for the worst. She had made it just in time to watch on the monitoring screens the Tyrant Dragon dissolving into mist, fusing with Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin let out a strained smile. ¡°Your Eminence, would you believe me if I said I don¡¯t know what happened either?¡±


    ¡°I would. Just tell me what you felt,¡± Leng Yaozhu said, not an ounce of doubt in her mind. She couldn¡¯t imagine such a bright teenager, especially one kind enough to help his friends obtain spirit souls, to dare deceive her. Furthermore, she had already investigated his relationship with Gu Yue and found him quite favorable.


    Tang Wulin scratched his chin, eyes wandering as he gathered his thoughts. ¡°I have a draconic bloodline, but it didn¡¯t awaken as a true martial soul. I guess you could say it¡¯s a sort of unconventional awakening?¡± He shrugged. ¡°When I use my bloodline¡¯s power, I emit a draconic aura that suppresses most draconic soul beasts. And when I encountered that Tyrant Dragon, I immediately realized it was impossible to defeat it. But I figured since I was in the spirit ascension platform, I might as well try.¡± Without hiding a single thing, Tang Wulin recounted the rest of the events to Leng Yaozhu, from what his plan of attack to the lack of changes within him after absorbing the Tyrant Dragon.


    Leng Yaozhu placed a hand on her chin. ¡°Wulin, I¡¯m embarrassed that you had to go through all that because of our mistake. However, the situation is a bit special this time. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll need you to cooperate for some medical examinations.¡±


    Before Tang Wulin could get a word in, Gu Yue frowned and stepped forward. ¡°Teacher, why do we need to do that? Our trip into the spirit ascension platform this time was interrupted, and you admit that it was the fault of our Spirit Pagoda. So why does Wulin need to be examined?¡±


    Leng Yaozhu glared at her, sharp and cold. ¡°If the situation were so simple, then we¡¯d just compensate you two and call it a day. But don¡¯t forget that every soul beast in the spirit ascension platform was created from something.¡±


    She chuckled at Tang Wulin¡¯s expression. His eyes were wide as realization dawned on him. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. It¡¯s just a routine inspection,¡± Len Yaozhu said. ¡°And actually, many powerful soul masters already know the truth behind the spirit ascension platform. So it¡¯s fine if you know too. The majority of the soul beasts in the platform are spirit souls either crafted of cloned by the Spirit Pagoda. The guardians, however, are real spirit souls that once roamed the world. Using technology, we send just your minds into the platform along with a mark. When you kill soul beasts, their energy is absorbed by your mark, and that mark transfers that energy back to your physical body once you exit the platform.


    ¡°The Spirit Pagoda¡¯s greatest source of income is our creation of spirit souls. But in the process of creating spirit souls, there are sure to be some defective ones. The defects aren¡¯t suitable for soul masters to fuse with. Instead, we put them through a special process then release them into the spirit ascension platform. Those are the beasts you encounter in the platform. When you kill them, their soul power and physical abilities are converted into pure energy capable of nourishing your soul rings. That¡¯s the truth behind the spirit ascension platform.


    ¡°But not all of the soul beasts in the platform are defective products. For the sake of the system¡¯s stability, especially in the intermediate and advanced sections, we have added some complete spirit souls to improve system performance.¡±


    Following this wealth of new information, Tang Wulin now saw the Spirit Pagoda in a new light. Awe filled him. Although the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo spoke lightly of such secrets, he understood that the technology required for such a system was far more advanced than anything he had previously heard of. It was technology refined over thousands of years of research, finally culminating as the spirit ascension platform.


    Battle armor, artificial spirit souls, and the spirit ascension platform were all technological advancements that marked the advent of a new era. Each of these technologies brought humanity to a new level of existence and had enabled humans to push soul beasts to the brink of extinction. And the Spirit Pagoda had played a central role in the creation of all three. To say Tang Wulin had gained more insight into the strength of the Spirit Pagoda would not be a lie.


    ¡°Your Eminence, then the Tyrant Dragon we encountered is¡­¡± Tang Wulin did not dare to voice his complete thoughts.


    Leng Yaozhu¡¯s narrowed eyes pierced him. ¡°It was authentic. One of our willful spirit souls.¡±


    ¡°Willful spirit souls?¡± Tang Wulin asked, curious of this new term.


    Leng Yaozhu nodded. ¡°In order to answer your question, we have to first go over the permanence of spirit souls. Generally speaking, spirit souls begin dissipating the moment a soul beast dies. The Spirit Pagoda uses many unique technologies to preserve those spirit souls so we have enough time to find a suitable soul master for them. Right now we¡¯re even researching how to recycle spirit souls. That way when a soul master dies, as long as they¡¯re delivered to the Spirit Pagoda within three days, we¡¯ll be able to extract their spirit souls and preserve them for reuse. If we can get this system working, then we¡¯d save a lot of resources. Of course, such cutting-edge research takes time to verify the viability. And we need soul masters willing to volunteer to help us, which is really rare since it¡¯s inevitable to suffer some degree of damage when a spirit soul is extracted.


    ¡°Now when talking about willful spirit souls, there are more things to consider. Willful spirit souls are extraordinarily resilient and strong. They last longer. Simply storing them drains a significant amount of the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s resources. Fortunately, after we created the spirit ascension platform, we discovered a way to put them into the platform. This both improved the system stability of the spirit ascension platform and provided us with a cost-effective way of storing the willful spirit souls.¡±


    ¡°And the Tyrant Dragon is a willful spirit soul?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Leng Yaozhu nodded. ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s one of the most powerful and haughty. There are few soul beasts that can boast its level of arrogance. Once, a rank 90 soul master was attracted to its domineering attitude and tried to fuse with it for their final spirit soul. But it broke free, the backlash killing the soul master.¡± She sighed. ¡°We¡¯ve been holding onto its spirit soul for so long that it was already on the verge of disappearing for good. Not to mention it was the last of its kind. It was the epitome of ill-behaved, always rampaging and devouring herds of other soul beasts. We even considered euthanizing it, but couldn¡¯t bear to extinguish such a rare historical spirit soul. Saying that we were at an impasse as to what to do with it would be an understatement. Saying that the Tyrant Dragon¡¯s unyielding will has never been tamed before would be an undeniable truth.  At least, until you came and absorbed it today. We¡¯re really curious how this happened, so we want you to stay for a bit and let us gather some data.¡±


    ¡°Like I said earlier, willful spirit souls are incredibly hard to fuse with and cost us an enormous amount of resources to preserve. We need to get some data on it to present to the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s council. You don¡¯t have to worry about the examination. It¡¯ll be just like a routine medical checkup. And we¡¯ll share our data with you too. I¡¯ve already informed Shrek Academy, so some teachers will be coming over to monitor your physical examination.¡±

 Chapter 554 - Rivals in Love?

    Chapter 554 - Rivals in Love?


    Is it really that big of a deal? Even the Academy got notified? At the thought of Shrek Academy sending over people to watch over him, Tang Wulin felt his nervousness settle into relief. ¡°I understand, Your Eminence. I¡¯ll do my best to cooperate,¡± he said, beaming.


    The fact that his body showed no changes after he absorbed the Tyrant Dragon still puzzled Tang Wulin however, especially after how mighty and great Leng Yaozhu had made the soul beast out to be.


    ¡°Great. Take a seat while we wait for the people from Shrek,¡± Leng Yaozhu said. If it were any soul master other than Tang Wulin, they would have already left for the examination room. But he was different. Not only was he Gu Yue¡¯s friend, he was also a top student at Shrek Academy. Even in her lofty position at the Spirit Pagoda, she had heard tales of his exploits and his value in the eyes of the Academy. Even a simple physical examination could cause trouble if the Academy disagreed with any part of the procedure. As a result, Leng Yaozhu immediately informed them of what happened when she had first been privy to the details.


    Several minutes later, a staff member entered the room and approached Leng Yaozhu¡¯s side. She whispered, ¡°Your Eminence, the people from Shrek Academy have arrived.¡±


    ¡°Who came?¡± Leng Yaozhu asked.


    A trace of hesitation flashed across the staff member¡¯s face. She lowered her head and said quietly, ¡°It¡¯s the Holy Spirit Douluo.¡±


    Leng Yaozhu¡¯s expression froze, but it came and went so quickly that a blink would cause one to miss it. She straightened her body. Then she shot to her feet. ¡°Please come in.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to the door just in time to see Yali enter. He had to sneak a double take. Though uncertain if she had put in more effort into her appearance, Tang Wulin was sure of one thing. Today Yali was the picture of seraphic allure. A long white dress hugged her curves, her skin so fair and delicate that her advanced age was inconceivable.


    ¡°Your Eminence, Heavenly Phoenix,¡± Yali said, gently nodding toward Leng Yaozhu.


    ¡°Big Sis Yali, why are you acting like such a stranger?¡± Leng Yaozhu walked over with a smile. She wrapped her arms around Yali, and if it were a random bystander viewing this picturesque scene, they would think it was a usual occurrence for the two.


    Yali also smiled, though hers was a shade more wry. ¡°I need to act professionally, you know? Well, I¡¯ll loosen up a bit just for you.¡± She sighed. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time. I¡¯ve missed you. Anyway, what¡¯s up? What kind of trouble did Wulin make for you?¡±


    Leng Yaozhu chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s just a small issue, so don¡¯t worry. And it¡¯s not really his fault either. It¡¯s ours.¡± She proceeded to recount the events to Yali.


    Throughout the report, Yali never confirmed a single detail with Tang Wulin. She knew that Leng Yaozhu wouldn¡¯t lie to her, both out of consideration for their relationship and as a representative of the Spirit Pagoda. Once Leng Yaozhu finished, Yali nodded and smiled. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll accompany him to the examination. I¡¯m sure things will be fine as long as I watch the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Yali walked to Tang Wulin¡¯s side,  placing a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be with you through it all. I¡¯ll escort you back to Shrek right after we¡¯re done too.¡±


    Although Yali¡¯s voice had been gentle, he picked up on the absolute confidence hidden in her words. It was both reassuring and astonishing. Tang Wulin had always thought Yali to be a saintess so kind that she couldn¡¯t harm an ant, but now he saw a different, more proud side to her.


    Soon after, Tang Wulin was brought to a large room filled with an assortment of instruments and devices, most of which he could not identify. Then a series of tests passed by in a blur. While lying down on the examination table, he felt as if he were some sort of puppet as the researchers poked and prodded him, manipulating his body as they wished. But it wasn¡¯t unpleasant. If Tang Wulin were to be strictly honest, the situation was more tedious than anything. Everything went smoothly besides one part, and that was when it came time for the technicians to draw his blood. Tang Wulin¡¯s skin and muscle were too tough for an ordinary needle to pierce through. In the end, he had to cut himself with his own dragon claw to allow blood to be drawn.


    Gu Yue stood beside him for the entire event. She bit her lip and suppressed her impulses as she watched them draw his blood.


    Two hours later, the physical examination came to an end. Normally Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t be tired even after a full day of training, but this whirlwind of researchers and doctors left him exhausted and disoriented.  When Gu Yue brought him a glass of water, he downed it instantly, trying his best to calm his mind.


    ¡°It¡¯s finally over.¡± Tang Wulin sighed.


    Gu Yue lowered her head. ¡°Sorry.¡± Her voice was so soft that if he weren¡¯t right next to her, he would have just missed it.


    ¡°Huh? What are you sorry for?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have thrown a tantrum. If I hadn¡¯t, then we wouldn¡¯t have come to the spirit ascension platform.¡± She frowned. ¡°Actually, I saw you with Na¡¯er today.¡±


    Tang Wulin furrowed his brow in confusion. ¡°Why would I blame you? I wanted to come anyway. We were just unlucky, that¡¯s all. And what¡¯s this about Na¡¯er? Did she¡ª¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Before he could pry more information from her, the two Titled Douluos approached them.


    ¡°Wulin, let¡¯s go back now,¡± Yali said, pulling him up by the hand.


    Seeing Yali so urgent to depart, Leng Yaozhu summoned her warmest smile. ¡°Big Sis Yali, it¡¯s been so long since we last saw each other. How about I treat you to a meal? The results of the examination will be out in two hours, so we can take that time to catch up¡ª¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Yali said, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯ve got something to take care of back at Shrek. He¡¯s still waiting for me, you see. Well then, let¡¯s get going Wulin.¡± They made their way for the door.


    The staff member at the door saw Leng Yaozhu¡¯s darkening expression, and cast an inquisitive look. In response, Leng Yaozhu silently shook her head. No one dared to obstruct Yali and Tang Wulin¡¯s path as left the Spirit Pagoda.


    Once Yali was gone, Leng Yaozhu slammed her hand down on a nearby table.


    Gu Yue jumped. She had never before seen her teacher lose composure. ¡°Teacher, are you okay?¡± Concern filled her voice.


    ¡°She came just to show off.¡± Leng Yaozhu spat out the words. ¡°What¡¯s so amazing about her? Holy saint my ass!¡±


    Gu Yue gaped in silence. What¡¯s the story between them?


    ?


    Once past the gates of the Spirit Pagoda, Yali summoned blanket of white energy. It enveloped her and Tang Wulin, blurring the outside world and completely isolating them.


    ¡°Are you wondering why I acted like that?¡± Yali asked. She couldn''t help but smile when she caught him gawking at her.


    Tang Wulin nodded honestly. He had never seen Yali act like this before! The ferocity hidden by her grace was shocking!


    ¡°I didn¡¯t actually need to come today, but when I heard this matter involved Leng Yaozhu, there¡¯s no way I could let her bully you. Let me tell you a little secret. She¡¯s actually my rival in love.¡± A hint of animosity shined in Yali¡¯s eyes for a brief moment. ¡°Ah! Wulin, you¡¯re a talented boy. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll become a capable man if you continue to work hard, but you need to pay more attention to matters of the heart. Especially because of how excellent you are. As you grow older and more capable, you¡¯re going to attract many, many girls. But you better not be fickle in love. Decide on who holds your heart and commit your entire being to them. You better not act like a certain man¡­¡±


    ?


    Back in the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion, one man in particular sneezed out of the blue. Huh? I shouldn¡¯t be affected by the cold anymore. Why did I sneeze? Is someone talking about me?


    ?


    Two hours passed. Sitting in a conference room within the Spirit Pagoda, Leng Yaozhu swept her gaze from the head of the table across the various department heads and middle tier managers.


    The door swung open. A staff member walked entered the room and said, ¡°Your Eminence, the examination results are out.¡±


    Leng Yaozhu nodded. ¡°Good. Present them to us.¡±


    The staff member immediately took out a small projection device and shined Tang Wulin¡¯s figure onto a bare wall.


    Standing behind Leng Yaozhu, Gu Yue frowned and pressed her lips tight together. This was her first time seeing him in such a vulnerable state and it made her heart throb.

 Chapter 555 - Analysis Report

    Chapter 555 - Analysis Report


    The staff member began reading the report. ¡°Tang Wulin, a fourteen-year-old male. Class President of Shrek Academy¡¯s first grade. Something of note is that their current class of freshmen is praised as the strongest in the last century. The fact that he¡¯s their class president would indicate his excellence. Today, Tang Wulin arrived at the spirit ascension platform¡­¡± And the staff member finished narrating the events before Tang Wulin¡¯s physical examination.


    ¡°Following his strange absorption of the Tyrant Dragon, we¡¯ve conducted a detailed examination and analysis of his body. What we¡¯ve discovered is astounding. First, we cannot find any trace of the Tyrant Dragon within his body. In other words, although we know for certain he absorbed the Tyrant Dragon, it¡¯s as if his body never absorbed it in the first place.¡±


    Low murmurs filled the room.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡± said an elderly man known as Elder Tian. ¡°The Tyrant Dragon is a willful spirit soul. The energy it possesses is monumental. Even ten-thousand-year spirit souls don¡¯t stand a match against it! There¡¯s no way a three-ringed soul master could bear all of its energy. It¡¯s impossible for there to be no trace of it. Impossible!¡±


    ¡°I agree that it makes no sense. But facts are fact,¡± said the staff member. ¡°Elder Tian, we¡¯ve been very thorough with our examination and I can assure you that there were no traces of the Tyrant Dragon. That child did not lie.¡±


    Leng Yaozhu waved her hand. ¡°Continue on with the analysis.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The staff member nodded. ¡°The second surprising thing we discovered was the identity of his martial soul. It¡¯s actually bluesilver grass. As I¡¯m sure everyone is aware, this a martial soul that normally holds no future.¡± She smiled, her excitement visibly rising. ¡°We also found a strange energy within his blood, so bizarre that we were doubtful he was human at first. But after running some more tests, we confirmed he is indeed human. That said, the strange energy in his blood far exceeds the mortal limit and seems to be affecting his martial soul.¡±


    ¡°Is he a hybrid?¡± asked Elder Tian.


    The staff member shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s human from head to toe. But the energy within his blood is enormous. Furthermore, that energy is completely fused with his blood cells and we¡¯re unable to separate the two. This bond is similar to that between one¡¯s martial soul and one¡¯s blood. The difference is the energy from the martial soul would usually dissipate into the air when the blood leaves the body. His did not. The energy remained bonded. This is an unprecedented discovery.


    ¡°We also conducted tests on his physical abilities. His strength is¡­ how do I put this? If I were to make a comparison, it¡¯s like he¡¯s already as physically strong as a six-ringed Soul Emperor. And I mean one that¡¯s an assault-type too. Be it his bones, meridians, internal organs, or muscles, they¡¯ve all reached that level.¡±


    Everyone present was stunned. Finally, a middle-aged man spoke up. ¡°My god! That boy really is a little monster raised by Shrek! His abilities are crazy!¡±


    The staff member let out a strained smile. ¡°We haven¡¯t even gotten to the crazy part yet. We tested his spiritual power and it¡¯s approximately 650 to 670 points, well into the Spirit Sea realm. That¡¯s absolutely stellar for his age. However, when we tried to dive deeper into his spiritual consciousness to investigate some more, our instruments went haywire.¡±


    ¡°Huh? The instruments malfunctioned?¡± Leng Yaozhu asked, eyes wide.


    ¡°Yes, that is correct. Out of consideration for his identity as a student of Shrek, we did not try more invasive instruments in fear of damage done to the brain. Either way, the instruments we used should have been able to probe the mind of a soul master at even the next spiritual realm.


    ¡°Next, we have the analysis of his blood and body¡­¡±


    A series of numbers appeared on the projection, summarizing every aspect of his body. Every number exceeded what was considered ordinary for his age, especially his muscle and bone density, which surpassed the average by several folds.


    ¡°According to our evaluation, his power is absolutely astonishing,¡± the staff member said. ¡°How is this possible? He¡¯s practically a beast in a boy¡¯s body. If he keeps growing at this rate, his body will be invincible by the time he¡¯s an adult. Apart from his mediocre soul power, every other aspect of him is excellent.¡±


    Leng Yaozhu furrowed her brow. The data on Tang Wulin¡¯s body was extraordinary. However, that was when compared to the average same-age soul master. He was a student of Shrek Academy, so he should be compared against other Shrek students. Yet even compared to his schoolmates he was outstanding. Coupled with their inability to detect the Tyrant Dragon in his body, this proved an unprecedented situation for the Spirit Pagoda.


    Although the Tyrant Dragon¡¯s spirit soul was undoubtedly worth a fortune, the Spirit Pagoda could still bear it. The real problem lay in how the spirit soul had been lost and the possible ramifications for the spirit ascension platform. Since the platform was the core of the Spirit Pagoda, even the smallest of issues could rock the entire organization.


    ¡°Vice-chairman Leng, could you please direct us on how to handle this situation?¡± asked the staff member. ¡°Do we need to conduct a deeper examination into that Tang Wulin¡¯s body?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± Gu Yue said before Leng Yaozhu could even part her lips. In an instant, all eyes in the room were directed at her. She did not cower under the pressure. ¡°Tang Wulin will be leaving for Star Luo on an exchange in a few days, so the Academy wouldn¡¯t allow another examination anyway.¡±


    One of the middle-aged executives present glanced at Gu Yue, before turning back to Leng Yaozhu. ¡°Then we¡¯ll just have to resign ourselves to our bad luck? And all of our losses¡­¡±


    Leng Yaozhu stopped him with a wave of her hand. ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time to talk about losses. We need to secure the spirit ascension platform first. Temporarily shut down the intermediate platform for a month to conduct investigations. Do not re-open it until we¡¯re certain there are no issues. Do not miss a single piece of data. When Tang Wulin is back from the exchange, we¡¯ll invite him over for another examination. I¡¯ll think of a way to convince Shrek.¡± Glancing behind her, she said, ¡°Gu Yue.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Teacher.¡±


    ¡°You''ll be going on the exchange trip too, so keep a close eye on him. If anything strange manifests in his body, take note of it and report to me when you return.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Teacher,¡± said Gu Yue, conscious of the fact that her previous outburst was for the sake of protecting Tang Wulin. She was worried that a second examination might harm him. That was the only reason. Back then, she hadn¡¯t been able to control her emotions and blurted her desires.


    There was no doubt that the Spirit Pagoda had suffered a loss today. But there was no recourse to be had. Because Tang Wulin was a student of Shrek Academy, they couldn¡¯t do with him as they wished. No matter how influential the Spirit Pagoda was, they dared not tussle with Shrek Academy. Even if they could get him back for further testing, there was the possibility that the Spirit Pagoda would find nothing once more. And they couldn¡¯t get him to compensate them either. It was not within Tang Wulin¡¯s power.


    If Tang Wulin had not been affiliated with Shrek Academy, then Leng Yaozhu would have tried any way possible to recruit him. As long as he became a member of the Spirit Pagoda, they would have access to him. More specifically, access to the changes in his body from absorbing the Tyrant Dragon. But that was not so, and they had to resign themselves to a passive position.

 Chapter 556 - A Years Separation

    Chapter 556 - A Year''s Separation


    Once he returned to campus, Tang Wulin immediately rented a specialized cultivation room.


    He meditated and inspected his body, scanning for any changes. After cultivating until the next morning, he still hadn¡¯t been able to find any changes!  Not a single one. It was as if he hadn¡¯t absorbed the Tyrant Dragon.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the situation. But there was nothing he could do about it. He was a bit nervous about the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s reaction to this event, but he was just as powerless against them.


    Once he had finished cultivating his Purple Demon Eyes at the break of dawn, Tang Wulin ran into Gu Yue while on his way to the dining hall for breakfast. He asked her about the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s response to what had happened with the Tyrant Dragon, and she told him not to worry about it. The Spirit Pagoda wouldn¡¯t do anything to him.


    Don¡¯t worry about it? Tang Wulin¡¯s mind wandered astray as he walked with Gu Yue to class. Are they really not going to say anything? They just lost a Tyrant Dragon!


    They soon entered their classroom and took their seats. A moment later, Wu Zhangkong ascended the platform at the front of the class and took his place behind the lectern. ¡°Let¡¯s begin class.¡±


    ¡°Rise!¡± Tang Wulin called out in response, shooting to his feet along with the rest of his classmates to salute their teacher.


    ¡°Before we get into the main topic of the day, I have an announcement. Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, and Ye Xinglan, today is your last day of class. You have tomorrow off to rest, then the day after you will depart for Star Luo on the exchange trip. I will be in charge of the exchange group, so today will also be the last class I teach for the next year.


    ¡°While Tang Wulin and Gu Yue are gone, Wu Siduo and Luo Guixing will act as the substitute class president and vice-president respectively. Yang Nianxia will be a vice-president as well, and fill in as blacksmith representative¡­¡± Wu Zhangkong declared the rest of organizational changes for the class, ensuring that chaos would not ensue once the class leaders left.


    Although everyone knew that Tang Wulin¡¯s group would be leaving soon, they didn¡¯t truly comprehend it until Wu Zhangkong¡¯s announcement. The time of departure was upon them. Their class president would be gone for a full year. Only a few were envious of him, though. This was because they all believed Shrek Academy to be the greatest place in the world to cultivate. An exchange trip abroad was a wonderful opportunity to gain experience and broaden one¡¯s horizons, but it did not provide any benefits to one¡¯s cultivation.


    After class, Wu Siduo approached to Tang Wulin. ¡°You better not let me surpass you in a year.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°I¡¯ll be looking forward to the day you do.¡±


    Yang Nianxia came over with the other rankers and put his hand on Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder in a brotherly manner. ¡°Class President, leave the blacksmiths to me. Rest assured, I will guide them properly.¡±


    Tang Wulin faked a cough and gave a strained smile. ¡°You¡¯re the one guiding them most of the time anyway. You should have been the blacksmith representative to begin with.¡±  In truth, Tang Wulin had been ignoring his duties as blacksmith representative since long ago. He was far too focused on advancing his own blacksmithing skills to care for others. But no one in his class complained since he often accepted forging requests for free or a negligible fee. Furthermore, all of his products were top-tier. In the past two years, he had shown his value to his classmates and raised his prestige to an unshakeable height. None dared challenge his position anymore.


    Off to the side, Luo Guixing stared crestfallen at Tang Wulin. ¡°I wanted to go on the trip too,¡± he said to himself, so soft that only those around him could hear. ¡°Ever since I was young I¡¯ve dreamed of traveling to see the world. I never would have thought you guys would be one step ahead of me.¡± His gaze hardened with determination. ¡°Just you wait until I graduate. I¡¯ll definitely explore the world too.¡±


    Xu Yucheng scoffed. ¡°Graduate? It¡¯s way too early for you to even be thinking about that.¡±


    Even though they were geniuses, graduation was still too far into the future for them. On one hand, while their battle armors were not made with spirit alloys, the armors were already one-third complete. With their current rate of progress, they would be full-fledged one-word battle armor masters once they reached the second grade, and likely be at least five-ringed Soul Kings. They were practically guaranteed to enter the esteemed ranks of the inner court at this rate. On the other hand, once they were in the inner court, they would be required to become two-word battle armor masters in order to graduate. Until they met that lofty requirement, there were prohibited from leaving Shrek Academy. It would be a long and arduous process with success dependent on their talents and luck.


    Luo Guixing coughed, then shrugged. ¡°Becoming a two-word battle armor master is kinda hard. I guess I''ll have to push back my dream a bit further.¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled at Luo Guixing¡¯s nonchalant way of hiding his embarrassment. ¡°Alright. Don¡¯t miss me too much then. I¡¯ll bring back souvenirs.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Wu Siduo asked, perking her head up.


    ¡°Yes, really,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Xie Xie poked his head in from the side, a smirk on his face. ¡°Psh. Don¡¯t get your hopes up. Knowing how much of a cheapskate Wulin is, I bet he won¡¯t get you guys anything good.¡±


    Tang Wulin glared at Xie Xie. ¡°Would you die if you aren¡¯t being blunt? Do you even know what a souvenir is? As long as the souvenir has meaning, then anything is fine. How does the price tag on it matter?¡±


    Everyone couldn¡¯t help but smile at Tang Wulin¡¯s outburst. This was the miserly Tang Wulin that they had grown close with.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s group continued to banter for a long time, all of them harboring the same reluctance to leave. They had grown fond of the hustle and bustle of their lives as students of Shrek Academy. It was here that they accumulated strength and learned about many fascinating subjects. This was Shrek Academy, the greatest academy on the continent, and perhaps even the entire planet of Douluo. They were all proud students of Shrek Academy! It was only natural that they were anxious about leaving for a year. By the time they returned, they would be in the second grade.


    ¡°Alright. We should get going now. We¡¯ve got lots to do before we leave.¡± Tang Wulin finally stood up from his seat and looked back at the hundred desks behind him. Nodding to himself in satisfaction, he walked out with large strides and blazing determination. I¡¯ll definitely be way stronger when I come back! I¡¯m coming, Star Luo!


    ?


    The sun shone with magnificence as it slowly moved through the shades of blue above. The weather was uplifting, fair and sunny, coupled nicely with a refreshing breeze.


    Tang Wulin and his friends had just arrived in Skysea City, the largest city on the east coast. This was where Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had met Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan.


    The Shrek Academy party numbered ten in total. The leader was Cai Yue¡¯er, and the teacher in charge was Wu Zhangkong. The students on the exchange were Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, and Ye Xinglan.


    Today they were to meet with the delegation from Star Luo.


    After spending a year here, the Star Luo delegation were prepared to return home. Due to the restrictions on airspace, they had no choice but to return by ship. In fact, it was impossible for ordinary planes or mechas to make the trip between continents. Normally, only battle armors possessed long-distance flight technology necessary to make the cross-continental trip. The Federation did possess technology that made it possible for planes and mechas as well, but it was top-secret and they didn¡¯t want to risk having it stolen by foreign states.


    ¡°Come on guys, eat! Eat to your heart¡¯s content. It¡¯s all on me today!¡± Tang Wulin declared to his friends. They were currently at the restaurant with the salt baked fish Tang Wulin had visited during his last trip to Skysea City.


    Without even a word, Ye Xinglan began stuffing her face. She still held a small grudge against him for making her and Xu Lizhi pay for dinner all those years ago. That damn bastard! I¡¯ll eat him clean!  Just remembering that night got her blood boiling.


    The salt baked fish had charmed everyone¡¯s taste buds and they ravenously dug in. Unlike his students, Wu Zhangkong ate with refined grace. As for Elder Cai, she pecked at the food for a bit then stopped. She was frozen in shock as she watched Tang Wulin inhale plate after plate.


    ¡°Damn this kid can really eat! How did he feed himself back on campus?¡± Elder Cai asked, glancing at Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s hand froze as he was reaching for another piece of fish. His lips began to twitch as he turned to face her, nodding so slowly that it would have been missed with a lack of attention. ¡°Yes¡­ Elder Feng promised to take care of all of Wulin¡¯s food expenses. So Wulin has been eating as much as he wants and sending the bill to Elder Feng.¡±


    Elder Cai began cackled. ¡°No wonder that old fogey shed tears of joy when he heard we were leaving! This kid¡¯s stomach is terrifying!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s icy expression melted into a warm smile as he looked to Tang Wulin, who was in the middle of gorging himself. The sight brought back memories. If only she were still here¡­


    This scene of teenagers merrily chatting and feasting was the very picture of youth!


    ¡°Yuanen, eat some more,¡± Xie Xie said as offered her a plate of eaglebeak shrimp.


    The eaglebeak shrimp gave off a tantalizing aroma. It possessed an extraordinarily hard shell, but the flesh within was a true delight to feast on, especially with a healthy dousing of sauce. With Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi¡¯s gluttony, they avoided these hard to peel finger-long shrimp and opted for the meatier dishes instead.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s blank glance landed on Xie Xie blankly for a moment. Then she accepted the plate, placed it down in front of her, and continued eating in silence. Xie Xie rejoiced at her reaction. He was happy enough that she didn¡¯t reject him. This was progress! The exchange trip to Star Luo was completely paid for by Shrek Academy, so he was taking it as an opportunity to close the gap between them.


    Soon, everyone at the table leaned back in their seats and patted their bellies in satisfaction. All except for Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi that was. Those two were in a realm of their own as the continued to stuff their faces.

 Chapter 557 - Silent Parents

    Chapter 557 - Silent Parents


    Wry smiles formed on the faces of everyone at the table as they watched Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi pile up dish after dish. The two were eating even more than usual!


    The owner of the restaurant walked over and exclaimed, ¡°You two sure know how to eat! You cleaned me of all my stock!¡± Although Tang Wulin had grown a lot and it had been a few years since the restaurant owner had last seen him, the owner still recognized him by his gluttony.


    ¡°Eh¡­ I¡¯m only, like, eighty percent full,¡± Tang Wulin said, patting his stomach.


    Xu Lizhi looked up from his food, then wiped his mouth with a napkin Ye Xinglan had passed him. ¡°I was actually full a long time ago, but I wanted to see how great the difference was between us.¡±


    Tang Wulin pouted. ¡°Aren¡¯t you just wasting food then? You should have just let me eat some more.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s the bill,¡± the owner said to Wu Zhangkong, the sole adult at the table apart from Cai Yue¡¯er, who looked no more than a frail elder. ¡°It¡¯s 16,430 credits in total, but I¡¯ll give you a discount and charge you 16,000 credits.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong glanced at Tang Wulin, who raised his head to the heavens and stared at the ceiling with so much interest it seemed like he could see through to the clear skies outside.


    ¡°Give it to me,¡± Wu Zhangkong said, then paid the bill.


    Tang Wulin shot to his feet and cheered. ¡°Teacher Wu, you¡¯re the best! But I said I was going to pay for dinner. You should have at least let me pay half.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck.¡± Wu Zhangkong shot a cold look at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°No way!¡± Tang Wulin blurted.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get going,¡± Elder Cai said, rising to her feet and making her way towards the exit. She had agreed for them to eat here because of Tang Wulin¡¯s repeated requests, but as a Titled Douluo a single bowl of rice was enough to sustain herself.


    The Federation had designated the Grand Skysea Hotel as the meeting point for the party. They were to rendezvous with the Star Luo delegation there, then board a ship and embark on their exchange trip.


    The Star Luo delegation had come on a single ship, but two ships were scheduled to depart. This was because the Federation decided to send a ship of their own to tag along. That way, it would be easy for their exchange group to return after the year was up.


    Soon, Tang Wulin¡¯s party arrived at the Grand Skysea Hotel. The hotel was a place of prestige and luxury, a hub for the most illustrious businessmen to handle both pleasure and business.


    Wu Zhangkong led the way in and handled the check-in procedures. Anyone from Shrek Academy was considered a VIP throughout the continent, so they were swiftly handed their room cards shown to their rooms. Wu Zhangkong and Elder Cai both had a room to themselves. The other rooms accommodated two people each. Tang Wulin roomed with Xie Xie, Xu Lizhi with Yue Zhengyu, Gu Yue with Xu Xiaoyan, and Yuanen Yehui with Ye Xinglan.


    ¡°After you¡¯ve rested and settled in, you¡¯ll have free time to do whatever you want as long as you¡¯re back by evening,¡± Wu Zhangkong said.


    For the entire trip, Tang Wulin had snuck glances at Elder Cai,  worried that she would make things hard for him. But she had been surprisingly easy-going and left everything to Wu Zhangkong. It was a breath of relief. As long as she didn¡¯t target him and his friends, then it was reassuring to have a Titled Douluo by their side.


    ¡°So, what do you guys wanna eat for dinner?¡± Tang Wulin asked before they returned to their rooms.


    At the head of their group, Elder Cai¡¯s face went stiff, then she quickened her pace as she tried to hide her laughter with her hand. Didn¡¯t he just eat? This brat¡¯s such a damn glutton!


    The rooms in the Grand Skysea Hotel were luxurious. Although the room Tang Wulin and Xie Xie shared was a standard seventy square meters in size for two people, their window granted them a breathtaking view of the seaside city. When they opened the window, the smell of the sea was carried into the room on a gentle breeze.


    As Tang Wulin stared out toward the horizon on the sea, he couldn¡¯t help but remember his childhood. When his mother and father brought him and Na¡¯er out to play on the beach. Mom, Dad, where are you? Why haven¡¯t you contacted me even after so long?


    Struck with a sudden urge, he took out his soul communicator and dialed a number.


    An instant later, the call connected. ¡°Wulin! How have you been? Is school going well for you?¡± answered Mang Tian, his voice warmer than when he had still been teaching Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s good. Teacher, how about you? Have you been well?¡±


    ¡°Same old, same old. I¡¯m doing just fine,¡± Mang Tian said.


    Ever since Mang Tian had passed Tang Wulin to Mu Chen, he hadn¡¯t been in any position to provide guidance. In fact, Tang Wulin had already surpassed him. But as the saying goes, a teacher for a day, a father for life. Tang Wulin still respected Mang Tian just as much as he did years ago.


    ¡°Teacher¡­¡± Tang Wulin said, hesitance in his voice. He wanted to know if there were any news about his parents, but the possibility that something bad had happened to them frightened him.


    ¡°They still haven¡¯t contacted me,¡± Mang Tian said, clearly picking out Tang Wulin¡¯s unspoken question.


    For a moment, Tang Wulin lost his thoughts. Then he let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s been so long, yet I still don¡¯t know where Mom and Dad are. Teacher, you don¡¯t think anything could have happened to them, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Mang Tian said firmly. ¡°Your father¡¯s message was clear. He and your mother are very valuable to the people who came to get them. As long as they hold value, then they wouldn¡¯t be exposed to danger. So, you don¡¯t have to worry. You¡¯ve been doing well following the path your dad wanted for you. I¡¯m sure he would be proud. Just wait until you graduate from Shrek Academy, then you¡¯ll definitely be able to find them.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Tang Wulin answered. Yeah! As long as I become powerful, then it¡¯ll be easy to find Mom and Dad! And no matter where they are, my heart will always be with them.


    Tang Wulin bid Mang Tian goodbye and hung up the call. His weary heart was bursting with motivation. For the sake of finding his parents, he had to spare no effort to grow stronger. Yes! Dad said that in this world, the only person I can rely on is myself! I¡¯ll be able to find them once I¡¯m strong. I can probably ask the Tang Sect for help once I¡¯m promoted a few more times too. Didn¡¯t the Hall Master say we have branches on other continents too? If they¡¯re on another continent, then the Tang Sect still find them!


    ¡°Still no news about your parents?¡± Xie Xie asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°None at all. I just hope there will be some good news once we return in a year.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure there will be. Who knows? Maybe your parents will be waiting for you at your home by then,¡± Xie Xie said.


    ¡°Thanks for your words of comfort.¡± Tang Wulin smiled. He walked to his bed and  spent the rest of his free time that day meditating. His current priority was to reach rank 40, which would mark a significant increase in strength for him. As such, he could not waste a second that could be spent on cultivating. As for the Golden Dragon King seals, he wasn¡¯t too concerned about them at the moment. He had already broken the fourth, and according to Old Tang, his body wouldn¡¯t be in any danger for at least the next two years. In other words, he had at least two years before he had to break the fifth seal. It was plenty of time to prepare the necessary spirit items.


    Previously, Tang Wulin had asked Old Tang if his body would be able to endure even more power once he had a full set of battle armor. Unfortunately, Old Tang did not hold the answer. The mystical spirit didn¡¯t have much of an understanding of battle armor.


    Three days later, Tang Wulin received news that the rest of the delegation had arrived and that they would be departing for Star Luo soon.


    Once he reached the first-floor lobby, he found it packed with people.

 Chapter 558 - Another Encounter with Lin Yuhan

    Chapter 558 - Another Encounter with Lin Yuhan


    The Star Luo delegation easily numbered over a thousand people, all of which were elites in their various professions. The Federation¡¯s delegation nearly matched them in number, so despite how large the hotel lobby was, it was bursting to the brim with people.


    The Shrek Academy group waited silently in the corner as the official in charge of the Douluo delegation came to pay his respects to Elder Cai. She maintained her cold demeanor, telling him in as few words as possible that the Shrek Academy group was ready to set off.


    As Tang Wulin quietly observed the Star Luo delegation, he was surprised to find no obvious differences between the people from his continent and theirs. Apart from the Star Luo delegation¡¯s more traditional attire, of course, but even that wasn¡¯t terribly conservative either. And it went without saying that both sides did not lack powerful people.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw a familiar figure, and as if feeling his gaze, that person turned to look back at him. It was Lin Yuhan. She stared blankly at him for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise and she waved to him. He flashed a smile and acknowledged her with a nod.


    From the corner of his eye, Tang Wulin saw Yue Zhengyu smirk and puff out his chest. ¡°Look, that girl just waved at me. As expected, this is a world ruled by looks. I just can¡¯t help it,¡± he said, flipping his long golden hair out of his face to reveal his dashing smile.


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°Just how arrogant can you be?¡±


    ¡°An ordinary person like you wouldn¡¯t understand what it¡¯s like living with a handsome face,¡± Yue Zhengyu said, shrugging. ¡°Look, she¡¯s coming over. Oh? She¡¯s pretty cute. Seems like this trip to Star Luo might be fun after all. I¡¯ll be able to experience romance in a foreign land,¡± he said, a smile forming on his lips as he stood up, straightened out his clothes, and strode over to greet the girl.


    Yue Zhengyu was sixteen years old and one of the workings students along with Yuanen Yehui. He looked mature and handsome, and perhaps due to the influence of his Holy Angel martial soul, his aura shone bright. Looking at him was like looking at the sun. In terms of appearance, the only person in their team that surpassed him was Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Hi,¡± Yue Zhengyu said to Lin Yuhan, the smile on his face taking on a more gentle shade.


    Lin Yuhan looked at him, eyes narrowed. ¡°Who are you again?¡±


    Lin Yuhan brushed right past the frozen-in-place Yue Zhengyu to Tang Wulin. ¡°Hi. I didn¡¯t expect to see you here. What a coincidence, huh?¡± she said, a rosy blush on her cheeks.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Not a coincidence. My friends and I are part of the Douluo delegation going to Star Luo on an exchange trip.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu gaped at the two. He realized that the cute girl he saw hadn¡¯t been waving at him, but Tang Wulin!


    With a few quick steps Xie Xie was right next Yue Zhengyu. He patted him on the shoulder. ¡°We live in a world ruled by looks. You wouldn¡¯t understand what it¡¯s like to be handsome.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s eye twitched as he turned to look at the other boy. On his face suddenly bloomed a charming smile, and he grabbed Xie Xie by the waist. Lips nearly pressed to Xie Xie¡¯s ears, he whispered, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. To be honest, I¡¯m not interested in girls.¡±


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Shivers ran down Xie Xie¡¯s spine and he bolted away like lightning.


    The rest of the team watched on in a variety of emotions. Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi laughed so hard they fell to the floor, unable to pick themselves up even if they tried. Yuanen Yehui couldn¡¯t help but let out a smile, as wry as it was, and Ye Xinglan shook her head helplessly. As for Gu Yue, she moved her gaze between Tang Wulin and Lin Yuhan, her lips pressed tight together.


    Lin Yuhan raised a brow at Tang Wulin. "Are you here as a representative of the Douluo blacksmiths? You made any progress lately?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just here with my academy. And nope. Haven¡¯t broken through yet.¡±


    ¡°Hehe. Just wait ¡®til we¡¯re back on my home turf, then we¡¯ll have a rematch. I¡¯ll definitely beat you!¡±


    A chuckle escaped Tang Wulin¡¯s lips. ¡°Sure! A rival is great motivation! I¡¯m looking forward to our next match.¡±


    Lin Yuhan held his gaze for what seemed to have felt like forever. In reality, it was only a few seconds. The she spun on her heel and left.


    ¡°Wow! Captain, your network is so wide!¡± Yue Zhengyu grumbled.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Tang Wulin answered nonchalantly.


    Yue Zhengyu turned to Gu Yue. ¡°Did you know about his flower-picking excursions?¡±


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes. ¡°He doesn¡¯t go picking flowers. The flowers come to him.¡±


    The moment those words left her lips, Tang Wulin straightened his back and said, ¡°Even when I¡¯m surrounded by a field of flowers, not a single petal has touched me.¡±


    Just when Tang Wulin finished speaking, Wu Zhangkong appeared behind him and smacked him on the back of the head. ¡°How old do you think you are?¡± The chill in his voice cowed all of his young charges into silence.


    ¡°Ahem. Just pretend I didn¡¯t say anything,¡± Tang Wulin said, averting his eyes from meeting Wu Zhangkong¡¯s.


    With a flutter of his robes, Wu Zhangkong swiftly moved back to the corner and leaned against the wall. Evidently, he had witnessed their little commotion just now from beginning to end.


    ¡°Teacher Wu, that¡¯s not right!¡± Yue Zhengyu said in defiance. ¡°We¡¯re in the prime of our youth! The period in our lives when we have the most fantasies! If we don¡¯t enjoy ourselves now, are we supposed get more experienced when we¡¯re old and wrinkly?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong stared back at Yue Zhengyu, eyes dull and devoid of any emotion. Not a single word left his mouth.


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°Pft. So with your experience, you bought an entire drink shop just to get a girl¡¯s number?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s face instantly stiffened. ¡°So what if I bought a shop? That shop is making me loads of money now,¡± he said as he cautiously glanced at Yuanen Yehui. He coughed. ¡°¡°I¡¯ll uh¡­ I¡¯ll reimburse your lost wages.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui only snorted in response and turned away. Her anger was rising to her head just thinking about the money she lost because of him. But after such a long time as classmates, she had already forgiven him for the incident.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s words and action were not missed by Xie Xie. In fact, Xie Xie scrunched his nose and looked at Yue Zhengyu as if he were a piece of stained underwear. ¡°One glance at your greasy hair and pasty-powdered face and anyone can tell you¡¯re bad news.¡±


    ¡°You trying to start a duel?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Or are you afraid you¡¯ll lose?¡± Xie Xie said, full of confidence.


    ¡°Enough. Stop putting on a show for everyone,¡± Tang Wulin said, pushing the two apart. Their raised voices had already drawn a small crowd.


    Still, the government officials responsible for the exchange maintained order. Even as more and more people crammed into the lobby


    As the trickle of newcomers finally stopped flowing, the loudspeakers turned on. ¡°Hello everyone. I¡¯m the Federation¡¯s secretary-general, Pan Wen, and I¡¯ll be leading the delegation going on the exchange to Star Luo. I ask that the leader of the Star Luo delegation quickly do a headcount then board busses one through twenty-five. As for us, we¡¯ll be boarding busses twenty-six to fifty-two. Please make sure everyone in your division is present now.¡±


    Organizing large groups of people was always a challenge, and it was clear that Pan Wen was skilled at his job with how well he handled managing over two thousand people from two different nations leaving for a foreign land.


    Once everyone was onboard, a platoon of mechas escorted the caravan straight to the dock.


    Tang Wulin sat at the back of the bus in the aisle seat while Gu Yue took the window seat. This was par for the course. Apart from sleeping arrangements, everyone in their group knew that the seat beside Tang Wulin belonged to Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue leaned on the window with her eyes closed. After their adventure in the spirit ascension platform, she had returned to her normal behavior. She shared few words with Tang Wulin, but they held a deep understanding of each other.


    On the way to the dock, they had a clear view of the ocean. Two large ships sat on the harbor. A single glance and Tang Wulin could tell that each ship had at least five levels to it and was installed with numerous lustrous soul cannons. The ocean was by no means safe after all. The Federation had to take precautions against the countless powerful soul beasts lurking beneath the waves.


    After exterminating the soul beasts on land, humanity had turned their sights to the ocean. The population of sea soul beasts rapidly plummeted, but they preserved their numbers by retreating deeper into the ocean. Even to this day, that was so.


    The only way to safely travel long distances across the ocean was with ships equipped with heavy firepower. Such as the two ships in the harbor. Each was worth an astronomical amount. Tang Wulin had heard that part of the reason that Star Luo had sent a delegation to Douluo was to show off their naval might. Even so, it would take them a while to catch up with the Federation¡¯s advanced technology.


    They soon arrived at on the dock and everyone disembarked. Now that he was right in front of the ships, Tang Wulin could truly behold their size.


    The two delegations were not each assigned an individual ship. Instead, each ship would contain half of both delegations in order for them to intermingle and forge diplomatic relations. In the midst of such grand plans, the calm and quiet group from Shrek Academy was overlooked until it came time to place them on a ship.

 Chapter 559 - Boarding the Ship

    Chapter 559 - Boarding the Ship


    The Federation secretary-general, Pan Wen, walked over to the Shrek Academy group and bowed his head. ¡°Hello, Elder Cai.¡±


    Pan Wen was a middle-aged man of average height. And a balding head. He¡¯d hardly stand out in a lineup of other senior government officials. In fact, he¡¯d hardly stand out anywhere. Despite his ordinary appearance, however, he was a rising star in the world of politics and had a decent shot at being appointed the chairman.


    ¡°Hello, Secretary-general Pan,¡± Elder Cai said curtly, maintaining the measured distance between representatives of Shrek Academy and the Federation. The two had never had a close relationship.


    Pan Wen smiled. ¡°Elder Cai, we¡¯ve arranged for your honored academy¡¯s group to stay on the Star Luo ship with the group from the Imperial Star Luo Academy. Those are the same students who came on an exchange here. I¡¯m sure they will be eager to entertain themselves in sparring with your students during the long voyage ahead.¡±


    Elder Cai spent a moment considering about what Pan Wen had said. ¡°Oh, you mean those kids we rejected from visiting Shrek!¡± Everyone in the vicinity turned to Elder Cai, gawking at how provocative her words were.


    A bead of sweat ran down Pan Wen¡¯s forehead as he suddenly began laughing. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s right! How unfortunate that they had wanted to do their exchange at such an inconvenient time for Shrek! Isn¡¯t this a wonderful opportunity now during the voyage?¡±


    Elder Cai grunted her affirmation and nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s great then! Elder Cai, please allow me to escort you and your talented students to your rooms.¡± Pan Wen hurried them along after giving them enough face.


    The truth was that he was helpless before her. In his lofty government post, he knew full well what sort of power Shrek Academy wielded. It had always been a challenge for the Federation in deciding how to handle Shrek Academy. In fact, the two main objectives of the Federation were to control Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda.  Of course, that was just wishful thinking. Those two organizations were the most influential throughout Douluo, and more importantly, all of the strongest soul masters congregated there. There was some room for cooperation with the Spirit Pagoda, but Shrek Academy was a monolith that refused to budge no matter what the Federation tried. They were forced to turn a blind eye out of consideration for Shrek Academy¡¯s hidden might and lack of ambitions. Shrek Academy had never expressed any intent to expand and its students were moral soldiers that spread all over the continent. They were by no means forming an army, so the Federation could accept granting them autonomy, no matter how reluctant.


    Led by Pan Wen, the Shrek Academy group entered a special elevator that took them straight to the ship.


    As Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes wandered around, he caught sight of another group of people boarding the ship. They wore white uniforms, their faces reflecting the youth of those in their late teens. Then they returned Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze, pointing at his group. If he had to guess, Tang Wulin would say they were discussing Shrek Academy¡¯s green uniforms.


    ¡°Are those guys students from the Imperial Star Luo Academy?¡± Xie Xie asked in a murmur.


    Yue Zhengyu wagged his finger at Xie Xie. ¡°Who cares where they¡¯re from? We can whoop their ass either way.¡±


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll believe it when I see it. Why don¡¯t you go over and fight them now?¡± He scoffed. ¡°Bet you¡¯ll lose.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to stir up trouble?¡± Yuanen Yehui asked, shooting a sharp look at Xie Xie.


    ¡°You see that?¡± Yue Zhengyu said, puffing out his chest. ¡°My class president favors me still. You¡¯ve gotten on her bad side with your shit stirring!¡±


    This time, it was Yue Zhengyu who was at the receiving end of her glare. ¡°He¡¯s not wrong either. A single look and anyone could tell you¡¯re no good.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡±


    At the sight of Yue Zhengyu¡¯s fallen expression, Xie Xie broke into a laugh, an arrogant smirk quickly forming on his lips.


    Situated at the back of the group, Xu Lizhi chuckled at the antics of his friends. Right beside him, Ye Xinglan just rolled her eyes. ¡°These boys and their boring nonsense.¡±


    In truth, they were all bored. After going through an intense period of cultivation and studies, they had a hard time adjusting to such idleness.  But now, ever since they left campus, each day had been spent with nothing to do but sit and cultivate. The same activity that had kept them busy before now felt less riveting in comparison.


    Without a quiet space to work in, Ye Xinglan hadn¡¯t had a chance to work on making any battle armor, despite how confident in success she felt at her current level. It was only the most complicated cores that proved a challenge, and she wouldn¡¯t be able to make them until she became a sixth-rank maker. She still had a long way before she could make a breakthrough.


    The night before, after Ye Xinglan consulted with Tang Wulin, they decided that she would begin making armor for the rest of the team once her own was finished. Minus the core, that was. Once she advanced her skills further, she could make the core and complete her battle armor.


    After boarding the ship, Tang Wulin turned back to look at the shore. There, a crowd of people roamed about. They looked like like tiny ants from a distance. Before he could enjoy the view further, staff members from Star Luo came to greet his group and sort through their cabin arrangements.


    The ship was simply enormous and would easily have been able to accommodate every single person going on this trip by itself. But since they had two ships anyway, the passengers were divided between them.


    A couple of minutes later, they each had a key to their cabins. Thanks to the ship¡¯s excessive size, sharing cabins was unnecessary.


    Without a single word, Elder Cai immediately left for her room, which was situated on the highest floor, separated from the rest of them. Pan Wen continued leading the remainder of the Shrek Academy group with a smile on his face.


    ¡°Really though, Shrek Academy¡¯s uniforms are so ugly! I can¡¯t believe they can stand it!¡± someone said with a tone of arrogance.


    The Shrek Academy group immediately turned to the source of the voice. As fate would make it, the voice belonged to one of the white-clad students of the Imperial Star Luo Academy. There were twelve of them altogether, eight boys and four girls. The one who had spoken was a short but rugged-looking boy.


    Yue Zhengyu swung his head from side to side and put his hand to his brow as if looking around. ¡°Huh? What was that? I could have sworn I heard someone?¡±


    Although the boy from the Imperial Soul Academy was short, he wasn¡¯t such a midget that he couldn¡¯t be seen! Yue Zhengyu¡¯s words stoked a blaze of fury within him.


    ¡°Brat, what¡¯d you just say?¡± The short boy charged at Yue Zhengyu and rammed into him with his chest.


    Yue Zhengyu didn¡¯t even bother to dodge. ¡°Woah there! Oh, so this is where you were! Sorry, I have a bad neck so I can¡¯t look down. But well, you¡¯re quite¡ªpft¡ªvertically challenged.¡±


    The short boy jumped and rammed Yue Zhengyu with his chest again. But Yue Zhengyu didn¡¯t move a single inch. In fact, he short boy felt as if he had crashed into a metal wall. The moment his feet touched the ground again, he scurried back a couple of steps as he judged the difference in their strength.


    ¡°Is this how you people from Star Luo show their affection? It¡¯s so strange! Do your girls do this too?¡± Yue Zhengyu said, stealing a glance at the four girls in white uniforms as he spoke.


    Hiding in the back, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t bear to watch and covered his face with his hands. ¡°We don¡¯t know him. We just met this guy today. Do whatever you want to him and don¡¯t involve us!¡± Then he turned around and began walking away briskly. That damn Yue Zhengyu! All he knows how to do is stir up trouble!


    Gu Yue followed right behind Tang Wulin without the slightest hesitation. On the other hand, Xie Xie patted Yue Zhengyu on the shoulder and said, ¡°Good luck,¡± before leaving as well.

 Chapter 560 - Embarking on a Journey

    Chapter 560 - Embarking on a Journey


    ¡°Are you guys even human?¡± Yue Zhengyu exclaimed, his arrogance shrinking down into a inkling of fear. No matter how conceited he was, he knew that he stood no match against twelve other people.


    The Star Luo students walked toward Yue Zhengyu with sinister expressions on their faces.


    ¡°P-please wait a minute.¡± Yue Zhengyu thrust out his hands to act as a barrier. ¡°Hold up! I¡¯ll leave and we can let bygones be bygones, okay?¡± Before the Star Luo students could stop him, he turned tail and jumped off the deck. At over seventy meters above sea level, an ordinary person might as well have jumped to their death!!


    The Star Luo students rushed to where Yue Zhengyu once stood, peeking over the railings. Yue Zhengyu seemed to have completely surrendered himself to free-fall. But before he crashed into the deep, cold sea, they witnessed a magnificent sight. Pure white wings spouted from his back, spreading like snowy fans upon the blue waters. It took a few seconds for the Star Luo students to process what was happening, but by then it was too late to catch Yue Zhengyu. He could fly, and quite fast at that. Coupled with the sight of his four purple soul rings, they knew they had lost their chance to beat him up.


    ?


    Yue Zhengyu stomped through the long corridor in which Shrek Academy¡¯s group was assigned, the floorboards bending and creaking with his fury. ¡°Damn it! These guys have no loyalty! None at all I swear!¡± he said, banging on the cabin doors as he passed by them.


    Suddenly, one of the doors swung open. Out walked Wu Zhangkong, his expression twisted into a frigid frown. ¡°Who are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I was talking about myself!¡± Without turning back, Yue Zhengyu ran away.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin opened his door and stuck his head out just to see Yue Zhengyu¡¯s hurriedly retreating figure. He couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the sight. What¡¯s with this guy? He¡¯s normally so uptight on campus, but the moment we leave he¡¯s become all crazy. He can¡¯t go a single day without causing trouble!


    The cabins that the Star Luo delegation had arranged for them were quite nice. Each was about forty square meters in area, complete with a personal bathroom and a balcony that looked out onto the sea. Basking in the sea breeze and watching the churning of the waves was quite an enjoyable experience.


    Tang Wulin had been reluctant to go on this exchange, but now that he was on the ship, he was excited for what was to come. His tense mood loosened as he thought about the marvels he would see.


    At noon, the horns were blown three times and the two ships departed from the dock. The ships quickly picked up speed, setting off toward to brave the vast sea.


    As the massive ship cut through the water, not swaying in the slightest, Tang Wulin leaned against the railing of his cabin¡¯s balcony and peered out toward the horizon. He took in a deep breath of the aromatic sea air and enjoyed warmth of the sun kissing his skin.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to the direction of the voice. It was Gu Yue. She stood on the balcony neighboring his, only two meters away, and the two shared a smile.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m starting to think this trip isn¡¯t all that bad. Somehow I spent my entire childhood living by the sea, yet I never actually went out on a ship,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t either,¡± Gu Yue said pleasantly.


    The two settled into a lull of silence as they watched the land shrink into the distance behind them. Until it was no more than a speck that disappeared into the horizon. Through the clear waters, they could see schools of fish swim by, and the occasional large predator chasing after.


    ¡°Wulin¡­¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Wulin studied Gu Yue, raising a brow.


    In the end, she smiled and shook her head.¡°Nothing. I¡¯m going back in to sleep now. Bye.¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s incomprehensible actions left Tang Wulin flabbergasted. But he did not pursue it any further and retreated from the balcony as well. No matter how relaxing it was to watch the sea, he had to cultivate! He wasn¡¯t going to reach rank 40 by just lazing around. The pressure weighing upon him was enormous and he could not afford to slack off. A minute later, he sat on his bed cross-legged, mind focused on cultivating.


    On the other side of the wall they shared, Gu Yue too sat on her bed, staring out the window toward the sea. She pressed her lips tight together. A turbulent fog among her eyes. ¡°He really is too good. Na¡¯er, maybe you were right. But no matter what, I won¡¯t let you two be together.¡± The heave of a sigh, and her eyes cleared up to shine with resolution.


    The two large ships continued cruising toward their destination, each separated by a few kilometers. Thanks to the pleasant weather, both ships had a clear line of sight on the other and could help one another at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Soon the blue of the sky bled into twilight, painting an enchanting scene across the sea.


    ¡°Attention all passengers. Attention all passengers.¡± The ship¡¯s broadcast system was loud and clear. ¡°Welcome aboard the SLS Seafarer. Tonight, we will be having a grand reception to welcome everyone. Please attend in formal attire. We¡¯ll be hosting some friendship exercises and interesting games to foster good relations between our two continents. We invite everyone to attend.¡±


    Friendship exercises? Tang Wulin roused from meditation and pondered the meaning of those words. A satisfied smile formed on his lips as his mind shifted back to cultivating. Perhaps due to the release of all the stress he had accumulated over the semester, he had made clear progress during this cultivation session. In fact, he felt on the verge of reaching rank 39. Once that happened, it would just be one more small step to rank 40 and his fourth soul ring. When that time came, he would have the soul power necessary to truly proclaim himself a sixth-rank blacksmith!


    At the thought of blacksmithing, passion blazed in Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. Earlier he had confirmed that there were blacksmithing workshops on the ship for the guests to use. Of course, there was a fee. But even when disregarding that and instead focusing on his burning desire to hit things with his hammers, at the very least he still had to wait until after the evening party.


    Hmm¡­ Formal attire? Do I even have any? After a moment of thought, he realized that the only clothes he possessed were a few sets of his school uniform.


    A knock on his door spurred him from his thoughts. On the other side stood Gu Yue. ¡°Did you hear the broadcast?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yeah. The friendship exercises might be fun, but I¡¯m more interested in what food they¡¯ll be serving,¡± Tang Wulin said, nearly beginning to drool at the thought of food.


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes glazed over. ¡°All you know is how to eat.¡±


    Tang Wulin could merely shrug. ¡°What else would I do there other than eat?¡±


    ¡°We need formal clothes to attend. Do you have any?¡±


    ¡°Uh, do you think our uniforms count as formal attire?¡± Tang Wulin asked, scratching his cheek.


    Gu Yue scoffed. ¡°I knew you wouldn¡¯t have brought some. Here, take this.¡± In a flash of light, a set of clothes appeared in her hands.


    ¡°These are¡­¡±.


    Gu Yue giggled. ¡°It¡¯s formal clothing!¡±


    After receiving the clothes in his hands, Tang Wulin could feel just how exquisite the craftsmanship. There were several pieces to the full outfit, and each piece was of impeccable quality.


    ¡°Where did you get these?¡± Tang Wulin asked, gawking at her.


    The corner of Gu Yue¡¯s mouth quirked up in a smirk. ¡°I bought them of course. I got them custom made for you since I guessed we would be having an event like this. In fact, I got you several sets.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes were as wide as humanly possible. She got these made for me?


    With a hint of a blush on her cheeks, Gu Yue raised her head haughtily. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to embarass me! Now hurry up and go change.¡± Then she turned and left for her room.


    The clothes clutched tight in his hands as he closed the door, it took a full minute for Tang Wulin to snap out of his stupor. Warmth rushed to his cheeks as he gazed at the clothes. How many years has it been since someone got me clothes like this?


    His thoughts traveled back to a sweeter time. A time when his parents were still around and life had seemed so much simpler. Back then, what had his mother said?


    ¡°Wulin, Mom made you some new clothes. Wear it for the new year. Look, it¡¯s a brown suit. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ll look charming in these? I¡¯ll have to make you a suit every year from now on. Then when you¡¯re finally all grown up and get married, I can look at those suits as a record of your growth.¡±


    Mom and Dad are gone. I couldn¡¯t fulfill Mom¡¯s wish. The suits she made me are still back home in Eastsea.


    Gu Yue¡­ She made me clothes. She got these made for me. A few teardrops painted dark spots on the otherwise exquisite fabric. A warm smile formed on Tang Wulin¡¯s lips and he held the clothes to his chest, a treasure cradled near and close to his heart


    To Gu Yue, perhaps this was a simple gift. But to Tang Wulin, it was a different story. It was so much more. The action brought back sentimental memories of his parents and childhood home. Reminded him of what having a family felt like.


    Cold as Gu Yue usually acted, she couldn¡¯t help but meddle when it came to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Gu Yue, thank you,¡± Tang Wulin said, from him a voice that could melt the heart of any maiden.

 Chapter 561 - Suit

    Chapter 561 - Suit


    After the broadcast about the evening reception party, everyone started to make preparations.


    In his room, Yue Zhengyu dug out clothes from his storage ring. He held each selection in front of a mirror, imagining himself in them. Not willing to settle for anything less than perfection. Finally, he found what he was looking for. ¡°Yes! It¡¯s got to be this one. No one will be able to take their eyes off me!¡±


    His chosen outfit: a pure white suit set with his Holy Angel clan¡¯s crest embroidered into the collar. From the jacket, trousers, shirt, belt, bow tie, to even the shoes, nothing broke free from the thematic use of white. The only splash of color was the golden embroidery that complemented his luscious blonde locks. This was the handicraft of a master tailor.


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely be the most dazzling person there tonight,¡± he said, a prideful grin on his face.


    He took his time dressing up, careful not to coax a wrinkle from the fine fabric. He posed in front of the mirror. ¡°Damn. I didn¡¯t know it was possible to be this handsome. I¡¯m so handsome I almost want to pull myself into a dark corner and caress this handsome god that is me! Give this perky, tight ass a squeeze.¡± Yue Zhengyu slipped a hand under his finely pressed shirt, lifting it up. ¡°And look at these muscles. Mmm!


    ¡°Wait! One more thing!¡± He adjusted his bow tie. With a flick of his hand, he summoned a decorative golden pocket square, folded it neatly, and slipped it into his chest pocket. ¡°There! Perfect!¡±


    With a giant smile on his face, Yue Zhengyu left his room. The moment he walked out the door, Xu Xiaoyan came out of hers that faced opposite his. They were taken aback for a moment, staring at each other in silence.


    She felt as if she were blinded by his radiance. Yue Zhengyu was undoubtedly a handsome boy, nearly as tall as Tang Wulin with a slightly more slender figure. Her heart skipped a beat at the charming smile and noble aura he exuded in his regal suit.


    Yue Zhengyu similarly stared at Xu Xiaoyan blankly. She wore a dress that only went down to her knees. Coincidentally, her dress was sparkling white and gently draped over her shoulders. Along the bottom were tiny and golden decorative stars.


    Generally, soul masters tended to choose clothes that resembled their martial souls, and neither Yue Zhengyu nor Xu Xiaoyan were exceptions. To their astonishment, however, their outfits perfectly matched one another to the point that they looked like a couple.


    ¡°You¡¯re really pretty today,¡± Yue Zhengyu said sincerely.


    A hint of crimson rose to Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, who called me?¡± The door of the adjacent cabin swung open. Enter Xie Xie. In contrast to Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan, he was dressed in a jet black tuxedo, trousers, and bow tie. The only article of clothing breaking that trend was his dress shirt, white like the color of freshly fallen snow. To be honest, Xie Xie was as good looking as Yue Zhengyu, despite his less impressive height and sharper features. He gave off the impression of a dark prince upon first glance, a brooding noble with a chilling breeze blowing at his back, granted he didn¡¯t open his mouth. This side of him surfaced once again now that he was all dressed up.


    Yuanen Yehui walked out of her room next. She was disguised as a man still, a black dress shirt with red trousers her outfit of choice. Although she wasn¡¯t as handsome as the other boys while disguised, she still looked striking in her outfit. Coupled with their knowledge of her Fallen Angel spirit soul, her friends thought she was even cooler.


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled. ¡°Yuanen, if you had a rose in your mouth too, I think I might just fall in love with you.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui glanced at her, then Yue Zhengyu. ¡°Since when have you two been together?¡±


    ¡°Huh? No way!¡± Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s face went beet-red and she ran off.


    Glancing at Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu puffed out his chest. ¡°Xie Xie, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be so good-looking once you put in some effort.¡±


    Xie Xie straightened his back. He grinned. ¡°Well, duh!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu let out a soft sigh. ¡°Alas, you still can¡¯t compare with my magnificence.¡± Before Xie Xie could retort, he turned around left.


    ¡°The hell did you mean by that!¡± Xie Xie chased after him with a scowl. ¡°Stop right there!¡± I can¡¯t believe that bastard! And in front of Yuanen too!


    Yuanen Yehui shook her head helplessly and followed after them slowly. Hmm. A rose, huh? I like roses. Especially red ones.


    A bit later, Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi walked out of their respective rooms simultaneously. When the two saw each other, they paused.


    Xu Lizhi hadn¡¯t changed into formal attire at all and was still wearing the iconic green uniform of Shrek Academy. Woefully unaware of how underdressed he was, he met Ye Xinglan with a goofy smile.


    On the other hand, Ye Xinglan wore a deep green, well-fitted dress that erred on the conservative side. It truly complemented her cold aura and beautiful face.


    ¡°Big Sis Xinglan, you look so pretty!¡±  Without even realizing it, he gulped.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you changed yet?¡± Ye Xinglan asked.


    ¡°Me? I don¡¯t have anything fancy!¡± Xu Lizhi scratched his chin. ¡°If this isn¡¯t enough, I guess I¡¯ll just not go.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re going. Just give me a minute.¡± Ye Xinglan immediately ducked back into her room to Xu Lizhi¡¯s confusion.


    A self-mocking smile formed on Xu Lizhi¡¯s lips. ¡°With how fat I am, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d look good in anything fancy.¡±


    A while passed before Ye Xinglan returned from her room. Xu Lizhi¡¯s eyes went wide when he saw what she was now wearing.  ¡°Big Sis Xinglan, you¡­¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Ye Xinglan pinched his chubby cheek and patted him on the shoulder. Then she walked proudly and gracefully toward the party as if it weren¡¯t Shrek Academy¡¯s green uniform she wore, but an elegant dress.


    Swallowing once more, Xu Lizhi hastened to keep up with her. ¡°Big Sis Xinglan, I¡¯m sorry. I¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you saying sorry for? It¡¯s not like you wanted to be this fat. This is all because of your martial soul. Besides, you¡¯re cute when you¡¯re that chubby! You gotta be like a bear. Laze around cutely, warm to hug, and a great pillow to nap on. Then if we starve in the winter, become an emergency food source. And if there¡¯s danger, stand up and show the world how fierce you are. I¡¯d feel really safe if you become like that!¡±


    ¡°Oh. Then I¡¯ll become your bear. Big Sis Xinglan, do you like polar bears more or black bears? Or maybe brown bears?¡±


    ¡°I like silly bears.¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m already silly! Hehe¡±


    ?


    The SLS Seafarer¡¯s banquet hall was on the second floor of the ship. The hall, easily able to accommodate a thousand people, was still packed. For the sake of fostering friendly relations, all of the dining tables and chairs were removed, leaving only a few cocktail tables. Snacks and beverages of every sort were gathered there, more than enough to satisfy whatever cravings possible. The hall a dazzling sight to behold.


    This was the arrangement that the organizers from the Douluo and Star Luo delegation came to after much consideration and planning. Both sides wanted to build a good relationship with the other, so they designed the layout of the hall to encourage intermingling.


    As the diplomats from both sides began to filter in with their beautiful dresses and sharp suits, the hall soon grew noisy with excitement. Everyone was handed glasses of sparkling wine to grow a festive mood.


    Out of Shrek Academy¡¯s group, Yue Zhengyu was the first person to arrive at the entrance to the hall. He straightened his chest and put on his most charming smile. And he sauntered in.

 Chapter 562 - The Banquet Begins

    Chapter 562 - The Banquet Begins


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s flashy outfit and dashing looks immediately drew the attention of everyone. But that attention only lasted a moment. He was but one of the countless good-looking people who had dressed up today. No matter how good he was at peacocking, he was still only sixteen years old. He lacked the seductive charm of maturity.


    ¡°Yue Zhengyu! I dare you to repeat that to my face!¡± Xie Xie said as he finally caught up to Yue Zhengyu. His raised voice drew curious gazes back their way.


    Yue Zhengyu turned to face Xie Xie, a radiant smile on his face. ¡°Darling, what did you want me to say?¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s fury was instantly smothered by the chills running through his body. ¡°I don¡¯t know you.¡± He pivoted in place, grabbed a drink from a nearby waiter¡¯s tray. Off he went.


    Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan entered the hall just in time to catch Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie¡¯s small scene.


    As Xie Xie scurried away from Yue Zhengyu, he caught sight of Yuanen Yehui and swiftly approached her. ¡°Yuanen, Yue Zhengyu just keeps belittling me. Isn¡¯t he such an asshole?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t involve me in whatever¡¯s going on between you two,¡± she answered.


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°What a cute couple.¡±


    Xie Xie was nowhere near as thick-skinned as Yue Zhengyu, so he blushed at Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s prodding. Scratching his cheek, he bashfully glanced at Yuanen Yehui. ¡°See, even Xiaoyan says we should be together.¡±


    ¡°Screw off!¡± Yuanen Yehui rolled her eyes at him, swiftly leaving the scene.


    Heart falling, Xie Xie turned and gave Yue Zhengyu the finger. But Yue Zhengyu just responded with a charming smile, one so sickening sweet it coaxed goosebumps from his skin. In fear for his chastity, Xie Xie bolted after Yuanen Yehui.


    Now that Xie Xie was gone, Yue Zhengyu slid into position in front of Xu Xiaoyan. ¡°Pretty lady, would you care to be my dance partner tonight?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°How do you know there¡¯s going to be a dance?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled. ¡°This is a banquet, so of course there¡¯ll be one. How about it? Will you be my partner tonight?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu snapped. ¡°Fabulous! You¡¯re such a great girl.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan nodded enthusiastically. ¡°That¡¯s right! I¡¯m the complete opposite of your ugly mug.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu cracked a wry smile. ¡°How about you dull your sharp tongue tonight? Otherwise¡­¡± He leaned forward. As he inched closer to her face, Xu Xiaoyan bent backward to keep them from touching, to the point where he was amazed.


    ¡°Otherwise what?¡± Xu Xiaoyan stared at him with defiant eyes.


    ¡°Otherwise¡­¡± His own eyes reflected a rare sincerity. ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m ugly?¡±


    ¡°Okay fine. Hurry up and get off me. You look fine,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said, unsure why she was so flustered.


    Yue Zhengyu pulled Xu Xiaoyan up by the waist as he straightened his posture. ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question,¡± he said quietly.


    Xu Xiaoyan snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t like playboys.¡±


    ¡°How would you know I¡¯m a playboy?¡± Yue Zhengyu said as he rubbed his nose.


    The look Xu Xiaoyan flashed him was filled with ridicule. ¡°You know, the first time I saw you, you were hitting on Yuanen. So you¡¯re telling me you¡¯re not a playboy?¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ That doesn¡¯t count. I thought she was a evil soul master! It was all part of my plan to trip her up! Actually, I¡¯ve never even had a girlfriend. Bet you didn¡¯t expect that,¡± Yue Zhengyu said, growing bashful at the end.


    ¡°How old are you now? You¡¯re just sixteen! According to Federation law, you¡¯re a minor until you turn eighteen! It¡¯s immoral for you to think about such lewd things this young! And now you¡¯re trying to get a girlfriend? You should be morally disciplined by society!¡± She scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re asking me if I would expect a delinquent like you to be so chaste?¡±


    They had forgotten, Xu Xiaoyan was the greatest actress of them all. After her little speech, Xu Xiaoyan wiped the look of disgust off her face and replaced it with a sincere smile. ¡°I know you¡¯re in puberty, but don¡¯t let your hormones cloud your mind.¡± Then she made to leave.


    Yue Zhengyu gaped at her retreating figure. What the hell was that? She¡¯s just acting out a drama with my life now! I never knew she was so impressive. I can¡¯t believe I actually thought she was charmed by my looks.


    By now, most of the participants had entered the hall. As representatives of Douluo and Star Luo, each and every one of them was a renowned figure within their profession. People from every background could be found, but in terms of age, the students from Shrek Academy were definitely the youngest.


    Elder Cai soon walked into the hall followed by Wu Zhangkong. She wore a white dress, elegant designs embroidered into every cut. It gave off the scent of a dream, as though she were glowing with pale white light. Her appearance instantly drew countless eyes, though her dress was hardly flashy. Rather, it was the quiet might radiating off her body that captured everyone¡¯s attention.


    Wu Zhangkong found his place in a corner of the hall, slowly sipping at a glass of iced water. Not one for crowded places, he wouldn¡¯t have come if not for Elder Cai¡¯s orders. Dressed in his usual attire of a white robe over white shirt and pants, he made the standard pieces of clothing seem more exquisite. Even when hidden in a corner, Wu Zhangkong attracted numerous gazes, and in the few minutes he had been there, seven women had already tried their chances with him. He politely exchanged pleasantries with each one, but he always firmly turned them down. Even after being turned down, however, those women braved his cold aura and hovered around him, casting passionate gazes at Wu Zhangkong from time to time. In their eyes, he was a knight in splendid white.


    Disregarding the heated looks his way, Wu Zhangkong kept his eyes on his students. He spotted Xie Xie chasing after Yuanen Yehui, and Xu Xiaoyan and Yue Zhengyu putting on a show. A moment later, he saw Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi walk in dressed in their uniforms.


    Although the organizers of the party had asked everyone to attend in formal attire, it wasn¡¯t a strictly enforced rule. Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi hadn¡¯t been stopped once and were smoothly let into the hall. They immediately went to find a corner. More specifically, a corner with food to stuff their faces with. It didn¡¯t take long for them to find one, and Xu Lizhi started by offering Ye Xinglan a pastry. She refused it was a shake of the head, however. With a simple smile on his face, he didn¡¯t continue to push her and popped the pastry into his mouth.


    Hmm? Where¡¯s Tang Wulin and Gu Yue? The party has already started. Wu Zhangkong scanned the crowd with a pensive look on his face. His subtle frown sent shivers down the spines of his many admirers and deepened their obsession with him.


    ¡°Good evening everyone and welcome to the banquet. I am Star Lu¡¯s foreign affairs minister, Sima Lanxiao.¡± As soon as he said this, Sima Lanxiao bowed. A tall and handsome man with blonde hair, he had a voice with a magnetic allure, a force of inspiration for some. With his voice alone he easily brightened the mood of everyone in the hall. ¡°I¡¯m very excited to have friends of every background from Douluo here with us tonight. Let¡¯s celebrate and foster friendships! We¡¯ve prepared a few small contests tonight for choosing the following: the best-dressed man and lady, the prince and belle of the ball, and the best couple. The winners will receive awards from our Star Luo delegation.¡±


    Once the words left his lips, waiters and waitresses streamed into the room holding trays with a wide assortment of drinks. The party was kicking into full drive.

 Chapter 563 - Stunning

    Chapter 563 - Stunning


    In the center of the banquet hall stood a circular dance floor spanning fifty meters wide. Members of the Star Luo delegation climbed up it and declared the start of the party.


    The moment music started playing, a couple entered the hall and a spotlight descended upon them. It drew everyone¡¯s eyes.


    A fairy in silver and white, so beautiful one would fear that with a blink and she would disappear, merely a figment of a dream. This was the girl who had just walked into the hall with her partner. Her black hair gently brushed past her shoulders. She carried herself in a delicate manner, and although not particularly pretty, she had a noble and graceful air.


    The music stilled. Upon closer inspection, her hands were wrapped in a pair of silver evening gloves, subtle patterns running along their length. Her dress stopped short of her knees and revealed a pair of slender, fair legs, seemingly cut from marble. Her high heels, also silver, sparkled like crystal, and as she walked forward the tapping filled the hall, counting down to a splendid occasion.


    Escorting her was a handsome young man. He stood tall and straight, his figure slender yet muscular, with perfectly broad shoulders. His jet black hair was combed back and fell in supple waves. A pearl-white shirt stood out against the black of his trousers, and a black bow tie complemented his purple tuxedo. He cut a dashing figure, despite the hint of immaturity left on his face. If the girl next to him was the full moon over the starry sea, then he was the radiant golden sun.


    Murmurs broke out among the bystanders, praising the beautiful couple. The spotlights were manually controlled and had coincidentally landed on the two, but it was so fitting that the operators couldn¡¯t bear to readjust them. In that moment, they were the prince and princess of the banquet.


    The couple was precisely Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Standing atop the platform at the back of the hall, Sima Lanxiao had a clear view of the two as they had walked in. He was certain that they were both from Douluo since he was familiar with the faces of the Star Luo delegation. It was essential for a diplomat to have a good memory.


    ¡°It looks like we have another strong candidate for our prizes tonight. Welcome to the banquet! May I ask which part of Douluo you are from?¡±


    Tang Wulin found his outfit uncomfortably tight and restrictive. In his everyday life, he wore whatever was comfortable to blacksmith and cultivate. Yet despite how restrictive he found the tuxedo, he could feel himself standing taller in it.


    Gu Yue had locked arms with him as if only natural when they entered the hall. As the spotlight had landed on them, Tang Wulin was taken by surprise. But not a stranger to surprises, he quickly recovered and answered Sima Lanxiao. ¡°We¡¯re from Shrek Academy.¡± His voice was calm and pleasant, loud enough that everyone in the hall could hear it.


    The spotlight finally left Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. As the music grew louder, people made their way to the dance floor. Meanwhile, the waiter staff carried a myriad of gourmet dishes into the hall.


    ¡°Wow! Captain, you can¡¯t do this!¡± Xu Xiaoyan said, bouncing toward Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin tilted his head, brow raised. ¡°Why can¡¯t I do what?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°If you dress so handsomely, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll fall in love with you!¡±


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. ¡°Please. You look really pretty today too.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan pulled on Gu Yue¡¯s free arm. ¡°Big Sis Yue! Is this your work? I refuse to believe Captain can dress himself up like this! Aren¡¯t you afraid of other girls stealing him away though? When I looked around earlier, I saw a whole bunch of young ladies staring at him like a meal!¡±


    Gu Yue chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at her helplessly. They were at the age where they couldn¡¯t help but think about members of the opposite sex. Even Tang Wulin, level-headed as he was, had noticed far more about girls recently. If he wasn¡¯t so busy with cultivating, he might have more interest in dating like the others. But he restrained himself and refused to allow any distractions into his life. For the sake of finding his missing parents, he had to become as strong and fast as possible.


    The other students of Shrek Academy walked over to greet Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Yue Zhengyu wore a wry smile on his face as he compared himself with Tang Wulin. It was undoubtedly his defeat. Tang Wulin was simply too handsome to contend with, and even a couple centimeters taller. There was no helping with either of these things. ¡°Tang Wulin, you¡¯re gonna lose all your friends at this rate, you know?¡± Yue Zhengyu said, pouting.


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. ¡°Oh? And you have a lot of friends?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s clicked his tongue as he stared at Tang Wulin¡¯s fake smile. Then he snorted. ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll leave your ass alone!¡± Just as Yue Zhengyu turned around, he met several familiar faces. The students from the Imperial Star Luo Academy. Except this time, their numbers seemed to have multiplied. Every one of them stared at Yue Zhengyu with eyes full of disdain.


    This guy sure knows how to stir up trouble. Tang Wulin chuckled. In a few quick steps, he was in front of Yue Zhengyu to face the students of the other academy. ¡°Hello. Let me introduce myself formally. I¡¯m the captain of the students from Shrek Academy on this exchange trip. My name is Tang Wulin,¡± he said, extending his right hand. This was a formal meeting between students of both delegations, so it was Tang Wulin¡¯s responsibility as captain of the team to make first contact.


    A tall young man about nineteen years old stepped forward from the Imperial Star Luo Academy¡¯s group. He stretched a hand toward Tang Wulin. ¡°Hello. I¡¯m the Captain of the Imperial Star Luo Academy¡¯s students sent on this trip, Luo Qinghan.¡±


    As the two shook hands, Tang Wulin felt immense pressure clamping down on his hand. If he yelped in front of everyone at this banquet, he would undoubtedly lose face for himself and Shrek Academy. So, Tang Wulin returned the favor. A radiant smile blossomed on his face as he said, ¡°I¡¯m happy to meet you all. I hope we learn a lot from each other in the future.¡±


    Luo Qinghan¡¯s complexion paled instantly. It felt as if his hand had been sucked into a meat grinder.


    Tang Wulin continued shaking hands quickly, forcing the bones of Luo Qinghan¡¯s hand to grind against each other with each jerking motion. The pain was excruciating, but Luo Qinghan knew better than to cry out. He could only grit his teeth and endure. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, running down his pale skin.


    The students of Shrek Academy were all watching with grins on their faces. They could tell exactly what was going on between Tang Wulin and Luo Qinghan, and they knew their captain had the upper hand! There was no one in all of Shrek Academy¡¯s outer court that dared challenge Tang Wulin to a contest of raw, physical strength. Such an endeavor would simply be foolish.


    After a couple more shakes, Tang Wulin finally let go of Luo Qinghan¡¯s hand and gave him a curt nod, brushing right past him.


    Before Tang Wulin could move further, two students of the Imperial Star Luo academy rushed forward and stopped him. Pretending as if he didn¡¯t see them, Tang Wulin walked right through, knocking them away with his shoulders. The rest of his teammates followed right behind him in the path he created.


    Luo Qinghan didn¡¯t say anything to stop the Shrek Academy students. He just ducked his head down and stuck his right hand into his pocket, desperately trying to control its shaking. Shit that hurts. That brat is strong!

 Chapter 564 - The Dance Floor

    Chapter 564 - The Dance Floor


    The students of the Imperial Star Luo Academy had underestimated Tang Wulin since he was clearly much younger than them and wore a kind smile on his face. However, that smile was a mask that hid the tyrannical strength within him. Without saying a single word, Tang Wulin plowed right through their formation. There was nothing they could do in retaliation, for they did not dare cause a disturbance during the banquet. In this situation, whoever lashed out first was the loser.


    Unlike the rest, the four female Imperial Star Luo Academy students looked at Tang Wulin with inquisitive gazes. Even they were not immune to Tang Wulin¡¯s handsomeness.


    ¡°How long will I have to eat before I¡¯m full?¡± Tang Wulin asked anxiously as he glanced at the paltry snacks on the cocktail tables. Delicate pastries and desserts were arranged on each table, but they were next to nothing in his eyes. It would take him a lifetime to satisfy his stomach if these were all he had to eat.


    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be hard to fill our bellies.¡± Xu Lizhi chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve already swept three tables clean.¡±


    ¡°How are people supposed to be happy if they¡¯re hungry?¡± Tang Wulin scratched his cheek nervously. His cultivation was closely tied to eating food. The more nutritious the food he consumed, the stronger his blood essence became. As his blood essence grew stronger, it placed more pressure his soul power and encouraged it to condense. As a result, he had never been worried about the strength of his soul power, only its quantity. He also understood that part of the reason why his soul power grew so slowly was because it was constantly being compressed.


    Tang Wulin had once asked Wu Zhangkong if it was good that his soul power was being compressed. He had been given a simple explanation in return: to progress beyond their fifth soul ring, all soul masters need to compress their soul power. The earlier he began this process, the purer his soul power would be. He may start facing difficulties now, but in the future he would reap the benefits and have an advantage over his peers. The quality of his soul power would be far better. Although it would slow his progress to becoming a battle armor master, there was no doubt that the compression of his soul power was beneficial to him.


    Tang Wulin had found relief in Wu Zhangkong¡¯s explanation, and from then onward he took it to heart, focusing on the quality over quantity when cultivating. Recently he also noticed that, after breaking the fourth seal, his combat style had grown rougher and more direct. He tended to favor brute force and use brutal attacks to overwhelm his opponents. Such intense combat got his blood boiling and drummed up the domineering power that slumbered within his blood essence. He knew that it was his blood essence that caused this shift in combat styles.


    ¡°What do we do, Captain?¡± Xu Lizhi asked anxiously, rousing Tang Wulin from his thoughts.


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°Even a fly has meat on it. We¡¯ll just settle for eating as much as we can. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s always going to be like this. We can handle starving for one day. Tomorrow we can figure out how to wrestle up some fish.¡±


    Xu Lizhi was taken aback. ¡°But the sea has marine soul beasts in it! Won¡¯t it be dangerous to go catching fish?¡±


    ¡°I was joking.¡± Tang Wulin laughed dryly. ¡°We can use fishing rods.¡±


    Then Tang Wulin heard a deep voice, one that sounded was all too familiar. He turned in the direction it had come from, and as soon as he did, his eyes went wide like discs. There, standing in pristine white chef¡¯s attire, was a man. He was in the process of delivering a tray of food to a nearby table. It was the sect master of the Body Sect and Divine-grade mecha pilot, Mu Ye!


    ¡°U-Uncle Mu?¡± Tang Wulin stammered, gawking at the man. What¡¯s he doing here? Even though he¡¯s here as a diplomatic representative, he shouldn¡¯t be playing the part of a mere chef, right?


    Mu Ye laughed slyly, as if he had been caught in the middle of committing a crime. ¡°I¡¯m a qualified chef,¡± he said. ¡°In fact, I own a series of restaurants all over Douluo. I can be considered a representative of Douluo¡¯s culinary arts. That aside, what¡¯s your cabin number?¡±


    Tang Wulin told Mu Ye what he wanted to know and the man beamed. ¡°Great! Don¡¯t worry about eating your fill right now. I¡¯ll stop by later tonight and cook something up for you.¡± Then he looked Tang Wulin up and down and nodded in satisfaction. ¡°You look good.¡±


    Before Tang Wulin could even try to comprehend what was happening, Mu Ye dashed away, leaving him staring in disbelief. The sect master of the Body Sect, Titled Douluo, Divine-grade mecha pilot, and quite possibly a four-word battle armor master, was acting as a mere chef in this cultural exchange between continents.


    What¡¯s he doing? Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but wonder as he recalled his last encounter with Mu Ye. Is he here because of me?


    In truth, Mu Ye really was here because of Tang Wulin. After their last meeting, Mu Ye had plenty of time to reflect on the situation and ultimately came to terms with reality. A genius perfectly suited for the Body Sect like Tang Wulin was miraculously rare. He could not afford to let Tang Wulin go, especially when the fate of the Body Sect was at stake. Loyalty was important, but he could worry about that after ensuring the survival of his sect¡¯s legacy! If he didn¡¯t find a successor for the Body Sect, its legacy, which had endured for millenia, would be lost. At that point, its rules would be protecting no one.


    In the past Zhen Hua told Mu Ye that, as long as nothing terrible happened, Tang Wulin had an eighty percent chance of becoming a Divine Blacksmith in the future. With a talented heir like him, the Body Sect would never have to worry about procuring high-grade refined metals once he matured. Furthermore, Tang Wulin¡¯s character had already been tested time and time again. His ordeals against the evil soul masters alone were proof of that, but his status as a Shrek Academy student left no doubts about his virtue. Anyone who entered Shrek Academy, especially someone capable of becoming a class president, was an outstanding individual.


    Mu Ye had been keeping a close eye on Tang Wulin for a while now. He had even been watching when the young man led his team to defeat the third grade. It was then that Mu Ye resolved to induct Tang Wulin into the Body Sect at any cost. Even if Tang Wulin remained a disciple of the Tang Sect alongside that, it would be worth it. This resolve led Mu Ye to use his myriad connections to sneak into the diplomatic mission to Star Luo.


    Mu Ye had finally disappeared amongst the crowd, yet Tang Wulin still stood there with his brow furrowed. He was quite confused, but he had to admit that it was reassuring to know there was another Titled Douluo aboard the ship that had his back.


    Around Tang Wulin, the banquet continued. Members of both delegations were behaving conservatively since this was the first banquet with both parties in attendance. Only a few people were on the dance floor. Most lingered in the periphery making small talk. A few minutes later, staff members made their way through the hall and a stuck number tags on everyone.


    ¡°Excuse me, everyone!¡± Sima Lanxiao exclaimed. ¡°We will now start preparing for the contests. The method we¡¯ll be using to choose participants is simple. Both delegations will nominate five talented individuals. Once ten people have been nominated, all of us will vote on them for five categories: handsomest gentleman, most beautiful lady, best-dressed man, and best-dressed lady, and best dance couple. I won¡¯t worry about other details for now, but we are lacking some dancers on the dance floor. I¡¯m sure most of you in both delegations are young men and women, so come on! Don¡¯t bottle up your youthful passion. Have some fun! Dance!¡±


    Sima Lanxiao¡¯s words had a bewitching sound to them. Moments after he finished speaking, young men and woman swarmed the dance floor.


    At that moment Tang Wulin was busy stuffing himself alongside Xu Lizhi and the others. They were far from the dancefloor.


    It was then that someone approached him. ¡°Do you want to dance?¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to see Lin Yuhan in a beautiful blue dress.

 Chapter 565 - Follow Me

    Chapter 565 - Follow Me


    ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t know how to dance.¡± Tang Wulin waved his hand dismissively at the idea. He had never danced before, nor had the opportunity to learn.


    ¡°It¡¯s not hard. How about I teach you?¡± Lin Yuhan said, offering her hand to him.


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times as he stared at her hand. Before he could react, she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to the dance floor.


    ¡°Big Sis! That girl from Star Luo is taking away Wulin!¡± Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed, nudging Gu Yue with her elbow.


    Gu Yue turned. Her eyes zeroed in on Lin Yuhan gripping Tang Wulin¡¯s hand as they headed to the dancefloor and frowned.


    ¡°What are you going to do Big Sis?¡± Xu Xiaoyan quietly asked.


    Contrary to Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s expectations, Gu Yue smiled calmly. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled as well. ¡°Captain sure is popular! You better keep a close eye on him.¡±


    ¡°If a girl lets her man get snatched away by another girl, then she only has herself to blame.¡±


    Ye Xinglan nodded in agreement and gave Gu Yue a thumbs up. As for Yuanen Yehui, she could only smile wryly at the exchange.


    Seemingly out of thin air, Xie Xie popped up next to Yuanen Yehui and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! No matter how pretty other girls are, I¡¯ll always be faithful!¡±


    ¡°Get away from me,¡± Yuanen Yehui said without batting an eye while the other three girls watched with warm smiles.


    Back on the dance floor, Tang Wulin realized how helpless it was to throw off Lin Yuhan. As expected of a blacksmith, her large and powerful hands had a vice-like grip on him.


    In truth, Tang Wulin was quite impressed with her. It was already difficult for men to become blacksmiths, and exponentially harder for women. Blacksmithing was the hardest main profession to advance in, so the fact that she was also a fifth-rank blacksmith at nearly the same age as him served testimony to her sacrifice to get there. Tang Wulin understood all too well how challenging blacksmithing was. The hardships he went through to reach his current level made it all the more obvious that she possessed immense willpower and tenacity. Blacksmithing was a path walked by many and he was bound to meet many others walking this path, so as reluctant as he was, he didn¡¯t fight her anymore and let her take him to the dance floor.


    Once they found their own little space, Lin Yuhan whirled around to face Tang Wulin without letting go of his hand. She raised the hand that held his and put her other hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Just follow my movements. I¡¯ll lead. Now put your free hand on my waist,¡± Lin Yuhan said softly.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin stared at her blankly. He had never been so close to a girl before except for Gu Yue and Na¡¯er. He subconsciously followed her instructions and placed a hand at her waist. When he felt her slim waist, his heartbeat quickened and crimson warmth rose to his cheeks, highlighting his obvious lack of experience with women.


    Lin Yuhan giggled at how stiff Tang Wulin was acting. ¡°I¡¯m going to start now.¡± She slid her left foot to the side and brought Tang Wulin deeper into the dance floor. With her hands, she exerted strength to guide him along on the proper movements.


    Although Tang Wulin did not know how to dance, he had learned the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step so he had a good foundation for footwork. His movements were a bit sluggish, but he managed to keep up with Lin Yuhan to form an awkward but acceptable dance.


    Lin Yuhan gradually picked up the pace as Tang Wulin grew more familiar with the routine. Soon, he found the rhythm and was moving in tune with the music.


    While the two clearly weren¡¯t the best dancers on the floor, they were a handsome man and beautiful lady and easily attracted countless eyes.


    As Lin Yuhan led Tang Wulin along, a smile blossomed on her face. ¡°You¡¯re real heavy even though you don¡¯t look fat at all.¡± Indeed, Tang Wulin¡¯s weight was wholly inconsistent with his body figure. His muscle and bone density was far greater than the average person and granted him a weight that would astonish people.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°I¡¯m not a good dancer, but I can tell you¡¯re really good at this.¡±


    ¡°How about you visit me at the Imperial Star Luo Academy when we arrive?¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°Sure. You guys have some unique perspectives on blacksmithing that I¡¯d love to hear about. Maybe I¡¯ll learn a thing or two.¡±


    Lin Yuhan rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re still focused on learning? You¡¯re already good enough as you are. Let me tell you, I¡¯m the best blacksmith we got there, and I¡¯m still no match for you. Really, just what sort of training have you been doing? When did you start blacksmithing?¡±


    ¡°I started learning the fundamentals at six years old. My innate strength was high, so I was naturally good at it and I¡¯ve been forging ever since.¡±


    Lin Yuhan snorted. ¡°Then you haven¡¯t been blacksmithing as long as I have. I started when I was three. My dad¡¯s a blacksmith too. When I was still a baby, he gave me a mini blacksmithing hammer for a toy. Then he kept replacing it with a bigger and bigger hammer as I grew up. You could say I was born with a hammer in hand. I always believed that there¡¯s no one in the world that could possibly love blacksmithing more than me until I met you.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s brows shot up in astonishment. While Lin Yuhan spoke lightly, he knew that she must have encountered many hardships growing up as a blacksmith. ¡°Is your dad really strict?¡±


    Lin Yuhan¡¯s cheek puffed up a bit in a pout, then she slowly nodded. ¡°My teacher couldn¡¯t stand seeing how strict my dad was to me, so he brought me with him on this exchange. You have no idea how free I¡¯ve felt this past year. I had so much fun on Douluo that I almost didn¡¯t want to leave. Especially when I thought about facing my dad.¡±


    Tang Wulin sighed. ¡°At least you can see your dad. My dad was kidnapped and I haven¡¯t seen or heard from him in years. No matter how much I want to see him, I can¡¯t. I think you should try to understand your dad a bit more. He¡¯s only so strict with you because he wants you to inherit his legacy. You¡¯ve made it through all these years already, so keep doing your best. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll lighten up on you once you¡¯re a Saint Blacksmith.¡±


    Lin Yuhan blinked a few times at the surprising show of sorrow in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. Compared to him, am I actually quite lucky?


    ¡°You really know how to comfort people. I¡¯m sorry for making you think of sad things,¡± Lin Yuhan said.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m just doing my best. I¡¯ll definitely find my parents and bring them back one day. It¡¯s my goal to reunite my family.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m sure you will.¡±


    The song finished and the dancers stopped. Although it was only one short song, Tang Wulin had already grasped the basics of dancing.


    Tang Wulin quickly withdrew his hand from Lin Yuhan¡¯s waist and broke off their linked hands.


    Lin Yuhan smirked at him. ¡°Wasn¡¯t dancing fun? Up for another round?¡±


    Tang Wulin hastily waved his hand dismissively. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m way too nervous to do that again. Didn¡¯t you see me staring at my feet the entire time? I was scared I would step on your feet.¡±


    Lin Yuhan covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. Just as she was about to speak, someone approached behind Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Gu Yue said to Lin Yuhan, then pulled Tang Wulin away by his arm.


    Astonishment flickered in Lin Yuhan¡¯s eyes, but she managed a strained smile. ¡°Was I intruding?¡±


    Gu Yue smiled confidently. ¡°He¡¯s my dance partner. He¡¯ll be accompanying me for the next dance.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to her in astonishment. When did I agree to that? Then he saw the dark look she gave him and didn¡¯t dare talk back.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Lin Yuhan didn¡¯t say anything else and just smiled. But she did not leave. She simply stood there and watched the two.


    As the next song began playing, Gu Yue pulled Tang Wulin back to the dance floor. He had no choice but to obey.


    Lin Yuhan pouted as she watched the two leave, her hands clenched in tight fists. Of course there¡¯s lots of competition for a good guy like him. I¡¯ve gotta snatch him for myself with my own two hands.


    Since childhood, Lin Yuhan had spent her days in the monotony of blacksmithing. It was only after spending a year in Douluo that her suppressed wants and desires surfaced. As a by-product of her heart loosening, her blacksmithing skill had increased as well. As a four-ringed soul master, she had the qualifications to call herself a sixth-rank blacksmith.


    Lin Yuhan had always known that no one was as talented a blacksmith as her in all of Star Luo, so now that she met her match in Tang Wulin, she couldn¡¯t help but be attracted to him. Although she couldn¡¯t fully accept her loss to him in their previous competition, she had to admit that he was a greater genius than her. They were rivals! She had never expected to meet someone she could call a rival, and even surpass her. Since that fateful day, Tang Wulin¡¯s determined face as glistening sweat streaked down his forehead was burned into her memory.

 Chapter 566 - Dance of Passion

    Chapter 566 - Dance of Passion


    From the moment Tang Wulin stepped into the hall, Lin Yuhan had been completely enraptured. She couldn¡¯t keep her eyes off his dashing figure. He had everything she wanted in a man and was so charming to her that she had cast away all her reservations and taken the initiative to invite him to dance.


    While it was normal to harbor a crush on someone, Lin Yuhan was woefully inexperienced in such matters. All she knew was that she wanted to get closer to Tang Wulin. She was confident that she was just as pretty as Gu Yue and also shared an interest in blacksmithing with him. She was certain she had a good shot.


    It was at that point that the music, which had been lingering in the background, took center-stage. Just as Sima Lanxiao planned, the song changed. The banquet had begun with a series of slower songs, but this next song had a lively, thumping beat. It started off low but soon swelled with intensity, passion, and excitement. This was exactly what was needed to change the mood and encourage the two delegations to have fun with each other.


    Gu Yue pulled Tang Wulin onto the dance floor. Just as Tang Wulin was about to speak, Gu Yue stopped and whirled around to face him with sharp eyes.


    ¡°Gu Yue, I¡ª¡±


    Right at that moment, the music went into full swing. It drowned out whatever Tang Wulin was saying, and before he could try and repeat himself, Gu Yue took action. She grabbed his right hand and placed it on her waist, then raised his left hand high. Back straight, she craned her neck and took off, leading them into a tempestuous whirlwind of a dance.


    Gu Yue¡¯s silver dress billowed outward as they spun, blossoming like a flower. Tang Wulin caught a glimpse of her legs as it did and saw that she wore skin-tight capri pants. The sight of it consumed his thoughts, his mind whirling as he wondered when she had the time to put them on. Then his eyes turned to her face. Gone was her cold mask of indifference. Wild passion blazed in its place.


    Something stirred within Tang Wulin. His heart trembled. His blood boiled. He gave into the whirlwind.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s dance attracted the attention of everyone around them. They were a storm on the dancefloor, spinning back and forth to the music, until suddenly, Gu Yue stopped. Tang Wulin stopped with her, and she jumped off his thigh to soar into the air only to float back down like a leaf. She lighted upon his shoulder, spun in place, and became still staring back at all the onlookers. At that moment, they had every set of eyes in the hall on them.


    Gu Yue flipped in place, falling forward only to catch herself and hang upside down from Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulders. With the grace of a snake she slid around his body and down to the ground in one smooth motion, and they were back in their original dancing positions. She then leaned backward, her body angling so far it seemed as though it would break from the strain. The motion pulled Tang Wulin along as her hands were hooked around his neck. Just when it seemed like she would touch the ground, she kicked her feet into the air and wrapped her legs around Tang Wulin¡¯s neck.


    This mesmerizing performance moved in complete sync with the music, each of Gu Yue¡¯s acrobatic movements matching the thumping beat. Not once did Tang Wulin¡¯s hand leave her waist.


    ¡°Throw me,¡± Gu Yue whispered in his ear.


    Without another thought, Tang Wulin gripped her waist tight and flung her up. Gu Yue soared upward, traveling nearly thirty meters into the air to nearly touch the ceiling of the hall. She spun the entire time, contorting her body to perform miraculous aerial acrobatics. Then, as her rise slowly transition back into a fall, her dress caught the air around it and transformed into a blooming silver flower.


    The other dancers had long since stopped to pay full attention to this spectacle.


    As Gu Yue fell toward him, Tang Wulin reached out and wrapped his hand around her waist, catching her and setting her back on the ground in one smooth motion. Gu Yue didn¡¯t stop there, however, immediately grabbing his hand and twirling around him.


    All Tang Wulin could do was react to Gu Yue as she led him with pulls and subtle physical cues, but still he matched her perfectly. From beginning to end he was staring into her eyes. At first he had been bewildered. Then he was amazed. Everything she did aroused excitement within him, gave birth to a blazing passion.


    Gu Yue¡¯s dance was simply dazzling. Her beautiful figure, slender legs, and slim waist charmed everyone present. Although she did not possess the appeal of a mature woman, she was bursting with the energy of youth. Her whirlwind of a dance was both graceful and grand. She was a fairy frolicking around Tang Wulin in perfect harmony with the music.


    Then, right as the song came to an end, she spun into Tang Wulin¡¯s embrace, nestling her head in his chest. She slowly looked up at him to reveal a faint smile. Not a trace of her previous bitterness could be found. As she gazed at him, she placed a tender hand on his cheek.


    The two stared into each other¡¯s eyes with heart-melting warmth.


    Then the moment was over, and Gu Yue slowly pulled away from Tang Wulin. Her gaze lingered on his face. Then she turned to face their audience. As soon as she did, a resounding applause erupted throughout the entire banquet hall. Whistles and cheers quickly joined the cacophony as room bubbled over with excitement.


    Gu Yue turned to Tang Wulin and adjusted his bow tie, then leaned in close and whispered, ¡°If you want to learn how to dance, I¡¯m more than capable of teaching you. The next time you dance with another girl, I¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll what?¡± Tang Wulin asked, placing his hands on his waist.


    Gu Yue eyes met his with unwavering resolve. A smile formed on her lips.


    ¡°I¡¯ll break her legs.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at her in stunned silence.


    Gu Yue grabbed his hand and led him off the dance floor back to their friends like a proud peacock.


    Xu Xiaoyan ran up to them as they approached. ¡°Wow! Big Sis Yue, you¡¯re too cool!¡± She jumped at Gu Yue and hugged her. ¡°Teach me how to dance too! You¡¯ll teach me, right?¡±


    Gu Yue smiled and nodded.


    Yuanen Yehui stared at Tang Wulin with a strange expression. ¡°Gu Yue was right. Some people need to be kept on a tight leash.¡±


    ¡°Damn right!¡± Xie Xie chimed in. ¡°Some people are just too spoiled!¡±


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow. ¡°Don¡¯t you think dancing is beautiful, Xie Xie? If a man can dance well, they¡¯ll definitely attract countless girls.¡±


    Xie Xie was taken aback by the idea, and he cast a furtive glance at Yuanen Yehui. He remembered how entranced she had been as she watched Tang Wulin and Gu Yue dance, the trace of envy that had flickered in her eyes. He turned back to Tang Wulin and said, ¡°What are you getting at? Are you volunteering to teach me? You don¡¯t seem to be much of a dancer yourself.¡±


    ¡°Psh. Practice makes perfect,¡± Tang Wulin replied. ¡°If you don¡¯t give it a try, how are you ever going to learn? Besides, you¡¯re an agility-type! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll pick it up quickly. Come on, I¡¯ll teach you.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it kinda weird for two guys to dance with each other?¡± Xie Xie asked. He seemed hesitant, but he still walked over to Tang Wulin. Will learning to dance earn me some points with Yuanen?


    Tang Wulin grabbed Xie Xie by the shoulder and led him onto the dance floor.


    Xu Xiaoyan glanced at Gu Yue curiously. ¡°What¡¯s Captain up to? Does he actually like dancing that much?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Gu Yue said softly. ¡°I think he¡¯s acting like this because of what I told him just now. I said that if he dances with anyone else, I¡¯ll break their legs.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s eyes went wide as saucers. ¡°Captain¡¯s just too much! How can he be so two-faced? I feel sorry for Xie Xie.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui shook her head helplessly. She couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the situation.


    In the end, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie didn¡¯t dance together because the contests began. Tang Wulin was picked as Douluo¡¯s candidate for best-dressed gentleman, prince of the ball, and best dance couple alongside Gu Yue. He won the nominations immediately. For the last one, although his dance skills were nothing to talk about, he had been Gu Yue¡¯s dance partner and she was phenomenal!


    Surprisingly enough, despite having hid in a corner the entire time, Wu Zhangkong was also nominated for best-dressed man and prince of the ball. Never did Tang Wulin imagine he would be directly competing with his teacher.

 Chapter 567 - Into the Sea

    Chapter 567 - Into the Sea


    Wu Zhangkong wasn¡¯t Tang Wulin¡¯s only competitor for prince of the ball and best-dressed man. So was Yue Zhengyu. In fact, Shrek Academy yielded several nominations for different categories. Best-dressed lady, for example, flaunted the elegant styles of Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan. As for belle of the ball, Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, Ye Xinglan, and the non-Shrek Lin Yuhan all made the cut. Gu Yue¡¯s dance in particular had been so enchanting that her relatively average physical appearance seemed less so. It made her popular with the crowd.


    The voting came as quickly as it went. In the end, Tang Wulin was crowned the best-dressed gentleman, and he and Gu Yue won best dance couple. Surprisingly enough, Gu Yue also won best-dressed lady. On the other hand, that the Ice Prince Wu Zhangkong won most handsome man was hardly shocking. And a young girl from Star Luo snatched away the win for the most beautiful woman contest.


    Tang Wulin noticed a hint of embarrassment on Wu Zhangkong¡¯s face as he ascended the stage to accept his reward. Even for the dashing Wu Zhangkong, it was his first time experiencing this type of limelight. If not for Elder Cai¡¯s presence, he would have refused to go up.


    The awards themselves weren¡¯t too flashy, merely some local specialties of the Star Luo Empire. But the contest had achieved its purpose. The two delegations were much more at ease with each other now.


    ¡°Your dance was amazing,¡± Lin Yuhan said as she greeted Gu Yue.  ¡°Congratulations on your award.¡±


    A thin smile formed on Gu Yue¡¯s lips. ¡°You were pretty good too.¡±


    They locked stares. Sparks flew.


    Lin Yuhan turned to Tang Wulin. ¡°Wulin, do you have any free time tomorrow? If yes, want to give me some blacksmithing tips? We can hammer some metal in the blacksmithing workshop onboard.¡±


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to answer, he felt a sharp pain at his waist. He coughed awkwardly. ¡°I-I, uh, think I¡¯ll be busy tomorrow. I gotta cultivate and do some other stuff. A-another day maybe.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m in room 521. You can call me through the internal comms line.¡±


    While aboard the ship, there was no reception for soul communicators. They could only call each other through the hardwired lines.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Although unsatisfied with the outcome, Lin Yuhan bid them a short goodbye and left. When she was finally out of sight, Gu Yue removed her fingers from Tang Wulin¡¯s waist.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue just as she did the same. A pause, but their gazes did not falter.


    ¡°Damn, did someone spill some vinegar? It¡¯s getting real sour around here,¡± Yue Zhengyu said as he approached the two, sending a smirk Gu Yue¡¯s way.


    Gu Yue quickly separated from Tang Wulin. She sent a glare Yue Zhengyu¡¯s way. Sharp enough to cut. Regrouping, they enjoyed the rest of the banquet¡¯s performances.


    ?


    In the end, the banquet was an overwhelming success. The members of both delegations were much friendlier towards each other. Which was great, since there were diplomatic representatives from every profession, and naturally quite a few high-ranking members of the military as well.


    A while back, Wu Zhangkong had mentioned to Tang Wulin both delegations possessed quite a few powerful mecha pilots and battle armor masters. Most of those powerhouses came as representatives of academies.


    After his contact with the Imperial Sun Moon Academy, Tang Wulin could tell that they were strong. However, even with an age advantage, they might not necessarily match up to his team. It was unfortunate, to say so the least, that he wouldn¡¯t have a chance to probe their strength any further.


    Back at his cabin, Tang Wulin carefully undressed from the clothes Gu Yue had given him, smoothing out the wrinkles and hanging them neatly in his closet.


    The vivid image of Gu Yue¡¯s lithe body performing her wild and passionate dance popped into his mind. Never had he seen such a side to her before. He found it enchanting, as did everyone else at the banquet. Her dance would be forever etched into his memory.


    After changing into his usual clothes, Tang Wulin felt much more at ease without anything constricting his neck. He pushed open the door to the balcony and let the sea breeze in. His heart relaxed as it brushed against his skin. Tang Wulin took in a deep breath and looked up at the evening sky. Clouds obscured the stars and moon, leaving the sea shrouded in darkness. He could hear the faint sound of waves tumbling along and crashing into the ship¡¯s hull. A peaceful song to calm the soul.


    The world really is amazing! Tang Wulin felt glad that he had come on this exchange trip. Although his trip was just beginning, he had already gained so many new experiences, experiences he never would have dreamed of.


    He placed a foot past the doorway and onto the balcony. He swept his other foot through. Tang Wulin continued on his stroll, ending it to lean on the balcony railing. His eyes flashed purple with the power of Purple Demon Eyes, peering into the watery depths. With the light cast from the ship, he could make out as far as a dozen meters deep.


    Back in class, he had learned that the ocean covered roughly seventy percent of their spherical planet. He found this concept interesting and wondered what other planets apart from Douluo existed. The field of astronomy was fledgling, and scientists were only beginning to peer into the unknown of space with telescopes in recent years. Unfortunately, Tang Wulin had no time to spare to satisfy his interest in astronomy with the burden of cultivation taking up the majority of his time.


    As thoughts meandered through Tang Wulin¡¯s mind, he felt a sudden pressure on his neck and found himself flying through the air the next instant.


    Oh shit! His instincts screamed in alarm and he urged his soul power forth. But he found a mysterious energy enveloping him and cutting off the flow of his soul power. This time, he urged his blood essence to resist, but the force on the nape of his neck sent pain coursing through him that beat down any attempt at resistance.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s numerous brushes with death prepared him for this crisis. Instantly, he calmed his mind. He steadily coaxed his soul power and blood essence to circulate within him and waited for an opportunity to escape, bracing for impact.


    A loud splash. The frigid water surrounded him as he continued to be dragged deeper and beneath the surface. He sank like a stone, his high body density proving to be his downfall. The sea devoured the light around him.


    Unable to breathe, Tang Wulin mustered all his willpower to hold his breath and break free from the hand¡¯s iron grip. But it was to no avail.


    His vision grew dark and his soul power and blood essence slowly churned to a halt. His lungs burned with desire for air while the immense pressure of the ocean depths crushed him from all sides. Am I going to die?


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know who he had offended. But if there was anything he knew, it was that his attacker was far more powerful than him. The gap in strength was so great that any resistance was futile.


    Pretty soon, the water pressure released the remaining thin air in his lungs. Pain built up within him, so much that he could feel it in his flesh, his bones. Could feel it in his being. His blood essence worked in overdrive to endure the burden, but it only delayed the inevitable.


    No! Not like this. I can¡¯t die yet!


    His eyes burst open underwater. Blood essence whipped into a frenzy, from his body a golden aura erupting. Tang Wulin activated Golden Dragon Body. Gone was the sharp pain from his neck. With the power of the Golden Dragon King unleashed, he could endure the water pressure. Scales rippled across the right side of his upper body.


    He thrust his elbows backward while urging his blood essence to flow in reverse. From his elbows unleashed Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. In the same instant, he used Golden Dragon Tyrant Body. His figure flashed iridescent.


    He needed an opportunity. A single opportunity to break free.


    Tang Wulin angled his neck, facing the water¡¯s surface. The ship was still cruising along above him. As long as he could reach the surface, at least one of the numerous powerful people on this diplomatic exchange would discover him and send help.


    He struck his attacker with his elbows. And cried out, the water muffling his voice. It felt as if he had struck a hard metal plate instead. If not for his tough body, Tang Wulin¡¯s bones would have shattered into pieces.


    The hand on his neck pressed down with renewed strength. Luckily for him, Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was still in effect and absorbed all of the transmitted force, converting it into energy. It was his chance. He took advantage of the recoil of Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens to finally break free of the vice-like grip. Slashed his attacker with Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, unleashing five dark-gold streaks of energy.


    This Golden Dragon Dreadclaw combined with a fully charged Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was the most powerful attack he could currently unleash.


    As Tang Wulin tracked the course of his attack, he finally saw his attacker. A man swathed in a dark-gold aura.

 Chapter 568 - Deaths Door

    Chapter 568 - Death''s Door


    If there was one thing Tang Wulin was confident in, it was the might of his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw. Empowered by his blood essence, the ability of the soul bone was undoubtedly the strongest attack in his arsenal. The instant he unleashed it, all the energy his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body stored up, as well as a third of his blood essence. He was confident that this attack would pose a threat to even a five-ringed Soul King.


    But to his shock, his attacker showed no intent to evade.


    The five dark-gold blades of energy crashed into the man and instantly shattered into oblivion. The man¡¯s body, which shone dark gold like a temple, was untouched. Before Tang Wulin could react, the man grabbed him by the throat. This time, he suppressed all of Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power and blood essence.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes quivered as he stared at the man through the dark waters. He¡¯s fine! Completely unscathed! Even against my fully-powered dreadclaw!


    Both Tang Wulin¡¯s mind and body were numb. He knew there was no hope for him. This man was not an existence he could even grovel at the feet of.


    As the sea¡¯s crushing pressure grew stronger and stronger, Tang Wulin¡¯s internal organs quickly sustained damage, a process that was only intensified by his outburst of power. A warm haze enveloped his mind. His consciousness began to fade. Scales still covered the right side of his torso. His blood essence struggled to keep him alive. However, it was being thoroughly suppressed by the man¡¯s grip.


    A bitter smile traced its way on Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth. It¡¯s over, huh? I never thought I¡¯d die in the sea like this. Maybe I¡¯ll become dinner for some marine soul beast. Just some more nutrients for the sea.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s vision faded to black. He couldn¡¯t even see the golden man right in front of him. The tension drained from his limbs and began to float freely. He saw a tunnel shrouded in darkness before him.


    A tempting voice called to him from beyond it.


    However, right before he could cross the threshold, the pressure around his neck disappeared. In his eleventh hour, Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence roared to life. His body burst with power, his blood essence flowed in reverse, and the fog in his mind cleared up.


    Tang Wulin blinked, eyes flickering as his vision return to normal. He groggily scanned the water and managed to catch sight of his attacker jetting up to the surface. He, himself, continued to sink.


    Tang Wulin was sorely in need of oxygen, but adrenaline was pumping through him now. He bit his tongue, using the sharp pain to clear away the last of the cloudiness in his mind. Did he think I was dead? If he really thinks I¡¯m dead, then this is my chance!


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t immediately swim for the surface. Instead he waved his arms in circles to stop his descent and steady himself in the water. He had to wait for his attacker to go farther away before he acted. He couldn¡¯t his attacker discovering him and returning to finish him off.


    Ten seconds later, Tang Wulin¡¯s body ached with excruciating pain. He was on the verge of hallucinating again, so he bit his tongue to clear his head once more. He simply couldn¡¯t wait any longer.


    An ordinary person would have long since died from lack of oxygen and the immense pressure this deep in the sea. However, the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline granted Tang Wulin¡¯s body a godly level of tenacity. This crisis pushed his body to its absolute limit. Tang Wulin was straddling the line between life and death. Wielding a miraculous burst of strength, he filled his arms with all the soul power he had left and desperately swam for the surface.


    Having grown up in a seaside town, Tang Wulin was a skilled swimmer. Furthermore, he was even more buoyant in salt water. By circulating his soul power to make his body lighter as well, he rapidly floated to the surface. As he did, the crushing influence of the water around him began to take effect once more. His vision blurred yet again. On top of that, his body still craved oxygen.


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth. My life is on the line! No matter what, I have to endure!


    In the sea, darkness surrounded Tang Wulin on all sides. He couldn¡¯t even see how far the surface was on this moonless night. All he could do was persevere and continue swimming upward.


    As time wore on, Tang Wulin¡¯s blood essence churned slower and slower. His limbs grew as heavy as lead. It was a struggle for him to even lift his arm up and pull himself toward the surface. The water pressure decreased as he ascended, but his movements still became slower. It didn¡¯t seem to matter how much he swam. The distance between him and the surface was virtually endless.


    Then his body trembled and seized up. He began to spasm. He had no more oxygen to burn. The weight returned to his body. He started sinking once more.


    No! Tang Wulin screamed in his heart. A wave of clarity flooded his mind, and he felt another burst of strength flooding from deep within him. The fourteen remaining Golden Dragon King seals quivered and squeezed out all of the strength hidden inside of him. A golden aura enveloped Tang Wulin and relieved the pain in his gut.


    With this newfound strength, he clad his arms in golden scales and clawed toward the surface with renewed vigor. He was practically soaring through the water. He flailed and kicked toward the surface. He knew this could be his dying spurt of energy. If it was, he had to make use of it. This was his last chance at survival.


    The flood of strength waned quickly. It was nearly impossible for him to refrain from trying to gasp for breath.


    This can¡¯t be the end! It can¡¯t! Tang Wulin roared in his heart. Against all odds, he summoned yet another burst of strength and swam even faster.


    Moments later, he broke the surface with a loud splash. Before he could catch his breath, however, a large wave washed over him and sent him under. He resurfaced in an instant, gasping for breath. He inhaled with such force that it seemed like a veritable gust of wind was being drawn into his mouth. Air surged into his lungs and quickly spread to the rest of his body.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s limbs and organs continued to scream in pain. The sudden ascent from several hundred meters deep in the sea gave him a bad case of decompression sickness. Furthermore, the sudden influx of air only increased the pain.


    Tang Wulin slowly treaded water until he could move into a starfish position and float on the surface of the sea. As he sucked in huge breaths of air, he circulated his blood essence to try and recover.


    This was truly Tang Wulin¡¯s closest brush with death. All he could do now was limply float on the water. Pain stabbed at every inch of his body. It felt like he was being torn apart and remade again each and every moment. But still, he smiled. Pain was proof that he still lived!


    Soon enough, Tang Wulin¡¯s tenacious body was in good enough shape for his blood essence to settle into a smooth flow. With each round of its circulation, the pain tormenting him grew weaker.


    As he stared up at the cloudy, moonless sky, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but laugh hysterically. It looks like I didn¡¯t spend my years eating all that food for nothing! It¡¯s thanks to my powerful blood essence that I¡¯m still alive.


    While Tang Wulin had survived drowning, he knew that his crisis wasn¡¯t over. The ship had already traveled quite far, and if he couldn¡¯t catch up, he would be stranded in the middle of the sea. By then, he would be fated to succumb to fatigue and die.


    Tang Wulin shifted his weight forward and began to sluggishly tread water. He looked around him, and a bitter smile formed on his face. The two ships were nowhere to be seen. Even if had been able to see them, he wasn¡¯t confident that he would be able to catch up to them in his current state. It would be impossible for him to swim fast enough to catch up to such large ships.


    Am I really destined to die in the sea after all?


    It took a huge amount of effort for Tang Wulin to stay afloat because of how extremely dense his body was. Simply doing that was making him more and more tired. At this rate, fatigue was sure to catch up to him and drag him down to a watery death.


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to resign himself to his fate, he caught a glimpse of dark gold flickering in the distance. His eyes went wide at the sight.

 Chapter 569 - The Body Sects Cultivation Method

    Chapter 569 - The Body Sect''s Cultivation Method


    The figure of the man cloaked in dark gold light trod slowly across the water¡¯s surface. His destination: Tang Wulin.


    Shit! It¡¯s that guy! Tang Wulin¡¯s blood went cold. Now that he could see the man clearly, his imposing appearance struck his heart. At around 2.5 meters tall, the man¡¯s stature surpassed humanity¡¯s limits, and his metallic dark-gold aura only added to the striking image.


    I¡¯m finished¡­


    ¡°Who are you? Can¡¯t you at least tell me whose hands I¡¯m going to die by?¡± Tang Wulin croaked out.


    The man disappeared in a flicker of motion, reappearing right in front of Tang Wulin. He lifted the boy out of the water.


    Now that he no longer needed to stay afloat, Tang Wulin felt his body give in to fatigue. The next instant, the two took off into the air at mach speed.


    Huh? Isn¡¯t he going to kill me? Why hasn¡¯t he whacked me yet? Tang Wulin blinked a few times in confusion.


    A few seconds later, the two ships entered his sights. He narrowed his eyes and conserved his strength, waiting for an opportunity to escape as they approached the ships.


    However, before Tang Wulin was fully ready, the man of dark gold accelerated. To the naked eye they turned into a streak in the sky, piercing through powerful winds as they flew. A blink, and Tang Wulin found his feet back on solid ground. Exhaustion caught up with him. He collapsed.


    While prone, Tang Wulin gently caressed the ground and spoke sweet nothings to it, finally appreciating solid ground for once in his life. Even if this wasn¡¯t land per se, but the floorboards of a ship, he was overjoyed to be able to stand on something.


    After a moment of rejoicing, Tang Wulin looked up and realized where he was specifically. The cabin of his balcony. The man swathed in dark gold stood before him. As his shimmering metallic aura faded, it revealed a face all too familiar to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°What¡­¡± Tang Wulin stared at the man, dumbstruck, his eyes on the verge of popping. He blinked a few times, then surrendered to his fatigue.


    The man was Mu Ye. He bent down to swoop Tang Wulin into his arms, on his lips the hint of a wry smile. He brought the boy back into his cabin, stripped off his wet clothes, and placed him on the bed.


    ¡°It looks like my decision was correct,¡± Mu Ye said, traces of admiration in his voice.


    It was all his idea. Mu Ye¡¯s idea. He was the one who had abducted Tang Wulin and tossed him into the deep, dark ocean. He had known about Tang Wulin¡¯s high body density and mass beforehand, but he hadn¡¯t expected Tang Wulin to do what he did. To momentarily throw him off deep under the sea. Rather than a gap, a wide chasm separated their cultivation levels. Yet Tang Wulin had achieved what was virtually impossible.


    Mu Ye had, according to plan, released the boy at a depth that would pose the greatest challenge to Tang Wulin while still maintaining a shred of consciousness. He had meticulously calculated this. It had all been for the sake of testing Tang Wulin¡¯s tenacity and willpower.


    Years ago, Mu Ye had also endured this same trial. He remembered ascending no more than thirty meters before he could no longer continue.


    Throughout the trial, Mu Ye had positioned his red-grade mecha nearby to monitor Tang Wulin. The instant Tang Wulin¡¯s vital signs went critical, the mecha would have swooped in and rescued him.


    When Mu Ye had first reached the water¡¯s surface and observed Tang Wulin through his mecha, he was shocked to find the boy remaining motionless. At first, he thought that Tang Wulin had already lost consciousness. But as he observed closer, he noticed that rather than sinking, Tang Wulin was slowly waving his arms about to keep himself stationary. It was only when he was on the verge of death that he had shot toward the surface. This action did not escape Mu Ye¡¯s understanding. Tang Wulin had been biding his time, waiting for his attacker to increase their shared distance before grasping his opportunity to escape. The ability to remain so calm in the face of death shook Mu Ye¡¯s very bones!


    He had watched silently as Tang Wulin ascended five hundred meters from the starting position, surpassing his personal record. Then Tang Wulin¡¯s organs began to fail. Before Mu Ye could react, a golden aura burst from his body and he accelerated. Not long after, his body shut down once more before he accelerated again.


    Mu Ye¡¯s jaw had dropped lower and lower each time Tang Wulin surpassed his limits. He could hardly believe his eyes when Tang Wulin finally pierced through the surface of the water.


    In the history of the Body Sect, the only person who had accomplished this feat before was its founder. The founder had been trapped under the sea by enemies, which led to his martial soul¡¯s secondary awakening. With his already powerful body martial soul strengthened, he managed to escape the watery jaws of death. Since then, the Body Sect had adopted this life and death crisis as a trial for all new members. How far they managed to ascend would determine their acceptance into the sect, would serve as a marker for their talent.


    Tang Wulin was undoubtedly a godly talent, not just in terms of his physical abilities, but in his willpower as well.


    Although the Body Sect has existed even longer than the Tang Sect, they were never able to grow as great as the latter. A large part of this was due to the savage nature of their cultivation methods. Disciples of the Body Sect needed an immense amount of willpower to endure the torturous training. Without such willpower, they would never be able to persevere and inherit the legacies of the sect.


    Mu Ye thrust his palm into Tang Wulin¡¯s chest and in response, Tang Wulin shuddered. Then Mu Ye rapidly slapped Tang Wulin¡¯s chest dozens of times in the next few seconds.


    A golden aura enveloped Mu Ye¡¯s hands with every slap, each imparting a wisp of golden energy into Tang Wulin¡¯s body, each causing his unconscious body to quiver. The golden aura darkened, and so did the energy infused into him. A network of golden lines rose to the surface of his skin to give off a faint glow. They bore a slight resemblance to his scales, except these lines covered his entire body.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s quivering slowly settled down as time passed, until they could only be described as subtle twitching.


    ¡°He¡¯s even better than I thought. This kid has the most powerful blood essence I¡¯ve ever seen! It was worth it to take him in even if I have to share.¡±


    While unconscious, Tang Wulin felt as if he had entered a giant furnace and was being baked alive. His blood vessels were bursting as blood surged through them, circulating a scorching type of heat. One that made him desire both life and death at the same time.


    The pain eventually subsided and Tang Wulin dove into a deep slumber.


    ?


    At the sound of knocking on his door, Tang Wulin slowly opened his eyes. He was completely drained of strength and could barely open his mouth as he lay there. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    ¡°Captain, it¡¯s time to eat!¡±


    Tang Wulin bolted upright the moment he heard those words. No matter how battered and fatigued he felt, food was worth enduring the pain! He did not think with his brain, but his stomach!


    He hopped off his bed and approached the door, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Naked. He was completely naked. Right there, that was his shiny butt, and over there were his other bits. Last night¡¯s brush with death suddenly burst into mind, the images bright and vivid. He glanced at the balcony door. It was shut. Was it all a dream? No way! That felt too real to have been a dream.


    ¡°Uh, gimme a minute. I¡¯ll be out right away.¡± Tang Wulin quickly washed his face, but didn¡¯t have the strength to lift up his toothbrush. His entire body felt like jelly. After throwing on some clothes, he left his room and was greeted by his friends.


    ¡°What¡¯s with you?¡± Gu Yue asked.


    ¡°Yeah! Captain, why are you so pale?¡± Xie Xie asked, shocked. ¡°You okay?¡±


    Tang Wulin truly cut a haggard figure. Dark bags drooped under his eyes and his skin was as pale as the dead. He even moved as if he were dead too, sluggishly and without any grace. There was not a hint of energy in his usually brilliant eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just ran into some trouble cultivating last night, so I don¡¯t feel that well right now. Let¡¯s get going¡± He walked over to Xu Lizhi, slinging his arm around his friend¡¯s shoulders, his hunger apparent from his gaze. ¡°I¡¯m starving. Lizhi, can you give me some buns to tide me over first?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s expression loosened a bit when she saw Tang Wulin¡¯s typical action.


    Xie Xie snuck over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°Boss, don¡¯t tell me you were having trouble sleeping last night after seeing Gu Yue¡¯s dance? It¡¯s not good to have too many delusions, you know?¡±


    Although Tang Wulin itched to toss Xie Xie overboard that instant, he lacked the strength. All he could do was send a sharp look his teammate¡¯s way.

 Chapter 570 - Supplements

    Chapter 570 - Supplements


    ¡°Looks like I was wrong to judge a book by its cover!¡± Xu Lizhi exclaimed, wiggling his eyebrows. Then with an incantation, he conjured some pork buns for Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin devoured them in a few bites. He stuck his hand out again for more. This scene repeated until they reached the dining hall on the third floor, and by then Tang Wulin had eaten nearly twenty buns.


    The effect of the Recovery Pork Buns was incredible. Tang Wulin no longer felt fatigued, a hint of color finally on his cheeks.


    The dining hall on the ship stretched far and wide, a necessity to accommodate over a thousand passengers eating at once. Every sort of cuisine was available, more than the slim selection offered at the banquet. Cold dishes, congee, eggs cooked in every way, and numerous seafood dishes were arranged along the tables.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s friends made a choice not to sit at the same table as him. They¡¯d learned from the past.


    It was still early in the morning, so only a third of the tables were currently filled. After finding a table in the corner, Tang Wulin immediately grabbed six eggs off a platter and stuffed them in his mouth. A moment later, he heard a rustle at his side. Turning, he saw Lin Yuhan.


    ¡°Wulin? What are you doing here all alone?¡± Lin Yuhan glanced at the group of Shrek Academy students sitting at the next table, her gaze lingering on Gu Yue especially long before returning to Tang Wulin.


    He grunted in acknowledgment of her. But he was too focused on eating to give a full reply. Without the slightest pause, he continued gorging himself.


    At the neighboring table, Xu Xiaoyan nudged Gu Yue. ¡°Big Sis Yue, look,¡± she said, signaling with her eyes toward their captain.


    Naturally, Gu Yue saw Lin Yuhan talking to Tang Wulin as well. However, she simply revealed an amused smile. Watched them without interfering.


    Ten minutes later, horror colored Lin Yuhan¡¯s face, her mouth hanging open. ¡°Y-you sure can eat a lot.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but stare as Tang Wulin inhaled food like a vacuum. His table manners left much to be desired as he wolfed down plate after plate of food. In a couple of minutes, he already finished two-thirds of the food on the table.


    But that didn¡¯t mean he would ignore her. Ever the gentleman, Tang Wulin grunted again in response, though not bothering to utter a single word as he continued stuffing his face. He found that the more food he consumed, the quicker he regained his strength. Sure enough, the best way to recover his blood essence was with food! Unfortunately for him, the food on the ship wasn¡¯t the most nutritious. About average if anything.


    Lin Yuhan swallowed nervously. ¡°I-I¡¯ll go and eat now too!¡± Seeing that Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t paying attention to her, and shocked by the full extent of his gluttony, she quickly retreated.


    ¡°Was she scared off?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked, finally beginning to understand why Gu Yue hadn¡¯t bothered to lift a finger. A Tang Wulin during meal time had tunnel vision. Any attempt to communicate with him proved futile.


    ¡°Eat this,¡± sounded a voice by Tang Wulin¡¯s side, then a large tray was placed down in front of him. Arranged on the tray were fillets of dark blue meat. He counted at least two.


    Tang Wulin raised his head to see who it was. And his eyes popped. Huh? Isn¡¯t this Mu Ye? All his doubts from the morning were cleared now. He had indeed nearly drowned the night before at Mu Ye¡¯s hands. Yet rather than feeling alarmed, Tang Wulin was certain that Mu Ye had a reason for what he had done.


    Still, rather than immediately begin devouring the food Mu Ye had brought like he¡¯d do normally, Tang Wulin cast a cautious look at the chef. ¡°What is this? Don¡¯t think I forgot the pain you put me through last night. I had nightmares because of it!¡±


    Mu Ye gestured to the dish. ¡°This is thousand-year bluefin tuna. Its fat is top-notch and very good for your body. I managed to catch it last night. Go on and eat. I still have more.¡±


    Tang Wulin glanced at the blue fish flesh. It was clearly fresh and untampered with. And quite appetizing to look at. He carefully poked it with his fork, watching as flakes fell off with a slight brush. Lifted a piece into his mouth and slowly bit into it, playing with it with his tongue. To his surprise, the piece of meat had not a hint of a fishy taste. Quite the delicate flavor, in fact. After chewing a few times and swallowing, Tang Wulin felt a warmth permeate through his body and set him at ease.


    This is good stuff! Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up. In his weakened state, what he needed most was nutritious food to restore his energy. Any thoughts of caution were thrown to the wind and he began hungrily devouring the fish.


    By the time Tang Wulin had finished the fish, Mu Ye brought over another platter.  A giant fish head half a meter in diameter sat on top of it. It was roasted to a golden brown, its skin glistening with melted fats. Compared to the previous dish, this one had a stronger fragrance, so much that it drew the attention of surrounding people.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t hesitate and immediately speared the neck region with his fork, twisting the utensil deeper to tear off more manageable pieces of meat. The neck meat tasted heavier than the previous filet, and felt more tender too.


    As he ate, his belly felt warmer and warmer, as if his insides were catching fire. Yet the intense heat granted a sense of comfort.


    ¡°Chef, what¡¯s he eating? How come there¡¯s none of that at our table?¡± asked a man at a neighboring table.


    Mu Ye crossed his arms and looked sternly at him. ¡°They caught the fish themselves and gave it to me to cook. If you have fish, I¡¯ll cook it for you too.¡±


    How could he have fished it on this giant ship? The man glanced at Tang Wulin, baffled, but before he could speak, Mu Ye had already left.


    Almost twenty minutes later, Tang Wulin picked the entire fish head clean. Now his entire body was brimming with energy, and he felt a faint itch in his muscles and bones.


    He rose from his seat and approached his friends sitting just one table away. ¡°I¡¯m heading back first. If you need me, just give me a call.¡± On this long cruise, none of them had any particular plans. The only activity that was a given was cultivation, so he¡¯d most likely be in his cabin.


    When he returned to his cabin, Tang Wulin studied himself in the mirror. He gasped. His skin was incredibly scarlet. Tang Wulin made a beeline for his bed to mediate and adjust his internal energies, now aware of the degree of heat within him.


    Steam rose from his body as he relished in this comforting heat. As it washed away the pain that had made his body its home. The clock ticked on, and his head began to droop. He soon succumbed to drowsiness. While he was asleep, his blood essence flowed through his meridians, reaching every corner of his body. A golden veined pattern rose to the surface of his skin, far brilliant than ever before. With each breath, his blood essence surged.


    When Tang Wulin awoke, his room was dark and the sun had set beyond the horizon. He climbed off his bed and rubbed his drowsy eyes, stretching his stiff body and taking pleasure from the succession of cracks. He let out a satisfied groan.


    Now fully awake, Tang Wulin managed to open his eyes wide and took a moment to decide on his plans. Then he left his cabin and knocked on Gu Yue¡¯s door.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re up?¡± Gu Yue was slightly surprised at the bright-eyed Tang Wulin. He was back to his usual self now, bursting with energy.


    ¡°Yep. Why didn¡¯t you call me for lunch?¡±


    ¡°Jeez. All you know is how to eat. And I did call you, but you were dead asleep and didn¡¯t respond at all. I couldn¡¯t get into your room either. I had to jump over to your balcony in order to check up on you. Seeing your happy sleeping face, I thought it would be better not to disturb you. Really, just what were you up to last night? Why were you so tired?¡±


    Tang Wulin strained a smile and shook his head. There was no way he could explain what had happened with Mu Ye. ¡°I was just tired from cultivating. But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m fine now. Well, let¡¯s go grab dinner.¡±


    Gu Yue stared at him in silence before sighing and going along with him.


    Nothing special happened during dinner and Mu Ye did not appear. Furthermore, Tang Wulin was surprised to find his appetite smaller than usual and only ate about eight people¡¯s worth before he was full. Perhaps his body was too stocked full of nutrients.


    ¡°What are you guys gonna do after dinner?¡± Tang Wulin asked his friends.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go practice mecha designing,¡± Gu Yue said.


    ¡°Making battle armor here,¡± Ye Xinglan said.


    You Zhengyu shrugged. ¡°I think I¡¯ll go for a stroll.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan and Yuanen Yehui decided to return to their rooms to cultivate while Xie Xie planned on cultivating in one of the specialized cultivation rooms onboard.


    Tang Wulin nodded after hearing their plans. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s all head back and do what we gotta do.¡± Although he was worried about his own cultivation, he could only press on with cultivating and pay attention to any changes within himself.


    The moment Tang Wulin returned to his room, his balcony door swung open. In walked Mu Ye. With a wave of his hand, Mu Ye enveloped the room in an aura of dark gold.


    ¡°W-what are you doing?¡± Tang Wulin cried out.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Mu Ye asked.


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times before slowly answering, ¡°What do you mean how am I feeling?¡±

 Chapter 571 - I Must Survive!

    Chapter 571 - I Must Survive!


    Mu Ye scoffed at Tang Wulin. ¡°You damn shameless brat. You just ate a whole thousand-year bluefin tuna, and you got some gall to say you don¡¯t know what I mean? Not even I can just waltz into the ocean and find a precious fish like that whenever I want.¡±


    ¡°It was delicious and very filling,¡± Tang Wulin said, eager to placate him. ¡°Uncle Ye, about yesterday...¡±


    ¡°That was just to test your body¡¯s potential. You¡¯ve proven that you possess even more talent than I ever expected. The reason you were so exhausted this morning was because your body and blood essence were strained to their limits last night. But breaking free of our limits is how the Body Sect cultivates. In order to reach the pinnacle, we need to stimulate our bodies and uncover its secrets. That is the way of the Body Sect.¡±


    ¡°The cultivation method of the Body Sect?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide with astonishment.


    Mu Ye nodded proudly. ¡°The Body Sect has many cultivation methods, but they all serve the same purpose. And that is to unearth the potential hidden within all of us. Have you heard of a martial soul¡¯s second awakening before?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I learned about it in school. The teacher said that under certain circumstances, a martial soul could awaken to new abilities and mutations. Mutations can be good or bad, and their effects are always obvious.¡±


    A thin smile formed on Mu Ye¡¯s face. ¡°Correct. Looks like you¡¯ve been paying attention in class. You should also know how difficult it is to awaken a martial soul a second time. Even for ancient and powerful clans with lineage martial souls, their chance of a second awakening is only a fraction higher than other soul masters¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I learned this in school too,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Well, what I¡¯m about to tell you now is a surefire method to trigger a second awakening,¡± Mu Ye puffed out his chest in pride. ¡°The Body Sect has a secret method to do so. And it¡¯s guaranteed to be beneficial too.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw dropped. He didn¡¯t know much about second awakenings beyond the basics, but what he did know was this: a second awakening could skyrocket a soul master¡¯s strength. A method to guarantee a second awakening was something that he had yet to hear about until now. Moreover, this method of Mu Ye¡¯s even promised it to be beneficial. Such secrets were priceless! He could only imagine how his bluesilver grass could evolve.


    ¡°Uncle Ye, you¡¯re not lying, right?¡± Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but harbor some doubts. This all sounded too good to be true.


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Uncle. Just call me Master.¡±


    ¡°Master?¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s brows jumped in alarm. ¡°I haven¡¯t agreed to join your Body Sect! I¡¯m not betraying the Tang Sect!¡±


    Mu Ye snorted in impatience. ¡°Forget about that. You don¡¯t need to leave the Tang Sect. Either way, you¡¯re joining the Body Sect.¡± In his eyes, he was already making an enormous concession to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°B-but I¡¯m already a member of the Tang Sect,¡± Tang Wulin meekly said. ¡°If I don¡¯t get their permission first, I don¡¯t think I can join another one.¡±


    Mu Ye glared at Tang Wulin. ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± I¡¯m already compromising so much, yet this damn kid¡­


    Finding some ground to stand on, Tang Wulin¡¯s voice grew firm. ¡°That¡¯s right. I can¡¯t betray my sect. I¡¯m sorry Uncle Ye. I¡¯m grateful for your consideration, but I¡¯m already part of the Tang Sect, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Enough nonsense. I don¡¯t care what they say. You¡¯ve already received benefits from the Body Sect already, so you¡¯re one of our disciples now.¡±


    Before Tang Wulin could further retort, Mu Ye grabbed him by the neck and jumped over the balcony.


    He couldn¡¯t be¡­ again? Next thing Tang Wulin knew, they were underwater.


    Grasping on to Tang Wulin tightly, Mu Ye dove toward the depths of the ocean at breakneck speed.


    The water pressure increased explosively, crushing Tang Wulin from all sides. But unlike his last deep sea adventure, Tang Wulin was more prepared today. He didn¡¯t panic. He was as close to calm as he could be. His thoughts clear, Tang Wulin noticed that his body¡¯s resistance to the water pressure was greater than before.


    In an instant, Mu Ye brought them to the same pitch-black ocean level as Tang Wulin¡¯s test of tenacity. After another torturous brush with death, Tang Wulin rose to the surface gasping for breath. His lungs ablaze and starving for air. While he did not come close to losing consciousness, his body was still limp and painful from the unforgiving water pressure. But he survived with much more ease tonight.


    The thousand-year tuna was truly nutritious. Even now, Tang Wulin¡¯s body still hummed with warmth as the tuna supplied him with strength.


    Clad in dark gold, Mu Ye swiftly arrived at Tang Wulin¡¯s side once he emerged from the water.


    ¡°Uncle Ye, are we going back now?¡± Tang Wulin asked, forcing out a smile.


    ¡°The greatest secret of the Body Sect is how we cause a second awakening. In truth, you already know what the method is. To draw out the potential hidden within someone, they must be put through a desperate crisis. Then claw their way to survival. Since you continue to refuse to join the Body Sect, I¡¯ll have to silence you.¡±


    As Tang Wulin gawked, Mu Ye¡¯s figure disappeared in a flicker of motion and reappeared before him. A blink later, Mu Ye firmly grasped his neck. Once more did they plunge into the sea.


    As they descended, the frigid waters rapidly snuffed the little strength that Tang Wulin had managed to recover. This time, Mu Ye brought him even further into the ocean¡¯s cold embrace.


    The moment Mu Ye released his hold on Tang Wulin, no matter how deprived of oxygen and crushed from tremendous pressure he was, Tang Wulin felt his fading consciousness kick back into action. Without a single thought in his mind, he frantically swam for the surface.


    But before he could make it, his vision faded to black.


    ¡°Wake up,¡± sounded a voice, reverberating from all around him.


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes to find himself within his spiritual world. Old Tang floated a short distance away from him.


    ¡°Wake up,¡± Old Tang repeated.


    ¡°Old Tang, what happened?¡±


    ¡°Right now you¡¯re on the brink of death. That¡¯s the Body Sect, for you. Still, their methods are very helpful for training your body, and as long as you persevere, your potential will bloom. No matter what, you can never give up. You just have to push on and unleash your hidden strength. Since you possess the sealed power of the Golden Dragon King, your potential is far higher than anyone could imagine.


    ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s something important I must inform you of. You know those seals on your body? The first nine differ from the last nine. For the former, you will be able to absorb their energy easily enough as long as you have the necessary heavenly treasures. The last nine are a different story, though. Because they possess a frightening amount of energy, when you reach those seals, every seal break will be a life-and-death crisis. Therefore, while the Body Sect¡¯s cultivation methods may be cruel, they are a great way to temper your body and mind in preparation for the last nine seals. Persevere and gain the strength you need for the future.¡±


    Before Tang Wulin could say anything, his vision blurred and he returned to reality. Darkness surrounded him, his lungs screamed for air, and the ocean¡¯s depths crushed him with its pressure.


    I have to persevere! I must survive!


    He bit his tongue to clear his mind. With adrenaline pumping through his veins, he once again frantically swam toward the surface.


    I must survive! He screamed within his heart, refusing to succumb to his weakness. Power surged through his limbs and he pressed on.


    Unknown to Tang Wulin a red mecha quietly watched him from a short distance away. Mu Ye¡¯s red-grade mecha. When it had sensed how close Tang Wulin was to death, it prepared to swoop in as rescue.


    Instead, Tang Wulin jolted back to life right before it could.


    Surface side, Mu Ye watched Tang Wulin through the sensors of his mecha. Astonishment colored his face at the tenacity Tang Wulin possessed. This kid¡¯s potential sure is hard to measure!

 Chapter 572 - 49 Days

    Chapter 572 - 49 Days


    Finally breaching the water¡¯s surface, Tang Wulin felt as if his limbs were made of lead. Even breathing properly proved difficult. He floated belly up upon the sea, face as pale as a ghost.


    Mu Ye walked over to Tang Wulin¡¯s side. Stuck a pipe down Tang Wulin¡¯s throat to help him breathe.


    If one were to peek into Tang Wulin¡¯s mind in that moment, they would scarcely find a thing. Other than the fact that he knew he survived, that was. After what seemed like an eternity, his vision faded to darkness.


    Eventually, breathing no longer seemed like an arduous task for Tang Wulin, and the darkness clouding his vision crept away. Toward the sky he stared, eyes unfocused and misty. The freckled night above was unmarred by clouds. The sea reflected the stellar grandeur upon its gently churning surface.


    As shadows once again brushed the edges of his vision, Tang Wulin came to a realization. Uncle Ye wasn¡¯t really trying to kill me. Before he could contemplate any further, he lost consciousness.


    ?


    The next morning, Tang Wulin woke up exhausted and sore again. Like he had been tied up and dragged through the streets by a car.


    His day took a turn for the better unbeknown to him, however, with Mu Ye delivering a dark purple lobster dish to his cabin. Even the meat was purple, albeit of a lighter sort. Truly bizarre.


    ¡°Are you trying to kill me?¡± Tang Wulin asked in dejection.


    A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Mu Ye¡¯s mouth. ¡°There is no achievement without trials and tribulations. Soon enough, you¡¯ll know that it was worth it to endure this pain.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled meekly. ¡°But uncle, I really can¡¯t join your Body Sect!¡±


    Mu Ye¡¯s expression stiffened upon those words. Forming a blade with his hand, he chopped Tang Wulin on the head. ¡°You stinkin¡¯ kid. Are you trying to make me angry? We¡¯ll sort out that stuff once we get back and you can go ask the Tang Sect for permission. For now, though, you¡¯re going to learn under me. Even if you don¡¯t join the Body Sect, you can still take me as your Master, can¡¯t you?¡±


    Tang Wulin immediately bowed. ¡°Master!¡±


    Mu Ye smiled. ¡°Good. Now hurry up and eat this amethyst lobster. Then go meditate. Don¡¯t bother sleeping. Meditating is more efficient and you¡¯ll be able to feel the changes within your body.¡± After leaving these words, Mu Ye left without mentioning any particular cultivation methods.


    Tang Wulin quickly devoured the amethyst lobster for breakfast and recovered much of his strength. Compared to the tuna from the day before, the lobster brought a refreshing cool to his body instead of a fervent heat. And he felt light as a feather.


    Following breakfast, Tang Wulin holed up in his room and focused on cultivating. It was his first time meditating since the beginning of his nightly ordeals. Perhaps due to the amethyst lobster¡¯s potent meat, he quickly entered a deep meditative state.


    To Tang Wulin¡¯s surprise, he discovered that he had already broken through to rank 39. Only one left step to rank 40. He was finally ahead of schedule. It appeared that facing tremendous pressure under crisis benefitted his soul power cultivation. Naturally, it was in part due to the potency of the foods Mu Ye had been serving him.


    The last time Tang Wulin inspected his body, he found traces of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s energy permeating through his blood, bones, and flesh. This time, the golden energy was thicker and denser. Furthermore, he could peer deeper into the depths of his body for a longer period of time, signifying the growth of his spiritual power.


    Great pain brought great benefits. Tang Wulin understood how amazing the Body Sect¡¯s cultivation method was now.


    Once evening fell, Mu Ye paid Tang Wulin another visit.


    The moment Tang Wulin saw Mu Ye, his body began to tremble. ¡°A-again?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Mu Ye said.


    Tang Wulin cracked a smile, weak and timid. ¡°Master, when do I get to rest?¡± He¡¯d be lying if he said he wanted to go through such a hellish crisis again.


    ¡°Your body should be done condensing by the forty-ninth day. If your martial soul achieves its second awakening by then, we can change your training method.¡±


    ¡°F-forty-nine days¡­¡± Tang Wulin gawked at Mu Ye. ¡°Master, are you sure I won¡¯t accidentally die during this training?¡±


    Mu Ye stared Tang Wulin right in the eye and said, ¡°In the entire history of the Body Sect, only about thirty percent of the people who used this cultivation method have died.¡±


    Tang Wulin returned his stare in wide-eyed silence.


    ¡°Not just anyone can use this method to draw out their potential,¡± said Mu Ye. ¡°If anyone could, the Body Sect would already be ruling the world of soul masters. In fact, very few people can use this cultivation method. They need to possess extraordinarily powerful blood essence and immense potential. The first day tested your potential. If your potential didn¡¯t meet the standard, then we wouldn¡¯t be continuing with this.¡±


    As a result of the Body Sect¡¯s intense and unforgiving cultivation methods and rigorous requirements, it had always faced the problem of finding talent. This didn¡¯t change even in the many millennia that the powerful Body Sect had existed. Every single member of the Body Sect was a powerful expert who could stand at the peak of their generation, but these experts numbered few.


    ¡°Master¡ª¡±


    But Mu Ye grabbed him and dived straight into the ocean. Once again, Tang Wulin endured another trial that nearly reaped his life.


    While Tang Wulin faced life and death situations every night, the civilian passengers spent their time leisurely on the ship, enjoying the assortment of entertainment available to them. But even such entertainment could only hold their attention for so long. As for the soul masters, they spent most of their time cultivating in their cabins.


    Only Tang Wulin passed his days in such a colorful fashion. From the first day of his trials to the sixth day, he progressed from surviving a depth of five hundred meters to one thousand meters. When the twentieth day came, he climbed up from a depth of two kilometers. At that point, he had already reached the bottom of the sea. Being left stranded so deep underwater with no equipment, and surviving through it time and time again, roused Tang Wulin¡¯s potential.


    However, it was clear that Mu Ye could not leave things as they were if he wanted Tang Wulin¡¯s growth to continue. Since they couldn¡¯t increase the depth, Mu Ye decided to introduce new challenges for Tang Wulin.


    The next night, when Tang Wulin was brought to the bottom of the sea, a thousand-year soul beast bolted toward him. He had to reach the surface while dealing with this soul beast. While a thousand-year soul beast would be easy pickings for him on land, it was a completely different story under the sea! At a depth of two kilometers, the water pressure served as a major hindrance to his movements and prevented him from exerting his full strength. The first night he faced a marine soul beast, he nearly died at the one-kilometer mark, wounds bleeding out due to the intense water pressure.


    Fortunately, the defensive power of Golden Dragon Body saved him. In that moment of crisis, Tang Wulin experienced a burst of strength. He whipped out his bluesilver grass to bind the soul beast and let it drag him several hundred meters toward the surface as it thrashed through the water. Once an opening appeared, he killed the soul beast with his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, before swimming the last stretch to the surface


    From that day onward, Mu Ye pitted Tang Wulin against countless species of marine soul beasts. Tang Wulin could only begin to imagine where Mu Ye found them. As each day passed, the beasts he faced grew stronger, and experiencing enough pain to wish for death was a daily occurrence. If not for the nutritious food Mu Ye fed him each day, his spirit would have long since crumbled.

 Chapter 573 - Master, Youre Killing Me Here

    Chapter 573 - Master, You''re Killing Me Here


    The cruise from Douluo to Star Luo was set to take about two months, and that was at speeds only possible with the latest government-researched technologies.


    The curtain of night fell and Tang Wulin prepared himself for the trial that was to come by meditating. With a belly full of food and having already experienced numerous brushes with death, he had nerves of steel. Since he couldn¡¯t escape from these trials, he could only face them directly.


    ¡°Today is the forty-ninth day,¡± Mu Ye said, rousing Tang Wulin from his meditative state.


    Tang Wulin remembered that the first stage of this cultivation method would take forty-nine days total. And now the end was in sight. The forty-nine days had gone by in a flash, an insignificant amount of time compared to the ten years he had spent cultivating prior. However, in this short period, he had struggled on the precipice of life and death daily, and each day had seemed to drag on for an eternity.


    Throughout these crises, Tang Wulin had grown thinner and leaner and sensed the strength building within him. His potential had constantly been dragged out from the depths of his core. The cycle of daily brushes with death and highly nutritious food the next day roused explosive growth. After these forty-nine days, it were as if he had reborn into a different person. Whenever he peered into himself, his bones, muscles, and organs would shine with a golden light. Furthermore, recalling Old Tang''s words, he didn''t need to take medicine to break the fifth seal anymore. His body was sturdy enough to withstand the tyrannical energy. He could smash open the seal whenever he wanted.


    The mere thought of saving money filled Tang Wulin¡¯s heart with motivation. But he didn¡¯t plan on tackling the fifth seal just yet. Once he did, he would have to begin preparing for the sixth immediately after. It was better to milk as much time as he could from these circumstances.


    Old Tang had appeared on the tenth day of the forty-nine day ordeal, assuring Tang Wulin that this extreme training was undoubtedly beneficial to him. That he had to persevere until the end. Since Old Tang pushed him to endure, Tang Wulin could only grit his teeth and push on.


    On the eve of the forty-ninth trial, Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power was highly condensed and at the peak of rank 39. Since the last rank before every new soul ring was the hardest, this was astounding growth in such a short span of time.


    Tang Wulin balled his hands into tight fists. It¡¯s finally here! The last trial!


    ¡°In a sense, today is a major milestone for you. But the time it takes to succeed in the first stage of training isn¡¯t strictly forty-nine days. That number is just the average. If your martial soul reawakens today, then that¡¯s proof that you have the potential to become one of the elites of the Body Sect. If not, we¡¯ll need to start another cycle of forty-nine days, and we¡¯ll continue to do so until you get your second awakening.¡± Mu Ye spoke softly, but his words were like thunder in Tang Wulin¡¯s ears.


    T-this isn¡¯t the end?


    In truth, Mu Ye was bewildered as well, lying through his teeth. As the master of the Body Sect, he naturally held a deep understanding of their cultivation methods and kept a key piece of information from Tang Wulin. That in reality, a forty-nine-day training cycle to reawaken a martial soul far exceeded the standard length.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body simply hid too much power and potential. In the entire history of the Body Sect, there were only a few records of people like Tang Wulin. And they all ended up becoming Limit Douluos. Because of this, Mu Ye¡¯s expectations for him were exceptionally high and he imposed the harshest challenges for the sake of wringing out all of Tang Wulin¡¯s potential.


    But the truth was this: ninety-five percent of the time people experienced their second awakening after ten or so brushes with death. In other words, practically everyone who had been subjected to this forty-nine-day training cycle triggered their second awakening.


    Most people would have had their bodies and wills broken after one session. Since Tang Wulin survived the first night, it was unlikely he would share this fate in the future. Therefore, Mu Ye had thought Tang Wulin would experience his second awakening long ago. Yet forty-eight days later, this still hadn¡¯t happened. This was truly abnormal!


    Generally, anyone who could endure this training and experienced a second awakening possessed a powerful martial soul. The later they awakened, the more powerful their martial soul was. But forty-nine days was usually the limit. Only the last five percent of trainees took this long.


    The other reason why Tang Wulin might not have reawakened his martial soul proved far less glamorous. Perhaps his martial soul was too mediocre and he possessed not the slightest trace of an ancient bloodline. In that case, a second martial soul awakening was more of a pipe dream.


    But Mu Ye refused to believe that. Tang Wulin was an elite of Shrek Academy. He powerful body and willpower surpassed those of his peers. If he couldn¡¯t reawaken, that would go against all reason!


    Now that the final day of training was here, Mu Ye¡¯s mind spun and tossed in a more anxious circle than Tang Wulin¡¯s. For the sake of rousing Tang Wulin¡¯s second awakening, he had prepared a special challenge.


    Tang Wulin coughed, drawing Mu Ye¡¯s attention back. ¡°Master, you shouldn¡¯t underestimate my conviction!¡±


    Mu Ye walked approached him. He touched Tang Wulin on the shoulder, a stern expression crossing his face. Tang Wulin had never seen Mu Ye with such a grave air around him before. ¡°Tonight¡¯s trial is different from the previous ones. I won¡¯t save you if you fail this time. I vow this on my honor as a Titled Douluo. Even if you face death, I will not help you. The only one you will be able to rely on is yourself. Today is the final day and your final trial, so survive!¡±


    Then out of the cabin they flew.


    Mu Ye spent tens of minutes in the air instead of immediately diving into the ocean. Once several kilometers away from the two ships, he stopped above the water. ¡°Survive!¡± He let go of Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin pierced the ocean with a splash, frigid water instantly swallowing him whole.


    After overcoming numerous confrontations with drowning in the ocean, Tang Wulin had grown to be a masterful swimmer. The instant before submersion, he had sucked in a deep breath and expanded his chest to gather as much air as possible. But to his astonishment, Mu Ye didn¡¯t drag him into the ocean¡¯s depths. He rose back to the surface a moment later.


    As Tang Wulin treaded water, he cautiously examined the area to determine his challenge. Thinking back to Mu Ye¡¯s grave expression, he was certain that tonight would be the most dangerous yet, even if it didn¡¯t involve drowning. But no matter what the challenge was, he would face it head on.


    Some time passed and still, nothing happened. Is Master Ye just testing how long I can survive in the ocean? He touched his storage ring. I should be good for ten days and more with how much food I have. Well, there¡¯s plenty of fish in the sea too. Though most are a bit lacking in nutrition.


    Moonlight reflected from the surface of the slowly churning ocean, a shimmer of silver. Then in the distance, Tang Wulin caught sight of strange grey specks. At first, there were only a couple, but soon the number breached into dozens. He flicked his gaze around. Hovering in the sky, Mu Ye shot blast after blast of green energy into the ocean, rumbling splashes following each one.


    What is Master Ye doing? But Tang Wulin soon had his answer. Upon closer inspection, those grey specks were, in fact, shark fins! They cut through the waters like silver arrows heading straight for him. His face paled in horror. There¡¯s so many sharks! It looks like a whole herd! Do I run? Tang Wulin wracked his brains on a way to escape, but it was hopeless. No matter how skilled a swimmer he was, he could not win a race against sharks.


    Tang Wulin finally understood the night¡¯s challenge. He had to survive the onslaught of a shark herd. Furthermore, these were not ordinary sharks, but the fabled great white demon sharks!


    Master, you¡¯re killing me here.

 Chapter 574 - Great White Demon Sharks

    Chapter 574 - Great White Demon Sharks


    Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath to calm himself, to calm the heart threatening to pound through his chest. Then he unleashed a swarm of bluesilver grass around him. A tangle of grass with a ten-meter radius. His bluesilver grass could mask his scent, so he might just be able to avoid the sharks¡¯ notice.


    Sure enough, as the first shark approached within seven meters from Tang Wulin, it failed to detect him. Now that one of the sharks was so close, he clearly saw the immense size.  Each one measured about seven meters in length, their pure white bodies filled with raw power. They raced through the water with such speed that they must have been at least of the thousand-year level.


    In the ocean, great white demon sharks were nearly at the top of the food chain. Not counting the strongest, most reclusive beasts of the deep waters, the great white demon sharks could be considered the lord of the oceans.


    After the first shark arrived, the others soon followed.


    Tang Wulin let out a light sigh. He did his best to regulate the roaring energies within him and suppress them. He had to avoid notice at all costs.


    Just because he found a way to escape the sharks¡¯ detection didn¡¯t mean he was safe. Mu Ye wouldn¡¯t let him off as easily as this. Indeed, before Tang Wulin could plan any further, Mu Ye flew over to him, hovering right above.


    ¡°Get ready,¡± Mu Ye said.


    Tang Wulin glanced up in time to see Mu Ye uncorking a bottle and pouring its contents into the ocean around him. It was red. Red liquid. It was blood.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Tang Wulin shrieked. He exerted all of his strength through his arms to whip the grass around him and send himself flying into the air. Underneath him, giant jaws crashed and ripped at where he had just been. The waters erupted into a frenzy as the sharks thrashed about, hunting for the source of the blood.


    Mid-air, Tang Wulin felt unadulterated horror as Mu Ye dumped another bottle of blood over him, soaking him from head to toe. He really wants me to die!


    Whenever Tang Wulin encountered a crisis, his mind always sharpened. In this situation, he did not waste his time complaining to Mu Ye for he understood the kind of man Mu Ye was. No matter how much he cried out, Mu Ye would uphold his vow and not intervene.


    As he fell, Tang Wulin tore off his blood-soaked clothes, leaving only his underwear to preserve his decency. But there was still blood in his hair and on his face. Before he touched the water¡¯s surface, he had balled up his bloody jacket and pants and threw them far away in opposite directions. Then he shot out his bluesilver grass in Mu Ye¡¯s direction. He no longer gave a damn what he had to do to survive.


    Taken aback by Tang Wulin targeting of him, Mu Ye gave an approving nod. But he wouldn¡¯t let Tang Wulin off that easily. He evaded the bluesilver grass in a flicker of motion then repositioned himself high in the sky. In solemn silence, he watched as Tang Wulin continued to fall into the ocean.


    The bloody clothes finally hit the water and drew the attention of many sharks immediately. However, about eight of them still lingered in place, their eyes watching Tang Wulin¡¯s descent from below the waters.


    A draconic roar erupted from Tang Wulin and his three soul rings appeared around him. The second ring shone and a barrage of grass spears released into the water around the sharks.


    Two of the sharks opened their mouths, each unleashing a mass of white energy.


    In an instant, the bluesilver grass disintegrated. With a swish of its powerful tail, one of the sharks propelled itself into the air not long after. It blasted toward Tang Wulin with its jaws wide open, exposing rows of razor-sharp teeth.


    But before the shark could reach him, a single strand of golden bluesilver grass bolted into the shark¡¯s mouth. As soon as its jaws crashed down on the grass in a heavy bite, Tang Wulin exerted his tyrannical strength and reeled the shark toward him. Two golden soul rings appeared around him, golden scales manifesting on his body. His right hand transformed into a dragon claw, and he sent a iron-hard punch into the shark¡¯s skull until he was arm-deep in brain matter. Eyes shining with determination, Tang Wulin tore apart the shark from within with the help Golden Dragon Dreadclaw. The ocean around him scarlet, thick with the scent of blood and flesh.


    Using a piece of the carcass as a springboard, Tang Wulin kicked off to the side, dodging the sharks fighting over the flesh of their fallen comrade. Although the sharks were all part of the same herd, the lessons in class had taught Tang Wulin they could indulge in cannibalistic behavior.


    Flying through the air, Tang Wulin released strand after strand of bluesilver grass in an attempt to plunge swiftly into the ocean.


    A hundred meters below the sharks, Tang Wulin quickly rubbed out all the blood in his hair. Thankfully, the sharks were far more interested in the carcass than that little bit of blood. This was the correct thing to do: Tang Wulin had no chance of escaping the sharks and their keen sense of smell if any blood lingered on him. All he could do now was hide and wait for an opportunity.


    Now that Tang Wulin had cleaned the blood off, he used his bluesilver grass to propel himself back out of the ocean. He randomly picked a direction and dashed over the surface of the water.


    A hint of surprise entered Mu Ye¡¯s face. After watching Tang Wulin kill soul beasts in the ocean for forty-nine days, he was impressed by Tang Wulin¡¯s strength. No matter what situation this kid runs into, he always manages to remain calm and choose the best path. As expected of a student of Shrek. This kid really is a little monster. Mu Ye¡¯s expression hardened. But if he thinks he can overcome this trial as easily as that, he¡¯s gravely mistaken.


    As the sharks fed on their fallen comrade in a frenzy, one of them lifted its head and looked at the sky. Compared to the rest it was significantly larger, with a fierce silver pattern running down its back. Its dorsal fin quivered before the shark shot off in Tang Wulin¡¯s direction.


    Once it had arrived at the location in which Tang Wulin had rid his hair of blood, it paused. Then it accelerated on Tang Wulin¡¯s tail like a hound hot in pursuit.


    Yet that wasn¡¯t the last of his bad luck. The other sharks quickly took notice and raced to follow the larger shark. Together, the speeding sharks formed a white wave.

 Chapter 575 - The Tricky Battle with the Shark King

    Chapter 575 - The Tricky Battle with the Shark King


    Mu Ye had tailored Tang Wulin¡¯s trial using his deep understanding of the world¡¯s numerous soul beasts and heavenly treasures. The blood he had poured onto Tang Wulin came from the veins of an abyssal demon whale, another lord of the oceans and an age-old enemy of the great white demon sharks.


    Abyssal demon whales moved in larger pods, but their overall population was far lower than that of great white demon sharks. Their blood had a particular quality that made it exceedingly difficult to wash off, and when interacting with powerful blood essence, its scent would grow even stronger.


    As expected, the shiver of great white demon sharks recognized their natural enemy and would not relent until they were totally annihilated.


    Tang Wulin skipped along the surface of the water, occasionally sparing a backwards glance. When he saw the sharks in hot pursuit, the distance between them shrinking, his face contorted in premonition of what they would do to him. He didn¡¯t expect the scent of the blood to linger on him after he had carefully washed it off!


    For the sake of survival, Tang Wulin was forced to make a difficult choice: flight or fight.


    It was clear that running away would only delay the inevitable. Empty ocean surrounded him as far as the eye could see. Caught in the middle of the large expanse of water, there was no way he could outrun sharks. There was no escape.


    His only chance at survival was to fight! As long as he killed all the sharks, he would be able to survive! Tang Wulin resolved himself to make his stand. His eyes flashed purple and he immediately had a count of how many sharks there were. Of how many he had to slaughter. Forty-seven in total, excluding one he ripped apart earlier. The shark at the head of the shiver was over ten meters long, body glistening with silver. It was likely a ten-thousand-year great white demon shark and his greatest threat.


    If he were on land, Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t fear facing tens of thousand-year soul beasts alone. But it was a different story in the ocean, especially since this was a ten-thousand-year soul beast.


    I have to go all in! Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shone. He sucked in a deep breath then threw out his right arm. A mass of yellow shot out from his storage ring to form his yellow-grade mecha.


    Tang Wulin spared a glance at the impassive Mu Ye watching from high in the sky before he whipped his bluesilver grass into the water, propelling himself into his mecha. The lights on the mecha instantly lit up and the jets on its back spewed out flames, blasting it in flight.


    The sharks lost Tang Wulin¡¯s scent as he climbed the sky and their pursuit slowed. However, Mu Ye appeared in front of Tang Wulin¡¯s mecha in a flicker while in his own. ¡°Come out. Or do you want me to destroy your mecha and throw you back down?¡± He did not take kindly to Tang Wulin¡¯s tendency to bend the rules and exploit loopholes.


    Even while facing a red-grade mecha, Tang Wulin remained calm. He had long since predicted this. He hadn¡¯t summoned his mecha to escape, but to give himself a moment to prepare. As Mu Ye had been speaking, Tang Wulin stuffed his mouth full of the emergency food he stocked in his mecha. Then he feigned panic and said, ¡°I-I¡¯ll jump! Don¡¯t destroy my mecha!¡±


    The food held in reserve in his mecha were actually leftovers of the heavenly treasures from Mu Ye he had hoarded. Full of nutrition, they instantly restored his energy.


    After stuffing the last bit into his mouth and swallowing, Tang Wulin felt as prepared as he would ever be. He took in another deep breath and opened the cockpit.  He jumped out. His body brimmed with energy, eager to wreck these sharks.


    As Tang Wulin plummeted toward the ocean, his mecha disappeared back into his storage ring in a yellow flash. He narrowed his eyes at the fast approaching water as scales rippled into existence along his torso, his breathing growing deep and measured.


    The moment Tang Wulin pierced the water, he shifted his body to not dive any deeper and remain near the surface. His combat strength was greater there.


    The great white demon sharks instantly caught his scent. The leader of the shiver broke into a sprint toward him and the rest of the sharks immediately followed.


    Clad in golden scales and eyes blazing purple, Tang Wulin was unable to let the dark ocean waters hide his tyrannical aura.


    As the sharks neared, swift and streamlined, Tang Wulin summoned his gauntlet. It manifested on his right hand in a stream of light. He floated in place motionlessly, eyes sharp with a ferocious edge as he watched the sharks¡¯ approach.


    Soon, his whole body sensed the vicious strength that the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark emitted. It felt his draconic strength as well. It opened its jaws wide, blasting a white beam his way in greeting. At the ten-thousand-year level, soul beasts were as intelligent as humans, so this great white demon shark approached with caution, opening up with a ranged attack.


    Tang Wulin curled into a ball and crossed his arms over his body, placing the right one in the front. He did not evade the beam and simply bore the brunt of the attack. The moment the beam struck him it exploded, sending him flying out of the water. But Golden Dragon Body mitigated the impact, his body shining golden and his blood screaming wild.


    Observing from the skies, Mu Ye nearly jumped in fright. What the hell is he doing? Why did he take the attack of a ten-thousand-year soul beast directly? He subconsciously clenched his fists. He couldn¡¯t let Tang Wulin die, but today was also the forty-ninth day! Tang Wulin¡¯s last chance! Inhaling sharply, he pacified his anxious heart and chose to place his trust in Tang Wulin. He refused to believe a clever kid like Tang Wulin would do this for no reason.


    The ten-thousand-year great white demon shark watched Tang Wulin fly through the air with intense bloodthirst. Several of the other sharks leaped out of the water in hopes of mauling him with their powerful jaws. But the ten-thousand-year shark let out a roar, tail whipping its subordinates back into the water in a blur of movement. No way would it let those lesser beings have such a tasty snack.


    The ten-thousand-year shark propelled itself out of the water and was upon Tang Wulin in a flash. It opened its jaws wide enough to swallow the still-stunned Tang Wulin whole. And the jaws closed!


    Shit! Mu Ye¡¯s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Even as a Titled Douluo, he wouldn¡¯t be fast enough to intervene now. How did it come to this? It wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this! He should be stronger! Even if it¡¯s a ten-thousand-year soul beast, he should still be able to survive. Something¡¯s wrong!


    The great white demon shark was smart and didn¡¯t immediately swallow Tang Wulin. Instead, it bit down to cut him in half with its razor-sharp teeth. If it tore him into two pieces, then he would pose no threat.


    Mu Ye couldn¡¯t bear to watch and shut his eyes as the shark crunched down on Tang Wulin. At the same time, he felt the burden of responsibility weighing on his heart. All he could do now was annihilate this shiver of sharks to avenge Tang Wulin.


    But a miserable howl pierced the air and snapped Mu Ye out of his thoughts. Without him knowing it, he had lowered himself from the skies, hovering closer to the water¡¯s surface. And he had realized it wasn¡¯t Tang Wulin who cried out!


    Mu Ye¡¯s eyes widened. Even with the upper half of his body within the shark¡¯s jaws, Tang Wulin shone like an iridescent mirror, each of his golden scales twinkling majestically.


    The one who had howled was in fact the shark with Tang Wulin in its mouth. It immediately released its jaws, a spray of blood exiting.


    Completely unscathed, Tang Wulin refused to let the shark go. He grabbed its tongue and crawled deeper into the wet cavern.

 Chapter 576 - Ten-thousand-year Soul Ring

    Chapter 576 - Ten-thousand-year Soul Ring


    The ten-thousand-year great white demon shark¡¯s massive body fell into the water with a giant splash and thrashed about, creating numerous powerful waves that killed several nearby sharks. Bewildered, the other sharks retreated as they watched their leader¡¯s frenzy.


    At that moment, blood sprayed into the air. A claw burst from the back of the great white demon shark leader, ripping through bones and muscle like nothing. black ring rose from its body. It was a ten-thousand-year soul ring! Such a ring was extremely rare in the modern era and signified the death of the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark!


    Tang Wulin was undoubtedly no match against a ten-thousand-year great white demon shark in a direct confrontation. Knowing this, he understood that his chances of victory were slim. In order to kill the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark, he had to use unconventional methods and he only had one shot!


    Although the great white demon shark¡¯s attack did put Tang Wulin in a dangerous situation, he was able to mitigate most of the impact by relying on Golden Dragon Body and his gauntlet. It had only been a probing attack from the shark after all.


    It was Tang Wulin¡¯s plan all along to have the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark chase after him and try to swallow him whole.


    He defended against the shark¡¯s powerful jaws with Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, which also filled his body with strength. Although Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was weaker in the ocean against enemies that used ranged attacks, it still granted him domineering power in close quarters. So he had bet on that power to destroy the shark from within.


    And Tang Wulin won his bet!


    By showing weakness, he baited the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark into a situation perfect for a reversal!


    With both a body of steel and Golden Dragon Tyrant body, Tang Wulin¡¯s defensive strength soared and enabled him to endure the bite of the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark. Then from within, he directed all of the energy he absorbed into his claw and unleashed a magnificent Golden Dragon Dreadclaw down the shark¡¯s throat. The innards of a beast were always a weak point and the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark was no exception.


    Tang Wulin ripped his way out of the shark¡¯s body, blood seeping into the water around him. As the dead body of the shark began its slow descent into the dark depths of the ocean, he raised his head to the heavens and roaring his victory!


    Mu Ye watched in shock. He never imagined this outcome. That kid planned this all! He actually killed one of the kings of the sea, a ten-thousand-year great white demon shark!


    However, pain stabbed his body, twisting its daggers especially hard where the shark had bit him. While Golden Dragon Tyrant Body had mitigated most of the damage, it still felt like his bones were broken.


    But none of that mattered. He survived. His blood coursed through him like a raging river and he instantly felt much better.


    The herd of sharks were stunned by Tang Wulin¡¯s roar, but they snapped out of their stupor a second later and immediately raced toward him.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart jumped in alarm. Huh? Why are they still coming after me? I just killed their leader! Normally they would flee after their leader is killed! Aren¡¯t they afraid of death? His face stiffened. This wasn¡¯t part of his calculations. The true nature of great white demon sharks was far different than what he imagined.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s expression was blank even as the first thousand-year great white demon shark approached. He had been able to kill the ten-thousand-year shark, but to do so he had used all his trump cards. Now he only had a third of his strength remaining. Not only that, he was up against over forty thousand-year great white demon sharks! Can I kill them all? No way!


    Up in the sky, Mu Ye gave an amused smile as he muttered to himself, ¡°Damn brat. You thought this was land? Don¡¯t underestimate the bloodthirstiness of great white demon sharks! In their eyes, everything is just food to improve their strength, even other great white demon sharks. The corpse of their leader is a treasure to them. You didn¡¯t understand their nature at all.¡±


    Wholly unaware of what Mu Ye had muttered, Tang Wulin gathered his wits as the sharks descended upon him.


    Beams of light flew toward him in such numbers that it was impossible to evade.


    Tang Wulin dove back into the water and dragged the sinking ten-thousand-year shark¡¯s corpse in front of him. Its body trembled as light beams smashed into its flesh one after the other. Although it was dead now, the corpse of a ten-thousand-year soul beast was not to be underestimated and managed to hold up long enough under the barrage to let Tang Wulin escape into the water.


    The herd of sharks dashed to the carnage of flesh and bones a second later. To Tang Wulin¡¯s surprise, most of the herd completely ignored him. His eyes went wide in horror the next moment. Holy shit! They¡¯re eating their leader! Damn savages! He finally understood the nature of these sharks. A smile spread on his lips as he realized what a boon this was for him. With this, he wouldn¡¯t have to face the entire herd of sharks.


    Tang Wulin spread out his bluesilver grass and used it to propel himself out of the water. The further he could get away from the mangled remains of the ten-thousand-year shark, the higher his chances of survival.


    The ocean, dyed crimson with the blood of the ten-thousand year shark, soaked into Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass as he skipped along the water¡¯s surface. Under the pale moonlight, he looked like a demon skirting along the water.


    A shark broke off from the rest of the herd and chased after Tang Wulin.


    Stealing a glance back, Tang Wulin summoned his hammers in a flash of silver and threw them at the shark pursuing him. The hammer slammed right into its head and instantly knocked it unconscious. He sent out a strand of bluesilver grass to retrieve the hammer and continued gliding across the water away from the herd.


    Before Tang Wulin could move much further, the surrounding water began to boil angrily. Numerous jets of water shot toward Tang Wulin and the moment the resulting waves washed over him, he felt his body go rigid and the shining scales of Golden Dragon Body disappearing.

 Chapter 577 - Martial Soul Evolution

    Chapter 577 - Martial Soul Evolution


    Shit! Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thrashed against his chest as a jet of water slammed into him.


    Great white demon sharks were not called the lords of the sea for no reason. They had just unleashed a bombardment of Demon Soul Waves at Tang Wulin. The signature move used to restrain and devour their prey.


    Tang Wulin was actually quite lucky. If the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark hadn¡¯t underestimated him and got itself killed, Tang Wulin would undoubtedly die to their current combined assault. Under the effects of the Demon Soul Waves, he was forced into a kneel.


    As jet after jet of water struck him, Tang Wulin coughed up mouthfuls of blood, the wounds from his battle with the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark flaring open. He felt a flame eat at him from within, his blood essence rampaging and his life approaching its end.


    A thousand-year shark larger than the rest of the herd waited in the waters right below Tang Wulin, its eyes shining with eagerness as it watched him fall. When he was only a couple of meters above the water, it leaped out and opened its maw wide, projecting a Demon Soul Wave at him as it tried to swallow him whole.


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and prepared himself. Just before this second wave made contact with him, he unleashed his bluesilver grass and wrapped himself in it like a cocoon. Since his blood essence was being suppressed by the Demon Soul Wave, he could only rely on his martial soul.


    The instant the wave struck him, Tang Wulin¡¯s body went stiff. Fortunately, the cocoon of bluesilver grass shielded him from being torn to pieces by the shark¡¯s razor-sharp teeth. Taking this moment of reprieve, he focused on regaining control of his blood essence.


    However, the shark pressed down with its jaws and exerted crushing force through the cocoon, shredding the outer layer of grass. Every strand of bluesilver grass shone with tenacity as they fought against the shark¡¯s jagged teeth. But in the end, they were merely bluesilver grass. They were no match against such mighty jaws.


    A shark¡¯s greatest weapons were its dagger-like teeth and great white demon sharks wielded the best of such weapons.


    Tang Wulin could feel his bones grinding together under the force of the shark¡¯s jaws. It tossed up waves in his blood essence¡¯s flow. Under this intense pressure, his blood essence surged to his brain and his body flushed crimson.


    Unable to bite its prey no matter how hard it tried, the great white demon shark pulsed with rage. Once again it opened its maw wide. Clamped down.


    Tang Wulin reached his limit. He could not endure against these attacks any longer.


    Mu Ye sighed. In this situation, however, he had plenty of leeway to save Tang Wulin. In a flicker of movement, he appeared beside the shark attacking Tang Wulin¡¯s cocoon. Raised his hand, preparing to strike the shark. But before Mu Ye did, he noticed strands of golden bluesilver grass twisting out of the cocoon. This kid still has an ace up his sleeve?


    Mu Ye hesitated from intervening. This was Tang Wulin¡¯s last chance to reawaken. As long as there was even a glimmer of a chance of that happening, he dared not meddle. If Tang Wulin failed today, then he would not be qualified to join the Body Sect and inherit the sect¡¯s legacies.


    The shark opened its mouth wide and chewed down once more, tearing away the remaining bluesilver grass. It left behind only the shining golden strands. Suddenly, those golden strands flared with life, so bright that they even blinded the sharks watching from the water.


    The thousand-year shark biting Tang Wulin froze in place, giving Mu Ye a clear view at the cocoon. All that remained of the cocoon were golden strands of grass. However, numerous strands frantically grew out of it, piercing the shark¡¯s body and swarming outward.


    A frenzied aura brimming with life burst from the cocoon as the strands of grass dipped into the sea, sending ripples along the surface. The golden bluesilver grass shone resplendently gold as they drained the bloodied waters of its crimson, turning the water clear as crystal.


    The cocoon repelled the shark, breaking its grip on the cocoon¡¯s surface. Then golden strands of bluesilver grass whipped out of the cocoon to form a whirling ring around it. The intense waves of life energy coming from the cocoon spread and pacified the frenzied sharks. Now they sat still in the water, calmly watching the cocoon rise higher into the air as more and more golden strands of bluesilver grass sprawled out of it.


    He¡¯s done it! Mu Ye¡¯s eyes shone bright with joy. The only possible way for a three-ringed soul master to unleash such might was with a second awakening! On the final day, the forty-ninth life-or-death crisis, Tang Wulin finally reawakened!


    Even with Mu Ye¡¯s immense strength and wealth of experience, he couldn¡¯t stop his heartbeat from accelerating. An awakening on the forty-ninth day meant Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline was of the highest grade, possessing unimaginable potential! What is it? What will his awakening bring?


    As the bluesilver grass spread further, its golden glow grew in intensity. Although the grass was primarily blue, that golden glow came from its shining golden veins.


    The strands of grass were visibly growing thicker by the second and their veins clearer and clearer. A change was becoming apparent in the golden veins themselves, growing more concentrated and dense. Blue scales were also forming on the surface of the grass, each reminiscent of the scales on Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon arm.


    What sort of second awakening is his bluesilver grass hiding? Is it the legendary Bluesilver Emperor? Mu Ye watched with anticipation.


    In all of history, there was only one person who awakened his bluesilver grass as the Bluesilver Emperor, and in the twenty thousand years since that fabled figure appeared, every person still knew and spoke of him. He was the man who led soul masters in a rebellion against the Martial Soul Hall and defeated the ascended leader of the hall, Bi Dong! He was the leader of the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters, founder of the Tang Sect, and the most respected soul master in all of history. The Thousand Hands Douluo, Tang San!


    Tang San had possessed twin martial souls and his primary one was bluesilver grass. Later on, it had evolved with a second awakening into the Bluesilver Emperor, paving his way to godhood.


    If Tang Wulin also awakens the Bluesilver Emperor, his name will go down in history! Excitement blazed within Mu Ye¡¯s heart. The Bluesilver Emperor hadn¡¯t been seen in so long and no one in the modern era knew the true extent of its power or its unique characteristics. Since Tang Wulin was Mu Ye¡¯s disciple, his own pride, and by extension, the Body Sect¡¯s pride, Mu Ye could only desperately hope for a miracle.


    When Tang San had shone as a peerless star throughout Douluo, the Body Sect had yet to exist.


    As the cocoon glowed brighter, its aura of might ascended to the heavens. Then the golden cocoon slowly unraveled, revealing Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s entire body was flushed red like a lobster as he floated in the air, eyes shut tight. An aura of mingling blue and gold enveloped him, making him seem an extension of the golden bluesilver grass. Enormous strands of bluesilver grass blossomed from his back like a giant tulip. The blue-gold aura flared and the strands of grass grew as thick as an adult¡¯s arms, the scales running along their length solidifying. Three purple soul rings appeared around Tang Wulin, adding a faint purple hue to the blue-gold aura.


    The veins within the grass finally finished merging into what appeared to be a golden spine. It truly looked like a blue vine with a golden spine and golden-blue scales. This was a completely new type of bluesilver grass, or perhaps even the Bluesilver Emperor!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body emitted a golden aura now as well, rapidly growing from a faint haze to a resplendent glow. Scales appeared all over his body and his aura flared once more, a mysterious force of attraction centered on his body appearing. That force spread and grasped on tight to its target, the black soul ring lingering near the remaining pieces of the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark. Then reeled the soul ring back to Tang Wulin.


    He¡¯s fusing with the soul ring? He broke rank 40? Mu Ye¡¯s eyes went wide.


    Indeed, Tang Wulin had been on the verge of breakthrough during this trial, finally succeeding thanks to this second awakening!

 Chapter 578 - Evolution!

    Chapter 578 - Evolution!


    Although Mu Ye was uncertain if the soul ring of the ten-thousand-year great white demon shark suited Tang Wulin, he didn¡¯t dare intervene now. It was a natural ten-thousand-year soul ring, after all! It would not burden Tang Wulin¡¯s spiritual power, unlike artificial soul rings. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had slain this beast himself and it was best for him to absorb its energies.


    The black soul ring flew over to Tang Wulin, gently descending upon his head.


    Tang Wulin possessed spiritual power at the Spirit Sea realm and a mighty body. Considering this and his unyielding nature of spiritual power, Mu Ye was wholly confident in his ability to absorb a ten-thousand-year soul ring. Especially since Tang Wulin had undergone his second awakening.


    Obtaining this ring as his fourth would be quite the achievement and lay a solid foundation for the future. And because great white demon sharks were powerful beings, their soul rings could be very beneficial. The only question was how compatible its ring would be with his martial soul.


    That Tang Wulin could experience this second awakening after forty-nine days of hardships was a testament to his tenacity. Even the previous master of the Body Sect had only endured until the twenty-eighth day before reawakening. Since the torment of the devilish training increased exponentially with each day, it was clear how much potential hid within Tang Wulin and how unyielding his will was.


    To Mu Ye¡¯s astonishment, Tang Wulin¡¯s spirits would always recover after a satisfying meal, even if he had previously endured torturous training enough make even those with an iron will wish for death. Unlike ordinary people, who would grow dispirited as the days dragged on, Tang Wulin found his stride after a shaky start, his bravery increasing by the day. He even seemed to enjoy the challenge by the end and showed no signs of resentment toward the training.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body was truly amazing. Although he was fueled by heavenly treasures, his body had to be strong enough to digest those treasures for that to matter anyway.


    The black soul ring finally touched Tang Wulin¡¯s head, pride painting Mu Ye¡¯s face as this happened. The fusion process began.


    Suddenly, a roar thundered out from the depths of Tang Wulin¡¯s being. From his forehead came a small figure, dashing out to intercept the black soul ring.


    What¡¯s going on? Mu Ye¡¯s eyes went wide in bewilderment. A phantom draconic beast about the size of Tang Wulin¡¯s head, its legs thick and its tail long. No matter how he looked at it, it was a Tyrant Dragon out of the ancient legends!


    Mu Ye knew full well that Tang Wulin¡¯s first spirit soul, Goldsong, was originally a defective spirit soul painstakingly raised to the thousand-year level. There was no way this was Goldsong. Before Mu Ye could digest what he was seeing, the phantom Tyrant Dragon spread its mouth wide, leaping to engulf the black soul ring, chewing a few times before swallowing. Not a trace of the soul ring remained.


    It ate the soul ring? What the hell? As knowledgeable as he was, Mu Ye had never seen or heard of anything like this!


    The Tyrant Dragon let out a burp then roared toward the sky, hopping up and down on Tang Wulin¡¯s head in excitement. In the blink of an eye, it left Tang Wulin and transformed into a behemoth over sixty meters tall. A domineering aura exploded from its form, striking terror into the hearts of the surrounding great white demon sharks. None dared approach this tyrant.


    A mist of rusted gold flowed out of the dragon¡¯s body to envelop Tang Wulin. His bluesilver grass instantly absorbed the mist upon contact and sent its mystical energy along its length, funneling the energy into his body.


    The Tyrant Dragon let out another roar in exaltation.


    Mu Ye was dumbstruck. Once again, he couldn¡¯t fathom what he was seeing. Where the hell did that Tyrant Dragon come from? It resembles a spirit soul, but I¡¯ve never heard of someone having an extra one before breaking through!


    The enormous body of the Tyrant Dragon gradually shrank, and as it did, the strands of grass deepened in color, transforming from a bright blue to a shade of sapphire. They shone lustrously, the veins within each strand taking on a dark-gold hue.


    As Mu Ye stared at the sight in astonishment, his thoughts ran wild. It really is a Tyrant Dragon spirit soul! I can¡¯t believe it! A weak martial soul like the bluesilver grass is fusing with a Tyrant Dragon spirit soul! No. His martial soul isn¡¯t bluesilver grass anymore. It¡¯s Bluesilver Emperor! The only way it could fuse with the Tyrant Dragon is if it¡¯s the Bluesilver Emperor! But I wonder what sort of soul skill the Tyrant Dragon will grant him?


    It¡¯s unfortunate though. Doesn¡¯t he still have his bloodline soul skills? It would be far better if the Tyrant Dragon fused with his bloodline instead. It¡¯s a perfect match with a draconic bloodline after all! Really though, why did a willful spirit soul like that choose him? Joy welled up within Mu Ye the more he tried to comprehend what was happening. However, he was certain of one thing: he had been absolutely correct to choose Tang Wulin to inherit the Body Sect¡¯s legacies.


    An inky black soul appeared beneath Tang Wulin¡¯s feet. It rose, revolving around him. From his body rolled off a wave of renewed might. After enduring numerous hardships, he finally became a four-ringed Soul Ancestor, the last of his team.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s aura continued to grow stronger while vines of his Bluesilver Emperor dipped into the water. After fusing with his fourth ring, they rapidly grew until each strand was as thick as a man¡¯s thigh. In light of these changes, there was no doubt that his martial soul had evolved.


    The Bluesilver Emperor and a Tyrant Dragon were an unlikely combination, but with Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline of the Golden Dragon King bridging the two contrasting powers, he was able to perfectly fuse them together.


    Mu Ye sighed in awe. From henceforth, no one would dare call Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul weak. It looked like his fourth ring was an all-around power boost type. His eyes shone as he observed.


    The radiant aura around Tang Wulin subsided and he slowly opened his eyes, a chilling light shining within them.


    A gasp involuntarily left Mu Ye¡¯s lips as he saw Tang Wulin¡¯s pupils. They were erect slits just like a real dragon¡¯s, brimming with bloodthirst. But that ferocity only lasted a moment before his eyes returned to normal. That¡¯s probably because he just fused with the Tyrant Dragon. He should be fine after some rest.


    Tang Wulin could sense all the changes within him clearly. His body burst with power and his bluesilver grass was no longer as thin and frail as before. Each strand was as powerful as his own limbs now.


    Only now did he realize where the Tyrant Dragon had disappeared to during the day of their encounter. It had submitted to his majesty and hidden within him, waiting for the day he broke through to become his second spirit soul.

 Chapter 579 - Bluesilver Emperor

    Chapter 579 - Bluesilver Emperor


    The Tyrant Dragon¡¯s influence extended far beyond Tang Wulin¡¯s martial soul and new soul ring. It roused his blood essence to greater heights of power, creating waves of might that slammed into his fifth seal.


    Tang Wulin grabbed the reins of his body quickly and pacified his blood essence.  However, the damage was done. The fifth seal was looser than before. He didn¡¯t need to ask Old Tang to know that the delicacies Mu Ye had been feeding him these last forty-nine days were treasures, treasures packed full of nutrition and provided the fuel needed to break the fifth seal at his discretion.


    Now that he had four soul rings, Tang Wulin¡¯s strength had skyrocketed. Especially since his bluesilver grass awakened once more!


    In the past, Tang Wulin¡¯s greatest power was his Golden Dragon King bloodline, especially when compared with his meek bluesilver grass. However, now that his bluesilver grass had evolved into the Bluesiilver Emperor, he had another potent weapon in his arsenal. If he were to face the herd of great white demon sharks again, he was confident that he could annihilate them completely.


    With four soul rings, he also met the final qualification necessary to become a sixth-rank blacksmith. It also meant he had the strength necessary to become a one-word battle armor master.


    The ten-thousand-year Tyrant Dragon spirit soul at his disposal, Tang Wulin could cultivate until seven rings without needing to find another spirit soul.


    I finally did it! It¡¯s going to be a lot harder to cultivate my soul power from now on, but I have to persevere. At least my martial soul awakened a second time. Plus, I should be able to cultivate as fast as the others now. I¡¯m not even fifteen yet, so I¡¯ve got plenty of time.


    At his urging, strands of bluesilver grass swarmed out onto the sea and propped him up in the air.


    ¡°Teacher,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    A smug smile formed on Mu Ye¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯ve finally experienced your second awakening. How do you feel?¡±


    Tang Wulin beamed. ¡°Great! That was the end of the training right? Am I free now?¡±


    Mu Ye nodded. ¡°For you, the hardest part is over. The next phase of training will be much easier.¡±


    A crack appeared in Tang Wulin¡¯s smile. ¡°T-teacher, I¡¯ve already been training for so many days. How about you give me a few days off?¡±


    ¡°Practice makes perfect. Slacking off won¡¯t do you any good. You think resting will benefit you when you¡¯re in the prime of your youth? Well, fine. I¡¯ll let you have the rest of the night off. But that¡¯s it.¡± In a blur, Mu Ye grabbed Tang Wulin and sped through the skies, their destination the ships.


    The lustrous golden hue of the bluesilver grass faded as they flew and the grass withdrew into Tang Wulin¡¯s body.


    ?


    When Tang Wulin awoke from meditating the next morning, he was greeted with hints of sunshine peeking through the window. He rushed over to the balcony just in time to absorb the first light over the horizon, the morning purple flash.


    He was astonished by how different he felt. His bluesilver grass truly had evolved into the Bluesilver Emperor. He could even feel a connection to the plants in the ocean now, which made even the ocean a suitable cultivation environment for him. Furthermore, his base cultivation speed had grown at least three times faster. Is this what having a powerful martial soul is like? I endured forty-nine days of hell for this, and it was totally worth it! I feel amazing! Gratitude toward Mu Ye filled Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. Without Mu Ye, he never would have experienced this.


    Tang Wulin soon finished cultivating his Purple Demon Eyes for the day. The sun hung well above the horizon now, coating the ocean with a golden warmth.


    Currently, they were two-thirds of the way to Star Luo, growing closer by the second. In the recent days, the government officials often organized social events to foster friendship between the two delegations and for diplomats from both parties to gradually become familiar with each other.


    Just as Tang Wulin walked out his door to invite Gu Yue out for breakfast, the door of the cabin across from his opened as well. Xu Xiaoyan stepped out, and when she saw Tang Wulin, astonishment colored her face. ¡°Captain, you¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°What¡¯s up Xiaoyan? Why are looking at me like that? Don¡¯t you recognize me?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not it! There¡¯s just something different about you today. Your skin looks even smoother than normal. You¡¯re practically sparkling! And there¡¯s this aura about you that¡¯s kinda spooky.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin was taken aback, consciously making an effort to subdue his aura.


    The moment he did this, Xu Xiaoyan relaxed her shoulders. ¡°Oh.  That¡¯s better.¡±


    Tang Wulin scratched his head. ¡°I made a breakthrough last night so I haven¡¯t had a chance to practice controlling my aura yet. I won¡¯t let it leak next time.¡± Unknown to Tang Wulin, fusing with the Tyrant Dragon spirit soul granted his aura a frighteningly domineering edge. However, the effects of fusing with a Tyrant Dragon spirit soul normally wouldn¡¯t have been so great if not for the synergy with his Golden Dragon King bloodline. Although he couldn¡¯t feel this change, one look and it was clear for Xu Xiaoyan.


    ¡°Breakthrough? Captain, you¡¯re finally rank 40?¡± Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s smile was warm and bright, full of joy.


    Tang Wulin coughed. ¡°What do you mean finally? You calling me slow?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan nodded and giggled as she fled.


    Gu Yue had overheard them from her cabin and came out on her own. The rest of the group soon left their rooms as well.


    She made her way toTang Wulin¡¯s side. Stared at him in astonishment. ¡°You broke through that fast?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I worked hard to catch up to you guys!¡±


    Ye Xinglan also approached him. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to complete a core these last few days, but I¡¯ve had no success. So I think I¡¯ll work on battle armor for you guys next. Captain, I¡¯ll start with yours. The first piece will be a pauldron for your right shoulder. Should I alternate who I make armor for, or focus on making you a full set first?¡±


    Tang Wulin pondered for a moment, a hand rubbing his chin. ¡°Let¡¯s take turns getting our armor made. It¡¯s better to increase our strength as a whole since we¡¯ve all got our own specialties. Who knows what sort of challenges we¡¯ll face in Star Luo?¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ye Xinglan nodded.


    At that moment, a deafening boom. The ship shuddered with screeching metal. Tang Wulin and his friends quickly grabbed onto whatever fixtures to could find in the hall to steady themselves.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Tang Wulin blurted, eyes darting around in confusion.


    Apart from Xu Xiaoyan who had run off earlier, every Shrek Academy student was gathered in the hall.


    ¡°Everyone, come closer together. Let¡¯s regroup in my cabin and figure out what¡¯s going on,¡± Tang Wulin said as he opened his cabin¡¯s door and ushered everyone in.


    Metallic screeching and rumbles filled the hall again as the ship shuddered once more.


    Tang Wulin was certain the cabin was safer than the hall since it had a balcony, giving them an escape route in case of an emergency.


    The moment they were all inside, Tang Wulin slammed the door shut and dashed to the balcony. He peered outside.


    Horror spread across his face at what he witnessed. The azure sea was tainted deep purple and a giant stream of water tens of meters in diameter burst out of the ocean, slamming into the soul barrier erected around the ship. The impact rippled through the barrier.


    A purple ocean? What the hell is happening? As Tang Wulin gaped at the water, Mu Ye landed on the balcony in front of him.

 Chapter 580 - Vengeance!

    Chapter 580 - Vengeance!


    As Tang Wulin and his friends gawked at Mu Ye¡¯s sudden arrival, Mu Ye said, ¡°The ocean is very dangerous right now. A powerful ocean soul beast is attacking. Stay here and don¡¯t move.¡±


    A shiver ran down Tang Wulin¡¯s spine. Mu Ye was a body cultivator, divine-grade mecha pilot, and rank 94 Titled Douluo. Seeing how he was acting, Tang Wulin could only imagine how terrifying the attacking soul beast was!


    ¡°Teacher, what¡¯s attacking us?¡± Tang Wulin asked, surprising everyone since they all knew this wasn¡¯t the time for questions.


    Mu Ye furrowed his brow. ¡°It looks like a shiver of great white demon sharks, a very large one made up of ten smaller packs. Each pack is led by a ten-thousand-year shark. One of the sharks in the shiver is even bigger than those ten-thousand-year sharks.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped anxiously. He met Mu Ye¡¯s eyes and saw his master¡¯s cheek twitch. Even without being told explicitly, Tang Wulin understood that this attack had something to do with his training the previous night.


    Mu Ye waved a hand and a white porcelain jar appeared. Handing the jar to Tang Wulin, he said, ¡°Eat this.¡±


    Tang Wulin opened the jar and a fishy smell instantly assaulted his nose. He peered in and saw some tawny oil. ¡°This is¡­?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s oil from the head of a ten-thousand-year great white demon shark. It¡¯s a good supplement packed full of nutrients.¡±


    What the hell? Tang Wulin averted his gaze and coughed. Well, this is pretty nice. Teacher is giving me supplements now.


    Without another thought, Tang Wulin raised the jar to his lips and chugged all of the shark oil. It tasted just as fishy as it smelled, but the moment it entered his belly, it filled his body with warmth and brought clarity to his mind. The tension eased from his shoulders as a relaxing, comfortable feeling enveloped him.


    While the students watched Tang Wulin chugging oil, Mu Ye muttered to himself, ¡°I never thought there would be such a gigantic and powerful pack of soul beasts in the ocean. The one that shot the stream of water earlier has to be an abyssal demon whale. Judging from that attack, it¡¯s at least at the ten-thousand-year level. An Abyssal Demon Whale King versus a Great White Demon Shark King. What a mighty showdown!¡±


    After finishing the oil, Tang Wulin turned his mind back to the problem at hand. Now he was certain that the attacking soul beasts were related to them, but he couldn¡¯t understand why Mu Ye acted as if they had nothing to do with them. In fact, Mu Ye seemed to be delighted by the situation.


    Before Tang Wulin could voice his concern, he saw several figures flying out from the ships. Three from theirs, and two from the other. The five people hovered in the air, waves of valiant might rolling off of them. Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide as he recognized one of them. It was the Silver Moon Douluo, Cai Yue¡¯er!


    A chilly breeze swept in through the balcony door, and Wu Zhangkong floated down to the balcony. He furrowed his brow at the sight of Mu Ye. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Mu Ye gestured at his clothes. ¡°A chef.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s directed a cold glare full of pressure at Mu Ye, but Mu Ye shrugged it off and smiled. Despite the chill enveloping him, he paid no mind to it.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s gaze sharpened, and just as he was about to step forward to confront Mu Ye, Tang Wulin blurted out, ¡°Teacher Wu, it¡¯s okay! He¡¯s another one of my teachers.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong blanched in surprise, but the expression only lasted for a moment. He regained his composure, landed on the balcony, and looked to Tang Wulin. ¡°Where¡¯s Xu Xiaoyan?¡±


    ¡°She went ahead to eat breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Find her and bring her back,¡± Wu Zhangkong ordered. ¡°The situation isn¡¯t good. We¡¯re completely surrounded by soul beasts, all of which are quite powerful, and since we¡¯re in open water, they have the advantage.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go find her!¡± Yue Zhengyu exclaimed, immediately dashing off. The moment the door closed behind him, another giant pillar of water shot out of the ocean.


    Floating high up in the air, an elderly man with red hair scoffed at the sight. He instantly disappeared in a blur of movement, only to reappear in front of the pillar of water. With a wave of his hand, crimson light blossomed and struck the pillar of water, reducing it to scattered mist. The man snorted once more, and in the blink of an eye, he returned to his previous position.


    ¡°Humans...¡± a chilling voice came from the depths of the ocean. ¡°You trespass in my territory... You slaughter my clansmen... If you do not hand over the murderer responsible... I will take vengeance upon all of you.¡±


    These words had not been spoken. They did not ring in everyone¡¯s ears. Instead, they resounded in their minds, directly transmitted with spiritual power! Even protected by a soul barrier, everyone on the ship could hear it.


    A gigantic shark slowly rose from the water¡¯s depths and surfaced. Its silver back was a small island unto itself, and its mighty fin had a sharp edge to it. A distance away, a purple whale rose from the depths as well, the true enormity of it becoming clear as its shadow stretched hundreds of meters. With the appearance of these two beasts came an oppressive aura that weighed down upon everyone present. Hundreds more beasts, lesser sharks and whales, broke the surface around their respective lords. At a glance they numbered over a thousand in total.


    ¡°We never killed any of your clansmen,¡± Elder Cai said. ¡°We¡¯re only passing through. If you continue to bar our way, don¡¯t blame me for being ruthless. Do you think just two of you hundred-thousand-year soul beasts can stop us? We humans always need more hundred-thousand-year soul rings anyway.¡±


    Humanity and soul beasts shared a relationship filled with tension. The soul beasts on land had already been hunted to extinction, and with the Spirit Pagoda¡¯s technological advancements on top of that, soul beasts were becoming irrelevant. For the sake of avoiding humans, the soul beasts in the ocean actively avoided land and hid in the darkest depths of the water.


    Shrek Academy had always been in favor of humanity and soul beasts living in harmony, but Elder Cai was no gentle soul. When faced with soul beasts blockading her ship, she would act politely. Even if someone on the ship had slaughtered ocean soul beasts, she couldn¡¯t turn them over.


    Waves of might burst from both the great white demon shark king and abyssal demon whale king. A roar exploded through the air.


    And a massive jet of water shot toward Elder Cai.


    Elder Cai snorted and pointed a finger to the sky. In an instant, the sky grew dim, and a silver moon flashed. Silver light slashed down and destroyed the jet of water in an explosion of mist. Once the ocean spray dispersed and the water settled down, everyone saw that the silver moon was still hanging in the sky. With it, a domineering aura was bursting from Elder Cai.


    She¡¯s a Hyper Douluo? Shock ran through the hearts of everyone presents, including the lords of the sharks and whales, and even and the powerhouses at Elder Cai¡¯s side. There was no mistaking the strength of her aura. She was undoubtedly a Hyper Douluo! Furthermore, she possessed this level of tyrannical strength before equipping her battle armor. It was no wonder she could talk with such arrogance.


    Then Elder Cai¡¯s Soul rings appeared Three purple, three black, and three red! These nine twinkling soul rings revolved around her. The sky darkened further, and the silver moon shone brightly in the sky. As she floated at the boundary between heaven and earth, she seemed to be the center of the world.


    All of the members of the Star Luo delegation gaped at Elder Cai¡¯s majesty. Is this the strength of an expert from Shrek Academy? Shrek really is worthy of being called the greatest academy on Douluo!


    The abyssal whale king and great white demon shark king faced Elder Cai in silence for what seemed to be an eternity. Then the purple hue of the water deepened, and numerous whirlpools appeared around the ships. They rapidly grew in size, soon threatening to swallow both ships whole. Faced with Elder Cai¡¯s threat, instead of fleeing, the two soul beasts decided to fight!


    Elder Cai frowned. The next instant, she appeared right above the shark king and whale king. Streaks of silver flew out from her body and transformed into her battle armor.


    The four other people that had been hovering in the air alongside her were Titled Douluos and three-word battle armor masters as well. They each summoned their battle armors, equipping themselves in flashes of light. It was Elder Cai¡¯s transformation, however, that was the most dazzling.


    Elder Cai¡¯s battle armor was slim and elegant. It was thin and conformed to her body, beautiful designs etched across its surfaces. A pair of silver wings unfurled from her back and a regal crown formed on her head. Her greying hair suddenly became lustrous black, and the wrinkles on her face disappeared. Her face was now that of a beautiful woman¡¯s, young and rejuvenated. She gripped a silver scepter crowned with a disc akin to the silver moon in her right hand.


    Clad in her mystical silver armor, Elder Cai was the goddess of the moon descended from the heavens above.

 Chapter 581 - Great Beast

    Chapter 581 - Great Beast


    Under the pale glow of the moon, Elder Cai¡¯s silver armor shone with a keen elegance, its engravings catching the light in an enchanting display. Oppressive and powerful. Those two words described the appearance of her battle armor well, so much that its might colored perception: the entire ocean seemed to sink.


    Mu Ye¡¯s eyes flickered with light as he took in the sight. He sighed. ¡°That¡¯s a three-word battle armor. A three-word battle armor from Shrek Academy really is different!¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at Elder Cai, jaw dropping and unable to tear away his gaze. This was his first time beholding her true might. He had been told she was a powerful elder during the entrance exam, but never could he have imagined such oppressive power. Only those who stood at the peak could suppress the ocean itself.


    This was the strength of a Hyper Douluo equipped with three-word battle armor! In this state, she was only one step short of matching a Limit Douluo. To put that into perspective, a seven-ringed Soul Sage equipped with two-word battle armor was nearly on par with a Titled Douluo, and an eight-ringed Soul Douluo with three-word battle armor could match a Hyper Douluo. However, after becoming a Hyper Douluo, the remaining soul power ranks grew exponentially harder to achieve. Even a Titled Douluo with three-word battle armor could only match a rank 96 Hyper Douluo.


    Since Elder Cai was a Hyper Douluo herself, her three-word battle armor boosted her strength to the equivalent of a rank 98 Hyper Douluo.  A mere step shy from a rank 99 Limit Douluo. If she managed to upgrade her armor to the four-word level, she would stand on the peak above all other peaks in terms of strength.


    As such, Elder Cai had nothing to fear from a couple of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. Even if their cultivation levels were far higher, she still could put up a good fight. As someone who earned the position of an elder of Shrek Academy, she was naturally a person who gazed down from the summit.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you one more chance,¡± barked Elder Cai. ¡°Get out of the way now!¡±


    ¡°Leave her to me,¡± someone said from deep within the ocean. The next instant, a figure burst through the water in the distance. The sky around them trembled, azure raging through its expanse. The ocean swelled up to swallow the sky. To those on board the two ships, it looked as if the ocean engulfed the entire world.


    Elder Cai¡¯s confident expression faltered for the first time.


    During dangerous situations, information saved lives. Tang Wulin used his Purple Demon Eyes to see what had broke through the water¡¯s surface. To his astonishment, the figure appeared to be a human male. However, that similarity only held true for his upper body. His lower body consisted of twelve kraken-like tentacles. As the tentacled man floated in the sky, he unleashed his mighty aura, pushing back against Elder Cai¡¯s own.


    ¡°A Great Beast?¡± Mu Ye blurted.


    Great Beasts. In other words, soul beasts with a cultivation level over two-hundred-thousand years! The continent of Douluo also had several of its own known. They were the Ten Great Beasts.


    Ten thousand years ago, the Ten Great Beasts had shocked the world with their strength and fought against the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, the Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao! He managed to slay a few and drive them away. Ever since then, there had been no sightings of any of the Ten Great Beasts. Among the ten, the strongest was known as the Beast God, the Golden-eyed Black Dragon King, and possessed a cultivation level over eight-hundred-thousand years! The most powerful existence in the mortal realm!


    Legends had it that before the Spirit Ice Douluo ascended to godhood, he waged war against the Golden-eyed Black Dragon King, Di Tian. In the end, he managed victory and ascended. The Beast God disappeared afterward, his death unconfirmed.


    The ocean covered far more of the planet than land did, so there were more Great Beasts lurking within the waters.


    With the addition of a Great Beast to the pair of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, Elder Cai and the ships now faced a true threat.


    As water dripped from the Great Beast still suspended in midair, its body enlarged, transforming into a colossal kraken over a kilometer in size. A single strike of its tentacles sent the ocean into a frenzy. Even Elder Cai was overwhelmed by its outburst of strength.


    The abyssal demon whale king bellowed, rallying all of the lesser soul beasts to attack the ships.


    Elder Cai raised her staff to the sky in retaliation. It swallowed the moonlight cast by the silver moon, gathered it, and condensed the moonlight into a long needle. The staff released the needle, shooting it at the giant kraken!


    The colossal kraken waved its tentacles in front of it. Violet petals of light, layers upon layers of such, bloomed. The petals intercepted the needle in a dazzling explosion of lights.


    As the two powerhouses waged war against each other, the two ships began mounting their offensive as well. With a shuddering boom, the ships¡¯ soul cannons unleashed simultaneously upon the swarming beasts.


    Powered by soul batteries, the soul cannons could continuously recharge by injection of soul power. They possessed immense firepower, the strongest of them even capable of unleashing an attack on par with a Titled Douluo.


    In an instant, explosions rose from the water. The corpses of numerous soul beasts floated to the ocean¡¯s surface. But they had barely put a dent into the number of beasts, and the beasts continued charging the ships, slamming against the barrier.


    From the points of impact expanded quivering ripples. Fortunately, the ships were equipped with a powerful soul barrier and soul generators for the sake of protecting the two continents¡¯ diplomats. The barriers just managed to hold against the onslaught.


    In the air, the four three-word battle armor masters split into two groups to obstruct the abyssal demon whale king and the great white demon shark king. However, obstruction was their limit. They were at a disadvantage fighting in the open ocean, and this was the domain of their enemies.


    Utter chaos engulfed them in an instant.


    Tang Wulin elbowed Mu Ye at his side. ¡°Teacher, you¡­¡±


    Mu Ye remained silent, watching the ongoing battle outside with an indifferent gaze.


    Wu Zhangkong narrowed his eyes at Mu Ye, then in a flicker of movement, he tore through the air like a shooting star to join the battle, robes flapping in the wind. He equipped his Sky Ice battle armor and summoned his Skyfrost Sword mid-flight.


    As a seven-ringed Soul Sage and a two-word battle armor master, he could unleash strength nearly at the level of a Titled Douluo. But more importantly, he was Wu Zhangkong!


    A great white demon shark sensed Wu Zhangkong flying in the air and turned to him, its dorsal fin shining as it unleashed a beam of energy his direction. The beam raged forth like a bolt of lightning, closing the distance between them in an instant.


    But Wu Zhangkong slashed his Skyfrost Sword toward the incoming beam, unleashing numerous tiny Frost Scars that sliced the beam into nothingness. He halted in the air, his battle armor shining bright. A blink, and he dove toward the ocean. As he plummeted, his soul rings revolved around him, the seventh beginning to blossom with radiance.


    His Skyfrost Sword grew to a gigantic size. Wu Zhangkong fused with it, unleashing an overwhelming burst of sword intent. Now over ten meters in length, the gigantic Skyfrost Sword stabbing into the ocean. This was his seventh soul skill, Martial Soul Avatar!


    However, the gigantic sword didn¡¯t target any shark in particular. Instead, it simply pierced straight into the water and disappeared.


    Huh? What¡¯s Teacher Wu doing? Tang Wulin stared, flabbergasted.


    But his question was answered the next instant.


    The surface of the ocean began to crystalize with ice. Chilling fog rose from the water. In the blink of an eye, the ice covered an expanse of several hundred meters in diameter, encasing hundreds of soul beasts.

 Chapter 582 - Into the Fray

    Chapter 582 - Into the Fray


    Furrowing his brows ever so slightly, Mu Ye observed the ever-expanding sheet of ice upon the ocean. ¡°He¡¯s using his Martial Soul Avatar to freeze the ocean. He¡¯s frozen at least twenty soul beasts at the ten-thousand-year level, but why doesn¡¯t he finish them off?¡±


    At that moment, a boom. The ship rocked, intense ripples spreading through the soul barrier. Tang Wulin tried to steady himself.


    There were simply too many soul beasts bombarding the ships. These weren¡¯t warships to begin with, but luxury cruisers.


    After regaining his balance, Tang Wulin looked out to the action once more. He saw mechas taking off from the decks of the ships to join the defensive. But even with their added firepower, the soul beasts barely slowed in their onslaught.


    Moments later, the barrier shattered and a barrage of attacks landed directly upon the ship¡¯s hull. Water surged into every opening. A watery grave seemed more likely than ever.


    ¡°Attention all soul masters. Attention all soul masters. We are currently being attacked by a swarm of marine soul beasts. We request that you help defend the ship and prevent us from sinking. Please immediately engage the soul beasts and stop further attacks on the hull.¡±


    Tang Wulin glanced at Mu Ye and was met with a faint smile. ¡°If you want to go, then go,¡± Mu Ye said. ¡°This is a good opportunity for you anyway.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded and turned to his companions. ¡°Follow me!¡± He immediately broke out into a dash toward the balcony, jumped off the railing, and leaped toward the beasts. As he soared through the air, he shot a strand of bluesilver grass to wrap around the balcony¡¯s railing, anchoring himself. A second later, he landed on the expanse of ice Wu Zhangkong had created.


    Gu Yue followed right behind him, lessening the weight of their group with the power of wind as she slid down on Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass to the ice. Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, and Xie Xie arrived next.


    Only Xu Lizhi stayed back, his complexion pale as he peered out over the balcony. ¡°I-I¡¯m a bit afraid of heights.¡±


    Mu Ye chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± Before Xu Lizhi could react, Mu Ye grabbed him by the collar and threw him overboard. ¡°Wulin, catch!¡± Mu Ye shouted.


    The drop from the balcony was about seventy meters. As Xu Lizhi entered free-fall, he let out fearful wails.


    On the ice, Tang Wulun spun around, a net of bluesilver grass shooting out to catch Xu Lizhi. His teammate bounced once off the net before landing on his butt.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand such great impact before his second awakening. However, now that it had evolved into the Bluesilver Emperor, it was a seamless extension of his body and he could exert his full strength through the grass.


    ¡°Keep your guard up, everyone.¡± Tang Wulin released strands of grass to wrap around the waists of his teammates, keeping them more or less connected. Six moved as one, advancing toward the frozen beasts.


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes twinkled and her Elemental Staff materialized in her hand. She traced an arc with it in the air, sending a barrage of azure fireballs toward the soul beasts attacking their ship.


    As each fireball accurately crashed into a target, Tang Wulin stood in awe. He could only imagine the extent of her spiritual power¡¯s strength, to maintain such accuracy for so many fireballs.


    ¡°Wait for us!¡±


    Tang Wulin raised his head toward the sky. The moment he did, he caught sight of Yue Zhengyu flying through the air, a pair of angelic wings on his back and Xu Xiaoyan held tightly by the waist in his arms. Her face was flushed crimson as they descended right in the center of the group.


    Tang Wulin flashed them a teasing sort of look and smirked. But he quickly replaced it with a serious expression. ¡°We don¡¯t need to attack the soul beasts directly. All we need to do is intercept their attacks. They''ve gotta be running out of soul power quickly with how many soul skills they¡¯re unleashing. We just need to outlast them and prevent any more damage to the ship.¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± his teammates answered.


    Although they could display their full strength on the expanse of ice, mere ten-thousand-year soul beasts hardly a scare for them, diving into the water to launch an assault was suicide at their current cultivation level. There were at least a hundred ten-thousand-year soul beasts in the vicinity, and though Wu Zhangkong had frozen a decent number of them, many more still lurked in the surrounding waters.


    ¡°Captain, escort me to the water. I have an idea,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s heart thumped hard and he instantly understood what she was planning.


    But before he could answer, Yue Zhengyu said, ¡°I¡¯ll protect you.¡± His wings flared open and his holy sword manifested in his hand. He dashed toward the edge of the ice, leaving the rest of them still staring.


    The first to snap out of it was Xu Xiaoyan. She immediately started running after him.


    With a wave of his hand, Tang Wulin attached two strands of bluesilver grass to their waists, ready to pull them back at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Meanwhile, Gu Yue sent countless elemental attacks into the air and Yuanen Yehui blasted incoming attacks apart with her Air Cannon. Ye Xinglan intercepted the closest of the incoming attacks, slashing out with her sword to unleash sword beams.


    With his lack of range, Xie Xie could only stand by and guard his companions. In this type of battle, close-ranged combatants were clearly lacking compared to ranged combatants.


    Xie Xie sent a helpless look Tang Wulin¡¯s way and they shared a moment of mutual understanding. Tang Wulin was weak when it came to ranged combat as well!


    But Xie Xie¡¯s jaw dropped in the next moment. A black soul ring rose from Tang Wulin¡¯s feet. Due to the sudden crisis, no one had noticed that Tang Wulin obtained his fourth soul ring until now.


    When the black soul ring appeared, a phantom miniature Tyrant Dragon appeared atop of Tang Wulin¡¯s head. Gu Yue nearly did a spit take when she watched it emerge. Then the rest of his friend¡¯s notice as well.


    Bluesilver grass swarmed out of Tang Wulin¡¯s body in a frenzy. Each and every vine shone with a golden luster and possessed solid thickness and length. Every vine of grass was tens of meters long and easily reached into the sky to smack down the attacks flying toward their ship. He controlled hundreds of vines at once, each vine whipping in the air like a mighty python covered in golden draconic scales.


    This was the might of the fourth skill of Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Emperor: Bluesilver Overlord Transformation! The soul skill provided an all-around boost to the strength of his Bluesilver Emperor and even empowered his other three soul skills.


    Tang Wulin felt as if countless tentacles had sprouted from his body, the blood essence within his raging, surging into these tentacles to empower them. Every time the vines intercepted an attack in mid-air, they twinkled gold and dissolved some of the attack¡¯s strength.


    Numerous other soul masters also jumped down from the ship, and naturally, students from the Star Luo Imperial Soul Master Academy participated in mounting this defensive.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s actions were just too flashy to not notice. When onlookers saw how tyrannical he was, they were dumbstruck.


    ¡°I-is he even human? What the hell is his martial soul? How¡¯s he able to control so many dark blue pythons? Is his martial soul a multi-headed snake?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a beast-type martial soul. I think it¡¯s a plant-type! But what plant is that? Maybe it¡¯s a plant-beast-hybrid? Either way, his strength is damn terrifying! You guys saw how easily he pulverized that giant water ball, right? Holy shit. Look at his fourth ring too! It¡¯s black! Heavens! How much soul power is he using up to launch those counterattacks though? How¡¯s he making that look so easy?¡±


    In truth, this wasn¡¯t easy for Tang Wulin at all. To intercept the incoming barrage of attacks with his vines heavily taxed him. Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t only fueling his Bluesilver Emperor with soul power, but blood essence as well. The greatest benefit of his martial soul¡¯s second awakening wasn¡¯t its effect on his cultivation, but the uniting of his soul power and blood essence. Now, his martial soul could draw from the power of his Golden Dragon King bloodline, and his bloodline could also draw upon his soul power. The two types of energies synergized and fused with each other into one common pool. Thanks to this, Tang Wulin¡¯s combat endurance had tremendously increased. Not to mention the fact that Xu Lizhi stood at Tang Wulin¡¯s side, continuously stuffing buns into his mouth.


    Pork bun after pork bun went into Tang Wulin¡¯s bottomless stomach, and combined with the nutrient-dense great white demon shark oil he ingested earlier, his blood essence burst with power. He could maintain his frenzied defense for a while longer.


    Soon, the rest of the soul masters on the ship landed on the expanse of ice.


    The ice created by Wu Zhangkong truly held strategic significance, providing them all with solid ground to battle. It also held the ship in place and stopped water from leaking into the hull.

 Chapter 583 - Mu Yes Battle

    Chapter 583 - Mu Ye''s Battle


    Everyone on this diplomatic voyage was a renowned expert in their craft. On Douluo, many of those who stood at the peak of their craft were also powerful soul masters. This was thanks to the improvements in their physique and spiritual power.


    Tang Wulin and his companions took charge of defending a section of the ship. Although they only had four soul rings each, they were students from Shrek Academy, every one of them equipped with a couple pieces of battle armor!


    ¡°Captain, when did you hit four rings? And why is your martial soul is so big now?¡± Xu Lizhi asked as he stuffed buns into Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth.


    The difference between Tang Wulin¡¯s present and past bluesilver grass was truly night and day! Each strand was now a thick vine thrashing about like a miniature dragon, seemingly with minds of their own. Their range stretched far and wide, each strand whipping about in a frenzy. WIth his evolved martial soul, he managed to intercept the most attacks out of anyone in his team.


    Tang Wulin grinned. ¡°Of course my martial soul changed with my fourth soul ring. My new soul skill is called Bluesilver Overlord Transformation. Isn¡¯t it cool?¡±


    ¡°Cool! It¡¯s super cool!¡± Xu Lizhi exclaimed. But he was more astonished by the endless pit that was Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach. He couldn¡¯t help but admire his captain more and more with each bun devoured.


    Meanwhile, Elder Cai and the Great Beast from the ocean¡¯s depths were locked in a vicious battle.


    The most fearsome aspect of ocean soul beasts was their ability to manipulate the ocean to their wills. At the hundred-thousand-year level, they could raise tsunamis with a mere tremble. Thus, it was the top priority of Elder Cai and the other Titled Douluos to restrain the hundred-thousand-year soul beasts first. That way, the ships wouldn¡¯t capsize in the midst of a turbulent ocean.


    Fortunately, the members of both delegations were strong. Even the cultured and refined politicians entered their high-grade mechas and joined the fray.


    Maneuvering to stay near each other, the two ships unleashed blast after blast of soul cannon shots at the swarming beasts.


    Further away, a boom thundered through the sky, a storm of energy raging from the epicenter. The resplendent moon hanging above transformed into a giant blade, severing one of the kraken beast¡¯s tentacles and leaving a spatial tear behind. The giant tentacle fell into the sea with a tremendous splash, sending a large rolling wave toward the ships.


    Elder Cai¡¯s figure was enveloped in blinding silver radiance. However, she was in a tough situation, complexion pale and expression grim. She had succeeded in cutting off one of her opponent¡¯s tentacles, but much of her energy was exhausted.


    Although Elder Cai didn¡¯t fear Great Beasts at her cultivation level, it was a different story out in the open ocean. Out in her opponent¡¯s home field.


    Countless blue specks emerged from the ocean and rose to the sky, fusing with the Great Beast¡¯s body. Its severed tentacle wiggled a bit, before a new one regrew. As slow as its recovery rate was, it was still much faster than Elder Cai¡¯s.


    If it were night and a true full moon gazed down from the sky, the amount of moonlight power Elder Cai could draw would not be limited to this. But it was currently daytime. She had no choice but to directly face the Great Beast in such a way.


    ¡°Hand over the murderer!¡± the Great Beast shouted, pausing in its attacks. Although it had the upper hand for now, there was no guarantee it could maintain its advantageous position. Against an opponent of Elder Cai¡¯s caliber, mutual destruction was certain if she suddenly decided to go all out and disregard her own safety.


    ¡°Hand over the murderer and we will let you go. Otherwise, we will slaughter you people indiscriminately.¡± The giant kraken had eight eyes on its head, and each one shone with a fierce light.


    Elder Cai snorted. ¡°You think you can win? With how small the soul beast population is now, you want to reduce that number further? Do you think humanity has no way of conquering the ocean? I don¡¯t know who killed your clansmen, but you¡¯re not of the same race as me. No matter what, I will protect my own people. You wanna slaughter us? Go ahead and try.¡±


    ¡°The murderer is here. What are you going to do now?¡± said someone.


    Elder Cai raised a brow and her battle armor shone for a moment. To her shock, she couldn¡¯t tell where the voice had come from. Even if she had been focusing on her battle with the Great Beast, the fact that the speaker evaded her detection proved their strength.


    In a flash, another figure appeared beside Elder Cai in spotless chef¡¯s attire. He looked like no more than an ordinary chef, arms held behind his back. But the dark-gold aura bursting from his body betrayed his strength. Soul rings appeared around him one by one. Five black and four red, a total of nine. His aura of might weighed down upon the ocean. Without a doubt, it was Mu Ye who appeared.


    Elder Cai¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the newcomer. She didn¡¯t recognize him but was certain that he had come from the ship.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± The Great Beast¡¯s eyes went wide. A glare quickly replaced the shocked expression,  blue beams shooting from all eight of its eyes. The target, Mu Ye.


    Mu Ye turned to Elder Cai with a faint smile on his face. ¡°Leave this to me.¡± He stepped forward in mid-air to face the eight incoming beams of blue light. He didn¡¯t bother taking any evasive action and simply threw out a punch.


    Dark gold light enveloped his fist as it struck out to meet the beams. Space warped upon collision. A blink, and the beams vanished. Mu Ye stood there untouched.


    With a whistle, dark-gold battle armor materialized over Mu Ye¡¯s entire body. His power soared to another level. Dark gold wings sprouted from his back and a golden ring of light formed, rising parallel to his body. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a colossus hundreds of meters tall. He looked as if he could prop up the heavens and press down the sea with a single hand. Sky shuddered, earth trembled, and space quivered.


    In his colossal form, Mu Ye unleashed another punch straight at the Great Beast¡¯s chest.


    ¡°He¡¯s a four-word battle armor master!¡± Elder Cai exclaimed, then instantly turned tail and retreated to the ship as she withdrew her silver moon. Silver flashed across the tumultuous ocean and the beasts felt their strength suppressed.


    There was no way Elder Cai wouldn¡¯t recognize that the unknown man wore four-word battle armor! Although his soul power was clearly weaker than hers, his strength far eclipsed her own. Even if he were a rank or two of soul power weaker than her, she was certain that she would lose against him. And that wasn¡¯t even taking into account their different levels of battle armor. She could tell that this ¡°chef¡± possessed absolute strength. He surpassed even a Hyper Douluo.


    Elder Cai¡¯s mind raced for a moment. Once she deduced his identity, shock filled her.


    As Mu Ye and the Great Beast continued their fierce battle, thundering booms that seemed as if the end of the world was upon them resounded. However, compared to the battle between the Great Beast and Elder Cai, it fought much more forcefully with Mu Ye. It was a contest of brute force.


    The ocean didn¡¯t hinder Mu Ye¡¯s colossal form as he fought. Tentacle after tentacle struck him, but he paid the Great Beast back with just as many mighty punches. The two seemed to be evenly matched. But it was clear that the Great Beast¡¯s tentacles couldn¡¯t deal any lasting damage to Mu Ye, while his punches were leaving dark-gold marks all over its body.


    While the two giants faced off, Elder Cai continued to bathe the area in silver moonlight, weakening the swarm of beasts attacking the ships.

 Chapter 584 - Mu Yes Strength

    Chapter 584 - Mu Ye''s Strength


    Tang Wulin stared across the expanse of ice covering the ocean¡¯s surface, his shining gaze focusing on Mu Ye¡¯s magnificent figure. This was his first time beholding Mu Ye¡¯s might.


    Tang Wulin had originally thought that Mu Ye was no match for Elder Cai since he wasn¡¯t a Hyper Douluo, but that was clearly not the case. Even without his divine-grade mecha, his strength was overwhelming. Now equipped with his dark gold battle armor, Mu Ye seemed like a god who had descended from the heavens. Each attack brought heaven and earth into a tremble, pushing back the Great Beast little by little.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need any more soul rings or a soul bone, and you have reached your current level after painstaking efforts. So get out of here. If you want revenge, then come find me when you¡¯re stronger,¡± Mu Ye said in disdain.


    The kraken-like Great Beast roared. ¡°Humans, you really think you can do whatever you please?¡± Infuriated, the giant kraken¡¯s tentacles dove into the water and a torrent of blue energy surged from the depths of the oceans, through the tentacles and into the rest of its body. An olive shimmer covered its body, and its body swelled with even more strength.


    ¡°If you want to die that badly, then I¡¯ll gladly lend a hand. You¡¯ll serve as a good present for my disciple,¡± Mu Ye said, gaze sharpening as he raised his right hand to the heavens.


    A red streak tore through the sky, stopping right before Mu Ye. The gazes of countless spectators quivered at the sight, at the newly-arrived red mecha that stood six meters tall. It immediately transformed into a gigantic blade, red as blood. Mu Ye¡¯s towering figure shrank until he was about ten meters tall, then he gripped the blade in his right hand, crimson radiance blossoming upon it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a divine-grade mecha!¡± the onlookers exclaimed.


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t expected Mu Ye to use his mecha as a weapon instead of external armor.


    The giant kraken snarled as it waved its tentacles, expelling a mass of inky fog, concealing its body in the murk.


    Mu Ye maintained his position in the air and didn¡¯t move to chase after the Great Beast.


    Meanwhile, the swarming soul beasts dove into the water and retreated in a hurry. Once the inky fog dispersed, there were no beasts in sight.


    With a flick of his hand, the crimson blade in Mu Ye¡¯s hand returned to its mecha form, disappearing into his spatial storage device. Then he shrank back to his normal size, unequipped his battle armor, and was back in his spotless and white chef¡¯s outfit.


    Just when quiet returned to the ocean, the people watching from the two ships erupted into cheers. While everyone stared at Mu Ye in reverence, his form flickered. And he was gone.


    Tang Wulin stood dumbstruck upon the ice. He was awed by the scale of battle between these existences who stood at the peak of the world. His awe was shared by his other companions from Shrek Academy as well. Only now did they realize how grand battles at the highest level were, and how much further they had to grow.


    Furthermore, neither side had even engaged in all-out combat. From beginning to end, both Mu Ye and the Great Beast had been probing each other. In the end, the soul beasts retreated after determining that there existed an insurmountable gap between them and Mu Ye. He was simply too powerful for them to dare contend with.


    When will we be that strong? Tang Wulin¡¯s heart yearned for such strength. He had been reluctant to become Mu Ye¡¯s disciple originally, but now he understood what sort of strength the Body Sect possessed. He finally believed Mu Ye¡¯s statement that the Body Sect was age-old rivals with Shrek Academy. Since that was the case, he could only wonder how powerful the experts of Shrek Academy were to dominate the rivalry in the current era.


    A minute later, Tang Wulin and his companions recovered from their awe and returned to their ship. They reported for a headcount of passengers and casualties, then left for their cabins.


    In his cabin, Tang Wulin leaned against the balcony railing and stared out into the ocean. He had been feeling a bit arrogant after awakening his bluesilver grass into the Bluesilver Emperor, but such arrogance was obliterated after witnessing that world-shaking battle. He knew now that he was only at the beginning of his path to the peak, still an ant before those who possessed true power. He could not grow conceited just yet and had to put in double the effort if he wanted to become one of those world-shaking experts.


    ¡°Your martial soul evolved?¡± Gu Yue asked Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin snapped out of his dazed thoughts, turned to see Gu Yue at the balcony beside his, and nodded.


    Gu Yue smiled. ¡°Congratulations.¡±


    ¡°I need to put in even more effort now,¡± Tang Wulin said with a wry smile. ¡°Once they¡¯re done checking up on everyone, I¡¯m going to go blacksmithing. Now that I¡¯ve got four rings, I can try forging spirit refined alloys. When we all have our complete battle armor sets, we can immediately start working toward two-word armor.¡±


    Gu Yue turned to the ocean and looked out toward the horizon, something seemingly on her mind.


    On this giant ship, only a few of the crew members suffered minor injuries thanks to the protection of the powerful experts onboard. No one had died despite the number of people involved in protecting the ships. In the aftermath, no one could locate that godly chef. Mu Ye had obscured his true features when he intervened in the battle, but his identity had been obvious to Tang Wulin. It wasn¡¯t hard for Cai Yue¡¯er to discover his identity either.


    The ship continued its voyage to Star Luo.


    ?


    A flash of silver, and Cai Yue¡¯er appeared within Mu Ye¡¯s cabin. She was back to her aged appearance now, lacking any youthful beauty.


    ¡°You¡¯re Mu Ye, master of the Body Sect, right?¡± Cai Yue¡¯er said, eyes narrowing at him.


    A faint smile formed on Mu Ye¡¯s lips. ¡°Correct.¡± At their level, there was no point in hiding such facts.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Sect Master Mu Ye to have already reached the four-word level,¡± Cai Yue¡¯er exclaimed. ¡°You¡¯re probably the only four-word battle armor master and divine-grade mecha pilot in the world.¡±


    Mu Ye chuckled. ¡°Would you believe me if I told you I¡¯m not actually a four-word battle armor master?¡±


    Cai Yue¡¯er stared blankly for a few moments, then shook her head. She smiled. ¡°I won¡¯t pry into your secrets. That¡¯s not what I came here for anyway. What I came to ask is why is Sect Master Mu Ye accompanying us on this trip to Star Luo?¡±


    Mu Ye¡¯s eyes turned cold. ¡°Why do you care?¡±


    Cai Yu¡¯er arched a brow in surprise. She hadn¡¯t acted discourteously at all yet his attitude suddenly changed, filling the room with tension.


    ¡°Fine, if that¡¯s how you want to be, I won¡¯t push you about it. I¡¯ll take my leave now. Best of luck, Sect Master Mu Ye,¡± Cai Yue¡¯er said in an indifferent tone. Another silver flash, and she disappeared without a trace.


    Mu Ye snorted after she left, but he didn¡¯t pay her  too much mind. There was no one on this diplomatic voyage from either side powerful enough to pose a threat to him.


    After returning to her cabin, Cai Yue¡¯er furrowed her brows in annoyance. If she had faced anyone else, she would have already been on a rampage. That a peak-level expert appeared out of nowhere on this voyage, without her knowing if he were friend or foe, left her anxious.


    The Body Sect had not been hostile to Shrek Academy for many years now. But they weren¡¯t on friendly terms yet either. Even if the Body Sect was different from how it had been in the past, it was still the Body Sect. In the past, the mighty master of the Body Sect was someone who stood as equals with the master of the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion.


    No matter the nature of the relationship between the Body Sect and Shrek Academy, Cai Yue¡¯er could not touch Mu Ye. She was no match for him in strength. Even in the entire Sea God¡¯s Pavilion, only a few could stand against Mu Ye. I hope he¡¯s not an enemy.


    Cai Yue¡¯er walked out onto her balcony and waved to the sky, gathering specks of silver light in her right hand to form a glowing sphere. She quickly began drawing in air with the silver light, a strange design soon emblazoned in the sky. Raising her right hand, she pushed silver sphere into the design in the air. The design flashed, before disappearing.


    ?


    In a blacksmithing workshop, Tang Wulin finally had the time to examine just how much he had changed, after breaking through to rank 40 and having his martial soul evolve into the Bluesilver Emperor.


    The reason spirit refining was so difficult was its demand on both skill and soul power. In the past, Tang Wulin had only managed to succeed by supplementing his soul power with his blood essence. But that method was not feasible for spirit refining alloys.


    However, his cultivation had made a breakthrough and united his soul power and blood essence into one source of energy. Gold blood essence and white soul power fused together. He could use them in whatever ratio he chose or use them separately. When he fused them, his soul power gained a golden hue and was at its most potent.


    The combination of his pure soul power and powerful blood essence allowed Tang Wulin to forge for longer stretches of time now. He no longer had to stop prematurely due to a lack of soul power.

 Chapter 585 - Second Phase of Training

    Chapter 585 - Second Phase of Training


    As Tang Wulin began forging and continued to examine the changes in his body, he discovered something interesting: there were things he could only do when he kept his soul power and blood essence separate. For example, any ability founded upon his Golden Dragon King bloodline could only be fueled by his blood essence. Even as he forged, he focused on the function of his body, for knowing the changes within him was essential.


    At nightfall, Tang Wulin dragged his exhausted body over to eat dinner, then returned to his cabin. He collapsed onto his bed. Sprawled on the mattress, entire body relaxed and comfortable.


    Tang Wulin had always spared no effort when it came to cultivating and improving himself, ceaselessly pursuing strength to make up for his inadequacy. His eyes were always pointed upward, at those who towered above him. And ahead, at the backs of his companions as he chased after their footsteps. Whenever he finally had a moment to catch his breath and look back, he would discover that his efforts had not been in vain. He had made swift progress since he first became a soul master. Compared to who he had been when his old companions, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi were still around, he was a completely different person. He only just realized that he was closer than ever in qualifying for Shrek Academy''s inner court. Not only that, but he was now both an agent of the Tang Sect¡¯s Battle Hall and a disciple of the master of the Body Sect.


    Wow. The world is really amazing. Tang Wulin sighed in satisfaction, joy filling his heart.


    Everyone¡¯s happiness was different. Some believed that contentment was happiness. Others believed the answer was peace. As Tang Wulin matured, however, he realized that neither of these two were his brand of happiness. His came from strength, the endless pursuit of strength and continuously reaching new heights.


    Tang Wulin still remembered what his father told him in his childhood. Contentment could bring someone happiness for their entire life. But that was for a low caliber person. People needed greed to motivate them, to drive them forward and diligently work toward growth. Success was ninety-nine percent talent and one percent effort. While talent would bring opportunity, success was impossible without that one percent of effort.


    The words of his father resonated with him. It was those words that aroused his greed and ambition, his drive to always pursue greater and greater achievements. He was not content with merely Douluo. No! He aimed for the stars!


    A bang jolted Tang Wulin out of his reverie, and he immediately rolled off his bed and onto his feet. He turned to see the balcony door wide open, Mu Ye casually leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.


    ¡°Looks like you didn¡¯t get complacent. Good.¡± Mu Ye nodded.


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at Mu Ye, memories of his teacher¡¯s grand battle against the Great Beast still fresh in his mind. He could hardly believe what he had witnessed. That mighty man was his teacher!


    ¡°Teacher,¡± Tang Wulin said, respectfully bowing his head.


    ¡°I like the way you said that. It sounds good. Well, let¡¯s get going.¡± Mu Ye beckoned Tang Wulin to follow.


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times, confusion coloring his face. ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Mu Ye looked at Tang Wulin as if that were the most ridiculous question in the world. ¡°We¡¯re going to do what we do every night. Train!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°I-I thought I was done with that? I already got my second awakening!¡±


    Mu Ye crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. ¡°Who said you¡¯re done? That was just the first phase of training. How could we stop with something as easy as that? Today, you will start the second phase of training. Or are you telling me you¡¯d rather laze around?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s bit his lip. Easy? That was easy? How the hell were those forty-nine days of torture ¡®easy¡¯?


    ¡°Teacher, don¡¯t you think your precious disciple should properly rest and recover too? A rested mind and body are even better for training,¡± Tang Wulin said earnestly.


    ¡°Enough dilly-dallying. If you don¡¯t go through hell, how are you supposed to become great? Let me tell you, if my teacher had been more strict with me when I was young, I might have been able to become a true powerhouse.¡±


    Tang Wulin was speechless. He knew there was no persuading Mu Ye now. Since his fate was inevitable, he could only do his best now! Besides, he didn''t actually want to just laze around anyway.


    With the matter settled, Mu Ye whisked Tang Wulin away for another clandestine night of training. To Tang Wulin¡¯s surprise, they didn¡¯t go too far from the ship this time.


    ¡°The forty-nine days you survived were the first phase of training. The focus of that phase was exerting pressure on your essence in order to drag out your hidden potential. The next phase of training is to adjust your martial soul after its second awakening. We do this by training what is external to you and hammer you into shape step by step. Your body is very tough to begin with and your blood essence is full of vigor, so I spent some time coming up with a suitable regimen. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be thrilled with it.¡±


    Tang Wulin shivered at Mu Ye¡¯s last words, an ill premonition creeping up on him. Thrilled? The hell would I be thrilled by?


    Soon, they arrived somewhere close to the rear of the ship. Mu Ye sealed Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power and blood essence, tied up Tang Wulin¡¯s hands with some rope made of unbelievably strong material. Then Mu Ye tethered him to the end of the ship. As the massive ship cut through the water, it dragged him along the surface.


    Although the ship didn''t seem to move fast while onboard, the force in which it had dragged him along was tremendous, throwing him about in the water at breakneck speeds. Without his use of his arms to balance himself either, he couldn¡¯t steady himself and stand up. He couldn¡¯t even curse at Mu Ye as the ship dragged him across the ocean and smashed his face against the waves repeatedly, filling his nostrils and throat with saltwater. He had no control at all, flung about as the ship pleased.


    If anyone were to look at the rear of the ship, rather than Tang Wulin, they would only recognize a black speck flailing in the darkness.


    The ocean had no rhythm or order to it. Waves crashed into him at speeds, speeds which made them resemble solid walls of water. The friction with the water littered his body with scrapes. Since his soul power and blood essence were sealed, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t even strengthen his body with those energies.


    Mu Ye flew above as he watched Tang Wulin get dragged along like a ragdoll. ¡°This is a form of forging as well. We¡¯re using the ocean to forge your body!¡±


    ¡°Tea¡ª¡± Tang Wulin coughed up a mouthful of water. ¡°¡ªcher! How long, cough, does the second phase, cough, last?¡±


    ¡°All the way to Star Luo.¡±


    ?


    By the time Tang Wulin finished his training for the night and returned to his cabin, his entire body was limp, bruised up, and red all over. He collapsed onto his bed and instantly fell asleep.


    This training continued night after night. Over time, Mu Ye grew to understand the limits of Tang Wulin¡¯s body and always pushed his disciple to the very edge. Time after time, Tang Wulin met Mu Ye¡¯s expectations and overcame the challenge.


    After training, Mu Ye never immediately released the seal on Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power and blood essence. Instead, he would smear the Body Sect¡¯s special ointments on Tang Wulin¡¯s body first. Then, after he had unsealed Tang Wulin, he would force his student into meditating the rest of the night.


    Such was Tang Wulin¡¯s nightly training. Every night was an abyss of suffering for him to overcome, and the only end in sight was the slowly approaching continent of Star Luo.


    ?


    One day, a smear of black became visible on the horizon. Tang Wulin nearly wept in joy at the sight. The end of his trials was near!


    Meanwhile, those from Star Luo cheered at their homecoming.


    From Star Luo¡¯s beaches alone, the continent seemed very similar to Douluo. Even the architecture of the port was very similar.


    A grand welcome party was held for the return of the Star Luo delegation and arrival of the Douluo delegation. To those from Shrek Academy, however, this was simply another party where they went through the motions of formality.


    This also marked the time for the two delegations to go their separate ways after their long journey. The Star Luo delegation was disbanded immediately and the members were let off on vacation. On the other hand, here was the true start of Douluo delegation¡¯s diplomatic mission.

 Chapter 586 - Tournament Invitation

    Chapter 586 - Tournament Invitation


    ¡°Here¡¯s our plan for the day,¡± Wu Zhangkong announced to the students standing before him. ¡°First we head to the capital of the Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City, show off in some competitions against students from the Imperial Star Luo Academy. Then we¡¯ll do some sightseeing. Once we¡¯re done, we can go home.¡±


    Tang Wulin listened eagerly as the plan was explained. The rest of his friends, on the other hand, seemed much calmer.


    Xu Lizhi nudged Tang Wulin. ¡°Captain, why do you look so giddy?¡±


    Tang Wulin tilted his head, then touched his face to feel the smile still on his lips. ¡°Huh? Do I really look like that?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Xu Lizhi exclaimed with a laugh. ¡°You look super excited!¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. He couldn¡¯t deny Xu Lizhi¡¯s claim. He truly was excited for what was to come. He was finally free from the torturous training he went through during the voyage. Just recalling the pain, itching, and soreness he experienced day after day sent shivers down his spine. He was now free from that hell.


    However, those two months of training weren¡¯t all bad. He also gained a lot from that torture. He was completely different from when he first boarded the ship.


    The Star Luo Empire arranged for the Shrek Academy group to spend their first night at the port town. The next morning, they rode a soul train straight for Star Luo City. Aboard that soul train, in a private carriage, Sima Lanxiao sat across from Elder Cai.  He bowed slightly to her and said, ¡°Welcome to Star Luo, Elder Cai.¡±


    ¡°Hello,¡± Elder Cai said indifferently.


    Sima Lanxiao smiled courteously. ¡°Elder Cai, I just received news that we¡¯re currently holding a grand tournament for young soul masters in Star Luo City. Coincidentally, your first stop is also Star Luo City. The students you¡¯ve brought are excellent soul masters of the rising generation. Perhaps you would be interested in participating in the tournament? They¡¯re a bit younger than their competition, but this is the largest tournament we hold for young soul masters. I¡¯m sure they would perform well if they took part in it. It would be a great learning opportunity for them as well.¡±


    Elder Cai chuckled. ¡°We¡¯re just here for cultural exchange. There¡¯s no reason for us to compete.¡±


    ¡°Elder Cai, you know we don¡¯t want to inconvenience you,¡± Sima Lanxiao said. ¡°If your students want to participate, they won¡¯t have to go through the preliminary matches. They can start with the knockout matches right away. The competition won¡¯t take long at all, and the safety of your students will be guaranteed, of course.¡±


    Elder Cai rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that.¡±


    This response left Sima Lanxiao momentarily stunned. The next moment, however, understanding flashed through his eyes. ¡°Sounds like you¡¯re quite confident in your students!¡±


    Elder Cai¡¯s lips compressed into a thin smile. ¡°Confidence is founded upon strength. You want us to participate? That wouldn¡¯t necessarily be out of the question if the grand prize were a soul bone.¡±


    Sima Lanxiao face grew stiff. He knew exactly how significant a soul bone was. Even twenty thousand years ago, in the age of cold weapons, soul bones were precious treasures. Now soul bones were more precious than ever. Unlike soul rings, they did not appear every time a soul beast was killed. In fact, the odds of one appearing were one in ten thousand.  Only hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were guaranteed to leave a soul bone upon death. Since soul beasts were now practically extinct on Douluo, it was nigh impossible to obtain a soul bone. Only the great clans possessed soul bones and they guarded them as secret clan treasures.


    The situation on Star Luo was different, but soul bones were still extremely valuable here.


    ¡°Elder Cai,¡± Sima Lanxiao said as he began to explain. ¡°The tournament is actually called the Continental Young Elites Tournament, and it¡¯s divided into many different competitions. There is an individual competition, team competitions, and even a mecha competition. The winners of the seven-man team competition each get a piece of soul refined metal for each team member. The winners of the two-man competition both get a ten-thousand-year spirit treasure. The champion of the mecha competition gets a black-grade mecha, whereas second and third place each get a purple-grade mecha. One of the prizes is indeed a soul bone, but that particular prize is reserved for the champion of the individual competition. That being said, only one is being offered¡­¡±


    Elder Cai¡¯s eyebrows flew up in surprise. Her little stipulation had been nothing more than a joke. She never expected the Star Luo Empire to actually offer such a precious prize in this tournament. The other prizes were extremely valuable as well!


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Elder Cai said, ¡°but the value of the prizes differs a bit too much between competitions!¡±


    Soul refined metals, mechas, and spirit treasures were valuable, but they were nothing when compared to a soul bone.


    ¡°That¡¯s because the matches of the individual competition will have no limitations,¡± Sima Lanxiao continued. ¡°In other words, competitors will be allowed to use whatever they want for the sake of victory, be it mechas, battle armor, martial soul, or even soul devices. Anything goes. As such, all competitors will be required to sign a waiver acknowledging the possibility of dying and stating that, in the event that their death does occur, we will not be responsible. This is our most popular competition, Elder Cai. Only something as valuable as a soul bone would be a worthy prize, one attractive enough to those seeking to participate.¡±


    While the people of Douluo were mainly eager to watch the seven-man team battles, those of Star Luo were more invested in the idea of lone heroes.


    ¡°What are the requirements of the tournament?¡± Elder Cai asked.


    Sima Lanxiao smiled at her show of interest. ¡°Participants have to be twenty years old or younger. That¡¯s it. It should be fine for all of your students.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Elder Cai replied.


    Unknown to Tang Wulin and his friends, as soon as they stepped foot onto Star Luo, they were already set to enter a grand tournament. At that moment, they were sitting in a luxurious soul train prepared specially for the Douluo delegation.


    Tang Wulin watched the scenery outside his window flit by. He was astonished by how different this place was. While Douluo was a raucous mix of flourishing nature and modern technology, Star Luo¡¯s antiquated architecture harmoniously coexisted with its landscape. Clear lakes and vibrant forests past by one after the other, the clear air allowing him see far off into the distance. Towns appeared every so often as well, clearly less modern than those of Douluo. Even the train was slower what Tang Wulin was used to. It was as if he had traveled into the past.


    The food the train staff served was similar to cuisine that could be found on Douluo. In fact, since it was food for the Douluo delegation, many luxurious delicacies were offered. Tang Wulin and his friends were thoroughly enjoying this trip, taking in the beautiful scenery and savoring the delicious food. It was their first time being so at ease since entering Shrek Academy.


    The members of the Imperial Star Luo Academy who had visited Douluo were also in the same carriage as those from Shrek Academy. There had been some friction between the two groups from when they originally boarded the ship, but now they had an amicable relationship. They were careful to not cause issues with each other.


    The carriage was arranged such that there were two seats on either side of a table facing each other. Tang Wulin sat beside Gu Yue and across from them was Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan.  Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Yue Zhengyu, and Yuanen Yehui sat at another table.


    From the very moment they boarded the train, Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi were constantly gorging themselves on food, ordering round after round. Nothing more important to them than their gluttony.


    On the other side of the train, the students of the Imperial Star Luo Academy were seated in fours as well. They couldn¡¯t help but gape at Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi.


    ¡°Those guys really know how to eat,¡± said one of the girls. ¡°That boy¡¯s pretty cute though.¡±


    The girl seated across from her giggled. ¡°He¡¯s like four or five years younger than us! Zhen Zhen, are you preying on kids now? And you know he¡¯s the captain of the team from Shrek, right? He¡¯s so young yet he already has four rings! Didn¡¯t you see all those dragon-like things he unleashed when ocean soul beasts had us besieged on all sides? His martial soul is a real mystery, but it¡¯s definitely strong.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think too much of him,¡± another Star Luo student chimed in. ¡°Our captain is already rank 45. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s just as strong as that kid. He¡¯s also a one-word battle armor master with a full set of armor while that kid¡¯s armor set is still incomplete!¡±

 Chapter 587 - Jinx

    Chapter 587 - Jinx


    The students of the Imperial Star Luo Academy whispered amongst themselves, stealing glances at Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi while they wolfed down more and more food.


    ¡°I heard the Empire invited them to compete in the Continental Young Elites Tournament. We¡¯ll see just how strong they really are soon enough.¡±


    ¡°You think we¡¯ll even get a chance to fight them? I know they¡¯re from Shrek Academy, but they¡¯re way younger than us. Don¡¯t you think they might compete in the junior league? They¡¯ll have a shot at the championship if they do that.¡±


    ¡°No way. They¡¯re definitely in the youth league. The Empire wouldn¡¯t show them such kindness!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! This is our home turf!¡±


    ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ll show them how great we are. Oh, I heard Monster Academy is participating this time too.¡±


    ¡°Is it gonna be a battle between those posers and the real thing?¡±


    A few students snickered.


    ¡°Shh! You can¡¯t say that!¡± another whispered. ¡°You know how much the Empire values Monster Academy.¡±


    Tang Wulin threw a pastry into his mouth as he listened in on the conversation. After experiencing his second awakening, his Golden Dragon King bloodline and Bluesilver Emperor martial soul boosted every aspect of his physical capabilities, including his hearing.


    He furrowed his brow thoughtfully. Monster Academy? What the hell is that?


    Beside him, Xie Xie smirked. ¡°Captain, how do you feel about riding a train?¡±


    Tang Wulin glared at him. ¡°This isn¡¯t the Federation. The chances of running into a evil soul master are way lower here.¡±


    Tang Wulin had quite a few unpleasant memories associated with trains now. There was always some incident whenever he rode one. He even faced death a few times. In fact, he had been sent on this exchange trip precisely to put him out of the evil soul masters¡¯ sights.


    Despite his previous crises on trains, Tang Wulin was optimistic this time. In the two months he spent on the ship he broke through to rank 40, gained a ten-thousand-year soul ring, and evolved his martial soul. He was a completely different from the person he had been before this trip. He was finally gaining on the heels of his friends both in cultivation level and martial soul strength. His body was now ready to break the fifth seal of the Golden Dragon King with a large margin of safety.


    Tang Wulin had also become a true sixth-rank blacksmith, and thanks to his solid foundation, he had already succeeded at spirit refining a three-metal alloy. Although he just reached the sixth rank, he already stood at its peak. Now he only had to prepare for the long road to becoming a Saint Blacksmith. To do that, he needed to grow his soul power, and forge and spirit refine many more alloys.


    Above all, Tang Wulin was the most satisfied by the increased cultivation speed that his martial soul¡¯s second awakening gave him. Practicing the Mysterious Heaven Method came to him far more easily than before. A day of cultivation was equivalent to three days when his martial soul had yet to re-awaken. The cultivation speed of ordinary soul master usually slowed down once they reached rank 40. He, on the other hand, found that his had only grown faster! At this pace, he was confident he would breach rank 60 by the time he turned twenty. Should he accomplish this, he would reach rank 60 over five years earlier than Wu Zhangkong did! If he also managed to complete his two-word battle armor by then, he would be able to call himself a true expert.


    In light of all his progress, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t afford to waste such a rare moment of reprieve. He clasped his hands behind his head, relaxed into his seat, and smiled as he looked out the window.


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s that?¡± Tang Wulin muttered. He could see tiny dots flying through the sky. ¡°Are those mechas?¡±


    He focused his mind and used his Purple Demon Eyes to peer into the distance. Just as he thought, they were mechas. They looked different from those of Douluo. While Douluo mechas were usually humanoid in appearance, the ones in the sky seemed to be bestial in design.


    This was the difference in design philosophies between the two continents!


    It was then that Tang Wulin noticed numerous lights burst from one of the mecha¡¯s bodies. Huh? What are those lights?


    Elder Cai, who had been resting in her private carriage up to that moment, suddenly opened her eyes. She immediately turned to stare out the window at the approaching mecha.


    Tang Wulin was seeing the same thing she was, and the realization dawned on him as he leaped to his feet and shouted, ¡°Enemy attack!¡±


    Nearby, Wu Zhangkong was already moving. He unleashed a chilling aura that tore open the roof of the carriage. In a blur of movement, he grabbed Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin responded immediately, as if this were practiced. He summoned forth vines of bluesilver grass that shot outward and wrapped around the waists of his companions. The other students of Shrek Academy also kept calm in the face of this attack. Gu Yue summoned a ring of green light that enveloped the carriage, boosting the agility of everyone in its radius. Tang Wulin sent more vines out to wrap around the waists of the Star Luo students.


    Seeing that the preparations were complete, Wu Zhangkong leaped through the roof of the carriage in a streak of frosty blue, pulling Tang Wulin and all of the other students connected to him.


    Without his martial soul¡¯s second awakening, Tang Wulin¡¯s bluesilver grass wouldn¡¯t have been tough enough to endure the burden of such sudden force and the weight of so many people. He also wouldn¡¯t have been able to carry such a load. Now, however, he pulled off the feat with astonishing strength.


    Wu Zhangkong burst from the carriage with all the students in tow. Just as they cleared it, a soul cannon shell smashed into the carriage in a terrifying, booming explosion that reduced it to smithereens. The force of the explosion threw the train off its tracks, sending it hurtling to the side. A chain of explosions and flames then erupted along the train, filling the air with scattering debris.


    As quickly as the destruction occurred, waves of light spread from the center of the train, extinguishing the flames. The light traveled the length of the train, cushioned its impact.


    Over half the delegation from Douluo had boarded this train after arriving on Star Luo. That very same train had just been attacked! Fortunately, the train was well armored and the core structure was still intact.


    Tang Wulin ignored the spectacle below and instead looked skyward at the incoming mechas. He soon realized that there weren¡¯t just a few. There were over a hundred of them, and painted on the stomach of every single one was a human skull, the sockets of which blazed with green flames. The mecha at the fore of them all, clearly the leader, was a striking red mecha. Unlike Mu Ye¡¯s red-grade mecha, this one was modeled after a hawk. With a pair of gigantic wings, it had been flying toward them at lightning speed. In the second that it took for the train to be blown aside, the red mecha was already nearly upon them.


    A barrage of silver beams suddenly shot upward to meet the red mecha. The mecha reacted with impossible speed, flickering across the sky hundreds of meters at a time and evading every single beam.


    Elder Cai emerged from the wreckage, flying up into the air and summoning her silver moon. Its light shone upon the enemy mechas and restrained their divine-grade mecha. She was also responsible for the light protecting what remained of the train. Thanks to that timely intervention, it had avoided catastrophe, but many people had been harmed in the attack and the crisis was not yet over.


    Elder Cai was almost like a herald as the roof of every intact carriage split open one after the other. Passengers rushed out into the air, and in an instantaneous flash of a myriad of colorful lights, numerous mechas of every grade appeared. Most were at least purple-grade and four were even black-grade. Their pilots promptly hopped in and took off to intercept the attackers. Rushing head of the sudden counterattack was the mecha squad responsible for guarding the diplomatic delegation. A total of thirty mechas soared into the air, all bringing to bear their heavy soul cannons to return fire.


    Tang Wulin gnashed his teeth and glared at Xie Xie. ¡°You jinxed it!¡±


    ¡°Boss, I didn¡¯t jinx it!¡± Xie Xie protested. ¡°You¡¯re just unlucky!¡±


    Wu Zhangkong shot the two of them a cold look. ¡°Enough quibbling. Focus on your own safety, then see if there are any civilians in the train that needs help still.¡±


    There was no way this train only had soul masters aboard. Many of the staff members and other passengers were merely ordinary people. They were sure to have sustained serious injuries due to the train being hurled from the tracks.

 Chapter 588 - Rescue

    Chapter 588 - Rescue


    The moment their feet touched the ground, Tang Wulin and his companions arranged themselves in their usual team formation. Tang Wulin stood at the front along with Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan. Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie guarded the sides. Behind Tang Wulin was Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi stood at the very rear.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯re rescuing the civilians,¡± Tang Wulin said, then led the march toward the train wreckage.


    Meanwhile, some of the students from the Imperial Star Luo Academy still hung around in a daze after the vines of grass had dropped them, unable to make sense of the situation. Others trembled in fear. It was clear that this was their first time facing such a crisis.


    Among the students present, Tang Wulin was undoubtedly the calmest. He knew that despite the surrounding destruction and debris, Elder Cai, a Hyper Douluo, was still watching over them. As long as she was present, the enemy¡¯s red-grade mecha wouldn¡¯t bother with small fries like them. Furthermore, the enemy¡¯s numbers didn¡¯t scare him one bit. His side also had numerous soul masters and included the mecha squadron sent by the Star Luo Empire. It would be tough, but they would survive this.


    The only thing that caused Tang Wulin concern was Mu Ye¡¯s absence. The moment they had reached Star Luo, Mu Ye left, saying he had some matters to take care of and they would meet at Star Luo City. If only Mu Ye were present, then these enemies would be nothing to fear.


    After witnessing Mu Ye¡¯s battle, Tang Wulin was certain that equipped with the special skills of the Body Sect, Mu Ye outclassed Elder Cai. In Tang Wulin¡¯s opinion, he was one of the strongest people on the continent of Douluo.


    Damn it! Tang Wulin cursed his luck. Why the hell did I have to go and ride a train? This always happens!


    It took no time for Tang Wulin and his companions to reach the front of the train. With a burst of golden radiance, golden scales covered his right arm and the right side of his torso. His blood essence roared as he thrust his claw into the wall of the train carriage, then ripped it open.


    ¡°There are windows, you know!¡± Yuanen Yehui shouted, smashing open a nearby window and entering from there instead.


    ¡°Xinglan, Zhengyu, and Gu Yue, you three stay outside and guard against any stray attacks. Lizhi and Xiaoyan, you two work together,¡± said Tang Wlin. ¡°Xie Xie, you¡¯re going in with me and Yuanen to save people.¡±


    Upon entering the train, the trio was greeted with a carriage in absolute disarray, one that had flipped over multiple times. Cups and plates lay shattered on the ground. There were broken windows and even the occasional bloodstain.


    Tang Wulin quickly located a pair of wounded people by the cry of their voices. He carried them out swiftly but gently. Then his companions standing outside the carriage received the wounded, rushing them away from the wreckage.


    By then, the students of the Imperial Soul Master Academy had snapped back to their senses and hurried over to lend a hand.


    Before they reached Tang Wulin¡¯s group, however, numerous soul cannon shells penetrated their defensive line, flying toward their location.


    ¡°Incoming cannon shells!¡± shouted one of the girls from the Imperial Star Luo Academy.


    A flash of silver, and Gu Yue teleported from the ground to the roof of the train carriage. Her four soul rings sped around her in circles as she lifted her Elemental Staff into the air. She let out a burst of resplendent light. Dozens of blazing blue fireballs formed, floating about before shooting out to intercept the cannon shells.


    Ye Xinglan also leaped onto the roof of the carriage, standing guard for Gu Yue. Her knuckles glowed white as she gripped her Stargod Sword.


    The cannon shells exploded above ground. The resulting boom resounded through the air, accompanied by powerful shockwaves.


    Specks of starlight came together to weave a giant net in front of Gu Yue and Ye Xinglan, protecting them from the blast.


    A moment later, Yue Zhengyu also climbed up to the carriage roof, a tad late to the party. Together, the three of them stood shoulder to shoulder and prepared to intercept any more stray shells.


    Gu Yue waved her Elemental Staff like it was a soul cannon, unleashing wave after wave of powerful elemental attacks. The mightiest were her azure fireballs. On the other hand, her wind blades reached the furthest of her attacks, and her icicles possessed the most penetrating power. While her elemental attacks were a perfect defense against the cannon shells, some soul beams slipped through occasionally. When that happened, Ye Xinglan and Yue Zhengyu were ready to intercept.


    ¡°On to the left!¡± Tang Wulin shouted. The three on the top instantly turned to the left, signaling to the others that this carriage was cleared.


    ¡°Let¡¯s help them rescue civilians,¡± said the captain of the Imperial Star Luo Academy team. They quickly added their manpower to Tang Wulin¡¯s team and transported wounded people to a safer location.


    Meanwhile, the battle in the air grew more and more intense. Red and white streaks collided repeatedly high in the sky. A myriad of colors bloomed each time these two peak-level experts clashed. As for the rest of the battlefield, the situation was quite dire.


    It was clear that the enemies were highly prepared. They possessed great firepower and powerful mechas. Not only was there a red-grade mecha, but there were also eight black-grade mechas, over thirty purple-grade mechas, and over a hundred yellow-grade mechas. This strike force possessed ferocious strength.


    The mecha squadron from the Star Luo Empire was strong, but they could not compare with the enemy in both quantity and quality. The best they could do currently was block a portion of the barrage of soul cannons. Thankfully, the diplomatic members of the Douluo delegation had seven soul masters, each with at least seven soul rings, who could contribute to the defensive.


    Even so, those could not even hold a candle to Wu Zhangkong equipped with his Sky Ice battle armor. In the sky, he weaved in and out of combat, wielding a gigantic Skyfrost Sword to intercept numerous attacks heading toward his students.


    The current situation didn¡¯t afford them the leeway to launch a counterattack. All of their manpower was busy defending the civilians still left in the train. The bombardment they faced filled the surrounding area with massive energy fluctuations.


    A single cannon shell finally penetrated their defensive line and hit a carriage a distance away from Tang Wulin¡¯s group. It exploded, debris flying everywhere and flames swallowing it whole. The surrounding carriages shook from the resulting blastwave.


    By now, Tang Wulin¡¯s team had managed to rescue tens of people.


    ¡°Wulin, I don¡¯t think we can hold on much longer. You need to come out quickly!¡± Gu Yue shouted to them from the roof of the carriage.


    Several of the mechas from the Star Luo Empire¡¯s squadron had been destroyed. This put their side at a further disadvantage, and they were slowly being pushed further and further back.


    Although the enemy¡¯s hawklike red-grade mecha was weaker than Elder Cai, it possessed tremendous speed that made up for the gap between them. Using that speed, it launched precise attacks that denied Elder Cai the room to divert attention to other fronts of battle. She couldn¡¯t afford to bring this battle, one between two peak-level experts, anywhere near the ground lest she risk massive collateral damage.


    Tang Wulin brought out another two civilians from the train carriage. With those two people rescued, there were five carriages left to go through. If they turned tail and fled now, their survival would be guaranteed considering their strength. However, all the people still stuck in the train would die!


    Tang Wulin glanced at the sky, then shouted, ¡°Everybody, prepare to retreat!¡± As he spoke, he rummaged through his coat pocket and fiddled with something. Then despite his own orders for retreat, he rushed back into the train.


    Soon, enemy mechas rushed toward the defensive line. The enemies had long since completely suppressed the delegation¡¯s side with ranged attacks. Now some were enjoying superiority in numbers by engaging in close combat.


    Before such overwhelming military might, Wu Zhangkong made a grim face and said, ¡°Retreat with the wounded first!¡± Following that, his battle armor shone bright, the rays of light enveloping him like a swirling blizzard. His giant Skyfrost Sword flared with blue radiance and drew in icy blue specks of light from the surroundings.

 Chapter 589 - Onslaught

    Chapter 589 - Onslaught


    The enemies had noticed Wu Zhangkong¡¯s exceptional strength long ago. As such, two black mechas were dispatched to handle him.


    Black-grade mechas from Douluo were humanoid and about eight meters tall. The two that were currently approaching, however, differed from Douluo¡¯s standards. One of the mechas was a gigantic bear. The other was an ape that was only five meters tall.


    While the ape mecha was smaller, it was also clearly much more agile. Two pairs of short wings with exhaust openings spread out from its back, accentuating a design that prioritized control over its movements. The bear mecha, on the other hand, was a twelve-meter-tall behemoth. A dark purple barrier cloaked its body and it carried a gigantic battle axe over twenty meters long. It was undoubtedly a power-type while the ape was an agility-type.


    The bear mecha charged forward, brandishing its battle axe. Hundreds of meters away from Wu Zhangkong, it attacked. Its axe cleaved through the air like a howling hurricane to unleash an ink-black slash. Wu Zhangkong¡¯s battle armor shone radiantly in response. Frost Scars burst into existence all around him to form a shell, making it look as though he had been enveloped by frosty mist. Then, just before the black slash could strike him, he disappeared in a flash of light.


    Wu Zhangkong reappeared in front of the bear mecha and swung his sword, weaving together all of the Frost Scars around him to encase the bear mecha in an icy net. The bulky bear mecha couldn¡¯t move its enormous frame fast enough to evade the prison of Frost Scars, but it didn¡¯t need to. Its barrier pulsed with tremendous energy and resisted the attack. Brilliant purple light radiated from the barrier as it clashed with the Frost Scars, jarring crackles of energy filling the air. The struggle between the two energies was fierce, yet the barrier held strong, showing no signs of giving way. That was when the ape mecha appeared behind Wu Zhangkong. With deadly precision, it stabbed a pair of daggers down at his exposed back.


    In the brief moment that Wu Zhangkong and the bear mecha had clashed, the ape mecha had managed to sneak up on him like a phantom! Its speed was several times faster than that of the bear mecha. It was a formidable mecha that excelled in assassination.


    The instant the ape mecha appeared behind him, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s figure blurred. His Skyfrost Sword shone brightly, and he became transparent, the ape mecha¡¯s daggers piercing nothing but thin air. In the next instant Wu Zhangkong¡¯s Skyfrost Sword transformed into a giant wheel as he unleashed his fifth soul skill, Frost Song Moon. It spun rapidly in place to fill the sky with icy mist, and from that mist, gigantic swords that slashed downward.


    Faced with two opponents of tremendous power, Wu Zhangkong couldn¡¯t afford a prolonged battle. He had to adopt a blitzkrieg strategy in which he held nothing back!


    In the face of the icy onslaught, the bear mecha unleashed a burst of light. Its barrier was already struggling to protect it, working at max capacity. The bear¡¯s massive frame allowed it to store enormous amounts of energy, but even with that bulk, it could not completely defend against Frost Song¡¯s might. As if realizing this, countless beams of light shot out from cannons hidden on the bear mecha¡¯s back. They streaked toward Wu Zhangkong in a deadly burst, but right before they could strike him, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s figure disappeared. The beams passed harmlessly through the expanse of icy mist that remained where he once was. Then a metallic screech ripped through the air, and the black mecha suddenly turned white.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s disappearance startled the ape mecha. Then it saw the bear mecha slowly begin to plummet. Even a black-grade mecha would suffer catastrophic damage if it crash landed from such heights. The fact that the bear mecha had been completely frozen was utterly shocking. It was likely that even the pilot within had been frozen to death!


    The icy mist suddenly condensed behind the ape mecha, shifting into Wu Zhangkong¡¯s form. The mecha instantly twisted into a barrel roll to evade, but the mist was everywhere. Hundreds of Frost Scars melded into existence to instantly surround the ape mecha, trapping it in a giant net of ice.


    With a quick slash of his sword, Wu Zhangkong unleashed a resplendent sword beam at the ensnared mecha. This was the power of two of his soul skills, Frost Song and Skyfrost Slash!


    The ape mecha floated in the air for a moment, frozen. Then, as it split in two and fell to the ground, Wu Zhangkong once again faded into the mist.


    In a flash, Wu Zhangkong destroyed two black-grade mechas! This was the difference in power between mechas and battle armor! The gap between an ordinary soul master and one from Shrek Academy!


    While Wu Zhangkong had been eliminating the two black-grade mechas, many of the other enemies reached the defensive line of the train and engaged the defenders in chaotic close-combat. The mecha squadron from the Star Luo Empire fought hard to maintain the line, but it was an impossible task. They were drastically outnumbered. Those from the Douluo delegation spared no effort to support the defensive line as well, but casualties piled up with each and every clash.


    As the battle raged on, Tang Wulin tore an exit out of the carriage he was in and brought out another two injured people. Yuanen Yehui followed behind him in her Titan Ape form, carrying four in her arms. Once they delivered the wounded to the Imperial Star Luo Academy students, both prepared to charge back into the train. At that moment, however, a purple-grade mecha descended upon them, brandishing a giant sword at Yuanen Yehui.


    Even in her Titan Ape form, Yuanen Yehui could not contend with the strength of a purple-grade mecha, yet she did not back down. Her eyes flashed with ferocity as she swung both fists at the sword. Fists and sword collided in an explosive boom. Yuanen Yehui slid back a few meters while the mecha was sent flying backward.


    The Imperial Star Luo Academy students watched from the sidelines, mouths agape. Fighting a mecha with bare fists? What a monster!


    As soon as Yuanen Yehui found her footing, she punched out again with Air Cannon to send two blasts of air slamming into the enemy. Unfortunately for her, the enemy was equipped with a barrier. The shield of energy simply shimmered slightly as it mitigated the force of the air blasts. Then the mecha hefted its sword upright, taking a stance as the sword abruptly ignited with flames and became cloaked in blazing purple fire. This was the combined might of mecha and soul master!


    Yuanen Yehui snorted, her four soul rings lighting up around her. Her figure shrank, but her muscles swelled with more strength thanks to the effect of Devil Titan. Again, she charged at the mecha, fists swinging!


    Flaming sword clashed with titan fists in a rumbling explosion. A booming wind swept across the area. Frightening energy fluctuations rampaged around the combatants. And once again, the mecha was sent flying by Yuanen Yehui¡¯s punches.


    Even as the mecha flew through the air, Yuanen Yehui leaped after it, pressing her attack. Before it could reposition itself to respond, she slammed her fists into it, smashing it to the ground!


    Below her, Xie Xie dashed over to the grounded mecha. After a few quick leaps and a sommersault, he reached the mecha¡¯s cockpit. He made short work of the pilot, then turned back to Yuanen Yehui to flash her a smile and a thumbs up.


    Yuanen Yehui rolled her eyes at him. In the next instant, she grew serious once more as she noticed over a dozen mechas flying toward them. It was a strike team; a black mecha leading four purple mechas with the rest being yellow-grades. The enemy had clearly noticed their resistance here and came to eliminate them.


    The students from Shrek Academy weren¡¯t afraid of purple and yellow-grade mechas, but black-grade mechas were a whole different story. The pilot of such a mecha was at least a six-ringed Soul Emperor. A soul master as powerful as that would only become even stronger when equipped with a black-grade mecha.


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle the black mecha!¡± Tang Wulin shouted as he jumped out of the train. He landed at Yuanen Yehui¡¯s side atop the train in a burst of gold. ¡°You guys take care of the rest!¡±


    Before anyone could say otherwise, he leaped into the air and shot two vines of Bluesilver Emperor at the black-grade mecha.

 Chapter 590 - Green Skull Renegades

    Chapter 590 - Green Skull Renegades


    The pilot of this black-grade mecha was Feng Linwan, a famous member of the Green Skull Renegades. At the young age of twenty-seven, he was already a Soul Emperor and one of the Renegades¡¯ rising stars destined to become a divine-grade mecha pilot.


    Since the tender age of three, he had loved mechas and dreamed of becoming Star Luo¡¯s greatest mecha pilot, always yearning to be near one of these great embodiments of modern technology. His every action was for the sake of this goal. By the time he was  twenty-seven,  he had defeated many of his rivals in the Green Skull Renegades, eventually obtaining his own black-grade mecha. And he had rejoiced the moment he received it and loved it dearly. So much so, in fact, that he once slept for three whole days in it. If truth be told, that wasn¡¯t a rare thing for him to do.


    A mecha was an extension of the body in Feng Linwan¡¯s eyes.


    For the sake of becoming an ace mecha pilot, he had fervently cultivated since the day he awakened and spared no effort in improving his pilot skills, opting to even ignore any secondary profession. To him, those were only distractions. All he needed in his life were mechas.


    Although battle armors were powerful, Feng Linwan didn¡¯t believe the power of an individual could overcome that of science. As mecha technology progressed, he was certain that mechas would one day surpass battle armor!


    The operation this time had been planned long in advance. They were to strike the train with overwhelming military force and take out the most powerful people in the Douluo delegation.


    Under the watchful eye of the powerful Star Luo Empire, the Green Skull Renegades could barely continue to survive. For the sake of more breathing room, they needed an external force to intervene and draw away the Empire¡¯s attention. The delegation from Douluo was perfect for this purpose. As such, the goal of this operation was to eliminate the entire delegation, causing a rift between the two continents¡¯ governments.


    Their surprise attack had been kept under lock and key. Before they commenced, a communications blockade was imposed on every participant. In fact, most of them hadn¡¯t been privy to the operation¡¯s objective.


    After the Green Skull Renegades had bombarded the soul train with special radar-jamming shells, everything seemed to go according to plan. That a Tiled Douluo would be present had been known in advance, and they had prepared accordingly with a divine-grade mecha. However, Feng Linwan hadn¡¯t expected that there would be people left over able to defend the train.


    The next phase of the battle now strayed from their careful planning. In the firefight between both sides, although they had managed to suppress the defenders with overwhelming numbers, the casualties for the Douluo delegation numbered extremely few. The vast majority of the Douluo delegation¡¯s members were soul masters of at least some repute. Combined with the Star Luo Empire¡¯s mecha squadron, they were able to put up a fierce fight. Against such a great defensive, the Green Skull Renegades couldn¡¯t dominate the battlefield.


    The defenders had managed to send out an energy signal, and as the seconds ticked by, the reinforcements grew closer and closer. Although the Green Skull Renegades knew their long-ranged bombardment would eventually wear down their targets until annihilation, they were pressed on time and were forced to engage in close combat. Thoroughly and quickly eliminating the Douluo delegation was now more important than ever.


    Earlier, Feng Linwan had noticed the iron-tight defense mounted by Gu Yue in this section of the train. She was like a one-man artillery line. Even without a mecha or battle armor to amplify her power, she intercepted the incoming attacks by just waving her staff, unleashing wave after wave of elemental attacks. Feng Linwan couldn¡¯t let this be and had flown over.


    As Feng Linwan neared the train carriage, he pulled out a pair of gigantic hammers from the back of his mecha. In consideration of their potential for catastrophic damage and the mecha¡¯s tremendous strength, he had opted for hammers over swords.


    Energy surged into the hammers. They crackled with pitch-black sparks upon his downward swing toward the carriage.


    Before he could inflict any damage, a teenage boy leaped out of said carriage and soared his direction, instantly filling up his screen sensors. Enroute, four soul rings appeared around him, three purple and one black.


    His fourth ring is a ten-thousand-year? Feng Linwan was taken aback. It was his first time facing such a young genius. Then he saw the black ring shine. A swarm of dark blue vines, each as thick as a human leg, shot toward him.


    As the vines neared, Feng Linwan noticed a dark-gold twinkle within them, for some reason reminding him of a golden dragon. The sheer number of vines engulfed the figure of the boy.


    What the hell kind of martial soul is that? Feng Linwan¡¯s lips parted in disbelief. So what if he has good soul rings? He¡¯s still only got four. I have six! And a black-grade mecha too! How could he possibly be my opponent?


    The mecha changed targets in mid-air. It threw the hammer in its right hand straight at the approaching Tang Wulin!


    Feng Linwan¡¯s combat style favored crushing his opponents through brute strength. He himself was a power-type soul master, so he was quite skilled at dominating his opponents in this way.


    The black hammer zipped toward Tang Wulin like a giant missile. Air parted before it as it broke the sound barrier, exploding in a sonic boom.


    The vines showed no will to block the hammer, peeling back one after another to make way for it. Yet an instant later, they weaved a giant net in the air. Upon collision, the net recoiled, but it managed to slow the hammer. As the hammer continued to push against the net, the net began to shake, enduring the hammer¡¯s power and dispersing its energy.


    Feng Linwan¡¯s eyes went wide. His were no ordinary hammers; they were imbued with the pulverizing property from his martial soul! The moment they hit their target, this usually resulted in a mangled death. When the hammer struck the net of vines, the vines shone gold and revealed what looked like a skeletal structure within. Bathed in gold, the vines managed to absorb all of the hammer¡¯s force!


    Feng Linwan furrowed his brow. He reached out with the mecha¡¯s right hand to recall the hammer. Naturally, he wouldn¡¯t have thrown the hammer if there wasn¡¯t a mechanism to return it to his hand.


    However, a vine wrapped around the hammer¡¯s handle and prevented it from leaving. From the swarm of vines, Tang Wulin appeared, swinging from one of the vines toward his hammer.


    The hammer the black-grade mecha wielded was over five meters long, its head about two meters in diameter. Absolutely huge. Yet Tang Wulin had managed to stop the hammer from moving long enough to grab on to it. As he wielded the giant hammer, the vines unfurled around him into a multitude of tentacles.


    ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡± Feng Linwan coldly snorted. Trying to use my owner hammer against me? We¡¯ll see about that!


    In a flash of black light, a five-meter-tall silver bear appeared. Its scarlet eyes gleamed with blood lust. This was Feng Linwan¡¯s third spirit soul, the Dusksilver Bear! Although not as great as the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, the Dusksilver Bear possessed exceptional strength. Furthermore, it synergized well with Feng Linwan¡¯s mecha, able to wield one of his giant hammers that weighed over 2500 kilograms by itself. Practically a slaughter machine!


    The Dusksilver Bear stepped off the mecha¡¯s palm, then burst toward the returning hammer Tang Wulin was currently holding.


    A smirk made its way across Feng Linwan¡¯s lips. The power of a ten-thousand-year spirit soul would tear this boy apart in the blink of an eye. And if the boy retreated, then the Dusksilver Bear could take control of one of his mecha¡¯s hammers and go wild with its attacks. He saw only death in the boy¡¯s future.


    After taking care of the boy, he could continue wiping out the rest of the Douluo delegation.


    The Dusksilver Bear reached the returning hammer in no time. It stretched its arms wide to give Tang Wulin a crushing embrace.


    Not before a tremendous shadow appeared behind him, however.

 Chapter 591 - Annihilating the Dusksilver Bear!

    Chapter 591 - Annihilating the Dusksilver Bear!


    The shadow behind Tang Wulin belonged to a dragon¡¯s head, its eyes blood-crimson. The instant it appeared it suppressed the Dusksilver Bear¡¯s mighty aura. Just its head was enough to illustrate the bear and its gap in strength. Opening its maws wide, the dragon head let out a rebellious roar toward the heavens!


    Feng Linwan wasn¡¯t the only person with a ten-thousand-year spirit soul. Tang Wulin had the Tyrant Dragon!


    Every spirit soul possessed some sentience. The greater its cultivation level, the higher its intelligence. At the ten-thousand-year level, spirit souls were as smart as humans. While the Dusksilver Bear was a bit lacking in intelligence compared to its peers, its instincts still screamed out in fear before the Tyrant Dragon. Before the overlord of land soul beasts. Even if Tyrant Dragons had been extinct for many years now, the blood of the Dusksilver Bear knew to fear it. This was the dragon that inherited the most power from the Golden Dragon King, reaching the apex of brute strength.


    As a result of its instincts, the Dusksilver Bear trembled in fear when it heard the Tyrant Dragon¡¯s deafening roar. It crumpled into a cowering ball. Yet somehow it still maintained its momentum as it flew toward Tang Wulin.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin¡¯s arm transformed into a golden claw, its talons digging into the metal of the hammer¡¯s handle. Feng Linwan¡¯s jaw dropped almost simultaneously. He couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. That hammer was made of sturdy alloys! Yet it was merely tofu before Tang Wulin¡¯s claw!


    As the giant hammer flew back to the mecha¡¯s hand, Tang Wulin managed to swing it at the Dusksilver Bear mid-air! He exerted over ten thousand kilograms of strength in that instant!


    The hammer struck the bear with a bang! It stood there, gaping. Never in the bear¡¯s dreams did it believe it would be struck by its own hammer!


    Minutes ago, it had wielded that same hammer to smash others into oblivion. Now facing said hammer, it finally understood the fear of being smashed. Its body writhed in pain from the hammer¡¯s crushing effect.


    The moment the Dusksilver Bear was smashed to the ground, the force recalling the hammer to the mecha lessened. However, the force was still present. The hammer¡¯s trek back to the mecha¡¯s hand undisturbed.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Feng Linwan could no longer keep his calm. Is that kid even human? He¡¯s practically a Tyrant Dragon in human form!


    Even so, as an elite of the Green Skull Renegades, Feng Linwan did not falter before Tang Wulin¡¯s domineering aura. He immediately stopped recalling the hammer. It plummeted from the skies.


    As the hammer fell, Feng Linwan burst toward Tang Wulin in his mecha, swinging the hammer in his left hand at his target. Even if you¡¯re strong, you only have four rings! There¡¯s no way you can fly!


    Hammer closing in on him, Tang Wulin concentrated all his strength into his arms and waist. In midair, he swung the hammer he held at the black-grade mecha and used the momentum to accelerate toward the ground.


    Thirty meters off the ground, the black-grade mecha easily evaded Tang Wulin¡¯s swing and grabbed the other hammer by its handle away. By the time it turned around to glance at Tang Wulin, a fair distance had been opened up between them.


    I need to kill this brat! If he¡¯s this strong now with only four rings, how strong will he be in the future? Bloodlust filled Feng Linwan¡¯s eyes. His sights were firmly locked on Tang Wulin.


    At that moment, a yellow-grade mecha appeared by in front of Tang Wulin. Wielding its giant greatsword, it slashed down on him.


    Vines of Bluesilver Emperor shot out to protect Tang Wulin. His first soul ring shone and he used Bind to stop the sword. Empowered with Bluesilver Overlord Transformation as well, the vines weren¡¯t even nicked by the greatsword.


    Tang Wulin used his vines to swing himself toward the yellow-grade mecha¡¯s shoulder. As he soared over it, he released vine after vine to bind the mecha.


    Meanwhile, Feng Linwan was fast approaching in his black-grade mecha, a mere dozen meters away.


    Pulling on the vines, Tang Wulin spun the bound yellow-grade mecha and tossed it at Feng Linwan.


    Seeing his comrade thrown his way, Feng Linwan was forced to stop them. In the blink of an eye, the mecha raised its right leg up to stop the yellow mecha. While it was dangerous for a mecha to go flying out of control, the problem could be solved as easily as steadying them.


    But right as Feng Linwan stopped the yellow mecha, Tang Wulin shot out from behind its waist. He jumped onto the black-grade mecha¡¯s cockpit. A draconic roar exploded from his body as he unleashed a phantom dragon¡¯s head at it.


    Back when Tang Wulin had thrown the yellow-grade mecha at Feng Linwan, he had shot a vine onto its back and rode behind it stealthily. Then as Feng Linwan steadied the mecha, it provided him the perfect opportunity to launch his sneak attack and unleash Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    It was impossible to evade Tang Wulin¡¯s attack at such close range. However, while mechas weren¡¯t as flexible or nimble as humans, they possessed stalwart armor! A moment later, a barrier of black light shimmered around the black-grade mecha. Upon collision, a lightshow of gold and ink.


    The yellow-grade mecha directly received the blast of energy from the collision and was blasted to the ground.


    Now that he was in close quarters, Tang Wulin could display his full power!


    His second soul ring shone as he used Bluesilver Impaling Array. Empowered by Bluesilver Overlord Transformation as well, his vines of Bluesilver Emperor shot out like writhing spears! The vine-spears impaled the black mecha¡¯s barrier from all sides.


    Each strike massively drained the barrier¡¯s energy reserves, sending tremors through the mecha that slowed its movements down. Feng Linwan frantically struggled to operate his mecha in horror of the onslaught of vines.


    If it were normal bluesilver grass, then Bluesilver Impaling Array wouldn¡¯t have been anywhere near as threatening to the black-grade mecha as it was now. But the current grass was the Bluesilver Emperor empowered by the ten-thousand-year soul skill, Bluesilver Overlord Transformation!


    Golden light burst in blinding radiance from Tang Wulin¡¯s body as he activated Golden Dragon Body. His muscles swelled with strength, his eyes blazing with ferocity.


    Separated by only a few inches of metal, Feng Linwan saw the brutal madness in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. Fear gripped his heart, but his pilot training took over and he desperately maneuvered his mecha to swing its hammer at Tang Wulin.


    Vines of Bluesilver Emperor released from Tang Wulin¡¯s back and weaved a shield against the hammer. He stayed entrenched on the mecha¡¯s cockpit. Vines bound him to the mecha from his feet and protected him from his back.


    Tang Wulin brandished his dragon claw, which was even larger than normal thanks to Golden Dragon Body. Its talons shone keenly.


    But Feng Linwan wouldn¡¯t let it end here. He roared in defiance, six soul rings rising around him, two yellow, three purple, and one black. He poured his soul power into the mecha, sending it into overdrive.


    The two hammers slammed down like thunder upon the shield of grass vines on Tang Wulin¡¯s back. Even empowered by Bluesilver Overlord Transformation, the vines trembled under the mighty power of a black-grade mecha.


    Yet the instant the hammers fell, Tang Wulin¡¯s four soul rings disappeared, two golden rings rising in their place. The second golden ring shone and his body burst with light. A draconic roar erupted from his body as the impact traveled through the vines and into him. His dragon claw shone brighter than ever. He slashed his empowered claw at the cockpit, leaving behind five gruesome slashes. Deep and penetrating enough to glimpse the pilot within!


    Feng Linwan sat there, shocked to his very bones. He can even endure that? The two hammers weighed 2500 kilograms each, and with the added strength of the mecha, they exerted tens of tonnes of force! Yet Tang Wulin easily absorbed the impact!


    The last two months of training on the ocean hadn¡¯t gone to waste. The Body Sect¡¯s speciality was bringing out the potential of the human body, transforming it into the ultimate weapon. The Awakening of his Bluesilver Emperor had transformed his body as well. Now in terms of survivability and toughness, perhaps not even Wu Zhangkong could beat him. Tang Wulin¡¯s body was incomparably stronger than before he embarked on this trip, at least several times stronger in fact!


    Then Tang Wulin combined his physical strength, martial soul, and blood essence into one powerful attack!

 Chapter 592 - Annihilation

    Chapter 592 - Annihilation


    Empowered by Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Body, Tang Wulin easily tore open the black-grade mecha¡¯s cockpit with his dragon claw. He drew back his claw from the gigantic gash. Then he thrust it in once more!


    Shock coloring his face, Feng Linwan activated his fifth soul ring. Fur covered his body while it swelled in strength, and he threw his arms forward to intercept the attack.


    His martial soul was the Dusksilver Bear! Not only did it possess mighty defensive power, so did he! But before the golden dragon claw, he could hardly boast of this fact. His defense amounted to nothing. Even with his cultivation at the six-ring level, he could not match Tang Wulin¡¯s full-powered dragon claw strike.


    A crunch pierced through the air as Tang Wulin¡¯s claw crushed Feng Linwan¡¯s arms, stopping just short of penetrating his chest. In an instant, Feng Linwan urged his soul power through his body to minimize the damage.


    So close! If it were just a bit more¡­ Feng Linwan groaned in agony, hair standing erect in the face of death. Never had he expected this. That a brat with only four soul rings could threaten his life.


    Good thing it nearly missed¡­? Feng Linwan¡¯s eyes went wide as the claw shone brilliantly and suppressed the strength in his arms. From the dragon claw burst dark gold blades of light.


    ¡°Battle armor!¡± Feng Linwan roared in indignation. But it was too late. The blades skewered his chest, damp with red at the ends, a cloud of red mist expelling from his mouth. His eyes dulled. He slumped back into his seat. His life¡¯s fire was extinguished, but not before regret crept within his heart. Regret for his carelessness. Regret for underestimating his opponent. And more than that, he could not comprehend how a four-ring soul master managed to kill him.


    Tang Wulin heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of his opponent¡¯s demise. Then blood sprayed from his lips, body finally registering the impact of tens of tonnes of force. It painted the cockpit crimson.


    The black-grade mecha hit the ground with a boom, its hammers kicking up clouds of dust when upon impact.


    Meanwhile the battle was still in full swing. Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and Ye Xinglan were the strongest members of the Shrek Academy team, but they were not the ones who wiped out the most enemies.


    A while before the end of Tang Wulin¡¯s fight, a starwheel silently appeared beneath a yellow-grade mecha, shutting down its operation instantly. With no more thrust to propel it through the sky, it plummeted hundreds of meters to the ground.


    With a wave of her staff, Xu Xiaoyan summoned dozens of twinkling stars in the air. It sent numerous mechas into a state of panic. Formations broken, some even crashed into their comrades, barriers emitting dazzling sparks upon collision.


    After Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s Star Staff evolved, its control abilities skyrocketed in power. Backed by Gu Yue¡¯s ranged elemental attacks and working in tandem with Yuanen Yehui,  Ye Xinglan, and Yue Zhengyu, she found it easy for them to take down tens of mechas at a time.


    Having long since rescued the civilians trapped in the train, the students from the Imperial Star Luo Academy could only watch in awe, dumbstruck. They could hardly believe their eyes.


    Just like them, Shrek Academy¡¯s students were at the four-ring level, yet what the latter accomplished was something the Star Luo Academy students could never dream of!


    To intercept a pair of incoming energy beams, Yuanen Yehui leaped into the air and curled her body as she released two blasts of air. Bathed in the explosion of light, her figure shrunk, a pair of black wings unfurling from her back. She accelerated instantly, transforming into a violet streak in the sky.


    In no time, she swept past a yellow mecha too slow to evade her. She cleaved its legs off with her demonic sword while clad in battle armor. Without the jets in its legs, the mecha plummeted to the ground.


    Nearby, Yue Zhengyu emitted holy radiance, overshadowing Yuanen Yehui with his dazzling aura. Darkness and holy light mixed, the powers of the Fallen Angel and Holy Angel clashing. But in an instant, a sword of black and white formed at the point in which the two energies met. The sword flashed through the air, wrecking a purple-grade mecha, in its wake a mesmerizing streak of light.


    When Feng Linwan¡¯s black-grade mecha had slammed both of its hammers down on Tang Wulin, Xu Lizhi had shouted out in alarm. Yet in the next moment, he heard a dragon¡¯s roar and witnessed the black-grade mecha fall from the sky!


    All of a sudden, Gu Yue disappeared in a flash of silver, then reappeared beneath the mecha with another flash. Just as she was about to act, to save Tang Wulin, the person in question threw himself out of the cockpit. He kicked off the mecha into the air. Eyes shining, Gu Yue waved her Elemental Staff and teleported Tang Wulin to her side.


    Tang Wulin staggered when he appeared beside her, blood dripping down the corner of his mouth. But his eyes burned with excitement. It was his first time facing a black-grade mecha, a piece of technology sometimes referred to as a super mecha! And he won! The pilot was even a six-ringed Soul Emperor! Despite the pilot¡¯s final attempt at defense, Tang Wulin¡¯s all out attack broke right through!  His injuries were a light price to pay for victory considering the strength of his opponent.


    ¡°You¡¯re injured?¡± Gu Yue asked, voice wavering with concern.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s go,¡± said Tang Wulin. ¡°I want those hammers.¡±


    In a flash of silver, Gu Yue took them from the top of the train carriage to the ground near the black-grade mecha.


    Black-grade mechas truly were worthy of being called super mechas. Even after falling from hundreds of meters, it suffered no damage from the impact. The only damage visible was caused by Tang Wulin¡¯s claw.


    First grabbing one of the hammers with his dragon claw, Tang Wulin then transferred it to his normal hand. He picked up the other undamaged hammer with his dragon claw, easily lifting both hammers that were each over five meters long.


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes widened by a fraction as she watched this display of inhuman strength. At the same time, she had retreated a few steps. This guy¡¯s strength just keeps getting more and more ridiculous!


    With hammers in hand, Tang Wulin planted a foot in the ground before spinning in place. In an instant, a whirlwind formed around him.


    At the sight of Tang Wulin¡¯s ridiculous feat, enemy mechas ascended higher in the air, desperate to distance themselves from him. Suddenly, the pressure on Yuanen Yehui¡¯s group lightened significantly. The enemies were aware the of amount of devastation those hammer could wreak! The possibility of being obliterated into chunks of meat struck fear into their hearts.


    At that moment, what seemed to be numerous black dots appeared a few kilometers away. They rapidly approached. A whistle rang in the air and the Green Skull Renegades started their retreat. Reinforcements had arrived.


    Tang Wulin gradually stopped spinning. Eventually, he firmly planted his feet into the ground to stop his momentum. He dropped the hammers to the ground, panting. Running through his body were pangs of pain and a feeling of heaviness, the result of his injuries and extreme physical exertion finally catching up to him.


    High up in the air, the red-grade mecha broke off combat with Elder Cai and fled. Its speed was too great and it easily evaded her attacks.


    Elder Cai didn¡¯t bother to chase after it, descending to hover closer to the Douluo delegation and guard them. She didn¡¯t dare pursue the red mecha and risk the delegation members.


    In the end, the Green Skull Renegades made a swift retreat.


    As the reinforcements neared, it was clear they were from the Star Luo Empire¡¯s military. They used a standardized model for all of their mechas, and there were over three hundred of them. A portion of them left the main group to guard the delegation. The rest pursued the Green Skull Renegades.


    Tang Wulin fell onto his butt in exhaustion, rubbing his stomach in pain. But as soon as he looked back and saw the black-grade mecha and its two hammers by his side, he replaced the grimace on his face for a grin.

 Chapter 593 - Riches

    Chapter 593 - Riches


    The equipment Tang Wulin won from his victory was practically worth its weight in gold! For a money-grubber like him, he couldn¡¯t be happier.


    In a flash of light, his yellow-grade mecha appeared beside him. While inside this mecha, he widened the gash in the black-grade mecha¡¯s cockpit, extracting the corpse of Feng Linwan. With a flick of the mecha¡¯s wrist, he tossed the corpse to the side. Then he stored the black-grade mecha and its hammers in his storage rings. He didn¡¯t neglect the numerous yellow-grade mechas strewn around the battlefield either and asked Wu Zhangkong to help him store them.


    Wu Zhangkong worked swiftly to collect all the mechas into his storage ring. By the time he had finished, the reinforcements just arrived.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin¡¯s friends were staring at him in shock. Yue Zhengyu took a few seconds before closing his gaping mouth. He said, ¡°Captain, where¡¯d you get such a huge storage ring? And what are you going to do with those yellow-grade mechas?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re mine! All mine!¡± Tang Wulin snickered.


    ¡°What about our share?¡± Yue Zhengyu said, looking Tang Wulin straight in the eye.


    Tang Wulin smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Teacher Wu also took down some black-grade mechas. We can all have a slice of that pie.¡±


    Among their group, only Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi were truly interested in the mechas. The rest were more intent on battle armor. However, there was no denying that high-grade mechas were extremely precious. Just the amount of top-tier alloy they were composed of would fetch for a sky-high market price. Unfortunately, high-grade mechas were hard for most people to use since they needed it to be compatible with their martial soul. But it was still easier to refit a high-grade mecha to a new pilot than to build a new one from scratch.


    Feng Linwan¡¯s mecha was a mecha provided by the Green Skull Renegades. It was humanoid in design, similar to those of Douluo. Refitting it would be a piece of cake.


    The Star Luo Empire¡¯s response had been swift, gathering up hundreds of mechas to secure the perimeter of the train. Medic mechas were scouring the area from the sky, swooping in to treat the injured.


    Wu Zhangkong descended from the sky to the side of his students. Seeing that all of his students were fine, he slightly nodded without speaking a word.


    As he swept his gaze through them, his eyes stayed on Tang Wulin a few moments longer than the rest. Many others had witnessed Tang Wulin smash the black-grade mecha even from a far distance. Naturally, Wu Zhangkong¡¯s vigilant eyes did not miss that scene either. During Tang Wulin¡¯s battle with the mecha, he had been preparing to swoop in to save his student. Yet to his astonishment, Tang Wulin managed to overpower his opponent. Such a feat wasn¡¯t possible with simply strength. Not only has this kid grown even stronger, it looks like his martial soul evolved too.


    As a teacher and alumnus of Shrek Academy, Wu Zhangkong was no stranger to seeing talented students. However, none could compare with Tang Wulin. When he first met Tang Wulin, the boy¡¯s martial soul was merely the weak bluesilver grass. Yet as time passed, Tang Wulin revealed uncompromising willpower, and through his tireless efforts, he rapidly grew stronger. He even attained the strength necessary to lead his team of elites.


    Tang Wulin sat cross-legged on the floor, circulating his soul power according to the Mysterious Heaven Method. He had received some powerful blows, but thanks to his Bluesilver Emperor vines, much of the force had been mitigated.


    The soul train and its tracks suffered severe damage, making them unusable for the foreseeable future. In order to move the stranded train passengers, the Star Luo Empire dispatched a fleet of soul busses to take them the rest of their trip. Furthermore, the Empire had over a few hundred mechas remain as their escort.


    Although the sudden train attack had very few casualties, this attack involved the delegation from Douluo. This was a grave diplomatic incident.


    But none of this mattered to Tang Wulin. This headache belonged to the big shots. This situation, however, told him that Star Luo wasn¡¯t as safe as he thought it would be. He couldn¡¯t let his guard down here.


    A representative of the Star Luo Empire gathered members of the Douluo delegation and said, ¡°I have a summary report on the attack. Our assailants are a heavily-armed terrorist organization called the Green Skull Renegades. They currently occupy two strategic provinces on Star Luo. Our government has been launching focused strikes against them for many years now, but we haven¡¯t been able to completely wipe them out due to the powerful experts in their ranks. Instead, our strategy has been to deny them space and slowly back them into a corner. Their attack this time was clearly aimed at causing discord between the Federation and our Empire, thus giving them some breathing space.¡±


    To the surprise of many Douluo delegation members, the Empire easily parted with its intel about the Green Skull Renegades.


    After fighting alongside each other, the Imperial Star Luo Academy students viewed the Shrek Academy students in a much more favorable light. During the attack, frequently had Tang Wulin swooped in just in time to save them. Furthermore, the strength Tang Wulin¡¯s team displayed dispelled any thoughts of fighting them on the Star Luo Academy¡¯s part.


    The image of Tang Wulin tearing through the black-grade mecha was seared into their memory. Such a domineering show of power put them at awe! Especially when he wielded the mecha¡¯s gigantic five-meter-long hammer, striking it against the dusksilver bear spirit soul. The adoring gazes of the girls were now keenly aimed at him.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, how are you that strong?¡± asked one of the girls from the Imperial Star Luo Academy. ¡°Just how much does that hammer even weigh?¡±


    ¡°Huh? It¡¯s not that heavy. Not at all. I think it¡¯s actually hollow inside,¡± Tang Wulin answered thoughtlessly.


    ¡°Who the hell would believe that? Apart for space for the circuit core, there¡¯s no way a super mecha¡¯s weapons would be hollow!¡±


    ¡°If you guys know that already, then why are you asking me?¡± Tang Wulin shot back.


    ¡°Tang Wulin, just how oblivious are you?¡±


    ¡°Ugh. My stomach hurts from my injuries. I¡¯m going to go sleep,¡± Tang Wulin said, cutting short the conversation.


    Social etiquette was definitely not Tang Wulin¡¯s strong suit, especially so since he had no plans of making friends with these foreign students.


    After boarding the bus, Xie Xie sat at the back row, an arrangement that the team came to a consensus to. They had to minimize the impact of his noisy mouth as much as possible. Xie Xie felt indignant about this, but he shrunk back under the glares of his friends.


    Under the protection of the mechas, the rest of the journey went smoothly and they reached Star Luo City two days later.


    Star Luo City was the beating heart of the Empire, a vast city surrounded by towering walls. Such walls were a rare sight in Douluo and granted Star Luo City the aura of an ancient fortress. Numerous types of soul weapons were mounted on the walls to form a defensive net, further reinforcing the fact that even in Star Luo, there was no such thing as absolute peace.


    However, when they entered the city, the familiar scene of streets bustling with people greeted them. Although the architecture of the city and clothing style of the people were different from that of Douluo, the differences weren¡¯t too major.


    After their long voyage and tiresome train ride, they had finally reached their destination. A wave of relief crashed upon them.


    They immediately went to check-in to the hotel the Empire had arranged for them. Perhaps as a gesture of apology, they were given luxurious suites in a high-class hotel. Throughout the hotel, dazzling decorations of gold and platinum were strewn about.


    When Tang Wulin entered his suite, he immediately collapsed onto the bed. He wasn¡¯t actually tired. It would take a far tougher ordeal than what he had faced to tire him out. However, his mind was a different matter. He was mentally spent. Unlike his companions, he had spent the two months at sea undergoing torturous training, and while this had helped increase his spiritual power, it wore him down. All he wanted now was a good night¡¯s sleep. The moment he closed his eyes, the soft bed and fresh sheets began pulling his weary mind to the land of dreams.


    But someone rang the doorbell..


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Tang Wulin shouted grouchily.


    ¡°It¡¯s me!¡± A voice he knew all too well.


    Tang Wulin sluggishly dragged his body out of bed and went to open the door. Standing right outside was Gu Yue.


    ¡°Are you tired?¡± Gu Yue said, looking at his drooping eyelids.


    ¡°Yeah. I wanna pass out.¡± With that, he turned around to walk back to his bed, leaving the door open for her.


    Gu Yue remained at the doorway and watched as he crawled into bed, her expression tense.


    As Tang Wulin¡¯s mind faded once more, Gu Yue approached his bedside. Looking down at his sleepy face, a silver light flashed in her eyes. Her expression faltered, something seemingly conflicting within her. ¡°Wulin, did your martial soul evolve?¡± she asked softly.


    ¡°Mnn. Yeah.¡± Tang Wulin answered, burying his face into his pillow.


    Gu Yue touched his shoulder. Unseen to him, silver scales appeared on her hand. ¡°Your bloodline probably strengthened as well, right? When we encountered the Tyrant Dragon that time, did it become your spirit soul?¡± she asked in nearly a whisper.


    ¡°Mnn. Mn.¡± Wrapped in his sleepy haze, Tang Wulin subconsciously answered without any of his usual caution.

 Chapter 594 - Why Didnt You Act?

    Chapter 594 - Why Didn''t You Act?


    Gu Yue¡¯s pupils suddenly transformed into vertical slits. She lifted her hand from Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder, the silver scales on her arms twinkling. A split second later, her eyes and hand returned to normal. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she pulled the blanket over Tang Wulin. She closed the curtains. Then she quietly left, not there to witness as Tang Wulin¡¯s breathing steadied moments later, the teen whisked away to the land of dreams.


    The door of her room shut behind her. With a wave of her hand, a silver light enveloped the surrounding space. From the silver appeared a man, cloak the shade of night draped upon his form.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you act?¡± the man asked. ¡°Even the Tyrant Dragon has acknowledged him and chose to become his spirit soul. That is already enough proof that he contains the pure bloodline of the Golden Dragon King. It¡¯s impossible for someone to naturally be born with the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline, so there must be a special cause for this. As long as you strip him of his bloodline, we will have the answer. And if you¡¯re able to fully absorb the bloodline when the time comes, then perhaps¡ª¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡± Gu Yue said, her voice soft but cold enough to freeze.


    The man dropped to one knee before her, lowering his head.


    ¡°Leave me. We need to pick up the pace,¡± said Gu Yue. ¡°I already have a plan.¡±


    ¡°My Lord, what about Na¡¯er? Will you really let her continue as she pleases?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t interfere with Tang Wulin. We will wait for him to make his choice. The bet between Na¡¯er and I will be seen through to the end. Once the outcome is determined, I will act against him, but for now, focus on the objectives I¡¯ve given you.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± the man answered respectfully. Once he rose to his feet, he disappeared into the shadows without a sound.


    Gu Yue waved her hand to dispel the silver light. She approached her window and lifted it, watching the last light of the sun vanish beyond the horizon. Her eyes were unfocused, her mind in a daze. As if she hadn¡¯t a care in the world.


    But in the end, Gu Yue noticed the confusion within her heart and was at a loss.


    ?


    When Tang Wulin roused, he felt refreshed. His mind was clear and his body brimmed with energy.


    As he stretched, his stomach roared in hunger. Wow. I¡¯m starving! He had forgotten to eat dinner the previous night. Now he paid the price.


    His hunger stirred up fond memories of his time with Mu Ye. Every morning after his torturous training under the stars, Mu Ye had delivered delicious and nourishing food to him. After the past two months on the ocean, he had practically eaten anything and everything worth eating in that biome. His body couldn¡¯t have grown so strong in such a short timespan without that food.


    In just one day, the injuries Tang Wulin had received from battling the black-grade mecha had completely healed. Blessed with such an extreme recovery ability, he didn¡¯t have to worry about most wounds.


    He approached his window. Cracked it open to let in some fresh air. It was a bit moist from the morning and invigorated him. Looking to the east, Tang Wulin waited for the first light of the sun.


    ¡°Wulin,¡± Gu Yue called out from the window beside him, sticking her head out to look at him.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± A smile formed on his lips.


    A stare, then Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. I just wanted to say your name.¡±


    His smile transformed into a grin. ¡°Although my mind was in a bit of a daze last night, you visited me, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I wanted to go on a stroll with you. But since you were so sleepy, I didn¡¯t want to force you,¡± Gu Yue said softly.


    ¡°Alright! Since we couldn¡¯t yesterday, let¡¯s go out today! We have three days off, don¡¯t we? I wanted to check out the city anyway. I¡¯ll go call the rest of the guys then?¡±


    Once again, Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°I just want to go with you. Don¡¯t invite the others.¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times, a gush of warmth filling his heart. Although Gu Yue always came off as cold to strangers, he could tell that she treated him specially. After knowing her for so many years, he had become accustomed to her spontaneous mood swings. But no matter what, whenever he faced danger, she was always the first to leap to his side.


    ¡°Okay,¡± said Tang Wulin. ¡°Let me finish cultivating my Purple Demon Eyes and eat breakfast first though. I¡¯m totally starving! We can go right after.¡±


    ¡°Pftt. I did find it strange that you slept without eating dinner first last night. It was totally not you.¡±


    ¡°Not me?¡± Tang Wulin asked, cocking a brow.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re a glutton.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at her, face twisted into a sunken expression for several excruciating moments. ¡°So that¡¯s how you thought of me! I¡¯m hurt!¡± he said, clutching his heart in exaggeration.


    Gu Yue giggled. ¡°Then if you can go without breakfast today, I¡¯ll take back my words.¡±


    ¡°Uh. Nevermind. I¡¯m a glutton,¡± Tang Wulin said, expression instantly back to normal.


    He turned back to the horizon just as the sun rose. A flash of purple, and his eyes captured the light, filling him with tingling warmth. He could feel that his Purple Demon Eyes were on the verge of a breakthrough. After many years stuck in the first stage, he was finally about to enter the second.


    Cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes was split into four stages. From first to fourth, the stages were Survey, Detailed, Mustard Seed, and Boundless. Few ever managed to reach the third stage, not to mention the fourth. Regardless of that, cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes had a profound effect on the growth of one¡¯s spiritual power.


    Tang Wulin sensed that the rapid growth of his Purple Demon Eyes was due to the Body Sect¡¯s training he had undergone. It had dragged out the potential hiding within him and strengthened his spiritual power.


    ¡°Gu Yue, what¡¯s your spiritual power at now? Do you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But I¡¯m certain it¡¯s still higher than yours,¡± Gu Yue said, a slight smirk on her lips.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯ll have you know that my spiritual power increased a lot recently,¡± said Tang Wulin. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s even higher than yours now.¡±


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes at him. ¡°You wish.¡±


    ¡°How are you so confident that you¡¯ve got me beat?¡± Tang Wulin pressed.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in the Spirit Sea realm anymore.¡± With that, Gu Yue closed her window, her figure disappearing from Tang Wulin¡¯s sight.


    ¡°Not in the Spirit Sea realm anymore? She couldn¡¯t have regressed¡ª¡± A thought struck him as he mumbled to himself. Wait! There¡¯s no way her spiritual power regressed. She¡¯s still so powerful, and spiritual power usually grows as someone ages, all the way until they¡¯re fifty years old. Since she didn¡¯t regress, then she¡¯s¡­. Holy shit! Did she break through to the next realm?


    Tang Wulin began to sweat at the thought. Cultivating spiritual power grew harder and harder with each realm achieved. In fact, each realm was multiple times harder to reach than the previous.


    However, it was still a possibility he had to consider! After the Spirit Sea realm came the Spirit Abyss realm. The power of the Spirit Abyss realm was that of an abyssal prison between heaven and hell.


    At that realm, everything existed. The human mind was physically incapable of comprehending its entirety. As such, it was necessary to possess such mighty spiritual power in order to obtain legendary spirit souls. A soul master at this level could fuse with whatever spirit soul they wished. Even an orange or red spirit soul. But if that occurred, their remaining capacity would only be that of the Spirit Sea realm. If excluding orange and red spirit souls, they could fuse with up to five of any level up to and including black.


    Normally, the Spirit Abyss realm was the limit of humanity.

 Chapter 595 - Spirit Abyss Realm?

    Chapter 595 - Spirit Abyss Realm?


    The Spirit Sea realm required spiritual power of at least 500 points. As for the Spirit Abyss realm, it started at 5000 points! A tenfold increase!


    Tang Wulin knew his spiritual power had grown significantly, but he was certain it was no more than 1000 points. He was still a far cry from reaching the Spirit Abyss realm. If Gu Yue truly did reach the Spirit Abyss realm, then that meant her spiritual power was even greater than Wu Zhangkong¡¯s!


    She¡¯s just at the Spirit Abyss realm, right? There¡¯s no way she¡¯s further than that¡­ I need to go confirm with her. Pushing back breakfast a bit further, Tang Wulin knocked on Gu Yue¡¯s door.


    It opened immediately, Gu Yue exiting in a new gray dress. She had never been an exceptional beauty, but she certainly looked glamorous now. There seemed to be a peculiar aura around her.


    ¡°A-are you really in the Spirit Abyss realm?¡±  Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yue rolled her eyes. ¡°Would you believe me if I told you?¡± she said as she walked past him.


    ¡°Of course I would!¡± Tang Wulin said, hurrying after her. ¡°Have I ever doubted your words?¡±


    She stopped in place. Suddenly flipped around to stare him right in the eyes.¡°Then if I say I was thinking of killing you yesterday, will you believe me?¡±


    Tang Wulin staggered. ¡°The hell would you be killing me for?¡±


    ¡°Do you believe me or not?¡±


    ¡°No way. You would never,¡± Tang Wulin said, pink lips peeling back to expose pearly white teeth. He lightly pinched the tip of her nose. ¡°Now enough of your riddles. Before I actually stop trusting your words.¡±


    The tension melted out of Gu Yue, her eyes softening. ¡°Jeez, you. Fine, let¡¯s go eat breakfast.¡±


    Gu Yue resumed leading the way to the dining hall. In her heart, his words still resounded. ¡®You would never.¡¯


    The pita-pat of footsteps as Tang Wulin chased after her. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t change the subject! You still haven¡¯t answered me! Did you make a breakthrough?¡±


    Gu Yue shot him a dirty look. ¡°Yeah. Why don¡¯t you say that again, but louder? Let the entire hotel hear.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡±


    Shortly after, they arrived at the dining hall. A luxurious buffet was available for breakfast.


    As Tang Wulin took his seat, he wore the face of a warrior preparing for battle. Since he missed dinner the night before, he had to make up for it with an extra-large breakfast! Within minutes, the other guests were stunned into silence as they witnessed Tang Wulin inhale food like a tornado.


    ¡°Captain, what are you planning to do today? I was thinking of inviting everyone out for a stroll,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said shortly after she arrived.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue, ¡°We¡¯re going out today.¡±


    Before Xu Xiaoyan could even open her mouth, Gu Yue said, ¡°I¡¯m taking him to find some medicine. We¡¯ll be back right after. If you guys wanna go out, then it¡¯ll be a good idea to leave early as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Xu Xiaoyan moved her gaze from Tang Wulin to Gu Yue. After a moment, her eyes went wide as she realized the implications.


    Although Tang Wulin made a sheepish face, Gu Yue was wholly nonchalant. Their other friends who had joined them for breakfast sent them strange looks.


    After breakfast, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue left together. The Grand Star Luo Hotel had excellent service and prepared cards with its address for them. That way, if they ventured a long distance away, it would still be easy to find their way back.


    The Grand Star Luo Hotel was a place of prestige and luxury, so naturally, it was located right in the core of the city. It was a convenient location since the delegation would also be greeting the Star Luo Imperial Family later on.


    Once they left the hotel, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were thrown into the hustle and bustle of the city center. People were going about their business on the wide street, which was free of vehicles. They were on Star Luo Avenue, the largest street in the city famous for being pedestrians only. Homely stores lined either side of the street, reminding Tang Wulin of the atmosphere in Heaven Dou City.


    Tang Wulin put his hands behind his head as he casually sauntered down the street, a sunny smile playing on his lips. Gu Yue followed at his side, her expression calm and gaze focused straight ahead.


    ¡°Did you really only come out for a walk? You¡¯re not going to look at the stores?¡± Tang Wulin said, glancing at Gu Yue with a cocked brow.


    Gu Yue shot him a look. ¡°How would you know if I¡¯m looking or not? My spiritual power is enough to replace my eyes.¡±


    ¡°Er, pretend I didn¡¯t say anything.¡± He rolled his eyes at her. He felt the pressure mounting on him once more regarding Gu Yue¡¯s advancement into the Spirit Abyss realm. Her strength was sure to be significantly higher than before. Especially since she was an elementalist-type soul master, in which spiritual power equated to strength.


    Gu Yue smiled. ¡°Dummy. You¡¯ll believe anything I say! Do you think it¡¯s that easy to reach the Spirit Abyss realm?¡±


    Tang Wulin swiveled his head toward her, blinking a few times, a haze to his gaze. ¡°You tricked me?¡±


    Gu Yue giggled. ¡°And what¡¯ll you do about it?¡±


    Tang Wulin face grew expressionless, his mind rebooting. ¡°Miss Gu Yue, do you happen to be ticklish?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s smile froze. Before she could react, Tang Wulin¡¯s hands shot out like lightning under her armpits and attacked her sides. ¡°Haha. No! Stop it!¡±


    Gu Yue turned away and tried to escape, but Tang Wulin chased after her with a smile. ¡°This is what you get for tricking me! I won¡¯t let you off easy for that!¡±


    As Gu Yue fled, a group of people suddenly exited the shop right in front of her. Although she managed to stop in time, Tang Wulin didn¡¯t and crashed into her, toppling them both toward the group.


    ¡°The fuck?¡± snarled one of the people in the group as he tried to smack them away.


    Instinctively, Tang Wulin moved in front of Gu Yue to protect her. The man¡¯s palm landed on Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder. His body quivered for an instant, before steadying.


    The man stared in astonishment. He had used quite a bit of strength in that strike, and any ordinary person would have gone flying through the air.


    ¡°What are you doing using violence against people?¡± Gu Yue shouted, wrath blazing in her eyes.


    Gaze meeting with the attacker¡¯s, Tang Wulin pulled Gu Yue behind him. He had a good look at the people before them. A group of middle-aged men in fine clothing. They were tall with robust bodies, faces fit for a demon.


    ¡°Fuck off now!¡± The man sneered, raising his hand once more to strike Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s focus skyrocketed, and he thrust out his own hand to meet the attack. His opponent¡¯s hand was large, large enough to cover his own completely.


    The instant their palms met, the man smirked, moving to grab and twist the hand of Tang Wulin. But to his shock, Tang Wulin¡¯s hand was as tough as metal and didn¡¯t give to his strength.


    Tang Wulin seized the opening, his own hand exploding with power as he twisted his opponent¡¯s limb in the opposite direction. Sharp pain shot through the man¡¯s limb. He shouted in pain, dropping to his knees.


    Tang Wulin could not forgive a grown man for trying to physically attack a girl. Moreover, the man had not restrained himself when he struck. That said, while he possessed considerable strength, it was nothing compared to Tang Wulin¡¯s.


    Seeing their friend in trouble, the other three men rushed over.


    As the leader of the group walked over to stand before Tang Wulin, he demanded, ¡°Let go of him!¡±


    At that moment, a petite  girl sprinted from the store. She wore an exquisite yellow robe and looked about fifteen or sixteen years old. Lustrous hair flowing down her back, she was undoubtedly a beauty.


    ¡°What are you guys doing?¡± the girl asked. When she saw the scene, she couldn¡¯t help but furrow her brow.


    The leader of the burly men instantly wiped the scowl off his face, respectfully pointing to the two youngsters. ¡°Your Highness, these brats were disrespecting you. We¡¯ll get rid of them immediately.¡±


    Tang Wulin loosened his grip on the man and pushed him away. It sent him staggering backward toward the group of burly men. Tugging on Gu Yue¡¯s hand, he said, ¡°We¡¯re leaving.¡±


    However, the burly men refused to let the matter end at that and immediately surrounded the two of them. But before they could act, the girl said, ¡°Stop it. Don¡¯t stir up trouble.¡±


    With orders given, the four men had no choice but to stop obstructing Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. Before they fully retreated, however, they unleashed their soul power and directed its pressure at Tang Wulin.


    To Tang Wulin¡¯s astonishment, these four men were powerful soul masters. He subconsciously glanced at the girl who was the master of these men. Their eyes met by coincidence. Tang Wulin gave her a curt nod.


    The girl stared at him, dazed. Tang Wulin was clearly still a teenager, but he was already as tall as an adult and had broad shoulders. His bright eyes revealed that he was a man of character. Compared to his peers, he was stunningly handsome. There was something charming about the aura he exuded as well. Something about his temperament. He acted reserved but stood with his back straight, which caught her eye even more.


    After another moment of staring, the girl revealed a slight smile and nodded back at him.


    As Tang Wulin pulled Gu Yue away by the wrist, she glared over her shoulder at the man who had struck at them, her eyes cold enough to freeze.


    ¡°Let it be. We shouldn¡¯t stir up trouble in another country,¡± Tang Wulin said when he sensed the malice flaring within Gu Yue. Especially so with a group like before, strong soul masters and their mistress with high status.


    In a foreign land, it was best to not cause trouble. Especially with that group of burly men and their mistress since they were clearly of high status.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 596 - Boring

    Chapter 596 - Boring


    ¡°He hit you,¡± Gu Yue said, tone cold enough to freeze.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± said Tang Wulin, smiling wryly. ¡°I¡¯ve got thick skin, you know?¡±


    Gu Yue pouted. ¡°No one else is allowed to hit you other than me.¡±


    Whatever expression Tang Wulin had worn froze on the spot. But after a moment, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°What kind of rule is that? Why are you allowed to hit me?¡±


    Gu Yue raised her chin proudly. ¡°I can because I say so. Do you have a problem with that?¡±


    ¡°No. No problem.¡± After so many years of working together, he knew well enough there was no arguing with her when she got into these moods. It was best to just nod and smile.


    Because of his helpless affirmation, a smile blossomed on Gu Yue¡¯s face. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s go then.¡± She twisted her wrist out of Tang Wulin¡¯s hold, and now it was her that pulled him along. Her mood was much better than before. Her eyes twinkled as she scanned the shops around them, hunting for anything of interest.


    ¡°Look! There¡¯s a metal shop over there. I wonder what kind of metals they have in Star Luo. Let¡¯s check it out,¡± Gu Yue said, dragging Tang Wulin toward the store.


    Her actions warmed his heart. There was no way a girl like Gu Yue would be interested in the cold touch of metal. She was doing this out of consideration for him.


    The moment they entered the shop, Tang Wulin was dazzled by the myriad of metals arranged on the shelves. The metal available  in Star Luo really was different from that of Douluo. After sweeping his gaze through the whole store, he discovered that he couldn¡¯t identify nearly a third of the metals.


    The shop clerk approached them. ¡°Hello, do you need any assistance? I can tell you about any metals you¡¯re interested in.¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Do you have any assay hammers I can use?¡±


    The shop clerk¡¯s eyes lit up. He¡¯s asking for an assay hammer! This kid¡¯s a pro! Only experts who truly understood metals would ask for an assay hammer when shopping for metals. Using the assay hammer, they would tap the metal to figure out the differences between each chunk..


    ¡°Yes we do, I¡¯ll get it for you immediately,¡± the shop clerk said, disappearing to the back of the store. A few moments later, the clerk returned, a small hammer in his hands. He presented it to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin made his way to the shelves and lightly tapped a blue metal he had never seen before. A deep metallic note rang in the air. His ear twitched as he listened to it. A moment later, the note faded into silence. This signified a weak metal. Although it looked quite solid, after purifying it, there would be little left of its original bulk. Its basic attributes and properties were poor as well, such that it wasn¡¯t even worth his time.


    The shop clerk followed along as Tang Wulin went down the shelves, tapping any metal he was unfamiliar with. As the clerk watched, his astonishment grew. Tang Wulin¡¯s evaluations of the metals were all swift and correct.


    After evaluating a dozen or so metals, Tang Wulin stopped and turned to the shop clerk. ¡°Do you have any better metals in stock? I¡¯m not interested in ordinary metals like these.¡± After his rounds with the assay hammer, he had determined all the products on the shelves to be beneath his notice, worse than the heavy silver he often used, not to mention the other higher-tier metals.


    ¡°Yes, we do. Please wait here.¡± Now that the shop clerk was aware of Tang Wulin¡¯s expertise, he treated him with more respect than before. However, he did find it strange that Tang Wulin spent so much effort and care evaluating those metals that were considered common to Star Luo. At his level, he should have been able to determine their worth with a glance.


    Shortly after, the shop clerk returned from the back of the store and beckoned to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. ¡°Please follow me. I¡¯ll bring you to our VIP lounge.¡±


    They soon found themselves in a room far more illustrious than the shopfront outside. A metal table was set up along with two chairs and two cups of water.


    ¡°Please take a seat. I¡¯m sorry to say that I only have the authority to show you some of our better metals and not our top quality products, but I¡¯ll bring you all that I can.¡±


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue sat down, a wry smile on their lips. ¡°You guys have good service here!¡±


    The shop clerk smiled. ¡°I¡¯m happy you¡¯re pleased with us. Please wait for a moment.¡± He walked through a sliding metal door on the side, and before long, returned with a large wooden box. He placed it on the table. Unclasping the locks on the box, he lifted the lid.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as he saw what was inside. A golden metal that seemed to sparkle. It reminded him of star iron, but with a golden shine. The metal didn¡¯t exude an overpowering aura. Rather, its aura seemed evenly distributed.


    Tang Wulin picked up the assay hammer and tapped the metal before him. The metal hummed its response, echoing hundreds of times as it shimmered. Tang Wulin listened intently for a moment before tapping it once more. Another cacophony of echoing hums sounded.


    ¡°It¡¯s really dense, yet it has a high affinity for channeling the elements. It seems to have a special property as well. It rang nine times after I tapped it, each one growing in strength. What is this metal¡¯s special property?¡± Tang Wulin asked the shop clerk.


    ¡°This is gold crystal, an extremely rare metal,¡± answered the clerk. ¡°It possesses the ability to amplify energy. Just like what you just witnessed, it can amplify energy nine times, stacking each one and increasing the effects by about one percent. But after the effects compound on each other, it can reach up to a thirty percent increase. It¡¯s an exceptionally hard metal while also possessing top-class solubility. Generally speaking, it¡¯s only used for top-tier spirit alloys.¡±


    ¡°How much is it?¡± Tang Wulin blurted. He was already a sixth-rank blacksmith, so he could pull off three-metal alloys. It was certain that he would need more spirit alloys in the future for his friends¡¯ battle armors. This gold crystal was a great metal for that since its effects were relevant to everyone in his team.


    ¡°One chunk costs ten thousand Star Luo stels,¡± the clerk said, beaming.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s expression stiffened. Star Luo stels? It finally hit him that foreign lands used foreign currencies! Although he had brought plenty of money, all of that was in Federation credits! He had no idea how much ten thousand stels were, or the conversion rate with credits. Without this information, he couldn¡¯t judge whether this was a good price or not. Furthermore, he would need at least a ton of this metal if he wanted to use it for everyone in his team. That was a huge sum of money!


    ¡°Do you have any other metals? I want to look some more,¡± Tang Wulin said, a facade of calm.


    ¡°Please wait a moment.¡± The clerk retrieved seven more chunks of metal. Of the seven, Tang Wulin recognized three of them since those three were also found on Douluo. The other four were native to Star Luo. Each had their own peculiar properties and were fairly good metals.


    ¡°These are all the precious metals we have on hand at the moment that I have the authority to take out. Sir, will you be interested in any of them?¡±


    Tang Wulin gulped. ¡°You¡¯ve got a great selection. If you have the supply as well, I might be interested in ordering a large quantity. Oh, right. I have a question. Do you guys buy refined metals here?¡±


    The shop clerk was taken aback. ¡°We do. But we only accept thousand refined and above metals,¡± the clerk said, his tone a bit colder than before. He realized now that he was dealing with a pair of teenagers. Even if they were blacksmiths, there was a limit to how skilled they could be. They were probably first or second-grade blacksmiths at best, only capable of hundred refining.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve got some metals I want to sell. I¡¯ll trouble you to take a look at them.¡± With a wave of his hand, twinkling chunks of metals piled up on the table in a flash of light.

 Chapter 597 - Metal Market Pricing Differences

    Chapter 597 - Metal Market Pricing Differences


    Compared to the metals he brought, the metal Tang Wulin had inspected seemed much duller than before.


    ¡°Jade silver?¡± the clerk said, voice wavering. A few quick steps before he reached Tang Wulin¡¯s side, picked up the assay hammer, and gave the jade silver a light tap. A crisp bell-like sound rang with melodious echos. The clerk¡¯s face flushed red with excitement. ¡°It¡¯s really jade silver! Y-you really want to sell it?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Not selling. Trading. That would be a lot simpler. What¡¯s your evaluation?¡±


    ¡°Please give me a moment,¡± said the clerk, his breathing a bit rough. He disappeared through the metal door again, and a couple minutes later, returned with a short, middle-aged man.


    While the man was certainly on the shorter side, he possessed a rugged build and a pair of muscular arms. Upon laying sight on the jade silver, he rushed over to it and placed a tool down on the table. Glancing at Tang Wulin, he asked, ¡°Can I test them?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Knowing the harmony rate of a spirit alloy was essential in evaluating it. As such,  testing alloys was standard procedure.


    Shortly after, the man audibly gulped. He turned to Tang Wulin, his expression serious. ¡°Young man, this piece of jade silver has an eighty-one percent harmony rate. Does your family know that you¡¯re trying to sell it?¡±


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at the clerk while Gu Yue snickered in the background. After a moment of silence, Tang Wulin coughed, clearing his throat. ¡°Of course they know. I¡¯m here to obtain some metal for my family, but they were concerned that bringing money would be too inconvenient. That¡¯s why they gave me this spirit alloy to trade instead. You can rest assured. I know just how valuable jade silver is. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll give me a fair price.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll definitely give you a fair price. The market value of such alloys are public anyway. Since it has an eighty-one percent harmony rate, I can offer you¡ª¡± The clerk whispered something into the man¡¯s ear. Immediately, his tone changed. ¡°We can offer you one hundred chunks of any of the metals you observed previously.¡±


    A hundred? This was beyond Tang Wulin¡¯s expectations. He had forged this piece of jade silver back when he was still a fifth-rank blacksmith after all, and it was only thousand refined as well. If they were on Douluo, he would only be able to sell it for about sixty chunks of similar quality metal. Since he was offered one hundred chunks, that meant that metals were much more valuable on Star Luo than Douluo.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shone with the gleam of his capitalist dreams. This was an opportunity to get rich! After a brief hesitation, he said, ¡°Hmm. Can¡¯t you raise the offer a bit?¡±


    The middle-aged man smiled bitterly. ¡°Our offer is very generous as it is. If you have a piece with a higher harmony rate or can exchange in bulk, then I can give you a better rate per unit.¡±


    ¡°Alright. But do you have enough of a supply of those metals I observed? I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware that for blacksmiths, there¡¯s an extremely low chance of success for spirit alloys and spirit refinings, so it¡¯s crucial to have quality metals.¡±


    ¡°Of course we have the supply. You don¡¯t have to worry about the quantity or quality of our metals,¡± the man said confidently. ¡°We had to pass stringent examinations in order to open this store on Star Luo Avenue. We have no problem supplying you as long as your demands are within reason. If your demand is excessive though, I¡¯ll need some time to prepare the stock.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get a contract signed first then. We¡¯ll start with this piece of alloy for one hundred chunks of gold crystal. It¡¯ll be a good start. After that, prepare plenty of gold crystal, flux silver, and star copper while I return to have my father evaluate the gold crystal. If he approves, I may be back to buy much more.¡±


    ¡°No problem at all. The more alloy the better,¡± said the man, a smile blooming on his lips once more.


    Tang Wulin chatted a bit longer, subtly probing the reason behind the stark contrast in metal prices between Star Luo and Douluo. Although the exchange rate between Star Luo stels and Federation credits were still a mystery to him, he had managed to gain a rough idea from metal exchange rates. Spirit refined metals were about equal in value on both continents, but spirit alloys were significantly more expensive in Star Luo. It seemed Star Luo lacked blacksmiths capable of forging spirit alloys.


    Once they had left the metal shop, Gu Yue softly asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you still have a bunch more spirit alloys? Why didn¡¯t you exchange some more? It looked like they had a good selection.¡±


    Tang Wulin snickered. ¡°No need to rush. I have a lot of thousand refined alloys right now. With a bit more work, I can turn them into spirit refined alloys, or maybe even three-metal spirit alloys. Then their prices will soar! And the material costs won¡¯t even be that high. That, my friend, is how to maximize profits! So don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll make a killing the next time we visit.¡±


    ¡°You money-grubber,¡± Gu Yue said with a teasing smile.


    ¡°The man of the house has to understand finances! Don¡¯t you know how much money it costs for us soul masters to cultivate? Mechas cost money. Battle armor cost even more money. Spirit items cost money too. Everything costs money! How am I going to manage if I don¡¯t make as much money as I can? The only person I can rely on is myself!¡±


    Gu Yue was taken aback, blinking blankly at Tang Wulin. ¡°W-what if I supported you?¡±


    The moment he heard those words, Tang Wulin nearly tripped. ¡°What nonsense are you spouting?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not nonsense.¡± Gu Yue said, her expression returning to her usual calm.


    But Tang Wulin refused to let it slide. He grabbed her by the shoulder. ¡°This is your last chance to take back your words, okay? No denying it after. You said you¡¯d support me!¡±


    Gu Yue just glanced back at him and smiled. ¡°You know what, I don¡¯t think I can support you after all. Your appetite is too big.¡±


    ¡°What if I eat less then?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Gu Yue pushed his hand off her shoulder. ¡°Now stop being so noisy. Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    Tang Wulin chuckled. ¡°Speaking of eating, how about we find some lunch?¡±


    Gu Yue couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes at him. ¡°We just ate breakfast not too long ago though. It¡¯s still morning.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Just a snack then! There¡¯s gotta be a ton of local delicacies to try here! Come on, aren¡¯t you interested?¡±


    As it turned out, Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t the only one with a weakness for food. Ten minutes later, the two turned into a side street littered with small food shops serving all sorts of snacks and refreshments. They swept through the street like a storm, sampling anything that tempted them.


    ¡°Those fish ball noodles were so good!¡± Gu Yue said in high spirits.


    Tang Wulin nodded happily. ¡°Yeah! Sooooo good. I just wish there was more.¡±


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t enough for you? You cleared them out of all the fish balls they were going to sell for the lunch rush! And that still wasn¡¯t enough?¡±


    At that moment, Tang Wulin felt more glad than ever that he had chosen to become a blacksmith. Earlier, he had liquidated one chunk of gold crystal, ending up with plenty of Star Luo stels to gorge themselves! After some rough calculations, he also discovered that stels were worth much less than Federation credits. Thanks to the skewed exchange rate, he could spend extravagantly.


    By the time the sun reached its zenith, they finally left the side street.


    His gaze aimed at Gu Yue, Tang Wulin asked, ¡°Where to now?¡±


    Gu Yue thought for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m interested in visiting a local Spirit Pagoda branch to see what it¡¯s like. You can just go do whatever you want.¡±


    Spirit Pagoda? That¡¯s right! There are Spirit Pagoda branches in Star Luo too! There¡¯s also Tang Sect branches! Maybe I should go take a look at the local Tang Sect branch? If memory served him well, the Star Luo Tang Sect headquarters was based in Star Luo City.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go visit the local Tang Sect while you do your thing then. I better make a report in case they need any help.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Once she bid goodbye, Gu Yue boarded a cab for the Spirit Pagoda. Left by himself, Tang Wulin hailed another cab and headed to the Star Luo Empire¡¯s Tang Sect headquarters.


    The Tang Sect headquarters was not located at the city¡¯s core, but rather in the suburbs. Upon arrival, he was astonished to discover that it was nothing like the small, discrete headquarter in Douluo. The local headquarters had a gigantic campus, a small city onto itself.


    Tang Wulin instantly understood this: the Tang Sect was regarded more highly in Star Luo than Douluo.


    No one stood guard at the gates. Passing through the gates, he found himself in a large temple hall. A sign hung from the ceiling, the words ¡®Tang Sect¡¯ etched upon its face. Pride and awe filled Tang Wulin as a Tang Sect disciple, and a small smile formed on his lips as he strode further into the hall.

 Chapter 598 - Embarassment

    Chapter 598 - Embarassment


    Numerous people roamed the hall, bustling about as they conducted their business. There were two reception counters, one on either side of the hall. The space reminded Tang Wulin of the Blacksmith¡¯s Association back on Douluo.


    Tang Wulin took in everything as he swept his gaze through the hall¡¯s entirety. As he watched and listened, he formed a better picture of what set apart Star Luo¡¯s Tang Sect from the others.  Here, the Tang Sect¡¯s corporate front, the Dazzling Era Tang Sect Corporation, was a mega-conglomerate spanning the entire continent. They manufactured and sold all sorts of soul devices and dominated the market. Naturally, those products were for civilian use. But Tang Wulin also overheard someone saying the Tang Sect was an arms supplier for the Star Luo Empire. Truly an influential organization!


    Tang Wulin never imagined the Tang Sect occupied such a lofty position on Star Luo. Clearly, they favored the Star Luo Empire more than the Sun Moon Federation. Perhaps there were  tensions between the Tang Sect and the Federation behind the scenes.


    After a moment of contemplation, Tang Wulin quickly moved on.  It was enough to understand the local situation. He was only here as a member of the diplomatic delegation.


    Once he checked in, Tang Wulin left the Tang Sect headquarters and headed straight back to the hotel. When he returned, Gu Yue was still out. He asked the concierge about forging workshops and soon managed to rent a nearby workshop.


    Tang Wulin hurried to the workshop and diligently got to forging. He couldn¡¯t afford to waste time when his blacksmithing skills were more valuable than ever here in Star Luo. Still, just like in the Federation, he would spend a significant amount of time blacksmithing.


    It seemed the two continents weren¡¯t as different as he had originally thought.


    ?


    Two days passed in a flash. Everyone from Shrek Academy grew familiar with the city. On the third day, Tang Wulin¡¯s group was notified that the Emperor of Star Luo would receive the delegation that evening, with a banquet following. They were advised to dress in their best for the event.


    Tang Wulin still only had the one suit Gu Yue bought him. The others just managed as well.


    Once evening fell, limousines pulled up to the front of the hotel to pick them up.


    Elder Cai was an especially honored guest so she rode in her own limousine. Wu Zhangkong and the students shared a different one.


    The Star Luo Imperial Palace stood in the center of the city. Supposedly, it was identical to the palace that used to be on the Douluo continent. The Imperial Family possessed the surname of Dai, and the most famous of the bloodline was Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao. Originally, his name had been Dai Yuhao and he had descended from the Imperial Family.


    The Dai clan had ruled the Star Luo Empire since ancient times, but they had abdicated the throne for a period. Then Huo Yuhao appeared, and with the combined strength, they rose up to retake their positions as rulers. It was also thanks to Huo Yuhao¡¯s terrifying strength that the Sun Moon Empire, which was now the Federation, hadn¡¯t decimated the Star Luo Empire back back then. They had been afraid of incurring his wrath. Unable to contend with neither the Sun Moon Empire or the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire was forced to migrate to this new continent.


    Trumpets sounded, playing the Empire¡¯s anthem. A red carpet rolled out of the palace to the entrance for guests.


    Leading the Douluo delegation was one of the Federation¡¯s vice-chairmen, a few other high-ranking members of the legislation, and others of esteem such as Elder Cai.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s group was positioned near the back. As he listened to the blaring anthem, his eyes couldn¡¯t help but droop. He had forged deep into the night and had gone to bed much later than normal the previous night. Then today, he had also made a trek to exchange more metals. He was too exhausted to hold any interest in this banquet.


    A cacophony of booms jolted Tang Wulin out of his drowsy state, soul power stirring within him.


    At his side, Gu Yue nudged him. ¡°It¡¯s a gun salute.¡±


    Only then did Tang Wulin¡¯s mind clear and he remembered where he was. A hint of crimson painted his cheeks. He smiled sheepishly at the people who noticed his blunder.


    ¡°Captain, just continue napping,¡± Xie Xie said, smirking. Tang Wulin glared at him in response.


    The gun salutes announced the climax of the ceremony. Through the cracks between the sea of people before him, Tang Wulin could vaguely spot a man dressed in a luxurious robe, adorned with a golden crown at the very front. He handed what appeared to be a gift to the vice-chairman from Douluo, before the two shook hands. Off to the side stood Elder Cai.


    Right. That was a gun salute. Jeez. That scared me. Wait, huh? As Tang Wulin watched the stage, he spotted a familiar face. Isn¡¯t that the girl from the other day? Behind the man with the crown, just a few meters away, stood a composed girl in an elegant dress. It was the girl he and Gu Yue had run into a few days ago. The one who appeared after they had a tussle with her guards. Recalling how those men had addressed her, Tang Wulin was hit with a theory. Is she an actual princess? But he quickly pushed away that thought. Eh, screw it. Let¡¯s nap a little longer. Who knows how long this is going to take?


    Tang Wulin lowered his head and nodded off again in moments. Even standing, he managed to sleep. But just as he was getting comfortable, he heard someone shout, ¡°Murderer!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes snapped open and he instantly began circulating his soul power and blood essence. The next moment, he used Golden Dragon Body and his aura burst with power, unleashing a swarm of Bluesilver Emperor vines.


    His reaction had been instantaneous. Now he stood in front of Gu Yue protectively, his body in a slight hunch. His eyes scanned the surroundings.


    But all that entered his gaze were startled faces. Suddenly, he was the focus of thousands of eyes.


    Just moments ago, the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, Dai Tianling, had just finished exchanging greetings with the Federation¡¯s vice-chairman. The anthem had ended and he proceeded to greet and shake the hands of the other high-ranking diplomatic members when Tang Wulin¡¯s outburst occurred.


    Now, dozens of people charged toward Tang Wulin quick as lightning.


    Currently, Tang Wulin was still unclear about the situation. His Bluesilver Emperor continued to spread out and wrapped around the waists of his comrades, forming a link between them. Then he raised his golden dragon claw toward the sky, preparing to release a Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    ¡°Wulin, what are you doing?¡± Wu Zhangkong barked. In a blur of movement, he stood before Tang Wulin. Intercepted the quickest person charging toward his student.


    Their soul power clashed and crackled. A boom, and Wu Zhangkong retreated two steps back. His opponent, on the other hand, backflipped into the air as they tossed a bunch of soul devices.


    Mind finally catching up to his senses, Tang Wulin managed to utter, ¡°Where¡¯s the murderer?


    Unseen to him, the princess behind the emperor lowered her head, stifling her laughter.


    Wu Zhangkong glared at Tang Wulin. ¡°What are you going on about?¡±


    Puzzled, Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yue in. ¡°Didn¡¯t you shout that there¡¯s a murderer earlier?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡± said Gu Yue with a blank stare. ¡°Are you sure you weren¡¯t dreaming?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Tang Wulin blinked a few times. He was sure he had heard someone scream ¡®murderer¡¯ earlier! But perhaps it really was a dream.


    ¡°Pftt.¡± Xie Xie couldn¡¯t contain his laughter anymore. If Tang Wulin really had dreamed it up, then that would make it all the more hilarious.


    All of a sudden, the imperial guards had them completely surrounded. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked the leader of the guards, an elderly man.


    Although Wu Zhangkong managed to maintain his composure, he had no idea how to answer. But not answering was not an option either. In the worst-case scenario, they might be misunderstood as assassins after the emperor¡¯s life.


    It was improper to interrupt the imperial ceremony. Withdrawing their martial souls, Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong followed the imperial guards.

 Chapter 599 - The Strange Princess

    Chapter 599 - The Strange Princess


    ¡°What? You fell asleep and dreamed up a murderer?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s explanation almost caused the emperor to choke on his own spit. He had interrupted the imperial ceremony for such a ridiculous reason. If it weren¡¯t for Tang Wulin¡¯s diplomatic immunity, they would have charged with disgracing the Empire right there!


    Cheeks warm and at a loss at what to do, Tang Wulin lowered his head. If he went with the excuse that someone shouted into his ear, then that could only have been Gu Yue or Xu Lizhi. Dragging them into this mess was something he couldn¡¯t bear to do.


    Taking in Tang Wulin¡¯s docile behavior, the emperor silently mulled over how to handle the situation. There was no precedent for such a scenario!


    Wu Zhangkong stood at the side in silence as well.


    When it seemed like the silence would drag on forever, a servant in floral clothing entered the room, walked over to the emperor, and whispered into his ear. The emperor nodded, his stern expression relaxing.


    Finally, he gave his verdict. ¡°We are not without benevolence. We understand how strange your situation was, and for the sake of friendly relations between our two countries, We shall overlook the incident this time. Be careful not to cause any more trouble. You may leave for the banquet now.¡±


    That¡¯s it? Tang Wulin let out a breath of relief. Even Wu Zhangkong seemed to be in a daze. This incident involved the prestige of the Empire after all. It was wholly unexpected for the emperor to be so lenient.


    ?


    Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, Dai Tianling stared at his daughter with a sour, helpless look. ¡°You troublesome rascal. You¡¯re always doing whatever you want regardless of the setting. You¡¯re lucky this was only a small matter this time. But what would you do if it was more serious? What if it caused a conflict between our two countries?¡±


    ¡°Imperial Father, my apologies. It was my mistake. I won¡¯t repeat this mistake in the future,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said, her head lowered respectfully.


    Dai Tianling had seventeen sons, but only one daughter. As a result, he had always doted on her since childhood. No matter what Dai Yun¡¯er did, she was the joy of his life, the apple of his eye.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already repeated that line so many times since you were a kid that my ears are going deaf to it. Won¡¯t repeat the same mistake? Just last month, who was it that cut off half the hair of an imperial concubine? Then the month before that¡­ Ah just thinking about it gives me a headache. Forget it.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er pressed her lips together, her eyes reddening and tears swelling up in the corners. ¡°Imperial Father, do you not love me anymore?¡±


    Since his ascendance to the throne, Dai Tianling had been praised as a man among men, guiding the empire into an age of prosperity. Under his rule, the empire suppressed the Green Skull Renegades that had been terrorizing its people for the last several hundred years. However, no matter how ruthless he acted in politics, his imperial dignity vanished when it came to facing his only daughter. He was powerless against Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s pitiful expression.


    ¡°No no. Don¡¯t cry.¡± Dai Tianling slapped his forehead. ¡°Jeez. How am I supposed to deal with you? You¡¯re truly the bane of my existence sent down by the heavens. Fine. I won¡¯t punish you. But you have to promise me to not cause any trouble. Especially anything that would harm the prestige of our empire. Otherwise, I¡¯ll have to put you under house arrest.¡±


    ¡°Imperial Father, you¡¯re the best!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er threw herself onto her father and hugged him around his neck. She kissed him on the cheek with a radiant smile, the previous tears nowhere to be seen.


    Dai Tianling could only smile in resignation. But there was no denying that he was happy.


    ¡°Imperial Father, that boy was pretty funny today,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said, giggling.


    Dai Tianling¡¯s expression instantly hardened. ¡°How was he funny?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t blame me for pranking him! How could I not when he actually fell asleep during the ceremony? That was just disrespectful to our empire. Isn¡¯t embarrassing him a bit just what he deserved? I¡¯m impressed though. He could actually sleep standing up. I have to try that sometime too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Even if it were wrong for him to fall asleep during the ceremony, he¡¯s still a guest from overseas. You shouldn¡¯t have pranked him and made the delegation from Douluo lose face,¡± Dai Tianling grumbled.


    ¡°I¡¯ve met him on the streets before. I never thought he would be from Douluo,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said, an intrigued smile forming on her lips. ¡°Imperial Father, he looked really strong, but I couldn¡¯t identify his martial soul. Do you know what it is? No matter how much I think about it, I can¡¯t even begin to guess what it is.¡±


    Although Dai Yun¡¯er was mischievous, she was still a talented soul master and incredibly intelligent. When she awoke her martial soul, she Awakened with rank 10 innate soul power. At fifteen years old, she had already obtained her fourth soul ring and was the greatest genius of the current Imperial Family. This was another reason Dai Tianling cherished her so much. He had said on multiple occasions that if only Dai Yun¡¯er were born a man, she would be his successor. He truly did love and value her for many different reasons.


    Dai Tianling narrowed his eyes at her remark. ¡°I wasn¡¯t paying too much attention and then the imperial guards blocked my view too. Hmm¡­ I also wonder what his martial soul is.¡±


    ¡°It looked like a blue snake that also seemed to share the appearance of a dragon,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said. ¡°But it didn¡¯t have a dragon head. Actually, it kinda looked like a vine, except it had a vertebra inside of it. It¡¯s really strange. But I¡¯m certain I saw his soul rings. Three purple and one black.¡±


    Dai Tianling gaped at his daughter. ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same as you?¡±


    ¡°He looked about the same age as me too. Are all of the people on Douluo so strong?¡±


    A moment of thought. Dai Tianling said, ¡°I recall that that boy¡¯s actually from Shrek Academy.¡±


    ¡°Shrek Academy? Isn¡¯t that one of the most influential organizations on Douluo? The one known as peerless under the heavens? The one that our Monster Academy is named after and based its principles on? That Shrek Academy?¡±


    Dai Tianling nodded. ¡°When I sent the diplomatic invitation, I specially invited Shrek Academy¡¯s elites to join the mission. I had Sima Lanxiao invite the students from Shrek Academy to compete in the Continental Young Elites Tournament too. When the time comes, we can ascertain just how powerful Douluo is. The Shrek Academy team is on average fifteen years old, with the oldest only sixteen. The tournament allows participants up to twenty years old, so this should be a great opportunity for the most talented kids we have in our rising generation.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Great! I¡¯ll go out and beat them up too! I refuse to believe our Monster Academy can¡¯t compare with Shrek Academy!¡±


    Dai Tianling ruffled his daughter¡¯s hair, a warm smile on his face. ¡°Don¡¯t get careless. Shrek Academy has been a legend for tens of thousands of years. They have an unimaginable history and a wealth of resources, their existence undoubtedly peerless even counting all three continents. Fortunately, we know quite a bit about Shrek Academy, like the fact that their Sea God¡¯s Pavilion is a gathering of the most powerful people on their continent. We know that for the society of soul masters on Douluo, the Shrek Seven Monsters are the cornerstone of their strength.¡±


    A daring smile graced Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s lips. ¡°Imperial Father, please don¡¯t overestimate them and underestimate us.¡±


    ¡°Fine. I won¡¯t say anymore,¡± Dai Tianling said. ¡°Anyway, have you thought over the matter of your engagement?¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s mouth instantly puffed up into a pout. ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to get engaged! I¡¯m still way too young for that!¡±


    ¡°This is the responsibility of the imperial family. Every one of us has gotten married when we were fifteen. I don¡¯t want to let you marry this young either, but we cannot break our traditions. All I can do is delay your marriage a little bit.¡±


    ¡°No! No! No!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er shook her head stubbornly.


    Dai Tianling wanted to try persuading her some more, but she ran off like a whirlwind before he could.


    ¡°That cheeky girl!¡± Dai Tianling grumbled in resignation, shaking his head.


    At that moment, a middle-aged woman walked into the room, a wry smile on her face. ¡°Your Majesty. Has that girl still not accepted this yet?¡±


    Dai Tianling forced a smile. ¡°She¡¯s your daughter. Don¡¯t you know what she¡¯s like?¡±


    ¡°What do you think then?¡± the woman said.


    Dai Tianling¡¯s gaze sharpened, a regal air enveloping him. ¡°I love her dearly, but she¡¯s royalty. We can¡¯t break the traditions passed down through the imperial family, otherwise, we would lose our integrity and the trust of our people. We¡¯ll continue as previously planned. The day the tournament ends, she will choose her fianc¨¦.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Dai Tianling glanced at the woman, his empress. ¡°Keep a close eye on Yun¡¯er. Knowing her temper, she will be furious when we force the engagement upon her. She won¡¯t accept it easily. Maybe she¡¯ll even try running away from home. Watch her carefully.¡±


    ?


    Tang Wulin watched Wu Zhangkong walk through the doors to the banquet hall with a solemn gaze. Then followed in himself. The moment he entered, he scanned the hall in search of a corner to hide. He was still embarrassed about the incident earlier that day. Even more so since he still wasn¡¯t sure what had happened.


    He had just been taking a nice nap standing up when he suddenly heard some shout. If it weren¡¯t for that shout, he wouldn¡¯t have embarrassed himself so hard! And now, be it the officials from Star Luo or the other members of the Douluo delegation, they all instantly recognized him from that incident.


    After planting his feet in his chosen corner, Tang Wulin hid and quietly ate two dishes he picked up on the way. I just gotta make it through this banquet, then I¡¯ll be fine.

 Chapter 600 - Want to be my boyfriend?

    Chapter 600 - Want to be my boyfriend?


    The banquet had already begun when Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong entered. In the center of the hall, the emperor and empress stood in magnificent attire as they chatted with the high-level members of the diplomatic delegation. The mood throughout the hall was joyous, nobles of Star Luo and influential people of Douluo happily mingling.


    Music entering the background, Dai Tianling approached a woman in her thirties of Douluo. Invited her to dance. A single glance at that woman would take one¡¯s breath away. She accepted his offer with an enchanting smile, and the two stepped onto the dance floor for the first dance of the evening.


    As Tang Wulin watched the dance, his mind wandered off elsewhere. Memories of Gu Yue¡¯s passionate dancing flickered before his eyes. Where¡¯s Gu Yue and the others? He scanned the crowd. He soon spotted the others from Shrek Academy chatting with some young nobles of Star Luo. Xu Xiaoyan, Ye Xinglan, and Gu Yue were quite popular. Yuanen Yehui, on the other hand, wore male clothing, causing many to overlook her. Xie Xie stood beside her, desperate to strike up a conversation like a little puppy while she ignored him.


    Eh. Forget about it. I¡¯ll go over later. It¡¯s too crowded there. Tang Wulin would rather avoid being laughed at for his previous blunder.


    ¡°Murderer!¡± someone whispered teasingly. A shiver went down Tang Wulin¡¯s spine and he jumped to his feet, turning toward the voice. It was a pretty girl. She smiled at him.


    Tang Wulin recognized the voice, although it seemed no one else had heard it. Now he was certain he hadn¡¯t hallucinated the shout earlier that day. This girl had shouted it at him! He glared at her with gritted teeth, then strode over.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you releasing your martial soul? Did you learn from last time?¡± Dai Yun¡¯er giggled.


    Tang Wulin glared at her with fury. ¡°You¡¯re the one who tricked me?¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er shrugged. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡±


    ¡°Why did you do it?¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er scoffed. ¡°Who told you to sleep during the ceremony? You think it¡¯s proper to doze off during such a grand event?¡±


    Tang Wulin was at a loss for words. There was no denying that he had blundered for falling asleep during the ceremony. If he had been awake, then he wouldn¡¯t have been so startled when someone whispered into his ear.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go. I¡¯m taking you for a dance,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said as she pulled Tang Wulin by the sleeve to the dance floor.


    In the middle of the imperial banquet, Tang Wulin had no choice but to obediently follow.


    The moment they arrived at the dance floor, the second song had started. The emperor escorted his dance partner to the edge of the dance floor, courteously thanking her for the dance while the empress applauded and smiled. A blush spread through the woman¡¯s cheeks like wildfire at the sight of the handsome emperor. Thus, the banquet¡¯s ball began.


    Tang Wulin stumbled while being dragged, and just as he caught his balance, Dai Yun¡¯er was already leading him into a dance.


    From the strength of her grip, Tang Wulin was confident that this princess was a soul master. Moreover, a talented one.


    In the spur of the moment, Tang Wulin raised the hand she was holding and placed his other on her waist. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, ¡°I, uh, don¡¯t know how to dance.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You just have to learn then. I¡¯m actually a pro at this!¡± Then she yelped as Tang Wulin stepped on her foot.


    Tang Wulin hastily moved his foot, an embarrassed smile forming on his lips. ¡°Sorry! I told you, I don¡¯t know how to dance.¡± Although Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t one to bare his fangs at someone, he was still quite two-faced. Since Dai Yun¡¯er took the initiative to force him to dance with her, she couldn¡¯t complain no matter how bad he was.


    Dai Yun¡¯er rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Be careful! Ouch!¡±


    Tang Wulin stepped on her foot again and once again apologized.


    Dai Yun¡¯er shot him a resentful glare. ¡°You¡¯re doing this on purpose, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Yet Tang Wulin feigned innocence. ¡°No way! Why would I do this deliberately? I told you, I don¡¯t know how to dance. You¡¯re the one who insisted on dancing. How about we just stop here?¡±


    ¡°No way! Ouch!¡±


    Tang Wulin stepped on her foot for the third time. This time, Dai Yun¡¯er bit back the pain looking up at Tang Wulin just in time to catch the hint of amusement flashing in his eyes. Her cheeks puffed out in a pout, but not a word left her lips. She endured and continued dancing.


    Tang Wulin continued to step on her foot a few more times, but she no longer reacted to it. On the contrary, she was earnestly leading him in their dance.


    Seeing her earnestness, Tang Wulin grew embarrassed by his petty behavior. He restrained himself and began matching her dance steps with the help of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step. After that, their dancing became smooth.


    At some time, Gu Yue appeared at the edge of the dance floor. Her eyes shone peculiarly as she took in the sight of Tang Wulin dancing with the imperial princess. She narrowed her eyes  but didn¡¯t take any action.


    The song soon ended and the two stopped dancing. Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s gaze fell upon Tang Wulin, a smile blossoming on her lips. ¡°Feels good to step on me, huh?¡± Her voice was so soft that if he were any farther away, he would have just missed it.


    Tang Wulin blinked a few times, an ominous premonition welling within him.


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s smile took an eerie turn, before she loudly said, ¡°I¡¯ve always admired Douluo¡¯s culture and Shrek Academy, and you haven¡¯t failed to meet my expectations. Do you want to be my boyfriend?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s jaw dropped. Just as he was about to refuse her, Dai Yun¡¯er spoke again. ¡°But you know, my boyfriend needs to be really strong. I only like strong boys. So, I¡¯ll only date you if you become the champion at the Continent Young Elites Tournament. Good luck! I¡¯ll be cheering for you!¡± She flashed him a thumbs up and a sweet smile. Then she turned to run away, so swift that Tang Wulin¡¯s mind had still yet to process what was happening.


    ¡°Ah, I, I¡­¡± But Dai Yun¡¯er had already left. In an instant, he became the focus of attention for everyone present, nobles and diplomats, and even the Emperor Dai Tianling and his wife.


    That girl is too cruel! Tang Wulin could immediately feel the bloodlust of hundreds of young men directed toward him. As if hundreds of needles were pricking him. Didn¡¯t I only step on you a few times?


    ¡°Are you really gonna do it?¡± Gu Yue asked, seething. ¡°You¡¯re going to become the emperor¡¯s son-in-law?¡± Before he could explain, she turned around and left.


    ¡°Gu Yue¡­¡± Tang Wulin tried to chase after her, but eight young Star Luo noblemen surrounded him.


    ¡°You trying to date our Princess Yun¡¯er? Brat, you looking to get your ass kicked?¡± a tall young man said, shoving Tang Wulin on the chest.


    Tang Wulin finally understood the despair of being unable to voice any good explanation. In fact, no amount of explaining or lying could get him out of this predicament!


    ¡°Please move out of the way,¡± Tang Wulin said forcefully.


    The young noblemen straightened their backs and puffed out their chests. ¡°What are you going to do if we don¡¯t? You better give up on Princess Yun¡¯er right now. She shouldn¡¯t be with a foreigner like you. Her Highness will be picking her husband soon. Brat, you better learn some tact.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± boomed someone with an imposing voice.

 Chapter 601 - Adding Oil to the Fire

    Chapter 601 - Adding Oil to the Fire


    The young noblemen surrounding Tang Wulin quickly moved out of the way. Turning to the voice, Tang Wulin was met with the approaching figures of the emperor and empress.


    ¡°What is your name?¡± Dai Tianling asked, sizing Tang Wulin up.


    During the ceremony prior, Dai Tianling had been too far to get a good look at Tang Wulin. Now that they were only meters apart, he could see Tang Wulin for the tall and handsome young man he was. Tang Wulin¡¯s sunny aura, large eyes, and long eyelashes made him easy to like. Even women would be jealous of his pretty eyes.


    Tang Wulin bowed. ¡°Greetings, Your Majesty. My name is Tang Wulin.¡±


    Dai Tianling smiled. ¡°I look forward to your performance in the Continent Young Elites Tournament.¡± He gave Tang Wulin a curt nod, then turned and left.


    Tang Wulin stared at the retreating broad back, eyes bulging. Aren¡¯t you just pouring oil on the fire now?


    The surrounding noblemen stared at Tang Wulin, their bloodlust having grown all the more thick.  But due to the emperor¡¯s attitude to the matter, they dared not act against Tang Wulin there.


    Is this what they call an absurd calamity? God damn it! Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Is there no way out of this? Fuck it! I¡¯ll just not join the tournament!


    ¡°Good luck.¡± Turning to the voice, Tang Wulin saw Elder Cai walk past him, patting him on the shoulder.


    ¡°Can I just not participate?¡± Tang Wulin asked, forcing out a smile.


    ¡°You can.¡± Elder Cai paused, staring Tang Wulin right in the eye. ¡°But let me remind you, this trip isn¡¯t merely a diplomatic exchange. This is also a trial for you kids. It¡¯s a trial to see who is worthy of joining the next generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters and entering the inner court. If you avoid this battle, then you will lose the qualifications to enter the inner court.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s interest was piqued. For a student of Shrek Academy, joining the inner court and  the Shrek Seven Monsters was the most attractive opportunity possible.


    ¡°Furthermore, the tournament¡¯s rewards are very generous. First place in the one-on-one tournament wins a soul bone,¡± Elder Cai said.


    A soul bone? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. Since he possessed the right-hand soul bone in the spirit ascension platform, he was well aware of how powerful soul bones were. His Golden Dragon Dreadclaw was a trump card that had saved him on countless occasions already. Not only would obtaining another soul bone increase his strength by leaps and bounds, it would even benefit his body. It would make breaking the next seal on the Golden Dragon King a shade easier and bypass the need for spirit items. He would save boatloads of money! Screw it! I gotta win that spirit bone! I didn¡¯t promise to be her boyfriend and she was just pranking me anyway. Hehe. Let¡¯s see how you squirm if I really do become the champion! Tang Wulin clenched his fists with resolve.


    ¡°Boss, you¡¯re so damn cool! You just casually picked up a princess!¡± Xie Xie exclaimed in admiration as he walked over and swung an arm around Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Get away from me,¡± Tang Wulin said, gloomy and annoyed.


    ¡°How could you do this to Gu Yue?¡± Yuanen Yehui earnestly said.


    ¡°Yeah! You¡¯re acting improperly! A man needs to be responsible and single-minded,¡± Yue Zhengyu chimed in.


    Tang Wulin felt the urge to punch Yue Zhengyu¡¯s smug and handsome face. The guy who bought an entire drink shop just for a girl¡¯s number is lecturing me? Who the hell are you to talk?


    Xu Lizhi also joined in on the fun. ¡°Captain, good luck!¡±


    What the hell do you mean by ¡®good luck¡¯? Tang Wulin glowered.


    ¡°I never thought you would be such a player.¡± Ye Xinglan looked at Tang Wulin, eyes dripping with disdain.


    Tang Wulin stared at them. I¡¯m only fifteen! I¡¯m not with Gu Yue or anything! How am I a player? I just want to study and work hard! Is that so wrong? Damn it!


    Throughout the return to their hotel, Tang Wulin was in a dour mood. I can¡¯t believe my luck is so shit. What kind of princess is she supposed to be? All she does is give me trouble!


    Down in the dumps, Tang Wulin groaned in his heart. Screw it all! I¡¯ll just go become the champion! Let¡¯s see how that damn princess screws with me then!


    Just as Tang Wulin had resolved himself, he arrived in front of Gu Yue¡¯s room and knocked on her door. No response came.


    ¡°Gu Yue, don¡¯t misunderstand! That princess said that out loud on purpose to screw with me!¡± Once again, he knocked on her door.


    The door flew open. A thrust of a hand, and Gu Yue dragged him inside by the collar. She regarded him with a mask of calm as she took a seat on the sofa.


    A few strides later, Tang Wulin stood before a seat beside her. But before he could sit down, he caught sight of her glare. Left with no other choice, he stood there in embarrassment as he explained the true events between him and the princess.


    ¡°Serves you right,¡± Gu Yue said after listening to his explanation, her expression a bit more relaxed than before. ¡°What a manly man you are though, getting revenge on her, huh? You caused this yourself. Just skip the tournament.¡±


    ¡°But Elder Cai said that if I don¡¯t compete, then I can¡¯t make it into the inner court. The first place award is a soul bone too!¡±


    At the mention of a soul bone, Gu Yue¡¯s eyes went wide, a chilling glint upon them.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°Soul bones are super useful. I got my Golden Dragon Dreadclaw from a right-hand soul bone! If I can get another one¡­¡±


    ¡°Fine. If you want to compete, then compete. You can leave now.¡± Gu Yue abruptly rose to her feet and pushed Tang Wulin out the door. It slammed shut behind him.


    Tang Wulin stared dumbstruck at the closed door. What¡¯s with her now? Did I not explain clearly enough?


    Inside her room, Gu Yue leaned against the door. Her eyes were sharp and cold as she muttered to herself, ¡°Soul bone!¡±


    The Continental Young Elites Tournament was one of the largest tournaments on the continent and drew in spectators from all over. It had a long history. So long, in fact, that it could be traced back to when the Star Luo Empire was still on the continent of Douluo. It could be traced back to the distant past when soul masters were still the pinnacle and the Martial Soul Hall controlled the majority of soul masters. The tournament had been where the most outstanding talents were selected.


    Later on, a coalition of the era¡¯s three greatest empires led by Tang San overthrew the Martial Soul Hall, liberating the soul masters under its rule. Yet, years upon years later, this tournament still lived on.


    After the Sun Moon Federation fully occupied Douluo, the tournament finally faded from Douluo. However, the Star Luo Empire stayed true to tradition and continued to host it.


    Every three years, the Continental Young Elites Tournament was held in Star Luo City. Any soul master under twenty years old could sign up. Naturally, there were other conditions required. Only those with at least a soul power of rank 20 and the ability to pay the registration fee were permitted to compete. The registration period was a full month.


    After countless years of cultural and technological advancement, the tournament now had competitions for one-on-one duels, two-on-two matches, seven-man team battles, and mecha challenges. That said, there were no competitions for crafting professions such as blacksmith or designers. This was purely a tournament to rouse the fighting spirit of the new generation.


    Anyone who achieved a good rank in the tournament would become a hot commodity. Whether they decided to pursue academics, corporate work, or even a military career, they would receive preferential treatment.


    Of all the competitions held in the tournament, the one-on-one duels were the most popular. The duels had no rules and any sort of weapons or equipment could be used. Mechas, soul devices, or even battle armor, none were barred. As long as the competitor had it, they could use it. As such, the duels were undoubtedly the most intense.


    The Star Luo Empire had always idealized the lone hero. To its citizens, Tang Sect Founder Tang San and Spirit Pagoda Founder Huo Yuhao were idols among idols. Through their own strength, they changed the course of history. They each possessed overwhelming strength that turned the tides of wars thought lost.


    In contrast, the people of Douluo and the Sun Moon Federation valued the strength of a team more, so team battles were the spotlight there.


    According to the registration lists, there were 5163 people registered for the one-on-one duels. Nearly all the competitors had opted for it. The two-on-two matches had 864 registered. The seven-man team battles had a mere 113 teams competing. As for the mecha battle, there were 461 combatants.


    Registration closed and the tournament would begin a day later.


    Fortunately for the students from Shrek Academy, they were able to bypass the registration lines and register through the Star Luo official in charge of registrations. However, not all of them had registered by their own will. Elder Cai had simply declared who would participate.

 Chapter 602 - Promise

    Chapter 602 - Promise


    Apart from Xu Lizhi, all of the students from Shrek Academy were to participate in the one-on-one duels. They would form four teams for the two-on-twos, and Xu Lizhi would act as a backup member for the team battle. Essentially all of them were forced to compete.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be with him,¡± Gu Yue said, pointing her chin at Tang Wulin.


    The matter of who teamed up with who was normally a foregone conclusion, but today was different. Gu Yue refused to fight.


    Elder Cai frowned. ¡°Let me remind you that you are not competing in the tournament for yourself alone. You are representing Shrek Academy as well. If that is not enough, this tournament is also a trial. You will be graded on your performance in Star Luo. If you don¡¯t compete, then you won¡¯t be considered for the Shrek Seven Monsters, and possibly even admittance to the inner court.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Gu Yue said.


    ¡°Gu Yue, are you crazy?¡± Tang Wulin muttered hastily, pulling at her arm. ¡°Why are you refusing to compete?¡±


    Gu Yue shook her head at him. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like it.¡± Then she turned around and left Elder Cai¡¯s room.


    ¡°Is she still jealous?¡± Xie Xie cast a furtive glance at Tang Wulin. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, this is¡­¡±


    ¡°Elder Cai, I¡¯m sorry about this. I¡¯ll try to change her mind,¡± Tang Wulin said, then rushed out after Gu Yue.


    Back in her room, Gu Yue stood in front of her window, silently staring out into the distance. The door to her room was left slightly open as if she had anticipated Tang Wulin coming after her. Through that open door, Tang Wulin entered, taking long strides to reach Gu Yue in an instant.


    ¡°Just what are you thinking?¡± he demanded. ¡°Why are you refusing to compete?¡±


    Gu Yue continued looking out the window. ¡°Why do I have to compete?¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re frustrated with me, but please, stop using this to vent.¡± Tang Wulin took her by the hand. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you to explain things to Elder Cai. Then we can compete together. Or do you not actually want to enter the inner court? To become one of the next Shrek Seven Monsters?¡±


    ¡°Do you really think I could be one of the Shrek Seven Monsters?¡± Gu Yue said, turning to face Tang Wulin. ¡°I¡¯m a member of the Spirit Pagoda, remember? Shrek doesn¡¯t have as harmonious of a relationship with Spirit Pagoda as you might think. Well, I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t know that.¡±


    Tang Wulin was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re choosing the Spirit Pagoda?¡±


    ¡°I decided long ago, back when Elder Cai made things difficult for us,¡± she answered. ¡°The Spirit Pagoda has given me many things that Shrek cannot. It is impossible for me to become one of the Shrek Seven Monsters.¡±


    Tang Wulin stared at her in disbelief, barely managing to blink his eyes a scant few times. This had completely blindsided him. Words formed at his lips, but they came out as incoherent stuttering. He wanted to argue, he really did, but he simply didn¡¯t know how he could persuade her. They had spent years with one another. He knew just how stubborn she could be. How stubborn she was. Once she came to a decision, it would take nothing short of a miracle to change her mind.


    Then Tang Wulin blurted, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to be with me?¡±


    A shiver ran down Gu Yue¡¯s spine, a myriad of emotions flashing through her eyes.


    ¡°I-I mean cultivate!¡± Tang Wulin stammered meekly. ¡° Don¡¯t you want to cultivate together with me.¡±


    Gu Yue gazed at him, eyes ablaze. ¡°You really want me to compete?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Tang Wulin nodded without hesitation. ¡°We¡¯re partners.¡±


    Gu Yue narrowed her eyes. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll compete in the two-on-two competition with you. That¡¯s it. I won¡¯t compete in the one-on-ones or the team battles. I won¡¯t be involved in them in any way.¡±


    Joy and anxiety warred in Tang Wulin¡¯s heart. Sure, he was happy to fight alongside her in the two-on-two competition, but the rest of what she said drew a divide between her and the rest of the team, erected a barrier between them. He felt nothing but worry for what the future might bring. It was a feeling he hated.


    ¡°Gu Yue¡­¡± Tang Wulin began.


    ¡°You can go now,¡± she replied softly. ¡°I want some peace.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Tang Wulin eventually said. He knew it was impossible to control Gu Yue¡¯s mood, so he settled for what he got.


    She had agreed to fight alongside him in the two-on-two competition.


    Tang Wulin left Gu Yue¡¯s room. He didn¡¯t see her for the rest of the day. This left him in such low spirits that he ate half as much as usual for his meals. He wanted to go see Gu Yue once more, to try and convince her again, but he didn¡¯t even know what he would say.


    The next day, Continental Young Elites Tournament began, drawing competitors and spectators from all over the continent. The tournament was held in the Grand Star Luo Stadium. Due to the high number of competitors, all participants were separated into different groups for the preliminary contests. For the sake of speeding things along, the preliminary contests were instant eliminations. A single loss and they were eliminated from the tournament. Luck would undoubtedly play a major part in these opening rounds. However, luck was a part of someone¡¯s strength.


    Fairness was subjective. Just as Elder Cai said before, absolute fairness did not exist in this world. If Tang Wulin wanted fairness to exist, if he wanted to create and control it, he had to rely on his own strength.


    The first preliminary matches to take place were for the one-on-one duels. This was the part of the tournament that everyone was couldn¡¯t wait to see. These were the matches that had the most at stake.


    Inside the Grand Star Luo Stadium, fifty stages were set up for the preliminary matches. Matches were to be held in a set order, with the next beginning as soon as the previous ended. They would cycle through each match until the preliminaries were finished. Every competitor was assigned an electronic number badge. The badge contained detailed information about the competitor and their match times. If they missed any of their matches, they would be instantly eliminated.


    The Continental Young Elites Tournament didn¡¯t start with an opening ceremony. There were simply too many competitors to hold one. As such, the ceremony was scheduled for after the preliminaries.


    The Grand Star Luo Stadium could accommodate three hundred thousand people. It was the largest stadium, not just in Star Luo City, but the entire continent. Furthermore, it was also equipped with the most cutting-edge technology. Tickets had been sold out long before the tournament began. Although the tickets were all sold out, there was also a continent-wide live broadcast. However, the broadcast was pay-per-view. Thanks to this, as well as the registration fee paid by thousands of competitors, the Star Luo Empire easily recouped the costs of hosting such a grand tournament. The Empire had long ago learned the best ways to squeeze all the profits from this tournament.


    Countless ordinary citizens yearned to be soul masters. Unfortunately, there was no overcoming what they were born with. For them, watching this tournament was the next best thing. For them, this was a festival. People all throughout the continent were giddy with excitement to witness the rise of the stars of the next generation.


    Thanks to the strings that had been pulled to register the Shrek Academy students, their matches were spread out over a few days.


    Tang Wulin drew number 333, an easy number to remember, one that bore no ill omens. His match was on the first day. Interestingly enough, apart from Gu Yue who opted out of participating, everyone else¡¯s matches were on the second and third day. They were all staggered.


    ¡°Are you still upset I didn¡¯t participate?¡± Gu Yue asked Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not mad about it. I just feel like you¡¯re drifting further and further away. At this rate, It feels like you might leave us for good. I don¡¯t like that.¡±


    Gu Yue stared at him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but all good things must come to an end. No matter how much we try to fight it, we will have to grow up and one day part ways.¡±


    ¡°Why do we have to part ways?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Gu Yue met his eyes for a moment. Then she looked away. ¡°Maybe we won¡¯t have to. We¡¯ll see. And besides, aren¡¯t I going to compete with you later?¡±


    ¡°But we can still cultivate together for many more years!¡± Tang Wulin grumbled. ¡°Even if you¡¯re a member of the Spirit Pagoda, Shrek Academy is just a school! You can graduate, then you can go back to the Spirit Pagoda.¡±


    A pang of pain flared up in Gu Yue¡¯s heart. She grabbed Tang Wulin¡¯s hand and squeezed it. ¡°I¡¯ll at least enter the inner court with you, alright? I promise.¡±


    Tang Wulin blinked at her a few times, then burst with joy. ¡°You better keep that promise!¡±


    Gu Yue nodded, a thin smile forming on her lips. ¡°Count on it.¡±

 Chapter 603 - Nine-ringed Silver Blade

    Chapter 603 - Nine-ringed Silver Blade


    ¡°Fantastic!¡± Tang Wulin¡¯s exclamation drew gazes from their surroundings.


    Gu Yue¡¯s smile grew into a full-fledged grin. It wouldn¡¯t be a lie to say she loved that happy expression of his.


    The streets surrounding the stadium were packed with people, with many streets sealed off due to necessity. Gu Yue and Tang Wulin barely managed to enter the competitors¡¯ area after having their badges scanned.


    The moment they stepped foot into the stadium, the electric atmosphere came at them from all directions. The heated shouts of the spectators crashed upon his ears like raging waves, drowning out anything less than yelling right beside him.


    This was the cheering of three hundred thousand people!


    Numerous stages were set up within the stadium, each equipped with a special soul barrier to prevent the battles from affecting one another.


    When Tang Wulin first caught sight of these stages, his eyes shone with glee. The individual competition had no rules and competitors were free to use whatever they had at their disposal. The competition required signing a death waiver after all. Although fatalities were rare, it was impossible for the referees to always intervene in time. This would be Tang Wulin¡¯s first time participating in such a competition.


    Very few competitors used mechas for the preliminary rounds. Due to the fact that fifty arenas were set up in the stadium, each arena only amounted to about fifty meters in diameter. Maneuvering a mecha in such limited space would prove difficult.


    However, Tang Wulin saw many people equipped with an assortment of soul devices. Those technological marvels were shiny gadgets in his eyes, utterly dazzling.


    ¡°Damn! I¡¯m super pumped for this now! Gu Yue, are you sure you don¡¯t wanna participate?¡± Tang Wulin asked. She had registered long ago, so she could still change her mind.


    Gu Yue shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not interested. I¡¯m fine with just the duos with you.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Tang Wulin took out his electronic badge and looked up his information. He still had about half an hour before his first match. The only information he had about his opponent was their number: 631.


    ¡°I wonder what my opponent will be like,¡± Tang Wulin said, a smile on his lips.


    ¡°No matter who they are, they won¡¯t be able to stop you,¡± said Gu Yue. ¡°Good luck. I might not be able to become one of the Shrek Seven Monsters, but you definitely can. Don¡¯t underestimate your opponent though. Remember what we heard from those Imperial Star Luo Academy people? The most powerful academy in the Star Luo Empire is Monster Academy, and they¡¯re heavily influenced by Shrek. You¡¯ll be in trouble too if you meet any battle armor masters.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have a plan.¡±


    Time passed quickly and Tang Wulin¡¯s number was called up onto the stage. He waved to Gu Yue as he left for stage 33. As he climbed up, the coincidence of being competitor 333 on stage 33 made him feel lucky!


    Once he stood on stage, he was floored by the immense pressure of hundreds of thousands of gazes, all converging on him. A completely different feeling from when he was still waiting for his turn. The spotlights dazzled him. The crowd shouted with enthusiasm, their voices reverberating like a roaring wave. Even the most steadfast competitor would be swept up in the mood of the crowd, blood racing.


    Thousands of years ago, there was also a tournament like this on Douluo.


    Amidst the shouts of the crowd, a person climbed onto the side of the stage opposite of Tang Wulin. This was undoubtedly his opponent, competitor number 631.


    The opponent was a young man about seventeen or eighteen years old. He stood tall with a well-proportioned build. His entire being exuded a steady aura.


    Tang Wulin had plenty of combat experience. So much so, in fact, that he was immediately on alert and in combat mode the moment he saw his opponent. He could tell that his opponent would be a bit of trouble.


    From a viewing platform, two elderly men sat together discussing the matches. If anyone were to approach, they would discover that no sound escaped from the area around them. They were completely isolated from the outer world.


    ¡°Wuxie¡¯s match is about to start. Old Lin, these are just the preliminaries. Why did you want to personally watch? You sure do care a lot about that precious disciple of yours!¡± the thin elderly man on the left side teased.


    The person referred to as Old Lin was a tall elderly man. Face impassive, he answered in a deep voice, ¡°Even a lion needs to use all its strength to hunt a rabbit. Although these are the preliminaries, he might be unlucky enough to come across a powerful opponent. I also want to see for myself if he¡¯s taken my teachings to heart. He¡¯s eighteen this year. It¡¯s his last chance to compete in the Continent Young Elites Tournament. He can¡¯t afford to lose. He just needs to at least make it into the quarterfinals.¡±


    The thin elder smiled. ¡°Now ain¡¯t that a low goal! Isn¡¯t Wuxie already a one-word battle armor master? And with his five-ring cultivation, it¡¯ll be hard to find an opponent that will give him trouble throughout the entire tournament. Maybe if it¡¯s one of the elites from Monster Academy we could talk, but I don¡¯t think so. This match will finish in a flash. I bet Wuxie¡¯s got a good chance of making the top three.¡±


    Old Lin said, ¡°I hope so. But I¡¯m actually the most worried about the preliminaries. If he¡¯s unlucky, he could be in the same heat as the fledgling monsters from Monster Academy. He¡¯ll be in trouble if that happens. Since the preliminaries are instant elimination, he won¡¯t have another chance.¡±


    Once again, a smile graced the thin elder¡¯s lips. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not happening this match at least. This baby-faced kid is probably fifteen at most. He¡¯s most likely here to see what it¡¯s like. We can start packing up our bags now.¡±


    Old Lin nodded.


    Shimmering light climbed through the air as the barrier formed a dome over the stage. Since the matches were devoid of rules, the sole job of the referee was to declare the winner when the dust settled. An electronic voice sounded, ¡°First round of the elimination matches: Competitor 333 versus competitor 631. Prepare yourselves. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Begin!¡±


    The instant the match began, Tang Wulin rushed his opponent. He didn¡¯t even release his martial soul yet.


    Competitor 631 was named Ling Wuxie and he hailed from an ancient sect. He was here to carve a name for himself at this tournament. In his previous participation at the age of fifteen, he ranked in the top sixty-four. Since then, he had poured blood and sweat into cultivation so that he could achieve a better rank this time.


    When he saw that Tang Wulin had charged him without summoning his martial soul, Ling Wuxie was taken aback. Did he forget his martial soul?


    The Continental Young Elites Tournament was so large and placed so much pressure upon competitors that more than a few made glaring mistakes.


    Yet Ling Wuxie didn¡¯t dare be careless. His eyes shone as five soul rings appeared around him, two yellow and three purple. The optimum configuration. His martial soul appeared simultaneously, light gathering to form a blade in his hand. The blade was about 1.3 meters long with nine rings, both blade and rings made of a silver metal. His five soul rings flew into his blade, merging with its first five rings, changing their colors to match those of his soul rings.


    A tool martial soul! Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes narrowed. He could tell his opponent was powerful, the way the soul rings merged with the blade a testament to that. It looks like my luck¡¯s a bit bad this time. His first match and he must face a five-ringed Soul King! Meanwhile, many of the other battles were only between two or three-ringed soul masters.


    Why am I the only one with a five-ringed opponent? Yet Tang Wulin could only push away the thoughts of complaint, focusing on rushing his opponent once more.


    Ling Wuxie raised his Nine-ringed Silver Blade at Tang Wulin. Filled it with soul power. In a flash, he released a one-meter-long beam.


    Tang Wulin picked up speed and altered his path to evade the attack, but the beam adjusted its trajectory in pursuit of him. It was a soul skill that locked onto its target!


    Unable to dodge, Tang Wulin chose to stand his ground. He planted his feet into the floor for a moment and took a stance. He thrust out a punch. A white glow coated his knuckles, his punch on its way to collide with the Ling Wuxie¡¯s attack.


    A martial soul was unnecessary. Using just his soul power was enough!

 Chapter 604 - Fierce Clash

    Chapter 604 - Fierce Clash


    Fist and blade beam collided in a tumult of rushing wind. Tang Wulin managed to destroy the beam, but the force of the clash halted his charge. Pain seared his fist, but since the soul power of the Mysterious Heaven Method cloaked his body, he was fortunately spared any real injury.


    This outcome surprised Tang Wulin, but it startled his opponent, Ling Wuxie, even more. Ling Wuxie couldn¡¯t believe that Tang Wulin was able to resist his blade beam using his body alone. Even if that was just his first soul skill, he was still a Soul King! His first soul skill would still be extremely powerful. Yet Tang Wulin had punched it apart.


    Ling Wuxie furrowed his brow in contemplation. Is this kid trying to die?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes flashed golden, his body straightening as he stood taller than before. Two golden soul rings appeared around him. The first shone brightly and strength filled his body as his right arm swelled, transforming into a golden dragon claw. Instead of his martial soul he chose the strength of his bloodline!


    Ling Wuxie stared in shock. Are those¡­ two soul rings? He only has two? But wait, why are they golden? Even if the legends speak of golden soul rings, a two-ringed soul master shouldn¡¯t have them!


    The two elders who had come to watch Ling Wuxie¡¯s match and were about to leave the viewing platform immediately sat back down. Their brows furrowed, all their attention focused on Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin stomped on the ground and exploded forth like violent lightning. Empowered by Golden Dragon Body, his speed reached its maximum. He arrived in front of Ling Wuxie in the blink of an eye, thrusting his claw at Ling Wuxie¡¯s chest. The attack shone resplendently under the spotlights. Ling Wuxie hastily sidestepped the attack and brandished his Nine-ringed Silver Blade, rings jingling from the movement. Silver light bloomed forth and the blade struck the claw.


    A metallic screeching filled the air, and Ling Wuxie was sent flying backward by Tang Wulin¡¯s claw. He slammed into the barrier that surrounded the two. His blade hummed loudly, a sound that resembled a wail of pain. While the soul barriers blocked out external noise, it still let noise from within leak outside. The audience heard the wails of the blade clearly.


    This intense clash between these two competitors had every spectator in complete shock. Everyone took note of the five soul rings revolving around Ling Wuxie, clearly indicating his status as a Soul King. He was definitely one of the most notable competitors in the preliminaries, but even though he was a Soul King, he had been sent crashing into the barrier.


    Did a gale blow him away? The audience couldn¡¯t fathom what they were witnessing. Then they shifted their attention to Tang Wulin and his pair of glittering golden rings.


    Ling Wuxie was still reeling. His entire blade arm was numb and trembled from the forced of the clash. It was only now that he understood how close his blade had come to breaking. Holy shit that kid¡¯s strong!


    As an agility-type, Ling Wuxie possessed a respectable amount of physical strength. His cultivation was top tier, which resulted in a strong body. However, the power of Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw was absolutely tyrannical. It was magnitudes more than Ling Wuxie could endure. If he hadn¡¯t let Tang Wulin¡¯s strike send him flying, he wouldn¡¯t have come out of the clash intact. This realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.


    The instant Ling Wuxie came to understand this, Tang Wulin exploded forth like a cannonball. He rushed forward to finish off his opponent, claws gleaming golden as he rapidly closed the gap.


    At that moment, the third ring of the Nine-ringed Silver Blade began to shine. All nine rings began to hum, seemingly resonating as one.


    A crisp note rang through the air. It washed across Tang Wulin, and suddenly he felt his mind go numb. His forward momentum began to slow. Then Ling Wuxie swept his blade out in front of him. The beam shot out, homing in on Tang Wulin.


    Ling Wuxie¡¯s third soul skill was Cry of the Silver Rings. It was thanks to this soul skill that he had prevailed over countless powerful opponents. No one ever expected a blade-type martial soul to have a sonic attack soul skill. It wasn¡¯t an attack that could be guarded against, and it attacked the target¡¯s spirit directly to stun them. It made for a powerful combination with his swift first soul skill.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s response to this was simple. He bit the tip of his tongue. The pain it caused cleared the fog that Ling Wuxie¡¯s soul skill had cast over his mind. Just as he regained himself, however, the blade beam was already too close to avoid. On instinct he thrust his claw toward it, tracing the beam¡¯s trajectory. His claws shone brilliantly the beam struck, scattering most of the beam¡¯s energy. Yet a fraction of the beam made it through his counteroffensive and struck his shoulder with a meaty thwack. The force of the blow flung Tang Wulin spinning backward and hit the ground. He had lost all of his momentum.


    Ling Wuxie¡¯s face lit up. He knew this was a cheap combo attack, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to be so effective. Cry of the Silver Rings was most effective the first time he used it on a target. After that, the target would be wary of it. When the target expected the attack, their mind steeled against it, its efficacy plummeted.


    Tang Wulin got to his feet, and the two stared at each other. Tension filled the air between them. They were done probing each other and now knew how powerful their opponent was.


    Tang Wulin raised his left arm and rotated it, shrugging the pain from his shoulder. The blade beam had hurt, but still he was uninjured. The defensive power of Golden Dragon Body completely mitigated any lasting damage, especially since his body had been strengthened even further by the Body Sect¡¯s training. It would be no exaggeration to call his body a weapon in and of itself now.


    Without warning, Ling Wuxie advanced with confident steps. He swung his blade to and fro, unleashing a storm of blade beams. The beams spread out around Tang Wulin until they formed a giant net, then converged on him with frightening speed. It was impossible to evade.


    Compared to the previous attack, these blade beams were far larger and sharper. They were clearly imbued with much more soul power. After their initial clash, Ling Wuxie dared not underestimate Tang Wulin any longer.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward, a draconic roar booming from within him as his blood essence flowed in reverse. The roar reverberated throughout the arena, announcing Tang Wulin¡¯s tyrannical strength. He thrust both palms toward the sky and unleashed a gigantic phantom golden dragon head at the net of beams. The net collided with the phantom dragon head and rapidly disintegrated. The dragon head, however, showed no signs of weakening. In fact, it seemed to grow even more radiant as it devoured the blade beams. An instant later, the net of blade beams was no more! Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens tore through it all!


    A cold shiver ran down Ling Wuxie¡¯s spine, an ill premonition rising within him. His opponent may have only had two soul rings, but their strength was far beyond that! Without hesitation, Ling Wuxie used Cry of the Silver Rings once more, yet another metallic screech piercing the air. This soul skill could both disrupt and surprise opponents. Ling Wuxie watched Tang Wulin closely and nearly smiled when Tang Wulin¡¯s face went blank for a moment. Unfortunately for him, Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens did not weaken at all! It just continued to grow stronger!


    Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens was no soul skill. It was a blood essence skill! The potent power of his reversed blood essence flow and divine bloodline erupted to form that phantom dragon head! Only Tang Wulin could stop it now. As long as he didn¡¯t consciously do that, it would continue to rampage, with or without his guidance!


    As the phantom golden dragon head reached him, Ling Wuxie¡¯s face took on a grave expression. He touched the tip of his blade with his left hand, pushed out its hilt with his other hand, holding the entirety of the weapon as a makeshift shield. Then his fourth soul ring lit up.


    On the viewing platform, the elder nodded in satisfaction when he saw his disciple using his fourth soul skill, Guard Point Stance. The elder was satisfied with his disciples choice. However, it was too early for him to be satisfied.


    Boom! The dragon struck. The Nine-ringed Silver Blade hummed violently as it shuddered before the phantom dragon head¡¯s might. Guard Point Stance held up against the phantom dragon head, but its second function, a counterattack did not activate. The dragon head continued forth, ramming into Ling Wuxie and sending him flying once more in a spray of blood.


    At that moment, everyone watching held the same thoughts within their heads.


    Just who the hell is that kid with two golden soul rings? What is his martial soul?

 Chapter 605 - Ultimate Combo!

    Chapter 605 - Ultimate Combo!


    Apprehension gripped Ling Wuxie. Guard Point Stance, which granted him momentary absolute defense and a mighty counterattack, was his most formidable defensive soul skill. In fact, it could be considered his most formidable soul skill, period. If used at the right time, it could instantly turn the tide of battle.


    However, the impact of the dragon head went far beyond his expectations. Even with his defenses reinforced to the peak, he was an ant before such overbearing force. Worst yet, the counterattack of Guard Point Stance failed to activate. A blink, and the phantom dragon head slammed into him with the full force of a soul train. His organs pulsed, steaming with pain. As if they would rupture at any second!


    I don¡¯t have any other choice! Ling Wuxie gritted his teeth, flying backward through the air. He thrust out both hands, releasing a series of lights from his bracelets. The lights fused together into a large mass, enveloping his body, manifesting as pieces shining silver armor. A silver aura had burst from his form the moment the armor appeared, allowing him to stabilize his posture in the air.


    One-word battle armor! A full set of one-word battle armor!


    The instant the silver light blossomed, Tang Wulin¡¯s stomach dropped. He was confident in his strength in defeating a four or five-ringed soul master, but that was only if they didn¡¯t have a full set of battle armor.


    In terms of power, a one-word battle armor master was leagues ahead of their naked equivalent soul master. Tang Wulin was currently about as powerful as Ye Xinglan when she had faced a one-word battle armor master solo. Back then, she could barely force her opponent into a corner by risking it all and sacrificing herself. With this in mind, upon seeing Ling Wuxie¡¯s one-word battle armor, Tang Wulin knew he couldn¡¯t give his opponent time to display the armor¡¯s full potential. Otherwise, he would have no hope of winning.


    Within Tang Wulin came a draconic roar. As Ling Wuxie worked to regain his balance in the air, Tang Wulin shot up, brandishing his dragon claw! Five dark gold beams of light burst forward from a single slash, transforming into a gigantic claw to tear Ling Wuxie apart!


    Although Ling Wuxie currently had the protection of his battle armor, the previous shock the phantom dragon head did to his internal organs still remained. He sucked in a deep breath before the attack struck, drawing upon the power of his battle armor to prepare his counterattack. When the five dark gold beams arrived, he slashed his naked Nine-ringed Silver Blade forward. It was too late for him to use a soul skill, especially with his internal soul power in chaos.


    A boom thundered through the arena. Gold and silver light clashed in a dazzling display.


    Golden Dragon Dreadclaw was undoubtedly Tang Wulin¡¯s current strongest attack. Its might instilled fear into its targets. This was the power of the soul bone of the infamous Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, further empowered and influenced by the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline!


    The collision of the two attacks sent the slash of the Nine-ringed Silver Blade rebounding, a grating screech as Ling Wuxie blocked it with his blade. If not for his battle armor empowering it, the blade would have been torn to shreds that instant.


    Eventhe Golden Dragon Dreadclaw couldn¡¯t pierce through the battle armor¡¯s defenses. However, Ling Wuxie was sent flying backward with deep gashes in his armor, a solid thud as he slammed into the barrier.


    The impact sent ripples throughout the barrier and rattled Ling Wuxie¡¯s brain into disorientation, and he rebounded off the surface.


    But Tang Wulin pressed his attack without pause. While Ling Wuxie was still stunned,Tang Wulin balled his claw into a fist and rammed it into Ling Wuxie¡¯s stomach. In an instant, Ling Wuxie crashed into the barrier again.


    Thick and dark blue vines shot out, wrapping around Ling Wuxie¡¯s ankles like shackles. As he bounced off the barrier once more, the vines tightened their grip and slammed him into the ground, mercy a concept unknown.


    Tang Wulin continued his one-sided onslaught like a relentless demon. Once he landed on the ground, his body let out a draconic roar. He stomped his right leg, summoning eight phantom dragons to attack Ling Wuxie. Collision, and Ling Wuxie crashed into the ground, only to rebound upward.


    Then Tang Wulin followed up by thrusting his palms out, summoning a phantom golden dragon head. Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    A mighty roar shook the arena. In the blink of an eye, the phantom dragon head swallowed Ling Wuxie whole, a succession of deafening booms in its wake!


    The spectators were stunned into silence by such a frightening combo. From the first Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens to the last, each attack contained terrifying power. B-but that¡¯s a one-word battle armor master! He¡¯s a five-ringed Soul King! Why is he a punching bag for this two-ringed kid?


    Pummeled into the air, Ling Wuxie¡¯s mind was in complete chaos as he fought back numerous concussions. He felt as if his body had been beaten like a sack! His battle armor helped him endure the attacks, but the impacts still disrupted his soul power flow. Due to this, he couldn¡¯t fight back.


    Yet Tang Wulin still wasn¡¯t finished. He leaped into the air after his opponent, grabbed him by the neck, and smashed him into the ground with his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw!


    ¡°I concede!¡± Ling Wuxie croaked, feeling the deadly edge of the claw on his neck. With a foot pressing down on his opponent¡¯s stomach, Tang Wulin hovered close over him, breath hitting the other¡¯s face. His action dispersed any soul power Ling Wuxie tried to gather, making it impossible to fight back anyway.


    The moment he had felt the claw grip his neck, Ling Wuxie thought the grim reaper had come for his life. Even with his defensive power at its peak with his battle armor, Tang Wulin had pummelled him into a pulp! Each strike of the dragon claw held the full force of a speeding train.


    Ling Wuxie tapped his hand on the ground, the standard action to concede.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his claw and hopped off Ling Wuxie, standing tall as he peered down at his opponent.


    The audience exploded into an uproar. However, not everyone was happy. The two elders who had come to watch Ling Wuxie¡¯s battle sat there stupefied, their faces gradually clouding with gloom. With their cultivation levels, naturally they could tell that Ling Wuxie had the strength to win. But Tang Wulin never let him bring out the true power of his battle armor, forcing the match to a close with an unrelenting onslaught of full-powered blows. From beginning to end, the battle had been going along to Tang Wulin¡¯s tempo. It was frightening.


    Ling Wuxie lost. He lost the very first match of the preliminaries, so he was eliminated from the tournament. What a pity, since this was his final chance to make a name for himself at the Continental Young Elites Tournament.


    The pitiful Ling Wuxie lay on the floor, mind blank. He was wholly resigned now. His battle armor melted into light and helped sort out his soul power and his body. Although pain wracked through him, it could not compare with the anguish within his heart.


    I lost. I can¡¯t believe I lost. How did this happen? If I had immediately used my battle armor at the start of the match and never let him get close to me, I could have won. A lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit¡­ Ling Wuxie remembered the lectures of his teacher and regret immediately filled him. He regretted looking down upon Tang Wulin, regretted not even using his fifth soul skill.


    But no matter how much he wanted to change it, there existed no medicine in this world that could cure regret and no pity for losers. He lost and was eliminated. He was the loser this time.


    Tang Wulin panted as he stood tall in the center of the stage. He had faced tremendous pressure throughout the battle as well. The power amplification effect of battle armor was truly formidable. One wrong move and he wouldn¡¯t be standing the victor. If not for Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens injuring Ling Wuxie in the beginning, his follow up combo wouldn¡¯t have been anywhere near as effective. Equipped with battle armor, his opponent wielded strength equal to a seven-ringed soul master! The odds of a four-ringed soul master prevailing over a seven-ringed one was nigh impossible, even if his body was much stronger!


    He was glad he didn¡¯t lose the first match and lose face. The pride of victory filled him. He also noticed something change within him, his battle prowess increased after his deadly combo attacks. The Body Sect¡¯s training was fully assimilated into his body now.


    Had Ling Wuxie utilized the full power of his battle armor, Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t have had a chance of winning. Even with Bluesilver Emperor, Goldsong, and the Tyrant Dragon, his defeat would have been set in stone.


    Tang Wulin jumped off the stage and sprinted to the competitors¡¯ waiting area, swift to avoid becoming the center of attention.


    ¡°So strong!¡± Gu Yue whispered into his ear as she rushed to meet him.


    Tang Wulin turned to her, astonished she had waited there for him. A bitter smile formed on his lips. ¡°I¡¯ve just got heaven-defying luck. I hope I don¡¯t have another match like that. One-word battle armor masters are too damn strong.¡±

 Chapter 606 - Captain, come to my room later

    Chapter 606 - Captain, come to my room later


    Gu Yue flashed Tang Wulin a smile. ¡°But you didn¡¯t even use your own battle armor. Xinglan can¡¯t make the circuit core yet, so she¡¯s going to make more pieces for everyone else first. Your right pauldron should be finished soon.¡±


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


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Gu Yue said, leading the way.


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


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


    ¡°Do you feel discouraged?¡± asked an elderly man.


    Ling Wuxie raised his head and said in a hoarse voice, ¡°Teacher.¡±


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


    ¡°Do you feel discouraged?¡± the elder asked again, his tone grave.


    ¡°No.¡± Ling Wuxie clenched his fists, tears trickling down his face.


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


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


    ¡°Teacher¡­¡±


    ?


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


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


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


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


    ?


    ¡°Captain, come to my room later,¡± Ye Xinglan said after finishing her meal in the dining hall.


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


    ¡°The hell are you two looking at?¡± Tang Wulin glared at them.


    Xu Lizhi gave a goofy smile. ¡°Big Sis Xinglan invited Captain ¡®cause his second piece of battle armor is nearly done.¡±


    ¡°Second piece of battle armor?¡± A grin slid its way across Xie Xie¡¯s lips. ¡°Then isn¡¯t it my turn next?¡±


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


    ¡°Lizhi, do you need a spanking?¡± Xie Xie rolled his sleeves and inched closer to Xu Lizhi.


    Rising to his feet, Tang Wulin squeezed Xie Xie¡¯s shoulder, keeping him in place. Then turned to Xu Lizhi. ¡°You wanna beat him up?¡±


    Xu Lizhi giggled. ¡°Captain, you shouldn¡¯t beat people up. Just hold him there and I¡¯ll sit on him instead. That¡¯s good enough.¡±


    Which prompted Xie Xie to groan in complaint.


    It had been a long time since Tang Wulin obtained his first piece of battle armor, so he understood just how amazing it was to receive his second. He couldn¡¯t help but look forward to it. Without any battle armor, he would stand no chance against a battle armor master. Furthermore, it was his dream to become a battle armor master! He had long since chosen the first word for his set: Dragon! Once Tang Wulin completed his one-word battle armor set, he could officially grant it this name.


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


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


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


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


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


    With the increase in her cultivation level and understanding of battle armor crafting, Ye Xinglan could smoothly make battle armor step by step instead of in one go. Completing a piece of battle armor all at once truly proved difficult and wouldn¡¯t necessarily produce the best results. Her current process was to first carve the basic soul circuits into the metal, then slowly add more detail and connect them from there.


    The armor on the table was fully ready except for some finishing touches.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Ye Xinglan and she nodded, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s get started then. Prepare yourself.¡±


    ¡°Great!¡± Tang Wulin answered, stepping back from the table.


    Ye Xinglan walked over to the table and looked down on the armor. Instantly, starlight gathered around her, her Stargod Sword manifesting in her hand. More starlight emerged, continuing to clad her in shining battle armor.


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


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


    He wasn¡¯t the only one who had been improving. His friends were stronger as well!


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


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


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

 Chapter 607 - Second Piece of Battle Armor

    Chapter 607 - Second Piece of Battle Armor


    Starlight twinkled in Ye Xinglan¡¯s hands. She harnessed its power to work her craft upon the battle armor.


    Although Ye Xinglan¡¯s battle armor missed the crucial circuit core to tie it all together, it was still on the verge of completion. Clad in her shining armor, she looked like a goddess incarnate, her vessel as vast as the sea of stars.


    Specks of starlight shone upon her battle armor and her Stargod Sword pulsed vibrantly, illuminating the entire room. Starlight flowed from her body onto the incomplete piece of battle armor, filling its engraved soul circuits, then traveled deeply into the soul circuits, expanding and connecting the network.


    For mecha makers, researching the secrets of soul circuits proved a crucial. The more complex the circuit, the greater the difficulty to engrave it.


    Gu Yue had designed all of the battle armor with special care for its user, and especially so for Tang Wulin.


    Upon seeing the circuits grow clear on the armor¡¯s surface, Tang Wulin he felt as if his blood were calling out in yearning for the armor.


    Compared to the time Ye Xinglan had crafted Tang Wulin¡¯s first piece of battle armor, currently she proceeded in far more regular manner. Her soul power came out in a steady and solid stream, illustrating her perfect control over it despite the constant drain on her. Not one bit of it was wasted. Thanks to her own battle armor, her soul power was replenishing fairly quickly and the net loss was a mere trickle.


    She¡¯s made so much progress. I can¡¯t be slacking now! With that, Tang Wulin resolved himself.


    Time ticked on. The golden radiance of the battle armor upon the table grew in splendor until it spread through the whole piece. Unlike Tang Wulin¡¯s forearm armor with its three blades, the upper armor that was connected to the pauldron was far sleeker and smoother. A complex web of engravings spanned its entire length, up to the attached pauldron. The pauldron itself protruded with three layers stacked atop each other, the outermost layer resembling scales.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s battle style revolved around brute force and rampaging, so the pauldron¡¯s design was meant to aid him with intense collisions. With this three-layered pauldron and his terrifying strength, a shoulder bash would demolish what it struck!


    The draconic look of the armor resonated with Tang Wulin. The scale-like rhombus sheets on the surface of the armor were all layered together neatly. It perfectly mimicked the look of his scales when he used Golden Dragon Body.


    ¡°Get ready,¡± Ye Xinglan said, jolting Tang Wulin from his thoughts. His mind trembled and he watched, enraptured.


    Specks of starlight converged to form the core of the soul circuit. The next instant, a wave of energy lashed out following an explosion of light.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward to the table. With his left hand, he dug his nails into the skin around his right shoulder and upper arm until he drew red. Two streams of blood trickled down onto the armor. Not a moment later, the armor¡¯s shine transformed into a shade of pure gold.


    He grabbed the armor. Poured in soul power and blood essence. Starlight blossomed around the back of his right hand, manifesting as his gauntlet. The soul circuits of the two pieces of armor connected and merged. The pauldron let out a cry as it flew into the air, then dived toward his shoulder.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s bloody shoulder grew heavy as the pauldron landed on it in a perfect fit. It wrapped itself around his upper arm and shoulder in a swirl of movement, linking together with his gauntlet. Immediately, the two worked together in harmony.


    Blood essence and soul power roared within Tang Wulin. The piece of battle armor was complete now. Now linked with his blood, soul power flooded into it, connecting every node within the armor.


    As Tang Wulin¡¯s body harmonized with the new piece of battle armor, his scales shone with increased intensity.


    Ye Xinglan stood to the side, watching as Tang Wulin equipped his right arm fully with battle armor. She nodded in satisfaction. The process proved successful and now Tang Wulin¡¯s aura was even stronger.


    When Ye Xinglan had first met Tang Wulin, she regarded him as beneath her, not even worth sparing a glance. Having come from Shrek Academy, she had held the mind set that only the greatest of geniuses were worthy of her attention. However, when they met again later, his tenacity and tireless efforts left a deep impression on her. The scene of him recklessly sacrificing himself to protect his comrades was seared into her memory most of all. A comrade, no, a friend like this was absolutely worthy of trust.


    He was someone she could trust her back to.


    The golden light around Tang Wulin gradually dimmed. He flexed his arm and moved it around a bit, a huge grin on his face. He could feel explosive power bursting within his arms. He opened his hand and transformed it into a claw. The claw perfectly fit into the armor and transformed into a weapon of slaughter. Without Tang Wulin even urging his soul power, a faint golden edge stretched out three inches from his claw.


    It was due to the keen edge of his golden dragon claw that Tang Wulin had been able to defeat Ling Wuxie. Without it, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to create such deep gashes in Ling Wuxie¡¯s battle armor. The dragon claw¡¯s crushing effect was growing stronger along with him.


    He shifted his gaze to his left hand. Pondered. With the current number of Golden Dragon King seals he had broken, his right arm, shoulders, and chest would be covered in golden scales. If he broke more seals, then the transformation would likely extend to his left arm as well. When that happened, his left hand would probably be able to transform into a claw like his right. Once he gained a second claw, his strength would increase by leaps and bounds.


    If he desired, he could break the fifth seal right now. But he wanted to delay doing that and buy himself more time for the later seals.


    However, now that he had gained another piece of battle armor, Tang Wulin¡¯s thirst for power reappeared. He couldn¡¯t help but feel tempted to break the fifth seal immediately.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± Ye Xinglan asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Amazing! It¡¯s perfect!¡±


    The starlight faded from the room as the battle armor melted into Tang Wulin¡¯s body, settling into his right shoulder. The greatest benefit of using spirit alloys to craft one-word battle armor was that, as long as its foundation was strong, it could be upgraded into two-word battle armor in the future. Furthermore, he wouldn¡¯t have to store it in a storage soul device. With it fused into his body, he could equip it and unequip it in an instant.


    ¡°Xinglan, thank you. I¡¯m going to go then,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Wulin, is Gu Yue alright?¡±


    Tang Wulin was taken aback by her words, staring blankly at Ye Xinglan for a moment. ¡°Huh? Do you know something I don¡¯t?¡±


    Ye Xinglan furrowed her brow. ¡°It looks to me that she¡¯s been in a bad mood lately. I often see her staring blankly into the air. I have no idea what¡¯s going on in her mind. Maybe she¡¯s having regrets about joining the Spirit Pagoda since she can¡¯t become one of the Shrek Seven Monsters now? When you¡¯re not busy, spend some time with her. We can all tell she treats you specially.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Tang Wulin nodded. A soft sigh escaped his lips. ¡°I don¡¯t know what she¡¯s thinking either. But she promised me that she¡¯ll at least enter the inner court with us. Really though, so what if she¡¯s part of the Spirit Pagoda? We still need to graduate together. Afterward, no matter where we end up, as long as we remember our bonds of friendship, the years we spent growing up together, then nothing else matters! Soul technology is so advanced nowadays anyway. We¡¯ll easily be able to call and visit each other. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll talk with her and straighten her out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Ye Xinglan nodded. ¡°What about you then? What are your plans for the future? Are you going to stay at Shrek forever?¡±

 Chapter 608 - Growing Old With You

    Chapter 608 - Growing Old With You


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Probably not. I¡¯m planning on enlisting in the military in the future. It¡¯s been my plan to enlist after graduating from the inner court for a long time now.¡±


    ¡°The military?¡± Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I heard from Lizhi before, but I didn¡¯t think it was really true. Is enlisting better than cultivating at Shrek?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°It¡¯s my goal, so I¡¯m going to do it just like how Gu Yue became a member of the Spirit Pagoda. We all have our own goals. What about you? Are you really going to stay at Shrek?¡±


    Ye Xinglan nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t like dealing with politics and whatnot of the outside world. Staying at the Academy suits me best. Lizhi¡¯s planning on staying too. He said he¡¯d keep me company.¡± A warm smile graced her lips.


    ¡°That¡¯s good! Just think, how much will we have changed ten years from now? When we think back on this time, we¡¯ll probably smile fondly on the memories.¡±


    Ye Xinglan grinned. ¡°You¡¯re right! Maybe we will. Alright. Enough of that. You can go on now. I need to cultivate.¡±


    Tang Wulin exited Ye Xinglan¡¯s room then walked back to his own. But before he reached his room, Ye Xinglan¡¯s word echoed in his mind and he stopped in front of Gu Yue¡¯s room.


    After a moment of hesitation, Tang Wulin knocked on the door. An instant later, the door opened and he stood face to face with Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin walked in and proudly said, ¡°I¡¯ve got my second piece of battle armor now! You¡¯re probably next.¡±


    Gu Yue chuckled. ¡°Who knows? We¡¯ll see what Xinglan decides. In any case, I¡¯ve already completed the designs for everyone¡¯s second piece of armor.¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t stand on politeness and plopped himself onto the couch. He grabbed a cup of water on the table nearby and took a few sips.


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s my cup.¡± Gu Yue glared at him.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Tang Wulin answered, but continued on with a smile. ¡°Eh, I¡¯ve already drank from it. You can wash it later.¡± Then he finished gulping down the rest of the water.


    Gu Yue crossed her arms and glared at him, but he just chuckled. ¡°I like it when you¡¯re like this. You don¡¯t have to act grumpy. We¡¯re already fifteen years old. You should act more mature. If you keep making that face, you¡¯re gonna get wrinkles.¡±


    Gu Yue grabbed one of her slippers off her feet and threw it at Tang Wulin. ¡°I¡¯ll put wrinkles on you!¡±


    Tang Wulin just to slipper hit with a smile. ¡°You know, I remember hearing a song a while back. It was called ¡®The Greatest Happiness in the World is Growing Old With You¡¯. Gu Yue, do you think we¡¯ll grow old together?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s mind blanked and she stared at him speechless.


    Tang Wulin stood up and walked over to her. Then he bent down onto one knee and put the slipper back it back on her slipper-less foot. He stood back up and rubbed the top of her head. "Oh my. Your hair is a mess now.¡±


    ¡°Bastard!¡± Gu Yue glared at him, absolutely fuming with rage.


    ¡°Nighty night!¡± Tang Wulin said, patting her on the head again, then left. She did nothing to stop him.


    Gu Yue stood there, mulling in her emotions without bothering to fix her hair. Many long moments later, she walked over to the table and grabbed the cup Tang Wulin drank from. She filled it up and downed it all in one gulp. ¡°The greatest happiness is growing old with you?¡± Her eyes grew misty.


    The first round of the one-on-one tournament spanned three days. It was three days of regret and rejoice. The stadium was absolutely packed with spectators and competitors, but the Star Luo officials were masterful organizers and everything went smoothly. After the first round of the one-on-one competition came the two-on-twos, the team battles, and finally the mecha competition.


    Compared to the duels, the matches of the other competition categories had far less people. According to the tournament¡¯s planning, the first round of each of the remaining competitions would finish in one day. Then later on, when the competitors were greatly reduced, they could cram all the non-duels into one day.


    ?


    Morning broke and Tang Wulin quickly washed up. Then he went to invite Gu Yue for breakfast.


    When she greeted him that morning, her smile was clearly brighter than in the past few days, whatever that was weighing on her mind gone. It was as if she was a ball of sunshine.


    Throughout breakfast, Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but sneak glances at her.


    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Gu Yue said, rolling her eyes at him.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. You just seem a bit different today. Are you regretting not participating in the one-on-one competition?¡±


    Gu Yue snorted. ¡°I didn¡¯t participate because I didn¡¯t want you to have to face me. If we fought, you wouldn¡¯t end up with a good ranking.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so confident?¡± Tang Wulin grumbled. ¡°How are you so certain you would defeat me?¡±


    ¡°Strength,¡± Gu Yue answered nonchalantly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! Let¡¯s spar sometime!¡± Tang Wulin beamed.


    Gu Yue scoffed at him, then smirked.


    At that moment, the rest of their friends arrived in the dining hall. Ye Xinglan took her seat beside Gu Yue. When she saw the smile on Gu Yue¡¯s face, she couldn¡¯t help but send Tang Wulin a meaningful look, a smile forming on her own mouth as well.


    ¡°Today are the duos. Don¡¯t get careless, guys! I encountered a Soul King yesterday. We can¡¯t underestimate the soul masters of Star Luo. They¡¯re stronger than I expected,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Xie Xie puffed his chest out confidently. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how strong they are. We¡¯re aiming for the championship the duos competition.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui glared at him. ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Xie Xie scratched his cheek in embarrassment. ¡°But I didn¡¯t say anything wrong. We are aiming for the championship, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Even so, you don¡¯t have the right to say it out loud. The weak shouldn¡¯t try to show off,¡± Yuanen Yehui said.


    Xie Xie was dumbfounded. ¡°How am I weak?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui said, ¡°Which of us can you beat?¡±


    Without the slightest hesitation, Xie Xie pointed to Xu Lizhi. ¡°I can beat Lizhi! There¡¯s no way he can beat me. I think I could take Xiaoyan too.¡±


    ¡°Jeez. When are you going to grow up? Why are you comparing yourself to a support-type and a control-type?¡± Yuanen Yehui said in disdain, barely keeping herself from smacking him away.


    Xie Xie smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There will come a day where I¡¯m more powerful than you. Anyway, we can¡¯t be sure if any of us will meet any strong opponents today. Well, I¡¯ll only be able to display my full strength against a strong opponent!¡±


    Yuan Yehui scoffed at him.


    Tang Wulin said, ¡°You damn jinx! Shut your mouth right now before you curse us all!¡±


    ¡°What? Captain, you¡¯re not going to back me up here? Yuanen is looking down on me!¡± Xie Xie said.


    Tang Wulin gazed at him with eyes of indifference. ¡°Then you should prove her wrong, otherwise quit your complaining.¡±


    All eight of them were competing in the two-on-two competition. The teams were Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan and Yue Zhengyu, and Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi. It was hard to say how the strength of the pairs ranked relative to the others since they rarely sparred against each other in pairs. However, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had defeated Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu before, so they were viewed as the strongest pair thus far.


    After finishing their breakfast, they left the dining hall and headed to the stadium together. Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t lead them there since he left earlier. The government officials had arranged a special viewing box for the group from Shrek Academy. During the one-on-one competition, Wu Zhangkong had actually only watched Tang Wulin¡¯s match, then left before the rest of them fought.


    For today¡¯s two-on-two matches, all eight of them would be battling. As the teacher responsible for this group, Wu Zhangkong was present to watch.


    Shrek Academy¡¯s students were particularly outstanding even among geniuses. Once they reached a certain cultivation level, they each would choose their own path to walk down. Once this time came, their teacher¡¯s role was mainly to help them not stray onto inappropriate paths and provide guidance. There was no need for the teachers to intervene in every little matter of the student¡¯s cultivation now. It was more important to help the student craft a personalized cultivation plan to become a great soul master and battle armor master. As a result of this, Wu Zhangkong rarely advised them directly anymore. His guidance mainly came in the form of combat training and helping his students correct their weaknesses.


    Tang Wulin and his friends walked into the competitors¡¯ area. Although quite a few people witnessed his miraculous victory over the Soul King on the first day, because he had disappeared so quickly and a couple days had passed now, no one paid much attention to him.


    The competitors¡¯ area was absolutely packed. When Tang Wulin¡¯s group arrived, there were no seats left. The eight of them resigned themselves to find a corner to wait for their matches.


    As he waited in the corner, Tang Wulin checked out the other competitors. Due to the restriction that competitors had to be twenty years old or younger, most competitors were at least eighteen years old. Some burned with excitement, others clenched their fists nervously, while a few sat down in unperturbed. He could roughly gauge their strengths by how they acted.

 Chapter 609 - Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie

    Chapter 609 - Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie


    The stages for the two-on-two matches were much larger than those for the one-on-one matches. The stadium managed to fit about fifteen of these larger arenas. As a result, fifteen pairs of numbers were called at a time, and the matchups were displayed on a large soul screen.


    The moment each time arrived, they would go over to the screens and figure out when their match was and who their opponents were. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were team number 116 while the rest of their friends were numbered 117 to 119 consecutively since they had registered at the same time. Due to this, it was highly unlikely they would be matched against each other. The Star Luo Empire had pulled some strings precisely for this.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s opponents were Team 69, but they weren¡¯t the first of the Shrek Academy group to fight. Surprisingly, Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie¡¯s team had the very first match of the competition.


    ¡°Just wait and see our triumphant return!¡± Xie Xie said, clenching his fists tight.


    Yuanen Yehui rolled her eyes and pushed him forward. ¡°Hurry up. You can brag after we win.¡±


    They couldn¡¯t help but smile at how whipped and helpless Xie Xie was when he faced Yuanen Yehui. They all knew he liked her, but she didn¡¯t hold back any of her punches when it came to him. They had a hot and cold relationship, almost as if walking on a tigh-rope filled with subtleties. It was a wonder if Wu Zhangkong had deliberately paired the two of them up. An assault-type and agility-type pairing were one of the classic duos.


    Yuanen Yehui strode forward, dressed in men¡¯s clothing as usual. Xie Xie eagerly followed behind her.


    Yuanen, what¡¯s the battle plan?¡± Xie Xie asked, bursting with excitement that he was fighting side-by-side with her.


    Yuanen Yehui shot a look at him. ¡°Just don¡¯t drag me down.¡±


    Xie Xie stared at her in shock. ¡°Am I really that weak?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    While they bantered, walked into the stadium. In this gigantic stadium, they could instantly feel countless gazes focus on them. A tsunami of cheering erupted, nearly frightening Xie Xie out of his shoes.


    Under the guidance of the staff members, they walked over to their stage.


    Their opponents were already on the stage waiting for them. Similar to them, the opponent team was one girl and one boy. Both looked to be nearly twenty years old and clearly had a more mature air around them than Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie.


    ¡°You must not deliberately use fatal attacks during the match. Mechas are not permitted. Once one side surrenders, the other side must stop attacking. When I have determined the outcome of the battle, the match must stop immediately,¡± the referee declared. Based on these rules alone, it was clear that tournament¡¯s had far laxer rules in Star Luo than in Douluo. This was because they wanted to see the combatants unleash their full strength even if the danger was higher as a result.


    Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie walked forward shoulder to shoulder to face their opponents.


    Their opponents looked like they could be a pair of brother and sister with their high degree of resemblance. Both had a grave air to them.


    While Yuanen Yehui ignored him, Xie Xie whispered into her ear, ¡°They probably have good coordination. I¡¯ll do my best to back you up.¡±


    This time, Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t refute him and answered with a slight nod.


    ¡°Let the battle begin!¡± the referee declared. Thus began the first duo battle for the group from Shrek Academy.


    Of their two opponents, the young man stepped forward and summoned his martial soul. Four soul rings appeared, two yellow and two purple, a fairly standard configuration. In the same instant, he rapidly grew from average in height to a three-meter-tall giant with bulging muscles. Brownish-yellow fur grew on his body as an aura of power burst from his body.


    A bear-type martial soul? That¡¯s probably the Ironback Bear! Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui both identified the man¡¯s martial soul in an instant. As top students of Shrek Academy, it was only natural for them to be able to identify virtually any martial soul they encountered.


    The girl behind the Ironback Bear soul master summoned her martial soul as well. Two yellow and two purple soul rings rose up. Her blonde hair grew longer, but her body didn¡¯t transform as the man¡¯s did. Instead, her eyes enlarged and a tail grew out behind her. Surprisingly, her four soul rings coiled around her tail.


    What kind of martial soul is that? Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui were taken aback. It was rare for them to not be able to identify a martial soul.


    The Ironback Bear soul master roared at the sky, his first soul ring shining as his fur gained a metallic gloss to it. His back swelled with power as he charged at Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie dodged to the side. Although his movements weren¡¯t particularly quick, he evaded like a ghost, naturally winding around the bear soul master.


    At that moment, the female soul master with a tail giggled. Xie Xie¡¯s mind went numb and he stumbled mid-step.


    The bear soul master and the tailed soul master clearly possessed superb teamwork. The moment Xie Xie stumbled, the bear soul master charged at him with shocking agility. There was no doubt the tailed soul master a control-type to have created such an opening.


    At the same time, Yuanen Yehui rushed forward. But she was too far to save Xie Xie.


    However, she didn¡¯t seem to have any intent of saving him anyway. She didn¡¯t prepare her Air Cannons either.


    As Xie Xie stumbled, the bear soul master was upon him in an instant. Bracing his shoulder, the bear soul master slamming into Xie Xie, his shoulder swelling into a boulder the instant it struck!


    But strangely, Xie Xie took the hit like a boneless ragdoll. It was almost as if he was welcoming the strike.


    At that instant, four soul rings rose around him and he gripped his Light Dragon Dagger in reverse. Gone was his smile, an ice-cold mask in its place.


    An ill premonition struck the bear soul master when he saw Xie Xie¡¯s face.


    In a blur of movement, Xie Xie moved to the bear soul master¡¯s side, as if he were a ghost. Then he slashed up from the bear soul master¡¯s armpit.


    Although his movements had been simple, he had executed them with insane speed and fluidity! He was like the floating clouds and flowing water! The instant the Light Dragon Dagger made contact, its shine retracted and it took on a dark-gold hue. There was neither the sound of air being sliced nor any soul power leaking out, or even any signs of a soul skill being used.


    But this simple attack was enough to fluster the bear soul master. In a panic, he leaned to the side and smashed down at the dagger with his right elbow.


    The defining trait of the Ironback Bear was its body which was tough as iron! Its entire body was practically a weapon.


    Just as the elbow was about to smash into the dagger, the dagger disappeared. In another flicker of motion, Xie Xie appeared behind the bear soul master.


    Joy flashed in the bear soul master¡¯s eyes. His martial soul wasn¡¯t called the Ironback Bear for no reason. His defense was the strongest on his back. He exploded into an arch with his back. As long as Xie Xie was behind him, he would hit with his ironback, which had the property of sending tremors its whatever it struck! An agility-type soul master afflicted with tremors was basically as good as finished.


    But he didn¡¯t hit anything. Then he felt a stinging between his ribs right where his elbow had been and he shouted in alarm.

 Chapter 610 - The Art of Agility

    Chapter 610 - The Art of Agility


    Hot pain rapidly spread throughout the bear soul master¡¯s whole body and he went stiff.


    In the eyes of the spectators, the exchange had happened in the blink of an eye. Only those who had been keenly watching were in awe by how artful Xie Xie¡¯s technique was. He was like a wisp of smoke dancing in the wind as he slid about, repositioning multiple times within a second to misdirect the bear soul master and stab him from where he least expected. He was like a ghost with how he weaved in and out.


    The instant Xie Xie¡¯s dagger stabbed into the bear soul master¡¯s ribs, he jumped overhead and slashed at the nape.


    The Light Dragon Dagger lightly brushed against the bear soul master¡¯s neck, then he collapsed onto the floor. His central nervous system had been pricked, instantly depriving him of control over his body.


    The tailed soul master was far too slow to react to any of this. Her first soul skill was Spirit Disturbance. It wasn¡¯t a particularly powerful control skill, but it had always been effective when cooperating with her brother. She had never expected Xie Xie to overcome it so easily.


    Xie Xie had learned the Purple Demon Eyes and possessed strong spiritual power as a result. So when faced with spiritual attacks, he only needed a split second to recover. Furthermore, he possessed swift reaction times as an agility-type.


    A boom thundered in the air as Yuanen Yehui used her second soul skill, Air Cannon, without even transforming. A blast of air exploded toward the tailed soul master.


    The tailed soul master flicked its tail and light blossomed to greet the air blasts.


    But Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Air Cannon was not so weak as to be blocked by merely that and easily penetrated the impromptu defense. The fist-sized blasts of air exploded, sending the tailed soul master flying through the air. She had instantly fainted.


    Although much had happened during the battle, it had concluded in a mere ten or so seconds! They were all four-ringed soul masters, yet Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie dominated the battle.


    Countless officials of the Star Luo Empire were paying close attention now. The general audience may not know of these two¡¯s background, but the officials did.


    ¡°Your Majesty, those two students from Shrek Academy are extraordinary!¡± exclaimed one of the elders by the emperor¡¯s side.


    Dai Tianling slowly nodded. ¡°How do you think they compare with our students at Monster Academy?¡±


    The elder furrowed his brow, hesitant. ¡°If they¡¯re the same age, then it¡¯d be hard to say.¡±


    Dai Tianling glanced at him. He knew this elder well, and if he spoke with such caution, then that certainly wasn¡¯t a good sign.


    The elder continued, ¡°But the competition is restricted to those twenty years old or younger. We shouldn¡¯t have a problem defeating them. We¡¯ll need to keep a close eye on them though. From what I saw earlier, that agility-type should be the stronger of the pair. His speed, explosive power, battlefield control, and even his spiritual power are impressive. If they didn¡¯t lie about his age on the registration form, then he¡¯s only fifteen years old. He¡¯s definitely a genius. But apart from those aspects, he lacks the ability of an assault-type to be a star team member. We need to watch out for if his martial soul has any unique abilities.¡±


    Dai Tianling smiled. ¡°We invited Shrek Academy to the tournament this year to make things more exciting. If our youngsters can defeat them, then we¡¯ll need to make a big press release about it. Just imagine if they defeat Douluo¡¯s legendary Shrek Academy. And if we don¡¯t manage to beat them, make sure to suppress and downplay news of our defeat. We need to avoid discouraging our youngsters.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    ?


    Meanwhile, Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui left the stage and left for the waiting area for competitors. Xie Xie¡¯s serious expression was gone now, replaced by a proud smile as he puffed out his chest.


    ¡°If you keep strutting around like that, I¡¯m going to beat your ass,¡± Yuanen Yehui said, taking a few steps to distance herself from him.


    Xie Xie snickered. ¡°Aren¡¯t I awesome? Come on. Tell me. I¡¯m awesome, right? I was leading that guy around by his nose! He didn¡¯t even see me coming!¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    ¡°What? Are you saying I wasn¡¯t great? Did you see my moves? I was so cool¡ªOW!¡±


    Yuanen Yehui suddenly turned around and punched him in the stomach, silencing his boasting. Then she hastened back to the waiting area.


    A thin smile formed on Xie XIe¡¯s lips. He had grown stronger.


    There were countless soul screens littered around the area, and they were all showing replays of the previous battle. When the two returned to the waiting area, the other competitors looked at them differently than before. As the first set of fifteen matches for the preliminaries proceeded, they were the first ones to win.


    Xie Xie¡¯s skill in close quarters combat was shocking. He hadn¡¯t used a single soul skill during the battle, yet he easily took down an assault-type soul master of the same ring level! Anyone with a decent eye could tell that the Ironback Bear soul master hadn¡¯t been able to bring out his full strength, but Xie Xie still dominated artful techniques on par with soul skills!


    Tang Wulin high-fived Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui as they returned, but he didn¡¯t make a big show of celebration. His expression was wooden, completely unreadable.


    Tang Wulin glanced at the listings for the next set of matches. He and Gu Yue were up next. He nudged her with his elbow. ¡°What do I do? I¡¯m getting a bit nervous. Are you nervous?¡±


    Gu Yue¡¯s cheek twitched. ¡°Stop joking.¡±


    ¡°What? I really am nervous! What if we get a super powerful opponent?¡± As Tang Wulin spoke, he put on a facade of a nervous sheep.


    Gu Yue pinched him on the butt. ¡°Why don¡¯t you act like a proper captain for us?¡±


    Tang Wulin smirked. ¡°Well, are you nervous then?¡±


    ¡°If you keep acting so smug, I¡¯ll team up with our opponents to beat you up later. Three on one,¡± Gu Yue said indifferently.


    ¡°Eh¡­ You can¡¯t  do that. The rules won¡¯t allow it! You can¡¯t treat me like that,¡± Tang Wulin said meekly.


    ¡°Captain, I can¡¯t watch this any longer!¡± Xu Xiaoyan said, the corner of her mouth twitching.


    Yue Zhengyu chimed in from the side, ¡°Yeah. Be serious.¡±


    Tang Wulin smirked. ¡°You know, chances are, we¡¯re going to be matched against each other later on.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­¡± Yue ZHengyu feigned anger. ¡°Are you threatening me? I¡¯m going to tell Teacher Wu!¡±


    ¡°Go on then.¡±


    Combined with their light banter and Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui¡¯s amazing performance, countless people had now taken notice of their group.


    The other competitors had seen them all arrive together, and since neither Xie Xie nor Yuanen Yehui seemed to be the leader of the group, they could only wonder how strong the other team members were. A few recognized Tang Wulin, and so word of his stunning victory over a one-word battle armor master quickly spread.


    The matches passed by quickly, even faster than the duels of the previous days. It usually only took a single all-out clash for the battles to be decided.


    Soon, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s match came.


    The two of them walked through the long corridor leading to the competition grounds together, and when they passed through, they were enveloped in an electric air of excitement. Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue and said, ¡°The crowds here in Star Luo are really energetic. It¡¯s a lot more fun compared to how serious things are taken back home. Sometimes, you gotta let out all your passion for battle!¡±


    Gu Yue grunted her acknowledgment.


    ¡°When the battle starts, I¡¯ll charge them and you just back me up, okay? I¡¯ve got this,¡± Tang Wulin said, smiling.

 Chapter 611 - Two Versus Two

    Chapter 611 - Two Versus Two


    Gu Yue shot a look at Tang Wulin. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to get tired! What am I gonna do if you get grumpy when you¡¯re tired? You know, you age faster when you¡¯re in a bad mood. I know we¡¯re going to slowly grow old together, but wouldn¡¯t it be better if we make it even slower?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s gonna get old!¡± Gu Yue couldn¡¯t help but smile, warmth in her gaze.


    The two climbed onto the stage just as their opponents did as well.


    Meng Xiaoran walked up onto the stage with his hands in his pockets, head tilted askew in seeming contempt and astonishment when he saw Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    To Meng Xiaoran, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue looked fairly young; a couple of years less than twenty years old. Each year of training under twenty years old was significant. However, there were still many younger competitors, although most of them were here just for training for the next time. He himself had participated in the tournament when he was younger for training. As such, he looked down on Tang Wulin and Gu Yue for how young they were, but he was also pleased with what seemed an easy victory.


    Meng Xiaoran glanced at him partner. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this up in one minute, no, half a minute.¡±


    Meng Xiaoran¡¯s partner, Die¡¯er , rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re so cocky. How can you be certain they¡¯re not strong?¡±


    Meng Xiaoran shrugged. ¡°Is there any point in asking? Just look at how young they are. They can¡¯t be any older than sixteen. Seventeen if we¡¯re stretching it. I¡¯m nearly twenty years old. There¡¯s no reason for us to lose to these kids.¡±


    ¡°That boy¡¯s super handsome!¡± Die¡¯er hid her face in her hands, overwhelmed by Tang Wulin¡¯s handsome features and large, bright eyes.


    ¡°Hey hey. Pay attention. Could you stop acting so smitten?¡± Meng Xiaoran groaned as he stepped in front of Die¡¯er to block her line of sight.


    ¡°Get out of the way.¡± Die¡¯er kicked him aside. ¡°I don¡¯t care. We¡¯re fighting in a moment, so let me memorize his face for now! You know, I can¡¯t see any bad points about him at all. He¡¯s sunny, handsome, and tall. If he¡¯s strong too, then he¡¯s my Prince Charming!¡±


    ¡°You damn love-struck fool!¡± Meng Xiaoran grumbled, but didn¡¯t dare get in the way again. He didn¡¯t dare incite her into a frenzy.


    The referee arrived on the stage a moment later and declared the rules of the match. Then Die¡¯er took the lead and walked toward the center of the stage.


    Tang Wulin stared at Die¡¯er in astonishment. Aren¡¯t we about to fight? Why is she walking over before the start of the match?


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your name?¡± Die¡¯er asked, her heated gaze landing on Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was taken aback, slowly pointed at himself. ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! You! What¡¯s your name, little brother? How old are you? Do you have a girlfriend?¡± Die¡¯er asked excitedly.


    ¡°Go back to your side. The match is about to begin. This is the Continental Young Elites Tournament, not some blind date conference,¡± the referee said, glaring at her.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I got it. Hey, you handsome boy, what¡¯s your name? Hurry up and tell me,¡± Die¡¯er urged.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you if you win,¡± Tang Wulin said, beaming.


    ¡°Wow! Your smile is blinding.¡±


    The referee couldn''t help but stare for a moment. ¡°Hurry up and go back, otherwise I¡¯ll disqualify you.¡±


    Meng Xiaoran couldn¡¯t watch this any longer. He ran over and forcibly dragged Die¡¯er back.


    Tang Wulin silently chuckled to himself. This was his first time encountering an opponent like her. He couldn''t help but direct a wry smile at Gu Yue. ¡°You see that? Our opponent has impeccable taste.¡±


    Gu Yue just stared at him. ¡°You have one minute. If you don¡¯t settle it by then, I¡¯ll step in. You¡¯re not telling her your name.¡±


    ¡°Got it, Boss.¡± Tang Wulin smirked.


    Once Meng Xiaoran finished dragging Die¡¯er back to their side, the judge declared, ¡°Let the match begin!¡±


    Meng Xiaoran immediately charged forward. He didn¡¯t want to be around Die¡¯er any longer, so he opted for a direct confrontation to end the battle as soon as possible.


    A pair of wings unfurled from Meng Xiaoran¡¯s back as he advanced. His wings were small, allowing only for limited flight, but when he leaped into the air, they were more than enough to carry him in a glide.


    Two yellow and two purple soul rings appeared around him. Accompanied by the summoning of his martial soul, his hair rapidly gained streaks of various colors. This was the transformation of his martial soul, the golden pheasant! It was an agility-type martial soul with a certain peculiarity in that its attacks were based on its feathers. It had feathers of many different colors, each with their own effect. The feathers appearing on his body occurred in four colors: red, blue, yellow, and green.


    He brandished a pair of red feathers as his first soul ring lit up, then he threw them straight at Tang Wulin and Gu Yue!


    As the feathers shot forward, they transformed into two blazing birds that spread their wings wide and let out a screech.


    ¡°Hey, hey, slow down a bit!¡± Die¡¯er shouted as she hurried after Meng Xiaoran.


    Tang Wulin only had one minute, so he had rushed forward the instant the match began as well. Two golden soul rings appeared around him, the first shining bright. Golden Dragon Body!


    Golden scales covered Tang Wulin¡¯s torso and right arm as he advanced, claws growing from his hands. Faced with these blazing birds, he didn¡¯t even bother to evade.


    ¡°Woah! Golden soul rings! That¡¯s so cool!¡± Die¡¯er exclaimed.


    At the same time, a cold shiver ran down Meng Xiaoran¡¯s spine. The most troublesome part of the tournament was not knowing anything about the opponent. What are those golden soul rings?


    Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claws twinkled under the light as they easily tore through the flaming birds. HIs momentum not slowing the slightest, he launched forward at Meng Xiaoran.


    Two blue feathers flew out, transforming into icy birds mid-flight. A bitter cold aura burst from the birds as the attacked Tang Wulin.


    Interesting. A fire and ice dual element user? No. He shouldn¡¯t be an elementalist. This is his martial soul. As Tang Wulin pondered his opponent¡¯s martial soul, he smashed the ice birds into smithereens with his claws. Unlike the flame birds, these ice birds actually had a tangible form and higher attack power.


    Seeing Tang Wulin¡¯s unstoppable momentum, Meng Xiaoran didn¡¯t hesitate to summon pull out two golden feathers from the top of his head and throw them at the ground. In reality, the number of feathers on his head and the number of colors corresponded to his soul power and soul skills.


    In other words, there were as many feathers on his head as his soul power could produce, and the number of each color had been decided the moment he summoned his martial soul. This could be considered a limitation of his martial soul, but it was easily sidestepped by unsummoning and resummoning his martial soul to change the feather colors. The advantage was that he could unleash soul skills in an instant. The moment he threw the feather, it would activate a soul skill.


    At that moment, Tang Wulin was nearly upon Meng Xiaoran. The two yellow feathers he had thrown on the ground earlier blossomed with brilliant yellow light.


    To Tang Wulin¡¯s amusement, what appeared was not two birds, but a pair of brown chickens. The chickens spread their wings wide and jumped on Tang Wulin.


    What an amusing martial soul he has! Tang Wulin stomped into the ground and shot forward, accelerating his approach. In a blur of movement, he tore through an opening between the chickens and continued on to Meng Xiaoran.


    The chickens were not slow by any means, but it was impossible for them to keep pace with the Tang Sect¡¯s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step.


    Meng Xiaoran nearly yelped in surprise as Tang Wulin¡¯s claws shot toward him.


    ¡°Die¡¯er!¡± Meng Xiaoran screamed.


    ¡°Hey, pretty boy, I¡¯m coming!¡± Die¡¯er said.


    The next instant, a sweet fragrance assaulted Tang Wulin¡¯s nose and his mind went blank. He felt as if his mind was covered in mud.


    Poison! These two really are a strange pair! Tang Wulin now saw a pair of pink butterfly wings behind Die¡¯er.


    With a flap of her wings, her second soul ring shone and a pink fog floated toward Tang Wulin and Mengxiaoran.


    Strangely, this fog scattered when entered Meng Xiaoran¡¯s proximity, refusing to touch him.


    With a boom, the two chickens were sent flying out of the fog.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Die¡¯er then witnessed Meng Xiaoran being sent flying twenty meters away before crashing on the ground unconscious.


    She had summoned her poison fog and hit Tang Wulin with it swiftly earlier, so he should have been stunned. Yet he somehow still managed to defeat Meng Xiaoran. She couldn¡¯t understand it. Meng Xiaoran hadn¡¯t even gotten to use his fourth soul skill yet he was already down.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body was undoubtedly a marvel. After two months of torturous training under the ocean, his body¡¯s potential had been dragged out and raised its toughness drastically. His body was far stronger than before now thanks to the Body Sect¡¯s hard training methods.

 Chapter 612 - Steam Rolling

    Chapter 612 - Steam Rolling


    The poison fog Die¡¯er summoned did not possess particularly strong toxicity. It¡¯s main purpose was incapacitating those affected by putting them into a stupor. Tang Wulin had taken a full hit of the poison fog, but his strong body made its effects negligible.


    A draconic roar erupted when Tang Wulin stomped his right foot. Phantom dragons shot out of the ground and swarmed Die¡¯er.


    ¡°Woah!¡± Die¡¯er cried out. With a flap of her butterfly wings, she soared up into the air. But the eight phantom dragons were already upon her, spiraling around her to generate a force pulling her back to the ground.


    Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth didn¡¯t just have a stunning effect but also had the effect of pulling its target toward the ground.


    The Scarlet Dragon Douluo had originally created Dragon Shakes the Earth to deal with flying soul masters. At his peak level, it could pull soul masters flying as high as one thousand meters in the air back down.


    Die¡¯er had a fairly tough body, but it couldn¡¯t be compared with the power of Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. Try as she might to struggle, she still fell to the ground.


    The moment she landed, her soul rings lit up and her wings grew to thrice as large. She summoned an enormous fog of poison far more potent than before around her.


    Tang Wulin charged forward and tore through the fog to attack the butterfly wings. The moment his claws slashed the wings, sparks shot out from their contact. But that only lasted a moment before Tang Wulin had a firm grip on her.


    He stomped once more and dispersed the fog in the area. The tremors ran through Die¡¯er¡¯s body and disrupted her blood essence flow, instantly sending her body rigid.


    ¡°The match is finished. Team 161 is the victor.¡±


    The match had lasted merely forty seconds!


    Meng Xiaoran and Die¡¯er hadn¡¯t didn¡¯t have any teamwork at all and underestimated their opponent, so this outcome was to be expected. However, that did not lessen the terrifying toughness of Tang Wulin¡¯s body!


    ¡°Boss, mission complete!¡± Tang Wulin said as he walked back to Gu Yue with a huge grin.


    When Die¡¯er recovered from the shocks, she didn¡¯t immediately step down from the stage. Instead, she chased after Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Hey pretty boy, I know I lost, but could you tell me your name anyway? You¡¯re so cool. You¡¯re a perfect little prince! I¡¯m your fan now!¡±


    Tang Wulin was taken aback, blinking blankly at her a few times. ¡°You want to make me noodles?¡± he asked, mishearing her. ¡°I wonder how much it would take to fill me up?¡±


    Seeing Die¡¯er¡¯s blank look, Gu Yue couldn¡¯t help but roar with laughter to the point where her stomach hurt. Feeding a glutton like him was no walk in the park.


    Meng Xiaoran ran over and dragged her off the stage, so she never learned Tang Wulin¡¯s name. He had thought he was fairly eccentric himself, but he couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Die¡¯er¡¯s flame!


    Shrek Academy had pretty good luck for the first round of two-on-twos. After Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s match, none of the other pairs encountered any powerful opponents and they all won their matches.


    ?


    Upon one of the viewing platforms, Dai Tianling asked one of his aids, ¡°Shrek Academy is strong, just as we expected. It¡¯s no wonder they¡¯re the number one academy on Douluo. Has the data analysis been finished?¡±


    ¡°The analysis is done. From their previous matches and the individual competition, the strongest one is likely their captain, Tang Wulin. He¡¯s the same kid who caused a commotion during the opening ceremony,¡± answered an elder as he scrolled through a tablet.


    ¡°During his first match in the individual competition, he defeated Ling Wuxie. Although Ling Wuxie isn¡¯t from Monster Academy, he¡¯s one of the greatest talents of the rising generation. He¡¯s even a one-word battle armor master.¡±


    ¡°That Tang Wulin managed to defeat a one-word battle armor master?¡± Dai Tianling didn¡¯t know how to feel about this, but he had to acknowledge that his troublesome daughter had good eyes!


    ¡°Yes, he did. I carefully reviewed the recording of the battle and have concluded that Tang Wulin has plenty of real combat experience. Due to his age, his cultivation level is lower and he doesn¡¯t have as many battle armor pieces yet. But when Tang Wulin fought Ling Wuxie, he utterly suppressed Ling Wuxie and prevented him from bringing out the power of his battle armor. From there, he continued chaining attack after attack. Judging from the damage to Ling Wuxie¡¯s armor, Tang Wulin possesses frightening strength and attack power, far higher than what an ordinary four-ringed soul master is capable of. There seem to be some peculiarities about his body and there are also those golden soul rings we need to take note of. We don¡¯t know what those rings are yet, but we¡¯re certain they aren¡¯t the fabled million-year soul rings.¡±


    Dai Tianling smiled. ¡°What an interesting brat. Shrek Academy really is a gathering of monsters. Keep a close eye on him.¡±


    For the first time, Dai Tianling felt that his daughter was right for stirring up trouble. As the Emperor of Star Luo, he was always in need of talented individuals. Although Tang Wulin came from Shrek Academy, Dai Tianling was the emperor of a country. If he could confirm whether or not Shrek Academy was cultivating him as a core member for the future, then he would have a better idea of how to handle this.


    ?


    When Tang Wulin and his friends finished their matches for the day and were leaving the stadium, someone called out right at the entrance, ¡°Tang Wulin.¡±


    Tang Wulin turned to see Dai Yun¡¯er poking her head out from a corner and waving at him.


    There was no doubt that Tang Wulin viewed Dai Yun¡¯er in a bad light. After the stunt this princess pulled the other day, he had become the target of much criticism. Although no one took note of him now, once the tournament advanced further and the number of participants thinned out, more would notice him and he would likely run into opponents with grievances against him.


    Regardless of his opinion of her, however, she was still an imperial princess. He couldn¡¯t treat her too rudely. He walked over to her as his friends gawked at them from afar.


    Gu Yue maintained a calm expression, her hands stuffed into her pockets casually as she watched in silence.


    ¡°Hello, Your Highness. How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°I watched your match, and I watched a recording of your duel too. You¡¯re pretty good!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said, a sweet smile on her face.


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Tang Wulin said perfunctorily.


    Dai Yun¡¯er said, ¡°Do you best! If you win the individual competition, maybe you¡¯ll become the emperor¡¯s son-in-law.¡±


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes at her. ¡°My apologies, Your Highness, but I¡¯m from Douluo. I have no plans of staying here. Please do not choose me. You¡¯re not my type anyway.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er was stunned by Tang Wulin¡¯s blunt rejection.


    After watching him fighting in the two-on-two and one-on-one matches, her interest in him was piqued. She had always heard that Shrek Academy was Douluo¡¯s number one academy. In fact, it had held that position for over twenty thousand years. Tang Wulin was the same age as her, yet he possessed far greater strength than others their age. He was even able to defeat a one-word battle armor master. With the addition of his dashing good looks, Dai Yun¡¯er couldn¡¯t help but be interested in him and want to chat with him. Yet when she approached him, she got a bucket full of cold water dumped over her head by his blunt rejection.


    Since she was a child, Dai Yun¡¯er had been doted on by her father. She cherished by both her father and brothers, the apple of their eyes. When it came to her, they would always bend to fulfill even the most ridiculous of requests. No matter what sort of trouble she caused, her elder brothers would clean up after her.


    Never before in her life had she been rejected so coldly. She could see the annoyance and impatience in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes as he looked at her. The contrast with his mask of politeness stabbed at her heart.


    She hadn¡¯t actually wanted to take Tang Wulin as her husband, but had just been teasing him. However, his rejection hurt her self-esteem.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Dai Yun¡¯er put both her hands on her hips and glowered at him, her large eyes filling with tears.


    ¡°Your Highness, if you don¡¯t have anything else to say, I¡¯ll leave to go rest.¡± After regarding her for a moment, Tang Wulin waved goodbye and left.

 Chapter 613 - The Call of the Tang Sect

    Chapter 613 - The Call of the Tang Sect


    ¡°Tang Wulin, hold up a minute!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er furiously shouted after him.


    Back turned to her, Tang Wulin opened up his arms and shrugged as he continued walking away. He didn¡¯t have a good impression of her at all. He couldn¡¯t get along with manipulative pranksters like her. Furthermore, he wasn¡¯t a citizen of the Star Luo Empire, so he had no loyalty to the Star Luo imperial family.


    Dai Yun¡¯er watched Tang Wulin leave with his friends, her chest huffing up and down with anger. ¡°Just you wait¡­¡± She turned around and ran off, straight for the imperial palace.


    Dai Yun¡¯er had snuck out of the palace today, so she ran unhindered all the way back as well. She headed straight for one of the inner rooms.


    ¡°Fourth Brother! Fourth Brother!¡± She shouted before she even reached the door.


    The door opened and a bright voice sounded, ¡°Oh miss princess, did you stir up some trouble again?  How big is the problem this time?¡± A man in his twenties walked out in a green robe. He was handsome, tall, and slender with a scholarly air to him as his mouth parted in a subtle smile. He held a book in his hands, seemingly have been interrupted in his reading.


    ¡°Fourth Brother!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er ran over to him, tears streaming from her eyes.


    Dai Yueyan¡¯s smile vanished and he hurriedly hugged his sister. ¡°What happened to my little princess? Who hurt you? Hurry up and tell your Fourth Brother.¡±


    Dai Tianling had many sons, but the imperial family still lived in harmony. They had to for the sake of the Star Luo Empire.


    Thousands of years ago, when the Star Luo Empire still existed on the continent of Douluo, the sons of the emperor would compete in life-and-death struggles for the right of succession. The most powerful would earn the right to become the next emperor. However, after a certain generation, this tradition of ruthless competition between siblings was abolished. Instead, it was required that they all lived together peacefully and only compete in fair circumstances. Even with the change in tradition, only the most outstanding of the sons would succeed the emperor.


    The Dai clan could trace its roots back tens of thousands of years.


    Dai Yueyan was undoubtedly the most promising son of his generation. At the age of nineteen, he was a military genius cherished by Dai Tianling, who already planned to make him the crown prince once he turned twenty.


    Dai Yueyan and Dai Yun¡¯er were born to the same mother, and among all the brothers, he was the one who doted on her the most. In fact, he doted on her even more than their father, Dai Tianling. As a result, Dai Yun¡¯er always went to look for him first when she ran into trouble.


    Although Dai Yun¡¯er was a troublemaker, she was a very cheerful person. It was only once in a blue moon that she would cry so much, and usually, she was only faking it to gain sympathy.


    Seeing his sister shed so many tears, Dai Yueyan panicked and did his best to comfort her. But she remained silent, digging herself deeper into his arms as she wailed and stomped her feet.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry. Don¡¯t cry. Be a good girl, Yun¡¯er. Tell big brother what happened. Big brother will definitely help you. Did you do something wrong? Did Father punish you?¡± Dai Yueyan asked uncertainly. He knew full well how much their father spoiled her. Dai Tianling was always too reluctant to give her any sort of severe punishment. If not for his lenience, Dai Yun¡¯er wouldn¡¯t have grown up to be such a spoiled kid.


    ¡°It¡¯s not Father. Father wouldn¡¯t punish me. It¡¯s some other guy. Fourth Brother, you know that diplomatic delegation from Douluo? One of the boys from Shrek Academy is awful. The one called Tang Wulin. He bullied me.¡± Dai Yun¡¯er cried out.


    ¡°Shrek Academy?¡± Dai Yueyan heart thumped.


    ¡°Yeah. Shrek Academy. The night we had a banquet to welcome the diplomatic delegation, I invited him to dance with me as a show of friendliness. But he deliberately stepped on my feet!¡±


    ¡°Oh. Didn¡¯t you say you wanted to choose him for your fianc¨¦ and make him the target of all the men there though?¡± Dai Yueyan asked, having kept well-informed. Although he hadn¡¯t attended the banquet due to work, he still kept looped in.


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s that guy. I didn¡¯t really want to make him my fiance. I was just playing with him. But I never thought he would be so strong. He entered the Continental Young Elites Tournament and has already won two matches. He¡¯s so arrogant! I ran into him today at the stadium and he told me I¡¯m not worthy of him! He even said Star Luo soul masters are weak! He said that even at just fifteen years old, he can beat us all! He¡¯s awful! He makes me so mad! Fourth Brother, help me vent my anger!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said, peppering in new details to the story wherever she pleased.


    Dai Yueyan furrowed his brow as he listened. He knew his sister well and knew that probably only thirty percent of what she said was true. However, he was certain that Tang Wulin had offended her in some way, otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t be so angry.


    ¡°Fourth Brother, I swear I¡¯m telling the truth! He told me I¡¯m not worthy of him! Even if I played a trick on him the other day, to say that to me in front of so many people is just¡­ Ugh!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er began crying again.


    Dai Yueyan was starting to believe it now. He understood his sister and knew that whenever she swore on something, she truly meant it.


    ¡°He¡¯s just some foreigner. How could my little sister not suit him?¡± Dai Yueyan¡¯s eyes were aflame with anger. ¡°Yun¡¯er, don¡¯t cry. Big brother will get back at him for you. Anyway, doesn¡¯t Monster Academy have two free rounds in the competition? When we finally face them, we¡¯ll show them just how much stronger we are with a good smackdown. They won¡¯t have the face to even speak back afterward! That¡¯ll get you your revenge.¡±


    ?


    Unknown to Tang Wulin, he had drawn the ire of the imperial princess and had just created a new obstacle for himself. When he returned to the hotel with his friends, he immediately went to his room and began meditating. With the excessive crowds the Continental Young Elites Tournament attracted to the area, he had no desire to venture out into the city.


    Suddenly, Tang Wulin took out a badge from his inner chest pocket. It pulsated with a gentle white light. An arrow slowly emerged on its surface. It¡¯s a summons from the Tang Sect¡¯s Battle Hall!


    The badge was the one he obtained from the Battle Hall, the same one that every agent of the Battle Hall possessed. As a white-class agent, his badge was also white. On the back was a button he could press to request help from any other agents within a fifty kilometer radius. Any agent who received the call would rush over to help. The arrow currently displayed indicated the source of the distress.


    Tang Wulin hastily changed into his Battle Hall uniform and put on his white mask and pulled his white hood low. He dashed out of the hotel, rushing in the direction indicated on the badge.


    This was Tang Wulin¡¯s first time getting a distress signal since obtaining the Battle Hall badge. He found the situation somewhat strange. There should be a headquarters in Star Luo City. He couldn¡¯t fathom how an agent could face danger so close to the headquarters.


    Tang Wulin opted for less populated streets and alleys as he ran in the direction of the arrow. As he got closer, the arrow began blinking more and more rapidly.


    For the sake of his fellow agent¡¯s safety and remaining stealthy, he used his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step to run.


    Moments later, he arrived on the scene. But he stared in astonishment at the towering building before him.


    The building¡¯s architecture was similar to that of a castle, with simple decorations. On a sign board hanging from the gate were two words: Tang Sect!


    The distress signal came from within the Tang Sect?


    Quickly scanning the area, Tang Wulin saw numerous other agents dressed the same as him arriving. But none of them stopped at the gate, charging straight into the Tang Sect instead.


    Although Tang Wulin had some doubts, he hurriedly followed in after them. He had never expected to visit the local Tang Sect headquarters under such circumstances. Strange as he found it, he couldn¡¯t help but be curious as well. Why is the distress signal coming from inside?


    Tang Wulin stole glances of the interior of the headquarters as he followed the other agents. To his astonishment, the building was as grand as the imperial palace and far larger than the Tang Sect in Shrek Academy.


    Soon, he and the other agents arrived in a large hall. About thirty agents were gathered already. They all wore hooded cloaks and masks, as regulated by the Battle Hall. None of the agents knew the identities of their colleagues for the sake of confidentiality.


    Standing before the gathering of agents was an agent with their hands behind their back and wearing a black mask and hood.

 Chapter 614 - The Battle Halls Mission

    Chapter 614 - The Battle Hall''s Mission


    ¡°Good. We have enough people now,¡± the black-class agent said, then raised his right hand and pressed the button on his black badge. The distress signal immediately cut out.


    He¡¯s the one who sent the call for help? Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. Wait. It wasn¡¯t a distress signal. It was a summons! So it¡¯s used like that too.


    Tang Wulin had rushed over in a hurry since this was his first time participating in a Battle Hall mission, and on the continent of Star Luo, no less.  What did he gather all of us here for?


    In truth, there was a special system in place at the Tang Sect in Shrek Academy that blocked Tang Wulin¡¯s badge from receiving any of these distress signals. This was due to his status as a Shrek Academy student and his tremendous potential. It was better to avoid putting him in the harm¡¯s way before he graduated as a one-word battle armor master.


    However, due to the independent systems between Tang Sect branches, the local one¡¯s signal still went through to Tang Wulin¡¯s badge. As a result, he would participate in his first mission as a Battle Hall agent today.


    Now that he was here, he decided to make the best of it and participate in the mission. In any case, since they were all in identical uniforms, no one would be able to identify him.


    The black-class agent said, ¡°We¡¯ve received reliable intel that the Green Skull Renegades are planning an attack on Star Luo City tonight. We¡¯ve already discovered and verified their site of attack, but we don¡¯t know where their base of operations is yet. All we can do is prepare at the targeted site. I will be leading this squadron out to intercept them. Everyone, prepare for battle.¡±


    ¡°The Green Skull Renegades are extremely vicious. In order to minimize civilian casualties, you are all permitted to kill them on sight. Before we begin the mission, confirm your identities.¡±


    Confirm our identities? How do I do that? Tang Wulin was at a loss. But soon after, he saw the other agents raise their badges. He motioned to do the same, holding his white-class agent badge high.


    The black-class agent¡¯s badge was much larger than Tang Wulin¡¯s. It seemed to have additional functionality built into the device. A black light shot out from the black badge and into the white badges of the gathered agents. In response, the badges lit up in several colors like a starry expanse. Among them were four purple lights, shining brighter than the rest, and twelve yellow lights. The rest were all white.


    Not counting the black-class agent, there were thirty agents gathered at the moment. Four were purple-class, twelve were yellow-class, and the remaining fourteen white-class. According to the rules of the Battle Hall, black-class agents had to be at least a three-word battle armor master, purple-class had to be two-word battle armor masters, yellow-class were one-word battle armor masters, and white-class agents needed at least four soul rings, one piece of battle armor, and the potential to become a two-word battle armor master or higher. In other words, currently, there was one three-word battle armor master, four two-word battle armor masters, and twelve one-word battle armor masters gathered here.


    In the minutes that had gone by since the badge released its signal, so many powerful people had gathered. Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t help but be in awe of the Tang Sect¡¯s strength on Star Luo.


    ¡°Let¡¯s depart. We will figure out the details of the plan on the way there.¡± The black-class agent opened a sliding door with a wave of his hand and set out, the rest of the agents following in silence.


    Beyond the door was an elevator that they rode down to an unknown depth. Clueless as he was, Tang Wulin simply followed obediently.


    Soon, they found themselves before three identical soul busses, each with tinted windows that obscured the interiors from outside view.


    Tang Wulin followed the agents and boarded a bus. There was a single purple-class agent on his bus while the rest were white-class agents.


    Once everyone was on board, the purple-class agent, distributed a small packet to everyone and said, ¡°Put this communication device in your ears. Maintain contact at all times. You¡¯ll also find your assigned number for this mission in the packet. Your mission is to prevent any Green Skull Renegades from escaping the area. Furthermore, be prepared to receive new commands at any moment. You¡¯ll also find a digital map showing which areas you are responsible for. If you need assistance, report your serial number and situation.¡±


    ¡°This time the Green Skull Renegades will definitely use soul bombs for their attack, so the danger level is high. Be on your guard. If you find a bomb, report it immediately and we¡¯ll dispatch agents specialized in bomb defusal. Unless you¡¯re absolutely confident, do not try to destroy the bombs. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡± the white-class agents said in chorus. His first time participating in a mission, Tang Wulin¡¯s response lagged a beat behind the rest.


    The purple-class agent¡¯s eyes shifted to Tang Wulin. ¡°White Three, do you have something to say?¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s assigned code name was White Three. ¡°No,¡± he answered promptly.


    Although Tang Wulin¡¯s voice made it clear he was younger than the rest of the agents, the purple-class agent paid it no mind. There was no reason for doubts based on an agents age since all agents were handpicked by the Tang Sect for their combat ability. A young agent was nothing peculiar.


    ¡°Is this your first time participating in a mission?¡± the purple-class agent, whose code name was Purple One, asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tang Wulin was a bit embarrassed about the fact, but he had to come clean.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous. The key parts of the mission will be accomplished by yellow-class and above agents. All you white-class agents need to do is secure the perimeter. Just focus on your job. As long as you keep track of the time and don¡¯t let your guard down, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems. If you encounter a problem beyond your control, immediately call for help. The agents closest to you will rush over to assist.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Tang Wulin said, the tension disappearing from his shoulders, leaving only excitement.


    Tang Wulin detested the Green Skull Renegades. Shortly after he arrived on Star Luo, they had launched a terrorist attack on his train. Now that he had a chance to retaliate, he was eager to do so.


    As the bus sped along the road, Purple One gave off more detailed orders to prepare them all for the mission. Afterward, Tang Wulin inspected the digital map stored in the bracelet given to him. Then he put the communication device in his ear and adjusted it.


    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived,¡± said Purple One soon after.


    The three busses parked in a side road, then the doors silently slid open to let the agents out.


    Everyone immediately burst into action according to the orders they received on the bus. Apart from the black-class agent, the other thirty-one agents quickly spread out to secure the area.


    It was afternoon, so they still had a few hours to prepare for the Green Skull Renegades¡¯ attack at night.


    Tang Wulin went to the area marked on the map that he was responsible for. Once he arrived, he surveyed the area and found a dark corner to hide in. From what Purple One told him, the objective of the Green Skull Renegades¡¯ attack was a theater. The theater was having a show that night for an audience of several thousand people. If the terrorist attack succeeded, the casualties would be tremendous.


    Tang Wulin leaned against the wall by the corner as he waited, guarding the area. Since this was his first mission, Purple One carefully placed him in one of the least likely to face danger areas. Assuming everything proceeded without a hitch, Tang Wulin would encounter no enemies.


    ¡°White One, in position!¡± sounded Tang Wulin¡¯s earpiece.


    In a hurry, Tang Wulin reported as well, ¡°White Three, in position!¡±


    Tang Wulin could see on the digital map that all of the agents were already in position. And now they were all patiently waiting for the Green Skull Renegades to attack.

 Chapter 615 - Seventh-grade Soul Bomb

    Chapter 615 - Seventh-grade Soul Bomb


    Tang Wulin was never an impatient person. He sat down in a dark corner and quietly started using the Mysterious Heaven Method, feeling all the slight changes around him and waiting for the night to come.


    According to the information they had received, the Green Skull Renegades had already made some prearrangements in the theater, but they didn¡¯t know their full plan.


    It was getting dark; night was falling.


    Star Luo City was the capital and also the largest city of the Star Luo Empire. At night, the streets were lit with bright lights and bustling with people.


    The Star Theater was a medium-sized theater that performed a few plays every day, mainly historical plays. The Star Luo Empire had a long history which was divided into two parts: the Douluo Continent history and the Star Luo Continent history. The second part started after the people arrived at the Star Luo Continent.


    The theater had already begun various preparations, even though the performing wouldn¡¯t start for a while.


    In the first basement of the Star Theater, a manhole cover was moved away silently, and then several black figures emerged.


    "Remember the plan!" A low voice sounded, and then the black figures quickly spread out.


    In the theater, a handsome middle-aged man in a black tuxedo was looking at the script in his hand. He raised his eyebrows slightly and stood up with his eyes narrowed.


    ¡°Attention all agents. They¡¯re here. In the first basement. Let¡¯s get the show on the road!¡±


    The basement of the Star Theater was very complex, with concrete columns as the foundation supporting the entire theater. At this moment, the black figures were rushing to these columns, sticking round soul bombs on them.


    At the same time, masked agents started for the basement quietly in the dark.


    Tang Wulin heard the order through his earpiece and stood up, waiting.


    As much as he¡¯d like to go where the real action was, he followed the order and stayed put, because he knew he wasn¡¯t strong enough. If he had a suit of one-word battle armor, both his combat skills and survivability would increase tremendously, and thus he would naturally be much safer.


    After Black One gave the order, Tang Wulin¡¯s earpiece fell silent; all he could do now was wait.


    The audience began to enter the theater. Today''s play was very interesting and was one of the most popular plays the Star Theater had to offer ¨C Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao vs. the Black Dragon King.


    The Spirit Ice Douluo had prevented the enemy from invading the Star Luo Empire on his own. He was the most worshiped man on the Star Luo Continent; his reputation was greater here than on the Douluo Continent.


    On the stage, some warm-up shows were already being performed; the audience had no clue that a fierce fight had broken out below them.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s earpiece started sounding constantly.


    ¡°One enemy down! One bomb defused! Number of enemies unknown.¡±


    ¡°Three down. Four bombs in Area Four. Need backup!¡±


    ¡°This is Purple One. They have found us. Hurry up and go all out. Defuse the bombs first!¡±


    ¡°Well done! Stay alert. They could be driven to desperate action!¡±


    ¡°Good job! Thank you, Yellow Six!¡±


    ¡°Surround Area Six!¡±


    ¡­


    Listening to his earpiece, Tang Wulin could barely restrain his urge to fight. He could tell the battle was quite violent.


    ¡°This is Purple One. Some enemies have escaped. Defuse the bombs first. All the white-class agents outside, keep your eyes peeled. Kill them if possible. Keep me posted!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes brightened. Golden light burst in blinding radiance from Tang Wulin¡¯s body as he activated Golden Dragon Body. As two pieces of armor clad his right arm and shoulder, he went straight into his strongest form.


    No sooner had he got combat ready than a black figure jumped to the top of the wall.


    ¡°Damn these Battle Hall clowns!¡± the man said angrily. ¡°Ready the seventh-grade soul bomb! Let¡¯s bury these bastards!¡±


    Seventh-grade soul bomb? Tang Wulin thought. He knew well enough the destructive power of that weapon. Soul bombs were a terrifying kind of soul device, and they were becoming more powerful by the year. Whether in Douluo or Star Luo Continent, they were a devastating weapon; no private ownership was allowed except for the military.


    It was costly to make a soul bomb, but its power was worth the price. Tang Wulin never thought the Green Skull Renegades had managed to sneak a seventh-grade soul bomb into the city.


    If it exploded, perhaps all the buildings within several kilometers¡¯ radius would be completely destroyed, let alone the theater.


    What Tang Wulin didn''t know was that attacking the Star Theater was just part of the Green Skull Renegades¡¯ plan.


    It was extremely difficult to get a seventh-grade soul bomb into Star Luo City. They had dismantled it and smuggled the numerous parts into the city. They had used all kinds of measures and devices to avoid the parts from being detected, but still, it had taken them a long time. The Green Skull Renegades were really devoted.


    Actually, this bomb had been saved for the round-robin matches of the Continental Young Elites Tournament, where all the young elites would compete. The Green Skull Renegades had planned to destroy the younger generation of the Star Luo Empire.


    However, things didn¡¯t go as they had planned. Their leader was furious now that his grand plan had unraveled and many of his man had been killed. He knew there was no way this bomb would go off at the tournament, not with the Battle Hall, so he decided to detonate it here.


    That black-class agent might be able to survive the blast, but the same thing couldn¡¯t be said for the other agents; they would be killed or buried alive.


    The Tang Sect had a close relationship with the Star Luo Empire, so if the Green Skull Renegades could weaken the Tang Sect, their operation this time couldn¡¯t be seen as a complete failure.


    There were already four men on the top of the wall. Their leader was wearing a dark green robe, and in a flash of light, a one-meter-long bomb appeared in his hands.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s scalp tingled as soon as he saw the bomb.


    The shell was densely covered with various magic patterns, exuding a vague and gloomy atmosphere. The feeling of terror made Tang Wulin feel as if he would be wiped out at any moment.


    It was the first time he had seen such a high grade soul bomb.


    What do I do?


    One man was carrying the bomb on his shoulder; he was equipped with dark purple battle armor, and his seven soul rings sped around him in circles. Judging by the look of his battle armor, he was clearly a two-word battle armor master.


    His two companions were setting up a base for the bomb. It was not easy to launch; without a base, they might be caught up in the blast, which would be fatal.


    Should I stop them? Tang Wulin thought, knowing he couldn¡¯t stop them even if he tried. They were all battle armor masters; he didn¡¯t stand a chance against them.

 Chapter 616 - Life or Death

    Chapter 616 - Life or Death


    Tang Wulin held his breath and kept his silence. He didn¡¯t notify the others. He couldn¡¯t. If he even made a faint sound, they would spot him and then might detonate the bomb right off the bat.


    There was nothing to be done for it. He had no choice but to wait.


    He felt sweat spring out on his forehead; he had never been this close to death before.


    The four members of the Green Skull Renegades set up the base proficiently and rushed the soul bomb onto it.


    ¡°All the bombs inside have been defused,¡± sounded Tang Wulin¡¯s earpiece suddenly. ¡°All agents, chase them down. Don¡¯t let them escape! All white-class agents, report!¡±


    ¡°This is white one, all clear.¡±


    ¡°This is white two, all clear!¡±


    But Tang Wulin didn¡¯t report; he never moved a muscle. He fixed his eyes on the movements on the wall, trying to come up with a feasible solution.


    ¡°All right. Time to bounce!¡± The two-word battle armor master on the wall spread his armor¡¯s wings, flapped them, and leapt into the air, followed by the other three.


    Gold lines started appearing on the base; obviously, the bomb had been set on a timer.


    Considering the speed of battle armor masters, the four members of the Green Skull Renegades only needed 10 seconds to get out of the explosion range, so it was safe to assume this seventh-grade soul bomb would explode in 10 seconds!


    ¡°This is white three,¡± Tang Wulin shouted, jerking himself up and shooting out his vines. ¡°Four enemies are fleeing! A seventh-grade soul bomb is gonna explode! Evacuate immediately!¡± He grabbed the base with the vines and pulled at it with everything he had.


    He was trying to change the direction of the bomb.


    Yet the base refused to budge. The gold lines suddenly started shining intensely!


    That¡¯s not good! Tang Wulin immediately recognized the situation. It must have an anti-tamper device or something. I have accidentally activated its self-destruct program!


    The self-destruct delay time for soul bombs was three seconds.


    After three seconds, this place would be razed to the ground.


    Three seconds was not nearly enough time for Tang Wulin to get to safety.


    At this crucial point, Tang Wulin found himself extremely calm, his eyes golden. With a push, he leapt over to the bomb right away. He threw his arms around the base and tried to yank it off with all his strength.


    Maybe he couldn¡¯t damage the solid base, but the stone wall was nothing against Tang Wulin¡¯s strength. The base and the bomb came off in his hand easily.


    Then he wasted no time in concentrating all his strength in his right arm, his armor giving out bright light. He started spinning like a top and flung the base and the bomb into the air. All of this happened in just a second


    No sooner had the bomb left Tang Wulin¡¯s hand than he jumped again. He was strong, but the bomb and the base were heavy; he knew one throw wasn¡¯t enough. He needed to get the bomb higher in the air.


    The moment he jumped up, a golden light flashed from his body ¨C Goldsong. Goldsong was becoming more powerful by the day, and it quickly fused with a vine, making it large and golden. His martial soul was now the Bluesilver Emperor. His fourth soul ring lit up. Bluesilver Overlord Transformation!


    Empowered by Bluesilver Overlord Transformation and Goldsong, the vine now looked like an aquatic dragon, which shot at the wall and then pushed Tang Wulin up like a shell out of a mortar.


    Only one second left!


    His sudden acceleration brought him up to the bomb in a flash. He was now 300 meters high in the sky.


    Tang Wulin thrust his palms out. A giant golden dragon head shot out of his fists and towards the bomb! It was Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    It was not an attack this time, but an all-out thrust.


    Engulfed in the dragon head, the bomb shot upwards like a rocket, flew over 1,000 meters in an instant, and continued flying up at high speed.


    The bomb went off with a loud bang, giving off dazzling light like a giant firework.


    It might be colorful, but the horrifying blast seemed to have warped the space around it.


    After Tang Wulin pushed the bomb up, the momentum continued to carry him into a place as high as 500 meters.


    And now, as the bomb blast reached him, it swatted him down hard like a fly.


    He felt a sudden choking sensation in the chest, as if he was about to be torn to pieces. His mask had been reduced to ashes, along with all his clothes. He used Golden Dragon Tyrant Body right away. His figure flashed iridescent.


    However, this devastating impact was too strong; Golden Dragon Tyrant Body only lasted for a couple of seconds before disappearing again. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and was about to smash into the ground.


    Suddenly, a dark-gold figure flew over to Tang Wulin and caught him in his arms. And then dark-gold light exploded, turned into a barrier, and kept the blast at bay.


    He was clad in dark-gold armor with elegant design carved on it, his armor¡¯s wings spread. It was three-word battle armor, and the man was Black One.


    Black One hurried here as soon as Tang Wulin reported. It had taken him a while since he had been in the basement.


    When he rushed to Tang Wulin¡¯s previous position, he looked up and saw him thrust the bomb away.


    The fall and the impact from the explosion might have wounded Tang Wulin severely or even killed him if not for Black One.


    The bomb blast had been stopped at a height of 300 meters; that was the power of a three-word battle armor master.


    The farther the explosion, the less damage it would do, and Black One¡¯s timely barrier helped a lot. Although the ground shook a little, and the violent roar shattered all the glass within a few kilometers¡¯ radius, it was over without serious damage.


    Black One landed on the ground and furled his wings. A look of terror flashed across his face. With his three-word battle armor, he was convinced he could survive such a destructive explosion, but without preparation, even purple-class agents would have been killed, let alone others.


    A gentle stream of soul power seeped into Tang Wulin¡¯s body. It was the Mysterious Heaven Method. Black One was helping him soothe his surging blood essence.


    ¡°Good job, kid!¡± Black One¡¯s resounding voice was a sound for Tang Wulin¡¯s sore ears which were still buzzing from the bang.


    Tang Wulin coughed up another mouthful of blood. He felt much better now though.


    The impact could have torn other people apart, but not him. Between his scary-strong body and his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, he didn¡¯t end up with serious injuries. And with the power of the Golden Dragon King flowing through his veins, his amazing recovery speed would make him good as new by next morning.


    At this moment, several figures flew out from the Star Theater. They looked up at the lingering light in the sky, their eyes wild with terror.


    Black One took off his mask and put it on Tang Wulin¡¯s face, and then he wrapped his cloak around his body, since he was completely naked right now.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Tang Wulin said in a hoarse voice. He could barely stand.


    ¡°No, I should thank you!¡± Black One patted him on the shoulder. He was really excited that a white-class agent had pulled off such a great deed.


    ¡°All the bombs have been defused and removed, sir!¡±

 Chapter 617 - Reward

    Chapter 617 - Reward


    ¡°Reporting! Remaining members of the Green Skull Renegades have retreated. Authorities have been alerted to conduct a search.¡±


    ¡°Good. Return to base,¡± said Black One.


    After he gave the order, three soul cars arrived quietly. Black One put his arm around Tang Wulin¡¯s shoulder, hooked his hand under his armpit, and helped him into his car.


    As they walked past their fellow agents, they held their chests up and thumped their left chests with right fists to show gratitude and respect.


    Tang Wulin was hurt and looked awful, but he felt terrific, his blood still racing from the excitement. After all, it was his first mission. There had been a close call, but he had no regret; he had saved the day as well as himself.


    Tang Wulin got in the car. With all the eyes on him, he felt a little uncomfortable.


    Black One had no mask on right now, but his face seemed not to have surprised any agents. ¡°You really outdid yourself,¡± he smiled, looking at Tang Wulin. ¡°You deserve a fine reward for saving your fellow agents.¡±


    ¡°I just did what I was supposed to do,¡± Tang Wulin replied.


    Black One smiled again. ¡°You are talented, and your reflexes are a great ability. Keep up the good work.¡±


    ¡°I will. Thank you, sir.¡±


    From the surprised looks on the other agents¡¯ faces, it seemed Black One had never praised anybody before. At least not to their knowledge. Then they found his abnormal behavior understandable when they looked at the fact that White Three had saved everyone. Black One was thanking Tang Wulin for all of them.


    When they returned to the Tang Sect headquarters in Star Luo City, Black One found a healing-type soul master to tend to Tang Wulin immediately. Then he collected all their badges.


    A bright light flashed from the Tang Wulin¡¯s badge, and his file in the badge had been updated.


    Total number of missions: 1


    Total contribution points: 30,000


    First-class citations: 1


    The data might seem simple, but there was more to it than met the eye. With 30,000 contribution points, he could buy another Tang Sect secret art.


    There were in total six Tang Sect secret arts, and Tang Wulin already knew four: Mysterious Heaven Method, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and Purple Demon Eyes.


    He decided to buy the fifth one: Mysterious Jade Hands.


    When the Tang Sect was first founded, it was famous for its hidden weapons, many of which were poisonous. The Mysterious Jade Hands could take one¡¯s hands¡¯ strength and sturdiness to another level, leaving them hard as stone and immune to any poison.


    The Mysterious Jade Hands might not seem like a very powerful technique, but things are not always what they seem; after all, it was one of the Tang Sect secret arts.


    As for the Hidden Weapons Hundred Separations, after being improved by generations, it had already fused with the development of soul device technology. In fact, a large number of the soul devices manufactured by the Tang Sect were based on the soul circuits in the Hidden Weapons Hundred Separations.


    Therefore, the Hidden Weapons Hundred Separations was the most valuable Tang Sect secret art; it was the priciest among all six. But Tang Wulin was a blacksmith and not a mecha maker, so this technique was of no use to him.


    The benefit of a first-class citation was even more extraordinary. It gave Tang Wulin the right to call as many as 30 Battle Hall agents to complete a mission as long as it was morally acceptable. 30 Battle Hall agents!


    When Black One told him of this right, Tang Wulin was dumbfounded. I can ask 30 agents to do a job for me?! That¡¯s just amazing!


    Black One didn¡¯t ask him his name. It was the rule of the Battle Hall. No questions asked, as long as the badge was real and matched his blood essence.


    Different agents had different occupations and lives; they could be anywhere on the continent, which was why the Battle Hall was so powerful. Nobody knew the exact number of agents, except for a handful of higher-ups of the Tang Sect.


    To be sure, everyone in the Holy Hall was powerful, but there was strength in numbers. As such, the Battle Hall was unmistakably the most powerful organization.


    It was deep into the night when Tang Wulin finally got back to his hotel. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. He had faced death again, except this time without any backup plans. If not for Black One, he could have died or been badly injured.


    It had been too dangerous.


    He was grateful to Master Mu Ye for his training to face death; thanks to the training, he had acted calmly and hadn¡¯t panicked.


    If he had even hesitated for just a moment, things might have been totally different.


    Sitting on his bed, he looked at his hands and smiled. He had bought the Mysterious Jade Hands.


    Now that he had had all the five Tang Sect secret arts he needed, he could use his contribution points to buy other stuff, like spirit items.


    Tang Wulin felt the bond between him and the Tang Sect had become stronger after this mission. It was a strange feeling, and he liked it.


    He had got so many dependable and strong fellow agents, and he had saved them on his very first mission!


    He meditated a whole night. The next morning, when the dawn was breaking, he was already standing vigorous on his balcony cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes.


    Power was everything. Tang Wulin was more convinced of that after facing death again yesterday.


    He had to train hard to survive.


    The first round of two-on-twos was over. Today would kick off the first round of the team battle, and Tang Wulin would get on the stage with his teammates.


    He was excited, like last night.


    After he finished cultivating his Purple Demon Eyes with the morning purple light over the horizon, he stretched his body, feeling refreshed. His spiritual power had grown again.


    The longer he cultivated his Purple Demon Eyes, the better the result. It was important to have strong spiritual power.


    Gu Yue¡¯s spiritual power is incredible even without cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes, Tang Wulin thought. Has she truly reached the Spirit Abyss realm?


    ¡°Did you go out last night?¡± Gu Yue asked Tang Wulin during breakfast.


    ¡°Yes. I went out for a walk,¡± he replied, smiling.


    ¡°Oh.¡± She looked at him strangely.


    ¡°Is there something on my face?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Tang Wulin, get your ass out here!¡± a girl snarled. Tang Wulin froze for an instant. When he turned to look, he saw the imperial princess standing there in the lobby, hands on her hips, eyes glaring at him.

 Chapter 618 - Wanna Bet?

    Chapter 618 - Wanna Bet?


    ¡°Captain, what did you do to her last night?¡± Xie Xie asked with a smug smile. ¡°She wants to see you first thing in the morning!¡±


    Tang Wulin shot him an angry glare. ¡°Cut it out!¡± He rose to his feet and walked over to her.


    Beside Dai Yun¡¯er stood a slim, attractive man. It was Dai Yueyan. He looked at Tang Wulin, and then at his sister. He is a charming young man. His face is almost flawless. Moreover, he¡¯s a student of Shrek Academy. No wonder Yun¡¯er is taking an interest in him.


    ¡°How can I help you, Your Highness?¡± Tang Wulin asked. ¡°By the way, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s proper for a princess to be so loud in public.¡± He really didn¡¯t like her.


    Dai Yun¡¯er snorted. ¡°I came here as a commoner, not a princess. You can drop the formalities.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Then what do you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here to offer you a bet.¡±


    Tang Wulin raised his eyebrow in surprise. ¡°A bet?¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, but no, thanks.¡± With that Tang Wulin turned around and left.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Dai Yun¡¯er glared at him, her face pale with anger.


    A smile flashed across Dai Yueyan¡¯s face. Such an interesting young man. And clearly, he¡¯s not a lickspittle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you walk away from me!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er caught up with Tang Wulin in two strides, grabbing at his arm.


    Tang Wulin moved his body slightly and dodged her grab with ease. ¡°Men and women should not touch each other, you know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill you!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said through gritted teeth.


    Tang Wulin said solemnly, ¡°Are you threatening to kill a delegate?¡±


    Now Dai Yun¡¯er was mad as hell. She turned to Dai Yueyan. ¡°Did you see how impertinent he is, Fourth Brother? Help me!¡±


    Dai Yueyan had no choice but to walk over to them. He looked at Tang Wulin calmly, a pressure emanating from him


    Tang Wulin turned around. He¡¯s her brother? So he must be a prince of the Star Luo Empire.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dai Yueyan. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡± His down-to-earth introduction made a good impression on Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin greeted him with a smile. ¡°So Her Highness told you on me. But I don¡¯t think I did anything to her.¡±


    Dai Yueyan was taken by surprise. He doesn¡¯t seem to be affected by my pressure; he must be very strong.


    ¡°No, she didn¡¯t tell on you. It¡¯s just she heard so much about the prestigious Shrek Academy, the number one academy, so she wanted to provoke you into sparring with us.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± said Tang Wulin. He surely knows the art of talking, unlike his sister. ¡°So you came here to spar with us.¡±


    ¡°I heard you are competing in the tournament, and as it happens, my sister and I are competing too. So I guess we¡¯ll see you on the stage,¡± said Dai Yueyan.


    ¡°You take pride in your team battles, right?¡± Dai Yue¡¯er added. ¡°Then we¡¯ll bet on the team battle. We¡¯ll annihilate you!¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°I told you I don¡¯t bet. You have the home-court advantage. Besides, gambling is a bad habit; you¡¯re setting a terrible example to your people.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid of losing,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er sneered. ¡°That makes sense, since Shrek Academy only accepts cowards.¡±


    Tang Wulin frowned. ¡°You can insult me, but leave Shrek Academy out of this. I¡¯m sure you have better things to do with your time.¡± He whirled around and went back to his breakfast.


    Dai Yun¡¯er was furious and was just about to rush after him when Dai Yueyan reached out and grabbed her arm.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough, little sister.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you help me?!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s face was filled with anger.


    Dai Yueyan looked down at her, confused. ¡°You¡¯re not yourself today, little sister. You possess a spiritual-type martial soul; you never lost your cool. Calm down. Don¡¯t act on impulse. Revenge is a dish best served cold.¡±


    His words hit Dai Yun¡¯er like a thunderbolt. Yes, what happened to me? I am the one to toy with people, and not the other way around!


    Dai Yueyan patted her on the shoulder and dragged her away. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He would never stoop so low as to pull rank on Tang Wulin and force him to apologize; he decided to teach Tang Wulin a lesson on the stage.


    ¡°You have successfully got the attention of the princess,¡± Yue Zhengyu said with a gloating look.


    Tang Wulin paid him no mind and recommenced stuffing himself.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad thing though,¡± Yue Zhengyu added, ¡°they sure have made the competition much more interesting.¡±


    Since Gu Yue refused to participate in the team battle, Xu Lizhi would compete. Each team must have a backup member, and Gu Yue was naturally taking this role; that meant she would still be present during the team battles.


    The popularity of team battles could be seen by the flow of people outside the Grand Star Luo Stadium. Compared with the previous two days, the flow of people had significantly dwindled. That was because people here found team battles too chaotic to see what was going on. They had a point there. Although team battles were intenser and required more tactics, normal people found one-on-ones much more enjoyable.


    When Tang Wulin and his teammates came to the waiting area to check their number, it was packed, since each team had eight members.


    The stages for team battles were much larger, as a result of which, the stadium was large enough to hold only five simultaneous battles at once.


    The number of Tang Wulin¡¯s team indicated they didn¡¯t have to wait long.


    Suddenly, the bustling waiting area fell silent.


    The Shrek Academy group turned to look in surprise.


    A group of eight people were walking into the waiting area. They were all neatly dressed in dark red, with a round, black symbol on the chest, which had a strangely enlarged mouth full of grotesque teeth.


    ¡°Monster Academy¡­¡± said a low voice.


    Tang Wulin overheard him. This must be the famed knockoff Shrek Academy.


    Their uniforms are red, and ours are green. Red and green don¡¯t go well together¡­


    The man walking in front was big, bald, and about two meters tall, with wide shoulders and a broad back. He was giving off an aura like that of a mountain. Even Tang Wulin was impressed. And he thought he saw red in the man¡¯s eyes.


    The crowd parted to let them through.


    Then Tang Wulin saw the man behind the baldy. His eyes widened. The fourth prince of the Star Luo Empire ¨C Dai Yueyan.


    More to his amazement, the one bringing up the rear was none other than Princess Dai Yun¡¯er!

 Chapter 619 - Crazy Long

    Chapter 619 - Crazy Long


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s eyes swept around the waiting area, as if she was looking for someone. Soon she spotted Tang Wulin and smiled.


    Undoubtedly, she was really pretty, and her smile was like a hundred flowers blooming, yet somehow Tang Wulin felt a sudden chill down his spine.


    She ran over to the bald man in front and tugged at his sleeve. When the baldy looked down and found it was her, he subdued his aggressive aura and stooped down. Dai Yun¡¯er whispered something in his ear. Then he raised his head and looked to Tang Wulin, his eyes turning dark red in the blink of an eye.


    The air seemed to have become thick with tension the moment his eyes changed color. Many contestants shuffled back despite themselves, fear written all over their faces.


    The bald man started striding towards Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s gaze sharpened and he stood his ground. He was a leader, and a leader should never show weakness or fear.


    He reached Tang Wulin in just a few strides, his dark red eyes shining.


    ¡°Are you the one who bullied Dai Yun¡¯er?¡± His voice was deep and not particularly loud, but the pressure exuding from it was too strong to ignore.


    Tang Wulin smiled thinly. ¡°I don¡¯t think ¡®bully¡¯ is the right word.¡±


    ¡°My name is Long Yue. People call me Crazy Long. Nice to meet you.¡± He put his hand out.


    Tang Wulin could see that even his skin was a little red. His hand was huge, like a cattail leaf fan. He smiled and shook his hand. ¡°Tang Wulin, a student of Shrek Academy.¡± He gave a brief introduction.


    That was a strong handshake. Perhaps too strong, from the looks everyone gave them.


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s eyes were shining with great satisfaction. Asshole, you dare to shake hands with Brother Long? You¡¯re dead!


    Much to her surprise, however, the two hands were motionless.


    As the dark red color in Long Yue¡¯s hand deepened, Tang Wulin¡¯s hand turned light golden. The two men were as steady as two rocks.


    Long Yue jerked his head up and stared at Tang Wulin, his dark red eyes shouting danger.


    Tang Wulin met his eyes without blinking, his eyes shining golden.


    After a good 15 seconds, their arms started shaking a little, but neither moved.


    Dai Yueyan stepped up to them. ¡°Brother Long, that¡¯s enough.¡±


    Long Yue and Tang Wulin loosened their grip at the same time. Tang Wulin was expressionless, but Long Yue suddenly burst into loud laughter, a flicker of madness flashing across his eyes. ¡°Haven¡¯t seen such an interesting opponent in ages! Too bad you¡¯re too young. It would be more fun if you were much older.¡± Laughing, he turned around and left, followed by Dai Yueyan and his sister.


    Tang Wulin had his right hand behind his back, presenting a cool posture, but his teammates standing beside him saw that his hand was shaking.


    ¡°Captain!¡± Xie Xie called in a low voice, walking over to him.


    Tang Wulin frowned and didn¡¯t reply. Only he knew what had happened just now.


    He had never met anyone who possessed more strength than Long Yue. It was the first time he had lost to someone in strength after he started breaking seals on the Golden Dragon King.


    Long Yue¡¯s strength was bottomless. Tang Wulin might have been calm on the outside, but he had gone all out. He hadn¡¯t used his golden dragon claw, not because he hadn¡¯t wanted to, but because Long Yue had kept his claw at bay by sheer force.


    Nothing like that had ever happened to Tang Wulin before. He was a little frightened, partly because of Monster Academy team¡¯s captain¡¯s unimaginable power, but mostly because of his insatiable craving for battle.


    Tang Wulin had never seen such a formidable opponent.


    Obviously, Long Yue had felt the gap between him and Tang Wulin, which was why he had said he was too young. And like he had said, Tang Wulin could be as strong as him in four or five years, but now¡­


    Gu Yue touched Tang Wulin¡¯s right hand gently and poured soul power into him. It felt like his hand was immersed in warm water, the bone-crushing pain going away quickly.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you teach him a lesson, Brother Long?¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said to Long Yue. ¡°You could have easily crushed his hand.¡±


    Long Yue laughed and stroked her head. ¡°Trust me, he got his lesson all right. If you play with a toy too much, it might break. Besides, I don¡¯t like picking on someone younger than me. His strength was a little surprising though; he is as strong as me when I was his age. Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t hold back on the stage. I¡¯ll help you get your revenge.¡±


    ¡°Promise me!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er held out her pinky.


    Long Yue smiled and locked his pinky with hers. ¡°Fine, I promise. And I never go back on my promise to you.¡± Then he lovingly stroked her hair again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t muss up my hair,¡± she pouted, but didn¡¯t bother to fix it up.


    Xie Xie went for a walk and came back with information on Long Yue.


    ¡°A prodigy not seen in a thousand years?!¡± The Shrek Academy group gaped.


    ¡°At least that¡¯s what I heard,¡± said Xie Xie. ¡°It¡¯s said that he was already a three-ringed soul master when he was accepted into Monster Academy at 10. He possesses innate divine strength. At the age of 16, he became invincible in Monster Academy and then became the undisputed head of the Monster Eight Kings, which comprises eight really strong students from Monster Academy. He is a legend; nobody really knows how strong he is. I think he¡¯s at least a one-word battle armor master, and not just any one-word battle armor master. He may prove to be our most challenging opponent.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll just do our best,¡± said Xu Xiaoyan.


    ¡°And God will do the rest!¡± added Yue Zhengyu.


    Xie Xie looked at them. ¡°You two are so in sync!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re much older than us, so we don¡¯t need to feel bad even if they beat us,¡± said Yue Zhengyu.


    Tang Wulin said nothing, but the fire in his eyes said plenty. I don¡¯t care even if he is a prodigy not seen in a million years!


    ¡°There they are,¡± Xu Lizhi said suddenly.


    They raised their heads and looked up at the screen on the wall. The Monster Academy would compete in the first match.


    Long Yue was not on the stage though. He was standing there like an immovable mountain, the madness gone from his eyes.

 Chapter 620 - The Battle Begins!

    Chapter 620 - The Battle Begins!


    After getting on the stage, all the seven members of Monster Academy looked to Long Yue. When he nodded slightly, their morale was boosted greatly.


    With Dai Yueyan commanding them, they cruised to victory without breaking a sweat.


    Xie Xie¡¯s brows furrowed. ¡°Five rings, five rings, five rings, five rings, five rings, five rings, four rings!¡±


    All the seven members of Monster Academy were five-ring soul masters with the exception of the princess. On top of that, three members¡¯ soul rings were all purple, three had black soul rings, and Dai Yueyan possessed two black soul rings; even Dai Yun¡¯er had three purple soul rings and one black one.


    They totally annihilated their opponents when it came to soul rings. It was hard to tell how powerful they were, since their opponents got crushed in an instant. One thing was for sure though ¨C their teamwork was excellent.


    An expression of surprise dawned on Tang Wulin¡¯s face; he never expected Dai Yun¡¯er to have the same soul rings as him. I was under the impression that she was just a spoiled princess, but it turns out that she is actually a talented soul master.


    Monster Academy has certainly lived up to its name. They are a powerful team even without that Crazy Long. If all of them are one-word battle armor masters, then the odds of us winning will drop drastically. As the number one academy in the whole Star Luo Empire, their one-word battle armor masters must be much stronger than normal ones.


    With our speed and strength, we may have some chance of taking them down in one-on-one combat, but team battle is another matter entirely.


    ¡°Do you still remember the most fundamental rule of Shrek Academy?¡± a cold voice sounded behind Tang Wulin and his teammates.


    They turned to look and found Wu Zhangkong standing there.


    ¡°To perform miracles,¡± Wu Zhangkong continued. ¡°Remember who you are. It¡¯s time to prove that you¡¯re students of Shrek Academy!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hand coiled into a fist, conviction glinting in his eyes.


    Wu Zhangkong walked over to his students and closed his eyes to think. His face was calm, but his mind was in a turmoil. He had arrived before his students and thus had seen the pure battle of strength that was disguised as a handshake.


    Being high in cultivation level, Wu Zhangkong was able to see more than his students. When Long Yue left laughing his loud laugh, he had given off an aura that had reminded him of the strong soul beasts in the most advanced level spirit ascension platform. Wu Zhangkong came to a shocking realization that he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure he could beat Long Yue. He tried to think of someone who was of Long Yue¡¯s age and stronger than him, but found he couldn¡¯t. Maybe he really is a prodigy not seen in a thousand years.


    Of course, he would never share these thoughts with his students, who had no idea how daunting their opponent was.


    At this moment, the competitors in the waiting area parted again ¨C the Monster Academy group dressed in red had come back. Long Yue was walking in front. As soon as he entered the room, he gave Tang Wulin a thin smile and then strode away.


    Dai Yun¡¯er looked at Tang Wulin and gave him a thumbs-down.


    Tang Wulin watched them leave, expressionless. Suddenly, a soft hand took his. ¡°I¡¯ll compete in the team battle,¡± Gu Yue said. Her voice was almost emotionless, but it warmed his heart nonetheless. Almost as a reflex action, he grabbed her hand.


    Every stage for the team battle was spacious, about 300 meters in diameter; the soul barrier around each stage was apparently stronger.


    When Tang Wulin and his teammates entered the stage, their opponents dressed in yellow were looking at them warily. The strength battle between Tang Wulin and Long Yue had ended in a draw in their eyes, so how could they not take them seriously?


    ¡°Begin!¡± the judge declared. The first team battle of the Shrek Academy group started.


    Standing on the stage were Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi. Gu Yue was the substitute.


    Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui immediately charged forward, like three arrows leaving bows. Xie Xie followed them and hid behind Yuanen Yehui.


    Xu Lizhi threw buns to the others right away. They caught the buns from behind, ate them, and became lighter and faster instantly. They were Agility Soup Buns.


    It seemed the Shrek Academy group¡¯s formation was loose; Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi were charging as well, but they were not as fast.


    However, their opponents¡¯ formation was much tighter; they rushed forward in V-formation. The one taking point was a young man of average stature. Five soul rings rose from his feet ¨C two yellow and three purple.


    His soul rings were normal, but his martial soul was a fan! As his soul rings started shining, the fan grew bigger and bigger.


    He waved it, and suddenly a gust of wind drove down the stage.


    A wind-type martial soul!


    Tang Wulin activated Golden Dragon Body, his body shining golden, and braved the wind without losing any speed.


    Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui dodged behind their captain. With Xie Xie still behind Yuanen Yehui, the four of them had formed a straight line, minimizing the effect of the wind.


    Tang Wulin strode forward, strong gusts of wind swept towards him, but his steps were extremely firm, bringing him closer.


    The young man frowned, his fifth soul ring shining; he was going to use his ace in the hole.


    He sure had wisdom and battle experience. Although they are young, we cannot take them lightly, as even Long Yue praised him, the young man thought. Their formation may be loose, but that¡¯s probably because they have confidence in their abilities. Me holding back might cause serious consequences. I will use my trump card to create an opportunity for my teammates!


    He waved his giant fan again. A blue tornado appeared and stormed towards Tang Wulin. Blue Tornado ¨C his most powerful soul skill.

 Chapter 621 - The Fifth Seal, Break!

    Chapter 621 - The Fifth Seal, Break!


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it!¡± Yuanen Yehui called behind him.


    She jumped up, her body swelling with strength. Four soul rings appeared around her, both the third and the fourth shining bright.


    The young man in yellow was shocked to see that a giant with a height of more than five meters dropped from the sky, and fell directly on his tornado. Then, his tornado disappeared without a trace.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Diamond Titan and Devil Titan had extremely strong attack and defensive power.


    Then her right fist burst out, and with it an invisible pressure.


    The young man just barely managed to raise his fan to protect himself.


    Bang!


    Even Tang Wulin had to use Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens to meet such a powerful Air Cannon head on. The man in yellow was clearly not a power-type; the Air Cannon empowered by Diamond Titan and Devil Titan sent the man flying backwards, breaking their formation.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Ye Xinglan took this window of opportunity and charged forward.


    Their opponents never stood a chance. Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi stopped running. The match was over in a heartbeat.


    The young man had turned out to be just a five-ringed Soul King and not a one-word battle armor master, so he hadn¡¯t posed much of a challenge to Tang Wulin¡¯s team, but then again, it was not like one-word battle armor masters were that easy to run into.


    They had won their first match, but the pleasure seemed to have evaded Tang Wulin. He was a worrywart; the fear of losing to Long Yue was still hanging over him. I¡¯m the captain. If I¡¯m not strong enough to lead them to victory, then what good am I? He had made up his mind.


    Tang Wulin wasted no time in getting back to the hotel. After telling his friends he would skip lunch, he locked himself in his room. It¡¯s time!


    He heard a draconic roar echo from deep within himself. Tang Wulin closed his eyes and reversed the flow of his blood essence. His soul power fused with his blood essence and swept towards the seal, which was already covered in cracks.


    The seal broke almost immediately with a loud ¡°boom¡±, releasing the energy of the Golden Dragon King. It fused with his flesh and blood, raging through his meridian channels.


    Between forty-nine days of torture, his martial soul¡¯s second awakening, and breaking through to rank 40, his body had become much stronger. He felt bloated and painful, but nothing he could not tolerate; he didn¡¯t even use any spirit items to help him this time. He could clearly feel even the smallest changes in his body.


    The golden energy was strong and potent, with a touch of madness. It rushed around blindly, as if trying to break out.


    With the help of his blood essence, he managed to mix the energy with his blood. He used the Mysterious Heaven Method, feeling the absorption of the energy as his soul power circulated several times quicker throughout his body.


    He wanted to become stronger; he had to become stronger.


    He had to win!


    His strong competitive spirit had turned into an unstoppable urge to fight.


    His eyes were wild with excitement, the pupils becoming slit, like those of a dragon. Golden veins sprang up all over his skin. Golden scales began appearing on his right hand, and then quickly spread across his right arm, shoulder, and torso. The spread slowed when the scales reached his left shoulder.


    The pain was totally bearable. Tang Wulin could feel everything inside of him being dyed a radiant gold by the energy of the Golden Dragon King; he could even feel Goldsong and Tyrant Dragon cheering. They were basically a part of him, so they also benefited every time he broke a seal.


    He knew well enough that Tyrant Dragon choosing to become his spirit soul was not because of his personal charisma, but because it was attracted to his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    As the golden scales spread slowly past his left elbow, Tang Wulin could no longer stay calm ¨C he had foreseen what might happen next.


    The soul power circulated faster, his body greedily gobbling up the golden energy.


    As the golden scales popped out, his skin felt itchy and atingle, which had never happened in previous seal breakings.


    At last, the scales reached his left wrist and showed no sign of stopping. Pangs of agonizing pain started coming from his left hand. With a succession of creepy creaking sounds, his left hand enlarged, his meridian channels elongated, and bones started protruding from his skin and turning into a golden claw.


    He could feel his strength growing, yet it hurt so much!


    He felt his hand was being torn apart, but he gritted his teeth and endured the pain.


    Almost there!


    The golden dragon claw had always been his trump card. If he had two trump cards¡­


    Even if his left claw was just a normal golden dragon claw and not a golden dragon dreadclaw, he would be content, because even a normal golden dragon claw had incredible attack and defense power. Besides, the increase in his bloodline power would dramatically improve his strength, speed, and survivability.


    Tang Wulin believed his defense power could compete with that of a one-word battle armor master, if the dragon scales could cover his whole body,


    He had decided to break his fifth seal when he heard Long Yue¡¯s arrogant laughter.


    Finally, the severe pain was gone, but the itch and tingle stayed. The skin was healing, and the scales were growing. Somehow he felt this golden dragon claw was different. My right claw has a crushing effect; what about this one? They are not the same?


    The golden energy quieted down at last. Tang Wulin was now soaked in sweat.


    This seal breaking was the quickest and easiest, but his feeling was the clearest. Old Tang had said that the golden energy was a double-edged sword, but at least as of today, it had only brought him positive effects. He would never have gone this far without that energy, so he was more grateful than scared of it.


    Just like Long Yue had said, all he needed was time. As long as he could break the seals one by one without any incidents, he would surely become an incredibly strong soul master.


    It was already dark outside. Tang Wulin sprang out of bed, stripped off, and ran into the bathroom.


    He took a hot shower and washed himself clean. He was still a little exhausted, but he felt amazing.


    He clenched his left fist, feeling the strong power. What is the special effect of this golden dragon claw?


    Tang Wulin walked to the wall. As he circulated his blood essence, scales covered his hands and two golden dragon claws appeared.


    They nearly looked the same with their tips shining golden, only the right claw was larger, most likely due to the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear''s soul bone.


    He pushed his left claw into the wall.


    The wall would have been crushed to powder where it touched by the right claw.


    But when the left claw came in contact with the wall, cracks began to appear and quickly spread. And in the blink of an eye, the wall was covered in cracks.


    Is this¡­

 Chapter 622 - The Special Effect of the Left Claw

    Chapter 622 - The Special Effect of the Left Claw


    Tang Wulin jerked back his Golden Dragon Claw. It didn¡¯t take him long to figure out that his left claw¡¯s special effect was tearing.


    His right claw''s talons were cone-shaped, but the ones on his left claw were sharp, like the fangs of a tiger.


    The left claw had a striking resemblance in appearance to the right one, but their special effects were widely different. They were both very powerful though.


    He would have roared like a lion, were he not in a hotel at this hour of the night. With golden scales clothing his chest, back, shoulders, and arms, he felt wonderfully strong.


    He was already looking forward to the changes brought forth by breaking the sixth seal. Once I break it, I think I¡¯ll have another golden blood essence soul ring.


    He brought the two claws together. When they met, there was a ¡°ding¡± sound that was so refreshing, and with it a golden circle of light. The diamond-shaped scales stood up, razor-sharp tips pointing out.


    Tang Wulin brought the scales back down with his mind. What just happened?


    He reversed the flow of his blood essence, and immediately two golden soul rings appeared around him. He activated Golden Dragon Body.


    Since he was naked ¨C he had just taken a shower ¨C he could have a good look at himself.


    The Golden Dragon Body could create scales to protect him as well, but those scales were not real; they were more like a layer of energy. Tang Wulin could even cover his face with those fake scales if he wanted.


    However, the scales brought about by absorbing the energy of the Golden Dragon King were genuine scales growing from his body. They were thick and solid. After he activated Golden Dragon Body, it was hard to tell which was which, but clearly the part covered by both the real scales and the fake ones was the strongest.


    He clashed the two claws together again, this time a little harder. He had deduced from his first experiment that his two claws wouldn¡¯t function on each other.


    Ding! Once more a golden circle of light appeared, enlarged, and faded.


    Tang Wulin saw more clearly this time. The scales sprang up again. It seemed he could use them to attack, like a hedgehog. The scales created by the Golden Dragon Body also stood up a little, but they were of little use except for providing protection. The ¡°ding¡± sound was able to refresh him, making him more focused. It might not be a blood essence soul skill, but it was as good as a normal soul skill, if not better.


    Tang Wulin was euphoric. Looks like the Golden Dragon King bloodline is full of potential!


    The thought brought a big smile to his face. He lifted his claws up, looking at the spiral lines on the nails, feeling the tremendous strength inside them. It feels so good!


    Then he put his arms out to the sides. After a succession of cracking and popping sounds, his hands returned to normal, the scales retracted.


    Now his height was already comparable to that of an adult. It seemed he had become more shredded ¨C eight-pack, muscled shoulders and back. Every muscle of his was beautiful, firm, and elastic, containing explosive power. His long and strong legs were a perfect work of art.


    Just you wait, Crazy Long. I¡¯ll show you what I¡¯m made of.


    After a few days of competition, the passion of Star Luo City had been ignited. The elimination matches were cruel. For the soul masters who had been eliminated in the first round, the tournament was already over, and for those who were over 18 years old, this was the last time they got to participate in the Continental Young Elites Tournament.


    Nobody wanted to leave, not even those whose fights had been over. They wanted to see the level of their peers power-wise.


    Ling Wuxie was one of them. He was filled with remorse for getting knocked out in the very first round. As a one-word battle armor master and a five-ringed Soul King, he had planned to breach the top 32 in one-on-one combat.


    His teacher didn¡¯t come down hard on him, but he was well aware that the main reason for his defeat had been because he had taken his opponent too lightly. His explosive power and subsequent combos kept me too busy to launch a counterattack. If I had brought out the full capabilities of my battle armor, I¡¯d probably win. After all, it can amplify my abilities, even though it¡¯s not a very powerful one-word battle armor. Damn it! If only I could go back in time¡­


    After several days of pain and discouragement, he had finally pulled himself together. After all, he was one of the few people who had become a one-word battle armor master at such a young age; his ability to handle frustration was superior to his peers.


    Stand straight and hold your head up high! He told himself. That kid is a power-assault-type. He has staggering attack and defense power, and sharp reflexes. I don¡¯t think all his opponents will take him lightly. I¡¯m looking forward to seeing him get eliminated.


    Today would kick off the first day of the second round of the one-on-one battles. The first round had eliminated half of the competitors, so the second round would most likely end in two days.


    Ling Wuxie came to the Grand Star Luo Stadium early in the morning. Outside the stadium hung 16 huge screens, displaying the matchups.


    In order to ensure fairness, a special soul system was used to randomly match competitors up.


    Where is he? Ling Wuxie thought, eyes sweeping over the screens. His name is Tang Wulin, if I remember correctly. His teacher had secured a ticket for him.


    After quite a while, he still hadn¡¯t found his name, as there were too many participants.


    Suddenly, something caused a ruckus in the crowd outside the stadium.


    On one screen, after a name, Ling Wuxie saw a golden emblem.


    It was round, with a hideously enlarged mouth.

 Chapter 623 - An Unlucky Streak

    Chapter 623 - An Unlucky Streak


    Ling Wuxie¡¯s eyes went wide when he saw that symbol. Monster Academy! They sure know how to make their students feel special. A look of envy appeared on his face. Tang Wulin will definitely be crushed if his next opponent is a student from Monster Academy.


    The golden symbol had fired up the crowd. For people from the Star Luo Empire, Monster Academy had always been their holy land, and always would be.


    The participants from Monster Academy didn¡¯t have to compete in the first round of the one-on-ones; it was an age-old privilege they had earned by delivering excellent results in each tournament.


    As Ling Wuxie was lost in thought, he suddenly spotted what he had been searching for.


    The 163rd match: Su Mu versus Tang Wulin.


    And next to Su Mu¡¯s name stood a round golden symbol with a hideous mouth.


    What?! As much as Ling Wuxie hated Tang Wulin, he was thunderstruck. Talk about an unlucky streak! His first opponent was me, a one-word battle armor master, and now he has to face a student of Monster Academy!


    Each and every participant from Monster Academy is the strongest at their age. And this academy once took all the top eight spots in a tournament. The students there are in a league of their own. Strong as I am, I¡¯d stand no chance against them, not by a long shot.


    A malicious satisfaction was aroused in Ling Wuxie; he almost felt sorry for Tang Wulin. Almost.


    Serves you right! I bet you won¡¯t even last five minutes.


    Due to the large number of contestants, there were several waiting areas. Tang Wulin was in one of them, and he saw what Ling Wuxie had seen.


    Xie Xie walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder with a sly smile. ¡°Captain, it turns out I was wronged all along.¡±


    Tang Wulin did not understand. ¡°You were wronged?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I always thought it was my jinxing mouth that always got us in trouble, and I felt so guilty and ashamed. But just now I realized I was wrong, Captain. It¡¯s you who is a bad luck magnet. What are the odds of running into a student of Monster Academy in the second round? One in a thousand?¡±


    Tang Wulin bristled. ¡°Why, thank you for pointing that out.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad about losing to him, Captain. He¡¯s much older,¡± said Xie Xie.


    ¡°You are really lousy at cheering people up, Xie Xie,¡± Yue Zhengyu said, pushing him away. ¡°Captain, I¡¯m so sorry. We won¡¯t think any less of you just because you lose a match or two. You can rest assured of that.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui looked at Tang Wulin, shook her head, and didn¡¯t say anything.


    Ye Xinglan was standing with her arms crossed. ¡°I wish I could have such a worthy opponent as well.¡±


    Xu Lizhi grinned a big stupid grin and looked at his captain with compassion.


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled. ¡°Guys, have some faith in our captain. I believe he won¡¯t lose¡­ too badly.¡±


    Tang Wulin was totally speechless.


    He turned to Gu Yue and smiled when she suddenly took hold of his arm. Come on, tell them I can do it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pray for you,¡± she said calmly.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s smile froze on his lips.


    He scowled at them. ¡°You don¡¯t believe your captain will win?!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a one-word battle armor master, Captain, and not just any battle armor master.¡±


    ¡°Wanna bet?¡± Tang Wulin snorted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet all I have,¡± Yue Zhengyu blurted.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Tang Wulin said.


    Looking at his burning eyes, Yue Zhengyu suddenly felt a lot less confident. ¡°I was just kidding,¡± he said hurriedly, ¡°I¡¯ll never bet a friend that much.¡±


    ¡°All right. If you lose, I want you to get me a certain ten-thousand-year spirit item.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu was surprised. ¡°A ten-thousand-year spirit item? And if I win?¡±


    ¡°If you win, I¡¯ll provide you with all the spirit alloys you need to make a two-word battle armor.¡± Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t boasting; being a sixth-rank blacksmith, he was unmistakably the best among the younger generation on both the Douluo Continent and the Star Luo Continent.


    Yue Zhengyu might never have said it, but in his heart he believed there was a chance that Tang Wulin would become a Divine Blacksmith. As arrogant as he was, he recognized Tang Wulin as his captain, because he could tell Tang Wulin would go far.


    ¡°Deal!¡± Yue Zhengyu laughed.


    Xie Xie was a little tempted as well, but when he saw the excited look in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes, he held back his urge. He had known him longer; he knew him better than Yue Zhengyu did. Come to think of it, he never bets when the odds are not in his favor. He has figured out how to defeat that one-word battle armor master?


    Perhaps he has. After all, he never ceases to amaze us. I should sit this bet out.


    Although Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t know Tang Wulin well, she knew Xie Xie. She figured there must be a reason why Xie Xie acted so abnormally, so she refrained from betting, despite the huge temptation of spirit alloys.


    The other teammates didn¡¯t care for betting.


    Since their armors were made of spirit alloys, I just need to add another metal to upgrade their armors to two-word, thought Tang Wulin. Even if I have to buy that metal for all of them, it won¡¯t be much more expensive than a ten-thousand-year spirit item.


    The desire to win the bet will drive me to defeat Monster Academy. If I can¡¯t beat this Su Mu, then how can I take on Long Yue who must be much stronger?


    Wu Zhangkong didn¡¯t come here today. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t know if it was because he had confidence in them or because he had other matters to attend to. He sat down in a corner and began meditating. His match wouldn¡¯t be until noon.


    The second round started. Although the participants had thinned out, the ones that had made it here were stronger. The spectators were excited, even though the tickets¡¯ prices had gone up.


    Some official gambling games had started, since Monster Academy would compete today; it was another sign that this academy held great importance on the Star Luo Continent.


    One could place a bet on the students of Monster Academy or other students.


    ¡°Have you placed your bet yet? Will Monster Academy take all the top eight spots again?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I just placed a bet on them taking all the top eight spots. They¡¯re simply unstoppable.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, you made a mistake. Her Highness is also a participant. Don¡¯t you remember? To be sure, she¡¯s talented, but she¡¯s young and just a four-ringed soul master. She doesn¡¯t have a complete set of one-word battle armor. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be able to make the top eight.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong, buddy. Her Highness will be choosing a groom after the tournament. She¡¯s a goddess. Her opponents would have to be pretty dumb not to let her win. Besides, her teammates will help her when they can. I think she¡¯ll definitely make the top eight and probably even make the top three.¡±

 Chapter 624 - Crazy Long’s Power

    Chapter 624 - Crazy Long¡¯s Power


    ¡°I see your point.¡±


    While opinions were diverse, there was a growing consensus that all the top eight spots would go to Monster Academy.


    ¡°Look! Crazy Long is getting on the stage! The last time I saw him was in the last tournament. He was 17 then. He won the one-on-one championship and got a soul bone. There¡¯s no way he¡¯ll lose.¡±


    There he was, walking unhurriedly.


    His bald head was conspicuous, and they had arranged for him to fight on the stage in the middle of the stadium.


    In his scarlet uniform, he was no less bright than a ball of fire.


    His opponent was a girl in a long blue dress; her beautiful eyes were shining with excitement as she looked at Long Yue.


    ¡°Brother Long Yue, it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you,¡± the girl said, bowing her head to show respect.


    Long Yue smiled. ¡°The pleasure is all mine.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s rude, but would you mind letting me use all of my soul skills first?¡± she asked pitifully.


    ¡°By all means,¡± Long Yue replied, still smiling.


    The judge was shocked, but after considering Long Yue¡¯s power, he said nothing.


    ¡°You may begin,¡± the judge said. And so Crazy Long¡¯s first match started.


    He stood with a smile on his face and didn¡¯t move, like he had promised.


    The girl gave a shout, her four soul rings appeared, and the air around her was becoming thick with ice fog.


    An ice-attribute martial soul!


    It was pretty impressive for a girl of 18 to have become a four-ringed soul master.


    As she released her martial soul, four icy blue pieces of battle armor flew out of her bracelet and enveloped her right arm and shoulder, head, and left arm.


    A full set of one-word battle armor normally consisted of 13 pieces, and she already had four at such a young age.


    Her pretty eyes were gleaming excitedly. As she pressed her hands together and her first soul ring started shining, an ice ball appeared and flew towards Long Yue.


    Empowered by her battle armor, the ice ball was about a foot in diameter, with strange patterns all over its surface. It was giving out deep blue light.


    The girl raced after the ice ball right away. Her second soul ring lit up when she caught up with it. Then a blue ray of light appeared from her right palm, with which she touched the ice ball.


    The ice ball shook a little and suddenly expanded to twice its original size. The strange patterns had become clearer, as if containing a large amount of energy.


    Her third soul ring started to shine.


    All of this had happened in a heartbeat.


    She pressed her other hand on the ice ball. Sharp spines three feet long immediately shot out of the ball, which had turned deep blue with a diameter of over a meter.


    The temperature around the stage had dropped significantly.


    The girl stopped running and started dancing. As her fourth soul ring lit up, deep blue lights flew from her hands and reached the ball. All of a sudden, she disappeared. The huge ball accelerated and rushed towards Long Yue, its temperature overwhelmingly low.


    Long Yue just stood there and watched with a smile, not moving a muscle.


    The stages for one-on-one battles were not big, so in an instant the huge spiky ball was only inches away from him.


    The audience was becoming worried and uneasy, as even they could see the horror of the ball.


    Bang!


    The ball smashed into Long Yue, ice debris flying around.


    But Long Yue¡¯s smile never changed, as if he were a statue. The audience gaped at him in astonishment.


    The spines collapsed the moment they came into contact with Long Yue¡¯s body, and then the ice ball fell apart. It looked as if the ball had crashed into a mountain and not a human being.


    Suddenly, the girl reappeared, and immediately all the cold energy in the air gathered around her and turned into a small ice vortex spinning in her right palm.


    A sly and smug smile touched her lips. You underestimated me, Long Yue. Without releasing your martial soul and battle armor, even you can¡¯t withstand my Icy Palm.


    She was using that huge ice ball to create a diversion; this Icy Palm technique was her real ace in the hole.


    Her right hand had turned icy blue. And it shot out.


    She hesitated a moment and changed her target from his left chest to his right.


    Her hand hit his chest with a dull thud. Long Yue didn¡¯t move, neither did the girl.


    She had directed all her soul power in her right hand. It was her most powerful technique. She believed she could freeze anything with her hand.


    Yet Long Yue didn¡¯t seem to be affected at all. He cocked his head to one side, still smiling. ¡°You done?¡±


    The girl was struck dumb. She looked at Long Yue up and down. ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± What the hell just happened? This is not possible! He should have become an ice sculpture!


    ¡°You could have hit me on my left chest, but you didn¡¯t. You¡¯re a nice girl. Now yield,¡± Long Yue said, and touched her head.


    The girl in blue looked up at him, confused. She still hadn¡¯t figured out where all that highly condensed cold energy had gone. She could have sworn it had all gone into his body. There¡¯s no way he has absorbed it all.


    ¡°It¡¯s here.¡± Long Yue tilted his head back and opened his mouth. An icy blue stream of air spewed out. The temperature around them dropped dramatically again.


    Now that the girl had seen the huge difference between their power, she bowed again. ¡°I yield.¡±


    The audience broke into rapturous applause. Long Yue¡¯s match had been broadcasted on most of the screens; he had given them a brilliant performance by doing nothing. They were impressed by his gentlemanly behavior as well as his power. They were shouting his name.


    Long Yue waved at them and got off the stage.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team was shocked except for Tang Wulin, who was still sitting in their waiting area meditating. They couldn¡¯t believe what they had just seen. They thought the girl¡¯s trump card could have even done a number on a five-ringed Soul King.

 Chapter 625 - Fox King – Su Mu

    Chapter 625 - Fox King ¨C Su Mu


    Yet Long Yue countered her technique without even using his martial soul.


    ¡°He must be a defense-type,¡± Gu Yue said, thoughtful.


    Ye Xinglan nodded her agreement. ¡°Only a defense-type could have done what he did that easily. And he¡¯s probably a six-ringed Soul Emperor!¡±


    As well-renowned as Shrek Academy was, no one there Long Yue¡¯s age was a Soul Emperor.


    He was truly a prodigy not seen in a thousand years. His powerful martial soul and high cultivation had undoubtedly placed unbearable pressure on them, depriving them of any hope.


    Gu Yue¡¯s eyes swept over her teammates. They all looked daunted except for her and Ye Xinglan; Even Yuanen Yehui¡¯s face showed no sign of confidence. ¡°He sure is a formidable adversary,¡± Gu Yue said, ¡°but I¡¯m not ready to give up yet. Are you?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Yuanen Yehui replied.


    ¡°We represent Shrek Academy,¡± Gu Yue continued, ¡°it¡¯s all our duty to defend its honor. Wulin has resolved to defeat Long Yue. We need to do our part as well. Let¡¯s prove to them that Shrek Academy is the number one academy on the whole planet!¡±


    The fear in their eyes was gone, replaced by courage and determination.


    They had faced worse odds and won. For students of Shrek Academy, stress was always a powerful motivator. Their teachers had trained their minds as well as their bodies. The name ¡°Shrek Academy¡± was enough to boost their confidence.


    ¡°For Shrek Academy!¡± Tang Wulin rose to his feet and extended his right hand, his eyes shining golden with excitement.


    Gu Yue placed her hand on top of his, and the others quickly followed.


    ¡°For Shrek Academy!¡±


    They had come here to have some fun, but now that their competitive nature had got in the way of fun, it was time to put their game faces on! They had but one objective ¨C to win the tournament.


    The one-on-one battles continued. Long Yue¡¯s match had totally fired up the audience, who were cheering and applauding.


    ¡°I overheard your inspirational speech. Thank you, Gu Yue,¡± Tang Wulin said to Gu Yue after the other teammates had left to compete.


    That earned him a smile. ¡°No thanks necessary,¡± said Gu Yue. ¡°I did it for our academy, not for you.¡±


    ¡°Our academy¡¯s honor is at stake here. We must win!¡± Tang Wulin clenched his fist.


    ¡°Be careful. Our adversaries are strong.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded with a smile. ¡°I will.¡±


    Since it was just the preliminaries, the opponents of Tang Wulin¡¯s teammates were not very strong; they all made it to the third round without any surprises.


    The time had finally come for Tang Wulin ¨C whose luck had hit rock bottom ¨C to fight Monster Academy.


    ¡°I¡¯m so envious, Brother Su Mu,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said in another waiting area. ¡°Teach him a hard lesson for me, will you? And don¡¯t hold back.¡±


    Su Mu was an attractive young man like Dai Yueyan, but he was mild and suave, unlike Dai Yueyan, who always gave off the aura of a leader.


    Many outsiders had heard of Monster Academy¡¯s Crazy Long, since he had made quite a name for himself, but the name ¡°Su Mu¡± was not that well-known. However, it was still capable of striking fear into the hearts of the students of Monster Academy.


    Su Mu, also known as the God of Sword, was one of the Monster Eight Kings; he ranked third, after Long Yue and Dai Yueyan, the fourth prince.


    In fact, his skills were on par with Dai Yueyan¡¯s, who himself hadn¡¯t even seen his full power.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her, Su Mu. After all, your opponent is a delegate,¡± Dai Yueyan said, wrapping his arm around Su Mu¡¯s shoulder.


    Su Mu smiled. ¡°All right. I¡¯ll keep that in mind. If you¡¯ll excuse me, I have to get on the stage now.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er watched him leave and then turned to her brother, confused. ¡°Why can¡¯t I shake this strange feeling that there is some chemistry between you two, Fourth Brother? Are you in a relationship with him? People are talking, you know.¡±


    Dai Yueyan froze for an instant. Then he pinched her cheek. ¡°Are you seriously implying that I¡¯m gay?¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er giggled. ¡°You¡¯re not? The way you looked at Brother Su Mu said otherwise.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll learn the reason later,¡± Dai Yueyan said impatiently.


    ¡°Yun¡¯er, don¡¯t say things in public that might endanger your fourth brother¡¯s chance of becoming the crown prince,¡± Long Yue laughed.


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± She looked at Long Yue, and then at Dai Yueyan. Are they trying to keep me out of the loop about their scheme?


    A confident smile appeared on Dai Yueyan¡¯s face. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the screen before him. He was convinced Su Mu would win, just like he was convinced he would become the crown prince and then succeed to the throne. He was strong, and he had support from Monster Academy; he had every confidence that he could rule well.


    ¡°Elder Cai, I still don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea,¡± Wu Zhangkong said with a puzzled frown, looking at Elder Cai in box two in the stadium.


    ¡°If an eagle wants to soar in the sky, it needs a storm to provide currents to lift it into heights it could not otherwise reach on its own,¡± Elder Cai said, expressionless.


    ¡°But I fear this storm might be too fierce for them. The students of Monster Academy are older and much stronger.¡±


    ¡°You know the Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao, and you know he was one of the Shrek Seven Monsters and the Master of the Sea God''s Pavilion. But do you know how he did it?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong was taken by surprise.


    ¡°When he was young, he and his friends went to take part in a tournament as substitutes for seven older students to get some experience,¡± Elder Cai continued. ¡°Unfortunately, the seven older students got caught up in the blast caused by the self-destruct of an evil soul master and were put out of commission.


    ¡°Then the Spirit Ice Douluo and his friends stepped up at that crucial moment and took on opponents who were much older and stronger.¡±

 Chapter 626 - Monsters Make History

    Chapter 626 - Monsters Make History


    ¡°As young as they were, their unwavering determination to fight for the honor of Shrek Academy got them through unimaginable challenges,¡± said Elder Cai. ¡°Their relentless efforts paid off when they finally took the championship. Then, as a reward, the academy made them that generation¡¯s Shrek Seven Monsters.¡± She paused a moment and asked, ¡°What¡¯s our school¡¯s motto?¡±


    ¡°Shrek Academy only raises monsters,¡± Wu Zhangkong answered.


    ¡°And monsters make history,¡± said Elder Cai.


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes widened. Now he understood.


    Elder Cai stood up and went to the window to look down at the stages below. ¡°Their opponents are indeed surprisingly strong, but then again, what¡¯s a better way to reach your full potential than fighting with a worthy opponent? If they can secure a championship in the tournament, I¡¯ll nominate them for this generation¡¯s Shrek Seven Monsters.¡±


    Hearing this, even Wu Zhangkong couldn¡¯t keep his calm. ¡°But the rule says only inner court students¡­¡±


    Elder Cai smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t really think they are here on an exchange trip, do you? They will be qualified for the inner court when they get back. This generation¡¯s Shrek Seven Monsters has been up in the air for too long. The Pavilion Master is waiting for history-making candidates. Now is their chance. How far they can go is up to them. Their potential outweighs the results of the tournament.¡±


    Tang Wulin stepped onto the stage slowly, his attention more focused with every step he took. Pressure could always stimulate the latent power of his body.


    Su Mu was dressed in his red uniform, standing far away from Tang Wulin, his hair hanging loose behind his head. He looked relaxed and suave for his age.


    Then a serious look dawned on his face when he saw Tang Wulin.


    They eyed each other warily.


    The fact that Tang Wulin was a delegate and that he had defeated a one-word battle armor master the other day made Su Mu take him seriously.


    The judge walked to the center of the stage, didn¡¯t bother with the rules ¨C since they had been explained in the first round ¨C and raised his right hand. ¡°Get ready¡­ Begin!¡± he declared, stealing a compassionate glance at Tang Wulin. He felt anyone fighting Monster Academy in the preliminaries deserved his compassion.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes shone with a golden light right away. He stomped the ground with his left foot and shot forward.


    Su Mu¡¯s lips curved in a faint smile. Five soul rings appeared around him, all of them purple. He didn¡¯t have any ten-thousand-year soul rings, but still, Tang Wulin could sense he was very strong.


    Su Mu¡¯s hair turned white in an instant, his ears growing larger and pointier. More amazingly, five long tails appeared, white and fluffy. Each one was longer than he was tall, and the tips of his hairs were faintly bluish-gray.


    Then his five purple rings flowed down to his tails, with each one around one tail, dying them a magnificent purple.


    He put his arms to the sides slowly. His left-most tail moved slightly, and a white ring of light appeared. As the ring sped towards Tang Wulin, it grew bigger and bigger. When it reached him, it was already over 15 meters in diameter.


    Without hesitation, Tang Wulin slashed at the white ring of light with his right golden dragon claw. Yet nothing happened. It didn¡¯t work. The white ring fell over him and landed on the ground.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin felt the air around him clinging to him like mud, slowing him down dramatically.


    This is¡­ a speed-reducing ring! Such a powerful area control skill is just his first soul skill?!


    Tang Wulin frowned. Apparently he is a control-type soul master, and his control skills are probably the strongest in their group.


    He took a deep breath, his golden eyes shining brighter. He stomped the ground with his left foot again, faint golden light exploding from his foot when it smashed into the ground. His speed shot up.


    He was fighting the speed-reducing ring by brutal force. He had to shorten the distance between them, as normally control-type soul masters were much easier to take down in close combat.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s explosive increase in speed didn¡¯t surprise Su Mu at all. Smiling, he watched as Tang Wulin dashed towards the edge of the white ring, and moved his first tail again. A second speed-reducing ring appeared and fell over Tang Wulin right after he got out of the first one. Su Mu strolled away from him, relaxed and calm.


    He was chipping away at Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power and strength. Unlike power-type soul masters, control-type soul masters usually won by wearing down their opponents; they enjoyed the feeling of controlling others.


    Tang Wulin looked grim. He can release these annoying rings so easily, and he can land them around me with great accuracy. It¡¯s going to be a tough fight.


    Then he suddenly stopped running. He stood there, staring at Su Mu, the golden light around him growing faint. These speed-reducing rings won¡¯t hurt me. If I don¡¯t fight it, your plan of wearing me down will unravel.


    A surprised look flashed across Su Mu¡¯s eyes. Few people could stay as calm as Tang Wulin when they were under his control. Even Long Yue defeated me by getting out of my control first. If it¡¯s an attack you want, then an attack you shall have.


    As his second tail moved, another ring of light shot out. Its color was red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple ¨C seven colors in all.


    This dazzling ring was almost as large as the white ones. It was flying over Tang Wulin¡¯s head ¨C clearly Su Mu was still controlling it ¨C so even if he ran, Su Mu would make sure he stood in the center of the ring when it fell on the ground.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t move. He decided to figure out his opponent¡¯s power first and then proceed from there. He was confident that a control-type soul master¡¯s attack wouldn¡¯t be powerful enough to break through his defenses.


    Tang Wulin was only a four-ringed soul master, but what he might lack in soul power, he made up for with Mysterious Heaven Method and his blood essence. He couldn¡¯t have beaten Ling Wuxie ¨C a one-word battle armor master ¨C with his soul power alone.


    As soon as the colorful ring of light fell down, Tang Wulin suddenly felt his soul power being drawn out of his body. He was shocked. Crap! This ring is draining my soul power!

 Chapter 627 - Soul Power-Draining Technique

    Chapter 627 - Soul Power-Draining Technique


    Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power was being drained slowly but surely from his body. He used the power of his blood essence to try to seal off his soul power right away, but still, a minimal amount was leaking out continuously.


    Su Mu¡¯s eyes widened in surprise. He could clearly feel how fast his ring was draining its prey¡¯s soul power. His soul power is dense and solid, which means his foundation is solid. Interesting! Now I get why even Crazy Long thinks highly of him.


    All Monster Eight Kings had nicknames, and Su Mu¡¯s was Fox King.


    His martial soul was a nine-tailed fox, very rare and powerful. Foxes were one of the smartest animals, and Nine-Tailed Foxes were a representation of wisdom. They were powerful and had a natural talent for sensing the natural energies in the air.


    Soul masters with a Nine-Tailed Fox for a martial soul were rare as hens¡¯ teeth. Su Mu¡¯s ancestors were natives of the Star Luo Continent, and his martial soul had once caused a sensation on the Star Luo Continent.


    Every time Su Mu got a soul ring, he grew a tail. And he could get much stronger with more tails. Each tail meant one ability. Tang Wulin had guessed right; Su Mu¡¯s control skills were indeed the strongest among the Monster Eight Kings.


    Dai Yun¡¯er was also a control-type soul master. She was one of the Monster Eight Kings, yet she was not quite qualified; after all, she was too young. That said, she was real talented and much stronger than her peers. Between her talent and her status as the princess, the old eighth member of the Monster Eight Kings had handed over his spot to her more than willingly. She was second only to Su Mu in terms of control skills.


    Su Mu¡¯s control techniques were very powerful. He had once fought a dozen soul masters his age and forced them to yield, because they had used up all their soul power and still hadn¡¯t so much as touched him.


    Tang Wulin decided he had to get out of this soul power-draining ring as fast as he could.


    As he planted his feet sturdily, his first golden soul ring lit up, his muscles swelling, especially his arms. His hands twisted and transformed into a pair of golden dragon claws. He looked bigger and stronger, his aura becoming majestic and mighty.


    Not bad, Crazy Long thought, looking at the screen with interest. Are those dragon claws?


    A dragon¡¯s roar burst out of Tang Wulin¡¯s mouth. Golden scales rippled into existence across his whole body. Golden Dragon Body!


    He stomped the ground with his left foot and pounced forward. His Golden Dragon Body had weakened the speed-reducing effect to the minimum. Now he was only a few steps away from the edge of the white ring.


    Su Mu¡¯s feet moved faster, and then he started running around the edge of the stage, trying to keep as far away from Tang Wulin as he could. In the meantime, he released speed-reducing rings continuously without pausing.


    Tang Wulin gave a snort and reversed the flow of his blood essence. Immediately, his strength got amplified several times. The speed-reducing ring was effective, but not that effective; after all, it was just Su Mu¡¯s first soul skill, and first soul skills were relatively weak. Although every step Tang Wulin was taking was still within a speed-reducing ring, he was gaining on Su Mu. When he got close enough, he stomped on the ground and exploded forth like a cannon ball.


    Su Mu stopped running and looked at Tang Wulin, smiling his arrogant smile.


    When Tang Wulin was only a dozen meters away from him, the soul ring around Su Mu¡¯s third tail lit up and another ring appeared ¨C a dark green one with a radius of five meters. It didn¡¯t fly towards Tang Wulin this time, however, but landed directly around Su Mu.


    By then, Tang Wulin had just arrived at the outer edge of the ring.


    What happened next could only be described as bizarre.


    The instant Tang Wulin shot into the dark green ring, he felt so dizzy and light-headed that everything became a blur. Then he found himself being flung out by a tremendous mysterious force. He got sent flying backwards for several meters before landing on the ground and staggering to a halt.


    Su Mu was still standing there, smiling, his dark green ring radiating queer light.


    What was that strange feeling when I went inside that ring? Tang Wulin wondered, shocked and curious. Could it be¡­ A repelling ring! Yes! It repelled me out like a magnet. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen such a strange soul skill. Monster Academy really lives up to its name.


    This dark green ring was Su Mu¡¯s most powerful defense technique. He was a good control-type soul master when he had two soul rings, but when he got his third soul ring, he became a real badass.


    The repelling ring could repel anything that came into it, be it a tangible object or an intangible attack.


    Su Mu smiled at Tang Wulin and moved his hand towards himself, giving him a look that said, Come get me!


    Tang Wulin reared back his right hand and threw out his spirit refined heavy silver hammer in a flash of light.


    The hammer zipped towards Su Mu with a whistle. But as Tang Wulin had expected, the moment it entered the ring, it got repelled back and towards himself.


    Tang Wulin raised his hand and caught it, saying, ¡°Impressive!¡±


    Su Mu¡¯s second tail moved slightly, and another soul power-draining ring flew out and landed around Tang Wulin, greedily consuming his soul power.


    Tang Wulin stood still, using his Golden Dragon Body to reduce the soul power getting out of his body. Think, Wulin, think! It seems that repelling ring can repel anything, and this wily fox cowers inside his ring, which makes him untouchable. What can I do? Plan A: wait here until his soul power is completely depleted, and then take him down; plan B: use more power to break through his defenses, since even the most powerful techniques have limits.


    Plan A is a bit unrealistic, as he is a five-ringed Soul King. Judging from his refined control over his soul skills, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to deplete his soul power.


    Then that leaves me no choice but to go with plan B. Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes narrowed, shining with brilliant light. He charged towards Su Mu again, but stopped when he reached the edge of the troublesome ring. As he stomped on the ground with his left foot, eight phantom dragons burst from below him. Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!


    Then the phantom dragons pushed him into the ring with violent force.

 Chapter 628 - Su Mu’s Power

    Chapter 628 - Su Mu¡¯s Power


    As Tang Wulin had expected, the repulsive force had limits, and it got stronger the closer he got to Su Mu. If he could overpower this force, Su Mu¡¯s repelling ring would be useless.


    In a flash, the phantom dragons had pushed Tang Wulin two meters into the dark green ring. Although all he could see was a pale blur, he slashed with his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw at the place where he sensed Su Mu was standing.


    Five dark gold beams of light burst forward, tearing through the air. For an instant, Tang Wulin¡¯s dizziness was gone, and he caught the shocked look on Su Mu¡¯s face ¨C clearly he hadn¡¯t seen this coming. Tang Wulin took advantage of this split second and used his Purple Demon Eyes¡¯ spiritual attack, his eyes flashing purple.


    Pain seared Su Mu¡¯s mind into oblivion, and he stumbled back a step. By then the five beams of light were already upon him. But suddenly, his five tails acted independently of his will; they jerked up and gathered in front of him just in time.


    Then Su Mu¡¯s tails and the five dark gold beams of light collided with a boom.


    Tang Wulin had ventured further into the dark green ring this time, so the repulsive force was naturally stronger. He was sent flying over 20 meters before steadying himself on the stage.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin¡¯s attack sent Su Mu flying a couple of dozen meters away before he crashed into the barrier and bounced off. But somehow he fell down slowly like a snowflake, and his big tails helped him steady himself when he hit the ground.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face took on a grave expression. He met my Golden Dragon Dreadclaw head-on! And he¡¯s just a control-type soul master without any armor on!


    Su Mu looked pale. As he watched his hairs falling from his tails, his previous calm gave way to fury.


    There was nothing he cherished more than his tails. He didn¡¯t need to release his martial soul to make them appear; they were a part of his body. To a Nine-Tailed Fox, nothing was more important than its tails. He had been saved from Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, but at the cost of severe damage to his precious tails.


    ¡°Such gruesome power!¡± Dai Yueyan said to Long Yue, worried. ¡°He made the same decision as you did when you fought Su Mu, Boss. Although his power can¡¯t compete with yours, he made a good judgment call. I can¡¯t believe that slash caused so much damage to his tails ¨C they are as strong as normal battle armor.¡±


    The interest in Long Yue¡¯s eyes grew stronger. ¡°Nine-Tailed Foxes are much more frightening when angry. That¡¯s an opinion formed from my own experience. Let¡¯s see if the kid can withstand his fury.¡±


    Su Mu steadied himself and looked down at the hairs on the ground, his previously clear eyes darkening and reddening quickly, his tails growing longer and lashing furiously. The aura emanating from him had completely changed.


    Tang Wulin frowned as he looked at Su Mu¡¯s blood-red eyes and his white tails which had grown twice longer. Because of his Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline, he could tell that it was not Su Mu¡¯s soul skills or martial soul that was emitting such strong pressure, but his bloodline.


    The fox dropped its false courtesy and bared its fangs!


    Suddenly, to Tang Wulin¡¯s astonishment, five rings shot out at the same time as Su Mu moved his tails. He is using five soul skills all at once?! That¡¯s impossible! I¡¯ve never met anyone who is capable of doing such a thing before. Soul skills can only be used one after another. This must be attributed to his queer bloodline.


    Both Tang Wulin¡¯s teammates and Su Mu¡¯s were watching with bated breath.


    The students of Monster Academy had seen Su Mu in this state of fury before. When Su Mu had fought Long Yue, Crazy Long had had to make some sacrifices to withstand this technique. In the end, Su Mu had conceded. Looking at Tang Wulin, they wondered what he would do.


    The first ring of light was a speed-reducing ring, white; the second one was a soul power-draining ring, seven-colored; the third one was a repelling ring, dark green; the fourth one was a soul-eating ring, black; the fifth one was a destructive ring, golden.


    Between the size of the five rings and their flying speed, it was impossible to outrun them under normal circumstances.


    The rings adjusted their positions in the air, overlapped, and then fell down.


    Tang Wulin looked grave as the rings fell. Yet, surprisingly, he didn¡¯t dodge. Actually, he didn¡¯t even move; he just let the rings fall around him and did nothing.


    Suddenly, Tang Wulin felt like his body was being torn apart; even his Golden Dragon Body could barely withstand the pain.


    The effect of the speed-reducing ring had doubled, and so had the effect of other rings. His soul power was being drained twice faster. The repelling ring didn¡¯t repel him this time but made him feel so dazed and disoriented that even his soul power and blood essence were in chaos. Although it was just Su Mu¡¯s third soul skill, it was really useful.


    The soul-eating ring was consuming Tang Wulin¡¯s soul. He felt like his spiritual power was being forced out of his body. The unbearable pain in his head made it impossible for him to think.


    The destructive ring was tearing violently at his body as if with so many invisible hands.


    Tang Wulin started shaking wildly despite himself. His clothes had been torn into shreds, revealing his lean and muscular body, the scales shining resplendently. He was fighting it with all his might, but still, a trace of white soul power was being separated from his body; there was even a faint trace of blood flowing out of him.


    ¡°Captain!¡± Xie Xie shouted, and was about to rush out. But Yuanen Yehui grabbed his arm and stopped him. Although he always bickered with Tang Wulin, they had known each other for many years and were very close.


    Gu Yue¡¯s face darkened, her fists clenched. ¡°Trust him. He must have a plan, or else he wouldn¡¯t have taken on the attack head-on.¡±


    The atmosphere in another waiting area was completely different.


    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± Dai Yueyan said with a sigh of relief. That¡¯s what you get when you make Su Mu angry. Hopefully his tails will heal up soon.


    Dai Yun¡¯er stared blankly at the screen. Watching Tang Wulin suffer, she didn¡¯t feel the pleasure of revenge; on the contrary, she found herself worrying about him.


    Long Yue frowned, thoughtful. The other members of Monster Eight Kings didn¡¯t even look at the screen anymore.


    Su Mu was attacking Tang Wulin¡¯s body, spiritual power, and soul power all at once.


    To be sure, it was a terrifying technique, but¡­

 Chapter 629 - The Suppression of Bloodline

    Chapter 629 - The Suppression of Bloodline


    Numerous golden lights burst out of Tang Wulin¡¯s body. The blood flow towards the edge of the ring came to a sudden halt as he stopped shaking. He tilted his head back and let out a draconic roar, which shook the arena.


    Tremendous pain.


    Yet it was nothing compared to pain of breaking the seals; it was nothing compared to the pain of separating from his parents; it was nothing compared to the pain of forty-nine days of hellish training!


    His eyes had become a resplendent gold. He clashed his two golden dragon claws together. Ding! A golden circle of light appeared and broke the soul-eating ring into pieces.


    Then his scales sprang up and shot out dazzling golden lights, which crashed into the destructive ring and smashed it up.


    A draconic roar erupted from him again. He thrust both palms towards the sky and unleashed a gigantic phantom golden dragon head, whose jaws snapped open and tore the repelling ring into shreds.


    He took a stride, breaking the speed-reducing ring, and took another stride, destroying the soul power-draining ring.


    Emanating golden light, he looked as if he had been reborn. He strode towards Su Mu, his steps firm and vigorous. Is that all you got? You gotta do better than that. Now, it¡¯s my turn.


    Su Mu¡¯s eyes flashed with anger. He flicked his tails again, and another five rings shot out towards Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t break stride. He clashed his claws, and golden lights and the phantom golden dragon head shattered all the rings to pieces once more.


    The students of Monster Academy were thunderstruck. W-what just happened? How did he do that? Nobody can break Su Mu¡¯s rings like that! That¡¯s just impossible!


    A faint golden mist enveloped Tang Wulin, and at almost the same time, a blood-red mist appeared and shrouded Su Mu. They were both very bright, but as Tang Wulin approached Su Mu, the golden haze around him became brighter, but the red haze gradually dimmed.


    ¡°Su Mu¡¯s bloodline has got suppressed!¡± Long Yue exclaimed, disquiet showing on his face for the very first time. He wasn¡¯t able to sense their bloodlines from here, but he could see on the screen that Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline had completely suppressed Su Mu¡¯s.


    ¡°But Su Mu has the Nine-Tailed Fox bloodline in him; how can Tang Wulin possibly suppress that?¡±


    Long Yue narrowed his eyes. ¡°He has a dragon bloodline!¡±


    The dragon, a symbol of power and majesty, had once dominated the world. It could be said that all dragon bloodlines were powerful. Among them, the most powerful ones were related to the Nine Dragon Kings.


    Su Mu¡¯s Nine-Tailed Fox bloodline is undoubtedly one of the most powerful bloodlines, at least on the Star Luo Continent, Long Yue thought, but it¡¯s totally suppressed by Tang Wulin, even though he¡¯s younger and doesn¡¯t have as much soul power as Su Mu. The only explanation is that he has a dragon bloodline.


    ¡°A dragon bloodline?!¡± An expression of panic dawned on Dai Yueyan¡¯s face. If he has a dragon bloodline, then¡­ He looked anxiously at Su Mu.


    As Tang Wulin got closer to Su Mu, the collision between their two different bloodlines became fiercer. The golden light around Tang Wulin was becoming more intense, while Su Mu¡¯s red mist was disappearing.


    Su Mu had had to use the power of his bloodline to activate his five soul skills at the same time. And Tang Wulin had sensed his bloodline when he took his attack head-on; then all he had done was clash his golden dragon claws together to activate the power of his bloodline to suppress Su Mu¡¯s, because he was convinced his bloodline was of a higher tier. If the source of power for Su Mu¡¯s trump card were not his bloodline, Tang Wulin might not have gained the upper hand so quickly. That was the benefit of possessing a high-tier bloodline.


    Tang Wulin stopped about thirty meters from Su Mu, his golden dragon claws shining keenly at his sides. ¡°Use your battle armor or you¡¯ll lose.¡±


    Su Mu regarded Tang Wulin coldly and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m five years older than you. My pride won¡¯t allow me to use my battle armor to defeat you. You won, because your bloodline is more powerful than mine. But when I fight beside my teammates, my pride won¡¯t get in the way. You¡¯ll see my battle armor when I fight you in the team battle.¡±


    With that, he retracted his tails, his blood-red eyes returning to normal. ¡°I concede,¡± he said to the judge.


    Su Mu¡¯s announcement caused an uproar in the audience. Who would have thought that Fox King Su Mu, who ranked third in the Monster Eight Kings, would concede to a boy much younger than him?


    Some people chalked Su Mu¡¯s defeat up to his pride; they believed Su Mu would have been victorious if he had used his battle armor.


    Watching Su Mu leave, Tang Wulin felt a wave of respect and admiration for him. He is an honorable man. He didn¡¯t lose.


    Then he raised his right hand, his claws shining splendidly. I won!

 Chapter 630 - The Truth

    Chapter 630 - The Truth


    Su Mu¡¯s defeat had caused quite a ruckus in the audience. They couldn¡¯t bring themselves to accept the fact that Fox King Su Mu, one of the Monster Eight Kings and the most powerful control-type soul master, was defeated by a boy from the Douluo Continent.


    Su Mu¡¯s calm had returned when he stepped into his waiting area.


    Dai Yueyan walked over to him the moment he saw him. ¡°Su Mu, are you all right? Your tails¡­¡±


    Su Mu shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll recover. Nothing serious. But I lost¡­ I¡¯m sorry, guys.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, and don¡¯t lose heart just because of one minor setback,¡± Dai Yueyan said quickly. ¡°Leave the rest to us; you just focus on getting better. But why didn¡¯t you use your battle armor?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m five years older than him. If I use my battle armor, I lose even if I win.¡±


    Long Yue patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Stop acting like your injuries are nothing. Go back to your quarters and get some rest.¡±


    Su Mu froze for an instant and then nodded, taking his leave.


    ¡°If any of you loses because you underestimate your opponent, then don¡¯t bother coming back to the Monster Eight Kings again,¡± Long Yue said, his voice deep and full of authority.


    Su Mu¡¯s eyes fell. He saw why I didn¡¯t use my battle armor¡­ After all, he¡¯s Long Yue.


    ¡­


    When Tang Wulin got back to his teammates, the ruckus had grown so loud that it could even be heard in the waiting area. He looked around and found all the contestants were staring at him as if he were a monster.


    Xie Xie rushed over to him and gave him a big hug. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you really did it, Captain! You blew my mind!¡±


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. ¡°So you were expecting me to lose, weren¡¯t you?¡± Then he turned to Yue Zhengyue. ¡°Don¡¯t forget my ten-thousand-year spirit item.¡±


    ¡°When did you become so strong? And where did your left golden dragon claw come from?¡± Yue Zhengyu asked, dejected. ¡°He didn¡¯t even use his battle armor, so I wouldn¡¯t say you defeated him.¡±


    ¡°Does ¡®concede¡¯ mean something different where you¡¯re from?¡± Gu Yue sneered. ¡°Do you really think he didn¡¯t want to use his battle armor because of his so-called pride? No, it¡¯s because he couldn¡¯t.¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t understand. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°He underestimated you. It never crossed his arrogant mind that you might touch him. So when you caught him by surprise with your Golden Dragon Dreadclaw, he had to use his tails to block your attack. In consequence, they got badly injured. I believe he needs his tails to wear his battle armor, and the injuries rendered them incapable of wearing it. His overconfidence cost him this match; he had no one to blame but himself. You won fair and square.¡±


    Turns out I overestimated him! Tang Wulin thought, suddenly understanding. Maybe I¡¯m a bad luck magnet, but I¡¯m lucky that people always underestimate me. If Su Mu had put on his battle armor from the beginning, I would use my Bluesilver Emperor to fight him, but I might not have won so easily.


    Yue Zhengyu lowered his head, depressed. A ten-thousand-year spirit item was too expensive even for him.


    ¡°We should leave now. Some people are really steamed that you won,¡± Yuanen Yehui warned. She was the oldest among them and thus the most mature.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin agreed, ¡°Monster Academy is prestigious in the Star Luo Empire; Su Mu¡¯s defeat would be a blow to the people here.¡± Then they wasted no time getting back to their hotel.


    After the second round of the one-on-one competition was over, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and Ye Xinglan had all advanced to the third round. Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi didn¡¯t participate in the one-on-one competition.


    By then word of Su Mu¡¯s defeat had spread far and wide across Star Luo City. They found it unacceptable ¨C even if he hadn¡¯t used his battle armor ¨C because he was one of the Monster Eight Kings.


    ¡°How did he manage to lose to someone weaker than him? It must be the greatest upset in this tournament.¡±


    ¡°You can say that again! Su Mu is the most powerful control-type soul master in the Monster Academy, and his opponent is an assault-type. It¡¯s easy for a control-type to overcome a same-level assault-type. Everyone knows that!¡±


    In the meantime, Su Mu¡¯s opponent¡¯s name was spreading like wildfire throughout the whole Star Luo Continent; people here suddenly remembered Shrek Academy ¨C the number one academy on the Douluo Continent.


    It was the first battle between the two academies, and the winner was the Shrek Academy.


    Some angry people chose to let off steam by hurling insults at the Shrek Academy and even attacking the Grand Star Luo Hotel; the military had been called in to deal with the riot.


    But there were also people who kept their heads and were analyzing this match.


    ¡°Hello everybody! Welcome to the Continental Young Elites Tournament! I¡¯m your commentator, Fang¡¯er. I want to take a few minutes and talk about the match between Su Mu and Tang Wulin. I know many of you are upset about the result, but please calm down and show the people from the Duoluo Continent that we¡¯re a country of friendly and welcoming people.¡±


    Fang¡¯er was a beautiful lady, and she had an important position among the soul masters on the Star Luo Continent. But that was not because she was a powerful soul master. In fact, she was not a soul master ¨C she had no soul power; she was not even a Soul Guide Master.


    Yet she was fascinated by soul masters. She had dedicated her life to the relevant research. In over ten years, she had taught herself all there was to learn about soul masters. She had a really deep understanding of soul masters, battle armor, and mechas, and she had written many dissertations, which had won unanimous praise from soul masters.


    Since she was really pretty and her commentary was always trenchant and perceptive, she quickly became a famous commentator across the Star Luo Empire.


    At the age of sixteen, she commentated on her first Continental Young Elites Tournament and achieved great success and fame.


    Now, at the age of twenty-two, she was commentating on her third Continental Young Elites Tournament. She was like a goddess to both soul masters and ordinary citizens.


    Fang¡¯er¡¯s voice immediately attracted a lot of people¡¯s attention; they looked up at the soul screens.


    She was wearing a neat white suit. Her hair was tidy, her fair face was a little lean, and her eyes were sparkling. She had two cute dimples in her cheeks which appeared when she smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering why Su Mu lost his match,¡± Fang¡¯er said solemnly. She always believed what she was doing was of great value, and she considered it her most important profession. ¡°Is his defeat accidental or inevitable? I have watched the replay three times. I can¡¯t say I caught every detail of the fight, but I¡¯d like to share my thoughts with you.


    ¡°First of all, I want to remind you that this is just a tournament; please stay calm and don¡¯t bring nationalism into it. And the other thing I want to clear up is that this is just my opinion, not an official statement.¡±


    Then the replay of the match between Tang Wulin and Su Mu started to show on the screens.

 Chapter 631 - Analysis

    Chapter 631 - Analysis


    Fang¡¯er froze the video when Tang Wulin was about to make his first move.


    ¡°Let me briefly introduce the two contestants. The man in the red uniform is Su Mu, also known as Fox King. He¡¯s an inner court student of the Monster Academy and one of the far-famed Monster Eight Kings. His martial soul is the Nine-Tailed Fox, and he has the Nine-Tailed Fox bloodline in him. He¡¯s a rank 54 soul master and the best control-type soul master in all of Monster Academy.


    ¡°The one in the green uniform is Tang Wulin. He is a delegate from the Douluo Continent and a student of the Shrek Academy. His soul power is between rank 41 and rank 43, I think. He has incredible strength, and he¡¯s an assault-type soul master.¡±


    Naturally, she knew much about Su Mu, and she had inferred Tang Wulin¡¯s abilities from his previous matches.


    ¡°From what we know about them,¡± Fang¡¯er continued, ¡°Su Mu should be stronger than Tang Wulin. But there¡¯s another thing I think worth mentioning: Su Mu is eighteen years and eight months old, while Tang Wulin is fifteen years old.¡±


    Hearing this, the audience in the stands went into an uproar again; one didn¡¯t need to be an expert in soul masters to know what this meant.


    Although she knew her commentary would probably offend many people ¨C who took so much pride in the Star Luo Empire that they felt superior in every way ¨C she decided to say everything in her heart. ¡°Yet despite his young age, Tang Wulin proved to be a worthy opponent; and I believe the boy from the faraway Douluo Continent is an even more talented soul master than Su Mu.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s get into the details of this match. There¡¯s no doubt that Su Mu was in control at the beginning.¡±


    The video recommenced rolling. Fang¡¯er explained Su Mu¡¯s soul skills and their effects, making the audience understand Tang Wulin¡¯s reaction better.


    Then the video froze when Tang Wulin was about to unleash his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw.


    ¡°Now Tang Wulin is going to slash at Su Mu with his claw, and that¡¯s the turning point in this match. Because of this one single slash, Su Mu lost this match. Why, you might ask, did he have to block the attack with his tails? Because he didn¡¯t expect the attack from someone who¡¯s weaker than him would render his repelling ring useless. In other words, he was too confident.¡±


    The video was now playing in slow motion. On the screens, five dark gold beams of light shot out of Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Dreadclaw and bit deep into Su Mu¡¯s five tails.


    The audience could see clearly how the frightening beams of light cut through Su Mu¡¯s dense fur and went at least halfway into his tails. Su Mu¡¯s face twisted in agony.


    ¡°And yes, Su Mu immediately went all out after Tang Wulin¡¯s attack, but it was already a little too late. His martial soul is the Nine-Tailed Fox, and he derives his power from his tails, but he couldn¡¯t, not when they had been severely injured. He didn¡¯t use his battle armor, because the condition of his tails left him incapable of wearing it. So when Tang Wulin managed to force his way through the five rings, he gave up.


    ¡°In conclusion, it was not his opponent that did Su Mu in; it was his overconfidence. I don¡¯t know if things could have been different if Su Mu had been more cautious and used his battle armor when he could, because I haven¡¯t seen Tang Wulin¡¯s full power. Speaking of Tang Wulin¡¯s power, we haven¡¯t figured out what his martial soul is, and we still don¡¯t know why he has two golden soul rings. Hopefully the following matches will answer our questions. By the way, I¡¯ll be commentating on Tang Wulin¡¯s every match from now on.


    ¡°We need to look on the bright side. This misfortunate has got us thinking about our shortcomings. We might stumble, we might fall, but we always get back up!¡±


    She gave an encouraging smile at the end of her commentary.


    Some people disagreed with her, and some even called her names, because they thought she had overestimated Tang Wulin¡¯s skills. But most people could see that she was spurring the Monster Academy, and that she was warning all the contestants from the Star Luo Empire that the young students of the Shrek Academy should not be trifled with.


    Her commentary was a terrible blow to Su Mu¡¯s pride ¨C she had exposed the lie he had told when he conceded to Tang Wulin.


    The Shrek Academy group was also watching Fang¡¯er¡¯s commentary on the soul screen hanging on the wall in the hotel lobby.


    ¡°That¡¯s some insightful observations she has made!¡± exclaimed Xie Xie.


    Tang Wulin nodded his agreement. ¡°She has sharp eyes. We need to be more careful from now on and conceal our abilities as best as we can. If they find out more about us, it won¡¯t be easy to win the tournament.¡± Even his seemingly easy victory today came at a price, albeit a small one. If Su Mu had taken me more seriously¡­ Anyway, he¡¯s out. We don¡¯t need to worry about him for now. Our most formidable rival is Long Yue. Just thinking about him makes my hand shake.


    Under the pressure of public opinion and the Monster Academy, everyone went back to their respective quarters to train, except for Ye Xinglan. She had another mission to complete ¨C making battle armor for her teammates. She was accumulating experience in the process, trying to get the hang of it. She was quiet and tenacious; she never gave up. More likely than not, she would beat her teammates to becoming the first one-word battle armor master.


    Su Mu suffering an upset had spiced up the tournament. The government had sent in the military to maintain order but hadn¡¯t made any official statements though.

 Chapter 632 - The Two-on-Two Round Robin

    Chapter 632 - The Two-on-Two Round Robin


    Su Mu was sitting cross-legged on his bed with a painful expression on his face, his five big tails moving softly. The hideous, deep cuts on them contrasted sharply with his dense, silky fur. One tail of his had almost been severed by a horrible wound; it looked as if it might snap off any minute.


    Faint red light danced around his wounds, accelerating the healing process, but it must be really hurting, from the way he was grimacing.


    Opposite Su Mu sat the fourth prince of the Star Luo Empire, Dai Yueyan, also known as Tiger King. He was one of the Monster Eight Kings as well. His hands twitched and curled up into fists, his breath heavy and ragged. He had never got so angry in a long time.


    He was absolutely shocked by what he was seeing. He hadn¡¯t thought that Su Mu¡¯s tails had sustained such severe damage, and he suddenly realized why he hadn¡¯t used his battle armor.


    Losing this match was a huge blow to Su Mu¡¯s confidence, and it made the Monster Academy look bad.


    The situation was bad enough for them, but Fang¡¯er¡¯s remarks made it even worse. Although she said it was just her opinion, Dai Yueyan was convinced that his father was behind it. Knowing Father, he must be using her to put pressure on us to win. The Monster Academy is funded by the government, and clearly Father is not happy with our performance.


    Tang Wulin! I¡¯ll make you regret what you have done! Dai Yueyan¡¯s eyes flashed with anger.


    The second round of the one-on-one competition lasted two days. Half of the contestants had been eliminated. However, there would be a few more rounds of knockout matches until the remaining number of the participants totaled 128. Then they would be divided into eight groups and compete in a round robin. The top eight of each group would advance, so a total number of 64 participants would take part in the final knockout stage.


    So to win the one-on-one championship, one would have to compete in at least 20 matches. The tournament was very lengthy ¨C it would last about two months.


    The two-on-two and team battles would follow the similar rules as those of the one-on-one competition. But since there were far fewer teams participating in the two-on-two and team battles, they wouldn¡¯t take as many days as the one-on-one competition would.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s unlucky streak finally came to an end after the second round of the one-on-one competition. After ten days of fighting, he cruised to the round robin without having to compete against anyone on a par with him, and so did his teammates.


    And the four teams of the Shrek Academy had all made it to the round robin of the two-on-two competition. In total, 64 teams had advanced, and they had been divided into eight groups. Only the top two teams of each group would gain the chance to compete in the final knockout stage.


    As for the team competition, 32 teams had made it to the round robin, including Tang Wulin¡¯s. They had also been divided into eight groups, but only one team in each group would advance to the final knockout stage.


    The one-on-one round robin was not for another two days, but the round robin of the two-on-two and team competition had already started.


    ¡°We have a team match in the afternoon, so try to save your strength and soul power if you can while fighting your two-on-two match in the morning, and try not to get hurt,¡± said Tang Wulin. He had become more level-headed than before.


    They were participating for the first time in such a large-scale tournament. After a dozen days of fighting, they had got used to the atmosphere in the stadium.


    Tang Wulin was under the most pressure, because the audience booed him as soon as they spotted him, even though he couldn¡¯t hear them once he got on the stage.


    That commentator, Fang¡¯er, was a woman of her word ¨C she was commentating on Tang Wulin¡¯s every match like she had promised. Her remarks were perceptive and insightful.


    Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t really unleashed his Bluesilver Emperor so far; he had only used his staggering strength empowered by the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline to fight.


    64 teams would compete in the two-on-two round robin, and they had been divided into eight groups, so each group had eight teams. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were in the same group as Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui. That was the good news. The bad news was a team from the Monster Academy was also in their group. The rule was that only two teams would advance, which meant one of the three teams would be eliminated.


    The Monster Academy¡¯s team in their group consisted of a man and a woman. Tang Wulin had watched their matches. The man¡¯s name was Hua Lantang, an assault-type soul master; the woman¡¯s name was Ye Zhi, a support-type soul master, and she was the only support-type in the Monster Eight Kings. They both had five soul rings, and although Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t seen them use battle armor, he was pretty sure they were both one-word battle armor masters. It sure won¡¯t be easy to defeat these two, thought Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin noticed that only three teams from the Monster Academy were competing in the two-on-two round robin.


    The second team comprised Su Mu and Dai Yueyan. Su Mu was a control-type, while Dai Yueyan was an assault-type. They had developed excellent teamwork and made a powerful team.


    To Tang Wulin¡¯s astonishment, Long Yue and Dai Yun¡¯er made up their third team. Why did he choose the weakest one in the Monster Eight Kings to be his partner? Tang Wulin wondered. Then the answer hit him. He¡¯s helping her up her fame and battle experience. And he is more than capable of undertaking that job. He has defeated their opponents with ease even without Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s assistance.


    Dai Yueyan and Su Mu were not in the same group as any of the teams from the Shrek Academy, while Long Yue and Dai Yun¡¯er were in the same group as Xu Xiaoyan and Yue Zhengyu. The current situation is better for us than it is for the Monster Academy, Tang Wulin thought. Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi will advance with no problem, and so will Xu Xiaoyan and Yue Zhengyu. The only problem is Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie. If they want to advance, Gu Yue and I will have to defeat Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi in a short time, because if they end up with the same number of wins as Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie, the team that lasts longer before getting defeated will advance.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s first two-on-two match started, and their rivals were no other than Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi.


    As always, Tang Wulin¡¯s opponents were strong, only this time, he didn¡¯t have to face them alone. And somehow he felt much more confident with Gu Yue standing by his side. We will win! Tang Wulin told himself.


    This match was expected to be one of the greatest two-on-two matches in this round, and some even believed it would decide which team was the strongest in this group.


    Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi had entered the stage. The former was a plain-looking man of average stature. There was nothing about him that could possibly please or interest anyone, except for his school uniform.


    As for Ye Zhi, she was very pretty, like Dai Yun¡¯er, only she was more mature ¨C due to her age ¨C like a blossoming flower.


    They were far from well-matched in looks, yet she was holding his hand. Apparently, they were not just teammates but a couple.


    He must be really strong if he can make such a talented and beautiful girl like Ye Zhi fall for him, Tang Wulin thought.

 Chapter 633 - Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda

    Chapter 633 - Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda


    As for the other two kings of the Monster Academy, they were both agility-type soul masters. No one knew why they didn¡¯t participate in the two-on-twos.


    If Tang Wulin were to ask Long Yue this question, he would tell him that only the top three spots were meaningful. He had arranged for three teams to compete because he was sure that three teams would be enough. The one-on-one competition was a demonstration of personal strength, and naturally, everyone who could participate would participate.


    Hua Lantang narrowed his eyes and looked at Tang Wulin. He was a very stable person. He had watched Tang Wulin''s previous games and discussed with Su Mu the abilities of this young opponent.


    He and Ye Zhi had been partners for many years, and their teamwork was tremendous. They were called the Power Couple in the Monster Academy. Let me avenge you, Su Mu, thought Hua Lantang


    Ye Zhi''s focus was on the other opponent ¨C she was staring at Gu Yue. They had some knowledge of the skills of the other students from the Shrek Academy, but they knew practically nothing about the girl standing beside Tang Wulin. I¡¯ve only seen her compete in the two-on-twos, and in her previous matches, she did nothing but assist a few times. In most matches, Tang Wulin defeated his opponent alone. But I don¡¯t think the Shrek Academy will randomly choose a student to participate in such an important tournament. Based on the fact that she can team up with the captain of the Shrek Academy group, her power must be extraordinary.


    Fang¡¯er, in a long white dress, was sitting at a VIP table. In front of her stood several soul screens. She had a soul headset microphone on her head and was staring at the screens with burning eyes.


    ¡°Welcome, everyone, to the Continental Young Elites Tournament. My name is Fang¡¯er, and I will be commentating on this two-on-two match today!¡± Her voice was amplified by the microphone so she could be heard in every corner of the stadium.


    ¡°I believe everyone is very interested in this upcoming match. Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi of the Monster Academy versus Tang Wulin and Gu Yue of the Shrek Academy.


    ¡°As for Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi, I¡¯m sure you all know their strength. They are both members of the Monster Eight Kings of the Monster Academy. Hua Lantang is called Wolf King. His martial soul is the Dragon Wolf, the most powerful kind of wolf. He has two different bloodlines: dragon and wolf. Legend has it that a dragon was attracted by a wolf king and had a relationship with it, thus giving birth to the dragon wolves. This kind of martial soul is unique to the Star Luo continent and it¡¯s very powerful.


    ¡°Ye Zhi is also known as Tower King; her martial soul is the legendary Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, which can greatly enhance one¡¯s abilities. The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda was the most powerful support-type martial soul 20,000 years ago. She and Hua Lantang make a great team; their outstanding performance won them the second place in the last tournament.


    ¡°As for their opponent, Tang Wulin, he is quite the topic of conversation these days. In terms of soul power, he is weaker than Wolf King Hua Lantang. But since we still don¡¯t know what his martial soul is, the outcome of this fight is anybody¡¯s guess.


    ¡°What interests me more is Tang Wulin¡¯s partner. This girl named Gu Yue has been fighting beside Tang Wulin in the two-on-two competition. She has a fire-type martial soul, I think, since I¡¯ve seen her use a fireball in a match. Other than that, we don¡¯t know anything else about her.


    ¡°I hope Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi will learn from Su Mu¡¯s mistakes and go all out to secure the win.¡±


    The contestants couldn¡¯t hear Fang¡¯er¡¯s commentary because of the barrier. Now Tang Wulin only had eyes for his rivals.


    ¡°Three, two, one, begin!¡± the judge declared.


    The instant the match began, Tang Wulin and Hua Lantang charged towards each other at almost the same time.


    Two golden soul rings appeared around Tang Wulin. A flash of brilliant light, and he activated his Golden Dragon Body.


    By then, five soul rings were revolving around Hua Lantang, four purple and one black. His body was changing rapidly as he rushed. He instantly became more than two meters tall, his muscles swelled, and it was not hair, but purple oval scales that were coming out of his skin. His head became a bit like a wolf''s, with his mouth protruding forward and his fangs white and sharp. As his hands transformed into a pair of razor-sharp claws, his speed suddenly increased.


    He was an agility-type, as well as an assault-type. His speed was definitely comparable to that of an agility-type soul master.


    Ye Zhi and Gu Yue were also making their first move.


    As Gu Yue waved her right hand, a large fireball with a diameter of over a foot flew into the sky and shot towards Ye Zhi, who was standing in the distance.


    Ye Zhi¡¯s reaction surprised everyone. Her eyes lit up, and then she thrust out both hands, pieces of armor shining seven-colored light flying out of her storage rings and back onto her body.


    In an instant, Ye Zhi was clad in her colorful armor, shrouded by a seven-colored barrier of light.


    She had put on her one-word battle armor without hesitation.


    The fireball landed on the seven-colored barrier and exploded into a scatter of flames. However, the explosion only caused ripples to form on the surface of the barrier.


    Suddenly, a seven-story pagoda about a foot high appeared in her hand while five purple soul rings started circling around her.


    The legend about the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda was well-known on the Douluo Continent as well as on the Star Luo Continent. It had once been the martial soul of one certain member ¨C a teammate of the god of the sea, Tang San, and the Soft Bone Douluo, Xiao Wu ¨C of the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters. She had been a powerful support-type soul master and had finally upgraded the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda to the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda. She had become a god afterwards.


    She has the same martial soul as a god, Gu Yue thought. Even on the Douluo Continent, no one possesses this powerful martial soul.


    ¡°Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, lend me strength and lend me speed!¡± Ye Zhi shouted. And then two beams of light shot out of the bottom two stories of the pagoda and landed on Hua Lantang.


    All of a sudden, Hua Lantang¡¯s body swelled up again, and his speed surged, casting after images. By then, he was already upon Tang Wulin, slashing down his claws quick as lightning.


    The reason why the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda was awful powerful was because it could enhance abilities. The first soul ring was able to enhance abilities by 20%, the second soul ring, 30%, and the third soul ring, 40%. One more soul ring meant another 10%. So the five-ringed soul master, Ye Zhi, had upped Hua Lantang¡¯s strength and speed by 60%.

 Chapter 634 - The Dragon Wolf

    Chapter 634 - The Dragon Wolf


    Being a five-ringed Soul King, Hua Lantang was strong, and now that his strength and speed had increased by 60%, he had become even more intimidating.


    That was all thanks to the power of the number one support-type martial soul.


    Ye Zhi¡¯s Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda would play a more important part in the team competition. If the abilities of the likes of Long Yue, Dai Yueyan, and Su Mu could be improved by 60%, they would prove to be daunting opponents.


    According to legend, after the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda evolved into the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda, it was even able to bring dead people back to life, which was absolutely incredible.


    Bang! Tang Wulin and Hua Lantang collided head-on.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had slammed into a thick iron plate. The impact sent him falling back a few steps, and Hua Lantang was forced to do the same.


    ¡°Tang Wulin is indeed very strong. Although Hua Lantang¡¯s specialty is not strength, with the help of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, his strength has already surpassed that of a five-ringed strength-type soul master; however, he is equal to Tang Wulin in terms of strength,¡± Fang¡¯er said. She couldn¡¯t hide the surprise in her voice.


    As Hua Lantang¡¯s second soul ring lit up, his eyes turned purple, his speed jumped up, and his claws started shimming a purple glow. Then he turned into seven purple beams of light, shooting towards Tang Wulin. This was his second soul skill ¨C Dragon Wolf¡¯s Killing Spree!


    Tang Wulin was not impressed. He gave a snort, planted his right foot into the ground, and reversed the flow of his blood essence, letting out a draconic roar.


    Despite himself, Hua Lantang¡¯s speed slowed a bit, but still, he was upon Tang Wulin in a fraction of a second.


    By then, eight phantom golden dragons had burst out from below Tang Wulin¡¯s feet. They opened their jaws, gobbled up the seven purple beams of light, and thumped into Hua Lantang, who was then sent flying backwards.


    What?! Ye Zhi was rooted to the spot in shock. Even Fang¡¯er froze for an instant. They did not understand why Hua Lantang¡¯s unbelievable speed and power couldn¡¯t break through Tang Wulin¡¯s defenses.


    Ye Zhi immediately recovered from her shock. She and Hua Lantang had been partners for years; they could read each other¡¯s minds without even trying. At this point, there is no need to gauge his power.


    ¡°Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, lend me soul power and defensive power!¡± Ye Zhi shouted. Then two beams of light shot out of the third and fourth stories of her pagoda.


    Her third and fourth soul skills could increase soul power and defensive power respectively.


    The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda had one drawback though: it couldn¡¯t be empowered by battle armor; perhaps that was because it was already powerful enough. But her battle armor was still able to enhance her soul power as well as defensive power, and therefore, she could use the extra soul power to make the effect of her soul skills last longer.


    The moment the two beams of light landed on Hua Lantang, his soul power and defensive power surged up. Then he made a quick decision. I won¡¯t make the same mistake as Su Mu did.


    He thrust out both hands, and pieces of armor flew out of his bracelets and towards his body.


    Even Hua Lantang himself couldn¡¯t begin to understand why his second soul skill had got completely countered by Tang Wulin¡¯s technique. He felt a quiet sense of fear in front of Tang Wulin, which led to him unable to unleash his full power. If not for Ye Zhi¡¯s Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, this match might have become one-sided.


    That said, with his speed, strength, soul power, and defensive power having been increased by 60% and the aid of his battle armor, Hua Lantang had every confidence that he would win.


    Yet things didn¡¯t always go as planned.


    All of a sudden, a beautiful hand with slender fingers appeared on Hua Lantang¡¯s shoulder. Then with a flash of silver light, they both disappeared.


    The pieces of armor were still floating in the air, since they couldn¡¯t find their owner.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin¡¯s real soul rings ¨C three purple and one black ¨C appeared for the first time in front of the audience. And an instant later, countless thick and dark blue vines shot up into the air and formed a large net around Hua Lantang¡¯s battle armor. It quickly captured every last piece of it, tightening.


    Although normal one-word battle armor was connected with its owner¡¯s bloodline and soul power, it took time to put on.


    Because their opponents were likely to be battle armor masters, it was natural for Tang Wulin and his teammates to come up with some tactics.


    And this tactic they were using now was designed to deal with the Monster Eight Kings exclusively.


    Of course, that beautiful hand was Gu Yue¡¯s. She couldn¡¯t have teleported Hua Lantang to her side, since he would have resisted. So she timed it perfectly and teleported him away.


    With his battle armor trapped in the net, Hua Lantang couldn¡¯t put it on.


    The audience was gaping at the stage; they had never seen such an ingenious tactic before.


    Hua Lantang felt dizzy and disoriented when he reappeared a second later. He looked around to get his bearings and suddenly found Gu Yue standing beside him. He roared and slashed at Gu Yue¡¯s shoulder with his sharp claws.


    But Gu Yue showed no intention to move, her lips curving in a smile. A flash of silver light, and Tang Wulin appeared before her with a draconic roar. Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Hua Lantang might not know why his martial soul got suppressed, but the same thing couldn¡¯t be said for Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    When Tang Wulin had learned that his opponent possessed a dragon bloodline, he had already figured out how to fight in this match.


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline had never once let him down ever since it awakened in his body. His opponent was bound to be suppressed by him, as long as they had a dragon bloodline. And the weaker they were, the stronger the suppression. Although there was a gap in cultivation between him and Hua Lantang, this gap was not too big. Besides, he had broken the fifth seal, and consequently his Golden Dragon bloodline had become stronger. It was natural that he could suppress Hua Lantang.


    Boom! The phantom dragon head slammed into Hua Lantang directly.


    Increased as his defensive power had been by the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, he staggered back seven or eight steps before he finally steadied himself.


    Yet then he found himself staring at a large blue fireball only inches away from him.


    Boom!


    Hua Lantang¡¯s third soul ring lit up right away, his scales giving off an odd hue. He had unleashed his third soul skill ¨C Diamond Dragon Wolf! Then he jerked his arms up just in time to block the explosion. Blue flames engulfed him, only to go out quickly.


    Between the assistance of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda and the defensive power of his Diamond Dragon Wolf, he had managed to withstand Gu Yue¡¯s blue fireball.


    By then another beam of light had arrived at Hua Lantang. It was Ye Zhi¡¯s fifth soul skill ¨C attack power increasing.


    Now Hua Lantang looked as if he were enveloped in purple flames, his eyes deep purple, his arms swelling up. A rapid blur of movement, and he had already moved past Tang Wulin and was about to slash at Gu Yue with his razor-sharp claws.

 Chapter 635 - Controlling the Match

    Chapter 635 - Controlling the Match


    With his speed, strength, attack power, defensive power, and soul power having increased by 60%, Hua Lantang believed he was now strong enough to rival a six-ringed Soul Emperor even without his battle armor. I don¡¯t care what kind of trick you¡¯re pulling on me. Your power can¡¯t hold a handle to mine!


    He slashed at Gu Yue, for he was irritated by her annoying techniques.


    ¡°Your opponent is me!¡± Tang Wulin thundered. He knew his speed couldn¡¯t compare with Hua Lantang¡¯s, but what he lacked in speed, he made up for with the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step. A blur of movement, and he was already in front of Gu Yue. Immediately, he thrust out his claws. Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s dragon claws and Hua Lantang¡¯s wolf claws crashed into each other, and the impact sent them both backing off a few steps. Hua Lantang looked shocked. His power is still on par with mine?!


    But Hua Lantang didn¡¯t let his shock sway him for long. His eyes brightened as his fourth soul ring started shining. He raised a hand and summoned a phantom dragon, and then, a grayish black dragon came out of his back, fused with the phantom dragon, and turned into an Armored Dragon. It stopped being translucent and started taking on a lifelike form, charging towards Tang Wulin.


    All of this happened while Hua Lantang was backing off, and he had fused his soul spirit with his soul skill.


    He is one of the Monster Eight Kings all right, Tang Wulin thought, but that technique is not enough to beat me! As he emitted a deep, loud roar, a giant phantom dragon head appeared. It snapped open its mouth and sank its large teeth into the Armored Dragon. The poor creature uttered a sharp, piercing cry of pain, struggling to writhe out of the dragon¡¯s mouth.


    Yet its efforts were of no avail. A dark golden radiance, and the Armored Dragon collapsed with a loud crack and then got swallowed by the phantom dragon head.


    Hua Lantang coughed up a mouthful of blood, his third and fourth soul rings breaking into pieces.


    Theoretically, soul rings¡¯ breaking meant the corresponding soul spirit was dead for good; but Hua Lantang¡¯s soul spirit couldn¡¯t have been killed, not when he was still very much alive. Yet due to some unknown reason, his two soul rings somehow collapsed with the Armored Dragon.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t understand what had just happened either, but this was too good a chance for him to miss. He jerked out both hands and made a pulling motion, dragging Hua Lantang towards him with a tremendous force.


    Ye Zhi was distraught, but she was too far away to assist her dearest. She had done all she could; at this point she could do nothing but pray.


    With his third soul ring broken, the defensive power provided by his Diamond Dragon Wolf was gone. In desperation, Hua Lantang roared and unleashed his fifth soul skill ¨C Dragon Wolf Annihilating Claws. His claws had turned pitch-black, and they had a special effect of disintegrating anything they touched. This was his most deadly weapon, but he wasn¡¯t about to use them to block Tang Wulin¡¯s golden claws. Instead, he slashed at Tang Wulin¡¯s chest, in the hope of taking him down with him.


    At this crucial moment, Tang Wulin turned his head in the direction of Ye Zhi.


    Right now, Ye Zhi was too worried about Hua Lantang to consider Tang Wulin¡¯s action strange. When she met his eyes, a wave of energy went inside her head and scrambled her brain, making her lose control of her soul power. Thus, the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda stopped working. She got over her daze and realized what she had done in just a second.


    Yet a second was all Tang Wulin needed.


    In this second, Gu Yue teleported behind Hua Lantang, thrust out her hand, and delivered a forceful blow to his back. Tang Wulin¡¯s second golden soul ring lit up for the first time in this tournament, his scales shining resplendently.


    Hua Lantang brought his claws down at Tang Wulin¡¯s chest, but much to his shock, they didn¡¯t so much as leave a scratch on it. Their special effect wasn¡¯t triggered or didn¡¯t work. Tang Wulin¡¯s scales shone brilliantly, dazzling Hua Lantang.


    By then, Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claws had shot out. But before they bit into Hua Lantang¡¯s flesh, Tang Wulin straightened his fingers and struck him on the chest with both palms.


    Boom! The impact sent Hua Lantang flying backwards and caused him to spit out a mouthful of blood in mid-air; he could even hear the sound of his bones breaking.


    All of this happened in the blink of an eye. And only a few minutes had passed from the moment the match started.


    The stadium fell deathly silent. Fang¡¯er¡¯s fast commentary ceased abruptly, because even she hadn¡¯t seen clearly what had just happened.


    Hua Lantang hit the ground with a dull thud, unconscious. Desperate beams of light from the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda reached him, but unfortunately, they possessed no power to heal.


    Without the assistance of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, Hua Lantang¡¯s defensive power had decreased drastically. If Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t held back, he would have breathed his last.


    Gu Yue turned to Ye Zhi, a huge fireball forming in her hand.


    ¡°I concede!¡± Ye Zhi called without the slightest hesitation. She knew she had no chance of winning at this point, but even if she had a very good chance, she would have done the same. This was just a competition, and even the championship was nothing compared to her love¡¯s life. Her heart leaping up into her mouth, she hurriedly deactivated the barrier around her, ran to Hua Lantang, and checked him carefully.


    The barrier around the stage opened, and medical teams rushed over to Hua Lantang to tend to his wounds.


    Tang Wulin released the pieces of battle armor from his net, and they flew towards their owner and landed quietly beside him.

 Chapter 636 - Battle Experience

    Chapter 636 - Battle Experience


    Tang Wulin turned to face Gu Yue and smiled, raising his hand. Gu Yue smiled back knowingly and slapped his hand, giving him a high five.


    Sitting at her VIP table, Fang¡¯er regained her composure and exhaled a long breath. ¡°That was a one-sided match. Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi lost, yes, but they fought well. I wasn¡¯t aware Tang Wulin and Gu Yue had such tremendous teamwork.¡±


    Su Mu underestimated Tang Wulin and lost, Fang¡¯er thought, but Hua Lantang didn¡¯t underestimate him and went all out, however, he still got totally dominated. This boy from the Shrek Academy has defeated two members of the Monster Eight Kings. There¡¯s no way luck alone could have gotten him this far in such a big tournament. Is his martial soul a plant-type? Or does he have twin martial souls? If he doesn¡¯t, then how to explain those strange golden soul rings of his?


    Expert as she was in soul masters, she couldn¡¯t account for Tang Wulin¡¯s abnormally strong power; she felt like she was missing an important piece of information. She sat quietly, musing on the match.


    Long Yue rubbed his chin, thoughtful, amusement glimmering in his eyes.


    Dai Yueyan was shocked; he couldn¡¯t believe that their Power Couple lost to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. ¡°Why do I get the sense that Hua Lantang was hiding power? He is a wolf but he punched like a dog!¡±


    ¡°He wasn¡¯t hiding power; he got suppressed,¡± Long Yue replied. His deep, powerful voice immediately attracted the attention of all the students from the Monster Academy.


    ¡°Tang Wulin¡¯s draconic bloodline suppressed Hua Lantang too?¡±


    Long Yue inclined his head slightly. ¡°I believe so. You remember his golden rings and claws, right? That¡¯s the power of his bloodline, I think. He might be a four-ringed Soul Ancestor, but as likely as not his bloodline is the most powerful I¡¯ve seen. That¡¯s why he could have suppressed Su Mu¡¯s Nine-Tailed Fox bloodline.¡±


    ¡°Is his bloodline more powerful than yours, Brother Long?¡± Dai Yun¡¯er asked out of curiosity.


    Long Yue laughed. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell. But bloodline isn¡¯t everything to a soul master; cultivation level is also very important. Tang Wulin¡¯s low cultivation level will be his undoing. By the way, did you see his partner¡¯s power? Her well-timed assists helped Tang Wulin win the match. She used the fire element and the space element. I bet she has a large amount of spiritual power.¡±


    ¡°Tang Wulin¡¯s partner? Gu Yue?¡± asked Dai Yun¡¯er.


    Long Yue nodded. ¡°She used her teleportation technique continuously almost without any pause. It¡¯s not something that any space-type soul master can do. And it was not her full power. I don¡¯t know if you noticed, but her soul rings didn¡¯t appear.¡±


    ¡°I noticed that,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er replied, ¡°and I also noticed that Gu Yue teleported Hua Lantang away before he could put on his battle armor. Their wicked scheme succeeded. If Hua Lantang had put on his battle armor, he might have won, even if his bloodline was suppressed. The Shrek Academy is playing dirty! How despicable!¡±


    Long Yue laughed again. ¡°That¡¯s not playing dirty; that¡¯s playing smart. The students of the Shrek Academy are really extraordinary. The number one academy on the Douluo Continent, huh? Let¡¯s show them what we¡¯re made of.¡±


    After emergency medical treatment, Hua Lantang was carried off the stage. His injuries were serious ¨C eight of his ribs broken and some internal organs damaged ¨C but he would live; he just needed time to recover.


    Tang Wulin had managed to control the power in that attack perfectly, which had rendered Hua Lantang out of commission without killing him. Although he could have killed him without being held responsible, he was a delegate from the Douluo Continent and killing people here would cause animosity between the two continents; besides, Hua Lantang had been just his opponent and not an enemy.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue¡¯s victory had undoubtedly boosted the morale of their teammates; they had proved that one-word battle armor masters were not all that formidable. One-word battle armor might be strong, but it had a fatal flaw: unlike two-word battle armor, it wasn¡¯t able to fuse with its owner, so it needed time to put on; besides, almost all battle armor masters had a certain degree of dependence on their battle armor, so if their battle armor somehow got taken away, they might get shaken or panicked.


    When Tang Wulin and Gu Yue saw the opportunity to prevent Hua Lantang from putting on his battle armor, they had taken it. It had been a simple but effective tactic. Of course their opponents would be more cautious in the following matches, but they had achieved their goal: they had successfully eliminated the threat to Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie.


    The audience slowly recovered from their shock. They looked at Tang Wulin but didn¡¯t boo him this time.


    ¡°He is young, but he won again.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he is much stronger than he looks.¡±


    ¡°The two students of the Monster Academy didn¡¯t even break through his defenses. He was totally in control of this match.¡±


    The next match started, but Fang¡¯er had only come here to commentate on Tang Wulin¡¯s match, so she just sat there, watching the replay over and over again. She fixed her eyes on the screens, absorbing every detail of the match.


    She was shocked when she saw Tang Wulin turning his head to look at Ye Zhi. Hua Lantang¡¯s powerful fifth soul skill is upon him, but it seems he doesn¡¯t even care. He is so confident in his defensive power.


    Wait, what¡¯s that? For an instant his eyes were purple! Fang¡¯er quickly paused the replay, went back a few seconds, and watched that part again. That¡¯s the Tang Sect¡¯s Purple Demon Eyes!


    The Tang Sect was very influential on the Star Luo Continent as well as on the Douluo Continent; in fact, it was much more influential on the Star Luo Continent. Only the best of the best got to join the Tang Sect.


    He used his Purple Demon Eyes on Ye Zhi! That¡¯s why for a second the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda stopped working.


    He netted Hua Lantang¡¯s battle armor to force him to fight without armor on, and then he distracted Ye Zhi to create an opportunity. Hard to believe a boy of fifteen could have pulled all this off. Just how much battle experience does he have?!


    With the benefit of the slow-motion replay, Fang¡¯er could see clearly the expression of calm on Tang Wulin¡¯s face and the look of confidence in his eyes. He never doubted he would win, and his power didn¡¯t fail him. Does your power know no bounds, Tang Wulin? Maybe only the head of the Monster Eight Kings, Dragon King Long Yue, can stop you. But if it comes to that, you will win, even if you lose.


    Tang Wulin came back to his waiting area; his teammates had yet to battle, and he wanted to learn more about the abilities of other contestants.


    He was quite pleased with the result of his match, but he didn¡¯t let the win go to his head. His teammates might not know, but he knew he should chalk this win up to his powerful bloodline. If Hua Lantang hadn¡¯t been suppressed, he wouldn¡¯t have taken him down that easily.

 Chapter 637 - Yue Zhengyu Enters the Stage

    Chapter 637 - Yue Zhengyu Enters the Stage


    If not for my Golden Dragon King bloodline, Hua Lantang would have put me through the wringer even without his battle armor, Tang Wulin thought. Please let the martial souls of the other Monster Eight Kings be dragon-type. At least there is a high possibility that Long Yue¡¯s martial soul is a kind of dragon, since his name is Long Yue[1]. The thought brought a smile to Tang Wulin¡¯s lips.


    Gu Yue nudged him and whispered, ¡°Even if Long Yue¡¯s martial soul is a dragon, you won¡¯t be able to defeat him easily like you did Hua Lantang. He¡¯s awful strong.¡±


    Tang Wulin froze for an instant. ¡°How did you read my mind? Are you a psychic or something?¡±


    Gu Yue giggled. ¡°I suppose you can say that, except I can only read YOUR mind. Come on, Zhengyu¡¯s match is about to start.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan walked up to their stage; it was their first round-robin match.


    In their group, Long Yue and Dai Yun¡¯er were, without doubt, the biggest threat to them, but they didn¡¯t have to face them today..


    Yue Zhengyu took Xu Xiaoyan by her arm, bent his knees slightly, and jumped onto the stage with her. He was all about looking cool.


    Their rivals were two men, who were looking exactly the same, both of them big and muscular. By the look of them, they should be strength-type soul masters.


    Yue Zhengyu leaned over and whispered something in Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s ear. The girl nodded.


    ¡°Another pair of students from the Shrek Academy have just entered the stage; the boy¡¯s name is Yue Zhengyu, and the girl¡¯s is Xu Xiaoyan,¡± Fang¡¯er said. She decided to analyze Tang Wulin¡¯s match after she got back, since it seemed to be more complicated than she had thought. When she saw Tang Wulin¡¯s teammates stepping to the stage, she found herself not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to find out more about the students of the Shred Academy.


    ¡°Yue Zhengyu is also a participant in the one-on-one competition,¡± Fang¡¯er continued. ¡°His techniques are magnificent. He is a four-ringed soul master and possesses a very rare and powerful martial soul ¨C the Holy Angel. We have yet to see his full power though, since he hasn¡¯t run into anyone on a par with him.


    ¡°Xu Xiaoyan didn¡¯t sign up for the one-on-one competition, and we¡¯ve only seen her use her soul skills a few times in the two-on-twos, so we don¡¯t know much about her. But based on the information I¡¯ve learned, she should be a four-ringed control-type soul master. Her martial soul is some kind of magical staff.


    ¡°Their opponents are twins ¨C Lei Xing and Lei Tian. As it happens, I know them. They¡¯re 20 years old ¨C just under the upper age limit for this tournament. Their soul powers are around rank 45. Neither of them has a complete set of one-word battle armor. Their martial souls are the same: the Lightning Axe, a powerful assault-type martial soul. Since they¡¯re twins, their teamwork is bound to be impressive. This promises to be a great match!¡±


    On the stage, Lei Xing and Lei Tian looked grave. There was good reason for this. Strong as they might be, they didn¡¯t hold out much hope for winning, not after seeing Tang Wulin defeat three of the Monster Eight Kings and make a name for the Shrek Academy.


    That said, they would never go down easily without putting up a fight. They were convinced they still had a chance to win, slim as it might be, and they were willing to give it their all to make that happen.


    ¡°Begin!¡± the referee shouted.


    Lei Xing and Lei Tian raised their right hands simultaneously as the same soul rings appeared around them, two purple and two yellow. Then two Lightning Axes appeared in their right hands respectively after two bluish-purple flashes of lightning.


    Their Lightning Axes were about three feet long, with the head occupying half of the length. There were bluish-purple lightning bolt symbols carved in the two axe heads, shining dangerously.


    They brought their Lightning Axes down as their first soul rings lit up, and then two flashes of lightning, which possessed terrifying destructive power as well as high speed, were upon Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan in an instant.


    When the Lei brothers started summoning their axes, Yue Zhengyu moved in front of Xu Xiaoyan, released his martial soul, and spread his wings, his four purple soul rings revolving.


    Holy light had descended around Yue Zhengyu when the two flashes of lightning shot towards him; yet the moment they came into contact with the holy light, they vanished without a trace.


    ¡°Such powerful holy light! Even lightning has been destroyed,¡± Fang¡¯er said, surprised.


    Yue Zhengyu flapped his wings, and in a flash, he had flown across half the stage, his second ring shining, his holy sword in his right hand.


    The Lei brothers were startled; Yue Zhengyu moved so fast that their eyes could barely track his movements. They raised their Lightning Axes, their third soul ring shining. Bluish-purple lightning suddenly appeared around the axes and instantly spread across their bodies, enveloping them in lightning armor.


    It was their third soul skill: Bluish-Purple Lightning Armor.


    Then real pieces of armor flew out of their bracelets and covered their chests, right shoulders, and right arms.


    Do you really have to use your lightning armor AND the battle armor at the same time? Yue Zhengyu thought. Thanks to the Captain, nobody let their guard down now.


    By then Yue Zhengyu was already upon them. He brought his holy sword down, not at the Lei brothers but at the place between them.


    Holy light exploded from his sword, dazzling the Lei brothers, but they quickly squinted their eyes and hacked at Yue Zhengyu with their Lightning Axes.


    With the benefit of their Bluish-Purple Lightning Armor and battle armor, both their defensive power and attack power had increased dramatically. They believed they were now strong enough to take on two five-ringed Soul Kings.


    As Yue Zhengyu slashed down, the Lei brothers were shocked to feel some strange power dragging their bodies towards each other. Their axes slowed a bit, albeit still whistling towards Yue Zhengyu.


    1. Long means dragon in Chinese.

 Chapter 638 - Excellent Teamwork

    Chapter 638 - Excellent Teamwork


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s wings gave off resplendent light as he emanated a mighty aura weighing down on Lei Xing and Lei Tian, further slowing their axes down. Then he quickly took advantage of the opening he had just created, sliding under the axes, speeding past the Lei brothers through the space between them, and bringing his holy sword up towards Lei Tian.


    He didn¡¯t meet their attack head-on like Tang Wulin would have done, but used his agility.


    ¡°Tang Sect secret art: Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!¡± Fang¡¯er blurted out. She sure had keen eyes.


    The audience couldn¡¯t believe their ears; they had never expected Yue Zhengyu to be a disciple of the famous Tang Sect.


    As Yue Zhengyu was charging through the Lei brothers, he stretched his wings, struck their shoulders, and retracted them immediately. The holy light over his wings crashed against the Lei brothers¡¯ lightning armor, creating an impact not strong, but strong enough to cause the Lei brothers to stagger back a step.


    A golden ring had appeared on the ground when Yue Zhengyu started performing his stunts, but the Lei brothers were too preoccupied with Yue Zhengyu to notice it. Even if Yue Zhengyu weren¡¯t keeping them busy, it still wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to notice it, because it was lying behind Lei Xing. Now the impact had forced Lei Xing to step right into the golden ring.


    All of a sudden, golden chains shot out of the ground and bound Lei Xing up like a golden mummy.


    Fang¡¯er turned her head to look at Xu Xiaoyan and found her standing far away from the other three and holding a radiant staff. That golden chain is obviously her soul skill, and she timed it just right for it to capture Lei Xing when he was thrown off balance.


    Lei Xing realized to his shock that no matter how hard he fought against the chains, he couldn¡¯t break them. His lightning armor and battle armor were doing him little good, and his struggles had proved to be a waste of energy.


    Seeing that Yue Zhengyu¡¯s holy sword was about to catch him, Lei Tian swung his Lightning Axe at it while staggering back, in an attempt to block it. At the same time, he looked behind him to make sure he wouldn¡¯t step into a trap like his big brother had done.


    Even a small mistake could cost one the match if one¡¯s opponent was just as strong. Lei Tian was not in Yue Zhengyu¡¯s league, so he couldn¡¯t afford to make the smallest mistake. However, he made one, and a big one at that.


    When Lei Tian¡¯s Lightning Axe met with Yue Zhengyu¡¯s holy sword, the sword vanished, and his blow struck nothing but air. But the holy sword appeared again an instant later and bit through his lightning armor beneath his arm ¨C where there was no battle armor ¨C before he could bring his axe back to block the attack.


    It was one of Yue Zhengyu¡¯s little fighting tricks. He could make his weapon appear and disappear at will. Of course, this trick would consume his soul power, but the benefit was worth it more often than not.


    Lei Tian had made a mistake, and now he was paying the price for it. As Yue Zhengyu¡¯s holy sword bit into his flesh, he felt some kind of energy getting inside him, making him let out a groan of pain. The lightning armor over him disappeared, flames of golden light shrouding his body.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s wings flapped seven times in a split second, generating gusts of wind to feed the flames and lift Lei Tian off the ground. The last time he beat his wings, the gale blew Lei Tian up into the air.


    Yue Zhengyu had whispered to Xu Xiaoyan that they should keep the match simple and quick, in case the twins had a soul fusion skill.


    After taking care of Lei Tian, Yue Zhengyu flew towards Lei Xing, his third soul ring shining brilliantly, a beam of holy light fusing with his sword.


    Lei Xing was still being bound by the golden chains, but even if he weren¡¯t, Yue Zhengyu¡¯s incredibly powerful aura was enough to render him motionless. He thrust the point of his holy sword into Lei Xing¡¯s pauldron. He could have pierced his left shoulder much more easily, since it was not protected by the battle armor, but he had chosen not to.


    ¡°The match is finished!¡± the referee called out urgently. He was entrusted with the responsibility to end a match before anyone got seriously injured or killed.


    The holy sword slid out of Lei Xing¡¯s shoulder, and with it a beam of golden light. Lei Xing fell down onto the ground, badly burnt. If not for his battle armor, he might have been killed.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s wings and sword disappeared. He made a victory sign with his fingers and waved at Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s lips curved in a smile.


    The Shrek Academy cruised to victory again.


    ¡°The Lei brothers might have had a chance to win,¡± Fang¡¯er said, ¡°if they had focused on attacking ¨C which they are pretty good at ¨C rather than defending. Yue Zhengyu is strong and has great battle skills; on top of that, his martial soul is much stronger than the Lighting Axe. As for his partner, she is clearly a powerful control-type soul master. She only used one soul skill, but it proved to be enough to bring this battle to an end.¡±


    Tang Wulin smiled. Zhengyu has grown stronger.


    All of them were growing stronger fast; they were each other¡¯s strength and motivation.


    Yue Zhengyu stepped over to Xu Xiaoyan and gave her a high five. They exchanged a smile and walked off the stage.


    Everyone watching this match had the same thoughts in their minds. The Shrek Academy is so strong! Their matches so far were totally one-sided. They dominated their opponents and beat the hell out of them.


    ¡°Boss!¡± a student of the Monster Academy said to Long Yue with a grave look on his face.


    Long laughed and motioned him to calm down. ¡°The higher they stand, the further they¡¯ll fall. I can¡¯t wait to find out how strong they are. They are interesting rivals; this tournament would have been dull without them, don¡¯t you think?¡±

 Chapter 639 - The Angry Dai Yun’er

    Chapter 639 - The Angry Dai Yun¡¯er


    Long Yue hadn''t fought a rival of his caliber in a long time. Although he didn''t think Tang Wulin or his teammates could compete with him, at least they had proved themselves to be more worthy opponents than other competitors.


    Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi¡¯s match couldn¡¯t have been easier. Xu Lizhi just stood on the edge of the stage, watching Ye Xinglan fight two opponents with ease.


    Her sword techniques were unparalleled. Their match ended faster than that of Le Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan.


    The same went for Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui''s fight, where they completely crushed their opponents.


    All four pairs of the Shrek Academy had won their first two-on-two round-robin match, so they had naturally made their school more famous; they were even starting to appear in the headlines of various media in Star City.


    ¡­


    Sitting at his table on a raised platform, Dai Tianling looked down with a smile at his children at their own tables. He was in a good mood today.


    The heavy state affairs always left him with little time for other things. He loved his family, and one of his favorite things was eating with his children. Watching them growing up every day, he lamented that he was getting old, but at the same time he was filled with joy and happiness.


    It was Dai Yueyan, the fourth prince, and Dai Yun¡¯er, his daughter, who were having dinner with him today.


    The expression on Dai Yueyan''s face was calm and respectful, but Dai Yun''er didn''t even try to hide her emotions and often pouted her red lips.


    "Who made my little princess so angry?" Dai Tianling smiled.


    Dai Yun''er didn''t reply, stabbing the food in her bowl with her chopsticks.


    "You are busy participating in the tournament these days, so the palace has been a little too quiet. I never thought I¡¯d say this, but everyone, including me, seems to be missing your shenanigans. What do we do when you get married and leave us for good?"


    "Father!" Dai Yun''er said, displeased. Her voice was like that of a spoiled child. Dai Tianling couldn''t help laughing.


    Even Dai Yueyan gave a small smile.


    Dai Tianling was right. Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s mischievous behavior always resulted in pandemonium in the palace, but Dai Tianling loved her too much to discipline her.


    "What¡¯s with the pouting face? Did you lose a match?" Dai Tianling asked.


    Dai Yun''er shook her head. ¡°No, but the students of the Shrek Academy didn¡¯t lose a match either. Humph! Their luck will run out when they fight me.¡±


    Dai Tianling had been following the news about the Shrek Academy. He turned to Dai Yueyan and asked, "Yueyan, what do you think of them?"


    Dai Yueyan dared not act like a spoiled child like his little sister. "They¡¯re not weak. That¡¯s for sure, Father,¡± he answered hurriedly and respectfully. ¡°Each of them has their own fighting style; their martial souls are strong. But in terms of power, there is still a certain gap between them and us. You can rest assured that we will spare no effort to defeat them as soon as possible."


    Dai Tianling looked at his son solemnly. "Defeating them is not enough. I hear their average age is 15, and they defeated Su Mu, Hua Lantang, and Ye Zhi. You¡¯re the Monster Eight Kings; how did you let that happen? If you don¡¯t learn from your mistakes, you¡¯re bound to repeat them.¡±


    Dai Yueyan lowered his head, ashamed.


    ¡°Father, I''m also 15 years old, and I¡¯m as strong as any of them, if not stronger,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er put in. ¡°I¡¯ll teach Tang Wulin a lesson. Don¡¯t worry yourself about such trifles, Father. Brother Long Yue could destroy them all by himself even if he were five years younger.¡±


    "Don''t be too proud,¡± said Dai Tianling. ¡°Long Yue is indeed very talented though. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll win the tournament, but it''s just sometimes he can''t control himself when he gets angry. Yueyan, you should remind him not to injure them too much. After all, they¡¯re delegates from the Douluo continent."


    "Yes, Father. I will," Dai Yueyan replied quickly.


    ¡°I asked someone to analyze Tang Wulin''s abilities today,¡± Dai Tianling said.


    Hearing this, Dai Yun''er¡¯s face lit up, looking up at her father attentively.


    Dai Tianling continued, "Tang Wulin''s soul power should be around rank 43. However, his soul power is likely to be much more condensed than that of an ordinary soul master. He possesses strong attack and defensive power, and his body is incredibly strong. He won almost all of his matches with the help of his strong body.


    "His golden rings are similar to soul rings but they are probably not real soul rings. According to the analysis, they¡¯re most likely the power of his bloodline. Perhaps there¡¯s a very strong bloodline inside his body. It''s this bloodline that suppressed Hua Lantang today and contributed to his defeat.


    ¡°And be wary of his martial soul. It looks like some kind of vine, but our analysts have never seen anything like that. His vines are much stronger than normal vines; it¡¯s probably a mutated martial soul, and it mutated because of his strange bloodline.


    ¡°It seems he doesn¡¯t use his mutated martial soul very often, so there is a good chance that it¡¯s his ace in the hole. Considering his age and cultivation level, it¡¯s impossible for him to have a complete set of one-word battle armor, but he¡¯s from the Shrek Academy, so he may have already possessed several pieces. Tell Long Yue not to underestimate him. The fact that they chose him as their captain speaks volumes about his power.¡±


    Dai Yueyan nodded. ¡°Yes, Father. Even Brother Long thinks very highly of him. But he still has a long way to go before he reaches Brother Long¡¯s level.¡±


    Dai Tianling inclined his head slightly. ¡°Try to keep on Long Yue¡¯s good side. It¡¯s important. He¡¯s very talented. I believe he¡¯ll become a four-word battle armor master; he might even become the first demigod of the Monster Academy.¡±


    Awe and yearning suddenly dawned on Dai Tianling¡¯s two children¡¯s faces.


    Dai Tianling turned to his daughter. ¡°Do you like teaming up with Long Yue?¡±


    The princess rolled her eyes. ¡°No! Our opponents were either too cowardly to face us or taken care of by Brother Long alone. I did nothing but watch. It¡¯s so boring.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re complaining about a privilege that everyone wants but can¡¯t get,¡± said Dai Yueyan.


    Dai Yun¡¯er stuck out her tongue at him. ¡°Humph! Beat up Tang Wulin for me, or I won¡¯t speak to you anymore.¡±


    Dai Yueyan shook his head, while Dai Tianling smiled.


    ¡­


    The Shrek Academy group got back to celebrate their victory by having a feast.


    ¡°Captain, slow down a bit! I haven¡¯t even tried that dish yet!¡±


    ¡°Lizhi, you¡¯ll never win, so quit stuffing your face like a pig¡­¡±


    Tang Wulin found his appetite had grown even more gigantic after he broke the fifth seal. It was a good thing, only it was very costly. He found himself missing Mu Ye, or rather his nutritious food, which was exceedingly beneficial to his body. He had become much stronger during the time on the ship.


    Since they were delegates, the food provided for them was quite good, but it couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Mu Ye¡¯s food. Where did Master Mu Ye go? Tang Wulin wondered. Hopefully he¡¯ll get back soon. The training was harsh, but the rewards were great, and I got to eat amazing food.

 Chapter 640 - Bad Luck

    Chapter 640 - Bad Luck


    ¡°I just realized it¡¯s been days since we last saw Teacher Wu and Elder Cai,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said suddenly.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s mind turned from Mu Ye and his heavenly food to Wu Zhangkong. Yeah, where is Teacher Wu? I think I¡¯ve only seen him once since the tournament started. And he didn¡¯t give us any tactical guidance or anything.


    ¡°Let me call him,¡± said Tang Wulin.


    The government here had issued them each with a new soul communicator the moment they arrived at the Star Luo Empire. Tang Wulin took out his and dialed Wu Zhangkong¡¯s number.


    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Wu Zhangkong¡¯s voice was as cold as ever, yet it warmed Tang Wulin¡¯s heart this time. Teacher Wu is alive and well.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been competing in the tournament recently, Teacher Wu,¡± answered Tang Wulin, ¡°and we¡¯re doing pretty well. Do you want to give us some pointers?¡±


    Wu Zhangkong fell silent for a moment. ¡°You haven¡¯t even made it to the knockout stage. What do you need pointers for?¡± Then he hung up.


    ¡°What did Teacher Wu say?¡± asked Yue Zhengyu.


    Tang Wulin told them.


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°Is Teacher Wu being irresponsible, or is he confident that we¡¯ll win?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui put her chopsticks down on the table, thoughtful. ¡°I think he wants us to develop the ability to tackle problems and handle challenging situations by ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Agreed. Yuanen has a point,¡± Xie Xie said right away.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s lips curled in disdain. ¡°You agree with everything Yuanen says.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. So what? You have a problem with that?¡± asked Xie Xie.


    Yue Zhengyu let out a sigh. ¡°No, I don¡¯t have a problem with that. But Yuanen might do. I don¡¯t think she wants a spineless yes-man for a boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so gonna die!¡± Xie Xie jumped over the table and wrapped his hands around Yu Zhengyu¡¯s throat.


    Yue Zhengyu wrenched himself free from Xie Xie¡¯s grasp; he was stronger than Xie Xie when it came to strength.


    Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t so much as glance at them. ¡°I¡¯ve had enough. I¡¯m out of here.¡±


    ¡°Wait for me,¡± Ye Xinglan said, rising to her feet. The two girls were somewhat alike in personality.


    ¡°Teacher Wu is not here with us, but that doesn¡¯t mean we can slack off,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°The following matches will be tougher, but we will get stronger!¡±


    ¡­


    Wu Zhangkong went to the window in his hotel room and stared off into the distance, his face reflective. I have nothing else to teach you. I can only help you this far; the rest of the journey you have to go on your own.


    All the four pairs of the Shrek Academy had won their first two-on-two round-robin match, and they were also victorious in their first seven-on-seven team battle. Now the one-on-one round robin was going to kick off.


    When they checked the competitors in their respective groups, Tang Wulin found that one of the Monster Eight Kings was in the same group as him ¨C the fourth prince, Tiger King Dai Yueyan.


    As for Yue Zhengyu, he had to fight the most formidable competitor in this whole tournament ¨C Dragon King Long Yue. His brows furrowed together when he saw this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, bro. It¡¯s not like only one in each group gets to advance. You can always concede,¡± Xie Xie said, feeling a malicious satisfaction.


    Yue Zhengyu turned to face Xie Xie and gave him a look of frightening seriousness. ¡°I¡¯m a member of the Holy Angel clan. He can defeat me, but he¡¯ll never make me concede. I¡¯m going to figure out his power for you guys.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡±


    ¡°Do I look like I¡¯m joking?¡± Yue Zhengyu snorted. ¡°You sound like I won¡¯t stand a chance. He¡¯s strong, but not that strong. I¡¯ve fought stronger opponents than me and won.¡±


    Xie Xie gave him a thumbs-up. ¡°For the first time, you¡¯ve manned up! I would do the same if I were in your shoes.¡±


    ¡°If you were in my shoes, you¡¯d run with your tail between your legs.¡±


    ¡°Stop bickering, guys,¡± Tang Wulin said, and turned to Yue Zhengyu. ¡°Are you sure you want to take on Long Yue?¡±


    Yue Zhengyu nodded. ¡°If I back down from this challenge now, I might do it again in the future. I cannot allow that to happen. I won¡¯t allow that to happen.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan held up her fist. ¡°I¡¯ll be rooting for you!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu gave her a smile. Fire seemed to be burning in his eyes. Long Yue¡­ A prodigy, huh? Well, guess what? I¡¯m also a prodigy!


    When the matchups were displayed on the screens before the one-on-one round robin started, Tang Wulin and his teammates were shocked to find that Yue Zhengyu¡¯s first opponent was none other than Long Yue!


    ¡°You must have been too close to the Captain,¡± Xie Xie said, ¡°You¡¯ve contracted his bad luck syndrome.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu paid no mind. He frowned; he could feel pressure building up inside of him. He cleared his mind, sat cross-legged on the floor, and started meditating. He wanted to quickly get into his peak condition to fight Long Yue.


    They had watched all of Long Yue¡¯s previous matches, but they hadn¡¯t even seen him release his martial soul! Not knowing how strong he was really terrified them; there was no doubt that he was their most daunting opponent.


    Tang Wulin stood beside Yue Zhengyu, but he was looking at Yuanen Yehui. She is Yue Zhengyu¡¯s classmate, so naturally she knows him better than anyone else.


    Yuanen Yehui frowned and shook her head at her captain.


    They had been together long enough to know each other¡¯s personalities. Yue Zhengyu might look like a playboy, but Tang Wulin knew that he was very proud and persistent deep down; he still remembered that Yue Zhengyu had attacked Yuanen Yehui when he sensed dark energy inside her. Any member of the Holy Angel clan would have done the same thing, because they valued honor even more than their life.


    Twenty thousand years ago, one member of the Holy Angel clan had managed to become a god, even though she had been a bad god and got deposed afterwards. So Yue Zhengyu¡¯s martial soul was also called a god martial soul.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Grass was also a god martial soul, since one of Tang San¡¯s martial souls had been the Bluesilver Grass as well. So obviously not all god martial souls were incredibly powerful from the beginning.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t try to talk Yue Zhengyu out of fighting this match, because he could see from Yuanen Yehui¡¯s eyes that nothing could make him change his mind now. It¡¯s gonna be the most challenging match for him.


    The competition started.


    Only five of them had signed up for the one-on-one competition. Yuanen Yehui was the first to compete; she defeated her opponent with ease. Then Xie Xie and Tang Wulin also came up victorious.


    ¡°Yue Zhengyu and Long Yue, please come onto the stage!¡± the electronic voice said. Suddenly, all the contestants in the same waiting area as Yue Zhengyu looked to him.

 Chapter 641 - The Dragon King

    Chapter 641 - The Dragon King


    It was the third clash between the Shrek Academy and the Monster Academy. Their first two clashes had ended with the Shrek Academy being victorious. If Yue Zhengyu managed to best the strongest student of the Monster Academy, the fame of his school would rocket up again.


    The situation had become critical for the Monster Academy. If even Long Yue, the Dragon King, couldn¡¯t secure a win and stop the Shrek Academy, then this tournament would end early for the Monster Eight Kings.


    Yue Zhengyu opened his eyes and sprang to his feet, his face determined and serious. Then he hid his aura, straightened his clothes, and walked towards the stage.


    His teammates stood up and thumped their left chests with their right fists, watching him leave.


    Yue Zhengyu gave them a smile. ¡°Why the grave faces, guys? Relax. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m gonna die or anything. You just sit tight and wait for me to bring back good news,¡± he said, striding out of the waiting area.


    It was the most high-profiled match so far. The people of the Star Luo Empire were on edge, as even they understood the importance of this match for the Monster Academy, and for all of them.


    The air was thick with tension. Even Dai Tianling, the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, had come to watch this match. Dai Yueyan had assured his father that Long Yue wouldn¡¯t lose and told him this match was as good as won, but nonetheless, Dai Tianling wanted to be here. Because this was a match they could not afford to lose. Now everybody knows they are delegates from the Douluo Continent, Dai Tianling thought, and that their average age is five years younger than that of the competitors from the Monster Academy, which is basically a knockoff Shrek Academy. If we can¡¯t win this tournament, we¡¯ll be under the shadow of the real Shrek Academy forever.


    Alongside Dai Tianling sat a very old man in a queer, white robe, with a bony face and long white hair falling over his shoulders. Despite his age, his eyes were clear and bright, nothing like those of an old man. The surprising thing was not that he was sitting beside Dai Tianling, but that the authoritative vibes emanating from him were even stronger than those given off by the emperor.


    The audience was stunned when they recognized this old man ¨C En Ci, Holy Dragon Douluo, principal of the Monster Academy.


    En Ci was the most powerful soul master in the whole Star Luo Empire, and he was a legend.


    When he first appeared on the Star Luo Continent, he was 30 years old and just a three-ringed soul master; nobody showed any interest in him. However, his legend began when he went to the Monster Academy to take the entrance exam.


    They didn¡¯t let him take the exam at first, of course, because of his age and low cultivation level, but he didn¡¯t give up. He sat at their main gate and told them he would leave if any four-ringed or lower soul master could defeat him. One challenger after another went to fight him, and he beat them one by one. 18 days later, he ran out of challengers, so the Monster Academy had no choice but to enroll him.


    Five years later when he was 35, he managed to become a six-ringed Soul Emperor. Few people knew how he had pulled that off. Increasing the cultivation level by 30 soul power ranks in such a short time was simply unimaginable.


    After another five years, he became a nine-ringed Title Douluo.


    Yet another five years later, his soul power reached rank 95 and he became a Hyper Douluo.


    When he was 50 years old, he became the most powerful soul master in the Monster Academy ¨C a rank 98 Hyper Douluo. He was only a step away from becoming a Limit Douluo.


    Then he started learning to make his own battle armor. He quickly became a blacksmith and a mecha designer and maker. He did all the work by himself, and five years later, he became a three-word battle armor master. Theoretically, without a Divine Blacksmith, creating four-word battle armor was impossible; however, although there was no Divine Blacksmith on the Star Luo Continent, after another ten years, he managed to use his spiritual power, soul power, and rare metals to upgrade his three-word battle armor to a four-word one. It was widely believed he would in time reach rank 99 and become a Limit Douluo.


    It was said that the reason why such a legend had only been a three-ringed soul master when he was 30 years old was because of his weird martial soul. It had taken him over 20 years to get to rank 30. But after that, cultivating had become as easy as pie for him.


    At the age of 45, En Ci had taken over as the new principal of the Monster Academy; as of now, it had been 60 years.


    All the soul masters on the Star Luo Continent held him in very high regard, including the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, Dai Tianling, who had once been his disciple.


    ¡°Master En Ci, what brought you here today?¡± Dai Tianling asked. He hadn¡¯t known En Ci would come and had offered him his seat ¨C the most important seat in the whole stadium of course ¨C when he saw him, but En Ci declined politely.


    En Ci smiled. ¡°I¡¯m here for the same reason as you: to watch this match. Long Yue is a student of mine, and this match is a good opportunity for me to find out how strong the students from the Shrek Academy are. I¡¯ve always wanted to visit the Shrek Academy.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why?¡±


    ¡°To spar with the strong soul masters there. I¡¯ll go there, no matter how this tournament will end. All the principals of the Monster Academy wanted to visit the Shrek Academy, but only a few had the courage. I¡¯m already over a hundred years old and at the peak of my cultivation. I fear if I hesitate, I may lose the courage as well.¡±


    Dai Tianling was taken aback. ¡°There are people even more powerful than you?!¡±


    En Ci nodded. ¡°The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. There is no limit to how far one can go. There is someone I want to see in the Shrek Academy. Hopefully I can learn something from him.¡±


    Dai Tianling¡¯s eyes went wide. He had been under the impression that his master was in a league of his own.


    En Ci smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll win, and maybe it¡¯s impossible for me to ascend to godhood, but I¡¯ll at least try.¡±


    Dai Tianling nodded. ¡°I¡¯m so envious of you, Master.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire; I have nothing for you to envy. When I¡¯m gone, you can rely on Long Yue to protect the Star Luo Continent for at least another hundred years. He¡¯s as talented as I was.¡±


    This was the first time Dai Tianling had heard En Ci speak so highly of someone. He looked to Long Yue on the stage.

 Chapter 642 - A Clash of Auras

    Chapter 642 - A Clash of Auras


    He has unparalleled talent like Master En Ci, thought Dai Tianling, and that¡¯s one more reason we can¡¯t lose this match. If he lost, the public esteem of the Monster Academy would drop significantly.


    A serious expression dawned on Yue Zhengyu¡¯s face the moment he entered the stage. He suddenly felt as if in front of him stood not a human but a mountain. Long Yue¡¯s power frightened him, the way his laughter had done when he shook Tang Wulin¡¯s hand. He had seen Tang Wulin¡¯s strength, which was even on par with that of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Devil Titan; yet strong as Tang Wulin was, he had been defeated by Long Yue the other day in their strength battle disguised as a handshake. Just how strong is this man? wondered Yue Zhengyu.


    Long Yue was smiling his relaxed smile, like he had done in all his other matches.


    The referee looked at Long Yue, and then at Yue Zhengyu. As a citizen of the Star Luo Empire, he naturally wanted Long Yue to win, but honor bound him to supervise the match without bias.


    ¡°Begin!¡± the referee shouted.


    This was Long Yue¡¯s first time to fight a student from the Shrek Academy.


    Yue Zhengyu shot out his holy aura towards Long Yue right away. His body started shining with brilliant golden light, which quickly turned into high flames of light dancing around him, his eyes a resplendent golden.


    A look of surprise flashed across Long Yue¡¯s eyes; he lifted an eyebrow. Not bad. I should have expected that from a student of the Shrek Academy. Then he crossed his arms and met Yue Zhengyu¡¯s aura attack with his own.


    Boom! Even the stage shook a little when their auras crashed together. But Long Yue¡¯s aura quickly overpowered that of Yue Zhengyu, flooded forward, and bore down on his opponent.


    Yue Zhengyu felt a massive pressure weighting down on him. He gave a muffled grunt of effort, the golden flames of light around him dancing wildly. When he was about to be forced to fall back a step due to Long Yue¡¯s aura, his four soul rings appeared, and a golden beam of holy light shot up into the sky and saved him from taking that shameful step. Such a terrifying aura! The pressure is making me barely able to breathe!


    When Yue Zhengyu was meditating in the waiting area, he had thought over how to maximize his chance of beating Long Yue. He had been well aware that taking on such a powerful opponent as the head of the Monster Eight Kings without a plan would be as good as committing suicide. So he had come up with the plan to surprise attack him with his aura to create a window of opportunity or something. Yet he hadn¡¯t expected Long Yue to possess such powerful aura, and now his plan seemed to have backfired.


    Their auras had been blocked by the barrier around the stage, so the audience could only assess the situation using their eyes, and all they were able to see were Yue Zhengyu¡¯s fancy golden flames of light and the dazzling light beam. They were starting to get a little worried, since as far as they could tell, Long Yue was just standing there doing nothing.


    Tang Wulin was staring intently at the screen in his waiting area. When he saw the golden flames of light over Yue Zhengyu moving so violently, he frowned. Long Yue¡¯s aura is so strong!


    Yue Zhengyu took a deep breath, his chest rising, the golden flames of light growing higher. He unfurled his wings and flapped them, making his holy aura get stronger, and with the help of the beam of holy light, he was now able to withstand Long Yue¡¯s aura.


    A smile touched the corners of Long Yue¡¯s mouth while he was still standing there with his arms crossed. He moved the index finger of his right hand.


    Boom!


    A fresh wave of pressure hit Yue Zhengyu, and he suddenly felt as if he had been placed deep in the ocean. The tremendous pressure delivered by Long Yue was almost unbearable; even the beam of holy light was about to disappear.


    Yue Zhengyu raised his right hand with a shout, his second soul ring shining, his holy sword manifesting in his hand.


    He clutched the brilliant sword with both hands and brought it down hard, cutting Long Yue¡¯s aura in half.


    Then something started coming out of his body with white light ¨C his right gauntlet, right pauldron, left gauntlet, left pauldron, and breastplate. Five pieces of battle armor, white as jade and with golden patterns on them, covered Yue Zhengyu¡¯s body. Suddenly, the waning power of his aura surged up again.


    Long Yue¡¯s eyes went wide.


    ¡°No way! I can¡¯t believe someone has managed to make one-word battle armor with spirit alloys!¡± Fang¡¯er said at her VIP table, shocked.


    ¡°In case you don¡¯t know what¡¯s so special about Yue Zhengyu¡¯s battle armor, let me explain it to you: normal one-word battle armor can¡¯t fuse with one¡¯s body, so one has to store it in a bracelet or something. But putting it on takes time, and that¡¯s a big flaw. Tang Wulin took advantage of this flaw and prevented Hua Lantang from using his battle armor.


    ¡°However, the battle armor on Yue Zhengyu is very different. To be sure, it¡¯s one-word battle armor, but because of its special material, it has fused with his body like two-word battle armor.


    ¡°This kind of one-word battle armor is stronger. More importantly, it can be upgraded to two-word battle armor. Using spirit alloys to make one-word battle armor is really extravagant.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui had gotten the spirit alloys from Tang Wulin, and then they had designed and made their battle armor by themselves, so even Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t known Yue Zhengyu had already possessed five pieces of one-word battle armor. With his battle armor and his powerful martial soul, he might have a chance of beating Long Yue, thought Tang Wulin.


    With the aid of his battle armor, Yue Zhengyu had finally managed to overpower Long Yue¡¯s aura. He flapped his wings and shot towards Long Yue like a speeding golden arrow, and an instant later, he was upon Long Yue. He brought his holy sword down as a beam of holy light danced around it.


    Long Yue jerked up his right hand.

 Chapter 643 - The Mountain Dragon

    Chapter 643 - The Mountain Dragon


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s holy sword descended in a golden arc, but Long Yue caught it with his right hand and gripped it using his index finger and thumb. What the hell? He stopped my full-speed sword with just two fingers?!


    Yue Zhengyu hurriedly tried to pull his sword back, yet it stuck and wouldn¡¯t come out. By then, the holy light had spread from the sword and enwrapped Long Yue¡¯s body, but it tried in vain to get inside. The holy sword suddenly disappeared, and Yue Zhengyu thrust at Long Yue¡¯s stomach with a new one.


    Long Yue¡¯s left hand shot out and grabbed his sword again. Yue Zhengyu didn¡¯t bother trying to get it out this time. He wasted no time summoning another holy sword and quickened his footwork using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. A blur of movement, and he was already behind Long Yue. Immediately he stuck his sword at his back. In the meantime, his third soul ring started shining, and a beam of judgment light appeared and fused with his sword, making it translucent. There¡¯s no way he can block this! But he wouldn¡¯t have thought so if he had seen the smug smile on Long Yue¡¯s face.


    Long Yue whirled around in a flash and evaded his attack with ease. His agility was as good as that of Yue Zhengyu!


    Yue Zhengyu was shocked. He can also use Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track?!


    But he didn¡¯t have time to think now, because Long Yue¡¯s right hand had grown thrice its original size and was sweeping at him.


    Yue Zhengyu pulled his sword back just in time to parry Long Yue¡¯s powerful slap. He backed off two steps before steadying himself, the judgment light swiftly climbing over Long Yue¡¯s body.


    The edge of his sword may not have done much damage to Long Yue, but the judgment light must be doing a number on him, judging from the way he grimaced. Fusing with the holy sword had made the already very powerful judgment light even more destructive.


    Long Yue tilted his head back and let out a wild, ferocious roar; his body started changing, and in an instant he had grown into a five-meter-tall giant!


    Yue Zhengyu sucked in his breath, astounded. He could see that the judgment light over Long Yue was already gone.


    In front of him stood a dragon-like creature covered by hard, round bumps of an earthy color. It had a long, thick tail, its muscles big and its back wide and strong.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s heart stopped in his chest when he saw the soul rings that Long Yue had released for the very first time in this tournament. One, two, three, four, five, six! Six soul rings were revolving around him, three purple and three black!


    Long Yue was not a five-ringed Soul King but a six-ringed Soul Emperor, and with three ten-thousand-year soul rings too!


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± Xu Xiaoyan blurted out, shocked.


    The eyes of her teammates went as wide as hers.


    How did he manage to reach such a high cultivation level at such a young age?! Tang Wulin thought. Even Teacher Wu was only a six-ringed Soul Emperor when I first met him. As much as I hate to admit it, Long Yue is in a different league than us. No wonder he didn¡¯t release his soul rings before. Because he didn¡¯t need to.


    Even the Shrek Academy had never seen anyone reach such a high cultivation level before the age of 20.


    Talented as Tang Wulin and his friends were, they didn¡¯t hold out much hope of becoming a six-ringed Soul Emperor at the age of 20.


    Yue Zhengyu fell back a few steps in shock and awe. Then clear thinking reasserted itself; he flapped his wings and flew fast away from Long Yue.


    Long Yue looked at Yue Zhengyu with eyes which had become a dark red. ¡°You can congratulate yourself now. Your power has earned you the privilege to see my martial soul. You are strong, for a four-ringed soul master. Yield now, and save me some trouble and you considerable pain. You and I both know your loss is inevitable. My martial soul is the Mountain Dragon!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu looked closely and found that the wingless dragon did have some resemblance to a mountain.


    ¡°The Mountain Dragon?¡± Gu Yue whispered, a look of surprise flashing across her eyes.


    Tang Wulin was standing beside her. ¡°Do you know this martial soul? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard of it before. What kind of dragon is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a dragon king and one of the most powerful ones. I¡¯ve heard a saying: ¡®every mountain dragon is a king¡¯.¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t understand. ¡°But he doesn¡¯t even have wings.¡±


    ¡°Thousands upon thousands of years ago, the Dragon God came into being. He roamed around the universe and finally found a planet to settle on. Then he created nine dragons, which are now known as the Nine Dragon Kings. They were his children as well as his subordinates.


    ¡°The Nine Dragon Kings include: the Gold Dragon King, the Mountain Dragon King, the Fire Dragon King, the Water Dragon King, the Earth Dragon King, the Wind Dragon King, the Light Dragon King, the Darkness Dragon King, and the Space Dragon King. They had inherited some of the Dragon God¡¯s power, so all of them were very powerful. When they came of age, they left home to breed and founded eight dragon clans.¡±


    ¡°Hold on a sec. Why only eight dragon clans? There were nine dragon kings,¡± said Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 644 - The Legend of the Mountain Dragon King

    Chapter 644 - The Legend of the Mountain Dragon King


    ¡°Because the mountain dragons didn¡¯t form a clan; each and every one of them was a king,¡± Gu Yue answered. ¡°The planet was almost completely covered by the sea when the Dragon God first found it. His nine children could swim of course, but they required vast amounts of land to roam, so he ordered the mountain dragons to transform into mountains and rivers to enlarge their living space when they were old enough. The Dragon God rewarded them for their sacrifices by making every one of them a king. All the other dragon kings admired them and held them in very high regard.¡±


    This legend left Gu Yue¡¯s teammates dumbfounded.


    Even the usually silent Ye Xinglan couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°How did you know all this? Isn¡¯t it supposed to be a secret within the dragon clans? I don¡¯t think I read anything about it in the school library.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s written in an ancient scroll I found in the Spirit Pagoda,¡± Gu Yue replied. ¡°I always assumed it was just a myth, but apparently it¡¯s real, since we¡¯re looking at a mountain dragon right in front of us. I just can¡¯t bring myself to believe that someone can have the Mountain Dragon for his martial soul. I mean, the Mountain Dragon King.


    ¡°The mountain dragons didn¡¯t have much time to breed due to the responsibility they had to fulfill, so they were not many in number. But the draconic blood flowing in their veins was much purer than that in the offspring of the other dragon kings. That must be what¡¯s making Long Yue so strong.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at the screen and allowed himself a wry smile. I was super excited when Long Yue said his martial soul was the Mountain Dragon; I thought my bloodline would be able to suppress his, but now I find it will probably be the other way around¡­


    ¡°Is there anything about the Golden Dragon King in that ancient scroll?¡± asked Tang Wulin.


    Gu Yue nodded. ¡°Yes. The legend of the Golden Dragon King is even more astonishing than that of the Mountain Dragon King. I¡¯ll tell you about it after this match.¡±


    After Long Yue released his martial soul, the vibes emanating from him had become even more terrifying. Even the ground was shaking a little in awe and fear.


    Yue Zhengyu had faced strong opponents before, but never one like Long Yue, who looked like an insurmountable mountain standing before him.


    ¡°Yield, now!¡± called Long Yue.


    ¡°You want a piece of me? Come and get it!¡± Yue Zhengyu shouted back, sounding far bolder than he felt.


    Long Yue looked at Yue Zhengyu and burst into a fit of laughter ¨C loud and hard. Suddenly, he stomped the ground with his right foot as his first soul ring started shining. ¡°Mountains!¡±


    The stage started shaking violently as numerous little mountains in the shape of a cone grew out of the ground and shot up towards Yue Zhengyu.


    Yue Zhengyu soared up into the air and quickly activated his fourth soul skill: Holy Angel Descends! My slim chance of winning has just dropped to zero. But be that as it may, I will still give it my all and try to find out as much about his skills as I possibly can, because my friends are counting on me!


    Yue Zhengyu started shining a dazzling golden color. He flapped his wings and flew towards Long Yue, evading one mountain attack after another. He was very fast, to be sure, but there were just too many mountains for him to dodge them all; he had to use his judgment light to destroy some close-call attacks.


    Beams of judgment light clashed with Long Yue¡¯s mountains, sending rocks flying everywhere. The audience couldn¡¯t have asked for a more spectacular fight.


    Finally Yue Zhengyu found an opening and seized it. He flew through several mountains and at last there was nothing between him and his target. It was his only chance; it was now or never.


    He spared no soul power in his final technique; his body was now enveloped in golden flames of holy light. He clutched the sword ¨C which had fused with his holy light and judgment light ¨C with both hands, and brought it down in a savage arc. He knew that even this attack might not be very effective against such a strong opponent, so he wasn¡¯t holding anything back,


    Long Yue only smiled at him, his second soul ring shining. ¡°Rivers!¡±


    All of a sudden, a huge amount of water cascaded down upon Yue Zhengyu and swallowed him up before he could land his final attack.


    Yue Zhengyu tried to fly out, but the strong current rendered his wings useless. He was like a helpless leaf caught in a tempest.


    Such a terrifying martial soul! Tang Wulin thought, stunned. His first two soul skills are both wide-ranged and both very powerful.


    Even Dai Tianling was a little shocked. He had heard Long Yue was strong, but he hadn¡¯t expected him to be this strong. What is this martial soul of his? And how did he manage to become a six-ringed Soul Emperor at such a young age?


    En Ci looked at Long Yue with an approving smile. Long Yue was his best student; if not for him, Long Yue¡¯s power couldn¡¯t have reached such heights so quickly.


    Most people envied Long Yue¡¯s talent and martial soul, but they didn¡¯t know the suffering and pressure he had endured throughout his training.


    The Gods were just; they had blessed Long Yue with incomparable power and inflicted on him imaginable pain.


    The blood of the Mountain Dragon King was both a blessing and a curse. The power in the draconic blood was too strong for a normal human being to tame. As Long Yue¡¯s soul power grew, the power in his draconic blood grew with it; he needed strong spiritual power to keep that immense power under control. If he couldn¡¯t, he would definitely go crazy.


    Owing to Long Yue¡¯s strong will and the countless spirit items supplied by the Monster Academy, he had got where he was today.

 Chapter 645 - Yue Zhengyu Loses the Match

    Chapter 645 - Yue Zhengyu Loses the Match


    However, after Long Yue got his sixth soul ring, his cultivating speed had started slowing down. It couldn¡¯t be helped ¨C the draconic power had grown too strong; he could feel it raging through him and gaining control of his body bit by bit. That was what was driving him crazy. He found to his horror that his spiritual power was not strong enough to keep this savage power at bay anymore. If not for his strong willpower, he might have lost control of himself and given in to his lust for blood.


    En Ci had made many attempts to find a solution, but failed each time. He was one hundred percent sure he could help Long Yue become a seven-ringed soul master without putting his life in danger, but after that, he wasn¡¯t. If Long Yue completely lost control of himself, he might not be able to fight his way back to sanity; so En Ci couldn¡¯t afford to take even the smallest risk.


    Part of the reason for En Ci¡¯s wanting to visit the Douluo Continent was Long Yue, because he had learned the other day that there were some special spirit items there that might be helpful to Long Yue¡¯s situation.


    The cruel waves lashed at Yue Zhengyu each time he tried to get out, and the raging torrent slammed him against the mountains ceaselessly. He was taking on a lot of damage, and he felt as if he were not fighting a man but Mother Nature. Long Yue¡¯s power had reached a level that he couldn¡¯t even begin to fathom.


    When Yue Zhengyu surfaced again and was gasping for air, he suddenly found Long Yue standing before him.


    ¡°You¡¯re also a member of the Tang Sect. Since we have that in common, I¡¯ll let you yield,¡± Long Yue said, the smile on his face gone, bloodlust gleaming in his eyes.


    He could barely control its power and hatred once he released his martial soul. The Mountain Dragon King had wanted to live a normal life like other dragon kings, but the Dragon God had deprived it of that right, so it had hated him for favoring his other children much more than him.


    Sometimes disasters like flood and rock avalanche were just mountain dragons blowing off steam. So when a mountain dragon went on the rampage, it would be disastrous.


    Yue Zhengyu gritted his teeth and finally managed to fly out of the water, the golden light around him dim and feeble, yet his eyes still shining with determination. ¡°That¡¯s so generous of you, but I think I¡¯ll pass.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll grant you your wish!¡± Long Yue shot out his right arm and threw a punch at Yue Zhengyu¡¯s chest with a fist as big as a human head.


    As Long Yue¡¯s fist whistled through the air, Yue Zhengyu raised his holy sword and thrust at him.


    Boom! Long Yue¡¯s forceful attack sent Yue Zhengyu flying backwards and crashing into the barrier.


    Long Yue took a step forward but then stopped, the bloodlust in his eyes disappearing. ¡°Tang Wulin broke Hua Lantang eight ribs, and I just repaid the favor!¡± he said coldly.


    The match was over. Long Yue was victorious. He turned around and left, his body shrinking to its normal size. The mountains and water turned into numerous colorful beams of light and disappeared without a trace. It looked as if nothing had ever happened.


    Yue Zhengyu fell onto the ground, unconscious.


    The audience gaped at Long Yue, their mouths open; they were too shocked to speak.


    Long Yue¡¯s teammates exchanged a look of astonishment. Although they knew even all of them combined wouldn¡¯t be enough to beat Long Yue, seeing Long Yue¡¯s power firsthand still left them all in awe and stunned. The level of power between them and Long Yue was worlds apart.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s friends and the medical team hurried up onto the stage at the same time. Eight of his ribs had been broken. His injuries were not so serious that they would endanger his life, but clearly he wouldn¡¯t be able to compete in the two-on-twos anymore. Long Yue had ended Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s journey in the two-on-two competition, just like Tang Wulin had ended Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi¡¯s. Gu Yue would have to participate in the team competition in Yue Zhengyu¡¯s stead.


    Finally, the audience recovered from their shock and broke into rapturous applause and cheering.


    ¡°Long Yue the Dragon King is truly amazing,¡± Fang¡¯er said after regaining her composure. ¡°He defended the honor of the Monster Academy. His power is just incomparable!¡± It was the first time she had seen Long Yue¡¯s martial soul, and she had been completely astounded by his control of the unimaginable power.


    Filled with pride and joy, Dai Tianling stood up and started applauding. He will surely become a very powerful soul master. More importantly, he and Yueyan are close. Having such a strong man as Long Yue on his side will make his reign more secure when he succeeds to the throne. Master En Ci served the same purpose when I first became the emperor.


    ¡°Thank you, Master, for having trained such a great talent for the empire,¡± Dai Tianling said to En Ci. ¡°I¡¯ll increase the funds for your teaching program by 10% to help you train young soul masters.¡±


    En Ci was the only one still sitting. He smiled at Dai Tianling. ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±


    The cheering and applause were so deafening and irritating that Tang Wulin wanted to cover his ears. After the medical team patched Yue Zhengyu up and put him on a stretcher, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie lifted it up.


    The audience was laughing and sneering at them, hurling insults at them and calling them names.


    Xie Xie clutched the stretcher, scowling.


    Ye Xinglan looked up at the wild audience, her eyes glinting angrily.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s lips were pressed tight together.


    Xu Lizhi¡¯s usual silly smile was gone; his chubby face darkened.


    Gu Yue was the only one who looked calm, and thoughtful.


    ¡°No,¡± Elder Cai said, gripping Wu Zhangkong¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°They need me!¡± he flared.


    Elder Cai smiled. ¡°If they want the rainbow, they gotta put up with the rain. Do you think they¡¯ll ever get such an experience on the Douluo Continent? Trust them. They''ll get over it ¨C they are amazingly resilient. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll bounce back with a vengeance.¡±

 Chapter 646 - Ye Xinglan’s Decision

    Chapter 646 - Ye Xinglan¡¯s Decision


    Wu Zhangkong felt the anger coiling inside him dying down, but still he wanted nothing so much as to jump out of the window and make Long Yue pay for what he had done.


    ¡°Their confidence may have been shattered,¡± Wu Zhangkong said, worried. ¡°They may not have the courage to face Long Yue again.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry too much about that,¡± Elder Cai said, smiling. ¡°In their eyes, I saw anger and shame, but I didn¡¯t see even the slightest frustration. Their morale is as high as it can be, so they don¡¯t need your words of comfort. What they need is turning the anger and pain in their hearts into a power to drive them to break through their limits. They¡¯re not children anymore. It¡¯s up to them to pick themselves up and keep going. We just need to keep an eye on them and make sure they¡¯re safe.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so cold-hearted, Elder Cai.¡±


    ¡°Teachers need to be cold-hearted sometimes; you of all people should know that. If Zhuo Shi hadn¡¯t gone soft on you and let you leave that day, things might have been different. It was not his fault though. It¡¯s not your fault either, since you were head over heels in love with her.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong¡¯s eyes fell, the anger on his face giving way to sadness. The memories he had been keeping deep in his heart suddenly rushed back to him. If I had chosen to stay in the academy, Bing¡¯er might still be alive. I made a bad choice, and paid a dear price for it. Then he looked to his students. Elder Cai is right; I can¡¯t look at them as kids anymore. If I keep doting on them, I¡¯ll ruin them. Hopefully they¡¯ll get over this setback soon.


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie walked in front, carrying Yue Zhengyu on the stretcher. Xu Lizhi and the four girls followed hard after them. Nobody said a word; the air was thick with tension. The government of the Star Luo Empire had assigned a troop to see them safely to their hotel.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look after him,¡± Xie Xie volunteered after they carefully placed Yue Zhengyu down on his bed. Although the two of them were constantly bickering, they were actually very close friends.


    ¡°Did he frighten you?¡± Tang Wulin asked his teammates, who were looking at him.


    ¡°Of course not!¡± Xie Xie said, his eyes flashing with anger.


    ¡°Zhengyu did his best and showed us how strong Long Yue is,¡± Tang Wulin said. ¡°Slim though our chance of beating him might be, we¡¯ll make the most of it and not let Zhengyu¡¯s effort be in vain.¡±


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s eyes were shining with excitement. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to meet him in battle.¡±


    ¡°I like my opponents strong,¡± said Yuanen Yehui.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach him to mess with us!¡± Xie Xie swore.


    Xu Xiaoyan said nothing, her mouth a hard line.


    ¡°We should start training,¡± Gu Yue said calmly, ¡°if we want to shut those annoying audience up with our skills.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded, suddenly filled with a strong desire to fight. ¡°Keep your heads held up high. We are students of the Shrek Academy!¡±


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s loss was not a blow to their confidence. On the contrary, it had ignited their desire to win. His tenacity and unbending will to fight had inspired them all.


    Only such a daunting opponent as Long Yue could make them more united and determined to exert themselves to become stronger.


    ¡­


    Long Yue¡¯s incredible power and the one-sided fight had fired up the whole city.


    All news media were rushing to report on the match; all the negative comments about the Monster Eight Kings were gone. The Monster Academy was being placed on a pedestal again.


    Every expert in the soul master community on the Star Luo Continent hailed Long Yue as the most talented soul master this millennium had ever seen. They even believed there was a real possibility that he might become a god someday, since he was now only 20 years old and all.


    ¡­


    Tang Wulin was meditating in his room when the knock came at his door. He frowned and stood up to answer it.


    ¡°Xinglan?¡± He looked at her, surprised.


    Ye Xinglan stepped inside without waiting for him to invite her in.


    ¡°I need to discuss something with you, Captain.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± asked Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Lizhi and I have decided to back out of the two-on-two competition, and I also want to withdraw from the one-on-ones.¡±


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t understand. ¡°What?! Why?¡±


    ¡°I want to focus all my time and energy on making battle armor for you. I¡¯ll try to make as many pieces as I can.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tang Wulin said, ¡°I can¡¯t let you give up your chance of winning for my sake.¡±


    Ye Xinglan shook her head. ¡°You have seen Long Yue¡¯s power today. He¡¯s obviously much stronger than us. I don¡¯t want to admit it, but we can¡¯t beat him, not with our current battle armor. I know I have the most pieces of battle armor and I¡¯m as strong as you are, but you have something I don¡¯t ¨C your bloodline. Although I don¡¯t know if it will work on Long Yue as well, you¡¯re our only chance. You power is growing fast, and your martial soul has evolved into the Bluesilver Emperor. You never cease to amaze us. If anyone can beat him, it¡¯s you.¡± She paused a moment. ¡°With Li Zhi helping me, I should be able to make several more pieces of battle armor for you.¡±


    Tang Wulin fell silent. He didn¡¯t like the idea of his friends sacrificing so much so he could get a slim chance of defeating Long Yue, but in his heart he knew there was no two ways about it. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Tang Wulin thought. Long Yue didn¡¯t show his true power while fighting Zhengyu. I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d be able to beat him even if I were a six-ringed Soul Emperor like him.


    ¡°Xinglan is right,¡± Gu Yue said, and walked in and closed the door which Tang Wulin had left open negligently. She walked over to them. ¡°You asked me about the legend of the Golden Dragon King earlier today,¡± she said to Tang Wulin. ¡°I think now is a good time to tell you.¡±


    ¡°You are wondering if your bloodline can suppress that of Long Yue,¡± Gu Yue continued, ¡°and if it can¡¯t, Xinglan¡¯s sacrifice will be all for nothing.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded. If my bloodline won¡¯t work on Long Yue, then I won¡¯t let Xinglan back out of her competition.


    ¡°The Mountain Dragon King was one of the Dragon God¡¯s nine children, but the Golden Dragon King wasn¡¯t,¡± Gu Yue said. ¡°However, it was still closely related to the Dragon God.¡±

 Chapter 647 - The Legend of the Dragon God

    Chapter 647 - The Legend of the Dragon God


    ¡°When the most powerful humans from different planets created the Realm of Gods, the Dragon God ascended to it and ruled all the beast gods there,¡± said Gu Yue. ¡°By the way, both humans and beasts can ascend to godhood as long as the energy in them reaches a certain level, but that doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re at the same level when it comes to power. Physically or Politically.


    ¡°There were five God Kings who formed a council which ruled the Realm of Gods and watched mortals like us. The human gods and the beast gods lived together in harmony at first, but that stability and peace didn¡¯t last long. The human gods¡¯ attitude towards the beast gods changed over time, because they considered themselves superior, since they were the ones who created the Realm of Gods. They started oppressing and mistreating the beast gods, and even enslaving them.


    ¡°Because the human gods ¨C especially the five God Kings ¨C were far more powerful than the beast gods, they had no choice but to endure the maltreatment. One day, a beast god got beat up for no reason and almost died, and that ignited their smouldering anger which had been suppressed for so long. The five God Kings punished the accused human god in an attempt to appease the beast gods, but failed. In a fury, the Dragon God decided to leave this Realm of Gods with all the beast gods and create one of their own, but the five God Kings wouldn¡¯t let him. The Dragon God compromised but prepared for war in secret. When he felt the time was right, he waged an all-out war on the human gods.¡±


    Tang Wulin and Ye Xinglan listened quietly, wonderstruck. Nobody has ascended to godhood in a very long time, Tang Wulin thought, and the Realm of Gods seems to have long since become nothing more than a myth to many people. Gu Yue is narrating the story so vividly that I feel as if it were happening right before my eyes.


    ¡°The war lasted for days and ended with the victory of the human gods, who had also suffered heavy losses; over a third of them had been killed. The Dragon God had been slashed in half by the Asura God, who was one of the five God Kings.¡±


    Gu Yue paused a moment and looked at Tang Wulin in the eye. ¡°The Dragon God was the most powerful god. Although they had managed to slash him in half, they couldn¡¯t kill him. The energy in him came from the chaos energy in the universe, so he couldn¡¯t be killed. The two halves turned into two mighty dragons. One was the Silver Dragon King, and the other inherited the Dragon God¡¯s physical power and attack and defensive power. It had diamond-shaped scales all over its body; its name was the Golden Dragon King.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Long Yue has the Mountain Dragon King¡¯s blood in him, yet it is merely one of the children of the Dragon God,¡± Gu Yue said. ¡°But you¡¯re basically half of the Dragon God. Do you know what that means?¡±


    Of course Tang Wulin knew what that meant, but he was too astounded to say anything. He gaped at Gu Yue, trying to take in all this information.


    ¡°What happened to the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King?¡± asked Ye Xinglan. ¡°Were all the beast gods killed?¡±


    A flicker of anger flashed across Gu Yue¡¯s eyes, but it disappeared before Ye Xinglan could catch it. ¡°The scroll said nothing about what happened to the two dragon kings. As for the beast gods, some survived but got banished forever from the Realm of Gods, and no beast has been allowed to ascend to godhood ever since.¡±


    Ye Xinglan frowned. ¡°That was not fair.¡±


    ¡°Fair?¡± Gu Yue sneered. ¡°Humans are not known for their fairness. They are known for their selfishness.¡±


    Ye Xinglan saw her mouth twist in contempt. ¡°You sound like you¡¯re not human.¡±


    Gu Yue froze for an instant, and then her calm returned. ¡°Do I? Well, that¡¯s not important. The point is Wulin¡¯s bloodline will surely suppress Long Yue¡¯s. Although he is not able to access the full power of the Golden Dragon King yet, he stands a better chance of beating Long Yue than us. So I¡¯m happy that you want to make more battle armor pieces for him.¡±


    Tang Wulin looked at Gu Yue, and then at Ye Xinglan, his brow furrowed in thought. He had a strange feeling that some memories had been brought back by Gu Yue¡¯s story, but they were all a blur.


    ¡°That¡¯s the least I can do,¡± said Ye Xinglan. ¡°I¡¯d better go and get to it.¡±


    Gu Yue watched her leave and said to Tang Wulin, ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave too.¡±


    Tang Wulin jerked his head up. ¡°Did you really learn all of this from an ancient scroll?¡±


    Gu Yue smiled. ¡°You¡¯re smart. I made up that part about the ancient scroll; I only said that because Xinglan was here. The legend of the Dragon God is a secret in my family. My martial soul is the Seven-colored Dragon, and the Seven-colored Dragon is a descendent of the Silver Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask you a question? Did you get close to me because our bloodlines are related?¡± asked Tang Wulin.


    Gu Yue was taken by surprise. ¡°I guess you can say that.¡±


    ¡°I want you to look me in the eye and say that again,¡± Tang Wulin said, gauging her face.


    Gu Yue¡¯s heart ached as she looked at his clear eyes. ¡°I got close to you because our bloodlines are related.¡±


    ¡°I understand now.¡±


    Gu Yue wanted so much to ask what he had understood, but she didn¡¯t. She turned around, crossed the room, and opened the door.


    ¡°Gu Yue!¡± Tang Wulin called out.


    Gu Yue stopped but didn¡¯t turn back.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath to try to calm himself down. ¡°Are you still being nice to me because of the same reason?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Her voice was stiff. She walked out and closed the door.


    Tang Wulin watched the door close and felt like his heart had closed with it. He stood there, rooted to the spot.

 Chapter 648 - The Knockout Stage Begins

    Chapter 648 - The Knockout Stage Begins


    The Continental Young Elites Tournament continued. After the round-robin stage kicked off, the matches had become more entertaining, and there were more highlights. The clashes between the Shrek Academy and the Monster Academy had become a major subject of discussion.


    Most of the audience had started to turn a blind eye to the fact that the Monster Eight Kings were much older than the students from the Shrek Academy; they didn¡¯t care about anything else, as long as Long Yue stayed invincible. And they assumed the reason that Ye Xinglan had backed out of her one-on-one and two-on-two competitions was because she had got cold feet.


    In the one-on-one competition, the Shrek Academy only had three people left: Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Yuanen Yehui, and in the two-on-twos, they only had two pairs competing. Fortunately, they didn''t meet any strong opponents in the following matches, so after ten days of fighting, they had all advanced without a hitch.


    As for the Monster Academy, Long Yue, Dai Yueyan, Dai Yun¡¯er, and two other competitors had made it to the knockout stage of the one-on-one competition.


    The final knockout stage started at long last. Losing one match meant that one was out, so every contestant was under huge pressure.


    The final stage of the one-on-one competition in total had 64 competitors; the two-on-twos, 32 pairs; the team competition, 16 teams. Rules in this stage were a little different from those in the previous stages: the two-on-twos wouldn¡¯t start until the one-on-ones ended, and the team competition would come last. Such an arrangement could ensure the fairness of the tournament and enable the participants to be in their peak condition in each competition, because some would compete in two or all the three competitions.


    Tang Wulin had come up second in his group after the one-on-one round robin, because he had given up when facing Dai Yueyan. The audience had laughed at him, but he could have cared less, since he had been sure he would advance.


    ¡°The final stage will start tomorrow,¡± Tang Wulin said to Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie in his room. ¡°The matchups have come out. Do your best, but be safe.¡±


    Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and Yue Zhengyu were also there; only Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan were absent ¨C they were busy making Tang Wulin¡¯s battle armor.


    Yue Zhengyu hadn¡¯t fully recovered yet, but he should be able to compete in the team competition. After that fight with Long Yue, Yue Zhengyu seemed to have matured some; even the vibes he was giving off had changed.


    Tang Wulin sat there, his voice calm and reassuring. He was acting more like a captain than before, now that he had become stronger.


    ¡°When do I get to beat the crap out of them?¡± Xie Xie said, disappointed. He was looking forward to fight the Monster Eight Kings, but unfortunately, his first opponent was not one of them.


    ¡°Soon enough,¡± Tang Wulin said. Then he turned to face Yuanen. ¡°Don¡¯t take your opponent lightly.¡± She had to fight one of the two agility-type soul masters in the Monster Eight Kings.


    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Yuanen Yehui replied. ¡°I¡¯ve watched his matches. He¡¯s strong. I¡¯ll give it my all.¡±


    Now that they had arrived at the final phase of the tournament, they would surely meet the Monster Eight Kings. The time had come to test their skills.


    ¡°I watched some of his matches as well,¡± said Tang Wulin. ¡°Let¡¯s compare notes and come up with some tactics.¡±


    Gu Yue stood there, listening to Tang Wulin analyze Yuanen Yehui¡¯s opponent, but his words seemed to be going in one ear and out the other.


    Xu Xiaoyan nudged her. ¡°Big Sis Gu Yue, are you all right?¡± she whispered. ¡°You seem a bit distant these days. Did you quarrel with the captain? But since everyone is busy preparing for the tournament, you don¡¯t have the time to quarrel, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too smart for your own good, you know that? Don¡¯t you have more important things to worry about? Like how to win the tournament?¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°Elder Cai and Teacher Wu left us to our own devices to see if we could rise to the challenge, and we did. We have done well enough already, I think. Of course our teachers will praise us if we win, but I don¡¯t think they will blame us if we lose, since we¡¯re much younger than our opponents.¡±


    Gu Yue was surprised. ¡°So you have figured it all out, huh? But our goal is to win.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Xu Xiaoyan pouted. ¡°It¡¯s just this tournament has changed us. Zhengyu seems to have shut himself off after losing that match. He seldom speaks. He is trying to heal his injuries and training like hell. I don¡¯t like it. He used to be so outgoing and talkative¡­ Even the captain has changed a lot. He is more reliable than before, yes, but he has become too calm and passionless, like a robot. Something must have happened to him. Don¡¯t you worry about him? Maybe he¡¯s under massive pressure.¡±


    Gu Yue smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t know him like I do. The bigger the pressure on him, the stronger he will become. He has never once let pressure get him down.¡±


    ¡°But he used to be more enthusiastic and passionate. I like the old captain better.¡±


    Gu Yue nodded. Me too, she thought miserably.


    ¡°You should go have some dinner,¡± Tang Wulin said to his teammates after finishing analyzing Yuanen Yehui¡¯s opponent with her. It was dark outside.


    ¡°What about you, Captain? You¡¯re not coming?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked curiously as Tang Wulin picked up his coat.


    ¡°No. I have other matters to attend to first,¡± said Tang Wulin. Then he left without another word.


    ¡°He is skipping dinner!¡± Xu Xiaoyan whispered to Gu Yue. ¡°That¡¯s so weird! I told you something must have happened to him. Is he all right?¡±


    Gu Yue just watched Tang Wulin leave and made no reply.


    Tang Wulin walked out of the hotel and hailed a soul taxi.


    ¡°Where to, mister?¡± the cabbie asked.


    ¡°The headquarters of the Tang Sect,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    ¡°Sure thing.¡±


    The taxi was running smoothly on the street. Darkness deepened. The street was full of lights. People who had been busy working all day could finally have a rest.


    Tang Wulin cleared his mind as he looked out the window, savoring the brief feeling of having nothing to worry about.


    The taxi was running slowly, because there were too many pedestrians and vehicles on the street. After they finally got out of the downtown area, its speed picked up. Tang Wulin put on his white mask and took out his white cloak.


    After they arrived, Tang Wulin found the headquarters of the Tang Sect was also bustling with people. He got out of the taxi, threw on his cloak, pulled up his hood, and walked towards the gate.


    Seeing him dressed like this, the people getting in and out of the Tang Sect couldn¡¯t help but look at him with envy and respect. One didn¡¯t need to be very familiar with the Tang Sect to know what such an ensemble meant ¨C an agent of the Battle Hall, one of the three inner halls.


    The Battle Hall was the very core of the Tang Sect and as important as the Holy Hall; almost all the members of the Holy Hall came from the Battle Hall.


    Although Tang Wulin was just a white-class agent, many members of the outer halls were gazing at him with undisguised envy.

 Chapter 649 - Buying Spirit Items

    Chapter 649 - Buying Spirit Items


    The only way to join the Battle Hall was to get chosen. One may have accomplished many missions but was still a member of one of the outer halls; one had to be excellent in talent, power, and character to get a chance to join the Battle Hall.


    This was the second time Tang Wulin had come to the Tang Sect¡¯s headquarters in Star Luo City, so the building wasn¡¯t as confusing to him as when he last came here. He quickly found the place for exchanging contribution points. It was even bigger than its counterpart in Shrek City, with many big screens displaying different kinds of commodities: secret arts, soul devices, rare metal, mechas, etc.


    He could have gone to an auction, but it would take more time and the spirit items there would probably be inferior in quality and cost more money.


    He typed ¡°tens-of-thousands-year-old spirit items¡± into the search bar, and then pages of results popped up. Wow! Impressive! Never thought there¡¯re so many tens-of-thousands-year-old spirit items here. Then he typed ¡°tens-of-thousands-year-old Dragonscale Fruit¡± to narrow down the search results. This time only eleven results popped up.


    The first one was ten thousand six hundred years old and priced at 21,000 contribution points.


    The second one was eleven thousand five hundred years old and priced at 22,300 contribution points.


    The last one was ninety-seven thousand eight hundred years old and priced at 340,000 contribution points.


    Tang Wulin found it hard to tear his eyes away from the last one. A nearly one-hundred-thousand-year-old Dragonscale Fruit! It is to die for! But unfortunately, I don¡¯t have the money.


    He had earned some points from that bomb-defusing mission, but after he bought the Mysterious Jade Hands, now he barely had enough for the first Dragonscale Fruit on the list. It¡¯s better than nothing. He quickly paid for it with his badge.


    While he was waiting for his purchase to be delivered to him, he typed ¡°tens-of-thousands-year-old Gray Jade Root¡± into the search box. It was another spirit item he needed to break the sixth seal of the Golden Dragon King.


    Only three results popped up.


    Gray Jade Root, thirteen thousand nine hundred years old. Price: 43,500 contribution points.


    Gray Jade Root, twenty-one thousand six hundred years old. Price: 100,000 contribution points.


    Gray Jade Root, fifty-four thousand years old. Price: 310,000 contribution points.


    Tang Wulin pulled a wry face. He couldn¡¯t afford it, not even the cheapest one.


    He thought a moment and then went to seek out a staff member. ¡°Excuse me, can I sell some rare metal here? Could you please tell me where I should go?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± the staff member answered respectfully. ¡°You need to go to the assessment center first to have your rare metal assessed. My colleagues there will help you. It¡¯s that way,¡± she said, pointing.


    Tang Wulin thanked her, and after he got his Dragonscale Fruit, he walked towards the assessment center.


    He found it where he had been told it would be. It was spacious, like a warehouse. Quite a number of staff members were bustling around in it.


    He saw a line of people waiting, so he naturally stepped towards the end of it.


    A staff member approached him and asked with a smile, ¡°How may I help you?¡± That was a benefit of being an agent ¨C he didn¡¯t have to wait like others.


    Tang Wulin hesitated a moment, as if not sure whether he should do this. ¡°I want to sell a black mecha. Can you assess its value for me?¡±


    The staff member was taken by surprise. ¡°A black mecha?¡± She had worked here for a long time and had seen people sell all kinds of things, but never a black mecha.


    Black mechas were second only to red mechas in terms of power. If one wanted to make a black mecha, the materials alone would cost a fortune. No one in their right mind would sell their black mecha.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a little damaged though. Could you assess its value?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely!¡± she answered, recovering from her surprise. ¡°Let¡¯s find a place for your mecha.¡±


    She led Tang Wulin to a corner, where he released from his storage ring the damaged Green Skull Renegades¡¯ black mecha, and then went to get help.


    A few moments later, several mechanics came over and started assessing the damage.


    There were deep slashes in the front, which had been caused by his claws, but otherwise it was pretty intact. Tang Wulin would have tried to fix it himself if he had had the means needed back in his hotel.


    The people waiting in line were dumbstruck; they couldn¡¯t believe that someone was selling a black mecha which was still in quite good condition. Although it was customized, a mechanic was able to make it compatible with anyone; it was definitely a lot easier than making a new black mecha.


    An old man walked up to Tang Wulin. ¡°Do you really want to sell it?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded with a wry smile. ¡°Yes. I wouldn¡¯t if I weren¡¯t in urgent need of contribution points.¡±


    The old man nodded. ¡°I figured as much. It¡¯s pretty intact, and the materials are of great quality. I see the symbol of the Green Skull Renegades on it. It must be your battle trophy. Great job fighting them.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I got lucky,¡± said Tang Wulin. ¡°How many contribution points can it fetch?¡±


    ¡°Normally a black mecha is worth at least three hundred thousand contribution points. Humanoid mechas can fetch more. But there is a self-destruct trap installed in it, and it will be costly and risky to have it removed. All things considered, it¡¯s worth one hundred thousand contribution points, but I will give you ten percent more, since you¡¯re a white-class agent. Therefore, one hundred and ten thousand is our best offer.¡±

 Chapter 650 - Selling a Mecha

    Chapter 650 - Selling a Mecha


    If I could fix it, it would fetch me three hundred thousand contribution points! Tang Wulin could feel his feet itching to carry him and his black mecha out of here. He really didn¡¯t want to sell it. But he felt he had no choice, not if he wanted to beat Long Yue.


    ¡°It¡¯s a close-combat mecha, but I don¡¯t see its weapons. If you can find them, we¡¯ll give you twenty thousand more,¡± said the old man.


    ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to take you up on the offer, I¡¯m afraid I have other uses for its weapons.¡±


    It had only taken a few minutes for the transaction to go through. Tang Wulin had never had so many contribution points before. He was so excited, but his excitement was short-lived. After he bought that cheapest Gray Jade Root and then spent another fifty thousand points on the third spirit item, he only had less than twenty thousand left.


    Now the only thing he needed was a bottle of blood from a ten-thousand-year-old dragon-type soul beast. He prayed the points he had left would be enough to cover it.


    When the results popped up on the screen, Tang Wulin¡¯s face fell. The cheapest bottle of blood was from an eleven-thousand-six-hundred-year-old Five Element Dragon and priced at 48,000 contribution points. He was almost 30,000 points short. He had a few pieces of spirit alloy in his storage ring; he could sell them, but they were of relatively poor quality ¨C he had given all the good ones to his friends ¨C and the points they could fetch wouldn¡¯t be nearly enough.


    Thankfully, he still had time. He decided to do some forging jobs to make some contribution points first. Spirit refined metal was pretty expensive here, especially spirit alloy.


    Tang Wulin put the three spirit items he had just bought into his storage ring, took several forging missions, and went out to hail a taxi.


    On his way back, he was still dwelling on all the money he had lost. Nothing was more painful to a money grubber than losing money. My poor black mecha¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have sold you at such a low price. Your materials and circuit cores alone are worth more than 110,000 points.


    There was one consolation though: he hadn¡¯t known about the self-destruct trap in it, so he was thankful that he hadn¡¯t triggered it by accident. That was the only thing that had managed to make his pain of losing so much money a little bearable.


    ¡°No,¡± a familiar voice said in his head.


    ¡°Old Tang?¡± Tang Wulin closed his eyes and saw Old Tang in his spiritual world, who had donned an unprecedentedly solemn look.


    ¡°Wulin, I know you can¡¯t wait to break the next seal,¡± Old Tang said solemnly, ¡°but don¡¯t do it. Not now. The energy of the Golden Dragon King is dangerous; you know it. I see you broke the fifth seal. I would have advised you against breaking it if I hadn¡¯t been resting. You could have been killed. Take it slow; one step at a time. Don¡¯t risk your life.¡±


    Tang Wulin fell silent for a moment. ¡°My body has become much stronger after training with Master Mu Ye,¡± he said, trying to sound confident. ¡°I broke the fifth seal without breaking a sweat. Besides, I need the power to defeat a certain somebody.¡±


    ¡°Maybe your body is already strong enough to break another seal or two, but you still need to take it slow. Let me explain why. Each seal seals more energy of the Golden Dragon King than the seal before it; the more the energy, the stronger the impact on your body, and the more dangerous it is. Perhaps you already know that, but what you don¡¯t know is that the energy sealed in the first nine seals is nothing compared to that sealed in the second nine seals. In other words, the Golden Dragon King¡¯s true power is sealed in the second nine seals, so if you want to start breaking the second nine seals, you¡¯ll have to become a Titled Douluo first. It¡¯s much safer this way. If you break your sixth seal now, however, at this rate, you¡¯ll be forced to break the tenth seal around the age of 25. Do you think you will have become a Titled Douluo by then?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. Even such a prodigy as Long Yue may not be able to become a nine-ringed soul master at 25, much less me. I could use spirit items to help me, but my foundation would be unstable that way.


    ¡°So I suggest you draw out the time needed to break all the first nine seals as long as possible. Let them break by themselves if you can. Don¡¯t break the sixth seal until two or three years later. I don¡¯t care who you want to defeat; I won¡¯t let you risk your life to salvage your pride.¡±


    Tang Wulin lowered his head, ashamed.


    ¡°Judging from your current cultivation speed, you may be able to become a Titled Douluo at the age of 30. Try not to break all the first nine seals until then.¡± And with that, Old Tang disappeared.


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes and gave a wry smile. Why didn¡¯t you tell me such important information sooner, Old Tang? My black mecha! He could feel his heart aching again.


    After he got back to the hotel, he still hadn¡¯t got over his regret. Let it go, Wulin, he was telling himself. Focus on your missions and training!


    The final stage of the Continental Young Elites Tournament was a real crowd-pleaser. Many people couldn¡¯t get their hands on a ticket, even though they were willing to pay the scalpers four times the regular price. After all, it was a major event held once every three years in the Star Luo Empire.

 Chapter 651 - Boos

    Chapter 651 - Boos


    The small, separate stages in the Grand Star Luo Stadium had been replaced by a much larger one, which had a radius of about 800 feet and a soul barrier as high as 600 feet. Unlike before, the stadium now allowed one match to take place at a time, be it a one-on-one, a two-on-two, or a team battle. There were several huge screens hanging high above the stage to give the audience a much clearer view. It had taken them a good three days to set up all of this.


    The final knockout stage had attracted the most audience as always. They were now sitting in the stands, chatting excitedly and waiting for the fights to begin.


    So many contestants had signed up for this tournament in an attempt to reap money and fame. Needless to say, the 64 of them who had made the final stage of the one-on-one competition had gotten both. They had successfully caught the attention of the talent scouts from many large organizations, and if they managed to advance to the next round, their prize money would double.


    Three of the 64 were from the Shrek Academy. Five were from the Monster Academy, which was a record low.


    Now they were all waiting in the same waiting area equipped with 64 luxurious single couches. A dozen pretty and spirited young waitresses were walking around with smiles, holding trays of dessert and drinks. They were showing off their voluptuous figures and trying to chat up every male competitor, in the hope of making the young talents fall for them. If they ended up getting married to them ¨C which had happened before ¨C they would most likely have a bright and carefree future.


    ¡°That waitress makes six. Which one of these lovely girls is going to spend the rest of their life with you, Captain?¡± Xu Xiaoyan asked, smiling.


    They had been sitting here only a short while, but already six waitresses had come over and asked Tang Wulin if he¡¯d like some dessert or drinks.


    When it came to looks, no one here could compete with Tang Wulin. He was young, handsome, and strong; few women could resist his appeal. Dai Yueyan was also very attractive, but these women knew that the future emperor wouldn¡¯t take an interest in them. As for Long Yue, he was strong, to be sure, but his bald head and the scary vibes he constantly gave off served as nothing but a woman repellent.


    Tang Wulin smiled wryly. ¡°Focus on the competition, Xiaoyan.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s mouth twisted in contempt. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yun¡¯er?¡± asked Dai Yueyan, who was sitting beside her.


    Dai Yun¡¯er gave a snort of disgust. ¡°These waitresses are acting like they¡¯ve never seen a man before!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind them,¡± Dai Yueyan smiled. ¡°Have you figured out how to defeat Tang Wulin?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± she said, shaking her little fist. ¡°I¡¯ll make him beg for forgiveness, but he won¡¯t receive any!¡±


    Long Yue laughed. ¡°Attagirl! I¡¯ll be rooting for you. Teach him a lesson!¡±


    ¡°According to the matchups, I¡¯ll fight him in my second match. That¡¯s if he wins his first match,¡± said Dai Yun¡¯er. ¡°I¡¯ll teach him to mess with me!¡±


    Dai Yueyan could see that she was just acting fury, so he shook his head.


    The students of the Monster Academy were under more pressure than those from the Shrek Academy, for they were much older and had home-court advantage. They couldn¡¯t afford to lose in front of so many people who were cheering for them.


    The championship of the one-on-one competition is as good as ours, thought Dai Yueyan, but the Shrek Academy will make us look bad enough, if even only one of them makes the top four. We have to stop him. I have to stop him.


    That was when a bright beam of light shot down from the sky to the center of the stage. A figure started to descend slowly in the light beam. She was wearing a yellowish dress, relaxed and graceful, with delicate features and an attractive smile.


    ¡°Welcome, everybody, to the final stage of the Continental Young Elites Tournament!¡± she said as she descended. ¡°My name is Fang¡¯er, and I will be your host and commentator today.¡±


    The audience greeted her with a roar of applause and cheering.


    Her incisive commentary and gorgeous face had won her great popularity in this tournament, so she had been asked to host and commentate on the rest of the event.


    Fang¡¯er bowed in the direction of the VIP seats ¨C which were right above the waiting area ¨C as soon as she landed on the stage.


    ¡°Today is the first day of the final stage of our one-on-one competition,¡± Fang¡¯er said. ¡°As you can imagine, the fights will grow more intense from here. A moment of negligence is enough to cost one the match. Although I know it''s impossible, I still wish every contestant could win. Of course, it¡¯s more important to you that you show your true skills and enjoy the competition!¡±


    The applause thundered. Fang¡¯er bowed to Dai Tianling again and walked to her table.


    All the spotlights started shining and focused on the stage. Although it was daytime, they had managed to make the stage even brighter.


    16 one-on-one matches would be held today, and the other 16 tomorrow.


    Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui would compete today, while Xie Xie¡¯s first match had been scheduled for tomorrow.


    ¡°Would the first two contestants please come to the stage?¡± said Fang¡¯er. ¡°I believe one of them has been a center of your attention for a long time. He is from the Douluo Continent, the birthplace of the Star Luo Empire. He is also the captain of the team from the Shrek Academy, the number one academy on the whole Douluo Continent. His name is Tang Wulin!¡±


    The organizers of the tournament had arranged for Tang Wulin to fight the first match, because he was the captain of the team from the famous Shrek Academy, which had become as notorious here as the Monster Academy was popular. And Tang Wulin himself had garnered a handsome amount of attention after defeating two of the Monster Eight Kings ¨C Su Mu and Hua Lantang. The organizers had also arranged for Long Yue to compete in the last match tomorrow. According to the matchups, Tang Wulin had no chance of meeting Long Yue until the final. Of course this was their tactic to attract the audience.


    Loud boos ensued after Fang¡¯er said Tang Wulin¡¯s name.


    Tang Wulin rose to his feet and walked out of the waiting area. The students of the Monster Academy were staring at him. Long Yue was smiling, yet Dai Yun¡¯er was fuming. She was very vengeful; she couldn¡¯t help but grit her teeth in hatred every time she thought of the day Tang Wulin turned her down.


    ¡°The other contestant is one of the most talented students from the Imperial Star Luo Academy,¡± Fang¡¯er continued. ¡°His name is Sima Xian, 20 years old, a rising star. He was originally enrolled at the Monster Academy, but due to personal reasons, he ended up at the Imperial Star Luo Academy. He has never lost one fight in this tournament, so this promises to be a great match.¡±

 Chapter 652 - Sima Xian

    Chapter 652 - Sima Xian


    The Monster Academy team was surprised. They knew the name and the history between SIma Xian and Long Yue.


    There were few times when Long Yue felt embarrassed. As he felt his teammates¡¯ eyes on him, it struck him that this was one of them.


    ¡­


    Sima Xian was on his way to school. He was happy, because he had gotten admitted to the most prestigious school on the Star Luo Continent.


    When he arrived at the gate of the Monster Academy, a bald man came up to him.


    ¡°You got any money on you?¡± the man asked, raising a hand to stop him.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you who I am after you give me your money,¡± the bald man said. ¡°These are some fancy clothes you got on. You must be a rich kid.¡±


    Sima Xian snorted. ¡°You don¡¯t know who you¡¯re messing with. If I weren¡¯t in a hurry, I¡¯d knock your teeth out. Now beat it and don¡¯t let me see your ugly face around here again.¡±


    ¡°You sure are cocky, aren¡¯t you? Hand over your money now. I can assure you that you don¡¯t want me to make you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see you make me,¡± Sima Xian fumed, emanating a dangerous aura, his eyes burning with anger. ¡°You want my money? Come get it!¡± He was hailed as a genius soul master; he¡¯d never let this bald guy bully him into handing over his money, even though the bully was much bigger than him.


    Two minutes later.


    ¡°I knew you had a lot of money on you. Thank you, shorty,¡± the baldy said, taking his foot off Sima Xian¡¯s back.


    ¡°Come find me anytime if you want your money back. The name is Long Yue.¡± With that, he turned around and strode into the Monster Academy.


    Sima Xian pulled himself to his feet, blood welling from his mouth. He turned and slunk away, with a defiant growl to save his pride.


    Later, he enrolled at the Imperial Star Luo Academy.


    If En Ci hadn¡¯t seen the potential in Long Yue, he would have been dispelled. Still, he got disciplined by the Monster Academy.


    ¡­


    Long Yue turned and found his teammates smiling knowingly at him.


    ¡°Only Yun¡¯er can laugh at me,¡± Long Yue said with feigned anger, shaking his fist. ¡°The rest of you, stop smiling or I¡¯ll make you stop.¡±


    But instead of stopping, they burst into a fit of laughter.


    Sima Xian was lean, only about five feet tall and his eyes almost as attractive as those of Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin met his eyes and saw a strong desire in them. Why is he staring at me like that? he wondered.


    He didn¡¯t know what had happened between Sima Xian and Long Yue, so he couldn¡¯t come to the conclusion that he was eager to test his skills on him.


    Getting beaten up and robbed of his tuition fees was an absolute disgrace to Sima Xian. He had attempted three times to seek revenge, but each time he had lost worse than the time before; he had discovered to his dismay that the gap in power between him and Long Yue had become even wider, so he started training hard in the hope of catching up to him. It had been three years since he last saw Long Yue, and Sima Xian felt he was ready now. He had been looking forward to this match ever since he had found out that he got to fight Tang Wulin, because everyone knew this captain of the Shrek Academy team was strong, and was comparing him with Long Yue.


    Sima Xian was excited, thinking about how to beat Tang Wulin. After I beat him, everyone will know my name, and I¡¯ll be more confident of getting my revenge and redeeming myself.


    The referee took a look at them and started the match.


    Sitting straight at her table, Fang¡¯er said, ¡°The match has started. Let¡¯s see who will win.


    ¡°Sima Xian is making his first move; he is releasing his martial soul. Five purple soul rings! His soul rings can even rival those of a fine student of the Monster Academy. His martial soul is the Takin Dragon, a descendent of a dragon and a takin. It inherited its strength from the dragon and its speed from the takin.¡±


    Hearing this, Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui smiled at the same time.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t move. The stage was too big, so he had decided to wait for Sima Xian to come to him.


    Sima Xian¡¯s first soul ring started shining, followed immediately by the second one. His body stretched and swelled as he transformed into a takin dragon with a long tail and two huge takin horns.


    The dragon that had mated with the takin was one of the Nine Dragon Kings which possesed immense strength, but still, the power in Sima Xian¡¯s blood couldn¡¯t hold a candle to that of Tang Wulin ¨C or Long Yue or Su Mu, for that matter.


    Sima Xian charged at Tang Wu Lin with his head down, giving off a frightening aura. His hooves stomped the ground, creating yellow ripples of light.


    That was his soul skill: Gravity Control.


    The power of this technique could grow with his soul power. Right now he was able to increase the gravity around him five-fold, and the gravity increase didn¡¯t affect him a bit.


    Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t hear what Fang¡¯er was saying, but he could sense the draconic vibe Sima Xian was giving off. He was glad.


    Sima Xian was really fast, his hind legs long and stout, his horns gleaming. The effect of his Gravity Control had already reached his opponent when he was still 300 feet away.


    That was when Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes started shining a bright golden. His scales appeared and instantly spread across his body. His first golden soul ring lit up. Golden Dragon Body!


    His eyes fixed on Sima Xian, his golden claws hanging at his sides.

 Chapter 653 - Dominating the Match

    Chapter 653 - Dominating the Match


    Sima Xian was determined to defeat Tang Wulin, so he was not going to hold anything back. Without hesitation, he used his third soul skill. Thick, brownish red scales sprouted out of his body as he grew bigger. In an instant, he had become 16 feet long including his tail, moving as fast as a soul train. With his speed, assault-type martial soul, and Gravity Control, he had easily come up with several different attack combos.


    Tang Wulin felt the air thickening around him and the gravity dragging him down. He could have overpowered the gravity and dodged Sima Xian¡¯s attack, but he decided to meet it head-on. A faint smile touched his lips. With a draconic roar, he stomped on the ground with his right foot, summoning eight phantom dragons which were giving off a kingly vibe.


    To Sima Xian¡¯s shock, the roar sent a chill down his spine. He didn¡¯t stop though. Even if he had wanted to, he couldn¡¯t have stopped in time, not with his current speed and weight.


    On coming into contact with the phantom dragons, Sima Xian suddenly found that he was losing control of his body, as if his blood and soul power had stopped circulating and started freezing. Before he could figure out why and make any reactions, the eight phantom dragons slammed into him, sending him flying up into the sky.


    Everyone watching was stunned, including Fang¡¯er.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe my eyes!¡± Fang¡¯er exclaimed in shock. ¡°Somehow Sima Xian¡¯s soul skill had no effect on Tang Wulin at all! Tang Wulin¡¯s technique didn¡¯t look like a soul skill to me, but look at its power! It stopped a charging dragon with such ease and then knocked him into the sky! Sima Xian has suffered a forceful attack.¡±


    Fang¡¯er¡¯s commentary was extremely fast, but not without emotion. Judging from her incredulous tone, apparently she didn¡¯t have a clue as to what had just happened.


    The smile on Long Yue¡¯s face disappeared abruptly. He found himself sitting up straight and gazing intently at the stage. He had fought Sima Xian more times than he had liked, so he had quite a good understanding of his soul skills. Sima Xian¡¯s power can¡¯t hold a candle to mine, yet the gap between him and the other Monster Eight Kings is not big. But still, he is getting completely dominated by someone whose cultivation level is lower than him. Tang Wulin, you and your techniques have successfully intrigued me.


    Tang Wulin bent his legs and leapt into the air, leaving both the ground and Sima Xian¡¯s Gravity Control shattered.


    Sima Xian struggled to regain control of himself in mid-air but failed, his body numb and heavy with pain; the impact from the attack had left him unable to move a muscle. He hurriedly used what was left of his control over his soul power to fortify his defenses, bracing himself for what was coming next.


    Once Tang Wulin caught up with his opponent, he raised both hands high above his head, coiled them into fists, and brought them down with a draconic roar louder than before.


    Many people closed their eyes in fear of what was about to come.


    Sima Xian shot down like an arrow and smashed into the ground with a dull thud, leaving a crater with long, deep cracks webbing out around the impact.


    Tang Wulin landed steadily on the stage, his scales and golden claws blinding in the sunlight.


    The stadium fell deathly silent. They stared at Tang Wulin, but it seemed all they could see was a beast in human form.


    Sima Xian was lying there, motionless. The man hailed as the most talented soul master in the Imperial Star Luo Academy had gotten taken down in mere seconds.


    The medical team rushed onto the stage the moment the referee declared Tang Wulin victorious.


    Fang¡¯er gaped at Tang Wulin, eyes wide open. He could have torn Sima Xian into shreds if he had hit him with his sharp talons instead of his fists. What incredible power! He won without breaking a sweat, even though his opponent is a five-ringed Soul King and didn¡¯t take him lightly.


    Everything had happened so fast that Sima Xian hadn¡¯t even gotten to use his battle armor.


    Without doubt, battle armor could bring a soul master¡¯s attack and defensive power to another level, but this didn¡¯t seem to have applied to Tang Wulin¡¯s opponents who had a full set of one-word battle armor, since none of them had gotten the better of him even for a second.


    Ling Wuxie had managed to put on his battle armor, but Tang Wulin had defeated him before he could use its power; Hua Lantang¡¯s battle armor had gotten trapped in a net; as for Sima Xian, he hadn¡¯t gotten any chance to release his armor.


    Each of Tang Wulin¡¯s matches had ended quicker than the one that had come before it, each one more shocking than the last.


    Everyone sitting in the stands was taken aback, including those who had laughed at him when he forfeited his match against Dai Yueyan. For a moment they were confused whether standing there on the stage was a human or a beast.

 Chapter 654 - Shush!

    Chapter 654 - Shush!


    Tang Wulin turned back into the spirited handsome boy that he was as his claws and scales disappeared. He looked up at the stands and put a finger to his lips. ¡°Shhhh!¡±


    Then he smiled and got off the stage. You can insult me all you want; I¡¯ll shut you up with the results.


    The audience burst into an uproar.


    ¡°Who the fu*k do you think you are?!¡±


    ¡°This is the Star Luo Empire! Go back to your shithole country where you belong!¡±


    ¡°Did nobody teach you any manners?!¡±


    They had thought their boos had intimidated Tang Wulin when he first entered the stage, as he had made no response. They had never expected him to strike back in this way.


    Dai Tianling¡¯s face darkened.


    En Ci was not here today; the emperor was being accompanied by several well-renowned old soul masters in the Star Luo Empire. ¡°Talk about arrogance,¡± one of them snorted.


    He was right; Tang Wulin¡¯s behavior had been arrogant. But it was them who had left him no choice. What had the Shreak Academy team done to deserve all this verbal abuse? The people here had taken to hating them just because they were outsiders.


    It was not appropriate for a delegate to have behaved like that, and he had set a classic example of how not to promote peace between the two continents, but no one from the delegation ¨C including the leader ¨C considered Tang Wulin¡¯s behavior wrong, because he had defended the honor of the Douluo Continent.


    With a faint smile on his face, Tang Wulin strutted back to the waiting area, deaf to the insults being fired at him. I made it to the next round! He looked to Long Yue, lips curving up in a smirk.


    Long Yue smirked back, giving Tang Wulin a thumbs-up before turning it into a thumbs-down.


    Tang Wulin grinned, revealing his white teeth, and sat down.


    ¡°That kid is too cocky, Boss,¡± said a young man sitting beside Long Yue. ¡°I never thought Sima Xian would lose so easily,¡±


    Long Yue snorted. ¡°Tang Wulin¡¯s bloodline suppressed his, most likely. But he is strong, that¡¯s for sure. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er turned to gaze at Tang Wulin. Can I beat him? Was that his full power? Although he¡¯s just a four-ringed soul master like me, he¡¯s unmistakably a formidable opponent. The more she knew about him, the more she wanted to know; the princess was curious by nature.


    Dai Yueyan nudged his sister. ¡°Never let your guard down when you fight him. Go all out from the very beginning and take him down. Don¡¯t give him any opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t. Don¡¯t worry, Fourth Brother. I¡¯ll beat him!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said, shaking her little fist.


    Dai Yueyan smiled. She is even more talented than I am, and Tang Wulin¡¯s strength won¡¯t do him any good against her.


    They had to put the competition on hold while having the stage fixed.


    ¡°Please calm down, everybody,¡± said Fang¡¯er. ¡°The doctor said Sima Xian just passed out. He¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    The ruckus died down. ¡°In all honesty, I didn¡¯t quite understand why Sima Xian¡¯s charging had no effect whatsoever,¡± continued Fang¡¯er, ¡°and it baffled me how someone could have taken him down in such a short time, not to mention the fact that he is stronger than Tang Wulin in terms of soul power. So I consulted several authorities, and they told me that Tang Wulin may possess some kind of ability which suppressed Sima Xian. Please look at the screens.¡±


    Fang¡¯er started to replay the footage of the match. When Sima Xian got close enough to Tang Wulin, she put the replay in slow motion.


    ¡°You can see the yellow ripples of light under Sima Xian¡¯s feet, which are showing the range of his Gravity Control. Clearly Tang Wulin is now under the influence of this soul skill. But after he gave a roar, he disturbed the ripples and blocked Sima Xian¡¯s attack with ease.


    ¡°When Sima Xian crashed into the phantom dragons, he stopped moving, as if he had been controlled by Tang Wulin¡¯s technique. We haven¡¯t figured out what this technique is though. Hopefully his next match will provide us with the answer.¡± Fang¡¯er paused a moment. ¡°While he is young, there is no denying that the captain of the Shrek Academy team is strong.¡±


    Her remarks were short and to the point, and they contained important information for Tang Wulin¡¯s opponents, but she made no comments on Tang Wulin¡¯s provocative gesture.


    Tang Wulin closed his eyes and seemed to be lost in thought. The swearing and cursing had finally quieted down. Hurling insults was hard work; maybe their mouths had gone dry.


    Half an hour later, the stage was ready and the second match started.


    Although the first match had been short, it was so shocking that the audience still hadn¡¯t recovered even after the second match started. It was also a great match, but they were in no mood for it yet; even Fang¡¯er¡¯s commentary was much less enthusiastic.


    Ten minutes later, the second match was over with a four-ringed young man winning.


    At least half of the 64 people who had made it into the last stage were five-ringed Soul Kings. Most of the four-ringed soul masters who had made it this far had a special technique or two up their sleeve. The next several matches confirmed this point. In one of them, a four-ringed Soul Ancestor defeated a five-ringed Soul King; the latter had no battle armor though.


    In an unusual match, a contestant beat his opponent with his skilled control of a purple mecha. Generally speaking, a four- or five-ringed soul master should be able to use the full power of a purple mecha. It was better to them than a black one, since their cultivation level rendered them unable to use a black mecha to the full.


    ¡°The seventh match: Yuanen Yehui of the Shrek Academy versus Teng Teng of the Monster Academy. Will the contestants please come to the stage?¡± Fang¡¯er said. ¡°This is no doubt one of the most high-profile matches today and another clash between the Shrek Academy and the Monster Academy. Hopefully this will be a wonderful match.¡±


    Fang¡¯er quickly adjusted her mood to prepare herself for the next match.


    Yuanen Yehui stood up. Dressed in men¡¯s clothing as usual, she was the most inconspicuous one in the Shrek Academy team.


    ¡°Be careful,¡± Xie Xie whispered, seizing her sleeve, as she stepped past him.


    Yuanen glared at him. ¡°Keep your hand where it belongs!¡±


    Xie Xie withdrew his hand obediently. Yuanen Yehui walked out and headed to the stage.


    Teng Teng was the young man sitting beside Long Yue. He had been looking forward to this match for a long while.

 Chapter 655 - Yuanen Yehui vs. the Shadow King

    Chapter 655 - Yuanen Yehui vs. the Shadow King


    There had already been several clashes between the Monster Academy and the Shrek Academy. None of the Monster Eight Kings had any doubts that Long Yue would be the champion of the one-on-one competition, but still, they were in desperate need of a win against the Shrek Academy team, because Su Mu, Hua Lantang, and Ye Zhi had failed so miserably.


    Now a chance had come for them to redeem themselves. Teng Teng was determined to prove to everyone that the Monster Academy team was not a one-man team.


    ¡°Teng Teng is from the Monster Academy, an agility-type soul master. His nickname is: the Shadow King,¡± said Fang¡¯er. Teng Teng hadn¡¯t entered the stage yet, and the barrier was still open, so she had revealed no info on him that might put him at a disadvantage.


    Yuanen Yehui stood there, waiting patiently. She was so skinny that Teng Teng frowned with disappointment when he stepped onto the stage and laid eyes on her. Taking down such a weak-looking guy will never show how powerful I am.


    He had watched several of Yuanen Yehui¡¯s previous matches after he learned that his opponent was her. Judging from his fights, he should be a strength-type soul master. Strength-type soul masters have the upper hand over agility-type ones, but so what? With my speed, I¡¯m untouchable.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    The audience stopped chatting, straightened their backs, and gazed down at the two contestants attentively. They hadn¡¯t been very dismayed when Sima Xian of the Imperial Star Luo Academy had lost, but they would be if the Monster Academy also lost to the Shrek Academy. They had completely ignored the age gap between the competitors of the two schools; the only thing they cared about now was crushing the Shrek Academy team.


    Teng Teng immediately started sprinting, five purple soul rings revolving around him; then the third one lit up as two clones appeared out of thin air. The three of them were moving extremely fast, charging at Yuanen Yehui from three different angles and leaving afterimages behind them.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s four purple rings appeared, the first and the third shining. She grew larger and larger, bursting her clothes and showing her super-elastic suit, and turned into a 16-feet-tall giant in an instant.


    By then the three Teng Tengs had already reached her, but they didn¡¯t attack right away; instead, they started running around the Diamond Titan. With their speed and the afterimages they were continuously casting, it looked as if there were thirty Teng Tengs. It was not a soul skill but a technique he had invented.


    Teng Teng was holding a pitch-black dagger in each hand, a soul dagger ¨C soul devices were also permitted to be used in the one-on-one competition.


    His martial soul was the shadow, and his clones were shadow clones, which were physically real.


    Agility-type soul masters were blessed with high speed. Using his speed and shadow clones, Teng Teng had developed this technique to confuse his opponents.


    Such an aggressive start to the match had immediately grabbed the attention of the audience.


    ¡°Teng Teng is now using a high-tier fighting skill exclusive to agility-type soul masters,¡± Fang¡¯er said, nervous with excitement. ¡°His speed is making his opponent unable to keep track of his movements while he is biding his time, waiting for an opportunity.


    ¡°Yuanen Yehui seems to be strong. His martial soul should be the Titan Giant Ape, the king of the jungle. It¡¯s one of the most powerful martial souls. Will he dodge Teng Teng¡¯s attack, or will he block it? We¡¯re about to find out soon enough.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t try to track his movements like most people would do; she stood there, calm and focused. She seemed to have read Teng Teng¡¯s mind. If you want an opening in my defense, then I¡¯ll give you an opening.


    Her second soul ring started shining. She took a step forward, pulled her fist back, and punched the air.


    The instant Yuanen Yehui took that step, two of the three Teng Tengs stopped running and pounced towards her back, aiming the daggers at her two sides. It was too good an opportunity for him to miss, and Teng Teng was known for his decisiveness. With her standing like that, it was almost impossible for her to dodge the attacks from the two blind angles.


    When many people thought it was over, a loud deep sound shook the arena. Boom!


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Air Cannon was so forceful that it seemed to have warped the space in front of her. Being dragged helplessly by this force, the two Teng Tengs missed her and flew past her sides.


    Then she shot out two large palms and struck them. The two Teng Tengs disappeared. They had been shadow clones.


    A blur of movements, and Teng Teng was already a hundred feet away from her.


    ¡°You can warp space?!¡± Teng Teng said, shocked. The disdainful look in his eyes was gone, and he had donned a grave face. Her punch was simple, yet it definitely warped the space for a second. He is much stronger than I thought.

 Chapter 656 - Yuanen Yehui’s Battle Armor

    Chapter 656 - Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Battle Armor


    He warped the space to create a force to pull everything towards it, Teng Teng thought. Such a formidable young man.


    Yuanen Yehui made no reply and darted towards him.


    Teng Teng dashed away, creating two more shadow clones, who quickly started running in different directions.


    Yuanen Yehui came to a sudden halt and punched the air again as she let out a beastly roar.


    The space over the three Teng Tengs got warped again, this time more greatly than before. The three speeding figures stumbled a bit, but one was not as much affected as the other two.


    That one must be the real, Yuanen Yehui thought, and a white ball of light shot out.


    Long Yue¡¯s eyes flashed with surprise. He¡¯s clearly stronger than that Holy Angel kid. Teng Teng is in trouble.


    Before her Air Cannon reached Teng Teng, his second soul ring lit up and he vanished.


    Yuanen Yehui looked around and immediately noticed something strange ¨C his shadow on the ground was still running, its speed much faster. She was astonished. It was the first time she had seen such an odd soul skill. He has superb survivability as well as speed.


    ¡°You sure are strong. I¡¯ll give you all I got,¡± said Teng Teng. When the shadow was 300 feet away from Yuanen Yehui, it stopped and from it emerged Teng Teng. The two clones disappeared. He thrust out both hands, and pieces of battle armor flew out of his storage rings and onto his body.


    A full set of one-word battle armor. It was gray with faint silver patterns, nothing fancy but strong.


    All the Monster Eight Kings were one-word battle armor masters except for Dai Yun¡¯er, whose cultivation level was too low.


    After gauging Yuanen Yehui¡¯s power, Teng Teng had come to the conclusion that his opponent had gained the upper hand, and that he might lose like Hua Lantang had if he didn¡¯t use his battle armor.


    He was acutely conscious that this armor would bring with it shame, because he was much older and one of the Monster Eight Kings, but it sure beat losing.


    Watching Teng Teng¡¯s battle armor fly onto his body, Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t try to intervene, as she was too far away and he was too quick. She didn¡¯t just stand there doing nothing though; she summoned her own battle armor.


    Pieces of yellow armor appeared and covered her as her shoulders, arms, chest, and waist were shining golden. She possessed six pieces in total: two pauldrons, two gauntlets, a fauld, and a breastplate. She was giving off a much powerful aura now that she had her armor on.


    The audience was astounded; even Tang Wulin and Xie Xie were looking with wide eyes.


    ¡°She already has the core component?¡± Xie Xie blurted out.


    ¡°Yes. Normally the breastplate is the core component,¡± answered Tang Wulin. ¡°It won¡¯t be long before she has a full set of one-word battle armor now that she has already made the most intricate piece.¡±


    One had to reach rank 50 first to be able to put on a full set of one-word battle armor. Yuanen Yehui was at rank 45 now ¨C she was the strongest among her teammates in terms of soul power ¨C so she would definitely have reached rank 50 by the time her full set of battle armor was ready.


    Given that she had already gotten her core component, her battle armor should be at least 60 percent as powerful as a full set; besides, its material was much better, so she was not at a distinct disadvantage here in this respect.


    A smile showed on Tang Wulin¡¯s face; he was happy when his friends grew stronger.


    A giant Diamond Titan clad in gleaming armor was obviously a lot more magnificent than a normal human in armor, even though his armor was a full set.


    Teng Teng was holding two gray daggers in his hands, which were parts of his battle armor. He wasn¡¯t using any soul skill right now, but the vibes emanating from him was frightening.


    Right after he put on his armor, he charged, his first soul ring shining.


    Empowered by his battle armor, his speed was simply unimaginable, his daggers whistling through the air. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Yuanen Yehui. He jumped up, slashing his right dagger at her left arm.


    It was his first soul skill: Shadow Slash.


    Normally such a slash couldn¡¯t do much damage, since it was just a first soul skill, but with the one-word battle armor and his incredible speed, it was much deadlier.


    How can he be so fast?! Yuanen Yehui found she had no time to dodge or parry his attack.


    However, just before Teng Teng¡¯s dagger caught her, her armor turned black and she shrunk instantly as inky darkness appeared and spread across the stage. His dagger missed her completely.


    What the hell?! Teng Teng thought, shocked. He was trapped in the darkness and couldn¡¯t see a thing, and to make matters worse, the air around him had become sticky like syrup, slowing down his movements dramatically. Could this be a domain technique? It¡¯s totally different from his other soul skills.


    ¡°He has twin martial souls!¡± Long Yue and Fang¡¯er said at the same time.


    They had seen Yuanen Yehui change before their eyes from the giant Diamond Titan to a girl with a pair of pitch-black wings and dark red hair hanging down her back. It had happened so fast that most people hadn¡¯t even noticed.


    The audience was wonderstruck. Only a few people possessed twin martial souls, be it on the Douluo Continent or the Star Luo Continent. There were many tales, legends, and myths about them, but few people had ever had the chance to meet one.


    So when they heard Fang¡¯er say that Yuanen Yehui had twin martial souls, they couldn¡¯t believe their ears.


    Violent energy surged in the darkness; nobody outside could see anything.


    Long Yue frowned, thoughtful.

 Chapter 657 - Getting Dominated

    Chapter 657 - Getting Dominated


    Long Yue had been baffled as to why a four-ringed soul master could have put on the core component of battle armor, but after Yuanen Yehui showed her second martial soul, he understood. The soul power of a soul master with twin martial souls was stronger than that of a normal soul master who was on the same cultivation level. This Yuanen Yehui is much stronger than we expected.


    Teng Teng couldn¡¯t see or sense anything in this darkness. He didn¡¯t know what had happened, but he didn¡¯t intend to stay here to find out. I¡¯ve got to get out of here, and fast! He chose a direction and sprinted as fast as his feet could carry him, using his battle armor to create a shield of light around him.


    He couldn¡¯t tell if he was darting straight, but he didn¡¯t care. He just ran and ran and ran. Bang! This is¡­ the soul barrier around the stage! Yes! He was glad. I can run along the edge. There is no way the darkness has spread across the whole place.


    Teng Teng recommenced running, heightening his sense of hearing to prepare himself to evade any attacks he couldn¡¯t see.


    That was when a black figure shot out of the darkness. She flapped her pitch-black wings and hovered in midair. She was wearing black armor over an elastic suit reaching down to her ankles, her dark red hair hanging loose behind her back and her legs long and slender. There was something evil in her eyes though.


    For an instant the audience froze. Then they realized that this gorgeous girl was actually that plain-looking boy.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s second and third soul rings started shining.


    Her dark purple demonic sword materialized in her hands. Empowered by her battle armor, it was six feet long and shining light purple, with dark energy dancing around it.


    At the same time, her black armor faded to a light purple and she grew to as tall as eight feet. This was her third soul skill: Fallen Angel Descends.


    She had turned into an incredibly tall and beautiful girl.


    She raised the demonic sword in both hands, and the dark energy brought by her fallen angel form started flooding into the sword, turning the purple even darker.


    The audience found her dark purple sword terrifying, even though they were watching it from afar.


    Suddenly, she plunged down and slashed at Teng Teng who had just rushed out of the darkness and wanted to breathe a sigh of relief like most people will do when they manage to get out of a terrible situation alive.


    If Teng Teng hadn¡¯t been running at such high speed, he might be able to dodge this surprise attack. But dodging was not an option for him now. He barely got his daggers up in time and they caught Yuanen Yehui¡¯s demonic sword filled with dark energy inches from his chest. But it was too forceful an attack for him to block. Her sword drove his daggers back onto his armor, shattered them, and slashed open his armor, which was giving off brilliant light in an effort to protect its owner.


    With her strength and the dark energy, even a five-ringed soul master clad in a full set of one-word battle armor couldn¡¯t get out of that unscathed.


    Teng Teng was sent flying back into the darkness by the impact.


    The eyes of the audience went wide as plates. They tried to look for excuses to account for this disgraceful defeat but found they couldn¡¯t find any. It was a good, clean fight, and the two contestants weren¡¯t holding anything back.


    Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t pursue him. She hovered in midair, her sword shining purple. She was thinking back on the blow she had just delivered with all her force.


    She couldn¡¯t have timed that attack better, and she had fused everything perfectly ¨C the demonic sword, the dark energy, her strength, and her soul power. It had been the most powerful blow she had ever landed with her sword.


    She felt she had gained a better understanding of her Fallen Angel martial soul, and she found this fight had made her grow stronger.


    The darkness was dispersed to reveal Teng Teng lying on the ground.


    He grimaced, took a deep breath, and pulled himself up with great effort. Then he hurriedly sped away from her.


    Blood was welling from the hideous crack in his battle armor, and he could feel the dark energy forcing its way into his body through his wound. He mustered up all his soul power to try to fight it; sweat sprang out on his forehead. His battle armor was designed to provide as much speed and attack power as possible, and it was relatively weak in terms of defensive power, so it had failed to block Yuanen Yehui¡¯s attack.


    His torso and both arms were numb. He couldn¡¯t believe he was going to lose to someone with a lower cultivation level and only a few pieces of battle armor.


    Yuanen Yehui lifted her demonic sword again and closed her eyes, dark energy rushing into the sword.


    No! I can¡¯t go down like this! I refuse to go down like this! Teng Teng bit his tongue and used the pain to fight off the numbness.

 Chapter 658 - An Easy Victory

    Chapter 658 - An Easy Victory


    What happened next was mind-blowing. Teng Teng¡¯s speed advantage no longer existed because he had been seriously injured, so he had to rely on his attack power if he wanted to win. He took a deep breath and his fifth soul ring lit up.


    One shadow after another appeared quickly, but they were standing instead of lying on the ground, and an instant later, there were already 36 of them. Then they rushed towards Teng Teng and fused into his body


    Teng Teng lifted his broken daggers, his eyes shining with an intense desire to win; it seemed he had found his confidence again.


    ¡°A Hundred Shadows Become One!¡± he shouted, bringing the daggers down with all his strength. Two gray crescent-shaped sword beams immediately shot out towards Yuanen Yehui.


    Every shadow possessed five percent of his power, so he had just released 2.8 times his power. This was his most forceful attack.


    The only problem with this skill was that it took a long time to prepare, but it didn¡¯t matter now, not when Yuanen Yehui was also accumulating energy there to prepare for her next attack.


    Seeing that the sword beams were hurtling at her, she shot towards Teng Teng in a flash of light, and an instant later, she was right behind him.


    Teng Teng¡¯s all-out attack missed her, slammed into the barrier, and caused a massive explosion.


    At the same time, Yuanen Yehui brought her sword down at his back and cracked his battle armor, sending him flying forward.


    Teng Teng coughed out a mouthful of blood in midair, his battle armor making a low moaning sound and shining in a vain attempt to cancel out the dark energy. He crashed into the barrier, bounced off, and plopped to the stage, unconscious.


    Yuanen Yehui stood there, expressionless, her purple demonic sword in hand and her dark red hair waving in the wind.


    ¡°Teng Teng made a fatal mistake at the last moment,¡± Fang¡¯er said, disappointed. ¡°He didn¡¯t lock his final attack onto Yuanen Yehui. That was why she dodged so easily. Truth be told, I never expected such a mistake from someone as strong and experienced as him.¡±


    Fang¡¯er was right; he hadn¡¯t locked that attack onto Yuanen Yehui, but it had been a conscious decision rather than negligence.


    Normally if a soul skill had locked onto its target, it would be difficult to dodge, for it was able to adjust its trajectory, but such a soul skill lacked speed and power. That had been Teng Teng¡¯s last attack which had used up all his remaining soul power, and he had needed it to be powerful enough to break through Yuanen Yehui¡¯s defenses and take her down, or he would be as good as defeated. Another reason had been that he had thought she would meet his attack head-on, since she had gotten the better of him.


    But Yuanen Yehui hadn¡¯t taken any chances. Her Fallen Angel martial soul exceled in speed as well as attack power, and she had used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to get behind him.


    The Shadow King had suffered a crushing defeat.


    Yuanen Yehui had cruised to victory like Tang Wulin had.


    Long Yue had donned a grave face. Not because they had lost another match. No, it was Yuanen Yehui¡¯s Titan Giant Ape martial soul. It was her Fallen Angel martial soul. Most of all, it was the fact that she was even stronger than Teng Teng.


    If they had learned that Yuanen Yehui had twin martial souls and that both of them were extremely powerful, the result of this match may not have been such a disastrous defeat.


    Yuanen Yehui spread her wings and flew off the stage. As soon as she landed on the ground, her wings disappeared, and she turned into a normal young girl in an elastic suit.


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had already stood up. Xie Xie rushed to greet her, sweeping his arms wide, his eyes shining with excitement. ¡°Yuanen, you¡¯re amazing!¡± Xie Xie exclaimed.


    Yuanen Yehui caught his shoulder and pushed him away. ¡°Keep your distance from me.¡±


    Xie Xie gave a silly grin and obeyed meekly.


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand and Yuanen Yehui slapped it. It was their way of celebration, but the sound was harsh to the Monster Academy team.


    Some of the contestants from other schools looked worried, and some were gloating.


    The audience gaped at the stage, shock written all over their faces. They couldn¡¯t accept this defeat, not after Teng Teng had clearly given his all, but they couldn¡¯t come up with any excuses to make themselves feel better.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the hotel,¡± Tang Wulin said, making his way towards the exit of the stadium. Xie Xie¡¯s match wouldn¡¯t be until tomorrow; he had come here for Yuanen Yehui.


    ¡°It seems we have to reevaluate the strength of the Shrek Academy team,¡± Dai Yueyan said solemnly. ¡°That Yuanen Yehui is strong.¡±


    Long Yue inclined his head slightly.


    ¡°Is Yuanen Yehui a boy or a girl?¡± Dai Yun¡¯er asked, frowning. ¡°And why isn¡¯t he their captain? He¡¯s obviously stronger than Tang Wulin.¡±


    Long Yue¡¯s mouth curved in a smile. ¡°Is he? I don¡¯t know about that, since I haven¡¯t seen Tang Wulin¡¯s true power yet. Besides, if you want people to follow you willingly, you have to be stronger than them all. This rule applies everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make him show his true power,¡± said Dai Yun¡¯er.


    After they left the stadium, Tang Wulin turned to face Yuanen Yehui. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell us you¡¯ve made the breastplate,¡± he smiled.


    Yuanen Yehui smiled back. ¡°You didn¡¯t ask. It was ready yesterday. We worked hard, because if we don¡¯t, we¡¯ll never catch up to you. Anyway, I won so easily, not just because of my battle armor, but because I know how to deal with agility-type soul masters.¡± She shot an angry sidelong glance at Xie Xie.


    ¡°Yeah, you sure do,¡± said Xie Xie. ¡°I¡¯m meek as a mouse before you.¡±


    ¡°I hate mice,¡± she said.


    ¡°Well to hell with mice then. I can be anything you want if you go out on a date with me.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I will, after you beat me! I don¡¯t like having a boyfriend who is weaker than me.¡±


    Xie Xie¡¯s eyes flashed with excitement.

 Chapter 659 - Tang Wulin vs. Dai Yun’er

    Chapter 659 - Tang Wulin vs. Dai Yun¡¯er


    Looking at them, Tang Wulin showed a helpless smile. She wouldn¡¯t let him off the hook easily, but it¡¯s definitely a good thing for Xie Xie. Because of her, his potential has been constantly stimulated.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that you¡¯ve become stronger,¡± Tang Wulin said to Yuanen Yehui. ¡°We¡¯ll get a good result in this tournament.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how much pressure you put on us?¡± she asked suddenly.


    Tang Wulin froze for a moment, but then he saw the smile on Yuanen Yehui''s face. ¡°I like the pressure,¡± she continued, ¡°and if there is no one in front of me that I can chase, I won¡¯t be this motivated and may end up at a loss, so don''t let me catch up.¡±


    Most people were in no mood to watch the rest of today¡¯s matches after the Monster Academy had lost again. They were extremely dissatisfied. They wanted to win. They would like to see Long Yue fight the best of the Shrek Academy team.


    Teng Teng''s injury was not serious. He had almost recovered after treatment, but he still needed some recuperation. His armor had been seriously damaged, and it would take time to repair. In the later team competition, the role that his armor could play would be limited. Because if it got completely destroyed, the loss would be great ¨C it cost a fortune to make a full set of one-word battle armor. Although it was time for him to start making his two-word battle armor ¨C since he was already a five-ringed Soul King ¨C it couldn''t be made in a short time.


    If the Monster Academy wanted to beat the Shrek Academy completely, they must win the one-on-one and two-on-two competitions, and they must also win the team competition, even though it was not paid much attention to. Because the team competition was a contest of comprehensive strength. The strongest school was the school that won the team competition.


    The next day''s fights were just as good. Xie Xie''s opponent was not weak, but his high-speed attacks eliminated him. All three of the Shrek Academy''s competitors made it to the top 32.


    As for the Monster Academy, all five competitors had successfully entered the top 32 except for Teng Teng, who had been defeated by Yuanen Yehui. Long Yue''s match seemed to be no different from his preliminary ones. He won it with little effort.


    The next round would be held the following day. This was a little bit of a disadvantage for the contestants who had just competed today, but they had no choice but to follow the rule.


    The next morning, when Tang Wulin entered the stadium with Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie, he wore a coat with a hood bought here over his uniform. He had become the enemy of the Star Luo Empire, a target of scorn. Every time he was seen by pedestrians on the road, he was pointed at or even cursed.


    The authorities could ensure their safety, but the swearing couldn¡¯t be stopped. This was the misfortune of being outsiders.


    Tang Wulin already knew who his opponent was: Dai Yun¡¯er, the Spirit King, the last of the Monster Eight Kings and the spoiled princess.


    Among the Monster Eight Kings, Dai Yun¡¯er was the weakest in terms of cultivation level. Like him, she was also a four-ringed soul master without a full set of one-word battle armor. Undoubtedly, she was a relatively easy opponent for Tang Wulin to deal with.


    The opponents of Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie were not weak, but on the flip side, they were not from the Monster Academy.


    The situation would not be so ideal after they made it to the top 16; Tang Wulin would have to fight Dai Yueyan, and Xie Xie¡¯s opponent would be an agility-type soul master who was ranked fourth in the Monster Eight Kings.


    But if everything went well and Tang Wulin advanced to the top eight, he would face Yuanen Yehui.


    Winning this tournament was a tough task for Tang Wulin.


    After they walked into the waiting area, Tang Wulin took off his coat. Dai Yun¡¯er sprang to her feet and reached him in several strides, blocking his way.


    "Tang Wulin, your opponent today is me." She stared at him with burning eyes.


    ¡°I know,¡± Tang Wulin said with a hint of a smile.


    The princess shook her fist at him. ¡°If I were you, I¡¯d yield now and save the humiliation of getting defeated.¡±


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. ¡°No offense, but you ought to have your head examined.¡±


    With that, he walked past her and went to his seat, followed by Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie, who tried to stifle a smile but failed.


    Dai Yun¡¯er stood there, rooted to the spot. She felt anger coiling inside her. It was the first time in her life she had been humiliated.


    ¡°Tang Wulin!¡± she screamed, and stormed towards him, yet Dai Yueyan caught her by the arm before she made a bigger fool of herself, but still, some audience in the stands had heard her scream Tang Wulin¡¯s name. They represented not only the Monster Academy, but also the Star Luo Empire. The princess would cause the royal family to lose face if she fought with Tang Wulin here.


    Paying no mind to Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s shrill yelling, Tang Wulin sat down, picked up a glass of juice, and drank it, savoring its wonderful flavor. She already hates me. How much worse can it get?


    Dai Yueyan was speechless. Why can¡¯t they get along?


    She took her seat angrily after Dai Yueyan told her that she could teach him a lesson soon enough on the stage today.


    If eyes could kill, Tang Wulin would have been killed a hundred times by her glares.


    After this round, the contestants would be given a day off before the next round.


    The first match was about to start, and the audience had become tense. Today would witness another clash between the Shrek Academy and the Monster Academy, and the fight was between the captain of the Shrek Academy team and the princess of the Star Luo Empire. They wondered who would win.


    Not many people knew the true power of the princess.


    She was a four-ringed soul master and ranked at the bottom of the Monster Eight Kings. Considering that Tang Wulin had already defeated Su Mu, she seemed to be the underdog in this match.


    However, she was said to be a genius more talented than the fourth prince, Dai Yueyan, and she had allegedly inherited some kind of ability from her ancestors.


    If she managed to defeat the captain of the Shrek Academy team, she would be hailed as the goddess of the whole empire.


    Of course, they would not blame her, even if she lost. They would blame her opponent for being too cunning.


    It was hard not to be biased in situations like this one.

 Chapter 660 - Tang Wulin, You’re So Gonna Die!

    Chapter 660 - Tang Wulin, You¡¯re So Gonna Die!


    Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t the first to fight today, because they could only rig the tournament so much without getting people suspicious.


    Xie Xie would fight the third match; Yuanen Yehui the seventh; Tang Wulin the eighth.


    Xie Xie¡¯s opponent was a five-ringed Soul King, a powerful one, albeit without a full set of one-word battle armor; it had taken this agility-type soul master a good fifteen minutes to find an opportunity to break through his defenses. Yuanen Yehui¡¯s opponent might be the weakest among them 32. She defeated him and advanced without breaking a sweat. It was quite rare for someone as young as them to make it into the top 16 in the Continental Young Elites Tournament.


    Now it was time for Tang Wulin to enter the stage.


    ¡°I¡¯ll beat him to the point where he can no longer move!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said to her brother after the seventh match was over, staring at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Calm down, Yun¡¯er,¡± replied Dai Yueyan.


    Tang Wulin heard her, but he didn¡¯t even bother to turn to look. He stood up and walked to the stage.


    Dai Yun¡¯er stormed out after him, furious.


    ¡°You¡¯re so gonna die, Tang Wulin!¡± a voice said in Tang Wulin¡¯s head. Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s voice. Her spiritual power was strong enough to send her thoughts into his mind.


    He didn¡¯t like Dai Yun¡¯er, but in his heart he knew she was not an opponent to be trifled with. She¡¯s the princess, but this is hardly the only reason she¡¯s one of the Monster Eight Kings. Perhaps her spiritual power alone is enough to secure that title.


    Dai Yun¡¯er glared at him silently on the stage, her hands coiling into fists. If not for the referee standing between them, she might have already lashed out at him.


    ¡°In this match, we have Princess Dai Yun¡¯er, the Spirit King, who is an agility-type soul master with the Hell Civet for a martial soul, a martial soul passed down through the royal family,¡± said Fang¡¯er, ¡°and we have the captain of the Shrek Academy team, Tang Wulin, a strength-type soul master. He has shown some really fascinating techniques in his previous fights. But we have seen neither of their true power yet, so the outcome of this match is anybody¡¯s guess.¡±


    Actually, Fang¡¯er wasn¡¯t in great hopes that the princess would win ¨C she had seen what Tang Wulin¡¯s power and unknown ability could do ¨C but she had to exaggerate a bit, since she was the princess and all.


    Dai Yun¡¯er sprinted the instant the referee told them to begin. She was incredibly fast, leaving afterimages behind her. Her soul rings appeared, three purple and one black ¨C the same as those of Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was surprised. Her martial soul is¡­ the Hell Civet? The same as one of Wu Siduo¡¯s? He didn¡¯t know that both the Hell Civet martial soul and the White Tiger martial soul were owned exclusively by the royal family of the Star Luo Empire.


    He stood there, waiting for her attack. There is no way she got her strong spiritual power from her Hell Civet martial soul.


    When Dai Yun¡¯er was only a hundred feet away from Tang Wulin, her first soul ring lit up. Hell Rush! The same first soul skill as that of Wu Siduo. A blur of movement, and she was slashing down at Tang Wulin with her claws.


    Suddenly, Tang Wulin caught a glimpse of her eyes; big, as blue as sapphire, and then he felt so dizzy and light-headed, as if he was about to faint. A spasm of pain shot through his chest an instant later, triggering his Golden Dragon Body and clearing his mind a little. He immediately realized Dai Yun¡¯er had just unleashed a spiritual attack on him, so he quickly used his Purple Demon Eyes to resist it.


    Tang Wulin was sent flying backwards 20 feet or so by her slash before he staggered to steady himself.


    The people in the stands didn¡¯t understand why Tang Wulin had done nothing to block the princess¡¯s attack, but they could care less. They were euphoric to see his ass get beaten.


    Thunderous cheer and applause went up in the stadium; the excitement of the audience could even be heard three miles away.


    Tang Wulin shook his head vigorously, and with the help of the Purple Demon Eyes, his head was finally clear, and his body felt his own again.


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s attack had been powerful, but Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Body had been activated in time to fend it off. He was hurt, but not badly; not so far as bone and flesh were concerned. The five scratches on his scales were slowly fading away.


    Dai Yun¡¯er pounced on Tang Wulin again, and her second soul skill ¨C Hundred Hell Claws ¨C was upon him as he steadied himself.


    Purple light shot out of Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes to protect himself from the princess¡¯s spiritual attack, and at the same time he threw a punch at her; a simple punch, yet its power seemed to have compressed the air around her and made it hard for her to breathe.


    Dai Yun¡¯er bent her knees and avoided his blow nimbly enough.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s punch struck nothing but air. He lifted his right foot and was going to unleash Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. But Dai Yun¡¯er was quicker than him. She saw the gap in his attacks and took advantage by rushing in. The best defense is a good offense. A beam of light shot towards Tang Wulin. This was her third soul skill: Hell Slash.


    Tang Wulin was shocked by her quick reaction. There was no way he could evade this attack, not when it was just a foot from him.


    He had no choice but to use Golden Dragon Tyrant Body to meet it, his golden scales shining resplendently. The beam of light caught him on his chest but didn¡¯t break through his defenses.


    Tang Wulin absorbed the power in her attack and brought his foot down hard. Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!


    However, Dai Yun¡¯er managed to leap away before the phantom dragons could even reach her.

 Chapter 661 - Tang Wulin’s Trick

    Chapter 661 - Tang Wulin¡¯s Trick


    In this brief confrontation, both Tang Wulin and Dai Yun¡¯er had used three techniques, but Golden Dragon Body, Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth had consumed much more power than Hell Rush, Hundred Hell Claws, and Hell Slash had.


    Dai Yun¡¯er landed gracefully on the ground. ¡°You¡¯re not half as strong as you look.¡±


    Tang Wulin frowned. She¡¯s one of the Monster Eight Kings all right. Although she¡¯s the youngest and has the lowest cultivation level among them, she seems to possess more battle experience than the ones I have fought; she knows exactly when to attack and when to defend, and her eyes are troublesome.


    Then Tang Wulin¡¯s frown gave way to a smile. He waggled his right index finger in a bring-it-on gesture.


    Dai Yun¡¯er felt anger rise inside her. Her face darkened and she pounced on Tang Wulin again.


    That was when Dai Yueyan stopped smiling and started looking worried. That¡¯s not good; she is angry. She is spoiled and proud, and no one ever dares to defy her, so she gets provoked easily. Talented as she is, she¡¯ll leave herself open to attack if she loses her cool, and to make matters worse, Tang Wulin might be up to something; I don¡¯t like that smile of his.


    Dai Yun¡¯er charged, her eyes shining a blue that burned like ice. Tang Wulin found even his Purple Demon Eyes couldn¡¯t withstand her spiritual attack; it was all he could do not to let it harm his soul. Pain lanced through his head, and he fell back two steps, but he managed to fling both arms up before his face, yet she smoothly slid behind him and slashed her claws at his back.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s body was still rigid from her spiritual attack, his head was not clear enough to activate Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and even his Golden Dragon Body had been weakened a little.


    The audience was excited, because they believed Tang Wulin¡¯s defeat was inevitable. However, before the princess¡¯s claws could hit him, a swarm of bluesilver grass shot out from his back and started to twine around her.


    Tang Wulin was not in control of his movements, but he had ordered the Goldsong to use his first soul skill for him when Dai Yun¡¯er came at him.


    Goldsong was his first soul spirit, and it had grown stronger and become his most trustworthy of friends after years of fighting alongside him.


    It all happened so fast. Dai Yun¡¯er never thought he was still able to use his soul skills. She thrashed and slashed in shock, and when she finally fought her way out, she jumped up, her claws enlarging and descending in a savage arc towards Tang Wulin¡¯s head.


    By then the effect of her spiritual attack had worn off, and Tang Wulin had regained control of his body. The two golden soul rings around him were gone, and in their place were three purple and one black soul rings, the second one shining brightly. Numerous vines shot up, grabbed Dai Yun¡¯er, and tied her up. The Bluesilver Impaling Array hadn¡¯t caused much damage to her body, but the high frequency vibrations had dizzied her and rendered her unable to move.


    Tang Wulin put the princess on the ground before him, his golden dragon claw bearing down on her head.


    Everyone in the stands jumped to their feet, aghast. Dai Yueyan¡¯s heart leapt up into his mouth in sudden fear; he was about to rush onto the stage.


    They had seen the horrifying power of Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claw; even battle armor had been torn apart, let alone an unprotected human head.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s claw changed back into a human hand a foot from the princess¡¯s head. He delivered a knifehand strike to her neck and sent her into a coma.


    Dai Yueyan let out a sigh of relief. If he had killed Yun¡¯er, he would have started a war.


    The furious and anxious look on Dai Tianling¡¯s face eased up a bit.


    This match ended almost in a heartbeat. It was not a very entertaining one to most people ¨C they preferred fights with fists flying and blood spilling ¨C and only the ones with sharp eyes could understand what had really happened.


    ¡°Princess Dai Yun¡¯er was taking control of the match in the beginning, but then she lost her composure after getting provoked by Tang Wulin,¡± said Fang¡¯er. ¡°The result could have been different if she had remained calm.¡± Actually, she didn¡¯t think the princess could win even if she had kept her composure, but as a citizen of the Star Luo Empire, she had to root for her.


    Dai Yun¡¯er had gained the upper hand at first, with the help of her second martial soul: the Spirit Eyes, the same as one of the two martial souls of the legendary Spirit Ice Douluo ¨C Huo Yuhao.


    It was a spirit-type martial soul and very helpful to the growth of spiritual power. Young as Dai Yun¡¯er was, her spiritual power had almost reached the Spirit Abyss realm. Her Spirit Eyes provided four soul skills for her: Spirit Detection, Spirit Disturbance, Soul Disturbance, and Area of Effect Power Weakening.


    She had been using Spirit Detection on Tang Wulin during the whole match, which had been why she could have timed her attacks that perfectly.

 Chapter 662 - I Miss You

    Chapter 662 - I Miss You


    If not for his Purple Demon Eyes, Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s Soul Disturbance might have knocked Tang Wulin out.


    Spirit-type martial souls were extremely rare, and spirit attacks were quite effective and hard to dodge or overcome. If she had been more careful and had had better control of her emotions, she might have stood a chance of defeating Tang Wulin. Nonetheless, her fighting skills had impressed him.


    When Tang Wulin walked off the stage, the audience booed him again; it had become a habit of theirs. He blocked his ears with soul power, thinking back on Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s spiritual attack. How did she manage to deliver those powerful attacks? Her spiritual power must be immense.


    This round was over when the sun started setting. Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui, and Xie Xie had advanced to the top 16, and so had Long Yue, Dai Yueyan, and Lin San. Six of the top 16 spots were filled by the two academies.


    The tournament was becoming fiercer by the day.


    In the next round, Tang Wulin would have to fight Dai Yueyan, the Tiger King, who ranked second in the Monster Eight Kings, and Xie Xie would face Lin San, the Wind King, who ranked fourth. These two were daunting opponents, especially for Xie Xie. If the Shrek Academy managed to prevail over them, the respect the Monster Academy commanded would hit rock bottom.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lose!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er yelled, smashing a vase to pieces. This one made six. Her face was tight with anger. She wanted nothing more than to fight Tang Wulin again, but two old soul masters were standing at her door to make sure she couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Tang Wulin! I will get back at you, you cunning bastard! Just you wait!¡± Anger filled her whenever his evil little grin came to mind. I was getting the better of him! I was kicking his ass! If not for his dirty trick, I would have won!


    She had planned to garner a lot of attention and admiration in this tournament with her soul skills, but Tang Wulin had made a fool of her; how could she not be so furious?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Yun¡¯er. We¡¯ll be sure to avenge you,¡± said Long Yue, who walked in with Dai Yueyan.


    The princess ran to them and looked up at Long Yue with eyes red-rimmed and puffy, tugging at his sleeve. ¡°I was winning, then he provoked me to anger, and I fell for his trick. I have twin martial souls! I could have easily defeated him with my Spirit Eyes!¡±


    Dai Yueyan frowned. ¡°Stop whining, little sister. You¡¯re easily provoked; that¡¯s your weakness. You can¡¯t blame your opponent for taking advantage of that. You should think about how to stop that from ever happening again instead of blowing off steam by going on the rampage here. Besides, Tang Wulin is not as weak as you think.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s mouth curled downwards. ¡°Whose side are you on, Fourth Brother? Are you my brother or Tang Wulin¡¯s?¡±


    Long Yue laughed and touched her head. ¡°You fought well today; you put him through the wringer if nothing else.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er was still displeased. ¡°Hold him down for me when we meet him in the two-on-twos, Brother Long, and I¡¯ll literally kick his ass.¡±


    Dai Yueyan was flabbergasted. ¡°A princess will never do such a thing; you¡¯ll disgrace Father.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± she said stubbornly. ¡°I¡¯ll teach him to mess with me even if Father grounds me.¡±


    ¡­


    Tang Wulin gave a violent sneeze when he was about to start meditating.


    He forced himself to get his mind off of Gu Yue these days and tried to stay focused on the tournament. He had to; it was his responsibility as the captain of their team.


    Gu Yue was sitting expressionless in the room next door, thoughtful.


    Suddenly, the light in her room flickered, and a girl in a long purple dress appeared out of nowhere. She was very pretty, with purple eyes and long purple hair. ¡°My lord,¡± she said, kneeling before Gu Yue.


    ¡°Did you find anything?¡± asked Gu Yue.


    ¡°Yes. We found that Long Yue¡¯s martial soul is not innate. He got it from a secret place. We tried to locate that place but failed. We are thinking that it might be in the Monster Academy. We can search that place, but not without attracting unwanted attention.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it then,¡± Gu Yue said. ¡°I can¡¯t sense that place. Maybe it¡¯s in one of the small worlds, and the thing I lost is probably there too.¡± She paused a moment. ¡°I¡¯m getting my power back, but it¡¯s taking a long time. I need that thing.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my lord. I think most of the powerful soul masters of the Monster Academy will attend the finals of the tournament. I¡¯ll search for more clues then.¡±


    ¡°Good. Keep me posted.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± Then she disappeared without a trace.


    Gu Yue stood up and walked to the window. She couldn¡¯t help but turn her head in the direction of Tang Wulin¡¯s room.


    ¡­


    Na¡¯er was sitting on the swing on Sea God¡¯s Island, moving slightly back and forth. Her calves were slim and beautiful, her silver hair streaming in the wind.


    She was staring off into the distance with sad eyes. I wish I could go there with you, big brother. But I have to stay here to train. I need to get stronger. That¡¯s the only way I can suppress her power. Come back safe, big brother. I miss you.


    ¡­

 Chapter 663 - The Tang Sect’s Mission

    Chapter 663 - The Tang Sect¡¯s Mission


    Fang¡¯er walked on the street in a cloak with a hood to hide her head and face. Many a time she heard passers-by talk about the tournament.


    ¡°Got any spare tickets, bro? I have money,¡± a man said.


    ¡°I wish. I¡¯m looking for someone to buy a ticket from as well,¡± said a second man. ¡°This is definitely the best tournament ever. The Monster Academy versus the Shrek Academy. You don¡¯t get to see such an epic fight as this every day. I¡¯d give anything for a ticket.¡±


    ¡°Me too! Only three students of the Monster Academy have made it into the top 16; who would have thought? But the fourth prince will beat the captain of the Shrek Academy team tomorrow, that¡¯s for sure.¡±


    They¡¯re rooting for the Monster Academy to win. I¡¯m glad, Fang¡¯er thought, walking. I also want them to win, but I still haven¡¯t seen Tang Wulin¡¯s true power. He knocked the princess out in a matter of seconds. Those vines of his may prove to be a troublesome technique for Dai Yueyan, even though he is one of the best among the Monster Eight Kings and he has pure royal blood.


    As for Xie Xie, he seems to be the only agility-type soul master in their team. His speed and attack power are impressive, and he was hiding power too. But Lin San has the advantage of a full set of one-word battle armor, so the odds are in his favor.


    She couldn¡¯t stop thinking about the fact that Tang Wulin and his teammates were much younger. This tournament is not fair for them. If they were one-word battle armor masters, even Long Yue would have a hard time defeating them, I think. Hopefully the fourth price will stop Tang Wulin and redeem themselves.


    Fang¡¯er was walking past a rare metal shop when a man walked out. He was tall, and his face was hidden in a hood like hers, but she managed to catch a look at it, since she was much shorter, and one look was enough for her to recognize that face.


    Tang Wulin? What¡¯s he doing here? Shouldn¡¯t he be training instead of buying rare metal?


    Tang Wulin was in a good mood; he had just bought some pretty decent metal from the shop which had formed a partnership with him. He could use the metal to forge two-word battle armor for him and his friends after refining it.


    He would fight Dai Yueyan tomorrow, a more formidable opponent than anyone he had faced in this tournament, but he found himself strangely calm. In fact, he hadn¡¯t been himself after Gu Yue told him that she only got close to him because of his bloodline.


    No! I don¡¯t believe it. She was lying, he told himself over and over again, but his heart ached every time he thought of her.


    He shook his head, as if trying to shake these thoughts out. When he was about to start back towards his hotel, the badge in his pocket vibrated.


    The Tang Sect is summoning the agents? He thought, taking it out.


    He was right; the arrow was pointing in the direction of the Tang Sect.


    He could sit this mission out; he didn¡¯t need to participate in any mission in a long time. That was the benefit of a first-class citation. Nonetheless, he found himself walking towards the Tang Sect. Whatever the mission would be, it would serve as a good distraction to get his mind off Gu Yue.


    The Tang Sect headquarters in Star Luo City was bustling with people as always.


    Tang Wulin found a place where no one could see him and changed into his white uniform.


    When he followed the arrow and arrived at the place, many agents were already there. To his astonishment, everyone wore a white mask except for the one standing in front of them.


    A smile showed on his face when he laid eyes on the only black-class agent and recognized him ¨C he was wearing a mask and a cloak, but they couldn¡¯t hide his build and vibes. Black One, his code name for the last mission. Hopefully today¡¯s mission won¡¯t take long.


    Black One strode over to him when he spied Tang Wulin.


    ¡°White Three?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded with a smile. ¡°Nice to see you again, Black One.¡±


    Black one smiled back. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we last met. I¡¯m glad you came; this opportunity only comes once in ten years.¡±


    Once in ten years? What is this mission? Tang Wulin wondered.


    Black One chatted with him for a little while and then walked back to the front.


    Soon there were 30 people here and counting.


    Half an hour later, over a hundred agents had arrived, and they were all white-class agents except for Black One.


    ¡°All right, let¡¯s get to the mission,¡± Black One said at last. All the white-class agents were looking at him.


    ¡°But first, all the agents under rank 40 or over rank 50 and all the one-word battle armor masters please step forward.¡±


    Five agents moved forward.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you are not allowed to participate in this mission,¡± said Black One.

 Chapter 664 - The Dragon Valley Mission

    Chapter 664 - The Dragon Valley Mission


    ¡°I just reached rank 50 a few days ago,¡± one of the five agents said to Black One respectfully. ¡°Can I be included in this mission?¡±


    Black One shook his head. ¡°That place is no joke. This rule was established after years of trial and error. If you don¡¯t play by that place¡¯s rules, you¡¯ll put everyone¡¯s life in danger.¡± Then he turned to the crowd. ¡°Is there anyone else under rank 40 or over rank 50?¡±


    No one else moved forward; the agents of the Battle Hall were obviously very honest. The five agents left, disappointed.


    Tang Wulin was afire with curiosity. This might be an opportunity for me to grow stronger.


    ¡°There¡¯re only 30 places on this mission,¡± Black One continued, ¡°and there¡¯re over a hundred of you, so a contest will be held in a month to decide who will get the opportunity. The mission will start in 10 days or so after the contest.¡±


    Then all the white-class agents had their badges checked, as was the routine.


    ¡°White Three, please step forward,¡± Black One called out.


    It took Tang Wulin several seconds to realize that Black One was calling him. He hurried over to him.


    ¡°White Three risked his life to save everyone on his last mission,¡± said Black One, ¡°so he will be exempted from this contest, because he has already earned a place on this Dragon Valley Mission.¡± Nobody objected; the Tang Sect was nothing if not just.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Tang Wulin felt so flattered. By the time the mission starts, the tournament should be over. But where is this Dragon Valley? He didn¡¯t know anything about this mission, but he couldn¡¯t ask questions that might give away his secret that he was from the Douluo Continent, because once they learned that he was the captain of the Shrek Academy team, they might not be so kind to him.


    On the morning of the competition between the top 16 contestants, the Grand Star Luo Stadium was surrounded by crowds of people staring at the screens hanging outside the stadium. They had failed to procure tickets, but standing there, they could at least hear the exciting cheering inside. People crave to be entertained.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Yuanen Yehui were escorted into the stadium by a group of soldiers assigned to protect them.


    ¡°Yuanen,¡± Xie Xie said in a low voice.


    Yuanen Yehui turned to face him. ¡°What?¡±


    Xie Xie gave a silly grin. ¡°Will you please be my girlfriend after I defeat my opponent?¡±


    ¡°You must be out of your mind,¡± Yuanen Yehui flared.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to motivate me to win?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± she said, her face expressionless.


    Xie Xie nudged Tang Wulin. ¡°She doesn¡¯t want me to win, Captain.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t want to motivate you to win,¡± corrected Tang Wulin.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll hand the victory to my opponent on a platter,¡± Xie Xie said.


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure Teacher Wu and Elder Cai will be very happy to see that.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui glared at Xie Xie. ¡°I swear if you deliberately lose your match, I¡¯ll never go out on a date with you, ever,¡± she said coldly.


    Xie Xie¡¯s face lit up. ¡°Does that mean you¡¯ll go out on a date with me if I win the match?¡±


    Yuanen Yehui snorted and walked towards her couch.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a date coming up!¡± Xie Xie beamed.


    Tang Wulin managed a wry smile. He didn¡¯t want to put a damper on his friend¡¯s plan by breaking the hard truth to him. At least he¡¯s got one more reason to win, and a big one at that.


    Only 16 couches remained in the waiting area. Even Dai Yun¡¯er was not allowed to come.


    Long Yue smiled at Tang Wulin, and Dai Yueyan nodded at him. The captain of the Shrek Academy team nodded back with courtesy.


    Xie Xie spotted Lin San and fixed his eyes on him.


    Lin San was lean, with above average height and looks. Calm vibes were emanating from him. He was the most unobtrusive one among the Monster Eight Kings.


    Feeling Xie Xie¡¯s eyes on him, Lin San raised his head to meet them, his eyes clear and without any emotion.


    Xie Xie gave a snort of scorn. He felt an urge to fight rising from deep inside him.


    Dai Yueyan turned to smile at Lin San. ¡°It seems your opponent is not impressed.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Lin San said coolly.


    ¡°Would it have killed you to show some emotion?¡± the fourth prince asked, not unkindly.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Dai Yueyan was beaten. ¡°You¡¯re incorrigible.¡±


    Lin San was also a legend in the Monster Academy. He was quiet and had no hobbies to speak of. He devoted all his time to training; although he was the weakest in terms of talent and martial soul, he was ranked fourth in the Monster Eight Kings, and even Dai Yueyan and Su Mu were not sure they could defeat him. Hard work can compensate for lack of natural talent.


    He didn¡¯t care about titles and such. He had chosen to become one of the Monster Eight Kings, because he wanted to get better training resources and more opportunities to fight powerful opponents.


    Dai Yueyan believed Lin San, the Wind King, was born to fight. Even the Monster Academy thought very highly of him, despite his unobtrusive nature.


    ¡°Hello everyone, and welcome to today''s competition!¡± Fang¡¯er¡¯s voice echoed in the stadium. ¡°Only eight competitors will advance to the next round, and they will be the best of the best.¡±


    Everybody in the stands looked to the waiting area.


    The 16 contestants were sitting there, waiting for their future-changing match.


    The prize money for the top 8 fighters was huge. More importantly, they would be given special privileges. They could choose to join the army or a sect, or serve a noble family. And they would be offered a peerage.


    There were only two ways to obtain a peerage in the Star Luo Empire. One way was through big tournaments like this one, and the other way was by making important contributions to the empire.

 Chapter 665 - The Wind King

    Chapter 665 - The Wind King


    Peerage titles brought great benefit, even though they couldn¡¯t be passed onto someone else by inheritance.


    Peerage title holders didn¡¯t own land, but each one of them had a house and a handsome annual salary provided by the government, and they enjoyed a high social status. One would be offered the title of baron if one managed to make it into the top 8 of the one-on-one competition, and the champion would be granted the title of viscount. A viscount¡¯s social position in the Star Luo Empire could compare with that of a lord of a city. That was mostly the reason why so many people competed in this tournament; there was no other way easier than this to garner such fame and fortune. A soldier would have to complete an important mission or play a big part in a war to earn a peerage title.


    All the 16 contestants sitting in the waiting area were nervous with excitement right now, except for the ones from the Shrek Academy and the Monster Academy.


    ¡°The first match is guaranteed to be a good one,¡± Fang¡¯er announced. ¡°Both of the competitors are agility-type soul masters. Xie Xie of the Shrek Academy versus Lin San, the Wind King, of the Monster Academy. Will the two competitors please step onto the stage?¡±


    Lin San rose to his feet unhurriedly, giving off an air of calm. Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui watched him walk, shocked. They could see him, but they were not able to sense his aura; it was as if he had become one with the air surrounding him. He was a daunting opponent. There was no doubt about it.


    Unlike before, Xie Xie was neither nervous nor excited. He made his way towards the stage, his face expressionless. Yuanen Yehui saw in his eyes a single-minded determination to win. He has grown stronger, but his opponent won¡¯t be easy to take down.


    She had defeated Teng Teng, but not without using her full power, and she attributed her victory to his ignorance of her twin martial souls. Lin San is apparently stronger than Teng Teng. Will Xie Xie be able to handle him?


    When both of them entered the stage, the soul barrier rose and the stadium quieted down. They stood still, like two statues.


    The audience watched them, nervous. They were worried that Lin San might suffer a defeat like Teng Teng had. It would be a nightmare for the Monster Academy if the Wind King was knocked out as well.


    ¡°Begin!¡± the referee announced.


    Xie Xie and Lin San rushed towards each other like two arrows. They were both incredibly fast, but Lin San was much lighter on his feet, as if he were weightless.


    Five soul rings appeared around Lin San, three purple and two black. The first one started shining, and then two crescent-shaped daggers materialized in his hands. They were light-looking, translucent, about a foot long, and somehow Xie Xie knew they were extremely sharp.


    Xie Xie charged, four purple soul rings revolving around him, Light Dragon Dagger in his right hand, his eyes as cold and dark as onyx.


    They reached each other in a heartbeat.


    The moment their daggers met, they moved with quick silent steps, like two ghosts.


    They were both using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    Again and again the daggers met, the ring of metal on metal filling the quiet air.


    Suddenly Lin San danced away. Xie Xie stood there, blood welling from a cut on his left shoulder.


    Xie Xie¡¯s forehead furrowed. He is really fast and nimble. He parried my every attack, but his angles of attacks were so hard to predict! If not for my quick reaction, that attack of his might have left more than just a small cut.


    Xie Xie lunged at him, thrusting and slashing with his Light Dragon Dagger, faster than before. Lin San dodged and parried, his daggers dancing with pale blue light. No matter how hard Xie Xie tried, his weapon never caught its target once. Neither of them used a second soul skill; they just kept on slashing at each other, steel glinting in the sunlight.


    ¡°Lin San is getting the better of Xie Xie,¡± Fang¡¯er commented. ¡°If you look closely, you¡¯ll see that Lin San has the upper hand in speed and agility, which are what agility-type soul masters are all about. Especially speed. Lin San is showing not only speed but skill; he times his attacks well and strikes his opponent when he is vulnerable. Xie Xie has already sustained at least six injuries. They¡¯re not serious, but they¡¯re taking their toll.¡±


    Fang¡¯er¡¯s commentary was precise and to the point.


    Lin San anticipated his opponent¡¯s attacks and responded quickly with an agility that was difficult to match.


    Xie Xie never knew what might be coming next. Lin San used his dynamic technique to attack him where he least expected it, making it tough for his opponent to read him; the speed of his combinations was threatening


    Lin San stayed cool, calm and collected. His patience and endurance allowed him to capitalize on Xie Xie¡¯s mistakes. He was biding his time patiently, waiting for the opportunity to use a more powerful soul skill to take Xie Xie down.


    They were moving so fast that all the audience could see was a blur of movement; they needed Fang¡¯er¡¯s description to know what was happening on the stage.


    Xie Xie was panting from the effort now, blood oozing from his cuts.

 Chapter 666 - Xie Xie’s Determination

    Chapter 666 - Xie Xie¡¯s Determination


    There had already been a dozen cuts on Xie Xie¡¯s body, and they stung as wind sliced into them. His chance of winning was dwindling.


    Lin San was still expressionless. He was a patient fighter who liked to wait for the best chance to strike rather than going on a senseless barrage. Teng Teng had sparred with him countless times, but never once had he found a hole in his defense; he was sincerely convinced that Lin San was much stronger than him.


    No one trained harder than Lin San, not even Long Yue. No one could imagine the arduous training he had gone through to achieve such mastery of quickness and agility. Not for nothing was he called the strongest agility-type soul master in the Monster Academy.


    Xie Xie suddenly stopped chasing after Lin San. He stood there, never taking his eyes off his opponent.


    Approval glinted in Lin San¡¯s eyes. Not bad. That¡¯s a sensible decision he has just made. Trying to keep up with my footwork did no good other than wasting his energy. It¡¯s wise to focus on dodging and blocking my attacks while waiting for me to make a mistake, only I never make mistakes.


    Lin San shot towards his opponent again, the dagger in his right hand thrusting at Xie Xie¡¯s left shoulder. Xie Xie parried it with his Light Dragon Dagger, but then the Wind King brought his left dagger down, leaving a cut on his adversary¡¯s arm.


    Then the daggers flew at each other, and their steel song filled the arena. Lin San¡¯s flurries of slashes coming from both directions were tough to deflect, the number of cuts on Xie Xie¡¯s body increasing fast.


    Yuanen Yehui found herself sitting up straight, her eyes fixed on Xie Xie.


    The audience was excited; they had never felt so satisfied throughout the entire tournament. They couldn¡¯t see a slim chance of Xie Xie winning.


    Lin San was indeed stronger in every way ¨C agility, speed, techniques, soul power, and battle armor. Yet Xie Xie¡¯s hand was moving faster and faster, his dagger a blur.


    Again and again the daggers met, until Lin San found to his shock that his opponent was beginning to see through his attack pattern. He leapt away, impressed by his perseverance and talent.


    ¡°You¡¯re one hell of a fighter,¡± observed Lin San. Although Xie Xie was not a worthy adversary yet, he was quickly becoming one, and Lin San was always more than willing to fight someone strong. That was his way of getting stronger.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± replied Xie Xie. ¡°You too.¡±


    ¡°Here I come!¡± Lin San¡¯s second soul ring lit up. He charged again, approaching Xie Xie with lightning speed.


    Xie Xie was astounded. He is even faster than before! Could it be that his second soul skill has increased his speed? He could feel the wind that came with Lin San, but he couldn¡¯t hear him, and all he could see was a blur of movement. He raised his Light Dragon Dagger and braced himself for the attack. A flurry of slashes, and several more cuts appeared on Xie Xie¡¯s body.


    At this rate, I will be defeated! Xie Xie thought, his second soul ring shining. Light Dragon Storm!


    He turned into a whirlwind to meet the countless strikes. Blood flew from his wounds, dotting the whirlwind with red.


    The clang of metal on metal rang loudly. Lin San jumped around him, attacking from different angles, but couldn¡¯t find an opening in his opponent¡¯s defense. Then he stopped his futile attacks and jumped up, hovering in the air with the help of the winds he created.


    Xie Xie¡¯s spinning slowed down to a halt, blood dripping down to the stage, which had already been splattered with red. He was hurt all over, and he felt a little dizzy from so much blood loss, but he stood firm, his eyes shining with an unwavering determination.


    ¡°Yield. You are an admirable opponent, but you can¡¯t beat me,¡± Lin San said solemnly.


    Xie Xie laughed as if Lin San had told a joke. ¡°Maybe I can¡¯t beat you, but I¡¯ll never yield. Not to you, not to anyone.¡±


    Lin San saw the resolution in his eyes. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll have to put an end to this match myself.¡± His fourth soul ring started shining, numerous crescent-shaped wind blades appearing before him. Suddenly, they started rotating around him at high speed, forming a blade tornado.


    It was a ten-thousand-year soul skill: Wind Blade Tornado!


    Lin San was not a person who liked playing with people before taking them down; he didn¡¯t like wasting time on frivolous things which were of no help to his training, so he decided to end this fight, now that he had gauged Xie Xie¡¯s power.


    The blade tornado was growing bigger and more violent by the second. Its power was enough to rip a man to shreds, but Xie Xie showed no sign of fear. He stood there as a golden mist started rising around him.

 Chapter 667 - A Good Fight

    Chapter 667 - A Good Fight


    Dai Yueyan inclined his head slightly as he looked at Xie Xie. Such courage. He is holding his nerve even in the face of such a daunting technique. He is from the Shrek Academy all right. If he were four or five years older, he would have been on the same level as Lin San. The thought made him sigh silently with shame. I¡¯d rather fight someone older than me. There is no honor in taking down kids.


    The golden mist around Xie Xie thickened as his fourth soul ring began to shine. A dragon head formed in the mist, and then its torso and limbs, shining bright. He was using his fourth soul skill: Light Dragon. His right eye had turned golden, while his left was transparent like crystal.


    By then Lin San¡¯s Wind Blade Tornado had been ready to attack, but he didn¡¯t attack. His pride wouldn¡¯t allow him to do such a thing. He was waiting; he intended to beat Xie Xie when his soul skill was at its strongest, because only that would give him some fulfillment. He was not only the most diligent student among the Monster Eight Kings, but also the proudest one. He never planned to use his battle armor; he¡¯d sooner lose than resort to that.


    Finally the Light Dragon was whole. It spread its wings and let out a roar so deafening that everyone in the stands was startled. It was giving off dazzling light, so like that of the sun.


    Lin San¡¯s wait came to an end. The Wind Blade Tornado descended, lashing and cracking the ground even before it reached Xie Xie.


    The Light Dragon flew up to meet it.


    ¡°I told you, you can¡¯t beat me!¡± Lin San shouted as the tornado pressed the dragon down. But before it could engulf Xie Xie, he said, ¡°What?!¡± His voice was thick with shock.


    The Wind King couldn¡¯t see it, but he could sense a similar kind of energy to that of the Light Dragon bearing down on him. The two phantom dragons were working together, tearing his tornado apart bit by bit.


    ¡°Impressive!¡± Lin San exclaimed.


    Xie Xie had been planning this from the moment he realized his opponent¡¯s power was in a different league from his. He had used his third soul skill to create a clone, which had been biding its time, patiently waiting for a perfect window of opportunity.


    He had kept this clone hidden even when he could barely withstand Lin San¡¯s slashes, because his only chance was his other martial soul, which his adversary knew nothing about.


    His endurance had paid off. Lin San couldn¡¯t possibly block such a forceful attack, not without his battle armor.


    The blade tornado broke apart gradually, revealing Lin San inside, but before the Light Dragon and the Shadow Dragon could reach him, his fifth soul ring lit up, and he turned into a puff of wind and disappeared.


    Xie Xie lost sight of his opponent, but he didn¡¯t panic. He summoned his battle armor immediately. Black and white beams of light spiralled up his right arm as white armor with black veins came out of his body and covered his right forearm and shoulder. He only had two pieces of battle armor, like Tang Wulin, but he needed all the protection he could get right now.


    Lin San reappeared without a sound behind his adversary¡¯s back, but Xie Xie must have felt him. He thrust Light Dragon Dagger backwards without even turning, yet Lin San darted away in time.


    Xie Xie whirled and charged with his Shadow Dragon Clone, faster than ever. Lin San met him with his own daggers; even without battle armor, he was faster than Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie parried a cut at his shoulder, grimacing as the wind around Lin San¡¯s dagger beat against his face. Lin San gave him no respite, his arms never still. The daggers clashed and sprang apart and clashed again.


    Xie Xie could have summoned more clones, but not without sacrificing speed and agility.


    He lost the moment his trump card failed to take Lin San down, Fang¡¯er thought. Nonetheless, he put up a good fight.


    Although the Shadow Dragon Clone was invisible, it caught a wind blade and disappeared. Then Lin San brought both daggers down with all his strength, the downcut screaming through the air. Panting from exertion, Xie Xie jerked his dagger up over his head just in time, but he left himself open. Lin San kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying backwards.


    Xie Xie coughed up a mouthful of blood, landed on the ground, staggered back several steps, and fell down on his butt. He tried with all his might to pull himself up but failed.


    ¡°You¡¯re much stronger than I thought,¡± Lin San said to Xie Xie, and got off the stage.


    Several healing-type soul masters rushed over and tended to Xie Xie¡¯s wounds. The cuts were not deep; he had just lost a lot of blood. Soul masters were stronger and could generate blood faster, so he would recover in no time.


    Fights between agility-type soul masters usually ended in a relatively short time, but not this one, although it would have ended earlier had Lin San used his battle armor.


    Xie Xie had done his best. With Lin San¡¯s incredible speed and agility, and high level of mastery of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, he couldn¡¯t have hoped for a better result.

 Chapter 668 - An Unseemly Laugh

    Chapter 668 - An Unseemly Laugh


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tang Wulin asked as he put his arm around Xie Xie¡¯s shoulders, hooked his hand into his armpit, and helped him off the stage.


    Xie Xie¡¯s face was waxy-pale, yet the look in his eyes was surprisingly excited, as if he had won a fight instead of losing one.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m more than okay, actually. I feel terrific. He¡¯s so fast and unpredictable. I think I learned a lot from him.¡±


    He is looking at his adversary as some kind of teacher? Tang Wulin thought, surprised, but he was relieved that his friend didn¡¯t feel upset. He helped him take off his tattered clothes and dress in new ones, and sat him down in his couch.


    Xie Xie closed his eyes to take a rest, thinking on the match he had just fought and lost.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Lin San, who sat there, calm and relaxed as ever. Teng Teng is also a five-ringed soul master, but he¡¯s no match for Lin San when it comes to agility and skill. This Wind King may even have more battle experience than the Fox King Su Mu.


    Tang Wulin felt someone looking at him and turned around to see Dai Yueyan¡¯s intent eyes. A smile touched the boy¡¯s lips. I have to get past him first to get my chance to fight Long Yue. It won¡¯t be easy, but I¡¯m not going to let my friends down!


    The audience was still exultant about Xie Xie¡¯s crushing defeat when the second match started. The two contestants were equal in terms of power, and the fight ended with them both out cold. That left the referees to decide who the winner was.


    When it was Yuanen Yehui¡¯s turn to compete, her opponent didn¡¯t put up as good a fight as Teng Teng had. She ended the match in a matter of minutes with the sheer power of her Titan Giant Ape martial soul.


    Each and every match today was fascinating, but Fang¡¯er found herself stealing glances towards the waiting area, where the captain of the Shrek Academy team and the fourth prince of the Star Luo Empire were sitting.


    Their match would definitely attract a lot of attention.


    As the favorite heir to the throne, Dai Yueyan ought to prevent himself from engaging in anything ¨Clike this tournament¨C that might endanger his life or reputation; however, as a student whose power in the Monster Academy was second only to the Dragon King Long Yue, he should take the responsibility of bringing honor to his school. And he never shied away from his responsibilities.


    If the fourth prince wins, Fang¡¯er thought, the entire empire will be pleased, and he will get himself more followers who¡¯d like to see him on the throne. I will be more than happy to see that happen. But will that happen? I can see either one winning, judging from the fact that Tang Wulin has defeated Su Mu, Hua Lantang, and Dai Yun¡¯er.


    Dai Tianling had come with the principal of the Monster Academy, En Ci. Considering the importance of Dai Yueyan¡¯s match, it was small wonder they were here.


    ¡°What are the odds Yueyan will win against Tang Wulin, Master En Ci?¡± Dai Tianling asked in a low voice.


    The old man smiled. ¡°70 percent, at least. Don¡¯t worry, my emperor. Yueyan is very talented and intelligent, and unlike many soul masters who tend to get arrogant after reaching a relatively high level in cultivation, he is never complacent with his achievements. Tang Wulin¡¯s abilities are queer, but Yueyan¡¯s soul power is much stronger. He will be victorious as long as he keeps his composure.¡±


    Dai Tianling nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear!¡±


    After the tournament, he would choose a match for his princess and announce the crown prince publicly. That daughter of his was a handful sometimes, and he had a feeling that her engagement wouldn¡¯t go well; he just hoped his son would make it easy for him by winning the match against Tang Wulin. If he lost, people might consider him as a man who had disgraced the empire. They wanted their crown prince to be perfect, even though they were well aware that no one was perfect.


    ¡°Our next match is Tang Wulin versus Dai Yueyan, the fourth prince,¡± Fang¡¯er said, her voice was excited and nervous all at once, her hands coiling into fists on her lap. You can do it, Dai Yueyan.


    The crowd broke into chants of ¡°Fourth prince! Fourth prince!¡±


    Dai Yueyan rose to his feet proudly. He could feel blood pumping in his veins. The chanting made him feel like he was already the emperor.


    ¡°Ha-ha!¡± A loud laugh broke out, breaking the silence. The laughter couldn¡¯t have come at a worse time for Dai Yueyan, who was savoring the beautiful moment and whose morale was rising.


    Dai Yunyan turned sharply to see who it was and found Xie Xie standing there, guffawing with his head thrown back.


    The prince¡¯s mouth twitched with annoyance. What the hell is he doing?!


    ¡°I figured it out! I finally figured it out! Ha-ha!¡± Xie Xie laughed.

 Chapter 669 - The Essence of Agility

    Chapter 669 - The Essence of Agility


    Xie Xie didn¡¯t seem to have felt the hostile glare on him and kept on laughing noisily.


    ¡°What are you babbling about?¡± Tang Wulin asked, confused.


    ¡°I figured out how to become an agility-type soul master!¡± Xie Xie exclaimed, stoked.


    What? Aren¡¯t you already one? Tang Wulin thought, but what he said was, ¡°Good for you.¡± And then he made for the stage amid loud cheering and shouting. Dai Yueyan calmed himself down and followed after.


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you?¡± Yuanen Yehui demanded, standing up from her couch. Xie Xie threw his arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly.


    ¡°I finally figured it out!¡± Xie Xie answered. It seemed his excitement wasn¡¯t feigned.


    Yuanen Yehui was embarrassed and angry and was about to push him off her, but then she smelled blood. Xie Xie¡¯s blood. She remembered the cuts over his body and didn¡¯t touch him. ¡°Get off me,¡± she snarled in a hushed voice.


    Xie Xie seemed not to hear her. ¡°Before I met you, I was slack and not putting enough energy into training. Then you came into my life, and I was given a reason to get stronger and catch up to you. Because of you, I has become more powerful and confident. But then I hit a bottleneck. An agility bottleneck. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn¡¯t get my agility to another level. I never figured out why.


    ¡°Until just now. Lin San¡¯s fighting style inspired me. I realized that the essence of agility lies in freedom. Freedom from the control of mind. My moves were too predictable, but they won¡¯t be once I let my instinct take control. I¡¯ll become strong and good enough for you. I promise¡­¡±


    Yuanen Yehui could hear his voice fading, and suddenly she felt his whole weight on her. He had fainted.


    She stood there uncertain for a moment. Is he doing all this just for me? A gentle look flashed across her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him and laid him down gently in his couch. She watched as he breathed evenly.


    By then both Tang Wulin and Dai Yueyan were on the stage. The shouting was kept out as the soul barrier rose.


    Tang Wulin picked his ear. ¡°Whoo! That¡¯s much better. I think I¡¯ve fallen in love with this barrier.¡±


    Dai Yueyan fixed his eyes on his opponent and said nothing. He understood the importance of this match. He couldn¡¯t afford to lose to someone who was younger than him and who was from the Douluo Continent. When the fourth prince looked at Tang Wulin, he didn¡¯t see a boy. No. He saw an adversary he must defeat.


    Compared to the prince, Tang Wulin was much more relaxed. He stretched his arms and legs casually, but he radiated combat skills just by standing there.


    Dai Yueyan thought he felt the power in Tang Wulin¡¯s blood, even though they were standing hundreds of feet apart. But he stared at the boy, his eyes unflinching.


    ¡°Let the fight begin!¡± the referee announced.


    Tang Wulin grew a little taller as his spine made popping sounds, his golden dragon claws appearing. He could feel the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power surging through his veins.


    He charged, the first golden soul ring shining. In an instant, scales spread all over his body.


    His Golden Dragon Body somehow seems stronger than before! Yuanen Yehui was surprised and not surprised. When I first met him, he was weaker than me, and I didn¡¯t even consider him a worthy rival. But as time passed by, he has grown stronger than any of us. His soul power rank may be low, but his overall power is unimaginable. And what¡¯s more amazing is that the stronger his opponent is, the stronger he becomes.


    Elder Cai and Wu Zhangkong were watching the match from their box, along with eight powerful-looking delegates.


    They had come here for cultural exchange, and competing in the Continental Young Elites Tournament had never been their plan. If they had known about this event beforehand, they would have brought older and stronger students. They had allowed Tang Wulin and his friends to participate, because the tournament was a good chance to gain battle experience. Since they had never expected the kids to get good results, they naturally hadn¡¯t paid much attention to them.


    Yet the eight kids¡¯ performance had turned out to be surprisingly good. The top brass of the delegation were happy to see that three had made it into the top 16, and that Yuanen Yehui had even advanced into the top 8. The results were already good enough for them to show off when they got back to the Douluo Continent.


    If Tang Wulin managed to defeat the fourth price Dai Yueyan, it would serve as a perfect way to show strength.


    ¡°Do you think Tang Wulin will win this match, Elder Cai?¡± asked Tang Bingyao, leader of the delegation and vice-leader of the Federation Parliament.


    ¡°Truth be told, I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Elder Cai. ¡°Dai Yueyan has the edge over him, I think, judging by his age and cultivation level, but Tang Wulin has fought many opponents who were stronger than him and won. That kid never ceases to amaze me. Many of his teammates were stronger than him, but now he is their captain. It won¡¯t surprise me if he wins.¡±

 Chapter 670 - Tang Wulin vs. Dai Yueyan

    Chapter 670 - Tang Wulin vs. Dai Yueyan


    Wu Zhangkong stood behind Elder Cai, gazing at one of the big screens delivering sharp images. He had told his students that he would instruct them when they entered the final knockout stage, but Elder Cai forbade him to do that. That was why they hadn¡¯t seen him in a long time. The look on his face was cold as ever, but his eyes were full of concern and encouragement. He wanted nothing more than to be there for them in such a difficult time.


    Dai Yueyan rushed towards Tang Wulin. Three purple and two black soul rings appeared around him. His golden hair turned white and his muscles swelled as his first soul ring started shining. White hair came out of his hands with talons for fingernails.


    His martial soul was the White Tiger.


    Dai Yueyan was one of the best among his peers. He had only tasted defeat once, and that was at the hands of Long Yue, whose martial soul was so unusual.


    In the Star Luo Empire, people who were soul masters had a higher social status than those who weren¡¯t. The fourth prince was not only strong, but also sensible and careful when making judgments and decisions, and as such, he was his father¡¯s favorite son.


    They were fast, considering that they were both strength-type soul masters. With every step they took, the aura emitted from their bodies grew more intimidating.


    Tang Wulin leapt up into the air and brought his claws down. Dai Yueyan raised his arms to block the attack. The moment the golden claws touched him, he felt some kind of power threatening to tear his arms apart, so he had to use his soul power to fight it.


    An air wave was created as Tang Wulin¡¯s claws slammed into the fourth prince¡¯s arms. Dai Yueyan didn¡¯t back off even one step. He turned the golden claws aside and tried a slash with his right claw, which was as big as his opponent¡¯s claws, but Tang Wulin jerked back, just out of reach.


    Dai Yueyan pressed forward, raining his claws on Tang Wulin. The boy used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, checking each blow; no sooner did he turn one slash than the next was upon him. Their arms kissed and sprang apart and kissed again. And then he slashed at the prince, again and again; he quite liked fighting hand to hand.


    The dance went on for several minutes.


    Tang Wulin found to his surprise that Dai Yueyan could use the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and Mysterious Jade Hands as well, and that his claws were almost as hard as his golden dragon claws.


    Even though the White Tiger was a strength-type martial soul, and even though Dai Yueyan¡¯s soul power was at rank 54 ¨C which was much higher than his opponent¡¯s ¨C he couldn¡¯t take Tang Wulin down with his furry claws alone. In fact, Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claws, combined with Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, were starting to wear him down.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Dai Yueyan acknowledged when he darted away to catch his breath. At this rate, he will get the better of me. I have to use other soul skills to fight him.


    ¡°Here I come! Be careful!¡± the prince shouted, his second soul ring shining. His mouth snapped open, and a beam of white light shot out towards Tang Wulin. White Tiger Light Beam!


    Tang Wulin jerked his claws up in time, thankful that his adversary had warned him of the attack.


    Boom!


    The light beam exploded, and the full force of the impact crashed into its target. Tang Wulin had planted his feet firmly into the ground, but still he fell back several steps, his arms numb and painful. Such power! And that¡¯s just his second soul skill! Tang Wulin thought to himself.


    That was when Dai Yueyan¡¯s third soul ring lit up. White Tiger Diamond Transformation! He grew bigger, his white fur with black stripes turning golden, his eyes glowing a bright golden, and the four stripes on his forehead forming the character Wang[1].


    Dai Yueyan rushed forward, a golden aura surrounding him. One look at him was enough to tell that he was incredibly strong.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. His two golden soul rings were gone, three purple and one black ones appearing in their place. A swarm of blue vines shot out, translucent with golden veins inside and each as thick as a human arm. They possessed the ability to catch and take down his opponent. He wouldn¡¯t hold anything back, because running towards him was a powerful five-ringed Soul King. And he had to be extremely careful; even the smallest mistake might cost him the match.


    Dai Yueyan didn¡¯t seem to care about the vines. His golden talons grew longer and sharper, and he slashed.


    1. Wang(Íõ) means king in Chinese.

 Chapter 671 - Tyrant Dragon Bloodline

    Chapter 671 - Tyrant Dragon Bloodline


    Dai Yueyan¡¯s razor-sharp tiger claws came crashing down, hard and fast, but still, they failed to sever the vines; in fact, they only glanced off them, leaving behind nothing more than a few scratches. The other contestants sitting in the waiting area were thunderstruck; they couldn¡¯t believe those vines had such a high level of hardness.


    Tang Wulin stepped back to keep his distance while controlling the vines to surround and attack Dai Yueyan.


    The Bluesilver Grass martial soul wasn¡¯t weak, but it was not nearly in the same league as the Bluesilver Emperor. Each and every vine was both quick and strong, and Tang Wulin was able to sharpen the ends of some and use them to attack from the most unexpected angles.


    Even with White Tiger Diamond Transformation, it was all Dai Yueyan could do not to let the vines touch him, but he looked calm. The vines were much easier to deal with than the golden dragon claws. High, low, left, right, the vines shot at him, but they couldn¡¯t reach him. It was as if he had a soul barrier around him that stopped every thrust. With the Mysterious Heaven Method, he had enough soul power to do this all day.


    Several minutes had passed without Tang Wulin finding even one opening. Suddenly, a large golden circle of light shone beneath him and his opponent as his third soul ring lit up.


    Dai Yueyan frowned. He didn¡¯t know what this light circle could do, but it wouldn¡¯t do anything good to him, he had no doubt. He had to get out of whatever this was. He slashed faster, driving back the vines that kept coming at him and at the same time moving as fast towards the edge of the ring as he could.


    Tang Wulin smiled and let out a draconic roar, shaking the arena.


    A chill went through Dai Yueyan. For an instant he lost control of his soul power, and he found that even his heart thumped with fear. Now he understood how Su Mu had felt when he faced Tang Wulin. He regained his composure right away and resorted to his fifth soul skill without hesitation. Two beams of light ¨C one black and one white ¨C shot up from beneath the prince and circled around him. His body began to grow, and in a split second, he had become as tall as ten feet, his talons two feet long, his hair white with black stripes and translucent. The vibes emanating from him had become a bit terrifying.


    White Tiger Devil God Transformation!


    He had used White Tiger Diamond Transformation and White Tiger Devil God Transformation to fight Long Yue. Although he had been defeated, he had lasted longer than any other challenger.


    ¡°Dai Yueyan is now using his most powerful technique,¡± Fang¡¯er commented, her lips moving fast. ¡°I can¡¯t get into the details of his soul skills since he is a prince, but as you can see, his speed and power has increased a great deal. He is cutting through Tang Wulin¡¯s vines like they were nothing!¡±


    Tang Wulin stood his ground as his vines were being destroyed. Light gathered around his arms and shoulders and became pieces of golden armor decorated with beautiful patterns. With the resplendent battle armor equipped, his power soared to its peak.


    Then his fourth soul ring lit up. A phantom Tyrant Dragon appeared atop of Tang Wulin¡¯s head, its eyes bloodred. It opened its giant mouth and roared at Dai Yueyan, sending a strong air wave forward.


    The force slammed into Dai Yueyan, forcing him to take a half step back to brace himself.


    ¡°What is that?!¡± Fang¡¯er said, shocked. ¡°Is that a soul beast? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen anything like that before!¡± Tyrant Dragons were long since extinct; in fact, they had never existed on the Star Luo Continent, so naturally she had no knowledge of them.


    By then all the vines were shining with a golden luster and had grown as thick as a human leg, with what seemed to be snake bones inside.


    This was the might of the fourth soul skill of Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Emperor: Bluesilver Overlord Transformation!


    Long Yue¡¯s eyes went wide when he saw the phantom dragon. What kind of dragon was that? I think I had seen it somewhere before.


    As the most talented student in the Monster Academy, he had access to the most secret of files and documents. After thinking for a minute, it came to him. ¡°That¡¯s a tyrant dragon!¡± he blurted out.


    ¡°So he has tyrant dragon bloodline in him?¡± asked Lin San, who was sitting beside him.


    Long Yue inclined his head. ¡°Probably. The tyrant dragons were descendants of the Golden Dragon King, who is said to be part of the legendary Dragon God. Maybe that¡¯s why he could suppress Su Mu and Hua Lantang.¡±

 Chapter 672 - Dai Yueyan’s Battle Armor

    Chapter 672 - Dai Yueyan¡¯s Battle Armor


    The huge golden light circle on the ground disappeared. It had been Tang Wulin¡¯s Bluesilver Golden Array. He had only used that soul skill to distract Dai Yueyan ¨C since its elemental stripping wouldn¡¯t work on the White Tiger martial soul ¨C and it had worked; it had successfully tricked the fourth prince into using his fifth soul skill.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s blue vines had grown much stronger and faster, and two of them shot out with a flash of golden light, lightning quick. Dai Yueyan slashed at them, but they were quick enough to dodge aside, and before he knew it, they had bound his talons.


    Dai Yueyan was shocked, but only for a brief moment. His talons shortened right away and jerked out of the thick ropes that were Tang Wulin¡¯s vines. Then he leapt away as his talons lengthened again, his fourth soul ring shining. He swung his right claw sideways, sending five white beams of light shooting at the vines coming at him. White Tiger Devil Slash!


    Boom! The vines were blown into bits.


    But by then another wave of vines had arrived, dancing a dizzy dance. Dai Yueyan suddenly felt as if everything were spinning around him.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s second soul skill ¨C the Bluesilver Impaling Array ¨C was working, but he knew it wouldn¡¯t work for long, not on such a strong opponent as Dai Yueyan. So he wasted no time leaping up into the air and brought his golden claws down.


    The audience watched aghast as the claws approached their prince¡¯s shoulder. Suddenly, a small phantom tiger jumped out of his body and blocked the blow. Tang Wulin jumped back, and the tiger disappeared in a flash of light.


    That was when Dai Yueyan started to feel himself again. He must have felt it when his soul spirit was slain, for he was glaring at Tang Wulin. ¡°How dare you kill my white tiger!¡± he roared.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like it won¡¯t regenerate,¡± Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°That was never my plan. I could have taken you down with that attack, but your soul spirit got in my way.¡±


    Dai Yueyan was infuriated, but then he remembered how his sister had lost. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and put on his battle armor in the blink of an eye. It was white with black stripes, heavy-looking, with either pauldron shaped like a tiger head.


    The name of his one-word battle armor was Tiger.


    The prince charged, cutting through the vines as if they were made of butter. A great cheer went up from the audience. ¡°Go get him!¡± Fang¡¯er heard, and ¡°Take him down!¡±


    ¡°Looks like the match will be over soon,¡± she said, relieved. Tang Wulin fought well. He even forced Dai Yueyan to use his battle armor. He has no hope of winning against such power, but there is no shame in being defeated by the second strongest student in the Monster Academy.


    Dai Yueyan closed the gap between them in a matter of seconds. When he was about a dozen feet away from Tang Wulin, he brought his right claw down, and five white beams of light shot out towards his opponent, severing everything in their path.


    Tang Wulin was strangely calm. He stood his ground, golden scales appearing over his body and shining with dazzling light.


    The light beams exploded as soon as they touched Tang Wulin¡¯s scales, but the boy seemed to be unhurt.


    White Tiger Devil Slash didn¡¯t break through his defense? That¡¯s impossible! Dai Yueyan thought to himself, flabbergasted. Before he recovered from his shock, a golden vine came out of nowhere and twined around his waist. The prince slashed and hacked, but it wouldn¡¯t break or budge.


    Fang¡¯er sucked in her breath. What is that?! Is he even human?!


    Tang Wulin was holding in each hand a huge hammer, whose head was about 15 feet long and six feet in diameter. As strong as he was, he could barely keep their insane weight from tearing themselves from his grip.


    They had been the weapons of the black mecha he had sold.


    Everyone¡¯s jaw dropped.


    Brilliant light exploded out from the hammers as Tang Wulin swung the right hammer sideways; they were so heavy that he had no choice but to use the power of the Golden Dragon King.


    Goldsong jerked Dai Yueyan forward with brute force, causing him to lose his balance, and then returned into Tang Wulin¡¯s body.

 Chapter 673 - Advancing to the Next Round

    Chapter 672 - Advancing to the Next Round


    How was Tang Wulin able to wield a hammer which weighed as much as 5,000 pounds? It was all attributed to his unusually great strength and the power of the Golden Dragon King. He swung his right hammer in a sidearm blow with all his weight behind it. The huge weapon created a gust of wind so strong that small rocks rolled on the ground like popcorn on the bottom of a pan, only not as violently. It was not possible for Dai Yueyan to dodge, not when he hadn¡¯t even managed to regain his footing after the sharp pull from Goldsong.


    The prince had barely raised his arms when the hammer reached him. His breath went out of him at the sudden impact. Then he found himself flying backwards at high speed. If not for his gauntlet, his arms might have been shattered by that blow.


    Crouching down as low as he could, Tang Wulin pushed energy into his legs and leapt towards Dai Yueyan. Eight phantom dragons appeared from beneath his feet, gave him a forceful push, and vanished.


    In a matter of seconds, Tang Wulin caught up with him and brought his left hammer down in a golden arc.


    Dai Yueyan slashed his tiger claws recklessly at the insanely huge weapon coming crashing down in an attempt to destroy it, but failed; the hammers were made of a type of rare metal, and that was why Tang Wulin didn¡¯t want to sell them.


    With a weapon as big as that, it was hard for it to miss. Dai Yueyan coughed up a mouthful of blood as the hammer slammed into him. His one-word battle armor was helping, but it couldn¡¯t cancel out the impact completely. The fourth prince thudded to the ground, leaving a crater beneath his back.


    The audience couldn¡¯t help but close their eyes, hoping it was just a bad dream.


    Tang Wulin gave him no respite. He landed beside the crater and whirled his right hammer up once again. He wouldn¡¯t give him any chance to turn the tables. If the prince¡¯s life was in danger, he was convinced the referee would stop him in time.


    Fang¡¯er was watching with wide eyes, distraught. I wasn''t aware he was capable of this kind of power! That flurry of attacks must have left the fourth prince in pretty bad shape. He must be in a lot of pain, and Tang Wulin is ready to finish this match! There is no chance of countering that attack of his.


    En Ci could see worry written all over the emperor¡¯s face.


    Before the merciless weight could land on the poor prince again, the referee rushed in front of Tang Wulin, slammed into the hammer¡¯s face with his palm, and sent it flying out of the boy¡¯s hand and landing on the stage with a deafening thud. Eight soul rings were revolving around him.


    Tang Wulin staggered back several steps before he managed to regain his balance. A smile showed on his face. I won.


    Dai Yueyan struggled to his feet. He had returned to his human form, his armor dented and smudged with dirt and blood here and there.


    ¡°Why did you intervene?!¡± Dai Yueyan snarled at the referee.


    ¡°I¡­¡± The referee didn¡¯t know what to say. He would have done the same thing, even if Dai Yueyan were a commoner and not a prince; it was his job to keep every contestant safe on the stage.


    Tang Wulin was glad that the fight ended sooner than he had previously anticipated. The hammers were too heavy even for him; he didn¡¯t have much strength left to wield them for long. And he had found that Dai Yueyan¡¯s armor was much stronger than normal one-word battle armor when his hammer smashed into him. Dai Yueyan had taken a lot of damage, to be sure, but he was still able to take Tang Wulin down if given half a chance. He had caught a grimace of pain on Tang Wulin¡¯s face when he lifted his hammer and had been sure his opportunity would come soon, but he had lost the match the moment the referee stopped that attack.


    Tang Wulin put away his hammers and smiled at Dai Yueyan. ¡°Thank you for letting me win, Your Highness.¡±


    Dai Yueyan gave a snort of anger, turned around, and got off the stage.


    Part of Dai Tianling was relieved, and the other part was worried.


    En Ci sighed. ¡°It might end differently if the referee hadn¡¯t intervened.¡±


    ¡°The referee did nothing wrong,¡± said Dai Tianling. ¡°I fear this defeat might destroy his confidence.¡±


    En Ci smiled. ¡°I can assure you that won¡¯t happen, my emperor, not to the fourth prince. In fact, this loss may prove to be a good thing for him. He is a man who learns from his mistakes.¡±


    When Tang Wulin started for the waiting area, the audience showered him with verbal attacks and insults, accusing him of using forbidden weapons, but he turned a deaf ear to them.


    His next opponent was Yuanen Yehui, and one of them would be eliminated.

 Chapter 674 - The Final of the One-on-One Competition

    Chapter 674 - The Final of the One-on-One Competition


    By the time Tang Wulin got back to the waiting area, Dai Yueyan had already left; losing the match had left him in a state of shame, if nothing else.


    ¡°You¡¯re pretty impressive,¡± Long Yue said to Tang Wulin, smiling. ¡°But I hope that¡¯s not your full power, for both our sakes.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame I didn¡¯t get to fight you in the one-on-ones,¡± Lin San said, looking at Tang Wulin. ¡°Can¡¯t wait to meet you in the team battle. By the way, you friend is strong.¡± He meant Xie Xie, of course.


    It was a wonder Xie Xie was still sound asleep, considering the loud shouting outside.


    Tang Wulin bent over to pick him up, but Yuanen caught him by the arm. ¡°Let me carry him,¡± she whispered.


    For an instant Tang Wulin froze. Then Yuanen Yehui picked him up gently without waking him and carried him bridal style in her arms. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she said.


    Tang Wulin felt happy for Xie Xie and a little envious.


    The competition between the top 16 was over. Eight contestants had advanced, but one was badly injured, so he had no choice but to back out of the next round. He wouldn¡¯t have any chance of winning his quarter-final even if he were in good shape, not when his opponent was Long Yue.


    Both the Monster Academy and the Shrek Academy had two students in the top eight. The final of the one-on-ones would most likely be between the two schools.


    Some newspapers were saying that making it into the top eight was a brilliant feat for the Shrek Academy, but a lot more were demanding that the Shrek Academy team get back to the Douluo Continent where they belonged. Although many people here were unwilling to admit it, they knew in their heart that the Shrek Academy was strong.


    Tang Bingyao offered his congratulations to Elder Cai and promised rewards for the kids.


    Only when they had arrived at their hotel did Tang Wulin take out the cotton balls he had stuffed into his ears to reduce the overwhelming noise.


    ¡°I knew you would win,¡± a tired voice said.


    When Tang Wulin turned, Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi were standing at his door.


    ¡°You look awful, Xinglan. Are you all right?¡± Tang Wulin asked, his face filled with concern. He invited them in quickly.


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t slept in days,¡± Xu Lizhi said, worried and angry. ¡°She kept making battle armor and meditating day and night.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making me feel bad, Xinglan,¡± said Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. I¡¯m not doing this for you,¡± Ye Xinglan said with a smile. ¡°Besides, I have nothing else to do. I think I¡¯m getting better at making battle armor. Come to my room later. I¡¯ve made several more pieces for you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Xinglan.¡± Tang Wulin knew her well enough to know he couldn¡¯t talk her out of working so hard. He just hoped Xu Lizhi¡¯s Boodthirst Bean Buns wouldn¡¯t affect her health.


    ¡°I watched your match,¡± Ye Xinglan said. ¡°To be frank with you, I don¡¯t know how to deal with those hammers of yours. How did you manage to wield them? You¡¯re insanely strong.¡±


    ¡°I can barely use them as my weapons,¡± Tang Wulin replied with a dry smile. ¡°But it was the only way for me to defeat Dai Yueyan. If his battle armor were made of spirit alloy like ours, even those hammers might not be enough to take him down.¡±


    Ye Xinglan nodded. ¡°When we have a full set of one-word battle armor, we¡¯ll be much stronger than we are now.¡±


    Xinglan is working around the clock just so I can have a chance of beating Long Yue, Tang Wulin thought after they left. I can¡¯t let her effort go to waste. I must win!


    Yuanen Yehui conceded her quarter-final to Tang Wulin on the stage and expressed the opinion that they both should conserve energy for the following matches.


    Long Yue and Lin San advanced to the top four as expected.


    Lin San didn¡¯t do in his semi-final what Yuanen Yehui had done. He gave Long Yue some trouble with his speed, agility, and battle armor, but the Dragon King defeated him without using his own battle armor. Tang Wulin frowned after watching their match all the way through; he found that he wasn¡¯t able to come up with anything to defeat such a formidable opponent.


    Tang Wulin won his semi-final in a matter of minutes, because his opponent¡¯s armor was all dented and gashed from the previous matches.


    Therefore, the final would be between the captain of the Shrek Academy team and the head of the Monster Eight Kings.


    The match was hailed as the highlight of the tournament; a fight between two dragons.


    They would rest tomorrow, and the final would be held the day after.


    This was a perfect match for gamblers. Tang Wulin was ten to one to win, and Long Yue was one to two to win.

 Chapter 675 - The Day Before the Final

    Chapter 675 - The Day Before the Final


    Tang Wulin was not favored to win, not with his cultivation level. And certainly not with Long Yue.


    There were even people betting on how long Tang Wulin would last; Long Yue was already the champion in their eyes. Although they had no doubt the Dragon King would win, they couldn¡¯t find it in their hearts to accept the fact that a young boy from the Douluo Continent had reached the final. No one his age had ever made it this far in this tournament¡¯s history.


    Tang Wulin sat cross-legged on his bed, his mind completely concentrated on meditating. He could feel the energy of the Golden Dragon King and his soul power circulating freely through his meridians. Long Yue would be the ultimate test of his skill. He had decided to do whatever needed to be done tomorrow, no matter the cost. He was neither nervous nor relaxed. He was making the most of every minute to try to get stronger, even though the result might not change. He knew Teacher Wu was helping them by not helping them. His father used to say that wind made a tree stronger; he had to overcome the difficulties by himself if he wanted to become stronger.


    His soul power had started growing faster as soon as his martial soul evolved. He had reached rank 42 yesterday, which was something he had never expected he could accomplish in such a short time. At this rate, he was confident he would become a five-ringed Soul King before 17, which would be pretty impressive, even for a student of the Shrek Academy.


    Ye Xinglan was lying in bed, her breathing faint, her face white as a sheet, her brows furrowed in pain. She had fallen on the floor when Xu Lizhi went to get a glass of water for her; she was too exhausted.


    Xu Lizhi touched her hair gently with his meaty hand and looked at her tightly shut eyes, worried. It¡¯s all my fault. I should have stopped you. I will never let this happen again. Rest and get better soon.


    Xie Xie was standing on his balcony, leaning on the railing and staring off into the distance. He smiled, feeling the night wind caressing his face, relaxed and carefree. The vibes emanating from him had changed after that match with Lin San. He felt he had found inner peace and that he had had a better understanding of agility. I should train to control more clones. Wait for me, Yuanen. I¡¯ll become stronger than you soon enough and make you my wife.


    Yuanen Yehui meditated in her room. She had always been diligent, even though her talent was outstanding. Only she knew that her soul power didn¡¯t grow fast. Although both her martial souls were very powerful, they didn¡¯t seem to like each other. She was trying to harmonize their relationship, and she was getting stronger every day. She had to, if she wanted to do a certain something.


    She was very grateful to have so many powerful friends around her. They made her who she was today, and they made her spirit alloy battle armor possible, but she had to get back when she was strong enough.


    Xu Xiaoyan was sitting on a chair by Yue Zhengyu¡¯s bed, sleeping, while Yue Zhengyu was lying on his side, awake. There was a soft light in his eyes as he looked at Xu Xiaoyan.


    She had been taking care of him, ever since he got injured by Long Yue. Everything seemed natural, but Yue Zhengyu felt very warm inside.


    He was born in a clan with a strict hierarchy. He was very lucky, for he was the future successor of the main house. Kids of the branch houses had been green with envy, because he had always gotten whatever he wanted growing up. He believed it was his fate to lead his clan.


    It was not until he came to the Shrek Academy that he began to realize he was not the most powerful among his peers. Although his Holy Angel martial soul was strong, he still had a long way to go before he became one of the strongest soul masters.


    When he was only ten years old, his parents invited girls of great houses to play with him and let him choose his favorite one. But he was at a rebellious age then, and he didn¡¯t like being told what to do. On top of that, he found the girls repulsive, especially when they tried every way possible to get his attention.


    When he went to the Shrek Academy to throw off the shackles of his clan and to see the world, he met his friends, who were stronger than him. He began to see his shortcomings and train harder.


    There were many beautiful girls in his school who were attracted to him; after all, he was strong, of noble birth, and really good-looking. Yet he never thought he¡¯d fall in love with any of them.


    However, before he knew it, a girl had taken up residence in his heart, a girl who had called his name when he was in a coma, a girl who had been taking care of him, a girl whose name was Xu Xiaoyan.


    He liked her company. He liked her smile. He hadn¡¯t told her he had gotten well enough, because he wanted her to stay by his side a little while longer.

 Chapter 676 - Good Luck

    Chapter 676 - Good Luck


    Yue Zhengyu reached out his hand to stroke Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s head. She looked drawn and tired, all because of him.


    Softly, quietly, he got off bed, picked her up, laid her where he had been lying, and tucked her in. She snuggled under the blanket but didn¡¯t wake up, her furrowed brows relaxing.


    Her sleeping face calmed him like no other sight. He laid himself down on the couch. I won¡¯t have any reason to keep her by my side tomorrow, but I¡¯ll always be there for her. He closed his eyes, satisfied, and fell asleep.


    Gu Yue was lying on her back staring up at the ceiling. She didn¡¯t know why she was in no mood to do anything. She was worried and uneasy. He never backs down from any fight, no matter the opponent. But Long Yue¡¯s power is unimaginable. I don¡¯t want to see him get hurt. Then she suddenly remembered the conversation they had had that day.


    ¡°Did you get close to me because our bloodlines are related?¡±


    ¡°I guess you can say that.¡±


    ¡°I want you to look me in the eye and say that again.¡±


    ¡°I got close to you because our bloodlines are related.¡±


    ¡°Are you still being nice to me because of the same reason?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Her heart ached. Why did I have to say those things to him? No, that conversation was long overdue. I only have myself to blame. I kept telling myself there would be time for that until it was too late! Fate brought us together, and fate is going to tear us apart! No, I don¡¯t believe in fate. My life is in my control!


    Morning had dawned clear and fine.


    After he trained his Purple Demon Eyes on the balcony, Tang Wulin washed up and put on his clean school uniform.


    He joined his friends at the breakfast table and started stuffing himself. Xu Lizhi was suffering from loss of appetite; he barely ate.


    ¡°Why are you all staring at me instead of eating? Come on, Lizhi, aren¡¯t you hungry?¡± Tang Wulin said as he picked up a steamed bun, tore it open, stuffed several pieces of meat in it, and took a large bite.


    ¡°How can you be so calm, Captain?¡± Yue Zhengyu asked, curious.


    ¡°I should be nervous?¡±


    ¡°Today is the final and your opponent is that Crazy Long, so yeah, you should be nervous.¡±


    Tang Wulin shrugged. ¡°He is older and stronger than me. There is no shame in losing to someone like him, so why should I be nervous?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not gonna give up, are you?¡± asked Ye Xinglan.


    The young captain met her eyes. ¡°I will uphold Shrek¡¯s honor with blood if necessary. The journey is more important than the result.¡±


    The breakfast table fell silent.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry I asked a stupid question,¡± Ye Xinglan said apologetically.


    Tang Wulin smiled to ease the tension. ¡°Dig in! I¡¯ll eat it all if you don¡¯t hurry.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself too hard,¡± Gu Yue said from her usual seat beside Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin turned to face her. ¡°I won¡¯t. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not put pressure on him,¡± Xie Xie said. ¡°But if you win, Boss, you might get a kiss.¡± He looked at Gu Yue, and then at Tang Wulin, smiling.


    ¡°Considering that you got a princess carry even though you lost, so I guess you might be right.¡±


    Xie Xie felt embarrassed suddenly. ¡°She¡¯s stronger than me, so there is nothing wrong for her to carry me.¡±


    Yue Zhengyu burst into laughter. ¡°So that¡¯s what you figured out that day. Congratulations on realizing that you have to be shameless to get a girl.¡±


    ¡°Look who¡¯s talking. You¡¯re more shameless than I am. You were lying in bed yesterday, but now you¡¯re alive and kicking. Don¡¯t let his pretty face deceive you, Xiaoyan. He is rotten to the core.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan blushed. When she woke up this morning, she had found herself lying in Yue Zhengyu¡¯s bed. She hadn¡¯t slept so well in days. After she inhaled the wonderful scent of his blanket and realized she was not in her own room, she bounced up, threw the blanket on Yue Zhengyu, and ran out without meeting his eyes.


    Yue Zhengyu snorted. ¡°At least I have a chance, unlike you. Yuanen will never go out on a date with you, because you¡¯ll never defeat her.¡±


    Xie Xie looked at Yuanen Yehui, but not once had she so much as glanced at them, absorbed as she was in eating her breakfast.


    ¡°I have found the essence of agility,¡± Xie Xie exclaimed. ¡°I¡¯ll catch up to her soon.¡±


    Tang Wulin watched them, smiling. He liked this; it made him feel like they were family.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Tang Wulin said after they finished eating. He stood up and stretched, creating popping sounds. He was exuding a majestic aura, like a dragon.


    Several soul cars were waiting outside the hotel. They had been assigned by the government to make sure they would arrive at the stadium quickly and safely.


    All the contestants from the Monster Academy and Shrek Academy had been given the right to watch the final in the waiting area.


    After the eight kids got in the cars and left, a man walked out of the Grand Star Luo Hotel.


    He was all dressed in white, his eyes glowing with encouragement. ¡°Good luck, Wulin,¡± Wu Zhangkong whispered.

 Chapter 677 - The One-on-One Final Starts

    Chapter 677 - The One-on-One Final Starts


    The stadium was packed with people, which was pretty natural, since today was the one-on-one final of the Continental Young Elites Tournament. What wasn¡¯t natural was that there were already tens of thousands of people craning their necks to try to get a better view of the big screens hanging on the outer walls of the stadium. They couldn¡¯t wait to see the crap get beaten out of Tang Wulin.


    Dai Tianling, En Ci, Tang Bingyao, and Elder Cai were all sitting in the VIP seats today. Although it was pretty clear that Dai Tianling had invited them to sit with him with the main intention of redeeming himself through the most powerful student in all of the Monster Academy, they couldn¡¯t have turned down the invitation from the emperor of the Star Luo Empire.


    The audience was so hyped up when the two contestants made for the waiting area with their teammates; they only had eyes for Long Yue, of course. They were shouting and cheering, as if Long Yue had already won.


    Dressed in their respective uniforms, they took their seats, all but Dai Yun¡¯er, who was staring at Tang Wulin with glaring eyes.


    In response to that, Tang Wulin grinned, revealing his white teeth.


    For an instant the princess froze as she looked at his smile warm as the morning sun, anger in her eyes dwindling


    ¡°Ladies and gentlemen,¡± said a voice so deep and loud that the noisy shouting stopped at once.


    ¡°All hail our ruler, Emperor Dai Tianling.¡±


    Dai Tianling rose to his feet and spoke into the microphone standing before him. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m back in my youth every time I come here to watch the competition,¡± he said. ¡°I still remember the days when I participated in the Continental Young Elites Tournament. You¡¯re young, so don¡¯t be afraid to fight, to love, to live. Don¡¯t be afraid to make mistakes. Set your goals high, and don¡¯t stop till you get there.


    ¡°I¡¯m honored to have with us here the students of the Shrek Academy on the faraway Douluo Continent, our mother continent. The Shrek Academy is the best academy on the Douluo Continent; it has trained numerous talented soul masters since being established over 20,000 years ago. I¡¯m happy that the one-on-one final is between the Monster Academy and the Shrek Academy. This match will deepen the friendship between the two continents, however it may end. The champion will receive a soul bone and be offered the title of viscount. Of course, if Tang Wulin wins and doesn¡¯t want to be naturalized and become a citizen of the Star Luo Empire, he will receive a soul bone and something of the same value as the title of viscount.


    ¡°We welcome any talented soul master who wants to be naturalized,¡± he smiled. ¡°Now let the one-on-one final of the Continental Young Elites Tournament begin!¡±


    The audience applauded and cheered the emperor.


    ¡°The title of viscount, boss!¡± Xie Xie whispered, nudging Tang Wulin. ¡°I know you¡¯re tempted.¡±


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t take me for a fool like you,¡± he said, standing up.


    Long Yue got to his feet, glanced at Tang Wulin, and strode towards the stage with a smile.


    The arena darkened suddenly, and then exciting music started. Two spotlights shot down on Long Yue and Tang Wulin, and the two bright beams moved with their every step.


    They stepped onto the stage, standing a couple hundred yards away from each other.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,¡± Fang¡¯er said. ¡°This will be an epic fight. First, please allow me to introduce the two contestants.


    ¡°Tang Wulin is from the Shrek Academy. His soul power is between rank 42 and rank 45, and his martial soul is some type of vine. I have consulted a large number of books but still don¡¯t know what his strange martial soul is. It¡¯s powerful, that¡¯s for sure. And he has dragon blood in him. The power in his dragon blood enables him to use some queer techniques and suppress many dragon-type martial souls.¡±


    Cleary Fang¡¯er had done her homework. Then she gave a brief introduction of Long Yue.


    ¡°Long Yue is stronger in terms of power,¡± Fang¡¯er continued, ¡°yet that doesn¡¯t mean Tang Wulin has no chance of winning, because we don¡¯t know if he is able to suppress Long Yue¡¯s Mountain Dragon martial soul. I guess we¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡±


    By then the darkness was gone, and the sun was shining down on the stage again.


    The referee was an old soul master. He wasn¡¯t giving off a powerful aura or anything, but the fact that he was appointed as the referee of this match alone spoke volumes about his power.


    ¡°You know the rules,¡± the old man said to them. ¡°I want a clean fight. Now begin!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s smile vanished right away, and he flew at Long Yue like an arrow, two golden soul rings appearing. His eyes were shining golden, his hands turning into claws, scales spreading across his body. Golden Dragon Body!


    Eyes fixing on Tang Wulin, Long Yue didn¡¯t make his first move until his opponent sped across the half-way line on the stage. A big phantom dragon appeared, with a miniature city on its back. It threw back its head and let out a deep, loud roar.


    But Tang Wulin didn¡¯t seem to be affected. A dragon¡¯s roar erupted from his body, so deafening that even the ground shook a little.


    Long Yue frowned, because his phantom dragon flinched at the sound.


    En Ci¡¯s previous calm gave way to shock, and his eyes widened in disbelief. The power in that kid¡¯s dragon blood even frightened the Mountain Dragon King? That¡¯s impossible! The Mountain Dragon King is a son of the Dragon God!


    Even Long Yue was baffled. He had thought Tang Wulin had in him the tyrant dragon blood.


    Tang Wulin put on an extra burst of speed and suddenly leapt dozens of yards into the air.

 Chapter 678 - A Clash of Strength

    Chapter 678 - A Clash of Strength


    Long Yue didn¡¯t seem to have gotten over his shock. He had never thought his martial soul would be suppressed. It¡¯s not a tyrant dragon. It can¡¯t be. There is no way a mountain dragon could be afraid of a tyrant dragon. Every mountain dragon is a king. Could it be the Light Dragon King? The Light Dragon King was also a son of the Dragon God, but it had great respect for the sacrifices made by the Mountain Dragon Kings. All the other dragon kings revered them. It takes more than a son of the Dragon God to make me feel so awed and frightened. Could he be the Dragon God? But he is just a human boy.


    When Tang Wulin reached the highest point of his jump, he extended his arms out to the side, and with a flash of light, one huge hammer appeared in each hand, the hammers he had used to beat the Tiger King Dai Yueyan. He brought them up and then dove downwards towards Long Yue at high speed. The hammers whistled through the air, coming crashing down.


    The audience had seen him use the two hammers before, but still they couldn¡¯t help but stare in astoundment.


    Long Yue raised his head. He could feel Tang Wulin¡¯s aura weighing down on him as he approached. But he was calm. His body started growing as six soul rings appeared around him.


    ¡°Mountains!¡± he shouted, lifting a hand. A chain of mountains shot up from the ground and towards Tang Wulin. They were translucent and didn¡¯t look as hard as real mountains. Tang Wulin brought his hammers down in a wild arc as a mountain threatened to smash into his chest.


    Boom!


    The phantom mountain collapsed into pieces and disappeared.


    But the moment Tang Wulin landed on the ground, a strong aura hit him like a gust of wind.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes widened. I was stupid to assume that I had suppressed his power. He is too strong, and his Mountain Dragon martial soul is not just any dragon-type martial soul. If I had more Golden Dragon King¡¯s energy in my blood, maybe I could suppress his power. But I can¡¯t break another seal here, even if I could.


    By then Long Yue was 30 feet tall. Tang Wulin whirled the hammers back up and charged again.


    Long Yue twisted violently aside, lashing out with his thick tail. Tang Wulin blocked it with one hammer and swung the other sideways at Long Yue¡¯s chest with brute force. Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique!


    Tang San¡¯s well-known forging abilities had been largely attributed to the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique, which he had learned from the Clear Sky Clan. Because of the important contributions the Tang Sect had made to the world, the Clear Sky Clan had allowed the Tang Sect to teach this technique to its members when the once famous clan faded into oblivion.


    Tang Wulin had only used the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique to forge before, but when he got his hands on the two huge hammers, he had known they would make excellent weapons for him.


    They were ridiculously heavy, to be sure, but with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique and the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, the weight of them seemed to hardly diminish the grace and quickness with which Tang Wulin moved.


    Long Yue turned aside the hammer coming at his chest with his left arm, and threw a punch at Tang Wulin with his huge right fist. The boy ducked under the blow, darted away, and circled behind him in half a heartbeat. Then he raised his right hammer and aimed a blow for the small of Long Yue¡¯s back. There was no way Long Yue could dodge that, not in his current form. The hammer came crashing into him. Boom!


    The blow didn¡¯t do much harm, however, as Long Yue¡¯s skin had become extremely thick, but still it sent him stumbling forward a step.


    Long Yue spun around, looming over his opponent, his eyes burning with anger. He extended his right arm, and suddenly a spear materialized in his hand, with one sharp point at each end. It was brown, thick as a human waist, and even a little taller than he was. He took hold of the spear with both hands and swung it sideways with all his weight behind it. Tang Wulin jerked the two hammers up in time to catch the spear on their faces.


    The audience covered their ears automatically without thinking. They had known this fight would be most thrilling, but they hadn¡¯t expected it to be a match of physical power. They were left dumbfounded by their unimaginable strength.

 Chapter 679 - The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique

    Chapter 679 - The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique


    Metal met metal with an ear-splitting clang, sending Tang Wulin reeling. Sparks flew when the spear struck the hammerheads. Long Yue swung his spear sideways again, and this time Tang Wulin dropped down instead of blocking it with his hammers. The spear passed harmlessly over his head. Tang Wulin circled to his left, Long Yue turned to follow. The Dragon King made for a big target. Tang Wulin could scarcely miss, though none of his strikes was doing much damage to Long Yue¡¯s strong body. Tang Wulin kept circling, striking, forcing the bigger man to turn and turn again. Long Yue was losing sight of him; he was too big and too heavy to move nimbly. Tang Wulin was making good use of that and his quickness; Long Yue¡¯s spear never came near to touching him.


    With the help of his Golden Dragon Body and the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique, Tang Wulin was swinging his hammers faster and harder.


    It went on that way for what seemed a long time. Back and forth they moved across the stage, rocks flew out of Long Yue¡¯s body where it was hit by the hammers, and then they disappeared in a flash of light.


    En Ci had never thought such a young, low-ranked soul master would be equal to Long Yue in terms of physical power. Even some eight-ringed soul masters can¡¯t rival the strength of Long Yue. The Shrek Academy is not called the ¡°Monster Academy¡± for nothing.


    ¡°Not half bad!¡± Long Yue laughed. His blood was singing; he had never felt so alive in a long time. A worthy opponent was hard to come by for someone as strong as him.


    Tang Wulin was excited as well. Long Yue was a perfect target for him to test his full power. Training with Mu Ye had unlocked the hidden power in his body, and due to that and the energy of the Golden Dragon King in his blood, he felt his punch could deliver at least 10,000 pounds of force.


    Dai Yueyan was depressed and absent-minded these days. He felt he had failed the people of the Star Luo Empire as well as his father. He had been regretting not having put on his battle armor earlier when fighting Tang Wulin, but when he saw the Dragon King using the spear, he suddenly felt much better. He had never once forced Long Yue to use a weapon in the many times he had sparred with him. Tang Wulin had done something he couldn¡¯t do, which meant he couldn¡¯t have defeated Tang Wulin, even if he had used his battle armor from the very beginning. Long Yue¡¯s incredibly strong, the prince thought, but Tang Wulin is able to block his forceful blows with his hammers. He must be using the Tang Sect¡¯s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique, judging from the way he swings those hammers. It¡¯s a forging technique, but not many blacksmiths use it; it¡¯s difficult to master and extremely strength-consuming to use. Dai Yueyan stared at Tang Wulin, thoughtful. It seems the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique can make hammer-type weapons even deadlier. It¡¯s impossible for soldiers to wield such heavy hammers, though. Tang Wulin¡¯s fighting style had inspired him. He was thinking about if there was a way to use heavy hammers in war. He had to think about things like this, if he wanted to rule the Star Luo Empire well. Mechas should be able to wield heavy hammers no problem! His face brightened at the thought.


    When Tang Wulin delivered his thirty-sixth strike, Long Yue blocked it with his spear, falling back two steps, his weapon shivering.


    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to do better than that!¡± Long Yue shouted, bringing the spear down at Tang Wulin¡¯s head.


    Tang Wulin slid sideways and avoided him easily as he unleashed the thirty-seventh strike. His hammers were growing heavier with every blow, and he knew he was not swinging it as quickly as he¡¯d done earlier, nor raising it as high. His power was reaching its limit.


    He was able to use the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique to deliver fifty-four consecutive strikes when using his forging hammers, but this pair of hammers was much heavier. His arms were growing tired and weak.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s hammer caught Long Yue full in his right arm. The Dragon King staggered back five steps before steadying himself. He found his right hand numb and his weapon falling to the ground.


    Tang Wulin knew he wouldn¡¯t get a better chance. He started spinning like a top and then flung his hammers at Long Yue¡¯s chest one after the other.


    The audience watched with bated breath, wondering how the Dragon King would block the two huge hammers which were coming crashing at him.


    ¡°Rivers!¡± Long Yue shouted, his second soul ring shining. He had no choice but to use his second soul skill.


    A huge wave appeared out of thin air, threatening to engulf everything in its path. But the hammers went right through it.


    ¡°Bog!¡± Long Yue wasted no time resorting to his third soul skill. A thick layer of mud appeared in front of him right away. It managed to stop the first hammer, but not the second one.


    Boom!


    The hammer smashed right into him, generating an impact so strong that Long Yue slammed into the soul barrier before flying over a hundred yards. Then he landed heavily on his feet, panting.


    Tang Wulin was pale from using too much power. He was taking deep breaths, trying to regenerate his strength and soul power.


    People sitting in the stands were watching with shock. They couldn¡¯t bring themselves to believe that Tang Wulin was getting the better of Long Yue.

 Chapter 680 - Long Yue Becomes Serious

    Chapter 680 - Long Yue Becomes Serious


    As strong as Tang Wulin was, he could only use the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique to deliver 38 strikes. His arms were shaking slightly with fatigue. He retrieved the hammers from the ground and put them in his storage ring. If he kept on wielding them, he wouldn¡¯t be able to raise his arms. Not for the rest of the day, at least.


    Long Yue inhaled deeply, his dented chest swelling up again. Smiling, he lifted his right hand and gave his opponent a thumbs-up. Tang Wulin gazed at him in awe. What is his body made of?! He looks totally unscathed! But the Dragon King lost the strength battle, whether he cared to admit it or not.


    Long Yue¡¯s eyes were burning with fighting spirit. He had never considered any contestant in this tournament worth his attention, until now. ¡°I will fight you seriously now!¡± he said in his deep voice.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. Five pieces of golden armor appeared from his body with a flash of golden light, enveloping his arms, shoulders, and chest. The breastplate had just been finished by Ye Xinglan the other day. He was getting closer to having a full set of one-word battle armor.


    ¡°Why did he put his hammers away?¡± Dai Tianling asked En Ci, confused. ¡°He landed several pretty effective blows on Long Yue with those hammers.¡±


    ¡°He did,¡± En Ci replied. ¡°But the heavy hammers and the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique were placing enormous strain on his arms. He didn¡¯t have enough strength to swing it anymore. He bettered Long Yue in strength though, which was a feat that only a handful of people had achieved.¡±


    Elder Cai sat there, her face expressionless, as if she had nothing to do with this match.


    The atmosphere in the waiting area was getting more and more tense. Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s heart had leapt up into her mouth in fear when Tang Wulin¡¯s hammer sent Long Yue flying. She was as worried about Long Yue as she was impressed by Tang Wulin¡¯s extraordinary power.


    ¡°Mountains!¡± Long Yue shouted, and then, ¡°Rivers!¡±


    Mountain ranges rose up, and rivers appeared. Together they formed a magnificent view. Although they were not real, their destructive power humbled Tang Wulin, and he could feel pressure coming from every direction. Is this a domain ability? Tang Wulin thought, aghast, as the mighty rivers rushed towards where he was standing, carrying rocks from the mountains. No, it can¡¯t be. He is only a six-ringed Soul Emperor. No way is he able to use a domain ability.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes started shining a bright golden, and then a phantom dragon appeared. The tyrant dragon, as tall as 200 feet, exuding a tyrannical aura. Its long tail came lashing savagely down on the phantom river, smashing it into a thousand pieces. Then it opened its cavernous mouth and let out a thunderous roar so loud that it blasted all the mountains and rivers into oblivion. With a flash of light, it vanished, as suddenly as it had appeared.


    ¡°Bog!¡± Long Yue boomed. The ground under Tang Wulin¡¯s feet suddenly became muddy and spongy. It was not phantom this time; it was very real. Tang Wulin hurriedly leapt up, but the mud also flew up into the air, following him hard at his heels.


    I can¡¯t let the mud catch me! Tang Wulin thought. Blue vines shot out of his body and lashed wildly at the mud. When he started to fall, a golden vine flew towards the ground where Long Yue¡¯s soul skill hadn¡¯t affected, gave him a good push, and sent him flying towards his opponent.


    Long Yue snorted, his fourth soul ring shining. Each and every soul skill of his was very powerful. If not for Tang Wulin¡¯s mind-boggling strength and the energy of the Golden Dragon King, this fight would have been long since over.


    When Tang Wulin was only a dozen feet away from Long Yue, his own fourth soul ring lit up, and a swarm of blue vines shot towards the Dragon King. Bluesilver Overlord Transformation!


    All the vines became thicker and stronger as a phantom tyrant dragon head appeared atop Tang Wulin.


    Surprisingly, Long Yue never even attempted to dodge. He let the vines wrap tightly around his body and watched with calm eyes as Tang Wulin¡¯s golden dragon claws came at him.

 Chapter 681 - A Hard-Fought Battle

    Chapter 681 - A Hard-Fought Battle


    ¡°Unshakable Mountain!¡± Long Yue shouted as the thick blue vines grew tighter around him.


    When Tang Wulin¡¯s golden claws reached Long Yue, it was not human flesh they sank in, but rock! Long Yue had turned into a small mountain! The shock of impact numbed Tang Wulin¡¯s arms.


    The small mountain grew bigger, breaking the vines binding it with ease. A huge fist of rock appeared from the mountain. Tang Wulin quickly raised his arms, bracing himself for what was going to come next. The fist slammed right into him, knocking him into the air. If not for the gauntlets and his quick decision to gather the soul power to his arms, that blow might have snapped them.


    Tang Wulin coughed up a mouthful of blood. He felt his internal organs were about to burst. He took a deep breath to try to steady the circulation of his soul power, but Long Yue gave him no respite.


    Several torrents of mud shot up towards him. The boy hit them hard with his golden fists, and his blue vines were helping as well. Suddenly, a mountain grew fast out of the ground. Tang Wulin was too preoccupied with fighting off the mud to notice it. Even if he had noticed it, there was no way he could dodge it, not when he was in mid-air.


    The summit smashed into Tang Wulin, sending him flying into the air.


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline may have suppressed the Dragon King¡¯s power, but Long Yue¡¯s high cultivation level and powerful martial soul were more than enough to enable him to dominate the match; his power was indeed second to none among his peers.


    Tang Wulin reached as high as 200 yards before starting to fall out of the sky. He had intended to use his vines to buffer the impact when landing, but it seemed Long Yue didn¡¯t want to give him the chance to do that. He sprinted, leapt up, and lashed out with his tail at Tang Wulin. The blow was so powerful that Tang Wulin slammed into the soul barrier with a sickening thud.


    This flurry of attacks had happened in a matter of seconds.


    Long Yue¡¯s power had left everybody flabbergasted; they realized Tang Wulin had never had even the slightest chance to win.


    But his power came at a price. Everything comes at a price. Some things just cost more than others.


    The Dragon King was giving off a menacing aura, his eyes radiating intense killing intent.


    He seldom used his full power, because when he went all out, he would lose control of himself, go on a rampage, and unleash his wrath on anyone standing in his way. His nickname, Crazy Long, was well deserved.


    Right now, Tang Wulin was the one standing in his way.


    Although his bones were broken and he was hurt all over, Tang Wulin was still conscious. He struggled to his feet, pushing himself up with the strength of his arms. His willpower was the only thing that kept him standing.


    He raised his head and saw a huge figure walking towards him. The ground shook with every step it took. He stared at it, eyes burning with determination. Xinglan backed out of the competition to make battle armor for me; Yuanen let me win so I could fight Long Yue in my peak condition. My friends are pinning all their hopes on me. I can¡¯t lose. I won¡¯t lose. Not today!


    Tang Wulin mustered up all his energy, and with a wild swing of his right golden dragon claw, five dark golden beams of light burst forward.


    He can still unleash such a forceful attack?! En Ci thought to himself, impressed by Tang Wulin¡¯s fighting spirit.


    Long Yue raised his right arm to block the attack. The five light beams crashed into him, leaving five hideous gashes behind.


    Unbearable pain seared along the Dragon King¡¯s arm. His eyes turned bloodred as he released a furious roar.


    En Ci frowned. No! He has lost control of himself!


    Long Yue kicked Tang Wulin in the chest so hard that the boy fell on his back and slid backwards on the ground.


    The Dragon King¡¯s rage didn¡¯t seem to be soothed. He reached Tang Wulin in three strides and raised his giant right foot.


    En Ci was well aware of what Long Yue was capable of, but he hesitated, debating whether to stop him or not. No doubt the boy is one of the most talented students of the Shrek Academy, and the power in his blood can suppress Long Yue to some extent. He is a potential threat to the Star Luo Empire. He might even become the most powerful soul master some day like that man. Such a threat has to be eliminated.


    The old man watched and didn¡¯t intervene.


    Long Yue¡¯s foot came crashing down on Tang Wulin¡¯s chest.

 Chapter 682 - I Will Kill Long Yue

    Chapter 682 - I Will Kill Long Yue


    Blood flew everywhere. The force in the stomp that Long Yue had just delivered could even have bent a thick plate of steel.


    Shouts of horror broke out from the audience.


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s eyes widened in shock. She covered her mouth as she sucked in her breath.


    Long Yue didn¡¯t seem to be satisfied. He jerked his right foot up again. But before he could land it on Tang Wulin, the soul barrier got broken by a red beam of light, and a figure flew over in a split second and slammed into the Dragon King.


    To everyone¡¯s amazement, heavy as Long Yue was, he got knocked flying as if he were weightless.


    An instant later, En Ci was on the stage, standing in front of Mu Ye.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± En Ci demanded, giving off an aura so powerful that the soul barrier shattered into pieces.


    Mu Ye was hovering in mid-air, looking coldly down at the old man, holding in his right hand a bloodred sword about 10 feet long, his body shining a dark golden.


    En Ci was startled by the frightening aura emanating from the man. As a rank 98 Titled Doulou, he had never been impressed by anyone¡¯s power, until now.


    When Long Yue had lifted his foot the second time, Elder Cai had shot out from the audience at the same time as Mu Ye, but the latter beat her in arriving.


    By then Tang Wulin¡¯s seven teammates had arrived at the stage as well, but the two men¡¯s auras kept them from getting closer. When Gu Yue saw his horribly dented chest, she felt her heart caught in her throat, shaking uncontrollably.


    Long Yue picked himself up, his eyes still red with fury, and charged savagely at Mu Ye.


    ¡°Enough!¡± En Ci boomed as he waved his hand. Suddenly a golden shaft of light descended from the sky and landed on Long Yue, instantly rendering him unable to move.


    ¡°This is a competition?!¡± Elder Cai¡¯s anger flared.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Long Yue lost control of himself,¡± En Ci said apologetically. ¡°But Tang Wulin has signed a death waiver, hasn¡¯t he? Anyway, there is no point in arguing who is right or wrong right now.¡± He turned to look at Tang Wulin, who was lying unconscious on the ground.


    Mu Ye snorted. The red sword flew into the air and disappeared. He landed beside his disciple, putting his right hand on him.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s battle armor had fused back into his body, his chest caved in, the golden scales shining faintly.


    Mu Ye picked up the blood-covered boy gently, darted an angry glance at En Ci, and turned into a beam of light that shot off into the distance.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I need an explanation, Your Grace,¡± said Tang Bingyao, leader of the delegation. ¡°Why didn¡¯t the referee stop Long Yue when it was obvious the match was over?¡±


    Dai Tianling¡¯s face was dark with anger; he had never thought the fight would end this way. ¡°I apologize. We¡¯ll look into it and make things right for you. I¡¯ll make sure Tang Wulin gets the best medical treatment possible.¡±


    The audience suddenly seemed to have lost all interest in the result of the match, judging by the way they looked at Long Yue. Standing there on the stage was not a hero, but a monster who had succumbed to his killing intent.


    The Dragon King¡¯s immense power would be useful to the empire, to be sure, but if he lost control on the street like he had, it would be disastrous, especially for people who weren¡¯t soul masters.


    ¡°What do we do? Where is that man taking him?¡± Xie Xie asked, worried. Tang Wulin was his best friend, who always gave him a lot of help in his training.


    Gu Yue was still shaking, tears streaming down her cheeks. She closed her eyes, attempting to calm herself down, but failed miserably.


    ¡°He took Wulin away, so he must be still alive,¡± Ye Xinglan said. ¡°We should get back to the hotel in case that man needs to find us.¡±


    Yuanen Yehui nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sure Wulin will be all right. He has a strong healing ability.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan burst into tears.


    Gu Yue whirled and ran towards the exit of the stadium. The other students of the Shrek Academy followed after.


    Elder Cai watched as her students left. Maybe none of this would have happened if I had let Wu Zhangkong be with them. I will never forgive myself if he dies.


    ¡°If Tang Wulin dies, I will kill Long Yue.¡±


    Elder Cai turned to find Wu Zhangkong beside her, his eyes icier than ever. Without waiting for a reply, he flew off in a flash.


    This sudden turn of events had entirely soured the match. Only a few people were excited that Long Yue had taken the championship. Most people were wondering if Tang Wulin was still alive.


    With the help of En Ci, Long Yue finally managed to regain control of himself. He remembered everything he had done. With a dark look on his face, he stepped off the stage.


    ¡°Is his martial soul too powerful for him to control?¡± Dai Tianling asked En Ci.


    En Ci sighed. ¡°Yes,¡± he admitted. ¡°I have tried a lot of different ways to help him, but the Mountain Dragon King¡¯s power is almost impossible to tame. I won¡¯t let him leave the academy until I find a solution.¡±


    Dai Tianling nodded. He didn¡¯t blame his master for not stopping Long Yue before it was too late, because he knew he was looking out for the Star Luo Empire.

 Chapter 683 - The Honor of the Shrek Academy

    Chapter 683 - The Honor of the Shrek Academy


    Mu Ye was tending to Tang Wulin¡¯s wounds in his hotel room, his face dark with anger.


    Many broken bones had seriously damaged the boy¡¯s internal organs, and his life-energy was flowing in a completely chaotic manner in his meridians. It was a miracle that he was still alive, albeit barely. If his hard-won disciple failed to survive the wounds, he would avenge him on the Monster Academy and the Star Luo Empire at all costs.


    Although his healing skills couldn¡¯t hold a candle to those of the Holy Spirit Douluo, Yali, who was unfortunately too far away to come to their aid, the leader of the Body Sect understood human body better than anyone.


    Mu Ye put his hands on Tang Wulin¡¯s body, using his soul power to reconnect the broken bones with extreme caution.


    While he was deciding whether he should pull out the broken bones which had skewered his internal organs or leave them to heal by themselves, suddenly something strange caught his eyes. The bones were moving out, slowly but surely. Then he realized to his amazement that the bones were not moving by themselves; they were being pushed out by a force generated by the broken organs!


    That¡¯s unbelievable! Mu Ye thought to himself, his eyes shining with excitement. Such strong self-healing abilities are not common even for a high-ranked soul master. He had managed to exercise his internal organs to the point where they were as strong as his body, but not before his soul power reached rank 70.


    Nothing intrigued him more than the secrets of the human body. Mu Ye was now using his soul power to try to feel even the slightest change in his disciple¡¯s body, and at the same time, continued reconnecting his broken bones. It was a long and energy-consuming process, but he never showed even a hint of impatience.


    After what felt like hours, Mu Ye breathed a sigh of relief. All the bones and internal organs had successfully returned to their original positions. Tang Wulin was still in a coma and breathing faintly, but he was now out of danger.


    Mu Ye thought a moment, went to the bathroom, and filled the bathtub with hot water. Then he took out a few bottles and jars from his storage ring and added their contents in the water in a certain proportion after short hesitation. The clear water slowly turned a dark blue. He lifted Tang Wulin up carefully with his soul power and lowered him gently into the bathtub.


    ¡°You¡¯ll recover in no time, Wulin,¡± Mu Ye whispered, smiling. ¡°Your body never ceases to amaze me.¡± He pulled up a chair beside his disciple, feeling the changes inside his body with his soul power.


    ¡­


    ¡°You didn¡¯t find them?!¡± Gu Yue said. She had done her best to remain calm, but there was a distinct edge of anger to her voice.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Your Grace. We were not in the vicinity of the stadium when it happened, and they didn¡¯t leave any trace behind.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to listen to your excuses!¡± she snapped. ¡°Don¡¯t come back till you find them!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Grace.¡±


    It had been a day since Tang Wulin had been taken away by Mu Ye. Both the government of the Star Luo Empire and the delegation from the Douluo Continent were looking for Tang Wulin and Mu Ye, but no one had found any information so far.


    Gu Yue clenched her fist, silver scales appearing on her arm. She could still feel his life force, so she knew he was alive. Where are you, Wulin? Tears welled in her eyes.


    The one-on-one final of the Continental Young Elites Tournament was over. Long Yue was the champion, and the second place was taken by Tang Wulin.


    All the contestants from the Shrek Academy team backed out of the two-on-twos; they had a more urgent matter to attend to right now.


    ¡­


    ¡°Old Tang!¡± Tang Wulin called out, surprised.


    ¡°If not for the energy of the Golden Dragon King, you would have been killed. Do you know that?¡± Old Tang said gravely, but his voice was weak as if from exhaustion. ¡°It was just a match, not a life-or-death situation. Why did you push yourself that hard?¡±


    ¡°It was an extremely important match for me. I had to do everything I could to defend the honor of the Shrek Academy,¡± Tang Wulin protested.


    ¡°The honor of the Shrek Academy?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded solemnly. ¡°I had no home to come back to after Mom and Dad left, and then I got into the Shrek Academy. Do you know how happy I was? It was my dream school! I have made a lot of friends there. It has become my second home.¡± He paused a moment. ¡°We represent the Shrek Academy at the tournament. I lost though. I¡¯m the captain, and I failed them.¡± He felt very upset that he had been beaten by Long Yue.

 Chapter 684 - The Eight Extraordinary Meridians

    Chapter 684 - The Eight Extraordinary Meridians


    ¡°Would you fight him again if that was the only way to defend the honor of the Shrek Academy?¡± asked Old Tang.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tang Wulin answered without a moment¡¯s hesitation. ¡°And I would do better, now that I have found out more about his abilities. He leaves himself open when he gets really angry and loses control of himself. Maybe I couldn¡¯t beat him, but I wouldn¡¯t suffer such a heavy defeat.¡±


    Old Tang¡¯s voice softened. ¡°You always pick yourself up whenever something gets you down.¡±


    Tang Wulin grinned. ¡°I¡¯m still alive, right, Old Tang? Can I wake up? My friends must be worried about me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re alive. You can¡¯t be killed as long as I¡¯m here. And no, you can¡¯t wake up, not now; you¡¯re not strong enough. Let your body rest some more.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean I can¡¯t be killed as long as you¡¯re here?¡± Tang Wulin asked, remembering how Old Tang had saved him, that day when he killed the Three-Eyed Demon Ape with Wu Zhangkong. ¡°Could you tell me who you are? How did you get into my head? And you seem to know everything about me.¡±


    ¡°You can look at me as some kind of spiritual energy. As to who I am, I will tell you when the time is right.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me now?¡± Tang Wulin really wanted to know who he was.


    Old Tang smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything you want to know when I leave. I promise. I¡¯m glad that you¡¯ve grown into such an energetic and capable young man, and I¡¯m grateful that I get to be here with you, to see you grow up. I will cherish the time I spend with you forever.¡±


    ¡°Why do you have to leave, Old Tang?¡± Tang Wulin asked, surprised. When Old Tang didn¡¯t answer and suddenly gave a sad look, he said hurriedly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Forget that I asked.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Old Tang changed the subject quickly. ¡°Since you¡¯re here, why don¡¯t I teach you something? You already have a solid grasp of the basics of the Mysterious Heaven Method, so I guess it¡¯s time for you to learn something more advanced.¡±


    Tang Wulin was impressed. Old Tang knows the Mysterious Heaven Method?! Old Tang waved his hand, and suddenly Tang Wulin found he could see the meridians which spread throughout his body.


    ¡°The next time you break a seal,¡± Old Tang went on, ¡°you can try to use the energy of the Golden Dragon King to open the eight extraordinary meridians. Few people know how to open them, because the method can¡¯t be found in any book. The process is very dangerous, so I need you to listen very carefully.¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s face lit up, ready to learn everything Old Tang was about to teach him.


    ¡­


    Mu Ye added some medicine into the bathtub again. That was the third time he had done that. It had been five days, and Tang Wulin still hadn¡¯t woken up. His bones and internal organs had already healed up several days ago, and he was breathing evenly and easily, but Mu Ye didn¡¯t want anything dangerous to happen to his disciple, so he continued giving him his hard-found medicine. And it seemed Tang Wulin didn¡¯t mind; his skin was absorbing the medicine greedily, as if it knew how precious and beneficial it was. Although Tang Wulin was unconscious, his brain hadn¡¯t been damaged and Mu Ye didn¡¯t worry too much.


    The two-on-two final ended today. Long Yue and Dai Yun¡¯er won the championship, as everyone had expected. After seeing Long Yue¡¯s horrifying power, few contestants had worked up the courage to face him. Dai Yueyan and Su Mu took the second place. Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi would most likely have obtained the third place if they hadn¡¯t been eliminated by Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s teammates didn¡¯t have much of an appetite these days, including Xu Lizhi, because they still hadn¡¯t found a single clue to their captain¡¯s whereabouts, even after the Tang Sect had pitched in. No one knew if Tang Wulin was alive or dead, except for Gu Yue, who was convinced he was still alive.


    ¡°Let¡¯s compete in the team competition,¡± Gu Yue said suddenly while they were having a silent dinner in the Grand Star Luo Hotel.


    They all looked to her.


    ¡°Since Wulin is not here, I¡¯ll be the acting captain if you don¡¯t mind,¡± she continued. ¡°He would have wanted us to do this. When he comes back and finds we¡¯re the champions, he¡¯ll be over the moon.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± said Ye Xinglan.


    ¡°I¡¯m in. Let¡¯s avenge the captain,¡± Xie Xie said, his eyes red with anger, his hands coiling into fists.


    ¡°Count me in,¡± Yuanen Yehui announced.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make buns for you,¡± said Xu Lizhi.


    Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan exchanged a glance and nodded solemnly.


    ¡°No. You can¡¯t compete in the team competition,¡± said an icy voice.

 Chapter 685 - The Team Competition

    Chapter 685 - The Team Competition


    Wu Zhangkong walked over to their dining table. ¡°This tournament is too dangerous for you. You are to go on a cultural seeing tour with me around the Star Luo Continent, and then we¡¯ll go back home.¡±


    Gu Yue raised her eyes to look at Wu Zhangkong, her face expressionless. ¡°You were not there with us when Wulin fought Long Yue, Teacher Wu, so why show up now? We¡¯re in no mood to go on a cultural seeing tour.¡±


    Wu Zhangkong frowned. ¡°You have to. That¡¯s an order from the academy.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. I¡¯m going to fight for Wulin,¡± she said stubbornly.


    Before Wu Zhangkong could reply, Gu Yue rose to her feet abruptly and made for the gate of the hotel.


    Wu Zhangkong felt powerful spiritual energy radiating from Gu Yue as she walked past him. His eyes widened in surprise. When did her spiritual power get so strong?


    ¡°We¡¯re going to compete in the team competition, Teacher Wu,¡± Yuanen Yehui said, standing, her voice calm and firm. They all left with Gu Yue. They meant to let off the steam building up inside them by fighting.


    News of them taking part in the team competition caused a sensation immediately. The two-on-two competition had been too bland without the Shrek Academy to spice things up, so the audience would love nothing more than to see them come back. With Long Yue in the Monster Academy team, they didn¡¯t have the least doubt that the championship would be theirs.


    Each team match was made up of three singles matches, a doubles match, and a seven-on-seven match. One contestant could compete in all the three different matches, but one could only take part in one singles match during each team match. Winning a singles match would earn the team one point; two points for the doubles match; four points for the seven-on-seven match. A team match would end when one side won five points.


    In total, 16 teams had made it into the final knockout stage, so the champion team would have to win four team matches in a row.


    As far as the people of the Star Luo Empire were concerned, Long Yue would win a singles match, the doubles match, and the seven-on-seven match in each team match, so there was absolutely no way the Monster Academy would lose, not with the invincible Dragon King in the team. They almost felt sorry for the Shrek Academy team, who had incurred the dislike of everyone and would lose so badly. They admired their courage though.


    The tournament organizers had made sure that the Monster Academy team and the Shrek Academy team would meet in the final, if ever.


    ¡°Welcome, everyone, to the team competition of the Continental Young Elites Tournament,¡± said Fang¡¯er. ¡°My name is Fang¡¯er, and I¡¯m very honored to be the commentator for this momentous event. I¡¯m sure you all know that the Shrek Academy team has decided to participate in the team competition. Personally, I¡¯m happy to see them. I¡¯m sure they will bring us exciting matches, and I hope Tang Wulin will get better soon.¡±


    Fang¡¯er was quite impressed by Tang Wulin¡¯s incredible strength and outstanding performance in the tournament, and she was taking a great interest in the power in his blood. She felt sorry that Long Yue had come perilously close to killing him. She just hoped his wounds would not be so severe as to put an end to his career as a soul master. His teammates must be worried sick about him. Hopefully they won¡¯t be distracted by their worry in the competition.


    Dai Tianling was sitting there, waiting patiently for the competition to start. He hadn¡¯t come here for the Monster Academy team, but the Shrek Academy team.


    Today would see eight team matches. The Shrek Academy team was arranged to fight in the morning, while the first match of the Monster Academy team wouldn¡¯t be until this afternoon, so they hadn¡¯t come to the waiting area yet.


    Sitting in her usual couch, Gu Yue looked at Tang Wulin¡¯s seat beside her, feeling as empty as the seat.


    The other students of the Shrek Academy were sitting straight with their eyes closed, like six dormant volcanoes, which might erupt at any time. They were here to show the people of the Star Luo Empire that they were not daunted by Long Yue, or anyone for that matter.


    The first team match ended in 40 minutes. The final score was six to three. One team moved into the next round.


    ¡°Our next match is between the Shrek Academy team and the Skywild Academy team,¡± announced Fang¡¯er. ¡°Will the contestants of the first singles match please come to the stage?¡±


    Ye Xinglan opened her eyes, rose unhurriedly to her feet, and made for the stage.

 Chapter 686 - A One-Word Battle Armor Master

    Chapter 686 - A One-Word Battle Armor Master


    Ye Xinglan hadn¡¯t left as deep an impression on the audience as Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and Xie Xie had, because she hadn¡¯t competed in as many matches as them.


    Standing on the stage, she was slim as her sword, while her opponent was big in stature.


    ¡°The girl in green uniform is Ye Xinglan of the Shrek Academy,¡± said Fang¡¯er. ¡°She made it into the top 64 in the one-on-one competition, but then she withdrew for some unknown reason. Her opponent is Xu Xihang, the captain of the Skywild Academy team. Xu Xihang took one of the top 16 spots in the one-on-one competition, so this will be a great match, I think.¡±


    Xu Xihang was surprised when he saw that his adversary was Ye Xinglan, as he believed the most important match of the five matches was the first singles match, whose outcome would greatly affect the morale of every team member. He had thought he would have to face Yue Zhengyu or Yuanen Yehui, who was considered by all the second strongest in the team led by Tang Wulin. He was also relieved, though. We will probably lose, but it will be something if I manage to defeat her; I may even garner myself some fame.


    Ye Xinglan rushed towards her opponent when the referee said, ¡°Begin!¡±


    Xu Xihang summoned his Soul Power-Eating Hammer and put on his battle armor immediately. He was a five-ringed Soul King and a one-word battle armor master, and he was the most talented student his school had seen in a hundred years. Nevertheless, he didn¡¯t look down on Ye Xinglan, or on any of the students of the Shrek Academy, for that matter. He and his teammates had watched enough matches of the Shrek Academy team to know their opponent was not a team to be trifled with.


    His white battle armor was nothing fancy, but it would protect him all the same; his Soul Power-Eating Hammer was not big, but it could absorb his opponent¡¯s soul power and then become a powerful weapon.


    His soul rings appeared, two yellow and three purple, but he didn¡¯t move; he just stood there, waiting for his opportunity to use the hammer to weaken Ye Xinglan and then defeat her.


    Ye Xinglan never took her eyes off him as she charged, her four purple soul rings appearing with the Stargod Sword.


    When she was about 50 yards away from Xu Xihang, her first soul ring lit up, and she turned into a bright beam of light, which reached her opponent in a fraction of a second.


    Xu Xihang didn¡¯t panic. He raised his hammer in time to block her thrust.


    Metal met metal with a ringing clang, and his hammer started absorbing soul power from her sword.


    Ye Xinglan realized instantly that her soul power was being consumed, but she seemed to have no intention to pull back her sword. Suddenly, resplendent starlight burst out of her body, dazzling everyone. By the time the light died down, she was clad in her battle armor.


    She poured more soul power into the Stargod Sword. A dangerous aura emitted from it as it shone brilliantly. Standing there, Xu Xihang could feel the keen edge of her sword intent. He was startled, but before he could dart away, the sword intend slammed into him like a thousand blades, sending him stumbling backwards and falling on his back.


    ¡°A full set of battle armor!¡± Fang¡¯er exclaimed in surprise. She was talking about Ye Xinglan¡¯s battle armor, of course.


    Ye Xinglan had been only one piece short of a full set of battle armor for a long time. In the past week, driven by an insatiable desire for strength, she had successfully made the core component of her battle armor.


    Her armor was light golden, like that of Tang Wulin, because they were both made of star silver. It was plain, without any patterns, but it was gleaming beautifully in the sun. There was a small sword on the front of her helmet, and her breastplate was made up of 13 pieces of sword-shaped metal, with circuit cores carved on it.


    Xu Xihang was stronger in terms of soul power, to be sure, but what Ye Xinglan lacked in soul power, she made up for in battle experience, martial soul, and battle armor.


    Suddenly, Ye Xinglan disappeared. The stadium seemed to have become brighter. The audience looked up and saw a blinding star sending out golden light in the sun-lit sky.


    Her sword intent was so intimidating that Xu Xihang found himself unable to even gather his soul power to use his techniques. ¡°I yield!¡± he called out.

 Chapter 687 - Moving into the Next Round

    Chapter 687 - Moving into the Next Round


    The starlight dimmed as Ye Xinglan descended. And quick as the blink of an eye, she was on the stage. The Stargod Sword disappeared in a flash of starlight as she glanced at Xu Xihang and leapt gracefully onto the ground.


    It could be seen on the big screens that deep shiny gashes gleamed all over Xu Xihang¡¯s armor. The damage was not so severe that it was irreparable, but the armor would be out of commission for a long time before it got fixed.


    Xu Xihang struggled back to his feet and gazed in awe at Ye Xinglan. Her cultivation level was lower than his, and she was also a one-word battle armor master, but he knew it in his guts that he didn¡¯t stand a chance against her.


    The audience gaped at Ye Xinglan in wonder. Never had they expected such a young girl to be a one-word battle armor master, and what stunned them even more was that she had taken down the leader of the Skywild Academy team with a single stroke in less than 20 seconds.


    Fang¡¯er took a deep breath to gather her thoughts. ¡°It was a totally one-sided match,¡± she commented. ¡°Ye Xinglan¡¯s skills were simply breathtaking! I wonder if she is stronger than Tang Wulin.¡±


    The moment Ye Xinglan¡¯s fight was over, Yue Zhengyu stood up and made his way to the stage, his face dark with anger.


    The Wildsky Academy team had yet to decide who would fight the second match. Xu Xihang had been right when he thought that the outcome of the first match would greatly affect the morale of the whole team. They were at a loss what to do, now that none held any hope of winning after seeing Ye Xinglan¡¯s power.


    Yue Zhengyu spread his wings and flew onto the stage. This was the first time he had been on this stage after losing to Long Yue. The audience still remembered how this assault-type soul master had managed to force the Dragon King into using his martial soul.


    By then the Wildsky Academy team had finally decided on a girl for the second singles match. They had another one-word battle armor master on the team beside Xu Xihang, but their captain had arranged for him to fight the third singles match, which he was believed to have a better chance of winning. If they somehow managed to win the third singles match and the seven-on-seven match, they would gain enough points to advance to the next round; however, the odds were heavily against them.


    The girl was very pretty, but unfortunately for her, this was not a beauty contest. She managed a smile when she looked at her good-looking opponent.


    That fight was over almost as soon as it began. Yue Zhengyu summoned his holy sword and took her down in less than a minute.


    The score was now two to zero.


    The Skywild Academy team¡¯s despair was clear for all to see when they saw that the soul master entering the stage was none other than Yuanen Yehui, who had defeated one of the Monster Eight Kings. Needless to say, Yuanen Yehui crushed her adversary.


    Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan fought the doubles match. They were not strong, but strong enough to cruise to an easy victory. The Skywild Academy team had all but given up hope of winning after losing the three singles matches; they just wanted to get the competition over with.


    The final score was five to zero. The Shrek Academy team moved into the next round without breaking a sweat. Then they went back to the hotel instead of sitting there watching the remaining matches of the day. Their first team match had shown everyone that they were a strong team even without Tang Wulin. They had quickly become a hot topic of conversation again.


    ¡°The Shrek Academy won their first team match,¡± Dai Yueyan told Long Yue. ¡°Ye Xinglan¡¯s power was incredible with her one-word battle armor.¡±


    Long Yue was unimpressed. ¡°She won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    A smile touched Dai Yueyan¡¯s lips. He had no doubt that they would take the championship, but he was also a little worried, as Long Yue seemed to be different after that fight with Tang Wulin; he seemed to have become quiet.


    ¡°Are you all right, Brother Long?¡± Dai Yueyan asked.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. We have a team match in the afternoon. Go get some rest.¡±


    The fourth prince nodded; he always had the greatest respect for Long Yue.


    The Dragon King frowned after Dai Yueyan left. He wasn¡¯t worrying about the competition, of course; he was remembering how he had lost control of himself and nearly killed Tang Wulin.


    His power was both a blessing and a curse. What good is my power if I can¡¯t control it? he asked himself. And it¡¯s getting more difficult to control as my martial soul grows stronger.


    En Ci had told him that he had to use his spiritual power to keep the power of the Mountain Dragon King at bay, but his spiritual power never came as naturally to him as his physical power. His spiritual power had just reached the Spirit Sea realm, after he trained hard with numerous methods and consumed countless spirit items.


    Improving spiritual power is my first priority, Long Yue thought to himself. I have to exert myself and reach the Spirit Abyss realm in the shortest possible time as Master En Ci ordered.

 Chapter 688 - Cruising to the Final

    Chapter 688 - Cruising to the Final


    The team competition continued, and no one was surprised when the Monster Academy advanced to the quarter-finals in the afternoon.


    In the second round of the team competition, the Shrek Academy had Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, and Yue Zhengyu fight the three singles matches. As for the doubles match, Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui took care of it in place of Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan. Their opponent team was stronger than the Skywild Academy team, but they were beaten by a score of five to zero all the same. The Monster Academy reached the semi-finals as easily as the Shrek Academy had.


    The next day, Ye Xinglan met the strongest soul master of their opponent team as they had intended, and they beat them by a score of five to zero.


    The Monster Academy team didn¡¯t disappoint either. They cruised to victory even without Long Yue doing anything.


    The two teams had waltzed into the final so effortlessly that they might have rigged the tournament.


    The ticket price for the final had rocketed sky-high again.


    Everyone was looking forward to a full-scale clash between the two schools. They wondered if the Shrek Academy team could withstand the power of Long Yue without Tang Wulin. At the end of the tournament, their overt nationalism was finally starting to get tempered by the eight kids¡¯ courage, tenacity, and outstanding performance. Some even believed that their team would be unstoppable if they were of an age with Long Yue, and that their clash with the Monster Academy would be the best team match in a hundred years. They already felt their tickets were well worth the money and effort even before the final started; they were certain that this match would be so great that they would always look back on and cherish it.


    Tang Wulin and Mu Ye still remained missing.


    Elder Cai and Wu Zhangkong left the hotel early and came back late everyday these days, but their efforts to find Tang Wulin were futile. However, they hadn¡¯t given up hope.


    Gu Yue waited at the hotel gate every night and wouldn¡¯t go back to her room until Wu Zhangkong came back and shook his head at her.


    ¡°If we win tomorrow, he will come back safe and sound,¡± Xie Xie said suddenly at the dinner table, breaking the gloomy silence.


    They all looked to him and nodded silently. Doing this gave them hope, however small or conjectural.


    ¡°Xinglan, Yuanen, and I will handle the three singles matches,¡± Gu Yue said. ¡°Yuanen and Zhengyu will take care of the doubles match. Concede your match if you have to face Long Yue. When fighting the seven-on-seven team battle¡­ leave Long Yue to me. I¡¯ll keep him busy long enough for you to take down the others. And then we¡¯ll defeat him together.¡± Then they analyzed their opponents meticulously.


    The morning of the final dawned warm and sunny, with a few soft, fleecy clouds drifting gently across the azure sky with the breeze.


    There were not many people on the street today; most of them stayed at home or in hotels, waiting for the epic match to begin. But the outside of the Grand Star Luo Stadium was crowded with people who had come in the hope of securing tickets from scalpers. Even the royals were having a hard time getting their hands on tickets today.


    This event was a great success. In addition to the gate money, the tournament had attracted a great many visitors who had boosted the local economy.


    It¡¯s a good thing I don¡¯t have to buy a ticket, Dai Tianling though, smiling in his usual seat. The enthusiasm of the audience stirred his blood. The Shrek Academy is worthy of its reputation, judging from the power of those young kids. Hopefully they¡¯ll give us a good match. He suddenly found himself wishing to visit the Douluo Continent, to see what had become of the old Star Luo City. He also wanted to pay a visit to the Shrek Academy. Maybe it is indeed the best academy on the planet. The Monster Academy still can¡¯t compete with it.


    En Ci was sitting beside the emperor. He looked calm on the outside, but he couldn¡¯t help but steal glances at the waiting area, even though the contestants hadn¡¯t arrived yet. He was worried about his disciple. The students of the Shrek Academy were not opponents Long Yue was able to defeat without using the power of the Mountain Dragon King, so there was a good chance he would lose control of himself again. If he accidently maim or kill another student of the Shrek Academy, I don¡¯t think they will let it slide again. The last thing the old man wanted was having to face the wrath of the powerful soul masters from the Shrek Academy, so today he was ready to stop him at a moment¡¯s notice.

 Chapter 689 - The First Singles Match

    Chapter 689 - The First Singles Match


    Tang Wulin is probably dead, En Ci thought to himself. He knew Long Yue¡¯s power better than anyone. He had marveled when Tang Wulin hadn¡¯t been killed instantly by that heavy stamp. Even if he isn¡¯t, his injuries will never fully heal. With his wounds as severe as they were, even a healing-type Titled Douluo could do little. He still hadn¡¯t found any information about the man who had saved Tang Wulin on the stage that day. The one thing he was sure of was that Mu Ye was not someone he could defeat without using his full power. The people here would be shocked if they found out that Mu Ye was almost as powerful as the strongest soul master on the whole Star Luo Continent.


    With an hour to go before the match, the stadium was already filled with enthusiastic audience.


    Fang¡¯er had arrived early to set up her equipment.


    Four Titled Douluos had been assigned by the organizers of the event to ensure the safety of the contestants, and Dai Tianling had assured the delegation that the same kind of tragedy would never be repeated.


    Many people were eating snacks while waiting patiently for the match to begin, nervous with excitement. No one knew how long this match would last, but the longer it was, the happier they would be.


    ¡°Look! They are here!¡± a voice called out. When the audience turned to look, they saw that the contestants were walking into the waiting area, some in green and some wearing red.


    Long Yue the Dragon King went in front, and behind him came Dai Yueyan the Tiger King, Lin San the Wind King, Su Mu the Fox King, Hua Lantang the Wolf King, Ye Zhi the Tower King, Teng Teng the Shadow King, and Dai Yun¡¯er the Spirit King.


    The seven students of the Shrek Academy never so much as glanced at them. They seated themselves silently, their faces wearing an expression of determination so grim that even the Monster Eight Kings felt a little uneasy.


    ¡°They don¡¯t look like they are going to be easy to take down. Be careful,¡± said Su Mu in a hushed voice.


    The other Monster Eight Kings nodded save for Long Yue.


    Dai Yun¡¯er felt a bit down when she saw that Tang Wulin was not here. She had thought she would exult when Long Yue taught him a lesson that day, but she had been very wrong. She couldn¡¯t help but think about the handsome boy these days. He offended me, but he didn¡¯t deserve to die. She couldn¡¯t blame Long Yue for having knocked Tang Wulin unconscious though ¨C after all, it was she who had urged him to avenge her. She realized how willful she had been and seemed to have grown up all of a sudden.


    ¡°Welcome to the Grand Star Luo Stadium!¡± Fang¡¯er said into the microphone. ¡°Today is the final of the team competition. I¡¯m sure you have all been looking forward to it. The Monster Academy versus the Shrek Academy! The two best schools on the planet!¡± She raised her voice. ¡°All hail His Grace, Emperor Dai Tianling!¡±


    As Dai Tianling rose to his feet, all the audience stood up, placing their right fist over their heart to salute the emperor.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a spectator today, and I¡¯m as excited as you are to be here,¡± Dai Tianling said with a smile. ¡°The two teams that are about to compete on the stage represent two different continents, but that doesn¡¯t matter. The Continental Young Elites Tournament is all about friendship; the results come second. Every contestant will receive a spirit item no matter which team takes the championship today. Now, let the match begin!¡±


    The audience broke into rapturous applause.


    Dai Tianling was revered by his subjects. The Star Luo Empire had been prospering ever since his accession to the throne, and the Green Skull Renegades had been forced to move their base to the remote mountainous districts. He was hailed as one of the greatest emperors of all time.


    A non-transparent soul partition had been put up between the two teams in the waiting area, so that the participants didn¡¯t know who their opponent would be until they reached the stage. It was much fairer this way.


    The audience waited excitedly in the stands, wondering who would fight the first singles match. When Ye Xinglan got to her feet, a cheer went up.


    Su Mu the Fox King, who ranked third in the Monster Eight Kings, who had lost to Tang Wulin, also stood up and made for the stage.


    Ye Xinglan never even glanced at him, as if she couldn¡¯t care less who she had to fight.


    Although the first match was important, the Monster Academy had entrusted the task to Su Mu, who felt a little daunted by the girl.


    The two contestants stared at each other, tension in the air rising swiftly.


    The four referees moved to the edge of the stage.

 Chapter 690 - Ye Xinglan vs. Su Mu

    Chapter 690 - Ye Xinglan vs. Su Mu


    Su Mu¡¯s martial soul was the Nine-Tailed Fox, and he had the Nine-Tailed Fox blood in him. As a five-ringed soul master, he now had five tails, with each giving him a powerful soul skill.


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s martial soul was the Stargod Sword. She was a four-ringed Soul Ancestor and a one-word battle armor master, whose armor was made of spirit alloy. She was a highly adept swordswoman.


    ¡°Begin!¡± shouted one of the four referees.


    Su Mu¡¯s five tails appeared instantly, with one soul ring around each one. He jerked his first tail, and a speed-reducing ring shot out towards Ye Xinglan, who was charging. Then he wasted no time putting on his battle armor; he didn¡¯t want to make the same mistake as he had when fighting Tang Wulin, and he was determined to go all out to win this match to redeem himself. His battle armor was as white as his tails, decorated with ornate patterns, which were gleaming in the sun. His helmet was big enough to envelop his whole head, inlaid with an expensive-looking gem. Since spiritual power was extra important for control-type soul masters, his battle armor was designed to increase his spiritual power.


    As soon as he donned his armor, the speed-reducing ring flying in the air enlarged quickly until its diameter reached a couple of hundred yards. Then it suddenly landed around Ye Xinglan.


    Ye Xinglan slowed down, but only for a heartbeat. She summoned her own battle armor and put on a sudden burst of speed, her first soul ring shining. Sword God¡¯s Star! She became one with her sword and closed the distance between her and Su Mu in a split second.


    The eyes of the Fox King grew huge in shock. I don¡¯t recall seeing her move so fast! She was hiding power in her previous matches! Ye Xinglan¡¯s speed was incredible, but Su Mu¡¯s reactions were quick enough. A soul power-reducing ring and a repelling ring appeared around him. If Ye Xinglan ventured into the repelling ring, she would get thrown out.


    But she didn¡¯t slam into the ring, despite her speed; she had anticipated his move. She leapt high into the air and used her fourth soul skill, Sword Star Rain.


    Golden light exploded from her and turned into small drops of light. Now she seemed to be surrounded by light rain. Then the rain started to fall with Ye Xinglan. As they shot towards Su Mu, they fused together to form a giant Stargod Sword, shining brightly and threatening to hack the whole stage in half.


    Sensing the devastating power in her soul skill, Su Mu played his trump card without hesitation. All the five soul rings around his tails started shining together. Five rings appeared around him immediately.


    The first one, a speed-reducing ring, white; the second one, a soul power-draining ring, seven-colored; the third one, a repelling ring, dark green; the fourth one, a soul-eating ring, black; the fifth one, a destructive ring, golden.


    The power of the five rings fused together, creating a massive dark tornado, spinning around violently.


    Tang Wulin had faced such destructive power before and countered it with the help of his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    Ye Xinglan didn¡¯t have dragon blood in her, but she had a full set of one-word battle armor.


    The tornado was growing more ominous by the second, but Ye Xinglan paid it no mind. She plunged right into it, the light from the shining sword poking numerous holes in the tall, dark column of air.


    Boom! A deafening explosion caused the stage to shake, sending out a blast so powerful that even the four referees who had been ready to stop them were forced to take a defensive stance.


    The soul barrier around the stage rippled, threatening to break at any moment.


    A flash of light, and Ye Xinglan landed on the ground, her sword in hand, her armor shining to fight the lasting harm of Su Mu¡¯s attack.


    The audience couldn¡¯t see the pained look on Su Mu¡¯s face due to his helmet, but they could see clearly the long gash in his armor from his right shoulder to his waist. Starlight was glinting in the deep cut.


    Dai Yueyan frowned. Empowered by the Nine-Tailed Fox blood and his battle armor, that technique of his is so powerful that even Long Yue has to handle it with care, but Ye Xinglan met it head-on and managed to counter it. She just did something I couldn¡¯t do.


    His battle armor is relatively weak. It blocked that forceful blow of hers, but it might not be strong enough to withstand a second blow.

 Chapter 691 - One to Zero

    Chapter 691 - One to Zero


    Su Mu¡¯s attack would have been more effective if Ye Xinglan were wearing normal one-word battle armor. All the time and effort that had gone into making the spirit alloy battle armor had paid off. She was still hurt, though, but she didn¡¯t show it


    It¡¯s a great idea to use spirit alloy to make one-word battle armor, Dai Yueyan thought to himself. It¡¯s much stronger and can be upgraded.


    Ye Xinglan stood there, motionless, holding her right arm at an angle below the horizontal, her Stargod Sword in line with that arm.


    Su Mu was panting heavily. His battle armor hadn¡¯t blocked that attack completely. Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword intent had made it into his flesh through the deep gash in his armor, pricking and slicing. His body was not as strong as a strength-type soul master, so he had to use his soul power to fight it. Seeing that Ye Xinglan didn¡¯t attack, he took advantage of the respite and gathered his soul power to his wound.


    However, Ye Xinglan wasn¡¯t just standing there doing nothing. She was channeling her sword intent and soul power into the Stargod Sword to prepare her next attack. The sword started shining a brilliant golden, and suddenly Su Mu realized what she was doing. But it was a little too late. The intense starlight around her sword was dancing a menacing dance. Her sword would bite into him through the gash she had left and destroy his battle armor and even his body, he knew. He could create another tornado to try to stop her, but like the first one, it wouldn¡¯t work. He had never seen anyone¡¯s sword intent so powerful. She is stronger than me. The realization chilled him.


    ¡°I yield!¡± the Fox King said unwillingly when Ye Xinglan brought her sword up in both hands.


    She swung the sword down, sending out a bright beam of light, which shot inches past Su Mu¡¯s arm and crashed into the barrier. Boom!


    Then the sword intent in Su Mu¡¯s wound exploded as well. He grunted and coughed up a mouthful of blood. ¡°You¡­¡± He could have sworn that it had been her doing, but he had no proof and the four referees hadn¡¯t seen her attack him after he yielded.


    Paying him no mind, Ye Xinglan turned around and left.


    ¡°Ye Xinglan is victorious,¡± announced one of the referees, shocked by their power.


    The audience was stunned by Ye Xinglan¡¯s skills. They couldn¡¯t bring themselves to believe that the Fox King had lost so quickly after donning his battle armor at the very beginning of the match. But still, they didn¡¯t worry that the Monster Academy team would lose.


    After seating herself in her couch, Ye Xinglan pulled out a handkerchief and coughed into it, flecks of blood seeping through the white cloth. The injury she had sustained was taking its toll now.


    Xu Lizhi conjured up two Recovery Pork Buns right away and handed them to Ye Xinglan, who smiled at him, took the buns in her hands, and ate them gracefully. With two buns in her belly, she felt much better. That was one of the benefits of having a food-type soul master around. Nothing beat a recovery bun after an exhausting fight.


    Gu Yue looked at her with concern. ¡°I¡¯m all right,¡± Ye Xinglan assured her with a smile. ¡°He is hurt worse than I am.¡±


    It couldn¡¯t be said Su Mu was a coward, even though he had conceded the match to his adversary. After all, he had to consider the team battle, which was worth three points more than a singles match. He could have put Ye Xinglan through the wringer with his soul skills, but not without getting himself severely injured.


    Yuanen Yehui stood up, her anger was plain on her face. She found herself remembering the boy who had once stood at the door of the Shrek Academy cafeteria, trying to make some money to buy food, who had put himself between her and Xie Xie when she tried to kill him, and who was spurring her to get stronger by defeating her over and over again. He will come back, and we¡¯ll win the championship as a gift to celebrate his recovery. She strode towards the stage.


    Dai Yueyan the Tiger King rose to his feet and took a look at Su Mu, who had taken some medicine and was sitting there resting with his eyes closed. Su Mu was his best friend, and the Shrek Academy team had hurt him twice. Feeling anger rising inside him, he made his way to the stage.


    The second singles match was about to start.

 Chapter 692 - Yuanen Yehui vs. Dai Yueyan

    Chapter 692 - Yuanen Yehui vs. Dai Yueyan


    Although this was the first time Dai Yueyan and Yuanen Yehui were meeting each other in this tournament, their eyes were flaring and full of hate.


    ¡°The second singles match is between the fourth prince and Yuanen Yehui,¡± said Fang¡¯er. ¡°Yuanen Yehui doesn¡¯t have a full set of one-word battle armor yet, but she possesses the next best thing to it ¨C a few pieces including the core component. She has twin martial souls, the Titan Giant Ape martial soul and the Fallen Angel martial soul, which excel in strength and dark power respectively. To be frank, I can see either side winning.¡±


    The two contestants stood so still they might have been carved of stone, but when they charged, they moved fast enough.


    Their footsteps grew louder as they became bigger and their muscles bulged. Yuanen Yehui had gotten into her Diamond Titan form, while Dai Yueyan had used his White Tiger Diamond Transformation.


    The audience held their breath, watching. ¡°They are both strength-type martial souls,¡± Fang¡¯er commented, ¡°but the Titan Giant Ape is stronger than the White Tiger. Will the fourth prince meet her attack head-on?¡±


    Of course he wouldn¡¯t; he was not that stupid. He knew she was not an opponent to be trifled with. When Yuanen Yehui had gotten close enough and sought to ram him with her right shoulder, he spun away, using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and swung his left tiger claw sideways to catch her. But the girl bent the top half of her body downwards, and the claw passed harmlessly over her back. Quickly jerking her back up and whirling around, she found two claws slashing at her. She raised her left arm in time to block the attack, grimaced, and shot out her right arm, landing a punch on Dai Yueyan¡¯s chest. The fourth prince staggered back, but before he regained his balance, he felt a strong force yanking him towards Yuanen Yehui. Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon? he thought, shocked. He had heard enough about this technique in the Tang Sect to recognize it when he saw it being used, though he hadn¡¯t gotten the chance to learn it.


    Now Dai Yueyan was stumbling forward due to the pulling force. Yuanen Yehui¡¯s hands shot out, trying to grab him, when he came close enough. Seeing as there was no way he could dodge, he snapped open his mouth, unleashing a white beam of light directly towards Yuanen Yehui¡¯s head. White Tiger Light Beam!


    It was a smart move. Whether Yuanen Yehui chose to dodge or block his light beam, it would earn him a respite long enough to regain his footing and launch a counterattack.


    Only Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t dodge or block. She opened her mouth and fired an air bullet, which crashed into the light beam with a boom. But still, she had been distracted and only one hand had managed to seize Dai Yueyan¡¯s shoulder. Dai Yueyan wasted no time resorting to his fifth soul skill ¨C White Tiger Devil God Transformation! He grew bigger and his strength soared, but by then he had been lifted off the ground. The muscles in Yuanen Yehui¡¯s arms bulged as her fourth soul ring lit up. With a swing of her arm, the Devil Titan slammed the fourth prince back first onto the ground.


    A sickening thud. The impact was so powerful that the stage shook like an earthquake.


    There were sudden exclamations of shock from the audience; they were worried about their prince¡¯s life.


    Dai Yueyan was hurt, but not so bad that he couldn¡¯t use soul skills. He slashed his right claw at Yuanen Yehui, sending forth five white beams of light. White Tiger Devil Slash!


    Letting go of her opponent, Yuanen Yehui darted back and dodged his attack. Then she brought both fists down on the ground with all her strength, creating a shock wave so strong that sent Dai Yueyan ¨C who was trying to get to his feet ¨C flying into the air.


    Then she pounced forward, pulling her right fist back.


    Dai Yueyan was still in mid-air, astounded. Her strength could even rival that of Tang Wulin! And her battle experience is impressive.


    The prince caught her punch with his arms, but the force in that blow still sent him flying backwards. At this rate, I will be defeated! Her martial soul is stronger than mine, and she has more battle experience than me. My only chance of winning is¡­ my battle armor!


    After coming to that conclusion, he extended his limbs while flying, and pieces of armor flew out of his storage ring and settled on his body.


    Yuanen Yehui also summoned her battle armor without hesitation. A flash of light, and she was clad in her spirit alloy battle armor.

 Chapter 693 - The Hell’s Gate

    Chapter 693 - The Hell¡¯s Gate


    Having donned their battle armor, Dai Yueyan and Yuanen Yehui could move more than twice as quick as before. Immediately after he landed back on the stage, the fourth price rushed forward again.


    Yuanen Yehui flung out her right fist to meet his tiger claw.


    Boom!


    The force sent them both backwards. With his one-word battle armor, the price had closed the gap between their strength. Yuanen Yehui¡¯s advantage in physical power was gone.


    Dai Yueyan raised his claws and flew at her again, using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Yuanen Yehui jumped back, parrying, but he followed, pressing the attack.


    High, low, left, right, he rained down claws upon her, swinging so hard that sparks flew when his talons kissed her armor, driving her back on her heels. Yuanen Yehui was struggling to keep claws from skin.


    ¡°The fourth prince is getting the better of Yuanen Yehui,¡± commented Fang¡¯er. ¡°They are equal in terms of physical power, but the fourth price¡¯s sharp tiger claws are giving him an advantage. There are already many gashes in Yuanen Yehui¡¯s armor, as you can see. She hasn¡¯t used her second martial soul though.¡± Her commentary was quite impartial, considering she was a citizen of the Star Luo Empire.


    The audience was relieved; their hearts had leapt up into their mouths when Yuanen Yehui slammed their prince onto the ground.


    Dai Yueyan lunged, sending his right claw straight at Yuanen Yehui¡¯s chest. The girl blocked with her arm, but he had used so much force in that thrust that her gauntlet came away dented. She leapt away, her body rapidly shrinking, her jet-black wings appearing.


    Dai Yueyan snorted and used his fourth soul skill, White Tiger Devil Slash. He slashed at Yuanen Yehui extremely fast, sending so many beams of white light towards her that it was impossible to dodge them all at such close range, even though by then she had gotten into her Fallen Angel form and her speed had shot up.


    The ferocious-looking beast had disappeared, and in its stead was a voluptuous woman. The fourth soul ring around the winged angel started shining, and a round portal appeared. It was so black and horrifying that it seemed certain to lead to some hell. Yuanen Yehui dodged behind it, and the light beams vanished without a trace the moment they reached the black portal.


    Dai Yueyan jumped back 10 yards, startled. What the hell is that? The fear of the unknown made him extremely cautious.


    Even Yuanen Yehui¡¯s teammates had never seen such a soul skill, because she had never used it before.


    Piercing shrieks and wails arose from the portal, and suddenly a woman stepped out, fair of skin, slender of leg, and long of hair, with sexy leather underwear covering her breasts and private parts. She looked just like Yuanen Yehui, only she had two bloodred horns on her head.


    ¡°The Hell¡¯s Gate!¡± Yue Zhengyu blurted out, his eyes wide. ¡°No wonder I¡¯ve never seen her use her fourth soul skill before.¡±


    Xu Xiaoyan looked at him, aghast. ¡°The Hell¡¯s Gate?¡±


    ¡°Yes. She can use the Hell¡¯s Gate to summon an evil Yuanen Yehui to fight for her. But if she uses this soul skill too often, she might be overpowered by Dark Yuanen Yehui and even possessed by her. Then she will become a devil.¡±


    Once a soul master became a devil, his or her cultivation speed would soar. Devils were naturally more dangerous than evil soul masters, so his clan had decreed that those who could use the Hell¡¯s Gate soul skill must be killed to avoid the worst.


    Maybe she won¡¯t let Dark Yuanen Yehui overpower her, Yue Zhengyu thought to himself, but once evil soul masters learn about this soul skill of hers, they will go to great lengths to catch her and make her turn into a devil. I can¡¯t let that happen.


    Gu Yue saw the look on Yue Zhengyu¡¯s face. ¡°There will be time for this later. Right now we should focus on the match,¡± she said.


    The audience¡¯s jaws dropped when they saw Dark Yuanen Yehui. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve ever seen such a strange soul skill before,¡± Fang¡¯er said, wonderstruck. ¡°She is obviously not a clone. Let¡¯s see what she can do.¡±


    Dai Yueyan didn¡¯t like what he was seeing, judging from the frown on his face, but the good thing was that Dark Yuanen Yehui wore no armor, so he opened his mouth and fired a beam of white light without hesitation.


    Dark Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t dodge, giving a smile so dazzling that even Dai Yueyan was enchanted for a moment. Her stomach turned into black smoke where the light beam hit her, and instantly healed up.

 Chapter 694 - I Yield

    Chapter 694 - I Yield


    Yuanen Yehui flew straight up into the air and slashed at Dai Yueyan with the demonic sword which had materialized in her hand, sending out a purplish black crescent-shaped sword beam which shot at top speed towards the fourth prince.


    Dai Yueyan swung his right arm, creating five beams of light to meet it. Boom!


    That was when he found Dark Yuanen Yehui standing right behind him. A purple wave spread from her, bypassing his armor to weaken him.


    Startled, Dai Yueyan slashed his claw viciously at her, but then a small voice whispered inside him, ¡°Are you really gonna hurt me, my prince?¡± The voice was so soft and alluring that his hand stopped moving.


    By then Yuanen Yehui had transformed into her Titan Giant Ape form. She plummeted to the ground, pulled her right arm back, and unleashed a punch. Boom! The force of impact sent Dai Yueyan staggering backward.


    Dark Yuanen Yehui was still smiling her seductive smile. She raised her right arm, a dark sword appearing in her hand.


    Now the prince had to face two opponents, a giant ape and a fallen angel.


    In the blink of an eye, the ape was on him again, slamming its fist towards his chest. Before he could dodge, the fallen angel pointed her sword at him, casting a spell on him. Suddenly he felt so frightened that he couldn¡¯t move. Then a beam of dark light shot out of her sword towards him, instantly wrapping around him to bind him up.


    That was when Yuanen Yehui¡¯s fist landed on his stomach, knocking him into the air. Dark Yuanen Yehui flew over to him, whispering in his ear, ¡°Look out, my prince.¡± The giant ape jumped up, took hold of his ankle firmly, and flung him to the ground with brute force.


    A loud boom rang out. The audience closed their eyes in horror.


    His armor had protected him, but he could still feel intense pain rushing through him, because Dark Yuanen Yehui had casted a second spell on him to increase his pain by several times.


    Yuanen Yehui didn¡¯t let go of his ankle. She swung Dai Yueyan up above her head and slammed him down, and again, and again.


    Sickening thuds resounded throughout the arena.


    The audience was left aghast. Fang¡¯er stopped commentating, shocked.


    ¡°Stop, stop!¡± the four referees shouted, rushing towards Yuanen Yehui.


    Dropping Dai Yueyan¡¯s foot to the ground, Yuanen Yehui looked at the referees. ¡°I lost control of myself, sorry.¡±


    Her words provoked an uproar from the audience. Everyone could see that she was avenging Tang Wulin, but she had done nothing against the rules.


    The Monster Academy¡¯s waiting area was deathly quiet. Anger was plain on their faces.


    Dai Yueyan was not as badly hurt as Tang Wulin had been, but still, blood was coming out of his mouth and nose alike.


    Dark Yuanen Yehui whispered something into the ear of Yuanen Yehui, who had changed back to her human form, and disappeared into the black portal. Then the Hell¡¯s Gate vanished.


    Yuanen Yehui¡¯s face went pale suddenly. She lurched forward, but quickly steadied herself before falling flat on her face.


    She paid no mind to the angry stares they gave her when she walked past the Monster Academy¡¯s waiting area, took the buns Xu Lizhi handed her and ate them.


    The score now was two to zero.


    The Monster Academy team had lost two matches in a row. The fourth prince had suffered a heavy defeat. After treatment, the medical team helped him to his couch. The pain was still unbearable, but his body was not nearly as wounded as his pride.


    Feeling anger coiling inside him, Long Yue rose to his feet and strode towards the stage. The Monster Academy team couldn¡¯t afford to lose the third singles match.


    Gu Yue didn¡¯t stand. ¡°Change of plans,¡± she said to her teammates in a low voice. They smiled for the first time in days after she shared her plans. Then a boy stood up and made for the stage.


    Fang¡¯er was surprised when she laid eyes on him. The audience couldn¡¯t even recognize him.


    ¡°Looks like Xu Lizhi is going to fight the third singles match for the Shrek Academy team,¡± said Fang¡¯er, puzzled. ¡°He had competed in the two-on-two competition, but then withdrew. He is a food-type soul master, I believe.¡± What are they doing sending a food-type soul master against the strongest student of the Monster Academy?


    Long Yue frowned at the weak-looking fat boy who was smiling at him. I don¡¯t know anything about him. Maybe that¡¯s why they¡¯re using him as a secret weapon? They think he can take me down with some sort of surprise attack?


    ¡°Begin!¡± a referee announced.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Xu Lizhi said, holding up his hand to gesture his opponent to stop.


    Long Yue never moved. ¡°What?¡±


    Xu Lizhi gave a silly grin. ¡°Don¡¯t judge a bun by its folds,¡± he said, and suddenly a white bun appeared in his hand. ¡°Would you like a bun?¡±


    Long Yue was taken by surprise. What?!


    ¡°No? You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re missing. I yield.¡± With that, he wolfed down the bun, turned around, and jumped off the stage.

 Chapter 695 - The Doubles Match

    Chapter 695 - The Doubles Match


    Long Yue was first dumbfounded, then infuriated. They had a food-type soul master fight me just to spite and humiliate me?


    Enraged, people in the stands started hurling offensive words at the Shrek Academy team.


    Dai Tianling felt anger rising in him, but crushed it out with a will. He was a leader, and a leader should always keep his composure and be a good example for those who followed him. I should have expected this. It¡¯s understandable, considering Long Yue almost killed their captain.


    ¡°I apologize for these kids, Your Grace,¡± Tang Bingyao said, with an apologetic smile. ¡°In order to train them, there is no teacher to guide them in this tournament.¡±


    As if I¡¯d believe you, Dai Tianling thought, but what he said was, ¡°There is no need to apologize; they did nothing wrong.¡±


    Standing on the stage, Long Yue looked icily at the Shrek Academy team, making a ¡°bring it¡± gesture with his right hand. What do you plan to do in the doubles match? Yield again?


    ¡°Xiaoyan, go with Lizhi and concede the match,¡± Gu Yue said calmly. We just need to win the seven-on-seven match to take the championship. There is no point in fighting Long Yue now.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Xu Xiaoyan said with a pretty smile, standing up. ¡°I will accomplish the task beautifully.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make two buns this time. One for me, and one for you,¡± said Xu Lizhi.


    ¡°Thanks!¡±


    ¡°Why concede the match when we can win?¡± a familiar voice asked.


    They looked around. Their faces lit up as they sprang to their feet.


    Gu Yue teleported herself in front of him in half a heartbeat.


    Tang Wulin stood there, hands in the pockets of his school uniform, smiling his bright smile.


    ¡°Is that¡­ Tang Wulin?¡± Fang¡¯er said, surprised. She raised her voice. ¡°The captain of the Shrek Academy team came back!¡±


    ¡°Boss!¡± Xie Xie rushed over and hugged him fiercely.


    Xu Xiaoyan walked up to them. ¡°Thank the gods. I¡¯m so glad that you¡¯re okay, Captain. We were worried sick about you.¡±


    Ye Xinglan¡¯s lips curved in a smile, her eyes glittering with excitement.


    Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui exchanged a relived look, clenching their fists.


    ¡°Food was tasteless without you,¡± Xu Lizhi grinned. ¡°If you stayed missing for another day or two, I would be slim as Xu Xiaoyan.¡±


    Tang Wulin and Xie Xie broke apart. ¡°I did almost die, but I¡¯m as fit as a fiddle now. Let¡¯s take care of this match first.¡± He turned to face Gu Yue, who was weeping uncontrollably with joy. ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± he said, smiling.


    Gu Yue took a deep breath to gather her thoughts, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. ¡°Welcome back. You are the captain. Tell us what we should do.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll take them on. You and me.¡±


    Gu Yue was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re fit to fight?¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded, giving off a powerful aura. ¡°Sure.¡±


    In a split second, the doubt in her eyes was gone, replaced by grim determination. An overwhelming aura emanated from her, fusing with the aura from Tang Wulin and growing so strong that even Long Yue felt it from where he was standing on the stage. The Dragon King frowned. It¡¯s only been 10 days, but already he seems to have recovered.


    Dai Yun¡¯er found herself strangely relieved the moment she laid eyes on Tang Wulin. The guilt that had been haunting her had finally disappeared. Thank heavens he¡¯s all right.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if Tang Wulin has fully recovered, but it looks like he will compete in the doubles match with Gu Yue,¡± Fang¡¯er said. ¡°Gu Yue only took part in the two-on-two competition before, so I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know much about her. She has some kind of element for a martial soul, I think. It won¡¯t be an easy match for them to win, and even if they win, they won¡¯t have enough points to take the championship, not until they defeat the Monster Academy team in the seven-on-seven match. But if they lose, their defeat may deal a severe blow to their team¡¯s morale.¡± The two points are useless to both teams, but Tang Wulin will never concede the match to his opponents, nor will Long Yue.


    As they walked abreast towards the stage, Tang Wulin leaned over and whispered something in Gu Yue¡¯s ear. The girl inclined her head, her eyes twinkling with amusement.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to see you again, Brother Long,¡± Tang Wulin said, smiling, as if he had forgotten the fact that the Dragon King had almost killed him.


    ¡°Your healing abilities are remarkable. I¡¯m impressed,¡± Long Yue replied, impassive.


    ¡°Thank you. You¡¯ll be more impressed when my team wins the championship.¡±


    Brag while you can, Long Yue thought. But he only snorted and said nothing.


    Dai Yun¡¯er was surprisingly quiet. She looked at Tang Wulin, and then at Long Yue, and found to her astonishment that she couldn¡¯t care less about the outcome of this match.


    ¡°Begin!¡± a referee shouted when he deemed the contestants were ready.


    Tang Bingyao sat up straight. It seems Tang Wulin has recovered; that¡¯s great, the leader of the delegation thought to himself. But will his team be able to beat Long Yue? No one will blame them if they lose. But if somehow they manage to win the championship¡­


    Dai Tianling also marveled at Tang Wulin¡¯s healing abilities. How did he manage to recover from his deadly wounds in such a short time?


    Tang Wulin charged without a shred of fear in his eyes at the man who would have killed him if Mu Ye hadn¡¯t intervened. His scales shone brightly as golden soul rings appeared around his body.


    Long Yue¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. A third golden soul ring?! He didn¡¯t just recover; he has grown stronger!

 Chapter 696 - Don’t Move

    Chapter 696 - Don¡¯t Move


    ¡­


    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡± Old Tang asked solemnly, frowning at Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Yes, Old Tang,¡± answered the boy. ¡°I have made up my mind. I know it¡¯s dangerous and unwise, but if I don¡¯t do this, I will regret it for the rest of my life knowing I might have beaten Long Yue if I had chosen to break the sixth seal.¡± He paused a moment, trying to find more words to persuade Old Tang. ¡°My soul power increased a lot after I opened two of the eight extraordinary meridians, and Master Mu Ye¡¯s medicine has greatly strengthened my body. With some spirit items, I should be able to reduce the danger to an acceptable level.¡±


    Old Tang yielded. ¡°I will allow you to take the risk. But only this once.¡± I might do the same if I were in his position.


    ¡°Thank you, Old Tang.¡±


    ¡°Breaking the remaining seals of the first nine seals won¡¯t pose too much danger to you once you open all the eight extraordinary meridians. But I wish I could say the same thing for the last nine seals. Be extra careful when breaking them; it could mean the death of you.¡±


    ¡­


    The pain had been a nightmare so horrible that Tang Wulin hoped he would never have to go through it again. He had screamed and screamed, and he had thought he would die. But with the help of Mu Ye and Old Tang, he had made it through the unbearable pain and successfully absorbed the energy of the Golden Dragon King.


    Long Yue watched as Tang Wulin charged at him. The power in his blood that can suppress my martial soul has grown stronger. I can feel it. It¡¯s impossible for a normal soul master to grow so quickly in power. In four or five years, his power might even surpass mine, but right now, he is no match for me. The Dragon King grew bigger, his arms and chest corded with muscle, his double-headed spear materializing in his right hand.


    Dai Yun¡¯er activated her Spirit Eyes and saw Tang Wulin¡¯s soul power surging through his meridians. She rushed forward, but didn¡¯t use any soul skills on him. She ran past him towards her target, who was just standing there as if she had nothing to do with this match.


    The Monster Academy team had analyzed Gu Yue¡¯s abilities and come to the conclusion that her teleportation skill was troublesome, so the princess had taken it upon herself to fight her. She was convinced her twin martial souls were more than enough to handle a normal four-ringed soul master.


    When she was about 50 yards away from Gu Yue, her eyes glowed red as she used the Soul Disturbance soul skill. It was a spiritual attack so powerful that even Tang Wulin couldn¡¯t resist it. But the moment their gazes met, Dai Yun¡¯er collapsed, plunging towards the stage. A flash of silver light, and Gu Yue was behind her. She grabbed hold of the princess¡¯s collar and yanked her up before she fell down to the ground.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what just happened,¡± Fang¡¯er admitted, shocked. ¡°But the princess seems to have fainted.¡± She used a spiritual attack before she fell, judging from that red glow in her eyes. Could it be that Gu Yue reflected her spiritual attack back at her? That means her spiritual power is stronger than that of the princess, but it¡¯s impossible! Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s Spirit Eyes martial soul has boosted her spiritual power to an incredible level.


    Tang Wulin jumped up, holding the two huge hammers he had used to fight Long Yue in the final of the one-on-one competition. He brought the hammers down in a swift arc with all his massive strength behind them.


    Long Yue knew his strength couldn¡¯t compete with that of Tang Wulin, but still he jerked his spear up above his head with both hands to block the attack. Metal met metal with an ear-piercing clang. Tang Wulin wasn¡¯t using the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique, but the force of impact still shattered the ground beneath Long Yue¡¯s feet. His strength has grown as well, thought the Dragon King.


    Long Yue¡¯s long spear jabbed, but it struck nothing but air. Tang Wulin had disappeared.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move or I¡¯ll kill her,¡± Tang Wulin warned, standing beside Gu Yue, his golden dragon claw only inches from the pretty little head of Dai Yun¡¯er, who was still unconscious. He could kill her as easily as a man might squash a bug.

 Chapter 697 - She’s My Girl

    Chapter 697 - She¡¯s My Girl


    Long Yue¡¯s anger flared. ¡°Tang Wulin, what do you think you¡¯re doing?! She is the princess of the Star Luo Empire!¡±


    Tang Wulin¡¯s laughter rang out. ¡°I¡¯m well aware of who she is, and the rules of this competition, and I¡¯m going to kill her.¡±


    By then Dai Yun¡¯er had come to, still light-headed from her own spiritual attack. She looked around and quickly understood what was happening. No, he wouldn¡¯t hurt me, she told herself, but her face was pale with fear.


    ¡°Why? She did nothing to you!¡± the Dragon King fumed.


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Tang Wulin agreed, ¡°but you did something to me. Don¡¯t you remember? You tried to kill me, and you almost did, so it¡¯s only fair that I return the favor. Since I can¡¯t kill you, I guess I have to settle for your partner.¡± His golden dragon claw started shining brilliantly.


    ¡°No!¡± Long Yue shouted, darting forward.


    Dai Tianling jumped to his feet in shock, fear plain on his face. A flash of light, and En Ci was on the stage, but like the four referees, he didn¡¯t dare get too close. Strong as they were, they were not confident of stopping Tang Wulin before that deadly claw of his sank into Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s head. En Ci glanced at Elder Cai and Wu Zhangkong, and saw that they were surprisingly calm in their seats.


    Suddenly Tang Wulin laughed happily, his golden claws disappearing. ¡°We won!¡± he shouted, waving at the audience.


    Everyone seemed puzzled at first. Then they realized it all had been Tang Wulin¡¯s trick to lure En Ci onto the stage. The Monster Academy team had lost this doubles match the moment En Ci intervened. That was one of the rules of this tournament.


    I knew he was bluffing! En Ci thought, but if anything had happened to the princess, the emperor would blame me and Long Yue as well as Tang Wulin.


    Dai Yun¡¯er was beginning to breathe more easily after Gu Yue let her go. ¡°I apologize for having put you through all of this, my princess,¡± Tang Wulin said sincerely. ¡°It was uncalled for. I hope you don¡¯t hold it against me.¡± He gave her an apologetic smile and started to walk off with Gu Yue.


    ¡°Tang Wulin!¡± Long Yue snarled through gritted teeth.


    Tang Wulin turned his head to look at him. ¡°Prepare to be defeated, Long Yue,¡± he said icily, and got off the stage.


    Long Yue¡¯s face went purple, his hands shaking with rage.


    ¡°Tang Wulin was out of line, Your Grace,¡± Tang Bingyao said to the emperor of the Star Luo Empire, frowning. ¡°What was he thinking threatening to kill the princess? I¡¯ll see to it that he is disciplined.¡±


    You will praise the boy rather than disciplining him, Dai Tianling thought, but he nodded and said nothing. He was an emperor; he would never hold a grudge against a boy for his shenanigan. Her girl was safe and sound. That was all he cared about right now. He almost died defending the honor of the Shrek Academy in his last match, but now he is stooping so low as to use such a despicable method to win this fight. Why? It¡¯s not like they need the two points so badly. He is an interesting boy, that¡¯s for sure. Now I can see why Yun¡¯er is attracted to him. He is really talented. It won¡¯t surprise me if he surpasses Long Yue one day.


    The contestants had half an hour to rest before the team battle. It wasn¡¯t nearly enough for the wounded to fully recover, but it was better than nothing.


    ¡°You blew my mind, Captain,¡± Xie Xie smiled when Tang Wulin and Gu Yue came back. ¡°I never thought you would win!¡±


    ¡°Unlike you, I use my head to fight,¡± said Tang Wulin. He turned to his teammates who had gathered around him. ¡°The most decisive match is the team battle. We¡¯re leading by four points to one, but if they win the last match, all our effort will be for nothing.¡± They knew the Shrek Academy would be proud of them, even if they took the second place, but none of them wanted to lose, especially not to the Monster Academy team.


    ¡°Tell us what we should do, Captain,¡± Yuanen Yehui said. She had long since recognized him as their captain, but she had been too proud to address him as Captain until now.


    ¡°Gu Yue and I will try to keep Long Yue busy long enough for you to take down the others,¡± Tang Wulin said, ¡°and then we¡¯ll fight him together.¡±


    ¡°Dai Yueyan was wounded in his singles match, and so was Su Mu. They won¡¯t be too much of a problem,¡± said Yuanen Yehui.


    ¡°Good. Knock them out as soon as you can. Lizhi, I don¡¯t need you to fight this match, but I need you to make us some buns now.¡±


    Xu Lizhi nodded, glad he could be of help to his friends.


    ¡°Eat the buns here,¡± Tang Wulin continued. ¡°Don¡¯t eat them while fighting. We¡¯ll beat them fair and square.¡±


    They had so much confidence in their captain that they could hardly wait to meet their opponents.


    Tang Wulin slipped the thick bracelets from his wrists and handed them to Yuanen Yehui.


    ¡°What are you doing, Boss? She¡¯s my girl,¡± Xie Xie said, shocked, hurriedly stepping between them.


    Yuanen Yehui gave him an impatient shove, and he was out of her way. ¡°Who is your girl?!¡± She took the bracelets and slid them around her wrists. ¡°Thanks,¡± she said to Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do this to me, Boss,¡± Xie Xie said sadly. ¡°I¡¯m your best friend. Besides, you already have Gu Yue.¡±


    ¡°Are you blind as well as stupid?¡± Tang Wulin asked.


    Xu Xiaoyan giggled. ¡°These are storage bracelets, and in them are weapons.¡±


    ¡°The two hammers?¡± Xie Xie asked, suddenly ashamed.


    ¡°What else?¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Captain. I thought¨C¡°


    Yuanen Yehui grabbed his neck before he could finish and pushed him away, her face red with embarrassment.

 Chapter 698 - Get Out of My Face

    Chapter 698 - Get Out of My Face


    Yue Zhengyu sighed and shook his head. ¡°The only man attracted to you is a halfwit, Yuanen. The gods are cruel,¡± he jested. ¡°Want my advice? Find out what he likes about you and change that behavior. Before long he¡¯ll leave you alone.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s actually really good advice. Now get out of my face, would you?¡± Yuanen Yehui said impatiently.


    ¡°Yeah, leave us alone,¡± Xie Xie echoed.


    ¡°You too! Get out of my face before I punch you!¡± She shot an angry glance at Xie Xie.


    By then Xu Lizhi had conjured up a mound of buns. ¡°Have some buns and get some rest,¡± Tang Wulin said to his friends, picking up a bun. ¡°We have a tough fight before us.¡±


    After having the refreshments, they sat down and began to meditate.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Brother Long Yue. It¡¯s all my fault we lost the doubles match,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said as she stood with her head bowed.


    Long Yue stroked her hair. ¡°No, Yun¡¯er. We lost because Tang Wulin fought dirty. But that little trick of his won¡¯t work again, I promise you that. Victory will be ours.¡± Then he turned to Dai Yueyan. ¡°How are your wounds, Yueyan? Yun¡¯er can compete in your stead if you don¡¯t feel very well.¡±


    ¡°Nothing to worry about. I can fight,¡± the fourth prince said. Of course he was not fully recovered from his injuries, and his battle armor was as damaged as his body, if not more so. He could only use about 70 percent of his full power in his current state.


    Long Yue nodded. ¡°Good. Don¡¯t underestimate them just because they are young. Tang Wulin has three golden soul rings now, but I¡¯ll take care of him. And that partner of his, Gu Yue, she hasn¡¯t shown her true power, that¡¯s for sure. What happened on the stage, Yun¡¯er? Why did you faint all of a sudden?¡±


    ¡°I sent a spiritual attack at her, but she reflected it right back at me. I think her spiritual power is stronger than mine.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er¡¯s spiritual power towered over her peers at over 2,500 points, so they were shocked when they heard that. ¡°The Shrek Academy is indeed worthy of its reputation,¡± said Teng Teng.


    ¡°Lin San, I¡¯ll leave her to you,¡± Long Yue said. ¡°Take her out as quickly as possible. Don¡¯t give her chance to use her teleportation technique.¡±


    Lin San nodded solemnly. ¡°Yes, Captain.¡±


    ¡°Take advantage of your soul power and battle armor. Don¡¯t go easy on them, because they won¡¯t go easy on us. I¡¯ll keep my power under control, don¡¯t worry about me,¡± said the Dragon King.


    Dai Yueyan was surprised to see Long Yue taking a match so seriously.


    Half an hour passed quickly.


    ¡°Would the combatants please come to the stage?¡± said a referee.


    The two teams headed out of the waiting area. A faint smile brushed Tang Wulin¡¯s lips when he saw Long Yue. The Dragon King gave him a look that suggested he would love to stomp him on his chest again.


    The audience cheered and applauded, wondering which team would win. They would like to see the championship won by the Monster Academy team, but they didn¡¯t have as much confidence in them as they had when the tournament started. Long Yue is insanely strong, to be sure, Fang¡¯er thought, but will he be able to take on four or five members of the Shrek Academy team all at once?


    She had no time to think about it though. ¡°Now¡­ the moment you¡¯ve all been waiting for, the team competition final!¡± she spoke into the microphone. ¡°Long Yue, Dai Yueyan, Su Mu, Lin San, Hua Lantang, Ye Zhi, and Teng Teng of the Monster Academy versus Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan of the Shrek Academy! Long Yue and Tang Wulin are the captains of the two teams respectively.


    ¡°The Monster Academy team is a crowd favorite. Long Yue is indisputably the strongest among his team. He is a six-ringed strength-type Soul Emperor, and his Mountain Dragon King martial soul is extremely powerful. Hopefully he won¡¯t lose control of himself in this match. The fourth prince and Hua Lantang are strength-type soul masters as well. Lin San and Teng Teng are both agility-type soul masters. Su Mu is skilled in control skills, but his attack power is also impressive. Ye Zhi¡¯s Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda is the most powerful support-type martial soul. The Monster Academy team is certainly a force to be reckoned with.


    ¡°As for the Shrek Academy Team, Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu are all assault-type soul masters; Gu Yue can use ranged techniques; Xu Xiaoyan is a control-type soul master; Xie Xie is an agility-type soul master.


    ¡°Tang Wulin¡¯s team also has a support-type soul master, Xu Lizhi, but for some unknown reason, he is not on the stage. Support-type soul masters are very important, especially in team battles, so I think the Shrek Academy team is at a disadvantage.


    ¡°We have a great bout ahead of us, and we¡¯ll find out which team is stronger soon enough.¡±

 Chapter 699 - What is Her Martial Soul?

    Chapter 699 - What is Her Martial Soul?


    All the combatants were on the stage.


    Tang Wulin stood at the front of his team. Behind him was Gu Yue, with Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan on either side of her, and behind them were Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie. Yue Zhengyu stood at the very back.


    The formation of Long Yue¡¯s team was more or less the same. Long Yue the Dragon King was at the front, and Ye Zhi the Tower King was at the back.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s team was a more formidable force than Long Yue¡¯s team would have liked. Although the Monster Academy team won the one-on-one competition and the two-on-two competition, Tang Wulin¡¯s team gave them a lot of trouble, Fang¡¯er thought to herself. Will the Dragon King be able to lead his team to victory again?


    ¡°Three, two, one, begin!¡± shouted a referee.


    Dai Tianling sat straight in his seat, watching attentively. He had no doubt the Monster Academy team would win, but he would like nothing less than a big win.


    All seven members of Tang Wulin¡¯s team charged forward, but only five fighters from Long Yue¡¯s team did the same; Su Mu and Ye Zhi didn¡¯t move, but they were the first to use soul skills. A speed-reducing ring and a soul power-draining ring shot out as several beams of light flew from the Tower King¡¯s Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda and landed on her teammates, increasing their speed, strength, attack power, defensive power, and soul power by 50%.


    Long Yue, Dai Yueyan, and Hua Lantang grew bigger as they rushed. Lin San and Teng Teng had donned their battle armor, dashing forward at incredible speed. No one was holding anything back; they could hardly wait to redeem themselves after their crushing defeats.


    The Dragon King charged at Tang Wulin. Only he is a threat to me. After I take care of him, his teammates won¡¯t stand a chance against me.


    Lin San sped past Tang Wulin, shooting towards Gu Yue in a blur, but before he could reach her, she disappeared in a flash of silver light. The Wind King looked around quickly and found her standing in front of Su Mu and Ye Zhi. It¡¯s too late for me to stop her now, he thought, and changed his target to Xu Xiaoyan, planning to take the control-type soul master out.


    Su Mu was surprised to see Gu Yue here, but he was happy, because he saw Hua Lantang and Dai Yueyan were rushing back to help him. She is surrounded by us! We¡¯ll attack her together. She is dead meat! Then he unleashed a soul-eating ring.


    Gu Yue didn¡¯t so much as glance at his attack. Sensing Hua Lantang and Dai Yueyan getting close to her, she swiped at them, creating a gust of wind so strong that it blew them away. Then she raised her right hand to summon a blazing blue fireball, which was about three feet in diameter, and sent it at Su Mu.


    ¡°She can use the wind element and fire element! What is her martial soul?¡± Fang¡¯er said, shocked.


    Su Mu had never seen this coming, but he didn¡¯t panic. A repelling ring appeared around him immediately. Prepare to be devoured by your own flames! he thought, his eyes never leaving the girl in front of him.


    The fireball flew towards Su Mu, but before it crashed into the repelling ring, it changed course suddenly, as if it had a will of its own, and accelerated, shooting towards Ye Zhi the Tower King, who was too preoccupied with controlling the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda to notice it. Boom!


    Ye Zhi¡¯s one-word battle armor was designed to maximize its defensive power, since she was not an assault-type soul master. Her defensive power was second only to that of Long Yue among the Monster Eight Kings, but still, the blast sent her stumbling backwards.


    Her battle armor was shining brightly in an effort to absorb the impact, but she lost control of her soul power as she struggled to regain her footing, and as a result, the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda stopped working.


    Long Yue¡¯s team was shocked when they found that the effect of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda on them had disappeared; nothing like this had ever happened in their team battles before.


    Gu Yue raised her hand, conjured up another blue fireball, and tossed it in the direction of Su Mu again.

 Chapter 700 - Teamwork

    Chapter 700 - Teamwork


    Su Mu watched as the second blue fireball flew towards him. For fear that Gu Yue might change its course again, he didn¡¯t use the repelling ring until it was close enough. The fireball slammed into the ring, bounced back, and shot at Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue was calm. With a swipe of her hand, she turned the fireball towards Long Yue¡¯s back. Boom! Long Yue reeled at the impact and shot an angry glance at Gu Yue.


    She is much more powerful than we expected, thought the Fox King. His fifth soul ring lit up, and a destructive ring raced towards Gu Yue. Hua Lantang and Dai Yueyan were also coming at her again. But she disappeared in a flash of silver light. When she reappeared, she was floating in mid-air, holding a staff crowned with a lustrous seven-colored gem within which tendrils of light danced. Suddenly Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were beside her. With a wave of her Elemental Staff, she summoned two spheres of wind element in the palm of her hand. Then she infused them into their bodies, boosting their speed.


    Xie Xie leapt at Teng Teng, slashing at him with Light Dragon Dagger. Teng Teng blocked the cut. Back and forth they went, the clang of metal on metal echoing through the arena.


    The formation of Tang Wulin¡¯s team was breaking up, but they seemed to be taking control of the match. However, the tables would be turned, if Lin San the Wind King managed to take out Xu Xiaoyan.


    Watching the figure moving at high speed towards her, Xu Xiaoyan smiled, Star Staff shining resplendently.


    That was when Gu Yue muttered some spell. She waved her staff, summoning a third blue fireball much bigger than the ones before, and sent it at Lin San. The Wind King must have sensed the heat or danger, for he looked up and saw it. But he paid it no mind; he was convinced his speed could enable him to dodge much faster attacks than that one.


    As Xu Xiaoyan pointed Star Staff at Lin San, a golden ring appeared on the ground and sped forward. Lin San didn¡¯t know what this soul skill of hers could do, but he jumped aside just the same.


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s second soul ring lit up, starlight exploding from her body. Starlight Reversal! Lin San squinted into the dazzling light and lunged at her with a wind blade, but before he could reach her, the blade stopped abruptly, as if there was an invisible barrier around her. The force of impact knocked him backward. He struggled to regain his balance and attempted to dart away as he felt fire licking against his head, but it was too late. Gu Yue¡¯s fireball smashed right into him. Boom! In an instant, he was engulfed by flames.


    Xu Xiaoyan glanced at Lin San and rushed forward to help her friends.


    Their teamwork is impressive! Fang¡¯er thought, her eyes wide with astonishment.


    Long Yue was shocked as well. Their team is more tightly knit than ours. Neither of the girls could hope to land an attack on Lin San on their own, but together they took him out!


    By then Tang Wulin had gotten close enough to Long Yue. He leapt into the air, his golden dragon claws appearing. Long Yue sent his spear darting forward. Tang Wulin didn¡¯t meet it with his dragon claws, but landed on his spear and jumped again. Golden light converged within his palm as a spear materialized.


    It was double-headed, like Long Yue¡¯s spear, fifteen-feet-long, and golden and sharp. On it was a golden dragon, gleaming in the sun.


    Long Yue felt intense pressure weighing down on him the instant Tang Wulin¡¯s spear appeared. His heart began to pound with fear. That spear has made the strange power in his dragon blood grow stronger!


    ¡­


    Tang Wulin was panting heavily, his whole body throbbing with unbearable pain. Make it stop! Kill me! I can¡¯t stand it anymore! part of him screamed, but another part said quietly, try and bear it a little while longer. It will be over soon enough.


    A few moments later, he began to feel weak and drowsy, and everything started to fade, including the pain. The world slowly grew dark around him.


    ¡°Wulin!¡± a voice called out, loud and full of concern. It was so familiar and so reassuring that he suddenly felt secure and protected.


    The searing pain came back, but somehow he found strength to fight it this time. His wounds healed up quickly. His bones, meridians, and organs were all taking on a golden hue. The two extraordinary meridians he had opened the other day had become stronger, and he could feel his life energy flowing more smoothly in them. Strength surged through his body. The acute pain gradually lessened in severity.


    I did it! I broke the sixth seal!


    He breathed a deep sigh of relief and started to circulate his soul power and blood throughout his body. Suddenly he felt something different and snapped his eyes open.

 Chapter 701 - Golden Dragon Spear

    Chapter 701 - Golden Dragon Spear


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes to find himself sitting in a bathtub in an empty room, shrouded in golden mist. The water was warm and smelled of herbs. The room was strange to him, and he had no memory of how or when he had gotten there, or anything else that had happened after he was stomped by Long Yue, but he felt safe, because Old Tang had told him that he had been saved by Mu Ye. This must be where Master Mu Ye is staying.


    Suddenly a shaft of golden light shot out from the middle of his forehead. The light beam floated above his bathtub, growing quickly. In an instant, it had turned into a double-headed golden spear about 15 feet in height. It was engraved with a dragon, inconspicuous against the golden spear.


    What is this? Where did it come from?


    ¡°It¡¯s your weapon,¡± said Old Tang. ¡°It was sealed by the sixth seal, but now that you have broken it, the spear naturally came out. Its name is Golden Dragon Spear.¡±


    ¡­


    Tang Wulin was spinning his newly acquired spear with both hands in mid-air. It was not too heavy, not too light, just right. It felt like he had become one with it, and he found it was able to amplify the blood essence he channeled into it. This match is a perfect opportunity to test its power, he thought to himself.


    He thrust Golden Dragon Spear at Long Yue as he descended. The Dragon King blocked it with his own spear. The moment they met, the dragon on Tang Wulin¡¯s spear shone brightly. Tang Wulin let out a draconic roar, channeling more blood essence into it. The thrust became so forceful that Long Yue fell back a step, and then he found to his shock that his spear had a crack in it where it had been struck by Tang Wulin¡¯s weapon. My spear was made of 16 different rare metals. Its hardness can even compare with that of a mecha. Where did he get that weapon? Why is it giving off kingly vibes? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s man-made; no one can make such a powerful weapon in the 10 days of his disappearance.


    The eyes of the audience widened in disbelief as they watched Tang Wulin gain the upper hand against Long Yue.


    Long Yue thrust the point of his spear into the stage, stomping the ground with his huge right foot. ¡°Mountains!¡± he shouted.


    The ground suddenly began to shake violently. Seven mountains shot of the ground, attacking the seven students of the Shrek Academy. Tang Wulin landed on the stage and quickly dodged to one side, worried that his friends might get hurt. He jumped up again, raised Golden Dragon Spear in both hands, and brought it crashing down with all his strength, a draconic roar exploding from his lips.


    The growing speed of the mountains slowed down somehow, and even Xue Xiaoyan evaded the attack with ease.


    Floating on the wind she had created, Gu Yue lifted Elemental Staff above her head and began to chant an incantation, louder and louder.


    Long Yue could feel energy gathering around Gu Yue. The mountains he had conjured up started shaking. He could sense danger thickening in the air. For the first time, he felt afraid. But he didn¡¯t have time to be afraid, not with Tang Wulin¡¯s spear coming at his head. He jerked his own spear up to block the heavy blow and fell back again.


    The second soul ring of the Dragon King lit up. That was when a golden ring appeared around him on the ground. He ignored it, feeling sure that it wouldn¡¯t do him much damage, if at all. Golden chains flew out of the ground and bound him tightly. He tried to use his second soul skill, but found he couldn¡¯t; his soul power had stopped flowing! He struggled to move, to no avail.


    By then Tang Wulin¡¯s spear was only several feet away from his chest.


    No! It will pierce me! Long Yue thought, suddenly frightened. But there was nothing he could do but brace himself for the strike. Just then a figure shot through the air and blocked Tang Wulin¡¯s attack with a grunt of pain.


    To the surprise of Long Yue, it was Lin San. His battle armor, which had been blackened by Gu Yue¡¯s flames, was now cracked. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling faint.


    Tang Wulin snapped his spear back and thrust again. A small phantom dragon flew out of the spear end towards Lin San, its jaws wide open.


    By then the chains binding Long Yue had disappeared. He pushed Lin San out of the way of Tang Wulin''s incoming strike and took the hit with his shoulder.


    Boom! The force of the blow knocked the Dragon King flying backwards. The moment he landed on the ground, a beam of starlight reached him, and once again he couldn¡¯t move or use any soul skills. What the hell?! Why can¡¯t I move any parts of my body?! He felt anger rise inside him.

 Chapter 702 - Tang Wulin’s Third Blood Essence Soul Skill

    Chapter 702 - Tang Wulin¡¯s Third Blood Essence Soul Skill


    Long Yue was not the only one who was under the influence of Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s starlight. Lin San, Dai Yueyan, and Hua Lantang also found that they couldn¡¯t move a muscle.


    It was Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s third soul skill, Starlight Burst. Its effect was just like that of her first soul skill, Starwheel Shackles. Neither the two techniques of hers could work for long, but even the strongest of soul masters couldn¡¯t resist them.


    Yuanen Yehui had changed into her Devil Titan form. She swung the hammers Tang Wulin had given her before the match at Dai Yueyan and knocked him flying. The fourth prince¡¯s old wounds hadn¡¯t healed, and this was too forceful an attack for his dented battle armor to withstand, so despite himself, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    Yue Zhengyu¡¯s holy sword descended in a golden arc before it caught Hua Lantang square in the chest. The Wolf King was then engulfed in flames of golden light.


    Meanwhile, Ye Xinglan broke Su Mu¡¯s rings with her peerless sword intent and gave Ye Zhi the Tower King no respite to use the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda to empower her teammates.


    Xie Xie¡¯s speed had increased after he had found the essence of agility, but still, his power had proved to be weaker than that of Teng Teng. He was doing his best to keep his opponent busy.


    No one sitting in the stands could believe what they were seeing. Tang Wulin¡¯s team is not just putting up a good fight but winning, Fang¡¯er thought, her eyes wide in disbelief. With Tang Wulin¡¯s new weapon and Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s control techniques, even Long Yue is having a hard time defeating them.


    Gu Yue was still chanting her spell in mid-air. Tang Wulin sent Golden Dragon Spear darting forward at Lin San the Wind King, his third soul ring shining. Bluesilver Golden Array!


    Seeing this, Lin San promptly started to run but found he couldn¡¯t move nearly as fast as before, his wind element pouring out of his body. Tang Wulin could see the sudden fear in his eyes and aimed the thrust at his arm, since he hadn¡¯t found out the full power of his new weapon, but Long Yue slammed his spear aside with his own before it could find its target.


    Tang Wulin pulled his spear back and sent it at Long Yue¡¯s chest. The Dragon King was about to raise his spear to deflect it when he glimpsed out of the corner of his eye a golden ring speeding towards him. He stopped moving. Golden Dragon Spear pierced him clean through. What?! Tang Wulin looked closely and found he had pierced nothing but rock! He quickly looked around and saw one of the small mountains that Long Yue had summoned was moving and transforming into Long Yue!


    The Dragon King had dodged a fatal blow. He was panting though. Apparently it was not a skill he could use as often as he liked. His eyes had turned red, his rage flaring. He glared at Xu Xiaoyan, his third soul ring shining. Suddenly Xu Xiaoyan found herself slowly sinking into a muddy bog. He would have charged over and taken her out, but Gu Yue¡¯s chanting stopped him. He was losing control of himself, but he still had a warrior¡¯s instincts. She is a much bigger threat! My teammates will take care of the girl in the bog easily. But Dai Yueyan was being hammered at by Yuanen Yehui, Hua Lantang was struggling to parry Yue Zhengyu¡¯s strikes, Su Mu and Ye Zhi could barely withstand Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword intent, and Teng Teng wasn¡¯t quick enough to shake off Xie Xie. Only Lin San the Wind King wasn¡¯t in a fight at the moment, so he rushed towards Xu Xiaoyan, taking it upon himself to eliminate her, in spite of his severe injuries.


    Tang Wulin raced towards Long Yue, never taking his eyes off him, his face unusually grave. Nobody knew the horrifying power of Crazy Long than he did.


    Long Yue lifted his double-headed spear and pointed it at Gu Yue, his second soul ring shining. A raging torrent appeared out of thin air and rushed towards the chanting girl.


    Tang Wulin vaulted with his spear into the air before Gu Yue, summoning his battle armor, his second golden soul ring shining. Golden Dragon Tyrant Body! The torrent crashed into him like a train. His golden scales were shining brightly in an attempt to absorb the impact. His Golden Dragon Tyrant Body technique could only last three seconds, but the torrent showed no sign of stopping any time soon.


    Yuanen Yehui kicked Dai Yueyan to one side, raised the two huge hammers, and hurled them at Long Yue. But the prince managed to jump up and punched the hammers away with all his strength.


    Tang Wulin thrust his spear forward, unleashing a phantom dragon to help him fight the violent water rushing continuously at him. Holding his spear, Long Yue leapt up and fused with the torrent, causing it to expand into a wide roaring river, which threatened to devour everything in its path.


    That was when Tang Wulin¡¯s third golden soul ring lit up. He threw back his head and let out a thunderous roar!

 Chapter 703 - Gu Yue’s New Technique

    Chapter 703 - Gu Yue¡¯s New Technique


    A gigantic phantom golden dragon appeared above Tang Wulin¡¯s head as he roared, its wingspan about 100 feet. The dragon would have blocked the sun if it hadn¡¯t been translucent.


    Everyone on the stage froze for an instant save for Gu Yue.


    The river Long Yue had conjured up vanished, but he was still flying towards Tang Wulin. He felt his martial soul being further suppressed. His bloodred eyes had returned to their normal color, the murderous intent in them gone.


    Tang Wulin brought Golden Dragon Spear down with both hands, catching Long Yue in the shoulder, sending him back onto the ground with a dull thud.


    The phantom golden dragon disappeared. Tang Wulin¡¯s face lost color, but only for an instant.


    His third blood essence soul skill, Golden Dragon Roar, was more powerful than he had expected. It was the first time he had used this technique he had unlocked after breaking the sixth seal. It had been a desperate measure, but it had worked.


    Hua Lantang the Wolf King, whose martial soul was the Dragon Wolf, lost his feet in fear and landed on his ass. Yue Zhengyu took this marvelous opportunity created by his captain and knocked him onto the soul barrier with his holy light. The Wolf King fell to the ground, his battle armor all dented and gashed.


    Xie Xie was not faring any better than Hua Lantang. He crashed to the stage, unable to move, his clone obliterated by that roar.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s roar also suppressed Su Mu¡¯s power when he was about to use a soul skill. As a result, his technique had almost zero effect on Ye Xinglan, who thrust her sword through his shoulder and eliminated him.


    The referees had Hua Lantang, Xie Xie, and Su Mu carried out quickly.


    That was when Gu Yue finally stopped chanting. Elemental Staff had grown very heavy from the way it was being lifted. The gem atop the staff was shining brown, and a ring of brown light exploded from it and spread across the whole stage in a heartbeat.


    Suddenly all the mountains on the stage started to collapse and disintegrate into nothingness, and the bog that had been swallowing Xu Xiaoyan vanished without a trace.


    What¡¯s going on? Fang¡¯er thought, puzzled. Did Long Yue just undo his soul skills? But when she looked to Long Yue, she saw that he looked as confused as her.


    En Ci¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. ¡°She sealed the earth element!¡± he blurted out.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Dai Tianling asked.


    ¡°No one in that brown ring can use any earth-type soul skills,¡± the old man explained. ¡°Element-sealing soul skills are as powerful as they are unpopular among soul masters, because their usage is very limited. And to master this type of soul skill, normally one has to be a six-ringed Soul Emperor at least.¡±


    ¡°But she only has four soul rings.¡±


    ¡°Yes. So either she is using her life energy to feed that skill, or her spiritual power has reached the Spirit Abyss Realm.¡±


    ¡°She looks a little pale, but I don¡¯t think that technique is consuming her life energy,¡± Dai Tianling said.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t,¡± En Ci agreed.


    ¡°So her spiritual power has reached the Spirit Abyss Realm?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That¡¯s the only explanation.¡±


    Dai Tianling looked shocked. No way! She¡¯s only 15 and a four-ringed Soul Ancestor. Even six-ringed Soul Emperors have to train hard to reach the Spirit Abyss Realm. But he left his doubts unspoken. Then he suddenly remembered how his daughter¡¯s spiritual attack had failed to work on this girl. Maybe Master En Ci is right. To think that such a young girl has such strong spiritual power. This skill of hers is really mind-blowing. And I thought Tang Wulin was the most talented one on his team. This girl is most probably more powerful than Tang Wulin is. I was wrong to expect this to be an easy match to win. Each and every one of these kids is tenacious, determined, and strong-willed. They have gained the upper hand, even though they¡¯re not favored to win.

 Chapter 704 - Is That the Best You Can Do?

    Chapter 704 - Is That the Best You Can Do?


    Gu Yue landed gracefully on her feet. She was huffing and puffing though; that soul skill had used too much of her energy.


    Long Yue circulated his soul power throughout his body, trying to summon a mountain to attack Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, but found to his shock he couldn¡¯t. What did she do? She unleashed a ring of brown light, and then¡­ The brown ring! Yes, that must be it! But I can¡¯t get out of the ring, not when it¡¯s as large as the stage! Such an incredible technique. I¡¯ve never fought anyone so terrifying. Just who the hell is she?


    Tang Wulin was taken aback when the mountains crumbled. He didn¡¯t know what Gu Yue had done, but he knew she had done something. He had many questions for her, but this was hardly the time or place to give voice to them. He looked at Long Yue and saw a furrowed brow, which told him that Gu Yue¡¯s soul skill had done a number on him. So without a moment¡¯s hesitation, he charged at the Dragon King again.


    Meanwhile, Dai Yueyan and Yuanen Yehui were exchanging blows in fierce hand-to-hand combat. The fourth prince, having lost two matches in this tournament, was giving this fight his all to try not to let his father down again, so despite his wounds, he was putting up a good fight.


    Ye Zhi stood there like a helpless lamb waiting to be slaughtered after Su Mu was eliminated. Ye Xinglan didn¡¯t let her suffer long from the torture of fear; Stargod Sword broke through her defenses in a matter of seconds.


    With Su Mu, Hua Lantang, Ye Zhi, and Xie Xie eliminated, now it was down to six on four.


    Lin San flew at Xu Xiaoyan, but he was intercepted halfway by Ye Xinglan. Between the burns from Gu Yue¡¯s fireball and the wounds from Tang Wulin¡¯s Golden Dragon Spear, the Wind King could barely withstand Ye Xinglan¡¯s sword intent.


    Teng Teng raced towards Xu Xiaoyan, but suddenly Yue Zhengyu was beside her.


    Long Yue watched as Tang Wulin sped at him. ¡°I don¡¯t need soul skills to defeat you!¡± he shouted.


    A deafening Golden Dragon Roar, and Tang Wulin was up in the air, his spear descending in a golden arc.


    Long Yue brought his owe spear up above his head and blocked the powerful blow. The impact sank him several inches into the ground. ¡°Is that the best you can do?¡± he sneered, and pushed Golden Dragon Spear aside with a shove, his body shining a dark golden, his eyes turning bloodred again.


    The faces of Dai Yueyan, Lin San, and Teng Teng brightened up at once, as if they had already won the match.


    Pieces of dark golden armor emerged from the Dragon King¡¯s skin. His one-word battle armor is made of spirit alloy too? Tang Wulin wondered, surprised. Then he saw the wings and realized how wrong he had been. One-word battle armor has no wings, so he must be a two-word battle armor master like Teacher Wu!


    The moment Long Yue donned his armor, everyone on the stage felt an enormous, terrifying pressure weighing down on them. His power now could even match that of an eight-ringed Soul Douluo!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s voice boomed out. ¡°Take out the others first!¡± He slashed at Long Yue with his right golden claw, sending five dark golden beams of light shooting forward. Golden Dragon Dreadclaw!


    Long Yue didn¡¯t even bother to dodge his attack. The five light beams caught him square in the chest but left not so much as a scratch on his armor. Suddenly he moved, so fast that all Tang Wulin could see was a blur. He slammed into his adversary with his shoulder, knocking him onto the barrier with a sickening thud.


    ¡°Get out of here!¡± Crazy Long shouted to his teammates. Them being on the stage would only distract him or get in the way.


    Dai Yueyan, Lin San, and Teng Teng conceded the match without hesitation and jumped off the stage quickly.


    Long Yue looked around to make sure all of his teammates were gone and suddenly saw a golden ring speeding towards him from the corner of his eye. Her control abilities are so annoying! He evaded it with ease, and with a swing of his spear, he sent out a dazzling beam of light that flew at high speed towards Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan was too petrified with fear to move. Yue Zhengyu pushed her out of the way, but by then it was too late for him to dodge that attack. The light beam exploded on impact, sending him flying back. Blood sprayed from his mouth.


    ¡°Zhengyu!¡± Xu Xiaoyan screamed, as angry as she was worried. Her third soul ring lit up, and numerous beams of starlight burst out of her staff and rained down on Long Yue.


    Fast as he might be, the Dragon King failed to evade them all. He couldn¡¯t move.


    Xu Xiaoyan pointed at Tang Wulin with Star Staff as her fourth soul ring started shining. Star Link! Then she pointed at her other teammates and linked them all together with starlight. Now they were shining like six stars.

 Chapter 705 - Go Get Him

    Chapter 705 - Go Get Him


    Xu Xiaoyan¡¯s fourth soul skill, Star Link, could link soul masters together. The damage they received would be equally divided among all of them, and they could channel their soul power to each other via the link.


    ¡°Give the Captain your soul power!¡± Xu Xiaoyan told her friends, and then she turned to Tang Wulin. ¡°Go get him, Captain!¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded solemnly. He could feel a fresh wave of power pouring into his body, the dragon engraved on his spear shining resplendently.


    Long Yue flew towards Tang Wulin as soon as he was free from the golden chains that bound him, murderous intent filling his eyes. Tang Wulin charged at him, numerous blue vines shooting forward to grab the Dragon King. Long Yue spun his spear with both hands at such incredible speed that all the vines were smashed into pieces in a split second. But by then Tang Wulin had used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to get behind him. He thrust his spear at Long Yue, and a huge phantom dragon shot out of the spearhead. Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens! With a quick flap of his wings, Long Yue dodged the dragon¡¯s open jaws with ease. Despite his weight, he could move at an incredibly high speed with the help of his two-word battle armor. With him flying in the air, it was really difficult for Tang Wulin to land an attack on him.


    Long Yue hurled his double-headed spear down at his opponent with brute force, but Tang Wulin leapt out of the way. The spear sank into the stage and shattered the ground beneath his feet, causing the boy to lose his footing and stumble a little. Long Yue flew down like an arrow and lashed out with his giant fist, knocking him flying backwards.


    Tang Wulin heard his friends grunt with pain.


    Watching with bated breath, Fang¡¯er had stopped commentating. She couldn¡¯t decide which side was more amazing. Long Yue¡¯s power is incredible, to be sure, but he still hasn¡¯t defeated Tang Wulin¡¯s team, despite his two-word battle armor and all.


    Tang Bingyao couldn¡¯t hide the pride in his eyes.


    Elder Cai sat there, emotionless, but inside she was really impressed by her students. She knew the path to excellence was demanding and challenging, so she kept pushing them, even though their performance in this tournament had already greatly exceeded her expectations.


    She had wanted to stop them from competing in the team competition, but then had hardened her heart and changed her mind. She knew that Long Yue would probably beat them, but she was certain he would never break them.


    Tang Wulin crashed to the ground, relying on his spear to push himself to his feet, his eyes burning a deep golden.


    Suddenly Gu Yue was beside him. ¡°Use the soul fusion skill,¡± she said, her voice soft but firm.


    The captain of the Shrek Academy team turned to face her and nodded, putting out his left hand. Taking a deep breath, Gu Yue took his hand with her right. Tang Wulin started shining a dazzling golden, while the light around Gu Yue was seven-colored.


    Long Yue flew towards them again, holding his spear, but before he could reach them, Gu Yue disappeared. The starlight linking them together had also vanished. He saw Tang Wulin was standing there, a pair of seven-colored wings growing out of his shoulders, seven-colored light slowly dancing around Golden Dragon Spear in his right hand.


    Tang Wulin flapped his wings and flew up into the air, staring at the Dragon King with authoritative eyes.


    The murderous intent in Long Yue¡¯s eyes was gone in half a heartbeat. He slowed down and then landed on the ground, looking up at Tang Wulin in awe, his eyes wide with disbelief. It was all he could do not to kneel before him.


    An instant later Long Yue remembered himself, but he found himself still trembling with fear. ¡°No!¡± he roared, and charged at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin looked down at him, angry for no reason he could name. He opened his mouth and let out a draconic roar! It was not a Golden Dragon Roar, but it was so full of authority that Long Yue fell down onto his knees.


    A flash of seven-colored light, and Golden Dragon Spear went right through Long Yue¡¯s shoulder, nailing him to the ground.


    Long Yue struggled to raise his head and saw Tang Wulin¡¯s seven-colored eyes. They were staring down at him, demanding respect and obedience.


    ¡°I yield,¡± Long Yue said, his voice thick with pain and terror.


    Tang Wulin pulled the spear out of Long Yue and roared.


    All the soul masters in the stadium who had a dragon-type martial soul bowed their heads despite themselves, whether they be Titled Douluos or not. Fang¡¯er thought she could see a seven-colored dragon hovering above Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 706 - The Shrek Academy Team is Victorious

    Chapter 706 - The Shrek Academy Team is Victorious


    Gu Yue separated from Tang Wulin in a flash of seven-colored light. Then a sudden wave of fatigue washed over them. Their legs gave out, and they ended up sitting on the stage.


    The stadium was as silent as if it were empty. Everyone was too stunned to move. It all happened so fast that nobody could believe their eyes.


    Long Yue wished it had been a dream, a terrible nightmare he would awake from, but the searing pain in his shoulder was reminding him it was real.


    Tang Bingyao, Elder Cai, and Wu Zhangkong were as shocked as En Ci and Dai Tingling, only they were also exulting.


    ¡°The Shrek Academy team is victorious!¡± a referee announced after regaining his composure.


    A smile appeared on Tang Wulin¡¯s wan and tired face. We defeated him and defended the honor of our academy! He looked around at his teammates. They were grinning widely at him, their eyes shining with excitement. Nobody cheered for them, but they couldn¡¯t care less.


    Xie Xie rushed towards Yuanen Yehui as fast as his feet could carry him, a great wide smile on his face.


    ¡°We won!¡± Xie Xie shouted at her. And for once, Yuanen Yehui smiled back at him.


    Laughing, Xie Xie threw his arms around her and hugged her fiercely. For an instant she tried to push him away in abashment, but then she stopped and allowed herself to stay in his arms.


    ¡°We did it, Zhengyu! We won!¡± Xu Xiaoyan said, and wrapped her arms around Yue Zhengyu, giving him a loud kiss on the cheek. ¡°I could get used to this,¡± he said, grinning like a fool.


    Ye Xinglan watched as a fat boy climbed onto the stage and rushed over to her. ¡°We won,¡± she said, smiling, and took Xu Lizhi in her arms. ¡°You guys are amazing, I¡¯m so proud of you!¡± Xu Lizhi said, hugging her back.


    Tang Wulin used his spear to push himself up to a standing position. Then he put his arm around Gu Yue¡¯s shoulders, hooked his hand into her armpit, and helped her to her feet. Resting her head on his chest, she could plainly hear the thumping of his heart.


    Long Yue struggled to his feet, grimacing in pain. His body had shrunk back to its original size. He looked at Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, his eyes incredulous and thoughtful.


    Dai Yueyan and the other students of the Monster Academy sat in the waiting area in depressed silence, unwilling to believe that their captain, a six-ringed Soul Emperor and a two-word battle armor master, had lost to a bunch of kids.


    The final score was eight to one. A crushing defeat for the Monster Academy. Although Long Yue had won the one-on-one and the two-on-two competitions, almost everyone felt Tang Wulin¡¯s team was stronger. The name ¡°Shrek¡± had been etched on everyone¡¯s heart.


    Frowning, En Ci rose to his feet and disappeared in a flash of light.


    A smile showed on Wu Zhangkong¡¯s grim face as he stood in the waiting area, waiting for his students. Mu Ye suddenly appeared beside him, stroking his chin, thoughtful. Their soul fusion skill is extraordinary.


    Wu Zhangkong turned to face him. ¡°Thank you for saving Wulin.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me,¡± Mu Ye replied. ¡°He is my student too.¡±


    Two days later, Tang Wulin found himself standing before Wu Zhangkong telling him about his new mission.


    ¡°A mission with the Tang Sect?¡± Wu Zhangkong asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded. ¡°A mission with the Battle Hall, yes. We¡¯re going to a place called¨C¡°


    ¡°No, don¡¯t tell me,¡± Wu Zhangkong interrupted, raising a hand abruptly. ¡°Remember, Wulin, don¡¯t reveal the details of your Tang Sect mission to anyone. Not even me or your friends. Do you know how long it will take?¡±


    Tang Wulin shook his head. ¡°Several days, maybe. I don¡¯t know.¡± Black One said it was a once-in-ten-years opportunity, so I¡¯m guessing it might take a while.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded. ¡°We won¡¯t be staying here long. We¡¯ll travel to other places in the Star Luo Empire. I¡¯ll buy a soul communicator for you, and after your mission, you can use it to contact us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Teacher Wu.¡±


    When Tang Wulin took supper with his friends in the evening, he told them what he had told Wu Zhangkong.


    ¡°Teacher Wu has given me his permission,¡± said Tang Wulin. ¡°Gu Yue will be the captain in my absence.¡±


    ¡°I want to join the Battle Hall too!¡± Xie Xie said in a tone of longing.


    Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°All of you can join the Battle Hall if you want, I think. We¡¯ll talk more about this when we get back. My mission will probably take a few days. I¡¯ll call you when it¡¯s done.¡±


    Xie Xie nodded.


    Gu Yue dropped her gaze and got back to her food, silent.

 Chapter 707 - Because We’re Friends

    Chapter 707 - Because We¡¯re Friends


    Tang Wulin looked at Gu Yue¡¯s expressionless face and then returned to eating the sumptuous meal in front of him, but to his surprise, he found he had lost all appetite. Why has she become so cold and distant all of a sudden? She was nothing like this when we were fighting Long Yue together. Did I do something wrong? Girls are so unpredictable!


    Tang Wulin¡¯s teammates saw the way he looked at Gu Yue and decided something must have happened between them, but they knew better than to ask. They hastily finished their meal and left them there alone.


    Tang Wulin watched as Gu Yue wiped her lips with a napkin. ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave, Captain,¡± she said, standing, but he caught her hand before she could leave. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No. Why?¡± She didn¡¯t try to pull back her hand.


    ¡°You¡¯re acting so strange.¡±


    ¡°You are the one who is acting strange. I have told you I only got close to you because of your bloodline, but why aren¡¯t you mad at me?¡± She withdrew her hand from his and made for the door.


    Because I don¡¯t believe you and because I love you, he wanted to say, but what he said was, ¡°Because we¡¯re friends!¡±


    Gu Yue froze for an instant but didn¡¯t turn around, tears welling in her eyes. No, we¡¯re enemies, she thought to herself. But if he is my enemy, why is it so hard to leave him? I can¡¯t let my personal feelings for him get in the way of our cause. They¡¯re all counting on me, I can¡¯t let them down at this point. If I keep my distance from him, I¡¯ll gradually forget him. She blinked back her tears and walked out of the dining room.


    On a bright morning two days later, Tang Wulin came to the rendezvous point in the Battle Hall. Standing there in his white cloak and white metal mask waiting for others to come, he found himself thinking about Gu Yue, who had gone to visit the interesting places in the Star Luo Empire with Wu Zhangkong, Elder Cai, and the rest of his team. He had smiled at them when he had seen them off, but the look Gu Yue had given him was emotionless. Hopefully the sightseeing tour will lighten her mood a bit, he thought. I should focus on the mission. I¡¯ll tell her how much I care about her when we get back to the academy.


    ¡°White Three,¡± a familiar voice called out, ¡°you¡¯ve come early.¡±


    ¡°Good morning, sir!¡± Tang Wulin said to Black One respectfully.


    Black One nodded. ¡°Your code name this time will still be White Three.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know much about the Dragon Valley, do you?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t. But how do you know that, sir?¡± Tang Wulin asked, suddenly afraid.


    ¡°I saw your face in the bomb-defusing mission, remember? And you made quite a name for yourself at the Continental Young Elites Tournament. But don¡¯t worry, the Tang Sect here won¡¯t discriminate against you just because you¡¯re from the Douluo Continent. And I¡¯ll tell you the things you need to know about the Dragon Valley.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, sir!¡±


    By then all the other 29 white-class agents had arrived.


    Everyone straightened as Black One¡¯s eyes swept over them. ¡°I¡¯m sure many of you have heard a lot about the Dragon Valley; stories, rumors, secrets. But I must warn you, you can¡¯t tell anyone what you see or hear or get in the Dragon Valley, or else all the things you find there will be confiscated and you might find yourself getting expelled from the Tang Sect.¡±


    This Dragon Valley must be really important for them to set up such a strict rule, thought Tang Wulin.


    ¡°Your mission is very simple: last as long as you can in the Dragon Valley,¡± Black One continued. ¡°I can assure you that the longer you stay there, the more beneficial it is to you. And you can take anything you find there.


    ¡°One thing you must remember: your soul power will be suppressed there, so you won¡¯t be able to use any soul skills. To keep you safe, I¡¯ll give you each a dragon ball. When your life is in danger, your dragon ball will transport you out of the Dragon Valley instantly. You can also trigger it by infusing your spiritual power into it, so whatever you do, don¡¯t lose it.¡±


    Looks like we¡¯re going on a treasure-hunting adventure! Tang Wulin thought, excited. Dragon Valley¡­ My Golden Dragon King power may prove to be useful there. I may even find out more about this strange power of mine.


    Then they followed Black One onto a soul bus. Tang Wulin found an aisle seat and sat down.


    Once they were all seated, Black One began handing out code name plates and dragon balls. ¡°The person sitting next to you is your partner in this mission. Work together and look after each other after you get into the Dragon Valley, but now keep quiet.¡±

 Chapter 708 - White Seven

    Chapter 708 - White Seven


    Tang Wulin looked at his partner in the window seat beside him and saw a pair of delicate, slender hands on two knees. A girl? He nodded at her when White Seven turned to meet his eyes. She nodded back and turned her head back towards the view outside her window, although the bus was parked in the Tang Sect and there was not much for her to see.


    ¡°Close the curtains,¡± Black One called out. ¡°I don¡¯t want to draw unwanted attention.¡±


    Reluctantly White Seven reached up with her pretty hand and pulled the curtain close; it would seem she was more interested in what was outside the window than who was sitting beside her. The other window seat occupants did as they were bid without hesitation.


    The bus started and rolled out of the back gate. The driver took a quiet side street, and before long they were out of the city and on a highway. The scene outside the windshield had changed from giant buildings to extensive plots of farmland and small hills.


    It was almost noon when Black One had an agent hand out food and water. Tang Wulin removed the lower part of his mask and dug in. White Seven watched with wide eyes as her partner wolfed down his food in a matter of mere seconds. It was tasty, but nowhere near enough, not for Tang Wulin at least. He had a dragon¡¯s appetite as well as a dragon¡¯s power. Having sat for four hours, he wanted to take a nap, but his stomach was protesting by giving him pangs. I¡¯ll never again go on a trip without packing enough food. Then he found himself thinking about Master Mu Ye¡¯s gourmet food, his mouth watering despite himself.


    Mu Ye had given a disdainful look when Tang Wulin told him he was going on a mission with the Tang Sect, and then he had taught him a few methods to train his body and told him he wouldn¡¯t be able to train him for a while, because he had found a metal mine. The metal in the ore was strange to him, so he wanted to do some tests to see if it could strengthen his battle armor.


    It has been long since I last swung my forging hammers, Tang Wulin thought. I¡¯ll have to practice my forging skills after this mission.


    He missed his friends: Xu Lizhi, gluttonous like him, interested in eating different kinds of food; Xie Xie, his rival and best friend; Xu Xiaoyan, who always addressed him as ¡°Captain¡±; Yue Zhengyu, who could get his hands on all sorts of rare metals for him; Yuanen Yehui and Xe Xinglan, always wanting to catch up to him; Gu Yue, who was so difficult to understand. He hoped they were having a good time.


    Night was falling, and the bus was still speeding. After a simple supper, White Seven closed her eyes to sleep.


    Around midnight, they drove off the highway onto a mountain road. After a long and winding road, a town appeared in front of Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes.


    The bus stopped before a three-story building. It was wooden and quaint, with the Tang Sect¡¯s emblem on its door.


    ¡°Wake up! We¡¯ll stay the night here,¡± Black One said, pointing at the three-story building. ¡°I¡¯ve booked 15 twin rooms for you. You know what that means. Go to your rooms and get some rest, gather here again in the morning!¡±


    After he got off the bus, Tang Wulin raised both arms into the air, stretched, and took a deep breath. The night air was cool and refreshing. He wanted to go for a stroll to stretch his legs, but his stomach was rumbling like thunder.


    ¡°Where can I buy some food, sir?¡± Tang Wulin asked Black One.


    ¡°There is nothing open at this hour except this hotel. Get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Tang Wulin said, disappointed. I¡¯m so hungry I could eat a horse, literally.


    White Seven picked up the key from the reception desk and went upstairs. Tang Wulin quickened his pace and followed her up. She stopped at room 315, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.


    Tang Wulin was about to walk in when she turned around abruptly and asked, ¡°Are you a gentleman?¡± Her voice was muffled by the mask, but it was still pleasant to the ear.


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± Tang Wulin answered.


    ¡°Then sleep on the hall floor,¡± she said, and swung the door closed.


    Tang Wulin stood there uncertain for a moment. Then he raised a reluctant hand and knocked.


    The door opened a crack. ¡°You want a pillow?¡±


    ¡°I want my bed. I can¡¯t sleep on the hall floor, it¡¯s too embarrassing.¡±


    She slammed the door and locked it by sliding the bolt.


    At least give me my pillow! Tang Wulin thought sullenly. He decided to take a tour around the town; it was better than sleeping on the hard, cold floor and he might find something to eat if he was lucky.


    White Seven¡¯s lips curved in a smile when she heard her partner leave. Maybe he is a gentleman. But I¡¯ll never let a man sleep in the same room with me! If he dares force his way in, I¡¯ll beat the hell out of him!

 Chapter 709 - Where were You Last Night?

    Chapter 709 - Where were You Last Night?


    Tang Wulin walked out of the hotel. Moonlight shone down on the quiet town, silvering the stone-paved streets. A cool breeze was blowing in from the mountain, carrying the light scent of earth and trees. He took a few deep breaths. The air was fresh and clean and sweet, but he couldn¡¯t live on air alone.


    It was a small town, but it had a good number of different restaurants. He found a shop that sold cooked meats and a bing[1] restaurant. He wondered what it would taste like if he folded a bing around cooked meats. It would definitely be divine with some sauce! Hunger often made people fantasize about eating all kinds of delicious food. Each and every shop on the street had the Tang Sect¡¯s emblem on their door. This town had been built by the Tang Sect, he judged. He walked and walked, but couldn¡¯t find a single restaurant that was open.


    He looked around and spotted a large wood not far from the town. Maybe I can catch a boar or a pheasant there. He moved through the woods as silently as a cat. A cool wind whispered out of the south, making the trees rustle like living things. He thought he heard the rush of water in the distance.


    He summoned the Bluesilver Emperor and had planned to make a net, but the vines started dancing wildly as soon as they appeared, as if they had found their long-lost friend. He had been so preoccupied with looking for something to ease his hunger pangs that he hadn¡¯t noticed the rich natural energies floating in the air until now. Exulting, he quickly sat cross-legged on the ground and started meditating. The natural energies began to flow into his body through the thick vines so fast that he thought he could even feel his soul power growing.


    When he woke up from his meditation, he found the morning had dawned, and he had missed the time to train his Purple Demon Eyes. Nonetheless, he was as happy as the birds chirping in the trees, because his soul power had grown significantly after a night¡¯s meditation. I should be able to reach rank 50 in a year or two, if I can train in a place such as this every day.


    He stretched, feeling invigorated, jumped to his feet, and made his way through the woods to the town.


    It was very early and the hotel was still sleeping. He strode towards the cooked meat shop he stumbled across last night, his face lighting up when an aromatic smell tickled his nose and made his stomach clench with hunger.


    He broke into a trot. When he arrived at the shop, he saw a large cauldron sitting on a wood fire outside the door, big chunks of beef swimming in bubbling brown gravy.


    Tang Wulin could feel his mouth watering. ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯d like some meat!¡± he shouted to a fat man inside.


    The man walked out with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to wait. The meat won¡¯t be done for another half hour or so,¡± he said, adding some spices into the cauldron.


    ¡°Can I order some now and pick it up later?¡±


    ¡°Sure! How much do you want?¡±


    ¡°How fast can you cook?¡±


    The owner of the shop thought a moment. ¡°I can have 800 pounds of beef ready in about four hours.¡±


    ¡°Great! Just cook as fast as you can, I¡¯ll come back in a few hours and buy all of it.¡± 800 pounds can last me 20 days.


    ¡°All of it?¡± the fat man echoed, incredulous. ¡°Beef here is expensive, just so you know. We raise livestock in the woods, and we give them plenty of space to roam. The land is rich here, the grass sweet and extremely nutritive, and the water clean. So their meat is delicious and low in fat, and very popular in Star Luo City.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± Tang Wulin smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about money. I have money,¡± he said, handing a thick wad of bills to the fat man.


    The owner took the money, as shocked as he was happy. ¡°What do you need so much beef for, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡±


    ¡°I like beef,¡± Tang Wulin answered, snatching up a large chunk of beef with his hand from the cauldron. ¡°Smells good!¡± he said, stuffing it into his mouth. ¡°Mmm, you sure know how to cook beef!¡± With that, he walked off to buy more food.


    Life in this small town was clearly slower-paced than that in Star Luo City. The sun was up, but still there were not many people on the street. Tang Wulin wasted no time hitting other restaurants and bought as much food as his storage ring could carry; he didn¡¯t want to go hungry again.


    By the time he went back to the hotel, he was stuffed, and many agents were already waiting outside.


    When Black One stepped out of the gate, the 30 white-class agents quickly lined up in three rows. After they numbered off, Black One said, ¡°Go buy what you need. Gather here again at noon! Dismiss!¡±


    Tang Wulin collected the food he had ordered and judged it could last him a month at least. On his way back to the hotel, he heard restaurant owners tell his fellow agents that they had to wait for their orders. The early bird catches the worm, he thought, grinning.


    When he was leaning on the wooden wall of the hotel, thinking about the mission, he saw White Seven walking towards him. He wasn¡¯t harboring a grudge against her; a girl had to protect herself, after all.


    ¡°Where were you last night?¡± she asked casually, holding a glass of juice.


    ¡°In the woods, meditating,¡± he answered.


    White Seven nodded and walked into the hotel.


    Judging from the way she talks, she might be a highborn lady, Tang Wulin thought.


    1. Bing is a wheat flour-based Chinese food with a flattened or disk-like shape.

 Chapter 710 - Elder Wu

    Chapter 710 - Elder Wu


    At noon, they marched out of the little town and up the mountain. Unfortunately, there were no roads wide enough for buses. In fact, there were no roads at all, only narrow winding trails that were used only by hunters.


    Shafts of sunlight peeped through the dense canopy of leaves, covering the agents with dapples of light and shadow. The forest floor was carpeted by a thick layer of fallen leaves, and there were stones and roots lying just under them, waiting for the careless and the unwary.


    Tang Wulin could feel natural energies in the woods seeping into his body even as he walked, but whether it was because of his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul or because he had opened two of the eight extraordinary meridians, he could not say.


    The aura around him is so strong and¡­ familiar, White Seven thought, walking beside Tang Wulin. She seemed puzzled at first, but then it came to her. He is a plant-type soul master! Yes, that must be why the natural energies released by the trees are gathering around him. How convenient!


    After two hours of hard and quick marching through the woods, Black One looked up at the sky. ¡°We need to move faster, or we won¡¯t be able to reach the summit before dusk,¡± he said, breaking into a run. ¡°Keep up! Don¡¯t fall behind!¡±


    They stayed to the trail, following its twists and turns as it snaked along the side of the mountain. Soon the trees became scarce and the dense forest gave way to open grassland. Tang Wulin was still surefooted and tireless, and if his partner was weary, she hid it well. She was running fast without panting, quiet as a shadow and light as a feather. She must be an agility-type soul master, Tang Wulin thought to himself.


    Just before dusk, they arrived at the top of the mountain. Towering over one mile above the quaint small town, the summit was bleak and barren. There were patches of snow here and there, and the icy wind here was unforgiving; it went through them rather than around them. Nobody in their right mind would live here, but there was a modest stone hut squatting at the very edge of the cliff.


    When Black One was about to go over to knock at the stone door, it opened slowly. An old man walked out, tall and thin and stooped, leaning on a gnarled ebony cane.


    ¡°Elder Wu,¡± Black One called out, hurrying over and bowing respectfully.


    This Elder Wu must hold a really high position in the Tang Sect, thought Tang Wulin.


    Elder Wu nodded, his eyes sweeping over the 30 white-class agents. ¡°These kids are not half bad,¡± he said. ¡°Get them ready.¡±


    Black One nodded and turned to his subordinates. ¡°You¡¯ll never get such a good opportunity again. Just try and stay as long as you can in the Dragon Valley, but don¡¯t hesitate to use your dragon ball to get yourself out when your life is in danger.¡±


    Standing at the edge of the cliff, Elder Wu struck the rocky ground with his ebony cane, nine soul rings appearing around him, two yellow, three purple, and four black. A Titled Douluo!


    The white-class agents gazed in awe at the old man; becoming a Titled Douluo was every soul master¡¯s dream.


    A round glyph appeared under Elder Wu¡¯s feet, glowing a bright white. It was like a soul circuit, only more elaborate and mystical. None of the white-class agents had ever seen anything like that before, judging from their wide eyes.


    The glyph expanded suddenly, until its diameter became as large as 100 yards. Tang Wulin¡¯s heart started pounding like a hammer in his chest. It was all he could do to stop the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power in his blood from turning his hands into claws.


    Then Elder Wu thrust his cane into the rocky ground, his stooped back straightening, his body growing. In a matter of seconds, he had transformed into a 50-feet-long dragon with giant wings, bluish-purple lightning sparking around his body.


    His martial soul is the legendary Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon! Tang Wulin though, shocked.


    As the dragon let out a deafening roar, a dazzling white column of light shot up from the glyph and tore a big black hole in the sky, seven-colored light shining from the rim of the hole.


    All the white-class agents were left wonderstruck.


    Suddenly Black One was behind two agents. ¡°Hold your partner¡¯s hand!¡± he said, grabbing them by their shoulders. Then he flung them upwards with brute force. They shot straight into the hole and disappeared instantly.

 Chapter 711 - A Different World

    Chapter 711 - A Different World


    Tang Wulin turned to face White Seven and held out his right hand when Black One appeared behind them. His partner hesitated a moment before taking his hand in hers, but her hand tightened around his the moment their feet left the ground. She is easily frightened for an agent, he thought.


    An instant later they were inside the hole in the sky. Tang Wulin opened his eyes wide, but found he couldn¡¯t see a thing. For a moment he thought he was blind. He couldn''t breathe. He felt as if his brain was being scrambled. His head hurt so much he thought it was going to explode. He held White Seven¡¯s hand tightly. She must be more scared than I am.


    Suddenly the darkness was gone, and so was the indescribable pain in his head. That was the good part. The bad part was they were about 50 feet high above the ground and they were falling.


    Tang Wulin tried to summon the Bluesilver Emperor, but nothing appeared. Black One had warned them that this would happen, so he didn¡¯t panic, but the same thing couldn¡¯t be said for White Seven, whose arms and legs were flailing wildly in the air. ¡°Calm down!¡± he shouted. When she didn¡¯t listen, he pulled her up and held her bridal style in his arms. He looked down as the ground rushed up to meet them.


    Then came a loud thud. The landing sent a shockwave through Tang Wulin¡¯s legs, but he bent his knees, absorbing the impact.


    White Seven didn¡¯t remember throwing her arms around her partner, but when she opened her eyes again, she was in his arms, her breasts pressing to his chest. She blushed fiercely beneath her mask and hurriedly disentangled herself from him.


    Then they looked around casually, trying to ease the awkwardness.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± Tang Wulin asked. He looked up, half expecting to see a black hole, but the sky was intact and blue, bluer than any sky he had ever seen. ¡°This is¡­ the Dragon Valley?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± White Seven said, nodding. ¡°We¡¯re in a different world now.¡±


    ¡°A different world?¡± Tang Wulin echoed, eyes wide in disbelief.


    ¡°There are many portals around our country, and each one opens to a different small world,¡± she explained. ¡°Most of the small worlds are very unstable. In time they may crumble and fall apart, destroying everything inside it. But don¡¯t worry, this one is stable enough. Looks like someone didn¡¯t pay attention in science class.¡± She chuckled.


    For a moment Tang Wulin forgot he had a mask on and feigned an embarrassed smile. Your science class is different from mine, Tang Wulin thought, amazed. The Star Luo Continent is so interesting!


    ¡°We can¡¯t use any soul skills here,¡± Tang Wulin said.


    ¡°Tell me something I don¡¯t know.¡±


    You don¡¯t know I¡¯m from the Douluo Continent, Tang Wulin thought, and you don¡¯t know I can use Golden Dragon King¡¯s power here. But he couldn¡¯t tell her, not when he had become the most hated man in her country. He was so notorious in the Star Luo Empire that he had to wear a mask everywhere he went. Hopefully I don¡¯t have to use Golden Dragon King¡¯s power, which will surely give away who I am. If they can survive here without using soul skills, so can I.


    A flash of light, and two spirit refined heavy silver hammers appeared in his hands. Good! I can still use my soul storage rings.


    ¡°You¡¯re a blacksmith?¡± White Seven asked, surprised.


    ¡°Yes. I take them with me wherever I go. I wish I had my mecha here with me though.¡±


    ¡°Your mecha is nothing more than a heap of junk in here. Mechas run on soul power, but soul power is suppressed in this world, even the soul power in soul batteries.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tang Wulin asked, curious.


    ¡°How would I know? Nobody knows why. Maybe soul masters with higher cultivation levels could use soul skills here, but it seems this world doesn¡¯t welcome them; they would be ejected out immediately, even if they somehow managed to enter. Come on, we shouldn¡¯t be wasting time here. This place is a gold mine for soul masters.¡±


    Tang Wulin nodded and walked in front, holding his heavy silver hammers. White Seven followed close at his heels, with a dagger in each hand.


    After walking for a while, Tang Wulin found that they had been transported into a large piece of wild land. There were hills, woods, undergrowth, and grass, but he hadn¡¯t seen a single animal so far. A light mist was hovering over the ground. He didn¡¯t know why, but he sensed sadness in the air.


    The force of gravity here was about two times greater than that on the planet Douluo, so before long White Seven was panting.


    Tang Wulin turned to face the girl. ¡°Maybe we should rest for a while.¡±


    White Seven nodded.

 Chapter 712 - You’re Sick

    Chapter 712 - You¡¯re Sick


    ¡°I¡¯ll get up that tree to keep a lookout,¡± Tang Wulin told White Seven. He went to the big tree and began to climb. When he felt he was high enough, he looked around to make sure they were alone and then found a comfortable branch to sit on. He was hungry. All that marching and running had consumed a lot of his energy, and hiking in a world with such strong gravity didn¡¯t help. So he took out a bing and a chunk of beef, folded the bing around the meat, and started stuffing himself.


    White Seven took her seat on a clean stone beneath the tree and gracefully drank a swallow of water from her bottle.


    Why isn¡¯t she eating? Tang Wulin wondered. Is she not hungry? Then the answer hit him. She doesn¡¯t have anything to eat, because almost all the food that small town can provide today is in my storage rings. He thought he heard her stomach rumbling. He could have offered her something to eat, but he didn¡¯t feel like being a gentleman today.


    White Seven stole a glance at him, and just as quickly averted her eyes. She couldn¡¯t bring herself to ask for food from him, partly because she was too prideful and partly because she feared he was still holding a grudge against her for not letting him sleep in their room. But soon her fear gave way to hunger. ¡°Bring down your food to me!¡± she heard herself say as Tang Wulin started wolfing a second bing.


    Tang Wulin didn¡¯t so much as glance at her. She might be a highborn lady, but her manners are far from ladylike.


    ¡°Hey, you! Did you hear me? I said, bring down the food!¡± White Seven flared, lurching to her feet.


    ¡°My name is not Hey You. You can call me White Three,¡± Tang Wulin said, not unkindly.


    ¡°You said you were a gentleman. What kind of gentleman watches a girl starve while stuffing himself?¡± she shouted up.


    ¡°The bad kind,¡± said Tang Wulin, smiling. ¡°I might give you some if you ask nicely.¡±


    ¡°Ask nicely?¡± White Seven snorted. ¡°I have always had everything handed to me on a silver platter. If you think I¡¯ll ask nicely, you must be crazy.¡±


    Tang Wulin laughed. ¡°I might be crazy, but you¡¯re sick.¡±


    White Seven didn¡¯t understand what he was talking about. ¡°I¡¯m not sick!¡± she said angrily.


    ¡°Yes, you are. You have princess syndrome.¡±


    The girl was infuriated. ¡°Get down here! I¡¯m warning you!¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tang Wulin said, eating, wondering what she might do. Then suddenly pain flared up in his head, so sharp that he lost his balance and fell headfirst towards the ground, his bing slipping out of his hand. A spiritual attack? He quickly used his spiritual power to fight it and managed to land on his hands, and then he vaulted backwards onto his feet. He glowered at her.


    ¡°You were warned,¡± she said with a gloating smile.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t have done that,¡± Tang Wulin said, picking up his food. ¡°Our partnership ends here. Now you¡¯re on your own. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be fine, since you can always find everything you need on your silver platter.¡± And with that he started to stride off.


    White Seven had never thought he would get so angry, but she would sooner die than entreat him to stay. She snatched up her water bottle and hurled it at him. Tang Wulin whirled around and caught it with his left hand. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t waste water if I were you,¡± he said, throwing the bottle back at her feet.


    At least give me some food before you go! she wanted to say, but she pressed her lips together stubbornly and said nothing, watching him disappear into the distance.


    Talk about a spoiled girl! Tang Wulin thought sullenly as he walked. I hope I¡¯ll never see her again. She is so willful! Gu Yue can be willful sometimes, but she is not thoughtless. The thought of Gu Yue slowed his pace. Why are you so distant to me these days? What¡¯s on your mind? Why won¡¯t you tell me?


    ¡­


    ¡°We¡¯ll arrive at the next city soon,¡± Xie Xie said excitedly to Yuanen Yehui, who was sitting beside him on a bus. ¡°The tour guide said there are portals leading to other worlds on this continent. Can you believe that?¡± Yuanen Yehui listened with a bored look on her face.


    Xu Xiaoyan was sitting with Yue Zhengyu, and beside Ye Xinglan was Xu Lizhi.


    The seat next to Gu Yue was empty, like her heart. ¡°I wish the Captain were here with us,¡± she heard Xie Xie say. Where are you, Wulin? Are you so busy you can¡¯t even call? She pulled out her soul communicator and stared at it, but in the end she didn¡¯t dial the number. I shouldn¡¯t have promised to enter the inner court with you. No, I should never have befriended you in the first place. She missed him more than she cared to admit.


    ¡­


    Tang Wulin slid under a large bush on a plain, flat on his belly, and peered up through thick branches. Are those¡­ clouds? he thought, alarmed.


    Floating in the sky about 300 feet above the ground were a group of clouds, but unlike normal clouds, they came in seven different colors; red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. Although their shapes were slowly changing, they always looked like dragons. They were drifting across the sky, but never far away from the plain. Maybe these clouds are the reason why this place is called the Dragon Valley.


    He could sense energy in the strange clouds, and somehow he felt an affinity with them, but he was not sure if it was safe to walk under them, so he grabbed up a stone, got back up to his feet, and threw it at one of the clouds.

 Chapter 713 - Dragon Clouds

    Chapter 713 - Dragon Clouds


    The stone shot up like a shell out of a cannon. It went clean through the red cloud, leaving a hole in it. But the hole healed up almost in an instant as if nothing had happened.


    At least they were not alive, Tang Wulin judged. What are they? He couldn¡¯t jump high enough to reach them, not without the help of his martial soul. I can¡¯t hide here forever. I have to find out what they are. No risk, no reward.


    Tang Wulin readied the power of the Golden Dragon King and stepped out of the bushes warily.


    The flamboyant clouds were still drifting sluggishly across the sky. Step by step, he moved closer and closer, until he was right beneath the red cloud. Nothing happened. Are they just clouds? But he could feel even more clearly the energy in them. As he was staring up at the red cloud, suddenly it changed into the shape of a top and started spinning violently. Tang Wulin was startled. What?! He had no time to think about it, not when the red top was flying towards him at high speed.


    Golden light burst out from Tang Wulin as he activated Golden Dragon Body. Then he found to his shock all the dragon clouds above the plain were rushing at him. Crap! I think I made them mad or something.


    He raised his arms, bracing himself for the impact, but when the red cloud connected with them, he felt nothing. It went right through him. Suddenly he felt so warm and comfortable all over, and he could feel his blood rushing hot through his veins.


    The red cloud took on a hint of golden color when it left his body, he saw. It swelled into the shape of a dragon again and slowly floated back up into the sky.


    That was when a cyan cloud reached him. Tang Wulin became so weightless that he could almost float in the air. It also assumed a golden color after it flew through his body.


    The seven colors represent the seven different elements! Tang Wulin realized quickly. Fire, wind, water, earth, light, darkness, and space. And all the clouds have dragon¡¯s energy in them. That¡¯s why I feel so connected with them.


    All the clouds in the vicinity of Tang Wulin came and went in a matter of seconds. The energy they left in his body seeped into his blood, traveling all around him.


    Tang Wulin rushed back into the safety of the bushes, sat down, and started meditating. He didn¡¯t know why these energies existed in the form of elementary particles, but he was sure they were natural energies and that they were strikingly pure, purer than the purest thing he could think of.


    As the energies entered his blood, he could feel his strength increasing quickly. The seven elements were like seven extremely nutritious foods, nourishing his body, making it grow stronger. His body gorged on the energies greedily, and before long he entered into a deep meditation.


    Tang Wulin could not have said how long he meditated. It might have been hours or it might have been days. When he finally woke up, he felt so alive and so full of vigor. He could feel power flowing through his veins, hot and intense, pulsating with the beating of his heart. He thought he could sense the seven different elements in the air if he concentrated hard enough. And he found, much to his surprise, he didn¡¯t even feel hungry.


    Tang Wulin rose to his feet and stretched. He looked around. Everything was just as it had been when he sank into meditation. The colorful clouds were still there, drifting unhurriedly in the sky above the plain, glinting a faint golden in the sun. Maybe they took some of the Golden Dragon King¡¯s power in my blood when they left my body, but they took little, if any, of its power, because I don¡¯t think that power has grown weaker than before.


    He pulled out his soul communicator to check the date and time, but it had stopped working. Perhaps the soul power in the soul battery has been suppressed, like White Seven said, or Perhaps time flows differently in this world.

 Chapter 714 - I’m So Tired

    Chapter 714 - I¡¯m So Tired


    Tang Wulin walked out of the bushes and towards the clouds again, activating his Golden Dragon Body. Golden scales spread across his skin and shone brightly in the sun, but this time the dragon clouds didn¡¯t fly down.


    Time to move on, he told himself.


    Before long he stumbled across another group of dragon clouds and absorbed more energy from them this time. By the ninth time, Tang Wulin found he didn¡¯t have to meditate to digest the energy. He clutched his hands into fists, feeling the freshly-acquired power surging within him. Not only had his strength increased a great deal, but his spiritual power had improved. His scales had grown thicker, harder, and more defined, and he found to his pleasant surprise that his Golden Dragon King seals had somehow been reinforced, which meant he didn¡¯t have to break the seventh seal anytime soon. He still remembered how badly his body had hurt when he broke the sixth seal. He really didn¡¯t want to go through that kind of pain again.


    As he was walking out of the plain looking up at the sky in search of more dragon clouds, Tang Wulin heard a shrill scream of fear from the woods not far from him. A girl? He jerked his head to the scream and glimpsed a figure in a white cloak running out of the woods. Behind her was a wingless phantom dragon with a huge horn on its nose. It was catching up quickly. What is her partner doing?! Tang Wulin thought as he rushed towards her as fast as his feet would take him. He knew her dragon ball would save her, but he couldn¡¯t just stand and watch while the dragon mauled her.


    In her haste to flee from the wrath of the dragon, the girl tripped over a root and stumbled to her knees. The translucent beast lowered its head, preparing to drive its horn into the poor girl. But by then Tang Wulin had reached her. He glanced at her as he ran past, and caught a glimpse of the name plate on her chest. White¡­ Seven! He dodged the horn nimbly and threw a punch at its head. The beast gave a cry of pain and transformed into numerous small balls of light, which seeped into his body in a heartbeat. This is¡­ energy! Tang Wulin realized right away. But this energy is neither pure nor strong.


    ¡°You absorbed my dragon?!¡± White Seven blazed. She became even angrier when she recognized her partner, who had deserted her.


    ¡°No, I saved you from your dragon. You should be thanking me,¡± Tang Wulin said, annoyed.


    ¡°I never asked you to save me. Did I look like I needed saving?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, you did.¡± And you still do, he thought, looking at her torn cloak.


    ¡°I would have killed it with ease if you hadn¡¯t interfered. The energy in that Iron Head Dragon would have greatly increased my strength. You owe me an Iron Head Dragon!¡±


    Tang Wulin said nothing and started to walk away, but White Seven grabbed hold of his sleeve. ¡°Wait!¡± she said.


    ¡°What?¡± Tang Wulin said, turning back.


    ¡°I¡¯m so tired¡­¡± She fainted. Before she fell to the ground, Tang Wulin caught her in his arms. He carried her to a tree and leaned her gently against it. Then he took out a coat from one of his storage rings and spread it over her. I can¡¯t just leave her here by herself. She will catch a cold, or some dangerous beast may find her. Besides, she knows the name of that dragon, which means she knows a lot more about this world than I do. I can ask her a few questions when she wakes up.


    Tang Wulin gathered some wood to make a fire.


    White Seven was still sleeping when the sun vanished behind a mountain and darkness began to creep through the forest. A cold wind whispered through the trees, stirring his white cloak and sending a scatter of red cinders flying from the fire.


    He skewered a chunk of beef and a bing on sticks and then thrust them in the ground beside the fire. He also hung a canned vegetable soup over the fire to heat. He was not a great cook by any means, but it didn¡¯t take a great cook to reheat cooked food.


    Before long, hot grease was running down the beef skewer.


    Tang Wulin was about to dig in when two slender and fair hands shot out of the dark and grabbed his food. White Seven took a large bite of the beef first, not caring if it was too hot, and then bit off a large chunk of the bing, chewing vigorously, looking at Tang Wulin with a gloating smile of triumph.

 Chapter 715 - What do You Want?

    Chapter 715 - What do You Want?


    ¡°Hey, those are mine!¡± Tang Wulin exclaimed, standing up. Yet he made no attempt to get them back; he had always had a soft spot for the hungry.


    When she saw that her partner was not coming for his food, White Seven plopped down on the ground, chewing blissfully. Hot grease was running down her chin, but she was too famished to care.


    Suddenly she began to hit herself on the chest, her face turning red. Tang Wulin thought she must have gotten some food stuck in her throat, so he rushed over right away and patted her on the back.


    ¡°Your food is too¡­ dry,¡± she said with difficulty. ¡°Get me some soup to wash it down.¡±


    Strangely, Tang Wulin did as she said.


    White Seven took her mask off. She had had enough of it hindering her from enjoying the food.


    Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes went wide. He knew those big eyes and pretty eyelashes. Dai Yun¡¯er?! I should have guessed! Her spiritual attack and her princess syndrome¡­ everything was telling me that she was Dai Yun¡¯er, but I never thought to see her here.


    Dai Yun¡¯er must have felt his shock, because she grinned at him with wicked delight. ¡°You know who I am, don¡¯t you? You left me behind, but don¡¯t be scared, I forgive you; you didn¡¯t know who I was. From now on, you will do exactly what I say and never talk back or ask silly questions. Do you understand? Now get me something better to eat. These are inedible! I can barely force them down my throat.¡±


    Tang Wulin threw a disdainful glance at her and started to stride off.


    ¡°Hey, where do you think you¡¯re going?!¡± the princess blazed.


    ¡°Far away from you.¡±


    ¡°Hey, stop! I said stop!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er lurched to her feet and quickly stepped before Tang Wulin, holding the beef in one hand and the bing in the other.


    She is quite a sight with her tattered cloak, Tang Wulin smiled behind his mask. I don¡¯t think she has ever experienced this kind of hardship before.


    ¡°What do you want, my princess?¡±


    ¡°I want you to follow my orders!¡± she said angrily.


    ¡°Why would I do that?¡±


    ¡°Because if you don¡¯t, I will have your head when we get out.¡±


    ¡°I like my head where it is, but I don¡¯t want to follow your stupid orders, so I guess I have no choice but to kill you.¡±


    Dai Yun¡¯er took a step backward in fear. She started to reach for her dragon ball, but then found both her hands were occupied. She didn¡¯t want to drop the food to the ground; she had gone many days without anything to eat.


    Tang Wulin saw the fear in her eyes and laughed. ¡°I won¡¯t kill you, but get the hell out of my way.¡± When she didn¡¯t move, he shoved her to one side and brushed past her.


    ¡°If you promise to protect me, I¡¯ll ask Father to make you a knight,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said hurriedly.


    Tang Wulin stopped and turned around. ¡°A knight?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s a great honor. You can be my personal guard if you want when we get out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a knight or your personal guard. I doubt anyone wants to your personal guard. It would be the worst nightmare.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you want? Money?¡± No amount of money can buy me another chance to get in the Dragon Valley again, but maybe I can persuade him to protect me. That would help me last longer in this world.


    ¡°Rare metals. I¡¯ll write you a list. In exchange, I¡¯ll protect you the best I can.¡±


    ¡°What do you want rare metals for?¡± Dai Yun¡¯er asked, suddenly wary. Rare metals are strategic materials. ¡°Are you a spy for the Green Skull Renegades?¡±


    ¡°Are you seriously asking me that? Did you get kicked in the head while fighting that dragon?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t, but do you have a first aid kit with you?¡±


    ¡°As it happens, I do. But your princess syndrome is beyond cure, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Tang Wulin jested.


    ¡°No. I¡¯m hurt.¡±


    Tang Wulin walked over to her. ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°My¡­ butt,¡± Dai Yun¡¯er said in a low voice, blushing. ¡°That stupid dragon scratched me with its claws.¡±


    Tang Wulin took out his first aid kit and handed it to her.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Dai Yun¡¯er took it in her hand. ¡°Write down your list, but make it short.¡± With that she ran behind a big tree.


    In the dim light of the fire, Tang Wulin started writing on a piece of paper the rare metals that could only be found on the Star Luo Continent.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Dai Yun¡¯er shouted suddenly.


    Tang Wulin put down the pen, snatched up a burning stick, and ran to that big tree.


    When he lowered the torch, he saw Dai Yun¡¯er was applying medicine to a cheek of her butt, round and white.


    A scream echoed through the forest, and the princess quickly covered her buttocks with her cloak, glaring at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin felt awfully embarrassed. He hastily turned around and walked back to the fire.


    A few moments later, Dai Yun¡¯er emerged from the dark of the wood. She finished the beef and bing in silence by the fire.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¨C¡± Tang Wulin started.


    Dai Yun¡¯er cut him off. ¡°Shut up!¡±


    Tang Wulin did as he was bid and went back to writing.


    Dai Yun¡¯er ate some soup, walked over to him, and snatched the paper up.

 Chapter 716: True Dragon Soul Bone

    "I, I didn''t see it clearly," Tang Wulin said in a feeble voice.


    Dai Yun''er gave him a vicious glare. "How clearly did you want to see it? Do you know that you''ve committed a crime punishable by death in the outside world? I''m only going to forgive you for now because you had good intentions and were looking out for my best interests."


    She wrote down her name on the piece of paper in her hand as she spoke before handing it to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback to hear this. "So you do know when someone''s being good to you!"


    Dai Yun''er raised an eyebrow in exasperation. "Of course I do! I''m just a little wilful, but I do know the difference between good and bad people! I do know that you''re a kind person at heart."


    Tang Wulin stowed away the piece of paper, which was now a contract, and said, "Alright, you have yourself a deal. Do you know how long we''ve been in here?"


    Dai Yun''er replied, "Two months."


    Tang Wulin was quite startled to hear this. "It''s already been two months?"


    In his mind, he felt as if he''d only been in here for about half a month or so, but much to his surprise, two months had already passed.


    Dai Yun''er pulled out a small round apparatus, and said, "I have a device that compares the time in this small world with the time in the outside world. I went through a lot of trouble to get this, and it shows me that we''ve been in here for two months and a day, so we''ll have to last at least another month."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. He didn''t think that he''d been in here for so long already. It appeared that his meditation sessions were always remarkably long! It was no wonder that they enhanced his body so significantly.


    Unfortunately, his soul power had been sealed, so it hadn''t increased even in the slightest during the past two months of meditation. If he could also cultivate his soul power during deep meditation, he would''ve at least been able to advance one level in his cultivation.


    "Hey, I still don''t know your name, but you already know who I am; isn''t it about time you take off your mask and let me see what you look like?" Dai Yun''er asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and replied, "I can''t. You can just call me White Three."


    "Do you have something to hide?" Dai Yun''er pursed her lips.


    Tang Wulin remained silent, but all of a sudden, Dai Yun''er reared up and attempted to make a grab for his mask.


    Tang Wulin immediately slid back and used a hand to block her hand with ease. Dai Yun''er''s strength was obviously no match for his, so she was sent spinning on the spot like a top before sitting back down onto the ground again.


    "Oi, do you have any chivalrous spirit at all?"


    "I don''t! I''ve already told you this," Tang Wulin replied as he also sat back down."Tell me what you know about the Dragon Valley; only with more information can I ensure your safety during the next month."


    Dai Yun''er harrumphed, "What''s the big deal? It''s not like I even want to see what you look like! It''s said that this Dragon Valley is a small world that was created by the dragon clan. There are many dragon carcasses buried here, so there are also many dragon souls present in this small world. The presence of these dragon souls is what''s restricting us from being able to use soul power, rendering us unable to forge connections with the soul power within our own bodies. However, these dragon souls can also be fused into our bodies to improve our physical constitution, and they could even instill hints of dragon-type aura into our bloodlines. This is immensely beneficial to our future cultivation, especially when it comes to progression."


    Tang Wulin gave a slight nod to acknowledge her words.


    Thus, Dai Yun''er continued, "The clouds in the sky are a form of dragon souls. These clouds are the safest as they have no sentient will and only act according to instinct. When they detect a compatible aura, they''ll automatically fall from the sky. However, such occurrences are extremely rare as those dragon clouds are very far away from the ground, so if we want them to be able to sense our auras, we must possess extremely compatible auras. As such, most Soul Masters are unable to draw those dragon clouds down from above. For example, my martial soul is of the spirit and darkness attributes, and there are exceedingly few dragon clouds of those attributes. I''ve tried my luck on the plains after entering this place, but I haven''t been able to draw even a single dragon cloud down to me."


    Dai Yun''er pouted in a dejected manner as she spoke.


    However, Tang Wulin wore a rather peculiar expression upon hearing this. Were dragon clouds really that difficult to attract?


    Dai Yun''er failed to notice his expression as she continued, "Aside from dragon clouds, there are also dragon souls here, like I mentioned. Dragon souls all differ in power levels, and compared to dragon clouds, they possess energy of a slightly lower caliber, but they have a certain level of autonomy and sentience. Most dragon souls are very aggressive, and if we encounter them, all we have to do is destroy them, and their dragon-type auras will fuse into our bodies to improve our constitutions. The natural energies within them can act as nutrients to replenish our bodies. I''ve already destroyed a few of these dragon souls, but the battles have been quite arduous due to my inability to use soul power. Thankfully, all of these dragon souls are quite weak; all of them only possess one percent of the powers they had during their living days at most."


    Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "I see. Are dragon clouds and dragon souls the only two things that exist here in this Dragon Valley? In that case, this place doesn''t seem to be all that dangerous."


    Dai Yun''er shook her head, and said, "No, there are some other things in here as well. It''s said that there are some mysterious regions in here that still haven''t been fully explored. I''ve only heard rumors of this, but apparently, there is a dragon tomb in this Dragon Valley, and all of the most powerful dragon souls can be found there. Those true dragon souls are guardians of the dragon tomb, protecting their own bodies, as well as the bodies of their ancestors. You know about the bodies of dragons; they''re riddled with treasures, and it would be immensely beneficial to us even if we could get our hands on just a single dragon bone. During ancient times, the dragon clan once ruled over the entire Star Luo Continent, and some of our seniors of the Battle Hall have once obtained true dragon spirit bones from the Dragon Valley; those are truly exceptional spirit bones! The enhancements that a true dragon soul bone can bring to us Soul Masters is immeasurable."


    "Oh? True dragon soul bone?" Tang Wulin was also quite tempted by this prospect. He had experienced firsthand just how immensely beneficial soul bones were. His right-hand soul bone came from a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, and it could be said that it was the most powerful weapon he had prior to obtaining his Golden Dragon Spear. His Golden Dragon Dreadclaw was already one of his most powerful trump cards; if he could throw a true dragon soul bone into the mix, just how immensely powerful would it become?


    "Should we go and find that dragon tomb?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Sure! If we really do find true dragon soul bones there, we''ll split them 50:50," Dai Yun''er replied without any hesitation.


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and said, "With your mediocre combat prowess, you can give up on soul bones. I''m just taking you with me so you can gain some experience."


    "You!" Dai Yun''er''s eyes immediately widened as she exclaimed, "White Three, how can you be so ungrateful? If I hadn''t told you about the dragon tomb, how would you have even heard about true dragon soul bones?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged, and replied, "You said this yourself; the true dragon soul bones are guarded by powerful dragon souls. Are you saying that you''ll be able to obtain one of them without me?"


    "I don''t care! If we find true dragon soul bones, you have to give me some. Otherwise, I won''t take you there!" Dai Yun''er placed her hands on her hips in a stubborn manner.


    "Suit yourself, I''ll just go find it myself. Good luck staying here on your own," Tang Wulin said before standing up and preparing to depart. He had no time for an unreasonable princess like her, so he had to teach her a lesson.


    "Don''t go!" Dai Yun''er hurriedly rose to her feet, but she was still rather feeble, so her body swayed unsteadily from her sudden movement.


    Tang Wulin stopped before turning back to look at her. "Have you made up your mind?"


    Dai Yun''er gritted her teeth, and said, "No wonder you''re not letting me see what you look like; you must be scared that I''ll seek revenge on you when we get out of this place!"


    "Hehe." Tang Wulin merely chuckled.


    Dai Yun''er immediately flared up with rage. "''Hehe'' my arse! How about this? If we do find true dragon soul bones, I''ll exchange some with you for items of equal value. After we get out of here, I can offer you things like spirit items in exchange for soul bones; do we have ourselves a deal?"


    Dai Yun''er was clearly on the brink of tears, and Tang Wulin was feeling rather sympathetic toward her, so he said, "Let''s discuss this when we actually find some spirit bones; there''s no point in talking about all this right now."


    Dai Yun''er sat back down again and suddenly burst into tears as she threw her arms around her knees.


    Tang Wulin immediately faltered upon seeing this. Why was she crying? However, he made no effort to try and console her. She was most likely crying because she was feeling very helpless in a place like this.


    Hardships prompted growth, so this experience wasn''t necessarily a bad thing for her. He was playing the bad guy now, but perhaps many years down the track, she would be grateful that she''d met him during this time.


    After crying for a while, Dai Yun''er''s sobs subsided, and she fell into a deep sleep as she leaned against a tree. It was quite clear that she was truly exhausted. She detested Tang Wulin, but the presence of someone beside her still instilled within her a sense of security, so she was able to sleep soundly. This was the first good sleep she had had since entering the Dragon Valley.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin stayed by her side and processed all of the information that Dai Yun''er had just imparted on him.


    He had absorbed many dragon clouds already, so if those dragon souls possessed energy of a lower caliber than dragon clouds, then they weren''t really attractive to him. As such, perhaps the best option for him now was to find the dragon tomb.

 Chapter 717: Tearing Space

    Soul bones could drastically enhance a Soul Master''s combat prowess, and their ability to bolster Soul Master''s constitution was also unmatched. If a Soul Master could collect all six soul bones, which included two arm bones, two leg bones, a trunk bone, and a head bone, their body would be enhanced to an incredible degree. As such, it would make it a lot easier for him to withstand the trauma inflicted on his body during the absorption of the soul of the Golden Dragon King.


    But where was this dragon tomb?


    Ever since he''d first arrived in the Dragon Valley, Tang Wulin had sensed that there was something calling him. In particular, this feeling grew more pronounced as he was absorbing dragon clouds.


    However, due to the fact that he had to enter a meditative state to absorb the enormous amount of energy brought to him by those dragon clouds, he hadn''t had a chance to determine the direction that this calling was coming from. Tang Wulin had recently awakened from his meditation and he was about to set off in pursuit of that calling anyway, but he just so happened to bump into Dai Yun''er.


    Thus, he closed his eyes and rested alongside her. He wasn''t concerned that any dragon souls would appear to attack him as here in this Dragon Valley, he felt as if he were completely at home. Perhaps this was a benefit brought to him by his Golden Dragon King bloodline. In contrast with all of the other agents of the Battle Hall present, he felt like a fish in water here, and it would be very difficult for those dragon souls to pose any threat to him.


    Deep within the Dragon Valley.


    A low buzzing sound suddenly rang out in the air, and the dragon clouds up above began to churn violently. Immediately thereafter, the entire surrounding area that spanned tens of thousands of square kilometers began to resonate strongly with this buzzing sound. The dragon clouds in the sky were forcibly dispersed, and an inky-black rift silently appeared.


    The rift then gradually began to elongate, and it was as if the entire sky were about to be torn apart. After that, a pair of gigantic claws began to extend through the rift.


    This was a pair of pitch-black scaled claws, and they slowly pulled the rift apart as a low roar erupted from within.


    All of the dragon clouds in the Dragon Valley that heard this roar reflexively began to descend while adopting dragon forms, as if they were bowing in awe and reverence.


    The rift was spread wider and wider by the pair of giant claws, but violent energy fluctuations erupted throughout the entire space, attempting to compress the rift so that it wouldn''t widen any further.


    Right at this moment, a series of figures began to emerge from within the rift before plummeting straight to the ground.


    There were five figures in total that had descended from the rift, three of which were male while the other two were female. One of them was extremely tall and broad, with a musclebound body and a gleaming bald head.


    Standing beside him was a man with dry skin who resembled a thin tree branch. However, his eyes were shimmering with bright green light, thereby giving him a rather unsettling appearance.


    The third man also possessed a muscular physique, but he wasn''t as burly in stature as the bald man. He had a head of slightly curled red hair, and even his brows and beard were of the same color. His eyes were gleaming with a dangerous light, and his entire body seemed to be filled with explosive power.


    Their two female companions were both exquisite beauties. One of them wore a black dress with black hair and a pair of peculiar purple eyes. She had an extremely voluptuous figure that was filled with explosive curves.


    The other woman wore a green dress, and she was a lot more normal in appearance. Her figure was a lot more balanced, and she wore a gentle expression on her gorgeous face, giving off the impression that she was quite charismatic and approachable.


    Right after the five of them landed on the ground, they raised their heads in unison to stare intently at the spatial rift up above. Dense light began to rise up from their bodies, and the soul power restrictions in the Dragon Valley seemed to be completely ineffective against them.


    All five of them then raised their hands at the same time, and 10 streaks of light shot forth from their hands, striking the edge of the inky-black rift. All of a sudden, the rift was stabilized, and it ceased its struggles against the pair of giant black claws.


    A low dragon''s roar erupted from within the spatial rift, and the pair of massive claws abruptly spread apart once again, expanding the rift to around twice its original size. A gargantuan body began to slowly emerge from within the rift. In the beginning, it was only a huge inky-black dragon head with a pair of shimmering golden eyes.


    Those golden eyes seemed to be able to pierce through the entire world, and just the dragon''s head alone was several tens of meters tall.


    Another pair of dragon claws then abruptly emerged from within the rift, and its colossal body also finally managed to squeeze through.


    The black dragon threw its head back and let loose a thunderous roar of fury, upon which all of the surrounding dragon clouds immediately surged toward it in a frenzy before being instantly absorbed. As a result, the black dragon''s aura swelled explosively, and it was finally able to squirm its way completely out of the spatial rift.


    It possessed a gigantic body that was over 1,000 feet in length, and as it spread open its massive wings, the entire sky was obscured by its colossal frame. A layer of purplish-black light that resembled a domain began to permeate in all directions around the giant black dragon''s body, and all of the dragon clouds in a radius of hundreds of thousands of meters began to descend as if to pledge their subordination.


    The gargantuan black dragon then shrank rapidly while descending from the sky, and after landing on the ground, it had already transformed into a handsome middle-aged man with a burly frame.


    Long black hair trailed down to his shoulders on either side of his face with a strip of golden hair situated slightly to the left of the direct center of his head.


    After landing on the ground, he also raised his hands up into the air, emulating the actions of his five companions. Two bursts of dark purple light erupted into the sky, contributing to supporting the spatial rift as well.


    Thus, the rift continued to widen, and a burst of dazzling silver light slowly emerged from within before descending from above. This was another humanoid figure, and as soon as she appeared, all six of the people down below cried out in unison, "We welcome our lord!"


    The silver figure slowly descended, revealing herself to be a woman with a head of long silver hair. She was wearing a silver dress, and her face had been concealed by a silver veil.


    As she drifted down from above, there was not even a single hint of energy fluctuations emanating from her body.


    The middle-aged man that was the giant black dragon said in a respectful manner, "My lord, the six of us can only combat this small world for seven days, so you must find what you need during that time."


    "Alright, I used a space and time formation to seal the time within that spatial rift. The seal will be effective for around three hours, so when we get out of here, only three hours should''ve passed in the outside world. Stabilize the spatial rift here; I''ll be back soon."


    After her voice trailed off, the silver-haired woman''s body flashed, and she vanished on the spot.


    ¡­¡­


    "Hey, how do you know this is the right direction?" Dai Yun''er had donned her mask again, her hands were on her hips in a display of displeasure.


    Tang Wulin counter, "Do you know which way is the right way?"


    Dai Yun''er replied in a rather sheepish manner, "I''m not sure, but I do know that the dragon tomb should be situated in the deepest part of the Dragon Valley."


    "And which direction is that in?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Er..."


    "Let''s keep going." Tang Wulin strode on toward the end of the plains up ahead. He obviously didn''t know where the dragon tomb was, but he could feel that the calling was the strongest in that direction.


    A series of dragon clouds were drifting in the air above, and those that were tinged with a faint golden hue had all been absorbed by Tang Wulin already. He had been traversing through this area this entire time, so he was quite familiar with it.


    Dai Yun''er followed along behind Tang Wulin, and after eating the food that he''d given her, she had made close to a full recovery. She was a four-ring Soul Ancestor, after all, and even though she couldn''t use any soul power, her physical constitution was naturally still far superior to that of a normal person.


    Tang Wulin was walking very quickly, but Dai Yun''er was able to keep up relatively easily. As she walked along behind Tang Wulin, she would occasionally look up at the dragon clouds in the sky, hoping that one would fall for her.


    "Oh, that''s a black dragon cloud, so it''s a darkness attribute one! Do you think it''ll fall for me? White Three, can you help me jump a little higher? I want to try and attract that cloud," Dai Yun''er suddenly said.


    Tang Wulin glanced at her, and before he even had a chance to reply, the black dragon cloud in the sky suddenly shuddered before descending directly toward them.


    "Wow, it''s coming, it''s coming!" Dai Yun''er rushed forward a few steps and leaped into the air with elation. She knew that White Three most likely didn''t possess a darkness attribute martial soul, so this black dragon cloud had to have been attracted by her!

 Chapter 718: Brother Three

    Just as Dai Yun''er was eagerly awaiting the moment that she''d be able to absorb the energy within the descending dragon cloud, she was stunned to see that the dragon cloud abruptly split apart just as it was about to make contact with her, and the two halves of the cloud simply flew past her in the end.


    She turned around with a stunned expression to find the two halves of the black dragon cloud surging directly into Tang Wulin''s body. The dragon cloud then emerged from behind him, rising up into the air as a golden cloud this time.


    "You... You stole my dragon cloud! You''re a liar! You also have a darkness attribute martial soul!" Dai Yun''er had become quite enraged at missing out on such a splendid opportunity.


    "Firstly, you never asked what attribute my martial soul is. Secondly, do I really possess a darkness attribute martial soul?" Tang Wulin said as he pointed behind her.


    Dai Yun''er turned around reflexively, and the sight that she was greeted by had her in complete disbelief.


    Dragon clouds were falling from the sky one after another before adopting their dragon forms while surging directly toward her.


    In the next instant, the dragon clouds surged toward her, yet not a single one fell on her. All of them passed her by before flying toward Tang Wulin.


    The dragon clouds passed through his body one after another, taking on a golden hue before rising up into the air again.


    Dai Yun''er looked on in a completely flabbergasted manner as Tang Wulin walked through the multitude of dragon clouds as if he were taking a stroll in the park.


    He had experienced many similar scenarios during the past two months, so this was nothing noteworthy to him.


    How is this possible?


    Dai Yun''er was in complete disbelief at the sight that she was beholding.


    Weren''t dragon clouds only supposed to be attracted to those with martial souls of the same attribute? Wasn''t an extremely high rate of compatibility required as well? Why was he able to absorb all of the dragon clouds in the area?


    Why?!


    Dai Yun''er had always been touted as a bright prodigy ever since she was born. She had twin martial souls and was the princess of a powerful empire. Even she was under the impression that she had been blessed by the heavens.


    As such, the scene unfolding before her eyes dealt her an extremely heavy blow. In her eyes, this White Three was like an insurmountable mountain that she''d never be able to surpass. Her heart was filled with unbridled fury. Why were the heavens so unfair? Why was it that he was able to absorb all of the dragon clouds while she couldn''t even attract a single one?


    "You''ll be fine when you get used to this." Tang Wulin brushed past her and continued to advance quickly onward.


    Indeed, he had already grown accustomed to this. Even though the dragon clouds that were surging into his body could still provide some enhancement effects, the benefits he derived from them were far less pronounced than in the beginning. Of course, if he were to accumulate enough of them, they could still effect significant changes within his body.


    Does he not need to stop to absorb them?


    Does he not need to process the energy within those dragon clouds?


    "Are dragon clouds ineffective to you? In that case, why would they be attracted to you?" Dai Yun''er was trying to console herself with the notion that perhaps he had an inability to absorb these dragon clouds. Otherwise, why didn''t he need to stop even after such a huge influx of dragon clouds had entered his body?


    "Well, you can interpret it that way if it makes you feel better." Tang Wulin couldn''t be bothered to provide an in-depth explanation.


    As time passed, dragon clouds continued to surge incessantly into Tang Wulin''s body. After a day, they''d passed through the entire plains, and Dai Yun''er had already become completely numb.


    She was already used to seeing one dragon cloud after passing through Tang Wulin''s body, and she was convinced that they had no effect on him. Otherwise, how could he be displaying no reaction to them at all?


    Unbeknownst to her, if Tang Wulin were to activate the power of the bloodline within his body, the invisible layer of enamel on the surface of his skin would become very visible and pronounced. His constitution was still changing at a slow and steady rate.


    After emerging from the plains, the dragon clouds in the sky became sparser than before.


    "Thank heavens I don''t have to watch you gobbling up dragon clouds for fun anymore," Dai Yun''er huffed in an angry manner.


    Tang Wulin merely chuckled and gave no response. Having left the plains, the intimate sense of calling seemed to have become even more pronounced to him. All of a sudden, a burst of rustling sounded from up ahead.


    "Be careful, it looks like there are dragon souls up ahead," Dai Yun''er said in a cautious voice as she hid behind Tang Wulin.


    Her words had only just trailed off when a group of over 10 dragon souls appeared in their field of view.


    These dragon souls were only around half a meter tall each, and they were traveling at an extremely fast speed. All of them had remarkably large heads, and their mouths were wide open, revealing rows of sharp menacing fangs. The fact that none of them had any wings indicated they were a pack of low-level land dragons, and they quickly surrounded Tang Wulin and Dai Yun''er.


    "Save some for me; I want to absorb some of their energy," Dai Yun''er hurriedly reminded. After accompanying Tang Wulin for over a day, she discovered that he didn''t even seem to be a human being. Not only was he freakishly strong, he didn''t seem to know what it meant to be tired, and he had an insane appetite. By the time Dai Yun''er had finished one bing, he would''ve eaten four or five already.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response before abruptly stepping forward, and he could sense that a burst of fury was welling up in his heart. This was the same kind of rage experienced by a superior being when provoked by those that were vastly inferior.


    In the face of this group of land dragons, he let loose a cold roar. "Piss off!"


    All of the land dragon souls that had just surrounded them immediately stiffened upon hearing this, and they all exploded right before Dai Yun''er''s dumbstruck eyes, forming balls of energy that hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin.


    "Oi!" Dai Yun''er let loose a cry of shock and indignation upon seeing this. He had agreed to save some of these dragon souls for her!


    Tang Wulin waved a hand through the air as if he were swatting at flies, and an invisible burst of power erupted forth, guiding the balls of energy away from him and redirecting them into Dai Yun''er''s body instead.


    Dai Yun''er was immediately struck by an indescribably warm and comfortable sensation as she quickly absorbed all of the energy formed by the dozen or so land dragon souls.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. What was that feeling just now? It seemed to have been disdain. This was a completely natural and instinctive reaction, as if his bloodline were rejecting this energy.


    He had experienced the same feeling back when he had absorbed the energy of that Iron Head Dragon; the energy did replenish him somewhat, but absorbing it was not a good feeling for him. At the very least, it felt different from absorbing dragon clouds.


    Could this mean that dragon souls contained different energy compared to dragon clouds? Dragon clouds contained purer energy that could enhance his body, while the energy within dragon souls stemmed from land dragons; could that be why his body naturally rejected it?


    That seemed to be a plausible explanation.


    "You''re a good person!" Dai Yun''er skipped over to him as she took off her mask, revealing the elated look on her face. Ever since she''d first entered the Dragon Valley, she had never had the opportunity to absorb over 10 dragon souls at once. She could clearly feel her body being bolstered by the bursts of heat circulating within her meridians. This was a fantastic feeling for her.


    Tang Wulin opened his mouth to reply, but he swallowed his words in the end as he didn''t have the heart to tell her that she''d just absorbed something that he''d rejected.


    In any case, it was better for her to think of him as a good person rather than a bad person. Thus...


    After entering the forest, they began to encounter more and more dragon souls, but most of them were land dragon souls that weren''t all that powerful. Even if they weren''t directly vanquished by the might of Tang Wulin''s bloodline, the combination of his freakish strength and his spirit refined Heavy Silver Hammers were more than enough to take care of them with ease.


    Tang Wulin didn''t require the energy imbued within these dragon souls, so he simply rejected it and guided it toward Dai Yun''er.


    Dai Yun''er had been quite displeased with and antagonistic toward him initially, but she was quickly warming to him.


    "I can''t keep going; I have to meditate to absorb this energy." Due to the fact that Dai Yun''er had absorbed too much dragon soul energy, her cheeks were heavily flushed as if she were intoxicated, and she sat down onto the ground.


    She then looked up at Tang Wulin with a smile, and said, "I was wrong about you; you really are a good person. When we get out of here, I''m going to give you some extra uncommon metals, and I''ll get Father to give you noble status." After that, she closed her eyes and entered a meditative state.


    Tang Wulin was quite amused at the sight of the content smile on her face. Her feelings toward others were very clear-cut; she was fond of those who were good to her, and disdainful toward those who wronged her. In the face of the benefits that she was receiving from Tang Wulin, the spoiled princess had become a lot more amicable.


    During the past two days, Tang Wulin discovered that Dai Yun''er was far from rotten to the core. She was very wilful and mischievous, but she was a good person at heart, and she was far more liberal and approachable compared to most uptight and formal royals. In particular, after Tang Wulin had helped her absorb so many dragon souls, she was already referring to him as Brother Three as opposed to White Three.


    Her sweet and mellow voice still gave Tang Wulin goosebumps, but what was undeniable was that their relationship had improved significantly.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to Dai Yun''er before sitting down behind her, then placing his right hand against her back before activating his own bloodline.

 Chapter 719: Youre the Best, Brother Three!

    After reacting to his Golden Dragon King bloodline, the energy from the dragon souls became a lot more readily absorbed by Dai Yun''er. This was something that Tang Wulin had unintentionally discovered; with the assistance of his bloodline aura, the low-level dragon souls would become very submissive, thereby allowing Dai Yun''er to refine and absorb them more quickly.


    As her body continued to be enhanced by these dragon souls, she was filled with vitality, and not only did she have far more stamina compared to in the past, she didn''t even need to eat anything anymore.


    Half an hour later, Dai Yun''er sprang up from the ground, rising up to around five meters before gently drifting back down like a falling leaf.


    She had jumped that high without the use of her soul power, and that indicated a marked improvement in her constitution.


    "This is fantastic! You''re the best, Brother Three!" Dai Yun''er suddenly pounced on Tang Wulin before planting a kiss on his mask, causing him to stumble back in retreat.


    "Let''s keep going," Tang Wulin said in a resigned manner.


    Dai Yun''er grabbed onto his arm with a wide smile, and said, "You''re so good to me, Brother Three. My teacher told me in the past that if I want to ascend to the level of Titled Duoluo, I have to focus more on improving my physical constitution as only with a more powerful body will I be able to withstand such an enormous amount of soul power, as well as compress my soul power to further progress in my cultivation. I have twin martial souls, but one of them is an agility attack type while the other is a spirit type, neither of which will significantly enhance my body. My teacher also told me that if I were to bolster my body solely through consuming spirit items, that would result in an unstable foundation, so I''ve been constantly working hard to improve my constitution. However, even after working arduously for so many years, the benefits I''ve derived can''t compare with how much my constitution has been improved during these past few days! I really was wrong about you. If I''d known that you were such a good person from the beginning, I would''ve let you sleep in the room."


    "Ahem," Tang Wulin freed his arms from Dai Yun''ers grasp in an inconspicuous manner as he said, "Yun''er, it inappropriate for excessive physical contact to take place between a man and a woman who aren''t related in any way."


    Dai Yun''er immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this. "I haven''t gotten married yet, so there''s nothing to worry about. Speaking of which, Father has been constantly nagging me to choose a husband, and I came on this Battle Hall mission just so I can get away from him. He''s urging me to choose a husband after the conclusion of the Continental Young Elites Tournament, and he was originally going to marry me off to Big Brother Long. Do you know Big Brother Long?"


    A thought occurred to Tang Wulin upon hearing this, and he asked, "Are you talking about that Dragon King from Monster Academy?"


    Dai Yun''er chuckled as she replied, "That''s the one! Everyone calls him Crazy Long, and even my brother says that Big Brother Long has always liked me."


    "Then what about you? Do you like him?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Dai Yun''er huffed in an indignant manner. "Are you stupid? If I like him as well, would I have run away?"


    A dejected look suddenly appeared on her face as she spoke, and she continued, "I know that Big Brother Long has always been really good to me. He''s so powerful, and he''s regarded as the number one prodigy of the younger generation. He''s a six-ring Soul Emperor at just 20 years of age, placing him among a small handful of the most powerful Soul Masters of the younger generation. I can sense the affection that he has for me, but I can''t help but be scared of him. There''s always this deranged aura that he would give off from time to time, and that really scares me. I''m afraid that if I marry him, he''s going to kill me in a fit of rage someday, and it''s exactly because of this that I can''t bring myself to reciprocate his feelings. In my heart, he''s always been like a big brother to me."


    "If you don''t like him, then don''t marry him. In our federation, there''s complete freedom in love, so no one can force you to marry anyone against your will," Tang Wulin said.


    Dai Yun''er countered, "But that doesn''t apply to me! I''m a princess, and according to the rules of our royal family, a princess has to be engaged by 15 and married by 18. That''s why I ran away to come on this mission, but when I go back, Father is most likely going to force me into an engagement anyway. I''m already quite lucky in that I at least get a choice in the matter. Father says that as long as it''s someone I like, I can choose anyone, but I have to follow the royal rules and ensure that I''m engaged by 15."


    Tang Wulin said, "That doesn''t sound too bad; don''t you have someone you like?"


    Dai Yun''er suddenly faltered upon hearing this, and a figure abruptly flashed through her mind, upon which a hint of anger and indignation welled up in her heart. "No! I don''t have anyone I like!"


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback by her enraged response. Were all young women this susceptible to mood swings when talking about relationship issues? Not only was this the case for Dai Yun''er, Gu Yue was like this as well.


    Dai Yun''er shook her head vigorously to try and rid herself of the figure that had appeared in her mind, and she said, "Let''s not talk about that anymore. Brother Three, you''re so exceptional, so you must have a girlfriend already, right?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and replied, "I don''t. I think I did, but I think I may have been dumped since. On top of that, I feel like she''s approaching me for an ulterior motive."


    Dai Yun''er was extremely intrigued by this kind of gossipy subject, and she hurriedly urged, "What''s the situation? Tell me!"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "At first, we entered the same academy and cultivated together. She had always been very affectionate toward me, and I gradually became accustomed to having her by my side. I was always happy when she was there, but at the time, we were both quite young, so I didn''t know what kind of feeling that was. However, as time passed, this feeling gradually began to change. Her attitude toward me has become really strange; she always seems to be fluctuating between trying to get closer to me and trying to distance herself from me. In recent times, she seems to be intentionally shutting me out, and I also can''t help but feel that she once approached me for a certain motive that has something to do with the connection between our martial souls."


    Dai Yun''er furrowed her brows upon hearing this. "That sounds really complicated! In my opinion, I feel like you''re overthinking things. It''s just like what you asked me; do you like her?"


    Tang Wulin faltered momentarily before nodding in response.


    Dai Yun''er smiled as she continued, "There you go! If you like her, then pursue her; who cares what she thinks? Have you ever told her how you felt about her? I think a confession will be the catalyst that''s needed to make love blossom between the two of you. Besides, isn''t pursuing someone without paying any heed to consequences the whole point of being in love?"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. "You seem to be quite the expert."


    Dai Yun''er replied in a smug manner, "I''m definitely more of an expert than you! Let''s go, I want to encounter more powerful dragon souls. Are you sure you don''t need to absorb any dragon souls, Brother Three?"


    "There''s no need for that; they don''t seem to help me anyway," Tang Wulin replied.


    Thus, the two of them continued deeper into the forest. Strangely enough, they didn''t encounter even a single Battle Hall agent that they''d arrived in this Dragon Valley with along the way. This seemed to have something to do with the intricacies of this small world, but Tang Wulin couldn''t pinpoint the exact reason for this.


    "Boom!" Tang Wulin raised his hammers before slamming them viciously onto the head of a Crimson Armor Land Dragon, causing it to collapse onto the ground. The intimidation of his bloodline aura then vanquished it into a stream of energy, which he redirected toward Dai Yun''er.


    "Wow, what a powerful dragon soul!" After absorbing the dragon soul, Dai Yun''er felt as if every single cell within her body was filled with energy.


    "Brother Three, we''ve been traveling for so long; are you sure we''re going the right way?" Dai Yun''er asked.


    Tang Wulin immediately nodded without any hesitation. "I wasn''t too sure in the beginning, but I''m convinced this is the right way now. Have you discovered that the dragon souls we''ve encountered have become more and more powerful along our journey? Theoretically speaking, the most powerful dragon souls should be guarding the dragon tomb, so back when we encountered those weak land dragon souls, we were most likely situated on the outskirts of the Dragon Valley. That means the more powerful these dragon souls become, the closer we should be to the center of the Dragon Valley."


    "That makes sense," Dai Yun''er''s eyes lit up, but she then immediately said, "But we''re also having more and more trouble dealing with these dragon souls. Brother Three, don''t overexert yourself if we encounter dragon souls that are too powerful. I''ve already absorbed so many dragon souls, and I daresay that not many agents who have entered this small world in the past would''ve benefited as much as we have, so I''m already more than satisfied. If we encounter any danger, we''ll use our dragon balls to get out of here right away."


    "Alright," Tang Wulin replied, but internally, he really wanted to explore the dragon tomb. He hadn''t revealed his bloodline soul rings in front of Dai Yun''er as he didn''t want to expose his identity, so the dragon souls that they''d encountered so far were actually nowhere near the limit of what he could handle.

 Chapter 720: Attraction

    "If we encounter any danger, don''t hesitate to use your dragon ball right away," Tang Wulin cautioned.


    "Alright, same to you, Brother Three," Dai Yun''er said with a smile.


    As she looked on at this White Three''s profile from behind, a peculiar look appeared in her eyes.


    During the few days they''d been together, she''d initially regarded him with fury and disdain, yet she was now feeling close enough with him to be referring to him as Brother Three, so her impression of him had been constantly changing.


    Of course, part of this was due to the affection that she''d developed for him due to all of the dragon souls he''d helped her absorb, but after her disdain for him had worn away, she began to carefully appraise him.


    As a result, she discovered that not only was this White Three a wealth of knowledge, he also possessed exceptional practical combat abilities, and he was far more adept in the Tang Sect techniques than she was. Furthermore, she had confirmed that White Three had at least mastered the Mysterious Heaven Method, Mysterious Jade Hands, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and Purple Demon Eyes. Those would''ve required a vast number of contribution points to obtain! Furthermore, he had also mastered the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique, thereby allowing him to unleash immense power with his Heavy Silver hammers even without access to his martial soul.


    Whenever they encountered any dragon souls, he would always position himself before her, and the sight of his reliable figure filled her with an immense sense of security.


    He was an immovable mountain that would shield her from all peril. Long Yue also gave her the same feeling, but as opposed to a mountain, he was like a volatile volcano that could erupt at any moment.


    Furthermore, not only was White Three extremely powerful, he was also constantly able to keep his cool even in the face of danger. He always made the right decision, and he possessed brilliant wilderness survival skills. On top of that, she had gradually come to realize that even if White Three was older than herself, there was no way that he''d be older by much. As such, it was even more extraordinary that he possessed such an incredible skill set at such a young age, and before she knew it, she had become quite fond of him.


    For Dai Yun''er, this mission was more like a game that allowed her to escape her monotonous life. As such, even though she''d endured many hardships prior to encountering Tang Wulin, she displayed no intention to leave as everything was a brand new experience to her.


    After meeting Tang Wulin, she''d been constantly fed with dragon souls, and she couldn''t ascertain just how much more powerful she would become after combining her soul power with her body as she still didn''t have access to the former, but she was sure that she would never have to worry about improving her physical constitution ever again. Even after leaving the Dragon Valley, it would take a long time for the energy within these dragon souls to be completely absorbed into her body. As such, unless she encountered a life-threatening situation, she was determined to stay in the Dragon Valley.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were slightly narrowed as he advanced onward in a cautious manner. Right at this moment, a burst of spiritual power entered his brain in a stealthy manner. Just as he was about to resist this intrusion using his own spiritual power, he suddenly discovered that a three-dimensional image had appeared in his mind. All of a sudden, everything became remarkably clear to him, and he could see everything within a radius of several hundred meters.


    Tang Wulin immediately turned to Dai Yun''er with a surprised look on his face, only to find her looking back at him with a smug expression.


    "Am I impressive or what? That''s my spiritual sharing ability. My second martial soul, Spirit Eyes, is a spirit attribute martial soul, so even if I can''t use soul power, I can still use my spiritual power to fuel it."


    Tang Wulin gave her a thumbs-up in response.


    Back when he''d first fought Dai Yun''er, he''d discovered that she was able to predict his movements quite easily. Only after the tournament was he made aware of the fact that she possessed a spiritual detection ability that could allow her to accurately keep track of the changes in his movements. However, he didn''t think that she''d also have this spiritual sharing ability. It was no wonder that she had been Long Yue''s partner for the two-on-two battle. If she were to continue to progress in her cultivation and her two martial souls didn''t conflict with one another, she was going to become a very powerful being for sure!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "This is a fantastic ability."


    With the guidance of Dai Yun''er''s spiritual detection ability, they were able to progress a lot more quickly. In fact, Tang Wulin discovered that he could find the best path forward even with his eyes closed, and he was also able to prepare in advance before they encountered dragon souls.


    "There''s a big guy up ahead!" Tang Wulin suddenly stopped before making a hand signal to Dai Yun''er.


    The two of them crouched down behind a bush, and at the very edge of the area encompassed by Dai Yun''er''s spatial detection ability, there was a prowling dragon soul with faint red light emanating from its entire body.


    The dragon soul was over 20 meters tall, and both of its wings had been fully spread open. There seemed to be invisible flames rising up all over its body, and it had a pair of peerlessly sharp front claws, as well as a long tail that was trailing behind it.


    "What kind of dragon is that?" Dai Yun''er asked in a low voice.


    Tang Wulin replied, "It appears to be a Blazing Fire Dragon, but those are true dragons, not second-rate ones. On top of that, true Blazing Fire Dragons are fearsome beings that are at least over 100 meters in length, whereas this dragon soul''s body is only around 30 meters long."


    Dai Yun''er''s breathing was growing a little urgent as she said, "What''s wrong with that? Don''t forget that dragon souls only possess around one percent of the power from when they were alive, so it''s only natural that they would''ve shrunk down significantly."


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. That was a plausible explanation.


    "Should we go around it?" Tang Wulin asked in a hesitant manner.


    "Why would we do that? The dragon soul of a true dragon will be greatly beneficial to us, so you can have this one. Why don''t we try hunting it down?" Dai Yun''er said with an excited gleam in her eyes.


    Tang Wulin whispered, "I think we shouldn''t do that; it''s too dangerous. Don''t forget that our objective is to find the dragon tomb."


    Dai Yun''er pouted in response, but she still nodded in the end. "Alright, let''s go around it then."


    Right at this moment, a thunderous dragon roar erupted, immediately following which the Blazing Fire Dragon suddenly changed directions, flapping its wings as it charged directly toward them.


    "Oh no, it sensed my spiritual fluctuations!" Dai Yun''er exclaimed.


    "Run!" Tang Wulin urged in a low voice before grabbing onto Dai Yun''er''s arm and quickly leading her away.


    The Blazing Fire Dragon rose up into the air before opening its mouth to send a massive fireball hurtling directly toward the two of them.


    The fireball rapidly expanded as it flew through the air, and when it was around 10 meters away from Tang Wulin and Dai Yun''er, it had already swelled to a diameter of around two meters, and it was radiating scorching heat that instantly incinerated the surrounding plants into ashes.


    In this dire situation, Tang Wulin wrenched Dai Yun''er into his arms before springing forward with all his might, and he propelled himself through the air like a cannonball.


    A violent explosion erupted behind him, sending a powerful scorching heatwave crashing into Tang Wulin''s back.


    He gave a muffled groan as dragon scales abruptly appeared over his skin, and that invisible layer of enamel shimmered slightly.


    He accelerated even further with Dai Yun''er in his arms, covering a distance of several tens of meters in the blink of an eye before rolling down onto the ground.


    Dai Yun''er could only feel the temperatures around her rising incessantly, and her eyes were tightly shut as she reflexively grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s clothes. For some reason, even though she was in this perilous situation, there was no hint of fear in her heart whatsoever. Instead, she was filled with exhilaration and the irrational yet unshakeable belief that White Three would protect her.


    After rolling along the ground for a few meters, Tang Wulin sprang to his feet before sprinting away with Dai Yun''er in his arms. He couldn''t compare with Dai Yun''er in terms of agility, but when it came to explosive speed, Dai Yun''er most likely wouldn''t be able to match him even if she could use her soul power.


    Thus, Tang Wulin hurtled through the forest like a speeding arrow, and golden dragon scales had already appeared all over his body.

 Chapter 721: Its Him!

    However, the Blazing Fire Dragon up above refused to let them escape. It blasted one scorching fireball after another out of its mouth, and as scorching heatwaves swept relentlessly through the air, Tang Wulin could already smell an acrid charred odor coming from his clothes. Thankfully, his dragon scales protected him for sustaining any severe injuries.


    "Yun''er, Yun''er!" Tang Wulin called in a low voice.


    "Huh?" Dai Yun''er raised her head in a timid manner.


    Tang Wulin continued, "We can''t keep running like this. I''m going to hurl you in another direction and take on this thing on my own. Make sure to look after yourself."


    "What? Will you be alright on your own? That thing is really powerful." Dai Yun''er was rather concerned for his safety.


    Tang Wulin was silent for a moment before continuing, "Yun''er, what would you do if you discovered that I''m not as good a person as you think. Even worse, what would you think if I were your enemy?"


    Dai Yun''er was rather perplexed by this question. "What do you mean?"


    Another scorching heatwave swept forth, and Tang Wulin abruptly sprang forward again as he heaved an internal sigh. This dragon soul was immensely powerful, but he didn''t want to leave the Dragon Valley yet.


    All of a sudden, a determined look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he hurled Dai Yun''er toward a patch of empty ground in the distance. In the instant that he landed on the ground, he abruptly turned around and sprang back the way he''d come.


    He looked up at the menacing Blazing Fire Dragon soul up above, and let loose an explosive roar. "That''s enough!"


    Three golden soul rings suddenly emerged beneath his feet as he spoke, and immediately thereafter, the third soul ring flashed as powerful blood essence aura erupted from within his body.


    Bright golden light instantly radiated in all directions as a massive golden dragon head appeared before letting loose an enraged roar straight up into the heavens.


    Compared to the golden dragon head that Tang Wulin had been able to conjure up during the Continental Young Elites Tournaments, this was clearly more substantial and menacing.


    The thunderous roar shook the entire heavens, and the Blazing Fire Dragon, which was just about to blast another fireball out of its mouth, suddenly stiffened before plummeting straight out of the sky as if its wings had been snapped.


    The roar of the golden dragon was far too fearsome for it to withstand!


    If another soul beast had been in the place of this dragon soul, perhaps the effect of this golden dragon roar wouldn''t have been so severe. However, this was the Dragon Valley, and the purer the bloodline of a true dragon, the more they were able to experience just how fearsome the aura of the Golden Dragon King was. This was pure bloodline intimidation.


    As the Blazing Fire Dragon plummeted from up above, Tang Wulin stomped a foot onto a nearby tree, and his body was propelled into the air toward the massive dragon soul. He swiped his right hand over his glabella, and a burst of golden light instantly erupted forth as his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp.


    After landing on the ground in the distance, Dai Yun''er had also been somewhat affected by that thunderous roar. After absorbing so many dragon souls, her bloodline had also taken on a faint dragon type aura, which was why she was also impacted by the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King.


    After steadying herself, she looked up to discover a giant golden dragon head projection roaring into the heavens.


    A golden dragon head and three golden soul rings?


    At first glance, Dai Yun''er was only struck by a sense of astonishment and familiarity. However, in the next instant, she suddenly realized something.


    ¡­¡­


    "Yun''er, what would you do if you discovered that I''m not as good a person as you think. Even worse, what would you think if I were your enemy?"


    ¡­¡­


    She finally understood what that meant. Could it be him? How was that possible? The one who had accompanied her this entire time was that guy? Why was he here participating in the trial held by the Tang Sect headquarters in Star Luo City? Why was it him?


    Dai Yun''er was completely flabbergasted, and her heart was filled with a myriad of emotions as she stared at Tang Wulin, who was charging directly toward the Blazing Fire Dragon.


    There was once a time when her heart had been swayed by this man, who had almost been stomped to death by Long Yue.


    There was once a time where she''d witnessed this man and his companions defeating the invincible Crazy Long and her teammates.


    He was stubborn, powerful and resilient, and he''d left a permanent impression on her heart.


    She didn''t want to admit it, but deep down in her heart, she knew that if he''d never appeared, she would''ve perhaps already submitted to her father''s will and chosen a husband for herself. However, for some reason, she simply couldn''t get over his rejection and move on.


    Never would she have thought that he would also be participating in this mission, and that they would bump into each other in this small world. Never did she think that the masked man who''d been protecting her and helping her absorb dragon souls this entire time would be him.


    It was no wonder he''d been so surprised after discovering that she was a princess, yet he didn''t abandon her, nor did he target her. Instead, he was like a nurturing older brother who was constantly protecting her.


    Prior to today, it had never even occurred to her that White Three could be Tang Wulin.


    In her heart, Tang Wulin was a slightly proud yet extremely outstanding man. He had power and resilience in equal measures, and he was an unforgettable figure in her heart.


    In contrast, White Three was a gentle and thoughtful big brother, a man whom she could rely on.


    When those two figures suddenly overlapped, Dai Yun''er was struck by a smorgasbord of emotions.


    "Boom!" The Blazing Fire Dragon plummeted into the forest and crashed into a large tree, having been completely disoriented by the impact.


    Tang Wulin swooped down from above with his Golden Dragon Spear pointing forward, and he instantly appeared in the air above the Blazing Fire Dragon.


    The dragon soul flapped its wings and desperately tried to get up, but the horror in its eyes was very apparent.


    In the face of the intimidating aura of the Golden Dragon King, even a powerful dragon soul such as itself was completely unable to muster up the courage to resist.


    "Thump!" Golden light flashed from the Golden Dragon Spear, and it punctured into the dragon soul''s head. Tang Wulin could immediately sense a burst of scorching energy flowing into his body in a frenzy through the Golden Dragon Spear before rapidly fusing with his body.


    The power imbued within this dragon soul was far superior to that contained in the dragon clouds he''d absorbed before.


    The Blazing Fire Dragon''s body gradually turned transparent, and the patterns on the Golden Dragon Spear slowly became more pronounced. At the same time, it had taken on a faint red hue from the influx of scorching energy.


    The dragon soul only completely disappeared after an entire minute had passed, and Tang Wulin''s entire body was filled with an overwhelming sense of satiation. The blood essence aura within his body became extremely violent, and the Golden Dragon King bloodline surged through his veins, rapidly absorbing the energy of the dragon soul.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline didn''t reject the dragon soul of a true dragon. During the absorption process, the golden scales all over his body began to radiate a fiery red light.


    As he absorbed the soul of the Blazing Fire Dragon, he could sense that his resistance to fire had been enhanced.


    He had derived a similar feeling of enhanced elemental resistance when absorbing the dragon clouds in the past, but the feeling wasn''t as pronounced.


    As expected, the soul of a true dragon was truly extraordinary!


    Tang Wulin looked down at the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand, and it seemed to have read his mind as it immediately began to emit a faint buzzing sound.


    Tang Wulin waved his right hand, and the Golden Dragon Spear vanished into his glabella as a streak of golden light. He clenched his fists, and he could feel that both his strength and his physical constitution seemed to have been enhanced.


    At this moment, it suddenly dawned on him that Dai Yun''er had most likely identified him.


    After a brief hesitation, he slowly turned around. He couldn''t just run away, so he had to face his problems.


    Dai Yun''er was already making her way toward him in an expressionless manner.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh, and said, "Yun''er, I..."


    "Take off your mask," Dai Yun''er suddenly interjected.


    "Alright." Tang Wulin removed his mask to reveal his handsome face.


    Dai Yun''er found herself slightly entranced by his clear and bright eyes, his long eyelashes, his chiseled nose, his attractive lips, and the near-perfect contours of his face.


    This was the first time that she''d been able to inspect him this close up.


    "You''re pretty handsome, Brother Three. Let''s go." After that, she continued through the forest as if nothing had ever happened.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon seeing this.


    At this moment, Dai Yun''er''s voice drifted back to him. "All I know is that you''re my Brother Three; I don''t know anything else."


    Tang Wulin chuckled upon hearing this. She sure managed to adjust quickly!


    He hurriedly caught up to her before ruffling her hair. "You''ve grown up."


    "Hey, don''t ruin my hairdo!" Dai Yun''er also smiled as she swatted his hand away.


    Just then, she''d suddenly reached an epiphany; there was no vendetta between the two of them, and perhaps the rivalry only existed because her attraction to him made her want to surpass him. However, did a woman like her really have to prove a point by being more powerful than the man she loved? Perhaps that wasn''t necessary.

 Chapter 722: Dragon Tomb

    After White Three and Tang Wulin had proven to be the same person, the guilt Dai Yun''er had harbored in her heart toward Tang Wulin was wiped away. As such, she was suddenly feeling much much better than she had for a long time as she''d finally let go of something that had been weighing on her this entire time. On top of that, she''d thought through many things, and become a braver version of herself as she was able to identify and admit some things to herself. She was a brave girl, and in the face of her courage, nothing else was a big deal.


    The indescribable barrier between the two of them seemed to have been torn down after Tang Wulin had removed his mask.


    "You''re not bad when you''re being all pleasant and docile like this," Tang Wulin mused.


    Dai Yun''er pursed her lips with disdain, and said, "Don''t call me docile; you''re making me sound like some kind of small animal."


    Tang Wulin burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Well, you''re a Hell Civet, aren''t you? Speaking of which, I have a little sister who''s also very beautiful."


    Dai Yun''er asked, "You have a little sister? What''s her name?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Her name is Na''er. We share a really close bond, and she''s currently studying at Shrek Academy. She''s more powerful than I am and she possesses superior aptitude as well. Her teacher is the master of the Sea God¡¯s Pavilion."


    "Your little sister is even stronger than you? I don''t believe that for a second." Dai Yun''er pursed her lips in a skeptical manner. Big brothers were always overly generous with their praise toward their little sisters; this was something she knew from personal experience.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "If you ever get a chance to visit the Douluo Continent, I can introduce her to you."


    "I''d love that!" Dai Yun''er smiled, and replied, "You better keep that promise!"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Well, you''ll have to come to the Douluo Continent first! You''re the princess of an empire, and aren''t you about to get engaged? Would your father let you go somewhere so far away?"


    Dai Yun''er suddenly stopped before appraising Tang Wulin with an intense gaze. "Are you that eager to see me get married?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face at the sight of her sudden mood swing. "That''s not what I meant; this is completely up to you."


    "No, it''s up to you as well," Dai Yun''er said in a serious manner.


    Tang Wulin was rather perplexed. "How is this up to me?"


    A vibrant smile suddenly appeared on Dai Yun''er''s face, but for some reason, Tang Wulin could feel chills running down his spine at the sight of her smile.


    "If you want me to get engaged, then I''ll get engaged," Dai Yun''er said with a smile before skipping on ahead like a cheerful little bird.


    Tang Wulin was left scratching his head in confusion. What was that supposed to mean? Her mood really was as fickle as the weather.


    With the guidance of Dai Yun''er''s spiritual detection, the two of them continued on toward the center of the Dragon Valley.


    During their journey, the number of dragon souls they encountered decreased drastically, but every dragon soul they encountered thereafter belonged to a true dragon.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline really began to shine at a time like this; even the most powerful true dragon souls would completely relinquish all resistance after hearing a golden dragon roar. However, Dai Yun''er was unable to absorb these true dragon souls.


    As soon as Dai Yun''er tried to approach them, they would immediately retaliate in a fit of fury, but they simply allowed Tang Wulin to absorb them as if that was how things were supposed to be in the first place.


    After absorbing his seventh true dragon soul, Tang Wulin finally arrived at the edge of a valley.


    The valley was like a massive bowl that had sunken into the ground, and it was technically more of a basin than a valley. When Tang Wulin and Dai Yun''er made their way over to the edge of the valley before casting their eyes downward, both of them instantly shuddered at the sight that they were greeted by.


    The valley stretched as far as the eyes could see, and it was entirely filled with a faint mist.


    However, in the visible parts of the valley, countless massive skeletons could be seen strewn all over the ground. In the instant that Tang Wulin witnessed this harrowing sight, an indescribable sense of grief immediately welled up in his heart.


    He threw his head back and let loose an irrepressible roar of fury that reverberated throughout the entire valley.


    Dai Yun''er cast her gaze toward him with a shocked expression on her face to find that golden scales had appeared all over his body. The roar that he had unleashed was filled with boundless sorrow and indignation, as if he were a monarch witnessing the death of his citizens.


    Deep within the Dragon Valley, grief-stricken roars also rang out in response, resonating with Tang Wulin''s heartwrenching cry.


    On the other side of the valley stood a silver figure. She wore a cold expression, and there was unbridled killing intent shimmering within her eyes.


    All of a sudden, she heard a grief-stricken dragon roar ring out in the distance, and she reflexively cast her gaze toward that direction as a shocked expression appeared on her face. She hurriedly patted her chest with her right hand, and only then was she able to repress the impulse to let loose a roar of her own in response.


    She peered into the distance, and it was as if her gaze could pierce directly through the mist, thereby allowing her to see to the other side of the valley.


    Tang Wulin''s roar lasted for several minutes before he was able to release all of the fury and grief in his heart. He squatted down in front of Dai Yun''er, and said, "Get on my back."


    Dai Yun''er hurriedly straddled onto his back, winding her arms around his neck.


    Tang Wulin picked up her legs before winding them around his waist, and Dai Yun''er immediately crossed her ankles to hold on more securely.


    This was a rather intimate pose, and Dai Yun''er couldn''t help but blush at her current situation. However, in the next instant she wound her arms even more tightly around Tang Wulin before pressing her cheek firmly against his back.


    Tang Wulin rose up into the air, then turned 180 degrees so he was facing the stone face of the valley. His golden dragon claws then extended out of his hands before grabbing onto the rock face.


    In contrast with Dai Yun''er, he wasn''t feeling any intimacy whatsoever. After witnessing the skeletons of so many dragons, he felt as if there were a massive stone weighing down on his heart. His golden dragon claws alternated as he quickly climbed down the rock face, which gave away like tofu in the face of his extraordinarily sharp claws.


    After descending for about 100 meters, Tang Wulin decided that this was too slow, and he detached himself from the rock face altogether, allowing his body to plummet in a state of complete free fall. Only after plummeting for several tens of meters did he grab onto the rock face with his dragon claws again, and through employing this method, he was able to descend into the valley at a far faster rate. With his immensely powerful constitution, the impact of his falls couldn''t injure him in the slightest.


    After just a few minutes, they''d arrived at the bottom of the valley.


    In the instant that they landed, a bleak sensation converged from all directions. Tang Wulin closed his eyes, and he felt as if he could hear the anguished wails of countless giant dragons.


    At a single glance, he could see that there were at least 1,000 true dragons that had perished here. Not only that, but they weren''t even given proper burials, and their carcasses had been strewn into this valley like trash in a landfill.


    Just what kind of powerful being could have reduced the almighty dragon clan to such a tragic state?


    Tang Wulin crouched down, and said, "You can get down now."


    Dai Yun''er almost wanted to ask him to carry her for a while longer, but she could sense that Tang Wulin was experiencing some powerful negative emotions at the moment, so she obediently did as she was told.


    It was a completely different feeling witnessing these dragon skeletons from the bottom of the valley compared to when they were at the edge of the valley up above.


    Only after entering the valley could they truly comprehend the scale of this horrendous tragedy. Even the smallest of these skeletons were several tens of meters tall, and the largest were even hundreds of meters tall. All of these skeletons were emanating faint energy fluctuations, as if they were all dormant giant beasts. It was difficult to imagine just how powerful they would''ve been back when they were alive.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before slowly making his way over to the closest dragon skeleton to him, then laying a hand on its surface.


    The bleak aura in the surrounding area influenced his emotions, and he felt as if he could hear the anguished howls let loose by this giant dragon prior to its death.


    Faint patterns could be seen on the dragon skeleton and fearsome energy fluctuations surged through the air.

 Chapter 723: Banished by the Divine Realm

    Dai Yun''er didn''t dare to touch the skeleton as she could sense that the power emanating from it was rejecting her.


    What a terrifying place this was! Dai Yun''er sidled up closer to Tang Wulin with a wary look on her face. Strangely enough, as soon as she came within three meters of Tang Wulin, the terrifying aura of the surrounding dragon skeletons no longer had any effect on her. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin appeared to have remained completely unaffected.


    He continued to walk deeper into the valley, laying his hand on one skeleton after another, and the deeper they went, the more enormous the dragon skeletons around them became. The skeletons all resembled small mountains, and oppressive dragon roars rang out from all directions as if the sky were falling.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he''d returned to an ancient battlefield on which one giant dragon was slain after another by the fearsome enemies they faced.


    This was a powerful clan that had once ruled over the entire continent, but they''d gradually fallen into obscurity in the aftermath of this battle.


    Just what had happened? What could have taken place to have reduced the almighty dragon clan to such a pitiful state?


    At the very least, as far as Tang Wulin knew, true dragon soul beasts were exceedingly rare on the Douluo Continent, perhaps even downright non-existent. There was once a legendary beast that was referred to as the Beast God, and that was a Gold-eyed Black Dragon King.


    If these skeletons had all belonged to giant dragons, then just how powerful was the dragon clan in the past? Even the weakest true dragons were most likely comparable in power to the Titled Douluos of the human race, so those true dragons with skeletons that were hundreds of meters tall would''ve been unimaginably powerful.


    Was the dragon clan really bound to fall into complete obscurity?


    Tang Wulin sighed as he continued onward while the bloodline in his body churned violently.


    In the distance, the silver figure had also entered the valley.


    Strangely enough, she was mirroring Tang Wulin''s actions, slowly striding onward while stroking each of the dragon skeletons she''d passed with tears shimmering in her eyes.


    Why were the heavens so unfair to the dragon clan?


    Why did the Divine Realm banish the Dragon God, forcing the dragon clan to revolt?


    The dragon clan had fallen entirely due to the jealousy of the heavens. It was all the fault of those accursed humans!


    As she continued deeper into the valley, the grief emanating from the silver figure became more and more pronounced. A layer of silver light had appeared all over her entire body, and the auras emanating from the dragon skeletons eased slightly in her wake.


    After walking for a long while, Tang Wulin suddenly stopped as he''d caught sight of a colossal skeleton up ahead.


    The skeleton was over a kilometer tall, and it was entirely brown in color. In contrast with the other skeletons in the valley, the immensely heavy aura emanating from it made the gravity in an area with a radius of several kilometers around it far heavier than it was elsewhere.


    This was a skeleton with no wings, but all of the bones were extremely thick. In particular, its four limbs were like pillars that were supporting the entire sky.


    What a familiar aura!


    Where have I sensed this before...


    "Why do I feel an aura that''s so similar to Big Brother Long''s?" Dai Yun''er''s words immediately answered the question in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    Indeed, wasn''t this the aura of the Mountain Dragon King? Tang Wulin''s entire body shuddered as he realized that this gargantuan skeleton belonged to none other than the Mountain Dragon King!


    He slowly made his way toward the massive skeleton, and an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart as he sensed the energy fluctuations emanating from it.


    Compared to the other dragon skeletons, the aura emanating from the skeleton of the Mountain Dragon King was far more powerful, and this was an aura that was filled with unadulterated rage and resentment.


    Only at close quarters did Tang Wulin notice that there was a gargantuan crack splitting the skeleton exactly down the middle from the front of its head to the tip of its tail. This meant that its enormous body had seemingly been sliced in half by some kind of weapon.


    Tang Wulin had experienced the defensive prowess of a Mountain Dragon King from Long Yue before, but a true Mountain Dragon King''s defensive prowess was most definitely hundreds, if not thousands of times more powerful than Long Yue''s. How had such a tremendously powerful being fallen here in this manner?


    Tang Wulin closed his eyes as his bloodline churned within his body, and was struck by a sense of asphyxiation, as if there were a mountainous weight on his chest.


    If not for his Golden Dragon King bloodline, he wouldn''t be where he was today, and there was no way that he would''ve been able to attend Shrek Academy. All of his past victories, his past breakthroughs, and even his progression in forging; all of that was inseparable from the fact that he possessed this Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    A thought suddenly occurred to him, prompting him to do something for the dragon clan as repayment. As soon as this thought emerged in his mind, it quickly grew to become an irrepressible desire.


    He had to do something.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before patting the Mountain Dragon King skeleton before him with a nod of his head. He then skirted around the gargantuan skeleton and continued onward, upon which he discovered another valley; it was a valley within a valley.


    The ground behind the Mountain Dragon King''s skeleton had caved in to form a massive crater with a diameter of over 10,000 meters.


    After arriving at the edge of the crater, Tang Wulin suddenly discovered that the voice that had been calling him this entire time instantly grew louder.


    This was the source of his calling.


    Tang Wulin peered into the valley to find that it was at least a kilometer deep. There seemed to be a massive ball of light shimmering within its depths, and the ball of light seemed to be comprised of seven-colored rainbow mist, making it impossible to see what lay within the valley.


    Tang Wulin could immediately sense that something within the valley was calling him.


    He turned to Dai Yun''er, and said, "Yun''er, go back using your dragon ball. The giant dragon aura here is too strong, and this valley is very dangerous, so I can''t take you with me. If something were to happen to you..."


    Dai Yun''er interjected, "No, I''m coming with you! How can I turn back at such a critical juncture? I''ll die of curiosity! As long as I stay close to you, I won''t be affected by the auras of these dragon skeletons. In any case, I can''t just leave like this! Can you carry me down there on your back again? I can always leave if we encounter any danger."


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily as he contemplated the situation. He could sense any beings in the valley down below that could pose a threat to him, so after a brief pause, he nodded, and said, "Alright, but make sure you don''t stray away from me."


    "Of course! Why would I try to get away from you?" Dai Yun''er giggled before abruptly jumping onto his back.


    Tang Wulin used the same method he''d employed before to slide down this valley, and the more he approached the bottom of the valley, the louder the voice in his heart became.


    Just what was this place?


    Could it be that there were even more powerful beings than the Mountain Dragon King in this valley?


    Tang Wulin slowly descended down the face of the valley, and he was about to enter the vast expanse of shimmering rainbow mist soon.


    All of a sudden, the mist shuddered slightly before parting on its own to grant him passage.


    Unbeknownst to him, the most dangerous place in this Dragon Valley was none other than this dragon tomb. There were no dragon souls guarding this place as they would simply be redundant.


    In the face of the powerful auras emanating from the giant dragon skeletons, a normal human being would''ve been crushed to death long ago. Of course, the most powerful beings among the human race could remain unscathed here, but they weren''t able to access this place as they were restricted by the laws of this small world.


    After passing through the glowing rainbow mist, a shocked expression appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he found himself looking at a giant dragon.


    To put it more accurately, this was a giant dragon soul.


    This dragon soul was about twice the size of the Mountain Dragon King''s skeleton, and its entire body was shimmering with rainbow light. Even all of its scales were each of seven different colors. The scales weren''t completely uniform, and each and every one of them seemed to differ in shape, but they somehow gave off a harmonious air, as if they were a massive panel consisting of countless gems.

 Chapter 724: So Hes Chosen Her?

    Its proud head was raised high up into the air, and an indescribable aura was emanating from its entire body. In the instant that Tang Wulin caught sight of this dragon soul, the Golden Dragon King bloodline within his body suddenly began to churn with renewed ferocity, making him feel as if his bloodline aura were about to erupt outward at any moment. Even the remaining 12 Golden Dragon King seals were trembling slightly.


    What''s this feeling...


    Tang Wulin suddenly recalled back to the history lesson that Gu Yue had given him regarding the dragon clan.


    The Dragon God? Could this be the soul of the Dragon God? Tang Wulin was astonished as this thought occurred to him.


    Could it be that this gargantuan rainbow dragon soul belonged to the legendary Dragon God? The very same Dragon God that had led all of the Beast Gods on a revolution that had almost destroyed the entire Divine Realm?


    Did this mean that the one that had drawn him to this place was none other than the Dragon God itself?


    Tang Wulin drifted onto the ground with Dai Yun''er on her back. Even though Dai Yun''er was still in close proximity to him, she still fainted on the spot as she let loose a muffled groan.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly caught her before checking her vital functions, and he was quite relieved to find that she was only unconscious. He pulled out Dai Yun''er''s dragon ball and held onto her hand after placing the ball in her grasp in an attempt to activate it, only to find that the dragon ball seemed to be completely nonfunctional here.


    As such, he could only hold Dai Yun''er in his arms, not daring to let her leave his side as he didn''t know what was going to happen next.


    He raised his head to look up at the colossal dragon soul, and after a brief period of unrest in his bloodline, he was suddenly struck by an indescribable sense of intimacy from this gigantic dragon soul.


    Gu Yue had told him that following the death of the Dragon God, it had been split up into the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King. Could it be that this was the origin of his Golden Dragon King bloodline?


    In that case, the bloodline in Gu Yue''s most likely belonged to the Silver Dragon King rather than a Seven-colored Dragon as she''d proclaimed. So that''s why she came to the academy to find me and made such an effort to get closer to me.


    An indescribable sense of pain began to throb in his heart. It turned out that she had approached him with some kind of ulterior motive after all.


    The soul of the Dragon God didn''t appear to be a living being; it merely stood in a completely stationary manner at the center of the valley with dense rainbow light radiating from its body. Tang Wulin took a deep breath before slowly striding forward with Dai Yun''er in his arms until he was very close to the dragon soul.


    After a brief hesitation, Tang Wulin pulled out a piece of uncommon metal from within his storage soul tool before flicking his wrist, sending the piece of metal flying toward the dragon soul.


    The dragon soul shuddered slightly, and the piece of metal abruptly vanished. Tang Wulin had clearly seen that the piece of uncommon metal had been instantaneously vaporized.


    Just how terrifying was the energy contained within this gargantuan dragon soul?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin swept a hand over his forehead, and his Golden Dragon Spear immediately appeared in his grasp.


    Seeing as he''d already come this far, he had to see just what he could do here.


    After placing Dai Yun''er down beside him, he carefully extended his Golden Dragon Spear toward the dragon soul in a slow and cautious manner. He was extremely nervous during this process, and he''d reflexively begun holding his breath.


    As soon as the Golden Dragon Spear came into contact with the dragon soul, the entire spear immediately shuddered violently. Immediately thereafter, a buzzing sound rang out before instantly growing louder, and the enormous dragon soul seemed to have sprung to life.


    A thunderous dragon''s roar erupted within the entire Dragon Valley!


    All of the dragon souls that were wandering the Dragon Valley almost instantly sprawled onto the ground, and all of the dragon skeletons in the dragon tomb were trembling gently, as if they''d been awakened and were trying to struggle to their feet.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he''d entered a rainbow world that was entirely different from the real world that he was situated in. In his mind, a crimson figure had appeared. He looked on as the crimson figure pointed a finger up into the sky, following which a giant crimson sword that seemed to span the entire distance between heaven and earth came crashing down toward him.


    Everything around him also turned crimson in this instant, and he felt as if his entire body had been instantly torn apart. The excruciating agony he was struck by made him let loose a bloodcurdling cry, and right at this moment, a silver figure abruptly appeared beside him. She reached out with her right hand, which quickly expanded before coming into contact with the dragon soul.


    Her body then shuddered as well before a rainbow film of light appeared all around her.


    In contrast with Tang Wulin, she still managed to retain her consciousness and didn''t seem to have been affected by the dragon soul at all.


    She turned toward the man beside her, who was holding his Golden Dragon Spear with a dazed and agonized expression on his face, and she murmured to herself, "Why does fate insist on being so cruel? Why are you here? Why did you have to bring yourself to me? Do you know that if I were to fuse with you now and extract your Golden Dragon King bloodline out of your body, I''ll have a chance to awaken part of the Dragon God''s power? But if I were to do that, you''d die for sure! I''ve already tried to avoid you, to distance myself from you, so why did you have to appear here at a time like this? Why?"


    However, Tang Wulin was unable to hear her enraged interrogation.


    All of a sudden, his body shuddered, and a burst of suction force erupted from each of their bodies, drawing them toward one another.


    Tang Wulin''s body began to rapidly approach the silver-haired woman while the dragon soul of the Dragon God suddenly hurtled directly toward them as a ball of scintillating rainbow light.


    "If you die, I''ll be able to awaken the power of the Dragon God, and no one will be able to stop me in this world. No one will be able to stop me from taking revenge for the dragon race and all of the soul beasts. Do you know that, Tang Wulin? Why did you have to come here?"


    She slowly raised her right hand, which had transformed into a silver-scaled dragon claw. She inched the claw closer and closer to Tang Wulin, and she only had to swipe it down in one quick motion to take his life, upon which she''d immediately be able to attain the power that belonged to the Golden Dragon King bloodline within his body.


    However, she simply couldn''t bring herself to do this. Tears began to flow down her face as she grappled with her internal conflict.


    "No!" She shook her head vigorously as she abruptly withdrew her right hand before aiming a vicious kick at Tang Wulin''s chest.


    His body was immediately sent flying like a cannonball, and he crashed into the rock face of the valley in the distance with his Golden Dragon Spear still held firmly in his grasp.


    A strong surge of rainbow light then swept forth toward the silver-haired young woman.


    All of a sudden, Dai Yun''er shuddered as she lay on the ground, and something seemed to be about to emerge from within her body. A faint burst of rainbow light had also materialized around her to protect her body. However, the light was extremely feeble and seemed to be about to shatter at any moment.


    This was none other than the energy of the dragon souls she''d absorbed working to shield her body.


    "So he''s chosen her?" A wry smile appeared on the silver-haired woman''s face, and she took a deep breath as she murmured to herself, "Perhaps this is the best choice for him."


    She stepped forward, and scintillating rainbow light surged around her as she flicked Dai Yun''er up into the air with her right foot, then waved her right hand to conjure up a burst of silver light around her.


    As soon as the silver light enveloped her body, her dragon ball began to glow brightly, and she instantly vanished on the spot.


    The silver-haired woman then turned around, and the stream of rainbow light surged into her body in a frenzy, causing her aura to swell drastically at an alarming rate.


    At this moment, the dragon soul of the Dragon God had already become rather insubstantial. However, it still diverted a portion of its power toward Tang Wulin before dragging him toward the silver-haired woman again.


    However, before he could reach the silver-haired woman, she would always kick him away with tears in her eyes. All the while, rainbow light continued to flow into their bodies, constantly elevating their auras in the process.


    All of a sudden, the seventh Golden Dragon King seal within Tang Wulin''s body was broken, yet his body had become as resolute as an iron board within the rainbow light, thereby allowing him to easily absorb the power from within the seventh seal.


    Immediately thereafter, the eighth seal was broken as well, and a fourth golden soul ring appeared beneath his feet. Tang Wulin let loose a muffled groan as blood began to flow from all seven of his orifices.


    Even though the rainbow light was constantly nurturing his body, he was still just a human. He''d already absorbed so much energy from dragon clouds and dragon souls, so this enormous influx of energy from the two broken seals was too much for him to handle, and his body was on the verge of falling apart.


    The silver-haired woman bit down on her lower lip, and she encircled the air before her with her arms as she let loose a loud dragon''s roar. Her body began to rapidly expand, and she transformed into a giant silver dragon that was over a kilometer tall in the blink of an eye. She then abruptly spread open her wings to shield Tang Wulin from all of the rainbow light, withstanding the streams of light all on her own.


    Tears flowed relentlessly from her eyes.


    Why do humans feel pain? Is this what it''s like to have human emotions? Is this what we''re lacking? Are humans able to evolve because they have these emotions?


    As rainbow light continued to surge into her body, a rainbow sheen appeared over her silver scales. At the same time, her aura was also growing more and more powerful, to the extent that the entire Dragon Valley was trembling in her presence.


    However, the giant dragon paid no heed to all of this, and it seemed to only have eyes for the unconscious young man lying on the ground before it.

 Chapter 725: One Person Missing

    Is this all meant to be? Why can''t I kill him? Could this be the biggest obstacle to the Dragon God''s reawakening? Why? Why does it have to be like this?


    I should kill him! After I do that, nothing will be able to stop me. If I kill him, I''ll be able to...


    But I can''t do it! It''s so simple, but I just can''t do it!


    As the dragon soul of the Dragon God gradually became more and more insubstantial, two rhomboid crystals began to appear at the very center of the dragon soul''s body. The two crystals hovered in mid-air, and one of them was golden while the other was silver in color. Both of them were radiating halos of seven-colored light.


    In the sky above, one dragon cloud after another quickly surged toward this place while countless dragon souls jumped down the sides of the valley in a frenzy, like moths to a flame.


    All of them transformed into a part of this rainbow energy that continued to inject itself into the enormous silver dragon.


    The gargantuan silver dragon had countless cracks all over its scales, but with the influx of this rainbow light, those cracks slowly began to heal over. At the same time, a layer of enamel similar to the one that had appeared on Tang Wulin''s body began to surface over her skin. However, this layer of enamel was seven-colored in her case, rather than invisible, as was the case for Tang Wulin.


    In the end, after the final wisp of rainbow light vanished into the silver dragon''s body, it raised its head and roared up into the heavens, making the entire small world tremor violently as a result.


    A terrifying aura erupted from her body, causing all of the rock faces around the valley to collapse and cave in.


    The gargantuan silver dragon slowly shrank down before reverting back into a silver-haired young woman. She drifted over to the two crystals in a flash, then raised a hand to grab onto the silver one before pressing it against her chest.


    After that, she turned toward Tang Wulin, who was still lying unconscious in the distance, and she took a deep breath before abruptly swatting the golden crystal directly toward him.


    "The day I muster up the courage to kill you will be the day the human race is destroyed!" Her cold voice echoed throughout the collapsed valley as tears continued to flow down her cheeks.


    The golden crystal landed on Tang Wulin''s chest before vanishing in a flash, and the silver-haired woman took a step forward, upon which she abruptly vanished as if she''d stepped into space itself.


    In the sky above, the massive spatial rift in the small world was trembling violently.


    The burly bald man turned to the black-haired man, and asked, "I can''t hold on for much longer; the laws of this world are too strong! What do we do, Boss?"


    The black-haired man harrumphed coldly in response. "We have to hold on until the end even if it costs us our lives! Can you not feel it? Our lord has already found that place. There''s no mistaking it; that''s the aura of the Dragon God, and what we''re looking for is situated right over there. That''s the place where all of the dragon bodies were laid to rest by the final soul fragment of the Dragon God following its demise. Everyone, this is when we need to dig deep and hold on with all our might."


    Right at this moment, silver light flashed, and a silver figure suddenly appeared in the air above their heads.


    She looked up at the black spatial rift, and she suddenly reached out with both hands before making a grabbing motion.


    The entire sky was instantly torn apart by her gesture, revealing a gargantuan rift that was several tens of times larger than the previous one.


    "Go!" the silver-woman commanded in a cold voice, and in the next instant, she''d already risen up into the air before vanishing into the black rift.


    The six figures down below each let loose a long cry before also rising up into the air, flying into the vastly expanded rift as streaks of light that disappeared in the blink of an eye.


    The entire small world tremored slightly and the gigantic rift began to seal.


    ¡­¡­


    On a mountain summit.


    Light flashed, and Dai Yun''er appeared out of thin air.


    Black One quickly strode forward to assess her condition, and it appeared that he wasn''t surprised in the slightest that she wasn''t wearing a mask, thereby indicating that he was already aware of her identity.


    After a brief assessment, Black One heaved a faint sigh of relief. It''s alright, she''s only suffering from very slight spiritual trauma. After leaving the Dragon Valley, her soul power will gradually recover without the restriction of that small world, so she''ll wake up soon. Thank heavens this princess came back safe and sound.


    At this moment, light flashed again, and another figure appeared, stumbling forward a few steps before arresting his own momentum.


    He turned to Black One and extended a respectful salute. "Black One."


    "White 13, you came out as well?" Black One''s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. During their internal selection process, he''d ascertained that this White 13''s powers and aptitude definitely ranked among the top three of all white-class agents. As such, he was quite surprised to see White 13 emerging from the Dragon Valley before three months had passed.


    White 13 hurriedly explained, "Black One, something big seems to be happening inside the Dragon Valley. All of the dragon clouds in the sky suddenly converged toward the same place before quickly vanishing. When I tried to approach that place to conduct an investigation, the entire Dragon Valley began to twist and warp violently as if it were about to collapse. On top of that, the energy fluctuations inside the Dragon Valley had become very strange. I saw a massive rift appear in the sky from afar, and the situation was getting too perilous for me to handle, so I activated my dragon ball right away."


    "A rift?" A hint of astonishment appeared on Black One''s face upon hearing this. When spatial changes took place in a small world, that was a sign that the small world was on the brink of collapse.


    To the Tang Sect, the Dragon Valley was an extremely important small world that was under its control. Only the cream of the crop among the white-class agents received opportunities to train there, and it had nurtured many exceptional talents for the Tang Sect. As such, the collapse of that small world would be a massive loss for the Tang Sect.


    Right at this moment, one figure began to appear after another amid flashes of light. They were all white-class agents who had fled from the Dragon Valley. All of their accounts of the situation were quite similar. There were also some who said that the dragon souls they were battling suddenly charged toward a certain direction without any regard for anything else, and immediately thereafter, the entire small world tremored as if it were about to collapse. As such, they hurriedly exited the small world using their dragon balls in order to escape the carnage.


    Black One began to conduct a headcount. Aside from the few agents that had already exited the Dragon Valley in advance, the majority of the rest of the agents had also returned.


    A wise man always distanced himself from danger; all of the agents had learned about small worlds prior to coming on this trip, so they knew that once changes began to take place throughout an entire small world, there was a good chance that it could collapse. If a small world were to collapse, everything within it would be reduced to nothingness, so they naturally fled without any delay.


    "28, 29... Hmm? There''s one person missing?" A dark expression appeared on Black One''s face as he commanded, "Report your numbers to me one by one, starting from White One!"


    Moments later, Black One''s expression changed slightly as he deduced that it was White Three who was missing.


    "We''ve lost connection to the Dragon Valley!" a hunch-backed old man suddenly exclaimed as he stumbled back a few steps. At the same time, the patterns on the mountain summit quickly dimmed and lost all of their luster.


    Black One''s expression changed drastically upon seeing this. Was the small world really collapsing? But White Three hadn''t made it out yet!


    Just as he knew who White Seven was, he was also aware of White Three''s identity. He was the number one rising star of Shrek Academy, and he''d made exceptional contributions to the Tang Sect as well.


    The Tang Sect was not like the Star Luo Empire; this was a man who had led a team to defeat the most outstanding talents of Monster Academy. Barring any mishaps, he would definitely grow to take on an extremely important role in the Tang Sect in the future. If he were to die here, then that would be a heavy blow to the entire sect.


    It was just that he had no idea what had happened to White Three, so he could only wait until White Seven woke up before asking her about the situation.


    Right at this moment, Dai Yun''er groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. She blinked with a blank look on her face at the sight of all of the agents around her before abruptly springing up into a sitting position.


    In order to conceal her identity, Black One had already put on a new mask for her.


    "Brother Three, Brother Three, where are you?" she cried out as she quickly scrambled to her feet.


    All of the agents fell into a grim silence.


    When they''d heard that connection with the Dragon Valley had been lost, they knew that this comrade of theirs would most likely be lost to them forever. Complete annihilation always resulted following the collapse of a small world, so there was no way that he could''ve been spared.


    After White Seven rose to her feet, Black One had already made his way toward her.


    "What happened, White Seven? How did you become separated from White Three? What was he doing in there?" Black One asked in a grim voice.

 Chapter 726: The Vanished Small World and Tang Wulin

    Dai Yun''er hurriedly replied, "Black One, we found the dragon tomb, and inside was a massive seven-colored being that Brother Three speculates could be the dragon soul of the Dragon God. The dragon-type aura in there was too much for me to bear, so I immediately fell unconscious, and I don''t know what happened after that."


    The dragon tomb? Many of the agents'' eyes lit up as they heard this. However, their expressions then quickly fell again. Even if the dragon tomb truly did exist, there was no point thinking about it anyways as the entire Dragon Valley small world had already ceased to exist.


    Black One''s brows were tightly furrowed as he fell completely silent.


    "Where''s Brother Three? Everyone came back, so where is he?" Dai Yun''er asked in an elated manner. They had found the dragon tomb! At this moment, she didn''t really care all that much whether she was going to receive a dragon soul bone; all she hoped for was that Tang Wulin had reaped some benefits from the dragon tomb.


    Black One remained silent.


    "What is it?" Dai Yun''er looked around at everyone with confusion in her eyes, but a hint of realization quickly appeared on her face as she said, "Oh, I see, Brother Three still hasn''t come out, right? That makes sense; he''s so exceptional that it''s only right for him to be able to last longer than all of us."


    Black One sighed as he shook his head, and revealed, "White Seven, we''ve already lost connection with the Dragon Valley small world, so it''s most likely already collapsed." There was no point in prolonging the pain; the truth had to come out sooner or later, even though he could already sense that this princess seemed to have developed feelings for Tang Wulin that went beyond camaraderie.


    Dai Yun''er faltered slightly upon seeing this before abruptly screaming, "That''s impossible! It''s not true! He''s like a fish in water in the Dragon Valley, and the power of his bloodline can intimidate all dragon souls. He''s the blessed child of the Dragon Valley, and without him, there''s no way we would''ve been able to find the dragon tomb; how could he have failed to identify that the small world was collapsing? He managed to help me escape, so he must be capable of returning as well. Try contacting the Dragon Valley small world again; you must''ve made a mistake the first time."


    Black One shook his head, and said, "Please calm down, White Seven. You''ve learned about small worlds prior to coming here, so you should be aware of what it means for connection to a small world to be lost."


    "No! This is impossible! Argh!" Dai Yun''er''s screams echoed throughout the entire valley.


    ¡­¡­


    After an indeterminate period of time had passed, Tang Wulin slowly regained consciousness. His entire body was in agony, and he felt as if he''d been torn apart at the seams.


    In summary, it was not a good feeling. His memory blanked out at the point where he''d laid the tip of his Golden Dragon Spear onto the giant dragon soul.


    It was also at that instant that he was filled with regret. Boundless energy had surged toward him from the dragon soul, and he didn''t think that he could directly absorb the dragon soul of the Dragon God.


    At this moment, his entire body was in excruciating pain, and he had to work hard to regulate his breathing in order to alleviate the pain somewhat.


    After looking down at his own body, he was shocked to find that he seemed to have grown slightly. However, there were also countless thin gashes that riddled his skin, as if he''d almost grown out of his skin like a cocoon.


    Scabs had already appeared all over these gashes, but that only resulted in an even more terrifying sight to behold. It''s no wonder I''m in so much pain; what happened back then?


    Tang Wulin calmed himself down, then rested for a while before attempting to muster up some strength in his body.


    His soul power was still being restricted, but he managed to activate the power of his bloodline right away. Immediately thereafter, he was completely flabbergasted by the tsunami-like waves of bloodline aura surging within his body. Powerful waves of bloodline energy flowed through all of his meridians, and his bones, internal organs, and meridians had all taken on a bright golden hue that was far more pronounced than before.


    As he circulated his immense bloodline power through his body, all of his pain was instantly alleviated, only to be replaced by a numb and itchy sensation as an indescribable sense of power spread through his entire body.


    He was then greeted by the sight of all of the scabs detaching from his body, revealing strips of slightly raw and pink skin. However, moments later, these strips of skin also returned to normal, and it was as if he''d never been afflicted by those countless thin gashes in the first place.


    On top of that, a layer of smooth and glossy enamel had appeared all over his entire body.


    What''s this feeling...


    Tang Wulin only exerted what he felt to be a slight amount of force into the ground, and his body rose up into the air slightly from a flat lying position. He supported himself up with his hands and catapulted himself to his feet.


    What immense power! Hmm? Where''s the dragon soul of the Dragon God? Where''s Yun''er?


    Dai Yun''er had already disappeared, as had the gargantuan dragon soul, and only a completely empty valley was left behind. Even the powerful dragon-type aura fluctuations and the voice that had been calling out to him in his heart had vanished without a trace.


    What happened?


    Tang Wulin assessed his surroundings in a dumbstruck manner, temporarily at a loss for what to do.


    He could sense that something had to have happened to him during the period of time that he''d been unconscious, but he couldn''t remember anything.


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Tang Wulin released his bloodline aura, upon which he was stunned to witness four golden soul rings emerge from beneath his feet before revolving around his body.


    Four rings?


    How was this possible? He''d only just broken the sixth Golden Dragon King seal not long ago, thereby attaining the third ring; where had this fourth ring come from?


    He hurriedly inspected the Golden Dragon King seals within his body and was shocked to find that two of them really were missing. Only 10 seals remained of the original 18, while the first eight seals had all vanished.


    Could it be the dragon soul of the Dragon God? Had its power helped him break two seals in quick succession?


    Tang Wulin didn''t know how to react to this. It was obviously a good thing that he''d become more powerful, but he was only 15 years old and had already broken eight seals; what was going to become of him from now on?


    He could still clearly recall the agony he''d suffered while breaking the sixth seal, and even though he didn''t know how the seventh and eighth seals had been broken, the gashes that had appeared all over his body clearly indicated that it had been an extremely perilous process. He wanted to try and contact Old Tang, only to be greeted by silence, as if Old Tang had never even existed in the first place.


    In the future, he naturally had to break the ninth seal. Tang Wulin didn''t know how far ahead in the future that would be, and no one was around at present to give him an answer.


    After a brief period of speechlessness, Tang Wulin gradually came to terms with his current situation. What had happened was irreversible, so there was no point lamenting over it. After all, it wasn''t like he could redo the seals.


    As opposed to crying over spilled milk, it was much better to keep facing forward and improving oneself. He had thought that breaking the seventh seal would be slightly easier after absorbing so much energy from dragon clouds and dragon souls, but who would''ve thought that he''d be plunged into such a perilous situation anyway?


    A thought suddenly occurred to Tang Wulin, and he released his golden dragon claws. After breaking the eighth seal, the Golden Dragon King scales on his body had clearly become thicker and heavier than before, and only through inspection at close quarters could he see the layer of enamel over his body, which was reflecting the light in a peculiar manner.


    Thus, he climbed up the valley by alternating his claws. He wasn''t in a hurry to use his dragon ball to get out of this place. Dai Yun''er was most likely safe as there would be a corpse lying around had she perished. As such, she had most likely only disappeared, which meant that she should''ve been teleported out of this small world by her dragon ball.


    Now that the dragon soul of the Dragon God had disappeared, he wanted to climb out of the valley and see for himself what had happened to this small world.


    After climbing to the top of the valley, Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of a boundless expanse of dragon skeletons once again.


    These skeletons still retained powerful dragon-type auras, as well as the bleakness that had once swayed Tang Wulin''s emotions.


    It took Tang Wulin a few days to arrive back at the edge of the dragon tomb, then climb his way to the top again. He could sense that something seemed to have changed within the Dragon Valley. The change most likely had something to do with the disappearance of the Dragon God''s dragon soul, but he couldn''t pinpoint exactly what had changed.


    He had already reaped many rewards from this trip. As for a dragon soul bone, Tang Wulin had been very interested in something like that prior to coming here, but now, he had no intention of obtaining soul bones from these skeletons.


    Was it time for him to leave?


    Under normal circumstances, the fact that there were no more benefits to be derived from this place would be an indication that it was time to leave. However, there still seemed to be a massive weight on his chest, a weight that had been present from the moment he''d set foot in the dragon tomb.


    The Golden Dragon King bloodline had made him who he was today, and if the Golden Dragon King really was a half of the Dragon God as the legends suggested, then he was technically a part of the dragon clan.


    As such, it caused him immense discomfort to see so many dragon skeletons lying out in the open.


    Whenever he''d battled anyone with dragon-type martial souls, his Golden Dragon King bloodline had always played a vital role in his victories. Only with the power of this bloodline had he been able to make it to where he was today. Without it, he didn''t even know if he''d have the confidence to continue cultivating.

 Chapter 727: Boring Yet Fulfilling Days

    His dragon bloodline had given him everything, so it was time for him to give back to the dragon clan. At the very least, this was an ideal method to cleanse and cultivate his soul.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin didn''t hesitate any longer as he began to dig holes with his golden dragon claws, starting from the edge of the dragon tomb valley.


    Even though he couldn''t use any soul power, his claws were peerlessly sharp, and using his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, he was able to stomp large craters into the ground. At the same time, he made use of his Tang Sect techniques, using his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to enhance his speed and agility, his Mysterious Jade Hands to bolster his golden dragon claws, and his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to direct soil out of the holes he was digging.


    A few hours later, he had dug out a massive hole. He then carefully placed the closest true dragon skeleton into the hole.


    It would be much easier to simply push the skeleton into the hole, but in order to maintain its original form, he had to be extremely careful and arrange the bones together in their original configuration.


    As such, it took him an entire day to bury the first true dragon skeleton.


    For some reason, the grief that Tang Wulin was experiencing abated significantly after burying this skeleton. Even the energy fluctuations emanating from the dragon bones had become a lot more feeble.


    After burying the first dragon skeleton, a sense of achievement instantly welled up in his heart. Dragon skeletons littered the ground, stretching as far as the eyes could see, but Tang Wulin was completely determined to see this through to the end.


    He had only just buried one of the smaller skeletons, and even that had taken him an entire day, so the larger skeletons would most definitely require a longer time to bury. He couldn''t calculate exactly how much time he would need, but he had set his mind to this task, and he was going to complete it no matter how long it would take. This was the same determination that had prompted him to become a Soul Master.


    He disregarded all concepts of time as he began to use his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth as a foundation to begin his burial mission. As time passed, Tang Wulin grasped some tricks and techniques that made him more efficient. For example, if he were to plunge his Golden Dragon Spear into the ground before unleashing his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, the resulting crater would be larger than if he were to only use his claws. The utilization of his bloodline power when unleashing the attack also became an extremely important factor to consider.


    As such, he had unintentionally begun to cultivate the two soul skills that he''d created.


    Within the dragon tomb, the powerful dragon-type energy fluctuations were able to draw the natural energies in this small world toward this place.


    As a result, Tang Wulin witnessed firsthand just how dragon souls came into existence.


    During the seventh day of his burial endeavor, natural energies suddenly surged violently near a massive true dragon skeleton in the distance, following which a dragon soul slowly materialized. The dragon soul took a total of two hours to manifest, and much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, it charged toward him without any hesitation as soon as it appeared.


    However, before Tang Wulin had a chance to do anything, it transformed into a stream of light that flowed willingly into his body.


    Tang Wulin''s main concern was that the supply of food he was carrying wouldn''t be able to support him until he could bury all of these dragon skeletons. To give all of these skeletons proper burials was a dream of his, but he wasn''t prepared to starve to death for his dream. As such, he was going to stop after he''d exhausted his food supply. However, after the dragon soul fused into his body, he discovered that the rich natural energies and true dragon aura imbued within it were much more satiating than any food he could eat.


    Just the energy from that one dragon soul alone could ensure that he''d be able to work for an entire day without eating.


    Looking around at all of the dragon skeletons in the tomb, Tang Wulin suddenly yelled, "All of you still possess sentience, right?"


    In that instant, he suddenly understood that all of these dragon skeletons had to possess sentient will. Otherwise, why would that dragon soul have directly fused itself into his body? These skeletons wanted to help him, which meant that they also wanted proper burials for themselves. This made Tang Wulin even more determined to see this through to the end.


    "If you want me to help bury all of you, then give me some energy every once in a while. Only then will I be able to keep this up. All of you can rest assured because I promise that I won''t be leaving until every single one of you has been buried."


    Tang Wulin''s words seemed to have triggered a string of faint energy fluctuations within the entire dragon tomb valley, and a hint of elation suddenly emerged from the overwhelming aura of grief. At this moment, all of the bleak white dragon bones seemed to be glowing again.


    They''re rejoicing because of my actions!


    A smile instantly appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he wiped the sweat from his forehead as he continued in his efforts, burying one dragon skeleton after another.


    During this process, Tang Wulin also gained a clearer understanding of the bone structures of different types of true dragons. After a while, he didn''t even need to use other skeletons as reference and he was still able to replicate the exact configurations of the skeletons with unerring accuracy as he buried them.


    There was nothing around him that could keep track of time, so he didn''t know how long he''d been in here. Every day, a true dragon soul would materialize before fusing into his body to maintain his energy levels.


    Aside from resting and meditating for eight hours per day, Tang Wulin spent all of his time digging holes and burying skeletons.


    This was undoubtedly an extremely boring process, but as someone who had studied forging for so many years, Tang Wulin was already accustomed to boredom. Even he had failed to notice that the dragon-type aura emanating from his body was growing more powerful by the day.


    The bleak aura of grief in the dragon tomb also lessened as the number of dragon skeletons dwindled, and Tang Wulin was feeling a lot more relaxed as a result.


    During this process, he spotted many dragon soul bones, and there was almost one on every single giant dragon skeleton. They were very easy to identify as any bone that wasn''t white had to be a soul bone. As expected of the world of true dragons; almost every single one of them had a soul bone.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t touch even a single one of those soul bones.


    It was already a tragedy that these true dragons had all fallen here; how could he compound their misery by taking their soul bones as well?


    Thus, Tang Wulin repeated this uneventful process day after day, and the dragon tomb was slowly cleared out by his tireless efforts.


    ¡­¡­


    "We can''t wait any longer; the delegation is about to set off. We''ve already notified the Tang Sect of the current situation, and if Wulin were to return, the Tang Sect will find a way to deliver him to us."


    An entire year had passed since the Shrek Academy team had come to the Star Luo Continent.


    During this past year, they''d experienced many things with the Douluo Continent delegation. They''d first been attacked by the Green Skull Renegades, then participated in the Continental Young Elites Tournaments, then traveled through this continent.


    They had learned many things during this trip to the Star Luo Continent, and they''d witnessed many things that didn''t exist on the Douluo Continent.


    If it weren''t for the fact that Tang Wulin had disappeared once again, their trip would''ve been perfect.


    However, they hadn''t seen Tang Wulin ever since he''d parted with them.


    Wu Zhangkong had brought back terrible news from the Tang Sect, stating that Tang Wulin had disappeared during a mission in a small world. That small word had lost connection with the Star Luo Continent, which meant that they had most likely lost this leader of theirs forever.


    When they''d first received this news, the Shrek Academy team had been filled with disbelief. They refused to believe that their leader had disappeared just like that.


    However, after receiving confirmation from the Tang Sect on multiple occasions, they had no choice but to accept the truth, which was that Tang Wulin really had disappeared or in other words, he had died.


    For the very first time, this group of teenagers came to realize just how fragile life was.


    The Douluo Continent delegation should''ve left a month ago, but Shrek Academy, led by Elder Cai, insisted on waiting for a while longer, trying to liaise with the Tang Sect in an attempt to find that lost small world.

 Chapter 728: Burying Dragons for 1,000 Days

    However, even the powerful Tang Sect was unable to ascertain the situation in that small world. That was a change in space and time itself, and it was already quite extraordinary that they''d been able to make use of a small world like that one, but it was beyond their capabilities to try and recover it.


    As such, they waited for another month in vain, and this was the day that they had to go back.


    Gu Yue stood in silence at the bow of the ship, casting her gaze into the distance in a certain direction. Ever since Tang Wulin had parted with them, she''d become a lot less talkative, and following Tang Wulin''s disappearance, she''d become even more withdrawn, to the point where she would often go an entire day without speaking.


    Everyone else wished that they could do something, but it was certainly far beyond their capabilities to find a lost small world, so they had no idea what they could do.


    "Nothing bad ever happens to good people; I''m sure our captain is fine," Yue Zhengyu sighed.


    Xu Xiaoyan pouted, and said, "If we''d known that this trip would be so fraught with trouble, we should''ve never come in the first place."


    Yuanen Yehui sighed, "What''s the point of saying something like that now? What''s happened has already happened. I just don''t know why he decided to leave rather than stay with us."


    Everyone reflexively turned to Gu Yue as this subject was brought up again.


    No one knew exactly what had happened, but they could sense that Tang Wulin''s departure most likely had something to do with Gu Yue. It was just that neither of them had said anything, so they could only continue to speculate.


    Xie Xie couldn''t help but ask, "Gu Yue, Wulin''s been gone for such a long time; aren''t you worried about him at all?"


    Gu Yue turned to him and suddenly said, "He''ll be fine."


    Tears immediately welled up in Xie Xie''s eyes upon hearing this. "What do you mean he''ll be fine? He''s been gone for so long, yet you''ve done nothing aside from shutting yourself off from everyone! We all tried our best to find him, but you haven''t said a single word. You weren''t like this back when we were at the academy; why have you become like this?"


    "That''s enough," Yuanen Yehui urged as she tugged on Xie Xie''s sleeve.


    Xie Xie''s emotional outburst was slightly irrational, but his words really did echo the thoughts of his companions; Gu Yue really had changed ever since they''d come to the Star Luo Continent.


    However, Gu Yue seemed to have been completely unaffected by Xie Xie''s outburst, and she merely murmured to herself, "I''ll wait for him until he returns to Shrek Academy."


    ¡­¡­


    "Huff, huff, huff, huff!" Tang Wulin was gasping for air, but his eyes were filled with excitement.


    The entire dragon tomb had been emptied aside from one final skeleton, which was also the largest skeleton of all, the one that belonged to the Mountain Dragon King.


    Not only was the Mountain Dragon King''s skeleton downright colossal, each and every one of its bones was also immensely heavy. The extreme density of its bones resulted in an indescribable texture, and each bone was like a piece of the earth itself.


    It took Tang Wulin over 10 times the amount of time to disassemble this colossal skeleton compared to normal true dragon skeletons, and a vast amount of time and effort were expended once again to arrange the bones in the hole he''d dug.


    This was a hole that was over a kilometer deep! Just digging this hole had taken him what seemed like an eternity.


    Ever since he''d begun burying these skeletons, he''d used his bloodline soul skills and the soul skills he''d invented tens of thousands of times, to the extent that using them had become second nature to him.


    "Farewell! After burying you, I''m finally going to leave." Tang Wulin appraised the skeleton of the Mountain Dragon King with a smile on his face before pushing the surrounding soil into the massive hole. After burying the remains of the Mountain Dragon King, he had fulfilled his promise.


    The bleak auras of grief and despair in the dragon tomb had already completely vanished, and Tang Wulin had planted many of the plants in the Dragon Valley small world next to the massive graves. All of these plants grew exceptionally well after being transferred to the dragon tomb, and they gave this entire place a sense of vitality.


    "Whoosh!" A ball of yellow light materialized beside the Mountain Dragon King before forming a dragon soul that rushed directly toward Tang Wulin.


    The dragon soul possessed less than one percent of the Mountain Dragon King''s power, but it was still over 30 meters tall. However, it didn''t have any wings, so it was looking quite clumsy and maladroit as it tried to climb out of the giant hole.


    Tang Wulin burst into laughter upon seeing this. "I already told you yesterday that you don''t have to do this. You can save your energy for yourself; I''ll be leaving after I bury you."


    The giant dragon soul made its way over to Tang Wulin, and it didn''t open its mouth to say anything, but there was wisdom shimmering within its eyes. It bent its hind legs and knelt down before Tang Wulin, lowering its massive head before rubbing it against his body. Light then flashed, and streams of yellow light flowed into Tang Wulin''s body.


    The dragon souls manifested by the Mountain Dragon King were the most powerful among all of the dragon souls conjured up by the true dragon skeletons, and after absorbing one of them, Tang Wulin could go seven days and seven nights without experiencing any hunger or thirst.


    Thus, his body was replenished, and the surrounding soil suddenly surged into the giant hole on its own, as if it were being drawn by some kind of invisible force.


    Tang Wulin smiled upon seeing this. As expected of the Mountain Dragon King; even its remains still possessed such a high level of autonomy.


    The giant hole was gradually filled, and the Mountain Dragon King''s enormous body slowly disappeared. The final giant dragon had been buried.


    Meanwhile, the dragon soul manifested by the Mountain Dragon King was also gradually becoming transparent as it injected its energy incessantly into Tang Wulin''s body.


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin suddenly discovered that at the center of the Mountain Dragon King''s dragon soul, there was an entirely transparent bone. The bone was rather strange in appearance as it seemed to possess countless facets, and even the slightest trace of light shining on it made it extremely dazzling in appearance.


    Is that... a soul bone?


    "Hey, stop burying yourself; you forgot one of your bones," Tang Wulin hurriedly said to the giant hole that was slowly being filled.


    However, the dragon soul of the Mountain Dragon King, which had almost completely vanished at this point, shook its head at him in response. It raised a front claw before pointing it at him, then pointing it at itself, then pointed it at him again before it nodded its huge head.


    A surprised look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he asked, "You''re giving this to me?"


    The dragon soul nodded once again, and Tang Wulin could see strong affection and benevolence harbored within its eyes.


    The translucent dazzling soul bone whizzed over to Tang Wulin in a flash, and before he had a chance to react, it entered his body along with what remained of the dragon soul''s energy.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin suddenly felt his body become significantly heavier, and he reflexively sat down onto the ground, following his entire being completely stiffened.


    He felt as if he''d become a mountain that was directly connected with the earth, and boundless energy was surging toward him from all directions before fusing into his body.


    In that instant, he felt as if he could hear all of the giant dragons beneath the earth roaring at him with elation, as if to express their gratitude for everything he''d done.


    There was no longer any grief or despair; all of them had finally found the home that they belonged to. A joyful smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. It was only proper to give deceased beings a final burial. Regardless of what had happened to them during their lives, at the very least, this vast expanse of land could act as their home following their demise.


    Tang Wulin sincerely hoped that no one would ever disturb them in their resting place in the future.


    He wore a gentle smile on his face as he said, "My friends, I''m not sure if I can call you that, but during this period of time, I''ve constantly been with all of you, and even though I''m doing the same thing every day, I didn''t find it boring in the slightest. I could sense your emotions, and they urged me to persevere, so thank you for keeping me company. I don''t know how long I''ve been here, but I don''t regret anything as this is a memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life."

 Chapter 729: Mountain Dragon King Torso Bone

    He transmitted his will into the earth, and the entire dragon tomb tremored slightly. His eyes were closed so he couldn''t see anything, but there were dense bursts of light erupting from the ground all around him. There were lights of all types of different colors, and in the end, they combined as one to form a rainbow halo that silently revolved around his body.


    A gentle feeling of intimacy surrounded his entire body, and he felt as if he could hear the cries of countless dragons, all of which were filled with joy and elation rather than grief and indignation.


    In the end, this rainbow light converged to form a water-droplet-shaped crystal that contained nine different colors within. The crystal drifted down onto Tang Wulin''s right wrist, and a thin nine-colored chain appeared, strapping the crystal to his wrist.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s body shuddered, and he felt as if his spiritual world had been smashed open! His spiritual power, which had been stagnant for a long time, suddenly began to increase at a rapid rate.


    This process didn''t last a very long time, but Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by the feeling that his horizons had broadened. Even though he still had his eyes closed, he could sense everything around him with brilliant clarity.


    He could sense that all of the bones in his torso, including his spine, his breastbone, and his ribs, were all glowing with a dazzling light. It was as if a crystalline suit of armor had been fitted onto those bones, filling him with an indescribable sense of power.


    This was a torso bone!


    The Mountain Dragon King had given him a torso bone.


    Among the soul bones that Soul Masters could fuse into their bodies, there were a few types that were the most valuable.


    Without taking into consideration the ages of the soul bones, head bones, torso bones, and external soul bones were the rarest and also the most precious.


    External soul bones were extremely valuable as they could exist independently outside of the six most common types of soul bones, and they were exceedingly rare.


    In contrast, head bones and torso bones brought the greatest enhancements to Soul Masters, and they were also the most difficult to obtain.


    Among the descendants of the Dragon God, the Mountain Dragon King possessed the most powerful defensive prowess, so its torso bone was undoubtedly one of the most exceptional torso bones anyone could hope to obtain. With the addition of this torso bone, Tang Wulin''s defensive prowess would be elevated to a whole new level. This could even make it a lot easier for him to withstand the influxes of energy from breaking Golden Dragon King seals in the future.


    Aside from sensing the fact that he''d obtained a new soul bone, Tang Wulin continued to extend his consciousness outward, and everything around him appeared in his mind with brilliant clarity, even though his eyes remained firmly shut.


    This indicated that his spiritual power seemed to have ascended to a new level.


    500 points of spiritual power were required to reach the Spirit Sea realm, and that was already an extremely important hurdle for the vast majority of Soul Masters as it determined whether they''d be able to become high-level Soul Masters. Without sufficient spiritual power, one would find themselves unable to fuse powerful soul bones into their bodies.


    Tang Wulin had already reached the Spirit Sea realm, but at this moment, he felt as if he''d make a breakthrough to a higher realm.


    He felt as if his spirit had become an abyssal prison. If his spirit were the world, then the upper boundary would be heaven while the lower boundary would be hell! This was the Spirit Abyss realm, the realm that was commonly referred to as the limit for a normal human''s spiritual power!


    Tang Wulin only knew of two other Soul Masters around the same age as him whose spiritual powers had reached the Spirit Abyss realm; one of them was Gu Yue, while the other one was Dai Yun''er, who possessed a spirit attribute martial soul.


    Such immense spiritual power was the mandatory foundation to acquire a legendary soul spirit. With this foundation, one would be able to fuse with any level of spirit souls; even orange and red ones. However, each person can only fuse with one orange and one red soul spirit, and after fusing with one of those two types of soul spirits, one''s capacity to fuse with other soul spirits would revert back to that of a being with spiritual power at the Spirit Sea realm. If no red or orange soul spirits had been fused with, then the upper limit for the number of soul spirits of other levels that could be fused with was five. Generally speaking, the Spirit Abyss realm was the limit of human spiritual power. At the same, after reaching that realm, Soul Masters would no longer be limited by their spiritual power as it would be sufficient to support them until they progressed to become Titled Doulos.


    Never would Tang Wulin have thought that he''d make such a significant breakthrough in his spiritual power here in this Dragon Valley. This was a form of reciprocation from all of the dragon skeletons!


    After that, Tang Wulin''s consciousness gradually faded, and he entered a deep meditative state again. He required time both to completely fuse with the Mountain Dragon King''s torso bone, as well as to adjust to his new level of spiritual power, which had reached the Spirit Abyss realm.


    500 points of spiritual power were required to reach the Spirit Sea realm, and that number spiked sharply to 5,000 for the Spirit Abyss realm. After reaching the Spirit Abyss realm, it was virtually guaranteed that he''d be able to become a Titled Douluo in the future unless something were to happen to his body. But was Tang Wulin''s body ever of any concern? The answer to that was, of course, no.


    ¡­¡­


    Shrek Academy.


    During the past two years, the academy had seemed to be very quiet, and no noteworthy events took place.


    Ever since the new generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had been announced two years ago, some changes had been happening within the academy.


    The first graders, which was renowned as the most exceptional year level in the academy, had become second graders. The core members among them, Gu Yue, Ye Xinglan, Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan, had all been inducted into the inner court, and at the same time, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu, who had become third graders, had also received the same honor.


    After that, these seven people were announced to be the new generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. At the same time, they were granted the right to accept any challenges from Soul Masters teams below a six-ring level for a year. If no teams below the six-ring level could defeat them during this year, then they would be confirmed as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    According to the rules of Shrek Academy, once a generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was confirmed, then all seven members would hold this title unless they were to perish, willingly relinquish the title, or become members of the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    As such, Shrek Academy always exercised caution when selecting Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Only the most exceptional prodigies or those who had made significant contributions to the academy were considered.


    No one could dispute the contributions the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had made to the academy. Just the fact that they had traveled to the Star Luo Empire and defended the honor of Shrek Academy was an undeniably significant contribution.


    Of course, there were also those who were unwilling to accept such arrangements. For example, the disciples that had already entered the inner court challenged them countless times during the coming year, but Gu Yue was always able to lead them to victory.


    Thus, a year later, they were finally confirmed to be Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Life in the outer court continued as normal. The current second grade''s class one, which was once the most exceptional first grade''s class one, now had Wu Siduo as their class president with Luo Guixing as the vice-president. Even without Gu Yue and the other, the second grade''s class one was still exceptional. Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran had all become one-word battle armor masters. All they had to do was pass the inner court exam, and they''d officially become inner court disciples. With their current power levels, this was clearly just a matter of time.


    Prior to the conclusion of the second year, over 10 disciples from that cohort entered the inner court, thereby further cementing their reputation as the most exceptional year level. They were also known among the outer court disciples as Shrek''s golden generation.


    Shrek Academy, inner court.


    Gu Yue stood beside the Sea God''s Lake, and it was as if she''d already fused as one with the natural scenery around her. She cast her gaze toward the Sea God''s Island with a blank expression on her face, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.


    A figure suddenly began to travel toward her from the island, moving at a rapid speed.


    The figure had silver hair and purple eyes, and she was an exquisite beauty.


    After three years, Na''er had also grown up. She was already 16 years old, and she was gorgeous as a celestial maiden. She was renowned as a once-in-ten-thousand-years beauty in Shrek Academy, and she was undoubtedly by far the number one beauty in the academy.


    Na''er gently landed beside Gu Yue.


    The Sea God''s Island was where the elder of the Sea God''s Pavilion resided, and only the direct disciples of those elders were allowed on the island, while most of the other inner court disciples had to study and live outside of the island.


    Compared to in the outer court, there was more freedom in one''s education in the inner court; disciples could choose what they wanted to learn and make appointments with their teachers to arrange lessons.


    It was also very simple to graduate from the inner court; all one had to do was become a two-word battle armor master. It sounded simple, but it was much easier said than done. Despite the increased level of freedom and flexibility, every student who entered the inner disciple still worked tirelessly to better themselves, and none of them dared to grow complacent.


    There had always been a strange phenomenon in Shrek Academy, which was that among those who entered the inner court, very few of them were willing to leave even after becoming two-word battle armor masters. Instead, most of them chose to continue to cultivate in the academy or become teachers themselves.


    This positive cycle had repeated itself for over 10,000 years to create the current Shrek Academy.


    Na''er was already a young woman now. She was tall and slender, and as she stood beside Gu Yue, it was quite difficult to tell that there was an age gap of two to three years between them.


    The two of them stood side by side, and neither of them said anything.

 Chapter 730: Unwelcome Guest

    From an appearance perspective, Gu Yue couldn''t even hold a candle to Na''er. In other words, they simply weren''t on the same level. However, for some reason, Na''er didn''t seem to possess more of a presence than Gu Yue.


    "When is he coming back? It''s already been such a long time," Na''er said in a cold voice.


    "I don''t know," Gu Yue replied with a shake of her head.


    Na''er suddenly flared up with rage. "You don''t know? What did you say to me before? You promised me that he was fine and that he''d be back for sure, so why hasn''t he come back even after three whole years? You killed him already, didn''t you?"


    Gu Yue turned to Na''er, and countered, "Would you have failed to sense his demise if I''d killed him? I didn''t kill him and I don''t know why he hadn''t returned yet. However, I''m sure that he''s still alive. Perhaps he stayed over there and became Dai Yun''er''s fiance.


    Na''er suddenly fell silent upon hearing this, and she turned back toward the direction of the Sea God''s Island.


    "No, my brother isn''t that kind of person; he wouldn''t fall in love with someone so easily. He''s definitely going to come back; he''s just been delayed by something along the way," Na''er said in a determined voice.


    Gu Yue suddenly asked, "If he does come back, is our bet still on?"


    Na''er raised her head in a proud manner. "Of course! There''s no way that you''ll be able to beat me."


    Gu Yue''s expression remained unchanged as she said, "But I can''t keep waiting here any longer; there are too many things that I need to take care of. You can shirk all your responsibilities and live a leisurely life here, but I can''t do the same. You should know the burden on my shoulders. If you''re not willing to carry that burden, then I must take up the mantle. Hence, I''m only going to wait for three more months before I leave. I promised him that I would attend the inner court with him, but if he doesn''t come back, then it''s not my fault. He''s the one that''s breaking our promise, and I have to leave."


    Na''er shuddered slightly upon hearing this, and a gentle look suddenly appeared in her eyes. "You..."


    Gu Yue turned to her with a smile on her face, but the smile was rather bleak and lonely. "Are you going to persuade me not to leave? You can''t bring yourself to do that, right? In essence, you''re the same as me; you''re also just running away from reality."


    Na''er asked, "Then what if my brother comes back? Will you still leave then?"


    "I will!" Gu Yue replied without any hesitation, "I can''t keep everyone waiting any longer. There''s not much time left, and many things need to be set into motion. The Spirit Pagoda is asking me to take on my role there as early as possible."


    Na''er took a deep breath, and said, "Alright, you can go if you insist. I''ll always be here waiting for him. You said that he''s still alive, so he''ll definitely come back; I''m sure of it!"


    Gu Yue merely smiled and offered no response to this. She tucked a few stray strands of long hair behind her ear before turning and making her way toward the main school building of the inner court.


    Na''er looked on at her departing figure, and she suddenly smiled as she murmured to herself, "As long as he comes back, you''ll lose the bet for sure. In reality, you''ve already lost to me; have you still not realized this or are you simply unwilling to admit it?"


    She then looked up into the sky, and sighed, "When are you coming back, Brother? You''re not actually staying in the Star Luo Empire to become the princess'' fiance, are you?"


    At the main gate of Shrek Academy or to put it more accurately, the main gate Shrek City, an extra-long luxury soul car slowly came to a stop, and the right car door was open, following which a man emerged from within. This was a burly mountain of a man with a gleaming bald head, wearing tight-fitting formal attire that further accentuated his strong presence.


    He skirted around the back of the car before opening the rear door on the left.


    A slender calf with skin as fair as snow emerged from the car first, followed by a long white dress as a young woman exited the car.


    Standing beside the bald man, she appeared extremely petite, and she had a head of long wavy curls that trailed down her back. She gave off a pure and refreshing disposition, and there was an expectant look on her exquisitely gorgeous features as she glanced up at the plaque before her with an indescribable hint of desire in her eyes.


    The bald man strode directly toward the main gate of Shrek City. People were granted free access through these gates, but the same didn''t apply to vehicles, and the bald man was clearly aware of this.


    Aside from the two of them, there were also two men in uniforms that got out of the car one after another. It was quite apparent that these two worked for an official department of the federation, and they quickly strode over to the other two people before leading them into Shrek City.


    That''s right, even an official vehicle from the federation wasn''t permitted to drive into Shrek Academy without receiving special permission beforehand.


    After making their way into Shrek City, both the bald man and the white-dressed young woman were inspecting their surroundings with curiosity in their eyes.


    "Big Brother Long, this place is so lavish! The Douluo Continent really does look more fun than our continent," the young woman said.


    The bald man nodded with an intense look in his eyes. "So this is where Shrek Academy is situated. I wonder how special this academy is for it to be regarded as the number one academy on this entire continent."


    The young woman smiled, and said, "Anywhere is special as long as he''s there."


    The bald man turned to her with a peculiar look in his eyes. "Yun''er, it''s been more than three years. You..."


    The young woman shook her head, and interjected, "There''s no need to try and persuade me any further, Brother Long; I''ve already made up my mind. I know you mean well, and know that you''ve always been very good to me, but I''m not changing my mind for anyone. Three years ago, I threatened to kill myself so I wouldn''t be forced into an engagement, and now, my destiny is completely in my own hands. Have you forgotten that in his fit of rage, Father abolished me as a royal? I''m no longer royalty, and nor will my descendants be of royal lineage."


    If Tang Wulin were here, he would immediately recognize this white-dressed young woman as the mischievous princess of the Star Luo Empire, Dai Yun''er. The man accompanying her was none other than the pillar of Monster Academy, the man who was touted as a once-in-a-millennium prodigy, Dragon King Long Yue!


    A resigned look appeared on Long Yue''s face as he said, "Yun''er, you know His Majesty wasn''t serious. Your fourth brother, who''s the designated heir to the throne, has already told me that even if His Majesty refuses to forgive you, the first thing he does after inheriting the throne will be to reinstate your royal status."


    Dai Yun''er smiled as she replied, "Of course I''m aware of all this! Father only put on an enraged display for others to see so he could protect the dignity of the royal family, but at the same time, he''s also given me freedom. As for whether my future children are royals or not, that''s not important; perhaps I''ll be staying in Douluo Continent for the rest of my life!"


    A cold look flashed through Long Yue''s eyes as his hands balled up into tight fists. He really wanted to beat the crap of that guy right now.


    "Let''s go straight to Shrek Academy! I''m not going anywhere until I see him."


    In the Shrek Academy inner court dormitory building.


    Xie Xie sat on the couch in his own room with a dazed and disoriented look in his eyes. He had been like this for the past few days, and he''d even stopped cultivating during this time.


    After entering the inner court, the treatment he received was naturally vastly different compared to when he was in the outer court. Here in the inner court, each student had their own separate room, and the food they were provided with was far better than what had been available to them in the past. On top of that, they didn''t have to pay any fees, either.


    It could be said that transitioning from the outer court to the inner court was like ascending from hell to heaven. Here, all of the cultivation resources and facilities were top-notch, and they also had the most outstanding teachers.


    Wu Zhangkong didn''t come to the inner court with them. Instead, he remained in the outer court to instruct the second grade''s class one. However, he had said that after this final year of teaching, he was going to quit as a teacher so he could come to the inner court to cultivate and hone his battle armor.


    "Knock knock knock!" A burst of door-knocking suddenly rang out, and Xie Xie was given a fright before rising to his feet and hurriedly opening the door.


    He was greeted by the sight of Yue Zhengyu standing outside, and he brushed past Xie Xie as he strode directly into his room.

 Chapter 731: All Grown Up

    Compared to three years ago, they were all grown up. Xie Xie was already over 180cm tall, and Yue Zhengyu''s height had even surpassed 185cm. Both of them were very handsome, but Xie Xie almost constantly wore a sly smile on his face while Yue Zhengyu gave off a pure and holy disposition. Their styles differed greatly, but both of them received a lot of attention from inner court disciples of the same age. The extra attention was simply unavoidable, considering they were part of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    "What are you doing in here?" Yue Zhengyu pinched his nose as he looked around at the messy room. He then strode over and opened the window, allowing the balmy fresh air from the Sea God''s Lake to blow into the room.


    Xie Xie sat down on his couch again with a dejected expression on his face.


    "What the hell''s wrong with you?" Yue Zhengyu glanced at him in an exasperated manner.


    The two of them were constantly bickering back and forth, but they were actually very good friends. Both of them had similar personalities in that they were quite unpredictable, but this trait was more pronounced in Xie Xie''s case.


    A wry smile appeared on Xie Xie''s face. "Do you need something? If not, then get out of here! I don''t have time for your nonsense!"


    "Oh?" Yue Zhengyu raised an eyebrow as he challenged "Getting a little cocky, are we? What''s been going on with you? Do you want a sparring match so I can slap some sense into you?"


    Xie Xie slumped onto the couch. "Not interested."


    A thought occurred to Yue Zhengyu, and he made his way over to Xie Xie as he chuckled, "I know what''s going on; this is about Yuanen, right? Look at how pathetic you are! you''ve been pursuing Yuanen for so long, yet you still haven''t succeeded. I don''t even know what to say to you anymore."


    "Get out!" Xie Xie roared.


    Yue Zhengyu stuck his hands into his pockets. "Tch, I know exactly what''s going on in that little head of yours. We''ve all come of age this year, and Sea God''s Lake Match-making Convention is about to be held soon. The convention can be attended by all inner court disciples at or above 18 years of age, so you''re worried that someone will take Yuanen away, right? Or are you worried that you won''t have a chance with her?"


    Xie Xie harrumphed in response. "I''m so handsome, how could I not have a chance with her? Even if she were going to choose someone, it could only be me. If she doesn''t choose me, then no one else has a chance, either."


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled, "I''m not sure that''s true. There are many seniors in the inner court with exceptional looks and powers, and there''s no lack of two-word battle armor masters among them, either. How are you so sure that Yuanen will choose you? I think it''s far from set in stone!"


    Xie Xie aimed a vicious glare at him. "I''ll fight anyone who dares to try and take her from me, even if it means I die!"


    Yue Zhengyu scoffed, "Look at your pathetic self! You''re going to fight anyone who tries to take her? If I were Yuanen, I''d ignore you as well. You deserve this!"


    Xie Xie immediately sprang to his feet like an enraged rooster upon hearing this. "I''m never talking to you again!"


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled coldly, "Be my guest. Do you know the most important element of pursuing a woman?"


    Xie Xie replied, "Having thick skin just like you!"


    "Piss off! You can sit around and mope; I''m not going to teach you anything," Yue Zhengyu said as he turned around to leave.


    Xie Xie hurriedly lunged toward him before grabbing onto his arm. "Alright, you win! I''m sorry! Please teach me!"


    Yue Zhengyu turned around, and chuckled, "It''s confidence, you idiot! If you don''t even believe in yourself, why would Yuanen believe in you? You do indeed need to have thick skin, but you have to be confident as well. You''ve been nagging Yuanen for a long time already, right? But think about this; how many times have you truly confessed to her? Isn''t this convention the perfect opportunity for you? Even if you fail, you have to tell everyone in the inner court what you just said to me. If anyone tries to steal Yuanen from you, you''ll fight them with your life on the line! Show everyone your determination! Even if Yuanen rejects, at the very least, you''ll have far fewer contenders to deal with. Also, let me tell you the truth; Yuanen is quite beautiful, but she possesses a Titan Giant Ape martial soul and swings a pair of massive hammers around all the time, so not many people will actually want to take her from you."


    Yue Zhengyu''s words instantly struck Xie Xie with a sense of enlightenment. "You''re right! Why didn''t I think of that? I kept worrying about whether she was going to reject me, but so what even if she does? I just have to display my resolve and get everyone to back off! That''s solid advice; I owe you one, Brother. I''m going to devise a plan, and after the match-making convention, I''m going to treat you to a big meal!"


    Xie Xie was instantly reinvigorated. He had always had a great combative spirit and was never the type to admit defeat easily. It was just that he had forced himself into a corner, and his pain stemmed from the notion that he would be rejected by Yuanen no matter what.


    The Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was an event that only inner court Shrek Academy disciples could attend, and all attendees also had to be at or over 18 years old.


    This was a tradition that had existed since over 10,000 years ago. The students of Shrek Academy were simply far too outstanding, so it was quite difficult for them to find a suitable partner for themselves in the outside world. As such, many people chose to attend the match-making convention to find their other half.


    The most renowned match to have been made during the convention''s history consisted of the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao and the Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong. Their story was like a real-life fairytale, so the period leading up to the match-making convention was always the most exciting time for the disciples of the inner court.


    All outer court students that had reached 18 years of age could spectate the event, and that was meant to act as motivation for them, urging them to work hard in their cultivation so they could become one-word battle armor masters as quickly as possible. After that, they''d have a chance to attend the convention as well.


    There was only around half a month left until the convention, and that was why Xie Xie had been so concerned.


    All of a sudden, a massive figure squeezed his way into Xie Xie''s room, panting heavily as he did so.


    Xu Lizhi was a lot taller than he''d been three years ago, but his body weight had also increased proportionally. He had become a huge fatso, and he bore a rather similar appearance to the recovery pork buns that he made.


    "What''s going on?" Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu both turned toward him with surprise in their eyes.


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu''s personalities were rather similar, whereas Xu Lizhi''s personality was quite close to that of Tang Wulin. He appeared to be quite bashful and simple-minded, but he was actually quite sinister on the inside, and those who got on his bad side usually ended up sorely regretting it.


    However, in stark contrast with his normal calm and steady demeanor, he seemed to be quite panicked at the moment.


    "What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?" Yue Zhengyu asked?


    Xie Xie also chimed in, "Yeah, what''s going on? By the way, if you don''t lose some weight, will you be able to attend the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention?"


    Xu Lizhi glowered at him in an indignant manner. "Why wouldn''t I be able to participate in the convention? I''ve got a bunch of tricks up my sleeve! Now''s not the time to be talking about this; Dai Yun''er and Long Yue just arrived at our academy."


    "Who?" Xie Xie exclaimed in a puzzled manner.


    Yue Zhengyu was also rather perplexed. "Those two names sound really familiar for some reason."


    Xu Lizhi reminded, "They''re two of the people on the Monster Academy team that we battled during the Continental Young Elites Tournaments! Dai Yun''er is also a princess of the Star Luo Empire; have you both forgotten about all this? That Long is that monster with the Mountain Dragon King martial soul."


    Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie''s expressions both changed drastically upon hearing this and they asked in unison, "Why did they come here?"


    Xu Zhili replied, "From the information I''ve gathered, they''re apparently here as exchange students, and they''ll be studying in our inner court, so we''ll be studying at the same place as them from now on."


    "What?" Peculiar expressions appeared on both Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie''s faces. They hadn''t paid much attention to Dai Yun''er, but Dragon King Long Yue had left them with an extremely strong impression. On a one-on-one basis, none of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were a match for him, and Tang Wulin had even almost been killed by him in battle.


    Yue Zhengyu had also been defeated by Long Yue once, so he was rather unsettled upon hearing this name.


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu glanced at one another before the latter asked, "What''s he doing here? Does he want to flaunt his superiority over us?"


    Even though all of the current Shrek''s Seven Monsters had grown very quickly in the past three years, there was still a clear gap between them and Long Yue. He was already a six-ring Soul Emperor over three years ago, after all. On top of that, he was also a two-word battle armor master. Even if he hadn''t become a three-word battle armor master during these past three years, he would''ve most definitely become more powerful than he had been, and there was no way that any of Shrek''s Seven Monsters could match him.


    Xu Lizhi shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "Who knows? Maybe he''s here to seek revenge. In any case, I''m just a food-type Soul Master, so this has nothing to do with me, and I have Sister Xinglan to protect me. You two should pray for your own safety, though."


    "Can you have any less backbone?" Yue Zhengyu scoffed as he rolled his eyes.


    "Backbone? What''s the use in having something like that? It''s not like I can eat it. Alright, I''m going now; I still have to prepare for the match-making convention," Xu Lizhi chuckled.


    Yue Zhengyu''s eyes immediately lit up. "Who do you have your eyes set on, Fatty? You''re not into Wu Siduo or Zheng Yiran, are you? One of them has thorns while the other is toxic, so you''d better be careful."

 Chapter 732: What He Did Has Nothing to Do With Me

    Xu Lizhi rolled his eyes in response. "I''ve got my eyes set on both Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan, and I''m currently thinking about which one I should confess to."


    "Do you want to die?" Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie both exclaimed in unison.


    Xu Lizhi burst into laughter at the sight of their menacing expressions. "You two are looking more and more like a couple."


    After that, he squeezed out the door and sped away as quickly as he could.


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu glanced at one another before the latter abruptly sprang backward, and warned, "You better keep your distance from me!"


    "Piss off! This is my room!"


    News of Dai Yun''er and Long Yue''s arrival quickly spread through the entire inner court, and they were also made aware of the fact that these two were going to be studying alongside them during the upcoming period of time.


    Others didn''t know much about him, but this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were very familiar with him.


    Long Yue was like an insurmountable figure in their hearts that had left an extremely profound impression on them. If it weren''t for Tang Wulin''s bloodline intimidation, Gu Yue''s earth element seal, and the final Divine Dragon Transformation, they wouldn''t have been able to defeat such a fearsome opponent.


    Following the competition, even Wu Zhangkong had admitted that he couldn''t ensure victory against Long Yue in a one-on-one battle. Such glowing praise naturally only further accentuated just how powerful this freakish prodigy of the Star Luo Empire was.


    "What did you say?!" Xu Xiaoyan''s scream was audible even from several hundred meters away.


    Not only her, but all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were also staring at the two people before them with dumbstruck expressions on their faces.


    They had finally met Dai Yun''er and Long Yue, who had come all the way here from afar, and the two of them revealed a piece of astonishing news to everyone.


    "It''s true," Dai Yun''er had an earnest look in her eyes as she said, "Not long ago, we''d received news that Tang Wulin is returning to the Douluo Continent from the Tang Sect headquarters in Star Luo City on a long-distance ferry supplied by the Tang Sect. Traveling by sea is quite unpredictable, but the Tang Sect''s long-distance ferries have always been quite reliable. The two of us hurried over as we heard this news; has he still not come back yet?"


    All of the members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, with the exception of Gu Yue, were completely shocked to hear this news.


    "He''s not dead? Captain''s still alive? He survived even after the small world collapsed?" Xie Xie exclaimed as he suddenly leaped into the air with unbridled excitement.


    Yue Zhengyu also swung an arm through the air in an elated manner.


    Dai Yun''er''s eyes were shimmering with a peculiar light. "I was also really shocked to hear this. I always thought that he''d already... Thank heavens he''s still alive. I''m sure the information from the Tang Sect is reliable, so we''ll wait here for him."


    Ye Xinglan was one of the calmer people present, and she looked at Dai Yun''er as she asked, "Why do you want to meet Wulin?"


    Dai Yun''er smiled, and replied, "He''s my man, so of course I have to come and find him after finding out he''s still alive!"


    "What did you say?" Everyone stared at Dai Yun''er with flabbergasted expressions, and they seemed even more shocked by this revelation than they were by the news that Tang Wulin was still alive.


    A faint blush appeared on Dai Yun''er''s face as she explained in a shy manner, "Over three years ago, we entered the small world together as we were both agents of the Tang Sect''s Battle Hall. He was White Three while I was White Seven, and we were placed into the same group by chance. After staying with each other for so long, a relationship naturally blossomed, and one thing led to another. After that, we encountered an extremely perilous situation, and he teleported me out of the small world first to protect me, but I lost contact with him immediately thereafter. I''ve been searching for him for all these years; I''m sure he''ll be fine. Not long ago, I finally received some news about him, and he''s my fiance, so I naturally had to come and find him. All of you are his best friends, so if he comes back, make sure to tell him that I came. If he''s willing to go back to the Star Luo Continent with me, then he''ll be my fiance. If he really doesn''t want to come with me, then I''ll stay here for him, even if it means that I won''t be a royal anymore."


    Everyone''s eyes widened even further at the sight of Dai Yun''er''s shy display. All of them reflexively turned toward Gu Yue to gauge her reaction, but strangely enough, her expression remained completely calm and unchanged.


    "Thank you for bringing news about Wulin back to us, but he still hasn''t returned yet. We''ve also all been waiting for him this entire time. If there''s nothing else you''d like to speak about, then we''ll be taking our leave now," Gu Yue said in an indifferent voice before immediately turning around to depart.


    A smug look appeared in Dai Yun''er''s eyes, and she smiled as she said, "I''ll be waiting for him here. I''m sure he''ll return to the academy as soon as he comes back."


    None of the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters said anything in response, and they all departed behind Gu Yue.


    "Don''t listen to her spout nonsense, Gu Yue; I can tell from the unsteady tone of her voice that she''s lying. On top of that, Captain was only 15 years old three years ago; how could something have happened between them just because they were together for a few months?" Ye Xinglan consoled in a level-headed manner.


    Xie Xie said, "But they''ve already come to our academy; if nothing happened between them, why is she in such a hurry to see him? In any case, it''s fantastic news that Captain is still alive! We''ll let him take care of these matters on his own when he gets back."


    Everyone nodded in response. These types of matters could only be addressed by the people directly involved.


    "What he did has nothing to do with me." Gu Yue suddenly sped up and quickly detached herself from the rest of the group.


    Why did you have to come back at a time like this? I had just made up my mind to leave a few months from now, so why did you have to come back now? It took me so much effort to finally rid myself of these chaotic emotions, but news of your return has completely undone all of these efforts. Why are you coming back? Why now of all times?


    "What do we do?" Everyone glanced at one another.


    "We''ll just have to wait until Captain comes back. These are his personal matters, so we can''t really do anything," Yue Zhengyu said with a resigned shrug.


    Indeed, this wasn''t something that they could interfere with. In any case, all of them were in extremely high spirits. Tang Wulin was alive and well, and he was about to come back; could there be any better news than this?


    Several days later, at the main gate of Shrek Academy.


    After getting off the soul taxi, Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of the massive familiar gate, and he felt as if the past three years were memories from a past life.


    Only after leaving the Dragon Valley was he made aware of just how long he''d stayed in there. It was a total of three years and four months!


    During those 40 long months, he''d completed the monumental feat of burying all of the dragon skeletons in the dragon tomb. He was now 18 years old and close to turning 19.


    Everyone must be all grown up now. I wonder if the academy has changed much during the time I''ve been away. My friends, I''m back! Are you all still at the academy? I''m back, Na''er, sorry for making you worry.


    With these complex emotions in his heart, Tang Wulin quickly rushed over to the gate of Shrek City before planting an enthusiastic kiss onto the wall. The feeling of returning home filled his entire body with a scorching giddy energy.


    After making his way into Shrek City, he looked around to discover that everything was extremely familiar. He rushed over to the familiar noodle shop that Xu Lizhi had once taken him to, and he ordered 10 bowls of noodles to feast on at once.


    Back when he''d used his dragon ball to depart from the Dragon Valley, he''d discovered that there wasn''t even a single person to be seen on the mountain summit. As such, he had no choice but to traverse through the forest, and it took him a long time to find a car before returning to Star Luo City.


    After arriving back at the city, he could only request assistance from the Tang Sect. Thankfully, the Tang Sect owned cargo ferries that shipped products between the two continents, and he''d received news from the Tang Sect that the delegation had already returned to the Douluo Continent over two years ago.

 Chapter 733: Brother of the Dragon Spear Goddess

    Thus, Tang Wulin spent some contribution points to get onto the cargo ferry that was traveling toward the Douluo Continent.


    Along the way, the ferry was attacked by sea soul beasts a few times, so there were a few slight delays, but he was finally back now!


    This was the feeling of returning home, and it was a fantastic feeling. Never did Tang Wulin think that he''d fall so heavily in love with Shrek Academy.


    After downing 10 bowls of noodles, he managed to repress his excitement somewhat.


    With everyone''s powers and aptitudes, they should all be in the inner court already. More than three years have passed, so they''ve most likely all become one-word battle armor masters, but I''m still...


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel rather dejected as this thought occurred to him.


    During the three years he''d spent in the Dragon Valley, his blood essence had improved drastically, and his body had also become incredibly powerful. However, his soul power had been sealed for over three years, and it hadn''t advanced in the slightest. As such, he was still just a four-ring Soul Ancestor. Perhaps it was simply due to the passage of time, but he''d progressed slightly to rank 44.


    A 15-year-old rank 44 Soul Ancestor was already considerably powerful, but he was about to turn 19 soon. A 19-year-old rank 44 Soul Ancestor was exceptional among normal people, but it was rather lackluster in Shrek Academy. One had to realize that if a student of Shrek Academy hadn''t become a one-word battle armor master by the time they turned 20, then they''d lose the right to enter the inner court.


    As such, he really had to hurry up and catch up to his friends following his return.


    After enjoying a hearty meal and paying the bill, Tang Wulin headed directly toward the inner court of Shrek Academy as he was sure that was where his friends would be. More importantly, he hadn''t seen his little sister for over three years, so he had to pay her a visit. After all, Na''er had to be worried sick.


    After arriving at the entrance of Shrek Academy''s inner court, Tang Wulin was barred from entry by the two guards there, both of whom were inner court disciples.


    Without an inner court identification badge, no one could enter the inner court.


    Thus, Tang Wulin pulled out the soul communicator that he hadn''t used for over three years. He then used his soul power to charge the communicator before dialing that familiar number.


    The ringtone sounded for a while before the call was connected.


    "..." He was greeted by the sound of complete silence.


    "Na''er?" Tang Wulin said in an uncertain voice.


    "ARGH!" Immediately thereafter, a sharp screech rang out from the other side, and he felt as if his eardrums were about to explode.


    He was given a massive fright as a result, and he almost hurled the soul communicator away.


    Even the two guards standing beside the entrance had heard the scream from where they were standing.


    "Big Brother, is that you? Is that you?" Na''er asked in an excited and urgent manner, and he was almost brought to tears by the sound of this familiar voice.


    "It''s me, Na''er, I''m back. Where are you?" he asked.


    "I''m on the Sea God''s Island; where are you, Big Brother?" Na''er''s breathing was becoming a lot more hurried.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m outside the gate of the inner court. There are guards here who won''t let me in."


    "Wait for me!" Na''er said, and Tang Wulin could immediately hear the sound of howling winds from the other side of the line. "Don''t hang up, Big Brother, I''ll be there right away!"


    "Alright, I''ll wait for you." Tang Wulin''s eyes were already filled with excitement at this point.


    After only around 15 seconds, Tang Wulin caught sight of a streak of silver light hurtling toward him from the inner court like a bolt of lightning. Before he had a chance to react, the silver light had already sped into his arms.


    A soft and slender body pressed itself against him, and he was greeted by a familiar fragrant scent, as well as the sight of a head of long silver hair.


    His heart tremored, and he didn''t even need to ask to know who it was that was in his arms.


    Na''er had grown taller, and her body had also grown more voluptuous. She had truly become a young woman. Tang Wulin was already over 190cm tall, yet she was only slightly shorter than him. At this moment, she had already jumped onto Tang Wulin with her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms wound tightly around his neck.


    Tang Wulin was desperately tugging down her dress in case her sensitive regions were exposed.


    The two inner court disciples standing beside the gate were already completely dumbstruck.


    There was only one person in the academy who had silver hair, and she was renowned as the goddess of the Sea God''s Island, the Dragon Spear Goddess, Na''er!


    The nickname of Dragon Spear Goddess had been around since over three years ago. Na''er very rarely appeared before the public eye, but during a large contest between inner court disciples, she had crushed everyone with her extraordinary Silver Dragon Spear, thereby becoming the most powerful being among all inner court disciples.


    It could be said that she was the goddess of the entire inner court, particularly in the eyes of all of the male disciples. However, she was always on the Sea God''s Island, and normal inner court disciples weren''t allowed access to that place, so it was very difficult just to see her. If anyone could exchange a verbal greeting with her, they''d definitely faint from bliss!


    However, at this moment, the perfect goddess in their hearts had her body pressed against a man in a rather uncouth pose. It was quite apparent that she was extremely excited.


    Tang Wulin gently stroked Na''er''s long hair with one hand while inconspicuously separating her body from his slightly. The current Na''er was no longer the Na''er of old; she had grown up, and the fact that some of her well-developed lady bits were pressed up against Tang Wulin was making him feel rather awkward as her big brother.


    "Don''t cry, Na''er, Big Brother''s back now; it''s all my fault for making you worry."


    Big Brother? The two inner court disciples guarding the entrance were immediately struck by a sense of profound respect for Tang Wulin upon hearing this.


    This was the big brother of the Dragon Spear Goddess! Why didn''t he tell them this from the get-go? Even if it were against the rules, they would''ve still let him in!


    Tang Wulin gently patted Na''er''s long legs, and only then did she clamber down from his body. In the next instant, she raised her head and planted a pair of kisses on Tang Wulin''s cheeks right before the astonished eyes of two guards before she finally unwound her arms from his neck.


    Inspecting Na''er at such close quarters, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel his heart rate spiking dramatically. She was simply far too beautiful. Her long silver hair draped down her back, and her purple eyes were like a pair of glistening amethysts. She was tall and slender with a thin waist and long legs, and she had developed extremely well in the right places.


    Her large eyes were currently shimmering with tears, and the expression on her face was like that of a pitiable abandoned puppy.


    In Na''er''s eyes, Tang Wulin had also changed. Compared to over three years ago, he had grown taller and broader. Back then, he used to be more pretty like a woman, but he had now well and truly transitioned to being handsome with a strong masculine aura emanating from his body.


    "Big Brother, you were gone for more than three years without contacting me even once! I missed you so much!" Na''er dove into his arms again and burst into loud sobs.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly held onto her, and consoled, "Don''t cry, I''m back now, aren''t I? I''m not going anywhere, ok?"


    "Yes, yes, never go anywhere ever again!" Na''er suddenly looked up at him with her teary eyes, and asked, "Big Brother, do you love me?"


    "I do! Of course I do; you''re my most precious Na''er." Tang Wulin smiled as he gently pinched her nose.


    Na''er also smiled upon hearing this. "You have to remember what you just said."


    "Can I go in now? Everyone else is also here in the inner court, right?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Na''er nodded, and replied, "They''ve all entered the inner court, and they''re super popular now because they''re the new generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters."


    "You didn''t become a member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters?" Tang Wulin was rather surprised to hear this. He recalled that back when he''d left, Na''er had already been very powerful.


    Na''er shook her head in response. "I didn''t want to become a member. Come with me, Big Brother, let''s go in first and I''ll tell you about everything along the way."


    After that, she dragged Tang Wulin over to the gate before giving the two guards a mesmerizing smile. Both of the guards were momentarily entranced, and Na''er led Tang Wulin into the inner court just like that.


    "Don''t I need something that''ll grant me access?" Tang Wulin asked in a dumbstruck manner.


    Na''er giggled, "I''m your personal access badge!"


    The inner court was still exactly the same as Tang Wulin had remembered it to be. At the conclusion of the path was a series of familiar statues, and these statues were frequently repaired, so they still looked brand new. Na''er dragged Tang Wulin all the way over to the edge of the Sea God''s Lake.


    "Let''s go to the Sea God''s Island first, Big Brother; I have something I want to tell you." Na''er stepped forward as she spoke, and a layer of silver light suddenly radiated from her body.


    Specks of silver light shimmered over her joints, and they were like dazzling silver stars.


    In the next instant, pieces of armor began to appear all over her body. Tang Wulin appraised the complex patterns on the suit of silver battle armor, then glanced at the pair of silver dragon wings that had unfurled themselves, and he couldn''t help but exclaim, "Two-word battle armor!"


    On top of that, it wasn''t just one or two pieces of two-word battle armor; she had a complete set!

 Chapter 734: Naers Boudoir

    After over three years apart, Na''er was already a two-word battle armor master, while he wasn''t even a one-word battle armor master.


    Na''er smiled as she held onto Tang Wulin''s hand before flapping her wings, and she rose up into the air with him.


    A ball of gentle soul power enveloped both of their bodies, and Tang Wulin could sense that Na''er''s soul power was extremely dense, far more than his soul power was. After just a few flashes, they''d already arrived in the air above the Sea God''s Island. The silver dragon wings folded themselves away again, and the two of them descended as the suit of battle armor fused back into Na''er''s body as specks of light.


    "Na''er, you''re already a two-word battle armor master. Come to think of it, you''re only 16 years old at the moment. My God! You must be the youngest two-word battle armor master in the history of the entire continent!" Tang Wulin stared at Na''er with an astonished look on his face.


    He and his companions already possessed great aptitude, and all of them worked extremely hard, but he could say with certainty that there was definitely no way that they could''ve become two-word battle armor masters in such a short time.


    Na''er aptitude simply defied the natural order! Even that Long Yue was almost 20 years old when he became a two-word battle armor master. Judging from the soul power fluctuations emanating from her body, even if she weren''t a six-ring Battle Emperor yet, her powers were already on par with those of that level. Had his own little sister already become this powerful?


    Such a revelation wasn''t enough to strike him with self-pity, but he was well and truly shocked.


    Na''er chuckled, "That''s not important; what''s important is that you''re back!"


    She dragged him deeper into the Sea God''s Island as she spoke.


    Na''er was extremely familiar with this place, and she quickly led Tang Wulin to a small wooden cabin that had been constructed halfway up a mountain.


    The cabin wasn''t very large, and it only had two rooms, but it was very clean, and the air here was very refreshing. The air on the Sea God''s Island was the freshest among all of the places that Tang Wulin had been to. Even the air in a lush forest couldn''t compare.


    Inside the wooden cabin were a table, a chair, a bench, a wardrobe, and a hammock. There was a layer of dark green leaves from an indeterminate tree draped over the hammock.


    "Do you normally live here, Na''er?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Na''er nodded in response. "I do! I live here, and I really like it here."


    She laid her hands onto Tang Wulin''s shoulders and sat him down on the bench, then poured a glass of water for him. As she thrust the glass of water into his hand, tears began to well up in her eyes again.


    "Big Brother, do you know how much I''ve missed you these past three years? Did you miss me? Why did you come back so late?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart throbbed with pain at the sight of Na''er''s tearful display, and he sighed, "I should''ve come back a long time ago, but there was something that I had to do, and it took me three years to do it, which is why I came back so late. Whenever I was sleepy or tired, I would think of you and everyone else, and that would grant me the strength and motivation to continue. Even though I spent three years of my life doing just that one thing, I don''t regret it at all. There are times when a man must do something, and after doing that thing, I felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my shoulders. During the several months it took me to return to the Douluo Continent, my soul power went up two ranks. That rate of progress would''ve been unimaginable to me in the past."


    Indeed, during his few months at sea, his soul power had progressed from rank 44 to rank 46. More importantly, he had also opened two more of his eight extraordinary meridians, and the other four of the eight extraordinary meridians had also become countless times more resolute than they''d been in the past. As such, Tang Wulin was very confident that he''d be able to make rapid progress in his cultivation.


    "You must''ve suffered a lot, right, Big Brother?" Na''er latched onto his hand.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "It was alright. It was just that I was the only one in that place, so I was a little lonely at times."


    He didn''t fear hardships and adversity as those were both things he''d become accustomed to from a young age. As such, the most difficult thing for him to deal with during the past three years was loneliness. If it weren''t for the fact that he could communicate with the dragon skeletons, he wasn''t sure whether he would''ve been able to retain his sanity throughout the burial process.


    However, he continued to persevere in the end, and he was in a better mental place than he''d ever been before. Everything within his body told him that he''d done the right thing, and that the past three years of his life had been very well spent.


    "What about you, Na''er? I can see you''re already a two-word battle armor master; have you become a six-ring Soul Emperor yet?"


    Even though he was already mentally prepared for her response, he still couldn''t help but feel shocked at the sight of her gentle nod.


    She was a 16-year-old Soul Emperor! Surely there was no one in history who could match her. On top of that, she had to forge her battle armor as well, and that required a vast amount of time and effort. Na''er could no longer even be described as just a freakish prodigy.


    Tang Wulin gave her a thumbs-up, and asked, "And what about my friends? How have they been?"


    Na''er replied, "From what I''ve heard, they''ve always been in very low spirits ever since you disappeared. However, after becoming Shrek''s Seven Monsters, they''ve become role models for the entire academy, so they''ve been working very hard in their cultivation. I think all of them had attained five rings a year ago, and they''d all become one-word battle armor masters even earlier than that. As for their current cultivation ranks, I''m not particularly sure."


    Everyone has become five-ring Soul Kings and one-word battle armor masters already? My disappearance must''ve hampered them in forging their two-word battle armor. After all, forging spirit alloy two-word battle armor is very difficult.


    Tang Wulin patted Na''er''s head, and said, "Na''er, I still haven''t reported my return to the academy yet. I''ll go find the teachers and inform them of my return first; let''s keep chatting after that."


    Na''er hurriedly said, "Don''t go reporting to the teachers! Even though you disappeared for three years, the academy has already granted you special permission to enter the inner court for the contributions that you''d made, which means you''re also an inner court disciple now. If there''s anyone you should inform, it should be the Scarlet Dragon Douluo, Grandpa Zhuo Shi. Oh, I almost forgot! There''s going to be a massive event taking place in the academy today, so all of your friends are most likely busy preparing for that. If you go and meet them now, you''ll definitely affect their preparations, so why don''t you reveal yourself to them during the event and give them a surprise?"


    Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. "What event is this?"


    A mysterious smile appeared on Na''er''s face, and she replied, "The Sea God Fate Match-making Convention!"


    "The Sea God Fate Match-making Convention? Is that the match-making convention held by the inner court?"


    Tang Wulin had naturally heard of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but he wasn''t quite sure about what exactly it entailed. Only after Na''er had mentioned it did he realize that he had already reached an age where he could participate in this event. A series of complex emotions surged through his heart as he made this realization. Time sure flew by in a flash! Before he knew it, he''d already come of age.


    Na''er leaned down beside his ear and whispered something to him, following which his expression changed slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face.


    "So you''re saying all single inner court disciples at or over 18 years of age must participate in the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention?"


    Na''er giggled, "That''s right! According to the official laws of the continent, one actually comes of age after turning 16, so I''ve technically come of age as well, and the teachers have given me special permission to participate in this match-making convention. It''s said that this convention can promote competition between students and provide everyone with motivation for their future cultivation."


    This was indeed true. Tang Wulin was unaware of Na''er''s title of Dragon Spear Goddess in the inner court, but if an announcement were to be made that she was participating in this match-making convention, even the inner court disciples who were out on missions would most likely all rush back to participate in the event.

 Chapter 735: You Still Remembered to Come Back?

    All of the inner court disciples were brilliant prodigies, so who was to say that the Dragon Spear Goddess wouldn''t fall for one of them?


    Na''er''s looks, power, and her status as the direct disciple of the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion placed her at the very pinnacle of all students in the academy. On top of that, she was the number one goddess in the hearts of all of the male students!


    "You''re going to participate as well? No way, I won''t allow it!" Tang Wulin said in a serious manner.


    Na''er turned to him with a hint of surprise in her eyes. "Why?"


    Tang Wulin continued in a serious voice, "You''re still so young; how could you go around participating in match-making events like this? As your big brother, I refuse to let you go to this event."


    Na''er couldn''t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. "I didn''t think you were so dogmatic, Big Brother!"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m your big brother, so of course I have to be responsible for you. No relationships before you turn 18; do you hear me? Also, even if someone catches your eye, you have to bring him to me first. My little sister is so beautiful and talented; I can''t just hand her off to anyone!"


    Na''er giggled, "Don''t worry, Big Brother, I already have someone I like, and I''m sure you''ll be very pleased with him."


    Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. "There''s someone you like already?"


    Na''er nodded in response. "Of course! It''s you!"


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a resigned yet doting smile. "Stop making jokes at my expense, you little brat! If you really want to participate in the match-making convention, you can go, but don''t just choose anyone on a whim!"


    "Alright, alright, I get it already. Don''t worry, even if someone catches my fancy, I''ll bring them to you for permission, ok?" Na''er replied with an amused smile.


    "Good," Tang Wulin nodded in a pleased manner before continuing, "I have to go find Grandteacher now. Which way do I go again? It''s been so long since I''ve been here, I don''t remember how to get anywhere anymore."


    Na''er offered, "I can take you there, then I''ll go visit Teacher. After that, I can come back to meet you. Oh, by the way, don''t contact your friends using your soul communicator; make sure the match-making convention is the first place that they see you."


    Tang Wulin smiled and nodded. "Alright, I''ll do as you say."


    The match-making convention, eh?


    A familiar face appeared in Tang Wulin''s mind, and his emotions immediately became a lot more complex.


    He was still a young man, so of course he had thought about finding his true love during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but was this a convention really something that he could participate in?


    A peculiar look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as these thoughts flashed through his mind.


    Thus, he met his grandteacher for the first time in over three years with a series of complex emotions in his heart.


    Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zho Shi was sampling some tea in his yard, and when he caught sight of Tang Wulin, his hand trembled, yet he remained completely oblivious even as he spilled hot tea all over his hand.


    "Wulin?"


    "Grandteacher." Tang Wulin hurriedly rushed forward a few steps before falling to one knee.


    The Scarlet Dragon Douluo rose to his feet at an alarming speed that was completely uncharacteristic of someone of his age before helping Tang Wulin up from the ground.


    "Where did you go all these years? I''m so glad you''re safe! You can''t just go around venturing into small worlds! I almost went with that crazy old man to flip the entire Tang Sect on its head! Thank heavens you''re back; that crazy old man really is about to go crazy. His mood has been so volatile these past few years that he''s basically been impossible to interact with. I have to tell him this good news right away."


    Following a brief call via soul communicator, it took Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu less than three minutes to arrive on the scene. As soon as he caught sight of Tang Wulin, a look of thunderous rage appeared on his face, and he gave Tang Wulin a vicious slap.


    Tang Wulin didn''t dare to evade, and he was sent flying as a result. However, the slap appeared to be quite vicious, but it actually didn''t really hurt.


    "What are you doing, you crazy old bastard? You better not do anything out of line here or I''ll kick you out!" Zhuo Shi was furious.


    Feng Wuyu placed his hands on his hips as he roared, "Piss off! You don''t know anything! Tang Wulin, you little bastard, you still remembered to come back? Let me ask you this; have you fallen behind in your forging?"


    Tang Wulin didn''t dare to say anything, and only after Feng Wuyu had finished did he hurriedly reply, "I haven''t fallen too far behind; I should be at the pinnacle of sixth-rank blacksmiths at the moment, and I was hoping to learn soul refinement from you after I got back."


    "Come with me; I have to check your skills." He grabbed onto Tang Wulin as he spoke before rising up into the air.


    "Wait for me! I have to come along and keep an eye on you so you don''t hurt my granddiscple." Zhuo Shi hurriedly followed along.


    Tang Wulin was feeling quite speechless. He hadn''t even completed the forms required to enter the inner court! And what about the match-making convention later tonight? However, Tang Wulin was very familiar with Feng Wuyu, and he knew that forging was paramount in Feng Wuyu''s heart. In comparison, nothing else mattered.


    Of course, nothing else mattered to Feng Wuyu, but that didn''t mean nothing else mattered to him! He really wanted to participate in this match-making convention, especially if she was going to be there! Regardless of whether he''d be able to succeed or not, he''d never know unless he tried!


    In Shrek Academy, the match-making convention was an event that all of the adult students were extremely looking forward to.


    Even the outer court disciples were always extremely excited in the lead-up to this event as they wanted to witness the powers of their inner court seniors in order to motivate themselves.


    Relationships between outer court disciples wouldn''t receive approval from the academy, but in reality, the academy had nothing against such relationships, either.


    However, for the students of Shrek Academy, it was a completely different feeling to forge a relationship during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. The event was known as the greatest trial of love on the entire Douluo Continent as it verified two people''s love for one another, as well as their respective powers.


    As such, there were no extra prizes or rewards for successful matches during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but it was still extremely renowned across the entire continent.


    Countless people from all over the continent wished to spectate the event, but the rules of Shrek Academy prohibited all outsiders from spectating the convention. Only the participating inner court disciples, outer court disciples of suitable ages, and teachers of the academy could witness the event.


    This gave the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention an extra layer of mystery and intrigue.


    Furthermore, according to the rules of Shrek Academy, if two people were to accept one another during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, they would receive the blessing of the everlasting love vow of the Sea God''s Pavilion. This blessing will be handed down by the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, and if the couple were to split up in the future, they had to go to the Sea God''s Pavilion to state the reasons for this. The Sea God''s Pavilion would then mediate for the two of them, and they could only break up if that proved to be unsuccessful, so it was essentially an additional layer of insurance on the relationship.


    To the outer court disciples of Shrek Academy, the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention had already become one of the main motivating factors for them to strive to make it into the inner court.


    This edition of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was particularly exciting for everyone as news had spread that the Dragon Spear Goddess, Na''er, was going to be participating. No one knew whether she was participating just for fun or if she were actually looking for love, but that was still extremely astonishing news to everyone.


    It had been over 10,000 years since the inception of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, and the rules had always been changing. However, the core concept remained constant; this was an event to test the abilities of the inner court disciples and to help them find their true love.


    If one weren''t powerful enough, then there was no way that they''d find a successful match for themselves.


    In this respect, Shrek Academy was completely ruthless and unreasonable. You want to find true love but you''re not strong enough to fight off contenders? How about you cultivate harder before you attend the convention!


    This appeared to be a simple match-making event, but to the students of the inner court, it was extremely exciting and motivating. In particular, the students that had already chosen someone to confess their love to during the event had been cultivating extra hard in the lead-up to the convention.


    According to past statistics gathered by Shrek Academy, the more powerful a disciple was, the greater the likelihood that they''d successfully find love during the convention; this was a fact that was set in stone.


    On top of that, there was a statistic that stated that there was a very high success rate for women confessing to men during the convention, hovering at around 60%. Conversely, the success rate was lower. However, a contributing factor to this was that during the vast majority of times, there were more male disciples in the inner court compared to their female counterparts. To put it frankly, there weren''t enough women to go around most of the time.


    Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie strode side by side out of the inner court school building, and they drew a lot of attention from passersby. At this point, the outer court disciples still hadn''t been permitted to enter the inner court, so it was still relatively peaceful in the inner court.


    Yue Zhengyu wore his usual white suit with golden feather patterns emblazoned onto its surface, giving off a refined and regal air. This was a traditional design worn by the holy angel faction, so it was very unique.


    In contrast, Xie Xie wore a black suit with silver dragon patterns on its surface. If Yue Zhengyu were a holy angel, then he would be a ghost traversing through a dark night.


    One of them wore black while the other wore white, and they were both extremely handsome, so how could they not receive widespread attention when walking alongside one another?

 Chapter 736: The Nervous Xie Xie

    "Oi, wait for me, you bastards!" The portly Xu Lizhi rushed over from behind them.


    "What do you want, Fatty? You''re going to ruin our image," Yue Zhengyu said in a disdainful manner.


    Xu Lizhi was still in his school uniform, but the uniform in the inner court was different from that of the outer court; it was orange in color, and was of excellent design and quality. However, with Xu Lizhi''s portly frame, everything looked like an oversized rucksack on him anyway.


    Xu Lizhi wasn''t irked by Yue Zhengyu''s disdainful display. Instead, he chuckled as he squeezed between the two of them and walked along at the center. "If we walk around like this, it looks like a rich landlord walking with his two bodyguards!"


    "Piss off!" Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu exclaimed in unison before glaring at one another as they continued in unison, "Can you not be so in-sync with me?"


    "Are you two going to confess to each other during the match-making convention? It''s alright, I support you two. I''m going on ahead now," Xu Lizhi chuckled with amusement before speeding away like the wind. Despite the fact that his body weight had constantly been increasing, his speed had also been improving in equal measure.


    Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie glanced at one another before harrumphing in perfect synchronicity.


    Meanwhile, preparations on the surface of the Sea God''s Lake had already commenced. Xie Xie was already fully prepared as he arrived at the edge of the lake, but he was still feeling quite nervous.


    "Is this really going to work? What if Yuanen gets mad at me?" he asked in an uneasy manner.


    Yue Zhengyu turned to him with an exasperated look. "Can you not be so cowardly? You know what? Why don''t you just go back and sulk in your room? I''ve never seen anyone as pathetic as you! Is Yuanen supposed to be some kind of ferocious beast?"


    "Who did you say was a ferocious beast?" A flat voice sounded from behind them.


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu hurriedly turned around, only to discover Yuanen Yehui standing right behind them in her usual male attire.


    "Er... I didn''t say that; it was the voice of Xie Xie''s heart. Oh, would you look at the time! Gotta run!" Yue Zhengyu instantly fled the scene. He was no match for Yuanen Yehui in battle.


    "Er, Yuanen." For some reason, all of the courage that Xie Xie had mustered up earlier vanished as soon as he caught sight of Yuanen Yehui, and he rubbed his hands together in an anxious manner.


    Yuanen Yehui merely took a glance at him before departing with a cold look on her face without uttering even a single word.


    Xie Xie looked on at Yuanen Yehui''s departing figure, and he sagged like a deflated balloon. It appeared he still didn''t have a chance, after all.


    There''s no way that she''s going to accept my confession. Otherwise, why would she still be in her male attire even though the convention is about to commence? What do I do? I am so dead!


    The commencement of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was imminent, and Xie Xie naturally wasn''t the only one who was feeling very nervous. At this moment, there were countless students in the inner court experiencing accelerated heart rates.


    To the inner court disciples who had come of age, this day was simply far too important.


    Ever since they''d first entered Shrek Academy, they''d been constantly under pressure from the entire academy. None of the teachers in the academy stipulated that they had to do something or become something, but all of the students of Shrek Academy were exceptional prodigies. In the midst of so many freakish talents, there was always the feeling that one would be surpassed by their fellow students even if they slacked off just a little.


    This was not a good feeling, but no one wanted to be expelled after expending so much effort to make it into Shrek Academy in the first place. As such, the only thing they could do after entering the academy was work as hard as they could without daring to grow even slightly complacent.


    Only after working extremely hard year after year could the most exceptionally talented students stand out from the rest. These students would become one-word battle armor masters before turning 20, thereby granting them a place in the inner court.


    Only the likes of the Monster Eight Kings of the Star Luo Continent''s Monster Academy had the right to enter the inner court of Shrek Academy! As such, this was the only time where they could relax a little.


    At around 20 years of age was when hormonal secretion reached its peak, so of course they were yearning to meet their other half. However, only at a time like this did they truly have the opportunity and the power to choose their other half.


    The academy had prepared this opportunity for them in the form of this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. Not all students of Shrek Academy would choose their partners within the academy, but this applied to the vast majority of the inner court disciples. The reason for this was very simple; if two people were to be together, they had to at least have common topics that they could discuss. If two people were vastly different from one another, perhaps temporary could make them see past these differences, but it would be very difficult to maintain a relationship.


    As it turned out, almost all of the matches that were made during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention stayed together for life with the exception of those who encountered extraordinary circumstances. With the same experiences and the same goals, those couples would greatly cherish one another, and they could advance together toward a shared cultivation dream.


    Such a relationship wasn''t just one that was forged on love, but also on the basis of dual cultivation. Through assisting and supporting one another, their relationships would prove to be more stalwart than most.


    As such, all of the inner court disciples were always extremely excited in the lead-up to the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. During the period of time prior to the commencement of the convention, not only would they be working hard in their cultivation, they would also be searching for love interests.


    There was also another type of situation where some already had love interests, and they wanted to express their love during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. During the process, they''d be proving themselves through their own powers, and also forging their bonds right in front of all of their fellow students. It could be said that the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was not only a type of service offered to inner court disciples by the academy, but also a type of honor bestowed upon the couples of the inner court by the academy.


    It was said that those who found their matches during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention would receive blessings from the captain of the first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. In other words, they would be blessed by the Sea God himself. The Sea God''s Island and the Sea God''s Lake had all been erected to commemorate his existence.


    Night fell, and the sky had completely dimmed. Normally at this time, the inner court would be very quiet and peaceful, but on this day, it was becoming quite lively and bustling instead.


    After dinner, all of the outer court students of a suitable age, particularly those over the age of 18 but below 20, had already entered the inner court well in advance. Only on a day like this would they be granted special entry into the inner court, and all of them wore expressions of intense yearning, wishing that they could be taking the place of the inner court disciples participating in the event.


    The Sea God Fate Match-making Convention acted as the best form of motivation for them. If they could become one-word battle armor masters, they''d have a right to participate in this convention.


    For outer court students who were already over 20 years of age, the door wasn''t entirely closed to them, either. After all, the age restriction for entry into the inner court wasn''t always set in stone. For example, there were some late bloomers who would become one-word battle armor masters at 21 years of age. They would normally have missed their chance to enter the inner court, but they had a second chance. If they could become two-word battle armor masters prior to turning 30, then they''d have a chance to take a supplementary exam, the passage of which would also grant them entry into the inner court.


    As such, all hope was not lost, even for students above 20 years of age. Many people didn''t want to graduate from the outer court even after becoming one-word battle armor masters, and all of these people were striving toward becoming two-word battle armor masters before 30 so they could have another chance to enter the inner court.


    They simply loved Shrek Academy, and they wanted to do everything they could to stay here.

 Chapter 737: Atlas Douluo

    "I''m really looking forward to this! I''ve finally turned 18, so I''ll be able to watch the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. I''ve always heard about how extraordinarily powerful our inner court seniors are; I wonder what kind of spectacular show they''ll put on for us today!"


    "This year''s convention is going to be even more exciting than usual because the Dragon Spear Goddess is going to be participating. She may not choose a match for herself, but if she does come, she''s definitely going to be the number one beauty at the convention."


    "You speak as if you''ve seen her before."


    "Of course I have! I once caught sight of her side profile from afar, and I can tell you that she''s beautiful to the extreme!"


    "Really? Then I have to take a good look at her later. I heard that she''s a goddess in the hearts of all of the inner court disciples. On top of that, I''ve heard that she''s just as powerful as she is beautiful."


    "Oh, by the way, have you guys heard? The two exchange students from the Star Luo Empire have been granted special entry into our inner court, and they''re apparently also going to be participating in today''s match-making convention. I wonder if it''s true."


    "It does seem to be true; I''ve heard of that as well. I hope none of our inner court seniors fall for them!"


    "I''ve heard that among the two of them, the male student is extremely powerful. He''s only 23 years old, but he''s already a two-word battle armor master."


    "That''s insane!"


    "That''s not all; I''ve heard a part of his battle armor has already reached the three-word level."


    "Er..."


    All of the outer court disciples were discussing spiritedly among themselves regarding the upcoming Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.


    The hottest topics being discussed were those regarding the Dragon Spear Goddess, Dai Yun''er, Long Yue, and Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. This edition of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was clearly more alluring than the previous editions, and their participation was the exact reason behind this.


    Night had completely fallen at this point, and this meant that the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was about to commence.


    In the distance, there was a small boat slowly drifting over the Sea God''s Lake. The boat was very brightly lit, and all of the outer court disciples bowed toward it in unison.


    Everyone on the boat was one of the most powerful beings of Shrek Academy, and they were the ones truly controlling Shrek City. Even the federation had to respect the elders of Shrek Academy''s Sea God''s Pavilion.


    Sitting at the very center of the boat was a young man in a set of white robes. He wore a faint smile on his face with a head of black hair trailing down the back of his head, giving off a nonchalant disposition.


    The one sitting beside him was none other than the Holy Spirit Douluo, who had just been instated as the principal of the inner court not long ago. Next to her was the principal of the outer court, Silver Moon Douluo Elder Cai. The ones seated beside Elder Cai were the two holy dragons, Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi and Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu. Feng Wuyu''s expression was clearly very different from how it normally was. He had always been referred to as a crazy old man, but at this moment, his brows were tightly furrowed, and his head was lowered, seemingly in deep thought about something.


    Aside from them, there were also several elderly Titled Douluos sitting on the boat as well. Everyone on that boat was a Titled Douluo, and they were all at least three-word battle armor masters.


    "Huh? Who''s that at the center of the boat? How can he be on the boat when he''s so young?"


    "Be quiet! If I''m not mistaken, that''s the most powerful being in our academy, and perhaps even the most powerful being on the entire continent. Even as far back as 100 years ago, he was already the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion; he''s a Limit Douluo, a four-word battle armor master, and the spiritual leader of our Shrek Academy,"


    "What? You mean he''s that man? But he''s so young! How is that possible?"


    "My God! How can such an old man look so young?"


    "I know, right? I''ve heard that the Holy Spirit Douluo is his wife."


    "Don''t call him an old man; how can you call him that when he has such a youthful appearance? By the way, do any of you know his Duoluo title? It must be super badass, right?"


    "Of course! His Douluo title is Atlas; he is the Atlas Douluo. His martial soul is an Atlas Spear, and it''s said that he can pierce the heavens with his almighty spear. He''s widely renowned to be the most powerful being on the entire continent, and over 100 years ago, he was the captain of that generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. He''s a true demigod, which makes him the closest being in Shrek Academy to the Divine Realm. If it weren''t for the fact that the aura of the Divine Realm has been cut off from our world for so long, he would''ve most likely ascended to that higher realm long ago."


    All those who had managed to identify the young man sitting on the boat were extremely excited. After all, even for disciples of Shrek Academy like them, opportunities to see this legendary figure were exceedingly rare.


    "All of the students are very excited by your arrival, Brother Ming," Holy Spirit Douluo Yali whispered to the white-robed young man beside her.


    The man smiled and patted her hand as he replied, "I only came here because of Na''er. She initially told me that she wasn''t planning to participate in this event. After all, she''s already 16, so she''s technically come of age, but the school''s rules state that only those at or above 18 years of age can participate in this convention. However, she suddenly changed her mind and made a last-minute decision to come after all. I suspect that there must be someone she''s set her eyes on. I want to see who it is that''s stolen the heart of my precious disciple."


    Yali smiled, and said, "You''re way too doting toward her! You''re like a father who''d suddenly discovered that his daughter is going to run off with another boy."


    The white-robed man chuckled, "I''m not even going to deny that."


    Yali continued in a soft voice, "It''s all my fault for not being able to birth a child for you."


    The man patted her hand, and consoled, "It''s alright. Didn''t we agree that we weren''t going to talk about this anymore?"


    Tears began to well up in Yali''s eyes as she gripped tightly onto the man''s hand. This man had given her all of the love in the world, and meeting him was the best thing that had ever happened to her.


    Elder Cai, who was sitting on the other side of Yali, stole occasional glances at the two of them while heaving forlorn internal sighs. She would do anything to trade positions with Yali, even if she had to give up several decades of her lifespan!


    However, she was the only person whom he''d chosen among all of the exceptional women who had loved him. Despite being aware of the fact that her body was flawed, he still chose her without any hesitation, rejecting both Elder Cai and Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu in the process.


    However, to his credit, he had never hurt them by giving them false hope. He was a very decisive man, and he''d immediately rejected their advances without any hesitation. For a man of his lofty status, it would be more than normal for him to have more than one wife. Elder Cai had once even overheard Leng Yaozhu confessing to him that she was willing to become his woman, even if she could only be his concubine.


    This was Leng Yaozhu, the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, a Titled Douluo holding an extremely important status in the world of Soul Masters. She was a proud woman who maintained a high and mighty demeanor, even in the presence of the president of the federation, but for him, she had abstained from getting married her entire life, as had Elder Cai.


    Both of them most likely had the same thought process; after witnessing the very best, they simply couldn''t bring themselves to settle for anything else. Indeed, after meeting him, how could any woman have a place for any other man in her heart? He was the perfect, the one who could support the entire world on his shoulders, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    In her heart, he could even compare with the legendary Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao and the founder of the Tang Sect, Thousand Hands Douluo Tang San.


    In their eyes, Yun Ming was on par with those two legendary figures.


    Right at this moment, Elder Cai felt a warm sensation on her hand, and she looked up to discover Holy Spirit Douluo Yali appraising her with a concerned expression.


    She was indeed envious of Yali, but she also admired her greatly. Yali was the kindest woman in this world. She had lost her reproductive ability as she had burned through too much of her own life force to administer treatment on a vast number of people in a poverty-stricken area that had been afflicted by a horrible plague.


    On that occasion, she saved tens of thousands of people who would''ve otherwise perished to the plague. However, she had also burned through so much of her life force that she was on the brink of death. The Atlas Douluo managed to save her life, but he was unable to completely cure her. Ironically, she was one of the most powerful recovery-type Soul Masters in the world, but she was unable to heal herself.


    However, she didn''t become bitter nor hateful for this. She simply said that this was a form of divine punishment handed down to her by the heavens. The plague should''ve harvested tens of thousands of lives, but she''d prevented it from doing so, and the heavens had already shown great kindness for taking only her reproductive ability in exchange.


    After she''d been saved from the brink of death, Yun Ming immediately declared her to be his wife. At the time, they weren''t even boyfriend and girlfriend, but he''d still made that announcement without any qualms.


    Both of them had countless pursuers that were competing with at the time, but he didn''t care. He told her that he''d loved her for a very very long time, and that when he''d finally worked up the courage to confess to her, she almost died as a result of the aforementioned incident.

 Chapter 738: The Story of the Master of the Sea Gods Pavilion

    Yali''s life force had been replenished by Yun Ming. He possessed the greatest aptitude out of anyone in this world, and his immense powers granted him a longer lifespan, but he shared half of his life force with her.


    After that, he had constantly stayed by her side, and he often joked that she was his bride whom he''d stolen from the clutches of death.


    An extremely lavish wedding had been held for them, one that had shocked the entire federation.


    Yali didn''t originally belong to Shrek Academy. In fact, she had been groomed by the federation to be the future successor that was supposed to take over a mysterious organization, but Yun Ming had taken her without any regard for all of that. As a result, he made the entire mysterious organization his enemy, and the two had clashed in about a dozen or so battles, during which Yun Ming defeated all of the most powerful beings in that mysterious organization on his own. He had kept Yali by his side with his unfathomable power.


    In order to protect him, Yali had even told him that she had no feelings for him, but Yun Ming only told her that time would change everything.


    In the end, no one was able to take Yali away from him, but Yali''s heart had been taken captive by him.


    This was a piece of history that had shocked the entire continent, over 100 years ago, and it was also through that battle that the Atlas Doulou truly forged a resounding reputation for himself.


    In order to target him, the mysterious organization under the control of the federation deployed three red mechas, all of which were destroyed by him in a span of less than 10 minutes. During that battle, his spear had torn through the heavens, and the enormous spatial fluctuations that had resulted had almost destroyed the entirety of Bright City, which was where the parliament was situated.


    At the time, he announced that no one could stop him. If the heavens stood in his way, then he would vanquish the heavens; if the earth were to rise up against him, then he would split the earth. All those who stood against him would be slain, regardless of whether they were man or god!


    It was none other than this man who had cemented the status of Shrek City on this continent. After careful research that was conducted by the federation, it was determined that Shrek City was the only place currently in this world that couldn''t be threatened by any soul technology.


    From that day forth, Yun Ming truly became the atlas of Shrek Academy, carrying the academy and Shrek City on his shoulders, and making the academy an entity that even the federation had to be wary of.


    This was the epic love story between the Atlas Douluo and the Holy Spirit Douluo, but their relationship in the next century or so had been very peaceful.


    It was a tumultuous yet exhilarating beginning that led to a warm and happy marriage.


    As such, no one could take Yun Ming away from Yali no matter how much they loved him, not even the likes of the Silver Moon Douluo and the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo.


    There had even been many years during which Yali had told him that she wanted him to have more wives. With his top-tier genetics, how could he settle with not being able to pass down his lineage?


    However, Yun Ming refused. He told her that his heart was very small, and it only had enough space for her. Loveless relationships purely for reproductive purposes were not what he was looking for.


    Thus, Yali was unable to convince him, but she always became very sad whenever this conversation topic came up. She was sad that she was unable to birth a child for this man who loved her so much, and whom she loved equally as much.


    "Ahem, please stop abusing dogs, Boss. Don''t you know that all of us are single?" Zhuo Shi coughed in a glum manner. [In Chinese pop culture, there''s a jokingly derogatory term for single people, which is µ¥Éí¹·, which literally translates to single dog. Any public displays of affection in front of single people is therefore jokingly referred to as dog abuse as it''s basically couples flaunting their love and happiness in front of single people.]


    Yun Ming glanced over to find Zhuo Shi with a wry smile on his face while Feng Wuyu also nodded in a serious manner. "He''s right, you really shouldn''t do that, Boss; especially considering you''re aware that we were all once Yali''s pursuers."


    Yun Ming smiled, and said, "It seems these days have been too peaceful for you; looks like you need some excitement in your life. How about we find a time..."


    "Just pretend as if I''d never said anything!" Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu exclaimed in unison. They could clearly tell where Yun Ming was going with that train of thought; he was definitely going to threaten to practice his spear techniques on the two of them! That would no longer just be a case of figurative abuse!


    All of the Titled Douluos burst into laughter upon seeing this. Elder Cai pursed her lips, and said, "You two are so in-sync with each other; is that the reason why you''re both still ''single''?"


    "..."


    The boat traveled all the way to the other side of the Sea God''s Lake before stopping at a good location that gave everyone onboard a good view of the center of the lake.


    The water in the Sea God''s lake was extremely clear, and when a series of lights appeared like blossoming flowers, the entire lake began to shimmer like a giant sapphire, creating a very dazzling and mesmerizing sight to behold.


    The lights were spread all around the lake, and upon closer inspection, one would discover that the lights were all situated underwater. These lights filtered through the entire lake, making it appear as if the water itself were glowing. The effect created instilled within the night a sense of romance and vitality.


    Immediately thereafter, two pillars of light erupted in the distance, and a person was standing in each of the golden pillars of light.


    This was a smiling duo consisting of a man and a woman.


    The man appeared to be around 30 years of age with a tall and slim figure, and a set of handsome facial features. He was slightly shorter than Wu Zhangkong, but not by much. He wore a Shrek Academy inner court uniform and had a faint smile on his face.


    The woman beside him was around 170cm tall, and she appeared to be approximately 27 to 28 years old. Her looks were rather ordinary, but she was very charismatic, and her smile gave off a strong sense of benevolence that made her appear very approachable.


    "The Sea God''s fate will be found on the Sea God''s Lake, welcome to this year''s match-making convention, everyone. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Lan Muzi, an inner court disciple, and the woman standing beside me here is Tang Yinmeng, also of the inner court. We will be your hosts for this match-making convention tonight."


    Tang Yinmeng smiled, and said, "We''re both very honored to be the hosts of this event today, and in all honesty, we were only chosen because we''re the two oldest inner court students at the moment. I really want to become an assistant teacher, but that would be an indirect admission that my age is catching up to me, so we''re still here."


    She was very humorous, and she spoke with a gentle yet uplifting tone, drawing bursts of laughter from all of the outer court disciples standing by the shore.


    There were not many people who actually knew these two as all of the outer court disciples in their cohort had already graduated. Their actual ages were actually around five years older than they looked.


    Wu Zhangkong was also standing by the shore, and as he looked at the duo, he couldn''t help but heave a faint internal sigh.


    Senior Disciple Brother Lan and Senior Disciple Sister Tang both look like they''re doing very well!


    The current cohort of outer court disciples weren''t aware of who they were, but he was naturally very familiar with them. Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were both exceptional talents during his generation, and they''d entered the inner court during the same year as him.


    After that, he''d left Shrek Academy for his lover, but the two of them had remained here this entire time. If he recalled correctly, these two were already three-word battle armor masters, despite the fact that they were still technically students. A situation like this could only be seen in Shrek Academy. It was absolutely unfathomable to think that three-word battle armor masters could still be disciples of an academy.


    With their suits of battle armor, their combat prowess had most likely outstripped that of ordinary Titled Douluos long ago.


    If he''d stayed at the academy as well, perhaps he''d also be at their level. After becoming three-word battle armor masters, one had to focus on cultivating their soul power to progress toward becoming Titled Douluos.


    Senior Disciple Brother Lan was the brightest talent of our cohort, so he should be an eight-ring Soul Douluo already. If I''m not mistaken, he should only be 33 years old this year, which would make him the current youngest Soul Douluo in the entire academy. Senior Disciple Sister Tang shouldn''t be too far behind him, either.


    Lan Muzi smiled, and said, "Indeed! We''ll put off graduation as long as we possibly can, not only because we want to pretend to be young, but also because I''ve forged many unforgettable memories here, including the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention that I participated in. Yinmeng, do you remember the year we participated in the convention?"


    Tang Yinmeng blushed as she rolled her eyes at him. "Stop! You''re embarrassing me."


    Lan Muzi chuckled, "What''s there to be embarrassed about? I''ll make sure not to tell everyone about how you rushed over to me during the convention and confessed your love to me in front of everyone."

 Chapter 739: Light Dark Douluo

    "Oi, you!" Tang Yinmeng placed her hands on her hips as an indignant look appeared on her face.


    Everyone on the shore burst into raucous laughter again. It had to be said that these two were doing a very good job of livening up the atmosphere.


    The smile on Lan Muzi''s face faded, and he looked at Tang Yinmeng with passion in his eyes as he said, "You were the one who confessed to me, but I must tell you now that I''m very grateful for that. I''m very grateful that you pointed out the right path to me back when I was still just a young man who knew nothing about love. I''m very grateful for how much you''ve cared for and helped me during these past years, as well as all that you''ve sacrificed for me. The best decision I''ve ever made was to accept your confession without any hesitation. I must''ve done good deeds during all of my previous 10 lives to accumulate enough fortune to have met you in this life, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life, as well as my next 10 lives."


    The indignant look on Tang Yinmeng''s face vanished, and she blushed as she gently nodded in response.


    The spectating disciples on the shore erupted into cheers. In contrast, Zhuo Shi wore an enraged look on his face as he grumbled, "This little rascal is abusing dogs in public! How dare he! Whose disciple is he again?"


    The old woman sitting on the other side of Yun Ming slowly raised her head before glancing at Zhuo Shi. "He''s my disciple. Is there a problem?"


    Zhuo Shi''s expression immediately stiffened at the sight of her, and he hurriedly said, "Not at all! I just wanted to say how impressed I am by your exceptional disciple."


    "If you''ve got nothing useful to say, then shut up! Don''t disrupt me while I''m reminiscing about my youth," the old woman said in a cold voice.


    Yun Ming couldn''t help but smile and shake his head. "Sister Yue, you really have to work on that temper of yours!"


    This old woman was completely ordinary in appearance. She wore simple cloth garments, and she looked no different from an elderly woman in a poverty-stricken area. There were not many people who were still alive that were aware of who she was.


    She was the oldest person in the entire Shrek Academy, and she had been the vice-master of the Sea God''s Pavilion back when the previous master of the Sea God''s Pavilion had been alive. She was over 200 years old, and she was even a senior of Yun Ming, thereby making her the person with the highest level of seniority in Shrek Academy.


    She was normally constantly residing deep within the Sea God''s Pavilion and very rarely left to go anywhere. Zhuo Shi hadn''t even noticed that she was on the boat with them, and his fiery temper was immediately doused at the sight of her.


    This old woman was the master of the sun and the moon, the dragon empress of light and darkness, and her Douluo Title was Light Dark.


    Around 150 years ago, the mere mention of Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue was enough to make all Soul Masters tremble in their boots.


    She was most renowned for her incredible feat during a conflict with the Spirit Pagoda where she''d swept through the Spirit Pagoda headquarters on her own, then gave the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda at the time a vicious slap to the face.


    This was supposed to be confidential information, but all of the most powerful beings in the world of Soul Masters at the time were aware of what had happened.


    It was due to this incident that a full-blown war had almost erupted between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda. In the end, the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion had to step in to mediate, and Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue was forced to deliver an apology before this matter was swept under the rug.


    This incident was a perfect example of her fiery temper and her immense powers.


    She was the only person in the Sea God''s Pavilion who didn''t have to attend any of its meetings, and she was free to do whatever she wanted in Shrek Academy.


    Yun Ming was only referring to her as sister rather than senior as she had demanded for him to do so in order to make her seem younger. In essence, this was concurrent with the joke that Tang Yinmeng had made at the very beginning. Both Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were her disciples.


    Long Yeyue''s eyes were half-closed as she appraised Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng with a smile on her face. "Looking at these children, I can''t help but recall back to my own younger days. It''s a pity that old bastard left me so early. Otherwise, we could be watching this together. At the time, our relationship had also blossomed during this match-making convention."


    Her husband was none other than the previous master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, and he''d passed away 40 years ago.


    Yun Ming consoled in a low voice, "Sister Yue, we all miss Elder Bei very much as well, but please do look after yourself."


    Long Yeyue chuckled, "I''ve already lived for over twice the lifespan of a normal person, and it seems that the older I get, the more reluctant the gods are to take me. Don''t worry about me; I can live for at least 20 more years. I have to keep an eye on all of these young kids; watching them give me so much joy."


    Yun Ming nodded with a smile. "Indeed! I''m always in a good mood when I see these children. It''s a pity that I wasn''t able to profess my love to Yali on the Sea God''s Lake."


    Long Yeyue chuckled, "It''s still not too late!"


    Yun Ming burst into laughter upon hearing this. "I''ll have to pass on that. I''m too embarrassed to be doing something so hot-blooded in front of all of these children. This is their stage, so we should just watch their performance."


    It had to be said that Lan Muzi''s passionate speech had ignited the emotions of all of the outer court disciples. In particular, all of the single dogs were filled with jealousy and rage!


    Tang Yinmeng rested her face against Lan Muzi''s chest with a blissful look on her face.


    She looked up at Lan Muzi with passion in her eyes as she whispered, "Let''s host the event first; I''ll reward you when we get back home tonight."


    Both of them were wearing soul speakers, so even though she was whispering, her voice was audible to everyone present. A flurry of wolf whistles and cheers immediately rang out, and it was if their love had even raised the temperature of the Sea God''s Lake.


    Lan Muzi cleared his throat. "Alright, that''s enough dog abuse for now. If you want to find your other half during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, then do your best, everyone! Now then, let''s welcome all of the participating inner court disciples. I''m sure there are some of you who are still unaware of the rules of this event, so please turn your attention this way."


    He pointed up ahead as he spoke, and two rows of green light appeared not far away from him. This was the light emanating from a series of giant lotus leaves that had been illuminated by the underwater lights. The bright green light was filled with vitality, and it was also particularly eye-catching on the surface of the Sea God''s Lake.


    "The Sea God Fate Match-making Convention is not just a day for finding love, but also an opportunity to display your powers. As such, during the convention, the male and female students must stand on these rows of lotus leaves before me that are separated by about 100 meters. If anyone falls into the water during the event, then I''m sorry, but you''ll no longer be able to continue participating in the convention. Prior to the commencement of the first segment, there will be a test of your powers to see who can secure the best positions. Hence, all participating disciples, please take the stage and fight for your positions!"


    "Begin!" Following a loud cry from Tang Yinmeng, the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention officially commenced.


    A series of figures suddenly emerged from the two sides of the Sea God''s Lake. Some of them sped along the water, while others rose up into the air and took flight.


    The students on the two sides also wore different attire. Those on the left wore large green hooded cloaks that concealed their bodies and heads with green masks that covered their faces.


    In contrast, the students on the right all wore long white dresses and veiled bamboo hats that obscured their facial features.


    It was quite apparent that the cloaked students were male, while those in dresses were female.


    After rushing onto the surface of the Sea God''s lake, all of them hurtled toward the lotus leaves like shooting stars. If one were to pay close attention, they''d discover that all of these students were unleashing different abilities, and all of their movements, speeds, and abilities were unique to themselves.


    All of the participants were inner court disciples who were somewhat familiar with one another, so if they were to look closely, they''d be able to determine the identities of some of their fellow participants.


    On the male side, there was a particularly burly student who was moving extremely quickly. As he sped over the surface of the lake, a series of rocks would suddenly emerge from beneath the water, acting as stepping stones for him as he charged toward the center of the first row of lotus leaves.


    There were a total of three rows of lotus leaves for the male disciples compared to only two on the female side, so it was quite clear that there was a mismatch in numbers.


    Right as the burly male student was about to land on the leaf he''d chosen, a figure suddenly flashed past him in a blur before instantly landing on that leaf with unerring accuracy.


    Light flashed from the leaf beside him, and another person appeared on that leaf as well.


    The burly male student harrumphed coldly as he made a grabbing motion with both hands, and an enormous burst of suction force appeared out of thin air. There were rules surrounding this initial segment stating that no physical contact or soul skills were allowed, but pure soul power could be used to fight for the spots.

 Chapter 740: Perfect Match

    A smug look had only just appeared on the face of the male students who''d landed on the front row first when he felt a burst of immense force surging toward him. He was immediately sent flying as a result, and the burly man took his place.


    Thus, fierce competition commenced for all of the spots, and a spectacular show was put on by all the male disciples. Their potent soul power fluctuations were sending waves erupting over the surface of the lake, but in contrast, the female students were a lot less inclined to compete over spots. In fact, they were even politely offering spots to one another before landing on the lotus leaves in a much more civilized manner.


    All of the participants were inner court disciples who were extremely powerful, so even though physical contact and soul skills were prohibited, they still put on a marvelous spectacle to behold.


    After all of the students had landed on a lotus leaf each, everyone was finally able to ascertain the number of participants. Just like in all of the past editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, there were clearly fewer female students than male students, thereby creating the usual disparity in numbers. There was no helping that; men simply had superior overall aptitude when it came to cultivating as Soul Masters, and this applied to Shrek Academy.


    There was a total of 51 male students, and this was quite a large number considering only single disciples of a suitable age range were eligible for participation. In contrast, there were only 31 female participants. The lotus leaves beneath their feet had all been illuminated by the underwater lights, basking their bodies in a mysterious glow. Around them was the rippling surface of the Sea God''s Lake, while pillars of light stood underfoot. A large number of lights were illuminated in the water around all of the participants following their arrival, and in that instant, the surface of the Sea God''s Lake had become a dazzling stage.


    During this event, many of them were going to find their true love, and those were perhaps bonds that would last a lifetime.


    Lan Muzi smiled and crossed his arms as he announced, "Alright, everyone''s all here now. If you can still identify someone despite how you''re all dressed, then it has to be true love. However, I feel like that''s probably rather implausible. At the very least, I was unable to identify anyone back when I took part in this event."


    Indeed, it was very difficult to identify anyone when their entire bodies and faces had been concealed. They could only make observations before everyone had stepped onto the lotus leaves, but at the time, everyone was too busy competing for spots, so they simply didn''t have time to observe the other side.


    The female students were all wearing the same dresses, and most of them were very slender, so the only difference that could be spotted between them was their heights. On top of that, they were also wearing large veiled bamboo hats, which made it even more impossible to identify anyone.


    Lan Muzi smiled, and continued, "According to the tradition of this convention, the first segment is known as ''Perfect Match''. The name is very alluring, but don''t be fooled; it''s a very difficult segment. There are 31 female disciples standing in a row around 100 feet away from all of you. As can be seen, all of them are wearing veiled bamboo hats that prevent you from being able to glean their true appearances. To put it simply, this is a segment where all of you male disciples will have to work together. The 51 of you can go one at a time, using your own methods to attack the female disciples. You can attack one disciple or multiple disciples, and your objective is to sweep their bamboo hats off their heads. After all, how are you supposed to find a girlfriend if you can''t even see what they look like, right?


    "This first segment will also be a chance for all of you to display your powers. Whoever manages to sweep off the most hats would naturally be the most powerful one among you. During this segment, the female disciple can''t help one another, nor can they attack the male disciples in retaliation. They can only adopt passive defense to try and keep their hats on their heads. If a female disciple were to be knocked into the water during this process, then they''ll be eliminated. However, generally speaking, the male disciples are quite measured in their attacks during the first segment. After all, if all of the girls are knocked into the water, how are you going to find your true love?"


    The outer court disciples on the shore were all looking on with bated breath. The match-making convention was finally about to commence. In this segment, requited love alone was not enough; one also had to possess sufficient power. Those who found their true love during the event were indirectly displaying to everyone that they were powerful enough to deserve love.


    The first segment, Perfect Match, was not that simple as the girls could defend themselves. Of course, some of the girls were more willing to reveal their identities, so they''d naturally be more cooperative during this process. However, those who were more reluctant or had no intention of finding love during this event would do their best to protect their hats. As such, this was not just a contest of powers, but also a battle of wits and psychology. The Perfect Match segment for every edition of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was always different, so it was a very interesting spectacle to behold.


    As soon as Lan Muzi''s voice fell, the lotus leaves beneath the feet of the female disciples began to move on their own, arranging them into a single row.


    He then turned to the front row of male disciples, with a smile, and said, "Alright, now it''s time for you to display your masculine charm. I''ll be calling out your numbers, and prior to commencing your attacks, you can choose whether you''d like to take off your mask or not. In contrast, the girls are prohibited from taking off their own hats during this segment, so if you don''t knock off their hats, then it''ll be very difficult to identify them."


    The rules of the match-making convention weren''t very complex, and most of the students had already done some research beforehand, so they were largely unsurprised by these rules.


    Lan Muzi continued, "Boy Number One, you can choose whether you want to remove your mask."


    Boy Number One wasn''t the first male disciple standing in the front row, but instead, he was standing in the second row, and his number had already been assigned to him beforehand.


    He had clearly already educated himself on the relevant rules, and he immediately replied, "I choose to take off my mask."


    He raised a hand and removed his mask as he spoke.


    In the past editions of the event, most of the male disciples during this segment chose to remove their masks. The reason for that was very simple; they had to let the female disciples see them so they could be chosen! Unless they hadn''t planned on finding a match for themselves in the first place, most of the male disciples would choose to reveal themselves during this segment.


    Boy Number One was a tall and broad young man. His appearance was rather plain, but he stood ramrod straight, and his eyes were shimmering with light.


    Lan Muzi made a hand gesture toward him. "You may begin."


    The man smiled, and said to the row of female disciples, "Please pardon my insolence."


    He tapped his foot gently onto the lotus leaf beneath his feet as he spoke, and he rose up into the air.


    He encircled his arms in front of him before abruptly thrusting them outward, and five rings of light emerged around his body in quick succession, consisting of two yellows and three purples, thereby revealing him to be a Soul King.


    In reality, five-ring Soul Kings were very commonplace among inner court disciples, and from the combination of his soul rings, it could be seen that he wasn''t a particularly outstanding disciple of the inner court, so it made sense that he had to settle for a spot in the second row.


    A layer of azure wind propelled his body forward, and it quickly transformed into a vast expanse of azure light that swept toward the other side of the Sea God''s Lake.


    Azure light flashed, and massive waves were instantly swept up over the surface of the lake before hurtling toward the female disciples.


    If they protected their hats, then they''d be struck by the waves, leaving them soaking wet in an instant! This Boy Number One was implementing quite a daring scheme.


    Among the female disciples, one of the women standing at the center harrumphed coldly before her body rose up into the air. She hadn''t leaped or jumped; her body simply levitated upward. She then swept her right hand through the air, and a total of seven soul rings instantly emerged beneath her feet, consisting of two yellows, three purples, and two blacks. The massive waves hadn''t even reached her before they suddenly paused in mid-air. An intriguing turn of events then unfolded. The third soul ring beneath her body lit up, and she pointed forward with her right index finger. All of a sudden, the massive wave that had congealed in mid-air suddenly took on the form of a ferocious tiger before turning around and pouncing directly toward Boy Number One.

 Chapter 741: Inherited Soul Spirit

    The first male disciple was quite alarmed to see this. He knew that he was in trouble as soon as he saw the seven soul rings emerge from beneath this senior sister''s feet. He had quite an unpredictable and free-spirit personality, and this was his first time participating in the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, so he had decided to employ this method to make a name for himself, but he didn''t think that he''d be irking such a powerful female participant in the process.


    As the ferocious tiger charged toward him, he had no choice but to raise both hands up into the air with a grim expression on his face. At the same time, his fifth soul ring lit up, and azure light immediately appeared above his head before materializing into a giant azure sword that sped directly toward the tiger.


    However, the tiger suddenly split as one in mid-air, forming two powerful streams of water that completely evaded his sword before crashing into his body.


    Boy Number One didn''t even get a chance to release his battle armor before he was blasted into the lake, and the lotus leaf beneath his feet had also capsized.


    As such, he had lost his opportunity to continue participating in this event.


    All of the male disciples were a little shell-shocked to see this. That girl was way too violent!


    Many people''s Adam''s apples were bobbing up and down, indicating that they were gulping in a nervous manner. It seemed that this match-making convention wasn''t all sunshine and roses as they''d expected.


    Lan Muzi couldn''t help but bury his face into his hand as he sighed, "Rest in peace, Boy Number One. What were you thinking? Were you planning to get all of the girls wet? Not only that, but you even removed your mask. You''re probably going to become the public enemy of all female disciples in the inner court from now on. Speaking of which, I must remind all of the male participants to think carefully before you attempt to remove the hats of the female participants so you don''t dig holes for yourselves. At the same time, I must caution you all that in terms of average power levels, you''re seriously no match for the girls. Boy Number Two, will you remove your mask?"


    "Yes." Boy Number Two also took off his mask without any hesitation. At the same time, he stripped off his cloak to reveal a pristine white suit. He had a head of flowing golden hair and a set of handsome facial features. There was a faint smile on his face, and he laid his right arm across his chest before extending a slight bow. He was standing off to the left in the first row, so all of the female participants could see him from where they were standing.


    "Hello there, ladies, my name is Yue Zhengyu, and I''ve only just entered the inner court recently. Please allow me to remove your veils."


    That''s right, Boy Number Two was none other than Yue Zhengyu. His handsome appearance, his dashing suit, and his polite mannerisms had undoubtedly left all of the female participants with a very good first impression. On top of that, the vast majority of inner court disciples were familiar with this name. He was one of the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, after all!


    The female disciples remained silent, while the male participants heaved a collective sigh of relief. It appeared that Boy Number Two had redeemed the image of the male disciples in the aftermath of Boy Number One''s disastrous actions.


    Tang Yinmeng smiled, and said, "We''ve got a very handsome young man here. I''m rooting for you!"


    "Thanks for your support, Senior Sister." Yue Zhengyu smiled as soul rings began to emerge beneath his feet.


    A total of five soul rings, consisting of four purples and a black, appeared. Judging from the color combination alone, this was a far superior set of soul rings than the ones that Boy Number One had. He flipped his hands over in front of his chest, and specks of golden light began to emerge from his palms before quickly taking on a certain shape.


    Within moments, a shimmering golden angel had appeared before Yue Zhengyu. She spread open her wings in a lazy manner while standing atop Yue Zhengyu''s palm. She was only around half a foot tall, and the wings on her back were white while a golden halo hovered above her head. Her skin looked as if it were made from delicate porcelain, and she was extremely adorable. Her soft and fair little face was rather chubby, and she pouted as she grumbled something to Yue Zhengyu, seemingly in a display of displeasure.


    "Go on, Baby, help those big sisters take their hats off." A speck of golden light appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s right hand, and he fed it to the small angel. The angel then smacked her little lips before flying toward the female disciples in a rather reluctant manner.


    What is that? Is that an angel or a soul spirit? Could it be an angel soul spirit?


    This was not a soul spirit that could be found in the Spirit Pagoda, nor anywhere on this entire continent. It was a type of inherited soul spirit that was similar to spiritual essence, and it was one of the rarest types of soul spirits.


    The main difference between an inherited soul spirit and a normal soul spirit lay in the former''s ability to give Soul Masters certain special enhancements, just like the powerful bloodlines possessed by evil Soul Masters.


    It was quite clear that the enhancement given to Yue Zhengyu by this small angel lay in his control over holy energy, so it could be said that she was his second life. Setting aside the reactions of the female disciples, even the male participants felt as if their hearts were melting at the sight of this inherited soul spirit. She was far too adorable!


    A stir immediately ran through the female participants on the other side, and many of them began to whisper among themselves.


    The small golden angel''s flying abilities seemed to be quite lackluster as she was bobbing up and down unsteadily during her flight, making the female participants quite worried that she was going to fall into the lake.


    A stir had also run through the male camp. The tactics that Yue Zhengyu had employed were simply unmatched, and all of them were struck by a sense of foreboding.


    After what seemed like an eternity, the small golden angel finally arrived among the female disciples, and the first person she flew toward was none other than the seven-ring Soul Sage that had just eliminated Boy Number One earlier.


    The small angel stuck her right thumb into her mouth and sucked on it for a while before pouting as she said, "Big Sister, Yue Zhengyu says I can''t go back until I take off your veils. I''m so sleepy; can you help me?"


    The female disciple harrumphed coldly, "Is he bullying you? How about I beat him up for you?"


    "Don''t do that, Big Sister, our life forces are bonded, so if you beat him up, it would be like beating me up; you''ll hurt me. It''s alright if you don''t want to, Big Sister." The small angel flapped her little wings with difficulty as she spoke, and she lowered her head as she tapped her chubby index fingers before her, putting on a heart-wrenchingly adorable display.


    "Don''t cry, little baby." The female disciple''s voice immediately softened as she removed her own bamboo hat.


    Lan Muzi turned to Tang Yinmeng, and chuckled, "This tactic is brilliant! As expected of a member of Shrek''s Seven Monsters; this indirect persuasion method is exemplary. The pressure on all of the other male participants is going to be greatly compounded, though."


    Tang Yinmeng chuckled in reply, "I didn''t think that Xiaoru would remove her veil under such comical circumstances. I thought that no one would be able to remove her hat, but who would''ve thought that she would be the first one to have her hat removed? Xiaoru is a big-sister figure for all of the female disciples of the inner court. Yue Zhengyu has displayed his abilities here, but he''s most likely left her with a negative impression of him. If I recall correctly, Xiaoru hates fancy pretty boys like him. But looking at her now, it seems like her maternal instincts have completely taken over!"


    Indeed, she was currently staring at the small angel with an extremely gentle look in her eyes, and it was hard to believe that she had just blasted Boy Number One into the water in such a violent manner just a few moments ago. She raised a hand to stroke the angel''s delicate little cheek.


    Ding Xiaoru was definitely one of the leading female figures in the inner court, and among all female disciples, her cultivation rank was inferior only to Tang Yinmeng. If Tang Yinmeng were the eldest senior sister of the inner court, then Ding Xiaoru was definitely second in line. She was extremely powerful and was currently striving toward becoming a three-word battle armor master.


    The small angel gave her a sweet smile before flying toward the female disciple beside her.


    The small angel then delivered the exact same lines in the exact same manner, and the female participant hesitated momentarily before removing her veil, revealing a set of cold and plain-looking facial features.


    Another stir immediately ran through all of the male participants again. Wasn''t that Xu Mi''er? She was the female disciple with the strangest personality in the inner court. She was one of the rare female disciples who focused solely on studying mechas rather than battle armor, and it was said that she had created a custom-made black mecha for herself entirely through her own power. During an average day in her life, all she did aside from cultivating was research all types of extremely destructive and dangerous soul tools, thereby earning her the title of Goddess of Slaughter. She was largely unknown to most of the outer court disciples, but everyone in the inner court was aware of who she was. It was said that she was very likely going to become the youngest divine-grade mecha pilot in the history of Shrek Academy at some point in the next 10 years, and she was currently only 30 years old.


    Ding Xiaoru and Xu Mi''er were both among the elder female disciples of the inner court, and the fact that they hadn''t found male companions for themselves yet clearly indicated that they weren''t very interested in this area. As such, it came as quite a surprise to everyone that they were the first two people to have their veils removed. They were both a lot older and far more powerful than Yue Zhengyu, and they were among the most influential female disciples of the inner court.


    All of the male participants gulped nervously at the sight of these two women. At this moment, they understood that Lan Muzi hadn''t been kidding; the average power level of the female disciples did indeed outstrip theirs.

 Chapter 742: Removing Veils

    Xu Mi''er also stroked the little angel''s face, and the latter nodded at her in an affectionate manner before flying toward the third female participant.


    All of the male disciples were growing rather nervous. Even Ding Xiaoru and Xu Mi''er had removed their veils for this angel; how were any of the other female participants supposed to be able to resist? But if Yue Zhengyu removed all of the female participants'' veils, then who would be able to compete with him? He''d be taking all of the glory.


    After that, the little angel didn''t even bother to say anything anymore. She simply flew over to the female participants and tapped her chubby little index fingers together in a pitiable manner.


    Everyone knew that she was putting on such a display on purpose, but the girls couldn''t help but fall for this apparent trap. Thus, one veil was removed after another, and before everyone knew it, eight veils had been removed.


    Under the eighth veils was an exquisitely beautiful smiling face that was slightly flushed, and the starlight shining down on her seemed to be making her fair skin sparkle.


    The small angel immediately whooped with delight upon seeing her. The angel rushed over to her before throwing her little arms around her neck, then planting a kiss on the female participant''s cheek before flying back again. She then turned to all of the other female participants, and said, "Thank you, big sisters. I''m very tired, so I''ll be going back now."


    After her voice trailed off, she turned around and flew back to Yue Zhengyu in an instant as a streak of golden light, then vanished into his body in a flash. It was quite apparent that she had no difficulty flying at all.


    All of the female disciples that had had their veils removed knew that they''d been swindled, but they simply couldn''t bring themselves to get mad at her.


    Yue Zhengyu turned to the final woman that had just had her veil removed, and he smiled as he gave her a slight nod. The woman stuck her tongue out at him in response.


    Xu Xiaoyan had grown up. During the past few years, she had developed a pronounced feminine charm and had only grown more beautiful. She was now renowned as the number one beauty among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Of course, Yuanen Yehui in her Fallen Angel form was actually not inferior to her in the looks department, but her Titan Giant Ape martial soul completely ruined her image, so the title of number one beauty was naturally given to Xu Xiaoyan.


    Lan Muzi couldn''t help but burst into laughter as he heaved a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to remove all of the veils, Zhengyu. If you''d done that, you''d be saving all of the other male participants a lot of trouble, but you''d also most likely become public enemy number one. It''s a good thing that you had a target to begin with. Next up is Boy Number Three."


    With the two drastically contrasting precedents before them, the rest of the male participants proceeded a lot more cautiously.


    Almost all of them chose to remove their masks, then employed some more gentle methods to try and remove the veils of the female participants. According to the rules, the male disciples could rise up into the air, but they couldn''t fall into the water. As for soul skills and abilities, they were free to use whatever they wanted, and all they had to do was ensure that they could return to their original positions.


    The first segment was a rather gentle and accommodating one. Even if a male disciple were to fail to remove any veils, that would simply be an indication of a lack of power, but they wouldn''t be eliminated outright, unless, of course, if you were Boy Number One.


    Thus, one male participant displayed their abilities one after another, attempting to remove the veils of their female counterparts. However, even after a dozen or so of them had made their attempts, no one was able to match Yue Zhengyu''s record of removing eight veils on his own. On top of that, Yue Zhengyu could''ve most likely removed all of the veils by himself had that been his intention, so there was certainly no one who could hold a candle in that regard.


    "Boy Number 16, will you remove your mask?" Lan Muzi asked.


    The man shook his head. He was the first one to have chosen not to remove his mask.


    Lan Muzi nodded, and said, "Alright, you may begin."


    As soon as his voice trailed off, several startled cries suddenly rang out from the other side as four female participants had their veils removed in unison.


    What was going on?


    Immediately thereafter, a loud cry rang out, and Ding Xiaoru sprang into action. The air in the surrounding area instantly congealed, and she swatted her right hand through the air, unleashing a burst of immense power that forced a barely visible figure to reveal itself. In the next instant, that figure vanished in a soundless manner.


    At the same time, Boy Number 16 also removed his mask and took off his cloak, revealing himself to be none other than Xie Xie.


    "Hello, ladies, I''m Xie Xie." He wore a black suit that created a stark contrast with Yue Zhengyu''s pristine white suit. In terms of appearance, he was second only to Yue Zhengyu in Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Of course, he only had Xu Lizhi below him.


    He had undoubtedly just used his clone skill, which he''d prepared well in advance. However, what was quite disappointing to him was that even though 17 of the 31 female participants had already had their veils removed, Yuanen Yehui wasn''t among them. He swept his gaze through the row of female disciples, trying to track down Yuanen, but there was nothing about her that stood out as all of her distinctive features had been concealed by the uniform white dresses and veiled bamboo hats.


    He had removed four masks on his own, which placed him second under Yue Zhengyu. All of the faces under those veils that were revealed were also all exquisitely beautiful, and two of them were familiar faces to Xie Xie.


    One of them was once his classmate, Zheng Yiran, while the other was Wu Siduo.


    Both of them were extremely beautiful, and the atmosphere among the male participants was clearly heating up at the sight of these two.


    Zheng Yiran was looking at Xie Xie with an unfriendly expression, and she brandished a fist at him in a menacing manner. Meanwhile, Wu Siduo simply stood on the spot with her brows slightly furrowed. With her powers, it shouldn''t have been so easy for her veil to be removed, but she''d suffered a lapse in concentration.


    If it weren''t for the academy rules that stated that all single inner court disciples of a suitable age had to participate in this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, Wu Siduo definitely wouldn''t be in attendance right now.


    She was not interested in the slightest in finding a match. Perhaps this was because in her proud heart, she had already chosen someone, but that person wasn''t among the male participants across from her.


    Among the male disciples, Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng had already appeared. Yang Nianxia, Xu Lizhi, and the other male students of the same class hadn''t appeared yet, but Xu Lizhi was easily identifiable. He was simply far too fat; even the baggy cloak couldn''t conceal his portly figure, and he was standing off to the side in the third row.


    There was no helping his figure; it simply came with the territory of being a food-type Soul Master. He was already having to take a lot of care in manipulating his soul power just to remain afloat on his lotus leaf.


    "Number 17..."


    The Perfect Match segment continued, yet it was becoming increasingly difficult to remove the veils of the remaining female participants. Most of the girls who still hadn''t had their veils removed at this point wanted to retain their anonymity.


    By the time it was Xu Lizhi''s turn to take the stage, he passed on his attempt as he knew that he simply didn''t have the ability to remove any veils.


    As such, the probability of the female participants having their veils removed continued to dwindle, and by the time over 40 male disciples had made their attempts, there were still 10 girls left with their hats on their heads.


    Next up is Boy Number 50." There were only 51 male participants in total, so number 50 was already the second-to-last disciple.


    "Will you remove your mask?" Lan Muzi asked with a smile.


    "Yes!" A strong masculine voice rang out in reply. Boy Number 50 then removed both his mask and his cloak to reveal a set of hard chiseled features and a glistening bald head.


    The majority of people faltered upon seeing this face as it was completely unfamiliar. However, expressions of surprise appeared on the faces of a small proportion of people present, including Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Yue Zhengyu was standing not far away from him, and he almost immediately exclaimed, "Crazy Long?"


    Indeed, Boy Number 50 was none other than Long Yue, the head of the Monster Eight Kings, and the man who possessed a Mountain Dragon King martial soul.

 Chapter 743: Long Yue and Number 51

    Long Yue nodded at Yue Zhengyu before announcing in a loud voice, "Hello everyone, I come from Monster Academy of the Star Luo Empire, and I''m very honored to be able to study at Shrek Academy as an exchange student. The teachers of Shrek Academy were kind enough to grant me special permission to participate in today''s Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, and it''s a great honor for me to get to know you all. I''ll begin now."


    Monster Academy?


    All of the female participants furrowed their brows at the sight of him.


    He certainly wasn''t ugly, but he was way too burly, and that bald head made him even more intimidating. On top of that, he didn''t even belong to Shrek Academy, so he wasn''t very welcome here. The most pleasant reactions toward him consisted of nothing more than curiosity, and he certainly wasn''t making any girls swoon.


    Long Yue hadn''t hoped that he would be popular among the female participants anyway. He was participating in this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention for his own reasons.


    Light flashed within his eyes, and a mountainous aura suddenly erupted from his body alongside an extremely potent burst of soul power fluctuations.


    Seven soul rings, two purple and five black, emerged from beneath his feet, displaying his unmatched power.


    All of the participants, both male and female, were stunned by the number and color combination of his soul rings. Even Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, who were familiar with him, wore surprised expressions on their faces.


    As expected, he really had become more powerful. Not only had he gone from six rings to seven, even his existing soul rings had undergone evolution. He was truly the number one prodigy of Monster Academy by far.


    The most powerful being among the female participants was Ding Xiaoru, who also had seven rings, but the color combination of her soul rings was clearly inferior. This didn''t necessarily indicate that Long Yue would be able to crush her in battle, but at the very least, he''d shown everyone his power through displaying his soul rings.


    He was only 23 years old at the moment, yet he had already attained seven rings with such an astonishing color combination. From an objective point of view, he was a freak in the world of Soul Masters.


    Light flashed from Long Yue''s body, and he suddenly pointed his right index finger up ahead. All of a sudden, the entire Sea God''s Lake tremored, and a pillar of water abruptly erupted into the air.


    Huh? Is he going to try and blast all of the girls with water like Boy Number One attempted?


    Just as the same thought occurred to everyone, a strange scenario unfolded. The pillar of water instantly split up into countless water droplets that shot forth in all directions. Each and every one of the water droplets followed their own trajectory as they hurtled rapidly toward the women in the distance. They rotated at high speeds as they flew, leaving tiny vortexes on the surface of the lake in their wake, thereby giving everyone a strong indication of their astonishing rotational speed.


    Just as the water droplets were about to reach the female participants, shockwaves surged forth from the rotating water droplets, hurtling toward the remaining veils.


    All of a sudden, a cold harrumph rang out as darkness began to permeate from the other side, enveloping all of the girls within.


    Curtain of Darkness? Xie Xie''s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the vast expanse of darkness. Unfortunately, the darkness had appeared too abruptly for him to ascertain who it was that had released it. However, he''d determined the general direction it was coming from, and that was certainly better than nothing! At the very least, he knew the approximate location of Yuanen now.


    A faint smile appeared on Long Yue''s face as his eyes flashed, and the rotating water droplets suddenly rose up to form a vast expanse of water vapor. In the instant, all of the dark energy in the air was drawn away, and the Curtain of Darkness vanished almost instantaneously. The water vapor then reverted back into water droplets that hurtled toward the remaining veils like speeding bullets.


    This was an extraordinary display of power and control, especially considering how his martial soul wasn''t of the water attribute. He had managed to accomplish this entirely through the control over water granted to him by his Mountain Dragon King martial soul.


    Right at this moment, Long Yue was greeted by the sight of an orange ball of light, and an orange fireball abruptly appeared before him following a resounding explosion.


    Even with Long Yue''s immense powers, he was still given quite a fright by this orange fireball, and he crossed his arms in front of him to form a barricade.


    "Boom!" Powerful shockwaves surged through the air in the aftermath of the violent explosion, and all of the male participants were forced to rise up into the air.


    Long Yue was also forced to take a step back, and one of his feet sank into the water. However, he still managed to repress the explosive power of that orange fireball.


    Xu Mi''er had brought out a soul pistol without anyone noticing. The pistol had a normal-looking barrel, but that was the only normal aspect about it. The rest of the pistol consisted of a massive metal box with a radius of around a meter. This wasn''t a pistol; it was a handheld cannon!


    The orange ball of light had erupted from none other than that "pistol".


    Xu Mi''er was completely expressionless as light flashed from her hand, and the massive handheld cannon abruptly vanished.


    "Piss off, outsider," she said in a cold voice.


    Long Yue''s expression changed slightly, and the yellow light in his eyes took on a faint red tinge. However, he then instantly recomposed himself before shrugging in a wordless manner. He was unable to remove even a single veil. He didn''t think that the girls of Shrek Academy would have such fiery tempers.


    The orange ball of light that was unleashed by Xu Mi''er weapon was far too fast and powerful. In terms of explosive power, that attack was definitely not inferior to a full-force strike unleashed by a Soul Emperor. That was definitely no ordinary soul tool!


    While Long Yue was quite infuriated, he was also internally stunned by the combat prowess of these inner court disciples. Overall, they were far more powerful than the top prodigies of Monster Academy, and it also seemed that they were quite xenophobic!


    Lan Muzi''s brows furrowed slightly as he turned to Xu Mi''er. "Please restrain yourself, Junior Disciple Sister Mi''er; this is a match-making convention, so you really shouldn''t be using weapons from your Destroyer series."


    Xu Mi''er took a glance at him before casting her gaze toward Tang Yinmeng and giving a slight nod. Her expression remained completely unchanged the entire time.


    Thus, there was only one male disciple left who was yet to take his turn during this Perfect Match segment, and there were still 10 female participants still wearing their veils.


    All of the outer court students began to speculate whether the Dragon Spear Goddess really had come to attend this match-making. If so, she had to be among those 10 women. Also, Gu Yue, who was the most powerful member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters should also be among this group, along with Yuanen Yehui.


    "Boy Number 51, you may begin." Lan Muzi made a hand gesture to the final male disciple.


    This Boy Number 51 stood close to the center of the first row, and Long Yue was right beside him.


    He displayed no intention of removing his mask as he began to rush toward the female participants.


    He wasn''t very fast, and nor were there any powerful energy fluctuations emanating from his body, but for some reason, Long Yue''s heart stirred slightly as he was struck by a sense of intimacy and closeness with that man.


    What''s going on? Why am I getting these kinds of feelings toward another man? This isn''t right!


    The man hovered in mid-air, and due to Long Yue''s performance, all of the female disciples were feeling very cautious. However, right at this moment, the man suddenly pressed his hands downward. A burst of rich soul power pressed down onto the surface of the Sea God''s Lake, and waves erupted into the air as he thrust his hands forward, revealing a pair of pristine white hands in the process that looked as if they were made of white jade.


    All of a sudden, water droplets shot forth through the air in all directions. Some of them traveled in a straight line, some followed curved trajectories, and some drew parabolas in the air. The flurry of water droplets formed a massive curtain of water that flew toward the female participants.


    What was even more extraordinary was that after the water droplets were sent flying through the air, they all took on a golden hue, creating an extremely dazzling sight in the night sky above the Sea God''s Lake.


    After doing all that, Boy Number 51 turned around and returned to his lotus leaf. He seemed to have done something that was quite similar to what Long Yue had just tried.


    What was the point of that?


    Ding Xiaoru was rather surprised, but she didn''t do anything this time. There were only two exchange students from Monster Academy, one of which was male while the other was female, so this Boy Number 51 definitely wasn''t from Monster Academy. As such, she naturally didn''t pay much heed to him.


    However, just as these water droplets began to pass by above and beside her, Ding Xiaoru''s expression suddenly changed slightly. She discovered that even though there weren''t any soul power fluctuations emanating from the water droplets, they were moving at an incredible speed. This meant that these water droplets themselves had been imbued with immense power.


    "Look out, sisters!" Ding Xiaoru yelled.


    Right at this moment, a peculiar scene unfolded. The water droplets in the air suddenly began to clash. Some of them fused together while others changed directions, and all of these changes had taken place in an instant. At this point, the water droplets were less than five meters away from the row of female participants.

 Chapter 744: Peacock Flaunting Its Tail

    The golden water droplets spread through the air like a peacock flaunting its tail, and at the same time, a faint dragon''s roar could be heard erupting from them.


    All of the female inner court disciples of Shrek Academy were very powerful beings, and even in the face of this startling turn of events, they were able to react extremely quickly. All of a sudden, soul power lights of all different colors flourished, shattering most of the golden water droplets surging through the air.


    Atlas Douluo Yun Ming suddenly chuckled as he sat on the boat at the edge of the lake. "That''s a Tang Sect technique, Peacock Flaunting Its Tail. It''s a hidden weapon technique that''s very rarely practiced by anyone nowadays. Oh? And that was only a decoy! Interesting!"


    Just as he was speaking, the girls had already destroyed all of the golden water droplets. However, right at this moment, a series of water arrows suddenly erupted from beneath the surface of the lake right under the 10 female participants who were still wearing their veils.


    The water arrows had emerged in a very abrupt fashion, and the timing was perfect; it was right when everyone was heaving a sigh of relief after vanquishing all of the golden water droplets.


    It had to be said that Boy Number 51 had controlled his timing to absolute perfection. He was clearly aware that it would be very unlikely for him to remove so many veils through his own powers alone, so he had devised a very clever scheme.


    He''d used the extremely flashy Peacock Flaunting Its Tail to attract everyone''s attention, but that had only been a smokescreen to set up his true attack.


    "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." One veil was sent flying after another, revealing a series of stunned faces.


    Only two of the female disciples had managed to react in time. One of them quickly rose up into the air to evade the arrow, while silver light flashed from the other female disciple''s body, upon which she abruptly vanished just as the water arrow was about to reach her, then reappeared after the arrow had sped past her. All eight of the other female participants were stunned to find that their veils had been sent flying.


    This was a startling comeback, one that no one had expected! Even Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were momentarily completely flabbergasted.


    During the first Perfect Match segment alone, 29 of the 31 female disciples had had their veils removed. Such a high percentage was completely unprecedented in the past editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. Boy Number Two, Yue Zhengyu, and this mysterious Boy Number 51 had accounted for over half of the 29 veils removed.


    Even Yuanen Yehui had fallen prey to this surprise attack. The water arrow was simply too quick and abrupt for her to evade, and she only caught sight of a glimmer of golden light before her veil was removed.


    Dai Yun''er''s face had also been revealed, and she was just as astonished. Long Yue had come to attend the match-making convention, so she obviously tagged along as well. After all, how could she miss something so fun?


    At this moment, her mouth had formed a large round "O", and she was in complete shock.


    Setting aside whether this Boy Number 51 was actually all that powerful, both his innovation and timing were simply extraordinary! As expected, Shrek Academy really was filled with brilliant prodigies. It was no wonder that their Monster Academy team had been defeated by them. It was just a pity that the one she was waiting for didn''t seem to have returned yet. Everything would be perfect if he were here.


    The expressions on their faces were also mirrored by the six other female participants who''d had their veils removed. Only girls numbers 17 and 18 had managed to evade the water arrows just in the nick of time, then descend back onto their original spots.


    At this moment, Boy Number 51 had already returned to his own lotus leaf, and golden light flashed as if something had disappeared into his body.


    "What a brilliant ploy. You''re the undisputed winner of this segment, Junior Disciple Brother. Are you not going to take off your mask?" Lan Muzi asked with a smile.


    Boy Number 51 shook his head in silence.


    Lan Muzi smiled, and continued, "Alright, we respect your decision. I hereby announce the conclusion of the first segment, Perfect Match. Following this segment, I''m sure all of you will have gained a slightly better understanding of one another. At this point in time, there are five male participants who have chosen to keep their masks on, but what''s very surprising is that there are only two female disciples left who are still wearing their veils. With so few participants left still in disguise, it''s quite simple for everyone to guess your identities. Would you like to remove your veils?


    That was indeed true; even the outer court disciples had already guessed who the remaining two girls were. Through the process of elimination, they could determine that one of them had to be the Dragon Spear Goddess, Na''er, while the other one was the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Gu Yue.


    As such, there really was no point for them to continue wearing their veils.


    However, they still shook their heads, and Lan Muzi didn''t press the issue.


    "Alright, following the conclusion of the first segment, we''ll immediately be moving on to our second segment, Love at First Sight!"


    Tang Yinmeng took over from here, and she announced, "Now that the first segment has concluded, it''s time for the female participants to express their love, which is why this second segment is known as Love at First Sight. The rules are very simple; each female disciple will receive a switch that can control the soul light in the water beneath them. They''ll turn on their lights for the male participants that have caught their eye, and all male participants who have at least one soul light lit for them will be able to continue participating in the next segment, while those without any soul lights will, unfortunately, be eliminated."


    This segment usually took up the least amount of time, but it was an extremely important test for all of the male disciples. Regardless of how powerful or exceptional they thought they were, if there were no female disciples that switched on their lights for them, then they''d immediately be eliminated. The number of male participants always outnumbered that of their female counterparts, so this segment had been designed to simplify the situation.


    Due to the fact that Boy Number One had already been eliminated, Yue Zhengyu was the first one to face this test.


    "Please consider carefully, celestial maidens of the inner court. You''ll be given one minute to make your decisions! Also, allow me to remind you that if you don''t switch on your light for any of the 50 male participants, that''ll be taken as a sign that you no longer wish to participate in this convention, and you''ll be eliminated," Lan Muzi cautioned in a serious manner. He didn''t want any of the female participants to unintentionally eliminate themselves simply because they weren''t aware of this rule.


    All of the soul lights beneath the feet of the male and female participants were snuffed out, with the exception of the soul light beneath Yue Zhengyu''s feet.


    "Please switch on your lights for Boy Number Two," Lan Muzi prompted.


    All of the female participants were each holding a control button, and a series of lights were switched on. In the blink of an eye, 16 out of 31 soul lights had lit up for Yue Zhengyu, which meant that he had caught the fancy of over half of all of the female participants.


    Xu Xiaoyan was clearly rather infuriated by this, but she still kept her light on for Yue Zhengyu as well.


    Lan Muzi chuckled, "As expected, Zhengyu is very popular with the ladies; 16 lights is quite a lot indeed! This is a very good beginning for the male participants. Next up, please step forward, Boy Number Three."


    There was special personnel recording the numbers of lights that each male participant received, so Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng didn''t have to keep track of everything while hosting the event.


    Soon, male participants began to get eliminated. Their cultivation ranks didn''t seem to be the primary factor of consideration for the female participants. This was evidenced by the fact that some boys with relatively weaker cultivation ranks yet handsome appearances received light over some of their more powerful counterparts. Female disciples were permitted to switch on their lights for multiple male participants in this segment.


    Following his elimination, a male participant with a slightly shorter stature and ordinary facial features howled with anguish, "This is such a shallow world; why can''t you look beyond outward appearances?"


    Soon, it was Xie Xie''s turn to take the stage. He was a member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and he was quite handsome as well, so he received nine lights. It wasn''t as splendid a result as Yue Zhengyu''s, but it was still very good. What made him extremely excited was that Yuanen Yehui had switched on her light for him.


    Almost none of the male participants who still had their masks on received any lights. In the past editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, male participants who refused to reveal themselves were either not interested in finding love or had some kind of deformity. As such, women generally refrained from switching on their lights for them.


    During the second segment, these male participants still had a chance to remove their masks.


    Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng both received lights, as did Yang Nianxia. After a while, it was finally Xu Lizhi''s turn.


    The soul light beneath his feet lit up, illuminating his portly body. He''d already taken off his mask during the first segment. After all, with his distinctive figure, it really didn''t matter whether he wore a mask or not.


    "You may begin switching on your lights for Boy Number 32," Lan Muzi reminded.

 Chapter 745: Boy Number 51s Face Reveal

    The female disciples remained completely unmoved. Xu Lizhi''s rotund face twitched, and a hint of dejection flashed through his eyes.


    If he were at any other Soul Master academy, he would definitely be considered an extraordinary talent as a food-type Soul Master who was able to also become a one-word battle armor master. However, this was Shrek Academy, an academy that prided itself on taking in only freakish talents. He was a food-type Soul Master, and his appearance was well below average due to his portly figure, so it was very difficult for him to receive any attention from members of the opposite sex.


    Right at this moment, a light was suddenly switched on.


    A shocked expression appeared on Xu Lizhi''s face as he cast his gaze toward that direction, and he discovered that Ye Xinglan was standing above the lit light in her inner court uniform.


    Ye Xinglan was a stunning beauty as well, but she never paid any heed to her own appearance. She was constantly engaged in arduous cultivation and doing everything she could to improve her own swordsmanship. As such, she attracted far less attention than the likes of Xu Xiaoyan and Yuanen Yehui.


    However, in the instant that she switched on her light for him, Xu Lizhi felt a rush of blood surge into his head.


    At the same time, three more lights were switched. They belonged to Yuanen Yehui, Xu Xiaoyan, and Girl Number 17, who still had her veil on.


    Boy Number 51, who was standing in the front row, almost instantly cast his gaze toward Girl Number 17, and a hint of emotion flashed through his eyes.


    In contrast, the excitement in Xu Lizhi''s eyes gradually faded as he suddenly realized that only his friends had switched on their lights for him, so they''d most likely done so out of pity. A wry smile appeared on Xu Lizhi''s face as this realization dawned on him.


    "Alright, four of our celestial maidens have switched on their lights for Boy Number 32. Let''s continue..."


    One male disciple after another was thrust under the limelight, and all of them received different results. The male participants with exceptional looks and powers naturally had a greater chance of escaping elimination.


    Finally, it was time for the second-to-last male participant again, and Long Yue of Monster Academy took the stage.


    "Please switch on your lights for Boy Number 50," Lan Muzi announced as he took a meaningful look at Long Yue''s hulking figure.


    Not a single light was switched on. All of the female participants simply stood on the spot with indifferent expressions.


    Long Yue didn''t have any hair, but he certainly wasn''t ugly. He was a hulking mountain of a man, and his power certainly matched his burly stature. At just 23 years of age, he was already a seven-ring Soul Sage. This was not exactly unprecedented, but it was most definitely an extraordinary feat. At the very least, there was no one in the inner court of Shrek Academy at the same age as him that could match his cultivation rank.


    However, despite how exceptional he was, not a single woman switched on their light for him.


    "Let me remind everyone again; if no one switches on their light for him, then he''ll be eliminated, which means he won''t be able to participate in the rest of this match-making convention. Please think carefully, celestial maidens, as your decisions will determine whether he stays or leaves," Tang Yinmeng urged once again. However, there was still not a single female participant who was willing to switch on their light for him, simply because he came from the Star Luo Empire and was an exchange student.


    In reality, Shrek Academy wasn''t a xenophobic place, but footage of the battle between Tang Wulin''s team and the Monster Academy team had been viewed by virtually everyone in the inner court. That battle had been immortalized as a legend, and it was the main reason why Tang Wulin and his friends were able to become Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    As a result, Long Yue had left an extremely strong negative impression in everyone''s hearts as he''d almost killed Tang Wulin during this battle.


    "At the same time, I must remind some of you that you still haven''t switched on your lights for anyone yet. If you keep this up, then you''ll also be eliminated following the conclusion of this segment. As such, I implore you all to choose wisely."


    Right at this moment, a light was suddenly switched on, and Long Yue''s tightly furrowed brows finally eased as a faint smile appeared on his face. The light that he''d been waiting for had finally been switched on.


    The 18-year-old princess was illuminated by the soul light, and the royal education she''d received gave her the appearance of a perfect noblewoman. She was not as wilful and mischievous as she had been in the past. Instead, she appeared to be more refined and regal.


    Their eyes met, and Dai Yun''er smiled at him. Long Yue also smiled, and in that instant, he seemed to have stood up straighter, striking everyone with the impression that a giant beast had just awakened before them.


    So what if all of you renounce me? As long as my Yun''er chooses me, that''s enough.


    Lan Muzi nodded upon seeing this. "Boy Number 50 was chosen by one of our celestial maidens. Next up is our final male participant. Prior to taking the stage, will you remove your mask?"


    Boy Number 51 was silent for a moment before slowly raising his hand and taking off his mask.


    His black hair fluttered in the wind, and his cloak also fell to the ground, revealing a set of extremely handsome facial features. He had long eyelashes, a pair of clear and bright eyes, and everyone''s eyes lit up at the sight of him.


    A faint smile appeared on his face as he bowed slightly while standing atop his lotus leaf. "Long time no see, everyone."


    Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng both faltered in unison. This man seemed rather familiar to them, but at the same time, they were sure that they didn''t know him. In their memories, there was no person like him in the inner court. However, the fact that he was standing here indicated that he had to be an inner court disciple.


    "It''s you?"


    "Captain!"


    "Boss!"


    "Argh!"


    Cries of surprise instantly rang out over the surface of the Sea God''s Lake on both the male and female sides.


    There were even three female participants who jumped up from their lotus leaves. Xu Xiaoyan was screaming with excitement, Wu Siduo was reeling with shock, and Dai Yun''er had completely cast aside the reserved demeanor that was befitting of a princess.


    The one who had exclaimed "it''s you?" was none other than Long Yue, who was standing right beside him, and the ones who had yelled "Boss" and "Captain" were Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, and Xu Lizhi.


    There were also many other pairs of stunned and incredulous eyes fixed on him.


    The older generation of inner court disciples were all rather unfamiliar with him, but every single one of the newer entrants to the inner court were aware of who he was.


    He had chosen to remove his mask as he didn''t want to risk elimination, but he knew that revealing himself would create a massive stir, so he delayed it for as long as possible.


    "My apologies, Junior Disciple Brother, but I can''t seem to connect a name to your face. Would you be able to tell us who you are?" Tang Yinmeng asked as she appraised the ridiculously handsome Tang Wulin with a curious look on her face. He wasn''t anywhere near as burly as Long Yue, but he was tall and slim, and he had an extremely handsome set of facial features. At the same time, there seemed to be a unique disposition about him that made it difficult to take one''s eyes off him.


    Boy Number 51 nodded with an alluring smile on his face, as he said, "Of course I can. My name is Tang Wulin."


    That''s right, he was the president of the class that was once renowned as the genius class of the outer court. He was the undisputed most influential figure of the outer court, as well as the former captain of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. He was the man who had led them to battle against the Monster Eight Kings of the Star Luo Empire''s Monster Academy, Tang Wulin.


    Thankfully, even after being essentially abducted by Feng Wuyu, he still managed to make it in time. Due to the fact that he was the last entrant to the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, he received the final number.


    He was back!

 Chapter 746: Tang Wulins 18 Lights

    Long Yue was appraising Tang Wulin with a complex expression on his face. He didn''t think that he''d encounter him at a time like this. If there were one person that he least wanted to see right now, then it was definitely Tang Wulin.


    At the very least, he didn''t want to see him during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. In particular, after seeing Dai Yun''er''s elated display, the expression on his face darkened even further.


    Tang Wulin nodded at Long Yue, and greeted, "Long time no see, Brother Long. I didn''t think that we''d meet each other again under these circumstances. Welcome to Shrek Academy."


    Long Yue merely nodded silently in response.


    "Tang Wulin?" Tang Yinmeng murmured this name to herself before suddenly exclaiming, "You''re Tang Wulin?"


    At this moment, even the inner court disciples who''d never met him had also finally recalled who he was.


    "He''s Tang Wulin?" Everyone''s eyes focused on him in unison. To many people, he was a legendary figure. It was completely unprecedented for an outer court disciple who had disappeared to be instated into the inner court.


    Furthermore, the footage of him leading the Shrek Academy team during the Continental Young Elites Tournaments was a legendary legacy that he''d left behind.


    And now, this legend was standing right before them. After more than three years had passed, he had returned and showed up on the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.


    Prior to today, everyone was more fixated on the powers that he''d displayed, and the resolute tenacity he had that allowed him to lead his clearly weaker team to victory against what should have been an invincible opponent. However, under the current circumstances, his physical appearance naturally became the main focus in everyone''s eyes. He was handsome to the extreme, too handsome, almost.


    Compared to three years ago, he was much more like an adult, and his body had already matured. He had a set of wide shoulders with a slim athletic waist and a pair of thick musclebound arms. His black hair trailed down the back of his head, and he gave off a strong sense of vitality and masculine charm.


    He turned to all of his friends before nodding at them one by one. All of the members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, who were already extremely influential figures in the inner court, were like a bunch of excited children. In particular, Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan, who were both very expressive with their emotions, looked as if they wanted to rush toward him and spill their guts right away.


    "Alright, please switch on your lights for Boy Number 51 or in other words, Junior Disciple Brother Tang Wulin." Lan Muzi continued to push along the progression of the event while casting his gaze toward his flabbergasted girlfriend.


    Only then did Tang Yinmeng return to her senses, and she chuckled, "He''s so handsome. If I were 10 years younger, I''d be inclined to switch on my light for him as well."


    "You''re making me jealous!" Lan Muzi whispered in an exaggeratedly menacing manner.


    After that, Tang Yinmeng also whispered something into his ear, upon which his expression immediately stiffened. He stared at her with a shocked expression before a look of elation and ecstasy began to glow from his eyes.


    "My God! That''s fantastic! Why did you only tell me this now? Yinmeng, I love you." Tears welled up in his eyes, and he was completely unable to control his emotions as he swept Tang Yinmeng up into his arms.


    The female disciples were just about to choose whether they would switch on their lights for Tang Wulin, and everyone was left feeling rather perplexed by this interlude. The entire match-making convention screeched to an abrupt halt as a result.


    "Alright, we''ll talk about this when we get back," Tang Yinmeng hurriedly urged in a low voice.


    Only then did Lan Muzi return to his senses, and he hurriedly unwound his arms from around her, but the elation in his eyes was still very pronounced.


    "My sincerest apologies for delaying such an important match-making convention, everyone. However, I must tell you all right now that I am the happiest person in the entire world! Just then, when Junior Disciple Brother Tang had revealed himself, Yinmeng told me that she''d be inclined to switch on her light for him had she been 10 years younger. I immediately told her in an enraged manner that I was jealous. After that, she told me that she''s bearing my child! I was so happy that I simply couldn''t control myself!" He abruptly turned to Tang Yinmeng as he spoke and planted an enthusiastic kiss on her cheek. Tang Yinmeng''s face was as red as a tomato as she drummed her fists into his chest a few times, but the blissful atmosphere between the two of them was absolutely infectious.


    That''s right, when Lan Muzi had told Tang Yinmeng that he was jealous, her reply had been "I''m pregnant!".


    That was what led to the scenes that had just unfolded earlier.


    "Alright, celestial maidens, please make your decisions on whether you''d like to switch on your lights for Boy Number 51," Tang Yinmeng hurriedly said after recomposing herself.


    All of the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion were watching, so this was very embarrassing.


    One light after another was switched on, and much to everyone''s surprise, the first light that was switched on belonged to one the girls who still had their hats on, Girl Number 18.


    Up to this point, only two of the 31 female participants hadn''t switched on their lights for anyone. These two were numbers 18 and 11.


    Girl Number 11 was none other than Wu Siduo, but who was Girl Number 18?


    Girl Number 17 had only switched on her light once, and that was for Xu Lizhi.


    However, at this moment, Girl Number 18 was the first one to switch on her light for Tang Wulin, and it was also the first time she''d switched on her light for anyone. Immediately following suit were Girl Number 11, Wu Siduo and Girl Number 19, Dai Yun''er. They both switched on their soul lights almost at the exact same moment.


    Immediately thereafter, one light was switched on after another, and within the span of just a few breaths, more than 10 lights had been switched on.


    Aside from the slightly older female participants, as well as Yuanen Yehui, Xu Xiaoyan, and Ye Xinglan, almost all of the female participants had switched on their lights for Tang Wulin. 18 lights were switched on in total, surpassing even Yue Zhengyu''s 16.


    In terms of outward appearance, Yue Zhengyu was already very handsome, and he gave off an air of grace and holiness. However, compared to Tang Wulin, he was still slightly lacking in both appearance and disposition.


    There was no way he could bridge the gap between their appearances, but in terms of dispositions, Yue Zhengyu was like a shining beacon of holy light, but Tang Wulin''s aura was filled with vitality and a special type of mystique.


    "Wow, 18 lights! I can already imagine that the next segment is going to be very intense." Lan Muzi turned to the female participants with a surprised look on his face. Tang Wulin had undoubtedly set a new record after removing his mask. Even the inner court female disciples who didn''t recognize him were filled with interest toward him.


    Lan Muzi couldn''t help but heave an internal sigh of emotion. Tang Wulin was just like Wu Zhangkong from their cohort; his extremely handsome looks simply gave him an overwhelming advantage! No, he was even more handsome than Wu Zhangkong, and he also seemed to be Wu Zhangkong''s disciple.


    Tang Wulin was also quite surprised that so many people had switched on their lights for him. However, his gaze was focused on Girl Number 17, who hadn''t switched on her light for him. Among the 18 lights that had been switched on for him, Girl Number 17''s light was not one of them.


    His brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he didn''t say anything. He didn''t know whether his deduction had been incorrect.


    Lan Muzi said, "Alright, everyone has gone through this second segment, so to all of the male participants who received no lights, I''m going to have to ask you to leave the stage. We''ll begin our third segment right away. After the Perfect Match and Love at First Sight segments, the segment that''s about to commence now is going to be an extremely important one during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. After this segment, the entire situation will be made very clear, and all of our participants will develop a better grasp of one another''s intentions. Hence, let''s commence the third segment, Love at Second Sight! Pay extra attention, girls, because you can''t just choose freely like you did during the second segment; you have to take responsibility for your own choices.


    "Each male participant will have one minute to introduce themselves, following which they''ll state the number for the celestial maiden that has caught their fancy. After all of the self-introductions have been made, the girls will begin to make their decisions. All of your decisions are final, you can only make one decision each, and you can''t revoke your decisions later on. To all male participants, you can introduce whatever you''d like about yourself that you think can attract the girl of your dreams. For this segment, in order to ensure fairness, we''re going to be drawing numbers at random to determine the sequence of male participants making their self-introductions."


    The atmosphere suddenly became quite tense following this announcement. If the first two rounds were still all fun and games, then this third segment was where things truly became serious.

 Chapter 747: Xu Lizhis Heartfelt Confession

    The choices made by both the female and male participants were irreversible, so they had to make their decisions wisely.


    This segment generally determined how many matches would be made during the convention, and it was also the segment where the largest number of participants were eliminated.


    Generally speaking, it was very rare for more than 10 matches to be made during any edition of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. During this segment, it was often the case that around 50% of the remaining participants would be eliminated. Of course, most of those were male participants who were rejected by the women they''d chosen. If more than one woman chose the same man, then a competition would commence.


    A cylindrical bamboo container appeared in Lan Muzi''s hand, and he turned to Tang Yinmeng as he said, "You can draw numbers, Yinmeng; let''s see who our first male participant will be. Please note that you will only have one minute to make your self-introductions and confessions, so do and say the things that you feel to be most important. This is a very important reminder that I must issue as sometimes, it''s better to confess your love to a single woman rather than give a general self-introduction to keep your options open. During a segment like this, it could prove to be a wise decision to put all of your eggs in one basket."


    As Lan Muzi was speaking, Tang Yinmeng had already pulled a number out of the bamboo tube.


    "The first male participant to introduce themselves will be Boy Number 32. Please take the stage."


    The lotus leaves parted to reveal Boy Number 32 in the back row, and the lotus leaf beneath his feet slowly drifted forward, taking him to the front of the group of male disciples.


    The man standing atop the lotus leaf swayed and almost fell into the water; it was none other than Xu Lizhi!


    At this moment, he wore a rather blank and panicked expression, and he was wringing his hands in a nervous manner.


    After witnessing Tang Wulin''s return, he had been filled with excitement, just like all of his friends had been. However, at this moment, he was in an atrocious mood.


    He''d clearly seen that Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, and Xu Xiaoyan had all refrained from switching on their lights for Tang Wulin, but they''d switched on their lights for him. This meant that he had guessed right from the very beginning; they had switched on their lights for him out of nothing more than pity. He was also quite perplexed about why Girl Number 17 hadn''t switched on her light for Tang Wulin, but he was far too dejected to be thinking about that now.


    A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face before his expression gradually returned to normal.


    "Alright, Junior Disciple Brother; your time for your self-introduction begins now," Lan Muzi announced.


    "My name is Xu Lizhi," Xu Lizhi began in a slow voice, "I''m a food-type Soul Master, and I love all types of food. My martial soul is a steamed bun, so I came to look like a steamed bun. I''m sure no one likes a fatty like me, but just as Senior Disciple Brother Lan had said, I''ve already come here, so perhaps I''ll have a chance if I place all my eggs in one basket. Hence, please allow me to say what I''m about to say next.


    "I met the girl of my dreams at a very young age. Ever since back then, I''ve loved her like I love food. I''m a food-type Soul Master, so I was inevitably bullied by my classmates, but she always stood up for me and protected me. She''s like my guardian angel, and I look up at her with awestruck eyes every single day. I''ve only managed to become who I am today because she''s always been around to help and protect me."


    At this point, Yue Zhengyu, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin''s faces were already filled with surprise. It was quite apparent whom he was referring to from this snippet of his monologue alone. Even they had been unaware that Xu Lizhi harbored such feelings toward that person, but how could they not have figured out who he was talking about by now? It was far too obvious!


    Xu Lizhi seemed to have settled his nerves at this point, and he was speaking in a far more smooth and steady voice."Time passed, and we grew up together, day after day. She''s very determined in her pursuit to reach the pinnacle of all Soul Masters, and I''ve watched her for every single day along her journey. When I was younger, I always regarded her as a big sister, a guardian angel. That was until I gradually realized that the most important thing in my life was no longer food; it was her instead."


    He paused momentarily here before continuing in a serious voice, "If there''s one person in this world that could make me want to lose weight for them, then it''s her."


    All of the female participant''s expressions changed slightly upon hearing this. This was a very simple confession, but it was an extremely meaningful one coming from a food-type Soul Master who weighed in excess of 100kg.


    Xu Lizhi paused again here, and Lan Muzi checked the time, yet just as he was about to announce that time was up, Tang Yinmeng suddenly grabbed onto his hand.


    He turned to her to discover tears shimmering in her eyes.


    After a brief silence, Xu Lizhi sighed, "I know I''m not good enough for her; I knew that from the very beginning. Ever since I could remember, I''d always thought that perhaps I liked her due to the lack of maternal love in my childhood. However, as time passed, I finally discovered that this wasn''t a yearning for maternal love; I can now confirm 10,000% that I love her like a man loves a woman. I love her in the truest and purest way. She''s so beautiful, yet I''m so fat, but I still love her. Hence, I stay by her side every waking second over every day. Wherever she is is where I''ll be.


    "Right here, right now, this may be the only place that I''ll have the courage to say everything that''s been hiding in my heart for so long. You may not know how much courage this requires, but you have to realize that the risk I''m taking here is that she might not ever talk to me again. However, I''m finally going to say this because I don''t want to be on my deathbed someday with this as my biggest regret in life. I''ve never considered whether my confession would be successful nor whether she likes me or not. There''s such a huge gap between us, after all. However, I have to tell her that I''ve only ever liked one woman in this world, and she will be the only woman I''ll ever love. I don''t want to cause trouble for her with my one-sided confession, so I won''t say her name, but I feel a lot better now that everything''s off my chest.


    "After this, let''s just pretend that nothing''s ever happened," Xu Lizhi seemed to have completely relaxed at this point, and he cast a meaningful gaze toward the row of female participants as he continued, "I don''t need pity, and nor do I need sympathy. I just want to be by your side, so please don''t take that privilege away from me. Even if you find someone you love someday, please allow me to continue watching over you from afar."


    He abruptly took a deep breath, and he seemed to have swelled up slightly like a balloon, then roared with all his might, "I! LOVE! YOU!"


    Following that raw and heartfelt cry, had jumped straight toward the Sea God''s Lake.


    He knew that he had no chance whatsoever, and he simply wanted to make this confession to ease his soul, but he didn''t want to cause any trouble for her. As such, he chose to leave.


    Right at this moment, a burst of blue light suddenly erupted before winding itself around his sizeable waist. This was a blue vine, and the vine tugged Xu Lizhi back just as he was about to fall into the lake. The vein was only around as thick as a human arm, but it was somehow able to support Xu Lizhi''s entire body, thereby preventing him from plummeting into the water.


    "How do you know you won''t succeed? You can''t just leave without getting a result."


    Xu Lizhi turned around to Tang Wulin, who had summoned the blue vine to catch him, and tears were flowing down his rotund face.


    "Captain!"


    The vine was slowly withdrawn, and it gently placed him back onto the lotus leaf.

 Chapter 748: Light Dark Douluos Final Disciple

    Tang Wulin said in a low voice, "When I was a small child, I discovered that I had the trash martial soul, Bluesilver Grass. My first soul spirit was a defective one from one of the Spirit Pagoda''s failed experiments. If I had chosen to give up then, I wouldn''t be standing here right now. If you even have the courage to lose weight for her, then why don''t you have the courage to hear her answer? Trust me and stay here. We won''t get our hopes up for miracles, but we have to give miracles the chance to take place."


    Xu Lizhi lowered his head and finally nodded as he controlled his soul power to stabilize his body on his lotus leaf, but he no longer had the courage to cast his gaze toward the row of female disciples.


    Tang Yinmeng wiped the tears from her face as she said, "He''s right, you should stay. Don''t leave until you receive a result, alright? I''ll be praying for you. You''re a good man, and it''s not your fault that you''re fat. I didn''t think that the very first confession tonight would get me so emotional already."


    The lotus leaf slowly returned to the third row, and everyone was looking at Xu Lizhi through new eyes. Xu Lizhi himself seemed to have also recovered from his fit of vehement emotions, and he merely stood still on the spot with his head lowered.


    "Nice one, Lizhi!" Xie Xie gave him a heartfelt thumbs-up.


    Yue Zhengyu also chimed in, "We support you; so believe in yourself!"


    Tang Wulin didn''t say anything, but he was appraising the subject to which Xu Lizhi had delivered his confession.


    She was very calm, and she stood on her lotus leaf without any noticeable emotion on her face. All of the other girls who had already guessed the truth were also looking at her, but she displayed no response.


    Lan Muzi said, "Boy Number 32, please provide me with the number that you''ve chosen later. Girls who are interested in Boy Number 32, all of you will also need to remember that during this segment, you''re only able to choose one person. Yinmeng, let''s continue."


    On the shore of the lake, all of the outer court disciples suddenly burst into cheers as all of them yelled words of encouragement for Xu Lizhi. In particular, the students from the first grade''s class one were yelling at the tops of their lungs.


    In this world, not everyone was good-looking and born into prosperity. Compared to those anomalies, there were much more ordinary people. However, they also had the right to pursue love and happiness. As such, Xu Lizhi''s words resonated with and inspired many people.


    Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue suddenly heaved a faint sigh as she sat on the boat. "I thought that I wouldn''t ever be touched by anything during my remaining days, but I have to admit that this little fatty has really moved me. Expressions of genuine emotions are always the most touching things to behold. I''ve decided to take one final disciple; no one''s going to try and steal him away from me, right?"


    "Ahem!" A few people abruptly cleared their throats on the boat. It was quite clear that they also shared the same intention.


    Atlas Douluo Yun Ming turned to Long Yeyue with a surprised expression, "It would be fantastic for the entire Shrek Academy if you were willing to take a final disciple, so of course no one''s going to take him from you, Sister Yue. That little guy sure is lucky."


    Yun Ming was genuinely happy. Ever since Long Yeyue''s husband, the previous master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, had passed away, she had constantly been in a dispirited state where she cared about nothing. If it weren''t for her attachment to Shrek Academy, she would''ve most likely taken her own life to reunite with her husband on the other side already. Even Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were only in-name disciples of hers.


    A final disciple was naturally drastically different from an in-name disciple. Only a direct disciple could become one''s final disciple, and this disciple was always the one that the teacher adored the most. The fact that Long Yeyue was willing to take Xu Lizhi as her final disciple meant that she was definitely going to do everything she could to nurture him. At her cultivation rank, if there were something that she wanted to do, then she could control her own life force and extend her own lifespan, and that was why Yun Ming was so elated.


    The Light Dark Douluo was his senior, but even more so, she was the guardian deity of Shrek Academy. She was a stabilizing force in Shrek Academy, and even though there were very few people on the Douluo Continent who were still aware of who she was, all of the most powerful Soul Masters on the continent knew that she was still alive. The Spirit Pagoda absolutely detested her, but it was also due to her existence that they didn''t dare to extend any gestures of disrespect to Shrek Academy.


    In terms of powers, Yun Ming had obviously already outstripped her, but in comparison, she was the one who was more intimidating to the Spirit Pagoda. Of course, most importantly, she was like a mother figure to Yun Ming, so he would definitely like her to keep on living for as long as possible.


    A faint smile appeared on Long Yeyue''s face. "There''s finally something interesting for me to do."


    Just as they were speaking, the second male participant had concluded his speech, which had consisted of a brief self-introduction, followed by a display of his martial soul and soul rings. It was quite clear that he had no set target. He then concluded his speech with an expression of his current emotions, which was, admittedly, a rather generic conclusion.


    "Number 50." The third male participant to be drawn was none other than Long Yue.


    He clearly hadn''t expected himself to be drawn so quickly, and he faltered momentarily before taking a reflexive glance at Tang Wulin. However, Tang Wulin wasn''t looking back at him. Instead, he was currently appraising someone among the row of women up ahead.


    The lotus leaf beneath Long Yue''s feet slowly drifted forward, carrying him to the front of the group. He cast his gaze forward, and his eyes settled on Dai Yun''er.


    He took a deep breath, and said, "I know that I''m not very well-liked here, and I''m well aware of the reason for that. I don''t belong to Shrek Academy, but I came here to learn from all of you, and I hope to be able to learn something different here that would help me better myself. The Star Luo Empire also belongs to this continent, and as much as I hate to admit, we were indeed kicked out. However, I''m also a Soul Master, just like every one of you. We have a common goal and direction, which is to become more powerful. Perhaps I shouldn''t be saying all this here, but what I want to express is that I bear no ill will by coming here. Also, I''ve very honored to be attending this match-making event. It''s been a very interesting experience, and it''s also provided me with a stage to express my thoughts.


    "To put it frankly, I don''t know what it''s like to be in a relationship. I''ve been cultivating arduously my entire life, and in contrast with most people, my cultivation is a process of constant agony. Excruciating pain has plagued me my entire life, and sometimes, even I can''t control my own emotions, so everyone calls me Crazy Long. However, even a crazy man like me has emotions. That''s right, I also have someone I like. Even though I''m aware that she likes someone else, that still doesn''t change the way I feel about her. I''m not particularly sure if I love her as a woman or if I simply want to cherish her like a sister, but I''ve watched her grow from a young age, and she is the one whom I''ve spent the most time with in my life.


    "Hence, I''ve always told myself that I''m going to make her my bride in the future, and everyone around me has encouraged me in pursuing this dream. However, as I stand here today, I''m feeling very anxious because my rival in love may be too much for me to contend with. I''ve never feared anyone in battle, and my pursuit has always been to become the most powerful being there is. I am indeed not as handsome as him, but I can promise you that as long as I''m still alive, I will use everything I have to protect you. I was very inspired by the man who took the stage first, and perhaps I really do need some love in my life. I can''t guarantee anything else, but I can promise you that I''ve definitely got a resolute pair of arms; that''s already been tested by that woman''s handheld cannon."


    As he was saying all this, his eyes remained firmly fixed on Dai Yun''er this entire time. He was laying himself completely bare before her; he didn''t know exactly what kind of love he had for her, but it was quite clear that she was the most suitable candidate for him to enter a relationship with. He had always known this to be the case ever since he was a young boy.


    His confession wasn''t all that moving, but it was very honest, and at the same time, it changed the opinions many of the inner court disciples had about him. It was quite clear that he didn''t want to be ostracized; he also wished to be accepted and treated without bias.


    In reality, after arriving at Shrek Academy, he''d quickly fallen in love with this place. In the past, he had always thought that even if Monster Academy were actually inferior to Shrek Academy, there wouldn''t be too much of a disparity. However, only after actually coming here did he realize just how na?ve he''d been.

 Chapter 749: Unexpected Rejection

    Shrek Academy wasn''t even an academy; it was a city, one that was countless times larger than even Star Luo City. In this academy, almost all of the inner court disciples were comparable to the so-called Monster Eight Kings, and he hadn''t even met the most powerful beings here.


    There was a boundless abyss-like aura emanating from that boat in the distance, and he had never sensed such fearsome power from any of the teachers at Monster Academy.


    Lan Muzi smiled, and said, "Welcome to Shrek Academy. We are an academy that is willing to accept everyone, but if you want something, you have to attain it through your own efforts; this applies to every one of us as well. I wish you luck in finding what you''re looking for during your time at Shrek Academy."


    "Thank you." Long Yue nodded at Lan Muzi, and his lotus leaf returned to its original spot.


    The third segment clearly dragged on for far longer than the previous two segments. As long as the male participants didn''t go too far over the time limit, Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were quite reluctant to cut them off in their self-introductions.


    To put it quite simply, if this segment had been held during a match-making convention for peacocks, then this would be the ideal opportunity for the male peacocks to show off their beautiful tail feathers, which was exactly what most of the male participants were doing.


    Yue Zhengyu''s number was finally drawn from the tube.


    The lotus leaf beneath his feet drifted forward, taking him to the front of the group.


    Yue Zhengyu smiled, and at that moment, he seemed to have become even more dazzling under the limelight. He cast his gaze toward a certain person in the row of female participants up ahead.


    "I''ve been waiting for this day for a very long time. I actually already have someone that I love, and I''ve loved her since long ago. We''ve been together for many years, but most of our time was spent on cultivation, so I''ve never had a chance to confess to her before this. I presume that I don''t need to introduce too much about myself; I come from the Holy Angel clan, I possess the holy bloodline, and I''m a five-ring Soul King, as well as a one-word battle armor master. I believe that I have the ability to protect you and make you happy. I''ll give you everything you want, and I''ll assist you and your clan with all my power. I know you''ve always returned my feelings during the past few years, right? It''s always said that this convention is the ideal place to confess, so here I am. I love you, and I want you to be with me. I believe that you''re going to be my future bride, and I''m going to protect you for the rest of eternity. We can have a few children, just like Senior Disciple Brother Lan and Senior Disciple Sister Tang; whatever you want, I''ll do my best to satisfy you."


    Light radiated from Yue Zhengyu''s body, and a pair of pristine white wings were unfurled behind him, combining with his dashing white suit to further accentuate his regal and handsome looks. All of a sudden, it was as if his radiance had filled the entire Sea God''s Lake.


    Xu Xiaoyan stood on her lotus leaf and stared blankly at him. Her beautiful features were initially filled with elation, but her joy had gradually faded as Yue Zhengyu delivered his speech, leaving her looking slightly pale.


    Yue Zhengyu flapped his wings and rose up into the air above the lotus leaf.


    "I don''t think there''s any need to waste any more of everyone''s time. Xiaoyan, I love you; can we leave this place now?"Yue Zhengyu smiled and flapped his wings, flying toward Xu Xiaoyan as a streak of golden light as he spread his arms open toward him.


    Countless female outer court students began to scream from the shore. Some of them were even yelling the nickname "Angelic Prince". This was a nickname that was very much befitting of Yue Zhengyu. He hailed from a prosperous family, and he had power, as well as good looks in equal measure.


    In many people''s eyes, he was almost the perfect man.


    Lan Muzi''s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. What Yue Zhengyu was doing clearly went against the rules of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but if the two of them really did already love each other, then there was no reason for him to stop them.


    "Xiaoyan?" Yue Zhengyu looked on with a surprised expression at Xu Xiaoyan, who hadn''t willingly thrown herself into his arms as he''d expected.


    Xu Xiaoyan had her head lowered, and she murmured, "No, it''s not supposed to be like this; this isn''t what''s supposed to happen."


    Yue Zhengyu was growing quite concerned now. "What''s wrong, Xiaoyan?"


    Xu Xiaoyan suddenly raised her head, and she looked at him with disappointed tear-filled eyes. "It shouldn''t be like this. I''m sorry, Zhengyu, but I can''t accept your confession. I don''t like you when you''re like this. In fact, I really despise what you just said. I''m sorry."


    After her voice trailed off, a ball of starlight suddenly erupted from Xu Xiaoyan''s body, and she sped away through the air, leaving a trail of dazzling starlight in her wake. She landed on the shore in the blink of an eye, then ran away on foot as quickly as she could.


    This sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.


    Yue Zhengyu was the only one who had attracted the most attention in the beginning, and if Tang Wulin hadn''t taken off his mask, no one would''ve been able to steal the limelight away from him.


    Even Yue Zhengyu couldn''t understand why Xu Xiaoyan would display such a reaction to his public confession, especially when there were so many women present who were interested in him.


    Shouldn''t she be proud that he''d chosen her above everyone else?


    Yue Zhengyu was rooted to the spot. He had never felt so awkward in his entire life. He was simply unable to come to terms with this situation. He had thought that this would be the perfect confession leading to a beautiful relationship, but who would''ve thought that everything would conclude with such a farcical ending?


    He had even met Xu Xiaoyan prior to coming to the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, and he''d told her that he was going to confess his love for her during the event, announcing to everyone that they were a couple. However, never would he have thought that things would play out this way. The perfect ending that he''d envisioned didn''t eventuate. Instead of Xu Xiaoyan flying into his arms, she flew away from him, clearly in a completely distraught state.


    "You''re an idiot," Yuanen Yehui remarked, further adding insult to injury.


    Yue Zhengyu immediately flared up with rage. "Shut up! You have no right to say anything about this." After that, he flapped his wings violently and flew toward the shore. However, he was flying toward the opposite direction that Xu Xiaoyan had fled toward.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s sudden departure had dealt him an extremely heavy blow, and he had no idea what he''d done wrong. He had prepared every single detail. He had made the most lavish entrance all in the hope that she would feel like the most special woman in the world! He had done everything for her!


    But why did she suddenly run away? Could it be that she''d fallen in love with someone else?


    A series of confounding thoughts rushed through Yue Zhengyu''s mind, and he felt as if his head were about to explode. As soon as he reached the shore, he let loose a deranged roar before flapping his wings and disappearing into the night.


    This sudden turn of events left everyone completely astonished, and no one knew why this had happened. Everything had happened far too abruptly, and the situation was completely inexplicable.


    Weren''t they supposed to be a perfect match? So why had she suddenly turned her back on him right after his confession? What had happened just then?


    Tang Wulin''s looked on with tightly furrowed brows. He understood why Xu Xiaoyan had left, and only those who were truly familiar with her knew the reason for her sudden departure.


    Yuanen Yehui had undoubtedly also identified the reason, which was why she had been so scathing and blunt in her criticism of Yue Zhengyu. However, Yue Zhengyu didn''t understand the reasons behind this himself. It appeared that he was going to have to have a good chat with Yue Zhengyu following this convention.


    This interlude naturally couldn''t bring a premature end to the convention, so the proceedings continued after a few moments of stunned silence. In reality, Yue Zhengyu''s departure came as quite a relief to many of the male participants. He was simply far too eye-catching, and with him gone, many of the girls who were going to choose him would have to change targets.


    It was always a good thing to get rid of a strong competitor.


    "Perhaps there''s some kind of misunderstanding between the two of them, but I''m sure they''ll be able to iron out their differences. Alright, let''s keep going. Next up is... Boy Number 16."

 Chapter 750: My Name is Not Nervous

    Xie Xie still had his eyes fixed on the direction that Yue Zhengyu had departed toward, and his emotions were thrown into complete disarray. Xu Lizhi''s heartfelt confession had acted as a potent dose of encouragement for him, but Yue Zhengyu''s failure made him feel very uneasy. He had always known that Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan were pretty much a couple even before attending this event, so why had she suddenly turned her back on him?


    Even Yue Zhengyu had failed, what chance did he have?


    "Boy Number 16, if you don''t step forward now, we''ll take this as a sign that you''ve given up!" Lan Muzi reminded.


    "Xie Xie!" Tang Wulin''s voice suddenly sounded in Xie Xie''s ears. Only then did he abruptly return to his senses. "Huh? Were you calling me?"


    Lan Muzi turned to him with a resigned expression. "If you''re number 16, then I was indeed calling you. It''s your turn."


    Xie Xie was quite surprised that his number was drawn right after Yue Zhengyu''s, and as his lotus leaf began to drift forward, his body wobbled due to his tumultuous emotions, and he hurriedly stabilized himself again.


    At this moment, he could feel his own heart pounding at several times its normal resting rate. His face was completely flushed, and even though he''d prepared extensively for this moment, he was still filled with anxiety when the time actually came for him to make his public confession. What do I do? What do I do? What if she rejects me?


    What do I do? What do I do? What if she rejects me?


    "You may begin now," Lan Muzi urged.


    Screw it!


    Xie Xie took a deep breath, and he even had to circulate his soul power before his complexion returned to normal. He raised his head in a determined manner, casting his gaze toward the row of female participants, but as soon as he caught sight of her face, all of the courage he''d just mustered up immediately seeped away again.


    "I, I..."


    Xie Xie found himself unable to say anything else aside from that. This was the first time that such a situation had arisen during this segment.


    Tang Yinmeng smiled, and encouraged, "Don''t be so nervous, Junior Disciple Brother; surely a self-introduction can''t be more difficult than the final exam you took!"


    A wry smile appeared on Xie Xie''s face. "Perhaps it actually is more difficult for me. Like Zhengyu, I also have someone I like, but I''m even less fortunate than him because the person I like has most likely never reciprocated my feelings."


    Lan Muzi said, "Junior Disciple Brother, if I recall correctly, you''re a member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Do all members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters have hearts made of glass?"


    "Of course not!" Xie Xie objected in a vehement manner. Lan Muzi had successfully goaded an emotional response out of him by mentioning Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    "My name is not nervous!" Xie Xie blurted out, and the entire Sea God''s Lake instantly burst into laughter around him. Even the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion sitting on the boat couldn''t help but chuckle.


    Xie Xie buried his face into his hands and contemplated jumping into the Sea God''s Lake. This was way too humiliating!


    "It''s alright, just calm down and speak your mind. Lizhi could do it, so why can''t you? Don''t think about the result; keep yourself in the present and say what you need to say." Tang Wulin''s voice sounded beside Xie Xie''s ears, and he finally calmed down somewhat.


    "Please be quiet," Tang Wulin suddenly said in an indifferent voice, and he hadn''t spoken very loudly, but all of the students present, including even Lan Muzi, who was an eight-ring Soul Douluo, felt their hearts shudder upon hearing this voice.


    Everyone could detect that the voice was imbued with an overwhelming sense of authority, and the mental image of a pair of calm eyes suddenly appeared in everyone''s minds, making their hearts stir in response.


    Long Yue turned to Tang Wulin with a surprised look in his eyes. Even at his cultivation rank with his powerful martial soul, he was still struck by the urge to obey when Tang Wulin uttered those simple words.


    Thus, all of the raucous laughter died down within the span of just a few breaths.


    All of the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion sitting on the boat were also quite stunned by this turn of events.


    Zhuo Shi and Feng Wuyu exchanged a surprised glance with one another. They could obviously tell that this was Tang Wulin''s voice, but why was his voice so...


    "It''s not just a simple matter of spiritual intimidation; there seems to be something else there. How strange, it''s as if there''s some kind of unfathomable power between heaven and earth that''s resonating with him. I''ve never sensed anything like this before," Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue mused in a surprised manner, "When did a little guy like him appear in the inner court? He''s only a four-ring Soul Ancestor, but his spiritual power has at least reached the Spirit Abyss realm, and he can communicate with natural energies in such a unique manner. How interesting."


    Zhuo Shi took a moment to muster up his courage before interjecting, "Sister Yue, he''s my disciple."


    Regardless of how much seniority Long Yeyue had over them, she still insisted that they refer to her as a sister.


    Feng Wuyu also hurriedly chimed in, "He''s my disciple as well; he''s learning to forge from me."


    If Long Yeyue were to suddenly say something like "why don''t I take on another disciple?", then they would be completely devastated.


    Long Yeyue merely shot a glance at them in response. She could clearly tell what they were thinking, and she simply nodded without saying anything.


    On the surface of the lake, Xie Xie slowly removed his hands from his face and put on a wry smile as he said, "I''m sorry for losing my composure. I''m not normally like this, but I guess the occasion is really getting to me. I met you through a complete coincidence, and the first time I saw your true appearance, you almost beat me to death, and that''s not the only time that''s happened. However, it''s perhaps precisely because of this that you left a deep impression in my heart. You''re very powerful; far more so than I am, and in the past, you''ve taunted me and made no effort to hide your disdain for me. Only then, when my heart began to throb with pain, did I come to realize just how important you''d become in my heart.


    "You''re a person of few words, and you don''t speak much to me, either, but whenever anyone needs help or has encountered any difficulties you''re always the first to lend them a helping hand. Beneath that cold exterior of yours, you have a kind and warm heart. I''m no match for you, both in terms of aptitude and power, and you once said that I''ll only have the right to pursue you after I become more powerful than you. I was a pretty lazy guy, but from that moment onward, I began to work as hard as I could, not because I wanted to catch up to my friends, but because I didn''t want to be left too far behind by you. But despite all my efforts, you''re working just as hard and constantly progressing. Why won''t you stop for a bit and wait for me? Why can''t you at least give me even the slightest chance?"


    At this point, Xie Xie''s speech was finally beginning to flow, and his emotions had also returned to normal. He still wore a wry smile on his face, but his heartfelt words had completely silenced the spectating disciples who had laughed at him earlier.


    "To put it frankly, I''m not as fat as Lizhi, but I have far thicker skin than him. During these past years, I''ve confessed to you countless times, and I''m always hanging around you whenever I have some spare time, hoping that you''ll notice me and give me some attention, but you never gave me a chance. Alright, I understand; I know that I''m not worthy of having you. Perhaps I''ll never be able to become more powerful than you during this lifetime. However, what I have to tell you is that I''ve really given everything I have. I''ve trained so hard that I''ve even thrown up blood, but I still refused to stop. I''m giving everything I have every single day in the hope that I can surpass you one day.


    "Prior to stepping onto the Sea God''s Lake, my heart was still filled with hope. I thought that with this special atmosphere and with so many people watching, surely I''d have a slightly better chance, but now, I''ve completely calmed down," he finally looked up and turned toward the woman of his desires as he spoke, and he continued, "Yuanen, I''m sorry for harassing you throughout these past years, but I have to tell you that even though I''m a bit of a clown who doesn''t appear to take anything seriously, I''m serious about you. I''ve pursued you for many years, and in contrast to Lizhi, I''m not as easy to satisfy. I want to be with you, and if that''s not possible, then I''d rather leave. Perhaps my heart wouldn''t hurt as much if I didn''t have to keep seeing you every day. Hence, I''m laying myself completely bare here. If you still don''t want me, then please give me a clear rejection. After that, I won''t ever harass you again, and I''ll stay far away from you, praying that you find your true love someday."


    Yuanen? Yuanen Yehui?


    Not everyone was aware that the woman of Xie Xie''s desires was Yuanen Yehui. Everyone looked on in complete silence as Xie Xie extended a slight bow in Yuanen Yehui''s direction with a dejected expression on his face.


    Yuanen Yehui also looked on in silence as Xie Xie returned to his original spot, but her lips were tightly pursed, and she was wringing her hands behind her back. At the very least, her expression appeared to be completely stoic and emotionless, but internally, was she actually as calm as she seemed?


    Lan Muzi heaved a long sigh before giving Xie Xie a thumbs-up. "Raw and passionate confessions are always the most moving. If Zhengyu had been aware of this, perhaps... Anyway, let''s continue. Next up is..."

 Chapter 751: Ill Never Give Up

    "Please begin, Boy Number 38," Lan Muzi announced as he glanced at the number Tang Yinmeng had drawn. Boy Number 38 was someone whom Tang Wulin was familiar with. This was his former classmate, Luo Guixing


    Luo Guixing''s lotus leaf drifted to the front of the group, and he wore a warm smile as he said, "I''ve noticed that more people have made confessions today than those who''ve displayed their powers. It makes sense, considering how familiar everyone is with one another, and many of us have come to this convention already with targets in mind. Seeing as that''s the case, why don''t I add to this growing list? I''m also going to deliver a confession."


    Luo Guixing cast his gaze toward the other side of the lake and hesitated momentarily before continuing, "Firstly, I must apologize to my good friend, Xu Yucheng. My number was drawn first, and from that perspective, I''m luckier than you are today. During these past years, we''ve both been infatuated with the same woman, and we''ve always been competing with one another, but that has never affected our close bond. I still regard him as a cherished brother of mine, but there are some things that you can''t relinquish, even to your brothers. Seeing as the God of Luck has cast his blessings down on me, I must take advantage of this opportunity, and for that, I''m sorry, my brother."


    His words immediately piqued everyone''s interest. This was a love triangle that involved a pair of good friends!


    Tang Wulin reflexively cast his gaze toward Wu Siduo. If there were one person that both Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng were infatuated with, then it could only be Wu Siduo.


    Sure enough, Wu Siduo was standing on her lotus leaf with her brows slightly furrowed.


    "I''ve liked you for a long time; ever since we lost to Wulin and the others. At the time, all of us were quite young, so my feelings were rather murky, but I quickly came to learn what it meant to have a crush on someone. Back where we came from, I was always the best. After entering the Genius Youths Ranking, my confidence became even more inflated. However, only after coming did I realize that the so-called Genius Youths Ranking was nothing more than bulllsh*t. This realization spurred me on to work harder so I could constantly progress and better myself. Throughout this process, you''ve always been by my side. I was very fortunate to have been a member of class one and to have met so many powerful classmates. All of you encouraged me to push my limits and constantly pursue self-improvement. I''m even luckier to have been able to meet you. Before I know it, both of us have come of age, and here on this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, I don''t want to repress my own feelings any longer. No matter how busy we are with our current lives and cultivation, I want to be with you, Wu Siduo; please give me a chance."


    Luo Guixing''s confession was very transparent and concise without any extra frills and embellishments, but it was also very genuine and expressed his feelings for everyone to see.


    However, Wu Siduo''s brows were still furrowed, and she suddenly yelled, "I''m sorry."


    According to the rules of this convention, the female participants actually weren''t allowed to talk during this segment as this was a chance for the men to shine. However, Wu Siduo broke that rule, just as Xu Xiaoyan had, but in contrast with Xu Xiaoyan, she had given Luo Guixing an outright rejection as she didn''t want to lead him on.


    Luo Guixing was definitely an outstanding prodigy. He was an 18-year-old five-ring Soul King, as well as a one-word battle armor master. He was exceptional by all standards, even in a place like Shrek Academy. As such, she didn''t want herself to be the deterring factor that delayed him from finding his true love.


    Luo Guixing faltered upon hearing this, clearly taken aback by Wu Siduo''s direct and straightforward rejection. He shook his head in a resigned manner, and said, "Thank you for giving me such a direct answer. I wish you two all the happiness in the world."


    A wry smile appeared on his face, and in the next instant, the lotus leaf beneath his feet sank into the lake, taking him along with it.


    Luo Guixing failed?


    Tang Wulin was rather surprised to see this. In their group, Luo Guixing was the most exceptional prodigy aside from Wu Siduo. In particular, his leadership skills were even superior to those of Wu Siduo. However, who would''ve thought that he would receive such an outright rejection? Wu Siduo didn''t even hesitate in the slightest, so she clearly didn''t want to give him any chances.


    After just three more male participants had taken the state, it was Xu Yucheng''s turn.


    His lotus leaf drifted forward, and everyone had their eyes on him, wanting to see what kind of confession he was going to make.


    Much to everyone''s surprise, Xu Yucheng merely looked on at Wu Siduo, and asked, "What about me?"


    Wu Siduo sighed before shaking her head in a resolute manner.


    "Alright." A self-deprecating smile appeared on Xu Yucheng''s face, and light flashed as the lotus leaf beneath his feet shattered into countless fragments, leaving him to sink into the water just as Luo Guixing had.


    Shackler Luo Guixing and Immortal Xu Yucheng were both outstanding members of the genius class! They were not inferior to the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters by much, yet both of them had failed in their confessions to their teammate.


    Many of the outer court disciples couldn''t help but cast their eyes toward the gorgeous Wu Siduo. The rejections had clearly also taken a toll on Wu Siduo herself. Her face was slightly pale, but her lips were pursed in a thin stubborn line.


    She had rejected them without any hesitation as she knew that it wouldn''t do anyone any good for her to keep leading them on.


    "Let''s continue. Next up is..." Tang Yinmeng paused momentarily before her eyes settled on Tang Wulin, and she announced, "Number 51, please take the stage."


    The lotus leaf beneath Tang Wulin''s feet drifted forward, and his heart rate also began to accelerate. Three years; it had been over three years since they''d last seen each other.


    They had both grown up, and were no longer children.


    During those 1,000 days and 1,000 nights, I labored through one lonely day after another, and I''ve already confirmed my own feelings. During those three years, did you ever think of me? Did you refrain from switching on your light for me because you''ve already forgotten me? Even so, I''ll never give up!


    All of the female participants cast their eyes toward him, the most handsome male participant, and both girls number 18 and number 17 had also turned their attention to him.


    Dai Yun''er was so excited that she looked as if she were about to rush off her lotus leaf, and everyone else, including Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan, were also looking at him.


    Everyone was looking forward to what he had to say.


    "Due to some reasons, I left for three years. I''ve been away for over 1,000 days, and the academy has constantly been on my mind during every single one of those days. Following the sudden departure of my parents, this place has become my home. I came back today, and this also just so happens to be the day that the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention is being held. I came here without any hesitation as I was afraid that you''d pass me by, and I was even more afraid that you may have fallen in love with someone else already. Three years ago, I asked you if you only tried to get closer to me due to my bloodline. During the next three years after that, I thought about many things, and I gradually came to realize how stupid that question was.


    "I shouldn''t have asked in the first place. You told me yes, and I was heartbroken, even more so than when I discovered that I had a trash martial soul, then obtained a defective soul spirit. However, I couldn''t show this to everyone as I was the captain, so I had to put on a strong front. I led all of us to victory despite the emotional agony I was in, but I still didn''t know how to face you, nor how to face myself. Three years passed, and I thought about many many things during those 1,000 days and nights. I was able to attain enlightenment on many things that I was unable to wrap my head around in the past.


    "If you love someone, then who cares about all that? I don''t care what motives you had for approaching me; I love you, so I''m willing to accept every part of you. If you also love me, then let''s be together. If you don''t love me, then I''ll do everything in my power to change your mind, and we''ll still be together in the end. Hence, no matter what happens, I''ll never give up on my love for you! From this day forth, I''m yours, so you must take responsibility for me!"

 Chapter 752: The Dragon Spear Goddess Unveiled

    The lotus leaf slowly drifted back, and Tang Wulin returned to his original spot.


    Who was he referring to? This was the question in almost everyone''s minds. Many of the female participants were quite disappointed as he clearly wasn''t talking about them.


    Dai Yun''er''s smile had completely stiffened, and Wu Siduo''s face had paled even further. Girl Number 18 remained completely still, as did Girl Number 17, but if one were to look closely, they would see ripples running through the water around the lotus leaf beneath her feet.


    Dai Yun''er pursed her lips, and her face paled as she realized that Tang Wulin still only had eyes for a single woman. As Tang Wulin was delivering his confession, she felt as if her heart had been punctured by something, and the agony was so intense that she was struggling to breathe.


    It had been over three years since they''d parted with one another. She was initially completely heartbroken following his disappearance, but she''d received news about him not long ago, and her grief was transformed into elation. However, her joy had since turned into a sinking feeling in her stomach after hearing his confession, and she felt as if her heart were being torn out of her chest.


    However, during the past three years, she''d grown up, and she''d become a lot more mature. Perhaps it really was true that pain and adversity were the best catalysts for growth. She learned to be strong, to be resilient, and to never give up.


    No, I won''t give up, no matter what!


    A stubborn and resolute expression gradually appeared on Dai Yun''er''s pale face. She''d waited for so long and endured so much before finally being reunited with him; she couldn''t just give up here!


    Happiness was something one had to strive for. Regardless of how much he loved that woman, more than three years had passed, and in the end, she was going to be the one who won his heart.


    With that in mind, Dai Yun''er took a deep breath to try and calm herself down so she could fight for her love in her best possible condition.


    Wu Siduo stared blankly at Tang Wulin. Back when she had rejected Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng, her heart had been throbbing with pain.


    The three of them had known one another for so long, and this wasn''t the result that she wanted. However, she knew what she wanted, and she couldn''t lie to herself. She knew that the man she wanted had never even seemed to consider her as a love interest, but she still had to fight.


    She had always been a perfectionist, and she always had to have the best of everything, which translated directly into her pursuit to be the most powerful being there is. She was Hell Wu Siduo, a prodigy with twin martial souls and a self-soul fusion skill. If there were one man who was worthy of her among all of the men that she knew, then it had to be him.


    He was handsome, wise, hard-working, and supremely talented. She had been drawn to his handsome looks the first time she''d seen him, but as time passed, she gradually became drawn to him as a person. He was able to defeat her over and over again under the unlikeliest of circumstances, and she gradually began to develop feelings for him without even realizing it herself. She didn''t even know when she''d fallen in love with him, but she had always been paying attention to him, all the way until he disappeared.


    After being close friends with Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng for so many years, how could she be unaware of their feelings? In particular, during the period of time where Tang Wulin had disappeared, she had once tried to accept one of them, but she found herself unable to do so. At the very least she was unable to accept either one of them now as her heart was filled with the image of him.


    Perhaps he''ll come back someday. It was exactly this lingering hope in her heart that spurred her on to continue working hard in her cultivation. After the new generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was decided, she became the class president of the genius class. She cultivated with all her might in the hope that she''d be able to catch up to him one day. If he were to come back, she had to at least be on equal footing as him.


    And now, he really had come back, and he''d made his return during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. Unbeknownst to him, she had prepared herself to let go of her crush and accept a new relationship during this match-making convention, but his return had her at a complete loss for what to do.


    However, during this brief period of time, she made her decision. She had to make an attempt no matter what. She knew that her chances of success were quite slim, but she had to at least try. Otherwise, how could she leave this match-making convention with no regrets?


    She had always been extremely decisive, and after making a decision, she wouldn''t give up on it easily. She knew that her actions could lead her to miss out on the most important person in her life, but she was still determined to make one final roll of the dice. Even if she were merely a moth rushing toward a flame, she had to do this. Otherwise, thoughts of what could''ve been would plague her for the rest of her life.


    The Love at Second Sight segment continued, and all of the remaining male participants displayed their powers and confessed their love. Soon, the eventful third segment concluded, and thankfully, the second half wasn''t plagued with frequent interludes as the first half of the segment had been.


    Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng exchanged a glance, and the latter said, "At this stage, we are already past the halfway mark of this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. However, what I must tell you all is that the most exciting segment is just beginning. All male participants, you can pray to your lucky stars now as this upcoming fourth segment will decide whether you''ll have a chance to court the woman of your dreams."


    Lan Muzi nodded, and continued from where Tang Yinmeng had left off. "That''s right, we are about to commence the most exhilarating fourth segment of this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. According to statistics gathered from past editions of the event, at least 70% of all of the matches will be made during this segment. As such, I must remind all of our celestial maidens to choose wisely as your decisions are final. Look deep into your hearts, and don''t do anything that you''ll regret in the future."


    All of the women adopted serious expressions upon hearing this.


    Lan Muzi glanced at girls number 17 and 18, who were still wearing their veils, and he said, "At this point in time, we have two of our celestial maidens who are still wearing their veils. Would you like to remove your veils now? If you turn down this opportunity, then you''ll have no further opportunities to remove your veils, so make sure to choose wisely. Due to the fact that you two have been able to protect your veils for so long, if you choose to remove your veils now, you two will be given priority during the fourth segment, Affinity Spanning Three Lives. I will give you one minute to consider."


    "I''ll take off my veil," a heavenly voice rang out across the entire Sea God''s Lake. The one who had spoken was none other than Girl Number 18.


    She raised a hand to remove her veiled bamboo hat, revealing a set of breathtakingly beautiful features.


    Her long silver hair spilled down her back like a luscious waterfall, and her large purple eyes were like shimmering amethysts. Even the lights of the moon and the stars seemed to have paled in the face of her stunning beauty.


    All of the lights on the Sea God''s Lake seemed to have become her backdrop, and everyone instantly focused their eyes on her.


    "It''s the Dragon Spear Goddess!" someone suddenly exclaimed, and their cry of surprise was instantly echoed by countless spectators on the shore.


    Even the inner court male disciples on the Sea God''s Lake were appraising her with scorching looks in their eyes.


    It had always been rumored that the Dragon Spear Goddess was going to be participating in the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but that was yet to be officially confirmed. At this moment, the Dragon Spear Goddess chose to unveil herself, and everyone''s first impression was that she was most definitely Shrek''s number one beauty.


    The likes of Wu Siduo, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui were already very beautiful, but their beauty still paled slightly compared to hers.

 Chapter 753: The Goddess Choice

    The Dragon Spear Goddess didn''t just possess a beautiful outward appearance. Instead, her beauty stemmed from her looks, her disposition, and those gentle eyes that were rippling like water. If she had to be described using one word, then "flawless" would be the most apt description.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon seeing her, and even he had been momentarily stunned by her beauty. With all of the lights around her complementing her stunning beauty, she really did look like a goddess who had descended from the divine realm. She wore a wide smile on her face, and she stuck out her tongue at Tang Wulin in a cheeky manner.


    For a normal person, it would be quite difficult to ascertain one''s facial expression from 100 meters away, but for Tang Wulin, her cheeky display was as clear as day.


    Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were also momentarily stunned before the latter said, "Junior Disciple Sister Na''er, I thought the rumors being spread were nothing more than baseless rumors, but you really did come! You haven''t even turned 18 yet!"


    Na''er smiled, and replied, "According to the laws of the Douluo Continent, adulthood begins as 16 years of age, so why can''t I come here? I''ve received special permission from the teachers for this."


    Tang Yinmeng chuckled, "Alright, your presence certainly makes this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention a lot more exciting than it already is, Na''er. Are you really going to choose someone though? You have to consider carefully."


    Na''er nodded in response without any hesitation, and a stunned look immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he cast his gaze around him in an enraged manner.


    Who was it? Who had Na''er set her sights on? She was his precious little sister!


    A vicious look appeared on his face as he looked around him, but no one paid any heed to his probing gaze. Even Dragon King Long Yue had been completely drawn to the stunning Na''er, so all of the male participants were far too busy looking at her to pay any attention to Tang Wulin.


    Na''er''s presence immediately made the other female disciples present pale in comparison, and frustrated expressions had already appeared on some of their faces. With Na''er present, the entire dynamic of the match-making convention was completley different now.


    Lan Muzi continued, "In order to make things fair for all of the other celestial maidens, we''ll get Junior Disciple Sister Na''er to choose the man of her desires first in this fourth segment. We all really want to know which lucky man has caught your eye."


    All of the female participants heaved faint sighs of relief upon hearing this, while their male counterparts immediately became quite nervous. Over 90% of them puffed out their chests in an instant. If one of them could be chosen by the Dragon Spear Goddess, then that would be the most fortunate thing to have ever happened to them!


    In contrast, all of the female participants were quite relieved as after she made her choice, all of the other male participants would give up on her, so the impact of her participation in this event would be reduced to a minimum.


    Na''er nodded, and agree, "Alright, then I''ll go first."


    Lan Muzi made a hand gesture for her to proceed. "We''ll invite Junior Disciple Sister Na''er to approach the man of her desires. I''m sure the heart rates of all of our male participants have already spiked through the roof!"


    Na''er smiled, and silver light flashed from her body as the lotus leaf beneath her feet drifted forward, taking her toward the male participants up ahead.


    Tang Wulin could clearly hear the breathing of the male participants around him accelerating at a rapid rate. It was undoubtedly the case that all of the men were in a state of extreme excitement and anticipation.


    The lotus leaf drifted closer and closer, and Na''er wore a faint smile on her face the entire time. As she drew closer, the effect that her breathtaking features had on the inner court male disciples became even more pronounced, and all of them were completely entranced. If a man could make her his wife, then they''d have nothing else to wish for!


    Choose me! Choose me! Almost all of them were screaming internally.


    She''s coming closer!


    100 meters, 80 meters, 50 meters, 30 meters...


    At this point, all of the male participants were drawing short and sharp breaths. One man was unable to hold back any longer, and he released his martial soul as a series of soul rings emerged beneath his feet as a display of his powers. Immediately thereafter, over half of all of the male participants summoned their soul rings, putting on a dazzling display over the surface of the Sea God''s Lake.


    On the boat.


    "Does Na''er really have someone she likes?" Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue asked in a surprised manner as she turned to the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, Yun Ming.


    Yun Ming was also quite taken aback by all of this. "I''ve never heard her say anything about this! She sure hid it quite well. I don''t see anyone here who''s worthy of my disciple, though."


    Long Yeyue chuckled, "Are you unwilling to let her go? When a girl comes of age, it''s inevitable that she''ll marry herself off. Then again, it really is a little early; can''t she at least wait until she turns 18?"


    Yun Ming''s brows were slightly furrowed. In his heart, Na''er was like a daughter to him. The fact that she had set her sights on a man had him feeling both shocked and also rather indignant.


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali gently squeezed his hand and smiled as she whispered to him, "Na''er is a very smart girl, so the man she''s fallen for must be very special. Let''s just watch and let her make her decision."


    10 meters! She was only 10 meters away, and the male participant who was situated closest to Na''er already had his eyes opened wide with excitement.


    The feeling of watching such a breathtaking celestial maiden slowly drifting toward him was far too stimulating.


    Tang Wulin had killing intent pouring out of his eyes, and his fists were tightly clenched as he glowered at that man. If Na''er wanted to be with him, then he was going to immediately challenge that man to a battle. If he couldn''t even beat him, then how was he going to protect Na''er? It was said that direct challenges were allowed during the final segment of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, so whomever Na''er chose would have to face him in battle!


    Right at this moment, the lotus leaf beneath Na''er''s feet suddenly changed directions, circling around in a graceful arc before drifting toward Tang Wulin''s direction.


    No, to put it more accurately, she was drifting toward Long Yue''s direction.


    Long Yue shuddered upon seeing this. He had never paid too much attention to members of the opposite sex, and even though he''d chosen Dai Yun''er, that was only because in his heart, only a woman of Dai Yun''er''s beauty and status was a match for him.


    However, Na''er outstripped Dai Yun''er and all of the other female participants in both appearance and disposition, and the sight of her slowly approaching him was making his heart thump in an erratic arrhythmic manner. He was suddenly struck by the feeling that this was love at first sight. He had never had a girlfriend in his entire life; could it be that he''d been waiting for this moment this entire time?


    Just as these thoughts were racing through his mind, Na''er continued to draw closer and closer to him.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes widened with alarm.


    No, Na''er, you can''t choose him! He''s from the Star Luo Empire! He...


    Tang Wulin wanted nothing more than to strangle Long Yue to death.


    All of the outer court disciples on the shore had already erupted into a frenzy. It would be an unacceptable outcome if their Dragon Spear Goddess were to choose an exchange student from the Star Luo Empire as her partner.


    The lotus leaf beneath Na''ers'' feet decelerated a little, and she glanced at Tang Wulin to find him staring at her with wide eyes while his hands were clenched into tight fists. She then looked at Long Yue''s scorching gaze, and she couldn''t help but cover her mouth as she burst into laughter.


    Silver light flashed, the lotus leaf sped up again. Around three meters away from Long Yue, it swerved away in a graceful manner again before arriving beside Tang Wulin. Her lotus leaf came into contact with Tang Wulin''s lotus leaf, and she raised her head before sticking her tongue out at him in a cheeky manner.


    Long Yue was rooted to the spot, all of the male participants were rooted to the spot, and Tang Wulin himself was also rooted to the spot.


    All of the commotion from the shore instantly died down at this moment.

 Chapter 754: Whyre You Crying, You Good-for-nothing?

    Yun Ming focused his gaze up ahead as he sat on the boat, and he suddenly heaved a sigh of relief.


    At the very least, his precious disciple hadn''t chosen that man from the Star Luo Empire. The one that she had chosen was... Tang Wulin?


    This name appeared in everyone''s minds in an instant, and following a brief silence, the spectators on the shore broke out into an even louder commotion. All of the male participants were glowering at him, doing their best to try and kill him with their eyes.


    Among the female participants, Wu Siduo''s expression immediately stiffened, and Dai Yun''er''s mouth gaped open before her brows became tightly furrowed.


    Girl Number 17, who was still wearing her veil, shuddered, but she quickly recovered her composure. During the one minute timeframe she''d been given to remove her veil, she had refrained from doing so, so she was the only one who still hadn''t taken off her veil.


    After a brief stunned stupor, Tang Wulin came to his senses, and he didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry. This little sister of his was trying to get him killed!


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ruffle her hair at the sight of her cheeky smile. "You little rascal."


    "Heehee," Na''er giggled as she stuck out her tongue at him.


    His eyes were filled with doting affection, while her smile was filled with bliss. Their interaction was a horrendous act of dog abuse! [Once again, for those who''ve forgotten, in Chinese pop culture, there''s a jokingly derogatory term for single people, which is µ¥Éí¹·, which literally translates to single dog. Any public displays of affection in front of single people is therefore jokingly referred to as dog abuse as it''s basically couples flaunting their love and happiness in front of single people.] The soul rings beneath the feet of the inner court male disciples began to glow even brighter. If it weren''t for the fact that all of the Sea God''s Pavilion elders were present on that boat in the distance, they''d most likely have mobbed Tang Wulin already.


    Tang Wulin whispered, "Causing trouble for fun, are we?"


    Na''er pouted in response. "How am I causing trouble? Can''t I choose you? Or do you want me to choose someone else?"


    Tang Wulin harrumphed, "I''ll get you for this after the convention, you little rascal!"


    Yun Ming wore a surprised expression as he sat on the boat. "She chose Tang Wulin? Aren''t they brother and sister?"


    Not many people were aware that Tang Wulin and Na''er were siblings, but he was one of them. Holy Spirit Douluo Yali interjected, "I once asked Na''er about this, and it seems that they''re not actually related by blood. I think they make a good match. Only Wulin is a match for Na''er in my eyes."


    "Hmph!" Yun Ming harrumphed coldly, and he was appraising Tang Wulin with the expression of a displeased father-in-law.


    Yali liked Tang Wulin a lot. He was kind and brave, and his outstanding performance on that soul train that had been held up by terrorists left her with a glowing impression of him.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already recovered from his stunned stupor, and he turned to Long Yue, who was glowering at him, and he pursed his lips as he said, "Don''t even think about it; you don''t have a chance here. Even if she''d chosen you, there''s no way I''d agree."


    A ferocious light flashed through Long Yue''s eyes. "I''ve heard that the final segment of this match-making convention is a challenge segment; I look forward to seeing how many challenges you can endure."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before chuckling, "I guess you''ll find out soon."


    In his eyes, Na''er had only attended this convention as a prank, and she''d chosen him for fun, so he didn''t take this seriously at all. In any case, he was quite relieved that Na''er hadn''t chosen anyone else.


    He cast his gaze toward the distance, focusing his attention on the only woman who hadn''t removed her veil. Even though she still hadn''t revealed her features, many people had already deduced her identity. After all, she was one of the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. In fact, she was their true leader!


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Her refusal to remove her veil was a clear indication of her attitude.


    His eyes glazed over slightly as this realization dawned on him. Could it be that his Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was destined to be a final conclusion rather than a new beginning? He didn''t want to accept this result!


    At this moment, Lan Muzi continued, "Who would''ve thought that Junior Disciple Na''er would choose Wulin? You''re a lucky man, Wulin!"


    Tang Yinmeng smiled, and said, "Alright, let''s continue with our current segment. From here onward, we''ll be drawing numbers. At the same time, prior to making your choices, all of the female participants can state a question or a request for the man of their desires, then make their decisions based on the responses. Did you forget about this detail, Junior Disciple Sister Na''er?"


    Na''er merely waved a hand, and smiled as she said, "I don''t need to ask him anything. There''s no one in this world who knows him better than I do."


    Thus, the horrendous dog abuse continued. All of the single dogs immediately filled their rage meters in a split second. Even for a man as calm and steadfast as Tang Wulin, he was still growing rather anxious at the sight of the countless pairs of antagonistic eyes directed toward him.


    Is this little rascal trying to get her big brother killed?


    "Alright, then let''s move on to the next one. The first female participant that we''ve drawn is... Junior Disciple Sister Ye Xinglan."


    Ye Xinglan had been appraising everything in silence, and she couldn''t help but furrow her brows slightly at the sight of Na''er choosing Tang Wulin. As a close friend and teammate of Tang Wulin''s, she was naturally aware that they were siblings, so she had to be doing this to scare off all of the other women with their eyes set on him! But Gu Yue was also aware of their relationship, and Ye Xinglan was very curious about what Gu Yue was thinking at this moment.


    Just as these thoughts were circulating through her mind, she was startled to find that her name had been called. After a brief stunned stupor, she activated her soul power, and the lotus leaf beneath her feet drifted forward.


    "Junior Disciple Sister Ye Xinglan, you can choose the man of your desires now, and state any question or request you have for him."


    Ye Xinglan''s eyes were slightly glazed over. Among all of the male participants, the fattest of them all had his chin buried deep into his chest, and his body was trembling ever so slightly. He didn''t dare to watch.


    He had actually been in this state ever since he''d delivered his confession. His heart was filled with fear, and he was petrified that after what he''d said, he wouldn''t even be able to be friends with her anymore.


    However, he still confessed in the end as he didn''t know whether he''d be able to muster up his courage again to deliver this confession in the future. He knew that there were many people who liked Ye Xinglan. She had immense power and had beauty to match. She was one of the most outstanding inner court female disciples.


    They were all 18 years old at this point, and he was really afraid that she would fall in love with someone else before he made his feelings known to her.


    She was also looking at him, and in her memories, he was always this chubby little boy who was constantly following her around. He was a little snot-nosed boy who was always calling her Sister Xinglan.


    He was also the rotund companion who was always with her, and he remained firmly by her side through thick and thin.


    She was used to having him by her side, and she was accustomed to seeing his bashful smile, as well as eating all of the steamed buns that he made.


    "Junior Disciple Sister Xinglan, do you have a question to ask? Your question can be directed toward one or more male participants, and you can make your decision after hearing their responses," Tang Yinmeng reminded.


    Ye Xinglan gently shook her head. "I have no questions."


    "Then please make your choice."


    Her lotus leaf sped up, and specks of starlight revolved around her body. Her lotus leaf was traveling far faster than Na''er''s had, and she''d arrived among the male participants in the blink of an eye.


    She wasn''t as beautiful as Na''er, but she was still one of the brightest jewels of the inner court, and all of the male participants looked on with bated breath.


    Xu Lizhi reflexively raised his head, wanting to see just who the woman that he''d crushed on for so long was going to choose.


    He was then greeted by the sight of her quickly drifting toward him. Her expression remained quite calm, but there seemed to be some emotions shimmering with her eyes.


    Is she... going to choose someone beside me?


    Tears began to well up in Xu Lizhi''s eyes as this thought occurred to him.


    Is she finally going to leave me after all? He had always known that this day would come, but he discovered that he was still unable to accept this.


    "Why''re you crying, you good-for-nothing?" A slender hand reached over and gently wiped away the tears flowing down his face.


    "I don''t want to let you go?" Xu Lizhi broke down into loud sobs. In that instant, he was truly on the verge of complete emotional breakdown.


    Even as the tears were being wiped away, more and more of them flowed from his eyes to take their place.


    "You don''t have to let me go, dummy; I''m right beside you, aren''t I? Are you crying because you don''t want to let go of all your flabs? I think you promised that you were willing to lose weight for me." Ye Xinglan didn''t know whether she should laugh or cry as she appraised the sobbing fatty before her.


    "Huh?" Xu Lizhi was suddenly rooted to the spot, and his tears suddenly ceased as if the floodgates had abruptly swung shut. He stared at Ye Xinglan in a flabbergasted manner before rubbing his eyes in a vehement manner.

 Chapter 755: Youre Not Just Passing by, Are You?

    She was standing right beside him, and her lotus leaf was right next to his. There was no one else in the immediate vicinity aside from the two of them.


    "You, you''re not just passing by, are you?" After blurting out that question, even Xu Lizhi was struck by the urge to slap himself.


    Ye Xinglan raised a hand and pinched his cheek before twisting it. "Do you want to die?"


    Xu Lizhi''s mouth was hanging open as he urged, "Pinch a little harder; I think I''m feeling some pain. If it hurts, then I''m not dreaming, right? I''ve been dreaming every day for the past few days that you''d choose me during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention."


    "Are you an idiot?"


    "Ow, that really hurts! Haha, it hurts so much, haha!" Xu Lizhi suddenly burst into excited laughter before abruptly jumping up into the air.


    "Splash!"


    What did it mean for extreme elation to breed sorrow? One only had to turn to Xu Lizhi for the definition of that phrase. After jumping up into the air, he forgot to control his own body, and following a heavy landing, the lotus leaf below him shattered. After that...


    Water from the lake splashed all over Ye Xinglan, and he was completely rooted to the spot. What the hell was going on?


    Xu Lizhi''s body floated to the surface amid a loud splash, and he immediately spluttered, "No! I didn''t mean to do that! I''m not withdrawing from the convention! It was an accident! Sister Xinglan, it was an accident, I..."


    Xu Lizhi was distressed to the point of tears. After being soaked in the cold water of the lake, he''d already returned to his senses, but according to the rules of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, anyone who fell into the water would be barred from participating in the rest of the event.


    Ye Xinglan glared at his horrified expression, and scolded, "Stop embarrassing me, you stupid fatty! Let''s get out of here!" She leaned down and grabbed onto Xu Lizhi''s arm, then hurled him through the air, following which she flew through the air as a streak of starlight that quickly caught up to him. In the next instant, the two of them had already crossed the river and landed on the other side.


    Everyone looked on in a completely flabbergasted manner, from the moment Ye Xinglan chose Xu Lizhi without any hesitation to the instant that the two of them fled across the lake.


    Such a scenario had almost never taken place during the past editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. Just how much self-pity did Xu Lizhi have to be wallowing in to have almost turned ecstasy into tragedy? However, it was undoubtedly the case that his raw and heartfelt confession had been a success.


    He had finally gotten the woman of his dreams, and she''d willingly come to his side.


    At this moment, Xie Xie''s eyes were filled with envy, and even a hint of jealousy. Both he had Yue Zhengyu had always been aware that Xu Lizhi had a crush on Ye Xinglan, but neither of them had thought that she would actually agree.


    In that instant, he finally also understood why Yue Zhengyu had failed when he was perfectly set up for success, while Xu Lizhi like succeeded against all odds.


    True and genuine emotions were the key here. It was the key to unlocking all barriers and obstacles.


    Xu Lizhi had succeeded; would he be so lucky as well?


    He reflexively cast his gaze toward the red-haired figure on the other side of the lake.


    Even Lizhi succeeded, so why can''t I?


    Lan Muzi couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "The process was quite a tumultuous one, but I have to say that the outcome was beautiful to behold. Let''s all congratulate Junior Disciple Brother Xu Lizhi and Junior Disciple Sister Ye Xinglan, and offer them our sincerest blessings."


    Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi had essentially withdrawn from the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. As such they weren''t going to participate in the final segment, so no one could even issue any challenges to them. As such, they had undoubtedly succeeded.


    Tang Wulin was genuinely happy for Xu Lizhi. The two of them shared an extremely close bond, and he could tell that Xu Lizhi had feelings for Ye Xinglan. As such, he was extremely glad that Ye Xinglan had been willing to accept Xu Lizhi.


    Yue Zhengyu had failed, while Xu Lizhi had succeeded; what was going to become of himself? Was he going to succeed?


    He certainly wasn''t the only male participant who was feeling quite anxious, and Xu Lizhi''s success had undoubtedly fanned the flames of hope in all of their hearts.


    "The next one to be drawn is Xu Mi''er."


    Xu Mi''er wasn''t exactly a stunning beauty, but she had a special type of disposition or in other words, a unique presence, the type that immediately made most men shy away from her.


    She was cold and volatile, like a volcano that could erupt at any moment. Perhaps this had something to do with the soul tools that she held so dear to her heart.


    The lotus leaf beneath Xu Mi''er''s feet slowly drifted forward.


    "Mi''er, hurry up and show me who you''re going to choose," Tang Yinmeng couldn''t help but chuckle.


    She and Xu Mi''er were very good friends. Xu Mi''er was slightly younger than her, but it certainly wasn''t her first time participating in the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. It was just that she was too aggressive and overbearing, thereby leading to her failure to find a suitable partner throughout all of the past editions of the event she''d attended.


    Xu Mi''er rolled her eyes at Tang Yinmeng before casting her gaze toward all of the male participants.


    "Anyone who thinks they can beat me, come fight me!" This was her request.


    The male camp remained completely silent!


    Xu Mi''er pursed her lips with disdain. "You''re all a bunch of cowards! I knew no one would be a match for me."


    Peculiar expressions appeared on the faces of all of the inner court male disciples present upon hearing this.


    It wasn''t the case that there were no powerful beings among the male disciples of the inner court. For example, Lan Muzi was very powerful, and he was widely renowned as the most powerful disciple of the inner court. Aside from him, there was no lack of powerful male disciples. However, those male disciples naturally attracted a lot of attention from the opposite sex, so all of them already had partners, which meant they wouldn''t be participating in this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.


    Even after participating in many editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, Xu Mi''er had failed to find a match for herself, but as time had passed, she was growing more powerful at a rapid rate! The more powerful she became, the more difficult it was to find a match for herself. Throw her overbearing personality into the mix, and it was no wonder that she couldn''t find herself a man.


    As such, the insult she''d just delivered was nothing more than a way for her to vent her frustrations. This was always the case for female disciples; if they couldn''t find a suitable partner for themselves during their first two editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, then it would be very difficult for them to find a match unless they encountered special circumstances or were extremely lucky,


    In the world of Soul Masters, there was no dogmatic convention stating that one had to marry someone from within their own social class, but there couldn''t be too much of a disparity in power between bride and groom. In particular, when female Soul Masters searched for mates, they always hoped that the man would be more powerful than them. This was why Yuanen Yehui had always stipulated that Xie Xie only had the right to pursue her after he became more powerful than her; the same logic still applied.


    As such, Xu Mi''er also knew that she wouldn''t be able to find someone suitable for herself. None of the male participants caught her fancy anyway; they were either too young or not powerful enough in her eyes. She didn''t want to succumb to societal pressures and be forced to pick a mediocre man for herself. Of course, this was only her opinion; there were no actual mediocre men in the inner court of Shrek Academy.


    After giving the male participants a disdainful spray, her lotus leaf began to drift back toward its original spot.


    "Hold on!" right at this moment, a deep voice sounded, "Who says all of us men are cowards? At the very least, I''m not a coward!"


    Xu Mi''er turned around with a surprised look on her face. She didn''t think that someone would actually have the courage to accept her challenge. After all, she''d issued the same challenge during all of the past editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention that she''d attended, all to no avail.


    A burly figure drifted toward the center of the Sea God''s Lake atop his lotus leaf. Peculiar expressions appeared on everyone''s face at the sight of him. This man was none other than Dragon King Long Yue of the Star Luo Empire, who had just copped a cannon blast from Xu Mi''er earlier.


    Long Yue had an extremely strong and unyielding personality, so he definitely couldn''t just allow a woman to call him a coward. He had always been of the opinion that he was the most masculine and manliest man there was.


    Xu Mi''er raised an eyebrow upon seeing him. "Don''t think that you have the power to match me just because you blocked an attack from my handheld cannon, outsider. During a battle, I don''t hold back for anyone."


    Long Yue raised his head in a proud manner. "And what if you lose?"


    Xu Mi''er gave a disdainful harrumph. "If I lose, then I''ll choose you."


    Long Yue pursed his lips. "Even if you chose me, I might not return the favor."


    An enraged look appeared on Xu Mi''er''s face. "Why are you wasting so much time with words? Are you going to fight me or what? If you beat me, I''ll choose you even if you don''t choose me. If you lose, hmph!"

 Chapter 756: Long Yue VS Xu Mier

    Long Yue smiled, and said, "Alright, then let''s do this. Let''s rise up into the air first." He abruptly hovered upward as he spoke, and during the process, his body began to rapidly expand while a series of dazzling soul rings emerged from beneath his feet.


    Xu Mi''er wasn''t backing down in the slightest as she also rose up into the air.


    All of the male and female participants were struck by a farcical feeling upon seeing this. Were these two really here for the match-making convention? Why did it feel like they were sworn enemies settling their differences instead? The final segment hadn''t even begun, and they were already fighting one another!


    Long Yue''s soul ring configuration was extremely astonishing as most of them were black, and they almost blended into the night sky had it not been for the faint light emanating from them. As his entire body began to swell in size, his aura was also climbing at a rapid rate.


    Tang Wulin stood on the surface of the lake down below, and he was quite stunned by the soul power fluctuations emanating from Long Yue''s body. He had become even more powerful than he''d been over three years ago. At present, he was 24 years old at most, and it was truly astonishing that he''d managed to become so immensely powerful at such a young age.


    Long Yue''s body quickly swelled to 10 meters tall, and an aura of unmatched power was proliferating from his entire body. Thick and heavy earthy yellow scales began to appear all over his skin, and a massive tail also began to elongate from behind him. His mountainous aura was extremely intimidating, even in mid-air.


    On the boat.


    Yun Ming nodded, and mused, "That should be the Mountain Dragon King martial soul. I can sense an extremely powerful bloodline aura coming from it. Due to the abundance of indigenous inhabitants in the Star Luo Empire, the bloodline powers of their people are predominantly superior to those of Soul Masters on Douluo Continent. There are very few Soul Masters capable of activating the powers imbued within their bloodlines on our side. However, the issue plaguing him is very apparent, which is that due to his immense bloodline powers, the synergy between his spiritual power and his martial soul is rather lackluster. Compared to other Soul Masters of his cultivation rank, he''d most likely have inferior control over his own power. Even so, it''s quite extraordinary that this Long Yue was able to reach such a high cultivation rank at such a young age. He would''ve indeed been the most powerful Soul Master to have competed in the Continental Young Elites Tournaments over three years ago. You made a very correct judgment call, Mei''er."


    Elder Cai turned to Yun Ming and gave him a slight nod. Following the return of the Shrek Academy team, she had insisted on getting Gu Yue and the others to become Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Whether Tang Wulin and the others were powerful or not was quite apparent from the caliber of the opponents they''d defeated. The more powerful Long Yue was, the greater the testament to the abilities of Tang Wulin and the others as they''d managed to defeat Long Yue''s team.


    "This Long Yue is indeed progressing very quickly, but there''s a flaw in his martial soul; he loses control if he fights at his full strength, and in worst-case scenarios, he could even be driven insane in battle. He came here as an exchange student on this occasion as he hopes to be able to find a solution to this problem here," Elder Cai said.


    Yun Ming nodded in response. "It''s not that easy to bear the bloodline and martial soul of one of the nine dragon kings. I''ll see if we can help him in some way."


    At this moment, Long Yue and Xu Mi''er had both already risen up into the air. In contrast with Long Yue, Xu Mi''er''s body hadn''t expanded by much, but an inky-black mecha had appeared behind her.


    Due to the completely black color scheme of the mecha, it would''ve been quite easy for everyone to lose sight of its existence in the night sky had it not been for the lights radiating from the Sea God''s Lake down below.


    Even Long Yue''s eyelids twitched involuntarily at the sight of this mecha. Just how violent was this woman for her to make a mecha like this!


    Xu Mi''er''s black mecha did indeed possess a very harrowing appearance. It was around 10 meters tall, and that was already considered to be quite enormous for black mechas.


    Generally speaking, the more power the mecha, the smaller it was as this allowed for increased agility, and the mecha would also be carrying sufficient energy sources to power itself.


    Furthermore, this black mecha appearance was also quite unique in that even though it was around 10 meters tall, it still appeared to be very bulky and was not slim nor streamlined in the slightest.


    On each of the two shoulders of the mecha were two soul cannons in excess of a 200 millimeter caliber. Aside from that, there was a series of massive soul cannons situated on every part of its body, including its limbs, its torso, and even on its back. What was even more terrifying was that there was a series of relatively smaller jet-burners running along its arms.


    As the undisputed number one prodigy of Monster Academy, Long Yue was obviously immediately able to identify those jet-burners as soul missiles!


    Soul missiles had been the most fearsome soul tools in existence even 10,000 years ago, and following the passage of these past 10,000 years, soul missiles had already developed into weapons of mass destruction. They were not permitted to appear in public, and even in the military, they were kept under strict control.


    However, Shrek Academy was undoubtedly an exception to this. It was extremely commonplace to see soul missiles here as they were being used for research purposes. However, Long Yue was currently battling someone with soul missiles at their disposal.


    Long Yue didn''t doubt even for a single second that these jet-burners were loaded as he could already see the tips of the missiles within them.


    This wasn''t a mecha anymore; it was a weapon of slaughter! It most likely required a vast amount of expenditure just to power this thing, and that wasn''t even taking into account the costs required to purchase those soul missiles and to construct this mecha itself. If those costs were included, then the production cost for this mecha would most likely be comparable to three times that of a normal black mecha.


    This woman had such apparent and strong violent tendencies that even Long Yue felt a chill running down his spine.


    Xu Mi''er made a hand gesture toward him in a disdainful manner, following which her body flashed, and she instantly fused as one with her black mecha as a streak of light.


    Xu Mi''er was also a seven-ring Soul Sage, but she was only a one-word battle armor master. This was because she spent the vast majority of her time and effort researching and improving her mecha. She had a full-blown obsession with all types of soul tools, and whenever she encountered a powerful soul tool that caught her eye, she would do everything she could to install it onto her black mecha.


    A grim expression appeared on Long Yue''s face, and he made a grabbing motion with his right hand, summoning a heavy long spear amid a flash of yellow light. The fact that he was summoning his weapon right away indicated that he was taking this battle very seriously.


    "Look out now." Xu Mi''er''s cold words rang out in the form of an electronic voice. Immediately thereafter, the black mecha sprang into action.


    It didn''t appear to have done anything other than raise its hand, and a burst of powerful light was sent hurtling directly toward Long Yue.


    Long Yue had always fought fire with fire during battles, so he swung his spear through the air to send forth a burst of powerful yellow light.


    "Boom!" A violent explosion erupted in mid-air, sending countless streaks of light erupting toward all directions. All of the outer court disciples down below looked on with awestruck and entranced expressions.


    Long Yue stood motionlessly in mid-air like an immovable mountain. However, the black mecha began to move like lightning. The entire mecha swayed gently, striking onlookers with an illusionary sensation, immediately following which streaks of light shot forth from the mecha toward Long Yue in a relentless barrage.


    Long Yue wielded his spear to defend himself against the torrential downpour of soul cannon blasts and soul lasers. In the air above, loud rumbling booms rang out like explosive thunderclaps as one burst of light exploded on Long Yue''s body after another.


    Long Yue''s first soul ring had already lit up, indicating that he''d unleashed his Mountains and Rivers soul skill that made his body as stalwart as a mountain. Meanwhile, his spear had been imbued with the Flowing Water soul skill, sending massive waves of water crashing relentlessly toward the black mecha.


    However, the black mecha was able to display startling agility that completely belied its bulky frame, and it was able to complete all types of evasive maneuvers under Xu Mi''er''s expert control. As such, only her attacks were able to strike Long Yue, but Long Yue wasn''t even able to touch her black mecha.


    Long Yue couldn''t help but internally praise her exemplary mecha manipulation techniques. At the same time, a wry smile appeared on his face as he was certainly not having a good time withstanding all those soul lasers and soul cannon blasts. His defenses were immensely powerful, but Xu Mi''er''s attacks were astonishingly ferocious, to the extent that he was having to draw upon his soul power to defend himself against them.


    He couldn''t allow things to continue like this!


    Long Yue pointed his spear forward, and another one of his soul rings lit up.


    Swamp!


    All of a sudden, a patch of space in mid-air suddenly became murky and viscous. Even though that was only an invisible swamp created by energy, it was no different from a real swamp.


    Long Yue''s timing was perfect, and he''d summoned the swamp right at a patch of space that the black mecha had to pass through while unleashing one of its evasive maneuvers. As such, it was as if Xu Mi''er''s black mecha had crashed into a giant net, and it immediately became quite slow and sluggish.


    Countless streams of flowing water surged forth from all directions, all of which crashed toward the black mecha like rivers and lakes and converging toward the sea.


    Long Yue had already honed the synergy between his soul skills to an extraordinarily exemplary extent, and he was not giving Xu Mi''er any chances.


    However, much to his surprise, Xu Mi''er''s black mecha suddenly vanished into thin air amid a flash of silver light, and all of the powerful waves of water he''d summon simply struck empty space.

 Chapter 757: Getting Hard Sold

    An inky-black figure then abruptly appeared diagonally behind him, following which a streak of dazzling light fell from the sky. This was a massive saber that was over six meters long and around one and a half meters wide. The saber was shimmering with piercing dark purple light, and it crashed directly down onto Long Yue''s shoulder.


    A sharp screeching sound erupted, and despite Long Yue''s thick scales and the Mountain and Rivers soul skill he''d used to bolster his defenses, the high-frequency vibrating giant blade was still able to tear through his scales. The enormous power from the attack sent Long Yue plummeting straight down from above.


    A light barrier had already been conjured up above the Sea God''s Lake, and it repelled Long Yue''s mountainous body away like a bouncy pad.


    Four pillars of light then shot forth from the black mecha''s shoulder''s, and four massive balls of light struck Long Yue''s back in a vicious manner.


    A violent explosion erupted alongside a thunderous roar of fury from Long Yue, and his sixth soul ring abruptly lit up.


    In that instant, the entire sky turned red, following which Long Yue''s body began to swell even further.


    He was already extremely massive to begin with, yet after unleashing his sixth soul skill, his body expanded to over 50 meters in size.


    The massive gash on his shoulder was very apparent, and his back had been entirely charred black, but the effect of his sixth soul skill ensured that the damage dealt to his body was kept to a minimum.


    Immediately thereafter, Long Yue''s seventh soul ring lit up.


    Sixth soul skill, Mountain Dragon King''s Fury; seventh soul skill, Martial Soul True Body.


    Long Yue had transformed into a giant dragon that was over 50 meters in length with incredibly thick scales all over his entire body, and the soul power fluctuations emanating from him were making the entire space tremor.


    He hadn''t summoned his battle armor, but in that instant, the aura emanating from his body struck even the Titled Douluos present with a slight sense of oppressive pressure.


    The black mecha rose up into the air and continued to bombard Long Yue with a relentless downpour of attacks.


    Right at this moment, Long Yue raised his front right paw before slamming it into thin air. Incredibly violent force erupted in an instant, causing the air to warp significantly before an immense burst of gravity appeared in mid-air.


    Xu Mi''er suddenly felt her black mecha become extremely heavy, and it instantly began to plummet toward the Mountain Dragon King like a shooting star.


    A layer of silver light suddenly surfaced around the black mecha, and layers of spatial fluctuations appeared in mid-air, thereby allowing the black mecha to resist the effects of the additional gravitational force.


    "Roar!" The Mountain Dragon King threw his head back and let loose a roar of fury. He slammed his front right paw into the air again, and the entire space warped and twisted drastically, following which the silver light was instantly shattered.


    Xu Mi''er''s expression changed slightly as she sat within her black mecha. This was the power of a domain!


    The immense pressure from the outside world was transmitted into the mecha''s interior, and the massive saber reappeared in its hand. The giant blade was then slashed through the air, forcibly opening up a rift in the domain. Silver light flashed again, and the mecha reappeared at a higher altitude.


    The Mountain Dragon King raised his head, and he suddenly arched his back upward, upon which a tall mountain instantly appeared on his back before instantly spearing into the air above.


    The mountain continued to expand in mid-air, and in the blink of an eye, a colossal mountain that was several hundred meters tall and several kilometers in radius crashed down toward the black mecha.


    Mountainous Oppression!


    This was an ultra-powerful soul skill that Long Yue could only use after adopting his martial soul true body.


    The entire mountain was emanating earthy yellow light, and in the instant that it appeared, Tang Wulin felt his core temperature rise slightly. His Mountain Dragon King torso bone was displaying a reaction to this soul skill!


    The gravity was so powerful at this point that the entire space had become twisted, and Xu Mi''er was unable to use her mecha''s teleportation ability anymore. Furthermore, she discovered, much to her surprise, that as her mecha was encompassed beneath the scope of the giant mountain, it had become extremely slow and sluggish, so she could only look on as the massive mountain crashed directly down toward her from above.


    "Hmph!" After letting loose an enraged harrumph, one of the cannon barrels on the arms of her mecha slowly raised itself upward, and light was beginning to shimmer within it. Xu Mi''er was about to use her trump card!


    Due to the fact that she''d spent so much of her time researching soul tools, around 70% of her combat prowess stemmed from these soul tools of hers. As for her soul skills and martial soul, she only really ever used her teleportation skill, which was extremely vital. The rest of her soul skills were all used to boost her soul power. As such, she had an even greater wealth of soul power than Long Yue. It was just that the caliber of his Mountain Dragon King martial soul was far too high, and it was simply too powerful for her black mecha to oppose.


    As such, if Xu Mi''er wanted to defeat Long Yue, then she had to use her trump card; her soul missiles.


    In terms of research into soul bombs, Xu Mi''er was most definitely an expert.


    "That''s enough!" A low voice rang out in the air.


    A burst of white light then appeared out of thin air, and Xu Mi''er''s body was completely immobilized, rendering her unable to unleash her soul missile.


    On the other side, a rift appeared beneath the underside of the giant mountain, and the immense oppressive power was completely devoured by the rift alongside the mountain itself. At the same time, Long Yue''s mountainous body shuddered, and an instinctive sense of fear welled up in his soul, forcing him to withdraw his martial soul true body completely out of his control. As such, he quickly reverted back to his original form.


    "Mi''er has lost this battle," Atlas Douluo Yun Ming announced, "Your soul missiles are indeed capable of turning the tables, but if you want to defeat him, you''ll have to be prepared to take yourself down with him. On top of that, Long Yue still hasn''t even summoned his battle armor, so even if you fight him to the death, you''ll be the only one who ends up dead; he''ll only be severely wounded at most. Hence, victory goes to Long Yue."


    Yun Ming''s judgment was completely fair, and both Long Yue and Xu Mi''er accepted this outcome as they returned to the surface of the Sea God''s Lake.


    Xu Mi''er withdrew her black mecha, and her expression appeared to be completely unchanged, but there seemed to be a hint of extra emotion in her eyes as she looked at Long Yue.


    Long Yue was in a much more disheveled state compared to her. There were injuries on both his back and his shoulder, and even though they quickly healed, all of the clothes on his upper body had disappeared, revealing a musclebound physique.


    "Thank you for the battle," Long Yue said to Xu Mi''er with a grim look on his face. He didn''t think that his victory was assured, and there was a reason behind why he hadn''t used his battle armor.


    As his cultivation rank had progressed, he was finding it more and more difficult to control his own emotions. As such, he didn''t dare to fight with all his might in his battles as that could easily result in catastrophic circumstances that he''d regret for the rest of his life.


    Hence, he wasn''t not using his battle armor because he didn''t want to; he was afraid that he''d go insane. In the instant that Xu Mi''er was preparing to use her soul missiles, he''d been struck by a bone-chilling sensation. Those soul missiles were undoubtedly extremely powerful, and Xu Mi''er had more than one of them! Those were weapons of mass destruction!


    Xu Mi''er drifted over to Long Yue atop her lotus leaf and said in a concise manner, "You win; I choose you."


    Long Yue nodded in response. It was impossible to draw a connection between the young woman approaching him and that devastating black mecha.


    Xu Mi''er stood beside Long Yue, looking very calm and collected, and everyone reflexively heaved a sigh of relief. At the same time, many of the participants were appraising Long Yue with sly looks of pleasure on their faces. If this violent woman really were to end up with Long Yue, then his happy days were most likely over.


    Long Yue was also feeling rather concerned. After facing Xu Mi''er in battle, he finally understood why none of the male participants wanted to fight her. She was going to blast soul missiles at him, for god''s sake!


    Xu Mi''er glanced at Long Yue, and threatened, "You can''t choose anyone now that you''ve chosen me. Otherwise, I''ll blast you to death."


    Long Yue''s lips twitched upon hearing this. What the hell was this situation? "YOU chose ME!"


    Xu Mi''er replied, "It''s all the same."


    Long Yue was rendered completely speechless. Had he just been hard sold?

 Chapter 758: Why Would You Choose Me?

    For some reason, after that battle, Long Yue had also developed a certain special type of feeling in his heart toward the overbearing Xu Mi''er. She was the first person around his age that he''d met that was even more aggressive than he was, and the fact that she was a woman made that all the more remarkable.


    Tang Yinmeng smiled, and said, "Congratulations, Mi''er; you finally found your Mr. Right! The next female participant to be drawn is... Wu Siduo."


    Wu Siduo''s lotus leaf slowly drifted forward, and she wore a complex expression on her face.


    She cast her gaze toward all of the male participants up ahead, then glanced at the exquisite beauty standing beside Tang Wulin, and she gritted her teeth as she spurred her lotus leaf onward, heading directly toward Tang Wulin.


    She raised no questions and didn''t state any requests; all she did was glide straight over to Tang Wulin''s side.


    Tang Wulin turned to her with a surprised look in his eyes. "You..."


    Wu Siduo looked up at him, and asked, "What about me?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Why did you choose me?"


    "Why can''t I choose you?"


    Tang Wulin had no response to this. After all, the female participants had the initiative during this segment.


    Wu Siduo lowered her head and seemingly fell into deep thought.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Wu Widuo was quite exceptional in all departments among all of the female participants, but unfortunately for her, Na''er had chosen Tang Wulin before her. Compared to Na''er, she clearly paled into insignificance. Even so, she was still brave enough to choose Tang Wulin even after Na''er had already chosen him, and that was already a great sign of her courage.


    Most of the remaining women had either questions or requests for their male counterparts, and following the epic battle between Xu Mi''er and Long Yue, the progression of the fourth segment had clearly accelerated.


    However, some of the older women didn''t make any choices, so they essentially withdrew from this segment. Of course, they could quite leave yet as there was still one final segment that could require their presence, even if they hadn''t chosen anyone. Only during the final segment could the male participants seize back the initiative to express their love for the women of their desires.


    "Dai Yun''er."


    It was finally the princess''s turn to take the stage.


    Dai Yun''er''s lotus leaf slowly drifted forward, and her eyes remained firmly fixed on Tang Wulin the entire time as she called out, "Brother Three."


    Tang Wulin looked back at her and was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding.


    Sure enough, Dai Yun''er drifted directly over to him with tears shimmering in her eyes. "Brother Three, do you know how long I''ve been waiting and searching for you? They all said you''re dead, that there''s no way you could return from that small world, but I refused to believe them. I''ve been doing everything in power to search for you for more than three years, and only recently did I receive news from the Tang Sect that you were back, so I came here as quickly as I could to see you. I''m even willing to relinquish my status as princess for you; I simply can''t forget everything that we''ve experienced in the Dragon Valley. What I want to ask you is, do you like me?"


    "Er..." Tang Wulin was at a loss for how to respond.


    He definitely felt a certain sense of affection toward her, but he certainly didn''t see her as a romantic love interest. However, if he were to say that he liked her during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, then the current context would immediately twist the meaning behind his words!


    Dai Yun''er smiled, and said, "I knew you felt the same about me!"


    As soon as her voice trailed off, her lotus leaf drifted directly toward him.


    When did I say anything? Tang Wulin didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry.


    Both Tang Wulin''s right and left sides had been taken by Na''er and Wu Siduo, so Dai Yun''er positioned herself directly in front of him before turning around in a graceful manner.


    "I''ll be the only person in your eyes now."


    "Crack!" The sound of cracking knuckles rang out from beside him.


    Tang Wulin turned to discover Long Yue glowering at him with killing intent in his eyes. His expression was a perfect mirror image of Tang Wulin''s when he''d thought that Na''er was going to choose Long Yue.


    "What''re you doing? You''ve already got me, yet you''re looking at someone else?" Xu Mi''er''s cold voice sounded. A handheld cannon had already appeared in her grasp, and the end of its barrel was pressed directly into his waist.


    Long Yue turned to her with an exasperated look on his face. "Why are you doing this?"


    Xu Mi''er replied, "You tell me."


    Thus, the situation became quite awkward, and Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t enjoying himself, either! He had Dai Yun''er in front of him, Na''er on his left, and Wu Siduo on his right. Never did he think that he''d encounter such an awkward situation during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.


    "Next up is Yuanen Yehui. It''s your turn to choose, Junior Disciple Sister."


    Xie Xie''s entire body immediately tensed up at the mention of this name, and even Tang Wulin was becoming rather nervous for him. He was a lot taller than Dai Yun''er, so even with her standing directly in front of him, she couldn''t actually impede his field of view.


    It was Yuanen''s turn. Tang Wulin had been gone for over three years, so he had no idea how the relationship between Xie Xie and Yuanen had progressed. However, he could tell from Xie Xie''s confession earlier that they still weren''t a couple yet. If he still couldn''t win Yuanen''s heart during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, then...


    Following Yue Zhengyu''s tragic precedent, Tang Wulin was feeling rather pessimistic about Xie Xie''s chances. In particular, he had no idea how Yuanen felt about Xie Xie, so his chances had most likely been rather slim to begin with.


    The lotus leaf beneath Yuanen Yehui''s feet slowly glided forward. Her expression appeared to be quite calm, and her long red hair draped down her shoulders, giving her a unique sense of mystery and allure with the night scenery as her backdrop.


    Xie Xie''s throat and mouth had run completely dry. He had never been so nervous in his life. He had loved her for so long, and he''d finally confessed to her in front of all of these people. If she were to turn him down here, then everything would be over for him.


    "I''ve told you this before." As soon as Yuanen began speaking, Xie Xie shuddered involuntarily.


    "I told you a long time ago that if you want to be with me, then you''ll have to beat me first. So come. If you can defeat me here, I''ll choose you." Yuanen Yehui appraised Xie Xie with an intense gaze.


    Xie Xie''s entire body shuddered, and he took a deep breath until he felt as if his lungs were about to explode before he slowly exhaled.


    So she''s chosen this type of method to indirectly turn me down? A self-deprecating smile appeared on Xie Xie''s face.


    They were both extremely familiar with one another and each other''s abilities. It was exactly because of this that he was aware of the disparity between Yuanen Yehui and himself. The gap between them had never shrunk, and despite how hard he''d been working during the past few years, all he could do was ensure that he didn''t get left too far behind.


    Is she going to humiliate me in front of all of these people so I completely give up on her? Then so be it!


    In that instant, Xie Xie cast aside all shackles and inhibition. He was going to fight with everything he had regardless of the outcome. His body no longer trembled, and an extremely determined look appeared in his eyes. Even if he were going to be defeated, he wanted to be defeated by her.


    He took a deep breath before answering in a loud voice, "Alright!"


    His lotus leaf drifted forward, and his eyes were shimmering with his resolve.


    Yuanen Yehui harrumphed coldly, and light flashed behind her as a pair of wings instantly spread open on her back. This was her Fallen Angel martial soul!


    A series of soul rings emerged from beneath her feet, consisting of two purples and three blacks. During these past three years of cultivation, her soul rings had undergone drastic enhancements in the Spirit Pagoda.


    Five soul rings also emerged beneath Xie Xie''s feet, consisting of four purples and a black. In terms of soul ring configuration, he was still inferior to Yuanen Yehui.


    Yuanen Yehui flapped her wings, and her body descended from the sky like a bolt of black lightning that was heading straight toward Xie Xie. Her second soul ring lit up, and her sword of darkness abruptly appeared in her grasp.


    Golden light flashed, and Xie Xie''s Light Dragon Dagger appeared in his hand. In the face of the oncoming Yuanen, his body merely swayed ever so slightly. It was a very subtle movement, but it struck the onlooker with an extremely strange sense of illusion, making them unable to ascertain his exact location.


    Long Yue and Dai Yun''er were both looking on with rapt focus. Both Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie had been their opponents in the past. During the past three years, Long Yue and Dai Yun''er had both grown significantly, so what about their past opponents? How much had they grown?


    Tang Wulin was also looking on intently. He''d been unable to cultivate his soul power during the past three as he''d been burying skeletons in the dragon tomb, but he didn''t regret his decision at all. Even so, he really wanted to know how much of a disparity there currently was between himself and his friends.


    Yuanen Yehui''s sword of darkness suddenly expanded, and dark purple light illuminated the surface of the lake.


    Xie Xie''s body sprang up into the air like a rising wyrm, and his body combined as one with his dagger as a faint dragon''s roar rang out. His Light Dragon Dagger was held aloft above his head, and he had chosen to take on the sword of darkness in a direct clash.


    "Ding!" A clear clang rang out as both figures separated at once. Yuanen Yehui flapped her wings and flew higher up into the air while Xie Xie flew back horizontally as a golden dragon.


    Xie Xie had unleashed his fourth soul skill, Light Dragon, from the get-go, yet it had only been evenly matched with Yuanen Yehui''s second soul skill.

 Chapter 759: Are You an Idiot?

    All of a sudden, Xie Xie vanished into thin air. His Light Dragon had simply disappeared into the night sky, as if it had become completely transparent.


    Yuanen Yehui narrowed her eyes and spread open her wings as she hovered in mid-air. Specks of light began to appear all over her body, and much to everyone''s surprise, she chose to summon her battle armor at this juncture.


    A suit of vibrant dark purple armor appeared all over her entire body. Among all of her friends, her battle armor had been the most difficult to construct as it had to cater to two martial souls at once. As a result, her battle armor was actually slightly less powerful than those of her friends.


    However, the suit of dark purple battle armor was extremely beautiful to behold, and it created a very alluring package in conjunction with her flowing red hair.


    The headpiece of the suit of armor consisted of a circlet with a pair of hollow horns that fitted around her head. It didn''t cover her entire head, but it appeared to be more flexible and less maladroit. Purple light swirled, forming a faint purple area in the air around her that appeared to be a domain, except it didn''t cover as large an area as Long Yue''s domain had.


    Is that really a domain? Tang Wulin was quite surprised to see this, as were Long Yue and Dai Yun''er.


    It was quite clear that Yuanen Yehui was being very cautious, which showed that she was taking her opponent very seriously. Xie Xie had also become more powerful, and not just by a little bit.


    Right at this moment, an area within the domain of purple light suddenly rippled violently, and it was if something had cleaved directly through the domain like a paperknife.


    Yuanen Yehui let loose a loud cry, and she abruptly turned around as her sword of darkness, which had already taken on a purple crystalline form, slashed through the air.


    A crisp clang rang out, and a figure appeared out of thin air, but only for a single instant. During that split-second, he sliced through the surrounding purple domain and forced his way out, vanishing into the night once again.


    Is Xie Xie able to conceal himself so well now that even Yuanen Yehui can only track him down using her domain?


    Yuanen Yehui had clearly escaped all injury in the face of his sneak attack, but she was still proceeding with extreme caution. She didn''t unleash any additional soul skills, and she simply seemed to be waiting.


    Right at this moment, another disturbance appeared within the purple domain. If one figurative paperknife had sliced through it earlier, then in this instant, there were three paperknives cleaving their way through the domain all at once. Three golden figures emerged in unison, and six sharp streaks of light sliced into the purple domain from six different directions.


    At the same time, Yuanen Yehui''s fifth soul ring suddenly lit up, and dazzling light erupted from her suit of purple battle armor. She seemed to have been waiting for this attack as well.


    A pair of horns appeared on her forehead, slotting themselves directly into the hollow horns on the circlet around her head. This was most likely why her battle armor didn''t have a proper visor.


    Her body then instantly swelled to around three meters tall, and a purple wheel of light appeared behind her. A massive eye emerged at the center of the wheel of light, and the purple domain around her abruptly expanded from around 30 meters in diameter to over 100 meters. A massive purple eye also appeared in the air above, and a huge pillar of purple light descended from the heavens, encompassing an area with a diameter of around 30 meters.


    Six blade projections hurtled into the purple light, and they instantly encountered an enormous obstructive force, but they still continued onward in a resolute and determined manner. Loud dragon''s roars rang out, and a connection suddenly appeared between the six blade projections as they intertwined with one another, forming a golden tornado that surged through the air, crashing into the purple pillar of light.


    "Boom!"


    A violent explosion erupted, sending powerful ripples churning through the Sea God''s Lake, but most of the light rose straight up into the air.


    Countless blade projections danced high up in the sky as terrifying energy fluctuations erupted relentlessly. The pillar of light erupting from the purple eyes seemed to be capable of devouring everything, and the tornado gradually began to shrank, looking as if it could only barely hold itself together.


    Right at this moment, the tornado constructed from the six blade projections suddenly combined as one, and a figure emerged as a result. It was none other than Xie Xie.


    He had donned a suit of grey battle armor, and his entire body was barely visible. Immediately thereafter, another identical figure emerged behind him, and this one was wearing a golden suit of battle armor. The two figures slowly combined, and the fifth soul ring beneath Xie Xie''s feet abruptly lit up.


    "Twin Dragon Transformation!" Xie Xie roared.


    The two figures abruptly overlapped, and a dagger that was around half a foot longer than the Light Dragon Dagger and the Shadow Dragon Dagger from earlier appeared in his right hand. Half of the dagger''s long blade was golden in color, while the other half was a translucent grey, creating a rather peculiar sight to behold. Two shimmering dragon projections revolved around his body, and regardless of how ferociously the purple pillar of light crashed down onto him from up above, the purple light was sliced apart before it could make contact with his body. He was as resolute as an immovable rock in a turbulent sea.


    The two-colored dagger in his hand slashed through the air, and the purple light was sliced through with ease. At this moment, Xie Xie''s battle armor had also taken two colors at once.


    Yuanen Yehui looked on with a surprised expression as Xie Xie''s dagger rapidly approached her. A faint smile then appeared on her face.


    In that instant, all of the purple light around her faded, and her body returned to its original form.


    Two dragon projections were revolving around her body while Xie Xie''s dagger was positioned before her.


    "I lost." Yuanen Yehui stared at him with an intense gaze.


    "You didn''t use your full power," Xie Xie seemed to be in a trance as he murmured, "Your Demonic Eye should be more powerful than this, and you didn''t use any of the powers of your Titan Giant Ape throughout this entire battle."


    Yuanen Yehui gave a completely unrelated response. "You''ve refrained from telling me what your fifth soul skill is this entire time; were you waiting for this day?"


    Xie Xie nodded without any hesitation. Indeed, he had been waiting for this day to arrive, and he''d shed so much blood, sweat, and tears during his preparation.


    Through his tireless toil and hard work, he finally devised the Twin Dragon Transformation, which allowed him to combine his two martial souls as one to form a single soul skill.


    This wasn''t a true soul fusion skill, but it was extremely close. He had derived inspiration from Wu Siduo''s Hell White Tiger, and with the assistance of the master of the Agility Hall, Liang Xiaoyu, he was finally able to find this path that belonged to him.


    He knew that it would be far too difficult for him to defeat Yuanen Yehui as he currently was, so he had to adopt some special tactics to improve himself, and all of his efforts had finally come into fruition at this moment.


    His Twin Dragon Transformation could fuse his two martial souls into one, and even though it couldn''t combine the power of both martial souls, it could combine their abilities. In addition to the enhancement effect he received from his suit of battle armor, his Twin Dragon Transformation was able to elevate his explosive power to an extremely fearsome degree, albeit only for a very short time.


    He was naturally aware that Yuanen Yehui would use her Demonic Eye to combat his Dual Dragon Combination Attack, and that was the opportunity he''d been waiting for to use his Twin Dragon Transformation.


    In reality, if Yuanen Yehui were to use her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, it would be very difficult for him to defeat her, even with this new soul skill. The Titan Giant Ape was far too powerful and defensively adept, so Xie Xie wasn''t confident at all in his ability to defeat it.


    He had made countless preparations for today, and he''d ascertained well in advance that the Fallen Angel martial soul was more suited for battle above the Sea God''s Lake due to its ability to fly. Countless minute factors had been taken into account by him, yet everything had been far simpler than he''d anticipated. The Demonic Eye wasn''t as powerful as he''d imagined. In other words, Yuanen Yehui had clearly held back.


    It was vanquished by his Twin Dragon Transformation with ease, and even if he hadn''t used that soul skill, his Dual Dragon Combination Attack would''ve most likely been enough to defeat her as well.


    After so much effort and preparation, victory had been attained far too easily, and Xie Xie was in complete disbelief.


    "Are you an idiot?" In the face of Xie Xie''s questions, Yuanen Yehui simply rolled her eyes at him.


    At the same time, she reached out and grabbed onto his shoulder to keep him aloft after the effects of his soul skills had worn off.

 Chapter 760: All Encounters are Reunions Following Lengthy Separations

    The light from Xie Xie''s Twin Dragon Dagger faded, and Xie Xie stared blankly at the expression of delicate indignation on Yuanen Yehui''s face.


    He couldn''t believe that this was real. In this moment, Yuanen Yehui was so alluring to behold; it was as if she''d become a completely different person compared to her normal cold and aloof self.


    Despite how cold and emotionless she always appeared, she was still a human, and thus, she was plagued by human emotions.


    Looking at the dumbfounded man before her, Yuanen Yehui couldn''t help but want to give him a slap to the face.


    The two of them descended from the sky and landed on their respective lotus leaves.


    Yuanen Yehui''s cheeks were slightly flushed as she let go of him.


    Only then did Xie Xie truly understand what had just happened, and he let loose an abrupt howl as he leaped high up into the air.


    He then immediately recalled back to how Xu Lizhi had turned elation into tragedy by falling into the water, and he hurriedly controlled his own body as he drifted back down onto his lotus leaf as gently as a feather.


    "Yuanen! Yuanen, I love you! I''ll do whatever you say from now on! From this day forth, I belong to you!"


    Instead of landing on his own lotus leaf, Xie Xie landed on Yuanen Yehui''s leaf instead. Xu Lizhi may have been a lot fatter than him, but Xie Xie had far thicker skin than Xu Lizhi could ever hope to acquire. At this moment, Xie Xie had already thrown his arms around Yuanen Yehui and was crying out with elation.


    "Hey, hey! Watch yourself! We''ve not even up to the final segment yet," Tang Yinmeng said with a smile on her face.


    Tang Wulin also heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this. Finally! After so many years of extensive effort, Xie Xie had finally obtained Yuanen''s heart.


    He was genuinely happy for them, and at the same time, he reflexively cast his gaze toward the distance.


    Lizhi had succeeded, Xie Xie had succeeded, what about him?


    In a rare display of tolerance, Yuanen Yehui didn''t immediately send Xie Xie flying. Instead, she was merely putting up token resistance in his arms as she whispered, "Put me down! If you keep embarrassing me like this, I''m going to change my mind!"


    "You can''t!" Xie Xie hurriedly let go of Yuanen Yehui, and his breathing was accelerating noticeably as he appraised her gorgeous features from close quarters. He had finally succeeded after so many years of painstaking effort!


    Xie Xie held onto Yuanen Yehui''s hand with his left hand, while drawing his own lotus leaf over using his soul power with his right hand. He then stepped onto his own lotus leaf before leading her back to his original spot.


    All of his uneasiness, dejection, and anxiety had vanished, and his eyes were practically glowing. He was looking a lot like a triumphant rooster, and Yuanen Yehui was beginning to wonder whether choosing him had been the correct decision.


    At this moment, there was only one woman left who hadn''t made her choice.


    "According to our rules, any female participants who haven''t removed their veils can only make their choices at the end. Girl Number 17, would you like to choose a man?"


    All of Tang Wulin''s awkwardness instantly vanished in that instant. He cast his gaze toward the veiled woman around 100 meters away, and everyone else also had their eyes on her, especially those who had already deduced who she was.


    Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui had also fallen silent as they appraised Girl Number 17. They then glanced at the three women by Tang Wulin''s side, and grim expressions appeared on their faces.


    Why was she still unwilling to reveal herself? Wasn''t she supposed to be elated by his return? Just what had happened between the two of them?


    Following a brief silence, Girl Number 17 gently shook her head right before everyone''s expectant eyes.


    It was only a very minute shake of her head, but Tang Wulin felt as if he''d been plunged into a glacier upon seeing this.


    She had shaken her head. She hadn''t chosen anyone, which meant that she hadn''t chosen him. She didn''t even take off her veil.


    This undoubtedly indicated that she had no love interests, and nor did she have any intention of finding a mate during this match-making convention.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his heart had been constricted by something, making it difficult for him to breathe.


    Tears welled up in his eyes as a wry smile appeared on his face.


    Memories of the past began to surface in his mind.


    Why? Why didn''t you choose me?


    ¡­¡­


    All encounters were reunions following lengthy separations.


    He was written off by everyone due to his lackluster aptitude, he got into a fight with his roommate on his first day of school, and he was split into the worst class, class five. Everything had been designed by fate.


    He had once been lost and helpless. Regardless of how much mental fortitude he had, in the darkness, he was still only a vulnerable child.


    All of a sudden, a ray of light shone down onto his life.


    It was a beautiful day with only a few light clouds in the sky, and the gentle breeze carried with it the faint fragrance of flowers.


    He was sweating profusely on the running track when he had a chance encounter with a girl in white. She had a set of delicate facial features, a head of long black hair, and a pair of bright black eyes. There seemed to be a unique presence about her.


    "Why are you wearing metal chains?"


    "To improve my physical constitution! The teachers are a bit stricter with me. You''re really impressive, though."


    During mealtime, she seemed to have noticed his astonishing appetite and gave him her steamed bun.


    "I can''t finish this; you can have it."


    It was a simple gesture, but it immediately brought them closer together. Everything was so natural, as if she were an old friend of his.


    Her name was Gu Yue. She had secrets hidden deep within her like an ancient well, yet she was also like the bright moon that lit his way as he traversed through the darkness. [Gu Yue''s name literally means "ancient moon" where ¹Å(gu) means ancient and ÔÂ(yue) means moon, hence the reference to an ancient well and the moon is kind of like a play on words that dissects her character.]


    He was a pitiful blade of Bluesilver Grass, while she was blessed by the elements. He was struggling to keep himself afloat, while she was constantly on the ascendancy, and they met again following a long separation.


    ¡­¡­


    No matter what your agenda is, I''ll always love you.


    Their cooperation during the Class Promotion Tournament and the mutual assistance they gave one another in the Spirit Ascension Plane had cemented their friendship.


    After he''d returned with his entire body smelling like roast meat, she was able to immediately detect that he''d met another girl. When his crystallized body had plummeted from the sky, she''d caught him without any hesitation so his body wouldn''t shatter.


    She was cold and aloof to everyone else, but she always had a warm smile for him.


    When asked whether she wanted to join the Tang Sect, her answer was no.


    He was afraid, afraid that she would leave him, just like his parents and his little sister had.


    "Who says I''m leaving? I''m only choosing not to join the Tang Sect; it''s not like I''m leaving class zero. The organization I''m joining doesn''t change where I''ll be. I won''t leave; I''ll always be with you."


    ¡­¡­


    During their youth, their relationship had been like a gentle nurturing stream.


    On the soul bus, the sea was situated to the north, and a vast expanse of blue stretched for as far as the eyes could see as the sky fused as one with the sea on the horizon.


    Beautiful scenery flashed past the window as he dozed off, and he called out his little sister''s name as a silver figure flashed through his dreams. When he reopened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of a surprised Gu Yue.


    She gave him a gentle smile and handed him a glass of water that was of just the right temperature. It was only plain water, but it nurtured his heart and soul.


    The sunlight shone down onto her face, giving her skin a translucent appearance. He suddenly realized that she was so beautiful.


    She gently lay her head on his shoulder, and her breathing became slow and steady.


    Before he knew it, he''d also closed his eyes, and all of his exhaustion seeped away in her warm and comforting presence.


    This was a completely wordless scene, like the silent films of old.


    ¡­¡­


    For you, I can die with a smile.


    During the Skysea Alliance Tournament, she was targeted by a surprise attack that was too abrupt for her to evade, and she could only resign herself to a horrible fate.


    All of a sudden, her body was enveloped by warmth. He''d used his own back to shield her.


    Crimson flowers of blood blossomed before her eyes, but there was no sorrow nor regret on his face; only a faint smile.


    He really wanted to be with her forever, but if one of them had to die, he''d much rather let it be himself. He really wanted to protect her for all of eternity, but this would be the final time.


    She panicked. She unleashed life¡¯s light of the highest degree of purity, repairing his grievously wounded body at the expense of her own life force.


    She didn''t care about anything else; all she wanted was for him to live.


    There was no bond in this world stronger than that forged between two people who had been through life and death together.


    ¡­¡­


    Even after growing up, you''re still you.


    Time flew by like a speeding arrow.


    Three years passed, and for some reason, her attitude toward him had changed. She wasn''t as close with him as she''d been in the past, and she''d grown quite distant.


    They passed the sternest test, but she was unwilling to accept her reward.


    ¡°She hit Wulin so I don¡¯t want to be her disciple.¡±


    She turned to him without any hesitation nor regret, and gave her reason in a completely calm yet implacable manner.


    Thank you, thank you for still being the same person who would do anything for me. I can see now that nothing has changed.


    ¡­¡­


    I''ll return when I obtain the power to fight for fairness.


    She was picked on, and he remained completely fearless in the face of the elder''s authority, standing by her side in a manner that was neither arrogant nor humble. He was fearless because the one being picked on was someone whom he had to protect no matter what.


    "Is there fairness in Shrek Academy?"


    The answer was final and disdainful.


    He felt completely powerless. In the face of absolute power, was he really unable to protect even his closest companions?


    He raised his head.


    "Esteemed elders, I relinquish the right to enter Shrek Academy. I''ll return someday when I have the power to fight for fairness."


    For her, he was willing to give up on his dreams.


    Even if the entire world were to turn its back on you, I would remain by your side.


    ¡­¡­


    He didn''t return for an entire night, and she waited in complete silence.


    Her body was leaned against a large tree, and she had her eyes closed. There were several drops of dew on her long eyelashes, under the light of the morning sun, she was like the most beautiful artistic masterpiece.


    He stared blankly at her, and that scene became a memory that would remain with him for the rest of eternity.


    "You''re awake!"


    "Why are you sleeping here?"


    "You didn''t come back last night, so I came to look for you. I saw that you were still meditating, so I didn''t disturb you."


    She had said this in a calm and nonchalant manner, as if she hadn''t done anything worthy of note.


    He wore a smile on his face, and for some reason, as he looked at her, he didn''t want to say the words "thank you".


    Life didn''t need to be filled with excitement and exhilaration. At times, peace and serenity were enough.


    ¡­¡­


    Even if we disband, I''ll still follow you.


    There was a dispute in the group, and everyone else opposed his opinion.


    To everyone else, using spirit alloys to construct battle armor was far too much of a distant pipe dream.


    However, she believed in him unconditionally and stood by his side without any hesitation.


    "Alright, maybe I really am being overly ambitious."


    "No! I won''t use any metal other than spirit alloy to make my one-word battle armor!"


    Her stubbornness and determination had filled his entire heart with warmth.


    With you by my side, I''d have nothing to fear even with the entire world as my enemy.


    ¡­¡­


    Soul fusion, I become a part of you, and you become a part of me.


    In the face of an unfathomably powerful opponent, he still stood resolutely before her. He knew that defeat was certain, but he wasn''t fearful in the slightest.


    He was a man who could accept her haughtiness and wilfulness.


    He was a man who could lay down his life without any hesitation to protect her.


    Her eyes gradually glazed over, and she spread open her arms before enveloping him in a tight hug from behind.


    There was no hesitation; only unconditional trust and sacrifice. It was as if they were back to their childhood days again.


    At the time, he was still a little boy who admired his senior disciple sister, and she was a little girl who liked to get into verbal arguments.


    It was as if the boundless sky were hanging above their heads to bear witness to their glory.


    They had won, yet they were also unconscious. Even so, her hands seemed to have become a part of his body, and they refused to be pried open no matter what. Thus, they sealed their victory and glory with an unbreakable embrace.


    Their affinity may be severed from time to time, but there was an eternal connection between their hearts and martial souls. They were like each other''s unbreakable chains that clung tightly onto one another.


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 761: Yuanen and Xie Xies Happily Ever After

    All of those scenes flashed through his mind in the instant she shook her head. All of those scenes came crashing down upon him like a divine blade capable of severing heaven and earth.


    For more than three years, over 1,000 days and 1,000 nights, she had been the only person in his heart, yet when he returned to see her during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, she wasn''t even willing to remove her veil for him.


    A sense of bitterness welled up in his heart, and it quickly transformed into an indescribable sense of agony.


    "Big Brother..." Na''er called out gently from beside him, and Tang Wulin turned toward her in a wooden manner before giving her a smile.


    Na''er was rooted to the spot. She''d never seen a smile like this from her big brother. It was stiff and awkward, and tinged with a hint of dejection and despair. Her heart suddenly began to throb with excruciating pain. It was so painful that words failed to describe her suffering. She reflexively held on tighter to his hand.


    Meanwhile, Gu Yue looked on at him in the distance from beneath her veil, and unbeknownst to him, there were already tears in her eyes. Unbeknownst to him, her long eyelashes were trembling.


    She wanted so badly to remove her veil, but she knew that she had to sever all ties with him in the most direct way possible.


    ¡­¡­


    On the train, they were discussing their future aspirations. There were lofty ones like Xie Xie''s, plain ones like Xu Xiaoyan''s, and serene ones like Xu Lizhi''s.


    There was also...


    "Get married to you."


    It was just a joke, but it had clearly made her very dejected. It was the first time he''d seen her so depressed; she was like a dead leaf shivering in the autumn wind.


    Just what had happened to her? Perhaps her aspirations truly were very very heavy, so heavy that she had to continue carrying them even in the face of all of the doubts and objections she received from everyone.


    She didn''t want to hurt this group of friends, so as opposed to lying to them, she simply refrained from telling them anything.


    "Everyone has their secrets; you don''t need to force yourself to tell us something you don''t want to reveal."


    "What are your aspirations?"


    "I want to join the army."


    He wanted to become more powerful so he could find his parents and Na''er. He cast his gaze out of the window and smiled as he envisioned a bright future ahead.


    She seemed to have noticed his expression, and a series of scenes flashed before her eyes...


    On that night, her hair was drifting in the wind, and her eyes were no longer black. Instead, they''d taken on a faint purple hue.


    There was a ball of light flickering over her palm, and a final hint of purple rose up before vanishing in a flash.


    She was as beautiful and intriguing as a mystery on a moonlit night, and her eyes were like a pair of deep ancient wells.


    Life was a journey, and there were passengers and scenery along the way.


    I''ll get off one day, but before that, I want to leave you with the most beautiful memories.


    I want to live forever in your mind as I am now, and I wish I could be immortalized in the passing scenery.


    ¡­¡­


    The fourth segment of the match-making convention, Affinity Spanning Three Lives, drew to a conclusion.


    However, the moment that Tang Wulin had been waiting so eagerly for was dashed by a gentle shake of her head.


    Her wordless rejection filled his entire world with darkness. At this moment, all he wanted to do was leave this place as quickly as possible, then find a place to bury himself.


    "Alright, seeing as Girl Number 17 doesn''t wish to make her choice, we certainly won''t be forcing the issue. However, there is still one final segment left, so you can''t leave for now. Girls, please return to your original spots. All of your choices have been recorded, and now, we''ll be commencing the final segment of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, Happily Ever After. According to the rules, the initiative will go to our male participants during the Happily Ever After segment, and the men will be able to make the final decisions. If you choose one of the celestial maidens who have chosen you, then we offer you our sincerest blessings and congratulate you on a successful match made.


    "During this segment, our celestial maidens who have chosen a man for themselves will have 30 seconds to say anything they want to the man of their desires. In particular, if multiple celestial maidens have chosen the same man, then they''ll need to work hard to fight off the competition and seize their man''s heart. If a male participant chooses someone who hasn''t chosen them, then they''ll be given a minute to deliver a confession. However, I have to warn you that according to past statistics, there''s a very high chance of failure if you choose a woman who didn''t choose you. During the past editions of our Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, the failure rate under such circumstances hovers in excess of 80%.


    "At the same time, there''s also something else I need to tell you. During this final segment, even successful couples could be challenged by others to steal away the male or female party. Couples must work together to fight off all challengers, and you''ll have reached the finishing line after successfully arriving on the shore of the Sea God''s Lake. Alright, without further ado, we''ll be commencing our Happily Ever After segment right away. I''ll be drawing numbers to determine the sequence as usual. First up, is... Xie Xie! Ah, I didn''t think we''d get to you so quickly. Looks like we can offer you our congratulations in advance. However, do take note that your challengers may issue their challenges now."


    Xie Xie looked around at all of the male participants in a vicious manner. One of the men standing beside him wore a resigned expression as he said, "Don''t worry, bro, no one''s going to challenge you; you''re the only one among us with enough balls to marry a Titan Giant Ape!"


    Xie Xie gave that man a vicious glare before slowly drifting forward the front of the group atop his lotus leaf in an elated manner.


    "I choose Yuanen Yehui!" he yelled even before his lotus leaf had come to a complete standstill.


    "Oi oi, it''s not your turn to choose yet," Lan Muzi chuckled.


    Xie Xie puffed out his chest in a justified manner, and said, "I don''t care! I''m choosing her no matter what; there''s no other choice!"


    Yuanen Yehui also drifted forward atop her lotus leaf, and said, "I don''t know whether it was the right decision to choose this embarrassment of a man, but all I want to do is get out of here as quickly as possible."


    Xie Xie immediately burst into laughter. "I''m yours from now on!"


    He gently tapped the tip of his foot onto his lotus leaf, propelling himself directly toward Yuanen Yehui.


    Yuanen Yehui really wanted to slap him into the water, but in the instant that he held onto her hand, she knew that she couldn''t continue treating him in the same manner as she had in the past.


    Even after so many years, he never gave up, and he was constantly working tirelessly so he could be worthy of her; how could she have failed to see all this? Just because she didn''t accept him didn''t mean she paid no attention to him.


    He had many flaws, but his greatest strengths were his perseverance and his loyalty in love. He had never expressed any interest toward any other woman, and was constantly hanging around her.


    Perhaps he didn''t know this, but what had truly moved her wasn''t all his confessions, and nor was it the painstaking efforts he''d made to cultivate for her sake. Instead, it was the bucket of water that he left on her doorstep every morning back when she was living in the dormitory for working students.


    She liked the sight of him working for her sake. She liked the calm and earnest expression that was tinged with tenderness in his eyes as he filled the bucket for her.


    She had unintentionally caught sight of that expression on his face one day, and it had tugged directly on her heartstrings.


    In her heart, she''d already chosen him long ago, but she was afraid; afraid that she was just an impulsive crush for him.


    However, he had stood the test of time, baring his determination and loyalty for her to see day after day, year after year. His efforts finally bore fruit, and he secured the heart of the woman of his dreams.


    "Alright, I hereby announce the first successful match made during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie! Congratulations to the two of you; you two will be blessed by the Sea God and congratulated by the entire academy. We hope your love spans the next three lives, and that you may live happily ever after."


    Specks of light erupted into the air from around the lake, exploding in the sky to form vibrant fireworks.


    Xie Xie''s face was illuminated by the light of the fireworks, and his usual nonchalant smile had completely disappeared. He held onto both of Yuanen Yehui''s hands, and whispered, "Yuanen, I''ll be good to you; I promise. I''ll use my life to protect and cherish you, and I''m willing to give up even the entire world for your sake. I love you, my heart is true, and I''ve only ever loved you in my entire life."


    Yuanen Yehui stared blankly up at him, and her heart fluttered at the sight of his serious smoldering expression. She lowered her head slightly in a shy manner, and made an affirmative sound in response.


    Xie Xie was unable to control his emotions any longer, and he abruptly enveloped her in a tight hug. On this occasion, he wasn''t pushed away. Instead, a pair of arms gently wound themselves around his waist.

 Chapter 762: Im a Competitive Girl

    Thunderous applause erupted from the surface of the lake, as well as the audience on the shore. The first match had been made, and everyone was cheering them on.


    Tears welled up in Xie Xie''s eyes. He''d been waiting for this day for far far too long. It had been such an arduous journey up to this point!


    Tang Wulin was also applauding with all his might with a wide smile on his face.


    Congratulations, Yuanen, Xie Xie!


    The fireworks faded, and the lotus leaves beneath Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui''s feet turned golden as they carried the two of them toward the shore. There were no challenges, only blessings.


    Instead of immediately departing, they stood together alongside Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan, who had just gotten changed out of their wet clothes.


    "I''m sorry, Sister Xinglan; it''s all my fault that we didn''t get fireworks as well," Xu Lizhi said to Ye Xinglan in an apologetic manner.


    Ye Xinglan held onto his rotund hand, just as she had done countless times ever since their childhood.


    "There aren''t enough fireworks here. I want more than this; you have to buy me fireworks!"


    An excited look immediately appeared on Xu Lizhi''s face. "Alright! I''ll buy all of the best fireworks in Shrek City, and I''ll set them off only for you!"


    "Can you not be so corny?" Xie Xie chuckled in a teasing manner.


    "Speak for yourself!" Xu Lizhi glared at him in response.


    Right at this moment, Lan Muzi''s voice rang out from the surface of the Sea God''s Lake. "Next up is Tang Wulin."


    All four of them instantly fell silent upon hearing this, and as they turned their attention toward the ongoing convention, all of them reflexively clenched their fists.


    Their captain was back, yet they hadn''t even had a chance to catch up yet. However, all of them were aware of just how important this segment was for him and Gu Yue.


    "Why won''t she remove her veil? And she didn''t choose Captain, either; is she jealous?" Xu Lizhi speculated.


    Xie Xie shook his head with tightly furrowed brows. "No, I don''t think it''s as simple as that. You guys know Gu Yue just as well as I do; if she wants something, she''ll fight for it no matter the cost. Back when she first started pursuing Captain, she always sat right next to him, and even when we put our hands together, she''d always ensure Captain''s hand was on the very bottom with her hand directly above his. Something must''ve happened between them that we don''t know about, and I have a strong feeling Captain''s disappearance also had something to do with this."


    "I have the same feeling. If they can''t rekindle the flame during this match-making convention, then..." Yuanen Yehui heaved a faint sight. That would not be the outcome any of them wanted to see.


    Tang Wulin was also rather surprised that he''d been drawn as the second male participant, and his lotus leaf gradually drifted forward to the front of the group.


    His joyful smile for Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui had already faded, and he stood with his back ramrod straight on his lotus leaf.


    He was already 18 years old; he was an adult. As a man, he couldn''t allow himself to wallow in despair regardless of what hardships and adversity came his way.


    Even if his heart were throbbing with unbearable pain, he had to stand up straight like a man. Being a coward never resolved any problems, and nor would it earn him any sympathy.


    "Three of our celestial maiden chose Wulin earlier, and it''s now their turn to make their confessions to him to try and win his heart. We''ll be drawing your names at random again to determine the sequence. Yinmeng, I''ll let you do the honors."


    Tang Yinmeng drew the first name. "Wu Siduo."


    Wu Siduo raised her head and turned her gaze toward Tang Wulin. In that instant, she was suddenly instilled with a burst of confidence because Gu Yue hadn''t taken off her veil, and nor had she chosen him. Could it be that their relationship had completely died after more than three years apart?


    In that case, perhaps she still had a chance.


    She glanced at the Dragon Spear Goddess, Na''er. She was indeed more beautiful than all of the other female participants, but she hadn''t heard anything that would suggest that she and Tang Wulin had entered a relationship. Furthermore, she was only 16 years old.


    "Long time no see, Wulin. Choosing you during this match-making convention is a decision that I''ve made after extensive consideration. In other words, if you hadn''t appeared, perhaps I would''ve chosen someone else, but the fact of the matter is, you came. I began to first notice you back when we just first began attending Shrek Academy. In all honesty, in the beginning, I didn''t like you at all. I thought you''d only become a student of Shrek Academy through sheer luck, and I thought you had no right to become our class president. However, you showed us with your actions time and time again that you deserve to be in that position.


    "I watched you grow every single day, and my confidence began to waver. After losing to you over and over again, the image of you in my heart began to carry more and more weight. I''m a competitive girl; ever since I was a small child, I always did my best in everything I tried, and I always wanted the best of everything. In my eyes, you''re the best. Only you can make my heart flutter like no one else. I don''t know how to flirt; all I can say is that that with me by your side, you''ll go further than with anyone else."


    Her confession wasn''t very moving, but it most definitely came straight from the bottom of her heart. On the shore in the distance, Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng were standing side by side, and both of them were soaking wet as they exchanged a wry smile with one another.


    They had already guessed her reason for choosing him; he was indeed the best.


    "Do you have something you want to say, Wulin?" Lan Muzi asked.


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I''m very sorry, Wu Siduo, but there''s no direct correlation between love and power. In my eyes, you were just a fellow classmate. I already have someone else I like, so I''ll have to turn you down."


    Wu Siduo took a deep breath, and asked, "Is it still her?"


    A determined light appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he nodded without any hesitation. "Yes."


    Wu Siduo nodded in response, and she suddenly smiled. "I don''t regret choosing you because you''re the best, even in the way you treat your relationships. I can accept losing to her."


    After her voice trailed off, she rose up into the air, yet instead of returning to the shore, she jumped into the water instead, sinking into the lake just as Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng had.


    Tang Wulin looked on with an apologetic expression as she departed, but this was the only response that he could give her.


    Lan Muzi sighed, "That''s a real shame. Next up is..."


    "Dai Yun''er!" Tang Yinmeng announced.


    Dai Yun''er''s lotus leaf drifted forward, and she wore a dejected look on her face. She knew that his heart didn''t belong to her as soon as he answered Wu Siduo''s final question.


    "Long time no see, Brother Three. I''ve been searching for you for so long, and I''ve finally been reunited with you on this match-making convention. Do you know how happy I am to see you again? It''s been more than three years, and you should''ve only just gotten back, so I should be the last person who was with you. Have you forgotten everything we experienced in the Dragon Valley? If it weren''t for your help, I wouldn''t be who I am today. You are the only man in my heart, and even if you don''t choose me, that will never change. I don''t like you because you''re the best or anything like that; I like you because you''re you. I like you, plain and simple."


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh at the sight of the tears flowing down Dai Yun''er''s face. "I''m sorry, Yun''er, but as I''m sure you already know, I''ve already loved someone for a long time. I can''t accept your feelings as my heart has been fully occupied by her for many years. I can only say that you came into my life too late. I like you too. You''re a proud little princess, but you''re very kind at heart. You''re a good girl, but unfortunately, you appeared before me at the wrong time. There''s no way for me to create more space in my heart for you. I can only ever see you as a little sister or a friend, but never as a lover."


    Dai Yun''er stared blankly at him with a heartbroken expression as she listened to his euphemistic rejection. She didn''t say anything else, but she didn''t give up like Wu Siduo had, either. Instead, she remained on her lotus leaf and chose to stay.


    "Alright, then our final celestial maiden with be our Dragon Spear Goddess. It''s your turn, Na''er."


    As Tang Yinmeng''s voice trailed off, the entire Sea God''s Lake fell completley silent.


    Starlight and moonlight shone down from above, illuminating the rippling water of the Sea God''s Lake, as well as the Na''er''s exquisitely beautiful features. She slowly drifted over to Dai Yun''er''s side, and her eyes were rippling with a special kind of emotion.


    She was no longer looking at him with the eyes of a little sister looking at her big brother.


    Tang Wulin shuddered slightly as he also sensed the shift in her demeanor.


    "Big Brother!" Na''er called out gently.


    "Na''er, you..." Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly.


    Na''er smiled, and continued, "Big Brother, did you know that I''d already developed feelings for you from the moment you took me in when I was just three years old? You were nowhere near as strong as you are now, but you stood in front of all of those bad people to protect me. Not only are you kind, you''re also courageous, and you possess far more mental fortitude than anyone else of your age. When you were six, you awakened your marital soul, only to find that it was Bluesilver Grass, widely renowned to be a trash martial soul. The silver lining was that you also awakened soul power at the same time. You aspired to become a Soul Master. At the time, you didn''t even dare to imagine becoming a battle armor master, so you said that you wanted to become a mecha pilot."

 Chapter 763: Big Brother, I Like You

    Na''er appraised Tang Wulin with a gentle look in her eyes, and in that instant, it was as if he were the only person she could see. "But in order to become a Soul Master, you''d need soul spirits, which cost a lot of money. Our family wasn''t very wealthy, despite the fact that our parents really did work very hard, so you took up forging at just six years of age. I recall when you first started that you were so tired after returning home every day, you couldn''t even muster up any facial expressions. You''d always slump straight onto the bed, and you couldn''t even hear me when I tried to talk to you. However, you didn''t give up. You continued to practice forging, and after receiving your wages, you''d use all of it that you didn''t save up to buy lollies for me. I still remember those lollies; they were really really sweet. Do you remember how I asked you one day if you''d miss me if I were to go away?"


    Tang Wulin listened to Na''er''s words in an entranced manner, and his mind wandered back to his childhood home where he''d lived over a decade ago.


    ¡­¡­


    My aspirations lie among the stars.


    He was a fair-skinned young boy with black eyes and black hair, and he traveled to Eastsea City alone, wading into the unknown with nothing more than his hopes and dreams.


    He had his trash martial soul, Bluesilver Grass, and his pitiful rank three innate soul power. In that massive city, he was like an insignificant grass seed drifting around, trying to achieve the dreams he held dear to his heart.


    When other kids of his age were still basking in the love and adoration of their parents, he had already lost his home.


    "If I were to leave one day, would you miss me?"


    "Of course I would. I would miss you very very much."


    The cool balmy breeze in the night massaged his cheeks, and a warm sensation welled up in his heart, and he smiled. This was not a wry smile, but instead, a reminiscent one.


    In his heart, that silver-haired girl had never strayed far away. She was always tucked away in a certain corner of his memories, standing under the sunset, calling him "Big Brother" in her sweet voice.


    I am Tang Wulin; my aspirations lie among the stars.


    When an ordinary seed grows into a lush grassland, would I be able to reunite with you?


    ¡­¡­


    "Big Brother, I like you; I love you. I''m willing to spend every single moment of the rest of my life by your side. Can you let me love you? I''m serious." Na''er''s expression was indeed very serious, so serious that even Atlas Douluo was rather stunned by her resolve.


    Ripples began to surge through Tang Wulin''s heart, which had just been plunged into complete despair not long ago. If he had to pick the most important woman in his life, then he honestly wouldn''t be able to make a choice between his mother, Na''er, and Gu Yue.


    However, never did he think that Na''er would say something like this to him in front of so many people during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.


    "Na''er, you''re my little sister!"


    "No, I''m not. I''m only your Na''er, and we''re not related by blood. I don''t want to be your little sister anymore; I want to be your Na''er," she said in a stubborn manner.


    Tang Wulin''s body was trembling gently.


    "Time''s up, Na''er. In order to ensure fairness, I can''t let you keep talking." Tang Yinmeng''s voice was a little strange, and she simply couldn''t help it. Compared to the vast majority of people present, who were looking on with their jaws on the ground, she was already putting on a very calm display.


    Na''er lowered her head as tears welled up in her eyes. She had finally said everything in her heart aside from one sentence: "Big Brother, if you don''t choose me, then..."


    Tang Wulin had been able to harden his resolve and reject Wu Siduo, as well as Dai Yun''er, but Na''er''s confession had truly shaken him to the very core.


    He had once vowed to never let Na''er shed tears again, but never would he have thought that he would be the one making her cry someday.


    Na''er, how can you be so foolish!


    For some reason, there was an indescribable feeling deep within his heart. It was just as Na''er had said; they weren''t related by blood. Na''er was a little sister that he''d taken in, and he''d looked after her as if she really were his little sister.


    Na''er suddenly looked up and appraised him with an intense gaze. "If I''d never left, no one else would''ve been able to steal your heart!"


    Tang Wulin shuddered upon hearing this. If she hadn''t left and had always stayed by his side...


    After her voice trailed off, Na''er cast her gaze toward the veiled figure behind her.


    Meanwhile, Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng both focused their attention on Tang Wulin.


    Lan Muzi couldn''t help but sigh, "I didn''t think that I would meet you for the first time under such complicated circumstances, Junior Disciple Brother Wulin. You have so many exceptional junior disciple sisters displaying their love for you, including even our very own little goddess. Now then, it''s time for you to make your decision. As a man who''s been through this stage of his life, I must advise you that the best way to handle the situation is to be decisive and forthright. Otherwise, you''ll only be hurting everyone involved. Make your choice now. As opposed to hurting everyone, it''s much better to show them your heart."


    If it weren''t for Na''er''s confession, then Tang Wulin wouldn''t be hesitating at all. However, he truly didn''t know how to decide now. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Na''er!


    What do I do? What do I do?!


    Tang Wulin stood on the surface of the Sea God''s Lake in a slightly slack-jawed manner, and his resolve had been shaken for the very first time.


    If he''d known that this was how the match-making convention was going to turn out, then he would''ve rather not attended at all.


    He truly felt as if he were being tortured as he stared at two of the most important women in his life.


    "Junior Disciple Brother Wulin, please make your choice," Lan Muzi urged in a low voice.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath with all his might, trying to muster up all of the strength in his entire body.


    He knew the answer in his heart. He didn''t want to hurt Na''er, but it was even more unappealing to him to lie to her. Furthermore, despite how complicated everything had become, he didn''t want to give up on this chance, no matter how slim it was.


    "I''m sorry, Na''er; I choose Girl Number 17!" It seemed to have taken him all of his strength to utter those few words.


    Gasps and cries of surprise rang out across and around the entire lake. No one could believe that he had rejected the Dragon Spear Goddess'' heartfelt confession and chose Girl Number 17 instead, especially when she hadn''t chosen him, and hadn''t even removed her own veil!


    How was this possible?


    He turned down Wu Siduo, Dai Yun''er, AND Na''er, all three of whom were top-notch beauties! Instead, he''d chosen a woman who seemed to have shown no interest in him.


    On the shore.


    "Nice! As expected of our captain; he''s just as badass as ever! It''s just that Na''er..." Xie Xie reflexively pumped his fist.


    Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, and Xu Lizhi also wore nervous expressions on their faces. They knew that the moment of truth had come for Tang Wulin.


    Faint light shimmered in the air, and Girl Number 17''s lotus leaf slowly drifted to the forefront.


    Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng glanced at one another, only to see their own astonishment mirrored in each other''s eyes. Never did they think that Na''er would get rejected.


    After Tang Wulin had given her his response, Na''er turned deathly pale, and she reflexively took a backward step, only barely catching herself after half her foot had trodden into the water.


    Lan Muzi gulped silently before turning to Girl Number 17. "According to our rules, you must remove your veil now, and listen to a one-minute confession from him."


    Girl Number 17 hesitated momentarily before slowly raising her hand to remove her veil, revealing a pale face with black hair and black eyes.


    Compared to Dai Yun''er and Na''er, her appearance was quite ordinary, and she paled in the face of their beauty.


    Tears were already flowing uncontrollably down her face, and her lips were quivering gently.


    Tang Wulin smiled a the sight of her tears. She wasn''t completely heartless after all. Seeing the tears flowing down her face, he suddenly felt as if all of his suffering had been worth it.


    "You should''ve chosen her." Gu Yue turned toward Na''er''s direction.


    Na''er remained completely silent.


    Gu Yue then said something that was rather inexplicable. "I didn''t want to win."


    Na''er suddenly smiled, despite the fact that her face was still deathly pale. She raised her head and turned to Gu Yue in a proud manner. "Some things aren''t up to you."


    Tears began to flow freely as Gu Yue closed her eyes. "But do you know how heavy a price he''ll have to pay for this? Do you know how difficult our future will become?"


    Na''er remained completely determined as she said, "I don''t care. All I want is to give the entirety of myself to him."


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at the two of them. When had these two become so close with one another? And what were they saying? Why couldn''t he understand a single word?


    Lan Muzi also had no idea what they were saying, but the show had to go on. "It''s your turn, Wulin. You have one minute."

 Chapter 764: Gu Yue, Do You Love Me?

    However, Tang Wulin shook his head before turning to Gu Yue. "I don''t need one minute; I only need to ask her a single question. Gu Yue, I''ve only loved one woman in this world, and it''s you. Do you love me?"


    He wanted to say countless things to her, but that was the only question he could muster up at this present moment. Perhaps just this one question was enough. All he needed was an answer, an answer that could make him cast aside all of his inhibitions.


    He raised his right hand and flipped his palm over. Golden scales spread along his exposed wrist before covering his entire hand. Sharp golden claws appeared on the tips of his fingers, and he aimed those claws directly at his own head.


    An indescribably powerful blood essence aura abruptly erupted from his own body, and in the instant that aura appeared, all Soul Masters present with dragon-type martial souls let loose muffled groans as their faces paled significantly. Even Long Yue was no exception to this.


    How was this possible? How could his blood essence be so powerful?


    Long Yue wore a completely astonished look on his face. He had thought that after three years of arduous cultivation, he was on an entirely different level. Three years ago, Tang Wulin had been no match for him in a one-on-one battle, and even though he held a bloodline advantage, there was no way he''d be able to defeat him without Gu Yue''s help.


    He had thought that following the passage of the last three years, he would''ve widened that gap even further. He''d become a two-word battle armor master, and if he were to fight with all his might, he could even pose a threat to a Titled Douluo.


    However, right after Tang Wulin had unleashed his bloodline aura, Long Yue was astonished to find that his own volatile bloodline power was struck by the powerful urge to concede. He felt as if all of his bloodline power would leave his body to kneel down at Tang Wulin''s feet should he will it to be so.


    Compared to three years ago, his bloodline aura had become countless times more powerful! How was this possible? How could anyone''s bloodline aura be so ridiculously powerful?


    "Big Brother, don''t!" Na''er screamed, but she didn''t dare to move a single inch. She could clearly see that Tang Wulin''s golden dragon claws were mere millimeters from his head, and that he''d be able to take his own life in a split second.


    "I need to know your answer; the true answer in your heart. Don''t try to lie to me; I can sense the authenticity of your words through your eyes and your bloodline." Tang Wulin looked into Gu Yue''s eyes with a scorching gaze.


    Gu Yue stared blankly at him, and tears no longer flowed from her eyes.


    All of a sudden, it was as if her mental walls had been completely razed to the ground. She nodded over and over again with all her might as tears began to flow freely once again. She squatted down on her lotus leaf and threw her arms around her knees as she nodded, seemingly in an uncontrollable manner.


    Tang Wulin smiled. It was a smile of immense pride. He stepped forward as he put down his right hand and reached her in a flash. He then wrenched her from her lotus leaf and dragged her into his arms.


    A loud dragon''s roar rang out, and a colossal creature appeared beneath Tang Wulin''s feet, carrying both him and her into the air.


    The gargantuan creature''s thick and powerful hind legs were planted on the lakebed of the Sea God''s Lake, yet even just the part of its body that was exposed out of the water was over 50 meters tall.


    This was the massive Tyrant Dragon. However, it appeared to be an actual living creature more so than a soul spirit.


    Its thick black scales, huge crimson eyes, and its terrifyingly gigantic body were all an indication of its unmatched power and status as the most powerful land dragon.


    No matter how powerful Long Yue was, his Mountain Dragon King was only a martial soul, yet it was as if Tang Wulin had summoned a real Tyrant Dragon. Furthermore, it didn''t seem to be an ordinary Tyrant Dragon, either. Illuminated by the lights radiating from the lake around it, there were faint hints of golden luster that could be seen on its inky-black scales.


    Gu Yue had her face buried in Tang Wulin''s shoulder as she held onto him with all her might. In the instant that Tang Wulin threatened to take his own life with his golden dragon claws, all of the mental walls she''d painstakingly built up during the past few years finally shattered. They were completely and utterly destroyed. She was no longer able to repress the emotions deep within her heart, and they erupted uncontrollably in the form of free-flowing tears.


    How could she have possibly forgotten everything they''d been through and all of the intimate moments they''d shared? Whenever danger arose, he was always the first one to shield her with his own body without any hesitation. How could she forget about all that?


    Her heart wasn''t made of stone!


    In the beginning, she may have approached him with ulterior motives in her heart, but as time passed, all of those impure motives gradually disappeared.


    Even though she knew that she shouldn''t do this, she didn''t pay this any heed initially as she believed in her own ability to restrain and control herself. However, when she finally realized that everything was beginning to slip out of her control, it was too late.


    Tang Wulin had already taken root in the deepest corner of her heart; how was she supposed to simply cut him out of her life?


    In the instant that he''d taken off his mask during this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, her emotions had almost immediately gotten the better of her. She was only able to barely repress her emotions after using up what seemed like all of her strength!


    She knew that it was better for her to concede than to be with him. Otherwise, everything would be impacted by him.


    Hence, she was unwilling to remove her veil this entire time, and she was even hoping that he would''ve moved on from her.


    However, when he had delivered that confession, she knew that she was wrong. Tears began to flow down her face, but her heart was filled with joy.


    The final layer of inhibitions she''d set up for herself completely crumbled in the instant that he raised his golden dragon claws. In that moment, all she wanted to do was to hold him tight and melt into his arms, basking in the warm embrace that she''d so sorely missed during the past three years.


    She wept with all her might, venting all of her internal conflict and frustration in an instant. She didn''t want to think about anything else. For now, she just wanted to be his woman.


    Tang Wulin held her in a tight hug, and his despairing heart abruptly returned to life. In the instant, that he saw her crying face, he knew that she still loved him, and that time hadn''t managed to dilute their feelings in the slightest. She was just putting on a facade to try and hurt him. As for why she decided to put on that facade, was that really important?


    Dai Yun''er looked up with a blank expression at the two people caught in a tight embrace atop the giant dragon''s head, and she suddenly felt like she was completely superfluous here. She didn''t hate him at all. It was just as he had said; they simply met one another too late.


    Na''er wasn''t crying, and nor was she sad. She was smiling, and her smile was filled with joy and elation. No one knew what she was smiling about, and in any case, very few people even saw the smile on her face.


    "Our second successful match has been made! We hope that Wulin and Gu Yue''s love spans the next three lives, and that you may both live happily ever after "


    It was now time for the challenge segment, and Long Yue had been raring to go, but for some reason, he simply couldn''t bring himself to take the first step forward.


    In the face of the massive Tyrant Dragon and the powerful bloodline aura emanating from Tang Wulin''s body, he couldn''t even muster up the urge to fight him.


    Furthermore, wasn''t this the outcome that he wanted to see? He hadn''t accepted Yun''er''s love, after all.


    He reflexively glanced at Xu Mi''er, the overbearing and aggressive woman beside him, and he was surprised to find that tears were flowing down her face. She was looking up at the couple standing atop the Tyrant Dragon''s head, and she''d been moved to the point of tears. In that instant, Long Yue felt as if his heartstring had been gently tugged on. This was a feeling that he''d never experienced before.

 Chapter 765: Gu Yue, I Love You

    The Tyrant Dragon slowly lowered its head, carrying them back down to the surface of the lake. Silver light flashed from Gu Yue''s body, and in the next instant, both she and Tang Wulin disappeared from the Sea God''s Lake. She had teleported the two of them very far away, and no one was able to catch sight of them even on the shore of the lake.


    Their Sea God fate had been sealed on the Sea God''s Lake; this was undoubtedly going to be another heartwarming story from the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention that many people would be talking about for years to come.


    The surface of the Sea God''s Lake was still filled with dazzling light, but all of the light seemed to have dimmed in a figurative sense following their departure. It was as if the two main characters had left the stage.


    Tang Wulin had never known that Gu Yue could be so passionate. Her entire body was burning up, and she seemed to be striving to melt into his chest.


    She was taking the initiative to kiss him; it was a kiss tinged with salty tears, and her lips were soft and scorching hot, reflecting the indescribable emotions erupting in her heart.


    Tang Wulin had also been repressing his love for her for many years. He held onto her with all his might, trying to fuse together with her so that they''d never be separated again.


    He didn''t know where he was; all he knew was that there were trees all around him. In his arms was the most important woman in his life, and their kiss stretched on for a very, very long time.


    Both of them were very inexperienced, to the extent that they didn''t know how to proceed. He merely had his arms wound tightly around her back and her backside, while she had her arms coiled around his neck in a vice-like grip.


    After a long while, their lips finally parted after both of them had begun struggling to breathe and their lips had become slightly swollen. Even so, they refused to let go of one another as they panted heavily into each other''s ears.


    "If I told you that I didn''t love you, you were really going to kill yourself, weren''t you?" Gu Yue panted.


    "Why would I kill myself? I was just going to scratch an itch on my head with my golden dragon claws," Tang Wulin replied with a faint smile.


    Gu Yue raised her head to look up at him, and he took advantage of the opportunity to give her a light peck on the lips.


    "You''re a liar!" Gu Yue grumbled.


    Tang Wulin smiled. "If lying is the way to your heart, then I''m willing to tell lies for the rest of my life. Gu Yue, I love you."


    Gu Yue faltered slightly, and following that eruption of scorching emotions, her sense of logic returned to her as she gradually began to calm down. She buried her face into his shoulder again with a bitter look in her eyes. "You shouldn''t have done this. Do you know what you''re doing? You''re playing with fire! I can''t be with you. Our paths are destined to diverge toward different directions, so we can''t be together."


    Tang Wulin replied in a calm manner, "If everything was predestined from the very beginning, then why has all of this still happened? All of these events that have taken place in the past have already altered the course of destiny. This is our new destiny; no matter how difficult it''s going to be or what we face in the future, I''ll always be by your side to face everything together."


    "You don''t understand." Gu Yue closed her eyes with an agonized expression.


    "I DO understand!" Tang Wulin countered in a resolute manner.


    He didn''t ask Gu Yue what she was worried about as he knew that she would tell him sooner or later if she were willing to do so. Even if she refused to tell him, he was still willing to face whatever trials and tribulations were thrown at them with her by his side.


    Gu Yue gripped onto his shoulders, reluctant to part with his embrace.


    "Wulin." She looked up at him with a serious expression.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and encouraged, "Say what you want to say. I''m sure you already know my heart, and you should also know that I''ve always been a very determined person."


    A wry smile appeared on Gu Yue''s face. "If you were to discover, one day, that I''d become your enemy, what would you do?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "If such a day comes and there''s no way for us to stand on the same side, then I want you to kill me so I can live on in your heart. That way, we''ll still be completely inseparable."His reply was very calm and placid, but tears flowed uncontrollably from Gu Yue''s eyes again.


    Tang Wulin wiped the tears from her cheeks and cupped her face gently with his hands. "What happened? Tell me, and I''ll face everything with you together."


    Gu Yue shook her head vigorously. "No, I can''t tell you. If such a day really does come, then perhaps I really will kill you. Aren''t you afraid of death even a little bit? Think about your family. Let me go. If I''m not by your side, then I can at least control everything, but if I stay with you, you''re going to die because of me at some point."


    Tang Wulin smiled. "So the core issue is that I''m still not powerful enough. Don''t worry, Gu Yue, I''ll work hard to become powerful and I''ll protect you with everything I have. Tell me what''s posing a threat to you? Who are they? We''re in Shrek Academy! Is there someone on this continent that can stand against our entire academy?"


    Gu Yue continued to shake her head with all her might. "No, it''s not like that; you don''t understand."


    Gu Yue was clearly getting very worked up, and Tang Wulin hurriedly hugged her to his chest again. "It''s ok, you don''t have to tell me if you don''t want to. You can reveal everything to me when you think the time is right. I''m sorry, Gu Yue, but I really, really love you; do you know that? Please don''t leave me. No matter what hardships get thrown our way, I''ll always be by your side."


    Gu Yue didn''t say anything else. She knew that nothing she said could make this man''s resolve falter.


    But what was she supposed to do? Could she really be with him just for her own temporary happiness?


    They were no longer children anymore. They''d both grown up and become adults, and the relationship between them had also developed and matured.


    Following this Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, if she were to continue to be with him, she knew that there was no way she''d be able to control herself; she''d only sink deeper and deeper.


    The two of them continued to embrace one another tightly.


    "Let''s go to my place," Gu Yue whispered.


    "Sure. I don''t have anywhere to go anyway." Indeed, Tang Wulin had only just returned earlier the same day, so he didn''t even have a place to live yet.


    Silver light flashed again. She was unwilling to extricate herself from his arms, so she teleported both of them away again.


    Tang Wulin was surprised to find that even though his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Abyss realm, Gu Yue still gave him an unfathomable feeling when she activated her soul power. Just what kind of level had her spiritual power reached?


    The place that Gu Yue was living in was rather similar to Na''er''s residence. It was a small wooden cabin on the Sea God''s Island, as opposed to one of the inner court dorm rooms. This was a privilege that none of the normal inner court disciples were entitled to; she''d only been assigned this cabin as she was the leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters.


    The natural energies on the Sea God''s Island were far more abundant than in the outside world. Regardless of what kind of martial soul one had, they''d benefit immensely from cultivating here.


    She lay down on her simple wooden bed that was only covered by a bedsheet, and continued to snuggle up in his arms. He held onto her, and in that moment, he had no intention of taking their relationship to the next level on a physical basis. He only had the purest love for her in his heart, and it was as if nothing else were important as long as he could keep holding her like this.


    Before he knew it, her breathing had become slow and even, and she''d completely relaxed in his arms. Her furrowed brows had also relaxed, and she was sleeping in his arms like an infant.


    He smiled as a sense of exhaustion also spread through his entire body. He hadn''t had a chance to rest yet since his return, and at this present moment in time, he was feeling completely satisfied with the woman of his dreams in his arms.


    He closed his eyes and also dozed off, entering a world that belonged to only him and her.


    ......


    The Sea God''s Lake was beautiful in a mysterious and intriguing way during early mornings. The entire surface of the lake was covered by a layer of watery mist, and she had been standing by the lake for a long time already.


    Her shoulders were wet from the morning dew, but she made no effort to brush away the moisture that had gathered.


    Her silver hair swayed gently in the light breeze, and she cast her gaze toward the morning mist in the distance, looking like a gorgeous elf.


    Her large purple eyes reflected the rippling surface of the lake, and she wore a faint smile on her face.


    Another figure silently strode over before stopping by her side. Her black hair was also swaying in the wind, and her face was flushed in a vibrant manner.


    However, the smile on her face vanished as she caught sight of the silver-haired figure.


    They stood side by side, casting their eyes out toward the clear lake.


    "You won!" Na''er said in a relaxed voice.


    "You seem to be quite happy about that." Gu Yue brows furrowed slightly.


    Na''er chuckled, "I am! I actually really wanted you to win, and I knew that you''d win from the very beginning because I know him far too well. I was only ever an interlude in his life, and the confession I made to him is only something that will give me a suitable excuse to leave."


    "He''ll be very sad if you leave," Gu Yue said.


    Na''er shook her head in a self-deprecating manner. "I lost, so I have to leave, but I knew that my loss was sealed from the very beginning, and I have no choice but to lose. Otherwise, he really will be killed, isn''t that right?"


    Gu Yue fell silent upon hearing this.

 Chapter 766: Gu Yuena

    Na''er sighed, "Back when we first made our bet, I chose to accept the bet as I knew that you were looking for an excuse to kill him without having it weigh on you mentally. I couldn''t not accept the bet because at the time, you would''ve killed him without any hesitation, even if doing so would''ve cast a shadow over your heart. Do you regret your decision now?" Na''er asked.


    Gu Yue faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Do I regret this? I don''t know." Indeed, she really didn''t know whether she regretted her decisions.


    Na''er continued, "If you didn''t want all of this to happen, then you shouldn''t have chosen to integrate yourself into the human world from the very beginning. You made the right decision; only by gaining a greater understanding of humans can we find the best way to destroy them. As a result, we discovered that humans do have redeeming features. At the very least, their emotional range is something that we don''t possess. Hence, I came into existence. In order to make yourself seem like a real human in your youth, you had to seal yourself away in order to truly integrate into human society. Thus, the human part of your soul was born. When you discovered that your human emotions were developing out of your control, it became impossible for you to forcibly get rid of me because that would inflict significant harm on yourself.


    "All of this is closely related to my big brother. The warmth and love that he gave me allowed me to understand what human emotions were. In your desperation, you separated me from your body so I could become my own independent entity. However, I''m a part of you no matter what, and we''re still a single being. Hence, you made a bet with me that my brother would fall in love with you and abandon me for you. If you win, you''ll prove that all human emotions are fake, and I''ll fuse back into you. If you lose, you told me that you''ll allow me to be my own separate person forever. Unfortunately, I possess your intelligence, as well as human emotions, and it didn''t take me long to realize that it was impossible for me to live out my life as a separate being. I take up 30% of your powers; if I''m allowed to live on as a separate being, you would no longer be you. Hence, there''s no way you can discard me. If you''d lost, you would''ve killed my brother and forcibly fused me back into your body, isn''t that right?"


    Gu Yue''s face paled slightly as she listened to Na''er''s words.


    "Gu Yue, I was willing to make this bet with you in the beginning because I knew that you didn''t understand anything about human emotions. In your eyes, the relationship between my brother and me had to be romantic love, but you''re wrong. In reality, the relationship between us is more so familial love. Perhaps I love him more than that, but he definitely only loves me as family. In contrast, his love toward you is romantic love rather than familial love. Those two different types of love are completely different, so in reality, he never abandoned me, and nor did he betray me, even though he chose you. I lost, but this is not the outcome you wanted, so it''s really hard to say who actually lost here."


    Gu Yue looked deep into her eyes. "Do you really think I didn''t know what you were plotting?"


    Na''er smiled. "Of course you knew. You''re far too smart not to realize what I was up to. However, when you tried to distance yourself from my brother, that was an indirect admission that you''d already fallen for him. Unfortunately for you, love infiltrates the heart in an extremely subtle way. By the time you realize you''ve fallen in love, it''s already too late because he already has a permanent spot in your heart. I know you''ve been trying to repress your feelings and deny yourself, but the more you do that, the deeper he takes root in your heart. Gu Yue, have you noticed that us soul beasts, including even beast gods, are too simplistic in our emotions? Regardless of how powerful you are or how immense your spiritual power is, there''s no way you can withstand an assault from human emotions. It''s not something you can see, but it truly exists."


    A wry smile appeared on Gu Yue''s face. "Do you really think that you''ll be saving him by doing this?"


    Na''er sighed, "At the very least, this will allow him to live longer. Once he becomes powerful enough, I''m sure no one will be able to kill him as long as you can''t bring yourself to do so. Face your true feelings, Gu Yue. Hatred will only blind you from seeing what''s truly important."


    Gu Yue suddenly flared up with rage. "You really sound like a human right now."


    Na''er smiled. "I''ve always been a human! At the very least, I''ve always thought of myself as a human. Hence, I don''t want to see the destruction of the human race; I''d rather see everyone coexist in harmony. I love my big brother, I love my parents, I love a world with humans in it. You won, but you also lost. I sincerely hope that you''ll have a happy ending with him."


    Gu Yue''s breathing suddenly began to accelerate. "Do you really think I can''t work up the resolve to kill him?"


    Na''er shook her head. "Of course you can''t; you''ll never be able to do it, even without my existence. Otherwise, why would you have waited until now? You''ve always been so decisive when it came to slaughter; when have you ever hesitated like this? When you hesitated for the first time, perhaps there was a chance that you still could''ve killed him. However, after you hesitated for the second time, for the third time, there''s no way that you can bring yourself to kill him; you and I are both aware of this. After I fuse back into you, you will be me, and I will be you, but you''ll be even more heavily impacted by human emotions, and that will only make it more difficult for you to strengthen your resolve. Just love him with all your heart; my big brother really is a very, very exceptional man. We don''t know where his Golden Dragon King bloodline comes from, but even you have to admit that he''s the only one in the human world worthy of us."


    Gu Yue wore a completely defeated expression on her face. "The worst decision I''ve ever made was to make that bet with you. No, I should''ve never separated you from myself in the first place. At least I would''ve been able to gradually erase the effect human emotions have had on you. You lost, and I also lost. You''re right; there''s no way for me to kill him, so I can only leave him and hope that time and distance will make our feelings fade. Perhaps only then will I be able to kill him without even noticing it. Alternatively, perhaps he''ll become powerful enough to kill me someday. You know that there''s no way to mediate our conflict. This is a conflict between humans and soul beasts, as well as a conflict between gods and beast gods. There''s no way for either him or me to resolve this conflict."


    Na''er fell silent upon hearing this, and she was finally beginning to panic. "But if you and I both leave, he''s going to be so sad."


    Gu Yue shuddered in response. "That''s still better than if I were to stay by his side, only for my minions to escape my control and kill him. I''m still far from undoing the seal on my own body. My core has already awakened, but you know just how powerful my subordinates are. There are some of them who should''ve even become beast gods long ago, and my current self is not powerful enough to completely subjugate them. Hence, I have to go."


    Na''er bit down on her lower lip. "Perhaps you''re right. You''ve really changed, Gu Yue; you''ve learned to think for the sake of others, especially for his sake. I understand now. You''re leaving to give him more space to grow. You''re hoping that he''ll become so powerful one day that even you won''t be able to kill him, but you know that''s impossible. The Divine Realm had already ceased to exist, so he can never reach your level."


    Gu Yue smiled. "You understand things on a surface level, but you don''t truly understand. You don''t know just how important a position he occupies in my heart, and you don''t understand how much of me has become assimilated by humans. You''re right; I regret my decision to integrate myself into the human world. However, I have to carry out my mission, but I don''t want to hurt him, so let me face this conflict on my own. I don''t know what I should do, but I have to keep forging ahead. Come back to me, Na''er. From this day forth, I''m no longer Gu Yue. My name will finally be complete again; I will be known as Gu Yuena!"


    Specks of light began to shimmer, and Gu Yue''s body suddenly took on a transparent silver color. A hexagram emerged beneath her feet, which conjured up an invisible barrier than enshrouded them within.


    If anyone were situated nearby, they''d discover that there were no energy fluctuations seeping out of that silver world whatsoever.


    Na''er''s body also took on a transparent silver hue. She made her way over to Gu Yue, but tears were already streaming down her face.


    "I don''t want to part with all of this! I don''t want to part with the people around me, with Teacher, and with Big Brother!"

 Chapter 767: They Left

    Gu Yue sighed, "No matter how much you''re unwilling to leave this life behind, you know that you have no essence, so you''re destined to return to me or you''ll fade into nothingness sooner or later. You said that I''ll be a part of you and you''ll be a part of me following your return. I''ll open my entire being to you. If you''re flawed, then we''ll accept these flaws together. Perhaps everything will become different then."


    The two transparent silver figures overlapped, and both Na''er and Gu Yue spread open their arms. The two figures slowly fused together, and Gu Yue''s black eyes turned purple. Meanwhile, Na''er seemed to be quickly maturing at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.


    The two of them took on identical forms, bearing the appearance of a 19-year-old Dragon Spear Goddess, before silver light suddenly flashed, and they both disappeared on the spot.


    ......


    Tang Wulin didn''t know how long he''d slept for, but he hadn''t slept this well in an extremely long time. It was an indescribable feeling.


    "Gu Yue!" He suddenly recalled where he was, and even though he hadn''t opened his eyes yet, a blissful expression had already appeared on his face. He inhaled her unique fragrance and opened his arms to find her. Nothing had happened the night before; he merely held her the entire night. It was a purely emotional experience, but now that morning had arrived, he was struck by a sense of scorching yearning in his heart. He didn''t know what he should do, but his instincts could take over from here.


    However, his probing hands fell flat, and he discovered that there was no one on the bed beside him. He could still clearly recall from the night before that Gu Yue''s body had been very supple and completely devoid of excess fat. It gave him an indescribable sense of pleasure to hold her perfect body in his arms.


    "Gu Yue," Tang Wulin called out again as he opened his eyes.


    The sunlight spilled into the cabin through the window, basking his body in a warm and comfortable sensation. The entire wooden cabin was empty and very clean. There was a very large box of food that had been placed on the table.


    Did she prepare breakfast for me?


    Tang Wulin jumped down from the bed. Where was she? He made his way over to the table before removing the lid on the box, upon which he was immediately struck by a rich aroma.


    Having tasted so much delicious food in the past, Tang Wulin was able to instantly identify that all of the food within this box had extremely high nutritional content.


    "Wow, this is amazing! I haven''t had Ruby Shrimp in a long time, and there''s such a large plate of it here! It''s great to be back! Only on the Douluo Continent can I find all of this delicious food."


    The box was split up into six layers, each and every one of which were filled with extremely delicious and nutritious food. It was quite clear that all of this food had been prepared with a lot of effort and love.


    Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t going to hold back; he immediately dug in to this brilliant feast. Soon, all of the food had entered his stomach, and a delectable flavor lingered in his mouth as a warm and indescribably comfortable sensation spread through his entire body.


    The energy from the food was reaching all of his extremities, and it was a wonderful feeling.


    A full stomach is the best! But where''s Gu Yue? Did she go to attend her lessons? Why is she still not back yet?


    Tang Wulin opened the door and strode out of the cabin. Outside the cabin was a small yard that was filled with lush greenery and teeming with vitality.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before slowly exhaling, and he felt as if he were a new man.


    "Where did she go? I guess I''ll just wait for her in her cabin; surely that would be a better idea that wandering off to search for her aimlessly. She knows I''m here, so she should be back soon."


    Thus, Tang Wulin returned to the room, yet just as he was about to go into meditation to await Gu Yue''s return, a ringtone suddenly sounded from the bedside table.


    He turned to discover a small soul communicator lying on the table.


    Had Gu Yue left her communicator behind?


    Tang Wulin picked up the communicator and hesitated momentarily before deciding to take the call.


    "Hello, I''m Gu Yue''s friend. She didn''t take her soul communicator with her before she went out today; if you have a message you''d like me to pass on to her, I can relay it as soon as she gets back," Tang Wulin said in a very polite manner.


    However, the person on the other side of the line remained silent.


    "Hello? Can you hear me?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The other side of the line still remained silent.


    His brows furrowed slightly. "If you''re not going to say anything, then I''m going to hang up!"


    "Wulin." A strained voice finally sounded from the other side of the line.


    For some reason, Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this voice, and a grim expression appeared on his face.


    "Gu Yue? Is that you?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Yes," Gu Yue replied in a faint voice.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Where are you?"


    Gu Yue didn''t answer his question. "Did you eat the food I left for you?"


    "I did, and it was very delicious. Hurry back now; I''ve only just come back, and I still don''t even know how to enter the inner court," Tang Wulin replied with a smile.


    Gu Yue continued, "I''m sorry, Wulin."


    "What happened?" Tang Wulin was only barely able to repress the sense of foreboding that had welled up in his heart.


    "I''m leaving," Gu Yue finally replied after a long silence.


    "Leaving? Where are you going?" Tang Wulin asked in an urgent manner.


    Gu Yue was beginning to choke up. "I have to leave, both for you and myself. I''m sorry Wulin; goodbye."


    The call was abruptly cut off at this point.


    Tang Wulin was left completely rooted to the spot. He dialed the number that Gu Yue had called from in a panicked manner, but he was only greeted by the sound of static.


    He called the number over and over again, but the same monotonous static greeted him each time.


    She''s gone? Where did she go? Where COULD she go? I have to go find her!


    Tang Wulin hurriedly rushed out of the cabin with the soul communicator in his hand. As soon as he emerged, an irresistible burst of immense power suddenly descended from above. Tang Wulin felt as if he''d crashed into an impregnable fortress, and his body was flung back violently before thudding heavily to the ground.


    His strength was extremely fearsome, and even though he''d only just begun to accelerate, his momentum was still quite extraordinary. As such, the fact that he was flung back so easily was a testament to just how powerful the rebounding force he''d run into was.


    A figure descended from the sky.


    This was a handsome young man, but his handsome features were etched with fury. He waved a hand toward Tang Wulin, and the latter''s body flew forward uncontrollably. He grabbed onto the front of Tang Wulin''s top, and asked, "Where''s Na''er? Where did she go?"


    Yun Ming was always a picture of serenity, and it had been countless years since he''d last been angry, yet at this moment, he was completely furious.


    "Na''er?" Tang Wulin was still reeling from the panic of Gu Yue''s departure, and he was a little slack-jawed.


    Yun Ming raised a hand before slapping a hand onto his head. An extremely frosty sensation immediately surged through his entire body, causing him to shudder as he returned to his senses.


    "Na''er? What happened to Na''er?" he asked in an urgent voice.


    Yun Ming had also calmed down at this point. It was unbefitting of a man of his status to be picking on an inner court disciple, so he released Tang Wulin before handing him a letter.


    Tang Wulin accepted the letter and read through its contents, upon which he was completely rooted to the spot.


    "Teacher,


    I''m sorry but I have to go. I don''t want to part with you, I don''t want to part with Mistress, and I don''t want to part with the Sea God''s Island, but I must go. Please don''t be saddened by my departure; I have my own reasons for why I must leave, but I must tell you that I''ve always seen you as my family, just like my big brother and my parents. Please don''t be sad; I''m fine, and there''s no need to worry about me. After my departure, please look after my big brother for me. He''s very exceptional, and if possible, I hope you''ll be willing to take him as your disciple. Also, tell Big Brother that I''m fine, and just tell him that I''ve left to go find our parents.


    Love,


    Na''er"


    The letter wasn''t very long, but it told him one thing; Na''er had left!

 Chapter 768: Vanished Without a Trace

    Gu Yue had just informed him during that call that she was leaving, and now, Yun Ming was showing him a letter like this. All of the elation and bliss from the night before had completely disappeared, and he felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.


    The two most important women in his life had both left.


    "This is all your fault! Na''er wouldn''t have left if you hadn''t broken her heart! If you don''t find her, hmph!" Yun Ming harrumphed coldly, and the entire Sea God''s Island seemed to have shuddered in the wake of his flaming wrath.


    Tang Wulin gave himself a vicious slap to the face. He had been overwhelmed by emotions following Gu Yue''s acceptance of his confession, which had led to him ignoring his little sister, and the realization that he''d driven her away filled his heart with pain.


    However, even though that slap had left a bright red mark on his face, it also instantly calmed him down.


    "You''re Na''er''s teacher, so you must be the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, right? Tang Wulin pays his respects to the pavilion master." He immediately extended a bow toward Yun Ming.


    Yun Ming waved a hand in an impatient manner, and asked, "Where could Na''er be? Can you think of any places?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I can''t, unfortunately. It''s been over three years since I was last here, so I don''t know where she would go. Not only did Na''er leave, Gu Yue just called me and told me that she''d also left. I don''t know whether their departures are related in any way, but I think our top priority now is to find them. We should search through every place where they possibly could''ve gone. Does Na''er have any friends on the Sea God''s Island?"


    Seeing as Tang Wulin had calmed down so quickly and hadn''t completely lost his composure, Yun Ming''s expression also eased slightly. "No. Na''er goes out very rarely, and she barely ever leaves the Sea God''s Island without my wife and me in accompaniment, so she has no close friends. Otherwise, how could she have progressed so quickly in her cultivation at such a young age?"


    Tang Wulin speculated, "I feel like their departures may have been related somehow. I have to ask my other friends to see if they know anything about Gu Yue. They''re all members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, so perhaps they''ll know something. Back when I was at the academy, I was always in the outer court, so I don''t know much about the inner court; I''m sure they''ll have more information than I do. On top of that, Gu Yue is the successor of the Spirit Pagoda, so perhaps she went to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters. I think I should go to their headquarters right away while my friends search for her elsewhere."


    A peculiar look suddenly appeared on Yun Ming''s face. "Did you know that Gu Yue took over as the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters for you? Due to her ties with the Spirit Pagoda, she couldn''t become one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, but she was adamant that you''d return, so she took over in your stead on a temporary basis."


    Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. "I didn''t know that. She..."


    Yun Ming cut him off in a grim voice, "Let''s not talk about this for now. We''ll do as you say; you go to the Spirit Pagoda, and I''ll deploy people from the academy to search for the two of them. We''ll be able to track them down as long as they haven''t left Shrek City yet. You''d better pray that we find them. Otherwise, I''ll hold you accountable for all of this."


    Tang Wulin merely nodded in response, His heart was filled with tumultuous emotions, so he had no spare capacity to worry about Yun Ming''s fury.


    He rushed away like a speeding arrow, and as he did so, he contacted his friends via soul communicator one after another. Thankfully, their numbers hadn''t changed.


    Xie Xie: "What? Gu Yue left? What happened, Captain? Ok, I see, no problem; you go search the Spirit Pagoda and leave the academy to us. You''re right; the Spirit Pagoda is most likely where she is right now. She normally goes there a few times a month, and last time we went to the Spirit Ascension Plane to get new soul rings, the personnel at the Spirit Pagoda were referring to her in a very respectful manner, so she''s most likely a very important figure there already."


    Yuanen Yehui: "Alright, we''ll search the academy; you go look for her there. Ever since you disappeared, Gu Yue has been acting very strangely; I''m really worried about her too."


    Yue Zhengyu: "I''ll go look for her in some of the restaurants we often visit."


    Xu Xiaoyan: "I''ll look for her at the places where we normally cultivate."


    Ye Xinglan: "I''ll search for her in the inner court; Lizhi is with me as well."


    All of Tang Wulin''s friends sprang into action while he rushed out of Shrek Academy, hailed a soul taxi, and set off for the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    Not long after his departure, the entire Shrek Academy was spurred into action. All of the officials of Shrek City were notified of the situation and given photographs of Na''er and Gu Yue so they could also join in on the search.


    With the Atlas Douluo''s extremely lofty status, he was able to instantly recruit the assistance of the entire city to find the two women who had disappeared.


    In reality, he didn''t even bother to search for Na''er within the academy. With his powers, if he were to spread his spiritual power, he could easily sense everything within the entire academy and even the entirety of Shrek City.


    However, he still found no traces of Na''er or even traces of her aura. It was as if she''d simply vanished off the face of this world.


    Over at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, Tang Wulin didn''t receive any useful information. He couldn''t find Gu Yue there, and he didn''t belong to the Spirit Pagoda, so he had no access to any of their files and information. After that, the academy itself liaised with the Spirit Pagoda, only to be informed that Gu Yue hadn''t visited the Spirit Pagoda for half a month already, so she naturally wasn''t there now, either.


    During the next three days, Tang Wulin and his friends searched through virtually every single corner of Shrek City, all to no avail.


    Gu Yue had disappeared, as had Na''er, and there was no way to contact them.


    Thus, Tang Wulin crashed down to earth from the peak of bliss and elation. After searching for three days without getting a single wink of sleep, he finally returned to Shrek Academy.


    Instead of returning to the inner court, he returned to the dormitory for working students, which was already empty. There were no new students here, and everything was just as it had been prior to their departure to the Star Luo Continent.


    He sat on the steps outside the dormitory building front door, and stared blankly into the distance. His perpetually bright eyes had completely dulled and were severely bloodshot.


    Why did you leave? Why?!


    They were finally together, and she''d admitted that she loved him, yet now, she was gone. Only then did Tang Wulin realize the enormity of the issue that plagued her. In her heart, even the entire Shrek Academy couldn''t stand against the ones who were posing a threat to her. Otherwise, why would she have left?


    As for Na''er, Tang Wulin''s heart was racked with guilt. He was feeling extremely guilty that he hadn''t stayed with Na''er that night to soothe and comfort her.


    The combination of heartbreak and guilt made Tang Wulin feel as if he were enduring constant torment, and if anyone else were in his shoes, they would''ve most likely had a mental breakdown already. If it weren''t for the resolve and mental fortitude he''d built up through so much adversity, he would''ve most likely been a broken man at this point as well.


    Na''er left him when she was six, and she''d left him again at 16 years of age.


    Where was Na''er? And where was Gu Yue? Why did they have to leave? Why couldn''t they stay and face everything together with him? Why did they all have to leave him?


    Tang Wulin suddenly missed his days back in the Dragon Valley. He was constantly laboring through one boring day after another, but at least his heart was placid and calm. Even though he missed them every single day, at least he wasn''t in this much pain.


    "Wulin." A gentle voice sounded beside him. Tang Wulin looked up to discover Dai Yun''er standing beside him. Behind her was the new couple, Long Yue and Xu Mi''er.


    "I heard what happened. I don''t know why she left, but seeing as you two love one another, then you should keep searching for her. Perhaps she''ll come back one day," Dai Yun''er consoled.


    Tang Wulin merely shook his head in response.


    Xu Mi''er strode over to him, and said, "Get up! Don''t be a coward. Let me ask you this; do you like her?"


    Tang Wulin nodded without any hesitation. That was beyond doubt.

 Chapter 769: Silver Dragon Scale

    "I can tell that she also likes you, so why did she leave for no apparent reason?" Xu Mi''er asked in a cold voice, "It''s because you don''t make her feel safe! You''re not powerful enough! Shrek Academy is indeed very powerful, but the academy is a neutral entity. She must have some powerful enemies that she has to face, and she didn''t want to endanger your life, so she left, am I right?"


    Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. She was pretty much spot on with her guess.


    "In that case, the problem lies with you for not being powerful enough. If you want to find her, you have to become more powerful. Otherwise, even if she does come back, she''ll just be forced to leave again. You deserve this pain for being weak. When you become powerful enough, no one in this world will be able to take away the people you love!" Xu Mi''er''s words were very cold and insulting, but they struck Tang Wulin''s heart like heavy hammer blows.


    She was right? Why did she leave? It was because he wasn''t powerful enough!


    "But Na''er..."


    Xu Mi''er pursed her lips with disdain. "Na''er? You have time to worry about her? She''s a two-word battle armor master! She doesn''t need a weakling like you worrying about her! You''re just a four-ring Soul Ancestor; what''s the point of worrying about everyone when you can''t even protect them? You''ve really got nothing going for you aside from your looks! I honestly don''t know why so many girls fell for a useless coward like you!"


    "Don''t say that about him!" Dai Yun''er glowered at Xu Mi''er.


    Xu Mi''er looked back at her with a heartfelt and meaningful expression. "You foolish girl, you have to find a man who can protect you. I don''t even want a man like him for free! I''m going now."


    As soon as her voice trailed off, she patted Long Yue on the shoulder before turning to leave.


    Long Yue wasn''t feeling very sympathetic toward Tang Wulin in the first place, and he was struck by a strong sense of pleasure after hearing Xu Mi''er''s scathing tirade against him.


    Following Tang Wulin and Gu Yue''s successful match the night before, he chose Xu Mi''er in the end. Even he found that incredible himself. After all, he and Xu Mi''er had only just met on that night!


    However, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that he''d made the right decision. Xu Mi''er had a straightforward personality, and she admired power, while power was something that he had in abundance.


    He really liked girls like Xu Mi''er who were violent and abrasive on the surface, but thoughtful and compassionate on the inside.


    "Mi''er, wait for me." Long Yue hurriedly caught up to her before asking, "Did you know Tang Wulin from before this?"


    Xu Mi''er shot a glance at him. "No! I don''t acquaint myself with cowards like him! All of the girls nowadays swoon over pretty faces, but what''s the point in having a handsome face if you''re a coward? I''m a pragmatist, so I chose you. You''re ugly, but you''re decently sturdy."


    Long Yue''s expression instantly stiffened upon hearing this. "Is that a compliment?"


    Xu Mi''er glared at him. "Of course! What did you think it was?"


    A wry smile appeared on Long Yue''s face. "You''ve heard about my past, right? About how Shrek''s Seven Monsters defeated us during the Continental Young Elites Tournaments?"


    Xu Mi''er nodded in response. "I did. I thought those stories were exaggerated, but after fighting you yesterday, I have to admit that Gu Yue and the others did indeed achieve quite a notable feat."


    Long Yue continued, "The one leading the team wasn''t Gu Yue back then."


    Xu Mi''er faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Oh? Then who was it? I don''t know too much about this; who was leading the team at the time?" In reality, she really was rather unfamiliar with these events. As an inner court disciple, most of her time was spent in seclusion researching her soul tools.


    "They were led by none other than the man you just denounced to be a coward. At the time, I was a six-ring Soul Emperor, and a two-word battle armor master. He and Gu Yue weren''t even one-word battle armor masters at the time, and they were only four-ring Soul Ancestors, yet they combined their powers to defeat me. I really don''t want to admit it, but I have to concede that Tang Wulin is no coward, and he''s pretty powerful. He may only be a four-ring Soul Ancestor, but even I feel threatened when he unleashes his power."


    "Hah?"


    ¡­¡­


    Dai Yun''er hurriedly turned to Tang Wulin, and urged, "Don''t listen to her! She''s just saying that because she doesn''t know how strong you are."


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a wry smile. "She''s right. The fact of the matter is that I''m not powerful enough to protect them, so they both left me. I''m a failure, aren''t I?"


    Dai Yun''er gently laid a hand on his arm. "Don''t think that about yourself! Even if they''ve all left, you still have me; I''m not going anywhere. If you want, I can stay with you for the rest of my life."


    Tang Wulin shook her head. "You''re a good girl, Yun''er, but I''ve already made myself very clear during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. My heart can''t hold a second person; at least not at the moment, but don''t worry, I won''t wallow in self-pity forever. I have many, many things I still have to do. They left, so I''ll just have to find them. Senior Disciple Sister Xu Mi''er is right. They''re both powerful enough to protect themselves, so I''m the weakest link here. I have to grow more powerful as quickly as possible, and I''ll definitely find them."


    Tang Wulin had always had a resolute personality, especially in the face of adversity.


    This incident had dealt him an extremely heavy blow. He''d just come back, and the two most important people in his life immediately left him. However, Xu Mi''er''s words had completely enlightened him. He felt as if there were still daggers digging into his heart, but he still had to become more powerful no matter what.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin rose to his feet. "I have to go to the inner court, Yun''er. I''m going to recover from this and come back stronger. You''ll always be my friend and sister, but we can never be lovers. I''m sorry."


    After his voice trailed off, Tang Wulin departed and headed straight toward the inner court. He didn''t want to hurt another girl, so he had to make things very clear to her. Otherwise, he''d only be causing more misunderstandings.


    Dai Yun''er stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at his departing figure with complex emotions surging through her heart.


    Tang Wulin had already been assigned a dormitory room, but it obviously wasn''t on the Sea God''s Island. Atlas Douluo Yun Ming was furious about Na''er''s departure, and even though he hadn''t handed down any punishments to Tang Wulin, he definitely wasn''t going to give him any privileges, either.


    The school building in the inner court was very large, and the dormitory area took up an even larger area. There were far fewer inner court disciples compared to their outer court counterparts, so even though each disciple had a room to themselves, the dormitory building here was never full.


    After returning to his room, Tang Wulin stripped off his clothes before making his way directly into the bathroom.


    He hadn''t showered for a few days, so he had to cleanse himself, then take a good rest before embarking on his quest for more power.


    Seeing as he couldn''t find them, all he could do was work hard to become more powerful and await their return. Tang Wulin firmly believed that Na''er and Gu Yue would return. Either that, or he''d go and find them after he became powerful enough.


    There was no point in stumbling around blindly without any objectives. Xu Mi''er was right; his weakness had caused all of this to happen.


    Thus, a target appeared in his heart once again. He was too weak, so he needed more power.


    After turning on the tap, Tang Wulin was just about to take a shower when he suddenly realized that he was wearing a new necklace.


    He had been wallowing in anxiety, guilt, and pain these past few days, so he''d failed to notice this necklace.


    The necklace had a thin silver chain with an oval pendant attached to it. It was a small scale that was only around the size of a pigeon egg, and it was entirely silver in color with complex patterns all over its surface. This was a silver scale! Furthermore, through the understanding that he''d developed of his own bloodline and the dragon-type auras in the Dragon Valley, he could determine that this was a silver dragon scale!


    Had Gu Yue left this to him?


    He carefully picked up the scale and stared blankly at it. For some reason, as he stroked this scale, he was struck by the feeling that Gu Yue was standing right before his eyes.


    Upon closer inspection, he discovered, that this scale wasn''t of a complete oval shape. Instead, one side was an oval while the other side was slightly curved back, giving it the appearance of a miniature shield. There were a total of four layers of patterns on the scale, and they stacked together to create what almost seemed like a three-dimensional structure. The ends of the patterns were all curled upward, so three-dimensional images could be cast from the scale as soon as even the slightest ray of light shone onto it.


    Tang Wulin reflexively turned the scale around, reflecting the light onto the walls, and he was surprised to discover that the lights formed dragon-shaped projections.


    Gu Yue loves me! She only left because she had to.


    The sorrow in Tang Wulin''s eyes gradually faded, and was replaced by a resolute expression of determination.


    He was most concerned that Gu Yue didn''t love him anymore, but after seeing this scale, he was able to bolster his own resolve.

 Chapter 770: Gu Yue, Wait For Me!

    Gu Yue had left because she had no other choice. Otherwise, she wouldn''t have been in so much pain before. Senior Disciple Sister Xu Mi''er was right. He wasn''t able to keep her because he was too weak.


    He reflexively tightened his grasp around the silver scale in his hand, and he felt its sharp edges, he took a deep breath. Power was now his number one pursuit.


    Gu Yue, wait for me! No matter how many obstacles stand in our way, we''ll overcome them together. Wait for me to become more powerful!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin pulled out his soul communicator before dialing a number.


    "Xinglan, can you come over to my place for a bit? Also, tell everyone there''s no need to keep looking. I''ve searched through every place she could possibly be during the past few days. She''s intentionally avoiding us, so there''s no way that we can find her."


    ¡­¡­


    A vast expanse of white mist lay in the distance.


    Gu Yue stood in silence on a platform that was hovering in mid-air. Behind her stood the majestic Spirit Pagoda.


    This was the highest point of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, and it was known as the Cloud-scaling Platform.


    She had been standing there for a very long time, and her right hand remained in front of her chest the entire time, as if she were holding something to herself.


    "It hurts so much, but why do I enjoy this kind of pain? Is this what love is?"


    At this moment, she''d reverted back to her original appearance with black hair and black eyes. She wore a long white dress, and it was quite apparent from the golden patterns running along the edge of the dress, as well as the badge on her chest, that she''d already become an extremely important figure in the Spirit Pagoda.


    She slowly spread open her hand to reveal a shimmering golden rhomboid scale sitting atop her palm. The scale was connected to a thin golden chain, and four layers of vibrant patterns stacked on top of one another could be seen on the surface of the scale. One side of the scale was curved inward, thereby making it resemble a miniature shield.


    She carefully strung the necklace around her own neck, and it trailed down her chest behind the collar of her dress.


    She cast her gaze toward the distance in the direction that Shrek Academy stood.


    "Are you still unwilling to part with him?" A gentle voice sounded from behind her.


    Gu Yue hurriedly turned around, and she didn''t even have to look to know who had arrived behind her. She immediately extended a respectful bow, and greeted, "Teacher."


    Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu slowly made her way over to her. "Shrek Academy is indeed a place that''s full of allure, but seeing as you''ve chosen to leave, you shouldn''t second-guess your decision. Are you unwilling to part with the academy or someone attending the academy?"


    Gu Yue shuddered upon hearing this. "How did you know?"


    Leng Yaozhu smiled, and said, "How could I not know? It''s the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention! In the past, I also..."


    Her voice suddenly trailed off there as a hint of sorrow appeared in her eyes.


    "I just don''t understand why you chose to leave. A man who can catch your eye naturally has to be extremely exceptional. I''ve met him before, and he is indeed a brilliant talent. You can try convincing him to join us."


    Gu Yue shook her head with a wry smile on her face. "I don''t want to place him in a difficult position. He''s already a member of the Tang Sect; if I hadn''t left, there''s probably a greater chance that he would''ve convinced me to join the Tang Sect than vice versa. You know my aspirations, Teacher; I can''t allow myself to be shackled by relationships."


    A hint of approval intermingled with melancholy flashed through Leng Yaozhu''s eyes. "You carry far too heavy of a burden, child. I''m very glad to see that you''re so driven and determined, but for your sake, I have to remind you that it''s very likely that love only comes once. If you miss it, that may be your only chance at love squandered. Also, if we continue to progress according to our plan, you''ll continue to enjoy a meteoric rise. Perhaps when you find yourself at the pinnacle of the continent someday, you''ll look down to discover that there''s an insurmountable gulf between the two of you. In that case, it''ll be even more impossible for the two of you to be together. You''re still young, so even if you choose to spend some more time with him, I won''t blame you."


    Gu Yue suddenly shook her head in an urgent manner. "There''s no need for that. I''m not as determined as you think I am, Teacher. If I continue to be with him, it''ll be very difficult for me to strengthen my resolve later on."


    Leng Yaozhu heaved a faint sigh. "Alright then. In that case, everything will progress according to our plan. You''ll be facing a total of four opponents, all of which are the top prodigies of the Spirit Pagoda. Defeat them, and you''ll become the number one successor to the chairman. For every loss that you take, your ranking in that hierarchy will slip by one position. During the upcoming period of time, I''m going to be exerting more pressure on you to stimulate your latent potential. I believe that you''re the best. After all, you''re the only one in the history of the Spirit Pagoda to have reached the pinnacle of the Spirit Abyss realm at below 20 years of age. Once you make a breakthrough, the world will be your oyster. You''ll be assured to become a Titled Douluo prior to turning 30."


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin looked at the shimmering golden pieces of armor laid out on the table before him, and he turned to Ye Xinglan with an expression of genuine gratitude. "Thank you."


    All of his friends were here with him.


    During these past few days, they''d also been doing everything they could to search for Gu Yue.


    Xie Xie laid a hand on Tang Wulin''s shoulder. "Don''t be sad, Boss. Gu Yue must have her reasons for doing this; she''ll be back for sure."


    "I know that she''ll definitely come back, which is why I must become more powerful. Otherwise, if I get left too far behind by her, how will I be able to progress by her side?" Tang Wulin wore a faint smile on his face, and at the very least, his friends were unable to sense anything amiss about him.


    Yuanen Yehui heaved a faint sigh. "You''re always so strong, and you always come back stronger following setbacks. This is where I lose to you."


    Ye Xinglan said, "I presume you''ll need to prime yourself before undergoing the fusion process, right?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "There''s no need for that; I''m not that fragile. If I have trouble even fusing with this suit of one-word battle armor, then how can I continue to call myself your captain?"


    That''s right, all of the pieces of armor on the table were the remaining components of his suit of one-word battle armor. Ye Xinglan had created these pieces of armor for him in person during the past few years, and all that was left now was for him to fuse with these pieces of armor.


    After that, he would become a one-word battle armor master. This was something that he''d once thought would only happen in his wildest dreams, but at this moment, he only wore a faint smile on his face that was completely devoid of excitement.


    Tang Wulin picked up the breastplate as he spoke. The breastplate was the largest piece of armor, as well as the core for the entire suit of battle armor. The design of the breastplate was simplistic yet refined. It was constructed from two rectangular pieces of armor, and it was to be put on as a complete single piece of armor.


    The piece of armor was quite heavy, and Tang Wulin said, "Get back a little."


    Everyone hurriedly retreated to give him a wide berth.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin''s eyes began to glow with bright golden light. Powerful blood essence fluctuations then erupted from his body like a substantial wave.


    Xie Xie was the one who displayed the biggest reaction among everyone present. He let loose a muffled groan as he took an involuntary step backward, and his face abruptly paled as he sat onto the ground. He immediately activated his suit of battle armor, which quickly encapsulated his entire body, and only then did his complexion improve slightly. However, he was still quite stunned by that abrupt development.


    Everyone else had also been affected to different extents. They all felt a peerlessly powerful burst of aura erupt from Tang Wulin''s body, and they were all struck by a sense of oppression, as if they were in the presence of a vastly superior being. As dense golden mist began to surge forth from his body, that feeling only became even more pronounced.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were the least affected by this, yet both of them were forced to take a backward step. In contrast, everyone else backed away at least two more steps.


    Everyone wore astonished expressions on their faces.


    One had to realize that objectively, all of them were more powerful than Tang Wulin. They were all five-ring Soul Kings, as well as one-word battle armor masters, but even so, the bloodline aura erupting from Tang Wulin''s body was forcing them into submission almost in an irresistible manner.

 Chapter 771: One-word Battle Amor Fusion Complete

    After more than three years, his soul power had only improved by two ranks, but why was it that the aura emanating from his body had become countless times more powerful?


    If they''d known what Tang Wulin had been through in the Dragon Valley, perhaps they wouldn''t be so surprised. After all, he''d been interacting with dragons the entire time, expending a vast amount of energy to bury their skeletons while constantly being replenished by dragon spirits.


    Indeed, Tang Wulin''s soul power hadn''t improved by much, but his bloodline power had been nurtured to an unprecedented degree during the past three years.


    Pure true dragon power had constantly been nurturing his body, and even he didn''t know just how immense his bloodline power had become.


    However, what was beyond a doubt was that even Long Yue, who possessed a Mountain Dragon King martial soul, was completely dominated by his aura.


    Only after elevating his bloodline power to this degree had he truly begun to display the aura of the Golden Dragon King.


    Four golden rings emerged beneath Tang Wulin''s feet one another before revolving around his body. The golden light emanating from his body gradually began to seep into the breastplate.


    Dazzling light immediately erupted from the breastplate, and its faint golden color quickly increased in brightness. Tang Wulin''s eyes also glowed brighter and brighter as dense black light enshrouded the entire area around his body in a diameter of three meters. The golden pieces of armor on the table began to tremor slightly, then levitated into mid-air, where they hovered around his body.


    Tang Wulin raised his head, and golden scales gradually surfaced over his skin. His original gauntlets and shoulder plates also instantly appeared.


    "Withdraw!" Tang Wulin suddenly yelled.


    All of the pieces of battle armor were drawn by the golden light, and they all surged toward his body as golden streaks of life. With the span of just a few breaths, they completely fused together with his body.


    Thus, his one-word battle armor fusion was complete.


    Faint golden armor encapsulated his entire body. The suit of armor had faint dragon symbols on its surface, and the sharp blades were protruding from the gauntlets and shoulder plates. Only when Tang Wulin was unleashing his blood essence aura did faint scale-like patterns appear over the armor.


    His helm covered his entire head, and there was a pair of dragon-horn like protrusions on either side of it. There was a ridge at the center of the helm that raised slightly upward, and a golden visor concealed his entire face aside from a pair of glowing golden eyes.


    The most prominent feature of this suit of armor were the two sharp dragon horns on the two sides of the helm, as well as the spikes of a similar design protruding from the gauntlets and the greaves. The edges of these spikes were extremely sharp, and upon closer inspection, one would discover that they also resembled dragon horns. Faint golden light shimmered all over the suit of armor, giving it an air of mystique.


    Tang Wulin was instantly struck by the feeling that something extra had appeared in his body, following which these components quickly became a part of his body. His soul and bloodline powers injected themselves into these additional components, and in that instant, he felt as if he''d expanded in size. The enormous enhancements he had experienced made him want to engage in battle right away.


    "You need to acclimate yourself to the power of your battle armor; should we go to the sparring platforms?" Ye Xinglan asked.


    "Sure!" Tang Wulin also wanted to see just how powerful he was with his suit of one-word battle armor.


    In contrast with the outer court, the inner court had designated sparring platforms. Disciples of the outer court sparring platforms also had to pay to be able to use them, but that was not required in the inner court, where the sparring platforms were available to be used at any time as long as they were vacant. After all, after reaching a certain cultivation rank, it became very important for students to be able to improve themselves through sparring matches. There were many occasions during which practical battle experience was more important than one''s soul power rank, particularly for Shrek Academy disciples.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the sparring platforms of the inner court were far more sturdy than those of the outer court.


    A thick protective barrier rose up around the entire platform, including from the ground underfoot. It was rather uncomfortable to be stepping on soul energy, but at the very least, the barrier ensured that the platform wouldn''t be damaged.


    Xu Lizhi stood outside the platform, while everyone else was situated within it.


    "Who wants to go first?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Ye Xinglan was just about to take up his challenge, but Yuanen Yehui had already strode forward. "I''ll go."


    "Alright!" In terms of soul power rank, Yuanen Yehui was the most powerful one among them.


    "Be careful; my soul power has already reached rank 57," Yuanen Yehui cautioned.


    Progressing 10 ranks in three years didn''t exactly appear to be extraordinary progress, but it was almost unheard of for a Soul Master to have rank 57 soul power at just 19 years of age.


    Even back when Long Yue was 20 years old, his soul power rank had only been in the early sixties.


    Tang Wulin smiled in response. "I''ll be sure to do so."


    The two of them stood 50 meters apart while everyone else backed away into the distance. Xie Xie couldn''t help but yell, "Boss, please go easy on her!"


    "Shut up!" Yuanen Yehui grumbled.


    Xie Xie gave a sheepish chuckle. "I''m just worried about you."


    Yuanen Yehui paid no further heed to him as light flashed through her eyes. She quickly released her martial soul, and soul rings began to emerge beneath her feet, consisting of two purples and three blacks. It was undoubtedly the case that not only was she outstanding in the soul power department, she was very formidable all-round among Soul Kings.


    Due to the fact that Tang Wulin had already donned his one-word battle armor, Yuanen Yehui also released her own suit of battle armor without any hesitation. Yellow armor that was as thick and heavy as the earth appeared all over her body, and after completing the set, the color of the suit of armor was clearly darker than Tang Wulin recalled it to be back in on the Star Luo Continent.


    There was simply no helping that. After all, Yuanen Yehui also had a Fallen Angel martial soul, but she only had one suit of battle armor, so her armor had to cater to both of her martial souls. As such, her suit of battle armor was actually both earth and darkness element.


    When using different martial souls, the suit of armor would automatically switch to different forms. This was actually a flaw as due to the fact that the suit of battle armor had two forms to cater to her two martial souls, each of its individual forms was actually slightly less powerful than a normal suit of one-word battle armor.


    This was why Yuanen Yehui had always been an avid supporter of using spirit alloys to construct their suits of battle armor. Using spirit alloys could enhance a suit of battle armor, and this was very important to her.


    Her suit of battle armor had been the most difficult and troublesome to construct, and if she had to start from scratch for her two-word battle armor, it would take far too much time. As such, the fact that spirit alloys could be forged repeated made it an even more appealing option to her. On top of that, repeated forgeries of spirit alloys could further enhance her suit of battle armor, thereby minimizing the negative effect of having a suit of dual-element battle armor.


    After raising her head and letting loose a long cry, Yuanen Yehui spread open her arms, and two bursts of light appeared in her hands. Immediately thereafter, her soul rings lit up, and her body rapidly expanded, transforming into a six-meter-tall Titan Giant Ape in the blink of an eye.


    Against Tang Wulin, her Titan Giant Ape martial soul was undoubtedly the best choice. From the height of her current martial soul, it was quite apparent that it had become more powerful compared to in the past.


    The two bursts of light that had flashed from the ape''s hands were none other than the two giant alloy hammers that Tang Wulin had given her. However, the soul power fluctuations emanating from the giant hammers had clearly also become more potent. They had to have been improved somehow to make them more powerful.


    Thus, a six-meter-tall musclebound Titan Giant Ape stood before him with a pair of terrifying five-meter-long giant hammers in its hands. Most people would definitely run for their lives at the sight of such a harrowing spectacle.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched involuntarily, and he cast his gaze toward Xie Xie with a hint of praise in his eyes. He had to be masochistic!


    Yuanen Yehui certainly wasn''t going to hold back against Tang Wulin. Even though he was only a four-ring Soul Ancestor, his actual combat prowess had always far outstripped his soul power rank. Furthermore, even though his soul power hadn''t improved much since three years ago, his bloodline aura had become immensely more powerful. In the face of this new and improved Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui definitely wasn''t going to be taking things easy.


    The Titan Giant Ape stomped its left foot into the ground, and it rose up into the air before descending from above while swinging its giant hammers downward one after the other.


    The two hammers hadn''t even fully descended yet, but two massive hammer projections were already plummeting from above. They were like a pair of giant substantial cannonballs, both of which were completely yellow, and had the same diameters as the giant hammers.


    Is this her Air Cannon soul skill?


    Tang Wulin was quite startled by the ferocity of her attack, and at the same time, he came to realize just how much she''d held back for Xie Xie to have been able to defeat her.


    Following the passage of the past three years, Yuanen Yehui''s Air Cannon had become immensely powerful, and with the enhancements of her suit of one-word battle armor, the two Air Cannons were most likely more powerful than most soul cannon blasts!

 Chapter 772: Yuanen isnt Strong Enough?

    However, Tang Wulin merely remained on the spot and displayed no intention to evade as he raised his arms above his head. Both of his arms instantly expanded slightly, and dragon scale patterns appeared all over his suit of battle armor as his golden dragon claws emerged.


    The two hammer projections were about to strike him, and Tang Wulin reached out with both hands, grabbing onto the projections in a completely fearless manner.


    Dazzling golden light suddenly erupted from the pair of golden dragon claws, and a burst of golden mist proliferated from Tang Wulin''s body. In the next instant, the two hammer projections were destroyed by his pair of claws, resulting in an immense burst of backlash that surged through his arms, but his body didn''t even sway in the slightest.


    Yuanen Yehui''s pair of giant hammers then appeared above his head like lightning. Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately began to glow, and he still didn''t take any evasive measures. Instead, he clenched his golden dragon claws into fists and let loose a loud cry before lashing out with both fists at once to oppose the pair of massive hammers.


    One had to realize the pair of hammers weighed in excess of half a ton! Among the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Yuanen Yehui and Tang Wulin were the only ones capable of wielding those two hammers. Furthermore, the enormous power of the Titan Giant Ape had been thrown behind these hammers, and if a yellow mecha were to be standing in Tang Wulin''s place without its soul barriers activated, it would be instantly pulverized. However, Tang Wulin was using nothing more than his bare fists to combat the pair of hammers.


    Even Yuanen Yehui found this to be quite incredible. She was 100% confident that no one of the same cultivation rank as her would be able to withstand these hammer blows with their body alone. As such, she reflexively held back a little in her attack. The only reason why she hadn''t completely bailed out was because she had absolute trust in Tang Wulin.


    "Boom!" The hammers and fists clashed amid a resounding commotion. A powerful burst of shockwaves instantly erupted with the two of them at its very center.


    In that instant, everyone was struck by the feeling that Tang Wulin seemed to have become an immovable mountain. He wasn''t using any soul skills or blood essence soul ring skills, but brilliant golden light was emanating from his entire body, as well as his suit of one-word battle armor.


    The protective barrier beneath Tang Wulin''s feet also rippled violently in the face of this astounding impact.


    He blocked it?


    Everyone''s eyes widened as they looked on in astonishment and concern. They were all well aware of just how powerful Yuanen Yehui was. In Tang Wulin''s absence, she was the entire team''s number one Assault System Battle Soul Master, as well as an integral member of the team.


    However, they were then greeted by an incredible sight.


    Yuanen Yehui''s twin hammers were flung back by Tang Wulin''s fists, immediately following which she began to stumble back uncontrollably from the momentum. After stumbling back over 10 steps, she was still unable to arrest her momentum and sat onto the ground while her hammers also crashed down onto the ground amid resounding booms.


    Yuanen Yehui''s arms hung limply by her sides, and her eyes were filled with incredulity as she looked on from beneath her visor.


    She had indeed held back at the last moment, but she definitely hadn''t held back by much!


    However, when her hammers struck Tang Wulin''s fists, she felt as if she were facing a ferocious beast rather than a human being, and a terrifying burst of recoil surged toward her like a torrential flood. Furthermore, she clearly noticed that Tang Wulin had withdrawn his fists mid-way, which meant that he hadn''t used his full power either.


    Following the clash, Tang Wulin simply stood motionlessly on the spot without pressing his advantage. Everyone else was looking on with flabbergasted expressions.


    Xie Xie was already rushing toward Yuanen Yehui, and even the perpetually calm Ye Xinglan had her mouth gaped wide open.


    Tang Wulin also quickly made his way over to Yuanen Yehui. "Are you alright?"


    Having already dropped her hammers, Yuanen Yehui wore a wry smile on her face as she said, "It''s alright, my arms have only been dislocated, If I hadn''t been wearing my battle armor..."


    "Dislocated? How could you, Boss? You''re a heartless tyrant!" Xie Xie punched Tang Wulin''s suit of battle armor a few times in an enraged and indignant manner.


    An apologetic look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''m sorry! I didn''t know this was going to happen. When I discovered that your attacks weren''t all that powerful, I quickly tried to hold back, but it was already too late."


    Deathly silence ensued.


    Weren''t all that powerful...


    Weren''t all that powerful?


    Weren''t all that powerful?!


    Good heavens! This was a Titan Giant Ape wielding a pair of giant hammers that weighed in excess of half a ton, AND Yuanen Yehui had unleashed her Air Cannon attack.


    No one would even dare to consider taking such a fearsome attack head-on, yet his feedback was that it wasn''t all that powerful...


    Yuanen Yehui was also staring at Tang Wulin in a flabbergasted manner. "Tell me the truth; how much of your strength did you unleash just then?"


    Tang Wulin considered the question for a moment before replying, "Around 50% to 60%."


    Yuanen Yehui was completely speechless. Her body shrank down to its normal size and form, and Xie Xie pressed her arms back into their sockets.


    She looked up at Tang Wulin with a serious expression, and suggested, "I think you should go test your strength. From a pure strength perspective, even that Long Yue may be no match for you. How did you get so freakishly strong?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "It''s probably because I absorbed some special energy to nourish my body during the past three years. I''m sure you''re all curious about where I disappeared off to during this time; the truth is..."


    Thus, he gave everyone a recount of what had happened in the Dragon Valley.


    "You buried true dragon skeletons for three years straight? You win, Boss! No one''s beating that!" Xie Xie stared at Tang Wulin in an incredulous manner.


    Tang Wulin smiled in response. "I just wanted to be able to leave with a clear conscience. You all know that my martial soul is Bluesilver Grass. If I didn''t have my Golden Dragon King bloodline, I would be nothing no matter how hard I worked, so I''m very grateful for everything my bloodline has given me. After entering the Dragon Valley, I also absorbed so much dragon energy. The dragon clan has done way too much for me; how could I just leave their skeletons out in the open? I just didn''t think that it would take so long. Digging holes and transporting dragon bones both require a lot of effort. In particular, the task is made even more difficult because I have to rearrange the bones in their original configurations.


    "Dragon bones are a lot heavier than you can imagine, and it''s very likely they contain the quintessential power of these dragons. After doing constant manual labor and absorbing dragon spirits every day, my strength naturally increased. I sensed that this was happening, but I didn''t know my strength had increased by so much. It seems like my control over my newfound strength isn''t too bad, though, considering it hadn''t affected my forging."


    Xu Xiaoyan said, "Looks like it''s not necessarily a bad thing that your soul power stagnated, Boss. Your body has become even more fearsome than before! Even Yuanen isn''t a match for you in terms of pure strength; you can probably compete with most Titled Doulos!"


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "That wouldn''t be possible; Titled Douluos would be able to easily crush me with their soul power. However, I also think I should go and test my strength so I can control it better. If I don''t wear my battle armor, I shouldn''t be as powerful. Yuanen, next time, we can try this again, but I won''t wear my battle armor."


    Tang Wulin''s strength had undoubtedly stunned everyone. It felt as if he could lift the entire heavens if he wanted to! Such freakish strength didn''t even seem attainable for a human being.


    The inner court had the most cutting-edge testing facilities, and inner court disciples had to test their bodily parameters here once every three months, and this included their soul power rank, strength, speed, spiritual power, reflexes, etc. The tests were quite exhaustive, and it helped students determine how they should train and cultivate in the future.


    When Tang Wulin and his friends arrived at the testing facilities, there was already someone there waiting for them.

 Chapter 773: Test

    Wu Zhangkong didn''t look any different compared to over three years ago. The passage of time hadn''t left its mark on this Icily Arrogant Prince Charming''s face at all, but his aura had become more profound.


    Tang Wulin hurried over to him, and said in a respectful manner, "I''m back, Teacher Wu."


    Wu Zhangkong suddenly stepped forward, and much to everyone''s surprise, he gave Tang Wulin a big hug. "You''re in a better situation than I am, at least."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly, and the memory of Wu Zhangkong taking to visit that graveyard in Heaven Dou City. His heart stirred slightly, and he said, "Teacher Wu..."


    Wu Zhangkong released him, and said, "Alright, let''s not talk about all this depressing stuff. Let''s go get your tests done."


    Xie Xie made his way over to Tang Wulin with a smile on his face while pointing at his own nose. It was quite clear that he''d notified Wu Zhangkong in advance.


    Tang Wulin had been in a state of emotional turmoil ever since he returned to Shred Academy due to the situation surrounding Gu Yue, and he was finally starting to feel a bit better now that he had a new objective to work toward.


    However, after returning to his senses, he suddenly recalled that not even a single teacher had tried to stop him during these past few days where he''d been desperately searching for Gu Yue. Zhuo Shi, Feng Wuyu, and Wu Zhangkong had all left him to his own devices.


    "Teacher Wu, I''m sorry. After I came back..."


    Wu Zhangkong shook his head and cut him off. "Perhaps you don''t understand the situation in the inner court yet, so let me summarize everything for you. After entering the inner court, you''ll be regarded as an adult, so you have to take responsibility for your own actions. At the same time, the academy won''t impose restrictions on you as they had back when you were in the outer court. Aside from the exams that you have to undertake at set intervals, the inner court basically doesn''t exert any control over its students. If you want to do something, then no one will stop you. On top of that, your relationship with Gu Yue was sealed during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, so the academy will support you, and even help you track her down. We''ll notify you as soon as we find any information about her.


    "According to the information that we currently have, it seems very possible that Gu Yue has been hidden by the Spirit Pagoda. Otherwise, there''s no way that we wouldn''t be able to find her. However, the academy shares a very delicate relationship with the Spirit Pagoda, so unless the pavilion master orders us to take action, we can''t do anything. The problem is, the pavilion master seems to be rather resentful toward you."


    Of course Yun Ming was resentful toward Tang Wulin. His best disciple had disappeared because of him, so it would be strange if he DIDN''T resent him.


    A surge of warmth flowed through his heart upon hearing Wu Zhangkong''s words. Even though Wu Zhangkong hadn''t come to find him, it was undoubtedly the case that he''d also been helping him search for Gu Yue this entire time from behind the scenes. Otherwise, there was no way that he''d know so much about the current situation.


    Did Gu Yue go to the Spirit Pagoda? Could it be that the issue between us lies in the Spirit Pagoda?


    The Spirit Pagoda was probably the only entity in this world that the academy would be wary of. This had to be the explanation behind everything!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by a sense of purpose. Even though the target that he had to stand up against was a colossal entity, it was always better to have a direction to strive toward rather than being lost and confused.


    The testing room was far more spacious than he thought it would be, and all of the machines in there took up a vast amount of space.


    "You have to undergo an exhaustive examination so we can ascertain your true bodily condition, which will help us tailor a cultivation plan for you," Wu Zhangkong said to Tang Wulin.


    "Alright!" Tang Wulin immediately agreed.


    "Let''s test your soul power first." Wu Zhangkong led him over to a machine, upon which were two spherical objects. Tang Wulin had used a similar machine in the past, so he hurried over before grabbing the two objects.


    Wu Zhangkong activated the device, and a series of numbers quickly appeared.


    "Soul power rank: 47, degree of spiritual power compression: six," an electronic voice announced.


    Wu Zhangkong couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow as he turned to Tang Wulin with a surprised expression upon hearing the second figure.


    "Degree of soul power compression? What''s that?" Tang Wulin asked. Back when he had last undertaken a similar examination, that parameter hadn''t been tested for.


    Wu Zhangkong replied, "After one''s soul power reaches a certain level, quantity is no longer the absolute most important factor of consideration; quality must also be taken into account, and the quality here refers to the degree of compression. To put it simply, you can have two Titled Douluos, but their power levels will be completely different if one purely increased their soul power through consuming spirit items, while the other accumulated all of their soul power bit by bit through arduous cultivation. Between those two hypothetical Titled Douluos, there will be a disparity of at least three degrees of soul power compression. The higher the degree of compression, the denser one''s soul power is.


    "Each degree corresponds to a certain level, and the fact that you have six degrees of soul power compression means that even though you''re only a four-ring Soul Ancestor, the density of your soul power rivals that of a Soul Emperor who has cultivated arduously their entire life without consuming any spirit items. As such, if we were to combine these two figures, your actual power level would rival that of a Soul King."


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had heard of such a concept, and he couldn''t help but turn to his friends with an inquisitive look in his eyes.


    Xie Xie shrugged, and explained, "All of us who have cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Method have an advantage in soul power compression. I also have six degrees, but I''m already a five-ring Soul King; I''m sure everyone else is similar in this regard."


    "Hehe, I have seven degrees!" Xu Lizhi chuckled.


    Xie Xie turned to him in an indignant manner. "You''re not a normal person! You can focus all of your efforts on cultivating and compression your soul power!"


    "What do you mean he''s not a normal person?" Ye Xinglan glared at Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie faltered in response before hurriedly turning to Yuanen Yehui with a peculiar look on his face.


    However, Yuanen Yehui completely ignored him, clearly displaying no intention to help him. Xie Xie coughed, and amended, "What I mean by that is he''s far more talented than normal people. Isn''t that right, Lizhi?"


    "Hehe!"


    Wu Zhangkong continued, "In this regard, Lizhi is indeed supremely talented. Increasing one''s degree of soul power compression is even more difficult than increasing one''s cultivation rank. In particular, after reaching five degrees, each successive degree of increase becomes extremely arduous. My soul power is currently at rank 77, but I''ve only just barely managed to reach seven degrees of compression. Let''s go to the next machine."


    Following everyone''s explanations, Tang Wulin finally understood the meaning behind this parameter. For him to have reached six degrees of compression with just four rings undoubtedly indicated that he had a lot of room for growth, so this was a very good statistic.


    "This will be a spiritual power examination."


    Tang Wulin sat down onto a massive device, and a helmet descended onto his head.


    Wu Zhangkong explained, "The machines here in the inner court are very big, but they''re very safe, so you can just relax and release your spiritual power naturally around your own head. The machine will do the rest."


    Tang Wulin closed his eyes and did as he was told. He also really wanted to know what level his spiritual power was at. Back in the Dragon Valley, he had already deduced that he''d progressed from the Spirit Sea realm to the Spirit Abyss realm. However, he hadn''t undergone any legitimate testing, so he wasn''t sure whether his judgment was correct or not.


    After all, only 500 points of spiritual power were required to reach the Spirit Sea realm, but that number spiked sharply to 5,000 for the Spirit Abyss realm! After reaching the Spirit Abyss realm, one would reach another world entirely. Many extremely powerful Soul Masters only had spiritual power at this realm.


    According to Tang Wulin''s knowledge, even Teacher Wu hadn''t reached that level prior to their journey to the Star Luo Empire.


    The machine began to operate, and one light was switched on after another. Each light represented 100 points of spiritual power, and the number of lights that were switched on increased very quickly, reaching 10 lights in the blink of an eye.


    No one found this to be surprising. After all, they''d know from long ago that Tang Wulin''s spiritual powerful had reached the Spirit Sea realm, so it was quite normal of it to have increased to 1,000 points since then. In reality, all of them had also reached this level in their spiritual powers. Xu Xiaoyan had the most spiritual power among them, having already reached over 3,000 points, which placed her at above the mid-Spirit Sea realm.


    As for Gu Yue, she never did her tests at the academy, choosing to do them at the Spirit Pagoda instead, so no one knew what level her spiritual power was at.


    However, the machine showed no sign of stopping there, and soon, 10 more lights were switched on.


    2,000!


    Surprised expressions began to appear on everyone''s faces. After all, Tang Wulin was an Assault System Battle Soul Master! As such, it was quite extraordinary for him to have spiritual power in excess of 2,000 points. If he could be more conservative when choosing his soul spirits, spiritual power of this level was sufficient to support him all the way to the Titled Douluo level.


    After that..., he reached 3,000!


    When the 30th light was switched on, everyone''s mildly surprised expressions had been replaced by sheer astonishment.


    Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed, "Boss''s spiritual power won''t outstrip mine, will it?"


    Before she''d even finished her sentence, the 34th light was switched on. Her spiritual power was only at around 3,300 points.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had already exceeded 3,000. That was very rare even among inner court disciples. Spiritual power was very important to Soul Masters, but its importance naturally couldn''t compare with that of soul power. Unless one were striving to fuse with soul spirits of a higher caliber, very rarely would Soul Masters focus solely on cultivating their spiritual power.


    4,000!

 Chapter 774: Terrifying Strength

    Flabbergasted!


    Everyone was completely flabbergasted! 4,000 points of spiritual power placed one at the pinnacle of the Spirit Sea realm. After reaching that level, they''d have a chance at making a breakthrough to the Spirit Abyss realm in the future!


    What was the Spirit Abyss realm?


    At that realm, one''s spiritual power would become an abyssal prison. If his spirit were the world, then the upper boundary would be heaven while the lower boundary would be hell! This was the Spirit Abyss realm, the realm that was commonly referred to as the limit for a normal human''s spiritual power! With this level of spiritual power, one would be able to fuse with any level of spirit souls; even orange and red ones.


    However, each person could only fuse with one orange and one red soul spirit, and after fusing with one of those two types of soul spirits, one''s capacity to fuse with other soul spirits would revert back to that of a being with spiritual power at the Spirit Sea realm. If no red or orange soul spirits had been fused with, then the upper limit for the number of soul spirits of other levels that could be fused with was five. Generally speaking, the Spirit Abyss realm as the limit of human spiritual power.


    However, lights were still being switched on at an even pace, which indicated that Tang Wulin still hasn''t reached his limits.


    "Beep!" A sound suddenly came from the machine. Immediately thereafter, all of the lights from before were snuffed out at once. Just as everyone had thought that this was the end, a purple light was suddenly switched on off to the side.


    "Spirit Abyss realm!" Wu Zhangkong exclaimed with an astonished look in his eyes. Even now, his spiritual power still hadn''t reached the Spirit Abyss realm!


    What was the Spirit Abyss realm? It was like the sound barrier. Being above the Spirit Abyss realm and being below it were two entirely different concepts.


    As such, the fact that Tang Wulin had made a breakthrough to the Spirit Abyss realm without special cultivation focused on spiritual power enhancement was downright incredible!


    One yellow light was switched on after another, and the test continued.


    No one was astonished anymore as they were all feeling slightly numb. Tang Wulin was a rank 47 Soul Ancestor, yet his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Abyss realm. Even spirit type Soul Masters may not be able to get to that level at this soul power rank!


    They had all guessed that Gu Yue''s spiritual power had most likely already reached the Spirit Abyss realm, but it had never been verified. However, Gu Yue''s martial soul had the ability of elemental control, which required her to possess an extremely high level of spiritual power.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin was an assault system Soul Master, and at a stretch, one could argue that he was also a control system Soul Master as well. So why had his spiritual power reached such an insane level? Everyone was cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes; why was there such a massive disparity?


    6,000!


    7,000!


    Lights were still being switched on without pause. At this point, Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had reached more than double that of Xu Xiaoyan''s. Even Wu Zhangkong was completely rooted to the spot now. He''d never encountered such a situation during all his time at the academy. In the inner court, there were extremely few, perhaps even no disciples with spiritual power that outstripped Tang Wulin''s.


    According to Wu Zhangkong''s knowledge, the one with the most spiritual power in the academy was naturally none other than the current master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, the Limit Douluo, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    His spiritual power had already reached the legendary Divine Origin realm, and he was the only one in Shrek Academy to have reached that level.


    Aside from him, even Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue''s spiritual power was only at the Spirit Domain realm.


    The Spirit Abyss realm was only one step away from the Spirit Domain realm! 20,000 points of spiritual power was the lower limit to reach the Spirit Domain realm.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had already reached in excess of 7,000 points, and he was only 18 years of age. This meant that he would be guaranteed to at least be able to attempt breakthroughs to the Spirit Domain realm in the future. Calling him a prodigy simply wouldn''t do him justice at this point.


    During the earlier phases of one''s cultivation, the effects of having high spiritual power weren''t all that prominent for Soul Masters, unless they possessed martial souls that required high levels of spiritual power to support. However, after reaching the Titled Douluo level, spiritual power would begin to play a pivotal role. If a Titled Douluo wanted to advance even further, then they would have to attain immense spiritual power. The higher the level of their spiritual power, the greater the chance that they''d be able to progress in their cultivation.


    Limit Douluos had to have Divine Origin realm spiritual power, and this was a major obstacle that stood in the way of many Hyper Douluos.


    Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue hadn''t been able to become a Limit Douluo precisely because she wasn''t able to make a breakthrough to the Divine Origin realm.


    In this current world, the number of people with Divine Origin realm spiritual power could be counted on a single hand.


    Of course, there was a higher level, which was the legendary Godking realm, but no one had reached that level ever since this world had lost connection with the Divine Realm. It was said that unless one truly became a god, there was no way for their spiritual power to reach that realm.


    The rate at which the lights were switching on was finally beginning to decelerate, indicating that the test was about to reach its conclusion. After the 28th yellow light was turned on, everything finally stopped.


    One purple light and 28 yellow lights.


    "7,800 points of spiritual power."


    Everyone felt their throats ran dry as they processed this statistic. 7,800!


    This was beyond incredible!


    Everyone knew what it meant to have 7,800 points of spiritual power; he had reached the Spirit Abyss realm! And he hadn''t just barely reached it, either; he wasn''t far away from the mid-Spirit Abyss realm, which required a minimum of 10,000 points of spiritual power.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t hear any sound from the outside world as he was wearing a helmet, but following a notification tone from the machine, he was prompted to remove his helmet. He looked around at all of his friend''s dumbstruck faces, and a befuddled look appeared on his face. "What''s wrong?"


    "7,800!" Xie Xie exclaimed as an explanation.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before giving a nonchalant response. "Oh."


    "Oh?! That''s it? Aren''t you stunned, Boss? Your spiritual power has reached 7,800 points! You''re at the Spirit Abyss realm!" Xie Xie said in an excited manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Gu Yue reached the Spirit Abyss realm long ago; what''s so impressive about this?"


    Everyone was rendered completely speechless.


    Wu Zhangkong appraised him with an intense gaze. "Did you already know that you''d made a breakthrough to this realm?"


    Tang Wulin nodded. "I seem to have felt something when I made the breakthrough. It was as if the entire world had become clearer, and my sensory abilities were drastically enhanced. It was as if I''d pushed open a door and entered another world."


    Wu Zhangkong faltered slightly upon hearing this before nodding as he said, "Thank you."


    Tang Wulin''s insights were undoubtedly going to be very helpful to him.


    Tang Wulin asked, "What''s next?"


    "Let''s test your strength," Wu Zhangkong replied. He remained completely expressionless, but the emotions deep within his eyes indicated that he wasn''t as calm as he looked.


    The strength testing device was far more massive than Tang Wulin had imagined; it looked like a small mountain. There were a total of 30 striking spots, all of which were of different shapes and sizes.


    Wu Zhangkong explained, "The strength test is an all-round test, and the tests can be very specific. For example, you can test the powers of your palms, your fists, your shoulder barge, and even your battle armors and weapons. I suggest you do the punching test, then repeat the test after putting on your battle armor, and that should give you a good gauge of your current strength level."


    Tang Wulin had been under his tutelage for many years, so he understood Tang Wulin''s abilities better than anyone else.


    "Alright," Tang Wulin agreed.


    Everyone reflexively took a few steps backward. Compared to his spiritual power, everyone was undoubtedly more curious about his strength. Even Yuanen Yehui''s immense strength was considered to be too feeble in Tang Wulin''s eyes; just how freakishly strong was he?


    The punching target appeared. Tang Wulin did a few stretches, and his blood essence power surged forth, instantly warming up his entire body. Faint golden light began to emanate from within his eyes.


    "Begin!"


    Following a loud instruction from Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin turned around 90 degrees before unleashing a lightning-fast punch with his right fist!


    "Boom!" The entire target quaked violently, and even the entire mountainous machine tremored dramatically a few times before coming to a rest.


    "Right fist strength: 104,000 kilograms." The electronic voice revealed the answer to everyone.


    Even Tang Wulin was rooted to the spot upon hearing this. 104,000kg? What kind of concept was that?


    One ton was 1,000 kilograms, so this meant his punch packed 104 tons of force.


    Deathly silence ensued, and even Wu Zhangkong was rendered completely speechless.

 Chapter 775: Sky Dragons Roar

    Tang Wulin looked down at his right hand, then turned to his friends with a sheepish look on his face, and feebly explained, "It''s just explosive power."


    Only then did Wu Zhangkong return to his senses. "The standard for a full-force attack from a black mecha is 35,000 kilograms. Only after reaching that standard can a mecha be rated as a black mecha. Red mechas are too special, so no strength assessment is made on them. This means that the power of that punch you just unleashed is over three times that of a black mecha."


    "Boss, you''re a beast in human''s skin! I now understand that you already held back on Yuanen."


    Indeed, there was no way to describe Tang Wulin other than to refer to him as a beast in human skin. Don''t forget that he hadn''t even donned his suit of battle armor yet. Furthermore, he hadn''t used any of his strength enhancement soul skills, such as his Golden Dragon Body.


    "Alright, let''s stop there." Wu Zhangkong waved a hand.


    Tang Wulin turned to him with a puzzled expression. "Why?"


    A rare humanized expression of indignation appeared on Wu Zhangkong''s face as he scoffed, "Why? This machine can only handle a maximum of 200,000 kilograms for force; I''m afraid you''ll break it if you put on your battle armor! However, I have to give you a suggestion; improve your soul power and upgrade your battle armor as quickly as you can. Otherwise, your one-word battle armor won''t be able to handle your current level of strength. In a particularly fierce clash, you could even damage your battle armor."


    Even one-word battle armor couldn''t handle Tang Wulin''s strength?


    A wry smile appeared on Yuanen Yehui''s face. "I thought I''d already surpassed you, but in reality, you''ve only left me further behind."


    Strength wasn''t exactly a fearsome ability among Soul Masters as pure strength itself had far too many limitations.


    However, after honing any skill or ability to an extreme extent, it would begin to defy the boundaries of logic.


    Wu Zhangkong gave them another statistic. "100,000 kilograms of punching strength is the minimum threshold for power system Titled Douluos. Generally speaking, power system three-word battle armor masters can also reach this level of strength. Wulin, are you really a human being?"


    Wu Zhangkong''s abrupt question had Tang Wulin feeling rather awkward, and couldn''t help but look down at his two hands. After absorbing the power of the Golden Dragon King seals, was he really still a human?


    However, the fact that even Wu Zhangkong was so astonished acted as further testament to just how insane Tang Wulin''s strength currently was.


    Wu Zhangkong looked at Tang Wulin, and a gentle expression appeared in his eyes. "You''ve all grown up and I have nothing more to teach you. From now on, you''ll be taught by the Titled Douluos of the academy."


    Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "Teacher Wu, you..."


    Wu Zhangkong waved a hand and cut him off. "You, Gu Yue, Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie have been my students even back in Eastsea City, and I''m very glad to see everything that you''ve achieved. I''ve already temporarily resigned from my post as a teacher in the academy, and I''m going to go into secluded cultivation soon. I''ll be in seclusion for at least a year on this occasion."


    He paused here before looking at everyone around him. "All of you gave me hope and reignited the flame in my heart, urging me to strive for self-improvement again. Wulin, I don''t think there''s any need for you to be overly concerned about Gu Yue. She''s powerful enough on her own, and I think the differences between the two of you lie in the competition between the Spirit Pagoda and the Tang Sect. If you really like her, then do everything in your power to become stronger.


    "In this world, power is always the key to everything. With sufficient power, the impossible can become possible. I''m very glad that you didn''t wallow in self-pity and give up on everything. Your greatest strength is that you can always grow stronger in the face of adversity; That is also the key to your success. Keep on forging ahead for both Gu Yue and for your friends."


    "I will," Tang Wulin replied in a determined manner as he clenched his fists tightly.


    The rest of the examination progressed very smoothly, but extremely astonishing statistics were yielded every time there was a test conducted on Tang Wulin''s body. The hardness of his skin rivaled that of defense system soul beasts that were in excess of 1,000 years old. Overall, he really did seem more like a beast in human skin than an actual human.


    "Alright, that''s all the tests for today. I''ll submit these statistics to the Sea God''s Pavilion. You''ve only just returned to the inner court, with your aptitude, I''m sure the Sea God''s Pavilion will deploy a teacher specifically to instruct you in your cultivation. In my opinion, your grandteacher is the likeliest candidate for that role. After all, you were studying under his tutelage to begin with. You can go to the Spirit Pagoda to give your battle armor a name now."


    Assigning a name to his one-word battle armor!


    This was something that all Soul Masters aspired toward as this was only a right that they received after attaining a complete set of one-word battle armor.


    Even though only one word could be used to name a suit of one-word battle armor, that was still something that all Soul Masters looked forward to as it acted as proof of their power, and also brought them unmatched glory.


    Tang Wulin reflexively turned toward his friends, only to find everyone looking back at him.


    Xie Xie chuckled, "We always knew that you''d come back, so even though we''ve all attained full sets of one-word battle armor, we still haven''t made any efforts toward attaining our suits of two-word battle armor. You have to hurry up and begin forging for us so all of us can upgrade our battle armor!"


    Everyone smiled in unison upon hearing this.


    Yuanen Yehui said, "You are the only blacksmith that we trust because you have the greatest understanding of the alloys required for our suits of battle armor."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Have you all named your suits of battle armor?"


    Yuanen Yehui nodded in response. "Generally speaking, the names of our battle armor are related to our martial souls. In other words, a lot of us will be assigning our first two words to be something related to our martial souls."


    Xie Xie chuckled, "When I attain enough words, the name can also be related to my lover. Yuanen, which words of your name should I use when my battle armor gets upgraded in the future?"


    Yuanen Yehui blushed upon hearing this. "Do whatever you want!"


    Xie Xie chuckled, "Then I really have to think long and hard about this."


    Tang Wulin fell into deep thought upon hearing this. He suddenly recalled the name of Wu Zhangkong''s battle armor: Sky Ice. His suit of battle armor had been named Sky Ice, so he was referred to as Sky Ice Wu Zhangkong. The sky was from his Skyfrost Sword, and the Ice was from Long Bing. [The Chinese character for the Bing in Long Bing''s name (±ù) literally translates to ice.]


    It was a pity that he could only use one character to name his battle armor, so there wasn''t much choice. After upgrading it to two words...


    "I''ll go register the name right away," Tang Wulin said.


    After leaving the testing facilities, everyone went back to cultivate while Tang Wulin left the academy, then hailed a soul taxi to the headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda.


    To a Soul Master like him, the Spirit Pagoda was definitely a colossal entity. When the giant pagoda appeared in Tang Wulin''s field of view in the distance, a surge of powerful emotions suddenly welled up in his heart.


    For Gu Yue''s sake, so what if he had to face the entire Spirit Pagoda someday? As long as he became powerful enough, nothing was impossible.


    Gu Yue, wait for me! I''ll become more powerful, and I''ll build up my own forces to oppose the Spirit Pagoda. When you need me, I''ll stand by your side, and I''ll take you back with me even if I have to do so by force!


    This wasn''t the first time that Tang Wulin had visited the Spirit Pagoda, but he was still stunned by how grand and majestic the building was.


    An employee made their way over to him, and asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I want to register a name for my battle armor."


    A hint of surprise flashed through the employee''s eyes, and he asked, "Are you from Shrek Academy?"


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied with a nod.


    The employee immediately adopted a respectful expression as he said, "Right this way."


    Tang Wulin followed him onto an extremely spacious elevator that was constructed from glass, thereby allowing him to see everything outside.


    The elevator traveled upward at a very fast speed, and the ground quickly shrank in his field of view as if he were flying.


    "Ding!" The elevator stopped on the 101st level.


    "Welcome to the 101st level of the Spirit Pagoda, Sky Dragon''s Roar." The employee made an inviting hand gesture.


    After making their way out of the elevator, another employee immediately walked over to greet them. This employee was in slightly different attire compared to the normal employee from before. This employee was a beautiful young woman in a long white dress with barely visible dragon patterns embroidered on its surface, and she had an exceptional disposition. She appeared to be around 20 years of age, and her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of Tang Wulin.


    What a handsome young man!


    She knew what it meant for someone to be taken to the 101st level, and she made an extremely respectful hand gesture as she said, "Please come with me, esteemed battle armor master."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon seeing this. Battle armor masters really did receive different treatment. Wu Zhangkong was right; in the world of Soul Masters, power was everything.


    At the same time, he began to appraise this 101st level.

 Chapter 776: Battle Armor Level: Black

    This was a very spacious hall with an extremely tall ceiling. The ground was black with glistening white dragon patterns on its surface, and the hall had been divided up into different sections. One curved counter after another was positioned in an orderly configuration, and the ceiling of the hall was around 20 meters above the ground. All of the walls were constructed from glass, thereby allowing one to see the cloud and mist outside.


    As expected of the Sky Dragon''s Roar.


    "Is this your first time on our 101st level?" the young woman asked with a smile.


    Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "Yes, this is my first time here."


    "I''m very honored to be able to serve you; you can call me Shui Yu," the young woman continued. [Her name, Shui(Ë®) Yu(Óã) literally translates to water fish.]


    "Shui Yu; that''s an interesting name." Tang Wulin turned to her with a hint of intrigue in his eyes.


    The young woman''s smile widened, and she replied, "Indeed, that''s what everyone says. All of us that work here have nicknames. I was born in a seaside city, and I have a fish-type martial soul. I was also always a crybaby as a child, so everyone says there''s too much water in my body, and they jokingly refer to me as Shui Yu."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this, and Shui Yu was momentarily entranced. She couldn''t help but think to herself about just how handsome Tang Wulin was. His smile seemed to be able to completely attract one''s gaze.


    "Seeing as this is your first time here, allow me to offer a brief introduction. Our Spirit Pagoda holds all battle armor masters in very high regard, so this designated area was set up specifically to serve battle armor masters. We hope that every single battle armor master can make their voices be heard in the world of Soul Masters, just like the roar of a true dragon, so this place is known as the Sky Dragon''s Roar. After being registered in our Spirit Pagoda, all battle armor masters will receive a series of benefits.


    "Firstly, we''ll be offering you a VIP service that isn''t available to normal Soul Masters. As part of this service, you''ll be granted access to the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane twice per year and the spirit soul tower once per year, all free of charge. At the same time, you''ll be able to enter the advanced Spirit Ascension Plane once at half-price. This is the standard service we offer to one-word battle armor masters, and more benefits will be offered after you reach a higher level."


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned to hear this. He knew just how much resources were required to enter the Spirit Ascension Plane, which was why he was very surprised that he''d be granted access to the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane free of charge twice per year. At this current cultivation rank, it was indeed a suitable time for him to explore the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane. It would be a very good idea for him to upgrade his soul rings in there.


    "What do I need to give in return?" Tang Wulin asked in a calm manner.


    Shui Yu smiled, and replied, "Nothing. All you have to do is complete your registration here. At the same time, our Spirit Pagoda releases missions for battle armor masters, so you can go and undertake some missions if you''re interested. We definitely offer the best rewards for our missions, and we act as a platform for both Soul Masters and battle armor masters. As such, we''ll be sure to offer VIP clients like yourself a variety of services that will help you reach a higher level in the future."


    Tang Wulin had been interacting with the Spirit Pagoda for a long time, but this was the first time that he''d been made aware of the extent of the services offered by this organization.


    It was no wonder that they were the largest organization on the entire continent at present; just the methods they employed to draw in Soul Masters was unmatched.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask, "Isn''t it unreasonable for your organization to give us benefits without any compensation?"


    Shui Yu stuck out her tongue in a very adorable manner. "Actually, we have our ways of making this system work out for us as well. After you grow accustomed to the benefits offered to you by the Spirit Pagoda, you''ll naturally want to enjoy more benefits, such as entering the advanced Spirit Ascension Plane to obtain soul spirits of higher calibers. When that time comes, money won''t be the only thing that''s required to access those benefits. There are some higher-level services that will require the expenditure of mission points to access, which means that if you want to make use of those services, you''ll need to complete some missions for our Spirit Pagoda."


    Tang Wulin was enlightened by her explanation. As expected, no good things came truly free of charge in this world.


    "At the same time, you must wear a communication watch that our Spirit Pagoda distributes every day so you can receive the missions we release. You can choose not to accept those missions, but you still need to wear the watch. Only by wearing the watch for a sufficient amount of time every day will you be able to enjoy all of the benefits on offer."


    Tang Wulin smiled upon hearing this. As expected of the Spirit Pagoda! This appeared to only be a trivial detail, but it gave the Spirit Pagoda the ability to immediately transmit whatever information they''d like to all of their registered Soul Masters and battle armor masters, and that was an incredible perk for them.


    The information and missions released through the watches didn''t bind the Soul Masters in any way, but it did constantly keep the organization connected to these Soul Masters. To all Soul Masters, the soul spirits of the Spirit Pagoda were completely indispensable, so they''d naturally develop a sense of dependence toward the Spirit Pagoda.


    It was no wonder that the Spirit Pagoda had overtaken the Tang Sect as the most prominent organization on the entire continent, even though the latter had a far longer history. This was the power and allure of the Spirit Pagoda.


    "I understand now. Can I go and register my battle armor now?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Of course you may. Right this way, please," Shui Yu led him over to a counter, behind which another beauty in the same attire as her was standing, and she said, "This esteemed battle armor master would like to name his battle armor."


    The employee behind the counter rose to her feet, and said, "Please come with me to our testing room for an evaluation first."


    The process through which a suit of battle armor was evaluated was very simple. The process involved the battle armor master releasing their battle armor, following which an energy scan is conducted to ascertain the enhancement effect of the suit of battle armor, as well as to verify that the suit of armor was indeed complete.


    The testing room was right behind the counter, and it was a hexagonal room with a complex soul formation symbol on the floor. Tang Wulin didn''t know much about this area, and he was only struck by the impression that the symbol was very majestic to behold. There was a spherical device hanging above his head, and Shui Yu prompted, "Please release your battle armor."


    Tang Wulin did as he was instructed, and specks of light began to appear all over his body at his behest.


    "Two-word battle armor?" Shui Yu and the other employee exclaimed in unison.


    A suit of golden battle armor appeared to encapsulate Tang Wulin''s entire body, and when the golden visor emerged to conceal his face, the aura that erupted from his body brought expressions of astonishment to the faces of both of the employees.


    What a powerful aura!


    As employees of the Sky Dragon''s Roar, they had seen more than their fair share of battle armor, but it was the first time that they had felt such an immense aura from a suit of battle armor.


    In reality, this wasn''t just the aura of the suit of battle armor alone. Instead, this powerful aura was the result of a combination of the battle armor, as well as Tang Wulin''s own aura and bloodline aura.


    A beam of light descended from above, illuminating Tang Wulin''s body. He was only struck by the sensation that something seemed to have brushed over his entire body.


    Soon, an electronic voice sounded.


    "One-word battle armor constructed from spirit alloys; battle armor level: black."


    Tang Wulin had heard of the battle armor levels in the past. As was the case with mechas, many of the levels involved in the parameters that determined the powers of Soul Masters followed the color system of soul rings, which, from lowest to highest, went white, yellow, purple, black, and red. There was also an extra golden color for some very special parameters.


    Even for suits of the battle armor of the same grade, they were differentiated by levels. For example, among suits of one-word battle armor, those that had been constructed from spirit alloys were most definitely of a higher level than normal battle armor.


    For battle armor masters, suits of one-word battle armor were very elementary, so the process of constructing one''s suit of one-word battle armor was more for gathering experience than anything else. After all, it was quite often the case that suits of two-word battle armor had to be made again from scratch, so most suits of one-word battle armor were at the white and yellow levels.


    Purple level one-word battle armor was extremely rare, and generally speaking, that was the upper limit of such a suit of battle armor as that was the upper limit on the level of metals used.

 Chapter 777: One-word Battle Armor: Dragon

    Only in extremely rare cases like Tang Wulin''s, where spirit alloys had been used to construct his suit of battle armor, could the evaluation exceed the purple level for a suit of one-word battle armor. At the same time, the degree of enhancement provided by the suit of battle armor, the craftsmanship, and the quality of the metals or alloys used all had to be of a certain level before such an evaluation could be given.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin''s one-word battle armor was extremely powerful. The entire suit of armor had been constructed from spirit alloys with a harmony rate of over 85%, and Gu Yue had designed it, while Ye Xinglan had constructed it.


    Only with the culmination of all of those factors did it manage to earn a black level rating.


    Both of the female employees stared at Tang Wulin as if they were looking at a ghost upon hearing this result. They were even more surprised than when they''d been led to the false conclusion that Tang Wulin was a two-word battle armor master.


    Tang Wulin''s suit of black level one-word battle armor indicated that he hailed from a superb background, and even in the context of the entire Soul Master world, suits of one-word battle armor that were constructed from spirit alloys were virtually non-existent! Furthermore, suits of spirit alloy one-word battle armor could be upgraded right away, so his suit of two-word battle armor didn''t have to be remade from scratch. All he had to do was infuse alloys of a higher level, then redesign it to fit his needs. This would also result in a more powerful suit of two-word battle armor than if he were to remake one from scratch.


    As such, his spirit alloy one-word battle armor paved the way for a bright future for him.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin was also extremely young and handsome, so it was no wonder that the eyes of the two female employees were practically glowing.


    "Is that it?" Tang Wulin asked, and only then did the two employees return to their senses.


    Shui Yu hurriedly said, "Yes, please come with us to make your registration."


    The registration process consisted solely of filling out a form, which required information such as the academy Tang Wulin attended, his age, what level of battle armor master he was, and most importantly, the name that he was giving to his suit of battle armor.


    "Dragon?" Shui Yu looked up at Tang Wulin with a hint of surprise in her eyes.


    The fact that he''d given his battle armor such a name indicated that his martial soul had something to do with dragons. There were many people who named their suits of battle armor in such a manner, but spirit alloy one-word armor battle masters were far from commonplace. This made Shui Yu even more curious about Tang Wulin''s abilities.


    That''s right, the name that he''d given his suit of battle armor was "Dragon". The Golden Dragon King bloodline had given him everything, and he was willing to bury true dragon skeletons for three years as a form of repayment to the dragon clan. As such, he''d decided a long time ago that this was the name he was going to give to his one-word battle armor.


    Thus, he could now refer to himself as Dragon Tang Wulin.


    Of course, in the world of battle armor masters, most people only began to refer to themselves in such a manner after becoming two-word battle armor masters. Adding just a single word before one''s name seemed a little forced, and many battle armor masters were of the opinion that one only became a true battle armor master after attaining a suit of two-word battle armor. However, suits of spirit alloy one-word battle armor were naturally an exception to this.


    Tang Wulin returned to the elevator, and Shui Yu''s eyes were filled with yearning as her gaze followed him the entire way. However, he certainly wasn''t in the mood to exchange soul communicator numbers with her or anything like that. The employees of the Spirit Pagoda were also quite professional, and they merely looked on at him with yearning in their eyes without making any further advances.


    After exiting the Spirit Pagoda, Tang Wulin turned around and looked up at the grandiose building with a slightly lost expression on his face. Gu Yue, are you there? Are you in the Spirit Pagoda? If not, where are you? Wait for me, I''ll attain my suit of two-word battle armor soon, and when that time comes, your name will be my only choice.


    The inner court finally made some arrangements for Tang Wulin. Firstly, they confirmed his status as an inner court disciple, and at the same time, he was reinstated as the leader of the Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, taking over from Gu Yue. These decisions had already been made over three years ago.


    Aside from that, he had been permitted to live on the Sea God''s Island, his designated instructor was none other than his grandteacher, Zhuo Shi.


    It was quite clear that Atlas Douluo hadn''t decided to take Tang Wulin under his wing as Na''er had implored him to do in her letter. He was still feeling a sense of loathing toward Tang Wulin.


    The Atlas Douluo was a very loyal man when it came to love, and in his eyes, the fact that Tang Wulin had attracted so many women at once indicated that he had to have led them on somehow [ok, I just gotta say that''s veeeeeery hypocritical coming from a womanizer like himself LOL], and his promiscuity had been the root cause behind Na''er''s departure. This notion made him very displeased, but even so, the contribution that he''d made to Shrek Academy was undeniable. As such, even he couldn''t abolish Tang Wulin as one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters unless he made a heinous mistake.


    On top of that, Tang Wulin''s test results had also cemented his reputation as a superb prodigy, so they certainly couldn''t turn their backs on him solely due to Yun Ming''s personal biases.


    "You little rascal!" Zhuo Shi slammed a hand down onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder, and even with his insanely powerful body, he still couldn''t help but grimace in the face of Zhuo Shi''s immense strength.


    "You''ve really outdone yourself! What the hell is your body made of? Over 100,000 kilograms of right fist punching strength? Hahaha! I wish you could''ve seen the faces of all of the elders during the meeting! Even Light Dark Douluo Elder Long was completely stunned. From now on, you''ll be cultivating under my tutelage on the Sea God''s Island. What you have to do now is master my Nine Arts of the Scarlet Dragon, and also improve that pitiful soul power of yours as quickly as possible; how can you be the leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters when your cultivation rank is so far below those of your friends?"


    "Yes, I''ll be sure to work hard."


    Zhuo Shi''s Nine Arts of the Scarlet Dragon naturally became Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon in Tang Wulin''s case. At present, he had mastered Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth.


    It could be said that this was the ideal way to utilize Tang Wulin''s blood essence power, and he''d been looking forward to learning these nine arts for a long time. Due to the limitations of his powers in the past, he hadn''t been able to continue learning these arts.


    However, his soul power had increased significantly compared to in the past, and even more importantly, his blood essence power had become extraordinarily abundant. These two factors would naturally make it a lot easier for him to cultivate the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon.


    Despite the fact that Tang Wulin had promised Zhuo Shi that he was going to work hard, even Zhuo Shi was stunned by just how hard he began to work.


    Under Zhuo Shi''s tutelage, Tang Wulin quickly began to cultivate, and he did so without any rest whatsoever.


    He only did three things every day: practice his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, meditate, and forge!


    Meditation was his form of rest, and as soon as he recovered his soul power, he''d continue to practice. He forged for six hours per day, and the rest of his time was spent entirely on meditation and practicing his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon.


    It wouldn''t be too surprising to see an inner court disciple cultivate in such a manner for one or two days at a time, but Tang Wulin kept this up for three whole months!


    The enormous bloodline power within his body had finally been activated during his cultivation of the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, and with his immense blood essence power, it was as if exhaustion had become a foreign concept to him.


    In Zhuo Shi''s eyes, Tang Wulin seemed to have become a completely different person compared to the young boy he was three years ago. His aptitude in cultivating the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon far exceeded Zhuo Shi''s expectations.


    Six months was an extremely short time for a Soul Master''s cultivation, yet during these past six months, Tang Wulin had cultivated for around the same amount of time as a normal Soul Master would cultivate for during two years. Even the most conscientious inner court disciples only cultivated for half the amount of time that he did.


    As such, he was able to completely transform himself in just six short months.


    "Grandteacher!" Tang Wulin extended a respectful bow toward Zhuo Shi.


    Zhuo Shi wore a benevolent expression as he asked, "Is there anything you don''t understand?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and replied, "No, Grandteacher, but I want to stop cultivating the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon for now."


    With Zhuo Shi''s fiery temper, if another disciple had said this to him, he would most likely slap them across the face and scold them for wanting to slack off. However, the fact that Tang Wulin was saying this prompted him to heave a sigh of relief instead.


    Was he finally going to take a rest now?


    "Good, it''s indeed time for you to rest and relax for a bit. Appropriate rest is very beneficial for cultivation."


    However, Tang Wulin shook his head, and explained, "No, Grandteacher, I don''t want to rest; I''m going to prepare to make a breakthrough to become a Soul King. I''ve already cultivated my soul power to the pinnacle of rank 49."


    He had cultivated his soul power from rank 47 to the pinnacle of rank 49 in just six months!


    The stimulative effects the Body Sect''s cultivation method on his body coupled with the awakening of his Bluesilver Emperor had finally significantly raised the speed of his soul power progression. Furthermore, he had been working tirelessly during the past six months, and his soul power had finally reached a bottleneck.


    Zhuo Shi suggested, "I think you should take a break for a few days to prime yourself before attempting a breakthrough."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m in great condition right now. I can sense that this won''t be a big deal. It''s just a breakthrough to become a Soul King; even if I wanted to take a break, I should do it after my breakthrough."


    Zhuo Shi hesitated momentarily before nodding in response. "Alright, then I''ll keep a lookout for you."


    "Thank you, Grandteacher."


    Zhuo Shi found it very difficult to say no to Tang Wulin. What had he done in the past six months? He''d cultivated his soul power to the pinnacle of rank 49, and at the same time, not only had he mastered four more of the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, he had truly made them his own by rehearsing and unleashing them countless times.


    As for the final three of the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, those required an enormous amount of soul power expenditure that couldn''t be replaced by blood essence power. As such, Tang Wulin''s meteoric progress struck Zhuo Shi with the feeling that he had nothing else left to teach him.


    Feng Wuyu also felt the same way.

 Chapter 778: Old Man in the Dream

    Tang Wulin was already at the pinnacle of sixth-rank blacksmiths, so he was one step away from becoming a seventh-rank blacksmith. A seventh-rank blacksmith was required to be able to complete soul refinements.


    Feng Wuyu was capable of this, and he could pass on his soul forging experiences to Tang Wulin. As for Tang Wulin himself, he''d been attempting soul refinements this entire time, but hadn''t achieved any success. Feng Wuyu¡¯s suggestion to him was to go and seek out Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua. Divine blacksmiths who were capable of heavenly refinements undoubtedly had a deeper understanding of soul refinements. Even though Feng Wuyu didn''t want to admit his inferiority to someone else, he had no choice but to make this suggestion for the future of his prized disciple.


    Following the passage of six months, Tang Wulin''s heart had already become completely placid. In other words, he''d been so busy with cultivation that he hadn''t any time to think about anything else.


    During these six months, he was able to make use of the vast amount of uncommon metals at his disposal and his own forging skills to forge an alloy consisting of four metals, and he''d also changed the metallic constitution of his friends'' suits of battle armor, as well as his own.


    This meant that the materials of all of their suits of one-word battle armor had been upgraded, and they were ready to be remodeled into two-word battle armor.


    Gu Yue had already completed the designs well in advance, and Ye Xinglan had become a sixth-rank mecha maker, so they could begin constructing their suits of two-word battle armor at any time.


    However, there was an obstacle standing in their way; their cultivation ranks were simply insufficient to support them in the construction of the suits of armor.


    Furthermore, generally speaking, if one wanted to wear a suit of two-word battle armor, then they had to at least be a six-ring Soul Emperor.


    Zhuo Shi said, "Seeing as you''re making a breakthrough to become a Soul King, I''ll take you somewhere that''ll help you in that process."


    He grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder and rose up into the air as he spoke, and the two of them quickly vanished into the distance.


    Tang Wulin could hear fierce winds howling past his ears, and it seemed that only around a quarter of a minute had passed before they landed on the ground again.


    They were situated in a small valley that was clearly somewhere on the Sea God''s Island. Their entire surroundings were covered in lush greenery, and rich life force energy intermingled with the fragrance of different plants permeated through the air.


    Tang Wulin''s martial soul was Bluesilver Grass, so he was thrilled to be in this environment. The aura of nature was so potent here, and it was perfect for assisting him in making his breakthrough.


    He hurriedly sat down with his legs crossed before entering a meditative state.


    Zhuo Shi stood beside him and sensed the changes in the soul power fluctuations emanating from his body.


    Gusts of gentle breeze blew past his ears as he inhaled the earthy fragrance around him, and his heart quickly calmed down. It was always so easy for him to lose himself in the world of nature.


    His soul power began to circulate according to the route stipulated by the Mysterious Heaven Method on its own, and in Tang Wulin''s spiritual world, it was as if specks of green light were appearing one after another, with each speck of light corresponding to a plant around him.


    They seemed to have sensed the aura of the Bluesilver Emperor coming from Tang Wulin''s body, and they immediately began to resonate with him and transmit signals of joy and intimacy.


    Faint blue light began to emanate from his body, and his head of black hair gradually turned blue. His aura seemed to have completely fused as one with nature.


    If he didn''t use his eyes to appraise Tang Wulin, even Zhuo Shi would find it difficult to detect his presence.


    Zhuo Shi nodded with an expression of approval on his face. This current state indicated that Tang Wulin had already truly understood the intricacies of his own martial soul, which was a very encouraging sign!


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline aura had been completely withdrawn, and only the aura of his Bluesilver Emperor was emanating from his body. His sensory scope gradually began to expand, and more and more green specks of light appeared in his spiritual world.


    His soul was increasing in a subtle manner while more and more plants released their auras. Even if they could only spare a tiny amount of energy, they were determined to release it so it could fuse with Tang Wulin''s aura. As he breathed at a slow and even pace, the aura of the Bluesilver Emperor emanating from his body reciprocated these plants for their offerings of energy, and these plants would immediately begin to release emotions of elation. After coming into contact with the aura of the Bluesilver Emperor, there was a greater chance that they''d be able to attain sentience.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Here in the world of plants, he felt as if he''d found many close relatives, and all of them were growing along with him. His spiritual world began to spread even further, to the extent that it encompassed the entire Sea God''s Island.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s body shuddered, and he seemed to have sensed something indescribable from among the countless plants in his sensory scope. In contrast with the plants growing in other places, the plants on the Sea God''s Island were clearly higher level life forms, and they were able to give him more than what other plants were capable of. However, right at this moment, there seemed to be a special aura emanating from among these plants.


    Those specks of green light gradually took on a golden hue in his spiritual world, and they were still connected to the aura of his Bluesilver Emperor. However, what had changed was that the amount of energy they were bestowing upon him had suddenly increased.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin felt as if an explosion had erupted in his spiritual world, and his body shuddered violently as if a massive being had barged its way into his spiritual world.


    He was then stunned to discover that a massive golden ball of light had appeared in his spiritual world, taking up the entirety of that world with its gigantic size.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin''s consciousness faded, and in the instant after that, he was surprised to discover that he''d arrived in a golden world.


    There were all types of plants of different shapes and sizes around him, but they were all of a faint golden color and emanating vitality the caliber of which Tang Wulin had never sensed before.


    He couldn''t help but inhale this rich life force energy in a greedy manner, and it was as if each and every inhalation was elevating him to become a higher level life form.


    "You possess the aura of the Bluesilver Emperor, little guy." An elderly voice suddenly sounded, following which Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of an elderly man slowly emerging from within the forest.


    This old man had a very special appearance. He was completely hunch-backed, his entire body was golden in color, and his long beard trailed all the way down onto the ground, as did his head of white hair and even his eyebrows. However, his eyes were of an extremely clear faint golden color, and they were filled with surprise as the man appraised Tang Wulin.


    "Hello, what is this place?" Tang Wulin asked with a hint of bewilderment on his face.


    The old man said, "You still haven''t told me where your Bluesilver Emperor aura is coming from."


    Tang Wulin replied, "My martial soul is Bluesilver Emperor!"


    The old man smiled and shook his head. "That''s impossible. No human can possess Bluesilver Emperor as their martial soul. Tell me how you managed to obtain it."


    Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. "Why can''t humans possess the Bluesilver Emperor as their martial soul?"


    The old man explained, "Because just like me, Bluesilver Emperor is a life form of the highest level in the world of plants, so there''s no way for it to combine with another life form, unless the bloodline of the Bluesilver Emperor runs through your veins. In other words, a part of your bloodline stems from plants; do you understand now?"


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at the old man. "I still don''t understand. How can part of my bloodline stem from plants?"


    The old man scoffed, "You sure are dense! I''m saying that one of your parents is a plant, and that you were born to a human and plant couple."


    Tang Wulin exclaimed, "How is that possible? How can humans and plants reproduce with one another?"


    The old man explained, "It''s far from impossible. Plants that attain sentience become soul beasts, and they can also cultivate through the years. After cultivating for 100,000 years, plants can also become humans, so why can''t they reproduce with other humans? There''s no mistaking it; you possess a part of his aura within your body. There''s only one branch of humans on this continent who possess the aura of the Bluesilver Emperor, so you must be a direct lineal descendant of his. This is truly remarkable!"


    Tang Wulin was extremely confused. "So you''re saying that one of my parents is a plant-type soul beast that became a human after 100,000 years of cultivation? That''s impossible! My parents are the most ordinary humans."

 Chapter 779: Five-ring Soul King!

    The old man said, "There''s no way for me to discuss these matters with you as I have no idea what''s happened to you prior to this point. However, I can sense your Bluesilver Emperor Bloodline. He was the one who transferred me over to this place and gave me the chance to take root here and finally complete my awakening. As such, I owe a debt of gratitude to him. Seeing as you''re his descendant, I''ll pass on my gratitude to you instead."


    "Wha..." Before Tang Wulin had a chance to say anything, everything around him suddenly took on an extremely vibrant golden color. He felt as if countless specks of golden light were instantly fusing into his body, and tendrils of Bluesilver Emperor erupted from within his body in all directions, but in this moment, all of those tendrils had taken on a bright golden hue.


    These tendrils plunged into the ground, and the earth around him also turned golden in color. Golden light flashed from Tang Wulin''s forehead, and a golden tree branch pattern suddenly appeared.


    In the next instant, he was plunged into a sea of golden light.


    His entire body was warm and indescribably comfortable. Furthermore, Tang Wulin was stunned to discover that his mind had also completely taken on a bright golden color. His spiritual power wasn''t elevated at all. In fact, it had suffered a significant decrease. However, not only had his mind completely liquefied, it seemed to have become rather viscous as well. Most importantly, he could sense that his heart had taken on an unprecedented level of clarity, allowing him to instantly attain enlightenment in many areas of his cultivation that had befuddled him in the past.


    This was an extremely unique and wonderful feeling, as if he''d suddenly become smarter. This notion was rather ridiculous to Tang Wulin, but the fact of the matter was that these were his true feelings.


    His soul power bottleneck to rank 50 had been broken on its own without his realization, and his soul power was elevated to a higher level. It washed over his entire body, and his soul power took on a golden hue, just like his blood essence power. However, this was a golden color that was tinged with white, and it was slightly different from the pure golden color of his blood essence power.


    What happened? What''s happening to me?


    Enormous soul power surged throughout his entire body, and he exhaled before slowly opening his eyes.


    In the instant he opened his eyes again, he was given a massive fright and almost jumped up from the ground.


    This was because Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi was no longer the only one standing beside him. Instead, there were over 10 more people gathered around him, all of whom had extremely fearsome auras emanating from their bodies. Standing directly in front of him was none other than the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    Everyone''s eyes were focused directly on him, and they seemed to be rather unfriendly toward him.


    Tang Wulin looked at Yun Ming, then cast his gaze toward Zhuo Shi, who was standing off to the side, and he was at a complete loss for what to do.


    Zhuo Shi''s expression was rather peculiar, and Tang Wulin was unable to ascertain the nature of the situation from Zhuo Shi''s facial expression alone.


    "What happened?" Yun Ming asked in a grave voice.


    Tang Wulin was slightly flabbergasted. "I, I don''t know what happened. What''s going on, Elder Yun? I only just broke through my rank 50 bottleneck; why are all of you here?"


    Yun Ming''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. "You only broke through your rank 50 bottleneck?"


    His voice had raised a few octaves, and he was clearly quite enraged for some reason.


    Tang Wulin gulped nervously in the face of the infuriated Atlas Douluo. He honestly had no idea what he''d done to draw such a furious reaction from Yun Ming.


    Zhuo Shi cleared his throat, and asked in a low voice, "Wulin, what did you do just then? Not long after you began meditating, all of the plants on the entire Sea God''s Island turned golden in color..."


    Tang Wulin turned to Zhuo Shi with a stunned expression. "What? All of the plants on the Sea God''s Island turned golden? Just like in my dream?"


    That''s right, all of the plants on the entire Sea God''s Island had turned golden, making it appear as if the entire island had been forged from pure gold. All of the inner court disciples on the shore of the Sea God''s Lake were completely dumbstruck. Such a majestic scene had never been witnessed ever since the Sea God''s Island had been constructed over 10,000 years ago.


    "You had a dream?" Yun Ming looked at Tang Wulin with a contemplative expression, and asked, "What did you see in this dream of yours?"


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily before informing everyone of what he''d seen during his meditation.


    Peculiar expressions appeared on the faces of Yun Ming and the few eldest Titled Douluos gathered here as they listened to Tang Wulin''s recount.


    Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue sighed, "So that old man is the one behind all this. This situation is really strange, though; what could he be referring to? I think it would be wise for you to try and communicate with that old man, Pavilion Master."


    All of a sudden, Yun Ming''s expression changed as he stared at Tang Wulin with an intense gaze. "You just said you possess the Bluesilver Emperor martial soul?"


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation.


    "But it''s impossible for a normal human being to be able to attain the Bluesilver Emperor martial soul. Could it be that he was referring to..." An astonished expression appeared on his face, and it had been many years since he''d last displayed such strong emotions.


    A thought seemed to have also occurred to Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue as her expression was just as spectacular. Both of the most powerful Titled Douluos present wore stunned expressions on their faces.


    Tang Wulin was still completely in the dark. "What are you saying, Pavilion Master?"


    Yun Ming took a deep breath before replying, "In the history of Shrek Academy, you''re not the first student to possess the Bluesilver Emperor martial soul, but the second one instead. I''m sure you know who the first one was, right?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred as a look of awe and veneration appeared on his face, and he asked, "Could it be that you''re referring to the mighty figure who founded the Tang Sect and was the leader of the first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters?"


    Yun Ming nodded in response. "That''s exactly who it is. According to what Elder Jin told you, it''s quite possible that you''re his direct lineal descendant."


    An astonished look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "How is that possible? That mighty figure existed 20,000 years ago! Even if I did inherit his bloodline, I shouldn''t be the second person to possess the Bluesilver Emperor martial soul. On top of that, my original martial soul was Bluesilver Grass, and it only evolved into Bluesilver Emperor recently due to an improvement in my bloodline, so it should count as a second martial soul awakening."


    Yun Ming appraised him with a meaningful expression, and said, "That man from 20,000 years ago also had the Bluesilver Grass martial soul to begin with before awakening his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul. He was only able to do this because his mother was the first Bluesilver Emperor to have attained a human form after cultivating for 100,000 years, which is why this bloodline exists. Elder Jin wouldn''t misjudge your bloodline; there''s no one in this world more familiar with plant-type martial souls than he is, so it''s very likely that you really did inherit your bloodline from that man. Even though it''s been many generations, it seems that it''s not a coincidence that you also possess the Tang surname."


    Tang Wulin was still struggling to come to terms with the situation. "So what you''re saying is, the old man in my dream truly exists?"


    Yun Ming harrumphed coldly, "During your meditation, the true core of the Sea God''s Island lost over 30% of its energy! Do you understand?"


    Tang Wulin continued to look at Yun Ming in a flabbergasted manner. Of course he didn''t understand! He had no idea what Yun Ming was talking about.


    "Everyone, come with me." As he spoke, Yun Ming swept a sleeve toward Tang Wulin, and the latter felt his body enter a dim and murky place completely out of his control. However, this place didn''t cause any discomfort to him in any way.


    Light flashed soon after, and when his surroundings became clear again, he had already arrived at another place.


    The first thing that appeared in his field of view was an unfathomably enormous tree with a gargantuan canopy that stretched for as far as the eyes could see. At the foot of the colossal tree was a giant treehouse that was directly connected to the tree. Above the treehouse hung a plaque, upon which three large words were emblazoned: Sea God''s Pavilion!


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon seeing this. It was his first time here, but it was quite clear that this was the core of the entire Shrek Academy, and even the entirety of Shrek City, the Sea God''s Pavilion. This was a place that was inhabited only by the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion.

 Chapter 780: Greenish-golden Soul Ring

    Tang Wulin could feel that the natural energies surging through his surroundings were far richer than those on the Sea God''s Island. In particular, the rich life force energy in the air made him draw in deep breaths in a reflexive manner, and soul power immediately flowed through his entire body, basking him in a sensation of indescribable comfort. His Bluesilver Emperor martial soul was also transmitting signals of excitement to him.


    Yun Ming turned to Tang Wulin, and said, "This is the Sea God''s Pavilion, which was constructed within this massive tree, and it''s also the core of Shrek City. This tree is known as the Golden Tree, and it''s blessed Shrek City for over 20,000 years. Whenever Shrek City has encountered any major crises, this tree has always protected us. Whenever exceptional prodigies have appeared, this tree has always given us wisdom and direction. The old man that you saw is the tree spirit of this Golden Tree, the true guardian of Shrek Academy, and even we have never been able to meet him. I don''t know what Elder Jin did to you, but I could sense that 30% of the energy within the Golden Tree has disappeared. This is the first time that all of the plants on the Sea God''s Island have taken on a golden color."


    Yun Ming paused momentarily before continuing, "I can also tell you that back when the Thousand Hands Douluo, Tang San, became a god, he constructed this Sea God''s Island prior to departing to the Divine Realm, and he was the one who transferred the ancient Golden Tree to this place. Do you understand now why we''re convinced that you''re a direct lineal descendant of his?"


    Tang Wulin listened to Yun Ming''s words in a dumbstruck manner. Even he was beginning to realize that perhaps his martial soul really was related to the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San! But Tang San was a mighty figure who lived over 20,000 years ago! How was this possible?


    Zhuo Shi chuckled, "Regardless of whether there''s a bloodline connection or not, this is definitely a good thing. Elder Jin''s assistance will naturally be of great benefit to Wulin."


    "You think this is a good thing?" Yun Ming glared at Zhuo Shi, and said, "It''s obviously a good thing for him, but do you know how long it''ll take for the Golden Tree to accumulate 30% of its power? 3,000 years! 30% of the Golden Tree''s power is enough to protect Shrek Academy from a catastrophic disaster! This is an immeasurable loss to our entire academy."


    "Er..." A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he looked at the furious Yun Ming.


    "But I don''t know how to return this energy back to the Golden Tree!"


    Yun Ming instructed, "Release your Bluesilver Emperor martial soul; I want to take a look at it."


    "Yes."


    Tang Wulin hurriedly did as he was told, activating his soul power to release his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul.


    Thick bluish-golden vines erupted from the ground beneath his feet alongside a series of soul rings. Four soul rings appeared first, consisting of three purples and a black.


    However, immediately thereafter, a peculiar scene unfolded. A massive bluish-golden projection slowly emerged behind Tang Wulin, and it was none other than the Bluesilver Emperor that had appeared following the second awakening of his martial soul.


    After that, another projection emerged beside the Bluesilver Emperor. This was a large shimmering golden tree that was the spitting image of the miniature version of the Golden Tree.


    As soon as those two projections appeared, the soul power within Tang Wulin''s body surged forth in a frenzy, and all of the Bluesilver Emperor vines he''d summoned began to tremor violently while also changing color. Their original bluish-golden color gradually transformed into intertwining colors of blue and gold.


    The two massive projections gradually approached one another before fusing together, and the thick vines of the Bluesilver Emperor began to intertwine with the branches of the Golden Tree. The blue and golden colors combined to form a strange greenish-golden color, and an enormous burst of life force energy erupted forth. Even the Titled Douluos in the surrounding area could clearly feel rich life force energy being injected into their bodies.


    This feeling was most pronounced for Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue. She was the oldest of the Titled Douluos present, and it was just as she had said, her days in this world were limited. However, in that instant, she could clearly sense that renewed vitality had been injected into her withering life essence, and her life force fluctuations gradually grew stronger. The process wasn''t very fast nor drastic, but it was an increase in her life essence rather than just an instantaneous increase in life force energy. The main difference between the two was that the former was a permanent change, while the latter would disappear in an instant.


    When the two projections finally completely combined as one, a mystifying turn of events unfolded. The Bluesilver Emperor and the Golden Tree both vanished, and were replaced by a greenish-golden figure. The greenish-golden figure was rather blurry, but it was quite clear that it was meant to be of the same appearance as Tang Wulin. It hovered behind Tang Wulin, forming a massive wheel of light with a diameter of around 10 meters. The projection then spread open its arms as if it were embracing the entire world.


    "Is this soul skill mutation or martial soul mutation?" Even the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, Yun Ming, was unable to immediately make sense of the situation unfolding before his eyes.


    Right at this moment, the greenish-golden projection behind Tang Wulin swayed before suddenly transforming into a greenish-golden halo that descended around Tang Wulin''s body, becoming his fifth soul ring.


    The projection then vanished, and the Bluesilver Emperor summoned by Tang Wulin settled down again. They reverted back to their bluish-golden color, and they looked no different compared to their past appearance. However, a translucent greenish-golden soul ring had appeared around Tang Wulin''s body. The soul ring was filled with vitality, and it almost appeared to have a substantial form.


    All of the Titled Douluos present, including Yun Ming, looked on with wide eyes, and Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue exclaimed, "That injection of life force energy has increased my lifespan by at least 10 years!"


    This was also the case for the other Titled Douluos present.


    10 years of lifespan! This was something that simply couldn''t be bought with money. Furthermore, Long Yeyue was only able to ascertain how much she''d benefitted in such a concrete manner as she was nearing the end of her life. In contrast, the other Titled Douluos still have powerful life forces, so they would''ve only received even greater benefits from that influx of rich and refreshing life force energy.


    However, none of them were focusing on the changes in their own life force as their attention had been fully absorbed by the greenish-golden soul ring before them.


    The normal colors of soul rings consisted of white, yellow, purple, black, and red. Those were the standard soul ring colors that had existed in the world of Soul Masters for tens of thousands of years, and they represented, 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years, 10,000 years, and 100,000 years respectively. This system was only broken around 10,000 years ago, when Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had invented soul spirits. Soul spirits of soul beasts that were over 100,000 years old could form orange soul rings, thereby adding a new sixth color to the existing five.


    However, this greenish-golden soul ring was most definitely completely unprecedented. All of the Titled Douluos present were adamant that such a soul ring had never appeared in the history of the human world. Tang Wulin had created history!


    The last human to have created a brand new color of soul rings was Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, a legendary figure who had once reigned supreme over the entire world!


    "Test out your fifth soul skill," Yun Ming instructed.


    In the world of Soul Masters, it was considered to be a major taboo to ask others to reveal their soul skills. However, that obviously didn''t apply to this situation as all of the people present were Tang Wulin''s teachers and seniors.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly nodded before injecting his soul power into his fifth soul ring.


    All of a sudden, scintillating light erupted from the greenish-golden soul ring, and Tang Wulin could feel the soul power within his body surging into the soul ring in a frenzy. His entire body had even been illuminated to match the color of the greenish-golden soul ring.


    And then...


    That was it...


    Tang Wulin''s soul power was rapidly sapped away, and within just the span of a few breaths, all of the soul power within his entire body had been absorbed by the greenish-golden soul ring.


    Tang Wulin''s body swayed, and he only managed to remain on his feet as he was able to support himself with his immense bloodline power.


    "What happened to your soul skill?" Zhuo Shi asked.


    Tang Wulin wore a dumbstruck expression. "I, I don''t know! I could only feel all of my soul power being sucked away by the soul ring, but nothing happened after that..."


    Peculiar expressions appeared on everyone''s faces upon hearing this.


    This was also completely unprecedented. Soul skills did indeed expend different amounts of soul power depending on their caliber, but never had a Soul Master been unable to unleash a soul skill even after all of their soul power had been sapped away.


    Yun Ming laid a hand on Tang Wulin''s shoulder so he could get a better gauge on the latter''s bodily condition, and it was indeed the case that all of his soul power had been sucked away, leaving behind not even a single trace.


    A normal Soul Master would''ve most likely immediately fainted after having all of their soul power sapped away, but Tang Wulin was able to remain largely unaffected due to his immensely powerful physical constitution.

 Chapter 781: Son of Nature

    Yun Ming''s brows furrowed slightly. "It seems that he was unable to unleash his soul skill as he doesn''t have sufficient soul power to support it. I''ll give you a hand this time; try that again."


    He appeared behind Tang Wulin in a flash as he spoke, and he transferred his right hand from Tang Wulin''s shoulder to the middle of his upper back.


    Tang Wulin immediately sensed a burst of extremely gentle yet dense soul power being injected into his body, quickly replenishing his meridians, which had already run dry.


    This was the Mysterious Heaven Method in its purest form!


    Tang Wulin looked up with a stunned expression on his face. He was quite surprised that the pavilion master had also cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Method.


    "Concentrate and focus your attention, then try and unleash your new soul skill again!"


    Yun Ming had an enormous wealth of soul power, and he''d also cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Method, so it was a simple matter for him to emulate Tang Wulin''s soul power. Tang Wulin hurriedly circulated his newfound soul power, injecting it into his fifth soul ring.


    Greenish-golden light erupted once again, and the soul ring absorbed the soul power within his body at an alarming rate.


    Only then did he truly experience just how fearsomely powerful a Limit Douluo was. He could feel soul power pouring relentlessly into his body through his back, and it was as if he were being supported by an inexhaustible ocean of power. Despite the dramatic rate at which the greenish-golden soul ring was sapping his soul power, it was no match for the rate at which the soul power within his body was being replenished.


    The greenish-golden soul ring began to glow brighter and brighter, and Tang Wulin could feel as if something had blossomed within his mind. When he focused his attention internally, he discovered that his mind had also turned a greenish-golden color.


    He raised his head slightly, and a green insignia of light that resembled a new seedling suddenly appeared on his forehead. Immediately thereafter, a greenish-golden halo of light erupted from Tang Wulin''s forehead.


    The halo radiated outward in all directions, stretching to around 10 meters in diameter before slowly falling to the ground.


    All of the Titled Douluos reflexively backed away so they could get a better look at the mystifying sequence of events that was currently unfolding.


    After the greenish-golden halo of light descended onto the ground, it formed a green ring of light. Within the ring of light, a series of strange greenish-golden runes emerged, but they were hovering in mid-air as opposed to appearing on the ground.


    Extremely rich life force energy proliferated through the air with the greenish-golden ring of light at the very epicenter, but on this occasion, the life force energy belonged solely to the plant world and couldn''t be absorbed by humans.


    Tang Wulin reflexively spread open his arms, and the green wheel of light that had appeared once already emerged behind him once again. The greenish-golden figure that bore a strong resemblance to him also reappeared, and with massive greenish-golden vines surged forth in a frenzy with that greenish-golden figure at the very center.


    There were a total of 12 vines, each of which was as thick as a water tank, and they descended from up above before plunging directly into the ground.


    All of a sudden, the earth turned into a greenish-golden color, and the same color began to spread through the surrounding area. All of the plants encompassed within this scope quickly took on a golden hue, and what was even more remarkable was that all of these golden plants began to sway gently while emitting extremely powerful energy fluctuations.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin had already been completely immersed in his own spiritual world. He felt as if he could sense the entirety of the Sea God''s Island. His sensory scope then continued to proliferate over the Sea God''s Lake, and in the next instant, it had encompassed the entire inner section of Shrek City. All of the plants in that area also turned into a golden color.


    They were like Tang Wulin''s eyes and arms, and as long as these plants were within the area encompassed by his consciousness, he could make them do whatever he wanted as if they were parts of his own body.


    What was even more astonishing was that he was struck by the feeling that he could teleport himself to any area within his sensory scope through these plants. An indescribable sense of power welled up in his body. Every single plant was offering their energy to him without any reservation, and as long as his body could handle it, more and more energy would accumulate within him.


    Furthermore, all of these plants were absorbing the natural energies in the surrounding air in a frenzy, converting the natural energies into life force energy to nurture themselves, as well as to reciprocate Tang Wulin.


    All of a sudden, just as he was experiencing this extraordinary phenomenon, he abruptly blacked out and his consciousness completely faded.


    When he woke up again, it had already turned dark outside. Tang Wulin was struck by a piercing headache that felt as if something were tearing open his skull from the inside, and the intense agony made him moan involuntarily.


    "Are you awake?" A gentle voice sounded from beside him.


    Tang Wulin reflexively turned toward the direction that the voice had come from, and his vision was slightly blurry, but he could still discern that Atlas Douluo Yun Ming was standing beside him.


    "Pavilion Master!" Tang Wulin tried to struggle into a seated position, but he was unable to muster up even a shred of strength. It wasn''t that he had no strength in his body; instead, his spiritual power was severely depleted that he was struggling to control his own body.


    "Keep lying still; don''t try to get up. This was an oversight on my part." Yun Ming made his way over to Tang Wulin before pressing a golden bead against his forehead.


    A cool and refreshing sensation spread through Tang Wulin''s glabella, and his headache was immediately significantly alleviated.


    Yun Ming continued, "You may have created history and attained a truly extraordinary soul skill."


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin looked up at Yun Ming with a surprised expression. His vision was finally becoming clearer as his spiritual power was replenished.


    Yun Ming explained, "If I''m not mistaken, your fifth soul skill should have been formed by a combination of the Bluesilver Emperor and the Golden Tree. It''s hard to say what kind of form this soul skill exists as and what level its corresponding soul ring is, but what I CAN tell you is that this soul skill is a domain that can span an extremely massive area. At least, among all of the soul skills I know of, your one encompasses the largest area. I can make some deductions from the observations that I obtained while you were unleashing that soul skill, but you''ll have to fill me in on some details. At the time, I could sense that all of the plants encompassed by the scope of your soul skill had turned golden in color.


    "These golden plants naturally absorb the natural energies and all types of elements from the air, which results in an effect that''s even more potent than elemental stripping. All elemental Soul Masters will be severely handicapped within your domain. Of course, the prerequisite for this is that there must be a sufficient amount of plant life in the area. On top of that, your soul power was reciprocated by the soul skill, thereby resulting in a drastic spike in your soul power. At its peak, your soul power had spiked to close to rank 80, which means that the amount of soul power in your body was enhanced by more than tenfold. An increase in soul power from rank 50 to rank 80 isn''t just an increase of around 70%; the higher the rank, the greater the increase in soul power, so a tenfold enhancement is only a conservative estimate.


    "We weren''t able to sense anything else after that as we discovered that not only does this soul skill need to be fueled by an extremely vast amount of soul power, it''s also just as taxing on your spiritual power. You were able to maintain the soul skill for a total duration of 13 seconds, even though you possess close to 8,000 points of spiritual power, which indicates a staggering amount of spiritual power expenditure. All in all, we''re far from ascertaining the complete scope of this soul skill''s abilities. Is there anything you''d like to add?"


    Tang Wulin contemplated this question momentarily before replying, "At the time, I could only feel that my entire spiritual world had turned a greenish-golden color, just like the color of my soul ring. After that, I felt like my consciousness could cover an extremely vast area, and all of the plants in that area had become my eyes, allowing me to teleport to any area I wanted where these plants existed. I could even control them to do whatever I wanted. I also sensed the energy reciprocation that you were talking about. It felt like more and more life force energy would pour into my body to be converted into soul power as long as my body could handle it."

 Chapter 782: Punishment?

    "Teleportation and plant control, eh? Good, those are two more facets of this soul skill''s abilities," Yun Ming nodded to himself in a contemplative manner as he mused, "Which means that if you can fully control this soul skill, you''ll have attained teleportation abilities within a set area, the ability to control all plants within that area, and a significant temporary boost in your soul power, is that correct?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "That seems to be the case. However, I can''t really control the soul skill. I could only sense this much before I completely blacked out."


    Yun Ming nodded, and said, "It''s already quite remarkable that you were able to sense this much. From now on, don''t even think about using this soul skill until you attain your eighth soul ring and get your spiritual power up to the Spirit Domain realm."


    Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. "So you''re saying I won''t be able to unleash this soul skill unless I possess the soul power of a Soul Douluo?"


    Yun Ming replied, "That''s right. At least, that''s my assessment from the amount of soul power that I had to inject into your body at the time. It''s good a thing that you cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Method; if you want to forcibly unleash this soul skill, you''ll only be able to do so with other people who''ve also cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Method injecting their soul power into your body. However, most people can''t control their soul power output to the extent that only pure soul power without any attributes from their martial souls is transmitted. Hence, don''t attempt this unless you absolutely have to. Otherwise, the attributes from the martial souls of others will affect you, and that could even cause deviations in your cultivation."


    Of course, Yun Ming was an exception to this. With his immense power and control, it was naturally a simple task to ensure the output of soul power in its purest form, but that didn''t apply to most other people.


    Tang Wulin gulped upon hearing this. Spirit Domain realm spiritual power? That still seemed to be very far away from him! On top of that, who knew how long it would take until he became an eight-ring Soul Douluo?Unfortunately, this soul skill clearly couldn''t be fuelled using his blood essence power. As such, as opposed to becoming excited by the fact that he''d obtained such a powerful soul skill, Tang Wulin was feeling rather dejected.


    Regardless of how good this soul skill was, there was no point in its existence if he couldn''t use it! If he had to wait until becoming a Soul Douluo to use this fifth soul skill, then it wouldn''t be able to enhance his power in any way in the immediate future, which made it a rather useless skill for now.


    Furthermore, even if he were to use it in the future, he''d have to get his spiritual power up to the Spirit Domain realm first, and that was certainly not going to be a simple task.


    The Spirit Abyss realm was already the upper limit for the vast majority of Soul Masters, and even though the Spirit Domain realm was only the next realm above the Spirit Abyss realm, there was a massive gulf between the two of them.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power was only able to reach the Spirit Abyss realm as he''d been blessed by the residual will of countless true dragons after burying their skeletons in their Dragon Valley, but that was an extremely rare opportunity.


    As such, if he couldn''t use this soul skill before his spiritual power reached the Spirit Domain realm, then it was like a powerful tool that he could only see yet not use; how could he not be frustrated by this?


    However, Yun Ming clearly wasn''t of the same opinion. He had thought about many things during Tang Wulin''s period of unconsciousness, and his eyes were glowing as he said, "If you want to be able to make use of this soul skill, I think you should focus more of your attention on enhancing your spiritual power than improving your soul power. There are only a limited number of ways through which spiritual power can be cultivated. You''re currently cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes, which will assist you in that regard, but the cultivation of the Purple Demon Eyes is something that can''t be rushed. As such, I''ll try to find some cultivation methods for you that are specifically designed to improve one''s spiritual power."


    "Thank you."


    At this moment, Yun Ming''s expression suddenly darkened. "However, you must be held accountable for stripping the Golden Tree of 30% of its power. Following a meeting between myself and the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion, we''ve already decided on your punishment."


    A punishment?


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this.


    What was it going to be? Whatever it was, he was willing to accept it as long it didn''t affect his cultivation.


    Yun Ming continued, "You''re going to have to leave the academy for a period of time to train in the outside world. This doesn''t just apply to you, but also to all of the other members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters. All of you are young and extremely talented, so what you need now is to accrue practical experience through hardships. You''ll all be sent to the federal army, where you''ll be undergoing the most rigorous training. Only after you obtain the approval of the army will you be allowed to return."


    Military training as punishment? A peculiar look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes. How could the army provide rigorous training for them? They were among the best disciples Shrek Academy had to offer, and they were all one-word battle armor masters!


    In the outside world, they would be considered to be very powerful Soul Masters already; how was military training supposed to be difficult for them in any way?


    Tang Wulin was rather confused.


    However, the smile on Yun Ming''s face struck him with a sense of foreboding. The smile was rather peculiar to behold, and Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel that it seemed to be a rather cruel smile, as if Yun Ming were deriving some kind of gloating pleasure from this.


    "This army is technically part of the federation, but in reality, they don''t belong to the federation. In other words, even the federation is unaware of just how powerful they are. Once you get there, you''ll find out how difficult it is to join this army. Rest here for today; you can go back tomorrow after you''ve recovered somewhat. We''ll give you a few days to prepare, and you''ll be setting off immediately right after you''ve fully recovered."


    Yun Ming was clearly intentionally keeping everything quite vague, so Tang Wulin naturally couldn''t ask too many questions. An army that could be held in such high regard by the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion clearly wasn''t any ordinary army! But what could they be? He didn''t know much about the military, so he couldn''t derive an answer no matter how much he thought about it.


    As such, he decided to abandon that train of thought altogether. He had experienced so many hardships already; all he had to do was overcome any obstacles that were thrown his way, regardless of what they were. Besides, this was just military training; it was no big deal.


    The stir that ran through the entire Shrek City by the sightings of golden plants quickly died down. In the eyes of most people, this had most likely been the result of one of the unfathomably powerful beings of Shrek Academy testing out one of their abilities. Of course, this incident enshrouded Shrek Academy in an extra layer of mystery and intrigue.


    Five days later. Tang Wulin and his friends were ordered to gather on a plaza in the inner court of the academy.


    Elder Cai of the Sea God''s Pavilion was already there to greet them.


    The sense of foreboding in Tang Wulin''s heart became even more pronounced at the sight of Elder Cai. Every time she assigned them with a mission, it was always quite a difficult mission to complete.


    "Military training with a minimum duration of a year?" Everyone else had also received this news, and just like Tang Wulin, they were also completely in the dark about just what this military training entailed.


    Tang Wulin looked at his friends, all of whom were also looking back at him. Tang Wulin had been living on the Sea God''s Island for the past few days, so this was their first meeting in a while. To be more accurate, Tang Wulin had rarely ever appeared before them during the past six months unless it was to forge uncommon metals for their suits of battle armor.


    He''d initially been planning to pay a visit to Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua, but he clearly didn''t have any time to go now. He''d just have to wait until after this stint of military training. Feng Wuyu had already bestowed upon him the techniques, requirements, and cultivation methods required to succeed in soul forgeries; all that was left now was for him to find his own way.


    "What''s going on, Captain?" Yue Zhengyu asked in a quiet voice. He was standing right beside Tang Wulin while Xu Xiaoyan was situated on the other side of the group, which was a clear indication that their relationship was still quite strained, despite the fact that everything seemed to have gone back to normal.


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and replied, "I don''t know what this military training entails, either, but I can tell you that this is a punishment handed down to me by Elder Yun himself."


    Everyone''s jaws fell to the ground in unison upon hearing this.


    Yun Ming was arguably the most powerful being on the entire Douluo Continent! If this military training were a punishment that had been handed down by him, then there was no way that it was normal military training.


    At this moment, Elder Cai had already made her way over to them. She cleared her throat, and said, "You''ve all grown up, and military service is a mandatory undertaking for every citizen of the federation. You''ve all come of age, so consider this your mandatory military service. There''s no set time frame, but the military training will span a maximum of two years. I hope you can all complete it before coming back."


    I hope you can all complete it? Why did that sound so unsettling?!


    Xie Xie couldn''t help but ask, "Elder Cai, can you tell us what kind of military service this is going to be?"


    Elder Cai glanced at him, and replied, "Do you think I can just go around spilling confidential information from the military? The only thing I can tell you is that less than 30 people from our academy have undertaken this military service, yet only four were able to complete the entire two-year term. I was not one of those four."


    A stunned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Do these 30 people also include the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion?"


    Elder Cai nodded in response. "Of course, but not all of the elders have undertaken this military service. Alright, there''s no point for you to overthink things; you won''t be getting any useful information from me anyway. As opposed to considering all of these pointless matters, it''s better for you to make more preparations instead. I hope all of you can reap bountiful rewards from this stint of military service. Now then, I''m going to elaborate on some matters that need to be addressed."

 Chapter 783: Military Service?

    Everyone immediately became more alert upon hearing this, and they began to appraise Elder Cai with intense focus in their eyes.


    Elder Cai continued, "Firstly, you''ll be traveling to the army on your own, so your first mission will be to get to your destination. I''ll be giving you a map later on, and you''ll have to get to the designated location according to the map. Secondly, in order to make this a more challenging exercise, you''ll be stripped of all of your money and everything else aside from your suits of battle armor, and the items required to make your battle armor. Thirdly, after getting to the designated location, you have to follow the orders of your superiors no matter what. If anyone leaves without permission during the course of your military service, you''ll be regarded as a deserter and be punished by expulsion."


    The more Tang Wulin heard, the more uneasy he became. "Elder Cai, what do we have to do if we wish to withdraw from this stint of military service prior to its conclusion?"


    Elder Cai replied, "You have to submit an application, and only after providing proof that you''re physically or mentally unable to continue will you be permitted to withdraw, is that clear?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "This really does sound like a very difficult undertaking."


    Elder Cai smiled upon hearing this, and her smile was even more unsettling than the one Yun Ming had given Tang Wulin a few days ago. "Difficult? You''re severely underestimating the task that lies ahead of you! Prepare yourselves; the route that will lead you to your destination has been named after one of the soul fusion skills between Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao and Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong. The name is Golden Road. Your first task will be to pass through this Golden Road and arrive at the designated location of your military training. Everything else will be made clear to you after you get there. Tang Wulin, step forward to accept the map."


    Tang Wulin strode over to Elder Cai, and the latter handed a map over to him. "I''ll give all of you half an hour to bring out everything that doesn''t have to do with your suits of battle armor. Your weapons are also an exception to this. We''ll be checking to verify that you''ve submitted everything in half an hour, and following the verification process, you may depart. Of course, you won''t be permitted to take any money with you, so you''ll have to rely entirely on yourselves."


    Thus, Tang Wulin and his friends hurriedly rushed away to prepare for their upcoming journey. Zhuo Shi strode over to Elder Cai from a dark corner in the distance, and asked, "Aren''t we being too cruel here?"


    Elder Cai shrugged in response. "This is the pavilions master''s decision, not mine. In any case, I think it''s a good thing that we''re being a little cruel to them. At the very least, it''ll allow them to go further. By the way, how long did you last back when you did your military training?"


    Zhuo Shi sighed, "Nine months. How about you?"


    Elder Cai harrumphed and gave no reply.


    Zhuo Shi chuckled, "You didn''t last as long as I did, right? Nine months is already a very exceptional result. Aside from those freaks among freaks, who can complete all of those insane missions?"


    Elder Cai smiled, as she said, "You''re right, but I''ll be relaying what you said to the freaks that you were referring to."


    "Er, what do you want to eat tonight, Mei''er? I''ll invite you out to dinner."


    Tang Wulin didn''t have many items he could take with him; aside from his suit of battle armor, he only had his forging hammers and some uncommon metals left. The rest all had to be submitted for confiscation.


    Thankfully, he''d already forged all of the metals required to construct everyone''s suits of battle armor, and he''d also taken some additional pieces of uncommon metals with him to practice his forging on.


    The military training sounded very grueling, but in reality, Tang Wulin wasn''t overly concerned. After all, the training regimen that he''d devised for himself was already extremely arduous. He firmly believed that he''d be able to last through any military training that someone else had endured the full duration of.


    The checks conducted on them prior to their departure from the academy were more thorough than expected. However, none of them were planning to cheat the system in the first place, so the tests were completed quite quickly, and everyone departed from the academy.


    According to the requirements that they''d been given, they had to arrive at the military training location within 15 days. Otherwise, they''d lose the right to undertake military training. If that were to happen, they''d be expelled from the academy, and their titles as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters would be revoked.


    After leaving the academy, Tang Wulin felt as if he''d arrived in another world as it had been half a year since he''d last left the academy.


    He stretched his body vigorously, and a sense of exhaustion suddenly welled up in his heart.


    Regardless of how powerful his body was, forcing himself to work as hard as he could every single day for six months was still bound to take a heavy toll on him. Spiritual power and energy could be replenished through meditation, but accumulated mental fatigue was not that easy to eradicate.


    After leaving the academy, Tang Wulin finally relaxed for the first time in months, so he was naturally struck by a sense of exhaustion.


    "What do we do now, Captain? Set off on foot?" Yue Zhengyu asked. All of them had changed into their own clothes, and Yue Zhengyu was in a set of white activewear that complemented his golden hair very well.


    However, the perpetual smile that was once on his face had faded, and it seemed that he''d matured quite significantly during the past six months. Just like Tang Wulin, he''d also spent most of his time during the past six months in seclusion.


    Tang Wulin replied, "It''s definitely not a viable option to try and get there on foot. According to the designated location on the map, there''s no way we''ll be able to reach our destination in 15 days on foot. Let''s go earn some money first. We can officially set off after that."


    Earning money was a very simple task to Tang Wulin. After all, his forging skills were always extremely sought-after everywhere he went. On top of that, he had to go and visit his teacher as well.


    After arriving at the Shrek City Blacksmith¡¯s Association, Tang Wulin was immediately struck by a sense of nostalgia. Following his return, he''d only paid Teacher Mu Chen one visit before he went into seclusion for half a year. Mu Chen had given him his forging experience journal, and Tang Wulin had saved up many questions that he wanted to ask Mu Chen.


    Different Saint Blacksmiths took different paths to achieve soul refinement, and compared to the route that Feng Wuyu took, the path that Mu Chen had followed was more orthodox. Referencing these two sets of contrasting experiences would undoubtedly be very beneficial to Tang Wulin''s own journey to soul refinement.


    Mu Chen was very surprised and elated by Tang Wulin''s visit. He couldn''t help but smile at the sight of the handsome young man standing before him.


    "You seem to have grown taller and more muscular, but you look a little tired," Mu Chen remarked with a smile.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I don''t know what happened, either; this sense of exhaustion immediately appeared as soon as I left the academy. Teacher, the academy has organized a trial for us that''s going to take a long time to complete, so I might be gone for a long time. I wanted to pay you a visit for my departure, and also..."


    He paused momentarily and scratched his head before continuing, "The academy has imposed many restrictions on us, so all of our money was confiscated. I wanted to see if there were any forging missions that were available for me to complete so I can earn some money for the trip."


    Mu Chen burst into laughter upon hearing this. "That''s not an issue. However, seeing as this is a requirement imposed on you by Shrek Academy, I can''t just directly give you money. How about this? Choose a type of metal, and forge it to the highest level you''re capable of. I want to see what progress you''ve made during the past six months. After that, the association will purchase that piece of metal according to the market price, and you''ll definitely have enough money for your trip that way."


    "Alright," Tang Wulin immediately agreed.


    Right at this moment, a familiar voice sounded from outside the door. "I''m back, Father!"


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to turn around, a fragrant scent wafted into the room, and a gorgeous figure appeared at the doorway. She faltered slightly at the sight of so many people standing in Mu Chen''s office, but she then quickly caught sight of the man standing directly before her father.


    Her footsteps immediately faltered, and her expression also stiffened.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin had already turned around, and he appraised the young woman with a smile as he greeted, "Hello, Senior Disciple Sister."


    The one who had just walked in through the door was none other than Mu Xi. The last time that Tang Wulin had seen her was prior to his departure to the Star Luo Empire. After that, he came back to participate in the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, then went into seclusion following Gu Yue''s disappearance.

 Chapter 784: Immovable Like a Mountain

    As such, he hadn''t seen Mu Xi for many years. In his memory, Mu Xi was still in the outer court of Shrek Academy and hadn''t managed to make it into the inner court. She was already over 20 years of age now, she''d have to become a two-word battle armor master prior to turning 30 if she wanted to enter the inner court.


    Tang Wulin suddenly realized that he knew next to nothing about Mu Xi. He had no idea what her current soul power rank was, nor how she''d been progressing in other areas. With this realization came a sense of guilt and apology.


    "You still recall that you have me as your senior disciple sister?" Mu Xi accused in a cold voice as she placed her hands on her hips.


    It had been four years since Tang Wulin had last seen Mu Xi, and even back then, she was already a splendid beauty. Now, she was already close to turning 23, and her beauty had flourished even further. Her figure had developed to perfection, and all of the male members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters couldn''t help but take an extra glance at her as she walked in through the door.


    She wore a fiery red long dress and had a head of long wavy curls. Her beauty was like that of a scorching yet mesmerizing flame, just like her personality.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''m sorry, Senior Disciple Sister."


    A series of complex emotions instantly welled up in Mu Xi''s heart at the sight of Tang Wulin. She really wanted to pounce on him and give him a piece of her mind. He disappeared for over three years, and as soon as he returned, he went into seclusion in the inner court. She was prohibited from entering the inner court, so there was no way for her to meet him. The only time that she saw him was during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. However, she was unable to participate in the event, so she could only look on from the shore as he expressed his love for Gu Yue before they got their Happily Ever After.


    In that instant, Mu Xi''s heart had been filled with a smorgasbord of different emotions.


    The first time she''d met Tang Wulin, she''d been very disdainful toward him. However, after that, he earned her approval, and gradually, he became someone that she looked up to. In just a decade or so, he had become a truly exceptional man, and perhaps even the brightest star of Shrek Academy. At the same time, it seemed as if the distance between them was constantly widening.


    In some areas, Mu Xi felt the same way as Wu Siduo. Both of them were perfectionists, and after seeing the best, they had no eyes for anything else.


    With Mu Xi''s looks and background, she naturally had countless pursuers in Shrek Academy, and there were even inner court disciples who were interested in her. However, she''d firmly rejected all of their advances without any hesitation as there had always been a figure in her heart that she couldn''t forget.


    She was always trying to pursue him in forging, hoping that he would notice her if she could become just as adept a blacksmith as he was, but he simply left her further and further behind.


    Mu Xi wasn''t a naive little girl who constantly lived in her dream world. After witnessing Tang Wulin choosing someone else during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, she had told herself that this man had nothing to do with her. However, just as she was gradually getting over him, he suddenly appeared before her.


    Just a simple apology from him suddenly made it impossible for her to vent all of the fury and indignation she''d built up toward him.


    "Ahem!" Mu Chen cleared his throat to alleviate the awkward atmosphere slightly. He was Mu Xi''s father, so he was naturally aware of her thoughts and feelings.


    However, Tang Wulin was like a true dragon that was just beginning to rise into the heavens, and relationships simply couldn''t be forced. The two of them simply weren''t meant to be.


    Mu Chen had once tried to tell Mu Xi in a roundabout manner that her personality was too overbearing, and that Tang Wulin definitely wasn''t the type of person who would be willing to be controlled by others. Both of them were very competitive, and when two competitive people came together, perhaps it was possible for them to become friends, but it was far too difficult for them to become lovers.


    "Wulin asked me to assess his forging skills; seeing as you''ve come back, you can have a look as well." Mu Chen made his way over to his daughter before patting her on the shoulder.


    The complex emotions in Mu Xi''s eyes gradually faded. After all, she was already an adult, and regardless of how stubborn her personality was, she certainly wasn''t going to embarrass her father by throwing a fit like a spoiled child.


    "Alright."


    Tang Wulin was starting to sweat under Mu Xi''s scorching gaze, and even the sense of exhaustion that he''d been afflicted with earlier had been instantly burned away.


    Mu Chen said, "Let''s go to my forging room."


    Everyone followed Mu Chen to his private forging room, which contained almost all types of uncommon metals that had been discovered thus far on the Douluo Continent.


    Mu Chen made an inviting hand gesture to Tang Wulin, and the latter paused momentarily before making his way over to the metal that was most familiar to him.


    Thus, he quickly picked up a standard-sized block of heavy silver before placing it on the anvil.


    Mu Xi raised an eyebrow in an insulting manner, and scoffed, "That''s it? Heavy silver?"


    Tang Wulin replied with a smile, "It''s the metal I''m most familiar with."


    Indeed, he was most familiar with heavy silver, not only because this was the first uncommon metal he''d come into contact with, but also because he had an extremely in-depth understanding of this material.


    Tang Wulin''s forging hammers were still his Heavy Silver Hammers, and every time he''d made a breakthrough in his forging, it had always been through refining heavy silver. This was partially due to how familiar he was with heavy silver, and at the same time, it created a placebo effect. All of his breakthroughs had been made with heavy silver on the anvil, so he''d developed the subconscious feeling that heavy silver was his lucky metal, which was why he''d chosen it again.


    Mu Xi didn''t say anything further; she only looked on with rapt focus in her eyes. She had worked extremely hard during the past few years, and if Tang Wulin didn''t exist, she would be the undisputed number one prodigy of the Blacksmith''s Association.


    She was only 23 years of age, yet Mu Chen had already acknowledged her as a suitable heir to him in the art of forging. The current Mu Xi was also a sixth-rank blacksmith, and even though she had made it to the sixth rank slightly later than Tang Wulin, she definitely wasn''t late by much. If it weren''t for the fact that she''d spent so much time and effort on honing her forging skills, she may have had a chance of making it into the inner court.


    However, her forging skill had also been of immense benefit to her. She had already begun to prepare the metals required for her suit of two-word battle armor, and she was going to be using spirit refined alloys!


    She was determined to become a two-word battle armor master prior to turning 30 so she could become a member of Shrek Academy''s inner court.


    Furthermore, her cultivation rank had also exceeded 50, so she was a Soul King already. She was very exceptional in all areas, and she was very confident in herself, as well as the effort she''d put in. As such, she wanted to see whether she had caught up to him after working so hard for four years.


    Tang Wulin placed the piece of heavy silver onto the forging bench to calcine it. At the same time, he pulled out his pair of spirit refined Heavy Silver Hammers with a serious expression on his face, and he closed his eyes as he waited in tranquil silence.


    Even though Mu Xi was very angry at him, she still had to admit that Tang Wulin was her biggest competition in the world of blacksmiths, and even a target that she''d always been pursuing.


    He had been a sixth-rank blacksmith for over four years, yet he could still maintain such a calm and steady demeanor during his forging. He was only 19 years old, but his mental fortitude in forging rivaled that of even her father.


    He was immovable like a mountain!


    Mu Chen was also spectating off to the side, while the six other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were standing slightly further away in case they distracted Tang Wulin by standing too close.


    Tang Wulin placed his hammers onto the forging bench, and his arms hung by his side in a relaxed manner. There was an indescribable disposition about him, and in that instant, he seemed to no longer be a human being. Instead, it was as if he''d become a part of the forging room.


    It was very easy to judge the amount of time required to calcine heavy silver, and all of a sudden, Tang Wulin pressed a button, upon which the red-hot piece of heavy silver gradually rose up.


    Almost at the exact same moment, Tang Wulin opened his eyes and gripped onto his pair of forging hammers. He then reached out with his hammers in a rather tentative manner instead of slamming them down onto the piece of heavy silver right away.


    Mu Chen was surprised to see that Tang Wulin was essentially drumming the piece of heavy silver with his pair of hammers.


    Instead of swinging his forging hammers down with all his might as he normally did, the two hammers hung above the piece of heavy silver, and he was using only his wrists to control them, striking the piece of heavy silver with one delicate hammer blow after another.


    This was the first time Mu Xi had seen anyone forge like this. Even her own father, who was a Saint Blacksmith, wouldn''t forge like this!


    Tang Wulin''s hammers drummed against the piece of heavy silver in a light yet consistent manner.


    Can metals really be successfully refined like this?


    This thought had only just occurred to Mu Xi before her expression completely stiffened. She discovered that even though Tang Wulin was being extremely delicate with his hammer blows, the piece of heavy silver was rapidly shrinking. What was even more remarkable was that the piece of metal was beginning to glow brighter and brighter. Mu Xi could even see some fine and orderly patterns appearing over the surface of the piece of heavy silver.


    How can such delicate hammer blows purify a piece of metal?


    Tang Wulin''s wrists were moving extremely quickly, resulting in a rapid string of light clangs that almost stretched into a single continuous sound. What was even more remarkable was that this drumming was extremely rhythmic and pleasing to the ears, as if he were playing a musical instrument.

 Chapter 785: Extreme Thousand Refinement

    His hammers were moving so quickly that a series of afterimages were being left in their wake, completely enshrouding the piece of heavy silver. At this moment, Tang Wulin resembled a sculptor more than a blacksmith, and he seemed to be carefully carving the piece of metal into his next masterpiece.


    It was exactly because of his familiarity with heavy silver that he found it easier to control it. As such, refinement of heavy silver had already become second nature to him. If he wanted to bring out all of the true characteristics in a piece of uncommon metal, or in other words, to elevate it and bestow upon it life, then he had to retain its original unique characteristics and ensure that he didn''t damage it.


    In the past, he would always forge metals by directly purifying them before refining them. However, Tang Wulin could now see that metals themselves possessed souls, even prior to undergoing spirit refinement. Each and every piece of uncommon metal was like a living creature, and if excessively heavy hammer blows were used during the purification process, that would inevitably inflict damage to the body of the piece of metal. Different methods could be used to strengthen the piece of metal later on, but irreversible damage had already been done at that point, and there was no way to forge the piece of metal to the extreme.


    As such, if one wanted to forge a piece of uncommon metal to perfection, then they had to carefully and delicately refine it in the beginning.


    An analogy could be drawn here to the human body. If a person had impurities in one of their meridians, that meridian could be compressed vigorously to expel the impurities by force. However, doing so would inevitably damage the meridian to a certain extent. If a more gentle and subtle method were to be used instead to gradually clear out the meridian, then the impurities could be refined, thereby clearing the meridian, while the meridian itself remained completely unscathed.


    This was the difference between Tang Wulin''s past and present forging. During the forging process, he took extreme care in controlling his forging hammers, almost caressing the piece of heavy silver rather than striking it. Furthermore, with each hammer blow that struck the piece of heavy silver, he injected a wisp of his bloodline aura into the metal so it could develop a better sense of his aura.


    At his current strength, if he were to strike the piece of heavy silver with all his might, not only would the piece of metal be reduced to a pancake, even his forging hammers could fall apart from the enormous force of the impact.


    This was also an important reason why he had to be very careful during the forging process.


    At this point, he''d completely immersed himself in his craft, and it took him three times the amount of time that was normally required to complete hundred refinement. If one were to carefully assess the piece of heavy silver, they''d discover that the Tang Wulin''s purification process resulted in a slightly larger piece of hundred refined heavy silver than normal. During the purification process, it was often the case that some good things would also be expelled along with the impurities, but he had been able to completely avoid that.


    Mu Chen looked on at everything that Tang Wulin was doing with an intense gaze and an elated look in his eyes.


    This hammer technique hadn''t been taught to him by Mu Chen nor by Feng Wuyu. Instead, he had invented it himself.


    The Tang Sect''s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique was very effective, but it was too violent and too damaging to the metal being forged. Even though the technique was still extremely effective for forging, it was very difficult to improve to the next level while using such a violent technique.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin had found his own path and was progressing steadily along it.


    Around 15 minutes later, a burst of dazzling silver light suddenly erupted upward, and a clear dragon''s roar also rang out with the emergence of that light.


    That streak of silver light was like a wyrm rising up into the heavens.


    The heavy silver had been refined with spirit!


    However, under most circumstances, most metals that were thousand refined with spirit only release light that rose up to around five feet tall at most, but the streak of silver light rising up from the piece of heavy silver stretched all the way to around 10 feet in height. Furthermore, it was rising upward in a wavy trajectory, as if it were mimicking a silver dragon dancing through the wind.


    Mu Xi''s eyes widened in shock. She was also a sixth-rank blacksmith, but she was sure that she''d be unable to do what Tang Wulin had just done.


    "Extreme thousand refinement!" Mu Chen murmured to himself.


    Indeed, Tang Wulin had completed thousand refinement on this piece of heavy silver to the extreme, meaning that he had perfected the process and that there was no room for improvement.


    Even Mu Chen wasn''t confident that he''d be able to accomplish this, let alone Mu Xi. Perhaps only Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua could replicate this feat.


    Forging required strength, but the more strength that was used, the more a blacksmith would have to sacrifice on control. It was impossible for Mu Chen to refine metals using just the power of his wrists as Tang Wulin was doing as he simply wasn''t strong enough to accomplish that. He could perhaps replicate this by using soul power, but that would further hamper his control, and it would be a lot more difficult to control than if he were to use pure strength.


    However, this was something that clearly wasn''t beyond Tang Wulin''s capabilities. His strength had already exceeded the 100-ton mark, so even just the power in his wrists was extremely fearsome. Throughout this entire refinement process thus far, he hadn''t even used a single shred of soul power. He had only drawn upon his bloodline power slightly, and the rest of this procedure had been accomplished through pure strength. Only then could he complete thousand refinement to such a degree of perfection.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath and spread open his pair of Heavy Silver Hammer by his sides as the streak of silver light rose up into the air.


    His eyes began to glow as his Heavy Silver Hammer circled through the air, and before the streak of silver light had completely faded, his hammers had struck the piece of heavy silver again.


    On this occasion, the sound of the hammers striking the piece of thousand-refined heavy silver was a lot clearer and crisper.


    If one were to look closely at the piece of heavy silver now, they''d discover that there was a layer of fine patterns running all over its surface. The patterns themselves were radiating dazzling light, and it was as if the piece of heavy silver had been transformed into another type of metal altogether.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t using solely the power of his wrists anymore. Following extreme thousand refinement with spirit, the internal structure of the piece of heavy silver had already been completely aligned, and it was countless times harder than it was before, thereby finally making it able to withstand Tang Wulin''s strength.


    His eyes glowed as he completely spread open his spiritual world, and spiritual power surged forth in a frenzy before it was injected into the piece of heavy silver in a gentle manner through the use of his hammers.


    Spiritual power and blood essence power combined, and Mu Chen could clearly hear that with each strike Tang Wulin dealt to the piece of heavy silver, it would emit a faint dragon''s roar. The patterns on its surface would also be adjusted slightly.


    Soul power injection! Spiritual power injection! At this point, Tang Wulin had already begun the most important step to spirit refinement: giving life.


    The main difference between spirit refinement and thousand refinement was the level of sentience that was attained by the piece of metal being refined. The more sentience a piece of uncommon metal possessed, the more valuable it became.


    Most fifth and sixth-rank blacksmiths were unable to guarantee spirit refinement with every single piece of metal they forged, but Tang Wulin was able to do so.


    Mu Xi was capable of this as well as they were both among the cream of the crop of sixth-rank blacksmiths, and they''d already set their sights beyond the sixth rank long ago.


    However, Mu Xi could sense that Tang Wulin''s spirit refinement was completely different from hers. His method of calling expended a lot more power than the power that she expended during this procedure. The amount of soul power being injected was quite normal, but he seemed to have released far too much spiritual power, and there also seemed to be something extra intermingled in there, as evidenced by the dragon roars being emitted by the piece of heavy silver. Under normal circumstances, such a special type of sound shouldn''t appear during this stage, and this could only mean that Tang Wulin had added his own extra twist to his refinement.


    Tang Wulin brought his hammers down over and over again in an extremely steady and consistent manner. He wasn''t being as delicate as he was in the beginning, but his hammer blows didn''t appear to be all that heavy, either. He was simply striking the piece of heavy silver with moderate power.


    The patterns on the piece of heavy silver gradually began to transform, and as Tang Wulin continued to inject his soul power into the piece of metal, light began to ripple around it in a rhythmic manner.


    Is it beginning to attain sentience already? This is way too soon for that!


    Compared to the slow hundred and thousand refinements that Tang Wulin had completed, the speed at which he was completing spirit refinement was so astonishing that Mu Xi''s jaw had completely fallen onto the ground.


    If she had been in Tang Wulin''s shoes, it would take her at least an hour to complete spirit refinement on even the more ordinary types of uncommon metals. After all, detecting and activating a piece of uncommon metal''s life force was certainly far from a simple task. At this point, Tang Wulin hadn''t completed spirit refinement yet, but the metal had clearly already begun to attain sentience, which meant that completion of spirit refinement was imminent.

 Chapter 786: Soul Refinement Resonance

    Everything was happening way too quickly! It had only been five minutes since he''d begun the spirit refinement process!


    According to Mu Xi''s knowledge, even the veteran blacksmiths who''d been stuck at the sixth rank for several decades couldn''t complete spirit refinement in just five minutes!


    There was a virtually insurmountable gulf between spirit refinement and soul refinement. Countless blacksmiths were unable to take this step, and that was why Saint Blacksmiths were so rare.


    However, even Mu Chen couldn''t complete spirit refinement in just five minutes!


    Was this the effect of the extreme thousand refinement that Tang Wulin had completed?


    At this moment, Mu Xi had already forgotten all of her complex emotions toward Tang Wulin, and she''d been completely absorbed in his forging.


    "Buzz!" Right at this moment, a faint buzzing sound rang out from the piece of heavy silver, and it shuddered slightly, following which the patterns on its surface seemed to have sprung to life. The patterns rearranged themselves to form the shape of a dragon, and the faint dragon''s roars emanating from the piece of metal instantly became clearer and more pronounced.


    A burst of elation erupted from the piece of heavy silver!


    Tang Wulin had successfully completed spirit refinement from thousand refinement in just seven minutes!


    Even Mu Chen''s eyes widened upon seeing this, and he reflexively clenched his fists. He had just received a glimmer of inspiration from watching Tang Wulin''s forging, and for a Saint Blacksmith, this type of inspiration was indescribably important.


    Mu Chen had thought that it would be impossible for him to become a Divine Blacksmith during this lifetime, but in that instant, he suddenly felt as if he had a slight chance after all. That was an indication of just how profound an effect Tang Wulin''s forging had had on him.


    Tang Wulin paused momentarily here, and a faint smile appeared on his face as if he were listening to the heavy silver''s cry of elation. The piece of metal was like a newborn child showing off to its father.


    In the next instant, the aura emanating from Tang Wulin''s body transformed dramatically. Powerful blood essence fluctuations erupted forth, and countless golden scales appeared all over his skin, giving him a rather intimidating appearance.


    Only the skin on his neck and his two arms were visible, and those sections of his body had already been completely covered in scales. Golden scales had also appeared over his hands, but his golden dragon claws didn''t emerge. Even so, the powerful blood essence fluctuations erupting from his body still gave Mu Chen and Mu Xi a huge fright.


    The immense bloodline intimidation had even forced Mu Xi to unleash her martial soul, and a series of soul rings emerged beneath her feet.


    Mu Chen wasn''t forced to such an extent, but he was still quite startled by this development.


    This aura...


    He had felt Tang Wulin''s blood essence fluctuations a long time ago, but they had never been this immensely powerful.


    How could his aura be so potent? Furthermore, they could see golden rings of light emerging from beneath Tang Wulin''s feet, and a total of four rings appeared in quick succession.


    Last time Mu Xi had seen these blood essence soul rings, Tang Wulin had only had two of them.


    He spread open his arms, and his body shuddered slightly as the bloodline aura intensified even further. Golden light began to revolve around his body, and his eyes had also turned golden in color.


    The piece of heavy silver seemed to have also sensed the aura fluctuations emanating from Tang Wulin''s body, and its elation gradually turned into intrigue and curiosity.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s hammers sprung into action again. At this point, both of his Heavy Silver Hammers had already taken on a golden hue from his blood essence power. The hammer blows he delivered this time were extremely heavy, and no longer bore any semblance of the delicate touch he had before.


    With each and every hammer blow he struck, the entire forging room would tremble slightly, and it was as if a string of explosions were being set off in the room.


    Every time the piece of spirit refined heavy silver was struck, it would emit a whimpering moan, as if it were experiencing pain and pleasure in equal measure.


    Furthermore, Mu Xi could see that in the face of Tang Wulin''s hammer blows, the heavy silver had taken on a golden color. This color would fade in an instant following each blow, but it was undoubtedly the case that it was being affected by his Heavy Silver Hammers.


    The main difference between spirit refinement and soul refinement was that spirit refinement bestowed life upon a piece of metal, yet soul refinement passed on one''s inheritance to the piece of metal. It was just like soul spirit inheritance.


    As such, for one-word and two-word battle armor masters, the ideal secondary occupation was to be a mecha maker as only then would they be able to create battle armor that suited themselves the most. After all, no one knew a person better than themselves.


    However, after becoming a three-word or even four-word battle armor master, the most important element of one''s suit of battle armor would become the metals used, as that was the stage where soul refined metals became a necessity.


    If the battle armor master were a Saint Blacksmith themselves, then the metal they forged would possess their soul power, and even special characteristics from their martial soul. As such, that suit of battle armor would undoubtedly be extremely synergistic with the battle armor master. This was even more important than the circuits used.


    Unfortunately, being a blacksmith was one of the most difficult secondary occupations, and there were only a dozen or so Saint Blacksmiths on the entire Douluo Continent, while Zhen Hua was the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire continent.


    Those statistics alone were a clear indication of just how difficult it was to progress in this occupation.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was undoubtedly beginning to progress from spirit refinement to soul refinement. He was injecting his bloodline aura into the piece of heavy silver with all his might, and at the same time, he was injecting into it his soul and his own aura.


    Soul refinement didn''t just involve refining a piece of metal from the outside; it was also an internal process that involved infusing one''s aura, soul power, and spiritual power into a piece of metal. Only then could they forge a connection with the piece of metal itself, and refine it from the inside. The combination of external and internal refinement would activate all of the metal''s special properties and also infuse the blacksmith''s powers into the piece of metal.


    It was sometimes said that soul refined metals were clones of the Saint Blacksmiths who had forged them.


    This was a slight exaggeration, but it wasn''t entirely nonsensical. Spirit refinement could bestow sentience upon a piece of metal, thereby allowing it to attain certain abilities that normal metals didn''t possess, such as self-regeneration. However, soul refinement was different. Soul refined metals made Soul Masters feel as if they had a friend by their side.


    Suits of battle armor created using soul refined metals were like second lives for the battle armor masters they belonged to, and they could even follow some orders and instructions.


    Of course, if one weren''t a blacksmith themselves, then the first thing they had to do before having their suit of three-word battle armor constructed would be to communicate with the metals that their battle armor was going to be constructed from. Due to the fact that battle armor masters would''ve already become very intimate with their suits of two-word battle armor, this process could be accomplished, even though it could take a very long time. However, battle armor masters who were also blacksmiths could skip this process.


    After commencing the soul refinement process, Tang Wulin had clearly become a lot more cautious. Every single hammer blow was extremely heavy, and his powerful bloodline fluctuations were being injected into the piece of heavy silver without any reservation.


    As time passed, it took longer and longer for the golden hue to fade from the piece of heavy silver after it was struck by his hammers. It was often the case that the golden color hadn''t even had a chance to completely fade from Tang Wulin''s last hammer blow before he struck it again.


    Thus, the piece of heavy silver began to maintain a perpetually golden state. Tang Wulin was swinging his hammers with mechanical precision, and the frequency of the hammer strikes was gradually decreasing.


    "Clang!"


    "Ding!"


    All of a sudden, a crisp echo resonated from within the piece of heavy silver following a hammer blow from Tang Wulin.


    Mu Chen''s entire body abruptly shuddered upon hearing this sound.


    Resonance! This seemed to be something very ordinary and mundane, to the extent that the six other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters didn''t even notice it. However, it was like the most delightful music to his ears as he knew far too well what this sound entailed.


    Soul refinement was extremely difficult, and resonance was a precursor of successful soul refinement! It meant that all of the types of energy that had been injected into the piece of metal had been combined, thereby allowing it to be refined from the inside.


    This was an extremely important step, and also the most difficult step in soul refinement. Many sixth-rank blacksmiths couldn''t achieve this even after toiling away for their entire lives!


    Soul refinement resonance was also an indication of how well a blacksmith knew a piece of metal, and it showed that all of the preparatory work that had been done beforehand hadn''t gone to waste.


    Tang Wulin''s expression remained unchanged, and he continued in his forging. As expected, with each and every hammer blow, the metal would resonate with him, and this sound was only becoming more and more pronounced.


    Mu Xi''s eyes widened even further.


    Could it be that he''s already able to...


    She had thought that the gap between them had dwindled, but if he''d already taken that step, then they would no longer even be on the same level.


    Mu Chen had told her that with her current rate of progress and how hard she was currently working, she should be able to attempt a breakthrough to become a Saint Blacksmith when she turned 30.


    But what about Tang Wulin? He was only 19 years old, yet he''d already achieved soul refinement resonance! In contrast, she had no idea how to get to this step.


    Everyone had different blood essence, soul power, and spiritual power. As such, there was no set technique to soul refinement; a teacher could only pass on feelings and experiences, and the blacksmith had to find their own way.


    Mu Xi was currently at this stage, but never would she have thought that Tang Wulin would''ve already mastered the most difficult step to soul refinement.

 Chapter 787: Half-step Soul Refinement

    What was next? It was the process of soul refinement solidification. Following the completion of that step, 70% of the soul refinement process would''ve been completed. Only the final soul summoning would be required before success was achieved in soul refinement.


    It was undoubtedly the case that heavy silver was one of the easiest uncommon metals to forge, but a soul refined piece of heavy silver would still fetch an astronomical price! After soul refinement, a piece of uncommon metal could no longer be referred to as such. Instead, it would become a true spirit item!


    The frequency of Tang Wulin''s hammer blows began to increase, and his blood essence power was so immense that he still showed no signs of tiring at all. Instead, the golden light radiating from his body only became brighter and brighter.


    At this point, the piece of heavy silver had already turned completely golden in color, and dragon roars rang out from within it alongside the clear soul refinement resonance. These were all very positive signs.


    All of a sudden, the golden piece of heavy silver shuddered violently, and it suddenly jumped up from the forging bench.


    "Look out! That''s the shock of life! It''s trying to get away!"


    Metals that had been given life would attain intelligence at some point during the soul refinement process. At that moment, it would become extremely panicked as it didn''t want to be controlled by humans, and it would try to run away. If it were to escape from the control of the blacksmith, then its soul would quickly fade away as it hadn''t completely solidified yet, thereby making it revert back to the spirit refinement stage. At that point, it would be impossible to complete soul refinement with that piece of metal again.


    Tang Wulin remained unflustered as he let loose a cold cry. "Get back here!"


    His third golden soul ring abruptly lit up as he spoke, and the piece of golden heavy silver shuddered before falling back down onto the forging bench amid a loud clang.


    This was his Golden Dragon''s Roar!


    This piece of heavy silver already possessed Tang Wulin''s bloodline aura, and in the face of the intimidation from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline, it was completely powerless to resist.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before raising his hammers and bringing them down again. He had already begun the next step: soul solidification!


    The golden light emanating from Tang Wulin''s eyes became tinged with purple, and as he brought his hammers down over and over again, he was releasing less bloodline aura, but increasing his output of spiritual power. Two bursts of purplish-golden light erupted from his eyes, each of which was around a foot in length. He was using a spiritual attack from his Purple Demon Eyes directly on this piece of metal.


    The shuddering from the piece of heavy silver immediately began to subside, and in the face of Tang Wulin''s spiritual attack and forging hammers, the golden color on its surface began to fade, revealing its original patterns.


    Those patterns had already taken on the form of extremely life-like scales that were identical to the scales on Tang Wulin''s body.


    Both Mu Chen and Mu Xi reflexively began to breathe in a heavier manner. The soul solidification process seemed to be also progressing very smoothly. At this rate, it really did appear that he could successfully complete soul refinement!


    Even if he could only complete soul refinement once, he would officially progress from a sixth-rank blacksmith to the seventh, which would make him a new Saint Blacksmith!


    Even in the entire Shrek Academy, there was only one Saint Blacksmith in the form of Feng Wuyu! If Tang Wulin were to become a Saint Blacksmith, then his social status on the entire Douluo Continent would become completely different. He would truly become a member of the upper echelons of society, and he could even become the president of the blacksmith association in a major city if he wanted to.


    Even more importantly, he was only 19 years old, and there was a great chance that he''d be able to strive toward becoming a Divine Blacksmith in the future.


    Zhen Hua held such a lofty status on this continent, that even the federation''s parliament, the Spirit Pagoda, and Shrek Academy wouldn''t dare to offend him for no good reason.


    Following the assassination attempt that had been made against Zhen Hua, the Spirit Pagoda and the federation had joined forces to conduct an extermination operation, and as a result of that, evil Soul Masters had remained dormant to this very day. These were all clear indications of what a truly exceptional blacksmith meant to the world of Soul Masters.


    More and more golden dragon scales appeared, all the way until they had covered the entire piece of heavy silver. The golden around the piece of metal began to withdraw, and the metal itself began to shimmer in a rhythmic manner.


    Soul solidification, success! Mu Chen couldn''t help but swing an arm through the air in elation.


    Soul refinement resonance and soul refinement solidification were both extremely arduous processes, and if one could complete both of those procedures, then they were virtually guaranteed to become a Saint Blacksmith at some point. The final soul summoning process was very difficult, but this was something that could be honed over time.


    Tang Wulin was still refining the piece of heavy silver, and the blood essence fluctuations emanating from his body were finally beginning to weaken, but he didn''t dare to pause even for a single moment.


    He had chosen to use his blood essence power to complete soul refinement as opposed to using his soul power, and this was simply because he didn''t have sufficient soul power!


    Normal soul refinements would require at least the soul power of a seven-ring Soul Sage to complete. Tang Wulin was far from that level. His blood essence power also couldn''t compare with the soul power of a seven-ring Soul Sage, but the difference lay in the fact that he possessed the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King. This was a bloodline of an extremely high caliber, and during the soul refinement process, it was far easier to fuse and control his blood essence power compared to his soul power. If Tang Wulin were to use his soul power alone in his refinement, he wouldn''t even be able to get to the soul refinement resonance stage, yet he was able to accomplish this with his blood essence power.


    Both hammers fell at once, and a crisp clang rang out as a burst of dazzling golden light suddenly erupted from the piece of heavy silver. There seemed to be a dragon-shaped projection revolving around the piece of metal within the golden light.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before letting loose a low cry, and his aura immediately became more potent. His eyes glowed as he struck the piece of metal with his hammers in an alternating manner. Immediately thereafter, a loud dragon''s roar erupted from his body, and his first golden soul ring lit up. It was none other than his Golden Dragon Body.


    The process of soul summoning entailed summoning a piece of metal''s soul with the power that had been previously injected into it, thereby creating resonance. If this process were successfully completed, the soul within the piece of metal would be truly brought to life.


    Spirit refined metals only possessed life force, which made them similar to plants, whereas soul refined metals that attained souls were more like soul beasts. This was the true essence of soul refinement, and it meant that successful soul refinement would transform a piece of metal into a true living being.


    The process was akin to the miracle of giving life, which was why it was so difficult.


    Loud dragon''s roars reverberated throughout the entire forging room, and the piece of metal was also ringing incessantly. However, Tang Wulin''s brows quickly furrowed.


    The process of soul summoning was too difficult, and in reality, he hadn''t attempted it many times in the past. He had only been able to successfully complete soul refinement resonance and soul refinement solidification on a total of two or three occasions prior to this.


    Soul summoning couldn''t be taught as everyone''s forging processes were different. There was no set formula that could be given, and one had to find that feeling on their own.


    All of a sudden, the piece of heavy silver shuddered violently before abruptly falling silent.


    A dejected look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He had failed.


    There was only an extremely short window of time during which soul summoning could be completed. Following soul solidification, the soul of the piece of metal would be active for an instant, and if soul summoning could be completed during that split-second, it would evolve to become a new life form, thereby heralding a successful soul refinement. If soul summoning couldn''t be achieved, then it would remain in this soul refinement solidified state.


    Golden light was flashing from the golden scales on the piece of heavy silver, indicating that it had attained a high level of sentient will, but unfortunately, it was never going to be able to become a complete life form like a soul beast.


    A large and strong hand gripped onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder. "You''ve already done very well; don''t place too much pressure on yourself."


    Tang Wulin turned around and was greeted by the sight of Mu Chen''s smiling face.


    "If you really can successfully complete soul refinement, then I''ll be too embarrassed to continue in my role as president of this association. You''ve already completed the solidification process, which means that this piece of metal is already half-step soul refined. Even your uncle-master would be very pleased to hear about this. In just a few years, you''ve already reached a stage where you''re just one step away from becoming a Saint Blacksmith. We were right about you; if you continue developing at this speed, you''ll definitely become a Divine Blacksmith in the future."


    Tang Wulin scratched his head in a slightly embarrassed manner. "You''re far too kind, Teacher. There are still many fallacies in my forging, and I still haven''t even begun to grasp the concept of soul summoning. The procedures prior to that step expend too much energy, so there''s a very slim chance for me to complete that final step. Whenever I get to that stage, my energy would be insufficient to carry me through it."


    Mu Chen said in a meaningful voice, "Forging is a process of accumulation. Among the three major obstacles of soul refinement, the most difficult one is soul refinement resonance. This is not something that one can achieve just by working hard; luck and talent play far bigger roles in that regard. Almost all blacksmiths who have achieved soul refinement resonance have gone on to become Saint Blacksmiths, yet you''ve even gone one step further and achieved soul refinement solidification as well. All you need is to accumulate more experience and increase your cultivation rank, including that of your spiritual power. The more you improve in those areas, the clearer the soul summoning stage will become to you. Barring any mishaps, you''ll definitely become a Saint Blacksmith in the future; it''s only a matter of time."

 Chapter 788: Take Care, Wulin

    Tang Wulin nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Teacher. How much do you think this piece of heavy silver can sell for?"


    Mu Xi couldn''t help but purse her lips. "You haven''t changed at all in that regard; is money the only thing you see?"


    She was unaware that Tang Wulin required funds to support his mission.


    Mu Chen glared at her before a smile returned to his face, and he said, "There''s no need to sell this; I''m keeping this as part of my collection! You''re my most exceptional disciple, and I''m going to show off this piece of metal to everyone at the blacksmith association headquarters. Even your uncle-master would be green with envy! Hahaha! After reaching the half-step soul refinement stage, you have the right to name your own metal."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred, and he hurriedly said, "Teacher, why don''t you give it a name in my stead?"


    Mu Chen looked at Tang Wulin with a surprised expression. For a Saint Blacksmith, it was a great honor to be able to name their own metals, and very rarely would anyone offer this opportunity to someone else.


    Mu Chen was still hesitating about whether it was right to accept this offer, but Tang Wulin urged in a heartfelt manner, "Teacher, I wouldn''t be where I am today without your instructions, so please don''t turn me down."


    Mu Chen burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Alright! Nothing makes me happier than being able to do something like this. Seeing as this piece of heavy silver is covered in dragon scales, why don''t we name it Dragonscale Heavy Silver? All of your soul refined metals can have the prefix of ''Dragon Scale'' before their names; what do you think? Scale also has the same pronunciation as the ''Lin'' character in your name, so that also forges a connection between yourself and your soul refined metals." [The Lin character in Tang Wulin is the same Lin (÷ë) in the mythological creature, Qilin, while the Chinese character for scale (ÁÛ) has the exact same pronunciation.]


    "That sounds great!"


    From that day forth, all of the names for Tang Wulin''s future soul refined metals had been decided.


    Once an uncommon metal was given a name, it''s value would increase to an incredible degree. Furthermore, the attributes of soul refined metals differed depending on which Saint Blacksmith they''d been refined by, so not all Soul Masters could use the soul refined metals forged by the same Saint Blacksmith.


    Tang Wulin''s future soul refined metals were going to be infused with his Golden Dragon King bloodline, thereby making them metals of an extremely high caliber even among soul refined metals. With these attributes, it would be suitable for almost all battle armor masters, especially for assault and power system battle armor masters.


    Following Tang Wulin''s experimentation, he discovered that this piece of half-step soul refined metal could even ward off his Golden Dragon King bloodline intimidation as it also contained the same bloodline aura.


    If all of his friends could wear battle armor constructed from his Dragonscale metals, then they wouldn''t be affected by his bloodline aura during battle.


    Mu Chen gave Tang Wulin 5,000,000 federal credits, which was more than enough to cover the costs of their journey. If this piece of Dragonscale Heavy Silver were to be sold on the free market, it would almost definitely fetch a higher price than that, even if it were only half-step soul refined. However, the fact that the piece of metal had been accepted by Mu Chen for his collection gave it special meaning.


    "I''m going now, Senior Disciple Sister." Tang Wulin waved at Mu Xi at the front gate of the blacksmith association.


    Mu Xi had treated him in a very cold and resentful manner this entire time, but she still accompanied him all the way to the front gate prior to his departure.


    At the sight of Tang Wulin''s smiling face, Mu Xi bit down on her lower lips, and she suddenly rushed over before enveloping him in a tight hug.


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback by her tight embrace, and Mu Xi sobbed into his ear, "Take care, Wulin."


    Before he had a chance to say anything in reply, Mu Xi had already released him and ran back into the building as quickly as she could.


    Her unique fragrance still lingered, and a sense of loss welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. This sense of loss didn''t just stem from separation; the feeling also arose from the fact that in that moment, Tang Wulin suddenly realized that he was no longer a child. He was an adult, and the carefree days of his childhood were permanently behind him. From now on, the burden on his shoulders would only become heavier.


    "Are you unwilling to let her go?" Xie Xie chuckled in a low voice right beside his ear.


    Tang Wulin swatted him on the head in a cranky manner.


    A medium-sized bus that could carry 20 passengers soon rolled up before them. This was a vehicle that Mu Chen had organized for them, and it would take them to the railway station.


    In all honesty, Tang Wulin had already been slightly traumatized by soul trains. He had experienced such terrible luck the few times he''d traveled by train, and that had led to an instinctive sense of aversion toward this mode of transportation.


    However, he had to admit that a soul train was going to get them to their destination as quickly as possible.


    They were running on a time limit of 15 days, and from the tone of Elder Cai''s voice, as well as her expressions, it could be deduced that it was not going to be an easy task to get to their destination. As such, they had to conserve time wherever possible.


    Furthermore, they were not the children they had once been. All of them were one-word battle armor masters, and there were seven of them traveling together! This was already quite a formidable force. As such, after some careful consideration, Tang Wulin still decided to take a high-speed train en route to their destination.


    Thus, they arrived at the train station before buying their tickets. During this process, Tang Wulin refrained from using the privilege that had been given to him. After boarding the train, Tang Wulin fell asleep before it had even departed from the station.


    The train was filled with rows of two-person seats, and Tang Wulin was sitting together with Yue Zhengyu. Xu Lizhi was sitting with Ye Xinglan, and Xie Xie, Yuanen Yehui, and Xu Xiaoyan took up a three-person seat.


    Yue Zhengyu was intrigued by how slow and even Tang Wulin''s breathing had become, and as he turned toward him, he was surprised to find that Tang Wulin had already fallen asleep.


    He was far too exhausted, not just from cultivation for these past six months in the academy, but also from the draining experience of attempting soul refinement.


    He sat beside a window, and had fallen into a deep sleep. His handsome face was very placid, and even in a state of slumber, he was like the male version of Sleeping Beauty.


    Yue Zhengyu glanced at Tang Wulin before casting his gaze blankly into the distance.


    During these past six months, he''d also accumulated a lot of fatigue. Ever since he''d been rejected by Xu Xiaoyan during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, he had changed significantly. Her rejection had dealt him an extremely heavy blow, and after helping Tang Wulin search for Gue Yue for a few days to no avail, he stayed in his dorm room for an entire month.


    He was too ashamed to meet anyone, and his pride simply couldn''t handle such a severe blow.


    He gradually began to understand what the problem with his confession had been, yet his ego prevented him from admitting to his mistakes.


    He had always subconsciously thought that Xu Xiaoyan would come and find him, thereby giving him a chance to explain himself.


    However, half a year had passed, and Xu Xiaoyan didn''t come to visit him. The distance between the two of them also seemed to be constantly widening.


    If he didn''t like her so much, then he wouldn''t be in so much pain, but the fact of the matter was that he''d fallen hopelessly in love with her.


    However, the pride of the Holy Angel clan made him unwilling to apologize to her, and that was what pained him the most.


    Yue Zhengyu sat on his seat with a blank expression. Perhaps he should find an opportunity to have a good chat with her during this trip.


    He reflexively turned toward Xu Xiaoyan, and much to his surprise, she was also looking at him. As soon as their eyes met, both of them reflexively looked away.


    However, right at this moment, an indescribable impulsive urge suddenly welled up in Yue Zhengyu''s heart, and he abruptly rose to his feet.


    He passed through the aisle and made his way over to the three-person seat. Xie Xie was sitting on the outside with Yuanen Yehui sitting in the middle, and Xu Xiaoyan was seated on the innermost spot.


    Yue Zhengyu said to Yuanen Yehui, "Yuanen, can I swap seats with you? I have something I need to say to Xiaoyan."


    "Oi!" Before Yuanen Yehui had a chance to respond, Xie Xie was already aiming a displeased glare at Yue Zhengyu. However, he could only heave a resigned sigh in the end at the sight of the serious expressions on Yue Zhengyu''s face.


    Yuanen Yehui didn''t say anything, and she rose to her feet before taking a seat beside Tang Wulin. Xie Xie also got up and stood in the aisle beside her, leaving the entire seat to Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan glanced up at Yue Zhengyu upon hearing his voice before immediately casting her gaze out the window.

 Chapter 789: Unwilling to Forgive

    Yue Zhengyu made his way over to the seat before sitting down beside her.


    "Xiaoyan."


    Xu Xiaoyan pretended not to have heard him.


    "I''m sorry. If you''re still angry about what happened during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, then I''ll apologize to you again. I was too rash and arrogant at the time, and for that, I am sorry. During these past six months, I thought about many things, and I realized just how important you are to me. I''m willing to lay down my pride, so can we..."


    All of a sudden, Xu Xiaoyan turned around with a cold look in her eyes, and interjected, "Are you taking pity on me? I don''t need your pity, nor any pity from your high and mighty Holy Angel clan. Yue Zhengyu, I saw what kind of person you are on that day. I always thought that I''d be really happy with you, but only on that day did I realize that in your eyes, I''m nothing. I''m just a woman that you can summon and send away as you please, just like a servant. You''re very exceptional; you come from a wealthy family, and you''re very powerful, but I don''t care about all that a single bit! Why are you apologizing to me? If you''d truly realized that you''d done something wrong, then you wouldn''t have come to find me only after half a year had already passed. You can''t set aside your pride; that''s simply impossible for you. In your heart, you''re always superior to everyone else. I won''t ever consider entering a relationship with a man who''s never seen me as an equal, so it''s over between us."


    Xu Xiaoyan''s voice was clearly quite emotional, and even the passengers around them couldn''t help but turn around to appraise the situation that was unfolding.


    Yue Zhengyu was starting to get angry now. "What do you want me to do? I''ve already apologized to you, and who says I''ve never seen you as an equal? I love you with all my heart, and..."


    Xu Xiaoyan raised a hand in a cold manner to cut him off. "I told you that it''s over between us. Please get away from me; you''re making me uncomfortable by sitting here."


    Yue Zhengyu''s chest was rising and falling violently as a furious look appeared on his face. He didn''t think that Xu Xiaoyan would reject him in such a cold manner. It had been very difficult for him to muster up the resolve to apologize, but Xu Xiaoyan had stomped all over his apology.


    "Xu Xiaoyan, I know that you''re only rejecting me because of self-pity. You just feel inferior, right? Why can''t you directly address the problems between us? Yes, I didn''t come to find you during the past six months, but that was because I''ve been trying to sort out my own emotions this entire time. You''re right, I really value my pride. After you rejected me in front of all of those people on that day, I was extremely angry and hurt, but after all this time, I''ve thought through everything, and I''ve realized that love is more important than my pride. I''ve already apologized to you, so what else do you want from me?"


    Xu Xiaoyan harrumphed coldly, "I don''t need your charity! Also, I''m not feeling inferior in any way. Don''t forget that I''m one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so what do I have to feel self-pity about? Go away!"


    Yue Zhengyu abruptly rose to his feet. "You better not regret this!"


    Xu Xiaoyan turned away in a stubborn manner and refused to look at him.


    Yue Zhengyu strode back to his own seat in an enraged manner, where both Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui were listening to their conversation with furrowed brows.


    "Can''t you be more gentle and calm?" Xie Xie asked in a resigned manner, "You need to be delicate with girls."


    Yue Zhengyu roared, "What do you care?"


    "You''re right, no one cares about you!" Yuanen Yehui stood up and dragged Xie Xie back to their original seat before consoling Xu Xiaoyan, who had tears swimming in her eyes.


    Yue Zhengyu sat back down beside Tang Wulin, and he was practically fuming with rage. He felt as if there were a massive rock weighing down on his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe.


    Xie Xie wasn''t enraged by Yue Zhengyu''s volatile reaction to his concern. Instead, he was feeling rather sympathetic toward Yue Zhengyu.


    Xu Xiaoyan was right; Yue Zhengyu was too proud, and that pride was something that had been drilled into the core of his being during all of the time that he''d spent in the Holy Angel clan. As such, this was not something that he could just discard at will. It was undoubtedly true that he liked Xu Xiaoyan, but it was also true that his confession during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention had dealt Xu Xiaoyan a very heavy blow. If he could''ve immediately realized what he''d done wrong and apologized to Xu Xiaoyan right away, then perhaps he still had a chance. However, he didn''t do that. His pride had blinded him from what was truly important, and he''d ignored Xu Xiaoyan for half a year.


    Xu Xiaoyan perhaps wasn''t as prideful as him, but she was a girl! How could she not be angry after being shunned for half a year? The best course of action that Yue Zhengyu could take right now was to use persistent gentle persuasion and consolation to douse the flames of Xu Xiaoyan''s fury. After all, he had to give her a chance to vent her rage.


    However, Yue Zhengyu was also on the verge of erupting into a furious fit, so this situation was inevitable, and it only worked to further exacerbate their conflict.


    No one else could do anything about this, and external persuasion would only worsen the situation.


    Tang Wulin was truly very exhausted, so he was still sleeping very soundly despite Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan''s loud verbal altercation.


    Yue Zhengyu glanced at Tang Wulin, and he suddenly felt as if they were comrades in the same trench. Gu Yue had left without any explanation, as had Na''er, and their departures would''ve undoubtedly been extremely painful for Tang Wulin to bear. Meanwhile, his situation wasn''t much better than Tang Wulin''s.


    The high-speed train traveled in a fast and stable manner. They were going to the northeastern coast of the Douluo Continent, which was extremely far away, so even on this high-speed train, it would take them three days to get to their destination.


    Soon, the first day passed, and night gradually began to set in.


    Xu Xiaoyan and Yue Zhengyu were both in very foul moods, so neither of them ate anything for the entire day. No one could do anything about this; they had both been blinded by fury, and simply wouldn''t listen to reason.


    Tang Wulin had already distributed the money he''d received from Mu Chen among everyone, and all long-distance trains had dining carriages, so everyone else had already eaten. After dinner, Xu Lizhi turned to Ye Xinglan with a concerned expression, and asked, "Sister Xinglan, should we wake Boss up? He''s been sleeping for an entire day already."


    The seats on long-distance trains were far wider than those on normal trains, and after being set in recline mode, one could virtually lie down on it, so it was definitely very comfortable to sleep on.


    Ye Xinglan shook her head, and replied, "Let him sleep. He must be exhausted both physically and mentally. He''s been pushing himself way too hard ever since Gu Yue left, so he needs this rest. Among all of us, he''s the one that needs to relax the most."


    Xu Lizhi''s brows furrowed as he sighed, "I really don''t understand why Gu Yue had to leave. Boss is such a good person; why can''t they just talk through their issues? Even if she''s closely related to the Spirit Pagoda, it''s not like we have any conflict against them!"


    Ye Xinglan shook her head in response. "I don''t know the reasons behind this, but it''s most likely not that simple. During the few years that Captain disappeared, Gu Yue became a lot more quiet, and she''s always away from the academy unless she''s attending her classes. I could tell that she was even intentionally distancing herself from us. I''m not even sure Captain himself knows exactly why she did this. In any case, we should let him rest. There are no insurmountable hurdles in life, and they''ll overcome their problems sooner or later."


    Just as they were speaking, the soul train suddenly shuddered violently. Everyone faltered momentarily, and in the next instant, the entire train suddenly veered off to the side. The sharp screeching sound of metal grating on metal rang out amid horrified screams that instantly filled the entire carriage.


    It was as if the high-speed train had been picked up before being hurled away.


    At the speed that the train was moving at, this sudden turn of events almost instantly disassembled the 16-carriage train.


    What''s going on?


    Everyone was quite startled by this sudden development. Even though all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were extremely powerful, they were still caught off guard and almost immediately thrown off their seats.

 Chapter 790: Not an Accident

    Scenarios like this were where Assault System Battle Soul Masters really shone. Specks of starlight began to emerge from Ye Xinglan''s body, and a dazzling sword projection erupted forth as she instantly combined her body as one with her sword. She held onto Xu Lizhi with one hand, and even as the entire carriage tumbled and rolled, her body remained completely still as she hovered ever so slightly just above the ground. The rotating carriage was instantly sliced apart by the sword projection that she''d unleashed, and she rose up into the air with Xu Lizhi in tow.


    Everyone else also instantly reacted. Yue Zhengyu spread open his wings, and as soon as he was thrown out of his seat, his wings had already formed a barrier to protect him. At the same time, holy light erupted from his body, forming an additional barrier of light to protect him.


    Meanwhile, Yuanen Yehui''s body abruptly swelled in size, and she transformed into a Titan Giant Ape while holding Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan in her two arms, using her massive ape body to shield them. Her massive body was crashing around within the carriage until Ye Xinglan sliced the carriage apart, upon which she was instantly catapulted outward.


    The most unfortunate one among them was Tang Wulin. He was still in a deep sleep, and was completely defenseless. Even when the train had trembled for the first time, he still didn''t wake up. After the train began to swerve, Tang Wulin was hurled out of his seat, crashing heavily into the opposite wall, and only then did he open his eyes, just in time to see all of his friends catapulting out of the carriage.


    Tang Wulin''s body tumbled around uncontrollably within the carriage, and he was still a little bleary-eyed as he quickly reached out, grabbing onto the wall with his hands.


    Golden scales appeared all over his body, and he shook his head vigorously to try and make himself more conscious and alert. After that, he tore through the wall of the train with his bare hands, and he was also thrown out of the carriage as a result.


    After being flung into the air, he was finally able to ascertain the current situation.


    The entire soul train had been thrown off the rails and hurled into the air. The carriages split apart in mid-air before being flung away in all directions. What was even more concerning was that many people were thrown out of the cracks in the carriages by the momentum.


    These normal people were not Soul Masters, and they didn''t have reactions like Tang Wulin and the others. As such, almost all of them perished as soon as they were flung out of the carriages.


    Tang Wulin was completely speechless.


    Why? Why does this happen every time?!


    How was it possible that he always encountered these strange situations when taking high-speed trains? Did all of the train accidents in the history of the federation have something to do with him? He was like the guaranteed ill omen of all soul trains!


    Tang Wulin curled up into a ball in mid-air, and right before he was about to land on the ground, he threw an almighty punch into the ground, using the immense force generated to nullify his original momentum, thereby allowing him to roll onto the ground in a relatively smooth landing.


    With his body''s insane defensive abilities, he certainly hadn''t been injured during that ordeal, but it was most definitely not a good feeling to be jerked awake from a deep slumber.


    However, he didn''t have time to delve on that now as he immediately began to search for his companions.


    Thankfully, everyone was very noticeable, especially Ye Xinglan, who had specks of starlight emanating from her body. Tang Wulin hurriedly raced over toward his friends. He had to ascertain that all of them were safe first.


    Of course, none of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were injured during that ordeal, and Tang Wulin was the last one to join them.


    All seven of them glanced at one another before focusing their eyes on Tang Wulin for further instructions.


    Tang Wulin cleared his throat, and said, "Let''s save all of the people that we can."


    "Hold on," Ye Xinglan suddenly said, "This is way too strange. High-speed trains are generally extremely safe; how was this one suddenly thrown off the rails? Could it be that someone intentionally caused all of this to happen?"


    At this moment, the entire soul train had been completely derailed and landed in the nearby wilderness. The sixteen carriages had been shattered in pieces, and howls of anguish rang out from all directions.


    A soul train could house over 500 people, so such a major accident most definitely would''ve resulted in a high number of casualties.


    Tang Wulin also became more alert upon hearing Ye Xinglan''s theory, and a grim look appeared on his face as he said, "Everyone, withdraw your martial souls for now."


    He had once faced off against evil Soul Masters, and that had been far from a pleasant experience. If this derailing weren''t an accident and had been manufactured by someone, then it was certainly not as simple as it had been at first glance.


    Right at this moment, a light suddenly appeared in the distance. It wasn''t very bright, but it seemed to be purple.


    Xie Xie whispered, "I''ll go have a look; all you should hide for now."


    His body swayed as he spoke, and he quickly turned transparent, vanishing into thin air in the blink of an eye.


    It''s the role of an Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master to take on the surveillance and investigation duties.


    Tang Wulin made a hand signal, and everyone quickly scrambled for cover to conceal themselves in the nearby area.


    It was important to save victims of the incident, but if there were enemies nearby, then eradicating those enemies had to be their top priority.


    Xie Xie was back after less than a minute. "The incident was manufactured. There are people slaughtering injured victims. I counted roughly 50 to 60 of them, and they''re all killing people on sight using soul lasers. What do we do, Boss?"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Did you manage to ascertain their power levels?"


    Xie Xie replied, "I can confirm that they''re all Soul Masters, but I was unable to determine their cultivation ranks. They were only using soul lasers, and none of them released their martial souls, but the speed at which they were moving indicates that they''re no pushovers."


    "Let''s go and take them down!" There was no other alternative; in this situation, how could they just stand by idly and watch as these terrorists wreaked havoc?


    Tang Wulin quickly rushed out, and everyone followed along behind him. To his left and right sides were Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui respectively, and they were followed by Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi with Yue Zhengyu bringing up the rear.


    Xu Lizhi chanted a few incantations, quickly producing one steamed bun after another that he quickly distributed to his friends.


    There were Agility Mini Soup Buns that could enhance everyone''s speed, and Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun that were kept in reserve for moments when explosive power output was required.


    Soon, Tang Wulin caught sight of the enemies that Xie Xie had just been referring to. All of them wore black clothes and stalked their victims like ghosts in the night. A series of purple lasers shot forth from their soul laser guns and into the shattered carriages.


    All of these people in black were wearing helmets that obscured their faces, and someone immediately discovered Tang Wulin and his friends as they rushed toward the terrorists.


    The five men in black who were closest to them immediately turned their guns around and began to shoot their soul lasers at Tang Wulin''s group.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward, and golden scales appeared all over his body. At the same time, Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted forth, forming a barrier before him.


    The soul lasers exploded upon making contact with the barrier of vines, but the Bluesilver Emperor remained completely unscathed. Tang Wulin stomped a foot onto the ground, and his body shot forth like a cannonball. Even while he was still in mid-air, he made a grabbing motion, and two bursts of enormous suction force erupted from his hands, acting as a pair of vortexes that dragged two of the men in black toward him.


    He then summoned his golden dragon claws before lashing out at the two men.


    The two of them reacted extremely quickly, releasing their martial soul''s in an instant. One of them had three yellow soul rings, while the other had one white and two yellow soul rings. They were both Soul Elders.


    The man on the left possessed a beast martial soul, and as soon as he unleashed it, his body became more musclebound while a pair of cow horns appeared on his head. He used the suction force from Tang Wulin''s golden dragon claws to his advantage and charged forward at an even faster speed.


    The other man in black had a martial soul that was a massive saber. He tossed aside the laser gun in his hand without any hesitation before swinging his saber toward Tang Wulin with all his might.


    "Bam!" Tang Wulin sent the Soul Master with the beast martial soul flying with a swat from his left golden dragon claw, and the man''s body was completely dismembered by his devastating power.


    Meanwhile, his right golden dragon claw gripped onto the oncoming saber, and the latter was instantly shattered. A Soul Master''s martial soul was linked directly to them, so the destruction of the saber instantly made the Soul Master let loose an agonized groan. Tang Wulin then clenched his right golden dragon claw into a fist and rammed it straight into the man''s chest, blasting him away like a cannonball.


    That man also suffered the same fate as his companion with his body being dismembered by the almighty blow amid an explosion of blood mist.


    Tang Wulin absolutely abhorred these terrorists, so he wasn''t holding back at all. After taking care of those two in the blink of an eye, he immediately charged toward the rest of the men in black in the distance.


    Meanwhile, Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan had also sprung into action. Ye Xinglan unleashed one sword projection after another with her Stargod Sword, and specks of starlight hurtled through the air. These men in black were only Soul Elders, so there was no way they could withstand her attacks. Her onslaught wasn''t as violent as Tang Wulin''s, but was just as effective.


    The martial soul that Yuanen Yehui had chosen to unleash was her Fallen Angel. Compared to her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, this one was more suitable for battle in the night. Her sword of darkness unleashed one streak of purple light after another, and she also took care of her enemies extremely quickly.


    The four people behind them didn''t even get a chance to attack as Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui were far too fast. In what seemed like an instant, five or six men in black had been slain.

 Chapter 791: Might of the Golden Dragon

    The commotion instantly attracted the attention of the men in black from further away, and soul lasers were immediately blasted toward them in a concentrated manner.


    "Look out! They''ve got a soul cannon!" Xie Xie''s voice rang out, and Tang Wulin reflexively turned around to discover a man in black with a cannon hoisted up on his shoulder, and the opening of its barrel was aimed directly at him.


    In the next instant, a ball of bright purple light whistled through the air toward him.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly, and golden light flashed from his body as his first golden soul ring lit up, activating his Golden Dragon Body!


    Thus, his entire body was covered in golden scales, and he immediately lashed out toward the ball of purple light with his left golden dragon claw.


    The soul cannon blast was destroyed by Tang Wulin''s bare hand amid a resounding boom. Immense explosive force surged toward his body as a result, but it couldn''t even force him back a single step.


    At the same time, the Soul Master using the soul cannon had already toppled to the ground. Xie Xie had taken him out right after he''d alerted Tang Wulin.


    In terms of speed, Xie Xie was definitely the best among their entire team. In the face of these men in black, most of whom were only Soul Elders, an Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master like him was most effective.


    His Shadow Dragon Dagger traversed between the realms of illusion and reality, and one black figure was felled after another.


    Tang Wulin was situated at the center of the group, protecting Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan while appraising the entire battlefield. Meanwhile, Xie Xie, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and Ye Xinglan had rushed out to battle these terrorists.


    There were no worthy threats discovered, and dozens of men in black were crushed with ease in the face of the devastating might of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    All of a sudden, a strong sense of foreboding welled up in his heart, and he immediately turned around before wrapping his arms around Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan, then abruptly rolled off to the side.


    A grey streak of light flashed past, leaving a rift in the ground that was five meters long, one meter wide, and so deep that the bottom couldn''t be seen from up above.


    What was even more terrifying was that the ground on the two sides of the rift were still being rapidly eroded away, thereby further widening the rift.


    "That''s an Evil Soul Master!" Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    "How dare you try to impede our operation? Your soul will be tormented for all of eternity!" A cold voice reverberated through the air, and a figure also slowly emerged while hovering in mid-air.


    The Evil Soul Master''s body was completely enshrouded under a grey robe, and he gave off an extremely dark and sinister aura.


    There were a total of seven soul rings around him, consisting of two yellows, three purples, and two blacks.


    This man was an Evil Soul Master of the Soul Sage level! Furthermore, he wasn''t the only grey figure to appear. One grey figure emerged in mid-air after another, as if a spatial door had been opened up in the darkness, and there were over ten of them. Even the weakest among them had four soul rings, but there was only one seven-ring Soul Sage in their ranks. Aside from that, there were four six-ring Soul Emperors while the rest were all Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings.


    Tang Wulin''s heart sank slightly upon seeing this. If these grey robes indicated that all of these people were Evil Soul Masters, then the fact that over 10 of them had appeared undoubtedly posed an extremely potent threat.


    Evil Soul Masters were referred to as such because they were able to use very cruel and heinous methods to progress in their cultivation. Not only did they progress extremely quickly, their abilities were also very sinister, so Evil Soul Masters were far more powerful than normal Soul Masters of the same cultivation rank.


    They existed solely to destroy as evil cultivation methods would inevitably warp their personalities, thereby making them unable to control themselves from giving in to their destructive urges.


    "Go help everyone else; leave this to me." Tang Wulin waved a hand toward Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan, who were standing behind him.


    Both of them were aware of just how powerful Tang Wulin was, so they immediately rushed toward the others without any hesitation.


    All the members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had fought alongside one another for a long time, so all of them had a tacit understanding over one another, and everyone quickly converged toward Tang Wulin after witnessing the arrival of these Evil Soul Masters.


    Meanwhile, the Evil Soul Masters had also sprung into action, wasting no time with words as they unleashed their attacks. There were still over 20 men in black left, and after witnessing the arrival of the Evil Soul Masters, they immediately dispersed before charging toward the carriages again.


    This operation had clearly been planned out in advance, and these Evil Soul Masters had been lurking in the shadows, preparing for this exact situation.


    An Evil Soul Master in the air spread open his arms, and plumes of grey mist abruptly erupted from his body, following which he hurtled toward Tang Wulin in a flash, moving at an alarming speed!


    This grey-robed man was significantly faster than even Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin could catch sight of a blur hurtling toward him before a pair of sharp claws lashed out toward him, one of which was reaching for his face while the other made a grab for his chest.


    The outcome of being struck by these attacks was quite obvious.


    This was an agility attack system Evil Soul Master!


    Tang Wulin stood his ground and didn''t retreat. Against such a fast opponent, retreating wouldn''t do him any good.


    Golden light shimmered from his body, and he crossed his pair of golden dragon claws to shield himself.


    So what if he was facing a seven-ring Soul Sage? He''d even dared to stand up against Long Yue back when he was only a four-ring Soul Ancestor. Since then, he''d become a five-ring Soul King, and he was far more powerful than he had been in the past.


    His second golden soul ring lit up, and in that instant, all of the scales on his entire body became mirror surfaces.


    Two crisp clangs rang out as one the Evil Soul Master''s claws struck Tang Wulin''s chest and arm.


    Two bursts of glacial energy immediately surged into his body, but his enormous Golden Dragon King bloodline instantly erupted, thereby keeping the glacial energy at bay.


    The Evil Soul Master felt as if his claws had struck an impenetrable fortress, following which the scales on his opponent''s body quickly began to shimmer.


    "Roar!" A loud dragon''s roar rang out as a massive golden dragon head shot forth from between Tang Wulin''s hands. At the same time, his third soul ring also lit up.


    Another violent dragon''s roar erupted, and the Evil Soul Master felt his blood essence begin to surge throughout his body in an uncontrollable manner. In the next instant, the golden dragon head was upon him.


    Tang Wulin had just unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Roar in quick succession.


    Tang Wulin had to take care of this seven-ring Evil Soul Master as quickly as possible so he could go and help his friends. As such, he hadn''t held back in the slightest, even though this was only the opening exchange of their battle.


    His Golden Dragon Roar was a skill with an ability to stun his opponent, and it was especially potent against opponents with dragon-type martial souls.


    This Evil Soul Master''s martial soul wasn''t related to dragons and his cultivation rank was far higher than that of Tang Wulin, but Tang Wulin was no longer the same person that he was four years ago. He had been enhanced by the energy from so many dragon spirits in the Dragon Valley, and his bloodline aura had become far more powerful than it had been in the past. This Golden Dragon Roar rang out across the entire battlefield, causing all of the Evil Soul Masters present to become more sluggish, and this effect was obviously the most potent against this seven-ring evil Soul Master who was situated the closest to Tang Wulin.


    However, it had to be said that this Evil Soul Master was certainly no slouch. In the instant that he was struck by the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, he was immediately sent flying, but he reacted extremely quickly. His fifth soul ring lit up, and his entire body transformed into a cloud of grey mist. The Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens passed directly through the mist, but was unable to inflict any damage on the Evil Soul Master.


    The mist converged again in the distance, and the seven-ring Evil Soul Master had clearly been enraged. He let loose a sharp screech, and the grey mist around his body suddenly increased in density.


    His third soul ring lit up, and an overwhelming odor of blood and gore began to emanate from his body.


    Tang Wulin was struck by a rush of dizziness, following which his blood began to churn violently, as if it were threatening to gush out of his body.


    This was the first time he''d encountered such a scenario; it seemed that his opponent''s soul skill was able to control his blood.


    Despite his surprise, Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly and forcibly regulated his blood circulation. Brilliant golden light erupted from his body, and under the effect of his opponent''s soul skill, it seemed to have become slightly easier for him to activate his bloodline power.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 792: Golden Dragon Takes Flight

    Tang Wulin stepped forward and sprang up into the air. He didn''t unleash his martial soul as he knew that it wouldn''t help him much in this battle after witnessing his opponent''s ability to transform into mist. Seeing as that was the case, it was better to refrain from unleashing his martial soul to conserve his soul power.


    Tang Wulin threw a punch in mid-air, and a dragon''s roar erupted from his body again. This was a very simple punch with no extra frills nor fancy tricks, but in the instant that it was unleashed, his entire body was unfurled, striking one with the impression that he was a giant dragon that had just awakened from his slumber.


    His entire body was thrown behind this punch, as his right fist hurtled through the air, an area with a diameter of three meters around him turned into a dazzling golden color. In the next instant, his entire body suddenly flashed, and a golden streak of light that was several dozens of meters long appeared in the air.


    The golden streak of light vanished almost as soon as it appeared, and the Evil Soul Master was able to transform his body into a cloud of mist again, but even so, he still let loose a cry of anguish. After he reverted back to his human form, his body swayed, and he plummeted to the ground.


    Golden Dragon Takes Flight!


    This was a technique unleashed by compressing his bloodline power to a certain point before releasing all of that power in an instantaneous devastating attack. In that state, Tang Wulin''s body was virtually invincible, and he was able to concentrate all of his power to one spot, much like Ye Xinglan was able to focus her power entirely on the tip of her sword. However, there were two main limitations to this attack: it only had an effective range of 30 meters, and it could only attack in a straight line. However, the explosive attack unleashed by using this technique was three times more powerful than his normal attacks.


    This was the third of Zhuo Shi''s Nine Arts of the Scarlet Dragon, Dragon Takes Flight! To put it more accurately, these were the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon to Tang Wulin, so this attack was Golden Dragon Takes Flight!


    In that instant, Tang Wulin was like the true Golden Dragon King brandishing his claws in a menacing manner, determined to slay any beings who dared to stand in his path.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had unleashed Golden Dragon Takes Flight in a real battle, and it had been extremely effective.


    Not only had his soul and bloodline powers been infused into this attack, his spiritual power also played a role, so this was a technique that assaulted the enemy in all areas. As such, even after adopting his mist form, the Evil Soul Master was still affected by that attack.


    After crashing down to the ground, the Evil Soul Master didn''t dare to take his opponent lightly anymore. Specks of grey light began to emerge all over his body, and tree-leaf-like pieces of armor encapsulated his entire body. At the same time, a pair of grey wings unfurled on his back, giving him the appearance of a giant bat.


    This was a winged suit of battle armor, so it was a suit of two-word battle armor!


    Not only was this Evil Soul Master a seven-ring Soul Sage, he was also a two-word battle armor master!


    After summoning his suit of battle armor, the Evil Soul Master''s aura transformed drastically.


    One had to realize that a suit of battle armor could significantly enhance a Soul Master''s powers. Even though a seven-ring Soul Sage in a suit of two-word battle armor still couldn''t compare to a Titled Douluo, they were most definitely more powerful than an eight-ring Soul Douluo.


    The surrounding area was suddenly plunged into complete darkness, and the Evil Soul Master threw his head back before letting loose a sharp screech. Tang Wulin felt as if a sharp spike had been driven into his head, striking him with a splitting headache. At the same time, his bloodline began to churn wildly in an uncontrollable manner again.


    What was even more alarming to Tang Wulin was that after he lost control over his bloodline power, it began to surge toward his ninth Golden Dragon King seal.


    He was right in the middle of a battle! Breaking his ninth seal now would be akin to committing suicide!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin hurriedly bit down on the tip of his tongue to regain some mental clarity. Specks of golden light then began to emerge all over his body as he released his own suit of battle armor.


    Pieces of golden armor appeared to encapsulate his entire body, and with the enhancements brought to him by his suit of battle armor, Tang Wulin was finally able to control his bloodline again. The visor fell to conceal his handsome face, and he swept his right hand over his forehead, following which his Golden Dragon Spear instantly appeared in his hand.


    Thus, he was wearing a suit of golden armor with a golden visor while wielding a Golden Dragon Spear, giving him the appearance of a scintillating golden war god.


    He raised his Golden Dragon Spear before him, and bright golden light erupted from his eyes. He squatted down slightly, then propelled himself toward the Evil Soul Master again.


    His Golden Dragon Spear pierced through the air like lightning, sending spear projections hurtling through his opponent. However, a peculiar scene then unfolded. The Evil Soul Master''s body seemed to be completely weightless as he flashed through the air at an alarming speed, thereby allowing him to evade all of the attacks from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear just in the nick of time.


    With the enhancements from his suit of two-word battle armor, his sharp claws had already elongated to over a foot in length and had taken on a grey crystalline appearance. As the Evil Soul Master evaded Tang Wulin''s attacks, he would occasionally throw in an attack of his own using those sharp claws.


    His attacks were simply too fast for Tang Wulin to be able to evade all of them, and as soon as the claw strikes landed, they would leave a few white marks on his suit of one-word battle armor.


    However, it was at times like this that the immense defensive prowess of Tang Wulin''s suit of battle armor really came to the fore. Every time the Evil Soul Master''s attacks struck the suit of battle armor, scale-like patterns would appear over its surface, thereby significantly nullifying the force of the attacks.


    Generally speaking, a two-word battle armor master would be able to crush a one-word battle armor master with ease, but this was clearly not the case here. Of course, this could partially be attributed to the fact that Tang Wulin''s suit of one-word battle armor had been constructed from spirit alloys, but it was more of a testament to the immense defensive prowess that Tang Wulin possessed.


    However, Tang Wulin was certainly not enjoying the current situation, either. His opponent was far too fast and flashed through the night like an unpredictable wraith, so none of his immensely powerful attacks were able to strike their target. This kind of opponent was extremely troublesome for him to deal with as he was unable to truly make use of his strengths against them.


    Similarly, the Evil Soul Master was also having a hard time bringing down Tang Wulin. The latter''s defensive prowess was simply far too powerful, and the Evil Soul Master had learned his lesson after being struck by the Golden Dragon Takes Flight. As such, he had become extremely cautious and was adopting guerrilla warfare tactics, slowly wearing down Tang Wulin''s soul power while constantly searching for holes in Tang Wulin''s defense.


    Thus, an arduous battle ensued, and the other six members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were also struggling.


    A total of 11 Evil Soul Masters had surrounded them, and they were unleashing attacks in a torrential barrage.


    Evil Soul Masters belonged to a completely different system in the world of Soul Masters, and this applied to their martial souls as well. If one were to pursue the path of becoming an Evil Soul Master, then the abilities they attained through cultivation would also be vastly different from that of normal Soul Masters.


    The six-ring Evil Soul Masters leading from the front were the most troublesome to deal with. All of them were one-word battle armor masters, and their martial souls were also extremely strange.


    One of the six-ring Evil Soul Masters had transformed into a massive armored skeleton that was around eight meters tall and constructed from extremely thick bones. The suit of armor it was wearing was none other than a suit of one-word battle armor, and it was wielding a massive blade that was around seven meters long.


    Thankfully, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had Yuanen Yehui among their ranks. She released her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, and was wielding her pair of giant hammers to keep the massive skeleton''s attacks at bay.


    The second six-ring Evil Soul Master bore a strong resemblance to a clown. One side of his face was white while the other half was black, thereby creating a very unsettling appearance. He was cackling incessantly while spinning relentlessly on the spot, and a series of curses, such as hesitation and horror, were being cast onto the six members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, thereby constantly debilitating them. Furthermore, he was situated behind all of the other Evil Soul Masters, so there was no way to get to him.


    The third six-ring Evil Soul Master had transformed into a giant wolf with an overwhelming stench of blood and gore emanating from its body. It was picking up the corpses of men in black during battle, and it specifically devoured the hearts of those bodies. With every heart that it consumed, its offensive prowess would be enhanced. Its entire body was covered in metallic grey fur, and even Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword was unable to pierce through his suit of battle armor.


    The fourth six-ring Evil Soul Master appeared to be most normal among the four as, at the very least, he looked like a human. He was riding a skeletal horse that was entirely enshrouded in black flames, giving him the appearance of a mythical horseman of the apocalypse. His entire body was encapsulated in a suit of heavy black armor, and he was wielding a claymore as he engaged in a fierce battle with Yue Zhengyu.


    Yuanen Yehui was facing the skeletal Evil Soul Master, Ye Xinglan was taking on the giant wolf Evil Soul Master, and Yue Zhengyu was combating the horse-rider Evil Soul Master. All three of them were struggling somewhat in their battles.


    Among Soul Masters of the same cultivation rank, Evil Soul Masters were generally more powerful than normal Soul Masters. Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters clearly weren''t normal Soul Masters, but the evil Soul Masters they were facing were also of higher cultivation ranks than them. Furthermore, they had a control system Evil Soul Master constantly casting all types of curses to weaken them.


    Xie Xie really wanted to take out that clown Evil Soul Master, but the problem was that he had to stay behind to protect Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan


    Both of them simply didn''t have enough direct combat prowess to protect themselves, and if Xie Xie were to leave, other Evil Soul Masters would definitely swoop in to kill them.


    Among the remaining seven Evil Soul Masters, five were five-ring Soul Kings, two of which were one-word battle armor masters, and the remaining two were both four-ring Soul Ancestors.

 Chapter 793: Battling the Evil Soul Masters

    The seven Evil Soul Masters were attacking from all sides, and Xie Xie was having a very hard time keeping them at bay. He had already summoned three clones, thereby allowing him to fight on four different sides, and he was the member of Shrek''s Seven Monsters who was under the most pressure.


    At a time like this, all of the grueling training and cultivation that he''d adhered to really shone through. Despite the fact that there were four of him battling different opponents, he was able to control all of his clones very well.


    This was obviously quite difficult for him, but thankfully, he had Xu Xiaoyan to assist him in controlling the situation.


    Xu Xiaoyan didn''t rush to unleash her most powerful controlling soul skills, but whenever Xie Xie found himself in trouble, she was always able to defuse the situation with timely Starwheel Shackles.


    "Boom!" Yuanen Yehui swung the hammer in her right hand upward to block the skeleton Evil Soul Master''s massive saber, then lashed out horizontally with the hammer in her left hand, swinging it directly toward her opponent''s chest.


    The skeleton Evil Soul Master let loose a low roar, and spiritual flames began to flicker in his eye sockets. He squatted down, and brought his giant saber down along with his body before using it as a shield.


    Another loud boom rang out, and both the skeleton Evil Soul Master and Yuanen Yehui were forced back a step in unison. The two of them seemed to be evenly-matched in strength.


    Ye Xinglan held a slight advantage on her end. Even though it was very difficult for her Stargod Sword to penetrate the giant wolf Evil Soul Master''s defenses, it was important to note that not only did her Stargod Sword possess sword qi, it was also able to unleash sword intent. The sharp sword intent was constantly placing pressure on the giant wolf Evil Soul Master, and after discovering that her opponent could enhance his own powers through eating hearts, she had managed to prevent him from eating more hearts through the ferocity of her sustained assault.


    Yue Zhengyu was evenly-matched with his opponent. The rider was able to draw upon the power of his skeletal steed to unleash tremendous dark energy, but the Holy Angel martial soul just so happened to be extremely potent against his powers of darkness. Light and darkness clashed over and over again, exploding to form a vast expanse of devastating energy storms.


    However, it was currently night time, so Yue Zhengyu''s holy powers were clearly at a disadvantage.


    The dark rider steed seemed to be a part of his own body as he was able to control it in an extremely masterful manner. Every time he lashed out with his claymore, powerful black flames would erupt from the skeletal horse in the exact same instant. Powerful energy fluctuations would surge forth as a result, and the black flames would combine with the claymore to further enhance the weapon''s powers.


    Meanwhile, Yue Zhengyu had his wings spread open, and he''d already donned his suit of pure white battle armor. He was unleashing his Light of Judgement over and over again to launch retaliation attacks. However, the rider and his skeletal steed formed an extremely troublesome combination to deal with, and neither side could seize supremacy over the other. Unfortunately for Yue Zhengyu, the dark rider clearly had a greater abundance of soul power.


    Xu Lizhi was the one who was doing the least among everyone. At this point, he''d also donned his suit of battle armor, which was also white, but it was a different white compared to that of Yue Zhengyu''s suit of battle armor. There was no holy aura emanating from it, but the suit of armor appeared to be extremely thick and robust. He was quite tall and broad to begin with, and his suit of battle armor concealed his rotund figure, giving him a burly and intimidating appearance instead.


    He was standing right beside Xu Xiaoyan like a loyal guardian.


    An arduous battle had ensued while the men in black in the distance continued to slaughter passengers in the broken carriages.


    Tang Wulin was keeping an eye on the entire battlefield while battling his own opponent, and it only took him a few glances to grasp the situations that his friends were in.


    They couldn''t afford to delay any longer. Otherwise, hundreds of lives would be lost on the entire soul train.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin suddenly raised his head and let loose a loud cry. "Let''s end this!"


    At the same time, scintillating golden light erupted from his suit of battle armor, and his aura instantly transformed. His feet landed on the ground, and it was as if he''d transformed into an immovable mountain.


    A halo of earthy brown light began to radiate outward from his torso. While this halo of light was being released, the seven-ring Evil Soul Master was suddenly struck by the feeling that his body had been filled with lead, and he was forced to descend onto the ground. When he tried to pierce through Tang Wulin''s chest with his sharp claws again, he was struck by an extremely fearsome burst of recoil force that flung his arms up into the air.


    Tang Wulin stomped his right foot into the ground. Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!


    Eight small dragons erupted from the ground beneath his feet, and the immense shock from the attack instantly numbed the seven-ring Evil Soul Master''s entire body.


    He had also heard the loud cry that Tang Wulin had just let loose, and following this sudden development, he immediately unleashed his fifth soul skill without any hesitation. At the same time, his seventh soul ring also lit up.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin finally realized what this Evil Soul Master''s martial soul was.


    A massive armor-clad bat emerged before Tang Wulin. This was a Vampire Bat! With this martial soul, it was no wonder that this Evil Soul Master was so fast and could control the blood within other people''s bodies. It turned out that his martial soul itself was directly related to blood.


    However, even after unleashing his seventh soul skill, Vampire Bat True Body, he was still unable to immediately struggle free from the immense suction force emanating from the ground below.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin had begun to unleash his attacks. Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth managed to paralyze the Vampire Bat''s entire body, but with the powerful defensive prowess of his martial soul true body, the Evil Soul Master was only immobilized for a split second before he tried to fly away in retreat.


    However, the suction force emanating from the brown halo radiating from Tang Wulin''s body was simply too powerful, and it had severely restricted his speed.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin descended from up above and brought his Golden Dragon Spear down like a powerful whip. At the same time, he let loose a thunderous roar. Golden Dragon Roar!


    Purple light also erupted from his eyes as he unleashed his Purple Demon Eyes.


    Tang Wulin had unleashed all of his control-type soul skills in an instant.


    The Vampire Bat had no choice but to instantly disintegrate into a cloud of mist in order to try and flee the immediate vicinity.


    However, the spiritual attack unleashed by the Purple Demon Eyes delayed his transformation by a split-second, and that was enough to seal Tang Wulin''s victory.


    A golden figure rose up silently from the ground before winding itself around the vampire bat''s body, then pulling him downward. At the same time, the Golden Dragon Spear finally struck his body right before he was able to disintegrate into a cloud of mist.


    The seven-ring Evil Soul Master let loose an anguished howl, and large sections of his suit of two-word battle armor were shattered as he was slammed into the ground.


    Tang Wulin raised his right foot, and his body rose straight up into the air. A colossal figure then appeared in his place. It was none other than his second soul spirit, the Tyrant Dragon!


    The Tyrant Dragon stomped down viciously onto the seven-ring evil Soul Mater''s body with its right foot.


    The Tyrant Dragon was around 60 meters tall, and even with Tang Wulin''s 100-ton strength, it would be impossible for him to move the dragon''s enormous weight.


    It was one of the most terrifying land predators, and the devastating might of its stomp made the entire earth quake violently. Even the soul train carriages in the distance were swaying from side to side from the tremors running through the ground.


    Tang Wulin pointed a finger at the closest carriage to him, and instructed, "Goldsong, go!"


    Goldsong, which had just wound itself around the Evil Soul Master''s body, immediately shot forth like a speeding arrow toward the men in black at Tang Wulin''s behest.


    Wisps of mist began to escape from beneath the Tyrant Dragon''s feet before attempting to rapidly flee into the distance.


    Steam suddenly began to billow out of the Tyrant Dragon''s nostrils, and immediately thereafter, it abruptly opened its mouth to let loose a burst of crimson flames.


    In his mist form, the Vampire Bat Evil Soul Master''s forte lay in his ability to evade physical attacks. However, the downside was that in this form, energy-based attacks would be several times more powerful against him.


    Thus, he was struck by the terrifying pillar of flames amid a howl of anguish.


    However, it was also right at this moment that countless tiny bats erupted from within the mist before flying away in all directions. It seemed as if there were no end to the life-saving skills the Evil Soul Master had up his sleeve.

 Chapter 794: The Archangels Fury

    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly, and he suddenly slammed his right hand into his own chest as he stood atop the head of the Tyrant Dragon. Another brown halo of light immediately proliferated from his body, and enormous gravitational force descended from up above, forcing all of the tiny bats onto the ground.


    Immediately thereafter, Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from the ground as part of his Bluesilver Impaling Array. All of the tiny bats were skewered by the sharp vines one after another, and Tang Wulin made sure that the seven-ring Evil Soul Master was well and truly dead.


    The Tyrant Dragon then turned around and rushed directly toward another battlefield. With every step it took, its colossal paws sent violent tremors running through the ground.


    After burying all of the skeletons in the Dragon Valley, Tang Wulin discovered that his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit had somehow attained a substantial form.


    During the burial process, Tang Wulin recalled that as he was burying the skeleton of a winged Tyrant Dragon, his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit suddenly appeared and devoured that skeleton. After that, it hibernated for an entire year, and when it reawakened, Tang Wulin was able to summon it to assist him directly in battle.


    However, recruiting its assistance came at a price; maintaining this Tyrant Dragon soul spirit required an immense rate of soul power expenditure. With Tang Wulin''s current supply of soul power, he could only maintain the Tyrant Dragon for around half a minute.


    However, on a battlefield like this, having such a powerful ally by his side for half a minute was enough to sway the course of the entire battle.


    In just the first few seconds that the Tyrant Dragon had appeared, Tang Wulin had slain a seven-ring Soul Sage.


    In the instant that Tang Wulin had let loose that loud cry earlier, all of his friends also began to fight with all their might!


    Yuanen Yehui raised her head and let loose a loud roar, following which her fourth soul ring suddenly lit up. Her body shrank slightly, but her arms became even more musclebound, and she swung her giant hammers through the air, sending the skeleton Evil Soul Master flying into the distance.


    Devil Titan!


    Yuanen Yehui sprang up into the air and unleashed a fierce barrage of attacks on the skeleton Evil Soul Master with her giant hammers.


    Meanwhile, Ye Xinglan had unleashed her Sword Star Rain soul skill, and countless sword projections rained down upon the giant wolf Evil Soul Master. At the same time, her fifth soul ring lit up.


    All of a sudden, her eyes became as bright and dazzling as stars, and she pointed her Stargod Sword forward, immediately following which she abruptly vanished on the spot.


    The sky suddenly took an illusionary appearance for an instant, and right after that, a giant sword instantly descended from up above, hurtling directly toward the giant wolf Evil Soul Master!


    The Evil Soul Master was struck by an overwhelming sense of impending doom, and his sixth soul ring immediately lit up, causing his body to swell even further in size. At the same time, his upper body reared up, and he threw back his head as he let loose a long howl. A wheel of light that resembled a bright moon emerged behind him, except this moon was as red as blood.


    Sixth soul skill, Blood Wolf Howls To the Moon!


    This was a soul skill that could unleash a powerful spiritual attack against the opponent while also stimulating the user''s bloodline, allowing them to triple their defensive prowess for a short time.


    Unfortunately, his opponent was Ye Xinglan, a woman who was obsessed with her sword and her pursuit of extreme destructive power.


    After combining as one with her sword, the spiritual attack from the Blood Wolf Howls to the Moon was completely ineffective against Ye Xinglan, and the giant sword crashed down from above, sending the giant wolf Evil Soul Master flying with a single devastating blow.


    A massive crack appeared directly down the middle of his suit of one-word battle armor, and a huge gruesome wound was inflicted onto his body. The wound was so deep that his bones were clearly visible through the massive gash.


    He had only managed to survive that attack thanks to the defensive enhancements given to him by his Blood Wolf Howls To the Moon soul skill. Otherwise, his body would''ve been sliced cleanly in half.


    The holy light emanating from Yue Zhengyu''s body was suddenly withdrawn, but his entire body turned into a golden color, as did the wings on his back. The holy sword in his hand began to burn with holy flames, and an expression of intense concentration appeared on his face.


    His fifth soul ring lit up, and white patterns began to appear all over his suit of white battle armor. The small golden angel that had appeared during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention emerged behind him, then abruptly fused into his body.


    Yue Zhengyu shuddered, and another pair of wings appeared on his back, except this pair of wings was illusionary and clearly insubstantial. However, with the addition of this pair of wings, his holy aura suddenly became several times more powerful.


    In that instant, the entire sky lit up as if a new sun had appeared in the night. A pillar of golden light fell from the sky, landing directly on Yue Zhengyu. The glowing projections of a six-winged angel appeared up above.


    The holy sword in Yue Zhengyu''s hand was a like mirror that was reflecting the giant pillar of golden light descending from the sky toward the dark rider.


    The dark rider''s steed let loose a loud neigh, and the black flames around its body swelled to encompass the rider as well. The dark rider then unleashed his sixth soul skill, and he abruptly chopped off his own head with his claymore. His head fell to his waist, but in that instant, the aura of darkness emanating from his body suddenly began to release terrifying energy fluctuations.


    He lashed out with his claymore, and it clashed with Yue Zhengyu''s fifth soul skill.


    Yue Zhengyu''s fifth soul skill was The Archangel''s Fury! It drew upon the purest holy power to eradicate all evil.


    Meanwhile, the dark rider''s sixth soul skill was Headless Horseman Transformation, and it could enhance his combat prowess by severalfold.


    Thus, the prolonged battle they''d been engaged in earlier almost instantly transformed into a struggle of life and death.


    "Boom!" Golden light exploded like fireworks in the air, but Yue Zhengyu was debilitated by the clown Evil Soul Master during the clash, and was sent flying by a dark purple sword projection.


    However, the dark rider wasn''t faring much better, either. His skeletal steed had completely shattered into a pile of bones that was burning with golden flames. He had no choice but to transfer the power of the holy light unleashed by The Archangel''s Fury to his steed, thereby resulting in its destruction. Even so, his body had also been infiltrated by holy light, and he had to circulate his soul power with all his might to oppose it.


    As such, the clash had resulted in a lose-lose situation.


    What stunned the Evil Soul Masters the most weren''t the three Assault System Battle Soul Master. Instead, it was Xu Xiaoyan.


    She raised her staff above her head and began to chant an incantation as her third soul ring lit up.


    Streaks of dazzling starlight then shot forth from her body, and almost at the exact same moment that Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, and Yue Zhengyu unleashed their attacks, those streaks of starlight surrounded every single Evil Soul Master with unerring accuracy.


    Xu Xiaoyan had refrained from using her crowd control soul skill this entire time as she''d been waiting for this exact opportunity. The element of surprise was extremely important for control system Soul Masters; if she''d used the soul skill once already, her opponents would know what to expect, and the effect wouldn''t be as potent.


    The streaks of starlight seemed to have eyes of their own as they were able to descend upon every single Evil Soul Master in an instant. The teamwork between Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was exemplary! In the instant that streaks of dazzling starlight had begun to erupt from Xu Xiaoyan''s body, Yue Zhengyu, Yuanen Yehui, and Ye Xinglan all quickly sped off to the side to make way for the streaks of starlight.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s suit of one-word battle armor was deep blue in color, and there were specks of starlight shimmering on its surface, giving it the appearance of a starry night sky. The name of her one-word battle armor was Star!


    Only at this point in the battle did the main control system Soul Master of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters truly begin to display her might. After the streaks of starlight struck the Evil Soul Masters with unerring accuracy, all of them were immediately immobilized on the spot.


    Everyone else certainly wasn''t going to allow such a splendid opportunity to go to waste!


    Xie Xie''s four clones shot forth at once, and in the blink of an eye, four of the weaker Evil Soul Masters had their throats slit.


    Yuanen Yehui sprang forward, and her twin hammers struck the skeleton Evil Soul Master''s chest in a vicious blow like a pair of shooting stars. The sound of bones shattering was clearly audible in the night, and the skeleton Evil Soul Master was sent flying like a giant cannonball.


    Yue Zhengyu gritted his teeth and forced himself to ignore his physical discomfort as he pointed his holy sword forward. A beam of Light of Judgment instantly shot forth, striking the dark rider and covering his entire body in arcs of golden lightning.


    Ye Xinglan had just unleashed her fifth soul skill, and at this moment, she pointed her Stargod Sword forward as starlight erupted from her suit of battle armor. Immediately thereafter, her body flashed through the air over the giant wolf Evil Soul Master''s body as she unleashed her Sword God¡¯s Star. Even though it was only her first soul skill, it was her fastest attack, and with the enhancements from her Stargod Sword and battle armor, it was still an extremely devastating strike.


    All of a sudden, most of the Evil Soul Masters had suffered severe wounds, and Xu Lizhi also took advantage of this opportunity to deliver his Recovery Pork Buns to everyone, doing so with such accuracy that his friends only had to open their mouths before the buns appeared between their teeth. At the same time, Tang Wulin had also rushed over atop his Tyrant Dragon.


    The colossal Tyrant Dragon rumbled along like a force of nature while opening its mouth to blast a giant wave of flames out of its mouth.


    Tang Wulin''s mind was directly connected to the Tyrant Dragon soul spirit, and through this connection, he instructed it to direct its flames toward the Evil Soul Masters that were posing a threat to Xie Xie before they were immobilized.


    The flames erupting from the Tyrant Dragon''s mouth were true dragon flames! As the most powerful land dragon, the Tyrant Dragon''s combat prowess wasn''t actually inferior to that of true dragons. Instead, it was even more fearsome in some regards. Once a Tyrant Dragon evolved and grew wings, it would become a being that was close to the level of the nine dragon kings.

 Chapter 795: Vanquishing the Enemies

    Scorching dragon flames swept past, leaving only piles of ashes in their wake. The dragon flames of the dragon clan didn''t draw upon the fire elements of the outside world. Instead, they were special flames that were nurtured within the bodies of the dragons, and their temperatures surpassed even that of Gu Yue''s Blazing Blue Fireball.


    Furthermore, with the Tyrant Dragon''s immense life force, its dragon flames were of an extremely high caliber. The dazzling starlight could only immobilize its targets for a second, but that was enough to completely turn the tide of the battle.


    Xu Xiaoyan didn''t stop there, either. A golden ring of light appeared almost instantly beneath the skeleton Evil Soul Master, who had just been sent flying. The Evil Soul Master had only just recovered from his paralysis, and he was still reeling from the agony spearing through his entire body when he was bound by a series of Starwheel Shackles.


    When Yuanen Yehui had struck the Evil Soul Master, she''d made sure to send him flying directly toward Tang Wulin as she had seen that Tang Wulin had already taken care of his opponent and was rushing toward them. No one had any idea what this Tyrant Dragon was, but they had absolute confidence in Tang Wulin''s powers.


    As such, right after the skeleton Evil Soul Master''s body was immobilized again, he was greeted by the sight of a colossal creature charging toward him.


    The Tyrant Dragon raised its tail and withdrew its front paws to its chest. After taking a preparatory step with its pillar-like legs, it jumped up into the air.


    It was a rather comical sight to see such a colossal creature leaping into the air, but the skeleton Evil Soul Master''s eyes were filled with despair.


    The skeleton Evil Soul Master was already quite massive, standing at 10 meters tall. However, the mountainous Tyrant Dragon was over 60 meters tall!


    The Tyrant Dragon may have only been six times taller than him, but it was more than 60 times heavier! The most terrifying thing about a Tyrant Dragon was its insanely powerful body, so the Evil Soul Master''s fate was sealed.


    "Crack!" A string of gruesome cracks erupted, and the skeleton Evil Soul Master was stomped into a pile of shattered bones.


    Thus, Yuanen Yehui was free to divert her attacks toward the dark rider, who was still struggling to deal with Yue Zhengyu''s Light of Judgment. It was undoubtedly the case that the tables had been completely turned.


    A hint of astonishment appeared on the face of the clown Evil Soul Master. He had only managed to cast a curse of sluggishness onto the Tyrant Dragon''s body after the skeleton Evil Soul Master had been stomped to bits, yet the Tyrant Dragon merely let loose a thunderous roar of fury and shrugged off his curse as a layer of dark golden light surfaced all over its body!


    This was the Tyrant Dragon''s innate ability: Tyrant. The effects of all control-type soul skills were significantly weakened when used on a Tyrant Dragon. The clown Evil Soul Master was a six-ring Soul Emperor, but the Tyrant Dragon was a life form of a far higher caliber than him. As such, his curse of sluggishness proved to be completely ineffective.


    He began to cast a series of curses while fleeing from the battle. It was quite clear that their loss was sealed. All of a sudden, he raised a hand, and a yellow ball of light erupted into the air. A sinister yellow skull projection immediately appeared up above.


    The Tyrant Dragon blasted forth another burst of dragon flames that encompassed a massive area, sealing off the clown Evil Soul Master''s path of escape while golden light flashed in the air. In the next instant, the stunned clown Evil Soul Master was punctured by the streak of golden light and nailed to the ground. He''d been impaled by none other than Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.


    The summoning limit on the Tyrant Dragon also ran out at this moment, and it vanished into Tang Wulin''s body as a streak of light. The nine-colored bracelet on Tang Wulin''s wrist shimmered slightly, creating a very beautiful sight to behold in the night.


    Tang Wulin leaped forward and charged directly toward his Golden Dragon Spear. In the instant that his hand gripped around the spear shaft, the clown Evil Soul Master shuddered, and his body quickly shriveled up into a dried corpse. Tang Wulin felt a burst of pure life force energy flow into his body through the Golden Dragon Spear. It wasn''t a very potent burst of life force energy. At the very least, he had expected more from a six-ring Soul Emperor.


    However, it only took him a split second to understand why this was the case; this Evil Soul Master''s lackluster life force energy was most likely directly related to the evil abilities he cultivated. It was most likely the case that all Evil Soul Masters possessed weak life forces. However, the fact that the Golden Dragon Spear was able to kill him so quickly was still a testament to its powers.


    Tang Wulin looked up at the yellow skull firework in the sky with furrowed brows. Was that a retreat signal or a call for reinforcements?


    If it were the latter, then there was more trouble to come.


    The nearest city had to have already received news of this soul train''s derailment, but no one knew how long it would take before personnel from the federal government arrived on the scene.


    The skull Evil Soul Master and the clown Evil Soul Master had fallen one after the other, and the rest of the Evil Soul Masters were also quickly taken care of. With Xu Xiaoyan''s ultra-powerful control abilities, these Evil Soul Masters couldn''t run away even if they wanted to.


    In the distance, Goldsong quickly rushed back toward Tang Wulin, having already slain all of the men in black who were slaughtering passengers on the train carriages.


    Goldsong didn''t even look like a snake now. Its body had grown to over seven meters long, and it was entirely of a shimmering golden color. There were two very pronounced bumps on its head, and a pair of claws had sprouted out of his abdomen. The sharp claws were digging into the ground to help it move at a faster speed. A gentle light would only appear in its glowing golden eyes when it appraised Tang Wulin, and it was always very cold and aloof toward everything else.


    This was Tang Wulin''s first soul spirit, and it bestowed upon him the abilities of Bind and Bluesilver Impaling Array. As such, it was also able to use those two soul skills. After being nurtured by the Golden Dragon King bloodline for so long, it was really beginning to resemble a dragon.


    Soul spirits were able to grow and evolve, but generally speaking, growth of soul spirits was fueled primarily by absorbing spirit power from the Spirit Ascension Plane. However, Goldsong was clearly able to absorb more than spirit power and most of its growth came from absorbing Tang Wulin''s blood essence power.


    Every time a new Golden Dragon King seal was broken it would undergo evolution, and all of the dragon souls that Tang Wulin had absorbed during his three years in the Dragon Valley had also benefited it immensely. It was still far inferior in power compared to the Tyrant Dragon, but its evolution was still ongoing. At this rate, it would definitely be able to transform into a true dragon someday.


    "Let''s go save the victims first. We don''t know if that''s a signal calling for reinforcements, but our priority is to save as many people as we can. We can only hope that the federation can deploy some people to this place as quickly as possible," Ye Xinglan said with furrowed brows.


    Regardless of whether those Evil Soul Masters had reinforcement, they certainly couldn''t just leave. There had to be countless injured passengers that were in need of treatment in those ruined train carriages, and even though no one had any healing skills, Xu Lizhi''s Recovery Pork Buns could at least help the injured passengers hold on until help arrived.


    Tang Wulin turned to Xu Lizhi, and said, "Lizhi, give each of us one of your third, fourth, and fifth soul skills buns in case Evil Soul Master reinforcements arrive."


    "Yes!" Xu Lizhi immediately agreed before chanting his incantations, conjuring up one steamed bun after another that was distributed to everyone.


    With the enhancement effect of his suit of battle armor, Xu Lizhi had the most abundant soul power among everyone present.


    As Xu Lizhi continued to create steamed buns, everyone quickly rushed over to the carriages in the distance.


    Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor martial soul proved to be extremely effective in the process of saving the passengers trapped in the carriages. Their thick and powerful vines could easily force open spaces that had caved in, and they could also act as stretchers that carefully carried injured individuals out of the carriages. Tang Wulin was able to exert exemplary control over these vines with his Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, so he was able to save people extremely quickly and efficiently.


    Everyone else followed along behind him, administering emergency treatment to the injured people being carried out of the carriages by his Bluesilver Emperor vines, following which Xu Lizhi would feed them one of his Recovery Pork Buns to stabilize their conditions.

 Chapter 796: Formidable Foe

    The first few carriages were beyond help as all of the passengers inside had already been killed by the evil Soul Masters. Thankfully, they had dealt with all of the evil Soul Masters quite quickly, so over a third of the passengers from the rest of the carriages managed to survive. There were many passengers with severe injuries, while those with more minor injuries also began to help with the rescue efforts after calming themselves down. Everything was progressing toward a positive direction.


    A middle-aged man who seemed to be a doctor rushed over to Tang Wulin. "Thank you for saving everyone. Do we have any news about how long it would take federal rescuers to get here? There are many passengers with severe injuries, and we can''t afford to delay treatment for them. In particular, there are some who have ruptured organs, and with each second that passes, their chances of survival go down."


    Tang Wulin replied with furrowed brows, "I don''t have a communicator, so I can''t contact the nearby cities. I don''t even know where we are right now."


    A hint of disappointment appeared in the middle-aged man''s eyes. "Then we have no choice but to keep on waiting. The good thing is that there''s a tracking system for all soul trains, so whenever accidents happen, notifications will be sent out immediately. This place just so happens to be situated right in between two cities, so the rescuers will most likely require some time to get here. All we can do is help as many people as we can and hope for the best. I''m going to rejoin the rescue efforts now. If you find any first-aid kits or anything like that on the train, please bring them to me; they''ll help me immensely."


    "Alright, thank you for your hard work," Tang Wulin replied with a nod.


    Xu Xiaoyan squatted down and carefully bandaged the wound on an injured passenger''s arm as she said in a gentle voice, "You''ll be alright; a bone in your arm has been broken, but I''ve stabilized it for you. Don''t move, and just lie down here for a while. Once the rescuers get here, they''ll take you to the hospital."


    The person being treated by her was an old man, and even though his face was slightly pale from the agony he was experiencing, his expression remained quite calm. "Thank you, little girl. You''re like an angel. Thank you for defeating those cruel evil-doers; can you tell me where you come from?"


    Xu Xiaoyan replied with a smile, "We''re students of Shrek Academy."


    The old man faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Shrek Academy, eh? No wonder you''re all so kind and competent."


    Xu Xiaoyan consoled, "Everything''s alright now. You just lie down here; I''m going to help some other people."


    She gave the old man a gentle smile as she spoke before standing up and rushing over to another injured passenger.


    The old man looked on with approval in his eyes, and sighed, "What a good kind-hearted girl. Shrek Academy really does live up to its reputation as the number one academy on the entire continent; not only are these students all so powerful, they also have brilliant courage and moral compass."


    Right at this moment, the old man''s pupils suddenly contracted drastically as he yelled, "Look out, girl!"


    A blackish-purple shadow had appeared silently behind Xu Xiaoyan, and was thrusting a weapon toward the back of her chest like lightning.


    The assailant had appeared far too abruptly, and no one had managed to react in time.


    However, the old man''s cry of warning proved to be instrumental in saving Xu Xiaoyan''s life.


    Xu Xiaoyan had a vast wealth of practical battle experience, and as soon as she heard the old man''s voice, she immediately dove forward. Furthermore, she had been wearing her suit of battle armor this entire time without withdrawing it in case more enemies showed up.


    Blackish-purple light flashed through the air, virtually skimming over her back. Xu Xiaoyan let loose a muffled groan as she was sent flying by the attack, then crashed into a nearby train carriage before bouncing off it.


    Specks of starlight emerged on her suit of battle armor to buffer the force of the impact. However, the enemy''s attack was extremely powerful, and a huge gash had been torn open on the back of her suit of battle armor. Thankfully, the battle armor had withstood most of the power of the attack, and Xu Xiaoyan was only struck by a bone-chilling sensation, upon which she immediately began to circulate her soul power.


    The rest of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters immediately reacted to this sudden development.


    "Xiaoyan!" Yue Zhengyu roared as he flapped his wings with all his might. His second soul ring lit up, and he released his holy sword, positioning himself in front of Xu Xiaoyan in a flash.


    The blackish-purple light gradually manifested into a figure in the darkness.


    This was a middle-aged man with an extremely pale face and a pair of dark purple eyes. He appraised Yue Zhengyu with a cold expression, and said, "Did you kill all of my men? All of you must pay with your lives!"


    The man wasn''t wearing any battle armor, but there was an extremely sinister aura emanating from his body.


    Yue Zhengyu didn''t care who this man was. In the instant that Xu Xiaoyan was sent flying by this man''s attack, he felt as if his heart were about to jump out of his throat!


    Golden light erupted from his eyes as he spread his wings open, and his fourth soul ring immediately lit up, causing his aura to become several times more powerful. This was his fourth soul skill, Holy Angel Descends!


    He stepped forward in mid-air, and his holy sword slashed toward the middle-aged man like lightning.


    A layer of blackish-purple light began to radiate around the middle-aged man, and eight soul rings appeared around his body without any premonition.


    The soul rings consisted of three purples and five blacks! In the face of Yue Zhengyu''s holy sword attack, he didn''t even bother to take any evasive measures.


    The holy sword was shimmering with scorching holy light, yet in the instant that it came into contact with the blackish-purple light, Yue Zhengyu was struck by the feeling that his sword had sunk into a viscous swamp and couldn''t progress even an inch further. What was even more alarming to him was that the section of the holy sword that had pierced into the light was instantly corroded by its blackish-purple color. The holy light on the blade was quickly being devoured and melting away.


    Yue Zhengyu was quite stunned to see this.


    The middle-aged man spat in a cold voice, "I absolutely abhor this holy aura."


    He swept a hand toward Yue Zhengyu as he spoke, and a streak of blackish-purple light swept forth, heading directly toward Yue Zhengyu.


    At a time like this, the experience of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters really came to the fore. In the face of the middle-aged man''s attack, Yue Zhengyu didn''t panic in the slightest. He immediately unleashed his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to retreat like lightning, and he instantly released his holy sword without any hesitation in an extremely decisive manner. At the same time, dazzling holy light shone down onto his body.


    His quick reactions allowed him to evade most of the blackish-purple light, but he was still struck by a glancing blow. The holy light and the protective light barrier released by his battle armor managed to just barely keep the attack at bay, but Yue Zhengyu could still feel a blackish-purple color spreading all over his entire body.


    This light can even corrode soul power?


    An enormous force suddenly erupted, and his body was wrenched to the side.


    Immediately thereafter, a large hand appeared behind him and plucked him down from up above. At the same time, a pair of giant hammers crashed down directly toward the middle-aged man''s head from behind.


    A hint of disdain appeared on the middle-aged man''s face, and he suddenly raised his hands up above his head. His third soul ring then lit up as purple light erupted from his eyes.


    A powerful ball of purple light abruptly erupted from within his body, radiating outward like the explosion of a bomb.


    Tang Wulin had just grabbed onto Yue Zhengyu, and he was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding at the sight of the ball of purple light.


    Yuanen Yehui''s twin hammer struck the purple light, and even with her immense strength, she was still instantly sent flying. Xie Xie was also forced to reveal himself from the shadows before instantly rushing back in retreat.


    The sword projection unleashed by Ye Xinglan had also been repelled, and what was even more terrifying was that everything this purple light came into contact with would be quickly stained purple. Even if they were to circulate their soul power with all their might, they were still unable to rid themselves of that purple color.


    The purple light was filled with a cold sinister aura, and possessed terrifying corrosive properties. Even the sections of Yuanen Yehui''s massive hammers that had struck the purple light had already been melted away, and injecting her soul power into the hammers could only slow down the rate at which the hammers were being corroded.


    Yue Zhengyu rushed back toward Xu Xiaoyan and encircled his arms around her before flapping his wings and rapidly flying away.


    Tang Wulin made no effort to retreat. He was the core and the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so he had to buy time for his friends. Furthermore, there were still many injured passengers on the ground, and he certainly couldn''t just abandon them.


    A loud dragon''s roar rang out from his body, and brilliant golden light erupted from his battle armor as he brandished his Golden Dragon Spear, thrusting it directly toward the expanding barrier of purple light.


    A brown halo also erupted from his torso once again, exerting immense gravitational force. At the same time, a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines emerged from the ground, wrapping themselves around the injured passengers before hurling them toward another direction.


    He didn''t have time to delicately transfer them away one by one in this dire situation.


    In the distance, Xu Lizhi used his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to catch all of the injured passengers that were tossed over by Tang Wulin.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear pierced into the purple light, and he was also struck by the feeling that his weapon had sunk into a swamp. The purple light spread along the Golden Dragon Spear, trying to corrode it just as it had done with everything else.


    Right at this moment, rhomboid golden dragon scale patterns suddenly appeared over the section of the Golden Dragon Spear enshrouded within the purple light. Immediately thereafter, a loud dragon''s roar rang out amid a flash of dazzling golden light, and the spear was able to forcibly free itself from the purple light. Right after that, a golden dragon head appeared at the tip of the spear, unleashing the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens directly toward the middle-aged man''s chest.


    On top of that, Tang Wulin also unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar!

 Chapter 797: Myriad Year Infernal Tortoise

    Powerful soundwaves intermingled with spiritual power erupted alongside the might of the Golden Dragon King.


    The middle-aged man faltered slightly, and the purple light barrier radiating from his body immediately slowed in its expansion.


    A purple shield of light appeared in front of his chest, and the shield resembled the shell of a blackish-purple tortoise. The man was using the shell of the tortoise to withstand the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Is that his soul spirit?


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted with alarm upon seeing this, immediately following which a burst of enormous power crashed into his body.


    However, Tang Wulin''s strength was certainly nothing to be scoffed at, and even though his cultivation rank was far inferior to that of his opponent, he still managed to hold his own. He immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and all of his scales, as well as his suit of battle armor, took on a mirror-like appearance. The fact that his Golden Dragon Spear had been able to resist the corrosive effect of the purple light had significantly bolstered his confidence. He was going to use his strength, battle armor, and soul skills to withstand his opponent''s attack.


    In doing so, he finally bought his Bluesilver Emperor vines enough time to hurl all of the nearby injured passengers away, and also afforded his friends enough time to retreat.


    However, in the next instant, the vast disparity between their powers was finally displayed.


    Tang Wulin felt his chest tighten, and he was sent flying like a cannonball. His Golden Dragon King blood essence power was quickly being weakened, and he was stunned to discover that even though the purple light couldn''t corrupt his Golden Dragon Spear, he had to use his blood essence power to prevent it from corroding his body. Just from that exchange alone, Tang Wulin felt as if his blood essence power had been severely dented.


    The middle-aged man appraised Tang Wulin with a cold expression. "Interesting."


    He extended his right hand, and a purple tortoise landed on his palm. The tortoise was only around a foot in diameter, and it was entirely blackish-purple in color, but it had a pair of glowing white eyes that were filled with a sinister aura.


    "That''s an Infernal Tortoise!" Xie Xie exclaimed.


    Infernal Tortoises were an extremely rare type of soul beast, and they dwelled only in the darkest and most unwelcoming places, absorbing yin qi for sustenance and survival. Infernal Tortoises grew extremely slowly, and a newborn Infernal Tortoise was less than an inch in size. They would only grow an inch every 1,000 years, which meant that the Infernal Tortoise that the middle-aged man was holding was over 10,000 years old.


    The most powerful trait about an Infernal Tortoise was its ability to refine extreme yin qi. If it could encounter a Soul Master with a martial soul that it had great synergy with, it could enhance the martial soul to such a great extent that the martial soul could immediately undergo evolution.


    Even 1,000-year-old Infernal Tortoises were exceedingly rare, let alone this 10,000-year-old one. The fact that this Evil Soul Master could possess a Myriad Year Infernal Tortoise as his soul spirit was a strong testament to his immense powers.


    He was an eight-ring Soul Douluo that Tang Wulin and the others were struggling to oppose, even though he hadn''t even donned his suit of battle armor. There was only one of him, but he posed a greater threat than all of the previous Evil Soul Masters combined.


    Yue Zhengyu held Xu Xiaoyan in his arms and appraised the gash on her suit of battle armor with an urgent expression. Thankfully, the battle armor had buffered most of the power from that attack, but there was a patch of dark purple that was slowly spreading over the skin on her back, and she was only able to restrict the expansion of the corrupted area as she circulated her soul power with all her might with her eyes tightly shut.


    "Yin qi has entered her body; it has to be removed right away! Otherwise, she''ll be in a lot of trouble once the yin qi enters her main meridians," Yue Zhengyu said in an urgent manner.


    Tang Wulin rushed over to Xu Xiaoyan in a flash and gently pressed his right golden dragon claw directly over her wound. Powerful Golden Dragon King bloodline aura surged forth, entering Xu Xiaoyan''s skin and quickly eradicating the purple yin qi.


    The bloodline of the Golden Dragon King was of an extremely pure yang attribute. Regardless of how powerful Infernal Tortoises were, there was no way its bloodline could even begin to compare with that of the Golden Dragon King. It was just that the Evil Soul Master''s overwhelming cultivation rank advantage made him very difficult to deal with, even for Tang Wulin. If they were both of the same cultivation rank, Tang Wulin would naturally be able to crush him with ease.


    Xu Xiaoyan opened her eyes and immediately shuddered. "I''m so cold!"


    Yue Zhengyu hurriedly tightened his arms around her body. "Are you feeling better now?"


    "I''m fine now!" Xu Xiaoyan nodded in response.


    At this moment, all of the members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had gathered at the same spot, with the exception of Xu Lizhi.


    Tang Wulin had already stuffed two steamed buns into his mouth. They were Xu Lizhi''s third soul skill, Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun, and his fourth soul skill, Puncture BBQ Pork Bun.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan had also done the same thing, and the three of them stood at the front of the group as they cast their eyes toward their opponent.


    Around 10% of Yuanen Yehui''s giant hammers were corroded away before the yin qi finally dissipated, thereby further highlighting just how potent this yin qi was.


    The Evil Soul Master appraised them with an intrigued expression. "No wonder you managed to kill my men; you''re not average Soul Kings, that''s for sure. However, do you think you''re powerful enough to stop me?"


    All of a sudden, he raised an eyebrow, and murmured to himself, "Those bastards are pretty quick. In that case, I''ll have to end this as quickly as possible!"


    Dazzling purple light abruptly erupted from his eyes as he spoke, and immediately thereafter, a layer of purple light erupted from his body, transforming into a massive ghostly projection. His aura immediately spiked sharply as a result, and pieces of blackish-purple armor began to appear all over his body.


    The suit of armor was filled with a dark and sinister aura, and what was rather peculiar was that there was a cylindrical slot situated at the front of the breastplate. The middle-aged man placed the Infernal Tortoise into the slot, and the color of the entire Infernal Tortoise suddenly turned darker, making it appear as if it had become one with the suit of battle armor.


    A pair of giant wings then unfurled on the man''s back. This was the signature trait of a suit of two-word battle armor. However, it was quite clear that this man wasn''t wearing a suit of two-word battle armor.


    A series of demonic patterns began to appear over the suit of armor, and a blackish-purple ring of light that was around three meters in diameter also appeared beneath his feet. Thorns began to emerge around the ring of light, while complex demonic patterns emerged within the ring of light, forming a wraith-like diagram at the very center.


    This was a martial soul projection within a domain halo, indicating that he was wearing a suit of three-word battle armor!


    Just as wings were the defining trait of a suit of two-word battle armor, domain halos were the defining traits of suits of three-word battle armor.


    Suits of three-word battle armor came with their own domains, and those domains were definitely extremely synergistic with the battle armor masters. Within these domains, Soul Masters would become at least twice as powerful as they normally were.


    This was an eight-ring Soul Douluo in a suit of three-word battle armor! In this state, he was powerful enough to oppose a Hyper Douluo who hadn''t put on their suit of battle armor!


    Extremely grim expressions appeared on the faces of all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters upon seeing this.


    The terrifying aura erupting from the suit of three-word battle armor struck everyone with a sense of asphyxiation. Even though the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns were already beginning to take effect, there was still far too much of a power gap between them.


    Tang Wulin bit down on the tip of his tongue before stepping forward with a grave expression. "Yuanen, adopt your Fallen Angel form! Xiaoyan, unleash your Astral Chain!"


    In the face of such a mighty being comparable in power to a Hyper Douluo, escape was clearly not an option. However, from the words of the Evil Soul Master earlier, it was quite clear that reinforcements weren''t far away. This was their only option. They had to last until the reinforcements arrived if they wanted to survive.


    Tang Wulin brandished his Golden Dragon Spear, and four golden soul rings appeared around his body. He was unable to summon his Tyrant Dragon anymore. Otherwise, he''d definitely be able to last longer against this opponent. Even so, he was the captain of the team, and he had to stand at the very forefront of the group to protect his friends.


    Xu Xiaoyan had expended a lot of energy to oppose the yin qi that Tang Wulin had just expelled from her body, but she still had no issues unleashing soul skills. She also quickly ate her Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun while unleashing her fourth soul skill at the same time.


    A series of illusionary starlight chains instantly connected everyone, essentially fusing them as a single being.


    Astral Chains, Life Sharing! Through the use of this ability, the damage sustained from every attack would be distributed among everyone. Even Xu Lizhi had an Astral Chain connected to his body.


    They could all sense each other''s heartbeats and bodily conditions, forming a spiritual connection between everyone.


    Yue Zhengyu reflexively held onto Xu Xiaoyan''s hand, and Xu Xiaoyan tried to tug her hand free, but Yue Zhengyu refused to let go.


    Just then, he had thought that he was going to lose Xu Xiaoyan forever, but thankfully, she had managed to survive. Even so, he was unwilling to let go of her ever again.


    "Killing all of you will be no different from stomping ants!" the Evil Soul Master said in a cold voice. He flapped his wings and made a grabbing motion with his right hand, upon which a massive blackish-purple hand immediately made a grab straight for Tang Wulin''s head. At the same time, the domain halo from his battle armor instantly expanded to encompass Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters within it.


    Tang Wulin''s heart sank slightly upon seeing this. The Evil Soul Master hadn''t underestimated them even with their vast cultivation rank disparities. Instead, he had unleashed his domain halo, and was clearly trying to kill them in the shortest amount of time possible.


    He couldn''t allow this domain to encompass everyone! Otherwise, they would be like sitting ducks that could only resign themselves to death.


    The fourth golden ring around Tang Wulin''s body suddenly lit up, and a golden halo appeared beneath his feet, expanding to around five meters in diameter, and encompassing all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters within it. At this moment, Xu Lizhi had also joined them.

 Chapter 798: Extreme Yin

    Within the golden light, there seemed to be a giant dragon coiling around everyone, and all of Shrek''s Seven Monsters could feel a burst of immense blood essence power instantly surge into their bodies. A loud dragon''s roar rang out, and Tang Wulin''s body also swelled dramatically to over three meters in height.


    At the same time, the blood essence fluctuations emanating from his body also spiked drastically, and his eyes had taken on a crimson-golden color as opposed to their original golden hue. His aura was elevating in a frenzy, and he had unleashed his fourth bloodline soul skill, Violent Golden Dragon Domain.


    This was an ability that he''d attained after he''d broken his eighth Golden Dragon King seal, but he''d never used it outside of the Dragon Valley.


    His Violent Golden Dragon Domain could make his Golden Dragon King bloodline enter a berserk state, and at the same time, all of his allies within the domain will be enhanced by his Golden Dragon King bloodline, thereby increasing their offensive and defensive abilities by a third. In this state, Tang Wulin''s strength, as well as defensive and offensive capabilities would all be increased by twofold.


    As his body reached three meters in height, the scales all over his skin also became thicker and heavier. The dragon scales patterns on the surface of his battle armor had also all transformed into robust dragon scales, making it appear as if the dragon scales from his body had encapsulated his suit of battle armor.


    His aura also began to quickly elevate, and in that instant, Tang Wulin was like a ferocious beast that had just awakened from a long slumber. His Golden Dragon Spear was also enhanced by his immense bloodline power, and dazzling golden light erupted from it as it also expanded in size to the same scale as his body.


    His third bloodline soul ring lit up, and a loud dragon''s roar rang out. Powerful blood essence fluctuations erupted from his body, slowing down the spread of the Evil Soul Master''s battle armor domain halo. In the next instant, Tang Wulin had shot forth as a streak of golden light.


    Golden Dragon Takes Flight!


    His Golden Dragon Spear was pointed directly ahead of him, and he was propelling himself without any hesitation toward the enemy''s domain.


    At a time like this, he couldn''t afford to cower or hesitate even for a split second. If the seven of them were to fall under the scope of their opponent''s battle armor domain halo, then they would be completely at his mercy.


    A frosty aura of extreme yin surged toward Tang Wulin, and even though he didn''t know what his opponent''s martial soul was, it was quite clear that this man was most likely a very formidable figure in the world of Evil Soul Masters, given how pure his yin qi was.


    However, at this moment, he was like a scorching sun flashing through the air, except his blood essence was burning around his body as opposed to actual flames. The powerful Golden Dragon King blood essence pierced through the oncoming yin qi while his Golden Dragon Spear shot forth directly toward his opponent''s chest.


    A hint of surprise appeared on the Evil Soul Master''s face. He had obviously already ascertained that Tang Wulin was only a five-ring Soul King. It was completely unprecedented for a five-ring one-word battle armor master to be able to eradicate his extreme yin qi and even strike him with a slight sense of peril.


    However, the Evil Soul Master certainly wasn''t going to panic because of this. He merely looked on with a cold smile on his face as Tang Wulin rushed into the giant blackish-purple hand he''d just conjured up.


    However, in the next instant, his smile immediately stiffened on his face as he discovered that a small golden vortex had appeared within the huge blackish-purple hand. The golden vortex then rapidly expanded and completely shredded the giant hand! Golden light flashed, and immediately reached the front of his chest.


    The Evil Soul Master reacted extremely quickly as his right hand shot forth like lightning to strike the side of the Golden Dragon Spear. In the instant that his palm made contact with the Golden Dragon Spear, his entire body abruptly shuddered.


    This had nothing to do with cultivation ranks; it was simply bloodline intimidation. As Tang Wulin''s soul power increased, his Golden Dragon King blood essence aura would also become more powerful. That allowed him to better fuse with his own blood essence, thereby further bolstering the aura of the Golden Dragon King.


    As the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Tang Wulin was certainly no slouch. Furthermore, as his Golden Dragon King bloodline became more powerful, his battle style also became more and more aggressive.


    The extreme yang aura of his Golden Dragon King bloodline was able to restrict his opponent''s extreme yin qi to a significant extent, and with the enhancements brought to them by his Violent Golden Dragon Domain, the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were still struck by a bone-chilling sensation, but they weren''t corrupted right away.


    If they had been standing within this three-word battle armor master''s domain halo without the enhancements of the Violent Golden Dragon Domain, they''d be quickly reduced to puddles of blood by the corrosive extreme yin qi.


    A series of Starwheel Shackles began to emerge soundlessly from beneath the Evil Soul Master''s feet, and in that instant, the absolute nature of Xu Xiaoyan''s control soul skills shone through to brilliant effect. The Evil Soul Master''s raised right hand abruptly froze in mid-air, and it had to be said that Xu Xiaoyan was undoubtedly a master of timing.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear virtually skimmed over the Evil Soul Master''s fingertips, and the Starwheel Shackles appeared virtually at the exact same moment as the Evil Soul Master was struck by his blood essence intimidation. In the next instant, the Golden Dragon Spear struck the Infernal Tortoise on his chest with devastating force.


    Blackish-purple light immediately erupted from the suit of three-word battle armor as it activated its protective barrier. This was the most normal reaction displayed by a suit of battle armor in response to oncoming attacks. However, the barrier activated by a suit of three-word battle armor was obviously far more powerful than that of a suit of one-word battle armor.


    A burst of extreme yin qi instantly sent Tang Wulin flying, but a small hole that was shimmering with faint silver light had been stabbed into the Infernal Tortoise''s back.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense a refreshing burst of energy flowing into his body from the Golden Dragon Spear. That was the life force energy of the Infernal Tortoise.


    The Golden Dragon Spear''s insane destructive power had played a crucial role here. The eruption of power from the protective barrier wasn''t enough to immediately repel the Golden Dragon Spear, and thus, it was able to leave a slight wound on the Infernal Tortoise''s body. Even though it was only a soul spirit, a soul spirit of that caliber had to have already become a power of the Soul Master''s being.


    Tang Wulin was well aware of the fact that at his current cultivation rank, there was no way that he would be able to unleash the full power of the Golden Dragon Spear. As such, he didn''t target any of the evil Soul Master''s vital regions, as all of those regions were encapsulated within his three-word battle armor, and Tang Wulin wasn''t confident in his ability to pierce through that armor. However, that Infernal Tortoise seemed to be the core of the Evil Soul Master''s soul power, and its defensive prowess shouldn''t be as powerful as that of the suit of battle armor, so he decided to target it.


    "How dare you!" The Evil Soul Master''s infuriated voice rang out, and Tang Wulin didn''t even see what had happened before his body was struck by a burst of glacial energy, causing him to abruptly accelerate as he flew back toward his friends.


    At this moment, the effect of the Astral Chains immediately shone through. Light shimmered from the suits of battle armor of all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and they withstood the force of that attack together.


    All seven of them let loose muffled groans in unison, but they were still able to withstand that attack in the end. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu caught Tang Wulin''s body together to arrest his momentum.


    Right at this moment, the Evil Soul Master''s frosty voice rang out again. "Extreme Yin Domain!"


    Tang Wulin and his friends were instantly struck by the sensation that everything around them seemed to have become more viscous. At the same time, his Violent Golden Dragon Domain was enshrouded beneath a fearsome turbulent sea of extreme yin qi. A burst of purple light suddenly erupted from the ground before enveloping Xu Xiaoyan within it.


    This was extreme yin qi that was 10 times as potent as the yin qi from the Evil Soul Master''s battle armor domain halo. Furthermore, in the instant that it appeared, it severed the Astral Chains extending from her body.


    This was the first time that everyone had encountered such a scenario. Astral Chains was a star-type soul skill, and the chains were extremely resolute, but it was quite clear from this sudden turn of events that these chains weren''t indestructible.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 799: Reinforcements, Sacrifice

    It was quite clear that the Evil Soul Master had pinpointed Xu Xiaoyan''s absolute control as the biggest threat to him, as opposed to Tang Wulin''s immense power. If it hadn''t been for her control, how would Tang Wulin have managed to hurt his Infernal Tortoise?


    As such, he unleashed his sixth soul skill, and his aim was to eliminate Xu Xiaoyan as quickly as possible.


    The Extreme Yin Domain was like a coffin that had completely trapped Xu Xiaoyan within, and the aura of the Golden Dragon King from the Violent Golden Dragon Domain was quickly fading from her body. In just a few more seconds, her defenses would completely crumble. After that, her body and her battle armor would both be corroded into nothingness within the Extreme Yin Domain.


    "Xiaoyan!" Yue Zhengyu cried out as he abruptly flapped his wings and charged into the Extreme Yin Domain without any hesitation.


    The Extreme Yin Domain had extremely powerful offensive abilities, and was also an extremely effective control-type soul skill, which was why the Evil Soul Master had chosen it as his sixth soul skill. However, it had one limitation, which was that it could only encompass a very small area, so it could only attack one person at a time. Despite this, it was his most powerful individual attack, and this was the first time he''d ever seen anyone dare to charge into his Extreme Yin Domain like a moth to a flame.


    A burst of white holy flames erupted from Yue Zhengyu''s body almost at the exact same moment, and his wings had been set alight by those holy flames.


    The pristine white flames appeared to be very gentle and warm, striking the beholder with a comfortable sensation. Yue Zhengyu charged into the Extreme Yin Domain, and his flaming wings wrapped themselves around Xu Xiaoyan to form a protective barrier.


    A remarkable scene then unfolded. Despite how powerful the Extreme Yin Domain was, it was unable to corrode those flaming wings, and was completely kept at bay.


    "Sacrifice! You''re from the Holy Angel clan!" the Evil Soul Master harrumphed coldly, but a hint of wariness had crept into his voice.


    Sacrifice? The other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters all faltered upon hearing this.


    Right at this moment, a sharp cry suddenly erupted in the distance, and the Evil Soul Master''s expression changed slightly as a hesitant look appeared on his face. After taking one final cold glance at Tang Wulin and the others, he abruptly vanished on the spot.


    Just as Tang Wulin and the others were preparing themselves to protect Xu Xiaoyan and Yue Zhengyu with all their might, the Evil Soul Master disappeared.


    "Hmm? Sacrifice?" A surprised voice sounded from up above. Immediately thereafter, the space overhead was torn open, and a silvery-white figure descended from above.


    A pair of silvery-white wings were spread open as his body slowly descended, and a silver halo appeared beneath his feet.


    This was another three-word battle armor master! However, the aura of light emanating from his body clearly indicated that he was definitely no Evil Soul Master.


    There were a helmet and a visor on his head that completely obscured his appearance, and silver light flashed from his body, following which a small silver hammer flew forth before appearing in the air above the Extreme Yin Domain. Streaks of dazzling silver light erupted, forming a string of mirror-like structures, and the Extreme Yin Domain vanished in a flash.


    The gentle white flames receded, yet Yue Zhengyu still refused to let go of Xu Xiaoyan.


    "Xiaoyan, I''m sorry," Yue Zhengyu whispered into her ear before slumping limply against her body.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his Violent Golden Dragon Domain before extending a respectful bow toward the three-word battle armor master. "Thank you for saving us. May I ask your name?"


    The three-word battle armor master had silver light flashing all over his body as if his entire suit of battle armor were constructed from silver mirrors. The suit of battle armor then vanished into his body to reveal his true appearance.


    This was a handsome middle-aged man who appeared to be in his thirties, and his head of short blue hair gave him a very energetic appearance. His eyes were bright and piercing, and what was quite remarkable was that his pupils were silver.


    "I am a backup Battle God from the federation''s Battle God Hall; my name is Luo Shaofeng. All of you have done very well to hold off Zun Fang for such a long time," Luo Shaofeng said with a hint of surprise on his face as he appraised the group of young one-word battle armor masters before him.


    Tang Wulin wore an urgent expression as he carefully took Yue Zhengyu from Xu Xiaoyan, and said, "Senior, would you be able to examine our friend? He..."


    Luo Shaofeng waved a hand in response. "He''s fine. The Sacrifice of the Holy Angel clan won''t harm the user as long as the sacrificial flames aren''t completely snuffed out."


    Xu Xiaoyan was still rather slack-jawed, as if she had yet to recover from her ordeal.


    When the Extreme Yin Domain had fallen upon her and severed all of her Astral Chains, her first thought was that it was over for her. In that instant, she felt an extremely frosty aura surging toward her from all sides, completely immobilizing her and rendering her unable to use even a single shred of her soul power. She could only look on as the extreme yin qi rapidly stripped away the bloodline essence that the Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain had bestowed upon her.


    However, at the height of her despair, a white figure suddenly appeared in her field of view, following which she was swept up into a warm embrace. He held onto her with all his might, and his pounding heartbeat was clearly audible even to her. He whispered an apology to her as he wrapped his wings around her body to keep the frosty aura at bay, and in that moment, Xu Xiaoyan felt as if her heartstrings had been violently tugged on.


    She wanted to struggle out of his arms as she didn''t want him to withstand what was clearly a lethal attack for her.


    However, his embrace was simply too strong, to the extent that she was unable to extricate herself from his arms. He had entered the Extreme Yin Domain, so he had also been completely immobilized. Thus, the two of them were trapped in a lethal world that could take their lives at any moment.


    When Yue Zhengyu slumped over against her, she saw a smile on his face that was filled with warmth and relief. His apology was no longer a prideful one. Instead, it was completely genuine and heartfelt.


    Tears streamed down Xu Xiaoyan''s face uncontrollably as she asked in a trembled voice, "Senior, will, will he be okay? Why is that ability called Sacrifice?"


    Luo Shaofeng raised an eyebrow as he explained, "Aren''t you guys friends? Hasn''t he told you about the sacrifice ability of the Holy Angel clan? Sacrifice is an important reason behind the Holy Angel clan''s current status as one of the top families of the current world of Soul Masters. It''s an innate ability that allows them to summon sacrificial flames at the expense of their life force energy, and those flames can ward off all negative effects, as well as enhance one''s holy powers by threefold. For a member of the Holy Angel clan with a pure bloodline, this innate ability can enhance their overall combat prowess by more than twofold for a short time. Of course, just as the name suggests, Sacrifice cannot be unleashed without cost. Every time the ability is used, one''s life force must be ignited, and 10 years'' worth of life force will be burned away."


    10 years'' worth of life force? To put it in simpler terms, the ability required the sacrifice of 10 years of one''s lifespan!


    Yuanen Yehui had always been rather displeased with Yue Zhengyu for his treatment of Xu Xiaoyan, but she was forced to look at him through new eyes. This applied to everyone else as well, and Xu Xiaoyan was already sobbing uncontrollably.


    Luo Shaofeng wore an expression of approval on his face as he said, "It''s the greatest pride of the Holy Angel clan to be able to sacrifice themselves to protect others; this kid has certainly done his clan proud. Regardless of how proud Holy Angels are, they still abide firmly by their beliefs."


    Tang Wulin felt as if there were a lump in his throat, and his eyes slowly glazed over. In the face of truly powerful beings, they were still pitifully weak. Were they really worthy of the title of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters? If it hadn''t been for Yue Zhengyu''s Sacrifice, Xu Xiaoyan would most likely already be dead, and as the team captain, Tang Wulin would most definitely hold himself accountable.


    Yuanen Yehui made her way toward Xu Xiaoyan before enveloping her in a gentle hug. Tang Wulin took a deep breath. "Xiaoyan, you stay here with Zhengyu; everyone else, let''s keep helping the injured passengers."


    At this moment, bright lights appeared in the distance as one mecha after another descended from the sky. These mechas were not all designed for battle; there were also ambulance mechas as well. As soon as they landed on the ground, these ambulance mechas transformed into makeshift emergency treatment platforms, and a large number of doctors and nurses rushed out to tend to the injured passengers.


    As for the self-proclaimed backup Battle God and three-word battle armor master, Luo Shaofeng, he didn''t participate in the rescue efforts. Instead, he hovered high up in the air, appraising the surrounding area in an alert manner in case more enemies were to appear.


    Seeing as professional rescue personnel had arrived on the scene, Tang Wulin was made largely redundant, and he quickly made his way over to below Luo Shaofeng before looking up at him as he asked, "Senior, who is this Zun Fang that you were referring to earlier?"


    Luo Shaofeng glanced at him, and said, "If I''m not mistaken, you''re all from Shrek Academy''s inner court, right?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before immediately nodding in response.

 Chapter 800: Battle God Hall

    A benevolent smile appeared on Luo Shaofeng''s face upon hearing this. "In that case, you''re all my junior disciple brothers and junior disciple sisters. I also used to be an inner court disciple of Shrek Academy. The man you just fought is Zun Fang, an Evil Soul Master known as the Infernal Ghostly Swine. He is a high-ranking member of the Holy Spirit Cult, and his yin qi is extremely troublesome to deal with. I''ve been pursuing him for a long time, and I immediately rushed over here after sensing his aura."


    "What''s the Holy Spirit Cult?" Tang Wulin asked in a confused manner.


    Luo Shaofeng replied in a grim voice, "It''s a mysterious cult that has been around for countless years. To put it more accurately, it''s more like a heinous and sinful sect. All of its members are Evil Soul Masters, and they take it upon themselves to develop more Evil Soul Masters. They''re always searching for special types of energy through slaughter and destruction to enhance themselves, and around 10,000 years ago, the Holy Spirit Cult brought about a catastrophic disaster that almost destroyed the entire human race. Thankfully, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao was able to crush them with the assistance of the powerful beings of that generation, and he seemingly disappeared off the face of the world after that. However, even after 10,000 years, the Holy Spirit Cult is still around.


    "Fortunately, they don''t seem to have been able to accumulate as much power as they had during their heyday. Even so, they''ve been frequently committing crimes of terrorism during the past few years, and everywhere they go, slaughter is sure to follow. It''s really lucky that you guys were around today. Otherwise, all of the passengers on this train would be killed, and even their souls would be extracted by Evil Soul Masters for them to cultivate their evil techniques."


    Tang Wulin looked on at Luo Shaofeng with a surprised expression. There was a sect comprised entirely of Evil Soul Masters? This was the first time he''d ever heard of such a thing, but it wasn''t actually the first time he''d come across such an organization. It was undoubtedly the case that the Evil Soul Master who had almost killed Mo Lan on that train was also a member of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Luo Shaofeng continued in a grim voice, "The Holy Spirit Cult members are extremely cunning and willing to stoop to anything to achieve their objectives. After the heavy blow they were dealt 10,000 years ago, they''ve learned to become extremely secretive and discreet. If you encounter Evil Soul Masters in the future, try not to engage them in battle. The federation is expending a lot of effort to find them, and we''ve already waged a few battles against them. The Evil Soul Masters had kept a low profile during recent times, but it appears these bastards are back to their old ways again!"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Is there really no way to find them? And just how powerful is this Holy Spirit Cult?"


    Luo Shaofeng shook his head with a dark expression. "No one knows just how powerful the Holy Spirit Cult is, but what you have to realize is that they''ve managed to survive even with the federation''s Battle God Hall, the Spirit Pagoda, and Shrek Academy all making concerted efforts to hunt them down."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this.


    Luo Shaofeng continued, "Those Evil Soul Masters are all completely deranged, and nothing is beneath them. If it weren''t for the fact that they still can''t directly oppose us, they would''ve come out of hiding long ago."


    Tang Wulin asked, "What is the Battle God Hall? This is the first time I''ve heard of it."


    Perhaps it was because they were both from the same academy, but Luo Shaofeng wasn''t irked by Tang Wulin''s string of questions. Instead, he patiently explained, "To put it simply, the Battle God Hall is an organization of elite beings created by the federation. All members of the Battle God Hall receive resources from the federation with which they can continue to better themselves, but when the federation is in danger, all members of the Battle God Hall must follow the federation''s orders. Of course, during most times, we have a high degree of freedom, and we all belong to the military, so we have military titles. Speaking of which, you''re all one-word battle armor masters already; once you become two-word battle armor masters and graduate from the inner court, the Battle God Hall would be more than happy to offer all of you a place among our ranks."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Are there many alumni from our academy at the Battle God Hall, Senior?"


    Luo Shaofeng smiled, and replied, "I can''t tell you the specifics, but what I CAN tell you is that a major factor behind the support and respect our academy receives from the federation is its neutral stance. However, those who graduate from the academy have to go somewhere, especially us inner court disciples, and the Battle God Hall is a very good option for you to consider."


    "Alright, thank you, Senior. Oh, by the way, would we still be able to join the Battle God Hall if we''ve already joined the Tang Sect?"


    Luo Shaofeng faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You''ve already joined the Tang Sect? Even so, it shouldn''t be an issue if you haven''t already become members of the Battle Hall. However, if you''ve already joined the Tang Sect''s Battle Hall, then you should stay there. The Battle Hall gives very good benefits, and the Tang Sect may be very discreet, but it''s a very powerful organization. On top of that, it''s also more closely related to the academy. By the way, I heard a new generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was chosen at the academy, right?"


    Tang Wulin scratched his head and nodded in a rather embarrassed manner.


    They had just been reduced to such a sorry state by that Evil Soul Master, so he was really rather embarrassed to admit their identities.


    A thought immediately occurred to Luo Shaofeng at the sight of Tang Wulin''s expression, and he asked, "You''re not going to tell me the seven of you are Shrek''s Seven Monsters, are you?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "We''ve brought shame to the academy."


    "No, no, no, not at all!" Luo Shaofeng hurriedly waved a hand, and he even descended from the sky as he appraised Tang Wulin momentarily before continuing, "Looks like there''s no way you''ll be joining the Battle God Hall."


    Tang Wulin was rather befuddled by this abrupt conclusion.


    Luo Shaofeng explained, "Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters are the future of the academy, and they can''t fall under the control of the federation. I didn''t think that I''d get to meet all of you so soon! And don''t go spouting nonsense about bringing shame to the academy; go ask all of those injured passengers, and every one of them will laud you as heroes! If it weren''t for you guys, hundreds of people would''ve lost their lives. The academy would be immensely proud to have you guys as Shrek''s Seven Monsters. I can see that you''ve already killed many Evil Soul Masters, and it''s no surprise that Zun Fang was too much for all of you to handle. It''s a good thing that he didn''t know you were the newest generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Otherwise, he would''ve killed all of you regardless of what price he had to pay.


    "Remember this, Junior Disciple Brother; don''t tell anyone else that you''re Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters until you become truly powerful. The academy has many allies, but also just as many enemies, and those who dare to oppose our academy are all extremely powerful beings. What are all of you doing here? I can take you to your destination and ensure your safety along the way."


    A surge of warmth flowed through Tang Wulin''s heart upon hearing this. What a kind senior this was!


    "We''re going to undertake military training, but we don''t know the specific details involved yet."


    "Military training?" Luo Shaofeng shuddered upon hearing this, and a peculiar look of horror and sympathy appeared in his eyes.


    "I won''t be able to take you there, then; you''ll all have to rely on yourselves to get there. You..." Luo Shaofeng seemed to be about to say something, but he decided against it in the end. He merely patted Tang Wulin''s shoulder, and sighed, "Just be careful. I''ll be praying for all of you."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. It was quite apparent that this senior had also participated in the military training they were about to undertake, and it seemed to have been quite a traumatizing experience for him!


    The rescue efforts were quickly wrapped up, and all of the severely injured passengers were transported to the nearby cities. The ruined train and the damaged railway tracks all had to be repaired, but that was not something for Tang Wulin and the others to worry about.


    With Luo Shaofeng''s help, Tang Wulin and the others were able to hide their identities and escape investigation from the federation officials. They were then taken to the nearest city in a flying cargo mecha.


    Thus, a harrowing yet exhilarating night drew to a conclusion, and it was certainly not a good experience to have almost lost their lives. [Can imagine the YouTube video title already: "SCHOOLBOYS BATTLE EIGHT-RING SOUL DOULUO AT 3AM!!! MUST WATCH!!! ALMOST DIED!!!" except it won''t be clickbait LOL]


    "I''m never taking a soul train ever again!" Tang Wulin vowed in a grumpy manner. "Get some rest, everyone. Zhengyu..."


    Yue Zhengyu was still unconscious, and his face had an unhealthy pale pallor.


    "I''ll look after him!" Xu Xiaoyan immediately volunteered without any hesitation.


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief. "Alright, then let''s all get some rest, and after Zhengyu recovers, we can set off again."


    "Sounds good!"


    Thus, everyone retired to their rooms, and Tang Wulin only departed after carrying Yue Zhengyu into his room.


    Xu Xiaoyan stripped off Yue Zhengyu''s clothes, leaving him in his underwear, then wiped down his body with a wet towel before pulling his blankets over him. She then dragged a chair over and sat down beside his bed.


    The unconscious Yue Zhengyu was still extremely handsome, even with his sickly pale complexion.

 Chapter 801: Please Listen to My Repentance

    Tears began to well up in Xu Xiaoyan''s eyes before flowing uncontrollably down her cheeks.


    "I always denounce you for being too proud, for being high and mighty, but I''m just as arrogant. You''re right, I feel very inferior next to you. We come from such vastly different backgrounds, and you''re so exceptional that it''s easy for you to attract other women. I was afraid that you''d slowly love me less and less. On that day, when you made that confession to me during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, I felt like I was being spoken to like an accessory, and I hated that feeling. You ignored me for half a year, but did you know that I regretted what I did as soon as I left the match-making convention? I didn''t regret rejecting you, but I shouldn''t have embarrassed you in front of all of those people. However, I regret everything now, even my rejection. I shouldn''t have rejected you because of my insecurities. I''m sorry, Zhengyu, I was too petty, and I''m sorry for hurting you, so can you please wake up? I''ll never be so willful and self-centered ever again," Xu Xiaoyan sobbed as she gently stroked Yue Zhengyu''s forehead.


    "That won''t do; I like it when you''re willful and self-centered. I like you just the way you are." A gentle voice sounded, and Yue Zhengyu slowly opened his eyes.


    Xu Xiaoyan was given a fright and immediately tried to withdraw her hand, but Yue Zhengyu grabbed onto her wrist.


    "Don''t go; don''t leave me. I''ve had enough of being separated from you during the past six months."


    A faint blush appeared on Xu Xiaoyan''s face as she asked, "Wh, when did you wake up?"


    Yue Zhengyu smiled in response. "Right when you began talking."


    "You..." Xu Xiaoyan''s blush deepened even further, and she really wanted to run away, but Yue Zhengyu refused to let her go.


    "Can you listen to me repent now?" Yue Zhengyu asked in a gentle voice.


    Xu Xiaoyan faltered slightly before raising her head to look at him.


    Yue Zhengyu looked straight into her eyes, and said, "I''m sorry, Xiaoyan; it''s all my fault. You''re right; I''m too arrogant and conceited. I''ve been this way ever since I was a child, and in all honesty, this is a problem among all of my family members. My pride blinded me from your feelings, and I was too insensitive during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. All I was thinking at the time was that I wanted you to officially become my girlfriend in front of all of those people, but in doing so, I neglected to consider your feelings. However, I have to tell you that I don''t love you out of pity, and nor have I ever looked down on your background and upbringing. I''m sorry; this is a genuine apology from me. I promise you that I''ll do my best to change for you. I''m going to respect you more, and I''m going to love you and cherish you. Can you please forgive me?"


    Xu Xiaoyan stared blankly at him for a long while before finally murmuring, "Idiot."


    Yue Zhengyu sat up on the bed. After waking up, he was still feeling a little feeble, but aside from that, he was basically fully recovered.


    "You''re right, I''m an idiot. Even earlier today, I was still angry at you, I was still unable to control my laughable pride. When I saw you trapped inside that Evil Soul Master''s soul skill and on the brink of death, I felt like I was the dumbest person in the world. If you died back then, I would''ve followed you to the other side. Trust me, I would''ve fought that Evil Soul Master with everything I had, and he would''ve killed me as well."


    Xu Xiaoyan lowered her head. "How could I not trust you? You already used Sacrifice for my sake and burned through your life force."


    Yue Zhengyu was slightly taken aback to hear this. "You found out about that?"


    Xu Xiaoyan nodded. "You never told me you had such an ability."


    Yue Zhengyu smiled in response. "Where do you think the pride of my clan comes from? It''s not from our regal bloodline; instead, it''s from our sacrificial spirit. For the sake of my friends, I can lay down my life at a moment''s notice. This is why members of our Holy Angel clan will never tell their friends that we have such an ability. We''ll only use the ability when our friends are in grave danger, and we''ll protect them even it means burning away all of our life force."


    Xu Xiaoyan abruptly raised her head and dove into Yue Zhengyu''s arms as she sobbed, "10 years! That''s 10 years of your lifespan, gone in an instant! You..."


    Yue Zhengyu held her in his arms and smiled as he said, "10 years of my lifespan is nothing compared to you. If you can return to my side, I''ll be happy for the rest of my life, even if it ends up being 10 years shorter. My days without you are filled with darkness; you''re not going to leave me again, are you?"


    Xu Xiaoyan murmured, "I was yours from the moment you used your Sacrifice for me. No matter how you treat me in the future, no matter whether you remain proud, no matter how inferior I feel, I won''t leave you ever again. You saved my life, and I''m going to spend the rest of it with you."


    The best thing about youth was the brilliant recovery speed that came with it, and after a good night''s rest, everyone was already completely reinvigorated, with the exception of Yue Zhengyu, who was still a little pale.


    "What do we do from here onward, Boss? By the way, I''m really happy to be able to see you eating like this again," Xie Xie said with a smile.


    Back in the inner court, everyone cultivated separately, so they rarely ever met one another. In particular, Tang Wulin was in seclusion virtually all the time, so it had been quite a long while since everyone had witnessed his extraordinary appetite in action.


    Tang Wulin replied, "If we''re not going to travel by high-speed train, then we have no option other than driving to our destination by soul car."


    Yue Zhengyu said, "If only we had mechas."


    Yuanen Yehui scoffed, " Are you kidding me? Mechas? It wouldn''t matter even if we did have mechas; we can''t fly them in the federation unless we get special permission certificates. Those certificates are only handed out to some special departments and the military, so it would be impossible for us to get our hands on them."


    Xu Xiaoyan countered, "Don''t get so snarky; Zhengyu was only talking in a hypothetical sense. In that case, we''ll just have to drive there."


    Everyone immediately directed their attention toward Xu Xiaoyan upon hearing this.


    Xu Xiaoyan was feeling rather uncomfortable from the widespread scrutiny she was receiving. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"


    Xie Xie wore a curious look as he asked, "Are you two back together again?"


    Yue Zhengyu glowered at him. "When were we ever not together? There was only a small misunderstanding between us."


    "Exactly!" Xu Xiaoyan chimed in in support.


    Xie Xie pursed his lips. "Alright, you win."


    Xu Xiaoyan wrapped an arm around Yue Zhengyu''s arm with a blissful expression on her face. "I heard that our Tang Sect has spirit items that can extend one''s life span. After this military training, Zhengyu and I will do those missions together."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and corrected, "We''ll all be doing those missions with you. Don''t forget that we''re a unified team."


    Ye Xinglan suddenly said, "Captain, do you have a plan from here onward? I''m referring to our long-term futures."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I heard a lot of useful information from the Battle God Hall senior yesterday. I learned about the existence of the Battle God Hall from him, as well as many of the unspoken rules on the continent. The Battle God Hall is comprised of the most elite group of Soul Masters from the federation, and the Spirit Pagoda most likely also has a similar organization. The organization is kind of like the equivalent to the Battle Hall and Holy Hall of our Tang Sect, and the inner court and Sea God''s Pavilion of our academy.


    "These organizations are where the most powerful beings on our continent can be found. As the new generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, we''re automatically regarded as the representatives of the academy, which means that we can''t join the Spirit Pagoda or the Battle God Hall. At the same time, we''re members of the Tang Sect, which is quite close with our academy, and we''ll most likely be staying in the Tang Sect for the foreseeable future. Following this military training, all of us should become more powerful, and some of us will most likely have progressed to become six-ring Soul Emperors.


    "As such, we should upgrade our suits of battle armor during the upcoming two years. Only after becoming two-word battle armor masters will we truly have the ability to protect ourselves. Suits of two-word battle armor come with wings, so we won''t be limited by a lack of mechas, either. The federation''s radars can restrict mechas, but they can''t restrict our wings."


    Tang Wulin paused here before lowering his head slightly. "Also, I have to apologize to all of you. I left for over three years, and after coming back, I''ve been completely absorbed in my own cultivation, so I neglected to train together with all of you. As a result, I''ve become unfamiliar with your fighting styles, and our teamwork wasn''t as good as it could''ve been. Otherwise, we wouldn''t have been in such a perilous situation yesterday."

 Chapter 802: Golden Road or Death Road?

    Everyone glanced at one another, and Xu Lizhi sighed, "You''re not to blame for this, Captain; we''ve also been neglecting our team training. After entering the inner court, we''ve been studying under different teachers and striving to better ourselves, so we haven''t been training together anywhere near as frequently as we had in the past. It should indeed become a priority for us to improve in this area, especially now that we''re all one-word battle armor masters."


    Tang Wulin nodded, and said, "You''re right. The teamwork that we still have was all developed four years ago. In fact, our synergy is probably even worse than back then because of how rusty we are. The main issue is that we''re not familiar with one another''s new skills, and that''s greatly detrimental to our teamwork. We are Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; we''re a unified team, a single whole entity; our combined powers should be greater than the sum of our individual powers. Hence, we have to increase the frequency of our team training during this military training period."


    Ye Xinglan nodded in response. "I agree."


    Everyone also expressed their approval of this course of action.


    Thus, Tang Wulin said, "Alright, let''s set off then. We have to find a car as quickly as possible. Elder Cai stipulated a 15-day deadline for us, and it''s not a long time. On top of that, we encountered that unforeseen incident yesterday, and that''s delayed us even further."


    Mu Chen had given Tang Wulin a lot of money, and it wasn''t enough to buy a car, but it was definitely enough to rent cars. All they had to do was rent a car in this city, then return the car at the branch of the same company in their destination city.


    Everyone knew how to drive, so that wasn''t an issue, and a seven-seater car was perfect for them. They weren''t exactly living the high life, but it was certainly far from uncomfortable in the car.


    Xie Xie was responsible for driving while Tang Wulin read the map and gave directions, while everyone else sat in the back.


    Xu Xiaoyan and Yue Zhengyu were still appraising one another like enemies the day before, but they had since become completely inseparable. She hadn''t slept well the night before, and the car was traveling quite smoothly, so she quickly fell asleep in Yue Zhengyu''s arms.


    "At our current speed, even if we drive for over 10 hours a day, it''ll still take us four days to get to our destination. As expected, high-speed soul trains really are faster!" Tang Wulin sighed with furrowed brows as he looked down at the map.


    "There''s no use thinking about that; what if we have another accident? I think we can safely conclude that you and high-speed trains just aren''t meant to be, Boss," Xie Xie chuckled.


    The rest of the journey was relatively smooth. At the very least, they didn''t encounter any evil Soul Masters.


    Four days later, they arrived at a seaside city situated in the northeastern region of the continent, Northsea City. After traveling across the continent for so many days, the air temperature had dropped significantly. Even though changes in air temperature didn''t affect their bodies much at their cultivation ranks, it was still rather cold to them.


    "We''re finally here." After arriving at Northsea City, they returned the car to the rental company first, and everyone''s expressions were rather weary.


    They''d been driving for over 10 hours every day, and even though their bodies could handle it, their minds were quite fatigued.


    Tang Wulin said, "We can''t afford to stop here. I can''t shake the feeling that the rest of our journey is going to be very difficult. Let me see if I can find out some information about how we can go out to sea and travel to our destination."


    According to Elder Cai''s instructions, the venue for their military training was situated on a small island around 30 kilometers away from Northsea City. If they wanted to get to the small island from where they were, they definitely had to have boats.


    "Taxis are part of the transportation industry; perhaps taxi drivers will know where we can rent boats from," Xie Xie suggested as he pointed at the nearby taxi they''d just emerged from.


    Tang Wulin said, "That''s a good idea."


    Thus, Xie Xie went to try his luck.


    Moments later, he returned with a dark expression on his face.


    "You were right, Boss; it''s not going to be easy to get to that island. Do you want to hear what the taxi driver said?" Xie Xie asked in a slightly speechless manner.


    Tang Wulin asked, "What did he say?"


    Xie Xie replied, "As soon as I told him where we wanted to go, he looked at me as if he were staring at a ghost and asked me if we wanted to die. On top of that, according to them, Northsea City doesn''t even have a single dock because the region of the sea next to the city is rife with strong winds and massive waves, and there are large numbers of sea soul beasts there as well. In their words, it''s the sea of death!"


    "I knew it," Tang Wulin sighed in a speechless manner.


    "Not even long-distance ferries can travel through these waters?" Yue Zhengyu asked.


    Xie Xie replied, "Long-distance ferries? You''re being way too optimistic here. On the northeastern coast, there are only docks large enough for long-distance ferries to stop at in Heavensea City and Eastsea City. Those cities are way too far away from here, and it would take an eternity for a ferry to travel from there to here. Also, how are we going to convince a ferry to travel through a region of the sea that''s renowned for its sea soul beast infestation?"


    Tang Wulin gave a resigned shrug. "Looks like this is the trial we have to face before we even begin our military training."


    Yuanen Yehui suggested, "Let''s go to the seaside first. We have to ascertain just how powerful those sea soul beasts are before we devise a plan."


    "Let''s go!" Tang Wulin waved a hand, and everyone got on a taxi heading straight toward the eastern coast of Northsea City.


    The taxi was forced to stop around five kilometers away from the coast.


    Everyone looked on at the hundred-meter-tall walls that were packed with all types of heavy soul artillery with dumbstruck expressions on their faces.


    Even though they hadn''t even seen the sea yet, they could tell from how heavily guarded these city walls were that the sea soul beasts on the other side definitely had to be extremely fearsome.


    "Do any of you recognize the soul tools on the wall?" Tang Wulin murmured. He hadn''t done much research into soul tools, and he only knew some basic information about them.


    A wry smile appeared on Xie Xie''s face. "I don''t know much about soul tools, but have a look at the foot of the city wall. Those are most likely hyper soul battery arrays; I don''t need to elaborate on what those things do, right?"


    Indeed, in the direction that Xie Xie was pointing toward, there was a building at the foot of the city wall that had at least three extreme warning signs around it. From the shape of the building and the signs around it, it was easy to deduce what this building was.


    Hyper soul battery arrays were an extremely complex type of super battery with soul arrays as their cores, and they could supply enormous amounts of energy. Generally speaking, they were only used for very powerful soul tools such as large soul barriers. These were the types of soul tools that were used in the military, and they were different from anything used in the academy. Furthermore, there were some ultra-powerful soul cannons that had to be powered using such batteries.


    With these city walls in place, even making it out of the city would be extremely difficult, let alone traveling over the ocean.


    "This is no Golden Road; this is a death road!" Xu Lizhi said with a wry smile.


    After a brief stunned stupor, Tang Wulin quickly collected himself. "Let''s go back for now."


    As the captain, he certainly couldn''t lead his friends into doing anything reckless. After returning to the city, Tang Wulin got a room in a small hotel, then spread open the map of Northsea City he''d just bought onto the table.


    "Alright, this red area here should be the area covered by the city wall, and this is a continuous stretch of 50 kilometers along the coast. Some of the sections consist of giant rocks, but aside from that, the city wall stretches over this entire area, and all of the walls are heavily guarded. It''s quite clear that they''d definitely be using the most advanced surveillance radars, so it would be next to impossible to sneak over the wall, and we certainly just can''t just cross over it by force."


    On the map, the entire region of the sea outside the coastline of the city was annotated with skull symbols, and it was quite obvious what those symbols represented. However, the map that Elder Cai had given them didn''t have such annotations. There was only a small island, as well as the straight-line distance from the island to Northsea City.


    The so-called Golden Road was the stretch of distance that had to be covered from Northsea City to the small island.


    "If we can''t go over it, then there''s only one feasible method open to us; we have to go around it. We have to at least get to the coastline and examine it for ourselves. On top of that, we don''t even have any coordinates; all we know is that there''s a small island situated 30 kilometers from the coast of Northsea City."

 Chapter 803: Northsea Legion

    Yuanen Yehui said, "Going around the city wall would take a very long time, and the Northsea Legion is situated on the coast. It appears that they''ve been positioned there with the sole purpose of guarding the city against the sea soul beasts in this region of the sea. If we have to go around the city wall AND this legion, we''d have to go extremely far. On top of that, the entire coastline is being monitored by military radars, so we won''t be able to double back around along the coastline, which means our only option will be to directly set off for the small island from whichever part of the coast we end up at. Without any coordinates, it''ll take a miracle for us to find a small island in the middle of the ocean."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation. "We can''t get there via the sea nor via the coast, so our only option would be to fly there."


    "Fly?" Everyone faltered upon hearing this.


    Tang Wulin explained, "There have been rapid advancements in the technology of soul planes in the past few years, and they''re prohibited from private use, but they''re very commonly used in the military. We clearly can''t get to our destination by traveling on land or even going over the sea, but if we can get our hands on a soul plane, perhaps we''ll be able to fly to the island. A distance of 30 kilometers is nothing for a plane; it won''t take us long even if we were to just glide there."


    Xie Xie exclaimed, "I''m not sure if you''re brave or delusional, Boss! Those are soul planes you''re talking about! They''re heavily monitored by the military and strictly prohibited from private use; do you know of a place where we can rent planes?"


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "We definitely can''t rent any planes, but who''s to say we can''t ''borrow'' one?"


    Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui exchanged a glance, and both of them exclaimed in unison, "You mean from the Northsea Legion?"


    Indeed, the Northsea Legion was the number one legion in the northeastern region of the continent, so they would definitely have soul planes. During battles, there was a place for both mechas and soul planes, so neither of them were made redundant by the other. The materials and resources required to construct a mecha would generally be enough to construct 10 soul planes of the same level. Furthermore, planes were faster than mechas, and they could carry more people, as well as soul bombs.


    Research into soul planes commenced over 100 years ago, and technology in that area had developed at a rapid rate. Now, they had already become an indispensable part of every large military organization. All major legions had their own designated flying squads that worked alongside their mecha squads. It was said that the most advanced soul planes could already fly directly to the Star Luo Continent or the Heaven Dou Continent. In terms of technology, the Douluo Continent was far more advanced than its two neighbors. However, the federation had no intention of waging war on the other two continents.


    "Borrowing" planes would undoubtedly be the fastest way to their destination, but there was another problem with that plan; they didn''t know how to fly planes!


    "Even if we manage to infiltrate the base, how are we going to fly the planes out of it and get to the island before we get noticed or even struck down by the military?" Yue Zhengyu asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "We''ll need a very good plan. I don''t know much about soul tools, but I do know a thing or two about soul planes or soul aircrafts in general. We might not be able to fly a plane, but seeing as we''re borrowing a plane already, why don''t we borrow a pilot as well? A major legion would normally have long-distance weapons that have a maximum range of around 300 kilometers. If we borrow a plane, as well as a pilot, the legion would be wary of striking us down right away. They''ll definitely try to liaise with us first, and as long as we''re within the effective range of their weapons, they won''t be concerned that we''ll be able to escape.


    "Our destination is only 30 kilometers away, so we''ll definitely be well within a range of 300 kilometers. For a fighter aircraft, 30 kilometers can be covered in an extremely short time. All we need to do is jump off the plane onto the island and allow the pilot to return the plane to the legion. That way, they won''t be inclined to hunt us down, and we''ll arrive at our destination."


    Tang Wulin suddenly discovered that everyone had fallen completely silent around him.


    They were all staring at him with blank expressions.


    Xu Lizhi murmured, "Boss, what do you mean by jump off the plane?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged, and replied, "I mean exactly that! We have Zhengyu and Yuanen, both of whom have martial souls capable of flight. Once we reach the air above the island, we''ll be able to make use of their flight abilities to glide down onto the island. Even if that doesn''t work, we can slow down our descent, and with our own defensive capabilities coupled with that of our suits of one-word battle armor, we''ll definitely survive the fall as long as we fall into the ocean rather than onto land."


    Xie Xie gulped, and mused, "You sure dare to dream, Boss. This is the first time the full extent of your imagination and creativity have been displayed to me. Isn''t this course of action a little dangerous, though?"


    Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "It is indeed rather perilous. Firstly, we don''t know whether we''ll be able to infiltrate the Northsea Legion and find a pilot that''ll fly a plane for us. Secondly, we have to hope that the plane doesn''t get struck down before we reach the island. Thirdly, we have to defeat any sea soul beasts we come across after landing in the ocean, then rush onto the island. It won''t be too dangerous for us if we can''t achieve that first objective. With our combat prowess, we should be able to retreat from the legion with no issues. If worst comes to worst, we can just surrender, so we won''t be under any life-threatening danger. As for the second point, I think there''s a very slim chance that the Northsea Legion will attack us within a range of 30 kilometers.


    "Even if they do decide to attack, we can just abandon the plane and jump into the ocean right away. As such, the main source of danger comes from the sea soul beasts. The further the plane can fly, the closer we''ll get to the island, and the less risk we''ll be incurring. Lastly, we have to address the sea soul beasts that we''ll potentially encounter. My bloodline aura is able to intimidate all soul beasts, so unless we''re extremely unlucky and end up encountering a 100,000-year-old soul beast, we should be able to fight our way through them with no issues. Zhengyu, Yuanen, will you be able to carry the rest of us down from the plane? It''s most likely the case that you won''t even have to fly; just gliding should suffice."


    Yue Zhengyu replied, "That shouldn''t be an issue. With our current powers, we should be able to carry everyone between the two of us and fly for a short period of time. However, the turbulence in the air above the sea may hamper our flight abilities."


    Tang Wulin turned to Xu Lizhi, and asked, "How much lighter can your Agility Mini Soup Buns make us?"


    Xu Lizhi replied without any hesitation, "At least 30%."


    Yuanen Yehui mused, "In that case, this plan really does appear to be somewhat feasible. What kind of altitude are you thinking about descending from?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Theoretically speaking, the lower the altitude, the better, as that would minimize the time required for our descent. We have to consider the possibility that the Northsea Legion will try to attack us after we jump off the plane, so the less time we spend in the air, the less risk we''ll be taking."


    Ye Xinglan said, "Alright, this sounds like it could work, but the biggest problem is, how are we going to infiltrate the Northsea Legion and ''borrow'' a plane from them?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "This appears to be the most difficult part of the plan, but there are shortcuts that can be taken. I think the most difficult part of this step is making it into the legion base. After we infiltrate the base, everything will become a lot easier. Regardless of what kind of military organization we''re up against, their defenses will mostly target infiltrators trying to sneak in, whereas the inside of the base will be a lot less heavily guarded."


    "Then how will we sneak in?" Xu Lizhi asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "After everything that''s happened yesterday, I''ve learned a valuable lesson; if we''re in need of something, we can ask our graduated upperclassmen for help! The Battle God Hall has Shrek Academy alumni, and I''m sure the same applies to the Northsea Legion as well!"


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled. "Captain, have I told you that I really like you when you''re brimming with confidence like this?"


    "You like him?" Yue Zhengyu asked with a wary look on his face.


    Xu Xiaoyan sighed in a resigned manner, "I meant like as in admire."


    Yue Zhengyu immediately smiled, and chimed in, "In that case, I also like it. You''re finally beginning to resemble your past self from four years ago, Captain. No matter what you propose, we have absolute trust in you. You give us a plan, and we''ll follow it to the end."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I think it''s wise to be ambitious in our planning, but cautious in our execution. Surely it won''t be an issue for us to find a graduated senior in the Northsea Legion. Perhaps we''ll really be able to borrow a plane from them."


    Ye Xinglan asked, "How are we going to prove that we''re from Shrek Academy? The academy confiscated everything from us."


    Tang Wulin replied, "That''s easy; our academy can make inner court disciple badges, so why can''t we?


    "You win." A rare smile appeared on Ye Xinglan''s face.


    In reality, Tang Wulin had only just thought of this course of action on the spot, and during their discussion, a lot of the details were gradually finalized.


    In the beginning, Tang Wulin had considered "borrowing" by force, but then he suddenly recalled the upperclassman from the Battle God Hall that he''d met the night before.


    Not only was Shrek Academy an extremely powerful entity, it also had connections all over the entire continent. The academy seemed to have embraced neutrality, but it actually had a huge impact on the entire federation.


    All of Shrek Academy''s alumni, especially those who had graduated from the inner court, were brilliant prodigies, and all of them had a strong sense of belonging to the academy.

 Chapter 804: Northsea Legion Base

    The Northsea Legion had to have Shrek Academy alumni among their ranks, and the first thing that Shrek Academy graduates were assured of was a high starting point.


    If a Shrek Academy graduate were to join the military, surely they wouldn''t start off as a low-ranking soldier. At the very least, they wouldn''t be a low-ranking soldier for long before they received promotions. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have been able to graduate from Shrek Academy.


    As long as there were connections within the legion, things would be made a lot easier. As for an excuse, Tang Wulin had already thought of one.


    ¡­¡­


    The Northsea Legion was founded 1,600 years ago, so it had a very long history. The Northsea Legion was extremely powerful in battles both in the sea, as well as in the air. The legion was split up into three divisions, which consisted of the Northsea Air Battle Division, the Northsea Land Battle Division, and the Northsea Fleet.


    The largest of those divisions was the Northsea Fleet, and they were currently in possession of over 30 warships, all of which were situated on the coastline near the base of the Northsea Legion. They were often the main contributors during battles against sea soul beasts. Due to the fact that the sea soul beasts in this region of the sea were virtually the most powerful in the ocean around the entire Douluo Continent, this fleet was also the most powerful among all fleets on the continent. Northsea City may not have any docks or piers, but in terms of battle strength, the Northsea Fleet was definitely superior to the Eastsea Fleet. The Northsea Fleet was even equipped with some weapons that exceeded the boundaries of normal regulations, and there were a total of over 12,000 soldiers in the fleet, as well as over 30,000 assisting employees in all different lines of occupation.


    The Northsea Air Battle Division had over 70 planes of different types, and aside from planes, they also had an emergency reaction squad, which was their mecha squad. The federation''s air force was comprised entirely of mechas and fighter aircrafts, and those forces were also split up into many military divisions.


    As the name suggested, the Northsea Land Battle Division was responsible for battle on land, especially in the form of combating seaside invaders from land. They were mainly equipped with many types of heavy artillery, and they were entirely responsible for Northsea City''s coastal defense. They were given the best military equipment by the federation, and were extremely proficient in warding off sea soul beasts.


    Most legions prioritized their land battle divisions, and generally have around 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers and employees among their ranks. However, due to the fact that the Northsea Legion required a large number of assisting personnel, there was a total of more than 80,000 people in the entire legion. They were well and truly a massive legion. This was also why military officials in the Northsea Legion were all half a military rank higher than the same level official from other legions.


    After Tang Wulin and his friends got off the taxi, they were all stunned by the sight that they were greeted by in the distance.


    The taxi had dropped them off around one kilometer away from the Northsea Legion base as it would be entering a military control zone if it were to draw any closer to the base.


    The first impression that the Northsea Legion gave them was that there seemed to be no end to it in sight.


    From their perspective, the Northsea Legion base was surrounded by a massive wire fence that was several dozens of meters tall as opposed to a solid wall. To put it more accurately, this was an electric fence, and any living being that came into contact with it would be welcomed by a jolt of high-voltage electricity.


    From where they were situated, they could see various large military vehicles entering and exiting the base, and as they were to cast their eyes even further into the distance, they caught sight of several parked planes, as well as many pieces of military equipment that they couldn''t even put a name to.


    "It looks really awesome here! I suddenly think Boss''s aspirations to join the army is quite an appealing choice!" Xie Xie said in an excited manner.


    All men naturally had a soft spot for the military and powerful weapons. With the advancements that soul technology had made throughout history, soul weapons had already become extremely powerful. Even the most powerful Soul Masters didn''t dare to face off directly against the most devastating soul weapons.


    Powerful military strength was the key prerequisite to everything. At the very least, that was a motto that the federation clearly swore by.


    The entire Douluo Federation had a standing army of around 2,000,000 soldiers, as well as six major military regions. The Northsea Legion belonged to the Northeastern Military Region, and it had the most powerful navy and air force among the three legions in the Northeastern Military Region.


    "Let''s go. Just act natural, everyone." Tang Wulin led the group from the front with a smile on his face, and everyone trailed along behind him. They were carrying nothing aside from simple storage soul tools, and Yuanen''s damaged hammers had also been stowed away in her storage soul tool.


    Before they could approach the main gate of the Northsea Legion base, they were stopped in their tracks by a group of patrols.


    "Stop! This is a military control zone; do not go any further." The patrols had reached them by car, and they''d clearly already noticed Tang Wulin''s group from the base.


    Tang Wulin strode forward, and said, "Hello there, we''re students of Shrek Academy, and we''re currently on a training mission. The mission assigned to us by our academy is to undertake special military training at your legion; would you be able to report our arrival to whomever this matter may concern?"


    "Shrek Academy? We didn''t receive any advance notice about this." The patrolling soldiers weren''t that easy to fool.


    Tang Wulin Shrugged in a resigned manner. "It wouldn''t be a test if our academy had informed your legion beforehand. Truth be told, our academy has assigned us this mission of undertaking special military training, but they didn''t give us any assistance; even just getting into your legion is something that we have to figure out for ourselves. We had no choice but to approach the base and ask if you can organize some special training for us."


    The soldier raised an eyebrow in a skeptical display. "Are you really from Shrek Academy? How can you prove that?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "That''s easy." He made a hand signal to his friends as he spoke, and all seven of them instantly released their martial souls.


    Seven Soul Kings releasing their martial souls at once was a very stunning sight to behold, especially for a group of normal soldiers.


    The patrols stared at the soul rings appearing one after another before their eyes, and all of them were completely flabbergasted.


    They were all five-ring Soul Kings!


    Throughout this entire interaction, Tang Wulin and his friends had maintained a perfect triangular battle formation. Tang Wulin stood at the very forefront of the group while two rows of three people stood behind him. The first row of three consisted of Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan on either side with Xu Xiaoyan in the middle, and the second row of three consisted of Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie on either side with Xu Lizhi in the middle.


    Even though they weren''t engaged in a battle, they still habitually maintained their battle formation. In particular, after being forced into such a perilous situation by the Evil Soul Master they''d battled, everyone had discussed teamwork and synergy extensively during their car trip to Northsea City.


    Tang Wulin stood at the very front, and his five soul rings were comprised of three purples, one black, and one green. To put it more accurately, the final soul ring was of a greenish-golden color.


    Even though the patrolling soldiers weren''t Soul Masters, they were still stunned by the sight of Tang Wulin''s green soul ring. Furthermore, none of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters possessed even a single soul ring that was below the purple level.


    They were all five-ring Soul Kings of an extremely high caliber, and it was quite clear from their appearance that all of them were only around 20 years of age! The patrolling soldiers in the car were also around the same age as them.


    Emotions of envy and jealousy almost instantly welled up in their hearts. They were all around the same age, so why was there such a vast disparity between them?


    The leader of the patrolling soldiers gulped as he recomposed himself, then picked up his military soul communicator to presumably inform their higher-ups of the arrival of Tang Wulin and the others.


    The main difference between military soul communicators and normal soul communicators was that the former had no dialing function. Each button the communicator represented a set person that could be contacted, so the soldier only pressed a single button before the call was immediately connected.


    "Report, we''ve discovered seven suspicious individuals near our base. They claim to be from Shrek Academy and would like to enter our base to undertake special training. All seven of them are five-ring Soul Kings and around 20 years old. Please advise how we should proceed."


    After listening to the order from the other side of the line, the soldier immediately replied, "Yes!"


    Thus, the call ended, and the soldier turned to Tang Wulin''s group with a peculiar look in his eyes as he said, "Please wait for a moment here; a car will be coming out to take you in shortly."

 Chapter 805: Trap

    Tang Wulin and the others all smiled in unison upon hearing this. The fact that they were being granted entry into the base so easily indicated that their judgment had been correct; there had to be Shrek Academy graduates in the legion base. Furthermore, Shrek Academy was an extremely influential entity on the continent, so inner court graduates were always held in high regard no matter where they went after graduation.


    Not long after that, another military vehicle was driven out of the base, but there were no patrols on this. Tang Wulin and the others got onto the car, and the car carrying all of the patrolling soldiers traveled toward the base behind the car that they were in.


    "After we get into the base, adapt and react to the situation as it unfolds. Our primary objective is to be able to stay in the base, then contact some high-ranking upperclassmen in the legion. If we do this in a peaceful manner, then we won''t have to ''borrow'' a plane," Tang Wulin said in a low voice.


    Ye Xinglan nodded, and added, "We also have to make sure that we don''t get split up. There won''t be any issues as long as we can stick together."


    Tang Wulin nodded in agreement.


    The Northsea Legion base was simply far too massive. That much was already apparent when they appraised the base from the outside, and they could only imagine that getting split up inside such a massive base would be nothing short of a disaster.


    Even by car, it took them close to 20 minutes to get to their destination. They were parked in front of a building that had no eye-catching features, but was extremely tall and took up a huge area.


    After arriving in front of the building, the soldier standing at the door made an inviting hand gesture.


    Thus, Tang Wulin and his friends entered the building, still maintaining their triangular formation the entire time.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as soon as he entered the building because this seemed to be a warehouse filled with all types of metal equipment, almost all of which were completely foreign to them.


    A military official with a second lieutenant badge made his way over to them. "You''re from Shrek Academy? Do you have any proof of identification?"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly handed over the badges they''d made not long ago.


    The military official glanced at the badges before returning them to Tang Wulin without conducting any further verification. "Come with me."


    He began to make his way deeper into the warehouse as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin and his friends clearly had power and courage in equal measure, and they followed along behind the military official without any hesitation nor inhibition.


    As they strode through the warehouse, they appraised their surroundings with intrigue and curiosity in their eyes, and they discovered that all of the equipment in here appeared to be very advanced. Soon, they caught sight of a massive soul cannon. The silvery-white cannon was extremely gigantic, and even though no energy had been injected into it, they could still sense a daunting aura emanating from its gargantuan barrel.


    After following the military official for close to 100 meters, they arrived at a patch of open space, where another military official was already waiting for them. This military official wore a crisp dark blue military uniform that complemented his handsome facial features. There were two rings on each of his military epaulets, in between which was a silver star. Two rings and one star; this man was a major.


    The major appeared to be just over 30 years of age with a tall and broad figure, and a benevolent smile on his face.


    "Welcome to the Northsea Legion, prodigies of Shrek Academy."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred as he hurriedly stepped forward. "Greetings, Senior. Apologies for our unannounced arrival."


    The major smiled, and replied, "That''s alright, why don''t you tell me why you''re here?"


    Thus, Tang Wulin gave the excuse that he''d already given once to the patrolling soldiers outside. The general gist of it was that they wanted to undertake special military training in the Northsea Legion for a period of time in order to complete the mission assigned to them by the academy.


    "..., after some careful consideration, we decided the best course of action open to us is to directly approach the legion base and request to be taken in," Tang Wulin explained with a charismatic smile. He was very handsome, and after withdrawing his Golden Dragon King bloodline aura, he was a very likable and approachable young man.


    The major nodded with a smile, and said, "Alright, I understand the situation now, but did you consider why Shrek Academy sent you on a mission to train at our Northsea Legion base? In other words, what''s so difficult about this mission?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. The mission was just an excuse that he''d fabricated as he couldn''t tell this man the truth unless he could confirm that the major was willing to help them.


    "What do you mean?" Tang Wulin asked with a puzzled look on his face.


    The major smiled, and replied, "Shrek Academy would never assign a pointless mission that doesn''t challenge its students. Truth be told, you''re not the first group of Shrek Academy students to have come here. A group of students from your academy will come here pretty much once every few years, but very few of those groups come to directly visit our base. Most of them would try to find an opportunity to sneak out onto the sea or even steal our aircraft! You are the first group of students that I''ve seen during my tenure here who have come to visit our base in such a straightforward manner. I have to admit that you all have more confidence and courage than your predecessors."


    Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by a strong sense of foreboding. Only after hearing the major''s words did he realize that he''d made a grave lapse in judgment; they weren''t the first group of Shrek Academy students to have undergone this military training! Many of their seniors from the inner court had also undertaken this military training, and it was uncertain how long this type of training had been going on for, but one thing was certain: at the very least, Elder Cai''s generation had undertaken this training in the past. The mission was the same, so everyone obviously faced the same predicament: how were they supposed to get to that small island within the designated time period when the coastline of Northsea City was so heavily guarded?


    It appeared that they''d completely walked into a trap.


    Ye Xinglan raised an eyebrow, while Tang Wulin reflexively spread open his arms to protect his friends.


    "What do you want to do then, Senior?" Tang Wulin asked. Violence wasn''t going to resolve the issue here. This major was clearly already aware of the fact that all seven of them were Soul Kings, yet he was still chatting with them in such a calm and relaxed manner, so he had to have already prepared measures to apprehend them should they turn to violence.


    Tang Wulin made many judgments in his heart in an instant. The only thing that this man most likely didn''t know about them was that they were the current Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and this was the only secret that they could keep from him.


    The major remarked, "Not bad; it''s quite remarkable that you have such a cool head at such a young age. This may sound like I''m trying to gloat and add insult to injury, but I must tell you that your academy is solely responsible for this situation that you''re in. We''ve already received notification well in advance that seven Shrek Academy students will be coming, and that your objective will be to reach the demonic island situated around 30 kilometers off the coast. However, it''s quite clear that you won''t be able to bypass our defensive line.


    "As a legion, we have a duty to protect the citizens of the federation and prohibit all people from approaching the coastline. According to the information Shrek Academy gave us, you have to get to the demonic island within 15 days of your departure from the academy, and failure to do so will result in severe consequences. Hence, we won''t do anything to you; we''ll just detain you in the detention center of our base, then release you at the conclusion of the 15 days."


    Tang Wulin''s expression had darkened significantly upon hearing this. The academy had completely screwed them over and sold them out!


    Were they expected to oppose an entire legion?


    The major smiled, and said, "It''s a very wise decision on your part to be treating this situation calmly. Otherwise, if you dare to attack me, you''ll be attacking the military of the federation, which is a crime equivalent to treason. In that case, I can have all of you killed and still have full justification. However, the fact that you''ve refrained from attacking me means that all of you will only have to suffer imprisonment for a few days. Alright, that''s enough talking; please surrender yourselves now."


    "Surrender? Hmph!" Yue Zhengyu harrumphed coldly.


    The major raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning to resist? You can give it a try. Actually, before you do that, I advise you to look around first."


    Tang Wulin didn''t even have to appraise his surroundings to sense that metal cannon barrels were slowly extending toward them from all corners of the warehouse. He didn''t know what kind of cannons these were, but from the length and size of their barrels, he could tell that these were extremely fearsome weapons.


    Tang Wulin immediately instructed, "Don''t move, everyone!"


    The major smiled, and ordered, "Put on some soul-sealing handcuffs for our guests."


    A group of soldiers immediately rushed over to Tang Wulin and the others, and each of them was carrying a rectangular metal box that was around a foot wide and half a foot tall.


    The major goaded, "If you want to resist, it''s still not too late."


    Tang Wulin heaved a dejected sigh. "I didn''t think it would be like this; the academy is far too sinister. But then again, we''ve been taught an important lesson here, so this trip wasn''t a complete waste. We''ve lost, and that''s that, but we won''t make the same mistake next time. Don''t resist, everyone; we''ve fallen into their hands already, and resisting will only incur unnecessary danger."


    He voluntarily raised both of his hands up into the air as he spoke.


    One of the soldiers hovered his metal box above Tang Wulin''s hands, and the box quickly split open before sealing back together again around Tang Wulin''s wrists.


    All of a sudden, a strong numbing sensation shot through his wrists, and his body shuddered as all of his soul power was completely sealed away.


    Everyone reluctantly followed Tang Wulin''s order in the end, and they were also fitted with these soul-sealing handcuffs.

 Chapter 806: Surrender?

    A hint of despair appeared on Xu Xiaoyan''s face. "I feel so bad! What do we do, Captain?" Her voice was beginning to choke up, as if she were on the verge of bursting into tears.


    "Don''t worry, everything will be fine. The worst-case scenario is that we''ll fail this mission and be forced to accept our punishment. We haven''t done anything, so the Northsea Legion won''t hurt us even though we''ve been detained. After all, the academy knows we''re here, and we haven''t attacked anyone or stolen anything, so we haven''t committed any crimes."


    The major smiled, and said, "You''ve made the right decision. Take them away and detain them. Oh, by the way, I graduated from Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy, as did virtually all of the high-ranking officials of the Northsea Legion, so we''ve always abhorred Shrek Academy. You didn''t think that the legion situated in the northeastern region would have such strong ties with the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy in the west, did you? Do you know about the relationship between these two academies?"


    How could they not know? Back in the day, Tang Wulin had once led his friends to challenge the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy.


    Tang Wulin lowered his head in a resigned and indignant manner. Not only had they walked into a trap, the people that had sprung the trap had a personal vendetta against them as well!


    The major continued, "Stop putting on that fake resigned display. I really hate your Shrek Academy, but I can tell you''re all definitely inner court disciples, so you must all be one-word battle armor masters to go along with your five-ring cultivation ranks. Don''t even think about getting away; I won''t give you any chances. No matter what kind of pitiable display you put on, I won''t take pity on you. Put some spirit-sealing helmets on them as well; there''s no way they''ll be able to escape then. With those helmets on, you won''t even be able to think, so just take a good nap for about 10 days here, and I promise you that I''ll definitely release you at the conclusion of the 10 days. Perhaps you''ll be quite hungry by then, but you definitely won''t die."


    Tang Wulin abruptly raised his head at the sight of the helmets the soldiers were carrying toward them, and a panicked expression appeared on his face. "No, you, you can''t do this! You... Argh!"


    As soon as the helmet was fitted onto his head, a powerful magnetic field completely scattered his cognitive functions, and he slumped straight to the ground.


    Everyone else had had their soul power sealed, so there was no way for them to resist. As such, they were also fitted with the same helmets and fell unconscious as well.


    The major shrugged. "This is how things should be. Students of Shrek Academy are all extremely cunning, so I can''t give them even the slightest opportunity. These spirit-sealing helmets will completely seal off your minds, so just sleep like good boys and girls. I wonder if your academy will actually expel you after this. Don''t blame me for all of this; if there''s anyone you should blame, it''s Shrek Academy for being too heartless with its students. Take them to the detention center and release them in 10 days."


    14 soldiers immediately rushed forward at once, splitting up into groups of two before quickly carrying away Tang Wulin and his friends.


    The major stroked his chin with a contemplative look on his face, and said, "Get the special operation unit to search the area around the base and use the radars to see if they have any allies lurking outside the base. In particular, make sure to detect for the presences of mechas."


    "Yes, Major."


    The major was always renowned as a very methodical and thorough man, so he certainly wasn''t going to allow any oversights.


    The dark detention chambers were the places that soldiers were most afraid of.


    There was nothing inside the rooms, and each room was only two feet tall, making it impossible for one to sit up, and the rooms were completely devoid of light. There were only small openings through which food could be delivered, and the most terrifying thing about these detention chambers was that there was absolutely nothing in them.


    For normal people, being able to last seven days in here was already an extremely remarkable feat as being enclosed in dark and claustrophobic spaces for long periods of time will inevitably lead to mental breakdowns.


    Thus, Tang Wulin and his friends lay in silence in a detention chamber with handcuffs around their wrists and helmets on their heads.


    After a long while, a pair of hands slowly rose up within the dark space before gently grabbing onto a helmet, then slowly wrenching it apart.


    That''s right, the helmet was literally being wrenched apart. Normally, these helmets couldn''t be opened without their corresponding keys and electronic passcodes, but this helmet was being torn apart by a pair of bare hands


    Due to the restriction from the pair of handcuffs, the process wasn''t very smooth, but in the next instant, the pair of hands jerked violently, and the handcuffs were instantly shattered, while the helmet was also completely prised apart in the process.


    The one who had just struggled out of the helmet and handcuffs was none other than Tang Wulin, and he flexed his wrists as he gradually regained control over his own soul power, upon which faint purple light emanated from his eyes.


    He inspected his surroundings and heaved a faint sigh of relief after ascertaining that all of his friends were also present in the same detention chamber.


    After taking a few moments to ascertain who was who, he prised open Xie Xie''s handcuffs and helmet first, then immediately covered Xie Xie''s mouth with his hand.


    Xie Xie''s body shuddered, and Tang Wulin immediately whispered, "Don''t talk!"


    Xie Xie immediately understood what was going on, and as his cognitive functions returned, he began to quickly recover his own soul power.


    Tang Wulin replicated this process, breaking the handcuffs and helmets being worn by all of his friends.


    Why wasn''t his mind sealed by the helmet? In reality, he hadn''t done anything remarkable to achieve this. It was undoubtedly the case that the soul-sealing handcuffs could seal off one''s soul power; even Soul Masters more powerful than him wouldn''t be able to avoid the handcuffs from taking effect.


    However, it was important to remember that Tang Wulin still had immense blood essence power. In the instant before the helmet was fitted onto his head, he immediately circulated his blood essence power into his head to form a protective barrier. If the major could''ve seen Tang Wulin''s head through the helmet, he would''ve definitely known that his mind hadn''t been sealed as golden dragon veins had appeared all over his head.


    With his blood essence acting as an impeding barrier, it was naturally impossible for the helmet to take effect, and the rest was very simple. After everything had gone quiet for a while, Tang Wulin immediately removed everyone''s helmets and handcuffs.


    "The academy is being way too heartless!" Xie Xie couldn''t help but whisper. Everyone was breathing slightly heavier than normal.


    Indeed, the academy hadn''t just chosen Northsea City for no good reason; they were using the Northsea Legion here to screw everyone over! No wonder everyone who knew about the nature of the military training was so sympathetic toward them; they hadn''t even reached the island yet, and they were already in this horrible situation.


    "Complaining isn''t going to do us any good; at the very least, this is not the worst situation we can be in. We''re still in the base, which is better than being thrown out of it. Xie Xie, send out one of your clones to investigate." Tang Wulin rolled over to the entrance of the detention chamber as he spoke.


    This was a very small yet extremely heavy door that was locked from the outside.


    Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes as he focused his attention to detect the situation outside. In doing so, he discovered that there were no guards positioned outside the chamber. Perhaps they were so confident in the effect of the soul-sealing handcuffs and spirit-sealing helmets that they thought guards were simply redundant.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t grow complacent because of this. "Make sure to be careful when you send your clone out of here. All you have to do is find out what places in the base have soul planes. There must be many security measures in this base; things like thermal imaging scanners won''t be able to catch you, but your clone will be susceptible to energy analysis devices. If someone catches you, immediately dissipate your clone; they won''t suspect that we''re behind this anyway. Make sure to take every precaution necessary, and do your best to bring back some useful things."


    "Alright, leave it to me," Xie Xie replied with a nod.


    Tang Wulin reached out with his right hand, but he wasn''t planning to open the door of the detention chamber. Instead, he made his way over to the side of the chamber. "This is an air vent; I''ll remove its cover so you can get out through here. I can sense using my spiritual power that this vent has a very small diameter that a normal person will get stuck in, but your clone should be able to make it through, right?"


    Xie Xie nodded, and replied, "For sure. I can compress my clones as they''re constructed from energy, and they can pass through any space as long as it''s no thinner than an arm."

 Chapter 807: Hatching a Plan

    "Alright, let''s do this." Tang Wulin''s golden dragon claws made short work of the air vent, and one of Xie Xie''s soul rings flashed to conjure up a Shadow Dragon Clone holding his Shadow Dragon Dagger. The clone entered the air vent in a completely soundless manner, and under Xie Xie''s control, the clone''s body contracted before squirming through the air vent, and it wasn''t long before it reached the other side.


    The clone appeared in a corridor with detention chambers on both sides. Xie Xie appraised his surroundings to find that there was no one around.


    He carefully strode forward with his body pressed tightly up against a wall, diligently surveying his surroundings with every step that he took.


    This was a clone that Xie Xie could will out of existence at any moment, so he wasn''t afraid of being discovered, but if he did get discovered, he had to make sure that he was further away from these detention chambers. Otherwise, the people in the Northsea Legion base would suspect that they had escaped.


    Thankfully, there were no energy analysis devices here. The detention chambers only existed to detain soldiers who had broken military rules, so this area wasn''t exactly a confidential zone.


    There weren''t even any password activated doors or anything of that nature that separated this area from the rest of the base, so Xie Xie was able to make it out very smoothly.


    At this point, night had already fallen, but the Northsea Legion base was still brightly lit, and soldiers were running through the area from time to time.


    Xie Xie hid in a dark corner and silently observed the scenes unfolding before his eyes. At his current cultivation rank, the furthest sustainable distance his clones could stray away from him was around one kilometer. If they were to stray out of this range, then it would take several times more soul power and spiritual power to control them.


    This place was simply far too massive, and Xie Xie had no way of ascertaining his current location. Thankfully, he caught sight of a plane very quickly.


    Not far away from the detention chambers, a warehouse gate slowly opened, and a plane that had just returned from a flight slowly descended before parking itself in the warehouse.


    What was even more encouraging to Xie Xie was that there were only two walls that separated this warehouse from their detention chamber.


    Xie Xie quickly rushed into the warehouse just in time to see the aircraft canopy slowly opening, following which four pilots disembarked from the plane.


    Xie Xie leaped onto the plane and craned his neck for a better view. In doing so, he discovered that this was a four-seater fighter aircraft that wasn''t all that spacious.


    The devices and apparatus in the plane were quite complex, and all of the lights on the pilot panel were gradually being switched off. The four pilots seemed to be engaged in a pleasant conversation as they got off the plane. The aircraft''s canopy slowly sealed shut again, and Xie Xie turned to discover that there was another plane of the same model in the warehouse.


    Xie Xie''s eyes narrowed as he silently jumped off the plane before quickly returning to the detention chamber.


    After listening to Xie Xie''s recount of what he''d seen, Tang Wulin contemplated their options for a moment before musing, "This is indeed a good opportunity, but I don''t think it''ll be that easy for us to fly the planes out of this base. It would be best for us to wait until these planes are scheduled to fly out for missions, so the warehouse will be open and the people in the base won''t suspect anything. However, the problem there is that in order for this to work, we can''t just kidnap a pilot right away as that would immediately blow our covers, but the insides of the planes are too small for us to hide in."


    Xie Xie said, "After those pilots disembarked, specialized maintenance staff came into the warehouse to examine the condition of the plane. I''d assume that the maintenance personnel will be back again to check the planes prior to their next flight."


    Yue Zhengyu said, "The main advantage in using fighter aircrafts lies in how fast they are. At full speed, they can cover 30 kilometers in an instant. However, the problems with fighter aircrafts are that there''s too little space in them, and we need professional pilots to fly them. There''s not enough space for all of us in one fighter aircraft, and the chances that both planes will be flown at the same time are too slim. Helicopters or cargo planes will have enough space for all of us, but it takes too long for them to get off the ground, and we''ll most likely be detained before we can even leave the base."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Xie Xie, if we exclude a pilot from our plans, do you think it''s possible that we''ll all be able to fit in one fighter aircraft?"


    A peculiar look appeared on Xie Xie''s face. "It''ll be very difficult. There are only four seats and seven of us; Lizhi will most likely have to take up more than one seat by himself, so I don''t think there''s any chance we can all fit in there."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "If they''re four-seater planes, then this might still work, but the prerequisite for that is that we have to be able to fly the planes ourselves."


    "Fly the planes ourselves?"


    Tang Wulin said, "Piloting a plane will definitely be more complex than driving a soul car, but it may not be much more complex than piloting a mecha; in fact, it could even be slightly easier. Kidnapping a pilot is far too unpredictable a course of action for us to take. We''ll only get one chance, so what if we encounter a pilot that would rather die than surrender? Hence, I have an idea..."


    "Are you proposing that we fly the planes ourselves? But who''s going to fly them?" Ye Xinglan asked.


    Tang Wulin turned to Xie Xie, and said, "We still have nine days, and I''m sure the planes in that warehouse will be flown again at some point during the next nine days. Go and observe the pilots as they take off, and carefully learn what they''re doing. You don''t need to learn everything; all we need is to be able to get the planes to take off, accelerate, and change directions. We only need to fly for 30 kilometers."


    Xie Xie''s eyes widened as he stared at Tang Wulin. "Boss, aren''t you afraid that we''ll crash and die? Do you have that much trust in me?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "We might crash, but with Zhengyu and Yuanen''s flying abilities, I''m sure we won''t die. However, if we fail, then we won''t be able to make it to the military training venue on time, so it''s all on your shoulders."


    Xie Xie gulped nervously. "No pressure, right?"


    Tang Wulin said, "We still have some time, so we have to make this plan as airtight as possible. We''ll need you to work hard for the next few days, Xie Xie. Observe the pilots and make sure to take in every single detail."


    During the next few days, people from the Northsea Legion would come over to the detection chambers every day to check that Tang Wulin and the others were still being detained, and during those times, everyone would put on their damaged helmets and handcuffs again to put on an act.


    The detention chambers were extremely short, so it wasn''t like the soldiers could walk in and carefully inspect their condition. The patrolling soldiers would only take a cursory glance at them to make sure that they were still present and lying down in silence before departing.


    Seven days passed by, and on this day, Xie Xie silently returned again.


    "What''s the situation like?" Tang Wulin asked in a quiet voice.


    Xie Xie replied, "I can confirm that the two planes in the warehouse fly out every day once in the morning and once at night to complete recon missions. I''ve already memorized the procedures required to get the planes off the ground, and to reach full acceleration. When do we implement our plan?"


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. "We''ve perfected this plan as much as we could during the limited time afforded to us, and all that''s left is the execution. This is indeed quite a perilous undertaking, but we''re Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; we can''t just scurry back with our tails between our legs. We put the plan into motion tomorrow at dawn. Dawn should be a better time to act than at night as that''s when the soldiers on guard duty will be at their most weary."


    The next morning.


    As the captain of the aviation team, Lu Fu was the first to arrive at the warehouse. He greeted the maintenance staff, who had just finished examining the planes in the warehouse, and he stood below his own plane, looking up at it with a blissful expression.


    He had always loved planes and the feeling of soaring through the sky ever since he was a small child. He was only a normal person, so in order to become a qualified pilot, he had to endure a lot of arduous training. Through his tireless efforts, he finally became a pilot five years ago.


    In the beginning, he was only a student pilot, and now, he was the captain of the aviation team. Throughout this process, he had put in countless hours of effort, and he truly loved aviation.


    The plane before him was the newest model aircraft from the federation, the Skyglide 17. It was among the 17th generation of battle aircrafts. The plane had a turbojet engine that could allow it to break the sound barrier within 26 seconds at maximum acceleration. It also came with four soul-vanquishing cannons that could unleash a continuous barrage of attacks, and it can also hold eight soul missiles that could unleash devastating assaults from long range. This was the newest generation of fighter aircraft, and it could attack targets in the air and on land, as well as at sea. After all of the fighter aircrafts in the legion had been replaced by this newest model six years before, they had been performing very consistently and were renowned for their extremely impressive speed and offensive power. They were most suited to assisting mechas in unleashing prolonged assaults, and to providing artillery support to the military mecha teams.


    Each Skyglide 17 battle aircraft was 36 meters long with a 29-meter wingspan. Equipped with a turbojet engine, they had to glide for 900 meters before being able to take off.


    These figures had been cemented into Lu Fu''s mind long ago as he truly loved his battle aircraft, and he was familiar with every single one of its minute details.


    A complete aviation team consisted of four people, which undertook the roles of captain, vice-captain, cannon shooter, and missile shooter.


    The captain was mainly responsible for flying the plane, while the vice-captain was responsible for providing directions, contacting the base, and controlling the radars.


    As for the cannon and missile shooters, their roles were quite self-explanatory. This was why each Skyglide 17 aircraft had to have four pilots.

 Chapter 808: Boarding the Plane

    With the rapid advancements in fighter aircraft technology nowadays, the trend was that fewer and fewer people were required to pilot these planes. With the development of soul artificial intelligence, it was said that the next generation of battle aircrafts would only require two people to control the functions that four people were currently required to control.


    Lu Fu examined his own aviation suit. As a normal person, he required an aviation suit and a helmet to withstand the impact flying at such high speeds had on his body, so he couldn''t afford to have equipment failures. He had always been a very cautious and methodical man, which was an important reason behind his journey to becoming an exceptional pilot.


    "Captain!" Three other people in the same aviation suit that he was wearing made their way into the warehouse. They were none other than his three co-pilots. Lu Fu wore a faint smile on his face as he greeted them from afar.


    However, just as he was about to give them a wave, his hand stiffened in mid-air as he was stunned to discover that a figure had descended from up above, following which all three of his companions fell to the ground in the blink of an eye, completely unconscious.


    "Enemy attack!" Lu Fu instantly realized what was happening, yet just as he opened his mouth and was about to scream, he also blacked out and slumped down onto the ground.


    "Examine the surrounding area!" A low voice commanded. Several figures immediately emerged before quickly assessing the surrounding area. They were all lurking in the shadows so they remained out of sight.


    Due to the fact that a flight mission was imminent, the warehouse gate was already open, so people on the outside could see into the warehouse.


    The four aviation team members were quickly dragged away into discrete corners, and several people gave a thumbs-up gesture to the man who had just spoken.


    "Xie Xie, board the plane!" Tang Wulin waved a hand toward Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie quickly rummaged around Lu Fu''s body before producing a remote with a circular button on it. At the same time, he removed Lu Fu''s helmet before placing it onto his own head.


    After he pressed the button on the remote, the canopy of the battle aircraft slowly opened.


    That''s right, the ones who had attacked the aviation team were none other than Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Of course, they hadn''t killed the four pilots; all they had done was knock them out.


    At this moment, expressions of anxiety and excitement could be seen on the faces of all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. They were "borrowing" a plane! On top of that, none of them had even traveled on a battle aircraft before. This was no joke; they were doing something that was most definitely illegal.


    Of course, as long as they could make it out of the legion base, the academy would take care of the repercussions for them. After all, they were only carrying out instructions from the academy, so they didn''t feel guilty about what they were doing.


    Xie Xie was the first to spring onto the plane before sitting down on the main pilot''s seat. Ye Xinglan also got on and sat beside him in the co-pilot''s position. All of their positions had already been ascertained in advance. Tang Wulin jumped onto one of the wings of the aircraft before wrapping a Bluesilver Emperor vine around Xu Lizhi''s body, then abruptly dragging the vine back and swinging Xu Lizhi into the air, getting him to land in the cockpit with unerring accuracy. Xu Xiaoyan was also carried into the cockpit by Yue Zhengyu at almost the exact same moment.


    Xie Xie''s hands were quickly flying over the flight control panel, and he said, "Boss, we need fingerprint and pupil identification."


    Tang Wulin waved a hand through the air, and another Bluesilver Emperor vine shot forth before wrapping itself around Lu Fu''s wrist, then also hurling him through the air.


    Another Bluesilver Emperor vine shot forth, winding itself around Lu Fu''s body before dragging him down toward Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin carried Lu Fu and sprang onto the thin head of the plane and handed Lu Fu over to Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie quickly pressed Lu Fu''s finger against the fingerprint verification device, then gently brushed back one of his eyelids and pressed his head against the pupil verification device.


    "Beep, beep, beep!" Three electronic beeping tones sounded, and all of the devices in the cockpit instantly lit up. There were also all types of notification lights that were displaying the aircraft''s current condition.


    Xie Xie exulted, "Done!"


    Tang Wulin flicked his wrist, and the Bluesilver Emperor vine carried Lu Fu back into the dark corner again.


    "Run through the pre-flight checks as quickly as possible; according to the official time that we''re scheduled to take off, we still have around a minute left before verification."During these past few days of observations, they had already grasped all of this information, and the entire plan was accurate down to the nearest second.


    Xie Xie quickly pressed one button after another before giving Tang Wulin a hand gesture to indicate that everything was ready.


    Thus, Tang Wulin sprang up and landed behind the cockpit as he instructed, "Zhengyu, Yuanen, take your positions."


    Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui were currently situated on either wing of the aircraft. The cockpit only had enough capacity for four people, so they could only fly using this special method.


    Bluesilver Emperor vines spread from Tang Wulin''s body, extending all the way to the wings of the aircraft. At the same time, the canopy slowly closed to seal Xie Xie and the others within the cockpit.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were lying flat on either wing, allowing the Bluesilver Emperor vines to tie them to the wings. Tang Wulin also secured himself with his own Bluesilver Emperor vines, except he was situated at the center of the aircraft, and it was as if he were riding it like a massive mechanical flying horse.


    After the Bluesilver Emperor vines had strapped the three of them securely to the aircraft, Tang Wulin gently tapped the canopy three times.


    The canopy was already closed, so no verbal communication could take place between those who were inside the cockpit and those who were outside. As such, they could only communicate through taps and hand signals. Xu Xiaoyan was seated at the rear of the cockpit, and she was responsible for observing Tang Wulin''s hand signals.


    Xie Xie couldn''t help but burst into giddy laughter. "We''re about to take flight, guys! This is my first flight; I''m so excited!"


    "You better be careful; don''t forget that Yuanen is still strapped to the wing of the aircraft!" Ye Xinglan reminded in a cold voice.


    "Don''t worry, I know."


    Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui, and Yue Zhengyu''s positions had also been discussed in advance. Tang Wulin had the most powerful body among the three, and he was also the captain, so he naturally had to take the most dangerous spot at the center of the plane. In contrast, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu both had wings and flight capabilities, so even if they were to somehow be detached from the plane due to unforeseen circumstances, they could still ensure they didn''t fall to their deaths.


    As such, it was naturally the best choice for them to also be outside the cockpit.


    Xie Xie mimicked the motions required to control the aircraft before pressing a red button as he yelled, "Ignition!"


    All of a sudden, the aircraft shuddered, and a loud buzzing sound also rang out as the turbojet propeller began to rotate at a high speed. Powerful air currents surged forth from within the propeller, slowly guiding the aircraft forward.


    Right at this moment, an urgent voice sounded from Xie Xie''s earpiece. "Sky Nine, Sky Nine, why did you go into ignition early? Please respond."


    He immediately lowered his voice to make it sound deeper, and replied, "There''s been a minor malfunction in the aircraft, and the maintenance staff have asked me to try and conduct ignition."


    "Why didn''t you report the malfunction to us? You''ve made an elementary error!" the voice in the earpiece scolded.


    "My apologies," Xie Xie replied.


    "I command you to cease ignition right away and await further instructions."


    "Yes!" Xie Xie gave an affirmative response, but the aircraft had already traveled out of the warehouse.


    Xie Xie was undoubtedly a complete novice when it came to piloting this aircraft, but after watching Lu Fu operate it for so many days in a row, he had definitely grasped the basics. After exiting the warehouse, the plane only had to travel for about 300 meters, then take a right turn before it could get to the runway and prepare for takeoff.


    "Sky Nine, Sky Nine, what are you doing? Why have you exited the aircraft hangar?" The infuriated voice rang out from the earpiece again.


    Xie Xie suddenly raised his voice a few octaves to feign shock and horror as he replied, "The control system has gone completely out of control; please send assistance!"


    Xie Xie''s voice acting skills were exemplary, and he didn''t even sound like himself right now. Even Ye Xinglan was rather surprised by this hidden talent of his.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 809: Taking Flight

    "Don''t panic; try to control the aircraft to the best of your abilities. The repair vehicle will reach you soon; try not to cause any collisions before that." The voice in the earpiece suddenly calmed down.


    Of course he was going to control the aircraft! However, he was going to control it so that it could take flight as quickly as possible!


    Xie Xie pushed the acceleration shaft forward, and due to the fact that the aircraft had picked up too much speed prior to the right turn, it teetered slightly during the turn, and the two wings trembled slightly, but it had reached the runway at a far higher speed than it normally would.


    "Sky Nine, Sky Nine, we are issuing a warning to you right now! Who are you, and how dare you hijack a military aircraft? This is a crime punishable by death! I repeat, punishable by death! Stop right now or our base will strike you down!" The voice in the headpiece suddenly turned extremely cold.


    Xie Xie faltered slightly upon hearing this. How had their cover been blown so quickly? He had thought that his voice-acting was superb!


    All of a sudden, Xu Lizhi plucked down something from the ceiling of the cockpit. "I think this is what has exposed us."


    It was a small camera, and it was undoubtedly broadcasting the scenes unfolding in the cockpit straight to the control tower.


    Ye Xinglan urged, "Hurry!"


    "I know!" Xie Xie pressed the acceleration shaft forward as far as it would go. There was not enough time to get onto the runway as loud sirens had already rung out, and he could see that barricades were slowly rising up in the distance. Even if they could get onto the runway, there was no way that they''d be able to take flight with those barricades in place.


    A cold light flashed through Xie Xie''s eyes, and he grabbed onto the acceleration shaft before abruptly wrenching it back.


    All of a sudden, a terrifying burst of propulsion force instantly slammed the four people in the cockpit into the backs of their seats, while the three people outside the cockpit were instantly buffeted by extremely fierce air currents.


    Tang Wulin roared, "Battle armor!"


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu immediately released their suits of battle armor in unison, and Tang Wulin also did the same. Only after summoning their suits of battle armor were they able to better withstand the buffeting air currents.


    The aircraft suddenly accelerated, and this was not a smooth acceleration. The aircraft literally left the ground for a split second from the force of the abrupt acceleration before being launched forward like a cannonball.


    They were currently on a smooth runway, but this was not the real runway. They were over 300 meters away from the real runway, beside the runway was a patch of lawn. It was still relatively smooth, but it certainly wasn''t as hard as the ground on the real runway.


    Orange flames began to erupt from the rear of the aircraft, and the distance of 300 meters was covered in the blink of an eye. The aircraft rushed onto the lawn in an instant, and Xie Xie let loose an almighty roar as he pulled back the control shaft with all his might. The lawn was only around 400 meters in length, and if they were to go any further than that, they''d be crashing into the barracks up ahead.


    If they couldn''t take off, then they would crash the aircraft; it was as simple as that.


    The four people in the cockpit also release their suits of battle armor in unison. No one wanted to die, but they had to take this risk, and the only way to minimize their chances of death would be to release their battle armor.


    "Argh!" An ear-piercing scream erupted from Xu Xiaoyan''s mouth, and the aircraft shuddered violently as it sped over the lawn. They were about to reach the conclusion of the lawn at any second now, and a thick concrete wall stood directly up ahead, rapidly expanding in their field of view.


    Right at this moment, the aircraft gave one final violent shudder before its immense propulsion force completely erupted. The tip of the plane jerked upward, and all of the tremors suddenly stopped. The concrete wall up ahead also seemed to have sunk downward, and a loud screeching noise rang out from the underside of the aircraft, but in the next instant, they were still able to make it into the air.


    "Woohoo! We did it!" Xie Xie yelled with excitement and elation.


    "Didn''t you hear that crash? Hurry up and examine the extent of the damage!" Ye Xinglan roared in an enraged voice as she pointed at the flashing lights on the control panel.


    Xie Xie glanced at the vast array of flashing lights before shrugging as he replied, "I''m sorry, but I don''t know what any of this means. Did you really expect me to be some kind of expert pilot after watching those guys for a few days? In any case, what I can tell you is that we''ve taken off! Haha! It''s time to accelerate!"


    He abruptly wrenched the control shaft, and the aircraft quickly ascended.


    The enraged voice rang out from Xie Xie''s earpiece again. "Turn back right now or we''ll strike you down! This is not a warning, it''s an order!"


    Right at this moment, soul lasers flashed through the air, putting on a dazzling display of lights.


    It was quite clear that these attacks were being unleashed as a warning to them.


    "Strike down if you dare! Let me tell you this; we''re the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters! If we die, Shrek Academy will stomp your base into the ground!" Xie Xie roared before quickly turning off the communicator.


    At the control tower of the Northsea Legion base!


    The entire place was in a state of complete turmoil. The surveillance system revealed to them that a Skyglide 17 aircraft had successfully taken off after traveling for only 700 meters over the preliminary runway, followed by a stretch of lawn.


    Even though they''d been discovered in time, everything had happened far too abruptly, and no one had been able to react to this sudden development as it was completely unprecedented.


    When they heard the words "Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters", all of the employees present were completely rooted to the spot.


    The major that had lured Tang Wulin and the others into the trap was right; the Northsea Legion was like the backyard of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy. However, it was exactly because of this that all of these people were even more aware of just what Shrek Academy represented.


    There was not even a single Shrek Academy graduate in the Northsea Legion, and that was an entirely political decision; there was no way they could''ve managed to achieve this without the support of the federation. After all, everyone knew that the most exceptional Soul Masters on the continent came from Shrek Academy!


    Regardless of how much they detested Shrek Academy, they were most definitely aware of what the words "Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters" entailed. They were the brightest prodigies of Shrek Academy!


    If Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were to die here, the entire federation would be shaken!


    The highest-ranking official in the control tower, Liu Ming, wore a thunderous expression.


    What the hell is going on? When did Shrek''s Seven Monsters infiltrate the Northsea Legion Base?


    He had only received information from the base stating that a few Shrek Academy spies had been detained, and that they were going to be placed in detention for a few days before being released.


    However, the report from that major clearly stated that those spies had been fitted with soul-sealing handcuffs and spirit-sealing helmets, so how had they managed to hijack an aircraft?


    "What do we do, Colonel?" All of the employees in the control tower were looking at Liu Ming.


    Liu Ming''s breathing was slightly brisk as he ordered, "Contact the general right away!"


    The leader of the Northsea Legion, Lieutenant General Shen Yue, was one of the brightest young stars in the current military. She was only 38 years old, yet she was already a lieutenant general, and the federation had broken many conventions to promote her to such a high level at her age.


    "That''s the gist of the current situation, General; please give us your instructions!" Colonel Liu Ming reported the situation in the most concise way possible.


    The other side of the line was silent for a moment before a response came through. "Deploy the Sky Aviation Squad and the Northsea Legion''s First Mecha Squad to ensure their safety. If possible, force them to turn around, but if they insist on getting away, then still make sure that they do so safely."


    "Understood."


    There was too much weight behind the words "Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters"; even a lieutenant general who was far from a fan of Shrek Academy didn''t dare to let Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters die on her territory.


    Shen Yue stood in her office in her military uniform. She was around 170 centimeters tall, and her back was ramrod straight. The passage of time hadn''t left many marks on her face, and she appeared to only be around 30 years old. Furthermore, she was very beautiful. During her days studying at the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy, she was considered to be the number one beauty of the academy.


    "Get Major Bing Feng to come and see me," Shen Yue commanded as she pressed a button on the table.


    "Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, eh?" Shen Yue''s brows were tightly furrowed. They had indeed received information that inner court disciples from Shrek Academy would be arriving here as part of a mission, and she was well aware of this tradition of Shrek Academy. She had even tried to deploy people to that demonic island in the past. As the supreme leader of the Northsea Legion and the vice-commander of the Northeastern Military Region, she was an extremely influential figure in the military, especially in the Northsea Legion.


    However, her actions were quickly met by strong backlash from her higher-ups. As such, that island was a mystery to her.


    Now, there were more people from Shrek Academy traveling to the island, and on this occasion, they were proclaiming themselves to be Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. If that really were the case, then things would be quite troublesome.


    Shrek Academy had always been renowned for how protective it was toward their students. If Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were to perish here, there was no explanation that she could give that would alleviate the wrath of Shrek Academy.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters weren''t just selected at random; they could only be selected after a certain period of time had passed following the retirement of the previous generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Furthermore, they were selected with quality as the priority over quantity, and if there weren''t suitable disciples to take up the mantle, the positions would simply be left vacated rather than be filled by disciples who weren''t good enough.

 Chapter 810: Mid-air Detainment

    All of the past generations of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were comprised of superb prodigies, and there was once a special incident that resulted in the death of two members of one of the past generations of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. On that occasion, Shrek Academy was like a hibernating beast that finally awoke from its slumber and bared its fangs to the world. A terrifying revenge operation ensued, and that piece of history was still clear in the minds of many people.


    Shen Yue had seen from strictly confidential military documents that the incident had forced the federation to change 16 of its parliamentary members.


    No one in the general public knew what had happened, but that incident had completely shaken up the hierarchy of the entire federal parliament. As for exactly what the incident was, there were no specific records. It was only stated that the repercussions had been extremely severe. All of the people who were related to the deaths of those two members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters suffered negative consequences to varying degrees, and that incident had further cemented Shrek Academy''s status as one of the most powerful entities on the entire continent.


    At this moment the aircraft that Xie Xie and the others were on had already risen into the air, and the Skyglide 17 aircraft was able to travel far faster than normal mechas. In the blink of an eye, the coastline was already within sight.


    Xie Xie was obviously far from an experienced pilot, but he could control the plane to make some simple changes in direction. After rising into the air, they headed straight toward the sea, and what they had to do now was to find that island.


    But where exactly was it?


    Xie Xie cast his eyes into the distance. At such high altitudes, an island that was 30 kilometers away should be visible to them. However, his expression quickly stiffened as he discovered that there were indeed islands in the distant ocean. However, there was a stretch of many islands rather than just one. At a rough glance, it appeared that there were at least 100 to 200 islands spread over a vast area of the ocean up ahead.


    "What do we do?" Xie Xie asked.


    Ye Xinglan had obviously also already taken in the situation, and she rolled her eyes as she replied, "How would I know? I''m not the captain. We can''t communicate with Captain for now, so let''s just fly over there first. If worst comes to worst, we''ll just have to search for the island after making a landing."


    Xie Xie grumbled, "The academy is being way too harsh! They only gave us 15 days, yet not only is the coastline completely sealed off, even the map they gave us is fake! There''s clearly more than one island here!"


    "Hold on, give me the map for a second," Xu Xiaoyan suddenly requested.


    The map was being held by Ye Xinglan as she was responsible for giving directions, and she gave the map to Xu Xiaoyan as requested.


    Xu Xiaoyan said, "No matter how heartless the academy is, the island on the map they gave us has to at least be of the same shape as the island we''re looking for. Xinglan, search through the islands and see if you can find any of a similar shape to the one on the map. If you find any islands like that, we''ll fly toward that direction."


    Ye Xinglan''s eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers as she exclaimed, "You''re a genius, Xiaoyan! Fly that way!"


    Ye Xinglan pointed toward a cluster of islands, and purple light flashed through her eyes as she searched for islands of a similar shape to the one on the map.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s eyes were tightly shut as powerful air currents buffeted his entire body. Thankfully, his Bluesilver Emperor vines were holding him in place, and he also had an immensely powerful body. Otherwise, he would''ve been unable to withstand this and fallen off long ago.


    From his position, he couldn''t see anything that was happening down below, and he could only wait for Xie Xie to find their destination.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly heard a loud sound approaching, and he opened his eyes with difficulty, upon which he discovered two shadows flying past either side of their aircraft in a flash. The two shadows were also fighter aircrafts, except they were a lot faster than their aircraft.


    The two battle aircrafts swerved around before arriving in front of them, then continued to fly on ahead while maintaining the same speed as their aircraft. Immediately thereafter, four more fighter aircrafts appeared on either side, as well as behind them, and all six of these aircrafts maintained the same speed as them.


    A voice sounded in Xie Xie''s earpiece again.


    "You have been ordered to turn around immediately. Otherwise, you''ll be struck down right away!"


    Xie Xie scoffed in a disdainful manner, "Strike me down if you dare!"


    He abruptly pushed the control shaft as he spoke, and the plane suddenly accelerated before swerving downward. Even Ye Xinglan was given a fright by his bold maneuver, let alone the aircraft pilots from the Northsea Legion.


    The six fighter aircrafts hurriedly changed directions to try and surround them again.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Xie Xie had the element of surprise in his favor, but his skills were far inferior compared to these trained pilots.


    At the control tower.


    Shen Yue arrived as quickly as she could, and the major that had detained Tang Wulin and the others was standing right beside her. However, the expression on his face made her feel rather uneasy.


    "What''s the situation like?" Shen Yue asked.


    "They''re very aggressive and refuse to turn around. We''ve surrounded them to force them to slow down, but they''re plunging their aircraft almost straight down to try and escape our aircrafts. What they''re doing is very dangerous even for a seasoned pilot, and they could crash and die at any moment," Colonel Liu Ming replied in a grim voice.


    Shen Yue''s brows furrowed tightly as she asked, "How long until the First Mecha Squad arrive on the scene?"


    Liu Ming replied, "They''re only around a minute away."


    Shen Yue heaved a faint sigh of relief upon hearing this. "After the mecha squad gets to them, capture them in the air right away, then bring them back here. Make sure not to kill or harm them during the process."


    "Understood." Fighter aircrafts possessed great offensive power, but were not suited to capturing targets in mid-air. This was why a mecha squad had to be deployed to assist them.


    On the Skyglide 17 aircraft.


    "Those bastards! They''re using the strong air currents from their propellers to disrupt us! I can''t get around them; what do we do?" Xie Xie was feeling extremely frustrated. They were already very close to the islands down below, but the six fighter aircrafts had completely outmaneuvered him and were constantly disrupting his efforts to fly toward the islands, forcing him to deviate from his intended route.If it weren''t for the borderline-suicidal maneuvers that Xie Xie had used to throw them off, it was quite likely that they would''ve been forced back to the Northsea Legion base already.


    However, this was only to be expected. After all, Xie Xie was a complete novice pilot, and he couldn''t just crash the aircraft directly into the other aircraft. Two of the aircrafts had flown to a higher altitude before going completely vertical, using the powerful air currents blasting out of their propellers to force their aircraft downward. The other aircrafts also employed the same method, except they were doing it from the side, thereby forcing their aircraft to swerve away from the islands down below.


    It was undoubtedly the case that these six fighter aircrafts were all being flown by exceptional pilots, and it was far too simple for them to throw Xie Xie off his game.


    "Ask the captain what we should do. Ask if we should abandon the aircraft," Ye Xinglan said to Xu Xiaoyan after a brief hesitation.


    Xu Xiaoyan hurriedly made a few simple hand signals to Tang Wulin through the transparent aircraft canopy.


    Tang Wulin had naturally also seen the disruptive methods being employed by the aircrafts around them, and a cold light flashed through his eyes as he waved his hand toward Xu Xiaoyan before pointing at himself.


    Right at this moment, Xie Xie suddenly yelled, "There are mechas approaching!"


    Six mechas whistled through the air beneath them, and they were just as fast as the fighter aircrafts. All of them were painted completely black, and they quickly appeared beneath their aircraft. Right at this moment, discharge openings extended from the undersides of the six aircrafts, immediately following which a series of massive nets shot forth from within those openings, instantly encompassing the Skyglide 17 aircraft.


    The nets had been blasted with clinical precision, avoiding their turbojet propeller, and as soon as the nets captured their aircraft, they immediately stretched taut. The propulsion force generated by six aircrafts was far more powerful than the force that could be generated by one, and their aircraft was literally being dragged back toward the legion base.


    They''d been captured in mid-air!


    Tang Wulin and the others had never even heard of such feats being accomplished, yet they were witnessing such a spectacle firsthand.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin, who had been lying flat on the aircraft this entire time, suddenly sat bolt upright.


    Immediately thereafter, a gargantuan creature suddenly appeared before him.


    At this moment, the six aircrafts that were responsible for the mid-air detainment, the six black mechas that were responsible for protecting the six aircrafts, and the control tower were all appraising the situation that was unfolding with rapt focus.

 Chapter 811: Aircraft-riding Dragon

    The ones with the clearest view of the situation were those in the control tower. Through the use of their large-scale radars, they were able to capture extremely clear images of the mid-air detainment that was currently unfolding. In reality, it would be a simple task for the Northsea Legion to strike Tang Wulin and the others down from the sky. With their defense systems, they could easily blast the Skyglide 17 aircraft into oblivion with a soul missile.


    However, could they really do that? Even though Tang Wulin and the others had "borrowed" their plane, they possessed special identities, and hurting them would incur severe consequences. As such, the legion could only detain them using more gentle methods.


    Even though they couldn''t kill Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, they could definitely detain them. By doing so, not only would they be able to avoid the consequences that would be incurred if they were to kill Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, they would also be giving a Shrek Academy a figurative slap to the face. On behalf of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy and the military, they could scoff at just how pathetic this current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were.


    This was why Shen Yue had arrived on the scene in person so she could watch a live broadcast of their detainment.


    However, the scenes that unfolded next had her jaw dropping straight to the ground.


    The detainment had already been successfully completed, and the six fighter aircrafts were about to drag the aircraft that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were on back to the legion base. However, all of a sudden, a gargantuan creature suddenly tore through all six nets at once.


    From the images being broadcasted at the control tower, she could see that a musclebound creature over 60 meters tall had abruptly appeared on the Skyglide 17 aircraft, which was only 36 meters in length. Its weight was far too tremendous, and as soon as it appeared, the Skyglide 17 aircraft was sent plummeting downward along with the six aircrafts that had been deployed for detainment.


    Six aircrafts were obviously a lot more powerful than one, so this was supposed to be an easy detainment mission. However, now that a Tyrant Dragon had been thrown into the mix, the entire nature of the mission had completely changed.


    All seven aircrafts plummeted directly toward the ocean, and the six black mechas down below only barely had enough time to get out of the way!


    Tang Wulin raised a hand, and a Bluesilver Emperor vine smashed through the glass canopy of the Skyglide 17 aircraft, turning it into a convertible aircraft. Howling winds immediately surged into the entire cockpit, and Tang Wulin had to yell for his voice to be heard. "Xie Xie, prepare to accelerate to as fast as this thing can go!"


    The current situation their aircraft was in was quite strange. Due to the sudden emergence of the Tyrant Dragon, its tail was pointing downward, and it was plummeting straight out of the sky, dragging the six other aircrafts down along with it. The Tyrant Dragon still seemed to be completely bemused by the situation.


    At this moment, the six aircrafts finally reacted, and all of them instantly relinquished their detainment nets before flying away like speeding arrows.


    Due to the enormous momentum they''d built up, all six of the aircrafts tumbled away, completely out of control. Regardless of how experienced the pilots were, they still required some time to regain control over their aircrafts following that ordeal.


    "Accelerate!" Tang Wulin yelled. The Tyrant Dragon instantly disappeared, and he also pressed himself flat against the aircraft again. At the same time, Bluesilver Emperor vines emerged from his body, wrapping themselves around the waists of the four people in the cockpit.


    Xie Xie thrust the acceleration shaft forward, and the aircraft shuddered before hurtling through the air.


    At this moment, Xie Xie felt as if the entire world were spinning around him, but the aircraft was definitely moving forward from the propulsion force of the turbojet propellers.


    The aircraft rose directly upward first before the control system naturally righted the entire aircraft, thereby allowing it to fly in a stable manner again. Thankfully, they were extremely lucky, and the aircraft was flying directly toward the cluster of islands down below.


    At this point, the six aircrafts were still yet to right themselves, and the six black mechas had set off in pursuit of those aircrafts. Their top priority was to ensure the safety of their allies, so they weren''t pursuing Tang Wulin and the others.


    Meanwhile, the Skyglide 17 aircraft was like a bird that had escaped from its cage as it flew directly toward the cluster of islands up ahead.


    "Lower our altitude!" Tang Wulin yelled. WIthout aircraft canopy in the way, Tang Wulin''s voice was able to reach everyone in the cockpit.


    Xie Xie panted heavily as he yelled, "That was way too intense, Boss!"


    Tang Wulin then turned to everyone else in the cockpit, and said, "Everyone, undo your seatbelts on three!"


    "We''re ready!" Xie Xie chortled as he let go of the control shaft.


    "One, two, three!" Tang Wulin yelled as he abruptly sprang up from the aircraft. At the same time, his Bluesilver Emperor vines tugged his friends toward him, and under his control, all seven of them separated from the aircraft at once. They were all in a tight cluster in mid-air with Bluesilver Emperor vines around their bodies, creating quite an extraordinary sight to behold.


    At the control tower.


    "You can do that?" Major Bing Feng looked on with a flabbergasted expression.


    Six fighter aircrafts and six black mechas had been deployed to detain them, yet they''d still managed to escape? When Tang Wulin and the others abandoned the aircraft, it had already flown into the cluster of islands, and it proceeded to fly even further away.


    More mechas were arriving on the scene, but they were still too far away to do anything.


    A peculiar turn of events then unfolded. After flying into the air over the cluster of islands, the Skyglide 17 aircraft suddenly plummeted straight out of the sky, heading straight toward the island down below, only to abruptly vanish amid a flash of illusionary light. The crash and explosion that everyone had anticipated didn''t take place.


    However, Tang Wulin had no time to pay any heed to all of this. He raised a hand and stuffed an Agility Mini Soup Bun into his mouth to lower his body weight. Xu Lizhi had prepared an Agility Mini Soup Bun for everyone in advance, and all of them also consumed their buns at this moment.


    Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui then spread their wings in unison, doing their best to stabilize everyone by gliding through the air.


    "That was awesome!" Xie Xie yelled with excitement.


    That was definitely the most exhilarating experience of his life. He had gotten everyone out of the legion base and flown them to their destination with his complete novice-level flying skills; what could be more exciting than this?


    All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Tang Wulin, and an earthy brown halo proliferated from his body. All seven of them instantly felt as if they were as light as feathers.


    The soul skill that the Mountain Dragon King''s torso bone had given to Tang Wulin was gravitational control, and Tang Wulin had used it many times during his recent battle against those evil Soul Masters. Aside from gravitational control, the torso bone had also given him another defensive soul skill, but he was unable to use it at this point. He could sense that this was a skill that would only be made available to him after he became a seven-ring soul sage. As such, the Son of Nature soul skill wasn''t actually the first skill that he''d obtained but couldn''t use.


    Through the use of Tang Wulin''s gravitational control, he was able to lower the gravitational force that weighed down upon them, thereby making Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu''s task a lot easier.


    At the control tower.


    "General!" Liu Ming called out in an urgent voice.


    Shen Yue''s brows were tightly furrowed, but she was still able to keep her cool. "So be it; let them go. I truly believe that they''re Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters now. Keep a close eye on the demonic island, and maintain level three defense readiness. Nothing good can come out of this, so we have to be on our guard. "


    "Yes, General!"


    Shen Yue then turned to Major Bing Feng, and said, "I''ll be requiring an explanation from you."


    Major Bing Feng immediately extended a military salute. "Yes!"


    Shen Yue turned and departed, while Bing Feng hurriedly followed along behind her.


    Only after the two of them had left did Liu Ming heave a long sigh of relief. This was definitely not a good start to his morning!


    His subordinates had already reported to him that Lu Fu and his fellow team members were fine, and that they''d all awakened from their unconscious state.


    There were no casualties, but they''d lost a Skyglide 17 aircraft, and that was a very heavy blow to their legion.


    However, the demonic island was a restricted area to them, so they couldn''t do anything now that the Shrek Academy disciples had entered that area. As such, they could only get their fighter aircrafts and mechas to return to the legion base.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin and the others had already stabilized themselves in the air, and only then did they get an opportunity to appraise the islands down below. From their bird''s eye view perspective, they could see that this cluster of islands covered an extremely massive area, but it was slightly too peaceful on these islands. All of these islands were completely inky-black in color with extremely complex terrains. There was some plant life on the islands, but all of them were also completely black, as if ink had been spilled all over them.


    What was even stranger was that the seawater within a 300-meter distance from those islands was also completely black, creating a stark contrast with the blue seawater elsewhere.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this was no ordinary place, and it was the location where their military training was going to take place.


    Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t naive enough to think that their troubles were over now that they''d managed to arrive at their destination within the 15-day time limit. On the contrary, this was definitely only the beginning of their true ordeal.


    "Over there!" Ye Xinglan suddenly said as she raised a hand and pointed toward a certain direction.

 Chapter 812: Landing on the Island

    Ye Xinglan had been observing this cluster of islands this entire time, trying to search for one that matched the shape of the island on the map given to them by the academy.


    Everyone cast their eyes toward the direction she was pointing at, and sure enough, there was a larger island that was very similar in shape to the island on the map.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had already changed directions and were flying toward that island even without being prompted by Tang Wulin.


    They were currently at an altitude of around 1,000 meters, and they slowly descended from there. All of a sudden, all seven of them shuddered in unison, and they were struck by the feeling that they had just passed through something invisible. Immediately thereafter, the surrounding space twisted and warped before they continued to descend.


    To Tang Wulin and the others, they all felt as if they''d experienced an instant of absent-mindedness, and in that instant, all seven of them disappeared from the radars of the Northsea Legion.


    The gravitational force suddenly increased, sending Tang Wulin and the others plummeting downward at a faster speed. Tang Wulin yelled, "Don''t panic, everyone; we''ll be fine. Xiaoyan, use your Astral Chains to link all of us!"


    Xu Xiaoyan''s soul rings appeared around her body, and she instantly activated her fourth soul skill, conjuring up a series of shimmering golden Astral Chains that connected everyone.


    Back when they''d abandoned the aircraft, they were at an altitude of around 3,000 meters. If they were to plunge downward in complete free fall, it would take them two minutes at most before they crashed down onto the ground.


    Even with Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu''s wings to slow their fall, it had still only taken them around five minutes to drop down to this altitude. Both of them had already eaten Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns and were flapping their wings with all their might, doing everything they could to prevent everyone from falling to their deaths.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin connected everyone with his thick Bluesilver Emperor vines, and he wore a very calm expression, seemingly completely unflustered by the situation that was currently unfolding.


    The more they descended toward the ground, the clearer the view they had of the island. The ground below them was entirely black, but it didn''t seem to be comprised of rocks or soil. There were plants growing on the undulating hills on the island, but even they were completely black. Looking at them from up above, they were like a series of black monstrous beasts.


    With the enhancements from their suits of battle armor, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were still able to just barely adjust the direction they were flying toward despite the increased gravitational force, carrying everyone straight toward their target island. They were getting closer and closer to the ground.


    "Everyone, prepare for impact!" Tang Wulin yelled as his five soul rings shimmered around him, and more and more Bluesilver Emperor vines began to emerge from his body.


    They were about to reach the ground at any second now, and both Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were flapping their wings with all their might to try and slow their fall, but the seven of them were still plummeting at an alarming speed.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s second soul ring suddenly lit up. One Bluesilver Emperor vine after another shot forth like giant pythons, plunging straight into the ground. His fourth soul ring also lit up, and those vines instantly expanded to around the thickness of a human leg. In the instant that the vines pierced into the ground, they immediately began to bend, buffering the impact and slowing everyone''s fall in the process like a bouncy pad.


    A streak of golden light erupted forth, and what appeared to be a small golden dragon sprang up from the ground, repelling Tang Wulin into the air again. All of his friends were connected to him through his Bluesilver Emperor vines, so they were also flung into the air along with him. Thus, their downward momentum was completely arrested, and they slowly drifted down onto the ground.


    The Bluesilver Emperor vines were withdrawn, and a safe landing was achieved.


    "That was way too intense!" Xie Xie yelled with excitement, and indeed it had been.


    This was the first time all of them had encountered such a situation, and it had to be said that they had done very well.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t the pilot of the aircraft, but he had exerted exemplary control over the entire operation. In particular, his decision to release his Tyrant Dragon in that dire situation was a masterstroke. If it weren''t for that stroke of genius, there was definitely no way that they would''ve been able to escape from those fighter aircrafts and mechas so easily. After all, the Northsea Legion certainly wasn''t full of slouches.


    "How is everyone?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "We''re fine!" Everyone gave Tang Wulin a hand signal to indicate that everything was normal. They were all one-word battle armor masters, and there was some slight impact during the final moments of their descent, but the defensive prowess of their suits of battle armor was more than enough to nullify that force.


    Tang Wulin waved a hand, and everyone quickly got into formation. Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, Yue Zhengyu, and Yuanen Yehui were situated on the outside of the formation, while the other three stood on the inside.


    Only then could they better observe their surroundings. The sea by the northeastern region of the continent was very cold, so most of the trees on the island were pine trees, and they all appeared to be thriving. However, the unsettling thing was that all of the plants here were of an inky-black color, just like the earth. It was a rather harrowing sight to behold.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he released his spiritual power to sense the surrounding area.


    He discovered that even though this place was completely black, there was no overabundance of dark elements in the air. Everything was very normal, just like in a normal forest, so what was the reason behind the appearance of this island?


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly. This place had been referred to as the demonic island, so there had to be something special about it. Otherwise, the academy wouldn''t have set this place as the location for their military training.


    Even Elder Cai and the others seemed to have been traumatized by this experience, so it was most definitely not for the faint of heart. After all, every Hyper Douluo had to have been brilliant prodigies in their youth!


    "What do we do now, Boss?" Xie Xie asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "We''ll rest in shifts and recover to our best condition first."


    They couldn''t afford to just forge ahead blindly in this unfamiliar place. Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had just consumed Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns, and expended a lot of energy. Everyone else also required some rest. In particular, the thrilling ordeal that they''d just endured was quite mentally taxing, so it was very much necessary to rest and recover both physically and mentally.


    Xu Lizhi, and Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie sat down first to recover their soul power, while the other four surrounded them on the outside. Tang Wulin''s third soul ring lit up, and halos of light radiated from his body, forming a Bluesilver Golden Array. This was a powerful group control soul skill that had an elemental stripping ability.


    "Zhengyu, Yuanen, you two should take a rest as well; Xinglan and myself should be enough here."


    "Sounds good!"


    The backlash from the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns was already beginning to set in, and even though both Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu were quite powerful, they were still feeling quite tired. In particular, Yue Zhengyu had recently used his Sacrifice ability and burned through a significant portion of his life force, so he was feeling even more exhausted than he otherwise would.


    Purple light radiated from Tang Wulin''s eyes as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes while carefully appraising their surroundings. At the same time, his Bluesilver Emperor vines spread outward, allowing him to sense the life essence on this island.


    Ever since his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Abyss realm, his sensory abilities had become far more powerful than they were in the past. In particular, after combining it with his Bluesilver Emperor vines, it became very easy for him to communicate with all types of plants.


    Right at this moment, Xie Xie, who had sat down first, suddenly opened his eyes, and exclaimed, "Why are there no natural energies? I can''t recover my soul power at all!"


    His voice had only just trailed off when everyone else also opened their eyes with astonishment etched on their faces.


    They had just discovered the same thing; there seemed to be no presence of natural energies whatsoever on this inky-black island.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred as he hurriedly focused his attention to verify this for himself. As a result, he also discovered that this demonic island was completely devoid of natural energies. He didn''t even need to use his Bluesilver Golden Array as all of the elements in this place seemed to have been stripped away already. Everything else here appeared to be completely normal except everything on the island was black, and there were no natural energies to be found.


    Without natural energies, there was no way for them to replenish their own soul power. The issue was that soul power would constantly dwindle unless they were to use no soul power at all, but that simply wasn''t practical.


    As Soul Masters, especially five-ring Soul Kings like them, they were constantly expending soul power. Activating their soul power to protect their bodies had already become second nature to them, and the cultivation of the Mysterious Heaven Method never stopped, so their soul power was constantly circulating. The amount of soul power being used up during this process was quite minuscule, but it certainly wasn''t negligible when there was no way to replenish soul power. In a place without natural energies, they didn''t even need to consciously expend their soul power and it would still be used up sooner or later.


    Yue Zhengyu''s expression changed slightly as he mused, "Could this be a legendary taboo zone?"


    Tang Wulin turned to him, and asked, "What''s that?"


    Yue Zhengyu explained in a grim voice, "According to the records in our clan''s tomes, there were some places that were punished by the Divine Realm due to certain special properties that they possessed, and those places are known as taboo zones. There''s no way for life to be born in these places, and no natural energies can be found, either. Come to think of it, this place doesn''t fit that description as there are still plants around! Plants shouldn''t be able to grow in taboo realms."

 Chapter 813: Silent Demon Island

    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "In that case, this place most likely really is a taboo zone; I can''t sense any life force energy from the plants on this island."


    They were situated on a patch of flat ground, and not far away from them was an inky-black forest. Tang Wulin quickly made his way over to the forest before pressing his hand against one of the trees. The surface of the tree was icy cold to the touch, and not only was there no life force energy within the tree, it was releasing a powerful burst of deathly aura. If it weren''t for Tang Wulin''s immense life force and blood essence fluctuations, his body would''ve been harmed to a certain extent by this deathly energy.


    "These trees are all fake. There''s no life force energy within them, and they''re all as hard as rocks, as if they''ve been carbonized," Tang Wulin said as his brows furrowed tightly.


    Without the presence of natural energies, there was no point in cultivating, so everyone stood up and gathered around Tang Wulin.


    Xu Xiaoyan asked, "Captain, if there are no natural energies here, won''t our life force also be affected along with our soul power? In other words, will this place affect our blood essence power?"


    Tang Wulin replied with a wry smile, "It will. All living things require natural energies to survive. Water and sunlight are the key elements for sustaining life, but they can only sustain life where there is life to begin with. This is a place without any life force energy, so our own life force will constantly dwindle here. We''ll be fine if we only stay here for a short time, but if we stay here for too long, we''ll be reduced to dried corpses or become carbonized just like those plants."


    Everyone''s expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.


    "What do we do then?" Xie Xie asked in an urgent manner.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "The academy has sent us here to undertake military training, not to kill us, so there must be a way to survive here. On top of that, we still don''t know where exactly our military training will take place. Looking down from above, this entire cluster of islands is completely black in color, and so is the surrounding seawater. However, the seawater around 300 meters away from the cluster of islands turns back into a normal color. From that, we can deduce that natural energies should exist in the regions of the sea where the seawater is blue, which means we can go to those areas of the sea to absorb natural energies in order to replenish ourselves."


    Ye Xinglan smiled, and said, "You''re always so calm; it''s very impressive. The situation should be roughly what you deduce it to be."


    Tang Wulin replied with a smile, "I''m actually worried as well, but that won''t help our cause; we have to remain calm and face the situation we''re in. Seeing as we can''t absorb natural energies to replenish ourselves here, let''s go to the seashore. We''ve already reached our destination within the designated time frame, so we should''ve already passed the first test. Once we get to the shore, Zhengyu and Yuanen can fly out to verify my hypothesis."


    This entirely black island struck one with an indescribable sense of oppressive pressure, and at the very least, they had no idea what was going on right now. As such, it was important to find a path for retreat first before exploring the island.


    The place that they had landed was on the outskirts of the island, so after ascertaining the direction they had to head toward, it didn''t take them long before the sea appeared in their field of view.


    Looking at the black seawater from the air and from land were two completely different experiences, and the fact that they were situated in this pitch-black world was a very daunting notion. Waves of seawater lapped against the shore, and the inky black seawater was like a terrifying abyss that would engulf anyone who dared to enter it.


    Tang Wulin released a Bluesilver Emperor vine into the sea, and as soon as it came into contact with the seawater, he immediately shuddered as a burst of terrifying suction power erupted from the ocean.


    His soul power and blood essence power then surged forth in a frenzy along the Bluesilver Emperor vine, and he hurriedly withdrew it from the water. However, even though it had only been in contact with the seawater for a split second, the tip of the vine had already turned a greyish-white color.


    "Avoid touching this seawater at all costs; it''s extremely potent in devouring natural energies."


    Tang Wulin was feeling very fortunate that they hadn''t landed in the black seawater. Otherwise, their soul power expenditure would''ve increased significantly before they could reach the island.


    Yuanen Yehui said, "Let me go and test things out."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Be careful; if you feel like something''s wrong, come back right away."


    "Alright." Yuanen Yehui nodded before spreading open her Fallen Angel wings, then flapping them to rise up into the air above the black seawater.


    She had only just appeared above the surface of the ocean when black mist began to emanate from her body, and she hurriedly flapped her wings more vigorously so she could rise up to a higher altitude. Only then did the black mist around her body lessen, and she continued to fly into the distance.


    She quickly covered a distance of 300 meters, and due to the fact that the islands in this cluster were situated quite far away from one another, there were still some patches of blue seawater between them. After flying out for 300 meters, Yuanen Yehui abruptly vanished.


    "Where did she go? Yuanen!" Xie Xie yelled in an urgent manner.


    Tang Wulin laid a hand on his shoulder, and said, "Don''t panic, keep observing the situation for now."


    But how could Xie Xie not panic in this situation? He was just about to say something when Yuanen Yehui abruptly reappeared in the distance, then flapped her wings and vigorously and quickly returned to the island.


    Only then did Xie Xie heave a sigh of relief, and he hurried over to her as he asked, "Yuanen, are you alright?"


    "I''m fine," Yuanen shook her head, and said, "The situation is exactly as you predicted, Captain; after flying out for 300 meters and arriving above a region with normal seawater, I immediately discovered the presence of natural energies in the air. However, there are extremely ferocious sea soul beasts on the other side. I felt as if I''d passed through some kind of invisible barrier, as if I''d emerged in another world, and as soon as I appeared on the other side, a massive sea soul beast came pouncing at me. It had an extremely powerful aura, so I immediately hurried back. Despite how powerful those sea soul beasts are, they don''t dare to come into this black seawater. However, it won''t be easy for us to get out of here, either."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he speculated, "Do you guys get the feeling that this place is like a cage that''s keeping something locked up within it?"


    There were no natural energies in here, and the sea outside of this place was filled with ferocious sea soul beasts. Furthermore, all of them had clearly sensed that they''d passed through some kind of enchantment when entering the island.


    "That does indeed seem to be the case," Yue Zhengyu nodded as he said, "In any case, this place makes me feel very uncomfortable, and I''m assuming all of you feel the same. There are no natural energies here, and everything is filled with deathly energy. It''s like living beings like us shouldn''t even be here! Should we go deeper into the island?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and replied, "There''s no hurry to explore the island; we should devise a viable path of retreat first. The main hazard outside stems from the sea soul beasts, but those beasts don''t dare to enter these regions with black seawater. Yuanen, try and fly out of here at a higher altitude this time and see if you still get attacked by sea soul beasts."


    "Alright." Yuanen Yehui nodded before flapping her wings to fly up to the higher altitude. However, after reaching an altitude of only around 100 meters, her body abruptly plummeted from the sky, and only after flapping her wings with all her might did she manage to arrest her downward momentum at an altitude of around 50 meters.


    "There''s a flight restriction up there!" Yuanen exclaimed, "There seems to be an invisible energy barrier up there, and I could only fly up around 100 meters before I felt like I was swatted down by a massive hand! It''s a good thing I managed to react quickly."


    This place was most definitely a cage! The same thought occurred to everyone at once.


    There was no way to rise up into the air, nor any way to travel out to sea. Living beings could only enter, yet not exit, and there were no natural energies here. Were they just supposed to resign themselves to an inescapable fate of death here?


    Tang Wulin immediately made up his mind. "Let''s go deeper into the island."


    He firmly believed that the academy wouldn''t send them on a suicide mission. Seeing as they were supposed to undergo their military training here, there had to be a way to survive.

 Chapter 814: Entering Another World

    With that in mind, Tang Wulin led the way as he traversed deeper into the demonic island.


    There were no paths on the island, and the only landmarks were those dead black trees, all of which looked roughly identical, so there was no way to ascertain which direction they were going in. As such, they could only continue to forge directly ahead toward a set direction.


    After entering the forest, the deathly aura that Tang Wulin had sensed earlier had clearly become more pronounced. The surrounding air had turned very cold, but Tang Wulin shielded everyone from the sinister chill in the air. His Golden Dragon King bloodline aura was as scorching as the sun, keeping most of the chilly sensation at bay.


    Even without a reminder from Tang Wulin, everyone was restricting their soul power from circulating as it normally would; they had to conserve their soul power for when it was needed most. If they couldn''t find any places on the island where natural energies existed, then they had to devise a strategy to get out of their current predicament.


    Tang Wulin observed the sky up above as he walked through the forest. They had "borrowed" the aircraft at dawn, and the sky was slowly beginning to brighten. Looking out from the island, there didn''t seem to be anything different about the outside world.


    Just what kind of event could''ve taken place to reduce a cluster of islands to this godforsaken state? It was quite clear that human activity wasn''t responsible for this as there was no point for the federation to do this.


    In that case, this could''ve only been caused by a natural event, but what kind of natural event could''ve possibly resulted in this tragedy?


    Could it be that there was some kind of massive soul formation that was constantly stripping away the natural energies in the air? But if that were the case, then how could that black seawater be explained? The black sea had the terrifying ability to devour all energy.


    After walking for two hours straight, everyone was beginning to sweat a little. However, they were trying to conserve their soul power, so they didn''t use it to speed up. All of them were carrying food in their storage soul tools, but they had eaten a lot of it during their days spent in the detention chamber, and they hadn''t had a chance to replenish their food supplies, so they had to be conservative with their consumption as well.


    "Let''s rest here for a while," Tang Wulin said.


    Overall, this place was where he felt the least potent deathly aura, and his powerful Golden Dragon King bloodline aura would be able to protect everyone for a short time. However, even so, they would still be in some strife if they were to stay here for too long unless he broke through his next Golden Dragon King seal so he could attain more bloodline power to combat the deathly aura here.


    Tang Wulin quickly climbed up a nearby tree so he could see further from a higher vantage point.


    There seemed to be no end in sight to this black forest, but as he cast his gaze deeper into the demonic island, he suddenly caught sight of a wisp of a blackish-purple color.


    What was that?


    Tang Wulin had only taken a quick glance at that wisp of blackish-purple color in the distance, yet an extremely powerful sense of foreboding had welled up in his heart, making him feel as if his body were about to be torn into shreds.


    What powerful energy! Wait, if there''s energy there, then that should be apart of natural energies. Perhaps that place is the key to getting out of here!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin was greatly reinvigorated, and after climbing back down from the tree, he immediately informed his friends of his findings.


    After resting for a short while longer, then having some food, they set off again, this time with a clear target.


    After walking for two more hours, they finally emerged from the black forest. However, the earth was still of an inky-black color, and from there, they were close enough to see the wisp of blackish-purple color in the distance even from the ground.


    Blackish-purple light flashed in a subtle manner up ahead, striking the beholder with a terrifying sense of annihilation.


    "What is that?" Xu Lizhi murmured.


    Yue Zhengyu''s brows furrowed slightly. "I feel like my body is about to be torn apart just from looking at it."


    "Me too," Xu Xiaoyan panted, and Yue Zhengyu hurriedly positioned himself in front of her to alleviate her discomfort.


    "Let''s go back into the forest," Tang Wulin immediately instructed at the sight of the agonized expressions on everyone''s faces.


    Appraising the blackish-purple light was certainly far from a pleasant experience for him, but with his powerful Golden Dragon King bloodline aura, he wasn''t suffering as much as his friends were.


    After retreating back into the forest, everyone was feeling a lot better with the trees acting as a barrier of sorts.


    "That aura was really terrifying, but it doesn''t seem to be energy of any element we''ve seen before. What was it?" Ye Xinglan mused.


    Tang Wulin said, "We''ll only be able to ascertain what it is after getting closer to it. Wait here for me; I''ll go have a look."


    "Captain," Xie Xie grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s arm, and said, "Let me go instead. I''m faster, and I''ll be able to escape more quickly if any mishaps arise."


    Tang Wulin shook his head. "You''re indeed faster, but you won''t be able to withstand the effect of that energy for long. Don''t worry about me; I have my bloodline power to support me, so I''ll be fine."


    Indeed, no one could compare with Tang Wulin in terms of physical resistance, not even Yuanen Yehui.


    After taking a deep breath, Tang Wulin didn''t conserve his energy any longer as he summoned his suit of one-word battle armor. A golden visor slowly appeared over his face, and powerful blood essence fluctuations began to emanate from his body.


    He exited the forest in a flash, then abruptly sped up and charged directly toward the blackish-purple light.


    As expected, after putting on his suit of battle armor, everything was a lot easier to handle. However, Tang Wulin could still feel that the sense of annihilation he was being afflicted by was becoming more pronounced as he traveled toward that blackish-purple energy.


    His soul power and blood essence power combined to perfection, and he circulated them throughout his body as stipulated by the Mysterious Heaven Method. He then swept his right hand over his forehead, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp. He pointed the spear directly forward, and an umbrella-shaped barrier of golden light erupted from the tip of the Golden Dragon Spear, keeping that fearsome aura at bay.


    In doing so, the pressure was alleviated somewhat, and Tang Wulin was able to accelerate again. He could sense that both his soul power and blood essence power were being expended at a rapid rate.


    They hadn''t been devoured by his surroundings; instead, this level of power output was required to withstand that terrifying aura.


    After charging out of the forest for around a kilometer, he could even sense that the surrounding air was fragmented. Those fragments of air whistled toward him like sharp blades, forcing him to expend more of his power to resist them.


    Dragon scale patterns began to surface over his suit of battle armor, and he''d been forced to unleash his Golden Dragon Body.


    A low dragon''s roar rang out around him, barely keeping the devastating aura at bay. Right at this moment, everything suddenly blurred before Tang Wulin''s entire world turned a blackish-purple color, as if his entire body had been devoured by something. He abruptly shuddered, and the terrifying pressure around him was instantly alleviated, leaving him feeling as light as a feather as he arrived in another world.


    He was gasping for breath like a fish out of water, and in that instant, he truly did feel as if his body were about to be completely torn apart. Even his suit of battle armor was about to give out, yet all of that immense pressure had suddenly vanished, and the stark contrast left him feeling as if he''d lost all of his bones.


    After panting heavily for a while, he discovered that he was situated within a massive valley. This valley was no longer inky-black in color, and there were many lush plants growing around him. In the distance, he could see a massive pillar of blackish-purple light piercing into the heavens, and the mere sight of it struck him with that powerful sense of foreboding again. However, what was even more surprising to him was that there were natural energies here. Furthermore, he quickly sensed that this place had far more abundant life force energy than in the outside world.


    He had a plant-type martial soul, so he was very sensitive to the life force energy in a place. With every single deep breath he took, he felt as if his body were being cleansed.


    Right at this moment, a coarse voice suddenly sounded. "It''s quite impressive that you made it into this place without any guidance." Tang Wulin''s heart jolted with shock, and he turned around to discover an old man appraising him with his head cocked to the side.


    The man looked like a relic of the ancient past! He was around 180 centimeters tall, but his back was slightly hunched over. He had a head of disheveled white hair that hung straight down around his face, which was filled with wrinkles and liver spots. He was holding a cane in one hand, and despite his ancient appearance, his eyes were extremely clear and bright.


    Due to the innumerable wrinkles on his face, Tang Wulin could only barely manage to ascertain from his expression that he seemed to be smiling.


    He hurriedly said, "Hello, my name is Tang Wulin, and I''m from Shrek Academy."


    The old man nodded in response. "I know, I know. You''re quite a handsome little guy."


    Tang Wulin scratched his head, and asked, "Senior, can you tell me what kind of place this is?"


    The old man replied, "This is the demonic island, so it''s obviously the place where demons reside! Hahaha!"


    The old man suddenly burst into laughter as he spoke.


    A place where demons reside? Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly. He couldn''t sense even a single hint of threat from the old man. In fact, there didn''t even seem to be any energy fluctuations emanating from his body; he was just like a normal frail old man.


    Tang Wulin asked, "The academy instructed us to come here to undergo military training; what''s that going to be about?"


    The old man shook his head. "I''m not responsible for all that, but there will be other people here that will tell you what you''ll need to do. Come to think of it, it''s been a very long time since your academy has sent anyone here. Everyone''s waiting, so come with me; I''ll take you to them."


    He turned around as he spoke, and limped deeper into the valley, using his cane to support himself in the process.

 Chapter 815: Nightmare and Scourge

    "Wait, Senior, I still have other friends outside; can I bring them in here as well?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The old man stopped and turned around. "CAN you bring them in here?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Well, I have to get out of here first, but I don''t know how."


    The old man chuckled, "So it''s best for you to come with me first. There''s no way to get out of this place."


    Tang Wulin didn''t say anything else and hurried over to help the old man as he walked.


    The man appeared to be hobbling in an extremely laborious manner, and Tang Wulin gently supported him to alleviate some of his body weight.


    "How about I carry you on my back, Senior?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Sure!" The old man didn''t turn down his offer, so Tang Wulin squatted down and allowed the old man to clamber onto his back.


    The old man was very light, with Tang Wulin''s strength, the man''s body weight almost posed no burden to him at all.


    "Alright, keep walking ahead. You''re a kind-hearted kid, but I have to warn you that having a kind heart won''t do you any good here on the demonic island. In fact, it''s quite possible that your kind nature could work to your detriment." Tang Wulin merely smiled in response to the old man''s words, and quickly continued onward according to the directions being given to him.


    The valley was very large, and the terrain here was quite uneven. However, all of the plants here were thriving, and many of them were plants that Tang Wulin had never even heard of. Furthermore, he was elated to discover that due to how abundant the life force energy was in this place, he didn''t even have to meditate to replenish his energy. He only had to breathe and activate his Mysterious Heaven Method to slowly replenish his soul power, as well as his blood essence power.


    As expected, the academy wouldn''t make them go to an uninhabitable place to undergo their military training.


    Tang Wulin was walking very quickly as he was in a hurry to find a way to get his friends into this place as well. If he were away for too long, everyone would definitely become concerned for him.


    After passing through a forest, Tang Wulin could sense that his soul power had virtually been fully replenished. At this moment, the terrain suddenly lowered, and the ground also turned into a purplish-red color. What was even more astonishing was that Tang Wulin was able to directly see the place where the massive purple pillar of light was coming from.


    It was stemming from a huge piece of ore that was extremely irregular in shape. Part of the gigantic chunk of ore was embedded within the valley, so only a section of it was revealed. Tang Wulin was immediately struck by a sense of excruciating pain that surged through his entire body at the sight of the massive chunk of ore, and he felt as if his body and soul were about to be torn apart. A muffled groan escaped his mouth as he half-knelt onto the ground.


    Golden dragon scales quickly spread all over his entire body as an emergency response, and he also released his suit of battle armor at the same time. Only then did Tang Wulin feel a little better.


    "Hmm?" A faint cry of bewilderment rang out from the old man on Tang Wulin''s back, and in the next instant, Tang Wulin rose to his feet again.


    "Are you alright, Senior?" Due to the fact that the old man was behind him, he was oblivious to the peculiar look on the man''s face.


    "Oh, don''t worry about me; I''m already used to this place," the old man said, "But you''re very impressive; not many people can handle seeing the Stone of Destruction for the first time. Most people would faint on the spot, and I thought you would as well."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    If he knew I could faint, why didn''t he warn...


    His train of thought was abruptly cut off as he blacked out on the spot.


    Only after Tang Wulin had slumped to the ground did the old man withdraw his hand, which had just chopped against Tang Wulin''s neck. "What a stupid boy! He''s not going to survive for long here if he continues like this! I can''t believe how complacent he is in the presence of a complete stranger! Come on out, Nightmare; toss this kid out of here. I want to see how he''ll get his friends into this place."


    A figure emerged out of thin air before arriving in front of the old man.


    This was also an old man, but he appeared to be a lot younger and also far burlier than the old man that was just being carried by Tang Wulin.


    "Is he one of the kids sent over by the academy? Did he get in here all on his own?" Nightmare asked as he pointed at the unconscious Tang Wulin.


    "He sure did! I was very impressed that he managed to get in here through his own power. Toss him out of here; I want to see if he can get all of his friends in here as well," the old man said as he waved a hand.


    "Why do I have to do the dirty work, Scourge? Why can''t you do it?" Nightmare was very displeased.


    Scourge chuckled, "Why? Simple; because you can''t beat me in a fight!"


    Nightmare''s eyes widened as black energy began to surge around him. However, he quickly returned to normal before picking up Tang Wulin from the ground. "I''ve got no time to bicker with an old fart like you; we''ve finally got some new little toys to play with!"


    His body swayed as he spoke, and in the next instant, he vanished into thin air.


    Scourge rubbed his hands together with excitement shimmering in his eyes. "Indeed! It''s been a long time since we last had some toys to play with; we can''t let them go so easily this time. How do we constantly keep them on the verge of a mental breakdown but don''t actually break them? Hmm, this is a very intriguing topic to consider. I''ve become rusty and out of practice."


    When Tang Wulin woke up again, he found himself surrounded by his friends, all of whom were looking down at him with concerned expressions.


    "You''re awake, Boss!" Xie Xie''s eyes lit up as he awakened.


    Tang Wulin quickly sat up and rubbed his own neck. He wasn''t in any physical discomfort.


    "How did I get back here?"


    Yue Zhengyu shrugged and replied, "You flew back. You literally flew back like a cannonball, and Yuanen had to catch you.


    What happened?


    "Did you find out anything?"


    Tang Wulin paused momentarily before giving everyone a recount of what had just happened.


    "Could it be that it was just an illusion?" Ye Xinglan asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head. "No, it was definitely not just an illusion. My soul power and blood essence power have definitely recovered, and there''s no mistaking the rich life force energy in that place. That should be the true venue where we have to undertake our military training, so we have to get in there."


    Everyone else was still unable to recover their soul power in this place, but Tang Wulin had already recovered to peak condition.


    Tang Wulin turned to Xu Lizhi, and instructed, "Make two Recovery Pork Buns for everyone, so we can all fully recover our energy, then make a Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun for each of us to be kept in reserve. Also, make everyone a steamed crystal bun each. Will you still have enough soul power to support your battle armor''s defensive abilities after making all those steamed buns?"


    Xu Lizhi replied, "Definitely. I''ve barely expended any soul power thus far, so I won''t have any issues in that department."


    Sturdy Crystal Bun was Xu Lizhi''s fifth soul skill, and it could grant the consumer a protective crystal layer over their bodies for a minute, which can increase one''s defensive prowess by twofold.


    However, the downside of this Sturdy Crystal Bun was that it took a long time to produce, so they were very difficult to make during battle. As such, it was most often the case that they had to be prepared in advance.


    This was why Xu Lizhi hadn''t made them for everyone when they were facing the evil Soul Masters a few days ago.


    Each Sturdy Crystal Bun required around 10 minutes to produce, and they were also very taxing on his own soul power. However, one of the additional benefits of this Sturdy Crystal Bun was that he could also benefit from consuming it.


    Xu Lizhi produced two Recovery Pork Buns for everyone each so they could recover their energy. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin began to plan the charge that they were going to make.


    After some careful consideration, he devised a strategy.


    He and all of his friends were five-ring Soul Kings, but in terms of soul power rank, Yuanen Yehui was already at rank 58, and she was the closest one among them to rank 60. Ye Xinglan was rank 56, and everyone else was around rank 55, with only Tang Wulin still at rank 51.


    As such, they had more than enough soul power to last them through the upcoming ordeal, which made their capacity for physical stress the main limiting factor.

 Chapter 816: Unified Charge

    With his prior experience, Tang Wulin had deduced that the person at the forefront of the group would have to withstand the most amount of physical stress, so it was undoubtedly the case that he had to lead from the front. Everyone else would also have to withstand energy assaults from all sides. At a time like this, his Violent Golden Dragon Domain and Xu Xiaoyan''s Astral Chains became really important. With the effects of those two soul skills, they should be able to make it through to the other side.


    An hour later, everyone was ready.


    Tang Wulin said, "Hold your buns and only eat them when I say so. Brace yourselves!"


    He raised his Golden Dragon Spear and pointed its tip directly up ahead as he spoke.


    Everyone had donned their battle armor, and Tang Wulin yelled, "Charge!"


    Immediately thereafter, he led the charge while Astral Chains connected everyone.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t immediately unleash his Violent Golden Dragon Domain as using it would''ve expended too much energy, and it wasn''t necessary for the first part of their charge anyway.


    Yuanen Yehui had adopted her Fallen Angel as opposed to her Titan Giant Ape form, which had greater defensive capabilities, and this was something that Tang Wulin had decided was the best course of action for her after some careful deliberation. Her Titan Giant Ape form did indeed possess superior defensive prowess, but it also made her expand significantly in size, and that would increase the amount of energy assault that she would be afflicted by. As such, it was better for her to adopt her Fallen Angel form while Tang Wulin led from the front and shielded everyone to the best of his abilities.


    With that prior experience under his belt, Tang Wulin forged ahead extremely quickly, withstanding the terrifying energy surging toward them from the front all on his own. However, the energy was omnipresent in this area, and it was buffeting them from all sides.


    Everyone had activated their soul power, and Yue Zhengyu slashed his holy sword through the air, casting holy light over everyone aside from Yuanen Yehui. Even though the holy light shattered in an instant, it still bought them a split-second of time, and that was one less split second of this that they had to endure.


    Ye Xinglan slashed her Stargod Sword through the air, and specks of starlight surged through the surrounding area. Those specks of starlight also quickly shattered, and were only able to slightly alleviate the pressure.


    Everyone was unleashing their abilities while withstanding the agony surging through their bodies and following along closely behind Tang Wulin.


    Due to the fact that they were all linked by Astral Chains, Tang Wulin could sense the amount of energy being expended by everyone, and this energy expenditure was evenly distributed among him and his friends. Tang Wulin was leading from the front, and he was expending energy at a far faster rate than when he was making this charge alone.


    At a time like this, he couldn''t afford to be conservative. He took a deep breath, and one of the golden bloodline soul rings beneath his feet lit up, unleashing his Violent Golden Dragon Domain, which caused his body to instantly swell to three meters in height.


    His expanded body had also become a lot burlier compared to his normal form, and was able to speed up while shielding even more of the destructive energy from his friends.


    With the support from the energy of his six friends, the agony that he was experiencing was significantly alleviated, and he thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward, unleashing his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens to carve out a path. A loud dragon''s roar rang out to directly oppose the destructive energy surging toward them, and his body began to tremor violently.


    With every step he took, the pressure continued to mount, but all seven of them were withstanding this pressure together.


    Tang Wulin transferred his Golden Dragon Spear to his left hand, and brilliant golden light erupted from his scales as he summoned his right golden dragon claw before unleashing his Golden Dragon Dreadclaw attack. However, in contrast to what the attack had been like in the past, when he unleashed his Golden Dragon Dreadclaws on this occasion, his golden dragon claws seemed to flicker in an illusionary manner. In that split second, his golden dragon claws had actually swiped through the air nine times in rapid succession.


    This was his Golden Dragon Brandishes its Claws among his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, [This is actually not the first time this has appeared in the story, it first appeared in Chapter 174 and it should''ve been translated in this paragraph "Soul power surged and the Golden Dragon Claw struck out!", but the previous author must''ve neglected to translate it, so I''m naming it now.] and he combined it with his Golden Dragon Dreadclaws to invent this new technique, which he''d named Golden Dragon Annihilation. The air up ahead was instantly torn to shreds, and even the destructive energy surging toward them was vanquished. Tang Wulin''s blood essence power was also dramatically drained by that attack.


    "Eat your buns!" He roared as he thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward and unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight.


    He used his Golden Dragon Annihilation to break through space, then unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight to carve out a path for his friends.


    Everyone followed along closely behind him while consuming their Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun and Sturdy Crystal Buns. A layer of crystalline material quickly appeared over everyone''s suits of battle armor to keep the destructive energy at bay.


    This was also the first time that Tang Wulin had consumed the Sturdy Crystal Bun, and its effects were far more potent than he''d anticipated. He felt as if he had donned an additional suit of armor, and the destructive energy was breaking down the crystalline layer as well, but the material was being worn away at a far slower rate than their own defenses.


    With the enhancements of the Violent Golden Dragon Domain, the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns, and the Sturdy Crystal Buns, the pressure on everyone was alleviated significantly, and they were able to charge onward at full speed.


    During the early stages of cultivation, food-type Soul Masters possessed the least combat prowess, and the enhancements they could provide to others were also far less effective than those provided by Soul Masters that could directly enhance one through their soul skills. However, as their cultivation ranks progressed, the strengths of food-type Soul Masters would gradually become more and more apparent. Their enhancements were more direct, lasted longer, and had less side-effects. Furthermore, there was no danger of the enhancements being prematurely cut off.


    It was even more difficult for food system Soul Masters to cultivate than it was for support system Soul Masters. They required more abundant soul power to improve their cultivation ranks, but once food system Soul Masters reached a certain level, they would definitely become more useful than support system Soul Masters.


    "Whoosh!" All of a sudden, Tang Wulin emerged on the other side, and all of the immense pressure on his body was alleviated once again, indicating that his encounter with that old man wasn''t a dream.


    Everyone else also felt their bodies become far lighter than before, and in the next instant, they arrived in the valley that Tang Wulin had visited once already.


    The pressure was completely alleviated, and everyone couldn''t help but pant heavily as they sensed the abundant life force energy in this space. At the same time, relieved expressions appeared on their faces.


    Tang Wulin stood at the forefront of the group in his suit of golden armor with his Golden Dragon Spear in his hand. Everyone else had yet to recover their soul power, so they were all extremely exhausted.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin caught sight of an old man in black. He also had a head of white hair and a white beard, but he didn''t look as benevolent as the old man he''d encountered before. Instead, his eyes were rather sinister, and he had a hook nose. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he was appraising them with a cold expression.


    "Greetings, Senior." Tang Wulin withdrew his Golden Dragon Spear as he nodded to acknowledge the old man.


    The old man glanced at him, then at all of his friends before waving a hand. "Come with me."


    His voice was slightly sharp and feminine, and it was rather uncomfortable to listen to.


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin made a hand signal and hurriedly followed the old man with his friends trailing along behind him.


    The old man didn''t walk very quickly, and he was taking the same route as Tang Wulin had taken before. After arriving at this place again, Tang Wulin inspected his surroundings, and the sense of foreboding in his heart became even more pronounced as he cast his gaze toward the blackish-purple pillar of light in the distance.


    Despite the fact that this place was filled with abundant life force energy, that massive pillar of light still struck one with a strong sense of horror. It was radiating a destructive aura that made one shudder as a completely involuntary unconscious response.


    The other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were also inspecting their surroundings with curiosity in their eyes. Was this the destination for their trip? The journey was not without its perils, but they had finally made it.


    After passing through a forest, the old man led them to a patch of empty ground, where he stopped and turned around to face them.


    "Do you know what you''re here to do?" the man asked in an indifferent manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "The academy sent us here for military training."


    The old man in black suddenly smiled, and as he did so, all of the wrinkles on his face crumpled together, creating an indescribably unsettling sight to behold.


    "That''s right, you''ll be undertaking military training here. The nature of the training will be very simple; as long as you don''t suffer a mental breakdown, you can stay here, and the maximum duration of your stay will be two years. If you break down during your time here, then you''ll be sent away from here, so you''d all better pray to your lucky stars. Now then, why don''t you introduce yourselves?"


    Mental breakdown? Tang Wulin and the others all felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this.


    "I''m the captain, Tang Wulin. I''m a five-ring Soul King and a one-word battle armor master."


    "Ye Xinglan, five-ring Soul King, one-word battle armor master."


    "Yuanen Yehui, five-ring Soul King, one-word battle armor master."


    "Xie Xie, five-ring Soul King, one-word battle armor master."


    "Xu Lizhi, five-ring Soul King, one-word battle armor master."

 Chapter 817: Excruciating Pain

    Everyone gave the same introduction of themselves, reporting their names and power levels.


    The old man wasn''t surprised in the slightest after hearing their self-introductions, and he said, "My name is Nightmare. I''m sure that name will be cemented into your minds very soon. This is the demonic island, and the place we''re situated at now is the demonic valley, which lies at the center of the island. I am one of the demons here, you can call me Old Demon Nightmare."


    Old Demon Nightmare? He was clearly a human, so why was he referring to himself as a demon?


    Tang Wulin was rather perplexed, but it seemed like it wasn''t an appropriate question to ask.


    "What are we going to do now, Senior?" Tang Wulin asked. He had to figure out what this military training was going to entail first!


    Nightmare chuckled, "Don''t be in such a hurry; there are many things for all of you to do here. This place will be where you rest and recuperate from now on. Whatever you do, remember this: don''t try to approach that Light of Destruction over there. If you come into contact with it, no one can save you, understood?"


    Light of Destruction? Tang Wulin was naturally quite curious about this Light of Destruction, as were all of his friends. Just the mere sight of the purple light erupting into the heavens filled one with a sense of horror and apprehension; just how terrifying was this light? Furthermore, they could sense that the presence of this Light of Destruction was most likely directly responsible for the peculiar state of the demonic island.


    "Your military training will commence tomorrow. You''ll have to find your own food; the forest has all types of food for you to hunt and gather. That will be all for now." As soon as Nightmare''s voice trailed off, he turned around to leave. His body suddenly turned transparent, and he vanished from everyone''s field of view in the blink of an eye.


    Following his departure, Tang Wulin said, "Let''s all rest here until we''ve recovered our energy and soul power. The life force energy here is very abundant, so this is a very good place to rest and recover."


    Everyone was already very eager to begin recovering here. They had just come from a place that was completely devoid of natural energies and arrived in this valley with such rich life force energy; how could they not be eager to cultivate here? Was there anything more important to a Soul Master than having abundant soul power?


    After all of his friends had sat down to rest, Tang Wulin also sat down with his legs crossed and began to meditate. He had never experienced such abundant life force energy anywhere else, not even on the Sea God''s Island. This was extremely beneficial to his cultivation, especially because he possessed the Bluesilver Emperor martial soul, which was extremely sensitive to life force energy.


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to enter a meditative state, he was suddenly struck by a sense of impending peril, and his eyes immediately sprang open, just in time to see a black shadow hurtling toward him.


    He reflexively raised his hands and thrust them forward at once, but the black shadow was simply too fast, and he let loose a muffled groan as his entire body was sent flying by a tremendous force.


    All of his friends had also been attacked at the same time, and they''d been caught completely off guard, getting swatted away in all directions.


    What''s going on?


    All of them immediately unleashed their martial souls before hurriedly adopting their battle formation. However, right at this moment, sharp pain began to spear through their bodies.


    All of them looked down to discover a small hole on each of their bodies at the places where they''d been struck, and blood was seeping out of those holes. In the next instant, the sharp pain transformed into a burning sensation.


    Xie Xie was the first one to cry out as he tried to reach for the injured area.


    "Don''t move!" Tang Wulin immediately grabbed onto his arm to stop him. He had also been struck by an intense burning sensation, and what was quite astonishing to him was that even his bloodline power was unable to alleviate the pain in the slightest.


    "Is this poison?" Ye Xinglan gritted her teeth as she struggled to withstand the agony.


    "Since when did Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters become the seven complacent lambs? Did you think that this place was safe?" Nightmare''s voice rang out from all directions around them.


    "Have a taste of this neurotoxin and think about what you did wrong. Don''t try to treat yourselves or use your soul power to resist it; none of that will work. You''ll only be in pain for two hours before the poison wears off. Hurry up and show me your agonized expressions! I haven''t felt this happy for a long time!"


    Even as Nightmare was speaking, the agony that Tang Wulin and the others were experiencing was spiking dramatically in intensity. The assault system Soul Masters among them could still handle this level of pain, but Xie Xie, Xu Lizhi, and Xu Xiaoyan''s faces had already turned deathly pale. All three of them were trembling uncontrollably with pain, and they were gritting their teeth with all their might.


    They were finally beginning to understand why Old Demon "Nightmare" had such a name.


    But they''d only just gotten here! And wasn''t this way too cruel of a method just to teach them a lesson in complacency?


    Tang Wulin was faring the best among everyone. This wasn''t because he was experiencing any less pain, but simply because he had superhuman pain tolerance. After being tormented throughout his life by his Golden Dragon King bloodline, his pain threshold far exceeded that of the average person.


    Even so, beads of sweat were still beginning to appear on his forehead, and his body was beginning to tremble slightly.


    "Argh!" Xie Xie finally couldn''t help but cry out once again. His yell seemed to be a contagious signal, and everyone else also began to cry out in agony.


    They had to endure this for two hours! Was this supposed to be part of their training?


    After only 10 minutes had passed, everyone was already writhing and rolling on the ground from agony with the exceptions of Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were both sitting on the ground with their legs crossed, and it was quite clear from their trembling bodies that they were also approaching the limit of their pain threshold.


    Strangely enough, the agony was constantly being exacerbated.


    Tang Wulin was still just barely able to stand, but his body was also beginning to sway unsteadily.


    Right at this moment, the pain suddenly lessened slightly before slowly fading away.


    The human body had limitless latent potential, and after experiencing one level of pain for a certain period of time, it would adapt and make the agony feel as if it weren''t so severe.


    Finally, after another 10 minutes, the pain had been alleviated to the extent that it was just barely tolerable, and everyone struggled into a sitting position.


    "This is way too cruel! We haven''t even done anything yet; are they trying to intimidate us from the very beginning?" Xie Xie complained.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "We were too careless. This military training was clearly a very traumatizing experience even for Elder Cai and Grandteacher, so we should''ve been more careful. From now on, we can''t all rest together; we''ll have to rest in shifts while others keep a lookout. It''s a good thing that the senior was lying to us when he said that these toxins would be effective for two hours."


    Yuanen Yehui suddenly said, "I''m not sure he was lying. I''ve done some research into neurotoxins in the past, and these things don''t wear off that easily. Perhaps the pain will come in waves..."


    As soon as her voice trailed off, the pain that everyone was afflicted by was exacerbated once again. As expected, they weren''t going to be let off the hook so easily!


    Thus, a cycle ensued with 10-minute blocks of agony, interspersed by 10-minute blocks of barely tolerable pain...


    This was torture both on a physical level, as well as on a psychological level! The level of agony they were experiencing was extremely intense, but it was limited to an extent that they were still unable to fall unconscious from it.


    After an hour, everyone was severely dehydrated from sweating profusely.


    Tang Wulin had also sat down onto the ground. He was still able to maintain a sitting position along with Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan, but the other four were barely able to even remain conscious.


    When the pain was in a tolerable range for Xu Lizhi, he would make some Recovery Pork Buns for everyone to replenish their energy.


    Xie Xie turned to Tang Wulin, and implored, "Just knock me out, Boss! I can''t take this anymore! It hurts so much!"


    Yuanen Yehui glared at him, and said, "No, if you fall unconscious, the neurotoxins could harm your internal organs. Only when you remain in a conscious state can you use your soul power to protect yourself. Just endure this pain, and you''ll be fine."Yuanen Yehui reached out and dragged Xie Xie over to her side as she spoke.


    With Yuanen Yehui for support, Xie Xie''s emotions stabilized a little.


    Right at this moment, an approving voice sounded. "Not bad, you still haven''t fallen unconscious even after an hour. At least you''ve all got decent capacity for punishment. Seeing as all of you have performed so splendidly, you get a pass on this trial."


    Nightmare appeared before everyone again with a small jar in his hands. He made his way over to Tang Wulin before handing the jar over to him. "Only with a strong stimulus like pain can you learn a lesson that''ll stay with you for a lifetime. This is the antidote; apply it directly over your wounds."


    Tang Wulin accepted the jar with a wry smile on his face. "You sure don''t hold back, Senior Nightmare!"


    Old Demon Nightmare said in an indifferent voice, "All of you have come to this place for military training, so I have to deliver on that. Everything that you''re experiencing now is something that you could face in the future. There''s a big difference between the human body''s ability to withstand pain for the first time as opposed to being afflicted by pain over and over again, especially on a psychological level."


    After his voice trailed off, he stood up and vanished once again.

 Chapter 818: Too Cruel

    Old Demon Nightmare''s words resonated somewhat with Tang Wulin. He felt as if he''d grasped the nature of this stint of military training, but he couldn''t quite articulate it into words.


    Tang Wulin handed the jar over to Ye Xinglan. "You guys apply it first; I''ll stand on lookout." At this moment, the pain that he was experiencing wasn''t as intense anymore, so he was able to struggle to his feet. On this occasion, he didn''t dare to get careless at all. He summoned his Golden Dragon Spear, and appraised his surroundings in a cautious manner.


    Within a cave.


    Old Demon Nightmare emerged out of thin air, and there was a massive crystal ball with a diameter of around a meter within the cave. The images being displayed within the crystal ball were none other than a live broadcast of Tang Wulin and his friends.


    Old Devil Scourge stood in front of the crystal ball and clicked his tongue with sympathy. "You really are far too cruel. Didn''t we agree to go easier on them? How can you be so cruel from the get-go? What if they break down right away? We won''t have any toys to play with then."


    Old Demon Nightmare scoffed, "Don''t try to act like the good guy here; I know how excited you''re getting from watching this! The difficulty of the training has to be adjusted according to the situation. Those little guys were able to make it into the valley through their own power, so they must have very good physical resistance and tolerance. We should try and ascertain where their limits lie so we can tailor a training regimen specifically for them. Come to think of it, they really are laughably naive, though; they believe everything I say."


    Old Demon Scourge chuckled, "The neurotoxin wears off in only an hour, but you told them that its effects last for two hours; what did you give them just now?"


    A sinister smile appeared on Old Demon Nightmare''s face. "You''ll find out very soon."


    Tang Wulin was the last one to apply the ointment in the jar, and following its application, an indescribably comfortable and refreshing sensation settled over his skin. The wounds on their bodies had already become red and swollen from the intense agony they were suffering, but after applying the ointment, the redness and swelling quickly disappeared.


    Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, Ye Xinglan, and Yue Zhengyu had already sat up with relieved expressions on their faces.


    Right at this moment, Ye Xinglan, who had applied the ointment first, gently twisted her body from side to side. "It feels a little itchy; is the injury healing already? This is some fast-acting ointment!"


    Her voice had only just trailed off when a peculiar expression also appeared on Xu Lizhi''s face. "It DOES feel a little itchy."


    He gently scratched the area around his injury, and as soon as he did so, the itchiness intensified drastically, causing his body to writhe uncontrollably with discomfort.


    "It''s so itchy!"


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed drastically. Could the ointment have been responsible for this?


    Several minutes later, an unbearable itch had manifested itself all around his injury, and it was so intense that he would tear himself apart just to rid himself of that torturous sensation.


    He couldn''t help but claw at his own body, quickly tearing through his own clothes and drawing blood with his nails.


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and withstood the itchy sensation through his astonishing mental fortitude, and he immediately summoned a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines that latched onto his friends'' hands and feet, thereby preventing them from scratching their injuries.


    "Boss, let me scratch it! I can''t take this anymore!" Xu Lizhi yelled.


    A series of anguished howls rang out, and this was far more torturous than the pain they''d experienced earlier. In comparison, pain was easier to withstand, but itchiness was a different story entirely.


    The extreme itchy sensation made everyone''s bodies spasm uncontrollably, and Tang Wulin took a deep breath as his body trembled slightly. At the same time, he released more Bluesilver Emperor vines, jamming them into his friends'' mouths on this occasion to prevent them from biting off their tongue in agony.


    This wasn''t military training; this was inhumane torture! It was no wonder that they were referring to themselves as demons; that was exactly what they were!


    The extreme itchiness had everyone constantly spasming violently, and the torturous sensation only began to fade after about half an hour had passed. At that point, everyone was looking like floundering fish that had spent too long out of water. In particular, Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan were in the worst condition. Following that ordeal, it almost looked as if Xu Lizhi had lost a noticeable amount of weight.


    Tang Wulin was gasping for breath, and only then did he untie his Bluesilver Emperor vines from his friends'' bodies before gathering them around him.


    Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan were deathly pale, and were in a semi-unconscious state. Xie Xie was in slightly better condition than them, and was leaning against Yuanen Yehui''s body. Yue Zhengyu''s face was also very pale as he held Xu Xiaoyan in his arms. Under normal conditions, he wouldn''t be in such a sorry state, but due to his recent overexertion of life force energy, his physical resistance had been severely hampered.


    Tang Wulin, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui had managed to remain conscious, but their bodies were trembling slightly and would spasm violently from time to time.


    Tang Wulin held his Golden Dragon Spear and took one deep breath after another, absorbing the life force energy in the air to replenish his energy. As the captain, he couldn''t afford to fall. He still had to protect his friends.


    It had to be said that Old Demon Nightmare had taught them an unforgettable lesson, which was that no one could be easily trusted, and that it was important to be constantly alert.


    "Not bad, you all did better than I expected. You must be hungry, right? Here, have some food." Old Demon Nightmare emerged from out of thin air again, carrying a huge box of food in his hand. He made his way over to Tang Wulin and the others before opening the box, revealing eight compartments, all of which were filled with all types of delicious foods.


    He placed the food before them in a very natural manner before giving them a faint smile. After extending an inviting hand gesture, he turned around and disappeared.


    Tang Wulin''s heart trembled slightly at the sight of the food placed before them. He loved to eat, and he''d expended so much energy earlier, so he was absolutely ravenous. In the face of so much delicious food, he was struck by the impulsive urge to pounce like a madman.


    However, could he really do that? God knew whether these foods had been poisoned. They had just endured extremely horrendous torture, and if they were to be put through even more torment, there was a good chance that everyone would break down.


    As such, regardless of how appealing the food looked, it had to be left alone. Tang Wulin''s heart was constantly telling him that surely this wouldn''t be another round of torture, so this food had to be free from poison, but if he were to believe Nightmare again on this occasion, what would happen next time? Who knew when the next test would come?


    After taking a deep breath, Tang Wulin said, "From now on, don''t touch anything that Nightmare gives to us. Everyone, remain alert and replenish your energy as quickly as possible; I''ll keep a lookout while all of you rest. If you''re hungry, then have some food from your storage soul tools. After Lizhi recovers, he can make some buns for all of us."


    Ye Xinglan nodded as starlight flashed in her hands, and specks of starlight descended, tearing all of the food into shreds.


    Tang Wulin exchanged a glance with her, and he knew that she was doing this to strengthen their conviction.


    "Wasting food is an abhorrent sin! I swear on my reputation that this food wasn''t tampered with! You''re all being far too sensitive." Old Demon Nightmare''s mocking voice rang out.


    Tang Wulin remained unconvinced. "Your reputation was swept to the ground from the moment you gave us that ''antidote''. From now on, we won''t believe anything you say. The objective of this military training is to survive here for two years, and we''ll do so through our own power, so there''s no need for you to worry about us."


    Within a cave.


    "They caught on so quickly? And they seem very determined," Old Demon Scourge mused with a surprised look on his face.


    Old Demon Nightmare shrugged in response. "So what? This is only the beginning. We''ve only served them an appetizer, and the main course is yet to come."


    With Tang Wulin on lookout duty, all of his friends gradually recovered their energy and soul power. Old Demon Nightmare didn''t appear again, and they rested in shifts. With the Recovery Pork Buns being produced by Xu Lizhi, all of them were able to recover to their peak condition.


    This was the good thing about having a food system Soul Master among their ranks; they would never run out of food.

 Chapter 819: Naer?

    Ye Xinglan looked up at the sky, and said, "A day has already passed; what do we do next?"


    Tang Wulin thought about this for a moment before replying, "Nothing. Let''s just stay here and cultivate. All of us aside from Lizhi will undertake guard duty in shifts in groups of two while everyone else cultivates; we''ll treat it as if we''ve gone into seclusion here. The abundance of life force energy here will be very beneficial to our cultivation."


    Everyone nodded in response. Even though they''d just suffered through horrendous torture, they had to admit that this was a great place to cultivate. The life force energy in the air was the purest of natural energies, and it complemented their Mysterious Heaven Method very well. The effects of cultivating here were even more pronounced than cultivating on the Sea God''s Island.


    Xu Lizhi was still feeling quite fearful as he said, "I have a bad feeling that Old Demon Nightmare won''t let us off the hook so easily."


    Tang Wulin said in a grim voice, "We''ll just have to take on whatever he throws at us. Everyone, remember not to eat any of the food or drink any of the water here. Drink the water that we brought with us sparingly, and make sure to be on your guard because they''re definitely going to keep messing with us. If we take the initiative and try to seek them out, we''re very susceptible to falling into traps as we''re very unfamiliar with this place, so we have to wait for them to strike."


    "Sounds good!"


    Everyone answered before beginning to cultivate.


    Tang Wulin''s calmness instilled everyone with a lot of confidence.


    "What''s that?" Xie Xie suddenly pointed up ahead.


    Faint yellow mist was gradually surging toward them, and not just from the front; it was coming from all directions.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly yelled, "Everyone, hold your breaths!"


    As expected, Old Demon Nightmare was playing more tricks on them.


    Tang Wulin made a hand signal to Yuanen Yehui as he spoke, and soul rings appeared around her body as she adopted her Titan Giant Ape martial soul. She lashed out with her fists, unleashing one Air Cannon blast after another to try and dispel the yellow mist around them.


    However, right at this moment, a vast amount of yellow also began to rise up from underfoot, and all seven of them were quickly inundated.


    In the instant before he fell unconscious, Tang Wulin''s final thought was that they shouldn''t have stayed at this place as Old Demon Nightmare had been the one who had led them here!


    All seven of them slumped to the ground and quickly fell unconscious.


    The yellow mist dissipated, and two figures appeared beside them.


    Old Demon Scourge wore a wide smile on his face, and Old Demon Nightmare also wore a sinister grin.


    "These little brats think they can outsmart me! Hehe! It''s time to teach them a lesson," Old Demon Nightmare said in a cold voice.


    Old Demon Scourge urged, "Alright, stop wasting time; let''s see what these little guys are thinking."


    When Tang Wulin woke up again, he discovered that he was still situated at the same place where he''d fallen unconscious, but all of his friends had disappeared.


    He hurriedly rose to his feet with a grim expression on his face.


    He was beginning to suspect whether this really was the military training location that the academy had intended for them to go to. Everything was extremely strange here, and why was it that this Old Demon Nightmare seemed to be more interested in torturing them then training them?


    Just what kind of place was this demonic island?


    "Argh!" A scream suddenly rang out, startling Tang Wulin in the process. The voice was very familiar and definitely belonged to someone he knew, but it wasn''t one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Who was it?


    Tang Wulin hurriedly released his battle armor and Golden Dragon Spear. In this strange place, he had to constantly be on his game.


    He had to find his friends, and in any case, Old Demon Nightmare had taken them to this place, so he couldn''t stay here anyway.


    After a brief pause for contemplation, Tang Wulin quickly rushed toward the direction where the scream had come from.


    "Argh!" Another scream rang out, providing further auditory guidance to him. Tang Wulin traversed through the forest, and a lake suddenly appeared in his field of view up ahead.


    A fair figure was lying on the ground with a shimmering silver spear in her hand as she slowly backed away. She was completely naked, and it appeared that she''d just been taking a bath. Before her was a giant python that was slowly closing in on her. The python was over 100 meters long and as thick as a water tank. Its massive head was as large as a small house, and its cavernous mouth was wide opened as it stalked its prey.


    "Na''er!" Tang Wulin exclaimed before rushing forward without any hesitation.


    Golden light flashed, and he unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight, speeding up dramatically before arriving in front of Na''er in the blink of an eye.


    That''s right, the silver-spear-wielding woman was none other than Na''er. The giant python before her was emanating an extremely fearsome aura, and Tang Wulin let loose a thunderous roar of fury as he unleashed both his Golden Dragon Body and Golden Dragon Roar.


    In the face of his Golden Dragon Roar, the giant python recoiled slightly before spreading open its gargantuan mouth again to try and swallow Tang Wulin whole.


    Tang Wulin remained completely unfazed as he swept his Golden Dragon Spear horizontally through the air. With the enhancements from his Golden Dragon Body, his strength had been significantly boosted, and a resounding boom rang out as the giant python''s head was swatted off to the side by his spear.


    The python hissed with pain, and all of the scales on its massive body stood up on end as it quickly slithered toward him.


    Tang Wulin adopted a serious expression as he summoned his Tyrant Dragon. It had already been more than a day since he''d last summoned the Tyrant Dragon, so he was able to summon it again here. In the face of such a massive enemy, his Tyrant Dragon was the perfect counter.


    As soon as the Tyrant Dragon appeared, it opened its massive mouth before sinking its fangs into the giant python''s neck. The python began to struggle with all its might, wrapping its entire body around the Tyrant Dragon''s huge frame.


    However, the Tyrant Dragon''s forte lay in its immense bite force, and any living being that ended up between the jaws of Tyrant Dragon was basically as good as dead.


    Tang Wulin turned around and was immediately rooted to the spot.


    Na''er was already a young woman, as opposed to the little girl that she once was, and she was making no effort to cover her sensitive regions with her hands. A scorching sensation immediately welled up in Tang Wulin''s lower abdomen, and he hurriedly bit down on the tip of his tongue to try and distract himself from his primal urges. He then quickly took off his outer layer of clothing before tossing it toward Na''er. "Put this on."


    Na''er caught the clothes, yet she was staring up at Tang Wulin with tears shimmering in her eyes.


    "You''re so cruel, Big Brother; why don''t you want me? Why am I so unappealing to you?"


    She threw aside the clothes that Tang Wulin had given her before abruptly diving into his arms and encircling his body in a tight embrace.


    Tang Wulin''s entire body immediately stiffened, and he hurriedly said, "Don''t be like this, Na''er; let''s take care of this giant python first. Did you also come here for military training? If that''s the case, then why did the pavilion master say that you disappeared?"


    Na''er sobbed, "Teacher doesn''t want me to be with you, so he got angry and sent me to this place. I''ve missed you so much, Big Brother; please don''t leave me ever again!" Her arms tightened even further around Tang Wulin''s body as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint internal sigh, but was at a complete loss for words. However, he was still very happy that he''d been able to find his little sister.


    He gently stroked Na''er''s long hair, and said, "Come on, Na''er; let''s take care of this giant python first."


    Na''er said, "No, you have to tell me whether you''ll choose her or choose me first."


    Tang Wulin looked down at Na''er and was greeted by the sight of a pair of stubborn purple eyes.


    "Na''er, I already made my feelings very clear to you on that day. I..." All of a sudden, his voice trailed off as he discovered that a cold look had appeared in Na''er''s eyes. Immediately thereafter, a jolt of pain shot through his chest as a streak of silver light punctured his body.


    "Na''er, you..."


    Tang Wulin stared blankly down at Na''er. Her Silver Dragon Spear had already punctured through his chest.


    She wore a twisted expression on her face. "Why? Why won''t you choose me? I''m better than her in every way, yet you refused to choose me. If you don''t want me, then you can die!"


    She stirred her Silver Dragon Spear around in his chest as he spoke, and his life force quickly faded as his entire body spasmed from the excruciating pain.


    "No, no, you''re not Na''er! Na''er wouldn''t do this to me!" All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up as he looked down at the sinister Na''er, and yelled, "You''re not Na''er! Na''er wouldn''t ever attack me! You''re Old Demon Nightmare!"


    Tang Wulin roared with fury as he swept his right golden dragon claws through the air, unleashing his Golden Dragon Annihilation.


    Na''er instantly vanished like an illusion, and the giant python also disappeared. The surrounding area immediately began to twist and warp.


    "With your mental fortitude, it''s really no simple task to break you. Looks like it''s time to take some extreme measures."


    Everything turned illusionary, and Tang Wulin blacked out again.


    When he woke up once again, he discovered that he''d already returned to the place where he''d first fallen unconscious. He sat up and reflexively laid a hand on his chest, and of course, there was no wound, nor was there a Silver Dragon Spear. It had all been an illusion, a nightmare!

 Chapter 820: Mating?

    Tang Wulin panted heavily as he thought back to the ordeal that he''d just suffered. In the instant that Na''er''s Silver Dragon Spear had punctured through his chest, he''d been struck by unimaginable shock and pain.


    Thankfully, his mental fortitude and his trust in Na''er had helped him overcome that nightmare. Even so, Na''er''s sobbing voice was still echoing through his mind, and his heart was throbbing with pain. The fact of the matter was he''d hurt Na''er very deeply.


    So was he still in a dream or had he regained consciousness? He wasn''t sure. The nightmare just now had been too realistic, and it had been completely indistinguishable from real life.


    Right at this moment, Old Demon Nightmare slowly appeared before him.


    "Were you surprised?" Old Demon Nightmare appraised him with a hint of mockery on his face.


    Tang Wulin''s expression darkened at the sight of him. He no longer had any respect toward this demonic old man.


    "Where are my friends?" It would definitely be better for everyone to be together, rather than separated.


    Old Demon Nightmare said, "Don''t worry, you''ll see them soon enough. However, you have to do something for me, and if you fail, the consequences will be very severe."


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What do I have to do?"


    Old Demon Nightmare replied, "It''s going to be something very difficult, of course. How about this? I''ll show you the consequences first."


    He waved his right hand as he spoke, and an image gradually took shape in mid-air.


    "I have to admit that you possess immense spiritual power and exemplary mental fortitude. You are the fastest one to have awakened from my nightmare in at least the past 200 years. That''s very good, but it has also made me very displeased. Seeing as a dream isn''t enough to break you, let''s play a game in reality. I call this ''Trial of Hearts''."


    The image was split up into three sections, each of which depicted a cave that contained two people.


    Within the first cave was Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan, the second cave housed Ye Xinglan and Xie Xie, and the third cave was where Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui were situated.


    Each of the caves appeared to be only around a dozen or so square meters in area, and hanging in the air above near the ceiling of each cave was a pink ball of light that seemed to be filled with mist.


    "All of your friends are currently fine, but of course, all of that could change at any moment," Old Demon Nightmare said with an extremely unsettling smile on his face.


    Tang Wulin glowered at him with a cold expression. "What do you want?"


    Old Demon Nightmare replied, "You see that pink mist in their caves? From their memories, we''ve deduced that they''re three couples, so we split them apart and put them into separate caves. That pink mist is the most potent aphrodisiac in this world. After inhaling the mist, all sentient living beings will be completely compelled to do one thing."


    Old Demon NIghtmare snapped his fingers with a smile, and finished, "Mate!"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes widened as a surge of fury welled up in his heart. "I''ll kill you!"


    He abruptly rushed forward and threw an almighty fist toward Old Demon Nightmare''s face.


    However, Old Demon Nightmare''s body was like an illusionary entity, and Tang Wulin''s fist simply passed through him. In the next instant, he appeared behind Tang Wulin, and said, "Don''t be rash, kid; do you want me to release the mist right away?"


    Old Demon Nightmare waved a hand through the air, and the three balls of pink mist instantly began to swirl.


    "No!" Tang Wulin clenched his fists tightly, and he was so enraged that his fingernails were digging through the skin on the heels of palms.


    At the same time, an overwhelming sense of horror welled up in his heart. He was naturally aware of what would happen if that mist were to be released; the consequences would be catastrophic.


    If these three mismatched pairs were to mate under the influence of that mist, that would be a fate even worse than death to them.


    "You must be wondering why we''re going so far just for some military training, right?" Old Demon Nightmare asked.


    Tang Wulin offered no response, but he was glowering at Nightmare with bloodshot eyes while breathing heavily from rage. He had already realized that this military training wasn''t as simple as it sounded.


    Old Demon Nightmare sighed, "Truth be told, everything is a lot more complex than you can even imagine. What I have to tell you first is that I''m already 1,764 years old."


    Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. This man was already over 1,700 years old? What kind of concept was that? Put it this way, even the most powerful Titled Douluos, Limit Douluos, would struggle to live to 300 years of age.


    Old Demon Nightmare continued, "Do you think I wanted to become this old? I didn''t, but I had no choice. It''s very difficult for me to die, and to be more accurate, I''m not a human; I''m a vengeful spirit on this demonic island. This island didn''t exist in the past, and only after the demons had arrived did the islands appear. Back then, there weren''t as many sea soul beasts in this region of the sea, either."


    "The demons are the purple chunks of ore that you saw earlier. The chunk on the demonic island is the largest one, and we call them demonic fragments, as well fragments of destruction. Each island in this cluster of islands has one such fragment. At the time, when these fragments fell into the ocean, I just so happened to be fishing with a few of my friends. We were only ordinary people fishing for our livelihood. That terrifying energy tore our boat apart along with our bodies. After what seemed like an eternity had passed, I suddenly discovered that I was alive again. From that moment forth, I became Nightmare, a being that was neither human nor ghost. We belong to this island, and we could never leave it, so we lived here in loneliness and solitude.


    "No one on the outside can come onto the island and still survive, unless they make it into this valley. However, this is our territory, and it''s impossible for outsiders to come into this place. That is, until one of your seniors from Shrek Academy came to this place. He was very powerful, so much so that we were no match for him. After a long battle, he was still severely wounded by the power of the fragment of destruction. Prior to his departure, he told us that he''d benefited greatly from his battle against us, and that he hoped that his juniors would be able to come to us for training. We were so lonely here, so we agreed to his request. You''ve all come here for training, but to us, you''re just our toys. "


    Tang Wulin''s heart gradually sank as he listened to Old Demon Nightmare''s words. Everything was even more terrifying than he''d imagined.


    He bit down on the tip of his tongue to try and calm himself down, and asked, "What do I have to do for you to release my friends?"


    Old Demon Nightmare chuckled, "Well, this is military training, so of course I want you to follow my orders. I''ve already cast a nightmare curse on your body, so don''t even think about escaping from me; I can kill you on a whim at any moment. I know that you may not be afraid of death, but if you die, you know what''ll happen to your friends. After they mate with each other, I''ll be sure to spare their lives and send them back to Shrek Academy along with the footage of what happened here. Ohhh, just thinking about it is getting me so excited! What do you think Shrek Academy will think of that? Wouldn''t it be very interesting to see their reaction?"


    The horror in Tang Wulin''s heart was exacerbated even further. "I''ll do anything you say; just don''t release that mist. Otherwise, even if you kill me, I''ll come back to haunt you as a ghost!"

 Chapter 821: Ill Teach You!

    A disdainful look appeared on Old Demon Nightmare''s face. "We ARE ghosts; do you think I''ll be scared of you as a ghost? Your threats are pointless, so why don''t you do something useful? What should I make you do? Hmm, how about this? Go to the Northsea Legion base again and steal another aircraft for me."


    For some reason, Tang Wulin was rather relieved to hear this condition. At the very least, it wasn''t an impossible task.


    "I can do that, but the problem is, I don''t know how to fly a plane," Tang Wulin said in a grim voice.


    Old Demon Nightmare replied, "That''s simple! I''ll teach you!"


    "You''ll teach me?" Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    An old demon who had lived on this island for over 1,000 years knew how to fly a plane?


    Old Demon Nightmare continued, "You shouldn''t doubt my abilities, and you certainly shouldn''t doubt my intelligence. Sigh, there are fewer and fewer things that are of interest to us now. Come on, I''ll teach you to fly a plane, and after that, you can steal one for me."


    Tang Wulin had no choice. 20 minutes later, he was greeted by the sight of an aircraft. It was none other than the convertible Skyglide 17 aircraft that they''d flown to this island on.


    Tang Wulin suddenly realized a problem as he looked at the soul plane before him. "Even if I learn how to fly a plane and fly back to the legion base on this plane, there''s no way for me to fly two planes back at once by myself!"


    Old Demon Nightmare already had a solution prepared. "Who''s asking you to fly two planes by yourself? I''ll send you back to the legion, then you can fly an aircraft back here again. I''ll send you back to the legion base in the exact same manner that you came to our demonic island."


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin stared at him with a flabbergasted expression. How had they arrived at the demonic island? They''d descended straight from the sky! He was going to return to the Northsea Legion base in the same manner? He''d immediately get caught by all of their military radars! How was he supposed to steal a plane if he were to be detained as soon as he arrived at the base?


    "Don''t be so surprised; think of a way yourself. You managed to steal one plane from the Northsea Legion base already, surely you can steal another one. Alright, that''s enough chit-chat; get on the plane."


    Old Demon Nightmare had already made his way over to the aircraft as he spoke, and he waved a hand through the air, summoning a black staircase that led straight up to the cockpit. Tang Wulin couldn''t sense any soul power fluctuations emanating from his body, so he had no idea how those stairs had been willed into existence.


    Old Demon Nightmare got onto the plane first, and Tang Wulin sat down on the co-pilot''s seat.


    "I''ll give you a brief crash course, then take you to experience the joy of flying." A sly sinister look flashed through Old Demon Nightmare''s eyes as he spoke. Thus, he gave Tang Wulin a simple explanation of how soul planes worked, as well as what all of the buttons did.


    Tang Wulin was able to pilot mechas, and in comparison, piloting soul planes was actually a lot simpler. Piloting a mecha didn''t just involve pressing buttons; at the same time, one had to make sequences of movements to control the mecha. Flying a plane was easier in comparison as there were only buttons and shafts to be controlled.


    Tang Wulin listened very diligently, and he quickly committed everything to memory.


    "Have you remembered everything?" Nightmare asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I think I have."


    "Splendid! Now then, I''ll take you out on a flight!" Old Demon Nightmare waved a hand as he spoke, and the pile of loose rocks up ahead suddenly sank into the ground, while an inky-black path of light extended forward to form a runway.


    Old Demon Nightmare then let loose an elated cry similar to one that would often be uttered by a young hooligan before they were about to do something reckless. He quickly turned on the ignition, then pressed buttons and adjusted shafts in an extremely well-rehearsed manner. The aircraft slowly began to travel forward and gather speed.


    Tang Wulin immediately put on his seatbelt as a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart.


    All of a sudden, orange flames erupted out of the Skyglide 17 aircraft''s turbojet propeller, and the plane instantly accelerated at an alarming rate. The terrifying force of its acceleration plastered Tang Wulin firmly to his seat, and in the next instant, the aircraft had taken off at a far faster speed than Xie Xie had been able to make it fly. It was as if the takeoff process had been completed in the blink of an eye.


    Peals of horrendous cackling rang out as Old Demon Nightmare pulled the control shaft as far back as it would go, and the Skyglide 17 aircraft flew straight upward before looping around to perform a somersault in mid-air.


    Tang Wulin was struck by an intense rush of dizziness, and he didn''t even know which directions the earth and the sky were situated anymore.


    Immediately thereafter, Old Demon Nightmare''s hand flew over the control panel, leaving a trail of afterimages in their wake, and the aircraft performed one extreme aerobatic maneuver after another, threatening to wrench all of Tang Wulin''s internal organs out of position in the process.


    ¡­¡­


    "Do you see that? If you don''t do what I say? This is the consequence. Once that mist gets released, you know what''ll happen."


    Xie Xie stared blankly at the images being displayed to him by Old Demon Nightmare, and he wanted nothing more than to tear this old bastard to shreds with his bare hands! In particular, after witnessing Yuanen Yehui and Tang Wulin lying unconscious side by side in the same cave, his body was already trembling involuntarily from extreme horror.


    "Y, you can''t do this! What do you want? I''ll do everything you say..."


    A sinister look appeared on Old Demon Nightmare''s face. "It''s very simple; go and steal another aircraft for me. I''ll teach you how to fly planes as well. I can''t believe those six aircrafts almost captured all of you on the way here; your flying skills are pathetic!"


    ¡­¡­


    "You!" Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword lit up with dazzling starlight, but she was swatted down onto the ground once again by Old Demon Nightmare. She stared at the image being displayed to her by Old Demon Nightmare with flushed cheeks, and her body trembled uncontrollably.


    "That''s just an illusion! I don''t believe this! And what are you doing by putting Wulin and Lizhi together? Even if you''re using an aphrodisiac, they won''t..."


    Old Demon Nightmare chuckled, "Are you sure about that? Don''t you know that two men can also..."


    "Stop! I''ll do it! I''ll do whatever you say..."


    ¡­¡­


    "Eurgh..." Tang Wulin half-knelt onto the ground as he continued to empty the contents of his stomach. He''d already been throwing up for over 10 minutes, but his head was still spinning, and his stomach was churning violently.


    He had never felt so horrible before. Even the pain of breaking his Golden Dragon King seals could compare to this. Old Demon Nightmare had taken him flying for a full hour. During the past hour, he had shown Tang Wulin every single one of the extreme maneuvers that the Skyglide 17 aircraft was capable of.


    Even with his immensely powerful physical constitution, he was still unable to endure such a terrifying experience.


    Old Demon Nightmare was standing not too far away from him. "Useless trash! Look at how pathetic you are! I''m over 1,000 years old, yet I''m putting a young man like you to shame. Get up, we''re going again! You''ve rested for long enough. If you don''t get up, I''m going to release that mist."


    "You..."


    Thus, the cycle was repeated three times...


    All of the strength had left Tang Wulin''s body at this point, and he felt as if his entire body had fallen apart at the seams. He was completely feeble and powerless, and his face was deathly pale. He didn''t even want to throw up now as there was nothing left in his stomach.


    Old Demon Nightmare picked him up by the scruff of his neck before throwing him off the aircraft. After that, he did a few stretches, and smiled as he murmured to himself, "I haven''t felt this good in a very long time. Why is it that I derive so much pleasure from seeing you suffer? Could it possibly be that there''s something wrong with me?"

 Chapter 822: Eurgh...

    Tang Wulin could hear what he was saying, but was unable to muster up a reply. He didn''t know how to reply, either. All he wanted to do was to direct all of the derogatory terms in the world toward this old bastard.


    In the next instant, he slumped to the ground and fell unconscious.


    Immediately thereafter, Old Demon Scourge appeared beside Old Demon Nightmare.


    "Not bad at all! He''s far more durable than I expected. The other two were half-dead after going for only two cycles, but this Tang Wulin lasted three cycles and he still had the energy to curse you three times in his heart just now. He''s an exceptional prospect; we should increase the intensity of his training!"


    During the next few days, Tang Wulin was almost constantly alternating between being unconscious and being tortured. As soon as he woke up, he would be dragged onto the aircraft by Old Demon Nightmare before being shown all types of extreme aerobatic maneuvers against his will.


    After waking up for the second time, he no longer had anything left to throw up, but he was as nauseous as nauseous could be, and as dizzy as dizzy could be.


    He finally understood what Nightmare had meant when he''d referred to mental breakdown; Tang Wulin felt as if he were not far away from that point. If all of his predecessors had suffered through the same ordeals, then it was no surprise that the completion rate for this military training was so low.


    After what seemed like an eternity, Tang Wulin suddenly discovered that he was able to remain conscious throughout this grueling torture.


    Much to his surprise, he discovered that his body had adapted. That''s right, no matter what kind of extreme maneuvers the plane performed, he was able to ward off that sense of dizziness. He had already become accustomed to this, and he gradually developed a sense of direction in mid-air. He could see the ocean, he could see the sky, and no matter what maneuvers Old Demon Nightmare performed, he no longer felt nauseous anymore. Furthermore, his condition was steadily improving with every passing flight, and he gradually began to enjoy this activity.


    "Let''s keep going, Old Demon Nightmare! Ohhh, I get it; you''re an old fart, so you''re too tired to continue!" Tang Wulin goaded in a vicious manner.


    Old Demon Nightmare stuck his hands on his hips as he raised his eyebrows and flared his nostrils. "You little rascal! Are you getting cocky just because you''re no longer fainting every two seconds? Why don''t you fly the plane instead?"


    "Me?" Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. Flying on a plane as a passenger was definitely vastly different from actually flying the plane.


    However, when Tang Wulin sat down on the pilot''s seat and looked at the control panel, he wasn''t fearful or apprehensive in the slightest. Instead, he was very calm and familiar with the sight that he was greeted by.


    There was no way for him not to be familiar with these buttons and shafts! Old Demon Nightmare was controlling them to torture him every single day, so the functions of these buttons had already been cemented into his mind. He already knew what button Old Demon Nightmare would press to achieve what kind of effect, and he knew what Old Demon Nightmare was about to do next just by the expressions on his face.


    He pressed the buttons in a slightly jerky manner as he prepared for takeoff. The sense of familiarity gradually grew more potent as he controlled the plane, and he pulled back the control shaft, causing the aircraft to slowly accelerate before rising into the air.


    In the instant that the aircraft rose up into the sky, Tang Wulin felt as if he had grown a pair of wings. Not only was the sense of familiarity growing even more pronounced, he felt as if he were a fish in water. All of the pain and suffering from the past few days transformed into elation in that moment. He reflexively pressed a few buttons before pulling the control shaft all the way back, controlling the aircraft to perform a somersault in the air.


    During the maneuver, the aircraft tremored slightly in an unsteady manner, and Tang Wulin hurriedly gripped onto the control shaft again, forcing the aircraft to complete the somersault.


    Immediately thereafter came acceleration, and the aircraft flew up to a higher altitude. Under his control, the Skyglide 17 aircraft began to fly through the air.


    He was able to pilot mechas, after all, and following the past few days of torture, the vertigo and nausea from flying were relics of the past to him. In this moment, the aircraft felt like an extension of his own body, and this was a fantastic feeling.


    In the beginning, Tang Wulin''s operation of the aircraft was slightly jerky, but his movements gradually became smoother and more refined, and his powerful physical constitution really began to shine through. Firstly, his hand speed was extremely quick, and secondly, his body had an extremely high degree of resistance to the impacts of flying. This allowed him to perform a series of extreme maneuvers using the aircraft.


    Thus, the aircraft altitude fluctuated dramatically as it whizzed through the air like an agile little bird.


    Tang Wulin loved the feeling of sharp acceleration following a somersault. It was an extremely freeing sensation, and he couldn''t get enough of it.


    When he finally landed the plane once again, he suddenly realized that he couldn''t hear Old Demon Nightmare''s voice beside him anymore. He turned to the co-pilot''s seat, and much to his surprise, Old Demon Nightmare had already disappeared.


    Within a cave.


    "Eurgh..." Old Demon Nightmare was doubled over as he dry-retched over and over again while his body flickered between illusion and reality.


    "How could this be? I didn''t know sitting in the co-pilot''s seat could be such a horrendous experience? Why is it that I''ve been so severely impacted even with my spirit body? That little bastard! How did he learn to fly the aircraft so well in such a short time? This doesn''t make sense!"


    Old Demon Scourge stared blankly at Old Demon Nightmare. "Your body..."


    Old Demon Nightmare waved a hand. "Don''t worry about me; I''m just not used to this. Besides, we''ve been around for so many years, even if something happens to us, I''m sure we''ll be more than willing to leave this world."


    Old Demon Scourge cackled, "That''s true. Our situation is better than that of the others, at least. Come to think of it, they''re about to awaken soon, right? I''m really starting to feel sorry for those kids."


    After completing a smooth landing, Tang Wulin jumped down from the plane, and was greeted by the sight of Old Demon Nightmare standing not too far ahead of him.


    "Who let you come down? Keep flying, and only come down after I say so." Old Demon Nightmare waved a hand toward Tang Wulin as if he were swatting away a fly.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t had enough of flying anyway, so he was more than happy to oblige.


    Thus, in his own mind, Tang Wulin practiced for an entire month until the Skyglide 17 aircraft truly felt as if it were a part of his body.


    "Alright, that should be enough. You can go and steal the aircraft today." Old Demon Nightmare finally allowed the exhausted Tang Wulin to disembark from the aircraft. He then patted the top of Tang Wulin''s head, and the latter immediately fell unconscious.


    When he woke up again, Tang Wulin was shocked to discover that he was feeling completely reinvigorated and in top condition. He was still situated beside the aircraft with Old Demon Nightmare by his side.


    Old Demon Nightmare sat down onto the pilot''s seat, so Tang Wulin naturally got onto the co-pilot''s seat.


    Old Demon Nightmare said, "I''m going to be dropping you out of the plane later, so you won''t need to wear your seatbelt. The rest will be up to you. I''m going to give you three days; if you don''t get an aircraft back here during that time, I''m going to release the mist, understood?"


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied with his head lowered as if he''d already been tortured into submission.


    On this occasion, Old Demon Nightmare flew the aircraft in a stable manner, and it quickly reached its top speed, climbing to an altitude of over 10,000 meters.


    Without a canopy, the Skyglide 17 aircraft was trembling violently from the fierce buffeting winds, and the extremely low temperatures were also rapidly sapping away Tang Wulin''s energy.


    All of a sudden, the communication device in the plane suddenly sounded, "This is the Northsea Legion; lower your altitude right away or prepare to be struck down."


    Old Demon Nightmare chuckled before suddenly completing a barrel roll with the aircraft, then sending it plummeting straight downward. Tang Wulin wasn''t wearing a seatbelt, so he was almost thrown out of the plane, and he hurriedly grabbed onto the handle.


    "Let go, I''ll send you down there!" The Skyglide 17 aircraft abruptly shuddered in mid-air before completing another barrel roll, and before Tang Wulin had a chance to even react, an immense force tugged against his arm, hurling him out of the aircraft like a piece of garbage.


    The entire world began to spin, and the first thought that sprang into Tang Wulin''s mind was that he wasn''t carrying a parachute, nor did he have friends with flying abilities to help him.


    His body was plummeting rapidly, and he was hurtling toward the ground like a cannonball.


    After flying for so many days, Tang Wulin had already developed a sense of direction in mid-air. At the very least, he knew which direction the sky was in, and which direction land was situated.


    After adjusting his body, he immediately calmed down. Bluesilver Emperor vines quickly erupted from within his body, intertwining above his head to form a massive net that slowly tightened to form a makeshift parachute.

 Chapter 823: Mid-air Hijacking

    Tang Wulin''s downward velocity gradually began to slow, and a faint smile appeared on his face.


    Does he really think that I''d be powerless in this situation? I''ve already devised a strategy well in advance!


    The versatility of his Bluesilver Emperor really shone through in times like these. If this were still his Bluesilver Grass, then it naturally wouldn''t be able to withstand such a strong impact. However, he now possessed Bluesilver Emperor vines, and with the enhancement of his Bluesilver Overlord Transformation, it was very easy for those vines to support his weight.


    However, a smile had only just appeared on his face before his expression abruptly stiffened as a pair of Skyglide 17 aircrafts had just flown past him.


    The Northsea Legion reacted way too quickly!


    The two aircrafts swerved around, and when they appeared before Tang Wulin again, they had slowed down significantly. He was then greeted by the sight of a massive net being blasted toward his body.


    It was mid-air detainment all over again.


    This was the second time he''d faced mid-air detainment, and on the previous occasion, he''d used his Tyrant Dragon to foil the Northsea Legion''s detainment efforts. However, that was clearly not applicable in this situation.


    He was situated in the air above a region of the ocean that was close to the Northsea Legion base, and if he were to fall down to the ground here, he would be captured right away.


    However, as opposed to being alarmed by the mid-air detainment nets, Tang Wulin was quite elated to see them instead. His body was quickly swept up by the net, and the torture that he''d suffered at the hands of Old Demon Nightmare proved to be very beneficial in this situation as he was able to at least avoid being knocked out by the sudden impact.


    A powerful electric current ran through the detainment net, and Tang Wulin''s body immediately became numb. His suit of battle armor appeared of its own accord to protect him. Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly as he swept both hands through the air, and two Bluesilver Emperor vines surged upward before wrapping themselves around the tail of one of the aircrafts.


    The pilots of the Northsea Legion clearly didn''t envision this to be a problem. Capturing parachuting invaders in mid-air was one of the simplest tasks for them. Generally, as soon as the invader was struck by the net, they would be knocked out by the impact, and even if they managed to remain conscious through this process, the subsequent electric current would definitely knock them out.


    As long as they weren''t capturing two-word battle armor masters or beings more powerful than that, mid-air detainments were always very smooth and simple. Unfortunately, they were coming up against Tang Wulin, whose body was definitely no less powerful than that of a two-word battle armor master.


    Tang Wulin quickly climbed onto the aircraft using his Bluesilver Emperor vine as a rope. At this point, this Skyglide 17 aircraft was already making its way back to the base. Tang Wulin slowly approached the cockpit, and the pilot was flying the aircraft along in a smooth manner when he was suddenly struck by the feeling that a shadow had appeared overhead. Just as he was feeling rather perplexed by this, he suddenly heard a tapping sound.


    He reflexively looked up to find Tang Wulin laying sprawled out above the canopy of the cockpit, waving his hand at him. He seemed to be gesturing for the pilot to get out.


    The pilot was greatly alarmed, but to his credit, he reacted very quickly, instantly initiating a barrel roll maneuver with his aircraft.


    However, right at this moment, a loud shattering sound rang out, and a pair of shimmering golden claws had broken through the reinforced glass canopy above him. In the next instant, Tang Wulin squeezed his way into the cockpit before immediately pressing the eject button.


    "Goodbye!" The pilot was ejected out of the aircraft while it was still in the process of completing its barrel roll. The pilot would definitely have a parachute, so there was no need to worry about him. Using his sharp golden dragon claws, Tang Wulin was able to firmly stabilize himself within the tumbling aircraft. Immediately thereafter, a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines rapidly shot forth before wrapping themselves around the aircraft, temporarily sealing the cockpit.


    Tang Wulin grabbed onto his own Bluesilver Emperor vines and clambered onto the pilot''s seat before pressing a sequence of buttons in an extremely well-rehearsed manner.


    At this moment, a siren was blaring within the Skyglide 17 Aircraft, and the first thing that Tang Wulin did was cut off his communication with the control tower. He then grabbed onto the control shaft and righted the plane in an expert manner.


    "Whoosh!" Another Skyglide 17 aircraft quickly whizzed past him. It was clearly the other aircraft that had also been sent out to detain him. The aircraft quickly flew over before releasing its mid-air detainment net, aiming to ensnare the entire aircraft that Tang Wulin was piloting.


    However, he certainly wasn''t going to allow himself to be captured! He pushed the control shaft down, and the aircraft swerved downward to evade the massive net with ease. Immediately thereafter, flames erupted from the turbojet propeller as the aircraft was launched through the air, bypassing the other aircraft and speeding directly toward the demonic island.


    The other aircraft clearly wasn''t willing to let him go, and due to the fact that Tang Wulin had cut off all communication, a string of cannon blasts rang out as the pilot decided to take him down by force.


    Tang Wulin remained completely unflustered as his hands flew over the control panel, guiding their aircraft to complete a series of evasive maneuvers.


    Unbeknownst to him, the skill that he''d just executed was known as the Bat Maneuver.


    Bats were able to complete all types of agile evasive maneuvers through the use of their supersonic sensory waves, and its evasive maneuvers were also among the most unpredictable in the animal kingdom. All of the attacks coming from behind completely missed their target, and Tang Wulin suddenly swerved the aircraft around before suddenly executing a somersault, carving out a perfect trajectory in the air. When it reappeared, it was already behind the other aircraft.


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily, but decided against attacking the other aircraft in the end. Instead, he abruptly accelerated and flew down toward the sea.


    The pilot of the other aircraft was naturally quite alarmed that the enemy had appeared behind him, and he hurriedly initiated a series of evasive maneuvers, thinking that he was under threat. However, when he realized that Tang Wulin''s aircraft was flying away from him, it was already too late for him to catch up.


    For a Skyglide 17 aircraft flying at full speed, 30 kilometers could be covered in the blink of an eye. Light flashed, and the aircraft that Tang Wulin was piloting had already vanished into the invisible barrier around the demonic island.


    "Woohoo!" Tang Wulin let loose a cry of elation in the convertible aircraft as he pumped his fists. Under his control, the aircraft made a smooth landing, and at this point, Old Demon Nightmare had only just returned not long ago.


    A peculiar look flashed through Old Demon Nightmare''s eyes as he looked at the elated Tang Wulin.


    "You look like you''re really pleased with yourself." Old Demon Nightmare appraised Tang Wulin with an indifferent expression.


    Tang Wulin''s smile faded, and he looked at Old Demon Nightmare in a wary manner as he said, "I did what you asked and stole another plane for you; you''re going to release my friends now, right?"


    Old Demon Nightmare chuckled, "Release them? When did I promise to release them? Why don''t you take a look at their current situation."


    He waved his right hand through the air as he spoke and conjured up an image that Tang Wulin had already seen once before.


    However, on this occasion, clouds of pink mist had already inundated all three of the caves.


    "You..." Tang Wulin was absolutely horrified, and all of his excitement and elation vanished in a flash.


    A sinister smile appeared on Old Demon Nightmare''s face. "Whoops, I accidentally let the mist seep out. This is kind of troublesome, isn''t it?"


    Tang Wulin stepped forward and immediately swept his golden dragon claws toward Old Demon Nightmare with all his might. He had been tortured for so long and finally completed Old Demon Nightmare''s condition, yet he...


    Tang Wulin was borderline deranged right now.


    If his friends were to engage in those activities with one another...


    How could they live with themselves?!


    An illusionary light flashed, and Tang Wulin''s attack fell upon empty air.


    Old Demon Nightmare waved his right hand, and the pink mist in the three caves immediately abated before reverting back into their ball forms.

 Chapter 824: Swim There?

    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before finally deciding against attacking for a second time. He roared with fury, "What do you want?"


    Old Demon Nightmare shrugged in response. "I don''t want anything; I just don''t like seeing you so happy. Remember that I''m a demon, and demons only like to see people suffer. If you show me that happy face again, I''ll show you what it means for joy to breed sorrow."


    Tang Wulin''s breathing was very fast and heavy. He had never hated anyone more in his entire life, and he wanted nothing better than to tear this Old Demon Nightmare to shreds with his bare hands.


    Not only was he torturing his body, he was also torturing his heart.


    "What do I have to do for you to release my friends?" Tang Wulin snarled.


    A disdainful look appeared on Old Demon Nightmare''s face. "That''ll depend on your performance. Do you think I''ll let them go just because you''ve stolen a plane? Truth be told, I''ve been really looking forward to seeing what emotions they''d display after realizing that they''d mated with the wrong partners. I''ve been holding back my innermost urges for your sake, so you should really be thanking me. What kind of expression is that? You don''t look very grateful. How about you show me a smile? Otherwise, I''ll release the mist again."


    "You..." Tang Wulin was clenching his teeth so hard that it felt as if they were on the verge of shattering. He controlled his own emotions with all his might, and forced a smile onto his own face.


    Old Demon Nightmare made his way over to him before patting him on the shoulder. "See? Isn''t that much better? Alright, let''s begin the next segment. What should the next segment be? Let me think... It was clearly far too easy for you to steal an aircraft in the air, so why don''t you swim there this time? Swim over to the legion base and steal another plane. I''ll release your friends after you do that."


    Swim there? Tang Wulin''s pupils contracted drastically upon hearing this.


    What did that entail? It entailed that he would have to swim through black seawater that devoured all energy. After making it out of that region of the sea, he still had to swim through 30 kilometers of seawater infested by countless powerful sea soul beasts.


    The sea soul beasts in this region of the ocean were so powerful that the federation had deployed an entire legion to this coast, and built up so many powerful defensive barricades; could he really swim over to the other side?


    Old Demon Nightmare raised a hand, and a black crystal flew over to Tang Wulin.


    "This is my Nightmare Crystal. When you feel like you can''t go on any longer, inject your soul power into this thing, and you''ll instantly be teleported back here. The rest will be up to you, but don''t take too long because I might not be able to repress my urges for much longer, kukukuku!"


    Old Demon Nightmare vanished into thin air amid a string of sinister cackles.


    Tang Wulin held the Nightmare Crystal tightly in his hand, and his breathing began to accelerate.


    He didn''t fear hardships, and nor did he back down from challenges, but no matter how he looked at it, Old Demon Nightmare was clearly someone who didn''t keep promises.


    But what choice did he have? In the face of the threat being posed by Old Devil Nightmare, he had no choice but to do as he was told. Old Demon Nightmare was taking advantage of the most vulnerable part of his heart, and he had no choice but to do this for the sake of his friends.


    Tang Wulin knew how to swim, but it was far too difficult to pass through a stretch of the ocean that was infested with so many sea soul beasts. On top of that, on the other side of the ocean was the Northsea Legion base. He had no doubt whatsoever that he''d be bombarded by all types of soul weapons as soon as he stepped onto the shore.


    ¡­¡­


    Xu Lizhi was panting heavily, and all of his clothes were soaked with sweat once again. His mind was entirely filled with horror, and his body was spasming uncontrollably.


    "You''re a useless piece of trash! If I didn''t adore your chubby appearance so much, I would''ve sliced you up and eaten you already! I can tell that you''ve been hiding behind others your entire life, haven''t you? There''s always someone there to shield you from danger, so you can continue being the useless trash that you are! You can''t even get past the 300 meters of the seawater of destruction; when will you ever get to the other side? It took you three whole months to barely get used to flying an aircraft, and you didn''t lose any weight throughout that entire process! Useless, useless, useless! You have zero redeeming traits! How are you ever going to steal a plane like this? I should go and find some other source of entertainment."


    Xu Lizhi panted heavily as an image appeared before his eyes. The image depicted two people in a cave, both of whom were completely inundated by pink mist.


    The two people in the image were Ye Xinglan and Xie Xie.


    Ye Xinglan''s body was beginning to writhe, and she seemed to have awakened from her unconscious state. Meanwhile, Xie Xie''s body also began to tremble as his hands tore at his clothes in a semi-conscious state.


    "No!" A roar that barely sounded human erupted out of Xu Lizhi''s mouth.


    He howled like a madman, "Don''t do it! Please don''t do it! I''ll swim to the other side even if it kills me! Please stop!"


    He fell to his knees in front of Old Demon Nightmare, and his body was trembling uncontrollably. He was truly on the verge of breaking. If it weren''t for the fact that there was still a glimmer of hope left, he really didn''t want to continue living any longer.


    "Crack!" A metal fence fell from above to separate Ye Xinglan and Xie Xie.


    "Go!" Old Demon Nightmare commanded in a cold voice.


    "Argh!" Xu Lizhi roared with fury, and his eyes were completely bloodshot as he sprinted toward the inky-black seawater. He flailed his arms with all his might, trying to get to the blue seawater as fast as he could while his energy was being rapidly sapped away.


    In that instant, an astonishing burst of power erupted from his rotund frame as he tapped into all of his latent potential. The seawater parted before him, and his body was becoming more and more feeble, but adrenalin was pumping through his veins. If he couldn''t make it to the other side, then Xinglan was going to be...


    Just the mere thought spurred him on, and his soul power circulated within his body at an unprecedented speed as he swam like a deranged man.


    Old Demon Nightmare stood on the shore with an evil smile on his face. The image depicting Ye Xinglan and Xie Xie vanished into nothingness, and at this point, Xu Lizhi had already made it out of the black region of the sea.


    However, one sea soul beast after another quickly began to appear before him.


    Xu Lizhi continued to flail his arms like a madman, unleashing his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon and Mysterious Jade Hands to create a series of vortexes in the seawater. One sea soul beast after another was torn apart as he swam onward with all his might. A series of wounds were being inflicted onto his body during the process, but he was so pumped with adrenaline that he didn''t even notice.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin lay spread-eagled on the shore, not wanting to move even a single muscle. He felt as if his entire body had been torn apart. He could still clearly recall the instant when the giant demonic fish''s sharp teeth had pierced through his skin.


    Even his golden dragon scales had been unable to protect him, and the Nightmare Crystal and brought him back just in the nick of time, but he was completely exhausted.


    He was able to rely on his own wealth of soul power and the versatility of his Bluesilver Emperor vines to make it out of the sea of destruction, but even though the blue sea beyond that was abundant with life force energy, it was an even more terrifying place.


    There was not a single sea soul beast there that was younger than 100 years old as all of them had most likely become snacks for the more powerful sea soul beasts already.


    All of the sea soul beasts were so fearsome, and they hunted in schools. On land, he could use his Golden Dragon King bloodline aura to intimidate all soul beasts, but that effect was greatly hampered in the sea. Tang Wulin had already done everything that he could, but he was only able to swim for 500 meters before being completely overwhelmed.


    There was simply no end to the number of sea soul beasts in that region of the ocean, and he couldn''t see any hope. He''d already tried to slaughter them with all his might, but there were always more sea soul beasts waiting for him, and each one was more powerful than the previous one.


    I can''t do it! I may not even be able to swim to the other side after becoming a Titled Douluo. Tang Wulin was starting to become quite dejected. However, whenever these negative thoughts began to get the better of him, he would think about his friends. If he couldn''t make it to the other side, then his friends would...


    With that in mind, his heart jolted violently, and he reflexively sat up.


    A figure made his way over to Tang Wulin from afar before taking a seat in front of him.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon seeing this man as he wasn''t Old Demon Nightmare, nor was he any of his friends. After being here for so long, it was only the second time that he''d encountered this man.


    "Senior!"


    Old Demon Scourge still wore his signature benevolent smile, and he said, "I''ve heard about everything you''ve been through; Nightmare has truly gone too far!"


    A sympathetic look appeared on his face as he spoke.

 Chapter 825: Absorbing the Aura of Destruction

    A glimmer of hope appeared in Tang Wulin''s heart at the sight of the sympathetic look in the old man''s eyes. "Senior, please help me; please help us. I can''t take much more of this!"


    Old Demon Scourge sighed, "I''m sorry, but I can''t do anything to help you. Old Demon Nightmare is too powerful; I''m no match for him. I can only sneak over to visit you while he''s resting. What is he making you do that''s put you in so much pain?"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly gave Old Demon Scourge a brief account of the mission that he''d been given. After hearing his recount, a wry smile appeared on Old Demon Scourge''s face. "As expected, he assigned you a mission that''s impossible to complete. Even three-word battle armor masters wouldn''t be able to swim through this region of the sea, let alone a one-word battle armor master like you; there are 100,000-year-old soul beasts in this region of the ocean!"


    Tang Wulin was even more disheartened upon hearing this. "Then what should I do?"


    Old Demon Scourge replied, "Nightmare has always been an extremely impatient man with an unstable personality. The longer you go without completing his mission, the more danger your friends will be in. I have no way of helping you rescue them, but I have an idea that could help you swim to the other side. It''s just that..."


    "What is it? Please tell me, Senior," Tang Wulin hurriedly asked as if the old man were his final hope.


    Old Demon Scourge sighed, and said, "This is a very dangerous method, and it''ll be very taxing on your body. Are you sure you want me to tell you? Let me warn you; if you choose to take this path, even the slightest lapse could wipe you completely out of existence!"


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. "I can tell that Old Demon Nightmare only wants to torture, and he never intended to let us leave from the very beginning. We''re going to die here anyway if I don''t do anything. I can''t just stand by and watch my friends being tortured, so please teach me, Senior."


    Old Demon Scourge nodded, and said, "Alright then. We''ve met twice already, so we must have some kind of affinity with one another. Let me give you a potentially viable course of action. You see that fragment of destruction at the center of the demonic island? That thing contains extremely fearsome destructive power. However, what''s really strange is that when it fell into the human world, it also contained powerful life force energy, which is the polar opposite of destructive energy. This is why the destructive energy of the fragment has been limited to this scope, and also why this oasis of sorts exists on a completely dead island. It''s exactly because of the presence of these fragments of destruction that this cluster of islands came to be.


    "All of the nearby sea soul beasts were actually attracted here by the life force energy that came with the fragments of destruction. To put it simply, sea soul beasts are very fond of rich life force energy, just like you are. Similarly, they''re also very fearful of destructive energy. If you want to swim to the other side, the only way you''ll be able to accomplish that is by getting the aura of the fragment of destruction to rub off on you. After sensing that aura, the sea soul beasts will be scrambling to get away from you, and without them in your way, I''m sure you''ll be able to swim for 30 kilometers with ease."


    ¡­¡­


    "But how do I get the energy from the fragment of destruction to rub off on me?" Xie Xie asked as he appraised Old Demon Scourge with a hopeful expression.


    A wry smile appeared on Old Demon Scourge''s face. "The process will be extremely painful and dangerous. If your will isn''t strong enough, the destructive aura will devour your soul, then engulf your body. Do you think you have the mental fortitude for this?"


    Xie Xie immediately nodded without any hesitation. "I do, I can do this. I can do anything for Yuanen and everyone else, so please teach me the way, Senior."


    Old Demon Scourge sighed, "Alright then, but mentally prepare yourself because this process is going to be very painful."


    ¡­¡­


    Indeed, it was extremely painful. Tang Wulin slowly approached the fragment of destruction, and even from a kilometer away, he was still struck by a sense of excruciating pain.


    He was holding a purple crystal in his hand that was emitting bursts of strange energy fluctuations that just barely nullified or filtered out some of the destructive energy''s terrifying aura.


    Even so, after being filtered, the destructive energy only surged toward him as thinner streams.


    This kind of agony was not something that one could withstand just by biting the bullet; it was as if his body were being torn apart, then put back together over and over again.


    Every single feeling was crystal clear. Tang Wulin felt as if he could feel every single cell in his body being destroyed before being put back together again, and there were no words that could describe this pain. Even with Tang Wulin''s superhuman mental fortitude, he still couldn''t help but incessantly howl in agony.


    Every time his body was broken down and rearranged, a faint trace of purplish-black color would stain his body. Tang Wulin knew that this had to be the destructive aura that Old Demon Scourge had been referring to.


    Within a cave.


    Old Demon Nightmare pursed his lips. "You''re clearly putting them through even more horrendous torture than I am, but you''re playing the good guy while I have to be on the receiving end of all of their hatred. You really are a sly old bastard!"


    Old Demon Scourge chuckled, "That''s the difference between us; you''re destined to be a demon forever, but I still have the potential to become a saint."


    "Piss off! Some bullsh*t saint you are! Those Destruction Crystals you gave them raise their sensory acuity by more than tenfold! Do you think they''ll still thank you if they knew about that?"


    Old Demon Scourge wore a completely justified expression. "I''m doing this for their sake. Only with increased sensory acuity can they accurately gauge the changes in their body, thereby telling them where their limits lie. If I had given them something to lessen their pain, they wouldn''t know where their limits are, and if they stray too far, their bodies could break down. It truly astonished me how kind-hearted I am."


    "Bullsh*t! You just want them to suffer even more pain! Without those crystals, they should be able to absorb enough destructive aura in about a month, but if they''re carrying those things, they may not be able to absorb enough after three months!"


    Old Demon Scourge countered, "Don''t make it sound like you''re not enjoying this as well!"


    ......


    It was truly working!


    After entering the black sea of destruction again, Tang Wulin immediately sensed the changes that had taken place in his body; the rate at which his energy was being devoured had clearly slowed down. He felt as if he''d combined as one with the sea of destruction around him, as if he were a part of this region of the sea.


    Of course, this sensation only lingered for a very short time. His energy was still being devoured, just at a slower rate compared to in the past.


    He swam out of the sea of destruction again and entered the region of the sea that was infested with sea soul beasts. He discovered that some of the weaker sea soul beasts didn''t even dare to approach him now. Only the sea soul beasts that were over 1,000 years old dared to attack him.


    Furthermore, due to the fact that less soul power had been expended as he''d swam through the sea of destruction, he was able to last longer here as well. On this occasion, he swam for a full kilometer before finally being overwhelmed.


    He returned to the island using the Nightmare Crystal, and his body was still extremely feeble, but at the very least, he''d found an opportunity for himself to swim further through the sea.


    The last thing he wanted to do was return to the area near the fragment of destruction, but he had no choice.


    If he could swim to the other side, there was a chance that he''d be able to rescue his friends from this nightmarish place. Only by becoming more powerful could he rescue everyone.


    With that thought spurring him on, Tang Wulin strengthened his resolve again as he arrived close to the fragment of destruction with his Destruction Crystal. He carefully approached the fragment of destruction one step at a time, experiencing the agony of having his body torn apart before being reassembled over and over again.


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline surged violently during this process, but it didn''t seem to change much. The purplish-black color on his body was becoming more and more pronounced as he approached the fragment of destruction.


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 826: Xu Lizhis Determination

    "Argh!" Yue Zhengyu howled with agony as he fell to one knee. He had lost count of how many times he''d been overwhelmed by the oncoming destructive aura.


    He possessed holy power, which naturally repulsed destructive aura, and as a result, he experienced the most pain out of anyone when approaching the fragment of destruction.


    Stand up! I have to stand up! I can''t let Xiaoyan...


    Yue Zhengyu gritted his teeth tightly and struggled to his feet while panting heavily. The agony he was experiencing made him cry out once again, but his eyes were as determined as ever.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin sat onto the ground and slowly absorbed the destructive aura in the air. He had already lost count of how many days had passed. In this process of constant extreme agony, he had no spare mental capacity to notice passing days. He could only do his best to continue onward.


    The rich life force energy on the demonic island was the best form of sustenance for his body, so he didn''t need to eat here; he could survive solely on absorbing the life force energy here every day.


    Light flickered from the fragment of destruction, and powerful destructive aura surged incessantly around Tang Wulin''s body. Following these past few days of horrendous torture, he gradually discovered that all of his abilities seemed to have incorporated this destructive aura, and all of his soul skills seemed to have become more destructive.


    Even his Golden Dragon King bloodline seemed to have been stained by wisps of blackish-purple. The Golden Dragon King bloodline didn''t reject this destructive energy. Instead, the latter was slowly being absorbed.


    Tang Wulin was powerful enough to break the ninth Golden Dragon King seal long ago, but he refrained from doing so as Old Tang had told him very early on that the second half of the 18 seals were going to be the most painful to break. After breaking this ninth seal, he''d have to face the final nine seals very soon, and he didn''t know how that was going to play out.


    However, during the process of absorbing this destructive energy every day, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that cracks had begun to appear on his ninth seal, and those cracks were continuing to elongate and widen. It was becoming more and more difficult for him to control the power of the seal, so he had no choice but to slow down a little in his advance.


    He had to fortify the seal so that it didn''t forcibly break open while he was absorbing destructive energy as that could result in potentially catastrophic consequences.


    ¡­¡­


    Absorb, absorb, absorb!


    Xu Lizhi took one step after another toward the fragment of destruction. His footsteps were extremely determined, just like the look in his eyes.


    His body gradually became transparent as he was broken down before being reassembled. Even in the face of this terrifying agony, he didn''t utter a single sound.


    He didn''t know how to fight; all he knew was how to make steamed buns. In the face of powerful enemies, all he could do is hide behind his friends and yell "don''t judge a bun by its folds".


    Ye Xinglan always had to protect him with her sword, and he was always so content when he saw the dazzling starlight blossoming from her sword.


    However, Old Demon Nightmare reminded him over and over again that he was useless trash.


    Old Demon Nightmare was right! He WAS useless trash! As a man, he was constantly hiding behind the woman he loved. She was facing one powerful enemy after another, but he could only hide behind her and make steamed buns; how pitiful was that?


    He also envisioned that he''d be able to stand in front of Ye Xinglan to protect her from all enemies and hardships, but he simply couldn''t do it, nor had he ever been able to do this.


    He was very weak, and his practical combat prowess was atrocious. He could only fight enemies at close quarters using some Tang Sect techniques.


    He didn''t want to continue being a burden to everyone.


    Not long ago, after he''d entered the sea once again, he''d managed to use his soul power, which had been infused with destructive energy, to smash a sea soul beast into pieces. In that instant, Xu Lizhi felt as if he''d finally found an opportunity. The destructive aura was like a weapon. Absorbing it was an extremely excruciating process, but its power finally bestowed upon him the ability to fight.


    This was the ability that he''d been searching for all along!


    I will become stronger! I will protect Sister Xinglan! I no longer want to be a useless piece of trash; I want to be useful. No matter how much this hurts, I can''t stop!


    Xu Lizhi took one determined step after another while powerful destructive aura buffeted his body over and over again. His rotund body had almost turned entirely purplish-black in color at this point.


    In order to better absorb the destructive aura, he didn''t even use his soul power to resist it. Instead, he willingly opened his body to it and even actively absorbed it.


    This would undoubtedly exacerbate the degree to which his body was being destroyed, but he didn''t care about that. All he cared about was whether he could become more powerful through this process, and whether he would attain enough power to protect those that he loved.


    Finally, he was unable to advance any further. His body had reached its limit, and if he were to take even a single step forward from here, his soul would be destroyed, and he would be erased from existence.


    At this moment, Xu Lizhi stopped and began to chant an incantation while soul rings appeared beneath his feet.


    "Don''t judge a bun by its folds, I have a crystal bun!"


    A translucent crystal bun appeared in his hand, and he jammed it into his mouth without any hesitation.


    A suit of crystalline armor appeared over his entire body. However, through the transparent crystalline layer, it could still be seen that his body was constantly being broken down and reconstructed.


    In the next instant, a burst of destructive power crashed toward him, and Xu Lizhi borrowed its power to hurtle back in retreat before sitting on the ground to meditate in a cross-legged manner.


    He hadn''t eaten the crystal bun to bolster his defenses. Instead, he was using the layer of crystalline armor to trap the destructive aura that had entered his body so he could better absorb it.


    This was because during this process, he discovered that as soon as he left this place, the destructive aura in his body would quickly dissipate, and only a small portion of it would remain.


    However, after consuming the crystal bun, everything was different; he would be able to keep the vast majority of the destructive aura that he''d absorbed in his body.


    Of course, doing this would inevitably afflict him with constant agony that was countless times more intense than before. However, he was more determined than anyone as he needed this power more than everyone else.


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    "I really am very surprised!" Old Demon Nightmare mused with furrowed brows.


    "Indeed!" Old Demon Scourge also wore a surprised look on his face.


    "Setting aside everything else, these kids have far more mental fortitude than we''d imagined, especially that fat kid. It''s extraordinary to think that a food system Soul Master could have such a strong will. It appears that I underestimated him. What''s even more surprising to me is that he''s the one who''s gotten the closest to the fragment of destruction among all seven of them!"


    Old Demon Scourge chuckled, "Isn''t that even better for us? The sight of them being tormented truly brings joy to my heart."


    "Why didn''t you wake me up when we''ve got these great new toys!" A deep voice suddenly sounded.


    Old Demon Nightmare and Old Demon Scourge both turned around, and they were greeted by the sight of an extremely tall and broad figure.


    "Gluttony!" both of them exclaimed in unison.


    The one who had spoken just now was also an old man. However, his hair was yellow instead of white, making it look as if he had a head of limp straw around his large bald spot.


    His burly figure was slightly hunched over, and his face was as old as it was hideous. What was even more unsettling was his huge mouth. When he opened it to speak, his massive mouth could spread open to behind his ears.


    "How could you bastards enjoy this alone?!" Old Demon Gluttony exclaimed in an indignant manner, "I don''t care what you say; they''re mine next! I have to show them the joy of gluttony!"


    Old Demon Nightmare and Old Demon Scourge''s brows furrowed in unison. "Alright, we''ll let you have some fun with them next, but you have to wait until they swim to the other side first."


    ¡­¡­


    "Slap!" Tang Wulin''s hand fell into the shallow seawater as he clawed his fingers into the sand down below. He literally had to drag himself onto the shore, and as he lay on the ground, he didn''t want to move ever again.


    Purplish-black energy was revolving around his body, and his eyes were tightly shut. His face was also as pale as a ghost, but he''d finally made it.


    After absorbing destructive aura on countless occasions, he was finally able to keep the sea souls beasts from attacking him, and swam to the other side.


    However, during this process, he was still attacked by an extremely powerful sea soul beast. The beast had even swallowed him into its stomach already, and it only spat him out because his destructive aura was too abhorrent to it.

 Chapter 827: Going Underground

    To say that this process had been difficult would be the understatement of the century, but he''d finally made it to the other side.


    He laid on the beach as the waves washed over his body, and a faint smile appeared on his face.


    After suffering through so much hardship, had he finally succeeded?


    He laid completely still, concealing his soul power in its entirety while burrowing into the sand like a sea turtle. At the same time, he was regulating his own temperature so he wouldn''t be discovered by the Northsea Legion''s thermal imaging radars.


    He had to rest. At the very least, he was completely unable to move right now.


    His breathing gradually became more even as he adjusted his blood essence fluctuations.


    This was a rare moment of peace for him after arriving at the demonic island, and at this point, Tang Wulin could completely understand why this experience had been so traumatizing to Elder Cai and the others. This demonic island really was under the control of demons! Furthermore, according to what Old Demon Nightmare had said, the current situation was different, so it was yet to be seen whether they could make it off the island alive.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know exactly how much time had passed, but he deduced that he should''ve been on the island for about three months. During these three months, he''d suffered torture worse than death. If this were the norm for military training, then what was going to await them in the next 21 months?


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh as he relaxed his body and slowly recovered his energy. During these past three months, he hadn''t even eaten a single bite of food. Even if he could steal another aircraft here, would Old Demon Nightmare be willing to release his friends? It clearly wasn''t going to be that easy.


    So be it. Whatever happens from now on, all I can do is try and ensure the safety of my friends. As long as I can do that, there''s hope.


    At the very least, he could use the destructive aura in his body to cross this region of the sea. On this occasion, stealing an aircraft wasn''t his sole objective. More importantly, he had to find a way back. If he ever got the chance to rescue his friends, he had to be able to lead them back to the federation.


    Tang Wulin had considered requesting assistance from the academy, but he knew that this was not a feasible course of action. He didn''t know how the academy would react to his plea for help when they''d been sent here for military training by the academy in the first place, and with Old Demon Nightmare''s abilities, he would definitely find out. Tang Wulin didn''t dare to take this gamble as the consequences of failure were far too severe for him to handle! He didn''t want to see his friends destroying themselves from the inside.


    Only after resting for two hours did Tang Wulin''s condition gradually begin to improve. This place wasn''t the demonic island, after all, and the life force energy wasn''t anywhere near as abundant here. As such, after recovering most of his energy, the first feeling that he was struck by was an intense pang of hunger.


    If he had known that he''d be this hungry, he would''ve caught a sea soul beast. Even some sashimi right now would be better than nothing!


    He raised his head slightly to look up at the city wall in the distance. Searchlights were scouring the shore atop the fortress-like walls, and night had only just fallen, so he was able to use those lights to see the fearsome weapons that lined those walls.


    There was no doubt in Tang Wulin''s mind that even if a 100,000-year-old sea soul beast were to try and attack the city, it would be torn to shreds in a short time. The soul technology of the human race had become far too powerful for soul beasts to be able to resist.


    It was also due to the rapid advancements in soul technology that Soul Masters weren''t as revered as they once were.


    There was no way that he could try and cross over the city wall, so what about going underground?


    Prior to coming here, Tang Wulin had already devised a plan. He had a pair of powerful golden dragon claws that possessed tearing and crushing special effects, so digging a hole was a simple task for him. However, with the advancement of soul technology, it was most likely the case that there was also defensive and sensory equipment underground as well. If he were to be discovered underground, that could be an even worse situation than if he were to be caught on land.


    However, he had to give it a try. At the very least, this was a potentially viable option, whereas directly charging the city wall would simply be completely suicidal.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin slowly released his golden dragon claws to dig the sand beneath him away, thereby allowing his body to sink into the ground.


    It had to be said that the Mountain Dragon King''s torso bone helped him immensely in this endeavor. He didn''t know what caliber this soul bone was, but not only did it give him gravitational control abilities and drastically bolstered his defenses, it also gave him a very high degree of affinity with the earth element.


    Tang Wulin''s body slowly sank into the ground, and the aura of the Mountain Dragon King torso bone made the earth below him become a lot softer. Through the use of his sharp golden dragon claws, he was able to burrow deep into the ground very quickly.


    Oxygen deprivation inevitably became an issue here, but Tang Wulin''s immensely powerful physical constitution simply allowed him to ignore that. His Golden Dragon King bloodline circulated through his body, bestowing upon him immense power.


    10 minutes later, he had already passed through the sand layer and entered a layer of rocks. After getting to this layer, Tang Wulin began to speed up rather than slow down. This was because rocks couldn''t collapse like sand, so he didn''t have to use the power of his Mountain Dragon King torso bone to constantly fortify the areas that he burrowed through like he did with sand.


    This was not a tunnel that Tang Wulin was planning to use only once; he was hoping that his friends would also be able to escape through it someday, which was why he was very careful in the digging process. Instead of immediately directing the tunnel toward the Northsea Legion base, he was burrowing downward as far as he could. It was undoubtedly the case that the further down he went, the less chance he''d have of being discovered.


    An hour passed, and Tang Wulin had already burrowed over 100 meters deep into the ground. During this process, he encountered many problems, such as pockets of underground water. Whenever he encountered such obstacles, he''d have to travel horizontally and only resume burrowing downward after finding a place with no underground water.


    This was undoubtedly an arduous and painstaking process, but thankfully, he succeeded in the end.


    At this point, he was already very deep underground, the layer of rocks would surely act as an ideal smokescreen for him.


    Tang Wulin''s breathing was slightly short and sharp at this point. The air here was very thin as very little air could flow into the tunnel from up above. If he were a normal person, he would''ve perished from asphyxiation long ago, and even with his current physical constitution, he was still beginning to struggle a little.


    After roughly ascertaining the location that he was situated at, Tang Wulin began to dig horizontally. In the face of his golden dragon''s claws'' crushing and tearing special effects, rocks gave away like soft tofu. His powerful arms were definitely more effective than any excavator, and he was quickly traveling toward the Northsea Legion base.


    Generally speaking, the military had several types of underground sensory devices, the most important of which were seismographs.


    Any changes underground would result in irregular tremors, which would manifest themselves as irregular fluctuations on the seismograph, and that information would be immediately revealed to the people at the legion base. The more powerful the tremors were, the greater the fluctuations on the seismograph. A good seismograph could even detect changes underground from several dozens of kilometers away.


    However, seismographs were limited by the fact that they could only detect more severe tremors.


    Secondly, there were soul power detection devices that could search for suspicious beings underground by investigating the soul power fluctuations underground. Soul power detection devices could only work in an effective range of around 500 meters underground, but they were far more sensitive than seismographs; any soul power fluctuations that were even slightly stronger than normal would immediately be reported.


    These two types of devices coexisted alongside one another to effectively monitor the underground world.


    Cases like Tang Wulin''s, where no soul excavators or soul power were being used were extremely rare, and even Titled Douluos would struggle to replicate what he was doing, unless they were from the Body Sect. In reality, regardless of how advanced technology was, it was still unable to cater to all possibilities.

 Chapter 828: Infiltrating the Warehouse

    As such, as Tang Wulin burrowed through the earth, none of the Northsea Legion''s detection devices were able to discover him. On the seismographs, no abnormal tremors were being detected as one man''s activity was nowhere near enough to create tremors that would set off an alarm.


    Thus, Tang Wulin would rest for a while when he grew tired, and continue to dig after he recovered. Even he had lost track of how long he''d been digging for.


    During the process, he returned to the surface to rest on two occasions. He had also returned to the ocean to kill a sea soul beast, then chopped it up into sashimi using his golden dragon claws as he was unbearably hungry. After recovering some energy, he returned to the underground world to continue his excavation.


    "Ding!" A crisp clang suddenly rang out, and Tang Wulin immediately stopped what he was doing. The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end, and he hurriedly withdrew his aura.


    What was that?


    He didn''t dare to summon his Bluesilver Emperor soul rings to illuminate the tunnel, so he could only use his blood essence soul rings instead. Under the illumination of the golden soul rings, he was surprised to discover that a metal plate had stopped him in his tracks.


    Did this mean he''d already entered the base or was this a metal barrier that separated the base from the outside world?


    Tang Wulin gently pressed his palm flat against the metal board to sense the nature of its existence. He was already close to becoming a Saint Blacksmith, so he was extremely familiar with metals.


    He could generally ascertain the special properties of a type of metal simply by touching it and using his spiritual power to detect it.


    This was what he was doing right now, and he was able to quickly discern that this was a type of metal that wasn''t exactly uncommon, but was very resolute; it was a type of titanium alloy.


    There were no energy fluctuations emanating from it, which meant that this was just a plain alloy, rather than a large soul tool.


    This discovery came as quite a relief to Tang Wulin. If this were a soul tool, then he would be in some trouble. At the very least, he''d have to keep digging down until he could go around this metal wall. However, if it were just a normal metal wall, then that indicated that he was situated right outside the Northsea Legion base. Thus, he''d be able to enter this base after breaking through this wall.


    Tang Wulin''s heart rate accelerated slightly, and after a moment of contemplation, he extended a single finger. A dark golden blade of light slowly emerged from his fingertip, then pierced soundlessly into the metal wall before him.


    No titanium alloy could stand up against his Golden Dragon Dreadclaws. After piercing his claw into the metal, Tang Wulin slowly rotated his finger, quickly drilling out a small hole.


    All of a sudden, his finger plunged through to the other side without any further resistance, and he knew that he''d drilled through the wall.


    He silently withdrew his finger, and he was stunned to discover that this metal wall was over two feet thick.


    Such a thick titanium alloy wall naturally had ultra-powerful defensive properties, but it would''ve also been extraordinarily expensive to construct. The Northsea Legion certainly wasn''t sparing any expenses!


    A faint beam of light passed through the small hole that he''d just drilled out with his finger, and for some reason, he was almost moved to tears by the sight of that ray of light. He had finally seen light that belonged to the human world again! Ever since he''d set foot on the demonic island, he''d been living an inhuman life, and he was finally back in human civilizations.


    This was only a small hole, but that was all that was required for Tang Wulin''s Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power to enter the legion base.


    Much to his surprise and elation, he had stumbled upon a massive underground warehouse. The warehouse was filled with all types of soul weapons, most of which were soul missiles. It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin had unintentionally stumbled upon the Northsea Legion''s most important storage warehouse, and it was no wonder that such a thick titanium alloy wall had been erected to protect this place.


    The good thing about this warehouse was that there was no one in it, but at the same time, such an important warehouse had to have extremely sturdy defenses on the outside.


    What should he do?


    Regardless of what he did next, he had to enter the warehouse first. Even if worst came to worst, he could just go back the same way he''d come. He had to see if there was some way to make it out of this warehouse first.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin contemplated the situation momentarily before setting the exit at a dark corner situated to the north of a storage shelf. This kind of position was the most discrete.


    Using his Golden Dragon Dreadclaws, he quickly cut out a square piece of metal, and in order to make the opening as inconspicuous as possible, he only cut out an opening with side lengths of around a foot, and it was barely enough for his body to squirm through.


    Fresh air immediately filled Tang Wulin''s lungs, and it was such a glorious sensation that he almost moaned out loud. After squirming out of the opening, he sealed it with the square piece of metal that he''d just cut out, and no one would be able to discover that anything was amiss unless they were to closely inspect this area.


    All of a sudden, a sense of horror welled up in his heart, and his body stiffened as he hurriedly flattened himself against the wall.


    However, he quickly discovered where this sense of horror had stemmed from; it was originating from a shelf in front of him that had skull signs all around it. There was a series of soul bombs on that shelf, and Tang Wulin had learned a lot about these bombs at the academy. After all, these were the most fearsome weapons invented by the human race in at least the past 10,000 years.


    It was said that even a Limit Douluo wouldn''t dare to directly oppose the most powerful of soul bombs, and that alone was sufficient testament to the power of those weapons.


    From the size of these soul bombs and the symbols on their surfaces, it appeared that they were primarily between the fourth and sixth grades. These were already the most powerful soul missiles that a normal fighter aircraft could carry; missiles more powerful than that had to be carried by super mechas to ensure safety.


    Tang Wulin didn''t move from his position. Instead, he silently released his spiritual power to detect the situation in this warehouse.


    Through the reciprocation from his spiritual power, he quickly ascertained that this was a warehouse with an area of around three square kilometers, and that over 50% of the weapons in here were soul bombs. If all of them were to explode at once, the entire Northsea Legion base would most likely be razed to the ground.


    Aside from that, there were also some mechas here, all of which were only of the yellow grade.


    To put it more accurately, these warehouses stored a lot of powerful weapons, but not weapons of the highest caliber. At the very least, there weren''t soul bombs of the seventh grade or above, nor any mechas of a higher level.


    There were cameras in the warehouse, but only at the most important locations, which meant that Tang Wulin could avoid being discovered as long as he proceeded with caution, so there was a chance for him to make it out of this warehouse.


    His spiritual power was unable to exit the warehouse as its metal walls were simply too thick, so Tang Wulin had no idea what the situation was like outside.


    After committing all of the locations of the cameras to memory, Tang Wulin began to silently make his way through the warehouse. His top priority now was to get away from the exit in the wall. That way, even if he were to be discovered, the opening wouldn''t be found so easily, so he''d still have a chance to get away.


    The one thing that was in his favor was that there were definitely no weapons in this warehouse that would automatically attack intruders. Otherwise, if one of the soul bombs were set off, all of them would explode, and that would be a catastrophic disaster.


    Tang Wulin glanced around the warehouse to find that it was extremely well isolated, and he could sense that the temperature and humidity in this place were both being regulated to within a certain range. What should he do? He couldn''t get out of here as the outside of this warehouse had to be extremely heavily guarded. Even if he could smash his way out of the gate, he would be discovered right away.


    This was the Northsea Legion, and even though Tang Wulin was a one-word battle armor master, he wasn''t delusional enough to think that he could oppose the entire base with his own power alone.


    Just as he was contemplating whether he should return to the underground tunnel and dig another exit elsewhere, a string of electronic beeps rang out, and the heavy gate of the warehouse slowly opened.


    Was there someone coming?


    Tang Wulin hurriedly hid in a corner.


    As expected, after the gate opened, a few people walked in from outside.

 Chapter 829: Advisor Shen

    The one walking at the forefront of the group was a young woman in a Major military uniform. She had an exceptional figure, and even her military uniform couldn''t conceal her attractive curves. However, she wore an extremely cold and forbidding expression on her face.


    The soles of her leather boots clicked against the metal ground as she walked, and she asked in a cold voice, "Have you completed the tally yet? Are there any leads about the two fifth-grade soul bombs from last time?"


    The man walking by her side was a major as well, and he appeared to be somewhere between 30 and 40 years of age. He wore a slightly fawning smile on his face as he replied, "We''ve been investigating this matter, Advisor Shen, but we haven''t found any leads yet. We''ve also completed a tally of all of our soul bombs, and the figures are identical to what they were last time."


    Advisor Shen stopped and turned to look at him with a cold expression. "So what you''re saying is that those two fifth grade soul bombs really have gone missing. Do you know what that entails?"


    The male major''s expression changed slightly, and sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead as he said, "I do; I''ll be sure to find some leads as quickly as I can. We''ve already gone through all of the surveillance footage, but we were unable to find anything. We''re planning on installing more cameras in the warehouse so that there are no blind spots, so please put in a good word for me with the general. You know me; I would never steal from the base."


    Advisor Shen chuckled coldly, "I wouldn''t be so quick to rule you out from the list of suspects. In any case, I don''t care about all that; all I want are results, Major Chen. If you can''t find those two fifth grade soul bombs, even the general can''t save your skin. I''ll give you another three days; you know what''ll happen if you can''t find those soul bombs during that time."


    "Yes, yes, I''ll be sure to do my best." Major Chen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he heaved a dejected internal sigh.


    "Take me on a tour of the warehouse." Only then did Advisor Shen''s cold expression eased slightly, and she continued to survey the warehouse with Major Chen in accompaniment.


    This was a perfect unmissable opportunity!


    Tang Wulin pounced almost without any hesitation.


    There were only four soldiers accompanying the two majors, and it only took Tang Wulin an instant to knock them all out.


    Advisor Shen and Major Chen immediately responded and turned around, but at that point, there were already over 10 Bluesilver Emperor Vines rushing toward them.


    Major Chen let loose a cry of surprise as he attempted to reach for the soul pistol hanging from his waist, only to be bound tightly in a cocoon of Bluesilver Emperor vines. Meanwhile, Advisor Shen appeared to only be in her twenties, but she reacted extremely quickly. She immediately sprang back before four soul rings quickly emerged beneath her feet, and they consisted of two yellows and two purples.


    She was a four-ring Soul Ancestor!


    Her aura abruptly cooled, and the air temperature also plummeted. Countless snowflakes appeared in the air, hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin knew that he was already standing below one of the surveillance cameras, so he couldn''t afford to be delayed. Four golden soul rings appeared at the same time, and the third soul ring immediately lit up.


    A loud Golden Dragon Roar immediately made the entire warehouse tremor slightly, and Advisor Shen''s entire body shuddered violently. The four soul rings that had just appeared around her were abruptly shattered, and she stumbled as a wave of intense dizziness washed over her.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Roar was effective even against opponents of a higher soul power rank than himself, let alone this Advisor Shen, who possessed a far inferior cultivation rank.


    Tang Wulin appeared behind her in flash, giving her lower abdomen a brisk chop with his left hand while his right hand closed itself around her neck.


    Her soul power was instantly sealed as a result, and Tang Wulin threatened in a cold voice, "Don''t move or I''ll kill you!"


    Advisor Shen still hadn''t completely recovered from the effect of the Golden Dragon Roar, and the sense of dizziness she''d been afflicted by was intensified even further by the strong masculine aura surging toward her.


    After striking her dantian with his left hand, Tang Wulin wound his left arm around her slender waist. Her body was quite cool and particularly sensitive to temperature changes, so the scorching masculine aura emanating from Tang Wulin''s body made her body feel quite feeble and limp.


    Advisor Shen immediately realized that an enemy had infiltrated the legion base, but it was already too late; she was completely powerless and unable to resist.


    "Y, you won''t get away with this!" Shen Xing was filled with fury and shame. No man had even been in such close contact with her, and she didn''t even see what Tang Wulin looked like. She could only sense bursts of strong masculine energy emanating from his body, so he was most likely quite young.


    "We''ll see about that," Tang Wulin chuckled coldly as he quickly rushed out of the warehouse with Shen Xing held as hostage.


    At this point, loud sirens had already sounded. This warehouse was an extremely important location in the base, and the fact that it was being attacked was most definitely a dire emergency.


    Tang Wulin held Shen Xing''s body with one arm while removing the identification card hanging from her neck with his other hand.


    It was undoubtedly the case that she held quite a high position in the Northsea Legion as he was able to use her identification badge to pass through three electronic doors in a row.


    Tang Wulin knew that they were currently situated deep underground beneath the Northsea Legion base, so the first thing that he had to do was to get to the surface.


    "How do I get to the surface from here?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "I won''t tell you anything! Why don''t you kill me if you dare!" Shen Xing replied in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin chuckled coldly, "Kill you? Why would I do that? I''m sure you''re not afraid of death, but for a woman, death is far from the most terrifying thing that could happen."


    Tang Wulin waved his right hand as he spoke, and a cold sensation suddenly surged along Shen Xing''s right arm as the sleeve of her military uniform was torn to shreds.


    "Argh!" She let loose a loud scream as a strong sense of horror spread through her entire body.


    Tang Wulin''s sinister voice sounded beside her ear. "Do you know what I''m about to do now? I''m sure the entire Northsea Legion is looking at the footage from the security cameras right now; don''t you think we should put on a good show for them?"


    "You''re a bastard!" Tears flowed from her eyes in an uncontrollable manner.


    Tang Wulin raised his right golden dragon claw again. "Are you going to tell me or not? If you don''t, your entire top will be next."


    Was he really going to do that? The answer was obviously no. However, he was delivering a threat, so he had to make it convincing. After being abused by Old Demon Nightmare for so long, Tang Wulin discovered that his heart had become a lot harder, and it also became easier for him to find other people''s weaknesses.


    In the case of women, especially cold and proud women like Shen Xing, the most effective threat often wasn''t death. A woman like her definitely held her reputation in higher regard than her life.


    Of course, if Shen Xing continued to put up resistance, then Tang Wulin couldn''t do anything. It wasn''t like he could actually strip her. However, it was quite clear that Shen Xing''s mental fortitude wasn''t as resolute as it looked.


    "Turn right!" she screamed, and her body was already trembling uncontrollably.


    She couldn''t imagine what would become of her if her body were to be revealed in front of all of these cameras. She would go insane! That would truly be an experience worse than death. Not only would her reputation be completely tarnished, she would also be bringing shame to her entire family!


    Tang Wulin said in a pleased voice, "You should''ve complied from the very beginning. If I ask you something and you don''t answer next time, I won''t give you a chance to reconsider. Now that I think about it, you''re also wearing pants as well."


    "You bastard!" Shen Xing wanted nothing more than to tear the man behind her into pieces with her bare hands.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "There are a lot worse people than me out there."


    Sure enough, at the conclusion of the corridor to the right was an elevator. Tang Wulin swiped Shen Xing''s identification card, and the doors of the elevator immediately parted. He stepped into the elevator with Shen Xing in tow.


    He wasn''t worried that he''d be trapped as he had a hostage. Furthermore, this was definitely no ordinary advisor. After all, four-ring Soul Ancestor military advisors were certainly far from common, so she had to be quite an important figure.


    On top of that, he had acted extremely quickly, so the Northsea Legion wouldn''t have had much time to react.


    As things turned out, Tang Wulin''s judgment was spot on. During the ascension of the elevator, he encountered no impediments whatsoever. However, in the instant that the elevator doors opened again, several tens of soul laser guns had already been aimed at him.


    "Don''t move! Let go of Advisor Shen at once!" A deep voice sounded, and it had come from a brawny male military official standing at the forefront of the soldier''s up ahead. This man was a lieutenant colonel.


    Tang Wulin locked his left golden dragon claws around Shen Xing''s neck, and a calm smile appeared on his face. "Let me through or I''ll kill her."


    The lieutenant colonel harrumphed coldly, "Aren''t you a student of Shrek Academy? Would your academy allow you to kill innocent military officials? Who are you trying to bluff? Surrender right now or we''ll have to take you down by force!"


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin had already been recognized.

 Chapter 830: Duress

    Tang Wulin suddenly smiled. "Really now? Are you sure that I wouldn''t dare to kill her?" Powerful killing intent erupted from his body, and his eyes suddenly turned crimson in color as his left golden dragon claws began to converge.


    In that instant, Shen Xing felt as if all of the blood within her entire body had congealed. The terrifying aura erupting from Tang Wulin''s body struck her with a sense of asphyxiation, and this was the closest she''d ever been to death.


    She had always thought that she didn''t fear death, that she''d gladly lay down her life for the federation, but with the threat of death looming so prominently, she still couldn''t help but feel horrified at the prospect of being killed.


    The male military official''s expression also changed drastically as he yelled, "Stop! If you kill her, you''ll become an enemy of the entire federation, and we''ll kill you on the spot!"


    Tang Wulin suddenly burst into deranged laughter. "I''m constantly being tortured by those demons on the demonic island; I''ve lost the will to live long ago! It wouldn''t be bad to take someone down with me, especially a fine beauty like her. At least I won''t be lonely as I cross over to the other side!" He hoisted Shen Xing straight up from the ground with his right hand as he spoke, and her face immediately turned deathly pale.


    "Stop! Get back." The male military official was gritting his teeth so hard that he felt as if they were on the verge of shattering. With his steely personality, he''d definitely take down Tang Wulin at the expense of the hostage that he''d captured had the hostage been someone else, but Shen Xing wasn''t the same! Not only was she the woman of his dreams, even more importantly, she was the younger sister of the commander of the Northsea Legion, and the vice-commander of the entire Northeastern Military Region, Shen Yue.


    If something were to happen to Shen Xing, what would he tell Shen Yue?


    All of the gun-wielding soldiers slowly backed away, and Tang Wulin placed Shen Xing back onto the ground before walking forward with her as if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard.


    No one dared to attack him. Tang Wulin had already displayed his abilities, and even this lieutenant colonel may not be able to defeat him in battle. Even if they had a Titled Douluo on their side, there was no guarantee that they''d be able to kill a one-word battle armor master like Tang Wulin before he killed his hostage.


    Shen Xing was already gasping for air at this point. Just now, she had felt as if Death had come to collect her, and the unprecedented horror she''d experienced had turned her deathly pale.


    Tang Wulin continued onward, and he relied on his sensory of air currents to quickly find the exit without even being told where it was. Thus, he exited the legion base with countless soldiers surrounding him.


    The air outside was truly magnificent! Tang Wulin took a deep breath before appraising his surroundings.


    "Get me a plane. I want a Skyglide 17 aircraft, and don''t even think about playing any tricks. As long as you satisfy my condition, I can guarantee her safety. I know that there must be powerful beings in this base, but I''m confident in my ability to kill her before they can kill me. I''ll give you 10 minutes." Tang Wulin said in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin dragged Shen Xing over to a corner and sat down as he spoke. The fact that he was sitting in a corner eliminated the possibility of him being attacked from behind. He draped Shen Xing''s body over his own and used her as a meat shield.


    She was basically sitting on his leg, and her voluptuous backside was trembling incessantly from fear.


    A scorching sensation welled up in Tang Wulin''s lower abdomen, but he had to focus on surveying his surroundings in case any mishaps were to occur.


    No aircraft arrived as demanded, but more and more people began to arrive on the scene, surrounding the two of them in a virtually watertight formation.


    One soul car drove over after another.


    "It''s been five minutes!" Tang Wulin said in a cold voice.


    Right at this moment, a military vehicle screeched to a halt nearby, and Shen Yue jumped down from it in her military uniform.


    As soon as she did so, she was greeted by the sight of her own little sister being held hostage by Tang Wulin.


    She was in an extremely sorry state. One of her sleeves had disappeared, her pale face was filled with tear stains, and her body was trembling uncontrollably as she leaned against Tang Wulin''s body.


    Shen Yue''s heart was filled with rage, and she felt as if her lungs were about to explode from fury as she strode toward Tang Wulin.


    She had already been pushed to her wit''s end during these past few days. Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had already stolen a Skyglide 17 aircraft, yet another one was hijacked by Tang Wulin in mid-air. These incidents were like slaps to the face to the entire Northsea Legion.


    Never would she have thought that Tang Wulin would turn up again so soon, and that he''d kidnap her sister on this occasion!


    "Release her at once!" Shen Yue said in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted slightly at the sight of the epaulets on her shoulders. This was a lieutenant general! She was definitely the highest-ranking military official he¡¯d ever met. "Hello, General, where''s my aircraft? My patience is limited," Tang Wulin said in a calm voice.


    Shen Yue glowered at Tang Wulin, and roared, "I said release her!"


    Her roar was infused with a spiritual attack, and Tang Wulin''s vision went dark for an instant as a burst of invisible force surged toward him. He almost instinctively followed Shen Yue''s command, but that reflexive urge only appeared for a split second.


    Just as Shen Yue was about to rush toward them he suddenly tightened his grip around Shen Xing''s neck, swinging his right arm through the air at the same time. Another sharp scream rang out as Shen Xing''s other sleeve was also torn away.


    Shen Yue had already stepped forward, but she had no choice but to stop after seeing what Tang Wulin was doing.


    "If you want her to die, then I wouldn''t mind obliging!" Tang Wulin roared.


    Shen Yue clenched her fists tightly. "Release her, and I''ll be your hostage instead."


    Tang Wulin chuckled coldly, "Do you think I''m a naive little kid, General? It''s already quite extraordinary that someone as young as you are could become a lieutenant general, and that, coupled with your immense spiritual power clearly indicates that you''re far more powerful than I am. You want me to take you as my hostage? I may as well kill myself right now!"


    Shen Yue was truly perplexed; why was her spiritual attack ineffective against this brat? Her spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Abyss realm, so how could it have been ineffective?


    "There are three minutes left. With each passing minute, I''ll tear off an item of clothing from her body until the aircraft arrives. You can make your bets now about whether I''ll follow through with this." Tang Wulin undid Shen Xing''s first button as he spoke.


    At this moment Shen Xing finally broke. She screamed, "Save me, Sister!"


    It''s over!


    As soon as Shen Xing cried out, Shen Yue knew that they had lost. The situation had spiraled completely out of control.


    Sure enough, Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up, and he stood up with Shen Xing as a faint smile appeared on his face. "How lucky am I to have captured the lieutenant general''s sister? Don''t worry, General; as long as you satisfy my condition, I''ll let her go. You have two minutes left."


    "Get an aircraft here!" Shen Yue roared.


    She knew how detrimental issuing this order was to her. As the leader of the legion, she''d chosen to comply with an enemy''s threats for the sake of her little sister. If word of this were to spread, her reputation in the military would be irreparably tarnished.


    But what could she do? She only had one little sister; how could she just stand around and watch her little sister being shamed or even killed?


    In her eyes, Tang Wulin had already gone insane. He''d already done things that no student from Shrek Academy would do, and she knew from the records of the Northsea Legion that all Shrek Academy students who went to the demonic island would suffer from a spell of extreme mental instability.


    As such, Shen Yue didn''t dare to take a gamble here as her own little sister''s future was on the line.


    Soon, a Skyglide 17 aircraft entered Tang Wulin''s field of view.


    Tang Wulin smiled as he approached it with Shen Xing in tow.


    Shen Yue said in a thunderous voice, "The aircraft is already here, so release her now. I swear on my honor that I''ll let you fly this aircraft away."

 Chapter 831: All is Fair in Love and War

    Tang Wulin smiled in response. "Do you think I''m stupid or mentally disabled, General? You''re talking to me about honor at a time like this? Don''t be ridiculous. Put a parachute onto the aircraft, and I''ll take Advisor Shen on a ride with me. When I feel it''s safe to do so, I''ll eject her out of the aircraft; I''m sure you''ll be able to rescue her from there. That''s enough chit-chat; your only choice now is to trust me. Otherwise, I''ll take her down with me."


    Shen Xing had been reduced to a trembling sobbing mess, and her legs didn''t even feel like they belonged to her anymore, so he could only lean against Tang Wulin''s body for support.


    Shen Yue clenched her fists as she glowered at Tang Wulin. "You better pray that I don''t get my hands on you someday."


    Tang Wulin said in a calm voice, "I''ll worry about that if and when that happens. All I care about is what happens now."


    Shen Yue commanded, "Everyone, step aside and let them get onto the aircraft!"


    Thus, Tang Wulin stepped onto the aircraft with Shen Xing right before everyone''s eyes. Instead of immediately closing the aircraft canopy, he said in a calm manner, "Perhaps we can do this another way. I''ll get Advisor Shen to fly me back to the demonic island, and she can then fly the aircraft back here. That way, you won''t be losing anything. Oh, by the way, I heard that an autopilot system that can be controlled from a long distance away can be installed onto Skyglide 17 aircrafts; is there one on this aircraft? I don''t want the aircraft flying back on its own. If such a system is installed on this aircraft, then I''d advise you to remove it. Otherwise, you know what''ll happen."


    Shen Yue suddenly felt as if she were dealing with a veteran war criminal rather than a young man; everything that he did was so well-thought-out. If it weren''t for the fact that she wanted to tear him to pieces right now, she would be very impressed.


    "There are no autopilot systems installed on the aircraft," she said in a cold voice.


    "Good. If you really care about your sister, then I hope you didn''t lie to me." The plane''s ignition had already been turned on, and the canopy slowly closed to separate him and Shen Xing from the outside world.


    He used his Bluesilver Emperor vines to bind her to the co-pilot''s seat before pressing one button after another in an expert manner. The Skyglide 17 aircraft immediately began to accelerate before quickly taking off into the pitch-black night sky.


    Shen Xing looked on in shock and horror as Tang Wulin operated the aircraft in an extremely well-rehearsed manner. In the instant that the aircraft left the Northsea Legion base, tears began to flow from her eyes again.


    From the moment she left the legion base, her life was placed in the hands of this young man.


    Only now did she catch a clear glimpse of Tang Wulin''s appearance. From the side, she could see his long eyelashes, handsome face, and clear eyes.


    Judging from his outward appearance alone, she would''ve never guessed that he could be such a brazen thug.


    It had to be said that appearances were extremely important in this world; after catching a clear glimpse of Tang Wulin''s appearance, Shen Xing suddenly discovered that the fury and horror in her heart had abated somewhat.


    "Ar, are you going to kill me?" Shen Xing asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled in response. "Aren''t you not afraid to die?"


    A furious look appeared in her eyes. "Kill me then! You won''t live for much longer, either!"


    Tang Wulin said, "I won''t kill you unless your sister does something stupid; it''s not like I have a personal vendetta against you or anything. Alright, sit tight now."


    Under Tang Wulin''s control, the Skyglide 17 aircraft quickly reached its maximum speed, and 30 kilometers was covered in the blink of an eye. The aircraft slowly descended, and they were about to enter the demonic island soon.


    As expected, Shen Yue hadn''t tried to attack or detain his aircraft out of fear for her sister''s safety.


    Tang Wulin pulled back the control shaft, and the aircraft rose up higher into the air, then completed a graceful somersault before flying back toward the Northsea Legion base.


    "What are you doing? Didn''t you say you were going to let me fly the aircraft back myself?" Shen Xing asked with an astonished look on her face.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Well, I was lying. Haven''t you heard the saying that all''s fair in love and war? Some military advisor you are."


    As he was speaking the aircraft had already sped back to near the legion base. Tang Wulin withdrew his Bluesilver Emperor vines, and said, "Fasten your seatbelt."


    He had only asked for a parachute as he wanted to fool Shen Yue into thinking that he wasn''t all that familiar with this aircraft.


    Shen Xing had already realized what he was planning at this point, and she hurriedly fastened her seatbelt as she was told.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I hope we meet again someday." He raised a hand and gave Shen Xing''s lower abdomen a quick pat. Shen Xing felt a surge of warmth flow through her entire body, and her sealed soul power returned to her. In the next instant, Tang Wulin had already pressed a button and ejected her out of the aircraft.


    "You won''t get away with this, you bastard!" Shen Xing screamed as she was launched into the air.


    Tang Wulin merely smiled as the sound of threats vanished into the distance. The Skyglide 17 aircraft then instantly accelerated and headed straight back toward the demonic island.


    The aircraft passed through the invisible barrier, and slowly descended onto the island. This was already the third aircraft that Tang Wulin had stolen back to this place. However, on this occasion, it was a complete aircraft as opposed to a convertible one.


    After the plane landed on the ground, Tang Wulin was surprised to find that aside from Old Demon Nightmare and Old Demon Scourge, there was another tall and broad old man waiting for him.


    In the face of Shen Yue and the Northsea Legion, Tang Wulin was able to control the entire situation, but after seeing the expressions on the faces of the three old demons after disembarking from the plane, a sense of foreboding immediately welled up in his heart.


    "Clap, clap, clap!" Old Demon Scourge applauded, "Well done, you did it!"


    Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward Old Demon Nightmare. "I did what you asked, so it''s time you released my friends, isn''t it?"


    Old Demon Nightmare shrugged in response. "No problem. I''m a man of my word, and I''ll release your friends."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. He didn''t think that Old Demon Nightmare would suddenly be so easy-going. He asked in an urgent voice, "Where are they?"


    Old Demon Nightmare chuckled, "Well, while it''s true that I did release them, I released them to Gluttony. Oh, by the way, this is Old Demon Gluttony. He''s been itching to get in on the action after watching me torture all of you for so long. From now on, your friends are his playthings."


    "You!" Tang Wulin glowered at Old Demon Nightmare in an infuriated manner.


    Old Demon Gluttony said in a raspy voice, "Don''t worry, I''m not as cruel as him. At the very least, I wouldn''t stoop to using things like aphrodisiacs. I won''t ask you to do much, either; as long as you can accomplish the task I set for you, I''ll release them."


    After a brief surge of rage, Tang Wulin quickly calmed himself down. He had already guessed that these old demons wouldn''t have released his friends so easily, and he had to keep his cool in this situation.


    He turned to Old Demon Gluttony with a cold expression. "What do you want me to do?"


    A fanatic gleam suddenly appeared in Old Demon Gluttony''s eyes. "It''s nothing much; I only have one hobby in life, and that''s to eat. That''s why they call me Old Demon Gluttony. As long as you can eat all of the food I provide to you, I''ll release them."


    Eat? A peculiar look instantly appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Was there a simpler task in this world for him? If he were asked what his forte was, the first thing Tang Wulin would think of would be his ability to eat.


    As for his refinement, he was indeed supremely talented, but he was still only a sixth-rank blacksmith, so all seventh-rank blacksmiths and above were superior to him in that field. In contrast, Tang Wulin didn''t think that there was any human being on the entire Douluo Continent that could match him in an eating contest.


    "Alright, what do I have to eat?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Old Demon Gluttony stepped forward before laying a hand on Tang Wulin''s shoulder, and both of them disappeared in a flash.


    Following their departure, Old Demon Scourge turned to Old Demon Nightmare, and said, "Nightmare, I think this kid set a new record! He''s successfully crossed the ocean, infiltrated the Northsea Legion base, and stolen back an aircraft in just three months and six days!"


    Old Demon Nightmare nodded and counted on his fingers. "I think you''re right; he''s the fastest to have done all of this in over 1,500 years. That fat kid also managed to cross the sea, but he got killed as soon as he tried to infiltrate the base. Looks like this mission really is impossible for him, so I''ll have to give him a new one. But then again, that''s only to be expected. That Tang Wulin really is fit to be the captain of this team."


    Old Demon Scourge mused, "We have to think of better ways to torture him. He''s so exceptional in every department; I love little freaks like him! We have to find his weakness and really exploit it!"


    Old Demon Nightmare harrumphed coldly, "You''re the most inhumane out of all of us."


    Old Demon Scourge countered, "You say that like you''re a philanthropist."


    "Scourge, how long do you think it''ll take for him to pass Gluttony''s test?" Old Demon Nightmare asked.


    Old Demon Scourge suddenly shuddered. "That bastard is way too disgusting; please don''t talk about him."


    Tang Wulin''s entire world blurred, and when it became clear again, he found himself situated in a forest. Of course, this was a forest that was filled with vitality in the valley.

 Chapter 832: Old Demon Gluttony

    Every time he passed through here, Tang Wulin felt as if he''d returned to Shrek Academy. He really missed those days! Even though the cultivation was still very arduous back then, at the very least, he didn''t have to endure this type of torture.


    He had finally managed to complete the tasks Nightmare had set for him, yet it appears that this was only the beginning. This was the first time that he''d met Old Demon Gluttony; what was this old demon going to make him do?


    Tang Wulin was most concerned about his friends. He had been apart from them for so long, and he had no idea what condition they were in. He didn''t even know whether they were dead or alive.


    He was the captain who had led them here to participate in this military training. If they were to die here, he wouldn''t be able to live with himself.


    Old Demon Gluttony released Tang Wulin''s arm, and said in a deep echoey voice, "Don''t worry about your friends; just focus on yourself. Don''t worry, Nightmare wouldn''t dare to do anything to them without my orders. They all like to torture people, but I''m above that. Only immature demons like them would stoop to such childish activities. You''ll be able to look forward to much better days ahead with me. Do you know why my nickname is Gluttony?"


    Better days ahead?


    Tang Wulin''s expression remained unchanged, and he was entirely unconvinced.


    In the beginning, he had thought that perhaps Old Demon Scourge was a good demon, if such a thing actually existed. However, after enduring the torture of absorbing that destructive energy and witnessing everything that had unfolded after that, he had naturally caught on to the fact that Old Demon Scourge was on the same side as Old Demon Nightmare.


    This old man was also one of the old demons, so there were most definitely not pleasant days ahead for him. The old demon was just going to torture him in another way.


    Seeing as he didn''t know what the old demon was going to do, he merely refused to talk. He didn''t have any other choice but to endure all of the torment thrown at him by these old demons. There was still a glimmer of hope in his heart. He was hoping that this was still a test from the academy, and that all of these old demons were merely testing him. It was exactly because he was holding onto this glimmer of hope that he was just barely able to withstand all of this pain.


    Old Demon Gluttony glanced at Tang Wulin with a meaningful expression. "My nickname is Gluttony because I like to eat. I loved to eat as a human, and that love only grew after I became a demon. That''s why I''m different from them; all of them have been bored witless and are messed up in the head. Only I enjoy my life on this demonic island because there are so many foods to be eaten here. As long as there are things to eat, I''ll never feel bored, and I can always derive joy from eating."


    Eat? Tang Wulin couldn''t help but gulp upon hearing this. According to his own deduction, more than three months should''ve passed since he first came to this island, and he hadn''t eaten anything this entire time aside from that sea soul beast sashimi; he was solely using the rich life force energy here to sustain himself. This didn''t affect his bodily condition, but it was extremely painful for him not to be able to eat, especially with an appetite like his.


    Now, there was an old demon telling him that he also liked to eat, and a strong sense of starvation immediately surged into mind. This was a purely psychological reaction as his body was receiving sufficient physical sustenance from the life force energy here.


    Old Demon Gluttony could see the desire for a good meal in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he immediately smiled as he said, "Looks like you''re also a big fan of food, right?"


    He snapped his fingers, and continued, "We have a common interest then! From now on, you just have to eat everything that I eat; it''ll be simple!"


    Tang Wulin immediately asked, "What are we going to eat?"


    Old Demon Gluttony chuckled, "Don''t worry, I won''t find anything particularly disgusting for you to eat. Seeing as we''re eating, we naturally have to consume things that are edible and nutritious. Come here, kid."


    He continued deeper into the forest as he spoke, and Tang Wulin hurriedly followed along.


    Old Demon Gluttony stopped after walking just a few steps, and he squatted down before digging around at the foot of a green bamboo plant. He then hooked his finger into the soil and produced a large green insect that was three inches long and as thick as a finger.


    The insect''s entire body was of a translucent green color, and it was writhing violently, seemingly in a state of horror as it attempted to struggle free from Old Demon Gluttony''s hand.


    Old Demon Gluttony then dug around in the soil a bit more and quickly pulled out another insect.


    A sense of foreboding instantly welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. No way...


    Right at this moment, Old Demon Gluttony tossed one of the insects into his mouth before chomping down on it vigorously. Yellow juices flowed down his chin from the corners of his mouth as a blissful look appeared on his face.


    "Eurgh..." Tang Wulin reflexively turned around and doubled over to dry retch violently.


    This was way too disgusting! No matter how much he loved to eat, he would never consider a living insect to be a delicacy! He simply couldn''t bear to watch as Old Demon Gluttony chomped down on his prey.


    Right at this moment, the second green insect appeared before him. From up close, Tang Wulin could see a layer of yellow fur over its writhing body, and his expression changed drastically as he rushed back like a speeding arrow.


    Eating was an enjoyable activity for him, but even though he had barely eaten anything in the past three months, he was still unable to work up any appetite for this disgusting insect. He didn''t care about anything else in this instant; all he wanted was to escape from Old Demon Gluttony as quickly as possible.


    However, an astonishing scene then ensued. No matter how fast he ran, the green insect continued to wiggle right in front of his face, even after he''d used his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight.


    Tang Wulin dry retched uncontrollably as he ran, and all of a sudden, he was afflicted by a rush of dizziness, immediately following which he was pressed violently to the ground. Before he even had a chance to react, his entire body went numb as his soul power and blood essence power were also sealed.


    A large hand then clamped down on his nose. Due to the fact that his nostrils had been constricted, he reflexively opened his mouth to breathe, and in that instant, the writhing insect was jammed into his mouth.


    Old Demon Gluttony then clamped his jaw shut, and the insect began to squirm violently in his mouth...


    All of Tang Wulin''s hair stood up on end, and he wanted more than anything to be able to spit out that disgusting insect, but he was unable to lift even a single finger.


    Old Demon Gluttony''s raspy voice sounded beside his ear. "I told you, we''re only going to eat some things; why are you running away? I really hate people who don''t appreciate food. Seeing as you''re unwilling to eat this stick insect, then let it be slowly dissolved by your saliva. You''ll be able to feel it struggle, then slowly become feeble before finally dissolving into liquid. It''ll slide down your throat and become a part of your body. Oh, isn''t that a wonderful thought? This process will take around a day, and you won''t be able to do anything, but I''ll still be able to see the look in your eyes and the expression on your face as you enjoy this delicacy. This is almost too splendid to bear! Let me think; what should we eat tomorrow?"

 Chapter 833: Eurgh...

    Tang Wulin would rather learn to fly a plane, absorb more destructive energy, or even face the wrath of the entire Northsea Legion than be forced to endure this torture in a completely conscious state.


    Old Demon Gluttony wasn''t exaggerating at all; Tang Wulin was feeling everything that he''d just described. This was mental and psychological torture!


    Whenever he felt himself beginning to pass out, his mind would be struck by a prick of sharp pain, and in the next instant, he would become completely conscious again, thereby forcing him to feel everything that was happening in his mouth.


    This was a completely indescribable feeling, and all he wanted was to die.


    Finally, 24 hours passed, and Old Demon Gluttony slapped Tang Wulin''s head to knock him unconscious. Two more figures then appeared beside him, and they were none other than Old Demon Nightmare and Old Demon Scourge.


    "Do you think I was too cruel there? I feel like I may have gone a little overboard. I''ve only ever imagined doing this in the past, and I''ve never actually put this into practice. Will he be driven insane after this?" Old Demon Gluttony asked, seemingly in a concerned manner.


    "Don''t try to act like a good guy now! Why didn''t you hesitate to think about this before you fed him that insect?" Nightmare scoffed in a disdainful manner.


    Old Demon Scourge wore an enraged expression. "You''re so shameless! Why didn''t you tell me you had this trick up your sleeve? How could you do this? How could you surpass us in your torture methods? He clearly thinks you''re far more abhorrent than the two of us! I''m really pissed off, do you understand?"


    "Hahahaha! That''s what you get! I don''t care what you think; all I know is that I''m having the time of my life! Oh, I can''t wait to do this to the other kids and see their reactions. It''s alright even if he goes insane; Hatred will be able to fix him. "


    ¡­¡­


    "Looks like we have a common interest, kid. From now on, you eat what I eat; I guarantee you that you''ll be able to complete the task I set out for you," Old Demon Gluttony said in a smiling manner.


    Xu Lizhi was panting heavily. He had absorbed destructive energy with all his might, and he was finally able to get to the other side of the sea, but no matter what he did, he was unable to enter the Northsea Legion base. When they opened fire on him, he returned directly to the demonic island without even knowing what had happened, and immediately after that, Old Demon Nightmare told him that he''d failed, and that he was going to release the aphrodisiac mist.


    Right at this moment, Old Demon Gluttony arrived on the scene like his knight in shining armor, telling him that his friends would be freed from Nightmare as long as he did as he was told.


    After that, Old Demon Gluttony took him to a forest.


    Xu Lizhi blinked at the sight of the large green insect before Old Demon Gluttony  tossed it into his own mouth and began to chew vigorously


    Xu Lizhi''s eyes immediately widened.


    Old Demon Gluttony turned to him with a sly smile, and Xu Lizhi asked in a stunned manner, "Those things are edible? Do they taste good?"


    Old Demon Gluttony''s smile immediately stiffened upon hearing this. He was then greeted by the sight of Xu Lizhi voluntarily plucking the other insect from his hand before also placing it into his mouth and chewing vigorously.


    After chewing a few times, Xu Lizhi''s eyes lit up, and his Adam''s apple bobbed as he swallowed the insect.


    "Wow, I thought it would be disgusting, but it tastes pretty good! It''s a little sour and astringent, but it has a bittersweet aftertaste. On top of that, it carries a faint bamboo aroma, and it gives me a very warm and comfortable sensation. This is delicious! I didn''t think such delicacies existed on this island. Can you dig another one for me?"


    Old Demon Gluttony was completely flabbergasted by Xu Lizhi''s excited expression. Only after a long stunned stupor did he murmur, "Looks like you''re pretty talented in eating as well, kid."


    Just as he was speaking, Xu Lizhi had already squatted down beside the bamboo tree and began to dig around for insects on his own...


    What had proven to be unspeakably inhumane torture to Tang Wulin was an enjoyable activity to him, and this had never happened before.


    Old Demon Gluttony wasn''t one to accept defeat easily. To put it more accurately, none of the old demons on this island were fans of losing. Hence, he began to find all types of "high-grade foods" for Xu Lizhi to taste.


    However, Xu Lizhi accepted everything offered to him with glee. Initially, he was rather hesitant, but as time passed, the more he ate, the more excited he became. In the end, he was able to forage for all types of food in the valley even without Old Demon Gluttony by his side. He was a self-taught culinary genius!


    Old Demon Gluttony had no choice but to concede and turn to torturing others. He had to admit that Xu Lizhi was a freakish talent, and it was undoubtedly the case that he''d broken a record.


    ......


    Tang Wulin didn''t even know how he''d managed to endure the past two months. He spent every day in a semi-conscious state, enduring unspeakable psychological torture.


    He was a man who loved food, but Old Demon Gluttony made him want to throw up at the sight of everything. However, his body''s powerful adaptive ability slowly began to take effect.


    Tang Wulin quickly discovered that his body hadn''t been weakened by the torture he was suffering. Instead, through eating all types of strange things like insects, cockroaches, snakes, rats, and ants, his blood essence and life force were becoming a lot more powerful!


    ¡­¡­


    "Thank you, Old Demon Gluttony! Do you have any more of these insects? And how long can they live for? Can you please catch a few more and feed them to Yue Zhengyu? These insects have such abundant life force energy; they must be great for his body. He used his Sacrifice ability to save me before, and he expended so much life force energy. If he could eat a few of these insects, it''ll definitely be very beneficial to him."


    Old Demon Gluttony stared at the Xu Xiaoyan in a dumbstruck manner as she carefully played with the large green insect in her hand as if it were a precious treasure.


    What the hell was wrong with this world? He could accept that a food system soul master was able to handle this quite easily, but why was this little girl...


    When Xu Xiaoyan had first been forced to eat this insect, her reaction had been much the same compared to Tang Wulin''s. However, she then quickly discovered that these insects were filled with rich life force energy, and she was displaying this reaction now that Old Demon Gluttony was trying to feed her insects a second time.


    Her adaptive ability was simply unmatched!


    Of course, it wasn''t all sunshine and roses for everyone.


    For example...


    "Eurgh, eurgh, eurgh, kill me!" Xie Xie howled. He was on the verge of mental breakdown.


    "Eurgh, I''ll kill you! Eurgh, you better not give me a chance because I''m going to slaughter you!" Ye Xinglan''s face had already turned deathly pale.


    "Eurgh, eurgh, eurgh, I''m going to kill you!" Yuanen Yehui''s body was spasming uncontrollably.


    "Oh, this is great! Keep showing me your pain!"


    "Mr. Old Demon Gluttony, is there any way to preserve these insects? And would I be able to take some away with me when I leave? If they can be preserved with their rich life force energy, members of my Holy Angel clan would be able to use Sacrifice without any inhibitions. My family is quite wealthy; how about we work together to breed these life force energy insects? Perhaps we can make them into medicine. If that happens, you''ll be doing the entire world a favor!" Yue Zhengyu was also disgusted initially, but with his Sacrifice ability, he was the most sensitive toward the life force energy, so he was only disgusted the first time before quickly also realizing how extraordinary these insects were.


    Thus, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui were tortured for three whole months while Yue Zhengyu, Xu Lizhi, and Xu Xiaoyan were given automatic passes.


    "Do you know what I hate most in this world?" A hook-nosed old man with a dark expression on his face asked in a cold voice.


    His eyes were filled with hatred, and as he looked at Yue Zhengyu, it was as if he were appraising the most abhorrent thing in this world.


    "I don''t," Yue Zhengyu replied in a truthful manner.


    The days that he''d spent with Old Demon Gluttony were the best days that he''d spent on the demonic island thus far.


    The life force energy that he''d expended when using Sacrifice to save Xu Xiaoyan was almost fully recovered after eating a lot of insects, and that dampened his hatred for this demonic island significantly.


    All he wanted to do now was to be able to rescue all of his friends and escape together.

 Chapter 834: Old Demon Hatred

    "I hate this entire world! My name is Hatred; I am Old Demon Hatred. I''m going to inflict upon you the worst pain imaginable!"


    In the next instant, Yue Zhengyu found himself hanging upside down, and a leather whip that had been entirely soaked in water struck his body in a vicious manner.


    Yue Zhengyu had always thought that he had good pain tolerance, but he discovered in this instant that he was completely wrong. Never would he have thought that there would be so many different ways to inflict so many different types of pain on someone.


    "Argh!" His howls of agony hadn''t stopped from the moment he was hung upside down.


    Excruciating pain speared through his entire body, and he tried to escape with all his might, but he could only look on as his skin and flesh were torn apart, as his fingernails were wrenched away one after another, as his body was gradually broken down, leaving him within an inch of his life.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin''s eyes had already become completely glazed over. Following the past three months of torture, his life force was more powerful than ever before, but his psyche had clearly been damaged, to the extent that he was struck by an involuntary sense of fear whenever he saw something writing or squirming.


    He had sensed that these "foods" were filled with rich life force energy, but how could he accept the most enjoyable activity in his life being transformed into such a painful chore?


    However, he still persevered and made it through to the other side for the sake of his friends. He only had one thought in his heart right now; he had to endure whatever torture was thrown at him and rescue his friends.


    He persevered through his iron will for three entire months, following which Old Demon Gluttony finally let him go.


    He ate large mouthfuls of all types of "foods" like an automaton, and only in the deepest parts of his eyes could a faint glimmer of life be seen.


    Old Demon Gluttony was feeling quite conflicted.


    He was very pleased with Tang Wulin''s reactions, and he''d derived a lot of joy from torturing him. However, a problem quickly arose; he discovered that this kid was like a bottomless pit of gluttony!


    After his mind had been completely numbed to the extent that he didn''t even care what he was eating anymore, Tang Wulin began to display his astonishing appetite.


    On one occasion, he ate an entire python by himself. That python was around seven meters long and as thick as a human leg. After eating it, even his body had displayed a reaction as his bloodline aura surged intensely, causing scales to appear uncontrollably all over his skin.


    Even so, he still had more stomach capacity to spare, and his appetite only continued to grow.


    Old Demon Gluttony was very pleased with how much Tang Wulin had suffered, but his heart bled whenever he thought about how much Tang Wulin had eaten. This guy''s appetite was even more fearsome than that fat kid''s! Xu Lizhi had also eaten a lot, but because this process wasn''t a torturous one to him, he was handed over to Old Demon Hatred very early on. However, Tang Wulin was clearly suffering so much that he wanted to die, but that didn''t seem to hamper his appetite at all!


    Whenever Old Demon Gluttony thought about how much Tang Wulin had eaten, he would become enraged and try to exact his revenge by forcing Tang Wulin to eat even more next time. However, he discovered that Tang Wulin remained as insatiable as ever, but the entire island''s food supply was struggling to keep up! He had eaten such a vast quantity of high-grade ingredients! Regardless of how abundant the life force energy was here, it couldn''t keep up with his insane appetite! As such, he had no choice but to hand Tang Wulin over to Old Demon Hatred.


    "Do you know what I hate most in this world?" Old Demon Hatred appraised Tang Wulin in a cold manner.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were still slightly glazed over. "What are we eating today?"


    "We''re not eating anything, you pathetic idiot! I can''t believe Gluttony''s little tricks reduced you to such a sorry state! Now I have to make you recover mentally; this is so annoying! I hate it, I hate this world, I hate everything!"


    Tang Wulin was hung upside down, and the leather whip struck his body with vicious force.


    "Slap!" The leather whip flashed through the air, and Tang Wulin''s clothes were torn open as a white mark was left on his skin.


    Wait a minute, a white mark? Why isn''t he bleeding?


    Old Demon Hatred faltered slightly upon seeing this. He then swung his whip into Tang Wulin''s body with even greater force, only to inflict even more white marks that quickly vanished...


    Old Demon Hatred naturally didn''t believe that this was normal, so he began to unleash a torrential barrage of strikes on Tang Wulin''s body with his whip.


    One strike landed after another, and Tang Wulin''s clothes were quickly pulverized. However, when Old Demon Hatred decided to change to another torture instrument, he discovered that all of the whip marks on Tang Wulin''s body had disappeared, and he was completely unscathed.


    What the hell is going on?


    Tang Wulin''s eyes finally began to focus, not from pain, but because the external stimulus provided by the whip strikes was causing the rich life force energy within his body to circulate and fuse together with his blood essence power. This process resulted in an indescribably comfortable sensation, and his mind was finally soothed after enduring so much torture during the past three months. To a certain extent, that horrific experience had caused him to completely shut himself off to the outside world, and only then could he continue to eat all of those disgusting creatures.


    As a result, he naturally didn''t get an opportunity to circulate his soul power to coordinate with his blood essence.


    Now, with the external stimulus from the whip, his Mysterious Heaven Method and bloodline power both automatically began to circulate to protect his body, and that was slowly allowing him to recover on a psychological level.


    Right at this moment, a sharp pain speared through Tang Wulin''s body.


    Old Demon Hatred had found a long steel nail that he began stabbing Tang Wulin with, but the nail was only just barely able to pierce through his skin and draw blood.


    This pain was clearly more intense than the lashes from that leather whip, and in response to this stronger stimulus, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline and Mysterious Heaven Method were also activated to a greater extent. His mind finally began to emerge from his self-imposed mental seclusion, and from Old Demon Hatred''s perspective, the small holes that he was stabbing into Tang Wulin''s skin were quickly healing over. No scabs even appeared before the tiny puncture wounds were instantly healed.


    Furthermore, every time he stabbed Tang Wulin with the nail, he discovered that a layer of golden light would appear beneath his skin. His body was extremely tough to begin with, and sections of his skin that were being stabbed would instantly harden, as if scales were about to appear.


    He had sealed Tang Wulin''s soul power and bloodline circulation, but he was unable to stop his instinctive reactions.


    Old Demon Hatred switched to one torture instrument after another before using them on Tang Wulin, and at this point, Tang Wulin had finally completely awakened. He looked on as Old Demon Hatred inflicted one wound after another, only for them to instantly heal, and a cold smile appeared on his face.


    Pain?


    This was something that he''d already grown accustomed to ever since he began learning to forge as a six-year-old boy. He didn''t not fear pain; it was just that he had superhuman pain tolerance exceeding even that of Soul Masters that were far more powerful than him. Furthermore, he also had ultra-powerful physical resistance.


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline''s self-regenerative properties were simply far too potent, and Tang Wulin could recover from all types of physical and energy attacks at an astonishing rate.


    Thus, Old Demon Hatred brought out one torture instrument after another, only to be greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin''s cold smile.


    No matter how much this hurt, it couldn''t compare to the heart-wrenching pain of breaking his Golden Dragon King seals. That was pain that originated from deep within his body and threatened to tear the very fiber of his being apart.

 Chapter 835: The Aphrodisiac Mist

    Old Demon Hatred was almost driven insane by rage at the sight of Tang Wulin''s blas¨¦ reactions, and he was beginning to take drastic measures. However, even shattering Tang Wulin''s bones couldn''t bring so much as a wince to his face, and his body would quickly regenerate anyway.


    As for the vital regions in Tang Wulin''s torso, those were protected by his Mountain Dragon King torso bone, so unless Old Demon Hatred were to completely shatter his body, there was no way that he could torture him from the inside without killing him.


    "Are you a turtle, you little bastard?" Old Demon Hatred smashed the mace in his hand against Tang Wulin''s body one final time before turning and leaving in a fit of rage. He had to vent this fury on the next victim!


    Thus, Tang Wulin was finally released, and as usual, Old Demon Scourge was playing the good guy.


    "Hatred is way too abhorrent! Are you alright, Tang Wulin?" Old Demon Scourge asked with a concerned expression.


    Tang Wulin merely appraised him with a cold gaze, and said, "What other tricks do you have? Throw them all at me. You''ll be releasing my friends after you exhaust all your tricks, right?"


    Old Demon Scourge sighed, "This has nothing to do with me; it''s all Old Demon Nightmare''s doing. All I can do to help you is restrict him from releasing that aphrodisiac mist."


    Tang Wulin didn''t say anything in response. He was beginning to grasp the patterns that these old demons liked to follow.


    In any case, at the very least, he was still alive, and he was thriving.


    After the beating he''d received from Old Demon Hatred, he''d absorbed all of the life force energy in his body from all of the disgusting things that Old Demon Gluttony had forced him to eat. His blood essence power was so abundant now that he was barely able to control it from surging toward his ninth Golden Dragon King seal.


    Furthermore, he could sense that if he wished to do so, he could break through the ninth seal with ease. At present, he was having to divert a lot of his attention to control the bloodline power in his body in order to prevent it from breaking the ninth seal.


    If these old demons were only torturing him, then he should be growing more and more feeble, so why was he becoming more and more powerful instead?


    Furthermore, even though the entire process had been extremely painful, he had to admit that this torture had benefitted him immensely. Not only had his body become more powerful, he had learned many valuable skills, and his mental fortitude had also been further bolstered.


    Old Demon Scourge''s expression suddenly fell at the sight of Tang Wulin''s cold gaze. "Do you think I''m on their side, kid?"


    Tang Wulin replied in a cold voice, "Aren''t you?"


    Old Demon Scourge flared up with rage. "Of course not! If that''s what you think, then I''ll leave you to your own devices and let Nightmare do whatever he wants."


    He turned to leave as soon as his voice trailed off, and in the next instant, his body vanished into thin air.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly in response. He could clearly tell that Old Demon Scourge was only putting on an act. However, he also knew that there was no way that these old demons would let him off the hook so easily.


    Just as he was wondering what was going to befall him next, Old Demon Nightmare''s voice suddenly sounded beside his ears.


    "Now that there''s no one getting in my way, I can finally do what I''ve been itching to do all this time!"


    All of a sudden, the world around him began to spin, and when he recovered from his rush of dizziness, he found himself situated within a cave.


    The cave was quite dimly-lit, so he was only barely able to see everything inside it.


    A series of moans rang out, and Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of his friends.


    Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Lizhi, Yuanen Yehui, Xu Xiaoyan, and Ye Xinglan were all present, and they awakened from their unconscious states one after another. All of them wore different expressions, but it was quite clear that all of them had been psychologically traumatized to a certain extent.


    "How are you all feeling? Are any of you hurt?" Tang Wulin hurriedly asked, and only then did he discover that his voice was extremely hoarse.


    Everyone looked around in a slightly slack-jawed manner and right at this moment, a burst of rumbling sounded from within the cave they were situated in. Before they had a chance to react, several metal fences had descended from above to separate all of them.


    Tang Wulin was with Xu Xiaoyan; beside him were Xu Lizhi and Yuanen Yehui, while Ye Xinglan, Yue Zhengyu, and Xie Xie were on his other side.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had been divided into three groups.


    All of a sudden, a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart, and right at this moment, clouds of pink mist erupted overhead. This was none other than the pink aphrodisiac mist that they''d all seen before.


    "Don''t breathe!" Tang Wulin yelled with all his might.


    Everyone had seen this pink mist before, and all of them immediately tried to hold their breaths.


    However, they immediately discovered that their soul power had been completely sealed, and their bodies were all feeble and powerless. In this situation, there was no way for them to hold their breaths for too long.


    The pink mist began to permeate throughout the cave, and much to everyone''s horror, wisps of pink mist began to seep through their skin.


    They could temporarily hold their breaths, but they couldn''t close the pores of their skin.


    Flashes of heat began to surge through everyone''s bodies as the pink mist began to infiltrate, and all seven of them began to panic.


    It was quite clear that Old Demon Nightmare had divided them up in a strategic manner with none of the couples being placed in the same area.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly yelled, "Everyone, hurry and knock yourselves out!"


    He had always had an iron will, and even though he could feel his primal urges fighting to take over, he still immediately made the right decision and charged headfirst toward the rock face of the cave beside him.


    "Thud!"


    Much to his surprise, the cave wall was soft and bouncy, and it immediately repelled him backward, causing him to sit onto the ground.


    Everyone else had naturally also heard what he''d said, and they also tried to do the same thing, only to also be repelled just as Tang Wulin had been. Even though they were feeling a little dizzy from the impact, they were far from falling unconscious.


    What do we do?


    Astonished expressions appeared on everyone''s faces.


    The scenario that they feared the most had finally eventuated. The pink mist was becoming denser and denser, and due to the fact that he''d yelled earlier, Tang Wulin inevitably inhaled some of the mist.


    This pink mist''s effects were extremely potent, and on this occasion, his Golden Dragon King bloodline didn''t protect him in the slightest.


    Dragons were promiscuous by nature, so his Golden Dragon King bloodline clearly wasn''t going to be of any help to him here. Dragons were all high and mighty creatures, and in their eyes, they were blessing lower races with their bloodline by mating with them. Otherwise, there wouldn''t be so many second-rate dragons in this world.


    However, the promiscuity of the dragon clan was resulting in dire consequences here.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his body were a burning piece of red-hot charcoal. He grabbed onto the metal fence and slammed his head against it with all his might, but was still unable to force back his growing urges.


    He couldn''t summon his martial soul or his bloodline power, either, so he couldn''t even kill himself. Without those powers, his immensely powerful body could protect itself from anything he could do to try and harm it.


    Everyone else was also in a similar situation to Tang Wulin. Xu Xiaoyan was already beginning to moan softly, and she was also grabbing onto the metal fence with all her might as her body trembled uncontrollably. All of them had nothing more than their willpower to draw upon to try and deny their instincts.


    Xu Lizhi was beginning to break, and he had curled up into a ball in a corner. Yuanen Yehui had a lot more willpower than him, and even though she was breathing quite heavily, she could still resist for now.


    Meanwhile, Ye Xinglan was sitting in a corner with her legs crossed, sweating profusely as she struggled to resist the effects of the pink mist.


    Both Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu were standing in the farthest corner away from her, and despite the horror in their hearts, their primal urges were only becoming more and more potent.


    "Kill me, Zhengyu," Xie Xie said with a wry smile on his face.


    Yue Zhengyu suddenly roared with fury, "Why the f*ck are you touching my leg? If I could kill you, I would''ve done so already! How about you kill me instead?"


    "I''m not touching your leg! You''re the one with his arm around my waist! Kill me!"


    The more they yelled, the more pink mist they inhaled, and the more heightened their libido became.


    "Old Demon Nightmare, I''ll do whatever you say! Just stop this mist!" Tang Wulin roared in a furious manner.


    It was one thing to see images of this, but an entirely different situation to be experiencing this in person.

 Chapter 836: Gu Yue?

    Tang Wulin slowly began to lose control over his body, and he finally began to panic as he found himself slowly inching toward Xu Xiaoyan. Regardless of how much of an iron will he had, there was simply no way to resist these compulsive urges.


    "Why do you all look so scared? You should experience the wonders of youth! Just give in to your urges and free yourselves!"


    A female voice responded to them as opposed to the voice of Old Demon Nightmare. It was a very enticing female voice that was tinged with a hint of seduction that wasn''t very potent, but it was more than enough to set everyone off in their current states.


    Tang Wulin''s vision blurred, and all of a sudden, Xu Xiaoyan turned into Na''er in his eyes, then morphed into Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin told himself with all his might that the woman approaching was neither Gu Yue nor Na''er, but the effect of the pink mist was simply far too potent. It was ridding him of his sense of reason and stimulating his primal instincts. Even his mind was being clouded by this pink mist.


    A series of hallucinations appeared in his mind alongside the memories of all of the good times he''d spent with Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists tightly and tried with all his might to struggle free from these hallucinations, but he only found himself sinking deeper.


    Finally, a warm and moist hand grabbed onto his shoulder, and Tang Wulin felt as if his body were a volcano that was on the verge of eruption.


    He reflexively turned around, and his eyes had become completely bloodshot.


    However, right at this moment, all of the pink mist suddenly abated like the receding tide, following icy cold water rained down from the sky, completely soaking everyone as they screamed in unison.


    In that instant, all of the desire in their hearts was instantly doused, and mental clarity returned to them.


    Tang Wulin shuddered as he discovered that Xu Xiaoyan was right in front of him with one hand on his shoulder. He had also raised a hand, and if it weren''t for that cold shower that had rained down from above, his hand would also be in contact with Xu Xiaoyan''s body.


    Everyone else was in a similar situation.


    Yuanen Yehui had a foot on Xu Lizhi''s back while the latter was panting heavily as he lay sprawled out on the ground.


    Ye Xinglan had slightly more willpower, but even she had gotten onto her hands and knees, and was clearly about to pounce.


    The two in the most awkward situation were Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu. The two of them were caught in a tight embrace, and both of them stared at one another with wide eyes after being awakened by that cold shower.


    "Eurgh..." Both of them turned away and feigned dry retching in unison before rushing back like lightning.


    "D, did you do something to me?" they roared almost in complete synchronicity.


    Thankfully, their clothes were still intact, so they clearly hadn''t reached the next step.


    A strong sense of horror welled up in everyone''s hearts. They couldn''t imagine what they would''ve done had that pink mist continued to remain in the cave.


    Their actions would most definitely scar them for life, and they wouldn''t be able to live with themselves. That would be the worst psychological torture imaginable.


    "You should all be a bit more obedient now." Old Demon Nightmare''s cackling voice rang out within the entire cave.


    Massive soundwaves echoed and reverberated, and Tang Wulin and the others quickly fell unconscious from the sensory assault.


    Ever since they''d come here, they''d encountered four demons, consisting of Scourge, Nightmare, Gluttony, and Hatred. All of them had countless torture methods up their sleeves and were extremely terrifying tormentors that the seven of them simply couldn''t stand against.


    These old demons had perfectly latched onto their innermost weaknesses and brutally tortured both their bodies and their minds.


    When Tang Wulin awakened from his unconscious state, he discovered that he was still in the cave. There was also someone else in the cave with him leaning against a wall, but they were wearing a purple cloak, so it was impossible to identify them.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath and discovered that he had regained control over both his soul power and blood essence power. He reflexively sat up, and aside from being afflicted by a slight sense of dizziness, he seemed to be completely fine.


    After taking a moment to compose himself, Tang Wulin carefully made his way over to the other person and carefully ducked his head so he could take a look under their hood.


    The sight that he was greeted by immediately made his eyes widen with shock.


    Beneath the hood was a set of delicate facial features. Her skin was fair and smooth, and she wasn''t exactly an exquisite beauty, but she held an unrivaled position in Tang Wulin''s heart.


    As soon as he saw her, Tang Wulin''s first reaction was that this couldn''t be real. His entire body shuddered as he pinched the inside of his own leg very hard.


    It hurt a lot!


    Did that mean that he wasn''t dreaming? That this was all real? He reached out and gently pinched her on the cheek.


    "Hmm!" The young woman moaned as her long eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.


    Their eyes met, and an excited look immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. In contrast, she appeared to be completely lost and disoriented.


    "Wh, where am I?" the young woman asked in a dazed voice.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "This is the demonic island. Is, is that really you?"


    The young woman hurriedly sat bolt upright, and only then did she return to her senses as she exclaimed, "Wh, why are you here? You..."


    That''s right, the young woman was none other than Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at her stunned expression, and he sighed, "Gu Yue, I''ve missed you so much!"


    Gu Yue''s breathing began to accelerate as she quickly rose to her feet. She inspected their surroundings, and murmured, "Wh, why are you here? I was clearly at the Spirit Pagoda..."


    Tang Wulin shook his head. "Would you believe me if I told you that I don''t know?"


    Gu Yue pressed a hand over her chest and turned around so that her back was facing Tang Wulin. Her breathing continued to accelerate, and it seemed that she didn''t want to face him.


    "Why did you leave? Why can''t we face everything together? Yes, I may not be powerful enough right now and perhaps I still can''t completely protect you, but I''ll be sure to do my best to become stronger. I''ll definitely be able to protect you in the future, so don''t leave me again, Gu Yue!"


    Tang Wulin approached her from behind, and his hands were trembling slightly as she gently grabbed onto her arms before slowly turning her around.


    "You don''t understand; it''s not that simple!" Gu Yue said in a trembling voice, "If there were any other alternatives, the last thing I wanted to do was leave you, but I can''t stay by your side. This is for both your safety and your future."


    Tang Wulin tightened his grip on her arms and forced her to look into his eyes. "Even if you''re afraid that I can''t handle whatever it is that you''re facing, can you tell me what it is first? Do you think that I can love someone else aside from you in this world?"


    Gu Yue replied in an indifferent voice, "There are so many outstanding women who love you; you can choose any of them."


    "Do you really want to see that?" Tang Wulin asked in a serious voice.


    Gu Yue turned her head away and didn''t reply.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. "Tell me. No matter what we''re facing, you have to tell me the truth so we can think of a solution together. Perhaps I still don''t have the power to protect you, and I can agree to temporarily separate with you for the sake of our future, but you have to tell me the reason; you have to show me some hope. I know you love me as well; our feelings for each other are genuine, and that''s all that we need. I have confidence that I''ll be able to protect you from anything in the future, so tell me the truth."

 Chapter 837: Trial of Love, Boundless Desire

    Gu Yue lowered her head and didn''t say anything. All of a sudden, she threw herself into Tang Wulin''s arms and raised her head to kiss him.


    Tang Wulin was startled by her intense passion, but he was almost instantly completely entranced as he basked in her familiar aura and felt her scorching lips.


    Her movements were very jerky and unrefined, just like during their first kiss, but her lips were filled with passion and love.


    Their breathing began to accelerate, and even the temperature in the cave seemed to be gradually on the rise. A scorching sensation began to mount in Tang Wulin''s heart, and they tore away at each other''s clothes in a frenzied manner, as if they were trying to vent all of their innermost feelings that they''d repressed for so long in an instant.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly felt a stinging pain on his chest, and his heart suddenly began to throb in an indescribable manner. This sense of pain abruptly doused the burning desire in his heart, and it seemed to be telling him something.


    Gu Yue was still pressing her body desperately against his, but his eyes were gradually regaining the clarity. All of a sudden, golden light erupted from his right hand, and it transformed into a pair of sharp claws before grabbing viciously onto her head.


    He roared with fury, "You''re not her!"


    Dazzling golden light flashed, and Gu Yue''s body instantly vanished like an illusion. Golden light was still swirling around Tang Wulin''s golden dragon claws as he gasped for breath.


    Only then did the light emanating from the silver scale pendant in front of his chest finally dim.


    It was none other than the reminder from that scale that allowed Tang Wulin to regain his clarity of mind and identify that the person in his arms wasn''t Gu Yue.


    A surprised yet enticing voice suddenly rang out. "I conjured up that illusion based on the innermost feelings and memories in your heart; I''m quite surprised that you were able to snap out of it. However, you don''t seem to have done so through your own power. This is the trial of love and boundless desire; I am Old Demon Desire."


    A woman emerged in a graceful manner from within a dark corner. She referred to herself as an old demon, but she didn''t look old at all. She appeared to only be in her twenties, and she was extremely scantily-clad. Her long legs were supple and toned, and the smile on her face evoked flames of desire in the onlooker''s heart.


    Tang Wulin found her facial features to be rather blurry, but he felt like she bore a strong resemblance to Gu Yue. In reality, anyone would see their lover when they looked at her.


    A cold light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes. "Why would you torture me in such a sick twisted way? You..."


    Old Demon Desire smiled, and she was very honest in the face of Tang Wulin''s accusatory gaze. "No reason; I simply wanted to see just how deep your love was. I only have lust and desire, but I''ve never loved before, so I really like to love vicariously through others; it''s something that gives me endless joy."


    Tang Wulin''s expression cooled even further, and he was just about to say something when Old Demon Desire continued, "I actually already guessed well in advance that you would be the most difficult to fool among everyone. You''re very difficult to swindle, and you didn''t come here with your lover, but unfortunately, you still completely fell into my trap. From that, I can tell that you truly love her very much. Do you want to see everyone else''s reaction to this trial of mine?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, yet before he had a chance to reply, Old Demon Desire had already waved a hand through the air. A streak of light flashed past, and six screens of light appeared before him.


    These six screens obviously depicted images of the six other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    They were also all situated in caves, and their caves seemed to be identical to the one that Tang Wulin was in. Within the first cave was none other than Xie Xie and a transparent Yuanen Yehui. It was quite clear that the latter was an illusion.


    At this moment, Xie Xie already had his arms around Yuanen Yehui, but strangely enough, he didn''t go any further.


    He was panting slightly as if he were trying to repress something, and Yuanen Yehui''s hands were rubbing up and down his back seductively while she pressed her body against his.


    Xie Xie''s breathing accelerated even further, but her movements were rather stiff and robotic.


    "D, didn''t you say that you were only going to allow me to do this after we get married?" Xie Xie panted.


    Yuanen Yehui''s seductive voice sounded in reply, "I don''t even know if we''re going to make it off this demonic island; I''m so scared that we won''t even be able to get to the point where we get married. I want to give my first time to you so that even if I die, I''ll have no regrets. Xie Xie, make love to me."


    Xie Xie''s entire body shuddered and he reflexively reached out toward Yuanen Yehui''s backside.


    However, his hand suddenly stiffened an instant before it made contact with her rear end. Immediately thereafter, he roared with rage, "Go f*cking kill yourself!"


    He flicked his wrist, and his Light Dragon Dagger appeared in his grasp as he plunged it into one of Yuanen Yehui''s vital regions.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes widened upon seeing this. Since when did Xie Xie develop such immense willpower? In his mind, Xie Xie had always been someone to whom restraint was quite difficult.


    Furthermore, he didn''t possess any items like Tang Wulin''s silver dragon scale that could awaken him from that illusion, so he''d snapped out of it through his own willpower alone.


    Old Demon Desire was just as surprised as Tang Wulin as she looked on in a flabbergasted manner. What just happened?


    The fake Yuanen Yehui''s body vanished into nothingness, and tears flowed down Xie Xie''s face as he murmured to himself, "I really want this to be true! But with Yuanen''s personality, she wouldn''t offer her body to me just because we could die here! She''s so principled and reserved; I''ve only ever held her hand a few times! I really want this to be true, but it''s just not possible! If only that were real!"


    Tang Wulin was rendered completely speechless. So Xie Xie''s willpower hadn''t saved him there; this could all be attributed to Yuanen Yehui''s personality. Furthermore, he still most likely harbored a sense of fear deep in his heart toward Yuanen Yehui. After all, he had almost been killed on the two occasions that he''d accidentally stumbled upon Yuanen Yehui as she was bathing, and those two experiences had to have traumatized him to a certain extent.


    Tang Wulin''s gaze almost reflexively turned toward the light screen that was depicting Yuanen Yehui''s cave.


    "Slap!" Yuanen Yehui sent the fake Xie Xie flying with a vicious slap to the face. The fake Xie Xie had used an excuse that was similar to the one that the fake Yuanen Yehui had used, but Yuanen Yehui wasn''t buying it at all.


    A blush had appeared on her face, but she still sent the fake Xie Xie flying without any hesitation.


    "H, how could you do this to me? That hurt so much." Xie Xie crawled up from the ground with sorrow in his eyes.


    Yuanen Yehui chuckled coldly, "That hurt, did it? There''s more pain to come for you! You''re not him; he''d never have the guts to ask this of me! You''re just an imposter!"


    Tang Wulin was shaking his head internally upon seeing this. Just how fearful was Xie Xie of Yuanen Yehui for her to be so certain that he wouldn''t dare to make sexual advances toward her, even in this dire situation that they were in! This didn''t normally show in their daily interactions, but it was quite clear that Yuanen had exerted a lot of dominance over Xie Xie in their relationship!


    He was watching his friends being tortured by Old Demon Desire, but for some reason, after watching Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie''s interactions, Tang Wulin was struck by the urge to burst into laughter.


    The next cave he cast his gaze toward was the one that Xu Lizhi was situated in.


    "No! I can''t do it, Sister Xinglan! You''re so perfect and sacred in my heart; I, I''m still not prepared. Don''t do this, Sister Xinglan, you''re making me uncomfortable! You''re not like this in my heart! Don''t touch me! I, I, I..."


    Xu Lizhi was like a trembling little piglet as he trembled uncontrollably. He was completely curled up into a ball in the corner, and fake Ye Xinglan was squatting down beside him, but she had no idea how to get him to open up.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched involuntarily upon seeing this because Xu Lizhi was putting on a very amusing display. Not only was he curled up in the corner, he''d covered his important region and his eyes, not even daring to look at the seductive Ye Xinglan.


    "What are you doing, Lizhi? You know the situation that we''re in; I''m truly afraid that something will happen to us, and by then, it''ll be too late. While we''re together, I want to give you the most precious thing that I have. I know that you''ve always loved me, so what''s there for you to be afraid of?"


    Xu Lizhi was panting heavily as he curled up into an even tighter ball. "I can''t, Sister Xinglan; I can''t take advantage of you like this! Please don''t force me to do this, Sister Xinglan; I''m still not prepared! I''ve always dreamed one day that I would be able to marry you during a lavish wedding, and the two of us will receive blessings from the entire world. I''ll carry you into a red room during our wedding night, and lay you down onto the bed in your wedding gown so I can be with you after you''ve officially become my wife. I really really love you, which is why I can''t defile you here. Sex is sacred and it''s something that should only be engaged in after a sacred ceremony that binds two people together."

 Chapter 838: Outlandish Friends

    Tang Wulin stared at the image of Xu Lizhi in a dumbstruck manner. He didn''t think that Lizhi was an idealist!


    The fake Ye Xinglan harrumphed coldly, "We may not even be able to leave this place alive, so why are you thinking so much? Are you unable to engage physically?"


    Xu Lizhi abruptly raised his head as a sharp look appeared in his eyes. "You''re not Sister Xinglan! Sister Xinglan has always protected me ever since we were kids; she would never say something like that to hurt my self-esteem! You''re not her!"


    He sprang to his feet as he spoke, but he didn''t immediately spring into action. Instead, he stared at the nude Ye Xinglan in a dazed manner, and murmured to himself, "Is this what Sister Xinglan looks like without clothes on?"


    Only then did he gulp before slapping the fake Ye Xinglan out of existence.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Old Demon Desire to find that her expression had darkened significantly.


    He then turned to appraise the image that was depicting Ye Xinglan.


    As expected, Ye Xinglan had exemplary willpower, and she also knew Xu Lizhi extremely well.


    At this point, her sword had already pierced through Xu Lizhi''s chest, and she said in a cold voice, "Lizhi is so pure and timid; how would he dare to do something like this to me? He wouldn''t engage in physical relations with me just because we might not be able to get out of here alive."


    Five out of seven people had passed Old Demon Desire''s trial! She placed her hands on her hips with an enraged look on her face.


    Tang Wulin then turned to examine the image that was depicting Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan seemed to have completely lost herself in Yue Zhengyu''s embrace already.


    Yue Zhengyu said in a gentle voice, "I love you, Xiaoyao. I''m not sure if I can leave this place with you alive, but I''m truly willing to give every part of myself to you. I''m not a playboy; you''re the only woman in my heart. Will you become my first woman?"


    Xu Xiaoyan shuddered slightly, and replied, "I''m willing, but I''m still scared and not mentally prepared. Can you give me some time, Zhengyu?"


    Yue Zhengyu said in a gentle voice, "What do you need to think about? I''m willing to sacrifice everything for you, and I''ve even used my Sacrifice ability to save your life; isn''t that enough proof of my love for you? For your sake, I''d gladly lay down my life. Xiaoyan, I love you."


    Yue Zhengyu leaned down to kiss Xu Xiaoyan as he spoke.


    All of a sudden, a cold look flashed through Xu Xiaoyan''s eyes, and starlight flashed, upon which the fake Yue Zhengyu was completely immobilized.


    "You''re not Zhengyu! Zhengyu wouldn''t try to coerce me like this! Who are you?" Xu Xiaoyan interrogated in an enraged manner.


    The fake Yue Zhengyu was just about to reply, but Xu Xiaoyan had already slapped him into oblivion.


    Tang Wulin wore a rather peculiar look in his eyes as he turned toward Old Demon Desire. "You failed because you don''t have a deep enough understanding of all of us."


    Old Demon Desire was breathing quite quickly as she countered, "No, it''s not because of that; it''s just that I''ve been thrown off my game by the first few failures, and I became too impatient. Damn it! How could I have allowed myself to make such an elementary mistake? Thankfully, there was at least one successful case!"


    She suddenly smiled as she spoke, and her smile was very beautiful, but Tang Wulin''s heart immediately sank at the sight of it.


    In the final image, Yue Zhengyu was already on top of Xu Xiaoyan.


    The image became rather blurry so Tang Wulin couldn''t see what happened next, but he could still hear their voices.


    Six out of the seven of them hadn''t succumbed to their desires; this was undoubtedly a splendid result. However, the fact that one of them had fallen still struck Tang Wulin with a strong sense of foreboding.


    Old Demon Desire turned to Tang Wulin with a smug expression. "You''re really curious about what happens after someone fails my trial, right?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart tightened as he turned to her with an enraged expression. "What are you going to do?"


    Old Demon Desire chuckled, "You''ll know soon enough; just keep watching."


    After a long while, Yue Zhengyu let loose a blissful moan, and sighed, "I love you, Xiaoyan. I''ll take responsibility for you, and I''ll follow you to the ends of this world."


    "Are you really willing to take responsibility for me?"


    The image became clear again, and both Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan had already put on their clothes. When Xu Xiaoyan asked that question, her voice was already beginning to change, and her original enticing voice had turned harsh and raspy like the unpleasant cries of a crow.


    Right before Yue Zhengyu''s astonished eyes, Xu Xiaoyan''s body slowly became transparent before she transformed into an old woman.


    The old woman cackled, "Young bodies really are the best! I''m Old Demon Desire; welcome to my trial of love and boundless desire. Do you still love me?"


    Yue Zhengyu stared at the old woman with a horrified expression, and his complexion alternated between red and purple. All of a sudden, he threw up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.


    "Snap!" Old Demon Desire snapped her fingers, and said, "That''s the effect I was looking for!"


    Tang Wulin turned to her with a furious expression. "You..."


    Old Demon Desire turned to him with a smile on her face. "There are no limits to human desires. It''s not a bad thing to have desires, but one must constantly exercise restraint. Even when satisfying one''s desires, one must make sure to retain a shred of mental clarity. This is what he gets for not being able to control himself. You were lucky you had that pendant. Otherwise, you''d be in the same situation as him right now."


    Pink light flashed as her voice trailed off, and she abruptly vanished along with the six light screens.


    Old Demon Desire was the fifth demon.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but shudder as he thought of the ordeal that Yue Zhengyu had just suffered. Unbeknownst to him, he had just made love to an old demon, rather than the woman that he loved. This was undoubtedly going to deal him a major blow. If he were in Yue Zhengyu''s shoes, he would also find it very difficult to get over this.


    Could Yue Zhengyu be blamed for not having enough willpower? Tang Wulin didn''t believe that to be the case because he hadn''t been able to hold himself back, either. One could only say that Yue Zhengyu loved without any inhibitions. Yuanen Yehui, Xie Xie, Xu Lizhi, and Ye Xinglan were only able to pass this trial due to the special dynamics in their relationships, and Xu Xiaoyan had simply been lucky as Old Demon Desire had become too impatient when dealing with her. Only then had she been able to spot a fallacy in the fake Yue Zhengyu''s character.


    However, Yue Zhengyu was not so lucky, and this was definitely going to be a very traumatizing experience for him. Tang Wulin didn''t even know how he was going to be able to face Xu Xiaoyan in the future. At the very least, if he were in Yue Zhengyu''s shoes, he wouldn''t know how to live with himself. This was truly an arduous trial of love!


    Zhengyu, you have to stay strong!


    It was undoubtedly the case that Old Demon Desire wouldn''t allow him to meet Yue Zhengyu and tell him the truth. The reality was that he hadn''t done anything other than essentially relieve himself to an illusion of Xu Xiaoyan, but feelings were all so realistic. Tang Wulin could still clearly recall how much it had hurt when he''d pinched himself on the inside of his own leg.


    Everything around him warped once again, and Tang Wulin returned to the valley that they''d first arrived at.


    He looked around to find that he was the only one here. He naturally didn''t think that the old demons would let him off the hook like this, so what was next?


    Right at this moment, a loud string of thuds rang out as if there were a giant beast making its way toward him.


    "You''ve passed, young man." A deep voice rang out, immediately following which a massive old man emerged from the forest.


    Massive was truly an adjective that applied to him. This old man was over three meters tall and extremely rotund. His skin was heavily wrinkled with age, but he still looked slightly younger than all of the other old demons, with the exception of the youthful version of Old Demon Desire.


    He''d passed? What did that mean?

 Chapter 839: Their Story

    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly. "I''ve only been here for six months, but prior to coming here, the academy told us that this military training was going to last two years; you expect me to believe I''ve passed already? You should think of a more convincing lie before you try to trick me."


    The rotund old man made his way over to him. "Why would I lie to you? The two-year period only applies to normal people. Do you really think everyone can cross the ocean and steal an aircraft in just three months like you did? Truth be told, none of your friends managed to complete that mission; you''re the only one who succeeded. Even if one trial is failed, they won''t be given a pass. I''m sure you''ve already figured some things out for yourself; how could Shrek Academy possibly send you here to your deaths? This has all been arranged by the academy in advance," the rotund old man said with a smile.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed in a completely unconvinced manner.


    The old man chuckled, "I can see that you don''t believe me, but I''m sure you''ll be convinced after hearing what I have to say. To start off, let me tell you how this demonic island came to be."


    He sat down in front of Tang Wulin as he spoke, and even then, he was still slightly taller than Tang Wulin in a standing position.


    He waved his right hand through the air, and a table suddenly appeared before him. He then pulled out a bunch of food and placed them all over the table.


    Tang Wulin took two steps backward, even though the alluring aroma wafting from the food was making his stomach growl. With the traumatic experience he''d suffered at the hands of Old Demon Gluttony, he naturally didn''t dare to get complacent here.


    The rotund old man waved a hand. "Come on out, Desire."


    All of a sudden, a young Old Demon Desire appeared before taking a seat at the table.


    The old man said, "You can begin teaching him after I tell him everything."


    Old Demon Desire nodded in response. "Alright. With his aptitude, one month should be enough."


    Despite how convincing everything was looking, Tang Wulin still didn''t dare to believe them.


    The old man smiled, and said, "Alright, let''s start off from the very beginning. This cluster of demonic islands suddenly appeared over 1,000 years ago, and even to this day, we don''t know how these islands came into existence. Of course, we''re not truly demons; we used to be humans as well. The demonic islands were formed by countless fragments that fell from the sky into this region of the ocean. Within these islands, two polar opposite types of energy appeared, both of which you''ve come into contact with already. One of them is extremely rich life force energy, while the other is destructive energy that could annihilate all things. The latter comes from the fragment of destruction that you''ve seen before. Old Demon Scourge was telling the truth when he told you that each island has a fragment of destruction, but they''re all of different sizes.


    "Beside every fragment of destruction, rich life force energy must exist. It''s exactly due to the balance between these two types of energy that has prevented the destructive energy from seeping into the outside world and bringing disaster to the Douluo Continent. From all of the observations that we''ve made during the past centuries, we were able to deduce that these powerful energies of life and destruction didn''t come from our continent itself. In fact, it most likely didn''t even come from this planet."


    Tang Wulin finally couldn''t help but interject here. "They''re not from this planet? Could it be that they''re from another world?" With the advancements in technology, humans had discovered long ago that the Douluo Continent, Star Luo Continent, and Heaven Dou Continent were all situated on a massive sphere known as a planet.


    The planet was named the Douluo Star, and through later observations, it was discovered that there were countless stars and planets in the boundless space. There were countless things that were still undetectable to the human race due to the limitations of technology, but as the most technologically advanced of the three continents, the Douluo Continent was already beginning to delve into space exploration.


    The rotund old man said, "That''s right, the fragments most likely came from another world, and according to our deductions, they could quite possibly be related to us. I''m sure you''re aware of the fact that it''s been many many years since a human has ascended to the Divine Realm like the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, and the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Do gods truly exist?"


    The old man replied without any hesitation, "Yes. There are many extremely specific records of Tang San''s ascension to the Divine Realm. At the time, not only did he become a god, all of the other members of that generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters also became gods. They inherited different godly berths and ascended to the Divine Realm one after another. Tang San has even transmitted some information about the Divine Realm back to our human world in the past. Through this information, we''ve learned that laws and rules exist even in the Divine Realm. In reality, the Divine Realm is a world inhabited by powerful beings who have reached a higher plane of existence. That world governs over worlds of a lower level like ours, and there is also a hierarchy in the Divine Realm.


    "The highest levels of gods there were known as godkings, and the Divine Realm is controlled by the Divine Realm Committee, which is comprised of five godkings. This committee decides the fates of small worlds like ours. However, they seem to be restricted by the rules there and can''t intervene too much with the things that take place in lower worlds."


    This was the first time Tang Wulin had heard of something like this, and even though he was still feeling quite wary, he couldn''t help but be drawn in by the old man''s story.


    The old man continued, "After Tang San became a god, he caught the eye of one of the former godkings and became the heir to that godking. Aside from inheriting the berth of the Sea God, he also became the Asura God, one of the five godkings. The other four godkings consist of the Gods of Kindness, Evil, Life, and Destruction. They control the Divine Realm and naturally dictate the rules of our Douluo Star. However, ever since Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao ascended thousands of years ago, no one has been able to sense the existence of the Divine Realm. With the invention of battle armor, humans have become far more powerful than in the past, and Limit Douluos with suits of four-word battle armor should be more than powerful enough to inherit godly berths and ascend to the Divine Realm.


    "However, no one has been able to sense the Divine Realm for thousands of years, and we can''t help but wonder whether something has happened to the Divine Realm. The conclusion is that this was most likely the case. All of the most powerful beings from Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, and the Spirit Pagoda have tried to sense the existence of the Divine Realm after reaching the height of their powers, all to no avail. This information has been directly confirmed by all three of those organizations, and we can''t think of any reason for this other than the notion that something must''ve happened to the Divine Realm."


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. "Does that mean the Divine Realm doesn''t exist anymore?"


    The old man shook his head. "No one knows exactly what''s happened to the Divine Realm, but we believe there must be something wrong there."


    Tang Wulin asked, "What does that have to do with the demonic islands?"


    The old man replied, "I''ve just told you that among the five godkings of the Divine Realm are the Gods of Life and Destruction. Doesn''t that make you think of anything?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this. "You''re saying those two godkings are related to the creation of these islands?"


    The old man smiled, and Old Demon Desire suddenly interjected, "That''s exactly the conclusion that we arrived at. Around 2,000 years ago, life and destructive energies suddenly fell from the sky. The destructive energy descended as fragments and formed these demonic islands, but they also descended alongside life energy, which has continued to restrict it. The antonym of destruction is creation, and the ultimate goal of creation is to create life. The two are polar opposites, but they exist alongside and assist one another. After those two types of energy appears, this region of the sea was severely impacted. All of the sea soul beasts in this area suddenly became a lot more powerful, to the extent that they were beginning to pose a major threat to Northsea City, which was why the Northsea Legion was erected here. Only after that did we come to explore this place."


    The old man smiled, and continued, "Nightmare was only bluffing this entire time; we wouldn''t ever do anything to truly harm you. We are indeed very lonely here, but we come from the same origins."


    "The same origins?" Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this.


    The old man explained, "We were once also Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and it naturally became our duty to explore the secrets of these energies of life and destruction. Hence, we came here, and that was the beginning of the tragedy that befell us."

 Chapter 840: The Former Shrek’s Seven Monsters

    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted violently upon hearing the words "Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters". All of the situations that couldn''t be explained in the past suddenly made sense. Furthermore, he could sense that this old man was telling the truth here. Both the old man and Old Demon Desire fell silent here.


    It was quite clear that reminiscing about those past events was still a very painful experience for them.


    Old Demon Desire sighed, "When we first arrived near the demonic islands, all of us were very shocked as the region of the sea here had transformed drastically. We were only able to descend onto the island with some technological support from the federation, and even at that time, the sea soul beasts here had become a lot more powerful and spiked drastically in numbers. The federation had introduced soul beast conservation laws as far back as 4,000 years ago, prohibiting people from engaging in senseless slaughter of soul beasts, so we refrained from killing any of the sea soul beasts here. After landing on the island, we began a series of investigations. I''m sure you also noticed when you first set foot on this island that it''s completely devoid of vitality and filled with nothing but a fearsome destructive aura.


    "We also sensed at the time that we wouldn''t be able to survive here for long, but we had to continue our investigation, searching for any potential leads or any signs of life. In the end, we found the fragment of destruction. At the time, we were quite powerful; at the very least, we were far more powerful than you guys currently are. We found this valley, and we finally detected the existence of life force energy here. At the time, our first reaction was that we''d stumbled upon a miraculous oasis, so we remained in the valley to continue our investigation. However, what was different at the time was that the destructive energy was on the outskirts of the island, while the life energy was contained within the valley, and the fragment of destruction hadn''t completely unleashed its power yet.


    "Hence, we discovered the fragment of destruction, it was just a massive crystal that seemed to be imbued with boundless energy. Can you imagine what we felt at the time? We thought that we''d found something that contained an endless supply of energy! We belonged to Shrek Academy, so we naturally hoped to bring this treasure back to the academy for research. Thus, we tried to extricate the fragment of destruction, and that was when the tragedy took place."


    The old man''s face was filled with sorrow as he picked up a chicken drumstick from the table before taking a ferocious bite as if he were trying to vent his rage and sorrow.


    A wry smile appeared on Old Demon Desire''s face, and she took over the story from there. "We had almost no reaction time before all seven of us were obliterated by the destructive energy within the fragment. Our entire existences were wiped away in an instant."


    The old man sighed, "At the time, we didn''t experience any pain. We only felt as if everything had become blurry and indistinct; it was like we''d been plunged into an abstract world with nothing but alternating flashes of light and darkness. It was as if everything was distancing itself from us, but also rapidly approaching us at the same time."


    Old Demon Desire continued, "After what seemed like an eternity, we finally gradually awakened, but we''d lost our bodies forever, so we could only continue to exist on this island as spiritual entities. We also gained control over part of the energies of life and destruction here. After that, we conducted extensive research and deduced that it was most likely the life energy here that saved us. The destructive energy annihilated our bodies, but the life energy protected our souls. That''s why we''re able to exist as these strange demons that are neither humans nor ghosts. The life energy here extended our lifespans, allowing us to live for over 1,000 years, and we''ve always guarded this place from curious explorers.


    "From that point onward, these islands belonged to Shrek Academy. After all, we sacrificed our lives to secure these islands, and there''s no way for us to leave. Without the life energy here to sustain us, our souls would dissipate, and we would die. Hence, we remained here and waited for Shrek Academy to send their brightest young talents to us for training."


    After the old man and Old Demon Desire had told him their story, Tang Wulin chose to believe them. The story simply made everything make sense.


    Old Demon Desire sat before the table in a dazed manner. "We''ve lived far longer than any human being ever has, but we''ll never be able to return to Shrek Academy and witness the beauty of the Sea God''s Island. We''ll never be able to experience the joys of the human world, and we can only remain here as demons."


    The old man said, "I''ll admit that we''re rather twisted and that we do derive some pleasure from torturing all of you, but if you think back, you''ll discover that everything we''ve done has been for your benefit. Not only are we equipping you with more skills, we''re also helping you to grow up more quickly. Only after suffering grueling hardships will you come to realize just how precious life is, and that will make you treat this world more seriously. Do you understand what I''m saying?"


    Tang Wulin slowly nodded. With the threats from Old Demon Nightmare looming over his head, he''d learned how to fly aircrafts and infused destructive energy into his own aura, thereby allowing him to travel freely through these waters.


    The things that Old Demon Gluttony had forced him to eat were extremely disgusting, but the rich life force energy had bolstered his bloodline power significantly, and also neutralized all of the potential damage that the destructive energy may have inflicted on his body. He had experienced both creation and destruction, and the process had culminated in evolution.


    Old Demon Hatred forced them to become stronger mentally through enduring physical pain and taught them how to not succumb to agony, and Old Demon Desire had taught them that it was important to maintain a shred of mental clarity at all times.


    It was only through these extreme methods that they''d been able to evolve so rapidly within such a short time. They had truly become men and women who were equipped to handle anything that the world had to throw at them.


    These lessons were truly immeasurable in value, and they couldn''t be learned in the academy.


    The old man smiled, and said, "You are the fastest to complete our training, so we can teach you some things in a much more peaceful manner now. After you''ve learned everything, you can remain on the island and wait for your friends. After they''ve passed all of their trials or given up along the way, you can all leave together. It''s a rule of ours that all those who come here together must also leave together."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    The trauma he''d suffered during the past six months meant that he still couldn''t bring himself to extend any words of respect toward these old demons, but he''d already believed everything that they told him.


    The old man stood up and nodded at Old Demon Desire before turning away. His rotund frame slowly disappeared into the forest.


    "What should I refer to him as?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Old Demon Desire shook her head. "There''s no need for you to learn his name; you most likely won''t be seeing him before you leave. Alright, let''s begin now. I can teach you a lot of things, and even though many of them won''t contribute to directly enhancing your combat prowess, they''ll help you immensely in other areas."

 Chapter 841: Study

    Old Demon Desire began to teach Tang Wulin, and it was just as the rotund old man had said; all of the torture had already been endured, and these were only normal lessons.


    Tang Wulin was certainly not slow on the uptake, and not only was he learning very quickly, he also quickly began to derive joy from his learning. Just as Old Demon Desire had said, the things that she was teaching him weren''t going to make him stronger, but they were all extremely practical survival skills that would make him a lot more well-rounded rather than a brute who only knew how to fight.


    Old Demon Desire wasn''t his only teacher; soon, Hatred, Scourge, Nightmare, and Gluttony all appeared before him one after another, bestowing all types of complex knowledge upon him.


    Tang Wulin heard from them that even as far back as 10,000 years ago, Shrek Academy had been determined to nurture well-rounded warriors that could adapt to all types of battlefields and thrive in all conditions.


    In the earliest stages of this training regimen''s implementation, there was only one successful subject, and that was the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, the legendary Spirit Ice Douluo, Huo Yuhao.


    Now, Shrek Academy still hadn''t given up on this project, but it was being carried out here as opposed to within the academy.


    Only those who could pass all the trials within a year had the privilege of learning all of this knowledge that was being bestowed upon Tang Wulin now, and he had displayed the best performance out of anyone in 1,000 years.


    During all of the previous trials, the most important and also the most difficult ones were the two aircraft-stealing trials.


    In particular, stealing an aircraft for the second time was extremely difficult as it required one to cross the demonic sea, then infiltrate the Northsea Legion base before successfully emerging with an aircraft, and barely anyone had been able to complete that trial. In fact, only three people had accomplished this during the past 200 years, and all of them went on to become the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion at some point. The current pavilion master, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming was one of those three.


    Tang Wulin was soaking up all of the knowledge being imparted on him like an eager sponge, and he was beginning to incorporate all of these pieces of knowledge.


    There were many things that he didn''t really take notice of during daily life, but only after studying them did he discover how intriguing and complex those subjects were.


    For example, Old Demon Gluttony was giving Tang Wulin lessons on the properties of all types of food ingredients, as well as how different ingredients had to be prepared for maximal nutritional value. This also involved lessons about how to identify different ingredients among plants, animals, and marine organisms. Tang Wulin was absorbing a vast amount of knowledge every day, and he was constantly learning and experimenting for three whole months almost without any rest.


    He didn''t know how the five demons had managed to do this, but they were always able to provide corresponding material to assist him in his learning and cultivation.


    "Alright, we''ve taught you everything there is to be taught. Now, it''s up to you to incorporate this knowledge for yourself. When you return to the continent, there will be many more things for you to learn, and I''m sure this knowledge will all be applicable to your life at some point."


    "Thank you, seniors." Following these three months, Tang Wulin''s hatred toward these five demons had finally been wiped clean.


    Furthermore, he was also gauging the situations that his friends were in, and they were also doing quite well. They''d been on this island for 10 months already, and even though they weren''t progressing as quickly as he did, at the very least, none of them had been broken by the demons.


    They wouldn''t be able to learn everything he had, but at the very least, this experience would still be an immensely valuable one to them.


    Old Demon Desire said, "You can stay on the island for the rest of your time here. You deserve some time to relax. We have the best food here, and a comfortable place for you to live at. After all of your friends complete their trials, you can all leave together."


    When Tang Wulin was taken to his living quarters, he was completely stunned. It was a complete understatement to call this a comfortable place to live.


    This was a treehouse, and Tang Wulin didn''t know how it had been constructed, but the life force energy here was even more abundant than in the rest of the valley. There were all types of furniture, devices, and appliances here, even some very modern pieces of technology. There was a large comfortable bed, and as soon as he sat down onto it, he was struck by a wave of drowsiness.


    After being tortured for six months, then studying for three months, Tang Wulin was completely exhausted. Following the departure of Old Demon Desire, who had taken him here, he fell asleep almost right away. He slept for three days and three nights, and when he woke up again, Old Demon Gluttony had already brought him all types of high-grade foods that were filled with life force energy.


    As he enjoyed his splendid feast, Tang Wulin was almost moved to the point of tears. The rainbow had finally appeared after the storm!


    The scenery on the demonic island wasn''t all that beautiful, but Tang Wulin''s treehouse was situated very high up, so he could even see the blue sea in the distance. The distant scenery was glorious, and Tang Wulin hadn''t been at peace like this for an extremely long time. After filling his stomach, he immediately fell onto his bed and began to sleep again.


    What could be more blissful than this? He had the best food and the best living environment, and no one was there to force him to cultivate. He was living in absolute freedom and bliss. All of the pressure on his shoulders had been alleviated, and all he had to do now was to wait for his friends before departing from this place together.


    Tang Wulin sat on the lounge chair in front of the treehouse and cast his gaze toward the ocean. His entire body felt warm and extremely relaxed and comfortable. Even the cries of the insects and birds around him were like music to his ears.


    He stretched lazily and began to feel drowsy once again. He had been eating delicious food and sleeping his days away every single day. What could be more blissful than this?


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and he stood up before stretching again, then returning to his room.


    At this moment, the rotund old man, Old Demon Desire, Old Demon Scourge, Old Demon Gluttony, Old Demon Nightmare, and Old Demon Hatred were all gathered together in a cave.


    Before was an image that depicted Tang Wulin, who had just returned to his room after some lazy stretching.


    "Hehe, this kid sure is getting complacent," the rotund old man said in a smug voice.


    Old Demon Desire pursed her lips. "What are you looking so smug for? He''s only grown so complacent because of all of our efforts."


    "Even so, I''ll still get the last laugh in the end. This kid really was hard to fool. I can''t believe he learned so much stuff during just three months, tsk, tsk! But no matter how smart or wily he is, he''s still no match for me!"


    "Wait a minute, don''t celebrate too early!" Old Demon Scourge suddenly said in a surprised manner, "He''s not sleeping!"


    The perspective of the image changed to within the room, and it depicted Tang Wulin with a slightly lazy smile on his face. However, he hadn''t laid down to sleep. Instead, he was sitting on his bed with his legs crossed, and hands were placed on his knees with the palms facing upward. He had entered a meditative state and was cultivating his Mysterious Heaven Method!


    The six old demons were completely flabbergasted.


    "We gave him the best living conditions and the best food, yet he still has the heart to meditate? This is impossible! No person in their right mind would still have the motivation to cultivate under these circumstances!" The rotund old man was filled with astonishment and befuddlement.


    Old Demon Desire immediately burst into laughter. "That''s what you get for being so cocky!"


    That''s right, Tang Wulin had begun to cultivate.


    He silently sensed the rich life force energy in the air, and as he activated his Mysterious Heaven Method, he slowly absorbed these pure and abundant natural energies into his body.


    He didn''t try to accelerate the circulation of his Mysterious Heaven Method and only maintained a natural pace. His bloodline aura was also slowly circulating along with his Mysterious Heaven Method.


    Thus, he combed through his soul power and bloodline power in an unhurried manner. He was being very careful as he was worried that he''d accidentally break through his ninth Golden Dragon King seal.


    As long as it wasn''t completely necessary or out of his control, he definitely wouldn''t try to break his seals. The more he absorbed the Golden Dragon King''s energy, the more powerful yet cautious he became.


    The Golden Dragon King''s energy bestowed upon him immense power along with some other things. This type of indescribable energy was changing him in profound ways.


    For example, in the past, Tang Wulin''s style of battle was versatile, and on many occasions, he won through tactics and resourcefulness. However, as his Golden Dragon King bloodline had become more powerful, he found himself gravitating toward a battle style that relied solely on pure strength. Furthermore, his emotions had also become far more steely than in the past.


    He had been on the demonic island for close to a year, and during this time, he had endured all types of unspeakable torture. Throughout this process, his mental state had constantly been changing, and that allowed him to sense his internal problems more clearly.

 Chapter 842: Soul Power Vortex

    Behind all of the immense power that he was attaining, he could sense an unknown threat that was lurking. The negative side-effects of the Golden Dragon King''s bloodline power were becoming more and more apparent to him. It was indeed tremendously powerful, but power could only serve him for the better if he could control it.


    As such, he couldn''t allow it to go out of control no matter what, which was why during his cultivation, Tang Wulin was constantly using his Mysterious Heaven Method to fuse his soul power with his bloodline. In doing so, he was using the pure nature of the Mysterious Heaven Method to filter his bloodline power of the unwanted elements it contained.


    Doing this didn''t result in drastic improvements to his cultivation base, but it was constantly minimizing the risk of something going wrong. Furthermore, his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power was also further compressed during this process. He may only be a five-ring Soul King at the moment, but his levels of soul power compression and purity were definitely far superior to others of the same cultivation rank.


    He was meditating now as he wanted to truly incorporate everything that he''d learned during the past year, so he wasn''t in a hurry to improve his soul power.


    Back when Mu Chen was instructing him in forging, the first lesson that had been taught to him was that it was imperative to build up a stable foundation before trying to scale to new heights. Only with a sound base could one go further in the future.


    As such, Tang Wulin wasn''t in any hurry in his cultivation at the moment. He was merely meditating while slowly circulating his soul power and bloodline power while experiencing all of the minute changes happening within his body.


    Human bodies had countless secrets to be explored, as did martial souls. As he sensed all of the changes taking place all over his body, this notion became clearer and clearer to him. He gradually began to enter a profound state of mediation that was different from normal meditation.


    "It only took 10 minutes to enter deep meditation? This kid is a freak!" Old Demon Nightmare''s speechless expression was mirrored on the faces of all of the other five old demons.


    "What do we do?"


    "What CAN we do? It''s not like we can just rouse him from his deep meditation!"


    "It shouldn''t be like this!" The rotund old man was at the height of his frustration and indignation.


    "That''s what you get!"


    The profound state that Tang Wulin was in lasted for an indeterminate period of time, and during this process, his soul power continued to circulate in a natural manner. When he slowly came to his senses again, he was surprised to discover that in his own mind, his body seemed to have become transparent.


    Everything within his body had taken on a faint golden color, and everything was in perfect harmony. Golden and white soul power drew his bloodline power into a repetitive cycle, thereby forming a vortex.


    The vortex wasn''t very large, but it was filled with extremely abundant soul power that had taken on a liquid form. The gentle soul power vortex combined perfectly with his bloodline power and rotated in a peaceful manner.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that his soul power had become stronger. Even more importantly, all of the energies within his body seemed to be in perfect order. Life force energy was constantly nurturing his entire body, strengthening his flesh, bones, and internal organs while giving them a transparent, almost crystalline appearance.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know what kind of state his body was in, but it seemed to have reached a higher level.


    As for the soul power vortex in his dantian, he knew a little bit about this. However, it was something that should only appear within the bodies of Soul Masters after attaining their sixth soul ring!


    There was a major bottleneck between Soul Emperors and Soul Sages, and this stemmed from the fact that a qualitative change had to take place within one''s soul power to facilitate that breakthrough.


    A seven-ring Soul Sage had to manifest a soul core, and only then could their cultivation rank reach 70. After that, they''d enhance themselves through fusing their bodies with their soul spirits or soul rings, thereby attaining a martial soul true body and ascending to another level.


    Only after becoming a Soul Sage could one be considered as a high-grade Soul Master.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin was still very far away from that stage, but forming a soul power vortex was a mandatory step on the path to manifesting a soul core.


    It could also be said that a soul power vortex was the foundation of a soul core. After a Soul Master attains a soul power vortex, they''d be able to absorb more natural energies, and through the constant rotation of the vortex, their soul power would be compressed steadily until it became a solid soul core.


    Tang Wulin''s soul power was currently only at rank 53, so he was still over 10 ranks away from becoming a Soul Sage. Generally speaking, Soul Masters would only attempt to form soul power vortexes at rank 69, and after that, the soul power vortex would naturally form a soul core, thereby completing the breakthrough. This process was far slower than cultivating at lower ranks, which was why there were so few soul masters above rank 70.


    Once a soul core was formed, a Soul Master would experience a massive increase in their ability to sense and guide natural energies, thereby making them extremely powerful.


    After getting to that stage, they wouldn''t have to worry about exhausting their soul power as their soul core would be able to constantly replenish their soul power from drawing upon natural energies. As long as there wasn''t any extremely excessive expenditure of soul power during a battle, a Soul Sage''s soul power should virtually be limitless.


    Tang Wulin was only at rank 53, yet he had already formed a soul power vortex. This indicated that not only was his level of soul power compression far superior to that of others at the same cultivation rank, it also showed that his understanding of his own soul power had also far outstripped that of his peers.


    Tang Wulin immediately experienced the greatest benefit of having a soul power vortex; through its power, he was able to better control his bloodline power so that it didn''t break through his ninth Golden Dragon King Seal.


    This was a very pleasant surprise! Furthermore, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that his soul power had increased from rank 52 to rank 53. Going up two soul power ranks in a year wasn''t fantastic by any means, but this type of improvement was extremely consistent and reliable. Furthermore, he had learned so much during this past year as well.


    He could conclude his meditation now, and he had no idea how much time had passed.


    Just as he was about to awaken from his meditative state, his body suddenly shuddered, and an indescribable sensation welled up in his heart.


    It was as if a seed had been planted in his body, and it had grown into a seedling that was finally beginning to release its life force energy.


    This was an extremely wonderful feeling; it was as if his entire body had instantly been surrounded by boundless life force energy, as if he had been completely inundated by a sea of life force energy that was rich to the extreme.


    "Whoosh!"


    All of a sudden, six heads turned toward a certain direction in unison. Expressions of astonishment appeared on the faces of all six old demons.


    "What''s going on?"


    They were greeted by the sight of a green pillar of light erupting into the sky from somewhere on the island. The immense life force energy on the island suddenly multiplied by severalfold!


    This was an extremely rare scenario, and all of the old demons were completely stunned.


    "Life Tide? Didn''t the last Life Tide only appear 20 years ago? Why is there another one now?"


    Life Tides only occurred on the demonic island once every 100 years, and when they appeared, the destructive energy on the island would be at its most feeble, while the life energy spiked to its maximal extent. Every time this took place, huge numbers of sea soul beasts would gather near the demonic island to absorb this life energy in order to facilitate evolution.


    This was why there were so many powerful sea soul beasts near the demonic islands. As opposed to keeping people from coming out, they were protecting the islands from intruders.


    This type of Life Tide benefitted soul beasts even more so than it did humans, and it could even directly trigger positive mutations in a soul beast''s bloodline, thereby making them truly evolve into higher-level life forms.


    However, the last Life Tide had just taken place 20 years ago, so this was completely unexpected and unprecedented.


    Streaks of light flashed through the air as the old demons quickly gathered together.

 Chapter 843: Life Tide

    Aside from the original six, a new old demon had joined them. This demon''s appearance was rather comical; he had small eyes, a large nose, and wide mouth, an extremely long chin, and a hunched back. Despite his appearance, all of the other six old demons very naturally stood before him in a formation of subordination.


    "Why has a Life Tide suddenly appeared, Boss?" Old Demon Scourge asked in an urgent manner.


    The old man shook his head with tightly furrowed brows. "I don''t know what happened, either. I''ve been restricting the destructive energy on this island this entire time, and all of a sudden, the destructive energy suddenly became weaker, immediately following which this Life Tide appeared. This Life Tide is also different from the ones in the past; under normal circumstances, I can sense a Life Tide around 10 years before it arrives as it steadily builds before erupting all at once. However, this Life Tide arrived without any premonition. Go and release those kids so they can be blessed by this Life Tide; they really are extremely fortunate to have encountered a Life Tide."


    "I''ll go right away!" Old Demon Nightmare immediately volunteered.


    "Wait a minute, look at the direction the Life Tide is stemming from," the rotund old man suddenly said.


    "It''s coming from his treehouse?" Old Demon Scourge also quickly realized what was happening.


    "What''s going on?" the unfamiliar old man who had just appeared asked.


    Old Demon Desire explained, "It''s that Tang Wulin. He''s been in deep meditation for over three months, and the Life Tide seems to be stemming from where he is rather than from around the fragment of destruction; this is really strange."


    "Could it be that his deep meditation triggered this Life Tide? How is that even possible?" Old Demon Hatred was completely incredulous.


    All of the old demons glanced at one another to see their own astonishment mirrored on each other''s faces.


    They''d been here for over 1,000 years, and they''d grasped all of the patterns on this demonic island. Whenever something that didn''t follow these patterns occurred, they would gain a greater understanding of the demonic island.


    Even though they were only spiritual entities, they were the guardians of this place, so it was naturally imperative for them to understand as much as they could about this place.


    "Let''s go!" The leader of the old demons waved a hand, and all seven of them vanished amid flashes of light.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know what was happening in the outside world. He could only feel the life force energy around him becoming more and more abundant, and it was enveloping him like a massive cocoon.


    This was a very unique and wonderful feeling; he couldn''t even breathe anymore, but he had never felt so comfortable before.


    Unbeknownst to him, a halo of light had appeared around his body. It wasn''t one of his normal Bluesilver Emperor soul rings, and nor was it one of his golden bloodline soul rings. Instead, it was that greenish-golden soul ring.


    The soul ring glowed with a peculiar light, and when he''d first attained it, he couldn''t even activate its power after injecting all of his soul power into it. Only with the assistance of Atlas Douluo Yun Ming was he able to activate it for a short time.


    Tang Wulin had named the soul skill that this soul ring gave him "Son of Nature".


    At this moment, the greenish-golden soul ring was glowing brighter than it ever had, and the rich life force energy emanating from it was fusing as one with the energy from the Life Tide.


    Throughout this process, the entire demonic island was shuddering slightly, and in the distant ocean, countless sea soul beasts surged toward the island in a frenzy. More and more sea soul beasts began to gather to absorb the immensely rich life force energy here.


    Tang Wulin''s consciousness was completely immersed in life force energy around him, and much to his surprise, a series of illusionary images were appearing deep within his mind.


    He saw a nine-colored ball of light that was flashing steadily, and every time it flashed, it struck the beholder with the sense that their soul had been elevated to a higher plane.


    The ball of light then gradually began to expand to several times its original size. At the same time, it also became more and more transparent as if its exterior were thinning out.


    Tang Wulin could see clouds and mist, as well as mountains and rivers within the ball of light. It was an incredible sight to behold.


    Right at this moment, a burst of powerful grey energy surged forth from the distance. The grey energy was far too enormous; spread over the entirety of heaven and earth, encompassing everything in his field of view, including that ball of light.


    The light from the nine-colored ball began to flash more rapidly, and with every single flash, the ball would shudder violently. Thin cracks began to appear on its surface, and it seemed to be about to shatter in the face of the grey energy.


    However, right at this moment, the surface of the ball of light suddenly transformed, and two balls of light appeared. One of them was green while the other was purple, and they combined to form a mystical white light that encompassed the entire nine-colored ball of light within it. The cracks sealed, and the nine-colored ball of light shrank down again, making it impossible to see what was inside it, but at the very least, it didn''t shatter.


    The enormous and terrifying burst of grey energy swept forth, and the nine-colored ball of light trembled incessantly before being swept away into the distance.


    For some reason, a hint of indescribable sorrow welled up from deep within Tang Wulin''s heart upon seeing this. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to yell with all his might and latch onto that ball of light.


    All of a sudden, three specks of light began to expand in his field of view. Two of the specks of light were purple and green, but compared to the balls of light that had protected the nine-colored ball of light, these two specks of light were a lot more feeble. The two of them gradually became clearer to Tang Wulin as they clashed over and over again, and he discovered that there was a humanoid figure within each ball of light. However, they were extremely faint and indistinct, to the extent that they were only barely visible. The purple figure seemed to be a man, while the green figure appeared to be a woman. They were trying to reach for one another, but were simply unable to do so.


    Finally, following one more clash, the purple figure shattered into countless tiny purple shards that flew away in all directions. The green figure let loose a cry of grief before also disintegrating into specks of green light that proliferated outward. These specks of green light latched onto those purple shards before winding themselves around the shards like a series of green vines.


    The third speck of light also became clear to Tang Wulin at this moment, and it was a golden ball of light. His heart rate suddenly accelerated drastically at the sight of it, and a strong sense of sorrow and dejection welled up in his heart.


    The speck of golden light abruptly began to expand before him, and in the next instant, everything disappeared.


    Both Tang Wulin''s body and soul trembled uncontrollably, and he was unable to collect himself even after a long while.


    After what seemed like an eternity, he finally gradually regained his composure. Life and destruction; those were life and destruction that he''d just witnessed.


    The purple light seemed to represent destruction, while the green light represented life; so what did that golden light represent? And what was that ball of light that destruction and creation had both tried to protect?


    Only a short time had passed in real life, but Tang Wulin felt as if he''d been in this trance-like state for an entire century.


    He could clearly sense that there was something extra in his mind, but he simply couldn''t grasp it or make sense of it.


    He exhaled in a resigned manner before slowly opening his eyes. Much to his surprise, a series of green and purple halos had appeared around him, and they were gradually fading away.


    There was nothing different with his body, but he had a unique indescribable sensation in his heart. He inspected himself internally and was surprised to find that something had appeared at the center of his recently formed soul power vortex.


    These were two tiny specks of light, one of which was green while the other was purple. They were slowly rotating around one another, and when Tang Wulin tried to decipher what they were by directing his consciousness toward those balls of light, he was struck by a sense of disorientation before everything became blurry in his mind.


    A short while later, everything returned to normal, and he found himself inspecting those two specks of light once again.


    Did they stem from life and destruction? But why had they appeared in his body? He already had the Golden Dragon King bloodline and Mysterious Heaven Method soul power; was it not crowded enough already in there?


    More importantly, Tang Wulin had no idea whether having these energies in his body was a blessing or a curse. He shook his head in a speechless manner before opening his eyes once again.


    "Argh, you..." He was given quite a fright as he was greeted by the sight of seven pairs of eyes, all of which were focused intently on him.


    In addition to the six old demons he''d seen before, a new one had appeared, and he was standing directly before Tang Wulin.


    "Both a Life Tide and Destruction Tide have appeared at the same time, and you triggered both of them. What did you do?" the old man asked in an urgent manner.

 Chapter 844: I Have Love in My Heart

    Tang Wulin was quite befuddled. "I didn''t do anything! I was just meditating, and I have no idea what happened after that." He was telling the truth; he had no idea what had happened, and as for what he had experienced just now, he wasn''t planning to disclose those details.


    "Run us through what you''ve been doing just now," Old Demon Scourge prompted.


    A cold smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Release me and my friends, and I''ll consider telling you."


    All of the old demons faltered upon hearing this, and the rotund old man flared up with rage. "Have you gone insane, you little bastard? Don''t you know you should respect your elders?"


    Tang Wulin chuckled in response. "Respect my elders? If I''m not mistaken, you''re Old Demon Sloth, right?"


    All of the old demons were stunned to hear this, and their expressions changed slightly as they appraised Tang Wulin.


    Old Demon Sloth wore an incredulous look as he asked, "How did you know?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I guessed, and it looks like I guessed right! It''s all thanks to your teachings that I''ve managed to deduce everything! Let me break this down for you all; after enduring Old Demon Desire''s trial, I''d endured the worst of the torture that was being inflicted on me. After that, you told me that you were once Shrek''s Seven Monsters. I wasn''t entirely convinced by that, but at the very least, you''ve disclosed one piece of information to me, which is that there should be seven of you. Six of you have already become old demons, so the other one must''ve also suffered the same fate."


    Tang Wulin turned to the rotund old man, and continued, "There were five demons who tortured us, and you''re the sixth one, but you refused to tell me your name, so I was quite suspicious of you from the get-go. However, the story you told made complete sense, and from my deduction, I could tell that the story was most likely true; not only were you testing us, you were also nurturing us. During the next few months, I became even more convinced by this notion as you began to teach me all types of things, and I really did learn a lot. However, I never let down my guard even for a split second.


    "The first five demons all derived joy from torturing us; is the sixth demon supposed to be a saint? Even right before I went into meditation, I couldn''t make up my mind about everything. After all, you''ve all been so good to me for the past few months that my animosity toward you all has basically been completely wiped away. That is, until I opened my eyes and saw seven of you. I was right in that there were indeed seven of you in total, and in that case, an alternative explanation has arisen for everything that you, Old Demon Sloth, have been doing; you''ve been luring me into complacency.


    "You were all genuinely bestowing knowledge upon me, and the story you told was also true, so the only issue left is your identity. You''re Old Demon Sloth because everything you did was working toward luring me into a false sense of security. After I learned everything and was given the best living conditions I could imagine, all of the exhaustion that I''d accumulated during the past year would undoubtedly catch up to me, and I would inevitably become complacent. You did all of this so I would drop my guard and become lazy. Perhaps you wanted to see whether I would still have the will to continue cultivating under such conditions, isn''t that right, Senior Sloth?"


    All of the old demons wore peculiar expressions upon hearing his analysis, and of course, Old Demon Sloth was the most appalled among all of them.


    "This is impossible! I could clearly sense that you''d completely relaxed and lowered your guard. After a year of torture and learning, even the most mentally resolute person can''t continue to remain calm and objective," Old Demon Sloth countered in an indignant manner.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "You''re right, I did completely relax at the time because my mind would''ve been broken had I not allowed myself to relax. However, I wasn''t worried in the slightest that I would embrace laziness and lose my will to improve myself because there''s something in my heart that''s constantly spurring me on."


    Old Demon Sloth faltered upon hearing this. "What is it?"


    Tang Wulin turned to Old Demon Desire, and said, "Senior Desire should know the answer to that question; it''s love! For the person I love, I have to become more powerful so I can possess the ability to protect her. Hence, I can rest, but only on the condition that it''ll benefit my future cultivation. Hence, I began to meditate, and it looks like I was pretty much spot on with my deductions. I have to thank all of you for training and educating me for the past year. Now then, what trial do you have for me, Senior."


    Tang Wulin turned to the new demon he''d never seen before with a faint smile on his face.


    The old man smiled and began to applaud him. "Fantastic! The academy hasn''t placed their hopes on the wrong people; looks like our Shrek Academy will be producing another freakish prodigy! I''m extremely elated to see this. My name is Greed, you may refer to me as Old Demon Greed."


    Old Demon Greed! As expected, there were seven old demons, and just as Tang Wulin had deduced, each of them represented one of the seven cardinal sins.


    "What kind of trial do you have for me?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Old Demon Greed smiled, and replied, "There''s no need for that; you''ve already passed. Your mindset and intelligence are unmatched, so my trial would simply be pointless to you. Your demonic island military training is over; congratulations on being our most exceptional trainee in at least the past 500 years."


    Tang Wulin didn''t bother to ask who had performed better than him over 500 years ago, and he became a lot more relaxed upon hearing this.


    A serious expression then appeared on Old Demon Greed''s face as he continued, "However, you have to tell us what happened to you that triggered both a Life Tide and Destruction Tide at the same time. Back when only the Life Tide had appeared, we were only surprised, but after the Destruction Tide also appeared at the same time, we knew that something special was going on. This kind of change could affect this entire cluster of demonic islands, so we need to know the truth."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I''m sorry, Senior; due to the fantastic training all of you have provided me with, the first lesson that I learned is to not easily trust others. Hence, I still can''t figure out whether you''re lying to me or not, so I can''t tell you anything."


    All of the old demons were completely speechless upon hearing this. They felt as if they''d shot themselves in the foot.


    Old Demon Scourge asked, "What do we have to do for you to tell us?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ll reveal everything in the instant that my friends and I are about to leave this place. To be honest, I don''t even know whether I''m in reality or in a dream right now because there are too many things here that aren''t real."


    Old Demon Nightmare raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "As expected, you really have caught on. In that case, I''ll rouse you from your dream first."


    He waved a hand toward Tang Wulin as he spoke, and a wave of dizziness swept past, following which everything quickly transformed. The treehouse disappeared along with the beautiful scenery in the distance, and when he recovered from the rush of dizziness, he found himself standing on the spot in the valley where he''d first fallen unconscious around a year ago. His friends were all lying nearby, and they were all doing different things. Some were leaping and running, and some were seated with their legs crossed. All of them wore different expressions on their faces and seemed to be undertaking different tasks.


    "Are they all hallucinating?" Tang Wulin asked in a surprised manner.


    Old Demon Nightmare replied in a cryptic manner, "What is reality and what is illusion?"

 Chapter 845: Time to Leave

    Tang Wulin hurriedly inspected his internal condition to find that his soul power was still there, as were those green and purple specks of light. Everything that he had learned was also cemented firmly in his mind.


    Those hallucinations were simply far too terrifying and realistic, and he may have spent over a year trapped in them.


    "Inside the hallucinations, time passes at a quarter of the speed as it does in the real world, so you''ve only been here for less than four months," Old Demon Greed said.


    "Your friends still haven''t completed their trials, so they''ll require some more time. What I have to tell you is that it won''t be a good thing for them to have their trials brought to premature ends. They need to go through the complete process and rebuild themselves on a psychological level, especially that kid." Old Demon Nightmare pointed at Yue Zhengyu as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin immediately recalled Yue Zhengyu''s horrific experiences, and as he looked around at the seven old demons, he finally truly believed them.


    "Alright, I''ll tell you all what happened. Firstly, I really don''t know how I managed to trigger this Life Tide and Destruction Tide that all of you are talking about. From my perspective, I could only suddenly sense that the life energy around me had become more powerful at the conclusion of my meditation, and after that, I saw a really strange sequence of scenes."


    Thus, Tang Wulin gave all of the old demons a specific recount of everything he''d seen, only neglecting to tell them about the two specks of light that had appeared in his soul power vortex.


    He was still maintaining a shred of caution, so he naturally couldn''t reveal everything. At the same time, he disclosed all of this information as he also wanted to hear the old demons'' analysis. They were the beings that were most familiar with the life and destruction energies on the demonic islands, so their input on this matter would definitely be the most reliable.


    After hearing Tang Wulin''s story, all seven old demons'' brows furrowed in unison as if they''d all fallen into deep thought.


    "The purple light is definitely destruction, while the green light has to be life. This means that you most likely saw projections of the Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction when you were in your trance-like state. There''s only one place that they would protect, and that''s the Divine Realm. Perhaps what you saw explains why we''ve been unable to contact the Divine Realm. This is extremely important information; I''ll compile a detailed report based on what you''ve told us, then get you to deliver that report to the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion after you get back to the academy," Old Demon Greed said in a serious manner.


    "I''ll be happy to do that." Tang Wulin immediately nodded in response.


    Old Demon Greed continued, "I just don''t understand why you were able to trigger all of this. Did you feel anything else at the time? And what was that golden speck of light?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I don''t know, either, but when I saw that golden speck of light, my emotions suddenly began to fluctuate violently, and I was struck by a strong sense of sorrow reminiscent of when my parents left me."


    Old Demon Greed''s brows furrowed even further. "It''s too hard for us to draw any concrete conclusions based on that information alone. You keep meditating here and see if you can enter that state again. After exiting Nightmare''s illusionary realm, you won''t be able to re-enter it, so you''ll have to wait here for your friends."


    "Alright," Tang Wulin immediately agreed before turning to Old Demon Gluttony before asking, "Was all that food you brought to me real? Is there any more of that?"


    "No! Do you know how much of my food you''ve eaten? The life force energy here is so abundant; you don''t even need food! Just go and cultivate!" Old Demon Gluttony grumbled before vanishing in a flash.


    Tang Wulin then turned to Old Demon Sloth, and even now, the latter was still filled with rage and indignation. He swept a sleeve through the air in a furious manner and also disappeared.


    Old Demon Desire chuckled, "You''ve really hurt Sloth''s self-esteem this time. I feel sorry for your friends; he''s definitely going to vent his fury on them. Greed, are you really not planning to test him? Your test is the sternest of all of our trials."


    Old Demon Greed shook his head. "There''s no need for that. Unless I forcibly wipe away part of his memory, my test won''t do anything. I''m sure this kid won''t be blinded by greed."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but chuckle internally. After all, he had always loved money ever since he was a child, so he was actually quite susceptible to falling into a trap of greed!


    Thus, the old demons departed, leaving Tang Wulin and his friends, all of whom were still doing different things. Tang Wulin was quite relieved to see that they were all fine, and aside from meditation, he couldn''t really think of anything else to do. At the same time, he wanted to sense just what function the purple and green specks of light in his body served.


    However, no matter what he tried, he was unable to enter deep meditation again, nor was he able to ascertain the functions of those two specks of light.


    His soul power could be cultivated normally, and there was nothing amiss about the rotation of his soul power vortex, either. It was as if those two specks of light merely existed in his body, but had nothing to do with him, and his energy was unable to affect them in the slightest.


    A month passed in the real world, so four months had passed in Old Demon Nightmare''s illusionary realm. The other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters finally concluded their nightmarish journey.


    The second one to awaken was Ye Xinglan, followed by Yuanen Yehui, Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Yue Zhengyu was the only one who was yet to awaken.


    When everyone heard Tang Wulin recount the ordeal that Yue Zhengyu had suffered, Xu Xiaoyan had a deep blush on her face for two full days, but no one could bring themselves to laugh. They were only horrified by just how terrifying these old demons were. Their tests had pushed them to the absolute extreme.


    Tang Wulin was struck by a rather peculiar feeling as he looked at all of his friends. They had spent over four months here, which was only less than two years in the illusionary realm, but everyone seemed to have grown up and were wise beyond their years. This was undoubtedly going to be a trip that they''d never forget.


    Yue Zhengyu finally awakened seven days later.


    His body shuddered, and as soon as his vision became clear again, he immediately caught sight of Xu Xiaoyan.


    His lips trembled, and he sat down heavily onto the ground. "I''m so sorry, Xiaoyan!"


    Tears almost instantly began to flow from his eyes.


    Everyone wore peculiar expressions as Xu Xiaoyan rushed over to him before holding him in her arms and gently patting his back. "It''s alright, everything''s in the past now. You did nothing wrong; I very nearly did the same thing."


    Yue Zhengyu finally began to calm down after half an hour, yet he was still filled with hatred at the mere mention of Old Demon Desire''s name.


    "It''s time for all of you to leave." Light flashed, and the seven old demons appeared before everyone in unison with different expressions on their faces.


    All of Shrek''s Seven Monsters still couldn''t help but be horrified by the sight of them, with the exception of Tang Wulin.


    They had endured far too much torture here, and they''d all been severely traumatized.


    Old Demon Greed smiled, and said, "I''m sure you''ll remember your experiences here for the rest of your lives. Congratulations on completing this military training. All of you have lasted until the very end, and that''s an extraordinary feat in itself. All of you are more than qualified to be the new generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and now, you''ll be facing your final test. No one will take you away from here; you have to leave through your power. I have to remind you that from now on, you''re in the real world, and not an illusion. You have to face the Northsea Legion on your own, and if you die, you''ll stay dead. The aircrafts you stole have appeared in the illusionary realm, but the process wasn''t entirely fake. At the very least, I can tell you all that the military officials from the Northsea Legion that you''ve encountered all hate you with a vengeance. Alright, you may leave at any time now."

 Chapter 846: Shen Xings Nightmares

    Everyone heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. They were going to leave after two whole years!


    They had had more than enough of this place.


    Tang Wulin turned to the old demons, and he could see hints of dejection and loneliness in their eyes.


    "Senior, is there really no way for you to leave this demonic island? Alternatively, is there anything I can help you with or any requests that I can fulfill for all of you?"


    Old Demon Greed shook his head, and Old Demon Scourge chuckled, "We appreciate the thought, but we''re nothing more than bodies of energy, so if we leave here, we''ll immediately dissipate into nothingness without the energies of life and destruction to protect us. We''re extremely lonely here, but we''re able to live far longer than normal humans, so it''s not all bad here. If you want, you can come back to visit us from time to time. Of course, we wouldn''t mind putting you through another round of training."


    "Let''s go, Captain!" Yue Zhengyu shuddered as he tugged on Tang Wulin''s arm.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched before he suddenly yelled. "Attention, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters!"


    Everyone immediately stood up straight beside him. Tang Wulin then continued in a solemn manner, "Bow!"


    ¡­¡­


    "Argh!" Shen Xing was gasping for air as she sat up in her bed.


    She had lost count of how many times she''d woken up in a cold sweat in the night during the past few months.


    The dreams were always so realistic; she was only completing a routine check of the soul bomb warehouse, but she encountered a completely unexpected turn of events. That man''s face was still so clear in her mind. He had kidnapped her and threatened her sister. He then abducted her onto a Skyglide 17 aircraft, and in the end, the bastard ejected her out of her seat!


    All of her nightmares concluded with a strong sense of vertigo and weightlessness. Shen Xing could still clearly recall that when she''d awakened from this nightmare for the first time, she''d wet her bed in an extremely pathetic display. She had been humiliated beyond belief.


    That man truly existed, and he had once been detained by the legion along with his friends before they stole an aircraft and escaped, but none of that had anything to do with her!


    She hadn''t even met him before the day that she was taken hostage, so what had she done to deserve these nightmares?


    What was even stranger was that her sister had also suffered from similar nightmares that depicted scenes identical to those in her nightmares.


    Dammit! Piss off from my dreams!


    Shen Xing thumped the mattress beneath her with her fists and found herself unable to fall asleep again.


    She stood up before putting on her military uniform, then making her away over to a mirror. Due to how terribly she''d been sleeping recently, she constantly had dark rings around her eyes. In the past, she was able to fall asleep easily as she trained extremely hard during the day, but now, it was so difficult for her to get to sleep, so she had no choice but to dedicate more of her time to meditation.


    Shen Xing decided to go out for some air. After getting some fresh air into her lungs, she would return to her bed to meditate. At the very least, she couldn''t suffer from nightmares during meditation.


    That bastard went to the demonic island; I hope he never comes back! Otherwise, he''s going to pay for all of this!


    Shen Xing exited her room and wandered aimlessly through the base. She wasn''t a high-ranking military officer, but she held an extremely important monitoring role, so all of the patrolling soldiers that were passing by extended salutes toward her.


    The Northsea Legion base was situated near the coastline, so the sea breeze made the nights quite cool and balmy. Only after standing in the breeze for a while did Shen Xing''s frustrations abate slightly.


    "Huh? How did I end up here?" Before she knew it, she had unconsciously made her way to the soul bomb warehouse in her dreams.


    Her brows furrowed as she turned to leave, but she then suddenly stopped.


    Perhaps it was a good idea to visit the site of her dreams. Maybe that would give her some closure and rid her of these nightmares. Otherwise, it was extremely tortuous to be going to sleep every day with constant fear in her heart.


    With that in mind, she made her way into the warehouse. With her high-level identification card, she quickly arrived underground on the elevator.


    All of the soldiers who were on guard duty extended military salutes toward her as a gesture of respect.


    "Advisor Shen, are you still doing your rounds at such a late hour?" the major who was responsible for managing the warehouse asked with a smile.


    Shen Xing was very beautiful, but he didn''t dare to try and cross any boundaries with her. She was the sister of the leader of the entire legion, so she held an extremely lofty position. She was only here at the legion base to accumulate some experience, and it was said that she would return to the military soon for another deployment.


    "Yes, I''m just here to have a look," Shen Xing replied with an aloof nod.


    "No problem. Open the gate!"


    Important warehouses like this soul bomb warehouse required three keys and a designated password to be opened. A pair of key-carrying captains immediately rushed over at the major''s behest, and the only gate only began to slowly open after the input of a special password, as well as an eye scan from Shen Xing.


    The warehouse had many soul bombs stored within it, so it naturally gave off a menacing aura. There weren''t any super soul bombs stored here, but the total value of all of the weapons here was still quite enormous, and it was one of the most important warehouses in the Northsea Legion base.


    After making her way into the warehouse, a sense of nostalgia immediately welled up in Shen Xing''s heart. She was dreaming of this place every single day, so she felt as if she visited this place regularly, even though that wasn''t the case.


    Shen Xing made her way through the warehouse and looked around at the soul bombs in a dazed manner. All of a sudden, she reflexively stopped in her footsteps. "There should be four fifth-grade soul bombs here; why have they gone missing? Bring out the warehouse records for me."


    She had stopped right beside a shelf that was stacked with soul bombs, but in her memory, there should''ve been four fifth-grade soul bombs here as well.


    She could clearly remember this as in her dream, that bastard had hidden near this shelf for a moment with her as his hostage.


    However, as soon as the words slipped out of her mouth, she regretted what she''d said. Those were nothing more than dreams! It was ridiculous for her to ask about details that she''d seen in her dream in reality...


    However, she received no reply for her request, and she reflexively turned around to look at the major that was responsible for managing the warehouse, just in time to see a hint of astonishment flash through his eyes.


    That''s impossible! The last time she was here was a few months ago!


    All soul bombs of all types and grades had extremely strict storage regulations, and their positions couldn''t be changed unless they''d been sent to the front lines.


    "I''m asking you a question!" Shen Xing was very smart, and she quickly realized that something was amiss. As such, her voice became quite cold as she exerted more pressure on the major.


    The major hurriedly put on a smile, and said, "Those bombs were sent to the front lines, and it''ll take me a while to get the records involved."


    Shen Xing commanded, "Get the records for me right now!"


    The major hurriedly nodded, and said, "Please wait here; I''ll get the records for you right away."


    He turned and made a hand signal to the two captains as he spoke, and all three of them began to depart from the warehouse.


    "Why are all three of you going at once? Just one is enough," Shen Xing said in a cold voice.


    "Alright." The major faltered in his footsteps, but when he turned around, light suddenly flashed, and Shen Xing felt a tremor run through her entire body. A strong wave of paralysis then immediately washed over her, and she slowly slumped to the ground.


    Her eyes widened in shock, and she couldn''t believe that this was actually happening.


    Military officials who were responsible for managing soul bomb warehouses had to go through rigorous political reviews, but it was quite obvious that not only was there an issue with this major, the two captains were also accomplices.


    A sinister look appeared on the major''s face, and he hurried over to Shen Xing before wrenching off the communicator on her chest. He did so in an extremely rough manner, so the top two buttons on her military uniform were also torn away.


    The button''s clattered to the ground, revealing a sliver of snowy white skin on her chest. However, she was completely paralyzed and couldn''t even yell out.


    The major''s breathing accelerated as he yelled, "Why? Why are you able to remember things so clearly? Even I can''t remember how many bombs should be on which shelves!"


    Shen Xing couldn''t say anything in response, so she could only glare at him with a cold expression.


    A dejected expression appeared on his face. "I didn''t want to do this. I know how severe a crime it is to sell soul bombs, but I had no choice. They abducted my entire family, and my son is in their hands. I really don''t have any alternatives. I have to go now. If you want to blame anyone, then you can only blame yourself for being too nosy. I''ll be taking you with me. You''re the general''s sister, so I''m sure you''ll be very valuable to them, and perhaps they''ll release my family in exchange for you. You two, carry Advisor Shen out of here; we have to leave right away. It''s a good thing that it''s night time right now; inform the people on the outside that we''re leaving right now!"

 Chapter 847: Him Again

    The major had regained composure at this point, and he wrenched Shen Xing up from the ground.


    Right at this moment, he suddenly stumbled as he felt as if something had bumped into his leg. He immediately dragged Shen Xing aside along with him, following which a square block of metal began to rise up from the ground right before his astonished eyes.


    Immediately thereafter, a person crawled out of the opening, and the first things that appeared were a pair of shimmering golden arms that were covered in rhomboid scales.


    The heavy metal block was like a weightless toy in his hands that was tossed aside with ease, and in the next instant, he had already fully emerged from underground.


    Under normal circumstances, the major would''ve raised the alarm right away, but Shen Xing had just discovered his secret, so he certainly couldn''t do that!


    "Who are you?" the major yelled as a paralysis laser shot forth toward the golden figure from the gun in his hand.


    The laser struck the man with unerring accuracy, but he''d managed to shield himself with one of his shimmering golden arms. A faint golden light emerged from the spot that had been struck by the laser, and the man examined his arms as he murmured, "It feels a little numb!"


    Immediately thereafter, an indescribably fearsome aura erupted from his body, and the major felt as if he were facing a terrifying beast rather than a human. Just being in this man''s presence was making him feel as if his blood were about to congeal in his veins.


    A series of figures sprang out of the hole on the ground, and in the next instant, the major completely blacked out.


    Tang Wulin looked down at the paralyzed Shen Xing with a surprised look on his face.


    A long time had passed in Nightmare''s illusionary realm, but he still immediately identified this advisor that he''d once held hostage. What a coincidence that they were meeting again here!


    They had just left the demonic island and infiltrated the base through the underground tunnel he''d dug out before, and one of the first people he encountered was this old "acquaintance".


    Prior to leaving the demonic island, Tang Wulin had discussed some options with his friends, and it was concluded that the best course of action would be to leave through the tunnel he''d dug out before. After all, this was the method that was least likely to get them caught. As long as they could enter the Northsea Legion base, it would be much easier for them to depart. Furthermore, from everyone''s experiences in infiltrating the Northsea Legion base in Nightmare''s illusion realm, they could roughly deduce that this warehouse was quite close to the inland direction of the city, so they wouldn''t have to travel far to escape from the base.


    On top of that, they had an additional advantage this time, which was that they weren''t afraid of being caught.


    After concluding their demonic island cultivation, they didn''t have to worry about being delayed here anymore. In the past, they really had stolen a Skyglide 17 aircraft from the base, but that was the only real aircraft that they''d stolen; the rest were all simulated by Old Demon Nightmare''s illusionary realm. It was still a pretty severe crime, but they were Shrek''s Seven Monsters, so the military wouldn''t dare to do anything to them. All they could really do was inform the academy and ask them for compensation.


    As such, all they had to do was be detained after infiltrating the base, then fabricate a somewhat plausible explanation for everything that they''d done, and they''d be sent on their way sooner or later; it was just going to take longer that way.


    Unfortunately, with their personalities, they certainly didn''t want to return to the academy under such embarrassing circumstances; that would be a waste of all of the torment they''d suffered on the demonic island. They had learned so many things, and they had to put their newfound knowledge to good use.


    However, what they didn''t expect was to witness such a farcical scenario as soon as they entered the base.


    Tang Wulin had already heard a part of the conversation as he hid underground which was why he''d managed to appear in the nick of time.


    It had to be said, Tang Wulin was feeling rather strange at the sight of this Major Shen Xing, whom he''d abducted once before. At the same time, his admiration for Old Demon Nightmare grew significantly. He was only a spirit body, but his spiritual power had to have reached an unfathomable level! Only then would he be able to grasp the situation within the entire Northsea Legion base. If he wanted to, he could most likely destroy the entire base with ease with his insane spiritual power.


    Shen Xing stared up at Tang Wulin in complete incredulity. When her body had been completely paralyzed, and she heard that the major was going to hand her over to some unknown enemy, she felt as if she were about to go insane. She was naturally aware of how terrifying it would be if she were to be held as hostage and used as leverage against her sister. Not only would that be a disaster for her, it would be a disaster for her entire family!


    In her nightmares, her sister had succumbed to Tang Wulin''s conditions in exchange for her release, and in reality, she firmly believed that her sister would do the same thing. They shared an extremely close bond as sisters, and she knew that her sister definitely wasn''t the type of person to turn her back on family.


    In important situations, her sister was more likely to turn to her subjective and emotional side rather than retain objectivity.


    If her sister were to commit a major crime for her sake, then her entire family would undoubtedly suffer dire consequences. As such, she would''ve rather died than be abducted by the major.


    Every young woman had an ideal image of a knight in shining armor in their hearts, and especially in dire situations, everyone wanted a hero that would step forward to save them. However, never would Shen Xing have thought that the man who had saved her would be the very same person whom she''d been cursing every day, and was constantly tormenting her in her dreams.


    "Looks like you''re in a rather sticky situation!" Tang Wulin remarked as a faint smile appeared on his face.


    Shen Xing was looking up at him in an urgent manner. She was filled with resentment toward him, but those were only dreams, and she knew very well who these young men and women were. It was just that everything was far too coincidental; why had they appeared in the warehouse at a time like this? Could it be that she was still dreaming?


    Tang Wulin turned to his friends, and said, "Strip off their clothes."


    S... strip?


    Shen Xing''s face immediately turned deathly pale. What were they going to do?


    The despair that had just faded from her heart returned in full force. Had she jumped out of the frying pan only to land in the fire?


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Yue Zhengyu dragged the major and two captains aside before quickly taking off their clothes. Meanwhile, Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan positioned themselves in front of Shen Xing while Ye Xinglan undressed her.


    Shen Xing was completely flabbergasted as she was quickly stripped down. Ye Xinglan was of a similar height and figure to her, and under the makeshift barrier formed by Xu Xiaoyan and Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan also quickly stripped off her own clothes before exchanging them with Shen Xing''s.


    "Don''t worry, we''re only borrowing your clothes. You''ve been struck by a paralysis laser, but it''ll only take you 20 minutes to recover at most. You can take care of those guys as you see fit after that." Ye Xinglan gave Shen Xing a reassuring pat on the shoulder before rising to her feet.


    She then began to gently rub her own face while glancing at Shen Xing from time to time. Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyan stood behind her and quickly styled Ye Xinglan''s hair to resemble Shen Xing''s hairstyle.


    When Yuanen Yehui placed Shen Xing''s military cap onto Ye Xinglan''s head, Shen Xing was flabbergasted by the sight of a spitting image of herself standing before her. It was like looking into a mirror!


    "All done over there?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "All done; we just need three more sets of uniforms," Yuanen Yehui replied.


    Shen Xing''s eyes swiveled toward the three approaching figures to find that they were none other than the major and the two captains, all of whom were wearing their military uniforms.

 Chapter 848: Escape, Return

    Tang Wulin''s voice sounded from within the major''s mouth. "Using this for the first time really takes some getting used to; the bone structure changes feel especially weird, but I should be able to adjust quite quickly. Xie Xie, go capture a few people. Remember to find a fatter one for Lizhi."


    "Sure thing!"


    Xie Xie made his way out of the warehouse before issuing a command to three of the soldiers who were on guard duty outside. "You, you, and you, come with me; we''re going to do a tally of the soul bombs."


    The rest of the process was very simple. Soon, Advisor Shen Xing, Major Chen, the two captains, and the three soldiers were standing in the warehouse while seven identical people were lying on the ground.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to Shen Xing before squatting down. "You''ve seen so many of our secrets; should I kill you so you can''t reveal these secrets to anyone?"


    Shen Xing''s eyes quickly swiveled from side to side. She couldn''t speak and nor could she move, but the fear in her eyes was quite apparent.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Just kidding. We''re going now; maybe we''ll meet again someday. That major won''t be awake for at least a day, so you can do whatever you want with him after you regain your mobility. We''ve helped the Northsea Legion weed out a traitor here, and I''m sure that''s more than enough compensation for the aircraft we stole. Let''s go!"


    Tang Wulin rose to his feet as he spoke before extending a respectful hand gesture to Ye Xinglan, and the seven of them quickly left the warehouse behind her.


    In a short amount of time, Ye Xinglan had grasped Shen Xing''s demeanor. She walked with her chest proud and head held high, and there was a hint of haughtiness on her face as she made her way through the base.


    After exiting the warehouse, they closed the gate. Of course, they only closed it halfway as they didn''t really know how to operate it.


    Tang Wulin scurried along beside her with a fawning smile on his face, "Please don''t be angry, Advisor Shen; there are some inconsistencies with the warehouse records, but I''ll get them to fix that right away. Rest assured, everything will be back in order as soon as possible."


    Ye Xinglan harrumphed coldly, "I''ll be reporting this to the higher-ups, and you''d better have all of these issues ironed out before an investigation squad is deployed here. Otherwise, you know what the consequences will be."


    "Yes, yes!" Tang Wulin hurriedly nodded in response, and at this point, they''d already made it to the elevator.


    "There''s no need to accompany me any further," Ye Xinglan intentionally said.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly replied, "That won''t do! We have to accompany you to the surface. Advisor Shen, please put in a good word for me with the general!"


    There were soldiers stationed all around them, but their conversation was impeccable, as were all their voices.


    Not only had the seven old demons taught them how to disguise themselves, they were also taught how to infiltrate certain locations, how to change their figures, how to adjust their mannerisms, and how to alter their voices. With sufficient soul power as support, all of this became quite simple. It was just that the training process was rather painful, but it was nothing compared to the torture they''d suffered at the hands of the old demons.


    "Ding!" The elevator door was opened, and Tang Wulin made a respectful hand gesture while Ye Xinglan entered the elevator first in a proud manner. Tang Wulin and the others hurriedly followed suit.


    The elevator doors closed, and it quickly began to ascend.


    During the elevator ride, no one said anything. There were surveillance cameras in the elevators, and talking too much could potentially result in mistakes that could get their covers blown.


    Soon, the elevator carried them to the surface. With Shen Xing''s identification card, they were able to easily make their way out of the warehouse. Tang Wulin gave Ye Xinglan an eye signal, and they quickly ascertained which direction they needed to head toward before quickly striding over to a dark corner.


    Tang Wulin then pointed at a nearby military vehicle. It seemed to have just returned from patrol duty and was being driven toward them.


    Ye Xinglan said, "I''ll go."


    "We''ll all go together." Tang Wulin made a hand signal, and everyone quickly emerged from the corner with Ye Xinglan leading the way.


    She removed her military badge before commanding, "Stop the car!"


    Her epaulets were the best proof of her identity, and Shen Xing was vastly renowned for being the number one beauty of the legion, so the soldiers on the car naturally recognized her.


    The leader of the group of soldiers was a second lieutenant, and he immediately got out of the car before extending a military salute toward Ye Xinglan. "Advisor Shen."


    Ye Xinglan said in a serious voice, "We''re on an urgent mission and need to go out of the base, so we''ll be temporarily taking your car."


    "Yes!" the second lieutenant replied without any hesitation.


    If another major were trying to take his car, he would perhaps ask them some questions, but this was General Shen Yue''s sister, and the goddess of the Northsea Legion. It wasn''t often that an opportunity arose for him to make an impression on her, so he immediately agreed without any hesitation.


    The soldiers quickly got out of the car, and Ye Xinglan made a hand signal to Tang Wulin and the others. Everyone immediately piled into the vehicle with Xie Xie in the driver''s seat, Ye Xinglan in the front seat, and everyone else in the back.


    They didn''t say anything else to the soldiers before Xie Xie made a u-turn in an expert manner and drove straight toward the gate of the Northsea Legion base.


    In the soul bomb warehouse.


    Shen Xing''s eyelashes fluttered, and she could finally blink. Not long after that, she was gradually able to move her fingers again as well. She quickly regained feeling in her paralyzed body, and she strove to take deep breaths, activating her soul power to stimulate increased circulation in order to rid herself of her paralysis more quickly.


    She struggled into a sitting position, and complex emotions welled up in her heart as she glanced at Major Chen, the two captains, and the three soldiers, all of whom had been stripped down to their underwear.


    The crisis had been averted, but she didn''t know how to feel. Never would she have thought that the bastard in her nightmares would save her from a fate worse than death.


    She struggled to her feet and quickly made her way over to the wall before pressing the alarm button.


    Loud sirens immediately began to blare throughout the entire warehouse, as well as the entirety of the Northsea Legion base.


    The soul bomb warehouse was an extremely important location, and an alarm being sounded from within it was an alarm of the highest level. Shen Xing was well aware that after all this time, Tang Wulin and the others had most likely escaped long ago.


    There was no fierce battle, nor any blood being shed. Tang Wulin and his friends had already sped out of the Northsea Legion base on their military vehicle, and were quickly driving away from Northsea City.


    It had to be said that military vehicles were far better equipped than private vehicles. Not only did it have an advanced GPS, it was also very fast, and Xie Xie quickly pushed the car to as fast as it would go.


    "It''s about time for us to abandon this car, so drive it to a more obscure location," Tang Wulin said.


    Xie Xie was rather reluctant to part with this car. "This car is so good; if only we could drive it all the way back."


    Yuanen Yehui grumbled, "Are you stupid? Do you WANT to be attacked by the legion? Get off this highway right now, and find a place to abandon this car."


    Xie Xie took the next highway exit, and they arrived in a small town. He found a forest before driving the military vehicle toward it. Everyone quickly got off the car before rushing toward their destination according to the direction that the GPS had pointed them in.


    Their target was very simple. Despite how reluctant Tang Wulin was to go there, they were heading toward the soul train station.


    It would be impossible to get away from the Northsea Legion base quickly unless they had a suitable mode of transportation. Tang Wulin had no doubt that the Northsea Legion would place the surrounding area into complete lockdown, and they couldn''t continue to drive the military vehicle. As such, their best option was to take public transport, and high-speed soul trains were the fastest out of all of the public transport options available to them. Hence, they had no choice.


    As they ran, they reverted back to their original appearances. When they''d gotten quite close to the soul train station, one of them went to purchase a few sets of clothes, and they stripped off their military uniforms before changing into these casual clothes. At the same time, they altered their own appearances slightly before entering the train station.


    The seven of them bought tickets separately, and all of them purchased tickets for the most recent train departing from the city. Only after getting onto the platform were they reunited.


    Due to the fact that this was only an intermediate stop, the platform was rather crude, and there wasn''t even a roof over their heads, so the night breeze was rather chilly.


    Tang Wulin stood with his hands in his pockets, and the seven of them were the only ones on the platform.


    "Boss, I finally feel like I''ve returned to life. We''re not still in Nightmare''s illusionary realm, are we?" Xie Xie suddenly asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Who knows?"


    The torture that they''d suffered on the demonic island had left far too strong of a lasting impression on them, to the extent that they still hadn''t completely mentally recovered. In particular, Yue Zhengyu would still space out from time to time.

 Chapter 849: The Shen Sisters

    Xu Lizhi said, "I finally understand why all of our teachers from the academy and the upperclassman from the Battle God Hall were reacting so unnaturally at the mention of his military training; I never want to go back there ever again."


    Indeed, back when they''d departed, all of them had rushed into the sea as quickly as they could so they could get away from the demonic island as soon as possible.


    "When I think about it, I kind of feel sorry for the old demons," Xu Xiaoyan sighed.


    A cold look appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. "You feel sorry for them? Who''s going to feel sorry for us? Have we not been tortured enough by them?"


    "Calm down, Zhengyu," Tang Wulin urged, "We did indeed suffer horrendous torture at their hands, but we all have to admit that we''ve all improved significantly in many areas during these past few months. We''ve all grown up, and when we left the place, I suddenly felt like I was no longer a child, like I had truly become an adult."


    "You''re right! We''ve all grown up," Yuanen Yehui said with a faint smile.


    Tang Wulin suddenly said, "By the way, during Old Demon Desire''s trial, she showed me what happened to all of you. Do all of you want to know everyone''s reactions?"


    Everyone suddenly fell silent, and their eyes widened in unison.


    Immediately thereafter, all of them exclaimed at once, "No!"


    The soul train arrived, and its headlights finally brought some light to this secluded little train station. Tang Wulin took a deep breath as he thought back to the horrific experiences he''d encountered on soul trains before walking onto the train first.


    They were finally about to go back. The horrendous military training was finally a thing of the past, and in the end, he refrained from telling everyone what Old Demon Desire had shown him. Some things were simply better left unsaid.


    At the Northsea Legion base.


    Shen Yue listened to the reports from her subordinates with a thunderous look on her face, and her mood was sour to the extreme.


    Not only had a traitor appeared in their Northsea Legion, the traitor also held such an important position in the base. As the leader of the legion, she most definitely had to hold herself accountable for this. Most importantly, her own precious little sister had almost been abducted. She had to get to the bottom of this and weed out all of the traitors in the legion no matter what.


    "Announce my orders to commence an exhaustive investigation right away! The legion base will be placed into complete lockdown during the duration of this investigation!"


    "Yes!"


    After Major Chen and his accomplices had been detained, a tally was completed, and it was discovered that over 200 soul bombs had gone missing from the warehouse. That many soul bombs were enough to raze a small city to the ground.


    Shen Xing looked at her sister with a concerned expression, and even now, she still hadn''t managed to completely calm her own emotions.


    "Don''t put too much pressure on yourself, Sister." Everyone had departed, so Shen Xing reverted back to referring to Shen Yue as "Sister" rather than "General".


    Shen Yue''s brows were tightly furrowed as she said, "It''s no longer a matter of how much pressure I''m placing on myself; our Northsea Legion has been infiltrated by traitors, so what about all of the other legions? What about the entire Northeastern Military Region? This matter is far too serious to hide from our higher-ups; we have to report this right away. I''m most likely going to be handed a severe punishment, but I''ll report you as the hero of this incident. After all, you were the one who noticed the missing soul bombs and detained Major Chen and the others in the end. No one saw Shrek''s Seven Monsters in our base, so I can pretend as if they were never here and attribute everything to you."


    "But what about you, Sister? What kind of punishment will you receive?" Shen Xing asked in an urgent manner.


    Shen Yue shook her head with a wry smile. "Who knows? I''ll just have to bite the bullet and let the chips fall where they may. This is an extremely severe issue, and I may even be stripped of my position as the leader of this legion in the aftermath. After you receive the accolades for the role you played in all of this, I''ll get you deployed away from here as quickly as possible. It''s about time you went off on your own."


    Shen Xing nodded in a dejected manner. She knew that her sister was doing this to protect her. For some reason, after everything that had just transpired, she was able to have her first night of dreamless sleep in months.


    Shen Yue didn''t deploy anyone to go after Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters because there was simply no point. How would they stand to benefit from detaining Tang Wulin and the others? Doing so would only expose more security loopholes in the Northsea Legion base, and Shen Xing''s accolades would also be stripped away. As such, it was better to just let them get away and pretend as if they were never here. After all, regardless of how much the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy despised Shrek Academy, that was more so of a competitive rivalry rather than actual enmity. As a high-ranking military official, she had to look at the bigger picture rather than making hot-headed spur-of-the-moment decisions.


    After changing trains twice, Tang Wulin and his friends finally got onto a train that was heading toward Shrek City. Thankfully, they didn''t encounter any terrorist attacks or any other incidents on this occasion.


    When the soul train stopped at Shrek City, Tang Wulin was almost brought to tears. Having a safe and smooth train journey was such a wonderful feeling! He had been so tense and anxious the entire time, and he was thanking his lucky stars that no misfortune had befallen them.


    After getting off the train, he stretched his body vigorously.


    "We''re finally back! Are you guys heading back to the academy right away or are you planning to do something else first?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie replied, "I don''t want to head back to the academy so quickly; I need to take some time to relax. I almost went insane back there. I plan to take a trip back to visit my family; it''s been a while since I last visited them. Yuanen, you should come with me. You know how the saying goes; even ugly wives have to meet their in-laws sooner or later." [This is a Chinese saying that''s pretty self-explanatory; it basically means that no matter what flaws a woman has, she still has to meet her in-laws eventually. On a more general level, this basically means that one can''t hide their flaws and must learn to directly face what needs to be faced.]


    Yuanen Yehui''s body was radiating killing intent as she pinched Xie Xie''s ear. "Who did you just call ugly?"


    "Me! Me! I was talking about myself! You''re the most beautiful person in the world!" Xie Xie hurriedly said with a grimace on his face.


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled in a goading manner. "That''s what you get! Xiaoyan, aren''t you going to invite me to visit your family as well? Surely you don''t find me too ugly to show your parents."


    Xie Xie grumbled, "Are you trying to pick a fight?!"


    Xu Xiaoyan burst into laughter, and replied, "Sure! I come from the same place as Xie Xie, so you come with me back to Eastsea City as well. I''ll introduce you to my parents."


    Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie exchanged a disdainful glance, but Yue Zhengyu didn''t turn down Xu Xiaoyan''s invitation, either.


    Tang Wulin chuckled as he shook his head before turning to Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi. "What about you guys?"


    Xu Lizhi turned to Ye Xinglan, and she said, "I think we''ll go back to the academy. We''ve all learned many things in the past few months, and I plan on taking some time to consolidate everything. Lizhi has also reaped many rewards during this trip and needs to fortify his cultivation rank."


    "Alright," Tang Wulin said, "Then let''s meet again at the academy in a month from now. After that, I think we should focus on training more together; any objections?"


    Xie Xie said, "I''m fine with that."


    Yuanen Yehui nodded in response.


    Yue Zhengyu chimed in, "I don''t have any issues with that, either. I think you''re making the right decision, Boss; after I graduate from the inner court, I plan to join the army with you."


    Xie Xie turned to Yue Zhengyu with a surprised expression. "I didn''t think you were so patriotic, Zhengyu!"


    Xu Xiaoyan chuckled, "He just wants to join the army because he thinks military uniforms look really cool. After wearing that military uniform a few days ago, he''s been talking to me about it non-stop."


    Yue Zhengyu''s expression instantly fell. "You can''t just sweep the rug out from under your husband''s feet like that!"


    Xu Xiaoyan rolled her eyes at him. "Who says you''re my husband?"


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled, "We''ve already done the deed, so you''re my wife now! I''m treating that illusion as reality, so as far as I''m concerned, we''ve already had physical relations. After all, Old Demon Desire''s simulation was very convincing, hehehehe."


    Xu Xiaoyan blushed at the sight of his sly grin, and she grumbled, "If you keep this up, I''m not taking you home with me!"


    Yue Zhengyu hurriedly put on a serious expression.


    Ye Xinglan smiled, and said, "I think that''s a good idea as well. We are supposed to be part of one entity, so we really should work on our teamwork. Also, joining the army really doesn''t sound like a bad idea. After witnessing the Northsea Legion, I finally understood that our individual powers are still far too insignificant in the face of the entire military. We might not stay in the military forever, but I think it''s important to at least familiarize ourselves with modern military standards. Hence, I also want to join the army with Lizhi after we graduate."

 Chapter 850: Temporary Separation

    Tang Wulin was ecstatic. It would naturally be brilliant if he didn''t have to part with his friends.


    He turned his gaze toward Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui, and Xie Xie was also looking at Yuanen Yehui. Obviously, he couldn''t make any decisions without Yuanen Yehui''s approval.


    A dejected look suddenly appeared in Yuanen Yehui''s eyes, and she shook her head as she said, "I won''t be able to join the army. After I graduate, I have something very important that I need to do."


    After her voice trailed off, she suddenly turned and walked away. Xie Xie was rather taken aback by this, and he gave Tang Wulin an apologetic smile before hurrying over to her.


    Tang Wulin looked on at their departing figures and murmured, "Yuanen seems to be dealing with some troubles. I wonder why she never mentioned anything to us before."


    Ye Xinglan said, "I feel like it should have something to do with her background. Don''t you think it''s very strange that she possesses two martial souls of such a superb caliber at once? In particular, her Fallen Angel martial soul is extremely powerful, but it''s also one that could easily draw someone into becoming an Evil Soul Master. Yuanen used to be a working student, and I''m sure she''s hiding some kind of secret."


    Tang Wulin said, "I think we should have a good chat with Yuanen when we all meet up again in a month. We are a unified entity no matter what, so if any of us is in trouble, everyone else should do their best to help them."


    "We''re going as well, Boss." Yue Zhengyu latched onto Xu Xiaoyan''s hand before waving at Tang Wulin.


    Ye Xinglan turned to Tang Wulin, and asked, "We''ve all got places to go; what are you planning to do?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I want to take a trip to the Tang Sect, then go and visit my uncle-teacher. I''ve also learned a lot from our trip to the demonic island, and I want to see if I can take this opportunity to make a breakthrough and become a seventh-rank Saint Blacksmith. If I can succeed, then we''ll be able to consider making preparations to construct our future suits of three-word battle armor."


    Ye Xinglan''s eyes immediately lit up. "Have you already made ample preparations?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I have this indescribable feeling that tells me that I''m ready, but I can only truly tell when I give it a try. However, I think I should be able to get there with no issues with my uncle-teacher''s guidance."


    If another sixth-grade blacksmith were to hear what he''d just said, they''d probably be tearing their hair out of their scalp with rage! Which sixth-grade blacksmith would dare to say that they should be able to become a Saint Blacksmith with no issues? Only Tang Wulin dared to make such a bold declaration. After all, soul refinement was extremely difficult to complete!


    Bestowing life upon a piece of metal was far more difficult than simply giving it sentience.


    In the lower grade suits of battle armor, the most important step was the design, followed by the construction, and the forging was the least important component. However, forging became the most important element when it came to high-grade suits of battle armor as the essence of upgrading a suit of battle armor lay in upgrading the materials used.


    All of them were still only one-word battle armor masters, and only after becoming two-word battle armor masters would they be able to graduate from the inner court. Their future suits of three-world battle armor would be an important indicator of whether they were going to become truly powerful beings in the context of the entire continent.


    Ye Xinglan said, "I''ve already made the basic preparations, but we''ll need to work together to upgrade everyone''s suits of battle armor. We should be able to begin that process after we meet up again in a month, right?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I think so. That''s why I want to strive to become a Saint Blacksmith first. After ascending to that level, it''ll be a lot easier to upgrade our battle armor, and I''ll also be able to alleviate a lot of the pressure that you''ll be facing."


    Ye Xinglan nodded in response. She was already a sixth-grade mecha maker, but she was still very far away from reaching the seventh grade. At the very least, that was a level that she wouldn''t be able to reach within the next two or three years. If she could work with a Saint Blacksmith in the form of Tang Wulin, then the chances of successfully upgrading everyone''s suits of battle armor would be increased significantly, and the quality of the battle armor would also most likely be higher. Everyone''s soul power ranks were above 50 now, so it was time for them to upgrade their battle armor.


    "Alright, let''s part ways here. See you in a month."


    The three of them parted after exiting the soul train station, and Tang Wulin headed straight for the Tang Sect.


    He was going there first as he wanted to visit the Battle Hall to see if there were any missions that had to be completed. After being absent for so long, he had to at least report his return to the organization. Furthermore, even more importantly, he was already a one-word battle armor master, yet he still hadn''t raised his agent rank in the Battle Hall. He was still a white agent at the moment, yet a one-word battle armor master like him should be eligible to become a yellow agent.


    After arriving at the headquarters of the Tang Sect, a thought immediately occurred to Tang Wulin; he wasn''t wearing his agent uniform. A lot of his belongings had been confiscated by the academy, so it appeared that he really did have to return to the academy first.


    After leaving for so long, he had forgotten that his soul communicator and many of his uncommon metals were still being held at the academy.


    Everyone else appeared to have forgotten about this as well, and he didn''t know if this would occur to Xie Xie and the others at some point.


    However, seeing as he''d already arrived at the Tang Sect, he was going to pay it a visit first.


    After entering through the doors, Tang Wulin was surprised to discover that there were a lot more people than usual at the Tang Sect headquarters today, and all of them seemed to be in quite a hurry.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t visited the Tang Sect on many occasions, so he didn''t know all that many people here. Just as he was walking along, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar face.


    The brawny and bald Hall Master Zhao just so happened to be making his way out of the building.


    Tang Wulin obviously recognized him as he''d met this man back when Wu Zhangkong had first taken him here.


    "Hall Master Zhao," Tang Wulin greeted with a respectful salute.


    This Hall Master Zhao''s full name was Zhao Song, and he was the master of one of the three outer halls of the Tang Sect, the Power Hall.


    Zhao Song clearly didn''t recognize him, and he asked, "Who are you?"


    Tang Wulin spent three years in the Star Luo Empire, then went into seclusion before going off to undertake military training, so it had been many years since he''d last met Zhao Song. At the time, he was still a growing boy, and he had since become a well-built young man.


    "I''m Tang Wulin, Hall Master Zhao."


    "Tang Wulin? Ohhh, I remember you!" Zhao Song smiled as a hint of recognition appeared in his eyes, and he said, "I haven''t seen you in many years; you''ve sure grown a lot taller. It''s nice meeting you again, but I have to go and do something. You can go in and speak with Guo Xiaoxu."


    He then quickly hurried away.


    Guo Xiaoxu was the master of the Battle Hall, and Tang Wulin''s direct superior. He was the one who had first recruited Tang Wulin into the Battle Hall.


    When Tang Wulin arrived at the Battle Hall, the doors were open, and there were many people gathered in there as well. From the masks on their faces, it could be seen that there were many yellow and purple agents among them, and there were even a few black agents among their ranks.


    Tang Wulin stuck his head in through the entrance, and he didn''t know whether he should go in. All of a sudden, he was stopped in his tracks by a yellow agent.


    "Who are you? Don''t you know that the Battle Hall is off-limits?" the yellow agent asked in a serious voice.


    Tang Wulin replied, "My apologies, I''m an agent as well, but I didn''t wear my uniform today, so..."


    "You''re also an agent? If you''re not in your uniform, then you''re not an agent; how do you not know such a simple rule? Get out of here." The yellow agent then quickly rushed into the Battle Hall as well.


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He was very curious about what was happening. After all, there were already close to 100 agents gathered in the Battle Hall, and most of them were at the yellow grade or above. However, he couldn''t go in without his uniform!


    Just as he was preparing to leave, someone suddenly emerged from the Battle Hall. This person was wearing a red mask on his face, and Tang Wulin was extremely stunned to see this.


    He hadn''t even heard of red agents in the Battle Hall, let alone seen one in person.


    Based on the hierarchical order of soul rings, it was undoubtedly the case that red agents were even more powerful than black agents. This red agent wasn''t very tall or physically imposing, but he was radiating an unfathomable sense of pressure.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly stepped aside to open up a path for him. However, the red agent suddenly stopped, and exclaimed, "Tang Wulin?"


    Tang Wulin was quite taken aback to hear this, and he asked, "You know me?"


    The red agent took off his own mask to reveal a familiar face to Tang Wulin; it was none other than the master of the Battle Hall, Guo Xiaoxu.


    Tang Wulin immediately understood why this man was wearing a red mask; it made sense considering he was the master of the Battle Hall.


    "Hello, Hall Master Guo."


    A faint smile appeared on Guo Xiaoxu''s face. "Why are you here today? And where''s your agent uniform? Oh, by the way, I heard that you''re already a one-word battle armor master now; come with me, and I''ll take you to upgrade your agent rank."He turned toward the administration area of the Battle Hall as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly followed along and asked in a low voice, "Why does our Battle Hall look so busy, Hall Master Guo?"


    Guo Xiaoxu sighed, "How could we not be busy when such a major incident has happened? Our Battle Hall has always made it our duty to protect the federation, after all."


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback to hear this. "What happened?"


    Guo Xiaoxu was also quite surprised. "You don''t know?"

 Chapter 851: Terrorist Attack

    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I just returned from military training with my friends, and I haven''t even returned to the academy yet before coming here, so I have no idea what happened!"


    A grave expression appeared on Guo Xiaoxu''s face as he said, "10 days ago, a terrorist attack took place in Heaven Dou City. Many people were killed and the government building was razed to the ground. The official reports state that over 1,000 casualties have been tallied, but in reality, more than 4,000 people have died and more than 10,000 people have been injured."


    "What?" Tang Wulin''s mouth immediately gaped open with shock.


    Heaven Dou City? Wasn''t that the city in which Mo Lan''s father was an administration official?


    It had to have been a terrorist attack of extremely massive proportions for so many people to have died!


    "What about the administration official there?" Tang Wulin hurriedly asked.


    Guo Xiao Xu sighed, "He also perished during the attack. It came too abruptly and without any premonition. 60 soul bombs of the fifth grade and above rained down on all parts of Heaven Dou City, causing a massive calamity. After that, an aircraft came out of nowhere and dropped a ninth-grade soul bomb onto the government building, and that bomb resulted in the most casualties. This incident has stunned the entire federation. The federation has declared a state of DEFCON one, and deployed a vast number of people to conduct an exhaustive investigation. Our Tang Sect''s Battle Hall received an invitation from the federation''s Battle God Hall to assist them in their investigation."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. He couldn''t believe that such a catastrophic disaster had taken place. He couldn''t help but recall the conversation he''d overheard in the Northsea Legion base about the stolen soul bombs, and he hurriedly informed Guo Xiaoxu of what he''d heard.


    Guo Xiaoxu''s brows furrowed even tighter as he processed this information. The military had to have kept this information confidential for him to still be unaware of this. It was most likely the case that the Northsea Legion wasn''t the only legion where soul bombs had been stolen from! If a large number of soul bombs were to spread into the outside world, then that was most definitely a recipe for disaster.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Do we know which organization is responsible for this?"


    Guo Xiaoxu replied. "We do. The Holy Spirit Cult have announced that they''re responsible for this attack."


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists tightly. "It''s the Holy Spirit Cult again!"


    This wasn''t the first time that he''d come across this cult, and the last time he''d encountered its members, he and his friends had almost been killed. He didn''t think that they''d be causing another catastrophe so soon, and a catastrophe of such major proportions, at that.


    Guo Xiaoxu said, "During the past six months, the Holy Spirit Cult has been extremely active and orchestrated a large number of terrorist attacks, causing a massive amount of damage in the process. In the beginning, the federation had tried to keep this information confidential to the public, but there''s no way that they can do that now. I didn''t think that the federation would be corrupt to such an extent already."


    His voice was filled with rage and discontent.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Hall Master Guo, are you saying that this terrorist attack had something to do with the federation itself?"


    Guo Xiaoxu chuckled coldly, "Of course! How many evil Soul Masters could the Holy Spirit Cult possibly have? Without the support of some people who are in power, how could they have developed and become so powerful so quickly? There must be corrupt officials in the federation working with them. I just don''t know if they''re part of the Holy Spirit Cult or have taken over control of the cult. In any case, the Holy Spirit Cult must have powerful backers, and if we don''t weed out those backers soon, more and more panic will ensue. It''s a good thing that you told me that. Otherwise, I''d still be oblivious to the fact that something''s wrong in the military as well."


    The process of upgrading from a white agent to a yellow agent was very simple; Tang Wulin simply had to display his suit of one-word battle armor, and with Guo Xiaoxu vouching for him, he was able to quickly complete the upgrade. After putting on a set of black robes and a yellow mask that were assigned to yellow agents, he was immediately feeling a lot more comfortable. At the very least, he wasn''t going to be barred from entry to the Battle Hall again.


    "Come with me, Wulin." Guo Xiaoxu and Tang Wulin returned to the Battle Hall.


    "Our Battle Hall has received many missions from the federation, all of which involve hunting for Holy Spirit Cult members based on the leads that we currently have. You''ve had experience battling the Holy Spirit Cult in the past, so I think you should participate in these missions; it''ll be a good exercise for you as well. What do you say? Would you be willing to join one of our investigation teams?"


    "Of course!" Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation.


    He absolutely abhorred the Holy Spirit Cult, and they had just launched a terrorist attack that had killed so many people, so he certainly couldn''t just stand by idly and watch.


    Guo Xiaoxu quickly assigned Tang Wulin a mission and put him into a five-man investigation team. The team had four yellow agents in it, including him, and they were led by a purple agent.


    According to the Battle Hall hierarchy, all purple agents were two-word battle armor masters. As for yellow agents, all of them had to be one-word battle armor masters, and there weren''t many of them, but they were certainly a force to be reckoned with.


    What came as a pleasant surprise to Tang Wulin was that due to the urgency of the situation, all of the missions targeting the Holy Spirit Cult were twice the points that would normally be given.


    This was definitely a good thing. Through accumulating points, agents could exchange for all types of resources from the Battle Hall. Aside from the Tang Sect techniques, there were many other precious rewards to be reaped.


    For example, normal Tang Sect disciples could exchange their contribution points for spirit items, but very rarely would spirit items over 10,000 years old be available to them. However, there were much more resources available in the Battle Hall to be exchanged for.


    Of course, normal contribution points couldn''t be used in exchange for these items; they could only be exchanged for agent points.


    After all, the agents of the Battle Hall made up the true core of the Tang Sect.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t going to have much trouble breaking his ninth Golden Dragon King seal, but the resources required for him to break the subsequent seals would amount to an astronomical price. Not only were all of them at least 10,000-year-old spirit items, he required a vast quantity of them, so it wasn''t like he could just make do with three or four.


    Even though he was very close to becoming a Saint Blacksmith, he was still under a lot of financial pressure.


    He still had to cultivate and couldn''t spend all of his time and energy forging metals in exchange for money, so completing Battle Hall missions was undoubtedly a shortcut for him, especially when double points were being offered.


    The mission that Tang Wulin''s team had received was to search through an abandoned industrial area in the western suburbs of Heaven Dou City. The objective of their mission was to search for leads regarding the Holy Spirit Cult as information from reliable sources suggested that Holy Spirit Cult members had once been sighted there.


    This abandoned industrial area had been used to produce uncommon metals in the past, and it was extremely large. Due to an explosion that took place, a vast amount of harmful substances were leaked, and the entire area was polluted, thereby leading to its abandonment. This type of pollution was extremely difficult to clean up, and the government still hadn''t devised a feasible course of action, so it had been left vacated this entire time.


    As such, after being assigned this mission, their team was also given protective clothing that would keep the harmful substances at bay. Of course, Soul Masters were far more resistant toward these lethal substances than normal people were anyway.


    The purple agent that was leading their team stood before Tang Wulin and the other three yellow agents, and he said, "We''ll be setting off shortly, so test out your communicators later to see if they¡¯re working. During this mission, I will be Purple One, and you will be Yellow One, Yellow Two, Yellow Three, and Yellow Four."


    He pointed at each of the agents before him as he spoke to assign them their numbers, and what was quite amusing to Tang Wulin was that he was assigned as number three once again. It appeared that he had a great affinity with this number; he had leveled up from White Three to Yellow Three.


    "Let''s familiarize ourselves with one another briefly. I''m an Assault System Battle Soul Master; what about you guys?" Purple One asked.


    Yellow One replied, "I''m an Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master."


    Yellow Two said, "I''m a Recovery System Battle Soul Master." Yellow Two''s voice suggested that she was a very young woman, and the fact that she had become a one-word battle armor master as a recovery-type Soul Master at such a young age indicated that she was a very bright talent.


    Tang Wulin said, "I''m an Assault and Control System Battle Soul Master."

 Chapter 852: Tang Sect Battle Vehicle

    Lastly, Yellow Four said, "I''m a Defense System Battle Soul Master."


    Purple One gave a pleased nod upon hearing this. Agents had to keep their identities confidential to one another, and it was taboo for Soul Masters to enquire about one another''s abilities, but everyone had to at least reveal their battle styles to accommodate better teamwork and synergy.


    "Very good. Yellow Three, to what extent are you able to control battles?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "My control abilities stem from vines that can encompass an entire battlefield. Their forte lies in binding opponents, but they also possess some offensive power as well."


    Purple One said, "Good. You''ll be the main control Soul Master in this temporary team, and I''ll be the spearhead. Yellow Two, you''re a healing Soul Master, so you stay in the rear. Yellow One, you''ll be responsible for scouting the mission site, and Yellow Four, your mission will be to protect Yellow Two and Yellow Three, understood?"


    "Yes!"


    All yellow agents were elite Soul Masters, so they were able to quickly understand what was expected of them from just a brief conversation.


    "Let''s go!" Purple One wasted no further time with words as he waved a hand, and all five of them quickly exited the Battle Hall before getting onto one of the soul cars that the Tang Sect had specifically prepared for its Battle Hall agents.


    The soul cars of the Tang Sect were blue, and it was said that this color was to commemorate the founder of the sect, Tang San. This was not just a normal blue color; it was able to change colors in order to disguise the cars depending on the environments they were in. Furthermore, these custom-made Tang Sect vehicles had many other functions.


    Tang Wulin was only a white agent in the past, so he hadn''t had a chance to come into contact with the cutting-edge technology of the Tang Sect. He had only seen the number of agent points required to exchange for a Tang Sect battle vehicle, and they were comparable in price to thousand-year-old spirit items!


    Purple One drove the car, and Tang Wulin quickly came to realize the benefits of Tang Sect battle vehicles; this vehicle was very fast, smooth, and no external sounds could be heard from within the car. This was a five-seater car, and the seats were quite spacious and comfortable.


    Purple One and Yellow One sat in the front, while Tang Wulin, Yellow Two, and Yellow Four sat in the back. Purple One drove the vehicle in an expert manner, and they quickly exited the Tang Sect headquarters before entering the highway en route to Heaven Dou City.


    At the very front of the vehicle was a Tang character insignia, and as soon as they entered the highway, the insignia immediately lit up. At the same time, a loud siren rang out from the car. Tang Wulin was then surprised to find that the Tang Sect battle vehicle began to travel even faster than soul trains, and all of the soul cars on the highway immediately made way for their vehicle upon hearing the siren.


    Not only was Tang Wulin surprised by the special privileges the Tang Sect battle vehicles clearly had, he was also stunned that a soul car could travel so quickly.


    As someone who avoided soul trains like the plague, it would be awesome if he could own one of these high-speed vehicles that also had special privileges.


    "Purple One, if we exchange for a Tang Sect battle vehicle with our agent points, will it also be given the special privileges of being able to travel over the speed limit and taking priority over all other vehicles?" Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask.


    Purple One replied. "Of course not! Those privileges are only granted to us when undertaking special missions. Permission from the federation has to be secured first; our Tang Sect doesn''t have these special privileges."


    Tang Wulin was rather disappointed to hear this, but objectively, this arrangement made sense. After all, there were quite a few Tang Sect agents, and if all of them could drive these high-speed vehicles with special privileges, the entire traffic system could be heavily impacted. Hence, it made sense that these special privileges were only granted when undertaking special missions.


    Purple One then continued, "However, that''s not set in stone. If you''ve made special contributions to both the sect and the federation, you could receive a special contribution badge from the federation, in which you can be entitled to these special privileges when driving a Tang Sect battle vehicle. Of course, you''ll need to apply for that as well. From my knowledge, a few of the agents from our Battle Hall have managed to secure these special privileges, so you can do more research on that yourself in the future."


    "Thank you," Tang Wulin replied. This was fantastic news! He was going to ask around about this when they returned from their mission


    If the Tang Sect could be entitled to these special privileges, then Shrek Academy had to be eligible for them as well. With that in mind, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think of his yellow mecha. With his current forging skills, the mecha was well overdue for an upgrade. With a mecha, it would be a lot more convenient for him to get around.


    Just the thought of it brought a faint smile to his masked face!


    Purple One''s driving skills were exceptional, and the Tang Sect battle vehicle continued to hurtle along at a speed that was faster than a high-speed train.


    It was starting to get late, and the car gradually decelerated before exiting the highway. They had arrived in Heaven Dou City. At the same time, the vehicle''s camouflage systems were activated, making it resemble a normal car so that it didn''t attract any attention.


    After entering the city, a grim expression immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. There were many temporary tents and cabins lining the streets, and with his exceptional hearing, he could even hear faint sobs coming from outside. There were also all types of ambulances on the scene, and it was quite apparent that this terrorist attack had truly rocked Heaven Dou City.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was simply far too abhorrent for destroying such an ancient city with over 20,000 years of history!


    Purple One said, "It''s getting rather late; are there any of you who will be handicapped when fighting at night?"


    No one responded.


    "Alright, then we''ll go to the abandoned industrial area to commence our investigation right away. I don''t know how long it''ll take for us to find some leads, so the earlier we can start, the better. Yellow Two, how are you feeling?"


    "I''m fine," Yellow Two replied in a crisp voice. Purple One had singled her out as she was a healing-type Soul Master.


    Purple One glanced at the GPS before turning the steering wheel, driving the vehicle onto a small road. There weren''t many cars on this road, so the battle vehicle gradually began to accelerate again.


    Tang Wulin closed his eyes to rest. His right hand reflexively settled over the yellow agent badge that he''d only recently received.


    A yellow agent badge could enhance one''s spiritual power to a certain extent, and it also provided positioning, searching, and small-range radar functions. The badge wasn''t very large, but its usefulness certainly belied its small size. On top of that, it also came with a communicator that was connected to the data within the badge.


    Yellow agents clearly received far greater benefits compared to white agents.


    If white agents were only backup troops, then yellow agents comprised the main forces of the Battle Hall.


    Finally, after the sky had turned completely dark, the Tang Sect battle vehicle traveled into a dilapidated and abandoned area. A series of shadowy factories could be seen in the distance, and there were no lights around, so the entire place gave off a very eerie feeling.


    The car had only just arrived in this area, yet an unsettling sensation had already welled up in everyone''s hearts.


    Purple One stopped the car and commanded in a low voice, "Test your communicators."


    Everyone pressed down on their badges and verified that their communicators were functioning as they should.


    After that, Purple One instructed, "Let''s get out of the car."


    He switched off the headlights before getting out of the car first, and everyone followed suit.


    After getting out of the vehicle, the unsettling sensation became even more pronounced.


    Purple One inspected their surroundings before instructing, "Yellow Two, you team up with Yellow Four. Yellow One, Yellow Three, we''ll split up so we form four groups in total in order to search this area more efficiently. If you find anything, report back to me right away. If you discover any evil Soul Masters, make sure to be on your guard and call for assistance first. Remember to make safety your number one priority, understood?"


    "Yes!"


    The abandoned industrial area was quite large, each of them had a map. Purple One laid out his own map before dividing the area into four sections. He was going to be responsible for searching through the innermost area.


    "Let''s go!"


    Purple One waved a hand toward the Tang Sect battle vehicle, and light flashed from his rings as the vehicle was stowed away before he strode toward the abandoned factories.


    Tang Wulin also had a storage ring that had enough storage capacity to even hold a mecha, but it was confiscated by the academy prior to their military training.


    Yellow One also quickly disappeared into the darkness, and Tang Wulin glanced at his map before rushing toward his designated section.


    His eyes shimmered with purple light, and he was able to see everything around him quite clearly with his Purple Demon Eyes even without using any lighting equipment. Purple Demon Eyes was a skill that was virtually compulsory for Battle Hall agents to master.


    Purple One didn''t advise everyone that their protective suits had to be worn as he was confident in their abilities. All of them had suits of battle armor, and those were superior to any items of protective clothing they could wear.


    Tang Wulin didn''t experience any discomfort. With his immensely powerful Golden Dragon King bloodline, no normal harmful substances could enter his body.


    He quickly sped along while sensing his surroundings, and at the same, he activated his badge''s radar function.


    This was the first time he''d used a miniature radar like this, and it was able to project a three-dimensional image of everything in a radius of 100 meters into his mind. It was said that the inspiration for this design was derived from Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao''s spiritual sensory ability. Of course, this radar''s sensory ability covered a far smaller range than Huo Yuhao''s could.

 Chapter 853: A Pointless Trip?

    The miniature radar also had a thermal imaging function, which made it extremely sensitive to the presence of life forms.


    After activating the radar, Tang Wulin only had to continuously inject his soul power into it to maintain the three-dimensional image in his mind. Dilapidated factories and equipment lay all around him, and it was a very barren place.


    This was a search mission, so all he had to do to complete it was search through his designated section.


    Tang Wulin hurried along, and at the same time, he was controlling his soul power to close off his pores and conceal his aura. He was also treading very lightly and making about as little sound as a prowling cat in the night.


    This type of aura concealment skill was something that he''d learned from Old Demon Scourge on the demonic island. The most important element of infiltration was to avoid being discovered by enemies. Old Demon Scourge''s aura concealment skill was very useful as not only was it able to conceal one''s aura, it also taught one how to fuse their soul power with destructive energy, thereby lowering their body temperature to avoid detection from thermal imaging devices.


    Tang Wulin was putting this skill to extremely good use, so even if someone were aiming a sensory device at him right now, they wouldn''t be able to detect him as he''d completely sealed off his aura and soul power, while also lowering his body temperature to match his surroundings.


    Old Demon Scourge had told him that everyone only lived once, so regardless of what situation he was in, he had to do everything he could to minimize his risk of being harmed. If he were to make a mistake due to complacency, then he may not have the opportunity to regret his mistake as he could already be dead.


    These lessons had been drilled into Tang Wulin''s mind through the torment inflicted on him by the old demons. As such, he was doing everything he could to blend into the night while advancing through the abandoned industrial area. Even the energy fluctuations emanating from the miniature radar on his badge had been concealed by him using his soul power.


    Tang Wulin was the fastest among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters to master his aura concealment skill as he possessed the most spiritual power. His Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power made it a lot easier for him to master all aspects of the skill than it was for everyone else.


    Soon, Tang Wulin had searched through most of his section without making any discoveries. Perhaps it was due to the presence of harmful substances in the area, but there weren''t even any insects or rodents around. This was a truly dead and desolate place.


    "The innermost section has been completely searched with no discoveries." Purple One''s voice sounded in his earpiece.


    "The eastern section has been completely searched with no discoveries." Next to report his findings, or lack thereof, was Yellow One.


    Tang Wulin pressed down on his communicator, and said, "The western area has been completely searched with no discoveries."


    Yellow Two''s voice then quickly rang out. "The search through the southern area is still ongoing."


    Purple One instructed, "Yellow One, Yellow Three, you two head to the southern area to meet up with Yellow Two and Yellow Four. I''ll come to join all of you after searching through the northern section."


    "Yes!"


    As the leader of the team, Purple One naturally took on the biggest workload. This was a rule in the Battle Hall, and even if it hadn''t been in place, everyone automatically carried it out anyway.


    Tang Wulin sped toward the southern section, and he quickly found Yellow Two and Yellow Four using the positioning function of his yellow badge. Yellow One had arrived there ahead of him as he was an agility-type Soul Master.


    "Looks like there''s nothing here," Yellow One said in a disappointed manner.


    According to the rules, they had to find some leads to complete the mission. Otherwise, they''d only receive a third of the reward.


    Yellow Two smiled, and said, "Hopefully, Purple One can bring us some good news."


    Tang Wulin merely nodded in response.


    Beneath his mask, his brows were tightly furrowed. He hadn''t found anything in his search, but he still couldn''t shake the feeling that something was off. He had fought evil Soul Masters on many occasions, and with his sharp senses, he could feel that there was an indescribable sense of oppression in this area that made him very uncomfortable.


    Not long after that, a figure quickly sped toward them. Tang Wulin and the other yellow agents reflexively adopted defensive stances while checking their badges.


    It was Purple One.


    Purple One arrived before them, and said, "This place is completely empty, and my thermal imaging sensor couldn''t pick up anything, either."


    Yellow One asked, "What do we do then? Was this a pointless trip?"


    Purple One paused momentarily before replying, "It appears to be so. After launching such a large-scale terrorist attack, it only makes sense that all of the evil Soul Masters would''ve fled Heaven Dou City already. This place has already been searched by the military once before, and they didn''t find anything here, either."


    Yellow Two heaved a resigned sigh while Yellow Four and Tang Wulin remained silent.


    Purple One continued, "Alright, let''s get out of here."


    There was no point in staying here any longer considering they hadn''t discovered any leads. Their agent badges had very reliable search functions, and if the miniature radars couldn''t pick up anything, then they wouldn''t be able to, either. As such, they could only go back.


    "Waah...." Right at this moment, a burst of low sobbing suddenly rang out.


    All five of them immediately turned toward the direction that the sobbing was coming from. To hear sobbing in the pitch-black night within an abandoned industrial site like this was truly a harrowing experience, and all of the hairs on the backs of their necks immediately stood up on end.


    Tang Wulin was the calmest among them. He''d seen much more unsettling things on the demonic island.


    "Who''s there?" Purple One yelled as he activated his miniature radar. As a purple agent, his radar covered a range with a radius in excess of 300 meters, but much to his surprise, it detected zero life forms.


    "Waah..." The sobbing continued.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he vaguely recalled something.


    All of a sudden, loud sobs erupted all around them, and it was as if countless people were crying at the same time. The sobs echoed throughout the area, and more unsettling scenes ensued. A series of ghostly figures appeared, and the dilapidated equipment around them began to sway slightly as if they''d all sprung to life.


    "Be careful, everyone!" Purple One cautioned as he released his martial soul. Seven soul rings emerged from beneath his feet, revealing him to be a Soul Sage.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Battle Hall was extremely careful when assigning missions as every single agent is extremely precious to the Battle Hall. As such, even a small search team like this one was being led by a seven-ring two-word battle armor master. With a suit of two-word battle armor, a seven-ring Soul Sage was comparable in power to a normal Titled Douluo, and that was more than enough to take care of most dangerous circumstances.


    Yellow One, Yellow Two, and Yellow Four also released their martial souls; they were all five-ring Soul Kings. Yellow Two stood at the very center of the formation while the other four members of the group surrounded her with their backs facing her.


    Tang Wulin also released his soul rings, and strangely enough, they consisted of two yellows and three purples, which was roughly the same as the soul rings of the other yellow agents.


    He was using his disguise skill, or more specifically, his soul ring disguise skill! This had been taught to him by Old Demon Nightmare.


    The most direct way for Soul Masters to ascertain one another''s powers would be by inspecting the number of soul rings one had, as well as the color combinations. Different colors indicated different ages, and on the flipside, soul rings could also expose a Soul Master''s power level for everyone to see.


    As such, Old Demon Nightmare taught Tang Wulin a disguise skill that drew upon a combination of his spiritual power and destructive energy in order to distort the vision of others. Basically, he was distorting the light waves radiating from his soul rings, thereby making them appear as if they were different colors to the beholder.


    This disguise skill didn''t directly make him stronger, but it was very practical. Especially after Tang Wulin attained that one-of-a-kind greenish-golden soul ring, the disguise skill became even more important to him.


    At the very least, he appeared to be no different from an ordinary Soul Master of his cultivation rank.


    "Waah..., waah..., waah..." The sobs were becoming even more unsettling, and chills were running down everyone''s spines.

 Chapter 854: Spiritual Illusion

    Purple One harrumphed coldly, "Stop playing these cheap tricks and show yourself!"


    He pointed a finger of his right hand up at the sky as he spoke, and none of his soul rings were activated, but a ball of white light suddenly erupted into the air. The white light remained as a condensed ball all the way until it reached an altitude of around 50 meters, upon which it suddenly exploded, forming a halo of bright white light that illuminated the ground down below.


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon seeing this, and he was very impressed with Purple One''s soul power control.


    As expected of a purple agent! He had clearly unleashed that ball of light using his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power. Doing this allowed him to conserve soul power compared to if he''d used normal soul power, but it still illuminated the surrounding area. It appeared to be a very extravagant technique, but in reality, it barely expended any soul power.


    There was nothing on the ground within their field of view, and they weren''t able to see anything amiss even when using their Purple Demon Eyes.


    Purple One instructed in a grim voice, "Come with me."


    He hurriedly strode away as he spoke.


    It was quite clear that there was something within this abandoned industrial area, so it was best for them to leave this place first.


    "Waah..., waah..., waah..." The sobs rang out once again, and the surrounding air temperature began to drop.


    Just as Purple One began to lead the yellow agents out of the industrial area, the surrounding space suddenly warped drastically, making it impossible to retain a sense of direction.


    An indescribable sense of fear and spiritual pressure suddenly surged toward them like a physical wave, and what was especially disturbing was that they still hadn''t even ascertained where their enemy was.


    Purple One said in a grave voice, "This is a spiritual illusion, which means we''re most likely facing an enemy with immense spiritual power. I can''t get into contact with the headquarters; everyone, stay on your guard, and don''t get separated."


    Right at this moment, he discovered that a vine had wound itself around his waist. He reflexively looked around to see Tang Wulin extending a reassuring hand gesture toward everyone.


    In an illusion, the worst thing that could happen to a group was for its members to be forcibly separated before being divided and conquered. Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor vines naturally provided a great counter to this problem.


    The sobbing was growing louder and more unsettling by the second, and illusionary images were flashing all around them as if they were situated in a ghostly kaleidoscope. Purple One tried to unleash an attack, but it disappeared into the illusions like a sandcastle vanishing into the rising tide.


    Purple One didn''t dare to get complacent in the slightest, and his heart had already completely sunk at this point. Such a large-scale illusionary realm definitely couldn''t be unleashed by a normal Soul Master; this was also close to a domain in nature. It would be extremely difficult to escape from such a powerful enemy''s domain. Furthermore, the enemy had shut off their long-range communication devices, making it impossible to contact the headquarters to request reinforcements.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s voice suddenly rang out in Purple One''s earpiece. "Purple One, I''m Yellow Three. I have a way to temporarily dispel this illusionary realm. When I do so, get us out of here as quickly as you can."


    "Alright!" Purple One didn''t ask Tang Wulin about how he was going to dispel this illusion. This was an indication of the absolute trust that the Battle Hall''s agents had in one another.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin also made his voice audible to everyone else as he counted, "Three, two, one!"


    All of a sudden, everyone felt the vines around their waists tighten, immediately following which Tang Wulin''s body abruptly reared up. His five soul rings didn''t change in appearance, but they''d actually already been switched to his four Golden Dragon King bloodline soul rings.


    An earth-shattering roar of fury rang out, instantly drowning out all of the sobbing around them.


    The roar was absolutely deafening, and a massive dragon head erupted into the heavens. All of the illusions around them vanished, and the industrial area seemed to have returned to normal.


    Without the need for any further instruction from Tang Wulin, Purple One had already risen into the air. At the same time, he grabbed onto the Bluesilver Emperor vine around his waist with both hands and rushed away as quickly as he could.


    It was quite clear that this sudden development had caught their hidden enemy completely off guard, and they were traveling extremely quickly, so they were about to rush out of the industrial area already.


    "Argh!" An extremely shrill howl of anguish suddenly erupted, and a massive skull emerged from the ground right before they could make it out of the industrial area.


    The skull was around 10 meters tall, and there were green flames burning within its eye sockets. It opened its mouth, and a massive wave of green flames hurtled toward Tang Wulin and the others.


    There was no burning sensation, but all five of them were struck by intense pain in their souls. It was as if their minds had been set alight by these eerie green flames?


    What the hell was this stuff?


    Purple One let loose a loud roar as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes to their maximal extent, blasting two beams of purple light out of his eyes. At the same time, pieces of battle armor rapidly appeared over his body, and he spread open his wings to shield everyone behind him from the green flames.


    A muffled groan escaped from his mouth as he stumbled slightly, and his suit of brown battle armor was completely inundated by the green flames.


    Yellow Two let loose a delicate cry, and a pristine white pillar of flames landed on Purple One''s body. "Spiritual Healing!"


    She had gauged the situation very accurately and determined that these green flames were a spiritual attack. Sure enough, the green flames burning on Purple One''s body instantly abated slightly. However, the flames erupting from the giant skull''s mouth were already hurtling toward them from all directions.


    Yellow Four let loose a low cry, and his fourth soul ring immediately lit up. A circular shield appeared in mid-air, and the surface of the shield was covered in strange scales. These scales quickly separated before forming protective barriers around everyone''s bodies.


    At the same time, everyone had already donned their suits of battle armor to increase their defensive prowess.


    Purple One let loose a loud roar, and his sixth soul ring lit up. Everyone was finally made aware of what his martial soul was.


    A loud cry rang out as a giant purple falcon rose up into the air. It spread its wings and flapped them violently, summoning a purple energy storm that swept forth for over 100 meters.


    This was a Purplejade Divine Falcon, a very powerful flying-type soul beast. Purple One had just unleashed his sixth soul skill, Divine Falcon Heavenly Dance.


    This soul skill allowed him to unleash a Purplejade Windstorm, which was an attack that covered a large range and struck enemies both on a physical and spiritual level.


    The purple storm clashed with the green flames, but the former was only barely able to keep the latter at bay. The green flames clearly still held the upper hand here.


    In that instant, everyone realized that their enemy was far more powerful than them. They hadn''t even managed to catch a glimpse of this enemy yet, and they were already in this dire situation.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was the calmest among all five of the agents. After enduring so much on the demonic island, his mental fortitude was unmatched.


    He wasn''t in a hurry to attack. Instead, he was carefully observing the massive skull while Purple One, Yellow Four, and the others were withstanding its attacks.


    He discovered that as the giant skull was bursting forth green flames, an extremely faint green halo was constantly converging toward it, indicating that it seemed to be absorbing something from all directions.


    Tang Wulin was immediately convinced that he''d arrived at the correct conclusions upon seeing this.


    His third soul ring lit up again as he unleashed another Golden Dragon Roar.


    The green flames erupting from the skull''s mouth wavered slightly, but it didn''t abate at all. However, if one were to look closely, they''d discover that the faint green halo converging toward it on the ground had disappeared in the face of the Golden Dragon Roar.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin leaped up, and golden light flashed in his right hand as his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp. Dazzling white light erupted from his body, and he swung his arm through the air without any hesitation, hurling his Golden Dragon Spear directly toward the center of the skull like a bolt of golden lightning.


    Less than a second had passed from the moment that he''d unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar to the instant that hurled his Golden Dragon Spear.


    The giant skull had clearly been temporarily impacted by the Golden Dragon Roar, and the Golden Dragon Spear was upon it in an instant.


    A green light barrier appeared, but when it came into contact with the tip of the Golden Dragon Spear, it was immediately punctured, and the spear continued onward without any impediment.


    Pierce, bone penetration, and devour were the three special effects that his Golden Dragon Spear possessed, and every time he broke another Golden Dragon King seal, his understanding of his Golden Dragon Spear would be elevated to a higher level.


    After being run through by the Golden Dragon Spear, the massive skull was thrown backward by the force of the impact, thereby making it spray its green flames up into the air.


    Right at this moment, a loud dragon''s roar erupted from Tang Wulin''s body, and a shimmering golden dragon projection appeared in mid-air; Golden Dragon Takes Flight!

 Chapter 855: Immense Power

    After hurling his Golden Dragon Spear through the air, Tang Wulin immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight, taking him directly to the side of the giant skull before his right hand lashed out with devastating force.


    Five dark golden claw projections that were each seven meters in length struck the giant skull with ferocious might, and a piercing screech rang out, followed by the sound of something being shattered. Green light erupted in all directions as green flames exploded violently.


    Tang Wulin crossed his arms in front of him, and a golden light barrier appeared to envelop his body as he tumbled to the ground. At the same time, he waved his right hand through the air, and a streak of golden light returned to his grasp. It was none other than his Golden Dragon Spear, which had played a pivotal role in deciding this battle.


    Even Purple One was completely flabbergasted, let alone the three other yellow agents on the team.


    It had only taken Tang Wulin the span of a few breaths to shatter the skull that had caused them so much trouble. This was simply incredible!


    "Run!" Tang Wulin roared, and everyone immediately returned to their senses. All of them began to rush out of the industrial area as quickly as they could.


    Strangely enough, as soon as they emerged from the area, the fearsome pressure instantly disappeared, and no enemies rushed out to pursue them.


    Purple One swiped his hand through the air, and the Tang Sect battle vehicle shot forth out of his storage ring. He leaped into the car first, and everyone hurriedly followed suit. He immediately put the pedal to the metal, and the car hurtled back the way they''d come like a bolt of lightning.


    Within the industrial area.


    A figure silently emerged in the distance. He appeared to be a middle-aged man in his forties, and there were seven soul rings shimmering around him, consisting of two yellows, two purples, and three blacks. He held an inky-black staff in his right hand, and on the tip of the staff was a ball of light formed by green light mist.


    He currently wore a very dark expression on his face.


    "I didn''t think that they''d break my Demon Devouring Skull! The Tang Sect will most likely be deploying more people to this place soon, so we can''t stay here for much longer. Gather up all of the vengeful spirits that you can; we have to get out of here."


    "Yes!" Countless skulls suddenly appeared around him, and all of them had green flames shimmering within their eye sockets, but they were far smaller than the massive skull that had just appeared. These smaller skulls quickly sped away in all directions.


    The Tang Sect battle vehicle continued to race along at a high speed, and everyone''s suits of battle armor vanished into their bodies amid flashes of light.


    Yellow Four couldn''t help but turn to Tang Wulin with a stunned expression. "How did you do that, Yellow Three? That last attack was way too badass! I can''t believe you smashed that skull like it was nothing! My god, you''re the man!"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m not all that great; it''s just that the skull isn''t actually as powerful as all of you imagined it to be."


    Purple One had just finished issuing a report to the headquarters. All of their communication devices returned to normal as soon as they exited the industrial area. After hearing Tang Wulin''s response, he couldn''t help but turn around, and asked, "Can you tell us what you did?"


    Tang Wulin explained, "When the sobbing first appeared, we didn''t discover any people in the nearby area, which indicates that those sobs didn''t come from any living beings. During our search, I constantly had this unsettled feeling in my heart, and I made a bold guess that these sobs came from the vengeful spirits of all those who had perished in the factories. According to the information we received, a major explosion has taken place in that industrial area in the past, and that has resulted in leakage of harmful substances, so a lot of people must''ve died during that incident.


    "Those people died under unjust circumstances, so there''s a chance that they could become vengeful spirits. Vengeful spirits should naturally disappear quite quickly, but they can perhaps be preserved by beings like evil Soul Masters. Hence, when we were unable to ascertain the source of the sobbing, I made an assumption that they came from vengeful spirits. The illusionary realm that was conjured up after that also most likely drew upon power from these vengeful spirits. Controlling vengeful spirits requires a vast amount of spiritual power, and we didn''t know where our enemy was hiding, so if we wanted to escape, we''d have to break our enemy''s control over these vengeful spirits first.


    "Hence, I used that sound-based soul skill, dealing both spiritual and physical damage through my roar. As expected, the result was that the enemy lost control over the vengeful spirits for an instant, thereby allowing us to rush out of the illusion. As for the giant skull, it possessed immense offensive prowess, but I noticed at the time that there were many halos converging toward it, and I made another assumption that it was drawing upon energy from the vengeful spirits in the factories. If my assumption was correct, then that indicated that our hidden enemy wasn''t actually as powerful as we''d thought; they''d only become so powerful through borrowing the power of the vengeful spirits."


    Tang Wulin paused here momentarily before continuing, "In that case, the skull that they summoned had to have some kind of weakness. That weakness clearly didn''t lie in its offensive prowess, so I thought that it may have been quite lackluster in defense. I used that to my advantage to attack it, and sure enough, I was able to destroy it after cutting off the injection of vengeful spirits into the skull. After that, no enemies rushed out to pursue us, and that further supported my assumptions. The enemy lurking in the industrial area most likely isn''t actually all that powerful, and they''re not confident that they''d be able to defeat us outside of the industrial area."


    After hearing Tang Wulin''s analysis, the entire Tang Sect battle vehicle suddenly fell silent.


    After a long while, Purple One finally sighed, "Did you really enter the same industrial area as we did?"


    There was clearly a hint of bitterness and self-deprecation in his voice as he spoke.


    He was the leader of this team, yet in the face of danger, he was completely unable to grasp the situation and ascertain the nature of their enemy. If it weren''t for Tang Wulin''s astute analysis and brilliant execution, they would''ve most likely been trapped and eventually killed in there.


    Yellow One, Yellow Two, and Yellow Four were also staring at Tang Wulin as if he were some kind of freak.


    His combat prowess was one thing, but his analytical ability during battle was downright terrifying!


    Tang Wulin scratched his head in a rather oblivious manner. He felt as if he''d done something very normal, and he couldn''t understand why his companions were so stunned.


    Unbeknownst to him, after enduring the torturous training on the demonic island, he was no longer the same person he once was. His observation ability, reactions, and decisiveness had all been elevated to a whole new level that placed him far above even the average Battle Hall agent. Just the prowess that he was unintentionally displaying was enough to stun his peers.


    The Tang Sect battle vehicle stopped after entering the city, and they began to await the arrival of reinforcements. Not long after that, two black agents silently appeared in the night.


    They conversed briefly with Purple One, and Purple One gave a truthful recount of the situation, making no effort to hide the pivotal role that Tang Wulin had just played.


    The two black agents cast glances of approval at Tang Wulin before instantly vanishing into the night.


    "What do we do now, Purple One?" Yellow One asked.


    Purple One replied, "Let''s wait here and go back after an outcome has been reached. We''ll also be able to confirm whether we''ve completed this mission. If anyone''s tired, you can go and rest in the car; I''ll stand on guard duty."


    He was both astonished by Tang Wulin''s abilities and also filled with guilt and frustration. If Tang Wulin hadn''t turned the situation around, there was a very good chance that their team would''ve been completely wiped out back there. Even if he could escape, there was no way the entire team could emerge intact, and as the team leader, he would have to accept responsibility for the deaths of his team members.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to Purple One to say something, but Purple One shook his head, and said, "It''s alright, you don''t need to try and comfort me. I''m very fortunate to have encountered a teammate like you, and at the same time, you''ve opened my eyes up to the fact that I still have many flaws when it comes to battling evil Soul Masters. I''ll work on these flaws when we get back, and I''ll be sure to improve!"


    Tang Wulin gave him a thumbs-up. As expected of a Battle Hall agent!


    There were many factors that had resulted in Purple One''s lackluster treatment of the situation; firstly, everything had happened too abruptly, secondly, he wasn''t familiar enough with evil Soul Masters, thirdly, he wasn''t calm enough in the face of danger, and lastly, he lacked experience when it came to fighting evil Soul Masters.

 Chapter 856: Instruction From the Pavilion Master

    However, none of this could change the fact that he was still an exceptional agent. The campaign against evil Soul Masters was bound to be a long and arduous one, and witnessing Tang Wulin''s performance had dealt him a heavy blow, but as long as he was still alive he would continue to improve himself as an agent.


    Yellow One, Yellow Two, and Yellow Four also made their way over to Tang Wulin before expressing their gratitude.


    No one knew what the situation in the industrial area was like, so they couldn''t bring themselves to rest. As such, they merely stood together in silence. The two black agents only returned when daybreak had almost arrived.


    They informed everyone that all of the evil Soul Masters in the industrial area had left, and that Tang Wulin was correct in his judgment that the evil Soul Masters had used the vengeful spirits in the factories. At the same time, they discovered a sacrificial altar buried deep under the ground beneath the factories. From the condition of the sacrificial altar, they deduced that not only had all of the vengeful spirits in the factories been refined, many of the souls of the people who had perished in the recent terrorist attack had also been funneled over to this place to be refined by the altar.


    This piece of information left a bad taste in everyone''s mouths, but at the same time, the two black agents announced that they''d completed their mission.


    Seeing as Tang Wulin had displayed an outstanding performance during the mission, he was going to receive half of the reward while the remaining four members of the team shared the other half.


    Purple One and the others were all more than willing to accept this arrangement.


    This mission was worth double points in the first place, and Tang Wulin had taken half of the entire reward, so this was a very bountiful haul for him. However, this mission had also left him feeling that there was a lot more that still had to be done as he felt the insolence of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Even with the federation''s immense power, they were still unable to weed out the Holy Spirit Cult, and these terrorist attacks were only taking place with increased regularity. They hadn''t even found the masterminds behind this terrorist attack, and they''d finally found some leads, only for the evil Soul Masters to make an easy retreat. There had to be someone helping them on the inside, and their backers had to be extremely fearsome.


    Purple One drove the Tang Sect battle vehicle back to Shrek City, and everyone received their rewards, following which their temporary team disbanded.


    Tang Wulin didn''t accept any other missions. Instead, he returned to the academy so he could recover all of his belongings first. After that, he was going to head to Heaven Dou City to visit his uncle-teacher.


    Following the completion of his mission, he''d been informed that the blacksmith association of Heaven Dou City hadn''t been affected by the terrorist attack. That was one of the only silver linings on this dark cloud.


    Everything was still the same in Shrek Academy. Tang Wulin returned to the inner court and the first place he went to was the Sea God''s Island to report his return.


    Before he had even made it onto the Sea God''s Island, he was surprised to find that there was someone standing on the shore.


    This man wore a set of white robes and had his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a slightly cold expression on his handsome face, and he wasn''t surprised in the slightest by the sight of Tang Wulin''s arrival. He waved his hand toward Tang Wulin, and the latter skipped over the water before landing on the shore and extending a respectful salute. "Elder Yun."


    That''s right, the man standing on the shore was none other than the current master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    Yun Ming nodded slightly in a show of acknowledgment, and said, "Come with me."


    He then turned and strode deeper into the Sea God''s Island, and Tang Wulin hurriedly followed along.


    Yun Ming didn''t seem to be walking very quickly, but Tang Wulin had to run as fast as he could just to keep up.


    The Sea God''s Island wasn''t very large, and it only took a short while before the two of them arrived at the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    After entering the Sea God''s Pavilion, Yun Ming didn''t stop in the hall. Instead, he made his way up the stairs. Tang Wulin trailed along behind him and appraised their surroundings with a curious look in his eyes.


    He wasn''t very familiar with the Sea God''s Pavilion at all, so he was very curious about this place. This was a wooden cabin constructed on the Golden Tree, and it wasn''t very large, but it was one of the most powerful and influential places on the entire Douluo Continent!


    Yun Ming led Tang Wulin all the way to the third level of the Sea God''s Pavilion before making his way into an empty room.


    There were no ornaments or furniture in the room aside from a pair of futons on the ground.


    Yun Ming sat down on one of the futons before pointing at the futon across from him. "Take a seat."


    Tang Wulin sat down as he was told, and he was quite surprised, as well as curious. Could it be that Yun Ming had been waiting for him?


    He wasn''t surprised at all that Yun Ming was aware of his return. With his immense spiritual power, he most likely knew that he''d returned from the moment he set foot in Shrek City.


    "Have you found any information about Na''er?" Yun Ming asked in a grim voice.


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted slightly, and he shook his head with a wry smile on his face. He hadn''t found any information about Gu Yue or Na''er.


    Yun Ming suddenly said, "You formed a soul power vortex?"


    Tang Wulin looked up at him with a surprised expression before nodding in response. Yun Ming''s power was simply unfathomable to him. The fact that he was able to identify that he''d already formed a soul power vortex most likely indicated that he could see through Tang Wulin''s entire body.


    Yun Ming''s brows furrowed slightly as if he were contemplating something.


    Only after a long while did he ask, "Do you have any questions?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head. "Not really. Based on what my teacher told me in the past, I can sense that my soul power vortex is quite normal. The only thing I''m confused about is why it''s appeared this early. Shouldn''t this be something that only appears on the cusp of reaching rank 70 in soul power?"


    Yun Ming explained, "Actually, the formation of a soul power vortex has nothing to do with your soul power rank; the only contributing factor is the density of your soul power. When soul power is compressed to a certain extent, it will begin to approach a solid form. Purely solid soul power doesn''t actually exist, so this soul power, which is close to a solid state, has to exist in a special form; rotation. To put it simply, if you were to leave a cup of very rich hot chocolate for a long time, it would naturally congeal into a solid. Similarly, if you were to leave a glass of very concentrated salt water for a while, salt crystals will quickly condense.


    "Furthermore, not only do such liquids possess high levels of concentration, the concentration gradients is very even throughout. Soul power follows the same trend. When your soul power reaches a certain level of density, it will naturally form a vortex, and this is simply the natural progression of things. Your soul power will gradually take on a qualitative change until it forms a soul core. Soul power vortexes possess immense suction force and will draw in all of the soul power within your body. At the same time, it''s very proficient in drawing natural energies to you, so it''ll benefit you greatly in your cultivation. It''s very rare for a Soul King like you to form a soul power vortex. Back when I formed my soul power vortex, I was at rank 59 in my soul power. After that, my rate of cultivation between ranks 60 to 70 was the same as that between ranks 50 to 60."


    Tang Wulin was given a brand new understanding of soul power vortexes after hearing Yun Ming''s explanation. Furthermore, he was surprised to find that Yun Ming was providing guidance to him. He had only formed his soul power at rank 59? Didn''t that mean he had surpassed him in that area?


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised by this revelation, but he still made sure to commit all of Yun Ming''s words firmly to memory. This was a man who was widely renowned as the most powerful being in the current world! The vast majority of Soul Masters would never be blessed with an opportunity like this.


    Yun Ming could see that he''d processed all of this information, and he continued, "All you have to do is keep cultivating as normal now. With your soul power vortex acting as a foundation, your cultivation rank will increase very quickly. You can come to the Sea God''s Pavilion to find me if you have any questions."


    "Yes, thank you, Elder Yun," Tang Wulin said in a respectful manner.


    Yun Ming appraised him with a rather complex expression. "I''m a very subjective person, so I don''t like you because of what you did to Na''er."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on his face. He was also filled with guilt toward Na''er.


    Yun Ming continued, "However, for the sake of the academy, I shouldn''t let my personal feelings get in the way. All of you did very well during the military training on the demonic island. I''ve already received news from them that you''ve performed more splendidly than the vast majority of our seniors."


    Tang Wulin gave no reply to this. Was he being complimented?


    Yun Ming paused momentarily in contemplation, but he still seemed to be unable to make up his mind. In the end, he waved a hand, and said, "You can go now."


    "Yes." Tang Wulin hurriedly rose to his feet before departing after extending another respectful salute.


    Yun Ming heaved a faint sigh and massaged his brows as he looked on at Tang Wulin''s departing figure.


    A small door on the side of the room was pushed open, and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali entered the room. She arrived behind Yun Ming before gently massaging his shoulders.


    "Are you still unable to make up your mind? Both his personality and his powers indicate that he''s going to stand at the pinnacle of the continent in the future."


    Yun Ming shook his head. "I still don''t like him. We''ll wait and see, I guess."


    Yali heaved a faint sigh. "Don''t push him too far away!"

 Chapter 857: Guidance from Grandteacher

    A faint smile appeared on Yun Ming''s face. "I''m not worried about that; not only is he one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, he''s also an agent of the Tang Sect. I''ve already broken the rules of the academy to give him some extra trials. Notify everyone that Tang Wulin has been selected as a backup elder of the Sea God''s Pavilion, but keep this information confidential to everyone outside of the Sea God''s Pavilion, including Tang Wulin himself."


    "Yes!"


    Yun Ming stood up and latched onto his wife''s hand. "Truth be told, I also really look forward to seeing what kind of miracles he''ll create in the future, but all of the past masters of the Sea God''s Pavilion had to endure countless trials and tribulations before they were given that position."


    Yali smiled, and said, "I really like him, and I have great confidence in him. According to the rules of the academy, the fact that he''s completed all of the demonic island trials makes him eligible to become an elder of the Sea God''s Pavilion, and the fact that he''s done so while breaking so many records makes him eligible to become the successor of the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion. His results are undeniable."


    Yun Ming smiled, and said, "Don''t worry, I''m well aware of that."


    After exiting the Sea God''s Pavilion, Tang Wulin was feeling rather perplexed. Yun Ming had been personally waiting for him by the shore of the Sea God''s Lake just so he could provide some brief instructions in his cultivation? He could sense that Yun Ming seemed to be rather indecisive about something, and he couldn''t think of what kind of internal conflict Yun Ming could currently be grappling with.


    In any case, Yun Ming seemed to have accepted him to a certain extent, and that had to be a good thing.


    Tang Wulin returned to his living quarters first and collected all of his belongings before visiting the wooden cabin that Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi was living in.


    "Grandteacher."


    Zhuo Shi was currently sunbathing in his yard. At this cultivation rank, constant cultivation wasn''t required. Instead, the key to making breakthroughs for him lay in immersing himself in heaven and earth in search of an instant of enlightenment.


    Zhuo Shi wasn''t surprised at all to see his arrival. A faint smile appeared on his face, and he asked, "Did the pavilion master go to find you?"


    Tang Wulin asked in a curious manner, "You know about that?"


    Zhuo Shi smiled in response. "It''s only normal that he would go to find you. Come here and sit beside me." He pointed at a spot beside himself as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to Zhuo Shi before taking a seat, and Zhuo Shi said, "Tell me about your trip."


    After that, he closed his eyes as if he were dozing off.


    Tang Wulin naturally had nothing to hide from his grandteacher, so he gave him a detailed recount of everything he and his friends had endured during this trip. The story began with their run-in with that powerful Evil Soul Master on the high-speed soul train, and it concluded with their return to Shrek City. He only neglected to mention the Tang Sect mission that he''d undertaken following his return.


    Zhuo Shi''s eyes were closed the entire time, and only after hearing the entire story did he open his eyes again.


    He sighed, "The peaceful times on this continent are about to come to an end. My generation is already too old; it''s up to you guys to change and protect the continent in the future."


    Tang Wulin looked up at him with a surprised expression. "Grandteacher, are things really that serious already?"


    Zhuo Shi replied in a grim voice, "It''ll only be more serious than what you can imagine. The higher-ups of the federation are clearly extremely corrupt, and a blatant internal conflict has commenced. From the outside, the federation looks quite calm and placid, but the internal political battles must be very fierce already. This recent terrorist attack is a direct result of this conflict. Mo Wu was a parliamentary member of the federation and was being groomed as an important successor to a faction, yet he has perished during the recent attack. That''s only going to further exacerbate the internal conflict within the federation. It''s hard to say which political faction has ties with the Holy Spirit Cult, but it''s undoubtedly the case that the cult must have powerful backers in the federal government. Otherwise, there''s no way that they could wreak such havoc yet still hide themselves so well.


    "A period of unrest is about to dawn upon this world. Not only are cracks appearing in the federal government, I''ve heard that the Spirit Pagoda is also experiencing internal issues. Over at the Star Luo Empire, the Green Skull Renegades seem to have received some kind of support, and their battle against the imperial government is constantly escalating. It seems that the entire planet is going through tumultuous times."


    Tang Wulin''s brain was working rapidly as he tried to make sense of the situation, but he still found himself completely befuddled by this situation. After all, he had always been a student at Shrek Academy, and was constantly focusing on cultivation, thereby leading him to neglect other areas of knowledge.


    Zhuo Shi continued, "There''s no need for you to think too much about this for now; you''ll only truly be swept up into all of this after you graduate from the inner court. However, remember that as the leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, you must shoulder an extremely heavy burden. Shrek Academy has always been a neutral entity, but that only applies during peaceful times. If a threat that''s strong enough to impact the entire continent arises, the academy will spring into action without any hesitation. Do you understand what I''m saying?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. Shrek Academy had been around for tens of thousands of years, and held an extremely important position on the Douluo Continent. Almost all of the major organizations on the continent had Shrek Academy alumni among their ranks, and if the academy were to get involved in all of this, they would definitely be able to summon a terrifying amount of power.


    Zhuo Shi laid a hand on Tang Wulin''s shoulder. "From now, the pressure on your shoulders will continue to mount. The benefits you received from your demonic island military training stint will only begin to manifest themselves in the future. I hope that you can emulate a spring that gathers more rebound force the more pressure is placed upon you. Do you have any cultivation questions including questions regarding your Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon? Go ahead and raise them."


    Tang Wulin stayed at Zhuo Shi''s wooden cabin until night had almost fallen, and after receiving Zhuo Shi''s guidance, the problems he''d encountered during this past year were all resolved.


    That night, he stayed on the Sea God''s Island.


    He stayed in the wooden cabin that Gu Yue had once lived in. He sat on the bed and looked out at the bright pristine moon through the window. Her gorgeous features appeared in his mind, and he felt as if she were somewhere nearby.


    The silver dragon scale hanging in front of his chest reflected the gentle moonlight, and he didn''t sleep the entire night.


    The next morning, Tang Wulin left the academy. He had already told Zhuo Shi that he was going to be spending a month in Heaven Dou City to continue his forging studies under Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua''s guidance.


    He had currently reached an extremely important bottleneck in his forging. If he could make a breakthrough, then he would ascend to a whole new level. As the youngest sixth-rank blacksmith in the world, making a breakthrough now would open up infinite possibilities to him.


    After leaving the academy, Tang Wulin didn''t go to the train station. He truly had a phobia of soul trains now, especially when it came to train journeys to and from Heaven Dou City. Countless misfortunes had befallen him during his past train journeys, so it was in the best interests of both himself and the other passengers that he refrained from taking the train.


    He arrived at the Battle Hall of the Tang Sect and exchanged some points for a Tang Sect battle vehicle.


    After riding on a battle vehicle during that mission, he had become very partial to these cars. Not only were they very fast, they were also extremely smooth. The only downside was that he didn''t have any special privileges on the road, but in any case, this car was a far better car than any normal vehicle he could buy.


    As for his mecha, he''d already recovered it, and all that was left for him to do was to upgrade it. However, mechas were different from cars, after all. The federation had very strict regulations against mechas, and this was a very sensitive time.


    Tang Wulin had a considerable amount of agent points, and he still had a lot left to spare even after securing a Tang Sect battle vehicle. The battle vehicle was placed into his storage ring and it could only be released after he exited the building.


    In contrast with the Tang Sect battle vehicle he''d traveled on during that mission, this one had three rows of seats with a maximum capacity of eight passengers. It wasn''t as fast as the one he''d ridden on before, but it was far better for cross-country travel.


    There were seven seats for Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and the final seat was naturally reserved for her...

 Chapter 858: Resolving Disorder Through Intelligence

    Along the way, the Tang Sect battle vehicle''s disguise system activated, and the surface of the car took on a deep blue hue that appeared to be black under dim environments. Only under the direct sunlight would it shimmer like a sapphire. This type of blue was referred to as cavansite blue by the Tang Sect, and it was derived from a type of mineral. It was extremely resistant to corrosion, and could strengthen the structural integrity of metals. Some mechas also had this type of material applied to their surfaces.


    Thus, the Tang Sect battle vehicle sped onto the highway and traveled toward Heaven Dou City again.


    Driving a car and riding in a car were two completely different experiences. Not only was this Tang Sect battle vehicle extremely smooth to drive, it was also very easy to control and he familiarized himself with it extremely quickly.


    Less than two hours later, Heaven Dou City was already looming in the distance. Tang Wulin wondered whether the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult had been captured, and a heavy feeling settled in his heart as he thought back to the ordeal he''d suffered in the abandoned industrial site. The more he learned about the Holy Spirit Cult, the more he realized how much of a threat they posed to society and the entire federation. These bastards had to be weeded out as quickly as possible!


    After exiting the highway, Tang Wulin drove onto a familiar main road that led toward Heaven Dou City. The situation was much the same as it had been a few days ago; there were still many victims lining the streets, but their numbers had clearly decreased, so it could be seen that the government was working toward providing lodging for them.


    The reconstruction project would most likely have to go on for a long time. After all, the scale of the damage was immense, and the nature of this incident was downright abhorrent. Hopefully, this terrorist attack would unite the entire federation against the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, Tang Wulin drove into the city. There was better order being maintained in the city, but there were also clearly far more patrolling police vehicles here.


    If the presence of police vehicles was truly effective, then the attack would''ve never happened. Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh. However, having police presence in the area was better than nothing as it could at least instill a sense of calmness into the hearts of the city''s residents.


    The blacksmith association in Heaven Dou City was the headquarters of the blacksmith association, and Tang Wulin drove his car into a nearby alley. He then stopped the car before stowing it away into his storage ring, then making his way toward the blacksmith association building.


    However, he immediately stopped after arriving at the entrance. It wasn''t that he didn''t want to go in; the problem was that the entrance had been completely blocked by countless people.


    "Hand over the perpetrators! Hand over the perpetrators!" There were at least 1,000 people yelling like madmen in front of the association building. Some of the more vehement ones were even hurling rocks at the building.


    A yellow line had been drawn in front of the entrance, and there were police officers present to maintain order, but it was quite clear that they were struggling to hold back the riot.


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned to see this, and only after asking around did he realize the terrible situation that the blacksmith association was in.


    According to the surveillance records, prior to the terrorist attack, the last place that at least close to 20 of the terrorists responsible for the attack had visited was none other than the blacksmith association.


    In a major city like Heaven Dou City, there were soul surveillance cameras present on almost all of the important streets, so the surveillance footage was very clear.


    There was no concrete evidence suggesting that the blacksmith association was related to the Holy Spirit Cult in any way, but the footage had been intentionally leaked by those wishing to implement their own sinister agenda. As such, the furious residents of Heaven Dou City immediately swarmed toward the blacksmith federation as a scapegoat.


    The association building had been surrounded and attacked for many days already, and they could only keep their doors tightly shut. It was undoubtedly the case that this incident had severely dented the reputation of the blacksmith association.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. He had absolute trust in his uncle-teacher; how could the blacksmith association possibly be related to Evil Soul Masters? Furthermore, how had the surveillance footage been leaked to the public? At the very least, the footage shouldn''t have been released before a verdict was reached.


    It didn''t take a genius to see that someone was clearly trying to drag the blacksmith association through the mud!


    Tang Wulin could clearly recall the incident during which his uncle-teacher had almost been assassinated. It was undoubtedly the case that the Holy Spirit Cult was behind that assassination. As the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire continent, his uncle-teacher was most definitely a thorn in the side of the entire Holy Spirit Cult as he refused to join them.


    The general public was filled with trend-following lambs, and it was especially difficult for them to control their emotions after losing their loved ones in the recent attack. To make matters even worse, the government building of Heaven Dou City had been razed to the ground, and almost all of the high-ranking officials in the city were dead. The newly assigned officials were far too busy dealing with everything else on their plates to step forward and restore the reputation of the blacksmith association.


    It was exactly due to these circumstances that the pressure on the blacksmith association was continuing to mount.


    What should I do?


    A contemplative look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes. He had come here and been made aware of this issue, so he had to think of a way to help his uncle-teacher somehow.


    He wasn''t in a hurry to enter the association building. Instead, he ducked into an inconspicuous corner and continued to observe in silence.


    There were over 1,000 people gathered outside the building, and all of them refused to leave as they''d completely lost their objective thinking abilities. Many of the windows of the blacksmith association building had been smashed, and it appeared that his riot had been raging for more than a day already.


    So what were they trying to achieve through this riot?


    In order to take care of an issue, the first step required was objective analysis; this was a lesson that had been taught to Tang Wulin by Old Demon Sloth. In his words, the smartest people in the world were all lazy as only lazy people would think of ways to conserve time and effort.


    Those who rushed into matters headfirst and missed the point entirely would only be wasting their time and energy. Only after ascertaining the target could a fast and accurate strike be made, thereby saving time and effort. With that saved time, one could do something more worthwhile, like taking a good nap.


    Tang Wulin didn''t entirely agree with Old Demon Sloth''s words, but it had to be said that the general gist of his teachings was very valid.


    In the past, he would''ve had no choice but to seek out his uncle-teacher and ask him about the current situation in the blacksmith association.


    However, he was a lot calmer than he was in the past, and he was standing in a discrete location while carefully observing the riotous crowd.


    With his Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, he was able to easily observe everyone in the crowd in great detail. The first thing he did was scour through the crowd for the presence of Soul Masters.


    This search returned a negative result; all of the rioters were normal people, and there wasn''t even a single Soul Master among them.


    However, he didn''t give up there. Instead, he continued to observe. After around 10 minutes, Tang Wulin discovered that there were several leaders among these rioters, and they were distributed extremely evenly in the crowd.


    Whenever the riot began to taper off and the chants began to subside, they would always step in to inspire a new wave of unrest.


    There were a total of 16 such leaders among this huge crowd, and upon closer inspection, Tang Wulin discovered that all 16 of them were wearing communicators. These were extremely advanced miniature earpiece communicators, and Tang Wulin knew how much those things cost.


    At the very least, members of the general public wouldn''t be able to afford them, and even if they could, there was simply no reason to spend such a large chunk of their savings for such devices.


    These individual traits couldn''t prove anything on their own, but when combined together, they shed light on many things.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin was only searching for circumstantial evidence anyway.


    Thus, he departed and stepped into a dimly-lit corner of the street.


    "Hand over the perpetrators and punish the blacksmith association!" the crowd chanted vehemently.


    "The president of the blacksmith association needs to come out and give us an explanation!"


    "All members of the blacksmith association should be executed! You damn Evil Soul Masters..."


    All types of vehement chants were ringing out incessantly.


    All of a sudden, a figure sliced through the crowd like a bolt of lightning. He was extraordinarily fast, and a burst of invisible power was erupting from his body, forcing the crowd to make way for him.


    He wore a yellow cloak and a yellow mask with a yellow agent badge from the Tang Sect pinned in front of his chest.


    He raised a hand and grabbed onto one of the 16 leaders of the riot.


    Immediately thereafter, before the crowd could react, he suddenly roared, "You''re not getting away!"


    Soul rings emerged around his body as he spoke, and a total of eight appeared, consisting of two yellows, two purples, and four blacks. An extremely powerful aura erupted from his body, and a series of massive vines emerged like giant pythons, rising up into the air before plunging into the crowd to ensnare the other 15 riot leaders.


    There were over 1,000 people present, but all of them had fallen silent in astonishment.


    "There''s no need to panic, everyone; I''ve been deployed here by the Battle Hall of the Tang Sect to capture these criminals of the Holy Spirit Cult!" Tang Wulin''s voice was infused with a hint of spiritual intimidation from his Golden Dragon Roar, and it immediately drowned out everyone else''s voices.


    The police officers quickly flocked to the scene, but after witnessing Tang Wulin''s attire and the badge on his chest, as well as his soul rings, all of them stopped in their tracks.

 Chapter 859: Six Powerful Beings

    With the advancements of soul technology on the continent, Soul Masters weren''t as revered as they were 10,000 years ago. However, it was undoubtedly the case that being a Soul Master was still the most honorable occupation on the Douluo Continent; that had never changed.


    Every person hoped that they would be able to become a Soul Master when they awakened their martial souls at six years of age, and the vast majority of them were met with disappointment, but that didn''t change the position of Soul Masters in their hearts.


    Now, an eight-ring Soul Douluo had suddenly appeared before them, and aside from shock and fear, everyone was also filled with curiosity and fanatical admiration.


    It was not every day that one could see a high-grade Soul Master! This was an eight-ring Soul Douluo; even in the context of the world of Soul Masters, this was a very powerful being. Furthermore, not only was he a Soul Douluo, he also claimed to be from the Tang Sect. Was he a Tang Sect agent?


    Not everyone was aware of the existence of the Tang Sect''s Battle Hall, but those who did know of its existence also knew that the federation''s Battle God Hall and the Battle Hall of the Tang Sect were filled with some of the most powerful Soul Masters on the entire continent.


    Furthermore, the Tang Sect had been around on the continent since 20,000 years ago, and it had always been a powerful positive force. The founder of the Tang Sect, the legendary Tang San, and the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, both hailed from the Tang Sect.


    Compared to normal Soul Masters, Soul Masters from the Tang Sect carried an extra air of mystery and superiority in the eyes of the general public. As such, after Tang Wulin had announced that he was from the Tang Sect, all of the furious rioters temporarily set aside their rage to listen to what he had to say.


    "Wh, what gives you the right to detain me? We''re here to get an explanation from the blacksmith association! Even if you''re from the Tang Sect, you can''t capture innocent people for no reason!" The man who had been detained by Tang Wulin was still trying to argue.


    "He''s just an imposter who was sent out by the blacksmith association! Don''t believe him, everyone!" another one of the 16 riot leaders immediately chimed in.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, coldly, "I''ll tell you why I''ve detained all of you. Firstly, let me ask everyone this; who recognizes this man that I''ve detained?"


    There were still a dozen or so people yelling in protest, but the eight soul rings that Tang Wulin had conjured up using his disguise skill had convinced the crowd to calm down.


    One of the people standing not far away from Tang Wulin said, "I don''t think I''ve ever seen him around these parts."


    Tang Wulin said in a grim voice, "These people are clearly the ones leading this riot! In the aftermath of the tragedy that has just taken place, we should all be combining our efforts to help the city recover, yet these people are fanning the flames of unjustified hatred! It''s true that those terrorists did indeed visit the blacksmith association prior to the attack, but take a moment to think about this; does this mean that they''re from the blacksmith association? Are those evil Soul Masters unaware of the fact that there are surveillance cameras in Heaven Dou City?


    "Let''s go a step further back in time. What if these terrorists visited some restaurants in the city or lived in a hotel here. Does that mean those businesses are also run by terrorists? Are terrorists viruses that convert everyone they come into contact with into terrorists as well? At a time like this, we should be pouring all of our efforts into rebuilding the city, yet these people are leading riots and contributing to further chaos; what are their intentions? Should they not be detained?"


    Tang Wulin squeezed the ear of the man he''d detained as he spoke, and a miniature communicator fell into his hand. "Everyone, take a look at this. This is a miniature communicator. It''s not all that expensive; it only costs around 30,000 federal credits per set. The one he has is an advanced model with a high degree of resistance against disruptions, so they''ll be around 50,000 to 60,000 federal credits per set. Does a normal person need something like this in normal day-to-day life? If you don''t believe me, you can see for yourselves whether these riot leaders all have these devices in their ears."


    The crowd immediately erupted into a frenzy again, and some of the more nosy individuals immediately plucked out these communicators from the ears of these riot leaders before raising them up high for everyone to see.


    "They really do all have these miniature communicators! And they appear to be the same model as well."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He had succeeded in his objective.


    "These rabble-rousers clearly have sinister intentions in mind! If you ask me, they''re much more likely to be related to the Holy Spirit Cult! I''m going to be handing them over to the police for further interrogation. I know that everyone is very sad following such a disastrous event, but it''s exactly because of this that we can''t fall into the traps of hatred laid by the perpetrators!"


    Tang Wulin withdrew his soul rings and waved a hand toward the police officers as he spoke. With the assistance of the riotous crowd, the 16 riot leaders were gathered together, and all of them were already deathly pale.


    Under everyone''s intense scrutiny, one of the riot leaders finally cracked. "No! I''m not a terrorist! Someone gave us money and asked us to lead this riot!"


    Everyone knew what punishment would befall them if they were deemed to be accomplices to the Holy Spirit Cult, and after one of them broke, the others quickly also confessed.


    The crowd immediately erupted into a frenzy upon hearing this.


    Tang Wulin had achieved everything that he''d set out to achieve, and as the police took over this case, he departed in a discrete manner, then arrived at the back entrance of the blacksmith association before giving Zhen Hua a call.


    As soon as the call was connected, Zhen Hua''s boisterous laughter rang out from the other end. "I knew it was you, you little rascal! When did you learn to disguise your soul rings? You almost gave me a heart attack when you released eight soul rings at once."


    "Huh? You knew I was here?" Tang Wulin exclaimed in a surprised manner.


    Zhen Hua chuckled, "Let''s talk face-to-face. I''ve already sent someone down to meet you."


    Just as they were speaking, the back entrance was opened, and someone emerged from within the building. Tang Wulin hurriedly strode over to find that this person seemed to be rather familiar, but he couldn''t quite recall who this was.


    At the same time, he was rather surprised to hear that his uncle-teacher seemed to be in high spirits despite everything that had been happening. How could he be so relaxed in such a bad situation?


    He stepped onto the elevator and arrived at the level that Zhen Hua was on. As soon as he entered Zhen Hua''s office, he was startled to find that there were a total of six people in the room. One of them was someone that he was extremely familiar with; it was one of his teachers, Mu Ye.


    As soon as Tang Wulin strode into the room, Mu Ye couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "You little bastard! You ruined our plan as soon as you got back! If you hadn''t released your Bluesilver Grass, I wouldn''t even have recognized you."


    "Teacher, Uncle-teacher." Tang Wulin was rather perplexed.


    Aside from those two, there were four other middle-aged people present, consisting of two men and two women.


    One of the middle-aged men heaved a resigned sigh. "We were planning to hook a big fish here, but it appears our plan has completely fallen through."


    Only then did Tang Wulin suddenly realize what the situation was, and a surprised look appeared on his face. "Could it be that you orchestrated this riot?"


    Zhen Hua chuckled, "No, we wouldn''t go that far; we were merely planning to use this riot to our advantage. The Holy Spirit Cult obviously instigated this riot so they could lure me out, then attack me out of the blue. The assassins deployed by the Holy Spirit Cult for this mission have to be quite powerful, so we were hoping to be able to detain them. I was going to come out after the police barricades were broken by the crowd, but you completely foiled our plan. The assassins from the Holy Spirit Cult will definitely change their plans now that an eight-ring Soul Douluo has stepped in."

 Chapter 860: Amorous Douluo

    A wry smile appeared on his face upon hearing this. He was still too inexperienced! He had thought that he''d taken care of this matter in an exceptional fashion, but who would''ve thought that this was a trap set by everyone for the Holy Spirit Cult?


    The smile on Zhen Hua''s face faded, and he said, "This incident was an extremely catastrophic one. I didn''t think that the Holy Spirit Cult would be brazen to such an extent already! How was the military training that your academy sent you on, Wulin?"


    In the presence of so many people, Tang Wulin couldn''t go into much detail, so he gave a clipped response. "I learned a lot from it. I only came back recently, and I came to pay you a visit right away."


    Zhen Hua nodded before pointing at the two middle-aged women in the room as he said, "Let me introduce everyone to you. These two are from the Battle God Hall, and they''re both incumbent Battle Gods."


    Tang Wulin wasn''t completely oblivious about the Battle God Hall now, and he was aware that the organization had 18 Battle Gods in total. They were the pillars of the Battle God Hall, and all of them were Titled Douluos that took orders directly from the federation. It was said that the Battle God Hall had Soul Masters who were even more powerful than the 18 Battle Gods, but Tang Wulin didn''t know what those beings were referred to as.


    The two middle-aged women were both quite ordinary in appearance, and following Zhen Hua''s introduction, Tang Wulin learned that their names were Ice Moon Douluo Tang Liyue and Dawn Cat Douluo Zhu Xuan.


    Zhen Hua then pointed at one of the middle-aged men, and continued, "This is Heavenly Saint Douluo Xu Shengqun from the Spirit Pagoda."


    Zhen Hua was clearly referring to this man in a more respectful manner than when he''d introduced the two female Battle Gods of the Battle God Hall.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "Greetings, Your Highness."


    Xu Shengqun nodded as he appraised Tang Wulin in an intrigued manner.


    Zhen Hua smiled, and continued, "Brother Xu is one of the current four spirit envoys of the Spirit Pagoda."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. He knew a lot more about the Spirit Pagoda than he did about the Battle God Hall, and he was aware of the fact that the Spirit Pagoda was a very tight-knit organization.


    In the beginning, when the federal parliament had first been founded, they''d actually referenced the hierarchy of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Spirit Pagoda had 36 elders, and in the beginning, these elders were beings from all types of different powers throughout the continent. However, as time passed, the Spirit Pagoda became more and more important, and it gradually became an independent entity.


    Even so, the Spirit Pagoda still had a panel of 36 elders that made a lot of their important decisions.


    Above the panel of elders were several high-ranking officials, including the pagoda chairman, the two vice-chairmen, and the four spirit envoys. These 43 people comprised the entire high-ranking hierarchy of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Spirit Pagoda was a relatively diplomatic organization; even the chairman couldn''t do whatever they wanted, but they had veto power, which could play crucial roles in all decisions. The vice-chairman and spirit envoys each had two votes, which was second only to the chairman''s three votes, while each of the elders had only one vote. Whenever an important decision had to be made, a verdict would be decided through a vote.


    The two vice-chairmen and four spirit envoys of the Spirit Pagoda had to have made extremely significant contributions to the organization, and they also represented the most powerful beings the Spirit Pagoda had to offer. As such, all of them had to be at least Hyper Douluos.


    This meant that this Heavenly Saint Douluo Xu Shengqun had to possess a cultivation rank that outstripped that of Mu Ye. As for who would win in a battle, that was a different matter entirely.


    Zhen Hua turned toward the last middle-aged man, and Tang Wulin could see that a hint of respect had appeared in his eyes. Just what kind of being could evoke such a reaction from the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire continent?


    A complex expression had also appeared on Mu Ye''s face as he cast his gaze toward this man, but as opposed to respect, Tang Wulin could see fear in his eyes.


    It was undoubtedly the case that both Zhen Hua and Mu Ye were extremely influential figures on the entire continent. As such, it had to take a being of truly unfathomable power to evoke such reactions from them.


    This middle-aged man was quite tall and slim with a set of handsome facial features. He had a pair of very beautiful eyes, just like Tang Wulin''s, and a gentle expression was rippling within those eyes. He had a set of very long eyelashes, and even though he appeared to be around 40 years of age, he was still a very attractive middle-aged man.


    There seemed to be no aura emanating from his body whatsoever, and at the very least, he didn''t grab one''s attention like the others did. However, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be drawn to this man.


    Zhen Hua said, "You and this man actually share a connection."


    "We do?" Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this.


    The middle-aged man smiled to reveal a set of white teeth, and he said, "Allow me to introduce myself; I am Zang Xin, and like you, I''m from the Tang Sect."


    Zang Xin? Tang Wulin had never heard of this name before. If there were anything in common between the two of them, it would have to be the fact that both of their names required many strokes to write... [Their Chinese names are Tang Wulin (ÌÆÎè÷ë) and Zang Xin (ê°öÎ) so yeah, signing contracts must be a pain in the ass for them.]


    Zhen Hua said, "Senior Zang is the Vice-palace Master of the Douluo Palace. His Douluo Title is Amorous."


    "Ahem." Zang Xin immediately cleared his throat in an awkward manner upon hearing this.


    "My apologies, I forgot that you didn''t like having your Douluo Titled mentioned," Zhen Hua hurriedly apologized with an awkward look on his face.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t noticed Zang Xin''s reaction to his own Douluo Title at all as he''d been completely stunned by the words "Douluo Palace".


    He was even more well aware of the internal structure of the Tang Sect; there were three inner halls and three outer halls, and he belonged to one of the three inner halls, the Battle Hall.


    The three inner halls were comprised of the Enforcement Hall, the Battle Hall, and the Holy Hall. The Douluo Palace was part of the outer three halls, and it was said that only the priests of the Holy Hall had a chance to ascend into the Douluo Palace.


    The master of the Douluo Palace was none other than the master of the entire Tang Sect, which meant that this Amorous Douluo was the second-in-command of the Tang Sect!


    After visiting the Star Luo Empire, Tang Wulin had been made aware of the fact that not only did the Tang Sect hold an extremely important position on the Douluo Continent, it was revered to an even greater degree on the Star Luo Continent.


    Zhen Hua had referred to Xu Shengqun as Brother Xu, but he referred to Zang Xin as Senior Zang, and there was a big difference there. It was undoubtedly the case that this Amorous Douluo was definitely older than he looked.


    "Sigh, it''s all the palace master''s fault for forcing this title upon me; it''s been embarrassing me my entire life! Wulin, there''s no need for you to refer to me as ''Your Highness'', and certainly don''t refer to me by my Douluo Title. Just call me Old Man Zang."


    Zang Xin had spoken in a very benevolent manner, and he wore a smile on his face this entire time, but Tang Wulin didn''t dare to oblige to this. He hurriedly said in a respectful manner, "Tang Wulin pays his respects to the vice-palace master!"


    A faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face, and he said, "This is our first meeting, so why don''t I give you a little gift?" He raised his hand as he spoke, and a small item flew toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly caught the item to find that it was a small round badge that was extremely intricately crafted. There was clearly a soul array within the badge, and it was very beautiful to behold. One side of it was blue while the other was red, and both sides had the character "Tang" engraved upon it.


    "That''s a Tang Sect Ice Fire Seal!" the other five Titled Douluos, including Xu Shenqun, all exclaimed in unison.


    In particular, Ice Moon Douluo Tang Liyue and Dawn Cat Douluo Zhu Xuan both wore envious and astonished expressions on their faces.


    Tang Sect Ice Fire Seal? Even as a Tang Sect disciple, Tang Wulin had no idea what this was. However, he could naturally tell from everyone''s reactions that this was something of immense value, and he immediately extended a deep respectful bow as he said, "Thank you for your kindness, Vice-palace Master!"


    He didn''t dare to refer to this man as Old Man Zang.


    Zang Xin smiled, and replied, "Don''t mention it. The palace master asked me to give this to you, so I''m only a gift-bearer. You deserve this for everything you''ve done."


    "The palace master also knows about me?" Not only was Tang Wulin oblivious to who the current Douluo Palace Master was, even most of the Titled Douluos on the continent were unaware of his identity. Only the very few people who truly stood at the pinnacle of the continent knew the identity of this extremely secretive and mysterious palace master.


    Zang Xin continued, "When you get some spare time, come to visit the Douluo Palace with that Tang Sect Ice Fire Seal, and someone will tell you how to use it. Make sure you keep it safe and don''t lose it or you''ll be missing out on a great opportunity."


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied in a respectful manner. He then made his way over to Mu Ye and Zhen Hua before standing behind them. These people were all seniors of his, and there was no place for him to sit in their presence.


    Zhen Hua smiled, and said, "I was hoping that we''d be able to reel in a big fish with Senior Zang on the scene, but seeing as that plan has fallen through, why don''t we have some lunch? Mu Ye, we''ll have to trouble you again."


    "Aright," Mu Ye answered before glancing at Tang Wulin as he instructed, "Come give me a hand."

 Chapter 861: Secret?

    After Mu Ye left the kitchen with Tang Wulin, a faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face. "The Body Sect has finally found an exceptional successor."


    Zhen Hua also smiled, and said, "I''m quite surprised that the Tang Sect holds Wulin in such high regard. In all honesty, I also have very high hopes for him. I heard from Mu Chen that he''s very close to becoming a Saint Blacksmith; he''s most likely paying me a visit so I can instruct him in making a breakthrough."


    "Saint Blacksmith? How old is that kid?" Xu Shengqun was very stunned to hear this.


    A proud look appeared on Zhen Hua''s face. "Wulin is the most talented blacksmith I''ve ever seen. If there''s going to be another blacksmith that appears on this continent who''s capable of heavenly forging, then it''s definitely going to be him."


    Everyone was naturally aware of what it meant for a blacksmith to be capable of heavenly forging, and Zhen Hua had only said this in such a roundabout manner as he didn''t want to boast about his own Divine Blacksmith status.


    Tang Liyue and Zhu Xuan exchanged a glance, and both of them could see their own intrigue mirrored in one another''s eyes.


    Zang Xin still wore a faint smile on his face, but he said, "The Tang Sect holds him in higher regard than any of you can imagine, so please don''t think about trying to recruit him."


    He naturally wasn''t saying this to Zhen Hua. The blacksmith association didn''t have any conflict of interest with the world of Soul Masters. On the contrary, the two formed a symbiotic relationship. However, the same couldn''t be said about the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, and the Battle God Hall.


    Tang Liyue smiled, and said, "You can''t be too protective and overbearing, Senior Zang! Our Battle God Hall never discriminates; just because he''s a Tang Sect disciple doesn''t mean he can''t join our Battle God Hall as well."


    Zang Xin merely smiled in response.


    Xu Shengqun wanted to say something, but he decided against it in the end after taking a glance at the smiling Amorous Douluo.


    He was one of the seven most powerful people in the Spirit Pagoda, but even he didn''t dare to cross any lines in the face of Zang Xin. Zang Xin''s official title was the vice-palace master of the Douluo Palace, but as one of the most powerful people in the Spirit Pagoda, Xu Shengqun knew that he was essentially the Douluo Palace Master, a man who stood at the very pinnacle of the world.


    The Spirit Pagoda chairman had once said that the opponent he least wanted to face on this continent wasn''t Atlas Douluo of Shrek Academy. Instead, it was the two Douluo Palace Masters. That in itself was extremely high praise toward these two palace masters.


    In the kitchen.


    After closing the door, Mu Ye''s expression relaxed a little, and he suddenly raised a hand before bringing it down toward Tang Wulin''s shoulder.


    Tang Wulin knew what he was going to do, so he stood on the spot and allowed Mu Ye''s hand to fall onto his shoulder.


    An immense burst of power immediately descended onto his body.


    Compared to Zhen Hua, it had actually been a longer time since he''d last seen Mu Ye. The two of them hadn''t met ever since he''d returned from the Star Luo Continent.


    Mu Ye was clearly quite taken aback. He''d already taken into account the fact that Tang Wulin''s strength had to have increased, so he''d exerted a lot of force with that palm, but much to his surprise, Tang Wulin displayed no reaction to his power whatsoever.


    A smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and Mu Ye raised an eyebrow as he abruptly exerted even more power through his palm.


    Tang Wulin continued to wash potatoes in a composed manner. "Teacher, do you need these peeled?"


    Mu Ye''s lips twitched, and his heart was filled with astonishment. Even a normal power system Soul Sage would''ve been crushed by the strength that he''d just exerted, yet Tang Wulin was making it seem as if he didn''t even feel it. How was this possible?


    He didn''t continue to exert more downward force as cracks were already beginning to appear on the ground beneath Tang Wulin''s feet. If he were to go any further, the entire level of this building would collapse.


    "What kind of miracle foods did you eat, you little bastard? How did your strength increase so significantly?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged, and replied, "That''s a secret. However, I can tell you that my strength has exceeded 100 tons long ago, and I can sense that it''s been constantly increasing."


    As the master of the Body Sect, Mu Ye had always been extremely prideful when it came to his own body. He still hadn''t become a Hyper Douluo yet, but he had always been convinced that his body was just as powerful as that of a Limit Douluo. However, Tang Wulin was only a Soul King, and his strength was making Mu Ye''s confidence waver. If Tang Wulin were to continue to improve like this, it wouldn''t be long before he exceeded Mu Ye''s strength.


    "You win, kid. I''m going to bestow upon you the body refinement method of our Body Sect later. You''ve got insane strength, but you have to learn how to use it."


    "What do you mean by that, Teacher?" Tang Wulin asked with a surprised look on his face.


    Mu Ye answered his question with one of his own. "You may have over 100 tons of strength, but how much of that can you unleash if you don''t get close to your opponent?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Outside of close-quarters combat, my strength is only used when I hurl a weapon or use it in conjunction with my martial soul or soul skills."


    Mu Ye shook his head upon hearing this. "Your strength shouldn''t be limited to just that. There''s no conflict between your strength and your bloodline soul skills or martial soul soul skills. You''re like a man sitting on top of a mountain of gold, but you don''t know how to excavate it, and our Body Sect''s body refinement method will teach you to do just that. However, don''t become too enamored by your own strength; the key to cultivation still lies in improving your soul power. With sufficient soul power, every other area of your cultivation will progress far more quickly. In my younger days, I made the mistake of becoming too determined to improve my own physical strength. After that, I spent too much time researching mechas, and that''s why I''ve still yet to become a Hyper Douluo."


    "Yes, Teacher." Tang Wulin nodded with a serious expression. Mu Ye was definitely giving him heartfelt advice, and the look in his eyes indicated to Tang Wulin just how much this was weighing on him.


    In his youth, Mu Ye was a prodigy of the Body Sect, and he was touted as the man who was most likely to surpass all of his predecessors. However, as he progressed, he began to run out of teachers of a high enough level to instruct him properly, thereby leading to some mistakes in his cultivation. On top of that, he was a jack of all trades, master of none, and that delayed him further in his soul power cultivation. Otherwise, with his aptitude, there was a very good chance that he would''ve become a Limit Douluo with proper dedicated cultivation.


    Mu Ye was preparing food ingredients as he asked, "Have you met this Amorous Douluo before?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head.


    Mu Ye continued, "I didn''t think that the Tang Sect would be seeing you as such an important prospect. If you ever get the chance, try to forge a good relationship with him. He''s an extremely powerful man in the Tang Sect, and a lot of the time, even the Douluo Palace Master isn''t as influential as him. The Tang Sect Ice Fire Badge that he gave you is an extremely important opportunity; make sure you grab it with both hands."


    A curious look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Teacher, what is the purpose of that Tang Sect Ice Fire Badge? You all seemed to be quite shocked when it was given to me."


    Mu Ye replied, "The Tang Sect has a far longer history than our Body Sect, and its founder, Tang San, came across a treasured realm even before he founded the Tang Sect. This place is extremely obscure, and it''s said that it''s filled with traps and lethal poisons. However, there are many extraordinary spirit items being nurtured in that place, many of which are the best on the entire continent. I don''t know the exact details because I''ve obviously never been there myself, but all you have to know is that both Tang San and Huo Yuhao had benefited immensely from that place."


    Tang Wulin became even more intrigued by the Tang Sect Ice Fire Badge upon hearing this, but it was quite clear that Mu Ye couldn''t offer him any more information.


    Mu Ye continued, "After you get back to the Tang Sect, I''d advise you to use the seal right away. With the guidance of the Amorous Douluo, I''m sure you won''t go wrong. By the way, don''t get too close to him, though."


    Tang Wulin was rather perplexed. Mu Ye had just told him to forge a good relationship with Zang Xin if possible, so why was he telling him not to get too close to the Amorous Douluo now?


    A peculiar look appeared on Mu Ye''s face as a layer of gentle energy emanated from his body, encompassing both himself and Tang Wulin while isolating them from the outside world.


    He then asked, "Do you know the Douluo Title of the current Douluo Palace Master?"


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 862: Unexpected Breakthrough

    Tang Wulin shook his head. Of course this information was beyond him; the Douluo Palace Master had always been one of the most mysterious people on the entire continent. He had become a Battle Hall agent, but he was far from the higher echelons of the Tang Sect.


    Mu Ye said in a low voice, "His title is Heartless; he''s Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi."


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had heard the name of the current master of the Douluo Palace, as well as the master of the entire Tang Sect, and his eyes reflexively widened.


    "Does that make you think of anything?" Mu Ye asked with a peculiar look in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in a confused manner. Heartless Douluo? Amorous Douluo? [In Chinese, the two terms heartless (ÎÞÇé) and amorous (¶àÇé) are direct antonyms, and they both end with the same character.]


    Mu Ye sighed, "The heartless one denies his innermost feelings, while the amorous one is left to rue what could''ve been. It''s said that the Amorous Douluo and the Heartless Douluo are, ahem, you know what I''m getting at, right?"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes widened with shock. "You''re saying they''re both men?"


    "That''s right!" Mu Ye confirmed before warning, "Don''t tell anyone else about this! This is one of the best-kept secrets of the Tang Sect."


    Tang Wulin had no idea what to think. The vice-palace master, Amorous Douluo, and the palace master, Heartless Douluo, were a couple?


    "Teacher, is this information really reliable?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Of course not!" Mu Ye replied in a justified manner.


    Tang Wulin almost threw up a mouthful of blood. "So you''re spreading unconfirmed rumors? Aren''t you afraid that..."


    Mu Ye smiled, and said, "I''m just telling you to be on your guard. Besides, all rumors that circulate for long enough must have some kind of basis, so there must be some truth to this. According to my knowledge, neither of the two have married anyone. They''re two of the most powerful beings on the entire continent, so as you can imagine, countless outstanding women have pursued them in the past. Are you telling me that they simply didn''t like any of their pursuers? On top of that, they''ve always shared a strong bond, and in the younger days, they formed a partnership that had made countless important contributions to the Tang Sect. Also, are we just expected to believe that there''s no connection between their Douluo Titles?"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "This is all just circumstantial evidence."


    Mu Ye chuckled, "The Amorous Douluo is renowned for his promiscuity, yet there are no scandals surrounding the Heartless Douluo whatsoever. It''s said that the Amorous Douluo intentionally fabricated a promiscuous image for himself so he could hide his relationship with the Heartless Douluo. I don''t know about the specific details there, but there''s definitely something weird going on between them."


    Tang Wulin cleared his throat in an awkward manner. It wasn''t his place to be making comments about his seniors, and he could tell that Mu Ye meant no harm when talking about these matters. After all, the Body Sect and the Tang Sect used to be rival sects, but as time passed, the Body Sect gradually declined while the Tang Sect continued to become more powerful, and the rivalry really wasn''t valid anymore.


    Mu Ye''s cooking skills were truly incredible, and a delicious and diverse feast was quickly prepared.


    Zhen Hua invited everyone to take a seat, and Amorous Douluo Zang Xin naturally took the main seat, seeing as he was the most powerful one with the loftiest position among everyone present.


    Tang Wulin was the youngest one present by far, so he sat at the furthest seat away from the head of the table. He was currently appraising the delicious feast on the table with a slightly forlorn look in his eyes. With so many seniors present, he would have to hold himself back and eat less than he''d like.


    Zhen Hua brought out a bottle of wine with extremely antiquated packaging, and he poured everyone a glass in person, including Tang Wulin.


    "This bottle of Dragonblood Wine is an extremely old brew, and it was given to me by a friend as a present. I''ve never been able to bring myself to drink it, so what better occasion than now to share it with everyone?"


    The wine was of an amber color, and a faint fragrance emanated from it. This fragrance was very unique; it resembled the aroma of sandalwood, but also the fragrance of Buddhist incense.


    Tang Wulin had never drunk wine before, so he was very intrigued.


    "I''d like to propose a toast to Senior Zang and all of my friends present," Zhen Hua said as he raised his cup.


    Zang Xin also smiled as he raised his own cup. "Dragonblood Wine is extremely precious! It''s been many years since I last had some. Hmm, this smells like the blood of a Scarlet Dragon. The aroma is very rich, and there''s strong fire element energy in here. It''s very effective for enhancing one''s blood essence and bolstering one''s yang energy."


    Aside from Tang Wulin, all of the other men present gave knowing smiles upon hearing the part about yang energy.


    Zhen Hua gave him a thumbs-up, and praised, "You truly are a wine connoisseur, Senior Zang. "


    Dragonblood Wine? Tang Wulin appraised the wine in his cup with an intrigued expression, and only after everyone else had begun drinking did he take a sip.


    The wine was very smooth, but also extremely strong. Tang Wulin felt a rush of heat surge toward his head before a scorching trail ran down into his lower abdomen.


    All of the pores on his entire body seemed to have opened up in their instant, and his vision blurred as his cheeks instantly became flushed.


    The wine was extremely strong, but this was such a comfortable sensation!


    He felt as if everything within his body had completely unfurled, and his bones, meridians, bloodline, and skin were all feeling very hot.


    The surface of his skin quickly turned red, yet the Titled Douluos around him displayed no reaction to the wine.


    This was undoubtedly an indication of the gaps in their powers. For a Soul Master of Tang Wulin''s cultivation rank, the energy imbued within the Dragonblood Wine was too immense, and he was unable to instantly absorb it.


    Right at this moment, a crisp crack sounded from within Tang Wulin''s body, and his blood essence immediately began to surge in a frenzy. His entire body stiffened in response.


    Crap!


    His ninth seal had been broken!


    He''d been repressing his bloodline aura this entire time, but the energy from the Dragonblood Wine had forced his ninth Golden Dragon King seal open in one fell swoop.


    If Tang Wulin had known that this would happen, he would''ve refrained from drinking it.


    Dragonblood Wine was naturally an extremely nourishing beverage, and Zhen Hua had brought it out with good intentions, but this wine wasn''t suitable for everyone.


    Tang Wulin''s body was naturally being nurtured by this wine, but it was important to remember that he possessed the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King. Scarlet Dragons were also true dragons, but they were simply far too inferior compared to the Golden Dragon King. How could his Golden Dragon King bloodline not be enraged by the presence of the Scarlet Dragon bloodline that had made its way into his body?


    Even though the Dragonblood Wine was only being digested and absorbed, his Golden Dragon King bloodline still erupted into a furious frenzy. The ninth Golden Dragon King seal was already on the verge of breaking, so it naturally stood no chance.


    Tang Wulin was only looking slightly flushed a moment ago, but all of a sudden, violent energy fluctuations began to erupt from his body. Golden dragon scales then instantly appeared over his skin to cover his entire body.


    After breaking the first eight Golden Dragon King seals, Tang Wulin was already able to cover most of his body in golden dragon scales even without unleashing his Golden Dragon Body, and after breaking the ninth seal, the entirety of his body was covered in scales.


    A powerful bloodline aura erupted alongside a low dragon''s roar, and the chair beneath Tang Wulin shattered, causing him to collapse onto the ground.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin no longer had the spare mental capacity to process anything else. He could only just barely get himself into a seated position before crossing his own legs.


    He was only able to stabilize himself as he was already extremely well equipped to break this ninth seal. Otherwise, he''d be writhing on the ground in agony.


    All of the Titled Douluos were given quite a fright, and Xu Shengqun wore a surprised look on his face as he said, "Looks like your wine is a little strong, Brother Zhen Hua!"


    Zhen Hua also wore a confused and perplexed expression as he looked at Tang Wulin. "This shouldn''t be happening! With Wulin''s physical constitution, the Dragonblood Wine should be very beneficial to him, and he should be able to handle it with no issues; why is this happening? Could it be that he''s breaking through a cultivation bottleneck? That doesn''t make sense, either! He only recently passed rank 50 in his soul power, so he should still be very far away from his next bottleneck."


    "He''s not making a soul power breakthrough," Zang Xin made his way over to Tang Wulin, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "He seems to be making some kind of breakthrough, but it appears to be in his bloodline aura rather than in his soul power. This is an extremely violent power, but strangely enough, it has perfect synergy with his body."


    Mu Ye also made his way over to Tang Wulin''s side. He was the most familiar with Tang Wulin''s condition, and he knew that a change had to be taking place in his dragon-type bloodline. The change had to have been triggered by the Dragonblood Wine.


    However, Zang Xin was the most powerful being present, and he didn''t mention that this process was going to be dangerous for Tang Wulin in any way, so there shouldn''t be any issues.


    After that, Tang Wulin''s condition gradually began to settle, and it appeared that he would indeed be fine.


    Zang Xin smiled, and said, "Alright, let''s continue our meal. Perhaps he''ll have recovered by the time we''re done."


    At this moment, Tang Wulin felt as if the power of the Golden Dragon King were surging throughout his body like a relentless wave. After his entire body had been covered in golden dragon scales, some kind of complete circuit seemed to have been formed, and energy circulated through this circuit relentlessly.

 Chapter 863: Dual Circulation

    Tang Wulin had always possessed immense bloodline power, but that required a vast amount of food consumption to maintain. Whenever he used this power, it would also expend a lot of energy, and after running out of energy, he would immediately fall into a feeble state. However, everything was suddenly beginning to feel different. The violent bloodline energy surging over his skin began to circulate in an intriguing manner, and this circulation didn''t come into conflict with the circulation of his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power at all. Instead, it was allowing him to slowly absorb the bloodline power that was originally in his meridians into his skin instead.


    His bloodline power circulated beneath his skin while his soul power circulated within his meridians, and as the two began to separate, a series of strange reactions began to take place.


    Firstly, the circulation of Tang Wulin''s Mysterious Heaven Method soul power became smoother, and the rate of circulation was clearly beginning to speed up. The soul power vortex in his body began to rotate at a higher speed, and a crystalline light began to glow at the bottom tip of the vortex.


    After that, his bloodline power also began to circulate in a smoother manner after being separated from his soul power. Even more importantly, during this process, his bloodline power entered an unprecedented state where its violent nature began to ease, and at the same time, his bloodline aura began to steadily elevate. It was just like how his soul power could slowly increase over time with cultivation.


    The two circuits were rather jerky initially, but they gradually began to operate more smoothly, and neither of the two disrupted the other, but they were somehow linked by a faint yet profound connection. One of them was on the outside while the other was on the inside. His Mysterious Heaven Method soul power circulated relentlessly within his body while his immense bloodline power circulated on the outside like a turbulent river.


    A series of golden halos began to appear around the shattered ninth Golden Dragon King seal, fortifying his external bloodline aura circulation and making Tang Wulin feel as if he had been reborn as a new man.


    In his spiritual world, he could also sense that a golden dragon seemed to have risen up, and it was hovering within his mind. From the dragon''s head to its tail, there were a total of nine specks of shimmering golden light, and the dragon gave off a fearsome and menacing aura. This was an indescribable aura that seemed to be threatening to burst through this entire world.


    For the first time, Tang Wulin sensed the unruly nature of the Golden Dragon King''s power. This was the aura of a supreme being that stood above all of the living beings in this world. It was as if a supreme ruler had finally awakened from a lengthy slumber, and everything was compelled to bow to it in subordination.


    In his mind, it was as if the Golden Dragon King bloodline within his body had sprung to life and become the true Golden Dragon King. It was looking down on the entire world with supreme arrogance, and it felt as if the bloodline were about to erupt out of his body.


    In that instant, even without an explanation from Old Tang, Tang Wulin was finally able to understand why the second half of the Golden Dragon King seals were vastly different compared to the first nine.


    How could a hibernating Golden Dragon King compare with an awakened Golden Dragon King? If he wanted to continue absorbing the power within the Golden Dragon King seals, he''d have to gradually tame this Golden Dragon King, and that was undoubtedly going to be an extremely perilous process.


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath as a chill ran down his spine. However, he could also sense that the second nine Golden Dragon Seals were countless times more resolute than the first nine. This meant that it was going to be very difficult for him to break those seals, but at the same time, the power within those seals would also have a very hard time escaping into his body.


    This should buy him ample time to prepare for all of his subsequent bloodline breakthroughs.


    After completing 49 cycles of circulation, his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power and Golden Dragon King bloodline power both returned to their designated spots. His Mysterious Heaven Method soul power converged into the soul power vortex within his dantian, while his Golden Dragon King bloodline power gathered at his chest. It seemed to have also formed a golden vortex that was right below the skin on his chest.


    All of the Titled Douluos present could even see that Tang Wulin''s chest had lit up. Golden halos were erupting from his body, and even his clothes posed no impediment.


    The aura emanating from Tang Wulin''s body was still constantly elevating. He was only a five-ring Soul King, while all of the other people present were unfathomably powerful beings, but they could detect a substantial sense of pressure from him. Of course, this wasn''t soul power pressure. Instead, this type of oppressive pressure stemmed from his bloodline.


    "This kid''s bloodline aura is even more powerful than yours! I''m not talking about the power within his bloodline; I''m talking about the essential aura of the bloodline," Zhen Hua said to Mu Ye as his eyes lit up.


    Mu Ye also wore a peculiar look on his face. "I can feel that as well. I didn''t think that his bloodline could continue to evolve. I thought I''d brought out all of his latent bloodline potential, but it appeared that that was only the beginning. Only now is he beginning to truly reveal his bloodline power, and his bloodline aura has formed an independent circuit; this is very interesting."


    Amorous Douluo Zang Xin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he murmured, "The fact that it''s formed an independent circuit indicates that his bloodline aura could manifest something similar to a soul core. In all of the Tang Sect''s extensive records, there has never been a precedent for a situation like this. Could it be that part of his bloodline belongs to that of a soul beast? As we all know, after reaching 10,000 years of age, soul beasts are potentially able to manifest soul cores within their bodies. In contrast with the soul cores that we Soul Masters manifest, their soul cores stem more from their bloodlines. After a soul beast perishes, their soul core wold become a soul ring. The most powerful or special soul cores could even impact their skeletal structures, thereby resulting in the creation of soul bones."


    A solemn expression appeared on Zhen Hua¡¯s face, and he suddenly said, "Everyone, I have a request; please keep everything that''s happened here a secret. I don''t want Wulin to be taken away by the federation and used as an experimental subject."


    Zang Xin smiled, and reassured, "You don''t need to worry about that. I can allow any other person to be taken away by the federation, but he''s strictly off-limits. He''s a member of our Tang Sect, and he''ll definitely enter the Holy Hall in the future. Perhaps he''ll even become the successor to our Douluo Palace. On top of that, don''t forget that he''s one of Shrek''s Seven Monsters; will Shrek Academy allow him to be taken away as an experimental subject?"


    As he spoke, his gaze brushed past the members of the Spirit Pagoda and the Battle God Hall that were present in a seemingly natural manner, and even though there was no overbearing aura emanating from his body, everyone''s heart still stirred in response. It was quite clear that Zang Xin was speaking on behalf of the entire Tang Sect.


    "You forgot to mention that he also belongs to our Body Sect; he''s a direct disciple of mine," Mu Ye added in a proud manner.


    Zang Xin merely glanced at him with a faint smile, but didn''t say anything. In all honesty, Mu Ye was feeling quite frustrated, and he even shot Zhen Hua a disgruntled glare. If it weren''t for Zhen Hua''s Dragonblood Wine, Tang Wulin wouldn''t have had to expose so much of his power in front of all of these powerful beings. This was most definitely undesired attention that was only going to be detrimental to him.


    He was trying to think of a way to convince Tang Wulin to come with him and inherit the role of Body Sect Master, but he wasn''t in too much of a hurry to do that as Tang Wulin''s cultivation rank was still quite lackluster at the moment. However, now that he''d caught Zang Xin''s eye, the higher-ups of the Tang Sect would naturally be focusing more of their attention on him as well. Zang Xin had already given him a Tang Sect Ice Fire Seal, and now, he was being made aware of the special nature of Tang Wulin''s power; it was going to be next to impossible for Mu Ye to recruit Tang Wulin to his Body Sect now.


    In response to Mu Ye''s furious expression, Zhen Hua merely gave an innocent shrug. He was very happy to see this. He''d always known that this nephew-disciple of his was destined for great things, and he was finally beginning to display his radiance to the world. What was even more encouraging to him was Tang Wulin''s calm and steadfast nature. Not only had he not become more arrogant and haughty as his power had increased, he had only become more mature and steadfast than ever. At the same time, he was also feeling a little forlorn. Everything would be perfect if the these Titled Douluos from the Battle God Hall and Spirit Pagoda weren''t here.


    After a long while, Tang Wulin finally exhaled as he slowly opened his eyes.


    His aura was withdrawn, and everything about him returned to normal. However, in the instant that he opened his eyes, everyone clearly caught sight of a streak of bright light flashing through his eyes.

 Chapter 864: Drastic Improvement From a Strong Foundation

    The light was extremely bright, and everyone present, including even Zang Xin, was struck by an instant of disorientation at the sight of it. As such, no one noticed the fact that in the instant he''d opened his eyes, his pupils had been vertical rather than round like that of a human, and they had taken on a dazzling golden color.


    Following the flash of light, his eyes had already returned to normal. Tang Wulin was feeling extremely comfortable, and he felt as if he had an inexhaustible supply of power within his body.


    Even though he''d only broken his ninth seal, he felt as if his power had doubled, and it was an extremely exhilarating feeling.


    "Come and have some food," Zhen Hua said with a smile.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly rose to his feet with an apologetic look on his face. "I''m sorry, everyone, I don''t know what happened there. I..."


    Zang Xin waved a hand, and interjected, "It''s alright, it''s good that you''ve become more powerful. Come and have something to eat, but don''t drink any more of that Dragonblood Wine."


    An awkward smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he brought over another chair for himself before digging into his meal.


    Everyone had their attention on him earlier, so they hadn''t eaten much. At their cultivation ranks, they didn''t really require food for sustenance anyway. However, that didn''t apply to Tang Wulin. Regardless of how much his cultivation rank increased, his appetite had never suffered as a result. After having a hearty meal, he was feeling even more comfortable. After all, all of the ingredients used for this meal were quite exceptional.


    After lunch, everyone left, and Zhen Hua, Mu Ye, and Tang Wulin were the only people left in the room.


    Zhen Hua said to Mu Ye, "Get out of here! My nephew-disciple came to see me, so you''ll have to wait your turn!"


    Mu Ye harrumphed in response, "You''re providing food and lodging for me here, so I''m not in any hurry!"


    After that, he patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder before also departing, thereby leaving only Tang Wulin and Zhen Hua in the room.


    Zhen Hua heaved a faint sigh. "Wulin, the fact that you made a breakthrough in front of so many people today is both a blessing and a curse for you."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this. "What do you mean, Uncle-teacher?"


    Zhen Hua explained, "Mu Ye, Senior Zang Xin, and I are all extremely happy for you, but that may not apply to those people from the Battle God Hall and Spirit Pagoda. We''re supposed to be allies, but it could also be said that we''re in competition with one another. I''m just a blacksmith, so none of this has anything to do with me, but that won''t be the case for Shrek Academy and even the Body Sect. The Battle God Hall will most likely try harder to recruit you, while the Tang Sect may not be willing to let you go. Political conflict will inevitably result between the higher-ups of the two organizations.


    "The display of your latent potential that you made today will undoubtedly make the Tang Sect hold you in higher regard, but the Battle God Hall and Spirit Pagoda definitely have their eyes on you as well. How you choose to develop from now on will be up to you, but remember that no matter what choice you make, the most important thing is to become more powerful. It''s important to be able to borrow the power of others, but that''s not as important as becoming more powerful yourself. Only with sufficient power will you truly be invincible."


    "Yes." Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this. He had already been taught this lesson as a small child. His father had once told him that the only person one could always trust and rely on was themselves.


    Zhen Hua smiled, and said, "There''s no need for you to be too concerned at the moment. After all, you''re only young, and having latent potential is one thing, but the ability to tap into that latent potential is something else entirely. Besides, you have Shrek Academy behind you, and you''re also a blacksmith. After you become a Saint Blacksmith, you''ll be a highly-valued commodity to everyone. The more exceptional a blacksmith you become, the more you''ll be able to hide your abilities in other areas, and that''ll serve to better protect you as well. Hence, you should stay with me for the upcoming period of time. I''ve heard from your teacher that you''re already a Half-step Saint Blacksmith; I won''t be letting you go until you become a Saint Blacksmith!"


    Tang Wulin was quite amused by the strict expression that his uncle-teacher was trying to put on. In the eyes of this Divine Blacksmith, nothing could be more important than forging, so he was doing this for Tang Wulin''s benefit.


    In reality, it was also very imperative for him to make a breakthrough in his own forging. Thus, Tang Wulin stayed at the blacksmith association and studied forging every day under Zhen Hua''s guidance.


    Much to his surprise, Zhen Hua didn''t instruct him on how to complete soul refinement. Instead, he went through and picked out all of the minute mistakes that Tang Wulin was making during his forging. All of the steps were already performed close to perfection, but Zhen Hua was always able to spot some fallacies here and there. After that, he made Tang Wulin forge alloys with all types of different metals so he could sense the minuscule changes in different metals during this process.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Abyss realm, and following his recent breakthrough, both his soul power and bloodline power had been significantly enhanced. His soul power had even progressed to rank 54 due to his bloodline power separation, and not only was he constantly improving his forging skills through fusing these alloys, he was also gradually grasping his newfound strength.


    Slowly, he began to completely immerse himself in the world of forging, and he lost all track of time as he became fully absorbed in the process.


    "You''re telling me you made a breakthrough," Mu Ye said in a flabbergasted voice.


    "Yes!"


    "Did you really make a breakthrough?" Mu Ye asked again.


    Tang Wulin appraised him with a speechless expression. "Teacher, you''ve asked me that more than 20 times! It''s true; if you don''t believe me, you can go ask my uncle-teacher."


    Mu Ye''s lips twitched slightly. "No need, I believe you. It''s just taking me a while to wrap my head around the concept of a 20-year-old Saint Blacksmith!"


    A joyful smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Well, it''s the truth."


    How could he not be elated? That''s right, he finally made a breakthrough the night before.


    He had been a sixth-rank blacksmith for over four years, so compared to his past progression, this breakthrough definitely wasn''t all that fast.


    However, in the world of blacksmiths, ascending to each major level was extremely difficult.


    From thousand refinement to spirit refinement, then from spirit refinement to soul refinement... These were all extremely stern obstacles that separated countless blacksmiths. Every time a blacksmith progressed to a higher major level, their influence in the blacksmith world and even the entire continent became vastly different.


    Grandmaster Blacksmiths were treated completely differently compared to Saint Blacksmiths, and there was also a massive difference between the prices of spirit refined metals and soul refined metals.


    Spirit refinement gave a metal life, and spirit refined metals were like plants, whereas soul refinement gave metals intelligence. Even though it was only the most elementary level of intelligence, the metal had been taught how to think, and that was a gargantuan breakthrough.


    This was why Mu Ye had been confirming over and over again whether Tang Wulin had actually made a breakthrough. The fact of the matter was that Tang Wulin had successfully forged his first piece of soul refined metal the day before, which meant that he was officially a Saint Blacksmith!


    Mu Ye hadn''t met Zhen Hua yet, but he could imagine just how excited Zhen Hua had to be.


    Mu Ye heaved a long sigh. "I don''t even know what to say about you anymore..."


    Tang Wulin blinked, and asked, "Teacher, didn''t you say you were going to teach me some Body Sect techniques? When do we begin?"


    Mu Ye suddenly smiled. "You''re getting cocky now that you''ve become a Saint Blacksmith, aren''t you? Hmph, I''ll show you the consequences of acting cocky with me!"


    Tang Wulin shuddered as he instantly recalled the torturous abuse he''d suffered on the ship many years ago. However, he quickly regained his composure as he''d already endured the demonic island military training. What kind of experience could possibly be worse than that?


    Not only did the seven old demons torture their bodies, their souls were also being tormented, and that had been the most terrifying part of the military training.


    "Your bodily condition is different from all of the martial souls that members of our Body Sect have cultivated in the past. In comparison, I''d categorize your body martial soul as something that stems from your bloodline. Our Body Sect doesn''t have any bloodline cultivation methods, so what I''m going to teach you is how to control your own body. You have all this strength, but you''re unable to control it. If you don''t learn to utilize this power properly, you''ll never be able to truly make the most of it. The human body holds countless secrets, and what I''m going to teach you is how to stimulate your body, how to control your body, and how to unleash several times the power you already possess."


    "Thank you, Teacher; when do we begin?"


    "Right now!"


    Tang Wulin stayed in Heaven Dou City for an entire month before finally departing.


    With his recently purchased Tang Sect battle vehicle, he was never going to take the soul train again. He didn''t want to be known as the soul train harbinger of ill-fortune!


    When he drove back to the Shrek City in his car, he had already missed the designated reunion date with his friends by five days. However, Shrek Academy''s inner court didn''t have many requirements for their disciples, and they were given a lot of freedom. This was even more applicable to Shrek''s Seven Monsters.


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 Chapter 865: Come at Me All at Once

    During this past month, Tang Wulin had reaped many bountiful rewards. He''d broken his ninth Golden Dragon King seal, separated his soul power and bloodline power, progressed to become a Saint Blacksmith, and learned to control his body.


    This one month of training had allowed him to make all of his efforts in the past few years come into fruition.


    More than four years had already passed from his trip to the Star Luo Empire to this point. During these four years, his dragon burial and demonic island military training had both been processes of accumulation for him. A strong foundation was the key to rapid future progression; only after this experience did he realize just how powerful he''d become.


    After returning to the inner court, he went straight to Gu Yue''s wooden cabin filled with hope in his heart. He wasn''t hoping that Gu Yue had come back. He was only hoping that she would''ve left him a message in the cabin or even a letter for him to read.


    However, there was nothing in the wooden cabin aside from a thin layer of dust.


    In the instant that Tang Wulin made his way into the wooden cabin, the bright light in his eyes dimmed slightly with dejection. She still hadn''t come back, and she hadn''t even given him a message.


    What kind of pressure had to be weighing down on her for her to be so cruel? She clearly loved him, but she''d still left in such a cold and decisive manner.


    And what about Na''er? Where was she?


    Tang Wulin''s heart was throbbing with pain.


    He didn''t need to learn anything in the academy anymore; what he needed most now was further accumulation and cultivation to improve himself, but he was really struggling to focus on all of that.


    If he wanted to graduate from the inner court, he had to become a two-word battle armor master. Generally speaking, a soul power rank of 60 or above was required for one to become a two-word battle armor master.


    Tang Wulin reflexively clenched his fists. It was time that he and his friends worked together to strive toward becoming two-word battle armor masters. Following his graduation, he was going to pursue his own dreams. He was going to work hard to make himself more powerful, then set off in search of his parents, as well as for Na''er and Gu Yue.


    He took a deep breath to inhale the familiar fragrance in the cabin, and all of his dejection was cast aside. He was already 20 years old. 10 years ago, his parents had left him, and he''d made it all the way to this point. He had suffered countless hardships, but he''d persevered through all of them. He was strong; far more so than the average person both physically and mentally. He immediately repressed the pain in his heart and continued to tell himself that there was still hope in everything. As long as he could become more powerful, everything would definitely become better in the future.


    He switched on his soul communicator, which had been off for over a month, and charged it using some of his soul power. He then dialed Ye Xinglan''s number.


    "Wulin?" Ye Xinglan''s voice sounded from the other side of the line, and she was just as calm as ever.


    "Yes, it''s me. I''m back. Is everyone else back as well?"


    Xu Lizhi''s voice sounded from the other side. "You''re finally back, Boss! We thought you disappeared again. Where are you right now? Everyone else has returned to the academy as well; we''ll come to find you."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m on the Sea God''s Island; you can all come over."


    One of the special privileges of the Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was the right to enter the Sea God''s Island as they pleased. This was not a privilege available to other inner court disciples.


    Not long after that, one familiar face after another appeared before Tang Wulin, and a genuine smile appeared on his face.


    Even though they''d only been apart for just over a month, Tang Wulin was still struck by a surge of warmth in his heart at the sight of them. At the very least, he had these good friends by his side.


    "Hmm? Why do you feel a little different, Boss?" Xie Xie made his way over to Tang Wulin with a curious look on his face.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "Different in what way?"


    Xie Xie''s brows furrowed slightly. "I don''t know, but I can definitely sense that you''re different somehow. In the words of my teacher; my sixth sense is tingling." His teacher was the master of the Agility Hall, Liang Xiaoyu, and Liang Xiaoyu had told him that as an Agility Attack System Battle Soul Master, having a sharp sixth sense was very important. Only with a powerful sixth sense would they attain the fastest reaction speed.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and asked, "Do you want to know how I''ve changed?"


    A hint of wariness immediately appeared in Xie Xie''s eyes. He had known Tang Wulin the longest out of anyone in Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and he knew that whenever Tang Wulin had that benevolent smile on his face, he was always plotting something sinister.


    "Nope!" Xie Xie immediately shook his head without any hesitation.


    "I do!" Yue Zhengyu made his way over to them with a smile on his face. It appeared that he''d completely recovered from his emotional trauma.


    Tang Wulin glanced at him, then at Xu Xiaoyan, and it seemed that they''d also changed significantly during the past month. It seemed that their issues had all been completely resolved.


    "No need to look at her, Boss; I went to visit her family before taking her to visit my family, and our parents on both sides have agreed for us to get married anytime we want. However, we both want to get stronger before we think about marriage."


    Marriage? A slightly forlorn look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this.


    Xie Xie quickly aimed a kick at Yue Zhengyu''s backside. "Why did you have to mention that? Just because you''re a couple doesn''t mean you can flaunt your relationship in front of Boss like this! This is dog abuse, do you understand? Boss must already be suffering from his single life; how could you do this to him? I would never do that, isn''t that right, Yuanen? If you''re willing to marry me, I''ll take up your offer at any time! We can even get married right now if you want!"


    "That''s enough!" Tang Wulin grumbled, "During this past month, I''ve collated everything that I''ve accumulated during the past few years, which is why I seem different from before. Seeing as everyone is here, let''s go have some sparring matches on the trial grounds. You two can come at me all at once."


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu exchanged a bewildered glance with one another.


    "All at once? Are you sure, Boss?"


    They were all well aware of how powerful Tang Wulin was, but his soul power progression had been delayed significantly during the three years that he''d disappeared. As such, everyone outstripped him significantly in terms of soul power rank. Tang Wulin did indeed possess immense bloodline power, but in a two-on-one battle, they were confident in their ability to take him down. After all, they were no longer the people that they once were, either.


    Everyone had been separated during the demonic island military training, and the training was more of a test of their will and spirit, so it didn''t impact their individual powers much.


    A smile appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. "Sure! I can''t pass up an offer like this!"


    Xie Xie also chuckled, "Alright, let''s see how this goes."


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow at the sight of their sly expressions. They seemed to be very confident!


    Xu Xiaoyan chuckled and gave Tang Wulin a surreptitious hand signal, upon which Tang Wulin instantly realized why Yue Zhengyu was so confident.


    However, he also had supreme confidence in himself. He wanted to test the limits of his own power.


    The trial grounds on the Sea God''s Island were situated on a mountain. The restriction here was provided for Titled Douluos to use, so it would definitely be able to withstand the impacts from their sparring matches.


    Tang Wulin and the others strode onto the trial grounds one after another, and Xu Lizhi activated the protective barrier with an excited look on his face. As a food system Soul Master, sparring matches had nothing to do with him. All he had to do was spectate alongside Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s control soul skills simply defied the natural order, and if she were to be included in the sparring match, it would simply be downright unfair to the side that she opposed.


    Of course, in their eyes, this two-on-one battle was also quite unfair. The more everyone''s cultivation ranks increased, the greater the power gap should be. As such, no one was optimistic about Tang Wulin''s chances.


    In a two-on-one battle, Tang Wulin could only hope to win if he held an absolute advantage in power. Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu were constantly bickering with one another, but they were actually very close friends, and their teamwork and synergy were impeccable. One of them was an assault system Soul Master while the other was an agility type Soul Master, so they shouldn''t have any issues taking down Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 866: Soul Emperor Yue Zhengyu

    Besides, Tang Wulin was improving, but it wasn''t like they were slacking off! The demonic island military training had dealt Yue Zhengyu an extremely heavy blow, but after recovering from his traumatic experience, he was surprised to find that both his spiritual power and soul power had been significantly enhanced.


    A bright gleam appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he appraised Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu with his arms crossed, and his smile grew even wider.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were both standing off to the side, and Yuanen Yehui asked, "Xinglan, who do you think will win?"


    A rare smile appeared on Ye Xinglan''s face. "Are you asking this because you lack confidence in Xie Xie?"


    Yuanen Yehui replied, "That''s not the case. Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu''s combination should have a very good chance of coming out on top. After all, there''s quite a large cultivation rank gap, and everyone is too familiar with one another. However, I like to think that I also know Wulin quite well. Back when he led the first graders against us in battle, he won over and over again against all odds. He looks really benevolent and easy-going, but he''s extremely cunning on the inside and definitely wouldn''t engage in battles that he has no chance at winning.


    "On top of that, he''s always standing at the forefront whenever we encounter any danger, so he''ll definitely be able to impose his will on Zhengyu and Xie Xie. Overall, I think it''s hard to say who will win in the end. Ever since we''ve returned from the demonic island, we don''t actually know one another''s abilities as well as we did in the past. In particular, Wulin disappeared in the Star Luo Empire for so long, and we still don''t really know what happened to him during that time."


    Ye Xinglan smiled, and said, "Then let''s wait and see. If I had to make a bet, I also think that Wulin will win."


    Yuanen Yehui was quite surprised to hear this. "Why do you say that?"


    She was still rather hesitant, but Ye Xinglan''s expression was one of absolute confidence.


    Ye Xinglan shook her head, and replied, "I''m not sure why, either; it''s just a feeling that I have. If you pay close attention, you''ll notice that Wulin''s aura really does seem to have changed. Xie Xie''s sixth sense is right. As for exactly how he''s changed, I guess we''ll find out here. In any case, Wulin wouldn''t be challenging the two of them out of the blue unless he was confident in his own abilities."


    Yuanen Yehui nodded in response, and they both cast their eyes toward the trial grounds in unison.


    Xu Xiaoyan wore a wide smile on her face as she announced, "I''ll be the referee. Are you all ready?"


    The area on the mountain summit only had a diameter of around 300 meters, which wasn''t anywhere near large enough of a range for five-ring Soul Kings to display their full combat prowess. However, no energy would be escaping from the trial grounds as there was an ultra-powerful restriction in place, so they didn''t have to worry about damaging their surroundings.


    Tang Wulin nodded, and Xie Xie chuckled, "We won''t be holding back, Boss! I still remember how you sent me flying the first time we met; you should know that I hold grudges!"


    "Oh?" Tang Wulin looked at him with a hint of a smile on his face.


    Xie Xie turned his gaze toward Yue Zhengyu, and the latter harrumphed, "Don''t worry, I want to beat him far more than you do! Just don''t weigh me down."


    "Tch!" Xie Xie gave Yue Zhengyu a derogatory hand signal, and scoffed, "We''ll see who''s going to be the dead weight here! Xiaoyan, we''re ready!"


    Xu Xiaoyan smiled, and said, "Alright, then let''s begin!"


    She waved a hand through the air as she spoke.


    Almost as soon as her voice trailed off, Yue Zhengyu was hurtling toward Tang Wulin like a speeding arrow. He wasn''t playing any tricks; he was merely going for a full-frontal attack, and in doing so, he instantly opened up some distance between himself and Xie Xie.


    "Oi! Wait for me! Do you know what teamwork means?" Xie Xie was very displeased, and he immediately set off as well, but he''d already been left far behind.


    In the instant that Yue Zhengyu began to fly through the air, an unstoppable will emanated from his body, and a series of soul rings began to emerge around him.


    They consisted of four purples and two blacks. That''s right, there were six of them in total!


    The sneaky hand signal that Xu Xiaoyan had given to Tang Wulin also depicted the number "six".


    At just 21 years of age, Yue Zhengyu had shown himself to be a brilliant prodigy and became a six-ring Soul Emperor.


    When he''d unleashed his innate bloodline Sacrifice ability to save Xu Xiaoyan''s life, he''d burned through a significant portion of his life force. However, unleashing the Sacrifice ability helped members of the Holy Angel clan in a very special way. Through unleashing this ability, they could fully experience the connection between the flames of their own life force and their holy flames. Even though their life forces would be significantly dented, they''d be able to gain a much deeper understanding of their own holy bloodline for a short time, thereby allowing them to better improve themselves.


    The demonic island military training made Yue Zhengyu improve significantly in all areas, but most importantly to him, he''d absorbed an enormous amount of life force energy there. Not only was all of the life force energy he''d expended by unleashing his Sacrifice ability restored, his life force energy had been further enhanced. This was why he was so confident in his ability to defeat Tang Wulin today.


    He had been traumatized the most out of anyone by the demonic island military training, but in reality, he had also benefited the most, both mentally and in terms of soul power.


    Not long ago, after receiving approval from Xu Xiaoyan''s family, he finally made a breakthrough to become a Soul Emperor, thereby officially elevating him to the realm of high-grade Soul Masters, and giving him the foundation required to become a two-word battle armor master.


    Four purples and two blacks was most definitely an exceptional soul ring configuration. Dazzling holy flames rose up from his body, and his first soul ring lit up. A pair of pristine white feathered wings appeared on his back, and at the same time, a beam of holy light shone down upon him.


    His holy light had both offensive and defensive properties. However, Yue Zhengyu was aware that his holy light attack wouldn''t do anything to Tang Wulin, so he was using it solely to enhance himself. His pristine white wings immediately took on a golden hue, and a holy sword appeared in his hand.


    The sword was shimmering with dazzling golden light, and it truly appeared as if he were an angel descending from the heavens.


    Yue Zhengyu flapped his wings, and his entire body shot forth as a streak of golden light, hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin from above. A massive angelic projection appeared behind him, and he slashed his sword toward Tang Wulin with all his might.


    This sword strike appeared to be very simple, but it had combined his first, second, and fourth soul skills. He had unleashed his Holy Angel Descends in the instant before his attack, and his timing had been perfect. It could be said that this attack raised his combat prowess to 120% of what it normally was.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin remained completely still on the spot in the face of Yue Zhengyu''s attack. He didn''t even release his own martial soul, and he merely looked on with a smile as Yue Zhengyu hurtled toward him.


    Only when Yue Zhengyu flapped his wings to accelerate did a hint of surprise appear on Tang Wulin''s face.


    Right at this moment, a crisp clang suddenly rang out, and an illusionary dagger suddenly appeared out of thin air without any premonition before striking him on the chest.


    The dagger''s tip had struck him on the right side of his chest, just in case it actually managed to impale Tang Wulin''s body.


    However, those concerns proved to be invalid as the dagger couldn''t even pierce a single inch into his chest.


    The dagger naturally didn''t belong to Yue Zhengyu. An illusionary figure gradually appeared out of thin air, and Xie Xie was revealed with an incredulous look on his face.


    How was this possible?


    When Yue Zhengyu had spread open his wings, the dazzling holy light emanating from his body had completely concealed Xie Xie from Tang Wulin''s field of view. After that, Xie Xie put on a show of frustration to further sell the act, but in reality, this was a predetermined strategy, and he actually hadn''t fallen behind Yue Zhengyu at all. No matter how one looked at it, his attack shouldn''t have reached Tang Wulin first, but that was exactly what had happened.


    Even though he was only using his Shadow Dragon Dagger, he had accumulated as much power as he could before unleashing that attack, and it would still be a lethal strike to the average Soul King.


    However, Xie Xie felt as if his dagger had struck a resolute mountain, and there was no way for its blade to pierce through.


    It had to be said that he and Yue Zhengyu''s teamwork was quite exemplary. Just when everyone had thought that Yue Zhengyu''s attack would strike first, Xie Xie got in the first blow.


    In reality, Xie Xie didn''t think that this attack would win them the battle. All he wanted to do was distract Tang Wulin''s attention, as well as break his defense and disrupt his rhythm. After that, Yue Zhengyu''s attack would immediately follow.


    However, never would he have thought that his Shadow Dragon Dagger wouldn''t be able to harm Tang Wulin in the slightest, even though Tang Wulin had clearly made no effort to defend himself.


    He realized in the instant that he saw the smile on Tang Wulin''s face that he hadn''t failed to notice him; Tang Wulin had simply planned not to adopt any defensive measures from the very beginning.


    It was also right at this moment that Tang Wulin finally sprang into action. He abruptly stomped his right foot into the ground, and a low dragon''s roar immediately rang out. The fearsome shockwaves from the attack made it feel as if the space in a radius of 30 meters had completely collapsed.


    This was his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth! But was it really still the same old Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth?

 Chapter 867: Instantly Sent Flying

    Eight golden dragons erupted from the ground, each of which was over five meters in length. What was even more terrifying than that was that the entire space was warping and twisting. Yue Zhengyu felt as if the twisted space were tearing at his body in a frenzy, forcing him to release more holy flames to defend himself. At the same time, his holy sword had completely missed Tang Wulin and struck nothing but empty air.


    Xie Xie was situated closest to Tang Wulin, and he was an agility system Soul Master, so his lackluster defensive prowess meant that his entire body was paralyzed by the shockwaves.


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu were certainly no slouches themselves, and they reacted very quickly as soon as they realized that something was amiss. Both of them immediately donned their suits of battle armor to resist the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, but Tang Wulin clearly wasn''t planning on giving them that opportunity.


    He turned around, and his right leg shot forth like lightning. The eight golden dragons that had just risen up into the air all disappeared into his leg at once, transforming his leg into a massive dragon tail.


    All Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu could do was don their battle armor and defend with all their might. Both of them were immediately sent flying like a pair of cannonballs before crashing into the protective barrier over 100 meters away, resulting in two sharp flashes of light.


    What...


    What!


    What?!


    Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie were still reeling from the impact, but Xu Xiaoyan''s smile had completely stiffened, and Xu Lizhi''s eyes had widened dramatically.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan''s expressions also stiffened instantaneously.


    How was this possible?


    In their eyes, this couldn''t even be described as just a miracle anymore.


    He''d done all of this with just two attacks!


    His Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth and Golden Dragon Whips its Tail were both part of his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon. Tang Wulin hadn''t even released his martial soul as those two attacks were already enough to send Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu flying.


    Was their teamwork flawed? Were their attacks too weak?


    No.


    It was just that Tang Wulin was too powerful, to the extent that he didn''t give them any chances.


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu slid down onto the ground along the protective barrier, and both of them could feel their blood churning within their bodies. Even though their battle armor had withstood most of the impact, they were still feeling extremely sore, and they hurriedly activated their soul power to facilitate recovery.


    Neither of them were injured, but what had just taken place stunned them more than if they''d been injured.


    Tang Wulin had sent them both flying, even though it was a two-on-one battle.


    This was insane...


    Since when had he become this powerful? The two of them had experienced this feeling before; it was the same feeling they''d been struck by when they''d faced off against Dragon King Long Yue from Monster Academy. His Mountain Dragon King martial soul had struck them with the same sense of pressure, but one had to realize that Long Yue''s cultivation rank far outstripped theirs at the time.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin was only a five-ring Soul King! He had no cultivation rank advantage, but the terrifying pressure emanating from his body weighed down on the two of them like a gargantuan mountain.


    In that instant, Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu suddenly realized that they were no longer even on the same level as Tang Wulin.


    "Again!" Tang Wulin''s voice rang out beside their ears.


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu had already donned their suits of battle armor, and after a brief moment of rest, the two of them sprang forward again.


    All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were very competitive, and they were certainly no exception.


    Xie Xie rose up into the air, and his body swayed before rapidly rotating in mid-air. A dragon''s roar rang out, and a golden dragon projection suddenly erupted forth. His fifth soul ring lit up, and he unleashed his fourth soul skill, Light Dragon. However, within the shadow of the Light Dragon, there was a lurking Shadow Dragon.


    He had learned his lesson, and on this occasion, he was unleashing his most powerful soul skill, Twin Dragon Transformation, from the get-go.


    Yue Zhengyu raised his holy sword to the heavens and let loose a cold cry. A burst of violent intent suddenly erupted from his body, and the angelic projection behind him instantly swelled in size. The small angel soul spirit also appeared on his shoulder as a streak of dazzling golden light rose up into the air, illuminating the entire trial grounds. An enormous pillar of golden light that was over three meters in diameter descended from the sky, completely inundating Xie Xie''s Twin Dragon Transformation.


    An even louder string of dragon''s roars rang out, and the Twin Dragon Transformation abruptly emerged from the bright holy light conjured up by The Archangel''s Fury. Its devastating aura made the entire space within the trial grounds twist and warp violently.


    The two one-word battle armor masters had unleashed their most powerful soul skills at the same time. With the enhancements from The Archangel''s Fury, the Twin Dragon Transformation had become so powerful that even a two-word battle armor master wouldn''t dare to take it head-on.


    However, Tang Wulin remained standing on the spot, and the only difference was that a slightly more solemn look had appeared in his eyes.


    He abruptly took a deep breath, and his entire body seemed to expand as he did so. His soul power vortex began to rotate at a high speed while the blood essence vortex at his chest rotated in the opposite direction. Golden and white light covered his entire body, and golden dragon scales surfaced all over his skin as four golden rings of light appeared around him.


    Blood essence fluctuations surged around Tang Wulin''s body as he let loose a Golden Dragon Roar. His entire body then transformed into a massive illusionary golden dragon head, and a peerlessly violent aura erupted forth. It was as if he''d truly transformed into the Golden Dragon King.


    In the face of the Golden Dragon Roar, Xie Xie''s Twin Dragon Transformation immediately began to waver. Even with the enhancements from The Archangel''s Fury, it was still looking as if it were about to shatter at any moment.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin revealed himself again, and he brought his hands together before thrusting them forward in a solemn manner.


    Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    The giant dragon head immediately took on a more substantial appearance and transformed into a giant golden dragon that was around 30 meters in length, crashing heavily into the Twin Dragon Transformation.


    Two resounding dragon''s roars rang out across the entire trial grounds, one of which was violent and triumphant, while the other was more like a wail of anguish.


    All of the spectators'' expressions immediately changed drastically.


    Right at this moment, several more figures appeared silently beside the trial grounds. Among these new arrivals were Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi, and Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu.


    Feng Wuyu''s eyes widened with shock as he witnessed Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. "Is that your Scarlet Dragon Shocks the Heavens?"


    Zhuo Shi also had a shocked look in his eyes, but he immediately puffed out his chest, and challenged, "Do you feel like bowing to my supremacy now?"


    Feng Wuyu turned toward him and immediately identified that he was just bluffing. "Hell no! That''s not even the same technique that you invented any more! It''s been significantly enhanced; don''t tell me your bloodline isn''t trembling right now!"


    That''s right, despite the fact that both of them were Titled Douluos, their bloodlines were shuddering violently in the face of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Roar. This was an instinctive sense of fear, and in their eyes. Tang Wulin resembled a terrifying giant beast.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly vanished. His entire body transformed into a massive golden dragon again, and he immediately flew toward the epicenter of the clash.


    Immediately thereafter, he reached out with his right hand, and his golden dragon claws elongated rapidly, forming a massive pair of dragon claws that were over five meters long. The claws came crashing down with devastating might, and a hint of dark golden light began to emanate from them. In the instant that the attack was initiated, the surrounding space abruptly turned black as if a black hole had appeared. Terrifying suction force erupted from within the black hole, and two figures suddenly appeared at the epicenter of the explosion. Both of them were standing right beneath Tang Wulin''s massive claws.


    He had just unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight and Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws.


    "Boom!"


    The two figures were sent flying backward at once, but on this occasion, they were flying toward different directions. Yue Zhengyu was slightly better equipped to deal with this attack as he was able to use his wings to form a protective barrier. Even so, a flurry of feathers still detached from his wings as he flew back through the air.

 Chapter 868: Hes Already This Powerful?

    In contrast, Xie Xie was in far worse condition. Two massive gashes ran all the way down from his shoulder to his left hip, and his suit of battle armor had been completely torn open. The battle armor was constructed from spirit alloys, so it quickly repaired itself, but Xie Xie had already lost the ability to continue fighting, and he still hadn''t even gotten up from the ground yet.


    Tang Wulin descended from the sky and landed on the ground with a resounding boom. A brief period of deathly silence ensued.


    Yuanen Yehui rushed over to Xie Xie before cradling him up in her arms to inspect his condition.


    However, in the next instant, she raised her head again, and the astonishment in her eyes had grown even more pronounced. Xie Xie appeared to have suffered grievous wounds, but in reality, he was completely unscathed. His battle armor had been sliced open, but even his clothes remained completely unharmed. He had only had his bloodline and soul power sealed off. It was downright incredible that Tang Wulin was able to exercise such exemplary control when unleashing such a devastating attack.


    No one was delusional enough to think that he simply lacked the power to hurt Xie Xie. It was quite apparent that if he wanted Xie Xie dead, he would already be in pieces right now.


    Yue Zhengyu landed on the ground, and he wasn''t in much better condition. Three massive gashes had appeared on his suit of battle armor, but it had superior defensive prowess compared to Xie Xie''s battle armor, so it hadn''t been completely destroyed.


    After landing on the ground, he was completely dumbfounded. In the face of Tang Wulin''s attack, he felt as if his body had been completely immobilized, rendering him unable to take evasive measures. As such, he could only take the attack head-on, yet his holy sword barely did anything to protect him. The sword was instantly shattered by Tang Wulin''s terrifying golden dragon claws, and he was sent flying like a cannonball.


    If he hadn''t defended with all his might, he would most likely be in a similar situation to Xie Xie right now. Furthermore, he could clearly sense that Tang Wulin had held back in that attack. What was even more astonishing was that he still hadn''t even put on his battle armor! This was...


    When did he become this powerful?


    In the eyes of the other six members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Tang Wulin had completely left them behind. They''d only been apart for just over a month, yet he was like a completely different man. He was like a dragon that had soared into the heavens, displaying power far superior to what he was capable of in the past. Yue Zhengyu had already become a six-ring Soul Emperor, but he had no chance against Tang Wulin.


    Yue Zhengyu understood that perhaps he''d only stand a chance if he were to use his Sacrifice ability, but even then, his chances would most likely be very slim.


    How was there such a massive gap between them?


    Xie Xie only awakened after Yuanen Yehui patted his body a few times, and even then, he still trembled uncontrollably for over 10 seconds before returning to a normal state.


    "What happened to you?" Yuanen Yehui asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Xie Xie''s face. "That was bloodline intimidation! When Boss unleashed that Golden Dragon Roar, my bloodline instantly succumbed. How was I supposed to fight when my body felt like it had been filled with lead? When did Boss become this powerful?"


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was like a different person in their eyes. He was no longer tall and slim. Instead, he was like an imposing mountain.


    It was a similar feeling to when they were facing off against Dragon King Long Yue, except, Tang Wulin''s aura was imbued with an additional air of wisdom and control. Only in his deranged state did Long Yue seem to be a match for the current Tang Wulin.


    He had evolved; he had truly evolved. The dragon had emerged from the abyss and was rising into the heavens.


    Tang Wulin looked down at his two hands and reflected on his utilization of his own body and power. He felt as if his strength, body, and spiritual power had combined to perfection, and this was a wonderful feeling.


    After breaking the ninth Golden Dragon King seal, his blood essence power was more abundant than ever, and the Body Sect''s bodily and spiritual control techniques played a pivotal role in his ability to control his newfound strength.


    It was just as Mu Ye had said; pure strength alone was useless in a practical battle. It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin had achieved elementary mastery of his own soul power and blood essence power. The two vortexes in his body were still rotating at high speeds, and all of the energy he''d just expended was quickly replenished.


    "Let me try!" Ye Xinglan suddenly appeared before Tang Wulin. In the face of the almighty Tang Wulin, not only was she not fearful in the slightest, she was filled with battle intent instead. This was her personality; she was always eager to face her next challenge. Her pursuit was to constantly challenge powerful beings and make breakthroughs over and over again by going beyond her limits.


    "Alright, Yuanen can come at me as well." Tang Wulin waved a hand at Yuanen Yehui as he spoke.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan formed a stronger partnership than Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu.


    Yuanen Yehui stood up and strode over to Ye Xinglan''s side. Much to Xu Lizhi''s surprise, Ye Xinglan didn''t turn down this arrangement. This was an indirect admission that she was no longer a match for the current Tang Wulin.


    Xu Xiaoyan licked her lips in a nervous manner before making her way over to Yue Zhengyu and announcing, "Begin!"


    Ye Xinglan took a step to the side, and she suddenly drew to a complete halt. However, in the next instant, the light around her suddenly seemed to have dimmed, as if all of the light rays were being absorbed into her body. An extremely sharp burst of sword intent erupted forth, sending ripples running through the protective barrier around the entire trial grounds.


    The proliferating sword intent only appeared for an instant before it converged back toward her. It wasn''t affecting anyone else, but it was only through this method that she was able to gather the most fearsome sword intent.


    She closed her eyes and didn''t release her martial soul. She seemed to simply be in a state of standing meditation, but a far grimmer expression had appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    Yuanen Yehui stepped forward, positioning herself in front of Ye Xinglan, and her body swelled dramatically in size as she unleashed her Titan Giant Ape martial soul.


    She raised both arms up into the air, and a pair of giant hammers appeared in her grasp. These giant hammers had been damaged during that battle against the evil Soul Masters, and after that, Yuanen Yehui had sought out a blacksmith and gotten them repaired. These hammers once belonged to a mecha, yet they were being wielded by her like a pair of toys despite their enormous weight.


    Yuanen Yehui focused her gaze, and pieces of battle armor began to rapidly appear over her body. As soon as she donned her suit of battle armor, her aura instantly spiked drastically.


    Tang Wulin took the initiative on this occasion. He tapped his foot onto the ground, and his body shot forth like a cannonball. Only through careful inspection could one see that as he was hurtling through the air at an astonishing speed, he''d clenched his right fist and pulled back his arm in preparation to unleash an attack.


    Yuanen Yehui took another step forward, and she swung her giant hammers through the air in retaliation. She didn''t hold back in the slightest on this occasion as she now knew just how strong Tang Wulin was.


    The two clashed, yet even with her giant hammers and the enhancements from her suit of battle armor, Yuanen Yehui was still sent flying by Tang Wulin''s devastating punch. She then crashed into the protective barrier in the distance, much like Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu had done before her.


    Tang Wulin''s body only faltered in mid-air for an instant before a golden dragon projection appeared behind him. He unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight to accelerate once again, and charged directly toward Ye Xinglan.


    It was also at this moment that Ye Xinglan finally sprang into action. She raised her right hand to grab onto something behind her own head, and her Stargod Sword instantly appeared in her grasp. A streak of light flashed through the air, and it was as if all of the light in the surrounding area had been absorbed in an instant. From everyone else''s perspective, it looked as if a dazzling streak of starlight were flashing through an inky-black expanse of darkness.


    "Clang!"


    Tang Wulin descended from the sky, but his attack was kept at bay by Ye Xinglan''s sword. This was the first time today that anyone had been able to withstand one of his attacks.


    Ye Xinglan''s entire body shuddered violently, and she also donned her suit of battle armor. All of a sudden, countless dazzling sword projections appeared around Tang Wulin, enshrouding his entire body within.


    Tang Wulin raised his arms in front of him in a defensive manner before unleashing his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. His entire body suddenly sped up drastically, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.


    Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword was also very fast, but she was simply unable to land so much as a single attack on him.


    Yuanen Yehui sprang up from the distance, sending two Air Cannon blasts hurtling toward Tang Wulin from both sides in order to restrict his movements. At the same time, she completed her Devil Titan transformation and raised both of her hammers before bringing them down toward Tang Wulin from behind, sandwiching him between her and Ye Xinglan''s attacks.


    Xu Xiaoyan stood beside Yue Zhengyu, and teased, "Look at how much more powerful Sister Xinglan and Sister Yuanen are compared to you guys!"


    Yue Zhengyu rolled his eyes in response. "It''s all Xie Xie''s fault! He pretty much wet himself after Boss''s Golden Dragon Roar, and he couldn''t unleash any of his power as a result. Otherwise, how could I have lost in such a pitiful manner? Don''t forget that I didn''t even get to use my sixth soul skill, and I still had the power to continue fighting."

 Chapter 869: The Fearsome Tang Wulin

    Right at this moment, another loud dragon''s roar rang out as Tang Wulin unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar again.


    Neither Yuanen Yehui nor Ye Xinglan possessed dragon bloodlines, but even they couldn''t help but shudder and become more sluggish in the face of Tang Wulin''s almighty roar.


    Tang Wulin stomped his right foot onto the ground, immediately following up his Golden Dragon Roar with his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. The surrounding space instantly warped, and Ye Xinglan, who was standing closest to him, was instantly immobilized.


    However, she reacted extremely quickly, and as soon as she sensed that something was amiss, specks of bright starlight erupted from her battle armor to form a protective barrier. As such, she was only immobilized for a split-second before she managed to free herself through the use of her immense sword intent.


    Right at this moment, eight golden dragons erupted from the ground. All of the golden dragons rushed toward Yuanen Yehui while Tang Wulin took advantage of Ye Xinglan''s split-second of immobilization to close down the distance between them.


    His right golden dragon claws lashed out, leaving a trail of shattered space in its wake, and powerful suction force erupted from the broken space, dragging Ye Xinglan''s body forward.


    Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword slashed upward, and even without the sufficient distance required for her to complete a proper charge, she managed to fuse herself as one with her sword.


    "Ding ding ding!" A string of crisp clangs rang out as her sword clashed with Tang Wulin''s dragon claws over and over again, and the difference in their power was finally displayed. Ye Xinglan was already trying to unleash her sword intent to its maximal degree with each and every attack, but she was still constantly being forced back by Tang Wulin. There was simply no way for her to bridge the massive power gap.


    Tang Wulin twisted around and swept his right leg through the air. A loud dragon''s roar rang out as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Whips its Tail, transforming his leg into a massive dragon tail.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t all that technically astute, but he employed a simple and violent method of attack that crushed everything standing in his way. He didn''t allow Ye Xinglan to fully display the power of her sword intent and swordsmanship; he was merely crushing her with pure power.


    As such, Ye Xinglan had no choice but to transform her Stargod Sword into countless sword projections while she tried to rush back in retreat, but she was still sent flying by the Golden Dragon Whips its Tail.


    After blasting Ye Xinglan away, Tang Wulin didn''t even take a second glance at her before he raised his right arm to unleash his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws!


    Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie had faced his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws together, but on this occasion, Yuanen Yehui was facing this attack on her own, and she had only just taken care of the eight dragons conjured up by the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth.


    The terrifying dragon claws descended from above with immense suction force, and gleaming with the dark golden light of the Golden Dragon Dreadclaws. This was definitely the most powerful attack among Tang Wulin''s Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon to date.


    It was already too late for Yuanen Yehui to take evasive measures by adopting her Fallen Angel form. As such, her sixth soul ring lit up, and she joined her twin hammers before her to form a protective shield.


    At the same time, her feet seemed to have taken root on the platform of the trial grounds, and a giant hand with a diameter of around 10 meters suddenly appeared behind her. The massive hand clenched into a fist and launched a retaliatory strike against Tang Wulin''s golden dragon claws.


    That''s right, just like Yue Zhengyu, Yuanen Yehui had also become a six-ring Soul Emperor.


    "Boom!" Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui both shuddered violently in unison, and the Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws and Titan Grip shattered at the same time. The two attacks were evenly matched!


    However, one had to realize that in order to withstand this attack, she had donned her suit of battle armor, and she also unleashed her Titan Strength, Diamond Titan, and Devil Titan, along with her sixth soul skill.


    However, the fact of the matter was that she''d managed to withstand Tang Wulin''s most powerful attack, and at this moment, a speck of cold starlight appeared behind his back.


    Tang Wulin''s right arm abruptly swept backward, and a streak of golden light shot forth; it was none other than his Golden Dragon Spear. At the same time, his suit of one-word battle armor also instantly appeared on his body.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were more powerful than Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu, so it would be quite difficult for him to defeat them without summoning his battle armor.


    Yuanen Yehui''s sixth soul ring continued to glow, and she tossed the giant hammer in her right hand into the air. Her Titan Grip appeared again, catching the hammer before sending it crashing down from above.


    Meanwhile, Ye Xinglan''s fifth soul ring lit up, and her entire body instantly transformed into a dazzling and scorching star. Fearsome sword intent locked onto Tang Wulin''s body from behind, and it seemed that their combined efforts would finally be able to spell his defeat.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and he seemed to have entered a special state. His eyes became remarkably bright, and in the instant that the giant hammer was about to strike him, his battle armor suddenly took on a mirror-surface-like appearance.


    "Boom!" The giant hammer was repelled by his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body.


    Golden light flashed rapidly all over his entire body, and at the same time, he thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward to meet Ye Xinglan''s fifth soul skill, Star Sword.


    "Ding!" A deafening clang rang out, and Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi all hurriedly covered their ears as their expressions changed drastically. Yue Zhengyu immediately positioned himself in front of everyone, spreading open his wings to unleash his holy light. In the next instant, a powerful shockwave surged toward them.


    Ye Xinglan let loose a muffled groan as she was sent flying through the air, and she''d already thrown up a mouthful of blood.


    An apologetic look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he swiveled around, sweeping his Golden Dragon Spear through the air. On this occasion, he unleashed his Golden Dragon Whips its Tail with his Golden Dragon Spear as opposed to his leg, and Yuanen Yehui was also sent flying.


    After putting on his suit of battle armor, Tang Wulin had become far too powerful for them to face.


    Xu Lizhi had already rushed over to Ye Xinglan and quickly fed her a Recovery Pork Bun.


    After eating the Recovery Pork Bun, Ye Xinglan gave Tang Wulin a big thumbs-up.


    Tang Wulin also hurriedly rushed over to her. "I''m sorry, Xinglan; your sword intent was too powerful, so I couldn''t control myself."


    Ye Xinglan smiled, and replied, "It''s alright, I had a really good time. I can tell that you already held back at the last moment. Otherwise, I would''ve been seriously injured by that attack."


    Tang Wulin had indeed already done his best to hold back his power. However, it was still not enough, and he''d ended up hurting Ye Xinglan.


    Everyone gathered around, and Xie Xie couldn''t help but exclaim, "How did you become so powerful all of a sudden? Even Xinglan and Yuanen are no match for you now!"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I only managed to attain greater control over my own strength, and my bloodline also awakened a step further. If you guys had known about the improvements I''d made beforehand, I wouldn''t have been able to win so easily. Of course, I would''ve still beaten you just as easily anyway."


    Xie Xie chuckled, "That''s alright, we''ll team up next time. Won''t that mean that your power will enhance me rather than intimidate me? I think the two of us can take on the five of them with no issues. I''ll always stand with you, Boss!"


    "Will it kill you not to boast?" Yue Zhengyu scoffed.


    "How about we try it then?" Xie Xie stood beside Tang Wulin with a smug expression, creating a rather comical sight to behold.


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Tang Wulin said, "I think we can try that. Xinglan, are you still able to fight?"


    Ye Xinglan replied, "I''m fine, but do you really want to try this?"


    Two-on-five was drastically different from one-on-two. Even though Xu Lizhi didn''t have much combat prowess, his steamed buns greatly enhanced his allies, and for a mature team like Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, everyone''s teamwork was exemplary. With the addition of each person, their overall power would increase significantly, and that wasn''t even taking into effect Xu Xiaoyan''s absolute control abilities.


    Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, and Yue Zhengyu were all assault system Soul Masters, and there were two six-ring Soul Emperors among them. With sufficient assistance from Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi, it would not be easy for Xie Xie and Tang Wulin to keep them at bay.


    However, Tang Wulin nodded in a determined manner. "Let''s give it a try. The sparring matches for today are mainly being held so that I can gauge your current powers, and after this, we''re going to begin creating our suits of two-word battle armor. I''m planning to give all of you a surprise on the forging side of things when we begin this process."


    Xie Xie asked in a curious manner, "What''s the surprise?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I''ve already made a breakthrough."


    Everyone was stunned to hear this, and they exclaimed almost in unison, "You''re a Saint Blacksmith now?"


    Tang Wulin naturally had nothing to hide from his friends, so he nodded with a smile in response.

 Chapter 870: The Possibility of Solidifying Soul Skills

    Everyone exchanged astonished glances with one another, and Xu Xiaoyan exclaimed, "My God, Boss; what have you been up to during the past month? If you encounter another opportunity that can bring such drastic enhancements in just a month, make sure to call us up so we can join you! You''re a Saint Blacksmith now? Doesn''t that mean you can even start forging metals for our suits of three-word battle armor now?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Not quite. I''ve only just recently become a Saint Blacksmith, and I need some time to consolidate. Besides, even if I can forge metals of that caliber, none of us will be able to use them before we become seven-ring Soul Sages anyway. Without a martial soul true body as a foundation, there''s no way we can use suits of battle armor created from soul refined metals, so let''s not get ahead of ourselves here, and focus on constructing our suits of two-word battle armor first.


    "However, now that I''ve mastered soul refinement, I''m planning to forge alloys that consist of fusions of four different types of metals for our two-word battle armor. That way, they''ll be far superior to other suits of two-word battle armor. Aside from attaining wings, each suit of two-word battle armor will be able to solidify a soul skill, and those soul skills aren''t limited by martial souls. You guys should think carefully about this and ideally decide on a soul skill that someone else among us knows rather than one of your own soul skills."


    Solidifying soul skills referred to using special circuits to seal a soul skill into a suit of battle armor. The power of that soul skill would depend on the Soul Master''s cultivation rank and the power of their battle armor. After attaining suits of three-word battle armor, they would be able to solidify an additional soul skill.


    For example, one of Tang Wulin''s soul skills could be solidified into Xie Xie''s battle armor, but this process required 100% cooperation from the Soul Master in possession of the soul skill.


    "Boss, I want to solidify that claw ability of yours!" Xie Xie immediately said.


    Tang Wulin immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this. "You sure dare to dream! Setting aside the fact that this is one of my bloodline soul skills, which may not even be possible to solidify, you don''t have my strength, nor my Golden Dragon Dreadclaws to supplement that skill anyway, so it''s not suitable for you. Among all of you, only Yuanen possesses enough strength to unleash a good portion of my Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws'' power. Of course, she''ll only be able to attain that skill if it''s possible for my bloodline soul skills to be solidified."


    Tang Wulin continued, "I think there''s a decent chance that this should be achievable. Furthermore, the more metals used in a spirit alloy, the more capacity it would have, so it may not be impossible for us to solidify some of our teachers'' soul skills. At the very least, we should be able to choose all soul skills below the seven-ring level. However, it''s important to keep in mind that we should choose soul skills that have good synergy with our existing abilities rather than just going for a powerful soul skill."


    Two-word battle armor was a completely different concept from one-word battle armor. Strictly speaking, only after attaining a suit of two-word battle armor could one become a true battle armor master. Of course, exceptions had to be made for Tang Wulin and the others, who all possessed suits of battle armor that were created from spirit alloys.


    At this point, both Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had already become six-ring Soul Emperors, so they had built the foundation required to attain suits of two-word battle armor. Everyone else was also quite close to becoming Soul Emperors.


    Xu Lizhi was especially excited. If he could attain a suit of two-word battle armor, then he''d be able to solidify a powerful offensive soul skill, and that would go a long way to making up for his biggest shortcoming. At the very least, he''d be able to play attacking roles in battles as well.


    "Alright, let''s have another match, and don''t hold back. I need to see the full extent of your powers so I can decide what your suits of battle armor require the most," Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    Even though none of them were able to use suits of battle armor crafted from soul refined metals at this point, with his foundation as a Saint Blacksmith, Tang Wulin was confident that he''d be able to forge spirit alloys consisting of at least four or even five different types of metals. Of course, when forging these spirit alloys, he had to consider the natures of the battle armor soul skills that everyone wanted to solidify.


    This was one of the main benefits of having a super blacksmith when crafting suits of battle armor. The higher the caliber of the battle armor, the more the blacksmith had to play a pivotal role in its construction.


    For a normal blacksmith, spirit refinement would already be quite difficult, and spirit metals could also be used to create suits of two-word battle armor without being fused into alloys, but the battle armor''s soul skill capacity would naturally be quite lackluster. Due to the lack of quality of metals used, there were many suits of two-word battle armor that couldn''t even solidify any soul skills.


    Zhen Hua was so influential across the entire continent because he was the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire continent, and his involvement was mandatory in the construction of the best suits of four-word battle armor.


    If Tang Wulin were to announce to the world that he''d become a Saint Blacksmith, he''d never have to worry about being out of work ever again.


    Feng Wuyu was a Titled Douluo, so the prospect of approaching him for forging services was rather intimidating, but Tang Wulin was still young, and there would undoubtedly be many Soul Masters eager to work with him.


    Xie Xie sidled up to Tang Wulin with a concerned look on his face. After all, a two-on-five battle was heavily skewed against their favor. He asked in a low voice, "Are we really going to be able to win, Boss? My battle armor hasn''t completely recovered yet, so I won''t be able to help you much!"


    Tang Wulin glared at him, and scoffed, "Where''s your backbone? Don''t forget that Yuanen is looking at you!"


    Xie Xie chuckled, "I have confidence as long as you''re by my side, Boss! Let''s teach them a good lesson here!"


    Yue Zhengyu raised an eyebrow in response. "I''m not sure who''s going to be teaching the lessons here!"


    Both sides retreated and faced off on the trial grounds.


    Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, and Yue Zhengyu stood at the front of their group with Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi bringing up the rear. All of them immediately donned their suits of battle armor without any hesitation.


    As for Tang Wulin, he''d been wearing his suit of battle armor this entire time. In the face of five of his friends, a very serious expression had appeared on his face. This was not going to be an easy fight.


    Xu Lizhi had already begun chanting incantations, producing one steamed bun after another. There were Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns, Sturdy Crystal Buns, Puncture BBQ Pork Buns... From the looks of it, he was preparing one of each of his buns for everyone.


    Tang Wulin immediately yelled, "Begin!"


    There was no way that he could wait until Xu Lizhi created all of the steamed buns that he wanted. In that case, the battle would essentially already be decided from the outset.


    Tang Wulin rushed forward while Xie Xie vanished into thin air behind him.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin could clearly sense a sharp aura that was elevating relentlessly behind him, indicating that Xie Xie was accumulating power while on the move! As expected, he had only lost to Tang Wulin in such a pitiful manner due to Tang Wulin''s overwhelming bloodline domination.


    Ever since Yuanen had accepted his confession, Xie Xie had been working harder than ever, and he certainly wasn''t as weak as that first battle had made him out to be.


    On this occasion, he was an ally of Tang Wulin''s, and everything was completely different. Not only was Tang Wulin''s bloodline no longer intimidating him, it was stimulating his own bloodline instead, stirring it into an excited frenzy. He could feel that he was able to accumulate power a lot faster and more efficiently as he moved forward behind Tang Wulin.


    Even though his bloodline power wasn''t directly enhanced, it was being stimulated to such an extent that he was able to muster up 120% of the power that would normally be available to him. This was the vast difference between standing against Tang Wulin as an enemy and standing behind him as an ally.


    Even in the face of five opponents, Tang Wulin still charged ahead like a fearless giant dragon that was about to bare its fangs.


    Right at this moment, a ring of light suddenly appeared right in his path, and his heart jolted as he immediately switched directions, rushing off to the side to evade it.


    Those were Xu Xiaoyan''s Starwheel Shackles, and if he''d reacted any later than that, he would''ve been ensnared by it. That was an absolute control soul skill, and getting caught in it would completely nullify the momentum that he''d built up. Even so, his momentum had still been hampered somewhat as he''d just been forced to take evasive measures.


    Yuanen Yehui stuffed a Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun into her mouth before leading the charge. Yue Zhengyu conjured up another holy sword in his hand before raising it high up into the air, sending a pillar of Light of Judgment crashing down directly toward Tang Wulin.


    In a five-on-two battle, they held an absolute advantage, so their battle style naturally changed accordingly.


    After Yuanen Yehui consumed her Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun, she caught the Sturdy Crystal Bun, which Xu Lizhi had hurled at her using the Tang Sect''s hidden weapon hand techniques, and ate that as well. A layer of crystalline light immediately surfaced around her body, thereby significantly bolstering her defenses.


    A series of Astral Chains connected all five of them, and Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly upon seeing this.


    As expected, with Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan on their side, the entire dynamic of the battle had changed! If it were a two-on-three battle, he''d have absolute confidence in his ability to secure victory, but two-on-five was a different story altogether.


    After Xu Xiaoyan summoned her Astral Chains, she pointed at Tang Wulin with a smile on her face, and Tang Wulin immediately took evasive measures, only for nothing to happen.


    Xu Xiaoyan then stuck her tongue out at him with a goading smile on her face.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly took a step forward. He brought his right arm behind his body before swinging it forward with tremendous might, sending his Golden Dragon Spear hurtling toward Xu Xiaoyan like a bolt of golden lightning.


    Tang Wulin''s current strength was downright terrifying, and with the enhancements of his battle armor and Golden Dragon Body, even a seven-ring Soul Sage would have to treat this Golden Dragon Spear attack with extreme caution.

 Chapter 871: You Cheated!

    Xu Xiaoyan''s expression had already changed drastically as she saw what Tang Wulin was doing, and she''d managed to summon her Dazzling Starlight just in the nick of time, sending countless specks of starlight hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin. The specks of starlight instantly encompassed his entire body, but at that point, his Golden Dragon Spear had already left his grasp.


    He then immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and in the instant that the Dazzling Starlight reached him, he did something that was rather strange-looking.


    He positioned one hand above and curled his fingers back to form claws with both his palms facing one another. After that, he stepped forward with his left foot, and it looked as if he were trying to catch something.


    Yue Zhengyu''s expression instantly changed at the sight of the oncoming Golden Dragon Spear. His Light of Judgment had already struck Tang Wulin''s body, but it had also been too slow to prevent Tang Wulin from hurling his Golden Dragon Spear.


    The Light of Judgment was absorbed by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and his mirror-like suit of battle armor began to shimmer rapidly. At this moment, the Dazzling Starlight had already immobilized him.


    Yue Zhengyu positioned himself in front of Xu Xiaoyan and thrust his holy sword forward with all his might to try and keep the Golden Dragon Spear at bay. However, the Golden Dragon Spear hadn''t even reached him, and he could already sense that he wouldn''t be able to block it. He was sure that even with the enhancements of his Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun and battle armor that the Golden Dragon Spear would still puncture his body with ease.


    Right at this moment, a sharp sword projection finally arrived before striking the side of the Golden Dragon Spear with unerring accuracy. A loud dragon''s roar rang out from the spear, and the golden light around it dimmed slightly before it struck Yue Zhengyu''s holy sword.


    Even though Ye Xinglan had already nullified most of the Golden Dragon Spear''s power, Yue Zhengyu still shuddered violently from the force of the clash, and he rushed back as if he''d been electrocuted, almost crashing into Xu Xiaoyan as he did so.


    The Golden Dragon Spear was repelled, and the holy sword was broken.


    As such, the only one who was still rushing toward Tang Wulin was Yuanen Yehui. Tang Wulin was attacking Xu Xiaoyan as he knew that the others would be forced to save her, and in the face of the threat from his Golden Dragon Spear, Ye Xinglan had no choice but to turn back.


    The giant hammers were raised aloft before being brought down with devastating might.


    In Yuanen Yehui''s eyes, Tang Wulin had been immobilized by the Dazzling Starlight, and his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body had also been activated by the Light of Judgment. If he were to retaliate now, he would be extremely difficult to handle, but his defenses were also at their most feeble at this moment.


    In order to save time, she didn''t use any soul skills, but she was still unleashing this attack with the full power of her Devil Titan form.


    I''ve got him!


    A hint of elation welled up in Yuanen Yehui''s heart, but right at this moment, she felt a strange rotational force surge toward her from Tang Wulin''s body. Her giant hammer was supposed to strike him on the chest, but it was suddenly twisted toward him, and her body also began to spin as a result. The instant that the giant hammer fell into Tang Wulin''s hands coincided with the moment that he recovered the Dazzling Starlight, yet instead of attacking Yuanen Yehui with the hammer, he hurled it toward Xu Xiaoyan again.


    A burst of sharp light flashed past Tang Wulin, reaching Yuanen Yehui in a flash. It was none other than Xie Xie.


    Yuanen Yehui was still trying to arrest her rotational momentum, yet Xie Xie was completely fine as Tang Wulin had blocked the Dazzling Starlight for him. As such, he was able to unleash all of his accumulated power at this critical juncture in the form of this attack. His body had split up into two clones, one illusionary and one substantial, and the two of them attacked Yuanen Yehui from both sides.


    All of a sudden, a loud dragon''s roar erupted from Tang Wulin''s body as a golden ring of light lit up beneath his feet. It was none other than his fourth bloodline soul skill, Violent Golden Dragon Domain.


    Xie Xie had some dragon clan bloodline in his body, so he benefited more from the Violent Golden Dragon Domain''s enhancement effects than everyone else did. He could feel his own bloodline aura elevating drastically, and his two clones reached Yuanen Yehui in a flash.


    "Xie Xie." Right at this moment, a strange turn of events unfolded.


    Instead of adopting any defensive or evasive measures, Yuanen Yehui withdrew both of her hands, and her body instantly shrank down as she reverted back to her original form. At the same time, she uttered Xie Xie''s name in an extremely mellow voice.


    Her voice was so soft and gentle that it was virtually a croon, and if someone were to stand beside Xie Xie to inspect his skin with a magnifying glass, they''d discover that goosebumps had appeared all over his body.


    The two clones flashed past Yuanen Yehui, but both of them had withdrawn their daggers, and neither of them attacked her!


    Yuanen Yehui smiled as she turned around before lashing out with both of her legs, kicking the two Xie Xie''s on their backsides to send them flying into the protective barrier.


    Tang Wulin was completely speechless. Yuanen Yehui was in a completely dire situation, yet Xie Xie had dropped the ball at the most critical juncture.


    A two-on-five battle was already a format that was heavily against his favor, so he had to think outside of the box if he wanted to win. Xu Xiaoyan was their biggest threat, so Tang Wulin hurled projectiles at her to restrict her, then created an opportunity to single out Yuanen Yehui. Even though he''d been immobilized, as long as Xie Xie could take her out, the equation would become two vs four as opposed to two vs five, and that would be a lot easier.


    However, Xie Xie had truly screwed up. Not only had he been sent flying, he collapsed to the ground and couldn''t get up. Yuanen Yehui had sealed his bloodline once again.


    The hammer that Tang Wulin had hurled was far less powerful than his Golden Dragon Spear. It didn''t have the same speed and sharpness, so Ye Xinglan was able to divert it away on her own.


    Tang Wulin unleashed a powerful punch to send Yuanen Yehui flying, but he didn''t actually inflict any substantial damage to her as the Astral Chains allowed them to distribute the impact among all five of them.


    "You cheated! You can''t do that!" Tang Wulin exclaimed with grief and indignation.


    Yuanen Yehui chuckled, "We just came back from the demonic island, Captain; have you forgotten everything we''ve learned there already?"


    Before her voice had even trailed off, Ye Xinglan and Yue Zhengyu had also joined her to attack Tang Wulin from three sides. A Starwheel Shackle also appeared beneath his feet with unerring accuracy.


    As such, Tang Wulin had no choice but to unleash his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body again while adopting the same strange-looking pose as before.


    Strangely enough, after he adopted that pose, everyone who attacked him would immediately be sent flying. Even Yuanen Yehui''s immense power was unable to break through his strange defense, let alone everyone else.


    Even Ye Xinglan felt as if her Stargod Sword had plunged into a vortex before she was sent flying by the rotational force.


    Through the use of this strange pose, Tang Wulin endured one barrage of attacks after another.


    However, he was being attacked by five people all at once! His friends also had Xu Xiaoyan''s absolute control on their side, and Tang Wulin couldn''t do anything aside from defend.


    What made him even more speechless was that Xu Lizhi was the one who broke his defense in the end.


    While he was being attacked by everyone else, Xu Lizhi snuck behind him without him noticing before imprinting a pair of blackish-purple hands onto his back.


    As such, Tang Wulin was distracted by the immense destructive energy surging into his body, thereby preventing him from adopting that strange pose before he was struck by the Dazzling Starlight and Starwheel Shackle...


    Five minutes later.


    Tang Wulin was bruised and battered as he sat on the trial grounds with a gloomy expression. Xie Xie didn''t even dare to look at him.


    Yue Zhengyu wore a smug expression as he said, "You see now, Captain? Having a trashy teammate is worse than having to face god-like opponents! If I were you, I''d be challenging him to a one-on-one battle right now!"


    They hadn''t held back in the slightest after mobbing Tang Wulin. However, his defensive prowess stunned them once again. All three of them were assault system Soul Masters, but Tang Wulin acted as their punching bag for a full five minutes before he finally chose to surrender. During this process, he had almost escaped on multiple occasions, only to be thwarted by Xu Xiaoyan''s absolute control.


    It was undoubtedly the case that without Xu Xiaoyan''s ultra-powerful control abilities, there was no guarantee that they would''ve been able to defeat Tang Wulin. Even if they could, they''d have to pay a price in the process.

 Chapter 872: Unease?

    The bruises on Tang Wulin''s face were quickly fading. With his recovery abilities, these minor injuries were nothing.


    Xie Xie wore a guilty expression as he said, "I''m sorry, Boss, but I didn''t do it on purpose! Yuanen''s never talked to me like that before; I swear this won''t happen next time!"


    Tang Wulin glared at him. "There won''t be a next time! What if she calls you ''husband'' next time? Are you going to turn around and stab me instead?"


    Xie Xie raised his head and looked at Tang Wulin before glancing at Yuanen Yehui. There was indeed a very good chance that that would happen.


    In the face of Yuanen Yehui, all of his combat prowess was thrown out the window.


    Tang Wulin sent Xie Xie flying with another kick to the backside, and everyone burst into raucous laughter. Yuanen Yehui put on a disdainful expression as she scoffed, "Don''t even think about it; there''s no way I''m calling you that!"


    Tang Wulin heaved a resigned sigh. "I''ve ascertained your current abilities and needs. I''m going to devise individual plans, then discuss them with each of you. Let''s stop here for today."


    Everyone departed, and Tang Wulin returned to his and Gu Yue''s wooden cabin. Only now did he allow a hint of dejection to appear on his face.


    All of his friends were in happy relationships, so it was naturally unavoidable for him to be envious. However, there was nothing he could do. He still hadn''t received any news about Gu Yue and Na''er even after all this time. Where were they?


    Gu Yue, are you really never going to see me again? Wait for me; I''m going to become powerful enough to go and find you!


    ¡­¡­


    A soul bus traveled quickly over the highway. The bus appeared to be extremely normal and was no different from the average soul bus. The only thing that was different was that all of the windows were concealed by drawn curtains, making it impossible to see what was inside the bus.


    The Shrek City checkpoint loomed up ahead in the distance, and the soul bus gradually decelerated, lining up behind all of the other vehicles that were waiting to be checked.


    Right at this moment, an employee in an official uniform emerged from the checkpoint. From the looks of his epaulets, he was clearly quite an important figure at the checkpoint.


    He quickly made his way out of the checkpoint before waving a hand at the soul bus, then pointing at a closed tunnel off to the side.


    The soul bus reacted very quickly and immediately left the line, changing directions before driving toward the tunnel.


    The employee entered the tunnel before switching on the devices inside, and the door of the bus was opened, following which a middle-aged man with an extremely ordinary appearance disembarked from within. The middle-aged man strode over to the employee before handing over some documents.


    The employee glanced at the documents before returning it to the man, then making his way into the control room. The metal barrier blocking the tunnel slowly rose up, and the middle-aged man got onto the bus again before driving it toward Shrek City.


    The metal barrier was lowered again, and the employee also emerged from the control room. This tunnel was going to remain closed.


    This occurrence didn''t attract much attention from anyone else. After all, there were people with special rights and privileges everywhere, and even Shrek City was no exception to this.


    However, unbeknownst to everyone, after allowing the soul bus into Shrek City, the employee went straight back to the lobby of the checkpoint before changing into some different clothes. He then bade farewell to his colleagues and got onto a soul car that quickly departed. The soul car didn''t take him toward Shrek City; instead, it was taking him away into the distance.


    More and more cars appeared on the road, and the soul bus slowed down while continuing to travel on ahead. There were a total of over 10 people in the bus, and all of them were completely silent. They all wore black uniforms with balaclavas on their faces that only revealed their nose and eyes. Due to their attire, the entire interior of the soul bus had a sinister air about it.


    Only the driver, who was also the middle-aged man that had just gotten off the soul bus earlier, seemed to be quite normal.


    One of the men in black sitting near the front quickly made his way to the back before asking in a serious voice, "How''s it going with the screening devices?"


    Another man in black pulled out a device and took a glance at it before nodding in response. "Everything is normal. Nothing is being leaked aside from background radiation."


    "Very good," the first man in black returned to the front of the bus, and said to the driver, "Proceed as planned."


    "Yes!" the driver replied in a respectful manner. At the same time, a hint of deranged fanaticism appeared in his eyes.


    The soul bus continued onward and quickly entered Shrek City. The inner city of Shrek City gradually appeared in their field of view.


    However, the bus didn''t continue on toward the inner city. Instead, it turned onto a wide street before driving for a while longer, then gradually decelerated. The bus stopped on the side of the street beside a building that appeared to be a hotel, and the doors of the building slowly opened. The bus drove into the building through the entrance, where it disappeared from the public eye.


    ¡­¡­


    On the Sea God''s Island.


    Atlas Douluo Yun Ming was sitting on his wooden bed with his legs crossed, and as he slowly opened his eyes, a hint of unease flashed through his pupils.


    "Yali," he called out in a gentle voice.


    "What is it?" Holy Spirit Douluo Yali immediately walked in from outside. She could clearly sense that there was something off about Yun Ming''s voice.


    "For some reason, I''m feeling rather uneasy," Yun Ming said in a rather perplexed voice.


    Yali was stunned to hear this. "What? You''re feeling uneasy?"


    One had to realize that Yun Ming was a Limit Douluo, and was widely renowned as the most powerful being on the entire continent, placing him at the pinnacle of the world of Soul Masters. His sensory abilities were countless times more potent than that of the average person, and his spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Domain realm. His senses were so powerful that it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to claim that he could detect all of the major changes taking place on the entire Douluo Continent.


    The fact that he was feeling uneasy indicated that a major event was about to take place. For example, he''d been struck by a sense of foreboding prior to the Heaven Dou City terrorist attack, and he''d immediately reported this feeling to the federation. Unfortunately, the federation wasn''t able to address his report in a timely fashion, and the tragedy of Heaven Dou City still took place.


    "Is it a really strong sense of unease? Which direction is it coming from?" Yali asked.


    Yun Ming''s brows were tightly furrowed as he shook his head. "It''s a very strong feeling, but it''s also very strange. The feeling fluctuates in intensity, and I can''t pinpoint which direction it''s coming from. This is really strange. Could it be that a natural disaster is about to strike?"


    Yali''s brows were also tightly furrowed as she mused, "A natural disaster? And you can''t sense the direction?"


    Yun Ming shook his head in response. "Not at the moment. However, this is a stronger feeling than I''ve ever gotten before. If a disaster really is going to strike, it''s going to be one of unprecedented proportions."


    Yali drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. Yun Ming''s words were sufficient testament to just how catastrophic this disaster would be if it were to take place. She asked in a grim voice, "What should we do?"


    Yun Ming replied, "We can only report this to the federation. After what happened last time, they should take things more seriously on this occasion. Also, send out a Shrek Order and inform all of the graduated inner court disciples of this feeling of mine. Tell them to be on their guard, and if they encounter any signs of danger, they can request for assistance from the academy."


    "Alright. Should I organize a Sea God''s Pavilion meeting?" Yali asked.


    Yun Ming shook his head. "Not yet. After all, I''m unable to confirm the nature of this feeling yet. After reaching this level in my cultivation, my own power is being severely oppressed by the heavens, so I can''t entirely eliminate the possibility that this feeling could be false. Even so, it can''t hurt to be more careful."


    Due to the fact that the existence of the Divine Realm could no longer be felt in this world, Yun Ming would often suffer bouts of disorientation after becoming a Limit Douluo. During these lapses, he would feel as if he could sense something, but also nothing at all.


    The closer one got to his level, the more they wanted to find out where the Divine Realm is, and whether it still even exists.


    As such, his cultivation revolved entirely around interacting with the heavenly dao, so he couldn''t eliminate the possibility that his senses were being disrupted by the heavenly dao. However, what was for sure was that feeling was continuing to linger in his heart.


    Tang Wulin awakened his meditation, feeling completely reinvigorated and refreshed.


    Ever since his martial soul had undergone a second awakening and he''d formed his two major power vortexes, his rate of cultivation had spiked drastically, to the extent that he could noticeably sense himself improving every day.


    This improvement was not just limited to his soul power, but also everything else, such as his Purple Demon Eyes. After his bloodline power vortex had taken shape, the rate at which he could cultivate his Purple Demon Eyes increased by threefold, and as a result, even his spiritual power was increasing at a far faster speed.

 Chapter 873: Warning Signs

    It was extremely rare for someone of his age to possess Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, and it was even rarer for someone of his cultivation rank to be able to maintain such a high speed of cultivation.


    He got off his bed, and he was just about to go and practice his forging for a while when a scorching sensation suddenly appeared on his wrist.


    He reflexively looked down to find that the teardrop-shaped nine-colored gem on his bracelet that he''d obtained from the Dragon Valley was shimmering with a faint light. The scorching sensation was coming from none other than that gem as well.


    Ever since he''d obtained this bracelet, it hadn''t really changed at all, and this was the first time it had displayed such a reaction, but what did this mean? Why was it suddenly heating up? Could it have been stimulated by his bloodline?


    Tang Wulin flipped his wrist over with a confused look on his face, but the scorching sensation only grew more pronounced. At the same time, a sense of unease also began to well up in his heart.


    This was very strange. Tang Wulin had never figured out what purpose this bracelet served; all he knew was that this was a parting gift from all of the true dragon skeletons in the Dragon Valley. At this moment, the scorching sensation emanating from it and the unease in his heart left him rather befuddled.


    Could it be that this gem was trying to warn him about something?


    But what could it be warning him about? If he were still on the demonic island or outside of the academy, then he would immediately be feeling very cautious.


    However, he was currently situated in Shrek Academy! Was there a safer place in this world than Shrek Academy? In particular, this was the Sea God''s Island; the core region of Shrek Academy. There were most likely more than 10 Hyper Douluos here, as well as Atlas Douluo Yun MIng. What could this bracelet possibly be warning him about?


    It had to be a false alarm.


    As a safety precaution, Tang Wulin hurriedly inspected his own internal condition and observed his own bloodline vortex, just in case it was his own bloodline power that was triggering this reaction from the bracelet.


    However, his bloodline vortex was functioning in a normal manner, and his own blood essence was as powerful as ever, but it definitely wouldn''t affect the rotation of his bloodline vortex.


    He was in as good a condition as he possibly could be, and if he were to continue cultivating at this rate, he would definitely continue to rapidly grow stronger.


    During these past few days, he''d already begun experimenting with creating alloys consisting of four different types of metals, and the results had been very encouraging. Now that he was capable of soul refinement, forging such alloys was no issue to him at all. He was even beginning to experiment with fusing five types of metals to form alloys, and if he could succeed there, everyone''s battle armor would definitely receive significant boosts. Even if they were only suits of two-word battle armor, they definitely wouldn''t be inferior to average suits of three-word battle armor.


    Right at this moment, the bracelet on his wrist slowly began to cool, and everything seemed to have returned to normal.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh of relief and shrugged to himself. Who knew what had just happened? He was most likely just being oversensitive. After all, this was Shrek Academy; what could possibly happen here?


    With that in mind, he emerged from the wooden cabin and made his way toward his forging room.


    After consolidating his skills as a Saint Blacksmith, he was going to begin refining metals for everyone. The designs had already been completed well in advance, and after he refined the alloys required, Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui would be able to begin making everyone''s suits of battle armor. With their cultivation ranks, this would definitely be quite a fast construction process. After all, they had their suits of one-word battle armor acting as foundations, so it would be a lot faster to craft their suits of two-word battle armor then if they had to make them from scratch.


    ¡­¡­


    "What is it, Mistress?" a woman in black asked in a faint voice.


    She was situated at the summit of a tall mountain that extended all the way into the clouds, and vast expanses of clouds could be seen in all directions. The winds on the mountain summit were quite strong, blowing moisture through the air, but no condensation gathered around them.


    Gu Yuena stood at the edge of her cliff, and her long white dress along with her flowing silver hair gave her the appearance of a celestial maiden. There was a disoriented look in her eyes, and she shook her head as she said, "For some reason, I''m feeling a sense of uneasiness. My heart rate has increased by five beats per minute compared to its normal resting rate."


    "What?" the woman in black wore a stunned look in her face as she exclaimed, "What could that mean?"


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "I don''t know, either. How are you going with the things I asked you to prepare?"


    The woman in black replied, "We''ve already completed 60%, so we''ve set up a foundation. Di Tian says that there are no problems on his end, and once all preparations are complete, everything will be ready for you, my Lord. After that, all we have to do is wait."


    Gu Yuena nodded in response.


    After a brief pause, the woman in black asked in a hesitating manner. "My Lord, those people have contacted us again. As the saying goes, the enemy of an enemy is a friend; are we really not going to cooperate with them?"


    Gu Yuena abruptly turned around and waved her right hand through the air. A terrifying aura erupted from her body, causing the entire mountain summit to tremor slightly. All of the clouds and mist in the surrounding area were shattered, and they fell as rain onto the ground below.


    The woman in black was sent flying while Gu Yuena''s cold voice reverberated around the mountain summit. "How many times do I need to say this? We''re never going to work with those putrid beings! Mention them to me one more time and I''ll have you skinned!"


    The woman in black disappeared and didn''t return to the mountain summit.


    Gu Yuena wore a grave expression on her face and remained silent for a long while. A figure gradually began to appear in her mind.


    It''s been so long; is he still doing fine? Why am I feeling so uneasy? The only thing that could evoke these feelings within me is him...


    ¡­¡­


    This was a quiet yet extremely spacious room with a dome ceiling. Large patches of demonic symbols covered the entire room from the ceiling to the floor.


    The room was around 30 meters tall with a diameter of over 50 meters. At the very center of the room, there were a total of 12 people sitting in a circle with their legs crossed, and all of them were murmuring something.


    There were soul rings around every one of these people, and if anyone else were present at the scene, they''d be stunned to discover that each of them had eight soul rings. Eight-ring Soul Douluos were already considered to be very powerful, even in the world of Soul Masters, yet 12 of them were gathered in this one place to do one thing.


    The demonic symbols on the ground that they were sitting on were even more complex, and what was quite unsettling was that there were puddles of blood flowing around the demonic symbols. The demonic symbols had all been carved into the ground, and the blood was constantly changing as they flowed through those complex patterns.


    There were over 100 people standing around the outskirts of the room, and all of them were wearing completely black clothes with black balaclavas on their heads. Only their left hands were revealed, and the blood was flowing from none other than their slit left wrists.


    The faint scent of blood permeated throughout the entire room, creating an extremely horrifying atmosphere, but this pungent odor didn''t escape out of the room at all.


    What was going on? What had happened? Why was this happening?


    At the center of the circle formed by the 12 Soul Douluos was a blackish-purple hexagram. The hexagram was emitting an extremely strong odor of blood and gore, and something stood at the very center of the hexagram. This was a glowing blackish-purple object that was around three meters tall, and there were countless demonic symbols carved all over its surface.


    Its tip was of a cylindrical shape, what appeared to be a series of metallic wings ran down its shaft. All of the enormous energy in the surrounding area was surging toward this object, which was like an insatiable black hole that was relentlessly absorbing all of the blood and energy.

 Chapter 874: Surprise Terrorist Attack

    Not only that, but in the neighboring room, there was an identical setup, except the object at the center of that room was entirely dark green in color, and the demonic symbols were even more complex.


    Regardless of whether it was the men in black in the outer circle or the 12 Soul Douluos at the center of the room, all of their bodies were slowly withering away due to energy loss. However, not a single sound could be heard within the two rooms.


    At the Tang Sect.


    After completing a series of official duties, a contemplative look appeared in Guo Xiaoxu''s eyes. Right at this moment, a boisterous voice rang out.


    "What''s on your mind, Xiaoxu? You seem quite distracted; care for a drink?" The master of the Power Hall, Zhao Song, walked in from outside, rubbing his own bald head with a smile on his face.


    He shared an extremely close friendship with Guo Xiaoxu. They were both of a similar age and had once cultivated together for many years in the past. It was only later on in their cultivation journeys that they diverged toward different paths. They''d both joined the Tang Sect at the same time and went on to become high-ranking members of the sect. Guo Xiaoxu was in a higher position of power than Zhao Song in the Tang Sect, but that didn''t drive any wedges into their friendship.


    Guo Xiaoxu replied, "I can''t; there are too many things for me to take care of in the sect. Both of the palace masters are absent, and the priests from the Holy Hall completely detach themselves from these official duties, so I have to take up the mantle."


    Zhao Song asked, "Does Heaven Dou City still require attention on our end? I thought that the aftermath had already been dealt with."


    Guo Xiaoxu sighed, "The Holy Spirit Cult has been in hiding for so many years, yet they''ve chosen to return now, and they''re acting in an extremely discrete manner. The work that needs to be done over at Heaven Dou City is nearing a conclusion, but we still have no idea where the main forces of the Holy Spirit Cult are. Even back when the vice-palace master was here, he still couldn''t find anything important and only managed to capture a few small fry. According to the analysis from the palace master, the Holy Spirit Cult''s attack on Heaven Dou City is only a precursor, and an attack of a larger scale is most likely yet to come. We don''t know if or where that attack will eventuate, so we have to constantly be on our guards."


    Zhao Song''s brows furrowed slightly. "You''re right. Those abhorrent bastards! Don''t let me run into them! Otherwise, I''m twisting their heads off and using them as chamber pots!"


    Guo Xiaoxu chuckled, "Your temper''s just as fiery as ever. Your outer halls must also be quite busy recently. You know what? I think I''ll go have a drink with you after all; it''s important to relax from time to time. Where''s Liang Xiaoyu? Call him up as well."


    "Sure."


    Night fell, and the Tang Sect gradually became more peaceful.


    Tang Wulin completed his forging practice and emerged from his forging room. His surroundings were pitch-black, and he looked up into the sky to discover that even though the winds were quite strong, there was not a single star to be seen. This struck him with a strong sense of foreboding and oppression.


    Right at this moment, the nine-colored gem on his wrist began to heat up again, and it became a lot hotter than it did before, to the extent that Tang Wulin almost reflexively hurled it away.


    What''s going on?


    Tang Wulin hurriedly looked down at the bracelet, and even in the pitch-black night, he could see that the gem had turned into a sinister crimson color. An overwhelming sense of fear also began to well up in his heart.


    This has to be a warning sign! Something''s definitely going to happen!


    He could still ignore the signs being displayed by the bracelet during the day, but this feeling was far too strong for him to ignore.


    He immediately sprang forward, charging directly toward the Sea God''s Island, and at the same time, he quickly dialed the number for Xie Xie''s soul communicator.


    "What are you doing, Xie Xie?" Tang Wulin asked in an urgent manner.


    "I was just preparing to meditate; what''s up, Boss? If it''s not something too important, can we talk about it tomorrow? Yuanen agreed to let me meditate with her today, hehe."


    Tang Wulin hurriedly continued, "Forget meditation! Call up Yuanen, then contact everyone else and tell them to come to the Sea God''s Island right away! I have a really bad feeling that something''s about to happen!"


    "Huh? Are you sure, Boss? It''s already this late; should I really call everyone at this hour?"


    Tang Wulin immediately flared up with rage. "Just do as I say! I don''t know what''s going to happen, but this is a really bad feeling. Hurry up and get everyone to come to the Sea God''s Island!"


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Sea God''s Island was the safest place.


    Xie Xie had an extremely high level of trust toward Tang Wulin, so he immediately said, "Alright, we''ll see you on the Sea God''s Island."


    After cutting off the call, Tang Wulin had already arrived at the shore of the Sea God''s Lake. He charged over the water and quickly sped toward the Sea God''s Island.


    Right at this moment, light suddenly flashed in the inky-black night sky. Tang Wulin was rushing toward the Sea God''s Island, and he couldn''t help but turn toward that flash of light.


    Thus, he was greeted by a peculiar sight; there were balls of light with dazzling trails of flames behind them descending from above. The light was becoming stronger and stronger, and they were heading directly toward Shrek Academy.


    Were those soul missiles? This was an enemy attack!


    Shrek City was the largest city on the entire continent, and Shrek Academy was only an academy, but it had its own army in the city. The army only consisted of 30,000 people as that was the maximum quota that the federation allowed, but all of them were elite soldiers, and there were 5,000 mecha pilots among their ranks.


    Furthermore, Shrek Academy had so many Hyper Douluos and Titled Douluos, and during its 20,000-year history, it had been given the title of Infallible Shrek.


    Who would''ve thought that someone would dare to attack Shrek City? From the looks of the missiles, which were falling like a meteor shower, there appeared to be over 100 of them!


    Soul missiles had an extremely long effective range, but Shrek City''s missile defense system certainly wasn''t just a useless ornament! If those missiles had come from outside the city, then they would''ve been destroyed long before they actually entered the city.


    However, these missiles had appeared right above Shrek City, and from the looks of their wide distribution, they were targeting all areas of the entire inner city.


    Tang Wulin fell into a completely stunned stupor at the sight of these missiles. What was happening? His premonition had been correct; there really was an attack being launched against Shrek City! This was unbelievable!


    It was also at this moment that a series of streaks of light instantly rose up into the air from the Sea God''s Island. Initially, there were only seven of them, but several dozens more quickly followed.


    These were all the most powerful beings in Shrek Academy''s inner court.


    The first seven streaks of light were the most dazzling, and each of them was radiating an enormous aura. As they rose up into the air, the other streaks of light instantly followed suit before dispersing and flying toward each of the soul missiles.


    Right after Tang Wulin arrived on the Sea God''s Island, the first explosion rang out in the sky.


    A resounding boom erupted, and a missile exploded like a giant firework, illuminating the entire Sea God''s Island as if night had suddenly transitioned into day.


    What terrifying explosive force! That has to be at least a seventh-grade soul missile!


    Tang Wulin looked on in a completely flabbergasted manner, but he was unable to do anything to help. He hadn''t attained a suit of two-word battle armor yet, so he still didn''t have the ability to fly. He could only look on as his teachers and the senior disciples rose up into the air to combat the missiles.


    "Boom, boom, boom!" One explosion rang out after another, creating a spectacular fireworks display on a massive scale.


    Soul missiles had already been widely renowned as the most fearsome weapons since 10,000 years ago, and soul missiles at or above the seventh grade were considered to be weapons that could turn the tides of major wars.


    At this moment, all of the missiles exploding in the sky were at least of the seventh grade.

 Chapter 875: Sea of Fireworks

    The Titled Douluos of the academy were able to hold their own against these missiles, but the inner cour disciples were quickly forced back onto the ground by the terrifying explosions of energy.


    Fearsome explosions erupted one after another, but the figures that had risen up into the air managed to keep all of the soul missiles at bay, detonating them before they could land on the inner city.


    More and more figures began to rise up into the air from both the inner city and the outer city. There were countless powerful beings in Shrek City, both from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.


    All of them began detonating soul missiles one by one, and a sea of fireworks encompassed the entire sky above Shrek City.


    Right at this moment, a series of figures rushed toward the Sea God''s Island from the distance. They were none other than the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Tang Wulin only returned to his senses after catching sight of them, and he hurriedly released his bloodline aura to guide them toward him.


    "My God! What''s going on? This is..." Xie Xie''s jaw had already dropped to the ground.


    He had initially been rather displeased with Tang Wulin as a rare opportunity to get intimate with Yuanen had been foiled by him, but he certainly wasn''t going to complain now.


    Everyone wore grim expressions on their faces.


    All of them knew that such an attack against Shrek Academy was completely unprecedented!


    The energy fluctuations in the air descended from above, and even though they were standing on the Sea God''s Island, they could still sense the terrifying pressure radiating toward them. If those devastating shockwaves were to land on the ground below, the entire city would most likely be razed to the ground!


    Right at this moment, a series of bright halos lit up, forming protective barriers. In the beginning, these barriers only appeared over the inner city, but they quickly began to appear in the outer city as well. The barriers rippled violently in the face of the powerful shockwaves, but they managed to keep the threat at bay.


    Tang Wulin didn''t say anything to his friends, and all of them wore extremely grave expressions. None of them were powerful enough to participate in this battle, but the question in their mind was; how had Shrek Academy become a battlefield?


    During the day, Tang Wulin had thought about how Shrek Academy was the safest place in this world, yet a few hours after that, it was being assaulted by such a terrifying attack.


    Over 100 soul missiles at or above the seventh grade had been launched at them; that would definitely have cost an astronomical price! Could it be that the federation was attacking Shrek City? Or could it be coming from the Holy Spirit Cult?


    There was no way for the former to be true. After all, there were so many high-ranking federal officials who were alumni of Shrek Academy, and besides, Shrek Academy had always maintained a neutral stance; they had never influenced the federation''s decisions, so there was no reason for the federation to attack them.


    However, if the latter were true, then that would be an extremely terrifying prospect. How had an Evil Soul Master sect, a terrorist organization, gotten their hands on so many powerful soul missiles? What did this entail? Even the most patriotic of individuals had to believe that the federation was connected to the Holy Spirit Cult!


    They couldn''t allow those soul missiles to strike the city! Otherwise, Shrek City would become the second Heaven Dou City.


    Tang Wulin''s heart abruptly constricted at the thought of Heaven Dou City. This was because he recalled Guo Xiaoxu telling him that most of the damage dealt to Heaven Dou City had been caused by a ninth-grade soul missile.


    Ninth-grade soul missiles were weapons that were too powerful for even a major city¡¯s protective barriers to keep at bay. Soul missiles at or above the ninth grade were weapons that even Hyper Douluos wouldn''t dare to face head-on.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s throat immediately ran dry. If those Evil Soul Masters had prepared ninth-grade soul missiles on this occasion as well, then the worst was still yet to come.


    At the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    The Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming stood at the top of the pavilion. Holy Spirit Douluo Yali stood beside him, and on his other side was Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue.


    All three of them were casting their eyes into the sky, and Yun Ming finally understood why he''d been experiencing such a strong feeling of directionless unease. It turned out that the imminent tragedy that he sensed was going to befall Shrek City rather than anywhere else.


    Just as Tang Wulin had thought that no one would dare to attack Shrek City, he had also been drawn to the same complacent opinion, and he wore a thunderous expression on his face.


    Yali gripped tightly onto Yun Ming''s hand. She couldn''t even remember the last time that she had been this nervous.


    All of them knew that the Holy Spirit Cult had to have more up their sleeves for them to dare to attack Shrek City.


    "Times really have changed!" Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue chuckled coldly, "It seems that our Shrek City hasn''t bared our fangs to the world for too long; even trash like these Evil Soul Masters dare to attack us now. Yun Ming, has our Shrek City''s influence in the federation grown so weak already? How did all of these soul missiles get here? They were launched from inside the city! When did our Shrek City''s defenses become so feeble?"


    In the face of Long Yeyue''s accusations, Yun Ming had no response.


    Indeed, Shrek City had experienced peace for too long. Everyone had become convinced that the Infallible Shrek was truly infallible; who could''ve imagined that someone would dare to attack Shrek City?


    Yun Ming was well aware of what it meant for the city to be attacked by so many soul missiles from such close range, and his hands balled up into tight fists.


    However, he knew that he had to remain calm and control the entire situation. The enemy''s attacks definitely wouldn''t be limited to just this.


    Right at this moment, the ground began to tremor slightly, and Yun Ming and Long Yeyue''s expressions both changed in unison.


    A series of dull explosions rang out in the distance, and on this occasion, they were taking place on the ground rather than in the air.


    From a birds-eye perspective, one would discover that a series of mushroom clouds were rising up in the outer city. A series of terrifying explosions erupted alongside the bloodcurdling cries of countless residents.


    It had finally begun.


    The enemies were able to launch soul missiles from within the city, so they could naturally detonate these missiles without even launching them.


    Shrek City was the largest city on the entire continent, and it also had the largest population. Virtually all of the residents of the city were proud of their residency status, but at this moment, an unprecedented disaster had befallen them.


    Yun Ming''s face had turned completely pale. The entire army within the Shrek City had already been mobilized. When the attack had first begun, he''d already issued an order to seal off all the streets and place the entire outer city into lockdown, not permitting anyone to enter or leave it.


    However, that order had only been issued a few minutes ago, and it was now being met by a series of violent explosions.


    The explosions in the air were dazzling fireworks, but the explosions on the ground were catastrophes! Over 15 explosions had rung out already, and countless innocent residents had undoubtedly perished.


    This was most definitely a war that had been planned well in advance. That''s right, it was a war, not just a terrorist attack. This was a disaster that had struck without any premonition.


    Every city had all types of advanced sensory devices that could detect explosives, and if things like soul missiles were to be discovered, they had to be immediately taken care of by the city''s officials.


    However, so many high-grade soul missiles had appeared in Shrek City, the so-called infallible Shrek; what did that entail?


    It entailed that the enemy had ways to breach Shrek City''s defenses, and that Shrek City was no longer infallible.


    Yun Ming suddenly understood everything now. The terrorist attack launched against Heaven Dou City had drawn everyone''s attention, and both the Tang Sect, as well as Shrek Academy, had deployed many powerful beings to the city. However, the ultimate target of the enemy was never Heaven Dou City.


    After all, Heaven Dou City didn''t pose much of a threat to the Holy Spirit Cult, but Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were an entirely different story.


    This had been the enemy''s ultimate target all along!


    "I''ll go!" Yali yelled before attempting to rush out, only to be held back by Yun Ming.


    This definitely wasn''t the extent of the enemy''s attacks. Both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters were situated in the inner city. The outer city was being severely ravaged by these attacks, but this still wasn''t enough to truly harm Shrek City''s foundation.


    As such, this was definitely not the end. If all of them were to panic and make rash decisions now, they''d only be falling into the enemy''s trap and even more severe disasters will follow.


    "Comrades of the Tang Sect, please save our injured citizens. I leave the outer city to you." Yun Ming''s voice traveled far into the distance.


    Light suddenly flashed, and Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue rose up into the air. She was unable to keep watching any longer.

 Chapter 876: Atlas, Sunstrike

    Yun Ming raised a hand but decided against stopping her in the end. It wasn''t like he could stop her anyway.


    He took a deep breath and calmly held onto Yali''s hand. "I''ve already failed Shrek City, but now, I must do all I can to protect it."


    Tang Wulin and the others had all turned deathly pale as they stood on the Sea God''s Island.


    They could also hear the explosions taking place in the outer city and see the mushroom clouds rising up into the air in the distance.


    Their minds had gone completely blank. This was something completely unimaginable to them. They didn''t even know where their enemy was, yet they were already afflicted by such a terrifying disaster.


    The energy storm in the air still hadn''t dissipated, and those mushroom clouds were undoubtedly taking countless lives.


    Right at this moment, a voice that was filled with authority rang out beside their ears. "Come to the Sea God''s Pavilion!"


    Tang Wulin shuddered and immediately returned to his senses. He waved a hand toward his friends, and all of them quickly rushed toward the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    The Sea God''s Island wasn''t very large, so they quickly arrived at the Sea God''s Pavilion, where they were met by Atlas Douluo Yun Ming and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    Yun Ming appeared to be very calm, as if nothing were happening at all. Following the arrival of Tang Wulin and the others, he stepped forward, and commanded, "From now on, no matter what happens, stay in the Sea God''s Pavilion. Go."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Pavilion Master, please allow us to help the academy in some way. We..."


    "Shut up and get inside!" Yun Ming roared. He waved a hand through the air, and a terrifying burst of energy swept up the seven of them before dumping them into the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    "Remember that all of you represent the future of the academy. If the worst-case scenario happens today, you will be the foundation upon which the academy is rebuilt." Yun Ming''s voice reverberated within everyone''s ears.


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed drastically upon hearing this. Was the situation that bad already?


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly discovered that everything outside had turned purple without any premonition. The entire sky had turned purple, and the ground had also been stained the same purple color.


    A burst of dazzling golden light suddenly erupted from the Golden Tree as well, encompassing the entire inner court within. The golden treehouse that was the Shrek Academy lit up immediately thereafter, conjuring up an extremely rich burst of life force energy that revolved around them while also barring them from exiting the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    Tang Wulin could clearly see that when the terrifying purple color appeared, the figures that had risen up from Shrek Academy earlier all disappeared without a trace, as if their very existence had been erased from the face of this world.


    Atlas Douluo Yun Ming shuddered, and in the next instant, he rose up into the air with Yali''s hand in his.


    The purple color in the sky was becoming more pronounced, and even the golden light being released by the golden treehouse was gradually beginning to disintegrate.


    A burst of peerlessly dazzling light erupted from Yun Ming''s body, attempting to spear through the purple color, but even his immense powers proved to be too little. Right at this moment, a massive purple skull appeared in mid-air.


    The skull had a diameter in excess of a kilometer, and it opened its mouth to blast forth a burst of flames. At the top of the skull sat nine people, all of whom wore black robes with green embroidered edges. Each and everyone one of them had nine soul rings around their bodies, and the one sitting at the very center of the group had an astonishing soul ring configuration consisting of four blacks, an orange, and four reds.


    "Yun Ming, you didn''t think that Shrek City would also fall someday, did you? From this day forth, Shrek City and the Tang Sect will both be wiped out of existence!"


    The purple flames erupting from the giant purple skull''s mouth clashed with Yun Ming''s spear intent, and dazzling light instantly erupted from his Atlas Spear.


    The light being released by the Golden Tree converged and fell upon him, making his entire body take on a shimmering golden hue.


    A heavy yet regal suit of four-word battle armor appeared over his body, and in that instant, he resembled an invincible War God.


    However, due to the fact that all of the energy from the Golden Tree was being focused on him, Tang Wulin and the others could clearly see that everything on the Sea God''s Island around the Golden Tree was rapidly disintegrating in the face of that terrifying purple color.


    "You''ve used a 12-grade soul missile! You''ll face opprobrium from the entire world for this!" Yun Ming''s enraged roar echoed through the air while terrifying energy fluctuations continued to surge over the entire Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin was completely rooted to the spot, as were all of his friends.


    Xie Xie didn''t even dare to imagine what would''ve happened had he decided against listening to Tang Wulin''s instructions.


    In the distance, another burst of light appeared. That burst of light was green in color, and the epicenter of that explosion was right at the Tang Sect headquarters.


    The entirety of Shrek City had already been reduced to a world of death. From up above, one would only be able to see two vast vortexes, one green and one purple, expanding relentlessly while engulfing everything in their wake. The entire Shrek City was quickly disappearing off the face of this world.


    None of the protective barriers served any purpose in the face of the green and purple colors.


    Countless lives were being lost by the second in the face of this terrifying energy storm.


    The golden treehouse shuddered violently, and Tang Wulin felt as if the entire world in his eyes were becoming illusionary. After forming his two energy vortexes, Tang Wulin had thought that he would be able to establish himself in the world of Soul Masters. However, in this moment, in the face of this disaster that was befalling them like divine retribution, he felt like an insignificant little ant.


    If they were outside the golden treehouse at this point in time, then they would''ve definitely perished in the face of that deathly energy.


    It was over for Shrek Academy.


    Who would''ve thought that the number one academy on the continent, the Infallible Shrek, would be reduced to such a tragic state someday?


    The golden treehouse continued to tremor violently, and the golden light around it was being relentlessly stripped away by the terrifying purple light.


    Tang Wulin suddenly recalled Yun Ming scolding him about how the formation of his fifth soul ring had absorbed too much of the Golden Tree''s energy. Perhaps if he hadn''t taken so much energy from the Golden Tree, it would''ve been able to withstand this attack!


    It was over; everything was over.


    The golden light around the golden treehouse finally completely shattered, and the terrifying deathly energy was beginning to lay waste to the Golden Tree.


    Tang Wulin bit down on his lower lip in a stubborn manner as he spread open his arms. He positioned himself in front of his friends and unleashed his Violent Golden Dragon Domain, he knew that in the face of this terrifying disaster, he couldn''t do anything, nor could he protect anyone.


    "Atlas, Sunstrike!" Right at this moment, an explosive roar erupted from outside.


    The voice pierced directly into everyone''s minds, and Tang Wulin and his friends instantly felt the terrifying pressure weighing down upon them less significantly. The disintegration of the Golden Tree suddenly ceased, and in that moment, time seemed to have come to a complete standstill.


    In the air above, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming''s expression remained as calm as ever, but there was boundless sorrow in his eyes.


    He was the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master, yet he could only look on as Shrek Academy was destroyed before his very eyes. Over 20,000 years of heritage had been razed to the ground in the blink of an eye! One could only imagine the pain and grief surging through his heart.


    No one could''ve possibly anticipated an attack from 12th-grade soul missiles.


    In this entire world, there were only three such missiles that had been created, and they were also the only three to have been successfully created in human history. In order to make them a reality, the federation had poured forth countless time, resources, and effort. However, at the time, the federation announced that no more of these weapons will be created, and with the resources on the Douluo Continent, there wasn''t enough left to create a fourth one anyway.

 Chapter 877: Light of Atlas, Final Radiance

    These three 12th-grade soul missiles had been created over 2,000 years ago, and following their creation, the advancement of human technology stalled for 1,000 years as they''d simply expended far too many resources to create.


    The three 12th-grade soul missiles were being kept in the most secure federal facilities, and they were only to be used as the ultimate weapons of the entire Douluo Continent.


    They also had a nickname: Godslayers! This meant that these three soul missiles were thought of as weapons capable of killing gods, and that alone was sufficient testament to their power.


    No one had tested them before, and below the 12th grade, there didn''t even exist any 11th-grade soul missiles. They were weapons that were held in the highest regard by the federation, and if they really were to be used someday, a unanimous vote of approval had to be given by the entire federal parliament. Even if there were only a single vote against their usage, they could not be used.


    Who would''ve thought that these ungodly weapons of destruction, the ultimate weapons of the entire continent, would be used on Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect?


    Two 12th-grade soul missiles were more than powerful enough to raze the entire Shrek City to the ground!


    All of the Titled Douluos and inner court disciples that were in the air not long ago had all been erased from existence by the terrifying explosions. The Shrek Academy had stood at the pinnacle of the entire continent a moment ago, yet now, it completely ceased to exist.


    This was the horror of technology, and it represented the pinnacle of the destructive power of human technology.


    Yun Ming raised his Atlas Spear high into the air, and the life force energy stemming from the Golden Tree was emanating dazzling light. The 12th-grade soul missile that had struck Shrek Academy was known as Godslayer: Destroyer of Heaven and Earth, while the one that had fallen on the Tang Sect headquarters was known as Godslayer: Devourer of Heaven and Earth.


    From Yun Ming''s current perspective, he could see that the entire Shrek City was disintegrating.


    A heartbroken smile appeared on his face, and his suit of four-word battle armor suddenly burst into violent flames. Even with his power as a Limit Douluo, there was no way that he''d be able to contend with the powers of these 12th-grade soul missiles, but if he were to try and escape, no one would be able to stop him.


    However, could he really run away from all of this? He couldn''t. Shrek Academy had been destroyed, and as the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master, he couldn''t abandon his post.


    He could see the cold mockery in the eyes of all of the evil Soul Masters on the giant skeleton in the distance, and he could feel one life being lost after another within Shrek City.


    However, no matter how remorseful he was, there was no way to reverse this situation.


    How had all of this happened? How had these 12th-grade soul missiles fallen into the hands of these evil Soul Masters? Why was it that Shrek City''s defenses had become so feeble after so many years of peace? If these two soul missiles had been launched from outside the city, they wouldn''t have caused such a catastrophic disaster.


    Countless thoughts flashed through Yun Ming''s mind in an instant, but there was only one thing that he could do now.


    Atlas, Sunstrike!


    Piercing golden light erupted from his entire body, and streaks of golden light began to appear behind him. These golden lines intertwined to form a massive rune, and as soon as that rune appeared, time completely stopped, everything around him came to an instant standstill. Even the nine evil Soul Masters on the giant skull in the distance were stunned by what they were witnessing.


    Their leader waved his right hand, and the massive skull abruptly retreated back to over 50 kilometers away in an instant. A dark expression appeared on his face as he spat through gritted teeth, "That''s a godseat!"


    The golden rune quickly took shape, and a cry of desperation and sorrow suddenly rang out from below Yun Ming. "Don''t do it, Brother Ming!"


    Yun Ming slowly lowered his head and looked down at the beautiful woman below him with boundless affection in his eyes. "I''m too ashamed to go and meet the forefathers of our Shrek Academy. Farewell, Yali; look after yourself and preserve the final seeds of our Shrek Academy."


    After his voice trailed off, his Atlas Spear abruptly shuddered, and the golden rune behind him suddenly disintegrated. At the same time, a vast expanse of dazzling golden light erupted forth, instantly spreading over the entirety of Shrek City.


    Yun Ming had been a Limit Douluo for several decades already, and during this time, he had been constantly searching for a way to break through the upper limits of human capabilities in order to ascend to that other world.


    He couldn''t sense the existence of the Divine Realm, but only after reaching his level of cultivation would one understand that the Divine Realm truly existed. However, it was no longer a realm that could be contacted by the human world.


    If he wanted to become a true god, he''d have to recreate the Divine Realm.


    Among all of the past generations of the Sea God''s Pavilion Masters, Yun Ming definitely possessed one of the most powerful cultivation levels. He didn''t know whether he''d be able to succeed during this lifetime, but he was constantly striving toward that goal, and at the very least, he was paving the way for his successors. He firmly believed that in the not-too-distant future, humans would be able to recreate the Divine Realm.


    The godseat behind him was something that he had created, and he was preparing to use it to explore outer space. Godseats were required for a Divine Realm to be created; that was something that had been recorded in many ancient historical records. He would succeed in creating a Divine Realm once his godseat became powerful enough to at least encompass the entirety of the Douluo Continent.


    Unfortunately, even after several decades of painstaking effort, he was still very much a novice in this endeavor. There was no way for him to be able to truly create a Divine Realm during his lifetime; all he could do was leave his experiences behind for his successors to reference.


    In this dire situation for Shrek Academy, he released his incomplete godseat in an unreserved manner, and in that instant, he was a god.


    His godseat was destroyed, which heralded the death of a god, but the power it brought elevated him to heights that he''d never scaled before.


    The two 12th-grade soul missiles had successfully slain a god, but Yun Ming had also used the last of his power to nullify their terrifying destructive power.


    The purple and green colors were neutralized and forcibly drawn into the air by the golden light, where they continued to clash and intertwine.


    Yun Ming''s body gradually turned transparent, and no matter how hard Yali tried, she was unable to rise up into the air.


    Yun Ming lowered his head. He didn''t look up at the clashing energies in the sky as he''d already done everything he could and given everything he had to give.


    At this moment, there was only sorrow in his eyes. He couldn''t bear to leave behind Shrek Academy and the woman that he loved.


    He could see Yali screaming up at him, but he couldn''t hear what she was saying. He could see tears streaming down her face, and her completely heartbroken expression.


    He said in a gentle voice, "For the sake of Shrek, live on."


    After that, he abruptly spread open his arms, and his Atlas Spear fell out of his right hand before landing in Yali''s grasp. Through the enhancement of that final burst of godly power, his Atlas Spear finally evolved from a martial soul to an actual object.


    After spearing open his arms, the golden light emanating from Yun Ming''s body reached the peak of its brightness, and it was as if a scintillating golden sun had appeared in the air. In the next instant, he was already flying toward the giant skull in the distance.


    This was the final radiance of the light of Atlas.


    The nine evil Soul Masters on the massive skull were all horrified to see this, and they sped away as quickly as they could atop the giant skull. At this point, Yun Ming was already no longer a Limit Douluo. Instead, he was a fallen god, and the final radiance of this fallen god was definitely not something they wanted to face.


    However, there was no way that they''d be able to outrun a godly being.


    The giant skull was quickly inundated by golden light, and the entire sky turned into scorching white color. The night seemed to have transitioned into day, and the powers of the two 12th-grade soul missiles were also finally completely nullified by the final trace of godly light.


    The entire world seemed to have been encompassed under this white light, and all of the life forms below it could only sprawl down onto the ground in the face of its fearsome radiance. The white light lingered in the air for a long time as if it were representing Yun Ming''s reluctance to part with this world.


    Tang Wulin lay sprawled on the ground like everyone else. He was trying everything he could to struggle to his feet, all to no avail. He had heard everything that Yun Ming had said before his passing, but his brain was still completely blank.


    Everything had happened far too abruptly. The almighty Shrek Academy had been wiped off the face of the world in what seemed like the blink of an eye.


    In a battle between a god and Godslayers, they were so pitiful and insignificant. They could only face the aftermath of this epic battle, yet they were far too weak to do anything during the battle. Without the protection of the Golden Tree, they would''ve been reduced to dust long ago.


    After what seemed like an eternity, the white light finally began to fade. Everything seemed to have disappeared, and deathly silence ensued. When Tang Wulin raised his head again, he was met by the sight of the Sea God''s Pavilion slowly crumbling into dust before being carried away in the wind.


    It was also at this moment that a speck of white light suddenly flew out from deep within the Sea God''s Pavilion before vanishing into Tang Wulin''s glabella.


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali was lying on the ground nearby, completely unconscious. Death and destruction stretched for as far as the eyes could see in all directions.

 Chapter 878: I Love You, Too

    The Sea God''s Island was gone, and the Sea God''s Lake had run dry. Tang Wulin could see nothing but inky-blackness in all directions. It was as if the entire world had been plunged into an abyss without any light.


    Was this Shrek Academy? Was this Shrek City? Why was it that there was only darkness in all directions as far as the eyes could see?


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters struggled to their feet, and all of them wore completely dazed and stiff expressions. They''d regained the ability to speak at this point, but none of them were able to say anything.


    Their beloved Shrek Academy had been wiped off the face of the entire continent, just like that.


    The entire process had only spanned around a quarter of an hour, and the almighty Shrek Academy that had stood at the pinnacle of the continent for 20,000 years now ceased to exist. Not even a single trace of its students and teachers remained, and it seemed that the only ones who had survived were the seven of them and the unconscious Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi, Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu, Silver Moon Douluo Elder Cai, Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue and countless other powerful beings of Shrek Academy had all completely vanished during that doomsday-like disaster.


    They were all only around 20 years old, and even though they''d endured many trials and tribulations, this was still far too much for them to handle.


    The academy that they relied on and took immense pride in had suddenly vanished. They were Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, representing the future hope of Shrek Academy, but the academy didn''t even exist anymore.


    This wasn''t a war; it was a catastrophic disaster! Shrek Academy was gone, as was the Tang Sect headquarters.


    Comparatively, the Tang Sect was in a slightly better situation. At the very least, they had branches in other cities, but there was only one Shrek Academy! This was the most lavish and populous city on the entire continent, a city that over 10,000,000 people called home, yet it had been destroyed along with all of its residents.


    It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that this was the biggest disaster that had ever befallen the human race, a disaster of unprecedented proportions.


    Right at this moment, light flashed from above their heads again, and they reflexively looked up into the night sky.


    Traces of despair appeared in all of their eyes. A dazzling streak of light was hurtling toward them like a shooting star, and it was another soul missile. Prior to even reaching them, the terrifying aura emanating from the missile was already striking them with a sense of asphyxiation, and an overwhelming sense of impending doom weighed down upon them.


    They were going to leave no one alive!


    The exact same thought appeared in their minds. Regardless of where these soul missiles were coming from, one thing was for certain; their enemies didn''t intend to allow any of them to escape with their lives.


    Only by killing everyone could they eliminate the possibility of a resurgence from Shrek Academy.


    Could they evade or try to escape? There was no way for them to do so. In the aftermath of the terrifying explosions, they were situated in a gargantuan crater that was over 10,000 feet deep. The missile was already upon them, and it was at least an eighth-grade soul missile. At their cultivation ranks, there was no way that they''d be able to escape from this dire situation.


    They had lost the backing and protection of the academy; all they could do was use their bodies to withstand this fearsome attack.


    Tang Wulin was the first one to return to his senses. He didn''t hesitate even in the slightest before stepping forward and abruptly springing up into the air.


    His strength had already reached an insane level, and even without any physical enhancements, he was able to leap more than 30 feet into the air. At the same time, a series of massive vines began to erupt from his body. Goldsong was also released, and it rammed its body violently into the ground, propelling Tang Wulin over 500 meters into the air.


    He couldn''t fly, so this was the only way for him to rise to such a high altitude.


    He spread his arms open and met the oncoming soul bomb head-on. He didn''t know how much of its power he could withstand; all he hoped for was that he would be able to increase his friends'' chances of survival, even if it were by just a little.


    In that instant, he was freed from all worries and inhibitions, and he could only cling on to the extremely unlikely hope that his friends would be able to survive.


    Dazzling golden light flashed, and golden dragon scales appeared all over his body. Immediately thereafter, he suddenly accelerated once again in mid-air. He had unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight, which raised his altitude by around 50 meters, and the soul bomb was extremely close to him now.


    Tang Wulin could even see the violent light flashing from the complex patterns on the surface of the missile. In that moment, there was no fear in his heart. The only feeling that he was experiencing was longing. He longed to see his parents again, to see Na''er, and to see the woman that lay in the deepest corner of his heart.


    Farewell, Gu Yue. All is well as long as you''re alive and well. Please forget about me; I won''t be able to fulfill my promise to you.


    He closed his eyes and tears streamed down his face as he spread open his arms. Nothing seemed to be important anymore. In his eyes, it was as if Gu Yue had appeared before him, and all he wanted to do was to envelop her in a tight embrace.


    Tang Wulin was satisfied and fulfilled. He had cast aside all of his burdens and inhibitions, and he was going to leave this world with a sense of longing in his heart.


    "Wulin!"


    "Captain!"


    "Boss!"


    At this moment, the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters finally realized what he was doing, but it was already too late to stop him.


    Their eyes were filled with despair, and Ye Xinglan was the only one who sprang into action. She blasted a large crater into the ground with her sword, then quickly pushed her friends into the crater before dragging the unconscious Holy Spirit Douluo into it as well.


    Tang Wulin was giving up his life so they had a slightly better chance to survive; how could she let his efforts go to waste?


    This was not the time to be crippled by grief. As long as they could survive, the legacy of Shrek Academy would live on.


    A cool and refreshing sensation suddenly permeated throughout Tang Wulin''s chest. He smiled, and in that moment, he felt as if she were truly in his arms.


    Her body was scorching hot and emitting the familiar fragrance that he couldn''t get enough of. Her breathing was rather hurried, just like it had been as she was lying in his arms that night following the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.


    "Gu Yue, I love you," Tang Wulin murmured. With such a realistic illusion accompanying him in his final moments, what else could he ask for?


    "I love you, too, you idiot." A familiar voice that was filled with complex emotions sounded beside his ears.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes abruptly sprang open with astonishment.


    There truly was someone in his arms, and after he opened his eyes, he was immediately greeted by the sight of a set of gorgeous facial features.


    "Na''er?" Tang Wulin was completely dazed. The woman in his arms was so familiar, but she seemed to have grown up all of a sudden.


    "No, idiot, I''m your Gu Yue." She pressed her lips gently against his, and in that instant, a vast expanse of light engulfed their bodies.


    The last thing that Tang Wulin saw was a pair of massive silver wings spread open on "Na''er''s" back. The wings then folded around the two of them to form a protective barrier while a terrifying explosion erupted. However, aside from some slight tremors, Tang Wulin could only feel a warm and familiar embrace.


    Within the crater, everyone looked up, and were greeted by the sight of a vast expanse of silver light that formed a barrier in mid-air. Amid the violent explosion, they could see a silver figure appear out of thin air before embracing Tang Wulin and shielding him from the force of the explosion with her back.


    The massive explosion lasted for several dozens of seconds before it subsided. The entire ground sank down a further three feet while destructive energy storms wreaked havoc in all directions.

 Chapter 879: Qiangu Dongfeng

    Tang Wulin''s six friends were already half-buried under mud from the force of the explosion, but most of the explosive force failed to make it to the ground down below.


    During the final moments of the explosion, only Ye Xinglan caught sight of a ball of silver light hurtling away into the distance through her peripheral vision.


    It was over. Everything truly seemed to have come to an end this time. The terrifying explosion had finally subsided.


    Ye Xinglan brushed off the soil on her body and jumped out of the crater first before helping all of her friends out of it as well.


    "Waah!" Xu Xiaoyan was unable to repress her grief any longer, and she burst into loud sobs. Yue Zhengyu hurriedly enveloped her in his embrace.


    Ye Xinglan wore a grim expression on her face as she said, "Now''s not the time to cry, and nor do we have any right to cry. The pavilion master gave his life so we could survive, and Wulin shielded us from that soul missile, so we have to live on. We are the final seeds of Shrek Academy; we are Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and we have to shoulder the duty of avenging Shrek Academy. Come with me."


    She turned and rushed toward the edge of the colossal crater that they were situated in as she spoke.


    Yuanen Yehui picked up Yali in her arms and quickly followed along.


    Xie Xie was gritting his teeth as he ran alongside her, and Xu Lizhi wore a slightly twisted expression on his face as his lips were pursed into a thin line.


    Xu Xiaoyan wiped away her tears and also followed along behind everyone with Yue Zhengyu in accompaniment.


    They had no time to be struck down by grief. In the aftermath of this disaster, their top priority was to survive for themselves, for Shrek Academy, and for the Tang Sect.


    Ye Xinglan looked as calm as ever, but how could she not be in pain? However, Tang Wulin had disappeared, and no one knew whether he was dead or alive. If he had truly died to save them, then she definitely couldn''t let his sacrifice go to waste. She had to leave here with her friends and live on. Where there was life, there was hope.


    Following the demonic island military training, their mental fortitude had become a lot stronger than that of normal people. Thus, they didn''t completely fall apart in the aftermath of this disaster. As long as they were still alive, the legacy of Shrek Academy would live on, and there was a chance that the academy would be resurrected in the future.


    ¡­¡­


    "Smash!" A crystal glass fell to the ground and shattered into countless pieces.


    The president''s face had turned deathly pale.


    "Shrek Academy has been completely destroyed by two Godslayer missiles?" His body was trembling uncontrollably.


    As a man of his power and status, he was supposed to remain calm at all times, but how could he keep calm at a time like this?


    He was well aware of what it entailed for Shrek Academy to be destroyed. He had always wished to be able to control Shrek City one day, but never had he hoped for the destruction of the number one academy on the continent that had stood for over 20,000 years.


    Shrek Academy was a neutral entity, but it was undoubtedly one of the most powerful guardians of the continent, and it was truly a force to be reckoned with.


    On top of that, Shrek Academy had connections all over the entire continent. The Godslayer missiles were devastating weapons under the control of the federation. Now that Shrek Academy had been destroyed by two such missiles, the federation would definitely come under immense pressure. Not only did this spell the end of his political career, the entire government and the continent would most likely be plunged into complete chaos.


    "Launch an investigation into the three Godslayer missiles right away! Go!"


    The president forced himself to calm down before issuing a series of orders. However, he knew that none of this would help his cause. The destruction of Shrek City was going to turn virtually the entire continent against him.


    ¡­¡­


    "Why? Why?! Tell me why!" Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu''s eyes were completely bloodshot. She slammed her hands down onto the desk before her amid a resounding boom, and despite the fact that the desk had been constructed from many types of resolute alloys, it was still instantly reduced to dust.


    A tall and broad middle-aged man stood on the other side of the desk. He had a set of handsome facial features with a pronounced nose, but a pair of rather small eyes. There was a powerful aura emanating from his body.


    His brows were tightly furrowed at the sight of the distraught and furious Leng Yaozhu. "Calm down, Yaozhu. Everything happened far too abruptly, and I have no idea what the situation is like, either. A thorough investigation will have to be launched before we learn what''s truly happened."


    "Do you think I''m a naive little child, Qiangu Dongfeng? Do you think I don''t know what kind of man you are? No matter how powerful the Holy Spirit Cult is, there''s no way they could''ve gotten their hands on Godslayer missiles! There''s no way they could''ve snuck all of those soul missiles into Shrek City unless you gave them your assistance! It was you, wasn''t it?"


    Leng Yaozhu stabbed a finger directly at Qiangu Dongfeng as she spoke. The man standing before her was the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, a powerful being who ranked alongside Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression immediately darkened upon hearing this. "Yaozhu, you''re the vice-chairman of our Spirit Pagoda; how could you accuse me of something like this? Have you forgotten that the founder of our Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, was once one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters? Our Spirit Pagoda has no direct conflict with Shrek Academy; why would I plot against them? Besides, just because I''m the chairman doesn''t mean I get to call all the shots."


    His tone became a little softer as he continued, "Yaozhu, this incident has taken place far too abruptly, and even I''m still reeling in its aftermath. Who could''ve possibly predicted that the Holy Spirit Cult would already be brazen enough to attack Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters? Do you think it benefits me in any way to see the Holy Spirit Cult become more powerful? What we should be doing now is contributing as much as we can to the rebuild effort and to track down the Holy Spirit Cult. I know that Yun Ming''s death has dealt you a heavy blow, and I''m also very sad to see him pass. However, we must remain calm in the face of this calamity."


    "Remain calm? How do you expect me to remain calm?" Leng Yaozhu''s aura was fluctuating violently as she threatened, "Qiangu Dongfeng, don''t let me find out that you were behind this. Otherwise, I''ll kill you even if it means giving my own life!"


    After that, she departed from the room, leaving Qiangu Dongfeng standing alone with a thunderous expression on his face.


    He looked on as Leng Yaozhu departed, and of course, he was well aware of why she would suspect him of foul play here. He had pursued Leng Yaozhu for many years in the past, but she simply couldn''t get over Yun Ming. Even after Yun Ming married Yali, she still couldn''t forget him, and she refrained from getting married for her entire life.


    During these past years, the Spirit Pagoda and Shrek Academy had been steadily growing apart, not least due to the complex love-triangle relationship between the three of them.


    "Chairman." A side door was opened, and a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance walked quickly into the room. Despite his mundane looks, there was a sharp aura about him.


    "Give me the breakdown."


    "Shrek Academy was completely destroyed with no survivors. Our sources have gathered that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were also in the academy at the time. In the end, Yun Ming broke his own demigod berth and temporarily attained the power of a god to nullify the destructive power of the two Godslayer missiles, thereby saving around half of the population of Shrek City. However, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters were situated at the epicenters of the explosions, and there were no survivors from them. They even launched another ninth-grade soul missile toward Shrek Academy after the event to kill any remaining survivors. However, the Holy Spirit Cult also suffered quite severely during this attack.


    "In order to detonate those two Godslayer missiles, they sacrificed close to 20 of their Soul Douluos and also hundreds of the intermediate evil Soul Masters. Prior to Yun Ming''s death, he destroyed their Armageddon Skull, and aside from the master of the Holy Spirit Cult, who managed to get away, eight of their Titled Douluos were killed. That''s definitely a significant setback for them."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes narrowed slightly as a pleased look appeared on his face. "Very good! As expected, Yun Ming really hasn''t disappointed me. The Holy Spirit Cult has been in hiding for 10,000 years and accumulated so much power, yet they still paid such a heavy price even though they''d been plotting against Shrek Academy for so long. Both sides have  paid dearly during this incident; this is the best outcome for us. We should take advantage of this opportunity to make our presence felt. With the destruction of Shrek City, the entire parliament is definitely going to be forced into liquidation. We need to step in and strive to secure as many parliamentary spots as we can."


    "Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Chairman! You''ve killed many birds with one stone here," the middle-aged man praised with admiration in his eyes.


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to him with a cold expression. "What do you mean I killed many birds with one stone? We didn''t do anything here. I''m also extremely sad and shocked that Shrek City has fallen under such tragic circumstances."


    The middle-aged man immediately gave a knowing nod as he said, "Indeed, we express our deepest condolences to Shrek Academy."


    "Alright, you may go now. I''m going to release an order to the entire Spirit Pagoda to hunt down all evil Soul Masters; you know what to do. Remember not to leave any evidence that can be used as leverage against us, and also, get someone to track Vice-chairman Leng so she doesn''t do anything foolish."


    "Yes."


    The middle-aged man departed, and Qiangu Dongfeng made his way over to the window, casting his gaze toward the white clouds outside with his eyes narrowed in contemplation.

 Chapter 880: Awakening

    It hurts so much!


    A sense of severe physical discomfort jolted Tang Wulin awake.


    He felt as if his entire body had fallen apart at the seams. With his immensely powerful physical constitution, he rarely ever experienced this kind of pain aside from when he was breaking his Golden Dragon King seals.


    Am I dead? Have I already died?


    As he gradually regained consciousness, he slowly began to recall everything that had happened.


    He really wished that it was just a nightmare that he could wake up from.


    It had to have been a nightmare! Shrek Academy was so powerful; how could it have been destroyed?


    He opened his eyes with difficulty, and much to his surprise, he found himself in a green world.


    As his eyesight slowly focused, his hearing also returned, and he discovered that he was in a place with chirping birds and flying insects. This was... a forest?


    His entire body was in agony, and the pain suggested that he was still alive.


    He blinked and tried to move his body, but was completely unable to do so. He took a slow and deep breath before inspecting his own internal condition.


    In doing so, he discovered that both his soul power vortex and bloodline vortex had become extremely feeble. Many sections of his meridians had been damaged, and even his internal organs had been displaced.


    If a normal person had suffered these injuries, they''d most likely be dead already, but he could clearly feel that his body was slowly recovering.


    His immense bloodline power was surging throughout his body, repairing his meridians and adjusting his internal organs back to their rightful places.


    He wasn''t dead. Was everything that had happened before real? Why was he in a forest?


    Tang Wulin was quite perplexed as these thoughts flashed through his mind. However, he knew that his top priority at the moment was to recover as quickly as possible. Only after making a recovery would he be able to uncover the answers to those questions.


    After waking up, his rate of self-regeneration immediately sped up. Under his control, his bloodline power was like an extension of his body, and he used it to nudge his internal organs back into place. After that, he quickly set about repairing his meridians, and at the same time, he spurred his soul power vortex into action so it could absorb the natural energies in the outside world to assist in his recovery.


    Thankfully, the natural energies here were very abundant, and he was a plant system Soul Master, so he was able to cultivate to great effect in a forest that was filled with plant life.


    After an indeterminate period of time had passed, Tang Wulin''s meridians and organs were basically fully recovered. The pain began to recede, and some soul power had also gathered in his dantian.


    He opened his eyes again, and everything became a lot clearer to him. The first thing that he saw was a massive tree that extended all the way into the heavens.


    He rolled over and clambered to his feet.


    Thankfully, he still had his recovery ability. However, the fact that he''d managed to survive an explosion from a ninth-grade soul missile at point-blank range had to be a miracle in itself.


    Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly noticed that there was someone lying on the ground not too far away from him.


    She wore a white dress, and she was lying in a completely still manner.


    Tang Wulin''s heart skipped a beat as soon as he caught sight of her. He dug through his memories and recalled the woman that had suddenly appeared in his arms at the last moment.


    He rushed over to her as quickly as he could before carefully rolling her over.


    A set of familiar and exquisitely beautiful facial features was revealed to him. She looked exactly like Na''er, except this seemed to be a version of Na''er that was two to three years older than she should''ve been.


    It really was her!


    Tang Wulin hurriedly laid a hand on her wrist to find that she still had a pulse, but it was rather feeble. Many sections of her clothes had also been damaged, revealing sections of fair and delicate skin.


    However, Tang Wulin paid no heed to any of that. He carefully cradled her up in his arms before injecting his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power into her body.


    There seemed to be nothing wrong with her meridians, but her aura was extremely feeble. Only after picking her up did Tang Wulin discover that her back was completely bare. The entire back of her dress had disappeared, and thus, his hands came into contact with her smooth and fair skin.


    At this point, he had completely regained his consciousness. He could clearly recall that she appeared in his arms just as he was murmuring the words "Gu Yue, I love you".


    Her voice was so familiar, but why did she claim that she was Gu Yue?


    Her voice and aura were both so familiar, yet she had the appearance of an older Na''er. Tang Wulin was completely at a loss for what to think.


    That''s right, her aura was one that Tang Wulin was extremely familiar with.


    Ever since he''d first begun studying with Gu Yue, they regularly came into contact with one another, and they''d grown up alongside each other for several years. During that time, she had become the most important woman in his life, so there was no way that he would mistake her aura for someone else''s.


    There was a unique fragrance emanating from her body that belonged only to Gu Yue, and it was completely different from Na''er''s fragrance.


    So just who was this woman?


    All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Tang Wulin, and he hurriedly cast his gaze toward her neck. He clearly recalled that she had an ovular birthmark on her collarbone. It was very faint, and there was no way anyone would be able to notice it unless they''d appraised her in as much detail as he had.


    There was a birthmark! This woman was Gu Yue!


    Tang Wulin caught sight of the birthmark almost right away.


    Everything else could be faked, but a birthmark couldn''t! But why had her appearance changed?


    Tang Wulin carefully began to rub her cheeks. He had learned disguise techniques, and he was hoping that Gu Yue was merely in disguise. However, he quickly found that this was indeed her real face, and even her hair had turned silver!


    He gently peeled back one of her eyelids to find that her pupils were now purple. Silver hair and purple eyes; those were Na''er''s signature traits!


    Tang Wulin was completely flabbergasted now.


    He would be ecstatic if any one of Gu Yue or Na''er were to return to him, but this woman seemed to be a combination of the two. He simply didn''t know what to think.


    Overall, she felt more like Gu Yue, but her appearance...


    Could it be that Gu Yue had learned some kind of disguise technique that even he couldn''t see through? That seemed to be the only possibility.


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with complex emotions as he held her in his arms. Never would he have thought that she would come to him in that dire situation. He could still clearly recall that she had used her own body to shield him from that lethal explosion.


    Where were they right now? What was this place?


    In any case, his top priority was to revive her first.


    He carefully injected his soul power into Gu Yue''s body, only to find that it was as if he were injecting energy into a bottomless pit. No matter how much soul power flowed from his body to hers, it would disappear without a trace, and Gu Yue didn''t display any reaction to this, either.


    A thought suddenly occurred to Tang Wulin. He could recall that prior to Gu Yue''s sudden emergence, he had felt a cool and refreshing sensation coming from his chest.


    He reflexively laid a hand onto his own chest, and his fingers came into contact with the necklace that Gu Yue had left him. The pedant was a silver scale, and as he picked up the scale, a theory began to form in his mind.


    Could it be that Gu Yue had left him this scale so she could teleport herself to his side in his time of need?


    In that case, everything made sense; this woman had to be Gu Yue!


    Why would you do this?


    Tang Wulin held Gu Yue''s body tightly in his arms. If it weren''t for the fact that she bore such a strong resemblance to Na''er, he most likely wouldn''t have been able to resist the urge to kiss her.


    At the very least, he had to wait until she woke up so he could ask her what was going on.


    Gu Yue remained unconscious, and after injecting his soul power into her body for a while, Tang Wulin was starting to give out, so he had to meditate to recover some soul power first. Thankfully, even though Gu Yue hadn''t woken up, her aura was very stable.

 Chapter 881: Father

    Recover soul power, inject soul power into her body, recover, inject...


    After a few cycles of this, Tang Wulin gradually began to sense that Gu Yue''s aura had become stronger. This was a very good sign, and it showed that his injections of soul power were proving to be effective.


    The sky gradually dimmed as night fell.


    The sky slowly lit up, and the dawn of a new day arrived.


    During this time, Tang Wulin had already injected soul power into Gu Yue''s body on seven separate occasions, and the relentless cycle of cultivation and injection was making him very exhausted.


    After injecting soul power into her body for the eighth time, Gu Yue''s condition had completely stabilized. However, she still hadn''t woken up, so he could only enter a meditative state again despite his exhaustion.


    After attaining his soul power vortex, his rate of soul power recovery had sped up considerably compared to in the past, and two hours later, his soul power had recovered, and his exhaustion had also been significantly alleviated.


    However, as soon as he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of a pair of large purple eyes situated extremely close to his own eyes, and he was given such a fright that his qi almost deviated. Thankfully, his soul power vortex reacted just in time and drew that wisp of soul power back to normal.


    "You almost gave me a heart attack! You''re awake!" Tang Wulin had to take a few deep breaths to recover from the fright that he''d received, but his heart was quickly filled with elation.


    Gu Yue was sitting right in front of him and was wearing a set of his clothes. Her original dress was in complete tatters, so Tang Wulin had changed her into his clothes with his eyes closed.


    His clothes were clearly too big for Gu Yue, and she blinked as she sat on the ground. Her eyes were extremely clear, and they resembled a pair of clear ponds that reflected Tang Wulin''s face.


    "Gu Yue?" Tang Wulin called out in a hesitant manner.


    A smile suddenly appeared on her face. She was extremely beautiful with Na''er''s appearance, and her smile had Tang Wulin feeling slightly entranced.


    "Father!"


    "Thump!" Tang Wulin had just sat up, and he collapsed straight to the ground again.


    He quickly sat bolt upright once again and stared at Gu Yue in a dumbstruck manner. "Wh, what did you just call me?"


    Gu Yue seemed to have been startled by the sudden fall that he took, and she reached out to tug on his sleeve while placing her other thumb into her mouth as she murmured, "Father."


    Tang Wulin almost passed out as his eyes threatened to roll into the back of his head. What the hell was happening?


    "Quit playing around, Gu Yue, you..."


    "Father..." Gu Yue cried out again, but on this occasion, her voice was filled with indignation, and tears began to well up in her beautiful purple eyes.


    What...


    No matter how he looked at it, she didn''t seem to be acting!


    Tang Wulin massaged his own brows as he said, "Don''t cry, let me think about this for a second."


    Gu Yue pouted and tugged on his sleeve with both hands as she swung his arm from side to side. "Father, I''m hungry."


    Tang Wulin was initially filled with grief in the aftermath of Shrek Academy''s destruction, but the fact that Gu Yue was referring to him as her father gave him such a huge shock that he temporarily forgot his sorrow.


    He forcibly calmed himself down as he hurriedly replied, "Alright, let me get some food out for you."


    As a massive foodie, his storage ring was never short of food.


    He produced some dried rations before handing them over to Gu Yue, who accepted the food and immediately began munching on it. However, her expression indicated that she was quite displeased. As she ate, she murmured to herself, "This doesn''t taste good."


    Tang Wulin could only heave a resigned sigh. How could dried rations possibly taste good?


    He gradually began to realize what may have happened as he looked at the diverse range of expressions that were appearing on Gu Yue''s face.


    Could it be that she was suffering from amnesia? But even so, why was she referring to him as her father?


    "Gu Yue, why are you calling me father?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yue looked at him with a slightly befuddled expression. "The first one I see is my father."


    Her voice was very child-like, and she couldn''t even enunciate her words properly, but she spoke in a very serious manner.


    The first person she saw was her father? Wasn''t that one of the laws of the animal kingdom?


    He originally had a bunch of questions for Gu Yue, but he couldn''t bring himself to ask them now.


    After eating the dried rations, Gu Yue seemed to be full, but she was still not very pleased. "Father, it doesn''t taste good. I want to eat good food."


    "Alright, I''ll try to find some good food for you," Tang Wulin said with a wry smile on his face.


    Gu Yue immediately held onto his arm in an excited manner before resting her head on his shoulder like a dependant little girl.


    Tang Wulin stood up, and only now did he get an opportunity to survey their surroundings. This was a lush forest that stretched as far as the eyes could see. There were no signs of agriculture or human activity here, and this seemed to be a primitive forest. The life force energy here was very rich, but he could detect a faint sense of danger here.


    Where was this place?


    If everything hadn''t been a dream, then at the time, he and Gu Yue had both been caught in the explosion of that high-grade soul missile before they somehow ended up here.


    So be it, I''ll adapt as the situation requires. This is a forest, so we should be able to make our way out of it eventually.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin patted Gu Yue''s hand before walking further into the forest with her hand in his.


    He held onto Gu Yue''s hand with his left hand while holding his Golden Dragon Spear in his right, using it like a machete to cut through the undergrowth. However, he quickly discovered that his Golden Dragon Spear was completely superfluous here.


    Strangely enough, all of the plants in the surrounding area were extremely affectionate toward him. All of the plants in his way would part themselves to open up a path for him, so he was able to travel quite smoothly through the forest.


    What was going on here? His martial soul had transformed into Bluesilver Emperor following its second awakening, but the effects of that certainly weren''t this pronounced.


    Could this be because of his fifth soul ring, that Son of Nature?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin stopped and began to focus his attention on experiencing the aura of the natural setting around him.


    As expected, he could sense that all of the plants were striving to express their affection and intimacy toward him.


    If he were to cultivate here, he would definitely be able to progress very quickly.


    Unfortunately, cultivation was currently the last thing on his mind. All he wanted to do was get out of this forest as quickly as possible. After that, he would return to Shrek City to find his friends, then cure Gu Yue of her amnesia.


    In the aftermath of the horrendous tragedy that had just taken place, he was feeling utterly exhausted.


    With that in mind, he turned to glance at Gu Yue. With her by his side, he was feeling a lot better. If he''d been on his own, he would most likely only be feeling worse than this.


    At the sight of Tang Wulin turning to look at her, Gu Yue immediately gave him a sweet smile. "Father."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Can you not call me that? I get goosebumps everywhere every time you call me father; it''s..."


    Gu Yue immediately pouted in a pitiable manner as tears welled up in her eyes. "Does Father not want me anymore?"


    "I..."


    Tang Wulin could only heave a resigned sigh. "Of course not. You can call me whatever you want."


    "Father, carry me!" Gu Yue spread open her arms toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was rendered completely speechless, but Gu Yue had already jumped onto his body in an excited manner before clinging to him like an octopus.


    Her long silver hair swayed in the breeze as peals of tinkling laughter rang out.


    Tang Wulin could only support her by placing a hand on her backside, and she squirmed in his arms while he did his best to repress the scorching feeling that had welled up in his lower abdomen.


    Gu Yue encircled her arms around his neck before resting her head on his shoulder in an affectionate manner.


    A gentle look replaced the resigned expression in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he stroked Gu Yue''s long hair as he allowed her to cling onto his body. He supported her with one hand while continuing onward through the forest. Gu Yue''s body weight naturally didn''t pose much additional burden to him.

 Chapter 882: Crimson Fire Monkey King

    However, what he didn''t expect was that Gu Yue insisted on being carried by him from here onward. Whenever he tried to ask her to get down and walk, she would vehemently refuse, and in the end, he had no choice but to transfer her onto his back. Thus, Gu Yue clung onto his back with a wide smile on her face as they continued deeper into the forest.


    "I must''ve owed you money in my past life!" Tang Wulin couldn''t help but chuckled in an amused manner as he looked at the pair of arms hanging down the front of his chest.


    Gu Yue ducked down and planted a kiss on his cheek as she said, "Father, I like you."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly, and just as he was about to say something, a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in his heart as he reflexively sprang into the air.


    A brown figure whizzed past beneath his feet, and if he hadn''t jumped into the air, he would''ve been struck by it for sure.


    "Who''s there?" Tang Wulin yelled, but he couldn''t see anything from the direction the sneak attack had come from.


    His eyes narrowed slightly as a cold aura began to emanate from his body. Bluesilver Emperor vines emerged from beneath his feet before spreading toward all directions. This was a forest, so it was a battlefield that was extremely suited to him.


    A strange turn of events then unfolded. Much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, after his Bluesilver Emperor vines plunged into the ground, he immediately felt his senses proliferate outward.


    His Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power already had very powerful sensory abilities that could encompass an area with a radius of over 1,000 feet, but he could only approximately sense everything within that area. However, as his Bluesilver Emperor vines fused together with this forest, he felt as if he''d attained an omniscient eye. Everything encompassed within his sensory range appeared in his mind in the form of a clear three-dimensional image.


    Around 600 meters up ahead and to his left, there was a massive figure with reddish-brown fur springing from one tree to another like a shooting star. It was constantly moving at a high speed, and it seemed to be traveling around himself and Gu Yue the entire time.


    Gu Yue stuck her head out from behind Tang Wulin''s shoulder and inspected her surroundings with a curious expression.


    Being able to see their opponent naturally made it a lot easier for them to devise a course of action.


    This was a Crimson Fire Monkey, but it was completely different from the Crimson Fire Monkey in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    According to his understanding of soul beasts, Crimson Fire Monkeys were a type of low-grade soul beasts, most of which were less than 100 years old with only a small proportion of them managing to exceed that age. Even hundred-year-old Crimson Fire Monkeys had very simple and predictable attacks. Aside from their slightly remarkable speed and their ability to traverse through the forest quickly, there wasn''t anything noteworthy about them.


    However, this Crimson Fire Monkey was completely different. It was more than 10 times larger than the average Crimson Fire Monkey, making it around seven meters tall. As it sped through the forest, there were traces of golden light emanating from its reddish-brown fur, and what was most surprising of all was that it had a third eye. This was a vertical golden eye that was shimmering with a strange light. The monkey was casting its gaze toward Tang Wulin''s direction, and he could sense that even though there were many trees standing between them, that vertical eye seemed to be able to see him.


    Was this a mutated Crimson Fire Monkey? That was undoubtedly the case. Tang Wulin immediately began to make some deductions about where he was currently situated after witnessing this soul beast.


    Soul beasts were on the verge of extinction on the Douluo Continent! Prior to this, the place that he''d come into contact with soul beasts the most was in the Spirit Ascension Plane of the Spirit Pagoda, which was able to emulate the Star Dou Forest. Could it be that Gu Yue had taken him into the Spirit Ascension Plane? That was certainly possible. After all, with her lofty status at the Spirit Pagoda, it wouldn''t be difficult for her to take him into the Spirit Ascension Plane.


    Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, the mutated Crimson Fire Monkey King was already hurtling rapidly toward them. It seemed to have sensed that Tang Wulin was inspecting it from afar, and it immediately sprang onto a massive tree. Its feet then stomped heavily onto the tree, propelling it through the air like a sharp red arrow.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as a cold look appeared on his face. In the aftermath of the tragedy that had befallen Shrek Academy, his heart was filled with rage and depression. Now that an enemy had suddenly appeared, all of his pent-up negative emotions erupted at once.


    "Gu Yue, hold on tight!" Tang Wulin instructed.


    Gu Yue hurriedly tightened her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Tang Wulin''s blood essence fluctuations abruptly erupted forth, and he spread open his arms to release his golden dragon claws.


    After forming the two vortexes in his body, Tang Wulin discovered that his martial soul and bloodline power could coexist at the same time. This meant that he didn''t have to switch between them and could use both of their abilities at once.


    Countless Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from the ground, to stop the Crimson Fire Monkey King in its tracks.


    However, the Crimson Fire Monkey King was extremely aggressive; it spread open its arms, and crimson-golden flames appeared all over its entire body as it crashed directly toward the Bluesilver Emperor barricade.


    Bluesilver Emperor was a plant-type martial soul, after all, so the monkey king was able to crash through the vines, and it reached Tang Wulin in an instant with an unstoppable aura emanating from its body.


    As opposed to directly swooping downward, a pair of wings suddenly appeared below the Crimson Fire Monkey King''s armpits, causing it to suddenly pause in mid-air.


    It''s using a strategy? Is this soul beast that intelligent?


    Spreading open those wings only resulted in a slight pause, but that was more than enough to throw off the trajectories of its opponent''s attacks. At the same time, its third eye lit up, and immense spiritual power fluctuations surged forth toward Tang Wulin. Instead of hurtling toward him from just the front, these fluctuations were converging toward him from all directions.


    Tang Wulin raised his head and let loose a furious roar. A massive golden dragon head encompassed his entire body, and he''d unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar.


    The Crimson Fire Monkey King''s body stiffened in mid-air, and the spiritual power fluctuations it had unleashed were immediately sent sweeping backward by the force of the Golden Dragon Roar.


    However, right at this moment, a bolt of golden lightning suddenly erupted from its vertical golden eye. The bolt of lightning was imbued with scorching heat, and it pierced through the twisted space in the surrounding area almost instantaneously before reaching Tang Wulin.


    At the same time, it swooped down and lashed out at Tang Wulin with its sharp claws.


    Tang Wulin used his right golden dragon claw to shield himself from the oncoming bolt of golden lightning, and a scorching sensation immediately struck his palm. The immense force of the attack made even his powerful body sway slightly.


    The Crimson Fire Monkey King also took advantage of this opportunity to launch itself toward Tang Wulin with its sharp claws reaching toward him from both sides.


    "Piss off!" Tang Wulin roared as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. A massive golden dragon erupted from beneath his feet to clash with the Crimson Fire Monkey King.


    A violent explosion rang out, felling many of the nearby trees, and the Crimson Fire Monkey King was sent flying while even Tang Wulin was forced to take a couple of steps backward before he could right himself.


    The Crimson Fire Monkey King landed on the branch of a massive tree in the distance, and a hesitant and bewildered look appeared in its eyes. It had clearly been a little intimidated by Tang Wulin''s ferocious attack.


    Tang Wulin also curbed his own fury a little. This Crimson Fire Monkey King was unexpectedly very troublesome to deal with. Not only was it physically very powerful it was also capable of unleashing spiritual attacks and also possessed powerful defensive prowess. Even after taking his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens head-on, it was only blasted away, yet it remained completely unscathed. This indicated that it was certainly no ordinary soul beast.


    There was no doubt in Tang Wulin''s mind that this was a 10,000-year-old soul beast, and it was also a mutated one as well!


    He took a deep breath to calm himself down. In the face of an opponent like this one, he couldn''t allow his emotions to get the better of him.


    Tang Wulin appraised the Crimson Fire Monkey King intently through narrowed eyes, and his aura began to elevate. He didn''t release his battle armor; that was a trump card that he wasn''t going to use unless the situation absolutely demanded it.


    If this were the Spirit Ascension Plane, then this had to at least be the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane or even the legendary advanced Spirit Ascension Plane. Otherwise, there was no way that he''d come across such a powerful soul beast. As such, he had to conserve his power as much as possible in case he encountered even more powerful soul beasts later on.


    The Crimson Fire Monkey King''s eyes swiveled from side to side in an indecisive manner, and as opposed to attacking Tang Wulin again, it suddenly darted away into the distance and fled the scene.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon seeing this. It was undoubtedly the case that this Crimson Fire Monkey King was highly intelligent; after realizing that Tang Wulin was not the easy prey it had thought he was, it immediately chose to run away.


    Tang Wulin also heaved a sigh of relief. He knew that if he wanted to defeat that Crimson Fire Monkey King, he would have to fight with all his might. This was a mutated 10,000-year-old soul beast, and he had no allies with him, so it would be very difficult for him to defeat it.


    "Father." The voice that rang out beside his ear immediately drained all of his battle intent away.


    His lips twitched as he patted Gu Yue''s leg, "It''s alright, you can get down now."


    "Alright," Gu Yue climbed down from Tang Wulin''s body in a reluctant manner, and a hint of lingering fear could be seen in her eyes as she asked, "Father, what was that thing? It was so scary!"

 Chapter 883: This is bad!

    Tang Wulin appraised her in a rather speechless manner. In his mind, Gu Yue''s power had never been inferior to his, and in fact, she was most likely more powerful than him. However, she had transformed into a little girl who was completely dependent on him.


    "It''s alright, I''ll protect you." Tang Wulin stroked her long hair, and she rested her head against his chest with a content expression on her face.


    "You''re the best, Father!"


    Tang Wulin''s hand immediately stiffened. How was he supposed to face her after she regained her memories?


    He heaved an internal sigh and regained his composure before beginning to assess their surroundings.


    The training he''d undergone on the demonic island had taught him how to remain calm regardless of what kind of situation he was in. Even if he were experiencing extremely strong emotions, he had to calm himself down as quickly as possible as he could only make the best judgments in a calm and tranquil state.


    It was undoubtedly the case that they were in a primitive forest. The more he looked at this place, the more he felt like it resembled the Star Dou Forest simulated in the Spirit Ascension Plane. The only difference was that the plants here appeared to be lusher and older than the plants he had seen in the Spirit Ascension Plane.


    If he really were in the Spirit Ascension Plane, then this definitely wasn¡¯t the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane. He''d been to the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane before, and the plants in there definitely weren''t as lush as the plants here. Furthermore, it shouldn''t have been that easy for him to encounter a soul beast that was not inferior to him in power in the intermediate Spirit Ascension Plane


    Thinking back to the power that the Crimson Fire Monkey King had just displayed, Tang Wulin concluded that he''d have to don his suit of battle armor if he wanted to defeat it.


    His soul power rank was only at 55 at the moment, but even the average six-ring Soul Emperor would be no match for him. With the enhancements from his battle armor and Golden Dragon Spear, Tang Wulin could be considered to be just as powerful as a high-grade Soul Master.


    As such, that Crimson Fire Monkey King had to at least be a 20,000-year-old soul beast.


    So was this the advanced Spirit Ascension Plane? He knew nothing about that place, and he''d only heard Gu Yue mention it briefly in the past. According to her, that place was the core resource of the Spirit Pagoda.


    However, he was able to make some standard judgments based on common sense. For example, the more powerful the soul beasts in a place were, the fewer soul beasts there would be in that place. This was because all powerful soul beasts had their own territory that they wouldn''t allow others to encroach upon. It was quite clear that they were currently situated in the territory of the Crimson Fire Monkey King.


    Only after entering another territory would they potentially encounter other soul beasts. However, the main problem at the moment was, how were they supposed to get out of here?


    If this were the Spirit Ascension Plane, then all of the people that entered it would be given special buttons that they could press to get themselves out of this place. Alternatively, they could die in this plane, and that would also bring them back to the real world, but they''d suffer some emotional trauma as a result.


    The issue was that neither of them had those special eject buttons that could get them out of here. Could he perhaps try to die in here instead?


    Tang Wulin didn''t know if that would work, and there was no way to try this out. After all, what if he were to really end up dead?


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin had heard that the highest level of the Spirit Ascension Plane was an actual world. If he and Gu Yue were currently situated on that level, then dying here would truly mean death.


    Hence, he had to treat this situation with the utmost caution.


    After considering all of these possibilities, Tang Wulin wasn''t in a hurry to advance onward. This was the territory of the Crimson Fire Monkey King, and at the very least, this was a soul beast that he could match in battle, so this place was relatively safe. Furthermore, his omniscient-eye-like ability could constantly monitor their surroundings, thereby allowing him to detect any potential dangers very early on. As such, the best option for them now was to rest here for a while and ascertain which direction they should go in.


    If this really were the highest level of the Spirit Ascension Plane, then this place was most likely the core region of the Star Dou Forest, which actually still existed in the real world. This was a place of extreme peril, and he could even run into 100,000-year-old soul beasts here!


    If he were to forge ahead in a rash manner, only to encounter a 100,000-year-old soul beast, then it was over for him and Gu Yue.


    If this really were the core region of the Star Dou Forest, then as long as he could pick the right direction that would take them away from this area, they should be able to emerge from the forest eventually.


    Tang Wulin naturally wasn''t able to ascertain which direction they should go in with his eyes alone. However, he could ask around using his Bluesilver Emperor vines. Who was he going to ask? The plants here, of course! The plants in this area knew far more about this place than he did.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue, and said, "Gu Yue, I''m going to meditate for a while to find a way out of here. Make sure you don''t stray far away from me."


    "Alright," Gu Yue replied in an obedient manner.


    Tang Wulin was slightly dazed for a moment at the sight of this version of Gu Yue. In his mind, Gu Yue had always been an independent girl who seemed to constantly have something on her mind. There had always been a special sense of intimacy between them, and their relationship had been gradually nurtured in a subtle manner over the course of many years.


    This Gu Yue didn''t even seem like the Gu Yue he once knew. However, there was also a part of him that wished that Gu Yue would always remain this pure and innocent. At the very least, she''d be able to lead a happy life. Back when Gu Yue had left him, he had been in a lot of pain, but as long as Gu Yue truly loved him, her pain could only have been more unbearable than his.


    The only difference was that she knew how to find him, yet he had no idea how to find her.


    She had returned on this occasion, and he wasn''t going to let her leave no matter what. Of course, he also had to ascertain that this really was Gu Yue. After all, he wouldn''t dare to get intimate with her unless he could eliminate the possibility that this was actually Na''er.


    Tang Wulin sat down with his legs crossed and began to concentrate. His will was released outward along his Bluesilver Emperor vines, and it slowly combined with the plants in the surrounding area, thereby facilitating communication.


    Prior to attaining intelligence, plants were the simplest of life forms. They were like spirit refined metals; they possessed life, but not sentience.


    However, after they attained intelligence and became plant-type soul beasts, then there was a very good chance that they''d be more powerful than normal soul beasts. It was just that there were extremely few plants that ever became soul beasts.


    However, Tang Wulin had a way to work around this. He didn''t need to contact intelligent plants; all he had to do was ask the plants which direction was dangerous and which direction was safe.


    He received an answer very quickly!


    The ordinary plants on the ground didn''t give much reciprocation to his question, and it seemed that they were completely incapable of processing his inquiry. However, the tall trees gave him a clear answer. From their perspectives, one direction was like a dark abyss while another direction was filled with bright sunlight. It was easy to ascertain which direction they should be heading toward.


    Tang Wulin was very elated by that discovery, and he opened his eyes before rising to his feet.


    However, his heart immediately jolted with shock as he discovered that Gu Yue wasn''t by his side.


    He hurriedly released his spiritual power and used his omniscient eye ability to search for her, and thankfully, she hadn''t gone very far. She was only around 300 meters away from him, and she wore a wide smile on her face as traversed through the forest with her head lowered, seemingly looking for something. There was already a bouquet of wildflowers of different colors in her left hand, and she was looking very elated.


    However, her joyful display made Tang Wulin''s heart throb with pain. As students of Shrek Academy, they didn''t get to enjoy the pleasures that other people of their age experienced, and only in this state of memory loss could she truly enjoy herself.


    Right at this moment, two figures suddenly appeared at the same time under his omniscient eye. One of them rushed toward him while the other hurtled directly toward Gu Yue.


    Both of them had appeared extremely abruptly, and they were traveling at astonishing speeds.

 Chapter 884: Re-emergence of the Divine Dragon

    A surge of panic welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart, and he immediately shot forth like a speeding arrow toward Gu Yue''s direction.


    Gu Yue had lost all of her memories, and she was as vulnerable as a little girl. At this moment, all of the hairs on Tang Wulin''s body had stood up on end, and he instantly reached his maximum speed. At the same time, a Bluesilver Emperor vine was surging directly toward Gu Yue at an even faster speed than him.


    The figure that was rushing toward Tang Wulin was none other than the Crimson Fire Monkey King, while the creature hurtling toward Gu Yue was a green bird-type soul beast. It flew through the air like a speeding arrow, and just as Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor wrapped itself around Gu Yue''s waist, the green bird had reached her as well, and it was stabbing its sharp long beak directly toward her forehead.


    Demonic Greenbird! Tang Wulin instantly identified this soul beast, and it was exactly because he''d recognized it that the horror in his heart was exacerbated even further.


    Demonic Greenbirds were one of the most vicious bird-type souls beasts in existence. Their growth was facilitated solely by ingesting the brains of other living beings, regardless of whether they were humans or soul beasts. However, they had a preference for human brains. These birds were some of the fastest creatures in the world of soul beasts, but there weren''t all that many of them left in this world.


    In the distant past, Demonic Greenbirds had once caused a massive disaster. At the time, they were flock-dwelling soul beasts, and flocks of Demonic Greenbirds were like swarms of locusts, except they devoured brains rather than crops. Everywhere they passed through, all of the living beings in the area had holes on their heads and their brains completely sucked away. Those were truly horrifying scenes to behold!


    After that, an extermination movement was carried out against the Demonic Greenbirds. Under the leadership of the soul beast kings, the Demonic Greenbirds were hunted to the brink of extinction, and only then did the threat they posed to the other living beings on the continent lessen significantly. Nowadays, they were very rarely seen, and whenever they appeared, they were extremely cautious.


    Humans didn''t actually know much about the Demonic Greenbirds, and there were only records about these birds in some ancient tomes. This was because back when the Demonic Greenbirds were plaguing the continent, the soul beasts were still in power.


    It was said that at the time, a Demonic Greenbird had eaten the brains of a true dragon and underwent constant evolution to become one of the most fearsome predators on the entire continent.


    It was exactly due to the fact that a true dragon had been killed that the rulers of the continent at the time, the dragon clan, united their power to hunt down these Demonic Greenbirds. It was a revenge mission launched with the intent of wiping out all Demonic Greenbirds from existence.


    At the sight of this Demonic Greenbird, Tang Wulin felt as if his heart were about to stop beating.


    If that thing were to puncture Gu Yue''s head, there was no way that she could survive, and it was extraordinarily fast.


    Tang Wulin pulled his Bluesilver Emperor vine back toward him with all his might while unleashing his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws without any hesitation.


    The Demonic Greenbird wasn''t all that large; it only had a wingspan of just over half a meter, and its body was only around a foot in length. Its entire body was green in color, and its long beak was a transparent syringe needle. It was so fast that if one were to blink at an inopportune moment, they could completely lose sight of it.


    Tang Wulin had already reacted very quickly by unleashing his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws and dragging Gu Yue back toward him at the same time, but the Demonic Greenbird was somehow able to accelerate for a second time in mid-air. Azure flames erupted from its rear end, propelling its body through the air like lightning. It was able to reach Gu Yue in an instant before its long beak tapped against her glabella.


    "No!" Tang Wulin let loose a heartbroken wail. In that instant, it was as if all of the blood in his body had been set alight.


    Gu Yue wore a completely dazed expression. Even as her body was being dragged back toward Tang Wulin, she still had no idea what was going on, and she could only look on as the Demonic Greenbird''s long beak approached her.


    Tang Wulin''s agonized roar, the Demonic Greenbird''s frosty expression, and the oncoming Crimson Fire Monkey King created a tragic snapshot in time. In that instant, it seemed that both Tang Wulin and Gu Yue''s fates were sealed.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his heart were being torn apart. If Gu Yue were to perish to this Demonic Greenbird, he''d never be able to forgive himself. He''d rather have his own brains eaten than for any harm to befall Gu Yue.


    Right at this moment, a strange turn of events unfolded. The surging bloodline power within Tang Wulin''s body formed a layer of reddish-golden light around him. This layer of light was absorbed in a frenzy by the silver dragon scale that Gu Yue had given him, and in that instant, time seemed to have stopped.


    Even with the Demonic Greenbird''s fearsome speed, it still paused momentarily in mid-air.


    In the next instant, both Gu Yue and Tang Wulin''s bodies turned transparent.


    Piercing golden light erupted from Tang Wulin''s body while dazzling silver light radiated from Gu Yue''s body. The golden and silver lights intertwined, and the colorful gem on Tang Wulin''s bracelet also lit up with scintillating light. In the next instant, the golden and silver lights abruptly converged and instantly fused as one.


    Dazzling rainbow light erupted forth, and both the Crimson Fire Monkey King and Demonic Greenbird regained the ability to move at the same time. The Demonic Greenbird plunged beak-first into the rainbow light like a green shooting star, only to be immediately repelled as a crisp clang rang out.


    Meanwhile, the Crimson Fire Monkey King forcibly changed directions in mid-air and landed on a nearby tree before appraising the rainbow light up ahead in a bewildered manner.


    Not only was it extremely powerful, what was even more important was that it possessed intelligence far superior to that of most soul beasts. It was very good at weighing up its options, and it had sought out the Demonic Greenbird as a helper, thinking that the two of them would be able to take down Tang Wulin and Gu Yue for sure. However, it didn''t expect something like this to happen.


    At this moment, the bloodline energy vortex situated at Tang Wulin''s chest was rotating at an unprecedented speed, and his own bloodline was undergoing a strange transformation.


    Enormous power gushed into his body like a river, and he felt as if he were expanding like a balloon. The terrifying energy flowing into his body made him throw his head back and let loose an involuntary dragon''s roar into the sky.


    This was the Divine Dragon Transformation. He could clearly sense that he and Gu Yue were completing the Divine Dragon Transformation, and this wasn''t the first time they''d done this. However, on the previous occasions this had happened, Gu Yue had always been the one leading the transformation, and all he could do was use the power of this transformation in battle.


    However, things were different this time. He seemed to be the one who had triggered the Divine Dragon Transformation, and the tremendous energy resulting from it was too much even of his immensely powerful body to handle. The energy surging toward him from Gu Yue''s body was blowing him up like a balloon, and his meridians were about to give out. On top of that, this seemed to only be the beginning.


    "Argh!" The dragon''s roar had already changed into a howl of agony. Never had Tang Wulin felt so close to death before, even when he was breaking his Golden Dragon King seals. Never would he have thought that something like this would happen.


    However, in the instant that his agonized howl rang out, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the energy flowing into his body abruptly ceased, and his consciousness also returned to normal.


    Rainbow scales covered his entire body, and he had risen to over five meters tall. This transformation was slightly different compared to the Divine Dragon Transformations he''d undergone with Gu Yue in the past, and it seemed that their soul fusion skill had undergone an evolution.


    Tang Wulin could clearly recall Gu Yue telling him that their Divine Dragon Transformation was only the first transformation, Divine Dragon Awakens. Could it be that they had reached the second transformation now?


    A pair of massive rainbow dragon wings spread open on his back, and he could sense energy particles of all elements in the forest surging toward him in a frenzy. Not only did they flow into his body, they also formed a vast expanse of energy clouds around him that could be used by him at any time.


    Along with the unprecedented power that he''d attained, something extra also appeared in his mind. It seemed that the power that belonged to Gu Yue could also be used by him now.

 Chapter 885: Crushing the Two Beasts

    After witnessing Tang Wulin''s transformation and hearing his dragon''s roar, the Crimson Fire Monkey King was already fleeing the scene. It transformed into a reddish-golden streak of light and appeared over a kilometer away in the blink of an eye.


    Meanwhile, the Demonic Greenbird was escaping at an even faster speed. After almost suffering complete genocide, the few Demonic Greenbirds that remained had become a lot more adept at protecting themselves. As such, it immediately began to flee after sensing how powerful its enemy''s aura had become.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t going to let them get away. He hated these two soul beasts with a vengeance. They had almost just taken the life of the woman he loved the most!


    He waved his right hand toward the Demonic Greenbird, and the air abruptly congealed as immense energy surged violently. The Demonic Greenbird''s lightning-fast speed was immediately significantly hampered, and it was as if it were flying through treacle. It was still struggling to forge ahead, but it had slowed down drastically.


    Tang Wulin flapped his rainbow dragon wings, and in the next instant, he appeared right in front of the Demonic Greenbird before lashing out with his rainbow dragon claws.


    The Demonic Greenbird reacted extremely quickly as a bright ring of green light erupted from its body. The rainbow dragon claws struck the ring of light amid a resounding boom, and the latter was destroyed, but Tang Wulin''s claws were also repelled.


    One had to realize that after undergoing this Divine Dragon Transformation, Tang Wulin''s current cultivation rank had been elevated by three major levels at the very least, which meant that he was currently comparable in power to a Soul Douluo. Furthermore, his bloodline power was countless times more immense than when he only had his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    As such, it was very extraordinary that the Demonic Greenbird had been able to withstand one of his attacks.


    However, in the next instant, a rainbow vortex suddenly appeared on the palm of Tang Wulin''s rainbow dragon claws.


    In the instant that the rainbow vortex appeared, the green light emanating from the Demonic Greenbird''s body dimmed significantly, and it let loose an alarmed cry as it was drawn directly toward Tang Wulin''s dragon claws.


    Elemental stripping!


    This was undoubtedly one of Gu Yue''s abilities. This Demonic Greenbird was a wind attribute soul beast, and only through the propulsion force of wind did it manage to reach such high speeds.


    Generally speaking, all fast soul beasts possessed either spatial attribute powers or wind attribute powers. Spatial attribute soul beasts were more proficient in displaying explosive spikes in speed and were generally more unpredictable. Wind attribute soul beasts were lacking in those areas in comparison, but they were more agile and had greater stamina.


    However, in the face of elemental stripping, it didn''t matter what attribute soul beast this bird was. Not only were the elements in the space surrounding the Demonic Greebird completely stripped away, in his Divine Dragon Transformation state, Tang Wulin was even able to directly strip the bird of the elemental energy within its body.


    Without the enhancements of the wind elements, the Demonic Greenbird''s speed suffered drastically.


    It was about to land in Tang Wulin''s palm at any moment now, yet all of a sudden, it turned around, and its eyes turned into a crimson color. In the next instant, its green body abruptly took on a fiery red hue. Was this a wind and fire dual attribute soul beast?


    The fiery red color only appeared for an instant before reverting back to green, and everything had happened in the blink of an eye, but Tang Wulin could clearly sense that his elemental stripping no longer affected it.


    The Demonic Greenbird had made use of the wind and fire vortex within its body to resist his elemental stripping ability. This would only work for a very short time, but it gave the Demonic Greenbird a chance to survive.


    It flapped its wings with all its might, and its speed abruptly increased drastically. Its long beak became as thin as a sword, and it abruptly shot forward. In the instant that it underwent this acceleration, a sonic boom rang out, indicating that it had broken the sound barrier, and it was truly fleeing as quickly as it could.


    This was the fastest soul beast that Tang Wulin had ever seen, but he wasn''t going to let it escape no matter what.


    With such a powerful and fast enemy constantly lurking nearby, Gu Yue would be in perpetual danger. What if she were to stray further away from him next time? If he allowed the Demonic Greenbird to escape, only for it to return and kill Gu Yue when he least expected, he wouldn''t be able to live with himself.


    As such, in the instant that the Demonic Greenbird accelerated once again, Tang Wulin''s left hand had already slammed into the air.


    Space instantly shattered, and the surrounding plants fell completely still as a black hole abruptly appeared out of thin air.


    With the enhancements he received from the Divine Dragon Transformation, Tang Wulin now had exemplary control over his own power. He had created a black hole with a diameter of one meter that was just large enough to encompass the Demonic Greenbird''s entire body. Even though it had just broken the sound barrier, it still faltered for an instant in mid-air in the face of the black hole''s terrifying suction force.


    The split-second delay was all it took for Tang Wulin to lash out with his Duskgold Dreadclaws.


    The claws were shimmering with rainbow light, and its effective range had been increased to a terrifying 50 meters! Five 50-meter-long rainbow claws projections fell from the sky, slamming the bird directly into the ground.


    "Boom!" The Demonic Greenbird crashed to the ground, and a plume of green feathers flew in all directions. However, much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, this bird had extremely powerful defensive prowess, even though its forte clearly lay in its speed. Even after taking an all-out attack from his Duskgold Dreadclaws in his Divine Dragon Transformation state, it still wasn''t killed. It was only knocked unconscious, and an extremely deep wound through which bone was visible had been inflicted on its body, but that wasn''t a lethal injury.


    Tang Wulin didn''t have time to finish the Demonic Greenbird off, so he waved his right hand through the air and drew it into his grasp. At the same time, his body swayed, and golden light flashed, following which he immediately appeared around a kilometer away. After just a few more flashes, a crimson figure appeared in his field of view.


    "Get down here!" He let loose a cold roar as his left hand shot for like lighting, sending a streak of golden light hurtling through the air. The Crimson Fire Monkey King screeched and attempted to evade, but right at this moment, its entire body was suddenly compressed by boundless energy from all directions. Everything around it had turned into a golden color, and it could only look on as the streak of golden light punctured its body with unerring accuracy.


    Powerful life force energy surged into Tang Wulin''s body in a frenzy. The immense bloodline energy being funneled through the Golden Dragon Spear was quickly replenishing the energy that he''d expended.


    He descended from the sky and spread open his rainbow dragon wings before landing on the ground.


    In just the span of a few breaths, the Crimson Fire Monkey King was reduced to nothing more than skin and bones by the Golden Dragon Spear.


    The spear was still golden in color, but there was a layer of rainbow light shimmering around it, and it was clearly able to devour life force energy at a faster rate than it had been able to in the past.


    Just as Tang Wulin had expected, following the death of the Crimson Fire Monkey King, it didn''t contribute to increasing the age of his soul rings. Instead, an inky-black soul ring took shape above its body.


    This was a 10,000-year soul ring, so this was a real soul beast!


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and he was just about to do something when he felt the energy in his body quickly seeping away. Immediately thereafter, a figure detached itself from his body, and he hurriedly encircled his left arm around her slender waist. It was none other than Gu Yue.


    Her face was rather pale, and she seemed to have received quite a fright. She was blinking her large purple eyes, and it seemed that she was on the verge of tears.


    Waves of feebleness washed over Tang Wulin, yet much to his surprise, they weren''t as intense as the feebleness he''s been afflicted by when they''d undergone their Divine Dragon Transformation in the past. Perhaps this was due to the fact that he''d absorbed the Crimson Fire Monkey King''s life force energy. In any case, he could still retain his consciousness, and he had at least 30% of his power left.


    This was a very good thing as he was still holding a Demonic Greenbird that he was yet to take care of. If he were to fall unconscious only for the Demonic Greenbird to wake up before him, then they would be in very big trouble.


    Tang Wulin unwound his arm from around Gu Yue''s waist before preparing to finish off the Demonic Greenbird.


    "Father, don''t!" Gu Yue let loose a loud cry, and Tang Wulin''s golden dragon claws faltered right above the Demonic Greenbird''s head.


    "What is it?" All of the shock and horror in Tang Wulin''s eyes had vanished, and there was only elation shimmering in his eyes as he appraised Gu Yue.


    Back when Gu Yue had appeared at Shrek Academy to save him from that soul missile, Tang Wulin was already almost certain that she''d teleported herself to his side using that silver dragon scale that she''d given him. As such, he was 70% sure that this woman was indeed Gu Yue, despite her resemblance to Na''er. However, he was basically 100% sure that this was Gu Yue now. If not, how had he managed to unleash that Divine Dragon Transformation? What could be more indicative of her identity than their soul fusion skill?


    Gu Yue strode toward him before taking the Demonic Greenbird from him and holding it in her arms. "It''s so cute! Please don''t hurt it."


    Tang Wulin stumbled slightly upon hearing this.


    Cute? This thing had almost just eaten her brains, yet she was calling it cute?


    However, only now did Tang Wulin get a chance to inspect the Demonic Greenbird''s appearance, and he had to admit that cute wasn''t exactly an inaccurate adjective to apply to it.


    Its body was only around a foot in length, and its green feathers were like jade. Its long beak was green with faint traces of gold, and it was very translucent. Its body was sleek and slender, and unsurprisingly, it was extremely streamlined. It was indeed a very good-looking bird. It currently had its eyes closed, and its eyelids were also of a faint golden color. There was also a golden pattern running all the way from the tip of its head to the end of its tail.

 Chapter 886: Father is so Cruel!

    Tang Wulin could still recall that it had a pair of ruby-like eyes, and if it were to stand still without moving, it would be like a perfect jade statue.


    But this thing was lethal!


    "No, it''s too dangerous. These Demonic Greenbird evolve through eating brains! Do you understand?" Tang Wulin said in an urgent manner.


    "I''m not giving it to you." Gu Yue hugged the Demonic Greenbird tightly to her chest and turned around so that her back was facing him.


    Tang Wulin immediately rushed around to face her with a serious expression. "Listen to me, Gu Yue; this thing is not some fun toy or pet; it almost killed you just now!"


    "No! Father is so cruel!" Gu Yue turned away from him again.


    Tang Wulin was completely speechless.


    I''M the cruel one? If I''m not cruel here, it''s going to kill us!


    "Be a good girl and listen to me, Gu Yue; this Demonic Greenbird is a lethal predator, and it once brought disaster to the entire continent in ancient times. This Demonic Greenbird is different from the ones that are described in written records; this one is even more powerful than the records claim! I''ve only knocked it out, but after it wakes up, it''s going to pose a major threat to us! We can''t even use our Divine Dragon Transformation now, so after it wakes up, it''s going to kill us both! Do you want to see me die?"


    Gu Yue looked up to find Tang Wulin extending his hands toward her with a serious look on his face. She blinked, and suddenly said, "I have a way to make it not hurt us!"


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to say anything else, she suddenly raised a hand and swept it through the air.


    A series of strange lines immediately appeared in mid-air, and all of them appeared to be living beings that were shimmering with silver light.


    These lines gradually formed a silver rune that slowly descended toward the Demonic Greenbird''s head.


    As the rune surged into his body, the Demonic Greenbird began to tremble, and Gu Yue gently stroked its green feathers as she crooned, "It''s alright, Little Green; it''ll be over soon."


    Tang Wulin looked on with a surprised expression. He could clearly sense that the silver rune was imbued with an extremely enormous amount of spiritual power. Even with his Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, he was unable to fathom just how much spiritual power that rune contained.


    He hurriedly asked, "Have you remembered something, Gu Yue?"


    Gu Yue shook her head. "No. Something in my mind told me that doing this to Little Green would stop it from attacking us. It''s going to be a good Little Green now."


    Tang Wulin was still rather concerned. "What if that doesn''t work? It..."


    "It''ll work," Gu Yue insisted in a serious and confident manner.


    Tang Wulin suggested, "How about this? I promise you that I won''t kill it, but you have to let me tie it up with my Bluesilver Emperor vines, and we''ll see how it reacts when it wakes up again."


    Gu Yue was clearly rather reluctant, but she still nodded in the end at the sight of Tang Wulin''s serious expression, and she carefully handed the Demonic Greenbird over to him.


    Tang Wulin didn''t dare to use normal Bluesilver Emperor vines; he released Goldsong right away, and the latter immediately wrapped itself around the Demonic Greenbird''s body.


    Gu Yue was very intrigued by the sight of Goldsong. Come to think of it, Goldsong had changed in appearance once again.


    After Tang Wulin broke his ninth Golden Dragon King seal and separated his bloodline and soul powers, a single horn had grown on Goldsong''s forehead. At the same time, its body had elongated to 18 meters in length. It appeared to be very slim and thin, but as opposed to the scale-like patterns it had in the past, it had golden dragon scales just like Tang Wulin''s all over its body, giving it the appearance of a small golden dragon.


    Its eyes were like a pair of golden crystals, and it clearly had a more powerful aura than before.


    Tang Wulin could also sense a high level of intelligence from within Goldsong''s body. This little guy was once just a defective soul spirit, but it was growing up at a rapid rate. Tang Wulin had a feeling that if Goldsong could grow dragon wings someday, then it would truly become an existence that was similar to a true dragon.


    His Tyrant Dragon soul spirit also evolved along with his bloodline, but it was evolving to a far lesser extent than Goldsong.


    This was partially because it was very powerful already, but more importantly, it was still a land dragon at its core rather than a true dragon.


    Goldsong was different as it was Tang Wulin''s first soul spirit. It had been with him ever since he awakened his bloodline, so its bloodline was completely equivalent to his bloodline. As such, it was more heavily impacted by Tang Wulin''s growth.


    Of course, if the Tyrant Dragon could grow dragon wings someday, it would be in the same situation as Goldsong, but they would still have different capabilities.


    To a Soul Master, the most important function of a soul spirit was its ability to provide soul rings. For normal Soul Masters, their soul spirits couldn''t do much, and for more powerful Soul Masters, their suits of battle armor served a far greater purpose than their soul spirits, so they spent most of their time and energy developing their battle armor.


    Only the soul spirits that provided one with their final few soul rings were sufficiently powerful to be considered as strong allies in battle. This was why Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters very rarely released their soul spirits in battle. Their soul spirits had only provided them with their first few soul rings, and they had undergone evolution by absorbing energy from the Spirit Ascension Plane, but they still weren''t powerful enough to be very effective in battles.


    Only Tang Wulin''s Goldsong was an exception to this as its evolution wasn''t connected to the evolution of his soul rings. Instead, it evolved alongside Tang Wulin''s bloodline. He had already broken nine Golden Dragon King seals, so the current Goldsong was extremely different from what it had once been.


    Tang Wulin placed a hand on Goldsong''s head, and it licked his palm with its forked tongue. There was a hint of pride in its eyes, and it seemed to be telling Tang Wulin through its expression that it had already become very powerful.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Alright, then I''ll bring you out in my next battle and you can show me your powers then."


    Goldsong nodded in a very humanized response before turning toward the Demonic Greenbird with an unfriendly expression, as if it were contemplating whether it should kill this bird.


    Gu Yue glared at Goldsong, and warned, "Don''t even think about it."


    Goldsong turned to look at her with a rather dazed look in its eyes, and it then bowed its head as if in agreement and submission.


    Only then did a pleased smile appear on Gu Yue''s face.


    The Demonic Greenbird had sustained rather severe injuries, so it wasn''t going to be waking up anytime soon. On this occasion, Tang Wulin issued a very stern instruction to Gu Yue, telling her that she couldn''t stray further than 10 meters away from him before he sat down with his legs crossed to resume his meditation.


    His consciousness seeped into his own body as he inspected his two energy vortexes.


    His blood essence vortex had clearly shrunk significantly, and it was also rotating at an extremely slow rate. It was undoubtedly the case that he''d expended a vast amount of bloodline energy after undergoing the Divine Dragon Transformation. His soul power vortex was also in a similar state, but much to his surprise, his meridians seemed to have been widened slightly in the aftermath of the Divine Dragon Transformation state he''d just adopted. His meridians were quite resolute, so they weren''t damaged during this process.


    Was he finally gradually becoming more able to handle the power of the Divine Dragon Transformation now that he''d become more powerful himself? As he meditated, he recalled back to the feeling of when the Divine Dragon Transformation had been triggered.


    At the time, his heart was filled with nothing but fear. All he had on his mind was Gu Yue. He had wished with all his heart that he could die in her place, and after that, he managed to actively initiate the Divine Dragon Transformation for the first time.


    The power flowing toward him from Gu Yue''s body was far too immense, and his body was on the verge of bursting at the seams. However, right after he let loose that roar of pain, the injection of energy suddenly ceased. That was most likely due to an unconscious reaction from Gu Yue to cut off her flow of energy to him.


    If Gu Yue hadn''t suffered from memory loss, perhaps they''d be able to better control the Divine Dragon Transformation together and use this soul fusion skill to perfection.


    That feeling of power had been absolutely glorious. Even more importantly, only after experiencing that level of power could he gain a better understanding of it, and that would help him avoid a lot of mistakes in his future progression.


    On this occasion, he meditated for a long time, both to replenish the energy he''d expended, as well as to consolidate the observations he''d made.

 Chapter 887: What was a Soul Beast King?

    When Tang Wulin awakened from his meditation, he discovered Gu Yue sleeping soundly while using his leg as a pillow.


    A warm look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes at the sight of her sleeping face, and he gently stroked her long hair.


    Why do you look like Na''er now, Gu Yue? There''s no sign on your body to suggest that you''ve used any disguise techniques; what happened to you?


    They were currently most likely situated deep within the Star Dou Forest, and there was no way for him to treat her amnesia here. Only after leaving this place could he seek to remedy her condition.


    At this point, he could only take things one step at a time. The fall of Shrek City would''ve undoubtedly had an extremely severe impact on the entire continent, and even after he made it out of this forest, he would be under immense pressure as the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    He could clearly recall that prior to rising up into the air, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming had told him that he was the future hope of Shrek Academy. Shrek Academy had given him everything, and without the academy, he wouldn''t be who he was today. As such, it was undoubtedly his duty to rebuild and avenge Shrek Academy.


    He reflexively clenched his fists and forced himself not to think of all of those familiar faces from Shrek Academy.


    There was no point in wallowing in grief; he had to be strong.


    He didn''t know what condition his friends were currently in, but they were most likely fine seeing as Gu Yue had shielded him and his friends from most of the power of that soul missile''s explosion. With that in mind, Tang Wulin pulled his soul communicator out of his storage soul tool, but just as he''d expected, there was no signal here, so he couldn''t make any calls.


    He heaved a faint sigh and pulled out some dried rations to eat while Gu Yue continued to sleep on his leg.


    In the distance, the black soul ring that had risen up from the Crimson Fire Monkey King''s body had already disappeared as too much time had elapsed. This was undoubtedly a waste of a soul ring, but there was no way around it as neither he nor Gu Yue required a soul ring at the moment. In reality, if it weren''t for the fact that the Crimson Fire Monkey King had attacked them twice, he really didn''t want to kill it. There were barely any soul beasts left on the continent, and soul beasts as powerful as this one were even rarer.


    Right at this moment, the thought of the Demonic Greenbird suddenly sprang into his mind, and he immediately cast his gaze toward it.


    Goldsong was still wound tightly around the Demonic Greenbird''s body, and strangely enough, the wound on its body had already healed and been covered by a layer of feathers. It had already woken up at this point, and it was appraising Tang Wulin with its pair of ruby-like eyes. Despite the fact that Goldsong was wrapped around its body, it wasn''t struggling at all.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he scrutinized the Demonic Greenbird. In his opinion, it was best to kill this thing right away. Just its reputation alone was more than enough reason for him to put an end to its life.


    The Demonic Greenbird seemed to have sensed his malicious intent, and it reflexively recoiled. It glanced at Gu Yue, who was still sleeping on his leg, and it let loose a string of loud chirps.


    Gu Yue shuddered, and her long eyelashes fluttered as she opened her bleary eyes.


    "What is it, Little Green? I was having a really good nap; why did you call me?"


    "Chirp chirp chirp."


    Gu Yue sat up and turned to Tang Wulin as she pouted, and said, "Father, Little Green says you were being mean to it. Were you scaring it again?"


    Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. "You can understand what it''s saying?"


    Gu Yue nodded in response. "Yes! I''m Little Green''s master, so of course I can understand it."


    A skeptical look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Are you sure?"


    Gu Yue nodded again. "Of course. Look at this; Little Green, am I beautiful?"


    The Demonic Greenbird hurriedly nodded.


    Tang Wulin immediately burst into laughter. "What about me? Am I handsome?"


    The Demonic Greenbird gave him a vicious glare before turning its head away, and Tang Wulin was quite flabbergasted by just how humanized it was.


    "Hahahaha!" Gu Yue clapped her hands with elated laughter as she said, "Father, you can release it now; I promise that Little Green won''t hurt me."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly, and even though he was still rather concerned, he decided that it wouldn''t be too much of a risk to release the Demonic Greenbird seeing as he was right by Gu Yue''s side.


    "Release it, Goldsong."


    Goldsong did as it was told, and a streak of green light instantly flew upward as the Demonic Greenbird rose up into the air.


    Tang Wulin reflexively tried to grab it, but Gu Yue immediately stopped him. The Demonic Greenbird circled around in the air before spreading its wings and slowly descending. It intentionally slowed down during its descent before landing on Gu Yue''s shoulder and rubbing its head against hers in an extremely affectionate manner.


    Had it truly been tamed?


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had heard of a soul beast being tamed, especially when the soul beast in question was at least 10,000 years old like this one was. If it were truly willing to serve Gu Yue, then it would actually be quite a useful ally.


    The Demonic Greenbird seemed to be very obedient and had lost all of its vicious nature. It was standing quietly on Gu Yue''s shoulder and rubbing its head against her hair from time to time.


    Only then did Tang Wulin heave a sigh of relief. Goldsong returned to his side, and golden light flashed as it vanished into his body.


    "You''ll be called Little Green from now on," Gu Yue giggled as she stroked the Demonic Greenbird.


    Tang Wulin said in a mocking voice, "Look at its green body and red eyes; it looks like a vegetable and tomato salad! Why don''t you call it Salad instead?"


    "Chirp chirp!" The Demonic Greenbird immediately gave an enraged response.


    Gu Yue pouted, and said, "Little Green doesn''t like that name; I think Little Green is better."


    Tang Wulin aimed a cold glare at the Demonic Greenbird. "You better not try anything! Otherwise, hmph!"


    The Demonic Greenbird raised its head like a proud swan in response and refused to look at him.


    It didn''t feel any affection toward this man who had just hurt it not long ago.


    "Let''s go." Tang Wulin released his Bluesilver Emperor vines to communicate with the surrounding plants, and he continued onward while inspecting their surroundings along the way.


    He stopped after a short while, and said to Gu Yue, "Ask it which way we should go to leave this forest."


    Even though he was receiving guidance from the plants, a soul beast, especially a highly intelligent one like this Demonic Greenbird, clearly knew far more about this forest than all of the surrounding plants.


    Gu Yue turned to the Demonic Greenbird, and there seemed to be light flashing through her eyes, to which the bird gave a few chirps in response.


    Gu Yue nodded, and said, "You''ve decided on the correct direction, Father. However, Little Green says that there are even more fearsome beings outside the forest, but it seems to be referring to us humans."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. All of the signs and evidence suggested that this place was indeed the place that he thought it was. If that were true, then it would be very normal for the soul beasts here to be fearful toward humans. After all, humans were constantly invading their habitats.


    According to his knowledge, the entire core region of the Star Dou Forest was heavily guarded by soldiers in case the powerful soul beasts in the area decided to riot. These soldiers weren''t deployed here by the federation. Instead, they were from the Spirit Pagoda.


    On this continent, the main strength of Shrek Academy was its influence through its countless alumni that had taken on important roles in various important organizations. In contrast, the main strength of the Tang Sect lay in its wealth of resources and business connections, while the main strength of the Spirit Pagoda came from the control it exerted over the world of Soul Masters through its soul spirits and Spirit Ascension Planes.


    The Spirit Pagoda headquarters was situated outside of Shrek Academy, but it wasn''t far away from Shrek Academy. It was also quite close to the Star Dou Forest, and the core region of the forest had always been firmly under its control. No one knew what it was like in there, and an extremely heavy price had to be issued to the Spirit Pagoda if one wanted to be granted entry. It could be said that the Spirit Pagoda was essentially raising these powerful soul beasts in an enclosure.


    He didn''t know how he and Gu Yue had ended up here, but if they wanted to get out of this place, not only did they have to avoid the powerful soul beasts in here, they also had to bypass the barricades set up by the Spirit Pagoda.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but cast his gaze toward Gu Yue. She was the one who had taken him here, and she currently held quite a lofty status in the Spirit Pagoda, but her memories had been completely wiped clean, and she was like a blank canvas.


    It seemed that he had no choice but to get her and himself out of here using the infiltration methods he''d learned on the demonic island.


    As they traversed through the forest, Gu Yue continued to communicate with the Demonic Greenbird, and it gave them a lot of information. It revealed to Gu Yue that there were very few soul beasts left in the forest, so there were virtually no territorial conflicts as everyone had their own territories. As such, the chances of encountering soul beasts here weren''t very high. It and that Crimson Fire Monkey King were acquaintances, and neither of them could defeat the other, so there had also been a truce between them. The Crimson Fire Monkey King had told it that humans had entered its territory, and the two of them had tried to hunt down Tang Wulin and Gu Yue as prey.


    The Demonic Greenbird seemed to have reached a cultivation bottleneck and could only evolve through consuming the brains of a powerful being. It was just that all of the remaining soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest were very powerful, so it was difficult to hunt any of them down. Furthermore, the soul beast kings that controlled the forest strictly prohibited slaughter between the soul beasts here, and it didn''t dare to challenge their authority.


    "What are soul beast kings?" Tang Wulin asked in a curious manner.


    The Demonic Greenbird faltered slightly before shaking its head, and its entire body began to tremble with fear.

 Chapter 888: The Purple-haired Woman

    Gu Yue was also quite curious. "Don''t be scared, Little Green; tell us who the soul beast kings are!"


    The Demonic Greenbird looked up at her and blinked its ruby eyes, but on this occasion, it lowered its head and refused to say anything.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly felt a burst of invisible pressure surge toward him from all sides. His spiritual power, which was spreading through the area with the assistance of the surrounding plants, was instantly forced back into his body.


    Tang Wulin was very alarmed by this development, and he hurriedly rushed over to Gu Yue before latching onto her hand.


    The Demonic Greenbird raised its head, and a hint of horror appeared in its eyes as the sky suddenly darkened.


    The bright sunlight had vanished without a trace and was replaced by a vast expanse of darkness. Enormous pressure descended from the heavens, striking one with an indescribable sense of fear. What was even more unsettling to Tang Wulin was that all of the natural energies and energy particles in the air were quickly vanishing. To put it more accurately, they were fleeing the scene, and only darkness elements remained.


    A low roar sent tremors running through the entire forest.


    "Who dares to kill soul beasts here? Who has invaded the Star Dou Forest?" A voice echoed throughout the entire forest, and even though Tang Wulin was trying to communicate with the surrounding plants with all his mind, all of them had instinctively fallen silent.


    Tang Wulin''s heart had also completely sunk. Such a terrifying aura could only be coming from a soul beast that was over 100,000 years old. They were facing an unfathomably powerful enemy, and this was definitely the most powerful soul beast he''d ever encountered.


    The only one that could compare to it was the colossal octopus he''d encountered in the sea when traveling toward the Star Luo Empire.


    The sky turned completely inky-black in color with faint purple light flashing up above. The dense darkness elements in the surrounding area sent strange fluctuations surging through the air, and it was as if there were countless shrill howls of anguish erupting in all directions. The forest had been filled with life force energy just a moment ago, but all of a sudden, it was now resembling a ghostly realm.


    Everything around them became deathly silent, and not even any insects or birds could be heard.


    Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of asphyxiation, and both his soul power and blood essence power had virtually congealed in his body.


    He had always been aware of the fact that his current powers were completely insignificant in the face of truly powerful beings, but he didn''t want to resign himself to his fate.


    He wasn''t afraid of death, but he definitely didn''t want to die. There were too many things that he still had to do; he had to resurrect Shrek Academy!


    However, what could he do in the face of such a powerful enemy? Even if he were to unleash the Divine Dragon Transformation again, he most likely still wouldn''t be a match for this almighty being.


    Furthermore, they had just unleashed the Divine Dragon Transformation not along, so there was no way they could use it again.


    He turned to look at Gu Yue, and she also seemed to be very scared. Her face was quite pale as she hid behind him and gripped tightly onto his arm.


    Tang Wulin''s heart sank even further. Were they going to die here in this forest together?


    No! He couldn''t allow this to happen! He had to protect her even if it meant he had to shed every single drop of blood within his body.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s aura suddenly began to elevate. His unyielding will set his bloodline alight, and his congealed bloodline aura began to rise up once again. Even his soul power had been infused with renewed vitality, and a layer of golden light began to emanate from his body.


    "I won''t let anyone hurt you before I die!" Tang Wulin took a deep breath as he quickly donned his suit of one-word battle armor. He swept his right hand over his forehead, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp. His aura also began to elevate in a frenzy alongside his bloodline power.


    "Hmm?" A confused voice rang out in the distance.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin felt as if an extra path had opened up in the forest. The path was dark purple in color, and it was only barely visible.


    At the conclusion of the path, a figure slowly emerged from within the darkness. She had blackish-purple scales that covered her entire body like a suit of armor, and she was quite tall and slender with a voluptuous chest, as well as a pair of long legs. Above her chest were a pair of fair and delicate shoulders, and a deep cleavage. She had a head of long purple hair that fluttered beside her despite the absence of any apparent breeze, and her facial features were extremely beautiful and seductive. Her eyes were of a deep purple color, yet her lips had a glossy purple hue. On her forehead was an inky-black scale that was radiating layers of purple light, which were surging over the top of her head in a natural manner.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath at the sight of her. He had thought that he was perhaps dealing with a 100,000-year-old soul beast initially, but he was now certain that the being he was currently facing was over 200,000 years old. This was most definitely one of the beings that stood at the pinnacle of the world of soul beasts; this was a Great Beast!


    He had learned a lot about great beasts during his time at Shrek Academy, and he was very interested in them at the time, so he''d done some research of his own as well.


    After cultivating to 100,000 years old, that was basically the limit of a soul beast. If they wanted to continue to progress, then there were two options open to them, one of which was to be reborn as a human and cast aside their beastly forms. In doing so, they would gain access to the higher levels of intelligence and learning abilities available to humans, thereby granting them a chance to strive toward becoming a god. If they could go beyond the upper limit of this world, then they would become godly beings.


    Soul beasts couldn''t become gods; this seemed to be a set rule, and Gu Yue had once revealed this to him in her story.


    However, the vast majority of soul beasts refrained from taking this path. After all, even the most powerful human beings only lived for around 200 years. If they were to fail in their quest to become a god, then they would only live a fleeting life of less than 300 years before passing away.


    The other option for them was to break through their own limits. For most soul beasts, the 100,000-year bottleneck was something that was akin to a heavenly tribulation. After reaching 100,000 years of age, the heavenly tribulation would strike within 100 years, and if they couldn''t withstand it, then they would be destroyed both in body and soul.


    The soul beasts that were confident in their own bodies would all choose to take this path as a successful breakthrough would mean that they could live for another 100,000 years.


    Once a soul beast progressed through that bottleneck, their powers would be drastically enhanced, and they would become a Great Beast.


    If a 100,000-year-old soul beast were the equivalent of a Titled Douluo, then a Great Beast would be the equivalent of a Hyper Douluo. The more of these bottlenecks a Great Beast progressed through, the more powerful they''d become.


    There were even legends about Great Beasts that were over 1,000,000 years old. Those beasts would''ve had to break through 10 of those bottlenecks, and their powers would simply be unfathomable!


    Only Great Beasts could adopt human forms even without choosing to be reborn as a human.


    The woman standing before him was most definitely releasing the aura of a soul beast, yet she was able to adopt such a perfect human form, so she was definitely a Great Beast. She was most likely at least 200,000 years old, and that made her equivalent to a human Hyper Douluo.


    Even with his suit of one-word battle armor, Tang Wulin would only be comparable in power to a seven-ring Soul Sage; one without a martial soul true body, at that. No matter how much of a cultivation prodigy he was, there was no way he could contend with this being, even though he could sense that this seemed to be a dragon-type soul beast.


    The woman was slowly approaching them, and purple light was flowing off to both sides from within her eyes. The closer she came to Tang Wulin, the more pressure he fell under, and the more golden light he released from his body.


    He knew that this level of pressure was already approaching his tolerance limit, and only the unyielding will emanating from his bloodline still kept him on his feet.


    "A puny human like you dares to come to our Star Dou Forest to hunt for soul beasts? You sure are insolent!" As the purple-haired woman spoke, she stopped around 50 meters away from Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 889: The Bracelets Rainbow Light

    All of a sudden, her pupils contracted slightly, and a hint of confusion appeared on her face as if she''d seen something that was both shocking and perplexing to her.


    Tang Wulin brandished his Golden Dragon Spear, and said in a grim voice, "I had no intention of hunting for soul beasts here, and we don''t know how we ended up in here; we were already unconscious by the time we arrived in this forest. Not long after we woke up, the Crimson Fire Monkey King attacked us, and that was why we killed it."


    The purple-haired woman''s brows furrowed tightly, and she didn''t continue to speak, but the pressure erupting from her body had clearly lessened.


    Right at this moment, Gu Yue poked her head out from behind Tang Wulin and appraised the purple-haired woman with a curious look on her face.


    Their eyes met, and the woman immediately shuddered as an astonished look appeared on her face. She almost instinctively blurted out something, but she caught herself after taking in Gu Yue''s expression.


    "What are your names?" the woman asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "My name is Tang Wulin, and this is my girlfriend, Gu Yue. We bear no ill will, and I can offer you something of value if you''d let us leave."


    The woman appraised him with a contemplative look on her face, and her killing intent was clearly fading away, making it appear as if she''d truly been tempted by Tang Wulin''s offer.


    "What can you possibly have to offer me?" she asked as she mulled over the situation. It was extremely easy for her to kill Tang Wulin, but she had just identified who he was. Even more importantly, she had also caught sight of Gu Yue standing behind him, so the situation was rather complex.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, what could he possibly offer that could be of interest to a Great Beast like her? He had many types of uncommon metals and spirit items that were quite precious to him, but they most likely weren''t all that noteworthy in the eyes of a Great Beast that had lived in the Star Dou Forest for hundreds of thousands of years.


    All of a sudden, a thought occurred to him, and he asked, "Are you a dragon?"


    The purple-haired woman raised an eyebrow, and replied, "That''s right, I''m a Demonic Infernal Dragon."


    In reality, the woman standing before Tang Wulin was a Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch that had been ranked at ninth among the 10 Great Beasts since as far back as 10,000 years ago. She was ranked alongside the number one Great Beast, Gold-eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian, as the two great dragon monarchs.


    Her powers were far inferior to that of Beast God Di Tian, but she wasn''t inferior to him in the slightest when it came to the purity of her bloodline and her aptitude for growth. She was one of the rare purebred true dragons that remained among the current dragon clan, and that was why she''d been able to transcend her heavenly tribulation and become a Great Beast.


    Demonic Infernal Dragon?


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath as he instantly deduced who this woman was.


    100,000-year-old soul beasts were extremely rare already, and Great Beasts were naturally even rarer. This Demonic Infernal Dragon had to be one of the legendary 10 Great Beasts!


    With that in mind, he didn''t dare to delay any further in fear that she would change her mind. It was very important for him to survive, especially with Gu Yue here with him.


    He raised a hand and removed the bracelet on his wrist as he said, "I once stumbled upon the tomb of the dragon clan on another continent, and I obtained this necklace from there; perhaps it''ll be useful to you."


    The bracelet he had removed was none other than the one with the rainbow gemstone that he''d obtained at the dragon tomb. There was an extremely faint rainbow light emanating from the gem, and if one were to focus their attention on it, they''d discover that it was indeed emanating a dragon-type aura.


    The Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch raised an eyebrow before sweeping an arm toward Tang Wulin. A burst of gentle suction force appeared, drawing the bracelet directly toward her.


    The bracelet covered a distance of 50 meters in the blink of an eye before landing in her grasp. However, in the instant that her hand came into contact with it, an unexpected turn of events suddenly unfolded.


    The ordinary-looking rainbow gem suddenly began to glow brightly, and a burst of scintillating rainbow light erupted into the heavens.


    The inky-black world instantly took on a dazzling rainbow color, and it was as if countless giant dragons were letting loose thunderous roars in unison.


    "Argh!" The Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch let loose a howl of agony, and the bracelet immediately slipped out of her hand. Specks of rainbow light gradually began to converge up above, forming a massive rainbow projection. The projection was of the form of a dragon, and it was radiating an aura of peerless authority.


    Even the powerful Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch was instantly forced to the ground, and she was completely immobilized as she trembled uncontrollably, seemingly contending with some kind of overwhelming pressure.


    Tang Wulin was completely bemused by this turn of events as he couldn''t feel anything on his end. Everything was normal to him, except the pressure that was being exerted on him by the Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch had completely disappeared.


    He was feeling very comfortable as he basked under the rainbow light, and even Gu Yue had emerged from behind him to stand by his side. A dazed expression appeared on her face, and she seemed to be in deep thought about something.


    The rainbow gem expanded in mid-air, and in the next instant, it returned to Tang Wulin''s wrist as a streak of rainbow light.


    Tang Wulin could sense a burst of respectful intent coming from it, and it seemed to have some kind of special connection to him.


    Right at this moment, the sharp tip of the teardrop-shaped gem suddenly stabbed downward, piercing through the veins in his wrist. A stream of blood immediately flowed out and fused as one with the rainbow gem.


    All of a sudden, an enormous burst of will surged into his mind, and he let loose a muffled groan before he completely blacked out.


    "Father!" Gu Yue''s alarmed voice was the last thing he heard.


    In the distance, the Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch trembled for several minutes straight, and the tremors running through her body only gradually subsided as the rainbow light vanished.


    She sat on the ground and gasped for air as she looked on at Tang Wulin with bewilderment and astonishment in her eyes. At this moment, Tang Wulin had already collapsed to the ground, but his entire body was enshrouded under a layer of rainbow light.


    What was that? The blessings of the Dragon God? She clearly sensed the aura of the Dragon God, but that most definitely wasn''t the real Dragon God. Instead, it was a portion of the Dragon God''s will. As a purebred true dragon, she revered the Dragon God, as did all purebred true dragons. The Dragon God was their faith, and after they reached a certain level in their cultivation, they''d be able to borrow the power of the Dragon God.


    However, the will of the Dragon God just then seemed to have been borrowed by the power of faith. After all, all dragons knew that the Dragon God no longer existed, but faith in the Dragon God hadn''t disappeared. However, this faith was at least over 100 times stronger than the faith in the Demonic Infernal Dragon''s Heart!


    Only when the dragon clan was in its absolute heyday would it have been possible for such a strong will of the Dragon God to descend. How was this possible? How could this type of will appear on a human? Even their lord wasn''t capable of this!


    Despite her astonishment, she couldn''t help but cast her gaze toward Gu Yue.


    At this moment, Gu Yue was in a complete panic, desperately calling out for the unconscious Tang Wulin.


    "Father? What the hell?" The Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch was completely flabbergasted by what she was seeing.


    She clambered to her feet and quickly made her way over to Gu Yue and Tang Wulin, but she didn''t dare to get too close due to the rainbow light being released by Tang Wulin''s body.


    "M, my Lord..." she called out in a gentle voice.


    Gu Yue reflexively raised her head, and her eyes were filled with tears. "You''re a bad person! Why did you hurt my father? I hate you..."


    "Wha..." The Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch was even more dumbstruck now. She couldn''t believe what was unfolding before her eyes.


    Was this still the same almighty being whom she revered as her lord?


    No, there had to be something wrong here!


    With that in mind, she didn''t dare to delay any further. She instantly rose up into the air before vanishing into the distance as a streak of purple light. This was no longer something she could take care of on her own.


    The sky brightened once again, and sunlight shone down onto the earth. The vitality of the forest returned, and normalcy resumed as rich life force energy surged through the air again.


    Tang Wulin''s body was still basked in the rainbow light, and he was in a very complete state of unconsciousness. However, there were no changes taking place in his body; it was as if he''d merely fallen asleep.


    Not long after that, one figure after another silently approached. There were four of them in total, and one of them was none other than the Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch that had just left not long ago. Aside from her, one woman and two men had also arrived on the scene.


    The woman was also extremely beautiful, and her long green dress perfectly complemented the rich life force energy emanating from her body. Just the sight of her would evoke within one a sense of intimacy.


    Among the two men, one was a handsome young man giving off a sinister aura, while the other was a middle-aged man who had an extremely heavy disposition.

 Chapter 890: Dream

    Among the four of them, the middle-aged man was clearly their leader. He had a head of long black hair with a strip of golden hair that trailed down in front of his cheek, and as soon as he appeared, the surrounding forest naturally fell silent. It wasn''t that the creatures here were being intimidated by him; they were simply compelled to fall silent in his presence.


    "My Lord," the middle-aged man immediately called out in a respectful voice at the sight of Gu Yue.


    Gu Yue raised her head, and there was a hint of fear in her eyes. "Wh, who are you? Don''t hurt my father!"


    All four of them were rooted to the spot, and they didn''t know whether they should laugh or cry.


    The handsome young man turned to the middle-aged man, and asked, "What''s going on here, Boss? Our Lord..."


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was already in an unconscious state, and Gu Yue clearly wasn''t just putting on an act.


    The middle-aged man made his way over to Gu Yue, and the latter immediately ducked her head in a frightened manner. She then pounced onto Tang Wulin to shield him with her own body.


    Thus, Gu Yue also entered that rainbow light, and as soon as the middle-aged man''s hand came into contact with that light, his entire body shuddered violently. He was immediately forced to stumble back several steps as an astonished look appeared on his face.


    His three companions were also stunned beyond belief. They knew exactly how powerful this middle-aged man was, yet even he was being forced back by this seemingly gentle rainbow light. Just what was this light?


    "It really is the will of the Dragon God," the middle-aged man''s brows were tightly furrowed as he mused, "But why has the will of the Dragon God descended upon him? He may have the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King within his body, but he''s still a human, and he definitely isn''t a reincarnated soul beast. It''s already very strange for him to possess this Golden Dragon King bloodline; where did this will of the Dragon God come from?"


    The purple-haired woman also had a wry smile on her face. "This is the most powerful will of the Dragon God I''ve ever seen. What do we do, Di Tian?"


    That''s right, the middle-aged man standing before her was none other than the Gold-eyed Black Dragon King, Di Tian. This was the man who was widely renowned as the Beast God and the leader of the 10 Great Beasts.


    Di Tian''s eyes narrowed slightly as he turned to the young man. "Yao Ling, get our Lord out of there so I can examine her condition."


    The young man was clearly taken aback by this request. "How can I possibly do something that even you failed at, Boss?"


    Di Tian explained, "This will of the Dragon God only has a powerful intimidation effect on dragons like us. You don''t possess any dragon bloodline, so you won''t be affected. However, as long as we''re here, you can''t hurt him. Otherwise, the will of the Dragon God will force us to protect him."


    The young man became even more surprised. "This will of the Dragon God sounds really intriguing! I haven''t seen something this interesting in a very long time. Should I take him away from you guys and kill him, Boss? After we kill him, our Lord could recover the might of the Dragon God."


    A wry smile appeared on Di Tian''s face. "That''s something for our Lord to decide. Now that he has the will of the Dragon God in his body, the decision is going to be even harder to make. Perhaps our Lord was the one who arranged for the will of the Dragon God to be installed in his body in the first place."


    The young man quickly made his way over to Di Tian before reaching out toward Gu Yue. A layer of faint azure light immediately appeared around her body, and the light was very gentle, but she was completely unable to resist its power as she was drawn away from Tang Wulin.


    She struggled with all her might, but the azure light remained firm and unyielding.


    Di Tian reached out and pressed a hand onto Gu Yue''s forehead. There was gently light shimmering from his fingertips.


    Gu Yue''s eyes instantly became glazed over, yet in response to the energy emanating from Di Tian''s palm, a layer of faint silver scales also appeared all over her body.


    Moments later, Di Tian withdrew his hand and heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Our Lord is fine. She seems to have suffered some kind of spiritual damage from a certain heavy impact, and that has jumbled up her memories. With our Lord''s immense self-regenerative powers, even without any external assistance, she''ll return to normal very soon. In the words of humans, she''s suffering from temporary amnesia."


    His three companions immediately heaved sighs of relief as well. A smile appeared on the Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch''s face, and she said, "I see. I almost had a heart attack when our Lord called that man father! What should we do now, Di Tian?"


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Di Tian replied, "This matter is not something that we can take care of; only our Lord will be able to take care of this. With her powers, there''s no way she could''ve sustained any substantial injuries. After she recovers her memories, everything will cease to be an issue. This human is called Tang Wulin, and we''ll have to keep observing him. The fact that the will of the Dragon God has appeared in his body should have something to do with our Lord.


    "I''m beginning to understand why our Lord has refrained from killing him now; she''s most likely trying to nurture the will of the Dragon God within his body. With this power of faith, there will be a far greater chance for our Lord to awaken the Dragon God after she integrates the Golden Dragon King''s power. When that time comes, we''ll be able to construct a Divine Realm that belongs to us soul beasts on this Douluo Continent, and we won''t have to live in constant fear of humans anymore!"


    Frenetic expressions appeared in the eyes of all of the other Great Beasts present upon hearing this, and all of them unconsciously clenched their fists.


    The four of them silently departed, and the azure light around Gu Yue''s body also faded. Only now did the Demonic Greenbird dare to poke its head out of Gu Yue''s silver hair and look on at the four departing figures with fear in its eyes.


    Tang Wulin was dreaming throughout this entire process.


    He dreamed of a colossal island with no end in sight. Giant dragons flew in the air overhead, and all of them were of different shapes and sizes with scales of different colors on their bodies.


    On the ground below, the gargantuan Mountain Dragon King descended into the ocean to form land. In the air above, the holy giant dragon raised its head and roared to the heavens in a show of power and intimidation.


    Within the sea, water dragons were constantly repeating the process of flying into the air before diving back into the water, creating massive splashes in the process.


    Everything was forced to bow in subordination in the face of the true dragons. This was a true paradise for the dragon clan.


    After an indeterminate period of time had passed, heaven and earth suddenly turned red, and one gargantuan fireball after another fell from the sky, landing in the ocean and onto the earth.


    A series of giant dragons rose up into the air, using their colossal bodies to stop the descending fireballs.


    The fireballs exploded, bringing countless disasters to the world. The forests were set alight, the rivers and lakes ran dry, and the land was severely ravaged. The entire world seemed to be constantly disintegrating in the face of these countless fireballs.


    One giant dragon after another shielded the world from those fireballs with their bodies, protecting this world with all their might.


    Their bodies fell from the sky, and in the moments prior to their deaths, all of them raised their heads and let loose howls of anguish as if they were calling a name.


    Rainbow light descended as a massive yet illusionary rainbow dragon appeared in the air. Most of the fireballs were kept at bay by this rainbow dragon, and the doomsday-like disaster was finally just barely averted.


    However, the dragon clan had been completely crushed. Reproduction was very difficult for the dragon clan, and the loss of so many true dragons was definitely a fatal blow.


    Countless giant dragon carcasses littered the landscape, and dragon blood flowed like rivers.


    The other races that were being protected by the dragon clan began to mutate as they immersed themselves in the dragon blood, and they began to develop powers of their own.


    Were these the first soul beasts? Was this the origin story of soul beasts?


    In the air above, the giant rainbow dragon projection abruptly flapped its wings, and the entire heavens tremored as a gargantuan rift appeared. Enormous suction force erupted from within the rift, carrying countless dragon carcasses into the air before drawing them into the rift.


    Most of the dragons in this world had disappeared. There were very few true dragons that remained, and all of them were severely wounded.


    The rift in the sky slowly sealed, and the rainbow projection also vanished into the rift.


    The image then transformed into the dragon tomb that Tang Wulin had visited once before.


    Within the massive tomb were countless dragon carcasses.


    As time passed, their flesh gradually rotted away until they were reduced to nothing more than skeletons. A peerlessly bleak and melancholy aura permeated through the tomb as countless dragon skeletons were left out in the open as if they were trash in a landfill.


    The rainbow projection was situated at the direct center of the dragon tomb, and its entire body was shimmering as light slowly surged toward it from the dragon skeletons around it.

 Chapter 891: Reward for Burying Dragons

    Everything became blurry, and Tang Wulin tried to reach out to grab onto the scenes before his eyes, but there was nothing for him to latch onto.


    "Argh!" A loud cry rang out as Tang Wulin sat bolt upright, giving Gu Yue a massive fright in the process.


    "Father! Father!" Gu Yue hurriedly grabbed onto his hand.


    Tang Wulin panted heavily as he quickly inspected his surroundings.


    They were still in the same forest, but the Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch had already disappeared.


    After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, he gradually regained his composure, and he was able to immediately deduce that he and Gu Yue were most likely only still alive due to the rainbow light that his bracelet had released.


    It seemed that the Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch had been scared off by that rainbow light.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin hurriedly looked down at his wrist to find that the bracelet was still there, and it seemed to have completely returned to normal.


    However, for some reason, Tang Wulin felt as if he had forged a special connection with it. He couldn''t quite put his finger on what this connection was, but he was definitely getting a different feeling from it than he had in the past.


    "Thank you, thank you for saving me and Gu Yue," Tang Wulin said in a heartfelt manner. He knew that this was the reciprocation from all of the dragon skeletons in the dragon tomb.


    During his 1,000-day dragon burial endeavor, he never had the intention of receiving any type of reward, but the dragon clan had given him such a precious gift. Even now, he still didn''t know what this gem represented.


    Without the pressure from the Great Beast, the rest of their journey should be quite smooth. Tang Wulin turned to the concerned Gu Yue and squeezed her hand in reassurance. "I''m fine; don''t worry about me. Let''s keep going."


    Gu Yue nodded in response. "I was so scared! A few more people just came, and they left after saying some strange things that I don''t understand."


    A few more people? Tang Wulin was the one to be given a huge fright this time. A few more people had appeared here? Were they all Great Beasts?


    Those Great Beasts couldn''t all be dragons, and his bracelet''s intimidation most likely didn''t have much of an effect on any beings other than dragons. As such it was nothing short of a miracle that they''d survived that ordeal.


    "We have to get out of this forest as quickly as possible; it''s too dangerous here." Tang Wulin allowed Gu Yue to climb onto his back as he spoke, and after ascertaining the correct direction they should be going in, he charged onward full speed ahead.


    With the guidance of his Bluesilver Emperor vines, he was able to traverse through the complex terrain of the forest extremely quickly.


    Much to his surprise, they didn''t encounter any other soul beasts along the way. No soul beasts appeared to attack them during the span of two days, making it seem as if this were an ordinary forest that was completely devoid of soul beasts.


    Tang Wulin was rather perplexed. Was this really the core region of the Star Dou Forest? But after taking a glance at the Demonic Greenbird on Gu Yue''s shoulder, he could confirm that this wasn''t a dream; they really were in the Star Dou Forest.


    All of a sudden, a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart, and he gradually slowed down. Through the assistance of the surrounding plants, he could detect that the conclusion of the forest lay in the distance up ahead.


    Tang Wulin was greeted by an extremely astonishing sight at the conclusion of the forest; it was a metal embankment.


    There was a metal embankment that was over 300 meters tall surrounding the Star Dou Forest. The embankment was far taller than even the tallest trees here, and as his gaze traveled up the embankment, Tang Wulin discovered that there was a virtually transparent light barrier in the air around a kilometer above the forest.


    The first thought that sprang to Tang Wulin''s mind was that this was a cage.


    The core region of the Star Dou Forest was the habitat for the most powerful soul beasts, yet it had now already become a gigantic cage.


    No one knew the true situation here as this had already become a restricted zone that belonged to the Spirit Pagoda.


    An indescribable sense of sorrow welled up in his heart. The final safe haven of the soul beasts had already been reduced to nothing more than a cage by the Spirit Pagoda.


    He had taken history lessons, and the historical records stated that when Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao founded the Spirit Pagoda, his objective was for humans and soul beasts to coexist in peace and harmony!


    However, the truth was far from the utopia he''d envisioned. Human soul technology had advanced far too quickly, and with the invention of battle armor, the most powerful beings of the human race could completely overpower even the most fearsome soul beasts. Even the human race itself had suffered from the fearsome destructive power of its own cutting-edge technology.


    Soul Masters were once the most revered and regal beings on the entire continent.


    Back in the wars of the distant past, the side that had the most powerful Soul Masters had virtually won half the battle.


    As soul technology progressed, the individual powers of Soul Masters were beginning to become less and less significant. The tragic disaster that Shrek Academy had just been struck by was a perfect example of this.


    The academy had so many Titled Douluos, Hyper Douluos, and even the most powerful Limit Douluo in the world. 10,000 years ago, the title of Infallible Shrek would''ve been an absolute truth; no one could bring about the downfall of Shrek Academy with such a fearsome array of powerful beings among its ranks! However, two 12-grade soul missiles had been enough to lay waste to the entire academy and most of the surrounding Shrek City.


    Even after being enhanced by his suit of four-word battle armor and the power of the Golden Tree, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming had been unable to completely stop that devastating attack.


    Humans had already become so fearsome; how could soul beasts not be forced to the brink of extinction.


    Tang Wulin was feeling quite lost. He suddenly didn''t know why he was working so hard to cultivate. Was he growing stronger so he could possess more destructive power? Of course not! He didn''t want to destroy anything.


    Back when he was a small child, he''d cultivated in order to better his family''s living conditions, and to fulfill his dream of becoming a mecha pilot.


    His parents disappeared, and he continued to cultivate so he could find his family one day.


    But what were all of his efforts leading to now? Could he and his friends really bring about the resurgence of Shrek Academy? Even if they could, who was to say that it wouldn''t be destroyed by modern technology again?


    Tang Wulin was overcome by a myriad of complex emotions and was left questioning everything.


    "What''s wrong, Father?" Gu Yue asked in a concerned and confused manner.


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a wry smile on his face. "It''s nothing, I''m just suddenly feeling a bit lost. It''s like I''ve lost my sense of purpose and don''t know where to go from here."


    Gu Yue blinked in a confused manner. "I don''t understand. Wherever Father is is where I will be."


    Tang Wulin''s body shuddered upon hearing this. Those were such simple words, yet they evoked within him an indescribable epiphany.


    She was right! Did the final outcome really matter? At the very least, he had to strive toward his goals and shoulder the responsibilities before him. Even if he couldn''t achieve his final objective, what did that matter? At the very least, he still had her and everyone else by his side.


    Tang Wulin lowered Gu Yue down from his back before turning around and encircling his arms around her in a tight embrace.


    Gu Yue''s delicate body was soft and supple, and he felt as if he were holding the entire world in his arms.


    He inhaled her familiar scent, and all of his exhaustion, pain, loss, and grief were transformed into scorching battle intent.


    Gu Yue lay in his arms in an obedient manner with a blissful look on her face. Her arms were also encircled around his waist, and she murmured, "Father..."


    "Don''t call me father; call me Wulin."


    "Wulin..."


    Night fell, and stars began to appear in the sky. These stars were only visible when looked at from certain angles due to the faint light barrier overhead.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue sat deep within the forest, gazing up at the sky through the gaps in the tree branches up above. Tang Wulin wasn''t contemplating escaping this place by breaking through the light barrier.


    Even the Great Beasts here were clearly unable to accomplish that, so why would he be any different?


    Thus, the question of how they were going to get out of here arose.


    If they couldn''t escape this place by force, then he''d have to devise a cunning strategy.


    He wasn''t in a rush to spring into action as it was undoubtedly the case that this embankment had to have extremely fearsome defensive properties. At the very least, it definitely wasn''t something a puny five-ring Soul King like him could break through.


    However, he firmly believed that there would be a way for them to make it out of here.


    During the past few days, he had calmed down, and thinking back to the destruction of Shrek City, he had drawn to a few conclusions.


    He couldn''t reveal his identity and hope to be allowed to leave as he no longer trusted the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Spirit Pagoda headquarters was so close to Shrek City, yet neither of the two Godslayer missiles struck them; both of them were directed toward Shrek City and the Tang Sect instead.


    With the power and influence of Shrek Academy, it made sense that this was the first choice for the Holy Spirit Cult to attack. However, between the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda, the latter was undoubtedly more powerful, at least on the Douluo Continent, so why had the Tang Sect headquarters been attacked instead?

 Chapter 892: Star Dou Fortress

    Who would benefit the most from the destruction of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect? It definitely wouldn''t be the general public, nor all of the Soul Masters.


    As such, Tang Wulin didn''t dare to trust the Spirit Pagoda, and he was even more reluctant to reveal his identity as it was simply far too sensitive.


    He was the leader of the current generation of Shrek''s Seven Monsters; if the Holy Spirit Cult were to be made aware of the fact that he was still alive, he''d definitely become one of the top targets on their hit list.


    As such, if he wanted to survive, then he had to do everything in his power to protect himself.


    However, the embankment was virtually completely impregnable; how were they supposed to escape from this place? This was undoubtedly going to be far more difficult than infiltrating the Northsea Legion base.


    If they couldn''t bypass the light barrier in the air, then perhaps they could go underground? The thought only occurred to Tang Wulin for a brief moment before he discarded it. There was no lack of soul beasts that were able to plow deep into the ground, so the Spirit Pagoda had to have defensive measures in place for that as well.


    There really seemed to be no way to get out of this place.


    Gu Yue was resting against Tang Wulin''s body without a care in the world.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Gu Yue, can you show me your storage bracelet for a moment?"


    There was an intricate silver bracelet on her wrist, embedded upon which was a transparent gem. It was undoubtedly the case that a soul array of an extremely high caliber had to have been carved into the gem.


    Gu Yue extended her wrist toward him as requested.


    Tang Wulin''s heart suddenly clenched up at the sight of her hand. Ever since they''d confirmed their relationship as lovers during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, he''d never even given her a present.


    He pulled out a piece of metal from his own storage ring. This was a silver-white piece of metal that was gently pulsating in a rhythmic manner as if it were a living being.


    Tang Wulin pinched the piece of metal with his right hand, and a startling scene unfolded; he managed to pluck off a portion of the piece as if it were soft clay.


    His right golden dragon claws sprang forth, and after some careful carving, a silver ring soon appeared in his hand.


    He placed the ring onto the middle finger of Gu Yue''s left hand with a smile on his face. "The middle finger represents passion and love. This is the first piece of soul refined metal that I''ve forged, so it holds significant meaning to me. There are no arrays carved into it, but it represents my love for you. Do you like it, Gu Yue?"


    There were no special patterns on the ring aside from a pair of interlocked hearts.


    Tang Wulin was a brilliant blacksmith, but his carving skills were quite ordinary. The only thing of value he had in his possession was this piece of soul refined metal, but it didn''t have any arrays carved into it, so it was only more resolute than normal metals and also had self-regenerative abilities.


    However, Tang Wulin''s eyes were filled with a gentle light as he appraised the ring.


    Gu Yue had given him that silver dragon scale as a token of her love, and he was now giving her this ring in return.


    "Thank you, Father. Oh, I meant Wulin." Gu Yue looked at the ring on her middle finger with a genuine smile on her face.


    Tang Wulin latched onto her hand, and said, "You''ll be the only person that I ever give rings to, and you''ll be the only woman in my heart for the rest of my life."


    "Yay!" Gu Yue clapped her hands together with elation.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. The current Gu Yue was just like an innocent little girl.


    Only now did he remove the storage bracelet from Gu Yue''s wrist. There were many things in this bracelet, including some containers holding unknown substances, as well as some metals that already had arrays carved onto them. There were also some devices and apparatus in there, many of which Tang Wulin didn''t even recognize.


    After rummaging through the bracelet for a while, he finally found a few items that appeared to be identification cards or badges.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t very familiar with the internal structure of the Spirit Pagoda, but with Gu Yue''s lofty status in the organization, she would most likely be permitted to enter and exit this place. Otherwise, how had they ended up here in the first place?


    Tang Wulin returned the bracelet to Gu Yue before applying a disguise to himself.


    They couldn''t delay here for any longer. Gu Yue was suffering from amnesia, so they had to get out of here as quickly as possible in order to seek treatment for her.


    However, in her current state, she would have to be taught a few things before he set his plan into motion.


    Two days later, at the Spirit Pagoda''s Star Dou Fortress.


    The fortress had stood for 3,000 years thus far. Roughly 3,000 years ago, the Great Beasts in the core region of the Star Dou Forest suffered a heavy defeat in a battle, and the Spirit Pagoda took advantage of that opportunity to construct this fortress. At the same time, they made an agreement with the Great Beasts; humans would no longer continue to engage in deforestation, and the Great Beasts could continue to live in this area.


    If they were to force their way through this fortress, then humans would have the right to kill them. Likewise, if humans were to enter this region, then the Great Beasts would also be able to kill them.


    This appeared to be an equal agreement, but after the Star Dou Fortress was erected, the core region of the Star Dou Forest had become a true prison.


    All of the soul beasts here had essentially been trapped in this enclosure, but the Spirit Pagoda could sell tickets to other people to enter this place at high prices. Those entrants had to accept the possibility that they could die here, but only the high-grade soul beasts in this place could grant Soul Masters with the best soul rings.


    When the Great Beasts realized what was happening and tried to revoke the agreement, it was already too late; they were no longer a match for the human race.


    With powerful soul missiles, mecha legions, and top-grade battle armor masters surrounding this place, the Great Beasts were unable to escape, and they could only resign themselves to being confined in this forest.


    However, the Spirit Pagoda didn''t go any further than that. After creating this artificial enclosure, they didn''t disrupt the daily lives of the soul beasts in the forest. All they did was occasionally allow some people to enter this area. As for whether those people would be able to leave this place alive, that was quite hard to say. The Spirit Pagoda did offer a service where powerful beings could be deployed to accompany the entrants to this place, but that was obviously an extremely expensive service.


    The Spirit Pagoda had received approval from the federation for everything that they were doing here, and the reason for this was very simple; through this arrangement, the soul beasts would no longer pose any threat to the human race, and they would be firmly controlled by humans.


    In the main control tower of the Star Dou Fortress, a woman wearing a uniform was holding a communicator, and she asked, "How''s everything going on your end, Monkey?"


    "Everything''s normal on my end, Sister Xing; all of the protective barrier''s pressure valves are returning normal figures," a rather sharp and piercing male voice replied.


    "Roger."


    Sister Xing was one of the supervisors of the control tower, and she was responsible for ensuring that all of the equipment here was functioning as they should. She had to complete routine checks every day in order to ensure that everything was running smoothly.


    During the past 3,000 years, the Star Dou Fortress''s protective barrier was constantly being bolstered. Even if the legendary Beast God Di Tian wanted to force his way out, he''d have to attack the barrier with all his might for several hours straight. That was more than enough time for the Spirit Pagoda to deploy more powerful beings to the scene.


    Sister Xing stretched lazily, and a relaxed look appeared on her face. Everything was running smoothly, and she could enjoy another leisurely workday.


    The Star Dou Fortress was completely isolated, just like a military base, but there were all types of recreational facilities in here, so the employees were never bored. Last night, she had drunk a lot at a pub, but as a professional technical consultant, she made sure that nothing she did the day before affected her work the next day.


    "Beep beep!" Right at this moment, her communicator suddenly began to beep.


    "Hmm?" Sister Xing hurriedly turned her attention to the communicator''s screen.


    "What''s going on?" she hurriedly asked.


    "Reporting to the control tower; Reserve Spirit Envoy Gu Yuena is requesting to return from the forest, and Spirit Envoy Xu Shengqun is also accompanying her."


    Sister Xing replied, "You may grant them access after verifying their identities."


    "Yes!"


    Sister Xing cut off the call and grumbled to herself, "These spirit envoys are always using their special rights to teleport into this place. They should really notify us beforehand."


    "Beep beep!"


    "What now?" Sister Xing accepted the call in a grumpy manner. All she wanted to do was to go back and take a nap.

 Chapter 893: Entering the Fortress

    "Master Xu Shengqun isn''t carrying his identification badge, but Mistress Gu Yuena has all of her identification documents; how should we proceed?"


    Sister Xing faltered slightly upon hearing this. "He doesn''t have his identification badge? Why not?"


    "Master Xu Shengqun says that he forgot to bring it..."


    Sister Xing''s heart stirred upon hearing this, and she said in a slightly grim voice, "How could he possibly have forgotten his identification badge? Take them to the observation room, then get the inspection team to verify his identity."


    "Yes."


    The massive metal gate up ahead was slowly opened, and Tang Wulin and Gu Yue walked through it side by side. At this point, he had already adopted Xu Shengqun''s appearance, and he wore a serious look on his face. Through the use of his soul power and bloodline power, even his figure had been altered to resemble that of Xu Shengqun, and he had changed into an ordinary long robe. Gu Yue was following along behind him, putting on an extremely respectful display.


    "Master Xu Shengqun, due to the fact that you don''t have your identification documents, we''ll have to get the inspection team to verify your identity; please come with me to the observation room. Mistress Gu Yuena, your identity has been verified, so you''ll be granted passage as normal."


    Gu Yuena? Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this, and he reflexively turned toward Gu Yue. Why were they referring to her as Gu Yuena?


    In the past, he naturally wouldn''t have thought much of this. After all, a name was nothing more than a title for someone to be referred to as, but the situation was different now as Gu Yue currently bore Na''er''s appearance!


    Despite the astonishment in his heart, his expression remained completely calm and placid. After all, his top priority at the moment was to get out of this fortress.


    "That''s alright, I''ll accompany Master Xu Shengqun during this identity verification process," Gu Yue replied in an aloof manner.


    At this moment, what appeared to be a square metal box emerged from an opening on the wall up ahead, and there were a few flashing lights on the device.


    "Please come with me."


    The box then traveled on ahead, and after a metal door was opened, it led them down a metal passageway.


    Without the assistance of plants here, Tang Wulin could only try to detect his surroundings using his spiritual power. However, he quickly discovered that those efforts were completely futile as the surrounding metal walls were all over two feet thick, and there was some soul energy injected into those walls to further fortify them. Even a Titled Douluo wouldn''t be able to force their way out of this place, let alone a Soul King like him.


    The fortress had powerful defenses; it was going to be very difficult to get out of this place without being exposed!


    They followed the metal box down the passageway, then passed through a heavy metal door and arrived in an isolated metal room. There were powerful soul weapons situated in each corner pointing directly toward the center of the room.


    This was most likely the so-called observation room.


    Tang Wulin sat down in the chair in a completely relaxed and placid manner while Gu Yue stood behind him with her usual cold expression on her face.


    Tang Wulin had expended a lot of effort the day before to get her to maintain this stoic demeanor.


    Not long after that, the wall up ahead parted, and a few figures strode in from outside. All of them were armed to the teeth with soul weapons in their hands, and the soul weapons in the corners of the room also instantly lit up before pointing themselves directly at Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. It was undoubtedly the case that he would be attacked from all sides as soon as he tried to do anything rash.


    The leader of the group appeared to be in his forties, and he stepped forward with a cold expression as he asked, "Spirit Envoy Xu Shengqun, why aren''t you carrying your identification badge?"


    "I forgot it," Tang Wulin replied in a calm voice.


    The inspector wore a serious expression as he said, "As a high-ranking member of the Spirit Pagoda, you''ll receive a punishment for this breach of the rules, are you aware of that?"


    "I am." Tang Wulin was emulating Xu Shengqun''s voice to perfection.


    The inspector said, "We''ll now be verifying your identity; please cooperate with us while we conduct fingerprint and iris scans."


    Another inspector strode over to them with the relevant devices.


    Back when Tang Wulin had been taking infiltration lessons from the old demons, he had learned that in order to complete a perfect infiltration, the first prerequisite was to have a plan that had at least a 60% chance of success. During the infiltration process, this plan would be further honed through observations and adjustments in order to raise the probability of success.


    However, in this current situation, further observations wouldn''t help him in the slightest here as it was already impossible to raise the probability of success.


    Tang Wulin rose to his feet, looking as if he were going to complete the fingerprint and iris scans, but in the next instant, he encircled an arm around Gu Yue''s waist like lightning. At the same time, his body hurtled backward, and his other hand had already locked around Gu Yue''s throat.


    The soul weapons in the room immediately reacted, blasting countless lasers toward Tang Wulin.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin positioned Gu Yue''s body in front of his, using her as a meat shield as he backed away. At the same time, a layer of yellow light instantly spread to encompass Gu Yue''s body.


    The lasers struck the yellow light, only to be instantly repelled, and Tang Wulin dragged Gu Yue over to a corner. In this position, he wouldn''t have to worry about being attacked from all four sides.


    "Stop attacking or I''ll kill her!" Tang Wulin''s frosty voice rang out, and all of the attacks were instantly ceased.


    The inspectors present were all very startled by this turn of events. It was the first time they''d ever encountered a situation like this, and in order to make the act even more convincing, Gu Yue immediately put on a surprised and fearful expression.


    That''s right, Gu Yue was Tang Wulin''s final trump card. It was undoubtedly the case that she already held a very lofty status in the Spirit Pagoda, and her teacher was one of the Spirit Pagoda''s vice-chairmen. As such, there was a chance that the Spirit Pagoda would grant him passage if he were to threaten them with her life. The probability of this succeeding was most likely still less than 60% percent, but with Gu Yue''s full cooperation, there was a decent chance that he could pull this off.


    In this situation, Tang Wulin didn''t have any choice but to resort to this anyway. The yellow light that had just protected Gu Yue came from his Mountain Dragon King torso bone. In order to conceal his own identity, he was going to refrain from using his martial soul and battle armor unless the situation absolutely demanded it.


    "Who are you? You''re not Master Xu Shengqun!" the leader of the inspection team yelled.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly, "Of course not, but I''m sure that you''ve already verified that this woman is an important member of your Spirit Pagoda. Let me leave this place or I''ll kill her; I wouldn''t mind dying with such a fine beauty in accompaniment. I''ll give you five minutes to open the door and let me out of here."


    The inspector said in a cold voice, "It''s no use; you won''t be able to escape from this place. Release the Reserve Spirit Envoy right now and you''ll still have a chance of being spared."


    Reserve Spirit Envoy? Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this. He hadn''t actually been aware of Gu Yue''s position in the Spirit Pagoda prior to this.


    He knew that in the Spirit Pagoda, the four Spirit Envoys were the most powerful beings aside from the chairman and the two vice-chairmen. He didn''t think that Gu Yue would''ve already become a Reserve Spirit Envoy at such a young age. Even though this "reserve" status was most likely going to stay with her for a long time to come, this was still sufficient testament to how important she was to the Spirit Pagoda. This factor most definitely weighed in Tang Wulin''s favor.


    He continued to maintain the defensive soul skill of his Mountain Dragon King soul bone while approaching the inspectors with Gu Yue held as hostage.


    "Quit the chit-chat! Open the door or I''ll kill her!"


    Loud sirens were already blaring throughout the entire Star Dou Fortress.


    Sister Xing was just about to go back for a nap, but she also heard the sirens and naturally had no choice but to react to the situation. All types of internal defensive devices were being activated, and a series of figures were being presented to her by various types of analytical devices.


    "According to the figures, the protective barrier around the enemy has a strength quotient of 1,615. Normal lasers won''t be able to break through it, and only powerful soul cannons will be effective against it, but attacks of that level would undoubtedly harm the hostage as well."


    The analytical data quickly appeared, and all of the information indicated that Tang Wulin''s protective barrier possessed defensive prowess equivalent to that of a seven-ring defense system Soul Sage. As such, in this situation, it was completely impossible to strike him down with a surprise attack without harming Gu Yue in the process.


    Thus, a standoff ensued between Tang Wulin and the inspection team, and the situation here had undoubtedly already been reported to the highest level of supervisors of the Star Dou Fortress.


    Powerful killing intent erupted from Tang Wulin''s body after the standoff had lasted for several minutes, and a pained look appeared on Gu Yue''s face. Just as Tang Wulin had anticipated, that was enough for the inspection team to finally comply, and the metal door was opened.


    However, as soon as they emerged from the observation room, they were surrounded by several dozens of mechas and several battle armor masters.


    "Get out of my way or I''ll kill her!" Tang Wulin roared like a madman. An unprecedented deranged aura emanated from his body, and even his eyes had turned crimson in color.


    If you wanted others to believe that you were going to kill the hostage, then you had to really sell the act. That was a lesson that had been taught to Tang Wulin by the old demons.

 Chapter 894: Crashing Through by Force

    If the people you were trying to threaten could sense indecision in your demeanor, then it was very likely that they were going to stall for time in order to devise a plan to kill you. It was undoubtedly the case that the longer this standoff lasted, the more things the situation would tilt against Tang Wulin''s favor.


    He lunged directly toward a purple mecha with Gu Yue in his arms as he spoke.


    All of a sudden, he spun around before launching a kick onto the mecha''s shoulder.


    A resounding boom rang out as that mecha was sent flying by his terrifying strength before crashing into the mechas behind it.


    "Strength analysis: over 150,000 kilograms. The mecha has sustained 21% damage."


    Was this man even a human?


    At this moment, many of the most important figures of the Star Dou Fortress had already gathered at the control tower. After witnessing the terrifying strength that Tang Wulin had displayed, their immediate initial judgment was that this deranged-looking man had to be a soul beast. Only a soul beast could possess such immense strength.


    It was naturally very important for them to keep the Great Beasts from escaping, but Gu Yuena was a Reserve Spirit Envoy, so her life was definitely much more important to the Spirit Pagoda in comparison. In the face of Tang Wulin''s deranged rampage, all of the mechas were constantly being forced back.


    If Tang Wulin were asking them to lift the entire protective barrier over the Star Dou Forest, then that was clearly a demand they couldn''t comply with. However, if he were only trying to escape on his own, then the situation became very simple. All they had to do was hunt him down after he escaped.


    After crashing through the mechas around him, Tang Wulin continued to rush onward. He didn''t know where he was going, but he was roughly aware of which direction that the Star Dou Forest was situated in, and he was charging away in the opposite direction.


    After passing through a few passageways, more and more powerful beings from the Spirit Pagoda began to appear both ahead of and behind him, but he displayed no intention of stopping.


    However, the structure of this place was extremely convoluted, and if he were to continue to run through one passageway after another, he was eventually going to lose his sense of direction.


    It was undoubtedly the case that all of the surrounding powerful beings were waiting for an opportunity. As soon as he showed any sign of weakness or expended too much energy, they would swoop in and kill him on the spot while rescuing Gu Yue at the same time.


    He couldn''t just keep running around aimlessly like this.


    With that in mind, he abruptly stopped in his tracks. He kept one had on Gu Yue''s neck while lashing out toward the wall behind him with his other hand.


    A rumbling dragon''s roar rang out as he activated his bloodline power, but he didn''t allow his dragon scales to appear over his body.


    An enormous burst of power that exceeded 200 tons crashed viciously into the metal wall, and a thunderous boom rang out as the wall completely caved in, despite the fact that it was over two feet thick and was bolstered by soul energy. He withdrew his elbow before sending it crashing into the wall again.


    Just the soundwaves from the collision alone were enough to send chills running down the spines of the powerful beings from the Spirit Pagoda.


    After a third strike, a massive hole appeared behind Tang Wulin, revealing a relatively open space. He immediately rushed into the space through the hole, then continued onward in the direction that he had in his mind. Whenever he encountered a wall, he would simply crash his way through it with brute strength.


    The Spirit Pagoda tried activating energy barriers to deter him, but he immediately threatened them with Gu Yue''s life. As such, the barriers were lifted, and he was able to smash his way through one wall after another.


    A representative of the Spirit Pagoda had even approached him, offering to lead him to the exit, only to be completely ignored. Tang Wulin wasn''t going to trust anyone here; he was going to plow his way out of the fortress through his own strength.


    "Boom!" Even after unleashing his seventh strike against this wall, it had only caved in very slightly. If the walls he''d encountered before this were only around two feet thick, then this one had to be at least five meters thick. Even with his insane strength, there was no way that he''d be able to bash his way through it.


    However, as opposed to being disheartened, he was very elated instead. For a fortress like this one, the thickest walls were undoubtedly the outermost ones, so it was very likely the case that this wall was the only thing that stood between him and freedom.


    What could he do? He couldn''t just rely on brute strength anymore, but he still had other ways.


    With Gu Yue''s body shielding him, he surreptitiously released his left golden dragon claws before pressing them against the wall behind his back.


    The special effect of his right golden dragon claws was crushing, while the special effect of his left golden dragon claws was tearing. Through the injection of his immense bloodline power, his left golden dragon claws were able to tear through one sheet of metal after another before flinging them toward the powerful beings from the Spirit Pagoda around them. After just a short while, a hole had been torn into the wall, and both he and Gu Yue had disappeared into it.


    At this point, the surveillance cameras were no longer able to see what they were doing, and Tang Wulin began to use both of his hands while Gu Yue positioned herself in front of him. He unleashed his Golden Dragon Dreadclaws with all his might, and a tunnel was quickly being drilled into the wall.


    The alloys used to construct the outermost walls of the fortress were naturally extremely resolute, but it was important to remember that Tang Wulin was a blacksmith. His familiarity with metals helped him greatly during this process, and both he and Gu Yue burrowed deeper and deeper into the wall.


    All of the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda were at a loss for what to do. At the same time, they were even more convinced that Tang Wulin was a Great Beast. If an outsider had infiltrated the fortress, there was no way that they''d have so little understanding of the internal structure of this place, nor would they employ such a primitive method to get out of here.


    However, what left them feeling quite flabbergasted was that this extremely crude method seemed to be very effective.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin was met by the fresh air outside, and he discovered that they''d finally escaped. He''d forcibly plowed a tunnel into the outermost wall of the fortress, and it appeared that they were currently situated roughly over 100 meters from the ground below.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    Gu Yue turned around to say something to him, but he immediately clamped his hand over her mouth. If she were to say something to expose them right now, then they would be in dire trouble. With so many powerful beings from the Spirit Pagoda nearby, they''d be torn to shreds in seconds.


    He encircled an arm around Gu Yue''s waist again, and she let loose a cry of surprise as Tang Wulin leaped into the air, plummeting directly toward the ground.


    An altitude of around 100 meters wasn''t much to him at all. After descending for around 60 to 70 meters, he stomped his right foot into the wall of the fortress, and his body shot forth horizontally through the air like an arrow as he fled into the distance with Gu Yue in his arms.


    As soon as they emerged, they were surrounded by over 60 mechas, which was being led by a red mecha.


    "You''ve already escaped from the fortress, so release the hostage and we''ll let you go." An electronic voice reverberated through the air.


    Tang Wulin adopted his deranged kidnapper demeanor again as he roared, "Get away from me! Do you think I''m stupid? You expect me to believe that you''ll let me go after I release her? I''ll let her go in an hour! Piss off right now or I''ll start tearing off some of her body parts!"


    He swept his right hand through the air as he roared, and Gu Yue''s outer garment was flung into the air.


    She pouted in a rather displeased manner, but obediently remained silent in the end.


    As expected, as soon as the item of clothing was hurled into the air, all of their pursuers immediately stopped. Thus, Tang Wulin carried Gu Yue in his arms and sped away toward a certain direction as fast as he could.


    It would not be that easy to escape. The Spirit Pagoda definitely had the most advanced technology in the entire federation, and just their radars alone had to be effective within a massive range. On top of that, they could also request assistance from the federal military.


    As such, as soon as Tang Wulin charged into a forest with Gu Yue, he immediately released his Bluesilver Emperor vines.


    Through those vines, he was able to communicate with the surrounding plants, and only then was he able to completely conceal their auras. At the same time, he quickly dug a hole into the ground before entering it with Gu Yue.


    With the abilities of his Mountain Dragon King torso bone, the soil parted for him, and he used his golden dragon claws to dig downward as quickly as he could. Within just a few minutes, they were already over 100 meters underground.

 Chapter 895: Troublesome Little Minx

    As long as they weren''t specifically made to target the underground world, even the most potent of radars couldn''t detect something that was over 100 meters underground.


    Gu Yue lay flat against Tang Wulin''s back with her arms around his neck while Tang Wulin continued to dig through the earth with his golden dragon claws.


    He had chosen to travel toward this direction as he''d seen a river up ahead when he was jumping out of the fortress. This was supposed to be a river that ran through the Star Dou Forest, but it had been exposed due to deforestation. The river was roughly 100 meters wide and unfathomably deep, so this was the ideal escape route for them.


    "We''ve completely lost them."


    "Conduct an exhaustive search! Use the underground sensors!"


    Troops from the Spirit Pagoda quickly surrounded the entire forest, but none of their equipment was able to detect the presence of Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena. It was as if they''d vanished into thin air.


    Several minutes later, the hole opening of the tunnel that Tang Wulin had dug was discovered, but the tunnel had already been sealed and had to be dug out again. However, there was no way to ensure that they could dig the tunnel so that it matched the original route.


    15 minutes had already passed by the time all of the underground sensors had been activated, and no large life forms were discovered underground in a radius of several dozens of kilometers. As far as they were concerned, Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena had truly disappeared.


    "Splash..." Tang Wulin and Gu Yue''s head poked out of the water at almost the exact same moment.


    The cool and refreshing water of the river carried their bodies onward, and Tang Wulin looked back to discover that the Star Dou Fortress was already several dozens of kilometers behind them.


    He had dug the tunnel all the way to this river, and he was using its flowing water to carry them away. That way, he wouldn''t have to expend energy by constantly fleeing from the scene.


    Tang Wulin latched onto Gu Yue''s hand before pulling her into his embrace, and he asked in a gentle voice, "Are you cold?"


    Gu Yue shook her head. She was suffering from amnesia, but she still had all of her power, so she was very resistant to the cold.


    "You were so scary back there, Father. Even I was scared when you were yelling at them," Gu Yue said in a displeased manner.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "If I didn''t do that, how was I supposed to convince them that I was actually threatening to kill you? It''s alright, they won''t be able to find us now. After we go a bit further upstream, we''ll get out of this river. After that, I''ll disguise both of us, and we''ll change our clothes. No one will be able to find us then."


    "Alright, but I''m hungry, Father." Gu Yue wound her arms around his neck, and their clothes were soaking wet at this point, so as soon as she pressed her body against his, Tang Wulin felt a scorching sensation surge throughout his entire body. Gu Yue''s soft and supple body was presenting him with a lot of stimulus.


    "Gu Yue, can you remember why they''re calling you Gu Yuena?" Tang Wulin asked? This question had lingered in his heart this entire time, and it refused to go away.


    Gu Yue shook her head in response and continued to hold him tightly in her arms.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint internal sigh. It appeared that this question would only be answered after Gu Yue recovered her memories.


    They continued to allow themselves to be carried away by the river for close to three kilometers, and they finally got out onto the riverbank after Tang Wulin caught sight of a highway intersection nearby.


    "Change into some dry clothes. Fa... I''ll take you to find something to eat." Tang Wulin almost instinctively referred to himself as her father, and that was making him feel very awkward.


    "Father, I don''t know how." Gu Yue''s large eyes were filled with innocence.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. She didn''t know how to change her clothes?


    At this moment, her clothes were completely soaked, and she was as good as naked as she stood in front of him. Just the sight of her brought a blush to Tang Wulin''s face, and he could feel his heart rate accelerating at an alarming rate.


    "You really are a troublesome little minx!" Tang Wulin sighed before taking Gu Yue to a discrete corner beside the highway. He quickly pulled out a set of clothes from her storage bracelet before changing her into it, blushing heavily the entire time. Gu Yue displayed no reaction to this at all, but that was certainly not the case for Tang Wulin.


    "Father, are you feeling very hot? Why is your face so red?" Gu Yue asked with wide eyes.


    "Slap!" Tang Wulin slapped her on the backside. "Shush!"


    "Ngh!" Gu Yue pouted in a displeased manner.


    The amount of willpower it took for him to refrain from doing something rash to her was comparable to the amount of willpower it took for him to withstand the agony of breaking his Golden Dragon King seals.


    They both loved each other, but even so, he didn''t want to do something to Gu Yue in her current state.


    After changing Gu Yue''s clothes, Tang Wulin also quickly changed into a set of dry clothes himself. Only then did he emerge onto the road with Gu Yue. After that, he released his Tang Sect battle vehicle, and it disguised itself to resemble a normal car before he quickly drove it away


    With the battle vehicle, they were able to travel a lot more quickly, and Tang Wulin quickly deduced from the street signs that they were driving toward the eastern direction.


    Instead of returning to Shrek City, he drove the battle vehicle along the highway to the nearest small city they passed by before disguising himself and Gu Yue in the car.


    "Father, why did you become old?" Gu Yue asked with her brows slightly furrowed as she looked at Tang Wulin, who had disguised himself as an old man.


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You always call me father, so this makes things more natural. After we get out of the car, try to talk as little as possible ."


    "Alright, but you don''t look good like this," Gu Yue mumbled.


    Both of them got out of the car before walking into a small hotel and getting two rooms.


    After turning on the soul television in the room, a grim expression appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    Following the disaster that had just struck Shrek City, all of the channels would undoubtedly be broadcasting news about the event.


    Following that tragic event and everything that had transpired in the Star Dou Forest, Tang Wulin had completely calmed down. The event had already taken place, so there was no point in basking in grief and pain. What he had to do now was ascertain the current situation, then think of ways to change it. This was why he decided to get rooms at this hotel, he was planning to stay here and organize his thoughts so he could devise a future course of action.


    He knew that Gu Yue''s presence had played a major role in his ability to adjust so quickly. Having his lover by his side gave him the utmost motivation.


    "Shrek City has suffered a disaster of unprecedented proportions, and the federation is being held responsible. The federal parliament has disbanded, and a new general election is imminent."


    "The current death count in Shrek City has already exceeded 12,000,000 with roughly 2,000,000 injured. Less than a third of the city remains, and the damage is immeasurable. Both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters have been completely destroyed, and according to witnesses at the scene, as well as satellite images, in the final moments of the attack, the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming did everything in his power to reduce the damage being done by the two Godslayer missiles. Even the nearby Spirit Pagoda headquarters has most likely been impacted by the explosions."


    "The federal military has already assembled an investigation team to find out the reason behind the disappearance of the two Godslayer missiles, and the army commander-in-chief has stated that they''re going to find the perpetrators at all costs. Such a heinous and horrendous crime has never been witnessed on this continent before, and the military expresses its deepest condolences to those affected by this tragic event."


    "Shrek Academy alumni all over the continent are holding mourning events to grieve over the destruction of Shrek Academy and the passing of all of the victims of the attack."


    "The Tang Sect has declared war on the Holy Spirit Cult, but according to insider information, the sect has suffered severely in the aftermath of the attack. The sect''s headquarters have been destroyed, and at least four of their Hall Masters have perished. The whereabouts of the master of the Tang Sect''s Douluo Hall remains unknown as of yet, and our reporters are following up on the latest news."


    "The Holy Spirit Cult has declared that they were responsible for this recent terrorist attack, but no traces of the perpetrators have been found as of yet. We implore all members of the general public to immediately report any suspicious individuals to the relevant authorities."


    "There are rumors circulating that the third Godslayer missile has also disappeared along with the other two. If these rumors prove to be true, then which city will be attacked next by this Godslayer missile? What has the federal government been doing all this time?"


    All types of chaotic reports were constantly being broadcasted on all of the channels, and as Tang Wulin watched these reports, his hands reflexively balled up into tight fists, and he was completely oblivious to the fact that his fingernails had dug through the skin on the heels of his palms.


    Prior to this, he had still been clinging desperately onto the tiniest sliver of hope that everything had been an illusion. He was hoping against hope that everything would be a nightmare conjured up by the old demons on the demonic island, but the undeniable truth was being laid out right before his eyes, and this was undoubtedly not a dream.


    He looked at the two gargantuan craters within Shrek City and the severely ravaged state that the rest of the city was in, and tears began to well up in his eyes.


    12,000,000 people had perished during the attack! Those were 12,000,000 human lives, erased in a matter of minutes!


    The number one city on the entire continent, the Infallible Shrek, and Shrek Academy, which had stood for over 20,000 years, had both been wiped off the face of this world.


    Just how cruel and heinous were their enemies?


    Tang Wulin turned off the television and sat still in his chair for a long while. He was trying to calm his emotions, and also to analyze all of the information that he''d just heard.

 Chapter 896: Hes Still Alive!

    From the current situation, it could be confirmed that Shrek City had been severely damaged, and both Shrek Academy, as well as the Tang Sect headquarters, had been completely destroyed, culminating in an immeasurable amount of destruction.


    There didn''t appear to be any news reports about his friends at this point.


    Was the Holy Spirit Cult really capable of unleashing such a fearsome terrorist attack on their own? Was the military being paid to do nothing? How had those 12th-grade soul missiles been stolen so easily? There was most definitely more than just an Evil Soul Master organization involved behind all of this.


    The existence of Shrek City had always been an anomaly in the federation. It was just that even the federation didn''t dare to do anything to Shrek City as it held such a lofty status on the continent.


    From this terrorist attack, it was quite apparent that the federation already had the power to wipe out Shrek City with these super weapons, but there was no way that they could do that. Could it be that the federation had used the Holy Spirit Cult to get rid of Shrek City for them? Alternatively, perhaps some high-ranking officials of the federation had worked together with Evil Soul Masters to destroy Shrek City.


    The Holy Spirit Cult didn''t care about its reputation being further tarnished as they had no reputation to begin with, yet what they had done would undoubtedly be benefitting many powerful figures. Without the influence of Shrek Academy on this continent, it would be much easier for some ambitious figures to accomplish what they wanted to do.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t aware of any of the specific details. After all, he hadn''t studied politics in great detail.


    The Tang Sect headquarters had also been destroyed during this attack, and it was very clear that they''d been targeted as some of the people in power were quite wary of them, just as they were wary of Shrek Academy. This incident was most definitely not as simple as it appeared on the surface.


    What about the Spirit Pagoda?


    The Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, and the Spirit Pagoda were the three most powerful super organizations on this continent. Why was it that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had been dealt fatal blows, yet the Spirit Pagoda''s headquarters had remained completely unscathed, even though it was situated so close to Shrek City?


    From the perspective of the Evil Soul Masters, the Spirit Pagoda clearly posed a more prominent threat than the Tang Sect. At the very least, the Spirit Pagoda was a more powerful organization on paper, and it most definitely had more powerful Soul Masters than the Tang Sect did. However, the second Godslayer missile had struck the Tang Sect headquarters instead of the Spirit Pagoda; was there really no foul play involved?


    Tang Wulin wasn''t suspecting that the Spirit Pagoda had allied themselves with the Holy Spirit Cult, but at the very least, he couldn''t eliminate that possibility.


    As such, the current Spirit Pagoda couldn''t be trusted, which was why he hadn''t revealed his own identity back in the Star Dou Forest. At this point in time, no one was aware of the fact that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were still alive. In this situation, it was definitely much better for him to stay in the shadows than be out in the open.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was more powerful than he''d imagined, and on the giant skull that had appeared on that day, there was at least one Evil Soul Master who was not inferior in power to Atlas Douluo Yun Ming by much.


    Furthermore, in the aftermath of such a catastrophic terrorist attack, all of the traces and evidence had been destroyed during the explosion, thereby making it very difficult for them to investigate anything. Even if they were to find any leads, they were currently too weak to do anything about this situation.


    After thinking through all of these things, Tang Wulin concluded that there was only one thing that they should be doing: biding their time!


    He didn''t just need to grow more powerful on his own. Instead, he had to build up enough forces to be able to oppose the Evil Soul Masters.


    He slowly opened his eyes before making his way over to the window. Even though he''d gotten two rooms, both he and Gu Yue were staying in the same room at the moment.


    Gu Yue was curled up in a ball, sound asleep on the bed. There was a blanket draped over her body, and her long hair spilled down her pillow. Her long eyelashes rested on her cheeks, and she was as beautiful as an oversized doll.


    Tang Wulin was immediately instilled with a sense of calmness at the sight of her. He cast his gaze out through the window again before taking out his soul communicator and turning it on, then slowly dialing a number.


    He was feeling quite nervous, and his heart was pounding in his chest. Whether this call was answered or not would determine whether he was alone in this world.


    "Wulin?'' An urgent voice sounded from the other end of the line, and he couldn''t help but shudder slightly upon hearing this voice.


    He took a deep breath, but his voice still trembled slightly as he said, "Xinglan, I''m fine."


    The other end of the line suddenly fell silent, and just as Tang Wulin was beginning to grow anxious and perplexed, deafening cheers of elation suddenly rang out.


    Tears immediately began to stream down Tang Wulin''s face as he heard the voices of all of his friends. He could hear the voices of Ye Xinglan, Xie Xie, Yuanen, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi... Everyone was there. Their voices were cracking slightly from overexcitement, but Tang Wulin could still clearly discern all of their individual voices.


    It was them; they were all alive and well.


    Tang Wulin felt as if there were a lump in his throat that was rendering him completely unable to talk.


    They had truly survived against all odds!


    "Boss, Boss!" Xie Xie''s sobbing voice rang out from the other end of the line.


    "I''m here." Tang Wulin was only able to muster up that reply after forcibly calming himself down.


    "Where are you, Boss? Are you really still alive? I''m not dreaming, am I?" Xie Xie''s voice was trembling violently, and Tang Wulin could sense just how worked up he was.


    "I''m still alive, and I''m completely fine. Gu Yue saved me. She teleported herself to me using the token that she left me, then teleported both of us far away. We''re currently situated in a small city roughly 200 kilometers away from Shrek City; I don''t even know this city''s name. What about you guys? Where are all of you right now? Are you all safe and well?"


    Ye Xinglan took the soul communicator back from Xie Xie, and replied, "We''re all fine as well, and we''re currently in Heaven Dou City. Holy Spirit Douluo Yali is also with us, but her emotional state is..."


    Holy Spirit Douluo? Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this. He suddenly recalled that Yali seemed to have only fallen unconscious in the aftermath of the attack, so she was still alive. It was great news that a Hyper Douluo from Shrek Academy had survived the attack, but Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel a sense of sadness for her when he thought about her relationship with Yun Ming.


    If he were in her shoes and Gu Yue was the one who had perished instead, he would be in a world of pain.


    "Try to comfort her as best as you can; I''ll go to meet up with all of you as soon as possible. Also, don''t trust any organization at this time, including even the Tang Sect. The academy may have been destroyed, but we must stay strong. It''s just like the pavilion master said; we are the final hopes of the academy. Our survival is imperative if the academy is ever going to make a resurgence someday, so our top priority right now is to protect ourselves. Hence, we can''t expose our identities to anyone, and ideally, all of us should constantly be in disguise."


    "My thoughts exactly," Ye Xinglan replied in an affirmative manner, "We all disguised ourselves prior to coming to Heaven Dou City, and we''ve contacted no one since the attack. We all recalled seeing Gu Yue appear on the scene of the explosion, but we weren''t sure if you two were dead or alive following that missile explosion, so we''ve been waiting for you ever since we came here. Come to find us, Wulin; we''ll wait for you, and you make sure to stay safe as well."


    From her voice, Tang Wulin could hear that the perpetually calm and steadfast Ye Xinglan was completely exhausted, both in body and mind.


    "Alright, wait for me; I''ll go to meet all of you as soon as I can. Stay in touch."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin wiped the tears from his face before taking a deep breath.


    At the very least, all of his friends were still alive; what could be better news at a time like this?


    He gradually began to hatch a plan. He was going to reunite with his friends first, then find a way to cure Gu Yue''s amnesia. Only then were they going to search for an opportunity to revive Shrek Academy.


    They had to make use of all resources that could be put to use, and Heaven Dou City was a good place for them to do all of this.


    He hesitated momentarily as he held his soul communicator, but refrained from calling anyone else in the end.


    At a time like this, he could only think of two people who could help him. One of them was his teacher and the master of the Body Sect, Mu Ye, while the other was naturally his uncle-teacher, Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua.


    However, he didn''t rush to contact them for now. Everything could wait until he reached Heaven Dou City. In the aftermath of this vicious terrorist attack effected by the Holy Spirit Cult, his uncle-teacher was most likely in a very perilous situation as well. As the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire continent, he posed no direct threat to the Holy Spirit Cult, but he could churn out an endless supply of four-word battle armor masters.


    Tang Wulin returned to the bed, and as soon as he laid down, a sense of exhaustion instantly spread through his entire body. He was not just physically exhausted, but also completely mentally drained.


    Only after encircling his arms around Gu Yue and embracing her through the blanket did he feel slightly better, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.


    They slept until noon the next day, and after having some food to eat, the two of them continued to travel along the highway in his Tang Sect battle vehicle.


    Tang Wulin had already inspected the GPS, and he chose a route to Heaven Dou City that was longer than the shortest possible route, but took him away from Shrek City. At a time like this, he could never be too careful.

 Chapter 897: The Seven Monsters Reunited

    Along the way, mechas flew over their car on six separate occasions, and fighter aircrafts whizzed past overhead on three occasions. It was quite apparent that the atmosphere in the areas close to Shrek City was extremely tense.


    This explosion had tugged on the heartstrings of countless people, and the entire continent was most likely in a state of panic and chaos.


    Tang Wulin finally drove his car into Heaven Dou City after night had already descended, and he contacted Ye Xinglan again before finally meeting them at a small and remote hotel.


    Everyone virtually rushed over to him before giving him massive hugs one after another, and both Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan were in tears.


    Everyone knew that if Tang Wulin hadn''t launched himself into the air to shield everyone from that soul missile with his body, all of them would most likely have already died at this point. Furthermore, Tang Wulin hadn''t been aware of the fact that Gu Yue could turn up to save him!


    "You''re finally back. Now that you''re here, I can step down. Welcome back, Captain," Ye Xinglan said in a serious manner.


    That''s right, they were Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, the final ray of hope for Shrek Academy. They had to shoulder the responsibility of reviving the academy.


    Right at this moment, a puzzled voice rang out from behind Tang Wulin. "Father, who are they?"


    The heavy atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted.


    Gu Yue poked her head out from behind Tang Wulin.


    "Father? What is this, some kind of role-play thing?" Xie Xie asked in a dry voice.


    Tang Wulin latched onto Gu Yue''s hand before pulling her to his side with a wry smile on his face. "Do you think I''m in the mood to be doing role-plays at a time like this? Gu Yue shielded me from that explosion, and I don''t know exactly what happened at the time, but when we woke up, she was already suffering from amnesia, and she''s been calling me father this entire time."


    "Amnesia? Wait, she''s Gu Yue? Is, isn''t this Na''er?" Xu Xiaoyan''s sobs subsided as she turned her attention to Gu Yue.


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a wry smile and briefly explained to everyone what had happened since he encountered Gu Yue, including how she now had the appearance of Na''er and how he''d managed to determine that she really was Gu Yue.


    Xie Xie asked in a hesitant manner, "Gu Yue, do you recognize me?"


    Aside from Tang Wulin, he and Xu Xiaoyan had known Gu Yue for the longest period of time.


    "No." Gu Yue shook her head in a completely lost manner.


    Even the perpetually headstrong Ye Xinglan had tears welling up in her eyes upon seeing this. "She saved our lives, yet she''s become like this; is there any way to cure her amnesia?"


    Tang Wulin replied with a wry smile, "I don''t know. I came to meet up with all of you as soon as I escaped from the Star Dou Fortress, and I''m going to try and find a way to cure her. I just don''t know whether her current condition can be..."


    "Let me see." An extremely hoarse voice suddenly sounded as a person emerged from the inner room.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t believe his eyes.


    Yali had completely changed. It was as if she had been baked dry under the sun, and her face was deathly pale, giving her the appearance of a skeleton wrapped in a suit of skin. Her exquisitely beautiful features had completely withered away, and her long hair had turned greyish-white in color.


    She had been reduced to nothing more than a shadow of her former self in just one night.


    "Your Highness..." Tang Wulin appraised her in a stunned manner.


    Yali''s footsteps were a little unsteady as she slowly made her way over to Tang Wulin before shaking her head at him. Her eyes were completely bloodshot and devoid of any signs of life and exuberance. She slowly raised a hand, and gentle white light radiated from her palm as she pressed it softly against Gu Yue''s forehead.


    The worst thing that could happen to a person was for their heart to die, and her heart had undoubtedly crossed over to the other side with Yun Ming.


    Gu Yue was at a loss for what to do in the face of the white light being released by Yali''s palm, but it was quite clear that she didn''t seem to feel anything, either.


    Moments later, Yali slowly withdrew her hand, and her brows furrowed slightly as she said, "Her condition is rather special. There''s nothing wrong with her physically, so it''s most likely the case that her mind has been dealt a heavy blow, resulting in a change in the nerves in her brain, thereby sealing off her memories, and that''s why she''s suffering from amnesia."


    Tang Wulin asked in a nervous manner, "Can her condition be remedied?"


    Yali replied, "It won''t be easy. The brain is an extremely mysterious thing as it''s the most complex organ in the human body. According to research conducted by the federation, there has always been a limit to how much the human brain can be explored, and there''s no way to glean all of its secrets. We can only divide the brain up into simple sections based on some observations, but no deeper conclusions have been drawn. This is one of the important directions that soul technology research is progressing toward. This condition can''t be treated lightly, and if incorrect treatment methods are applied, further irreversible damage could result."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this. Yali was the number one healing system Soul Master on the entire continent; even she was stating that Gu Yue''s condition was quite troublesome to deal with, so it had to be very serious.


    Yali could see the concern on Tang Wulin''s face, and she consoled, "Don''t be too worried; there are ways to remedy her condition. Generally speaking, as long as you can find the correct spirit items that can help bolster her bodily functions and return her cranial nerves back to normal, her memories will naturally return to her. It''s just that I can only think of one spirit item that can cure her; it''s called the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, and it''s extremely rare. Also, we''ll need one that''s at least 10,000 years old to remedy her condition. If Shrek Academy were still around, we''d be able to draw upon the academy''s power and resources to search for one, but now..."


    Her voice trailed off as her eyes dimmed even further.


    Everyone also fell silent, and they felt as if their hearts had been filled with lead. Shrek Academy was gone, leaving them feeling like plants with no roots.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "Your Highness, we''ll definitely rebuild Shrek Academy and return it to its former glory, I promise!"


    Yali nodded with a bitter expression on her face. "The future is in your hands. I''ll do everything I can to support all of you."


    After that, she turned and returned to her room.


    It was already taking immense willpower just for her to continue to survive, and her only motivation was to see the revival of Shrek Academy in Yun Ming''s stead.


    As the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion, it had naturally been extremely excruciating for Yun Ming to witness the destruction of Shrek Academy. If she weren''t being supported by the thought of completing Yun Ming''s final wish in his stead, Yali would''ve followed him to the other side already.


    A Myriad Year Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum...


    Tang Wulin held onto Gu Yue''s hand with a determined look on his face. He was going to find that spirit item and cure Gu Yue. He was the backbone of this team, so he couldn''t allow himself to wallow in grief and despair. They were most likely the only remaining force in Shrek Academy, and as the captain, he had to shoulder this massive burden and the hope of the entire Shrek Academy.


    "Pull yourselves together, everyone; the sky still hasn''t fallen yet. Shrek still has us, and the fact that the academy chose us as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters means that we''re exceptional enough to carry the entirety of Shrek Academy on our shoulders in the future. This is our duty and also our responsibility. The academy nurtured us, and we''re all proud to be students of the academy. In my heart, Shrek Academy will always be the number one academy, and we have to keep facing forward no matter what situation we''re in. Wherever we fell is wherever we''ll stand up again."


    Ye Xinglan stood firmly beside him, and said, "Tell us what to do next, Wulin."


    Tang Wulin replied in a serious voice, "The current situation is very complicated. The academy has been destroyed, the federal parliament has been disbanded, and the entire continent is in a state of chaos. In a situation like this, we can''t rely on or trust anyone else. I still clearly recall something my father told me when I was just a small child; he said that the only person one can completely rely on is themselves, and I think that''s really true. The only people we can rely on now are ourselves."

 Chapter 898: Teacher...

    "I''m not afraid of death, but we''re the future hopes of the academy, so we definitely can''t reveal ourselves to the world for no good reason in this current situation. Everyone thinks that we perished along with the academy, and that''s our only advantage. We''re still in the shadows at the moment, and I''ve decided that we should go into hiding during the upcoming period of time.


    "Don''t contact anyone unless you have to, and observe everything that''s unfolding from the shadows. At the very least, we can only devise a long-term plan after the situation in the outside world stabilizes. At the same time, we have to analyze who is trustworthy, and which powers are ones that we can borrow in the future. We also have to observe which side is benefitting the most in the wake of this disaster.


    "There''s no way you can convince me that just the Holy Spirit Cult alone is powerful enough to steal two Godslayer missiles and detonate them within Shrek City. They have to have powerful backers elsewhere, and we have to find a target. Only after finding a target will we be able to make better preparations. During this period that we''re in hiding, we also have to work on bettering ourselves and completing our suits of two-word battle armor. Only as two-word battle armor masters will we have a better chance of survival in this world."


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was merely expressing his thoughts and decisions as opposed to holding a discussion with everyone. Diplomacy wasn''t what was needed now. Instead, everyone needed a leader who could make decisions and guide everyone forward. It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin was the only one who could fill that role.


    After hearing Tang Wulin''s words, hints of life immediately returned to everyone''s eyes. Now that their leader had returned and they had clear objectives to work toward, they were no longer feeling completely lost.


    "Where should we go into hiding?" Yue Zhengyu asked.


    This small hotel definitely wasn''t a suitable place as there was no way for them to craft their suits of two-word battle armor here. That process required sufficient resources and a quiet environment.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ll think of something."


    He pulled out his soul communicator as he spoke before dialing a number. This was the first person he''d contacted after the terrorist attack aside from his friends.


    "Wulin?" An urgent voice sounded from the other end of the line.


    Tears immediately welled up in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this voice, and he did his best to repress the strong emotions in his heart as he said, "Teacher."


    That''s right, the first person that he had chosen to contact was none other than one of his teachers, the current master of the Body Sect, Body Douluo Mu Ye.


    Mu Ye hurriedly asked, "Where are you? How are you? Shrek..."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''m fine, Teacher. Where are you right now? And how is my uncle-teacher?"


    Mu Ye immediately fell silent for a moment after hearing Tang Wulin''s questions. "Your uncle-teacher..."


    Tang Wulin''s chest immediately constricted. "Did something happen to him?"


    Had Zhen Hua been attacked after all? He had already guessed that this would happen. Even Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had been attacked; there was no way that the Holy Spirit Cult would refrain from attacking the only Divine Blacksmith on the continent.


    Mu Ye replied, "It''s a good thing I was with him; we just barely managed to escape, and he''s still alive, but he''s suffered very severe injuries. His entire body has been eroded by the malicious spirits of the evil Soul Masters, and he''s still in an unconscious state. We''re currently on a mountain on the outskirts of Heaven Dou City; our Body Sect has a safety bunker here."


    Tang Wulin heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. At the very least, his uncle-teacher was still alive.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "Teacher, can you provide me with an address? We''ll go to meet up with you."


    Mu Ye paused momentarily, seemingly in a contemplative manner, before asking, "Wulin, you need to prove your identity to me. Your name is on the official list of deceased victims released by the government."


    Tang Wulin replied, "Of course, how would you like me to prove my identity?"


    Mu Ye asked, "What level blacksmith are you right now?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m a Saint Blacksmith. I only recently reached this level during my last trip to Heaven Dou City after studying under my uncle-teacher. At the same time, I learned from you the ability to control my own strength to a minute degree that''s accurate down to every single muscle. While you were instructing me, you told me that I''ll have fully mastered this secret technique of our Body Sect after I learn to control my body down to a cellular level."


    "Phew!" Mu Ye seemed to have heaved a long sigh of relief, and he said, "Alright, I''ll also prove my identity to you. Back when you were heading to the Star Luo Empire, my 49-day elementary training set a solid foundation for you."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly at the recollection of this memory, and he urged, "Tell me the address, Teacher; we''ll get there as quickly as possible."


    "Sure."


    Thus, Mu Ye disclosed an address to Tang Wulin, as well as a route that they could take to get there.


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin heaved a sigh of relief. The most trustworthy people he could think of at the moment were naturally his teachers and this uncle-teacher of his.


    Teacher Mu Chen had always been living in Shrek City, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive, so the first people he decided to contact were Mu Ye and Zhen Hua.


    After ending the call with Mu Ye, he immediately dialed another number, and his hands were trembling slightly as he did so.


    The ringtone sounded for four or five times, but no one was picking up on the other side. Tang Wulin''s heart sank further and further with each successive ring.


    Just as he was about to cut off the call, the line was suddenly connected.


    "Who is it?" A slightly raspy voice sounded from the other end.


    Tang Wulin''s entire body shuddered violently upon hearing this voice, and his emotions finally spilled over as he sobbed, "Teacher."


    "Wulin?" the voice on the other side immediately raised a few octaves as it exclaimed, "You''re still alive? Wh, where are you right now?"


    The voice coming from the communicator was so loud that even Tang Wulin''s friends could hear it.


    That''s right, this voice belonged to Mu Chen, the Saint Blacksmith who had been instrumental to Tang Wulin''s forging journey.


    "It''s me, Teacher. I''m still alive, and I managed to escape; it''s a really long story. I''m so glad that you''re alive and well; where are you?"


    Mu Chen was clearly very worked up, and he panted heavily for several seconds before finally forcibly repressing his strong emotions. "I''m at Heaven Dou City. I came to find your uncle-teacher, but the blacksmith association at Heaven Dou City was attacked two days ago, and your uncle-teacher disappeared. The association is in complete shambles, and I''m trying to hold everything together. Don''t come to find me for now; we can''t be sure of which places are safe at the moment. Go into hiding first, and I''ll sort everything out here. I''m so glad you''re alive! Don''t worry about me and your senior disciple sister; we went back to Eastsea City for a while, so we just so happened to avoid this disaster."


    Tang Wulin heaved a long sigh of relief. He had finally received a piece of good news, and his entire body was feeling slightly more buoyant.


    "Alright, look after yourself, Teacher."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin was gasping for breath, and he reflexively proceeded to dial another number, only for Ye Xinglan to stop him from doing so.


    "Calm down, Wulin."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately stopped what he was doing. The more people they contacted now, the greater the chance that they''d be exposed.


    He turned off his communicator and stowed it away. "I''m sorry, I let my emotions get the better of me."


    In this current situation, they could never be too careful.


    "We''ll rest for today, then set off tomorrow to find my teacher and uncle-teacher. After we meet up with them, we can also get Senior Yali to inspect my uncle-teacher''s condition to see if he can be healed." If his body were being afflicted by malicious spirits, then Holy Douluo Yali''s healing powers should be the perfect counter.


    A peaceful night passed by, and after having some breakfast the next morning, all of them departed from the hotel. Under normal circumstances, Tang Wulin''s Tang Sect battle vehicle had a capacity for eight passengers, and with the addition of Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, they had nine passengers in total, so it was slightly packed. They could only get the more petite female passengers to sit in the last row.


    Everyone was very quiet along the drive. The recent attack had dealt all of them an extremely heavy blow, and they didn''t even dare to think about the teachers who had once taught them and the friends that they''d once studied alongside. Thankfully, all of them still had their lovers by their sides, so their psychological pillars were still intact. Only Holy Spirit Douluo Yali was sitting in the car, looking out the window in a completely dazed and soulless manner.


    Gu Yue was the only one who was in high spirits, and she would occasionally give Tang Wulin a wide smile and call him "Father" in a sweet voice. All of his friends would then appraise him with peculiar expressions, and only then would the heavy atmosphere be somewhat alleviated.


    After entering the mountain range, the road became rather difficult to drive on. Thankfully, the Tang Sect battle vehicle lived up to its reputation and was equipped to drive over all types of terrains. Finally, a stone bunker appeared in their field of view in a col in the distance.


    If Mu Ye hadn''t given them detailed instructions on how to get here, it would''ve been quite difficult to find this place.


    When Tang Wulin opened the door and caught sight of Mu Ye, tears welled up in his eyes once again. The feeling of meeting someone close to his heart following such a tragic disaster almost pushed his emotions over the edge again.

 Chapter 899: Holy Spirit Healing

    Mu Ye was just as excited to see him, and he rushed forward before giving him a massive hug.


    "I''m so glad you''re alive! I thought that the most exceptional disciple the Body Sect had seen in over 1,000 years had passed away, just like that!"


    Aside from Yali and Gu Yue, the latter of whom was suffering from amnesia, everyone else naturally recognized Mu Ye, and all of them stepped forward to extend respectful salutes.


    "Alright, come into the bunker first."


    This stone bunker was very easy to overlook even by satellites as it was blended in extremely well with the mountains around it. However, after walking into the bunker, the interior was completely different.


    The rear section of the bunker led straight into a cavernous space within the mountain behind it, and inside that space were a dozen or so powerful Soul Masters. It was quite apparent from some of their bodily traits that all of them were Body Sect Soul Masters.


    "Teacher, how is my uncle-teacher right now?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Mu Ye replied, "His condition is stable, but he''s not getting any better. The one who attacked him was an Evil Soul Master who was very close to a Limit Douluo, and if it weren''t for your uncle-teacher''s suit of four-word battle armor, he''d most likely be dead right now. Come with me; I''ll take you to see him."


    Tang Wulin turned to Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, "Aunt Yali, you..."


    Yali had told them to refer to her as such rather than address her as "Your Highness".


    Yali merely nodded in response.


    Mu Ye took a glance at her, and he heaved a faint internal sigh, but he didn''t say anything as he led the way deeper into the mountain.


    Zhen Hua was recovering deep within the belly of the mountain, and he was lying on top of a stone bed. His eyes were tightly shut, and his face was very pale. A layer of faint green energy could be seen on the skin of his face, and that energy was giving the entire stone chamber a sinister feeling.


    Mu Ye said in a grim voice, "After reaching a four-word level, suits of battle armor will attain a certain degree of intelligence, so it''s no exaggeration to say that they''re the second bodies of Soul Masters. Zhen Hua''s suit of battle armor has sealed off many of the important areas of his body to prevent the malicious spirit from spreading, but it''s too powerful for us to completely eradicate. We''ve already tried many ways to get rid of it, but the malicious spirit almost infiltrated our bodies in the process, so we had no choice but to give up. The power of his four-word battle armor can only maintain this strained state of equilibrium for now, but it''s really hard to say how long he''ll be able to last like this."


    Yali made her way over to Zhen Hua''s bedside, and a hint of life finally returned to her eyes at the sight of the green energy flowing over Zhen Hua''s face. A series of soul rings began to slowly rise up from beneath her feet, and as her holy aura gradually became stronger, the sinister aura in the stone chamber was instantly significantly alleviated.


    Releasing her martial soul seemed to have also nurtured her body, and her shriveled appearance returned to its former dazzling beauty. Even Mu Ye was momentarily entranced by the sight of her.


    Her soul rings glowed while gentle white light emanated from her body before encompassing Zhen Hua''s entire body. The white light seeped into Zhen Hua''s body as thin threads, and a white vortex began to take shape above him.


    The stubborn green energy that refused to leave his body was drawn out little by little by the white vortex before slowly vanishing amid the white light.


    A string of shrill roars began to ring out, and it was as if there really were countless malicious spirits howling with fury inside the stone chamber. However, these roars only grew more and more feeble in the face of the white vortex.


    One green ball of light after another was drawn out of Zhen Hua''s body before being eradicated within the white vortex, and Zhen Hua''s complexion gradually began to improve.


    Mu Ye looked on with astonishment and bewilderment as Yali treated Zhen Hua. He could sense from the energy fluctuations emanating from her body that she was a Hyper Douluo! Furthermore, she was no ordinary Hyper Douluo; she was a healing system Hyper Douluo.


    What did that entail? At the very least, he had never seen a healing system Soul Master of such a high caliber.


    It was already extraordinarily difficult for healing system Soul Masters to become Titled Douluos, let alone Hyper Douluos.


    Furthermore, the soul rings that Yali had released were also of a very high level; there were two red soul rings while the other seven were all black. Even Mu Ye''s soul ring configuration was inferior to this.


    It was quite apparent that she had to be an extremely important figure in Shrek Academy.


    When the final ball of green light was drawn out, a grim expression suddenly appeared on Yali''s face. Right at this moment, a layer of golden light began to glow from her body, and a pair of massive golden wings spread open on her back. Immediately thereafter, a suit of armor quickly appeared to encapsulate her entire body.


    A golden ring of light appeared beneath her feet, and within that ring of light was a series of golden feather-shaped patterns. As soon as it appeared, the entire stone chamber was baked in a golden color, and all of the sinister energy in the room was instantly replaced by a holy aura.


    A clear holy song rang out, and it was extremely delightful to the ears as it reverberated throughout the chamber, striking everyone present with the feeling that their hearts and souls were being cleansed.


    A crown appeared on Yali''s head, and three tiny angels were dancing on top of the crown. She raised her right hand, and a shimmering golden staff appeared in her grasp. Her aura was instantly elevated to a level that even Mu Ye could only look up to.


    "Four-word battle armor!"


    This was the first time everyone had seen Holy Spirit Douluo release her battle armor and martial soul with all her might. Her aura was immensely powerful, but there was no pressure emanating from it. Instead, it made everyone feel as if their souls were being elevated to a higher plane.


    She pointed her staff at Zhen Hua, and the skin all over his entire body turned purple. Immediately thereafter, the purple color surged out in a frenzy, forming a massive purple skull in mid-air that let loose a roar of fury toward Yali.


    Yali''s eyes also turned into a holy golden color, and they were filled with rage and contempt.


    A beam of dazzling golden light erupted from the tip of her staff, and brilliant golden light radiated from the purple skull in retaliation, but it only managed to last an instant before it was destroyed and purified by the holy light.


    However, a sinister thought then reverberated throughout the stone chamber in its wake. "The Holy Spirit Douluo is still alive?"


    The golden light receded, and Yali''s suit of four-word battle armor was also withdrawn into her body. Her powerful aura vanished, but strangely enough, her greyish-white hair had returned to its original glossy black color, and she had also returned to her former stunning beauty. All of the life force energy that had left her body seemed to have been replenished as soon as she released her martial soul.


    At Yali''s current level, her powers were comparable to that of a Limit Douluo after she released her four-word battle armor. At her level of power, it would be difficult for her to die even if she wanted to, so a loss of life force energy was naturally nothing to her.


    Zhen Hua''s complexion had returned to normal, and a faint healthy flush was slowly returning to his cheeks. All of the malicious energy in his body had completely disappeared.


    Mu Ye turned to Yali with a stunned expression, then glanced at Zhen Hua before expressing his gratitude in a solemn manner. "Thank you, Your Highness."


    Yali merely gently shook her head before walking off to the side. Her eyes had become completely glazed over again, and she resembled a walking dead person.


    Just when Tang Wulin and the others thought that Zhen Hua would require some more rest to fully recover, he suddenly exhaled and slowly opened his eyes.


    It had to be said that Holy Spirit Douluo Yali was most definitely the number one healer in the entire world.


    Zhen Hua sat up and looked down at his own body, then turned to Tang Wulin and Mu Ye with a surprised expression. "I''ve been cured? That malicious spirit..."


    Only then did he catch sight of Yali, and he hurriedly got down from the bed as he greeted in a respectful manner, "Your Highness."


    Yali merely nodded in a show of acknowledgment, but she didn''t say anything.


    Zhen Hua took a moment to recover his composure. He knew that she had to have been responsible for his recovery, but he could also tell from her expression and demeanor that the recent tragedy had dealt her an extremely heavy blow.

 Chapter 900: The Divine Blacksmiths Analysis

    Tang Wulin approached Zhen Hua and extended a salute before giving everyone a recount of what had happened during the terrorist attack on Shrek Academy.


    Mu Ye and Zhen Hua''s expressions became grimmer and grimmer as they listened to his story.


    Only Tang Wulin and his friends were aware of exactly what had happened at Shrek City during the attack. In the face of the two Godslayer missiles, everything had been annihilated. Even the protector of Shrek Academy, the Golden Tree, had completely disappeared.


    The atmosphere in the stone chamber had become quite somber.


    Zhen Hua turned to Tang Wulin, and asked, "What are your plans, Wulin?"


    Tang Wulin replied in a grave voice, "I''m planning to keep a low profile and observe everything from the shadows, then think of a plan to gradually rebuild Shrek Academy after the situation on the continent stabilizes. During this time, we''re also planning to craft our suits of two-word battle armor. Teacher, Uncle-teacher, do either of you know where I can find the spirit item known as the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum? Aunt Yali says that it''s the only thing that can help Gu Yue recover her memories."


    Tang Wulin was very eager to raise this question to these two as both of them had a vast wealth of knowledge and experience.


    Mu Ye''s brows furrowed slightly as he shook his head. "I''ve heard of it, but I''ve never seen it before."


    Zhen Hua said, "Same for me. I''ve heard that this Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum is extremely beneficial to Soul Masters who are cultivating body refinement techniques. However, I presume that there''s one place where this spirit item can definitely be found. That place has the greatest wealth of rare spirit items on this entire continent, especially when it comes to plant-type spirit items."


    Tang Wulin was quite elated to hear this. "What is this place you''re talking about?"


    Zhen Hua replied, "It''s one of the Tang Sect''s secret regions. Remember that Tang Sect Ice Fire Seal that the Amorous Douluo gave you last time? That badge will grant you access to that secret region, but you have to get into contact with the higher-ups of the Tang Sect first."


    Tang Wulin''s face immediately fell at the mention of the Tang Sect. The Tang Sect headquarters had also been destroyed during the attack!


    "Don''t wallow in despair; the Tang Sect is different from Shrek Academy. The entirety of Shrek Academy is in Shrek City, so it''s been completely destroyed during the attack, but that''s not the case for the Tang Sect. Even though many of the Tang Sect''s most powerful beings were gathered at their headquarters, the main loss they suffered during the attack was in resources, not in personnel.


    "According to my knowledge, neither the Amorous Douluo nor the Heartless Douluo were at the Tang Sect headquarters at the time. Otherwise, even though Godslayer missiles had been detonated, the combined powers of those two and Atlas Douluo may have been enough to stifle the explosions. At the very least, even if they couldn''t have completely stopped the explosions, the damage wouldn''t have been as severe."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. If the Tang Sect had retained most of its power, then the organization would definitely act as a powerful ally for them in their quest to rebuild Shrek Academy. After all, the handful of people who were gathered here simply weren''t powerful enough to resurrect Shrek Academy on their own.


    Zhen Hua''s eyes narrowed slightly, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he said, "No one could''ve anticipated this latest attack from the Holy Spirit Cult, and we had no idea that they''d already mustered up such fearsome power. However, this incident has also completely exposed the extent of their powers. They may have destroyed most of Shrek City, but they must''ve suffered heavy losses in the process as well. I know a lot about Godslayer missiles; those three Godslayer missiles were sealed away right after they were created not just because they were too destructive, but also because they were too difficult to detonate as doing so required an extremely vast amount of energy.


    "To put it simply, all of the energy that it took for the entirety of Shrek City to function could only just barely detonate those three Godslayer missiles. As such, the Holy Spirit Cult had to have sacrificed a lot to detonate those two Godslayers missiles in Shrek City. We just don''t know what method they employed to detonate those missiles.


    "The current situation is very chaotic, but the federal government should be able to stabilize again after a period of time. When that time comes, we have to observe and see who benefited the most from this incident. It''s very likely that the main beneficiaries in this scenario are related to the Holy Spirit Cult. All of you are still very young, and your youth represents hope. Even though Soul Masters and even battle armor masters are no longer as revered on this continent due to the rapid advancement of soul technology, I urge you not to lose confidence in yourselves just because of this incident.


    "A Limit Douluo who''s also a four-word battle armor master is definitely not inferior in power to a Godslayer missile. With the current state of the resources on the continent, it would be impossible for the federation to create more weapons of this caliber. It''s very likely the case that the Holy Spirit Cult had to prepare for over 1,000 years before initiating this attack, so improving yourselves and becoming more powerful is extremely important no matter what happens. As such, I think that taking this time to craft your suits of two-word battle armor is a great decision.


    "At the same time, you have to find a future path for yourselves. Shrek Academy has been completely destroyed, and rebuilding it will be far from an easy task. At the very least, you won''t be able to accomplish such a monumental task on your own, so you must build up your own forces. Even if the Tang Sect were completely intact, they still wouldn''t possess enough power to support you to complete this objective. Shrek Academy was simply too powerful, so much so that even the entire federation was wary of it. As such, the federation may well have played a role behind the recent attack. Hence, if you want to rebuild Shrek Academy, then you have to have a certain level of influence within the entire federation."


    Zhen Hua''s voice trailed off here, and a contemplative look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he asked, "What do you suggest we should do, Uncle-teacher?"


    Zhen Hua replied without any hesitation, "Join the military. If I recall correctly, that was your plan for after you graduate from the inner court, and it''s a very good choice. The military is an entity that''s separate from the political system, and even though there are also many factions within the military, these factions are all generally quite independent. Under those circumstances, all you have to do is gain control over some military resources, and progress as quickly as you can in the military. Only after you seize control over a considerable amount of military power will it be possible for you to rebuild Shrek Academy someday."


    Ye Xinglan''s brows furrowed slightly as she said, "Your Highness, there are so many alumni who have graduated from our Shrek Academy, and many of them have become important figures all over the entire continent; won''t they stand up and heed our call if we attempt to rebuild Shrek Academy?"


    Zhen Hua replied in an indifferent manner, "Don''t be so naive, child. You''re right, Shrek Academy has connections all over the entire continent, and countless people would step forward to heed its call, but that only applies if Shrek Academy is still around. This was also the main source of Shrek Academy''s power. However, now that Shrek Academy no longer exists, the people of Shrek have lost their roots. How many people do you think will heed your call at a time like this?


    "After entering society, one will inevitably be affected by societal influences, and they''ll also have to shoulder more societal responsibilities. They''ll have families and other things that will weigh them down; how many people do you think will truly be willing to lay down their lives and rebuild Shrek Academy with all of you?


    "From another perspective, all of you may be extremely prodigious young talents, but have you considered that you''re currently only a group of Soul Kings and Soul Emperors? Among your upperclassmen, there are countless Soul Masters of higher cultivation ranks; what right do you have to call upon them? What right do you have to represent Shrek Academy? It''s not enough for you to just say that you''re Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Only when all of you become four-word battle armor masters and can stand at the pinnacle of the entire continent will you be entitled to these rights. Remember this; if you want to rebuild Shrek Academy, you must have both power and influence!"

 Chapter 901: A Plan

    Zhen Hua spoke in a voice that was filled with conviction, and his words had completely enlightened Tang Wulin and friends while also giving them a much-needed wake-up call.


    Indeed, it was just as Tang Wulin had said; the only people they could rely on right now were themselves, but they were still far too weak. They were unable to resurrect Shrek Academy, and the sole reason behind this was that they weren''t powerful enough.


    "I understand now," Ye Xinglan replied with a firm nod.


    "You can''t join the military with your current identities. I''ll think of a way to fabricate some false identities for you. You''ve all learned disguise skills, right? All of you need alternative identities, and you can''t reveal your true identities until you''ve become powerful enough."


    Zhen Hua wore a grim expression as he continued, "Perhaps the continent has been peaceful for too long, so it''s inevitable that there are people looking to stir up chaos and unrest. Not only are all of you the future hopes of Shrek Academy, you''re also the future hopes of the entire Douluo Continent. If I''m not mistaken, now that Shrek City has been destroyed, the next party to be voted into parliament will most likely be the aggressive Eagle Faction. They''ll expand the military and create more weapons under the guise of anti-terrorism. There have always been some people who have harbored the ambition of uniting the entire Douluo Star, and war will most likely strike soon. Not only will there be a civil war waged against all evil Soul Masters, it''s very likely that we''ll also declare war on other continents. Of course, this is all just my own conjecture; we''ll have to wait and see to determine how the situation will truly unfold."


    Mu Ye said, "What about you? Are you going back?"


    A wry smile appeared on Zhen Hua''s face. "I don''t know. At the very least, I can''t go back in the immediate future. Without the influence of Shrek Academy and the support of the Tang Sect headquarters, I''ll be nothing more than sitting duck if I go back right now."


    Tang Wulin said, "Uncle-teacher, Teacher Mu Chen is currently at the blacksmith association of Heaven Dou City, and he says he''s controlling the situation over there."


    Zhen Hua''s eyes immediately lit up. "Mu Chen''s over there? That''s great! There''s even less need for me to go back now. It''s better for me to remain in the shadows than out in the open. I didn''t think that the measures we''d set up in the association would truly come in useful one day. Wulin, all of you can stay here and strive toward crafting your suits of two-word battle armor. I''ll provide you all with some guidance during this process, and after you complete your suits of two-word battle armor, you can contact the Tang Sect and cure your girlfriend''s condition. After that, all of you should go and join the military."


    With a clear course of action laid out in front of him, Tang Wulin was immediately feeling quite reinvigorated. As the situation currently was, all they could do was take things one step at a time and do their best to ensure that every step they took was a solid one.


    Thus, Tang Wulin and his friends settled here, and they began to refine their suits of battle armor again under Zhen Hua''s guidance. Zhen Hua only provided them with some constructive suggestions, but they were solely responsible for the execution.


    In order to craft suits of two-word battle armor, they first had to ensure that all of the metals used were upgraded to spirit refined metals. After that, they had to add wings to the suits of armor, and carving circuits would be the final step.


    During this process, the most difficult part wasn''t the final step of carving the circuits into the suits of armor. On the contrary, this was a relatively simple task. Both Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan had already become Soul Emperors, so they had more than enough soul power to complete this step. Instead, the most difficult part was forging the required metals.


    To put it more accurately, Tang Wulin had placed all this pressure on himself back when he decided to craft their suits of one-word battle armor using spirit alloys.


    Using spirit alloys to construct their suits of one-word battle armor could conserve a lot of resources as all of the materials used could continue to be used when crafting their suits of two-word battle armor. The difficulty of carving the circuits would also be significantly lowered; all they had to do was make the circuit more complex and add a few special effects to it.


    However, the forging process involved was even more complex than creating suits of two-word battle armor from scratch. Firstly, there was zero margin for error for him as he couldn''t afford to fail. There were no chances for him to experiment; he had to succeed on the first try. Furthermore, during the forging process, he couldn''t disrupt the existing circuits. At the same time, he had to fuse new metals into the existing spirit alloys, and he wouldn''t have been confident in his ability to complete this procedure even back when he was a sixth-grade blacksmith.


    However, everything was, of course, different now! He had already become a Saint Blacksmith, the youngest Saint Blacksmith in the history of the entire Douluo Continent, at that!


    His hammers fell gently upon the golden piece of armor before him, and with every hammer blow that he dealt, a wisp of a gentle aura would naturally emanate from his body. This aura didn''t just consist of soul power fluctuations, but also blood essence fluctuations, and it was also supported by his immense spiritual power to ensure he was forging the piece of battle armor beneath his hammers to perfection.


    Tang Wulin''s pair of Heavy Silver Hammer had also changed drastically compared to what they''d been in the past. The spirit refined hammers had now become soul refined hammers. The difference between the two wasn''t just limited to the fact that life had been bestowed upon the hammers through soul refinement. Instead, the hammers had also attained intelligence, thereby allowing them to forge a spiritual link with their master.


    As such, every time the Heavy Silver Hammers struck the piece of battle armor, a different sound would result, and they would change their shape slightly at Tang Wulin''s behest in order to avoid the complex patterns. In doing so, the existing patterns on the piece of battle armor wouldn''t be harmed, and at the same time, the hammers would strike down on some areas with more force when required.


    Every hammer blow achieved an effect equivalent to several dozens of hammer blows in the past, and that was the main benefit that soul refinement brought to these hammers. Furthermore, he could control these hammers with a far greater degree of accuracy now, and that would also significantly decrease his chances of failure.


    The metals used in suits of two-word battle armor had to be upgraded to the spirit refined level, and another type of metal had to be added in order to create a stronger alloy. Only a Saint Blacksmith would be able to complete all of these procedures to perfection.


    Everyone was spectating from nearby, including Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua.


    Tang Wulin had become a Saint Blacksmith under his guidance, but even in his eyes, Tang Wulin''s forging was full of artistry and sophistication.


    Tang Wulin had built up a strong foundation over many years, and Mu Ye''s teachings were finally allowing that strong foundation to shine through. After truly mastering his extraordinary strength, Tang Wulin was able to control his own body to a far more exceptional degree than what he''d been capable of in the past. This perfect control integrated with his forging, allowing him to completely consolidate himself as a Saint Blacksmith in just the span of a few months. He still couldn''t compare to a veteran Saint Blacksmith like Mu Chen, but it was already a very simple task for him to complete the refinement of these suits of two-word battle armor.


    Even the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, who were complete novices when it came to forging, could tell that Tang Wulin''s forging seemed to be more relaxed and carefree than before. He didn''t seem to be taking it very seriously, but every hammer blow created a delightful sound, as if he were playing a musical instrument. There were no violent booms that everyone was accustomed to, but this new type of forging struck them with a sense of peace and tranquility. It was as if their souls were also being gently refined under his hammers.


    Xu Lizhi was the first one to sit down with his legs crossed, and a sense of enlightenment welled up in his heart as he listened to Tang Wulin''s forging.


    His other friends then sat down one after another and entered meditative states. Only Gu Yue continued to appraise Tang Wulin with rapt focus in her large eyes, cocking her head to the side from time to time. There was a rather dazed look on her face, and she seemed to be pondering something.


    The first suit of battle armor that Tang Wulin had chosen to refine was his own. He wasn''t being selfish here; it was simply because this was his first time upgrading a suit of battle armor, and he didn''t have absolute confidence in himself. He couldn''t use his friends'' suits of battle armor as guinea pigs, and at the same time, he was naturally most familiar with his own suit of battle armor.


    As it turned out, as soon as he found his element and immersed himself in his forging, everything was completed in a very natural manner.


    The refinement for the first piece of battle armor had been completed, and it was none other than his right golden dragon claw. Compared to his suit of one-word battle armor, this golden dragon claw appeared to be thicker and heavier, and the patterns on it had become more pronounced. At the same time, it had also become slightly larger, thereby creating a greater surface area for circuits to be carved onto it.


    Following the introduction of the third type of uncommon metal, the golden piece of battle armor had darkened slightly in color, and it seemed to have been instilled with a soul. During the process of being upgraded from the thousand refined stage to the spirit refined stage, a piece of metal would begin to attain life force. Tang Wulin could even sense that there seemed to be pores on this piece of metal, which were constantly changing as he breathed.


    According to his original plan, he had intended to infuse two types of uncommon metals into his suit of battle armor, but after taking Zhen Hua''s suggestion into account, he decided to only infuse one type of uncommon metal in the end.


    Zhen Hua was suggesting for him to do this mainly because his forging skills were improving at an astonishing rate. His rate of progression indicated that he was going to make another breakthrough in the near future. Reaching the two-word level was the true starting point for a suit of battle armor. Tang Wulin was already a Saint Blacksmith, so he was definitely able to fuse two types of metals. However, he had only recently become a Saint Blacksmith, he wasn''t all that familiar with the synergy between different types of metals, so it would be inadvisable to fuse too many types of metals at once.


    In order to make sure that their suits of battle armor were going to be as perfect as possible in the future, Tang Wulin was only going to infuse one type of metal into them as only then could he ensure that perfection would be achieved. In any case, the suits of battle armor still had to be upgraded to the three-word and four-word levels in the future, and it would be better for him to refine them in a more ambitious manner after he became more skilled in his forging.

 Chapter 902: Shen Xings Concerns

    Under normal circumstances, suits of two-word battle armor only required spirit refined metals to be constructed. There were extremely few two-word battle armor masters with spirit alloys used in their suits of battle armor, let alone alloys created from three types of metals like the ones they were using.


    It was a massive upgrade from a suit of one-word battle armor to a suit of two-word battle armor, and the benefits of using alloys would gradually begin to shine through at this stage. For their current cultivation ranks, this was already sufficient.


    Every piece of battle armor that Tang Wulin finished refining would be taken by Ye Xinglan to another chamber for the finishing touches to be applied.


    As time passed, Tang Wulin became more and more accustomed to his skills as a Saint Blacksmith, and for him, the process of upgrading battle armor was a very important and meaningful one. The fact that failure wasn''t an option made it so that he had to fully concentrate on his forging, and even though the process was quite simple to him, it also gave him a profound understanding of the level that he was currently at.


    Regardless of what kind of chaos was spreading into the outside world, Tang Wulin and his friends continued to improve themselves with all their might inside the belly of this mountain.


    ¡­¡­


    Bright City.


    This was the capital of the Douluo Federation, and once the second-largest city on the continent, second only to Shrek City. However, ever since the destruction of Shrek City, it had become the largest city on the Douluo Continent.


    The atmosphere in Bright City had been extremely tense during the past few days.


    There was no way to keep a monumental event like the destruction of Shrek City confidential from the public. It was undoubtedly the case that the organization that all evil Soul Masters hated the most was Shrek Academy, which had been constantly keeping them in check for countless years. Second to that the Tang Sect, which was always deploying Battle Hall agents to hunt down evil Soul Masters all over the continent.


    So what was the third-most hated entity in their eyes? It was most definitely the capital of the Douluo Continent, Bright City.


    In the aftermath of that terrorist attack, many of the city''s residents had chosen to move to rural suburbs or smaller cities. They were concerned for their own safety, as well as the current state that the government was in.


    Now that the federal parliament had disbanded, the government had fallen into a semi-crippled state. After this, the parliament was going to be reformed, and at the same time, a series of revenge missions and exhaustive searches were going to be carried out against all evil Soul Masters in response to the recent terrorist attack.


    The Holy Spirit Cult seemed to have already predicted all of this in advance as all of their members suddenly disappeared following that terrorist attack, leaving not even a single trace to be found. The federal military was doing everything in its power to search for members of the cult, but they had very little to show for their efforts.


    The parliamentary reform was finally completed after three months, and it was undoubtedly the case that the aggressive Eagle Faction had taken the upper hand. The Battle God Hall had secured seven parliamentary seats, and the number of seats given to the military had increased by over a third.


    Following the conclusion of this reform, many laws were introduced. A zero-tolerance approach was adopted against the Holy Spirit Cult, and everyone had the right to kill evil Soul Masters on sight. After verification, those who managed to kill evil Soul Masters were even entitled to handsome rewards from the federation, and those who came forward with useful information would also be rewarded.


    At the same time, the government decided to pour more resources into strengthening the Battle God Hall, as well as to expand the military in order to better target the Holy Spirit Cult.


    The most important task came next, and that was to provide reassurance to the general public.


    The government gave permission to the military to enter all of the major cities with the most cutting-edge sensory devices to conduct exhaustive searches, in order to ensure that there were no longer any underlying threats lurking within those cities.


    After all of these measures were adopted, the situation on the Douluo Continent finally began to gradually stabilize around half a year after the Shrek City bombing. However, those two colossal craters still remained at the site where Shrek City once stood.


    Strangely enough, the Tang Sect didn''t display much of a reaction following the attack. Instead, all of the companies of the Tang Sect in the major cities closed down one after another, and the Radiant Tang Sect Technology Limited Corporation, which was being run directly by the Tang Sect, had also completely shut down. What was once the most powerful sect on the entire continent seemed to have been completely crushed by the impact of this bombing.


    This was something that the vast majority of people didn''t wish to see. There were some Shrek Academy graduates who made all types of vehement statements, vowing to avenge and rebuild their academy.


    Some people also proposed for the newly-elected federal parliament to rebuild Shrek City, but the federation didn''t have any plans to do this in the immediate future. It seemed that they didn''t have any time or resources to spare toward that initiative for now. As such, the two massive craters remained on the plot of land that was once Shrek City.


    "Sister, do you think the federation really isn''t going to let Shrek Academy rebuild?" Shen Xing asked her sister, the latter of which had two general stars on her epaulets.


    Shen Yue had been promoted by the military as one of the most important military leaders of the younger generation, and she had also been selected as a member of this new parliament. At the same time, she had been transferred back to the military to undertake an important position.


    Shen Yue''s brows furrowed slightly as she replied, "It''s going to be very difficult for Shrek Academy to be rebuilt. Even if the academy does get rebuilt, so what? Shrek Academy''s roots have already been destroyed, and the Sea God''s Pavilion is also gone. Even if it does get rebuilt, it won''t be the number one academy on the continent that it once was."


    Even though Shen Yue was a graduate of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy, thereby making her one of Shrek Academy''s rivals, she was still filled with grief after receiving news that the academy had been wiped off the face of the continent.


    In a sense, Shrek City was already one of the symbols that represented the Douluo Continent. To the government, an independent and neutral entity that was as powerful as Shrek City was a constant source of pressure, but to the general public and many other powers, Shrek City was an important beacon of diplomacy.


    Now that Shrek Academy was gone, it would definitely be a lot easier for the federal government to exert control over the entire continent, but at the same time, there would no longer be any entities capable of supervising the government and keeping them accountable for their actions. From a long-term perspective, this was not a good thing.


    Shen Yue wasn''t part of the military''s Eagle Faction. Instead, she was leaning more toward the Dove Faction, which promoted defending the continent against external threats when they arose rather than actively waging wars. This recent terrorist attack has been one of unprecedented proportions, and the Eagle Faction''s popularity had risen significantly as a result, but the Dove Faction had also taken the opportunity to secure some territory. Shen Yue was none other than one of the representatives being championed by the Dove Faction.


    Now that the Eagle Faction had gained the firm upper hand, Shen Yue was very concerned that the continent would be plunged into turmoil and unrest in the future. As a high-ranking military official, she was naturally aware of the fact that there were many voices calling for the unification of the entire planet. From a soul technology advancement perspective alone, the Douluo Continent had indeed always been the frontrunner.


    Shen Xing was looking at her concerned sister, but her heart had already drifted elsewhere. That one face had been cemented deep into her mind. She could never forget the man who had plagued her nightmares virtually every single day for a period of time.


    Was he dead as well? Had he also perished during that attack? If so, then she wouldn''t even get a chance to take her revenge on him.


    However, she had been feeling very depressed for some reason, and her entire mental state had been quite lackluster for a very long time.


    ¡­¡­


    A man and a woman walked hand-in-hand along a wide street. Both of their bodies were quite tall and graceful, but their appearances were very ordinary. The young man was over 190cm with a set of wide shoulders, a slim athletic waist, and a pair of muscular arms. The young woman was also quite tall and slender, and her long legs were particularly eye-catching. However, her skin was rather dark, and her appearance was also extremely mundane.


    "We''re here." The young man pointed at a teahouse up ahead before entering with the young woman.


    The young woman opened her mouth to say something, but repressed the urge to do so in the end. However, an involuntary pout appeared on her face, and she seemed to be quite displeased.


    After entering the teahouse, the two of them were immediately greeted by a waiter.


    "A table for two?"


    The young man nodded, and said, "We''d like some Da Hong Pao tea." [Da Hong Pao is a very famous tea brand in China.]


    The waiter''s expression changed ever so slightly, and he asked, "How many soaks would you like?"


    The young man replied, "Three soaks would be perfect; any more than that and the tea would end up tasting completely bland."


    "Alright, please come with me." The waiter turned and made his way up the stairs as he spoke.


    The young man and woman followed him up the stairs.


    The waiter didn''t say anything else, and he merely led them onto the second level before walking all the way to the conclusion of a corridor. All of a sudden, he gently pressed a hand against the wall, and it suddenly split open to reveal a door.


    The waiter then made an inviting hand gesture, and the young man entered through the door with the young woman.


    They found themselves in a tea room, and there was already someone waiting for them in there. He was seated on a futon with his legs crossed behind a tea table, and he said in a calm voice, "Take a seat."

 Chapter 903: Rainbow Miasma

    The man sitting behind the tea-table was quite handsome, and he appeared to be in his thirties. His entire body was emanating an ethereal aura, and an excited expression immediately appeared on the young man''s face at the sight of him.


    He hurriedly stepped forward before taking a seat on the other side of the table. "Vice-palace Master!"


    The middle-aged man pushed a cup of tea toward him. "Have a taste."


    The young man faltered slightly before quickly calming himself down. He picked up the teacup and blew on it a few times before downing the contents of the entire cup in one mouthful.


    A refreshing fragrance flowed into his stomach along with a stream of warmth, and his entire body was struck by an indescribably warm and comfortable feeling while the aroma of tea wafted through the air around him.


    "I was very glad to hear that all of you are still alive. At the very least, the future hopes of Shrek Academy have been preserved, and its heritage hasn''t been completely severed."


    A hint of sorrow flashed through the middle-aged man''s eyes as he spoke.


    The young man lowered his head, and tears welled up in his eyes as he asked in a heavy voice, "What''s the current situation like in our Tang Sect, Vice-palace Master?"


    The middle-aged man shook his head in response. "Very bad. After our headquarters was bombed, all of our Radiant Tang Sect branch companies were oppressed on all levels. The military had been in close contact with us in the past, but they''ve since completely cut off communications with us. We''ve been dealt heavy blows from many sides, both out in the open and in the shadows. This was clearly all part of a pre-planned operation. The palace master has decided to temporarily close all of our branches. Our Tang Sect has many emergency plans prepared, and we''re currently employing one of them. This is also the course of action that we''ll only adopt during the direst of situations."


    The young man asked, "Who else is there aside from the Holy Spirit Cult?"


    The middle-aged man replied in an indifferent voice, "Have you heard of the saying that everyone will strike a man when he''s down? This scheme has most likely been devised over a very long time. Both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect have been targeted, and one generation of people definitely isn''t enough to pull this off. The Holy Spirit Cult is only the entity at the very forefront; as for just how many powers are involved behind the scenes, I can only tell you that there are enemies everywhere you look.


    "The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy have held such lofty statuses on this continent for far too long. Truth be told, we predicted a long time ago that the federation will inevitably plot against us one day, but we didn''t think that this day would come so soon and that they''d employ such extreme tactics. Regardless of whether it''s the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion or the current leaders of the Tang Sect, all of us are to blame for this. We''ve been basked in complacency for far too long, and we''ve clearly sensed that danger could arise, but we''ve always just thought that no one would dare to do anything to us. As it turned out, we were wrong. Our enemies are far more vicious than we imagined, and they''d even go as far as to kill over 10,000,000 people just to take us down."


    The young man raised his head, and there was faint golden light shimmering in his eyes as he asked, "What are our Tang Sect''s plans from here onward, Vice-palace Master?"


    The middle-aged man replied, "No one can get away with plotting against our Tang Sect without paying a price. The glory of our Tang Sect definitely won''t be crushed so easily, and the same goes for Shrek Academy. Zhen Hua has informed me of your objective for coming here. Even those people aren''t fully aware of just how much power our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy has accumulated. You and your friends are the future. The futures of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy are in your hands, and both organizations must be rebuilt. The Tang Sect Ice Fire Seal I gave you last time has already expired, but the secret realm of the Tang Sect, the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well will still be open to all of you.


    "Our Tang Sect will support you and your friends with all of our power from the shadows. Those people have taken centuries, perhaps even thousands of years to plot against us, and we''re willing to do the same. Even if it takes the concerted effort of an entire generation, or even several generations, we''ll take back what rightfully belongs to us. Perhaps its exactly because our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy have been overly dogmatic in following the rules that those people no longer feared us. All of those lives that were lost during the attack can''t be for nothing."


    The air temperature in the entire tea room plummeted as the middle-aged man spoke, and a sharp aura appeared before vanishing in an instant.


    The young man nodded firmly, and said, "We won''t let you down. When can we set off for the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, Vice-palace Master?"


    "Right away," the middle-aged man rose to his feet, and said, "I''ll go and bring our friends here right now, and all of you can immediately set off after that."


    "Yes."


    The young man was none other than Tang Wulin in disguise, and the young woman accompanying him was naturally Gu Yue, who was still suffering from amnesia.


    She had no idea what was going on, and she stood beside Tang Wulin with her eyes wide open, feeling as if she were listening to an alien language.


    The middle-aged man was none other than Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, whom Tang Wulin had met once before, and he was the current vice-palace master of the Douluo Palace, as well as the second most powerful being in the entire Tang Sect.


    Two ordinary-looking soul cars drove onto the street before stopping in front of the tea house.


    In the instant that Zang Xin emerged from the teahouse, his facial muscles transformed, and he turned into an entirely different person.


    These measures were very much necessary as with the current level of soul technology on the continent, satellites could easily search for a designated person based on their appearance.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue followed Zang Xin into a car.


    Zang Xin said, "Our Tang Sect has now become an entirely underground organization. After your trip to the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, you can all go to join the military as you initially planned; there''s no need for all of you to worry about anything else."


    "Yes." Tang Wulin immediately felt as if the burden on his shoulders had been lessened slightly upon hearing this. Even though the academy was gone, they still had the Tang Sect as a powerful backer.


    Zang Xin leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes as he said, "Remember this, Wulin; if you do nothing or don''t do enough, then you''ll always be ostracized and alone. However, when you attain enough power and influence, you and your friends will be like magnets. All of the hidden allies of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect will flock to you. In the minds of all of our enemies, you and your friends no longer exist, yet your potential and identities make all of you the ideal leaders of the resurgence of Shrek Academy and our Tang Sect.


    "You are no longer just Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; at the same time, you are the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion and the future hopes of our Tang Sect. After leaving the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, do not contact the Tang Sect again so you don''t blow your covers; the Tang Sect will contact you if and when required, understood?"


    "Understood," Tang Wulin replied as his heart stirred slightly. Through this lecture, Zang Xin was telling him that they had an extremely heavy burden on their shoulders, and that they''d have to rely solely on themselves the vast majority of the time.


    It appeared that the Tang Sect had even more severe losses during the recent explosion than he''d imagined.


    Half an hour later, the six other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were picked up on the outskirts of Heaven Dou City, and two highly disguised Tang Sect battle vehicles drove onto the road.


    The windows were tinted completely black, and a panel slowly descended up ahead to obscure everyone''s vision. The Ice Fire Yin Yang Well was an extremely important secret realm for the Tang Sect, and the way to get here had to be kept confidential even to Tang Wulin and his friends.


    After an indeterminate period of time during which Tang Wulin had meditated for two cycles, the cars slowly drew to a halt.


    Gu Yue was sleeping soundly while using his leg as a pillow.


    "We''re here." The car windows turned transparent again, thereby allowing those inside the car to see everything outside, and Tang Wulin discovered that they''d arrived in a forest.


    Everyone was still trying to adjust to the bright light, so all of them got out of the cars with narrowed eyes.


    The forest appeared to be very primitive, and no signs of human activity could be seen here. Aside from that, they weren''t able to deduce anything else.


    The Amorous Douluo instructed, "Come with me. From now on, all of you have to listen to everything I say; the journey won''t be a safe one." He strode on ahead as he spoke, and Tang Wulin hurriedly followed along with everyone else while holding onto Gu Yue''s hand.


    Zang Xin wasn¡¯t moving very quickly, so everyone could keep up. After making their way into the forest, everyone began to inspect their surroundings with curiosity in their eyes.


    Everything appeared to be very normal, and there weren''t any exotic or peculiar plants in sight.


    After about two hours later, the terrain suddenly became very steep.


    "Follow the exact route that I''m taking, and make sure you don''t stray away from it. There are very many extremely poisonous plants here, and you''ll be in a lot of trouble if you come into contact with any of them," Zang Xin cautioned.


    The world around them suddenly became illusionary, and Tang Wulin felt as if he''d stepped into a blurry world. Only Zang Xin was able to see the way ahead.


    Was this... an illusionary realm?

 Chapter 904: Dragon Moon Tang Wulin!

    This seemed to be a very sophisticated illusionary realm.


    A faint golden chain that was shimmering with starlight linked everyone together, and it was none other than Xu Xiaoyan''s Astral Chain. Even if they were to encounter any danger, the chain would distribute the damage that any one of them incurred.


    "What is this place, Father? It''s so strange," Gu Yue asked in a low voice.


    Tang Wulin had told her many times not to call him father, but she simply couldn''t kick the habit. In the end, he was only able to convince her not to call him that in settings where there were many people around.


    After walking for a while, Zang Xin suddenly stopped, and their surroundings also became clear again.


    Only then did Tang Wulin and the others discover that they''d arrived beside a cliff. They turned around to discover that they''d just traveled through a forest, but this was a rainbow forest with many plants that they''d never seen before. Those were undoubtedly the extremely poisonous plants that the Amorous Douluo had been referring to.


    The combination of the lethal poison of the plants and the illusionary realm provided an ideal natural barrier for this place.


    "Your suits of two-word battle armor have all been completed, right? The place we''re going to is situated within the valley."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Zang Xin said, "Show me your suits of battle armor."


    Golden light flashed within Tang Wulin''s eyes, and a low dragon''s roar erupted from his body. Specks of golden light then began to appear at all of his joints, as well as all of the important parts of his body, such as his forehead and his chest.


    A series of golden lines connected these golden specks of light, and the first things that appeared were his pair of golden dragon claws. Layers of patterns appeared as his golden dragon claws emerged, and a suit of armor that resembled dragon scales quickly spread along both of his arms. There were three sharp curved blades on the sides of each of his forearms, and compared to his suit of one-word battle armor, these blades were curved to a greater angle.


    The pauldrons [1] were the next to appear, and there were several layers to them, which led downward to the breastplate.


    After the golden suit of armor encapsulated his entire body, Tang Wulin''s aura swelled drastically. Each and every scale on his suit of armor was slightly ridged, and there was faint light shimmering over all of those ridges. The cuirass [2] consisted of a rhomboid piece of metal that resembled a massive scale.


    Golden light flashed from his forehead, and a helmet immediately appeared. A pair of sharp dragon-horn-like protrusion were situated on either side of the helmet, and at the same time, a golden visor emerged to cover his face, leaving only his bright eyes exposed.


    Tang Wulin huddled over slightly, and a massive pair of golden wings abruptly appeared on his back. The wings looked as if they''d been constructed from countless scales, and the wingspan was in excess of four meters. When the wings were folded away, they covered the entirety of his back.


    In the instant that the pair of wings appeared, Tang Wulin''s aura swelled dramatically once again, and the suit of battle armor was a perfect combination of power and beauty.


    Dragon Moon was the name that Tang Wulin had given to his suit of two-word battle armor.


    Dragon as in Golden Dragon King, and Moon as in Gu Yuena.  [3]


    He was Dragon Moon Tang Wulin!


    Gu Yue suddenly giggled as she stood beside Tang Wulin. "I have one, too!"


    A speck of silver light abruptly appeared on her forehead, and she raised her head slightly. All of a sudden, her disguise was lifted and her hair color returned to normal, revealing her original stunning beauty.


    Strangely enough, there was no silver light shimmering on any other part of her body aside from on her forehead. The light was coming from an ovular silver gem, and the gem spread outward to form a crown-like helmet around Gu Yue''s head. A silver visor also descended to obscure her gorgeous features, and her suit of silver armor "flowed" down from above her head like cascading liquid mercury.


    The oval shape was a very prominent theme in her suit of armor. There was also an ovular silver gem situated right at the center of her chest, and there was faint rainbow light shimmering within the gem.


    Compared to the powerful and intimidating appearance of Tang Wulin''s suit of battle armor, Gu Yue''s battle armor was a lot more petite and agile. There were no exaggerated pauldrons or melee combat weapons like Tang Wulin''s sharp curved blades, and the entire suit of armor was very beautiful and lavish, giving her the appearance of a celestial maiden who had descended from the heavens.


    A pair of silver dragon wings spread open on her back, and the wings were slightly smaller than Tang Wulin''s but there were a total of 18 gems on her wings, all of which were shimmering with faint light. As soon as she donned her suit of battle armor, all of the elements in the air became noticeably more active, and they naturally gathered around her to form a layer of rainbow light.


    Gu Yue''s suit of battle armor hadn''t been constructed by Tang Wulin and his friends. Instead, she suddenly recalled that she also had a suit of armor after she witnessed Tang Wulin''s completed suit of two-word battle armor, and she immediately released it in an excited manner. Only then did everyone discover that she''d already completed her suit of two-word battle armor, and she had even named it already.


    Dragon Qilin was the name that Gu Yue had given to her suit of battle armor.


    Dragon as in silver dragon, and Qilin as in Tang Wulin.  [4]


    She was Dragon Qilin Gu Yue, also known as Dragon Qilin Gu Yuena.


    The golden and silver dragon scales illuminated one another, and there seemed to be some kind of indescribable connection between the two suits of battle armor. After Gu Yue donned her suit of battle armor, a layer of golden light immediately appeared around Tang Wulin''s suit of battle armor in a very natural manner, creating a very intriguing sight to behold.


    Dragon Moon Tang Wulin and Dragon Qilin Gu Yuena. Both of them were two-word battle armor masters!


    Golden and rainbow light intertwined, and their respective auras were further enhanced in each other''s presence. Amorous Douluo Zang Xin was very elated by what he saw. Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena''s suits of battle armor were undoubtedly far more powerful than he''d imagined.


    Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon battle armor had been constructed from three types of alloys, all of which had been spirit refined to perfection, and the armor enhanced him far more than his suit of one-word battle armor did.


    However, what came as quite a surprise to Tang Wulin was that after releasing her suit of two-word battle armor, a spear had appeared in Gu Yuena''s right hand.


    Wasn''t that Na''er''s Silver Dragon Spear? The only difference was that an ovular silver bead had appeared on the tip of the spear, so it had lost its sharp tip. However, when Gu Yuena gently waved her spear through the air, a silver spear projection that was over a foot in length would naturally emerge from the front of the silver bead.


    Tang Wulin''s weapon was his Golden Dragon Spear; was Gu Yuena''s weapon a Silver Dragon Spear?


    Meanwhile, their friends had also donned their respective suits of two-word battle armor.


    In the instant that Ye Xinglan released her suit of battle armor, countless specks of light appeared all over her body. It was as if she''d instantly transformed into a miniature galaxy that was filled with stars.


    Starlight flashed, and a suit of simplistic armor appeared over her body. After being upgraded to the two-word level, her suit of armor had taken on a strange scorching white color. It was as if the entire suit of armor were crystalline in nature and was shimmering with dazzling light.


    Every aspect of her battle armor had been designed to be as sharp as a blade, just as she was. The suit of battle armor wasn''t all that lavish, and even its wings were quite petite. However, they were extremely sharp and resembled the guiding wings that one would typically find on a mecha. In the instant that she donned the suit of armor and the visor descended over her face, a burst of natural sword intent erupted directly upward from her body.


    The burst of sword intent was so powerful that it seemed to be threatening to pierce through the very heavens.


    Star Wisdom was the name she''d given to her suit of two-word battle armor.


    Star as in Stargod Sword, and Wisdom as in Xu Lizhi.  [5]


    She was Star Wisdom Ye Xinglan!


    The rotund Xu Lizhi stood beside her, and his suit of battle armor was rather strange-looking. His suit of one-word battle armor had been yellow in color, but that had since darkened into a brown color.


    The suit of armor was very thick and heavy, and his battle armor was the most intimidating out of everyone''s. Each and every piece of the suit of armor was like a slab of rock, and it encapsulated his entire body. There was a huge round yellow gemstone on his chest, and his helmet was of the most traditional style. The wings on his back were also extremely massive, even more so than Tang Wulin''s, and he resembled an immovable mountain.


    The aura emanating from his body was infused with destructive energy fluctuations that sent chills running down one''s spine.


    Guardian Star was the name that Xu Lizhi had given to his suit of two-word battle armor.


    Everyone had jokingly urged him to name his suit of battle armor "Steamed Bun", but Xu Lizhi naturally vehemently rejected the idea. In the end, he decided to use Guardian, and Star as in Ye Xinglan.  [6] Everyone naturally knew the meaning behind this name.


    He was Guardian Star Xu Lizhi!


    Standing beside Xu Lizhi was Xie Xie. After his suit of battle armor reached the two-word level, it had taken on an illusionary appearance, and light was shimmering from its surface in an unpredictable manner. The suit of battle armor was semi-transparent with faint light shimmering within it, and it looked as if it had been carved out of a massive piece of crystal. There were dragon-shaped patterns all over the suit of battle armor, and compared to his suit of one-word battle armor, it had become a lot more mysterious.


    His suit of battle armor appeared to be even thinner than Ye Xinglan''s, and as opposed to one pair of wings on its back, there were two, both of which were quite short and small, but very streamlined and aerodynamic. There was no helmet over his head. Instead, there was a trident-like headpiece on his head, and there seemed to be a constant breeze flowing around his body.


    His suit of battle armor provided him with only speed-boosting abilities, as well as speed and soul power dual enhancements. Its defensive properties were significantly inferior to everyone else''s suits of battle armor, but it could definitely raise his speed to the very max.


    Dragon Night was the name that Xie Xie had given to his suit of two-word battle armor.


    Dragon as in Twin Dragon Daggers, and Night as in Yuanen Yehui.  [7] After his suit of battle armor was constructed, he made a bold declaration that he was definitely going to become a four-word battle armor master in the future, and when that time came, he would name his suit of battle armor Twin Dragon Night Radiance.  [8]


    He was Dragon Night Xie Xie.


    [1] [armor that covers the shoulders]


    [2] [armor that covers the torso]


    [3] [As previously explained, the "Yue" (ÔÂ) in Gu Yuena literally translates to moon in Chinese.]


    [4] [The "Lin" (֑) comes from the word Qilin (֏֑)]


    [5] [The "Zhi" (ÖÇ) in Xu Lizhi''s name translates to wisdom.]


    [6] [The "Xing" (ÐÇ) in Ye Xinglan''s name translates to star.]


    [7] [The "Ye" (Ò¹) in Yuanen Yehui translates to night.]


    [8] [The "Hui" (»Ô) in Yuanen Yehui translates to radiance.]

 Chapter 905: Ice Fire Yin Yang Well

    Yuanen Yehui''s suit of battle armor had been the most complex to construct due to her twin martial souls. Furthermore, her two martial souls were completely different in nature, so a lot of time was expended just to design her suit of battle armor.


    At this moment, she had chosen to release her Fallen Angel martial soul. After the introduction of a third type of metal, the suit of battle armor had taken on a deep purple color, and every single one of its patterns exuded a sense of power. A pair of black wings spread open on her back, and that, in conjunction with the fact that she''d returned to her female appearance, gave her a strange sense of mystery and allure.


    If she were to transform into her Titan Giant Ape form, her suit of battle armor would change accordingly. In order to ensure that her battle armor enhanced her combat prowess to the maximal extent, she''d decided to sacrifice her ability to fly in her Titan Giant Ape form and focus solely on power enhancement. As such, when Amorous Douluo Zang Xin had instructed everyone to prepare for flight, she had no choice but to release her Fallen Angel martial soul.


    Sky Twin was the name that Yuanen Yehui had given to her suit of two-word battle armor.


    Sky as in angel  [1], and Twin as in Twin Dragon Daggers.


    Yuanen Yehui had initially prepared to name her suit of two-word battle armor Titan Sky to reflect both her Titan Giant Ape and Fallen Angel martial souls, but Xie Xie had finally convinced her to include his name after an extensive amount of nagging. He had to swear countless vows of monogamy and loyalty in exchange for this privilege.


    Thus, Yuanen Yehui was now known as Sky Twin Yuanen Yehui.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s suit of battle armor was the most glamorous among everyone. After reaching the two-word level, her entire suit of battle armor had turned transparent, as if it had been constructed entirely from translucent crystal. The armor was complex and lavish, and it consisted of all types of round curved lines. Within the suit of battle armor, there seemed to be countless shimmering specks of starlight. The concept of this design had been derived from the astronomical observatory of their academy.


    All of these specks of starlight had been released by the circuits in the suit of battle armor, and they possessed extremely potent enhancement effects, allowing her to shorten the amount of time required to unleash each of her soul skills, while also extending the duration of their effects. At the same time, the suit of battle armor could also release a starlight barrier with extremely powerful defensive properties, especially at night. With the assistance of the power of starlight, her defensive prowess exceeded even that of Xu Lizhi.


    Star Universe was the name that Xu Xiaoyan had given to her suit of two-word battle armor.


    Star as in starlight, and Universe as in Yue Zhengyu.  [2]


    She was Star Universe Xu Xiaoyan.


    Yue Zhengyu stood behind Xu Xiaoyan and gently stroked her translucent and extremely intricate wings. A pair of pristine white wings had spread open on his back, and his current suit of battle armor was of the same color as his suit of one-word battle armor; it was pristinely white with golden patterns all over its surface, giving off a regal and holy aura.


    A series of holy runes had been carved onto his suit of battle armor, and not only did it appear to be slightly thicker than his suit of one-word battle armor, the patterns had also become more spectacular. His wings had also been completely encapsulated within the suit of battle armor, and there was a crown sitting on his head. His entire body was radiating a holy aura, and it was still daytime at the moment, so the sunlight shining down upon him from above only contributed to this holy aura.


    In direct contrast with Xu Xiaoyan, he possessed a Holy Angel martial soul, so his combat prowess was more potent during the day.


    Sky Word was the name that Yue Zhengyu had given to his suit of two-word battle armor.


    Sky as in angel, and word as Xu Xiaoyan.  [3]


    He was Sky Word Yue Zhengyu.


    All eight of them had attained their suits of two-word battle armor, and their powers had reached another level.


    Compared to their suits of one-word battle armor, everyone''s suits of two-word battle armor had changed quite significantly, with the exception of Yue Zhengyu. This was something that Tang Wulin had intentionally planned.


    They were most likely not going to be able to appear before others with their true identities for a long time to come, so under these circumstances, their top priorities were to protect themselves. Their previous suits of one-word battle armor hadn''t been exposed many times, but keen observers may still be able to identify them. As such, it was best to change the appearances of their suits of battle armor quite drastically as a precautionary measure.


    Yue Zhengyu was an exception as his situation was rather special. All of the runes on his suit of battle armor were unique to the Holy Angel clan, so excessively altering the appearance of his battle armor would significantly hamper his combat prowess. Thus, after taking a variety of factors into account, they decided to retain its original style.


    Dragon Moon Tang Wulin, Dragon Qilin Gu Yuena, Sky Word Yue Zhengyu, Star Universe Xu Xiaoyan, Sky Twin Yuanen Yehui, Dragon Night Xie Xie, Star Wisdom Ye Xinglan, and Guardian Star Xu Lizhi.


    After attaining their suits of two-word battle armor, everyone finally received their own titles, which were combinations of their martial souls and the names of their lovers.


    Zang Xin looked on as they released their suits of battle armor, and a genuine smile appeared on his face as their wings unfurled one after another.


    This was the first time he had smiled in such a genuine and elated manner ever since the disaster that had befallen the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. These young men and women were even more outstanding than he''d imagined. Not only were their powers superior to that of their peers, their suits of battle armor were also extremely powerful, and he could tell that they definitely weren''t rushed projects to give them quick power boosts. An extremely solid foundation had been built; all of their suits of battle armor suited them perfectly, and the quality of their battle armor was far superior to that of normal suits of two-word battle armor.


    "Come with me."


    Zang Xin''s body swayed as he spoke, and he instantly appeared in the air above the valley.


    Tang Wulin and the others also flapped their wings to follow him into the air.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu had originally possessed flight abilities, so they were naturally most adept at flying. As for everyone else, they hadn''t had much time to practice flying after attaining their suits of two-word battle armor, so they were looking slightly wobbly as soon as they rose up into the air. However, all of them were brilliant prodigies and it only took them an instant to stabilize their bodies. They spread open their wings and activated their soul power, thereby allowing them to hover steadily in mid-air.


    Zang Xin waved a hand and descended toward the valley first. At the same time, a layer of faint golden light emanated from his body, forming a light barrier that enshrouded Tang Wulin and the others within.


    The light barrier descended, and Tang Wulin and the others immediately caught sight of a glamorous layer of rainbow mist within the valley.


    However, as the light barrier entered the rainbow mist, all of them were stunned to see that even with Zang Xin''s immense powers, the protective barrier that he''d conjured up was rippling violently, and pits and indentations began to appear all over its surface.


    "This is Rainbow Miasma, one of the most potent types of poison in the entire world. Anything that comes into contact with it will be eroded no matter what it is. The miasma has accumulated above this valley over many years, and in the past, they had spread over the surrounding forest as well. Our Tang Sect had to expend a vast amount of effort to gather all of it above this valley in order to increase its concentration. Even if a black mecha were to try and infiltrate this place, it would be quickly eroded into nothingness by this miasma. At the very least, one would have to be a Hyper Douluo to be able to use their own soul power to withstand this Rainbow Miasma for a short time."


    It was undoubtedly the case that this was the most effective line of defense for the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. Even Hyper Douluos could easily fall prey to such lethal poison if they didn''t ascertain its nature beforehand!


    Thankfully, the layer of miasma wasn''t very thick. They passed through it after traveling for several dozens of meters, and a small valley was revealed to everyone.


    As soon as they caught a clear glimpse of the valley, everyone was stunned by the scenes before their eyes.


    The first thing that they saw was a strange two-colored lake. One side of it was blue while the other side was red, and there was a clear division between the two sections.


    This was most likely the origin behind the name for the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.


    There were all types of strange and exotic plants growing on the shore of this two-colored lake, and there was one extremely gargantuan flower that was particularly eye-catching.


    Tang Wulin activated his Purple Demon Eyes to get a closer look at all of the plants down below, only to discover that he couldn''t recognize the vast majority of them. It was undoubtedly the case that these were all spirit items of the highest caliber.


    Right after they descended through the miasma, a series of powerful intent suddenly swept toward them from down below, and all of them were clearly very unfriendly.


    [1] [The word angel is Ììʹ in Chinese, and the Ìì component means sky or heaven.]


    [2] [The "Yu" (Óî) in Yue Zhengyu''s name translates to space or universe.]


    [3] [The "Yan" (ÑÔ) in Xu Xiaoyan''s name translates to word or speech.]

 Chapter 906: The Six Great Beasts

    A faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face, and purple light flashed through his eyes, destroying the bursts of intent in an instant. The pressure was immediately alleviated, and he continued to lead everyone on a descent toward the valley.


    All of the surrounding plants parted to reveal a patch of bare ground that was just large enough for the nine of them to stand on.


    After landing in the valley, everyone was stunned by the sight of all of the plants around them. This was a world filled with all types of vibrant colors, and all of the plants here seemed to have been significantly enlarged.


    Xie Xie suddenly exclaimed, "Is that a Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower? My God! How could it be so big? How is that even possible? I''ve read that this type of flower only grows two inches per 10,000 years! This one has to be... My God, it has to be close to 200,000 years old!"


    As soon as they landed in the valley, the bursts of powerful intent swept toward them yet again, and there was an even larger number of them this time. It was as if all of the exotic plants around them had sprung to life. What was even more peculiar was that six of them slowly manifested human forms that appeared right before them.


    Their leader was a tall and handsome man wearing a long purple robe that was of a very antiquated style. For some reason, Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of familiarity at the sight of him.


    Behind him was an exquisitely beautiful woman in red, but she wore an unfriendly look on her face. She was none other than the humanoid manifestation of the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower that Xie Xie had just pointed to. Those two were joined by four more people, and all of them made their way toward Tang Wulin''s group.


    It was quite clear from their aura fluctuation that they didn''t welcome Tang Wulin and his friends.


    These were six plants that were capable of manifesting humanoid forms! Everyone was well aware of what this entailed. Plant system soul beasts that were capable of adopting human forms could only be Great Beasts!


    Who would''ve thought that there would be six Great Beasts within the Tang Sect''s secret realm? This was downright incredible!


    A faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face, and he stepped forward as he said, "Long time no see, everyone; have you all been well?"


    The purple-robed man replied in an indifferent manner, "We''d be doing much better without your intrusion. Amorous Douluo, why have you brought so many people to this place?"


    Zang Xin replied, "I''ve naturally brought them here because I need your help."


    A dark expression appeared on the purple-robed man''s face. "I recall that in our agreement with the Tang Sect, it was stipulated that only one person would be allowed to enter the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well per century, and that they wouldn''t be allowed to take more than two plants from here. Also, your sect promised to help us protect this place and prevent it from being destroyed by you humans."


    "That''s right." Zang Xin nodded in response.


    The purple-robed man interrogated in a cold voice, "So why have you brought eight people to this place? Are you trying to expose our existence?"


    Zang Xin sighed, "I wouldn''t be doing this unless I absolutely had to, Brother Luo. Truth be told, our Tang Sect is facing a crisis of life and death. I recall that all of you made an agreement with Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao that you''d all do everything in your power to help our Tang Sect in its hour of need."


    A surprised look appeared on the purple-robed man''s face. "How could the mighty Tang Sect be facing such a dire crisis?"


    A hint of sorrow flashed through Zang Xin''s eyes. "The Titled Douluo headquarters was bombed by Evil Soul Master of the Holy Spirit Cult using a 12th-grade Godslayer soul missile. The headquarters was completely destroyed, and nine Titled Douluos perished during the attack, along with over 1,200 Soul Masters of other levels. At the same time, we''re being oppressed from all sides and have been forced to close down all of our branches, and that''s not all. "I''m sure all of you are aware of the existence of Shrek Academy. Shrek City, which was the city that Shrek Academy was situated in, was the number one city on the entire continent. The city has also been dealt a fatal blow during the attack. The entire city was destroyed, and over 10,000,000 people perished, including over 20 Titled Douluos from Shrek Academy. These children are the only survivors of the inner court, and we''ve truly been forced into a dire situation.


    "Ever since Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao ascended over 10,000 years ago, our Tang Sect has always kept its promise to protect the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, and there was even a span of 1,000 years during which we asked for nothing in return. Now, the Tang Sect is truly facing a catastrophic crisis; if you do not lend us your assistance now, the Tang Sect may truly cease to exist in the near future. Without the protection of our sect, this place will eventually be discovered, and when that time comes, all of you will be at the mercy of the human race. All of you possess immense power, but you''re not adept at combat. Besides, with how far human technology has progressed, your powers wouldn''t pose any threat anyway.¡±


    Zang Xin heaved another heavy sigh as his voice trailed off, and he appraised the purple-robed man with a hopeful look in his eyes.


    The purple-robed man''s brows were tightly furrowed as he turned toward his companions. The spiritual sense fluctuations in the area became quite violent, and it was quite clear that they were holding a discussion.


    This was the first time Tang Wulin had been made aware of just how many Titled Douluo the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had lost, and his heart felt as if it had been filled with lead.


    Over 30 Titled Douluos had perished during the attack! Shrek Academy had been completely destroyed, and the Tang Sect was also in a dire state. Furthermore, there was pressure coming from all sides to further contribute to the fall of the Tang Sect; this was indeed the most difficult time that the Tang Sect had ever faced.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this Ice Fire Yin Yang Well was one of the Tang Sect''s trump cards. Only by borrowing on the power that the Tang Sect had accumulated over its long history would it have a chance of reversing this situation.


    Moments later, the purple-robed man turned around to appraise Zang Xin with an intense gaze. "How would you like us to assist you, Amorous Douluo?"


    Zang Xin replied in a grim voice, "I need at least one type of 100,000-year-old spirit item for each of these eight kids in order to enhance their powers and latent potential. Among the eight of them, this girl has received severe physical trauma to the brain, so what she requires is the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. As for everyone else, the spirit items they receive will be based on their individual circumstances."


    "Impossible," the purple-robed man refused virtually without any hesitation.


    Even Tang Wulin was quite stunned by Zang Xin''s proposal. Was he asking for these Great Beasts to allow themselves to be eaten by them? Of course they''d refuse!


    The purple-robed man said in an enraged voice, "You''re going too far, Amorous Douluo! You should be aware that even in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, it would take 10,000 years to nurture a 100,000-year-old spirit plant. After that Spirit Ice Douluo robbed us clean last time, it''s taken us these past 10,000 years to finally recover somewhat. If we do as you say, then this place will return to the bleak state that it was in 10,000 years ago!"


    Zang Xin said in a grave voice, "Brother Luo, do you think this place will be in a better state than that after the fall of the Tang Sect? I wouldn''t be stating such a demand unless I absolutely have to, so please reconsider."


    He took a step forward as he spoke, and a virtually substantial aura abruptly erupted from his body. The entire atmosphere seemed to have become heavier, and his terrifying aura struck everyone with a sense of asphyxiation.


    Tang Wulin had heard from his teacher, Mu Ye, that this man was a Limit Douluo. Even if his powers were inferior to the late Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, they most likely weren''t inferior by much. Furthermore, he hadn''t even donned his suit of four-word battle armor yet.


    Even in the face of six Great Beasts, Zang Xin was completely fearless, and it appeared as if he were preparing to take on all six of them on his own. Even though what he was doing was rather barbaric, it was still very badass.


    The purple-robed man harrumphed coldly, "This is the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, not your Tang Sect! Do you think we haven''t made any preparations during all these past years?"


    A layer of purple energy erupted from his body, and all of a sudden, a strange pleasant fragrance wafted through the air. All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters felt as if their bodies had grown lighter after inhaling this aroma, and they were all struck by an indescribable sense of comfort.


    All of a sudden, the blue and red water within the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well erupted into the air like a pair of giant dragons from behind the six Great Beasts.


    Two figures then gradually began to take shape.


    "We pay our respects to the Dragon Masters!"

 Chapter 907: Turning the Tables

    "We pay our respects to the Dragon Masters!" All six of the Great Beasts took a few steps backward with respectful expressions on their faces.


    In the air above the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well was a pair of giant dragons that had been formed by the water in the lake. One of them was icy blue while the other was fiery red. Both dragons were radiating dazzling light, and peerlessly powerful auras erupted from their bodies. Even with Amorous Douluo Zang Xin''s immense powers, he couldn''t help but take a step backward to shield Tang Wulin and the others.


    Following the emergence of the pair of dragons, all of the plants in the entire Ice Fire Yin Yang Well seemed to have sprung to life. All of a sudden, the life force energy in this place swelled drastically, and all of the plants began to expand at a rapid rate, exerting enormous pressure on Tang Wulin and the others.


    Zang Xin''s expression had darkened significantly. "Brother Luo, our Tang Sect has protected the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, yet you''re repaying our efforts by plotting against us?"


    The purple-robed man said in an indifferent voice, "Protect us? It''s true that you''ve helped us avoid many unnecessary troubles, but at the same time, we''ve also given you a lot in return. Ever since the founder of your Tang Sect, Tang San, discovered this place, you''ve been constantly taking from us! Now that your Tang Sect is falling into ruin, there''s nothing left to be said. We don''t need your protection anymore; with our abilities, self-preservation isn''t an issue."


    Zang Xin raised an eyebrow. "Are you not afraid that I''ll leak the location of this Ice Fire Yin Yang Well? When that time comes, you''ll be targeted by the entire human race."


    A faint smile appeared on the purple-robed man''s face. "As long as I keep all of you here forever, will the Tang Sect expose us?"


    Zang Xin was enraged to the point of laughter upon hearing this. "Looks like you''re very confident, Brother Luo. Do you really think you can keep me here?"


    The purple-robed man replied in an indifferent manner, "I wouldn''t be doing this if I didn''t have absolute confidence. Do you know where these two Dragon Masters come from?"


    Zang Xin''s expression changed slightly. "Please enlighten me, Brother Luo."


    The purple-robed man explained, "The patriarch of us soul beasts, the Dragon God, had nine sons. These nine sons included the seven holy elemental dragons, which include water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, and space. The other two sons are the mountain dragon and the golden dragon, the latter of which is the most powerful of the nine sons. These nine sons are collectively known as the Nine Dragon Masters. After the Dragon God perished in the Divine Realm, all of the nine Dragon Masters encountered different fates.


    "The Water Dragon King and Fire Dragon King among the nine Dragon Masters both perished at the same time, and they descended to this place. Their bodies are buried deep under the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, and that''s also how the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well came into existence. All of the plants here are being nurtured by the bodies of two Dragon Masters. Through countless years of painstaking effort, we''ve finally managed to summon the dragon souls of these two Dragon Masters to protect this place. No matter how powerful you humans are, there''s no way you can oppose the two Dragon Masters, both of which were godly beings before they perished! Even though only their dragon souls are present, I''m sure it won''t be too difficult for the combined powers of both of the Dragon Masters to keep you here, Amorous Douluo."


    Zang Xin''s expression darkened even further as he looked up at the two immensely powerful dragon souls hovering in the air above.


    Following the bombing of the Tang Sect headquarters, the Tang Sect had been dealt an unprecedented blow, and never would he have thought that trouble would be brewing in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well as well.


    As a Limit Douluo, he was naturally able to sense the immense auras emanating from the bodies of the two Dragon Masters. Even though they''d already perished and only their dragon souls remained, the wills of these two Dragon Masters were still incredibly powerful. If he were to don his suit of four-word battle armor, he would just barely be able to match one of them in battle, but if he had to face two of them at once, it would be very difficult for him just to escape.


    The purple-robed man''s judgment was based on the power of Limit Douluos, and he had a limited understanding of battle armor, but even so, these two dragon souls and the six Great Beast were far too formidable for him to handle. Even if he could escape, he''d most likely sustain severe wounds in the process, and there was no chance for him to save Tang Wulin and the others.


    He had been too confident and complacent in the end.


    Zang Xin heaved a faint sigh, and said, "Brother Luo, would you be willing to let us leave if our Tang Sect continues to fulfill our promise of protecting the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well?"


    The purple-robed man chuckled, "Amorous Douluo, you should know that plants of our caliber possess intelligence that''s not inferior to that of you humans, so why would you say something so naive? We''ve already revealed our trump card to you; do you think there''s any way we''ll let you leave this place alive?"


    A cold expression appeared on Zang Xin''s face. "Do you really think this is enough to kill me?"


    If he had come here alone, he naturally wouldn''t stoop to negotiating with these Great Beasts, but for the sake of Tang Wulin and his friends, he had no other alternative.


    Just as he was preparing to release his suit of four-word battle armor to intimidate the Great Beasts, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him.


    "Vice-palace Master, these dragon souls aren''t anything to be afraid of."


    Zang Xin and the six Great Beasts immediately turned their attention to the person who had just spoken.


    Tang Wulin strode over to Zang Xin''s side with Gu Yue''s hand in his, and he appraised the purple-robed man with a calm expression as he said, "You know of the existence of the Water Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King, but do you recognize our auras?"


    The blood essence vortex within his body began to rotate at a rapid speed as he spoke, and his Golden Dragon King bloodline erupted forth in a frenzy!


    Gu Yuena didn''t really know what was happening, but under Tang Wulin''s guidance, a layer of yellow light also appeared around her body. All of the rainbow elemental fluctuations in the surrounding area began to surge violently, and her aura instantly intertwined with Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline aura.


    All of a sudden, the pair of giant dragon souls up above suddenly faltered in mid-air. Immediately thereafter, they descended from the sky until they were hovering only around 100 meters above their heads.


    All of the fearsome pressure from before instantly vanished, and a sense of excitement and intimacy began to exude from the pair of dragon souls.


    Gu Yuena giggled as she flapped her wings and rose up into the air. The purple-robed man wanted to stop her, but a peerlessly sharp aura suddenly erupted from Zang Xin''s body, completely immobilizing the six Great Beasts.


    Gu Yue rose up into the air, and Tang Wulin didn''t stop her. Instead, he raised his head and let loose a long roar. A massive golden dragon head encompassed his entire body, and he had unleashed none other than his Golden Dragon Roar.


    In the face of this almighty roar, the pair of dragon souls up above shuddered in unison, and a hint of fear began to emanate from them. They were nothing more than dragon souls that consisted of essential energy, so they didn''t possess any intelligence. They had only managed to take shape again after being nurtured by all of the plant system soul beasts here for many years, yet no matter how powerful they were, they couldn''t change the genetics that were rooted deep within their bloodlines. The roar of the Golden Dragon King and the aura of the Silver Dragon King were extremely close to their hearts, but also very intimidating to them.


    Gu Yuena flapped her wings as she ascended into the air, and the two dragon souls revolved around her body as they let loose a string of elated roars. Peals of tinkling laughter escaped Gu Yuena''s mouth, and all of a sudden, the tense atmosphere had been completely alleviated.


    Zang Xin''s eyes were filled with astonishment, while the purple-robed man turned deathly pale as he exclaimed, "You have the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King on your side? B, but that''s impossible!"


    Tang Wulin said in an indifferent voice, "Nothing is impossible in this world. If you ask me, it looks like those two Dragon Masters most likely aren''t going to be helping you anymore. Gu Yue, get them to return to their rightful place."


    Gu Yue nodded in response before flapping her wings and flying toward the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. The two giant dragons had been manifested by the water from the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, and under Gu Yuena''s guidance, they immediately flew back before disintegrating into a two-colored lake again, leaving only a pair of small dragon souls that were only about two meters in length each revolving around Gu Yuena in an elated manner.


    The Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King were the clones of the Dragon God created after its demise. The Silver Dragon King had inherited the Dragon God''s ability to control all seven elements, while the Golden Dragon King inherited the powers of the golden dragon and the mountain dragon. As such, the Water Dragon King and Fire Dragon King were naturally very attracted to the aura of the Silver Dragon King. They were like a pair of children who had been reunited with their mother, and they''d completely forgotten about the plant system Great Beasts.


    The Amorous Douluo was clearly very surprised by this development as well, and a faint smile appeared on his face. "Looks like the tables have turned, Brother Luo. I didn''t think that our Tang Sect would be unknowingly protecting a bunch of ungrateful backstabbers for so many years. It seems that there''s a reason why soul beasts have been hunted to the brink of extinction on this continent."


    A thunderous expression appeared on the purple-robed man''s face. "You humans use us soul beasts as tools to better yourselves; how could we not devise plans to protect ourselves? Even without the Dragon Masters, the six of us will take you down!"


    The purple-robed man had lost all of his prior composure and had become quite desperate. Zang Xin''s eyes narrowed slightly as his smile widened. "Let me see if your Beautiful Silk Tulip is more powerful or if my Amorous Sword is superior."

 Chapter 908: The Amorous Swordsman and the Heartless Sword

    A burst of astonishing sword intent abruptly erupted from Zang Xin''s body. He''d been holding back for a long while, and as soon as this sword intent appeared, a dominant aura that looked down on the entire world immediately emerged. The almighty sword intent had even split apart the Rainbow Miasma up above, allowing a beam of sunlight to shine down into the valley.


    Ye Xinglan was standing behind Zang Xin, and her eyes immediately lit up as she experienced his sword intent. Her martial soul was also a sword, and experiencing the sword intent of such a powerful being would undoubtedly be immensely beneficial to her cultivation.


    "I''ll give you three types of 100,000-year-old spirit plants," the purple-robed man conceded through gritted teeth.


    However, Zang Xin clearly wasn''t in the mood for negotiation, and he said in a cold voice, "I want eight, and I won''t accept anything less. If you don''t agree, then I''ll just have to kill all of you. With the nurturing effect of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, it won''t be long before more spirit items begin to grow here. I now realize that our Tang Sect hasn''t been doing enough to keep all of you in line, so from now on, we''re going to control this place by force. All six of you are over 100,000 years of age; you''ll make fantastic soul spirits!"


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower let loose an enraged cry. "Don''t force our hand or we''ll make you pay! The six of us will definitely be enough to take you down! Even if we die in the process, we won''t let you have your way!"


    "Oh really now?" Light flashed through Zang Xin''s eyes, and the almighty sword intent emanating from his body suddenly took on a substantial form. A gigantic sword that was over 1,000 feet long appeared in mid-air, and at the same time, streams of silver liquid surged out of his pores, quickly forming a suit of armor that encapsulated his entire body.


    This was a suit of glittering and translucent silver battle armor with as many as three pairs of wings on its back. The entire suit of silver armor seemed to a living creature, and light was shimmering within it. The suit of armor had countless patterns running all over its surface, and it was extremely lavish to behold. Zang Xin''s body had also swelled to over three meters tall, and his body formed the core of the suit of battle armor.


    He raised a hand, and the enormous sword appeared in the air above the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. Terrifying sword qi surged through the air, creating tens of thousands of tiny swords around the gargantuan sword.


    There was a rose pattern on the visor of Zang Xin''s suit of four-word battle armor, and in that moment, his eyes were like pools of water that were gently rippling with boundless passion.


    He was a Limit Douluo in a suit of four-word battle armor!


    Back when Shrek Academy was on the verge of destruction, Tang Wulin and his friends had witnessed such an almighty combination in the form of Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, and this was the second time they were witnessing such a spectacle.


    The entire Ice Fire Yin Yang Well began to tremor violently, and even the pair of dragon souls that were revolving around Gu Yue''s body in the distance had slowed down slightly. It was as if the passionate sword intent were the only thing remaining between heaven and earth, and all of the Rainbow Miasma up above was almost instantly dispersed by the sword intent.


    If one were to look up into the sky, they''d discover that the sunlight had also taken on the form of a giant sword that was pointing directly at the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.


    "This is godly power! How is this possible?" The purple-robed man''s voice was trembling with fear, and his face had paled even further.


    Zang Xin''s gentle voice echoed throughout the entire valley. "Perhaps Gold-eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian would be a match for me in my current form, but all of you are just plant system soul beasts with minimal battle experience and bloodlines that are ill-suited for combat. Even if there were 10 of you here, I''d still be able to crush you with ease, let alone six. Do you still think your two Dragon Masters will be able to kill me? Do you still think that I''m incapable of reducing the six of you into spirit items?"


    There was a white-robed man standing behind the purple-robed man, and he wore a horrified look on his face. "Have humans already become this powerful?"


    Zang Xin replied in an indifferent voice, "Indeed. Do you still think that there''s no point in the protection that you received from the Tang Sect during all these past years? In this current world, there are close to 10 demigod beings like me. I don''t need to call for much reinforcements; all I need is to call upon two of my colleagues, and even your Dragon Masters won''t be able to stop us. After all, they''ve already lost their true bodies. When that time comes, disaster will strike the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. It clearly hasn''t been easy for all of you to cultivate to this point, and you''re all quite useful to the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well as you can help nurture more spirit items. As such, I''ll give you one final chance; I want eight 100,000-year-old spirit items, and nothing less than that."


    The purple-robed man already had a completely defeated expression on his face, and he sighed, "Please withdraw your power, Amorous Douluo; we''re open to negotiation."


    A faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face beneath his visor, and he withdrew his almighty sword intent as he landed on the ground, but he made no effort to remove his suit of four-word battle armor. The gargantuan sword in the air descended from above before transforming into a silver longsword that hovered behind him.


    This was the Amorous Sword, the weapon that the Amorous Douluo had used to stamp his authority on the entire continent!


    The heartless one denies his innermost feelings, while the amorous swordsman wields the heartless sword. This saying had been coined to describe the two most powerful beings in the Tang Sect.


    The Heartless Douluo very rarely engaged in slaughter, whereas the Amorous Douluo was the complete opposite. Back in his youth, when he was still an agent in the Battle Hall, he had slain countless evil-doers with his sword. His power had been the sole factor that had allowed him to become the vice-palace master, but it was also due to his tendency to be completely vicious and heartless toward his enemies that he wasn''t able to become the palace master, and had to settle for vice-palace master. In terms of powers alone, he wasn''t actually inferior to the Heartless Douluo.


    Gu Yue had already returned to Tang Wulin''s side at this point, and she was appraising Zang Xin''s spectacular suit of four-word battle armor with intrigue and curiosity in her eyes.


    The purple-robed man that was the Beautiful Silk Tulip heaved a faint sigh. "You win, Amorous Douluo. Aside from the six of us, there are 16 types of spirit items that are over 100,000 years of age here in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. However, you should know that even though we''ve restrained them so that they''ve been unable to attain high levels of intelligence, they''re all true plant system soul beasts, and they''ll react when their lives are threatened. Hence, the people that you''ve brought here will have to be able to tame them. Their combat prowess will be slightly superior to that of normal 10,000-year-old soul beasts, but they''re still far weaker than normal 100,000-year-old soul beasts."


    Zang Xin nodded in response. The Beautiful Silk Tulip was telling the truth; even though the six Great Beasts had restrained all of the other plants here from becoming true 100,000-year-old soul beasts, they still possessed power of that caliber.


    Tang Wulin asked in a curious manner, "Why wouldn''t you allow them to attain intelligence? Won''t that only bolster the overall strength of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well?"


    The purple-robed man replied in a cold voice, "Do you think we don''t want that to happen? We''d love to allow them to attain intelligence, but we can''t. All of the plants here enjoy accelerated growth due to the presence of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, and it only takes us 10,000 years to attain the power of a 100,000-year-old soul beast. We''ll naturally be fine during the first 10,000 years, but as soon as we attain power equivalent to that of a 100,000-year-old soul beast, we have to endure heavenly tribulations as well. Plants like us are far more fragile than normal soul beasts, and it''s extremely difficult for us to withstand heavenly tribulations. During the initial several tens of thousands of years following the birth of this place, almost all of the plants that attained power equivalent to 100,000-year-old soul beasts here were instantly killed. Great Beasts like us only began to emerge through sheer luck, but such occurrences are extremely rare.


    "If 100 100,000-year-old soul beasts were to appear here, it would already be considered very fortunate if one of them could transcend their heavenly tribulation, and I''m the only one who has managed to survive a second heavenly tribulation. Even so, I''m completely certain that there''s no way I''ll be able to survive a third heavenly tribulation. As such, we''d rather restrict the plants here so they don''t attain high levels of intelligence. Without intelligence, they wouldn''t evoke jealousy from the heavens, and heavenly tribulations will still befall them, but those heavenly tribulations would be a lot milder.


    "With our assistance, they can live for a long time, and six Great Beasts is the most that we''ve ever had in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well at the same time. It''s hard to say how many will remain after another 10,000 years."

 Chapter 909: Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum

    I see, Tang Wulin thought to himself. These plants were able to enjoy accelerated growth around the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, but it appeared that this was both a blessing and a curse.


    Zang Xin seemed to have gleaned his thoughts, and he smiled as he said, "It''s not what you think; all plants would still rather grow around the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well if they had a choice. If they were to cultivate normally without the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, it would be considered very fortunate even if one in a million plants could give rise to a plant system soul beast, and less than one in a hundred of those plant system soul beasts go on to attain intelligence. In contrast, as long as a plant can live for long enough here, almost all of them will become soul beasts; this is an extraordinary opportunity for them. Otherwise, do you think they''ll continue to stay here? Furthermore, the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well also assists them greatly during their heavenly tribulations."


    Tang Wulin didn''t know much about plant system soul beasts at all, so Zang Xin''s words were quite enlightening to him. This place was most definitely a miraculous paradise for plants, after all.


    The purple-robed man sighed, "Amorous Douluo, can you promise not to return for 1,000 years after this? A wise man would never kill the hen that lays golden eggs for him. You don''t have to worry about us becoming too powerful; humans have become far too formidable for us to contend with, so we''ll still have to rely on the Tang Sect''s protection in the future. Old-timers like us will naturally pass away when the time comes, and I can promise you that when we near the ends of our lifespans, we''ll be willing to transform into soul spirits in order to strive toward becoming godly beings with you Soul Masters. In return, all I ask is that you keep your original promise and refrain from taking too much from the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well."


    Zang Xin''s eyes lit up as he said, "Alright, I promise. You''ll be thankful for the decision that you''ve made here. The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass ascended to the Divine Realm with Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, didn''t it? Perhaps all of you will be able to follow in its footsteps one day."


    The purple-robed man gave a wry chuckle in response. "I wouldn''t dare to dream of that. Come with me; I''ll take you to the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum first."


    He turned and began to make his way toward the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well as he spoke. All of the plants naturally parted for him to create a path. Thus, everyone continued on toward the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well under Zang Xin''s protection.


    These were 100,000-year-old spirit items! How could they not be tempted?


    "Don''t be careless. At your current power levels, it won''t be an issue for you to face 10,000-year-old soul beasts, but make sure you don''t make the mistake of underestimating your opponents. If you fail, you''ll lose the opportunity to obtain a 100,000-year-old spirit item. These spirit items haven''t attained intelligence, so they can''t produce soul bones, but as long as they have sufficient levels of synergy with your bodies, they''ll be able to raise your soul power by at least three ranks. At the same time, they''ll enhance your latent potential so that your cultivation will be smooth sailing all the way until you reach the Hyper Douluo level," Zang Xin cautioned.


    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue with a concerned look on his face. He wasn''t worried about anything else, but he was quite concerned about Gu Yue. How was she supposed to fight on her own in her current state?


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali had told them that a 10,000-year-old Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum should be enough to cure Gu Yue, so if worse came to worst, they could ask for a 10,000-year-old Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum as opposed to a 100,000-year old one.


    A giant chrysanthemum that was shimmering with golden light and had what appeared to be soft fur on its petals appeared before everyone''s eyes. It wasn''t releasing any rich fragrance, but its stem was extremely thick and strong, and the giant flower was exuding a natural powerful aura as it swayed gently in the breeze.


    There were no other plants in a diameter of 10 meters around it as all of the other plants had been intimidated by its powerful aura.


    "This is a 100,000-year-old Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. It cannot be harvested using metal tools, and it''ll most likely resist after you come into contact with it. You have to defeat the clones that it manifests in order to tame it," the purple-robed man introduced with a depressed look in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yuena. "Gu Yue, are you able to fight right now?"


    Gu Yuena faltered slightly upon hearing this. "What am I fighting?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "You have to go touch this flower, and its clone might try to hurt you; will you be able to beat its clone?"


    "Why would it try to hurt me? Little Blue and Little Red just told me that they wanted to give me all of the flowers here. This chrysanthemum is quite beautiful; I''ll go pluck it down right away."


    Gu Yuena skipped over to the flower as she spoke before raising a hand to touch the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.


    Tang Wulin followed closely behind her. If any danger were to arise, he''d naturally immediately step in to protect her.


    As soon as Gu Yuena laid a hand onto the giant chrysanthemum, its golden petals abruptly clenched up. Immediately thereafter, a ball of golden light appeared, and it seemed to be about to hurtle toward Gu Yue.


    Right at this moment, two loud dragon''s roar erupted in unison, and two streaks of light, one blue and one red, appeared above the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum almost instantaneously. An overwhelming burst of pressure descended from above, instantly immobilizing the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.


    Thus, Gu Yue was able to pick the flower with ease.


    The pair of dragon souls immediately began to revolve around her body again, and Gu Yuena giggled, "Thank you, I really like this flower."


    The six Great Beasts were all completely flabbergasted at the fawning display being put on by the pair of dragon souls. Was this woman''s Silver Dragon King bloodline really that pure?


    The two dragon souls naturally weren''t guilty at all about helping Gu Yuena pick the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. After all, they had nurtured all of the plants here, so they were essentially giving her something that was rightfully theirs.


    Gu Yuena carried the large flower over to Tang Wulin before raising it above her head in a flaunting manner. "Look, Father! Isn''t it beautiful?"


    Tang Wulin scratched his nose and turned to the purple-robed man. "How is this thing supposed to be eaten?"


    The purple-robed man repressed the urge to bury his face in his hands as he replied, "Tear off the petals one by one and directly consume them."


    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yuena, and said, "This flower is really delicious; you should try it! you eat this flower petal by petal."


    "Really?" Gu Yuena''s eyes immediately lit up, and she plucked off a flower petal before placing it into her mouth like a seasoned little foodie.


    Sure enough, the flower petal immediately melted in her mouth, forming a trail of sweet and refreshing liquid that was imbued with the scent of chrysanthemum flowers. The liquid flowed down her throat, and she plucked off another flower petal before offering it to Tang Wulin.


    "It really is super delicious, Father! You should try some too."


    "It''s alright, you can eat the whole thing yourself," Tang Wulin hurriedly refused.


    "No!" Gu Yuena pouted in a stubborn manner, and insisted, "I have to share good things with Father."


    Tang Wulin was just about to refuse again when the pair of dragon souls above Gu Yuena''s head suddenly let loose low snarls in unison. Tang Wulin was immediately struck by a sense of disorientation for a moment, and during that split second, a handful of chrysanthemum flower petals was jammed into his mouth.


    The flower petals instantly formed a trail of liquid that slid down his throat, and he couldn''t even spit it out if he wanted to.


    Gu Yuena giggled, "Nice one, Little Blue, Little Red!"


    Tang Wulin''s expression darkened with anger. "Gu Yue!"


    Gu Yuena stuck out her tongue in response. "I''m sorry, Father; I''ll eat the rest by myself."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. That handful of Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum that he''d just been force-fed consisted of at least a third of all of the petals on the entire flower. He didn''t know whether the remaining flower petals would be enough to cure Gu Yuena''s amnesia. It should be enough, right? This is a 100,000-year-old Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, after all!


    After the liquid entered his stomach, bursts of warm energy flowed into his dantian, then throughout his meridians, and Tang Wulin could sense that his entire body was quickly heating up.


    In the beginning, it was only a warm sensation, but after the span of just a few breaths, his entire body had turned scorching hot, and he had no choice but to stop cold in his tracks. At the same time, he was surprised to discover that his Golden Dragon Body was released on its own accord. A layer of golden dragon scales appeared all over his body, and they were infused with traces of crimson as scorching heat flowed through his veins.


    "Meditate to absorb this energy." A burst of gentle power descended onto his shoulder, and Tang Wulin involuntary sat down. Gu Yuena''s face had also become extremely flushed, and her eyes were rippling like pools of water.


    "Come here, Gu Yue." Tang Wulin gestured toward her, and Gu Yuena sat down across from him. He held onto her hands and pressed their palms against one another. At the same time, he activated his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power before slowly injecting it into her body, spurring on her soul power to circulate along with his own.

 Chapter 910: Star Luo Spirit Bead

    Gu Yuena''s body shuddered slightly, and Tang Wulin could sense an extremely abundant burst of energy rise up within her body. The energy immediately began to reject his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power as soon as the two came into contact with one another.


    Gu Yuena''s soul power was even more potent than his, and right at this moment, the respective auras that they were releasing also began to intertwine. Strangely enough, as soon as Tang Wulin''s golden bloodline aura came into contact with Gu Yuena''s rainbow bloodline aura, her soul power immediately relinquished all resistance. It combined naturally with Tang Wulin''s soul power and surged forth in a compliant manner.


    Tang Wulin''s soul power entered Gu Yuena''s body through his right hand, then returned to his body through his left palm, creating a closed circuit. Soon, Tang Wulin had entered a completely immersive state where he forgot about space and time.


    Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemums were top-grade spirit items that were extremely potent for nurturing the human body, especially when it came to clearing one''s meridians and bolstering one''s constitution.


    To Gu Yue, the effect of the flower was curing her by clearing the blood vessels in her brain, while Tang Wulin was deriving even greater benefits from this. His bloodline vortex had already begun rotating along with his soul power vortex of its own accord, and his blood essence surged throughout his entire body as his bloodline aura spread outward in an uncontrollable manner.


    The two dragon souls revolved above their heads, exuding extremely strong emotions of excitement. At the same time, they seemed to be absorbing the aura emanating from Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena''s bodies while also reciprocating them with their own auras.


    A faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face, and he made an inviting hand gesture toward the Beautiful Silk Tulip. "Please continue."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip looked up at the revolving dragon souls up above and heaved a faint internal sigh. Never would he have thought that things would turn out this way. There was no way he could¡¯ve envisioned that two of the people accompanying the Amorous Douluo would possess the bloodlines of the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King. Not only did the two dragon souls not pose any impediment to them, they became powerful allies of theirs instead.


    At this point, he no longer had any intention of putting up resistance. He had no choice but to bow in the face of overwhelming power. With the aura that the Amorous Douluo had just unleashed, he was clearly powerful enough to demolish the entire Ice Fire Yin Yang Well on his own.


    "Come with me. This is a 100,000-year-old Star Luo Spirit Bead. I can sense that among the people you''ve brought to this place, two of them have powers related to starlight. Either of them can choose this plant."


    Zang Xin smiled as he turned toward Ye Xinglan and Xu Xiaoyan. "Who wants this one? Decide among yourselves, then prepare for battle."


    Before Xu Xiaoyan had a chance to speak, Ye Xinglan said, "This type of spirit fruit can most likely improve one''s affinity with the stars. My Stargod Sword borrows on the power of the stars, but what''s more important is my own sword intent, so you should take this one, Xiaoyan."


    Xu Xiaoyan immediately refused, "I can''t take this, Sister Xinglan! This spirit fruit will be beneficial to you as well; you should take it."


    Ye Xinglan shook her head in response. "Don''t argue with me. Wulin''s currently meditating, so I''m taking over as the captain for now. Listen to me and take the spirit fruit."


    The purple-robed man interjected, "There''s no need for the two of you to argue; there are similar spirit items here. However, I suggest that the weaker one among you takes this spirit fruit. This Star Luo Spirit Bead is the most gentle among all of the 100,000-year-old spirit plants, and it''s very accommodating toward humans. It''s very difficult for it to attain intelligence on its own, but after being fused into a human''s body, it can form a human Soul Master''s soul core in the future. Hence, it''s not particularly opposed to being picked."


    Ye Xinglan immediately smiled upon hearing this before extending an inviting hand gesture toward Xu Xiaoyan.


    As a control system Soul Master, it was undoubtedly the case that Xu Xiaoyan possessed the most lackluster direct combat prowess among everyone, including even Xu Lizhi. In contrast, Ye Xinglan''s combat prowess was second only to Tang Wulin among Shreks'' Seven Monsters, so this Star Luo Spirit Bead was definitely a more suitable choice for Xu Xiaoyan to absorb.


    A resigned look appeared on Xu Xiaoyan''s face, but she was also extremely touched. She made her way over to Ye Xinglan and gave her a hug before making her way over to the Star Luo Spirit Bead.


    The Star Luo Spirit Bead was a very beautiful spirit fruit. Its trunk was black, which was very rare in the world of plants, and a palm-sized golden fruit was growing at the tip of the trunk. The fruit was like a huge shimmering golden pearl, but if one were to look closely, they''d discover that it was actually comprised of countless golden specks of light, creating a very unique sight to behold.


    Xu Xiaoyan transferred her staff to her left hand, then reached out for the golden fruit with her right hand.


    The golden fruit immediately shuddered slightly as her hand came into contact with it, and immediately thereafter, countless streaks of starlight erupted from the surface of the fruit.


    Those specks of starlight immediately enshrouded Xu Xiaoyan''s body within, and a slightly tense look appeared on Zang Xin''s face. He cast his gaze toward the purple-robed man, only to find that the latter''s expression remained completely unchanged.


    Enshrouded under the starlight, the Starwheel Staff in Xu Xiaoyan''s left hand abruptly lit up. All of a sudden, the bright sky up above, which had been revealed after the Rainbow Miasma had been dispersed, transitioned from day to night. Countless stars appeared in the night sky, and streaks of dazzling starlight descended from above, shining down upon the Star Luo Spirit Bead and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s eyes were closed, and she seemed to be sensing something. Meanwhile, the Star Luo Spirit Bead was trembling slightly while releasing a series of golden halos.


    It only took a short while for everyone to figure out what was happening; the Star Luo Spirit Bead seemed to be competing for the starlight that was descending from above.


    In the beginning, the Star Luo Spirit Bead was clearly collecting starlight at a slightly faster rate than Xu Xiaoyan, but her third soul ring then quickly lit up, and all of the starlight shining down from the heavens was completely absorbed by her Dazzling Starlight soul skill. After that, the starlight was released from the tip of her staff, and shone onto the Star Luo Spirit Bead.


    The trembling Star Luo Spirit Bead immediately stiffened, and the golden halos that it had been releasing were instantly withdrawn.


    A faint smile appeared on Xu Xiaoyan''s face as she alternated between her first, second, and third soul skills, and all of the starlight shining down from above was absorbed by her, then transformed into soul skills that she cast onto the Star Luo Spirit Bead.


    Every time the Star Luo Spirit Bead was about to break free, it would be immobilized again, causing it to jitter like a malfunctioning machine and creating a rather comical sight to behold.


    A surprised look finally appeared on the purple-robed man''s face as he turned his attention to Xu Xiaoyan. The bloodlines of the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King had already come as a huge surprise to him, but starlight being released by this Xu Xiaoyan was of the highest level of purity that he''d ever seen.


    Every night, the Star Luo Spirit Bead would absorb the light of the stars and the moon to improve itself. All of the other spirit items here had naturally sensed what it was doing, and some had even managed to benefit from it. As such, all of them were aware of the Star Luo Spirit Bead''s ability to control starlight. However, it was currently being completely dominated by this human, and it was quite clear that this human woman had a closer connection to the stars than it did.


    Humans really were the beings with the greatest latent potential.


    The purple-robed man heaved a faint internal sigh, and he knew that they were going to lose the Star Luo Spirit Bead as well.


    Sure enough, golden light flashed, and the Star Luo Spirit Bead dropped obediently down into Xu Xiaoyan''s palm as if it were no longer able to withstand her "torture". Golden light then flashed once again from the tip of the trunk, and a fingernail-sized golden fruit emerged in its place.


    Xu Xiaoyan held the Star Luo Spirit Bead in her arms in an elated manner, and a wide smile appeared on her face as she sensed the pure astral power imbued within it.


    Before she had a chance to do anything else, golden light suddenly flashed from the Star Luo Spirit Bead, and it shrank down rapidly before disappearing into her mouth as a streak of golden light.


    Xu Xiaoyan stumbled slightly, and starlight immediately erupted all over her entire body. All of the specks of starlight on her suit of battle armor reached an unprecedented level of brightness, and she quickly sat down with her legs crossed. The starlight emanating from her chest was the most pronounced, and all of the other specks of starlight were converging toward it, basking Xu Xiaoyan''s entire body in golden light in the process.


    The purple-robed man''s eyes dimmed slightly, and he heaved a faint sigh before turning toward another direction.


    Yue Zhengyu hurried over to Xu Xiaoyan to detect the changes taking place within her body, but as soon as he tried to approach her, he was repelled by an extremely powerful resistant force.


    She had only just consumed the fruit, yet it was already producing such a strong effect! This was undoubtedly going to be immensely beneficial to Xu Xiaoyan.


    These spirit items could naturally improve their cultivation ranks, but their abilities to purify their bloodlines and enhance their latent potential were far more important.


    To put it in simpler terms, if they could only be considered as prodigies in the past, then after consuming these 100,000-year-old spirit items, their aptitudes would instantly be enhanced to match that of the likes of Long Yue, who had inherited the Mountain Dragon King martial soul. Furthermore, they wouldn''t have to face the issues of bloodline backlash that Long Yue had been afflicted with.


    The purple-robed man continued onward, and when he stopped once again, a spirit herb that was as pristine white as jade had appeared before everyone.


    "This is a 100,000-year-old Chaotic Element Immortal Herb. It is the ideal treasure for improving the soul power of you humans. Nothing can match it in terms of its ability to enhance one''s soul power, and it can also help one compress their soul power to form a soul core. However, it has no other special properties aside from that. The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb is also relatively more benevolent, but it possesses a lot of power and won''t be easy to tame."

 Chapter 911: Chaotic Element Immortal Herb

    This was a spirit item that could only enhance one''s soul power and assist one in forming a soul core.


    All of the Shrek''s Seven Monsters were extremely knowledgeable, and they were naturally aware that the more limited a spirit item''s effects were, the greater those effects would be.


    Just as there was a limit to human cultivation, there was also a limit to the amount of natural energies that spirit items could absorb. If they manifested too many effects, then the limited energy that they could absorb would inevitably mean that none of those effects would be very pronounced.


    As such, the higher the caliber of a spirit item, the fewer effects it possesses.


    "Yuanen, Lizhi, this Chaotic Element Immortal Herb is best suited to one of you. Which one of you wants to take it?" Ye Xinglan asked.


    Yuanen Yehui had twin martial souls, so for her, it was very difficult to find one type of spirit item that could enhance both of her martial souls at once. As such, it was best for her to choose a spirit item that could enhance aspects of her own body, such as her strength or soul power.


    Not much explanation was needed for Xu Lizhi. He was a food system Soul Master, so he only had to improve in a very limited number of areas. Cultivation was the most difficult for food system Soul Masters, so a spirit item that could purely enhance one''s soul power was naturally perfect for him.


    Yuanen Yehui immediately said, "I want a spirit item that can increase my strength. You can take this one, Lizhi."


    Xu Lizhi made no effort to argue. He knew that this was most likely the spirit item that was best suited to him here, so he immediately strode forward to approach the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb. He reached out with his right hand to touch the pristine white herb.


    The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb shuddered slightly, and a burst of bright white light erupted from it. Dense energy spread outward, and Xu Lizhi was forced back several steps. The white light didn''t fade after forcing him back. Instead, it adopted a form that was extremely similar to him in appearance. At the very least, it had transformed into a clump of white light with the exact same silhouette as him.


    The alternative "Xu Lizhi" thrust both hands forward at once, sending a burst of powerful natural energies surging toward him.


    Xu Lizhi didn''t back down in the slightest, and he widened his stance to create a more stable base. His hands then instantly took on a pristine white color as he activated his Mysterious Jade Hands. At the same time, he brought his hands together, and his dense Mysterious Heaven Method soul power surged forth in a frenzy. As soon as the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb''s hands came into contact with his body, it immediately swayed and stumbled off to the side.


    Xu Lizhi abruptly stepped forward and rammed into the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb with his shoulder. The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb fell to the ground as a result, but around a dozen or so streaks of white light quickly surged forth from it, hurtling directly toward Xu Lizhi''s body.


    Xu Lizhi chuckled as he unleashed his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon again, bringing his hands together before sending all of the streaks of white light flying in different directions. At the same time, he stepped forward again before reaching out toward the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb with both hands.


    He was wearing his suit of battle armor at the moment, so his soul power had already been enhanced to the pinnacle of the Soul Sage level.


    He was a food system Soul Master, so his martial soul didn''t provide him with any combat prowess. As such, he had worked very hard on honing his Tang Sect techniques, and the Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon was the one that he was most skilled at. With his abundant Mysterious Heaven Method soul power as a foundation, he was able to effectively nullify the power of oncoming attacks, and even Soul Masters of the same level would find it difficult to harm him with their soul skills.


    Xu Lizhi''s Guardian Star battle armor was also the one with the greatest defensive prowess and soul power enhancement abilities among everyone. The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb possessed extremely abundant natural energies, but it was very difficult for it to inflict any damage on Xu Lizhi.


    It was blasting forth one burst of white light after another, but Xu Lizhi was also beginning to pull more tricks out of his bag. With the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Mysterious Jade Hands, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, in conjunction with a few of the Tang Sect''s grappling techniques, Xu Lizhi and the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb were evenly matched.


    The purple-robed man couldn''t help but heave a faint internal sigh. A Great Beast like him was naturally able to sense Xu Lizhi''s soul power rank, but his suit of battle armor enhanced his powers to such an extent that he was able to match the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb in battle. This was the most terrifying aspect of human technology, and it was an important reason behind why he decided to comply with the Amorous Douluo''s demands in the end.


    Humans had indeed already become far too formidable for soul beasts to contend with.


    However, this Chaotic Element Immortal Herb was certainly no slouch. It was releasing one white halo after another, and injecting rich natural energies into them to bolster the powers of the projections it was manifesting. At the same time, it was constantly absorbing the natural energies before transforming it into chaotic elemental energy. Each successive attack it unleashed was more powerful than the other, and it seemed to be growing accustomed to combat.


    The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb had no intelligence, but it still possessed the power of a 100,000-year-old soul beast, after all, and as time passed, Xu Lizhi was gradually forced onto the backfoot.


    The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb''s attacks were far too overbearing, and in this clash of pure energy, Xu Lizhi was struggling to keep up.


    However, this didn''t mean that he was out of tricks. After all, he was still a Soul Master! He was able to continue persisting as he fed himself a series of steamed buns such as Recovery Pork Buns, Agility Mini Soup Buns, and Sturdy Crystal Buns.


    Yuanen Yehui, Xie Xie, and Yue Zhengyu all looked on with furrowed brows. If things continued in this manner, was Xu Lizhi really going to be able to defeat this Chaotic Element Immortal Herb? According to what the purple-robed man had said, if he couldn''t defeat the herb, then he had no right to obtain it. If he were to fail, then he''d be missing out on a massive opportunity.


    The only one who remained calm and collected was Ye Xinglan. Her expression was extremely placid, and she seemed to be completely unconcerned.


    "Hehe, it feels really good to have an opponent like this," Xu Lizhi chuckled before hurtling backward in retreat, temporarily opening up some distance between himself and the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb. At the same time, he tossed two steamed buns into his mouth, one of which was a Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun, while the other was a Puncture BBQ Pork Bun.


    Both of these steamed buns were designed to temporarily enhance one''s combat prowess, and he had refrained from consuming them throughout this entire battle thus far. In particular, Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns were very effective, but a period of feebleness would inevitably follow after its consumption, so it was not to be used lightly.


    After consuming the two steamed buns, Xu Lizhi''s aura instantly swelled drastically, and a sense of overbearing pressure began to emanate from his body. At the same time, his hands had turned into a deep purple color.


    He lunged forward before thrusting both hands forward at the same time, reaching out toward the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb''s chaotic elemental energy in the most straightforward of attacks.


    A resounding boom rang out, and Xu Lizhi stumbled back several steps before arresting his momentum. Both of them had unleashed their full power during that clash, and the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb seemed to have been enraged by the prolonged battle as well, prompting it to unleash nine white halos at once.


    Xu Lizhi was forced backward, but something strange was happening to the projection manifested by the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb. Purple light flashed, and over a third of the projection quickly dissolved away. Furthermore, it was continuing to disintegrate at a rapid rate.


    The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb let loose a sharp cry, and its body abruptly swayed as close to half of what remained of its body was forcibly detached, leaving only a small portion of the projection intact. The portion that had just been ejected was quickly engulfed by purple light before vanishing into nothingness.


    "That''s destructive energy!" the six Great Beasts exclaimed in unison.


    Sunlight and water were the keys to plant growth, and all plants, regardless of whether they were normal plants or plant system soul beasts, required life force energy as a basis for survival. However, destructive energy was the exact polar opposite to life energy.


    If Xu Lizhi had been facing a Soul Master, then perhaps that attack wouldn''t have been so effective. However, life energy was the core for all plant type soul beasts, and the destructive energy that he''d unleashed was working even better than he''d expected.


    Xu Lizhi stabilized himself and chuckled as he quickly strode toward the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb again. With the enhancements from the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun and Puncture BBQ Pork Bun, as well as the potency of his destructive energy against the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb, his victory was already sealed.

 Chapter 912: Orange Soul Spirit

    Back on the demonic island, Xu Lizhi had been the most persistent when absorbing destructive energy, and he was the one who had lasted the longest during that trial.


    He had always known what his own fatal weakness was; as a food system Soul Master, his combat prowess was far too lackluster.


    He loved Ye Xinglan, and Ye Xinglan had agreed to be with him, but deep down in his heart, he still couldn''t help but feel a little inferior. He was a man, yet he constantly had to rely on his woman to protect him, and that was definitely not a good feeling.


    As such, he had been working extremely hard to catch up to Ye Xinglan so he could protect her with his power someday.


    It was none other than this persistent will that was constantly spurring him on to find ways to better himself. When he discovered the destructive energy, he felt as if he''d found the key to rectifying his glaring weakness.


    The defining nature of the Mysterious Heaven Method was that it could create an endless cycle of soul power. The old demons had originally intended for them to absorb destructive energy in order to bolster their physical resistance. However, Xu Lizhi had progressed in the complete opposite direction, guiding destructive energy into his body in order to fuse it with his soul power as opposed to trying to keep it at bay.


    Initially, this was an extremely dangerous endeavor, but he was able to persist using his Recovery Pork Buns and Sturdy Crystal Buns. As time passed, he gradually became accustomed to destructive energy, and he discovered a shortcut; he could store the destructive energy within a separate sea of energy in his body.


    This was the first time he had used it during battle, and as expected, it had proven to be extremely effective.


    The most fearsome aspect of destructive energy was that as it destroyed something, it would naturally absorb the aura being released by the subject being destroyed in order to replenish itself.


    This effect became especially potent when used on life forms.


    At this moment, the core of the energy being released by the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb was life force energy, so it was being completely dominated by the destructive energy. Without any intelligence, the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb had no idea how to compress its life force energy, so Xu Lizhi''s destructive energy was of a far higher caliber than its energy.


    It was exactly because of this that it had already been completely defeated by Xu Lizhi''s destructive energy.


    "Please stop! You can take the immortal herb, but don''t corrupt any of the other plants here with your destructive energy!" the purple-robed man hurriedly yelled to stop Xu Lizhi from going even further.


    The deep purple light receded, and Xu Lizhi made his way over to the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb as he withdrew his suit of battle armor. He was able to pull the immortal herb out of the ground with ease, leaving only a tiny immortal seedling in its wake. Just like the Star Luo Spirit Bead, the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb had left its seed here in order to extend its life.


    The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb appeared to be quite thin, but it was rather heavy to hold.


    Zang Xin instructed, "The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb should be consumed one leaf at a time, and you should meditate after consuming each leaf in order to gradually improve your soul power. The immortal herb has a spirit that will fade over time, so you should consume it as soon as possible. This is for you."


    He tossed a jade box over to Xu Lizhi as he spoke. "The part of the immortal herb that''s yet to be consumed can be temporarily stored in that jade box."


    "Thank you, vice-palace master." Xu Lizhi found an empty patch of ground before sitting down in an elated manner, then plucked off a Chaotic Element Immortal Herb leaf and placed it into his own mouth.


    It didn''t taste very good. The flavor was much like eating grass, and it was also very tough and fibrous. Only after swallowing the first leaf did he feel a burst of powerful chaotic elemental energy abruptly surge into his body, combining with his soul power before flowing through his meridians.


    A joyful smile appeared on Ye Xinglan''s face. The effect of this 100,000-year-old Chaotic Element Immortal Herb would most likely be sufficient to take Xu Lizhi all the way to the Soul Emperor level, and it was also going to create a solid foundation for his future cultivation. Perhaps he could even manifest a soul core during this process.


    The purple-robed man stood still on the spot with a contemplative look on his face.


    "What are you thinking about, Tutu?  [1]" the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower asked through spiritual sense communication.


    The purple-robed man replied, "The people that the Amorous Douluo has brought to this place seem to be a little different this time. They''re reminding me of that man from 20,000 years ago."


    "You''re talking about Tang San?" the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower asked in a surprised manner.


    The purple-robed man nodded in response. "Tang San took away my predecessor, and he ascended into the Divine Realm as a god in the end, so my predecessor naturally also attained immortality with him. However, the difference was that back then, there were no soul spirits. After that, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao forced his way into this place and formed a spiritual pact with the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass then also went on to attain immortality after Huo Yuhao ascended to the Divine Realm.


    "Compared to my predecessor, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass definitely reaped a greater reward for its decision as it managed to retain virtually its entire consciousness. That also gave rise to the possibility of soul beasts like us ascending to the Divine Realm along with human Soul Masters. Even though it''s been many years since we''ve last been able to sense the existence of the Divine Realm, these young men and women that have been brought here by the Amorous Douluo give me the feeling that they''ll find the Divine Realm again, or even build a new Divine Realm of their own."


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower asked in a surprised voice, "Are you saying that you''re tempted to go with them?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip heaved a forlorn sigh. "Here in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, one year is equivalent to 10 years in the outside world, and I''m already very close to 200,000 years of age. It''s very likely that I''ll have to face my second heavenly tribulation in just over 100 years at most, and I don''t think there''s any chance for me to transcend that tribulation. Perhaps this is an opportunity for me."


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower fell silent upon hearing this. The other four Great Beasts had also gathered around them, and there was no doubt that they''d also been tempted by the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s words.


    If they wanted to completely escape the restrictions of this world, then their only opportunity would be to fuse as one with humans.


    However, in doing so, they''d also incur the risk of perishing along with their human hosts if they were to fail to become gods. Taking everything into account, this was a very big risk, so they had to be very careful if they were going to choose human hosts.


    Tang Wulin, Gu Yuena, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xu Lizhi had all displayed extremely outstanding aptitude, and all of them had the potential to stand at the pinnacle of the entire continent someday.


    If the Beautiful Silk Tulip were to continue to stay in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, it would only be able to live for just over a century at most. However, if it were to fuse with a human Soul Master, as long as they could reach the Titled Douluo level, their lifespan would at least be extended to 200 years, which meant that even if they were to fail to become a god, the Beautiful Silk Tulip would still have around 100 years added to its lifespan.


    As such, even though it had initially been extremely averse to cooperating with Zang Xin, it was now very tempted to join them after witnessing the extraordinary aptitudes that everyone had displayed.


    "Can we move on to the next one now?" Zang Xin asked. Even with his powers, he was unable to overhear the spiritual sense communication taking place between the Great Beasts. However, he could see that a different look had appeared in the eyes of the Great Beasts. At the very least, he could no longer sense the strong resentment that they''d been exuding not long ago.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip turned around, and after a brief hesitation, it said, "Amorous Douluo, I''m willing to become a soul spirit; is there anyone you can recommend to me as a host?"


    Soul beasts were always very straightforward and weren''t interested in wasting time.


    Zang Xin had already guessed that their attitudes were beginning to shift, but he didn''t anticipate such a drastic turn of events. He faltered slightly upon hearing this before an elated look appeared in his eyes. "Why are you doing this, Brother Luo?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied with a wry smile, "There''s not much of my lifespan left, and in my mind, there''s no way for me to transcend my second heavenly tribulation, so I may as well take a risk and try to ascend to the Divine Realm with you humans."


    A smile immediately appeared on Zang Xin''s face. "That''s a very wise decision, Brother Luo. These seven kids are the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, just like the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, and Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had been in the past. Their aptitudes are definitely not inferior to any of their predecessors, and as for how far they''ll go, that''ll be up to them. However, what I can be sure of is that they''re definitely the ones with the greatest chance of reaching that level in this current world."


    He turned to Ye Xinglan, Yue Zhengyu, Yuanen Yehui, and Xie Xie as he spoke, and asked, "Which one of you is willing to take this Beautiful Silk Tulip as your soul spirit? Even if you''re not at a stage where you can continue to improve your soul rings, with Brother Luo''s powers, he can temporarily stay with you, then fuse together with you when you''re ready to make a breakthrough."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip said in a proud manner, "I''m currently over 198,000 years of age, so I''m extremely close to 200,000 years old. Once I form a soul ring, it''ll definitely be one of a 200,000-year level, which will come with an orange soul spirit."


    Ye Xinglan asked, "What abilities do you possess?"


    The proud look on the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s face became even more pronounced upon hearing this. "My fragrance can keep all poisons at bay!"


    Much to his surprise, Ye Xinglan furrowed her brows upon hearing this before shaking her head to express a complete lack of interest.


    Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui also shook their heads, Yue Zhengyu didn''t even bother to shake his head; he merely said, "I don''t need something like that. There are all types of antidotes for virtually every type of poison in this world; how will this ability benefit us in any way?"


    [1] [This is a nickname derived from the tulip part of his name.]

 Chapter 913: Despised...

    The Beautiful Silk Tulip looked on with a stunned expression at the four kids standing before him, and his lips twitched uncontrollably. The five other Great Beasts behind him were also in complete disbelief.


    He had been despised and looked down on...


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip, the monarch of the immortal plants, was being looked down on.


    Zang Xin almost laughed out loud, and he couldn''t help but urge, "You can''t think like that. Orange soul spirits are extremely rare and can only be given by Great Beasts. Even if the soul skill is a little lackluster, you''ll at least end up with an orange soul ring that''ll be really good for intimidating people."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip couldn''t help but interject, "That''s beside the point! I am the monarch of the immortal plants; I can discern all the special properties of all of the spirit items in this world, and I can command all spirit items! All plant system soul beasts will have their combat prowess halved in my presence."


    "Well, plant system Soul Masters are pretty rare, so that''s not really useful, either," Ye Xinglan said in a serious manner.


    Xie Xie nodded and chimed in, "Yeah, that doesn''t really appeal to me. I just want to find an immortal plant that''ll enhance my speed; ultimate speed is my pursuit."


    Yuanen Yehui said, "I want something to enhance my strength or something that can improve some other physical property. I have no use for a soul spirit that has no practical combat abilities. Also, if it ends up taking two of my soul ring spots, it''s going to drastically hamper my combat prowess in the future."


    Yue Zhengyu shrugged and spread his hands open in a resigned manner. "I want a light attribute spirit item. All of us have learned soul ring disguise techniques, so if we wanted to bluff our opponents, we could even fabricate nine orange soul rings at once. If you''re not useful in any practical way, then I''ll pass."


    "I..." The Beautiful Silk Tulip wanted to jump into the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well and commit suicide! He was being looked down on by a bunch of snobbish little brats!


    "You don''t know sh*t, you little bastards! Even the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, chose my predecessor; do you think he''d make the wrong decisions? My uses aren''t just limited to this! I..."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip immediately flared up with rage and began to roar with fury.


    "Don''t get angry, Tutu; if you ask me, I think they''re doing this on purpose to make you lose your cool," the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower hurriedly said.


    "How about you become my soul spirit?" Yue Zhengyu''s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of her, and he said, "My martial soul is the Holy Angel, and light and fire have always been a perfect match. If you''re willing to become my soul spirit, I''d welcome you with open arms. With your powers, my holy flames will most definitely be elevated to a new level."


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately replying, "Don''t even think about it! I can live for another 3,000 years; why would I go and take a risk with you humans? That Huo Yuhao took my essence 10,000 years ago and severely dented my powers. Otherwise, I''d perhaps have a chance at transcending my second heavenly tribulation. I hate you humans; there''s no way I''ll go with you!"


    Yue Zhengyu heaved a resigned sigh at the sight of the stubborn Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower. "The one we want is unwilling, but the one we don''t want is practically throwing himself at us."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was so enraged that he almost threw up a mouth of blood! HE was throwing himself at THEM?!


    Zang Xin immediately stepped in to mediate, "None of you know just how important an orange soul ring is; it''ll enhance every aspect of your bodies, and just those enhancements alone would benefit you far more than any soul skill would. Hurry up and apologize to Brother Luo."


    All four of them wore different expressions, and they reluctantly apologized to the furious Beautiful Silk Tulip.


    "I''m not going with them no matter what! I''ve never met such insolent and ignorant beings in my entire life!" The Beautiful Silk Tulip was still in a fit of thunderous rage.


    Right at this moment, a voice suddenly rang out.


    "Senior, can your fragrance alter one''s aura?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip turned with a puzzled look on his face, and he was greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin, who had completed his meditation and was making his way toward them.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied in a proud manner, "I possess all abilities related to fragrances and aromas."


    Tang Wulin made his way over to his friends before extending a slight bow. "I would be honored to become your host, and I sincerely invite you to become my soul spirit after I make my next breakthrough."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip''s brows furrowed slightly as he appraised Tang Wulin. "You''re willing to take me?"


    Tang Wulin was adamant. "I am."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip continued, "But your Golden Dragon King aura doesn''t seem to have great synergy with me. As a plant system soul beast, I''d prefer a host with light or water elemental powers. Of course, it would be best if you had a plant system martial soul. If the synergy between us were really bad, then I may not even be able to convert into an orange soul ring."


    Tang Wulin immediately smiled upon hearing this.


    He had managed to awaken so quickly partially because he''d only eaten about a third of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, but also because of his incredibly powerful physical constitution. His Golden Dragon King bloodline power was activated to a very high degree by the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, thereby allowing him to rapidly absorb the energy within the flower petals. As a result, Tang Wulin''s soul power had increased by one rank, and his blood essence power had also improved. He was already beginning to sense an inkling of crystallization within his blood essence vortex.


    He had chosen this Beautiful Silk Tulip because it was indeed extremely powerful, and in this current world, it was very difficult to attain a true 100,000-year-old soul ring, let alone one from a Great Beast.


    A Great Beast could at least bestow upon him two orange soul rings, and those soul rings would undoubtedly enhance his body to a massive extent.


    The final nine Golden Dragon King seals were like ticking time bombs within his body, and they could easily take his life at some point in the future.


    He had just awoken from his meditation and overheard Zang Xin talking about how orange soul rings could vastly enhance one''s physical constitution, and he was immediately very intrigued by this prospect. Furthermore, if this spirit item could alter his aura, then he''d be able to better conceal his powers in the future.


    In response to the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s question, he couldn''t help but smile. His martial soul wasn''t the Golden Dragon King!


    A series of vines began to erupt from his body, and he also immediately released the aura of the Bluesilver Emperor. Bluish-golden vines unfurled behind him before coming into contact with all of the surrounding spirit plants, and gentle energy fluctuations immediately began to radiate from his body, allowing him to almost instantly assimilate himself with everything in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.


    "This is..."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip stared at the Bluesilver Emperor vines that Tang Wulin had released in a dumbstruck manner, and his body abruptly shuddered as he sensed the aura emanating from his body. In particular, as soon as he caught sight of Tang Wulin''s greenish-golden soul ring, he couldn''t help but exclaim, "You''re the Son of Nature!"


    Tang Wulin released his will slightly, and he could immediately sense that all of the plants in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well had formed a spiritual connection with him. In contrast with the other plants he''d formed connections with in the past, all of the plants here were far more intelligent and could directly transmit their emotional fluctuations to him.


    All of them were expressing their extremely positive and intimate emotions toward him, and much to his surprise, with the enhancements of all of the plants in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, his aura had begun to swell at a rapid rate. In particular, his greenish-golden soul ring looked as if it were being set alight.


    He had once used the soul skill bestowed upon him by this soul ring, and at the time, his spiritual power had encompassed an area comparable to the sensory scope of the most powerful of radars. Furthermore, he could control all of the plants within this area and temporarily draw upon their powers! In that state, he could even fight on par with a Titled Douluo.


    "Pick me, I''m willing to become your soul spirit with no strings attached." A streak of light flashed through the air, and a figure appeared directly before Tang Wulin.


    This was one of the six Great Beasts who had stood at the back of the group and remained silent this entire time. His skin was quite dark, and he was very handsome in appearance. His entire body was exuding a faint gleam, and his eyes were as bright as a pair of stars.

 Chapter 914: Seed of Nature

    "Step aside, Momo!" Another figure flashed forward, and Tang Wulin felt a scorching sensation sweep directly toward him as the exquisitely beautiful Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower appeared right in front of him, and urged, "Pick me! I possess the strongest combat prowess among everyone. I can provide you with the purest of flames and enhance all of your abilities. I can even bestow upon you innate fire elemental control!"


    "What are you all doing? Where is your pride as a Great Beast?" the Beautiful Silk Tulip roared with rage as he held back the remaining three Great Beasts, all of whom were also preparing to rush forward. He then strode directly toward Tang Wulin and brushed both Momo and the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower aside one after the other.


    After that, he faced Tang Wulin, and the prideful look had already been wiped clean from his eyes. "I agree!"


    The other five Great Beasts immediately erupted into a frenzy upon hearing this.


    "What do you mean by you agree?" Momo immediately tugged on the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s arm.


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower also flared up with rage. "How could you be so shameless, Tutu? How could you do this?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip chuckled coldly, "Who was it that just said that they still had 3,000 years left to live and definitely wouldn''t become a soul spirit for a human?"


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower countered in an enraged manner, "That''s completely different! He''s the Son of Nature; if we follow him, we can continue to cultivate at any time with him as our root. With his protection, we won''t even have to face heavenly tribulations! Even if he does die one day, he''ll naturally form an ancient tree of nature, and as a soul spirit of his, I''ll naturally be reborn under the protection of the ancient tree of nature. Even if this isn''t true immortality, it''s close enough. In comparison, who cares about the 3,000 years I have left to live?"


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower''s words were definitely not enough to convince the Beautiful Silk Tulip to step down, but they immediately enlightened Tang Wulin.


    Even he didn''t think that he would be such an attractive host to these spirit plants as the Son of Nature.


    Ye Xinglan, Xie Xie, Yuanen Yehui, and Yue Zhengyu were already completely flabbergasted at this point.


    Were these Great Beasts performing a comedy skit? In the beginning, they were trying to kill Zang Xin and everyone else, but now, they were throwing themselves at Tang Wulin and begging to become his soul spirt. The speed at which their attitudes were changing was downright incredible. However, this seemed to be good news.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip turned to Tang Wulin, and said, "Son of Nature, I can allow you to take an additional spirit item from this place, and I can tell you which type of spirit item is the most precious one here."


    "You''re selling out your friends for your own benefit! Are you really that shameless, Tutu?" Another Great Beast rushed forward with an enraged look on his face.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip harrumphed coldly, "You don''t know anything! Have you not realized what his martial soul is? It''s the Bluesilver Emperor, the same martial soul as the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San. Tang San chose my predecessor 20,000 years ago, so as a descendent of his, this Son of Nature naturally has to choose me! Don''t even try to argue; I''m not backing down!"


    Light flashed from the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s body as he spoke, and a layer of purple light was instantly released from his body. The auras of the other five Great Beasts were immediately severely debilitated as a result. This was most likely the ability to weaken other plants that the Beautiful Silk Tulip had spoken about earlier.


    Tang Wulin remained completely silent. As cunning as he was, he naturally understood that remaining silent in this situation would benefit him the most.


    "You can''t do this, Tutu! We all discovered the Son of Nature together, and this is a chance for all of us to attain immortality! Are you really just going to sever all ties with us and forcibly take this opportunity for yourself?" the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower interrogated in a furious manner.


    A blue-robed young man who appeared to be the youngest among the six Great Beasts stepped forward, and chimed in, "Exactly! I can''t keep watching this any longer!"


    "Little Ice, your predecessor already ascended into the Divine Realm with that Spirit Ice Douluo, so you''re the least qualified among everyone to be criticizing me!" the Beautiful Silk Tulip countered in an enraged manner.


    Only then did Tang Wulin realize that this blue-robed young man was none other than the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass. His predecessor was one of the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao''s soul spirits.


    However, after receiving backlash from all of his friends, the Beautiful Silk Tulip had also fallen into deep thought. After a short while, he heaved a faint sigh and withdrew his purple aura before joining his friends again.


    "Little Fire is right; this is an opportunity for everyone, and we''ve all been blinded by our greed. The Son of Nature does indeed present an immensely attractive opportunity for all of us. As such, in order to ensure fairness, I suggest we introduce our own abilities and let this Son of Nature choose for himself."


    As the monarch of the immortal plants, he had chosen to make this a fair contest in the end.


    The six Great Beasts all turned to Tang Wulin in unison, and the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower hurriedly introduced, "I am the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower, and I was born beside the yang half of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. I am a fire attribute plant of the highest caliber, and I''ve already told you how I''ll benefit you if I were to become your soul spirit. Even though our attributes make it appear as if we''re not very synergistic with one another, what I have to tell you is that Tang San once used my predecessor and Little Ice''s predecessor to refine and strengthen his body through fire and ice. Even though our predecessors didn''t become soul rings of his, they still helped him immensely."


    Refining one''s body through fire and ice? This was the first time that Tang Wulin had ever heard of something like this.


    The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass immediately chimed in, "Exactly! I''m the direct opposite of Little Fire; I was born beside the yin half of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, and I''m an ice attribute plant of the highest caliber."


    The Great Beast that had been referred to as Momo made his self-introduction next. "My name is Momo, and I''m a Blackjade Divine Bamboo that has already cultivated for 160,000 years. You and I will definitely have fantastic synergy, and if you absorb me, the power of your martial soul will be bolstered significantly. I''ll add a hard and unyielding side to your soft and supple vines, and all of your Bluesilver Emperor vines will be able to form peerlessly powerful Blackjade Bluesilver Spears. The combat prowess of your martial soul will be boosted dramatically as a result."


    The other two Great Beasts also stepped forward one after another, and the one on the left said, "I am the Keen Gaze Dew, and Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao chose my predecessor to cultivate his Spirit Eyes and Purple Demon Eyes, thereby allowing him to attain extremely powerful abilities. I''ve only cultivated for 110,000 years thus far, but I''ve already transcended my first heavenly tribulation, so I''m still a Great Beast. If you absorb me, I''ll be greatly beneficial to your Purple Demon Eyes."


    The final Great Beast was the most muscular among all six. "I am the Land Dragon Golden Melon. I''ve cultivated for 190,000 years thus, and if you absorb me, you''ll also be able to attain orange soul rings. All of us are Great Beasts, but only those of us who are close to their second heavenly tribulations can grant you orange soul spirits. I possess the power of land dragons and I''m an earth attribute plant. I can sense that you have an extremely powerful earth attribute soul bone on your body; if you fuse with me, your control over the power of earth will be enhanced to a massive degree. Even the soul skills that come with that soul bone of yours will be enhanced significantly."


    The five Great Beasts had all completed their self-introductions, and it was finally the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s turn. "They''re all telling the truth. Also, we''re all Great Beasts who have attained intelligence, so no matter which one of us you choose, we''ll provide you with a soul bone when you fuse with us during your next breakthrough. I think the ones among us that are most suitable for you are me, Momo, and Guagua. [Gua (¹Ï) is the Chinese character for melon, so he''s referring to the Land Dragon Golden Melon by his nickname/pet name, which basically translates directly to melon melon.] I''m making these judgments while appraising this situation directly from your viewpoint."


    Tang Wulin fell silent upon hearing this. He was feeling quite spoiled for choice.


    For a Soul Master, 100,000-year-old soul rings and soul bones could be considered as ultimate pursuits. However, there were currently six beings over 100,000 years of age willing to become his soul spirit, and they were lining up to be chosen by him. Such an occurrence had most likely never taken place in history, and he was really struggling to make a choice.


    "Before I make my decision, would you be able to tell me why all of you hold me as the Son of Nature in such high regard? What kind of special meaning is there behind the concept of this Son of Nature?" Tang Wulin asked.


    This was a question that had stumped even Atlas Douluo Yun Ming in the past, and it was clearly the ideal opportunity for him to receive an answer from these plant system Great Beasts.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was silent for a moment before explaining, "The Son of Nature is a seed that has been acknowledged by nature."


    "A seed?" Tang Wulin asked in a surprised manner.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip nodded, and continued, "That''s right, a seed. We also refer to the Son of Nature as the Seed of the Great Dao, and such seeds have only appeared an extremely limited number of times in history. Only when the core of nature on this continent has been damaged will a seed of nature be born, and that seed will become the future core of nature. In other words, when nature has been damaged too severely, the beings that stand at the pinnacle of the plant world would produce a seed and bestow it upon a Child of Nature. This Child of Nature will find opportunities to nurture this seed and restore the vitality of nature. The seed of nature can appear on any plant or animal, but this is the first time we''ve heard of it being bestowed upon a human."

 Chapter 915: Three Questions

    His expression fell slightly as he spoke, and he continued, "Truth be told, only after we sensed the aura of the Son of Nature from your body did we truly believe that Shrek Academy had been destroyed. The last Child of Nature was none other than the ancient Golden Tree in Shrek Academy, and its existence has been supporting the entire natural world. I can only imagine that it must''ve already been destroyed."


    Tang Wulin was completely stunned to hear this. It was just as the Beautiful Silk Tulip had said, the Golden Tree had already been destroyed, and he had become the Son of Nature with the assistance of the ancient Golden Tree. As such, he had actually already become the Son of Nature prior to the Golden Tree''s destruction!


    Why had nature been damaged to such a severe extent? Humans were undoubtedly responsible for this. As a member of the human race himself, the thought left a very bad taste in Tang Wulin''s mouth.


    "What will happen if the seed of nature doesn''t get to grow and flourish?" Zang Xin suddenly asked.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip''s expression changed slightly, and he explained, "Nature will be destroyed, and the widespread destruction will follow. All living beings will slowly perish due to the fact that a huge chunk of the food chain is missing, and the Douluo Continent will fall into ruin. All living beings will slowly become extinct."


    This was a very grim description, and all of the members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were stunned to hear this. Thinking back to the current situation on the continent, soul beasts were already on the brink of extinction. Human technology was advancing at a rapid rate, and almost every single major city had transformed into forests of iron and steel. The habitats of all other living beings had been encroached upon to an extreme extent. If all forests were to disappear from the continent one day, would this world continue to be an inhabitable place?


    No one could provide an answer to this, and the Beautiful Silk Tulip seemed to be a little too severe and pessimistic, but in reality, things really did seem to be trending toward that direction! The gradual extinction of all living beings was perfectly evidenced by soul beasts.


    Tang Wulin asked, "What should I do as the Son of Nature?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip shook his head with a blank look on his face. "Ever since we''ve been born here, all of the information we know about the Child of Nature has been embedded into our DNA, so this is all the information that we have. I don''t know what you should do as the Son of Nature, but what I can be sure of is that all of us plants will help you and protect you. All of us hope to see you become stronger so you can restore the vitality of nature one day."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. An additional burden had been placed onto his shoulders.


    An expectant look appeared on the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s face. "So what''s your choice?"


    Tang Wulin was silent for a moment before replying, "Seeing as you''re all willing to help me, can you all leave this place with me? I don''t need any of you as my soul spirit; you''ll only be my companions, will that be possible?"


    All six of these Great Beasts were beings who were at least comparable to Titled Douluos, and even without suits of battle armor, they were most definitely still all extremely powerful beings. With their assistance, it would undoubtedly be much easier to rebuild Shrek Academy in the future.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip faltered slightly before a wry smile appeared on his face. "That won''t be possible. We''re different from normal plant system soul beasts as all of our powers have been inflated by the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, and our actual ages are only a tenth of our current age. Hence, if we were to leave the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, then we''d steadily become weaker, and our lifespans will be significantly shortened. It won''t be long before we''ll be afflicted by heavenly tribulations and destroyed. When that time comes, even if we become your soul spirit, the caliber of the soul spirit will be far inferior. Hence, unless you can fuse all of us as soul spirits at once, there''s no way that we can all leave with you."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this, and he said, "I may not be enough on my own, but I have all of my friends here; they can also fuse soul spirits! Oh, sorry, I''m being too selfish here..."


    A remorseful look suddenly appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he realized what he was asking.


    If all of these Great Beasts were to become their soul spirits, then if something were to happen to them in the near future, these Great Beasts would have to perish alongside them.


    However, the Beautiful Silk Tulip faltered slightly before turning to the other five Great Beasts with a contemplative look on his face.


    A rapid spiritual sense discussion began to take place between them.


    Tang Wulin was about to say something else, but Zang Xin gestured for him to wait and remain silent for now.


    Moments later, the Beautiful Silk Tulip turned toward Tang Wulin with a serious expression, and said, "What you suggest isn''t completely out of the question, but we need to confirm a few things firsts. Number one, will you always be with your friends?"


    Tang Wulin glanced at his friends before replying in a voice that was full of conviction, "We''ll definitely always be together. We may not constantly be together every second of every day, but in the end, we''ll definitely all come together to rebuild Shrek Academy."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip continued, "Alright, my second question is, what do you plan on doing with our Ice Fire Yin Yang Well in the future? The Ice Fire Yin Yang Well is one of the three greatest treasures realms in the current world. I don''t know whether the other two exist, but what I can tell you for sure is that if you want to restore the vitality of nature, the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well will be of tremendous assistance to you."


    Tang Wulin asked, "I can borrow the power of this place?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "Other people may not be able to do so, but you''re the Son of Nature and you possess the Golden Dragon King bloodline, so you''ll definitely be able to. Your bloodline will make the two dragon souls of the Dragon Masters willing to follow you, and your identity as the Son of Nature evoked unconditional trust within all of us plants. As such, not only can you borrow the power of this place, you can even take this entire place with you if you want."


    Even Zang Xin couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this, and he appraised the Beautiful Silk Tulip in a rather dazed manner.


    Tang Wulin was also quite taken aback to hear this, and after a moment of contemplation, he replied, "I can''t give you a definitive answer to this question for now, but what I can tell you is that if I were to attain the power to restore the vitality of nature someday, I''ll definitely do everything in my power to accomplish that goal. I''ll only decide on what I want to do with the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well when that time comes. Also, as a disciple of the Tang Sect, I''ll always keep the Tang Sect''s promise not to excessively draw upon the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well''s power."


    Despite the fact that he hadn''t received a clear-cut reply from Tang Wulin, a smile appeared on the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s face. "As expected of the Son of Nature chosen by the ancient Golden Tree."


    The fact that he wasn''t rushing to make any promises made the Great Beasts more trusting toward him instead.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip continued, "One last question. To put it more accurately, this is a condition. I hope that when you plant the seed of nature someday, you can plant the six of us around it."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before immediately replying, "As long as I figure out how to plant the seed of nature, I''ll be sure to do that."


    "Alright, you have yourself a deal." The Beautiful Silk Tulip strode forward, and his hands suddenly began to flash through the air. Streaks of light began to flash and appear in mid-air, forming a spectacular pattern, and the other five Great Beast also conjured up light patterns of their own.


    Their will began to flow into Tang Wulin''s mind, and it consisted of none other than the three things that he''d just promised them.


    "Please sign the contract, and after that, all six of us will be willing to become the soul spirits of you and your friends. We''ll stay with you and your friends till death do us part," the Beautiful Silk Tulip said in a voice that was filled with conviction.


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic to hear this, as were the four other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters who were still conscious at this point. All of these soul spirits could grant them soul rings of at least the 100,000-year level! They would undoubtedly provide significant enhancements to everyone in all aspects. Each of these soul spirits could bestow upon them at least two to three soul rings, and perhaps their soul skills wouldn''t be particularly powerful, but they would definitely be able to provide brilliant enhancements.

 Chapter 916: Ice Fire Pact

    In this day and age, where soul beasts were on the brink of extinction, it was extraordinarily difficult to obtain 100,000-year-old soul rings, so this was definitely an opportunity of unprecedented proportions.


    Under the guidance of Zang Xin, Tang Wulin bit through the skin on his finger and released a drop of blood, swearing a vow at the same time to form pacts with all six of the Great Beasts.


    Later generations referred to this pact as the Ice Fire Pact, and it had an extremely profound effect on the future Shrek Academy, as well as even the entire future continent.


    After the pact was forged, all six of the Great Beasts were brimming with excitement. They didn''t seem to be dejected in the slightest in response to the fact that they were about to become soul spirits.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip smiled, and said, "My Lord, you can make your choice now."


    "My Lord?" Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower also smiled as she chimed in, "Of course! the Child of Nature is the will of nature and the ruler of all plants, so we naturally have to refer to you as such. Which one of us are you going to choose?"


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Tang Wulin decided, "I''ll choose Senior Beautiful Silk Tulip."


    He had made his decision very quickly, and all six Great Beasts, including the Beautiful Silk Tulip himself, were quite taken aback.


    A curious look appeared on the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s face as he asked, "Why did you choose me so quickly, my Lord?"


    Tang Wulin replied in a serious manner, "Not only can you bestow upon me orange soul rings, you also possess boundless wisdom. Orange soul rings will be extremely important for enhancing my body; I require a powerful body in order to continue to elevate my Golden Dragon King bloodline. On top of that, you can command all plants and grant me immunity to all poisons. All of your abilities are very synergistic with my identity as the Son of Nature, as well as my Bluesilver Emperor martial soul, so choosing you was a no-brainer."


    The other five Great Beasts were all rather disappointed, but they didn''t say anything. After signing the pact, Tang Wulin''s position in their hearts had become completely different.


    In contrast, the Beautiful Silk Tulip was completely overjoyed. "You are a very wise and tasteful human, my Lord. I can see that you''re still some way away from reaching rank 60 in your soul power, so prior to that, I''ll be adhering myself to your body until you can absorb me. Your aura as the Son of Nature will only be beneficial to us, and we shouldn''t devolve if we only leave the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well for a short time. Please come with me, my Lord."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip turned around and strode toward the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well as he spoke.


    He drew to a halt in front of a massive purple flower by the lake. This huge flower was the particularly eye-catching one that everyone had caught sight of during their descent into this valley, and it was also the largest flower in the entire Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip smiled, and said, "This is my true body. From now on, I am yours, my Lord."


    He pointed a finger at the massive tulip as he spoke, and the flower quickly withdrew its petals to form a bud, then slowly rose up and floated toward Tang Wulin.


    As it flew through the air, the massive flower bud shrank rapidly, and Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor martial soul was automatically drawn out by the Beautiful Silk Tulip. The greenish-golden soul ring that Tang Wulin had no control over flashed, and a golden projection immediately appeared on his forehead.


    The projection had the shape of a seed, and the Beautiful Silk Tulip was ecstatic to see this. He waved his right hand through the air, and the tiny flower bud that was his true body immediately vanished into Tang Wulin''s glabella.


    Tang Wulin immediately felt a delightful aroma spread all over his entire body, and he was struck by an indescribable sense of comfort, as if his entire being had been cleansed by the beautiful fragrance.


    "The seed of nature is in your mind, my Lord; it is a great honor for me to be able to temporarily exist alongside the seed of nature." The Beautiful Silk Tulip fell to one knee in front of Tang Wulin as he spoke, and his eyes were filled with elation.


    "My Lord, none of your friends have reached a point where they''re about to make breakthroughs at the moment, so can we also temporarily be drawn into your mind alongside the seed of nature? If we can spend enough time with the seed of nature, our powers will also be significantly enhanced, and we''ll be able to form orange soul spirits in the future as well; I''m sure that''ll be of immense benefit to your friends, my Lord," the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower said with a hopeful look on her face.


    Indeed, none of his friends were ready to make breakthroughs at the moment, with the exception of Xu Lizhi.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I see no issue with that; it''s just my friend over there, who''s absorbing the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb, may be about to make a breakthrough soon."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip said, "Apologies, my Lord; as you and your friends were choosing immortal plants, I refrained from explaining some details. The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb is indeed an immortal plant of the highest caliber, but it holds exclusivity in extremely high regard. Following the injection of chaotic elemental energy into his body, your friend will no longer have the potential to fuse with any other plant system soul beast, so none of us will be able to fuse with him. However, the chaotic elemental energy can drastically enhance the potency of his soul power.


    "Among beings of the same cultivation rank, the amount of soul power he possesses will at least be superior by 40%. On top of that, if the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb approves of him to a sufficient degree, it''s not impossible for it to become his sixth soul ring, but that''ll depend on whether he receives the acknowledgment of the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb during the fusion process. If it''s willing to give itself over to your friend in its entirety, then it''ll be able to become his soul spirit."


    "I was unwilling in the beginning, but with the Son of Nature here, I''ve obviously changed my mind." A streak of white light rose up from the place where the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb had been plucked from, and it formed a white projection of light. The projection was of the shape of a rotund young man, and it appeared to be rather similar in appearance to Xu Lizhi.


    "You''ve already manifested a human form?" The Beautiful Silk Tulip stared at the projection with a stunned expression.


    A resigned look appeared on the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb''s face. "Chaotic element plants like us are different from all of you; we can manifest human forms at 100,000 years of age even without having to transcend heavenly tribulations, and our first heavenly tribulations will only arrive at 150,000 years old. All of you are constantly bickering, and it''s really annoying, so I didn''t want to reveal myself to you. Now that the Son of Nature is here and my body is being absorbed by that little fatso, there''s nothing left for me to say. My Lord, please accept my seed and plant it next to the seed of nature in the future as well."


    A round white seed flew from his palm toward Tang Wulin as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin didn''t even need to actively do anything, and the seed of nature on his forehead produced a burst of suction force that absorbed the seed of the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb.


    The Chaotic Element Immortal Herb extended respectful salute toward Tang Wulin before rising up into the air and descending directly toward Xu Lizhi''s body in an elated manner. Right at this moment, Xu Lizhi''s aura suddenly erupted in a frenzy, indicating that he''d clearly made a breakthrough.


    As the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb fused into his body, a red soul ring naturally appeared around him. There was a golden pattern running along the soul ring; this was something that could only be bestowed upon someone by a soul beast that was over 100,000 years old.


    At the same time, a projection of the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb appeared behind him. As a food system Soul Master, it was undoubtedly the case that Xu Lizhi''s sixth soul skill would give everyone a very pleasant surprise.


    His soul ring may not have been orange in color, but he wasn''t any worse off than his friends. Among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, Xie Xie, and Yue Zhengyu had all already become six-ring Soul Emperors, so only Xu Xiaoyan and Tang Wulin were still five-ring Soul Kings.


    Xu Lizhi''s sixth soul ring was already a 100,000-year-old soul ring; if he wanted to, it wouldn''t be impossible for him to receive three or even four 100,000-year-old soul rings from the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb, which meant that he''d have an extra high-grade soul ring compared to his friends.


    Only Xu Xiaoyan and Tang Wulin would have the potential to attain superior soul ring configurations. Gu Yue was already a six-ring Soul Emperor, and she''d also consumed a Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. In order to ensure fairness as the captain of the team, Tang Wulin couldn''t give one of these six soul spirits to Gu Yue.


    He couldn''t even relinquish his own soul spirit and give it to her if he wanted to as he was the Son of Nature. If he didn''t choose to fuse with one of the six Great Beasts, all of them would most likely immediately flare up with rage.


    Ye Xinglan wore an extremely elated smile on her face. It was downright incredible for a food system Soul Master to attain a 100,000-year-old soul ring, especially when it was only his sixth soul ring!


    Under normal circumstances, Xu Lizhi wouldn''t have been powerful enough to fuse with such a powerful soul ring. However, this Chaotic Element Immortal Herb had become his soul spirit, and its body had been used as a spirit item to nurture Xu Lizhi''s body. Only then had he been just barely able to fuse with that soul ring. All the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb had to do now was hold back some of its power for Xu Lizhi to absorb after making future breakthroughs, and his body would definitely be able to handle all of his power.


    All of the Great Beasts also revealed their true bodies one after another. The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower, Blackjade Divine Bamboo, Land Dragon Golden Melon, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, and Keen Gaze Dew all rose up into the air in their true forms, then shrank down drastically before eagerly vanishing into the seed of nature within Tang Wulin''s glabella.


    Tang Wulin immediately felt several types of auras flow through his body, and through the nurturing effects of these auras, he was surprised to discover that his soul power had risen by another rank. As expected of Great Beast level spirit items!

 Chapter 917: The Flower of Passion and Infatuation

    After the true bodies of the six Great Beasts disappeared into Tang Wulin''s body, all of their human forms began to turn transparent.


    "My Lord, our seeds are all contained in our true bodies, and prior to fusing with your friends as soul spirits, we''ll leave our seeds in the seed of nature so all of us can grow alongside the seed of nature when you decide to plant it. As such, you won''t need to do anything else. Do you and your friends still need any other spirit items?"


    Tang Wulin turned back toward his friends, all of whom had excitement shimmering within their eyes, and Yue Zhengyu said, "I don''t need anything else. It''s already a brilliant opportunity for me to be able to attain one of the seniors as my future soul spirit. A man needs to learn to be satisfied with what they have. Otherwise, they''ll be punished by the heavens."


    Everyone else nodded in agreement. Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "They''re right. It''s just as you said earlier Senior; a wise man would never kill the hen that lays golden eggs for him. Plants can enjoy an accelerated rate of growth here in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, but they still require time to grow. We can''t ask for too much as we have to leave some resources for our successors."


    They had already taken the most precious Great Beasts here, so they really couldn''t take anything else. If they were still dissatisfied with what they''ve received, then they really were going to be punished by the heavens.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip''s smile widened even further, but after a brief moment of contemplation, he said, "My Lord, I''d still like to suggest that you consider one of the other spirit items here. If you can obtain its approval. then it''s very likely that it could save your life in the future or give you an additional life."


    "Oh?"


    Tang Wulin appraised the Beautiful Silk Tulip with a surprised expression. It was undoubtedly the case that after this Beautiful Silk Tulip had been chosen as his soul spirit, it was solely committed to doing everything for his benefit.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip made his way over to another direction, and all of the plants parted to reveal a huge inky-black rock. This rock was very eye-catching among all of the surrounding spirit items. There was a flower growing on the rock, and it was predominantly pristine white in color with a patch of red on its surface. It was beautiful in a tragic way, and it completely drew the attention of the onlooker.


    "What''s this?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "This is the Yearning Heartbreak Flower. It''s already reached over 100,000 years of age, but it''ll never become a soul beast as it''s eternally trapped within its own spiritual world."


    A surprised look appeared in Tang Wulin''s face. "Yearning Heartbreak Flower? Is this the same Yearning Heartbreak Flower that Tang San used to revive his wife, Soft Bone Douluo Xiao Wu? I''ve heard that it''s the most romantic flower in the world of plants."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip nodded in response. "That''s right."


    Tang Wulin had only read about this type of immortal flower from the historical records surrounding Tang San, but he didn''t think that it could be found here in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.


    It was said that this immortal flower could essentially bring one back from the dead, but it could only be picked by someone with the utmost dedication to love. Only the most faithful of lovers could obtain the approval of this flower.


    Tang Wulin asked, "How do I pick it?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "You have to think of the person that you love the most, then expel a mouthful of blood that''s closest to your heart onto it. If it detaches of its own accord, then you''ve obtained its approval, but if it doesn''t, then you won''t be able to pick it no matter how hard you try. If you have someone you love, then it''s a good idea to give this a try, my Lord."


    Tang Wulin reflexively turned toward Gu Yuena, who was still meditating in the distance, and a burst of gentle emotions welled up in his heart.


    Everything that they had experienced together instantly flashed before his eyes.


    When they had first met, she had only displayed benevolence and friendliness toward him. She was clearly far more talented than he was, but she constantly stayed by his side and was willing to allow him to outshine her. Their relationship gradually blossomed, and she became more and more important in his heart.


    All of a sudden, her attitude toward him began to change. She seemed to be trying to drive him away, but he knew that everything that she was doing had only been done to protect him.


    In the end, his confession on the Sea God''s Lake finally shattered her facade, and they sealed their happily ever after.


    However, the happily ever after proved to be an extremely short-lived one as she left the very next day, but she also left him one of her silver dragon scales.


    He loved her with every particle of his being, and she also loved him just as much.


    When he was on the brink of death in the face of that ninth-grade soul missile, she''d appeared before him out of thin air and shielded him from that lethal explosion.


    A lot of the time, love didn''t need to be articulated. Instead, it could be perfectly conveyed through actions.


    In the instant that she appeared in the air to shield him, Tang Wulin''s heart had already completely melted. No other woman could possibly barge their way into his heart during this lifetime.


    Perhaps their love would face countless trials and tribulations in the future, but he wasn''t fearful in the slightest. As long as he knew her feelings for him, he was willing to face even the most perilous of situations by her side.


    She had given her strength in his hour of need. Even in the aftermath of Shrek Academy''s destruction, she had given him the strength to ward off his pain and despair.


    He was going to continue to stay strong for her, all in an effort to better protect her and their love.


    He slammed a palm into his own chest, and his blood churned within his body. He opened his mouth, and a mouthful of blood that was closest to his heart gushed forth, spraying onto the Yearning Heartbreak Flower along with all of his passion and love.


    His blood trickled down the flower petals, and the Yearning Heartbreak Flower shuddered in response. All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s blood slowly began to seep into the pristine white flower, transforming it into a vibrant red color.


    It then gently hovered into the air before landing on his palm.


    "You are truly a man with the utmost dedication to love, my Lord!" The Beautiful Silk Tulip was ecstatic. The fact that Tang Wulin had obtained the approval of the Yearning Heartbreak Flower meant that he had essentially earned himself a second life! As Tang Wulin''s soul spirit, this was obviously fantastic news to him as well. This was going to drastically increase the likelihood of the seed of nature coming into fruition one day.


    During the discussion between the six Great Beasts, the Beautiful Silk Tulip had managed to convince everyone with one single reason.


    The reason was very simple and also very direct; if the Son of Nature could successfully plant the seed of nature one day, then they would become the patriarchs who had revitalized the natural world on the Douluo Continent. Only by following Tang Wulin would they be given such an opportunity.


    Conversely, if the seed of nature couldn''t be planted, then that would mean the world of plants on the Douluo Continent would face complete destruction. In that case, even the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well would inevitably fall into ruin one day, and all of them would also be destroyed as a result.


    The fact that the Son of Nature had appeared was sufficient testament to just how severely nature had been damaged. Only by pooling their efforts together to assist the Son of Nature could they strive for a future for the world of plants on this continent. Perhaps they would even be able to follow in the footsteps of the previous Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and ascend to the Divine Realm with this Son of Nature.


    This was why they were willing to become the soul spirits of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. As long as they could continue to stay by Tang Wulin''s side, they would continue to reap great benefits.


    On top of that, there was also an underlying reason. They''d been living here for tens of thousands of years, and even though the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well provided the perfect environment for plants like them, they had become highly intelligent beings, so how could they not be curious about the outside world?


    The Ice Fire Pact had only been forged after all of these factors had been taken into consideration.


    Tang Wulin carefully stowed the Yearning Heartbreak Flower away in a jade box, and as opposed to excitement, there was only a soft and gentle expression in his eyes.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip said, "My Lord, we''ve completed our mission. Our true bodies have fused into the seed of nature, and our souls can''t leave our bodies for too long, so we''ll also be fusing into your body now. You and friends can do as you please here."


    After his voice trailed off, he and the other Great Beasts vanished into Tang Wulin''s glabella one after another as streaks of light.


    During the upcoming period of time, Tang Wulin''s seed of nature would continue to nurture them. At the same time, they would also be reciprocating Tang Wulin in a subtle manner, just as how they''d elevated his soul power by one rank not long ago.


    Tang Wulin''s current soul power had already reached rank 58, so he wasn''t very far away from rank 60.


    "This is a perfect outcome," Zang Xin said with a smile, "This is the most confident I''ve been since the disaster that befell the Tang Sect half a year ago. I''m sure that you''ll be able to resurrect Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect in the future. Take a rest for now, and we''ll leave after Gu Yue wakes up."


    At this moment, the Rainbow Miasma that had been dispersed by Zang Xin''s sword intent had returned, basking the beautiful valley in a glorious rainbow glow.


    In the air above, the two dragon souls were still revolving in the air above Gu Yuena''s head, acting as her guardians.


    Compared to Tang Wulin, they were clearly closer with Gu Yuena.


    Tang Wulin returned to Gu Yuena''s side before sitting down with his legs crossed again. The natural environment here was unmatched and there were so many spirit items around; this was the perfect place for him to cultivate with his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul.

 Chapter 918: Is Gu Yue Back?

    Everyone also entered meditative states to rest. They had reaped far more bountiful rewards from this trip to the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well than they could''ve imagined, and this was building up a strong foundation for their futures.


    Xu Lizhi awakened before Gu Yuena did, and he simply couldn''t stop smiling at the sight of the red soul rings around his body. He then summoned the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb, and the two familiarized themselves with one another, but when asked about what soul skill the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb had bestowed upon him, Xu Lizhi merely smiled and refused to spill the beans.


    All he was willing to disclose was that it would definitely give everyone a massively pleasant surprise.


    The soul skill formed by a 100,000-year-old soul ring may not necessarily defy the natural order, but it would definitely be enough to raise the overall power of their group to a higher level.


    Just as Xu Lizhi was prancing around in an excited manner, Tang Wulin opened his eyes. He had constantly been concerned about Gu Yue''s condition, so he hadn''t been able to enter a state of deep meditation. As such, he immediately awakened as soon as he sensed some energy fluctuations emanating from Gu Yue''s body.


    Almost as soon as he opened his eyes, Gu Yuena awakened as well.


    Her large purple eyes were still just as pure as ever, and her long eyelashes brushed against her cheeks as she spoke. Her silver hair trailed down the sides of her face, giving off a rather aloof and forbidding demeanor.


    After absorbing the essence of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, her aura had become slightly more powerful.


    "Gu Yue," Tang Wulin called out in a faint voice. Was his Gu Yue back?


    "Yes," Gu Yue replied in a gentle manner.


    All of his friends had fallen silent in the distance, and they had all turned their attention to the interaction between the two of them.


    "Father."


    "Thud!" Everyone fell over in unison.


    Tang Wulin''s expression also stiffened as he stared at Gu Yuena in a flabbergasted manner, but for some reason, he was struck by a sense of relief when he heard her refer to him as father. Perhaps this was because the Gu Yuena was fully dependent on him in her amnesiac state and would never leave him.


    Gu Yuena gave him a sweet smile before throwing her arms around his neck and diving into his arms.


    Tang Wulin also hurriedly wound his arms around her, and the satisfaction of holding her in his arms made him feel as if the mouthful of blood that he''d just expelled had been instantly replenished.


    "This is for you, Gu Yue." Tang Wulin pulled out the jade box that he''d just stowed away before placing it in Gu Yuena''s hand.


    "What''s this?" Gu Yuena asked.


    Tang Wulin replied with a smile, "There''s a flower in the box. If you ever suffer a grievous wound and I''m not by your side at the time, eat the flower, and you''ll recover."


    "Oh, I see. Father, I love flowers!" Gu Yuena said in a joyful manner before stowing the jade box away.


    Tang Wulin also smiled, and he couldn''t help but plant a gentle kiss on her delicate cheek.


    Gu Yue''s body shuddered ever so slightly, but a smile then quickly appeared on her face, and she blushed slightly as she said, "Thank you, Father."


    "Ahem, it''s about time we left, isn''t it? Stop abusing dogs here; don''t forget that there''s a single man present," Zang Xin sighed in a resigned manner.


    Only then did Tang Wulin realize that all of his friends were waiting for them, and he hurriedly rose to his feet while holding Gu Yuena''s hand with an awkward look on his face. "Let''s go."


    Everyone released their suits of battle armor again before flapping their wings and rising up into the air.


    Just as Zang Xin was about to release a protective barrier to ward off the Rainbow Miasma, the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s voice suddenly sounded in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    "There''s no need for that!"


    A layer of pink light abruptly radiated from Tang Wulin''s body, and it instantly enshrouded everyone within while emanating a faint fragrance.


    Everyone had witnessed the terrifying corrosive properties of the Rainbow Miasma, but it was dispelled like snow melting under the scorching sun by the pink light, and it almost looked as if the Rainbow Miasma were being rapidly eroded by the pink light instead.


    As expected of the plant monarch who was able to resist all poisons! For the first time, Tang Wulin was struck by the feeling that he''d made a decent choice, after all.


    Unbeknownst to the Beautiful Silk Tulip, Tang Wulin had chosen it to be his soul spirit so quickly purely because none of his friends wanted it! As the captain, he was trying to take one for the team and accept the leftovers that no one was interested in taking. If the Beautiful Silk Tulip were to be made aware of this, it would most likely throw up a mouthful of blood in a fit of rage.


    10 days later.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yue sped toward the west on his Tang Sect battle vehicle.


    The two of them were the only ones in the car, and Gu Yuena was looking at the scenery outside the window with a joyful smile on her face as if they were taking a vacation.


    A few days ago, Tang Wulin had taken Gu Yuena to visit Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, but Yali was also unsure of why she hadn''t recovered even after consuming the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.


    However, what she did tell him was that this definitely wasn''t due to the fact that the medicinal effect of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum wasn''t potent enough. The effect of a 100,000-year-old Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum would be hundreds of times more potent than its 10,000-year-old counterpart, and even consuming just one flower petal should''ve been enough to cure Gu Yue. The only explanation was that it was rather difficult to open up Gu Yue''s cranial nerves, but as the medicinal effect of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum continued to act on her body, she should be able to recover very soon.


    At this point, Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena had been driving for five days, and they were going to reach the capital of the Douluo Continent Federation, Bright City, in three more days. However, their destination wasn''t Bright City. Instead, they were traveling to the westernmost part of the continent.


    Amorous Douluo Zang Xin had met Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua already, and only after an in-depth discussion did they provide a specific set of arrangements for Tang Wulin and his friends.


    The situation on the continent had temporarily stabilized, but these were still most definitely tumultuous times. At the same time, the Tang Sect was being oppressed from all sides, and the underlying supporters of the Shrek Academy were also being severely oppressed.


    There were too many enemies that were targeting them, and they didn''t even know where to begin. Under these circumstances, even if the two palace masters were to get directly involved, they still wouldn''t be able to do much.


    As such, the only thing they could do now was to bide their time, at least until after everything blew over.


    As such, after holding a discussion with Zang Xin, Zhen Hua, and Mu Ye, Tang Wulin and all of his friends devised a course of action. They were definitely going to join the military, but they couldn''t do so together as a group of eight people would be far too eye-catching, and it would be detrimental to their development in the military.


    At the same time, after some careful consideration, Zang Xin decided to get Tang Wulin and his friends to join the military with their original identities. Only then would they be able to directly represent Shrek Academy after they built up a sufficient level of influence in the military. If they were to join the military in disguise, then even if they were to build up a lot of power and influence in the future, everything would be plunged into uncertainty if they were to reveal their true identities. No one would know what to believe, and their enemies could target that uncertainty to sweep their reputations to the ground.


    However, joining the military with their original identities naturally made things a lot more dangerous. In particular, they''d be in grave danger if they were to be discovered by an Evil Soul Master. Under such a hypothetical situation, they''d most likely be hunted down and killed at all costs.


    As such, they had to join the military at places that could be controlled or places that were extremely obscured.


    All of them had been split up as it was far easier to hide one person in an army than it was to hide seven of them at once.


    As such, they were all distributed to different military regions after the Tang Sect made use of their hidden contacts to arrange places for them. All of them were to use their original identities, but on the surface, all of them had ties with the Tang Sect and Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua, and even some of Shrek Academy''s hidden connections had been contacted to protect them.


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali wasn''t interested in all of this, but she was very familiar with the power that Shrek Academy controlled. There were some loyal supporters of Shrek Academy in the military, just like how the Northsea Legion was essentially the backyard of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy.


    Thus, the eight of them were distributed into four groups of two with one pair of lovers per group. That way, they''d be able to better protect and look after one another, and they also wouldn''t have to suffer from the distractions of maintaining long-distance relationships.

 Chapter 919: Setting Off to Join the Military

    The four groups were sent to the four different directions, east, south, west, and north. Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena were assigned to most arduous of the four military regions, and it was also the only one without any ties to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, but it was also the one where there was the least chance of having their covers blown.


    Tang Wulin was carrying an introduction letter with him that had been written by Holy Spirit Douluo Yali on behalf of Shrek Academy.


    Compared to his friends, Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena had the longest journey ahead of them, and in Gu Yue''s current condition, she wasn''t going to be of much help to him at all. As such, after they arrived at their destination, Tang Wulin would have to find a place for Gu Yue to stay. After all, how was she supposed to join the military when she was acting like an infant?


    Tang Wulin was feeling very conflicted. He was hoping that Gu Yue would get better soon, but he was also kind of hoping that she would constantly stay by his side like this. Regardless of what kind of secrets she was hiding, there was most likely a very good chance that she''d leave him after she recovered her memories, and that was something that he definitely didn''t want.


    Even though he couldn''t get intimate with Gu Yuena as that would essentially be taking advantage of her in her amnesiac state, just being with her every single day made him extremely happy and filled him with motivation.


    He would just have to take everything one step at a time from here. He had already done everything that he could to cure her, so it was up to her to get better.


    Three days later, they drove around Bright City and entered the western region of the continent. The roads in the western region of the continent were all very well-developed. At the very least, that was the case within a radius of around 500 kilometers around Bright City.


    After two more days, a boundless expanse of desert appeared up ahead.


    This area in the western region of the Douluo Continent didn''t actually belong to the Douluo Continent. Instead, it only became connected to Douluo Continent over 10,000 years ago due to continental shift.


    At the time, this region belonged to the Sun Moon Empire, and the uncommon metals brought to the Douluo Continent by the Moon Night Continent was an important driving factor behind the rapid advancements of current soul technology.


    After entering the desert, Tang Wulin adjusted the Tang Sect battle vehicle to desert mode. This allowed the vehicle to continue to progress onward smoothly, but its speed had decreased.


    The main benefit of soul technology was that as a Soul Master, he''d never have to worry about running out of fuel; he could always recharge the vehicle using his soul power. Tang Wulin''s soul power rank was now close 60, so he''d have no issues fueling this battle vehicle for a very long time.


    Thankfully, the GPS was able to guide them. Otherwise, it would be extremely easy to get lost in this boundless desert.


    After entering the desert, they''d have to drive about five more days before arriving at the westernmost region of the continent. They''d set off from Heaven Dou City and crossed over more than half of the entire continent, and their entire journey spanned close to 5,000 kilometers!


    After driving in the desert for a day, Tang Wulin finally stopped the car as night began to descend.


    "Father, I''m so tired!" Gu Yue wheedled as she got out of the car and stretched out her body.


    Tang Wulin looked up at the sky to find that this was a remarkably peaceful night in the desert. An occasional gust of wind would blow past, carrying some sand toward them, and the air was extremely dry, but the sky was very clear.


    The sky hadn''t turned completely dark yet, and the remnants of the sunset in the distance seemed to have fused as one with the desert''s horizon. There would be no way for anyone who hadn''t visited the desert before to witness such a beautiful piece of scenery.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Just bear with it for a few more days; it''s going to take about two and half more days of driving to pass through the desert and the entire Scorching Basin. After we emerge from the Scorching Basin and enter the Skyend Mountain Ranges, we''ll be very close to our destination."


    Gu Yuena''s brows furrowed slightly as she said, "Father, I don''t like this place; there''s nothing good to eat here."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "It''s alright, we have enough dried rations with us. There''s nothing in the desert that can be used to start a fire, so we''ll have to rely solely on those rations for a few meals. After we pass through the desert and enter the Scorching Basin, we can find a place to take a good rest."


    Not only did Gu Yuena not like this place, he wasn''t fond of it, either. As the Son of Nature, he was naturally averse to deserts as there were no plants here, nor any power that he could borrow. The ideal settings of plant system Soul Masters were always forests or lakes; places that could nurture and enhance them.


    If Tang Wulin were to cultivate in this desert, the effect achieved through 10 days of cultivation most likely wouldn''t even be as good as what could be achieved by cultivating in a forest for a single day.


    "We''ll sleep in the car tonight. I''ll get some dried rations for you to eat." The battle vehicle had three rows of seats, and the final two rows could be folded down to form a makeshift double bed, so they''d have no issues sleeping in the car.


    This was why Tang Wulin had been able to enter the desert with Gu Yuena after making minimal preparations.


    They''d be able to travel slightly faster if they were to fly using their suits of battle armor, but without all of the devices on the battle vehicle, it would be very easy for them to lose their way. On top of that, the desert wasn''t completely devoid of danger; soul beasts were rare here, but not non-existent.


    Due to the lack of valuable resources here, humans had only developed this desert to a very minor extent. As such, the few soul beasts here were able to live leisurely lives free from human influence.


    The two of them had a simple meal of dried rations. Ever since he attained his bloodline vortex, Tang Wulin discovered that his appetite had decreased significantly. His bloodline vortex could absorb natural energies from the outside world, so he didn''t need to eat an insane amount of food to sustain himself anymore. After the vortex was formed, his bloodline had also been cultivating of its own accord within his body in a subtle manner.


    Gu Yue clearly wasn''t very interested in the dried rations, but when night completely fell, she suddenly yelled with excitement, "Father, look! There are so many stars in the sky, and they''re so beautiful!"


    The desert seemed to be closer to the sky than other places somehow, and it felt as if they could reach out and grab the countless stars hanging in the sky. The bleak and desolate landscape took on a dream-like beauty under the illumination of the starlight.


    The two of them sat on the summit of a sand dune, and Gu Yuena rested her head on Tang Wulin''s shoulders as her large purple eyes gradually glazed over.


    Tang Wulin was also entranced by the sight of the countless stars in the sky while his lover sat by his side. The two of them snuggled up against one another in the completely silent desert.


    If only we could sit like this forever.


    "Are you cold, Gu Yue?" Tang Wulin spread open his arms and held her in a gentle embrace.


    There was a huge disparity between the temperatures in the desert during the night and during the day.


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "I''m not cold. This place really is beautiful! Are you cold?"


    "Of course not," Tang Wulin chuckled.


    Gu Yuena didn''t say anything else, as she continued to lay in his arms, and not long after that, her eyes fell shut as she fell asleep.


    Her sleeping face was very beautiful and tranquil. Tang Wulin couldn''t help but gently stroke her cheek. He was already beginning to grow accustomed to Gu Yue''s new appearance, but he still wanted to know how Gu Yue had become Gu Yuena. Just what kind of connection did Gu Yue and Na''er share?


    This question was constantly weighing on his heart, and if he couldn''t figure this out, then he couldn''t wholeheartedly regard the woman in his arms as his lover.


    After sitting for a while longer, Tang Wulin carefully carried Gu Yuena over to the Tang Sect battle vehicle, then opened the car door before pressing a button to fold down the last two rows of seats. He placed Gu Yuena into the car first before entering the vehicle himself. After closing the door, this became an isolated space for just the two of them.


    He could still see the countless stars in the sky through the car window, and Gu Yuena was sleeping very soundly. Tang Wulin produced a blanket from his storage ring before draping it over the two of them.


    He looked at her beautiful sleeping face, and he felt as if his entire heart were melting. He drew her into an embrace again and placed his arm beneath her head as a pillow before closing his eyes with a content look on his face.


    In that instant, all of his pressure and pain seemed to be a world away. His entire world consisted only of her, and both of them slept very well that night.


    Only after the bright sunlight began to shine into the car the next morning did they wake up and open their eyes.


    Gu Yuena was like a little kitten snuggled up against Tang Wulin''s chest, and when he woke up, he discovered that his left arm was still acting as a pillow for her, but his right hand had somehow ended up on her backside.


    It was round, smooth, and extremely supple.


    His blood essence began to surge downward uncontrollably as a natural morning reaction, and he reflexively drew back a little. However, Gu Yuena immediately gave a displeased whimper as if she''d lost her safe haven. She then pressed herself firmly against him again, and even wound one of her long legs around him in order to lock him in place.

 Chapter 920: Demonic Sandbugs

    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of grief. She really was a troublesome little vixen! He really wanted to eat her up!


    If it weren''t for the fact that she was in a state of amnesia, and he still hadn''t figured out the relationship between her and Na''er, he''d definitely... hehe!


    After struggling out of Gu Yuena''s octopus-like embrace with much effort, Tang Wulin heaved a long sigh and gulped down some cold water in a depressed manner to douse the flames in his heart.


    However, Gu Yuena suddenly opened her eyes and shielded her face from the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. "Where are you going? The sunlight is so bright; do we have any curtains?"


    Tang Wulin gave her a gentle slap on the backside, and chuckled, "Rise and shine, it''s time to get up! We have to keep going." He definitely wasn''t going to admit that he''d only done that because he''s fallen in love with the supple sensation of her backside in his hand.


    Gu Yuena grumbled something before throwing the blanket over her head.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t do anything, so he squirmed into the front seat before turning on the ignition of the battle vehicle. "You can sleep a bit longer if you''d like; I''ll keep driving. If you''re hungry, you can have some dried rations; I put some in the back for you."


    "Hmm." A muffled response sounded from beneath the blanket.


    Thus, Tang Wulin continued to drive through the desert, and in order to allow Gu Yuena to sleep in a more comfortable manner, he chose a relatively smooth route and also drove quite slowly.


    This leg of the journey had been quite smooth thus far, but when night fell again on the second day, both of them were struck by a sense of loneliness. After all, they hadn''t seen any other living being other than each other for two days.


    Thankfully, the map indicated that they''d only have to travel for about half of the next day before they made it out of the desert and reached the Scorching Basin.


    Tang Wulin closed the car door, then turned to Gu Yue, who had squatted down near the Tang Sect battle vehicle and was playing with the sand, and he asked, "What are you doing, Gu Yue?"


    "Nothing much. How far do you think I''ll have to dig through the sand to reach water?" Gu Yuena asked in a curious voice.


    Tang Wulin replied, "We''re deep in the desert, and the air is extremely dry here, so you''ll most likely have to dig extremely deep before you find any water."


    They had chosen to stop on a tall sand dune. They''d be able to see further from this vantage point, and they could also avoid being buried under the shifting sand in the night.


    Gu Yuena sat down onto the ground before waving at Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin strode over to her before also taking a seat, and she immediately rested her head against his chest in a very natural manner before closing her eyes and basking in the warmth of his embrace.


    "Are you getting bored?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "Not at all! I really like this. There''s only me and... Father here."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "That''s true, we''re the only ones here. The desert is very beautiful; it''s just too bad that it''s not suitable to be inhabited on a long-term basis."


    Gu Yuena closed her eyes and didn''t say anything. Tang Wulin held her in his arms and gently combed his fingers through her soft and smooth silver hair. Every single strand of her hair was so beautiful; they were like glittering and translucent crystalline threads. He felt as if he could play with her hair for the entire night without growing bored.


    Right at this moment, Gu Yuena''s eyes suddenly sprang open, and she cast her gaze toward a certain direction.


    Tang Wulin immediately reacted and pulled her to her feet. At the same time, his eyes narrowed slightly, and golden light flashed all over his entire body before he stomped his right foot onto the ground.


    A burst of golden light traveled into the ground from the sole of his foot, and a dragon''s roar erupted several dozens of meters away. A golden dragon then abruptly burst out of the ground, sending sand flying in all directions.


    Another low roar rang out as a massive crustacean emerged from the ground, and it spun around before just barely managing to stabilize itself. It had clearly been frightened by Tang Wulin''s attack, and it immediately fled in the opposite direction. Despite the fact that it was scurrying over the sand, its massive body, which had a diameter of over two meters, was able to flee the scene extremely quickly, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know much at all about desert soul beasts. He had sensed that there was a soul beast approaching them at the same time that Gu Yue had opened her eyes, and only then did he use his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth to force it out of the ground.


    He was quite benevolent toward soul beasts, so he hadn''t tried to hurt it. As such, the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth had erupted ahead of it instead of directly striking its body. Otherwise, this soul beast, which appeared to be around 1,000 years old at most, would''ve most likely perished in the face of his attack.


    Gu Yuena smiled, and said, "Looks like we won''t be lonely now."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "This is the first time I''ve encountered soul beasts in the desert; how intriguing! Gu Yue, you go rest in the car; I need to observe the surrounding area to make sure that there are no potential hazards approaching us."


    "Alright." Gu Yuena nodded and returned to the car in a very obedient manner.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly, and purple light shimmered within his eyes as he cast his gaze toward the distance. Right at this moment, a cool and refreshing sensation suddenly appeared deep within his eyes, and he felt as if the entire night had been illuminated, making everything very clear to him.


    Was this... an enhancement from the Keen Gaze Dew?


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as this thought occurred to him. It was undoubtedly fantastic news to him that the six Great Beasts were granting him such abilities.


    However, his smile immediately stiffened in the next instant. In the distance, countless grains of sand were surging in waves, and all of those waves were traveling toward him.


    Tang Wulin was rendered completely speechless upon seeing this. It appeared that benevolence wasn''t always the right answer! It was undoubtedly the case that these beings had been drawn here by the soul beast that had just escaped. It was yet to be seen just how powerful these creatures were.


    He immediately turned around to face Gu Yuena, who was sitting in the Tang Sect battle vehicle, and said, "Gu Yue, don''t get out of the car no matter what; I''ll take care of everything out here."


    Golden light flashed from his body as he spoke, and he released his soul spirit, Goldsong. Goldsong had reached quite a considerable size now, and light flashed as it quickly expanded even further, transforming into a giant python that was over 100 feet in length to guard the Tang Sect battle vehicle.


    Bursts of golden light appeared as Tang Wulin released his suit of two-word battle armor, Dragon Moon. This was the desert, and he knew nothing about his enemies, so he couldn''t afford to be careless. With the enhancements from his suit of battle armor, his combat prowess would be elevated to a level that was comparable to that of a Soul Sage, which naturally made him much better equipped to deal with this situation.


    Golden light flashed, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp. A layer of invisible bloodline aura naturally began to emanate from his body, and even though he was only standing still on the spot, it was as if he''d become the core of the entire desert.


    The creatures beneath the sand were traveling toward him at a rapid speed, and they''d drawn very close to him after the span of only several dozens of breaths.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly as yellow light flashed from his torso, and all of the surrounding particles of sand immediately began to sink downward. Even the entire sand dune was descending as a result.


    This was his gravitational control! He had increased the gravitational force within a radius of several hundred meters, forcing all of the sand within the area to sink directly downward. In the face of such heavy gravitational force, the desert soul beasts in the distance wouldn''t be able to travel directly beneath him and the Tang Sect battle vehicle before unleashing their attacks.


    As expected, one figure after another abruptly began to emerge from within the sand, and they were the exact same type of crustacean that Tang Wulin had just chased away. There were hundreds of them surrounding Tang Wulin and his Tang Sect battle vehicle, and the largest one among them had a radius of over five meters. Its shell was of a dark brown color, and it was exuding a very heavy aura.


    The exoskeleton on its back split apart, and a pair of wings spread open. It had eight legs below its body, all of which appeared to be extremely sharp. In particular, the first two legs had been raised up into the air like a pair of sharp blades.


    All of the other desert beetles also opened their wings and raised their bodies slightly while flapping their wings to create a loud buzzing sound. None of them dared to enter the area where Tang Wulin had increased the gravitational force.


    His Mountain Dragon King torso bone''s gravitational control was extremely potent, and he wasn''t feeling panicked at all. Even if these creatures could fly, their flight abilities would definitely be hampered if they were to fly into the area controlled by his Mountain Dragon King torso bone.


    Tang Wulin said in a cold voice, "We''re just passing through, and we bear no ill will. I didn''t harm your brethren that tried to attack us earlier, and I''d advise you not to throw away your lives by challenging me."


    The leader of these beetles had to be over 10,000 years of age, and there was no way that a soul beast of that level wouldn''t be able to understand human speech. Furthermore, they''d possess sufficient intelligence to process what he was saying and make sound decisions.


    "Don''t be merciful with these creatures, my Lord; these are Demonic Sandbugs, and they''re a very abhorrent type of soul beast. They suck away the fluids of other living creatures for sustenance, as well as to support them in their cultivation, and they target both animals and plants. If you look closely, you''ll find that they all have very sharp mouthparts, and they use those to pierce into the bodies of living beings before secreting fluids that''ll convert all of the energy in the bodies of their prey into liquid for consumption. These Demonic Sandbugs are largely responsible for why the desert is constantly expanding. They''re constantly devouring the plants on the borders of the deserts, and such a large group of Demonic Sandbugs would only require a day to demolish a square kilometer of forest!"

 Chapter 921: Scorching Basin

    The voice that had rung out in Tang Wulin''s mind belonged to the Beautiful Silk Tulip, and Tang Wulin was very astonished to hear this. One square kilometer was 1,000,000 square meters! There were several hundred Demonic Sandbugs here, and if they could reduce one square kilometer of forest into desert in a day, then they were definitely some of the worst offenders contributing to destroying the ecosystem. In fact, they were almost as abhorrent as humans in this respect.


    With the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s explanation, Tang Wulin didn''t say anything else. He stepped forward and stomped heavily down onto the ground, propelling his body directly toward the leader of the Demonic Sandbugs like a speeding arrow.


    The gigantic Demonic Sandbug let loose a strange cry and flapped its wings to counteract the increased gravitational force that had instantly spread toward it. At the same time, it stabbed its sharp front limbs toward Tang Wulin and released a plume of dark green mist as it flapped its wings.


    All of the other Demonic Sandbugs also began to flap their wings to release a vast expanse of dense dark green mist.


    "This is a paralyzing mist. It doesn''t inflict much damage to the target''s body, but it has very powerful paralysis effects, and even direct contact with skin alone could quickly knock out a living being. This is something that Demonic Sandbugs regularly use to great effect, but in my presence, all poisons and toxins are ineffective," the Beautiful Silk Tulip said in a proud manner.


    A layer of pink light had already begun to spread from Tang Wulin''s body during its explanation, and the dark green mist was instantly dissolved upon coming into contact with the pink light. When the pink light came into contact with the huge Demonic Sandbug, it suddenly let loose a distressed screech and immediately tried to flee the scene. At the same time, its aura had been severely debilitated.


    Tang Wulin wouldn''t be fit to be the leader of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters if he were to miss out on an opportunity like this.


    His Golden Dragon Spear came crashing down with mountainous force, and the 10,000-year-old Demonic Sandbug''s body was instantly shattered into countless pieces by his devastating attack.


    With the enhancements of his Dragon Moon battle armor, his strength definitely exceeded 200 tons. Even a Titled Douluo wouldn''t dare to take a direct attack from him without releasing their suit of battle armor.


    After destroying the leader of the Demonic Sandbug with one strike, Tang Wulin unleashed his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and swung his Golden Dragon Spear, killing one Demonic Sandbug after another in a completely unstoppable manner.


    No Demonic Sandbug was able to last more than an instant against him, and one body after another exploded in the desert.


    Seeing as they were pests, there was naturally no need for him to hold back.


    The poisonous mist being emitted by the Demonic Sandbugs were completely ineffective in the face of the Beautiful Silk Tulip, yet the Beautiful Silk Tulip could inflict backlash onto these Demonic Sandbugs. Tang Wulin flapped his massive golden wings, and in conjunction with his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his body transformed into a golden streak of light that whizzed over the desert sand.


    When these Demonic Sandbugs finally began to flee, less than half of their original numbers remained, and Tang Wulin was urged to hunt them down by the Beautiful Silk Tulip. He was extremely fast, and even though he wasn''t adept at unleashing long-distance attacks, he was still able to kill several dozen more of these Demonic Sandbugs.


    If it weren''t for the fact that he was worried about Gu Yuena, who was sitting in the car alone, he would''ve been able to chase down even more of these pests.


    After returning to the Tang Sect battle vehicle, a series of soul rings had already risen up from the bodies of the dead Demonic Sandbugs, and they were very eye-catching in the night.


    "Everything''s alright now, Gu Yue." Tang Wulin opened the car door before getting into the vehicle.


    However, Gu Yuena was in a rather sour mood. "They already ran away, why did you continue to hunt them down?"


    Tang Wulin replied with a smile, "They''re pests, so it''s only right for me to hunt down as many of them as possible."


    Gu Yuena lowered her head slightly, and murmured, "Are all soul beasts pests in the eyes of humans."


    "Of course not," Tang Wulin chuckled, "However, it''s true that the vast majority of soul beasts are aggressive toward humans."


    He failed to notice the subtle changes in Gu Yue''s expression as he asked internally, "Senior Tulip, you''ve been living in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well your entire life; how do you know about the abilities of these desert soul beasts?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip answered his question with a question of his own. "What do you think is the scope covered by nature?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "It has to be an extremely massive scope, right?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "It''s not that simple. In the beginning, there were only life forms of the lowest level in nature. After that, plants like us gradually began to appear. In terms of combat prowess, a plant system soul beast would definitely be inferior to a normal soul beast of the same level. We don''t have the agile bodies that normal soul beasts possess, and our innate abilities are also far inferior in comparison. As the Son of Nature, I''m sure that you''ve already sensed that when you''re situated within a forest or any other place with a vast amount of plant life, those plants can assist your spiritual power to sense things in the larger area.


    "I am the monarch of the world of plants, and also a spirit plant myself. I can also gain an understanding of the outside world through plants. As such, I can learn about the outside world through word of mouth from other plants. Back when we''d signed the contract with the Tang Sect, we''d already been made aware of just how terrifying the human world was; we just weren''t aware of the exact scope of things.


    "Many plants have brought information to me about these Demonic Sandbugs, informing me of how damaging they are to nature, and only then did I learn all of this information about them. If we''d faced another type of soul beast, I most likely wouldn''t know anywhere near as much about them. Of course, plant system soul beasts are an exception to this."


    Tang Wulin was enlightened by this explanation. "I see, it''s a good thing that you informed me."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip smiled, and said, "You''ve done a great service to nature by killing so many Demonic Sandbugs today, my Lord. It''s a pity that we can''t leave the seed of nature as we please. Otherwise, we really wanted to help you hunt down all of those Demonic Sandbugs."


    Tang Wulin replied, "If I ever get the opportunity in the future, I''ll be sure to travel around the outskirts of the desert to hunt down these pests."


    After his conversation with the Beautiful Silk Tulip, Tang Wulin discovered that Gu Yuena had already fallen asleep in the car. He adjusted her blanket before lying down by her side and encircling his arms around her body.


    Power always evoked awe and veneration within others; that night, no other desert soul beasts dared to attack them. The next day, they continued in their journey and finally arrived at the Scorching Basin at around noon.


    The place really lived up to its name as the air temperature was very high. As soon as they entered the basin, they had no choice but to change into some summer clothes.


    The roads in the basin were quite primitive and rugged, and the basin itself was like a massive city. Even though this place wasn''t known as a city, it was the most populous place in the entire western region of the continent.


    Most of the buildings here were constructed from stone and clay, and the attire worn by the people here was completely different for the clothing worn by those on the other side of the desert. Many of them wore veils that shielded them from the wind and dust, so their facial features were completely obscured.


    Tang Wulin found a discreet place to stow his Tang Sect battle vehicle, then entered the basin with Gu Yue''s hand in his.


    He wasn''t planning to take Gu Yue to the Skyend Mountain Ranges. He''d heard that the conditions there were very harsh, and that it wasn''t habitable to normal people. However, the Scorching Basin was different; there were many locals who lived here all-year-round, and at the same time, this was the most important trade city on the entire western region of the continent, so all types of day-to-day necessities could be found here.


    "Gu Yue, I''m going to join the military now; can you live here on your own? I''ll try to visit you as regularly as I can," Tang Wulin said in a gentle voice.


    Gu Yuena faltered slightly upon hearing this. "How long will you be away?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''m not sure at the moment; that''ll depend on the situation over there, but once I join the military, it most likely won''t be easy for me to leave. I''ll do my best to come back and see you as regularly as possible."


    "No! I''m going with you!" Gu Yuena immediately said in a stubborn manner.

 Chapter 922: Ill Be Good

    Tang Wulin heaved a resigned sigh. "I can''t take you with me in your current condition. I heard from the vice-palace master that the army on the Skyend Mountain Ranges is the most mysterious and also the strictest army on the entire continent. I''m worried that you''ll be in danger if I take you there. You stay here for now, and if I find a place that is suitable for you to live at over there, I''ll come back and take you there, alright?"


    After spending so many days with Gu Yuena, she had developed basic skills that would allow her to survive. The only issue was that she was far too beautiful, and that was a constant source of concern for Tang Wulin. In order to counteract this problem, he''d bought some tools along the way and made her a mask. The mask would conceal her stunning beauty, and after dying her hair black, she wouldn''t be anywhere near as eye-catching as she currently was.


    Gu Yuena lowered her head. She would always do this whenever she was unhappy about something, and Tang Wulin would always succumb to this trick. This was the best way that Gu Yuena had devised to get what she wanted from Tang Wulin.


    "Be a good girl now. I really can''t take you with me this time. Hmm? Do you smell that? It smells like roast meat!" Tang Wulin''s eyes suddenly lit up as he gently nudged Gu Yuena''s arm.


    "Where? Where?" As expected, the little foodie that she was immediately raised her head with an excited look on her face. She had been extremely displeased with the dried rations that they''d been eating in the desert for the past few days.


    Soon, they found a very traditional rotisserie in the Scorching Basin. Roast meat was sold in large chunks here, and the food was extremely appetizing, especially when paired with the fruit wine that was brewed by the locals.


    The meat here was roasted with great skill, resulting in a crispy exterior around a soft interior. Not only was the meat extremely delicious, the juices of the meat had also been sealed to perfection. Both Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena were extremely satisfied with this meal.


    Tang Wulin no longer required large amounts of food to support his bloodline power, but having been a seasoned foodie for so many years, his digestive abilities were still very astonishing. The two of them finally ended the meal after eating enough food for five people.


    "You see? There are many types of delicious foods here in the Scorching Basin. If you stay here, you can eat roast meat every day, but if you go to the Skyend Mountain Ranges with me, you''ll only be able to eat dried rations every day like we did in the desert. You won''t like that, and I''ll also feel bad, so be a good girl and stay here, alright?"


    He finally managed to convince Gu Yuena to agree after much effort, and after that, it was time to find her a place to live. He certainly wasn''t short on money at the moment, so he took Gu Yuena to the best hotel in the basin and rented a room for three months.


    The hotel had all types of facilities, and after leaving her with a large sum of money, he lived here for two days with her to help her grow acclimatized to this new environment. Only then did Tang Wulin leave as he set off for the Skyend Mountain Ranges in his Tang Sect battle vehicle.


    Driving alone was a horrible feeling. After driving for less than 100 kilometers, the thought of returning to Gu Yuena had already flashed through his mind on more than 10 occasions. Only through tapping into the immense reserves of his willpower was he able to repress his impulsive urges.


    "Beep beep!" The ringtone of his soul communicator suddenly sounded. This was a new communicator that Tang Wulin had bought in the Scorching Basin, and his original one had always been shut down this entire time.


    "What is it, Gu Yue?" Tang Wulin didn''t even need to look to know that it was her as she was the only one who knew this number.


    "Father, I miss you." Gu Yuena was clearly about to burst into tears.


    "Be a good girl, Gu Yue; I''ll be back soon. Make sure to meditate lots so you can absorb the energy of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and get well soon. Call me if you miss me, and I''ll make sure to call you regularly as well, alright?"


    "Ok." Gu Yuena was virtually sobbing at this point.


    "Alright, I''m going back! Wait for me." He couldn''t take this any longer!


    He immediately made a U-turn and returned to the Scorching Basin. As soon as he parked outside the hotel and got out of his car, Gu Yuena had already rushed into his arms.


    She didn''t say anything, and all she did was hold him tightly in her arms.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his heart were about to melt. How could he bear to leave her behind? A myriad of emotions welled up in his heart at once.


    All of a sudden, Gu Yuena raised her head with a determined look on her face, and said, "Go, Father; I''ll be good."


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback to hear this.


    However, Gu Yuena merely smiled at him before getting up on the tips of her toes to plant a kiss on his cheek. She then pushed him back onto the car, and said, "Make sure to come back soon."


    Tang Wulin was at a complete loss, and he was feeling rather speechless at the sight of the smile on Gu Yuena''s face. "Gu Yue, how about..."


    "Go, Father. I''ll grow up, and I''ll wait for you like a good girl," Gu Yuena insisted as she waved farewell.


    However, Tang Wulin was unable to repress his emotions. "What if we..."


    Gu Yuena closed the car door for him with a smile on her face before he could finish. "Father came back for me, so that means I''m really important to you! I''m a good girl who knows what''s important. Don''t worry, Father, I''ll look after myself."


    A smile immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he was feeling slightly more reassured. He slowly drove away from the hotel, looking into the rearview mirror from time to time to see that she was still waving at him from afar. His heart was completely filled with love.


    Were the conditions at the Skyend Mountain Ranges supposed to be harsh? So what even if they were? Gu Yue was waiting for him...


    Tang Wulin rounded the corner and accelerated toward the Skyend Mountain Ranges with brimming battle intent in his heart.


    The battle vehicle had disappeared from view, and Gu Yuena''s waving hand faltered in mid-air. Tears instantly began to stream down her face.


    "Why you cryin, lil'' cutie?" A provocative voice sounded from beside her as a dark-skinned young man in a revealing top approached her.


    "Piss off!" Gu Yuena yelled in a ferocious voice.


    The young man''s entire body shuddered, and he seemed to have seen something extremely terrifying within her purple eyes. His dark face immediately turned deathly pale, and he fled the scene as if he were running for his life.


    Within those clear purple eyes, the vertical pupils gradually reverted back to their original form.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin looked on at the distant scenery, and there was only astonishment in his heart.


    He was greeted by the sight of snowy-white mountain peaks that stretched as far as the eyes could see, and the further away the mountains were, the taller they stood, with the tallest of the mountains protruding all the way into the clouds.


    The distance from here to the sun had to be many times shorter than it was in most other places. Tang Wulin could sense that the light elements here were far too abundant, and that would negatively impact one''s body, but he naturally didn''t have to worry about that with his immensely powerful physical constitution.


    There was no longer a road up ahead. If he wanted to get to his destination, then he had to enter this snowy mountain range.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had visited a place like this. The air was very thin here, and one could walk for a long time without seeing another human being. However, the beauty of nature still had him completely entranced.


    He turned around to see that he''d passed through a world of greenery to get here, but everything up ahead had been covered under white snow.


    Standing here, he was like an impossibly tiny and insignificant little raft on an ocean. This was the allure of nature! How could something so beautiful be allowed to fall into ruin?


    The seed of nature in his glabella seemed to have tremored slightly, as if to resonate with his thoughts. Tang Wulin took a deep breath before striding toward the snowy mountain up ahead. At the same time, he pulled out the GPS that Amorous Douluo Zang Xin had given to him before switching it on.


    This GPS could only be used to find his destination, and he''d been led all the way here from the Scorching Basin by this device. The GPS was currently instructing him to advance toward that snowy mountain.


    The air temperature was already very low here, but Tang Wulin was still dressed in his normal clothes. His footsteps were brisk and stable, and the bloodline vortex within his body was rotating naturally to ward off the cold.


    Soon, he entered the snowy mountain, and the going had become quite tough, but he didn''t release his battle armor. Zang Xin had told him that he had to make himself seem like a normal person after coming here as every single person who joined this army had to travel through this leg of the journey on foot. This was a rule that was set in stone, and even Soul Masters with flight abilities were no exception to this.


    In fact, he couldn''t even use his martial soul or he''d be disqualified right away.

 Chapter 923: Scaling the Mountains

    After Tang Wulin scaled the first mountain, he began to understand why this rule had been set in place.


    Climbing these snowy mountains was definitely a test of one''s willpower. Without being able to use one''s martial soul, the journey was quite tough, even with abundant reserves of soul power.


    The snow on the mountains was very thick, which made walking quite difficult, and the terrain was very steep. The temperatures only plummeted further the higher one climbed, and the air also grew thinner at high altitudes.


    Even with his physical constitution, his breathing had begun to accelerate after scaling the first snowy mountain. For a normal person, there was no way to complete this task without any modern equipment to assist them. However, he really liked this feeling, and he enjoyed the grind.


    After resting for a while and eating a few handfuls of snow, Tang Wulin leaped forward and jumped straight down the other side of the mountain from the summit.


    The thick snow provided him with the ideal padding, and his body quickly slid down along the mountain face, hurtling toward the foot of the mountain.


    Only Tang Wulin would dare to do something like this as other people would definitely be concerned about what would happen to them at the conclusion of their descent.


    Tang Wulin completely spread open his body to maximize the surface area of the snow that he came into contact with, thereby preventing himself from sinking into the thick snow. His body was constantly accelerating, and powder snow was flying past him on either side. He released his spiritual power so he could detect any hazards down below, and constantly adjusted the direction that he was going in in accordance with those observations.


    It had taken him over an hour to scale the mountain, but only several minutes to get down to the other side. As he began to near the foot of the mountain, Tang Wulin raised both of his legs and borrowed the momentum to continue sliding forward, taking him several dozens of meters up the next mountain before his momentum finally ran out. He then bent his legs and sat up, and his entire body sank into the accumulated snow on the mountain face.


    That was so exhilarating!


    This was most likely what skiing or snowboarding felt like.


    The snow on these mountains was very thick, and Tang Wulin had learned that under such settings, one had to make as little sound as possible. Otherwise, it would be very easy to trigger an avalanche. As such, he repressed the urge to let loose a cry of elation before flattening himself against the mountain face. Almost half of his body had sunk into the accumulated snow, and he was climbing upward with difficulty.


    He didn''t use his martial soul, but his hands were as hard as steel essence, and even without using his golden dragon claws, he could still scale the mountain face in a steady manner.


    Not all sections of the mountain face were as steep as this; the steepness of the terrain fluctuated, and on the flatter sections, he could stand up and walk like normal. He followed the instructions of the GPS, climbing over one mountain after another, and he was steadily closing in on his destination.


    At this point, his entire body had completely sunk into this snowy mountain.


    Each successive mountain was taller than the previous one, and the terrain also became steeper and steeper. Tang Wulin sat on the pinnacle of a mountain, and he was finally struck by a hint of exhaustion.


    An entire day had already passed, and he''d lost count of how many mountains he''d scaled, but he could no longer see the path that he''d come from.


    The sky gradually began to darken, but his destination was nowhere in sight. With his energy reserves, he could still keep going, but these snowy mountains were extremely cold at night. He could feel that the surrounding temperatures were most likely lower than -50¡ãC, [-58¡ãF for mah American homies] and his body heat was being expended very quickly.


    Regardless of how confident he was, it was best to cut himself some slack. Otherwise, he''d be in trouble in the case of unforeseen circumstances.


    As for how he was going to rest, that wasn''t an issue that was going to stump him.


    He dug a snow cave into the mountain face, then curled up into a ball within it. He then pulled out some blankets from his storage ring to keep the snow and ice at bay. It wasn''t exactly a comfortable shelter, but it was certainly better than being out in the cold.


    In a way, this was quite an amazing experience. Tang Wulin pushed the blankets to compact the surrounding snow in order to make it more solid, then withdrew his own aura. In doing so, his body temperature gradually decreased, and both his blood essence and soul power vortexes began to rotate at a slower rate.


    As his soul power rank approached 60, a semblance of a crystal was already beginning to form in his soul power vortex, indicating that he was on the brink of successfully manifesting a soul core. As soon as he attained a soul core, his soul energy would form a self-sustaining circuit in his own body. Even without any injection of natural energies, he would be self-subsistent.


    Following a night of meditation, Tang Wulin woke up, feeling completely reinvigorated. As opposed to going outside right away, he ate some food in his snow cave first. Dried rations didn''t taste very good, and their texture was also quite hard, but he had to replenish his energy somehow.


    He spread open his hands and emerged from the snow cave. The bone-chilling wind buffeted his body, making him shudder while also completely waking him up.


    He did some stretching, and the blood essence vortex within his body began to accelerate in its rotation. A burst of scorching blood essence fluctuations began to exude from his body, and a visible layer of white mist had formed around him. His aura was like scorching fire, causing water vapors to permeate through the air.


    He took a few deep breaths to inhale the sparse air in the environment. After taking a look at his GPS, he abruptly jumped up and continued in his journey.


    The mountain up ahead was extremely precarious, and the mountain faces were close to being completely vertical, but this was a route that he had to take. From the images being displayed on his GPS, it appeared that he would arrive at his destination after scaling this mountain and descending to the other side.


    However, this mountain was simply far too difficult to scale. Due to its sheer steepness, there wasn''t much accumulated snow on the mountain faces, but there were many slippery patches of ice, and it would be extremely difficult to scale it with just one''s body alone.


    Ever since he was a small child, Tang Wulin had developed a personality that would only make him stronger in the face of adversity, and in the face of this latest obstacle, he came up with a plan after just a brief moment of contemplation.


    He couldn''t use his martial soul, and even using the power of the Golden Dragon King would most likely be breaking the rules, so he''d just have to use his own tremendously powerful body.


    After stabilizing himself, he flattened his right hand like a blade before abruptly stabbing into the wall of ice up ahead.


    His right hand pierced into the ice with a dull thump, and even though the ice on this mountain was extremely hard, it was nothing in the face of Tang Wulin''s terrifying strength.


    He hung down securely from the wall of ice before also stabbing his other hand in the ice in the same manner. He tested how solid the ice was first before the muscles on his arms abruptly bulged as he pulled downward with all his might, sending his own body propelling straight up into the air.


    He was using nothing but the power of his arms to do this! After ascending for roughly 10 meters, he ran out of momentum and plunged his hands into the ice again.


    If he weren''t concerned about breaking the wall of ice by exerting too much power, he would''ve been able to launch himself far more than 10 meters into the air. As a safety precaution, he had no choice but to hold back.


    Thus, he sprang up over and over again before landing on the wall of ice. His hands were like the most reliable of ice picks, firmly pinning himself to the wall of ice each time before launching him upward again. He was traveling extremely quickly up the mountain face like a giant frog; this section of the mountain was over a kilometer tall, but he reached the summit in only around 15 minutes.


    He shook out his slightly sore arms and flexed his fingers, which were slightly red from the cold, and they naturally recovered after he circulated his blood essence within his body for a cycle. This was the merit of having an immensely powerful body. In particular, Tang Wulin''s blood essence had become noticeably more powerful after consuming those Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum petals. He could even feel that if things were to continue like this, he''d be able to break this 10th Golden Dragon King seal soon.


    He was both looking forward to this, yet also rather concerned.


    Old Tang had been hibernating for a very long time, but he''d told him in the past that the second batch of nine Golden Dragon King seals would be far more difficult to deal with than the first nine. Compared to the second nine seals, the first nine were like a process to acclimatize his body to the power of the Golden Dragon King. The energy within the final nine seals would all be extremely terrifying, and if he couldn''t absorb it, then he''d be destroyed. As such, he definitely couldn''t do anything rash without making ample preparations.


    However, risk and reward came hand in hand; it was undoubtedly the case that breaking the 10th seals would result in an extremely powerful ability being bestowed upon him by the Golden Dragon King bloodline, one that would be far superior to his previous four abilities.


    As he continued up the snowy mountain, the terrain gradually began to flatten out. He continued to forge ahead in a rather unsteady manner, and after climbing over a small hill, he was surprised to discover that the terrain on the other side of the hill no longer led downward. Instead, there was a grassland-like existence situated on the summit of the mountain. To put it more accurately, this was a snowland.


    There were dense bunches of barracks up ahead, and this appeared to be quite a massive military base. There were lookout posts surrounding the area, but no guard towers. It was impossible to see what materials these structures were constructed from due to the thick accumulated snow, but these barracks truly existed, and they covered an area of at least a square kilometer!

 Chapter 924: The Blood God Legion

    Tang Wulin estimated that this place had to be at least 6,000 meters above sea level, so it was completely unsuitable for human habitation. It was undoubtedly the case that this was the destination for his trip, and the place where he was going to be joining the military.


    The Amorous Douluo really had found quite a challenging place for him!


    In any case, he had finally arrived, and with that in mind, he stretched his body before quickly rushing toward the barracks up ahead.


    However, he had only run a few steps when a sense of foreboding abruptly welled up in his heart, and he immediately came to a halt. Less than 20 meters ahead of him, four figures had emerged from within the snow without any premonition, and they had four extremely powerful-looking soul laser guns aimed directly at him.


    All four of them were wearing thick white clothes, and they were holding their respective guns in a very steady manner. Even with Tang Wulin''s powers, he could sense a palpable threat from these four people.


    He immediately raised his hands up into the air, and yelled, "Don''t shoot! I''m here to join the army."


    One of the four soldiers in white put away their weapon while the other three were still aiming their guns at Tang Wulin.


    The soldier made their way over to Tang Wulin without saying anything before conducting a quick pat-down search of his body. Only after ascertaining that he wasn''t carrying any weapons did the soldier open the visor on the helmet that they were wearing.


    "Where''s your introduction letter?"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly fished out the introduction letter that Zang Xin had given him from his storage ring before handing it over. This was a silver piece of metal with a snowy white bird emblazoned onto its surface. The bird was very majestic and resembled an eagle, but its bodily proportions were slightly different from a normal eagle. It appeared to be far larger than the average eagle, and was very muscular and intimidating.


    Tang Wulin knew that this was a type of soul beast known as the Snow God Eagle, and they were said to be the guardian deities of snowy mountains, but they were extremely rare. He had only seen images of such a creature during his lessons at Shrek Academy. This symbol seemed to be the crest of this army.


    Tang Wulin really wasn''t all that familiar with the military, and his goal for coming here was very simple; he wanted to integrate himself with this place, then gradually gain control over it through his own powers.


    The name of this army was the Blood God Legion. That''s right, it was Blood God as opposed to Snow God. The pronunciations of the two were the same,  [1] but the meanings they conveyed were completely different.


    This legion didn''t even belong to the federal military. Instead, it was a completely special and independent existence, but this was the most powerful army on the entire continent, and they were guarding a secret realm that very few people on this continent knew about.


    Only the elite of the elite had the right to join this legion, and there were only a few places that had the right to recommend soldiers to this place.


    These places consisted of Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Battle God Hall, the Spirit Pagoda, and a few other Soul Master sects that had been around for countless years.


    There were no weaklings here as weaklings wouldn''t be able to survive in this place, and a military service period here spanned at least five years, which was far longer than that of other armies. However, most people chose to stay here for over 10 years.


    After examining Tang Wulin''s introduction letter, the soldier suddenly stood up straight and extended a military salute toward him. The military salute here was different from that of normal federal soldiers; it consisted of making a fist with one''s right hand before thumping it into their own chest in a simple yet powerful manner.


    Tang Wulin knew the importance of integrating into a new environment as quickly as possible, so he also made a fist with his right hand to return the salute. However, the soldier immediately grabbed onto his arm to stop him.


    "You have no right to do that yet. Come with me." The soldier turned and strode toward the barracks as they spoke.


    As expected, this place really was quite different. Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly, but he still quickly followed along. Meanwhile, the other three soldiers withdrew into the snow again, and the snow above them quickly became flat and even. It was as if they''d never appeared here.


    The soldier led Tang Wulin over to the barracks, and the snow near the barracks had clearly been swept, revealing the hard ground underneath. For the first time in days, Tang Wulin was able to walk without having to wade through mounds of snow.


    The soldier dusted off the snow on their body before quickly entering the barracks.


    The environment in the barracks was vastly different from the outside world. Everything was very neat and orderly here, and aside from the fact that the entire structure was surrounded by snow, it appeared to be no different from normal barracks. However, Tang Wulin discovered that the people here were very few and far in between; there weren''t even any patrolling soldiers.


    Tang Wulin didn''t ask any questions about this. The best way to gain an understanding of a place was to see and listen to things for himself. Furthermore, from the tone of the soldier that had led him to this place, he could deduce that the soldiers here were most likely all quite proud and perhaps even slightly xenophobic. Under these circumstances, all he could do was display his powers to earn everyone''s approval as soon as he could rather than waste time with words.


    He wondered if the legions that all of his friends had been sent to were also as strange as this one.


    The soldier led Tang Wulin over to a building, then pressed their palm against something, and a beam of light swept over them, following which the metal gate up ahead was opened.


    "Come with me!"


    After entering the building, a burst of warm air immediately surged toward them, and the soothing heat provided an indescribable sense of comfort. Even the air here seemed to be more abundant than it was outside.


    Tang Wulin heaved a long and content sigh.


    The soldier turned back to take a glance at him before removing their helmet, and Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of a woman with a head of long brown hair.


    She was very tall, and appeared to be around 25 to 26 years of age. She was wearing a thick military uniform, which was why Tang Wulin had been unable to discern her gender prior to this point. As such, he was rather taken aback to discover that this was a woman.


    The female soldier wore a frosty look on her face. "Stop daydreaming and come with me. Let me tell you this; from now on, you need to prepare yourself. Whether you''ll be allowed to stay here will be decided during the next three days."


    "Thank you." Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    At this point, Tang Wulin was still severely underdressed for the setting, and the female soldier glanced at his attire before leaving a cryptic remark. "Arrogance is the fastest way to death."


    She then immediately turned around and continued onward.


    Tang Wulin was rather amused to hear this. He knew that she had to have thought that he was showing off by wearing so little in comparison to everyone else here. In reality, he wasn''t completely immune to the effects of extreme temperatures, but the air temperature here really didn''t affect him much. Furthermore, the stimulus provided by the cold increased the speed of his blood essence vortex''s rotation, so it was actually assisting him in his cultivation.


    Tang Wulin followed the woman into the building, and his expression quickly changed. There were all types of devices and apparatus all around him, most of which he didn''t even recognize. There were very few people in here as well.


    After walking through a passageway, the female soldier led him into a room, and Tang Wulin finally saw a second person in that room.


    This was also a female soldier who appeared to be in her forties, and her epaulets carried one line and two stars, indicating that she was a lieutenant.


    "Lieutenant, this is a newbie; please arrange a trial for him." The female soldier''s expression remained quite cold.


    The middle-aged military official immediately rose to her feet before pounding her chest as part of a military salute. "Yes, Major."


    Major? The one who had brought him here was a major rather than a normal soldier?


    Tang Wulin had studied military ranks quite extensively, and he was quite surprised to see such a young major, while the lieutenant was clearly a lot older.


    After nodding to acknowledge the lieutenant, the female major turned and left.


    Tang Wulin looked on at her departing figure, and he became even more intrigued by this place.


    "Don''t be surprised, little guy; the major is always this serious when she''s completing missions. You don''t have to be alarmed by our military ranks, either. Here in the Blood God Legion, age is completely irrelevant; power and accolades are the only things that matter. I''m an administration official here, and my husband fights in the legion, so I essentially came here with him as family. If you can pass the trial, you''ll learn all of the rules here in the future."


    [1] [The Chinese characters for snow (ѩ) and blood (Ѫ) have the same pronunciation of xue]

 Chapter 925: New Soldier Reporting For Duty

    "Thank you," Tang Wulin replied with a genuine and benevolent smile. He was extremely handsome to begin with, so his energetic smile was very endearing.


    The lieutenant said, "Come with me; it''s been a while since we had our last new addition. You''re a handsome young lad, but I have to caution you that no matter where you come from, arrogance is a cardinal sin here. The Blood God Legion is no ordinary army; only exceptional prodigies are recommended to this place, but less than a third of them actually get to stay here. I can see that you''re a polite young man, and I hope that you''ll be able to stay here."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Are we commencing the trial right away? There''s no need for registration?"


    The lieutenant replied, "There''s no need for that. You were only brought here after your identity was verified, and there''s no point in registering you prior to your completion of the trial. As for why we''re commencing the trial right away, there''s a simple explanation; your enemies will never tell you when they''re going to strike."


    Tang Wulin''s expression stiffened slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, Shrek City had been completely taken by surprise by its enemies.


    "You''re right."


    The lieutenant led Tang Wulin out of the room and into what appeared to be a warehouse. "You can choose any weapon from here, but remember that you won''t be able to use any soul power in the upcoming trial. Hence, you''ll only be able to rely on your body and the weapon of your choice, so make sure to pick one that you''re more adept at using."


    A trial where usage of soul power was prohibited? Tang Wulin''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. Would his bloodline power be affected as well?


    There were all types of weapons in the warehouse, many of which were modern soul weapons, including things like laser guns and soul cannons. There were weapons to cater to everyone, and all of them were portable weapons that were suitable for single combat.


    Tang Wulin could only recognize around a third of all of these weapons, and all of the weapons he recognized were ones that he knew how to use. However, after some careful consideration, Tang Wulin stepped forward and chose a long black alloy staff. Even if he couldn''t use his bloodline power, he was still supremely confident in his own strength. As for long-range soul weapons, he could use some of them, but he certainly wasn''t good at it. He was only proficient at using long-range attacks when piloting mechas.


    The lieutenant raised an eyebrow upon seeing his choice, and a slightly forlorn look appeared on her face.


    "Looks like you still chose your pride over practicality. Come with me." Her tone had turned rather cold and unfriendly, but she didn''t say anything further. She led him out of the warehouse before entering an extremely massive building at the center of the base.


    The tip of the building was of a conical shape, and it was around 50 meters tall, making it the tallest building in the entire base. After passing through a set of doors, Tang Wulin finally caught sight of some other soldiers.


    There were several dozens of people in here, all of whom were wearing white military uniforms. The uniforms were very beautiful to behold, and each of them had a Snow God Eagle crest on the chest, identical to the one on his introduction letter. No one paid any heed to Tang Wulin and the lieutenant. However, Tang Wulin discovered from the epaulets of the soldiers here that they were all military officials, and even the lowest-ranked ones among them were second lieutenants. There were no ordinary soldiers among them.


    Could it be that this was the control base of the Blood God Legion?


    The lieutenant led Tang Wulin over to an elevator, and the doors opened before the two of them walked inside. All of a sudden, a cold voice sounded.


    "Hold on."


    Another person entered the elevator just as the voice rang out.


    Tang Wulin discovered that this was a female soldier with a pair of major epaulets on her shoulders. It was none other than the female major that had led Tang Wulin into the barracks. She had already removed her thick coat, so she was only wearing her white military uniform at the moment. Her uniform was completely devoid of creases, and she was looking very sharp with her pristine white uniform and golden epaulets.


    "Major!" The lieutenant immediately extended a military salute, and the major also returned the salute. However, this salute really didn''t suit women all that well. She was very tall and slender, and also quite beautiful. On top of that, she had a sense of heroic spirit about her that normal women didn''t have. However, that certainly didn''t arrest her physical development in the slightest, and her chest rippled like jelly as she extended her chest-thumping salute. Tang Wulin''s lips twitched involuntarily upon seeing this.


    "I''ll supervise him during his trial; you can go back," the major instructed.


    The lieutenant faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You''re going to oversee his trial in person?"


    The major nodded in response. "That''s right. I''ve assessed the footage of how he got here, so I''ll be overseeing his trial."


    "Yes!" The lieutenant extended another military salute before exiting the elevator.


    The doors of the elevator closed, and Tang Wulin could sense that it was traveling in a downward direction. Thus, he and the female major were the only ones in this rather small enclosed space.


    Tang Wulin cleared his throat, and said, "Hello, Major, my name is Tang Wulin."


    "You''ll refer to me as superior," the female major said in a cold voice.


    "Yes, Superior," Tang Wulin hurriedly replied.


    "Stand up straight!" the female major commanded.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before doing as he was told. He wasn''t used to being ordered around like this, but he decided to bear with it after recalling what the lieutenant had told him earlier.


    The female major didn''t say anything else, and she certainly wasn''t displaying any intention to introduce herself. Moments later, the elevator doors opened following a crisp "ding".


    After exiting the elevator, they passed through a metal corridor before turning left, and Tang Wulin was led into a room by the major.


    After entering the room, a surprised look immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he was struck by a sense of deja vu.


    Why did this look so much like the entrance to the Spirit Ascension Plane of the intermediate Spirit Pagoda? There was a series of glass covers around the room, and judging from their sizes, it was undoubtedly the case that they were designed to hold people.


    The major made her way over to the control panel, and her hands flew rapidly over the keys as she typed in a series of commands.


    Two of the glass covers slowly rose up, and all of the apparatus in the room also lit up.


    "Have you been to the Spirit Ascension Plane before?" the major asked.


    "I have," Tang Wulin replied in a truthful manner.


    The major nodded, and said, "The setting of your trial will be similar in nature to the Spirit Ascension Plane, and your mission is very simple; protect me in there until the conclusion of your trial."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin nodded before making his way over to one of the raised glass covers.


    The major''s eyes narrowed slightly before she quickly followed along, and she cautioned, "As a reminder, you won''t be able to use your soul power in there, so the only thing you can rely on is yourself and your weapon, understood?"


    "Understood." The lieutenant had already informed him of this earlier. At the same time, Tang Wulin had also formed a basic judgment about this trial. The setting would be similar to that of the Spirit Ascension Plane, and he couldn''t use any soul power to fight the enemies in there.


    After walking into the glass cover, it slowly closed, and a series of metal plates were pressed against his body. Metallic rungs appeared behind him to fix his body into place, and the surrounding area suddenly became brighter.


    It had been a long time since Tang Wulin had last visited the Spirit Ascension Plane, and he closed his eyes as he carefully felt all of the changes taking place around him. A slight pain speared through his limbs before converging in his brain, and a string of shudders ran through his body before his brain became completely blank.


    Tang Wulin could faintly sense the stimulus from the electrical currents, changes in the statistical fluctuations, and also spatial energy fluctuations.


    These were things that he hadn''t been able to sense in the past, and they''d only become apparent to him as his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Abyss realm.


    There wasn''t really any discomfort, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself situated on a vast expanse of snow with the alloy staff that he''d chosen in his hand. What was even more surprising to him was that the barracks that he''d just entered were situated nearby.

 Chapter 926: Underground Cave

    Was this supposed to be a virtual reality setting? This was quite interesting.


    However, there was a massive bottomless hole next to him, and the hole was entirely inky-black in color. There were some indescribable auras rising up from down below, causing his mind to shudder slightly.


    He inspected his internal condition, and sure enough, he could no longer sense his soul power. It was as if his soul power vortex had completely disappeared from within his body. Thankfully, his bloodline vortex was still there, and his blood essence power was still extremely abundant, so he hadn''t been impacted much


    Right at this moment, light flashed and the female major appeared beside him. She was in the exact same attire as before, but when she caught sight of him, a different expression finally broke through her cold facade; it was surprise!


    "How did you get in here so quickly?" the major asked.


    "Is there a competition for speed?" Tang Wulin answered her question with one of his own.


    The female major''s expression returned to normal, and she pointed into the abyss. "Jump into it."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin did as he was told and leaped into the black hole without any hesitation. He didn''t know what was down there, but this was only a simulated world, so there was nothing to fear. After everything that he''d been through, would he be afraid of falling to his death in a simulation? Furthermore, with his current physical constitution, it would be quite difficult for him to fall to his death even if he tried.


    The major also jumped into the abyss right after him.


    Everything in the surrounding area began to turn dark, but Tang Wulin''s eyes glowed with purple light as he unleashed his Purple Demon Eyes.


    Cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes could improve his spiritual power, and conversely, after one''s spiritual power reached a certain level, it would also begin to reciprocate their Purple Demon Eyes. As such, Tang Wulin was already beginning to progress toward the third level of his Purple Demon Eyes. Even though there was still quite a gap for him to bridge, the cultivation of the Purple Demon Eyes was a process of accumulation anyway; after cultivating it for a long enough time, everything would naturally fall into place.


    Through the use of his Purple Demon Eyes, he was able to discern that this was a cave. The walls of the cave were quite uneven, so it didn''t appear to have been artificially excavated. After falling for around 100 meters, a massive net appeared down below to stop their fall.


    As their bodies gradually stabilized, Tang Wulin caught sight of a series of holes beside the net that had broken their fall. The holes were all of different sizes; the largest ones had diameters of around 10 meters, while the smallest ones were only around two meters in diameter. Furthermore, these holes were very irregular in size and seemed to have been smashed into the rock faces by something.


    The female major climbed along the net toward one of the holes while waving a hand toward Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin quickly followed along with his staff in his hand.


    After he arrived beside the major, she said, "From now on, there could be danger at every turn. What you have to do is progress onward while protecting me. The result of your trial will depend on how deep you can go, understood?"


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin nodded in response. He then brandished his staff and led the way into the hole.


    The hole that this major had chosen had a diameter of around three meters, and it was completely pitch-black in here as well. Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly. Even though he couldn''t use his soul power, he still had full access to his spiritual power, and with his sensory abilities, coupled with his Purple Demon Eyes, he could just barely see around 30 meters away from him. This was already quite a remarkable feat in this cave with barely any light.


    However, the further he progressed, the darker the surrounding area became, and even the effect of his Purple Demon Eyes was rapidly on the wane.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t walking very quickly, and the major followed him in an unhurried manner.


    Tang Wulin suddenly wished that he had an infrared thermal imaging device with him; that would make things a lot easier. As things currently were, he could only rely on his own senses.


    However, his alloy staff was also somewhat useful in this situation as well. He was able to use it as a guide stick, occasionally striking the rock faces on either side, as well as the ground up ahead, in order to ascertain whether they were in a safe setting.


    All of a sudden, a gust of wind surged toward them, and Tang Wulin reflexively swung his staff toward the gust of wind while retreating a half step with his right foot to position his body in front of the major.


    A dull thump rang out, and Tang Wulin could feel that he''d struck something. He focused his Purple Demon Eyes up ahead to discover that it was a bat-like creature. It wasn''t very large, but it possessed considerable ramming force that was most likely several hundred kilograms on impact. That wasn''t much to him, but if a normal person were in his shoes, they would''ve most likely been completely bowled over.


    Even after being struck by his staff, the bat-like creature didn''t die. It let loose a sharp screech before springing up and pouncing toward Tang Wulin again, scratching toward his body with its four claws.


    Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t going to allow its attacks to land. He struck the bat with his staff with unerring accuracy, and on this occasion, he used a lot more of his strength.


    Another dull thump rang out, and the bat was sent flying through the air. In the next instant, its body exploded in mid-air. Tang Wulin had controlled the power of his strike to perfection. He condensed his power to within the end of his staff, and only allowed it to erupt after the staff struck the bat, thereby allowing him to immediately send it flying.


    The major behind him raised her eyebrows slightly, but Tang Wulin naturally couldn''t see her expression in the darkness. He continued onward after only a brief pause.


    While passing by the carcass of that bat, he squatted down slightly before focusing his gaze on it.


    Much to his surprise, the bat''s body was rapidly shrinking, and it disappeared right before his eyes. At the same time, he was struck by a faint notion that some type of energy seemed to have proliferated through the air.


    Was this thing not an actual being of substance? Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly, and he recalled back to the instant that he''d pulverized the bat''s body. No blood had appeared, and instead, a ball of energy seemed to have exploded in that instant.


    However, in contrast with the Spirit Ascension Plane, this energy didn''t replenish his body, nor did it bolster his soul rings.


    Had these creatures been created solely for the purpose of this trial?


    Tang Wulin continued onward with a hint of befuddlement in his heart.


    Another gust of wind swept forth, but it wasn''t alone this time. Instead, several gusts of wind were hurtling toward them from up ahead at the same time. Tang Wulin remained completely unflustered as he injected his power into the staff, then gently swept it through to lash out at all of the oncoming assailants. At the same time, his own body remained as still and resolute as a mountain.


    "Thump, thump, thump!" Three dull thumps rang out in rapid succession, and three bats'' bodies exploded. The carcasses then quickly began to vanish just like the body of the first bat.


    Tang Wulin continued onward, and bats appeared one after another. At times, they emerged one at a time, while at other times, as many as six or seven of them would appear at once. On those occasions, their bodies would fill up virtually the entire cave.


    However, not even a single one of them managed to break through Tang Wulin''s defenses, and all of them were destroyed by his staff.


    After forging ahead for about 100 meters, light gradually began to appear, and the number of bats also began to decrease. The light wasn''t very bright, but it was still better than having no light at all.


    After reaching the conclusion of the tunnel, Tang Wulin turned left, but he stopped cold in his tracks after taking just a few more steps. At the same time, an astonished look appeared on his face.


    They had arrived in a massive cave with an area that was comparable to that of a sports stadium. On one face of the massive cave were around 100 holes of different sizes, and they were situated at heights of around 100 meters. At this moment, there were at least 100 of the four-claws bats that he''d just faced flying in the air within the cave, and even more of these bats were flying out of the holes up above.


    The light was also coming from those holes, and it wasn''t very bright, but it was enough for Tang Wulin to see everything with his Purple Demon Eyes.


    Was the objective of his trial to defeat these bats?


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly, and right at this moment, the major arrived beside him before suddenly raising her head and smiling at him.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had seen this major smile, but no matter how he looked at it, he couldn''t help but feel that this was quite a sinister smile.


    Immediately thereafter, the major said to him, "Make sure to protect me."


    She then abruptly stepped forward and began to charge into the cave up ahead.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon seeing this. Was she artificially increasing the difficulty of his trial?


    Despite his disgruntled thoughts, he reacted extremely quickly, and he immediately sped over to behind the major after stomping a foot into the ground.


    All of the four-clawed bats began to emit sharp screeches at the sight of the intruders, and one bat after another descended from the sky, hurtling toward them from all directions.

 Chapter 927: Commencement of the Trial

    The major continued to rush directly toward the center of the cave as if she couldn''t even see these bats. Tang Wulin waved his staff through the air, using it like a spear and vanquishing at least one four-clawed bat with every single strike. One staff projection after another flashed beside the major, and not even a single bat was able to reach within two meters of her.


    The surprise in her eyes became even more pronounced. She had seen many newbies undertaking this trial, and there were some exceptional snipers who could control the situation, as well as some who used all types of advanced soul weapons to resolve this predicament, but it was extremely rare to see someone protect her at such close range using nothing more than their own strength and battle experience.


    There was naturally a reason behind her decision to oversee Tang Wulin''s trial in person. After taking Tang Wulin to the lieutenant, she had pulled up the surveillance footage near the snowy mountains and witnessed the process through which Tang Wulin had reached their base.


    Her first thought after seeing the footage was that he''d completed the journey far too quickly! He''d done so in less than a third of the time it had taken her to complete the same journey for the first time. In her eyes, this guy didn''t even seem like a human being anymore. He was able to use his bare hands as ice picks and propellers to launch himself up the mountain without using any soul power, and that was truly astonishing.


    As such, her curiosity had led to her decision to oversee Tang Wulin''s trial. Under normal circumstances, the general contents of the trial had to be introduced to the trial-taker in advance, but she had refrained from doing so. Furthermore, after reaching this point, she was supposed to travel quite slowly, but she had chosen to run through this area instead. She had intentionally raised the level of difficulty of this trial because she wanted to see just what this newbie was capable of.


    As it turned out, Tang Wulin wasn''t just a brute with nothing more than explosive power. The ramming force of these four-clawed bats could reach as high as 500 kilograms, and even four-ring Soul Masters with remarkably powerful physical constitutions would have a hard time keeping them at bay. However, in the face of Tang Wulin, these bats were dropping like flies.


    After the major reached the center of the cave, more than half of the four-clawed bats here had already been killed by Tang Wulin.


    However, he also realized an issue; these four-clawed bats didn''t seem to have any sense of fear! So many of their brethren had already perished, but they were still flying toward Tang Wulin and the major in a bloodthirsty frenzy.


    Even soul beasts wouldn''t do something like this! Their attacks were extremely decisive, and Tang Wulin could only see ferocity in their eyes without any sense of fear or hesitation.


    What kind of living beings were these? Had they been created by the Blood God Legion just for these trials?


    While these thoughts were running through his mind, the vast majority of the bats in this cave had already been killed by him. With the large quantity of four-clawed bats that had been slain and the dim light in the cave, Tang Wulin was able to catch sight of wisps of energy rising up from their bodies before gradually converging together, then drifting toward those holes.


    Tang Wulin turned to the major. "Is that it?"


    A smile appeared on the major''s face once again. "Of course not!"


    Right at this moment, a low snarl abruptly rang out, and a massive bat suddenly flew out of one of the medium-sized caves.


    This bat was more than twice as large as the previous ones, and it had six claws as opposed to four. It spread open its wings and abruptly let loose a sharp screech.


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly at the sight of the ripples in the air being created by its screeching. Was this a soundwave attack?


    He immediately released his spiritual power in response. He knew that this kind of soundwave attack couldn''t be nullified just by blocking his ears. At the same time, he raised a hand and drew the major into his arms. He wound his left arm around her waist, and golden light erupted from his eyes.


    Due to the fact that she''s been caught in Tang Wulin''s embrace, the major was oblivious to the golden light emanating from his eyes.


    This was a solid and warm embrace, and after being pressed against Tang Wulin''s body, the major instantly felt her heart rate begin to quicken. The anticipated soundwave attack seemed to have been blocked by something and didn''t strike her as she''d expected.


    The six-clawed bat in the air let loose a vicious screech, and it suddenly withdrew its wings before hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin like a speeding arrow. At the same time, it was letting loose one sharp screech after another to unleash a relentless barrage of soundwave attacks.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly, and two beams of light suddenly erupted from within his eyes like purple lightning. The major just so happened to raise her head at this moment, so she caught a glimpse of the purple light shooting out of his eyes.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin rose up into the air with his left arm still locked tightly around the major''s waist, but he''d already lashed out with his right hand using his alloy staff.


    The six-clawed bat was quite powerful, as evidenced by the fact that it was still able to react even after being struck by the Purple Demon Eyes''s spiritual attack. It spread open its wings again, and its six claws, which were clearly far larger than those of the four-clawed bats, grabbed toward Tang Wulin''s staff.


    "Thump!" The six-clawed bat''s body was over two meters in length, but it was still sent flying like a cannonball. Right before the major''s astonished eyes, it suffered the same fate as its four-clawed counterparts; its body exploded into countless pieces that flew in all directions.


    He destroyed that six-clawed bat in just one strike without using any soul power?


    The major felt as if her brain had begun to short circuit.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t think much of this. He released the major in an apologetic manner, and said, "Sorry for encroaching on your personal space; it''s just that I may not have been able to protect you from that bat''s soundwave attacks if you were too far away from me."


    The major didn''t say anything, but her expression had clearly changed. Her original curiosity and intrigue had grown even more pronounced.


    In the beginning, she had thought that Tang Wulin was too conceited as he''d chosen a staff as his weapon. However, that thought was completely dispelled after she witnessed him destroying a six-clawed bat with just a single staff strike. With the close-quarters combat ability that he''d displayed, he was definitely powerful enough to earn a pass in this trial.


    However, the trial of the Blood God Legion wasn''t just a test of power. What was more important was one''s personality and moral code. There were many people in the Blood God Legion, but all of them were true comrades that could entrust one another with their lives. The trial for newbies involved protecting someone as it was a test of whether they''d be willing to sacrifice themselves to protect others in a dangerous situation


    However, the prerequisite for this was that a dangerous situation had to be created! How was this test supposed to be conducted without a sufficient level of danger?


    The major couldn''t just stop this trial here, so he chose to remain silent.


    The six-clawed bat had been slain, and the steady streams of four-clawed bats that had been rushing out of the caves finally stopped. However, only a short while later, three more massive six-clawed bats emerged from within the caves.


    Three bats at once didn''t just entail three times the power. Not only did these creatures resemble bats in appearance, they also fought in a very similar manner to bats. Not only did they possess extremely powerful combat prowess, they were also very adept at teamwork. As such, this was going to be a far more rigorous test than just facing one six-clawed bat.


    Just as the major was looking forward to how Tang Wulin was going to handle this situation, he had already sprung into action.


    On this occasion, he didn''t wait passively for their opponents to come to them. Without the harassment from the four-clawed bats, he didn''t have to worry about the major''s safety. As such, he sprang into action as soon as the three six-clawed bats began to emerge.


    His alloy staff transformed into a black shadow, and a sharp whistling sound rang out as it hurtled directly toward one of the six-clawed bats. At the same time, he completed a run-up before stomping both feet into the ground, propelling him toward the second six-clawed bat.


    The staff was the first to reach its target. A resounding boom rang out, and before the six-clawed bat had even fully emerged from its cave, its body had already been pulverized. The other two six-clawed bats had only just emerged, and Tang Wulin was already right in front of one of them.

 Chapter 928: Terrifying Creatures

    His right hand clenched into a fist, which he launched directly at the six-clawed bat up ahead.


    The bat had only just stabilized its body after emerging from the cave, so it had no time to evade, and could only retaliate with its six claws.


    This was going to be a direct clash between six claws and one fist.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin employed a little trick; he tucked his legs beneath him before gently tapping his feet against two of the bat''s claws. In doing so, his body was elevated slightly, thereby allowing him to evade the bat''s claws while his fist rammed viciously into its head.


    "Boom!" The six-clawed bat''s body was reduced to pieces. Tang Wulin drew upon the recoil force to perform a backward somersault before descending from the sky. During his descent, he unleashed his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to draw the alloy staff that he''d just hurled away back to him.


    Despite the fact that he had no access to his soul power, his blood essence vortex was still rotating at a rapid rate, so he was able to use his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon anyway, and the alloy staff immediately returned to his grasp.


    The final six-clawed bat was extremely cunning; as opposed to attacking him, it pounced directly toward the major instead.


    The major stood still on the spot, but her brows had furrowed slightly. Tang Wulin had indeed just displayed immense combat prowess, but he would not be welcome to the Blood God Legion if he were just a ruffian who didn''t care about his comrades.


    However, right at this moment, a black shadow flashed past, and a dull thump rang out. The six-claws bat was just about to reach her when its body was completely punctured by the alloy staff from the side. The momentum of the staff sent it flying toward the rock face in the distance, and only in the instant that the staff struck the rock face did the terrifying power imbued within it completely erupt, instantly shattering the six-claws bat''s body.


    Just as the major was looking on in a flabbergasted manner, Tang Wulin had already returned to her side.


    Right at this moment, a black shadow reached Tang Wulin like lightning. It wasn''t very large, but it was very long, and it seemed to be a snake, but it had rows of tiny claws under its body. As soon as it reached Tang Wulin, it abruptly opened its massive mouth before chomping down upon him.


    This creature had appeared far too abruptly, and it had appeared virtually right after Tang Wulin hurled his staff through the air for the second time to destroy the third six-clawed bat. Of course, its target was the major as opposed to Tang Wulin.


    He had been fast enough to position himself in front of the major, but he no longer had his staff. The creature opened its mouth until it was in excess of a meter in diameter, and there were rows of menacing sharp teeth within its massive mouth. What was even more terrifying was that it had a long tongue, which shot forth toward Tang Wulin like a lightning-fast spear.


    If he were to address its spear-like tongue, then he wouldn''t be able to oppose its sharp teeth. Furthermore, he had only just managed to wedge himself between the creature and the major, so no matter how one looked at it, he wouldn''t have enough time to formulate an effective defense against this creature''s attack.


    However, in this dire situation, Tang Wulin did something that came as a complete surprise to the major. He seemed to have intentionally slipped, and his entire body fell backward. Not only that, but his right arm struck the backs of the major''s knees, causing her to also keel over and fall backward.


    She let loose a cry of surprise, and she couldn''t control her body as the creature''s spear-like tongue passed over not far above her face. However, she refrained from closing her eyes. All exceptional soldiers had to have the presence of mind to keep their eyes open during dangerous situations, and she turned her head toward Tang Wulin.


    As a result, she was greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin supporting his body with one leg as he fell backward while his other leg kicked directly upward, striking the underside of the creature''s mouth.


    The kick contained extremely terrifying power, and the creature''s mouth was immediately sealed shut as its chin quickly crashed into the roof of its mouth.


    Its own extended tongue was severed by its sharp teeth, and on top of that, Tang Wulin''s enormous strength has shattered all of its teeth, sending them flying out of its mouth as pulverized fragments.


    At the same time, he had the presence of mind to pull against the backs of the major''s knees, and she immediately felt a burst of gentle power sweeping toward her, stabilizing her body in the instant right before she was about to crash to the ground. Tang Wulin then shot back and wound his right arm around her waist. He gently slapped his left hand against the ground, and he didn¡¯t appear to have exerted much force at all, but in the next instant, both he and the major were on their feet.


    Everything had taken place in the span of just a few short breaths, but Tang Wulin''s movements were extremely smooth and appeared to be completely unhurried. The snake-like creature''s tongue and teeth had been completely destroyed by his kick, and its body was flung up into the air. Tang Wulin tapped a foot against the ground and rose up into the air, rushing quickly toward the alloy staff with his arm still wound around the major''s waist.


    Only then did the major return to her senses, and there was only one thought in her mind. You can do that?!


    At this moment, a string of ferocious howls erupted from within the cave. The snake that Tang Wulin had just kicked flying suddenly faltered in mid-air before a massive paw emerged from the largest of the caves, grabbing onto the snake and abruptly wrenching it backward. The snake then vanished amid a bloodcurdling howl.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had only just pulled out his staff, and a grim expression appeared on his face. What was that thing? The diameter of the claw that had just been revealed was over six meters. Proportionally speaking, there was no way that the owner of that paw could fit into that cave. Furthermore, this was the first time during this trial that he''d been struck by a sense of threat.


    He dragged the major behind him, then brandished his staff and fixed an intense gaze into that cave.


    After a brief pause, the entire cave suddenly began to tremor slightly, and plumes of mist abruptly began to emerge from all of the holes at once.


    A hint of astonishment flashed through the major''s eyes. She clearly recognized what this mist was, but at the same time, it was quite apparent that she didn''t expect something like this to appear during the trial.


    The dense mist was yellow in color, and as soon as it emerged, Tang Wulin could feel a change in the temperature in the entire cave. It wasn''t just a simple increase or decrease in temperature. Instead, it was fluctuating in an unsteady manner. A sense of invisible pressure swept forth from within the mist.


    What was this thing?


    Tang Wulin chose to calmly observe the situation rather than rush forward to attack. A creature that posed a threat to him had to be extremely powerful.


    The mist quickly converged, and a massive figure gradually appeared.


    This was a monstrous creature that Tang Wulin had never seen before. Its head resembled that of a giant dragon, and its body was as huge as a small mountain. It was entirely covered in dark green scales, and there were three legs supporting its body. Its upper body was extremely muscular, and it had a pair of very long arms. Tang Wulin had just seen one of the paws that was attached to its two arms, and both of those paws were over six meters in diameter. There was a massive tail trailing along behind it, and it had four crimson eyes, all of which were emitting an extremely vicious light.


    "Be careful, this is a Ba''an," the major cautioned.


    Ba''an? What was that supposed to be? The major had told him the name of this creature, but that information wasn''t very useful to him at all.


    It was quite apparent that this monster would be very troublesome to deal with. Tang Wulin said in a grim voice, "You stay right beside this rock face and don''t move; I''ll take care of this thing." He strode forward and charged directly toward the monster as he spoke.


    This thing was way too massive; it appeared to be over 40 meters tall, and among all of the land-dwelling creatures that Tang Wulin had seen, it was second only to a Tyrant Dragon in size.


    It was just a pity that he couldn''t use his martial soul at the moment. Otherwise, he''d be able to summon his Tyrant Dragon as a perfect counter to this thing.


    Compared to this massive Ba''an, Tang Wulin was extremely tiny and insignificant. All of a sudden, his body abruptly sprang upward like a speeding arrow. He swung his staff directly toward the Ba''an while the major looked on from the corner, and for some reason, her heart tremored slightly in that instant.


    Not everyone had the courage to charge directly toward a monster like a Ba''an, especially when they were facing such a being for the very first time.


    The Ba''an let loose a roar of fury, and its eyes lit up like balls of fire. It opened its mouth to blast a plume of dark purple flames toward Tang Wulin, and the major reflexively closed her eyes. She really didn''t want to see Tang Wulin being incinerated into nothingness by this abyssal monster.


    Without any equipment, a normal Soul Master would be instantly melted away by the Ba''an''s Demonic Abyssal Flames and reduced to a vengeful spirit!


    However, the sound that traveled to her ears in the next instant was a roar of pain and fury from the Ba''an.


    She hurriedly opened her eyes, and she was astonished to see that a golden figure had already appeared above the Ba''an''s head. She would never forget the astonishing scenes that she witnessed next. The Ba''an''s enormous body was sent flying like a gargantuan cannonball before crashing heavily into the rock face in the distance, then thudding onto the ground.


    Tang Wulin descended from the sky and threw away the staff in his hand. He had no choice; the staff had already been completely bent and was unusable.

 Chapter 929: Battling the Baan

    At this moment, his entire body had been covered in golden scales, and golden dragon claws had emerged from his hands. Four golden rings of light emerged from beneath his feet before revolving around his body and gently pulsating in a rhythmic manner.


    Golden soul rings? Im, impossible! Humans can''t use their martial souls in this simulated realm!


    The major was already completely flabbergasted. She was then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin springing up into the air again, and his speed was at least doubled. He shot forth like a golden cannonball, hurtling directly toward the Ba''an.


    The Ba''an clambered up from the ground, and its body was also astonishingly powerful. Tang Wulin had used his Golden Dragon Body and Golden Dragon Tyrant Body to force his way through its Demonic Abyssal Flames, and only then had he been able to catch it completely off guard before sending it flying.


    At this moment, there was a clear indentation on the Ba''an''s head, and that had just been inflicted by Tang Wulin.


    However, Tang Wulin was still feeling rather remorseful. If he had just used his Golden Dragon Spear, then the Ba''an wouldn''t have just been sent flying.


    The Ba''an let loose a roar of fury as it lashed out at Tang Wulin with its massive dragon claws, while dark green light began to radiate from its scales. Even in this world, it was an extremely powerful being, and the fact that a puny human had managed to harm it sent it into a fit of deranged fury. Its terrifying aura was causing the entire space to tremble in its wake.


    Right at this moment, a loud dragon''s roar erupted from Tang Wulin''s mouth, following which his third golden soul ring lit up. A massive golden dragon head radiated outward with his body at its center, and the Ba''an''s deranged roar was instantly drowned out. Immediately thereafter, the dragon head surged forward, and Tang Wulin pressed forward with both hands, transforming his Golden Dragon Roar into Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    "Boom!"


    Golden and dark green light clashed violently in mid-air, and Tang Wulin''s body faltered for an instant before he was hurled toward the roof of the cave. Meanwhile, the Ba''an was sent flying toward the distant rock face again.


    Right at this moment, even as Tang Wulin was flying upward, a streak of golden light erupted from his body like a bolt of lightning that was threatening to pierce through heaven and earth.


    It caught up to the Ba''an in the blink of an eye, and the monster reflexively raised one of its massive paws to shield itself, but the golden light merely punctured through its paw and plunged itself right in the center of its four eyes.


    Tang Wulin was a disciple of the Tang Sect; even though the Golden Dragon Spear was a little too large to be referred to as a hidden weapon, the same hand techniques still applied.


    A bloodcurdling howl erupted from the Ba''an''s mouth, and countless streams of dark green energy rapidly converged toward the golden spear, having been forcibly drawn out of its body.


    Tang Wulin descended from the sky, and he was panting heavily. The battle had been extremely brief, but he''d unleashed everything he had during those few attacks, and he was now being struck by a sense of overexertion.


    During that clash, the Ba''an''s strength had been far superior to what he''d imagined. After unleashing the full extent of its power, its strength wasn''t inferior to Tang Wulin''s by much. If it weren''t for the fact that Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Roar had intimidated his opponent, it would''ve been impossible for him to land that killing blow with his Golden Dragon Spear without being injured by the Ba''an during that clash.


    Tang Wulin landed on the ground, and the Ba''an''s giant body was still trembling spasmodically as it tried to struggle away from the Golden Dragon Spear, but it was already too late.


    The dark green streams of energy turned the Golden Dragon Spear into a dark green color, but the Ba''an''s gigantic body was beginning to disintegrate, and it soon disappeared into nothingness.


    Golden light flashed from the Golden Dragon Spear, and all of the dark green color faded before it returned to Tang Wulin''s grasp into the next instant.


    Tang Wulin instantly felt an extremely pure burst of energy inject itself into his body. This energy couldn''t replenish currently non-existent soul power, but his bloodline soul rings shuddered violently before accelerating in their rotation. A burst of pure essence had appeared in his blood essence, and it was kind of like the Golden Dragon King essence that he absorbed after breaking his Golden Dragon King seals. The quantity was far inferior in comparison, but it was still energy of an extremely high level of purity.


    He knew that this was a simulation as opposed to reality, but he was still quite alarmed by this. With his current physical constitution, it was not easy to grant him a noticeable increase in his blood essence power!


    Meanwhile, the major was already completely speechless. She was staring at Tang Wulin with a completely blank look in her eyes.


    He had bested a Ba''an in close-quarters combat?! Those mysterious golden soul rings and his freakish strength... Was this guy really a human being?


    Right at this moment, another dark green figure emerged from the central cave in a flash before hovering mid-air.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. There really was no end to these things! However, he was feeling very confident. He had just been reciprocated by his Golden Dragon Spear, which had instantly fully replenished his blood essence power and even taken it above its original peak.


    Compared to the Ba''an, this dark green figure was clearly a lot smaller. It only appeared to be around two meters tall, so only slightly taller than a normal human. It had a pair of special wings on its back that resembled bat wings, but the bones within them were clearly a lot more massive. The connective tissue wasn''t just normal skin, either, and those areas were covered in dark green scales.


    The creature possessed a figure that was very similar to that of a human woman, except everything was a lot more exaggerated. She had an extremely voluptuous chest and backside, but her waist was so thin that they were almost disproportionated to her backside. She had scorching green flames burning within her eyes, and the tips of her hands and feet were riddled with sharp spikes.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly. He couldn''t sense any threat from this creature, but deep within his mind, there was a hint of indescribable fear that was originating from the deepest parts of his bloodline.


    Could it be that this humanoid creature was even more fearsome than the Ba''an from before?


    The major''s expression instantly changed drastically at the sight of this creature, and a horrified look appeared in her eyes. All of her astonishment from witnessing Tang Wulin''s abilities had completely vanished, and it seemed that fear was the only thing in her heart.


    "That''s a Demonic Enchantress!"


    "Die, human!" The Demonic Enchantress''s voice sounded directly within the deepest part of Tang Wulin''s soul.


    A rune of light emerged before her as her voice rang out, and immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin felt his entire body stiffen. His life force was fading at an alarming rate, and a dark green rune of light had suddenly appeared around him before rapidly seeping into his body.


    Was this a curse ability? On the Douluo Continent, only Evil Soul Masters were able to use soul skills of this nature, but this Demonic Enchantress clearly wasn''t an Evil Soul Master.


    "Hmph!" Tang Wulin let loose a cold harrumph as his bloodline vortex began to rotate in a frenzy. The most powerful unyielding will that originated from deep within his heart combined with his spiritual power before proliferating outward as a layer of golden light. At the same time, the rainbow gemstone on his wrist flashed, and a burst of powerful will erupted from his body.


    A muffled groan escaped from the Demonic Enchantress''s mouth, and the green flames in her eyes jumped violently. In the next instant, Tang Wulin had shot forth like a speeding arrow with his Golden Dragon Spear in his hand, forcibly struggling free of her curse before hurtling directly toward her.


    The Demonic Enchantress flapped her wings, and pulled out a strange weapon seemingly out of thin air. The weapon resembled a bone, but also a war saber, and she descended from the sky before sending the weapon crashing down toward Tang Wulin.


    "Boom!"


    The two of them clashed, and Tang Wulin was forced back down onto the ground, but the Demonic Enchantress was also sent flying backward for several dozens of meters.


    A grim look immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Despite his opponent''s relatively small body, she possessed an extraordinary amount of strength. Most importantly, he knew nothing about this thing.


    In the instant that the Demonic Enchantress arrested her momentum, light flashed from her body, and she seemed to have flapped her wings as she appeared right before Tang Wulin in the next instant.

 Chapter 930: Shielding Her With His Body

    She was simply far too fast, hurtling toward Tang Wulin like lightning before bringing the strange blade in her hand directly down toward his shoulder.


    Even Tang Wulin was caught off guard by her speed, which was virtually as fast as instantaneous teleportation, and it was already too late for him to evade. Under these circumstances, Tang Wulin made a very direct decision.


    He didn''t try to take any evasive measure, nor did he even attempt to defend himself. Instead, he reached out toward her chest with his left hand while lashing out with his right hand unleashing his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws.


    A long weapon like his Golden Dragon Spear would only prove to be cumbersome in this situation, so he could only relinquish it for now, dropping toward the ground before catching it with his right foot.


    He was going to fight fire with fire!


    Tang Wulin was very confident in his own defensive and regenerative prowess, so he was retaliating in a very aggressive manner.


    The Demonic Enchantress gave a disdainful harrumph, and her saber was slashing through the air so quickly that it was leaving a string of afterimages in its wake. Before Tang Wulin''s hands reached her, it had already crashed heavily into his shoulder.


    Blood splattered everywhere, and Tang Wulin could feel that his left collarbone had been chopped in half by the devastating strike. However, his powerful physical constitution really shone through at times like this.


    Even though he couldn''t use any soul skills, he still had the defensive abilities of his Mountain Dragon King torso bone, and in the instant that his collarbone and scapula were broken, he abruptly withdrew his bones to trap his opponent''s weapon.


    A burst of energy that was filled with despair and destruction erupted from the saber. However, during his military training on the demonic island, Tang Wulin had attained destructive energy of an even higher level of purity than this, so he remained largely unaffected.


    His left hand wasn''t able to grab onto his opponent, but he still managed to unleash his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws.


    The Demonic Enchantress was clearly very confident in her own speed, but much to her surprise, Tang Wulin''s claws encompassed an area with a radius of several tens of meters.


    Five dark golden streaks of light flashed past, and the Demonic Enchantress had managed to retreat for over 20 meters, but she was still struck by the attack.


    In the instant before the attack landed, she abruptly withdrew her wings.


    "Boom!"


    Her body shot back like a cannonball for over 100 meters before crashing into a rock face in the distance. One of her wings had been severed by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws, and he forced himself to ignore the agony spearing through his body from his shoulder as he flicked his right foot forward. His Golden Dragon Spear was hurled through the air as a result, and it flew directly toward the Demonic Enchantress.


    He naturally couldn''t squander this opportunity, and in the instant that he landed on the ground, he ran toward the major as quickly as he could.


    The Demonic Enchantress was simply far too fast, and he''d only be able to protect the major from nearby.


    Dark Green light flashed as the Demonic Enchantress crashed into the rock face, and in the instant before the Golden Dragon Spear reached her, she abruptly slid downward and landed on the ground to evade it. However, it was quite clear that she''d been severely wounded. Not only had she lost one of her wings, five deep gashes had also been inflicted onto her body.


    The flesh around the wounds was squirming violently in an attempt to heal, but the sharp intent from the Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws was tearing at her wounds in a frenzy. Streams of dark green liquid began to flow down her body, and as soon as the liquid dripped down onto the ground, it immediately permeated in all directions as dense dark green energy.


    "Humans! Your souls will be tortured within the abyss for all of eternity!" The Demonic Enchantress''s voice sounded within Tang Wulin''s mind again. At this moment, Tang Wulin had returned to the major''s side and also pulled out the saber that was protruding from his shoulder.


    He sealed off his bloodline to prevent excessive blood loss, and even though he''d already turned quite pale, there was no hint of pain etched on his face.


    He had always been extremely mentally strong.


    Golden light flashed, and the Golden Dragon Spear returned to his hand. He took a deep breath to adjust his blood essence vortex, sending rich blood essence power surging toward the wound in the frenzy. He held his spear in his left hand and pushed his shoulder a few times with his right hand to ensure that the bones were correctly connected.


    The major was standing right behind him, and she could even hear the spine-tingling sound of his bones grinding against one another in his body, but Tang Wulin didn''t even tremble in the slightest.


    He had to possess a will of steel!


    "Ah, I should be ending this!" The major patted her own body to search for something in a panicked manner.


    Right at this moment, the Demonic Enchantress in the distance suddenly sprang into action again. Her body swayed and split into two identical figures. Immediately thereafter, countless streams of dark green light poured out of the caves behind her in a frenzy before injecting themselves into her body.


    Her severed wing grew back, and her terrifying speed allowed her to reach Tang Wulin in virtually the blink of an eye. The two identical figures rushed toward him from either side and the one on the left manifested another battle saber that she brought down toward Tang Wulin''s body, while the one on the right abruptly stopped in mid-air. The rune from before appeared again, except on this occasion, it was targeting the major rather than Tang Wulin.


    The Demonic Enchantress was far too fast, and both its strength and curse abilities were also extremely staggering.


    In this dire situation, Tang Wulin didn''t have time to think. All he could do was make a split-second decision.


    He paid no heed to the Demonic Enchantress on the left, and he almost instantly turned around before spreading open his arms and throwing them around the major''s body. At the same time, a burst of golden light erupted from his body as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar.


    The major felt an incredibly scorching burst of energy fluctuations surge toward her from Tang Wulin, and her body had completely stiffened in the face of the Demonic Enchantress''s curse, but it had suddenly regained its mobility.


    "Thud!" The sound of blade piercing through flesh and bone rang out so close to her, but all she could feel was an overwhelming sense of security.


    "Boom!"


    The entire world spun around her, and the major only caught a brief glimpse of Tang Wulin sending both of the Demonic Enchantress clones flying with a sweep of his Golden Dragon Spear. The roar of a golden dragon had erupted, but at the same time, she saw a shimmering golden arm fall onto the ground along with half a shoulder.


    She closed her eyes with all her might and pressed the button that she''d already fished out of her pocket.


    Their entire surroundings immediately warped and twisted, and the only sound that could be heard was a ferocious howl from the Demonic Enchantress. In the instant that they disappeared, two droplets of tears descended from above, only to be completely pulverized into water particles by another fearsome attack from the Demonic Enchantress.


    Tang Wulin''s body shuddered violently, and he slowly opened his eyes. He was breathing rather heavily, and only after taking a few deep breaths did his breathing gradually slow down.


    He reflexively laid a hand on his left arm. Thankfully, it was still attached to his body in the real world, but the agony that he''d just experience was still fresh in his mind. It had been far too realistic!


    He heaved a faint internal sigh. If he hadn''t been protecting the major, he would''ve had a chance at securing victory. As long as he could use the Golden Dragon Spear to puncture the Demonic Enchantress''s body, there was a chance that he could''ve turned the tables. However, that Demonic Enchantress truly was extremely powerful; he didn''t know how the Blood God Legion had managed to create such a fearsome creature for this trial.


    The glass cover was opened, and all of the equipment that was holding Tang Wulin''s body in place were also withdrawn. He rotated his shoulder and did some stretching as he emerged from the glass cover.


    The major still hadn''t awakened at this point, and through the glass cover, he could see that her brows were tightly furrowed as if she were experiencing some kind of immense pain.


    All of a sudden, her body shuddered violently before falling still again. Was she about to wake up?


    From the major''s aura, Tang Wulin had managed to deduce that she seemed to be a five-ring Soul King. He didn''t know what her background was, but she was already extremely outstanding to have reached such a high soul power rank in her mid-twenties.


    It would be unfair to use Tang Wulin and the others as comparison as they were Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; they were supposed to be the very best among people of their age.


    Moments later, the major slowly opened her eyes, and it took a few more seconds for her eyes to regain focus, upon which she caught sight of Tang Wulin, who was appraising her from outside the glass cover.


    A complex look flashed through her eyes as she opened her glass cover and undid her bindings.


    However, after she stepped out of the glass cover, her legs suddenly gave out from under her, and Tang Wulin reflexively stepped forward to catch her.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t noticed this in the heat of battle, but he could now clearly sense that this major''s body temperature was a little high. However, she had an exceptional figure that was very supple, and it was quite clear that she regularly exercised and worked out.


    "Thank you." The major blushed slightly as she struggled out of Tang Wulin''s arms and stood up straight.


    Tang Wulin said, "So about my trial..."


    The major faltered slightly before immediately recovering her usual cold facade.


    "You''ve passed. Come with me." She made her way out of this special testing facility as she spoke, and she was walking very quickly. At the very least, she was leaving this place far quicker than she''d come, and it was as if she were trying to escape from something.

 Chapter 931: Shes Single

    Tang Wulin was quite glad that he¡¯d passed his trial, but he was also rather frustrated that he''d been forced to reveal his bloodline soul rings at such an early state. However, the battles he''d just endured made him feel very good. This sense of pressure was very beneficial to honing his practical combat skills, and the special type of energy he''d absorbed from the Ba''an through his Golden Dragon Spear had also benefited him immensely.


    In that instant, he felt as if he''d eaten some kind of extraordinary food that had enhanced his body. Due to how powerful his physical constitution currently was, it had been a long time since he''d last experienced such a feeling. Unfortunately, everything was only a simulation. If only such beings existed in real life; he''d be able to continue to bolster his own body by hunting such creatures.


    He followed the major through the base as he recalled the battles that had just taken place to assess and learn from them.


    Soon, the major returned to the room where they''d been once before, and they met the lieutenant again.


    "Was the trial completed? That certainly took quite a while! Did he pass?" the lieutenant asked with a smile.


    The major nodded in response. "He did."


    Tang Wulin noticed that they weren''t referring to one another by their military ranks during this conversation?


    "What grade did he receive?" the lieutenant asked in a curious manner.


    The major shook her head in response. "I''m not sure yet; I''ll have to wait for a verdict from the higher-ups, but it''s a very high grade."


    "A very high grade?" The lieutenant knew this major very well, and she knew that there weren''t many people in the entire Blood God Legion that could earn such high praise from her. Just from that alone, she could tell that this handsome young man had thoroughly impressed her.


    "Please take him to collect his things and arrange a temporary place for him to stay for now. We''ll find him a more permanent place after a verdict is handed down from our higher-ups," the major said.


    "Alright, do you want to take him on a tour so he can get more familiar with our base? He''s already a member of our Blood God Legion now, after all," the lieutenant asked with a smile.


    The major hesitated momentarily, but still nodded in the end. "Alright, I''ll wait for him outside while you complete his registration."


    After that, she turned and walked away. However, she had only taken a few steps before suddenly stopping and turning toward Tang Wulin again. "My name is Long Yuxue."


    Only then did she exit the room.


    Long Yuxue... It sounded like a name with a story behind it.  [1]


    "Do you like her name?" the lieutenant asked with a smile.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I do."


    The lieutenant put on a mysterious expression, and said, "She''s still single, so you have to work hard!"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this before bursting into laughter. "Are you a part-time match-maker as well?"


    The lieutenant heaved a faint sigh. "What can I do? She''s my only daughter."


    Daughter? Tang Wulin was stunned to hear this. Long Yuxue didn''t really bear much of a resemblance to this lieutenant.


    "She takes after her father. You must feel like our relationship is a little strange, right? It''s actually quite simple. We''re in the legion base here, and during normal work hours, we''ll refer to one another by our military ranks, but during breaks, she''s still my daughter. Alright, that''s enough rambling from me; let''s get you registered. We''ve got your basic information from your invitation letter already. You''re Tang Wulin, and you''re a student from Shrek Academy''s inner court, right?"


    "Correct." Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    The lieutenant continued, "You''re 21 years old? What rank is your soul power currently at? Please give an honest answer."


    "It''s around rank 58; I haven''t tested it for a while," Tang Wulin replied in a truthful manner.


    The lieutenant praised, "As expected of a student from Shrek Academy! What about your battle armor? What''s its name?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Dragon Moon."


    "You have a suit of two-word battle armor?" The lieutenant''s heart jolted upon hearing this. She was beginning to understand why her daughter seemed to be treating him differently compared to other men. She had taken the initiative to inform Tang Wulin of her daughter''s single status because Long Yuxue had introduced herself to him earlier. As her mother, she had never seen her do that before!


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied with a nod.


    After completing his registration, the lieutenant brought over a few sets of military uniforms before handing them to Tang Wulin. Two of them were rather thin, while the other two sets were thick winter uniforms. That was all that he received.


    "Superior, don''t we get any weapons here?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The lieutenant shook her head in response. "No one gets anything free of charge here in the Blood God Legion. If you want better weapons and higher military ranks, you''ll have to work for all of that. Here in this legion, accolades are the only viable form of currency."


    He had to accumulate accolades? How was he going to do that? By completing missions? Surely that would be quite a difficult task. In Tang Wulin''s mind, it was very unlikely that the evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult would be lurking in a place with such a harsh environment.


    "You''ll figure everything out soon. Go on now, she''s waiting for you outside," the lieutenant urged with a slightly suggestive smile on her face.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Superior, I already have a girlfriend."


    The lieutenant faltered slightly before giving a nonchalant shrug. "So what? All possibilities are open before marriage."


    Tang Wulin didn''t respond to that. He thumped his right fist against his chest to complete his first official military salute, then stowed his uniforms away into his storage ring before making his way outside.


    Long Yuxue was waiting outside with her usual cold expression on her face. She turned toward Tang Wulin as he emerged, and said, "Come with me; I''ll take you to the place that you''ll be staying and also give you a brief tour of the base."


    The weather was still very cold, but this degree of coldness didn''t affect Tang Wulin much.


    "The first things you need to know are what places you can''t go to. That building over there is the legion control center. Without a sufficient military rank or an instruction from a superior, you''re prohibited from entering that place. Over there is the weapons warehouse; it''s a restricted zone that you can''t enter for no good reason. Those are the barracks, and the training area is over there. Those are the places where you''ll generally find the most people. The training area has the most cutting-edge training facilities in the entire federation, and you can access those facilities at any time, but you have to wear your military uniform. Your uniform has your identification badge within it, and without your uniform, it''ll be quite difficult for you to go anywhere in the base."


    Long Yuxue gave Tang Wulin a very detailed introduction of the base.


    "Superior, I have a question; can I leave the base as I please?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Long Yuxue stopped and turned around to look at him. "Why would you leave the base?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Perhaps I''d like to take a walk outside sometimes."


    Long Yuxue replied in an indifferent manner, "You get no holidays until you become a major, and after you become a major or a higher ranking official, you''ll get one day''s break per week. However, before you leave, you have to hand over all of your weapons, including your mecha, and you''ll only be able to leave through your own power."


    "I see."


    Tang Wulin wasn''t concerned about that. Everything would be fine as long as they didn''t prohibit him from using his martial soul and battle armor. It was slightly far to be making a return trip to and from the Scorching Basin in a day, but he''d just have to fly there.


    However, the major military rank was quite far away from him!


    According to his understanding of the military, after joining the army, one started off as a rank soldier. There were also second-rank and first-rank soldiers above this.


    After that, the progression went second lieutenant, lieutenant, captain, and only after that was the major rank


    This meant that he was still five or six ranks away from his goal.


    "Raising your military rank is pretty easy in the initial stages, especially with your combat prowess. However, before that, you have to undertake a month of special training. This is something that needs to be undertaken by all new soldiers. During this month of training, you''ll learn about the Blood God Legion and also what duties you have as a member of the Blood God Legion."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask, "Superior, how long did it take you to become a major?"


    Long Yuxue raised an eyebrow in response. "Don''t get ahead of yourself. It took me four years to get to this rank, and you''ll most likely progress faster than I did, but remember not to strive for too many accolades. Most of our young casualties in the Blood God Legion arose as a direct result of this. During your month-long special training, there''s a special segment to address that topic."


    "I see." Four years... He couldn''t leave Gu Yuena at the Scorching Basin for four years! What was even more frustrating to him was that there was no signal here for his soul communicator, which meant that he couldn''t even contact Gu Yuena right now.


    "Are you in a hurry to leave?" Long Yuxue had detected the changes in Tang Wulin''s expression.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Not really; I''m just in a hurry to improve."


    He naturally wasn''t going to tell her that he had a girlfriend waiting for him outside the legion; that would be a major taboo topic in any army.


    Long Yuxue led Tang Wulin to a barrack before making her way into the building. The interior of the barrack was very clean, and it was entirely constructed from metal. However, as soon as one entered the barrack, they''d discover that the temperature was much higher here than outside. It was a very warm and cozy place.


    "This is your room. Everyone gets separate rooms here, and the room you get will depend on your military rank. You''re a newbie, so this is the lowest level of accommodation. You''ll be able to upgrade once you become a second lieutenant. After that, you''ll have to become a major for your next upgrade. The results of your trial will be assessed today, and your special training will commence tomorrow. You can rest for now."


    [1] [The name literally translates to Dragon Rain Snow, I''m not sure if this is just an errant remark by the author that won''t ever lead to anything, but just in case it''s explored again in the future, that''s what the name means.]


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 932: Cafeteria

    After that, Long Yuxue turned to leave, but Tang Wulin called out after her, "Superior, where do I go for food?"


    Long Yuxue asked, "Didn''t I tell you about the cafeteria?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You didn''t."


    Long Yuxue continued, "Are you aware of the rule that newbies don''t get food to eat?"


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin stared at Long Yuxue in a flabbergasted manner. A legion that didn''t feed its soldiers existed?


    Long Yuxue said in an indifferent voice, "You have to earn everything here, including even your right to eat. You need to exchange accolades for food. Newbies can take loans, and the amount loaned will be deducted from your future accolades."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. What a strange army this Blood God Legion was!


    "Can I take out a loan from you, Superior?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Long Yuxue replied, "Sure, the interest will be 10% per month."


    Tang Wulin was rendered speechless upon hearing this. That was way too high! However, he still had to eat, so he could only heave a resigned sigh. "Alright, then I''ll take out a loan with you for now."


    "Come with me; it''s around time for dinner anyway."


    The two of them emerged from the barrack, and the cafeteria wasn''t far away. After entering the cafeteria with Long Yuxue, Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of the largest gathering of people he''d seen ever since he entered the Blood God Legion base.


    The cafeteria was very spacious, spanning several thousands of square meters. There were at least 2,000 people dining in here, and even more people were entering and exiting the cafeteria.


    There were over 10 windows that food could be purchased from, and all of them were simply labeled with the numbers one, two, three, four, etc.


    Long Yuxue explained, "The lower the number of the window, the more expensive the food sold, but those foods will also be more nutritious and enhance one''s body the most."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be reminded of the academy''s cafeteria rules. However, with his insane past appetite, he didn''t really take much notice of all of this; he basically just went to whichever window had enough food for him to eat... Who would''ve thought that this legion wouldn''t even feed him for free? Thankfully, he no longer had the same appetite as he did in the past.


    Long Yuxue led Tang Wulin over the sixth window before lining up. Tang Wulin discovered that the smaller the number assigned to a window, the fewer the number of people that would be lined up there. Windows number one, two, and three didn''t have a single person lined up in front of them, and very few people would purchase food from those windows.


    Second lieutenants, lieutenants, and captains were the most common demographic in the cafeteria, and he hadn''t seen a soldier of his rank yet. As for himself, he hadn''t even put on his military uniform yet. Long Yuxue was accompanying him anyway, so they weren''t going to check his identity.


    Tang Wulin had been a foodie all his life, so he was very interested in what foods the first three windows sold, but he was literally completely broke at the moment, so he could only repress his curiosity.


    As they were lining up, Tang Wulin asked in a low voice, "Superior, does our legion need blacksmiths?"


    Long Yuxue glanced at him, and replied, "Of course we do; different metals are required to repair mechas and things like that. Why do you ask? Are you a blacksmith?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "That''s right. Can I earn accolades through forging?"


    Long Yuxue replied, "You can, but you won''t be earning a lot of accolades."


    "Will it be enough to feed me?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Long Yuxue scoffed, "Are you very worried that you won''t have anything to eat? Didn''t I lend you some accolades already? You can just repay me after you accumulate some accolades."


    Tang Wulin didn''t explain anything. It wasn''t like he could tell her that he wanted to eat food from the better windows, so he merely nodded in response.


    "Yuxue!" Right at this moment, an alluring voice rang out, and Tang Wulin reflexively cast his gaze toward the direction that the voice had come from.


    A female captain with a ponytail made her way over to them. Her crisp military uniform complemented her quite well, and in terms of appearance, she was not inferior to Long Yuxue, but the lines of her face were slightly softer.


    She had a pair of large eyes that were shimmering with an impish light, and a rare smile appeared on Long Yuxue''s face at the sight of her. "Qiyue."


    Jiang Qiyue turned her attention to Tang Wulin with a curious look on her face, and asked, "Why''s he not wearing a uniform? Is he new here? He''s pretty handsome!"


    Long Yuxue nodded in response. "He only just arrived and passed his trial today, and he came with me to get some food."


    Jiang Qiyue chuckled, "You''re too kind-hearted for your own good. You gave him a loan on low interest again, right? If you keep breaking the rules like this, the others are going to have something to say. Everyone else charges a monthly interest rate for 100%, but you''re only charging 30%. If anyone else were doing what you''re doing, those guys would''ve confronted you already."


    What? A monthly interest rate of 100%?Tang Wulin''s eyes widened upon hearing this. Furthermore, Long Yuxue was only charging him a monthly interest rate of 10% rather than 30%! Of course, he wasn''t dumb enough to blurt out the truth under such a setting.


    Long Yuxue glanced at Tang Wulin, and a faint blush appeared on her face. "The newbies have it hard enough already. We all had to go through the same phase, so why not help them when we can?"


    Jiang Qiyue turned toward Tang Wulin, and her smile turned slightly suggestive. "Hey there, handsome, I''m Jiang Qiyue; what''s your name?"


    "Tang Wulin," Tang Wulin replied with a smile.


    His smile was warm and filled with positive energy, and his large eyes were so clear that they seemed to be reflecting the entire world. Jiang Qiyue was momentarily entranced by the sight of his smile, and she couldn''t help but be stunned by how handsome he was.


    The Blood God Legion definitely had the highest proportion of handsome men among all of the legions, but all of them were far inferior to this newbie! Even with her critical eye, she couldn''t pick out a single problem with Tang Wulin, and this was something that had never happened before.


    She cocked her head to the side as she turned toward Long Yuxue. "Interesting! How''d his trial go?"


    Long Yuxue glanced at her, and replied, "Dunno."


    Jiang Qiyue was quite surprised to hear this. "You came with him to the cafeteria, so you must''ve overseen his trial as well, right? How could you not know how he did?"


    Long Yuxue replied, "I couldn''t give him a grade; the higher-ups are currently assessing the results."


    Jiang Qiyue was even more stunned to hear this. "He did that well?"


    Long Yuxue replied, "He definitely did better than you think."


    Jiang Qiyue was just about to say something when a boisterous voice rang out from behind her. "I don''t buy that!"


    The three of them turned to discover a tall and broad male military official making his way toward them. He bore a slight resemblance to Jiang Qiyue, and he was only slightly shorter than Tang Wulin, but he was extremely muscular. In particular, his freakishly musclebound arms were a little scary to look at. Tang Wulin was already quite well-built, but this man''s physique put him to shame.


    "Brother!" Jiang Qiyue called out before grabbing onto his arm in a wheedling manner.


    Tang Wulin had also noticed that he was wearing lieutenant colonel epaulets.


    Long Yuxue asked, "What don''t you buy?"


    The lieutenant colonel''s eyes were clearly filled with some type of deeper emotion as he looked at her. "I don''t believe that he''s as good as you say. What rank do you think he''ll be assigned? Second-rank soldier?"


    Long Yuxue shook her head. "First-rank soldier."


    "Impossible!" the lieutenant colonel exclaimed, "You should know how difficult it is to be rated as a first-rank soldier. We all know how hard it is for people to be promoted in the Blood God Legion without any accolades under their belts!"


    Long Yuxue didn''t seem to be very fond of him, and turned away to continue to line up.


    The lieutenant colonel seemed to have already grown accustomed to her attitude toward him, and he turned toward Tang Wulin as he interrogated, "What makes Yuxue say that you can become a first-rank soldier without earning any accolades?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Hello, Superior, my name is Tang Wulin. I don''t know what the judging criteria are, so I can''t really comment on this."Prior to coming here, he had learned the best way to make stable progress in the military from the old demons on the demonic island, and offending a lieutenant colonel on his first day definitely wouldn''t be a good idea.


    "I don''t believe what she says. What''s your greatest strength?" the lieutenant colonel asked. He displayed no response to the pleasant self-introduction that Tang Wulin had made.


    Jiang Qiyue was also appraising Tang Wulin with a curious look on her face.

 Chapter 933: Bet on a Meal?

    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. Could it be that this man was seeing him as a rival in love?


    He could clearly tell from the way he looked at Long Yuxue that he seemed to like her. What had he done to deserve antagonism from him?!


    "My greatest strength is strength," Tang Wulin replied in a calm manner. He didn''t want to attract trouble, but he certainly wasn''t going to allow himself to be pushed around. This was the military, and power was the most important thing here.


    The lieutenant colonel immediately burst into laughter. "Strength? That''s great! Let''s have a little contest of strength. If you can last three seconds against me, I''ll believe that you have what it takes to become a first-rank soldier."


    A cold expression appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Why does it matter to me what you think? What do I stand to gain from competing with you?"


    Jiang Qiyue''s eyes widened, and even Long Yuxue couldn''t help but turn around.


    There was always the occasional newbie who came in thinking that they were better than everyone else, but almost all of them ended up learning some life lessons the hard way.


    The lieutenant colonel wasn''t irked by his cold response. Instead, he appraised Tang Wulin with an intrigued expression, and asked, "Alright, then what do I have to do to make you agree to this contest?"


    Tang Wulin suddenly smiled. This was a very friendly and benevolent smile, and if any other members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters were here, they''d immediately realized that he was about to screw this man over. The more sinister the scheme he was plotting, the more genuine his smile would be.


    "I''m completely new here, so I don''t have any accolades for food; how about we bet on a meal? If I win, I get to eat at whichever window I want until I''m full, and you have to pay for it."


    The lieutenant colonel sized him up as he agreed, "Sure! You have yourself a bet. If you lose, I won''t ask too much from you; all you have to do is wash my clothes for a month, deal?"


    This was indeed quite a low stake, and Tang Wulin''s negative impression of this lieutenant colonel improved slightly. At the very least, he wasn''t going too far, but did he really know what he was setting himself up for?


    A hint of sympathy welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. "What kind of contest do you propose?"


    "That''s simple, we''ll shake hands, and the first to fold loses." He extended a massive hand as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin turned to Jiang Qiyue and Long Yuxue as he said, "Superiors, would you be able to act as witnesses to this bet?"


    Jiang Qiyue sighed, "Washing my brother''s clothes for a month isn''t a bad thing. My brother can teach you a few tricks that you can use on the battlefield during the process."


    Tang Wulin smiled. "Are you that convinced that I''ll lose, Superior?"


    Jiang Qiyue giggled, "Looks like you''re very confident in yourself! Alright, let me get in on this bet as well. If you win, I''ll also take care of one of your meals, but if you lose, you have to wash my clothes for a month as well. Of course, that''s excluding my underwear!"


    The soldiers that had gathered around to spectate immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t irked in the slightest by this. He merely smiled, and said, "That sounds great to me."


    He gripped onto the lieutenant colonel''s hand as he spoke.


    The lieutenant colonel raised an eyebrow, and said, "Remember my name, newbie; it''s Jiang Wuyue!"


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. Their parents sure were lazy with naming their kids! [The literal translation of Jiang Qiyue''s name is July Jiang, while her brother''s name, Jiang Wuyue, can be directly translated to May Jiang, so they''re both named after months of the year.]


    Jiang Wuyue''s hand was far larger than Tang Wulin''s. Tang Wulin held a slight advantage in terms of the length of his hand and fingers, but Jiang Wuyue''s hand was as wide and thick as a bear paw, creating a stark contrast with Tang Wulin''s fair and slim hand.


    The two hands quickly locked onto one another.


    "This is a pure contest of strength, so no using soul power or martial souls!" Jiang Qiyue warned as she skipped on the spot in an excited manner.


    A sly grin appeared on Jiang Wuyue''s face as he began to exert force with his hand. Unfortunately for him, he failed to catch sight of the sympathetic look that had flashed through Long Yuxue''s eyes.


    Jiang Wuyue was engaging in a strength contest with a freak whose strength was superior to that of a Ba''an; he really was an idiot.


    Tang Wulin also wore a smile on his face as he engaged in the handshake.


    "Hmm?" Moments later, Jiang Wuyue''s expression began to change slightly. He felt as if he were holding onto an extraordinarily hard piece of uncommon metal rather than a human hand. No matter how much force he exerted, there was no give in Tang Wulin''s hand at all, and his expression also remained completely unchanged.


    There were no soul power fluctuations emanating from his body, so this was definitely his strength alone and nothing else. Could this pretty boy be stronger than him?


    All of the rowdy soldiers from the Blood God Legion had also begun to quiet down. Three seconds? More than 10 seconds had already passed! Jiang Wuyue had announced that it would be his loss as long as Tang Wulin could last three seconds against him.


    Among all of the officials of the Blood God Legion that were at or below the lieutenant colonel rank, Jiang Wuyue''s strength could definitely rank among the top three, but this newbie was handling his strength with ease. This indicated that his strength was definitely not inferior to that of Jiang Wuyue.


    Tang Wulin wore an innocent look on his face as he reminded, "Superior, three seconds have already passed!"


    However, Jiang Wuyue wasn''t willing to give up. He exerted his full force with his right hand, and a serious look appeared on his face. The thought of being bested by a newbie in front of so many people was very unappetizing to him.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh. He was trying to let Jiang Wuyue down easy, but it seemed like he''d have to teach him a lesson! With that in mind, he finally began to exert force with his hand in retaliation.


    Jiang Wuyue felt as if his hand had been stuck into a vice that was compressing in a completely irrepressible manner. His strength was nothing in the face of this newbie''s vice-like grip! A sharp pain began to spear through his hand, and his face was beginning to turn green. Only then did he realize that this newbie had far superior strength compared to him!


    Right this moment, the pressure on his hand was alleviated, and Tang Wulin ceased exerting force on his palm. Jiang Wuyue heaved an internal sigh of relief as the pressure was alleviated, and he immediately realized what Tang Wulin was doing. After all, he wasn''t really an idiot.


    He let go first and raised an eyebrow as he said, "Very good! You''re an exceptional talent to be able to last so long in the face of my strength. I''ll make a request to the higher-ups to get you into our first melee combat battalion." He patted Tang Wulin''s shoulder firmly as he spoke. He did so with tremendous force, but Tang Wulin merely took it with a smile.


    "Thank you, Superior. Now, about my meal..." Tang Wulin prompted.


    Jiang Wuyue waved a hand in a generous manner. "Eat whatever you like. The lower the number on the window, the better the food they sell. I suggest you go and eat from the first window. I lost this bet, so I''ll be paying for your meal!"


    This lieutenant colonel had a very straightforward personality, and he was even pointing out where the most expensive food was to him. This made Tang Wulin''s impression of him improve even further, but that still didn''t mean that he was going to hold back...


    After traveling for so many days, he hadn''t anything good to eat for a while. Especially after entering the Skyend Mountain Ranges, he''d had nothing to eat but cold dried rations, and the earlier trial had also been quite mentally taxing to him.


    If there were one word to aptly describe Tang Wulin''s current state, then it would be ravenous!


    "Looks like I won''t have to borrow accolades from you for now, but thank you for the offer, Superior." Tang Wulin made his way over to the first window as he spoke.


    Only then did Jiang Qiyue turn to her brother with an inquisitive look in her eyes. All of the spectating soldiers also departed. They were all quite curious about Tang Wulin, but having dinner clearly took priority here.


    A wry smile appeared on Jiang Wuyue''s face. "The kid''s a freak! He''s even stronger than I am!"


    "No way!" Jiang Qiyue''s mouth gaped open as she exclaimed, "I recall that your strength had already exceeded 30 tons during your last examination. You didn''t hold back, did you?"


    Jiang Wuyue''s lips twitched in response. "Do I look like the type of guy that would hold back? That kid is a brilliant talent. With his freakish strength, he''d be a brilliant asset to our melee combat battalion. It''s decided, I''m going to request him from our higher-ups right after dinner."


    "Don''t even think about it; he belongs to our special service department," Long Yuxue countered in a cold voice.


    "Special service department?" Jiang Wuyue exclaimed, "You also want him? But your special service department does more reconnaissance missions where long-range battle is more important than melee combat; do you really have a use for him?"


    Long Yuxue couldn''t be bothered to explain anything to him. Instead, she pointed at the first window, and said, "I suggest you worry about yourself first."


    Jiang Wuyue reflexively turned toward the first window, and his expression instantly changed drastically. "Does this kid have a death wish?"


    He immediately strode toward the first window.


    One platter after another was being carried out from within the window, and they''d already been arranged into a row on the counter, but there were still more dishes being prepared.


    Over 10 dishes had already been served.

 Chapter 934: I Wont Waste This

    There was naturally a reason why there were no people lining up at the first, second, and third windows. The accolades in the Blood God Legion were recorded as number values, and one portion of food from the first window cost the same number of accolades one could expect to earn from a low-intensity battle. To put it in simpler terms, the cost of one portion of food from the first window was enough to promote a third-rank soldier to a second-rank soldier. The number of accolades required to promote one up each successive rank was vastly different, but this was still sufficient testament to just how expensive the food at the first window was.


    Even though accolades were required to purchase food at the cafeteria, there was always enough for everyone, and just one portion of food from the first window was enough to feed a big eater. However, over 10 portions had already been prepared, and even as a lieutenant colonel, this would take a sizable chunk out of Jiang Wuyue''s savings.


    "What the hell are you doing?" Jiang Wuyue asked in a furious manner.


    Tang Wulin turned to him with an innocent expression. "Superior, didn''t you say that I can eat until I''m full?"


    Jiang Wuyue''s fury immediately abated slightly. "I did indeed say that, but you can''t waste food! Don''t you know that embezzlement and waste are the biggest crimes?"


    Tang Wulin immediately replied in a serious manner, "Don''t worry, Superior, I definitely won''t waste this."


    "You''re telling me you can eat all of this? Let me remind you that the dishes from the first window have spirit items included, so they''re extremely nutritious. There''s no way that you can eat this much, and even if you can, you''ll die from indigestion!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and suggested, "How about this, Superior? Let''s make another bet; if I can finish all of this, then my next meal..."


    "Piss off! I''m not making such a stupid bet with you! Hurry and return all of this food!" Jiang Wuyue was starting to get angry now.


    An indifferent voice sounded from inside the first window. "No returns allowed. Pay up, Battalion Commander Jiang. You said it yourself; you lost the bet, so you have to pay for his meal."


    Jiang Wuyue''s lips twitched upon hearing this. An extremely enormous amount of accolades was required to be promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel, and he''d already been saving up for more than a year, but he was still only around a third of the way there. This meal alone would cost 10% of all of his savings, so he was naturally very reluctant to pay for it.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t care about that. He was already digging in to his meal while still standing in front of the window.


    He didn''t know what kind of ingredients had been used in these dishes, but they were definitely not inferior to Teacher Mu Ye''s cooking. In particular, there was a fowl dish with extremely delicious and juicy flesh, and the soup was so delicious that he almost swallowed his own tongue in his eagerness to gulp it down.


    Jiang Wuyue reluctantly paid the bill before turning to Tang Wulin with a furious look on his face, but his expression then immediately stiffened.


    During the time it had taken him to pay the bill, three portions of food from the first window had already vanished, and Tang Wulin was working on the fourth dish.


    That massive bowl of Snow Spirit Bird soup was made using an entire Snow Spirit Bird! One drumstick entered Tang Wulin''s mouth right before Jiang Wuyue''s astonished eyes, and in the next instant, the bone emerged, completely clean without any flesh hanging to it. The bowl of soup also vanished within the span of just a few breaths.


    He was eating extremely quickly, but his table manners weren''t barbaric at all. Instead, he was like a smooth machine that was working methodically yet rapidly through the food. Before he had a chance to return to his senses, another portion of food had been eaten.


    Jiang Qiyue and Long Yuxue were also completely flabbergasted.


    "Does this guy have a bottomless pit for a stomach? No matter how handsome he is, no one can afford to feed him!" Jiang Qiyue gulped in astonishment.


    An amused smile appeared on Long Yuxue''s face. "If I recall correctly, someone stepped in on the bet and promised him another meal. Do you have enough accolades? If not, I''ll give you a loan. I thought about what you said, and I decided that you''re right; I shouldn''t be breaking everyone''s rules. Hence, I''ll be offering you a loan with a monthly interest rate of 100%."


    "Don''t do this, Yuxue!" Jiang Qiyue howled with grief, "I don''t wanna go broke! I''ve been saving up accolades for a long time so I can become a major! My God, where the hell did you find a freak like him? What am I going to do? You have to save me, Yuxue. How about you beg him to let me off the hook? You''re the one who brought him in here, so you have to take responsibility!"


    Long Yuxue shrugged in response. "You brought this upon yourself; I can''t do anything. I suggest you go back and pray for yourself."


    Jiang Wuyue''s jaw had already dropped to the ground after witnessing Tang Wulin consume all of the portions of food that he''d ordered. He was then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin making his way over to the first window again, and asking, "Is there any more?"


    "That''s all we have for today," the chef inside the first window replied.


    Jiang Wuyue exclaimed, "You can STILL eat more?"


    Tang Wulin made his way over to the second window. "I guess the second window will do."


    He hadn''t eaten like this in a very long time, and this meal had been extremely enjoyable to him. He didn''t want to force Jiang Wuyue into bankruptcy, but he was seriously struggling to control his appetite.


    The food was fantastic, and there was a sufficient quantity being served. Following the meal, all of his exhaustion had been wiped away. His entire body was feeling very warm and indescribably comfortable. the blood essence vortex on his chest had reached its maximum rotational speed, and there seemed to be a shimmering crystal at its very center. He required a large amount of energy to replenish himself, so the food that he''d just eaten was quickly digested and absorbed.


    Only after eating more than 10 portions of food from the second window as well did Tang Wulin finally stop. He then gave the dumbfounded Jiang Wuyue a toothy grin. "Thank you, Superior."


    Jiang Wuyue stood rooted to the spot, looking completely defeated. After bidding farewell to Jiang Qiyue and Long Yuxue, Tang Wulin departed from the cafeteria and returned to his living quarters.


    He was only a soldier, so his room wasn''t exactly extremely luxurious. It was only around 10 square meters in size, and the bathroom was also quite crude. However, Tang Wulin was already quite content with this. At the very least, he had a room to himself.


    Gu Yue, what am I going to do now that I can''t contact you? Tang Wulin was feeling rather concerned. What if he had to take four years to become a major as well?


    During the upcoming month-long special training, the first thing that he had to figure out was how to earn accolades.


    He sat down on his bed with his legs crossed and began to meditate. He had to pour all of his time into cultivation now. After making a breakthrough to rank 60, he''d immediately be able to attain an orange soul ring, and his powers would undoubtedly be significantly enhanced. During his battle against the Demonic Enchantress earlier today, Tang Wulin had been made aware of his current flaws. He had sufficient strength, but his skills in converting strength to speed was still quite lackluster. He had to improve in that area. Otherwise, his strength would be useless if he couldn''t even hit his enemy.


    Just as Tang Wulin was meditating, there were over 10 people huddled in front of a screen in the third battle room of the Blood God Legion control center.


    The images being displayed on the screen were none other than those depicting the process through which Tang Wulin had traversed through the Skyend Mountain Ranges.


    Long Yuxue was also present, but she was standing at the back. All of the people who were seated in this room were at least senior colonels, and there were even two generals sitting at the front.


    The two of them were both men who appeared to be in their forties. One of them was very tall and broad with large eyes and thick eyebrows. He was quite intimidating even when sitting still without doing anything.


    The man beside him was quite tall and slim, and he bore a strong resemblance to Long Yuxue, indicating that the two of them were clearly related.


    "His physical constitution is quite good," the burly major general remarked.


    Long Yuxue replied, "Indeed. I checked the statistics, and it only took him eight days to get to our base through the Skyend Mountain Ranges, and he didn''t use any soul power, nor his martial soul in the process. However..."


    "What is it?" the other major general who bore a strong resemblance to her asked.


    Long Yuxue continued, "However, he seems to possess a type of special power, and I''ve deduced that it most likely stems from his bloodline. He displayed this power during his trial, and it''s very unique, and also very powerful."

 Chapter 935: Astonishment

    The burly major general burst into laughter. "Great! He must be quite a bright young talent to receive such high praise from Little Xue. Let''s skip this and watch the footage of his trial instead."


    Long Yuxue stepped forward and brought up another image on the screen.


    Light flashed, and the scenes depicted now were of her and Tang Wulin in that simulated world.


    Long Tianwu turned to glance at his daughter with a slightly peculiar look on his face. He''d heard from his wife that their daughter had overseen this newbie''s trial in person, and had given him the highest praise. Only the newbies that were given such glowing praise were worthy of having so many high-ranking military officials assess their trial footage to determine their grade.


    The image began to change, and Long Yuxue and Tang Wulin jumped into the abyss one after another.


    Tang Wulin walked up ahead with purple light occasionally flashing through his eyes.


    "He was recommended here by the Tang Sect, but he comes from Shrek Academy? Looks like there were survivors from Shrek Academy after all," Long Tianwu mused as his eyes narrowed slightly.


    "That does appear to be so," Major General Xu Weitao nodded, and said, "Who would''ve thought that such a major disaster would befall Shrek City? After we received the news, it took a lot of convincing to prevent the Shrek Academy alumni among our ranks from storming back to Shrek City. Looks like the continent is going to be plunged into turmoil soon."


    Long Tianwu nodded in response. "Things definitely aren''t as simple as they seem, and in my opinion, the military isn''t entirely innocent. Our legion commander has already gone to the military headquarters; he should bring back some more specific details for us. I hope the military wasn''t actively involved in this. Otherwise, I would be severely disappointed. How could they weaken the continent like this by targeting Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect?"


    Xu Weitao sighed, "There must be some people of the opinion that our Douluo Continent is already powerful enough for global conquest. Shrek Academy has always been a neutral entity, so it''ll always be a thorn in the side for the overly ambitious figures on the continent. No matter what happens, this can''t just be allowed to pass. We''ll wait for a verdict from the legion commander."


    "Hmm?" Just as the two major generals were speaking, a startling turn of events had already unfolded within the image on the screen.


    Long Tianwu was the one who had uttered that faint cry of surprise as Long Yuxue was suddenly running toward the center of the cave. Wasn''t she artificially increasing the difficulty of this trail?


    They were then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin following close on her heels, waving his staff through the air and killing one four-clawed bat after another.


    "He has brilliant melee combat skills that are enhanced by the Tang Sect''s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and he''s very calm and steadfast. It''s quite remarkable that a 21-year-old like him is able to do all of this. On top of that, he possesses immense strength. He''s only using a metal staff, but he''s killing those four-clawed bats with ease. With the skills that he''s currently displaying, he''s at least good enough to become a second-rank soldier."


    Long Yuxue didn''t say anything, and the image changed again as the six-clawed bat emerged before pouncing directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Serious expressions appeared on the faces of Long Tianwu and Xu Weitao in response. Six-clawed bats were more than 10 times more powerful than their four-clawed counterparts, and they also possessed soundwave attacks that had caused a lot of trouble for the Blood God Legion in the past. Wide-range attacks like those were very annoying under many circumstances.


    In the next instant, Long Tianwu''s expression stiffened slightly as he witnessed Tang Wulin catching Long Yuxue in a tight embrace before destroying the six-clawed bat.


    Long Yuxue blushed slightly as she explained, "He possessed immense spiritual power, and he used that to protect me from the soundwave attacks."


    Long Tianwu didn''t say anything. For him to be able to kill a six-clawed bat with just his strength alone definitely placed him among the best newbies that he''d ever seen.


    However, the events that unfolded next gradually cast them into a higher and higher degree of astonishment.


    After the three six-clawed bats fell by Tang Wulin''s hands, the military officials sitting behind the two major generals were beginning to rise to their feet, and loud conversations quickly rang out.


    Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin fell backward along with Long Yuxue before lashing out with a kick that could only be described as the perfect culmination of exemplary technique and terrifying power. The giant snake was sent flying as a result, and two of the senior colonels present also couldn''t help but rise to their feet.


    "Nicely done!"


    "Is that a Ba''an? Why would a Ba''an appear in a trial like this? The difficulty is way too high! What a shame, I wanted to see more of what the little guy was capable of."


    Even Long Tianwu and Xu Weitao''s brows had furrowed slightly at the sight of the gigantic paw that had just appeared.


    "It''s not over yet, Superiors," Long Yuxue couldn''t help but interject.


    It still wasn''t over? But this was a Ba''an!


    They were then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin besting Ba''an in melee combat. This was the purest clash of strength, but what were those golden rings of light?


    After the Ba''an was pinned to the rock face by the Golden Dragon Spear, the entire battle room had fallen completely silent.


    He had no access to his martial soul or soul power, but he''d managed to kill a Ba''an in a one-on-one battle. He didn''t even have access to his battle armor or a mecha! Had he achieved all of this with just his strength and bloodline power?


    It would be a severe understatement to refer to him as a prodigy at this point!


    There were very few people present, even among the senior colonels, who could accomplish the same feat.


    "This is extraordinary," Xu Weitao muttered under his breath.


    "A Demonic Enchantress?!" Long Tianwu abruptly rose to his feet as the footage still hadn''t concluded; that Demonic Enchantress had finally appeared.


    After that, the scenes of Tang Wulin battling the Demonic Enchantress and protecting Long Yuxue with his own body in the end set the atmosphere in the entire battle room alight...


    The next morning.


    After Tang Wulin awakened from his meditation, the sky was still pitch-black outside. The days here were clearly far shorter than the nights. Tang Wulin cast his gaze out toward the world of ice and snow through the window while he basked in the comforting warmth of his own room, and he kind of enjoyed this feeling.


    He had distanced himself from all of the chaos on the continent, and the burden on his shoulders had been significantly lessened. He still couldn''t completely put down those burdens, but at the very least, he didn''t have to worry about all that pressure for now.


    His initial impression of the Blood God Legion was quite positive, and the Amorous Douluo had to have his reasons for sending him here. His two objectives for this stint of military service were to grow stronger and also accumulate influence in the military.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Blood God Legion was quite isolated from the federation, and it was almost a completely independent entity. It wasn''t a neutral entity like Shrek Academy, but it was most likely quite a high-ranking organization nonetheless.


    As for why the Blood God Legion was situated here, the Amorous Douluo didn''t provide any explanations. He merely told Tang Wulin that he''d soon be able to figure things out for himself.


    The massive feast that he''d enjoyed the night before had replenished his body to a great extent, and not only was he feeling completely reinvigorated, his blood essence had been bolstered yet again.


    After getting up and doing some stretches, Tang Wulin brushed his teeth before exiting his room.


    In the early hours of the morning, the temperatures on the Skyend Mountain Ranges were extremely low, and even Tang Wulin couldn''t help but shudder. He had already put on his white military uniform, and it fit him very well, complementing his tall and well-built figure, as well as his handsome appearance.


    This was going to be the day on which his special training commenced, and he was wondering what the training would entail.


    After enduring the training on the demonic island, Tang Wulin wasn''t concerned in the slightest about the special training that the Blood God Legion would throw at him. What could be more torturous than the experiences he''d suffered on the demonic island?


    The distant sky was rather murky as the air was filled with powdered snow. It was a pity that he didn''t possess an ice attribute martial soul. Otherwise, his cultivation would benefit immensely under such an environment.


    Right at this moment, a pleasant voice sounded. "Tang Wulin."


    "Good morning, Superior!" Tang Wulin turned to discover that it was Long Yuxue, and he asked, "Do you live near here as well?"


    Long Yuxue shook her head, "No, I don''t live in this area. I''m here for you. Your trial has been graded, and I''ll take you to accept your military rank after breakfast. At the same time, the department that you''ll be going to will be announced."


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin thumped his fist into his chest as a military salute.


    Long Yuxue stepped forward and laid her left hand on his elbow while adjusting the position of his arm with her right hand.


    "Your fist should strike slightly above your heart, understood?"


    "Understood."


    "Let''s go get some breakfast first. By the way, Qiyue wants me to beg you to let her off the hook..." Even Long Yuxue herself was quite amused as she spoke. Thinking back to the pitiful beseeching display Jiang Qiyue had put on the night before, she was struck by a rather twisted sense of satisfaction.


    "Oh? Sure thing, I''ll just eat one portion of food then," Tang Wulin replied.


    "How can you eat that much?" Long Yuxue couldn''t help but ask.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Well, I guess it''s a talent of mine. I don''t actually have to eat that much all the time, but eating more is beneficial to my cultivation."


    Long Yuxue turned to him with a surprised expression. "You can cultivate through eating? That''s related to your bloodline ability, right?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly, but he still nodded in response.


    They met Jiang Qiyue at the cafeteria again, but as opposed to her energetic and impish appearance from the day before, she had braided her hair into twin pigtails today, and she also wore a pitiable look on her face in a display of vulnerability.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but chuckle internally upon seeing this. Such crude tactics weren''t going to work on him! He''s seen absolutely everything from the seven old demons of the demonic island.


    Of course, he wasn''t going to actually call her out for this.

 Chapter 936: Second Lieutenant Advisor Tang Wulin

    "Good morning, Superior." Tang Wulin extended a military salute toward Jiang Qiyue.


    Jiang Qiyue hurriedly said, "We''re all comrades and friends here, so there''s no need to refer to me as superior. We''re not on a mission or anything, so just call me by my name. So, about the bet..."


    Tang Wulin said, "I''ll make do with a portion of food from the sixth window. I had a lot to eat last night and all that food still hasn''t really digested."


    "Really?" Jiang Qiyue''s large eyes immediately lit up as she turned to Long Yuxue with a grateful expression.


    Long Yuxue said, "Don''t thank me; he was the one who agreed to this."


    Jiang Qiyue immediately latched onto Tang Wulin''s arm in an excited manner. "Thank you, handsome!"


    Her figure was far more significantly developed in certain areas, and Tang Wulin was immediately struck by the feeling of something soft making contact with his arm. A wry smile appeared on his face as he extricated his arm out of her grasp in an inconspicuous manner. "It''s alright, I wasn''t really going to eat that much this morning anyway. Please look out for me in the future, Superior."


    Jiang Qiyue''s expression changed ever so slightly. She had naturally noticed Tang Wulin struggling out of her grasp, despite how subtle he was being.


    After breakfast, Long Yuxue took Tang Wulin to the Blood God Legion control center. His inauguration ceremony was going to be held here; this was one of the rules of the Blood God Legion.


    The control center was very neat and clean without any ornamental embellishments, and everything looked just as cold as the snow and ice outside. The inauguration ceremony was going to be held in a small hall that could house around 100 people. By the time Tang Wulin and Long Yuxue arrived, a dozen or so people were already waiting for them, and their epaulets were absolutely dazzling.


    There were two generals among them, and the rest were all colonels or above. Tang Wulin discovered that all of them were looking at him with a lot of intrigue in their eyes, and that was obviously due to the bloodline power he''d displayed during this trial.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t pay any heed to this. The trial prohibited the use of soul power and soul skills, so it was most likely designed to test for certain qualities outside of power among the newbies, such as their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their comrades. Following his training on the demonic island, Tang Wulin had actually already deduced this back when Long Yuxue had told him that his objective was to protect her during the trial.


    Even so, he had still unleashed his bloodline power, and this was naturally done for a purpose. He hadn''t held back as he wanted to integrate himself with this legion as quickly as possible, and displaying his powers was undoubtedly the best way to accomplish this. As such, he had anticipated the scrutiny he was receiving.


    Long Yuxue asked Tang Wulin to stand off to the side before making her way over to the military officials and extending a military salute.


    "Vice-commander of the special service department, Long Yuxue, reporting for duty with new soldier Tang Wulin. Please give us instructions."


    Long Tianwu said, "You may begin."


    "Yes."


    Long Yuxue turned to Tang Wulin, and said, "New soldier Tang Wulin, please step onto the stage for your inauguration."


    Tang Wulin strode to the center of the stage at the front of the hall, then thumped his right fist against his chest as a military salute to all of the officials present.


    Long Tianwu stood up and stepped forward while Long Yuxue carried a platter over to them. There were two epaulets on the platter, as well as a pair of golden lapel pins.


    One line and one star; didn''t that represent a second lieutenant rank?


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but falter slightly at the sight of the epaulets. Wasn''t he only supposed to be a soldier? He had thought he had a good chance of becoming a first-rank soldier based on his performance, but he didn''t think that he''d become a second lieutenant right away.


    The second lieutenant rank was above the three soldier ranks, and the main difference between the two was that a second lieutenant was a true military official while a soldier was just a soldier.


    As such, it was quite extraordinary for him to be granted this rank right away; the higher the starting point, the faster the progress that would be entailed.


    Long Tianwu turned to Tang Wulin, and said, "Tang Wulin, we''ve seen your trial footage, and you performed exceptionally well. We were truly astonished by what you were capable of even without using your soul power. According to the rules of the Blood God Legion, exceptional new soldiers can become first-rank soldiers, but based on your scintillating performance, the legion has decided to make an exception and reward you with this second lieutenant military rank. We hope you can keep this up and continue to strive for greater accolades."


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin replied in a firm voice.


    Long Tianwu put on his epaulets and lapel pins for him in person. Following the addition of those accessories, his pristine white military uniform had transformed once again, making him look as if he were brimming with heroic spirit.


    "Second Lieutenant Tang Wulin, you''ll be assigned to the special service department as an advisor. You''ll immediately adopt your role after a month-long period of special training."


    From that instant onward, Tang Wulin became a second lieutenant advisor of the special service department. This meant that he''d officially joined the federal military and become an official soldier, as well as a military official. A brand new world was opened up to him.


    But what exactly did a second lieutenant advisor do? Tang Wulin wasn''t really sure. However, he was presumably going to have his duties made clear to him during the coming month. Seeing as he''d been assigned to the special service department, the vice-department commander, Long Yuxue, was going to be a colleague of his.


    Following the inauguration ceremony, Long Yuxue and Tang Wulin departed from the control center.


    "Superior, does my special training begin now?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Long Yuxue nodded in response. "I will be your instructor for the coming month, and you''ll listen to everything I say during your special training. Firstly, I''m going to fill you in on some theoretical knowledge."


    Much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, Long Yuxue didn''t take him to a classroom or anything like that. Instead, she brought him to a two-room dormitory suite, and no matter how he looked at it, this place seemed to be Long Yuxue''s personal living quarters.


    "Take a seat; this is my dormitory suite," Long Yuxue said in a nonchalant manner.


    Tang Wulin didn''t ask any questions, and he sat down on the couch in the guest hall.


    Long Yuxue said, "You''re the only newbie, so we don''t need to go anywhere special. You have to make sure to commit everything I tell you next to memory."


    "Yes, Superior."


    Long Yuxue glanced at him, and said, "There''s no one else around, so you can refer to me by my name. We''ll be colleagues from now on."


    "Er, is that a good idea?" Tang Wulin was rather hesitant.


    A cold look appeared on Long Yuxue''s face. "That''s an order."


    "Al, alright then..."


    Long Yuxue continued, "You must be curious about why our legion is situated here in the Skyend Mountain Ranges, where the terrain is so precarious and the conditions are so harsh, right?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. The Skyend Mountain Ranges was situated on the westernmost region of the continent, and according to the map, after passing over the Skyend Mountain Ranges, one would quickly be able to reach the western shore. That was the most bleak and barren place on the entire continent, and that was exactly because it was separated from the rest of the continent by the Skyend Mountain Ranges.


    Compared to the other regions of the sea surrounding the continent, there weren''t many sea soul beasts beyond the western shore, and there were no humans living over there at all, but no matter how one looked at it, the Blood God Legion was one of the most elite legions out there.


    Why had such a powerful legion been placed here? Tang Wulin was also very curious, and now, Long Yuxue was finally going to reveal the secrets of the legion to him.


    Long Yuxue explained, "The Blood God Legion was founded 6,300 years ago, yet there are extremely few people on this continent who are aware of our existence as we''re different from normal legions. We all have a unique responsibility and burden on our shoulders, and the men and women of the Blood God Legion have been protecting the entire Douluo Continent behind the scenes for generation after generation."


    Tang Wulin listened with rapt focus.


    A reminiscent look appeared in Long Yuxue''s eyes as she continued, "We are guarding this place as a massive disaster once took place here. You should be aware of the fact that these mountain ranges didn''t belong to the Douluo Continent once. Instead, they became connected to our continent due to the continental shift connecting the Sun Moon Continent to ours, which means that this place once belonged to the Sun Moon Continent. After the connection between the two continents, our Douluo Continent almost doubled in size to what it is now. Around 10,000 years ago, a war finally broke out due to various differences in culture and ideals, and in the end, the entire continent was unified. After that, the current federation slowly took shape.


    "Perhaps the clash between the two continents warped space in a strange way, but a peculiar spatial passageway appeared within the Skyend Mountain Ranges. To put it in simpler terms, a new space was connected to our continent. There are many other worlds in outer space, and on many of those planets are different life forms. This spatial passageway can shorten the distance from one world to another, and it can even connect two worlds situated trillions of kilometers apart. Thus, beings on the other side of the passageway would be able to reach our world in a very short time. Are you following what I''m saying right now?"


    "I am." Tang Wulin nodded in response. After his trip to the Dragon Valley, he had developed a certain level of understanding of spaces and worlds outside of the Douluo Star.

 Chapter 937: The Abyss

    Long Yuxue continued, "In the beginning, the spatial passageway in the Skyend Mountain Ranges was very small, and this place is obviously extremely secluded, so no one discovered it. However, as time passed, the passageway widened, and living beings from another plane began to enter our Douluo Continent through it. We refer to these living beings as abyssal creatures."


    Tang Wulin''s pupils abruptly contracted drastically upon hearing this. "Are you telling me that the beings we encountered during my trial actually exist? Are they the abyssal creatures you''re talking about?"


    Long Yuxue commended, "That''s very smart of you to make the connection so quickly. That is indeed the case. 6,300 years ago, vast hordes of abyssal creatures entered our continent through the Skyend Mountain Ranges, and a massive tragedy ensued. However, the disaster took place in such a secluded region with barely any human population, and the federation kept the incident strictly confidential, so very few people are aware of what happened. Abyssal creatures are characterized by their abilities to destroy and devour. They''ll devour all life forms, regardless of whether they''re plants or animals, and they''re like locusts in that they ravage lands until they''re completely barren and desolate.


    "All of them are completely deranged creatures, and it only took them a short time to wipe out all of the living beings in the Skyend Mountain Ranges. Thankfully, human technology was already quite advanced at the time, and the federation was able to discover their existence before the disaster could spread further into the continent. The federation then deployed almost two-thirds of the entire military to hunt down these abyssal creatures. With the assistance of Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, and the Battle God Hall, the federation deployed 11 mecha legions and used countless spirit missiles to finally drive these abyssal creatures back into the passageway.


    "More than 200,000 people perished during that war, and even the palace master of the Tang Sect''s Douluo Palace at the time perished during a battle against one of the abyssal emperors. Four of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters also passed away, along with 10 of the 18 Battle Gods of the Battle God Hall. On top of that, three of the four spirit envoys of the Spirit Pagoda were also killed, and among the three chairmen, one of them perished while the others sustained severe injuries. It was an extremely tragic war."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. Looking at the four super organizations now, it was quite apparent how powerful they would''ve been in the past. According to Long Yuxue''s description, there had to have been at least 30 Titled Douluo who participated in that war, and 6,300 years ago, battle armor had already been invented. They weren''t as powerful as they were now, but there wouldn''t be too much of a disparity. Despite that, so many powerful beings had perished during that war, and that was more than sufficient testament to just how fearsome these abyssal creatures were. Tang Wulin thought back to the Demonic Enchantress he''d encountered in that simulated world, and he felt as if his heart had been filled with lead.


    "The sacrifices made by our predecessors weren''t in vain; the abyssal creatures were forced back to their original plane, and five of their seven abyssal emperors perished during that war. The leader of the seven abyssal emperors was also severely wounded in the face of the combined efforts from the master of the Tang Sect''s Douluo Palace, the master of Shrek Academy''s Sea God''s Pavilions, and the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters at the time. Countless other abyssal beings were also slain in the process.


    "After that, our predecessors forcibly sealed the abyssal passageway, and it wasn''t completely sealed shut, but it was extremely difficult for abyssal emperors to pass through it. It was also during that time that the Blood God Legion was founded. The legion was founded by the four super organizations, and they only had one objective: to guard the passageway and keep out the abyssal creatures.


    "We don''t know where the abyssal creatures live, but they''re extremely powerful. The Demonic Enchantress that you encountered is an abyssal monarch, while that massive Ba''an is only an abyssal master. During the past 6,300 years, the abyssal creatures have constantly been trying to invade our world, and we''ve been doing everything in our power to keep them at bay."


    Tang Wulin said, "Are accolades earned through battling these abyssal creatures?"


    "Correct," Long Yuxue replied, "The cave you saw during your trial simulates an actual abyssal cave, and the situation there also simulates the reality within the abyss. Due to the spatial passageway fluctuations within the abyss, our martial souls are severely debilitated there. We can still use them to some extent, but it really is very close to not being able to use them at all, and that''s why you weren''t able to use soul power during your trial. We''ve invented some spatial shielding devices, but those can only allow us to use our martial souls for short periods of time."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I see. Does this mean that I''ll have to battle abyssal creatures following my special training? Does the number of abyssal beings I kill directly correspond to the number of accolades I''ll earn?"


    Long Yuxue nodded, and replied, "Theoretically, yes, but you''re in the special service department, so your duties will be different from those who fight at the front lines."


    Tang Wulin immediately said, "Superior, can you transfer me to a department that would allow me to fight on the front lines?"


    Long Yuxue raised an eyebrow slightly upon seeing the scorching battle intent in Tang Wulin''s eyes. Compared to handsome pretty boys, she was far more appreciative of powerful and courageous warriors, and it was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin possessed all of the aforementioned qualities.


    During the trial, everything in the simulated world was virtually the same as it was in the real world. In particular, when facing that Demonic Enchantress in the end, it was so fast that there was virtually no time for them to think. Even so, Tang Wulin was still able to use his own body to protect her, and that was sufficient testament to his courage and willingness to sacrifice. As such, Long Yuxue had no doubt that Tang Wulin was being completely genuine in his request.


    "It''s not what you think; compared to the battle units, we''ll actually have more chances to encounter abyssal creatures. Do you know what duties our special service department is responsible for?" Long Yuxue asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head.


    Long Yuxue continued, "Our special service department is mainly responsible for undertaking various types of missions. You saw how I was guarding the outskirts of the legion base on the day that you arrived; at the time, I was substituting for one of my friends. Under normal circumstances, that''s not part of my job. Our most important missions are reconnaissance and to provide all types of information and biological samples for our research department. The battle units have to substitute everyone once in a while in order to replenish their supplies, and it''s not like abyssal creatures are constantly pouring into our world. The main duty of the battle units is to keep abyssal creatures from coming out of the abyssal passageway, rather than actively hunt them down.


    "However, our special service department is different. Due to the nature of our duties, we''ll enter the places that are closest to the spatial passageway, and some missions will even involve traveling to the abyssal plane in order to collect more information. If you can discover a new species of abyssal creature and return to the base with a corresponding biological sample, you''ll receive a lot of accolades for that. As such, if you want to progress up the ranks quickly, our special service department is definitely the best place for you in the fledgling phase of your military career."


    Tang Wulin asked in a curious manner, "Why only the fledgling phase?"


    Long Yuxue explained, "Prior to reaching a certain military rank, personal accolades are extremely important for progression, but after becoming a lieutenant colonel, your leadership abilities will also be taken into consideration as high-ranking military officials must possess a certain level of leadership skills. Otherwise, they won''t be granted any promotions. Even if they do get promoted to higher ranks, they''ll be more like advisors and won''t be able to directly lead the army. Jiang Wuyue was originally placed in the special service department, and only after becoming a major was he transferred over to a battle unit. He then took two years to become a lieutenant colonel, so he''s been accumulating accolades very quickly. If I had made that bet with you in his place last night, I wouldn''t even have enough accolades to pay for your feast."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "So you''re saying that it''s best for me to become a major here in the special service department, then transfer to a battle unit, right?"

 Chapter 938: Opportunity?

    "That''s right, this is the quickest way to accumulate accolades. Of course, not everyone had to follow this path; everything also depends on our own abilities. We''ve already conducted a preliminary examination of your abilities during the trial, and in the coming month, I''ll be assessing your abilities even further in order to be able to assign you the missions that will suit you the most. The main advantage of our special service department over the battle units is that we can enter the abyssal passageway to conduct missions and battle whenever we want."


    "I understand now." Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Following Long Yuxue''s introduction, he''d finally gained a rough understanding of the Blood God Legion. The existence of the abyssal plane naturally evoked a grim feeling in his heart, but it also presented him with an opportunity.


    During his battle with the Ba''an, his Golden Dragon Spear had devoured its energy, and that had been immensely beneficial to his bloodline. As such, it appeared that even though abyssal creatures were filled with destructive intent, the energy within their bodies was very pure, and he could absorb this energy for himself after it was extracted and purified by his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Under normal circumstances, there was no way that his Golden Dragon Spear would be able to absorb the life force of other living beings to assist him in his cultivation. That didn''t work with humans, and there weren''t any soul beasts for him to kill, so neither of those options were viable. However, in the face of these destructive abyssal creatures that were endangering the entire human world, Tang Wulin had no such qualms.


    Through his battles with abyssal creatures, he could use his Golden Dragon Spear to absorb their energy into his own body. This didn''t enhance his soul power much, but it was considerably beneficial for his bloodline power, and it was even comparable to consuming spirit items. Where else could he find such a brilliant opportunity?


    Being part of the Blood God Legion naturally placed him in more danger than if he were in another legion, but it also presented him with a brilliant opportunity.


    From a money-saving perspective, if he could continue to enhance himself by absorbing the energy of these abyssal creatures, he may even be able to break his future Golden Dragon King seals without having to purchase any spirit items for consumption.


    This was an extremely rare situation for him as he always had to face an extremely massive risk whenever he broke one of those seals. Furthermore, the second nine Golden Dragon King seals were far more perilous than the previous nine, and he had no idea what to expect. Only after breaking his 10th seal would he be able to gauge just how fearsome the rest of the Golden Dragon King seals would be.


    Old Tang had been hibernating this entire time, and he''d prepared most of the spirit items required to break the 10th seal. Furthermore, he had also eaten close to a third of a Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, but he was still feeling rather concerned. After all, breaking the 10th seal was most likely going to result in a qualitative change in his bloodline power.


    However, at the same time, he was also very much looking forward to the power that he''d attain from it. If he could achieve his objective by absorbing the energy of abyssal creatures, then that would naturally be ideal.


    The Amorous Douluo really had sent him to a great place. Not only could he gradually accumulate more influence in the military here, he could also continue to improve himself. The 18 Golden Dragon King seals had made him who he was today, but they were also like sharp swords that were constantly hanging over his head. What would happen if he were to absorb all of the Golden Dragon King essence within those 18 seals someday?


    The existence of the abyssal plane undoubtedly provided him with an opportunity to find this out for himself. All four of the super organizations on the Douluo Continent had been severely ravaged during the war against this powerful plane, so there had to be countless abyssal creatures in existence.


    What he needed the most now was power!


    "What are you thinking?" Long Yuxue suddenly asked.


    Only then did Tang Wulin return to his senses, and he replied, "I''m thinking about how I can fight these abyssal creatures as soon as possible."


    Long Yuxue said in a serious voice, "You are indeed quite powerful, but I must remind you to constantly keep your ego in check. The abyssal creatures are more fearsome than you can imagine, and battles in the real world are different from those in simulations because you don''t get a second life, do you understand?"


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied with a nod.


    Long Yuxue''s expression eased slightly, and she continued, "Now, I''m going to tell you about the information that we currently have on the abyssal plane, as well as all of the species of abyssal creatures currently known to us."


    Long Yuxue was a very good instructor, and she provided very detailed information to Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin was also a very keen student, and he''d immediately raise any questions that he had, all of which would be answered by Long Yuxue.


    The more he learned about the abyssal plane, the more awestruck Tang Wulin became by how noble the Blood God Legion was. According to Long Yuxue, less than half of the soldiers in the Blood God Legion managed to survive here for more than 10 years.


    Even though human technology was constantly advancing, and they were growing more and more experienced in combating the abyssal plane, casualties were still unavoidable.


    The sudden fall of Shrek Academy also dealt an extremely heavy blow to the Blood God Legion as Shrek Academy had been a prominent source of new soldiers for the legion. Without this source of support, the Blood God Legion faced the risk of waning in power in the future, and it was hard to say whether they''d be able to continue to guard the continent against the abyssal plane.


    Even though the Battle God Hall and Spirit Pagoda could continue to provide them with new troops, this would entail that the Blood God Legion could very likely gradually fall under the control of one of those two organizations someday, and that was definitely not something the higher-ups of the legion wanted to see. The purpose of the Blood God Legion was to protect the Douluo Continent, not to become a weapon of any organization.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin learned that all of the equipment and facilities of the Blood God Legion were virtually the most advanced that the human race was currently capable of creating.


    If one wanted to join the Blood God Legion, they had to at least be a four-ring Soul Ancestor. Even the strictest of sects wouldn''t set such a high barrier for entry, let alone any other legion. Furthermore, they had to be a Soul Master, rather than purely a Soul Guide Master.


    During battles against abyssal creatures, weapons would only prove to be accessories most of the time. If one weren''t powerful enough without their weapons, then they''d eventually perish in battle.


    Waging battles at such a high altitude and under such cold conditions for extended periods of time was an extremely stern test of one''s power and mental fortitude. As such, less than half of the soldiers managed to successfully complete their full military service stints here, but most of them were actually disqualified in advance as they couldn''t take this lifestyle anymore.


    Disqualification was different from retirement. Retired military officials from the Blood God Legion were exceptional military personnel that all other major legions would welcome with open arms, but those who were disqualified had no right to proclaim that they''d once been a part of the Blood God Legion.


    10 years was a very long time, and many major families would try everything they could to get their most exceptional young talents into the Blood God Legion. They were doing so in order to put these young talents through a trial by fire.


    If they could complete the 10 years of military service, then there was a very good chance that they''d become pillars that the entire family could rely on in the future.


    Among the higher-ups of the federal military, there were many from both the Eagle Faction and the Dove Faction who had once served in the Blood God Legion. The current federal military minister had never served in the Blood God Legion, but his son was serving in the Blood God Legion right now.


    Even though Long Yuxue hadn''t put it in such blunt terms, Tang Wulin could read between the lines and deduce from her words that the Blood God Legion was a cradle for the higher-ups of the military. Of course, the prerequisite was that they had to be able to survive for the entire duration of the military service.


    10 years?


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but heave an internal sigh. The Amorous Douluo had most likely sent him here so that he''d have enough time to accumulate power and influence.


    What kind of heights would he scale to within 10 years?


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists tightly and set a goal for himself; during these 10 years, he was going to become a high-ranking commander no matter what. At the same time, he had to reach the Titled Douluo level during this time.

 Chapter 939: Learning About the Abyss

    During the next week, Tang Wulin learned all types of information about the abyss under Long Yuxue''s tutelage.


    An entirely different race from another plane was involved here, so there were many things that he had to learn. For example, he had to learn about the species in this race, their innate abilities, and their battle styles, as well as all of the important details about battling in the abyssal passageway.


    However, this type of special training was extremely easy for Tang Wulin, and with his memory and comprehension abilities, he was able to absorb all of this knowledge very quickly.


    Much to Long Yuxue''s surprise, not only was Tang Wulin freakishly strong and extremely handsome, his thought processes were also very clear. He could always immediately commit everything she said to memory and even make deductions on his own, as well as raise some questions that even she had never considered before. There were some things that she had to consult her father about before being able to provide him with the correct answer.


    During this week, the two of them also became quite familiar with one another. At the same time, Tang Wulin also gained a better understanding of the current situation of the Blood God Legion.


    The Blood God Legion was referred to as a legion, but it actually only had enough soldiers to fill two divisions. One of them was known as the Blood Division, which entailed an unyielding spirit and the willingness to fight until the very last drop of their blood ran out. They were mainly responsible for direct battle against the abyssal creatures, and the commander of the Blood Division was Xu Weitao.


    The other division was the Divine Division, which consisted of all of the special forces. These included mecha battalions, as well as personnel who were responsible for handling heavy artillery, defenses, and other areas of assistance.


    Even though there were only two divisions in the entire legion, each of the divisions had five corps, so they could be considered to be independent divisions. Tang Wulin had seen very few people in this base, but in reality, the entire Blood God Legion had over 25,000 people if all of the soldiers and logistical personnel were taken into account. They didn''t have as many people as a standard legion, but all of them were the elite of the elite.


    Normally speaking, major legions like the Northesea Legion were each comprised of around 100,000 people. The fact that the Blood God Legion was known as a legion even with only 25,000 members was a testament to both their importance and combat abilities.


    Long Yuxue had told Tang Wulin in a very proud manner that if the Blood God Legion wanted to, it could definitely demolish any other legion in the federation with ease.


    The harsh conditions and frequent battles here had honed the soldiers of the legion to be truly fearsome beings.


    The special service department that Tang Wulin had been assigned to was part of the Divine Division, but it wasn''t under the jurisdiction of any of the five corps and answered directly to the control center. They worked alongside the legion''s research department, and they would often undertake missions that couldn''t be completed by battle units. Their duties were more dangerous in nature, so only the best of the best were distributed to the special service department.


    "You''ve basically mastered all of the knowledge we currently have about abyssal creatures, and everything else will come to you through practical combat. During the rest of your special training, I''ll take you to look at the battle tactics employed by our battle units. Even though you''re currently a member of our special service department, you have to familiarize yourself with those tactics as well because you''ll be joining a battle unit sooner or later. Learning about these things early on will be beneficial to your future development in this legion," Long Yuxue said to Tang Wulin.


    "Alright, when do we go?" Tang Wulin asked in an eager manner.


    Long Yuxue replied, "We''ll go tomorrow. By the way, how''s your forging room coming along? You better not disappoint me; I''ve invested my entire savings on you."


    Regular practice was very important in any craft; as a blacksmith, it would be extremely detrimental to Tang Wulin if he couldn''t practice just because he''d joined the military. However, it was not easy to find a forging room here. The Blood God Legion was situated deep within the Skyend Mountain Ranges, where all resources were extremely scarce. There were only three forging rooms in the legion, and all of them were reserved for the blacksmiths, mostly for mecha repair and tasks of that nature.


    Tang Wulin had rather high requirements for his forging room. For example, he wanted the best forging bench, as well as all various types of support tools and a large enough space for him to operate. It was a good thing that he was carrying a good supply of uncommon metals.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Blood God Legion wouldn''t provide him with all of these things when he didn''t have any accolades to his name, so he could only turn to this superior for his help.


    Long Yuxue had been very generous by offering her accolades and also using some of her connections in the legion to organize this forging room for Tang Wulin. However, as opposed to requesting future interest repayments from Tang Wulin, she had asked to become an investor with 50% of the shares. Half of the accolades that Tang Wulin earned through his forgery had to be given to her.


    With how stingy Tang Wulin was, he normally wouldn''t have agreed to something like this, but he was completely new here, and Long Yuxue was genuinely trying to help him. Furthermore, he could tell that she was actually thinking for his sake. He had no accolades at the moment, and she didn''t want him to be indebted to her before he had any accolades under his belt.


    As such, her intentions were good, so Tang Wulin agreed to this partnership. Furthermore, Long Yuxue had a lot of connections that would grant Tang Wulin a steady stream of customers.


    Long Yuxue had also given their forging room a name; it was going to be known as the Long Tang Forging Room.


    Tang Wulin replied, "The forging room is ready to go, Boss; you can start bringing customers over now. I can do any job as long as it''s related to forging, but the price has to be fair, and I only accept accolades. I''ll leave it to you to decide on the prices for the jobs; just base it on the difficulty of the job."


    "Sure!" Long Yuxue chuckled, "Prior to the commencement of your actual military service, I''ll get a few jobs for you so you can earn some accolades to spend. You''re free this afternoon, right? I can get some jobs for you right away. Mecha repairs and weapons all have to be purchased using accolades; we can offer slightly lower prices than the legion''s repair rooms, and business will be booming for sure! By the way, are your forging skills really up to scratch?"


    Tang Wulin guaranteed, "I can definitely ensure great quality and speed, and I''ll take as many jobs as you can bring to me."


    "Alright, then you can go and prepare. You have to earn enough accolades to feed yourself first." Long Yuxue began to depart as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Then you''ll have to find some more jobs for me with my appetite!"


    The two of them departed from Long Yuxue''s dormitory room while enjoying a pleasant conversation before going their separate ways. Tang Wulin was preparing to go to his forging room to make some final preparations, but someone suddenly appeared in his way.


    Jiang Wuyue was standing in front of Tang Wulin with an unfriendly expression on his face. He had noticed that Tang Wulin had been visiting Long Yuxue''s dormitory room every day for the past few days, and his sister had told him that Long Yuxue was just supervising Tang Wulin''s new soldier training, but he still didn''t like what he was seeing.


    There were many prominent families in the Blood God Legion, all of which had been part of the Blood God Legion generation after generation. These major families had extremely lofty statuses in the Blood God Legion. For example, the Long Family that Long Yuxue hailed from had over 100 members in the legion.


    Jiang Qiyue and Jiang Wuyue''s Jiang Family was also one of those prominent families, and the two families were very friendly with one another.


    Jiang Wuyue had always liked Long Yuxue ever since they were children. However, he almost constantly had a runny nose as a young man, and ended up with the nickname of snot worm. Perhaps it was because of this that Long Yuxue had always been rather cold to him. Now that both of them were all grown up, Jiang Wuyue was becoming more and more eager to pursue her, but Long Yuxue was like an icy porcupine that he couldn''t get close to no matter how much he tried.


    Tang Wulin was only a newbie, yet Jiang Wuyue had already caught Long Yuxue smiling at Tang Wulin five or six times, whereas he would sometimes go an entire year without being graced by one of her smiles, so he was naturally very jealous.


    "Tang Wulin," Jiang Wuyue called out in a cold voice.


    "Hello, Superior." Tang Wulin stood up straight and extended a military salute toward Jiang Wuyue.

 Chapter 940: One-on-one

    "Alright, no need for formalities; I''m speaking to you right now as a man, not your superior," Jiang Wuyue said in a serious voice.


    Tang Wulin didn''t even have to use his brain to know why Jiang Wuyue was confronting him, and a wry smile appeared on his face. "Alright, what do you want?"


    Jiang Wuyue cut straight to the chase. "I''m challenging you to a one-on-one battle! If you win, I''ll stay away from you, but if you lose... if you lose, I''ll..."His voice faltered as he scratched his head with his brows deeply furrowed.


    Tang Wulin had thought that he would ask him to stay away from Long Yuxue if he lost.


    Jiang Wuyue murmured to himself, "Well, Yuxue''s not an object, so I can''t just ask you to hand her over to me. Screw it! I don''t like the look of you, so fight! I wanna kick your ass; it''s as simple as that! Do you dare to accept my challenge? Come with me to the combat rooms right now!"


    Tang Wulin almost burst into laughter. This guy was adorably straightforward. "Superior, I have to tell you something first; I already have a girlfriend. Superior Long and I are just friends, so it''s not what you think. Secondly, I can let you beat me up even without retaliating, but you have to give me 100 accolades per punch, how about that?"


    Jiang Wuyue faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You already have a girlfriend?"


    An enraged look then appeared on his face as he interrogated, "You''re not planning to take both of them at once, are you?"


    Tang Wulin didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry. It was really tiresome speaking with a man as straightforward as Jiang Wuyue was!


    "Alright, I''ll fight you, Superior, but we can''t bet on the terms you proposed. We can''t just have a casual fight, either, so how about we bet accolades instead? You can suggest a number."


    Jiang Wuyue raised an eyebrow in response. "Accolades? You don''t have any accolades to make bets with!"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I don''t have any now, but that doesn''t mean I won''t have any in the future. I''ve been promoted to a second lieutenant as a newbie, and that''s a testament to my potential. If I lose, I''ll hand over the accolades after I earn some."


    Jiang Wuyue thought about this for a moment before agreeing, "Alright, I''ll pay for the combat room rental fee, and I''ll bet 1,000 accolades with you, deal?"


    Tang Wulin countered, "1,000? That''s not a lot."


    10,000 accolades were required for a promotion from second lieutenant to lieutenant.


    What did that equate to? Killing one four-clawed bat was worth 10 accolades, so he''d have to kill 1,000 of them to earn 10,000 accolades. Meanwhile, each Ba''an that was slain would yield 2,000 accolades. If there were multiple people battling together, the Blood God Legion had a designated system to split the contribution points among these people according to how much they contributed during the battle.


    "1,000 is still too little? You''re just a newbie; you may not even be able to save up that much in two to three months! Do you want to lose everything to me down to your underwear?" Jiang Wuyue grumbled. Tang Wulin had eaten 3,000 of his accolades in that one meal alone, and the thought of that was still making him wince even now.


    Tang Wulin said, "Alright, we''ll go with 1,000 then."


    He didn''t want to bully an honest and straightforward man like Jiang Wuyue, so he was going to let him off the hook lightly this time.


    Jiang Wuyue''s soul power fluctuations suggested that he was a six-ring Soul Emperor, and the only Soul Emperor who had ever been a troublesome opponent to Tang Wulin was Long Yue. As such, he was quite confident in his chances against Jiang Wuyue.


    "Let''s go!"


    Jiang Wuyue was definitely a man of action rather than words, and he led Tang Wulin straight toward the living area of the Blood God Legion.


    The so-called living area was a cluster of large buildings that were all interconnected. They were designed to allow the soldiers of the Blood God Legion to relax, train, or have some fun when they weren''t engaged in battle or undertaking missions. Combat rooms were naturally also included among these facilities.


    It was still morning at the moment, so there were very few people in the living area. Only a few soldiers who had been switched off guard duty were training or relaxing here.


    A combat room cost 50 accolades to be rented for an hour. Everything here cost accolades, and this was designed to encourage and motivate the soldiers of the legion.


    Jiang Wuyue swiped the metal bracelet on his wrist in front of the door of the combat room, and 50 accolades were naturally deducted. Tang Wulin also had such a metal bracelet. It was known as a Blood God Bracelet, and it had many uses. It could record the information of a soldier, and at the same time, it could record the accolades being earned while killing abyssal creatures. All of the expenditure within the Blood God Legion also had to be completed using these Blood God Bracelets.


    On top of that, Blood God Bracelets were linked to their respective wearers'' bodily conditions, so if they were injured or fell ill, the control center would be notified right away, and treatment or assistance would be given as required.


    The combat room was quite spacious with a diameter of around 100 meters. It was quite a considerable undertaking to construct such large combat rooms in a world of snow and ice like the Skyend Mountain Ranges.


    50 accolades per hour was also quite a fair price as even if other matters weren''t taken into account, just the energy expended by the internal protective barrier was quite considerable.


    Jiang Wuyue took off his external garment before making his way over to one side of the combat room, and the internal protective barrier was activated.


    Tang Wulin also did the same as a cautious look appeared in his eyes. No matter what he thought of his opponent, he was definitely not going to underestimate them. This was a habit he''d developed over many years, and it was also a quality that all students of Shrek Academy possessed.


    Jiang Wuyue''s aura had also changed. He had been adorably frank and straightforward just a moment ago, but now that he was about to engage in battle, he had adopted the demeanor of a fierce lion hunting down its prey. A serious look appeared on his face as he appraised Tang Wulin, and he yelled, "Are you ready?"


    "Ready as I''ll ever be!" Tang Wulin was standing on the spot in a very natural manner, but his eyes were fixed intently on his opponent.


    "Ring!" All of a sudden, a ringtone rang out from Jiang Wuyue''s body, and an awkward look immediately appeared on his face as he held up a hand, and said, "Sorry, let me take this call first. What''s going on, Qiyue?... Me? I''m just here at the combat rooms to spar with a friend... What? You''re coming over? This isn''t anything fun, so don''t bother coming over... Alright, alright, you win, princess! You can come over, but you have to keep this a secret!"


    Jiang Wuyue hung up as a resigned look appeared on his face. "Qiyue insists on spectating our match. I can''t deny her because she might tell on me, so I''m sorry, but we''ll have to wait for a while."


    Tang Wulin was rather amused by this. Despite his musclebound appearance, he seemed to be a little scared of his little sister!


    Not long after that, Jiang Qiyue rushed into the combat room, and her eyes immediately widened at the sight of Jiang Wuyue''s opponent. "Are you serious, bro? You''re challenging a newbie? Oh, I get it; you''re jealous, right? But you can''t be so heartless! What if you actually injure him?"


    Jiang Wuyue had been very straightforward with Tang Wulin, but he immediately blushed after his little sister exposed his intentions. "Pipe down, Qiyue! Don''t worry, I''ll be sure to hold back. Besides, he agreed to this. If you don''t believe me, you can ask him."


    "You agreed to fight my brother? I heard from Yuxue that you''re pretty powerful, but my brother climbed all the way to his lieutenant colonel rank through battle; there''s no way you''re a match for him! How old are you? What''s your soul power rank? My brother is touted to be the successor to Uncle Xu, the commander of the Blood Division!"


    Jiang Qiyue''s lips were like knives, and she was speaking very quickly.


    Tang Wulin said, "I agreed to this. Only through practical combat can I improve."


    Jiang Qiyue grumbled, "Alright, you asked for it! If you agreed to this, then so be it. I''ll be your referee."


    She made her way outside as she spoke.


    While passing by Tang Wulin, she whispered, "My brother''s martial soul is the Tyrant Dragon, so you have to be careful. It''s a very powerful martial soul that stands at the pinnacle of the power system. I''m telling this to repay you for letting me off the hook with that meal I promised you, so I don''t owe you any favors now."


    Only then did she depart from the combat room.


    His martial soul was the Tyrant Dragon?

 Chapter 941: Tyrant Dragon Jiang Wuyue

    Tang Wulin was truly stunned, not because Jiang Wuyue''s martial soul was going to be dominated by him, but because the Tyrant Dragon martial soul couldn''t exist under normal circumstances!


    Jiang Qiyue''s words really made him see Jiang Wuyue through new eyes. It was indeed very interesting that his martial soul had mutated to such an extent.


    Tang Wulin possessed a Tyrant Dragon soul spirit himself, so he was naturally aware of just how powerful it was.


    If it weren''t for the fact that his bloodline could dominate his opponent, he wouldn''t be confident in his ability to defeat a six-ring Soul Emperor with a Tyrant Dragon martial soul.


    "Alright, are you ready?" Jiang Qiyue''s voice rang out through the speakers.


    "Ready!" Tang Wulin and Jiang Wuyue replied in a unison.


    "Begin!"


    As soon as Jiang Qiyue''s voice trailed off, Jiang Wuyue stomped his left foot into the ground, and a resounding boom rang out as his body rumbled toward Tang Wulin like a bulldozer.


    In the process, his body rapidly expanded, especially his upper body. After taking just a few steps, he''d already grown to over seven meters tall, giving him the appearance of a ferocious humanoid beast. All of his skin had turned a metallic black color, and thick scales appeared all over his body like metal ore. His eyes had also turned red, and the overbearing aura emanating from his body was making even the surrounding air warp and twist.


    A series of soul rings emerged from beneath his feet. There were four purple and two blacks, indicating that he was indeed a six-ring Soul Emperor, and this was quite a splendid soul ring configuration.


    His martial soul was approaching the upper limit of beast martial souls. In a contest of pure strength, even Yuanen Yehui''s Titan Giant Ape may be inferior to him.


    One had to realize that he was only a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander in the Blood God Legion, yet he already possessed such immense power. This notion further improved Tang Wulin''s appraisal of the Blood God Legion.


    Without using any of his soul skills, Jiang Wuyue abruptly stepped forward and launched himself into the air, hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s eyes also lit up. Seeing as he was facing an opponent with strength as their greatest asset by far, he was naturally going to also use strength to best him.


    Four golden soul rings quickly emerged beneath his feet, and golden scales spread over his entire body. His aura also instantly swelled, and his Golden Dragon King bloodline fluctuations erupted outward without any reservation.


    In the face of Tang Wulin''s aura, Jiang Wuyue''s aggressive aura immediately disappeared, and even his massive body shrunk down to around six meters tall in mid-air. His red eyes were filled with incredulity, and right at this moment, Tang Wulin reached him before clenching his right golden dragon claw into a fist, then ramming into Jiang Wuyue''s fist.


    "Boom!"


    A resounding boom rang out, causing the entire combat room to tremor violently. Tang Wulin was forced to descend back down to the ground by the force of the impact, yet Jiang Wuyue had been sent flying several dozens of meters before plummeting onto the ground.


    "Argh!" Jiang Qiyue''s cry of surprise rang out from the speakers.


    Jiang Wuyue had lost in that handshake contest, but in Jiang Qiyue''s eyes, that was only because he hadn''t used his martial soul. With her brother''s Tyrant Dragon martial soul, his strength should definitely have been unmatched among all Soul Masters at or below his cultivation rank, but the scenes unfolding before her eyes certainly didn''t support that conviction.


    Unbeknownst to her, Tang Wulin was also quite stunned.


    Tyrant Dragons were bloodline descendants of the Golden Dragon King, and even though they weren''t true dragons, they possessed some of the Golden Dragon King''s bloodline. As such, they would definitely be severely impacted by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline, as perfectly evidenced by how his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit had completely succumbed to his bloodline in the past.


    As such, he had thought that Jiang Wuyue would be completely crushed by him. As it turned out, his bloodline had indeed severely impacted Jiang Wuyue, but during their clash, Tang Wulin discovered that Jiang Wuyue had still managed to unleash an immense amount of power that exceeded 100 tons at the very least!


    It wasn''t that his bloodline intimidation wasn''t working; it was that Jiang Wuyue''s battle intent was simply far too powerful. Drawing upon that vehement battle intent, Jiang Wuyue was able to nullify some of the effects of his bloodline advantage.


    Jiang Wuyue clambered to his feet, and despite the fact that he''d clearly emerged second-best from that clash, he hadn''t been injured. Tyrant Dragons were renowned for their powerful physical bodies, and that applied to both defensive and offensive prowess. However, Tang Wulin''s irrefutably terrifying power had well and truly shaken him.


    Among people of the same age or younger than him, he''d never encountered anyone with superior strength to him. He lost to Tang Wulin in that handshake contest, but he could still draw consolation from the notion that neither of them had unleashed their martial souls. However, he was fighting with all his might now, yet he was still completely no match for Tang Wulin.


    What was even more astonishing to him was that his martial soul and bloodline, both of which he''d always been immensely proud of, had been completely dominated by this newbie. In the instant that Tang Wulin released his Golden Dragon King aura, he felt as if his bloodline had congealed in his veins, and he was struck by an innate urge to bow to him in subordination. Only after elevating his battle intent with all his might did he just barely manage to repress that urge.


    Golden soul rings? What''s his martial soul?


    After Jiang Wuyue rose to his feet, Tang Wulin immediately rushed toward him. Opponents that could pose any resistance against him in terms of pure strength were very rare, and he wanted to take full advantage of sparring with such a partner.


    His blood essence vortex began to rotate at a high speed, and his blood essence power flowed toward his lower body at his behest. His power was instantly transmitted into his left foot, and in the instant he stomped that foot into the ground, the entire combat room quaked violently, as did the internal protective barrier, which seemed to be nearing the limit of its tolerance capacity.


    Under the effect of his fearsome strength, his body was propelled forward and reached an unprecedented speed.


    Following his battle against the Demonic Enchantress, Tang Wulin had developed a strong urge to improve his own speed. However, Mu Ye had told him while teaching him the abilities of the Body Sect that as a disciple of the Body Sect, his top priority was to learn to control his own body. After mastering full control over one''s own body, they would no longer have any glaring weaknesses as the cultivation method of the Body Sect allowed one to perfectly integrate one''s soul power and strength to provide any enhancements required.


    Tang Wulin was learning to cultivate his entire body from Mu Ye, as opposed to a certain body part. In particular, this feeling became more and more pronounced to him after he attained his blood essence vortex.


    Now, he wanted to see just what kind of speed he could achieve if he were to unleash all of his power.


    His blood essence vortex sank downward, and all of his blood essence was injected into his left foot in an instant. Right as he stomped his left foot into the ground, he was struck by a slightly painful throbbing sensation, which was clearly a result of excessive injection of blood essence power.


    Jiang Qiyue listened to the deafening boom echoing within the combat room from outside, and she looked on in a flabbergasted manner as a bolt of golden lightning suddenly flashed past her eyes. In the next instant, Jiang Wuyue, who had only just risen to his feet and released his third soul skill, was sent flying like a cannonball by the golden lightning. He crashed heavily into the other wall of the combat room and was adhered firmly to its surface.


    Tang Wulin appeared in the same place that Jiang Wuyue had just been standing, and he looked down at his own fist. Much to his surprise, after raising his speed to the maximal extent, even his strength seemed to have increased. His power output had to have been enhanced by his increased speed. High speed was one of the components of force output. If he had also unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens with that attack, it would''ve been even more devastating.


    Jiang Wuyue''s body slowly slid down, and at this moment, he was bleeding from both his nostrils and his mouth, while his brain had gone completely blank. In that instant, he felt as if he''d been struck headfirst by a high-speed soul train, and it was as if his entire body were about to fall apart at the seams.


    He had already used his third soul skill, the Tyrant Dragon Body, which significantly enhanced his strength and defenses, yet it had all been to no avail!


    At this moment, his opponent''s bloodline aura was infiltrating his bloodline in a frenzy, and the urge to bow in subordination was growing even more pronounced, to the extent that it was even quickly nullifying his battle intent.


    He had never felt so frustrated before. He had definitely underestimated his opponent, but Tang Wulin was so young! As one of the most elite young soldiers of the Blood God Legion, why couldn''t he look down on his opponent? How could his strength be so terrifying?


    Right at this moment, Jiang Qiyue was greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin''s fourth golden soul ring lighting up, and she hurriedly yelled into the microphone in her hand, "Stop! The battle''s over!"

 Chapter 942: Jiang Wuyues Pleasant Surprise

    Jiang Wuyue had already been reduced to such a sorry state by Tang Wulin before he had used the power of his golden soul rings; if he were to use his most powerful soul ring now, there was no way that Jiang Wuyue would be able to defend himself!


    However, Tang Wulin merely smiled and ignored Jiang Qiyue''s panicked cry.


    A golden halo spread from beneath his feet, quickly proliferating outward. Tang Wulin strode toward Jiang Wuyue''s direction, and soon, the golden halo that seemed to be filled with complex patterns had enshrouded Jiang Wuyue within.


    Almost at the exact same moment, Jiang Wuyue let loose an extremely boisterous dragon''s roar, and the back of his massive body also instantly straightened.


    His black scales turned into a dark golden color, and all of his fear and inferiority instantly vanished as his blank mind was filled with extreme excitement.


    At this moment, Jiang Wuyue felt as if his blood had been set alight, and his soul power was multiplying at a rapid rate. He had never felt so powerful in his life, and the overflowing power within his body struck him with the urge to tear heaven and earth apart with his bare hands!


    "Roar! Roar! Roar!" A string of enraged roars erupted out of his mouth, and the dark golden color on his body glowed brighter and brighter, making it look as if he''d been entirely basked within a vast expanse of golden light. Even his six soul rings had taken on a faint golden color.


    He reflexively glanced at his own body to find that his Tyrant Dragon scales, which had originally been quite uneven, had become a lot more uniform than before. They now resembled even and uniform rhomboids, and the dark golden light seemed to have given his scales more substance. What was even more exhilarating to Jiang Wuyue was the sense of overwhelming strength that was relentlessly surging out of his body. Even if he were to face a Ba''an right now, he''d be confident in his ability to tear it apart.


    After breaking his ninth Golden Dragon King seal, Tang Wulin discovered that all four of his Golden Dragon King soul skills had evolved, and this was something that had never happened before. The soul skill that had evolved most prominently was his fourth soul skill, the Violent Golden Dragon Domain. The area of his domain had increased by over twofold, and its effects had also become more potent.


    Jiang Wuyue was enhanced so significantly by Tang Wulin''s domain as his Tyrant Dragon bloodline was extremely close to Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline, and his powers had increased by more than 50%.


    There was an extremely drastic change from being dominated by Tang Wulin''s bloodline to being enhanced by it instead.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his golden soul rings, and said, "Let''s stop here for today, Superior."


    Without the enhancements from the golden soul rings, all of Jiang Wuyue''s enhanced power instantly vanished, and his scales returned to normal, as did his aura. However, the pain that he''d been struck by as a result of their last collision was alleviated by the enhancement effects.


    "Wh, what kind of ability was that? Why did it make me feel so much more powerful?" Jiang Wuyue stared at Tang Wulin with intense focus in his eyes. At this point, he had already completely forgotten that this man was his rival in love. As a member of the Blood God Legion, he revered power above all else, and this evoked within him an extremely strong sense of curiosity toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "That could be because our bloodlines have shared origins."


    He couldn''t release his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit in here as this place wasn''t big enough to contain it.


    "Our bloodlines have shared origins? What''s your martial soul?" Jiang Wuyue asked in a perplexed manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "This has nothing to do with my martial soul; it''s solely related to my bloodline."


    Jiang Wuyue was still quite befuddled. "Wait a minute! Your aura suggests that you''re a five-ring Soul King, so why do you only have four soul rings? And why are they golden?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "That''s a bit of a long story. To put it in simple terms, those aren''t my soul rings; they''re a bloodline ability of mine. My martial soul is something else."


    He clearly didn''t plan to give an in-depth explanation.


    Jiang Wuyue continued, "How long can you maintain that last ability for?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I should be able to maintain it for half an hour with no issues."


    Jiang Wuyue''s eyes immediately lit up. Half an hour? He had been enhanced to an unimaginably powerful degree just then! This ability, combined with the melee combat prowess Tang Wulin had displayed, instantly made him look at Tang Wulin through new eyes.


    Tang Wulin was feeling rather uncomfortable in the face of Jiang Wuyue''s intense scrutiny. "Superior, about those 1,000 accolades..."


    "Ah, yes, I''ll give them to you right away!" Jiang Wuyue draped an arm over Tang Wulin''s shoulder before raising his own bracelet to transfer 1,000 accolades over to him.


    "Everything that happened just then was just a misunderstanding, so just forget about, Brother! You said you already have a girlfriend, right?" Jiang Wuyue asked with a friendly look on his face.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t really just turn a cold shoulder to him, so he nodded, and replied, "That''s right, I already have a girlfriend, and we love each other very much."


    "Then this was even more of a misunderstanding! I feel like the special service department doesn''t really suit you all that well. How about you come to my Iron Will Corps first battalion? With your talents, you''ll be able to earn accolades extremely quickly. I''ll get our brothers to help you out a bit, and I guarantee you that I''ll get you up to captain rank in a year at most. When that time comes, you can be my vice-battalion commander, whaddya think? Also, as soon as you come over to my battalion, I''ll make you the commander of the strongest company in my battalion. You can even beat me in battle; no one''s going to have any objections to this arrangement."


    Vice-battalion commander in a year? That seemed to be quite close to the major rank...Tang Wulin was rather tempted by this offer.


    Right at this moment, the doors of the combat room were flung open, and two people walked in from outside.


    "How dare you try to take my colleague, Jiang Wuyue!" The one walking at the forefront wasn''t Jiang Qiyue. Instead, it was Long Yuxue, who had rushed over here after being informed of what was happening.


    Jiang Qiyue had given Long Yuxue a call right before Tang Wulin and Jiang Wuyue''s sparring match had commenced. She was still very grateful toward Tang Wulin for not eating her into bankruptcy.


    However, after Long Yuxue arrived, she was immediately greeted by the sight of Jiang Wuyue slinging an arm across Tang Wulin''s shoulder and tempting him with an alluring offer.


    Jiang Wuyue''s immediately sagged like a deflated balloon at the sight of her, and he hurriedly put on a fawning smile as he said, "I''m not trying to undermine you or anything, Yuxue; it''s just that it would be a terrible waste if Brother Tang doesn''t come over to our Blood Division with his melee combat prowess!"


    Long Yuxue harrumphed coldly, "Promising military ranks in private is prohibited in our legion; I''m going to tell Division Commander Xu about this! Also, Wulin has only just come to our legion, and he''s still very unfamiliar with everything here. Our special service department also needs someone like him, so at the very least, he won''t be going to a battle unit in the immediate future. At this point in time, he''ll be more useful to our special service department. If you want to take him, you''ll have to get past me first!"


    If it were someone else standing in Long Yuxue''s place, then Jiang Wuyue would most likely immediately get into an argument with them. However, he was completely powerless in the face of Long Yuxue, and raised his arms in a resigned manner as he said, "Alright, I surrender; I won''t try to take Wulin from your department."


    Long Yuxue grabbed Tang Wulin away from Jiang Wuyue, and said, "Let''s go."


    Tang Wulin was dragged out of the combat room by Long Yuxue, and even now, Jiang Qiyue still had a strange expression on her face as she looked at him. After they departed, she immediately turned to her brother, and asked, "Brother, is this Tang Wulin really that freakishly strong? You looked like you stood no chance against him at all!"


    A sour expression appeared on Jiang Wuyue''s face. "I don''t know what happened, either; his aura seems to naturally dominate mine. That wasn''t an actual battle anyway; perhaps I''d have a chance if I fought with all my power and used my battle armor as well, but he seemed to have held back the entire time as well, so I''m not confident in my ability to beat him. Do you know how old he is?"


    Jiang Qiyue replied, "I heard from Sister Yuxue that he''s 21."

 Chapter 943: Lu Ni

    A peculiar look immediately appeared on Jiang Wuyue''s face. Even in the Blood God Legion, which was filled with prodigies, he was considered to be the cream of the crop. However, he was already 28 years old, yet there was a 21-year-old opponent whom he wasn''t confident in defeating in battle. This was a massive disparity.


    Soul Masters progressed at the fastest rate prior to turning to 30. After that, one''s body would be completely mature and cease to develop, thereby resulting in a drastic decrease in the speed of one''s cultivation.


    As such, almost all Titled Douluos had forged strong foundations prior to turning 30 years old, and the most powerful beings on the continent were all eight-ring Soul Douluos or even Titled Douluos already before turning 30.


    Jiang Wuyue was very confident that he''d be able to become a Titled Douluo in the future, but that would have to wait until he was at least over 40 years old. However, with Tang Wulin''s current powers, he seemed to be able to get to that point even before turning 30!


    If he could continue to develop at this rate, he would surely stand at the pinnacle of the entire legion someday.


    "What happened?" Long Yuxue asked in an enraged manner as soon as she dragged Tang Wulin out of the combat rooms.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I was challenged to a sparring match as soon as you left, and all we did was spar."


    Long Yuxue was looking at him in a skeptical manner. "Really?"


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied with a nod. He liked Jiang Wuyue''s personality, and he felt even more inclined to hide some details for his sake after discovering the fact that he possessed a Tyrant Dragon martial soul.


    Long Yuxue harrumphed coldly, "That guy''s always picking fights everywhere; you should just ignore him in the future. He didn''t hurt you, did he?"


    "No, Superior Jiang held back for my sake," Tang Wulin replied with a smile.


    Long Yuxue hadn''t seen their sparring match, so she harrumphed coldly, "That guy''s got nothing more than brute strength! Come to think of it, you two are one of a kind; it''s no wonder that he holds you in such high regard. However, you have to constantly remember that you''re a member of our special service department, got it?"


    "Yes, Superior."


    Long Yuxue continued, "I only managed to source one customer for you before I was called here by Qiyue. Let''s go to the forging room; the customer''s already waiting for us there."


    "Sure!" Tang Wulin was very enthusiastic about earning accolades. After all, his goal was to rise up the ranks as quickly as possible.


    The forging rooms were also situated in the living area, but in contrast with the combat rooms, the forging rooms were relegated to a more secluded location. The soundproofing materials here were quite limited, so they had no choice but to place the forging rooms here in order to not affect anyone else.


    Long Yuxue said to Tang Wulin as she walked, "I''ve invested everything I have in you, so if the customer asks for something that you can''t do, don''t agree to their request. If you ruin our reputation with the very first job you do, we''ll be in big trouble."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin didn''t provide any in-depth explanation. The truth would speak for itself.


    Sure enough, after arriving at the forging room, there was already someone waiting for them. This was a female military official who appeared to be around 30 years of age, and her epaulets indicated that she was a lieutenant colonel. Her disposition was quite warm and gentle, and she wasn''t particularly beautiful, but she was quite charismatic and approachable.


    "Sister Lu Ni!" Long Yuxue called out in an intimate voice before rushing forward and latching onto the female lieutenant colonel''s arm.


    Lu Ni smiled as she cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin, and asked, "Is this handsome lad the blacksmith you were talking about?"


    Long Yuxue nodded in response. "That''s right! He''s new here, and he only just received his military rank, but he''s already a second lieutenant. He''s currently undertaking his special training under my supervision, and he''s a very good blacksmith as well."


    A hint of a surprise flashed through Lu Ni''s eyes upon hearing this. She had never heard of a newbie being granted the rank of second lieutenant right away. Tang Wulin appeared to be quite young, but she wasn''t skeptical of his forging skills in the slightest. Instead, she said in a very polite manner, "Please look after me."


    Tang Wulin hurriedly returned some pleasantries before opening the door of the forging room. "Please come in, Superiors."


    The setup inside the forging room was very simple. At the center of the room was naturally a forging bench, and there were many types of uncommon metals placed on the metal shelves on either side. Most of them had been brought here by Tang Wulin, and the rest were sourced by Long Yuxue.


    Lu Ni glanced at the uncommon metals on the shelves, and smiled as she said, "Looks like you''ve got a good supply of everything here! What levels of service do you offer?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I can forge anything according to your requirements. What kind of metal would you like to use? I can also refine existing items that you already have."


    He didn''t immediately reveal to them that he was a Saint Blacksmith, partially because they may not believe him anyway, and he also didn''t want to scare them. He was quite new here, so it was best not to be too much of a show-off. He''d simply let his forging skills speak for him. After all, a reputation had to be forged through actions rather than words.


    "You seem very confident! I''m not asking for much." Light flashed from Lu Ni''s hand as she spoke, and a metal tube appeared in her grasp.


    The metal tube was around a meter long with a diameter of approximately 10 centimeters. It appeared to be the barrel of a weapon.


    Lu Ni continued, "Due to excessive usage, this cannon barrel of mine has become slightly misshapen, so I''d like you to repair it. If possible, would you be able to infuse some suitable uncommon metals into it as well? I''m sure that''ll make it more durable. I tend to shoot at quite a high frequency for long periods at a time, so it''s very important for me to have a good barrel."


    Tang Wulin accepted the barrel from her and inspected the outside before taking a look at the inside.


    From the outside, the barrel seemed to only be slightly misshapen, but looking at it through the hole, he discovered that the interior of the metal tube was filled with pits and bumps, clearly a result of damage from sustained high temperatures. This barrel was no longer usable.


    "How many accolades are you prepared to pay for this barrel, Superior?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Lu Ni faltered slightly upon hearing this before chuckling, "Shouldn''t you be the one to decide on a price?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "That''s true, but I have a range of plans to repair this barrel, and the accolades required will be different depending on which plan you choose. These plans can be roughly split up into three types. The first one will just be a standard repair, and that''ll only cost 100 accolades. The second plan is the one that you suggested, which involves adding some other metals to make it more durable. The material used for your barrel is already quite good; I can tell that it''s Purple Iron, which has a very high melting point.


    "The fact that it was damaged to such an extent despite the material used suggests that your weapon is extremely powerful, so even if other metals are infused into it, the barrel would still most likely be damaged in the future. Hence, the third plan I can suggest to you is for me to forge a brand new barrel of the exact same dimensions as this one, and the new barrel will be completely free from the issue of heat damage."


    Lu Ni was quite intrigued to hear this. "How much will you charge for those last two plans? You''re telling me you can resolve the issue of my barrel overheating once and for all? That''s going to be very difficult considering I''m using a weapon with both high power and high shot frequency."


    Tang Wulin scratched his head, and said, "I don''t know much about soul weapons, but it shouldn''t be an issue for me. For the second plan, I''ll charge 1,000 accolades, but as for the third plan, that''ll cost you at least 5,000 accolades."


    Lu Ni was quite alarmed by Tang Wulin''s quotes. 1,000 accolades was enough to do a lot of things, and 5,000 accolades was enough to promote Tang Wulin from second lieutenant to lieutenant. Even to her, that was quite a considerable sum.


    "Don''t spout nonsense, Wulin!" Long Yuxue hurriedly interjected. She was on very good terms with Lu Ni, who was also very popular in the entire legion. She had invited Lu Ni to be their first customer so she could promote Tang Wulin''s forging room, and she was quite aghast that Tang Wulin was stating such astronomical prices.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and both Long Yuxue and Lu Ni were momentarily entranced by how handsome he was. His smile was so pure and filled with positive energy.


    "How about this? Seeing as you''re my first customer, I can implement the first plan free of charge, and you can gauge my skills based on that. Even without adding any metals, I''m confident that I can bolster the durability of your barrel by at least 10%. After that, you can decide on whether you want to implement one of the other two plans; what do you think?"


    Lu Ni looked at Tang Wulin, and replied, "Alright, I''ll take the free option first then."


    She had always been quite steadfast and never made rash decisions, so she certainly wasn''t going to splurge her accolades just because Tang Wulin was handsome. At the same time, she wanted to see just what this confident young man was capable of.


    Tang Wulin carried the barrel over to the forging bench and took a rough glance at it before pressing a button, then tossing the barrel straight into the furnace.


    He did a few stretches, and it had been a very long time since he''d last forged, so his heart was filled with excitement. After becoming a Saint Blacksmith, forging had become second nature to him, and it was also something that he loved.

 Chapter 944: The First Job

    He stood on the spot and fell into a completely calm and silent state. Even when faced with such a simple task, he still treated it with caution and a serious attitude. This was a gesture of his respect toward forging itself.


    The best furnace always ensured a quick calcination process, and when the barrel rose up onto his forging bench again, it was already red hot. Even the temperature in the forging room had risen significantly.


    Tang Wulin spread open his arms, and his pair of soul refined Heavy Silver Hammers immediately appeared in his hands. He brought his right arm down without any preparatory movements.


    "Bam!"


    One side of the barrel was completely flattened...


    "Argh!" Long Yuxue couldn''t help but let loose a cry of surprise.


    It''s over!


    Even Lu Ni couldn''t help but furrow her brows upon seeing this.


    She had had her cannon barrel repaired by blacksmiths on many occasions, and the process wasn''t very complex. After being calcined to a high temperature, the barrel would be adjusted back to its original shape using a mold, then solidified and cooled. Purple Iron was a very strong material in itself, so it could be calcined on many occasions without any issues.


    However, Tang Wulin had immediately flattened one side of the barrel with a single hammer strike. It was certainly an indication that he possessed immense strength, but was he really repairing the barrel? Wasn''t this destruction instead? After flattening the barrel, it wouldn''t be a simple task to repair it back to its original shape. This man was quite confident, but he didn''t seem to be very reliable!


    "What are you doing, Wulin?" Long Yuxue couldn''t help but yell in a horrified manner.


    However, Tang Wulin seemed to have not heard her at all. His Heavy Silver Hammers fell at a rapid rate, and after a few resounding booms, the cylindrical cannon barrel had been completely flattened.


    Long Yuxue couldn''t help but bury her face into her hand as she couldn''t bear to watch this any longer.


    "I''m sorry, Sister Lu Ni; I''ll, I''ll buy you another one. I really didn''t know things were going to turn out like this..."


    She was full of remorse that she''d been led into trusting Tang Wulin''s forging abilities.


    A wry smile also appeared on Lu Ni''s face. Her cannon barrel hadn''t been very expensive to make, but she''d used it for a long time and naturally developed an attachment to it. The fact that it had been ruined by Tang Wulin in such a brutal manner made her feel quite uncomfortable. Even as easy-going as she was, she couldn''t help but develop a very negative first impression of Tang Wulin.


    He was clearly just bluffing when he didn''t have any skills! And what was that nonsense about three plans? It was all just a laughable joke!


    "Thump, thump, thump!" Tang Wulin''s hammers fell in an extremely constant and rhythmic manner. His hammer blows came thick and fast, and during the brief conversation between Long Yuxue and Lu Ni, the cannon barrel had already been completely flattened into a metal plate.


    The metal plate was then gradually smashed into a metal clump by his hammers. The process was very quick, and during Long Yuxue''s apology, the cannon barrel had already been reduced to an unrecognizable lump.


    Long Yuxue couldn''t take it any longer and wanted to stop Tang Wulin from embarrassing both her and himself any further, but Lu Ni laid a hand on her arm to stop her. "Let''s see what he''s capable of."


    "Thump, thump, thump!" The hammer blows gradually became heavier and faster, to the extent that it sounded like a torrential storm raining down upon a banana leaf, creating almost a single constant sound.


    All of a sudden, a beam of light abruptly rose up into the air. The light ascended for over six feet, and a faint dragon''s roar could be heard reverberating throughout the room.


    "This is..."


    Both Long Yuxue and Lu Ni''s pupils contracted drastically. They weren''t blacksmiths, but they were quite knowledgeable and experienced. The two of them exclaimed in unison, "First-grade thousand refinement?"


    Lu Ni really liked this cannon barrel precisely because it was constructed from thousand refined metal, but it was only the most ordinary of thousand refinements. After all, this was only a soul weapon component, so it was already quite rare for thousand refined metals to be used on such parts.


    However, she had never heard of a blacksmith who was capable of elevating an existing thousand refined metal to a first-grade thousand refined level!


    No, this wasn''t even normal first-grade thousand refinement! The best first-grade thousand refinements only had light rising up to five feet, but the light rising up from the piece of Purple Iron had definitely reached over six feet. On top of that, what was that dragon''s roar they were hearing?


    Even Tang Wulin wouldn''t be able to upgrade a piece of thousand refined metal on his own, but he was able to accomplish this with his soul refined forging hammers.


    The main trait of soul refinement was its ability to bestow intelligence upon a piece of metal. An intelligent piece of metal could combine as one with its master to form a spiritual connection.


    The forging process just then appeared to have been quite simple, but it had actually been a product of brilliant craftsmanship. Tang Wulin had communicated with his Heavy Silver Hammer to alter the internal structure of the Purple Iron, forcibly enhancing its quality without resulting in a decrease in mass.


    In reality, what he was doing was akin to using a cannon to kill a mosquito. It expended a lot of effort, and under normal circumstances, it''d be much more practical to just create a new barrel from scratch. However, his forging room had only just opened, and he wanted to show off his abilities to attract as many customers as possible in order to earn more accolades.


    The light persisted for over 10 seconds before finally slowly fading away. Tang Wulin''s hammer blows became lighter after this, but the frequency became even faster. The piece of metal quickly changed shape and began to flatten out before slowly being molded by his Heavy Silver Hammers.


    Long Yuxue could even see that one of Tang Wulin''s forging hammers had slowly changed into the shape of a long rod, and the piece of Purple Iron was wrapped around that rod with the help of his other hammer, thereby making the piece of metal adopt its original shape as a cannon barrel again.


    Tang Wulin was moving far too quickly, and the cannon barrel had already reverted back to its original form even before they''d recovered from the astonishment of witnessing the first-grade thousand refinement that had just taken place.


    "Sizzle!" The cannon barrel was plunged into water to be cooled. After it re-emerged, it had been completely repaired and enhanced.


    "It''s done now, Superior." Tang Wulin offered the cannon barrel to Lu Ni with both hands.


    Lu Ni looked down to find that this cannon barrel was identical in size to what it was in the past, but all of the warping had vanished, and it resembled a brand new barrel. However, in contrast with how it had been in the past, a layer of fine patterns had appeared over its surface, making it look as if it were more substantial somehow.


    After accepting the barrel, she discovered that it was still rather warm. She took a look inside to find that the internal surface was as smooth as a mirror, and the feeling of it in her hand had seemed to be quite different compared to in the past. She gently squeezed various parts of the barrel, and even though she hadn''t tested it out, she could tell from the first-grade thousand refinement that the barrel had become at least 30% more durable than it was in the past. That 10% figure was just him being modest!


    "Sorry for making you worry, but if I didn''t repair the barrel in that manner, it would''ve been very difficult to increase its quality without adding any other metals. You should be able to use it right away, and it''ll last a lot longer before you''ll need to have it repaired again," Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    Lu Ni exhaled as she cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin''s hands, only to find that his forging hammers had already disappeared.


    She turned toward Long Yuxue, and said, "You''ve truly found a brilliant partner, Little Xue! I really am envious of your luck. Tang Wulin, do you need any more investors?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "Apologies, Superior, but I no longer require any additional investment." Of course he didn''t need any further investors! He had only reluctantly agreed to be in this partnership with Long Yuxue as she had good and pure intentions; there was no way he was going to share his earnings with anyone else!


    Lu Ni held the cannon barrel, and said, "I''m starting to regret my decision. If I''d been aware of your skills from the very beginning, I would''ve at least asked you to implement the second plan. I''m very curious; what would the third plan entail?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Cannon barrels need to be constructed from metals that can hold their shape even in the face of high heat. If you want a barrel that''ll last you for a lifetime, it has to possess self-regenerative abilities, and the material used also has to be strengthened even further. The third plan would involve fusing two more types of uncommon metals into the barrel, then elevate it to the spirit refinement level. After that, it''ll be able to repair itself even without any circuits, and you''ll be able to use it for a long time without fear of damage.


    "At the same time, you''ll have the option of carving a soul circuit onto the barrel to increase the power output of your weapon. It''ll be quite expensive to do this, but I think it''s well worth the price. Of course, that only applies to your high-power and high-frequency weapon; for a weapon of lower power or shot frequency, such a heavy investment would simply be overkill."


    Lu Ni couldn''t help but exclaim upon hearing this, "Spirit refinement? Y, you''re a fifth-rank blacksmith? Wait, no, you can fuse metals to form alloys, so you have to be a sixth-rank blacksmith!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I can complete some simple soul refinements as well."


    He had displayed enough of his skills already, so it was time to lay the cards down on the table.


    "Soul refinement? You''re a Saint Blacksmith?"


    Both Lu Ni and Long Yuxue felt as if their brains were about to shortcircuit.


    He was a Saint Blacksmith? There wasn''t even a Saint Blacksmith in the entire Blood God Legion! In fact, there were only a total of less than 20 of Saint Blacksmiths on the entire continent! The Blood God Legion was such a secluded place; even if the military wanted to send a Saint Blacksmith to them, no Saint Blacksmith would be willing to come here, and who could force them to come here against their will?


    As such, the most accomplished blacksmith in the entire Blood God Legion was only a sixth-rank blacksmith.

 Chapter 945: The Impact of a Saint Blacksmith

    As such, how could the two of them not be stunned by the notion that Tang Wulin was able to complete soul refinement?


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "The only way to back up one''s words is through actions; it would be much appreciated if you could introduce more customers to me, Superior."


    The second plan cost 1,000 accolades, which was very expensive. The third plan would cost at least 5,000 accolades, which was even more expensive, but if the blacksmith in question were a Saint Blacksmith, then it really wasn''t expensive at all!


    Lu Ni looked down at the barrel in her hands, and she almost didn''t dare to imagine that a Saint Blacksmith had just served her.


    This was simply incredible! What were Saint Blacksmiths? They were masters of their craft who could forge foundational metals for red mechas and complete the initial production of suits of three-word battle armor!


    Saint Blacksmiths stood at the pinnacle of the forging world and were extremely important figures even in the context of the entire continent. One had to realize that there was only a single Divine Blacksmith on the entire Douluo Continent, yet there was a 21-year-old Saint Blacksmith standing before her right now. Who was to say he wouldn''t become the next Divine Blacksmith?


    Long Yuxue''s body shuddered slightly at the sight of the benevolent smile on Tang Wulin''s face, and her expression had clearly changed as she appraised him.


    Lu Ni took a deep breath and carefully stowed the barrel away, then pressed on her Blood God Bracelet a few times. "Thank you for your efforts; please accept these accolades."


    Tang Wulin immediately replied, "I agreed to do this for free, Superior!"


    Lu Ni insisted, "No, I can''t accept something so precious for free, and I still hope to be able to employ your services in the future. Apologies for my rudeness earlier, Master Tang."


    Tang Wulin no longer made any effort to turn her down and accepted her accolades to find that she''d given him 500 accolades rather than 100. In reality, 500 accolades really wasn''t a lot considering how much he''s improved her cannon barrel.


    After bidding farewell to Lu Ni, who was still rather reluctant to leave, Long Yuxue closed the door of the forging room before turning to Tang Wulin with an intense look in her eyes.


    Tang Wulin was feeling rather unsettled in the face of her intense scrutiny, and he asked, "Is there something you want to say, Superior?"


    Long Yuxue suddenly interrogated in an enraged voice, "Why didn''t you tell me before this?"


    Tang Wulin heaved a resigned sigh. "Would you have believed me if I told you that I was a Saint Blacksmith?"


    "I wouldn''t," Long Yuxue replied without any hesitation, "But that''s beside the point! Whether I would''ve believed you is another matter altogether; you still did the wrong thing by not telling me everything beforehand!"


    "Alright, I''m sorry." Tang Wulin immediately surrendered. It was definitely not wise to bicker with a woman over such an issue.


    "Pfft!" Long Yuxue suddenly burst into laughter, and a gentle look appeared in her eyes as she appraised Tang Wulin. "Thanks for handing me such a lucrative deal. How about I take less of your profits?"


    Being able to open a forging workshop in partnership with a Saint Blacksmith was a massive stroke of fortune, and she was going to profit immensely from now on.


    "Sure! How much of your share are you willing to give up?" Tang Wulin immediately agreed without any hesitation. He was quite reluctant to hand over 50% of his earnings as well.


    "Just kidding!" Long Yuxue opened the door and departed as she giggled, "Just keep working for me, Little Tang!"


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless.


    Long Yuxue almost sprinted over to the control center. As the vice-commander of the special service department, she had the right to enter this place.


    "Report!" she yelled in a loud voice after pressing the doorbell.


    "Come in!" Long Tianwu''s deep voice sounded in reply.


    The door was opened, and Long Yuxue immediately rushed in in an elated manner.


    "Father, I have something to tell you," she said in an excited voice.


    However, Long Tianwu''s expression suddenly fell slightly, and he scolded, "We''re currently at work, so you should be referring to me as Superior."


    At the same time, he was rather surprised; his daughter had always been quite calm and steadfast, so why was she suddenly so excited?


    Long Yuxue felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her parade, and she harrumphed, "If you don''t want to hear it, then I''ll leave! You better not regret this!"


    Long Tianwu faltered slightly before bursting into laughter, "Alright, I''ll listen; what do you want to tell me?"


    However, Long Yuxue turned away in a smug manner, and said, "I don''t feel like telling you anymore. I''m going now, SUPERIOR!"


    She then immediately turned to leave.


    Long Tianwu rose to his feet, and chuckled, "Alright, my precious little daughter. There''s no one else, so I shouldn''t have been so strict and dogmatic, and I apologize."


    Only then did Long Yuxue turn around again with a content look on her face. "Father, I have some good news for you; we''ve stumbled upon a great treasure!"


    "Hmm?" Long Tianwu appraised his daughter with a perplexed expression.


    Long Yuxue explained, "I''m talking about Tang Wulin!"


    "Tang Wulin? What about him?" Long Tianwu asked, "Isn''t he undertaking his special training with you? Did he discover a new continent or something?"


    Long Yuxue replied, "I really do feel like I''ve discovered a new continent! Did you know that he''s a blacksmith as well?"


    Long Tianwu replied, "That''s not really a surprise; all aspiring battle armor masters will take on a secondary occupation that''s related to their battle armor. The only thing that''s noteworthy is that not many people choose forging as their secondary occupation."


    Long Yuxue continued, "Do you know what rank blacksmith he is?"


    Long Tianwu mused, "Looking at you now, it''s not hard to guess that he must be quite a high-ranked blacksmith. Could it be that he''s already a fifth-rank blacksmith who''s capable of spirit refinement? That would be quite remarkable at his age."


    Long Yuxue immediately pouted with displeasure. "Do you think your daughter is that excitable? Spirit refinement is nothing!"


    Long Tianwu immediately burst into laughter. "Spirit refinement is nothing? You''re only saying that because you don''t know how difficult spirit refinement is... Wait, are you saying...?" A surprised expression finally began to appear on Long Tianwu''s face as he realized where this conversation was going.


    Long Yuxue nodded, and chuckled, "That''s right, not only can he spirit refine, he can even soul refine! He''s a seventh-rank Saint Blacksmith, and he''s definitely the youngest Saint Blacksmith in history!"


    Long Tianwu drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, but as opposed to being excited, he fell completely silent.


    "What is it, Father? This is fantastic news? Shouldn''t you be happy?" Long Yuxue asked in a confused manner.


    However, Long Tianwu sighed in response, "If we were talking about someone else, I would naturally be overjoyed, and this is indeed fantastic news for our Blood God Legion, but Tang Wulin''s identity is rather special."


    "What do you mean?" Long Yuxue asked.


    Long Tianwu explained, "He possesses immense combat prowess, a powerful bloodline, and he''s a Saint Blacksmith; what place do you think is capable of nurturing such a brilliant young prodigy?"


    Long Yuxue asked, "Isn''t he from the Tang Sect?"


    Long Tianwu replied, "Even the Tang Sect can''t nurture a freakish talent like him. He''s blessed by the heavens and under normal circumstances, he would definitely rise to the pinnacle of the entire continent in the future. On top of that, he''s very handsome, and I''m sure that''ll only draw more people to him. However, I have to remind you to keep your distance from him. You''re my only daughter, and I want you to be safe."


    Long Yuxue wore a perplexed expression as she asked, "What are you saying, Father? I don''t understand."


    Long Tianwu replied in a serious voice, "I''ve verified Tang Wulin''s identity with the Tang Sect, and they told me that he''s the leader of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Do you understand now?"


    Long Yuxue shuddered upon hearing this.


    She had heard far too many stories and legends about Shrek Academy and Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters ever since she was a child. Never would she have thought that the newbie soldier who was following her around and referring to her as superior every day would be the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    "Shrek City was destroyed, and Shrek Academy was razed to the ground. As a member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, he has a duty to revive Shrek Academy, and that was why he was sent here. The vice-palace master of the Tang Sect''s Douluo Palace sent him here so he could grow and develop away from the chaos on the continent, and also to help him attain more influence in the military. In the aftermath of Shrek Academy''s destruction, all of the major powers are scrutinizing those with connections to Shrek Academy, and all of those people are also waiting for an opportunity."

 Chapter 946: Accolades That Cant be Used for Promotion

    "The supporters of Shrek Academy will never give up on trying to revive it, yet the revival of Shrek Academy is something that none of the major powers on the continent want to see. Hence, you can imagine how much pressure he''ll be under in the future. A man like him is destined to have an extraordinary life, but also one that''s fraught with peril, do you understand what I''m getting at?"


    Long Yuxue said, "But our Blood God Legion is almost completely independent from the federation; what does this have to do with anything? No one will try to hunt him down here!"


    Long Tianwu slapped his own forehead in a resigned manner. "What I''m saying is that he''s going to leave someday, you silly girl! He''s not going to stay in the Blood God Legion forever!"


    Long Yuxue faltered slightly upon hearing this. He was going to leave someday? In her memory, all truly exceptional soldiers would choose to stay here and serve the legion generation after generation. She was born here and had spent her entire life here, and she''d never thought about leaving this place. However, her father''s words had enlightened her. Tang Wulin was different from her, and he was inevitably going to leave someday.


    An indescribable feeling suddenly welled up in her heart, and she abruptly turned before rushing away. "I have to ask him about this!"


    Long Tianwu looked on as his daughter quickly departed, and he heaved a forlorn internal sigh. Perhaps his daughter had developed feelings for Tang Wulin already. Thankfully, he''d cautioned her before it was too late, and he could only hope that she wouldn''t go beyond the point of no return.


    He pressed down on the communicator on his desk.


    "Major General."


    "I have an order to announce with immediate effect; from now on, all accolades earned through secondary occupations will be increased by 120%, but those accolades can''t contribute toward promotions; only accolades earned through battle will be applicable for promotions."


    "Yes!"


    It would be far too easy for a Saint Blacksmith to earn accolades, and he couldn''t allow Tang Wulin to rise up the ranks too quickly as that would not be a good thing for the Blood God Legion.


    Unbeknownst to Tang Wulin, Long Yuxue''s excitement had led her to do something that would shatter his dream of earning promotions through his forging skills.


    After Lu Ni departed with her cannon barrel, Tang Wulin had thought that he''d immediately be inundated by a flood of customers, but that was not the case. Only in the afternoon did Lu Ni bring two military officials to see him. Both of them were female military officials; one of them was a major while the other was a colonel.


    Neither of them said much; all they did was ask for quotes from Tang Wulin before asking him to forge a spirit refined part for each of them.


    Thus, Tang Wulin displayed his enormous forging ability again, and forged a pair of high-quality parts in an extremely short time right before the astonished eyes of the three female military officials.


    After issuing him the required accolades, the two military officials didn''t say much before departing with Lu Ni. After that, Tang Wulin received no more customers for that day, and Long Yuexue didn''t come to visit him again, either.


    That night, after ascertaining that there was no way he''d receive any more customers, Tang Wulin finally returned to his room. He was rather perplexed; why was it that he hadn''t received any more customers with his forging skills? What had he done wrong to result in this lack of customers?


    Only during the next day did he understand why this was happening. The reason was very simple; Lu Ni had kept his forging room a secret.


    Everyone knew the value of a Saint Blacksmith, and everyone was also inevitably selfish to some extent. Lu Ni had taken two of her friends to Tang Wulin for those spirit refined parts in order to further test his abilities, and no one else came to employ his services after that as Lu Ni and her close friends had gone back to prepare everything that they needed forged. They wanted to get all of their things forged before news of Tang Wulin''s status as a Saint Blacksmith spread through the entire Blood God Legion.


    As such, when Lu Ni returned the next morning, there were five female military officials with her, and the amount of work they brought was quite startling even to Tang Wulin. Three of the majors wanted him to forge spirit refined metals for full suits of battle armor, and for this purpose, they had taken out massive accolade loans the night before.


    Hence, this was undoubtedly a huge job.


    "Would you like spirit refined metals or spirit refined alloys consisting of multiple types of metals?" Tang Wulin asked. He was not a Grandmaster Blacksmith who was capable of simple spirit refinement, but instead, a Saint Blacksmith. The difference between the two lay not only in the ability to soul refine, but also the ability to easily forge spirit alloys consisting of multiple types of metals.


    For battle armor masters, their suits of two-word battle armor were extremely important as that was the true beginning for their suits of battle armor. A strong foundation would undoubtedly be immensely beneficial to them in the future. As such, among three female military officials in question, two of them requested for spirit alloys with two types of different metals, while one of them hailed from quite a wealthy and influential family within the legion, and she chose spirit alloys consisting of three different types of metals.


    Taking into account all of the weapons that they were also requesting for him to forge, the total accolades he would receive from the jobs numbered in excess of 100,000. This was definitely a massive haul as those female military officials had to provide their own materials, so he was only being paid for his service!


    However, his excitement quickly fizzled out. 100,000 accolades would normally be enough to promote him straight to the major rank, but at around noon, someone from the commissariat came to his forging room and inform him of a decision from the higher-ups not to accept accolades earned from non-battle sources for promotions. This was very disheartening news to Tang Wulin, and it was quite apparent that this new rule had been implemented specifically to target him!


    He knew that the legion was simply restricting from rising up the ranks too quickly through his forging, but he was still feeling quite frustrated.


    Thus, he made a decision and hung a sign outside his workshop, stating that he was only going to be taking soul refinement jobs from now on.


    "Why?" Long Yuxue finally came to visit the forging room again, and she was quite bemused by the sign hanging outside.


    Tang Wulin silently extended his Blood God Bracelet toward her. "These are the 12,000 accolades I borrowed from you to open this workshop. I''m returning the money to you now, and we''ll still split the rest of the workshop''s earnings 50:50. My apologies, but I don''t want to take on too many forging jobs anymore. However, if you find anyone who requires soul refined metals, you can bring them to me."


    Long Yuxue was quite surprised by Tang Wulin''s cold expression. "What''s going on with you? Didn''t Sister Lu Ni bring you a lot of work this morning?"


    Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent manner, "It was great in the beginning, but the commissariat informed me that the accolades I accrue through forging can''t contribute to promotions. In that case, what use do I have for such accolades? I have more than enough to feed me for a long time already."


    Long Yuxue faltered slightly upon hearing this. She hadn''t been made aware of this yet, and she was quite stunned to hear this from Tang Wulin. "Who did you hear this from? Could there have been a misunderstanding involved?"


    Tang Wulin handed over the order that the commissariat had delivered to him earlier, and the red stamp of the legion control center had been imprinted upon it.


    As soon as Long Yuxue saw the signature of the person who had signed off on the order, her face turned deathly pale. She immediately understood that her father was behind this, and that this definitely had something to do with her.


    "I''ll go ask them about the details!" Long Yuxue immediately turned and rushed away.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh at the sight of her departing figure, but a sharp look appeared in his eyes. So what if they are prohibiting him from earning promotions through his forging? He''d just have to earn promotions through battle then!


    His Blood God Bracelet had just been updated by the people from the commissariat not long ago, and it had split his accolades up into the two categories; one of them would be for his forging, while the other was for the accolades he earned through killing abyssal creatures.


    The decision to only take on soul refinement jobs was not a rash one that was made based on an enraged impulse. Instead, it was a very well-thought-out decision. If he could earn promotions through his forging, then he wouldn''t mind taking on more jobs, even if it was going to be quite tiring to him. He wasn''t afraid of physical hardships anyway. However, if his forging couldn''t contribute toward promotions, then he couldn''t waste too much of his time on it. He had to rise up through the ranks as quickly as possible, so he had to conserve his time in order to participate in more battles.


    Of course, he was still going to complete the future soul refinement jobs to the best of his abilities.


    By the time Long Yuxue returned, it was already night time, and the rims of her eyes were quite red, clearly indicating that she''d just cried not long ago.


    "I''m sorry, Wulin, I, I wasn''t able to convince them..." Her voice was a little hoarse.


    Tang Wulin had just completed the metals required for the suits of two-word battle armor, and he smiled in response. "That''s alright. Look! I earned 100,000 accolades in such a short time. After we split it, we''ll be able to buy a lot of good things. Also, exclusively taking on soul refinement jobs is the best use of my time anyway. At my current level, only through practicing soul refinement can I continue to improve. Perhaps more soul refinement jobs will come our way soon. It''s just a pity that we won''t be able to use those accolades to earn promotions. But then again, accolades are still accolades; we can save up some and make you a top-grade mecha."

 Chapter 947: Purchasing Equipment

    Long Yuxue raised her head to look at Tang Wulin with a meaningful expression in her eyes, and she bit down on her lower lip at the sight of the positive smile on his face.


    "I''m sorry."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "What are you apologizing for? This is a decision from our higher-ups."


    Long Yuxue suddenly became quite vehement as she said, "But if I hadn''t told my father about this, you''d at least be able to use these accolades for promotions before they found out; you''d at least be a major now!"


    Tang Wulin made her way over to her, and said, "It''s alright, Superior; I''m sure I''ll be able to become a major quite quickly through battle anyway. If you want to help me, then take me to battle in the abyss as soon as you can."


    Long Yuxue nodded, and said, "We should be getting into the practical battle stage of your special training anyway. Our special service department has a special right to enter the abyss, so I''ll take you there tomorrow. You have quite a sizable number of accolades now, so we''ll go and buy some equipment tomorrow as well."


    "Alright."


    The next morning, Tang Wulin hadn''t even finished cultivating his Purple Demon Eyes before Long Yuxue came to his living quarters to find him. Beneath that cold exterior of hers was a really kind soul!


    "Superior." Tang Wulin hurriedly made his way downstairs.


    "Let''s go, I''ll take you to the commissariat." Long Yuxue seemed to have already mentally recovered, and she was looking completely reinvigorated after a good night''s rest.


    The commissariat was responsible for all of the equipment in the legion, and when Tang Wulin and Long Yuxue arrived, there were some employees there, but no other soldiers of the Blood God Legion.


    "We''re here to buy some equipment." Long Yuxue displayed her Blood God Bracelet.


    "Please select what you''d like to purchase." An electronic touch screen appeared before both of them.


    Long Yuxue explained, "Some pieces of equipment are mandatory, such as abyssal shielding barriers. Only with this device can you not be affected by the destructive aura of the abyssal plane, thereby allowing you to use your martial soul. Otherwise, your martial soul would be virtually inaccessible to you. This is a piece of standard equipment, so it''s quite cheap; it''ll only cost you 100 accolades, but in reality, the federation expended a vast amount of money to develop these things."


    She chose a headband-like object for Tang Wulin as she spoke. That was most likely the abyssal shielding barrier that she''d been referring to.


    "Next, you need to choose some protective equipment, such as a spatial rectifier. After being activated, that device will instantly warp the surrounding space. When you find yourself surrounded by abyssal beings, it''ll play an important role in warping space in order to create an opportunity for you to escape. Oh, and you''ll be needing this as well. It''s a masking singlet, and after you put it on, it''ll release fluctuations akin to abyssal aura fluctuations, which will make it impossible for abyssal creatures to sense you with their spiritual power or auras. It won''t conceal you, but it''s must-have for people in the special service department like us, so you should get one of these too."


    Long Yuxue began to choose a series of equipment for Tang Wulin as she spoke. Almost all of the equipment here specifically targeted abyssal creatures, and in Tang Wulin''s opinion, the most practical pieces of equipment were the masking singlet and the abyssal shielding barrier.


    Those two items would allow him to unleash his full power in the abyssal plane.


    "Do you require any long-range weapons?" Long Yuxue asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "Not at the moment. By the way, can we use mechas when fighting abyssal creatures?"


    Long Yuxue nodded, and replied, "Of course you can. However, it takes a vast amount of energy to conceal the auras of mechas, so generally speaking, everyone will carry mechas with them, but they won''t use their mechas unless it was absolutely required. Mechas would usually only be used in dangerous situations or to kill enemies quickly in order to make an escape."


    Tang Wulin had mentioned mechas as he recalled the fighting style that his teacher, Mu Ye, had adopted. Mu Ye had told him that he had lost his opportunity to become a Hyper Douluo due to his obsession with mechas in his younger days, but he also told Tang Wulin that mechas were extremely important in modern battle. Many battle armor masters ignored this, thinking that battle armor was superior to mechas in every way, thereby making the latter redundant. However, Mu Ye''s theory was that battle armor and mechas could be used together. If the two could be integrated well, then the combat prowess of the Soul Master would be significantly enhanced.


    Tang Wulin was very much in approval of this idea. If the Atlas Douluo had possessed a red mecha to complement his four-word battle armor, perhaps he would¡¯ve survived the disaster that had befallen Shrek Academy.


    As such, Tang Wulin had always been searching for an opportunity to craft a powerful mecha for himself.


    The yellow mecha he had was most definitely no longer suitable for him. Both the offensive and defensive abilities of yellow mechas were simply far too lackluster, and with his Golden Dragon Body, as well as his suit of battle armor, his defensive prowess already exceeded that of the vast majority of black mechas. Under these circumstances, he had to think about which direction he wanted to go in if he were to craft a mecha for himself in the future.


    In terms of equipment, Tang Wulin only took the mandatory pieces along with some disposable soul tools such as soul bombs. It was always advisable to have a good supply of such things.


    He didn''t have too much of a concept of the power of soul tools in the past, but after Shrek Academy was destroyed by that Godslayer missile, he finally understood why soul beasts had been forced to the verge of extinction. Human soul weapons had truly been developed to a considerably terrifying degree. There were limits to human powers, but weapon technology would continue to develop, and there would most likely come a day when human weaponry would even become powerful enough to destroy the entire planet.


    With enough Godslayer missiles, Tang Wulin had no doubt that it would be possible to shatter the entire planet. The federation had decided to only create three of those missiles, partially due to a lack of resources, but a fear of oneself most likely played a role in that decision as well. The two Godslayer missiles had completely laid waste to Shrek City, and that incident would most likely spark even greater fear toward soul weapons.


    According to Tang Wulin''s knowledge, more of the federation''s technological power was currently focused on research toward aircrafts. As for to what extent that research had developed, that was not something that he was aware of.


    "Is that all you''re going to buy? Those miniature mechas are actually quite good as well; they possess the combat prowess of purple mechas and also have many assistance abilities such as radars and things like that. I think it''d be a good idea to consider them," Long Yuexue suggested.


    Even though Tang Wulin had bought a lot of disposable equipment, he''d only spent several thousand accolades in total. He currently had tens of thousands of accolades under his belt, so this sum wasn''t all that significant to him.


    Long Yuxue had accepted half of Tang Wulin''s earnings, but she refused the repayment of her initial investment that he offered to her, nor did she oppose his decision to exclusively take on soul refinement jobs.


    "This is all I''ll get for now. I''ll adjust my inventory according to what''s required in battle," Tang Wulin replied.


    "Alright," Long Yuxue nodded, and said, "Truth be told, it''s already quite rare for a newbie like you to have so much equipment. Also, you''ll have me by your side to protect you."


    "You''re going to protect me?" Tang Wulin turned to her with a surprised expression.


    Long Yuxue gave him a faint smile, but offered no explanation. "Let''s go. From today onward, I''ll be taking you to experience real battles in the abyss. However, you have to remember that after entering the abyssal passageway, you have to follow all of my orders. Otherwise, you''ll be punished according to the rules of our legion!"


    Her expression was completely serious as she delivered this warning.


    Tang Wulin immediately nodded in response. "Yes, Superior."


    He knew nothing about the abyssal passageway at the moment, so following Long Yuxue''s instructions was undoubtedly the best way for him to proceed. At the very least, he could accrue experience by following her. His top priority now was to familiarize himself with the abyssal plane as quickly as possible.


    After exiting the commissariat, Long Yuxue led Tang Wulin directly toward the rear of the Blood God Legion base. After exiting through the rear gate of the base, she tossed a pair of skis at Tang Wulin. "Do you know how to use these?"


    Tang Wulin replied with a wry smile, "Not really."


    Long Yuxue smiled, and reassured, "With your bodily control, it won''t take you long to get used to these. Come with me; spread your feet open and use the skis to decelerate."


    She had already put on her skis as she spoke, then slid down the snowy mountain first. There were thick layers of snow everywhere on this entire mountain, so these skis were definitely the best transportation instruments in such an environment.


    Tang Wulin was rather unaccustomed to them, and the skis immediately carried him quickly down the slope. Long Yuxue was using her skis to control her speed and direction in an expert manner, but Tang Wulin looked as if he were almost diving down the slope.


    However, he wasn''t fearful in the slightest. With his suit of two-word battle armor, he could always bail and fly up into the air if the situation demanded it.


    This stretch of snowy land was quite smooth, and even though he was constantly accelerating, the good thing was that there were no obstacles that appeared in his way. Tang Wulin was watching what Long Yuxue was doing, and trying to implement her movements himself. His body was swaying incessantly, and he almost fell over on many occasions, but he was able to stabilize himself through his own immense muscular strength.

 Chapter 948: Arriving in the Abyss

    He gradually began to master a few techniques, and he began to control his center of gravity, swaying from side to side in order to decelerate somewhat.


    After skiing for around a quarter of an hour, Long Yuxue suddenly yelled from up ahead, "The abyssal cave lays up ahead, so begin decelerating now."


    She controlled her skis in a well-rehearsed manner to slow herself down, but Tang Wulin didn''t have her slick skills, and he was still hurtling onward.


    Right at this moment, something tightened around his waist, and Long Yuxue appeared behind him, pulling on his clothes with both of her hands to drastically arrest his momentum. In doing so, she was manually helping him to decelerate.


    "Your skiing skills are top-notch, Superior!" The two of them finally stopped around 100 meters away from the massive cave up ahead, which had a diameter of over three kilometers.


    Long Yuxue removed her skis as she said, "This is a basic skill in our Blood God Legion. You''ll get used to it after you come here a few more times."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. Indeed, he would definitely be able to grow accustomed to this type of skiing given enough practice.


    Long Yuxue said in a serious voice, "The abyssal passageway is just up ahead; you remember how to enter it from your trial, right? This place is the same as the place that was simulated in your trial, but it''s bigger, and there are far more abyssal creatures in there than in the simulation. Make sure to constantly be on your guard and follow my orders at all times. If we encounter enemies that are too powerful to defeat, and I give the command to retreat, you drop everything and retreat right away, understood?"


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Long Yuxue stopped in front of the gigantic cave, and Tang Wulin stood beside her as he looked down into the depths of the cave. A world of inky-blackness lay down below, and the occasional rumbling boom could be heard coming from inside. The snow surrounding the cave would occasionally fall into the abyss, and there were also many massive ice stalagmites around the cave.


    This gargantuan cave was like a massive mouth that was capable of devouring anything and everything.


    Long Yuxue pressed her right hand against her chest, and Tang Wulin immediately heard a string of clicks and clangs. First, a small piece of metal split open in front of her chest. Immediately thereafter, pieces of metal began to unfold, and they quickly encapsulated her entire body. She had just activated a miniature mecha.


    The mecha covered her entire body, and it only appeared to be around three meters tall, which was far smaller than normal mechas. There was a pair of folded wings on the back of the mecha, and there seemed to be powerful streams of air erupting from under feet, causing her to hover in the mid-air.


    "You have a suit of two-word battle armor, right? Release it now; you can''t afford to hold back down there. Also, activate your abyssal shielding barrier and masking singlet."


    Tang Wulin did as he was told, and he immediately felt a layer of invisible energy being released by his metal headband, and the layer of energy enveloped his entire body. Meanwhile, bursts of strange fluctuations began to emanate from his masking singlet, and those fluctuations possessed a special frequency, which was undoubtedly imitating that of the abyssal plane.


    Pieces of golden armor then quickly began to spread over his entire body at his behest. Even though Long Yuxue had already guessed that he was a two-word battle armor master, she still couldn''t help but be entranced by the massive wings that spread open on his back, and her eyes were practically glowing.


    "What a beautiful suit of battle armor! I''ve seen suits of three-word battle armor that don''t look as lavish as yours. After we go back, you can help me forge some materials for my future suit of two-word battle armor as well. I also want to become a two-word battle armor master as soon as possible so I don''t have to rely on this miniature mecha anymore."


    "Sure," Tang Wulin immediately agreed.


    His suit of two-word battle armor had been constructed from alloys consisting of three types of different metals, and he''d obviously added some extra components to it as well. The suit of battle armor didn''t just look lavish; its splendid appearance stemmed from the fact that it had more circuits carved into it. Tang Wulin was extremely prodigious, and his body was able to handle far more energy backlash from his battle armor compared to that of the average Soul King, so his suit or two-word battle armor naturally provided far greater enhancements than normal suits of two-word battle armor; this was entirely decided by his powerful physical constitution.


    He spread open his wing and activated his soul power to rise up into the air. The golden scales on his suit of battle armor were entirely basked in a golden hue from the light being reflected by the surrounding snow.


    Long Yuxue''s miniature mecha was slightly taller and broader, but compared to his suit of battle armor, her mecha looked like a suit of beggar rags.


    "Let''s go." Long Yuxue repressed her envy and also thought to herself that Tang Wulin really did deserve to be the leader of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; just his suit of battle armor alone was extremely extraordinary.


    After spreading open his wings, Tang Wulin leaped forward and followed Long Yuxue into the cave.


    Long Yuxue was basically sliding down into the cave along the rock face.


    Soon, waves of electronic fluctuations scanned toward them from down below, and their Blood God Bracelets lit up of their own accord. This was undoubtedly due to the devices that the Blood God Legion had installed down in the abyssal cave to facilitate identity verification.


    Long Yuxue had told Tang Wulin that following many years of effort, the Blood God Legion had built up an extremely powerful defense system around the outskirts of this abyssal passageway, and the system was effective against living beings both on the inside and on the outside of the passageway. If abyssal creatures were to try to rush out of the passageway, then they''d immediately be struck by devastating attacks, and this was also the final line of defense in the abyssal passageway.


    The members of the special service department had certain special rights, so they were granted passage, and soon, the two of them descended onto that massive net down below.


    Tang Wulin had once asked Long Yuxue what lay below the net, and Long Yuxue had told him that that was the true abyssal passageway, and the most powerful abyssal creatures could only come out with a wide enough passageway.


    As such, all of the most powerful beings among the major powers at the time joined forces to seal the passageway, leaving only this small one behind.


    Within this inky-black passageway, there were two corps worth of troops situated on guard duty here all year round. The Blood God Legion didn''t have many soldiers, but all of them were the best of the best, and they were also given the most advanced equipment.


    During these past several millennia, they''d been constantly guarding the Douluo Continent against the abyssal plane and averted many major disasters.


    Long Yuxue didn''t ask Tang Wulin to walk on ahead and protect as she did during his new soldier trial. Instead, she led the way and strode into the passageway on this occasion.


    The inside of the passageway wasn''t in a state of complete darkness as there were lights situated at regular intervals. This was clearly a safe zone, and all of those lights had been installed by the Blood God Legion.


    Soon, they encountered some soldiers from the Blood God Legion, but the special service department signal being emitted by their Blood God Bracelets granted them free passage.


    After continuing onward, they arrived at the first passageway platform. This place was a world of metal with all types of soul tools set up in the surrounding area, and there were even metal resting chambers.


    Long Yuxue said in a low voice, "There are currently hundreds of abyssal passageways, of which only 36 are of the highest level. Those passageways are the ones that lead to the most supreme abyssal life forms. For example, the Demonic Enchantress that you encountered is one of those supreme abyssal creatures. That one was only in its infantile stage; if it had been a mature Demonic Enchantress, we would''ve been killed in an instant. Mature Demonic Enchantresses are really troublesome to face even for Titled Douluos, and they''re also the smallest in stature among all of the supreme abyssal creatures. It''s said that the past ruler of the abyss was a Demonic Enchantress."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Where are we going now?"


    Long Yuxue replied, "The abyssal passageways are split up into the S, A, B, and C tiers. This is your first time here, so we''ll naturally be going to a C tier one. Those passageways are all quite narrow, so only weaker abyssal creatures can pass through them. As such, we won''t be in a lot of danger in there, and you''ll be able to familiarize yourself with the abyssal creatures."


    "Alright."


    After informing the troops stationed here of where they were going, Long Yuxue led Tang Wulin into a passageway that was only just taller than an adult human.

 Chapter 949: Battle in the Abyss

    Long Yuxue continued as she walked, "The troops stationed here are changed once every month, and there are a total of 10 corps in our legion with around 1,500 soldiers per corps. This is the main battle unit; units like our special service department are separate from this and are considered to be a part of the assistance battle unit. The rest are the logistical and research personnel, which add up to around 10,000 people in total. Hence, the total number of people in the legion has always added up to somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 people. For newbies like you, even if you join the main battle unit, you''ll only be a backup soldier.


    "The experience that we''ve accumulated during the past several thousand years have allowed us to drastically decrease the number of casualties compared to in the past. Generally speaking, after a month of special training, a newbie will go through a year during which they''ll be a backup soldier. Only after progressing past this one-year period will a newbie truly be allowed to step onto the battlefield. Your situation is rather special as you''re quite powerful, and that was why you were assigned to the special service department. This was also an arrangement made with the intention of getting you to familiarize yourself with battling in the abyss as quickly as possible.


    Only after passing through three more points that were guarded by soldiers did they truly enter the abyssal passageway.


    The lights up ahead had become very dim and faint compared to the light behind them.


    "This light comes from the abyssal passageway. We''re currently in a C-tier passageway, so we shouldn''t encounter any overly powerful abyssal creatures; you''ll definitely be able to handle them. Facing real abyssal creatures is going to be a little different from battling them in simulations. Have you ever fought real soul beasts? Probably not. Have you participated in any competitions? In any case, just remember that all battles you fight against abyssal creatures are battles of life and death, so you absolutely can''t afford to hold back. You also have to be extremely vigilant and take advantage of any opportunities that come your way. This is not a drill."


    Even though Tang Wulin had brilliant power and aptitude, Long Yuxue had seen many exceptional prodigies struggle to adjust after coming to the Blood God Legion. The continent had always been in a period of peace, so there weren''t really any opportunities for Soul Masters to engage in real battles. In contrast, this was a true battlefield between humans and abyssal creatures, and it was certainly no joke. As such, she was presenting constant reminders to Tang Wulin in an attempt to make him take this situation seriously and not grow complacent through arrogance. Arrogant people were often the ones who died the quickest.


    Tang Wulin gave no reply and merely nodded in response.


    After advancing for around another kilometer, Tang Wulin estimated that they had already traveled seven to eight kilometers in total. There was a type of faint spatial energy fluctuations within the abyssal passageway, as if the passageway itself were an alternate spatial plane rather than something constructed from substantial rocks and soil. This was most likely why the abyssal plane couldn''t access other places.


    The situation was akin to the spatial passageway piercing a giant tube straight into the Douluo Continent, and they could only travel to the continent through this tube.


    Now, the main tube had been sealed, so they could only search for some branches to enter through before attempting to open up the main tube.


    "Prepare for battle," Long Yuxue yelled in a serious voice, and at the same time, light flashed from her hands before a soul weapon appeared in her grasp.


    This appeared to be a massive gun with a length of over two meters, and the barrel of the gun was especially long, but it was slightly thinner than the high-frequency cannon barrel that Tang Wulin had once repaired. However, he could sense that the energy fluctuations imbued within this weapon were extremely fearsome, and he felt threatened by it even with his incredible defensive prowess.


    After this soul gun appeared in her hands, Long Yuxue''s aura instantly changed. It was no longer cold and aloof. Instead, it had completely vanished, and even the threat that Tang Wulin was detecting from her gun had disappeared. It was as if she had become one with the air around her, but she was clearly standing right there.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but admire her aura concealment skills.


    Tang Wulin had never had a chance to familiarize himself with Long Yuxue''s abilities; he could only roughly sense that her aura belonged to that of a five-ring Soul King.


    Tang Wulin was a student of Shrek Academy, so he''d always been pitted against opponents of higher cultivation ranks than himself, so in his heart, there was no way that Long Yuxue''s combat prowess could be superior to his.


    However, at this moment, his conviction in that belief wavered slightly. Long Yuxue was most likely more powerful than he''d imagined, and she had definitely reached her military rank at such a young age through her power.


    After summoning her weapon, Long Yuxue''s speed also increased. The tips of her toes gently tapped against the ground, propelling her forward in a fast yet completely soundless manner.


    There were node-like places situated at regular intervals down the abyssal passageway. These places were like stone chambers, and they were also the ideal places to battle from.


    After passing another node, Long Yuxue suddenly stopped and looked down at the device in her hand, then made a hand signal toward Tang Wulin, indicating for him to remain quiet.


    The tail of her soul gun was rested on the shoulder of her miniature mecha, and she held onto the gun with both hands. She stood in a very stable manner, and her aura became even more feeble; even her breathing seemed to have completely cut off. She was standing still on the spot like a stationary statue.


    All of a sudden, Long Yuxue sprang into action. Her body rotated slightly, and a burst of grey light instantly erupted from the gun in her hands.


    The streak of light was far too fast for the naked eye to trace, and even with his Purple Demon Eyes, Tang Wulin was only able to just barely catch sight of a silver shadow that vanished in a flash.


    Just as Tang Wulin was wondering what was going to happen next, a piercing cry suddenly rang out in the distance, and a greyish-black living being appeared within the darkness.


    This was a lizard-like creature that was entirely greyish-black in color. There were sharp hooked spikes growing all over its body, and one of its eyes had already been destroyed, presumably by that grey streak of light. Its body writhed and spasmed as it screeched, and not long after that, it dissipated into a cloud of grey mist that flew straight into the depths of the abyssal cave.


    This was the first real abyssal creature that Tang Wulin had ever seen, and he flashed forward to stand in front of Long Yuxue. At the same time, he withdrew his wings and battle armor, but pulled out his Golden Dragon Spear.


    "Be careful." Long Yuxue''s cold voice sounded beside his ears.


    "I will." Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward before advancing further into the passageway.


    There appeared to be more types of abyssal creatures than he''d imagined. At the very least, he''d never seen that lizard before. However, through his studies with Long Yuxue, he knew that this was a type of abyssal creature known as an Engulfment Lizard, and these creatures were very adept at concealing themselves. They were considered to be a prominent race among abyssal creatures, and they devoured the life force energy of all types of living beings for sustenance.


    There were powerful beings within their race that were comparable to Demonic Enchantresses, and there was an extremely vast number of them, all of which had drastically different levels of power. They also possessed extremely powerful defensive prowess, and their eyes were their only weakness.


    "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Right at this moment, several figures sprang toward them like lightning. These were also Engulfment Lizards, and that came as no surprise as these beings had always been known to be social creatures that lived in groups. After the first lizard was killed, its companions naturally charged forward to face the enemies.


    Tang Wulin swept his Golden Dragon Spear through the air, and countless spear projections instantly filled the entire cave, encompassing the oncoming Engulfment Lizards.


    A string of dull thumps rang out as one Engulfment Lizard after another had their bodies punctured by the Golden Dragon Spear. After the Golden Dragon Spear pierced through their bodies, bursts of grey energy would try to escape from these Engulfment Lizards, but instead of successfully fleeing the scene, these bursts of energy were absorbed by the Golden Dragon Spear and reciprocated into Tang Wulin''s body.


    Following a filtering process conducted by the Golden Dragon Spear, Tang Wulin was reciprocated with pure energy.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly, and he immediately understood what was happening. After these abyssal creatures were killed, the vast majority of their energy would be recovered by the abyss. As such, regardless of how many of these abyssal creatures were slain, they could most likely be reborn within the abyss. At the same time, he had verified through practical combat that the energy of these abyssal creatures really could be absorbed through the use of his Golden Dragon Spear.


    These Engulfment Lizards didn''t possess anywhere near enough energy to effect any notable changes within his body, but it was certainly better than nothing.

 Chapter 950: Accumulating Accolades

    If he were to purely enhance his own physical constitution by consuming spirit items, then that would be far too wasteful.


    Long Yuxue held her gun as she stood behind him, and she was quite reassured at the sight of his broad shoulders, as well as the calmness he displayed while killing those Engulfment Lizards. He wasn''t fearful in the slightest even in the face of an actual battle, so he clearly possessed a lot of practical battle experience. Not bad!


    Tang Wulin looked down at his Blood God Bracelet. He had slain three Engulfment Lizards, and that had earned him 30 accolades.


    Tang Wulin continued onward, and Engulfment Lizards sprang toward them relentlessly, only to be converted into energy and accolades for him. After passing through a tunnel that was around 500 meters long, Tang Wulin had killed over 40 Engulfment Lizards, earning close to 500 accolades. This was his first relatively substantial haul earned through battle in the abyss.


    The more Long Yuxue observed him from behind, the more astonished she became. The combat prowess that Tang Wulin had displayed when facing these Engulfment Lizards was extremely stable, and all of his attacks struck either the eyes or the heads of these lizards. The heads of Engulfment Lizards were comparable in hardness to certain alloys, but his Golden Dragon Spear was able to pierce through them without any trouble as if they were made of tofu.


    What incredible melee combat prowess!


    Long Yuxue was gradually able to relax a little, and the two of them arrived at the second node in this passageway.


    Compared to the previous node, this one was slightly larger. It was a cave with a diameter of over 50 meters, and the spatial energy fluctuations in the surrounding area were quite intense.


    As soon as Tang Wulin entered the node, he was greeted by the sight of a pair of greyish-white eyes that were filled with deathly energy.


    This was a massive Engulfment Lizard that was more than 10 times the size of the Engulfment Lizard that they''d fought before this. Its body was over seven meters long, and was entirely covered by thick grey scales. These scales were constantly opening and closing while emanating faint grey mist as the creature inhaled and exhaled.


    "Be careful, this is an Engulfment Lizard of a far higher level than the ones we faced before. The mist it emits is extremely versatile and can manifest into anything from armor to weapons. Try not to let it get close to you," Long Yuxue cautioned in a serious voice.


    Tang Wulin rushed forward in a flash while pointing his Golden Dragon Spear up ahead. At the same time, he released his Golden Dragon Body, and golden dragon scales instantly appeared all over his skin while his hands transformed into golden dragon claws.


    His eyes were also shimmering with golden light, and the massive Engulfment Lizard let loose a low roar as the mist emanating from its scales suddenly became denser. The mist surged forward rapidly, and just as the Golden Dragon Spear was about to pass through it, the mist suddenly congealed, enveloping the spear in the process.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he''d plunged his Golden Dragon Spear into a swamp, and at the same time, the dense grey mist was surging toward him in an attempt to completely envelop him as well.


    Right at this moment, a loud boom erupted, and the massive Engulfment Lizard let loose a roar of fury as most of the dense mist around it instantly dissipated.


    Its massive body was also sent flying right after the resounding boom, and Tang Wulin didn''t even have to look to know that Long Yuxue had just shot it with her gun. Melee combatants fighting at close-quarters while long-range offensive units covered them from a distance was a very standard battle tactic employed in the military.


    Tang Wulin raised his left arm and made a hand signal to indicate that he had everything under control. He then shook the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand, and golden light erupted to dispel all of the grey mist. Following another flash of golden light, the spear had already been plunged into the Engulfment Lizard''s head.


    A burst of energy that was countless times richer than that of the energy in a normal Engulfment Lizard immediately surged into his body. The massive Engulfment Lizard also quickly vanished, but none of its energy was able to escape back into the abyss.


    This really was a fantastic place for cultivation! Tang Wulin couldn''t help but grow rather excited.


    At this moment, Long Yuxue arrived beside him, and cautioned, "Don''t get ahead of yourself. These abyssal creatures can''t be judged using normal logic; at times, opponents that are seemingly quite weak can create huge problems for us."


    Tang Wulin nodded, and said, "I''ll keep that in mind, but you don''t have to be in such a hurry to step in; you can cover me after it becomes apparent that I''m in a dangerous situation."


    Long Yuxue harrumphed, "So this is how you repay me for helping you out!"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. He could tell that Long Yuxue was extremely competitive and was either consciously or unconsciously comparing herself against him.


    He glanced down at his Blood God Bracelet to find that he''d received 50 more accolades.


    The only downside in Tang Wulin''s mind was that there weren''t all that many abyssal creatures within this small passageway.


    They continued onward toward the next tunnel, but just as he was about to enter it, a strong sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart.


    With his Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, he had far sharper senses than the average person, and he plunged his Golden Dragon Spear forward without any hesitation. A golden dragon erupted forth along his Golden Dragon Spear, and he''d unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Even though the attack was quite rushed, Tang Wulin was so adept at using the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens that he still managed to unleash at least 70% of its power.


    A resounding boom rang out as a figure was blasted deep into the tunnel, and Tang Wulin only caught a brief glimpse of a pair of crimson eyes.


    His body flashed forward as he entered the tunnel, and at the same time, he released his Golden Dragon Body while golden light erupted from his eyes.


    Only after entering the tunnel did he manage to catch a clear glimpse of their enemy. This was a very strange-looking creature with a rhomboid body and six sets of claws. He immediately realized that this was a Six-clawed Demon that Long Yuxue had told him about in the past. This type of abyssal creature was very adept at concealment and unleashing sneak attacks, and they also possessed immense defensive prowess, as evidenced by the fact that this one remained largely unscathed despite being struck by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.


    It plunged its six sharp, long claws straight into the ground, and immediately thereafter, a dense expanse of spikes began to emerge from the ground beneath Tang Wulin''s feet.


    Each and every one of these spikes were very sharp and thin, and imbued with powerful destructive energy.


    "Bam bam bam!" A string of explosive booms rang out, and the Six-clawed Demon''s crimson pupils abruptly contracted.


    It had struck its target with its attack, but that string of booms had come entirely from its spikes being shattered. Tang Wulin didn''t even bother to evade as there was no way those spikes would be able to pierce through the defenses of his Golden Dragon Body.


    He let loose a cold harrumph as he stomped his right foot violently into the ground. A massive boom rang out, and all of the surrounding spikes were shattered into countless pieces. Immediately thereafter, the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand was sent flying, and the Six-clawed Demon had only just been flung up into the air by the force of his stomp when it was pinned to the ground following a flash of golden light.


    A series of golden halos erupted from the Golden Dragon Spear, and after it returned to Tang Wulin''s hand, it immediately reciprocated him with the energy of the Six-clawed Demon.


    Tang Wulin looked down at the dual-tip spear in his hand with a very pleased expression. The fact that it was constantly reciprocating him with energy meant that he would be granted an extreme abundance of stamina.


    Not only was this energy replenishing his blood essence power, even his soul power had been replenished quite significantly.


    Tang Wulin was already beginning to feel that serving at the Blood God Legion wasn''t going to be a painful experience. Instead, it was a brilliant opportunity for him.


    Only then did Long Yuxue arrive in the cave, just in time to see the Six-clawed Demon being slain by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear. She could also take care of a Six-clawed Demon on her own, but she was more adept at long-range combat and Six-clawed Demons had extremely powerful defensive prowess, so it would''ve taken her a while to kill it.


    She gave Tang Wulin a thumbs-up, and asked, "How do you feel?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I''m not really satisfied."


    Long Yuxue rolled her eyes in response. "You''re still not satisfied? What else do you want? Let me tell you this; the most arrogant newbies are always the ones who die the quickest, so don''t be overly conceited. There are countless prodigies who have served in the Blood God Legion, but only the prodigies who survive are true prodigies."


    "I understand that. Let''s keep going." Tang Wulin strode on ahead.


    Long Yuxue followed along behind him, and she was slightly entranced by the sight of his broad shoulders, his ramrod-straight back, his crisp white military uniform, and his shimmering golden spear. She felt as if this man was completely identical to the image of the perfect future lover that she''d envisioned countless times in her mind.


    However, at the same time, her father''s words of warning also surfaced in her mind. He was indeed incredibly outstanding, but at the same time, he was bearing a far heavier burden than anyone else.


    From her own selfish perspective, she''d rather have him a little less exceptional than he currently was; perhaps those burdens wouldn''t fall onto his shoulders then.


    Tang Wulin was naturally oblivious to what Long Yuxue was thinking. The rewards that he''d reaped from killing abyssal creatures had filled him with battle intent, and he was striding onward in an eager but still cautious manner.


    Through the observation of his Purple Demon Eyes and immense spiritual power, he slew several more abyssal creatures. They didn''t grant him much energy, but it was more than enough to replenish the energy he was expending.


    It took a lot longer for them to reach the next node as the abyssal creatures along the way were far more powerful than the Engulfment Lizards they''d first encountered.

 Chapter 951: Goldsong Displays its Might

    Light appeared from the opening of the cave up ahead, but after they reached the end of the tunnel, Tang Wulin didn''t immediately charge out to the other side. Instead, he stopped on the spot.


    This node was significantly larger than the previous one, and the aura that he was sensing from it made him stop in his tracks.


    Even though his masking singlet had concealed his aura, he still felt many auras lock onto him from up ahead in that instant.


    There were at least 100 abyssal creatures within that node, among which were over 10 different species. This was a completely different situation from the previous node, in which they''d only encountered that one Six-clawed Beast.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly as he sensed just how many abyssal creatures lay up ahead. Long Yuxue had also arrived behind him at his point, and she said, "Don''t go in for now, and make sure to constantly be on your guard. Use the equipment that you bought if and when required."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response and stood in front of the cave entrance with his Golden Dragon Spear in his hand.


    He didn''t need to take the initiative as the abyssal creatures that had discovered them were already rushing toward them from within the node.


    The first to arrive were several Engulfment Lizards, which were situated the closest to them. They were all quite large, and their scales were constantly opening and closing, sending dense grey mist surging directly toward them.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he spun his Golden Dragon Spear, quickly forming a light barrier. His immense blood essence power erupted as he rapidly rotated the Golden Dragon Spear, thereby keeping the grey mist at bay. At the same time, he stomped his right foot heavily into the ground. Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!


    The three Engulfment Lizards that were closest to him were instantly immobilized by the shockwaves, and eight golden dragons erupted from the ground, tearing their bodies into shreds in an instant.


    A peculiar turn of events then unfolded. Even though the three Engulfment Lizards hadn''t been slain by his Golden Dragon Spear, their energy was still drawn by the rotating Golden Dragon Spear before surging into his body. This was perhaps due to the powerful blood essence fluctuations emanating from his rotating Golden Dragon Spear, or simply perhaps because they were situated too close to Tang Wulin when they were killed. In any case, this was definitely a pleasant surprise!


    The eight golden dragons continued to surge through the air, sending the other Engulfment Lizard''s flying with their residual power. There was no way that any of them were getting past Tang Wulin.


    "Boom, boom, boom!" Three shots were fired in rapid succession, and the eyeballs of three Engulfment Lizards exploded one after another. The injuries weren''t enough to kill them, but they had still been severely wounded. Long Yuxue had also joined the battle.


    For a long-range attacker like her, having a powerful meat shield like Tang Wulin standing in front of her was nothing short of ideal.


    Another group of abyssal creatures charged toward them, most of which were Six-clawed Demon, and there were over 20 of them in total. None of the Six-clawed Demons rushed forward to approach them. Instead, they all plunged their sharp claws into the ground, sending a vast expanse of spikes spread toward Tang Wulin. These spikes possessed immense penetrative power, and even though Tang Wulin could defend himself against them with ease, the same didn''t apply to Long Yuxue.


    "Don''t worry, leave them to me!" Tang Wulin yelled as he stomped his right foot into the ground, unleashing another Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. All of the spikes erupting from the ground were shattered in an instant, and all of the Six-clawed Demons in the distance were flung up into the air by the shockwaves.


    A burst of golden light shot forth from Tang Wulin''s body, hurtling through the air like a bolt of lightning. It appeared before the first Six-clawed Demon in virtually the blink of an eye, and countless streaks of golden light erupted from the ground. All of these streaks of golden light resembled the spikes that the Six-clawed Demons had just unleashed, and all of them were instantly immobilized. Immediately thereafter, the golden figure swept its own body through the air like a powerful whip, shattering the bodies of the Six-clawed Demons and reducing them to bursts of grey energy.


    Another streak of golden light descended from the up above before plunging itself into the ground right at the center of where the Six-clawed Demon had just been destroyed. All of the escaping bursts of grey energy were immediately drawn into that streak of golden light.


    The first streak of golden light that had shot forth from Tang Wulin''s body had already revealed itself to be a massive golden snake. This snake had a rather special appearance; its entire body was covered in golden rhomboid scales, and if one were to pay close attention, they''d discover that those scales were identical to the ones on Tang Wulin''s body. It was over six meters in length, and what was most remarkable was that it had two short horns poking out of its head, and the structure of its head also resembled that of a wyrm more so than a snake.


    It was extraordinarily fast, and it had undoubtedly been the one that had just taken care of all of those Six-clawed Demons.


    "Is that a soul spirit?" Long Yuexue exclaimed. What a powerful soul spirit! Six-clawed Demons weren''t considered to be all that powerful among abyssal creatures, but no abyssal creature was truly weak. Furthermore, the forte of these Six-clawed Demons lay in their defensive prowess, which made it all the more remarkable that this massive golden snake was able to shatter their bodies so easily.


    This was naturally none other than Tang Wulin''s first soul spirit, Goldsong.


    Goldsong had grown and developed alongside Tang Wulin, and even though it was fundamentally a snake, it was steadily progressing toward becoming a dragon through the constant nurturing effect of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline. It was Tang Wulin''s first soul spirit, so it had been with him for the longest time. At the same time, it was a defective soul spirit that had started off like a blank canvas that had since been completely immersed in the Golden Dragon King bloodline, thereby allowing it to become more and more powerful. It was able to use all of Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor soul skills, and even some of his blood essence abilities.


    The three-year period during which Tang Wulin had been burying dragon skeletons in the Dragon Valley had actually been a massive turning point in Goldsong''s development. Tang Wulin had been nurtured by dragon souls every single day in the Dragon Valley, and Goldsong also experienced the same benefits. Its bloodline was completely transformed during that process, and the extent of the transformation had been quite extreme.


    Tang Wulin had initially been oblivious to this, but after releasing it for a few times, he discovered that Goldsong had become countless times more powerful than before, and it had benefited from that experience far more so than the Tyrant Dragon.


    Due to the limitation of his cultivation rank, he could only summon the Tyrant Dragon for a limited amount of time, and that time limit would continue to extend as he became more powerful. In contrast, he could summon Goldsong for virtually a limitless amount of time. This was because Goldsong had such superb synergy with him and it was virtually a part of his body.


    Long Yuxue was only seeing Goldsong for the first time, so how could she not be astonished by its prowess?


    Goldsong flashed through the air and unleashed another attack. It released the Bluesilver Impaling Array again, and a vast expanse of golden spikes spread through the surrounding area, immobilizing a large number of abyssal creatures that were caught within the scope of the array.


    Goldsong then swept its own body through the air like a dragon whip, and it had also inherited Tang Wulin''s strength, so it was able to pulverize the bodies of the abyssal creatures around it with ease.


    At the same time, it had a spiritual connection with Tang Wulin, and it made sure to destroy the abyssal creatures only when they were close to the Golden Dragon Spear, thereby allowing the majority of their energy to be devoured by the spear.


    There were over 100 abyssal creatures in this cave to begin with, but the vast majority of them had been slain by Goldsong, and only a paltry few managed to reach the entrance of the cave.


    Long Yuxue looked on at the scenes unfolding before her eyes in a completely flabbergasted manner. She was a Soul Master, and she also had soul spirits, but compared to this soul spirit, her soul spirits were absolute trash!


    This thing was way too powerful! How had his soul spirit become this powerful? She wasn''t even sure if she could beat this soul spirit in a one-on-one battle.


    The entire area was finally cleared, and Tang Wulin raised a hand. The Golden Dragon Spear immediately returned to his grasp from the distance before reciprocating the energy it had absorbed into his body.


    His blood essence and soul power vortexes instantly became slightly denser, and the crystalline structures within them also became more pronounced. Tang Wulin knew that this was a sign that he was closer to attaining a soul core and a bloodline core.


    At this rate of progression, he''d be able to attain those cores in the near future!

 Chapter 952: Abyssal Tide

    Long Yuxue exhaled in a dumbfounded manner. Even if there had been an entire platoon of soldiers present, it would''ve taken longer for them to eradicate all of these abyssal creatures than the time it had taken this soul spirit to destroy all of them on its own. This was simply incredible!


    Just how powerful was this man? He still hadn''t used his suit of battle armor in battle yet, so this wasn''t even anywhere near the full extent of his prowess.


    Tang Wulin leaped into the node and quickly continued onward without withdrawing Goldsong. After reaching the next tunnel, Goldsong went on ahead before him.


    Goldsong could act as his eyes, so he could see everything that it saw.


    Goldsong appeared within the tunnel amid a flash of golden light, yet much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, there wasn''t even a single abyssal creature to be seen here.


    "We should wrap things up here, Wulin. This is your first time here, so it''s best not to go in too deep. Abyssal creature tides will emerge within the abyssal passageway at irregular intervals. During those times, vast numbers of abyssal creatures will appear at once, and the two of us alone..."


    Just as she was speaking, Tang Wulin suddenly stopped, and interjected, "Looks like you''ve predicted it perfectly."


    All of a sudden, a string of low roars sounded in the distance, and violent air currents suddenly began to surge toward them from within the passageway.


    Long Yuxue''s expression instantly changed drastically upon hearing this sound!


    "There''s an abyssal tide coming right now! Run!" She grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s arm and immediately fled the scene as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know much about the abyssal passageway, but he certainly wasn''t delusional enough to believe that he could withstand an abyssal tide on his own. Thus, he immediately turned and fled with Long Yuxue.


    Long Yuxue was a little slow, so he wound his right arm around her slender waist while releasing his suit of two-word battle armor before spreading his golden wings.


    Goldsong vanished into his body as a streak of golden light, and Tang Wulin flapped his wings vigorously. At the same time, he directed all of his blood essence energy into his Dragon Moon battle armor, and his body shot forth like a bolt of golden lightning back the way they''d initially come from.


    Long Yuxue let loose a cry of surprise, and in the next instant, she found herself pressed up against a wide and solid chest. They were flying so quickly that she was barely able to keep her eyes open in the face of the buffeting winds, but she was struck by an indescribable sense of safety and security in this moment.


    He''s so fast! With his battle armor activated, he doesn''t seem to be much slower than a Demonic Enchantress!


    The strings of low roars continued to erupt relentlessly from behind them, and the sound was clearly getting closer and closer. Tang Wulin felt as if there were a gargantuan vortex of destruction that was constantly approaching them in an attempt to devour them whole.


    This was certainly not a good feeling. The overwhelming sense of peril forced him to fly as quickly as he could through the abyssal passageway.


    Finally, they arrived at the place where they''d first entered the passageway, which was also where the Blood God Legion troops were situated.


    "Look out, everyone! There''s an incoming abyssal tide!" Tang Wulin yelled.


    In reality, even as he was rushing through the passageway, he''d discovered that this node had already been filled with energy. A series of massive light shields had already emerged, and all of the soul cannons were fully charged and ready to go. The countless low roars erupting in the distance acted as the ideal warning siren.


    Tang Wulin flapped his wings as he descended onto the ground with Long Yuxue and heaved a sigh of relief.


    Many of the Blood God Legion soldiers present were looking at his massive golden wings with envy and admiration in their eyes.


    All of them were exceptional talents in their own right, but two-word battle armor masters were still very rare even in the Blood God Legion.


    A massive light shield appeared before them, and the sense of peril that they''d been experiencing immediately vanished. It was also right at this moment that an extremely powerful burst of greyish-black energy rushed out of the passageway.


    All of the light shields lit up in unison, and the bright lights instantly fused as one to form a massive light barrier that kept the greyish-black energy at bay.


    Within the greyish-black light, there seemed to be something brandishing their teeth and claws, attacking the light barrier with all their might.


    Only now did Long Yuxue get a chance to catch her breath, and she looked up at Tang Wulin to find a grim expression on his face. She gently patted her own chest and also raised the soul gun in her hands.


    Even though they were separated by her miniature mecha, she was still struck by a strong sense of security when she was being held by him earlier. This guy really was worthy of being the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of what Long Yuxue was thinking, and he was currently focused on experiencing the energy fluctuations radiating from the abyssal tide.


    These energy barriers should be able to temporarily withstand this assault, but the energy fluctuations from the abyssal tide were extremely powerful, and the barrier didn''t seem to be able to completely keep it at bay.


    Sure enough, after a short while, loud sirens had already been set off.


    "This is a level three abyssal tide, and the barrier can last only five more minutes at most! Retreat to the second line of defense right away and request for reinforcements from the control center! It looks like the abyssal creatures are unleashing an all-out assault."


    "Let''s go." Long Yuxue tugged on Tang Wulin''s arm before rushing into the passageway first.


    Tang Wulin flapped his wings and followed close behind her.


    "What does a level three abyssal tide entail?" he asked as he followed along behind her.


    Long Yuxue wore a grim expression as she said, "Generally speaking, most abyssal tides are either level one or level two, and in those cases, the protective barrier here would be enough to completely keep them at bay. However, roughly once every several decades, the abyssal creatures would launch a full-force assault, and only in those instances would the abyssal tides reach level three. Level three abyssal tides require large-scale defensive equipment to ward off, and it also entails that powerful beings will emerge from the abyss to attack our defenses with all their might. These are always the most arduous times for us; I didn''t think that you''d encounter such a situation on your first trip here. Even I''ve never encountered a level three abyssal tide before. Prepare for battle now. At times like these, all available units will be required to battle."


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin didn''t ask any more questions. All they could do now was defend with everything they had and await the arrival of reinforcements.


    After retreating to the second line of defense, Tang Wulin finally saw the aforementioned large-scale defensive equipment. These soul tools had been prepared well in advance, and rows of defensive formations quickly took shape. Everyone was acting in a very efficient and orderly manner, and they weren''t panicking in the slightest even in the face of this level three abyssal tide.


    A series of soul tools that Tang Wulin didn''t even recognize were quickly brought over, and the energy fluctuations within this space abruptly became more powerful. A gigantic metal ball had dropped down within the abyssal cave behind them, and the ball had a diameter of over 300 meters. There were hundreds of streaks of light erupting from the underside of the metal ball to bear its weight, and it was releasing an extremely enormous amount of energy. At the same time, a series of huge metallic tubes extended from it, each of which reached into one of the surrounding abyssal caves before connecting with the soul tools inside.


    "What''s that thing?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Long Yuxue replied, "That''s the true core of our Blood God Legion; it''s known as the Blood God Heart. The federation expended countless resources and manpower to create this thing in collaboration with our research department. There is only one Blood God Heart in the entire federation, and it can draw upon an enormous amount of natural energies before converting them into soul power. That soul power will then be injected into our soul tools to create a massive energy circuit. Have you heard of hyper soul battery arrays?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I have. They''re used to provide energy to large soul tools, right."


    "Correct. In a sense, the Blood God Heart is a hyper soul battery array, but it was created using the most cutting edge soul technology. A special type of metal was used alongside a corresponding soul array mutation, and this type of metal can release an extremely enormous amount of energy in response to the mutation. When this metal was first discovered, the federation had used it to make weapons, and that was how the three Godslayer missiles came to be. However, the Godslayer missiles were too fearsome, so no more than three were made. There was also only very little of that uncommon metal that remained, and all of it was used to construct this Blood God Heart in order to provide the energy required to guard this place."


    Tang Wulin was truly stunned to hear this. He didn''t know just how effective this Blood God Heart was, but he had witnessed the devastating destructive power of Godslayer missiles in person! Even a Limit Douluo wearing a suit of four-word battle armor was unable to completely nullify the explosions of those missiles, and both Shrek Academy, as well as the Tang Sect headquarters, had been demolished by this missile. Who would''ve thought that the Blood God Legion would possess a powerful soul tool of the same caliber?


    Right at this moment, a low buzzing sound rang out, and at this point, all of the soldiers on the first defensive line had already retreated back. A blue light shield instantly took shape at the exit of the passageway to completely seal it off.

 Chapter 953: Participating in Melee Combat

    "Boom!" The greyish-black energy struck in less than a minute, causing the blue light barrier to flicker and waver while the entire abyssal cave tremored and quaked. However, this blue light barrier possessed far superior defensive prowess compared to the one that was the first defensive line, and it remained completely resolute and unmoved in the face of the attack.


    Tang Wulin turned to Long Yuxue, and asked, "What happens next?"


    Long Yuxue replied, "Generally speaking, abyssal tides always begin with an assault of destructive energy, and that destructive energy will bring large numbers of abyssal creatures along with it. After that, a full-frontal assault would ensue. The protective barrier can keep the destructive energy at bay, but maintaining the barrier requires a vast amount of energy expenditure. Hence, as soon as the destructive energy from the abyssal tide disappears, we have to immediately deactivate the protective barrier in case another wave of destructive energy strikes. Our legion will then have to battle the abyssal creatures; so you should take a quick rest now because we''ll definitely be facing a fierce battle soon!"


    Long Yuxue dragged Tang Wulin over to a corner as she spoke, then withdrew her miniature mecha before sitting down on the ground with her legs crossed to meditate.


    Tang Wulin also withdrew his suit of battle armor, and due to the fact that they were from the special service department, no one approached them to ask any questions. There were already large numbers of Blood God Legion soldiers pouring into the area, and all of the soldiers at the front were adept in melee combat and wearing thick and heavy mechas. Meanwhile, all types of soul cannons had been set up behind them, and many long-range attacking soldiers stood at the ready.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin caught sight of an acquaintance; it was none other than Jiang Wuyue.


    Jiang Wuyue wasn''t wearing a mecha at the moment, so he was only in his white military uniform, and he was instructing the soldiers in the front row to organize them into set formations.


    All of the energy that Tang Wulin had expended earlier had been replenished by his Golden Dragon Spear, so he was very much ready for battle. He took a glance at Long Yuxue before rising to his feet and making his way over to Jiang Wuyue.


    His forte lay in melee combat, and Jiang Wuyue was in charge of a melee combat battalion, so he''d be able to make better use of his skills under Jiang Wuyue.


    "Superior!" Tang Wulin arrived beside Jiang Wuyue before extending a military salute toward him.


    Jiang Wuyue was hurriedly issuing one instruction after another, and he immediately faltered slightly at the sight of Tang Wulin. "Why are you here? Aren''t you a newbie?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Superior Long brought me here for practical combat training, and we were in there until the abyssal tide struck."


    Jiang Wuyue''s heart stirred, and he suddenly asked in a low voice, "That enhancement ability you used on me last time; how many people can you use it on at once?"


    The memory of Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain still remained fresh in his mind. After all, how could he forget something that had enhanced his powers by more than 50%?


    Abyssal tides were stern trials for the Blood God Legion, but at the same time, every single abyssal tide brought along with it an opportunity to earn a vast number of accolades, and he fully intended to capitalize on it. If his powers could receive a 50% boost at a time like this, then he''d undoubtedly be able to earn more accolades!


    Tang Wulin replied, "My domain covers a diameter of 50 meters, and everyone within that range will benefit from it. Soul Masters with dragon-type martial souls will benefit the most."


    "Alright, got it. How about you come with me, Brother? We''ll split you some of the accolades that we collectively earn." Jiang Wuyue cut straight to the chase. He had always been quite blunt and straightforward with his intentions.


    Tang Wulin also liked his straightforward personality, and this was his objective when he decided to approach Jiang Wuyue anyway. "No problem. I''ll be in your care then, Superior."


    "Then it''s settled. You might even be able to earn a promotion to lieutenant through this battle. Haha, what brilliant luck! Our battalion just so happens to be on guard duty here; I always hoped that we''d be able to encounter an abyssal tide here, but I didn''t think there''d be a level three abyssal tide! This only happens once every few decades!"


    Not only was Jiang Wuyue not fearful in the slightest in the face of the oncoming enemies, he was instead filled with excitement.


    In his heart, it was a soldier''s duty to display their prowess and kill enemies on the battlefield. With his personality, there was no way that he''d agree to join a legion in a peaceful region; only in a legion like this could he regularly experience the joy of slaying enemies in battle.


    Tang Wulin had quite a good impression of Jiang Wuyue. In particular, the fact that Jiang Wuyue was able to display such immense combat prowess even after being dominated by his Golden Dragon King bloodline was a testament to his tremendous battle intent.


    Hence, he was very much looking forward to seeing what Jiang Wuyue would be capable of on the battlefield, and he was even more eager to see just how fearsome the Blood God Legion was.


    He didn''t join the military just to earn a high military rank for himself. Instead, he was trying to build up his own forces. As such, he had actually been rather disappointed after finding out that the Blood God Legion had been situated here to guard the abyssal passageway. Even if he could build up his own forces in the legion, there was no way that he''d be able to take them away from here as they were tied down to their duty of guarding the abyssal passageway here.


    Even so, if the Blood God Legion were powerful enough, it would still be immensely beneficial to him.


    Jiang Wuyue patted Tang Wulin''s shoulder in a firm manner, and said, "Come with me."


    He then began to issue further instructions to his troops.


    Jiang Wuyue didn''t seem to be the brightest bulb in the box in everyday life, but in the heat of battle, it was as if he''d transformed into a completely different person. He was very calm and thoughtful in the orders that he issued, and he wasn''t allowing his overflowing battle intent to influence his judgment in the slightest. He paid close attention to every single detail, and soon, a defensive line of iron and steel had been set up at the forefront by his melee combat battalion under his instructions.


    Through his observation, Tang Wulin discovered that the melee combat battalion had a total of 100 mechas, five of which were black mechas while the others were all purple. In another legion, this wouldn''t just be a battalion; it would be a major mecha squad, which would be the equivalent of a corps! However, it was only considered to be a battalion here.


    Not only that, but the melee combat battalion had 100 one-word battle armor masters as well. The melee combat abilities of these battle armor masters would definitely not be inferior to that of those mecha pilots.


    Normally speaking, a battalion would have somewhere between 300 to 500 troops. Jiang Wuyue''s melee combat battalion had 300 soldiers, and he explained to Tang Wulin that each of those mechas housed two people in order to make better use of the powers of those mechas.


    Two people definitely had more soul power than one person, and their martial souls could assist one another as well. However, the mechas were quite bulky as a result, so in some small-scale battles, they weren''t as effective as battle armor masters. This was why there were also 100 battle armor masters in the battalion as well. Even though they were only one-word battle armor masters, their combat prowess was definitely nothing to be scoffed at. There were no Soul Masters below the four-ring Soul Ancestor level in the entire melee combat battalion, and just this battalion alone would most likely be able to defeat a division consisting of 10,000 troops from any other legion with no issues at all.


    These soldiers really were the elite of the elite!


    Of course, there wasn''t just one melee combat battalion; there were a total of three melee combat battalions present. There were 36 passageways of this size, and Tang Wulin couldn''t help but wonder if all of them were guarded by the same number of troops of the same quality. There were fewer long-range attackers at the back compared to the number of troops in the melee combat battalions up the front, but their firepower would undoubtedly be most effective when it came to eradicating the oncoming abyssal creatures.


    Tang Wulin was constantly trailing along beside Jiang Wuyue, learning about the battlefield by listening to the instructions that he was issuing. This was a brilliant opportunity for him!


    When Jiang Wuyue finally finished issuing his orders, all of the preparations were complete.


    The abyssal passageway was still trembling incessantly as one wave of destructive energy swept forth after another, seemingly in a neverending assault.


    However, all of the Blood God Legion troops were quite calm and collected. All of their soul tools had been fully charged, and everyone was fully primed for battle.

 Chapter 954: The Ferocious Abyssal Tide

    The reinforcements had also arrived at this point, but they didn''t join the troops that were already gathered here. Instead, they were prepared to substitute any of the soldiers here at any time.


    It was no coincidence that the two divisions of the Blood God Legion had managed to successfully guard the abyssal passageway for over 6,000 years; regardless of what types of changes or dangers they encountered, they were always able to react very quickly, and just that alone set them apart from most other legions.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he could sense that his own blood was beginning to boil in the heat of battle.


    What man didn''t dream of dominating the battlefield and experiencing the exhilaration of battle?


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had ever stepped onto an official battlefield, and it was also his first time facing a battle of such a large scale. There were close to 2,000 people in the passageway on their side.


    Tang Wulin had asked Jiang Wuyue about this; if all 36 passageways were guarded by close to 2,000 troops, then there weren''t even enough soldiers in the entire legion to accommodate this! After all, they only had around 15,000 troops that were available for battle, and that would only be enough to guard seven passageways.


    In response, Jiang Wuyue had explained to him that not all of the passageways were guarded by the same number of troops. It wasn''t that easy for the abyssal creatures to unleash an abyssal tide, and when abyssal tides struck, only three of the 36 passageways would be affected at most.


    As such, not all of the passageways had to be so heavily guarded, and there were protective barriers in all of the passageways anyway.


    If the abyssal tide really were to appear in more passageways, then the defenses set up by the Blood God Heart would be able to keep it at bay, affording the legion enough time to transfer their troops back and forth between the passageways.


    At the same time, the legion had some backup forces, as well as some special soul weapons that specifically targeted abyssal creatures. They''d been guarding this place without fail for several millennia, so they naturally had their ways.


    After hearing this explanation, Tang Wulin decided to observe everything for himself rather than asking further questions.


    Only after a sustained assault lasting for close to two hours did the destructive energy gradually abate. However, Tang Wulin could see that countless abyssal creatures had already filled the exit of the cave, and they''d immediately rush in as soon as the light barrier was lifted.


    The abyssal creatures were so horrifying in appearance that a normal person would most likely faint from horror at the very sight of them.


    "Prepare for battle!" Jiang Wuyue yelled as light flashed from his body, and his suit of battle armor was released. A pair of wings spread open on his back, indicating that this was a suit of two-word battle armor.


    His suit of battle armor was entirely black in color without any lavish patterns inscribed on its surface, but it was extremely thick and heavy, which perfectly complemented the forte of the Tyrant Dragon; pure strength!


    The mechas from the melee combat battalion all took a step forward and raised the giant shields in their hands.


    Every mecha was holding a massive shield that was around 15 meters tall, which was able to defend all of them.


    All they had to do was keep the enemies'' attacks at bay, and they''d already be completing an important mission; the long-range attacking soldiers in the rear were going to be the ones doing the majority of the damage.


    If it weren''t for the fact that this was a level three abyssal tide, there wouldn''t have had to be so many troops deployed to the scene.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel rather amused by how ridiculous his own luck was. Setting aside the fact that a level three abyssal tide only took place once every several decades, even if the abyssal tide were to affect three of the 36 main caves, he''d only have a one in 12 chance of encountering it. The fact that all of the stars had aligned to make this happen on his first trip into the abyss left him feeling quite speechless.


    Right at this moment, all of the destructive energy finally vanished, and an electronic voice sounded as a result. "The Blood God Heart barrier will now be withdrawn. Everyone, prepare for battle."


    Long Yuxue rose up into the air to search for Tang Wulin, only to discover that he was standing beside Jiang Wuyue. Her brows furrowed slightly, but her professionalism as a soldier immediately shone through as she joined the long-range attacking units without any hesitation in preparation for the upcoming battle.


    The blue light gradually began to fade, and the loud cries coming from the abyssal creatures had become quite clearly audible.


    "Attack!" A commander''s voice rang out from the rear, and several hundred balls of light immediately shot forth at once, flying through the air in parabolic trajectories, aimed at the opening of the cave with unerring accuracy.


    The Blood God Heart protective barrier vanished at exactly this moment, and the abyssal creatures surged forth in a frenzy.


    "Howl!" A sharp howl erupted, and all of the hearts of the Blood God Legion soldiers shuddered in response as their eyes began to glaze over. Thankfully, a white light barrier appeared right at this moment to cut off that sound.


    At this point, the Blood God Legion was extremely experienced in facing abyssal creatures, and a lot of that experience had been accrued through countless deaths and bloodshed.


    A string of resounding booms rang out, and countless abyssal creatures were blown into smithereens by the explosion. Extremely powerful energy fluctuations began to sweep over the entire battlefield. There seemed to be no end to the long-range attacks coming from behind, and they were clashing violently with the oncoming abyssal creatures.


    Tang Wulin stood beside Jiang Wuyue, and he couldn''t see anything aside from countless balls of light exploding up ahead of them.


    The giant shields in the hands of mechas of the melee combat battalion all lit up in unison, conjuring up protective light barriers that formed a barricade up ahead to allow their comrades in their rear to attack with reckless abandon.


    This was a true battle! Even though Tang Wulin was very confident in his own powers, he was still struck by a sense of insignificance in the midst of a battle of such massive proportions.


    One round of explosions erupted after another amid relentless strings of piercing cries. These abyssal creatures seemed to have no blood at all, and only streams of greyish-black mist were escaping back into the abyssal passageway. Those were the abyssal creatures that had been slain.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but imagine how much his body would be enhanced if he were to use his Golden Dragon Spear to absorb all of that energy.


    However, he only entertained that thought for a split second. Not taking into account the vast number of abyssal creatures that were up ahead, just the shockwaves from so many long-range attacks would be too much for him to handle.


    The battle had become extremely intense at this point, and all of the other tunnels that hadn''t been affected by the abyssal tide had also been sealed by Blood God Heart protective barriers in case new abyssal tides were to appear.


    The defenses were virtually impenetrable.


    Human technology had been constantly advancing, and new weapons were constantly appearing on the battlefield. When the Blood God Legion had first been founded, over 70% of their troops had perished during the first abyssal tide they faced. That number had been steadily decreasing with each successive abyssal tide that they faced.


    There were still troops who would perish during these abyssal tides even now, but the numbers had been limited to a certain range that made things a lot safer than they were in the past.


    "Boom!" A sound that was different from that of an explosion rang out, and one of the shield-wielding mechas was forced back ever so slightly. The abyssal creatures were getting closer!


    A barrage of more fierce clashes immediately followed. These abyssal creatures were extremely ferocious, and they rammed their bodies into the barriers before them over and over again. The mechas were defending with all their might while the long-range attacking units in the rear continued to unleash a vast amount of offensive output.


    The abyssal creatures were being completely kept at bay, yet Jiang Wuyue wore a grim expression as he assessed the entire battlefield. At this point, the battle armor masters and black mechas were still yet to join the battle; they were the backup forces that would only step in when required.


    The intensity of the assault currently being unleashed by their enemies wasn''t enough to threaten their defenses.


    Right at this moment, the earth suddenly began to tremor, and a series of black shadows appeared up in the air. These black figures were extremely massive, and as soon as they emerged, an enormous sense of pressure instantly weighed down on everyone.


    Tang Wulin raised his head to discover that over 10 huge Ba''ans had appeared up above, and they seemed to have been hurled here by some kind of unknown force. These Ba''ans were clearly trying to bypass the defensive line in order to attack the long-range attacking units.


    Jiang Wuyue harrumphed coldly as he swept an arm through the air, and a row of bright lights immediately appeared behind him.


    The long-range attackers were already prepared for this. Streaks of dazzling light surged through the air, and the Ba''ans up above immediately began to let loose howls of agony. All of them were reduced to streams of energy by the sustained attacks being unleashed from down below.


    Light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he was finally unable to resist any longer as he hurled his Golden Dragon Spear through the air to impale a Ba''an''s body. Some greyish-black energy was drawn back to him, and it was around the equivalent of one Ba''an''s energy.


    He received no accolades for this, but after his Golden Dragon Spear returned to his hand, a powerful burst of energy immediately surged through his body, instantly elevating his aura to a significant degree.


    "Don''t waste your power now," Jiang Wuyue said with furrowed brows.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response, but he was feeling extremely elated. As expected of a high-level abyssal creature like a Ba''an; just the energy from one of these creatures was making his soul core and blood essence core display signs of complete solidification.


    He silently controlled the two vortexes within his body to absorb this influx of energy. At the same time, he was purifying it once again and only retaining the most essential part of the energy.

 Chapter 955: Black Empress

    Just as Tang Wulin was basking in his elation, a dull thump suddenly rang out, and one of the mechas up ahead was sent flying back along with its massive shield without any premonition.


    Jiang Wuyue''s expression immediately changed as he rushed over to the mecha, using his own body to oppose it.


    The two crashed into one another, yet even Jiang Wuyue''s strength wasn''t enough to stop the mecha, and both of them began to fly back toward the long-range attacking units together.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin sprang into action as he activated his Body Sect blood essence power, then stomped his feet into the ground to propel his body forward. He caught Jiang Wuyue in mid-air with both hands and forcibly arrested his and the mecha''s momentum.


    However, after they landed on the ground, they discovered that the mecha''s shield had already been completely shattered, and the mecha was also lying limply on the ground with sparks flashing all over its body. After opening the hatch, it was discovered that the two mecha pilots had already perished with blood streaming out of all seven of their orifices.


    A black mecha immediately rushed forward to block the opening, and Tang Wulin caught sight of a figure that vanished in a flash.


    This was a tall and slender woman whose entire body was covered in a layer of dark purple scales. There was a pair of wings on her back, and bone claws on the upper tips of those wings. Her eyes were flashing with an unsettling black light, and many of the soul energy attacks aimed at her would fizzle out on their own after reaching within three meters of her, thereby rendering them completely unable to unleash their power.


    "We''ve got a Black Empress on our hands! Look out, everyone! Call for a Titled Douluo to face this thing!" Jiang Wuyue roared at the top of his lungs.


    Right at this moment, the black mecha that had filled in the gap was also sent flying toward Tang Wulin and Jiang Wuyue. The winged woman immediately flashed through the opening that she''d just created before appearing in the rear. She waved both hands through the air, and a ball of black energy immediately erupted, sending over 10 of the mechas around her flying and creating a massive opening in the defensive line.


    All of the backup battle armor masters immediately rushed forward without even requiring a command from Jiang Wuyue.


    Jiang Wuyue let loose a roar of fury and also charged toward the woman.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had seen such a living being. It bore a strong resemblance to a human woman, and its facial features were very beautiful. Even its figure was extremely voluptuous and seductive. However, it was over three meters tall, and the black scales all over her body were shimmering with an eerie light.


    Black Empresses and Demonic Enchantresses were all top-grade abyssal creatures, and they were also among the smallest of the top-grade abyssal creatures, thereby allowing them to pass through the abyssal passageway to this point.


    Compared to Demonic Enchantresses, Black Empresses weren''t as fast, but they possessed superior combat prowess. Each and every Black Empress possessed power that was not inferior to that of a Titled Douluo, and just the emergence of a single Black Empress had completely turned the tide of the battle.


    The long-range attackers in the rear were unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks toward the Black Empress, and they were just barely able to restrain it with the assistance of the battle armor masters. However, even more abyssal creatures were rushing through the defensive line. Five or six Ba''ans crashed their way through the opening and charged toward the long-range attackers in the rear.


    Tang Wulin was aware of how strong Ba''ans were, so he knew that these were opponents that even he would have to take very seriously if he weren''t wearing his battle armor. In the face of these Ba''ans, the purple mechas were looking quite frail.


    A thunderous dragon''s roar erupted from Tang Wulin''s mouth, and he immediately donned his suit of battle armor. His fourth golden soul ring lit up, and a golden halo abruptly proliferated from beneath his feet.


    His Dragon Moon battle armor was extremely lavish, and the golden halo strongly resembled a battle armor domain, so all of his allies were completely reinvigorated, thinking that a three-word battle armor master had arrived on the scene.


    A three-word battle armor master possessed power comparable to a Titled Douluo; even a seven-ring Soul Sage would be able to oppose a Black Empress given the enhancements from their suit of three-word battle armor.


    Within the scope of the golden halo, all battle armor masters and mechas were tinged with a golden hue. Their battle intent was instantly raised to the very limit, and at the same time, their soul power and bloodline fluctuations were all significantly enhanced.


    This was none other than Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain!


    He didn''t know what was the ideal time to release this domain, but he knew that if he were to continue to refrain from releasing, more casualties would definitely be suffered by the legion.


    Jiang Wuyue was most heavily affected by the Violent Golden Dragon Domain. He had adopted his giant Tyrant Dragon form, and a layer of dark golden light had appeared over his body as he charged toward the Black Empress. His aura instantly swelled drastically, and he opened his mouth to blast forth a powerful pillar of light that hurtled directly toward the Black Empress.


    The Black Empress turned toward him with a cold expression and waved her right hand through the air to conjure up a round black energy shield. The shield was able to keep his breath attack at bay, but the immense force behind the attack still made her body falter for a split second.


    Several dozens of soul energy attacks were immediately blasted toward her, forcing her to stumble back in retreat.


    However, her main mission wasn''t actually to lay waste to the enemy anyway. Instead, all she had to do was enlarge the opening in the defensive line, then divert as much firepower to herself as possible in order to allow more abyssal creatures to rush through the defenses.


    Thankfully, the battle armor masters on the scene had managed to temporarily stop her. Otherwise, the defensive line would''ve been broken already.


    Right at this moment, a dazzling golden figure suddenly rushed forward to catch up to Jiang Wuyue, and a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out across the entire battlefield.


    Due to the fact that he was rushing forward, Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain, which had an effective diameter of 50 meters, was able to encompass more people.


    More mecha pilots and battle armor masters were enhanced by the Violent Golden Dragon Domain as a result, and all of the Ba''ans and other abyssal creatures that had breached the defensive line were quickly forced back again.


    Tang Wulin then flapped his wings vigorously and descended toward the Black Empress as a streak of golden light.


    The Black Empress''s brows furrowed slightly, and she was seemingly slightly bothered by Tang Wulin''s domain. She clenched her right hand into a fist and drew back her arm before throwing an almighty punch!


    Tang Wulin felt as if a massive black vortex had suddenly appeared in front of him, and the vortex was devouring his energy in a frenzy. His entire body faltered as a result, and immediately thereafter, a burst of destructive aura that was filled with despair surged toward him while releasing corkscrew energy fluctuations.


    Tang Wulin let loose a loud dragon''s roar, and a giant dragon head immediately surfaced before him; it was none other than his Golden Dragon Roar!


    The destructive energy faltered momentarily, and a considerable portion of it was dispelled by the Golden Dragon Roar. Immediately thereafter, the Golden Dragon Roar transformed into the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and clashed with the destructive energy.


    "Boom!" A terrifying explosion ensued, and Tang Wulin''s body was immediately sent flying. However, the Black Empress down below certainly hadn''t enjoyed that clash, either. Tang Wulin naturally wasn''t as powerful as Titled Douluo, but his strength had certainly reached that level. Furthermore, the Black Empress had to deal with the relentless barrage of long-range attacks being aimed at her, so she was forced back several meters by Tang Wulin''s attack.


    Immediately thereafter, Jiang Wuyue rushed forward like a massive bulldozer. With the enhancements from the Violent Golden Dragon Domain and his suit of two-word battle armor, his powers were now comparable to that of a Soul Douluo.


    He slammed his body directly into the Black Empress, and was able to force her back out of the opening that she''d created.


    Tang Wulin flapped his wings to arrest his momentum, and he twisted around as he injected his soul power and blood essence power into his Golden Dragon Spear in a frenzy. The Golden Dragon Spear in his hand immediately began to glow with scintillating light, and it was as if all of the light within the cave had been drawn into it.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t holding back at all on this occasion, and with the enhancement of his Violent Golden Dragon Domain, his blood essence vortex was currently rotating at its maximum speed. Both tips of the Golden Dragon Spear were trembling slightly due to the enormous influx of energy. Extremely terrifying energy fluctuations began to emanate from the spear, and even the troops from the legion were staring up at Tang Wulin with astonishment in their eyes.


    He was clearly preparing for a devastating attack! The enhanced powers from his Violent Golden Dragon Domain and battle armor, as well as his powerful killing intent, were all being injected into the Golden Dragon Spear without any reservation.

 Chapter 956: Change in the Blood Essence Vortex

    After the Black Empress was forced back out through the opening in the defensive line, Jiang Wuyue was surrounded by a few Ba''ans, and a fierce series of clashes ensued.


    Right at this moment, all of the light in the cave suddenly dimmed, immediately following which a golden bolt of lightning reached the Black Empress almost instantaneously.


    The Black Empress had just forced back Jiang Wuyue with a devastating punch when she was struck by a sense of fear that welled up from directly within her soul. She abruptly folded her wings in front of her, and a massive black halo appeared above her head. The black halo bore the appearance of a crown, and there was faint golden light shimmering at its center. A strange rune then took shape in front of the Black Empress before forming a shield.


    Everything had happened in the blink of an eye, and golden light erupted in all directions. The surrounding Ba''ans were all sent flying by the terrifying shockwaves resulting from the explosion, and Jiang Wuyue was also forced to stumble back in retreat.


    The Black Empress''s body swayed slightly, and a hint of emotion finally appeared in her cold and expressionless eyes. She was in complete disbelief!


    The black shield that had been formed by the rune had already shattered, and a golden spear had skewered her hand and her shoulder.


    Terrifying suction force immediately erupted from the Golden Dragon Spear, and the Black Empress let loose a howl of anguish before violently swinging her arm through the air to forcibly fling the Golden Dragon Spear away. However, her entire arm was quickly shriveling up along with the right half of her body. Her shoulder collapsed, and even her right wing fell limply by her side.


    Her body swayed, and she quickly rushed back into the abyssal passageway, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.


    All of the black mechas had already rushed forward at this point, and with the assistance of the battle armor masters, they were able to slay several Ba''ans in quick succession before finally plugging the gap again. The long-range attacks from the rear were also becoming fiercer and fiercer as one giant ball of light after another crashed into the midst of the abyssal creatures, resulting in strings of violent explosions.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin descended from up above, and both his blood essence power and soul power had been completely exhausted. He had never tried to compress all of his power into a single attack. It was a good thing that he had such a powerful weapon in the form of his Golden Dragon Spear; a normal weapon would''ve completely exploded from the vast influx of energy.


    Golden light flashed, and the Golden Dragon Spear flew back into Tang Wulin''s grasp. An enormous burst of energy immediately surged into his body like a flowing river.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his body were a parched desert that was rapidly being replenished with vitality, and he couldn''t help but moan with pleasure. He stood on the spot, using his Golden Dragon Spear as a crutch as he silently absorbed the influx of energy.


    The energy that had been absorbed was almost entirely injected into his blood essence vortex, and it began to rotate again. An unprecedented feeling of power spread through his entire body, completely wiping away his feebleness. Even though this energy wasn''t replenishing his soul power to anywhere near the degree that it was replenishing his blood essence power, he had still instantly recovered to over 60% of his peak condition.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know whether that attack had inflicted lasting damage on the Black Empress. He had used the Tang Sect''s hidden weapon hand techniques after injecting all of his power into the Golden Dragon Spear, and the Black Empress had underestimated him, thereby resulting in her being severely wounded by that attack.


    However, this was the first time Tang Wulin had encountered an enemy that was able to forcibly extricate the Golden Dragon Spear from their body before they were sucked dry.


    It was a shame that he hadn''t been able to kill that Black Empress. Doing so would''ve definitely earned him an enormous amount of accolades that would significantly contribute to his promotions.


    Even so, Tang Wulin was already very satisfied. At the very least, he had absorbed the Black Empress''s energy, and his heart was filled with elation as he felt the relentless river of blood essence power surging froth from his Golden Dragon Spear.


    All of a sudden, his body abruptly shuddered. His blood essence churned within his body, causing his skin to turn slightly red in color. This red color was slightly abnormal, and much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, the color of his blood essence vortex also began to change. Due to its high-speed rotation, its original faint golden color was approaching a scorching white color. He felt as if some kind of explosive power were about to erupt within his body.


    Crap! Did I absorb too much energy for me to handle?


    A throbbing pain began to spread through his entire body, and he let loose a muffled groan. He tried to release his Golden Dragon Spear, but found himself completely unable to do so.


    A layer of golden light began to appear on the Golden Dragon Spear before being slowly injected into his body, and the redness of his skin became more and more pronounced. However, he was currently wearing his Dragon Moon battle armor with his visor covering his face, so no one could see the abnormal condition that he was in.


    He had just severely wounded a Black Empress and forced it into retreat, and it was very normal for him to be taking a rest after unleashing such a devastating attack. As such, no one had had any idea that there was currently something wrong with his body.


    This is bad!


    Never would Tang Wulin have thought that the Black Empress would possess such immense energy. The energy coming from the Golden Dragon Spear had already been filtered, but even after the filtration process, there still seemed to be no end to this influx of energy.


    Tang Wulin had only ever experienced this kind of feeling back when he was absorbing dragon clouds in the Dragon Valley. However, the energy flowing from the Golden Dragon Spear was much more direct. He could take his time when absorbing the dragon clouds as the energy from them had gathered on the outside of his body, but the Golden Dragon Spear was injecting its energy deep into his body, forcing it to fuse directly with his bloodline power. The process was too short; there was no time for him to digest and absorb this energy!


    What could he do? He had no choice but to bite the bullet and hope for the best!


    Tang Wulin activated his soul power to revolve around his blood essence power, trying to control the rotation of his blood essence vortex in a subtle way.


    However, that proved to be completely ineffective. The blood essence vortex was only accelerating in its rotation, and its scorching white color had illuminated his entire chest white.


    If it weren''t for the fact that his meridians were extremely resolute, his body would''ve most likely fallen apart already.


    A wry smile appeared on his face. His body was already on the verge of falling apart just from the influx of energy; wouldn''t the energy influx from breaking his 10th Golden Dragon King seal be even more fearsome?


    He was really beginning to reach his limit now. Strong danger signals were being set off in his brain, and right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly sensed his blood essence vortex collapsing in on itself.


    This sudden development made him feel as if his entire body were being compressed inward along with his blood essence vortex, and it was as if he were going to be crushed into smithereens.


    This is really bad!


    "Boom!"


    A resounding boom that was audible only to Tang Wulin erupted within his body. The terrifying explosion immediately made his mind go completely blank. Brilliant light radiated from his suit of battle armor, and if he hadn''t been wearing his suit of battle armor, everyone would be able to sense the unprecedentedly enormous aura erupting from his body. This aura erupted from his body alongside a burst of blood mist. However, the blood mist wasn''t red; instead, it was of a faint golden color.


    Tang Wulin was instantly deprived of all of his senses. In that instant, he felt as if his entire body had already exploded into its tiniest constituent particles. All of the chaos and commotion around him seemed to have been relegated to another world.


    His soul drifted in the air, and everything in his world had turned into a scorching white color. Only the resounding explosion was still echoing within his ears.


    How did this happen? His mind had already completely congealed, rendering him unable to think, but his heart was filled with astonishment.


    After what seemed like an eternity that could''ve also been just a split second, Tang Wulin''s body moved slightly, and tightened his grip around his Golden Dragon Spear again.


    His consciousness gradually returned to him, and his body was still being afflicted by intense throbbing pain, but there was a wonderful feeling that existed alongside this pain.


    It was an extremely comfortable itchy and warm sensation that was quickly eradicating the throbbing pain.


    Tang Wulin finally fully returned to his senses, and much to his surprise, he was greeted by the sight of a golden world. This wasn''t the actual world, but instead, it was the world within his body.


    He saw a system of complex golden lines. Were those... his meridians?


    Also, what were those solid strips of golden fibers? Were those his muscles? His bones appeared to be like transparent golden gems, and he could even see his bone marrow flowing like mercury within those bones.


    His golden blood circulated within his body as he breathed, converging toward his heart before being pumped all over his body.


    Everything within his body had become an entirely golden world. This was a very dazzling and exuberant golden color, as opposed to the original faint golden color.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly turned his attention to his own chest. There, he discovered that the blood essence vortex had disappeared, and it had been replaced by what appeared to be a series of golden strips of light that were revolving with his chest. At the very center of those strips of light was a stationary thumbnail-sized rhomboid crystal.

 Chapter 957: Dragon Core

    It wasn''t a very large crystal, but all of the golden strips of light originated from it, and Tang Wulin could see what appeared to be a series of spatial rifts above the crystalline core. Those spatial rifts were none other than his Golden Dragon King seals!


    This was the first time that he''d caught such a clear glimpse of the true existence of his Golden Dragon King seals. It seemed that all he had to do to break those seals was to direct all of those golden strips of light toward them.


    Could this be a bloodline core that was similar to a soul core? Was this something that had been manifested from his blood essence power?


    Tang Wulin was quite flabbergasted by this notion. In reality, even he hadn''t been sure of whether his blood essence vortex would eventually adopt a soul-core-like crystalline form.


    As it turned out, there seemed to be some kind of profound law in this world, and he''d successfully managed to manifest a blood essence core. All of the agony he had just experienced was irrelevant now as the formation of the core had elevated his bodily condition to a whole new level.


    It was undoubtedly countless times more difficult for one to manifest a soul-core-like structure with their blood essence power compared to doing the same with actual soul power. Tang Wulin had only managed to get to this point through a series of opportunities and coincidences, which had allowed him to continue to improve himself. Of course, the enhancements he received from his Golden Dragon King bloodline power was the main driving factor behind all of this.


    The enhancements that the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum had given him and the enormous influx of energy that he''d just absorbed had proven to be the final catalysts required for him to accomplish this unprecedented feat.


    He almost reflexively gave this crystalline core a name; dragon core!


    Without the assistance of his Golden Dragon King bloodline, there was no way that he would''ve been able to attain such immense blood essence power, so dragon core was a very fitting name for this blood essence core.


    He felt as if he''d been completely reborn as a new man, and the feeling was akin to that of breaking a Golden Dragon King seal. However, the difference there was that the formation of this dragon core was only going to be benefitting him and wouldn''t be harming him in any way. With this dragon core, Tang Wulin finally developed some confidence that his body wouldn''t immediately explode if he were to break his 10th Golden Dragon King seal.


    This was definitely fantastic news for him, and this dragon core was going to significantly decrease the risk involved in breaking his future Golden Dragon King seals. At the same time, with this dragon core, his physical constitution had finally exceeded the upper limit of what was possible for a human being, and he would now be able to progress toward another level.


    The so-called human limit was the most powerful physical constitution that a Limit Douluo could attain. It was undoubtedly the case that in terms of bodily condition alone, Tang Wulin had already reached that level.


    This brought to him a range of immense benefits; firstly, his body''s resistance had been significantly enhanced, as had his offensive and defensive powers, as well as his strength.


    Secondly, and most importantly, he wouldn''t ever have to worry about his soul power becoming too powerful for his body to handle. With his current physical constitution, he''d still be completely fine even if he were to attain the soul power of a Hyper Douluo right at this very instant. His future rate of cultivation would only become faster and faster, and no bottlenecks would pose an issue to him.


    He stood up straight before gently patting his own chest. He had survived that harrowing ordeal and reaped tremendous rewards from it, but his heart was still thumping rapidly in his chest. In that instant, he felt as if he were truly going to die. Thank heavens that hadn''t spelled the end of him.


    A relieved look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he pressed on the side of his helmet, withdrawing his visor so he could get some fresh air.


    At this moment, the deafening booms on the battlefield became audible to him again. The battle against the abyssal tide was still raging. Tang Wulin did a few stretches, and an unprecedented sense of power immediately coursed through every single corner of his body, making him moan with pleasure again.


    A series of cracks and pops rang out from his spine, and he was like a giant dragon awakening from hibernation.


    At this point, the opening in the defensive line had been completely filled, and Jiang Wuyue returned to Tang Wulin''s side before slamming a hand down onto his shoulder.


    "Nicely done! You really saved us back there. By the way, why did your domain disappear after only such a short time?" Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain had naturally vanished due to the crisis that his body had been afflicted with, but thankfully, he had done enough to help everyone force back the relentless waves of abyssal creatures again.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Something happened to my body just now, and I completely ran out of steam, so I was unable to maintain my domain."


    "That last attack was awesome! I didn''t think that you''d be able to wound a Black Empress! It''s a shame that you weren''t able to kill her. Otherwise, you''d be rolling in accolades right now!"


    There was still a hint of lingering fear in Tang Wulin''s heart. "That Black Empress was way too fearsome; I feel like she was even more powerful than a Demonic Enchantress."


    Jiang Wuyue nodded, and said, "They''re powerful in different ways. That Black Empress just then couldn''t be considered to be one of the most powerful ones among the entire Black Empress Race, but the most formidable thing about them is their potential for growth. Among the abyssal emperors, one of them is a Black Empress, and she''s also the most fearsome one. Back when the abyssal creatures descended upon this world for the first time, their supreme emperor had been from the Black Empress Race. The Black Empress that you saw today hasn''t completely attained a human form yet; the most powerful Black Empresses are completely identical in appearance to humans like us.


    "They can infiltrate our ranks through all types of tricks, and during the initial years following the founding of the Blood God Legion, they''d brought several massive disasters upon us. After that, we learned from our mistakes and set up better sensory devices that allowed us to kill a few Black Empresses before they could wreak any havoc, and they haven''t dared to try and infiltrate our ranks ever since. Among the abyssal creatures that can appear in this narrow abyssal passageway, the Black Empresses are the most powerful.


    "Emperor-level abyssal creatures can also emerge from the Demonic Enchantress Race, but they''ve always been a subsidiary race to the Black Empress Race. They can be considered to be the greatest allies of the Black Empress Race, but they''re more like subordinates. Now that a Black Empress has appeared in this abyssal tide, Demonic Enchantresses will most likely appear as well; we''re going to have a tough battle ahead of us."


    Jiang Wuyue''s voice had only just trailed off when a figure flew over to them from behind. This figure wore a full suit of silver armor with a pair of wings that had been fully spread open, and there was a ring of silver light beneath their feet.


    This was a true battle armor domain, which heralded the arrival of a three-word battle armor master!


    Powerful reinforcements had finally arrived.


    Due to the fact that the armored figure was wearing a visor, it was impossible to glean their true appearance, but the aura emanating from their body indicated that they were definitely quite powerful.


    Tang Wulin heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this. With this three-word battle armor master present, it would be a lot easier for them to maintain their defensive line, even if another Black Empress were to arrive.


    "Seeing as you''ve run out of power, you should go back to the base and rest. You''re from the special service department, so you shouldn''t have to engage in direct battle against these abyssal creatures anyway. Don''t worry about letting the Black Empress get away; even though you didn''t manage to kill her, you''ll definitely still be receiving accolades for what you did. The fact that you forced that Black Empress into retreat definitely helped us avoid many casualties, and I thank you on behalf of my brothers of the first battalion."


    Tang Wulin replied, "There''s no need to thank me; I''m only doing my duty, Superior. My body has completely recovered now, so please allow me to join the battle; I want to fight at the very front!"


    Jiang Wuyue chuckled, "Well said! From this day forth, you''re a brother of mine." He suddenly lowered his voice, and continued, "As long as you don''t try to take Yuxue away from me, that is. Otherwise, we''ll be brothers on the battlefield but enemies off it."


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''ve told you this already; I have a girlfriend already."


    Jiang Wuyue chortled, "I''m glad to hear that! Seeing as you want to go to the very front, then let''s go together. With a Blood God on the scene, I won''t have to command the troops anymore, so I can fight to my heart''s content as well."


    Tang Wulin rushed alongside Jiang Wuyue, and asked, "What''s a Blood God?"


    Jiang Wuyue replied, "The Blood Gods are the most powerful beings in our Blood God Legion, and the name of our legion was derived from their existence. Our legion currently has nine Blood Gods in total, all of whom are Titled Douluos and three-word battle armor masters. On top of that, we have a legion commander, two vice-legion commanders, and two division commanders, which makes a total of 14 Titled Douluos who are also three-word battle armor masters."

 Chapter 958: The Colossal Finger

    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this.


    14 three-word battle armor masters? That wasn''t as fearsome of a lineup compared to what Shrek Academy had in the past, but this was definitely still an extremely terrifying force even in the context of the entire continent. Even the federation''s Battle God Hall only had 18 Battle Gods!


    He didn''t know how powerful the Battle Gods were, but most of them were most likely three-word battle armor masters, which meant that the Blood God Legion had almost as many top-tier powerful beings among their ranks as the Battle God Hall did. It was no wonder that they were considered to be the most powerful legion on the entire continent despite their limited numbers; if he could receive the support of the Blood God Legion, he''d be taking a massive step toward bringing about the revival of Shrek Academy.


    Jiang Wuyue and Tang Wulin rushed onward, and all of the soldiers up ahead parted to make way for them.


    Jiang Wuyue let loose a ferocious roar, and his body quickly expanded in size as he rushed into the fray. His battle style was extremely direct and domineering. After releasing his suit of two-word battle armor, his fists were his greatest weapons, and he rammed a Ba''an aside as soon as he reached the front lines.


    Tang Wulin followed closely behind him, and his height had also exceeded two and a half meters with the enhancements of his two-word battle armor. He spread open his wings and swept his Golden Dragon Spear through the air, instantly pulverizing several oncoming Engulfment Lizards.


    At the same time, he flicked his wrist, and countless spear projections immediately erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear. Countless four-clawed bats were destroyed by the spear projections, and their energy was absorbed into his body through the spear.


    After absorbing the energy of abyssal creatures again, Tang Wulin immediately sensed that something had changed. In the past, the feeling of absorbing a four-winged bat''s energy had been quite apparent, but on this occasion, the energy completely vanished into his dragon core without resulting in any effects.


    Did his body simply require more energy for changes to take place now, or did he require energy of a higher caliber? Tang Wulin wasn''t sure about the answer to that question, and he was currently situated on a battlefield, so he didn''t have time to ponder the issue.


    Even with the sustained assault from the long-range attacking units in the rear, there were still many abyssal creatures that were able to reach the melee combat battalions, but most of them were already wounded by that point.


    There were comrades all around him, so all he had to do was attack with reckless abandon, and this was an extremely exhilarating feeling. He didn''t have to think about anything else other than unleashing his power to his heart''s content.


    He stomped his right foot onto the ground, and a golden halo immediately spread through the surrounding area; it was none other than his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth.


    The two Ba''ans rushing toward Jiang Wuyue immediately faltered, and their momentum was significantly hampered as a result. Two giant shields immediately crashed into them, bringing them to a grinding halt.


    Jiang Wuyue''s body flashed forward, and a massive hammer appeared in each of his two hands.


    "Boom!" One of the Ba''an was sent flying by his hammers, while the other was rammed back into the scope of the long-range attacks by the eight golden dragons that erupted from the ground as a result of the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth.


    Tang Wulin could immediately feel that his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth was different from how it had been in the past. When he used his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon now, his dragon core would immediately flash, and his blood essence power would instantly be elevated explosively, thereby significantly enhancing the power of his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon.


    In the past, there was no way that his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth would''ve been powerful enough to force back a Ba''an.


    "Roar!"


    A massive golden dragon head appeared around Tang Wulin as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar, and even the explosions from the long-range cannon blasts were drowned out by the thunderous dragon''s roar.


    The dozen or so weakest abyssal creatures that were situated the closest to him were instantly shattered by the force of the roar, and even the more powerful abyssal creatures were slowed down significantly. The pressure on the melee combat battalions was instantly alleviated to a great extent, thereby allowing them some respite.


    Even the Blood God in the air above couldn''t help but turn their attention to the battlefield down below.


    There were many battle armor masters in the melee combat battalions, but two-word battle armor masters were quite rare.


    As such, Tang Wulin''s massive golden wings were very eye-catching, and even the Blood God''s expression changed slightly at the sight of the huge golden dragon head that had appeared around his body.


    All of a sudden, a voice rang out from within the Blood God''s earpiece, and he gave a slight nod before focusing more of his attention on Tang Wulin.


    "Roar!" A thunderous roar of fury sounded from within the abyssal passageway, and a burst of greyish-white energy abruptly surged forth to block all of the long-range energy attacks. Immediately thereafter, a grey-white speck of light suddenly appeared before hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his consciousness had instantly congealed, as had all of the blood within his entire body. He could only look in shock as the massive object reached out of the abyssal passageway. This was a gargantuan finger with a diameter in excess of 10 meters. On the front end of the finger was a white fingernail that was close to completely transparent. The entire finger was extremely massive, but proportionally speaking, it was actually quite long and slender.


    The finger was upon him in the blink of an eye, and right at this moment, a streak of silver light descended from up above.


    The dazzling light seemed to be threatening to part heaven and earth, and a massive blade projection that was over 10 meters wide struck the gigantic fingernail.


    A deafening boom rang out as a result of the collision, and all of the melee combat battalion troops retreated as quickly as they could. A large number of abyssal creatures in the surrounding area also exploded into smithereens in the face of this fearsome explosion.


    The pressure on Tang Wulin''s body was completely lifted, and the sense of asphyxiation that he''d been struck by also disappeared as he hurriedly hurtled back in retreat with a stunned expression on his face.


    The person standing before him was none other than that three-word battle armor master. His weapon was a massive saber, and a massive saber projection was unleashed with each slash of the weapon. This was a Titled Douluo who was wearing a suit of three-word battle armor, and he struck the massive finger over 10 times with his saber in quick succession.


    The finger curled back slightly before abruptly springing forward, and a burst of terrifying greyish-white light struck the three-word battle armor master''s body.


    The three-word battle armor master was sent flying like a cannonball, and he could only just barely adjust the positioning of his wings to send himself flying upward as opposed to directly back into his own allies. He crashed heavily into the roof of the cave, and his entire body was embedded into the rock face.


    However, the colossal finger also tremored slightly before withdrawing back into the abyssal passageway in an extremely reluctant manner.


    Tang Wulin''s face already completely paled at this point, and he turned to Jiang Wuyue, who was looking just as pale as he was. "What was that thing?"


    "I don''t know." Jiang Wuyue had also been struck by that sense of asphyxiation, but it wasn''t as overwhelming as the sensation that Tang Wulin had been afflicted by. However, he was certain that if that finger had been pointing at him, he would''ve most definitely been completely powerless as well.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly, and all of his joy and elation from manifesting his dragon core completely disappeared. Compared to a truly powerful being, he was still far too weak!


    "Don''t be disheartened: that was a direct attack from one of the abyssal emperors. You should be extremely proud that you were able to provoke an attack from an abyssal emperor."


    Silver light flashed, and the three-word battle armor master appeared overhead again.


    Tang Wulin nodded as a gesture of gratitude toward this three-word battle armor master, who had just saved his life, and he brandished his Golden Dragon Spear before charging into battle against the abyssal creatures again.


    His dragon core provided him with an endless supply of enormous power, and unleashed his Violent Golden Dragon Domain again.


    The domain only had a diameter of 50 meters in the past, but with his newly-attained dragon core, that diameter extended all the way to 120 meters, allowing the domain to encompass over 200 of his allies. The morale among the troops instantly received a significant boost, and they were able to steadily force the army of abyssal creatures back into the passageway.


    As such, the space between the abyssal creatures was significantly compressed, thereby making the long-range attacks from the rear even more effective. Thus, the abyssal creatures began to suffer casualties at a far faster rate than before.


    Jiang Wuyue benefited the most from Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain, and not only had the scope of the domain increased, its enhancement effects had also improved. Jiang Wuyue could even sense that his powers were directly improving within the domain, and it was as if something had awakened deep within his bloodline. His giant hammers were like unstoppable wrecking balls, and even Ba''ans were struggling to match his extraordinary strength.

 Chapter 959: Doesnt He Get Tired?

    Tang Wulin fought alongside Jiang Wuyue, and they acted as the spearhead of the melee combat battalions, keeping all of the most powerful abyssal creatures at bay. After slaying four Ba''ans in rapid succession, they had almost forced the abyssal creatures all the way to the entrance of the passageway.


    Tang Wulin was thoroughly enjoying himself, slaying one abyssal creature after another while his Golden Dragon Spear drew a relentless stream of greyish-black energy into his body.


    His body displayed the most pronounced reaction when killing Ba''ans, and his dragon core began to glow brightly due to the enormous influx of energy.


    Compared to the energy that was being absorbed by his blood essence vortex, the energy currently being absorbed by his dragon core was being compressed by about a hundredfold, thereby transforming it into the most essential form of energy.


    The influx of energy seemed to be smaller because it was so severely compressed, but Tang Wulin could clearly sense that his dragon core was increasing in size.


    This process was very slow, but only the most essential energy that had been compressed by a hundredfold could contribute to gradually enlarging the dragon core.


    Tang Wulin really enjoyed being on the battlefield. He had almost been killed by that abyssal emperor, but with the Blood God protecting overhead, he had nothing to fear. Even if he were to encounter powerful abyssal creatures like Demonic Enchantresses and Black Empresses, he would still be able to match them in battle.


    His Violent Golden Dragon Domain had also completely stimulated the battle intent in the hearts of the soldiers around him, and the troops of the melee combat battalions were like prides of fierce lions that were completely dominating the abyssal creatures.


    "Don''t you ever get tired?" Jiang Wuyue asked after sending an abyssal creature flying with his hammer.


    The Violent Golden Dragon Domain had been maintained for over 40 minutes already, yet Tang Wulin only seemed to be growing more powerful.


    In the beginning, Jiang Wuyue''s massive hammers granted him greater range, so he was able to kill far more abyssal creatures than Tang Wulin did. However, as his soul power and energy began to wane, his position relative to Tang Wulin''s gradually changed.


    Now, Tang Wulin was situated up ahead while Jiang Wuyue was slightly behind him. No abyssal creature could last more than an instant against his Golden Dragon Spear, and he was like an invincible War God with golden light shimmering around his body.


    Jiang Wuyue had always thought that his own physical fitness was quite exceptional, but even he was starting to grow quite weary, yet Tang Wulin''s aura wasn''t diminishing in the slightest. Instead, he was like a fine wine that was only becoming better with time.


    "I''m alright, I should be able to maintain my domain for a while longer. There really does seem to be no end to these abyssal creatures though! Come to think of it, they don''t seem to be as powerful as they were in the beginning," Tang Wulin replied as he fought. His Golden Dragon Roar was extremely effective on this battlefield as if could intimidate all of the abyssal creatures in a large area at once, and that made them far easier to kill.


    Tang Wulin was situated at the forefront, so he was naturally able to absorb a lot of energy. This energy didn''t just come from the abyssal creatures that he slew, but also from some of the enemies killed by his allies. At this moment, there were countless golden spear projections erupting from the tip of his Golden Dragon Spear, and he was completely unstoppable.


    He had never engaged in slaughter with such reckless abandon before. There had been no opportunities for him to do something like this in the past, and this process of slaughter was rather therapeutic to him as it was allowing him to release all of his pent-up negative emotions in the aftermath of Shrek Academy''s destruction.


    Jiang Wuyue could only grit his teeth and do his best to keep up. After battling for close to 20 more minutes, the order to retreat was given from the rear.


    The Iron Will Corps second battalion was already rushing forward to replace them.


    High-intensity battles were extremely taxing, both physically and mentally, so soldiers had to constantly be substituted and given time to rest in order to avoid casualties.


    "Superior, I want to keep fighting!" Tang Wulin withdrew his Violent Golden Dragon Domain. His domain expended a lot of energy to maintain, but that rate of expenditure couldn''t keep up with the rate at which he was absorbing energy! However, he still had to rest for a while after using his domain for so long as the domain expended most of his soul power and his spiritual power, the latter of which was struggling to keep up.


    "Alright, you can keep fighting for a while; I''ll have a word with the second battalion commander. You really are a freak!"


    Jiang Wuyue and the other soldiers of the first battalion retreated, leaving only Tang Wulin still leading from the front. His Golden Dragon Spear conjured up a series of projections as it flashed through the air, and the first and second melee combat battalions completed a perfect transition. The fresh soldiers of the second battalion joined the fray, and the pressure on Tang Wulin was greatly alleviated as a result.


    Golden light flashed as he unleashed his Violent Golden Dragon Domain again!


    With this brief period of rest, his spiritual power had recovered somewhat, and with the energy that he was receiving from his Golden Dragon Spear, his soul power and blood essence power were still at their peak.


    In a large-scale battle like this, his domain was extremely useful. The soldiers of the second battalion had only just joined the battle, and they were immediately struck by an unprecedented feeling of power.


    The abyssal creatures were being completely dominated, and with the barrage of long-range attacks from the rear, they were struggling to even make it out of the opening of the passageway.


    Tang Wulin was constantly standing at the very front while his allies assisted him from either side. He was battling at a higher intensity than anyone else, yet his ultra-powerful physical constitution and abilities allowed him to continue to act as an extremely effective spearhead.


    At this point, Jiang Wuyue had already retreated to the back. As opposed to departing from the scene to rest, he rushed over to Long Yuxue in an excited manner, and exclaimed, "This guy is an absolute freak! Doesn''t he get tired?" Even with his Tyrant Dragon martial soul, fighting in such a high-intensity battle for so long had already made him extremely exhausted. However, Tang Wulin was still as fierce as ever, and he''d even unleashed his domain again.


    His Violent Golden Dragon Domain had played an extremely important role during this battle. Its existence was one of the main reasons why the melee combat units had been able to dominate the abyssal creatures so easily. Otherwise, just the attack from that Black Empress alone would''ve most likely resulted in dire consequences.


    Long Yuxue was also feeling completely speechless. She knew that Tang Wulin was very powerful, but she didn''t think that he was this insanely powerful. With his suit of two-word battle armor, the overall impact that he had on the battlefield could almost rival that of a Blood God.


    Of course, he definitely couldn''t match a Blood God in power, yet his ability to enhance all of the allies around him was something that was extremely difficult to replicate, even for the Blood Gods. After all, not every Blood God had a domain that could enhance allies within such a large range.


    The battle continued to rage, and that was only to be expected as every abyssal tide lasted a long time. In particular, level three abyssal tides like this one generally lasted at least half a month. However, this was a very good beginning. There wasn''t much pressure on the soldiers at the front lines, and that allowed the control center to distribute resources and organize troops in a calm and collected manner.


    The other passageways that were affected by the abyssal tide weren''t doing as well, but with how smoothly everything was progressing in this passageway, they could distribute more troops and resources to other passageways that were in need of further assistance. A series of large soul machines were constantly being delivered to the battlefield before being constructed on the spot. The entire Blood God Legion was operating in an efficient and organized manner.


    "Yuxue, have you noticed that his golden spear seems to be rather special? Normally, after abyssal creatures die, their energy returns to the abyssal plane to give rise to new abyssal creatures, but his spear seems to be able to devour their abyssal energy and prevent it from escaping; I wonder what kind of ability that is. I heard from the corps commander that the abyssal plane is able to constantly throw these abyssal tides at us because we''ve never managed to inflict any substantial damage onto them. The energy of the fallen abyssal creatures simply gets recycled to create more enemies for us. If that golden spear can be put to good use, then we''ll be able to slowly chip away at the energy of the abyssal plane during every battle, and they''ll have to think twice about unleashing abyssal tides so regularly."


    Long Yuxue''s eyes narrowed slightly. Of course she had already noticed this. All of those streams of greyish-black energy close to Tang Wulin were absorbed by his Golden Dragon Spear, and his aura would become more powerful as a result. This was most likely a special ability that his spear possessed. However, every Soul Master had their own secrets, so she couldn''t just directly ask him about this.


    During this battle, this phenomenon became even more apparent. Tang Wulin was leading the charge from the very front, and as long as the streams of greyish-black energy escaping from the bodies of the fallen abyssal creatures weren''t too far away, they were all absorbed into that golden spear of his without fail. Furthermore, that golden spear was completely unstoppable, and even Ba''ans struggled to offer any resistance against it.


    Had he become more powerful or had he been holding back since the very beginning?


    Unbeknownst to them, Tang Wulin had manifested a dragon core after absorbing a portion of the Black Empress''s abyssal energy, and his blood essence power had been elevated to a whole new level. His blood essence power alone would allow him to match a seven-ring Soul Sage in battle, and his suit of two-word battle armor naturally further enhanced his combat prowess to a great extent.


    His Golden Dragon Spear was directly connected to him through his Golden Dragon King bloodline, and with the enhancements provided by his dragon core, his Golden Dragon Spear had naturally also become a lot more powerful. As a result, it was able to absorb abyssal energy from further away than before.

 Chapter 960: Arrival of the Enchantress Empress

    Under these circumstances, Tang Wulin''s powers had been boosted significantly, and he was able to maintain an extremely high level of combat prowess through his constant absorption of abyssal energy. Furthermore, the constant influx of energy had completely stabilized his newly-attained dragon core, and it was slowly expanding in size while acting as the core of all of the blood essence power within his body.


    Tang Wulin had been fighting at the very front this entire time not just for the legion, but also for his own sake. Even though there weren''t potent sources of energy like Black Empresses for him to take advantage of, the sheer quantity of enemies far made up for the lack of quality.


    The abyssal creatures being destroyed by the long-range attacks unleashed from the back released vast amounts of abyssal energy, and a large portion of that energy was directly absorbed by him. Only the streams of energy that were quite far away from him managed to escape. In essence, it was as if two battalions of soldiers were helping him hunt down these abyssal creatures, allowing him to constantly absorb their energy for himself. His dragon core benefited immensely through this process, and Tang Wulin could sense that the golden color within his body was becoming more and more vibrant.


    His body gradually developed a rather bloated sensation, clearly indicating that he''d absorbed too much energy in one go, but his dragon core was like an insatiable black hole that was constantly absorbing this energy before using it to enhance his body.


    This was a brilliant opportunity for him, so of course he wasn''t willing to back down. If his dragon core were to continue to grow more powerful, he was sure that the agony that he''d have to experience when breaking his future Golden Dragon King seals would be significantly nullified.


    All of a sudden, just as Tang Wulin was plunging his spear through the body of a massive abyssal creature, a burst of frosty intent appeared without any premonition. His Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power immediately alerted him, and his entire body shuddered as he flapped his wings to instantly hurtle back in retreat without any hesitation. At the same time, he unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens with his Golden Dragon Spear, and also activated his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body.


    In the next instant, a frosty aura abruptly appeared before him, and the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens was split clean down the middle by that burst of frosty intent. Not only that, but the frosty intent crashed directly into his Golden Dragon Spear as well.


    The overwhelming power of the attack slammed the Golden Dragon Spear into Tang Wulin''s body before the frosty intent struck his chest.


    His Dragon Moon battle armor flashed urgently, but much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, he still felt as if his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was on the brink of being shattered.


    This was the first time that he''d ever felt so vulnerable after attaining this ability.


    Thankfully, his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was far more powerful than before due to the effects of his dragon core, and it allowed him to withstand that attack. Even so, he was still sent flying through the air like a cannonball, and his momentum was only just barely arrested after he sent two mechas flying.


    He abruptly thrust forward with his Golden Dragon Spear, drawing upon the power of his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body to unleash his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens again. Not only that, but he also finally released his martial soul. Countless Bluesilver Emperor vines surged forth as his fourth soul ring lit up, indicating that he had just unleashed his Bluesilver Overlord Transformation soul skill. The Bluesilver Emperor vines formed a massive net in front of him while he continued to retreat as quickly as he could.


    His blood essence surged within his chest, and the terrifying frosty intent was still flowing into his body in a frenzy; even his two-word battle armor was struggling to keep it at bay.


    The frosty intent only faltered slightly before the net conjured up by the Bluesilver Overlord Transformation was completely destroyed. The icy aura then surged forth alongside a streak of greyish-white light, and Tang Wulin was already backing away extremely quickly, but the streak of light was even faster.


    A hint of astonishment appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and right at this moment, a silver-saber-wielding figure descended right in front of him from above.


    "Boom!"


    The silver figure suddenly expanded in Tang Wulin''s field of view, and in the next instant, the two of them collided as both of them were sent flying through the air.


    Tang Wulin only just had enough time to withdraw his Golden Dragon Spear before throwing his arms around the silver figure''s waist before they were sent tumbling through the air.


    The greyish-white streak of light finally stopped at this point, and its true appearance was revealed.


    This was a woman in a long greyish-white dress, and her pupils were also of the same greyish-white color. She also had a head of long greyish-white hair that spilled down her shoulders and extended all the way to her feet.


    There were many Blood God Legion soldiers present in the surrounding area, but all of the attacks aimed at her were instantly destroyed as soon as they reached within 30 meters of her body.


    What was even more peculiar was that countless streams of greyish-white energy were constantly receding from her body, flowing back into the abyssal passageway. Her body was gradually turning transparent, but her cold greyish-white eyes were locked directly on Tang Wulin.


    The powerful killing intent emanating from her body made Tang Wulin feel as if his Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power had completely congealed, and the threat that this woman was posing to him was definitely not inferior to that of the gargantuan finger that had appeared earlier.


    If the Blood God that was spectating the battle from up above hadn''t stepped in just in the nick of time, there was no way that he would''ve been able to withstand this woman''s second attack.


    What the hell was this thing? How could it be so powerful?


    The Blood God twisted around before slamming a palm into Tang Wulin''s body, and he was immediately sent flying out of the cave by a burst of enormous force. His body hurtled toward the long-range attacking units, and at the same time, extremely dazzling silver light abruptly radiated from the Blood God''s body. He raised his battle saber high up into the air, and light began to proliferate from the domain beneath his feet, making the air in the surrounding area extremely viscous.


    All of the Blood God Legion troops and abyssal creatures began to move extremely slowly as if they were wading through treacle, and the battle saber in his hand seemed to have become extremely heavy as it slowly slashed through the air.


    The grey-haired woman''s gaze finally turned toward the Blood God, and the look in her eyes became even colder. However, as opposed to engaging the Blood God in battle, her body swayed, and she instantly vanished into the abyssal passageway behind her.


    A streak of silver light flashed past, and large numbers of abyssal creatures disappeared on the spot, having been reduced to streams of energy that vanished into the passageway alongside the silver-haired woman. The abyssal tide was completely paused for a short while.


    Tang Wulin spread open his wings and just barely managed to regain his balance in mid-air. However, after landing on the ground, he still stumbled, and he only managed to stabilize his own body after pressing a palm into the ground to support himself.


    He looked down to discover that a greyish-white gash had appeared on his Dragon Moon battle armor, and the gash extended all the way from his right shoulder to the left side of his abdomen. The battle armor''s protective barrier had been breached, and close to a third of the suit of battle armor itself had also been cleaved open.


    His suit of two-word battle armor had been constructed from a spirit alloy comprised of three different types of metals, so it was already beginning to repair itself. However, there seemed to be some kind of special power within the greyish-white gash that was affecting the Dragon Moon battle armor''s self-regenerative abilities. It appeared that it would take quite a while for the suit of battle armor to completely repair itself.


    That was way too close! Had it not been for his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, Tang Wulin had no doubt in his mind that the grey-haired woman''s first attack would''ve sliced his body in half.


    That was absolutely incredible! How powerful did his opponent''s attack have to be to accomplish this?


    Even the Titled Douluo that Tang Wulin had encountered in the past may not have been able to unleash such a powerful attack.


    Don''t forget that his blood essence power had already boosted his powers to the Soul Sage level, and he was wearing his suit of two-word spirit alloy battle armor. In conjunction with his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, his defensive prowess would''ve been close to comparable to that of a Titled Douluo. At the very least, he would''ve attained the defensive prowess of a Titled Douluo, even if it were only for a very short amount of time.


    Even so, he had still almost been killed by that attack, and he''d unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens twice, all to no avail. Just how fearsome did his opponent have to be to have accomplished all of this?


    The Blood God had also clearly come out second best during their clash, as evidenced by the fact that he had also been sent flying despite the fact that he was a Titled Douluo in a suit of three-word battle armor. That was an even greater testament to the power of that grey-haired woman. She had to have at least been on par with a human Hyper Douluo, and it was quite disturbing to think that abyssal creatures with such immense powers could emerge from the abyssal passageway.

 Chapter 961: The Blood God Battalion

    The sustained assault from the abyssal creatures suddenly abated, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. However, the devastating power that the grey-haired woman had just displayed had also sent chills running down everyone''s spines.


    Silver light flashed, and the Blood God appeared before Tang Wulin. Much to his surprise, the voice that rang out from beneath the Blood God''s visor belonged to a woman. The voice was cold and crisp, and listening to it evoked the imagery of eating cold watermelon during winter.


    "Come with me." She grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s pauldron in a direct manner, and her body swayed before she flew out of the cave.


    Long Yuxue and Jiang Wuyue looked on as the two of them departed, and they could only exchange a speechless glance with one another. They had never witnessed any abyssal creatures as powerful as that grey-haired woman.


    The melee combat and long-range attack units were reorganized, and they were prepared to take on the abyssal tide as soon as it resumed. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin was led out of the abyssal cave by the Blood God, and both of them flew directly toward the legion base.


    After exiting the cave, the Blood God instructed, "Follow me."


    She then released Tang Wulin before flying on ahead.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly adjusted his body in mid-air and took a deep breath before following along behind her.


    The Blood God''s body flashed, and she soon landed in a nondescript courtyard behind the control center. From the outside, this place appeared to be no different from the base.


    As soon as she landed on the ground, her suit of battle armor vanished into her body as streaks of silver light.


    Tang Wulin landed behind her and also withdrew his own Dragon Moon battle armor.


    He was standing behind the Blood God, so he could only see her profile from behind. She wore a pristine white military uniform, and her epaulets indicated that she was a major general. She had a head of short silver hair, a straight back, and a slender waist.


    The memory of tumbling through the air with her resurfaced in his mind. At the time, he''d been struck by the notion that her waist felt very slender, but he didn''t think that she''d really be a woman.


    This female Blood God''s figure was truly quite astounding. Her waist was extremely slender, but her backside was the most voluptuous among all of the beauties that Tang Wulin had ever seen. There was a slightly exaggerated curve leading from her waist down to her backside, and her legs were slightly thick, but very long, and they were extremely alluring even when sheathed in the pants of her military uniform.


    "Come with me." The Blood Goddess turned around to glance at Tang Wulin, and he gleaned her appearance for the very first time.


    Her icy blue eyes created a rather strange combination with her silver hair, and her hair was slightly different from Gu Yuena''s silver hair; Gu Yuena''s hair were like crystalline strands, yet her locks appeared to be slightly whiter in color and also seemed to be extremely soft and smooth.


    She wasn''t particularly beautiful; at the very least, there was a clear gap between her and Gu Yuena in the looks department, but she was brimming with heroic spirit. This was a trait that all soldiers seemed to possess; Tang Wulin had seen it in Long Yuxue, and he was witnessing it again in this Blood Goddess.


    Tang Wulin followed the Blood Goddess into the room, and the elevated indoor temperature immediately struck one with a sense of relaxation. The interior of the barrack was very narrow, and there was an elevator directly up ahead.


    A beam of light shone toward them, and the Blood Goddess''s Blood God Bracelet also lit up. The two lights met, and at the same time, she swept a hand through the air. A burst of light was then released from her Blood God Bracelet, which was clearly different from Tang Wulin''s bracelet, and the light immediately encompassed his entire body. Only then did she make her way toward the elevators.


    The doors of the elevator opened, and Tang Wulin also hurriedly entered it.


    There were no buttons in the elevator, and as soon as the doors were closed, it began to move. Tang Wulin could sense that it seemed to be moving in a downward direction.


    Around a quarter of a minute later, the elevator doors were opened again, and the Battle Goddess, who appeared to be in her thirties, led him into a circular hall.


    There were three rows of screens within the hall, all of which were depicting the situation within each of the abyssal caves.


    "Welcome to the Blood God Battalion; you can refer to me as Blood Eight as I''m ranked eighth among the nine Blood Gods. Our ranks are decided based on power, not by age," the Battle Goddess said in a cold voice.


    "Greetings, Superior," only now did Tang Wulin get a chance to extend a military salute toward her, and at the same time, he said in a respectful voice, "Thank you for saving my life."


    Blood Eight waved a dismissive hand before pressing down on the Blood God Bracelet on her wrist.


    The surrounding screens split open to reveal a series of doors, and four of the doors were opened, following which a person emerged from each of them.


    "What''s goin on, Lil'' Eight?" A lazy voice sounded. The voice belonged to a young man who appeared to be around 26 to 27 years of age. He had his arms behind his back and wore a lazy expression on his face. His epaulets also indicated that he was a very high-ranking military official.


    Blood Eight''s expression immediately darkened. "Don''t make me say this again, Blood Seven! Don''t call me Little Eight; refer to me as Blood Eight!"


    Blood Seven chuckled, "Alright, don''t get mad. We''re all friends here, so why be so dogmatic?"


    "Hmph!" Blood Eight harrumphed coldly.


    The other three people also emerged, and one of them was a woman who appeared to be around 50 years of age. She wore a resigned expression as she sighed, "You should really learn to watch your mouth, Blood Seven! What are you going to do if Blood Eight outstrips you someday?"


    Blood Seven chuckled, "That''s my motivation for cultivating! If that day really comes, you have to stand on my side, Sister Three!"


    Blood Three shook her head in a resigned manner before turning her attention to Tang Wulin. "Looks like you''ve brought someone new here, Blood Eight; do you think he has what it takes?"


    Blood Eight nodded in response. "His situation is rather special; the best way to explain things would be through showing you some footage. This was all recorded from the battle taking place in the sixth cave." She made her way over to one of the screens as she spoke before beginning to operate it.


    Tang Wulin extended a military salute toward everyone. "Greetings, Superiors."


    Blood Three smiled, and said, "You can be more relaxed here; our Blood God Battalion doesn''t have as many rules and regulations as there are in the rest of the base. Allow me to introduce everyone to you; I''m Blood Three, these are Blood Five, Blood Six, and Blood Seven, and you''ve met Blood Eight already. Our Blood God Battalion only has nine members in total, and we welcome you to join us."


    Blood Five and Blood Six were both men. Blood Five was very tall and burly with dark skin, making him resemble an immovable black iron tower. In contrast, Blood Six was quite short and thin, and he had the most ordinary appearance among all of the Blood God present. He seemed to be completely harmless, and his presence was virtually non-existent. He wore a friendly smile on his face, but Tang Wulin noticed that he had a pair of extremely long and slender hands that were quite thin, but struck him with an indescribable sense of danger.


    From this, he could deduce that this man had to be extremely fast, which made it very likely that he was an agility system Soul Master.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t heard much about the Blood God Battalion, and Long Yuxue hadn''t told him anything about it, either, so this was clearly a highly confidential organization within the Blood God Legion. However, it was also undoubtedly the case that this was the core of the Blood God Legion.


    Blood Seven made his way over to Tang Wulin with a faint smile on his face. "Where''re you from, little bro? How long have you been in the legion?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ve only been part of the legion for a short time, and I was recommended here by the Tang Sect."


    "You''re from the Tang Sect?" Blood Seven''s expression changed slightly as he cast his gaze toward Blood Six, and said, "Looks like you two have something in common."


    Blood Six smiled, and said, "Welcome. Who recommended you to come here from the Tang Sect?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "It was His Highness, the Amorous Douluo."


    A rather peculiar look appeared on Blood Six''s face at the mention of the Amorous Douluo.


    Right at this moment, Blood Eight''s voice rang out. "Come over and have a look, everyone."


    Everyone''s attention was immediately drawn to the screen before her, and the scenes being depicted on the screen were none other than that of the battle that Tang Wulin had just participated in.


    At this point in the footage, Tang Wulin was standing beside Jiang Wuyue, and the battle hadn''t commenced yet. Blood Eight pointed at his figure on the screen to inform everyone that the man in the suit of golden battle armor was him.


    The battle then began to unfold on the screen, and in the beginning, everyone''s expressions were still quite natural.

 Chapter 962: The Blood Gods

    Soon, Blood Seven''s smile had completely faded. Blood Five was still as expressionless as a statue, but a surprised look had appeared in Blood Six''s eyes. Meanwhile, Blood Three wore a contemplative expression on her face.


    "Your combat prowess is far superior to anyone I know of that''s at your age! What are those golden rings?" Blood Seven asked as he turned toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin gave a rather ambiguous response. "Those are a part of my bloodline power; I only revealed my soul rings near the end."


    A faint smile appeared on Blood Six''s face. "Interesting! You managed to severely wound a Black Empress and drew direct attacks from two abyssal emperors. That last one was the Enchantress Empress, right? She has to pay a considerably heavy price to emerge from the abyssal plane. It''s a good thing that she was severely debilitated by the seal and her projection only possesses less than a third of her power. Otherwise..."


    That was less than a third of her power? Tang Wulin immediately drew a sharp breath. That projection had almost killed him in an instant, yet it only possessed less than a third of the power of the Enchantress Empress?! Just how fearsome would her full power be?


    Was the Enchantress Empress supposed to be the ruler of the Demonic Enchantresses? Tang Wulin immediately thought back to the Demonic Enchantress that he''d encountered in the simulated abyss.


    Blood Eight turned to Blood Six and Blood Seven as she said, "I''m sure you know that''s not what I''m trying to show you."


    Blood Three nodded, and said, "I see why he''s piqued your interest. It''s considered to be taboo to ask about the abilities of other Soul Masters, but this is an extremely important matter, so I have to ask you this; how were you able to draw the abyssal energy into your spear, and where does that energy go after that?"


    Tang Wulin was silent for a moment upon hearing this. He''d always known that the special properties of his Golden Dragon Spear would be identified by someone sooner or later. He had also already thought of a response to this exact question, and he wasn''t afraid of anyone discovering the ability of his Golden Dragon Spear as it could only be used by him, so he wasn''t concerned that it would be taken away.


    "My Golden Dragon Spear has a special ability that allows it to devour the life force energy of all life forms. I only discovered after coming here that it can also devour abyssal energy. The energy devoured by the spear is filtered before being injected into my body, thereby replenishing my powers so I can battle for prolonged periods of time."


    Tang Wulin was telling the truth, but he refrained from revealing the fact that the energy that was absorbed could also make him more powerful. After all, he was completely unfamiliar with everything here, and he didn''t know if these people could be trusted. As such, it would not be in his best interest to tell them everything. Of course, this had been taught to him by the old demons on the demonic island.


    "Can I have a look at it?" Blood Seven asked in an eager manner.


    Tang Wulin nodded and swiped his right hand over his forehead. Golden light flashed, and the Golden Dragon Spear appeared in grasp. He then offered the Golden Dragon Spear to everyone with both hands.


    Blood Seven laid a hand onto his Golden Dragon Spear first, yet in the instant that his hand came into contact with the spear, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly withdrew his hand as if he''d been electrocuted.


    As soon as he touched the spear, a powerful sense of oppression had welled up within his bloodline. That was quite a terrible feeling, and it had made him slightly disoriented.


    Blood Three wasn''t as rash as he was; she merely appraised the weapon with a surprised look on her face, and asked, "Is this a weapon that''s connected to your bloodline? Did you forge this weapon yourself?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I don''t know where it came from; it seemed to have always been in my body, and it naturally appeared after my soul power reached a certain rank."


    Blood Five spoke for the very first time. "Is it a conjoined weapon?"


    Tang Wulin didn''t know what a conjoined weapon was, but it seemed to be quite a fitting term to describe his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Blood Five raised his hand and grabbed onto the Golden Dragon Spear. His body immediately shuddered as well, but he didn''t withdraw his hand like Blood Seven did. Even so, he still raised an eyebrow as a contemplative look appeared on his face.


    Moments later, he released the Golden Dragon Spear and shook his head. "There''s no way to do it."


    Blood Three nodded, and sighed, "Indeed, there''s no way to replicate this weapon. However, the fact that two abyssal emperors attacked him in succession indicates that they see him as a major threat, so we have to protect him carefully from now on. By the way, we still don''t know your name."


    "My name is Tang Wulin, Superior," Tang Wulin replied as he withdrew his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Blood Six asked, "Have you always been cultivating in the Tang Sect?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and replied, "I graduated from Shrek Academy."


    Indeed, after attaining his suit of two-word battle armor, he had officially graduated from Shrek Academy, unfortunately, the academy no longer existed.


    Blood Five''s body shuddered, and he repeated in a grim voice, "Shrek Academy?"


    "Yes."


    A complex look flashed through Blood Five''s eyes, and he reflexively clenched his fists. A grim expression had also appeared on Blood Three''s face, and she asked, "When did you leave the academy?"


    A hint of sorrow flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes as he replied, "Not long ago; right after that major disaster."


    "What the hell happened?!" Blood Five stepped forward and suddenly grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s collar as a violent aura erupted from his body. There seemed to be violent streams of energy erupting within the entire circular hall.


    "Blood Five!" Blood Three yelled in a stern voice.


    Only then did Blood Five''s aura recede a little, and he released Tang Wulin, but he still asked in a furious voice, "Tell me what happened to the academy; how could... how could the academy..."


    Tang Wulin had naturally already guessed at this point that this Blood Five shared an extremely close bond with the academy, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "Everything happened far too abruptly at the time. It was a terrorist attack that had been brewing for countless years..." Thus, Tang Wulin gave everyone a recount of everything that he''d seen and heard.


    Everyone''s expressions darkened as they listened to his story, and in particular, Blood Three and Blood Five looked as if they could barely contain their rage.


    "You''re one of the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters? Holy Spirit Douluo Yali is still alive?" Blood Three asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded silently in response, and in the next instant, tears began to flow uncontrollably from Blood Three''s eyes. Blood Eight hurriedly walked over to her and drew her into a comforting embrace. "Don''t be sad, Sister Three."


    Blood Five cracked his knuckles in a vicious manner. "Godslayer missiles, eh? Looks like the Holy Spirit Cult has been doing quite well!"


    A burst of substantial killing intent erupted from his body, and the entire hall was trembling slightly. Blood Six also wore a thunderous expression on his face. After all, the Tang Sect headquarters had been destroyed alongside Shrek Academy!


    Tang Wulin''s emotions were more complex. He was feeling quite grief-stricken at the recollection of these painful memories, but he was also struck by a sense of release as he''d encountered these people who shared the same feelings as him. It was undoubtedly the case that Blood Three and Blood Five were most likely Shrek Academy alumni, while Blood Six belonged to the Tang Sect. These could all be powerful allies of his in the future!


    "Teacher Yun Ming has assigned you the task of reviving Shrek Academy, so you have to do your best!" Blood Five raised his hands before gripping tightly onto Tang Wulin''s shoulders.


    Teacher Yun Ming?


    Blood Five closed his eyes, and he wasn''t shedding any tears, but all of the killing intent emanating from his body had turned into grief. "Back when I was a student at the academy, Teacher Yun Ming was my homeroom teacher."


    That sentence alone was enough to explain his current emotions.


    Blood Three had also managed to repress her tears at this point, and she said in a trembling voice, "My name is Yun Lan; Yun Ming was my cousin and my only remaining relative."


    Tang Wulin shuddered upon hearing this. He had guessed that these two shared close ties with the academy, but he didn''t think that they''d share such a close bond with Yun Ming. It was no wonder that the Amorous Douluo had sent him here.


    Blood Eight held onto Blood Three''s hands, and consoled, "Don''t be sad, Sister; Shrek Academy will definitely return to its former glory someday."


    Blood Three nodded in silence as tears continued to flow down her face.


    Right at this moment, the elevator doors opened again, and two people emerged from within.


    The one walking at the front was an old man with strange energy fluctuations emanating from his body; it was as if he were completely enshrouded with elements. Tang Wulin''s heart immediately jolted upon seeing this man. His aura was extremely powerful, and it was as if the natural energies around him were resonating with his body.


    He had quite an old and wizened appearance with a head of white hair, but his eyes were particularly bright and clear, and they were of a peculiar green color.


    "What''s going on, Sister Three?" He immediately caught sight of the weeping Blood Three as soon as he walked into the hall.


    The man behind him had a tall and slim figure and had a very handsome appearance. Everyone present was wearing suits of white military uniform, and all of the Blood Gods had major general epaulets, as did the old man who had just walked in, but the one who had entered the room behind the old man had three golden stars on his epaulets.


    This man was a federal general!

 Chapter 963: General Blood One

    This was definitely the highest-ranking military official Tang Wulin had ever seen, yet he appeared to only be in his thirties!


    The highest military rank in the Douluo Federation was the commander-in-chief, who was a four-star military official, and below that was the vice-commander-in-chief, who was also a four-star military official. Generals were ranked directly below those two, and there were less than 10 generals in the entire federation, yet he was looking at one of them right now. To think that there would be a federal general here in the secluded Skyend Mountain Ranges; could it be that this man was the commander of the entire Blood God Legion?


    However, generally speaking, even legion commanders shouldn''t be given the military rank of general, and what was even stranger to Tang Wulin was that he couldn''t sense any soul power fluctuations from this general''s body whatsoever, and it felt as if he were just an ordinary person.


    "I''m fine," Blood Three sighed as she turned toward the old man before her.


    The old man then turned his attention to Tang Wulin, and asked, "Did you call the two of us here because of this young man, Little Eight?"


    Blood Eight nodded in response. The old man was also referring to her as Little Eight, but she had no objections on this occasion.


    The old man glanced at Tang Wulin before turning to the three-star general behind him. "Is this young man from your Tang Sect? I can sense Mysterious Heaven Method soul power within his body."


    Tang Sect? This three-star general was from the Tang Sect?


    Tang Wulin''s pupils contracted drastically. This was simply incredible to him. He had always known that there would be allies from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy here, but never would he have thought that the Tang Sect had a three-star general among their ranks. If word of this were to spread, would anyone still dare to oppress the Tang Sect as they were doing now?


    The young man stepped forward with a smile on his face, and said, "You''re Wulin, right? Zang Xin has already told me about you. Allow me to make an introduction; everyone, Tang Wulin is a disciple of our Tang Sect, and also an agent of our Battle Hall. At the same time, he is the captain of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Wulin, you can call me Blood One; this is Blood Two."


    "Greetings, Superiors," Tang Wulin hurriedly greeted the two of them.


    Blood One waved a hand in response. "There''s no need for such formalities in our Blood God Battalion. Blood Eight must''ve brought you here because you''ve done something that''s worthy of our attention, right? How about you fill us in on what''s happening?"


    Thus, Blood Eight played the footage once again and also explained Tang Wulin''s situation.


    Blood Two wore a surprised look on his face, and he seemed to be appraising Tang Wulin through new eyes.


    "Brother, if Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect needs us, we''ll be more than willing to lend you our power," Blood Two said to Blood One in a serious voice.


    Blood One waved a hand, and said, "All of us come from the Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, the Battle God Hall, or the Spirit Pagoda, but from the moment we came here, especially after we joined the Blood God Battalion, our lives no longer belonged to us. Instead, they now belong to all of the living beings on the entire continent, and nothing that happens to the Tang Sect can change that. There''s nothing more important to us than guarding the abyssal passageway.


    "The disaster that befell the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy was also very painful for me to hear about, but I can''t just leave this place because of that, and none of us have the right to leave. We''ll only be able to earn that right if we can completely shut off the abyssal passageway or destroy the abyssal plane. Otherwise, we have to guard this place until the day we die."


    He spoke in a very resolute manner, and grim expressions appeared on the faces of all of the Blood Gods.


    Indeed, nothing was more important than guarding this place as a truly horrendous disaster would befall the entire continent if the abyssal passageway were to be breached. Who knew how many lives would have to be lost before the passageway could be sealed again, or even if it could be sealed for a second time at all?


    Hence, no matter how much pain and fury Blood Three and Blood Five were experiencing, they still didn''t leave the Blood God Battalion. They had a duty on their shoulders that was of the utmost importance.


    "Wulin''s situation is indeed very special; we can try to see if better use can be made of his Golden Dragon Spear during our battles against the abyssal creatures. Wulin, the task of resurrecting the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy will have to fall upon you and your friends. As members of the Blood God Battalion, we can only help you by constantly spurring you on to improve in order to accelerate your growth."


    Tang Wulin had to admit that he was disappointed to hear this. The Blood God Battalion had nine Titled Douluos, all of whom were also at least three-word battle armor masters. This was an extremely formidable force, and if he could gain their assistance, it would undoubtedly be a lot easier for him to revive Shrek Academy.


    However, with the massive threat of the abyssal passageway looming here, it would indeed be far too selfish of him to expect them to lend him their assistance.


    Blood One appraised the silent Tang Wulin, and asked, "Does your Golden Dragon Spear''s ability to devour abyssal energy result in any side-effects?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and replied, "There are no side-effects, but I''ll require some time for digestion if I absorb too much energy."


    Blood One nodded, and said, "Alright, from now on, you''re a fringe member of our Blood God Battalion. You''ll only receive orders from our battalion, so don''t participate in any battles without our instructions. I''ll be devising a set of battle tactics that will be specifically tailor-made to suit you."


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied in a respectful manner.


    Blood One turned to the others, and instructed, "Blood Six, Blood Seven, Blood Eight, go and reinforce the affected passageways. This abyssal tide is an extremely powerful one, but the good thing is that the Enchantress Empress has been provoked by Wulin into attacking once, so there''s no way it''ll attack again during this abyssal tide. Wulin, you come with me."


    Blood Six, Blood Seven, and Blood Eight departed, and Blood One led Tang Wulin into a room at the very center of the circular hall.


    The room wasn''t very large, but the natural energies inside were extremely abundant. The interior of the room was very simple and minimalistic, and it was only slightly larger than the dormitory room that Tang Wulin was living in. There wasn''t even a bed in the room, there were only a few futons on the ground.


    "Take a seat." Blood One pointed at one of the futons.


    Tang Wulin sat down across from Blood One.


    "Truth be told, I was made aware of you a long time ago, and I''ve constantly been keeping an eye on you. Zang Xin informed me that you were coming before your arrival, and you''re even more exceptional than I''d imagined. I see a lot of hope and potential in you."


    Tang Wulin didn''t say anything. He still had quite a heavy heart as he was wondering what the point of his military service stint was if he couldn''t enlist the assistance of the Blood God Legion.


    Blood One said, "You must''ve thought that Zang Xin sent you here so you can gain the support of a legion and work toward reviving Shrek Academy and our Tang Sect, right? Did my words just then dash those hopes of yours?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Blood One continued, "You''re wrong. We decided to send you to this legion not because we wanted you to obtain something from this place. Instead, we want you to learn the importance of responsibility here. To the Tang Sect, the Blood God Legion is just as important as the demonic island is to Shrek Academy."


    Demonic island? How did he know about the demonic island?


    Blood One smiled, and said, "That''s right, I know of the demonic island, and I was once a student of Shrek Academy. To be more specific, I was the captain of that generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and Yun Ming was also a member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters at the time."


    Tang Wulin abruptly raised his head with an astonished look on his face.


    He was the captain of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters? Then didn''t that mean that he was even more powerful than Atlas Douluo Yun Ming at the time? In that case, why did Yun Ming become the master of the Sea God''s Pavilion in the end?


    Blood One sighed, "Come to think of it, those events took place over a century ago. 100 years have passed by in the blink of an eye, and I''ve never left this place ever since I came here 60 years ago. I chose to leave the academy following my graduation for the sake of the Tang Sect, and I thought that Yun Ming and the others would be more than enough to ensure the prosperity of the academy, but who would''ve thought that such a tragic disaster would befall the academy?"

 Chapter 964: Heartless Douluo

    A name suddenly appeared in Tang Wulin''s mind, and he almost blurted out, "Are you the Heartless Douluo?"


    This man was superior in power to the Atlas Douluo, held a lofty position in the Tang Sect, and was Blood One of the Blood God Battalion, as well as a federal general. All of this undoubtedly required incredible power to attain, and the only one that Tang Wulin could think of that could fit this description was Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi.


    The Heartless Douluo smiled, and said, "You''re a smart kid; I knew you''d guess this for yourself. Everyone thinks I decided to disappear and enjoy myself in seclusion, but little do they know that I only found my purpose in life after coming to this place 60 years ago. I''ve always been here during the past 60 years, and during that time, I''ve traveled deep into the abyssal realm to gather information. I''ve led a very eventful and fulfilling life during these past six decades, and during that time, I came to understand just how important the Blood God Legion was. Hence, I have to stay here. 60 years ago, I took over from the last Blood One. He came from the Battle God Hall, and he was their hall master from three generations ago. Back then, he only told me one thing; the life one leads here is lonely but full of pride.


    "Your life will be a lonesome one, but your soul will be immensely proud! 60 years later, I am in full agreement with his words, and I''m proud of every single soldier of the Blood God Legion as all of them have proud souls. Hence, when Zang Xin said that he wanted to send you here to polish you and accelerate your growth, I agreed because I hope that you can also possess a proud soul. This will be very important to your future, and it''ll also allow you to see the world more clearly."


    This man really was the Heartless Douluo! All of Tang Wulin''s dejection was wiped away after hearing his words.


    Reviving Shrek Academy was certainly extremely important, but guarding this abyssal passageway was just as important!


    He''d been guarding this place every single day for 60 years; what an immense display of will and commitment! Indeed, he really did have a proud soul.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "I still can''t fully comprehend your current frame of mind, but I''m willing to stay here until I figure everything out. I understand what you''re trying to say, and I''ll do everything in my power to improve myself."


    The Heartless Douluo smiled, and said, "Everyone has their own responsibilities; my obligations lay here, whereas you owe your responsibility to the academy. Don''t be overly eager to make progress; you have to constantly remember that there''s only hope for the academy so long as you''re still alive. Even if you fail to revive the academy, you have to establish a strong foundation for the next generation. The current situation on the continent is extremely chaotic, and the continent is being plagued by a series of problems and reforms both on the inside and on the outside. What you need to do now is to improve yourself so you attain the power to protect yourself in this chaotic world."


    Tang Wulin nodded in an earnest manner.


    The Heartless Douluo continued, "You''re mentally very strong, and I''m very glad to see that. Alright, let me tell you about the true situation in the abyssal plane so you can develop a greater understanding of the enemies we''re facing."


    "Yes!"


    The smile on the Heartless Douluo''s face faded, and he said in a grim voice, "The abyssal plane is far more powerful than you can imagine. In that world, there are 108 abyssal levels, and each and every level is connected by spatial passageways. There is an emperor on each level, so there are a total of 108 emperor-level beings in the abyssal plane; we refer to them as the 108 abyssal emperors. Among these 108 abyssal emperors, the ones on the first 36 levels are roughly comparable in power to human Titled Douluos, so they don''t pose much of a threat.


    "The emperors of the middle 36 levels are comparable to our Hyper Douluos, so they''re also quite manageable. However, the emperors of the final 36 levels are all comparable or even superior to human Limit Douluo. In particular, the abyssal emperors of the final 18 levels are all demigod, and the emperor on the 108th level possesses power that''s infinitely approaching that of a true god.


    "The energy of the abyssal plane exists in a special state that''s completely different from the natural energies of our continent. To them, the natural energies in our world can be converted by them through devouring life force energy, thereby bolstering their entire plane. However, there''s nothing useful to us in the abyssal plane. Otherwise, the federation could potentially agree to mobilize a massive army to wage war against the abyssal plane, but there are no benefits to be reaped from doing that, so the federation has assigned our Blood God Legion the task of guarding the abyssal passageway.


    "The energy in the 108 abyssal levels is conserved, which means that all of the energy within the abyssal plane adds up to a certain sum. That sum can''t be easily changed, and if it decreases, they have to replenish it through absorbing energy from the outside world. This energy from the outside world that I''m referring to is similar to our life force energy. Hence, after this plane became connected to our world, the abyssal creatures have constantly been trying to invade us in order to elevate the total amount of energy within their plane.


    "In a sense, you can think of the abyssal plane as a complete life form, and those abyssal creatures are only its cells. Following cell death, the energy will be recycled to create new cells, and that''s what makes the abyssal plane truly terrifying. We can kill abyssal creatures all we want, but we can''t truly destroy them. The Abyssal Demon Monarch and the Enchantress Empress that attacked you today are all ultra-powerful abyssal beings from the last 36 levels. They''re affected by the seal in the abyssal passageway, so they can only project a small portion of their power into this world. Otherwise, there''s no way that Blood Eight would''ve stood a chance against them.


    "As things currently are, only the abyssal emperors on the first 36 levels can descend upon our world in their complete forms, but with me here, those abyssal emperors wouldn''t dare to come to our world for no good reason. After all, even though they can be revived, the revival process is an extremely lengthy one. Every time I venture into the abyssal plane, my objective is to kill as many powerful abyssal beings as possible in order to buy more time for us.


    "It''s a good thing that the most powerful beings among our human race were able to complete the seal over 6,000 years ago. Otherwise, if the abyssal emperors of the last 36 levels had descended upon our world, we would''ve faced almost certain annihilation. Human soul technology may be advancing very quickly, but it''s still not at a level where it can contend with the power of the abyssal plane.


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. There were 108 abyssal emperors?! He finally understood why the Heartless Douluo was so determined to stay here and guard this place. Without a powerful being like him holding things together, the likelihood of the abyssal passageway seal being broken would inevitably increase, and that would result in a disaster of unprecedented proportions that could even spell the end of the entire world! That was not something that could be allowed to happen.


    "What I''m thinking about now is whether you''ll be able to completely destroy the abyssal energy of the 108 abyssal emperors by killing them with your Golden Dragon Spear. In that case, they won''t be able to resurrect themselves. According to my knowledge, the cores of each of the 108 abyssal levels are none other than their respective emperors, so if an emperor truly dies, then there''s a very good chance that the entire abyssal level that they rule over will be destroyed along with all of the abyssal creatures on that level. If that can work, then we''ll potentially be able to eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane once and for all.


    "However, the prerequisite for this is that you have to be powerful enough to accomplish this. The final 18 of the 108 emperors are all more powerful than I am, and they''ve already noticed you. Hence, if you were to venture into the abyssal passageway, an all-out assault will most likely be directed at you, and they won''t rest until you''re killed, so I can''t allow you to take any risks. On this side of the passageway, the seal will restrict all of the more powerful abyssal emperors, so I''m confident in my ability to protect you. However, if we go to the other side, even I won''t be able to guarantee your safety."


    A faint smile appeared on the Heartless Douluo''s face, and he continued, "Hence, the responsibility on your shoulders will only grow heavier from here. If you can also become a Limit Douluo in the future, you''ll at least be able to protect yourself, and when that time comes, I hope you can venture deep into the abyssal plane with me. Together, we''ll try and kill the 108 abyssal emperors and completely eradicate this threat to the continent."


    A hint of shock appeared in Tang Wulin''s face, and a surge of battle intent also welled up in his heart. If he could kill the 108 abyssal emperors and absorb all of their energy, breaking his future Golden Dragon King seals could become a simple task.


    However, just a portion of the Black Empress''s energy alone was enough to transform his blood essence vortex into a dragon core; how enormous would the energy of the 108 abyssal emperors be?


    The Heartless Douluo continued, "Of course, you''re nowhere near powerful enough to set that plan into motion for now, but at the very least, I see hope for the future in you. If you can reach my cultivation level someday, then there''s a very good chance that you''ll be able to kill some abyssal emperors with your Golden Dragon Spear. In doing so, you''ll at least be intimidating them so that they''d have to think twice about invading our world."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. If he could accomplish that feat someday, then it would definitely be immensely beneficial to himself as well.

 Chapter 965: Issuing Rewards

    "You''re still young, so I know that you must be very eager to revive the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. However, this is not a feat that can be accomplished in a short time. You need to accumulate more experience and become more powerful. You don''t need to worry about anything for now; Shrek Academy may have been destroyed, but its influence definitely won''t be that easy to erase, so you''ll have sufficient time to improve yourself. This was also Zang Xin''s intention behind sending you here. The outside world is in a state of complete turmoil, and we have to try and restore order to everything. At the same time, we have to wait for a suitable opportunity, and every shred of power that you accumulate now will work toward a greater future."


    "I understand." Tang Wulin nodded in a respectful manner.


    After departing from the Blood God Battalion, Tang Wulin was already wearing a new Blood God Bracelet. Compared to the one he had before, this new Blood God Bracelet had a vibrant red rose pattern around it, and the stem of each and every rose was filled with sharp thorns. This was a symbol of the Blood God Battalion, and from this moment forth, he was officially a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion.


    As a consequence of this, he would not be permitted to participate in any battles within the abyssal passageway without Blood One''s permission.


    The emergence of Tang Wulin seemed to have caught the abyssal plane completely off guard, and the amount of abyssal energy that he''d absorbed wasn''t a lot in the grand scheme of things, but the fact of the matter was that the energy was well and truly gone. As such, this abyssal tide only lasted for seven days, which was far shorter than other level three abyssal tides in the past, and no more powerful abyssal creatures appeared.


    Tang Wulin also stayed away from the battlefield during the rest of the abyssal tide, and he took this opportunity to go into a short period of seclusion, mainly to digest the power within his dragon core, as well as to consolidate the core in general.


    Initially, the dragon core had only been around the size of a thumbnail, but it had since grown to roughly the size of a longan fruit. It was shimmering with dazzling golden light, and was naturally circulating his bloodline as he breathed. This meant that even if he didn''t actively cultivate, the blood essence power within his body would still constantly be nurturing him.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin discovered during his seclusion that some incredible changes had taken place within his body after he attained his dragon core. It was as if it had become more receptive to natural energies, which were being naturally injected into his body as he breathed. It was as if he had become a container that was constantly absorbing all natural energies, then discarding the excess and only fusing the essence into his own body.


    After attaining his dragon core, his physical constitution had reached a whole new level, similar to the nature of the enhancements received by a Soul Master after they attained their soul core. The most direct reaction to this was that his appetite had significantly decreased, and he no longer had to eat so much food to replenish his own energy. In fact, just breathing alone was almost enough to completely replenish his body''s daily expenditure.


    On top of that, he felt as if his 10th Golden Dragon King seal had become thinner. This was only a feeling of his; there was naturally no way that the seal could become thinner on its own. He knew that this was most likely a sign that he already possessed enough power to break this seal.


    However, he wasn''t in a hurry to do so. Each successive Golden Dragon King seal had to be more dangerous than the previous one, so it was in his best interest to take a slow and steady approach. Even if he could break his 10th seal now, then what about the 11th seal? What about the 12th seal? No one could predict what was going to happen in the future.


    As such, while Tang Wulin was in seclusion, he was honing his ability to control his blood essence power in order to keep it away from the 10th seal. He wasn''t going to attempt to break it unless he absolutely had to.


    During this period of seclusion, his soul power had also increased to rank 59, so he was only one rank away from becoming a six-ring Soul Emperor.


    Ever since his Bluesilver Grass had awakened to become the Bluesilver Emperor, his rate of cultivation had received a significant boost. This effect was further enhanced by everything that had happened to him in the Dragon Valley. What was most pleasing to him was that he couldn''t even sense any bottlenecks ahead of him. As long as he could continue to accumulate and improve like this, he had absolute confidence in his ability to become a Titled Douluo before turning 30.


    "Knock knock knock!" The sound of door-knocking rang out.


    Tang Wulin was meditating in his room, and he rose to his feet before opening the door to find Long Yuxue standing outside.


    "Superior." Tang Wulin hurriedly invited her into the room.


    Long Yuxue appeared to be in very high spirits. She had also participated in the battle against the abyssal tide, and those battles were always quite perilous, but they also presented great opportunities to accumulate accolades, so Long Yuxue certainly wasn''t going to back down.


    "What happened after the eighth Blood God took you away that day? Why didn''t you come back to participate in the battle? I heard that you were prohibited from taking further part in the battle by the higher-ups, is that true?" Long Yuxue immediately cut straight to the chase.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Perhaps it''s due to my Golden Dragon Spear, but the Blood God Battalion did indeed prohibit me from participating in the battle."


    A perplexed look appeared on Long Yuxue''s, and she said, "Let''s go to the battle department; it''s time for the rewards ceremony."


    "Huh?" a surprised look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he asked, "What''s that?"


    Long Yuxue chuckled, "It''s good news, of course. During battles, our Blood God Bracelets will automatically record the accolades that we earn from killing abyssal creatures. However, following a major battle like this, the accolades have to be standardized. To put it in simpler terms, long-range attackers like me are only able to attack to our heart''s content because there are melee combat units holding back the enemies on the front line. Hence, long-range attackers have to give some of their accolades to the melee combatants, and the amount that''s given is naturally based on an algorithm devised by the legion.


    "You were a melee combat soldier during that battle, and you performed exceptionally well during your very first battle, so you''ll definitely be receiving a lot of extra accolades. Come to think of it, even if you don''t receive any extra accolades from the standardization process, you should still have earned enough for a promotion to the lieutenant rank. You really are lucky! You''ve only been here for less than a month, yet you''ve already encountered an abyssal tide. On top of that, this abyssal tide was really brief and passed by after only seven days."


    Accolades? Tang Wulin had completely forgotten about this, but this was definitely good news for him.


    Thus, he followed Long Yuxue to the battle department, where many soldiers were already accepting accolades with their Blood God Bracelets, and there were also some promotion ceremonies taking place as well. As long as enough accolades had been earned, one could be promoted immediately. Hence, there was always a large group of soldiers who received promotions in the aftermath of each abyssal tide.


    Tang Wulin stood behind Long Yuxue, and the two of them joined the back of the line.


    The line progressed very quickly as there were over 10 high-ranking military officials handing out accolades and promotions, and Tang Wulin''s eyes were filled with envy and anticipation at the sight of shimmering new epaulets being distributed.


    According to what Long Yuxue had said, he would most likely be able to earn a promotion to the lieutenant rank, which took him one step closer to becoming a major.


    During these past few days, he would make some time every day to call Gu Yuena and chat with her. Gu Yuena always told him how much she missed him during those calls, and if it weren''t for his military obligations, Tang Wulin would be flying back to see her right away. Hence, promotions were particularly important to him.


    Finally, it was Long Yuxue''s turn.


    She passed her Blood God Bracelet over, and it was placed under a special scanning device. The senior colonel before her then smiled, and said, "Well done, Yuxue, you''ve really made your father proud! You received 9,710 accolades during this battle, but due to standardization, 3,300 accolades will be taken from you, leaving you with 6,410 accolades. In addition to the accolades you''ve already saved up, you''ve earned a promotion to lieutenant colonel. Congratulations!"


    Long Yuxue had already predicted this, but she was still quite elated to hear her promotion being confirmed. It was quite remarkable for someone to become a lieutenant colonel before turning 30.


    She stood up straight and extended a military salute before stepping forward for her promotion ceremony.


    Tang Wulin was naturally right behind her, and he also handed over his Blood God Bracelet.

 Chapter 966: Blood Nine

    The senior colonel faltered slightly at the sight of his Blood God Bracelet before abruptly raising his head. "You''re from the Blood God Battalion?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Blood God Battalion fringe member, Tang Wulin, reporting for duty!"


    The senior colonel examined his Blood God Bracelet, and said, "Your Blood God Bracelet contains two types of accolades, the second of which is battle accolades. You only participated in one day of the battle, so you only get accolades for that one day. In total, you earned... 16,800 accolades?"


    His voice suddenly rose a few octaves, and after some calculations, he continued, "In addition to the accolades you receive from standardization as a melee combatant, you''ve earned a total of 21,400 accolades."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up. Over 20,000 accolades? And these were battle accolades, not accolades earned through forging!


    He had received so many accolades because he''d constantly been fighting at the very front during the battle, and there was no lack of powerful abyssal creatures like Ba''ans that had perished in the face of his Golden Dragon Spear. This was why he''d received over 10,000 accolades prior to standardization, even though he''d only fought on the first day. At the same time, he also received some accolades as a reward for forcing that Black Empress into retreat.


    Different amounts of accolades were given for different levels of abyssal creatures, and for creatures like Demonic Enchantresses and Black Empresses, one would receive accolades as a reward just for being able to battle them for set periods of time.


    "You joined the Blood God Battalion?" Long Yuxue was just about to head to her promotion ceremony when she quickly rushed back before grabbing onto Tang Wulin''s hand. She stared at the thorned Blood God Bracelet on his wrist, and a strong sense of envy appeared in her eyes.


    Everyone in the Blood God Legion knew that they weren''t the main guardians of the abyssal passageway. Instead, that duty fell upon the shoulders of the nine Blood Gods of the Blood God Battalion. After officially becoming a Blood God, one would immediately be elevated to the major general rank. This meant that they were constantly required to remain in the legion, but it was a scintillating honor for someone to become a Blood God, and even their descendants would benefit from this as the federation would give them special benefits.


    All descendants of a Blood God within three generations had many special rights in the federation, and Blood Gods themselves had fringe voting rights in the federal parliament.


    They were the true guardians of the federation, and they were revered by countless people.


    Tang Wulin replied in a natural manner, "I''m just a fringe member."


    A peculiar look immediately appeared on Long Yuxue''s face. The Blood God Battalion obviously didn''t just consist of the nine Blood Gods; some exceptional members of the Blood God Legion were enlisted as fringe members of the Blood God Battalion and even backup Blood Gods. This was the first step to becoming a future Blood God!


    She could already deduce that Tang Wulin had most likely been enlisted as a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion due to his Golden Dragon Spear, but even so, it was still a massive honor to be able to join the Blood God Battalion, especially after taking into account the fact that he''d only been in the Blood God Legion for less than a month! She had been living in the Blood God Legion all her life, so how could she not be envious?


    After joining the Blood God Battalion, Tang Wulin no longer belonged to any other department of the Blood God Legion. Instead, he took orders solely from the Blood God Battalion, and she wouldn''t be able to command him to do anything from now on.


    She couldn''t help but recall back to what her father had said to her. He came from Shrek Academy and was the captain of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. A diamond would shine no matter where it was placed, and even in the Blood God Legion, which was rife with brilliant prodigies, he was already beginning to prove himself after only less than a month here.


    At the very least, the first and second battalions of the Blood Division''s Iron Will Corps were aware that there was a soldier capable of releasing a domain that could drastically enhance the combat prowess of all ally units.


    It was exactly because of Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain that the melee combat battalions were able to kill so many enemies on that day while minimizing casualties. Both the first and second battalions had a very good first impression of Tang Wulin, and even Jiang Wuyue was full of glowing praise for him, and was adamant that they were brothers.


    He''d already reached such heights after less than a month; what would become of him in one year? In two years? Wasn''t he going to eventually become one of the nine Blood Gods?


    Long Yuxue was getting carried away by her train of thought, and Tang Wulin reminded, "Superior, you should go to your promotion ceremony now."


    "Oh." Only then did Long Yuxue return to her senses, but her excitement from being promoted to the lieutenant colonel rank had waned significantly.


    Tang Wulin was also quite curious about what rank he''d be elevated to with his accolades. The accolades that Long Yuxue had saved up most likely didn''t exceed 20,000, yet it was already enough to promote her from major to lieutenant colonel. In contrast, his accolades had already exceeded 20,000, so surely he''d be granted a very significant promotion!


    Tang Wulin looked on as Long Yuxue''s two bars and one star became two bars and two stars, and he was filled with excitement as he also strode toward the stage.


    "Members of the Blood God Battalion can''t be promoted here; your military rank will be determined by the Blood God Battalion. You can leave now." The military official that was handing out promotions immediately poured a figurative bucket of cold water over his head.


    After becoming a member of the Blood God Battalion, he answered only to the Blood God Battalion, so the legion wouldn''t even grant him promotions anymore.


    Tang Wulin could only turn to Long Yuxue for help. "Superior..."


    A wry smile appeared on Long Yuxue''s face. "Those are the rules, so I can''t help you here. Also, don''t call me superior from now on. The Blood God Battalion holds a paramount position in our legion, and even if you''re only a fringe member, you''re still completely out of our reach. This entails that you''ll be sacrificing much more than we will in the future. You can refer to me by my name. Go and ask the Blood God Battalion about your promotion. As a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion, many of the rules of the legion no longer apply to you."


    "Alright then."


    A complex expression appeared in Long Yuxue''s as she looked on at Tang Wulin''s departing figure. When would she get to become a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion?


    After arriving at the Blood God Battalion, Tang Wulin was able to enter the elevator with his new Blood God Bracelet and arrived in that circular hall again.


    However, he was immediately at a loss for what to do as soon as he arrived because there was no one there, and he had no idea how to contact any of the other members of the Blood God Battalion. What could he do?


    All he could do was wait.


    Thus, Tang Wulin sat down on the ground and began to meditate. A Blood God would turn up sooner or later, so he would just have to wait for them.


    After an indeterminate amount of time, Tang Wulin sensed another presence in the room, and he awakened from his meditation.


    "Are you new to the Blood God Battalion? Why are you meditating here?" A young man in a military uniform with major general epaulets on his shoulders was appraising Tang Wulin with a curious look on his face.


    This man appeared to be in his twenties, and he was quite handsome. He wore a smile on his face and appeared to be quite approachable.


    From his epaulets, Tang Wulin was immediately able to deduce that this was one of the nine Blood Gods. All of the nine Blood Gods were at or above the major general rank, and Blood One was even a general.


    Tang Wulin immediately stood up and extended a military salute. "Greetings, Superior."


    "No need for formalities. What''s the situation with you?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "My name is Tang Wulin, and I''ve only just joined the Blood God Battalion as a fringe member. I wanted to come and find Superior Blood One and ask him about what I should do next."


    An enlightened look appeared on the young man''s face. "I see. If you want to contact any one of us, you can just do so through your Blood God Bracelet. Here, I''ll teach you how to do that. Oh, by the way, I''m Blood Nine."


    Blood Nine? So this was the Blood God that he didn''t get to meet the other day.


    Tang Wulin had already learned that among the Blood Gods of the Blood God Battalion, Blood Three and Blood Five were from Shrek Academy; Blood One and Blood Six were from the Tang Sect; Blood Two, Blood Eight, and Blood Nine were from the Battle God Hall; and Blood Four and Blood Seven were from the Spirit Pagoda.


    Thus, three of the nine Blood Gods were from the Battle God Hall, which gave the Battle God Hall the largest number of Blood Gods among the four super organizations. However, taking into account the fact that Blood One was the master of the entire Tang Sect, the Blood Gods from the Tang Sect were still the most powerful overall.


    "Thank you, Superior." Only now was Tang Wulin made aware of the difference between his rose Blood God Bracelet and normal Blood God Bracelets; there was a special communication system in his bracelet that could allow him to contact any of the nine Blood Gods, and all of the Blood Gods could also contact him through the same system.


    As a fringe member, he couldn''t get into direct contact with the nine Blood Gods; he could only leave messages and wait for responses.


    Tang Wulin immediately left Blood One a message according to Blood Nine''s instructions, asking Blood One what he should do next.


    To his surprise, Blood One responded very quickly. "The location tracking service tells me you''re currently at the Blood God Battalion; wait for me there."


    "Boss is asking you to wait for him here? Awesome! I wanted to meet him as well," Blood Nine chuckled.


    "Thank you, Superior," Tang Wulin said in a heartfelt manner. This Blood Nine seemed to be a very easy-going person who was eager to help wherever he could.


    Blood Nine smiled, and said, "I heard from the others that you''re from Shrek Academy, right? What happened to Shrek Academy truly is a great shame. When news of the incident first reached the legion, Blood Three and Blood Five almost left their posts to return to Shrek City, and Blood One almost had to stop them by force."

 Chapter 967: Mission

    Even though a very long time had already passed, Tang Wulin was still struck by a sense of dejection whenever this incident was mentioned.


    A wry smile appeared on his face. "The academy was destroyed, yet we don''t even know where our enemies are, and we have no idea how many people were involved. However, we''ll definitely rebuild Shrek Academy no matter what. The glory of Shrek Academy definitely won''t die in our generation!"


    "I believe in you! As a Blood God, I can only offer you moral support. After all, we all have a duty here, so we can''t go anywhere." Blood Nine patted Tang Wulin''s shoulder in an encouraging manner. From his outward appearance alone, he appeared to be around the same age as Tang Wulin.


    Right at this moment, the elevator door was opened, and Blood One strode into the room.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but falter slightly at the sight of him. In contrast with Blood One''s demeanor during their last meeting, he clearly had a sense of killing intent radiating from his body today.


    Due to his immensely powerful bloodline, Tang Wulin was particularly sensitive to the auras of others, and he could sense that Blood One''s aura fluctuations were making his bloodline fluctuate violently as well.


    Blood Nine raised an eyebrow and smiled as he asked, "Did you go to the abyssal passageway again, Boss?"


    Blood One nodded in response. "They retreated very quickly this time, so I had to go and have a look in case they''re plotting something else. They backed off really early on this occasion, and neither side suffered many losses. It looks like they were scared off rather than plotting anything sinister."


    Blood Nine faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Scared off? By who?"


    A faint smile appeared on Blood One''s face, and he pointed at Tang Wulin.


    Blood Nine turned to Tang Wulin with a surprised look on his face. "By him? How?"


    Blood One smiled, and said, "I''ll tell you about that later. Wulin, I''ve organized something for you to do; I''m going to be assigning a mission to you today."


    "I''m ready to hear it!" Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly, but he was also quite eager to hear this task.


    Blood One continued, "You have to prepare for battle and prime yourself to your peak condition for the task I''m about to assign you."


    "Yes!"


    Blood Nine asked in a puzzled manner, "The abyssal tide is already over; what mission could you possibly have for him?"


    Blood One smiled, and said, "Have you forgotten about the latest technology released by the federation?"


    Blood Nine was immediately enlightened. "You want him to participate in THAT?"


    "That''s right. The event will be quite safe for him to participate in, and he won''t have to worry about giving anything away. You can go back for now, Wulin, I''m going to contact you via Blood God Bracelet later. I have to do some preparatory work for your mission, and the mission will commence in three days."


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied again, but he didn''t immediately depart. Instead, he was looking at Blood One with a hopeful expression as he continued, "Superior, I just went to the battle department to receive my accolades for the recently concluded battle, and they told me that I have to come to the Blood God Battalion for a promotion, so..."


    Blood One was Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, who was most definitely someone that he could trust. As such, Tang Wulin had no qualms in confiding in him.


    Blood One smiled, and asked, "How many accolades have you saved up?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Over 20,000."


    Blood One faltered slightly before bursting into laughter. "You earned over 20,000 accolades after participating in only one battle? Looks like you really did devour a lot of abyssal energy; no wonder two of those old bastards were provoked into directly attacking you. I''m guessing that they most likely retreated to discuss measures against you, and that''s why this abyssal tide concluded so quickly. 20,000 accolades is enough to promote you to the captain rank. However, don''t be in a hurry to redeem your accolades yet; if you can successfully complete this mission, I''ll make an executive decision to promote you straight to major, so you can just wait until then for your promotion."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately widened upon hearing this.


    You can do that?


    He was already very elated to hear that he''d earned a promotion to the captain rank, but if he could become a major, then didn''t that mean he could visit Gu Yuena every week? That would be fantastic!


    "Thank you for this opportunity, Superior; I''ll go back to prepare right away."


    Tang Wulin departed, and Blood Nine turned to Blood One, only to find that a grim expression had appeared on his face.


    "You don''t look all that pleased, Boss," Blood Nine said with a perplexed look on his face.


    Blood One explained in a grave voice, "Wulin''s emergence is a brilliant opportunity for us, but it could also be the catalyst for a catastrophic disaster. It''s hard to say how the situation will play out, but he was revealed to the abyssal plane far too early. I''ve already told the corps commander to further bolster our defensive lines; this abyssal tide may have concluded quite quickly, but I''m very concerned that the next one will strike us soon. "


    ¡­¡­


    At the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    Qiangu Dongfeng sat in the main seat, and said in a serious voice, "The newest technology released by the federation is about to be officially activated soon. Not only do we need to participate in this event, we have to do extremely well."


    The person sitting beside him was the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, while another middle-aged man was sitting on his other side. All of the people present seemed to be high-ranking figures in the Spirit Pagoda.


    "This newest technology released by the federation is quite monumental. In reality, it was invented quite a while ago, but it''s been constantly undergoing testing. The destruction of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters has plunged the entire continent into chaos, and the federation has chosen to release this piece of technology at a time like this partially as a means to divert the attention of the public. Yaozhu, how are things going on your end? Have you still not found your disciple?"


    Heavenly Phoenix Leng Yaozhu replied in an indifferent voice, "I''ve already gotten into contact with my disciple; she''s currently very well and will be participating in the event."


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in a pleased manner. "We can''t afford to fail here as the expansion of our scope of influence will hinge on our ability to secure a good result. We''ve already secured a quarter of the total number of seats in the new parliament; if we can attain an even greater level of influence through this competition, that would be greatly beneficial to implementing the next step of our plan."


    Leng Yaozhu glanced at him and didn''t say anything. As the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, she had known Qiangu Dongfeng for far too long to not be aware of what his ultimate objective was. He was an extremely ambitious man, and his goal was to mold the Spirit Pagoda into an organization like the Soul Hall that existed over 20,000 years ago. He was trying to make the Spirit Pagoda an organization that transcended beyond and controlled the entire federation.


    She had no concrete evidence of this, but she firmly believed that he had played a role behind the disaster that had befallen Shrek Academy.


    ¡­¡­


    "The latest technology from the federation? That sounds really interesting! There are designated participation sites in every major city, and all of the Spirit Pagoda branches in all of the major cities can also participate. It''s said that the competition will be held in a setting that resembles the Spirit Pagoda''s Spirit Ascension Plane, but it''ll be a little different. This latest technology is going to encompass the entire continent, and they want as many Soul Masters as possible to participate in the event. Every Soul Master''s abilities and bodily conditions will be perfectly scanned and simulated to ensure absolute fairness. This piece of technology will be immensely beneficial to improving a Soul Master''s practical combat skills, and it''ll be especially helpful to mecha pilots."


    "I''ve heard that as well! In the past, only major organizations have had access to similar pieces of technology, but they''ve all been incomplete and can''t be interconnected. This time, everything''s different as the federation is releasing this technology, so all of the systems will be unified. The federation is hosting this competition and offering such valuable prizes in order to attract as many Soul Master participants as possible, thereby allowing them to promote this new technology. It''s said that this system has already been tested in the military to great effect."


    "It''d be awesome if all of this were true. What are we waiting for then? Let''s go and sign up as well. It''s all free anyway, so we can just participate to accrue experience, if nothing else."


    "Are there any restrictions?"


    "I''ve heard that everyone can participate as long as they''re not Titled Douluos or three-word battle armor masters. Apparently, the system is still unable to handle battles between three-word battle armor masters as the external firmware isn''t strong enough. Even after being scanned into the system, the energy radiating from the bodies of three-word battle armor masters during battle could still easily damage the system. In short, you can''t be a Titled Douluo, and if you''re a three-word battle armor master, you''re prohibited from using your battle armor. Aside from that, anyone is allowed to participate."

 Chapter 968: Artificial Intelligence?

    "Will the battles be exclusively one-on-one or will there be group battles as well?"


    "There are no group battles for now. This edition of the competition is split up into two sections, one for mechas and the other for Soul Masters, and all of the matches will be one-on-one battles. This is a competition that takes participants from all over the entire federation, so the finals will only be held after the regional competitions. It''s said that all Soul Masters that can reach the finals will be given very good prizes, and those who can make the top 16 receive even greater rewards. Apparently, the final champion will receive all of the resources required to construct a red mecha or heavenly refined metals that can be used to construct a suit of four-word battle armor; that''s absolutely insane!"


    ¡­¡­


    "Star Battle Net?" Tang Wulin looked at the information that had been sent to him by Blood One, and a surprised look appeared in his eyes.


    The latest technology released by the federation allowed Soul Masters to enter the Star Battle Net to engage in simulated battles through pieces of equipment known as Star Cabins.


    The premise was kind of similar to the Spirit Pagoda''s Spirit Ascension Plane, but there was no limit on the number of participants, and it couldn''t enhance one''s soul rings like the Spirit Ascension Plane could, so there was no conflict of interest between this technology and the Spirit Pagoda.


    The main benefit of this new technology was that it provided a platform for all Soul Masters and mecha pilots to compete against one another.


    This entire Star Battle Net was the first prototype that had just been released to the general public, and it was said that it was constantly going to be upgraded in the future.


    The mission that Blood One had assigned to Tang Wulin was for him to participate in the star battle net competition and finish in the top three.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon seeing this. He had thought that even if the mission were going to be very difficult, he would definitely be able to complete it. However, after assessing the details of the battle net competition, his confidence had been severely dented.


    All Soul Masters below the Titled Douluo stage could enter this competition, so that included eight-ring Soul Douluos. Even with the restriction against suits of three-word battle armor, there had to be many Soul Douluos and Soul Sages who were also two-word battle armor masters. With their suits of two-word battle armor, they''d possess powers comparable to that of Hyper Douluos.


    This was a competition that encompassed the entire continent! He was quite confident in his own abilities, but he certainly wasn''t confident enough to think that he was invincible below the Titled Douluo stage!


    Blood One''s objective behind assigning him this mission was quite simple; he wanted Tang Wulin to hone his practical combat skills during this competition and continue to improve himself by battling powerful opponents.


    Tang Wulin was in full approval of this, but the mission was still way too difficult to complete! If he only had to finish in the top 32, then he''d still be relatively confident, but top three was an entirely different story.


    A lack of confidence didn''t directly translate to a lack of battle intent. After all, he had always grown stronger in the face of adversity.


    A Star Cabin had been carried directly into his dormitory room. The dormitory room that he was currently staying in was in the Blood God Battalion, as opposed to the one that he''d been staying in before.


    The fringe members of the Blood God Battalion lived on the level above the circular hall, but their living conditions didn''t improve much; only the most basic of facilities were offered to them. The rooms were slightly larger, but there was actually less living space compared to his previous room due to the presence of this Star Cabin.


    This thing took up around eight square meters of space, and it resembled an enlarged coffin. It also appeared to be quite complex, so it had most likely been quite expensive to produce.


    Not only did the Blood God Battalion have these Star Cabins, the rest of the legion also had access to them. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had heard from Long Yuxue that their legion was among the first batch of people to be testing out the Star Battle Net, but even so, there were only 50 Star Cabins in total in the entire legion. Apparently, these things were extremely expensive to construct, and shipping them here had also been quite difficult.


    The Star Cabins in the legion couldn''t be reserved, so people had to line up to use them. As such, the rooms that the cabins were situated were always packed to the rafters, and that was why Long Yuxue hadn''t taken Tang Wulin to the Star Cabins before.


    As such, Tang Wulin had been quite excited to see that he had a personal Star Cabin all to himself. This was the latest technology released by the federation, so it could definitely be considered to be a luxury product.


    Let''s give it a try. The registration process has already commenced, and the regional competitions will be held in two days. Prior to the commencement of the regional competitions, I have to complete my registration, and after that, I can familiarize myself with the Star Battle Net.


    Tang Wulin pressed a button to open his Star Cabin before stepping into it.


    The internal structure of this thing was very complex. At the very least, it was far more complex than the equipment used at the Spirit Ascension Plane.


    Even after the cabin cover closed, there was no sense of oxygen deprivation at all. Various types of metallic lines adhered themselves onto his body, while a series of metal rungs locked his body into place. These measures were designed to prevent energy seepage during his battles in the Star Battle Net.


    All of the connections were only completed after about five minutes, and Tang Wulin was starting to feel like a lab rat.


    All of a sudden, his vision completely darkened, and an electronic voice sounded. "The Star Cabin is fully prepared; would you like to enter the Star Battle Net?"


    The voice was extremely mechanical, and it wasn''t very pleasant to listen to. "Yes."


    He then abruptly jolted as powerful electrical currents ran through his entire body, making him feel as if he''d become a part of an electrical circuit. It was no wonder that normal people weren''t permitted to use these Star Cabins; without a sufficiently powerful physical constitution, just this soul energy scanning process would most likely cause irreversible damage to a normal person''s body.


    Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, he was struck by a rush of dizziness, and when he returned to his senses, his vision had already returned to him.


    He wasn''t taken directly to another world as was the case when he entered the Spirit Ascension Plane. Instead, there were all types of numbers and binary codes flashing before his eyes.


    "Body scan complete; connection to the Star Battle Net has been successfully established. Please state through verbal communication what you would like to do, and the battle net will process your verbal request."


    "I want to register to participate in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition." This thing didn''t seem to be all that high-tech!


    "Alright, we''ll begin registration right away. What is your name?"


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily before stating his real name. Blood One had told him that he and Zang Xin had arranged for him to join the Blood God Legion as he wouldn''t have to worry about his cover being blown here. In this place, he was absolutely safe, and no one would come to hunt him down here. Aside from the fact that the Blood God Legion held an extremely lofty position in the military and in the entire federation, very few people knew of its specific location, so this was a very safe place.


    On top of that, the Star Battle Net had brilliant confidentiality, and the internal information was only recorded by the mainframe of the battle net. After this information was recorded, all of the Soul Masters who joined the battle net would be given a certain rank, and that rank could only be improved according to one''s battle record. Even the federal parliament couldn''t access the information in the battle net mainframe unless approval was secured from the entire parliament. This effectively circumvented the possibility of people with sinister intentions gathering information through the battle net mainframe.


    The system asked a series of questions as part of Tang Wulin''s registration process.


    "You can give yourself a nickname, and that nickname will be what''s displayed to your opponents during the competition."


    Tang Wulin considered this for a moment. "I''ll go with Golden Dragon King."


    "Golden Dragon Turtle? Please confirm."  [1]


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless. "Golden Dragon King!"


    "Golden Dragon King? Please confirm."


    "Yes."


    The electronic voice sounded in reply. "Sorry, the nickname you''ve selected has already been taken."


    If Tang Wulin could see his own face right now, he''d discover that his expression had completely darkened.


    "Please choose another nickname."


    "Little Tang." Tang Wulin could only give himself a random nickname.


    "Little Tang? Please confirm."


    "Yes."


    "You have successfully set your nickname as Little Tang. Tang Wulin, soul power rank 59, special physical constitution, what appears to be a dragon-type bloodline, unreasonable levels of physical prowess... You have been deemed as a supremely talented Soul Master. The registration is now complete; would you like to sign up for the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition?"


    "Yes." Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with shock. He had discovered something that was quite extraordinary to him during the registration process; in the past, regardless of whether he was in the Spirit Pagoda''s Spirit Ascension Plane or some kind of similar simulation world, he had never been able to interact and communicate with those worlds. However, this electronic voice was holding a conversation with him, which was the equivalent of the entire Star Battle Net communicating with him!


    Tang Wulin finally understood why this was such a monumental piece of technology. The technology wasn''t extraordinary due to the simulation system. Instead, it was the artificial intelligence element that was very remarkable.


    To think that technology in the federation had developed to such an extent that even artificial intelligence could be planted into simulation systems. Even though this system still appeared to be quite rough around the edges and was a lot less refined than the Spirit Ascension Plane, the fact that artificial intelligence had been integrated into it made it far superior in caliber to the Spirit Ascension Plane.


    The internal framework of the system wasn''t difficult to set up, but this artificial intelligence technology was a massive stride! This electronic voice that was extremely mechanical and rather unpleasant to listen to was most likely the prototype of artificial intelligence, and it was the first time that humans had put artificial intelligence into practical application. This was a groundbreaking development!


    As opposed to saying that this competition provided an opportunity for Soul Master to experience this cutting-edge technology, it could instead be said that this artificial intelligence system was being tested through the battles between all of these Soul Masters. If artificial intelligence were to be gradually perfected, human technology could very likely enter another period of highly accelerated growth.


    [1] [OK, this one''s a little hard to explain, and it won''t be very funny in English, but here goes. Tang Wulin used the Chinese particle ¡°°É¡± at the end of his sentence, which is pronounced "ba", the same way that the character "°Ë" is pronounced. The character of king (Íõ) in Golden Dragon King is pronounced as "wang". That, followed by the "ba" particle, is pronounced as "wangba" (Íõ°É), which is the same pronunciation as turtle (Íõ°Ë), hence the mixup. There''s also an extra layer of humor here as turtle is a derogatory term in China, generally implying that one is a coward who hides within their shell.]

 Chapter 969: First Battle

    Even though Tang Wulin had a very negative impression of the federation, he had to admit that the federation had some exceptional scientists.


    He didn''t know much about the practical applications of artificial intelligence, but he could imagine how drastically people''s lives would change once artificial intelligence became more prevalently used in all major fields.


    Light flashed, and the scenes around him changed before he found himself standing on a street. At the same time, a voice sounded beside his ears. "You''ve entered the western competition region. Please follow the arrows to head to the western competition region lobby. At the same time, please select your mode of battle; would you like to participate in a Soul Master battle or a mecha battle?"


    A shimmering white arrow appeared before Tang Wulin, and after following it for a while, he soon caught sight of a building that was as massive as a sports stadium. He could also see that there were many other people making their way toward the building just like him.


    From the outside, this simulated world was nowhere near as realistic as the Spirit Ascension Plane. There were many areas that had to be improved, but taking into account the existence of artificial intelligence in this system, nothing else was all that important.


    After entering the massive western competition region arena, light flashed in front of Tang Wulin, and a light screen appeared.


    "Please select your mode of battle."


    Tang Wulin chose both Soul Master battle and mecha battle without any hesitation. A large block of text was then displayed on the screen, and at the very top were the words "Registration Success" in large font.


    This clearly indicated that his registration process was complete. Following that was a list of rules for the mecha battles and Soul Master battles.


    Due to the large number of contestants, the entire federation was split up into eight competition regions, and the competition region that one belonged to was determined through the Star Cabin that they were using. Tang Wulin was situated in the Skyend Mountain Ranges, so he naturally belonged to the western competition region.


    The mecha battle section only presented two options for the mechas that could be chosen; long-range or melee. There were no other options, and the enclosed explanation for this was that this was supposed to be a pure contest of mecha piloting skills, so one could experience what it was like to use the competition-stipulated mechas beforehand, but they couldn''t specify exactly what kind of mecha they wanted.


    This was undoubtedly very troublesome to many mecha pilots. Everyone was quite familiar with their own mechas, and their combat prowess would be significantly dented if they were to use completely unfamiliar mechas instead.


    However, taking into account the fact that this system was only in its infancy, Tang Wulin felt this to be quite understandable. After all, if everyone brought their own mecha into this simulated world, how much extra data would that result in? Furthermore, a battle between mechas should indeed be purely based on the skills of the mecha pilots. Some mecha pilots with inferior skills could have access to better materials and weapons for their mechas, and that would simply make everything quite unfair. Hence, this rule made everything a lot fairer.


    The Soul Master battles were even simpler; they were just straightforward battles.


    One had to first make it into the top 32 in their regional competitions before they could qualify for the finals.


    The format of the regional competitions was decided based on the number of participants, and generally speaking, the rounds consisted primarily of elimination battles.


    The rules were very simple; due to the fact that everyone was in the Star Battle Net, they didn''t have to worry about hurting their opponents. As such, they could unleash their powers to their hearts'' content and do everything they could do to beat their opponents. It was as simple as that.


    However, the simpler the rules of a competition were, the harsher the competition would be. Elimination battles entailed that if he were unlucky and encountered a powerful being in the first round, then he could be eliminated in the very first round.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched as he thought back to the horrendous luck he''d experienced during the competition he''d participated in on the Star Luo Continent. He could only hope that his luck would be better in this Star Battle Net. Even so, no matter how he looked at it, making it into the top three was far too difficult.


    After all, he would be facing all of the powerful Soul Masters on the continent who were below the Titled Douluo level and hadn''t yet attained their suits of three-word battle armor. He could only do his best. He wondered if his friends would also be participating in this competition.


    The confidential nature of this system ensured that their identities wouldn''t be leaked, which was quite a good thing as that at least ensured that he wouldn''t attract much attention in the initial rounds.


    It was just a pity that there were no partners or group battles. Otherwise, he''d actually have a greater chance.


    Of course, that train of thought only surfaced briefly in his mind before he dismissed it. He wasn''t with his friends at the moment, so even if they were participating in this competition, there was no way for them to find one another and form teams in the Star Battle Net.


    After reading through the instructions, Tang Wulin waved a hand, and the light screen before him disappeared on its own. He then made a lap around the inside of the sports stadium to assess what the competition venue was like and familiarize himself with everything.


    The internal arrangement of the sports stadium wasn''t very complex, and everything was quite aesthetically pleasing. There were a few noteworthy areas to him; the stadium was divided into two sections, one for mecha battles, and the other for Soul Master battles. At the same time, the Soul Masters who registered for both modes of battle had their battle times arranged by the system so that there were no clashes.


    There were some experiences available in both of the battle areas; all one had to do was make a selection, and they''d be able to enter one of the areas to participate in a practice match. However, federal credits were required to access this feature.


    I have to pay?


    As a stingy cheapskate, Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately widened. This was way too inhumane!


    And the prices weren''t cheap, either! Using a combat room in the mecha area once cost 2,000 federal credits, while a combat room in the Soul Master area cost 1,000 federal credits per hire. This essentially meant that it cost 1,000 or 2,000 federal credits just for a single practice battle.


    "Why don''t these guys go and rob a bank?!" Tang Wulin exclaimed with a speechless look on his face.


    Right at this moment, a voice sounded from beside him. "Even robbing a bank won''t generate income as quickly as this." Tang Wulin turned around to find that someone had appeared beside him without him noticing.


    After entering this battle net, everyone''s appearances had been concealed to a certain extent, and masks had also been given to all of the participants. All of the masks were white, and their clothes were all entirely grey in color, so they looked as mundane as mundane could be.


    The only things that set them apart were the nicknames hovering above their heads.


    The man beside him had the nickname "Between Four and Six" above his head. It was a rather strange nickname.


    "These prices are ridiculous!" Tang Wulin sighed.


    Between Four and Six nodded firmly in agreement. "Do you want to give this a try?"


    Tang Wulin said in a resigned manner, "Well, I have to get in some practice in this venue before the competition begins. I wonder how I can transfer my federal credits into this simulation, though."


    His voice had only just trailed off when the artificial intelligence system swooped in again. A light screen appeared before him, and an electronic voice sounded once again. "Would you like to top up some federal credits?"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but grit his teeth with fury. The federation wasn''t even trying to hide the fact that this was a complete money-grab!


    "I''ll top up 10,000 federal credits for now." Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and topped up 10,000 of his remaining federal credits.


    After topping up, he discovered that the number "10,000" had appeared in the bottom left corner of his field of view.


    "Should we give this a try?" Between Four and Six seemed to have also topped up some credits, and he extended an invitation toward Tang Wulin.


    "Between Four and Six has extended a challenge to you; you''ll need to spend 1,000 federal credits to access the combat room."


    Tang Wulin was only here to accrue some experience anyway, so he decided to accept.


    Two beams of light immediately descended from the sky before shining down upon the two of them. Their vision blurred, and in the next instant, they found themselves in another setting.


    It was actually completely identical to a real sports stadium here, and it was only larger in area. They were situated on a massive competition platform that was over 300 meters in diameter, and it was truly an extremely grand sight to behold. There was enough space for them to unleash all of their power, and there were many seats around the stadium, but of course, there were no spectators...


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    The electronic voice cut straight to the chase without giving them any time to prepare. The two of them had only just appeared 100 meters apart on the platform before the countdown immediately commenced.


    Tang Wulin and Between Four and Six were both appraising one another, and in the next instant, the two of them charged toward each other in unison.


    Neither of them had released their martial souls right away, and the distance of 100 meters was being closed down at a rapid rate. The two of them released their martial souls almost in complete synchronicity when they were only around 20 meters away from one another.

 Chapter 970: Between Four and Six

    Several dozens of Bluesilver Emperor vines shot forth at once as Tang Wulin activated his first soul skill, Bind!


    Meanwhile, Between Four and Six''s body instantly swelled in size as six soul rings abruptly appeared beneath his feet.


    He was... looking rather familiar!


    One Bluesilver Emperor vine shot forth after another, binding Between Four and Six tightly. Between Four and Six''s body had already grown to around seven meters tall, and he thrashed about violently, using the Bluesilver Emperor vines to whip Tang Wulin up into the air before slamming him viciously down toward the ground.


    What immense strength!


    Tang Wulin immediately released his connection between those Bluesilver Emperor vines, and at the same time, the Bluesilver Impaling Array appeared on the ground before stabbing toward his opponent.


    Between Four and Six''s body stiffened slightly, but dark golden light then began to radiate from his body, and he recovered after less than a third of the time that the Bluesilver Impaling Array was normally supposed to restrict its target for. At this point, Tang Wulin had just sprung to his feet after rolling onto the ground to break his own fall, and his fourth soul ring immediately lit up, causing all of his Bluesilver Emperor vines to expand drastically in size.


    He had learned to disguise his soul rings on the demonic island, and he was currently making it appear as if he had two yellow soul rings alongside three purples; it was a very normal soul ring configuration.


    He unleashed his Bluesilver Overlord Transformation, then conjured up his Bluesilver Impaling Array again. The Bluesilver Emperor vines that erupted from the ground were far more massive than the previous ones, and the dark golden scales that had appeared all over Between Four and Six''s was struck by an enormous force. As a result, he fell into a brief period of disorientation, and Tang Wulin stomped his left foot into the ground, propelling himself through the air like a cannonball.


    His fist struck his opponent''s chest, and in that instant, he felt as if he''d just punched a resolute city wall rather than a person.


    However, his immense power still sent Between Four and Six flying through the air.


    As opposed to charging forward to press his advantage, a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Greetings, Superior."


    Between Four and Six had already recovered from the paralysis effect of the Bluesilver Impaling Array after he landed on the ground, and he was feeling rather speechless as he experienced the intense pain in his chest while witnessing the figure that was descending from above.


    "Tang Wulin?"


    "It''s me." Tang Wulin released his Golden Dragon King bloodline aura with a faint smile on his face as he spoke, and Between Four and Six''s bloodline was instantly completely dominated.


    "Why the hell did I have to meet you here!" Between Four and Six was none other than Jiang Wuyue! Tang Wulin had already recognized him when he released his martial soul.


    Tang Wulin merely chuckled in response.


    He hadn''t seen Jiang Wuyue ever since they had battled alongside one another on that day.


    "I heard you became a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion?" Jiang Wuyue made no effort to hide the envy in his voice.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Jiang Wuyue said, "Don''t call me superior anymore; from now on, we''re brothers. This is also my first time here, and it''s pretty interesting. It''s different from our legion''s simulation system, and the directions that are presented make this system a lot more convenient to navigate."


    "Indeed, the artificial intelligence system is quite a significant technological breakthrough from the federation. At the very least, it''s a good beginning. Do you still want to continue, Superior?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Jiang Wuyue dusted himself off as he replied, "Of course! I didn''t get to fight you to my heart''s content last time, and we''re not actually going to get injured here, so come at me! Fight me with everything you have and show me what you''re made of; I''m not going to be holding back today. Also, I already told you not to call me superior; just call me Wuyue instead."


    "Sure!" Facing an opponent with battle intent as strong as Jiang Wuyue''s was a great opportunity for Tang Wulin as well.


    Jiang Wuyue immediately released his suit of two-word battle armor without any hesitation. The inky-black battle armor was shimmering with a faint metallic gleam, and after it encapsulated his entire body, Tang Wulin felt as if he were looking at a real Tyrant Dragon.


    Jiang Wuyue let loose a long roar, and his powerful bloodline aura swelled in a frenzy, allowing it to just barely contend with Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t going to look down on Jiang Wuyue; he also immediately released his own suit of two-word battle armor, and the circuits within his battle armor began to inject bursts of enormous power into his body. His soul power and blood essence power were both severely enhanced, and golden light began to radiate from his body as he spread open his dragon wings.


    "Come at me!"


    Jiang Wuyue let loose an explosive roar while flapping his massive wings with all his might. His body hurtled toward Tang Wulin like a ferocious meteor, and his giant hammers also appeared in his grasp before he brought them down with devastating force.


    He hadn''t used his weapons nor his battle armor during their last sparring match.


    Golden light flashed, and the Golden Dragon Spear appeared in Tang Wulin''s hand. At the same time, scintillating light erupted from the dragon core within Tang Wulin''s chest, and his blood essence power spread through his entire body.


    If his bloodline power had flowed throughout his body like a massive river in the past, then ever since he''d attained his dragon core, his bloodline power had been flowing like streams of light. How could the flow of water compare with the speed of light?


    As such, it only took an instant before Tang Wulin''s blood essence was elevated to its very maximal extent.


    "Break!" Tang Wulin roared.


    "Boom!"


    The entire combat room tremored violently, and Jiang Wuyue''s massive scaled body, as well as his pair of giant hammers, were all flung up into the air by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.


    Due to the enhancements from his battle armor, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had also become more powerful. With a sufficiently enormous influx of blood essence power to support it, it had evolved to a certain extent.


    The spear had elongated to close to five meters in length. The center of the spear was as thick as a duck egg, and each spearhead on either side was over one and a half meters in length. Faint golden light was shimmering from the peerlessly sharp spear, and as soon as Jiang Wuyue''s giant hammers struck the Golden Dragon Spear, he was struck by an extremely terrifying burst of recoil force, as well as a sense of immense bloodline pressure.


    His entire body was flung up into the air for several meters, and Tang Wulin immediately brought his Golden Dragon Spear crashing down upon him. A dazzling crescent-shaped golden spear projection instantly hurtled toward him, and he used his pair of hammers to shield himself.


    A resounding boom erupted, and Jiang Wuyue''s body was sent flying for several dozens of meters. After landing on the ground, he only managed to arrest his backward momentum after stumbling back for a few steps.


    "Your strength..." Jiang Wuyue was staring at Tang Wulin in an astonished manner.


    He had never even met any Soul Douluos who had been able to directly withstand the force of his giant hammers, let alone someone who was below him in terms of soul power rank! He was a pure strength-type Soul Master! Power and defense were his two fortes.


    However, the powerful traits that he had always been so proud of had completely failed him here. Not only was he unable to move Tang Wulin even a single inch, he had come off decidedly second-best in the aftermath of that clash. There was a noticeable gash on his battle armor, and the protective barrier around his suit of two-word battle armor had been torn open. Just how sharp was that spear of his?


    Tang Wulin said, "I improved a little during that last battle." Indeed, after attaining his dragon core, his strength had improved to a whole new level.


    Jiang Wuyue may have had a chance of being able to match him in strength in the past, but now, the two of them were simply no longer on the same level.


    "Don''t celebrate too early!" Jiang Wuyue''s competitive nature had been completely provoked, and he threw his head back as he let loose a thunderous roar of fury. At the same time, his sixth soul ring lit up, and his entire suit of battle armor, as well as his scales, turned into a dark golden color.


    A layer of dark golden light appeared around his body, and he swelled further in size to around 10 meters tall.


    A massive projection that was around 50 meters tall had appeared behind him, the projection was none other than that of a Tyrant Dragon. The Tyrant Dragon projection had its mouth open and was letting loose a soundless roar in Tang Wulin''s direction. A burst of powerful yet invisible fluctuations immediately surged forth, and all of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s bloodline domination seemed to have been completely nullified.


    "Armageddon Tyrant Rush!" A roar of fury rang out, and Jiang Wuyue charged forward like a true giant dragon, reaching Tang Wulin almost instantaneously with unstoppable intent and peerlessly terrifying power radiating from his massive body. In that instant, Jiang Wuyue was unleashing all of his power.


    Tang Wulin reacted very quickly, and he began by stomping his left foot into the ground while opening his mouth to let loose a loud roar.


    A golden dragon head appeared to encompass his entire body; it was none other than his Golden Dragon Roar!


    The terrifying pressure weighing down upon him was completely pulverized by the force of his Golden Dragon Roar, and the formidable shockwaves instantly shattered the Tyrant Dragon projection behind Jiang Wuyue.


    Jiang Wuyue''s Armageddon Tyrant Rush was extremely powerful. After unleashing that soul skill, his body had attained abilities similar to Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and his defensive prowess had also been elevated to an extremely terrifying level.


    He was the most powerful six-ring Soul Emperor that Tang Wulin had ever faced; he was even more powerful than the past Long Yue.

 Chapter 971: One Win, Zero Losses

    The Golden Dragon Roar destroyed the Tyrant Dragon Projection, but it couldn''t'' stop Jiang Wuyue from continuing to charge forward in his tyrant body state.


    Right at this moment, Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth appeared. Under Tang Wulin''s expert control, eight golden dragons emerged from beneath Jiang Wuyue''s body almost at the exact same moment, forcibly propelling his gargantuan body into the air for around seven or eight meters.


    However, the Armageddon Tyrant Rush was Jiang Wuyue''s sixth soul skill, and it wasn''t going to be dispelled so easily. Even though he was forced to change direction, that only delayed him for a moment before he spread his wings to control his body, then continued to hurtle toward Tang Wulin.


    However, with these two brief moments of respite, Tang Wulin had bought himself more than enough time. He adopted a wide stand with his left leg in the front and his right leg in the back while his spear was brandished before him.


    At the same time, the surface of his battle armor took on a mirror-like appearance, and brilliant light erupted from the dragon core within his chest. A dragon''s roar then rang out as energy surged around his body.


    "Clang!"


    The Armageddon Tyrant Rush crashed into Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, which was being backed up by his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and Jiang Wuyue''s enormous body came to a complete standstill, creating quite a peculiar sight to behold.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin was flung back by the force of the devastating impact, and his entire body slid backward while his feet carved out a pair of trenches into the ground.


    Even so, his body was still extremely stable as he glided backward. His Dragon Moon battle armor flashed in a rapid manner, and the energy absorbed by his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body was completely unleashed. He thrust his Golden Dragon Spear toward Jiang Wuyue, who had been hovering in mid-air from their prior clash, and a loud dragon''s roar suddenly rang out.


    A massive golden dragon then erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear, and it was none other than his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Jiang Wuyue''s entire body was trembling violently due to the enormous recoil force that he''d been struck by, and his vision was completely dark. In the next instant, golden light illuminated the darkness, but his body was also devoured by this light.


    A voice sounded beside his ears. "More than 70% of your body has been destroyed; you have been deemed to be dead. You have suffered a loss; your current record is zero wins, one loss."


    Light flashed again, and all of the pain vanished. Jiang Wuyue abruptly discovered that he''d already arrived back at the place he was situated at before he entered the sports stadium.


    Light flashed again, and Tang Wulin also appeared beside him. However, the words "one win, zero losses" had appeared beside his nickname.


    I lost just like that?


    He hadn''t used his full power during his sparring match with Tang Wulin last time as he was afraid of injuring him. However, everything was completely different on this occasion. He had lost in the most crushing manner, and he''d even unleashed his strongest ability, but Tang Wulin had still been able to defeat him with a single spear strike.


    Jiang Wuyue was completely rooted to the spot while Tang Wulin was grumbling to himself, "What a waste of 1,000 federal credits! That ended way too quickly."


    That ended way too quickly? What was he trying to say?! Jiang Wuyue really wanted to yell at him to vent his frustration and indignation, but as a loser, he didn''t feel as if he had the right to yell at anyone.


    He was a six-ring Soul Emperor, yet he''d been completely and utterly demolished by this five-ring Soul King. He''d always thought that no one of the same cultivation rank as he was would be a match for him, but he had just been defeated by someone below him in cultivation rank!


    He really didn''t want to accept this loss and he was still brimming with battle intent, but he had to admit that he had lost, and it had been an extremely convincing loss. He had lost to his opponent both in pure strength and in absolute power. Just how freakishly powerful was this guy?


    "I''m leaving," Jiang Wuyue grumbled.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly followed along. "Are you feeling down?"


    "Yes." Jiang Wuyue made no effort to hide what he was currently feeling.


    Tang Wulin consoled, "The problem lies in our bloodlines; your bloodline is too heavily impacted by mine, so there''s no way you can perform at your best. We shouldn''t be enemies in the first place; if we were comrades, you''d become far more powerful than ever before. In terms of true innate power, I may not be a match for you."


    Jiang Wuyue scratched his head as he thought back to the outrageous enhancements that Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain could bring to him. "That makes sense. It''s a pity that there are no team battles in this competition. Otherwise, the two of us would stomp all of the opposition!"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but chuckle internally. Jiang Wuyue''s straightforwardness and resilience had always been his strengths.


    "That''s true. If there were two-on-two battles available, we''d be able to form a team." Thoughts of Gu Yuena immediately appeared in his mind at the mention of two-on-two battles. Who could possibly have better synergy with him than she did? However, did he really want her to fight alongside him, or did he want her to continue to rely on him in her amnesiac state?


    His emotions had always been quite complex toward Gu Yuena. Particularly due to the fact that no matter how he looked at her, he couldn''t help but feel as if she were a fusion between Gu Yue and Na''er.


    In reality, the current Gu Yuena was more like Na''er in that Na''er had also always been so dependent on him in the past. However, he could sense that she was still Gu Yue. Just what had happened between them?


    This was a mystery that he was constantly mulling over.


    However, regardless of whether she was Gu Yue or Na''er, she was still her, and her love for him had never changed. That much had been confirmed to him when she had appeared to shield him with her own body in that dire situation.


    I have to become a major as quickly as possible!


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists with all his might. Only by becoming a major could he pay her regular visits.


    He didn''t exit the battle net. Seeing as he''d already come in, he couldn''t just leave without trying out a mecha battle.


    After arriving in a mecha area, he discovered that the situation was the same as that of the combat rooms in the Soul Master area as he still had to pay for entry. However, an additional option was presented to him, asking him if he''d like a melee combat mecha or a long-range attacking mecha.


    Tang Wulin chose the latter option without any hesitation.


    When he appeared on the competition platform, he discovered that his body was already situated within a mecha. The controls within the mecha belonged to that of the most ordinary generic mecha, and from the complexity of the controls, he could deduce that this was most likely a yellow mecha. Through the display screen within the mecha, he could see that the mecha was entirely of a pristine white color, and that it was holding a soul cannon. It also had a protective barrier equipped, and that was all of the equipment it had.


    Just a single soul cannon!


    Right at this moment, light flashed up ahead, and another mecha appeared before him. In terms of outward appearance, this mecha was larger than his, and it also appeared to be a bit heavier. The mecha was holding a claymore, which indicated that it was a melee-combat mecha, and it was just as badly equipped as his mecha was.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. This kind of mecha battle was quite interesting.


    He adjusted the soul cannon in his hand, then briefly familiarized himself with the controls within the mecha, and at this point, the countdown had already begun.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    As soon as the electronic voice trailed off, the opposing mecha was already hurtling toward Tang Wulin like a rumbling bulldozer.


    The melee combat mecha was around 12 meters tall and weighed eight tons, whereas the long-range attacking mecha was only around 10 meters tall and weighed six and a half tons.


    Tang Wulin immediately controlled his mecha to unleash a cannon blast toward his oncoming opponent, then immediately turned and fled.


    In a battle between a long-range attacking unit and a melee combat unit, his top priority was to open up distance between them.


    The soul cannon blast was orange in color, and as soon as it was released, it instantly accelerated before flying toward the melee combat mecha.


    The opposing mecha reacted in a very agile manner as its body swayed slightly. It looked as if it were about to fall over, but it supported itself against the ground with its left hand, allowing it to evade the cannon blast before charging directly toward Tang Wulin again, and it hadn''t slowed down much during that maneuver. The mecha pilot hadn''t even used the propellers attached to the back of the mecha yet.


    Tang Wulin was rather impressed by his opponent''s handling skills.


    At the same time, he twisted around and unleashed a string of continuous attacks with his soul cannon.


    The melee combat mecha appeared to be very mobile, and its body continued to weave from side to side, evading in an agile and consistent manner. In the meantime, it was constantly closing down the distance between itself and Tang Wulin, and the two mechas were now situated less than 50 meters away from one another.


    If he were to activate the propellers now, it would only take him half a second to reach Tang Wulin, and if a long-range attacking mecha were to allow a melee combat unit to get close to it, a tragedy would undoubtedly ensue for the former.


    The soul cannon required three seconds of cooldown time after every string of 10 continuous blasts, and Tang Wulin quickly grasped that pattern.

 Chapter 972: Handling

    It wasn''t too bad. At the very least, it wasn''t horrendously weak.


    While he was gauging the properties of his soul cannon, he also activated his propeller.


    The propeller was behind the mecha, and it could help the mecha in flight, acceleration, and things like that.


    Generally speaking, melee combat mechas were always slightly faster than long-range attacking mechas. The opposing mecha may have been bulkier, but in reality, melee combat mechas were actually lighter in weight as they didn''t have to carry massive soul batteries in order to support long-range offensive output as long-range attacking mechas did.


    As soon as Tang Wulin activated his propeller, his opponent also activated their propeller. If he''d been slower by even a split second, then the melee combat mecha would''ve rammed directly into him.


    The two figures virtually brushed right past one another before opening up some distance again. On this occasion, both mechas had already flown up into the air.


    The melee combat mecha had reacted extremely quickly; in the instant that it failed to crash into Tang Wulin, the mecha''s claymore was immediately hurled through the air.


    The claymore flew forth as a streak of black light, immediately catching up to Tang Wulin, who was just beginning to slow down following that burst of propulsion force. The melee combat mecha''s timing and accuracy in its attacks were both exemplary.


    What a powerful opponent this was!


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised, but that didn''t slow down his reactions in the slightest. According to the rules of mecha battles, if one''s mecha were to be destroyed, they''d be handed a loss even if the pilot could still battle.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s long-range attacking mecha bent down and completed a very strange maneuver. Its entire body twisted around in mid-air, and it gently raised the stock of its soul cannon upward to parry the claymore away.


    At this point, the melee combat mecha had already begun its second acceleration, and was flying directly toward Tang Wulin.


    "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!" Six balls of light shot forth almost completely in unison.


    Tang Wulin had unleashed those attacks with his soul cannon despite the fact that his mecha had lost its balance in mid-air.


    The six cannon blasts were like plum flower petals that were very beautiful to behold, and they directly cut off the melee combat mecha.


    He hadn''t immediately unleashed these cannon blasts right after he parried the claymore away. Instead, he launched these attacks during his opponent''s second acceleration. After gaining speed through propulsion, it became a lot more difficult for melee combat mechas to change directions. If the mecha pilot were to forcibly change directions, not only would the mecha itself come under intense strain, the mecha pilot would also be dealt an extremely heavy blow. Only mecha pilots with extremely advanced handling skills and a powerful enough mecha at their disposal would choose to change directions during a high-speed charge.


    The melee combat mecha that Tang Wulin was facing didn''t choose that course of action. Instead, it chose to take his attack head-on.


    It was impossible for just a few blasts from a long-range soul cannon to break the protective barrier of a melee combat mecha. While flying toward the oncoming attacks, the mecha twisted around slightly to evade four of the six cannon blasts, only allowing the remaining two to strike its defensive barrier.


    Following two resounding booms, the mecha faltered momentarily in mid-air. Tang Wulin took advantage of this opportunity to open up some more distance between them.


    After having its attack thwarted, the melee combat mecha didn''t rush forward to attack again. Instead, it swooped downward to try and pick up its sword from the ground.


    A melee combat mecha without a weapon was at a disadvantage against a long-range attacking mecha of the same caliber. The timing and accuracy in Tang Wulin''s six cannon blasts had alerted the melee combat mecha pilot to the fact that he was not facing an easy opponent.


    "Boom!" A cannon blast shot forth with unerring accuracy, targeting the sword on the ground as opposed to the melee combat mecha.


    The cannon blast struck the hilt of the claymore, and the explosive force sent it flying up into the air. Three more cannon blasts were then launched toward the melee combat mecha in a triangular formation to cut it off from the claymore.


    The melee combat mecha pilot harrumphed coldly, and the mecha suddenly swooped downward to evade the three cannon blasts, but at this point, the claymore was already several dozens of meters in the air above it.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha accelerated in mid-air, and he sped toward the claymore before grabbing onto the hilt with the mecha''s left hand.


    It had to be said that the melee combat mecha pilot was extremely experienced; as soon as Tang Wulin rushed forward to grab the claymore, the melee combat mecha rose up into the air and activated its propeller without any hesitation, and it wasn''t holding back in the slightest on this occasion. Its target was none other than that claymore; even if it had to cop a few more cannon blasts, it had to recover its weapon. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin was rushing toward the same direction, so the distance between them was dwindling, and that was clearly beneficial to the melee combat mecha.


    Both of them had activated their propellers, but Tang Wulin had taken the initiative, and he''d already arrived in front of the claymore.


    Right at this moment, bright light suddenly erupted from the melee combat mecha, and countless ice spikes materialized in mid-air before converging toward Tang Wulin.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He had been waiting for this moment.


    The vast majority of skilled mecha pilots were Soul Masters, and all Soul Masters had soul skills. A Soul Master who had chosen a melee combat mecha naturally had to possess abilities that were synergistic with their chosen mecha. This melee combat mecha pilot had finally been goaded into unleashing a soul skill. Generally speaking, during battles between mecha pilots, the first person to unleash a soul skill would be conceding a disadvantage as they''d be revealing their martial soul to their opponent first.


    The ice spikes materialized before converging toward Tang Wulin from all sides.


    However, Tang Wulin continued to charge along his original trajectory, and he didn''t release his martial soul, either. Instead, he reached out and grabbed onto the claymore with his left hand, then swung it through the air to unleash a series of sword projections.


    The sword projections were each around three feet in length, and they weren''t overly powerful, but each and every one of them struck an ice spike with unerring accuracy. A vast expanse of icy mist exploded in mid-air, and at the same time, a string of loud booms rang out as 10 cannon blasts flew out of the icy mist, hurtling directly toward the oncoming melee combat mecha.


    With the icy mist acting as a smokescreen, the melee combat mecha pilot had completely failed to see how Tang Wulin had unleashed that attack. The mecha pilot had attacked Tang Wulin with those ice spikes in order to delay him so the distance between them could be closed down even further.


    However, much to his surprise, after Tang Wulin grabbed onto the claymore, he made no effort to open up further distance between them. Instead, he used the claymore to shatter all of the ice spikes while unleashing those 10 cannon blasts in rapid succession at point-blank range.


    The melee combat mecha crashed headfirst into the string of attack, and the 10 cannon blasts exploded one after another, forcing the mecha back down onto the ground. As a result, over 80% of the energy within the melee combat mecha''s protective barrier had been expended.


    Only then did Tang Wulin turn around and flee into the distance. He was opening up some distance again, and also allowing his soul cannon the cooldown time it required.


    The melee combat mecha landed on the ground, and its pilot was feeling extremely frustrated. This was the same feeling that all melee mecha pilots were struck by when they couldn''t get close to a long-range attacking mecha.


    Furthermore, it was quite apparent from Tang Wulin''s swordsmanship that he was definitely not just a one-trick pony who specialized in long-range attacks. Instead, with that claymore in his hand, he was virtually half a melee combat mecha pilot. The melee combat mecha had lost its weapon, as well as most of the energy of its protective barrier; it was in a decidedly worse position compared to its opponent.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin was feeling quite elated.


    He had studied mecha handling in the Tang Sect, and he''d specialized in long-range attacking mechas at the time. This was because he was already extremely proficient in close-quarters combat, so if he were to ever get a mecha, then a long-range attacking mecha would naturally be his only choice.


    It was exactly due to the fact that this wasn''t some high-end mecha that he was able to pilot it with such a high level of proficiency.


    Over 100 meters was opened up between the two mechas, and the three-second cooldown period for Tang Wulin''s soul cannon had already passed. Thus, he would be able to unleash another string of 10 continuous cannon blasts.


    The long-range attacking mecha courses offered by the Tang Sect were definitely some of the best in the world. Over 20,000 years ago, the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, had established a place for the Tang Sect in the world through his extraordinary hidden weapon hand techniques, as well as the various types of hidden weapons that he later went on to invent.


    As such, if one had the intention of improving their long-range offensive prowess, the Tang Sect was definitely the best place to learn. Tang Wulin hadn''t had much mecha training, but he was supremely talented in this field.


    As a mecha pilot, his physical constitution definitely ranked among the best of the best; his body was able to handle far heavier impacts than the average mecha pilot. On top of that, he had Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, and immense spiritual power was also extremely important for piloting mechas.


    Following this period of familiarization, he was really beginning to find his groove.


    "I concede." The opposing mecha suddenly disappeared amid a flash of light. The text above Tang Wulin''s head changed to "two wins, zero losses". The results for the Soul Master battles and mecha battles were stacked on top of one another.


    What? He conceded just like that? This battle''s not over yet!


    Tang Wulin was completely speechless. How could his opponent have conceded so easily! It cost 2,000 federal credits just to access this combat room; at least fight until the very end! He was only just beginning to getting into the zone, and his opponent had completely rained on his parade.


    However, regardless of what he thought, he was also teleported out of the combat venue and returned to the plaza amid a flash of light.


    What a waste of 2,000 federal credits! I have to ask Blood One to see if the Blood God Battalion is going to reimburse me for this.


    After those two battles, Tang Wulin chose to exit the battle net.

 Chapter 973: Reimbursement? Keep Dreaming!

    He had his own Star Cabin, so he could enter the Star Battle Net whenever he wanted anyway. Following his battle with Jiang Wuyue, he really wanted to speak to Gu Yuena, so he decided to give her a call first.


    After exiting the Star Cabin, he did some stretches. This thing was quite decent; even though it was a little rough around the edges, it wasn''t uncomfortable in any way.


    After picking up his soul communicator, Tang Wulin attached his signal booster onto it with a pained look on his face. He had bought this signal booster with his accolades out of necessity as without it, there was no way that he''d have a strong enough signal to make any calls. However, he had to pay every time he used it, and all of his calls would be monitored by the legion in case he tried to leak any confidential military information.


    Thankfully, the accolades that he''d earned through his forging could be used for this purpose.


    The call was connected.


    "Ring ring, ring ring, ring ring!"


    No was picking up. Where had she gone?


    Tang Wulin dialed the number twice in quick succession, but no one was picking up, and he was starting to feel quite anxious.


    Gu Yuena was quite powerful, but after losing her memories, she had no idea how to use her own powers! What could he do?


    He couldn''t leave the legion to see her, so he could only continue to call her. Finally, after he dialed the number for the sixth time, the call was picked up.


    "Father!" Gu Yuena''s elated voice rang out from the other end of the line.


    "Gu Yue, where did you go?" Tang Wulin sounded like a parent scolding his child.


    However, Gu Yuena seemed to be completely oblivious to the critical tone in his voice, and she replied, "I went out to play! I had some roast meat, and it was really delicious! The roast meat uncle only charged me half the money!"


    Tang Wulin continued, "Even if you go out to play, you have to take your soul communicator with you; I''ll get worried if I can''t contact you."


    "Alright. When are you coming to visit me, Father?" Gu Yuena''s voice was filled with hope and anticipation.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m currently participating in a competition, and I''ll be able to visit you if I do well. The competition will commence in two days, so it''ll probably be at least another month before it concludes. I''ll go to visit you right after the competition ends."


    "A month?" Gu Yuena exclaimed in a pitiable voice.


    "Be a patient girl now, Gu Yue. I''ll call you every day, alright?"


    "Alright then, I''ll wait for you here. You have to tell me in advance before you come back, Father. Otherwise, I could be out playing again."


    "Alright, I''ll make sure to tell you in advance."


    Tang Wulin was struck by an immense sense of satisfaction whenever he heard her voice. In reality, he was quite worried every time he dialed her number, wondering whether she''d already recovered her memories from the effects of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum.


    His concern and anticipation co-existed alongside one another, making him feel very conflicted. When Gu Yuena wasn''t picking up her communicator the first few times he''d called her, he was petrified that she''d recovered her memories and left, and only after hearing her voice were his concerns alleviated.


    ¡­¡­


    "What? You''re not going to participate in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition? Why? This is a brilliant opportunity for you. With your powers, you would definitely do well in the competition, and that''ll contribute greatly to bolstering your position in the Spirit Pagoda, so why wouldn''t you participate?"


    "I''m sorry, Teacher, I just don''t want to participate in it, and there''s no particular reason. I don''t think I have to prove myself to anyone, so please explain the situation to the chairman, and tell him that I''m planning to go into seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to become a Soul Sage."


    "You''re going to attempt to make a breakthrough? Is that true?"


    "Yes, it''s about time for me to make a breakthrough, so I''m going to go into seclusion for a while. I''ll have to leave everything else to you, Teacher."


    "No problem. If you can progress to become a Soul Sage, everything will be different and no one will dare to say anything about you. You have my full support."


    ¡­¡­


    "Reimbursement? Keep dreaming! Are you telling me you don''t have any money left? Aren''t you a Saint Blacksmith?" Blood One was looking at Tang Wulin in a speechless manner. Never would he have thought that Tang Wulin would request to meet him in order to discuss something like this.


    Tang Wulin wore a conflicted look on his face. "But it''s so expensive! I''m representing our Blood God Legion in this competition, so shouldn''t I be sponsored?"


    "Just how stingy are you?" Blood One couldn''t help but burst into laughter. He didn''t think that Tang Wulin would be such a cheapskate.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "It''s not that I''m stingy; the problem is that I really don''t have much money. I was just a poor student before this, and both my cultivation and forging require a lot of money to support. I may be a Saint Blacksmith now, but I still don''t have much savings. I had no time to forge in order to earn money before coming to our legion, and I can only forge for accolades here. Also, these accolades can''t contribute to my promotions, and apparently, that rule was specifically introduced to target me. What''s the point in forging if I can''t even earn promotions?"


    Blood One pondered the issue momentarily before replying, "The soldiers of our Blood God Legion don''t have much of a concept of money, but even if your forging accolades can''t contribute toward promotions, you should be able to exchange them for money. How about this? I can help you convert your forging accolades to federal credits at a 1 to 100 rate. You can calculate that for yourself."


    1 to 100? Tang Wulin immediately felt this to be a bad deal.


    "That''s way too low! In the outside world, a Saint Blacksmith can earn around 10,000,000 credits per job, but each job I complete in the legion only earns me around 1,000 to 2,000 accolades. Even soul refinement jobs will earn me around 10,000 to 20,000 accolades, so that''s only 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 federal credits per job..."


    "Take it or leave it; I don''t care!" Blood One waved a dismissive hand as if he were shooing away a fly.


    "I''ll take it!" Tang Wulin hurriedly said with a fawning smile. It was a good thing that he had the option to exchange some extra accolades for federal credits. In reality, he wasn''t actually short on money, so in comparison, it was better for him to exchange his accolades for some valuable resources.


    The commissariat had a very good supply of all types of uncommon metals, as well as even some precious materials that were very difficult to source in the outside world. All of these things could be exchanged for using accolades, so his forging accolades were certainly far from useless even if they couldn''t contribute toward promotions.


    After exiting the Blood God Battalion, Tang Wulin headed straight to his forging room. There were still two days until the commencement of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, and it was only going to be the regional competition, so at the very least, there should be no issues for him during the first few rounds. If he really did encounter an insanely powerful being during the early rounds, then that would simply be a matter of bad luck, and he couldn''t do anything about that aside from giving everything he had to strive toward a promotion to the major rank.


    However, at the same time, he had devised a plan for himself.


    Mu Ye had always advocated to him that there was no clash between battle armor and mechas. Most high-level battle armor masters also possessed their own mechas, but it was very rare for top-tier battle armor masters to also be top-tier mecha pilots.


    In the past, Mu Ye had gone down the wrong path and dedicated all of his time and effort toward mechas. In the end, he became a divine-grade mecha pilot, but he had passed the ideal battle armor cultivation age range at that point, and lost the opportunity to become a four-word battle armor master.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin''s situation was far superior to his. He was only 21 years of age, yet he was already a two-word battle armor master. Furthermore, he could attempt to forge metals for his suit of three-word battle armor as soon as he became a six-ring Soul Emperor. After all, he was already a Saint Blacksmith, so he definitely had the required skills. Following a few more years of accumulation, he''d most definitely be able to become a three-word battle armor master.


    As for mechas, he had never had sufficient time and resources to dedicate to this field, so he''d never paid much attention to it. Now, he had already decided that he was going to forge a suitable mecha for himself, and he was going to make a black mecha from the get-go. At the same time, this had to be a black mecha with evolutionary potential, just like his suit of battle armor.


    This would require a vast amount of resources. With his skills as a Saint Blacksmith, he''d be able to forge the metals required, but at the same time, he had many things to learn about circuits and mecha designs.


    He had considered requesting assistance from another, but he could only create a mecha that was ideal for himself if he were to do everything on his own. Mecha design wasn''t as complex as it was for battle armor as battle armor had to be able to fuse into one''s body. In contrast, mechas were a lot larger in size, and they were far easier to design and customize. As such, Tang Wulin had decided that he was going to create a mecha for himself solely on his own. As for the resources required to accomplish this goal, those naturally had to be exchanged for using accolades. As such, he had to earn more accolades.


    Prior to visiting the Blood God Battalion, he had received a call from Long Yuxue that a three-word battle armor master of the legion was going to visit him to have his suit of battle armor repaired.


    Tang Wulin was given quite a surprise when he discovered that the aforementioned three-word battle armor master was none other than Xu Weitao. He was no longer a complete newbie who didn''t know anyone in the Blood God Legion, so he naturally immediately identified that this was the commander of the Blood Division of the Blood God Legion.


    He was one of the 14 most powerful beings in the entire legion, a Titled Douluo who was also a three-word battle armor master!


    Long Yuxue was standing beside Xu Weitao, and she gave Tang Wulin a meaningful look.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly stood up straight and extended a military salute. "Greetings, Superior."


    Xu Weitao patted his shoulder in a benevolent manner, and said, "You''re already a member of the Blood God Battalion, so you''re no longer under the direct control of the legion. As such, you can just call me Old Man Xu."


    Ol, Old Man Xu?

 Chapter 974: An Alternative Function of the Golden Dragon Spear

    Tang Wulin didn''t think that Xu Weitao would be so easy-going. Weren''t all soldiers supposed to be quite strict and dogmatic? Xu Weitao''s appearance epitomized that of the ideal soldier. He was extremely tall and broad, towering above even Tang Wulin, and he had a set of wide shoulders, as well as a set of hard facial features that looked as if they''d been chiseled out of stone. No matter how one looked at him, he didn''t seem to be an easy-going man. His Blood Division consisted entirely of melee combat soldiers, and one only had to look at Jiang Wuyue''s first battalion to get an indication of just how powerful this division was.


    "I''m not sure that''s appropriate, Superior," Tang Wulin said in a hesitant voice.


    Xu Weitao chuckled, "There''s nothing inappropriate about it. All of the people from the Blood God Battalion call me Old Man Xu; you can go and ask them if you don''t believe me. Oh, actually, that''s not true; only Blood Seven, Blood Eight, and Blood Nine call me Old Man Xu; everyone else calls me Little Xu."


    Tang Wulin was rendered completely speechless. He was only a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion; how could he be compared with the actual Blood Gods?


    Long Yuxue interjected, "Don''t get hung up on the little details, Wulin; you can call him Uncle Xu just like I do. Open the door so we can go in."


    She didn''t have the key to the workshop, so she could only wait for Tang Wulin to open the door for them.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly invited the two of them into the room.


    Xu Weitao looked around at the forging room with a smile, and said, "I heard from Yuxue that you''re a Saint Blacksmith; your skills would undoubtedly be extremely valuable to the entire legion. The vice-legion commander prohibited you from using your forging accolades for promotions in order to avoid envious reactions from everyone else in the legion, and I hope you can understand that. If you have any requirements or requests, feel free to tell me, and we''ll do our best to satisfy you."


    The higher-ups of the legion were feeling rather apologetic about their decision to prohibit Tang Wulin from earning promotions using his forging accolades. Furthermore, he was the only Saint Blacksmith in the entire legion, so even the highest-ranking officials in the legion would most likely require his services at one point or another.


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and said, "It''s alright, Uncle Xu, I understand why this rule was introduced. All of the other soldiers in the legion are earning accolades by putting their lives on the line during battles, so it''s only right that they deserve promotions. In contrast, my forging is completely insignificant."


    Despite what he was saying, there was a clear undertone of displeasure in his words.


    He had honed his forging skills through countless hours of toil and hardships! He''d been forging ever since he was six years old, so he''d been a blacksmith for 15 years. Furthermore, he was also the youngest Saint Blacksmith on the entire continent.


    Xu Weitao smiled, and said, "I know that this is a bitter pill to swallow, but you''ve already joined the Blood God Battalion, so you''ll definitely be shooting up the ranks in no time. The legion will also supply you more resources, and you can state some requests for us as well as long as they''re within reason."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he said, "Alright, then I''ll go right ahead; I would like a larger workshop, preferably connected to a warehouse that''s large enough to house mechas. That''ll be very beneficial to my work, and that''s the only request that I have."


    Xu Weitao faltered slightly upon hearing this. He had visited Tang Wulin today not just to have his battle armor repaired, but also to extend an olive branch. After all, he had to offer Tang Wulin some reconciliation after the new rule that was introduced specifically to target him. The decision not to allow Tang Wulin to use his forging accolades for promotions was quite a controversial one among the higher-ups of the legion.


    Tang Wulin came from Shrek Academy and was one of the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so the Blood God Legion didn''t have to be concerned that he would bring any trouble to the legion. On top of that, earning accolades through forging was a legitimate source of income.


    However, it was still decided in the end that the original decision wouldn''t be revoked. Even so, they still had to do their best to appease this Saint Blacksmith.


    In a sense, the Blood God Battalion was almost a separate entity from the Blood God Legion, and the fact that Blood One had made Tang Wulin a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion after only such a short time suggested that he was perhaps displeased with the legion''s treatment of Tang Wulin.


    This was a man who was most likely going to stand at the pinnacle of the entire legion someday, so Xu Weitao had visited him with the intention of exercising a policy of appeasement. He was willing to accept any demands from Tang Wulin as long as they weren''t too unreasonable, but who would''ve thought that Tang Wulin would only state such a basic requirement?


    Tang Wulin was indeed quite a cheapskate, but he was also very smart. He was naturally aware that he could take advantage of this opportunity to essentially extort the legion for a lot of resources. However, he didn''t know just how much the legion would be willing to give him, and any resources that were given to him certainly wouldn''t be provided with no strings attached. If he were to take too much from the legion, then he would owe them a favor, and he wouldn''t be able to turn down the future forging jobs that the legion asked him to complete.


    He wanted to dedicate more of his time to cultivation, and he also had to participate in the upcoming competition. Furthermore, he would definitely have to leave the Blood God Legion someday, so it would be best if he didn''t owe the legion any favors.


    As such, Tang Wulin''s thought process was very clear, and he only stated a very basic request.


    "That''s simple; there''s a perfect place right behind our legion''s mecha warehouse, and I can get that arranged for you. During the abyssal tide a few days ago, there''s one part of my battle armor that was damaged quite severely, and it may need to be reforged. Can you take a look at it for me?"


    Light flashed from Xu Weitao''s right shoulder as he spoke, and he grabbed onto his shoulder with his left hand before a dark silver pauldron appeared in his grasp.


    Tang Wulin had already noticed that his right shoulder seemed to be rather stiff, which indicated that he had most likely been injured during the abyssal tide.


    Tang Wulin accepted the pauldron before taking a look at it, and he couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath in response to what he was seeing. Generally speaking, suits of three-word battle armor were constructed from soul refined metals, and there was a massive qualitative improvement from two-word battle armor to three-word battle armor. With so few Saint Blacksmiths on the continent, the number of three-word battle armor masters was also less than 10% that of two-word battle armor masters.


    Soul refined metals already possessed life force and intelligence, so they possessed extremely potent self-regenerative abilities. As such, normal damage could easily be self-repaired by soul refined metals, but the damage sustained by this pauldron was far from normal.


    There was only one gash that had been inflicted onto the pauldron, but that gash was straight down the middle. What was even more terrifying was that there were wisps of energy that were constantly eroding the area around the gash, thereby preventing the pauldron from repairing itself.


    These wisps of energy were like countless tiny greyish-white worms, and they presented an extremely harrowing sight to behold.


    Just what kind of power could''ve resulted in this kind of damage? The abyssal plane really was filled with powerful beings.


    Tang Wulin was quite astonished by what he saw, but at the same time, he was pondering a viable course of action to repair this pauldron. The pauldron was clearly unable to repair itself, and if recovery couldn''t be facilitated even following injections of soul power, then the piece of armor could simply be beyond repair.


    He was a blacksmith, not a battle armor maker, so if he wanted to repair this piece of battle armor rather than re-forge it from scratch, then there was only one way; he had to somehow make the pauldron''s self-repair ability more potent than that strange energy''s destructive ability. Only then would the piece of battle armor be able to recover.


    After pondering the issue for a moment, Tang Wulin''s eyes suddenly lit up as an idea occurred to him.


    He carried the pauldron over to his forging bench before placing it down, but he didn''t bring out his forging hammers. Instead, he brushed a hand over his glabella to release his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Xu Weitao''s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the Golden Dragon Spear. "That''s a fine weapon!"


    He had seen Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear in pieces of video footage in the past, but the spear seemed to have become different since then. The innate aura of sharpness emanating from the spear was quite fearsome to behold.


    Tang Wulin gave him a smile before gently tapping the tip of the spear against the pauldron.


    A peculiar turn of events then unfolded. Golden light flashed from the Golden Dragon Spear, and the wisps of energy on the pauldron immediately shuddered before flowing into the spear.


    Tang Wulin also shuddered slightly as a burst of rich energy was injected into his body through the Golden Dragon Spear. The influx of energy had completely reinvigorated him and his dragon core abruptly lit up.


    There didn''t seem to be much energy eroding the pauldron, but it was extremely rich and dense. Tang Wulin felt as if he''d just absorbed around the same amount of energy that he''d receive from killing a Ba''an, and a pleased smile appeared on his face.

 Chapter 975: Lady Boss

    Without the relentless erosion from that strange energy, a faint layer of white light immediately appeared over the pauldron, and the gash began to seal in a slow yet steady manner.


    Tang Wulin carried the pauldron over to Xu Weitao, and said, "All done, Uncle Xu."


    Xu Weitao had witnessed this entire process, and he had an astonished look on his face as he said, "How did you do that? That wasn''t forging, as far as I could tell. This energy comes from the Demonic Centipede Puppet Monarch of the 101st abyssal level; how did you dispel it so easily? Back when its energy first infiltrated my body, I had to expend a lot of power before I finally managed to recover from that injury. If I''d known that you could get rid of that energy so easily, I would''ve just come to you!"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face in response. "I''m not a healer, so my ability won''t work on life forms; it''s only applicable to metals."If he were to pierce the Golden Dragon Spear into Xu Weitao''s body, it would immediately begin to suck away his life force, and that would inflict even more damage than the power of that Demonic Centipede Puppet Monarch.


    Xu Weitao nodded with a peculiar look on his face. The more he learned about this young man, the more he came to realize just how exceptional he was.


    It was no wonder that the Blood God Battalion had swooped in to take him so quickly; if he''d known all of this from the beginning, he wouldn''t have given the Blood God Battalion a chance to take Tang Wulin!


    "I originally planned to have this pauldron reforged. A piece of soul refined metal required to make a pauldron like this will cost at least 20,000 accolades, so I''ll pay you according to that number," Xu Weitao offered.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "There''s no need for that, Uncle Xu. I barely did anything, so you don''t have to give me any accolades."


    Xu Weitao insisted in a serious voice, "I can''t just employ your services for free. The fact that you didn''t have to do much is beside the point; the fact of the matter is that I had my pauldron repaired by you. That is a testament to your skills, but I still have to pay you nonetheless. Otherwise, I''d be taking advantage of you! If you want to thank me, then you can prioritize my forging jobs in the future. Besides, I''ve always harbored ambitions of becoming a four-word battle armor; perhaps you''ll already be a Divine Blacksmith by then, and I''ll have to come to you again."


    Xu Weitao insisted on giving Tang Wulin 20,000 accolades before departing.


    Long Yuxue didn''t depart with him, and she was currently appraising Tang Wulin with a peculiar look on her face.


    Tang Wulin extended his Blood God Bracelet toward her, and said, "Here''s your half; these accolades can''t be used for promotions, but you can still buy things with them."


    This workshop had been sponsored by Long Yuxue in the beginning, and it was agreed that they''d be splitting the profits evenly between one another. However, only after witnessing Tang Wulin''s skills did Long Yuxue come to realize just how unfair this agreement was.


    "You don''t need to give your accolades to me. You earned everything on your own, and I..." Long Yuxue''s voice trailed off mid-sentence.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Didn''t you hear what Uncle Xu just said? Just because I''m earning these accolades doesn''t change the fact that you sponsored me in the very beginning. Without your help, I wouldn''t even have this workshop, so you deserve half the profits. Come on, lady boss, it''s time to take your share."


    Long Yuxue blushed slightly upon hearing the words "lady boss", and she didn''t make any further effort to turn down her share of the profits. [In China, the term "lady boss" can refer to a business owner who''s a woman, but also the wife of a male business owner, so it''s kind of an implicit term, hence the blush.] Instead, she merely said, "Tell me if you''re ever short on accolades."


    "I will. It''s about time we moved this workshop to a larger space. By the way, did you enter the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition?"


    Long Yuxue nodded in response. "I''m registered to compete. Most of the members of our legion who are five-ring Soul Kings and above have registered. I reckon our legion will dominate the western competition region, especially considering there aren''t that many cities in the entire western competition region."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Looks like it''s not a good thing that we''re in the western competition region!" Indeed, among the 25,000 soldiers of the Blood God Legion, there had to be thousands of Soul Masters at or above the Soul King stage and below the Titled Douluo Stage. They were going to be facing countless powerful competitors.


    Jiang Wuyue was already very powerful, and if it weren''t for Tang Wulin''s bloodline advantage, it would be rather difficult for him to defeat Jiang Wuyue. Even so, he was only a lieutenant colonel, so there had to be many more Soul Masters in the legion who were more powerful than him, yet hadn''t attained suits of three-word battle armor yet. He would have to give everything he had if he wanted to make it to the finals.


    What was of the greatest concern to Tang Wulin wasn''t the Soul Master battles. After all, he had attained his dragon core now, so he was relatively confident in the Soul Master battle portion. However, the mecha battles wouldn''t be so easy for him.


    The mecha pilots of the Blood God Legion were constantly fighting on the battlefield and honing their skill against abyssal creatures. In terms of practical combat prowess, the mecha pilots of the Blood God Legion were definitely among the best in the entire federal military, so it would definitely not be an easy task to fight off such fierce competition.


    The mecha pilot that he''d encountered in the combat room had already been quite powerful. If it weren''t for the fact that they''d been unfamiliar with his abilities and was overly aggressive with their attacks, it would not have been so easy for him to win that battle.


    Furthermore, as he progressed through the rounds, the mecha pilots that he faced were only going to become more and more powerful. This was definitely going to be harder than Soul Master battles as one would immediately be handed a loss once their mecha became damaged to a certain extent.


    Just thinking about it was giving him a headache.


    "Did you register as well?" Long Yuxue asked.


    "Yes."


    Long Yuxue asked, "What are you going to do if you encounter me in one of the rounds?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "I guess I can go easy and let you last a little longer?"


    Long Yuxue stomped down onto his foot in an enraged manner. "What do you mean let me last a little longer? You should concede right away!"


    Tang Wulin winced, and a wry smile appeared on his face. "But what about the openness, fairness, and impartiality of the competition? "


    Long Yuxue scoffed, "You can throw all that out the window! What''s your nickname? Tell me!"


    Tang Wulin shook his head with an expression that was filled with grief and indignation. "No!"


    Long Yuxue ground her foot into the back of Tang Wulin''s foot, and insisted, "Tell me!"


    Tang Wulin replied in a resigned manner, "My nickname is Little Tang."


    Only then did Long Yuxue smile and disclose, "My nickname is Little Xue. You know what to do if you come up against me, right?"


    "I... I have a mission! The Blood God Battalion gave me a mission; they''re going to evict me from the Blood God Battalion if I don''t make it to the finals," Tang Wulin lied without even batting a single eyelid.


    Long Yuxue faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Is that true?"


    Tang Wulin replied in a serious manner, "Of course it is!"


    Long Yuxue harrumphed, "Then you''d better pray that you don''t come up against me! I''m going now. Are you going to stay here?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I want to practice my forging for a while."


    Two days passed by in the blink of an eye, and aside from his cultivation, Tang Wulin dedicated all of his time to learning about mechas and completing some forging jobs. There were only very few people in the legion who were aware of the fact that he was a Saint Blacksmith, and he was only taking soul refinement jobs, so he wasn''t getting much work. Xu Weitao had acted very quickly, organizing a new site for his workshop the very next day, and the forging bench, as well as everything else, had all been transported over to that new workshop. This was a private space with a designated warehouse attached.


    During these past few days, Tang Wulin also logged on to the Star Battle Net once every day. Following his registration, Tang Wulin had already been notified of his exact competition times, and he had to have already logged on to the battle net before the stipulated time.


    The first battle was going to take place tonight at 8pm.


    For some reason, he was even more excited to participate in this Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition than he was for the competition in the Star Luo Empire.


    Perhaps it was due to the fact that this was a competition that encompassed the entire federation. He was going to face all of the most powerful opponents in the entire federation below the Titled Douluo level, and Blood One had undoubtedly ordered him to participate in this competition as a form of training.


    Even back in Shrek Academy, tapping into one''s latent potential through practical combat had always been highly advocated. During this competition, he could fight to his heart''s content without having to worry about harming his opponent.


    "Welcome, Little Tang, you have logged on to the Star Battle Net. There is still half an hour left before your battle; please head to the Soul Master battle area lobby right away."


    Tang Wulin chose this exact time to log on to the battle net, and he was immediately greeted by an electronic notification as soon as he logged on.


    He was going to be participating in the first elimination round of the Soul Master segment of the western competition region, and the first elimination round of the mecha segment was going to be taking place the next day. The different segments had been scheduled for different days precisely to cater to participants like Tang Wulin, who registered for both modes of battle.


    Tang Wulin had still underestimated the overall period of time that this competition would be in progress for. According to the competition schedule, it was most likely going to take three months for the entire competition to run its course.


    Tang Wulin had already decided that he was going to apply for a break with Blood One as soon as he progressed to the finals so he could visit Gu Yuena.


    The round had already commenced at noon, and there were already countless participants wearing white masks with strings of text above their heads around the sports stadium of the western competition region.


    The text above Tang Wulin''s head currently indicated that his battle record was five wins and zero losses.


    He didn''t participate in too many practice matches as he already had a vast wealth of practical combat experience, and he didn''t want to waste his money.


    "Your battle will commence in one minute."


    It was finally time for his match, and Tang Wulin took a deep breath. Prior to logging on to the Star Battle Net, he''d already primed himself to his peak condition.


    Golden light flashed, and his surroundings warped and twisted. In the next instant, he found himself on the competition platform.

 Chapter 976: Old Tangs Awakening

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


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


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


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


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


    A four-ring Soul Ancestor?


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


    What the hell IS this thing?


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    One win!


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


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


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


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


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


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


    "Old Tang?"


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


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


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


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


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


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

 Chapter 977: The New Golden Dragon King?

    "The new Golden Dragon King?" Tang Wulin was looking at Old Tang in a surprised manner. This was the first time that he''d heard Old Tang make such a bold declaration.


    Old Tang chuckled in response, "Indeed! You will be the new Golden Dragon King. The essence of the Golden Dragon King is contained entirely within your body. This energy can take your life at any moment, but if you can completely absorb and digest it, then you will undoubtedly attain all of its power. However, I must warn you that you aren''t absolutely safe even though you''ve attained a dragon core. The final nine Golden Dragon King seals contain the true power of the Golden Dragon King, and the first nine seals provided nothing more than a process for you to adjust to the Golden Dragon King''s power.


    "Don''t be lured into a false sense of security, thinking that your dragon core will keep you safe from everything. With your current physical constitution, it''s still going to be quite dangerous for you to break the 10th seal, but you should be ready by the time you manifest a soul core as well."


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned to hear this. He had thought that with the drastic improvements in his physical constitution, it''d be an easy task for him to break the 10th seal. However, Old Tang''s words clearly indicated that things weren''t as optimistic as he''d imagined.


    "But why, Old Tang? I feel like my physical constitution is already very powerful, especially now that I have a dragon core. Can''t I just use my dragon core to directly absorb the essence of the Golden Dragon King?"


    Old Tang shook his head, and replied in a serious voice, "It''s nowhere near as easy as you think. I chose to awaken at this time solely because I wanted to caution you against excessive optimism. Not only do the final nine Golden Dragon King seals contain terrifying power, most importantly, they also contain shreds of the Golden Dragon King''s will. No one knows what''s contained within those shreds of will, but with how violent and ferocious the Golden Dragon King was, its will is definitely going to impact your psyche. As such, not only do you have to absorb the Golden Dragon King''s energy, you also have to constantly make sure that you don''t lose yourself to its power. Otherwise, it''s quite possible that you could fall under the control of the Golden Dragon King''s will."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. He had always known that the Golden Dragon King seals within his body were extremely dangerous, but he didn''t think that the final nine seals would be this perilous!


    "What should I do then, Old Tang? If this essence contains the will of the Golden Dragon King, then wouldn''t my spiritual power and mind also be impacted? How can such terrifying power..."


    Old Tang clasped his hands behind his back, and said in a serious voice, "You have to realize that even in the Divine Realm, the Golden Dragon King was one of the most powerful first-rank gods."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "Is it true that the Golden Dragon King was a part of the Dragon God?"


    Old Tang turned to him with a rather surprised expression. "You already know about that?"


    This was an indirect confirmation to Tang Wulin''s question.


    "You knew about this as well, didn''t you? Also, what are first-rank gods?"


    Old Tang explained, "Generally speaking, all gods are supposed to be equal in the Divine Realm, but in reality, there is a hierarchy, and that hierarchy is based primarily on power. The weakest gods are referred to as godly officials, and above them are the third-rank gods, followed by second-rank gods, then first-rank gods. The most powerful gods are known as godkings, and they are the enforcers of laws in the past Divine Realm. What I''m telling you about now only applies to humans who become gods.


    "For beasts, the situation is rather similar, but there''s only one beast-type godking, which is the Dragon God! In terms of individual combat prowess, the Dragon God is actually more powerful than all of the five human godkings, but the human godkings still hold the advantage when it comes to overall power. The Dragon God perished during its battle against the human godkings, and that was how it was split into the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King.


    "It could be said that the Golden Dragon King is comparable in power to a human godking, and it''s certainly more powerful than all of the first-rank gods. As such, you can imagine how terrifying the power contained within the final nine seals is. How difficult do you think it would be to completely absorb and convert this power?"


    "I noticed you referred to the ''past'' Divine Realm. I''ve heard that it''s been many years since someone on the Douluo Continent managed to become a god; does the Divine Realm no longer exist?"


    A slightly lost expression appeared in Old Tang''s eyes, and he sighed, "No, the Divine Realm still exists; it''s just that we''re no longer able to contact it. However, if you can truly break all of the Golden Dragon King seals and absorb all of the energy they contain, then you''ll possess enough power to create your own Divine Realm and dictate the laws within that realm."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. He had thought that he''d already held an extremely high opinion of the Golden Dragon King seals within his body, but at the very most, he had thought that he''d perhaps be able to reach the Limit Douluo level after absorbing all of the energy contained within the seals. However, Old Tang was telling him that he''d become a godking instead! That was insane!


    Tang Wulin was no longer the ignorant little boy who couldn''t even sense the presence of the Golden Dragon King seals within his body.


    These seals contained enough power to elevate him to the godking level, but they also posed an unfathomably extreme threat to his life! Even at the rate that he was currently progressing, the probability that he''d be able to absorb all of the energy within the seals was infinitely approaching zero.


    Tang Wulin gulped nervously before turning to Old Tang with a wry smile on his face. "I''m not far from death, am I?"


    Old Tang was silent for a moment. "Perhaps."


    Tang Wulin''s expression fell slightly, and he asked, "Old Tang, can you give me an accurate estimation of how long I''ll be able to last with my current bodily condition, and how many seals I''ll be able to break during that time?"


    Old Tang shook his head in response. "There''s no way for me to make that estimation as your bodily condition has already exceeded my original projections. You''re only 21 years old this year, yet the power you currently possess is at a level that I''d projected for you to attain at 25 years of age. The 12th seal is the human limit; every successive seal that you break after that takes you up one godly rank. Judging from the current level of stability of these seals, I can only tell you that you''ll most likely break the 12th seal within 10 years, and that the 13th seal will most definitely be broken within 15 years. When that time comes, not only will you have to face the issues plaguing your body, you''ll also have to oppose the power of laws of this world."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "The power of laws? What''s that?"


    Old Tang explained, "There are invisible laws in all worlds; the Divine Realm has a set of laws, as does the human world. The laws of the human world stipulate that godly beings cannot exist here. Countless Limit Douluos have appeared in the human race during these past years, so why have they been unable to break through their limits and become gods? It''s not because they lack the aptitude to do so. Instead, it''s because there are no godly berths available to accept them, so they have to be subjected to the oppression of the power of laws, and they''re unable to overcome that final hurdle. You''ll also be facing the same problem. There will be no godly berths available to accept you, so if your 13th seal is broken, not only will you have to withstand the power contained within that seal, you''ll also be oppressed by the power of laws of the entire Douluo Continent."


    Old Tang''s voice trailed off there, but Tang Wulin could imagine the tragic fate that awaited him if that were to happen.


    A wry smile appeared on his face, and he sighed, "Looks like there are no other possibilities then. Does this mean I''ll only get to live for a maximum of 15 more years?"


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline had given him enormous power, but it had also significantly shortened his lifespan.


    Old Tang nodded, and said, "However, nothing is absolute. If you can take that step and make the final breakthrough, perhaps you''ll have a bright future ahead. If you can reach the godly tier, perhaps you''ll be able to establish your own Divine Realm. The chances of that are extremely slim, but I exist solely to help you overcome that final hurdle."


    Tang Wulin turned to Old Tang, and he suddenly said, "Don''t tell me what my chances are."


    Old Tang faltered slightly upon hearing this before a smile appeared on his face for the first time since their reunion.


    "You''ve grown up!"


    Tang Wulin also smiled in response. "I have! At the very least, I''ll have more courage if I don''t know just how slim my chances are. I''ll do everything in my power to fight no matter what, so what does it matter even if I can''t make that final breakthrough? All I can do is make sure that I have no regrets, regardless of what the outcome turns out to be. Old Tang, I want you to tell me one thing; when should I break my 10th seal? Should I try to delay it for as long as possible or do it as early as possible?"


    Old Tang immediately replied without any hesitation, "As early as possible!"


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback to hear this. "You didn''t say this about the first nine seals."


    Old Tang explained, "That''s different. For the first nine seals, I was afraid that your body wouldn''t be able to handle the influxes of energy. However, seeing as your body has become more powerful than I projected, you have to begin to absorb the power of the remaining seals as quickly as possible. This is because in a sense, the final nine seals are part of one unified entity. In other words, the energy of the Golden Dragon King is one whole entity. If you can absorb a portion of this power, then the overall pressure that the seals would have to withstand would be lessened, and that would allow the seals to hold themselves together for longer, thereby buying you more time. Do you understand what I''m saying?"

 Chapter 978: Old Tangs Spear Lesson

    Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "I understand. What you''re saying is that the Golden Dragon King seals are like nine panels in deep water. If the layer of water at the very top is to be drawn away, then the panel at the very top has to be removed. This would alleviate the weight that the rest of the panels would have to withstand, and it would therefore take them longer to crumble."


    "Yes, that''s exactly what I mean. Hence, as long as you can ensure your own safety, it''s in your best interest to break the remaining seals as quickly as possible in order to buy you more time before the 13th seal gets broken on its own. At the same time, absorbing the energy within seals earlier will allow you to become more powerful at a faster rate, so you''ll be killing two birds with one stone."


    "I understand. I''ll break the 10th seal as soon as I materialize my soul core," Tang Wulin said in a determined manner.


    Old Tang nodded firmly, and said, "That would be best."


    A contemplative look appeared on his face. "There''s so much to do, but I have so little time left!"


    He only had around 15 years left to live, yet he still had to revive Shrek Academy. There was simply no time for him to waste.


    Old Tang continued, "We''ve discussed the dangers that you''ll have to face in the future; do you have any questions about your cultivation? As your powers increased, I''ve also been recovering more and more of my memories, so I can provide you with some guidance."


    Tang Wulin replied, "The main issue I''m facing in my cultivation lies in my Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon. Those techniques were taught to me by my grandteacher, but he passed away during the Shrek Academy bombing. Hence, I never had a chance to learn the three final arts, which are related to domains. Now that I''ve attained a dragon core, I feel like I''m ready to cultivate those three arts. Also, as I''ve become more powerful, my Golden Dragon Spear has become more and more useful in battle, but I can only rely on my speed and power to wield the spear. The Tang Sect doesn''t have any particularly good spear techniques, and it feels like I''m not making full use of my most powerful weapon."


    A faint smile appeared on Old Tang''s face upon hearing this. "None of these are major issues. Regarding the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, all you actually have to learn are the first six arts. The final three domain-related abilities can''t be learned; they can only be self-taught. This is most likely why that Scarlet Douluo didn''t directly bestow those techniques upon you. After you attain domain, you have to create abilities that belong only to you, rather than purely try to learn from others. Only the techniques created by you are the most suitable for yourself. Didn''t you already think everything through before I called you here? Integrating your bloodline power and your martial soul is something that you have to do in the future."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up, and he seemed to have grasped something after hearing this. Perhaps he would be able to truly set about integrating his blood essence and martial soul after he attained a soul core.


    "As for a spear technique," Old Tang smiled, and said, "I''ve already got one prepared. This spear technique was created by a god, and it''s perfect for you."


    "A spear technique created by a god?" Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up.


    "That''s right. You''ll have to patiently ponder the technique and cultivate it in a painstaking manner. I''m going to bestow upon you the first technique today; it''s called Fury of the Masses! " Old Tang waved his right hand through the air as he spoke, and a golden spear that was identical to Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp.


    He pointed the spear forward, and a burst of light erupted forth like lightning.


    Countless streaks of golden light blossomed in the air, and in that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if his body had been punctured by boundless spear intent. It felt as if even his soul had been completely destroyed by the spear intent. Just as he was about to cry out in agony, the spear intent suddenly receded, and was greeted by the sight of a massive golden spear flashing past his eyes. All of the golden light converged toward that giant spear, and it seemed to be threatening to puncture the entire heavens.


    This was what a true spear technique should be!


    After an indeterminate period of time, Tang Wulin awakened from his meditation. His clothes had been completely soaked with sweat, but he was feeling extremely elated.


    Old Tang had fallen into hibernation again, and he told Tang Wulin that he would awaken again once he truly mastered this Fury of the Masses technique.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s mind was entirely filled with spear intent. This was the first time that he''d discovered that spears could be used in such a manner.


    Old Tang had told him that the spear was the king of all weapons! If he wanted to master powerful spear techniques, then he''d have to walk his own regal path.


    Tang Wulin was immersed in spear intent for an entire day, and he only returned to his senses after his alarm went off the next day, alerting him that it was time for his mecha battle.


    Time sure had flown by! With his dragon core, he wasn''t feeling hungry at all even though he hadn''t eaten for an entire day and night.


    He entered the Star Cabin and logged on to the battle net.


    Light flashed, and he appeared at the western competition region sports stadium again. However, Tang Wulin felt as if his brain was completely numb, and his mind was still entirely filled with nothing but spear intent.


    He arrived at the mecha battle area of the sports stadium.


    "Your match is about to commence; please choose your mecha type; melee combat or long-range attack?"


    "Melee combat!" Tang Wulin reflexively made a choice, and only after the choice was made did he realize that he''d made the wrong choice.


    "Please select a weapon for your melee combat mecha!" The electronic voice sounded again, and a comprehensive series of over 10 weapon options were presented to him.


    Do we get a choice of weapons during the official rounds of the competition?


    Tang Wulin was very elated to see this, and he chose a spear almost without any hesitation. He was currently still completely immersed in spear intent, and even though piloting a mecha was different from actually using a spear, a truly proficient mecha pilot was supposed to treat their mecha as an extension of their own body.


    Light flashed, and a melee combat mecha that was around 12 meters tall appeared within the competition venue with Tang Wulin sitting within it. A super massive spear that was around 15 meters in length had appeared in the mecha''s hand, and it was very intimidating to behold.


    He was facing a long-rang attacking mecha that was holding a soul cannon, and it didn''t appear as if long-range mecha pilots were offered any alternative weapon choices.


    Could it be that melee combat mechas were considered to be at a disadvantage, and they were given weapon choices to level the playing field?


    The roles had been completely reversed during this battle compared to in his practice mecha battles!


    "Three, two, one, begin!" The electronic voice was always so straightforward and concise.


    "Boom, boom, boom!" The long-range attacking mecha unleashed three cannon blasts from the get-go, and the attacks hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin in a triangular formation.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha gripped onto its massive spear, and all of a sudden, boundless spear intent appeared before his eyes. The spear in the mecha''s hand was thrust forward three times in lightning-fast succession, and the three cannon blasts were detonated almost instantaneously while the mecha remained completely still on the spot.


    This wasn''t the Fury of the Masses spear technique. Instead, it was a culmination of Tang Wulin''s mecha handling skills in conjunction with his pure speed and strength.


    However, as he unleashed those spear strikes, the feeling was completely different.


    He was wielding the king of all weapons, and he had to walk his own path of regal dominance!


    "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!" Five more cannon blasts were sent flying toward him.


    His spear was thrust forward five times to dispel his opponent''s attacks, but his mecha still hadn¡¯t moved even a single step.


    He was beginning to get into the zone. Even though he was only unleashing the simplest of spear thrusts, every time his spear was thrust forward, Tang Wulin felt as if the spear''s trajectories were creating a series of regal paths. Spear projections flashed through the air, and the opposing long-range attacking mecha pilot was feeling quite perplexed.


    Generally speaking, during a battle between a melee combat mecha and a long-range attacking mecha, the former would always try to close down the gap between the two mechas as quickly as they could. As such, Tang Wulin''s tactic of standing still on the spot and allowing himself to be bombarded by long-range attacks was something that had never been seen in a competition before.

 Chapter 979: Spear Practice

    However, that was exactly what he was doing, and the opposing long-range attacking mecha pilot was at a complete loss for what to think. They could only continue to run circles around Tang Wulin''s mecha while unleashing a relentless string of cannon blast.


    The long-range attacking mecha pilot was more than happy to engage in a battle of energy expenditure, as the melee combat mecha would definitely give out first if things were to continue like this. Even though that massive spear could detonate the oncoming cannon blasts, the resulting shockwaves from the explosions would chip away at the mecha''s energy reserves.


    Long-range attacking mechas had inferior defenses and speed compared to melee combat mechas, but they had far greater energy reserves in comparison, so a battle of energy expenditure played right into their hands.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s opponent was wondering how they''d been paired up with such a strange opponent. Had he entered the competition just to throw the match and get eliminated in the first round?


    However, Tang Wulin''s thought process was completely different. In his eyes, the relentless string of oncoming cannon blasts were targets that he could use to practice his spear techniques. He felt as if the trajectories of each and every spear thrust were being branded into his mind. After just a short while, he had already unleashed over 100 spear thrusts, so over 100 trajectories had been cemented into his mind.


    This was an extremely intriguing feeling, and he repeated the process of drawing back his spear before thrusting it forward over and over again.


    He was wielding the king of all weapons, and he had to walk his own path of regal dominance!


    Both sides were constantly expending energy, and the melee combat mecha was constantly being bombarded by long-range attacks without making any attempt to take evasive measures. Even though it was merely standing on the spot and using its weapon to detonate enemy attacks, it was still expending energy at a far faster rate than its opponent. After about 10 minutes, Tang Wulin''s mecha had become dangerously low on energy, and the light in the internal control room had turned red to warn him of this.


    However, Tang Wulin still controlled his mecha to thrust its spear forward over and over again in a completely unflustered manner.


    The Fury of the Masses had to be honed through countless identical spear strikes, and that was the essence of this technique.


    Old Tang had told him that if he wanted to master this technique, he''d have to unleash at least 10,000,000 spear strikes during battle.


    10,000,000 spear strikes, and all of them had to be unleashed during battles! That was an extremely enormous number. However, Tang Wulin wasn''t daunted in the slightest by the task that lay ahead of him. This battle provided him with a perfect training opportunity.


    "Beep beep beep!" An alert tone rang out, notifying him that his mecha''s energy reserves had dipped below 10%.


    The cannon blasts unleashed by his opponent also became more frequent and ferocious. His opponent had clearly already calculated the total amount of energy that his melee combat mecha possessed with a high level of precision.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha finally sprang into action. It abruptly rushed forward, and the propeller on its back immediately lit up. Even though it was on the verge of running out of power, it was still charging directly toward the long-range battle mecha.


    He had to win, of course. He would only be able to continue to compete and have more opportunities to hone his spear techniques if he could win this battle.


    A derisive sneer appeared on the face of the long-range attacking mecha pilot. There was no way that he was going to allow his opponent to succeed in their final desperate charge.


    Thus, he also activated his mecha''s propeller, and he abruptly sped off to the side to open up distance between the two mechas. Even if melee combat mechas were slightly faster, it wasn''t by much. Hence, it would be completely delusional to expect to catch up to the long-range attacking mecha through only a single explosive charge.


    What made the long-range attacking mecha pilot even more perplexed was that his opponent''s spear didn''t stop; it was still rapidly thrusting through the air over and over again. All of a sudden, the melee combat mecha suddenly lit up with golden light.


    Soul power injection?


    Aside from being supplied energy by the built-in soul battery, mechas could also be fueled by energy injections from their pilots. As opposed to being alarmed by this, the long-range attacking mecha pilot was quite elated to see that Tang Wulin had been forced to resort to such measures. He continued to open up more distance between them while unleashing attacks in a calm and unhurried manner. Every good long-range attacking mecha pilot had a resolute heart and a wealth of patience.


    However, right at this moment, he suddenly began to sense that something was amiss. The speed of his mecha had suddenly slowed down, and an indescribable sense of fear suddenly welled up from deep within his heart. Even the massive mecha that he was situated in was unable to reassure him in the slightest. An invisible sense of pressure permeated through the air, and right at this moment, he could see that his opponent''s mecha seemed to have unleashed over 100 spear strikes at once. Faint golden light was shimmering at the front tip of the spear, and the distance between the two mechas was quickly dwindling!


    The long-range attacking mecha pilot wanted to control his mecha to accelerate once again, but there seemed to be something invisible that was restricting, and as a result, his movements were slightly slower than he intended.


    This competition venue would be considered to be quite massive for a Soul Master battle, but for mechas that were over 10 meters tall, one burst of explosive acceleration was enough to close down the distance!


    What''s going on?


    The long-range attacking mecha was completely astonished, and at this point, the golden spear projections had already encompassed his entire mecha.


    He released his martial soul, but it was already too late.


    Everything had spiraled out of control, and even in the instant that his mecha was destroyed and he was teleported out of the competition venue, he still didn''t understand how he had lost that battle.


    Tang Wulin looked on at the remains of the mecha up ahead, then glanced down at the spear in his hand. To walk a regal path, one had to have a regal heart!


    As soon as this thought occurred to him, he was suddenly struck by a hint of enlightenment.


    As he was charging forward just now, his objective wasn''t actually to close down the distance between himself and his opponent. Instead, he was trying to release the hint of spear intent in his heart.


    His opponent clearly wasn''t very powerful, so he was intimidated by Tang Wulin''s spear intent. Even his mecha had been unable to buffer that intimidation effect. It was exactly because of this that Tang Wulin was able to get close to him so easily before taking him out with a single spear strike.


    Of course, that wasn''t the Fury of the Masses; he wasn''t anywhere near being able to unleash that spear technique. However, following Old Tang''s guidance, Tang Wulin had already managed to grasp a hint of spear intent in such a short time. Even though it felt quite elementary, it was still enough to significantly improve his understanding of spears.


    A king ruled over the entirety of heaven and earth, and held everything in their grasp. A king had to possess a resolute heart even in the face of the fury of the masses.


    If he wanted to unleash the spear techniques of a king, then he had to first possess the heart of a king.


    The heart of a king was filled with absolute confidence and dedication toward the spear!


    After logging off from the Star Battle Net, Tang Wulin immediately released his Golden Dragon Spear before holding it tightly in his grasp. He had decided that from this day forth, he was going to constantly carry his spear! Only by truly sensing the spear, approaching the spear, and dedicating himself to the spear could he become one with it.


    I''m hungry; It''s time to eat!


    Tang Wulin attracted a lot of attention as he carried his Golden Dragon Spear into the cafeteria. However, there were no rules in the Blood God Legion prohibiting one from carrying weapons into the cafeteria.


    After all, in some dangerous situations, battles against abyssal creatures could break out at any moment, and during those times, everyone would constantly be carrying their weapons.


    Tang Wulin only bought one portion of food, but of course, it was from the first window. He currently had a huge wealth of accolades that couldn''t contribute toward promotions, so he certainly wasn''t going to cut corners when it came to food.


    He held his spear with his left hand and ate with his right!


    "Woah, what''s gotten into you, brother?" Jiang Wuyue sat down beside Tang Wulin and appraised his Golden Dragon Spear with a surprised look on his face.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I''ve recently been practicing a spear technique, and constantly holding the spear is helping me in this process."


    "That''s all you''re going to eat today?" Jiang Wuyue couldn''t help but gulp at the sight of the delicacies on Tang Wulin''s plate.


    Only then did Tang Wulin notice that Jiang Wuyue''s epaulets suggested that he''d already been promoted to the colonel rank. It seemed that for those who were powerful enough to capitalize on it, abyssal tides were brilliant opportunities for accelerated promotion.


    "Congratulations, Colonel," Tang Wulin chuckled.


    Jiang Wuyue asked, "Why haven''t you been promoted? Based on your performance from that day, you should be a captain by now. I should be the one congratulating you; you''re already a member of the Blood God Battalion, but I''m still nowhere near it. My father told me that this martial soul of mine is quite powerful, but I''m going to have a hard time improving after I get to the Titled Douluo stage. That makes sense, considering this isn''t a true dragon bloodline, after all. I assume that''s why the Blood God Battalion doesn''t want me."


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this. "How could the Blood God Battalion not want you? You possess a Tyrant Dragon martial soul!"


    Jiang Wuyue explained, "I''ve heard rumors that only people with martial souls that have the potential to take them to the Limit Douluo stage have the right to join the Blood God Battalion; you clearly fit that criterion, so you''re a fringe member now. Do you know how many people in our legion are working their butts off every day so they can become a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion? You''ve only been here for about a month! I''m so envious!"


    "I''ll treat you to one portion of food from the first window," Tang Wulin offered with a smile.


    Jiang Wuyue''s eyes immediately lit up. "I don''t think one portion is going to be enough!"


    "Fine, then you''re not getting anything." With Tang Wulin''s stingy personality, he wouldn''t be treating anyone to meals unless he was quite fond of them.


    Jiang Wuyue chuckled, "Alright, one portion it is, then."


    The two of them chatted as they ate, and the conversation naturally drifted toward the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition.


    "I''ve passed the first round; all I can do now is pray that I don''t get paired up with you before I make it into the top 32," Jiang Wuyue said in a serious voice.


    A wry smile appeared on his face. "Do you think I''d be happy to come up against you?"


    Jiang Wuyue continued, "With your powers, you should be able to make it into the top 32 with no issues, but there''s always an element of luck involved in competitions like this, so we''ll see how it goes. You look like you''re taking this very seriously, though!"

 Chapter 980: Grey World

    He pointed at Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear as he spoke. He was very fond of this badass golden spear, but he could only stay away from it after learning that he couldn''t touch the spear.


    Tang Wulin also took a glance at the Golden Dragon Spear in his own hand. His heart was filled with pride at the sight of its intrinsic golden color and massive spearhead.


    This was the spear of a king! He had to master its true meaning! Otherwise, he would be doing a great disservice to this conjoined divine weapon of his. That''s right, in Tang Wulin''s heart, his Golden Dragon Spear was a divine weapon. Without it, how would he have possibly been able to materialize a dragon core so quickly?


    Jiang Wuyue was looking at the Golden Dragon Spear with a hint of envy in his eyes as he asked, "You''re getting close to rank 60 soul power, right? Do you need a new soul spirit? Over here, we have to go to the Spirit Pagoda in the Scorching Basin. The Spirit Pagoda provides soul spirits to our Blood God Legion, and they''re all of a very high caliber."


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I already have a suitable soul spirit."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was still situated within his seed of nature, so of course he had a suitable soul spirit already. He could sense the auras of the Beautiful Silk Tulip and the other plant system Great Beasts at all times, and it could be said that they were some of his greatest assets.


    ¡­¡­


    Grey winds swept over the land, and everything was completely bleak and desolate here. The entire world was grey in color, as if it had been constructed from countless ashes.


    There was no end in sight to this grey world. There was no sun and no stars, only boundless grey as far as the eyes could see. In the distance, there was only a deeper shade of grey, and if a living being were to come here, the only thing that they''d be able to sense would be the despair of this place.


    There was boundless despair proliferating into the distance, stretching into infinity and beyond.


    At this moment, there was a person slowly walking through this world that was filled with despair. His entire body was enshrouded under a large black cloak, and a layer of black energy was being released from his body, keeping the grey color around him at bay.


    If everything in this world were despair, then the aura emanating from his body would be death.


    Death and despair didn''t conflict with one another.


    "Why have you come here?" A low rumbling voice suddenly sounded in all directions. The entire grey world then became warped and twisted as if it had become a gargantuan grey vortex.


    The figure in black finally stopped before slowly raising his head. Two beams of purple light erupted from his eyes from beneath the hood of his black cloak.


    "I was only able to come here with your guidance. Isn''t that right, Abyssal Monarch?"


    "What do you want?" The low voice cut straight to the chase.


    "Our objectives have always essentially been the same. You want to devour everything to elevate the abyss and make that world a part of your abyssal plane. What I want is countless vengeful spirits; I want to become a god of death and create a Divine Realm that is built on the foundation of death. Hence, our ultimate objectives are the same."


    The warping in the surrounding area suddenly ceased, and the grey world of despair returned to its original state.


    In the distance, a grey figure slowly began to make their way toward the black figure.


    The black figure slowly raised his head to reveal a pale chin, and a faint smile of satisfaction appeared on his face. He knew that his straightforward declaration had been enough to tempt the grey figure up ahead, and no one would be able to stop the implementation of his plan.


    The destruction was only just beginning. What was extremely laughable to him was that those idiots thought that he had unleashed those Godslayer missiles simply to take revenge, but unbeknownst to them, his objective was to sacrifice the entire Douluo Continent to establish his paramount divine kingdom.


    But then again, he couldn''t expect trash like them to be able to comprehend his lofty aspirations. Those people were only going to be ants that he would stomp into the ground. Ever since he chose to become the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, he had already set this grand yet distant goal for himself, and this was the ideal opportunity for him.


    The two figures gradually approached one another, and the surrounding area began to warp and twist again. However, a hint of black had appeared within the grey color.


    Despair, death, destruction! [Alliteration! LOL]


    ¡­¡­


    Light flashed, and Tang Wulin logged on to the Star Battle Net once again. There were two arrows above his head, one golden and one silver, and both of them were pointing upward. The silver arrow had appeared after he secured victory in his first mecha battle, and it was clearly an indication that he''d progressed to the next round.


    The second round of the competition arrived earlier than he anticipated. This was one of the main benefits of holding a competition in a high-tech battle net; even with a vast number of participants, the competition could be wrapped up in a very short time. This was far more convenient than holding a similar competition in real life.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he encircled his arms before him to hold the Golden Dragon Spear to his chest.


    He was still constantly holding onto his spear. The hilt of the spear was shimmering with dazzling golden light, but it was far smaller than it normally was.


    Tang Wulin had only been holding his spear for two days, but he''d already gained a greater understanding of his Golden Dragon Spear. At the very least, he discovered that the size of the spear could be adjusted according to his will.


    At this moment, the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand was only around two feet in length, and the light shimmering from it was quite reserved, so it didn''t attract as much attention. In its current petite form, it was quite intricate and adorable to look at.


    The second round of the competition was about to commence!


    Tang Wulin wondered what kind of opponent he was going to be facing today. He didn''t want his luck to be as good as it was in the first round. He''d constantly been cultivating his soul power and immersing himself in spear intent recently, and that made him eager for a more powerful opponent. Only a more powerful opponent would be able to better stimulate his latent potential.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and he did some stretches before striding toward the competition venue. At this moment, there were a series of figures in front of him that were transforming into streaks of light to head to their battles. All of the participants who were here today had golden arrows that were pointing upward above their heads.


    After the first round of elimination matches, the number of participants had most likely already been halved, and at the conclusion of this round, it should be halved again.


    "It''s time for your match. Little Tang, prepare for battle."


    Light flashed, and he entered the competition venue. He was still holding his Golden Dragon Spear as he cast his gaze up ahead.


    His opponent was quite tall and slender, and it seemed to be a woman. Her nickname had been concealed, and her face was hidden behind a mask, so he couldn''t glean any visual information about her.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    "Tang Wulin!" A furious voice rang out from up ahead.


    Tang Wulin was immediately rooted to the spot. This was way too familiar! No way! What was this luck of his?!


    That''s right, the voice belonged to none other than Long Yuxue!


    Prior to the commencement of the first round, Long Yuxue had threatened him, telling him that he had to surrender if he were to face her in the competition.


    However, it was only the second round, and they''d already been pitted against one another. What a dramatic yet comical turn of events!


    It was undoubtedly the case that Long Yuxue had identified Tang Wulin based on the Golden Dragon Spear that he was holding. They had just had breakfast together not long ago.


    "Er..." Tang Wulin was completely speechless.


    "Don''t think that your victory is assured against me! Come at me with all you''ve got!" Long Yuxue''s voice had taken on a frosty tone, and the temperature on the competition platform was also plummeting.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but heave a resigned sigh. He would be brimming with battle intent if he were facing any other opponent, but he simply couldn''t muster up the urge to fight her.


    He was very grateful toward Long Yuxue as she had helped him extensively ever since he''d joined the Blood God Legion. It could be said that without her help, there was no way that he would''ve been able to integrate himself into the legion so quickly. If she hadn''t taken him to experience practical combat in the abyss, he wouldn''t have had the opportunity to display his abilities and catch the eyes of the Blood Gods.


    However, this competition was related to the mission that he''d been assigned, and his performance would determine whether he''d have the right to apply for a break to visit his lover, so he couldn''t afford to lose!

 Chapter 981: Ice Domain

    Tang Wulin had never fought Long Yuxue before. All he knew was that she possessed extremely powerful long-range offensive prowess. In particular, her control and timing when using soul weapons were both quite exemplary. However, he had no idea what her martial soul and exact soul power rank was.


    As soon as the five soul rings emerged from beneath Long Yuxue''s feet, Tang Wulin realized that she was an elemental Soul Master. Her martial soul was ice!


    A series of ice spikes appeared around her body, making her look as if she were a massive ice hedgehog. The ice spikes were also impeding his field of view, so he couldn''t see which one of her soul rings had lit up. The ground beneath her feet was quickly freezing, and a vast expanse of icy blue spread toward all directions. Despite the massive size of the competition platform, the temperature was plummeting rapidly.


    Was this a domain? She was only a five-ring Soul King, yet she''d already attained a domain?


    Good heavens! Why were there so many freaks in this legion? It was no wonder that she''d already become a lieutenant colonel at such a young age. As expected, this wasn''t a case of dumb luck; she''d attained this rank through her own power!


    Tang Wulin wasn''t planning to lose this match, but he had to give her a handicap. He could tell that Long Yuxue''s domain ability required some time to be unleashed, so he decided to give her the time she required.


    "Hmm?" Tang Wulin''s expression suddenly changed, and he was surprised to discover that Long Yuxue''s domain was continuing to spread with no sign of stopping! After just a short while, a third of the entire competition platform had been encompassed by her domain.


    This competition platform had a diameter of 500 meters! It was extremely spacious even for a mecha battle. Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain could only cover a diameter of around 100 meters, and a domain with a diameter of 500 meters covered far more than five times the area of a domain with a diameter of 100 meters.


    The total area encompassed by Long Yuxue''s domain had already far exceeded that of Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain, and what was even more remarkable was that her domain had a self-enhancing effect. The more the domain extended, the lower the temperature within the space became, and the lower temperatures helped the domain continue to expand.


    What was she trying to do? Was she going to cover the entire competition platform in her domain? That was way too insane!


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned by what he was seeing, but he still remained standing on the spot. He wanted to see just what Long Yuxue was capable of.


    The temperature was still dropping steadily, and the ice spikes around Long Yuxue had already concealed her entire body. The area around Tang Wulin had become so cold that a drop of water would instantly freeze into ice. The water vapor being expelled as he breathed instantly froze into powdered ice, and the temperature had at least dropped down to -50¡ãC! [-58¡ãF for mah American homies.]


    In the end, Long Yuxue''s domain was unable to encompass the entire competition platform. After almost half of the entire platform was covered by her domain, she finally launched her ice spikes through the air.


    When these ice spikes first began to fly through the air, they were traveling toward all directions. They weren''t flying particularly quickly within the domain, but their mass was increasing at an alarming rate.


    The ice spikes were initially less than a foot in diameter, but after reaching within 50 meters of Tang Wulin, their diameters had already reached in excess of a meter. Their front ends were extremely sharp while their rear ends were quite heavy, and they flew directly toward Tang Wulin, emitting a sharp whistling sound as they did so.


    Tang Wulin raised his Golden Dragon Spear before flicking his wrist, and a speck of golden light flashed as an ice spike exploded in mid-air. However, the shattered powder ice refused to dissipate, and Tang Wulin could clearly sense a chill running through his body.


    The fact that even he was feeling cold despite his powerful physical constitution and immense blood essence power was a testament to just how low the temperatures generated by the exploding ice spikes were.


    All of the ice spikes flew directly toward Tang Wulin as if they had eyes of their own.


    The explosions of powder ice naturally couldn''t harm Tang Wulin, but he discovered that as the temperature continued to plummet, large patches of ice were beginning to appear on the ground. As a result, Long Yuxue''s domain, which had already stopped expanding, began to stretch toward him again.


    She can do that? Can her domain continue to grow on its own like this?


    Tang Wulin knew that he couldn''t wait any longer. The most terrifying things were those that were unknown; Long Yuxue had lived her entire life in the Skyend Mountain Ranges, so who knew what kind of other strange powers she could possess that were incomprehensible to him?


    Tang Wulin tapped his foot against the ground and launched himself toward Long Yuxue.


    The ground was very slippery, but that wasn''t enough to deter him. A series of rhomboid scales appeared beneath his feet, and the scales stood up on end at his behest before digging into the icy ground. As such, he was able to exert his full power into the ground and quickly charged toward Long Yuxue.


    Long Yuxue harrumphed coldly, and her body swayed slightly before shifting horizontally, covering a distance of over 100 meters in a flash.


    Tang Wulin was truly stunned upon seeing this. Long Yuxue''s domain was already very outlandish to him, but he didn''t think that she could utilize it in such a manner. It was undoubtedly the case that she was able to use her domain like this purely because of her personal attribute, and it was very innovative. Now that her domain had been completely established, Tang Wulin had to admit that Long Yuxue was going to be a very formidable opponent. Just the speed that she was displaying alone was too fast for him to catch up to!


    Long Yuxue raised a hand, and another string of small ice spikes was sent flying toward him. The ice spikes may have been quite small to begin with, but they could grow during their flight! The ice spikes were like a series of tracking missiles that hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin. No matter how large these ice spikes became, it would be very difficult for them to harm Tang Wulin''s immensely powerful body, but the problem was that spikes were slowing him down.


    The ice was a handicap to him, but it worked to enhance Long Yuxue''s speed.


    Summoning this domain had to have expended a lot of Long Yuxue''s energy, but conjuring up these ice spikes most likely didn''t require much energy expenditure. If things were to continue like this, it would be quite difficult to predict who would emerge victorious in this battle.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You can''t play dirty like this!"


    Long Yuxue said in a cold voice, "Who''s playing with you? Why don''t you beat me if you can? I won''t be holding back!"


    Tang Wulin was rather speechless to hear this.


    What could he do? Was he completely powerless here? Of course not!


    A resigned look appeared on his face as he said, "Alright, here I come!"


    Long Yuxue harrumphed coldly, "Show me what you''ve got!"


    Tang Wulin paused momentarily before taking a deep breath. The simplest way for him to win this battle was to release his suit of battle armor. With his battle armor''s flight ability, the domain on the ground would no longer be able to hamper his speed, and he''d be able to catch up to Long Yuxue.


    However, she was only a one-word battle armor master, so releasing his two-word battle armor in this battle felt like bullying to him.


    As such, he had to defeat her through an alternative method.


    After taking a deep breath, Tang Wulin slowly thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward. He wasn''t aiming it at Long Yuxue''s direction. Instead, he was thrusting it up toward the air.


    At this point, Long Yuxue had opened up some distance between Tang Wulin and herself, and Tang Wulin was standing at the very center of the platform. Long Yuxue faltered slightly at the scene unfolding before her eyes. What was he doing?


    However, her expression quickly changed as she could see that a dense layer of golden scales had appeared all over Tang Wulin''s body as he unleashed his spear strike. It was none other than his Golden Dragon Body!


    Long Yuxue had seen Tang Wulin release those dragon scales before, but as he unleashed that spear strike, his entire body began to light up. His disposition also abruptly changed, and there was no difference in his physical appearance, but Long Yuxue suddenly felt as if she were appraising an immovable mountain. Even the frosty sensation in the air seemed to have been nullified somewhat by his mountainous aura.


    As the spear was thrust forward, a spear projection that was over seven meters in length erupted forth. Devastating blood essence fluctuations radiated outward, and a series of rings of light began to emerge beneath Tang Wulin as the four golden soul rings around his body began to intertwine with his five martial soul rings.


    At the same time, several dozens of Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted forth in all directions like a series of sharp spears, instantly encompassing a massive area. All of the ice on the ground began to disappear in a soundless manner in the wake of the Bluesilver Emperor vines.


    What was even alarming to Long Yuxue was the fact that the Bluesilver Emperor vines were turning into an icy blue color. The blue color then surged toward Tang Wulin, and when it was less than five meters away from him, the icy blue would gradually transform into a faint golden light that fused into his body.


    What''s happening?


    She had a rough idea that Tang Wulin''s martial soul was a plant type martial, but she didn''t know exactly what it was, and she was very perplexed by its ability to nullify her domain like this.


    Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin thrust his spear forward once again. The first spear projection was still shimmering in the sky when the second spear projection was unleashed, and this was even brighter and extended even longer than the first projection. At the same time, more vines began to slowly emerge around Tang Wulin''s body. The vines didn''t spread in a uniform manner, but every time they lashed out, the domain on the ground would recede a little.

 Chapter 982: Integration of Martial Soul and Bloodline

    Tang Wulin began to move. He took a step forward, and the Golden Dragon Spear in front of him abruptly shuddered as it instantly unleashed several dozens of spear projections. The spear projections began to shimmer in the air, emitting a string of loud explosive booms, and the sound made it seem as if the entire space were about to be torn apart.


    The frosty sensation in the air was nullified even further, and Tang Wulin took nine consecutive steps. All of a sudden, countless spear projections had appeared at the center of the competition platform. What was most astonishing to Long Yuxue was that with each successive spear strike, Tang Wulin''s aura would become slightly elevated, and the scales on his body also glowed brighter and brighter. The immense aura emanating from his body rendered her completely unable to even muster up the urge to attack him.


    She had always known that Tang Wulin was very powerful, but they''d always been comrades, so she didn''t know what it was like to face Tang Wulin in battle.


    Even though Tang Wulin wasn''t attacking her at the moment, she was still struck by the same sense of powerlessness that befell Jiang Wuyue in his presence.


    This type of spiritual domination was even more fearsome than a direct attack, and there was no way to evade it. Long Yuxue could sense that her spirit and will were trembling, and her ice attribute powers, which had been enhanced by her domain, were constantly being weakened.


    Tang Wulin didn''t even take a single glance in Long Yuxue''s direction. Instead, he was unleashing one spear strike after another while relentlessly releasing his most powerful soul power fluctuations. His entire being had been completely immersed into the spear intent of the Fury of the Masses.


    He was releasing both his martial soul and his bloodline power, and the two were constantly being stimulated by his spear intent, attempting to integrate with one another through all types of different combinations.


    He wasn''t using any of his soul skills. Instead, he was simply unleashing one spear projection after another, and all of the projections were radiating the most dazzling light. Countless spear projections were being strung together, and his aura was being elevated in a relentless manner.


    At this moment, he was completely free from all inhibitions!


    He couldn''t release his spear intent with such reckless abandon in the legion, but he could do so now. Here in this simulated competition venue, he could release everything that he''d learned and experienced during the past few days without having to hold back at all.


    He was still very far away from mastering the true Fury of the Masses, but was gradually finding a hint of his own spear intent.


    During the past few days, he''d constantly been holding his Golden Dragon Spear, even while he was sleeping and cultivating, and the effects of this were finally beginning to show. As he unleashed his spear intent with reckless abandon, his Golden Dragon Spear was trembling and buzzing faintly. This acted like the perfect glue that was slowly integrating the different skills of Tang Wulin''s martial soul and bloodline power.


    While he was unleashing these spear strikes, the Bluesilver Emperor vines were also emulating his spear as they thrust forward over and over again. As he unleashed his 1,000th spear strike, Long Yuxue could clearly see that a layer of thin golden scales had appeared on the surfaces of all of his Bluesilver Emperor vines. It was as if all of them had become Tang Wulin''s spears and had been enhanced by his Golden Dragon Body.


    He was stacking his blood essence power and soul power on top of one another! This was an area that Tang Wulin had always neglected in the past.


    Prior to Old Tang''s suggestion, he had never even considered that a connection could be forged between his soul power and blood essence. However, he now understood that he had been wrong.


    He didn''t have twin martial souls; he only had one martial soul, and that was the Bluesilver Emperor. His blood essence power should''ve been something that assisted his martial soul in battle, but due to how overwhelmingly powerful his Golden Dragon King bloodline was, he had forgotten this point.


    Thinking back to the competition he''d participated in on the Star Lou Continent, Fox King Su Mu had used his bloodline power to enhance his martial soul, yet he had never done this before. All he did was allow his martial soul to be influenced by his bloodline in a subtle manner.


    He had a treasure of immeasurable value at his disposal, but he had never made use of it; how stupid was that?


    Tang Wulin had never considered taking this path partially because his bloodline power was extremely devastating on its own, and also because he''d been misled by his bloodline soul rings. He had unconsciously been drawn to the conclusion that there was no way that the two types of soul rings could appear together, and he was regarding his bloodline power as twin martial souls.


    Only after receiving Old Tang''s teachings on this occasion did he come to realize that his bloodline power wasn''t a martial soul! He had always been able to interchange between the two types of powers at will, but in reality, he should be integrating them for maximum effect rather than using them interchangeably.


    At this moment, as he unleashed one spear strike after another, his soul power and bloodline power were finally beginning to integrate with one another.


    The dragon core in his chest began to slowly sink downward, and golden light enveloped his entire body. At the same time, the golden light was also pouring into the soul power vortex in his dantian from all directions, giving the vortex a golden hue in the process. The crystalline structure within the vortex was also becoming clearer and clearer.


    "Whoosh!" All of a sudden, the surrounding spear projections abruptly combined as one, and all of the golden Bluesilver Emperor vines also reared up in unison as spear intent erupted all over the entire competition platform.


    Long Yuxue''s domain was instantly shattered and rose up into the air as a vast expanse of icy mist, but as soon as it entered the core region around Tang Wulin, the icy mist would immediately vanish.


    This was the elemental stripping effect of his Bluesilver Golden Array. He hadn''t actually unleashed the soul skill, but as his soul power and bloodline power intertwined with one another, some of his abilities were naturally released.


    Violent energy fluctuations shimmered in the air, and Tang Wulin abruptly took a step forward before sweeping his Golden Dragon Spear horizontally in front of him. All of his Bluesilver Emperor vines emulated the motion of the spear, and a vast expanse of golden light radiated forth.


    Tang Wulin let loose a burst of hearty laughter before yelling, "Golden Dragon Body!"


    All of a sudden, all of the Bluesilver Emperor vines lit up, and the thin golden scales suddenly became a lot thicker and far more substantial. Those were no longer just a series of vines; they were like giant dragons instead!


    However, at the same time, Tang Wulin could sense that both his blood essence power and soul power were being expended at an extremely alarming rate.


    It was quite clear that the two powers couldn''t be integrated without paying a price.


    Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward once again, and yelled, "Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!"


    Countless Bluesilver Emperor vines thrust forward along with his Golden Dragon Spear. A massive golden dragon that was over 20 meters in length erupted from the tip of his spear before rushing forward. At the same time, thin wisps of golden dragon energy also emerged from the tips of the Bluesilver Emperor vines. These streams of golden energy injected themselves into the massive golden dragon, and in the span of just a single breath, the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens had expanded to more than twice its original size. It was as if a true dragon had descended upon the world.


    Tang Wulin was absolutely ecstatic. He had achieved a resounding success. Unleashing this Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens had expended more than twice the normal amount of blood essence power, as well as a vast amount of soul power, but the resulting attack was definitely more than twice as powerful as it normally was! Furthermore, it had completely exceeded the upper limit of a Soul Master of his power level.


    If there were any type of ability that could be compared to this, then it could only be a soul fusion skill.


    Soul fusion skills required two Soul Masters to unleash, and unleashing such an ability required a vast amount of energy expenditure, making it impossible to use again in a short time. Furthermore, there wasn''t any versatility or diversity in the attack unleashed by a soul fusion skill. However, Tang Wulin could integrate his martial soul and bloodline power to enhance any of his abilities! This was certainly not something that a simple soul fusion skill could hope to compare with!


    Long Yuxue''s hands were already hanging limply by her sides. The golden dragon in the sky was over 30 meters long and was roaring to the heavens with its wings spread wide open. She knew just by looking at it that she had no chance at all in this battle.


    This sense of helplessness was something that she''d only ever experienced when sparring with her father.


    Just how powerful was this man? And where did his limits lie?


    Long Yuxue had a completely stunned look on the face, and she''d already forgotten that this was a battle, and that this man who was showing off to his heart''s content at the center of the competition platform was her opponent.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin withdrew his Golden Dragon Spear before stomping his right foot into the ground as he yelled, "Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!"

 Chapter 983: Flabbergasted

    Eight golden dragons rose up from the ground, and all of the Bluesilver Emperor vines gathered around them like devout worshipers. Only then did the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens finally explode, sending violent shockwaves surging toward all directions and sweeping up gusts of fierce winds within the competition venue.


    The eight golden dragons flew away in different directions, Tang Wulin was feeling very elated as he abruptly let loose a thunderous roar. It was none other than his Golden Dragon Roar.


    A massive golden dragon head that was three times larger than that of the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens appeared, and initially, this golden dragon head was only two meters in height. However, as the countless Bluesilver Emperor vines began to inject their energy into it, it abruptly swelled to over four meters tall.


    The terrifying soundwaves made the entire competition platform tremor violently, and on this occasion, Tang Wulin failed to notice that this Golden Dragon Roar was being unleashed in Long Yuxue''s direction.


    Even though Long Yuxue was situated over 100 meters away from Tang Wulin, she could still feel an unparalleled scorching aura surging toward her in a frenzy. The fearsome soundwaves, the formidable spiritual impact, and the purple light being released from the giant dragon head''s eyes instantly made her mind go completely blank.


    She stumbled and almost fell onto the ground.


    In the next instant, her simulated body was completely destroyed and vanished from the competition stage.


    The Golden Dragon Roar was an attack that relied heavily on one''s intent. Tang Wulin had been constantly practicing his spear techniques at the center of the competition stage, thereby elevating his aura to an unprecedented level. In conjunction, he had integrated his martial soul and bloodline power for the very first time to further enhance his aura, and all of that worked to significantly boost the power of his Golden Dragon Roar.


    The entire space had just been shattered by the force of that Golden Dragon Roar, and Long Yuxue was completely caught off guard. She didn''t even get an opportunity to react before she was evicted from the competition platform.


    If they were in the real world, her battle armor would''ve automatically been released to protect her, but this was a simulated world, so her battle armor wouldn''t appear unless she actively released it.


    "Victory goes to Little Tang!"


    Tang Wulin was still full of excitement when he was suddenly teleported out of the competition venue.


    I won?


    He looked down at his Golden Dragon Spear with a blank expression while quickly sifting back through his memories. Thus, he recalled the final moments of the match, during which his Golden Dragon Roar had completely detonated Long Yuxue''s body.


    Crap...


    He quickly logged off the battle net before clambering out of his Star Cabin in real life. He then immediately put on his military uniform before rushing outside.


    He had never died before in the simulated battle net, so he didn''t know if dying in it felt just as terrible as dying in the Spirit Ascension Plane did.


    Having one''s body completely destroyed by a soundwave attack was definitely one of the most painful ways to die, and if the simulated battle net hadn''t been designed to lessen the pain of the competition''s participants, then Long Yuxue could have suffered severe psychological trauma.


    As such, as soon as he emerged from his dormitory room, he rushed toward the resting area of the legion as quickly as he could.


    Snow and ice were flung in all directions in his wake, attracting a lot of attention from passersby.


    After just a few minutes, he rushed into the area where the Star Cabins were situated in the legion''s recreational area. This place was already completely packed to the rafters.


    Tang Wulin was just about to try and squeeze into the crowd when he was immediately stopped in his tracks.


    "What are you doing? Are you trying to push through the line? Where''s your respect and moral compass?" A tall and broad man stood in front of Tang Wulin to block his path.


    However, Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with urgency, and he certainly wasn''t in the mood for a chat. He grabbed onto the man''s shoulder and tossed him away.


    The man had to be over 100 kilograms, but he was tossed away like a twig.


    The bustling recreational area instantly fell silent. No one else tried to stop Tang Wulin, and he was quickly able to squeeze his way to the front of the crowd, where he immediately caught sight of Long Yuxue.


    Her face was slightly pale, and she seemed to have only just emerged from the Star Cabin. No clothes could be worn in the Star Cabins, so each Star Cabin had a room that was dedicated to it, and prior to each usage, it would be sterilized and disinfected before the next person was allowed to access it.


    "Are you alright?" Tang Wulin stepped forward and grabbed onto her shoulders to detect whether her blood essence fluctuations were in disarray.


    Long Yuxue was immediately given a fright after having her shoulders grabbed onto. She looked up with a surprised expression to find that it was Tang Wulin, and a surge of warmth flowed through her heart as her rage instantly faded away.


    She nodded, and replied, "I''m fine."


    Tang Wulin heaved a sigh of relief. "Doesn''t it hurt to be injured in the Star Cabin? Is it just as painful to die in there as it is to die in the Spirit Pagoda''s Spirit Ascension Plane?"


    Long Yuxue shook her head. "Why would the federation be as extreme as the Spirit Pagoda? The sense of pain in the simulated battle net is decreased to 20%, so it''s quite safe. Even so, it still really hurt! How could you do that to me, you heartless bastard!"


    All of a sudden, Long Yuxue sensed that the surrounding atmosphere seemed to be a little off, and she reflexively looked up to assess her surroundings. In doing so, she discovered that all of the people gathered in the area, of which there were more than 100, were staring at them in complete silence.


    Some were completely flabbergasted, some were struggling to pick their jaws up from the ground, and some wore peculiar expressions on their faces.


    "What''s going on? What are you all looking at?" Long Yuxue asked in an embarrassed manner with a blush on her face.


    Zhang Huanyun was currently in a very, very foul mood.


    He had originally been in very high spirits. He had already experienced the federation''s Star Battle Net for himself. He had traveled to the capital of the federation, Bright City, not too long ago to attend a meeting. During that meeting, he heard a report from the development and research department, and he''d experienced the simulation for himself to find that it was quite exceptional. Not only had the federation integrated artificial intelligence into the new system, it was suitable to be used by virtually anyone, and it would definitely be greatly beneficial to improving the overall practical combat skills of the entire legion.


    As a federal general and the commander of the entire Blood God Legion, he had always held a very lofty position in the military. The Blood God Legion had a similar level of influence in the military as Shrek Academy had in the Soul Master world. Many of the highest-ranking officials in the military were past soldiers of the Blood God Legion who had completed their full decade-long stints of military service. As such, as the commander of the Blood God Legion, he was highly respected and revered in the military.


    There were 30 Star Cabins in this recreational area, and everyone had to line up to use them regardless of their military rank. The order that the Star Cabins were being used in was based on the scheduled times of the participants'' matches, and that was a rule that he''d devised.


    As the person who had implemented this rule, he wanted to come and encourage his subordinates to follow the rule by coming here to also use the Star Cabin along with everyone else. In reality, he had a private Star Cabin in his own office, so there was no need for him to do this.


    He was lining up while chatting with the soldiers of the Blood God Legion around him, asking them about their experiences in the last abyssal tide in a very benevolent and approachable manner. He felt as if he were learning a lot through their conversations, and he was in a very good mood.


    However, all of a sudden, a second lieutenant suddenly rushed in and tried to squeeze through the crowd like a madman. He seemed to be quite strong as well as he was able to brush many people aside. No one else tried to stop him, but so he decided to step in his way, more as a joke than anything else. After all, it was quite comical to see the legion commander blocking a second lieutenant.


    He was just about to ask the second lieutenant why he was in such a hurry and breaking the rules, and never did he think that the little bastard would grab onto his shoulder without uttering a single word before tossing him away like a piece of trash!


    He was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo and a four-word battle armor master, so he was definitely one of the most powerful beings on the entire continent. However, the kid had acted far too quickly and caught him completely off guard. Never did he think that a second lieutenant would dare to attack him in the Blood God Legion, and that was why he had fallen victim to the "attack".


    The second lieutenant had thrown him in a way that ensured that he wouldn''t be injured even if he were to fall onto the ground, but he was the commander of the entire legion; how could he be in a good mood after being tossed away by a second lieutenant in front of all of these subordinates of his?


    At this moment, Zhang Huanyun was looking on with his hands on his hips as the little bastard "flirted" with a young woman in front of all of these people. Furthermore, he recognized this young woman; she was the daughter of the vice-legion commander, Long Tianwu!


    At this moment, Long Yuxue had also noticed his presence, and her hands immediately flew to her mouth in astonishment. Zhang Huanyun hadn''t arrived yet when she had first turned up, so never would she have thought that she''d encounter such a figure of supreme authority here.


    "Greetings, Superior!" She hurriedly stood up straight before extending a military salute.


    Tang Wulin was rather startled by Long Yuxue''s abrupt salute, and he hurriedly removed his hands from her shoulders as he turned around.


    Woah, a three-star general! This man has the same military rank as Blood One!


    It was not difficult to guess who this man was based on that alone. He reflexively also stood up straight before extending a military salute.


    However, at the same time, a sense of foreboding had welled up in his heart. He suddenly recalled something, and he realized that this man was vaguely familiar somehow.


    Zhang Huanyun raised an eyebrow as he fixed his gaze on Tang Wulin. "What''s your name!"

 Chapter 984: Unyielding

    "Tang Wulin." Tang Wulin was looking straight ahead without any changes in his expression as if he hadn''t just sent Zhang Huanyun flying.


    Zhang Huanyun was enraged to the point of laughter upon seeing this. This little bastard had just thrown him through the air, yet he was looking as if he''d done nothing wrong! Not taking into account anything else, his mental fortitude was quite remarkable.


    "Don''t you know the rules here? Why didn''t you line up?" Zhang Huanyun asked in a calm and placid voice.


    Tang Wulin''s expression remained unchanged as he replied, "During the competition, I faced Superior Long Yuxue in battle, and an incident occurred during the match that led me to believe that she may have been hurt, so I rushed over to find her."


    "You just competed? How did you compete when you weren''t even here? Hmm? You''re from the Blood God Battalion?" Only then did he notice the crimson rose pattern on Tang Wulin''s Blood God Bracelet.


    "Yes, Superior, I''m a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion."


    Zhang Huanyun said, "Very good. The Blood God Battalion produces only heroes, not rule-breakers. Even if you''re part of the Blood God Battalion, you have to accept the same punishment as normal soldiers when you make a mistake. Are you willing to accept your punishment?"


    Tang Wulin immediately replied, "No."


    A loud commotion immediately rang out as soon as he gave his reply.


    Who was Zhang Huanyun? He was not someone who had just been instated as the commander of the Blood God Legion. Instead, he''s been in the Skyend Mountain Ranges for 60 years, and he climbed all the way up to his current position from a normal soldier. It could be said that he was the most influential figure in the entire Blood God Legion; even Blood One, Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, couldn''t compare with him in that regard.


    Tang Wulin was the first person who had dared to speak to him like that in the past several decades.


    Zhang Huanyun couldn''t help but laugh again. "Why aren''t you willing to accept your punishment?"


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly, and he replied, "I feel that the punishment you hand down to me will most likely be more severe than it should be."


    Zhang Huanyun chuckled, "Oh? So you''re afraid that my punishment won''t be fair?"


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied.


    Zhang Huanyun continued, "As a soldier of the military and the commander of the Blood God Legion, I do everything in my power to treat every single subordinate of mine with absolute fairness. I definitely won''t allow my personal emotions to affect my decisions, and this is a mantra that I''ve sworn by ever since the first day I joined the Blood God Legion. That ethos has never changed during the past 60 years and 163 days. However..."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. He wasn''t going to make an exception here, was he?


    "Even though I won''t make an exception for you, you''re not a soldier under my command, and you attacked a superior of yours, so there''s a range of punishments that are applicable here. Come with me!" Zhang Huanyun waved a hand toward Tang Wulin as he spoke before turning to depart.


    Only then did Long Yuxue get a chance to ask in a low voice, "What did you do?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I was in a bit of a hurry just now, and he stood in my way, so I maaaay have thrown him aside..."


    "Hah?" Long Yuxue''s legs almost gave out from under her.


    Even her father had to refer to this man as senior in a private unofficial setting.


    However, despite her astonishment, her expression also changed slightly as she appraised Tang Wulin. He had only done something so rash because he had been concerned for her safety!


    Tang Wulin followed Zhang Huanyun out of the resting area in an obedient manner. Zhang Huanyun strode on ahead with his head held high, and his expression appeared to be completely unchanged. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin actually wasn''t all that worried. His mental fortitude had been forged on the demonic island, and the old demon had taught him that it was always important to calmly analyze everything instead of flying into a blind panic.


    What was the Blood God Legion? It was a noble organization that guarded the entire federation. This man had been the commander of the legion for several dozens of years, and he was also a federal general, so he was definitely a man of justice. Even though Tang Wuln had just thrown him to the side, he had made sure to hold back so even a normal person wouldn''t have been injured by that fall. At the same time, he wasn''t just doing this for no reason!


    As the commander of such a powerful legion, there was no way that he would actually have a bone to pick with a mere second lieutenant like him. As such, he had intentionally expressed an unwillingness to accept a punishment for him in order to make a lasting impression. After all, shouldn''t a soldier possess an unyielding spirit? Besides, he really didn''t think that he''d done anything wrong. He hadn''t been trying to push through the line for his personal benefit; he was simply in a hurry to inspect his comrades'' condition.


    However, Long Yuxue was clearly not as calm as he was. She was following along closely beside Tang Wulin, and was at a complete loss for words. Due to the fact that she''d been living in the Skyend Mountain Ranges her entire life, she was extremely aware of just how lofty a position Zhang Huanyun held in the legion. In a sense, even the Blood God Battalion had to follow his orders.


    Zhang Huanyun strode directly into the control center, and Tang Wulin and Long Yuxue followed along behind him like a pair of guards.


    Only after entering the elevator did Zhang Huanyun turn around to appraise the two of them with a hint of a smile on his face.


    He had to admit, this was a match made in heaven!


    What a handsome young man; almost as handsome as I was in my younger days!


    "Where are you from, Tang Wulin?" Only now did Zhang Huanyun realize that he didn''t recognize this new soldier.


    Tang Wulin immediately replied, "Shrek Academy."


    Zhang Huanyun''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he asked with furrowed brows, "Did you join the legion after Shrek Academy was destroyed?"


    There were over 20,000 people in the Blood God Legion, but he''d been here for several decades already, so he had a certain level of recollection of all of them. Tang Wulin was a second lieutenant and was completely unrecognizable to him, so he was clearly a new soldier. As for how he''d been promoted to the second lieutenant rank, an abyssal tide had just taken place, so it was only normal that he''d managed to earn a quick promotion.


    "Yes, Superior," Tang Wulin replied in a clear voice.


    Zhang Huanyun''s eyes widened slightly as he sighed, "Shrek Academy, eh?"


    Tang Wulin could see a very forlorn look in his eyes, but none of the grief and rage that Blood Three and Blood Five had displayed. From his reaction, Tang Wulin could deduce that this man definitely didn''t come from Shrek Academy.


    Zhang Huanyun continued, "In that case, you most likely weren''t recommended here by the academy; who recommended you to come here?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "It was His Majesty, the Amorous Douluo of the Tang Sect."


    An enlightened look appeared on Zhang Huanyun''s face. "I see. No wonder you were able to join the Blood God Batallion so quickly."


    "I was enlisted into the Blood God Battalion based on my abilities!" Tang Wulin countered in a clear voice.


    At this moment, the elevator drew to a halt, and a "ding" sound rang out as the door was opened.


    A hint of amusement appeared on Zhang Huanyun''s face. "You seem very confident! You''re a very driven young man. Come with me."


    He then stepped out of the elevator and walked on ahead.


    Long Yuxue was standing behind Tang Wulin with a myriad of emotions flashing through her eyes.


    "Yuxue, can you stop pinching me?" Tang Wulin sighed with a resigned smile on his face. As he was answering Zhang Huanyun''s questions, Long Yuxue had been constantly pinching him on the back, and it really hurt!


    Long Yuxue said in a low voice, "You idiot! How could you... How could you speak to the legion commander like that? Even my father wouldn''t dare to speak to him like that!"


    Tang Wulin was feeling rather speechless. He was naturally aware that Long Yuxue was only looking out for his best interests, but he was even more aware that a soldier couldn''t just be respectful and obedient all the time.


    "You don''t understand." Tang Wulin shook his head in a resigned manner before striding out of the elevator and following Zhang Huanyun.


    Zhang Huanyun''s office was the largest that Tang Wulin had seen in the legion. However, it wasn''t lavish in the slightest. There were a few bookshelves, a table, a few sofa chairs for guests, and there weren''t any extra ornaments or embellishments on the walls.


    Zhang Huanyun sat down on one of the sofa chairs, and Tang Wulin took a seat across from him.


    "You seem to be very confident in yourself, lad! How about you tell me why you deserve to be a part of the Blood God Batallion?" Zhang Huanyun asked with a smile on his face.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Superior, my name is Tang Wulin, and I am an inner court disciple of Shrek Academy. I am the captain of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and I''m a rank 59 Soul King. My conjoined weapon, which is my Golden Dragon Spear, can allow me to absorb the energy of abyssal creatures, making it impossible for their abyssal energy to be recycled. After Senior Blood Eight discovered my abilities, she took me to the Blood God Battalion, and Senior Blood One enlisted me as a fringe member. Blood One assigned me a mission, prohibiting me from entering the abyss, as during the recently concluded abyssal tide, two abyssal emperors unleashed direct attacks against me. It was Blood Eight who saved me on both of those occasions."


    Zhang Huanyun was indeed very interested in Tang Wulin, and he found Tang Wulin to be quite intriguing. He had indeed been caught off guard at the time, but even so, no ordinary person could just throw him like that. As a man who was extremely close to the Limit Douluo stage, even if he were entirely unprepared, his body would display an emergency response to attacks. Tang Wulin harbored no malicious intent, so the emergency response wasn''t all that pronounced at the time, but his body weight had still multiplied by severalfold as a very natural reaction, thereby making it very difficult for someone to pick him up. However, he had sensed at the time that Tang Wulin possessed insane strength, and he had even been struck by a hint of oppressive pressure from Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 985: The Astonished Zhang Huanyun

    He was naturally able to identify that Tang Wulin was only a Soul King, but it was exactly because of this that he was even more surprised. How could a mere Soul King possess such immense strength? That was what he was most perplexed about.


    After hearing Tang Wulin''s self-introduction, Zhang Huanyun''s smile had completely disappeared. He was the captain of the current generation of Shrek''s Seven Monster?


    That meant that this young man was the most important seed left behind by Shrek Academy. It was no wonder that the Amorous Douluo had sent him to his Blood God Legion.


    However, what was even more surprising to him was Tang Wulin''s self-proclaimed ability to absorb abyssal energy. The fact that Blood One was prohibiting him from taking part in further battles was sufficient testament to just how valuable his ability was.


    Zhang Huanyun had dedicated his entire life to the Blood God Legion, so this place held an extremely special place in his heart. He had also been battling abyssal creatures his entire life, so he was well aware of just how terrifying those enemies were. If they were to breach the defenses of the Blood God Legion, then they''d lay waste to the entire continent!


    As such, his eyes immediately lit up after hearing about Tang Wulin''s ability to prevent abyssal energy from being recycled. This was something that he was still unaware of!


    He had just returned from the federation, and the Blood God Battalion was relatively independent of the legion. Furthermore, Blood One was someone who was an equal to him, and he hadn''t met the Blood Gods yet following his return. As such, he was extremely intrigued to hear all of this.


    "Give me a moment." Zhang Huanyun immediately pressed down on his Blood God Bracelet as he spoke.


    His Blood God Bracelet was also different from the normal Blood God Bracelet. It was entirely crimson in color, but there was a golden line running around its entire circumference directly down the middle. This was a Blood God Bracelet that was exclusive to the legion commander; the vice-legion commander and the division commanders each had a silver line running around their bracelets instead.


    The call connected very quickly. "Blood One, do you have time to meet me now? There''s a kid here by the name of Tang Wulin; it''s about time you told me about him, right?"


    "You''re already back? I was planning to tell you about him as soon as you returned from the federation. Are you in your office right now?" The Heartless Douluo''s voice rang out in response.


    "Yes, come on over," Zhang Huanyun replied.


    Tang Wulin was slightly taken aback. He was only trying to leave a good lasting impression on the legion commander; he didn''t think that even Blood One would be summoned to the scene. The fact that Blood One was coming to them rather than the other way around indicated that the legion commander ranked above Blood One! The Heartless Douluo was the master of the Tang Sect, but here in the Blood God Legion, Zhang Huanyun was undoubtedly the one who called the shots.


    Tang Wulin had chosen to tell him everything without omitting any details as it wouldn''t be difficult for Zhang Huanyun to get his hands on this information on his own, and Tang Wulin was also hoping to gain this man''s support in the future. He was a federal general and the commander of the Blood God Legion; if he could receive this man''s support, then it would become so much easier for him to revive Shrek Academy in the future.


    Not long after that, Blood One pushed open the door, and he caught sight of Tang Wulin as soon as he walked in.


    Tang Wulin immediately rose to his feet before extending a military salute. Long Yuxue also hurriedly rose to her feet beside him, and she was still feeling rather disoriented.


    She was currently in the presence of the two most revered figures in the entire Blood God Legion!


    Blood One took a glance at Tang Wulin before taking a seat beside Zhang Huanyun.


    "This kid tells me that he possesses an ability that''s very effective against abyssal creatures; just how powerful is this ability?" Zhang Huanyun asked.


    Blood One replied in a calm voice, "Take a look for yourself."


    He pressed down on his Blood God Bracelet as he spoke, and a beam of light was emitted, projecting an image onto the white wall beside him. This was none other than the video footage of Tang Wulin''s performance during the last abyssal tide.


    Zhang Huanyun appraised the footage with rapt focus, and his expression didn''t change much. However, the look in his eyes clearly changed slightly after he witnessed the emergence of that giant finger and the Enchantress Empress.


    "You two can go back for now," Zhang Huanyun said to Tang Wulin and Long Yuxue.


    "Yes, Superior." Tang Wulin rose to his feet before taking a glance at Blood One. Blood One gave him a quick nod, and only then did he depart from the room.


    Long Yuxue hurriedly followed him out of Zhang Huanyun''s office, and as soon as they left, she asked, "What''s going on? Did the Blood God Battalion enlist you because the ability of your Golden Dragon Spear caught their eye?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "You can put it that way."


    Long Yuxue''s brows furrowed slightly as she asked, "Why was the legion commander willing to let you off the hook so easily?"


    Tang Wulin turned to her with a speechless expression. "Your EQ is of great concern! Do you really think that the legion commander would pick on a second lieutenant like me? You think far too highly of me! He''s merely interested in me and intrigued by my abilities. I''ve shown him everything that I want to show him, so I''m going back to cultivate now."


    "My EQ is of great concern? Who was the one that destroyed my entire body during the competition? This is what I get for helping you out so much ever since you joined the legion! Hmph!"


    "I''m sorry, Superior. How about I treat you to a meal?"


    "I want 10 portions of food from the first window!"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You won''t be able to eat that much, Superior!"


    "I''ll invite others to help me eat! Don''t you worry; I won''t waste any of that food!"


    "Alright, whatever you say then."


    Following Tang Wulin and Long Yuxue''s departure, Zhang Huanyun and Blood One were staring at one another in the office.


    "Cao Dezhi, you sly old fox! You sure swooped in quickly to steal him from me!" Zhang Huanyun was glaring at Blood One.


    The Heartless Douluo replied in an expressionless manner. "How can this be considered as stealing? Don''t forget that he was recommended here by our Tang Sect."


    "I don''t care! He''s joined our Blood God Legion, so he''s mine! It doesn''t matter who sent him here. The ability of his Golden Dragon Spear is an extremely important matter to the entire legion; how could you enlist him into your Blood God Battalion just like that? I don''t care what you say, you have to return him to me right now! I''ll give him a special military rank and get him to follow me so I can ensure his safety."


    "Don''t even think about it! There''s no way I''ll be able to get him back if I agree to let you take him," Blood One refused without any hesitation.


    Zhang Huanyun countered, "What''s so bad about getting him to follow me? Don''t you know that I''m an old man who needs to begin grooming a successor? Our Blood God Legion is different from other places, and as the legion commander, there''s a huge burden on my shoulders. I need someone who''s powerful enough to replace me in the future, and as long as I file a report to the military in person, it''ll definitely be approved. I haven''t found a suitable successor yet, but I''m really liking this kid. He''s still very young, and he possesses an ability that created a perfect counter to the abyssal creatures. If I can make him my successor, perhaps he''ll be able to dominate the abyssal passageway for over 100 years! When that time comes, I''ll be able to go into happy retirement."


    Blood One pursed his lips, and scoffed, "Keep dreaming! It''s not that I''m unwilling to hand him over to you; even if I do, he won''t be able to become your successor. Don''t you know the responsibility that he''s carrying on his shoulders?"


    Zhang Huanyun replied, "You''re talking about Shrek Academy, right? Of course I''m aware of that. However, you and I both know that there were many powers behind the destruction of Shrek Academy. No matter how exceptional he is, there''s no way that he can rebuild Shrek Academy on his own; the federation definitely wouldn''t allow that to happen. I don''t know just how dirty and corrupt the federation currently is, but what I do know is the federation definitely doesn''t want to see the emergence of another independent empire. Even the almighty Shrek Academy was destroyed; what do you expect a young man in his early twenties to be able to do? How will he be able to support the rebuild process? It''ll be impossible even with your Tang Sect''s full support."


    Blood One countered in an indifferent voice, "There has never been a lack of miracles in this world, and I believe that there''s a chance that he''ll create a miracle. Let me ask you this; if we can completely resolve the issue of the abyssal passageway someday so we no longer have to worry about the abyssal plane, would you be willing to support the revival of Shrek Academy?"

 Chapter 986: Blood Ones Hopes

    Zhang Huanyun faltered slightly before replying, "Don''t talk about unrealistic things like this; what''s the point?"


    Blood One insisted, "But what if it really happens?"


    Zhang Huanyun replies, "Even then, I''ll have to analyze the situation before making a decision. If he can completely eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane, then I''m willing to even hand over the entire Blood God Legion to him! After all, our Blood God Legion solely exists to guard the abyssal passageway anyway, so in the absence of the threat from the abyssal plane, there would no longer be any purpose in the legion''s existence. After that, the future would no longer matter to me, and I''ll finally be able to relax. Of course, this is all based on the assumption that I can live until that day."


    Blood One nodded in response. "That''s all I needed to hear."


    Zhang Huanyun couldn''t help but ask, "Do you really think that kid can eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane?"


    Blood One smiled, and replied, "Why not? There''s a chance that he could be able to accomplish this, at the very least. His Golden Dragon Spear is even more useful than you imagine it to be. Not only is he already very powerful for his age, his bloodline power is also extremely immense. Do you think it''s that easy to become the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters? On top of that, he''s also a Saint Blacksmith; the youngest Saint Blacksmith in the history of the entire continent. You didn''t know that, did you?"


    "No way!" Zhang Huanyun was truly stunned this time. There wasn''t a single Saint Blacksmith in the entire Blood God Legion!


    Blood One shrugged, "I''m telling you, if it weren''t for the fact that Long Tianwu released an order that prohibits him from using his forging accolades for promotions, he can get to the major general rank in a year!"


    A contemplative look appeared on Zhang Huanyun''s face. "Then what about your plan?"


    Blood One replied, "Before he attains a sufficient level of power, we have to hide him and protect him. The abyssal plane has already been alerted to the ability of his Golden Dragon Spear, and even the Enchantress Empress unleashed a direct attack against him, despite the vast amount of energy that she would''ve had to expend to do so. If we continue to let him participate in battles, then the abyssal plane could try to eliminate him at all costs, and it''ll be very difficult for us to stop them.


    "I ordered him to participate in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition so he can hone his abilities through the course of the competition. As soon as he becomes powerful enough to take care of himself, we announce all-out war on the abyssal plane. I really want to see what would happen after he kills one of the 108 abyssal emperors with that Golden Dragon Spear of his.


    "The 108 abyssal emperors are essential to the abyssal plane, and if we can destroy a few of them, perhaps we''ll be able to make the abyssal plane completely collapse or permanently cut off its connection with our world. Even if that doesn''t happen, the abyssal plane will have to think long and hard about trying to invade our world if we kill a few of the abyssal emperors. The main problem we''re facing in our struggle against the abyssal plane is our inability to truly chip away at their power. Otherwise, why would we still be struggling so much to keep them at bay even though our Blood God Legion has already been battling them for thousands of years?


    Zhang Huanyun''s eyes flashed, and he said, "I see what you''re saying. You''re not hoping for him to kill all of the 108 abyssal emperors with that weapon of his; you just want him to try and destroy a few of the 108 abyssal levels to cut off the abyssal passageway."


    "That''s right." Blood One nodded in an earnest manner.


    Zhang Huanyun took a deep breath. "That''s a great plan, and I give you my unconditional support. Feel free to raise any requirements that you have, and if there really comes a day when we no longer need to guard this place, then the Blood God Legion will stand firmly with Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. Everything in the legion is purchased using accolades, and completely eradicating the threat of the abyssal plane is a monumental achievement that''s worth infinite accolades. If that really does eventuate someday, I won''t raise any objections even if you want to take the Blood God Legion as your private army. You haven''t left the legion for even a single day during the past few decades; you didn''t even leave after the Tang Sect headquarters was destroyed, and trust me when I say that I remember everything you''ve done for the legion."


    The Heartless Douluo rose to his feet with a smile on his face. "Don''t get all sappy on me; we share the same ultimate objective, and you''ve also lived here for six whole decades to work toward our collective goal. At the very least, a glimmer of hope has been presented to us for the first time in 60 years, isn''t that right?"


    The two most revered men in the Blood God Legion exchanged a knowing smile, and nothing else needed to be said.


    Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of the agreement that the two of them had arrived at, and nor was he aware of how important he was in their hearts. After treating Long Yuxue to a meal, he returned to his dormitory room and continued to work hard in his cultivation.


    He had benefitted immensely from his battle against Long Yuxue as he''d managed to truly enhance his martial soul with his bloodline power for the very first time. This was a monumental achievement for him, and his overall power had taken another massive forward stride.


    He held onto his Golden Dragon Spear as he meditated in a seated position with his legs crossed, and he was silently experiencing the support that his dragon core was lending to his soul power. A natural hint of golden color had already appeared in his soul power vortex, connecting it to his dragon core in an intimate manner.


    He could even sense that a wisp of the dragon core''s aura had descended into his soul power vortex. With this resonance between the two, it would most likely be a lot easier for him to use his bloodline power to enhance his martial soul in the future.


    Tang Wulin meditated for a particularly long time on this occasion as he wanted to collate some of his thoughts and the things that he''d learned and observed about the Fury of the Masses.


    As expected, engaging in practical battles was the best way to improve. With the integration between his soul power and bloodline power, he was a lot more confident about his chances in the rest of the competition.


    Old Tang had told him that he had to create the last three techniques of the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon based on his own powers. Following the enhancements brought to his martial soul by his bloodline power, he had already been somewhat enlightened. Of course, he required more time to arrange and organize everything, but this was at least a good beginning.


    Faint light flashed, and Tang Wulin slowly awakened from his meditation. He opened his eyes, and everything around him seemed to have become clearer. Even though there was no marked improvement in his cultivation rank, he still felt as if he''d been completely reborn.


    He reflexively tensed his body, and all of his muscles instantly contracted while dazzling golden light erupted from his dragon core. A layer of faint golden color quickly appeared over the soul power, and the two of them maintained a state where they were ready to be fused together at any moment.


    It was just a pity that his soul power wasn''t on the same level as his bloodline power. Once he attained his soul core, Tang Wulin was confident that the fusion of the two major energy cores would definitely generate an even more intense chemical reaction.


    He was very much looking forward to the arrival of that day. At the very least, as things currently were, that day didn''t appear to be very far away. Perhaps he''d be able to successfully materialize a soul core when he made a breakthrough to the Soul Emperor stage. He had a trump card up his sleeve as he''d completely fuse himself with the Beautiful Silk Tulip during his breakthrough to attain a 100,000-year-old soul ring. The Beautiful Silk Tulip was going to become his soul spirit rather than directly become his soul ring, so it wouldn''t be able to improve his soul power by much, but it would be quite appalling if he couldn''t manifest a soul core even after attaining a 100,000-year-old soul ring.


    Hence, on the surface, it appeared that Tang Wulin''s soul power rank hadn''t improved by much, but during the time he''d spent in the Blood God Legion, which had only been just over a month, he had already attained his dragon core. If he could attain a soul core as well, then the two of them would definitely be able to integrate with one another to significantly enhance his power. Even he couldn''t predict just how powerful he would become when that time came.


    A faint smile appeared on his face as he rose to his feet. He glanced at the time and was immediately given quite a fright.


    It was almost time for his next battle, and he''d originally planned to have some food, but there wasn''t enough time left.


    He hurriedly entered the Star Cabin before logging on to the battle net.


    The upcoming battle was another mecha battle, and Tang Wulin was taken into the competition venue as soon as he logged on.


    He chose a melee combat mecha with a spear as a weapon.


    Tang Wulin originally participated in the mecha segment of the competition to hone his long-range attacking prowess, but ever since he began practicing his spear techniques, the plan had changed. Prior to mastering Fury of the Masses, he was going to use a spear in all of his matches.

 Chapter 987: What a Fast Saber!

    After arriving on the competition platform, light flashed up ahead, and another mecha appeared. On this occasion, it was a melee combat mecha rather than a long-distance attacking one.


    His opponent''s mecha was wielding a saber with a long hilt attached to it, and its overall length exceeded even that of Tang Wulin''s spear. The massive blade alone was over six meters in length and over two meters wide, and appeared extremely heavy and intimidating to behold.


    "Three, two, one, begin!" The electronic voice ran through a countdown in its customary concise manner, and Tang Wulin''s second mecha battle of the competition commenced.


    Both mechas charged toward one another without any hesitation. The tactics here were very simple as both of the melee combat mechas wanted to fight at close quarters.


    During a clash between melee combat mechas, the outcome would depend on who had the better battle techniques, and whose soul skills could better assist their mecha.


    Generally speaking, a Soul Master had to be quite powerful before their soul skills could make a noticeable difference in a mecha battle. Soul Masters who were at or below the Soul Elder stage would find it very difficult to make their martial souls useful during mecha battles. This was simply because their martial souls were predominantly too weak to substantially damage their opponents'' protective barriers at that stage.


    Whenever a mecha pilot chose a mecha, they had to consider whether the mecha would have good synergy with their martial soul. Only with great synergy between the two could they display their full power during mecha battles.


    The opposing mecha raised its long saber into the air before bringing it down toward Tang Wulin. As he activated his mecha, his heavy saber was sent crashing down extremely quickly, and despite how heavy it looked, it was slashing downward like lightning and reached Tang Wulin''s mecha in a flash.


    What a fast saber!


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as his hands flew over the control panel, and his mecha abruptly raised its spear upward to block the attack.


    A loud clang rang out, and both of the melee combat mechas had similar levels of power, but the heavy saber was clearly crashing down with greater force, so Tang Wulin''s mecha was sent sliding backward.


    His opponent immediately pressed his advantage, and even though the blade of the long saber had been repelled into the air, the opposing mecha used the hilt of the saber to attack the pilot room that Tang Wulin was situated in.


    What a vicious attack!


    Tang Wulin controlled his mecha to slide backward in retreat, but right at this moment, his opponent suddenly activated his mecha''s propeller, and the hilt of the long saber immediately rushed forward.


    Tang Wulin raised his spear again to block upward in an attempt to block the attack, but his opponent only activated his propeller for an instant before shutting it off. As such, Tang Wulin''s block wasn''t met with the strike from the hilt of the long saber as he''d anticipated.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tang Wulin''s opponent swung his massive saber directly toward the waist of his melee combat mecha.


    It was quite apparent that this was a mecha pilot with extensive practical combat experience.


    Tang Wulin was less experienced than his opponent, and he was quickly forced onto the back foot.


    However, his mindset was very stable, and he remained completely unflustered in the face of danger. There wasn''t enough time for him to withdraw his mecha''s spear, so he abruptly charged toward his opponent instead, activating his mecha''s propeller to drastically enhance its speed.


    At the same time, he brought his spear down from above, using it as a staff to lash out at the opposing mechas head.


    The opposing mecha''s long saber was still sweeping through the air, but it suddenly pulled back on the hilt so that the blade of the saber was slashing directly in front of it, and Tang Wulin''s mecha seemed to be about to crash directly into the blade as it charged forward.


    Not only that, but a layer of flames abruptly erupted from the opposing mecha while an intimidating saber projection flashed through the air.


    Tang Wulin''s opponent had unleashed his soul skill at just the right moment rather than refraining from using it until he was at a disadvantage. In the face of truly skilled mecha pilots, the concept of conceding the advantage by unleashing one''s martial soul first was nothing more than a joke.


    The timing of this soul skill was absolutely perfect, and it immediately placed Tang Wulin''s mecha, which was rushing forward with its propeller activated, in a dire situation.


    There appeared to be no way to evade this attack, but right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s mecha performed a very strange maneuver.


    The mecha abruptly swayed before suddenly changing directions with its propeller still fully activated. As opposed to rushing off to the side, it was rising upward.


    One had to realize that spontaneously changing directions while the propeller was fully activated not only placed great strain on the mecha, the same also applied to the mecha pilot, so there was no way that the pilot would be able to execute such a maneuver unless they possessed an extremely powerful physical constitution.


    Tang Wulin''s physical constitution obviously wasn''t a problem, but generally speaking, a generic mecha like this one wouldn''t be able to handle such a strenuous maneuver. However, he had a way to counter this.


    His soul power erupted from his body before instantly seeping into the mecha''s joints to stabilize it. The mecha didn''t release its protective barrier, but a layer of white light had appeared over its surface; that was none other than Tang Wulin''s Soul King stage Mysterious Heaven Method soul power.


    The saber projection virtually glanced past right beneath his mecha''s feet, and its long spear was crashing downward anyway, so he adjusted his attack, thrusting the spear toward the opposing mecha''s head instead.


    A layer of white light appeared over the surface of the spearhead, and a spear projection flashed as it pierced through the air from above.


    Everything had happened in virtually the blink of an eye, and right at this moment, the opposing mecha suddenly squatted down before abruptly springing off to the side in order to evade Tang Wulin''s spear strike.


    At the same time, the long saber slashed through the air toward Tang Wulin again.


    Tang Wulin brought his spear upward, and the two weapons clashed once again.


    "Bam!"


    On this occasion, they were evenly matched. The two mechas were both knocked back in different directions before landing on the ground amid loud booms.


    After steadying themselves, grim expressions had appeared on both of the mecha pilots'' faces. They both knew that they were facing a tough opponent.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had encountered a mecha pilot who was able to control their mecha to such a high degree of precision. His opponent was using that long saber as if it were an extension of his own arm, and the extraordinary speed of the saber clearly indicated that it was being enhanced by the mecha pilot''s soul power.


    The more formidable the opponent was, the more Tang Wulin''s battle intent was stimulated. That was why he had only used his soul power to enhance his mecha, rather than turning to his martial soul and bloodline power.


    He wanted to practice his spear techniques, so his objective wasn''t to defeat his opponent as quickly as possible.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha abruptly stepped forward again before thrusting its spear forward. On this occasion, he injected his soul power into the spear, and his body seemed to have already fused as one with the mecha and the spear.


    In the face of Tang Wulin''s spear, which had suddenly become faster than before, the opposing mecha chose to block the attack with its long saber. However, in contrast with Tang Wulin, it was slightly angling the hilt of its saber rather than directly blocking the attack head-on.


    A loud boom rang out as spear intent erupted from the long spear. The opposing mecha was forced back half a step by the impact, but its long saber also swept toward Tang Wulin''s mecha along the shaft of the spear. He was utilizing the length of the weapon to its full extent.


    Light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes as he withdrew his spear, then swept it through the air to knock the long saber aside. Thus, the two of them began to exchange a series of blows at close quarters with their respective weapons.


    Neither of them unleashed any soul techniques, and they were solely using their weapons to engage in a fierce battle.


    There normally wasn''t much technique involved in battles between melee combat mechas, but in this case, their technical prowess made the mecha battle extremely enthralling to behold.


    Tang Wulin quickly immersed himself into the battle. After injecting his soul power into his mecha, he felt as if his body had combined as one with it, and that allowed him to quickly integrate some of his own combat techniques into the battle. He was beginning to control his mecha with a higher and higher level of proficiency, and his opponent''s combat prowess was also very formidable.


    His control over his mecha was close to perfect, and his long saber was constantly flashing through the air, not affording Tang Wulin any opportunities.


    The two of them were evenly matched, and a fierce impasse ensued.


    Tang Wulin was absolutely sure that his opponent was a mecha pilot from the Blood God Legion, and he had to be at or above the Soul King stage. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be posing such stern resistance.


    This had become a contest of technique, and neither of them was willing to use their soul skills to beat their opponent as this was a brilliant training opportunity for them.


    Unbeknownst to Tang Wulin, the Star Battle Net area in the legion''s resting area was in a complete frenzy.


    "Who is that? When did such a powerful melee combat mecha expert appear in our western region? Even the third battalion leader is struggling to take him down! This is really exciting to watch!"


    There was a large screen in the Star Battle Net area that could broadcast any of the battles taking place in the 30 Star Cabins for the waiting soldiers to watch.


    At this moment, the battle being broadcasted was none other than that of Tang Wulin and the long-saber-wielder.


    The battle was becoming fiercer and fiercer, and both sides were quite evenly matched. Such a battle was certainly not something that one could see every day, and it was definitely the most spectacular mecha battle in the western competition region thus far.

 Chapter 988: Spear Intent

    "They''re both waiting for opportunities. Whenever they unleash their soul skills again, the battle is going to be decided. I can''t believe the opponent can keep up with the third battalion commander''s exemplary techniques! Did you see that? They''re able to change directions multiple times during propulsion. That left-right dodge combo was insane! If it were me, I would''ve definitely been struck by the third battalion commander''s attack."


    "Who IS his opponent? He''s definitely not from our legion because there''s no spear-wielder among the mecha battle participants here, and there most certainly isn''t a spear-wielder here that''s on the third battalion commander''s level! The third battalion commander''s melee combat techniques are the best in our entire Iron Will Corps. Even if the first battalion master wants to beat him, he can only do so through brute strength."


    "Who''s calling me a brute over there?" Jiang Wuyue''s displeased voice suddenly rang out.


    The soldier stuck out his tongue and put on a fawning smile. "Greetings, Superior."


    At this moment, Jiang Wuyue was also looking up at the big screen with a curious expression on his face.


    He had been here for a while, and as he''d been thoroughly enthralled by the mecha battle being broadcasted. The melee combat techniques being displayed here were definitely of the highest caliber.


    In the beginning, the spear-wielding mecha had clearly been forced onto the back foot, and its movements also appeared to be rather jerky and unrefined. However, the mecha pilot had fantastic control, and their mecha was always able to unleash some maneuvers that were beyond the capabilities of normal mechas to evade the third battalion commander''s attacks.


    However, as the battle progressed, the spear-wielding melee combat mechas movement were becoming quicker and more proficient, and now, the two were evenly matched.


    The spear was moving quicker and quicker, and it was imbued with an unstoppable will that would never back down. On many occasions, it alleviated the dangerous situation that it was in by fighting fire with fire and attacking the opponent''s vitals in retaliation. How was he improving so quickly? Alternatively, could it be that the spear-wielding mecha had only been pretending to be a novice?


    The soldier from before was right; if he were participating in this battle and he wanted to beat either of the two participants, then he''d have no choice but to resort to brute strength. Jiang Wuyue wasn''t especially outstanding when it came to battle technique, but he had an extremely powerful martial soul.


    "Boom, boom, boom!"


    The saber and spear clashed three times in rapid succession, and the third battalion commander''s mecha was abruptly forced back, indicating that it had come off second-best during that clash.


    A layer of flames also erupted from the mecha immediately thereafter, instantly turning it into a red color. The long saber was slashed through the air again, sending a powerful saber projection hurtling directly toward his opponent.


    "The third battalion commander seems to be on the back foot. Otherwise, there''s no way that he''d take the initiative to attack!" someone immediately yelled.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha didn''t choose to take the attack head-on. Instead, its body swayed, and it displayed an extraordinary movement technique to evade the third battalion commander''s attack.


    "Wait, is that the Tang Sect''s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track?" The Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track was something that was learned by almost all Tang Sect disciples.


    This movement technique was extremely unpredictable, and the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track differed from person to person. It was an extremely effective movement technique to use in battle, but that only applied to people as opposed to mechas.


    The Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track was renowned for its countless variations and unpredictable nature, so it was extremely complex. Only the best mecha pilots could control their mechas to complete a few of the technique''s basic movements. This was because mechas were unable to perform many of the maneuvers that the human body could, such as twisting the body and things like that.


    However, Tang Wulin was controlling his mecha to perform the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to an extremely exemplary degree. At the same time, he''d activated the mecha''s propeller, and the fact that the mecha was using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track while rushing forward at high speed created quite an extraordinary sight to behold.


    The third battalion commander felt as if his opponent''s mecha suddenly blurred before it abruptly appeared in front of his mecha. The opponent''s spear was then thrust directly toward his pilot room, and at this point, he hadn''t even had a chance to withdraw his long saber yet.


    He immediately unleashed another soul skill without any hesitation, and a layer of reddish-golden flames erupted from the mecha''s body before fusing with the protective barrier. At the same time, the mecha swept its long saber horizontally through the air.


    There wasn''t enough time to evade, so his objective was very simple; he was trying to use his soul skill to block Tang Wulin''s attack while unleashing a kamikaze attack with his long saber to take down his opponent in one fell swoop.


    "Ding!"


    The tip of the spear struck the protective barrier, and the third battalion commander was suddenly struck by a rush of dizziness. An overwhelming burst of pressure then instantly spread through his entire body, abruptly cutting off his soul power output.


    The protective barrier had blocked Tang Wulin''s attack, but the spear intent erupting from the spear had pierced directly into the pilot room. As such, his long saber faltered slightly, and the flames burning over its surface also noticeably waned.


    Tang Wulin activated his mecha''s protective barrier to its maximal extent to keep the saber strike at bay while thrusting his spear forward again, aiming it at the exact same spot. At the same time, spear intent erupted from his body, and the spear in his hand instantly took on a golden hue from the injection of his immense bloodline power. During the injection of bloodline power, he had truly become one with his mecha.


    "Boom!" The third battalion commander had only just returned to his senses somewhat before his cognitive functions were completely destroyed by the oncoming spear again. His vision turned completely dark, and he was evicted from the competition venue.


    The Blood God Legion soldiers who were spectating the battle on the big screen saw something else entirely. In their eyes, they were witnessing an extremely spectacular battle, and all of a sudden, the spear-wielding mecha unleashed the Tang Sect''s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, evading the third battalion commander''s attack while launching a powerful retaliative attack.


    However, the third battalion commander also reacted extremely well to the situation. His soul skill combined with the protective barrier to form a perfect defense, and at the same time, he unleashed an effective retaliative attack of his own.


    However, much to their surprise, the third battalion commander''s attack completely fizzled out in the end, and his opponent simply unleashed another straightforward spear thrust to puncture the third battalion commander''s pilot room.


    "He, he didn''t throw the match, did he?" a major couldn''t help but exclaim. In their eyes, there was no other explanation for this.


    Of course, that wasn''t actually the case. As the first battalion commander, Jiang Wuyue had spotted something with his keen eyes. Furthermore, there was an instant where he was struck by the feeling that the third battalion commander''s opponent appeared to be quite familiar.


    The Star Cabin was opened, and the third battalion commander emerged with a dark expression on his face. As soon as he put on his clothes and emerged from the room, he was instantly surrounded by a bunch of people.


    "What happened, Battalion Commander? Why did you suddenly make that mistake in the end?" a soldier asked.


    The third battalion commander scoffed, "What mistake? I didn''t make any mistakes; it was my opponent''s strange abilities that brought about my downfall. I managed to block that spear thrust of his just now, but some sort of power was still transmitted directly into my pilot room, disorienting me for a moment and making me unable to continue to support my soul skills. After that... Well, you all saw what happened. I really don''t understand what that was. It seemed like a type of spiritual intimidation, and it doesn''t seem to have come from a soul skill."


    "Was it spear intent?" Jiang Wuyue asked as he made his way over to the third battalion commander.


    The third battalion commander''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Now that you mention it, it did feel like spear intent. Have you met this guy before?"


    Jiang Wuyue''s eyes narrowed slightly in response. "I feel like I have, but it shouldn''t be him! Even if he possesses spear intent, it shouldn''t be powerful enough to be effective during mecha battles. You must''ve just had some really rotten luck."


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already emerged from his Star Cabin in a content manner. That was another victory under his belt. Furthermore, this battle had greatly inspired him, and his mecha handling had clearly improved significantly. At the very least, he had learned how to better integrate himself with his mecha.


    If he were to continue to improve like this, his mecha handling skills would definitely improve significantly by the end of the competition.


    However, the further he progressed, the more formidable his opponents were going to be. If he wanted to go further, then he''d have to reveal more of his abilities.


    His opponent had displayed exemplary melee combat mecha techniques during their battle, but he''d never truly been in danger of losing. The reason for this was very simple; aside from his mecha piloting skills, he had many other abilities as well. For example, Goldsong and the Tyrant Dragon could directly participate in the battle, and he could also integrate his bloodline power and martial soul for extremely potent offensive output. None of those abilities were things that the average mecha pilot could withstand.

 Chapter 989: Successful Application for Leave

    Tang Wulin exhaled as he did some stretches, then exited his dormitory room to head to the cafeteria.


    When he arrived at the cafeteria, he immediately caught sight of Jiang Wuyue. There were many people crowded around him, and all of them seemed to be engaged in a lively conversation.


    Tang Wulin strode over before patting Jiang Wuyue on the back.


    Jiang Wuyue turned around, and immediately smiled at the sight of him. "Are you here for a meal, brother?"


    All of the other melee combat battalion soldiers around him also smiled at Tang Wulin, and there was a hint of respect within all of their smiles.


    Tang Wulin may have only been a second lieutenant, but the devastating partnership he''d formed with Jiang Wuyue during the recent abyssal tide and his Violent Golden Dragon Domain remained fresh in everyone''s minds, especially to the soldiers of the first melee combat battalion.


    Power was always revered in the military, and the more powerful one was, the more respect they''d receive, especially in a place like the Blood God Legion. Tang Wulin''s efforts on that day had reduced the number of casualties suffered by the first battalion by at least two-thirds, so how could he not be respected by these soldiers?


    "What are you guys talking about? It sounds really interesting," Tang Wulin asked with a smile.


    Jiang Wuyue replied, "We''re talking about a match in the Star Battle Net. The third battalion commander just lost in a mecha battle, and his opponent was someone from our battalion as well. We''re all wondering when such a powerful mecha pilot appeared in our western competition region. In our legion, the third battalion commander definitely ranks among the best melee combat mecha pilots when it comes to technique. However, his opponent was just as technically proficient as him, and he also possessed a superior martial soul. As a result, the third battalion commander was eliminated in just the second round, and he''s so hung up mad about it that he''s not even in the mood to eat."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this, and his lips twitched slightly, but he made the smart decision not to say anything. Instead, he merely smiled, and invited, "Let''s go have some food, and you can tell me about it then."


    After purchasing their food from the windows, Tang Wulin and Jiang Wuyue sat down together.


    Jiang Wuyue turned to him with an intense gaze, and asked, "It was you, wasn''t it?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "If that third battalion commander you''re referring to is a long-saber-wielder, then it was indeed me."


    Jiang Wuyue stared at Tang Wulin in a flabbergasted manner. "It really WAS you? How is that possible? Are you an expert mecha pilot as well? Are you even human anymore at this point?"


    Tang Wulin cleared his throat in an awkward manner. "I simply got lucky during the match. You have to keep this a secret for me!"


    Jiang Wuyue coughed, and mused, "Oh boy, I haven''t had any food from the first window for a while."


    Tang Wulin''s expression stiffened upon hearing this. "You..."


    Jiang Wuyue chuckled, "How does it feel to be on the receiving end? I''m not asking for much; I only want one portion. I''m a growing boy, so I need my nutrition!"


    "Growing boy? You''re already 30!" Despite what he was saying, Tang Wulin still went and bought Jiang Wuyue a portion of food from the first window. At the same time, he vowed to himself that he was never telling the truth again.


    "How did you do it?" Jiang Wuyue asked as he ate.


    Tang Wulin replied, "It was spear intent. I transmitted my spear intent into his mecha. He managed to block my attack, but didn''t have sufficient mental fortitude and spiritual power, so he was affected by my spear intent. On top of that, I also had other defensive measures prepared at the time. If you had been my opponent instead, it would''ve been quite difficult to affect you with my current spear intent."


    Jiang Wuyue nodded upon hearing this, but a wry smile appeared on his face. "I''m really not that good of a mecha pilot. You''ve seen me when I release my martial soul; I get so big that I''m about the same size of a normal mecha, so there are no mechas that are suitable for me."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. This was indeed a problem for his Tyrant Dragon martial soul. However, his body was about as powerful as a mecha anyway.


    Cultivate, compete, repeat... This became a simple daily routine for Tang Wulin. He spent every single day of the next half a month competing and cultivating.


    The Star Battle Net provided a platform to facilitate battles in their purest form, and he didn''t have to worry about excessively harming his opponent, so this was a greatly beneficial experience for him. In particular, a whole new world had been opened up to him when it came to mecha piloting skills.


    The overall power of the western competition region was definitely the most lackluster in the entire federation, but don''t forget that the Blood God Legion was part of this region. Tang Wulin would often face opponents from the Blood God Legion, and they were the most powerful opponents that one could face on the entire continent during the regional competitions.


    Even in the same competition region, the likelihood of being paired up increased when two people were in close proximity with one another.


    After Tang Wulin defeated his eighth mecha opponent, the dialogue of the electronic voice finally changed.


    "The elimination stage of the western competition region has concluded, and you have progressed to the round-robin stage. There will be a total of 64 participants in the round-robin stage. The participants will be split up into eight groups, and the top four of each group will comprise the top 32 that will progress to the finals."


    This was quite a simple and efficient process; it meant that he would have to participate in seven round-robin matches, and if he notched up enough wins, then he''d progress to the finals as one of the top 32 of the western competition region.


    Tang Wulin had secured eight consecutive victories in both the mecha and Soul Master battle segments, and he hadn''t encountered any particularly powerful opponents during this process. The most powerful opponent that he''d encountered had only been a Soul Emperor.


    During these past few days of battle and cultivation, his martial soul and bloodline had completely integrated with one another, and the crystalline core within the soul power vortex was becoming more and more pronounced. He was only one step away from materializing a soul core.


    "There will be three days of rest before the round-robin stage begins."


    Tang Wulin''s heart was immediately filled with excitement upon hearing this. Would he be able to apply for leave during those three days?


    Thus, Tang Wulin immediately paid Blood One a visit.


    "You want a break?" Blood One asked as he glanced at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was looking at him with a hopeful expression as he said, "I''ve been here for so long already, and you won''t give me a promotion. Now that the elimination battles have ended and I''ve progressed in both segments, I''ve completed the assigned mission with extra credit, so can I just get a couple of days off? I want to go and visit the Scorching Basin and give myself some time to relax."


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Blood One said, "Alright, but don''t go for too long."


    "Thank you, Superior!" Tang Wulin was ecstatic. After staying here for close to two months, he would finally be able to see Gu Yuena again! Was there anything more blissful than this?


    He departed from Blood One''s office in an elated manner before immediately dialing Gu Yuena''s number.


    "Gu Yue, wait for me; I can go and visit you now! I''ll set off right away, and it should take me around three hours to get to where you are." He didn''t have to scale all of the snowy mountains again as he could fly using his suit of two-word battle armor.


    "That''s great! I''ll wait for you, Father." Gu Yuena''s voice was trembling slightly from excitement.


    Tang Wulin immediately departed from the legion base before releasing his suit of two-word battle armor. He spread open his wings and rose up into the air, flying as quickly as he could toward the Scorching Basin''s direction.


    The biting chill in the frosty winds cut into his body like knives, but it was immediately nullified by Tang Wulin''s immense blood essence power. With his golden wings completely spread open, he looked like a massive golden bird gliding through the air. One mountain peak after another flashed past beneath him, and he was flying at an extraordinary speed.


    Being able to fly was truly the best! This was conserving him a massive amount of time. Tang Wulin flapped his wings vigorously to accelerate once again. This was one of the main benefits of having a suit of two-word battle armor, and a suit of one-word battle armor was completely incomparable.


    Finally, the Scorching Basin appeared in the distance, and the surrounding air temperature was clearly elevating. Tang Wulin withdrew his wings before landing onto the ground.


    He didn''t plan to just fly over to the Scorching Basin as there were soldiers guarding the basin, and it would be bad if he were mistaken for an intruder.


    He pulled out some normal clothes from his storage ring and changed out of his military uniform before rushing toward the basin like a madman. All he wanted was to get to Gu Yue as quickly as possible.

 Chapter 990: Lets Go Home, Father

    The closer he drew to the Scorching Basin, the more he missed Gu Yuena.


    After rushing into the basin, he rushed toward the small courtyard that he''d rented based on his memory. Just as he was about to reach the courtyard, a streak of green light suddenly flashed toward him.


    A faint smile appeared on his face as he reached out before plucking the oncoming Demonic Greenbird directly out of mid-air.


    The Demonic Greenbird chirped with displeasure, but was completely ignored by Tang Wulin.


    He had been willing to leave Gu Yuena here on her own in large part due to this Demonic Greenbird. This Demonic Greenbird possessed combat prowess that definitely exceeded that of the average Soul Emperor, and he may not even be a match for it without donning his suit of battle armor. With it protecting Gu Yuena, she would naturally be very safe.


    Gu Yuena was standing at the entrance of the courtyard in a set of cloth garments, and she was staring eagerly off into the distance. As soon as she caught sight of Tang Wulin, she rushed out of the courtyard before diving into his arms like a dependant little bird.


    "Father, Father, I missed you so much!" Gu Yuena held Tang Wulin in a tight embrace.


    Tang Wulin was also holding her tightly in his arms, and as he inhaled her familiar scent, all of his weariness and exhaustion instantly vanished.


    Tang Wulin had also missed her greatly. He heaved an internal sigh of relief at the fact that she still hadn''t recovered her memories, but at the same time, he was struck by a pang of guilt.


    He really wished that she could constantly stay by his side like this, but without her memories, she was incomplete. However, she would most likely leave him as soon as she recovered her memories.


    Even back when Tang Wulin had Shrek Academy as a powerful backer, Gu Yuena had still left him without any hesitation. Now that he had lost this powerful backer and was in a very perilous position, she would most likely be worried that she''d bring harm to him.


    He stroked her smooth long hair and basked in her scent as he gradually cast aside all of the thoughts that were cluttering his mind. Regardless of what happened in the future, he was holding her in his arms in the present, and that was all that mattered.


    He planted a gentle kiss on her temple before releasing her and laying his hands on her shoulders.


    Gu Yuena looked up at him, and her complexion was very rosy and healthy, but it was quite clear from the look in her eyes that she''d missed him very much.


    He couldn''t help but plant another kiss on her forehead before asking in a gentle voice. "Have you been well during these past two months?"


    Gu Yuena pouted, and grumbled, "How could I have been well when you haven''t visited me at all?"


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Be a good girl now; I''ll make sure to come back more often. If you ever feel lonely, you can take a walk in the basin. The law and order in this place is pretty good, but when you go out, you have to wear a mask and a hooded item of clothing. You''re too beautiful, and that might attract trouble for you."


    "Alright, I will," Gu Yuena replied with an obedient smile.


    "Father, I want to eat roast meat." Her eyes were filled with yearning.


    "Sure!" Tang Wulin agreed to her request without any hesitation.


    They visited the rotisserie where they''d dined together in the past before ordering some roast meat.


    The owner of the rotisserie still had a clear recollection of Tang Wulin''s enormous appetite, and he smiled at the sight of the exquisitely beautiful Gu Yuena, who had just removed her mask. "It''s been a long time since you two last came here; why are you eating so little today?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "My appetite has decreased."


    He was telling the truth; his appetite had decreased significantly ever since he attained his dragon core.


    The owner left, and Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yuena with a curious expression. "Have you not visited this place ever since we came here last time?"


    Gu Yuena nodded, and replied, "You weren''t with me, so I didn''t come here."


    "Then what have you been eating during these past two months?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yuena replied, "I just bought some random things to eat, and sometimes, I would go out for walks and play with Little Green."


    The Demonic Greenbird landed on her shoulder and nodded emphatically as if to back up her words.


    The roast meat was crispy on the outside, yet succulent and juicy on the inside, making for an extremely delicious combination. Even though Tang Wulin didn''t need to eat that much food nowadays, he still couldn''t help but eat a little extra to satisfy his cravings.


    "Where else do you want to go? I''ll go with you," Tang Wulin asked.


    However, Gu Yuena shook her head before latching onto his hand as she replied, "Let''s go home, Father."


    Go home.


    For some reason, tears welled up in his eyes as soon as he heard those two words, despite how strong he normally was.


    Go home.


    It had been a very long time since he''d heard the word "home". It was already close to 10 years since his parents had disappeared, and they hadn''t even sent him a single message during that time. He had no idea where they were, and aside from his parents, Na''er was his only close relative.


    However, Gu Yue seemed to have fused together with Na''er and adopted her appearance. There were countless questions that he wanted to ask her, but she wouldn''t be able to provide any answers before she recovered her memories. He was really afraid that it would be bad news, and he had already deduced that Gu Yue''s departure most likely had something to do with Na''er.


    Go home. It was such a simple sentiment, yet it instantly melted his heart.


    He wanted so badly to have a home! It didn''t have to be big or lavish; he just wanted to have his family with him. He wanted to be with his father, mother, and little sister, just like back in his childhood days, and now, there was also her.


    He held tightly onto Gu Yuena''s hand as if he were afraid that she''d suddenly disappear, and the two of them returned to their home in the Scorching Basin.


    The small room was spotlessly clean, and Gu Yuena pressed Tang Wulin down onto a chair before taking a seat on his leg. She then wound her arms around his neck with a wide smile on her face while leaning her entire body into his arms.


    Her silver hair gently massaged Tang Wulin''s cheeks, and she was filled with intimacy and dependence toward him.


    She didn''t say anything else, and her breathing gradually became slow and even.


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with gentle passion, and he carefully scooped up her slender body in his arms before laying her down onto the bed and draping the blanket over her body. He then lay down beside her without taking off any of his clothes, and he gently stroked her cheek before closing his eyes. After a while, he also gradually fell asleep.


    After an indeterminate period of time, two drops of tears silently flowed down her cheeks as she slowly opened her eyes.


    Her eyes were no longer as clear and pure as those of a child. Instead, they resembled a pair of deep glacial ponds. Her lips were tightly pursed as she looked at him, and she gently raised a hand before also placing her palm on his cheek.


    She draped the blanket over his body, then snuggled up into his arms. She then placed his hand onto her own cheek again and completely immersed herself in his warm embrace. She wiped away the tears on her face against his body, then closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.


    The next day, Tang Wulin woke up early in the morning and bought Gu Yuena some breakfast. What followed was a joyful day of sightseeing.


    The Scorching Basin was quite a large place, and there were many noteworthy locations that deserved a visit. The two of them visited a few tourist locations and enjoyed some delicious foods.


    He didn''t hold onto his Golden Dragon Spear during this day as he wanted to completely immerse himself in her company.


    Joyful times always passed by very quickly, and night soon arrived. Tang Wulin latched onto Gu Yuena''s hand as they stood in the courtyard and gazed up at the stars in the sky.


    "I have to go, Gu Yue," Tang Wulin said in a gentle voice.


    "Don''t go." Gu Yuena immediately threw her arms around his waist.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I don''t want to leave, either, but I have to. I''ll make sure to come back and visit you soon, alright? I''ll wait for you to fall asleep before I leave."


    Gu Yuena didn''t say anything, but tears had welled up in her eyes.


    Tang Wulin was also extremely reluctant to part with her. This was the happiest and most relaxed day that he''d spent ever since he met Gu Yue. They were like a true couple as they explored the Scorching Basin. If he could live every day like this, then he wouldn''t swap this life even for a godseat.


    "Let''s go back to the room. I''ll leave after you fall asleep." Tang Wulin held Gu Yuena gently in his arms.


    "No, I want to watch you leave." A stubborn look appeared on Gu Yuena''s face.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly as he looked down into her tear-filled eyes. He didn''t want to part with her, either.


    "I''ll stay with you for a while longer, then."


    Time passed by very quickly as they sat in the yard, leaning against one another while looking up at the stars in the sky. After an indeterminate period of time, Gu Yuena still fell asleep with her head resting on Tang Wulin''s shoulder.


    Tang Wulin carefully carried her back into the room before gently tapping the Demonic Greenbird''s head. "Make sure to protect her."


    The Demonic Greenbird blinked its red eyes in response.


    He leaned down and hesitated momentarily before planting a gentle kiss on her lips. He draped the blanket over her body, yet just as he made his way to the door, he couldn''t help but turn around and return to her side before planting another kiss on her lips.


    "I''m going now."

 Chapter 991: I Concede

    He exited the room and took a deep breath to repress his emotions before closing the door. Only then did he rise into the air and depart from the Scorching Basin.


    A pair of tear-filled eyes looked on at his departing figure through the window, and the Demonic Greenbird was standing on her shoulder with its body slightly curled up into a ball.


    Silver light flashed, and she also vanished in a soundless manner.


    By the time Tang Wulin returned to the Blood God Legion, it was already very late into the night. After returning to his dormitory room, his mind was filled with thoughts of her.


    Only after pulling out his Golden Dragon Spear and immersing himself in spear intent was he able to slowly enter a meditative state.


    Separations were always followed by hope and anticipation for the next reunion.


    If he could secure a good result during the competition and earn a promotion to the major rank, he''d be able to visit her on a regular basis. He had to work hard!


    This two-day break had completely reinvigorated him and filled him with motivation.


    No matter how much pressure was weighing down upon his shoulders, all of his exhaustion would be wiped away at the sight of Gu Yuena''s sweet smile. He had to become more powerful so he could be with her someday. After he became powerful enough to stand at the pinnacle of this entire world, he would never have to worry about anyone forcibly separating him from Gu Yuena ever again.


    He cultivated for the entire night, and the competition resumed the next day.


    After logging on to the Star Battle Net, Tang Wulin discovered that the text above his head had changed again. The silver and golden arrows had both changed into triangles, and they were also glowing brighter than before.


    These were most likely symbols that indicated that he''d progressed to the round-robin stage in both Soul Master and mecha battles.


    Something else that he noticed was that as he made his way through the crowd, many of the people around him would naturally turn to observe him after noticing the symbols above his head, and there were very few people like him with two symbols above their heads.


    Could people enter the battle net even if they weren''t competing?


    Tang Wulin also quickly discovered that the number of people in the western competition region sports stadium definitely far exceeded the number of competitors.


    Just like in the elimination stage, the Soul Master and mecha battles were also held on alternating days during the round-robin stage.


    There were only a total of 64 people who had made it to the round-robin stage, and only half of them were going to be eliminated. However, the number of people present was definitely more than 10 times that!


    "Esteemed round-robin stage contestant, during the round-robin stage, spectators will be permitted to enter the competition venue. Anyone can issue a set amount of federal credits to spectate the matches, and you can also spectate other matches. The prices of the ticket will differ depending on the locations of the seats."


    As the electronic voice rang out, a price chart appeared before the flabbergasted Tang Wulin.


    This, this was such a blatant money-grab!


    Tang Wulin was completely rooted to the spot. Only now did he realize that the federation was the biggest money-grabber on the entire continent!


    Money had to be paid just to spectate the matches at this stage, and this would surely continue into the finals as well. The Star Battle Net had only just been released, so it most likely wasn''t extremely profitable at the moment. However, if even normal people could enter the Star Battle Net in the future, then this thing was definitely going to be able to earn the federation an astronomical amount of money! Once the Star Battle Net encompassed the entire federation, then even the Spirit Pagoda''s wealth wouldn''t be able to come close to that of the federation.


    With Tang Wulin''s intelligence, he was quickly able to realize just how effective this battle net was going to be at making money. Its influence would also undoubtedly continue to rise as it became more prevalent. However, the hardware was currently still too expensive, so it would be difficult to make the battle net something that was available on a widespread basis in the near future.


    Just as he was mulling over those thoughts, it was already time for his match.


    Light flashed, and Tang Wulin found himself in the competition venue.


    The competition stage was still the same size as before, but he could see that there were many spectators seated around the venue.


    There really were people buying tickets to spectate these matches! This was just like the competition that had been held in the Star Luo Empire, except the battle net was able to house an unlimited number of spectators.


    Tang Wulin''s opponent also appeared in the distance across from him, and he quickly discovered something that was different from the elimination stage matches; their nicknames were being displayed!


    The federation had chosen to reveal the participants'' nicknames so the spectators could remember them and follow them in their future matches.


    The nickname hovering above Tang Wulin''s head was naturally Little Tang, yet when he caught sight of his opponent''s nickname, he almost threw up a mouthful of blood.


    Between Four and Six!


    Between Four and Six was Jiang Wuyue! They hadn''t encountered one another throughout the entire elimination stage, but who would''ve thought that they''d be split into the same group during the round-robin stage and encounter one another in the first round?


    Jiang Wuyue couldn''t help but cuss out loud after realizing who his opponent was. What was this horrendous luck!


    Only then did the electronic voice begin its countdown, and it had also added more numbers. "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    "I concede!"


    Light flashed, and Between Four and Six disappeared on the spot.


    The electronic voice sounded beside Tang Wulin''s ears again. "Contestant Between Four and Six has conceded. Congratulations, you have secured victory in your first round-robin match."


    Tang Wulin was left feeling completely speechless, and a loud chorus of boos and objections had rung out among the spectators. Tang Wulin naturally couldn''t hear them, but he could imagine how displeased the paying spectators had to be.


    However, in the next instant, all of the spectators in the competition venue quickly vanished as if they''d been teleported away, and immediately thereafter, he also found himself back in the lobby area.


    He immediately caught sight of Jiang Wuyue based on the nickname above his head.


    "Wuyue, why did you concede?" Tang Wulin asked in a puzzled manner. The two of them were familiar enough to refer to one another on a first-name basis now.


    Jiang Wuyue grumbled, "What should I have done instead? Should I have allowed you to hand me another beating? I''m not a masochist!"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Then what about the spectators? Didn''t they have to pay to watch these matches?"


    Jiang Wuyue chuckled, "Don''t you worry about that. The federation has already taken these situations into account, so if someone concedes, all of the spectators will be directly teleported to another match. Everything is simulated in here anyway, so there''s no limit to the capacity of the sports stadiums. I''m really pissed off that I had to face you in the very first round! You have to treat me to lunch."


    Tang Wulin flared up with rage upon hearing this. "Are you making it a habit to rob me?"


    Jiang Wuyue immediately burst into laughter. "That''s what you get for being filthy rich! Alternatively, you can forge something for me free of charge, and I''ll treat you to a meal."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I always thought that you were a straightforward and honest guy, but I can see now that you''re also a shady businessman! Alright, what do you want? I''ll forge it for you."


    Jiang Wuyue wasn''t actually feeling too bad. Even though he had lost his first match, winning four of his seven round-robin matches would virtually guarantee progression to the finals, and he was confident in his ability to do that despite this initial setback.


    In contrast with the easy victory he''d secured in the Soul Master battle segment, Tang Wulin encountered quite a difficult opponent during his first mecha battle round-robin match.


    There were still many spectators present, and one of the mechas on the platform had the nickname "Little Tang" shimmering above its head.


    Tang Wulin chose a spear-wielding melee combat mecha again. Due to the fact that he was training every day, his spear intent had constantly been improving. He was still very far away from being able to truly use Fury of the Masses both in terms of his power level and level of spear mastery, but at the very least, he was progressing in the right direction.


    His opponent was operating a long-range attacking mecha, yet in contrast with the soul-cannon-wielding long-range attacking mechas he''d encountered in the past, this one was wielding a pair of giant boomerangs.

 Chapter 992: Super Powerful Boomerangs

    The two boomerangs were crossed on the mecha''s back and shimmering with a faint silver light.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had encountered a boomerang-wielding mecha. The name hovering above the mecha read "Ling Wuyue". This seemed to be a real name, and it most likely belonged to a woman.


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    Following the electronic voice''s countdown, the mecha battle official commenced.


    Ling Wuyue raised both of her mecha''s hands at the same time to grab onto the boomerangs that were peeking out from behind the mecha''s back. The boomerangs were then hurled through the air at a lightning-fast speed.


    From the trajectories of their flight, it appeared that they weren''t being aimed at Tang Wulin.


    Even though this was a long-range attacking mecha, Ling Wuyue didn''t attempt to open up any distance between Tang Wulin and herself. Instead, her mecha was rushing directly toward his.


    Tang Wulin didn''t dare to underestimate his opponent, and he also spurred on his mecha to rush forward while constantly keeping a close eye on the boomerangs that were flying through the air.


    He didn''t have to take a direct attack from those boomerangs to know that they were definitely far more powerful than normal soul cannons. At the very least, there was no way that the protective barrier of a normal melee combat mecha would be able to keep them at bay.


    The wings of the boomerangs were roughly around four meters in length each, and at the center was an obtuse angle that was over 140 degrees. The two ends and inner sides of each of the two boomerangs were lined with extremely sharp alloy blades, and what was even more terrifying was that after they were hurled through the air, the circuits within were able to trigger high-frequency vibrations. This gave the boomerangs extremely potent cutting power, and that wasn''t even taking into account the weight of the boomerangs, as well as the speed they''d been hurled at. Among the weapons available to be chosen for long-range attacking mechas in this competition, these boomerangs definitely packed the most destructive power.


    Of course, they also had their flaws. While it was indeed true that they were extremely destructive, they were also very difficult to control. It was not easy for someone to use boomerangs as effective weapons.


    The massive boomerangs whistled through the air, and they didn''t immediately fly toward Tang Wulin. The two boomerangs were both rotating at high speeds, and had encompassed a very large offensive range. Meanwhile, the two mechas were drawing closer and closer to one another.


    All of a sudden, Ling Wuyue''s mecha sprang up into the air before curling up into a ball. At the same time, the propeller on its back began to flash.


    If this were a battle between Soul Masters, then the first one to rise up into the air would generally be conceding an advantage unless they had absolute confidence in their own abilities. This was because it was quite difficult to control one''s body in mid-air. However, this didn''t apply to mechas as mechas were able to fly. As such, they could adjust themselves in many ways even while in mid-air.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha drew to a halt and pointed its long spear directly forward. He had chosen to adopt a calm and collected course of action in the face of this opponent, who was, quite frankly, rather confounding.


    One of the massive boomerangs reached him first. It was howling through the air with tremendous force, and it appeared right in front of Tang Wulin almost as soon as Ling Wuyue sprang up into the air.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his mecha''s spear before abruptly thrusting it toward what he believed to be the core of the boomerang based on his own observations, as well as his mecha''s statistical analysis. The core was the point where the two wings were connected, and if that core were to be damaged, the boomerang would immediately be affected.


    "Ding!" A crisp clang rang out, and in the instant that the spear clashed with the boomerang, the latter''s immense rotational force flung Tang Wulin''s spear upward. Meanwhile, the boomerang darted away like a frightened little rabbit, and Tang Wulin hadn''t managed to land a substantial attack on it. The boomerang landed in the right hand of Ling Wuyue''s mecha, and its sharp side was sent crashing down directly toward Tang Wulin''s mecha.


    Meanwhile, the other boomerang just so happened to appear behind Tang Wulin at this moment, thereby sandwiching him between the two attacks.


    Not only that, but a faint layer of energy also appeared over Ling Wuyue''s body, and a third boomerang suddenly erupted out of her mecha''s abdomen. This boomerang was slashing horizontally toward Tang Wulin, and it had five soul rings on it, consisting of two yellows and three purples.


    Her martial soul was a boomerang!


    The third boomerang appeared to be slightly smaller than the boomerangs that the mecha was equipped with, but it was undoubtedly the case that this was the most powerful one. Ling Wuyue hadn''t held back in the slightest and had unleashed three boomerangs from the get-go. This special battle method came as quite a surprise to Tang Wulin, and it also made him slightly flustered.


    His opponent''s attacks had cut off virtually all of his avenues for escape and evasion, and there was no telling which one of her five soul skills she was going to unleash with her third boomerang.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but internally commend his opponent while controlling his mecha to unleash its Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and retreat in a diagonal direction.


    He had chosen that direction of retreat after some careful calculations. The attacks aimed at him from the front were undoubtedly the most threatening ones, and the boomerang behind him was also quite destructive, but he was going to evade the most powerful attacks first.


    He swept his spear behind him and injected his soul power into it to unleash a powerful spear projection. He was using his judgment and intuition rather than his eyesight to lash out at the boomerang in the most direct and violent manner.


    With the enhancements from Tang Wulin''s soul power, the melee combat mecha was powerful enough to swat the boomerang away.


    However, much to his surprise, Ling Wuyue''s three boomerangs suddenly changed their mode of attack once again.


    Her boomerang martial soul drifted upward slightly while she hurled forth the boomerang in her mecha''s hand. The boomerang clashed gently with her martial soul, and both of them were sent flying toward different directions at the same time. The first soul ring on her martial soul then lit up, and its speed was drastically enhanced. It flew around Tang Wulin''s mecha at a speed that was almost untraceable to the naked eye before crashing into the boomerang that was about to clash with his spear. As a result, both of the boomerang changed directions once again.


    Among the three boomerangs, two of them were flying toward the armpit and head regions of Tang Wulin''s mecha at extremely troublesome angles. At this moment, the spear being wielded by Tang Wulin''s mecha had just struck empty air, and even his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track had been thrown off slightly by this sudden turn of events.


    This was not good! Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly, and he had no choice but to release his martial soul.


    A series of Bluesilver Emperor erupted forth from all over the mecha''s body, forming a huge net that encapsulated the entire mecha within.


    This was the first time that he''d been forced so firmly onto the back foot throughout all of his mecha battles thus far. He was forced to use his martial soul to defend his mecha against his opponent''s attacks.


    "Thump, thump!" The two boomerangs that his opponent''s mecha had been equipped with were repelled by his resolute Bluesilver Emperor vines, but the vines had also been damaged in the process. This was a mecha battle, after all, and even though Tang Wulin had used his Bluesilver Overlord Transformation from the get-go, the vines still weren''t powerful enough to remain completely unscathed in the face of these high-frequency vibrating boomerangs.


    Thankfully, he''d managed to repel them nonetheless.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin felt an enormous threat approaching him. That threat came from none other than the third boomerang.


    According to his calculations, the third boomerang should''ve been within the defensive range of his net of Bluesilver Emperor vines, but the third boomerang seemed to have completely vanished. All of the sound and soul power fluctuations emanating from it had instantly disappeared without a trace, and it was no longer anywhere within his field of view.


    Her boomerang had an aura concealment soul skill. Tang Wulin activated his mecha''s propeller without any hesitation, thereby allowing him to instantly accelerate, even though doing so was taking him closer to Ling Wuyue''s mecha.


    The earsplitting noise of metal grating on metal rang out in the next instant, and all types of devices within Tang Wulin''s mecha began to flash in a frenzied manner.


    The mecha''s protective barrier had been damaged, and the propeller on the mecha''s back had also sustained 30% damage. If he had reacted any slower than he did, then even his pilot room would''ve most likely been sliced open.


    What a powerful opponent!


    Tang Wulin''s mecha was swept off its feet by the impact from the boomerang, and it rolled away off to the side.


    Meanwhile, Ling Wuyue, who had sprung up into the air, instantly accelerated as she also activated her propeller, launching her mecha directly toward Tang Wulin. The two boomerangs that had just been repelled had already returned to her mecha''s grasp, and she brought her boomerangs crashing down directly toward Tang Wulins'' mecha as she descended from up above.


    She was too powerful. Everything was within her calculations, and she was dominating the entire battlefield.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had encountered a mecha pilot with such exemplary control. How could there be someone with such extraordinary control over their mecha?


    The more desperate the situation was, the more Tang Wulin''s latent potential was stimulated.


    His mecha tapped its alloy spear against the ground, thereby forcibly supporting its body to turn around. At the same time, he unleashed his Bluesilver Emperor''s second soul skill. A vast expanse of Bluesilver Emperor vines immediately emerged from down below, creating a Bluesilver Emperor net that shielded his mecha within.

 Chapter 993: Unwilling to Lose

    Under the enhancement of his Bluesilver Overlord Transformation, his Bluesilver Impaling Array had become very powerful and possessed superb defensive properties.


    Just as Tang Wulin thought that he''d be able to catch his breath, an indescribable sense of peril suddenly appeared in his mind once again.


    He forcibly activated his mecha''s propeller without any hesitation. Furthermore, he finally refrained from holding back any longer as the dragon core within his body quickly sank downward to fuse with his soul power vortex. All of the Bluesilver Emperor vines around him instantly turned golden in color.


    "Ding ding ding ding ding..." A string of loud clangs rang out in rapid succession, and Tang Wulin was stunned to discover that the Bluesilver Emperor vines in his Bluesilver Impaling Array were quickly being brushed aside, and his opponent''s martial soul boomerang was already right in front of him.


    After being enhanced by his dragon core bloodline power, his Bluesilver Emperor vines managed to remain intact, but they were being forcibly brushed aside by the boomerang. The boomerang''s first, second, and third soul rings were all glowing, indicating that three of its soul skills had been unleashed at once.


    However, with the injection of his Golden Dragon King bloodline power, the Bluesilver Emperor vines were able to greatly nullify the boomerang''s power, but its terrifying destructive force was still making the air around it tremor violently. There was warped light shimmering all around the boomerang, and Tang Wulin thrust his spear directly toward it.


    All of a sudden, the fourth soul ring on the boomerang lit up, and it suddenly turned into a scorching white color from its original silver hue.


    It was as if a white-hot flame had been ignited along the entire surface of the boomerang, and Tang Wulin could only look on in astonishment as his mecha''s spear was instantly cut in half. Even the Bluesilver Emperor vines that were quickly rising up from the ground had been blasted aside, and the rapidly rotating boomerang instantly reached his mecha, hurtling directly toward the pilot room that he was situated in.


    This thing was way too powerful!


    Thankfully, Ling Wuyue didn''t dare to approach him in her mecha due to the presence of the Bluesilver Impaling Array. Otherwise, Tang Wulin really wouldn''t have any spare capacity to deal with her.


    The scorching white boomerang was releasing an unparalleled aura, causing the surrounding air to twist and warp violently. It wasn''t able to sever the Bluesilver Emperor vines that had been infused with Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline power, but it was producing a type of strange shockwaves that were blasting the Bluesilver Emperor vines away. Its speed was only hampered slightly before it reached Tang Wulin.


    At this point, only half of his mecha''s spear remained, and there was no evading this attack. Tang Wulin could already hear the sound of his propeller being damaged, and all of the spectators had erupted into a frenzy. Everyone was of the opinion that Tang Wulin''s mecha was about to be completely destroyed.


    At the same time, they were thoroughly stunned by the boomerang-wielding mecha pilot''s extraordinary control. It was incredible to think anyone could wield boomerangs with such incredible proficiency!


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh that wasn''t audible to anyone else within his mecha''s pilot room.


    "Clang!" The protective armor around Tang Wulin''s melee combat mecha pilot room was abruptly shattered, and golden claws extended out from within.


    Compared to the massive boomerang that was over five meters in length, the golden claw wasn''t anywhere near as huge and intimidating. However, in the instant that the hand gripped onto the rotating boomerang, a resounding clang rang out, and the scorching white boomerang was stopped cold in its tracks!


    It was as if time had suddenly been stopped, and all of the spectators'' expressions immediately stiffened.


    They had thought that this match was already over, but what was happening here? Why had a hand just emerged from within the melee combat mecha to block that attack?


    Using a mecha''s protective barrier or alloy armor to block attacks was very common, but this was the first time that they''d seen a mecha pilot tear through their own mecha with their bare hands to stop an attack!


    Ling Wuyue''s long-range attacking mecha clearly faltered momentarily in mid-air. The light emanating from the boomerang began to glow even brighter, but no matter how much it shimmered and flashed, it was still unable to struggle free from the golden dragon claw, which appeared to be downright tiny in comparison.


    I didn''t want to have to do this, either!


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh. Right at this moment, a gargantuan figure suddenly appeared behind his melee combat mecha.


    "Roar!"


    "My God! What the hell is that?" The spectators had already erupted into a frenzy once again. Meanwhile, Ling Wuyue''s mecha hurled its two massive boomerangs through the air almost without any hesitation.


    However, the gargantuan figure that was over 60 meters didn''t even bother to stop the oncoming boomerangs; it merely allowed them to strike its body. The two boomerangs were then repelled away like a pair of toys.


    The gargantuan figure abruptly accelerated before letting loose a roar of fury in Ling Wuyue''s direction.


    The deafening roar drowned out all of the other sounds in the entire competition venue, and Ling Wuyue''s long-range attacking mecha clearly faltered slightly. In the next instant, the enormous figure''s tail swept through the air and crashed viciously into her mecha.


    "Boom!"


    Ling Wuyue was really unwilling to lose like this. She was one of the top mecha pilots in the entire Blood God Legion, and in terms of mecha handling abilities, she was undoubtedly among the best of the best.


    However, all she could use in this competition was the most ordinary generic mecha. Even its soundproofing capabilities were quite limited, and there was no way that she could display the full extent of her abilities in this thing.


    She could only look on as her mecha was completely destroyed before she was teleported out of the competition venue.


    Less than 10 seconds had passed from the moment that the Tyrant Dragon appeared to the instant that the battle concluded. During these brief few seconds, the same thought appeared in the hearts of all of the spectators present.


    That''s not fair!


    The long-range attacking mecha had clearly held the absolute upper hand, but the opposing mecha pilot had summoned that terrifying giant beast out of nowhere to win the match. This was a mecha battle, yet Little Tang had used power that was completely outside of the realm of mechas!


    Tang Wulin didn''t want to do this, either. He knew that his mecha piloting skills were definitely far inferior to that of his opponent, but in reality, what he had done wasn''t all that unfair. The weapon that had truly posed a threat to him had also been his opponent''s martial soul, rather than the boomerangs that the mecha had been equipped with. There was no way that those generic boomerangs would''ve been able to break through his Bluesilver Emperor vines.


    However, after everything was said and done, he genuinely admired his opponent''s abilities.


    This was the first time that he''d been reduced to such a sorry state in this competition. The opponent that he had faced today was truly very powerful. Not only did she have extraordinary mecha piloting skills, even more importantly, her martial soul was also very powerful. The two high-frequency vibrating boomerangs and her martial soul boomerang were being controlled by her like puppets on a string, and she''d dominated Tang Wulin throughout this entire battle.


    Tang Wulin had already been extremely careful and cautious, but there was no way for him to unleash his half-baked spear techniques at all.


    After identifying his weaknesses and the areas he had to work on, Tang Wulin was feeling very elated, despite the chorus of boos that he was hearing. It was the first time that he''d realized that one could hone their mecha piloting skills to such an extraordinary level. He had constantly been practicing his spear techniques and striving toward master Fury of the Masses, but looking back at his cultivation now, he realized that there hadn''t been enough diversity. He couldn''t only aim to constantly forge ahead with his spear techniques; prior to forging ahead, he had to build up a strong foundation first.


    After organizing his thoughts, Tang Wulin departed from the competition venue and quickly logged out of the Star Battle Net.


    After emerging from his Star Cabin, he picked up his Golden Dragon Spear and rushed directly toward the legion''s training area. He had suddenly realized that he had to become more powerful in certain areas.


    Ling Wuyue put on her military uniform, concealing her exquisite figure, and her expression was extremely sour.


    It wasn''t a big deal to lose a match in the round-robin stage, but losing in this manner was a very bitter pill for her to swallow.

 Chapter 994: Unwilling to Accept Defeat!

    That huge monster had been rather familiar to her, and it possessed terrifying strength. If she had been piloting her own mecha, then she was confident that she would''ve been able to oppose that thing. However, not only did those generic mechas possess extremely lackluster offensive and defensive abilities, their speed was also far inferior to that of her own mecha. As a result, she had no chance to evade at all, and was completely destroyed by her opponent.


    This was blatant cheating!


    Also, her opponent had caught her boomerang with his bare hand; what were his hands made of? The offensive prowess of her boomerang definitely ranked among the best of all tool martial souls of the same caliber.


    At this point, she had already deduced that she hadn''t lost in a mecha battle; she had lost in a clash of martial souls, and her opponent was most likely a powerful Soul Master with twin martial souls.


    However, it didn''t take her long before she realized why she had found that massive monster to be so familiar.


    "Jiang Wuyue!" she spat through gritted teeth before quickly making her way outside.


    The epaulets on her shoulders each had two bars and two stars, indicating that she was a lieutenant colonel.


    "Jiang Wuyue, where are you right now?" Ling Wuyue completely ignored the military officials extending greetings toward her in the Star Battle Net area and immediately dialed Jiang Wuyue''s number.


    "What do you want?" The tone of Jiang Wuyue''s voice clearly indicated that he didn''t want to speak with her.


    Ling Wuyue took a deep breath to repress her fury, and asked again, "I have something I need to ask you. Where are you?"


    "Oh, so I have to meet you just because you want to ask me something?" Jiang Wuyue scoffed.


    "Do you wanna die?" Ling Wuyue finally flared up with rage as she threatened, "I''ll give you one minute to come and meet me. Otherwise, I''m going to challenge you to one-on-one mecha battles every single day in front of your entire battalion!"


    "Tch, I don''t even have to use a mecha to beat you!" Jiang Wuyue said in a nonchalant manner.


    "Is that right? I''m going to your first battalion right now to see if you can back up that big mouth of yours!"Ling Wuyue was just about to cut off the call when Jiang Wuyue hurriedly said in a resigned voice, "Oi, that''s enough! What''s gotten into you today? Where are you? I''ll go and find you."


    Ling Wuyue was the last person that he wanted to meet, but he had no choice. Not only was she extremely powerful, she had the nickname of Demonic Madwoman in the legion, and no one ever knew what she was going to do next.


    She had actually already reached the senior colonel rank, but she had been forcibly demoted precisely because her temper had gotten the better of her, and she''d ended up doing something reckless.


    Jiang Wuyue was also reluctant to see her because there was some history between them. To put it more accurately, there was a feud between the two.


    Ling Wuyue wasn''t ugly, but she wasn''t particularly beautiful, either. She was a very overbearing and headstrong woman who was quite tall and slender with a skeletal structure that was slightly larger than that of the average woman. She was of a similar age as Jiang Wuyue, and they''d known each other ever since they were small children.


    They fought all the way through their childhoods, and back when Ling Wuyue was 25 years of age, she suddenly sought out Jiang Wuyue and told him that she wanted to enter a relationship with him. The reason that she cited was that only a strong man like him was worthy of her. [*Cough* Xu Mi''er *Cough*]


    However, just because Jiang Wuyue was strong didn''t mean that he necessarily liked strong women! He immediately turned her down as he preferred beautiful maidens like Long Yuxue.


    Ling Wuyue flew into a thunderous rage at the time and picked a fight with Jiang Wuyue there and then. Jiang Wuyue''s cultivation rank had already exceeded hers at the time, and his Tyrant Dragon martial soul was astonishingly strong. In a one-on-one battle, Ling Wuyue had no chance against him and was subdued in the end.


    However, she was far too stubborn and competitive to let things slide after that. She returned with her mecha to challenge Jiang Wuyue again, and on that occasion, he was no match for her.


    There wasn''t much of a cultivation rank disparity between the two, and Jiang Wuyue was quite a lackluster mecha pilot, while Ling Wuyue was one of the best mecha pilots in the entire legion. Jiang Wuyue was only a one-word battle armor master at the time, yet Ling Wuyue was already a black mecha pilot. As such, even with the enhancements from his mecha and battle armor, he was still given a comprehensive beating by Ling Wuyue.


    Right after that battle, she told him that if he didn''t agree to enter a relationship with her, she''d challenge him to a battle every time they met.


    Ling Wuyue wasn''t from the Blood Division. Her forte lay in long-range combat, and she had climbed up the ranks faster than Jiang Wuyue; she was already a vice-corps commander. Jiang Wuyue''s military rank outstripped hers, but she actually had more jurisdictive power in the legion than he did.


    However, he couldn''t just run to the legion center and tell his higher-ups that he was being bullied by a woman! As such, he had no choice but to work even harder in his cultivation. In doing so, he was finally able to break through to the Soul Emperor stage and also attained his suit of two-word battle armor. Only then was he able to avoid being abused by Ling Wuyue every time they met.


    After losing to Jiang Wuyue on many occasions, Ling Wuyue also vowed to work harder in her cultivation, and she was undoubtedly going to challenge him again once her powers outstripped his.


    Jiang Wuyue was quite resigned to the entire situation, and there wasn''t any good way for him to defuse it. As such, he was immediately struck by a sense of rage after identifying that it was Ling Wuyue who had called him.


    Of course, this hadn''t entirely been a bad thing. At the very least, he was more conscientious in his cultivation now, and he had Ling Wuyue to thank for that.


    Ling Wuyue disclosed her location to Jiang Wuyue, and it didn''t take him long to appear before her.


    Jiang Wuyue was rather amused by the enraged look on her face, and he chuckled, "Oh? What''s going on with you today, you crazy hag?"


    There was no one else in the legion who dared to talk to Ling Wuyue like this. She was very respectful to all of the officials who ranked above her, and none of the people who ranked below her were a match for her in battle, with Jiang Wuyue being the only exception.


    Ling Wuyue grumbled, "Cut the chit-chat! Is there anyone in our legion with the same martial soul as you?"


    Jiang Wuyue faltered slightly before replying, "No, I''m the only one!"


    Ling Wuyue countered, "That''s impossible! I came up against a guy today, and his mecha piloting skills were far inferior to mine, but he summoned a massive monster that looks exactly like your martial soul. I can tell that it was just a projection or perhaps even a soul spirit, but it was extremely powerful and destroyed my mecha with a single attack."


    "Hah?" Jiang Wuyue was astonished to hear this, and he couldn''t help but ask, "Are you sure this guy is from our western competition region? You didn''t battle the wrong guy, did you?"


    Ling Wuyue flared up with rage. "Of course I''m sure! All of those guys from Bright City are either competing in the central competition region or the northwestern competition region; none of them are competing in our region. Are you trying to tell me that there''s someone who can compete against us in the Scorching Basin? His mecha piloting skills were pretty shoddy, but that thing that he summoned looks exactly the same as your martial soul, except it''s a lot more massive. It was around 60 meters tall, and it was extremely powerful."


    Jiang Wuyue''s brows were tightly furrowed. "But that''s impossible! You know this; I only attained my Tyrant Dragon due to a bloodline mutation when I was conceived. I''m the only one in my family''s history with this martial soul, and Tyrant Dragons are unyielding soul spirits that definitely wouldn''t fuse with any Soul Master. Besides, they''ve been extinct for many years already! How could a Tyrant Dragon soul spirit have appeared in the competition? Don''t tell me you haven''t learned such a basic history lesson before."


    Ling Wuyue said in a cold voice, "I only believe in what I see. Do you really not know who I''m talking about?"


    Jiang Wuyue replied, "You haven''t given me enough information. Give me some more details about your opponent."


    He had always been very interested in Tyrant Dragons, so he had become very intrigued upon hearing what Ling Wuyue had said, and he decided to help her in her search.


    Thus, Ling Wuyue gave him a recount of her battle against Tang Wulin.


    A peculiar expression immediately appeared on Jiang Wuyue''s face upon hearing about how a golden clawed hand had emerged from the mecha to catch her boomerang. At the same time, a thought began to occur to him.


    "Is that enough information?" Ling Wuyue asked.


    Jiang Wuyue nodded, and said, "There''s a freak that I know, and if anyone could possibly match that description, and it can only be him."


    "Is he from our legion?" Ling Wuyue asked.


    Jiang Wuyue nodded in response. "Yes, he''s a new soldier at our legion, and if you ask me, he''s more of a freakish monster than a human. I wouldn''t be surprised at all if you''d lost to him; even I can''t beat him. I didn''t know that he could summon a Tyrant Dragon, though."


    A hint of curiosity appeared on Ling Wuyue''s face. "Who are you talking about? A new soldier? Why don''t I know about him?"


    Jiang Wuyue explained, "That''s only normal; he''s only been here for less than two months. Hold on, I''ll give him a call and ask him if he''s the one."


    Ling Wuyue spat through gritted teeth, "If it really is him, then I''m going to teach him a lesson! He took advantage of my low-quality mecha and used his martial soul to beat me! What a coward!"


    Jiang Wuyue scoffed, "The abilities of Soul Masters have always been a part of mecha battles, so what you''re saying is completely unfair. You make it sound like you''ve never used your martial soul in a mecha battle before. You''re just envious because he''s got a better martial soul than yours!"


    "Ptui! Shut up and call him!" Ling Wuyue grumbled with her hands on her hips.

 Chapter 995: Rematch

    Jiang Wuyue made the call, but he was only greeted by the sound of a busy signal.


    "He''s not picking up. He probably turned off his Blood God Bracelet so he could focus on training." Jiang Wuyue gave a resigned shrug.


    "I don''t care! If you can''t track him down, then I''ll fight you today!" Ling Wuyue threatened.


    "Why are you so unreasonable?" Jiang Wuyue was also getting angry.


    "When have I ever been reasonable with you? What are you going to do about it? Fight me if you don''t like the look of me!" Ling Wuyue was also at the height of her rage.


    "Fine! I''ll call him a few more times, so have some patience. I''m telling you, you better not take your anger on me! I''m already helping you and this has nothing to do with me, so don''t try to get me involved! Also, don''t think that you''ll win just because you have access to your own mecha now. That guy''s a two-word battle armor master as well, and he''s even more powerful than I am. Even if he fights you without a mecha, you have no chance."


    "Hmph, just track him down, and I''ll worry about the rest." Ling Wuyue''s fury abated slightly. Jiang Wuyue was right; this didn''t have anything to do with him, so it wouldn''t be right for her to vent her fury on him.


    Jiang Wuyue called Tang Wulin a few more times, all to no avail.


    Tang Wulin had indeed turned off his Blood God Bracelet. He was currently cultivating, and he didn''t want to be distracted by anyone. At this moment, he was in the gravity training chamber, thrusting his Golden Dragon Spear forward over and over again.


    There were a few basic spear movements that he''d learned from the Tang Sect, and the thrust was the most basic one.


    Thrust, sweep, whip, and jab; those were the most basic spear techniques.


    Following his recently concluded battle against Ling Wuyue, Tang Wulin had discovered that his main flaw was his lack of mastery in these basics. If he wanted to truly master Fury of the Masses, then he had to perfect his basics. Only with a stable foundation could he better understand the true meaning behind Fury of the Masses.


    As such, he was toiling away in the gravity training chamber at five times the normal gravitational force, practicing the most basic spear movements over and over again.


    On average, he completed 30 thrusts per minute, and each and every thrust was unleashed with full concentration. He was completely immersing himself into learning about his spear, and he was unleashing one thrust after another without using any soul power or bloodline power; he was solely familiarizing himself with the feeling of thrusting his Golden Dragon Spear forward.


    He didn''t know how long he would have to train for in order to truly find the feeling that he was searching for, but he firmly believed that as long as he was constantly training, his foundation would definitely become more stable.


    He was only practicing the thrust without any other movements thrown into the mix, and he was like a tireless automaton. With his energy reserves, it wasn''t difficult to keep up this type of training. His dragon core was naturally circulating his blood essence power to constantly replenish his energy, and even under five times the normal gravitational force, he was only expending slightly more energy than normal This was already the maximum setting in the gravity training chamber.


    After an indeterminate period of time, he finally stopped after his arms began to throb with a dull pain, and at this point, he had attained some enlightenment through his spear practice.


    He exhaled as he wiped the sweat from his face before nodding in a pleased manner. He had found some of the feeling that he was searching for, and it was time to take a rest before continuing.


    He still had upcoming battles in the competition to participate in, so he naturally couldn''t constantly cultivate in here.


    As soon as he emerged from the training chamber and turned on his Blood God Bracelet, it immediately began to vibrate.


    "What''s up, Wuyue?" Tang Wulin asked as he accepted the call.


    "What''s up? You''ve screwed me over big time! Where are you right now?" Jiang Wuyue sounded as if he were on the brink of death.


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this, and he replied, "What happened to you? I''m at the gravity training chamber; where are you?"


    "Wait for me at the entrance; we''ll come to meet you right away."


    After the call was cut off, Tang Wulin was still completely in the dark. What was going on? Could this be related to the match that Jiang Wuyue had conceded the day before? That didn''t make any sense! Jiang Wuyue had conceded the match of his own accord, so how had Tang Wulin screwed him over?


    He wiped away the sweat on his forehead, and it didn''t take long before two people came rushing over toward him.


    The one who was leading from the front was a female military official. She was quite tall and slender, and her shoulders were quite wide. She wore a stern look on her face, but her eyes were very bright and piercing, and she had a head of cropped hair that stood up like steel pins.


    Jiang Wuyue was trailing along behind her with a depressed and soulless expression in his eyes.


    "You''re Tang Wulin? Are you Little Tang?" Ling Wuyue asked as she rushed over to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this before turning to Jiang Wuyue for an explanation.


    A wry smile appeared on Jiang Wuyue''s face, and he asked, "You faced a boomerang-wielder in your mecha battle, right?"


    "How did you know?" Tang Wulin blurted out in response.


    Jiang Wuyue pointed at Ling Wuyue. "She''s the one you fought. Since when did you possess a Tyrant Dragon martial soul? And why don''t I know about this?"


    Ling Wuyue was staring intently at Tang Wulin, yet there was a lot more curiosity than rage in her eyes.


    No matter how she looked at him, Tang Wulin appeared to only be a young man in his early twenties. Furthermore, he was extremely handsome. His eyes were even prettier than hers, and if he were to put on a wig, his face would definitely be able to pass as one that belonged to an exquisite beauty.


    He was quite tall and well-built, and his back was ramrod straight. Ling Wuyue was quite a picky individual, but she couldn''t identify any flaws in Tang Wulin''s appearance.


    "That''s right, I''m Little Tang. Are you the boomerang wielder, Ling Wuyue?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Ling Wuyue harrumphed coldly, "That''s right!"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"


    Ling Wuyue demanded, "Fight me again! I''m unwilling to accept my defeat against you."


    "Sure!" Tang Wulin agreed without any hesitation.


    Ling Wuyue was quite surprised to hear this. She had thought that Tang Wulin would refuse, but much to her surprise, he seemed just as eager for a rematch as she was.


    Jiang Wuyue said, "Alright, looks like my work here is done, crazy hag; you two can go and play now."


    "I''ll kill you if you call me crazy hag again!" Ling Wuyue threatened in a menacing voice.


    Jiang Wuyue rolled his eyes in response. "I hope I never see you again. If you don''t come to find me, you won''t have to hear me calling you crazy hag. I''m going now." He then immediately fled the scene.


    Tang Wulin had been practicing his spear techniques for three hours, and Ling Wuyue had constantly been nagging him during that time, forcing him to dial Tang Wulin''s number over and over again. Jiang Wuyue had no choice but to comply, and he''d been thoroughly tormented during the past three hours.


    Tang Wulin glanced at the fleeing Jiang Wuyue before asking, "Where do you want to do this?"


    He had already grown accustomed to his identity as a Blood God Battalion fringe member, so he wasn''t referring to her as superior. During the three hours that Tang Wulin had been practicing his spear techniques, Ling Wuyue had forced Jiang Wuyue to tell her everything he knew about Tang Wulin.


    "We''ll go to the mecha combat area. Come with me."


    The Blood God Legion had all types of facilities, so they naturally had a mecha combat area, and it was a very advanced facility as well.


    The mecha combat area was far larger than the combat room in which Tang Wulin had sparred with Jiang Wuyue, and the ceiling was also a lot higher. The area was around 200 meters in diameter, and over 70 meters tall. It was situated underground, which was why Tang Wulin had never seen such a massive building above the ground.


    Accolades were required to access the mecha combat area, and Ling Wuyue issued the required accolades before entering the area with Tang Wulin.


    "I heard from Jiang Wuyue that you possess powerful defensive prowess; I won''t be holding back in our battle," Ling Wuyue said as she appraised Tang Wulin with an intense gaze.


    "Sure." Tang Wulin''s reply was still just as concise and straightforward. He was very much looking forward to seeing the full extent of Ling Wuyue''s powers. With her mecha piloting skills, she would undoubtedly be extremely powerful in her own mecha.


    Of course, Tang Wulin wasn''t planning to also battle in a mecha against her; that would simply be inviting a thorough beating. He was going to face her in his most powerful form to hone his own spear techniques.


    The two of them stood across from one another around 100 meters apart, and Ling Wuyue took a deep breath. Her intense gaze quickly turned cold and calm. Just because she had a short temper didn''t mean that she was also reckless in battle. Instead, she had always been able to keep her cool during battles. She was renowned as one of the best mecha pilots in the legion, and that reputation had been earned purely through skill and merit.


    One had to realize that one of the top mecha pilots of the Blood God Legion was completely different from one of the top mecha pilots elsewhere.


    She raised and tossed something up into the air, following which a black ball of light appeared before her. The black ball of light quickly expanded, transforming into a black mecha that was around eight meters tall.


    Even though Tang Wulin had already predicted that this would be the case, he still couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath now that it was confirmed that Ling Wuyue was going to be using a black mecha.


    A black mecha wasn''t all that fearsome in itself, but it was an entirely different story if the mecha were to be used by a superb mecha pilot.


    Regardless of whether it was speed, offensive and defensive prowess, or weapons and equipment, there was simply no comparison between a black mecha and a generic mecha. It would be like trying to compare a 10,000-year-old soul ring with a 100,000-year-old one!


    In the face of such a powerful opponent, a serious look immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He was completely focused, and a faint layer of golden light had risen up around his body.

 Chapter 996: The Powerful Ling Wuyue

    He was taking this battle extremely seriously, and specks of golden light lit up all over his body as his spectacular Dragon Moon battle armor quickly appeared to encapsulate his entire body. After the golden visor rose up to obscure Tang Wulin''s face, the aura emanating from his body instantly drew a slight change in Ling Wuyue''s expression.


    Her gaze reflexively focused on his right arm, and she naturally caught sight of his massive golden dragon claw.


    In his Dragon Moon battle armor, Tang Wulin was close to three meters tall. A pair of massive dragon wings had spread open on his back, and his entire body was radiating dazzling golden light. His Golden Dragon Spear extended to its original size, and even the air around him was twisting and warping slightly.


    Only now did Ling Wuyue begin to believe what Jiang Wuyue had told her. Jiang Wuyue had disclosed to her without any euphemisms that he was inferior to Tang Wulin in power, and that Tang Wulin''s martial soul was also more powerful than his.


    A streak of black light descended from the black mecha''s chest before enshrouding Ling Wuyue''s entire body. In the next instant, she had already been drawn into the black mecha. The black mecha began to emit a faint light, and its aura also abruptly began to swell at a dramatic rate following Ling Wuyue''s entry.


    Tang Wulin was carefully appraising Ling Wuyue''s black mecha. He wanted to construct a black mecha for himself as well, so he''d been paying particularly close attention to mechas lately.


    Ling Wuyue''s black mecha was around eight meters tall. It was very sleek and appeared to be quite powerful. It wasn''t carrying cumbersome long-range offensive weapons, and there was a pair of foldable wings on its back. The wings were currently in their folded state, so Tang Wulin couldn''t see exactly what they looked like. However, what he did notice was that her black mecha had more than twice the number of propellers of normal black mechas, and there were even many of them on the front of the mecha.


    There were two massive boomerangs on the mecha''s back, and these ones were slightly smaller than the boomerangs that had been equipped to the generic mecha in the competition. The two boomerangs were inky-black in color, and no light was reflecting off them at all, indicating that a matte finish had been applied to them.


    This black mecha seemed to have sacrificed all other offensive options and only retained this pair of boomerangs. That was a clear indication of just how confident Ling Wuyue was in those boomerangs of hers.


    As the main weapons of a black mecha, Tang Wulin firmly believed that those two boomerangs definitely weren''t any less powerful than her martial soul. He was going to face a true triple threat.


    "Are you ready?" Ling Wuyue''s voice rang out from the mecha''s speakers.


    "Please enlighten me!" Tang Wulin yelled as he raised his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Ling Wuyue''s black mecha sprang into action. It squatted down in an extremely nimble manner, and in the next instant, it had already sprung up into the air. As opposed to hurling the two boomerangs on the mecha''s back from the get-go, Ling Wuyue''s mecha raised its right hand and pulled out one of the boomerangs before accelerating directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Was she planning to engage him in close-quarters combat?


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly, and he flapped his wings as he rushed toward her.


    A distance of 100 meters was next to nothing to them, and the two of them quickly approached one another. Tang Wulin thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward. It was a simple and completely straightforward thrust that wasn''t enhanced by any of his soul skills.


    He had been practicing this exact same movement for over three hours before this, and with the enhancements from his battle armor, soul power, and bloodline power, the Golden Dragon Spear immediately began to radiate brilliant golden light. A spear projection that was around three feet in length was released of its own accord, and the spear was imbued with powerful unyielding will. The air was torn apart by the golden light, and it occurred to him that a spear thrust should be indomitable and constantly advancing with absolute courage and determination!


    A hint of enlightenment immediately appeared in his heart, and he was ecstatic. Enlightenment that appeared during battles would undoubtedly be immensely beneficial to him, and it was what he hoped for the most during his cultivation.


    An explosive boom rang out in mid-air, and golden light flashing before instantly reaching the mecha.


    The black mecha suddenly paused in mid-air while sweeping its boomerang around in an arc. At the same time, it shifted horizontally sideways, which was a maneuver that shouldn''t have appeared under normal circumstances. In other words, Ling Wuyue''s black mecha had abruptly changed directions at a 90-degree angle, thereby allowing it to completely evade Tang Wulin''s formidable spear thrust. At the same time, the boomerang in its hand was slashing directly toward Tang Wulin''s side.


    There was no time for Tang Wulin to withdraw his Golden Dragon Spear as the black mecha was simply too fast, so much so that Tang Wulin felt as if he were facing an agility attack system Soul Master.


    However, Tang Wulin was no longer operating a mecha in this battle. Instead, he was battling in his suit of battle armor, and this was his most powerful form.


    As opposed to adopting any evasive measures, Tang Wulin reached out toward the boomerang with his left golden dragon claw.


    "Bam!" The boomerang was repelled, but Tang Wulin''s left hand also shuddered from the impact of the clash.


    The boomerang was vibrating at an extremely high frequency, and shockwaves that were completely untraceable to the naked eye instantly spread through his entire body from his left hand. However, brilliant golden light then flashed from his Dragon Moon battle armor, and the force of the shockwaves was instantly nullified.


    After having its boomerang repelled by Tang Wulin''s left golden dragon claw, Ling Wuyue''s black mecha instantly twisted around, and the boomerang on its back suddenly sprang into action. It descended directly from her shoulder and crashed straight down toward Tang Wulin''s shoulder.


    She had evaded Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, drawn his left hand away using her first boomerang, then borrowed the force of the clash to twist around before unleashing a lethal attack with the boomerang on her back. This process sounded like quite a slow and lengthy one, but in reality, all of these maneuvers had been completed within the span of a single breath.


    The technique being displayed was simply extraordinary!


    Tang Wulin had donned his Dragon Moon battle armor, but he still definitely didn''t want to be struck by her attack. He gently flapped his dragon wings, and his body instantly flew back in retreat. Without a mecha to weigh him down, he was now a lot faster.


    However, just as he was retreating, the third boomerang appeared almost at the exact same moment, and it instantly accelerated, reaching his waist in a flash. On this occasion, the third soul skill of the boomerang had been activated right away, and it struck Tang Wulin''s waist in a completely soundless wraith-like manner.


    It was simply far too fast!


    Not only did this boomerang possess astonishing offensive power, it also had extraordinary speed and self-concealment abilities. Tang Wulin had already been extremely cautious, but the boomerang had still reached him, and it was already beginning to grate against his Dragon Moon battle armor.


    Tang Wulin withdrew the rear tip of his Golden Dragon Spear, bringing it down in front of him, and at the same time, his eyes abruptly lit up as a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from his body. The vines formed a massive net to repel the oncoming mecha boomerang that had just been hurled at him as well.


    "Clang!"


    The martial soul boomerang still struck his Dragon Moon battle armor in the end, and only after that was it struck by the rear tip of Tang Wulin''s spear. The boomerang sank downward before abruptly being withdrawn, tearing through his Bluesilver Emperor net and returning to the black mecha.


    Tang Wulin was completely astonished by the fact that he had already been struck after just the first series of exchanges. He was wearing a suit of two-word battle armor, so he was already extremely fast, yet he was still unable to evade his opponent''s attack, and that was sufficient testament to just how brilliant her control was.


    Meanwhile, Ling Wuyue was also quite shocked, and her shock was stemming from Tang Wulin''s extraordinary defensive prowess.


    Even though her attack had struck him, she could see that her boomerang had only left a white mark on the surface of the battle armor, and it hadn''t managed to break through the battle armor at all. Furthermore, even as the boomerang was flying back to her, the white mark had already disappeared, and it was as if he''d never even been struck in the first place.


    Did this level of defensive prowess really belong to a suit of two-word battle armor? She was one of the most proficient attackers among five-ring Soul Kings, yet she felt as if her boomerang martial soul had struck an impenetrable fortress.


    Both of them were mulling over their own respective thoughts, and right at this moment, the black mecha sprang into action. Powerful energy fluctuations abruptly erupted from it, and Tang Wulin could clearly see that its two inky-black boomerangs had lit up with a bright purple color. As they were sent flying through the air, extremely fearsome energy fluctuations instantly erupted from them.

 Chapter 997: Blood Soul Fusion Skill

    These were true black mecha weapons, and they were leaving arcs of lightning flashing in their wake. They were drawing upon the power of lightning, and all of Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor vines that came into contact with them were instantly paralyzed and fell limp to the ground. Even though the vines weren''t being destroyed, the two boomerangs were still hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin with unstoppable force.


    "Nice!"


    Under normal circumstances, a black mecha''s combat prowess should be comparable to that of a seven-ring Soul Sage, and that was also the case for Tang Wulin in his suit of two-word battle armor.


    However, such simple blanket rules couldn''t be applied to the likes of Ling Wuyue and Tang Wulin as both of them possessed far greater combat prowess than other beings of the same caliber.


    The Golden Dragon Spear shuddered slightly before being thrust forward once again, and on this occasion, several dozens of spear projections erupted forth, encompassing both of the oncoming boomerangs. At the same time, Tang Wulin unleashed his Golden Dragon Body.


    His golden dragon scales fused as one with his Dragon Moon battle armor, making the suit of battle armor appear even thicker and heavier than before. At the same time, his aura instantly erupted toward the direction that his spear projections had been aimed.


    "Clang, clang!" Both of the boomerangs were struck and instantly flung into the air. However, much to his surprise, the boomerangs that had just been sent flying by him were rotating at an even faster speed than before. At the same time, they flew past him on either side, and it appeared that the crisis had been averted, but Tang Wulin could immediately sense an even greater threat approaching him from behind.


    At the same time, the black mecha rushed directly toward him from the front, wielding the martial soul boomerang in its hand.


    In contrast with before, the boomerang had turned into a scorching white color again, and its aura had been elevated significantly as it radiated dazzling white light.


    Was this battle armor enhancement? Had she released her suit of battle armor as well?


    Tang Wulin could sense that there had been a qualitative increase in the power of the boomerang, and only battle armor could provide such a significant enhancement. However, he could sense that Ling Wuyue most likely only possessed a suit of one-word battle armor. Otherwise, the enhancements would''ve only been even more fearsome.


    The black mecha was over eight meters tall, yet it was extremely fast and agile. It closed down the distance between itself and Tang Wulin in a flash, and a streak of scintillating light came crashing down directly toward his head.


    She was using her boomerang like a scimitar, and she had found a chink in the defenses of the Golden Dragon Spear in a flash before exploiting it to her advantage.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear swung around, and it tremored slightly as a vast expanse of spear projections appeared before him.


    The spear projections came into contact with the black mecha''s protective barrier, and a piercing screeching sound rang out as a gash was torn into the protective barrier. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had finally also withstood the attack from the boomerang.


    However, right at this moment, the two mecha boomerangs that had just flown past him both arrived at the same time. They were targeting Tang Wulin''s neck and lower back, both of which were vital regions that he had no choice but to defend. The timing and coordination of her attacks were simply perfect.


    It appeared that the three boomerangs had reached him at the same time, but they had actually arrived in a slightly staggered sequential order, and that was making them even more troublesome for Tang Wulin to deal with.


    "Clang!" The first one to make contact was the martial soul boomerang.


    The powers of Tang Wulin and the black mecha clashed through their respective weapons, and right at this moment, Ling Wuyue suddenly discovered that the surface of Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon battle armor had taken on a mirror-like appearance.


    The two mecha boomerangs that were flashing with lightning had already arrived, yet Tang Wulin''s wings abruptly rose up, striking the two boomerangs like a pair of powerful guillotines.


    "Boom, boom!" Two thunderous explosions erupted as both of the boomerangs were sent flying. Meanwhile, Ling Wuyue could only look on in astonishment as light began to flash at a rapid rate from Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon battle armor. Immediately thereafter, a lightning dragon erupted from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear before striking the martial soul boomerang in a violent manner.


    "Boom!" Ling Wuyue''s black mecha was sent flying backward like a cannonball. Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward, and a loud dragon''s roar immediately rang out. All of the Bluesilver Emperor vines that he''d released sprang up almost in complete synchronicity, and a dazzling golden color encompassed all of the Bluesilver Emperor vines, making them resemble giant dragons that were radiating golden light. A golden dragon erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear, and with the injections of energy from the surrounding Bluesilver Emperor vines, it abruptly expanded, instantly reaching a massive size that exceeded the stature of the black mecha before reaching Ling Wuyue in a flash.


    What kind of soul skill was this?


    An astonished look appeared on Ling Wuyue''s face as the fifth soul ring on her martial soul boomerang instantly lit up. The boomerang was then hurled through the air and crashed into the golden dragon before self-detonating into a ball of scorching white light.


    However, as soon as the golden dragon clashed with the explosion, it merely brandished one of its dragon claws before slamming it into the ball of light, and the latter was immediately shattered. In the next instant, the golden dragon arrived right in front of the black mecha, and Ling Wuyue felt as if her breathing had completely stopped.


    It was as if her black mecha had been plunged into an extremely viscous swamp, and the terrifying pressure in the surrounding area was quickly crushing the protective barrier of her black mecha. She injected her soul power into her mecha with all her might, but that was only delaying its inevitable destruction.


    Was he this powerful? No wonder Jiang Wuyue was willing to readily admit that he was no match for Tang Wulin. Throughout his entire battle, this was the only real attack that he''d unleashed, yet just this attack alone was already far too powerful for her to withstand.


    Ling Wuyue had been unwilling to accept her defeat in the aftermath of their mecha battle, yet in this instant, she was truly made aware of just how massive the gulf between her and her opponent was. Even an eight-ring Soul Douluo may not be able to escape completely unscathed in the face of such a devastating attack.


    Tang Wulin looked at the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand, then turned his gaze toward his golden Bluesilver Emperor vines, and a faint smile appeared on his face.


    This was the first time that he''d used a fusion skill between his martial soul and bloodline.


    This could be considered to be a self-martial soul fusion skill, but it wasn''t purely a martial soul fusion skill. As such, Tang Wulin coined the term blood soul fusion skill for it as it was a fusion between his bloodline and martial soul.


    This technique was going to be known as Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    The golden dragon circled around in the air, and the black mecha''s protective barrier was finally completely destroyed, laying it bare like a vulnerable little lamb in the face of the giant golden dragon. The golden dragon finally stopped before turning around and revolving around Tang Wulin''s body for a few seconds before gradually vanishing into nothingness.


    Tang Wulin was also internally quite stunned as this Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens had expended around 10% of his bloodline power. Due to the fact that there was a mismatch between his soul power and bloodline power, as much as 30% of the former had been expended.


    In other words, even if he were to give everything he had, he would only be able to use this blood soul fusion skill for a maximum of three times.


    Of course, Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens was most definitely not his most powerful blood soul fusion skill. The most extraordinary element of his blood soul fusion skills lay in their diversity and variations. All of his martial soul and bloodline skills could be fused in any combination, and that included his self-invented soul skills as well.


    As such, this was only the beginning for him. He would only become truly powerful after he elevated both his bloodline power and soul power to the Titled Douluo level.


    The black mecha landed on the ground with a resounding boom, and Tang Wulin also spread his wings before slowly descending onto the ground. He withdrew his dragon wings and held his Golden Dragon Spear by his side while giving his opponent a nod of acknowledgment.


    Light flashed, and Ling Wuyue emerged out of her mecha with a very pale complexion. Her black mecha hadn''t really been harmed at all, but she knew that if Tang Wulin had intended to do so, he could''ve completely demolished her black mecha.


    Tang Wulin had done that as this was only a sparring match, after all, but his massive golden dragon had left a very deep impression on her.


    She now understood that Tang Wulin could''ve beaten her during the mecha battle in the Star Battle Net even without releasing his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit. Instead, he could''ve easily crushed her with that terrifying soul skill of his. However, he had refrained from doing so, and that was most likely a choice that had been in an effort to conceal his powers in preparation for his upcoming matches.


    As such, she had lost fair and square.


    "You win." Ling Wuyue pursed her lips tightly and immediately turned to leave.


    "Senior!" Tang Wulin withdrew his Dragon Moon battle armor before quickly catching up to her.


    Ling Wuyue stopped in her tracks, and she didn''t even turn around as she said, "What do you want? If you want to insult me, then go right ahead; that''s a right that you''re entitled to as the victor."


    Tang Wulin scratched his head. "Why would I do that? We''re comrades, not enemies! I was just wondering if you could teach me some mecha piloting skills."


    Ling Wuyue faltered slightly, and she finally turned around to appraise Tang Wulin with a puzzled look in her eyes. "You want to learn mecha piloting skills from me?"


    Tang Wulin nodded with a wry smile, and said, "I''m sure that you can tell that in terms of pure skills and technique, I''m completely no match for you, and I was only able to defeat you through brute strength. My mecha piloting skills are lagging significantly behind all of my other abilities, so I would like to learn mecha piloting skills from you." He extended a deep bow toward Ling Wuyue as he spoke.


    He saw no shame in doing this as he was serious about learning from her.

 Chapter 998: Mecha Instructor

    In the past, he had learned some mecha piloting skills at the Tang Sect, but the mecha instructors of the Tang Sect were nowhere near Ling Wuyue''s level.


    Ling Wuyue''s boomerang martial soul was quite powerful, but it was obviously no match for his Golden Dragon King bloodline. This was an essential disparity in their powers, so she certainly hadn''t lost to him in a technical aspect.


    One had to realize that even with the speed enhancements Tang Wulin had received from his Dragon Moon battle armor, he had still been unable to evade Ling Wuyue''s first attack! Battle armor masters normally far exceeded mechas in speed, so it was quite apparent just how extraordinary her mecha piloting skills were. As such, Tang Wulin genuinely wanted to learn from her.


    Ling Wuyue harrumphed coldly, "Why should I agree to teach you?"


    A smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He had brought up the subject, so he was naturally confident in his ability to convince her to accept his request. "I can help you forge the metals you need for your suit of two-word battle armor, and I''m talking about spirit alloys. I''m a Saint Blacksmith."


    It had to be said that his identity as a Saint Blacksmith was extremely useful in many circumstances. It was not just something that he could flex with, but instead, a title that was definitely useful in a practical sense.


    Sure enough, Ling Wuyue''s eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. However, her expression then quickly turned cold again. "You''re a Saint Blacksmith? Who''re you trying to fool? Why didn''t you tell me that you''re a Divine Blacksmith?"


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "But I really am a Saint Blacksmith! You can go and ask Jiang Wuyue if you don''t believe me; I''ve forged some things for him in the past. Why would I lie to you about this? How about this? I can forge some metals for you, and you can teach me after that."


    Ling Wuyue''s expression changed slightly. "Are you really capable of forging spirit alloys?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I forged the metals for my own suit of battle armor; you can take a look at it for yourself. The most important thing about a suit of two-word battle armor is that it has to fuse into the battle armor master''s body. For a Soul Master, a suit of two-word battle armor is far more useful than a suit of one-word battle armor master. At the same time, a strong foundation has to be established with one''s suit of two-word battle armor. It has to integrate with the Soul Master''s martial soul so it can be a suit of battle armor that''s unique to them.


    "Your cultivation rank has to be very close to 60 already, right? It''s about time you began to prepare the metals required for your two-word battle armor so you can begin the construction process as soon as you become a Soul Emperor. After you attain a suit of two-word battle armor, it won''t be easy for me to defeat you, and your boomerangs will become even more powerful."


    Ling Wuyue nodded in response. During her battle against Tang Wulin, she had lost almost purely due to the disparity in the calibers of their martial souls. It was quite apparent to her that Tang Wulin possessed far greater aptitude as a Soul Master than she did, but nevertheless, the prospect of becoming a two-word battle armor master was still extremely tempting to her. She was already 28 years old, and if she couldn''t become a two-word battle armor master before turning 30, then it would be very difficult for her to progress further in the future.


    Her situation was rather similar to that of Mu Ye in that she''d dedicated most of her time and attention to mechas, and only now, when she was close to 30, did she realize that she had to put in more work on her martial soul. As such, Tang Wulin''s words really struck a chord with her.


    "Alright, if you can really forge the metals required for my suit of two-word battle armor, then you have yourself a deal; I''ll teach you mecha piloting skills."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he asked, "Can I also ask you some questions about mecha-making in the future?"


    "Sure," Ling Wuyue agreed without any hesitation. If Tang Wulin could forge suitable metals for her suit of two-word battle armor, then this deal would be skewed heavily in her favor.


    The two of them shook hands to seal the deal.


    Tang Wulin had always been one to do things quite quickly, and he led Ling Wuyue straight to his forging workshop.


    "I can supply the first piece of metal required for your battle armor for free, but after that, you''ll have to prepare the remaining materials on your own. Let''s establish this agreement first."


    Thus, Tang Wulin asked Ling Wuyue about what kind of battle armor she wanted before immediately beginning the forging process.


    With his current skill level as a Saint Blacksmith, forging spirit alloys was naturally quite simple for him, and the spirit alloy that he forged for Ling Wuyue had a harmony rate of over 85%.


    It had only taken him less than an hour to forge a silver pauldron-shaped piece of spirit alloy for Ling Wuyue.


    Ling Wuyue looked at the piece of metal before her, which was emanating life force fluctuations, then glanced at the smiling Tang Wulin before heaving a long sigh. "I finally understand why Jiang Wuyue says you''re a freak; you really ARE a freak! I''m going now. I''ll teach you for two hours every afternoon when I''m off duty."


    Tang Wulin was quite fond of Ling Wuyue''s personality. It was slightly aggressive, but it was very simple and concise, making it very easy to interact with her. Her personality exemplified that of a stereotypical soldier.


    Tang Wulin was naturally quite elated that he''d found a mecha instructor for himself. With Ling Wuyue''s guidance, he''d definitely be able to progress very quickly both in his black mecha forging, as well as in his mecha piloting skills.


    At the same time, he''d experimented with his blood soul fusion skill today, and as expected, it was incredibly powerful. He still had to continue to cultivate and refine this ability.


    The fusion was only in its infancy stages at the moment, so there was a lot of room for improvement. Compared to martial soul fusion skills, the power of his blood soul fusion skills were still slightly lacking, but he firmly believed that his blood soul fusion skills would become just as powerful as martial soul fusion skills once he increased the harmony rate.


    After his agreement with Ling Wuyue was established, Tang Wulin''s daily life became even busier than before. He cultivated in the morning, then forged for Ling Wuyue in the afternoon and also took mecha lessons from her. At the same time, he had to prepare for his own black mecha construction. At night, he had to participate in the competition, and after that, he would continue to cultivate.


    As his reputation as a Saint Blacksmith began to spread, some of the high-ranking officials of the legion began to come to him with forging jobs. There weren''t many such jobs, but each and every one of them earned him a large sum of accolades. These accolades were all exchanged for uncommon materials to prepare for his black mecha construction. As for his suit of three-word battle armor, he wasn''t in a hurry to forge metals for it.


    He could already complete soul refinement now, but he was still a beginner with rather unpolished skills. Tang Wulin''s plan was to only forge the metals required for his suit of three-word battle armor master after he became an eighth-rank blacksmith. This was something that was going to require time and accumulation.


    Everything had to be done in order, and his current top priorities were to manifest a soul core, then progress to rank 60 in soul power so he could attain his sixth soul ring and fuse with the 100,000-year-old Beautiful Silk Tulip. Everything else would have to wait until after that. As such, he was only preparing for his black mecha, rather than rushing to commence the construction process. In any case, he didn''t have enough time on his hands to be constructing it anyway. As for his suit of three-word battle armor, that was even further down his current list of priorities.


    One had to be a seven-ring Soul Sage in order to truly bring out the full power of a suit of three-word battle armor. Even if Tang Wulin were to attain a soul core before that, he still wouldn''t possess a martial soul true body, so the three-word battle armor would have to wait.


    During the next few round-robin matches, the Soul Master battles were quite smooth, and Tang Wulin didn''t encounter any overly powerful opponents. However, all of his mecha battle opponents were very difficult to deal with, and he had to use his martial soul advantage to defeat all of them.


    "This is really strange!" Tang Wulin suddenly said in a low voice to Jiang Wuyue as they were having lunch together.


    "What do you mean? What''s strange?" Jiang Wuyue asked in a perplexed manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Haven''t you noticed that we still haven''t encountered any particularly powerful opponents even in the round-robin stage? Could it be that there are no seven-ring and eight-ring seniors from the legions participating in the competition?"


    Jiang Wuyue rolled his eyes in response. "So that''s what''s on your mind! Do you WANT to get abused? Isn''t this a good thing?"


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. "How is this a good thing? We participated in this tournament as a means to improve ourselves; only with more powerful opponents will we be able to improve!"


    Jiang Wuyue scoffed, "I see what this is; you''re just a masochist! Let me tell you why this is the case; the legion made a decision to prohibit all soldiers at or above the seven-ring level to participate in the competition, so of course you haven''t encountered any powerful opponents. Only a very small handful of the highest-ranking military officials are aware of the existence of our Blood God Legion. The western region of the continent is so bleak and barren; if a bunch of powerful Soul Masters suddenly appear to participate in the finals of the competition, our cover will be blown! As for the rewards on offer, those aren''t enough to tempt our legion into risking exposure."

 Chapter 999: A Naturally-occuring Opportunity

    Tang Wulin was immediately enlightened upon hearing this. He had thought that he would encounter powerful opponents during the round-robin matches, and he''d even mentally prepared himself to use his blood soul fusion skills during these matches. However, he hadn''t encountered the formidable foes that he''d expected to face. With his suit of two-word battle armor, martial soul, bloodline, insane strength, and soul power rank, which was close to 60, he was naturally able to cruise through this regional competition.


    Jiang Wuyue cautioned, "But don''t celebrate too early; once you progress to the finals, there will truly be a difficult road ahead. There are eight major competition regions, and 32 participants from each region progress to the finals, which makes a total of 256 participants. Those are all the elite Soul Masters that the major competition regions have to offer, so you better make sure you don''t get eliminated in the first round!"


    Tang Wulin scoffed, "You should be worrying about yourself! The first three rounds of the finals are all elimination rounds that''ll narrow all of the participants down to the top 32. The top 32 will then be split up into four groups for round-robin matches, further narrowing it down to the top 16. After that, there will be more elimination rounds until the final champion emerges. The first three elimination rounds are definitely going to be the most difficult to endure. At that point, a major element of luck is involved, and it''s very easy to be eliminated if one were to come up against a powerful opponent.


    "Also, I heard that they''re conducting a test of stamina by holding the first three rounds on three consecutive days! Only after the Soul Master battles have concluded will the mecha battles take place, so there''s a very good chance that someone will be eliminated in the finals during the first three rounds. Only those who make it into the top 32 will begin to receive prizes. I have to admit that the federation is the biggest greedy money-grabber I''ve ever seen!"


    Jiang Wuyue chuckled, "What''s there to be worried about? As long as I don''t have to come up against you, I have a chance against anyone else."


    All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and he turned to Tang Wulin with a hesitant look. "I won''t have such horrible luck that I''ll encounter you in the first round of the finals, will I?"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes in response. "This is why it''s important for kids to stay in school; haven''t you seen the competition rules? The rules of the finals stipulate that the system will avoid pairing up participants from the same competition region during the first three elimination rounds. There''s only a chance for us to face one another during the round-robin stage."


    Jiang Wuyue immediately heaved a massive sigh of relief. "Is that true? That''s fantastic news for me! Haha! I have nothing to worry about, then. Let''s eat."


    Ever since he began dining with Tang Wulin, he had also become more picky with his food and developed the habit of only eating food from the first window every day.


    Not only was the food served by the first window extremely delicious, all of the dishes were also very nutritious. Jiang Wuyue discovered that eating these foods was also beneficial to his cultivation. Compared to progressing in his military rank, it was more reliable to make himself more powerful.


    Tang Wulin was naturally also having food from the first window.


    The main dish that was being served today was a type of ice silkworm that was originally only found in the northernmost region of the continent, but the snowy mountains in the Skyend Mountain Ranges were tall enough, so the ice silkworms could also be bred here.


    Ice silkworms had to be over half a foot in length to be considered as a true delicacy, and the ones they''d been served were each over one foot in length with a golden line running down each of their backs. The meat was soft and succulent, and the silkworms'' bodies possessed very pure natural energies with extremely few impurities. They were very beneficial both to the consumer''s body and their soul power, but they were also very expensive.


    The prices of the food being served at the first window was set according to the ingredients used, and this meal alone cost 3,000 accolades per portion, so it could definitely be considered as a luxury meal in the legion.


    Tang Wulin was enjoying the ice silkworm before him while pondering the basic spear techniques he''d practiced the night before.


    Half a month had already passed since Ling Wuyue agreed to teach him mecha piloting skills, only the final mecha battle of the round-robin was yet to be held. The final round was going to be held tonight, and he''d already progressed to the finals in both battle disciplines. In particular, in the Soul Master battle component, he had secured a scintillating result of seven out of seven victories.


    During the past half a month, Tang Wulin was constantly being tortured. He didn''t know whether Ling Wuyue was intentionally targeting him, but her mecha training could only be described as hellish and diabolical. Furthermore, his soul power cultivation was also a source of much frustration for him.


    He always felt like his soul power vortex was about to manifest a soul core, but he simply couldn''t take that final step.


    Tang Wulin knew that he couldn''t rush his cultivation as doing so could lead to deviation, but how could he not be frustrated?


    If he could take this step, then his powers would be elevated to a whole new level, and he''d been waiting for this day for far too long.


    After swallowing his final mouthful of ice silkworm, its succulent flesh formed a burst of cool and refreshing energy that flowed into his body. All of a sudden, the soul power vortex in Tang Wulin''s dantian stopped rotating for a moment, and his body stiffened before an ecstatic look appeared on his face.


    He abruptly turned and patted Jiang Wuyue on the shoulder as he said, "I have something that I need to do, so I gotta go. Tell Ling Wuyue that I won''t be attending mecha practice with her today."


    After that, he rushed outside before heading toward his dormitory room as fast as the wind.


    It was finally coming!


    The stationary soul power vortex in his dantian was beginning to transform, and if Tang Wulin could inspect his internal bodily condition right now, he''d discover that there were arcs of lightning revolving and shimmering around the vortex.


    He forced himself to ignore the searing pain in his dantian and rushed back into his dormitory room, then closed the door before sitting directly onto the ground.


    He took a deep breath and only then did he begin to regulate his own emotions.


    He had to calm down!


    Tang Wulin was doing his best to gradually soothe his own emotional fluctuations.


    The pain in his dantian was becoming more and more intense, making him feel as if there were a sharp knife digging around in there. Tang Wulin didn''t use his blood essence power to interfere with the process. Instead, he sat on the floor in a completely still manner while silently experiencing the changes taking place within his soul power vortex.


    Less than 1% of all Soul Masters managed to manifest soul cores. Only after becoming a seven-ring Soul Sage could one truly be considered as a high-grade Soul Master, and a soul core was the symbol of a Soul Sage. Only with a soul core could one work toward developing a martial soul true body.


    As such, it was not an exaggeration to say that Tang Wulin was the only Soul Master in history to manifest a soul core below rank 60 in his soul power.


    Wu Zhangkong had once told Tang Wulin that the vast majority of Soul Masters would only have one chance at manifesting a soul core in their lives. During this process, their soul power fluctuations would abide by the paramount will of heaven and earth, thereby providing the best opportunity for Soul Masters to attain enlightenment. No matter how painful the process was, he had to fully immerse himself in it as the opportunity wouldn''t arise again if he were to miss it.


    Tang Wulin definitely had an extreme advantage when it came to pain tolerance as he''d constantly been growing amid the agony of breaking his Golden Dragon King seals. As such, even though the pain in his dantian was only intensifying further and further, he was still able to remain completely calm and collected while experiencing the changes taking place in his soul power.


    The original soul power vortex transformed into a series of strips of soul power light that were constantly revolving while collapsing in on themselves. It was as if a black hole had appeared within his dantian, and it was sucking in everything around it as it collapsed.


    The dragon core within his chest was radiating soft golden light, fortifying Tang Wulin''s bones, meridians, and muscles.


    After reaching a certain level, all Soul Masters had to refine their bodies. This was because a sufficiently powerful body was required to withstand the immense energy fluctuations that would arise during soul power breakthroughs at a high level.


    This was naturally not an issue for Tang Wulin as his physical constitution was far more powerful than the minimum threshold required to manifest a soul core.


    His soul power vortex collapsed, then expanded over and over again, and Tang Wulin was afflicted with an enormous amount of pain each time the process was repeated. He could also clearly sense that the natural energies in the air were surging toward him in a frenzy during this process, and they brought along extremely violent soul power fluctuations with each and every surge.


    Not far away, Blood One opened his eyes as he awakened from meditation, and a peculiar look appeared on his face.


    He gently waved a hand through the air, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he rose to his feet before exiting the room.

 Chapter 1000: Soul Core Manifestation

    Just as he emerged from his room, Blood Three was also walking out of another room.


    "Have you sensed it as well, Blood One? Is it him?" Blood Three''s eyes were filled with surprise.


    Blood One nodded with a smile on his face. "Indeed it is! Shrek''s Seven Monsters have never been disappointments, and they''ll only continue to create miracles in the future. He was chosen during such tumultuous times, and I believe he was given approval by the will of the heavens to revive Shrek Academy in its most dire time of need. Hence, I won''t be surprised to see any miracle being created by him."


    Blood Three heaved a long sigh as an elated look appeared on her face. "I can finally see a ray of hope now. I want to help him."


    Blood One smiled, and said, "Let''s go together."


    The two of them stepped onto the elevator and emerged out of the building together. Blood Three glanced at Blood One, and the latter was already rising straight up into the air, arriving directly above the Blood God Legion base in virtually the blink of an eye.


    With his lofty status in the Blood God Legion, he naturally wasn''t going to be attacked by the legion''s defense systems. He waved a hand through the air, and the violent bursts of energy flowing through the air instantly became a lot milder and gentler.


    Blood Three also arrived beside him, and only when standing beside Blood One could she sense that the surrounding flows of energy were being severely twisted and warped under his control, and every time the energy was warped, a vast amount of natural energies would be drawn to the scene.


    These natural energies were constantly being compressed and purified under Blood One''s control, and a layer of white light began to appear around his body, making him appear as if he were a godly being as he hovered in mid-air.


    All of the passersby in the Blood God Legion base down below all stopped in their tracks before looking up with astonished looks in their eyes.


    Not many of them had actually met Blood One before, but the feat that he was accomplishing now was a sufficient testament to his powers.


    Blood Three turned to Blood One with a concerned expression. "You''re gathering this much? Will he be able to handle it?"


    Blood One smiled, and replied, "Don''t worry, his capacity is far greater than you can imagine. Have you forgotten the motto of your Shrek Academy? They only accept monsters, not ordinary people, and he''s a monster among monsters, so this amount of natural energies is nothing to him. Even without my assistance, he''d still absorb just as much energy, but it''ll take longer for him to do so."


    Blood One extended his left hand down below as he spoke, and the white light around him immediately descended from the heavens toward Tang Wulin''s dormitory room.


    "Blood One, aren''t you afraid that this will backfire?" Blood One and Blood Three weren''t the only ones who had sensed that Tang Wulin was about to manifest a soul core; Zhang Huanyun had also risen up into the air and arrived beside the two of them with a befuddled look on his face.


    Blood One smiled, and said, "Just wait and see. I told you that it wouldn''t be a good arrangement for him to follow you because you don''t know anything about him. Miracles in the eyes of other people are completely mundane when it comes to him. Just you watch, he''s definitely going to reach far greater heights than we can imagine in the future. At the very least, he''ll surpass all of the masters of the Sea God''s Pavilion in the past 1,000 years."


    The white light that he was releasing continued to be injected downward as he spoke, and Tang Wulin immediately felt its effects as he cultivated in his dormitory room.


    As soon as his body began to absorb the natural energies in the air of its own accord, he entered a very profound state. His dantian was still in a lot of pain, but that sense of pain seemed to be gradually distancing itself from him. His consciousness began to expand outward, and he felt as if there were countless energy particles in the air cheering him on. He could even discern the different attributes of these energy particles, and the water and ice elements were the richest among them.


    There was also a large number of darkness elements, and the wind elements were quite fierce and violent.


    Compared to the other elements, there were slightly fewer light elements, but the light elements that did exist were extremely pure. This was most likely due to the fact that there weren''t many impurities in the air. The thinner the air in a place, the more inhospitable it was, but the benefit of this was that everything was purer in such settings.


    Enormous amounts of natural energies of all types of different elements were constantly fusing into his body, and during this process, Tang Wulin''s entire body was shuddering gently. With each and every shudder, the air around him would warp more violently.


    Right at this moment, the natural energies in the air suddenly became more powerful, and he felt as if he could see every single element with brilliant clarity. It was as if his entire body had been immersed in a sea of elements.


    Rich elements of all different types of attributes flowed into his body before fusing into his dantian, making the soul power light ribbons even more vibrant in color. They began to revolve at an even faster speed, and an ovular crystal gradually took shape within his dantian.


    The crystalline structure was emanating bright green light, and at the very center of the crystal, there seemed to be a blade of Bluesilver Grass growing in a strong and healthy manner.


    What a wonderful feeling this was! In that instant, all of his pain suddenly vanished, and Tang Wulin felt as if a moan of satisfaction had rung out from within his dantian. Rich soul power cleansed his body, and it naturally fused with his entire body under the guidance of his bloodline power. The soul power then surged into his dantian, converging toward the soul core that was about to take shape.


    Tang Wulin''s heart became more and more tranquil, and he was entirely immersed in the world of elements. He meditated in silence and experienced everything that was happening within and around his body. Every shift in energy was constantly elevating his life force to higher levels, and it was as if he were about to enter another world.


    The formation of a soul core was a sign that one''s life force had been elevated to a whole new level. From that moment forth, he was no longer an ordinary human; he had truly become a superhuman being.


    To a normal human, the formation of a soul core could extend their lifespan by over a century, and it was an extremely important milestone in a Soul Master''s cultivation journey. Every single Soul Master had to take this step before they could be considered as a truly powerful being.


    Tang Wulin''s consciousness was slowly becoming completely immersed in this process, and he could no longer sense the passage of time or anything else in the outside world.


    In the air above his dormitory room.


    The smile on Blood One''s face was widening further and further. He didn''t even need to do anything now, and the natural energies that he''d guided to this place were still constantly accelerating as they surged toward that direction. The bridge had been established, and Tang Wulin had now completely taken the initiative to actively absorb this energy.


    Zhang Huanyun was also experiencing this process, and the surprise in his eyes also began to become more and more pronounced. At the same time, a forlorn look appeared on his face. How could he have complied with Blood One so easily? He should''ve been more insistent!


    Now that this kid owed Blood One such a huge favor, it would be very difficult to try and take him from Blood One.


    Blood One had proclaimed that what he was doing was only reducing the amount of time that Tang Wulin had to cultivate for, but both of them were well aware of the difference between sensing a rich sea of elements compared to only being able to sense sparse elemental power! Blood One was helping Tang Wulin establish a strong foundation. The quicker he could manifest his soul core, the more spare capacity he''d have to facilitate the absorption of natural energies, which would further enhance his body.


    Time slowly passed by, and day gradually transitioned into night. An entire day had passed.


    In the night sky, the white light around Blood One''s body was becoming brighter and brighter, making it appear as if there were two moons in the sky.


    With his powers, he could maintain this state for a month without feeling tired. The longer Tang Wulin''s energy absorption lasted, the more pronounced the elation in his eyes became.


    "He really is a little monster!" Zhang Huanyun couldn''t help but praise. Blood Three had been quite concerned initially, but her eyes were already filled with excitement now.


    The fact that Tang Wulin was absorbing such an enormous amount of natural energies for such a long time indicated that he had an extremely stable foundation for his soul core, so he certainly wasn''t forcing himself to make this breakthrough. The longer this process lasted, the more powerful he''d become when he finally awakened, and the greater the extent to which he could sense soul power. At the same time, the process of manifesting a soul core was also a major turning point for one''s martial soul, so his martial soul was going to be undergoing a qualitative transformation once again. The fact that natural energies were being injected into his body for such a long time also indicated that his martial soul required more time to evolve, which, in turn, suggested that he possessed a very powerful martial soul.


    The night sky gradually darkened even further, and Blood One turned to Zhang Huanyun as he said, "You can go back if you want. From the looks of things, it appears that this''ll stretch on until tomorrow morning."


    Zhang Huanyun shook his head in response. "I''ve been living in loneliness and solitude for so long; now that there''s finally something interesting happening, I have to at least see it through to the very end. Let me see just how special this kid is going to be once he forms his soul core."


    Blood One chuckled, "Suit yourself, then. Shrek Academy really is a place that produces only monsters!"


    Zhang Huanyun harrumphed, "You''re just indirectly praising yourself! Isn''t he a disciple of your Tang Sect as well? How about you hand him over to me? I''ll recommend him to the Battle God Hall and make him the Battle God Disciple."


    The Battle God Disciple was the future successor of the master of the Battle God Hall, as well as the most prodigious talent the Battle God Hall had to offer.


    Blood One smirked, and said, "It''s too bad that you came too late!"

 Chapter 1001: Sudden Eruption of Life Force Energy

    Zhang Huanyun harrumphed coldly before falling silent. He was naturally aware that there was no way that Blood One would be willing to hand Tang Wulin over to him.


    The nights in the Skyend Mountain Ranges were extremely cold, and the lowest temperature often dipped below -50¡ãC. [Once again, -58¡ãF for mah American homies] Everything was covered under a blanket of snow, yet if someone could use a special device to observe the energy in the air, they''d discover that a vortex had appeared in the air above the Blood God Legion base, one that was constantly absorbing the natural energies in the surrounding air.


    This vortex was like a giant funnel that led straight into the Blood God Battalion dormitory building, and it had been in existence for close to a day and a night already.


    Finally, a hint of light appeared on the horizon, and the black sky gradually turned into a deep blue color, heralding the arrival of a new dawn.


    All of a sudden, Blood One''s expression changed slightly as he could clearly sense that Tang Wulin''s soul core was about to be completely manifested, as evidenced by the fact that the rate at which he was absorbing natural energies was beginning to sharply decline.


    Within the dormitory room.


    A layer of delicate lustrous light had appeared over his skin, and there was also faint light circulating beneath his skin.


    He was already extremely handsome to begin with, but he had become even more dashing and stunning.


    Within his dantian, all of the ribbons of light had already disappeared, and they''d been replaced by an ovular soul core that was shimmering with blue light. The soul core was around the size of a pigeon egg, and it was extremely dense. There seemed to be a blade of bluish-golden Bluesilver Grass sealed within the soul core, and what was even more remarkable was that there seemed to be something revolving around the blade of Bluesilver Grass like a shooting star.


    His soul core was finally complete, and his soul power had naturally also reached rank 60. He was now a Soul Emperor!


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he''d already prepared a soul ring for himself. He injected his will into the seed of nature, and at this point, the hibernating Beautiful Silk Tulip had already been awake for quite a while.


    However, just as Tang Wulin was preparing to fuse with his third soul spirit and attain his sixth soul ring, his glabella suddenly lit up.


    In the beginning, it was just a faint speck of green light, but as soon as the speck of green light appeared, five soul rings immediately emerged beneath him.


    Four of the soul rings were behaving in a very normal manner, but the fifth soul ring, the greenish-golden one, was glowing far brighter than it usually did.


    The soul core that Tang Wulin had just attained suddenly pulsed ever so slightly, and he could sense that something seemed to have trembled deep within his soul core.


    His glabella also began to pulse along with his soul core, and the faint energy fluctuations emanating from his body suddenly became more intense.


    Tang Wulin felt a burst of unprecedented life force energy instantly encompass his entire body, nurturing every part of his being during the process.


    Rich life force energy began to erupt from his body in a frenzy, and for the first time, he truly sensed the existence of the seed of nature that the Beautiful Silk Tulip had told him about.


    This was a seed that was entirely green in color, and it was like the most beautiful piece of green jade, shimmering with dazzling light within his glabella. A tiny little seedling was beginning to sprout from the green seed, and the seedling was of an extremely exuberant golden color.


    The fluctuations emanating from Tang Wulin''s soul core had appeared because of this seed, and he was struck by a vague feeling that something extra had appeared within his own body. The rich life force energy continued to nurture his entire body, and even the dragon core within his chest was benefiting greatly as it also began to radiate scintillating light. Tang Wulin felt as if he were evolving. At the same time, this burst of life force energy was erupting from within his body in a completely uncontrollable manner, forming a greenish-golden halo that was proliferating outward.


    In the air above, Blood One was already preparing to go back. Tang Wulin had absorbed such rich natural energies for such a long time, so he had to have forged a fantastic foundation for his soul core already. It was quite obvious that he was going to progress to rank 60 in soul power. For him to have attained a soul core as a mere Soul Emperor indicated that he was going to have an immeasurable future ahead of him, and that wasn''t even taking into account his enormous bloodline power.


    However, right at this moment, Blood One''s expression suddenly changed slightly as he abruptly sensed that something was happening to Tang Wulin.


    The absorption of natural energies temporarily ceased, but in the next instant, an indescribably enormous burst of vitality suddenly surged forth from down below.


    It was as if a spring of life had suddenly appeared beneath the earth. The water from the figurative spring of life instantly rose to the surface before surging toward all directions, and the entire Blood God Legion base was immediately enshrouded within this thriving vitality.


    Blood One had sensed this, and Zhang Huanyun and Blood Three had naturally also sensed this.


    It was very easy to sense the aura of the abyss here, but it was so very difficult to sense any vitality in this place. In this land of snow and ice, virtually no plants could survive, and one had to look beyond the entire Skyend Mountain Ranges just to catch a glimpse of any greenery.


    However, the rich life force energy at this moment was extremely clear and pronounced. Blood One had only experienced this type of feeling deep within the Great Star Dou Forest.


    He turned to look at Zhang Huanyun, and both of them could see their own astonishment mirrored in one another''s eyes. It was undoubtedly the case that his burst of life force energy would be extremely beneficial to all of them.


    The rich life force energy was nourishing their bodies, and both of them were already over 100 years of age, so the benefits of having such rich and pure life force energy nurture their bodies were simply unimaginable.


    They immediately began to absorb the life force energy that was spreading through the air, and the same time, Zhang Huanyun bellowed a thunderous order that was audible throughout the entire legion base.


    "Everyone, meditate!"


    They didn''t know where this rich life force energy was coming from, but it definitely didn''t originate from Tang Wulin''s body alone. This life force energy was immensely beneficial to everyone, and absorbing it would enhance everyone''s bodies; even their soul power ranks and lifespans could be significantly increased. The effects of this were most apparent for those who were carrying chronic injuries or conditions.


    The life force energy became richer and richer, yet less than 20 seconds after this life force energy had appeared, a burst of extremely terrifying suction force suddenly erupted from down below.


    At this point, the natural energies that Blood One had gathered hadn''t completely dissipated yet, and they were instantly drawn downward by the enormous suction force. The life force energy continued to be released, but the suction force that was acting on the natural energies gave even Blood One quite a fright. He felt as if even his own soul power were being sucked away.


    "Give him all the energy he needs!" Zhang Huanyun immediately yelled in a decisive manner. At the same time, he swept both hands through the air, releasing his own soul power to gather even more of the natural energies in the surrounding area.


    Blood One only reacted a split second slower than he did, and he also began to summon natural energies again.


    To them, only a very small portion of these natural energies could be absorbed during their cultivation, and it was extremely difficult for them to increase their powers. However, life force energy was completely different! Life force energy directly nurtured the very essence of the human body.


    Not only could it grant them more life force, thereby extending their lifespans, it could also enhance their bodies on a fundamental level.


    It was undoubtedly the case that among all types of energy, life energy stood at the very pinnacle. All life forms required life energy. Of course, that was only referring to the Douluo Continent; the same didn''t necessarily apply to the abyssal plane.


    There was no exchange more worthwhile than exchanging natural energies for enormous life force energy, which was why Zhang Huanyun had decided to fully support Tang Wulin''s energy needs.


    Blood Three was quite intelligent, and she also unleashed her own soul power to help gather natural energies.


    The natural energies vortex in the air immediately expanded to several times its original size under their combined efforts, drawing upon more and more natural energies for Tang Wulin to devour.

 Chapter 1002: The Budding Seed of Nature

    There was no need for them to guide the natural energies in a downward direction, as the terrifying suction force down below was like a black hole that was absorbing the natural energies in a violent frenzy.


    Tang Wulin had no idea what was going on at this point as he''d temporarily lost control over his own body.


    He was unable to contact the Beautiful Silk Tulip, and he felt as if a massive, bottomless black hole had opened up on his own forehead. The black hole was devouring all energies in the surrounding area in a ravenous frenzy, and all of that energy was being directed toward his seed of nature.


    The seed of nature was releasing rich life force energy to nurture his body, and this energy was also spreading outward to nourish everything else in the outside world. At the same time, it seemed to be struggling to search for something.


    The rich life force energy undoubtedly benefited Tang Wulin the most as it was only released after his body had absorbed the most essential part of the energy.


    Tang Wulin''s greenish-golden soul ring had become extremely exuberant at this point, and more than a third of the rich life force energy was being absorbed by the soul ring.


    Tang Wulin had initially completely given up on this soul ring, and he''d only ever been able to truly use it with the support of a Limit Douluo. At the time, he had sensed that this greenish-golden soul ring was able to control all of the plants in a vast area, then absorb an enormous amount of energy into his body.


    In his eyes, he may not be able to control that energy even after reaching the Titled Douluo stage, let alone in his current form.


    However, right at this moment, he could clearly sense that the greenish-golden soul ring was beginning to fuse with his body. He was beginning to be able to sense its power, and he could feel that he was gradually gaining the ability to control it.


    Was this a benefit of manifesting his soul core? Ultimately, regardless of how powerful the greenish-golden soul ring was, it still existed as a subsidiary to his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul. As such, the formation of his soul core had most likely had a certain stimulating effect on it.


    In any case, at this point in time, he had no control over his own body and could only sense the changes taking place in the outside world. At the same time, he could feel his own body being nurtured by the life force energy he was absorbing, and both his soul core and dragon core were also being fortified.


    The dragon core displayed a very strong reaction to this life force energy; it was initially slightly smaller than his soul core, but after absorbing all of this life force energy, its size quickly caught up to that of his soul core.


    Life force energy acted as a bridge between the two major energy cores, allowing them to communicate for the very first time. There was no fusion between the different energies, but they were resonating with one another. Tang Wulin was sensing the changes taking place between them while being immersed in life force energy.


    He could clearly sense that his entire body was in a process of evolution, and he suddenly became aware of just how beautiful and profound life was.


    Time slowly passed by, and these feelings were only becoming more and more pronounced. At this very moment, all of the soldiers of the Blood God Legion were benefiting from this rich life force energy, and they were also experiencing changes within their own bodies.


    Long Yuxue was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, and there was a layer of faint light emanating from her body. Her skin was becoming fairer and smoother, and she seemed to have become more beautiful. Her soul power was being elevated to a higher level, and her body was also changing in subtle ways through the nourishment of the life force energy.


    A layer of dark golden light was emanating from Jiang Wuyue''s skin as he absorbed the life force energy in the air in a greedy manner, using it to nourish his body, which was already extremely powerful. He was always pushing his limits, so he had inevitably accumulated some chronic injuries and niggles over time. However, all of these chronic injuries were slowly but surely being healed by this life force energy.


    Ling Wuyue was also experiencing the nourishment of the life force energy. Her pursuit was extreme offensive prowess, and for the sake of this pursuit, she had even been willing to sacrifice her own defensive abilities. Her sharp boomerang had harmed her countless times while she was releasing it, and there were several dozens of unsightly scars on the surface of her skin beneath her clothes.


    However, at this moment, all of these scars were also gradually fading away under the effects of the life force energy.


    Every single member of the entire legion was also reveling in the benefits brought to them by the nourishing life force energy.


    At this point, Blood Two, Blood Four, Blood Five, Blood Six, Blood Seven, Blood Eight, and Blood Nine, as well as all of the other Titled Douluos in the legion had already risen up into the air.


    With their power levels, they didn''t even need to meditate, and they could still absorb the extremely rich life force energy in the air.


    At the same time, all of them were also releasing their own powers to gather more natural energies even without being instructed to do so. Almost all of the natural energies within the entire Skyend Mountain Ranges had already converged in the sky above the Blood God Legion base, and these energies were being devoured at a rapid rate.


    The richer the natural energies gathered, the more potent the life force energy being released became.


    There were even traces of greenery that were gradually beginning to emerge out of the thick snow on the ground below. In the beginning, no one had noticed them, but they soon became alerted to this as more and more specks of green began to appear on the snowy ground.


    Blood One''s expression stiffened slightly, and there was an extremely spectacular look in Zhang Huanyun''s eyes.


    They had never seen any traces of greenery in the Skyend Mountain Ranges during the six decades that they''d been here! In order to allow their soldiers to still be able to experience greenery, they''d spent a huge sum of money to construct a greenhouse in the legion base in order to nurture some plants. However, that was the extent of the greenery within the entire legion base.


    However, at this very moment, specks of green were beginning to appear on the snowy ground of the Skyend Mountain Ranges. They were only tiny seedlings, and no one even knew what kind of plants they were, but it was such a moving scene to witness them sprouting from the snow.


    What a beautiful green color!


    They may not be able to survive for long in the snow, but just the fact that they existed at all in this place still stunned all of the onlookers present.


    Under the continued injection of rich life force energy, these small green seedlings slowly began to grow, and even the frosty conditions were completely unable to suppress their growth. Instead, they were being nurtured by the rich water elements in the snow along with the life force energy.


    Sunlight and water were nourishing them in their growth, and the seedlings began to grow into saplings.


    These saplings were absorbing life force energy, but they were also guiding more natural energies toward the core where the life force energy was being released from.


    "Ding!" A shattering sound rang out within Tang Wulin''s mind, and he could clearly see that the seed of nature seemed to have cracked open a little further. Under the nourishment of the life force energy, the tiny golden seedling that had sprouted from it struggled to squirm out of the seed, then gradually unfurled to reveal a golden leaf. The leaf was also very small, and it looked as if it could be snapped at the slightest touch, but the life force energy that was being released was becoming more and more powerful.


    The seed had germinated!


    Streaks of light silently appeared beside Tang Wulin. They were the six plant system Soul Beasts that he''d fused into his body. As soon as they emerged, they sat down around him with their legs crossed, silently absorbing the life force energy being released by the seed of nature. At the same time, they released their own auras to help the seed of nature purify the life force energy.


    Tang Wulin''s greenish-golden soul ring lit up even further, radiating scintillating light. He could suddenly sense the entirety of the Skyend Mountain Ranges through the saplings that had just emerged from the snow.


    Time slowly passed by, and the output of life force energy continued. One leaf after another emerged from the seed of nature, and only after the seventh leaf appeared did the golden light abruptly recede, and at the same time, the release of life force energy also ceased. However, a seven-leaf golden insignia had appeared on Tang Wulin''s forehead.


    The life force energy receded, and the natural energies also naturally dissipated. If one were to look down at the Skyend Mountain Ranges from above, they''d discover that saplings that were over a meter tall had appeared all over this world of snow and ice.


    Even though there was no way for them to truly survive in this harsh environment, at the very least, they had once existed here. They were like fireworks that had added a fleeting moment of beauty to the entire Skyend Mountain Ranges.


    In the air above, the high-ranking officials of the Blood God Legion were taking one deep breath after another while opening up all of the pores all over their bodies to absorb the final traces of life force energy in the air. All of them looked as if they''d suddenly become more youthful.


    At this point, it was already noon. During the past few hours in which they''d been nourished by life force energy, not only had all of their chronic injuries and niggles disappeared, all of their life spans had also been extended by at least five years!


    This was the main benefit of absorbing life force energy. Blood One, Blood Three, and Zhang Huanyun had been here since the very beginning, so they had absorbed the purest life force energy, and as a result, they had reaped the greatest benefits among everyone. In particular, Zhang Huanyun was feeling extremely elated. His soul power rank had remained at 98 for several decades now, and that was exactly due to the fact that it would be very difficult for his body to handle the final breakthrough.

 Chapter 1003: 100,000-year-old Soul Spirit

    However, following that period of life force energy absorption, he could sense that the massive bottleneck ahead of him was wavering slightly for the very first time. How could he not be excited?


    "Make sure to thank that kid for me; our Blood God Legion owes him a massive favor. Ask him if there''s anything that he wants, and satisfy any of his requests as long as it''s with reason. I have to go into seclusion for a while; Tianwu, I''ll leave it to you to take care of the daily matters in my absence."After that, Zhang Huanyun''s body vanished in a flash.


    After absorbing so much life force energy, everyone else also returned to their living quarters to cultivate and truly integrate everything that they''d absorbed into their bodies.


    The entire Blood God Legion had fallen silent as everyone was digesting the enormous life force energy that they''d absorbed.


    Countless green saplings were gently swaying in the frosty winds amid this world of snow and ice, and at the very least, they weren''t going to disappear in the near future.


    Tang Wulin slowly opened his eyes, and his five soul rings silently faded, as did the light that was shimmering from his skin.


    He had never felt so wonderful before. Natural energies were pouring into his body with every single breath he took, and his bloodline fluctuations and soul power fluctuations were fusing together in perfect harmony, increasing his powers in a subtle manner.


    He could sense that a string of breakthroughs had taken place during his absorption of natural energies and life force energy, and even though he''d only just attained a soul core, his soul power rank had already reached 64.


    "My Lord, I''m ready to begin." The Beautiful Silk Tulip rose to his feet before extending a respectful bow toward Tang Wulin while the other plant system Great Beasts looked on with envy in their eyes.


    The seed of nature had sprouted seven leaves, and they were now completely convinced that this Son of Nature was the real deal. Otherwise, how could he have germinated the seed of nature? If it weren''t for the fact that this place was very ill-suited for its growth, the seed of nature could''ve quite possibly taken advantage of this opportunity to take root here already. As the Son of Nature, he was one with the seed of nature, and as long as he was situated within a certain range of the seed of nature, he could directly draw upon natural energies through the power of the seed.


    "Let''s begin!" Tang Wulin nodded at the Beautiful Silk Tulip.


    The man nodded in response, and his body swayed as he instantly transformed into a massive purple flower. Flower petals fluttered into the air before revolving around Tang Wulin.


    Powerful energy fluctuations surged through the air, and a peerlessly powerful aura was proliferating in all directions. A faint fragrance permeated throughout every single corner of the dormitory room.


    In order to fuse a soul spirit, both parties had to be completely ready and willing. It was undoubtedly the case that the Beautiful Silk Tulip had already cast aside all inhibitions and wanted nothing more than to remain by Tang Wulin''s side for the rest of its life.


    Pink light began to radiate from the massive flower, and everything seemed so natural, as if this were simply how things were meant to be. Tang Wulin''s body had just been nourished by the seed of nature, so it was quite easy for him to accept even the power of this plant system Great Beast. With the seed of nature acting as a bridge between the two, the absorption process was as smooth as smooth could be. Tang Wulin''s powerful physical constitution, plant system martial soul, and the seed of nature ensured an absolutely seamless fusion process.


    The flower petals began to slowly revolve around Tang Wulin while gradually shrinking in size. In the end, it transformed into a crimson ring of light, and the five soul rings appeared once again to intertwine their light with that of the crimson soul ring.


    Tang Wulin''s aura elevated once again, and with the addition of the 100,000-year-old soul ring, his entire disposition had changed once again. There was now more of an ethereal quality about him, and at the same time, a faint fragrance was emanating from his body.


    After fusing with the Beautiful Silk Tulip, he was now completely impervious to all poisons.


    This was a soul spirit fusion, so it didn''t provide him with any soul bones, but the addition of this soul spirit was far more beneficial to him than any soul bone.


    He closed his eyes and entered a meditative state once again. The soul core in his dantian shuddered slightly, and rich soul power immediately began to circulate through his body according to the route stipulated by the Mysterious Heaven Method. His dragon core also resonated at the same time, and his bloodline power began to circulate in an anti-clockwise direction.


    The two types of powers were circulating in opposite directions, and they were naturally forming a brand new vortex within Tang Wulin''s body. All of the natural energies in the air naturally converged toward him, and Tang Wulin had reason to believe that his progression from rank 60 to rank 70 in soul power was very likely going to take the shortest amount of time among all of his major breakthroughs.


    Now that he had fused with a 100,000-year-old soul spirit, his soul power had increased once again, and it was elevated directly to rank 65.


    During the past few months, he''d already caught up to the average standard among his friends. Furthermore, his overall powers had improved far more than just the degree that his soul power had improved by.


    As for just how much more powerful he''d become, that was something that he''d have to ascertain through practical combat. Only through battles would he be able to consolidate the enhancements he''d received.


    After such an extensive period of adaptation, his soul power vortex had finally made a breakthrough, and he was now a high-grade Soul Master. This laid a strong foundation for his future rise to the very top.


    Only after an entire day did the Blood God Legion begin to gradually reawaken. This was undoubtedly a very wonderful feeling. Everyone felt as if they had been reborn anew after being nourished by the life force energy.


    When Tang Wulin appeared in the Blood God Battalion again, Blood One was already waiting for him.


    "I know I shouldn''t ask, but I still can''t help but wonder; where did all that life force energy come from?" Blood One appraised Tang Wulin with a curious look on his face.


    Blood Three was also standing beside him, and among all of the Blood Gods, these two had benefited the most from Tang Wulin''s breakthrough.


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Tang Wulin asked, "Are you two familiar with the ancient Golden Tree?"


    Blood Three''s expression immediately changed as she exclaimed, "Of course! But wasn''t the ancient Golden Tree already..."


    Tang Wulin nodded, and explained, "The ancient Golden Tree was the core of nature. I don''t know where it came from, but it was most likely left behind by a certain forefather of ours from Shrek Academy. I received the ancient Golden Tree''s assistance by chance, and it granted me the power to be close with nature. Perhaps that was because I''m a plant system Soul Master. During the explosion on that day, the Golden Tree gave me its seed right before it was destroyed, and the seed has been nurtured within my body this entire time.


    "When I attained a soul core, the seed awakened, and that was why such rich life force energy had been released. At the same time, it allowed me to absorb a vast amount of natural energies. This place isn''t a suitable place for it to grow; after we rebuild Shrek Academy, it will continue to be the core of the academy!"


    Tang Wulin spoke the last sentence with great conviction in his voice, and Blood Three''s hand involuntarily flew to her mouth as tears began to flow uncontrollably down her face.


    As a former high-ranking member of Shrek Academy, how could she not be aware of the existence of the ancient Golden Tree?


    That was the foundation of the Sea God''s Pavilion, and it could be said that the Sea God''s Pavilion only existed because of the Golden Tree! The Golden Tree hadn''t completely perished; it had left behind a seed, so there was a chance for it to be reborn. What could make her more excited than this?


    If the ancient Golden Tree could be replanted, then there really was a chance that the academy could be revived!


    Blood One was also astonished to hear this. The ancient Golden Tree was once the true core of Shrek Academy, and without its protection, Tang Wulin and the others wouldn''t have been able to survive that attack. Who would''ve thought that it had the ability to leave behind a seed? This was fantastic news!


    One had to realize that the ancient Golden Tree was the guardian deity of the entirety of Shrek City at the time, so even the Tang Sect headquarters had been under its protection. It was just that the enemy attack at the time had been far too powerful; the destructive power of two Godslayer missiles had far surpassed the limit of its tolerance capacity.


    A hint of sorrow flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes. If it weren''t for the fact that the ancient Golden Tree had given him a third of its energy, perhaps it would''ve been powerful enough to avert that massive disaster. His heart had been wracked with guilt ever since the bombing, so he was going to help the seed of nature grow up again no matter what.

 Chapter 1004: Profit or Loss?

    Blood One took a meaningful glance at Tang Wulin, and said, "The transformation that the seed of the ancient Golden Tree has undergone has benefitted the entire legion immensely. Everyone was nourished by its life force energy, and they''ve all become more powerful as a result. What reward would you like for this?"


    "Reward? I get a reward for this? You were the one who helped me gather so much natural energies, right? I don''t really think I can bring myself to ask for a reward! Can I ask for anything I want?" Tang Wulin''s eyes were practically glowing.


    Blood One had a smile on his face during the first half of Tang Wulin''s words, but the conclusion had him at a complete loss for whether he should laugh or cry.


    "You really are a greedy little rascal! That''s not entirely a bad thing, though. Zhang Huanyun was the one who said that you can choose any reward you want, as long as it''s within reason. In the beginning, I was the one who helped you gather natural energies, but after that, everyone chipped in along the way. The seed of the Golden Tree has absorbed an extremely enormous amount of energy; it''s sucked away all of the natural energies within at least 500 square kilometers! If you had made your breakthrough anywhere else, you''ve would''ve definitely attracted a lot of attention."


    Indeed, the extremely sparsely populated Skyend Mountain Ranges had been a perfect location for his breakthrough. If he had made his breakthrough in a place with higher population density, then there was no way that he would''ve been able to absorb such an enormous amount of natural energies so easily.


    "As for a reward, can I ask for a promotion? I''ve already qualified for the finals for both Soul Master and mecha battles, so isn''t it about time I received a promotion?" Tang Wulin asked in a careful manner.


    Blood One couldn''t help but smile upon hearing this. "Is a promotion that important to you? What I really want to know is why you want to be promoted so badly."


    Tang Wulin replied, "Officials above the major rank get leave, don''t they?"


    Blood One faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Blood Three couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "You want to be promoted just so you can take some leave? Members of our Blood God Battalion also get one day of leave per week; you can also save up your leave days and use them all at once for an extended holiday. Even though you''re only a fringe member, you''re entitled to that right as well."


    "Hah?" Tang Wulin had no idea that members of the Blood God Battalion were entitled to a privilege like this.


    Blood One couldn''t help but chuckle at the sight of his flabbergasted expression. "Do you still want that promotion, then?"


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth, and replied, "Yes."


    The Blood God Legion could only offer him resources or a promotion as a reward. He could exchange his forging accolades for resources, but he could only receive promotions from the Blood God Battalion.


    Blood One nodded, and said, "Alright, then a promotion is what you''ll get. Zhang Huanyun is still in seclusion, but as long as there''s a proper reason, our Blood God Battalion can also hand out promotions to our members. The battle accolades you''ve accumulated are already enough to promote you to the captain rank. On top of that, you made it to the finals of both battle disciplines, and with your current powers, you''ll be a strong contender for the top three, so I''ll give you the reward I promised you, which is a promotion to the major rank, early. On this occasion, the life force energy you brought to the legion benefited everyone immensely and extended everyone''s lifespans by at least five years while also healing many people''s chronic injuries.


    "This is a massive contribution that you''ve made to the entire legion, and if we were to convert that into accolades, it would definitely be an astronomical number. Instead of going through the trouble to calculate the number of accolades you should receive, I''ll just give you a promotion of two further ranks, which is something that''s virtually unprecedented. Hence, you''re going to be directly promoted to the colonel rank; are you willing to accept this as your reward?"


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin blurted out almost without any hesitation, and even his voice had raised a few octaves. How could he be unwilling to accept this reward? What could possibly be better than this? This was the colonel rank! He had essentially just been launched up the ranks on a jet pack! This was the equivalent of being promoted from a lowly platoon leader directly to a corps commander! He was now even a rank above Jiang Wuyue; what a satisfying thought that was!


    Blood One smiled and nodded as he said, "Very good. I''ll arrange a promotion ceremony for you; you can go now."


    "Thank you." Tang Wulin stood up straight before extending a military salute.


    Blood One smiled and nodded in response.


    Thus, Tang Wulin left in an excited manner. He was going to practice his spear techniques. He had manifested a soul core and become a lot more powerful than before, he was going to see if he had also made a breakthrough in his spear techniques.


    Blood Three looked on as Tang Wulin entered the elevators in an elated manner before turning to Blood One with a conflicted look on her face. "Haven''t you always been looking out for his best interests? Is it really good to screw him over like this?"


    Blood One chuckled, "How am I screwing him over? He chose the reward himself; I didn''t force him to choose this."


    Blood Three heaved a resigned sigh. "But according to what the legion commander told us, we were permitted to give him the highest reward available in our legion, which is a red mecha! Our Blood God Battalion doesn''t have any troops under its command, so a military rank is just a title that doesn''t really do anything; it can''t even begin to compare with a red mecha."


    Blood One smiled, and said, "I''m naturally aware of that, but giving him a red mecha now may not be a good thing. He''s developing too quickly; he needs more time to accumulate experience. Even if he does come into possession of a red mecha in the future, I want him to construct it through his own efforts, rather than just have one handed to him. He did indeed benefit the entire legion on this occasion, but that wasn''t actually his own power. If I give him too much, I''m afraid that his ego will become overinflated. He had a very calm and steadfast personality, which is very rare and valuable, and I don''t want to do anything to change that."


    Blood Three sighed, "But you and I both know the severity of the hardships that he''ll face in the future. If he possesses a divine mecha, that''ll at least be an extra layer of protection."


    Blood One shook his head with a serious expression as he countered, "The only thing that will truly keep him safe is his own powers. Mechas are indeed very useful, but for Soul Masters like us, we have to rely on our own powers if we want to make it to the very top. I see the potential in him to become more than just a Limit Douluo! He was chosen by the seed of nature; think about it, where did the ancient Golden Tree come from? It came from a place that can only be reached by gods. He received the approval of the ancient Golden Tree, which is the equivalent of approval from the seed of nature. He is the hope of nature on this entire continent. When you take all that into account, it''s very like that his future lies..." He pointed directly upward as he spoke.


    A stunned expression appeared on Blood Three''s face. "Is that really possible?"


    Blood One replied, "I don''t know, but if there''s any possibility at all, then it can only lie with him; I have absolute confidence in him."


    Blood Three took a deep breath, and only now did she realize just how high a regard Blood One held Tang Wulin in.


    Tang Wulin had no idea what he had just missed out on. He rushed directly over to the gravity training chamber, then pulled out his Golden Dragon Spear and continued to practice his spear techniques.


    In doing so, he quickly discovered that he had changed, and this change was a positive one that he had been anticipating for a long time.


    He held onto his Golden Dragon Spear, and as he unleashed his first thrust, both his dragon core and soul core naturally exuded their auras. At this moment, Tang Wulin could sense the strange vortex that had appeared in between his two major energy vortexes releasing a burst of power into his spear.


    This was the perfect fusion between his blood essence power and soul power.


    The spear projection released by the spear had changed from its original dazzling golden color into a platinum color. Under normal circumstances, if he were to refrain from using any soul skills, a three-foot spear projection would be naturally released by a thrust from his Golden Dragon Spear. However, on this occasion, the spear projection was over seven feet in length.


    That was only a casual strike that he''d unleashed without actively drawing on any of his own power!


    This meant that not only had his spear projection undergone a qualitative change, its power had been enhanced by at least twofold. On top of that, the platinum spear projection had to be different from his past golden spear projection.


    This was a massively pleasant surprise! His powers had increased considerably, and when he injected his power into his Golden Dragon Spear, he was able to gain a better and more profound understanding of this divine weapon. It seemed that the more energy he injected into the Golden Dragon Spear, the more of its own power it was able to unleash.


    He unleashed one spear thrust after another, and platinum spear projections surged through the air. When Tang Wulin unleashed a spear strike with all his might, the spear projection exceeded 100 meters in length and almost punctured the training chamber.


    Tang Wulin could feel his bloodline churning with excitement. Had he already become this powerful? However, this was a training chamber, so he didn''t dare to unleash his full power.


    He had to go to the Star Battle Net; that was the only place where he could unleash the full extent of his powers without any inhibitions.


    "What are you up to, Wuyue? If you''re free? How about a sparring match in the Star Battle Net? My cultivation''s been going pretty well recently; are you up for a battle?... Oh? Your cultivation''s also been going quite well? That''s great! ... Are you paying?... What do you mean we''ll split it 50:50? We''re friends, aren''t we?... You can pay for the sparring match; don''t worry about me, I won''t feel bad... Hey, don''t hang up! Fine, we''ll split it 50:50."


    It was becoming harder and harder to convince Jiang Wuyue to pay for him in anything. This guy was becoming more and more cunning by the day!


    If Jiang Wuyue could hear what Tang Wulin was thinking, then he''d immediately tell Tang Wulin that he was only learning from him!


    Tang Wulin logged on to the Star Battle Net first and waited for Jiang Wuyue at the agreed location. Even though there were no competition matches being held, the Star Battle Net was very popular in the legion, so Jiang Wuyue would most definitely still have to line up. Only after Tang Wulin had waited for half an hour did he finally turn up.


    "What took you so long?" Tang Wulin asked.

 Chapter 1005: Platinum Spear Projection

    Jiang Wuyue scoffed, "Do you think all of us are part of your Blood God Battalion? We don''t all have private Star Cabins at our disposal! Do you know how envious I am? I''m going to buy one once I save up enough accolades, but it''s so expensive! It costs 8,000 accolades; I really don''t want to splurge so much!"


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Then you''ll have to make do with lining up. Let''s cut the chit-chat and get straight into it."


    Jiang Wuyue harrumphed coldly, "I''m gonna beat you so hard that you''ll be crawling around, picking up your teeth from the ground when I''m done with you! I''m telling you, on that day when that enormous burst of life force energy appeared in our legion on that day, my powers have enjoyed a qualitative boost; I made a massive breakthrough and formed my soul vortex! With my soul vortex for support, my Tyrant Dragon is going to become several times more powerful, and I''ll never have to worry about running out of energy ever again. Just you wait, hehe!"


    Tang Wulin merely smiled with a completely innocent and harmless look on his face. "I''m looking forward to it! I''m not afraid of receiving beatings; being beaten will only help me grow and develop."


    Jiang Wuyue urged, "Let''s go!"


    The two of them issued 2,000 federal credits, and light flashed, following which they entered the competition venue.


    Jiang Wuyue was clearly brimming with excitement due to his recent breakthrough, and as soon as the electronic voice rang out, he immediately released his martial soul and battle armor.


    Dark golden light swept over his entire body, and Tang Wulin could see a powerful dark golden vortex of light taking shape in front of him.


    As the vortex emerged, Jiang Wuyue swelled to over eight meters tall while his thick and heavy suit of two-word battle armor encapsulated his entire body. A peerlessly devastating aura instantly erupted from within his body.


    His soul power vortex rotated at a rapid rate at his behest, and even the surrounding air was showing signs of being shattered in the face of the terrifying energy fluctuations emanating from his body.


    Jiang Wuyue said in a smug manner, "The soul power vortex that I formed is different from the normal soul power vortex. Due to the tolerance capacity of my body, my soul power vortex rotates at least three times faster than that of the average Soul Master. It provides me with an extremely enormous amount of power, and those enhancements go directly to my strength, so my strength has also tripled. You may have had superior strength to me in the past, but there''s no way you can beat me on this occasion!"


    "Come at me!" A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and golden light shimmered all over his body as he summoned his suit of two-word battle armor. His visor descended over his face with a crisp click, and at the same time, his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his hand. He swept his spear through the air beside him, and a seven-foot platinum spear projection erupted from its front tip.


    Jiang Wuyue let loose a thunderous roar before storming toward Tang Wulin. He extended his hands, and a pair of giant hammers appeared in his grasp. As the hammers were swung through the air, powerful dark golden light instantly erupted from them, and they were sent crashing down toward Tang Wulin like a pair of miniature shooting stars.


    He hadn''t been exaggerating; the power behind his hammers had indeed more than tripled. The attack was so formidable that even a three-word battle armor master would be reluctant to take it head-on.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as faint golden light rose up from his battle armor, and in the next instant, he sprang into action.


    The dragon wings on his back were abruptly withdrawn, and when he tapped his foot against the ground, his entire body seemed to have suddenly lit up. The wings on his back only flapped ever so slightly, and in the next instant, Jiang Wuyue was greeted by the sight of a streak of light hurtling toward him.


    An indescribably sharp sensation flashed past. The power within his hammers seemed to have instantly dissipated, and even his rapidly rotating soul power vortex had momentarily stopped rotating.


    Throughout this entire process, all Jiang Wuyue saw was a streak of platinum light flash past. After that, Tang Wulin vanished into thin air.


    Immediately thereafter, he discovered that he had lost control over his soul power vortex.


    "Boom!" A violent explosion erupted, and Jiang Wuyue''s body vanished amid a howl of anguish.


    Only then did the golden light emanating from Tang Wulin''s body slowly recede. The crystalline substantial-looking spear projection of the platinum Golden Dragon Spear also gradually faded away.


    In the instant prior to Jiang Wuyue''s self-detonation, a massive hole with a diameter of over a meter had been punctured through his massive body. Even his suit of two-word battle armor hadn''t been able to reduce the size of the wound.


    Light flashed, and Tang Wulin re-emerged from the combat area before he had a chance to even reflect on the battle.


    Jiang Wuyue was standing rooted to the spot with a completely dumbstruck look on his face. Just as Tang Wulin hadn''t had a chance to completely experience the changes in his powers during that battle, Jiang Wuyue had also yet to completely return to his senses in the aftermath of that battle''s sudden conclusion.


    What just happened? He had improved so significantly during the past few days; how had the battle concluded so quickly? He didn''t even see any wounds on his body before he was teleported out of the combat area.


    "Wulin, you came out as well? What just happened in there? Did the Star Battle Net malfunction?" Jiang Wuyue turned to Tang Wulin with a perplexed expression.


    Tang Wulin blinked, and replied, "I don''t know! I was suddenly teleported out of the combat area as well. It seems like our match came to a premature end as soon as we clashed."


    Jiang Wuyue''s brows furrowed tightly as he mused, "I haven''t heard about any issues with the Star Battle Net! If something really has happened to it, then the federation will be in quite a bit of trouble. Let''s try that again."


    He voluntarily issued 2,000 federal credits as he spoke, and the two of them arrived on the competition platform once again.


    Light flashed, and both of them appeared at the same time. The electronic countdown commenced, and everything seemed to be the same as before.


    "It doesn''t feel like anything''s changed! So what was that error all about, then?" Jiang Wuyue turned to Tang Wulin with a confused expression.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Maybe we should try battling again?"


    Jiang Wuyue nodded, and replied, "Alright, let''s go again."


    He released his battle armor and martial soul as he spoke, and six soul rings emerged around his body. He then swelled drastically in size, and a pair of giant hammers appeared in his grasp as he charged toward Tang Wulin amid a roar of fury.


    Tang Wulin also donned his suit of battle armor and summoned his Golden Dragon Spear. The platinum spear projection appeared once again. With the experience that he''d just accumulated, his essence, energy, and spirit instantly fused as one. Dazzling light erupted from his two major energy cores, forming a yin yang energy vortex. His platinum spear projection abruptly elongated, and when he began to rush toward Jiang Wuyue, the golden light shimmering from his body had become noticeably brighter.


    During their last sparring match, he had unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight to enhance his own speed. With the yin yang vortex as support, the Golden Dragon Takes Flight had become a lot more powerful than before, and that, in conjunction with his incredibly sharp spear intent, had allowed him to puncture Jiang Wuyue''s body in one fell swoop.


    On this occasion, he didn''t even bother to use his Golden Dragon Takes Flight and merely charged straight toward Jiang Wuyue. However, when he tapped his feet against the ground to accelerate, his speed had increased to more than twice as fast as before, and he reached Jiang Wuyue in a flash.


    On this occasion, Tang Wulin was carefully sensing the changes taking place within his body. Just as Jiang Wuyue''s hammers were about to strike his body, the dual cores within his body began to glow even brighter, and he abruptly flapped his dragon wings for a second acceleration. In doing so, he was able to pass through right in between the two hammers, following which his platinum spear projection struck Jiang Wuyue''s suit of battle armor.


    The defenses of a Tyrant Dragon in conjunction with a suit of two-word battle armor posed quite a stern obstacle, but in the face of Tang Wulin''s platinum spear projection, everything seemed to have simply melted away before silently flowing along his spearhead.


    Light flashed, and Tang Wulin landed on the ground. Without the enhancement of his Golden Dragon Takes Flight, this battle lasted a little longer than the previous one. At the very least, Jiang Wuyue had enough time to process the intense agony that his body had been afflicted by. He looked down to examine himself, and only after he caught sight of the gaping hole in his chest did the electronic voice ring out again.


    "The match is over; Little Tang wins."


    Light flashed, and the two of them were teleported out of the competition venue in quick succession.


    Outside the combat area, Jiang Wuyue wore a completely flabbergasted expression, while Tang Wulin adopted his harmless look once again.


    "What just happened? That really hurt. Did you beat me?" Jiang Wuyue was finally beginning to catch on.


    Tang Wulin blinked in response. "Did I win? Everything ended so quickly. I didn''t even feel anything; how did I win?"


    "Exactly! How did you win?" Jiang Wuyue''s expression was filled with befuddlement. He didn''t even consider the possibility that a fellow two-word battle armor master would be able to instantly puncture his defenses, which was why he still hadn''t figured out what was going on, even though he had felt pain on this occasion.


    Tang Wulin adopted a serious expression as he said, "It looks like there are some major issues plaguing the battle net. We have to experiment a few more times, so we can make a timely report to the legion if there really is an issue. Let''s go again; I''ll pay this time."


    Despite how stingy Tang Wulin was, he had offered to pay on this occasion, and that, coupled with his serious expression, convinced Jiang Wuyue that there was indeed something wrong with the battle net. Thus, the two of them entered the competition venue again.


    One minute later, the two of them were teleported out one after another.


    "Holy crap! That really hurt! What happened just now? What was that platinum spear projection of yours? I made sure to pay close attention on this occasion, and I saw that your Golden Dragon Spear punctured a hole into my chest! What''s going on? Are you exploiting a glitch in the battle net? That''s cheating!" Jiang Wuyue accused in a furious manner.


    Tang Wulin was struggling to repress his mirth, and he coughed as he replied, "I''m not! How could I be exploiting a glitch in the battle net? This is the newest technology from the federation! Could it be that the problem lies with you? Maybe your defenses have become weaker, or perhaps something''s wrong with your cultivation, thereby weakening your defenses."

 Chapter 1006: Dont Feel Inferior

    Jiang Wuyue''s brows furrowed tightly. "Is that a possibility? But I felt really good during those battles! If you ask me, my defenses have clearly become more powerful; how could they be weaker?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "That''s beyond me. This is a major problem; it doesn''t matter in the battle net, but if this problem arises when you''re battling abyssal creatures, you''ll be in a lot of trouble. This is a matter of life and death! How about we go in again so you can assess how your defenses have changed?"


    Jiang Wuyue immediately nodded as a slightly tense expression appeared on his face. "Alright, let''s go again, but take it easy this time and don''t attack me so quickly."


    The two of them entered the competition platform again.


    Jiang Wuyue slammed one of his own giant hammers viciously into his chest to test out his own defenses, as well as that of his battle armor, and the tense look in his eyes immediately vanished.


    "My defenses are really normal! Look, that hammer blow packed at least several dozens of tons of impact, but I''m completely fine. Haha, I knew there wasn''t an issue with me. Let''s go again! This time, I''m sure..."


    One minute later.


    "TANG! WU! LIN!" Jiang Wuyue was glowering at Tang Wulin in a furious manner as he yelled, "There''s something off about that spear of yours, and your strength is also different! My hammer struck your Golden Dragon Spear just now; how was it repelled so easily? And you even left such deep indentation on my hammer. My defenses are completely ineffective against your Golden Dragon Spear; you cut through me like a hot knife through butter! What the hell happened?"


    Tang Wulin blinked, and he was just about to say something when Jiang Wuyue continued, "Don''t tell me you don''t know what happened! I know you know what''s going on! You''re a sly little bastard on the inside! You had to have known what was going on from the very beginning, right? There''s nothing wrong with the Star Battle Net, is there? The problem here is that your abilities have evolved!"


    Jiang Wuyue had quite a simple and straightforward personality, but for him to have reached this point in his military career indicated that he was definitely not an idiot. After experimenting on several occasions and making an active effort to observe Tang Wulin''s spear, he finally realized that he''d been swindled. This guy knew what was going on from the very beginning, but tricked him over and over again into agreeing to be a human target.


    However, at the same time, he was extremely stunned. His defensive prowess definitely stood at the very pinnacle of all Soul Emperors, yet Tang Wulin''s attacks were so devastating that they rendered his defenses completely ineffective. Even the average Soul Douluo couldn''t accomplish this! Even in the first few matches, where he had underestimated Tang Wulin a little, he still had to possess extremely formidable offensive prowess to break through his defenses.


    Jiang Wuyue was completely unable to comprehend this, but this was the truth, nonetheless.


    Tang Wulin put on an innocent expression, and argued, "That''s not true! I don''t know what happened either. I did make a minor breakthrough, but that doesn''t explain why there''s such a huge disparity between our powers. Surely the problem here is that you''ve become weaker!"


    "Don''t try to feed me that nonsense! I formed a soul power vortex, so I''ll definitely be attaining a soul core in the future; how could I have become weaker?" Jiang Wuyue countered in an enraged voice.


    A smug expression suddenly appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he goaded, "Then that means I''ve become more powerful! There''s no need for you to be so upset; you can just admit it if you''re scared. Don''t worry, I won''t look down on you; we''ll still be friends."


    "Scared? I ain''t scared! I''m just unfamiliar with your new abilities!" Jiang Wuyue was becoming even more enraged.


    "Tch, you don''t even dare to fight me anymore, and you''re trying to convince me that you''re not scared? We''ve fought quite a few times now, so you should be accustomed to my new powers, right? Do you dare to go again?"Tang Wulin intentionally put on a proud expression as he spoke.


    "Come at me! You must be playing some kind of trick! You''re paying this time!"


    "No problem," Tang Wulin agreed without any hesitation, and two of them entered the competition venue again.


    Two minutes later.


    Light flashed, and Jiang Wuyue''s body swayed as he emerged. A hint of astonishment flashed through his eyes.


    Tang Wulin re-emerged right after him with a smug expression on his face. "I told you you were too weak! You''re no match for me now!" He flexed his bicep to Jiang Wuyue as he spoke.


    "That''s impossible! I don''t believe this! Let''s go again!"


    Another two minutes later...


    "Again!"


    Two minutes passed once again...


    "I give up!"


    Jiang Wuyue was looking at Tang Wulin with a dejected expression on his face. He could attribute one or two losses to errors or complacency, but how could he explain being beaten close to 10 times in a row?


    This guy was like a literal monster! His strength, speed, defenses, and offensive prowess; all of it had far exceeded Jiang Wuyue''s. No matter how he looked at it, that Golden Dragon Spear shouldn''t have been a heavy weapon, but it was always able to swat his giant hammers aside with ease. He had always been very proud of his own defensive prowess, but his defenses posed no impediment to Tang Wulin whatsoever; all he needed was a single opportunity to strike, and Jiang Wuyue was dead.


    What was even more terrifying was his spear intent. Every time he released his spear intent, Jiang Wuyue would instantly be struck by a bone-chilling sensation, and he felt as if his entire body had been punctured.


    In the face of such an indomitable opponent, even his powerful battle intent was quickly being worn down. If he were to keep engaging in these sparring matches, his confidence would be completely shattered, so he was unwilling to continue.


    "Are you alright, Wuyue?" Tang Wulin approached him with a concerned expression.


    "Go away!" Jiang Wuyue was panting heavily as he attempted to recover from the agony that he''d just been afflicted with.


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I didn''t know things were going to turn out like this; am I this powerful already? I''m sorry, Wuyue. I know that an excessive gap between our powers will make you feel inferior, but there''s no helping it. It''s alright, though; keep working hard, and don''t feel inferior."


    "Who''s feeling inferior? You''re the inferior one!" Jiang Wuyue couldn''t help but flare up with rage.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "You don''t even dare to continue, and you''re trying to convince me that you''re not feeling inferior?"


    "Who says I don''t dare to continue?" Jiang Wuyue''s eyes instantly widened with rage, but all of a sudden, a placid look suddenly appeared on his face, and he harrumphed, "That''s not working on me again; I won''t fall for your dirty tricks. You''re just trying to goad me again like the sly bastard that you are! I ain''t falling for it anymore."


    Tang Wulin shrugged. "Suit yourself. I was going to give you an opportunity to restore your confidence by refraining from using my battle armor in the next battle, but if you don''t want to, then so be it. Let''s get out of here."


    "Wait! Are you serious? You won''t use your battle armor?"Jiang Wuyue immediately grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s arm.


    "I am!" Tang Wulin said with an earnest expression, "I have to give you a chance to restore your confidence, but I don''t think that''s needed anymore; you look like you''re still quite lively, so I don''t have to cop a beating from you now."


    "No! You''re a good guy, Wulin! Come on, let''s go again; I''ll pay this time!"


    After entering the competition venue, the two of them faced one another, and a smile had already appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    Jiang Wuyue appraised him with an intense gaze, and said, "You better keep your promise; don''t use your battle armor!"


    "Of course!" Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    As soon as the countdown concluded, Jiang Wuyue released his martial soul and battle armor again, raising his power to its very maximal extent.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but internally praise Jiang Wuyue. If he were facing anyone else, then he definitely wouldn''t goad them into battling him over and over again, even though he really did require a powerful opponent to fight against so he could consolidate his newfound powers.


    However, Jiang Wuyue was different as he possessed the most powerful battle intent that Tang Wulin had ever seen. Furthermore, he was always able to brush off setbacks and possessed excellent mental fortitude, thereby allowing him to constantly grow stronger in the face of adversity.


    Sure enough, Tang Wulin didn''t release his battle armor. He held his Golden Dragon Spear by his side, and four golden soul rings rose up from beneath his feet before revolving around his body.


    The first golden soul ring lit up, and it was none other than his Golden Dragon Body. Golden scales appeared all over his entire body, and even though the enhancements he received weren''t as pronounced as those from his battle armor, the dragon scales still enhanced his powers considerably.

 Chapter 1007: Colonel Military Rank

    In the next instant, his dragon scales began to emanate a platinum light, and he tapped his foot gently against the ground. He didn''t have access to his wings on this occasion, but he immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight.


    A pair of faint shimmering wings appeared on his back, and he instantly reached Jiang Wuyue before sweeping his Golden Dragon Spear upward to meet Jiang Wuyue''s twin hammers.


    A crisp clang rang out, and without his suit of battle armor, the situation had indeed taken a turn. Jiang Wuyue''s hammers were only flicked upward by his spear, but not completely flung away.


    However, right at this moment Tang Wulin suddenly let loose a thunderous roar; it was his Golden Dragon Roar!


    A massive golden dragon head erupted from his body, swelling to a diameter of over five meters before letting loose an almighty roar of fury.


    Jiang Wuyue wasn''t far away from the golden dragon head, and he was immediately struck by an extremely terrifying burst of pressure and soundwaves. His body rushed back in retreat, and his mind had gone completely blank while his bloodline was being completely and utterly dominated.


    Tang Wulin hovered in mid-air, and a scorching white light erupted from the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand. He thrust his spear forward, and his spear intent manifested into a 30-meter-long spear projection that instantly reached Jiang Wuyue.


    In the face of this attack, his suit of battle armor naturally exhibited an emergency response, releasing a protective barrier while also stimulating him to return to his senses. He reflexively raised his hammers to shield himself.


    "Boom!"


    The platinum spear projection punctured through the first hammer and forced the second hammer to crash directly into Jiang Wuyue''s chest. His vision went dark for an instant from the force of the impact, and his battle armor was almost shattered.


    Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin flicked his spear, and a massive golden dragon rose up into the air amid a thunderous dragon''s roar. The golden dragon instantly caught up to Jiang Wuyue before slamming him into the ground.


    Jiang Wuyue only barely had enough time to unleash a soul skill, conjuring up a layer of dark golden light around himself to oppose the golden dragon.


    "Boom!"


    Jiang Wuyue''s body was sent flying, and his soul skill was completely shattered. Tang Wulin''s body flashed, and he instantly appeared above Jiang Wuyue. Countless shimmering golden Bluesilver Emperor vines surged forth toward the direction that the Golden Dragon Spear was pointing in, and it was as if there were hundreds of Golden Dragon Spears thrusting toward Jiang Wuyue in unison.


    This was his Golden Dragon Impaling Array!


    Jiang Wuyue felt as if he''d been slammed into a bed of nails, and his body instantly stiffened as countless puncture wounds were inflicted upon him.


    Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin swept his Golden Dragon Spear through the air, and brilliant golden light appeared around his body; it was none other than his Violent Golden Dragon Domain. However, now that Jiang Wuyue was his enemy, the domain was debilitating him rather than providing enhancements.


    Countless streaks of light suddenly erupted from the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand, and every single one of those streaks of light seemed to have a Bluesilver Emperor vine adhered to it. The streaks of light then instantly combined as one, and the platinum spear projection immediately began to radiate scintillating light that illuminated the entire competition platform. It then thrust forward in a diagonal downward direction, and to Jiang Wuyue, it felt as if the surrounding air had already completely transformed into spear intent.


    Several hundred spears instantly fused as one, and during this process, the surrounding air was also compressed to several hundredths of its original mass, and the sound of Jiang Wuyue''s bones being crushed and broken rang out as the air compressed around him. When that spear thrust finally reached him, he felt as if every single part of his being, both his body and even his soul, had already been punctured.


    "Thump!"


    Jiang Wuyue was nailed straight onto the ground, and the platinum spear projection abruptly exploded, reducing his body to dust.


    Fury of the Masses!


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic. He still couldn''t manifest that many substantial spear projections, but with the assistance from his Bluesilver Emperor vines, he was finally able to use a part of the power of Fury of the Masses. This attack was the closest he''d ever been to unleashing Fury of the Masses. It was still very far away from the complete version of Fury of the Masses, but he had found the feeling that he''d been searching for.


    Following his extensive period of spear practice and the formation of his soul core, he''d finally made a qualitative improvement. Furthermore, after attaining his soul core, the yin yang vortex that had been produced by his two major energy cores was able to significantly decrease his energy expenditure from using his blood soul fusion skills.


    If he could only use his blood soul fusion skills three times in the past, then after attaining his soul core, he was now able to use those blood soul fusion skills 10 times or perhaps even more.


    After Tang Wulin left the competition platform, he was greeted by the sight of Jiang Wuyue, who was standing rooted to the spot with a soulless expression on his face.


    Tang Wulin was quite alarmed to see this. Fury of the Masses targeted the opponent''s spiritual power as well, so could it be that Jiang Wuyue''s soul had been damaged? In that case, things would become very troublesome.


    Thankfully, the Star Battle Net protected its users to an extremely great extent, so moments later, Jiang Wuyue''s body began to tremble slightly.


    As the trembling became more intense, a hint of life began to return to his eyes.


    He stumbled and sat directly down onto the ground while gasping for air with a horrified look in his eyes.


    "How could this be? How is this possible?" He had been completely and utterly defeated. From the instant that Tang Wulin began to attack, he had been completely dominated until the conclusion of the battle.


    Even though Tang Wulin hadn''t unleashed a blood soul fusion skill with every attack, under the effects of his yin yang vortex, his martial soul and bloodline were fused as one to begin with, and the two of them shared a symbiotic relationship. Even though he only possessed the soul power of a Soul Emperor, his rank 65 soul power wasn''t far off from Jiang Wuyue''s soul power rank. Furthermore, he had a bloodline advantage, and his blood soul fusion skills were extremely devastating, so even though he hadn''t donned his suit of battle armor, Jiang Wuyue was still comprehensively crushed.


    Never would Jiang Wuyue have thought that this was possible, yet this was the reality, and he had no choice but to believe it.


    "Are you alright, Wuyue?" Tang Wulin asked in a concerned voice. He was truly concerned this time.


    "Don''t talk to me!" Jiang Wuyue wore a speechless look on his face.


    Tang Wulin sat down beside him, and said, "Pressure can be motivation when used correctly. A spring may be soft, but the more pressure it''s placed under, the stronger it rebounds. You possess brilliant aptitude, but fighting me is completely unfair to you due to our bloodlines. If I didn''t have this bloodline advantage over you, there wouldn''t be such a large disparity between our powers."


    He was being completely genuine on this occasion, and he knew that goading Jiang Wuyue any further would be going too far.


    "Get away from me!" Jiang Wuyue grumbled, "I''m never fighting you again no matter what you say! I have to go back and think carefully about this; there must be something that I''m missing."


    He clambered to his feet as he spoke before walking away.


    Tang Wulin scratched his head as he looked on at Jiang Wuyue''s departing figure. It wouldn''t be easy to get Jiang Wuyue to spar with him again in the future. In any case, it really did appear that he was no longer a match for him anyway.


    Following these sparring matches with Jiang Wuyue, Tang Wulin had completely identified his current situation.


    He had attained a soul core, and the two major energy cores had formed a yin yang vortex, thereby elevating his overall powers to a whole new level. He''d even be able to put up a fight against three-word battle armor masters now, so he had to find another opponent for himself.


    There were still a few days left until the finals of the competition.


    After logging off from the Star Battle Net, Tang Wulin sat down with his legs crossed to meditate and digest everything that he learned through those sparring matches. However, Jiang Wuyue hadn''t been able to place much pressure on him at all, so he hadn''t benefitted much from their sparring matches; the battles had only allowed him to better understand himself.


    As expected, having a soul core was completely different from not having one!


    What he had to do now was to think about how to collate all of his current powers to unleash the full extent of his combat prowess.


    His soul power had been improved all the way to rank 65, and he''d attained a soul core; those were both extremely substantial enhancements, and what he had to do next was to accumulate and consolidate.


    After Tang Wulin awakened from his meditation, it was already the next morning.


    The soul communication ringtone of his Blood God Bracelet suddenly rang out.


    "Hello, Blood One."


    "Come on over; we''re ready to hold your promotion ceremony."


    Tang Wulin''s heart was instantly filled with excitement upon hearing this. He was going to become a colonel! What a massively pleasant surprise! He had only been here for a few months, and as it turned out, the decision to come here was an extremely correct one. Not only had he become vastly more powerful, he was now about to become a colonel, which was considered to be an intermediate level military official.


    After arriving at the Blood God Battalion, Tang Wulin was surprised to find that not only was Blood One waiting for him there, all of the other Blood Gods were also present.


    "Greetings, Superiors!" Tang Wulin immediately stood up straight and extended a military salute.


    Blood One appraised him with a serious expression, and said, "Following verification from the legion and extensive discussions, we''ve decided to accept your request and promote you to the colonel rank as a reward for the accolades that you''ve accumulated, as well as the life force energy you brought to the entire legion. Fringe member of the Blood God Battalion, Tang Wulin, please step forward."


    "Yes!"


    Tang Wulin strode over to Blood One, and Blood Three approached them while carrying a platter in her hands. There was a red cloth draped over the platter, sitting on top of which was a pair of epaulets.


    Each epaulet had two bars and three stars, and both of them were shimmering with golden light.

 Chapter 1008: A Bet?

    Every young man had a soldier dream, and a soldier who didn''t want to become a general wasn''t a good soldier. During their youth, every man had the dream of becoming a military general, and Tang Wulin was no exception to this. As he appraised the epaulets that were being presented to him, a hint of excitement involuntarily appeared on his face.


    Blood One swapped over his epaulets for him in person, and all of the other eight Blood Gods wore faint smiles on their faces.


    Blood One said, "Seeing as your military rank has exceeded lieutenant colonel, from now on, you will be promoted from a fringe member of the Blood God Battalion to a backup Blood God. Your next target is him."


    He pointed at Blood Nine as he spoke before continuing, "Outside of the nine Blood Gods, the backup Blood Gods are the highest-ranking members of the Blood God Battalion, but even so, your upper limit will still only be the senior colonel rank. If you want to progress further than that, then the task ahead of you is very simple; defeat one of the Blood Gods, and you''ll officially replace them, understood?"


    Tang Wulin turned his gaze toward Blood Nine, and Blood Nine was also looking at him. As their eyes met, Blood Nine raised his eyebrows slightly as his smile widened.


    Blood Nine came from the Battle God Hall, and it was undoubtedly the case that he was a Titled Douluo, as well as a three-word battle armor master. There was still a considerable disparity between them!


    However, what Tang Wulin was currently thinking was that following his recent drastic power enhancements, what he needed the most now was a powerful opponent. Only in the face of the pressure exerted on him by powerful opponents could he continue to tap into his latent potential and maintain a fast speed of progression.


    "Understood! Thank you, Superior. Superior Blood Nine, if you have some free time now, I would like to challenge you in the Star Battle Net as we''ll only be able to fight at our full power in the battle net," Tang Wulin immediately said.


    Blood Six couldn''t help but chuckle, "Wulin, you''re biting off way more than you can chew! You have to learn to walk before you try to run."


    Just like Blood One, he was also from the Tang Sect, so he felt a natural connection with Tang Wulin, and he was saying this to remind Tang Wulin not to be overly ambitious.


    An innocent and harmless smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I just want to see how much of a gap there is between myself and Superior Blood Nine so I have a goal to strive toward."


    Blood Nine smiled, and replied, "Sure! I''ve got some free time now, so I''m up for a sparring match."


    He was taking this very seriously, and the massive difference in their cultivation ranks led him to completely believe what Tang Wulin was saying.


    Only Blood One''s expression changed ever so slightly. He had witnessed the entire process through which Tang Wulin had manifested his soul core.


    Manifesting a soul core was the symbol of a seven-ring Soul Sage, and even though Tang Wulin wasn''t a Soul Sage yet, his soul power was far denser than that of the average Soul Master. That, in addition to the fact that he now possessed a soul core meant that his current level of combat prowess was already comparable to that of a Soul Sage. On top of that, his Golden Dragon Spear, two-word battle armor, and immense bloodline power had to also be taken into account. Even though he was only a two-word battle armor master, he was definitely far more powerful than the average two-word battle armor master.


    "Alright, let''s all log on to the Star Battle Net and spectate this battle as well. Perhaps we can offer Wulin some guidance," Blood One proposed.


    Tang Wulin reminded, "Superior, I don''t think spectators are allowed for sparring matches in the battle net."


    All of the Blood Gods burst into laughter upon hearing this, and Blood Three explained in a gentle voice, "Our Blood God Battalion has some special privileges, and one of them is the right to spectate any battle we want, so you don''t have to worry about that."


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this, but then again, it was only to be expected of the Blood God Battalion.


    Blood One turned to Blood Nine, and cautioned, "Wulin won''t be as easy an opponent as you think; you better be on your guard!"


    Blood Nine faltered slightly before bursting into laughter. "Don''t scare me like this, Boss! I''ll be very sad if I have to become a backup Blood God." He hid behind Blood Eight and put on a fearful expression as he spoke, drawing another round of amused laughter from everyone.


    Blood Two glowered at Blood Nine and scolded, "Big Brother is telling you not to get complacent, so listen to him! You''re not a young boy anymore; start taking things more seriously!"


    A peculiar look appeared on Blood Nine''s face as he conceded, "Alright."


    Tang Wulin glanced at Blood Nine, then turned toward Blood Two, and he suddenly discovered that they seemed to share a physical resemblance. Furthermore, Blood NIne was clearly very scared of Blood Two, and this was a genuine and innate sense of fear.


    Blood Three chuckled, "They''re father and son. The fact that their family has two Blood Gods across two generations is quite a feel-good story in our legion."


    Tang Wulin was enlightened upon hearing this.


    Within the Blood God Battalion, the Battle God Hall had the most members with a total of three, consisting of Blood Two, Blood Eight, and Blood Nine, but who would''ve thought that Blood Nine would be Blood Two''s son? This was indeed a feel-good story! Blood Two was a Titled Douluo himself, and his son had also followed in his footsteps; that was very remarkable. However, it was quite apparent from how fearful Blood Nine was toward Blood Two that he had to have suffered a lot during his cultivation.


    "Everyone has matters that need to be attended to later in the day, so let''s go into the Star Battle Net now," Blood One concluded.


    Tang Wulin returned to his own dormitory room, and he was feeling slightly nervous, but more so extremely excited. This was the first time that he was going to be facing a Titled Douluo in a direct battle.


    Titled Douluos were beings who stood at the pinnacle of the entire Soul Master world! All he was hoping for now was that there wouldn''t be too much of a disparity between himself and Blood Nine. Otherwise, there wouldn''t be much point to this battle.


    He logged on to the battle net in a well-rehearsed manner.


    Little Tang appeared within the battle net, and Tang Wulin took a moment to compose himself, sensing all of the changes that were taking place within his body and priming himself into his peak condition.


    He had always performed better under pressure, and the more powerful his opponent was, the more of his own latent potential he''d be able to tap into. As such, even though he was going to be facing the most powerful opponent he had ever encountered, he was only becoming more and more excited, and his condition was improving by the second.


    After arriving at the sports stadium, he quickly found all of the Blood Gods.


    The nicknames for the nine Blood Gods were quite amusing; they had replaced the "Blood" in their titles to "Red", so they were nicknamed Red One all the way through to Red Nine.


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless upon seeing this, but he also had to admit that these were easy names to remember.


    Red Nine strode over to Little Tang before patting him on the shoulder. "Good luck! We''ll count this as a victory for you if you can force me to release my battle armor; how about that?"


    "Sure!" Tang Wulin nodded in response without any hesitation.


    Red Nine smiled, and said, "I heard that you earned a lot of accolades through your forging; how about we make a little bet?"


    This man had to be over 30 years of age, yet he still had the personality of a little kid, and Tang Wulin was feeling rather speechless in response.


    "Alright, how much do you want to bet?" he agreed without any hesitation. It wasn''t a bad thing to be giving himself a bit more pressure.


    Red Nine thought about this for a moment before replying, "Let''s go with 10,000; it won''t be very interesting if we bet any less than that."


    "Oi, don''t bully little kids!" Red Eight strode over before pinching Blood Nine''s ear.


    "Ow! Take it easy, Little Eight! I''m not bullying him! He''s a two-word battle armor master with a soul core, but he only has to force me to release my battle armor to secure victory; aren''t those terms already favorable enough for him? We''re just having some fun anyway; I haven''t done something this interesting for a long time."


    "Hmph!" Blood Eight glared at him in a disappointed manner.


    Blood Nine offered her a fawning smile, "If I win, I''ll split you half, but you don''t have to pay anything if I lose, how about that?"


    Only then did a smile appear on Blood Eight''s face. "Sounds good to me! Keep it down, though; we don''t want Boss and the others to overhear."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched as he listened to this conversation. Just what kind of people was he dealing with?


    However, he was still very grateful toward Blood Eight as she had saved his life twice! Without Blood Eight''s intervention, there was no way that he would''ve been able to survive the attacks from those abyssal emperors.


    "You can begin whenever you''re ready." Blood One''s voice rang out in the distance. The Blood God Battalion was tasked with surveying the entire abyssal passageway. The recent abyssal tide had just concluded, so there most likely wouldn''t be any powerful abyssal being attacking anytime soon, but it was still best to end this as quickly as possible so they could return to their posts.


    Blood Nine made the generous gesture of issuing the fees required to access the competition venue, and the other eight Blood Gods vanished amid flashes of light.


    Tang Wulin and Blood Nine then also disappeared before appearing on the competition platform, facing one another with around 100 meters separating them.

 Chapter 1009: Forced Release

    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and now that the battle was about to commence, a sharp look immediately appeared in his eyes. In contrast, Blood Nine still wore his usual smile on his face.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    Blood Nine made an inviting hand gesture to Tang Wulin, and the latter quickly released his suit of battle armor.


    The shimmering golden suit of battle armor encapsulated his entire body, instantly taking him to over three meters tall. A pair of golden dragon wings spread open on his back, and his aura elevated in a frenzy. He brandished his Golden Dragon Spear in front of him, and it was around four and a half meters in length with a platinum spear projection erupting from on its spearheads.


    Blood Nine''s smile remained unchanged, but he also summoned his soul rings, and they emerged from beneath his feet before revolving around his body.


    There were nine soul rings in total, consisting of three purple and six blacks, and his enormous aura as a Titled Douluo surged through the air.


    Tang Wulin swept his Golden Dragon Spear in front of him, and Blood Nine''s expression changed slightly as he could sense that the aura that he''d released had just been sliced apart by Tang Wulin''s simple gesture. The next thing that he felt was the scorching sensation radiating from Tang Wulin''s body.


    It wasn''t scorching heat in a temperature sense, but instead, a scorching aura that originated from his bloodline. Four golden soul rings emerged from beneath Tang Wulin''s feet before revolving rhythmically around him, and his aura continued to swell drastically. In particular, his blood essence power was even making Blood Nine''s blood essence shudder slightly.


    It was no wonder that Blood One had such a lofty opinion of him; he really was something else!


    Blood Nine''s eyes narrowed slightly, and a cautious look appeared on his face.


    He was a Titled Douluo, so he naturally couldn''t initiate an attack, so it was left to Tang Wulin to rush forward like lightning toward Blood Nine with his Golden Dragon Spear pointing directly forward.


    He withdrew his wings slightly and didn''t unleash any of his abilities for now. He had been able to fight in a carefree manner against Jiang Wuyue, but he was currently facing one of the nine Blood Gods!


    He held his Golden Dragon Spear by his side with its spear projection pointing forward, and at this point, his pupils had already become vertical. His yin yang vortex was rotating at full speed at his behest, and his powers had been elevated to the very max.


    The 100 meters between them was covered in virtually the blink of an eye, and when they were still around 30 meters away from one another, Tang Wulin tapped his foot in the ground, propelling his body into the air like a bolt of golden lightning. He pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward, and the spear projection swelled drastically in size. He flapped his dragon wings and unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight, instantly elevating his speed to such an extent that he broke through the sound barrier.


    A sonic boom erupted, and the platinum spear projection reached Blood Nine in a flash.


    His speed was extraordinary for someone of his cultivation rank, and not only was this due to the enhancements from his suit of battle armor, his abilities were also contributing to this. With his ultra-powerful physical constitution, the speed that Tang Wulin was currently displaying was definitely not inferior to that of a Titled Douluo.


    Blood Nine was also taking Tang Wulin more seriously now, and as soon as Tang Wulin reached him, he also unleashed his martial soul.


    A strange weapon appeared in his hand. It was also a spear, but it had only one sharp spearhead that was around a meter in length. The spearhead was in the shape of a snake with a forked tip; it was a snake spear! [A snake spear is a traditional Chinese weapon, you can Google search an image of it for an idea of what it looks like.]


    The nine soul rings that were originally revolving around his body instantly appeared around his snake spear, and the light erupted from the front of the snake spear, resembling a large snake flicking its forked tongue. He flicked his wrist, and the spearhead of the snake spear swept toward Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.


    No spear projection was released, but in the instant that the snake spear swept through the air, the surrounding air seemed to have twisted and warped in an attempt to refract Tang Wulin''s spear projection.


    However, right at this moment, the power of his spear projection completely erupted.


    After coming into contact with the warped space, the spear projection of the Golden Dragon Spear did indeed waver momentarily, but in the next instant, it pierced directly through the warped space before reaching Blood Nine in a flash.


    Blood Nine raised an eyebrow as his body gently swayed to evade the spear projection, and at the same time, his snake spear clashed with Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.


    "Ding!" A crisp clang rang out, and the snake spear shot back like lightning. Tang Wulin suddenly sensed a strange rotational force acting upon his Golden Dragon Spear, drawing it off to the side. The snake spear then reappeared at a lightning-fast speed, and on this occasion, it appeared right in front of Tang Wulin''s chest.


    What incredible attacking speed! Was this the attacking speed of a Titled Douluo? However, the problem was that this attack wasn''t actually able to swat his Golden Dragon Spear aside, and this was an observation that came as quite a shock to Blood Nine as well!


    As a Titled Douluo, he naturally also possessed the strength of a Titled Douluo, and if he''d been facing a normal Soul Emperor, that instant of contact just now would''ve been enough to wrench the weapon directly out of his opponent''s hand.


    However, in the instant that his snake spear struck Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, he felt as if he had just attacked a mountain, and the sharpness of Tang Wulin''s spear struck him with a burst of pain through his snake spear.


    After that, the Golden Dragon Spear was diverted off its original trajectory, but it was still hurtling toward his shoulder with devastating force.


    As things currently were, his snake spear was going to strike Tang Wulin''s chest, but at the same time, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear was going to strike his shoulder.


    Blood Nine had seen video footage of the Golden Dragon Spear, and he had a very clear recollection of its ability to devour energy. Furthermore, Tang Wulin''s defenses were being bolstered by his suit of two-word battle armor. As a Titled Douluo, it wouldn''t be difficult for him to break through the defenses of a suit of two-word battle armor, but his spear would definitely be forced to slow down during the process, and by that time, he''d already have been injured by Tang Wulin''s spear. Was it worth it?


    As a Titled Douluo, Blood Nine would feel very embarrassed if he were to be wounded by a Soul Emperor. As such, he instantly made his decision, and his snake spear changed directions, sliding away from Tang Wulin''s chest and aiming toward his right armpit instead.


    His attack was going to strike Tang Wulin first, and in doing so, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear would naturally draw to an abrupt halt.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin also sprang into action.


    The surface of his Dragon Moon battle armor instantly took on a mirror-like appearance, and he made no attempt to evade as he unleashed a platinum spear projection from his Golden Dragon Spear, which hurtled directly toward Blood Nine''s shoulder.


    Soul power fluctuations abruptly emerged from Blood Nine''s shoulder, forming a burst of warped light that forcibly refracted Tang Wulin''s spear projection. Even so, the spear projection still inflicted a gash onto his shoulder. Thankfully, it was only a glancing blow, so it didn''t manage to absorb any of his life force energy, but who would''ve thought that a Titled Douluo would be injured by a Soul Emperor after just a single exchange?


    At the same time, the snake spear had also reached close to Tang Wulin''s armpit, and Tang Wulin only had time to shift his body slightly in response. He made no attempt to evade; instead, he was using his breastplate to take the attack.


    "Ding!" The snake spear instantly shattered his two-word battle armor''s protective barrier, and the surface of the battle armor caved in slightly, but at the same time, it began to flash rapidly.


    Blood Nine had thought that even though Tang Wulin had managed to hurt him, this would be the end of the battle, but much to his surprise, his snake spear failed to pierce through Tang Wulin''s two-word battle armor. How could this be?


    He had already released his first soul skill to increase the sharpness of his snake spear!


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly let go of his Golden Dragon Spear, and he made a grab for the snake spear with his left golden dragon claw while lashing out with his right hand.


    Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws!


    A massive set of golden dragon claws appeared out of thin air, and countless Bluesilver Emperor vines also erupted forth before fusing into the sharp claws from behind!


    This was a blood soul fusion skill, so to put it more accurately, this was his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws!


    The enormous pressure and destructive aura emanating from the attack made even Blood Nine''s expression change drastically, and in that instant, he could sense that his life was coming under threat.


    This was not good!


    How were this kid''s attacks so powerful?


    His snake spear shuddered as its third soul ring lit up, and a giant python suddenly erupted from the spear, crashing viciously into Tang Wulin''s chest and sending him flying back through the air. Even so, the Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws, which encompassed a range of over 20 meters, still reached him with devastating force.


    This was one of Tang Wulin''s most powerful offensive abilities, and it was the culmination of his Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear right-hand soul bone, Golden Dragon King bloodline, battle armor, Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, and his blood soul fusion skills. This attack possessed Titled Douluo level destructive power.


    Tang Wulin was sent flying by Blood Nine and was throwing up blood as he flew through the air, but his attack was also unavoidable.


    Blood Nine instantly made an accurate assessment, and he was stunned to discover that he wouldn''t be able to handle this attack unless he released his battle armor.


    But how was this possible?


    His body sprang into action as soon as he made his judgment, and his suit of grey battle armor instantly appeared over his body as an emergency response. He withdrew his snake spear before abruptly spreading open the wings on his back, and a halo of grey light was also released.

 Chapter 1010: Battling Blood Nine

    The Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws abruptly faltered in mid-air as if they had plunged into a swamp, and the speed of the attack was significantly hampered.


    He took advantage of this opportunity to sweep his snake spear upward, and his sixth soul ring lit up as a giant python projection appeared behind him. Countless light projections immediately erupted from his snake spear, making it appear as if there were countless snakes dancing in a frenzy before clashing with the Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws.


    The claws were shattered as a result, but Blood Nine was also forced to descend onto the ground. If one could see through his visor at this moment, they''d discover that he currently wore a completely stunned look on his face.


    Never would he have thought that he''d be forced into such a passive state by a Soul Emperor.


    How was this possible? His opponent was only a six-ring Soul Emperor!


    He had been full of confidence when he had stated that it would be considered as his loss if he were forced to release his battle armor, but never did he think that he''d actually lose!


    However, the fact of the matter was that even though he''d been able to nullify his opponent''s attack through the power of his three-word battle armor, he was still forced down onto the ground by the enormous impact. This was downright incredible!


    Just how incredibly strong was his opponent?


    Tang Wulin was also in a rather sorry state. He felt as if there were something heavy weighing down upon his chest, and even though his battle armor had withstood most of the attack, it was still an attack from a Titled Douluo, after all. Two bursts of soul power erupted from the snake spear and squirmed into his body in a frenzy. Even though his battle armor had kept around 80% of that power at bay, the remaining 20% was still enough to make him feel as if his internal organs were on fire. Thankfully, his yin yang vortex was able to gradually nullify the destructive power of these two bursts of energy through its rapid rotation.


    As expected, a Titled Douluo really was something else!


    At this moment, all of the eight spectating Blood Gods wore different expressions on their faces, and Blood Eight was the most astonished of all.


    Blood Nine had just lost the bet after only a single exchange!


    How was this possible? Since when did Tang Wulin become this powerful?


    She was the one who had first taken him to the Blood God Battalion, and even though he''d played an important role during the battle against the abyssal creatures, there was no way that he could compare with the Blood Gods. However, only a short time had passed since then, and he was able to force Blood Nine to release his suit of three-word battle armor in a direct clash while sustaining minimal injuries himself.


    Anyone would struggle to believe that this was happening, but the truth was right before their eyes.


    A faint smile appeared on Blood One''s face. This little guy really was unique. That claw attack just now definitely wasn''t a simple soul skill.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath to repress his injuries, and the look in his eyes had become even more serious. He was going to be facing a three-word battle armor master from now on, so this battle was only going to become more arduous for him.


    Blood Nine''s expression had darkened considerably. He was feeling very shocked and embarrassed! All of the other Blood Gods were spectating this battle, and even his father was present.


    He had confidently made a bet with Tang Wulin prior to the commencement of the battle, thinking that he''d be able to earn some easy accolades, but who would''ve thought that he would''ve already lost the best after just a single exchange? Theoretically speaking, this match should already be concluded with him as the loser. How had this kid become so powerful?


    In contrast, Tang Wulin''s eyes were currently practically burning with battle intent.


    His Golden Dragon Spear had returned to his grasp, and his Dragon Moon battle armor, which had caved in slightly, had also gradually returned to normal. Even though it was only a suit of two-word battle armor, it was constructed from a spirit alloy comprised of three different types of metals, so its offensive and defensive prowess, as well as its self-repair abilities, were far superior to that of normal suits of two-word battle armor.


    Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward before raising his head and letting loose a long cry. He spread open his wings before flapping them vigorously, launching himself into the air in the process. Golden Dragon Takes Flight!


    A thunderous dragon''s roar rang out as a massive golden dragon revolved around his body, and the golden dragon was being bolstered by countless Bluesilver Emperor vines. As a result, Tang Wulin''s aura was elevated to its very maximum extent in virtually the blink of an eye.


    Blood Nine harrumphed coldly before pointing his snake spear in Tang Wulin''s direction, and his sixth soul ring lit up once again. The massive python projection reappeared, and dazzling light also erupted from the snake spear in his hands. At the same time, his three-word battle armor domain, which seemed to be comprised of countless giant pythons, had expanded to cover an extremely huge area.


    Right at this moment, something was also happening to Tang Wulin''s body, and he unleashed several abilities at the same time.


    A halo of golden light abruptly proliferated through the air beneath him; this was none other than his Violent Golden Dragon Domain.


    The two domains clashed, and Blood Nine''s battle armor domain was almost instantly stained a golden color.


    The potency of a domain and the area it encompassed was directly related to the Soul Master''s powers, but there were also differences in the calibers of domains.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the caliber of Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain far outstripped that of Blood Nine''s battle armor domain.


    As such, despite the fact that Blood Nine held an absolute cultivation rank advantage, his domain wasn''t actually able to overwhelm Tang Wulin''s.


    Tang Wulin''s body faltered slightly, but at the same time, Blood Nine was also affected by the Violent Golden Dragon Domain, striking him with a clear feeling that his own aura was being repressed.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly let loose a thunderous dragon''s roar as he hurtled through the air.


    The giant golden dragon head formed by the Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Takes Flight suddenly expanded, and it also took on a more substantial form.


    An earsplitting roar rang out as peerlessly powerful blood essence fluctuations erupted forth.


    Even as a Titled Douluo, Blood Nine was struck by an instant of disorientation, and his bloodline was clearly being dominated by that thunderous roar. The giant python projection behind him displayed an even stronger reaction; it was instantly shattered and vanished into nothingness!


    His sixth soul skill had been destroyed by Tang Wulin in an instant!


    After letting loose that almighty roar, the giant dragon head abruptly shuddered, and the entire giant golden dragon suddenly became more substantial as it hurtled toward Blood Nine right after it shattered his sixth soul skill.


    This appeared to have only been one continuous attack unleashed by Tang Wulin, but in reality, he had unleashed his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Takes Flight, Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Roar, and Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens in quick succession.


    He was facing a Titled Douluo, so he certainly didn''t dare to hold back.


    Blood Nine instantly returned to his senses, and he was quite stunned that his sixth soul skill had been destroyed so easily, but right at this moment, his three-word battle armor suddenly displayed an emergency reaction. A glittering and translucent grey light barrier appeared over the surface of the lavish suit of battle armor, immediately blocking the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. At the same time, he swept his snake spear upward, and countless streaks of light abruptly erupted from it. He didn''t use any of his soul skill for this attack; instead, it was the purest battle technique. His immense soul power was enhanced by his suit of three-word battle armor, instantly elevating his powers to the Hyper Douluo level. Even without using any soul skills, he was still equivalent to a Hyper Douluo in power!


    Their absolute cultivation rank disparity was on full display in this moment. Even after receiving so many enhancements, the Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens was still destroyed by the snake spear, and its residual power could only send faint ripples running over the surface of the three-word battle armor''s protective barrier.


    However, Blood Nine was still forced back into retreat by the tremendous force behind that attack.


    In the face of a three-word battle armor master, it was already very remarkable that Tang Wulin had been able to accomplish this. He only possessed rank 65 soul power and a suit of two-word battle armor, so theoretically, his powers hadn''t even reached the Titled Douluo level. However, he was able to force back a Titled Douluo who was also a three-word battle armor master; no one would''ve believed that this was possible.


    Blood Nine''s defenses were completely impenetrable, and at this point, he had already calmed down and was appraising his opponent in a serious manner. Light flashed from his snake spear, and his third soul skill was activated once again. A giant python erupted from the spear, hurtling directly toward the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, which had already been nullified during the clash.

 Chapter 1011: Who Says Small Wings are Useless?

    The Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens was vanquished, and Tang Wulin was revealed. It was also at this moment that Blood Nine was suddenly struck by a strange sense of oppression. This feeling originated from deep within his heart, and it felt as if a sense of immense pressure had welled up in his heart. Furthermore, this pressure was bringing along with it a potent sense of danger.


    The dazzling Golden Dragon Spear and countless platinum spear projections appeared before his eyes, and it appeared as if each and every spear projection had been imbued with a golden Bluesilver Emperor vine. The spear projections abruptly compressed the surrounding air, and his body was also severely compressed along with it. Even though his snake spear soul skill had vanquished the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, it was instantly destroyed by the countless spear projections immediately thereafter. All of a sudden, all of the spear projections instantly fused as one before striking the protective barrier of his suit of three-word battle armor.


    A crisp clang rang out from the protective barrier, and immediately thereafter, a speck of platinum light instantly pierced through. Cracks began to expand from that single point, branching out in all directions, and it was also right in this instant that the platinum super projection struck the suit of three-word battle armor.


    Blood Nine''s three-word battle armor began to cave in, and a strong sense of peril welled up in his heart. He let loose a loud roar as his seventh soul ring finally lit up. All of a sudden, his body flew backward, and at the same time, the snake spear in his hands expanded in size. His body swayed, and he quickly transformed into a giant python that was over 30 meters in length.


    The giant python opened its mouth before biting toward Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear Fury of the Masses. At the same time, another giant python appeared soundlessly behind Tang Wulin, and it also opened its mouth before pouncing toward his body.


    Blood Nine had unleashed his martial soul true body, which indicated that he was truly beginning to fight with all his power.


    Even though Tang Wulin had already attained a soul core, there was no way for him to attain a martial soul true body prior to becoming a seven-ring Soul Sage.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s four golden soul rings suddenly transformed into six soul rings, and the final soul ring in the sequence was a crimson soul ring, while the one next to it was greenish-golden in color.


    Green and red weren''t exactly complementary colors, but they were somehow in perfect harmony here. The crimson soul ring began to glow with dazzling light, and it could be clearly seen that there were two golden patterns running around the surface of the soul ring.


    Immediately thereafter, the crimson soul ring began to transform, changing from its original crimson color to an orange-golden color. The two golden lines running along its surface seemed to have spread over Tang Wulin''s entire body, making his suit of two-word battle armor appear even more lavish and exuberant.


    A powerful aura abruptly erupted from Tang Wulin''s body, and all of the surrounding elemental particles seemed to be instantly flowing toward him. Blood Nine and all of the spectating Blood Gods were stunned to discover that in just an instant, Tang Wulin''s powers had swelled drastically, and all of the elemental particles on the competition platform had disappeared.


    Brilliant light radiated from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, and his Fury of the Masses suddenly separated into countless spear projections again before striking Blood Nine''s martial soul true body. One sharp spear projection after another crashed into Blood Nine''s martial soul before shattering into bursts of light, and his massive python body was forced to stumble back in retreat.


    The second giant python that had appeared behind Tang Wulin was Blood Nine''s most powerful soul spirit. It had instantaneous teleportation as its innate ability, thereby allowing it to appear behind Tang Wulin. Just as its gargantuan mouth was about to swallow Tang Wulin whole, a mountainous dark golden figure suddenly appeared out of thin air before crashing down from above!


    "Boom!" The massive figure crashed directly down onto the giant python''s body, crushing it firmly into the ground.


    The Tyrant Dragon had appeared!


    Compared to its past form, the Tyrant Dragon had become even more gigantic, and was towering at a height of over 70 meters. What was even more astonishing was that a pair of dragon wings had appeared on its back, but what was quite comical was that those wings were completely disproportionate to the rest of its body. Even after being fully spread open, the wings only had a wingspan of around 10 meters, which was clearly nowhere near enough for its gargantuan body to take flight.


    The dark golden light emanating from its body seemed to be brighter than before, and its thick and heavy scales struck the onlooker with a terrifying sense of intimidation. As it crashed down from above, it crushed Blood Nine''s soul spirit heavily to the ground.


    Generally speaking, the only soul spirits that could have a decisive effect during battles were soul spirits attained by Soul Masters after progressing to the Soul Sage level. This was because the vast majority of soul spirits were incapable of evolution, so the soul spirits that were attained early on in one''s cultivation journey simply wouldn''t be able to do much in battle.


    It was exceedingly rare for one to be able to use their bloodline to nurtured their soul spirits to undergo evolutions, but that was exactly what Tang Wulin was capable of.


    Blood Nine clearly didn''t possess that ability, so his most powerful soul spirit was this giant python. Not only did he have perfect synergy with his martial soul, it possessed extremely powerful combat prowess, and it was over 10,000 years of age.


    Unfortunately, it was coming up against a Tyrant Dragon, the patriarch of the land dragons, the unyielding soul spirit, and the very epitome of absolute strength.


    The giant python was enhanced by Blood Nine''s powers as a Titled Douluo, so in terms of combat prowess, it may have actually been able to match the Tyrant Dragon. However, the Tyrant Dragon had appeared far too abruptly, and the python had been crushed by the Tyrant Dragon from the very beginning.


    It was as if a gigantic steel anvil had crashed down upon a snake. The giant python''s cavernous mouth instantly extended even wider, and massive plumes of grey energy were erupting from its body, clearly indicating that it had been severely wounded.


    Throughout this entire process, Tang Wulin hadn''t even taken a single glance behind him. His separated Fury of the Masses was forcing Blood Nine to stumble back in retreat, and in the next instant, all of the spear projections converged to combine as one once again. It then began to inflict a series of large wounds onto Blood Nine''s martial soul true body.


    Right at this moment, a streak of golden light also appeared right in front of Blood Nine. Dazzling golden light erupted forth, and the streak of golden light had appeared to be nothing more than a Bluesilver Emperor vine just a moment ago, but it then instantly transformed into a giant golden python that was over 15 meters in length.


    The giant python''s body was shimmering with a mirror-like gleam as it wound itself around Blood Nine''s body, but Blood Nine was able to destroy it right away. It was also right at this moment that another figure silently appeared. This was a very handsome and refined-looking middle-aged man. He appeared like a fluttering flower petal right above Blood Nine''s head before opening his mouth to expel a burst of pink energy. The pink energy descended from above before encompassing the giant python''s entire body, and all of a sudden, Blood Nine felt as if all the pain and peril that he had been afflicted by had completely vanished.


    He was struck by an indescribably comfortable sensation, and all of his pain and frustration were instantly wiped away, making him feel very drowsy and sleepy.


    Right at this moment, the Fury of the Masses spear projection abruptly pierced through his suit of three-word battle armor, then puncturing through his body right below his jaw and pinning him firmly to the ground. Scintillating platinum light erupted from the Golden Dragon Spear, devouring all of the surrounding energy in a frenzy. The giant python trembled and struggled, but the drowsy sensation and gentle fragrance wafting through the air completely numbed his sense of pain.


    Tang Wulin descended from the sky with brilliant golden light radiating from his body, lashing out at the giant python''s body with his Golden Dragon Whips its Tail before unleashing another Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws right into the python''s head.


    "Thump!" The giant python was slammed into the ground, and the five deep claw wounds almost punctured through his skull.


    Only then did the intense agony that was shooting through Blood Nine''s body make him return to his senses, and a look of shock and fury appeared in his eyes as his ninth soul ring lit up. At the same time, his entire suit of battle armor also took on a crystalline quality.


    However, there was no way that Tang Wulin was going to allow him to turn the tables.


    Brilliant golden light erupted from Goldsong''s body as it bound Blood Nine''s body with all its might. Extremely dazzling platinum light also radiated from the Golden Dragon Spear as it devoured his life force energy in a frenzy.


    Tang Wulin''s soul power also erupted forth like an overwhelming flood as his yin yang vortex rotated at an insane speed, dragging his Golden Dragon Spear straight from the giant python''s neck toward its head.


    "Boom!"


    A gigantic figure descended from above, and the scenes that were currently unfolding had all of the spectating Blood Gods struggling to pick their jaws up from the ground.


    The Tyrant Dragon behind Tang Wulin had sprung up into the air. With its enormous body, the distance it had to cover to leap over to Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t something to be scoffed at.


    However, its tiny dragon wings were flapping rapidly with all their might, and they actually managed to give the Tyrant Dragon a bit more hang time, thereby allowing it to fly a little further.


    Its massive feet stomped directly down onto the giant python''s head, shattering it like a watermelon.

 Chapter 1012: Blood Nines Tragic Fate

    Who says small wings are useless? The Tyrant Dragon had proved through its actions that even small dragon wings could have a decisive impact.


    Blood Nine''s body silently dissipated into specks of golden light, and Tang Wulin''s face had also turned completely pale at this point. His yin yang vortex had been rotating at a supramaximal speed, and beads of blood were seeping out of his pores. Even his hands were trembling slightly as he held onto his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Even he was struggling to believe that this was all real, let alone everyone else.


    He had won?


    That''s right, this was the feeling he had been searching for; this was the feeling of fighting a battle with everything he had. He had finally used everything that he''d attained following his recent breakthrough.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was very close to 200,000 years of age, but due to the fact that its growth had been accelerated by the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, it was slightly weaker than a true Great Beast, which was why it had initially only given Tang Wulin a red soul ring.


    Since then, Tang Wulin had finally completely consolidated its power. In addition, he''d attained a soul core, and that, in conjunction with the nurturing effect of his bloodline power had allowed the Beautiful Silk Tulip to take a step that had stumped countless soul beasts in the past. In just a short few days after it had become a soul spirit, it had finally become a true Great Beast and given Tang Wulin an orange-golden soul ring.


    The platinum light radiating from the Golden Dragon Spear receded, and light flashed from Tang Wulin''s body as he also appeared outside the competition venue.


    All of the muscles all over Blood Nine''s entire body were spasming slightly. Dying was definitely not a good experience, even in a simulated setting. Tang Wulin was also in a very bad condition. His face was completely pale, and he could barely even remain on his feet, but his eyes were particularly bright and glowing with irrepressible excitement.


    The other eight Blood Gods stood beside them and stared at the two of them in a speechless manner for a long time.


    This was undoubtedly a battle that had completely stunned them.


    When Tang Wulin had issued a challenge to Blood Nine, they had thought that this was going to be nothing more than a sparring match to motivate Tang Wulin. Even Blood Nine had been of the same opinion, and the bet that he''d made with Tang Wulin was only a joke. As such, throughout the entire battle, he had never initiated any attacks; he''d been engaged in passive defense the entire time so Tang Wulin could better express himself, but who would''ve thought that he''d express himself to this extent?


    The immense combat prowess that Tang Wulin had displayed made it impossible for him to even turn the tables in the end.


    Even when he''d been forced to release his suit of battle armor, Blood Nine still hadn''t thought that Tang Wulin would be able to defeat him. However, after his body was completely shattered and the Tyrant Dragon had dealt him that lethal blow, he had been left in complete shock.


    How had he lost? He was a Titled Douluo, and his opponent was only a Soul Emperor! No matter how complacent he''d been, Tang Wulin shouldn''t have been anywhere near powerful enough to kill him! Theoretically speaking, a Soul Emperor level two-word battle armor master shouldn¡¯t have even been able to break through his defenses!


    However, the fact of the matter was that he had lost. He could go on and on about how he had held back or how he had been too complacent, but the undeniable truth was that he''d been defeated. Furthermore, it was a complete and utter defeat where he''d been killed on the spot!


    It had to be said that the Star Battle Net was a fantastic piece of technology; people could battle in here without any inhibition, nor did they have to worry about hurting their opponents. But wasn''t that supposed to be the sentiment that Blood Nine was experiencing? Why had the roles been reversed?


    Blood Two raised an eyebrow and walked over to Blood Nine as he said in an indifferent voice, "Well done!"


    After that, he turned and left.


    Blood Nine''s flesh immediately began to crawl upon hearing this. He was so screwed! His father was clearly fuming and was most likely going to force him to endure hellish training again.


    Blood Eight gave him a cold glare, and said, "I''m not paying for your bet!"


    She also departed after that.


    The astonishment in Blood Three''s eyes gradually faded, and she strode over to Tang Wulin''s side before draping an arm across his shoulders. "You really gave us a massively pleasant surprise there! Is that orange-golden soul ring of yours from a 100,000-year-old soul spirit?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Blood Five was a man of few words, but he gave Tang Wulin a huge thumbs-up.


    Blood Four, whom Tang Wulin wasn''t very familiar with, nodded at him, and Blood Six chuckled, "Nicely done. From now on, you''re Blood Nine, although you might not be able to hold onto that title for too long."


    That''s right, in the instant that Tang Wulin defeated Blood Nine, he had replaced him and been promoted from a backup Blood God to a true Blood God.


    Blood One smiled, and said, "You are the youngest Blood God in the history of the Blood God Battalion. You''ll have one month to prepare; during this one month, he''s not allowed to challenge you. However, after that, he''ll definitely try to take back his title, so you have to work hard!"


    Blood Nine? He had become Blood Nine?


    Tang Wulin was rooted to the spot.


    He was naturally aware that this stint as Blood Nine was most likely going to be a very brief one. After all, if Blood Nine hadn''t held back against him, there was no way that he could''ve won.


    With that in mind, he shook his head, and said, "With all due respect, Blood One, I don''t have what it takes to be Blood Nine. He held back against me and adopted passive defense throughout the entire battle."


    Blood One smiled, and countered, "No, you won, and regardless of what happened during the battle, you''re now Blood Nine. This is going to provide motivation to both you and him. At the very least, you''ll get to be Blood Nine for a month."


    A wry smile appeared on Blood Nine''s face. "You''ve screwed me over big time, you little bastard! I''m going to wish I was never born during the upcoming month, I won''t be holding back when I challenge you after that, so you better brace yourself!"


    Tang Wulin turned to Blood Nine, and he didn''t know what to say. As the winner of the battle, offering him consolation would just make it seem like he''s gloating, wouldn''t it?


    Blood Seven couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "That''s what you get! Speaking of which, you really gave us quite a surprise, Wulin; especially when you summoned those three soul spirits of yours. All of them are so powerful and they were instrumental to your victory. On top of that, your offensive power is so immense that even a suit of three-word battle armor is unable to withstand it; that conjoined weapon of yours is extremely useful!"


    Tang Wulin was naturally only able to defeat Blood Nine as the latter had intentionally held back, but conversely, the fact that he was able to penetrate the defenses of a suit of three-word battle armor indicated that his offensive prowess had definitely reached the Titled Douluo level.


    Tang Wulin had used close to 10 blood soul fusion skills during that, and that final attack had only been so effective primarily due to the effect of the orange-golden soul ring of his.


    A 100,000-year-old soul ring could bestow two soul skills, and an orange-golden soul ring could bestow even more soul skills than that.


    The soul skill that Tang Wulin had used was called Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was the patriarch of all immortal plants, and it was also one of the most regal types of immortal plants. It was capable of absorbing and digesting every type of natural energy between heaven and earth, and that ability was converted into one of Tang Wulin''s soul skills, which was Devouring Heaven and Earth.


    The effect of Devouring Heaven and Earth was that it was able to instantly draw all of the natural energies and elements within a set area into Tang Wulin''s body, thereby drastically enhancing his combat prowess for a short time. At his current cultivation rank, the ability could enhance his overall combat prowess by over 60%. As his soul power rank continued to increase, the proportion of enhancement would also increase.


    As such, the Devouring Heaven and Earth soul skill had been instrumental behind Tang Wulin''s increased powers at the very end, as well as his ability to unleash his Fury of the Masses for a second time. That was an assistance soul skill that was over a 100,000-year-old caliber, and even the enhancements brought to him by his suit of battle armor were factored into its effect. In that instant, Tang Wulin had truly attained the power of a Titled Douluo, which was why he''d been able to puncture the suit of three-word battle armor.

 Chapter 1013: The Youngest Blood God

    As for the attack that had been unleashed by the Beautiful Silk Tulip soul spirit, that couldn''t actually be referred to as an attack. Instead, it was Beautiful Silk Tulip''s innate Beautiful Silk Fragrance. The Beautiful Silk Fragrance could cure all poisons and also clear away impurities, both of which were very beneficial effects. However, during this process, one''s sense of pain would vanish, and they''d completely relax, which was why Blood Nine hadn''t felt any pain after being struck by the initial attack. In the end, he was only able to react after a lethal blow had already been dealt, by which time it was already too late.


    Hence, this soul skill was supposed to be an assistance and healing type soul skill, but it could also be used for other purposes, as was demonstrated.


    Even Blood Nine didn''t really know how he''d lost, but the undeniable truth was that he''d been defeated.


    The victory tally above Tang Wulin''s head increased by one, and he maintained a perfect battle record in the Star Battle Net. This battle had most definitely been his most perilous one, but he still won in the end.


    After logging out of the Star Battle Net and emerging from his Star Cabin, Tang Wulin immediately sat down with his legs crossed to meditate.


    This battle had had a very profound impact on him, and it could be said that this was the first time that he''d completely integrated his blood soul fusion skills into his battle techniques.


    If it weren''t for the formation of his soul core and his Beautiful Silk Tulip soul spirit, there would''ve been no way for him to secure victory, even if Blood Nine had held back. After fusing all of these abilities together, Tang Wulin felt for the first time that he''d already begun to attain the combat prowess of a high-grade Soul Master.


    This stint of meditation was extremely important to him for consolidation purposes. As expected, battling against a powerful being was the best way to examine oneself. At the same time, both of his major energy cores had truly stabilized during this battle, thereby allowing him to begin to control all of his power.


    He didn''t have twin martial souls, but it was almost like he did.


    He recalled that he had once been very envious of Wu Siduo''s self soul fusion skill, but now, his blood soul fusion skills had completely surpassed her level. His blood soul fusion skill possessed enormous explosive power, and his combat prowess had finally reached the Titled Duoluo level.


    It was already the next day by the time Tang Wulin concluded his meditation. He was completely reinvigorated, and even his spiritual power seemed to have improved significantly.


    There was a message left on his Blood God Bracelet, telling him to go to the Blood God Battalion after his cultivation.


    Tang Wulin replied to the message to confirm a time with Blood One, to which Blood One replied that he wanted to see him right away.


    Thus, after doing some stretches, he picked up his Golden Dragon Spear and took the elevator before arriving at the main office of the Blood God Battalion.


    Blood One and Blood Three were the only Blood Gods present.


    "Senior Blood One." Tang Wulin made his way over to Blood One.


    Blood Three had a platter in her hands, upon which was draped a red cloth.


    Blood One gestured for Tang Wulin to come closer while removing the cloth on the platter.


    There was a Blood God Bracelet and two epaulets on the platter.


    The Blood God Bracelet was of a reddish-golden color, and it still had a rose pattern engraved on its surface, but it looked even more vibrant. The epaulets each had a shimmering golden general star on it, and the general stars were surrounded by an embroidered pattern of golden threads. These were major general epaulets!


    Tang Wulin''s heart rate was beginning to elevate.


    Blood One handed the Blood God Bracelet over to him. "You can transfer your information into this new Blood God Bracelet. As one of the nine Blood Gods, you will be entitled to some special privileges, which will be explained to you by Blood Three in due time. Always remember this; we may have special privileges, but those special privileges are solely designed to help us better oppose abyssal creatures, and they''re not to be used for personal gain."


    He removed the colonel epaulets from Tang Wulin''s shoulders before replacing them with these new ones.


    Blood Three smiled, and said, "You are the youngest Blood God in the history of the Blood God Battalion, and also the youngest major general in the history of the entire federation. Congratulations, Blood Nine!"


    Everything felt a little surreal to Tang Wulin, and he was struck by a sense of uneasiness and insecurity. He didn''t really deserve the title of Blood Nine. At the same time, he was feeling rather guilty. Blood Nine had held back so he could express himself to his heart''s content, yet he''d taken advantage of that, and was now taking something that belonged to him.


    "Are you feeling insecure or perhaps uneasy?" Blood One asked in an indifferent voice.


    Tang Wulin looked at the heavy epaulets on his shoulders, and a wry smile appeared on his face. "A bit of both, I guess. With these epaulets, I feel like I won''t even dare to step out of my dormitory now. After all, I don''t actually possess power befitting of this title."


    Blood One said in a serious voice, "Then work hard so you can attain that power! This is to motivate you, and also to give you a sense of urgency. Are you really just going to return your title as Blood Nine in a month without putting up a fight? That''s not what we want to see, and I''m sure the former Blood Nine doesn''t want to see that, either. What you have to do is protect this honor at all costs, understood?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. He had to protect this honor! But was he really capable of doing that? No, he couldn''t allow himself to have second thoughts. He had to do everything in his power to protect what he had so that even if he failed, he''d have no regrets.


    Blood One nodded with a pleased expression at the sight of the determined look that had gradually appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes. "You''re constantly creating miracles, and we, as your seniors and comrades, are more than willing to bear witness to your meteoric rise. Do your best; your rate of growth has already exceeded my expectations, and you really are fit to be the leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters. What you have to do is work even harder and improve yourself at all costs. The responsibilities you bear are very heavy, and they certainly don''t just lie with the Blood God Legion.


    "To put things into perspective, the future of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect hinge on your future. The task is great and the path ahead will be a long and arduous one. However, you don''t have to think about those burdens right now as you have no right to shoulder them as you are now. All you have to do is make yourself powerful enough so you attain that right."


    "Yes! I understand."


    A smile suddenly appeared on Blood One''s face. "Seeing as you were able to defeat Blood Nine yesterday, I think the target that I set for your mission was too easy. As such, I''m going to change the mission; in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, you have to become the champion of the Soul Master battle discipline, and you also have to secure a top-three berth in the mecha battle discipline. Otherwise, I''m going to prohibit you from leaving the legion base for an entire year."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. "But that''s..."


    Blood One waved a hand to cut him off. "This is an order. As a soldier, the first thing that you have to learn is to follow orders. That''s it."


    Blood One departed after that, leaving a dumbstruck Tang Wulin behind.


    The original mission was already difficult enough, yet the difficulty had just been increased again! Tang Wulin was suddenly kicking himself for challenging Blood Nine. He was already under a lot of pressure, yet here he was piling even more pressure on himself! He had truly shot himself in the foot!


    Blood Three smiled, and said, "He only has such high requirements for you because he holds you in very high regard. Do your best; we all believe that you can complete the mission."


    Tang Wulin wore a sour expression as he sighed, "Can he lower his expectations for me? I''m being crushed by the weight of his expectations!"


    Blood Three chuckled, "You''ll have to convince him of that yourself. I think you should go and take a walk. As a young man, don''t you want to go and show off your epaulets to your friends? There are less than 20 major generals in our entire legion, and you''re on equal footing with even the vice-legion commanders in this regard. Don''t worry about drawing envy from others; everyone has benefited greatly from your breakthrough, so they''ll only be happy for you. The legion commander and Blood One have both decided to announce to the entire legion that you were the one who brought about the recent life tide. You are definitely the center of attention in the legion, and also the one that everyone is grateful toward.


    "Alright, it''s time to tell you about the special privileges that we Blood Gods are entitled to. If you think that you''re going to lose your current title in a month, then it can''t hurt to take full advantage of these privileges while you can. Firstly, as a Blood God, you get a 30% discount whenever you use accolades to purchase any resources within the legion. Secondly, as a Blood God, you can command any unit below the corps level, and Blood One even has the same jurisdictive powers as the legion commander..."


    Tang Wulin completed his Blood God Bracelet data transfer while listening to Blood Three''s introduction. As he put on the reddish-golden Blood God Bracelet, a sense of pride welled up involuntarily within his heart. It was just as Blood One had said: he had to truly work hard to protect everything he had received.


    He reflexively clenched his fists and gently swayed his own arms. He was going to be fighting Blood Nine again in a month! He wouldn''t be the true Blood Nine unless he could defeat him again.


    Perhaps he really would have a chance to permanently hold this title. His eyes narrowed slightly as he directed his will into his dragon core while clenching his fists.


    Following Blood Three''s introduction, Tang Wulin was just about to return to his dormitory room to continue cultivating when his Blood God Bracelet suddenly began to vibrate. This was the first call he was receiving on his Blood God level Blood God Bracelet, and he looked down to find that it was Long Yuxue who was calling him.


    "What''re you up to?"

 Chapter 1014: Major General?

    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m at the Blood God Battalion."


    Long Yuxue continued, "Are you busy right now? I found a customer for you. The commander of the Iron Will Corps wants you to forge some metals for him."


    The commander of the Iron Will Corps? Wasn''t that Jiang Wuyue''s direct superior? Tang Wulin had heard about this man, and he was somewhat of a legendary figure in the Blood God Legion. He had fought in several hundred battles in the past, and he always led from the front. He possessed extremely powerful combat prowess, and was an eight-ring Soul Douluo, as well as a two-word battle armor master.


    He had made countless contributions to the legion, and apparently, he was going to be promoted to become a vice-legion commander in the near future.


    "Alright, I''ll head over right now," Tang Wulin replied.


    Long Yuxue cautioned, "Corps Commander Ma has a rather short temper, so make sure to be careful with what you say around him. Also, he donates a lot of his accolades to his subordinates, so he''s hoping that you can give him a discount; you can discuss the specific details when you meet him."


    Tang Wulin replied, "Sure, I''ll see how it goes."


    Long Yuxue continued, "Corps Ma holds a very lofty position in the Blood Division, so if it''s possible, try to give him a good discount; it''ll be beneficial to your future development in the legion. Wuyue has already told him about you, and he''s constantly been trying to get you transferred to his corps. He says that as long as you''re willing to make the transfer, he''s thinking of a way to get up to the major general rank, so he definitely thinks quite highly of you, and he''s seen the footage of you in battle during the last abyssal tide."


    "I see." Tang Wulin glanced at his epaulets, and wondered whether he should remove them before heading over.


    Long Yuxue urged, "Alright, just come over now and we''ll discuss everything else face-to-face."


    At the forging workshop.


    Ever since he''d moved into this larger forging workshop, Tang Wulin had had more space to work with. Furthermore, he''d recently purchased many types of uncommon metals to be used in his future black mecha.


    Ling Wuyue had given him many suggestions, and she had specifically cautioned him against commencing the construction process too early. Her advice was that he had to learn more about the intricacies of mechas and also decide on the type of mecha that he wanted before commencing the construction process. After all, black mechas required an enormous amount of resources to build, so if something were to go wrong, then the reconstruction process would result in severe losses.


    Aside from Tang Wulin, Long Yuxue also had a key to the workshop. Hence, after ending her call with Tang Wulin, she came to the workshop first.


    The workshop was connected to the warehouse, and a smile appeared on Long Yuxue''s face as she looked at the piles of uncommon metals in the workshop. She murmured to herself, "He really is a hoarder."


    Right at this moment, a boisterous voice rang out. "Who''s a hoarder?"


    Long Yuxue hadn''t closed the door when she walked in, and now, there was a towering musclebound man who was also making his way into the workshop.


    This man was even more muscular than Jiang Wuyue, and he had a gleaming bald head. His military uniform seemed to be bulging in all areas, he was a mountain of a man. There were two bars and four stars on each of his epaulets, indicating that he was a senior colonel, and he wore a smile on his face, but he still looked quite intimidating with his brawny physique.


    "Corps Commander." Long Yuxue immediately extended a military salute upon seeing him.


    Ma Shan chuckled, "There''s no need to salute me when there''s no one else around."


    Long Yuxue smiled, and said, "You sure came here quickly! I notified Tang Wulin not long ago, so he should be here soon."


    Ma Shan rubbed his large bald head, and said, "You know me; I''m not one who likes to wait, so I decided to come here right away. Speaking of which, is this guy legit? Is he seriously a Saint Blacksmith who''s in his early twenties?"


    Long Yuxue smiled, and said, "I can vouch for him! I''ve seen him soul refine metals with my very own eyes, and he''s really good. He''s definitely the youngest Saint Blacksmith the continent has ever seen, so don''t worry about his skills and credentials."


    Ma Shan said, "Alright, but tell him to give me a discount! Otherwise, I''ll beat the crap out of him! He''s earning accolades a lot easier than we are. Look at all this good stuff; these are all precious uncommon metals. People from combat units like ours have to earn our accolades little by little; it''s certainly isn''t easy for us."


    Long Yuxue''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, but she knew that this was Ma Shan''s personality. He was extremely fearless in battle, and at the same time, he had a very uncouth and untamed personality that was bordering on arrogance. Even the commander of the Blood Division struggled to keep him in check from time to time, and aside from the Blood Gods, Legion Commander Zhang Huanyun was the only person he respected in the entire legion. He had been a soldier under Zhang Huanyun for his entire military career.


    "Soul refinement is a very arduous task, Corps Commander Ma. I already told Wulin about your request, so he should be willing to offer you a discount," Long Yuxue said with a slightly forced smile on her face.


    "Alright, but why is he still not here? How much longer do I have to wait?" Ma Shan was growing rather impatient.


    Right at this moment, the sound of footsteps rang out from outside, and Ma Shan and Long Yuxue both turned toward the door just in time to see Tang Wulin walking into the workshop in his military uniform.


    Even as a man, Ma Shan was momentarily stunned at the sight of Tang Wulin. His pristine white military uniform, tall and broad figure, handsome facial features, and dazzling eyes created a perfect package. What a handsome young man!


    However, his expression abruptly changed in the next instant as he had caught sight of the epaulets on his shoulders.


    Long Yuxue hurried over and gave Tang Wulin a meaningful look as she said, "Here, Wulin, let me introduce to you Corps Commander Ma Shan of our Iron Will Corps. He is an extremely renowned figure in our legion and our number one melee combatant."


    She hadn''t yet noticed Tang Wulin''s new epaulets, and she was worried about Ma Shan''s mounting impatience, which was why she had hurried over before giving him that meaningful look.


    Tang Wulin strode forward with a smile on his face, and greeted, "Hello, Corps Commander Ma."


    He didn''t extend a military salute as there was no need for a higher-ranking military official to salute to one of his subordinates.


    Ma Shan wore a dark expression on his face. "Don''t you know that you''re breaking the military rules, kid? This is a very serious breach, as well; take off those epaulets right away?"


    "Huh?" Long Yuxue was given a fright by the enraged Ma Shan. Only then did she look up toward Tang Wulin''s shoulders. She was the shortest one among the three, so she had failed to notice this before, and Ma Shan was taller than Tang Wulin, so he had immediately caught sight of his epaulets.


    "M, Major General?" Long Yuxue''s expression also changed drastically upon seeing Tang Wulin''s epaulets. One had to realize that in the military, the hierarchy was very clear-cut, and if one were to dare to change their own epaulets, they''d be punished severely.


    How could this be? How could he be so stupid? Why did he put on those major general epaulets? And why did he have to display them to Ma Shan?


    "What''s wrong with you, Wulin? Where did you get those epaulets from? Did you put on the wrong clothes?" Long Yue made a series of faces at Tang Wulin as she spoke, hoping to make him realize the severity of his actions.


    Tang Wulin initially faltered slightly in response to Ma Shan''s fury, but he quickly realized what was going on. Indeed, he was only in his early twenties, yet he was wearing major general epaulets; this had to be quite preposterous in the eyes of others. However, the fact of the matter was that these epaulets rightfully belonged to him, so he couldn''t just take them off.


    "Corps Commander Ma, I was only just promoted to the major general rank today, and I am now the ninth Blood God of the Blood God Battalion." Tang Wulin couldn''t back down at a time like this. His military rank was higher than Ma Shan''s anyway.


    He raised his hand to reveal his new Blood God Bracelet as he spoke.


    Ma Shan glowered at him, and exclaimed, "You''re pretty brave, huh? You even dare to pass yourself off as a Blood God? Let me see where this courage of yours comes from! I''ll take you down and drag you over to the military law department so they can sentence you there!"


    He reached out and made a grab for Tang Wulin as he spoke.


    Long Yuxue hurriedly jumped in front of Ma Shan with a distressed look on her face. "Please don''t be angry, Corps Commander Ma, there must be some kind of misunderstanding here. Wulin, do you know what you''re saying right now? Did your cultivation mess with your mind?"


    Even she couldn''t believe what Tang Wulin was saying, let alone Ma Shan.

 Chapter 1015: If Youre a Major General, Then Im the Military Commander-in-chief!

    The rules of the Blood God Legion were very strict, particularly when it came to military ranks; no tomfoolery was allowed in this regard. Tang Wulin was able to earn accolades very quickly through his forging, so Long Tianwu immediately released an order prohibiting him from using his forging accolades for promotions.


    The last time Long Yuxue saw Tang Wulin, he was still only a mere second lieutenant! The difference between second lieutenant and major general was like the disparity between heaven and earth, so she was naturally completely unconvinced that Tang Wulin had actually become a major general in such a short time.


    Ma Shan raised a hand and brushed Long Yuxue aside as he said in a cold voice. "If you''ve got something to say, then tell it to the military law department!"


    He reached out to rip Tang Wulin''s epaulets off his shoulders as he spoke.


    He had been putting his life on the line for the Blood God Legion for 20 years and even he hadn''t been promoted to the major general, yet this newbie dared to prance around with such lofty epaulets; just the mere thought of this filled Ma Shan with fury.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he raised his left hand to resist against Ma Shan''s hand.


    Ma Shan was over 220cm tall, and he was built like a bear, so he absolutely towered over Tang Wulin. However, they were in the legion, after all, and he couldn''t hurt his fellow comrades for no good reason, so he was still holding back as he reached forward. When their arms came into contact with one another, Ma Shan was struck by the feeling that the arm of the handsome man before him had been forged from iron and steel, and his hand was unable to progress even a single inch further downward.


    "Hmm?" A faint cry of bewilderment escaped from Ma Shan''s mouth, but he immediately exerted more force with his right arm, and his menacing features were made to look even more intimidating by the force of his exertion. A burst of terrifying force instantly began to bear down upon Tang Wulin, and it was quite clear that Ma Shan was truly enraged.


    Not only was this second lieutenant imitating a major general, he even dared to resist! This was simply unacceptable. Thus, he didn''t hold back any further, and he was preparing to teach Tang Wulin a lesson.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he experienced the immense force being exerted through Ma Shan''s hand. However, his left arm remained completely resolute as he said in a serious voice, "Corps Commander Ma, do you realize that you''re attacking a superior?"


    "YOU''RE my superior? You little sh*t!" Ma Shan was even further enraged, and he continued to exert force with his right arm. Right at this moment, Tang Wulin also retaliated with his left arm.


    He brought his left arm upward slightly, and Ma Shan could only feel a burst of tremendous power shooting through his right arm. His body was forced to stumble backward a few steps, and his feet left deep indentations on the ground.


    He was truly astonished on this occasion! He had always been renowned for his strength, and the only one who could compare to him in this area in the entire Iron Will Corps was Jiang Wuyue, whom he had very high hopes for. Furthermore, Jiang Wuyue was a direct disciple of his.


    However, even though Jiang Wuyue''s martial soul was the Tyrant Dragon, there was a significant cultivation rank disparity between the two, and Ma Shan had been blessed with extraordinary strength since birth, so his strength was still superior to Jiang Wuyue''s.


    Even though he hadn''t used his martial soul just now, the force that he was exerting had already far exceeded 10 tons in weight. However, Tang Wulin remained completely unmoved and was even able to force him back; how could he not be astonished?


    Could it be that he really IS a major general? The thought only flashed through Ma Shan''s mind for an instant before he immediately cast it aside.


    How was that even possible? He was still only a second lieutenant not long ago, and even if he did possess sufficient power, he had to accumulate accolades in order to earn promotions; how was it possible that he''d reached the major general rank in a mere matter of days? A major general rank couldn''t even be directly assigned by the Blood God Legion, unless one were to become a Blood God. Everyone else would have to receive explicit permission from the federal military before they could be promoted to the major general rank.


    "You little bastard!" Ma Shan roared with fury as a cold light flashed through his eyes. His body instantly swelled as he released his martial soul, and he grew to over six meters tall.


    He wasn''t as burly and intimidating as Jiang Wuyue''s Tyrant Dragon, but his shoulders were particularly broad, and in particular, the muscles on his arms resembled solid steel balls. A terrifying aura immediately erupted forth.


    Tang Wulin''s expression had also darkened significantly. This was his forging workshop; if he were to fight Ma Shan here, this place would be razed to the ground for sure.


    "Calm down, Corps Commander Ma; I''m willing to go with you to the military law department to verify my identity to you." Tang Wulin raised the Golden Dragon Spear in his right hand, and the dual cores within his body began to rotate at a rapid speed. Energy was injected into his spear from his yin yang vortex, and a platinum spear projection that was around 10 meters in length emerged, locking directly onto Ma Shan with devastating spear intent.


    Ma Shan felt a peerlessly sharp aura instantly hurtle toward him, and he was just about to step forward, but immediately faltered in his footsteps.


    He was willing to go to the military law department?


    Ma Shan glowered at him, and said, "Alright, if you surrender and hand yourself over to me, I''ll take you to the military law department."


    Tang Wulin was feeling rather speechless, and he appraised Ma Shan with a resigned expression as he said, "Corps Commander Ma, aren''t you going to consider the consequences that will await you if I really am a major general?"


    "You''re a major general? Then I''m the military commander-in-chief! Quit spouting nonsense! Do you think that little toothpick of yours can hurt me?" Ma Shan waved his right hand and swung it directly toward Tang Wulin as he spoke. His hand instantly turned a metallic grey color, and it swept directly toward Tang Wulin''s spear projection. A layer of black light surfaced over his hand, and at the same time, eight soul rings emerged from beneath his feet.


    Tang Wulin immediately shot back in retreat to exit his forging workshop. He didn''t want to fight Ma Shan in there and risk what was going to be certain destruction of his workshop!


    Thus, Tang Wulin''s body immediately flashed outside.


    Ma Shan was a Soul Douluo, so his speed was naturally quite impressive, but now that he''d released his martial soul, his body had become extremely massive, so it was going to take him some time to build up speed.


    After Tang Wulin arrived on the snowy ground outside, Ma Shan also charged out of the workshop, but he did so in a very reckless manner, crashing straight through the wall of the building in pursuit of Tang Wulin. His fists then crashed toward Tang Wulin like a pair of steel hammers.


    Tang Wulin had done everything he could to avoid a conflict, but this man simply refused to listen to reason, so he was also becoming quite enraged. Furthermore, he knew that power was always the trait that was most revered in the military, so he couldn''t keep allowing Ma Shan to do as he pleased. Otherwise, even if his identity as a major general were verified, if he were to be defeated by an official of a lower rank, he''d be bringing shame upon the Blood God Battalion!


    Thus, he didn''t retreat any further and raised his Golden Dragon Spear in front of him to block the oncoming attack.


    A violent boom rang out, and all of the snow in a radius of over 100 meters was sent flying by the resulting shockwaves. Even Long Yuxue, who was trying to rush out of the workshop after them, was forced back into the building.


    Tang Wulin''s feet sank into the ground, but Ma Shan was also repelled, and a hint of surprise finally appeared in his eyes.


    He was extremely confident in his own strength, yet Tang Wulin had blocked two of his attacks in a short span of time, and this was finally starting to make him have second thoughts. Could it be that this guy really was a major general?


    Tang Wulin exhaled as he took a moment to compose himself. In the past, he would''ve most likely been reduced to quite a sorry state by that attack, but after battling Blood Nine and consolidating all of his abilities, he didn''t have any fear of Ma Shan. Blood Nine was a Titled Douluo who was also a three-word battle armor master, yet he''d still managed to defeat him. While it was true that Blood Nine had held back during that battle, the fact of the matter was that he had been defeated. In contrast, Ma Shan was only an eight-ring Soul Douluo with a suit of two-word battle armor, so there was a vast disparity between the two. As such, Tang Wulin was naturally very confident in his chances here. Even if he couldn''t defeat this opponent, he definitely wasn''t going to lose. Furthermore, he was in the right here, so he had nothing to worry about.


    "Not bad! Have another one!" Ma Shan''s competitive nature was beginning to reveal itself, and piercing light flowed all over his body as his arms took on a metallic appearance. He then swung his arms directly toward Tang Wulin, but he still held back by refraining from using any soul skills.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he took a deep breath, and a layer of golden scales instantly appeared over his entire body; it was none other than his Golden Dragon Body. With the enhancements from his Golden Dragon Body, his strength was significantly boosted, and he dug his feet into the ground as he swung his Golden Dragon Spear upward.

 Chapter 1016: Becoming Acquaintances Through Battle

    "Boom!" Another resounding boom erupted forth, and Tang Wulin''s legs sank three inches further into the ground, but Ma Shan was forced to stumble back in retreat for five steps, and only then was he just barely able to arrest his own momentum.


    On this occasion, his expression had truly changed. Even though he hadn''t used any soul skills, his Herculean Divine Ape martial soul was a pure strength-type martial soul that had been passed down in his family for generations! In a clash of pure strength, he was confident that he could even oppose a Titled Douluo.


    However, he had been bested in several consecutive clashes of strength against Tang Wulin, and that was making him quite frustrated.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "It would be rude of me not to reciprocate your offerings; take this spear strike from me, Corps Commander Ma!"


    Piercing light erupted from Tang Wulin''s eyes as his yin yang vortex began to rotate at a rapid speed. His feet were firmly planted into the ground, and his Golden Dragon Spear was thrust forward with mountainous force amid a thunderous dragon''s roar. It could be clearly seen that there were countless Bluesilver Emperor vines erupting from the ground like a series of miniature golden dragons. These golden dragons revolved around the Golden Dragon Spear before fusing into it one after another, and a massive golden dragon head erupted from the front tip of the spear. A deafening dragon''s roar rang out, and the golden dragon head abruptly detached itself from the Golden Dragon Spear before hurtling directly toward Ma Shan.


    It was his blood soul fusion skill, Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    There was a significant disparity in terms of cultivation rank, so Tang Wulin unleashed one of his powerful blood soul fusion skills from the get-go.


    Ma Shan''s expression changed slightly, and he finally used his soul skills for the first time as his first and third soul rings lit up in unison. A sheen of metallic light immediately appeared over the surface of his skin, and at the same time, his body swelled once again to over 12 meters, making him comparable in size to a generic melee combat mecha. His fists also abruptly expanded to a diameter of over a meter, and they were both launched toward the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens at once.


    "Boom!"


    This third boom was much louder than the previous two, and the snow from even further away was flung up into the air from the resulting shockwaves.


    Long Yuxue had already attempted to rush out of the forging workshop on three separate occasions, but one powerful shockwave arrived after another, preventing her from being able to do so.


    Each shockwave was becoming more powerful than the previous one, and she was feeling extremely distressed, but she couldn''t do anything.


    How did this happen? Please don''t get hurt, Wulin!


    Tears of frustration and desperation had already welled up in her eyes, and she released her martial soul in an attempt to charge out of the workshop with all her might.


    However, right at this moment, one of the walls of the workshop was suddenly shattered, and a massive figure with golden light flashing over his body flew into the room, knocking over two shelves that were holding uncommon metals, then crashing violently into the ground, creating a massive human-shaped crater.


    Long Yuxue faltered slightly before her hand flew over her mouth.


    My God! Is that... Corps Commander Ma?


    It had to be! Such a massive body could only belong to Ma Shan!


    Ma Shan: rank 84 Soul Douluo; Tang Wulin: ?


    Long Yuxue had always known that Tang Wulin was very powerful, but never did she think that he would be powerful enough to send the commander of the Iron Will Corps flying! This was absolutely extraordinary!


    However, the truth was being presented right before her eyes, and as Long Yuxue rushed out in an urgent manner, Tang Wulin was pulling his feet out of the ground in a nonchalant manner, then carried his Golden Dragon Spear and walked over to the workshop with a calm look on his face. At this point, sirens were already blaring, and a series of figures were rapidly rushing toward them; they were none other than the powerful beings of the military law department.


    Tang Wulin turned to Long Yuxue with a resigned shrug, and his shiny epaulets shimmered as he did so. Long Yuxue was suddenly struck by a sense of disorientation, and she discovered that she had never truly understood Tang Wulin.


    Could he really be...


    The members of the military law department converged toward the scene, and Ma Shan was also making his way out of the workshop, but he was in a rather sorry state.


    His military uniform had already been torn into oblivion following his transformation, and his chest was riddled with several dozens of bleeding gashes; those had all been inflicted by the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. His fists were completely unscathed, yet there were a few scuff marks on his head, and his eyes were shimmering with a ferocious light.


    Upon catching sight of the personnel from the military law department, he no longer maintained his martial soul form and reverted back to his original appearance. However, his expression was still filled with astonishment and frustration.


    There was no way for him not to be frustrated; everything that had just happened had far exceeded his realm of comprehension.


    The personnel from the military law department were being led by a colonel, and he couldn''t help but falter slightly at the sight of the handsome Tang Wulin with the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand.


    His pristine military uniform blended in with the white snow around him, and as he held his golden spear by his side, it was only natural that he''d draw a lot of attention.


    However, his expression immediately changed slightly as he caught sight of Tang Wulin''s epaulets, and his first reaction was exactly the same as that of Ma Shan; how could there be such a young major general? However, he wasn''t as reckless as Ma Shan was.


    The colonel descended lightly in front of Tang Wulin before extending a military salute, one that Tang Wulin returned.


    "Superior, may I ask which department you''re from and what''s happened here?" Prior to ascertaining Tang Wulin''s true identity, he could only refer to him as superior based on his epaulets.


    Tang Wulin replied in a serious voice, "I am the newly appointed Blood Nine of the Blood God Battalion. Commander Ma of the Iron Will Corps here expressed doubt over my identity and insisted on a physical altercation. This is my Blood God Bracelet; you can examine it for verification."


    Tang Wulin raised his left hand to reveal his Blood God Bracelet as he spoke.


    The colonel from the military law department was also stunned to hear what Tang Wulin had just said, and Ma Shan was also rooted to the spot as he emerged from the forging workshop.


    He hadn''t believed Tang Wulin at all prior to this, but now, he was more than a little convinced. No way! Blood Nine? However, he really had bested him in a clash of strength. An argument could be made that he hadn''t fought with his full power, but neither had his opponent!


    Ma Shan''s expression was becoming rather strained, while an extremely complex look had appeared in Long Yuxue''s eyes.


    He had only been a part of this legion for a few months, yet he had already been promoted from second lieutenant to major general, and become Blood Nine of the Blood God Battalion! Was this really possible? It didn''t appear to be possible, but after witnessing him sending Ma Shan flying, she was becoming more and more convinced that this was indeed true.


    The colonel from the military law department examined Tang Wulin''s Blood God Bracelet before handing it back to him in a respectful manner, then extending another military salute. "Thank you for your cooperation, Superior."


    He then turned and made his way over to Ma Shan. "Greetings, Corps Commander Ma."


    Ma Shan was absolutely flabbergasted at this point. "No way! He, he''s the real deal?"


    The military law department colonel wore a serious look on his face as he said, "I have just verified that he is indeed the newly appointed Blood Nine, and the promotion ceremony was held just this morning."


    Ma Shan gulped in a nervous manner, and it was beginning to dawn on him that he was in a lot of trouble.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin strode over, and said, "Nothing much actually happened here; Corps Commander Ma and I were both in admiration of one another''s strength, so we clashed in the heat of the moment. Apologies for the disturbance and trouble that we caused; would you be able to let things slide on this occasion? If we want to spar again next time, we''ll definitely go to the combat rooms, and we''ll also be repairing all of the damage here ourselves, would that be alright?"


    The military law department colonel turned to the dumbstruck Ma Shan, then glanced at the benevolent Tang Wulin, and it wasn''t difficult for him to deduce what had happened. Thus, he cleared his throat, and said, "Alright, but please make sure this doesn''t happen again. After all, it''ll be difficult for us to turn a blind eye if you create such a massive commotion again."


    After that, he extended military salutes to both Ma Shan and Tang Wulin before departing with the rest of the military law department personnel.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh. "Corps Commander Ma, will you acknowledge my identity now?"


    Ma Shan gulped as he rubbed his large bald head. "What the heck is all this? Ar, are you really Blood Nine?"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "We can go for another round in the combat rooms if you still don''t believe me."


    Ma Shan waved his hands, and said, "There''s no need for that; I trust in the judgment of the military law department. I was too reckless and unreasonable, and for that, I apologize to you."


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "There''s no need for an apology, but you have to repair all the damage that was caused to my workshop."


    "No problem! Leave it to me." Ma Shan also had a very straightforward personality, and he immediately agreed. At the same time, he was quite grateful toward Tang Wulin. The military laws of the Blood God Legion were very strict. Even though he had a very untamed personality, he knew the consequences that would await him if Tang Wulin had decided to press charges. He was a senior colonel, yet Tang Wulin was a major general, so he had just attacked a superior of his, and the attack was completely unprovoked. He had tried to take down Tang Wulin with insufficient evidence, and he was completely in the wrong. If Tang Wulin hadn''t stepped in to save his hide, he would''ve been in a lot of trouble. Not only would he have had to pay a fine in accolades, he would even have to be suspended for a period of time, and that would be very humiliating.

 Chapter 1017: Money-back Guarantee

    If Tang Wulin really were Blood Nine, then his identity as a major general was naturally a given, and his reckless actions could''ve resulted in severe consequences. In contrast, repairing this workshop would be a piece of cake.


    "I''ll get everything repaired for you right away!" After that, Ma Shan scurried away with his tail between his legs. After all, he was standing right out in the open in a very revealing manner.


    Tang Wulin looked on at Ma Shan''s departing figure and shook his head in a resigned manner. He had been struck by a minor ordeal completely out of the blue! As expected, progressing up the ranks too quickly wasn''t a good thing.


    "Ar, are you really already Blood Nine?" Long Yuxue''s incredulous voice rang out from beside him.


    Tang Wulin turned toward her with a smile, and said, "I am! There was a lot of luck involved, but at the very least, I''m Blood Nine as long as no one takes the title away from me. The authenticity of my identity is guaranteed or your money back!"


    Long Yuxue stared at him with a blank expression.


    Back when he''d first arrived at the legion base, she had been his instructor, teaching him all about the legion and taking him into the abyssal passageway to face abyssal creatures.


    However, in just a few months, he had already become her superior. There appeared to be only a few ranks in between the lieutenant colonel and major general ranks, but those few ranks were like a massive, insurmountable gulf!


    For some reason, Long Yuxue suddenly felt as if they were growing further and further apart.


    Not long ago, he was still referring to her as superior, but now, the roles had already been completely reversed, and this sudden development was quite jarring to her.


    "Don''t think too much about it; we''re still business partners. Truth be told, even I still feel like I''m in a dream." Tang Wulin raised a hand and waved it in front of Long Yuxue''s glazed-over eyes.


    Only then did she return to her senses, and she didn''t say anything, but her expression had changed in a minute manner.


    Not long after this, Ma Shan returned with a bunch of soldiers from the Iron Will Corps. Repairing the wall and the ground was an extremely simple task for them, and everything was back to normal in less than an hour.


    Ma Shan''s attitude had clearly changed. "My apologies for what happened earlier today, Superior; I was too reckless."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Please don''t call me superior, Corps Commander Ma; you''re a strong pillar for the entire legion, and I was only lucky. The former Blood Nine held back against me, and only then did I get a chance to temporarily replace him. You can just call me Blood Nine or Tang Wulin instead of superior."


    Ma Shan scratched his head, and chuckled, "Looks like we''ve become acquaintances through battle; I only admire people more powerful than me. Your strength is really amazing! I haven''t lost in this regard for a very long time, and I thought that Jiang Wuyue would surpass me in the future, but who would''ve thought that you''d be even stronger than him? If we get some time in the future, I''d love to spar with you again. What happened earlier was a little awkward, but I love pure clashes of strength, and it''s hard to find a suitable opponent!"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up in response. "Sure! We can go and spar in the Star Battle Net later." Jiang Wuyue was firmly refusing to fight in the Star Battle Net no matter what he said, so he was searching for an opponent as well. As such, it would be fantastic news for him if he could have Ma Shan as a sparring partner.


    "Alright, then it''s a promise. I''ll give you the number for my Blood God Bracelet, and we''ll keep in touch. I have no hobbies other than fighting, and I never concede, so I hope you won''t find me too annoying in the future!" Ma Shan chuckled.


    Tang Wulin also chuckled, "Likewise."


    The two of them exchanged a smile, and that hatchet was buried.


    Tang Wulin continued, "Corps Commander Ma, I heard from Yuxue that you require metals for your suit of three-word battle armor. We can have a chat to determine your requirements so I can make a plan for you."


    "That''d be great; I almost forgot about this."


    Long Yuxue looked on at the pair of chummy men before her, feeling completely speechless. They were engaged in a fierce battle not long ago, yet they looked as if they were old friends now. The world of men was truly incomprehensible!


    Tang Wulin''s increased powers had also had a positive effect on his forging. After attaining his dragon core, his strength had improved to a whole new level, and forging naturally became a lot easier to him as a result. In particular, ever since he''d attained his yin yang vortex, his control over his soul power, strength, and bloodline power had become a lot more precise, thereby further contributing to his forging prowess.


    He had completely consolidated himself as a Saint Blacksmith, and his soul refinement success rate had increased significantly.


    After chatting with Ma Shan for a while, Tang Wulin was made aware of his requirements. His requirements were actually very simple; he wanted pure strength enhancement from his suit of battle armor.


    After formulating a simple plan, Tang Wulin gave Ma Shan a few suggestions, making improvements to the metals in his original design. He then helped him choose four types of metals to be forged into a spirit alloy, then soul refined after that.


    Forging spirit alloys had already become quite a simple task to Tang Wulin, but forging an alloy comprised of four different types of metals was still quite difficult. Furthermore, he had to soul refine the alloy as well, and that made things a lot more difficult. Even an eight-rank Saint Blacksmith couldn''t guarantee a 100% success rate. Hence, Tang Wulin told Ma Shan that he''d require at least two months to forge the required metals, and he also required a sufficient supply of uncommon metals.


    The material required naturally had to be supplied by Ma Shan, and the improvements made to his original plan naturally required the purchase of more materials. However, as the commander of the Iron Will Corps, Ma Shan had accumulated a lot of accolades, and he wasn''t in a hurry to be promoted to a major general, so buying these metals naturally wasn''t an issue for him.


    Tang Wulin didn''t charge him much in terms of labor fees. Ma Shan wanted enough metal for an entire suit of three-word battle armor, so this was a huge job, and all of the metals had to be soul refined. In the outside world, this would definitely require an astronomical amount of money, but Tang Wulin only asked for just enough accolades to purchase the uncommon metals required to construct his black mecha.


    He was Blood Nine now, so he was entitled to a 30% discount on all metal purchases. As such, he didn''t charge Ma Shan a lot of accolades, and that naturally further improved Ma Shan''s impression of him.


    However, Tang Wulin also had an additional condition, which was that Ma Shan had to fight him at least 100 times in the Star Battle Net, and he''d have to pay for the venue rental fees.


    Even so, this was definitely a great deal for Ma Shan, so he immediately agreed.


    The coming month was going to be very important to Tang Wulin. After defeating Blood Nine and being spurred on by Blood One, he had decided that he was going to do everything in his power to keep his title a month from now.


    This was not to protect his military rank; it was only to protect his honor. At the same time, it was giving him even greater motivation.


    Hence, he had devised a one-month improvement regime for himself.


    The finals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition were going to commence in 15 days, so he was also training for that as well. However, prior to this, he had to further enhance his own powers by honing his abilities through battle. Tang Wulin firmly believed that he''d make further significant strides during the coming month.


    Ma Shan''s appearance had undoubtedly made his plan even more complete. After all, there was only one match of the competition being held per day, but he could call up Ma Shan at any time for sparring matches in order to challenge the limits of his own body.


    Tang Wulin sat down with his legs crossed in his room, and his breathing became slow and even as he entered a profound state.


    His dragon core was shimmering with golden light while the light from his soul core was more subdued, and his yin yang vortex was naturally absorbing natural energies into his body during its rotation.

 Chapter 1018: Breaking the 10th Seal

    After forming the yin yang vortex, Tang Wulin''s rate of cultivation hadn''t actually increased by much. However, his soul power had attained a far higher level of purity. Now, each and every drop of soul power that he materialized was extremely pure, and even though his soul power was only at rank 65, his ability to sustain himself during battle was something that even a Soul Sage couldn''t compare with.


    As long as he continued cultivating, he shouldn''t encounter any major obstacles, at least prior to becoming a Titled Douluo.


    Not only did he have to cultivate today, he also had to take a very important step.


    If he were to successfully take this step, then he firmly believed that his powers would be significantly boosted once again.


    He was now in a completely calm state, and both his soul power and bloodline power were revolving evenly within his yin yang vortex. The process that he''d visualized surfaced in his mind again, and after one final round of confirmation, it was finally time for the moment of truth.


    He took a deep breath, and the rotation of his yin yang vortex gradually slowed down. The connection between his dragon core and soul core was temporarily severed by him, and at the same time, he controlled the bloodline power within his dragon core to rise upward, following slowly into the golden world within his heart.


    That''s right, what he had to do today was break the 10th Golden Dragon King seal.


    Old Tang had once told him that it would be best for him to break his future seals as quickly as possible, granted that the situation permitted him to do so. Only then would he have sufficient time to grow stronger using the Golden Dragon King bloodline power that he''d already attained, thereby giving him a chance to break through the rest of his seals during his future cultivation.


    After the ninth seal, every successive seal was a trial of life and death, but they also presented him with opportunities for evolution.


    Tang Wulin had only heard about this from Old Tang before, but he''d never truly experienced it, and now, he was about to have his first taste.


    He had broken his ninth Golden Dragon King seal back when he had drunk the Dragonblood Wine in the blacksmith association headquarters, and since then, he''d attained his dragon and soul cores, and he''d also become a Soul Emperor.


    In Tang Wulin''s eyes, he already possessed the ability to break this 10th seal; he had already accumulated enough.


    He wasn''t nervous at all as he was confident in his ability to complete this breakthrough. What was more important to him was the experience that he would accrue during this process. The 10th seal was an extremely meaningful one, and it was going to be an indication of just how difficult it was going to be to break the final nine seals.


    Tang Wulin still clearly recalled what Old Tang had told him; if he could absorb all of the energy within the 18 Golden Dragon King seals, then he would be the new Golden Dragon King, which would make him a god.


    This was a shortcut that was only available to him, and he really wanted to know just how difficult it was going to be to try and take this shortcut.


    His bloodline power rushed upward before crashing into the 10th seal, and all of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s entire body began to tremble.


    Faint light appeared around him, and fine golden dragon scales appeared all over his body. Immense blood essence erupted forth, and a faint dragon''s roar erupted all around him.


    Tang Wulin was very calm, and everything that he''d accumulated was beginning to shine through.


    The first charge was only an experimental one, and he discovered that the 10th Golden Dragon King seal was very resolute. Now that he''d formed his dual cores, he could see the seals when inspecting his own internal condition.


    The seal was like a wall with rose patterns on it, but as he caught sight of the patterns, he was struck by a surprising sense of familiarity. He felt as if these patterns bore a resemblance to his Bluesilver Emperor vines, and he even felt an intimate bloodline connection with the power of these seals!


    In that instant, a thought that had never occurred to him suddenly appeared in his mind; where had the seals within his body come from? Old Tang had never told him about this. And where had this Golden Dragon King essence come from?


    The thought only flashed through his mind for an instant before it was dismissed. He had to focus all of his attention on breaking this seal, so there wasn''t any time for him to be pondering such notions. His bloodline power took on the shape of a golden dragon within his body before crashing into the seal again.


    The patterns on the seal began to shimmer with dazzling light to oppose his bloodline power, but Tang Wulin could clearly sense that there was power of the same origins as his own bloodline power vehemently pounding on the seal from the other side as well.


    The seal was being attacked from both sides.


    An intense feeling appeared in Tang Wulin''s body, and he felt as if his body were being compressed. There was no need for him to actively control his bloodline power, and it was still crashing into the seal over and over again of its own accord. The patterns on the seal gradually became more chaotic, and finally, a series of cracks began to appear on its surface.


    As the first crack expanded, a burst of reddish-golden light surged forth before instantly rushing into Tang Wulin''s bloodline power.


    Tang Wulin shuddered violently, and an indescribably vicious aura instantly spread throughout his entire body. It was as if the aura had been imbued with the will to slaughter the entire world.


    The Golden Dragon King bloodline power within his body was instantly set alight, and he didn''t even need to control it for it to continue crashing into the seal in a frenzy.


    The reddish-golden light flowing out of the seal became brighter and brighter, and that vicious aura also became more and more pronounced, making him feel as if his mind were about to be eroded by it.


    He immediately focused his attention and directed the enormous soul power within his soul core toward his bloodline power. The neutral and gentle Mysterious Heaven Method began to quickly fuse together with his bloodline power, and both powers slowly fused into his body.


    Sure enough, with the inclusion of his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power, the insanity within his bloodline power began to abate slightly. At the same time, Tang Wulin could sense a burst of cool and refreshing energy flowing into his mind from his Saint Blacksmith badge, thereby further helping him calm himself down.


    The violent and vicious aura continued to wreak havoc, and the seal was abruptly shattered. Scintillating reddish-golden light instantly spread to every single corner of Tang Wulin''s body.


    He began to shudder violently once again, and his entire dormitory room had been basked in a reddish-golden light.


    The incredibly vicious aura was still rampaging through his body, and a golden dragon projection appeared around him. The projection was very faint and insubstantial, but its eyes were particularly clear. That was a pair of eyes that was filled with ferocious crimson light, and the vicious aura was only continuing to elevate, thereby further stimulating Tang Wulin''s body.


    In that instant, he suddenly thought of Long Yue. Long Yue would lose control over his emotions whenever he tried to draw upon too much of the Mountain Dragon King''s power, but he couldn''t allow himself to succumb to that. If he couldn''t control this power, then he would become a killing machine!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin bit down on the tip of his tongue, using physical pain to help himself focus. No matter how ferocious the vicious aura became, he continued to forcibly keep it at bay, preventing it from infiltrating his mind. At the same time, he relaxed his body to allow his two major energy cores to form the yin yang vortex again, thereby allowing him to absorb the terrifying blood essence power erupting from his shattered 10th seal.


    Old Tang hadn''t been exaggerating; the blood essence power surging out of the 10th seal was so immense that Tang Wulin was completely unable to gauge it. He had already prepared for so long and made so many significant breakthroughs, but when the power within the seal truly surged forth, he still felt as if his body were on the verge of falling apart.


    Thankfully, both his dragon core and soul core were glowing with dazzling light, and the rotation of his yin yang vortex was just barely able to make the immense influx of bloodline essence begin to rotate as well. Even though it was unable to directly absorb this energy, at the very least, it was alleviating the strain on his body somewhat.


    His entire body began to inflate, the blood vessels beneath his skin were beginning to bulge, making it look as if there were countless miniature dragons spreading all over his body.


    His skin had also become a reddish-golden color, and his scales had taken on a vibrant red hue, transforming from their original golden color into a crimson color.


    His entire body was trembling violently, and the influx of Golden Dragon King energy was also trembling. With each and every tremor, Tang Wulin''s body would release a burst of immense blood essence power, filling his entire room with a terrifying aura.


    Tang Wulin''s powers, mental state, and spiritual power had all improved significantly, yet he could still sense that he was beginning to reach a point where he wouldn''t be able to think.


    The rainbow gemstone on the bracelet that he''d obtained from the Dragon Valley was flashing with light, and it was also silently absorbing some of this ferocious bloodline power. As a result, it was gradually taking on a reddish-golden hue as well.

 Chapter 1019: A Second Heart?

    On the bracelet around Tang Wulin''s neck, that silver scale had also become extremely hot and was radiating scorching silver light.


    Time slowly passed by, and Tang Wulin felt as if his body had already expanded to the size of the entire world, and that it could explode at any moment.


    His Golden Dragon Spear tremored and buzzed gently, and he felt as if his own body were about to break through some kind of shackle.


    His consciousness gradually began to fade, and the images of countless colossal beasts that connected heaven and earth began to surface in his mind. These gigantic beasts soared through the heavens, and were flying toward a massive palace that contained an entire world.


    Loud dragon''s roars reverberated through the air, and the giant beasts flew toward the palace one after another. Countless dead bodies plummeted from the sky, and Tang Wulin was struck by an intense sense of pain and indignation.


    He seemed to have opened his mouth to let loose a deafening dragon''s roar, draping layers of rainbow light over the bodies of all of the giant beasts and allowing them to attack with even greater ferocity.


    Right at this moment, a streak of crimson light swept forth and descended from the palace. The army of gigantic beasts was cleaved in half down the middle, and countless giant beasts were instantly reduced to dust.


    Following the flash of crimson light, Tang Wulin''s consciousness faded into darkness once again. He then heard a string of cracks and pops ring out from his bones in rapid succession. It was as if his body had become a string of firecrackers, and he began to tremble violently amid the sequence of loud noises.


    The blood essence fluctuations within his body also became more violent.


    At this point, his dragon core had completely changed in appearance. It appeared to be a crystal in the past, but now, it had turned into a sphere and was no longer transparent. Furthermore, it was constantly expanding and contracting in a relentless cycle.


    With each and every cycle of contraction and expansion, a vast amount of bloodline power was being absorbed and expelled by it. The reddish-golden light from the 10th seal was constantly being drawn into it, then expelled outward and flowing into the rest of his body.


    Why... did it seem like his dragon core was looking like a heart?


    It was slightly smaller than Tang Wulin''s actual heart, but the blood essence power that it was pumping was far more potent than that of his real heart.


    Was this a second heart?


    Tang Wulin was completely astonished! He then turned his attention to his soul core to find that it was also undergoing a transformation. In the past, it had only contained what appeared to be a blade of Bluesilver Grass, but now, a miniature golden dragon was wrapped around it, and it wasn''t just in a stationary statuesque form; instead, it was like a living tiny dragon that was revolving around the soul core. The soul core itself had also expanded slightly, and the blade of Bluesilver Grass within it had turned into a shimmering golden color.


    The two major energy cores were still resonating with one another, but now, the yin yang vortex had vanished; in its place was a bridge of energy that connected the two cores.


    Every single bone within Tang Wulin''s body was also undergoing changes. A layer of fine patterns had appeared over the surface of his bones. The patterns were reddish-golden in color, and it looked as if countless thin miniature dragons were winding themselves around his bones. The dragon patterns were quite indistinct, but in that instant, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that he seemed to no longer be a pure human.


    The place where the Mountain Dragon King soul bone had fused into had also been covered by these dragon patterns, and his aura had completely changed. Not only that, but this energy was also flowing toward his back in a frenzy, and the bones in his back were clearly becoming thicker and more powerful. In particular, two of his ribs slowly extended outward, piercing through his skin and flesh before emerging from his body.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his entire body were being torn apart, and the pain was naturally extremely excruciating, but he was completely powerless to do anything about it.


    What is that?


    Intense agony flowed through his entire body along with the peerlessly potent bloodline power. He couldn''t control his own body; all he could do was defend his mind with all his might, not allowing even a single wisp of that vicious aura to infiltrate his soul.


    Forcing himself to remain conscious would only make the agony even more pronounced, but he had no choice. If he were to allow himself to succumb to unconsciousness, he could end up like Long Yue!


    "Splurt!" His back was finally forced open, and his two thick and powerful ribs seemed to have separated themselves from one another. Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin felt as if his entire body had become lighter, and an indescribable sensation then appeared. This was an extension of his limbs, a type of elation from freedom.


    A pair of reddish-golden dragon wings spread open on his back before slowly extending.


    His bloodline power seemed to have found a vent to flow through, and it began to surge rapidly toward the two dragon wings, which were still slightly damp. Soon, dragon scales began to appear on the surface of the dragon wings, and they gradually became thicker and heavier. The dragon wings were also constantly expanding before finally reaching their final form. All of the bloodline power in the room surged toward the dragon wings to be absorbed as soon as they took shape.


    Tang Wulin transmitted his will into his dragon wings, and he could sense the countless blood vessels and enormous bloodline power within them.


    Was he still a human at this point?


    Tang Wulin''s mental state began to waver slightly. All of the violently fluctuating bloodline power within his body that was bringing intense agony to him finally began to subside after the dragon wings appeared.


    His mind entered a tranquil state, and as the pain abated, he gradually entered a meditative state.


    All of the dormitory rooms of the Blood God Battalion had extremely potent energy isolation effects, and these measures had been put in place so that the energy fluctuations triggered by the nine Blood Gods during their cultivation wouldn''t impact the outside world.


    Tang Wulin had moved into the former Blood Nine''s room now, so despite everything that had just happened in here, everyone in the outside world was oblivious to what he was experiencing.


    After an indeterminate period of time, Tang Wulin finally awakened from his meditation, and when he opened his eyes again, he felt as if the entire dormitory room had become clearer.


    He moved his body slightly, and he was suddenly struck by a restricted feeling, as if there were a layer of something that was limiting his body.


    He exerted a slight amount of force, and he was immediately struck by the feeling that something had shattered. He reflexively looked down, and was shocked to discover that his own chest had split open!


    No, his chest hadn''t completely split open; it was just the skin on the surface of his chest. The gash began to quickly extend, and he felt as if he were struggling out of a set of bindings.


    A layer of skin began to split open around his body, and Tang Wulin tore the skin off in chunks to reveal his new skin.


    The skin had a rosy complexion and appeared to be very healthy. There was also a faint golden light that was flowing beneath his skin.


    The vicious aura that he''d experienced after breaking the seal had already completely vanished, and if it weren''t for the scraps of skin around him and the giant dragon wings on his back, it would almost look as if nothing had ever happened.


    This was truly a complete evolution! Breaking this seal had brought to him far more enormous changes than breaking his previous seals did.


    However, now that he had a pair of wings, was he going to become a monster? If only he could put them away.


    The thought had only just occurred to him, and the wings on his back were naturally withdrawn. Tang Wulin felt a warm sensation on his back, and the pair of wings really did fuse into his body. The only difference he could sense was that the pair of ribs that they originated from were thicker than all of his other ribs.


    A sense of elation welled up in his heart, and he waved an arm through the air in an excited manner.


    As he did so, a layer of reddish-golden light instantly appeared in the air, and a low dragon''s roar also rang out. Within his chest, his dragon core, which now resembled a heart, was beating in a powerful manner, sending rich blood essence power surging throughout his entire body.


    A layer of dragon scales instantly appeared over his new skin, and in contrast with his scales of the past, there were two layers of them here. The layers were stacked on top of one another, and they appeared to be thicker and heavier, as well as more resolute than before.


    Tang Wulin carefully stepped down onto the ground from his bed and sensed his own body upon which he was struck by an unfamiliar feeling.

 Chapter 1020: Facing the True Ma Shan

    After absorbing the energy from the 10th Golden Dragon King seal, his current self and his past self were truly a world apart. Not only had he attained a pair of wings, his dual cores had also changed, as evidenced by the fact that his yin yang vortex had transformed into a bridge between heaven and earth. His strength had become more powerful, even his martial soul had undergone a transformation.


    What was a little disheartening to him was that not only had he not become more powerful in his current state, he had actually become weaker. No matter how powerful one was, there was no way that they could unleash the full extent of that power if they couldn''t control it!


    However, this was undoubtedly a good beginning. As for just how much the 10th seal had given him, that would have to be assessed through practical combat.


    "Beep beep beep!" Right at this moment, the ringtone of his Blood God Bracelet suddenly rang out.


    Tang Wulin glanced at the number, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He felt as blessed as a sleepy man being handed a pillow!


    "Hello, Corps Commander Ma... Oh, I''ve been cultivating in seclusion for the past few days, and I''ve only just finished... Sure! I''ll log on to the Star Battle Net right away; see you in the combat area," Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    The caller was none other than Ma Shan, and he was inviting Tang Wulin to the Star Battle Net for a sparring match.


    He did some simple stretches to experience the changes that had taken place within his body. A sparring match within the battle net was ideal as he could unleash the power of his new body without any inhibition to see just how much he had changed.


    He entered the Star Cabin and logged on to the battle net.


    Light flashed, and he arrived in the world of the Star Battle Net.


    He quickly found Ma Shan, and he discovered that Ma Shan''s nickname was just his own name. He was a straightforward man who didn''t want to make things unnecessarily complicated.


    "Good to see you, brother! Let''s go for a sparring match. I''m going to be going all-out here; show me just how powerful the new Blood Nine is!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Sure! I''ve been itching for a sparring match as well."


    Ma Shan issued the 2,000 federal credits required and in the next instant, the two of them arrived on the competition platform.


    Tang Wulin was silently sensing the changes within his body with his arms hanging naturally by his sides. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and there seemed to be faint light shimmering within them.


    Ma Shan looked on at Tang Wulin and listened to the electronic countdown, and he was suddenly struck by the feeling that he seemed to have changed somehow. He seemed to have grown taller and more well-built. Also, why did his eyes look so bright? Overall, his entire disposition seemed to be different.


    He wore a smile on his face, but for some reason, Ma Shan found him to be very threatening, as if there were some kind of vicious creatures lurking within his body.


    The electronic countdown quickly concluded, and even though Ma Shan was quite surprised, he had a wealth of battle experience, so he definitely wasn''t going to allow his emotions to hamper his judgment. He released his martial soul right away adopting his Herculean Divine Ape form. His body swelled drastically in size, and eight soul rings rose up around him.


    Tang Wulin also took a deep breath, and light flashed from his body as five golden soul rings emerged from beneath him.


    That''s right, there were five rings now; after breaking his 10th seal, he''d attained another bloodline soul ring.


    He hunched forward slightly, and a pair of dragon wings were instantly released from his back at his behest.


    In the instant that the dragon wings were released again, Tang Wulin felt a surge of heat instantly flow throughout his entire body, and it felt as if his strength had immediately been significantly enhanced once again.


    This was a very direct feeling, so much so that even he had failed to completely react to it, and before he knew it, his body had risen up into the air.


    That wasn''t battle armor! Had he grown wings? Was this an innate ability of his martial soul? And why were his soul rings golden in color?


    A string of questions appeared in Ma Shan''s mind at once, but he still chose to immediately unleash his first and third soul skills. His body expanded drastically once again, and at the same time, he charged directly toward Tang Wulin.


    The Herculean Divine Ape was a pure strength-type martial soul, and every time his foot stomped down onto the ground, tremors would run through the entire competition platform. Ma Shan reached Tang Wulin after just a few steps, and he raised both of his fists before swinging them toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin didn''t release his Golden Dragon Spear on this occasion; he wanted to see just how his body had changed after absorbing the Golden Dragon King energy from the 10th seal.


    He raised his arms to block Ma Shan''s giant-hammer-like fists, and as a safety precaution, he released his Golden Dragon Body, instantly conjuring up a layer of golden dragon scales all over his skin.


    A resounding boom rang out, and Tang Wulin was forced down from above.


    As it turned out, Ma Shan had indeed held back during his clash against Tang Wulin at the forging workshop. They were currently battling in the Star Battle Net, so they didn''t have to hold back, and his terrifying power as a pure strength-type eight-ring Soul Douluo was on full display.


    However, even though Tang Wulin had been forced back down onto the ground, his arms had blocked Ma Shan''s attack in a very stable manner, and he was feeling quite good.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the dragon core in his chest was completely expanding and contracting to pump blood essence power throughout his entire body, so Ma Shan''s immense strength wasn''t exerting too much pressure upon him.


    He stomped his right foot into the ground to unleash his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!


    On this occasion, it was only a pure Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth rather than a blood soul fusion skill.


    A resounding boom erupted, and a low dragon''s roar rang out. Golden dragon patterns appeared all over the ground within a diameter of 50 meters, and immediately thereafter, a giant golden dragon emerged from beneath Ma Shan''s feet, sending his massive body flying through the air.


    Ma Shan''s entire body stiffened, and an invisible sense of pressure instantly appeared within his heart, forcibly cutting off the next soul skill that he was about to unleash.


    The golden dragon that had just sent him flying instantly split up into eight before converging toward the same direction and crashing into his body.


    Ma Shan wore a surprised expression as he unleashed his fifth soul skill, conjuring up a giant ape projection behind him that was releasing piercing light.


    Even so, as each golden dragon exploded on his body, a vast expanse of golden light would appear, causing his body to shudder from the impact.


    Tang Wulin then raised both hands up into the sky; Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    A giant golden dragon that was over 30 meters in length erupted from his palms amid a thunderous dragon''s roar. It caught up to Ma Shan''s body before sending him flying once again, and only after flying for 50 meters did he land on the ground.


    He rolled to his feet before thumping his fists against his chest, and his second soul ring lit up, causing layers of dense power to erupt from within his body to ward off the golden light around him. However, he was in a rather disheveled and ragged state.


    This was an eight-ring Soul Douluo, yet Tang Wulin had been able to force him back with just his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, as opposed to having to resort to his blood soul fusion skills. This had only been made possible by the enhancements made to his blood essence power.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin had already made an accurate evaluation, which was that even without using his battle armor and martial soul, the enhancement made to his body by breaking the 10th seal had granted him combat prowess comparable to that of an eight-ring Soul Douluo. Of course, this was also partially due to the fact that the Herculean Divine Ape was a pure strength-type martial soul; if he were to come up against a Soul Douluo with a different skill set, then the effect perhaps wouldn''t be as great.


    Even so, Tang Wulin could give himself a pat on the back for this. He was able to force back the commander of the Iron Will Corps with his immense power, indicating that his powers had been enhanced to a whole new level. If he were to develop perfect control over his newfound power, then also make use of his battle armor and martial soul, then he would seriously be able to put up a fight against Blood Nine.


    The years of arduous cultivation he had endured had forged for him a strong foundation that would allow him to progress at a rapid rate. He had made very slow progress during the early stages of his cultivation, but he continued to grind and accumulate, and he was finally being rewarded for his efforts; he had made several consecutive breakthroughs in a short time, and he had truly become a new man. He was finally getting close to the truly powerful beings on this continent.


    "Nice! Again!"


    A loud roar rang out as Ma Shan charged forward once again. On this occasion, his seventh soul ring lit up, and large tufts of fur appeared all over his entire body. His height didn''t increase any further, but his body fused together with the giant ape projection behind him, thereby transforming him into a true giant ape.


    This was his martial soul true body, the Herculean Divine Ape!


    After releasing his martial soul true body, Ma Shan''s aura had completely changed. Due to the fact that his strength had reached the upper limit of a certain threshold, the air around him was beginning to crack and warp.


    Tang Wulin also adopted a serious expression as he spread his golden dragon claws apart, then tapped his left foot against the ground to propel himself up into the air. He spread open his dragon wings before flapping them vigorously, and he wanted to see just what kind of purpose they could serve.


    Following just a single flap of his wings, Tang Wulin could immediately feel a vast amount of natural energies surge forth from the wings before spreading through his entire body, following which he was launched through the air like an arrow.


    When he tried to control his own body, he discovered that the acceleration from his wings was too direct, and as he flapped them, the energy within his dragon core was being injected into the wings without any reservation, so he couldn''t even change his direction of flight!


    Ma Shan looked on as Tang Wulin flew toward him before squatting down to evade the full-front charge, then abruptly springing upward.


    Tang Wulin only had a chance to press his hands down below himself before he was sent flying by Ma Shan.


    He was launched over 100 meters into the air, then crashed into the protective barrier above the competition platform before rebounding off it and plummeting down from above.

 Chapter 1021: Fifth Bloodline Soul Skill

    Ma Shan was also quite taken aback. Tang Wulin''s body wasn''t very large compared to his, so he should''ve been able to evade that attack! Even if he were trying to fight fire with fire, this wasn''t the way to do it. What was going on?


    Tang Wulin crashed down onto the ground, and he was feeling quite speechless as stars danced before his eyes. This was the downside of not being familiar enough with his body. However, he also discovered that his physical resistance had increased.


    Even after taking such a heavy fall, his body hadn''t been struck by much discomfort, and he was able to immediately spring to his feet.


    "Again!"


    "Boom, boom, boom!"


    One clash took place after another, and Tang Wulin attempted to control his dragon wings, as well as his new body, but he certainly wasn''t as adept in this as he was when controlling his former body.


    Thus, he was sent flying by Ma Shan over and over again, but he managed to get up every single time. After just a short while, his body was already riddled with injuries.


    However, every time Ma Shan sent him flying or threw him to the ground, he would think that the sparring match was over, but Tang Wulin was always able to get up and dust himself off in a short time. After that, he would charge at Ma Shan again, and his combat prowess wasn''t affected in the slightest by the heavy blows he was taking.


    Following his evolution, his body had indeed become very difficult to control. In particular, the blood essence power being pumped by his heart-like dragon core was far too powerful and it was often the case that the vast surges of energy from his dragon core would make him lose balance. As such, his attacks were very direct and predictable, and he wasn''t able to inject any variation into his movements. In short, he had too much strength for him to control.


    Ma Shan may have been a pure strength-type Soul Master, but he possessed a vast wealth of battle experience, and had countless battle techniques up his sleeve. Furthermore, Tang Wulin discovered that he was also a Tang Sect disciple. His Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon had been cultivated to an extremely high degree of mastery, and it was especially effective in this battle, given that Tang Wulin was unable to control his body very well.


    Tang Wulin rushed directly toward Ma Shan again, and the latter merely hunched over and sidestepped while encircling his arms together. A burst of suction force immediately erupted from the side, and Tang Wulin instantly lost balance once again. Ma Shan reached out with his right hand and grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s ankle, then slammed him viciously into the ground.


    "Boom!"


    A massive crater was smashed into the platform, and Ma Shan raised a leg before stomping down upon Tang Wulin. However, Tang Wulin managed to roll over in a timely manner before defending himself with both of his arms, then pushing Ma Shan aside.


    Similar scenarios like this one had already taken place countless times. Ma Shan felt like he was already exerting a lot of effort with each and every one of his attacks, and even if he were fighting a piece of alloy, it should''ve been shattered into pieces long ago. However, Tang Wulin simply refused to stay down. He was always able to clamber to his feet, and he looked a little wobbly, but he could always continue fighting.


    Ma Shan was feeling rather speechless. Tang Wulin came off second-best in the vast majority of their clashes, and only very occasionally would he actually be able to strike his opponent.


    Ma Shan discovered that even though Tang Wulin couldn''t even control his own body properly, he possessed the greatest strength among the two by far. Even in his martial soul true body state, his strength couldn''t compare with Tang Wulin''s.


    What the hell is this kid doing?


    Ma Shan was feeling quite bemused, and Tang Wulin was constantly adjusting himself. Even though getting hit hurt a lot, his dragon core heart was always able to quickly pump his bloodline power to his injuries and heal them very quickly. Furthermore, his bones and muscles were all extremely resolute, allowing him to brush off these heavy blows with relative ease.


    If things were to continue like this, Ma Shan was going to run out of soul power before he could defeat Tang Wulin!


    Even as a Soul Douluo, his soul power was limited, and on top of that, he was maintaining his martial soul true body this entire time, so he was definitely expending energy at a faster rate than Tang Wulin.


    With that in mind, Ma Shan decided that he couldn''t allow this to drag on any longer.


    His eighth soul ring finally lit up for the first time, and after he grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s ankle again, he abruptly sprang up into the air with him. His aura abruptly changed, and Tang Wulin was struck by a burst of power that was surging toward him like a volcanic eruption.


    A layer of bleak white flames abruptly appeared over Ma Shan''s body. This was a type of flame with no heat, but Tang Wulin could clearly sense that his opponent''s strength had suddenly tripled.


    Were these... the legendary Flames of Strength? This was a manifestation of ultimate strength!


    A shocked expression appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and at the same time, his fifth golden soul ring lit up for the very first time. He didn''t even know what ability this fifth golden soul ring would bestow upon him, but he reflexively sensed that if he wanted to avert this crisis, then his only choice was to use this fifth golden soul ring''s power.


    This was the bloodline soul skill bestowed upon him by his 10th seal, so it should be far more powerful than that of his previous four soul skills. He wondered what kind of effect it would have.


    Ma Shan could clearly sense a burst of strange power emanating from Tang Wulin''s body, and he seemed to have suddenly begun trembling violently. Wait, it wasn''t him that was trembling; it was Ma Shan himself!


    Ma Shan''s Flames of Strength had significantly boosted his strength, and he''d grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s ankles, one in each hand, preparing to tear his body apart to end this battle.


    However, he discovered that after Tang Wulin''s fifth golden soul ring lit up, his arms suddenly began to tremble in an involuntary and uncontrollable manner. Immediately thereafter, Ma Shan''s entire body shuddered violently, following which a burst of reddish-golden light abruptly exploded right before him amid a resounding boom.


    Even with his powers as a Soul Douluo, Ma Shan was still sent flying by the ferocious explosion. Tang Wulin was also quite astonished. He only sensed the blood essence power within his body abruptly becoming a lot more active, producing a type of high-frequency vibrational force that was released outward. The reddish-golden light was released to cover an area with a diameter of over 50 meters, and after Ma Shan was sent flying, the reddish-golden light caught up to him before exploding on his body over and over again. The explosions forced him all the way to the edge of the competition platform, where he crashed into the protective barrier, then rebounded off it before thumping heavily onto the ground.


    The fifth bloodline soul ring had had an unprecedented devastating effect, but Tang Wulin wore a wry smile on his face. This was because all of his blood essence power and soul power had been completely exhausted following that attack.


    What the hell was this thing? It was indeed extremely powerful, but it rendered him completely powerless!


    Tang Wulin fell from the sky, completely devoid of all soul power and blood essence power. The system adjudged that he no longer possessed the power to continue fighting, and he was teleported out of the competition venue.


    This was his first defeat in the Star Battle Net, and it had taken place under some very perplexing circumstances.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this battle had been very beneficial to his quest to control his own body, and the effect of his fifth bloodline soul ring was also extremely powerful, but just what was that thing? Did he have to release all of his power just to unleash it once? No matter how powerful the soul skill was, it was like a kamikaze attack!


    Tang Wulin was quite bemused, as was Ma Shan, even though he had just won. [Does this mean Ma Shan is Blood Nine now? LOL]


    In the instant that Tang Wulin was teleported out of the venue, he was also evicted, and he turned to Tang Wulin in a flabbergasted manner. "Wh, what was that soul skill of yours? I felt like I couldn''t exert any of my strength on you; it was a very strange feeling!"


    Tang Wulin wore a wry smile as he said, "I only just attained this ability, and I still don''t even know its effect. Let''s end things here for today, Corps Commander Ma; I have to figure some things out for myself, and we can spar another time."


    After bidding farewell to Ma Shan, Tang Wulin hurriedly logged out of the Star Battle Net before returning to his room to meditate. That battle had been very beneficial to him for assessing his own condition.


    It was undoubtedly the case that his drastic overall enhancements had lowered the degree of control he had over his own body, but that wasn''t a bad thing. As long as he could learn to control his powers properly, his combat prowess would undoubtedly enjoy a significant increase. But what was that fifth soul bloodline soul skill? What was going on there?

 Chapter 1022: Arrival of the Star Battle Net Finals

    He recalled back to what he''d felt when he''d released that soul skill, and that sensation played out in his mind over and over again. To his surprise, even his memory functions seemed to have improved, and he was able to clearly recall every single minute detail during his recollection.


    This was a very clear feeling, and he recalled that at the time, he had purely released his fifth Golden Dragon King soul skill on its own, rather than combining his soul power and blood essence power to unleash a blood soul fusion skill. He had only drawn upon his bloodline power, and it began to produce some kind of strange high-frequency vibration. These vibrations created waves that stacked on top of one another in a relentless manner, and the string of explosions that Ma Shan had been afflicted by had come from none other than those vibration waves.


    This meant that the attack had been unleashed solely by the vibrational force of his own bloodline, and it possessed extremely potent explosive power, but also required a vast amount of energy to support. What was even stranger was that through his recollection, Tang Wulin discovered that when he was unleashing this attack, he had released it in all directions, so the energy expenditure had been extremely severe. When his bloodline power had been about to run out, his dragon core had violently contracted, drawing all of the soul power from his soul core and converting it into blood essence power so it could continue to maintain this output of explosive vibrational force.


    Did this mean that after breaking through his 10th seal, his soul power and blood essence power were now interchangeable? If so, then that undoubtedly indicated a closer connection between his two major energy cores.


    Just unleashing the soul skill on its own had produced such a powerful effect; what if he were to unleash it as a blood soul fusion skill? The rate of energy expenditure would definitely become faster, but surely the explosive force would also be increased.


    He had to give that a try later on!


    He entered a meditative state and constantly assessed the details of his fight against Ma Shan, benefitting immensely in the process.


    This was a very direct type of improvement, and it directly connected to his overall combat prowess.


    However, it would not be so easy for him to completely control his newfound power; that was something that required more time and practical combat experience. Thankfully, the finals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition were about to commence!


    Several days later, Tang Wulin logged on to the Star Battle Net again, and was surprised to find that the scenes he was greeted by had changed.


    After logging on, the first thing that appeared before him was a shimmering golden door of light. He stepped into the door of light, and in the next instant, he was teleported to a completely different place.


    "Welcome to Star City," an electronic voice announced.


    Star City? Was this the city of the Star Battle Net? This artificial intelligence system had only just begun being used in a practical setting, so it was still quite unrefined, but it was undoubtedly the case that everything was improving.


    This Star City looked far better than their western competition region. At the very least, it looked more like an actual city. The nickname "Little Tang" was hovering above his head alongside his win/loss record, but unfortunately, he no longer had a 100% win record.


    "Please go to the Star City Soul Battle Arena to announce your arrival and prepare for your upcoming match. The first round of the finals is going to be an elimination match, and you will be assigned a random opponent." The electronic voice rang out once again.


    Indeed, the first three rounds of the finals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition were all elimination matches, and only the top 32 could progress to the round-robin stage.


    Tang Wulin had his mission etched firmly in his mind; a berth in the top three wasn''t good enough anymore; in the Soul Master battle discipline, he had to become the champion.


    Strangely enough, he had felt that there was no chance for him to even secure a berth in the top three in the past, but ever since he defeated Blood Nine, becoming the champion no longer seemed like an impossible task to him. In particular, after he broke his 10th Golden Dragon King seal, this feeling of hope and anticipation only became more pronounced.


    The only thing that was troubling to him was that he was still unable to fully control his own power, but practical battles were undoubtedly the best way to iron out this issue!


    Finals, here I come!


    There were a series of arrows of light guiding Tang Wulin toward the Star City Soul Battle Arena, where he announced his arrival. The process was very simple, and he quickly completed it after arriving at the designated area.


    However, Tang Wulin had also noticed something rather strange, which was that he hadn''t seen any other participants here.


    The Star City Soul Battle Arena up ahead was quite similar to the western competition region, except it was slightly larger in area, and it was currently completely empty aside from himself. Why was this the case?


    Unbeknownst to him, this was a measure taken by the system to better ensure the confidentiality of all of the participants.


    After Tang Wulin arrived in a golden area, the words "Little Tang" gradually faded from above his head, and it was replaced by only a number, which was 33. Was this his participant number?


    He wondered if the federation was going to find out his name in the end. In any case, that wasn''t a cause for concern as he was at the Blood God Legion.


    "Your registration is complete, and a random opponent has been drawn for you. Please prepare for your upcoming match, which will commence in 10 minutes."


    As expected, the system being used in the finals wasn''t as straightforward and brusque as the one in the regional matches.


    Unbeknownst to Tang Wulin, in the future, the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition was going to become an extremely grand competition of massively extravagant proportions. All of the participants who had made it to the finals of this inaugural edition of the competition were going to be remembered in history.


    He sat down with his legs crossed and entered a tranquil state of mind. During his cultivation in the past few days, Tang Wulin discovered that his spiritual power seemed to have also increased significantly along with the other aspects of his power. Even though he hadn''t reached the Spirit Domain realm, he had definitely progressed very far in the Spirit Abyss realm.


    Through his spiritual power, he could sense even the most minute changes within his body, and he could also detect everything going on around him in a very large area. Even more importantly, he was now able to use his spiritual power to identify the invisible energy particles in the air, and that was the most useful aspect of possessing such a high level of spiritual power. According to what he had learned in Shrek Academy, the signature trait of Spirit Domain realm spiritual power was the ability to discern elements.


    Even though he only had a murky sense of this at the moment, he didn''t seem to be far away from reaching that level.


    The Spirit Domain realm was already the very pinnacle for a normal human. It was said that after reaching the Spirit Domain realm, one would attain a spiritual domain, and everyone had different spiritual domains. However, one thing was constant, which was that all spiritual domains were extremely beneficial to one''s cultivation and combat prowess.


    All Limit Douluos had to possess Spirit Domain realm spiritual power as a foundation, and it was said that without reaching the Spirit Domain realm, one could never become a demigod.


    Following the conclusion of this round, he was going to make some inquiries to Blood One surrounding this matter, and he also wanted to check how much spiritual power he currently possessed.


    It was undoubtedly the case that as a Limit Douluo, Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi definitely possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power.


    With the advancements of present-day technology, Limit Douluos weren''t as revered as they were in the past, but their reputations definitely hadn''t waned by much. The federation didn''t dare to completely stomp out the Tang Sect, and the main reason behind this was the fact that the Tang Sect the two Limit Douluos, the Heartless Douluo and the Amorous Douluo, among their ranks. However, in Tang Wulin''s opinion, it was most likely the case that even the federation was unaware of the fact that the Heartless Douluo was Blood One of the Blood God Legion.


    The Blood God Legion seemed to have its own unique system when it came to confidentiality, and all members of the Blood God Legion had to follow the rules here, no matter where they came from.


    Tang Wulin was very much in approval of this. The Blood God Legion had already given so much for the federation, and it would be very disheartening to see them being bogged down by external matters.


    10 minutes quickly passed by, and a streak of golden light flashed past, following which Tang Wulin found himself on the competition platform.


    The surrounding area was completely silent, and the entire competition platform was emanating a faint white light. Looking around, Tang Wulin discovered that this competition platform had a diameter of around a kilometer, which was extremely extravagant! Even for mecha battles, a kilometer seemed to be overkill.


    In the distance, around 300 meters away, his opponent had also appeared. Both of their faces were blurred out to one another, so he could only see the number "118" hovering above his opponent''s head.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he primed himself and awaited the announcement from the electronic voice.


    In contrast with the silence on the competition platform, the entire federation was in a state of excitement outside the competition venue.


    The federation spent a huge sum of money to televise the finals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition across the entire federation.

 Chapter 1023: Extreme Speed

    This was the first time that the federation was trying out this piece of technology. Generally speaking, soul broadcasts differed from region to region, and it was the first time that they were going to attempt to broadcast an event across the entire federation. This was partially due to the fact that the federation had just successfully launched its first signal satellite into space a year ago, and also because the federation was making a great effort to make the Star Battle Net more prevalent.


    The Star Battle Net had cost an astronomical sum to be researched and developed, and without sufficient financial support, even the federation wouldn''t be able to keep it running for long. Only with sufficient widespread attention would the federal parliament receive more financial support, and that was why this competition was held.


    As things turned out, it had garnered even more attention than they''d expected!


    Even though soul technology had already become a part of everyday life, the people of the Douluo Continent still revered individual heroic figures.


    20,000 years ago, the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, had ascended to the Divine Realm. Prior to his ascension, he had defeated the ambitious Soul Hall to grant freedom to all of the Soul Masters on the entire continent.


    10,000 years ago, the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, was able to destroy the entire Holy Spirit Cult on his own and also defeated Beast God Di Tian. He had stopped the dominant Sun Moon Empire by himself, thereby giving the Star Luo Empire a chance to recuperate, and only then did it go on to become the current Star Luo Continent.


    Now, there were more Limit Douluos than ever, but where did the peak of Soul Masters truly lie? In particular, what were the powerful beings of the younger generation capable of?


    These were all things that were unknown to the general public, and it was undoubtedly the case that the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition had given them a lens through which they could peek into the world of Soul Masters. Furthermore, the event was going to be broadcasted for free all over the entire federation, making it possible for everyone to spectate the event even without having to set foot outside their doors; how could the competition not receive widespread attention?


    Even the trauma caused by the destruction of Shrek City had been significantly dampened by this competition.


    There were countless screens across the entire federation broadcasting the competition, and as this was the first round, there were as many as 128 matches taking place on the same day. Due to the fact that these were live broadcasts, the matches weren''t all taking place at the same time. Instead, they were split up into 10 different time slots, and over 10 matches would be held per time slot. There were going to be professional commentators and workers interchanging between the live broadcasts to ensure that as much of the competition was shown as possible, and Tang Wulin''s match was one of the matches taking place in the first time slot.


    Furthermore, it was the first one to appear on the live broadcasts, so there were countless spectators all over the entire federation currently watching this battle.


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    As the electronic countdown concluded, a massive light projection appeared on everyone''s screens, following which the two participants sprang into action in unison.


    Tang Wulin''s initial movement could only be described as earth-shattering. He stomped his left foot into the ground, and his body was propelled forward amid a resounding boom. The ground beneath his feet was cracked and caved in in a diameter of 10 meters around him, and he instantly broke through the sound barrier, covering 300 meters in the blink of an eye.


    "My God! What is this level of speed and explosive power? Can the human body really handle something like this? He isn''t even wearing his battle armor!" the commentator instantly exclaimed.


    They were supposed to constantly interchange between the 10 matches currently being held, doing their best to show the most spectacular snippets of every single match, but Tang Wulin''s stomp was far too astonishing, and it rendered the commentators almost unable to switch to any other matches!


    Tang Wulin had used his Mountain Dragon King torso bone to make himself lighter, then exerted enormous power into the ground to instantly raise his speed to more than twice the speed of sound. This explosive acceleration took him to his opponent in an instant. He wasn''t using any weapons or techniques; he was simply throwing a punch at his opponent.


    If someone could slow down the image currently being broadcasted, then they''d notice that as Tang Wulin unleashed that punch, his skin took on a reddish-golden hue, following which a series of reddish-golden blood vessels began to bulge beneath his skin. Immediately thereafter, layers of fine golden dragon scales appeared all over his arm, and his golden dragon claws hurtled directly toward his opponent''s chest.


    All of the finalists had progressed from their respective regional competitions, so there were no weaklings among them. Tang Wulin''s opponent was also quite stunned by his explosive acceleration, but he still reacted very quickly.


    He sucked in his stomach, and a speck of light appeared on his chest. There wasn''t enough time for him to release his full suit of battle armor, but he managed to release his cuirass.


    He didn''t try to use his arms to block the oncoming attack as Tang Wulin was simply far too fast for him to do that. Instead, he swung both of his fists toward Tang Wulin''s temples, and as he did so, a sharp spike emerged from each of his hands.


    His attack was extremely precise and accurate, and if his spikes were going to strike Tang Wulin''s temples at around the same time that Tang Wulin''s attack struck his chest.


    He had his cuirass to protect his chest, so he could survive the attack, but being impaled in the temples spelled certain death. He had instantly reacted and made the correct decision to attack an area that his opponent had to protect, and just that reaction alone indicated that he did indeed deserve a berth in the finals.


    He was also very pleased with his own reaction. At Tang Wulin''s current speed, there was no way that he''d be able to change directions as his body wouldn''t be able to handle the impact. The drawback of having extreme speed was that the excessive momentum made it difficult for one to control their body.


    Even if Tang Wulin were to just barely control himself and evade that lethal attack, his attack would still be completely nullified.


    An agility attack system Soul Master shouldn''t have very powerful defenses, and he just so happened to possess a wide-range attack that could take out his opponent in an instant.


    That''s right, he had reflexively drawn to the conclusion that Tang Wulin was an agility attack system Soul Master.


    By the time the commentator finished his first sentence, the two of them were already extremely close to one another.


    In the next instant, everyone''s screens were completely dominated by a burst of golden color. It was a pair of golden featherless wings that were covered in rhomboid dragon scales. Compared to the scales on his body, those on his wings were slightly larger, but also a little thinner. As the wings were fully spread open the wingspan reached over five meters, and Tang Wulin''s insane momentum drew to an abrupt halt. His drastic deceleration began right as his opponent swung those sharp spikes toward him.


    The triumphant expression that had just appeared on his face instantly stiffened, but unfortunately, Tang Wulin didn''t get to catch a glimpse of this. His opponent¡¯s sharp spikes had clashed with one another as he''d misjudged Tang Wulin''s speed, thereby obscuring Tang Wulin''s vision of his face.


    Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin''s fist arrived, and they struck the pair of sharp spikes first before bulldozing onward, crashing directly into his opponent''s cuirass.


    "Boom!" The golden dragon claw''s crushing special effect was unleashed, and the immense power of the Golden Dragon King erupted forth!


    Number 118''s body flew backward while rotating like a windmill in a completely uncontrollable manner.


    After that, Tang Wulin flapped his dragon wings vigorously once again, thereby allowing him to instantly catch up to his opponent, and he unleashed another simple punch without any additional tricks or embellishments.


    Right as the smug look had stiffened on Number 118''s face, he heard the sound of his cuirass being shattered, and he had been trying to release his suit of battle armor this entire time, but he felt as if he''d just been run over by a high-speed soul train. His body was sent flying in an uncontrollable manner, his soul power had been completely scattered, and he wasn''t even able to release his full suit of battle armor.


    How was this possible?!


    He was then greeted by the sight of a pair of golden eyes, as well as the golden fist that was rapidly expanding in his field of view.

 Chapter 1024: The Minimum Threshold of the Spirit Domain realm

    "Boom!"


    Blood mist exploded through the air, and only at this moment did a loud dragon''s roar echo throughout the entire competition platform. A massive ferocious-looking golden dragon projection had also appeared behind him, and even though the projection vanished in an instant, it still left all of the onlookers with a very deep impression.


    "This... This is simply preposterous!" The commentator was already completely dumbstruck. This was only the first match of the finals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition that was being broadcast, yet the results had completely stunned everyone.


    The commentators all naturally had a very deep understanding of the world of Soul Masters, but no amount of knowledge could prepare them for the incredible scenes they had just witnessed.


    All of the finalists here had progressed through their respective regional competition, so there were no weaklings here, yet Number 118 had just been slain in what felt like the mere blink of an eye! The brutal way in which Tang Wulin had crushed his opponent, the dazzling dragon projection, and the deafening dragon''s roar at the end had truly stunned everyone on a visual and auditory level.


    This number 33''s combat prowess was way too insane!


    All of the spectators sitting in front of their screens were struck by the exact same feeling; asphyxiation!


    That''s right, it was asphyxiation. They felt as if they could sense the terrifying pressure emanating from the body of the man on the screen, and all of them were struggling to draw breath even though they weren''t actually in his presence.


    A large victory sign was displayed on the screen. The battle had concluded after just two attacks, and the entire duration of the match was only less than two seconds. It was definitely the fastest match during this first round of the finals, and perhaps the fastest battle in this entire competition thus far.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his golden wings, and the number "33" hovering above his head was shimmering with golden light. As his wings were withdrawn, he vanished amid a flash of light. He had secured victory in the first round of the elimination stage.


    He was only a six-ring Soul Emperor, but his combat prowess far exceeded that level! This was the impression that Tang Wulin gave to his competitors.


    Even though he had killed his opponent in virtually an instant, the disparity in their powers wasn''t actually that significant. His opponent had been killed so quickly mainly due to the fact that he had failed to judge his own situation.


    The human body had limits when it came to strength and resistance. At the very least, that was the case before one exceeded a certain cultivation rank. However, the speed and strength that Tang Wulin had just displayed were both undoubtedly on a superhuman level, thereby drawing his opponent to a false conclusion. If he had adopted a fully defensive stance from the very beginning as opposed to trying to retaliate with his sharp spikes, he would''ve lasted a little longer.


    This battle had been an experiment for Tang Wulin; he was experimenting with his control over his current level of strength and speed.


    During the past few days, he had constantly been trying to attain greater control over his own strength, and the more he sensed the changes that had taken place within his own body, the more stunned he was by the benefits that the 10th Golden Dragon King seal had brought to him.


    In the past, his right golden dragon''s claws crushing special effect and his left golden dragon claw¡¯s tearing special effect only had a certain activation probability. However, he could now activate those special effects at will, and his overall control over his Golden Dragon King power had become a lot more proficient.


    He had propelled his body forward with absolute speed, and at that insane level of speed, just the impact he''d create by crashing into his opponent would be too much to bear for other Soul Masters of the same cultivation rank, but his own speed didn''t affect him at all.


    Only after spreading his wings to forcibly arrest his momentum was he struck by a slight sense of discomfort, but it was very minor, and it instantly disappeared as his blood essence power circulated through his body.


    In a sense, it could be said that Tang Wulin''s current body wasn''t completely human. His physical resistance was far superior to that of the average person, and even a Titled Douluo couldn''t compare to him in this area. This was why he''d been able to secure such an easy victory.


    After departing from the competition venue and logging off from the battle net, Tang Wulin took a moment to reflect on that battle. A faint smile appeared on his face, and he was pleased to discover that he had attained a greater level of control over his own strength.


    He set a goal for himself, which was to defeat Blood Nine in a battle that was going to take place in less than a month!


    It was undoubtedly the case that if he wanted to defeat Blood Nine again, then the first thing he would have to do would be to hone his control over his newfound power. Only then would he be able to truly harness it.


    He was really fond of this violent and aggressive way of battle, and it seemed that his Golden Dragon King bloodline was also relishing this feeling. This was most likely the true nature of the Golden Dragon King!


    After putting on his clothes and departing from his dormitory room, Tang Wulin went directly to Blood One''s dormitory room. The two rooms were situated very near to one another anyway, and he stopped outside Blood One''s door before sending a message to him, telling him that he wanted to ask some questions.


    It took Blood One around 10 minutes to reply, and Tang Wulin was just about to leave when Blood One told him that he was ready to see him.


    Tang Wulin knocked on the door, and it was quickly opened.


    "Come in."


    Tang Wulin walked into the room to find that Blood One was seated with his legs crossed, seemingly in the middle of meditation.


    "Sorry to disrupt your cultivation," Tang Wulin said in an apologetic manner.


    Blood One smiled and opened his eyes as he replied, "There''s no need to apologize; I''ve already reached a bottleneck that''s impossible for me to break through anyway. If I try to make that breakthrough, it''ll be a trial of life and death, and I''ll have less than a one percent chance of survival. If that day ever comes, I''ll make sure to invite you to watch me; perhaps the experience will help you in the future."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''d rather not see that happen; the Tang Sect still needs you!"


    Blood One continued, "Alright, let''s not get into those matters; what did you want to see me for?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ve recently felt like my spiritual power seems to have made a breakthrough, but I don''t know what level it''s on, and I wanted to ask you about some ways in which spiritual power can be used."


    "You made another breakthrough? What level are you at now?" Blood One asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I seem to be able to sense some energy elements now."


    Blood One raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "You can sense energy elements now? What kind of breakthrough is that? That''s an ability that you''ve attained from the moment you began to be able to sense the existence of your spiritual power."


    Tang Wulin cleared his throat in a rather awkward manner. "It''s a little different; what I''m saying is that I can now see different colors of energy particles in the air now..."


    Blood One faltered slightly upon hearing this, and immediately thereafter, his eyes widened as his pupils noticeably contracted. His pupils then changed colors, with one of them turning into a purple color while the other adopted a golden hue, and two bursts of substantial purplish-golden light surged toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly, but he made no effort to evade. A purplish-golden color also appeared in his eyes, and it wasn''t anywhere near as pronounced as the color in Blood One''s eyes, but it was clearer and purer.


    The two bursts of purple light only came into slight contact with one another before Tang Wulin immediately sensed a burst of vast spiritual power envelop his entire body. He wasn''t experiencing any discomfort from this, but he felt as if his entire being had been laid bare before Blood One.


    All of a sudden, his dragon core suddenly began to thump violently, and a hint of reddish-golden color suddenly seeped into his purple pupils. A vicious aura erupted from his body, and the feeling of being laid bare instantly vanished. The blood essence within his body churned, and a low dragon''s roar erupted from his entire body as a show of intimidation.


    "Er..., that wasn''t intentional," Tang Wulin said with an innocent look on his face.


    Blood One had a very peculiar look in his eyes as he appraised Tang Wulin, and he also withdrew his Purple Demon Eyes.


    "I can see that you''re already quite advanced in the Spirit Abyss realm, but how is that possible? Your spiritual power shouldn''t have been able to progress so quickly even if you''d begun cultivating it as a fetus!"


    The fact that even Blood One was astonished was a testament to Tang Wulin''s current level of spiritual power. In particular, the fact that his bloodline power could fuse with his spiritual power was even more astonishing.


    Blood One''s eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "There''s no need for you to undergo specific testing on your spiritual power; the fact that you can see energy elements in their true forms indicates that you''ve reached the minimum threshold of the Spirit Domain realm."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Then what should I do from now on?"


    Blood One replied in a calm manner, "Keep experiencing things. Once you can clearly sense all of the energy around you, you can try to control them with your spiritual power. Make sure you completely refrain from using your soul power and blood essence power, and only use your spiritual power to try and control them, as well as to resonate with them. The moment that you complete that step is the moment that you''ll be setting foot into the Spirit Domain realm. This is going to be a long and boring process, but at your level of spiritual power, it''ll naturally increase over time, so don''t try to rush things and just go with the flow."


    "I understand," Tang Wulin replied. It was much better to receive guidance from Blood One than to stumble around like a headless chicken. From what Blood One was telling him, it seemed that all he had to do was cultivate as normal, so that was quite simple.


    Blood One''s expression changed slightly as he appraised Tang Wulin. "Something seems to have happened to you. Your powers have increased, and your blood essence power has become even denser. Also, it''s different somehow... It feels like your blood essence power has come alive.

 Chapter 1025: Youre Into That?

    As expected of a Limit Douluo; Blood One was immediately able to identify that something had changed within his body. Tang Wulin chuckled, "I did improve slightly, mostly in terms of bloodline power. I seem to have recently broken through a bottleneck, but after my breakthrough, it''s become harder to control my own strength. I''m going back to cultivate now."


    Blood One said, "The finals have commenced, right? Have you had your match yet?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I just finished my first match, and I won. The finals are quite interesting; everyone gets assigned a number, and my number is 33."


    Blood One continued, "Don''t forget your mission; I never go back on my word."


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied in a resigned manner.


    Blood One looked on as Tang Wulin departed, and he decided to use his jurisdictive power to request a copy of Tang Wulin''s competition footage. He couldn''t shake the feeling that Tang Wulin had undergone a very significant transformation, one that went far beyond his expectations.


    After departing from Blood One''s room, Tang Wulin didn''t return to his own room. Ever since his sparring match with Ma Shan, he had constantly been cultivating in his own room before participating in the competition, and he was really getting sick of staying indoors. Thus, he decided to go out for a walk and give Gu Yuena a call.


    During the match that had just taken place, he had received some inspiration about the mecha that he wanted to construct for himself. His situation was different from everyone else''s, so his mecha naturally had to be different as well.


    After getting onto the elevator and leaving the Blood God Battalion, Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily before removing the epaulets from his shoulders.


    He was so young, so it was far too eye-catching for him to be wearing major general epaulets. Ma Shan had been a little reckless and violent the other day, but in reality, anyone else would''ve also doubted his identity. Unless a public announcement was made to the entire legion informing everyone of his new military rank, the only way that he could avoid unnecessary trouble was to remove his epaulets.


    Sure enough, with his epaulets removed, he was spared a lot of trouble. He still received the occasional glance as not wearing one''s epaulets was technically also a breach of the rules of the Blood God Legion, but that was only a minor breach, and it didn''t really matter seeing as he was in the resting area.


    The resting area was always a lively and bustling place. After all, this was the only place where members of the Blood God Legion could go to relax and have fun.


    Tang Wulin went to the bar area to order himself a drink before taking a seat and going for a sip. The sweet and refreshing drink flowed down his throat, instantly bringing him a sense of happiness.


    He used his Blood God Bracelet to call Gu Yuena''s number and waited for her to pick up. After just a short while, Gu Yuena''s voice rang out.


    Her voice was gentle and mellow, and it was filled with elation as she said, "I really miss you, Father; when are you coming back?"


    As soon as he heard her voice, Tang Wulin instantly felt as if all of his exhaustion and psychological tension had disappeared. "I''ll go the day after tomorrow, is that alright?"


    "Yes! That would be great!" Gu Yuena squealed with excitement, "I''ll be waiting for you."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin smiled as he told Gu Yuena about some of the interesting things that had happened to him in the legion, including how he had "accidentally" defeated Blood Nine, as well as his altercation with Ma Shan over his military rank. He gave her a recount of everything so she could share in the joy that he was experiencing in the legion.


    Gu Yuena listened with rapt focus and occasionally extended a few words of concern, making Tang Wulin feel very warm on the inside, and before he knew it, a warm and gentle smile had appeared on his face.


    All of a sudden, he felt an aura approaching him from behind, and he reflexively turned around before reaching out with a grab.


    "Hehe, ow!" A burst of chuckling had only just rung out before it instantly cut off and transformed into a howl of anguish.


    A burly figure was grabbed by Tang Wulin and pressed down onto the table before him.


    "What happened, Father?" Gu Yuena exclaimed on the other side of the line.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "It''s alright, it''s just a comrade of mine playing a prank on me."


    He released Jiang Wuyue as he spoke before giving him a warning glare.


    "Oh, that''s good to hear. You have to come as early as possible, Father; I''ll be waiting for you."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin ended the call before turning to Jiang Wuyue, who was rubbing his wrist with a peculiar look on his face.


    "What''re you looking at?" Tang Wulin snapped.


    Jiang Wuyue raised an eyebrow in response. "How do you have a daughter already at your age? From the sound of her voice, she''s not just an infant, either! What age did you first begin doing the deed?"


    "Shut up!" Tang Wulin snapped, "That was my girlfriend."


    Jiang Wuyue faltered slightly before the peculiar look on his face became even more pronounced. "My my, Tang Wulin, to think that a bright and handsome young man like you would have such a dark and twisted interior; I didn''t think you''d be into this type of stuff! You''re the perfect example of a pretty boy with a rotten interior!"


    A cold light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes. "Are you asking for a beating?"


    Jiang Wuyue chuckled, "Hurry up and teach me how you did it! How did you manage to get your girlfriend to call you father? Do you have some kind of secret formula?"


    Tang Wulin glowered at him. "She''s suffering from amnesia, so she only has her memories as a small child."


    "Er..." Jiang Wuyue appraised Tang Wulin with a surprised expression, and asked, "Amnesia? How did that happen?"


    A pained look flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes. "She lost her memories while saving my life."


    Jiang Wuyue''s expression immediately changed upon hearing this, and he wore a guilty and apologetic look on his face as he said, "I''m sorry, I didn''t know..."


    Tang Wulin shook his head. "Perhaps this is a good thing. Truth be told, even I don''t know whether I want her to recover or not. I want her to recover her memories so that she can be complete again, but the current situation is quite good as well; at the very least, she can always be by my side."


    Jiang Wuyue''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "By your side? You didn''t bring her with you, did you? Now I get why you''re so eager to get promoted; you want to be able to take leave so you can go and visit her, right?"


    There was nothing for him to hide, so Tang Wulin nodded in response. "She''s staying at the Scorching Basin, and I''ve already visited her once. I''m planning to go again the day after tomorrow."


    A thought suddenly occurred to Jiang Wuyue, and he said, "By the way, I heard from Yuxue that, that you''re a major general now?"


    He glanced at Tang Wulin''s shoulders as he spoke, but there were no epaulets for him to see.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "That''s right! I''m looking forward to hearing you call me superior."


    Jiang Wuyue''s throat immediately ran dry. It had only been a few months since he''d come to the legion! In the beginning, this guy had been referring to him as superior, but now, the roles were already reversed.


    "Th, that''s way too fast! What the hell did you do to get promoted so quickly?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Didn''t Yuxue tell you? I defeated Blood Nine, so I''m Blood Nine of the Blood God Battalion now, and all of the Blood Gods are at the major general rank or above."


    "Y, you defeated Blood Nine?" Jiang Wuyue stared at him in a flabbergasted manner as he exclaimed, "You already have the power to defeat Blood Nine, yet you still went out of your way to challenge me? What kind of inhumane bastard are you!"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. "Is there something wrong with your reflex arc? Shouldn''t you be praising me for my powers?"


    "Praise my arse! I only recall you beating the crap out of me!" Jiang Wuyue grumbled with an enraged look on his face.


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly, a benevolent smile suddenly appeared on his face. "How about this, Wuyue? It was indeed wrong for me to take advantage of you on that day, so I''ll give you an opportunity to exact your revenge. Let''s go to the Star Battle Net, and as long as you pay for the combat room rental fee, I''ll let you beat me to your heart''s content. I won''t dodge, defend, or retaliate, how about that? You only have to give me 1,000 federal credits per minute, and I''ll let you beat me up as much as you like."


    Jiang Wuyue appraised Tang Wulin with a skeptical expression. "Really? Are you really that much of a good guy?"


    Federal credits didn''t really matter much to him. There was no use for money in the Blood God Legion, and they received a very high monthly salary, so he had a lot of federal credits that were sitting around for no purpose.


    Tang Wulin sighed with a disdainful look on his face, "I didn''t think that you wouldn''t even dare to beat me up. How did you become the commander of the melee combat battalion like this? Is this the iron will of your Iron Will Corps? I should go and ask Brother Ma Shan about this."

 Chapter 1026: Human Sandbag

    "Piss off! Are you trying to drive a wedge between us? Who says I wouldn''t dare to beat you up? I know you''re goading me, but I''ll take you up on that offer! However, let''s establish the premise first; you won''t retaliate, evade, or defend yourself, right?"


    "That''s right! I''ve always been a man of my word. If you don''t believe me, we can sign a contract and have the legion be the contract witness," Tang Wulin said with a smile. He was quite excited to see that Jiang Wuyue had taken the bait again.


    "Alright, but there''s no need for any witnesses; just write an agreement for me, and if you revoke it, you''ll earn yourself the reputation of a deceitful snake!" Jiang Wuyue threatened in a menacing manner.


    Tang Wulin immediately wrote up an agreement as requested. Jiang Wuyue carefully examined it to ensure that there were no issues before signing the agreement.


    He then produced a stack of federal credits before slamming it down in front of Tang Wulin. "I''ll go for half an hour first! Let me teach you a good lesson!"


    He had suffered horrendous abuse at the hands of Tang Wulin the other day, and he still hadn''t gotten over that horrific experience. Now that Tang Wulin had defeated even Blood Nine, he knew that he''d have no other chance to exact his revenge, so he was certainly going to jump on this opportunity!


    He knew that Tang Wulin had to have some kind of objective for doing this, but he then recalled just how much of a cheapskate Tang Wulin was, and he immediately identified what he thought to be the reason behind this offer; Tang Wulin was doing this for money!


    Tang Wulin accepted the federal credits before raising his eyebrows at Jiang Wuyue. "You better not disappoint me!"


    As opposed to going to the Star Battle Net, the two of them went to the competition platform for practical combat drills in the legion. There, Tang Wulin was greeted by a flurry of ferocious attacks from Jiang Wuyue.


    "Boom!"


    After Jiang Wuyue sent Tang Wulin flying with a single slap, he finally believed that Tang Wulin seriously wasn''t going to retaliate. In fact, he didn''t even release his scales, and he was sent flying for several dozens of meters before crashing to the ground.


    He then immediately rolled over and stood up, brushing off some nonexistent lint from his military uniform before raising an eyebrow at Jiang Wuyue again. "Did you not have breakfast? Why don''t I feel anything?"


    A speechless look appeared on Jiang Wuyue''s face. He knew that Tang Wulin had extraordinary physical resistance, but that slap was powerful enough to flatten a metal ball into a pancake, yet he was claiming that he couldn''t even feel it!


    "You made me do this!"


    "Hurry up! You''ve only got 30 minutes, you know."


    "Boom, boom, boom!"


    "Slap, slap, slap!"


    Tang Wulin''s body was sent flying over and over again before crashing heavily down onto the ground each time, but he was always able to rise to his feet as if nothing had happened.


    Jiang Wuyue was only beating him with his fists in the beginning. However, he soon donned his suit of battle armor, then summoned his weapons, and even began using his soul skills in order to constantly increase his offensive output. However, Tang Wulin was always able to shrug off his attacks. He was looking a little bruised and battered, but he was completely fine.


    After Jiang Wuyue sent Tang Wulin flying with his giant hammers again, he didn''t continue to attack. Instead, he appraised Tang Wulin with a perplexed look, and asked, "Are you really alright? You haven''t suffered any internal injuries, have you? Money is a good thing, but you have to be alive to spend it!"


    Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent voice, "Don''t worry about me; watch this." A layer of reddish-golden light lit up over his body as he spoke, and all of his bruises and injuries vanished as if they''d never even been inflicted in the first place.


    "Are... Are you really a human?" Jiang Wuyue was completely speechless.


    "Please refer to me as god. You can beat me to your heart''s content; don''t forget that you only have one minute left before you have to recharge."


    "I''ll pay you the total sum I owe you at the end! Here I come!" Jiang Wuyue rushed forward while swinging his giant hammers through the air.


    Was Tang Wulin not in pain? He was being beaten by a strength-type Soul Emperor''s full-force attacks, so he''d be lying if he said that it didn''t hurt. However, this type of pain brought him more elation than it did anything else.


    After Tang Wulin discovered his inability to control his own strength, he gave Mu Ye a call to ask about how he could resolve this issue.


    Mu Ye was the master of the Body Sect, so he definitely knew the most body refinement methods. Thus, Mu Ye gave him a suggestion. The problem that he was facing was that he was becoming too powerful too quickly, to the extent that his control was unable to keep up with his strength. All that was required was a period of adjustment and coordination, and everything would return to normal.


    During this adaptation process, the best way for him to speed things along was to further tap into his own latent potential, forcing all of his newfound powers to rise to the surface.


    The method for this was very simple; just as metals had to be forged, the human body also had to be refined. The Body Sect''s cultivation method had always been a process of constantly refining one''s body, transforming it into one''s greatest weapon.


    Hence, Mu Ye told him that it was best for him to find someone suitable to beat him with all their might, stimulating his body''s instinctive reactions through physical trauma, thereby allowing him to tap into more of his latent potential. At the same time, it would allow his body to better fuse with his bloodline power. Every time he was struck, his body would fuse with his own bloodline to a greater extent, and the instinctive reactions his muscles displayed in response to being struck would improve his control over his own body.


    As such, even if Jiang Wuyue hadn''t come to find him today, he was preparing to call him up. Ma Shan''s attacks were a little too ferocious for him to handle without adopting any defensive measures, whereas Jiang Wuyue''s offensive prowess was just right.


    Tang Wulin was volunteering himself to be a human sandbag, but he was benefitting considerably from this experience.


    After being beaten for half an hour, he could clearly sense that his body''s reactions had improved, and he had integrated himself to a far greater extent with his own newfound strength. During this process, he had clearly become more proficient at using his own blood essence power, and he also developed a clearer sense of the changes that had taken place within his muscles, bones, and meridians.


    As such, he was very happy to continue being beaten by Jiang Wuyue.


    Jiang Wuyue was also quite happy to be the enforcer, and he was venting a lot of his frustration throughout this process. However, at the same time, he was becoming more and more astonished. It was completely unfathomable to him that a human''s body could become this powerful. He was like an indestructible cockroach!


    Even if his body had been constructed using the best uncommon metal, it would''ve still been smashed into pieces long ago, yet he was completely fine!


    It hurt to be beaten, but being the enforcer was also very tiring! After Jiang Wuyue beat Tang Wulin for two full hours, his clothes were drenched in sweat, and he''d exhausted almost all of his soul power.


    "I''m done! That''s it, I''ve got everything out of my systems now. How much do I owe you?" Jiang Wuyue panted.


    Tang Wulin was still raring to go, and he sighed, "Wuyue! A man can never say that he''s done; he can only say that he doesn''t want to go on any longer. You need to be able to last as long as possible!"


    Jiang Wuyue turned to him with a vicious glare. If it weren''t for the fact that he was truly completely exhausted, he really wanted to smash his hammer into that punchable pretty face of his!


    "Let''s continue this tomorrow." Tang Wulin departed first, and he was feeling extremely limber and relaxed, as if he''d just received a good massage.


    Every inch of his body was in pain, but he could clearly sense that following this stimulative process, his blood essence power had forged a far stronger connection with his own body. Now, he just had to go back and meditate to adjust and sense the changes that had taken place within his own body. In doing so, he''d definitely be able to significantly improve his control.


    The next day, Tang Wulin had to participate in his first mecha battle of the finals.


    Under Ling Wuyue''s instructions, Tang Wulin''s mecha piloting skills were now a world apart compared to when he first arrived in the legion. The most important aspects of mecha piloting are control, and integration between mecha and martial soul.


    With Ling Wuyue''s guidance, Tang Wulin was now at least able to control his mecha as if it were an extension of his own body. At the same time, he was able to better integrate his mecha with all of his abilities.


    The effect brought to him by his sixth soul skill, Devouring Heaven and Earth, was also extremely potent, and through the use of this soul skill, he was able to triple his own powers for a short time. Otherwise, there was no way that he would''ve been able to defeat Blood Nine.


    These abilities could all be integrated into his mecha battles.


    After entering the generic mecha, Tang Wulin chose a spear as his weapon once again. Tang Wulin performed a few experimental movements with the mecha, and he couldn''t help but heave a faint internal sigh. It was way too cumbersome!


    The generic mecha''s massive size allowed it to carry more energy, and its increased weight also improved its destructive power, but that only applied to normal mecha pilots. To a Soul Master of Tang Wulin''s caliber, the weight of the mecha was nothing more than that; dead weight!


    It was no wonder that most red mechas were under six meters tall; the larger a mecha was, the more cumbersome it became.


    Tang Wulin also set a target for himself; he was going to construct a black mecha that was also less than six meters tall. It only had to be just big enough to contain him after he donned his suit of battle armor. To him, a mecha''s enhancement abilities and endurance were the most important aspects; everything else paled in comparison. His strength had already reached an extremely fearsome level, so his mecha also had to be able to handle his power.

 Chapter 1027: A Battle of Technique

    After some careful consideration, Tang Wulin was already at a stage where he was beginning to fine-tune his mecha blueprint. Ling Wuyue had assisted him greatly during this process.


    As one of the best mecha pilots in the entire legion, Ling Wuyue''s status sat above that of even Jiang Wuyue.


    He and Ling Wuyue were both going to be participating in the first elimination round today, and according to the rules, participants from the same competition region wouldn''t be pitted against one another during the first three elimination rounds.


    Tang Wulin moved his mecha around a little and swung his spear through the air before turning toward his opponent.


    Coincidentally, his number in the Soul Master battles was 33, and his number for the mecha battles was 66, so both of these numbers were very easy to remember.


    His opponent was also a melee combat mecha pilot, but their weapon was very strange; as opposed to an offensive weapon, it appeared to be a very thick and heavy shield.


    Shield-wielding melee combat mechas weren''t very common, unless they were used to hold back enemies on the front line during a large-scale battle.


    However, this was a one-on-one mecha battle; wasn''t his opponent putting himself at a severe disadvantage by using a shield as a weapon? This meant that they were giving up on most of their offensive ability. However, Tang Wulin didn''t underestimate his opponent just because they were using a shield. There were no slouches or weaklings in the finals, and the fact that his opponent was sticking with a shield meant that they had great confidence in it.


    Ling Wuyue had once taught Tang Wulin that during mecha battles, mechas that used orthodox weapons weren''t worthy of fear or concern. Instead, it was the mechas that were using unorthodox weapons that he had to pay extra attention to, and in particular, there was the greatest variation in weaponry available to melee combat mechas.


    As such, rather than growing complacent at the sight of his opponent''s shield, Tang Wulin became even more cautious instead. He still couldn''t completely control his body yet, so in comparison he was actually more adept at controlling mechas at this point. After all, he only had to inject his soul power into the mecha and control it with his hands.


    "Begin!"


    Following the announcement from the electronic voice, Tang Wulin''s first mecha battle of the finals officially commenced.


    His opponent immediately rushed toward him without any hesitation. Instead of wielding the shield in front of himself, he allowed it to hang beside him as he strode rapidly toward Tang Wulin''s mecha. His mecha''s footsteps were very stable and consistent.


    Tang Wulin also sprang into action. A mecha had to build up some momentum in order to unleash more power, so he also spurred his mecha into action, getting it to charge toward his opponent.


    The distance between the two of them was quickly being closed down, and when there was only around 50 meters left separating them, the opposing mecha, which had the number "161" hovering above its head, unleashed the first attack.


    It swung its right arm through the air, and the circular shield was hurled through the air, hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin while rotating rapidly. It clearly required a considerable level of skill to send the shield flying on a perfectly straight trajectory while rotating at such an incredible speed, and it confirmed Tang Wulin''s suspicion that this shield was not meant for defensive purposes.


    For some reason, Tang Wulin had a feeling that this person''s battle style was very likely going to be rather similar to that of Ling Wuyue.


    He was no longer the amateur mecha pilot that he once was, who only knew how to charge blindly ahead. The spear in his mecha''s hand quickly sprang upward, and its tip struck the very center of the shield from down below with unerring accuracy.


    Ling Wuyue had once told him that the cores of all rotating weapons lay at the central axial point of their rotation. If he could throw off the balance of the weapon at that point, then the weapon''s momentum and trajectory would both be greatly hampered, thereby making it impossible for his opponent to control it.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had improved significantly, and his control over timing had also been enhanced as a result.


    Right as the tip of his spear was about to clash with the shield, the latter suddenly shuddered slightly before flying over Tang Wulin''s mecha like a flat stone being skipped over water. At this point, both mechas were also very close to one another.


    After hurling his shield through the air, Tang Wulin''s opponent no longer had a weapon, and he immediately took advantage of this by thrusting his spear directly toward his opponent''s chest. In that instant, the speed of his spear increased dramatically, and it screeched through the air while releasing a burst of devastating spear intent.


    However, his opponent suddenly stopped on the spot, slamming his feet while the upper body of his mecha tilted slightly sideways. His mecha''s two arms then completed an expert evasive maneuver before one hand reached out to slap the side of the spearhead, while the other made a grab for the shaft of the spear. At the same time, Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by a sense of peril approaching him from behind!


    What exemplary skills!


    Tang Wulin instantly deduced his opponent''s battle tactics; while he was trying to grab onto Tang Wulin''s spear with his mecha''s bare hands, the shield that had just flown over Tang Wulin''s head had swerved around like a boomerang to attack him from behind.


    If his spear were to be locked in his opponent''s grasp, he''d either have to take the full brunt of the attack from behind or abandon his weapon to take evasive measures.


    Regardless of which of the aforementioned options he chose, his opponent would immediately seize the upper hand.


    However, Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t going to give his opponent such an opportunity.


    After deducing his opponent''s battle techniques, he instantly reacted. The spear that he had just thrust forward was withdrawn like lightning, and its unstoppable momentum instantly disappeared, leaving only a trail of spear intent and spear projection in its wake.


    Without even turning to look behind him, Tang Wulin thrust backward with the shaft of his spear, striking the shield behind him with unerring accuracy amid a resounding boom. Drawing upon the impact erupting from the shield, Tang Wulin activated his mecha''s propeller and instantly accelerated drastically, crashing into the opposing mecha in virtually the blink of an eye.


    At this point, his opponent''s mecha had just grabbed onto empty air.


    "Boom!"


    A loud boom rang out, and both mechas hurtled back in retreat at the same time.


    Another shield had appeared in Number 161''s hand. This was also a round shield, but compared to the shield equipped to the generic mecha, this one was entirely dark golden in color with faint turtle-shell patterns running over its surface. The immense rebound force erupting from the shield clearly forced Tang Wulin back a little further than he was able to force back his opponent.


    As expected, his martial soul was also a shield.


    In the face of Tang Wuin''s unavoidable attack, Number 161 was forced to release his own martial soul.


    As dark golden light flashed from the shield in Number 161''s hand, the shield that had just been sent flying by Tang Wulin''s spear flew back into his other hand, creating a dual-shield combo.


    As expected of the caliber of the participants in the finals!


    Only the span of a few breaths had passed since the commencement of the match, but a series of clashes of tactics and courage had already ensued. Tang Wulin had gained a slight upper hand, but it wasn''t enough to be decisive.


    Number 161''s aura had clearly become denser and heavier. It was quite clear that he was already beginning to take his opponent seriously, and Tang Wulin''s heart was also filled with anticipation and excitement. Only with an opponent of this caliber could he continue to improve his mecha battle techniques.


    Over time, his style of battle had progressed toward an untamed free-flowing style where he relied heavily on strength and brutality. However, that didn''t mean that he didn''t respect technique. On the contrary, he could only make the best use of his extreme strength in battle when he had exemplary control and technique to accompany that strength.


    In terms of techniques, that was something that he''d have to hone through mecha battles, and the more powerful his opponent was, the more battle intent would be evoked within him. He could sense that in terms of technique alone, this Number 161 was slightly inferior to Ling Wuyue, but his powers were definitely not inferior compared to Ling Wuyue.


    He raised his spear and placed both hands on the shaft this time before controlling his mecha to rush toward his opponent again. A spear projection erupted from the front tip of the spear, and it was flickering between around a foot in length to over 10 feet long, making his opponent unable to gauge and predict it.


    Dark golden light also began to appear on his twin shields, and on this occasion, he didn''t move. He positioned the generic mecha shield in front of himself, then raised his martial soul shield in a horizontal manner, clearly intending to use it as a weapon.


    The spear was thrust forward, and his spear intent and spear projection instantly combined as one. In that instant, it was as if Tang Wulin''s mecha had completely fused as one with its spear, making it one massive spear that instantly pierced through the air, hurtling directly toward his opponent''s chest. The spear projection was shimmering with scorching white light, and the unstoppable aura emanating from it drew reactions even from the spectators.


    Was this a kamikaze attack?

 Chapter 1028: Brutal Conclusion

    The Number 161 mecha squatted down slightly, pushing its generic shield forward first before immediately unleashing a set of super-powerful defensive techniques.


    In the instant that the shield came into contact with the spear, the protective barrier on the surface of the shield was immediately pulverized by the spear projection. However, as his mecha squatted downward, it was able to angle its shield slightly upward, thereby altering the trajectory of the spear.


    Of course, these defensive measures alone wouldn''t be enough to completely ward off Tang Wulin''s devastating attack.


    However, right at this moment, a series of shield projections erupted from the round shield, stacking on top of one another in a dense pile beneath the spear. The pile then continued to grow taller and taller, hoisting his spear further and further upward.


    Everything had taken place in an instant, and when Tang Wulin''s spear reached the opposing mecha, it merely skimmed past the mecha''s shoulder, completely missing its intended target of the mecha''s torso.


    In that instant, the squatting mecha abruptly sprang upward, and the layers of shield projections also rose upward. One layer of shield projection crashed into another, and the projections instantly expanded in size during the process, forcing Tang Wulin''s spear upward. At the same time, the martial soul shield in the mecha''s hand was instantly swept horizontally through the air, crashing directly toward the chest and abdomen region of Tang Wulin''s mecha. The dark golden light around the edge of the shield was particularly sharp.


    Tang Wulin gripped onto his spear with both hands and as he internally applauded his opponent''s defensive techniques, he adopted a wider stance to lower his center of gravity while bringing his spear down from above toward the oncoming shield.


    The shaft of the spear crashed into the shield amid a resounding boom. It appeared that his opponent''s generic shield had expanded to over twice its original size, but all that additional mass had only come from the dark golden shield projections, so a soul skill had undoubtedly been used.


    The shield was swept horizontally through the air, aiming for Tang Wulin''s spear on this occasion.


    After all of the shield projections had stacked onto one another, the offensive power of this attack had risen to a whole new level.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly, and the spear in his hands suddenly turned into a platinum color as a burst of extremely powerful blood essence fluctuations abruptly erupted from his body. His spear remained completely unmoved and kept his opponent''s shield at bay.


    Was his opponent trying to engage him in a contest of strength?


    "Boom!"


    The projections on the generic shield were shattered, and it was forcibly repelled backward, but Tang Wulin''s spear remained completely unmoved. Countless spear projections immediately erupted in front of him, stacking on top of one another to create a forest of projections that hurtled directly toward his opponent.


    Number 161''s mecha faltered momentarily, clearly taken aback by the enormous strength of Tang Wulin''s mecha. At the same time, it forcibly withdrew its shields to try and defend itself against Tang Wulin''s spear projections.


    However, on this occasion, Tang Wulin had injected his bloodline power into his mecha, and the entire mecha was glowing with platinum light. His opponent''s shields possessed immense defensive power, but there was an absolute strength disparity between the two, so Number 161''s mecha was still being forced to stumble back in retreat.


    All of a sudden, Number 161''s mecha abruptly drew back, and a strange roar rang out as the turtle-shell patterns on the surface of its dark golden shield abruptly erupted forth, forming a layer of light that encapsulated his mecha as a ball of light. As the ball of light clashed with Tang Wulin''s spear projections, Number 161''s mecha was instantly sent flying backward, thereby opening up some distance between the two.


    This was excellent practical usage of his abilities!


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to continue to set off in pursuit, his vision suddenly blurred, and everything around him abruptly changed as he was struck by a rush of dizziness.


    Were these... spatial fluctuations?


    Before he had a chance to react, a burst of powerful suction force suddenly erupted from up ahead, forcing his mecha to stumble forward.


    From the perspective of the audience, light had flashed from Number 161''s mecha, following which Tang Wulin and his mecha had swapped positions. After that, Number 161''s mecha waved its shield toward Tang Wulin, and a massive black hand suddenly appeared. The black hand made a grabbing motion toward Tang Wulin''s mecha, and the latter was immediately forced to stumble toward the hand.


    Was this the legendary melee combat ability, Spatial Displacement?


    At the same time, Number 161 swung his shields through the air, conjuring up countless shield projections, and at the same time, a massive turtle projection that was radiating a powerful aura emerged behind the mecha.


    Xuanwu Shield!


    During the previous few clashes, Numer 161 had already realized that this Number 66 was not an easy opponent to deal with. In particular, his strength exceeded that of anyone he''d ever seen. Both of them were melee combat mecha pilots, so strength was an extremely decisive factor in their battle. However, his opponent possessed such crushing strength than even his shields weren''t able to keep him at bay, which meant that his chances would be very slim if he were to fight fire with fire. Furthermore, the battle techniques that Tang Wulin had just displayed weren''t inferior to his in the slightest.


    Number 161 was an extremely experienced mecha pilot, and he immediately made a decision; he was going to unleash all of his power in an explosive combo to try and secure victory!


    As such, he used two of his signature soul skills in rapid succession, first displacing Tang Wulin to cut off his momentum, then unleashing his traction force to draw Tang Wulin''s mecha toward him. This traction force stemmed from spatial laws, so one couldn''t just resist it through pure brute strength. As such, Tang Wulin''s mecha was drawn directly toward him, and at this point, he had already prepared his most powerful attack to end this battle once and for all!


    Following a brief stunned stupor, Tang Wulin had already raised his spear horizontally before him. His opponent had unleashed those two soul skills far too quickly, to the extent that by the time he managed to react, the shield projection had already appeared right in front of him, which meant that there wasn''t even enough space for him to wield his spear properly. Furthermore, his opponent was putting everything he had into this attack.


    Being able to remain calm during sudden turns of events was a very valuable ability in battle, Tang Wulin definitely possessed this ability.


    In the face of his opponent''s devastating attack, his heart stirred slightly, following which his fifth golden soul ring suddenly lit up. This was the fifth bloodline soul skill that he''d used against Ma Shan once during battle, and he was now using it again. He didn''t make this a blood soul fusion skill; it was just a pure bloodline soul skill.


    All of a sudden, Number 161 felt as if he were experiencing double vision as he appraised Number 66. Immediately thereafter, his shield crashed into Tang Wulin''s spear and mecha, and he instantly sensed that something was wrong. The power of his attack was completely nullified by a string of slight tremors, and the tremors then abruptly intensified in an alarming manner, erupting forth as devastating vibrational shockwaves.


    "Boom!" Number 66''s mecha was clearly the one that had been struck, but the one that was sent flying was Number 161!


    Tang Wulin''s mecha only seemed to blur slightly before it returned to normal, and it seemed that it hadn''t done anything. The spear in the mecha''s hand was also thrust forward, and its devastating spear projection erupted forth once again.


    The violent vibrational shockwaves made the Number 161 mecha pilot experience a brief period of disorientation, during which he could feel bursts of terrifying power exploding relentlessly within his body.


    One had to realize that even the Soul Douluo, Ma Shan, was sent flying by this soul skill of Tang Wulin''s, and even though he''d controlled his power, directing his attack only toward one direction, thereby conserving some energy, it was still a very fearsome attack.


    The spear passed through between the two shields, and the spear projection instantly punctured through Number 161''s body. Immediately thereafter, the vibrational shockwaves appeared again, and a violent boom erupted within Number 161''s mecha. The spectators looked on in astonishment as Number 161''s mecha exploded into countless pieces.


    Meanwhile, Number 66 drifted down onto the ground, looking like an insurmountable mountain!


    All of the spectators were completely flabbergasted. This match wasn''t displayed in its entirety on the main broadcast, but people could choose to specifically view this live broadcast, and at the same time, there were many people who had access to Star Cabins logging on to the battle net to spectate this battle.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this was a battle that had filled everyone with awe and excitement, and clashes of intelligence and power had constantly been taking place from the beginning to the very end. Tang Wulin''s final attack had further stunned all of the spectators present.

 Chapter 1029: Naer Still Existed

    Is this my fifth bloodline soul skill?


    Even though he hadn''t unleashed it as a blood soul fusion skill, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that it was even more fearsome than a blood soul fusion skill.


    At the same time, he also began to develop an understanding of this ability; this was not just an individual skill, but something that could be integrated with any single one of his soul skills! It was absolutely perfect in all areas aside from the fact that it required a vast amount of energy expenditure to unleash.


    He decided to name it his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion!


    Even though he had been trying to control the direction that the soul skill was unleashed toward with all his might, it had still sapped away over 60% of his soul power and bloodline power after just two uses. This meant that he could only use this skill in explosive bursts. At the very least, that was the case at his current cultivation rank.


    Even so, Tang Wulin''s heart was still filled with excitement. This meant that he possessed an ultra-powerful explosive ability!


    ¡­¡­


    Gu Yuena sat in front of a small lake and gently tucked a few strands of her silver hair behind her ear. She was looking at the women of the Scorching Basin washing their clothes on the opposite shore with a lost expression on her face.


    A hint of pain flashed through her eyes, followed by a hint of anticipation.


    He was coming to see her again.


    "Why haven''t you fused with me?" A gentle voice that only she could hear rang out.


    "I''ve already lost to you, so you can fuse with me at any time! Why haven''t you done so?" The voice sounded again.


    If Tang Wulin could hear this voice, then he''d definitely be extremely astonished as this voice belonged to none other than his little sister! That''s right, this was Na''er''s voice.


    Gu Yue didn''t reply; she merely continued to gaze into the distance in silence.


    "We were already gradually combining as one, and that explosion split us apart again, but you''ve been healed by the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, so why haven''t you begun the fusion process again?" Na''er''s voice was filled with befuddlement.


    Gu Yue still didn''t say anything in reply. There seemed to be countless thoughts flashing through her purple eyes, yet there was also an implacably determined light shimmering within her pupils.


    "What''s going on with you?" Na''er was insisting on getting an answer, and her voice had become a little harsh.


    "I should kill him. Only after killing him will I be able to dedicate myself wholeheartedly to the things that I should do," Gu Yue finally replied.


    "You wouldn''t do that," Na''er''s voice was filled with confidence as she countered, "The fact that you won the bet against me indicates that there''s no way you can do anything to harm him, so you wouldn''t do that."


    Gu Yue was silent for a moment before suddenly replying, "There''s no way for you to stop me; you and I both know that only by killing him will I have the chance to awaken the genes of the Dragon God in order to revive it. The Divine Realm no longer exists, and only under these circumstances will we be able to create our own Divine Realm which will be a haven for our brethren. This is not just about me; it''s about the entire world of Soul Beasts, as well as all of the other beasts in this world. In order to achieve this, I have to destroy the human race so they can''t prevent me from doing what I want to do."


    A forlorn tone entered Na''er''s voice. "I''m naturally aware that this is what we should do. After all, your memories are my memories as well, but can we really do this? If we do this, how will we be different from humans? Were the human gods really the only ones at fault during that battle in the Divine Realm? Were we not at fault as well?"


    Gu Yue sighed, "You''re still regarding yourself as a human, aren''t you?"


    Na''er said in an indifferent voice, "If you insist on that being the case, then I won''t disagree; I am the human part of your memories anyway. You still haven''t told me why you still haven''t fused with me. You should be aware that if you don''t fuse with me, I''ll do everything in my power to stop you if you ever bring yourself to try and hurt him."


    Gu Yue''s eyes glazed over slightly. "You don''t understand."


    Na''er insisted, "Then tell me so I understand!"


    Gu Yue gently shook her head in response. "No, I can''t tell you. You''ll know when the time comes."


    Na''er asked, "How long are you going to keep him in the dark for?"


    Gu Yue looked into the distance with a blank expression. "If it were possible, I''d want to keep him in the dark forever."


    Na''er faltered slightly before a peal of tinkling laughter suddenly escaped from her mouth. "I knew it! There''s no way you can kill him."


    Gu Yue countered, "But don''t you know that aside from me, every single one of our brethren wants him dead? It''s time for us to go back."


    "You''re going to leave?" Na''er asked in a trembling voice, "But what about him? If you leave, he''ll definitely guess that we''ve already recovered our memories."


    Gu Yue said in an indifferent voice, "Even still, we have no choice but to leave. Di Tian is close to tracking us down, and with his spiritual power, it wouldn''t be difficult for him to discover Wulin. In our current form, we''re still no match for Di Tian. He already discovered my inability to kill Wulin last time, so he''s definitely going to kill him in my stead. Only by killing him will we be able to fuse as one."


    "No! If he dies, we''ll be driven insane, and we''ll completely fall apart." Na''er''s voice suddenly became very cold.


    A wry smile appeared on Gu Yue''s face. "Ever since I became the silver dragon after the Dragon God was cut in half by the Asura Sword, I''ve never felt this vulnerable before. You know, I really don''t like this feeling."


    "Gu Yuena, I''ve always wanted to ask you something," Na''er suddenly said.


    "What is it?"


    Na''er was silent for a moment before continuing, "Are you happy when you''re with him?"


    Gu Yue also fell silent upon hearing this. She stood up, then squatted down beside the lake, cupping some water with her hands before letting it slip through her fingers. "Without happiness, how would there be pain?"


    In the next instant, it was as if time had suddenly stopped.


    Gu Yuena''s body shuddered slightly, and she seemed to have sensed something. The forlorn and sorrow expression on her face silently vanished, and was replaced by a knowing smile.


    In the next instant, she was encircled in a warm embrace.


    "Gu Yue, what are you doing here? I''ve been looking all over for you!" His gentle voice sent a surge of warmth flowing through her heart.


    No matter how painful the future was going to be, she was happy in this very moment. She really, really loved this warm embrace.


    "Father!" she called out in a faint voice.


    Tang Wulin held her in his arms, and said, "I was released a little early, and I came over right away. Did you miss me?"


    "I did!" She turned around and rested her head against his chest, basking in his warmth and listening to his strong beating heart as she closed her eyes. "I really missed you!"


    Tang Wulin gently stroked her long silver hair, and in this instant, his heart was filled with satisfaction. He was far happier than even when he''d manifested his soul core and broken his 10th Golden Dragon King seal.


    It was exactly because of her that no matter how rough the road ahead was, there were no obstacles in his eyes. At the very least, his heart still had a safe haven with the one that he loved.


    The two of them held one another, and the sunlight shone down upon them. The women washing clothes on the other side of the lake were completely entranced as they looked on at this match made in heaven.


    Two days passed by very quickly, but those fleeting two days were filled with happiness.


    They cooked together, washed clothes together, walked together, laughed together, stargazed together, and looked up at the snowy alps together.


    Every single second was filled with joy and intimacy.


    "When are you coming back next time, Father?" Gu Yuena asked in a quiet voice.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I might be away for a bit longer this time. I''m participating in a competition, and I''ll only be able to visit you again at the conclusion of the competition. When that time comes, I should be able to stay with you for a few more days. Are you bored over here on your own?"


    Gu Yuena smiled, and said, "Whenever I get bored, I think of you, and I''m not bored anymore."


    Tang Wulin appraised her gorgeous smiling face, and he finally couldn''t help but lean down and plant a gentle kiss on her cheek.


    Her cheek was fragrant and supple, and he had originally only intended to give her a single peck, but he couldn''t help but kiss her again.


    Gu Yuena giggled, "That tickles, Father."


    Tang Wulin suddenly encircled his arms tightly around her. "Never leave me again, alright?"


    Gu Yuena''s smile stiffened, and her expression gradually softened. She paused momentarily before nodding as she replied in a gentle voice, "I''ll never leave you."


    After Tang Wulin returned to the Blood God Legion, he was filled with motivation once again.


    He had already gradually become accustomed to his life here. The cultivation and battles were always intense and taxing, but all of the stress he accumulated would immediately vanish at the sight of Gu Yuena. He could even sense that he was able to detect elements more clearly than before, indicating that his spiritual power had improved once again.


    This was something that had most likely already been achieved in the aftermath of his last breakthrough, but it hadn''t yet become clear to him. Following the two days he''d spent with Gu Yuena, everything had become clear to him.

 Chapter 1030: Jiang Wuyues Complaint

    Only through working hard in his cultivation would he be able to become stronger and better protect her. As long as he could reach a certain level of power, he wouldn''t have to worry about her leaving him even if she were to recover her memories.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin was filled with motivation, and he immediately called up Jiang Wuyue to continue beating him...


    "Why is it that after beating you up, I''m sore all over the place, but you''re completely fine? What is your body made of?" Jiang Wuyue complained.


    In the beginning, beating up Tang Wulin had been quite a satisfying experience, but after a while, he discovered that Tang Wulin wasn''t affected by his beatings at all, yet he was always exhausted by the end. There''s no way that Tang Wulin was human! Even iron and steel would''ve been reduced to powder by his attacks, yet they only managed to inflict a few slight injuries on him, and those injuries would be completely gone by the time they met again the next day.


    As such, the initial sense of satisfaction and achievement was constantly on the wane.


    Tang Wulin cracked his knuckles, and suggested, "How about we switch roles next time?


    Jiang Wuyue immediately shook his head vigorously. "No way! By the way, why are you asking me to beat you up? With your personality, you definitely wouldn''t do something for no good reason."


    Tang Wulin made no attempt to hide the truth. "I''m doing this so I can better control my own strength. Now that you mention it, I don''t really feel your beatings all that much anymore; it''s time for me to change to someone else. I''ll call up Big Brother Ma next time."


    He currently shared an extremely good relationship with Ma Shan. He had forged all of the metals required for Ma Shan''s suit of three-word battle armor, and they were not just soul refined metals, but soul refined alloys instead.


    After breaking his 10th seal and attaining his soul core, Tang Wulin''s control in his forging had also improved significantly. As a result, the success rate for his spirit alloy fusion and soul refinement had both improved drastically.


    Ma Shan naturally couldn''t be more pleased with this. Not only would a good suit of three-word battle armor enhance his powers tremendously, it would also forge a great foundation that would increase his chances of being able to attain a suit of four-word battle armor in the future.


    In the world of battle armor masters, there were quite a considerable number of three-word battle armor masters, but four-word battle armor masters were exceedingly rare. This was partially due to the extreme shortage of Divine Blacksmiths on the continent, but a major factor behind this also lay in the flaws of many suits of three-word battle armor, which prevented them from being upgraded to a suit of four-word battle armor.


    With Tang Wulin''s forging skills, not only had many of the flaws in Ma Shan''s suit of two-word battle armor been ironed out during this upgrade process, the quality of his suit of three-word battle armor was definitely one of the best among its kind in the entire Blood God Legion.


    Of course, with his straightforward personality, he made no effort to hide Tang Wulin''s talents, and all of the two-word battle armor masters in the legion were now staring at Tang Wulin like starving wolves. He hadn''t received that many soul refinement jobs in the past, but there were now almost constantly people piling in through the doors of his workshop. However, with his limited time, he was only able to accept a small proportion of these jobs.


    In the past, there may have been people who would''ve tried to pressure him into taking on their jobs, but he was now Blood Nine! Who would dare to exert any pressure on him?


    In reality, the main beneficiary from all of this actually wasn''t him. Instead, it was Long Yuxue as half of all of the profits from Tang Wulin''s workshop went to her. Tang Wulin was a very stingy person, but he also definitely kept his promises. As such, Long Yuxue profited to an even greater degree than Tang Wulin did from this workshop as she didn''t need to do any work.


    As a result of this vast influx of accolades, Long Yuxue had recently purchased a lot of expensive equipment and become significantly more powerful. She still wasn''t as powerful as Jiang Wuyue, but it was looking very much like she would be able to surpass him in the near future.


    This made Long Yuxue''s attitude toward Tang Wulin change even further. However, the only times that she could see Tang Wulin now was when he was forging in his workshop.


    In her eyes, Tang Wulin was like a tireless automaton; all he did every single day was cultivate and forge without taking any time to relax and enjoy himself.


    He was cultivating in the Blood God Battalion, which Long Yuxue was prohibited from entering, but she had known Tang Wulin for the longest period of time among everyone in the legion, so she could clearly sense that Tang Wulin seemed to be changing noticeably every single day.


    From the time when he''d first arrived until now, he had completely evolved into a new man.


    Tang Wulin had managed to progress through the finals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition very smoothly thus far. His opponents were all quite powerful, but following his recent transformations, none of them posed much of a challenge to him. The elimination stage quickly concluded, and the round-robin stage commenced.


    After that would be the set of elimination rounds.


    There were a total of eight groups in the round-robin stage with four people in each group, and only two people would progress from each group to the final 16. There was no risk of immediate elimination in the round-robin stage, but every match had to be treated as a must-win battle. Only then would one get a chance to progress to the next stage.


    "What are you doing, Gu Yue?... Oh, if you like it, then eat some more of it... I''m great; don''t worry about me. I''m entering the round-robin stage now, so I''ll have to compete every single day, and I won''t be able to visit you until after the round-robin stage. I''ll see if I can pay you a visit in between the two stages."


    "There''s no need for that, Father; just come to visit me after the competition. Otherwise, it''ll be too much of a hassle for you."


    "Alright. What a good girl you are!"


    ¡­¡­


    After ending the call, the smile on Gu Yuena''s face was instantly replaced by a cold expression. She dialed another number, and after the call was connected, she said, "Begin the infiltration. Is everything already prepared?"


    "Yes, my Lord, everything has already been prepared," a deep voice replied from the other end of the line.


    "Good. Make sure to constantly keep me updated, and don''t let the Spirit Pagoda discover what we''re doing."


    "Don''t worry, my Lord, we''ve begun our infiltration from the elementary Spirit Ascension Plane, so they won''t be able to catch on to what we''re doing."


    After ending the call, Gu Yue combed her hair before striding out of her room. If Tang Wulin could see her right now, he would definitely be given a huge shock as she was no longer at the Scorching Basin. Instead, she was in a world that was filled with metal.


    "Are you ready?" A pleasant voice sounded beside Gu Yuena''s ears, and Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu was already waiting for her outside.


    "Yes, Teacher," Gue Yuena replied with a nod.


    A faint smile appeared on Leng Yaozhu''s face. This disciple of hers had never disappointed her. She raised a hand and high-fived Gu Yuena. "Show them just how powerful my disciple is."


    "I will." An extremely determined look appeared on Gu Yuena''s face. After passing this trial, she would officially become a backup Spirit Envoy, which would make her a truly high-ranking member of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The metal doors were opened, and Gu Yuena strode into the other room. What was awaiting her was the most rigorous trial that the Spirit Pagoda had to offer.


    ¡­¡­


    "Let the first round-robin match begin!"


    Following the announcement from the electronic voice, Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward his opponent.


    His opponent had the number "47" hovering above their head.


    The one thing that set the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition apart from other competitions in the world of Soul Masters was that no one knew anything about their opponents, and there was no way to investigate anything about anyone. The mainframe kept all of the competitors'' information extremely confidential, and one could only learn about their opponents by assessing their past competition footage. However, the main issue there was that no one even knew who was in their group, so they had no idea who their next opponent would be. As such, they''d have to learn about a vast number of opponents.


    Of course, this wasn''t a problem to Tang Wulin as he had never even bothered to research any of his opponents. Instead, he preferred for his opponent to be as mysterious as possible as the extra element of facing the unknown would provide him with greater stimulus.


    At this point, he had already mastered his own body to an elementary level, so he wouldn''t lose control as he often did after first breaking his 10th seal. The more control he gained over his own strength, the more self-confident he became.


    There was still around half a month left until he had to face Blood Nine''s challenge, yet he had never been as confident as he was now. Only he could completely comprehend just how powerful he had become.

 Chapter 1031: Dragon Roar Vibrational Explosion

    Number 47 rose up into the air before flashing toward Tang Wulin like lightning. This was an agility attack system Soul Master, as well as a seven-ring Soul Sage!


    It was undoubtedly the case that all of the participants who had progressed to the round-robin stage of the finals were the cream of the crop of the world of Soul Masters, and it could even be said that they were also elites among the world of battle armor masters. There was no way that anyone could''ve made it to this point without suits of two-word battle armor.


    Tang Wulin''s opponent was extraordinarily fast. Even the worse seven-ring agility attack system Soul Masters could break the sound barrier with their speed, so the distance between them was closed down in a flash. A frosty sensation instantly swept over Tang Wulin''s entire body, yet he couldn''t even lock down the exact location of his opponent.


    His opponent was truly astonishingly fast, but so what?


    Tang Wulin''s eyes suddenly lit up, and if one were to look closely, they''d discover that his pupils had become vertical. A vicious aura instantly erupted from his body, and he only tapped his foot into the ground in a slight motion before a resounding boom rang out.


    The ground in a diameter of 30 meters around him caved in almost at the exact same time, and a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out as eight massive dragons emerged from the ground. At the same time, the space within the diameter of 30 meters began to warp and twist, and Tang Wulin''s opponent was forcibly revealed as a result.


    Number 47 appeared to be a woman, and she was holding a pair of green daggers in her hands, both of which were emanating frosty light.


    In response to the sudden spatial changes around her, Number 47 reacted very quickly, slashing her dagger through the air to create a black spatial rift.


    As a result, the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth was only able to slow her down rather than immobilize her.


    She stepped forward and entered the rift, looking as if she were about to disappear from Tang Wulin''s field of view in a flash.


    In contrast with the difficulty he''d been experiencing in his mecha battles, here in the Soul Master battle discipline, Tang Wulin was already being tipped as one of the hot favorites to become the final champion. He had displayed extremely astonishing combat prowess during the previous three elimination rounds, crushing each of his opponents within seconds. As such, he had been extensively researched by his competitors.


    Number 47 had also reviewed Tang Wulin''s battle footage before, but the fact that he was her first opponent of the round-robin stage had still left a very bitter taste in her mouth.


    Thankfully, each group had two participants who could progress to the next stage, and she wanted to see if she had a chance at securing victory with her Demonic Green Daggers.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly at the realization that his opponent was trying to escape through a spatial rift, but he immediately reacted as he launched his right fist forward.


    Another dragon''s roar erupted, and space collapsed as a black-hole appeared in mid-air.


    Number 47 let loose a howl of agony as one of her legs, which had just entered the spatial rift, was instantly destroyed by the violent spatial fluctuations. However, she also reacted extremely quickly and immediately relinquished her plan to escape using her spatial rift. At the same time, her seventh soul ring lit up, and her body suddenly shrank, transforming into a green streak of light before instantly hurtling toward Tang Wulin.


    Her soul spirit was her dual Demonic Green Daggers, and her martial soul true body was the Demonic Greenbird.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Demonic Greenbirds were extremely fearsome and vicious soul beasts, and in the past, Tang Wulin would''ve had a lot of trouble facing such a martial soul true body. However, he had faced a true Demonic Greenbird before, and ever since it became Gu Yuena''s pet, he had developed an extremely in-depth understanding of this creature.


    Furthermore, he certainly wasn''t the person that he once was.


    Number 47 was placing all of her eggs in one basket with this attack. She had released her martial soul true body and two-word battle armor almost at the exact same time, and that streak of green light seemed to be capable of piercing through heaven and earth.


    Tang Wulin remained standing still on the spot. The eight golden dragons released by the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth virtually instantly appeared before him, right in the path of the Demonic Greenbird.


    With the enhancements of the suit of two-word battle armor, the Demonic Greenbird possessed offensive prowess close to that of a Titled Douluo, and this was a kamikaze attack from Number 47, so one golden dragon after another was punctured as the bird drew closer and closer to Tang Wulin.


    However, she could only see a cold and calm expression in his vicious vertical pupils.


    "Roar!" A loud dragon''s roar rang out, and a massive golden dragon head appeared in front of Tang Wulin. In the eyes of all of the spectators, it looked as if the Demonic Greenbird had been instantly engulfed. The green figure vanished in a soundless manner, and after that... it never reappeared!


    "The victory goes to Number 33!"


    The first round-robin match had concluded in mere seconds, just like all of his previous elimination matches.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his vicious aura, and was teleported out of the competition venue with a contemplative look on his face.


    His Golden Dragon Roar coupled with his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion had truly unleashed a devastating attack that had virtually vaporized his opponent''s body in an instant.


    However, this combination attack had expended over half of his soul power and bloodline power.


    The greater his mastery of the Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion became, the more he came to realize just how terrifying this ability was. The opponent he had just faced was a Soul Sage who was among the most elite two-word battle armor masters in the entire federation, yet she was still unable to withstand his bloodline soul skills.


    His Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth had weakened her, and his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion and Golden Dragon Roar had completely destroyed her. There was also that punch that had shattered space itself.


    "What an intimidating figure!" the commentator said in an awestruck voice, "Will anyone be able to stop Number 33''s advancing footsteps? He''s only a six-ring Soul Emperor, but his combat prowess is downright terrifying! His explosive power is too much for even martial soul true bodies to handle!"


    The other commentator said, "He''s definitely not your average six-ring Soul Emperor. Otherwise, there''s no way he could possess this level of combat prowess. At the very least, he has to possess twin martial souls, the other martial soul could be even more powerful than the one he''s displayed. His abilities are far more powerful than those of a normal Soul Emperor, and if you ask me, even without his suit of battle armor, he still possesses at least Soul Douluo level combat prowess, and when I say Soul Douluo, I mean the most powerful of Soul Douluos. I''m going to make a bold prediction here; I''m tipping him to be the final champion!"


    "I wouldn''t be so quick to jump to conclusions. There are two contenders from the sixth and third groups who are also very powerful, and the combat prowess they''ve displayed definitely aren''t inferior to his. Looks like we''ll have some thrilling matches coming up! I''m really looking forward to seeing their clashes."


    "Indeed, I can hardly wait!" The commentators were full of praise for Number 33 while the audience was completely stunned.


    Number 33 was becoming more and more badass with each passing match, and a widely renowned nickname had already been coined for him; it was "Golden Dragon King".


    After logging out of the Star Battle Net, Tang Wulin sat down onto his bed as usual to meditate and reflect on the match, paying particular attention to his control over his own strength.


    After breaking his 10th seal, his already enormous strength was almost doubled once again. His dragon core and soul core resonated with one another, and at this point, his dragon core heart was definitely more powerful than his soul core.


    His blood essence was also able to recover at a far faster rate than in the past, and even the amount of energy he''d expended by using the Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion had recovered after just a short while. This was what Tang Wulin held in the highest regard.


    According to his own analysis, after releasing his suit of battle armor, his combat prowess was definitely comparable to that of Titled Douluos who weren''t wearing their suits of battle armor, and even his soul skills wouldn''t be inferior to theirs by much.


    As he gradually became more and more familiar with his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion and Fury of the Masses, he had improved significantly once again during the past half a month. At the very least, he was much more confident in his chances against Blood Nine.


    At this moment, he suddenly received a call.


    "What''s up, Yuxue?"


    "Congratulations on winning your first round-robin match." Long Yuxue''s voice clearly harbored mixed emotions. There was no way that she would fail to recognize who this Number 33 was. To put it more accurately, everyone in the legion who was familiar with Tang Wulin knew that he was Number 33, but it was exactly because of this that they were even more awestruck by him.


    "Thank you," Tang Wulin said with a smile. He was naturally aware of Long Yuxue''s feelings toward him, and it was exactly because of this that he had intentionally been avoiding her outside of the times when he was forging.


    He already had Gu Yuena, and he didn''t want to lead Long Yuxue on and hurt her, so he could only try to distance himself from her.


    "Are you in your dormitory room? Can you come out to see me? I have something I have to tell you," Long Yuxue said in a calm voice.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "What is it? Can''t you tell me through this call?"


    "No, I have to speak to you face-to-face," Long Yuxue insisted.


    "Alright, wait for me in the resting area; I''ll head over right away."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin put on his clothes before leaving his room.


    He had only just arrived in the hall of the Blood God Battalion when he bumped into Blood Nine.


    Blood Nine wore a rather peculiar expression as he looked at Tang Wulin. "Wulin, I saw your match earlier."


    He currently wore a set of senior colonel epaulets, in contrast with Tang Wulin''s major general epaulets.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Are you scared?"

 Chapter 1032: I Love Her No Matter Who She is

    Blood Nine scoffed, "Of course not! However, it looks like I really won''t be able to hold back during our next battle. Let''s go to the battle net again when the time comes so neither of us gets hurt."


    As a member of the Blood God Battalion, the former Blood Nine definitely possessed exemplary mental fortitude and battle intent. As such, he wasn''t disheartened by Tang Wulin''s rapid power increases in the slightest. Instead, this was only working to further stoke the flames in his heart.


    "Sure." Tang Wulin nodded in response before departing from the Blood God Legion and quickly arriving at the resting area.


    Tang Wulin caught sight of Long Yuxue from a distance. She was sitting in the corner of the cafe with a cup of hot steaming coffee in her hands. What came as quite a surprise to him was that she wasn''t wearing her military uniform today. Instead, she wore a high-collar white woolen jumper, and her long hair was arranged into a ponytail, giving her a very casual and refreshing appearance.


    From the side, he could see her beautiful facial features and her faintly fluttering eyelashes.


    Compared to her normal appearance, she had lost some of her heroic spirit, but gained a bit more delicate beauty.


    Tang Wulin strode over to her before sitting down across from her. She had applied some light makeup, which only made her appear even more gorgeous.


    "Hey."


    "What''s up?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Do you want something to drink?" Long Yuxue avoided his question as she asked a question of her own, and she also seemed to be avoiding his gaze.


    Tang Wulin asked for a cup of black coffee from the waiter. He had never liked milk ever since he was a child, so he didn''t like to add anything to his coffee, either.


    Soon, a cup of rich fragrant coffee was presented to him.


    There was clearly something on Long Yuxue''s mind, and Tang Wulin cast a curious glance at her, but didn''t ask any further questions. He took a sip of rich coffee, and its warm and bitter fragrance spread through his entire body.


    Long Yuxue suddenly raised her head and looked directly into Tang Wulin''s eyes as she asked, "Wulin, I heard from Jiang Wuyue that you already have a girlfriend. Is that true?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before chuckling, "I''m such a handsome guy; isn''t it only normal that I already have a girlfriend? Why do you ask?"


    Indeed, it was very normal for an exceptional man like him to have a girlfriend. Long Yuxue knew that all of the female military officials in the legion who had met him were very fond of him, and he certainly had no lack of female admirers who were of a similar age to him. It was just that he was extremely reclusive and very rarely appeared in the resting area, which was why none of them had much of an opportunity to approach him.


    "Do you love her? What is she like?" Long Yuxue asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "I do! I really love her. As for what kind of person she is, to be honest, I don''t really know. When I first met her, she had taken the initiative to try and get closer to me, and I didn''t know what was going on at the time. We were students of the same class, and we cultivated together every day, so I gradually became accustomed to having her constantly by my side. As time passed our relationship slowly began to blossom, but for some reason, she suddenly began to try and distance herself from me one day. I don''t understand why she did that, but whenever I was in danger, she would also appear before me, and she would even risk her life to protect me.


    ¡°At the time, we were both quite young, so I didn''t know what kind of feelings these were, but I knew that she had become an indispensable part of my life. Before I knew it, she had become the most important person in my heart, and we''ve endured countless hardships together. She left me once, and I was unable to find her, but in my direst hour of need, she returned to my side and shielded me with her own body. She''s too complex for me to understand, so I don''t know what kind of person she is, but I do know that she loves me, and I also love her, and that''s enough. I love her no matter who she is."


    I love her no matter who she is.


    It was a very simple sentence, but it was quite clear from Tang Wulin''s voice that these words harbored an awe-inspiring love story.


    Long Yuxue had initially harbored a hint of hope in her heart, but now, her face had become deathly pale, so much so that it was a little scary to look at.


    However, Tang Wulin seemed to be completely oblivious to this. He took another sip of coffee, and continued, "I love everything about her, and all I want to do is to become stronger so I can protect her, rather than have it be the other way around. Are you listening to me, Yuxue?"


    "Huh? Ah, yes." Long Yuxue nodded with difficulty.


    Only then did Tang Wulin ask again. "So what did you want to tell me?"


    Long Yuxue shook her head vigorously and rose to her feet. "N, nothing. I have something urgent that I have to take care of in the special service department; I have to go."


    She then rushed away as quickly as she could.


    Tang Wulin didn''t look on at her departing figure. He merely lowered his head and continued to sip his coffee.


    "You bastard! How could you hurt her like that?" A large hand suddenly grabbed onto the front of his clothes before dragging him off his chair.


    Jiang Wuyue was standing before him, looking like an enraged lion, yet Tang Wulin merely looked back at him with a pair of clear and pure eyes.


    "I don''t want her to be hurt even more than this in the future, which is why I have to tell her the truth. I can''t change her feelings toward me, but at the very least, I have to tell her who I like. Don''t you understand that this is a better resolution than if I were to lead her on and drag her through the coals? Are you asking me to be with her now?"


    Jiang Wuyue faltered slightly before releasing Tang Wulin and sitting down in the seat that Long Yuxue had been sitting with a dejected look on his face. He placed his hands over his head, and muttered, "I knew she liked you. Even after I told her you have a girlfriend, she still refused to give up on you."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "That''s why I have to make her understand that there''s no way her feelings can amount to anything!"


    Jiang Wuyue scratched his head with a wry smile on his face. "Sorry, I was too rash just now; I just can''t bear to see her in pain. Is there really no possibility at all that you could accept her feelings?"


    Tang Wulin picked up his coffee cup, and said, "A person''s heart is like a cup; it has a limited capacity. My heart is already filled to the brim and can''t even take a single drop."


    Jiang Wuyue grumbled, "You could''ve just said no! Why are you trying to make yourself sound like a poet?"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes. "What are you even still doing here? Don''t you know that this is an opportunity for you? Hurry up and go after her! She''s a good girl, so you better not pass her up."


    Jiang Wuyue was rather hesitant. "You think I should go after her? Is that really a good idea?"


    Tang Wulin was feeling rather speechless. "If you go after her, at least you have a chance. Otherwise, you''ll have no chance. It''s up to you."


    Jiang Wuyue was still quite hesitant. "You sound like you know a lot about this; have you had many girlfriends in the past?"


    Tang Wulin''s expression stiffened slightly. "That''s beside the point! In any case, I already have a girlfriend, and this comes from natural talent, it doesn''t have anything to do with how many girlfriends I''ve had in the past."


    "Alright, I''ll go!"


    Jiang Wuyue rose to his feet before walking away as if he were trudging toward his own execution. A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. It appeared that it would not be an easy task for Jiang Wuyue to convince Long Yuxue to accept his feelings.


    After finishing his coffee, Tang Wulin gradually calmed down. In reality, he had already had a feeling before coming here that Long Yuxue was preparing to confess to him. As such, he knew that he couldn''t delay any longer. Dragging this out would only result in more pain for everyone, so it was best to lay everything on the table.


    As such, he was currently feeling as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.


    He stood up and did some stretches, then paid the accolades required for the coffee before exiting the resting area.


    Instead of returning to his dormitory room, he made his way toward the highest point in the entire Blood God Legion base.


    The air temperature was extremely low, and the fierce winds buffeted his body like scathing knives. If a normal person were in his shoes, it wouldn''t take long before they''d be completely frozen solid. However, Tang Wulin found it to be quite refreshing and comfortable here in this world of snow and ice.

 Chapter 1033: Venturing Deep into the Passageway

    He strode toward the top of the hill, and with his Blood God Bracelet as identification, none of the sensory devices within the legion base displayed any reaction to him. If he weren''t concerned about causing an avalanche, he''d be really tempted to raise his head and roar to the heavens.


    During this recent period of time, everything had been going very smoothly for him. His powers were improving, as was his relationship with Gu Yuena. After a while, he was going to tell her that he was her lover, as opposed to her father.


    The recollection of her fragrant scent appeared in his mind, and a sense of yearning welled up in his heart.


    He had already begun to fall in love with his life in the Blood God Legion. This place was completely isolated from the outside world, and everything was so peaceful here. All of the pressure on his shoulders could be temporarily lifted here, and ever since the conclusion of that abyssal tide, not much had been happening in the abyss.


    He turned around at the thought of the abyss before casting his gaze toward the abyssal passageway. There was faint grey energy visible in that direction, and he had learned from experience that there were some truly fearsome abyssal beings.


    He really wanted to explore the passageway and kill more abyssal creatures as that would greatly benefit his powers. In particular, after breaking the 10 Golden Dragon King seal and attaining his two major energy cores, he was now brimming with confidence.


    As Blood Nine of the Blood God Legion, he was completely unrestricted here and could enter the abyssal passageway as he pleased.


    It had been a very long time since he had last ventured into the abyssal passageway, and not much had happened in there following the last abyssal tide, so he was considering paying it a visit.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly, and he raised his right hand before sending Blood One a message through his Blood God Bracelet. He told Blood One that he was going to explore the abyssal passageway, but he was only going to explore the outskirts before departing.


    Blood One''s reply came very quickly. He agreed for Tang Wulin to explore the abyssal passageway, but cautioned him against venturing too deep into the passageway, and told him to immediately come back if he were to encounter any powerful abyssal creatures.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear was a very sensitive object that had already caught the attention of the abyssal plane. The abyssal tide had just concluded, and the most powerful abyssal emperors had all expended a lot of power during the process. As such, they wouldn''t be able to do anything in the near future under the restriction of the seal that had been placed on the abyssal passageway, but it was still better to be safe than sorry.


    Tang Wulin spread his wings and rose up into the air, gliding directly toward the abyssal passageway. He hadn''t used his golden dragon wings much during his battles in the competition as he was trying to hide it, but there was no faster and more reliable way to travel in these snowy mountains than by taking flight.


    Due to his immense strength, the fierce winds on the mountains affected him very little.


    The abyssal passageway soon became visible in the distance, and Tang Wulin withdrew his wings before descending directly into the entrance.


    He was immediately greeted by the unique dark aura of the abyssal plane. All of the soldiers of the Blood God Legion that were on guard duty here had to be substituted every once in a while, and that was due to none other than the harmful effect of the abyssal aura here.


    After accumulating several millennia of experience, the Blood God Legion now had a very detailed database of information surrounding the abyssal plane.


    Tang Wulin''s Blood God Bracelet granted him smooth passage throughout his trip, and he chose one of the larger passageways to venture into. With his identity as Blood Nine, he was able to bypass the defenses here without a hitch.


    The last time he had come here was with Long Yuxue, and they had encountered an abyssal tide on that occasion. He couldn''t help but heave a faint internal sigh at the thought of Long Yuxue; he didn''t know whether they could continue to be friends after what had just happened.


    After entering the passageway, Tang Wulin immediately released his Dragon Moon battle armor and Golden Dragon Spear. He didn''t dare to be complacent here.


    His suit of two-word battle armor already had wings of its own, and after combining as one with his golden dragon wings, he now possessed far better control and accuracy in his flight, and at the same time, his dragon wings had also become a lot more powerful.


    His recent rapid power progression instilled within him a great deal of confidence, and he pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward as he slowly walked on ahead.


    The passageway was quite spacious and dry, and if it weren''t for the fact that he knew that this passageway was connected to the abyssal plane, this place really wouldn''t seem all that eerie to him.


    Perhaps this was due to the fact that the abyssal tide had just concluded not long ago, but even after walking for around 20 minutes, Tang Wulin was still yet to encounter even a single abyssal creature.


    It appeared that the abyssal plane had truly been forced into a dormant state, and several dozens of years would most likely pass before the next abyssal tide arrived.


    That was a good thing. At the very least, the Blood God Legion would also get a chance to rest and recuperate.


    Even after venturing into the passageway for about as far as the deepest point that he had last visited with Long Yuxue, he still didn''t encounter any abyssal creatures. It was as if no abyssal creatures had ever appeared here.


    No way! Had his trip been made completely in vain?


    Tang Wulin drew to a halt as a hint of hesitation welled up in his heart. Should he continue onward? Blood One hadn''t told him not to progress past a certain point; all he had told him was to retreat if he were to encounter any powerful abyssal creatures.


    Blood One was clearly far more familiar with the abyssal plane than Tang Wulin was, and he knew that the abyssal passageway would go into a period of recession directly following an abyssal tide. As such, he wasn''t overly concerned about Tang Wulin.


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Tang Wulin focused his attention and continued onward. He had come all this way already, so he had to at least see an abyssal creature.


    As he forged on ahead, the temperature within the abyssal passageway was gradually rising. There were also faint lights shimmering within the passageway, presenting rather strange sights to behold.


    Due to the fact that his spiritual power was close to the Spirit Domain realm, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the number of spatial attribute elemental particles in the air was quickly increasing.


    As expected, a passageway that connected two realms was quite a remarkable place.


    He wondered how the abyssal plane had managed to connect itself with another plane before trying to invade it.


    If the abyssal plane could accomplish this, would the Douluo Continent also be able to do so? The resources on the Douluo Continent were quickly being depleted, and supplies of all types of ores and uncommon metals were constantly dwindling due to excessive mining.


    This was why the aggressive parliamentary factions had suggested attacking the two neighboring continents on many occasions. Their objective was very simple; they wanted to pillage more resources.


    However, what would happen if all of the resources on the entire Douluo Star were to be exhausted?


    During his lessons back at Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin had heard from his teachers that the federation was currently working toward spatial exploration. According to scientific studies, there were countless planets in space, and there had to be some planets that were inhabitable for humans and possessed additional resources. It was just that space exploration was only in the infancy stages of its development, and it would take a long time before it was even possible to search for planets inhabitable to humans.


    If these wormhole-like inter-realm passageways could be created at will, then space exploration would undoubtedly become a lot easier.


    The spatial elements in the surrounding area became denser and denser, and Tang Wulin''s intrigue toward the abyssal plane was also further piqued. His footsteps began to quicken, and the temperatures around him continued to rise. The size of the passageway hadn''t changed much, but the spatial fluctuations were becoming more and more pronounced.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin could sense that this passageway was pulsing rhythmically as if it were a blood vessel. This was a very intriguing feeling, and he plunged his Golden Dragon Spear into the ground to sense the nature of the passageway.


    There was no energy transferred into his body, which indicated that this passageway itself didn''t possess any life force energy.


    Could a passageway like this be destroyed?


    If this could be achieved, then they wouldn''t haven''t worry about the abyssal plane ever again. He had to ask Blood One about this later.


    Only after truly coming here in person would he be able to gain a better understanding of the abyssal passageway, and even though he still hadn''t seen any abyssal creatures, he didn''t feel like this was a wasted trip. At the very least, he was able to gain a greater understanding of spatial elements in this place.


    The configuration of spatial elements in the abyssal passageway was quite peculiar, and it was beginning to border on the essence of the world, so sensing it was very effective for training his spiritual power.


    He continued onward, and the spatial elements within the passageway seemed to have reached a stable state where it was no longer increasing. There seemed to be no end to the passageway, and even as he continued to forge ahead, there was no end in sight. After walking for two full hours, Tang Wulin finally stopped.


    His instincts told him that he couldn''t keep going. Otherwise, there seemed to be a change that would occur.


    There really are no abyssal creatures here!


    He couldn''t help but feel a little disappointed. Without abyssal creatures, he wouldn''t be able to battle anything or absorb their energy.


    However, he was no longer the bullish young child that he was, and he was prioritizing his safety above all else. After all, Gu Yuena was still waiting for him, so he decided to turn back.

 Chapter 1034: Spiritual Enhancement

    He silently inspected his surroundings to find that the spatial elemental fluctuations here were still quite powerful, and the abyssal passageway around him had taken on a deep orange hue. The temperatures here had exceeded 40¡ãC, [104¡ãF for mah American homies] so it was a lot hotter in here than it was outside. The temperature changes were currently the only indication to him that he was advancing toward the abyssal plane.


    He stifled his own curiosity before turning back. It appeared that this was going to be a largely fruitless trip.


    However, after walking for only a few steps, an indescribable feeling suddenly welled up in his heart. His dragon core contracted violently, and enormous blood essence fluctuations instantly erupted forth.


    A faint cry of pain rang out, and Tang Wulin reflexively turned around while sweeping his Golden Dragon Spear through the air.


    A black figure shot back like lighting, evading his spear and landing on the ground in the distance.


    Was this an abyssal creature?


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned by this sudden development as he hadn''t sensed the presence of any abyssal creature even just a split second before this!


    With his spiritual power and sensory abilities, that was quite extraordinary, and in the end, it was only his dragon core''s emergency response that alerted him to the existence of this creature. It seemed to be very fearful of his blood essence fluctuations and was immediately forced into retreat.


    Tang Wulin focused his gaze on the black shadow to find that it was a humanoid creature that was quite familiar to him. After taking a closer look, he was stunned to find that the black shadow bore a strong resemblance to him. Its height and figure were roughly identical to his, except its entire body was of a translucent black color, and its facial features were quite blurry.


    The black figure seemed to be also appraising Tang Wulin, and there were no energy or aura fluctuations emanating from its body whatsoever. Tang Wulin''s pupils gradually turned vertical, and a layer of platinum light appeared over his suit of battle armor. A spear projection erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear, and he thrust it directly toward the black shadow.


    Powerful spear intent whistled through the air within the abyssal passageway, and platinum light flashed as the spear projection hurtled directly toward the black shadow.


    The black shadow quickly retreated, and it appeared to be so light that its body seemed to be completely insubstantial. Tang Wulin couldn''t sense any life force or energy fluctuations from the creature, but his instincts told him that this was a very dangerous being.


    His spear projection hurled forth while a giant golden dragon emerged from the tip of the spear. This was none other than his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, and the golden dragon instantly encompassed the entirety of the shadow.


    However, a strange turn of events then unfolded. As the golden dragon came into contact with the black shadow, the golden dragon passed directly through its body.


    During the process, Tang Wulin''s golden dragon also took on a black color, turning into a shadow that began to revolve around the black figure.


    Tang Wulin was stunned to see this. What was this creature supposed to be? This was the first time that he''d ever seen his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens being nullified like this.


    It seemed that his attack had been taken by the creature. The black shadow raised a hand before pointing at Tang Wulin, and the black Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens immediately pounced directly toward him.


    Tang Wulin immediately adopted a calm expression. The more perilous the situation was, the more that he was able to keep his cool. He abruptly stomped his right foot onto the ground, and eight golden dragons erupted into the air amid a resounding boom. It was none other than his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth.


    The eight golden dragons were each far smaller than the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, but they outnumbered the black Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens eight to one.


    As soon as they clashed, the black Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens exploded and descended from above as a vast expanse of black mist. The eight golden dragons formed by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth were quickly also tainted black, and due to the enhancements from the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, each of them had also become significantly larger.


    Thus, eight black dragons descended from above, hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin!


    Tang Wulin''s pupils abruptly contracted as his dragon core thumped violently. His third bloodline soul ring lit up, and an earth-shattering roar of fury rang out within the entire abyssal passageway.


    An enormous golden dragon head appeared, and all of its whiskers resembled Bluesilver Emperor vines. This was his blood soul fusion skill, Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Roar!


    "Roar!"


    The thunderous dragon''s roar made the entire passageway tremor violently, and the eight black dragons were instantly destroyed, disintegrating into black streams of energy that were about to escape.


    Tang Wulin thrust his Golden Dragon Spear through the air, and his blood essence power erupted forth. Scorching white light radiated from the Golden Dragon Spear, instantly drawing all of these streams of black energy into the spear.


    Tang Wulin was immediately reciprocated by the energy from his own Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens and Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. The energy was filtered by his Golden Dragon Spear before returning to his body again.


    In the distance, the black shadow seemed to have been temporarily immobilized by the intimidation of his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Roar, and Tang Wulin immediately hurled his Golden Dragon Spear toward it. At the same time, countless Bluesilver Emperor vines were released from his body before sweeping toward his opponent.


    In the instant that he''d unleashed his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Roar, Tang Wulin sensed that the black figure could devour his energy-based attacks, but it seemed to be extremely fearful toward the life force energy released by his Bluesilver Emperor vines. As such, the enlarged Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth was easily destroyed by his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Roar.


    Seeing as it feared life force energy, his Bluesilver Emperor vines would naturally be the best weapons to use against it.


    The black figure immediately tried to flee at the sight of the oncoming Golden Dragon Spear, but it was affected by the Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Roar and was unable to evade.


    The Golden Dragon Spear passed through its body before flying into the distance, and the black figure let loose a howl of anguish that seemed to have originated from deep within its soul. The entire black figure was then sucked in by the Golden Dragon Spear and completely disappeared.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his Bluesilver Emperor vines and waved a hand to draw the Golden Dragon Spear back into his grasp. In the next instant, his eyes abruptly widened with surprise.


    He was stunned to discover that the energy flowing into his body wasn''t fusing with his dragon core, nor his soul core. Instead, it flowed directly into his mind, making him feel as if his spirit had been cleansed, and he was able to sense the spatial elements within the abyssal passageway with even greater clarity.


    Were these spiritual enhancements? This was the first time that the energy absorbed by his Golden Dragon Spear had enhanced his spiritual power.


    Furthermore, this was a permanent increase, rather than just a temporary boost. This was a massively pleasant surprise!


    After all, the most difficult thing to cultivate was spiritual power. He cultivated his Purple Demon Eyes every day, but as his spiritual power became more and more enormous, the rate of cultivation was becoming slower and slower. That influx of energy just then was the equivalent of the amount of spiritual power that he''d attain from cultivating his Purple Demon Eyes for at least a month, so how could he not be elated?


    These abyssal creatures that had been the enemies of the Blood God Legion for countless years were like extremely effective spirit items to him!


    With that in mind, a peculiar look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He really wanted to see what the abyssal plane was like. If he were to become powerful enough to stay in the abyssal plane for a while, there was a good chance that he''d be able to make some significant breakthroughs. At the very least, the blood essence power that he accumulated would give him a greater chance of successfully breaking more Golden Dragon King seals in the future.


    He had constantly been familiarizing himself with his own new body lately, and the more he did this, the more he came to realize just how immense the energy within the final nine Golden Dragon King seals was. The energy within the 10th seal alone was comparable to that of all of the previous nine seals combined, and the later seals would only contain more energy. However, breaking these seals would also present him with very stern tests, and if his body couldn''t handle it, then he''d be as good as dead.


    Absorbing the energy of abyssal creatures was definitely no less effective to him than consuming spirit items, and there was also almost no end to these creatures.


    The increase in his spiritual power made him very excited, and he almost couldn''t repress the urge to continue onward.

 Chapter 1035: Possession Demon

    However, after enduring so many trials and tribulations, his mental state had become extremely disciplined and steadfast. He bit down on the tip of his own tongue, using the resulting pain to make himself more alert before he turned back in a determined manner.


    He had to report the situation that he''d just encountered to Blood One right away. That abyssal creature had definitely benefited him greatly, but it had also posed a relatively significant threat to him, and who knew if he would encounter abyssal creatures even more dangerous than that one if he were to continue onward? Safety had to be his number one priority.


    Tang Wulin began to accelerate in his return journey, and it only took him less than a third of the time to get to the entrance of the abyssal passageway. After that, he returned to the Blood God Battalion.


    He naturally heaved a sigh of relief following his return, and he inspected his own bodily condition to ensure that there were no issues before directing his attention to his own mind.


    As expected, his mind had become slightly more powerful, and he was able to detect the elements around him with noticeably increased clarity. If he were to continue to cultivate at this rate, he firmly believed that it wouldn''t take him long to reach the Spirit Domain realm.


    After reaching the Spirit Domain realm, he could directly use his spiritual power in battle, and it would create a strong enough foundation for him to cultivate all the way to the Limit Douluo level. It was said that only true gods and an extremely small proportion of demigods managed to reach the Divine Origin realm.


    To Tang Wulin, the Divine Origin realm was far too distant for him to think about. At the very least, among all of the Limit Douluos that he knew of, not even a single one of them had managed to reach the Divine Origin realm. This was also why they didn''t dare to try to make the breakthrough to become godly beings.


    "I''m back, Blood One. Do you have some free time right now? I have some observations that I''d like to discuss with you."


    "Sure, come on over."


    After contacting Blood One, Tang Wulin went straight to the hall of the Blood God Battalion, and not long after that, Blood One emerged from his room.


    "What are your observations?" Blood One cut straight to the chase.


    Tang Wulin gave him a recount of everything that had just happened.


    Blood One''s expression quickly changed in response, and he said, "Are you saying that your Golden Dragon Spear can even devour Possession Demons?"


    "Possession Demon? Is that what that black shadow was?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Blood One''s expression was clearly uncharacteristically excited; did this mean that Possession Demons were quite powerful?


    Blood One appraised him with a meaningful look, and only after a long while did he reply in a serious voice, "Perhaps you really were sent to us by the heavens to resolve the issue of the abyssal plane once and for all. This is fantastic news; you don''t know what kind of disasters these Possession Demons have brought upon us ever since the abyssal plane descended on our world!"


    Tang Wulin was rather perplexed. He could only sense that he seemed to have done something that was quite remarkable.


    A hint of sorrow flashed through Blood One''s eyes. "Possession Demons are found in the seventh layer of the abyssal plane, and they''re one the most powerful types of abyssal creatures. They don''t possess much combat prowess, and they exist in spiritual forms, but as their names suggest, they possess an innate possession ability that''s absolutely disastrous for us. No one knows how Possession Demons came into existence, and due to the fact that they possess no life essence or energy and are extremely adept at concealing themselves, they''re very difficult to spot. It''s often the case that someone will only detect their existence after they''ve already been possessed."


    Blood One paused momentarily before continuing, "Once someone is possessed by a Possession Demon, they''ll be forcibly controlled by it, and no one can resist its control unless they possess Spirit Domain realm spiritual power or above. Even someone with Spirit Domain realm spiritual power will be greatly affected by these creatures, and they''ll need to fight with all their might for a chance to break free. During this process, it''ll be very difficult for one to move their body. During our first major battle against the abyssal plane over 6,000 years ago, we knew nothing about these Possession Demons, and several dozens of our most powerful beings were possessed.


    "Even several of our Limit Douluos had been killed under what we had thought to be completely inexplicable circumstances during that battle. Close to half of the most elite Soul Masters on the entire continent perished during that battle, and only many years later did we gradually discover through our battles against the abyssal plane that these Possession Demons feared life force energy. As long as one carried an extremely rare type of life crystal with them, they would be immune from its possession ability.


    "However, by that time, we had already lost countless powerful beings to those abhorrent creatures. Furthermore, the most terrifying trait of Possession Demons is that they can''t be killed. They can infect and control all physical, spiritual, and energy attacks, and they''re especially adept at taking over projected attacks, just like your golden dragon attacks. I truly didn''t think that you''d be able to kill them; this is absolutely brilliant news!"


    Tang Wulin was quite flabbergasted to hear this. From the sounds of it, these Possession Demons were even more powerful than Black Empresses! At the very least, Black Empresses and Demonic Enchantresses possessed physical bodies, so they could be defeated, but these Possession Demons were completely different. During his battle against that Possession Demon, he had been struck by a sense of powerlessness, as if none of his attacks were going to work.


    Even his Bluesilver Emperor vines, which possessed immense life force energy, were only able to force back the creature, and it was only his Golden Dragon Spear that was able to kill it in the end.


    Blood One continued, "Thankfully, even though Possession Demons are extremely fearsome, their numbers are very limited. Also, after many years of research, we''ve deduced that each Possession Demon can only use their possession ability three times in its life, so they won''t just go around possessing anyone. Once possession is successfully completed, a Possession Demon will gradually completely control its host, transforming all of its host''s abilities into their own abilities, and at the same time, they also possess some special abilities of their own.


    "You''re very lucky in that the Possession Demon you encountered most likely hasn''t possessed anyone yet. If you had encountered one that had already possessed someone and taken their abilities, they would be a lot more powerful and very difficult to handle. Hence, formless Possession Demons are indeed quite terrifying, but Possession Demons with physical forms are even more fearsome!"


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. The innate ability of these Possession Demons was way too fearsome!


    Blood One appraised Tang Wulin with an intense gaze. "There will never be a total of more than 36 Possession Demons at any time, and only after one of them dies will another one be born. However, we don''t know what circumstances will result in death for them. At the very least, we''ve never managed to kill a single Possession Demon on the battlefield, so you''ve created history. On top of that, you killed a new Possession Demon that hasn''t yet had a chance to possess anyone, which means that their numbers have been permanently lowered to 35. This is definitely a significant contribution, and I''ll be reporting this to request a reward for you."


    Tang Wulin looked down at his Blood God Bracelet. "But I don''t seem to have earned any accolades for this."


    A wry smile appeared on Blood One''s face. "That''s because no Possession Demon has ever been killed before, so it''s naturally not in the system. However, we can add it specifically for you now. Of course, you were elevated to the major general rank very quickly, so you actually owe the legion a lot of accolades; that debt can be settled by the accolades you earned from killing this Possession Demon."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. That sounded very shady! So the promotion that he had earned after defeating Blood Nine wasn''t actually free!


    In reality, this made sense. The former Blood Nine had already accumulated enough accolades to promote him to the senior colonel rank, so after he was defeated by Tang Wulin, he reverted back to that rank. If he had already earned enough accolades to earn a promotion to the major general rank, then even after being dethroned as Blood Nine by Tang Wulin, he would still be a major general.


    Furthermore, an astronomical number of accolades was required for a senior colonel to be promoted to the major general rank.


    "This is a very important matter that I have to inform the legion commander about. Don''t venture into the abyssal passageway in the near future. The fact that you''ve killed a Possession Demon will most definitely have alerted the abyssal plane, so if you go again, I''ll be accompanying you. However, now is not the time to make that trip; we still have to make more preparations, and you also need to improve."


    Tang Wulin departed while Blood One looked on with an excited and contemplative gaze. He reflexively clenched his fists. He was seeing more and more hope from Tang Wulin, and he knew that Tang Wulin was the key to truly eradicating the threat of the abyssal plane.


    It was going to take an extremely long time to achieve that goal, but at the very least, there was finally a ray of hope after several dozens of generations of arduous efforts from the members of the Blood God Legion.


    If it were possible to leave this place behind, no one would want to stay in this godforsaken land of ice and snow!


    Furthermore, the threat of the abyssal plane was a ticking time bomb that was going to explode sooner or later, so it had to be permanently addressed at some point.


    During the next few days, Tang Wulin continued to compete every day, alternating between Soul Master battles and mecha battles. The rest of his time was spent in cultivation, and every day passed by in a routine yet busy manner for him.


    Long Yuxue didn''t come to find him again, and she didn''t even come to visit him while he was forging, so he didn''t know what her condition was like.

 Chapter 1036: Number 68

    It was a good thing for her to take some time to calm herself down, so Tang Wulin didn''t contact her. He had already rejected her, so it wouldn''t be a good idea to get her hopes up again. However, he truly wished from the bottom of his heart that he could still be friends with Long Yuxue, and he really admired her personality. She was a kind-hearted girl, and Tang Wulin was hoping that Jiang Wuyue would be able to give her happiness.


    Tang Wulin emerged from his group in the first position and progressed to the final 16 as a hot favorite. In contrast, he had more difficulty with his mecha battles.


    All of the mecha pilots who had made it to the round-robin stage had extraordinary mecha handling skills, and Tang Wulin''s own skills were constantly improving through these arduous battles.


    Through the experience that he''d accumulated during these battles, he also became more and more adept at controlling his own body. Of course, it would still take him some more time if he wanted to be able to perfectly use his newfound power.


    The final round-robin match of the mecha battle discipline was going to take place today, and Tang Wulin had already been guaranteed a berth in the top 16. The opponent that he was facing had also ensured their progression to the next round, so this was going to be a battle that decided who would take out the top spot in their group.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha was wielding its usual long spear as it stood on the competition platform. His opponent was Number 68, which was quite similar to his number of 66, and they were also wielding a spear.


    If it weren''t for the difference in the last digit of their respective numbers, they would be completely identical.


    This match wasn''t going to affect whether they''d progress to the next round, but it did affect who they were going to face in the top 16.


    The top mecha pilot of a group was guaranteed to face the second mecha pilot of another group, and vice versa. Hence, this match was far from a meaningless one.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t really thinking about all of that; he was simply cherishing every single opportunity for him to improve himself through these matches.


    He had already prepared almost all of the materials required to construct his black mecha, and the accolades he earned through soul refinement jobs had all been spent on different types of materials. He had even placed some orders to Bright City through the legion, and those materials were going to arrive in a few days.


    The more proficient he became at piloting mechas, the more interested in them he became. He now understood why Mu Ye had dedicated so much of his time and effort to mecha construction, to the extent that he''d even hampered his own battle armor and cultivation.


    The enhancements that mechas provided to Soul Masters were very direct. This was only the most ordinary generic mecha, yet after Tang Wulin became adept at handling it, he was able to complete many maneuvers that Soul Masters were unable to perform. Furthermore, mechas were the best form of protection for Soul Masters, and they differed greatly from battle armor in this area.


    The enhancements provided by suits of battle armor were more direct and more potent, and they were also more flexible and agile than mechas. However, suits of battle armor had to be supported by the Soul Master''s powers.


    To some Soul Masters with lower power levels, they simply didn''t possess enough energy to support suit of battle armor, so they were destined to never be able to become battle armor masters.


    However, mechas were different from this. Powerful mechas could draw upon soul batteries and circuits to unleash immense combat prowess, so even if a Soul Master had insufficient soul power, they could still rely on their mechas to battle for them.


    As such, battle armor was indeed very powerful, but mechas possessed advantages that battle armor didn''t possess. This also made it even clearer to Tang Wulin why Mu Ye had suggested that he still needed a mecha.


    He could already achieve this much with a generic mecha; how powerful would a custom-made black mecha make him become? In reality, it was impossible even for red mechas to be entirely constructed from heavenly refined metals; only the more important core components had to be heavenly refined.


    Tang Wulin was very confident in his own forging, and he firmly believed that he was going to become a Divine Blacksmith someday. When that day came, he was going to construct a divine-grade mecha for himself.


    What he was planning now was to construct the most powerful super-mecha that he was currently capable of creating, and that would further contribute to a solid foundation for his future endeavor to revive Shrek Academy.


    At the same time, he informed his friends of this idea through soul communication, cautioning them not to write off mechas as simply inferior to battle armor. In particular, this applied quite heavily to Xu Lizhi. As a food system Soul Master, if he could possess a powerful mecha that he could control in an expert manner, then he''d be able to significantly make up for his shortcomings when it came to offensive output.


    Everyone had joined the military, and even though they contacted one another relatively infrequently, they would all take occasionally take some time to communicate what they''d learned and experienced in the military, as well as through their own cultivation.


    Tang Wulin could sense that he was not the only one who was developing at a rapid rate. Ever since the disaster that had befallen Shrek Academy, everyone was doing everything they could to improve, and those efforts were certainly shining through.


    Tang Wulin had made an agreement with his friends, telling them not to be in a hurry to make their next major breakthroughs. Instead, they should continue to accumulate their soul power, and when they met again, everyone would be able to fuse with a 100,000-year-old soul spirit that would significantly boost their overall powers once again.


    When that time came, they would truly be Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    Number 68 swept his long spear through the air, and a vast expanse of spear projections fanned out before him. This was a customary formality prior to the commencement of a battle, and at the same time, it was a display of Number 68''s mastery in spear techniques, which was meant to intimidate Tang Wulin and affect his confidence.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha merely raised its spear and jabbed it forward three times as an acknowledgment of his opponent.


    The two of them then controlled their mechas to rush toward one another almost in unison. Neither of them had used their propellers, and both of their mechas were advancing in a very straightforward manner.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were shimmering with faint light. The more powerful his opponent was, the more battle intent he was able to muster up.


    He had improved very quickly in his spear techniques, but most of that came from his Fury of the Masses. His opponent was also using a spear on this occasion, and it was more important for him to learn some lessons from observing his opponent''s spear techniques than it was for him to win this battle.


    The two mechas instantly approached one another, and just as it looked as if they were about to clash, Number 68''s spear was abruptly thrust forward. His spear projection was of an icy blue color, and as soon as it appeared, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the air temperature around his mecha had instantly plummeted, to the extent that even the movement speed of his mecha had been hampered.


    Immense bloodline power erupted from his body before spreading throughout his entire mecha, and a layer of faint golden light appeared over the surface of his generic mecha, allowing it to instantly ward off the frosty temperatures. At the same time, the spear being wielded by Tang Wulin''s mecha was jerked upward toward his opponent''s spear.


    "Whoosh!" All of a sudden, Number 68''s spear disappeared, but in the instant that Tang Wulin''s spear flashed past, his spear reappeared before thrusting toward the chest of Tang Wulin''s mecha like a lightning-fast viper. Several dozens of spear projections instantly appeared at the same time, and all of them were aimed at vital regions of Tang Wulin''s mecha. The flurry of attacks created quite a mesmerizing sight to behold, and the speed at which the spear strikes had been unleashed was clearly superior to that of Tang Wulin.


    This was not an indication of his control over his spear, but instead, an indication of the speed at which he could control his mecha. It was undoubtedly the case that the speed at which he was operating this generic mecha was at the very upper limit of its tolerance capacity.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly, and it appeared that there would be no way for him to evade this attack, but all of a sudden, his mecha began to sway in an unpredictable manner, unleashing the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    One spear projection whizzed past him after another, and at the same time, he swept his own spear horizontally through the air in an extremely overbearing manner. There were no techniques or tricks to speak of; it was just a pure horizontal sweep imbued with an unstoppable will, and it appeared as if this single sweep of his spear could wipe out an entire army!

 Chapter 1037: Dual Spear Battle

    Tang Wulin was sure that his opponent would''ve surveyed his battle footage in the past, so he had to be aware of Tang Wulin''s strength. As such, there was no way that he would decide to fight fire with fire.


    His opponent''s spear techniques were simply far too fast. Tang Wulin was trying to evade with all his might using his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, but this was a mecha, after all, so it still wasn''t as agile as a human body. As such, it was still struck a few times by his opponent''s spear. However, if his opponent wanted to continue in his attack, then he''d be struck by Tang Wulin''s sweeping spear, and it was up to him to weigh up his options. Tang Wulin was unleashing an attack that his opponent had to defend against.


    Following so many rounds of mecha battles, Tang Wulin had accumulated far more combat experience than before, so he definitely wasn''t going to be holding back in critical situations.


    As expected, Number 68 immediately reacted to Tang Wulin''s oncoming spear strike, controlling his mecha to leap backward. However, at the same time, he raised his spear and evaded Tang Wulin''s attack before plunging the tip of his own spear into the ground.


    Blue light flashed, and the ground beneath the feet of Tang Wulin''s mecha was instantly transformed into a patch of smooth ice. That''s right, it was ice, and on a surface like this, it would be very difficult for a mecha to exert any power into the ground. Meanwhile, the opposing mecha had already risen up into the air before unleashing a vast expanse of spear projection that cut off virtually all avenues of evasion for Tang Wulin.


    The ice on the ground didn''t really affect Tang Wulin''s mecha if he were to do nothing but stand on the spot, but if he wanted to move, then he would most definitely be affected. At the same time, countless spear projections were raining down on him from above, making it impossible for his mecha to take flight. It had to be said that this tactic from Number 68 was a very damaging one, and if it were to succeed, Tang Wulin would be placed at an absolute disadvantage.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he controlled his own mecha to squat down. However, as opposed to attempting to spring up into the air, he was simply doing this to reduce the exposed surface area of his mecha. At the same time, he thrust his spear upward, and rather than unleashing a large number of spear projection, this was only a single spear strike.


    A platinum spear projection erupted from the tip of Tang Wulin''s spear, whistling through the air and looking as if it were about to puncture the very heavens itself.


    Powerful spear intent combined with fierce blood essence fluctuations to create an absolutely devastating attack.


    Number 68''s heart jolted upon seeing this. He had originally thought that Tang Wulin had controlled his mecha to squat down in order to minimize its exposed surface area, so he had attacked with even greater ferocity. However, what he didn''t expect was for Tang Wulin to be able to unleash such a powerful spear strike even as he was squatting down.


    He had been swindled!


    It was undoubtedly the case that the squatting motion had been completely superfluous; Tang Wulin could''ve just unleashed his retaliative attack without squatting down first. However, he had done this in order to trick Number 68 into overextending and injecting more power into his attacks, thereby making it difficult for him to adopt any other tactics.


    It appeared that Tang Wulin was inferior in terms of skills, speed, and reactions, but this simple squatting motion immediately alerted Number 68 to the fact that his opponent definitely didn''t possess inferior practical combat techniques than his.


    All of a sudden, an icy blue mirror appeared in the air. The mirror reflected the light emanating from Tang Wulin''s spear projection, and in the instant that the spear struck the mirror, Tang Wulin felt the tip of his spear slide along the mirror''s surface, and his attack was diverted off to the side. Meanwhile, the spear projections unleashed by Number 68''s mecha also reached Tang Wulin''s mecha, but they were a lot less powerful than they originally were.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha then clenched its left fist before unleashing an almighty punch.


    The punch appeared to be an extremely simple one, but as soon as the fist was launched through the air, a burst of fearsome unstoppable power erupted forth. This was a pure eruption of Tang Wulin''s blood essence power.


    The air exploded to form a massive wall of air that kept the oncoming spear projections at bay. The surface of Tang Wulin''s mecha was enshrouded by a layer of ice and frost as a result, but Number 68''s mecha had also been forced to fly backward before descending onto the platform in the distance.


    Their very first clash was already an extremely exhilarating one. Tang Wulin''s mecha sprang up from its squatting position, flying out of the area of the platform that was covered by ice. As the mecha landed on the ground, the ice and frost that had settled over it had already been dispelled by his immense blood essence power.


    They appeared to be evenly matched!


    No one had managed to seize the upper hand during that first clash, yet both of them had displayed the skills they were most adept at.


    Tang Wulin slowly raised his spear, and a spear projection was still flickering from the tip of the spear. His opponent also did the same thing. Following that initial clash, both of them had become more cautious toward one another, but at the same time, their respective battle intent were elevating in a frenzy.


    Faint energy fluctuations were constantly rising up around the two mechas, clearly indicating that they were both accumulating power, so the next clash was undoubtedly going to be an earth-shattering affair.


    The commentators were also so nervous that they were unable to say anything. This was the final match of this group, and it was going to decide who took out the first position. As such, it was undoubtedly going to be the most spectacular match of this group, and it was being heavily broadcasted.


    Number 66 and Number 68 didn''t disappoint the audience, either; they treated all of the spectators to a spectacular show just in their opening clash alone.


    Those were only ordinary generic mechas! Anyone who had worked with mechas had used these things, yet the same mecha could display vastly different levels of combat prowess depending on the mecha pilot it was being used by. This gave many mecha pilots who were lacking in cultivation aptitude hope; even generic mechas could be very powerful when used well!


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath and reflected on his opponent''s spear techniques. At the same time, he was experiencing his own spear intent, and he gradually developed the feeling that he was no longer operating a mecha. Instead, he felt as if he were participating in this battle himself.


    Mecha and body as one! That''s right, this was the state that Ling Wuyue had told him about. In her original words, if one wanted to be a truly great mecha pilot, then the first thing they had to do was to become one with their mecha. Only when a mecha pilot felt as if a mecha were their own body could they perfectly unleash their mecha''s full power and perfectly integrate their own powers and abilities with their mecha.


    Both mechas sprang into action at the same time, as if their advances had been choreographed. Both of their propellers were activated to elevate their speed to the very max, and both of them were pointing their spears forward with unstoppable intent.


    Number 68''s mecha had completely turned into an icy blue color, and countless ice spikes had even appeared over the surface of the mecha. In contrast, Tang Wulin''s mecha had turned into a shimmering golden color, and the two mechas had clearly become far more powerful than the average generic mecha. The two of them reached one another in what seemed like the blink of an eye, and both of them thrust their spears forward without any tricks or embellishments.


    The spear being wielded by Number 68''s mecha had turned into an icy blue color, and countless ice spikes spread along its shaft before exploding violently. It was as if countless ice spears had erupted forth, akin to a massive blossoming ice flower.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin''s spear split into two, then into three, then into countless spears as countless Bluesilver Emperor vines also transformed into spears that were hurtling through the air. Each and every vine was imbued with immense blood essence power, as well as the peerless spear intent in his heart.


    All of the Bluesilver Emperor vines then instantly converged toward the center and fused into the mecha''s spear; Fury of the Masses!


    In the face of the immense pressure being exerted on him by his opponent, Tang Wulin unleashed Fury of the Masses again. This wasn''t the complete version of the technique, but he was able to incorporate everything that he''d learned to fuse his Bluesilver Emperor vines with his spear.


    As soon as each Bluesilver Emperor vine came into contact with the mecha''s spear, the former would naturally wind itself around the spear, making the spear thicker and heavier. Spear intent and spear projection also fused into spear before reciprocating the mecha, making the golden light emanating from it even more bright and dazzling.


    At this moment, Number 68 was like an icy flower in full bloom, and Tang Wulin resembled a massive rotating sharp drill.


    It was undoubtedly the case that these were both devastatingly powerful attacks, and that the battle was going to be decided by this exchange.


    All of the spectators looked on with bated breath. No one could''ve predicted that a conclusion would be reached so quickly in this battle. Tang Wulin and Number 68 had both decided to do this as they knew that they were each facing an extremely powerful opponent. In the face of such a powerful opponent, how could they not unleash the pinnacle of their power?


    This was a clash of power and will, as well as their understanding of spear intent.


    The icy flower and golden spike clashed. Both of them faltered momentarily, and during that split-second, the commentators and spectators all felt as if their hearts had skipped a beat.


    In the next instant, a burst of golden light suddenly erupted from behind the icy flower, and the stationary golden spike hurtled forward once again, instantly reducing the massive ice flower to a vast expanse of ice powder.


    This was an extremely dazzling and astonishing sight to behold!


    "The victory goes to Number 66!"


    Only after three full seconds had passed did raucous cheers erupted throughout the entire venue, and there were also countless people screaming in front of their soul screens.

 Chapter 1038: Spear King

    The direct and violent clash had moved virtually everyone. Even Number 68, who had just lost the match, received a lot of praise from the audience.


    The only one left standing at the center of the competition platform was that shimmering golden mecha. The mecha was riddled with countless cracks and damaged areas, presenting a rather sorry sight to behold, but its aura and will still remained.


    It was the victor of this battle, and it had truly stunned all of the spectators of this match!


    "Spear King, Spear King, Spear King!"


    Someone began to chant this name, and even the commentators couldn''t help but join in on the chants.


    There had certainly been no lack of spear-wielding mecha pilots during this competition, but very few of them managed to progress to the finals. Among them, the two greatest representatives were undoubtedly Number 66 and Number 68.


    This was only the final match of the round-robin stage, but it had undoubtedly determined the hierarchy of the spear-wielding mechas. It was undoubtedly the case that Number 66''s spear techniques were the most powerful.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was still lying in his Star Cabin with his eyes closed, and his mind was still completely filled with the recollection of the spear strike he''d just unleashed.


    He seemed to have truly grasped it.


    In the instant that he had unleashed that spear strike, he clearly sensed in his mind that his own figure seemed to have overlapped with that of Old Tang back when he was demonstrating Fury of the Masses for the first time.


    Only now could he completely confirm that he''d finally achieved initial mastery of his Fury of the Masses.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. All of the days he''d spent cultivating hadn''t gone to waste. Just this one spear technique had taken him so long to cultivate and hone, but he was elated to finally be making substantial progress.


    He had progressed to the next stage as first in his group!


    He had made it to the final 16 in both Soul Master and mecha battles, and he was a hot favorite to become the final champion in both disciplines. There wasn''t as much hype for him in mecha battles compared to in Soul Master battles, but that was only because Tang Wulin hadn''t used any of his powerful soul skills during his mecha battles. Instead, he was trying to dedicate more effort into honing his mecha piloting skills.


    He had to become the final champion!


    ¡­¡­


    "I accept." A deep voice seemed to have rung out across the entire world of darkness. A massive figure sat atop a lofty throne. The figure was entirely inky-black in color, and bore the appearance of a massive humanoid statue. As he spoke, the entire space around him warped and twisted violently.


    In the sky above, a grey figure that was just as enormous nodded in response. "Very good, we''ll begin making our preparations, then. This time, nothing will be able to stop us. We have to destroy all potential threats, and your child won''t have died in vain. As soon as we take over that world, everything that you''ve lost will be replenished."


    "Cut the chit-chat! We should''ve already devoured that world long ago. Seeing as a human is now willing to open up a passageway for us, that world is as good as ours."


    "Can we form the pact now?"


    "Yes! Their objectives have no conflict of interest with ours; they want to kill all of the living beings in that world, and we want to devour all of the energy in that world. They only want baleful aura and destructive power, whereas we want all of the energy, so our objectives do not clash."


    "Those humans really are insane; to think that they want to recreate a Divine Realm with destruction and hatred as a core and foundation. If we can obtain enough power, then we''ll be able to make our plane evolve, so it''s a win-win situation."


    "Go and make the preparations. The nine of us will sign a pact with them; they wouldn''t dare to go back on their word."


    "Alright, then it''s settled; let''s completely destroy these pesky humans once and for all."


    "The passageway has already been connected for so long; it''s about time we put an end to everything. If we keep pursuing a conservative route in search of opportunities, who knows how much longer it''ll take? Even though we''re taking a risk, success will benefit us more greatly than all of the small worlds we''ve devoured in the past combined."


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin was in a meditative state as he silently sensed all of the elemental particles in the world around him. Blood One had told him that it would still take a very long time for one to reach the Spirit Domain realm even after they attained the ability to sense elements.


    The ability to sense elements only indicated that there was a possibility for one to reach the Spirit Domain realm, and the true signatures of Spirit Domain realm spiritual power involve being able to clearly sense elements in the outside world, and also to control them with one''s spiritual power. It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin was still very far away from reaching that stage.


    Hence, he still had to constantly sense elements, and this process was also a great way for him to cultivate his own spiritual power. At the same time, he could gain a better understanding of the special nature of the essence of the world.


    Even though he was still only a Soul Emperor, Blood One had already educated him on many areas surrounding Titled Douluos. After reaching the Titled Douluo stage, it would become extremely difficult for one to progress even a single rank. The most important driving force behind one''s progression was for one to understand the essence of the world and make their own essence as close as possible to that of the world.


    There were no techniques or shortcuts involved during this process; it was mainly about sensing the outside world. The essence of the world was different for everyone, and it was undoubtedly the case that whoever was the closest to the truth would be the closest to the pinnacle.


    No one could articulate to someone what the essence of the world was as the essence that one was closest to differed depending on their mental state and abilities. It was an extremely abstract concept that one could only grasp for themselves.


    Tang Wulin most definitely possessed super aptitude. He was just a six-ring Soul Emperor, yet he was able to defeat Blood Nine. Of course this was partially due to the fact that Blood Nine had held back against and underestimated him, but that still didn''t change the fact that Blood Nine was a Titled Douluo! The fact that Tang Wulin had been able to defeat him had truly stunned the entire Blood God Battalion.


    As such, Blood One advised him to immediately begin doing some things that only Titled Douluos would do. In doing so, he would be forging a stable foundation for himself while his best years were still ahead of him, and that would allow him to prepare for reaching the pinnacle of the human race in the future.


    Technological advancements had dealt a massive blow to Soul Masters, and Soul Masters were nowhere near as revered as they were in the past. However, it was undoubtedly the case that the most powerful Soul Masters still stood at the pinnacle of the entire world.


    During the disaster that befell Shrek Academy, if the Atlas Douluo had tried to escape with all his might, no one would''ve been able to stop him. He only chose to sacrifice himself so he could protect the final seeds of Shrek Academy, and in the process, he also severely dented the Holy Spirit Cult.


    That was sufficient testament to just how fearsome a Limit Douluo who was also a four-word battle armor master was.


    After reaching that level, one would be powerful enough to command respect from the entire federation, and that was the true reason why Shrek Academy had managed to stand for so many years.


    Tang Wulin definitely had to build up his own forces if he wanted to rebuild Shrek Academy, but at the same time, he also required absolute power.


    Tang Wulin meditated for an indeterminate amount of time, and he gradually entered a state of complete immersion. All of his powers and abilities had been improving too quickly recently, so he had to give himself more time to meditate. Following an increase in one''s powers, one had to take the time to assess themselves as only then would they be able to better understand and control their own body.


    The final elimination stage of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition was about to arrive, and there weren''t many matches left, but all of his opponents were going to be the most elite young Soul Masters of the federation. In other words, they were the absolute cream of the crop among those who weren''t three-word battle armor masters yet.


    As such, each and every match was going to be extremely arduous. According to his knowledge, two other members of the legion had also made it to this stage, and Ma Shan wasn''t one of them.

 Chapter 1039: The Circumstances of the Seven Monsters

    Even with Ma Shan''s powers, he was unable to progress beyond the round-robin stage. One had to realize that he was a two-word battle armor master who was also an eight-ring Soul Douluo! He only needed to complete his suit of three-word battle armor before he could become a three-word battle armor master.


    Even so, Ma Shan still lost two matches in the round-robin stage and failed to progress to the final 16.


    In terms of overall power, the group that Tang Wulin was a part of was one of the weaker groups, but he was still considered to be a hot favorite due to the strange and powerful abilities he''d displayed. No one knew what his true cultivation rank was as he was always able to hide it using the disguise skills he''d learned on the demonic island.


    Every single match, the colors and numbers of his soul rings were constantly changing, and that was one of the main talking points surrounding him.


    Of course, there were some familiar faces who had also made it to the top 16, two of which he was extremely familiar with...


    ¡­¡­


    Ye Xinglan sat within her silent cultivation chamber with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. Even though she was meditating, there was still an indescribably sharp aura emanating from her body.


    Her blue military uniform indicated that she was currently part of the navy, and the two bars and two stars on each of her epaulets reflected a lieutenant colonel military rank.


    She and Xu Lizhi had made it into this navy after passing the new soldier selection trials with their own powers. This was the Eastsea Fleet, which was widely renowned as the invincible fleet, and it was also the most powerful fleet in the entire federation.


    In terms of overall numbers, the Eastsea Legion didn''t have many more soldiers than the Northsea Legion. However, the Northsea Legion couldn''t even begin to compare with the overall powers of the soldiers here, as well as the equipment they''d been given.


    The soldiers here were truly the elites of the elites.


    Standing behind the Eastsea Legion was the federation''s Battle God Hall, and the commander of the legion was a general, so he was truly one of the most powerful and influential beings in the entire military.


    The mantra of the Eastsea Legion was very simple; one''s power determined their rank. As long as one was powerful enough, it was very easy for them to be promoted multiple ranks at a time. No one dared to do anything shady or out of line under the supervision of the Battle God Hall. Furthermore, among all of the legions in the federation, the Eastsea Legion was the one that revered individual power the most. Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi had both disguised themselves before joining the legion and participating in the trial.


    A six-ring food system Soul Master was naturally instantly held in extremely high regard, and when they''d first arrived at the legion, Xu Lizhi had actually been held in even higher regard than Ye Xinglan. The reason for that was very simple; during a battle, a six-ring food system Soul Master could support the entire fleet''s energy expenditure on his own. As long as there were enough Soul Masters on the fleet, they could virtually keep battling forever.


    As such, Xu Lizhi was given the major rank as soon as he joined the legion, and among all of the members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, he was the one who had received the highest military rank after just joining the military.


    Now, he was already a lieutenant colonel in the Eastsea Legion''s logistics department. Furthermore, he had performed extremely well during a training drill, using his steamed buns to greatly benefit the entire fleet. As a result, he received the highest reward that the legion had to offer, and it would take him three more months at most before he would be promoted to the colonel rank.


    It had already been over a month since that training drill, but it was still quite a hot topic on everyone''s lips. At the time, Xu Lizhi had stood atop a vantage point, creating all types of steamed buns before using the Tang Sect''s hidden weapon hand techniques to hurl the buns toward important battle stations. On that occasion, the most effective bun wasn''t actually his Recovery Pork Bun. Instead, it was his Agility Mini Soup Bun, which had drastically improved the movement speed and efficiency of all of the battle units. The mecha units on the fleet had also benefited immensely from his Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns. During a battle against the other half of the mecha squad on the fleet, they had absolutely crushed their opponents when it should''ve been an even battle.


    It could be said that Xu Lizhi had completely transformed the entire dynamic of the battle on his own.


    This was the advantage of having a high-grade food system Soul Master, and following that training drill, he had already become an extremely hot commodity in the fleet. This was why he''d managed to rise up the ranks so quickly, and he was now widely renowned as the new rising star of the fleet''s logistics department. Once he reached the Soul Sage level, he would only be held in higher regard.


    The Eastsea Fleet was hoping to nurture him into a food system Titled Douluo in the future. There were only records of two food system Titled Douluos on the entire continent, but both of them were over 80 years of age, so there was no way that they''d serve in the military. If their fleet could have a food system Titled Douluo on their side, then they could almost be referred to as the unkillable fleet!


    As such, Xu Lizhi was being regarded as one of the most important talents in the entire fleet.


    Compared to Xu Lizhi, Ye Xinglan had walked a completely different path. As a six-ring Soul Emperor, it wouldn''t be impossible for her to have received a major rank if she had joined any other legion, but that didn''t apply to the Eastsea Fleet. The Eastsea Fleet had extremely rigorous requirements, and they already had many powerful beings to begin with. As such, not only did one have to possess a lofty cultivation rank, they also had to possess sufficient combat prowess, and those two weren''t always equivalent to one another. There were many scholarly Soul Masters with little to no practical combat experience, and they were often next to useless after joining the military.


    As such, the Eastsea Legion had a clear-cut rule, which stated that the highest military rank that could be given to pure battle Soul Masters when first joining the legion was the captain rank. As such, Ye Xinglan received the captain rank, and she climbed all the way to the lieutenant colonel rank in such a short time purely through her own powers.


    The Eastsea Legion revered individual power, and there were all types of competitions constantly being held within the legion. Ye Xinglan quickly swept through three individual competitions with her immense powers, securing three consecutive championship titles that finally drew attention from the higher-ups.


    She was extremely beautiful, and had displayed ultra-powerful combat prowess, so the higher-ups of the legion naturally began to pay more and more attention to her.


    Not long after that, she was able to use her unstoppable sword intent to defeat a Soul Douluo, who was also a two-word battle armor master, and she was promoted to the lieutenant colonel rank as a result. During that battle, Ye Xinglan herself had also sustained severe injuries, and she had adopted an extremely reckless method of battle where she was risking her life to take down her opponent. In the end, her opponent succumbed to her devastating sword intent.


    From that day forth, Ye Xinglan also received the nickname of Battle Goddess. Everyone in the legion knew of the Starlight Battle Goddess, and as opposed to the Stargod Sword, the martial soul that Ye Xinglan had reported to the legion was the Starlight Sword.


    After joining the legion, she and Xu Lizhi were split into different departments, but both of them had heeded Tang Wulin''s advice and began to practice mecha piloting. They had already grasped the basics at this point, and Xu Lizhi was taking this particularly seriously. The legion gave him extensive support when it came to resources, so he was able to improve very quickly in his mecha piloting skills.


    Even as she was in silent meditation, Ye Xinglan''s heart was currently filled with raging battle intent. There was a Star Cabin close beside her, and it was the most expensive model currently on the market.


    She had represented the Eastsea Legion in the competition, and she was the only member of the legion who had progressed to the top 16. The higher-ups of the legion had already promised her that they would promote her to the colonel rank if she were to make it into the final 8, and if she could secure the championship title, they would promote her to the senior colonel rank.


    ¡­¡­


    At the summit of a mountain. A figure that wasn''t particularly tall nor broad was slowly throwing one punch after another. Wind and clouds suddenly began to surge around the mountain summit, and the vast expanse of clouds in the air gradually converged to form a massive fist projection. Even though the projection only lasted for a second, it was extremely clear and spectacular to behold.


    The figure turned around before throwing another punch, and it didn''t appear to be all that powerful, but howling winds erupted over the entire mountain summit once again. It was as if she were a Great Beast who was capable of manipulating the wind and clouds!


    Every punch she unleashed was extremely slow, but every single one of these punches was stirring up the entire surrounding space. A vortex that was constructed from cloud and mist gradually began to take shape in the sky. At the same time, her movements gradually sped up, and with every punch she unleashed, the air would tremor violently, and the vortex would also expand slightly.


    A series of soul rings emerged from beneath her feet, consisting of two purples and four blacks, a top-grade soul ring configuration for a Soul Emperor.


    All of a sudden, she raised her head and let loose a long cry. The sound lingered in the air and refused to fade, and the clouds in the sky suddenly descended before being drawn into her fists. Every punch that she unleashed thereafter formed a cloud vortex that was visible to the naked eye, and each successive punch was more powerful than the previous one. The air was trembling violently in the face of her fists, and it seemed that even the mountains in the distance were quaking before her power.


    Only after around a quarter of an hour did she finally stop what she was doing and allow her hands to hang by her sides in a relaxed manner. However, as a gust of wind blew past, a large plume of powdered stone rose up into the air, and the mountain summit had been lowered by an entire foot. All of this was the result of the impact of her fists.

 Chapter 1040: Divine Cloudvortex Fists

    "That was incredible! I think even Boss definitely won''t be a match for you now." Words of praise rang out from above, and a rift appeared in the air above, following which a figure descended silently beside her.


    The person that had been practicing her punches was a young woman. Her appearance was quite ordinary, and she had a tall and slender figure. She wore a metallic grey military uniform with two bars and three stars on each of her epaulets. Even though her appearance wasn''t overly stunning, she was looking very sharp in her military uniform.


    The person that had just landed beside was a young man who was also wearing the same military uniform, but his epaulets only had two bars and two stars each. His appearance was also rather ordinary, and he wore a faint smile on his face. Even though he was only standing still on the spot, he still struck one with a sense of surrealism, as if this were only a projection of him rather than his actual body.


    "Do you have that little confidence in him? In that case, I''ll tell him about what you said next time he calls us," the female military official said in an indifferent voice.


    A resigned expression appeared on the young man''s face. "You can''t do this to me! We''re family, darling! On a serious note, you really have improved significantly. If you keep progressing like this, when will I ever get to marry you?" The woman before him had told him that she could only marry her if he could defeat her, and just the thought of this was making him rather dejected.


    He had already worked extremely hard. However, not long after the woman had joined the military, she was able to observe the transformations of the clouds and mist in the face of the fierce winds on the mountain summit, then incorporate that into her Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to invent her own soul skill, the Divine Cloudvortex Fists. As a result, she was able to attain enlightenment by fusing with nature, thereby allowing her to instantly make a breakthrough to rank 70 in soul power. If it weren''t for the fact that she was currently lacking a soul spirit, she would already be a Soul Sage now.


    Ever since she invented her Divine Cloudvortex Fists, her powers had increased by severalfold, and she seemed to have finally found that path that she had been searching for this entire time. Her fists were going to be her ultimate weapons, and she''d already abandoned her pair of massive hammers.


    That''s right, this was none other than Yuanen Yehui, who possessed the twin super martial souls, Titan Giant Ape and Fallen Angel.


    The man standing beside her was naturally none other than Xie Xie, and both of them were currently in disguise.


    The two of them had been at the Northern Legion for a few months now, and Yuanen had been promoted to the colonel rank after reaching rank 70 in her soul power. The individual combat prowess that she had displayed had well and truly stunned the entire legion. The martial soul that she''d reported for herself was the Herculean Divine Ape, the same as that of Ma Shan in the Blood God Legion.


    The Herculean Divine Ape was rather similar in appearance to her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, and it would be very difficult for anyone to spot the difference unless they were extremely familiar with the two types of martial souls.


    Xie Xie had also been improving very quickly, but he still couldn''t compare with Yuanen Yehui. However, he was also gradually beginning to find his own path; it was the path of one-shot kills!


    This was something that he''d only decided on after joining the legion, and he was currently the vice-commander of the reconnaissance battalion, while Yuanen Yehui was currently the commander of the battle department, as well as the commander of the legion commander''s guard battalion.


    The Northern Legion was situated in the northernmost region of the continent and was responsible for guarding the northern border. The northernmost region was a place that was impossible for normal humans to live in and adapt to. Furthermore, there was a large number of ice caps here, so humans didn''t dare to excessively exploit and develop this place as doing so could raise the air temperature here, thereby resulting in sea level rising, which would lead to massive disasters all over the continent.


    The Douluo Continent was the northernmost continent among all three continents to begin with, so the northernmost region of the continent had always been referred to as a land of mysteries.


    It was said that there were some extremely powerful soul beasts that lived in the northernmost region, and these soul beasts wouldn''t leave this region for no good reason. In order to avoid unnecessary troubles and to guard against the potential emergence of soul beast tides, the federation had established the Northern Legion here.


    The conditions in the northernmost region were extremely harsh, and the vast majority of people didn''t want to come here. However, the Northern Legion was renowned for its power, and was one of the eight major legions of the federation. It had the least number of troops among the eight major legions, but no one dared to ignore this legion''s battle power. The Northern Legion was particularly renowned for its powerful mecha squad, and this harsh environment was great for honing one''s mental fortitude, so the members of the Northern Legion had always been renowned as tough and unyielding individuals.


    "Who says we''re family? You''ll have to keep working hard if you want to make that a reality!" Yuanen Yehui scoffed.


    "Are you saying that your Divine Cloudvortex Fists wouldn''t be powerful enough to defeat Boss?" Xie Xie made his way over to Yuanen with a fawning look on his face as he latched onto her hand.


    Yuanen Yehui allowed him to hold onto her hand, and she merely rolled her eyes at him in response. She was already accustomed to his thick skin.


    Xie Xie held up her hand before him, and crooned, "Wow, it''s really hard to imagine that such a beautiful little hand could unleash such powerful punches."


    Yuanen Yehui immediately withdrew her hand. "Can you not be so corny? I''m getting goosebumps!"


    Despite what she was saying, there was a hint of amusement in her eyes.


    "Come to think of it, you''ve also made it to the final elimination stage of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition. I wonder what opponent was drawn for you. If possible, it would be best if you didn''t encounter Boss in the earlier rounds," Xie Xie said.


    Yuanen Yehui countered, "Didn''t you just say that I''ll be powerful enough to defeat him anyway?"


    A sheepish look appeared on Xie Xie''s face. "I was just saying that for the sake of it; Boss is way too good at creating miracles. It would be really bad if both of you were to hurt each other."


    "Are you an idiot? We''ll be fighting in the Star Battle Net; no one''s actually going to get hurt!"


    "Er..., that''s true. I really am looking forward to seeing your Divine Cloudvortex Fists clash with Boss''s Golden Dragon King bloodline. Oh, by the way, Zhengyu didn''t make it to the final elimination stage, and he''s really down in the dumps, haha."


    "You make it sound like you made it to the final stage."


    "..."


    ¡­¡­


    "Don''t be sad; you were really close, and there really was a huge element of luck involved at the time, so you can''t blame yourself entirely for your loss," Xu Xiaoyan consoled as she gently swung Yue Zhengyu''s arm from side to side.


    Yue Zhengyu wore a dejected look on his face. "Luck is also a part of one''s power; the heavens have turned its back on me! Why didn''t I notice that there was a battle armor fragment on the ground? If I had noticed it, I wouldn''t have lost my balance. Could it be that my spiritual power was insufficient, and that''s what led to my inability to correctly assess the terrain? Perhaps my opponent even factored that into his calculations. In any case, the fact of the matter is that I lost, and it wasn''t like I lost under any unfair circumstances. I''m just really frustrated that I won''t be able to face Boss and the others in the final stage. I was hoping to show off to everyone just how much I''d improved."


    Both of them were wearing lieutenant colonel epaulets on their shoulders, and crisp yellow military uniforms. In terms of official rank, Xu Xiaoyan''s was even above that of Yue Zhengyu. It was easy to find battle Soul Masters, but ultra-powerful control system Soul Masters like her were very rare. Xu Xiaoyan''s absolute control soul skills had stunned the entire Southern Legion, and she had risen up through the ranks at an astonishing rate.


    They had chosen the Southern Legion as the legion commander was a member of the Holy Angel clan, which meant that this was essentially the backyard of Yue Zhengyu''s family, so they wouldn''t have to be afraid of blowing their covers here.


    What was making Yue Zhengyu even more frustrated was that Xu Xiaoyan had earned her military rank through her own powers, yet his family ties had contributed somewhat to his current military rank.


    He had planned to prove himself during the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition in order to make himself more worthy of his military rank, but who would''ve thought that his opponent would turn the tables on him when he''d already gained the upper hand?


    Xu Xiaoyan chuckled, "Are you already confident enough to think that you can beat Boss? Don''t forget that he destroyed both you and Xie Xie the last time you fought him!"


    "Ahem, can we not mention that anymore? Speaking of which, after coming here and going through my clan''s holy cleansing, my soul power has been purified, and I''m about to form a soul core soon. Once that happens, I''ll reach rank 70 in my soul power, and after I fuse with that 100,000-year-old plant system soul beast from Boss, I should at least be able to put up a good fight against him."

 Chapter 1041: Hes Different

    Xu Xiaoyan sighed, "I didn''t want to dent your confidence, but I think it''s best for you to see the reality. I''ve watched Boss''s recent battle footage during the finals, and you should take a look later as well. He''s different now."


    "Different how?" Yue Zhengyu asked in a curious manner.


    Xu Xiaoyan replied, "He''s so badass now that I find myself wondering if he''s even still the same guy anymore. Do you think we''re the only ones who have been making breakthroughs? If you ask me, Boss had definitely also made breakthroughs of his own, and they''re all extremely significant breakthroughs."


    Instead of being disheartened as Xu Xiaoyan imagined that he would be, a smile appeared on his face. "This is how it should be! This is why he''s our captain, and he''s always been able to create miracles. In the future, he''s going to lead us to create the biggest miracle there ever was, so how could he not be improving? I''m really looking forward to facing him again someday. No matter what happens, as the final seeds left behind by the academy, we have to do everything in our power to improve ourselves."


    ¡­...


    Almost all of the soul televisions had begun to broadcast matches from the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, and countless people were sitting in front of their screens, awaiting the commencement of the upcoming match.


    There was no age limit, and the only limits in place were that one had to be below the Titled Douluo level, and also below the three-word battle armor master stage. It was said that as the Star Battle Net continued to improve, even the most powerful Soul Masters on the entire continent would be able to participate in future editions of the competition.


    It had to be said that this competition had been a resounding success and had made the entire federation aware of the Star Battle Net.


    The final 16 only had numbers assigned to them, and each of them had their own odds.


    All members of the general public could make bets for who the final champion was going to be, and the odds differed based on the performances of the participants in the prior stages of the competition.


    This undoubtedly made the event even more popular, and just this betting segment alone was enough to earn the federation an enormous amount of money.


    Number 33 had 1:4 odds, which were the third-highest odds.


    His forte was his strength, his martial soul appeared to be some type of true dragon, his cultivation rank was currently unknown, and he possessed the ability to disguise his own soul rings. His projected soul power rank was around 70. During his past battles, he was always able to defeat his opponents in a very short time through explosive displays of power, and he''d been given the nickname of Golden Dragon King. He was one of the top favorites of the competition, and the only potential flaw that he had was that he potentially wouldn''t be able to do well in prolonged battles.


    It was generally the case that Soul Masters with great explosive power would suffer during prolonged battles, so if he were to encounter an opponent who could drag out the battle, then it was very likely that he would lose the battle.


    The overall evaluation was that his chances of securing the championship title exceeded 20%. He was extremely powerful, and it was very likely that he still had more tricks that he''d been hiding up his sleeve. His battles were always able to make the spectators'' blood churn in their veins, and his battle style was the perfect combination of brute strength and artistry, earning him a lot of fans and admirers. Perhaps he wasn''t the most powerful participant among the final 16, but he was definitely the flashiest. The Star Battle Net rated him as the participant who was most likely to make a young woman fall for him.


    Tang Wulin was rendered completely speechless upon seeing this rating. What kind of rating was this? Was it making him out to be some kind of womanizer?


    He stripped off his clothes, then entered his Star Cabin and went through all of the preparatory procedures. The Star Cabin closed, and he logged on to the battle net.


    Light flashed, and he found himself in the world of the Star Battle Net once again. He was surprised to discover that in contrast with everyone else around him, he had a layer of golden light around his body, and that instantly drew widespread attention.


    Was this one of the benefits given to those who made it to the final elimination stage? With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on his face.


    The Star Battle Net was becoming more and more interesting. The entire system was still quite rough around the edges, and it didn''t even have any functions, but at the very least, a platform had been established through this competition, and the system had an immeasurable future ahead of it!


    "Golden Dragon King!" someone suddenly exclaimed, and a young woman rushed over to Tang Wulin before appraising him in a curious manner.


    However, Tang Wulin''s face was completely blurred, and that was a measure that had been taken to protect the privacy of all of the participants.


    After arriving around three meters away from Tang Wulin, the young woman was naturally kept out by a layer of golden light, making her unable to advance any further. Tang Wulin didn''t say anything as he continued to stride toward the competition venue.


    More cries of surprise began to ring out around him, but no one was able to get closer than three meters away from him, and as he quickly strode onward, the crowd naturally dispersed.


    The finals were about to begin, and one had to win four more matches if they wanted to become the final champion. It was undoubtedly the case that all four of those matches were going to be extremely arduous, and the opponents that he was going to face were only going to become more and more powerful.


    He had just examined Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan''s odds; their odds were second to last and third to last, respectively.


    At the same time, he reviewed some of the competition footage of the other participants, and that further alerted him to the fact that the rest of the competition was going to be difficult for him.


    His odds were able to make it into the top three more so because he was always able to finish his matches very quickly. As such, he appeared to be more mysterious, and no one could identify what his soul power rank was, so there was a lot of mystery and intrigue around him. Just from the power that he''d displayed alone, his odds wouldn''t have been so high.


    All of his opponents were extremely powerful, and that only worked to further stoke the flames of battle intent in his heart.


    It was a pity that there were no two-on-two or team battles during this first edition of the competition. Otherwise, he really wanted to fight alongside his friends!


    Even now, he was still struck by a sense of exhilaration whenever he thought back to the competition they''d taken part in in the Star Luo Empire. It could be said that his powers had only truly begun to improve at a rapid rate after his battle with Long Yue. Both his confidence and latent potential had completely been brought to the fore through that battle.


    "Esteemed Number 33, please come with me." After arriving at the competition venue, he wasn''t teleported into it as usual. Instead, a very beautiful employee came out before making an inviting hand gesture toward Tang Wulin.


    According to his understanding of the Star Battle Net, all of the people in here were real people who had entered the system through Star Cabins.


    It seemed that he was receiving different treatment now that he''d made it to the true finals!


    Tang Wulin was taken to a luxurious and comfortable room that seemed to have been reserved only for him.


    "This is your designated resting suite; prior to the commencement of your match, I''ll be guiding you to the competition venue. If you have any requirements, you can call for me at any time." The female server wore a very charismatic smile, and she was appraising Tang Wulin with a lot of curiosity in her eyes.


    She couldn''t see his face, but from the skin on his body, she could tell that he was quite a young man.


    Even so, he had managed to forge such a scintillating reputation for himself in such a prestigious competition, so how could she not be curious about him?


    Tang Wulin nodded and extended some words of gratitude.


    The female server silently departed, leaving him to himself in this comfortable room. There were some intricate little snacks in the room, as well as some fruits and drinks. There was also a bed and a futon that was specifically to be used for meditation, so there was everything that he could need here.


    Tang Wulin strode over to the futon before sitting down, resting his hands on his knees and closing his eyes to rest.


    This was the first round of the finals, where 16 would be reduced to eight. Every round was an elimination round, so each person would only have one opportunity. As for the match-ups, those were only going to be announced at the commencement of the matches, so no one knew who their opponent was.


    Tang Wulin didn''t mind who he came up against as long as it wasn''t one of his friends. At the same time, he was very confident in Ye Xinglan and Yuanen. Their odds weren''t direct representations of their powers, and after going through so much, they definitely couldn''t be compared to the average Soul Master. In particular, following their training on the demonic island, they definitely possessed far greater mental fortitude than the average person.


    A layer of faint light appeared over Tang Wulin''s face, and the light spread before turning into a faint golden color, making his skin appear slightly translucent.


    Even though he wasn''t meditating, Tang Wulin was still sensing the world around him, and he discovered that there were only some faint spatial fluctuations in the battle net, as opposed to any elements. Hence, even though the Star Battle Net was already a very convincing simulation of the real world, it was still just a simulation, after all.


    It was unable to contain battles between three-word battle armor masters and above, but not because the system wouldn''t be able to handle the clashes of energy. Instead, the main concern was that three-word battle armor masters possessed too much spiritual power, and that could potentially throw the entire system into disarray, which was a very dangerous potential hazard.


    Despite its shortcomings, the Star Battle Net really was a fantastic invention! If it could become more prevalent, it would definitely improve the overall combat prowess of the entire federation, and it would be especially helpful to the military.

 Chapter 1042: Phantom King

    This competition had encompassed the entire federation, but in reality, Tang Wulin had already discovered that the vast majority of the participants were soldiers. This was very understandable. Star Cabins took up a lot of space, and they were far from affordable, so it became very difficult for normal people to participate in this competition.


    The federation would definitely work to address this issue in the future, and if it could be resolved, the Star Battle Net would undoubtedly be able to develop at a rapid rate. Technological advancements required prolonged periods of work, but popularity could be accrued in a very short time. In the not so distant future, the Douluo Federation would most likely truly become a superpower that was far superior to the Star Luo Empire and the Dou Spirit Empire.


    Not long after that, the sound of gentle door-knocking rang out, and the female server entered the room again.


    "Esteemed Number 33, your match is about to begin. In order to ensure fairness, all of the eliminations matches in this round will be commencing at the same time; your opponent will be Number 142."


    142?


    Tang Wulin immediately recalled who his opponent was, and at the same time, he heaved an internal sigh of relief after ascertaining that it wasn''t Yuanen Yehui nor Ye Xinglan.


    Thus, he rose to his feet, and said, "Let''s go."


    "Right this way, please." The female server made an inviting hand gesture before leading the way.


    There was no teleportation on this occasion; he followed the female server through a long corridor and arrived directly at the competition venue. Prior to even entering the venue, he could already hear waves of raucous cheers.


    "Esteemed Number 33, in order to simulate the most realistic battle scenario, the audience''s voices won''t be muted today, so please keep that in mind."


    The female server stopped at the entrance to the competition venue.


    It had to be said that as he listened to the loud cheers around him, he was taken back to the Star Luo Empire. The deafening cheers were quite astonishing, but they didn''t affect him much at all.


    The training he''d undergone on the demonic island had greatly strengthened his mental fortitude, so he certainly wasn''t going to be swayed by some cheering. Back in the Star Luo Empire, the entire audience had supported Long Yue, yet they were still the ones who had secured victory in the end.


    He strode into the competition venue, and his opponent was also present on the platform across from him.


    The information surrounding this Number 142 surfaced in his mind.


    This was a seven-ring Soul Sage with a very rare and special martial soul. He was quite powerful, and also possessed a wealth of battle experience. All of a sudden, Tang Wulin recalled that this was the one who had defeated Yue Zhengyu in the round-robin stage to progress as second in their group.


    This meant that if he could defeat his opponent, he would be avenging Yue Zhengyu.


    As the one who had emerged in the first position from his group, the first round of the elimination stage was weighed in his favor as he was guaranteed to face the second participant of another group.


    Even so, Tang Wulin wasn''t going to allow any complacency to set in. The fact that Number 142 had defeated Yue Zhengyu indicated that he would be quite a powerful opponent, and it could be said that Yue Zhengyu had been unlucky to have lost that battle, but that wasn''t something that Tang Wulin was going to consider.


    Number 142 was also appraising Tang Wulin. It was undoubtedly the case that he was quite unlucky to have been paired up against this Golden Dragon King, who had the third-highest odds among the final 16. However, that certainly didn¡¯t mean that he was just going to roll over and surrender.


    A beam of light descended from the sky, and it was revealed to be an old man. Could it be that there were referees for the finals?


    This was something that hadn''t been announced.


    The old man said in a serious voice, "In order to ensure the fairness and impartiality of the matches in the finals, I will be acting as the match referee to complement the decision made by the system. Both of you, get ready; you may begin when I say so. There are no rules; all you have to do is defeat your opponent."


    The old man didn''t make any self-introduction, but both Tang Wulin and Number 142 could sense an extremely terrifying pressure from him, so it was undoubtedly the case that his cultivation rank far exceeded theirs.


    "Get ready!" The old man raised his right hand high up into the air.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised his opponent. Number 142 possessed the Phantom martial soul, and his soul skills remained a mystery at this point, but he possessed extremely powerful defensive prowess against physical and energy attacks.


    On the flip side, he had a weakness against light and holy attribute energy attacks.


    It could be said that he had been quite lucky when he''d defeated Yue Zhengyu despite the attribute advantage that Yue Zhengyu had had over him, but even so, it was still a testament to his powers.


    At this moment, the commentator''s voice also rang out beside the ears of all of the spectators.


    "This is a matchup between Number 33, Golden Dragon King, and Number 142, Phantom King. From the odds, Golden Dragon King should have an absolute advantage as Phantom King''s odds aren''t even half of his. However, what we all need to pay attention to is that Golden Dragon King possesses immense strength, and that has often been the key behind the quick victories he''s secured in previous rounds. In contrast, the type of opponent that Phantom King fears the least are strength-type Soul Masters. He is virtually completely immune to physical attacks, so in that respect, Golden Dragon King is at a disadvantage. I don''t know whether Phantom King can create a miraculous upset here, but I believe that he has very good chances."


    "For all of you currently spectating this match, do you support the underdog, Phantom King, or the flashy and badass Golden Dragon King? You can cast your votes over multiple platforms to express your support of one of these two, and each vote only costs one federal credit to cast."


    In the air above the competition platform, two pillars of light appeared at once. Below the yellow pillar of light was the number "33", and below the blue pillar of light was the number "142".


    Both pillars of light began to rise up in unison.


    The commentator''s voice was audible to both Tang Wulin and Number 142. In the final stages of the competition, they were going to experience all possible disruptions that could appear.


    Both of them looked up at the pillars of light at the same time, and Tang Wulin was left feeling quite speechless. The federation was way too much of a money-grabbing machine!


    Each vote only cost one federal credit to cast, but there were no rules stating that each person could only cast one vote! If a wealthy tycoon were presented with this decision, who knew how many votes they were going to cast? Besides, the federation had an enormous population, and a very large proportion of them were spectating this competition, so they were undoubtedly going to earn an astronomical sum of money just from this stunt alone.


    The two pillars of light quickly rose up, and in the beginning, they were evenly matched. However, Tang Wulin''s yellow pillar of light quickly began to take the lead, surpassing the blue pillar of light in a flash, and it wasn''t long before the yellow pillar of light was more than twice as tall as the blue one. It was undoubtedly the case that there were far more people supporting the badass Golden Dragon King than those supporting the understated Phantom King.


    The referee glanced at the two participants before yelling, "Begin!"


    Tang Wulin didn''t spring into action right away. Instead, he cast his gaze toward his opponent.


    This Phantom King''s entire body had a transparent quality to it, making it appear as if he were an illusion. At the same time, specks of light began to appear all over his body, and he was quickly encapsulated in a suit of light blue battle armor.


    The suit of battle armor was also quite translucent, just as his body was. The wings on the back of the suit of battle armor were not very large, and they were currently in a folded state. His entire being gave one an illusionary feeling.


    Tang Wulin had naturally heard what the commentator had just said, and thus, he was made aware of the fact that this Phantom King was virtually immune to physical attacks. Didn''t this make him a little similar in nature to the Possession Demon he''d faced not long ago?


    No matter how powerful this Phantom King was, there was no way that he''d be able to compare with a Possession Demon.


    A phantom was an apparition of darkness, and even though he didn''t possess any light attribute powers, his bloodline aura was of an extreme yang attribute, and it was still something that no phantom would be able to oppose. As for just how powerful this Number 142 was, that was something that he''d only be able to ascertain through battle.

 Chapter 1043: Golden Dragon King, Golden Dragon King!

    The Phantom King was a very cautious person, and he''d studied Tang Wulin''s battle footage in great detail. As such, he was quite wary of Tang Wulin''s explosive power. His immunity to physical attacks wasn''t complete immunity, and on top of that, he was still quite susceptible to the shockwaves from physical attacks. His main advantage was that he possessed far greater spiritual power compared to other Soul Masters of the same caliber, and that made him very adept at predicting his opponent''s movements.


    After learning that his first-round opponent was going to be Tang Wulin, he had immediately devised a strategy for himself; he was going to employ guerrilla warfare tactics to wear down Tang Wulin as much as possible. Tang Wulin''s battle style was extremely explosive and brutal, and there was no way that he''d be able to sustain such an extraordinary level of offensive output. As long as he could weather the initial storm, he''d have a chance to retaliate. He was a very patient and composed fighter. Yue Zhengyu had lost to him even after gaining an absolute advantage, and it was just as Yue Zhengyu had deduced, that was certainly not just due to dumb luck.


    Tang Wulin gently tapped his foot on the ground, and golden light shimmered from his body. The first thing to appear was the golden visor of his Dragon Moon battle armor. Immediately thereafter, specks of golden light appeared all over his body, and he also released his suit of two-word battle armor. His opponent had donned their suit of battle armor right away, and he certainly wasn''t going to act cocky and refrain from doing the same. No matter what he thought of his opponent, he was still a Soul Master with a suit of two-word battle armor.


    His left foot tapped against the ground, and he flapped his dragon wings vigorously. In the next instant, he was already hurtling directly toward his opponent like a golden shooting star.


    "Golden Dragon King, Golden Dragon King, Golden Dragon King!" Raucous cheers rang out like tsunami waves from the spectator stands.


    What they loved the most about Golden Dragon King was his insane explosive power. Even though all of his matches were quite brief, his brief eruptions of explosive power were enough to get one''s blood pumping long after his matches had concluded.


    Phantom King''s body flashed, and he quickly retreated, displaying no intention of fighting fire with fire. His seven soul rings consisted of four purples and three blacks, and none of them had lit up yet at this point. During his movement process, his entire body seemed to have turned completely transparent. He was so fast that he reached the other end of the competition platform in virtually the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake. He was even faster than Tang Wulin while using his golden dragon wings.


    What incredible speed! This was an agility attack system Soul Master!


    Tang Wulin stopped at the center of the competition platform and appraised his opponent with an intense gaze. As he had moved through the air, his wings had only opened up slightly to adjust his bodily balance, which meant that he was displaying this incredible speed even without flying. In terms of regulation speed, he was faster than Tang Wulin.


    Generally, when facing an opponent like this, the best way to counter them was to unleash an attack that covered a large area, thereby affording them no avenues for evasion. It was often the case that when one possessed extraordinary speed, their defenses would most likely be quite lackluster.


    However, not only was this Phantom King extremely fast, he also possessed abilities to weaken his opponent''s attacks, and only then was he able to make it to this point. The combination of his unique abilities had also allowed him to forge quite a reputation and given him the nickname of Phantom King. He was always able to find his opponent''s weakness, then end the battle with a single fatal blow.


    Tang Wulin waved a hand through the air, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp. The spear was over four and a half meters long, and in his suit of golden battle armor, he was already over three meters tall, and he appeared even more intimidating and dazzling with his long spear in his hand. In terms of appearance, there was no one as spectacular as him in the entire competition.


    Tang Wulin slowly raised the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand.


    You''re trying to counter me with pure speed, eh? Let''s see if you can truly withstand my attack!


    He immediately identified his opponent''s strategy, which was to wear him down and defeat him, but that was not going to be an easy strategy to implement. Ever since he had gained complete control over his newfound strength, he had never unleashed it with all his might. Now, he was planning to test things out to see if control had truly reached a sufficiently proficient standard.


    He pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward, aiming it directly at Phantom King. At this point, there were over 500 meters between them. Even for beings at their cultivation ranks, this was a relatively safe distance. In particular, an agility attack system Soul Master would have more than enough time to react with such a large distance between them and their opponent.


    However, in the instant that Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear at Phantom King, a bone-chilling sensation suddenly welled up in Number 142''s heart for some reason.


    Can he still directly attack me from so far away?


    Just as he was feeling rather perplexed, Tang Wulin sprang into action. He abruptly lunged forward with his left foot before stomping it heavily into the ground.


    A massive crater instantly appeared on the competition platform, and the surrounding ground shattered in massive chunks. At the same time, his body abruptly accelerated and was propelled through the air. In the instant that he sprang into action, Phantom King immediately reacted. He also accelerated, and his third soul ring lit up while his body moved horizontally like an illusionary shadow.


    His third soul skill was one that enhanced his speed, and after many years of cultivation, not only was he extraordinarily fast, his control over his own speed and his own body was also near-perfect, so he was extremely adept at evading enemy attacks.


    However, right at this moment, he was greeted by the sound of a thunderous roar of fury.


    "Roar!"


    A loud dragon''s roar erupted throughout the entire competition venue, and a massive golden dragon head appeared around Tang Wulin''s body. The golden dragon head had a diameter of over five meters, and golden ripples appeared all over the entire competition platform as it let loose that thunderous roar.


    Phantom King was largely immune to most physical attacks, but he certainly wasn''t immune to shockwaves! He was momentarily stunned by this almighty roar, which slowed down his reaction speed slightly.


    However, as soon as he realized that he was potentially in a bad situation, he immediately reacted, and his seventh soul ring abruptly lit up. His entire body turned into an almost gaseous state, and this was his Phantom True Body.


    This was the greatest trump card for all seven-ring Soul Sages, and under the enhancements of his battle armor, his martial soul true body would undoubtedly be in its most powerful state.


    However, during the time that it had taken him to release his seventh soul skill, Tang Wulin flapped his wings vigorously and reached his opponent in a flash.


    His Golden Dragon Spear pierced through the air toward Phantom King like lightning, and a platinum spear projection erupted from it, turning his blue phantom body into the same color as the dazzling platinum light.


    Phantom King immediately reacted as he turned his body to the side, evading the spear projection while pouncing directly toward Tang Wulin.


    A chilling sensation washed over Tang Wulin''s body, and the Phantom King was too fast for him to evade. In the instant that the two of them came into contact with one another, Phantom King tried to pass through his body with his illusionary phantom body. A bone-chilling sensation immediately spread through Tang Wulin''s body, striking him with a sense of paralysis.


    However, he merely gave a cold internal chuckled as his dragon core expanded violently like a heart before contracting forcefully. Tremendous blood essence fluctuations were immediately pumped throughout his entire body, and a layer of reddish-golden light appeared over his skin.


    Phantom King let loose a howl of anguish, and his body instantly became even more insubstantial. Just as Tang Wulin had predicted, the extreme yang attribute of his bloodline aura was the natural bane of phantoms!


    He didn''t even need to turn around as he thrust the rear tip of his Golden Dragon Spear backward, aiming it directly at Phantom King.


    Just as Phantom King let loose that howl of pain, his fourth soul ring lit up, and his body suddenly split up into two phantoms, then into four, and the four phantoms flew away toward different directions.


    Back when he had faced Yue Zhengyu, he had used this soul skill to make Yue Zhengyu expend a large amount of his holy energy, and only then was he able to find an opportunity to secure victory in the end.


    As soon as he discovered that Tang Wulin''s bloodline aura had a crippling effect on him, he immediately chose to flee and open up some distance before reassessing his opponent.


    However, Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t going to afford him that opportunity.


    He stomped his right foot onto the ground in a vicious manner, and powerful shockwaves abruptly erupted forth in a diameter of 30 meters. Eight golden dragons then rose up from the ground, surrounding this space and forming a cage-like structure. What was even more fearsome was that countless platinum spear projections were suddenly unleashed from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, and they hurtled directly toward Phantom King.


    From the Golden Dragon Roar to the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, the sequence of actions Tang Wulin had taken was to abruptly accelerate before thrusting his spear forward. Reddish-golden bloodline aura then erupted from his body, following which he unleashed his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth to conjure up the eight golden dragons, then unleashed countless spear projections at once.


    The entire process had only taken the span of a breath or two, and the spectators were completely entranced. In the hearts of the vast majority of the spectators, particularly among those who weren''t Soul Masters, the same thought reflexively welled up in their hearts; this was how a powerful Soul Master fought!


    Phantom King let loose a sharp cry, and the blue light radiating from his body suddenly became brighter. The four phantoms were clearly unable to escape, so they abruptly converged and combined as one again. Immediately thereafter, the phantom body transformed into a blue needle, and as opposed to attempting to flee from the scene, the needle hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin. He was unleashing an attack that Tang Wulin had to address.

 Chapter 1044: Crushing the Phantom

    The cage formed by the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth stood around the needle, while countless spear projections were hurtling toward it from behind. Even if Phantom King could forcibly flee from this perilous situation, he would definitely be severely wounded, so his only chance was to unleash a counterattack.


    However, Tang Wulin most definitely wasn''t going to give him that chance! The blue needled quickly evaded the spear projections, using its immense spiritual power to predict the trajectories of the oncoming spear projection. All of a sudden, two bursts of purple light erupted from Tang Wulin''s eyes like lightning, shining directly upon the blue needle.


    It was none other than his Purple Demon Eyes'' spiritual attack!


    As opposed to being alarmed, Phantom King was ecstatic to see this, and the blue light radiating from the needle brightened even further. Was his opponent trying to engage him in a clash of spiritual power? This had always been his true trump card to begin with!


    However, in the instant that their spiritual powers clashed, he was stunned to discover that Tang Wulin''s spiritual world was like a boundless abyss. In the next instant, he was struck by an indescribably warm and comfortable feeling as his spiritual power was entirely enveloped by Tang Wulin''s mind.


    How is this possible? I''ve already reached the Spirit Abyss realm!


    It was extremely rare for a seven-ring Soul Sage to reach the Spirit Abyss realm, and didn''t this Golden Dragon King''s forte lay in strength and explosiveness?


    Why...


    Phantom King didn''t get to finish that thought as in the next instant, the immobilized blue needle in the air was completely destroyed by the countless oncoming spear projections.


    Phantom King''s body reappeared in mid-air, and he''d already returned to his original form. The eight golden dragons from the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth immediately pounced on him before striking his martial soul true body one after another.


    Eight resounding booms rang out in rapid succession, and terrifying shockwaves erupted through the air. It had to be said that this Phantom King possessed very powerful physical resistance, to the extent that each golden dragon was only able to minimize its body slightly. Under the protection of his suit of battle armor, he was able to filter out most of the power from Tang Wulin''s attack, but unfortunately, this didn''t prove to be enough to save him in the end.


    After the Golden Dragon Spear was hurled forth like a bolt of golden lightning and hurtled toward him while radiating immense blood essence power, the battle was already decided.


    Phantom King attempted to grab onto the Golden Dragon Spear with his hands, but by the time the Golden Dragon Spear reached him, it had already completely turned into a reddish-golden color. As soon as the reddish-golden spear projection came into contact with his battered martial soul true body, it adopted a gaseous state again, and in the end, the spear passed through him, leaving a massive gaping hole in its wake.


    Just as the Golden Dragon Spear was about to strike the other side of the competition platform, it was summoned back to Tang Wulin.


    "You..." Phantom King only had the chance to utter a single word before his body instantly crumbled, and he disappeared as specks of light on the competition platform.


    "The victory goes to Number 33!" The referee''s voice rang out across the entire venue.


    Tang Wulin rested his Golden Dragon Spear on the ground with the other tip pointing diagonally up into the heavens.


    The entire competition venue instantly erupted into a complete frenzy.


    The vast majority of them supported Golden Dragon King, but who would''ve thought that he''d be able to defeat Phantom King in such a short time. Wasn''t Phantom King supposed to have an advantage? Wasn''t he supposed to be virtually immune to physical attacks? What had happened?


    Phantom King''s immunities didn''t seem to have taken effect at all, and Tang Wulin had dominated him throughout the entire battle. After an explosive string of attacks, Phantom King was completely steamrolled, and the commentator was so embarrassed that he wanted to bury himself! Was Phantom King really at an advantage during that matchup? Why did it look as if he were at a crippling disadvantage instead?


    Phantom King had performed extremely well during the preceding round-robin stage; why did he appear so vulnerable and fragile in the face of Golden Dragon King? This was as crushing a victory as one could imagine, and Phantom King had no chance at all throughout the entire battle.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline had completely dominated him, to the extent that its effect was even more potent than that of light attribute powers.


    Phantoms were considered to be existences with no elemental affiliations, and even though they were fearful toward light and holy attributes, they weren''t completely powerless against those attributes. They possessed the yin attribute, which was not the same as the darkness elemental attribute. However, Tang Wulin''s bloodline was of an extreme yang attribute, and it just so happened to completely dominate Phantom King, which was why such a crushing victory had been achieved.


    Not only was Tang Wulin an assault system battle Soul Master, he was also a control system battle Soul Master! Phantom King may have held a speed advantage, but that advantage didn''t help him much in the face of Tang Wulin''s control skills, and that wasn''t even taking into account all of his explosive power. During this match, Tang Wulin had secured victory without even using his blood soul fusion skills, so it had actually been an easier victory than his round-robin matches.


    He had secured a berth in the final eight!


    He gently waved his Golden Dragon Spear to acknowledge the crowd before being led away by the female server who had brought him to the competition platform.


    As he walked, the golden light on his body gradually receded as he withdrew his Dragon Moon battle armor. The female server had been surreptitiously gazing at him this entire time, and even though she was unable to see his true appearance, she managed to catch a brief glimpse of the side profile of his face in the instant that his visor was lifted.


    Wow, what a perfect side profile! He must be super handsome!


    The female server''s heart rate was accelerating rapidly, and a slightly entranced look appeared in her eyes. He was so young yet so powerful; if only she had a boyfriend like him!


    After exiting the competition venue and returning to his resting suite, Tang Wulin silently reflected on the battle that had just taken place. His explosiveness had improved yet again, as had his control over his own body. Ever since he had broken his 10th Golden Dragon King seal, his dragon core had become more than twice as powerful as it previously was, and even without using his Bluesilver Emperor vines, his combat prowess exceeded that of the most elite Soul Sages. As he currently was, he would be able to battle a Soul Douluo in a suit of two-word battle armor with no issues at all, but he still had to keep working hard!


    His goal was to defeat Blood Nine, a Titled Douluo and a three-word battle armor master.


    If he could defeat Blood Nine, then he felt like he had what it took to forge the foundational metals for his suit of three-word battle armor.


    Tang Wulin was confident that he''d be able to attain his suit of three-word battle armor after reaching the Soul Sage level; the energy provided to him by his two major energy cores would be enough to support the energy expended by a suit of three-word battle armor.


    Just as Tang Wulin concluded his match, Ye Xinglan was having quite a difficult time.


    A sword projection that was as dazzling as a galaxy swept through the air, crashing into her opponent''s massive long saber. A screeching clash ensued, and Ye Xinglan was repelled as she was forced to stumble backward.


    She had progressed in the second position of her group, so her opponent was first in another group.


    Her opponent had the number "9" above his head, and he was the only one with a single-digit number to have come this far in the competition.


    Number Nine, Saber Demon! That was his nickname.


    This was a burly man who was no less muscular than the likes of Long Yue. His face was blurred by the system, making it impossible to glean his appearance, but his body was extremely intimidating and exuding a wild and violent aura. The giant saber in his hand was his martial soul, and it was over four meters long. According to official sources, its name was the Dragonslaying Saber.


    The Dragonslaying Saber was completely dark red in color, and there were strange patterns running all over its blade; these patterns resembled a series of true dragons with severed bodies. There were eight soul rings around the saber, consisting of four purples and four blacks, indicating that this man was an eight-ring Soul Douluo!


    His suit of battle armor was also of the same dark red color as his Dragonslaying Saber, and he only needed to roar into the heavens to make the surrounding air tremor violently.


    Ye Xinglan had never encountered an opponent with such an abundant aura. His aura was so powerful that it seemed to be able to shatter mountains and part rivers.


    In the face of her opponent''s enormous aura, her sword intent was impacted to an extremely severe degree, and she wasn''t even able to be one with her sword.

 Chapter 1045: Wild Gale Saber Demon

    Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan were also watching this match, and both of them wore resigned expressions on their faces.


    "Sigh, why did Xinglan have to come up against him in the first elimination round? This is downright rotten luck," Xu Xiaoyan sighed.


    Yue Zhengyu said, "This may not be a bad thing; all of us always improve more significantly when battling powerful opponents, so even if Xinglan loses here, she should benefit immensely from this match. Old Man Sima is still too powerful for us at this point. He should''ve become a three-word battle armor master a long time ago, but he has such a bad reputation and so little money that he''s still stuck with a suit of two-word battle armor. Who would''ve thought that would be a blessing in disguise and allow him to become one of the hot favorites in this competition?"


    Saber Demon Sima Jinchi was the commander of the Southern Legion''s Wild Gale Division, and he was also a senior colonel. In the Southern Legion, he had the nickname of Wild Gale Saber Demon, and he was constantly picking fights with everyone. Aside from the handful of most powerful beings in the legion, no one was a match for him. Even all of the eight-ring three-word battle armor masters in the legion were no match for him.


    He was 42 years of age, and was addicted to honing his saber skills. His greatest hobby was to challenge other people to fights. He was convinced to join the Southern Legion by the legion commander, who was also Yue Zhengyu''s grandfather, and he was constantly challenging the powerful beings within the legion. Furthermore, he fought in an extremely wild and aggressive manner, which often led to him hurting his sparring partners, so he was the kind of person that everyone tried to avoid.


    He was the only one in the entire legion who dared to challenge the legion commander, and he lost every single battle, which was why he was truly respectful of Yue Zhengyu''s grandfather. Otherwise, who would be able to keep him in the military with his personality?


    The Wild Gale Division was the most powerful division of the Southern Legion. It was a mecha division, but what was quite comical was that its commander, Sima Jinchi, had no idea how to pilot a mecha himself. Instead, he dominated with nothing more than his Dragonslaying Saber and suit of two-word battle armor.


    Yue Zhengyu''s grandfather had always been intentionally holding him back instead of supporting him so he could become a three-word battle armor master, and he was doing this so Sima Jinchi could build up a stronger foundation. He had once said that if Sima Jinchi could become a Titled Douluo, then he''d definitely be one of the most powerful Titled Douluos in the entire world, and if he could become a Hyper Douluo, then he could even be powerful enough to pose a challenge to a Limit Douluo.


    In the future, he was definitely going to be the brightest star of the Southern Legion. It was just a pity that his leadership skills were quite lackluster, so he couldn''t be entrusted with any higher military ranks.


    This was why he still hadn''t become a general despite his immense power.


    Yue Zhengyu''s grandfather had promised to forge him a suit of three-word battle armor if he could become the champion of this competition, and he''d have to exchange for that suit of battle armor with the awards he received as champion.


    As such, he emerged as number one in their group, and Yue Zhengyu could only strive for number two, but unfortunately he fell at the final hurdle, losing to Phantom King.


    When Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan had first joined the Southern Legion, Sima Jinchi hadn''t thought much of him. However, their friendship was forged through battle as Yue Zhengyu was able to last 10 minutes against him in a battle. This completely changed Sima Jinchi''s opinion of him, but it was exactly because he''d fought Sima Jinchi that Yue Zhengyu knew just how fearsome this man was.


    He was only a Soul Douluo, but his actual combat prowess exceeded that of most Titled Douluos.


    The odds being offered for him becoming the final champion were only 1:2, placing him even above Tang Wulin as the one with the second-highest odds, and he was second only to someone who was even more insane.


    As such, Ye Xinglan was extremely unlucky to have encountered Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi in the first elimination round, but no one could do anything about that.


    Sima Jinchi''s massive Dragonslaying Saber was resting on his shoulder, and there was a hint of surprise in his heart as he appraised the young woman before him. From her blood essence fluctuations, he could sense that Ye Xinglan was quite young, but her Stargod Sword had been quite troublesome for him to deal with. In fact, it could even be said that her sword had posed a threat to him. Such an opponent was not very common for him!


    Ye Xinglan was panting slightly, but that wasn''t from exertion. Instead, she was being struck by a sense of asphyxiation in the face of her opponent''s immense powers.


    He was too powerful; his saber techniques and saber intent were both superior to hers. In reality, Sima Jinchi had only attacked three times with his saber during the course of the battle thus far, yet each and every attack had posed a massive threat to her.


    Ye Xinglan took a deep breath to calm her own churning blood essence, and a determined look appeared on her face. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and specks of starlight appeared around her. Even her battle armor was glowing, and it was as if countless specks of starlight were emerging from her body, radiating the most dazzling light in the process.


    Ye Xinglan''s sixth soul ring finally lit up, and immediately thereafter, she closed her eyes while gripping onto the hilt of her Stargod Sword with both hands.


    Sima Jinchi raised an eyebrow slightly, and he was surprised to discover that his opponent''s aura had changed. This was an indescribable feeling akin to the feeling that he''d been struck by back when he had made a certain breakthrough in his saber intent. This was a feeling of evolution and being elevated to a higher level, except on this occasion, it was his opponent who was undergoing this evolution.


    The specks of starlight that had appeared around Ye Xinglan began to undergo an intriguing transformation; they suddenly became extremely bright, as if they''d been set alight. Immediately thereafter, they really were vaporized, transforming into wisps of light that revolved around her body.


    She also slowly raised her Stargod Sword before her, and the wisps of starlight around her body all converged toward her sword.


    Her Stargod Sword began to glow brighter and brighter, and at the same time, it gradually began to expand. The sword itself wasn''t what was expanding. Instead, it was a transparent, yet extremely dazzling sword projection.


    The sword projection was constantly flickering slightly, yet it was giving off a sense of sentience. There was no overwhelming pressure emanating from it, but as it appeared, Sima Jinchi''s expression changed drastically.


    The Dragonslaying Saber that was resting on his shoulder descended, and a look of unadulterated shock appeared in his eyes. Even he had only reached this level after becoming a Soul Sage, yet it was quite apparent from the energy fluctuations emanating from his opponent''s body that she definitely wasn''t a Soul Sage yet.


    Sima Jinchi had never been a believer of prodigies; he only believed in hard work and determination. However, that deep-rooted belief was suddenly beginning to waver. Could it be that there really were prodigies in this world?


    Otherwise, how was this young woman able to achieve this?


    In the eyes of the audience, the sword projection that had appeared didn''t look all that spectacular. However, Sima Jinchi knew that this wasn''t just a soul skill or a manifestation of her sword intent; it wasn''t even something becoming one with one''s sword could compare with.


    This was a sword soul!


    Regardless of the type of weapon one was using, if one were to develop a deep enough understanding of it, they''d be able to awaken the soul within the weapon.


    As a powerful being who had already forged a saber soul, he was now being faced with an opponent who possessed a sword soul. The lackadaisical demeanor in his heart vanished, and it was replaced by a far more serious approach. An opponent like this was worthy of his respect.


    He could clearly recall that only after forging his saber soul did his powers truly begin to increase at a rapid rate, and that was what had propelled him to become the most powerful being in the Southern Legion below the Hyper Douluo level.


    However, this young woman was clearly far younger than he was, and even if she had only just attained her sword soul, it wouldn''t take her long to become a truly powerful being!


    "Nice!"


    Intense battle intent welled up in Sima Jinchi''s heart. The Dragonslaying Saber in his right hand rested by his side as his seventh soul ring lit up.


    Regardless of whether it was a sword soul or saber soul, it could only be formed as a subsidiary to a soul skill. Ye Xinglan''s sword soul was a subsidiary of her sixth soul skill, while his saber soul was a subsidiary of his seventh soul skill, his Dragonslaying True Body.


    A burst of anguished cries that sounded akin to dragon''s roars erupted around Sima Jinchi''s body, and a massive saber projection appeared in front of his Dragonslaying Saber. In the instant that it appeared, everyone felt as if they were witnessing the imagery of a giant dragon being sliced in half by that saber projection. The saber projection was around 30 meters in length with the Dragonslaying Saber as its origin point, and in the instant that it appeared, a massive rift emerged on the competition platform. The rift had no bottom in sight, as if it were a miniature abyss.


    Even the earth and the air were being sliced apart, and that was a testament to just how powerful his saber soul was.


    However, Ye Xinglan seemed to be completely oblivious to the transformation that her opponent was undergoing. A faint layer of light had appeared over her face, and her eyes were glowing as brightly as stars.


    She had already raised her Stargod Sword above her head, and at the tip of the sword, a sword projection that was around 10 meters tall had already taken shape. It was no longer flickering and wavering, and it was giving off an aura of peerless sharpness.


    "Sword! Star! Soul!"

 Chapter 1046: Sword Soul

    Ye Xinglan uttered the three words one after another with a pause in between each word, and with each word that was uttered, the sword projection emanating from the top of her Stargod Sword would elongate by three meters. As she swung the extremely heavy sword through the air, a galaxy seemed to have cascaded down from above, and even though the two of them were situated several hundred meters away from one another, the massive sword projection reached Sima Jinchi in a flash.


    Sima Jinchi''s expression changed slightly, and he immediately swept his Dragonslaying Saber upward without any hesitation.


    The anguished howls of giant dragons erupted throughout the heavens, while the sword projection that was the Sword Star Soul came crashing down like a terrifying galaxy. The match hadn''t been progressing for a very long time, yet the final flash had already commenced.


    In the instant that the saber soul and sword soul came into contact with one another, the sky was suddenly torn apart, and the entire competition platform began to tremor violently. Immediately thereafter, a massive black vortex appeared at the center of their clash. Countless stars were being devoured, and the anguished dragon howls also ceased.


    All of the spectators looked on with bated breath, and in the next instant, a sound that was akin to that of the entire world being shattered rang out.


    The ground was pulverized, and several dozens of massive gashes suddenly appeared at the center of the competition platform.


    "Boom, boom, boom!"


    A string of resounding booms rang out as countless streaks of light were shattered in the air.


    Sharp sword projections and violent saber projections clashed with all their might on the competition platform.


    Yue Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan were completely flabbergasted as they stared at the soul screen before them.


    "Is, is she already this powerful? Is that a sword soul?"Xu Xiaoyan was staring blankly at the flurry of lights that had spread across the entire screen.


    Yue Zhengyu''s hands had already unconsciously clenched into tight fists. He had said to Xu Xiaoyan that his loss to Phantom King wasn''t entirely a matter of back luck, but in his heart, he naturally couldn''t shake the thought that he''d been robbed of a place in the final elimination stages simply due to the fact that his opponent had been luckier than him.


    However, that thought had been completely banished by him now. If he had possessed absolute power, so what if his opponent was luckier than him?


    As he watched the battle between Ye Xinglan and Sima Jinchi, he had only one thought in his mind; he had to become more powerful! He was a direct lineal descendent of the Holy Angel clan; he couldn''t be left behind by his friends no matter what!


    He abruptly rose to his feet before taking a deep breath. "I''m going to cultivate!"


    He then immediately turned and left.


    Xu Xiaoyan glanced at the screen, then at the departing Yue Zhengyu, and she also stood up, but a smile appeared on her face. "Good on ya, Xinglan, but we won''t be losing to you!"


    As soon as her voice trailed off, she immediately hurried off behind Yue Zhengyu.


    The rumbling booms persisted for close to 20 seconds before they finally gradually began to subside, and only one figure was left standing on the platform. The massive Dragonslaying Saber fell onto the ground, and its surface was riddled with countless sword marks. Ye Xinglan had already completely disappeared at some point during the fearsome clash.


    "You possess a fantastic sword!" Sima Jinchi yelled out his praise for his opponent, and only after that did he walk off the platform with his Dragonslaying Saber resting on his shoulder.


    The Star Cabin was opened, and Ye Xinglan sat up within it. Her entire body had taken on an unhealthily ashy pallor.


    "Sister Xinglan, are you alright?" Xu Lizhi''s concerned voice rang out from outside.


    "Lizhi, I..." Ye Xinglan groaned before slumping back into the Star Cabin.


    Xu Lizhi rushed into the room like a fat tornado before hurriedly scooping Ye Xinglan out of the Star Cabin and placing her on the bed. Ye Xinglan was still completely naked at this point, but that was the last thing currently on his mind.


    Her aura was very feeble, but thankfully, her heart rate was still very stable. It was quite clear that she''d completely overexerted herself. There was no soul power exertion in the Star Cabin, but one could still overexert their spiritual power and mental energy.


    It was certainly no easy task to unleash such a sword strike, and she''d never used her sword soul without any reservation like that before.


    ¡­¡­


    "Begin!"


    Yuanen Yehui was appraising her opponent with an intense gaze. Her opponent had a medium build, and his appearance was completely nondescript. The information about this opponent flashed through her mind; Number 222''s nickname was Asura King, and his martial soul was the Bloodthirsty Lion.


    Among the top 16, he had the seventh-highest odds. He had emerged as first in his group, and he was renowned for his vicious battle style as he was always taking down his opponents in a very brutal and vicious manner, but he was indeed very powerful. He was a two-word battle armor master, and he was definitely among the cream of the crop of all seven-ring Soul Sages.


    Yuanen Yehui''s eyes were slightly narrowed as she stood on the spot, and she was currently in her male disguise. She also appeared to be completely ordinary and nondescript, making it very difficult for one to deduce her strengths from her physical attributes.


    Yuanen Yehui had emerged as second in her group from the round-robin stage. The one who had taken out the first position was none other than the biggest favorite of the entire competition with odds of 1:1.5. He was indeed too powerful for her at her current power level.


    The referee descended, and just like in the other matches, after confirming that both parties were ready, the referee announced the commencement of the match.


    "Howl howl howl!" Asura King immediately threw his head back and let loose a few deafening roars, immediately setting the crowd alight and drawing waves of raucous cheers.


    In terms of outward appearances, Yuanen Yehui and this Asura King actually bore somewhat of a resemblance, but as soon as the match began, the two of them adopted vastly different forms.


    As he howled to the heavens, a layer of crimson light abruptly erupted from Asura King''s body. At this stage of the competition, no one was taking things lightly, and he immediately donned his suit of two-word battle armor.


    Crimson fur instantly appeared all over his body, and he immediately began to become more muscular and imposing in stature. In addition to his battle armor, he was already over four meters tall, and his entire body was exuding a bloodthirsty aura.


    The Bloodthirsty Lion martial soul possessed an innate bloodthirst ability, allowing him to constantly maintain a state that was akin to what one would experience after consuming Xu Lizhi''s Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun, but at the same time, he could ensure that he remained completely conscious. The only downside was that all Soul Masters who possessed Bloodthirsty Lion martial souls were quite eccentric, and they often had a hard time exercising restraint during battles, hence his vicious tendencies.


    Seven soul rings, three purple and four black, emerged from beneath his feet. All of the participants who had made it to this point had far superior soul ring configurations than the average Soul Master.


    Yuanen Yehui didn''t create as much of a commotion as her opponent did. She merely rushed forward, quickly approaching her opponent while six soul rings also rose up around her.


    Her eyes were narrowed slightly as she appraised her opponent, and Asura King was also looking at her. At the same time, the crimson light shimmering from his eyes became even more pronounced as Yuanen Yehui hadn''t even donned her suit of battle armor before rushing toward him.


    She had emerged as second in her group, yet she wasn''t even releasing her battle armor against him? He decided there and then that he was going to give his opponent a gruesome death; tearing them apart from limb to limb seemed like an appealing idea.


    With that in mind, Asura King also rushed toward Yuanen Yehui, and only now did the latter release her martial soul.


    Halos of light began to erupt from her body, and the air around her suddenly began to surge violently. Her body swelled in size as she released her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, and she instantly reached over six meters tall. Her crystalline yellow battle armor also appeared over her body, but it didn''t have any wings.


    Asura King suddenly came to an abrupt halt before spreading his arms on either side of his body. Sharp claws emerged from all his fingertips, and the claws extended to around three feet in length. The sharp crimson claws were releasing a faint odor of blood and gore, and Asura King let loose a roar of fury as he sprang up like lightning, instant leaping to right above Yuanen Yehui before swiping his claws down toward her head.


    His speed was very fast, and he resembled a bolt of crimson lightning. Not only was this man an assault system battle Soul Master, he possessed speed that was not inferior to that of an agility attack system Soul Master of the same caliber.

 Chapter 1047: Strength Trumps the Asura

    Instead of taking any evasive measures, Yuanen Yehui launched her right fist directly toward her opponent.


    Asura King harrumphed coldly, and his sharp claws continued to descend. His Bloodthirsty Lion claws were peerlessly sharp and powerful, and he was slashing them directly toward Yuanen Yehui''s fist. The scenes that were about to unfold had already surfaced in his mind; he was going to destroy his opponent''s arms, then descend from the sky and break open their battle armor with a string of consecutive attacks. After that, he was going to put his opponent out of their misery by grabbing onto their legs and tearing their body in half.


    However, those thoughts had only just appeared in his mind when he sensed that something was amiss.


    In the instant that Yuanen Yehui unleashed her punch, the surrounding area had suddenly become extremely quiet. All of the whistling air had suddenly vanished, and it was as if all of the air had congealed. Immediately thereafter, his claws came into contact with his opponent''s fists, but he felt as if he''d struck a soft pile of cotton.


    All of a sudden, an indescribable burst of gentle and supple force erupted from the figurative pile of cotton, wrenching his body to the side.


    He had absolute confidence in his own strength and speed, and he knew that Yuanen Yehui was also renowned for her strength, so he didn''t think that he would lose in a clash where both sets of his claws were opposing a single one of her fists. However, what was inexplicable to him was how this simple-looking punch was acting like a vortex that was throwing him off balance.


    There was also a strange type of rotational suction force erupting from Yuanen Yehui''s fist, and over half of his claws'' offensive power was immediately nullified. Immediately thereafter, the rotational force suddenly began to rotate in reverse, and the two types of force that were rotating in different directions instantly combined as one to form an irresistible burst of immense power.


    Asura King had an extremely plentiful wealth of battle experience, and he hurriedly bent both of his own arms while activating his soul power to protect himself.


    "Bam!" His entire body was sent flying backward for several dozens of meters before landing on the ground.


    This seemed like a rather lengthy and complex process, but in reality, everything had taken place in the blink of an eye. In the eyes of the spectators, the two combatants rushed toward one another, following which Yuanen Yehui''s body expanded in size, and she was able to send Asura King flying with a single punch.


    After landing on the ground, Asura King immediately let loose a roar of fury. He hunched down into a half-squatting stance, and his third soul ring lit up. Immediately thereafter, he slashed his claws through the air, and countless claw projections hurtled toward Yuanen Yehui like a crimson sea, sealing off all avenues for her to advance.


    Yuanen Yehui remained completely unflustered as she abruptly lunged forward before unleashing another punch. What was different from the last punch was that on this occasion, she''d drawn back her arm to inject more venom into the punch, and at the same time, her third soul ring lit up; Diamond Titan! A layer of dark golden light appeared all over her body, and in the instant that she launched her fist through the air, it was as if all of the air on the entire competition platform had been sucked away.


    The countless claw projections suddenly began to rotate in the face of her fists, and a vortex appeared at the center of the crimson sea. Yuanen Yehui then unleashed three more consecutive punches, and four vortexes appeared in the crimson sea. The vortexes instantly fused as one and shattered the crimson sea. Terrifying fist intent erupted forth in the aftermath of the explosion, hurtling directly toward Asura King.


    What kind of soul skill was this?


    Asura King raised his arms before him, and his body was sent flying backward amid a resounding boom. His battle armor shimmered rapidly, and only then was he able to withstand the force of Yuanen Yehui''s attack.


    If one had to describe Yuanen Yehui''s battle style, then the best expression to use would be that it was simple and unadorned. Each and every one of her punches seemed to abide by the paramount laws of the world, and they weren''t particularly flashy or glamorous, but they unleashed incredible destructive power.


    At this point, Yuanen Yehui had already completely immersed herself in her own fist intent. After identifying her future path forward, all of her soul skills had been integrated toward her Divine Cloudvortex Fists. To put it in simpler terms, all of the soul skills that she''d relied on in the past were now a part of her Divine Cloudvortex Fists. She was constantly perfecting the process of fusing her soul skills into her fist techniques, and only after combining her Tang Sect techniques, twin martial souls, her personal understanding of fist intent, and her observations of the clouds around the mountain peak did she invent her Divine Cloudvortex Fists.


    During these past few months, she had cultivated without any distractions, and her powers had increased at a rapid rate. The foundation of her Divine Cloudvortex Fists had already been completely established, and it was significantly bolstering her combat prowess.


    Asura King only managed to arrest his own momentum with great difficulty, and his expression had darkened significantly. He had seen Yuanen Yehui''s past battle footage, and from that footage, it appeared that she was nothing special; she was only relying on the immense strength of her Herculean Divine Ape to secure one victory after another, and there was nothing that stood out about her.


    However, only after actually facing her did he come to realize just how wrong he''d been in his assessment; this opponent was far more powerful than he''d anticipated. Just from those two clashes alone, his opponent had displayed powers that definitely weren''t inferior to his.


    All of the disdain that he''d held toward his opponent was instantly wiped away as he rose up into the air. A pair of crimson wings spread open on his back, and his second soul ring lit up as his body was enshrouded under a layer of light that resembled crackling lightning. His body swayed, and he instantly arrived beside Yuanen Yehui. He abruptly lashed out with his claws, and a crimson claw projection immediately reached her from the side.


    After unleashing that attack, he immediately flapped his wings again before arriving on her other side and unleashing the same attack.


    Just as Yuanen Yehui had a self-invented soul skill, he also had a self-invented soul skill of his own, which he''d named Lightning Asura Claws. His first soul skill, Blood Tiger Claws, and his second soul skill, Lightning Body, were used as a foundation in conjunction with his immense overall powers. The final result was that he was able to unleash powerful attacks while constantly being on the move. His Lightning Asura Claws perfectly combined his offensive prowess as an assault system battle Soul Master and his speed of an agility attack system Soul Master, and he had defeated countless powerful enemies in the past with this technique.


    As expected, Yuanen Yehui was unable to keep up with his speed.


    The Titan Giant Ape was quite massive in size, and her forte didn''t lie in her speed to begin with. She unleashed her Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to evade a few of Asura King''s first attacks, but she was already looking a little disheveled.


    As opposed to unleashing any punches, Yuanen Yehui was only adopting evasive measures, and soon, a series of claw marks had begun to appear on her battle armor. Her opponent was too fast, and even though she could withstand his attacks for now, this was definitely not a situation that she wanted to maintain.


    Asura King was like a bolt of crimson lightning, constantly darting around her to sap her energy while searching for a fatal chink in her defenses.


    Asura King wasn''t worried at all that Yuanen Yehui would unleash some of her more powerful soul skills. On the contrary, that was something that he wanted to see. The more powerful the soul skill, the more energy it expended, and releasing powerful soul skills in a blind panic would only create more chances for him.


    Yuanen Yehui was clearly aware of this, so she didn''t unleash any further soul skills. Instead, she was evading as best as she could with her Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track while keeping her fists close to her sides.


    Asura King''s entire body was radiating a bloodthirsty light, but he was extremely calm. In contrast, Yuanen Yehui was looking a little ragged, but she was also dealing with her opponent''s attacks in a calm and collected manner, so he wasn''t able to press his advantage.


    However, he wasn''t concerned at all by this. There was no way that Yuanen Yehui could continue to calmly handle his attacks for a prolonged period of time, and maintaining this situation was clearly beneficial to him. He was merely continuing to use his first and second soul skills, whereas Yuanen Yehui''s Diamond Titan possessed powerful defensive properties, but it definitely expended more of her energy than it took for him to maintain his first and second soul skills.


    All of a sudden, Yuanen Yehui stumbled slightly, and a massive weakness appeared around her armpit region. Asura King''s eyes lit up as he immediately reached out to attack, but right before he did so, he paused slightly before abruptly springing up into the air. As opposed to attacking Yuanen Yehui''s armpit region, he chose to attack her head instead. She was clearly intentionally exposing a weakness to bait him into attacking, and he wasn''t going to fall for it.


    However, right at this moment, the stumbling Yuanen Yehui unleashed another punch, and she seemed to be attacking... the air?


    That''s right, her fist was striking empty air.


    All of a sudden, Asura King''s expression stiffened as he discovered that an extremely terrifying burst of suction force was erupting toward him. Yuanen Yehui had lashed out with her right fist, and as it struck the air, she made a pushing motion with her left hand.


    A burst of indescribably terrifying power abruptly erupted from her body, and her fourth soul ring also lit up; Devil Titan! This was immediately followed by her sixth soul ring!


    Asura King immediately felt his flesh begin to crawl. As a Soul Sage, he was extremely sensitive to danger, and he''d always trusted his own instincts. As such, he immediately unleashed his seventh soul skill without any hesitation, and his body quickly transformed in mid-air. As he was being drawn in by the suction force, he transformed into a massive crimson lion; it was none other than his Bloodthirsty Lion True Body!


    After entering his martial soul true body state, his offensive and defensive prowess would be more than doubled. He didn''t know what Yuanen Yehui was doing, but he was confident in his own abilities to withstand her attacks.


    All of a sudden, a massive vortex appeared, and all of the spectators could see that the vortex was of a light yellow color. The vortex encompassed the entire competition platform, and the outskirts of the vortex were of a very faint yellow color, whereas the yellow around Yuanen Yehui''s body was extremely dark.

 Chapter 1048: Find Him

    The vortex then seemed to form a gigantic hand, and even after Asura King released his martial soul true body, he was still instantly dragged over to Yuanen Yehui.


    It looked as if Asura King had voluntarily charged toward Yuanen Yehui''s fist. The Bloodthirst Lion True Body was struck on the shoulder in a completely soundless manner. There was no resounding boom, and he wasn''t sent flying, either. However, in that instant, Asura King felt as if everything within his body was being stirred up. Immediately thereafter, he was greeted by the sight of a vast expanse of fist projections.


    Yuanen Yehui''s body seemed to have suddenly become illusionary, and her originally slow and cumbersome massive ape body was now fluttering around as light as a butterfly. Her fist projections encompassed every single inch of Asura King''s entire body.


    All of a sudden, a strange buzzing sound rang from Asura King''s body, immediately following which his Bloodthirsty Lion True Body was completely shattered as limbs flew through the air and blood mist dispersed in all directions.


    Strangely enough, the blood mist also formed a series of vortexes of different sizes as they drifted through the air, and only after a few seconds did the blood begin to rain down onto the competition platform.


    What...


    The commentators had no idea what to say as they were at a complete loss with regard to how this battle had just been ended.


    Yuanen Yehui landed on the ground, and her body shrank down to its original nondescript appearance. Her fists were even looking a little petite in her current form, but who would dare to underestimate those fists now?


    "Fist King! Fist King!" Someone began the chant first, and immediately thereafter, all of the spectators began to join in. From that moment forth, Yuanen Yehui had also earned a nickname for herself, as well as a spot in the top eight.


    There seemed to be images constantly flickering across Yuanen Yehui''s eyes as she reflected on that battle. Defeating Asura King definitely hadn''t been an easy task, particularly when she hadn''t used her second martial soul.


    This was the first time that her Divine Cloudvortex Fists had come up against such a powerful opponent; she had missed out on her round-robin match against the participant who went on to emerge as first in her group as she had reached a critical juncture in the cultivation of her Divine Cloudvortex Fists at the time.


    That weakness that she''d displayed was indeed something that she''d intentionally revealed, but at the same time, it really was a weakness that could be exploited. The psychological warfare tactics that she''d learned on the demonic island were extremely effective in battle. She was naturally aware that with her opponent''s wealth of battle experience, he definitely wouldn''t fall for her tricks, but it was exactly because of this that he fell into her trap in the end. In a sense, he''d outsmarted himself.


    Due to his last-second decision to change the target of his attack, Asura King''s speed had decelerated for an instant, and she had been accumulating power throughout the entire process in which she''d been taking evasive measures, and she took advantage of that split-second window of opportunity to strike.


    Her Devil Titan combined with her Divine Cloudvortex Fists completely controlled the airflow in the surrounding area, and her sixth soul skill, Titan Grip, forcibly dragged her opponent toward her and thew his body off balance in the process. Immediately thereafter, she unleashed an explosive barrage of attacks, and that had been the key to her victory.


    As long as her opponent was within a certain range, she was invincible! Yuanen Yehui clenched her fists tightly, and at the same time, another figure surfaced in her mind. This was a man with golden dragon scales all over his body, and he also possessed a pair of sharp claws. She could only truly be considered to be invincible in melee combat among all cultivators of her caliber if she could defeat him.


    Captain, have you made it to the quarterfinals?


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin spent some federal credits to watch the replays of the matches in the round of 16, paying particularly close attention to Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan''s matches.


    At this moment, his heart was filled with astonishment and excitement. He wasn''t the only one who had been improving! While it was indeed true that he''d been progressing very quickly, his friends certainly weren''t making slow progress, either!


    Let''s keep improving together, everyone!


    He didn''t contact them after their matches; after such high-intensity battles, they needed time to reflect and learn from their experiences. This had always been a cultivation method that was unique to Shrek Academy.


    All of their opponents in these final stages were extremely powerful. Ye Xinglan had already improved drastically, but she still lost to that Wild Gale Saber Demon, Sima Jinchi. An eight-ring Soul Douluo with a saber soul was definitely enough to pose a threat to him. On top of that, there was also that man; the one who had progressed in the first position from Yuanen Yehui''s group. He had only taken three seconds to defeat his opponent in this round, and it was the fastest among all eight matches. It was said that his odds had lowered even further, and it was undoubtedly the case that both of these people were opponents that he had to face, and only after defeating them would he be able to complete his mission.


    He wouldn''t have it any other way!


    What would be the point in brushing aside a bunch of weak opponents en route to an easy championship title? After a brief moment of excitement, Tang Wulin resumed his arduous cultivation.


    ¡­¡­


    "Congratulations, I didn''t think that you would''ve improved to such an extent already." Leng Yaozhu had nothing but praise for her disciple.


    After watching the entirety of her trial, she had been well and truly stunned. Gu Yuena''s performance during the trial couldn''t even just be described as perfect; it was more than perfect!


    Even the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda had been alerted to her performance, and at just 21 years of age, she became the youngest backup spirit envoy in the entire history of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The chairman of the Spirit Pagoda had even said that if Gu Yuena could become an eight-ring Soul Douluo and attain a suit of three-word battle armor, he''d make an exception for her and promote her to become an official spirit envoy, which would make her one of the highest-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Gu Yuena was extraordinarily talented, and she was definitely by far the brightest young talent the Spirit Pagoda had to offer.


    The aptitude that she had displayed outstripped that of even Leng Yaozhu, and even the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda had to approach Leng Yaozhu in a polite manner to discuss whether Gu Yuena could become one of the candidates to succeed his position as chairman.


    "Thank you, Teacher." Gu Yuena nodded calmly in response, seemingly completely unperturbed by all of the praise and attention that had been showered on her.


    Leng Yaozhu sighed, "You''re growing up every single day while I continue to grow older. The Spirit Pagoda will fall into the hands of you young people in the future."


    Gu Yuena shook her head, and countered, "You''re not old at all, Teacher, and I''m still far from being worthy of your praise."


    Leng Yaozhu smiled, and said, "Stop being so modest! You''re only a seven-ring Soul Sage, yet you were able to virtually completely dominate a Titled Douluo when neither of you were using your suits of battle armor; if you''re still putting yourself down, then old-timers like us shouldn''t even live anymore! If you ask me, you''re going to become unfathomably powerful when you reach the Titled Douluo level. By the way, your spiritual power has already reached the Spirit Domain realm, right? Otherwise, there''s no way that you could''ve controlled elements to such a degree."


    Gu Yuena nodded in response.


    Leng Yaozhu''s eyes immediately lit up. "That''s fantastic! You must be tired, right? Go back and rest. It was the right decision for you not to participate in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition; we should be hiding your abilities for now, and the moment you become a Titled Douluo will be the moment you stun the entire continent!"


    After bidding farewell to her teacher, Gu Yuena returned to her room in the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    After closing the door, a cold expression appeared on her face, and she slowly made her way over to her window before casting her gaze toward the distance. Her room just so happened to be directly facing the direction of Shrek City.


    Of course, Shrek City had already disappeared, and there weren''t even any remnants of it left. In the aftermath of the bombing, the groundwater had gradually filled the massive crater, and Shrek City had now become a massive lake. All remnant traces of Shrek Academy had naturally also completely disappeared as a result.


    "He''ll come back sooner or later," she murmured to herself.


    "Of course, he''ll definitely come back," a gentler voice chimed in in response.


    "Let''s watch the competition; we still don''t know how he performed." Na''er''s voice was tinged with a hint of urgency.


    Gu Yue was silent for a moment before slowly making her way over to her soul television and turning it on.


    ¡­¡­


    Bright City.


    Within a massive mansion on the outskirts of the city, there were a few people sitting in the guest hall. The broadcast of the first round of the final elimination stage of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition had just concluded on the large-screen soul television in front of them.


    The man sitting at the center of the sofa slowly rose to his feet. "That man is still alive; our Lord didn''t kill him in the end."


    A beautiful woman with long green hair sighed, "Our Lord seems to have been severely impacted by human emotions."


    "That little bastard should''ve been killed long ago! Why is our Lord being so indecisive?" a burly man grumbled in a perplexed manner.


    "Shut up!" the man sitting at the center snapped, and the room instantly fell silent.


    The man raised his head, and the golden highlight at the center of his head of long hair slowly trailed downward as he said in a cold voice, "Find him!"

 Chapter 1049: Qian

    The entire federation had been enamored with the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition lately, and now that the true finals had commenced, the federation was making an active effort to promote the event, essentially transforming it into a grand festival.


    The Blood God Legion was no exception to this. Following the first round of elimination matches, two of the spots in the top eight now belonged to the Blood God Legion. Tang Wulin was naturally one of them, and the other one was the Blood God Legion Melee Guard Corps Commander, Qian.


    Qian strode slowly into the resting area and arrived at the cafe before ordering a cup of black coffee.


    At this time of day, the cafe was already packed to the rafters. The Blood God Legion was supplied with the best of everything, and the coffee here was no exception. He looked around to find that all of the tables were completely filled, with the exception of a single table in the corner, where only one person was sitting.


    He was looking out the window with a faint smile on his face, seemingly in deep thought about something.


    Even his side profile was very attention-grabbing as his face was very handsome, and his skin was like flawless warm jade.


    With Qian''s exemplary eyesight, he was naturally able to clearly see every detail about this person. His eyelashes were very long, even longer than most of the women that he''d seen before, and his eyes were very large and bright. The warm smile on his handsome face made him appear very charismatic and energetic.


    However, what had truly attracted Qian''s attention were the epaulets on his shoulders.


    He was a major general? How could there be such a young major general? Was it him?


    Qian had already heard of him before, and during recent times, his name was one that had been made known to the entire legion. Over half of the tables around him were filled with female military officials who were at least at the lieutenant colonel rank. As for those below the lieutenant colonel rank, they most likely didn''t have the right to sit so close to him.


    Qian''s eyes narrowed slightly as he strode toward that table.


    Ever since he had drunk some coffee here with Long Yuxue, Tang Wulin discovered that he really liked this bitter yet aromatic beverage.


    He enjoyed its rich fragrance, and sipping a cup of warm coffee while looking out at the world of snow and ice outside had become an enjoyable activity for him of late.


    Wu Zhangkong had cautioned him from very early on that it would not be wise to pile too much pressure on himself, and that it was important to have a cultivate-life balance. He felt like he had maintained this balance quite well during recent times, and he had also been maintaining a positive mental state.


    Gu Yuena was his greatest psychological pillar; whenever he was feeling tired, all he had to do was think of her, and all of his exhaustion would instantly be wiped away. In particular, when he was sipping a cup of warm coffee, he felt as if he could recall her image more clearly, and the coffee also gave him a warm feeling inside.


    Tang Wulin really enjoyed this feeling, yet as he was enjoying himself, he also discovered that there were more and more people in the cafe. However, everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding with one another, and they would always leave the table in the corner right beside the window to him.


    "Can I sit here, Superior?" An unfamiliar voice sounded.


    Tang Wulin raised his head to discover a tall military official who appeared to be in his thirties standing in front of him. The epaulets on his shoulders indicated that he was a senior colonel. He wasn''t particularly handsome, and his eyes were a little long and narrow, but his hard chiseled facial features still stood out quite prominently.


    "Of course." Tang Wulin made an inviting hand gesture.


    Qian took a seat and reflexively glanced at Tang Wulin''s cup to find that he was also drinking black coffee. It appeared that they shared common tastes when it came to coffee.


    Tang Wulin was still looking out the window, and the commotion within the cafe hadn''t affected his good mood in the slightest as all of it was naturally filtered out by him.


    "Superior." The voice rang out from across the table again.


    Tang Wulin turned to look at Qian. "Can I help you with something?"


    Qian''s black coffee arrived, and he held the cup with both hands as he said, "I''m Number 79; I look forward to facing you in the competition."


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow. "You mean the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition?"


    "Yes!"


    "Good luck." Tang Wulin nodded and finished his coffee before offering a smile to Qian, then standing up and departing as all of the female military officials in the cafe looked on with longing in their eyes.


    Qian faltered slightly in the aftermath of that exchange. He had approached Tang Wulin more so out of curiosity than anything else. However, he didn''t manage to learn or sense anything about him during their exchange.


    There weren''t even any soul power fluctuations emanating from his body, and no matter how Qian looked at him, he seemed like an ordinary person. However, his instincts told him that this remarkably young major general was very dangerous! Would they be pitted against one another in the next round?


    Qian reflexively clenched his fists tightly.


    Tang Wulin didn''t have much of an impression of Qian. His attention was highly focused right now, and he had drunk that cup of coffee for not just for relaxation purposes, but also to adjust his mental state.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the upcoming mecha battles were going to be a sterner test for him compared to the Soul Master battles, and soon, he was going to have to compete in the top 16 round of the mecha battle discipline.


    He entered the Star Cabin and logged on to the battle net.


    His number had changed from 33 to 66, and there was a server to guide him to the competition venue on this occasion as well.


    Following the final round of the round-robin stage, he was given the nickname of Spear King, and it was also in the final round of the round-robin stage that Ling Wuyue suffered a close defeat, so she progressed as second in her group. As it turned out, Ling Wuyue was indeed the most exceptional mecha pilot in the entire legion; they were the only two who had progressed to this stage.


    They had progressed from the same competition region, so the rules stipulated they weren''t going to be matched up against one another in this first elimination round, and he wondered if Ling Wuyue would be able to make it past this round.


    Compared to him, Ling Wuyue''s mecha piloting skills were definitely superior, but her martial soul was slightly lackluster.


    He chose a melee combat mecha and a spear as usual.


    Tang Wulin looked at the spear in his mecha''s hand, and he couldn''t help but heave an internal sigh. It appeared that he was destined to just be a melee combat warrior for life. He had originally planned to master a long-range attacking mecha, but ever since he learned Fury of the Masses, he no longer had any interest in long-range attacking mechas.


    He had basically mastered Fury of the Masses now, and he was wondering when Old Tang would be willing to teach him the next spear technique; just the thought of this filled him with anticipation.


    Tang Wulin strode into the competition venue in his mecha, and on the other side, his opponent was also being led into the venue.


    This was a long-range attacking mecha! Tang Wulin immediately determined this after seeing the size of his opponent''s mecha.


    It was holding a generic soul cannon that could unleash 10 blasts in a row before requiring a short period cooldown time.


    This thing was basically a more powerful version of a soul laser cannon, and it was a long-range weapon that could only be chosen after one reached the final stages of the competition. This was because in the previous rounds, melee combat mechas had held an overall advantage over their long-range attacking counterparts. The soul power of Soul Masters combined with the defensive abilities of mechas made it very difficult for ordinary generic mecha weapons to pose a threat to them, so the battle net had to make some adjustments to even up the playing field.


    Both parties entered the competition venue, and the waves of raucous cheers immediately rang out in the spectator stands.


    The commentators also commenced their commentary.


    "Number 66 has the nickname of Spear King, and he is renowned as the most proficient spear-wielder in this edition of the competition. Number 231 has the nickname of Cannon Fort; his long-range attacks are extremely accurate, and he possesses soul skills that can enhance those long-range attacks. This will be a clash between a melee combat mecha and a long-range attacking mecha, so this battle will be decided by whether Cannon Fort can destroy Spear King''s mecha before Spear King can get close to him. Alright, that''s enough talking from me; let''s all sit back and enjoy what is surely going to be a spectacular match!"


    There were no referees for this match, and the electronic voice immediately began its countdown.


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    "Boom!" As soon as the starting command was given, a resounding boom rang out, and a soul cannon blast was sent hurtling toward Tang Wulin''s mecha.

 Chapter 1050: A Formidable Foe

    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin''s mecha had only just raised its leg, and the soul cannon blast was already quite close. However, as opposed to being aimed at Tang Wulin''s mecha, the cannon blast was aimed at the ground just in front of him, so if he were to step forward, he''d be running straight into it. The best way to counter this would be to withdraw his leg and pause for a moment. This was clearly a tactic from his opponent to try and control his rhythm!


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred as he came to this realization. His opponent was using their long-range attacks to control the rhythm of the battle and restrict his movements.


    Ling Wuyue had once told him that the most powerful long-range attacking mecha pilots could control everything on the battlefield, and that their opponents would be reduced to puppets on strings that were forced to obey their will. These types of mecha pilots were extremely fearsome, and the impossible could often be made possible by them. Even if they only had one type of simple long-range weapon at their disposal, they would still be able to unleash a bag of countless tricks.


    In the face of such an opponent, the first thing that he had to do was to ensure that he didn''t fall into his opponent''s rhythm. Even if he had to take a few attacks head-on, he had to foil his opponent''s control.


    As such, Tang Wulin activated his mecha''s propeller almost without any hesitation. At the same time, he injected his soul power into his spear to release a powerful spear projection, and he hurtled directly toward the cannon blast.


    "Boom!" The melee combat mecha instantly passed through the explosion and continued to accelerate as it charged toward the opposing mecha.


    However, right at this moment, the opposing mecha seemed to have suddenly begun to perform a dance on the other side of the competition platform.


    With each and every movement it performed, a cannon blast would be unleashed from the soul cannon in its hand.


    As soon as Tang Wulin passed through the first cannon blast, nine more were already hurtling toward him. The trajectories of these cannon blasts were very strange; all of them were flying in curved trajectories, hurtling toward a path that Tang Wulin had to take if he wanted to close in on his opponent.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly and displayed his immense physical resistance and exemplary control. Even while his mecha was being accelerated by its propeller, he forcibly controlled it to change directions in mid-air, sending him flying forward diagonally instead of straight forward.


    However, right at this moment, the nine cannon blasts that he''d already evaded suddenly crashed into one another.


    A violent boom erupted from the side, followed by a powerful shockwave.


    Tang Wulin instantly realized what his opponent was trying to do; they had clearly predicted that he would be able to evade the first attack, so they had unleashed these attacks as a follow-up. Even though all nine cannon blasts were traveling on curved trajectories, they were converging toward a single point. The two mechas were situated several hundred meters away from one another, and these generic mechas had no high-end circuits that could enhance their aim, so his opponent''s accuracy in long-range attacks was quite extraordinary. As expected of the top 16; those who had made it to this point were truly a level above the rest.


    These thoughts ran through Tang Wulin''s mind in a flash, and immediately thereafter, shockwaves erupted from beside his mecha. The powerful force behind these shockwaves instantly diverted his mecha off its original course, and he had just forcibly made the mecha change directions while traveling at high speed, placing intense overall strain on the mecha that was making it screech and tremor violently.


    These mechas were very heavy, so they could easily harm themselves while performing some awkward maneuvers.


    Tang Wulin was slightly alarmed by this, but he remained completely unflustered. He slammed the spear in his mecha''s right hand into the ground to arrest its sideways momentum, and the mecha performed a roll in mid-air. At the same time, he turned off its propeller, and it landed on the ground in a stable manner.


    However, he still had to praise his opponent. Even though he''d already made a great effort not to fall under his opponent''s control, he was still controlled in the end.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by the sense of a looming threat, and he discovered that there was a massive cannon blast hurtling toward him. This one was completely different from the cannon blasts unleashed by the generic soul cannon, and it was like a miniature sun that was approaching him at an alarming speed. This attack had clearly been unleashed before his mecha had been diverted sideways from the shockwaves of the previous explosion.


    He had completely fallen into his opponent''s rhythm, and this was something that he really didn''t want to see.


    The cannon blast had a diameter of over a meter, and it was shimmering with dazzling light, but at its core, there was a ball of flashing black light. It was quite apparent that this attack was definitely not one that Tang Wulin wanted to take head-on.


    However, it was already too late for him to evade. Even if he were to use his soul skills, there was no way for him to evade the attack in such a short time. His spear was still rammed into the ground, so he couldn''t even defend himself with his weapon.


    In this critical situation, Tang Wulin did something that no one expected.


    He drew his spear out of the ground, then sent his own mecha falling backward to evade the cannon blast. At the same time, his mechas leg swept upward, and a rumbling boom concealed the loud dragon''s roar that rang out immediately thereafter.


    A series of Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted forth, winding themselves around the mecha''s leg and striking the cannon blast.


    "Boom!"


    A resounding boom rang out, and the melee combat mecha was sent flying horizontally, opening up further distance between itself and its opponent, and it was looking rather disheveled. However, Tang Wulin controlled the mecha to slam its hands into the ground twice in quick succession, and only then was he able to make a stable landing.


    This was one of his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, Golden Dragon Whips its Tail!


    Number 231 was rather disappointed that his attack hadn''t ended this battle right there and then. That last cannon blast was one of his own soul skills by the name of "Black Sun", and it possessed incredible offensive power; who would''ve thought that Tang Wulin would withstand it in such an innovative manner? His mecha didn''t seem to have sustained much damage in the process, either.


    During mecha battles, one only had to destroy the opponent''s mecha to secure victory, so this wasn''t a realistic battle scenario. Otherwise, even if the one''s mecha were to be destroyed, they could still fight with their own powers. But if that were to be allowed, then all of these mecha battles would most likely just overlap with Soul Master battles.


    A hint of astonishment surged through Tang Wulin''s heart, and a cold expression appeared on his face.


    His opponent did indeed possess exemplary long-range attacking skills, and with their ability to control the flow of the match, it would not be easy for him to close down the distance between them in a generic mecha unless he was to reveal some of his Golden Dragon King abilities. However, doing so would immediately blow his cover, and that was not something that he wanted to do for now.


    Even so, he still had alternative methods. He quickly transferred his spear from his right hand to his left while waving his right hand through the air, and a streak of golden light flashed past as the Golden Dragon Spear appeared in the mecha''s grasp.


    The Golden Dragon Spear that Tang Wulin used as a Soul Master was obviously different from the one currently being wielded by his mecha. The size of his Golden Dragon Spear could be changed at his behest, and he also had disguise techniques that could alter its appearance. At this moment, the Golden Dragon Spear in his mecha''s hand was over 12 meters long, and it was shimmering with a deeper golden light than normal. At the same time, all of the dragon patterns on its surface had been concealed.


    During his Soul Master battles, his Golden Dragon Spear was always of a scorching white color due to his soul power injections, so the two spears looked completely different at his point.


    It would be rude not to reciprocate an offering, so he was going to make his opponent face his long-range attack as well.


    Before his opponent had a chance to unleash another attack, Tang Wulin''s mecha abruptly stepped forward before hurling the Golden Dragon Spear through the air.


    The Golden Dragon Spear spear reached his opponent amid a flash of golden light virtually in the blink of an eye.


    He had hurled the Golden Dragon Spear using the Tang Sect''s hidden weapon hand techniques, and he had placed more emphasis on speed, making his projective too fast for his opponent to evade.


    He had injected both his soul power and blood essence power into the spear, and also guided his mecha''s arm using his Bluesilver Emperor vines, instilling this attack with as much power as possible.


    All of the spectators merely saw a flash of golden light before the Golden Dragon Spear reached Tang Wulin''s opponent.


    What...


    Everyone''s eyes widened as the Golden Dragon Spear hurtled toward Number 231. The soul cannon had just concluded its cooldown period, and Number 231 was just about to unleash a second round of attacks when the Golden Dragon Spear arrived.


    He immediately controlled his mecha to fall to the side at an extremely fast speed. At the same time, his mecha suddenly took on a crimson color, and a burst of energy resembling a massive energy barrier suddenly erupted from within the mecha. The energy barrier fused with the mecha to bolster its defenses, but he had still completely underestimated the power of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    "Thump!" The Golden Dragon Spear was indeed diverted slightly off course by the crimson energy, but its sharp front tip still pierced directly through the crimson light.


    Thankfully, it was diverted away from the mecha''s vital regions, but it still punctured through the mecha''s shoulder before flying into the distance.


    If this were a soul master battle and someone''s shoulder had been punctured by the Golden Dragon Spear, then they''d at least be crippled. Fortunately for Number 231, mechas didn''t have any life force energy for the spear to devour, but even so, a layer of cold sweat had already appeared all over his body. What a fast and powerful attack!

 Chapter 1051: Peculiar Attacks

    After hurling his Golden Dragon Spear, Tang Wulin immediately activated his mecha''s propeller again, sending him hurtling toward his opponent like a giant dragon.


    He had forced his opponent to take defensive measures and used this opportunity to close down the distance between the two of them. If he could reach a certain distance from his opponent, then the battle would be as good as over.


    He waved a hand through the air, and the Golden Dragon Spear returned to his grasp before being hurled forth again. He was going to use his Golden Dragon Spear as a long-range attacking weapon during this battle.


    On this occasion, Number 231 managed to react in time, and a string of cannon blasts was launched toward the Golden Dragon Spear with unerring accuracy. As opposed to attacking the Golden Dragon Spear head-on, he was aiming at a spot just below the tip of the spear, trying to divert it upward instead of attempting to stop it cold in its tracks.


    10 cannon blasts were unleashed at once, and four of them altered the trajectory of the Golden Dragon Spear while the remaining six completed a very advanced technique; stacked explosion!


    A stacked explosion referred to when one cannon blast caught up to another before exploding at a desired location, following which more cannon blasts would catch up and continue to fuel the explosion. The six cannon blasts stacked on top of one another and exploded in virtually the blink of an eye. Due to the fact that these cannon blasts had been unleashed on a straight-line trajectory on this occasion, they were imbued with the most explosive force possible.


    The six cannon blasts had exploded right in front of Tang Wulin, yet with the prior experience he had accumulated, Tang Wulin naturally wasn''t going to allow his opponent to control him again. A series of Bluesilver Emperor erupted forth, enveloping his mecha in a suit of vines. Immediately thereafter, all of the vines seemed to have sprung to life as giant pythons with golden spines and meridians glowing within them. The vines themselves were also flashing with piercing light, and Tang Wulin made no effort to evade as he continued to charge on ahead.


    That was way too barbaric! He was charging headfirst into a stacked explosion!


    If this were only a generic mecha with no enhancements, then it would''ve immediately been blasted into pieces by the stacked explosion. However, with the protection of the Bluesilver Emperor vines, all of the explosive force was kept at bay.


    Tang Wulin''s powers had improved significantly, his bloodline power and soul power had fused with one another, and his two major energy cores had established a perfect connection; all of this had also been enhancing his martial soul. The Bluesilver Emperor had already taken on some of the Golden Dragon King''s defensive and offensive prowess, so this stacked explosion was nothing to it.


    After crashing directly through the stacked explosion, the Golden Dragon Spear had reappeared in Tang Wulin''s hand again. However, on this occasion, Tang Wulin hurled the Golden Dragon Spear high up into the air.


    That''s right, he had hurled it into the air as opposed to at his opponent. Golden light flashed, and the Golden Dragon Spear vanished into thin air.


    What was he trying to do?


    Only Number 231 had an inkling of what Tang Wulin was doing. He was a long-range attacking mecha pilot himself, so he was naturally aware that the most fearsome long-range attacks were the ones that were already in flight, but were also out of sight.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Golden Dragon Spear would fall eventually, but he didn''t know when and where it was going to fall. His opponent had chosen to hurl it up into the air, so he definitely possessed sufficient control over his spear. This meant that there was a Golden Dragon Spear constantly hanging over his head, and if it were to fall, it could quite possibly inflict a lethal blow. During his first clash with the Golden Dragon Spear, he had already been alerted to the fact that this extraordinarily sharp spear was not something that his defenses could withstand.


    As such, he immediately made a decision. As a long-range attacking mecha pilot, the ability to judge a situation was of the utmost importance. Only by immediately making the correct decisions could he ensure his own safety and defeat his opponent on a constantly changing battlefield.


    Hence, he chose to ignore the Golden Dragon Spear and attacked the oncoming Tang Wulin instead.


    The crimson color of his mecha immediately deepened into a maroon color, and the excessive heat was making the metal on the surface of his mecha display signs of melting.


    He tossed his soul cannon away and raised both of his mecha''s arms into the air. A black sun rose up behind him, and a halo of golden light was visible around the black sun.


    He waved both hands through the air, and the shimmering black ball was sent flying toward Tang Wulin.


    This was solely an ability of his own, rather than one unleashed with the assistance of his mecha. However, it was quite clear that this attack was definitely going to be far more fearsome than those unleashed by his mecha''s soul cannon. The fact that he had chosen to discard his soul cannon to unleash this attack instead was a clear indication of which one was more powerful.


    Tang Wulin continued to charge toward him like an unstoppable raging bull, rushing directly toward the black ball of light without any intention of changing directions.


    He was going to see just what his opponent''s attack was capable of! At the same time, countless Bluesilver Emperor vines had risen up around his mecha, making the mecha resemble a monster with countless tentacles. Prior to their clash, no one knew what Tang Wulin was going to do.


    The black sun shot forth, and all of the Bluesilver Emperor vines around Tang Wulin erupted forth as countless spears. All of the vines were converging toward one point, piercing directly toward the center of the black ball of light.


    At this point, there were roughly 100 meters between the two of them.


    Three more black balls of light had already been unleashed by Number 231, and just as Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor vines were about to make contact with the first ball of light, the three balls of light behind it abruptly accelerated. The three balls of light fused as one to form a larger ball of light, then emitted a strange suction force that drew back the first ball of light, which was just about to clash with Tang Wulin.


    As such, his Bluesilver Emperor vines struck nothing but empty air while the four black balls of light combined to form a massive ball of light with a diameter of over five meters.


    Golden electricity was flashing along the surface of the huge ball of light, and it was quite apparent just from looking at it that the attack was imbued with extremely terrifying power. In the next instant, the ball of light suddenly vanished.


    That''s right, it had disappeared into thin air as if it had been sucked into a black hole.


    A scorching sensation suddenly welled up deep within Tang Wulin''s soul, and his expression stiffened as the spatial fluctuations around him suddenly became more violent.


    Crap!


    Not only did this Number 231 possess a powerful fire attribute martial soul, he also had a second spatial attribute martial soul!


    No matter how calm and steadfast Tang Wulin was, there was no way that he wouldn''t be shaken after his opponent used their spatial abilities to teleport such a powerful fire attribute attack directly into his mecha!


    His spiritual power was nearing the pinnacle of the Spirit Abyss realm, so he was immediately alerted to what was happening as soon as the spatial fluctuations appeared.


    His opponent had twin martial souls!


    If that terrifying black ball of fire were to appear within his mecha, the consequences would undoubtedly be catastrophic. Even if he could withstand the formidable attack with his defensive prowess, he would definitely still be hurt, and there was no way that his mecha would be able to survive.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin''s aggressive performance had forced his opponent to unleash their hidden trump card. Teleporting his attack directly into his opponent''s mecha was borderline cheating. If Tang Wulin had known about this ability of his beforehand, he could''ve just constantly activated his mecha''s protective barrier to isolate it from the outside space, and he wouldn''t have to fear this attack.


    However, generally speaking, a high-level mecha pilot generally wouldn''t waste their mecha''s energy by constantly maintaining its protective barrier unless they had to defend against an attack.


    Tang Wulin had naturally been doing the same thing, and when he realized that something was amiss, the scorching sensation had already appeared.


    What could he do?

 Chapter 1052: Turning the Tables

    There was no time to mull over the situation, and in that instant, Tang Wulin made the most correct split-second decision.


    His third and sixth soul skills were both released at the same time, and a massive dazzling purple flower appeared soundlessly behind his mecha. His sixth soul skill was Devouring Heaven and Earth, and at the same time, a massive and complex golden array appeared beneath his feet.


    His Bluesilver Emperor vines were also withdrawn, and his mecha landed heavily on the ground.


    At this moment, a triumphant smile had already appeared on Number 231''s face. This combination technique of his had a 100% success rate against all of the mecha pilots he''d used it on before. He had quadruple stacked his Demon Vanquishing Divine Light, then unleashed his spatial transference ability, and that was the extent of what he was able to achieve with his current level of power. Transferring such an enormous amount of energy with a high level of accuracy was extremely taxing on his spiritual power, and he was feeling slightly woozy in the aftermath.


    He wasn''t planning to unleash this trump card of his today, but Tang Wulin had posed far too much of a threat to him. His defensive and offensive prowess were both extraordinary, and as a long-range weapon, his sharp Golden Dragon Spear was also extremely formidable. If Tang Wulin were to get close to him, then he wouldn''t get an opportunity to use this combination attack if he wanted to. As such, he immediately made the decision to use this trump card of his.


    He did indeed possess twin martial souls, but due to the fact that his main martial soul was too powerful, he had been unable to find a suitable soul spirit for his spatial attribute martial soul, so it only had some assistance abilities. After all, there was only so much that one person could do, and he still had to cultivate his long-range attacks. However, this combination attack of his had allowed him to defeat countless enemies in the past.


    Generally speaking, just teleporting a small fireball into an opponent''s mecha would already pose enough of a headache for them, but in the face of an opponent as powerful as Tang Wulin, he immediately chose to unleash his most powerful attack.


    However, he then quickly caught sight of the massive purple flower that had appeared. Even though it was only a projection, it was even more gigantic than Tang Wulin''s mecha!


    Countless streaks of red light converged toward the huge flower from Tang Wulins'' mecha, and there was also a large amount of red light that was pouring out of his mecha and into the golden array down below.


    The last attack had taxed Number 231 greatly on a spiritual level, so he was unable to unleash another attack. As he looked on at the scenes unfolding before his eyes, a sense of foreboding began to well up in his heart.


    However, Tang Wulin''s mecha was still affected by his attack. It was quickly beginning to melt, and its surface was holding together relatively well, but there was already liquefied metal flowing out of the gaps in the mecha. The terrifying heat of his Demon Vanquishing Divine Light could reach over 10,000¡ãC [18032¡ãF for mah American homies], and most metals would be quickly melted under such high temperatures with almost no exceptions.


    This was just futile resistance! Number 231 heaved a sigh of relief.


    Indeed, Tang Wulin was putting up nothing more than futile resistance. Fearsome scorching heat was revolving around his body, and his Devouring Heaven and Earth was able to devour all energy elements to support his body''s defenses, while his Bluesilver Golden Array was also able to absorb some of the fire elements. Even so, the Demon Vanquishing Divine Light was too fearsome for him to nullify. Even under the effects of both of these soul skills, he was unable to completely stop the eruption of fire elements.


    Tang Wulin had never been in such a sorry state throughout the entire competition, but this still wasn''t the end!


    His two soul skills weren''t able to completely nullify his enemy''s attack, so his mecha had already been completely ruined, and it wouldn''t take long before it was completely destroyed. However, that short time was all that he required!


    A loud dragon''s roar erupted up above, as if a giant dragon were about to descend. Golden light shone down from the heavens as a bolt of golden light crashed down from the sky.


    "What?! How can he still control an attack in his current state?" Number 231 was completely flabbergasted. Countless spear projections crashed down with peerlessly powerful energy fluctuations, puncturing his mecha and his body in a flash.


    The energy that Devouring Heaven and Earth had brought to Tang Wulin had all been transferred to his Golden Dragon Spear, and even though he hadn''t been able to completely absorb the power of the Demon Vanquishing Divine Light, the portion that was absorbed had already been sufficient to significantly bolster the power of his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Number 231 was instantly killed on the spot, and several seconds before Tang Wulin''s mecha was destroyed, an electronic voice sounded.


    "The victory goes to Number 66!"


    The spectator stands immediately erupted into a frenzy.


    The first half of the match had been extremely spectacular, but in their eyes, the finale was like a terrible rushed ending to a story.


    Why was it that the extremely powerful-looking black ball of light had suddenly vanished? Why was it that Tang Wulin''s mecha had stopped on the spot immediately thereafter? Why had that massive flower and the golden array appeared? Why had his mecha begun to melt? Why was Number 231 killed by that Golden Dragon Spear without even taking any evasive measures? Even the commentators were at a complete loss, let alone the spectators.


    However, the result had already been announced, the mainframe of the Star Battle Net certainly wouldn''t make a false decision. As such, Number 66 was the final victor of the match.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha was already completely immobilized. Over a third of its upper body had melted, and it was rooted to the ground like a gigantic clump of metal. If it were a statue, it would actually look kind of artistic.


    Tang Wulin endured the scorching sensation around his body and logged off the Star Battle Net.


    He emerged from his Star Cabin, and he could still feel a phantom burning sensation all over his body. A hint of lingering fear welled up in his heart. If he hadn''t just endured that battle, he would''ve never even been able to imagine such an outlandish technique.


    Thankfully, this was the Star Battle Net; if he had encountered such an opponent in the real world, he would¡¯ve been in a lot of trouble.


    His mecha had been completely destroyed, and in the face of the quadruple stacked Demon Vanquishing Divine Light, even he had been severely harmed. Even with his immensely powerful physical constitution, it would''ve taken some time for him to recover.


    There really were no slouches in the competition at this stage! Being attacked from the inside of a mecha was far more fearsome than an external attack. That was way too close!


    Tang Wulin shuddered internally. During the upcoming matches, he had to constantly activate his protective barrier, even if it meant expending more energy. If it weren''t for the fact that his spiritual power had improved lately, thereby allowing him to immediately sense the abnormal spatial fluctuations that had appeared around him, he would''ve already lost the match before knowing what had happened. He wouldn''t have died, but his mecha would definitely have explode, and that would have been the end of the match.


    He still hadn''t been careful enough during that match, and to be frank, he had been a little naive. Tang Wulin reflected on the entire battle, learning and digesting the important lessons it had taught him. He couldn''t allow himself to make the same mistake again.


    ¡­¡­


    Even after he emerged from his Star Cabin, Gao Zhen was still feeling rather woozy. Even though he possessed twin martial souls, drawing upon so much energy had still been extremely taxing to him. The spiritual power that he had expended wouldn''t be recovered as soon as he left the Star Battle Net, but he had no time to think about that now as he was still completely stunned by the match that had just taken place.


    How was that even possible?


    How had he done that? It was already quite astonishing that his mecha hadn''t immediately exploded; that was most likely a result of the projection and array that had appeared behind him and beneath his feet. Furthermore, it was very remarkable that he had been able to react so quickly, but how was he able to still control his spear?


    Gao Zhen was very much unwilling to accept this defeat. Even he hadn''t understood how he had lost, let alone the commentators and spectators.


    His two martial souls were the Demon Vanquishing Sun, and Spatial Elemental Control.


    In a sense, it could be said that both of these martial souls were elemental martial souls. The Demon Vanquishing Sun was a fire elemental martial soul, but in contrast with normal fire elemental martial souls, his Demon Vanquishing Sun was able to dominate all evil living beings, and in that regard, its effect was no less potent than that of the holy attribute.


    Those who possessed the Demon Vanquishing Sun martial soul all had an extremely strong sense of justice, to the extent that they were prone to being unable to control their own emotions in the face of evil Soul Masters.


    Gao Zhen was one of the brightest young talents of the Battle God Hall, and also a backup Battle God. Furthermore, he was ranked quite highly in the hierarchy of backup Battle Gods. Not only did he possess twin martial souls, he was also extremely talented in mecha piloting, so he didn''t think that he would lose in the round of 16, especially after unveiling a trump card that he hadn''t ever revealed throughout the course of the competition.


    He had only been forced to use this trump card as his opponent had possessed extraordinary offensive and defensive prowess, but who would''ve thought that he''d still be defeated?


    Just who was this Number 66? How had he won that battle?


    A series of questions surfaced in his mind, and he really wanted a rematch with Tang Wulin, but that opportunity clearly wasn''t going to arise anytime soon.


    However, that battle and that golden spear had left an extremely profound impression on him.


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 1053: Tang Wulins Drawing

    "I made it into the final eight, but today''s match was a little perilous; I didn''t think that my opponent would be able to teleport his fire attribute soul skill directly into my mecha. Thankfully, doing so must have been very taxing to him, and I was able to defeat him with my Golden Dragon Spear before my mecha was destroyed."


    "I''m glad you won, but do take care, Father. You have to come visit me after the competition, and you have to stay for at least a few extra days when that time comes."


    "Alright, I''ll be sure to do so; you make sure to be a good girl as well. Did you eat anything good today?"


    A surge of warmth flowed through Tang Wulin''s heart at the sound of Gu Yuena''s voice, and he ended the call after chatting with her for a while longer.


    After that, he departed from the Blood God Battalion as it was time for his afternoon coffee again.


    After he arrived at the cafe, he was surprised to discover that someone had already taken his usual seat; it was none other than that Senior Colonel Qian whom he''d met once before.


    Tang Wulin strode over and sat down across from him before ordering a black coffee for himself.


    Qian was looking rather dejected, and he was cupping his hands tightly around his coffee cup with a pair of furrowed brows.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly as he asked, "Are you looking for me?"


    Qian looked up at him, and asked, "You''re Number 66, right?"


    "Yes." Tang Wulin nodded in response. They were both in the same legion, so he had nothing to hide.


    Qian nodded, and continued, "I was unable to make it to the final 16 of the mecha battles, so you''re better than me in that discipline. However, if we encounter one another in the next round of Soul Master battles, I want to see your true power. You haven''t used any of your signature abilities during your mecha battles; are you trying to hide your identity?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly. "I only use the most suitable abilities in battle."


    Qian finished the rest of his coffee in a single mouthful before nodding at Tang Wulin, then stood up and departed from the cafe.


    What a strange guy! He seemed to be very competitive and keen on facing Tang Wulin.


    That brief interlude from Qian didn''t affect Tang Wulin''s good mood at all.


    His coffee was soon brought to him, and as he inhaled its rich fragrance, he couldn''t help pick up the cup and take a boiling hot sip.


    Right at this moment, a gentle voice sounded from beside him. "Congratulations."


    Tang Wulin turned to discover that Long Yuxue was standing beside him. It seemed that she had already returned to normal.


    She was a soldier, after all, so her mental fortitude was far stronger than that of the average person.


    "Thank you. Take a seat; do you want something to drink? I''ll treat you," Tang Wulin offered with a smile.


    Long Yuxue sat down across from Tang Wulin before ordering a cup of her favorite hazelnut coffee. She then turned to Tang Wulin, and asked, "Do you have a picture of her?"


    "A picture?" Tang Wulin faltered upon hearing this. In his memory, he hadn''t taken many photos with her, but in that instant, he suddenly recalled that back at his home, which he hadn''t visited for a long time, there were still pictures of his parents and Na''er!


    He had never thought about those pictures ever since he left home, and all of a sudden, he was struck by a sense of homesickness. His father and mother had been missing for so many years; if he didn''t look at their pictures, he would be close to forgetting what they even looked like.


    To Long Yuxue''s surprise, tears suddenly began to well up in Tang Wulin''s eyes.


    "Are you alright? Did something happen between the two of you?" she asked in a concerned voice.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath to calm himself down before shaking his head in response. "No, it''s just that I was suddenly reminded of my family when you mentioned pictures."


    Long Yuxue prompted, "I''ve never heard you talk about your family before."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "My parents disappeared when I was still a very young child. I don''t know where they went, but all I can deduce is that they seem to have been abducted. I''m working so hard in my cultivation to become more powerful so I can find them someday."


    Long Yuxue exclaimed, "That''s horrible! Do you have any leads?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "Not at the moment, but I''ll definitely find them."


    Long Yuxue continued, "Do you have any pictures of her?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a wry smile again. "You''ve really stumped me there. Only after you asked this did I realize that I don''t even have a picture of the two of us together. I really owe her far too much. When I see her again, I''ll take a picture with her to show you."


    A faint smile appeared on Long Yuxue''s face. "I just want to see what kind of person I''ve lost to."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this. Had she still not completely given up on him? "How about I draw her for you?"


    "Sure!"


    Tang Wulin asked for a pen and a sheet of paper from a waiter before slowly beginning to draw. He certainly wasn''t a master artist, but don''t forget that as a powerful Soul Master, he had learned to engrave circuits before. Furthermore, he had exceptional bodily control and spiritual power, so it wasn''t beyond him to draw a figure that dwelled in the deepest part of his mind.


    Long Yuxue sat across from him as he carefully drew out her rival in love, and a hint of bitterness suddenly welled up in her heart. She had truly been in a lot of pain these past few days. This was the first time that she''d ever fallen in love, yet his heart already belonged to someone else.


    Her mother had told her that if she loved someone, then she had to fight for them, and that it was much better to at least make an effort rather than mope around all day, even if she were destined to fail. Hence, after some careful consideration, she finally mustered up the courage to appear before Tang Wulin again.


    He was only drawing a simple portrait, so it didn''t take long before his drawing was complete.


    However, even Tang Wulin himself suddenly faltered at the sight of the drawing he had just made because the portrait on the page wasn''t that of the current Gu Yuena. Instead, it was a woman who wasn''t particularly beautiful, but had a pair of remarkably bright eyes and a special disposition that set her apart from everyone else.


    This was the young woman who had remained by his side for many years and only ever completely opened herself up to him.


    It was Gu Yue!


    Tang Wulin was a little stumped. Even now, he still didn''t know why Gu Yue had taken on Na''er''s appearance, while Na''er seemed to have completely disappeared.


    He could only speculate that there was some kind of connection between them, but he wouldn''t be able to get any answers before Gu Yuena recovered her memories.


    In the end, the one he loved was still Gu Yue!


    Long Yuxue had already scooted over to his side, and her brows involuntarily furrowed at the sight of the rather plain set of facial features on the portrait.


    This wasn''t because Gu Yue wasn''t as beautiful as her, but instead, her reaction stemmed from the gentle and passionate look in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he appraised the portrait.


    An overwhelming sense of disappointment welled up in Long Yuxue''s heart, and there was a bitter taste in her mouth that was rendering her unable to speak. Deep in her heart, she knew that she didn''t even have the slightest chance with him. The woman on the portrait was far too deeply embedded in his heart, and it was clear that no one would be able to take her place.


    Tang Wulin continued to stare at the portrait of Gu Yue, and he didn''t even notice when Long Yuxue had left. It seemed that he would never be able to see Gu Yue''s familiar features again. At the same time, the images of Gu Yuena and Gu Yue gradually began to overlap in his mind, and his eyes seemed to have become slightly glazed over. Even he didn''t know who it was that he loved, but his heart was filled to the brim with his love.


    His coffee had already cooled; this was the first time that he''d wasted the coffee that he enjoyed so much. He carefully folded the portrait before tucking it into his inner pocket, and only then did he stand up to leave.


    He was beginning to miss her again...


    The first elimination round of the finals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition had just been concluded, and the top eight had emerged. This made the atmosphere in the competition more intense than ever, and it was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin was a hot favorite in the competition, but he definitely wasn''t the only one.

 Chapter 1054: Facing the Divine Cloudvortex Fists

    The opponents that he was going to face next would only become more and more powerful, and some things were simply out of his control, such as luck.


    When Tang Wulin appeared on the competition platform of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition again, he was rendered completely speechless at the sight of his opponent.


    The battle net had blurred their faces, and his opponent didn''t have any distinctive or remarkable physical attributes, but he still instantly managed to identify her, just as Yuanen Yehui had most definitely also recognized him.


    Tang Wulin''s quarterfinal opponent was Yuanen Yehui.


    Among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Ye Xinglan had been eliminated by Sima Jinchi in the previous round, so they were the only two left in this competition, and after this round, there would only be one remaining.


    All of their friends'' eyes also widened as they stared at this matchup on their screens. What terrible luck this was!


    Yuanen Yehui was looking at Tang Wulin from across the competition platform. They had been separated for a few months already; who would''ve thought that they''d be reunited as opponents?


    Even though only less than half a year had passed, he seemed to have changed considerably. He hadn''t exactly grown or developed physically in any noticeable way, but as she appraised him from afar, she was struck by the same feeling she''d felt when facing Dragon King Long Yue in the Star Luo Empire. This was the feeling of facing an insurmountable and invincible opponent.


    Was he already this powerful? Just what kind of changes had he undergone during these past few months? She had already reached rank 70 in her soul power and could progress to the Soul Sage level anytime she wanted, but why was it that she was sensing such immense pressure from him, even though his aura clearly suggested that he was still only a Soul Emperor?


    Tang Wulin was also appraising Yuanen Yehui with a hint of astonishment in his eyes. Compared to a few months ago, Yuanen Yehui''s aura was now a lot more ethereal. It was as if she were almost blending into the space around her just by standing there, as if her presence barely existed. However, he could also sense an intriguing type of intent fluctuations emanating from her body, and it seemed to suggest that she could shatter space at will.


    She was different from before. That was the first thought that sprang into Tang Wulin''s mind.


    If they were in the real world, Tang Wulin would be quite reluctant to face Yuanen Yehui in her current form as he''d be afraid that he wouldn''t be able to restrain himself. In her current state, he had a feeling that he wouldn''t be able to defeat her unless he fought with all his might.


    Thankfully, this was the Star Battle Net, and they could display their abilities and battle without any qualms or inhibitions.


    This was a good opportunity for him to examine how much his friends had improved during their military stints thus far.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t the only one with a heavy burden on his shoulders; the mission of reviving Shrek Academy was one that was carried by all members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. This immense pressure forced them to improve at a rapid rate, making them constantly become more powerful so they could achieve their ultimate objective.


    All of them were supremely talented, and each and every one of them had their own unique path. Tang Wulin was advancing rapidly, and his friends were also doing the same.


    A sense of excitement began to spread through Tang Wulin''s entire body.


    Yuanen, show me how much you''ve improved!


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    Following an announcement from the referee, the highly anticipated match finally commenced.


    In stark contrast with the calm demeanor that she''d displayed during her previous matches, she chose to immediately charge forward without any hesitation. She knew Tang Wulin extremely well, and as such, she was aware that if Tang Wulin were to dominate her in a battle of intent from the get-go, then she most likely wouldn''t even get a chance to retaliate. Tang Wulin''s aura was already becoming more and more powerful, so she had to take the initiative.


    As she rushed forward, her body began to swell, and she immediately activated her three enhancement soul skills, Titan Strength, Diamond Titan, and Devil Titan. As she did so, her body became even more muscular and imposing, giving her the appearance of a six-meter-tall miniature mountain of pure muscle. If Tang Wulin didn''t know her so well, even he wouldn''t be able to identify the fact that his opponent was a woman.


    The distance between the two of them was quickly closed, but Tang Wulin didn''t move on this occasion. He merely stood on the spot and quickly donned his suit of Dragon Moon battle armor.


    Yuanen Yehui''s battle armor also enveloped her gigantic frame, and in reality, her battle armor was the weakest among all of Shrek''s Seven Monsters due to the vast disparity between her two martial souls.


    It was impossible for a human body to contain two types of battle armor at once, so during the construction of her battle armor, Yuanen Yehui was forced to weigh up her options and chose a more conservative course of action to cater to both of her martial souls. Her battle armor mainly enhanced her strength and soul power, and every time she stomped onto the ground during her advance, the ground would tremble violently. A series of deep footprints were left on the competition platform, and her aura was also elevating at a rapid rate. Just as she was about to reach Tang Wulin, she let loose a ferocious roar before launching a fist toward him.


    The massive fist instantly reached Tang Wulin like a shooting star, and only then did he finally spring into action.


    He abruptly raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist before lashing out toward Yuanen Yehui''s fist. He wanted to see just how much Yuanen Yehui''s strength had improved.


    Virtually all of the spectators knew that strength was Golden Dragon King''s forte, and that his insane strength had allowed him to crush countless powerful opponents. However, at the same time, Yuanen Yehui''s forte also lay in her strength, so whose strength was going to be superior here?


    The two fists collided in a soundless manner.


    In the instant before Yuanen Yehui''s fearsome-looking punch came into contact with Tang Wulin''s fist, it took on an imaginary quality, and Tang Wulin was completely taken by surprise by this development.


    The massive oncoming fist suddenly seemed to have transformed into a vortex that encompassed his fist, then drew upon his power to unleash an enormous burst of suction force that drew his body forward.


    This was the equivalent of both Yuanen Yehui and Tang Wulin combining their efforts to pull his body forward.


    "Nice!" Tang Wulin commended Yuanen Yehui internally as his body was forced to stumble forward a single step, and he was immediately met by Yuanen Yehui''s rapidly approaching knee.


    After donning her suit of battle armor, Yuanen Yehui''s body was absolutely gigantic, and her knee was currently flying at him like a massive rock. If she were to unleash the same attack on a mecha, that mecha would instantly be reduced to a pile of scrap metal.


    It seemed that there would be no way for Tang Wulin to evade this attack. As opposed to taking any evasive measures, he stepped forward with his left foot, and instead of raising his other arm to defend himself, he met Yuanen Yehui''s knee with his chest.


    "Boom!"


    A resounding boom finally erupted, and all of the spectators were looking on with bated breath. Could it be that the almighty Golden Dragon King was going to lose after just the first exchange?


    However, their eyes then immediately widened upon witnessing the result of the clash.


    Tang Wulin''s body slid backward, but Yuanen Yehui was also forced to stumble back a few steps following the clash.


    Tang Wulin slid back for around 20 meters before he managed to arrest his own momentum. Golden light flashed from his battle armor, and he gently patted his chest before giving Yuanen Yehui a wide smile. "Not bad!"


    What...


    He had just taken a full-force knee to the chest from a two-word battle armor master, yet remained completely unscathed?


    Yuanen Yehui was also completely flabbergasted. She was naturally aware that Tang Wulin possessed immense defensive prowess. They had been friends and teammates for so many years, and no one knew Tang Wulin better than his friends, but who would''ve thought that his defensive prowess would''ve reached such an insane level?


    Unbeknownst to her, following the formation of his dragon core, Tang Wulin''s Mountain Dragon King torso bone had integrated with his dragon core and completely fused with his body. In terms of defensive prowess, Tang Wulin''s torso was actually the worst place to attack.


    Yuanen Yehui took a deep breath to adjust her own mental state. She had already known at the first sight of Tang Wulin that this was going to be an extremely arduous match, but he had improved even more significantly than she''d imagined. During this initial clash, she had clearly gained the upper hand using her Divine Cloudvortex Fists, but in the wake of this clash, Tang Wulin only seemed to be even more invincible to her.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin sprang into action again. He tapped his foot against the ground, and his body shot forth amid a thunderous dragon''s roar. He propelled himself toward Yuanen Yehui in a flash before unleashing an almighty punch.


    In the face of his fist, Yuanen Yehui felt as if there were power compressing her body from all sides. The oncoming golden fist constantly expanded in her field of view as if it were a giant dragon hurtling toward her.


    She took a deep breath with all her might, and she drew back her body slightly before thrusting both of her hands toward Tang Wulin''s fist at once.

 Chapter 1055: Arrival of the Demon

    In the instant that the two clashed, Tang Wulin was immediately struck by the same vortex suction force as before.


    He possessed insane strength and offensive prowess, but in the face of Yuanen Yehui''s strange vortex-like power, he felt as if his fist had struck a swamp. His power was diverted elsewhere by her, and at the same time, it was being used to contribute to the suction force that was acting on him.


    This was a very terrible feeling, as if he were pulling himself forward, and his body was being wrenched forward in an uncontrollable manner. Furthermore, the more force that he exerted, the stronger this feeling became.


    Yuanen Yehui let loose a muffled groan. Even though she had drawn upon Tang Wulin''s strength, it was too much for her to handle, and the extremely fearsome explosive nature of his strength had dealt her quite a heavy blow. She only managed to prevent herself from being forced backward by channeling the immense power of her Devil Titan body, and as she diverted Tang Wulin past her, she stomped a foot toward his knee.


    Following the previous clash, she immediately recalled Tang Wulin''s torso bone, so she was now making an active effort to not attack his torso.


    One''s joints were always the most vulnerable parts of their bodies, and that applied even for someone with a physical constitution as powerful as Tang Wulin''s.


    Tang Wulin bent his knee before raising his leg backward to evade Yuanen Yehui''s attack, and at the same time, he bent his other leg to sit downward, trying to use his own immense strength to drag his body backward.


    The Divine Cloudvortex Fists was indeed an extremely profound ability, but Yuanen Yehui could still only control Tang Wulin for an instant.


    Yuanen Yehui quickly released Tang Wulin''s arm, which had been drawn in by her vortex suction force, and her body appeared beside him in an instant before she unleashed another punch.


    In order to control his own body and evade her attack, Tang Wulin''s body was currently contorted in a rather strange position. As such, Yuanen Yehui had completely seized the initiative, and her punch was aimed directly at his center of gravity.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s exemplary bodily control and immense strength really shone through. The big toe of his right foot exerted force into the ground, and he was able to propel his own body to the side with nothing more than the strength of a single toe.


    Yuanen Yehui''s eyes lit up, and she immediately unleashed her sixth soul skill without any hesitation.


    She knew Tang Wulin extremely well, and she was aware that she was only able to completely control the battle as Tang Wulin was holding back and trying to test out her abilities.


    However, this was the battlefield, and she had to take advantage of everything that could help her win; this was a lesson that they''d learned over and over again on the demonic island. As such, she chose to strike at this opportunity without any hesitation as she knew that she most likely wouldn''t get a better chance than this one.


    Titan Grip!


    Tang Wulin felt an immense burst of power surge toward him, and he was unable to struggle free from it even with his extraordinary strength. Immense terrifying force compressed his body and forcibly dragged him toward Yuanen Yehui.


    Her knee slammed straight into his lower abdomen, and the feeling was like being struck head-on by a soul train.


    At the same time, she slammed both of her fists viciously into his back, sending him crashing to the ground.


    These two heavy blows had arrived far too abruptly, and despite his extraordinary defensive prowess, even Tang Wulin couldn''t help but let loose a muffled groan. After all, Yuanen Yehui was definitely one of the elite of the elite when it came to assault system battle Soul Masters!


    However, at the same time, Tang Wulin instantly made a series of minute adjustments to his own body.


    In the instant that Yuanen Yehui''s knee struck his lower abdomen, he unleashed his Mountain Dragon King torso bone gravitational control, and in that instant, Tang Wulin''s body instantly plummeted downward, making Yuanen Yehui unable to completely unleash the power of her attack.


    When her fist came crashing down toward his back, Tang Wulin reversed his gravitational control, making his body lighter and also nullifying part of Yuanen Yehui''s power, thereby dampening the impact of her fists.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar!


    A thunderous dragon''s roar erupted as a gigantic dragon head appeared, and this powerful control soul skill was released to great effect.


    Yuanen Yehui was struck by the shockwaves from his Golden Dragon Roar at close quarters, and her body faltered while her Titan Grip also loosened slightly.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tang Wulin forcibly repressed the churning blood essence within his own body before slamming his hands into the ground to unleash the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!


    Who said the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth could only be unleashed with his feet?


    Powerful shockwaves erupted forth while eight golden dragons emerged from the ground, hurtling directly toward Yuanen Yehui''s body and her Titan Grip.


    However, unbeknownst to Tang Wulin, a peculiar smile had appeared on Yuanen Yehui''s face.


    Her body suddenly vanished without any premonition, following which an inky black gate of light appeared in mid-air.


    The eight golden dragons struck empty air, and the Titan Grip also vanished.


    However, just as Tang Wulin was about to spring to his feet, a burst of dark purple light suddenly erupted from the black gate.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by a lonely and cold feeling in his spiritual world, as if his soul had been frozen solid.


    A massive eye appeared within the gate of light, and Tang Wulin was instantly immobilized. Even his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth had vanished, and a dark purple color had appeared all over his entire body.


    Right at this moment, a fist extended out of the gate of light before crashing heavily into his body.


    As soon as that fist appeared, halos of dark purple light appeared all over the entire competition platform before converging toward the massive fist like a vortex.


    The fist was very strange in appearance; it only had four fingers, each of which was tipped by a sharp claw, and there were also countless fine saw-blade-like scales all over the fist. The arm wasn''t overly muscular and imposing; in fact, it could even be referred to as rather thin, but in the instant that the punch was unleashed, the entire competition platform suddenly dimmed, and Tang Wulin was struck by a powerful sense of asphyxiation alongside his spiritual congealment.


    In that instant, he even briefly lost his ability to think.


    In that critical situation, his body displayed an emergency response.


    A massive flower appeared soundlessly behind him, and on the flower stood a man. The man gently waved a hand, and a series of halos appeared on Tang Wulin''s body.


    Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    His Beautiful Silk Tulip soul spirit had unleashed this soul skill of its own accord after sensing that Tang Wulin was facing life-threatening peril. At the same time, a faint fragrance surged forth from the massive flower, causing the oncoming fist to falter slightly.


    At the same time, the dragon core and soul core within Tang Wulin''s body both began to pulse violently, and a series of blood vessels bulged beneath his skin, but the fist still struck his body.


    A peculiar scene then unfolded; as opposed to being sent flying by the fist, Tang Wulin''s body was immobilized in mid-air, following which all of the purple vortex-like light exploded upon his body.


    It could be clearly seen that cracks were appearing on his Dragon Moon battle armor from his chest, and these cracks were spreading toward the rest of his body, making it appear as if his body could be destroyed at any moment.


    Intense pain spread through his entire body along with a frosty sensation, but it also awakened him from his spiritual congealment. He bit down on the tip of his tongue, and his pupils immediately turned vertical.


    He forcibly ignored the agony spearing through his body as he used his Devouring Heaven and Earth to fuse a portion of the surrounding darkness elements into his own body as energy. His body then abruptly shuddered as his fifth golden bloodline soul ring lit up.


    "Boom!"


    Violent shockwaves instantly appeared, and Tang Wulin''s cracked Dragon Moon battle armor instantly exploded into countless streaks of light. The shattered fragments of his battle armor then formed a destructive storm of shrapnel that instantly struck the fist in front of him while also destroying the gate of light up ahead.

 Chapter 1056: Xie Xie Seeing Something That He Shouldnt See Again...

    The golden storm had appeared far too abruptly, and it felt as if it were about to shred the entire space. The competition platform tremored violently, and to all of the spectators, it looked as if the space were about to collapse. It was undoubtedly the case that this attack was already extremely close to the full-power attack of a three-word battle armor master.


    Tang Wulin''s lean and muscular upper body was revealed, and it was covered entirely in golden scales. The violent beating of his dragon core was clearly audible even to the spectators, and the immense blood essence fluctuations emanating from his body were truly astonishing.


    It was over!


    That''s right, Yuanen Yehui never reappeared; she simply vanished along with that gate of light. However, Tang Wulin wasn''t exactly in a fantastic situation, either. There were many cracks running through the scales over his body, and those cracks were quite harrowing to behold. In the aftermath of that massive explosion, his body was quickly covered in blood, all of which was his own blood!


    He was panting heavily, and in that instant, almost all of his energy had been sapped away.


    Yuanen Yehui really had put up a very good fight!


    At this moment, his eyes were filled with astonishment and excitement. Never did he think that Yuanen Yehui would''ve already developed to such a degree. He was still trying to test her out, yet she had unleashed extremely fearsome offensive prowess to almost kill him on the spot.


    Even with his suit of two-word battle armor and his insanely powerful physical constitution, he was almost unable to withstand the attack. In the end, he had to sacrifice his suit of battle armor, as well as all of his soul power and bloodline power to unleash his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion before he was finally able to turn the tables.


    Even so, that powerful punch had left an extremely profound impression on him. This was the first time that he had been reduced to such a sorry state throughout the course of the entire competition.


    Despite the fact that Ye Xinglan had attained a sword soul, Yuanen Yehui''s current power level was most definitely well above hers. Furthermore, only now was Tang Wulin made aware of the fact that Yuanen Yehui''s main martial soul was actually her Fallen Angel, as opposed to her Titan Giant Ape.


    The main reason why that had been such a close battle was because he had been too conservative and held back his power, but this was still sufficient testament to the fact that Yuanen Yehui had attained an extremely high level of combat prowess; how could Tang Wulin not be excited to see that his friends had become so powerful?


    ¡­¡­


    "Phew!" Yue Zhengyu exhaled as he appraised the bruised and battered Tang Wulin on the screen. He slowly rose to his feet, and there was an extremely determined look in his eyes.


    "Xiaoyan, I''m going to begin the second stage of the holy cleansing ceremony."


    ¡­¡­


    Ye Xinglan was staring at the soul screen before her with an intense gaze, and there was powerful battle intent and excitement in her eyes. A series of cracks had appeared in the space around her, and these cracks had been inflicted by her invisible sword qi.


    ¡­¡­


    Xie Xie was pounding on the door to Yuanen Yehui''s room with all his might, but there was no sound coming from inside.


    Due to her exceptional performance in the competition, Yuanen Yehui had been awarded her very own Star Cabin, so she was able to compete in her own room. However, one had to strip down naked before entering the Star Cabin to access the Star Battle Net, so she refused to let Xie Xie wait for her in her room no matter what he said.


    Xie Xie had just seen the result of that match, and he was the one who knew Yuanen Yehui''s abilities the best, so his heart was filled with concern.


    Sure enough, there was no sound coming from the room; something had to have happened to her!


    Light flashed, and Xie Xie''s Light Dragon Dagger instantly appeared in his hand. He sliced through the lock on the door before barging into the room like the wind, only to be completely rooted to the spot in the next instant.


    The Star Cabin had only just opened, and Yuanen Yehui was in the process of emerging from it in a completely nude state.


    Their eyes met, and an expression of humiliation and fury appeared on Yuanen Yehui''s face. "You''re dead..."


    Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes fell shut, and she completely blacked out.


    Xie Xie rushed forward and hurriedly caught her. There were no impure intentions in his heart whatsoever, but what he WAS feeling was a sense of grief.


    I really didn''t do this on purpose!


    ¡­¡­


    Golden Dragon King had progressed to the final four after what had been an extremely close battle! What kind of ability had he unleashed at the end? Was it an ability that his battle armor possessed?


    Even though he had made it into the final four, his odds dropped instead of going up, decreasing to 1:3.


    Golden Dragon King wasn''t devoid of weaknesses, after all, and Herculean King had been defeated under inexplicable circumstances.


    What kind of ability had Herculean King unleashed at the end? Could it be possible that he was an Evil Soul Master?


    All types of news reports were being released following the conclusion of this match, and both Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui had become the focus of widespread attention.


    Thus, Tang Wulin became the only member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters to enter the final four.


    Now that the final four participants had been decided, the final matchups were also released by the federation. Tang Wulin''s opponent in the semifinal was none other than Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi, who had defeated Ye Xinglan. He was a powerful being who had attained an extremely powerful saber soul.


    After carefully reflecting on his battle against Yuanen Yehui, Tang Wulin deduced that Yuanen Yehui had to have invented a set of fist techniques of her own, and had grasped the true meaning of fist intent to an extremely profound degree. She was able to perfectly integrate her fist techniques with her two martial souls, and only then had she been able to make such a massive improvement.


    This was her path as a Soul Master, and it was undoubtedly the case that Yuanen had identified her path better than he had.


    Fury of the Masses was something that had been taught to him by Old Tang, and it was immensely power, even more so than Yuanen Yehui''s Divine Cloudvortex Fists, but it didn''t belong to Tang Wulin, so mastering it hadn''t contributed much to his personal improvement.


    Tang Wulin''s powers had risen so significantly mainly due to the formation of his two major energy cores, as well as the enhancements brought to him by his seed of nature. This gave him far greater aptitude than his friends, but in terms of understanding one''s abilities, he had fallen behind.


    At the very least, Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui were both superior to him in this respect as one had attained a sword soul while the other had invented her own Divine Cloudvortex Fists.


    Both of them had found their own correct paths that they could pursue for life, but what about him?


    Could it be that he was destined to forever live in the shadow of the Golden Dragon King, using the energy from the Golden Dragon King to progressively elevate himself?


    The problem with this was that none of the abilities taught to him by Old Tang and given to him by the Golden Dragon King''s essence truly belonged to him!


    Tang Wulin decided there and then that he had to find his own path.


    He had a higher starting point than his friends, but it was exactly because of this that it was even more difficult for him to find his own path.


    Prior to facing Yuanen Yehui, the thought hadn''t even ever occurred to him. He simply had extraordinary aptitude, and over time, he unconsciously developed a sense of overreliance on his own talent. He hadn''t exactly done anything wrong. At the very least, he was invincible among all Soul Masters of his caliber, but what about in the future?


    His future pursuit was to rise to the pinnacle of this entire world, and in order to do that, he had to find his own path. If he couldn''t do that, then he would never be able to rise to the top.


    What is my path?


    Tang Wulin pondered the issue for an entire night, but was still drawing complete blanks in the morning. He knew that this wasn''t something that he could figure out just by mulling over the issue; it required a certain element of luck.


    He adjusted his mental state very quickly, and he realized that right now, what was most important to him was to collate all of his current abilities. He could rely on his blood soul fusion skills to stand at the pinnacle of his current level for now, but after collating all of his skills, he would be able to create an even stronger foundation.


    After determining the future route that he was going to take in his cultivation, he didn''t ponder this issue any longer and quickly entered a meditative state. He had to fight in the quarterfinals of the mecha battle competition in about 10 hours, and compared to Soul Master battles, this was undoubtedly going to be an even greater challenge for him.


    ¡­¡­


    "What do you think?" Blood Two turned to appraise his son, who was standing beside him.


    Blood Nine''s brows were tightly furrowed. "If I''m not mistaken, Wulin most likely knew his opponent. I''ve seen his previous matches, and he''s completely underperformed today."


    Blood Two nodded before asking, "What did you think of that final attack?"


    Blood Nine immediately replied, "That definitely wasn''t an ability of his battle armor; no one would give their battle armor a self-detonation ability. Even if they did, the ability wouldn''t be this powerful. That attack was comparable in power to the full-force attack of a Titled Douluo level three-word battle armor master; it was extremely powerful, but it''s quite obvious that it also expended a vast amount of energy to unleash."


    He paused here before a peculiar look appeared on his face. "I really hate to admit it, but it''s starting to feel more and more like he''s getting closer to me."

 Chapter 1057: Metal Master

    Blood Two took a glance at him. "Are you feeling less confident?"


    Blood Nine chuckled, "No, there''s still an absolute power gap between us, after all. I lost to him on that day because I underestimated him, and I didn''t even manage to use 30% of my power. At the end of the day, I am the true Blood Nine! After this competition, I''m definitely going to reclaim my title."


    Blood Two said, "Having confidence is a good thing, but don''t ever underestimate your opponent. Even if you can reclaim your title, will you be able to defend it?"


    Blood Nine fell silent upon hearing this. Tang Wulin was simply improving far too quickly. If he continued to improve at this rate, then it wouldn''t take long before their powers would be on par with one another.


    Blood Two suddenly smiled. He was always very serious, and it was very rare to see him smile like this. "You''re not the only one who has to worry; all of us have to worry about our current positions. However, this is a good thing for the Blood God Battalion and the Blood God Legion."


    Blood Nine raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. He already thought that he had a very high opinion of Tang Wulin, but it appeared that his father held Tang Wulin in even higher regard.


    ¡­¡­


    Jiang Wuyue sat in the cafe of the resting area with a dazed expression on his face, silently drinking a cup of coffee. His mood was just as bitter as the coffee that he was drinking.


    Long Yuxue really did have a sharp discerning eye! Who would''ve thought that Tang Wulin would be so powerful?


    During the same competition, he didn''t even make into the finals, yet Tang Wulin was constantly forging ahead, and he was now part of the final four.


    This meant that he was among the top four most powerful battle armor masters below the three-word battle armor master level. With his aptitude, if he could become a three-word battle armor master, then he would most definitely stand among the most powerful beings of the Soul Master world.


    His aptitude was far inferior compared to Tang Wulin''s, so how could Long Yuxue possibly consider him?


    "Why are you here?" A familiar voice that tugged on his heartstrings suddenly sounded.


    "Huh?" Jiang Wuyue raised his head to find that Long Yuxue had arrived before him. His lips twitched, and he replied, "Why CAN''T I be here?"


    As soon as he uttered those words, he was struck by the urge to give himself a vicious slap.


    To his surprise, Long Yuxue didn''t insult him. Instead she sat down across from him, and Jiang Wuyue was surprised to find that compared to her frail state a few days ago, she appeared to have completely returned to her normal self.


    "Yuxue, you..."


    Long Yuxue asked in a calm voice, "Do you want to ask me why I suddenly look completely fine now?"


    Jiang Wuyue nodded in a slightly slack-jawed manner.


    Long Yuxue continued, "It''s because I''m a soldier."


    "Huh?" Jiang Wuyue was confused. What did that have to do with anything?


    Long Yuxue continued, "Men aren''t the only things for me to live for in this world. This is going to be a wonderful memory of mine for me to reflect on in years to come, but it''s not going to weigh me down for my entire life. If there''s no way for my feelings to amount to anything, then I''ll just have to let it go. Otherwise, I''ll only be making things awkward for everyone. I do like him, but his heart is with someone else; I can''t steal his heart, so I''ll just have to be content with being his friend."


    Jiang Wuyue was rather skeptical and concerned. "Yuxue, are, are you alright? You haven''t been traumatized by this and fallen in love with women, have you?"


    "Piss off!"


    ¡­¡­


    This is it!


    Tang Wulin chose his mecha, and as he did so, he was still reflecting on the battle from the day before.


    The biggest mistake he''d made during his battle against Yuanen Yehui was that he had allowed himself to completely lose the initiative. He was too complacent for too long, and that had almost resulted in his downfall.


    If it weren''t for the fact that he possessed sufficiently powerful defensive prowess, as well as an ultra-powerful explosive ability like his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion, he would''ve already been eliminated from the competition.


    This was going to be another quarterfinal, but it was only going to be more difficult as this was a mecha battle. He had only one objective; to become the final champion!


    He held his spear and slowly walked onto the competition platform. The clanking noises made by his mecha were immediately drowned out by the cheers from the spectator.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He had to win!


    His opponent had also appeared on the competition platform, and this was also a melee combat mecha wielding a sword, looking as ordinary as ordinary could be. However, his heart stirred slightly as he caught sight of the number "255" above his opponent''s head.


    It was him!


    He had done some research on all of his potential opponents, and it was undoubtedly the case that he was not one of the hot favorites to become the final mecha battle champion. In contrast, his opponent was most definitely one of the hot favorites. He wasn''t the biggest favorite, but he was definitely among the top three favorites.


    Just as Tang Wulin had the nickname of Spear King, he also had a nickname, which was Metal Master, and his ability was metal elemental manipulation.


    Aside from the fact that he was a Soul Master and a mecha pilot, he was also a mecha maker of at least the seventh rank.


    Even though mecha making was easier than forging in the later stages, it was certainly far from simple to reach his level. Seventh-rank mecha makers could already easily make black mechas, and it was even speculated that this Metal Master was at least an eighth-rank mecha maker, which would be even more extraordinary.


    If he were facing Tang Wulin in a Soul Master battle, Tang Wulin would be able to brush him aside with ease. However, his metal elemental martial soul used in conjunction with a mecha resulted in a qualitative change.


    "This is a matchup between Spear King and Metal Master; who do you think will come out on top, Little Lin?" Commentator Hai Shu asked.


    "I don''t think I need to air my opinion on this one. I''m sure the vast majority of people share the same opinion as me; Metal Master has a huge advantage over everyone else in the mecha battle segment of this Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition. His martial soul is far more useful in mecha battles than any other participant¡¯s martial soul; Spear King is indeed very powerful, but he''ll most likely struggle against an opponent like this. If both of them were using the mechas they''d be most comfortable using in real life, then perhaps this would be a more even match, but under the current circumstances, Metal Master is the clear favorite."


    Hai Shu sighed, "Indeed! In the face of Metal Master''s abilities, Spear King can only try to defeat him in an explosive burst before he gets to complete the modifications on his mecha. Otherwise, the match would be as good as over. Alright, the match is now about to begin, let''s see who''s going to come out on top in the end. Perhaps Spear King will be capable of pulling off a miracle."


    On the competition platform, Tang Wulin appraised his opponent from afar as he slowly raised his spear.


    Metal Master, eh?


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    As soon as the countdown concluded, Tang Wulin instantly sprang into action. He hurled his spear toward Metal Master without any hesitation, and at the same time, he activated his own mecha''s propeller, sending him hurtling toward his opponent like the wind.


    Metal Master had also activated his mecha''s propeller, but as opposed to advancing, he was retreating to open up more space between them.


    Tang Wulin''s spear was flying through the air extremely quickly, but there were several hundred meters between them, so it would naturally still take some time for the spear to reach his opponent.


    As the Metal Master began to flee, the first modifications that were made were on his mecha''s backside and shoulders. The metal on those regions was quickly melting, and at the same time, their internal structures were rapidly changing.


    During this process, Tang Wulin could clearly see that a series of circuits were taking shape before the metal on the outside closed again.


    Those were clearly soul propellers that were being created!


    That''s right, this Metal Master''s forte lay in his ability to modify his own mecha during battle.

 Chapter 1058: Superior Tactics Reign Supreme

    During one of his past battles, he had even managed to modify this generic mecha to such an extent that it attained the offensive and defensive prowess of a black mecha.


    This was a mecha battle where Soul Masters weren''t allowed to just abandon their mechas to fight on their own, so how could a generic mecha possibly be able to oppose a black mecha?


    Virtually all of his opponents had chosen to unleash all of their power in explosive bursts to take him down before he could modify his mecha, but no one had succeeded yet.


    Tang Wulin''s spear fell onto the ground, but it missed Metal Master in the end. After quickly completing the propellers, Metal Master''s mecha was able to fly away at an even faster speed. All he had to do now was keep his distance until he completed his mecha modifications, then turn around and defeat Tang Wulin.


    The moment that his propellers were completed was the moment where the two of them were closest to one another; there were only around 150 meters between them.


    Tang Wulin rapidly rushed toward him, but he was simply far too fast to be caught. There was now a fundamental difference in the calibers of their mechas. No matter how powerful Tang Wulin''s martial soul was, he couldn''t accelerate to his heart''s content as his generic mecha would fall apart from the excessive strain.


    This was an insurmountable limiting factor that was dictated by the quality of his generic mecha.


    Just as everyone thought that this match was going to progress in the way that the two commentators had predicted, Tang Wulin suddenly made his move.


    His melee combat mecha abruptly sprang up into the air, using its flying ability to hover in mid-air. Immediately thereafter, countless Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from the gaps on the mecha, and these vines extended toward all directions like feelers. Each and every vine was over 50 meters in length, thereby allowing him to control everything within a diameter of over 100 meters.


    The competition platforms for the mecha battles of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition were very large, but the space on them was still not unlimited. With the addition of his Bluesilver Emperor vines, he was able to drastically increase his control range. Even though his speed was inferior to that of his opponent, he could use this increased control range to try and corner his opponent.


    Sure enough, Metal Master was having a harder time evading Tang Wulin while completing his modifications. As such, he could only create another propeller to improve the speed and agility of his mecha. At the same time, he began to modify the main core of the mecha.


    If he could complete the modification of the mecha''s core, then the degree of compression of the energy provided to the mecha would become completely different, thereby giving his mecha an absolute advantage, with which he could crush Tang Wulin.


    This Mecha Master was also a seven-ring Soul Sage himself, and he had absolute confidence in his ability to secure victory in this match.


    His mecha continued to flash over the competition platform at an incredible speed. Tang Wulin''s control range had increased, but he was still unable to chase down his opponent no matter what he tried.


    Metal Master sat within his mecha with a metallic sheen emanating from his entire body. He was constantly modifying his mecha, and he already had a triumphant smile on his face.


    His mecha was about to reach the purple level very soon, yet he wasn''t in a hurry to end this. He was going to modify it to the black level before crushing his opponent like an ant, not giving him any opportunities at all.


    This Spear King was nothing more than a joke to him.


    Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, he rushed past Tang Wulin''s spear without realizing it while fleeing from Tang Wulin''s mecha.


    Right at this moment, a burst of golden light suddenly erupted from the spear before winding itself around his mecha''s legs like lightning. Meanwhile, the other end of the golden light was wound around the spear, which was embedded extremely deep into the ground.


    A flying mecha with its legs bound was like a car that had just had its brakes stomped on, and it instantly spiraled out of control.


    Metal Master was extremely alarmed by this sudden development, and he hurriedly tried to control his mecha, but it was already too late!


    A vast expanse of Bluesilver Emperor vines suddenly erupted from the ground without any premonition, transforming into a series of sharp spikes that punctured his mecha. More Bluesilver Emperor vines then appeared to bind the mecha firmly onto the ground.


    Under the control of Metal Master, the mecha instantly began to liquefy in an attempt to escape, but at this point, Tang Wulin had already arrived on the scene.


    He stomped a foot heavily into the ground, following which a layer of yellow light erupted from his mecha.


    This was his gravitational control!


    Not only that, but all of the Bluesilver Emperor vines on the ground began to churn violently, slicing the liquefied metal into one portion after another.


    A long spear descended from above, unleashing a torrential storm of spear projections that inflicted a series of marks onto the ground. The liquefied metal had no chance to escape before it was forcibly sliced into countless portions.


    There was no way for Tang Wulin to defeat this opponent? What a joke! Tang Wulin had devised a strategy for himself as soon as he discovered that his opponent was Metal Master.


    Metal Master''s forte lay in his metal control and mecha making skills. It was indeed true that he was no match for his opponent when it came to mechas, but don''t forget that he was also a control system battle Soul Master!


    Liquifying metal was one of Metal Master''s trump cards, and even outside of mecha battles, this signature ability of his made him a very difficult opponent to face as there were no almost no attacks that held an advantage over him unless they were of ultra-high temperatures.


    However, this was a mecha battle, and Metal Master''s mecha had already been split into countless pieces, so there was only one verdict that could be reached.


    "The victory goes to Number 66!"


    Metal Master was trying to gather his liquefied metal with all his might, but the electronic voice had already announced his defeat.


    The MVP of the match, Goldsong, disappeared into Tang Wulin''s mecha as a streak of golden light, and the Bluesilver Emperor vines were withdrawn. Only now did the liquefied metal returned to its original mecha form. No matter how unwilling Metal Master was to accept his defeat, he had lost this match!


    The two commentators were struggling to pick their jaws back up from the ground as they looked on in astonishment.


    "It''s over? He lost? Metal Master lost? My God! How is that possible?"


    "Why was Number 66''s spear able to unleash a soul skill? I think that was a snake type soul spirit, but that soul spirit was capable of unleashing more than one of his soul skills, which means that it has to at least be of the 10,000-year-old level!"


    "Indeed! No soul spirit could possess such a high level of intelligence unless they''re over 10,000 years old."


    Little did they know that what they were currently praising was the defective soul spirit that Tang Wulin had purchased from the Spirit Pagoda as a small child!


    So Metal Master could be countered like this! Even though he wasn''t actually killed, this was enough to defeat him in a mecha battle.


    No one was optimistic about Spear King''s chances, but he had defeated Metal Master with his special tactics and ultra-powerful soul spirit and made it into the final four.


    Metal Master was extremely frustrated, but this battle also made him realize that he''d never truly paid enough attention to soul spirits. Soul spirits that were powerful could play pivotal roles in battles, and Spear King''s hidden soul spirit had had a decisive effect during that battle.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t all that excited after defeating Metal Master. In his eyes, Metal Master had some good abilities, but he was still not as powerful as a top-tier mecha pilot like Ling Wuyue. His abilities mainly lay in mecha modification; if both sides were already using black mechas, then he''d be nowhere near as threatening an opponent.


    In a way, his ability was kind of a gimmick that only allowed him to do well in this rigid competition format. Of course, Tang Wulin wasn''t denying the fact that his opponent definitely possessed superb mecha making skills and was a very rare talent.


    In comparison, Tang Wulin preferred to face mecha pilots with superb handling skills as he could learn and improve more from those battles. He had won this match through superior tactics, and he was now a semifinalist of the mecha battle discipline as well!

 Chapter 1059: The One He was Thinking About

    What kind of powerful opponents would he encounter in the next two rounds? In the mecha battle discipline, he didn''t have any advantage when it came to mecha piloting skills, but the advantage that he did have lay in his three soul spirits.


    Generally speaking, it would be very remarkable for a Soul Master with even one soul spirit of the same caliber as his soul spirits, but he was able to attain three through the nurturing effect of his Golden Dragon King bloodline, as well as some luck. The three soul spirits already enhanced him greatly during his Soul Master battles, but their effects were even more prominent in mecha battles. His Tyrant Dragon soul spirit still hadn''t made an appearance yet, and his Beautiful Silk Tulip''s Devouring Heaven and Earth was able to drastically enhance his powers for a short time.


    Not only was Tang Wulin hoping to emerge as the final champion, he was also hoping to encounter more powerful opponents. Only through battling more powerful beings could he continue to better himself.


    After emerging from his Star Cabin, he continued to cultivate in his room. For some reason, he hadn''t felt like drinking coffee ever since that day when he''d drawn that portrait of Gu Yue.


    He was trying his best not to think about the mysteries surrounding Gu Yue, Na''er, and Gu Yuena, but those thoughts were still constantly appearing in his mind.


    Gu Yuena was still in a state of amnesia, so he couldn''t ask her anything, yet the urge to get to the bottom of this mystery had become even more irrepressible ever since he had drawn that portrait of Gu Yue at Long Yuxue''s request.


    What was the reason behind all this? Ever since Gu Yue had appeared in his life for the very first time, she had always been a mystery to him. He had constantly been telling himself not to pry into her secrets, but as their relationship deepened, how could he not be curious about her?


    He was feeling a little lost and frustrated by these thoughts. His room was actually situated within the mountain, but it was at the very edge, so he still had a window, through which he could see the spectacular scenery of the steep snowy mountains outside.


    He made his way over to his bedside before opening the window to let some cold air blow into his room, washing over his body, as well as his heart. The cold air calmed him down a little, and he was feeling a lot better as a result.


    Gu Yue, I can''t be so selfish. You are still you, and after the competition, I''m going to do everything in my power to help you recover your memories. Even if you leave me after that,I still want you to be yourself. I also want you to explain everything to me.


    He had endured too many trials and tribulations throughout his life, and as a result, his mental fortitude was far more resolute than that of the average person. However, at the same time, he had an extremely heavy burden on his shoulders, and he could only relax when he was with his friends or Gu Yue.


    He really missed his days back in the academy. Whenever he thought of the academy now, his heart would throb with pain.


    He exhaled for a long time, as if he were trying to expel all of his frustrations and negative emotions. He had to keep forging ahead no matter what. Gu Yue had told him before that the problems she was facing couldn''t be resolved by him. She clearly loved him, but these issues were forcing her to distance herself from him, and there was only one possibility behind all this, which was that her enemies had to be extremely powerful.


    Could it be the Spirit Pagoda? Indeed, in the face of the Spirit Pagoda, he was extremely insignificant, but he still had to face this super organization at some point. So what if he had to stand against the entire Spirit Pagoda?


    Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had both been bombed; why was the Spirit Pagoda headquarters spared despite how close it was situated to Shrek City? Tang Wulin had harbored doubts about the Spirit Pagoda for a long time already. If he wanted to rebuild Shrek Academy in the future, then he''d inevitably have to face the issue of clashing with the Spirit Pagoda. The Spirit Pagoda definitely wouldn''t want to see the revival of Shrek Academy, and neither would the federation. It was very unlikely that the federation would support the rebuild of Shrek Academy, so he had to face all of these opposing forces.


    As such, what he required was more power and his own forces.


    Whenever he was faced with hardships, he would always habitually tell himself that these hardships only existed because he wasn''t powerful enough!


    He reflexively clenched his fists. With every improvement he made, he was gradually climbing toward the pinnacle of the Soul Master world. He was becoming more and more powerful, and he was the future hope for Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, and even more so, himself! He had to keep working hard and forging ahead!


    The recent atmosphere in the Blood God Legion had been a little peculiar; there was an extra sense of excitement in the air.


    Jiang Wuyue had recently spread the word that Golden Dragon King was a good friend of his, revealing him to be the new Blood Nine of the Blood God Battalion, and this news had been the hot topic on everyone''s lips in the legion.


    Even in the Blood God Legion, where the average military rank was quite high, such a young major general was completely unheard of, and it would certainly also be unprecedented elsewhere.


    Golden Dragon King had already progressed to the final four of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition! This meant that he was the most powerful Soul Master in the legion below the three-word battle armor master level.


    The cafe was getting more and more customers as many people had heard that Tang Wulin had a habit of going there for a daily coffee. As a result, black coffee sales in the cafe had increased by almost tenfold during this recent period of time, and this was perhaps due to the fact that everyone had developed a subconscious notion that drinking black coffee could help them in their cultivation.


    In reality, drinking black coffee could indeed make one more alert, and it also had a placebo effect as well in this case, so it really did result in some breakthroughs for people.


    However, Tang Wulin hadn''t appeared at the cafe during the past few days, much to the disappointment of many of the military officials who visited the cafe to catch a glimpse of the brightest young talent in the legion. However, all types of information about Tang Wulin, including his past competition footage, had spread throughout the entire legion.


    On top of that, one piece of news had also begun to circulate within the region; it was said that the life tide that had immensely benefited everyone in the Blood God Legion had been brought about by one of Tang Wulin''s breakthroughs. The Blood God Battalion was still conducting research on the specific details, but the legion commander and all of the other higher-ups of the legion had already confirmed the authenticity of this news.


    Thus, even though Tang Wulin rarely appeared before the public eye, he had become an extremely popular figure in the legion.


    After Ling Wuyue was eliminated in the last round of mecha battles, she had unintentionally revealed the fact that Tang Wulin was Spear King, and that had driven everyone into a frenzy.


    He was most likely the only one who had reached the semifinals in both the mecha and Soul Master battles. After all, there were clear differences between all seven of the other people across the two disciplines. After carefully reviewing Golden Dragon King and Spear King''s weapons and battle techniques, everyone was even more convinced that this was true.


    Jiang Wuyue downed the glass of liquor before him in a single frustrated mouthful before turning to his sister. "Think about it, Qiyue; how long has that kid been in the legion for? Less than six months, right? How has he climbed up the ranks so quickly?"


    Jiang Qiyue couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "Are you envious?"


    Jiang Wuyue made no effort to hide his own emotions. "I''m not just envious; I almost hate him! Yuxue likes him, and he''s improving way too quickly! I thought I was more powerful than him back when he first joined the legion, but it''s only been a few months, and I have to look up to him now! We''re all humans; why is there such a massive disparity between us?" [*Cough* Humans *Cough*]


    Jiang Qiyue shrugged in response. "How would I know? Now that we''re on this topic, I''m actually really interested in him as well. You''re really close friends with him, aren''t you? Can you get me a date with him?"


    Jiang Wuyue rolled his eyes. "He already has a girlfriend, and he even rejected Yuxue; what chance would you have?"


    "Oi, are you really my brother? Am I that much worse than Yuxue in your eyes?" Jiang Qiyue wore an enraged expression as she placed her hands on her hips.


    Jiang Wuyue hurriedly put on a fawning smile. "Of course not! You and Yuxue are all equally as beautiful in your own ways, but you know what they say about people seeing those who they love through rose-tinted glasses and all that."


    Jiang Qiyue pursed her lips in displeasure. "Don''t try to feed me all of that nonsense! You''re so bad with your words, it''s no wonder that you can''t even get Yuxue to take a second look at you!"


    Jiang Wuyue heaved a resigned sigh. "I don''t know what''s wrong with me; whenever I''m with her, I become so much of a stuttering idiot that I even want to slap myself."


    Jiang Qiyue was very eager to hand in her job application. "I can fill the role of slapping you in your stead!"


    Jiang Wuyue immediately shooed her away. "By the way, how far do you think Wulin will progress in the competition?"


    Jiang Qiyue shrugged in response. "Is that important? He''s made it to the final four in both Soul Master and mecha battles, and that''s more than enough. It proves that he''s actually number one in terms of overall power. As for how the rest of the competition goes for him, does that really matter?"


    Jiang Wuyue replied, "That''s not the same thing. If he wins one more match, then he''ll at least be number two, and if he wins one more match, he''ll be the champion! History only remembers the champions; number four isn''t going to have anywhere near the same impact."


    Jiang Qiyue sighed, "Think about his upcoming opponents; do you think he can still keep advancing?"

 Chapter 1060: The Semifinals

    Jiang Wuyue faltered slightly as he pondered the situation with furrowed brows. "It does indeed seem like it''ll be quite difficult; the other semifinalists are not going to be easy opponents."


    Jiang Qiyue continued, "Hence, like I said, making it into the top four is already enough, and it doesn''t matter if he loses now. He''s become extremely popular, and those in the legion expressing outrage over the fact that he became a Blood God at such a young age are having to eat their words. I think we should be worrying about the former Blood Nine; I wonder if the Blood God Legion will make an extra Blood God berth based on Wulin''s exceptional performance."


    Jiang Wuyue said, "I still have some confidence in Wulin; that guy isn''t human! Did you know that even if he lets me beat him up, I''m the one who gets worn out in the end? I think he has a chance of becoming the final champion, especially in the Soul Master battle discipline."


    Jiang Qiyue countered, "You think so? The next opponent he''s going to face is a top-tier powerful being who has already attained a saber soul. He''s renowned across the entire federation as one of the trump cards of the Southern Legion, and it''s said that if it weren''t for his horrible personality and reputation, he would''ve become a three-word battle armor master long ago."


    Jiang Wuyue''s expression changed slightly. "Indeed, Wulin is going to have a very hard time against Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi. However, I think he still has chances. After all, he also has his spear intent."


    Jiang Qiyue pursed her lips. "How can intent compare with soul?"


    Jiang Wuyue harrumphed, "How about we make a bet, then?"


    Jiang Qiyue chuckled, "What are we betting?"


    Jiang Wuyue suggested, "You''ve always wanted a Blackspirit Shield for your mecha, right? If I lose, I''ll pay for the shield, but if I win, you have to convince Yuxue to accompany me for at least a meal, how about that? The subject of our bet is whether Wulin can defeat Sima Jinchi."


    Jiang Qiyue''s eyes immediately lit up. "Alright, I''ll take you up on that bet!"


    At this moment, Long Yuxue was sitting inside her dormitory looking, silently watching the soul screen hanging on her wall and waiting for the semifinals of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition to begin. Completely unbeknownst to her, she had just been sold out by her best friend.


    There was still half an hour until the commencement of the semifinals. Can he win?


    Long Yuxue was feeling rather nervous. She still harbored very complex emotions toward Tang Wulin. After coming back that day, she was lost and disoriented for a long time. She knew that she had absolutely zero chance with him, but she still couldn''t help but keep tabs on him, not because she still harbored any hope, but because at the very least, when she was focusing her attention on him, she could temporarily forget the pain in her heart.


    She had always revered power even as a little girl, and she had always imagined that her future man would stand at the pinnacle of the world someday. There was a time where she had developed some feelings for Jiang Wuyue. Jiang Wuyue was already quite exceptional among the younger generation, and he was very good to her, so how could she be unaware of his feelings?


    It was just that in her heart, Jiang Wuyue was indeed quite outstanding, but he was still missing that little something that would place him behind the true elites of the elites.


    And then, Tang Wulin came into her world.


    She could still remember seeing his smile for the first time, and only after she recognized her own feelings did she suddenly realize how naive she had once been.


    Love couldn''t be measured by power; it was a feeling, a spark that was suddenly ignited in one''s heart. Even if Tang Wulin hadn''t become as powerful as he currently was, she would still love him. True love allowed one to see past and disregard everything, and a life wasn''t complete unless one was to experience this type of love a few times.


    She wasn''t resentful toward Tang Wulin. After all, he had never hurt her, nor had he ever led her on with an ambiguous attitude. In fact, she was slightly grateful toward Tang Wulin as his appearance in her life had made her truly understand what love felt like.


    I''ll be rooting for you, Wulin! You''ll be able to defeat all of the opponents that come your way, no matter how powerful they are, right?


    In the dormitory rooms, in the resting area, in the bar, and in the cafe, all of the soul screens had been switched on, and every single one of them was broadcasting the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition.


    The upcoming match filled everyone with anticipation. It was going to be the first semifinal, the matchup between Golden Dragon King and Saber Demon!


    In the Blood God Battalion, Blood One was seated at the very center with all of the other Blood Gods sitting beside him, including the former Blood Nine. Even the vice-legion commanders were led here by the legion commander, Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun, to watch the match together with all of the Blood Gods.


    At this moment, there were over 15 Titled Douluo sitting in the hall of the Blood God Battalion, and two of them were four-word battle armor masters.


    There were definitely not more than four powers on the entire continent that could gather such an astonishingly powerful group of Soul Masters.


    Zhang Huanyun was sitting beside Blood One. "Do you think he can win, Old Man Cao? Didn''t you say that you assigned him the mission to become the champion? Is there a punishment if he fails to complete the mission?"


    Blood One replied calmly, "That was all just empty talk; how was I supposed to know what kind participants would appear in this competition?"


    "Hah?" Zhang Huanyun''s lips twitched as he exclaimed, "Aren''t you being a little too wilful here?"


    Blood One replied in an indifferent voice, "If I weren''t wilful, would I come to your sh*tty Blood God Legion to become Blood One?"


    Everyone immediately had to hold back laughter upon hearing this. No other person in the legion dared to speak to Zhang Huanyun like this!


    "Cao Dezhi!" Zhang Huanyun gritted his teeth, but a smile soon appeared on his face as he suggested, "How about we make an arrangement here? You see, all of the Blood God berths in your Blood God Battalion have already been filled, so he''s completely superfluous to your needs. In contrast, I need a successor who can truly bear the weight of the entire legion on their shoulders! If you give him to me, I''ll make sure to train him to the best of my abilities, and he''ll at least be able to carry the entire legion for the next century. On top of that, with his unique set of abilities, perhaps he''ll be able to completely eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane within the next century."


    Blood One poked a finger into his own ear and dug around a little. "What did you say? I couldn''t hear you clearly."


    "Just you wait!" Zhang Huanyun grumbled.


    Blood Two couldn''t help but interject, "Stop trying to take Wulin from us, Old Man Zhang; you think you''re the only one looking for a successor? Besides, Wulin''s destined to leave the Blood God Legion someday anyway."


    Zhang Huanyun''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. He was naturally already aware of Tang Wulin''s backstory.


    "That may not necessarily be true." The one who had spoken was Blood One.


    Zhang Huanyun''s eyes immediately lit up. "Oh? Are you saying you can keep him here? Your Tang Sect recommended him here; if you can keep him in the legion, I wouldn''t even mind if he stays in the Blood God Battalion!"


    The Blood God Battalion was a part of the Blood God Legion, so as long as Tang Wulin was willing to remain in the battalion, he would definitely be fighting for the legion in the future anyway.


    Cao Dezhi replied, "We''ll have to wait and see; everything will depend on how fast he can grow and develop. Huanyun, if we really eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane someday, what are you planning to do?"


    Zhang Huanyun faltered slightly upon hearing this. He had never even considered this notion as he didn''t think that he''d be able to resolve the issue of the abyssal plane in his lifetime.


    "I''ve never thought about this, but if it really does happen, then I''ll naturally go off on a journey to pursue those ethereal things."


    Even though he hadn''t yet reached the Limit Douluo level, he was only one step away. The reason why he held Tang Wulin in such high regard was because the life tide that had just taken place not long ago had finally opened up that door to him. All he needed now was to make sure he could take this final step without falling over.

 Chapter 1061: We Have Ourselves a Deal

    There was only one rank difference between 98 and 99, but at their level, even that one rank was like the difference between heaven and earth!


    Blood One turned to look at Zhang Huanyun. "If that day ever does come, I have a request."


    Zhang Huanyun asked, "What is it?"


    Blood One said with a serious expression, "I want the legion to stand with Wulin when he revives Shrek Academy."


    Zhang Huanyun faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You''re saying, you want the legion to help him rebuild the academy?"


    Cao Dezhi nodded in response. "Shrek Academy stood for over 20,000 years and developed countless bright talents for the federation and left behind countless legacies; how can it just be destroyed like this? As the current leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, Tang Wulin has a duty to revive the academy."


    Zhang Huanyun said in a grim voice, "But you should know that no matter how independent the Blood God Legion is, it''s still an entity that belongs to the military, and it was founded by Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Battle God Hall, and the Spirit Pagoda."


    Cao Dezhi nodded in response. "I''m naturally aware of that, but let me ask you this; do you think we''ll be able to eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane on our own?"


    Zhang Huanyun asked, "Are you saying that we''ll be able to do that with Tang Wulin''s inclusion?"


    A faint smile appeared on Blood One''s face. "At the very least, it''ll be possible. Hence, what I''m asking is, if he can really play a pivotal role in eradicating the threat of the abyssal plane, would the Blood God Legion be willing to stand with him?"


    Zhang Huanyun''s brows furrowed slightly. "I get what you''re saying, and in fact, at least half our legion would be willing to support your Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. However, we still have soldiers from the Spirit Pagoda and the Battle God Hall among us, and we can''t just neglect to consider them."


    Cao Dezhi said, "I''m not asking them to rebel against the federation; I only want them to stand with Tang Wulin and lend him their support. At the very least, they have to support him on a surface-level so Shrek Academy isn''t discriminated against during its rebuild process. Is that too much to ask?"


    Zhang Huanyun''s expression changed slightly. "No, that should be well within reason."


    Cao Dezhi continued in a calm voice, "The Blood God Legion needs a purpose. The purpose of our existence is to protect the continent, yet the Holy Spirit Cult is currently at the height of its arrogance, causing so many tragic disasters on the continent. If we can eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane, don''t you think they should become our new enemy?"


    Zhang Huanyun immediately replied without any hesitation, "Of course! If I could leave my post here, I would''ve joined the hunt against them long ago!"


    "Alright, then we have ourselves a deal." Cao Dezhi smiled and didn''t say anything further.


    In the Blood God Legion, he was undoubtedly a Tang Sect representative, and the highest-ranking Shrek Academy representative in the legion was Blood Three. However, among all of the troops in the legion, Shrek Academy representatives took up the largest proportion, and to a certain extent, Zhang Huanyun could represent the soldiers from the Battle God Hall. In terms of influence, no one in the legion could compare with Zhang Huanyun.


    The Blood God Legion was comprised of four major factions, but in reality, the legion was a unified unit, and everyone''s past allegiances gradually became less important over time.


    As Blood One, Cao Dezhi was well aware of the future tasks that Tang Wulin would have to face, which was why he was doing everything in his power to help lighten the load on his shoulders.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was definitely going to be the greatest enemy Tang Wulin was going to face in the future, and they were going to stoop to any lows required to kill him. If the Blood God Legion could help him oppose this enemy, at the very least, it would buy him a lot of time to rebuild Shrek Academy.


    "The match is about to begin," Blood One suddenly said.


    Everyone turned their attention to the large screen up ahead again. On the screen, the spectator stands were already completely filled. Everyone who owned Star Cabins and were willing to issue a large fee could watch the match "in person". The tickets were quite expensive, but they were still sold out very quickly. Compared to the other semifinal, this one was most likely going to be more exciting.


    This was a matchup between Saber Demon and Golden Dragon King, and it was very hard to say who was going to win. One of them had the second-highest odds, while the other had the third-highest odds, so a thrilling match was definitely on the cards.


    It was almost certain that the two of them were fighting for a chance to face the one with the highest odds in the final as the other semifinal was most likely just going to be a formality.


    Tang Wulin was sitting in his resting suite with his eyes closed. His Golden Dragon Spear was resting on his knees, and he was silently sensing this divine weapon that was virtually a part of his own body.


    No spear intent was emanating from his body whatsoever. In his mind, the Golden Dragon Spear had already become a part of his body, and a very integral part as well.


    He had reviewed the battle between Sima Jinchi and Ye Xinglan in great detail, and he''d watched their match footage more than once.


    Sima Jinchi''s weapon was the Dragonslaying Saber, so in a sense, that unique martial soul of his had an advantage over his martial soul. Of course, that was going to depend on whether his Dragonslaying Saber could rise above the Golden Dragon King. In this regard, Tang Wulin had a lot of confidence in himself.


    In terms of cultivation rank, Tang Wulin was definitely at a disadvantage. During his previous matches, Sima Jinchi had already proven himself to be an eight-ring Soul Douluo, yet Tang Wulin was currently only at rank 65 in soul power. Despite the fact that he possessed two major energy cores, there was a disparity between the two in terms of total soul power reserves.


    However, that wasn''t the most important factor setting the two of them apart; the most important differentiating factor was their understanding of their respective weapons. Sima Jinchi had already attained his own saber soul, which was extremely wild and violent. Ye Xinglan had only just attained her sword soul, so it was no surprise at all that she was defeated in the end.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin hadn''t even attained his own spear soul. At most, he could only say that he had achieved a good degree of mastery over his own spear intent. This was the true gap between them, and it was also why the vast majority of people were rather pessimistic about his chances in this match.


    Sima Jinchi''s combat prowess was simply far too powerful. He had once defeated an entire mecha corps on his own with ease without even releasing his suit of battle armor.


    A mecha corps consisted of 100 mechas, and this was an elite mecha corps with a black-grade mecha pilot as their commander. At the time, Sima Jinchi was only a seven-ring Soul Sage, yet he''d crushed his opponents without giving them even half a chance.


    From that epic tale alone, one could imagine just how powerful he was.


    However, Tang Wulin was still very confident in himself. If he could defeat his opponent, he would definitely be able to deepen his understanding of his Golden Dragon Spear, and that was an integral part of his cultivation.


    As such, he had already entered a state of complete immersion, immersing himself in his Golden Dragon Spear. The pressure of facing this powerful enemy was making him tap into his latent potential, and the more powerful his enemy was, the more powerful he would become, to the extent that he could even make breakthroughs during battle; this had almost become a set rule in his cultivation history.


    Only after the server came to knock on his door did he slowly rise to his feet, emerging from the resting suite with his Golden Dragon Spear in his hand. Faint golden light shimmered within his eyes, and in his heart, Old Tang''s figure appeared over and over again as he replayed Old Tang''s demonstration of Fury of the Masses in his mind.


    Deafening cheers erupted up ahead, and the electrifying atmosphere was enough to elevate anyone''s heart rate, but Tang Wulin remained largely unaffected. He had cut out all of the noise in the outside world, and he was in a state of complete tranquility. He was only focusing on the feeling of his bloodline power flowing through his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi had already emerged on the other side. His Dragonslaying Saber was clearly his martial soul, but he was already holding it in his hand and carrying it on his shoulder. As long as he didn''t release any of his soul rings, releasing his martial soul prior to the commencement of the match wasn''t against the rules.


    Sima Jinchi looked on as Tang Wulin strode forward on the other side of the competition venue, and an intense look appeared in his eyes.


    Is he the one? The leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and Zhengyu''s captain?


    Among all of the participants, he was most likely the only one who was aware of Tang Wulin''s identity aside from Tang Wulin''s friends.


    The Southern Legion was an extremely tight-knit unit under the control of the Holy Angel clan, and even the federation couldn''t influence it. Sima Jinchi was far from popular in the legion, but he was well trusted by the legion commander, so he knew some things that other people didn''t.


    This man was of a similar age to Yue Zhengyu, yet he was able to make it to this point, so he most definitely possessed extraordinary aptitude.


    Sima Jinchi had reviewed Tang Wulin''s past competition footage, and he was really fond of Tang Wulin''s explosive battle style. The multitude of explosive abilities that Tang Wulin possessed had left a very deep impression on him.


    In particular, the last attack that he had used to turn the tables and defeat Yuanen Yehui was insanely powerful!

 Chapter 1062: Blade of Justice

    The two of them appraised one another from afar, and palpable battle intent almost instantly erupted from their respective weapons.


    In Sima Jinchi''s eyes, Tang Wulin was like a resting giant dragon that could erupt into a violent frenzy at any moment, whereas in Tang Wulin''s eyes, Sima Jinchi was like an executioner with a vicious and menacing aura emanating from his body. This was the first time that he had encountered a Soul Master with a martial soul that wasn''t affected by his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    Under normal circumstances, even if his opponent didn''t possess a dragon-type martial soul, they would still definitely be somewhat affected by his bloodline aura.


    However, on this occasion, that was not the case. The vicious aura emanating from the Dragonslaying Saber could draw anguished cries even from giant dragons, and not only did Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline not affect his opponent in the slightest, it was instead his bloodline that was being affected by his opponent to a certain degree.


    Tang Wulin had thought that seeing as his opponent was wielding a saber made for slaying dragons, his bloodline would definitely churn within his veins and be filled with resentment and rage.


    However, as he faced Sima Jinchi and experienced his aura, he discovered that this wasn''t actually the case. The Dragonslaying Saber did indeed evoke certain emotions within his Golden Dragon King bloodline, but instead of negative emotions like hatred and fury, it was evoking within his bloodline a sense of respect and acknowledgment.


    The Golden Dragon King was a part of the Dragon God! Why was it that it was displaying such a reaction to the Dragonslaying Saber? Why was this happening?


    There was one thing that Tang Wulin knew for certain; this Dragonslaying Saber had to have an extremely close connection with the dragon clan.


    In contrast, Sima Jinchi was even more surprised than Tang Wulin. In his eyes, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline was his martial soul, and he''d never seen a dragon-type martial soul manage to remain so calm and collected in his presence.


    His Dragonslaying Saber wasn''t actually a blade made for senseless slaughter of giant dragons. Instead, it was a weapon that had been created by the Dragon God and given to its most trusted subordinate. Among the nine dragon kings, the Light Dragon King was the one whom the Dragon God was most fond of, so the Dragonslaying Saber was given to the Light Dragon King.


    In the dragon clan, the Light Dragon King was the enforcer, and its Dragonslaying Saber only cut down sinful dragons, so this weapon wasn''t an enemy of the dragon clan.


    During the war in the Divine Realm, the dragon clan suffered a horrendous defeat, and the Light Dragon King perished, following which this Dragonslaying Saber also disappeared. Unbeknownst to everyone, it had fallen onto the Douluo Continent. As a divine weapon, it remained dormant for many years, existing in an energy form on a certain corner of the continent.


    One day, a human with a strong sense of justice in his heart displayed a will to sacrifice himself against a powerful enemy to uphold the justice in his own heart, and the slumbering Dragonslaying Saber was awakened. The saber then fused into that man''s bloodline and revived him from the dead.


    From that moment forth, the Dragonslaying Saber martial soul was passed down through his direct lineal descendants. As such, there was only one Dragonslaying Saber, but unfortunately, there were no longer any dragons for it to enforce.


    Sima Jinchi was the current heir to the Dragonslaying Saber, and all those who inherited this martial soul were tough and unyielding characters with an extremely strong sense of justice.


    The Dragonslaying Saber was one of the most powerful tool martial souls in the current world. However, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King was a part of the Dragon God, so it naturally wouldn''t yield to the Dragonslaying Saber, but it still felt a natural sense of respect toward this divine weapon that enforced the laws of the dragon clan. This was why Tang Wulin had been struck by these strange feelings.


    The referee glanced at the two of them, and he didn''t say much before announcing the commencement of the match. The most exciting clash of the competition thus far was finally about to begin.


    The Blood God Legion, the Southern Legion, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and the entire federation were all watching this clash on their soul screens with rapt focus.


    Neither Tang Wulin nor Sima Jinchi sprang into action from the get-go, but both of them raised their weapons almost at the exact same time.


    A hint of golden color began to appear within every corner of Tang Wulin''s body as he held his Golden Dragon Spear. A pair of golden dragon wings spread open on his back, and immediately thereafter, specks of golden light appeared all over his body as he released his Dragon Moon battle armor.


    His body instantly swelled to over three meters tall, and his Golden Dragon Spear also expanded in size. Powerful spear intent began to emanate from the tip of the spear, and his aura also began to elevate at a drastic rate.


    Loud dragon''s roars erupted from his body like rumbling thunder, and the dazzling rhomboid golden dragon scales that had appeared all over his body were shimmering with piercing light.


    Tang Wulin threw his head back and let loose a long roar as he raised his Golden Dragon Spear high above his head. The dragon''s roar became even louder as he spread open his wings, rising up from the ground as his aura continued to swell.


    Meanwhile, Sima Jinchi held his massive Dragonslaying Saber by his side, and a series of soul rings emerged from beneath his feet, consisting of four purples and four blacks. His aura was also elevating, and it was as if a vast expanse of dark clouds were spreading from where he was standing. The terrifying pressure he was releasing was making the space tremor slightly, and the air was showing signs of cracking.


    A layer of black mist permeated over the surface of the Dragonslaying Saber, and the anguished wails of dragons naturally rang out from it.


    The Dragonslaying Saber was a blade of justice, and all of those anguished wails came from the souls of the dragons who had committed horrendous crimes. These dragon souls had been restricted by the blade for countless years, and whenever the power of the Dragonslaying Saber was unleashed, the sounds emanating from it would be extremely effective in swaying the hearts of those with darkness and evil in their hearts.


    Unfortunately for Sima Jinchi, this didn''t affect Tang Wulin at all. He only had light and justice in his heart, so he was actually struck by a sense of vindictive joy upon hearing the anguished cries of those sinful beings.


    In the eyes of the spectators, it was as if both of them had become immovable mountains, one of which was black while the other one was golden. The two figurative mountains were swelling in size at a rapid rate, and the space over the entire competition platform was trembling slightly.


    At the Blood God Battalion.


    "It''s said that the Star Battle Net can''t handle battles between three-word battle armor masters and above, which is why that restriction was placed on the competition. Their battle is most likely going to reach that level; would the Star Cabin and the Star Battle Net be able to handle it?" Zhang Huanyun mused with tightly furrowed brows.


    Cao Dezhi replied, "They had to have already fortified the system. Similar scenarios have also appeared in the previous matches, so the federation must''ve fortified the system to an extremely high degree for these final few matches. As for the Star Cabin, that''s going to be hard to say; we''ll see how it goes."


    Zhang Huanyun said, "The Star Battle Net is indeed a brilliant monumental creation, but it still has a long way to go before it can truly become a part of people''s lives. This inaugural edition of the competition appears to be very dazzling and spectacular, but in reality, the battle net has many problems; it''s most likely going to go back into research and development following the conclusion of the competition. I wonder when they''ll be able to release a better version; both the hardware and the system have a lot of room for improvement."


    Cao Dezhi nodded in agreement. "That''s indeed the case. However, for old-timers like us, just the fact that something like the Star Battle Net was created is already worthy of astonishment. Let''s wait and see. In reality, the federation has been facing a technological bottleneck for a very long time. The dwindling resources on the continent have urged the federation to expend more effort into space exploration, the federation will only be sustainable if we can find a brand new planet that we can source resources from."


    Zhang Huanyun sighed, "Not everyone thinks that. In some people''s eyes, the Douluo Star still has many resources that can continue to be exploited. Compared to other planets, the other two neighboring continents are clearly closer targets, and invading them is far easier to achieve than finding an alternate planet with the resources we need. Ever since Shrek Academy was destroyed, this voice has been growing louder and louder, and if you ask me, war is most likely going to ravage our continent soon."


    Cao Dezhi''s brows furrowed tightly in response. "All wars are waged for profits, yet it''s always the general public who suffer from these wars. This is why I want our legion to support Wulin in the future; our Blood God Legion shouldn''t participate in wars between humans no matter what."

 Chapter 1063: Half-step Spiritual Domain

    Zhang Huanyun nodded. "Indeed, our duty is to protect the human race, not destroy it. The federal parliament has truly disappointed me, but we can only wait and see how things pan out from here. In any case, the main enemy we currently have to face is the abyssal plane; those old farts in the military can''t make us do anything anyway."


    On the screen, the black and golden colors had finally risen to their peaks before sweeping toward one another in a frenzy.


    Tang Wulin flapped his wings with all his might and unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight, following which a massive golden dragon enveloped his entire body. He hurtled toward Sima Jinchi at an astonishing speed, and his Golden Dragon Spear was the fang of his golden dragon.


    Meanwhile, Sima Jinchi had also sprung up into the air, and broken dragon carcasses of all different shapes and forms appeared around his terrifying saber intent. Within that black world was nothing but bleakness and pain, and resentful spiritual fluctuations were surging toward Tang Wulin.


    This was a half-step spiritual domain!


    Tang Wulin almost instantly came to realize that not only was Sima Jinchi immensely powerful, his spiritual power had also reached the half-step Spirit Domain realm, thereby allowing him to integrate his spiritual power and martial soul to produce a domain that only three-word battle armor masters should possess. In reality, a domain given to a Soul Master by a suit of battle armor simply couldn''t compare with a domain attained by the Soul Master themselves.


    The golden dragon that Tang Wulin had transformed into was like a moth flying toward a flame, charging into the black world, and the surrounding temperatures plummeted drastically. All of the anguished wails instantly became louder and more desperate, and a burst of powerful light suddenly appeared within the dark world. The burst of light sliced through all of the darkness as if it were parting heaven and earth, and fearsome saber projections erupted forth in a frenzy.


    A loud dragon''s roar rang out from Tang Wulin''s body as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar, and all of the anguished wails abruptly cut off as if they''d encountered something completely incredible to them.


    Only then did the saber projection clash with the spear projection.


    "Rumble!"


    The sound of their clash was akin to that of rumbling thunder. All of the black and golden colors were instantly destroyed during the clash, revealing Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi''s armored figures situated at point-blank range from one another.


    The tip of Tang Wulin''s spear had struck the blade of Sima Jinchi''s saber, and fearsome energy fluctuations instantly exploded at the center of their clash!


    Tang Wulin was sent flying backward, as was Sima Jinchi, and some distance was instantly opened up between the two of them.


    Both Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear and Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber were emitting faint buzzing sounds. The Dragonslaying Saber was initially releasing anguished wails, but after clashing with the Golden Dragon Spear, it was now emitting a joyful emotion instead, and that was manifesting itself into a clear buzzing sound.


    In contrast, the buzzing emanating from the Golden Dragon Spear was deeper and more solemn, and it was resonating with the sound coming from the Dragonslaying Saber. The two weapons were like a pair of old friends who were greeting one another.


    After just a single clash, both Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi were left feeling quite astonished as both of them were struck by a sense of comfort in the face of each other''s aura. Among the two of them, this feeling was more pronounced for Sima Jinchi. Following the clash between the Dragonslaying Saber and the Golden Dragon Spear, his soul power had begun to churn and elevate drastically in the face of the Golden Dragon Spear''s aura. At the same time, he was struck by an unprecedented feeling of becoming one with his Dragonslaying Saber. At this moment, it was as if he had become his saber, and an extremely joyful emotion was spreading through his heart.


    What was going on? What was going on? Could it be that his opponent''s martial soul was a dragon of justice? Even then, that still didn''t justify such an elated response from his Dragonslaying Saber!


    This had undoubtedly been an experimental clash during which both of them were trying to test each other out, and the result had been a completely unexpected one for them.


    The violent force of the clash made both of them feel as if their blood essence were churning within their bodies, but the Golden Dragon Spear was transmitting a sense of elation to Tang Wulin, as well as even a sense of intimacy, as if it had encountered a good friend that it hadn''t met in many years.


    This feeling was far more pronounced for Sima Jinchi, and it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that the feeling he received from his Dragonslaying Saber was a sense of admiration, as if it had encountered a senior whom it adored and respected.


    What was going on?


    Both of them landed on the competition platform, yet instead of immediately springing into action again, they were appraising one another from afar with bewilderment in their hearts.


    Under normal circumstances, their weapons should''ve been able to dominate their opponent''s martial souls, but instead, they were both being struck by this unprecedented feeling. What did this mean? They couldn''t help but be intrigued by this. However, they were currently standing on a battlefield in the semifinals of a monumental competition, so they didn''t have any time to ponder such matters.


    After taking a deep breath, Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward, and he instantly became one with his spear, sending a burst of extremely sharp spear intent hurtling toward Sima Jinchi like lightning.


    Sima Jinchi raised his Dragonslaying Saber before him, and a series of patterns resembling dismembered giant dragons appeared on the surfaces of the blade as powerful saber intent swept through over heaven and earth.


    If his saber intent were like a vast ocean, then Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear would be like a proud raft that was able to pierce through the waves at ease, and neither side was able to gain an absolute upper hand in this clash of auras.


    "Roar!" A loud dragon''s roar erupted around Tang Wulin''s body, and dazzling golden light radiated from his Dragon Moon battle armor. At the same time, both his dragon core and soul core were beginning to pulse in unison. A series of Bluesilver Emperor vine appeared over the surface of his suit of battle armor, and these vines all wound themselves around his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Following that first clash, Tang Wulin already clearly felt that he was no match for Sima Jinchi in direct clashes. Only by using his blood soul fusion skills did he have a chance to win this battle. Furthermore, he had to do everything in his power to restrict his opponent so that he wouldn''t be able to completely release his saber soul.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin sprang into action. He gently tapped his foot onto the ground, and his body flashed through the air. His dragon wings seemed to have suddenly expanded in size, and he flapped them vigorously. In the next instant, he had already transformed into his spear and was hurtling toward Sima Jinchi like a bolt of golden lightning.


    Sima Jinchi let loose a roar of fury as he swept his Dragonslaying Saber horizontally through the air, unleashing a massive saber projection that erupted forth amid the thunderous anguished wails of countless giant dragons. A gigantic black dragon appeared behind him, and it was struggling violently in mid-air, seemingly trying to get away from something. However, in the next instant, a streak of white light flashed past, and its body was sliced in half. Boundless resentment, hatred, remorse, pain, and countless other negative emotions instantly transformed into bursts of black energy that streamed into the Dragonslaying Saber in a frenzy. A layer of black scales seemed to have appeared over the saber projection.


    "Roar!"


    A huge golden dragon head erupted out of the front tip of the Golden Dragon Spear before letting loose an almighty roar toward the saber projection up ahead.


    A peculiar turn of events then unfolded: the black dragon saber projection that was filled with negative emotions quickly melted away in the face of the thunderous roar. The negative emotions it harbored were drastically alleviated, and it was as if it had found its release.


    The golden dragon swayed before rushing out of the Golden Dragon Spear. The spear then instantly fused as one with it, and a faint layer of blue appeared over the giant golden dragon''s scales. Powerful life force energy was then imbued into the golden dragon, making it seem as if it had truly sprung to life.


    This was his blood soul fusion skill, Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    Following the recent period of cultivation, Tang Wulin had gained complete control over his own powers, and his control over his own Golden Dragon King bloodline, as well as his understanding of his blood soul fusion skills, had reached a whole new level. With the injection of his Bluesilver Emperor vines, not only had his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens become more powerful, he had also bestowed upon it a hint of life, and that was what made it truly formidable.


    "Boom!"


    The Black Dragon Slash clashed with the Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens amid a resounding boom!


    To the spectators, it looked as if the devastating Dragonslaying Saber immediately began to display signs of being overwhelmed.


    The saber projection began to recede before falling apart, and as the golden light and black light intertwined, the spectators were greeted by the sight of the Golden Dragon Spear striking the back of the saber.


    A crisp clang rang out, and Sima Jinchi''s entire body shuddered violently as he was sent flying like a shooting star by the terrifying power within the Golden Dragon Spear.


    Bursts of golden spear intent surged into his body in a frenzy, but right at this moment, a halo of black light radiated forth from his Dragonslaying Saber, engulfing all of the golden spear intent.


    At this moment, Sima Jinchi was being afflicted by intense agony, and he felt as if every single inch of his skin were being torn apart. However, his Dragonslaying Saber was more elated than ever, as if it had obtained a priceless treasure. All of the anguished cries from the giant dragons vanished and were replaced by bursts of overjoyed buzzing.


    In the next instant, a strange burst of energy fluctuations surged into his body from the Dragonslaying Saber, and his soul power, which had remained stagnant for many years, suddenly jolted violently before elevating ever so slightly.

 Chapter 1064: Infernal Evil Dragon Emperor

    What was even more astonishing to him was that even his mind had instantly become slightly clearer, and everything around him seemed to have increased slightly in clarity. He was already at the half-step Spirit Domain realm, and it was extremely difficult for him to improve his own spiritual power, even by just a little. However, Tang Wulin''s attack improved both his soul power and spiritual power after it struck his Dragonslaying Saber.


    How, how is this possible? What is happening?


    Compared to being sent flying by Tang Wulin''s attack, Sima Jinchi was far more astonished by what had just happened within his body.


    This was only a simulated battle within the Star Battle Net, which meant that even if one were to improve during battle, those improvements could only come in the areas of experience and technique; there was no way that one''s spiritual power and soul power could be truly enhanced in here, so how was this happening?


    Why was it that his opponent''s attack was working to elevate his powers? That was absolutely incredible to him!


    From Tang Wulin''s perspective, a black halo had spread over his opponent''s body, and he quickly managed to stabilize himself before nullifying the golden spear intent he''d been afflicted by.


    Now that Tang Wulin had seized the upper hand, he was naturally keen to press his advantage. He unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight again, and at the same time, dazzling golden light erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear. He unleashed his Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens once again, and an even more fearsome golden dragon brandished its claws and bared its fangs as it hurtled directly toward his opponent.


    At this moment, Sima Jinchi had only just landed on the ground before Tang Wulin''s attack reached him. He injected his intent into his Dragonslaying Saber to activate his saber soul, and a fierce aura began to emanate from his body.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had been instantly plunged into a battlefield where there was only death and destruction around him. An enormous will that was filled with a sense of justice descended from the sky.


    A giant purple dragon appeared in mid-air. It had a pair of crimson eyes, and it was radiating a sinister aura. The gigantic Dragonslaying Saber fell from above, wielded by a pair of huge golden hands, and the purple dragon was sliced in half from head to tail.


    A howl of agony and indignation rang out as purple energy swept through the entire heavens.


    That was an Infernal Evil Dragon!


    That name suddenly sprang to Tang Wulin''s mind in an inexplicable manner, and as the name suggested, this was an evil being among the dragon clan.


    After the Dragonslaying Saber passed through the Infernal Evil Dragon''s enormous body, the saber expanded to several dozen times its original size. Purple patterns began to appear on the surface of the blade from the purple dragon blood, and these patterns descended from the sky, instantly enshrouding Tang Wulin''s spear projection and Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens beneath it.


    In the face of the gigantic saber, both Tang Wulin and his Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens were looking extremely tiny and insignificant, and Tang Wulin finally developed a sense of just how terrifying the saber soul that Ye Xinglan had faced was.


    He couldn''t even grasp the true meaning of the saber soul, and the only thing he could feel was how overwhelmingly powerful and unstoppable it was.


    The Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens faltered momentarily before countless golden spear projections erupted from it. Each and every golden spear projection was accompanied by a bluish-golden one, and the two types of spear projections formed a symbiotic relationship as they surged forward with unstoppable force!


    Blue Emperor Fury of the Masses!


    This attack was undoubtedly the most powerful one his Golden Dragon Spear had ever unleashed, and it was also his most powerful blood soul fusion skill. His bloodline power and soul power had completely fused as one with the spear intent formed by his Fury of the Masses to culminate in the most devastating attack. Innumerable Spear projections were hurtling through the air, keeping the enormous power of the saber soul at bay. The countless spear projections converged as one before striking the saber projection.


    The entire world conjured up by the saber soul instantly began to tremor violently before crumbling into countless pieces. Countless golden spear projections transformed into bolts of golden lightning that were wreaking havoc in a frenzy to destroy the purple saber intent.


    In the eyes of the spectators, Sima Jinchi''s sixth soul ring had lit up before he slashed his saber through the air, and the entire competition platform had turned purple. The giant purple dragon that Tang Wulin had witnessed was something that the spectators couldn''t see. All they could see was that the Dragonslaying Saber had abruptly swelled to countless times its original size before encompassing Tang Wulin within itself.


    After that, the Golden Dragon Spear being wielded by Golden Dragon King suddenly began to radiate unprecedentedly dazzling light, as if it had instantly transformed into a gigantic golden ball of light that was expanding outward.


    Golden and purple light clashed, and the force of the clash had shattered the fearsome saber soul. However, the bolts of golden dragon lightning being released by the Golden Dragon Spear were also devoured by the purple saber soul.


    Not only was Sima Jinchi not weakened in the aftermath of the clash, he continued to improve and his aura seemed to have been elevated to another level.


    A hint of ecstasy appeared on his face.


    Could he really make a breakthrough like this? Could it be that this was a realistic projection of the strange world he had entered when he attained his saber soul? Was all of that real?


    Even as these thoughts were flashing through his mind, his Dragonslaying Saber continued to slash through the air. His seventh soul ring lit up, and his Dragonslaying Saber faltered slightly in mid-air before its hilt began to transform. A series of golden scales appeared on the hilt, following which a dazzling golden dragon claw that was shimmering with white light gripped onto the hilt of the Dragonslaying Saber.


    Sima Jinchi had disappeared, and only his Dragonslaying True Body remained in his place!


    The gigantic saber was raised again, and the sixth soul ring also lit up once again. On this occasion, the soul ring appeared around the Dragonslaying Saber, and the surrounding space had turned entirely into a deep purple color, as if a massive dark purple vortex had appeared.


    Another dragon had appeared before Tang Wulin''s eyes, and it was no longer the same Infernal Evil Dragon as before. In contrast, this one was several thousand feet in length, and it was a terrifying colossal dark purple dragon that seemed to have filled the entirety of heaven and earth. There were even faint golden ridges running along its dark purple scales.


    This was the Infernal Evil Dragon Emperor!


    For some reason, as soon as the Infernal Evil Dragon Emperor appeared, Tang Wulin was struck by a strong sense of familiarity, as if he''d seen this being somewhere before.


    This was not good!


    A sense of foreboding and peril immediately welled up in his heart.


    Even though his Fury of the Masses had vanquished his opponent''s attack, after Sima Jinchi released his martial soul true body, he now possessed the power to strike down an evil dragon emperor, and that certainly wasn''t the same as the power he''d possessed before!


    Furthermore, as soon as the golden dragon claw appeared on the hilt of the saber, a holy aura had erupted from within the violent saber intent, and this holy aura was not inferior in the slightest compared to that of the Holy Angel clan''s martial soul.


    At this point, there was already no time for Tang Wulin to think; his entire will had been completely immersed into the observation of his own Golden Dragon Spear.


    A huge flower appeared behind him, and it was none other than his Beautiful Silk Tulip. A peculiar light pattern began to spread through the air.


    This was his sixth soul skill, Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    No, to put it more accurately, this was his blood soul fusion skill, Blue Emperor Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    The flower bloomed, and a huge golden light projection surfaced behind it: a gigantic golden heart.


    "Lub-dub, lud-dub, lub-dub!" The powerful sound of the beating heart was audible throughout the entire venue.


    All of the spectators could even feel their own heartbeats being affected, as if the rhythms of their hearts had suddenly begun to overlap with that of the golden heart. Powerful energy fluctuations also erupted in the air, and an energy storm swept forth, converging toward the huge flower.


    Tang Wulin raised his head, and at this point, his eyes had already turned completely golden. The energy fluctuations emanating from his body were also elevating at an astonishing rate.


    He still didn''t possess a martial soul true body, but his Blue Emperor Devouring Heaven and Earth was close to a soul fusion skill, and it was drastically enhancing his powers.


    He thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward, and it was still his Blue Emperor Fury of the Masses that he unleashed!

 Chapter 1065: I Won?

    All of sudden, it was as if the entire competition platform had been severed, and countless crisscrossing cracks began to appear over the entire platform. The chaotic cracks spread along the entire stage while the gigantic purple saber descended from above.


    Strangely enough, there were not resounding crashing noises, but in that instant, it was as if the entire competition platform had caved in. The protective barrier over the competition platform was instantly pulverized, and the raucous cheers from the spectators had transformed into cries of horror and alarm. Large groups of audience members who were closest to the platform were instantly destroyed, and a gigantic ball of light was hovering at the very center of the platform.


    Terrifying explosions and shockwaves continued to erupt, and within what mere moments, at least half of all of the spectators had been killed. Even those who weren''t killed on the spot were flung up into different directions by the violent explosions before crashing down from above.


    The commentators'' voices had abruptly cut off. Something like this had never happened in the Star Battle Net before!


    It was undoubtedly the case that this was a major catastrophe! These were paying audience members, yet they were being killed on the spot!


    Even though this was only a simulated match, it was definitely not a good feeling to be paying money just to experience what it was like to die. This was undoubtedly a design flaw of the Star Battle Net, and the tolerance of the Star Battle Net competition platform had been overestimated. In the face of a clash of this caliber, even the competition platform itself had been completely destroyed.


    What was going on?


    At the Blood God Battalion.


    All of the Blood Gods were completely flabbergasted. Never did they think that they''d be treated to such a "spectacular" scene.


    Blood Nine''s lips twitched at the sight of the violently beating heart behind Tang Wulin. Had he already improved so much in less than a month?


    Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi was still only an eight-ring Soul Douluo, but he knew that even though he was a Titled Douluo, there was a good chance that he would lose in a battle against Sima Jinchi, yet Tang Wulin was able to fight on par with him.


    What did it entail for the entire competition platform to be destroyed? It entailed that their clash had exceeded the tolerance limit of the Star Battle Net. The official announcement from the federation was that the Star Battle Net competition platform''s tolerance limit was a full-power attack from a three-word battle armor master!


    As such, one could imagine the caliber of the clash between Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi.


    The giant ball of light only gradually vanished after around half a minute, and the spectator stands had been reduced to ruins. The spectators that were still were alive all howling with pain and distress, and less than a tenth of the entire audience had survived!


    At the epicenter of the explosion, the entire competition platform had already caved in by over 100 meters, but there were still two figures standing on it.


    Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon battle armor was riddled with countless saber marks, and he was gripping tightly onto his Golden Dragon Spear as a crutch to support himself.


    Sima Jinchi was also in quite a sorry state. His suit of battle armor was damaged in many places, and he was also having to use his Dragonslaying Saber as a crutch, but his aura was only continuing to swell without showing any signs of being on the wane. What was even more remarkable was that the faint projection of a giant white dragon had appeared behind him.


    "Haha, this is it! I''ve finally found it! Hahahahahahahaha!"


    Sima Jinchi suddenly burst into raucous elated laughter, and in contrast, Tang Wulin couldn''t even utter a single sound at this point.


    Had he lost?


    A sense of bitterness welled up in his heart. Sima Jinchi''s saber soul was simply far too powerful. He had already unleashed the most powerful Fury of the Masses he was capable of prior to attaining a spear soul, but it appeared that Sima Jinchi was clearly in far better condition than he was in.


    However, what was really perplexing to him was that even though Sima Jinchi had also been severely wounded, his soul power fluctuations were even more potent than when the battle first began! This simply didn''t make any sense!


    "Wait for me!" Sima Jinchi suddenly raised his head to appraise Tang Wulin with an intense gaze.


    His eyes were filled with a sense of frenetic emotion, and Tang Wulin was rather perplexed to see this.


    Just as he was about to say something, Sima Jinchi''s body suddenly vanished into specks of golden light.


    Was that a forced disconnect? Had he withdrawn from the match?


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at the spot where Sima Jinchi had been standing just a moment ago. At the same time, the electronic voice rang out beside his ears. "The victory goes to Number 33?"


    I won?


    Could it be that Sima Jinchi was already a spent force? That didn''t make sense! He really was radiating immense soul power fluctuations, as well as an extremely powerful will. Tang Wulin could even sense that Sima Jinchi had made some kind of significant breakthrough during their battle, and following that breakthrough, Tang Wulin had to admit that he was no match for him.


    However, he had suddenly forfeited the match and given up on the chance to claim one of the top two spots in this competition.


    Tang Wulin had never won under such inexplicable and farcical circumstances before, and a peculiar look appeared on his face. He was planning to give it everything he had and fight till his final breath, but who would''ve thought that the victory would simply be handed to him?


    At the Blood God Battalion.


    Blood One looked on at the scenes unfolding before his eyes in a flabbergasted manner. He had given Tang Wulin a mission to become the final champion, but he was never actually going to hold him to this!


    Tang Wulin had clearly already lost this match, and he had lost quite comprehensively. He was well aware of Sima Jinchi''s reputation in the military; he was known as the number one warrior of the Southern Legion. Regardless of what kind of battlefield he was on, he was always wielding nothing more than his saber. He renounced all types of modern technology, yet very few people could defeat him.


    However, he had just conceded this match! All of the information Blood One had surrounding Sima Jinchi indicated that he was an extremely competitive individual, and even in the Southern Legion, he was feared by everyone.


    No one wanted to interact with him, and his only hobbies were fighting, fighting, and fighting.


    However, he had just conceded this match after clearly gaining the upper hand!


    The communication system of the competition had already been destroyed, so only Tang Wulin had heard Sima Jinchi''s parting words.


    Nevertheless, the outcome had been decided, Golden Dragon King had secured victory and progressed to the grand final!


    He really had won!


    At the Southern Legion.


    Xu Xiaoyan was staring blankly at the screen before her. Had Sima Jinchi just been defeated by their captain?


    As a member of the Southern Legion, she was more aware than anyone of just how fearsome Sima Jinchi was. Even the generals in the legion tried to avoid him as much as he could. He had no friends or family; all he had was his Dragonslaying Saber.


    All he did all day every day was cultivate, and despite his senior colonel rank, he didn''t have so much as a single soldier under his command, so that military rank was completely just for show.


    However, he was always the Southern Legion''s trump card whenever the military held military-wide competitions, and the name of Saber Demon was synonymous with invincibility during those competitions. He was truly invincible below the Titled Douluo stage!


    He only had the second-highest odds in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition because the one with the highest odds possessed extremely outlandish abilities, but in terms of actual combat prowess, even the one with the highest odds may not be a match for him!


    However, he had lost, and the one who defeated him was none other than their captain.


    Sima Jinchi was almost twice his age, yet he had still been defeated!


    Xu Xiaoyan took a deep breath, and her blood began to churn within her body. In this instant, she truly understood why Yue Zhengyu had made the decision to undergo the holy cleansing despite how painful it was.


    Is Captain already this powerful?


    If they didn''t chase him with all their might, they were going to be left behind.


    No, I can''t be so self-satisfied anymore! I have to become more powerful so I don''t weigh down my friends!


    Xu Xiaoyan abruptly rose to her feet, and an extremely determined look appeared in her eyes. She had thought of a place that was most suitable for her cultivation. This place wasn''t in the south. Instead...


    It''s about time I left. Zhengyu, wait for me!


    The massive room was furnished in an extremely lavish manner, but at the same time, it gave off an antiquated and refined air. This was the result of the passage of time, and it reflected the true wealth of nobility.

 Chapter 1066: Angel Douluo Yue Zhengen

    This type of wealth and foundation definitely couldn''t be built up in just a day or two; it had been accumulated over countless generations.


    Behind a huge desk sat an old man. Even though his hair and beard were both white, his back was still ramrod straight, and there were three dazzling stars on each of his epaulets, indicating that he was a federal general!


    There was a massive artwork hanging on the wall behind him, depicting a man in a suit of golden full-body armor. The man held a huge sword in his hand, and there were three pairs of pristine wings spread open on his back. Each and every feather on those wings had been painted in an extremely detailed and lifelike manner.


    The man who was taking care of some official duties while sitting behind the desk was none other than the commander of the Southern Legion, and the leader of the Holy Angel clan. He could be considered to be extremely powerful and influential, even in the context of the entire federation; he was Angel Douluo Yue Zhengen.


    Yue Zhengen had been the commander of the Southern Legion for over 40 years, and under his control, it had become an extremely tight-knit unit. In a sense, it could be said that this was one of the special forces of the federal military.


    The Southern Legion had the support of many of the major families of the south, both in terms of manpower and wealth, so the Southern Legion relied on the military the least among all of the legions in the federation. As such, it was very difficult for the military to plant their people into the legion as attempts to do so would be met by collective resistance from the major families of the south.


    In the entire Douluo Federation, the southern region was the one that abided by traditions the most. In terms of technological development, it was lagging behind the likes of the central and western regions, but it was the wealthiest among all of the regions. Within the federal parliament, over 20% of the seats belonged to the major families and politicians of the south.


    The federation had tried on multiple occasions to improve their control over the Southern Legion, but none of their attempts had ever succeeded as no one dared to offend the traditional hierarchy of the entire southern region.


    One had to realize they comprised an undeniable force in the federal parliament. Conversely, these families also required support and backing from military forces, and it was exactly this powerful background that granted the Southern Legion so much wealth and such a strong foundation; even the military wasn''t able to do anything about this.


    Control over the Southern Legion had been held firmly in the hands of the Holy Angel clan this entire time due to the fact that the Holy Angel clan was the most powerful of those aforementioned traditional families; almost every generation had a Hyper Douluo or even more powerful beings among their ranks. A Hyper Douluo with the Holy Angel martial soul was more powerful than the average Hyper Douluo, and on top of that, the Holy Angel clan had even produced Limit Douluos before.


    Another factor behind this was the selfless nature of the Holy Angel clan, which always allowed them to ensure fairness and impartiality. This was something that was dictated by their martial soul; if they couldn''t even ensure this, then there was no way that they''d be able to cultivate their Holy Angel martial soul to a higher level.


    Ever since Yue Zhengen took over command of the Southern Legion over four decades ago, he had made every effort to improve the legion, and it now had fewer troops than before, but overall, it had become far more powerful. The Southern Legion was quite renowned for its power and elite equipment, and in those regards, it wasn''t inferior even to the Central Legion, which was under the direct command of the Battle God Hall.


    However, these major families of the south were also very lawful and civilized. Due to the existence of the Southern Legion, even if members of their families were to join the military, they would only join the Southern Legion and never tried to spread their influence to other legions. Only then were they able to forge a balance with the federal parliament.


    "Report!" A boisterous voice rang out from outside.


    Yue Zhengen''s lips twitched with amusement, and he didn''t even need to ask to know who it was. There was only one man in the entire legion who dared to yell in such a loud voice outside his office.


    "Come in."


    The door was opened, and a burly figure appeared within the office. He strode forward in an imposing manner, arriving in front of Yue Zhengen''s desk in just a few steps before standing up straight and extending a military salute.


    "General!"


    Yue Zhengen raised his head, and he looked up at the man before him with a slightly resigned expression. This was a mountain of a man who was over 210cm tall with a set of extremely wide shoulders. He had two bars and four stars on each of his epaulets, indicating that he was a senior colonel.


    His facial features were very chiseled and rugged, and there seemed to be flames dancing with his eyes. If he had to be described using one word, then "intimidating" would undoubtedly be the most suitable adjective. At the very least, he was very intimidating in the Southern Legion.


    "Did you progress to the grand final?" Yue Zhengen asked. Yue Zhengen had rather mixed feelings about Sima Jinchi. With his abilities, he should''ve been a general a long time ago, but he simply wasn''t cut out for such a lofty military rank. It could be said that he had gone through the most role changes in the entire Southern Legion. Initially, he was a garrison leader, then an instructor, then a corps commander, etc. However, he was able to screw up every single role he touched, and the reason for that was very simple; he was addicted to fighting, and he didn''t know how to hold back, so he often injured his own comrades.


    One had to realize that almost all of the high-ranking officials in the Southern Legion were from the major families of the south, and all of these families were regularly filing reports against him!


    Yue Zhengen saw him as a very valuable asset and shielded him from a lot of these dissenting voices.


    As such, after the Star Battle Net was invented, the troops of the Southern Legion were more excited than anyone else as there was finally a place for the Wild Gale Saber Demon to vent without having to pick on them!


    Sima Jinchi had progressed to the semifinals of the competition, and the entire Southern Legion was rooting for him.


    Sima Jinchi had indeed made many significant contributions to the legion, but unfortunately, he''d gotten into even more trouble. Thus, in the face of the widespread objections being aimed at him, he was unable to become a general in the end, and could only settle for being a senior colonel with no soldiers under his command, nor any jurisdictive power at his disposal.


    "No, I lost my match," Sima Jinchi replied.


    Yue Zhengen raised an eyebrow with a hint of surprise on his face. "You lost? Who defeated you?"


    Sima Jinchi''s face was filled with unbridled excitement. "It was Zhengyu''s captain. General, I''m going to find him; I''ve finally found the one that I''ve constantly been searching for! I came here to bid you farewell."


    "The one you''re looking for? You mean..." Yue Zhengen''s eyes lit up as a hint of astonishment appeared on his face.


    No one knew Sima Jinchi''s circumstances better than he did.


    At present, Sima Jinchi was a rank 89 Soul Douluo, and he had been stuck at rank 89 for 10 years. He was currently 42 years of age, and even back at 32, he was ready to attempt a breakthrough to the Titled Douluo stage. With his brilliant aptitude, there was no way that he wouldn''t have been able to become a Titled Douluo.


    However, he was unable to progress his soul past the 89th rank, and that was why he was constantly searching for fights and battles; he was hoping to find a catalyst for a breakthrough during battle!


    Unfortunately, even after searching for the past 10 years, he was still unable to find that catalyst. It was only after he attained his saber soul that he felt something in his spiritual world, pointing out the path ahead for him.


    Yue Zhengen was well aware that Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber martial soul definitely wasn''t of a lower caliber than the Holy Angel martial soul. Furthermore, he had attained a saber soul after much painstaking effort, and if he could reach the Titled Douluo stage, then he would undoubtedly become an unstoppable force.


    Now that Sima Jinchi was telling him that he''d found the one he was looking for, it was undoubtedly the case that he was referring to a catalyst for his breakthrough, so how could Yue Zhengen not be elated to hear this? If he could make this breakthrough, then he would definitely become one of the most powerful beings on the entire continent!


    "When are you leaving?" Yue Zhengen asked. He didn''t try to convince Sima Jinchi not to go as he didn''t have that intention in the first place, and on top of that, he knew that no one could sway Sima Jinchi''s decision once he set his mind on something.


    "I want to go right away, so I came here to ask you where he is. You know where he is, right?" Sima Jinchi asked in an urgent manner.

 Chapter 1067: I Wont Be Coming Back

    That''s right, he had made a breakthrough. During his battle against Tang Wulin, he had finally made the breakthrough that he''d been striving toward for a decade after taking Tang Wulin''s final attack. In that instant, he had been elevated to the Titled Douluo stage, and he felt as if he had completely evolved to a higher plane.


    Unfortunately, that evolution only took place in the Star Battle Net. After he logged off, all of that disappeared. His soul power had returned to its original level, and even though he''d only been a Titled Douluo for a very brief period of time, it was only natural that he would get hooked on that feeling.


    Yue Zhengen didn''t give a direct reply. Instead, he responded with a question of his own. "Will you be coming back?"


    Sima Jinchi faltered slightly before scratching his own head. "I most likely won''t be coming back. According to what I had felt through my saber soul, it seems that I have to stay by that person''s side after I find him."


    A hint of unadulterated disappointment appeared in Yue Zhengen''s eyes. Sima Jinchi was uncouth and untamed, but he was extremely powerful, and he had always been the spearhead of their legion. As such, he was naturally very reluctant to part with such a powerful subordinate.


    However, his disappointment was quickly quelled as he nodded, and said, "Zhengyu will be reuniting with him in the future as well; look after him for me."


    "I''ll be sure to do so," Sima Jinchi promised as he slammed his own barrel chest.


    Yue Zhengen smiled, and said, "Go on, then; you''ll find him at the Blood God Legion."


    "Blood God Legion? Where''s that?" This was confidential federal information, so Sima Jinchi had no idea about the existence of this legion.


    Yue Zhengen gave him a brief introduction of the Blood God Legion, including its location.


    "That sounds like a fantastic place! I''ll be able to fight abyssal creatures there; that''s fantastic! I''m going now. Farewell, General"


    He extended another military salute toward Yue Zhengen as he spoke.


    Yue Zhengen nodded, and said, "The Blood God Legion is filled with powerful beings. In particular, their commander, Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun, is extremely powerful. After you make your breakthrough, you can go and spar with him on a regular basis; I''m sure that''ll be very helpful to your future progression."


    "Oh? That sounds great! Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun; I''ll be sure to remember the name. Thank you, General!"


    Yue Zhengen looked on at Sima Jinchi''s departing figure with a slightly forlorn look on his face, but all of a sudden, his lips twitched slightly with amusement. "Hehe, Zhang Huanyun, you old bastard! You''ll have your hands full very soon!"


    ¡­¡­


    After awakening from meditation, it was already the next morning. Tang Wulin exhaled, and he could clearly sense that he had improved once again.


    After reflecting on the battle, he deduced that Sima Jinchi would be no match for him without his saber soul, so that was the thing that had set them apart.


    But what was that Dragonslaying Saber martial soul of his? Even if it were a martial soul of an extremely high caliber, how was it able to nullify the power of his Golden Dragon Spear? Furthermore, it seemed to have devoured a lot of the energy released by his Golden Dragon Spear.


    After some careful recollection and contemplation, Tang Wulin was almost sure that Sima Jinchi had to have to borrowed the power of his Golden Dragon Spear to make that breakthrough during battle.


    Just how were the Golden Dragon Spear and Dragonslaying Saber related? This was the first time that he''d ever fought such a bizarre battle.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the two weapons shared an extremely intimate connection, and Tang Wulin had never felt this before. Furthermore, it was undeniable that the Golden Dragon Spear was a divine weapon that had constantly been a part of his bloodline.


    Tang Wulin had experienced the power of the Dragonslaying Saber in person; it seemed to be able to draw upon the powers of the evil dragons it had slain countless years in the past to unleash extremely fearsome attacks.


    His Golden Dragon Spear wasn''t inferior to the Dragonslaying Saber, yet his spear was unable to harm Sima Jinchi. It kind of felt like he was sparring with a friend, but from their ruined suits of battle armor and the complete demolition of the Star Battle Net competition platform, it was quite clear that the shockwaves from their clashes had been extremely fearsome.


    Could it be that the Dragonslaying Saber was also a conjoined weapon of Sima Jinchi''s? If the Dragonslaying Saber were also a divine weapon that had become Sima Jinchi''s martial soul, did that mean that it and the Golden Dragon Spear were weapons of the same nature?


    It was a pity that he couldn''t leave the Blood God Legion. Otherwise, he really wanted to seek out Sima Jinchi and ask him some questions. At the same time, he also wanted to experience in person just how powerful the aura of his Dragonslaying Saber was.


    Unbeknownst to him, Sima Jinchi had already set off on his journey toward the Blood God Legion. Yue Zhengyu was currently in seclusion, so no one was able to inform him that Xu Xiaoyan had also departed to seek out her own path.


    There were still three matches left in total, and from his battle against Sima Jinchi, he could tell that the upcoming matches were all going to be very extremely arduous, particularly the imminent mecha battle!


    He had to give everything that he had. He had already come this far, so he couldn''t lose no matter what,


    Unbeknownst to him, the entire Blood God Legion was currently celebrating his victory against Sima Jinchi. There were no more doubters expressing dissent toward his promotion to the major general rank at such a young age. Instead, there was only one thought in everyone''s minds; he was the most powerful being in the world below the Titled Douluo stage! If he could secure victory in the finals, then he would conquer the entire federation while representing the Blood God Legion!


    Many of the soldiers in the legion were waiting near the resting area, hoping to catch a glimpse of this legendary young major general, but unfortunately, he didn''t turn up.


    Thus, the semifinals of the mecha battle discipline commenced.


    After Tang Wulin strode into the competition venue in his spear-wielding mecha, he was surprised to find that even though this was also a semifinal, the cheers ringing out from the venue were clearly nowhere near as loud. At the same time, the spectators seemed to be a little apprehensive rather than frenetic.


    He had been completely immersed in his battle against Sima Jinchi, so he as unaware that the aftermath of their battle had almost driven the developers of the Star Battle Net insane!


    The venue for the semifinals had been destroyed, and countless spectator casualties had resulted.


    One couldn''t actually die in the Star Battle Net, but they could certainly still experience the pain of death, just like a less extreme version of the Spirit Ascension Plane!


    As such, the Star Battle Net was embroiled in its first major controversy. All types of reports had been filed against the system, casting a shadow over this inaugural edition of the competition.


    The federal government had been very quick to release a statement dispelling the rumors that were being spread, and they explained that the incident had only taken place due to the fact that the offensive prowess unleashed by Golden Dragon King and Wild Gale Saber Demon had exceeded that of the average three-word battle armor master. Not only did all of the spectators of that match receive full refunds for their tickets, they also received some additional compensation as well. At the same time, it was announced that the competition platform was going to be even further fortified for the remaining three matches of the competition.


    A day had passed, and even though the federation had addressed this matter very quickly, that match had still traumatized many of the spectators. As such, people were very interested in spectating this mecha battle semifinal, but at the same time, they were quite nervous in case the events that had taken place the day before were to be replicated. After all, no one wanted to experience death out of the blue.


    As such, the enthusiasm of the audience had been severely dented.


    However, as soon as Tang Wulin and his opponent entered the competition platform, the atmosphere was gradually filled with more and more excitement. After all, this was a clash that would decide who would progress to the grand final.


    Tang Wulin looked on at his opponent while reflecting on the information that he''d learned about him.


    Ever since he''d progressed to the quarterfinal stage, every one of his opponents had had higher odds than him, and this was no exception.


    Tang Wulin''s semifinal opponent was being referred to as the most outlandish participant in the entire competition. This wasn''t because he had any unique quirks in his mecha handling. Instead, it was because most of his combat prowess stemmed from his martial soul rather than his mecha. His nickname was "Bubble King", and he was the only one in the mecha battle competition to refrain from equipping a weapon to his mecha. Instead, he chose to add an extra propeller to his mecha in the place of a weapon in order to enhance his mecha''s speed.


    Mecha pilots like him truly did exist in real life, and they were all extremely confident in their own martial souls. However, the fact that such a mecha pilot had managed to progress to the semifinals was astonishing, and it was a testament to just how powerful his martial soul was.

 Chapter 1068: Bubble King vs Spear King

    Someone had once said that with his strange martial soul, even if he were to participate in the Soul Master battle discipline, he''d most likely still make it to the top 16. However, it appeared that he only applied for the mecha battle discipline. If he had applied for the Soul Master battle discipline, his outlandish martial soul would''ve immediately been identified.


    This was the semifinal match between Bubble King and Spear King!


    Tang Wulin slowly raised his spear. He didn''t dare to drop his guard for even a single instant against this strange opponent. No one could make it to the semifinal stage through dumb luck alone, so this was definitely going to be a formidable opponent. Being able to face such a strange yet powerful opponent was going to be good training for him.


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    Following the announcement from the electronic voice, the semifinal match finally began!


    Tang Wulin immediately activated his mecha''s propeller, sending it hurtling toward his opponent like lightning. His spear was pointed forward and emanating a powerful aura.


    Meanwhile, Bubble King remained rooted to the spot, and no one knew what he was doing, but the two mechas were quickly drawing closer to one another. Tang Wulin''s mecha was in full flight and exuded an intimidating aura. In stark contrast, Bubble King''s mecha was releasing no energy fluctuations whatsoever, looking as if it were a lamb resigned to the slaughter.


    Tang Wulin adjusted his soul power fluctuations and bloodline aura, preparing to deal with any attacks that his opponent threw at him. There was no way that his opponent was actually standing on the spot, idly twiddling his thumbs; it was just that Tang Wulin didn''t know what tactics he was going to employ. This Bubble King had the most diverse battle style among all of the mecha battle participants, and Ling Wuyue had been eliminated by him.


    Tang Wulin could still recall the unbridled resentment in Ling Wuyue''s voice as she described Bubble King. During their battle, he had used a few bubbles to trap her boomerangs, leaving her completely powerless, thereby resulting in a quick loss.


    The distance between the two mechas was quickly being closed down. To mechas, even if they were to start from a complete standstill, it would only take no more than a span of three breaths to cover a distance of several hundred meters.


    Right at this moment, Bubble King finally sprang into action. A layer of pink light suddenly appeared over the surface of his mecha, and immediately thereafter, the pink light expanded to form a massive bubble with a diameter of over 50 meters, enshrouding his entire mecha within it.


    If Tang Wulin were to continue to forge ahead, he would crash directly into the bubble.


    At a time like this, he had to display his control as a mecha pilot. The propeller on his mecha''s back was immediately turned off, and at the same time, he was able to force his mecha to veer slightly off course through his manipulation of his soul power and bloodline power output. Even though it was only a slight change, it allowed his mecha to slide past the huge pink bubble rather than crash into it headfirst.


    Tang Wulin swung his spear around before thrusting it toward the massive bubble, using its sharp point to puncture the bubble''s surface.


    He could only stick to what he was good at in order to better attack his opponent. Bubble King was renowned as the most unpredictable participant of the mecha battle competition, so Tang Wulin wasn''t going to rush nor allow complacency to set in.


    His spear struck the bubble, and the latter caved in, but it was extremely flexible and supple. One had to realize that Tang Wulin had unleashed his spear thrust after charging forward with his mecha. Even though he hadn''t used any soul skills to bolster it, the momentum of his mecha still made this an extremely powerful attack. However, the bubble was able to display astonishing defensive capabilities.


    Not only that, but an even more peculiar turn of events unfolded immediately thereafter. As soon as the bubble was struck by the spear, it adhered to the spear, and as Tang Wulin controlled his own mecha to rush off to the side, the bubble instantly began to elongate as it was being drawn toward the spear.


    All of a sudden, a faint light flashed from Bubble King''s mecha, and the massive bubble completely detached itself from his mecha. It then followed Tang Wulin''s mecha and extended along Tang Wulin''s spear, quickly attempting to encompass his mecha.


    It didn''t take a genius to figure out that being enshrouded within this bubble definitely wouldn''t be good news. During Bubble King''s previous battles, all of his opponents who had been caught in his bubbles suffered quick losses.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred in response to this sudden development. The best way to deal with the current situation was to abandon his spear to break off his connection with the bubble. However, he didn''t immediately do that.


    The spear in his hand shuddered, and immediately thereafter, a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines emerged from the gaps on his mecha, forming a series of brand new spears that forcibly kept the bubble away, preventing it from approaching his mecha.


    The Bluesilver Emperor vines were quickly elongating, and the bubble was quite gigantic, but its diameter couldn''t compare with the length of the Bluesilver Emperor vines in the end. Thus, Bluesilver Emperor vines managed to keep the bubble away to the side of the mecha.


    However, it was also right at this moment that the massive bubble suddenly began to turn red.


    This was a very short process that only lasted for seemingly the blink of an eye, and in the next instant, the bubble exploded. A violent boom rang out as powerful shockwaves surged through the air, crashing directly into Tang Wulin''s mecha. The mecha was immediately sent flying to the side while its protective barrier flashed erratically.


    Applause and cheers finally began to ring out from the spectator stands. Perhaps they were cheering for Tang Wulin''s handling of the situation or perhaps for Bubble King''s outlandish battle style.


    The Bluesilver Emperor vines reared up in all directions from the explosion, but it had to be said that the caliber of the Bluesilver Emperor could already compare with that of the most powerful martial souls; even in the face of the such a violent explosion, the vines remained completely unscathed.


    Everything had taken place in a very short time. All the spectators saw was the two mechas pass by one another, following which Bubble King passed on a massive bubble to Tang Wulin. After that, the bubble exploded, and Tang Wulin''s mecha was sent flying as a result.


    At this point, Bubble King''s mecha had already turned around, and an identical bubble appeared around its body. At the same time, the mecha''s propeller was activated, and it rushed directly toward Tang Wulin''s mecha. Furthermore, it seemed as if he were aiming to crash directly into his opponent.


    Following that previous clash, Tang Wulin was very cautious, but also quite intrigued. As expected, this Bubble King''s abilities really were quite extraordinary. Those bubbles were made from an unknown substance, and they possessed both offensive and defensive prowess, as well as a certain degree of controlling ability.


    If he had been enveloped within the bubble before it was detonated, then it definitely wouldn''t have been as easy to withstand that attack. He was very curious about this strange martial soul, and he was further convinced of the notion that there were definitely no slouches in the semifinals. Furthermore, from the soul power fluctuations that Bubble King had released during this battle, Tang Wulin could sense that he was most likely an eight-ring Soul Douluo.


    He really was an extremely powerful mecha pilot; it was no wonder that even Ling Wuyue had lost to him.


    As opposed to taking evasive measures to avoid his oncoming opponent, Tang Wulin decided to return the favor by showing Bubble King the power of his martial soul.


    The dispersed Bluesilver Emperor vines converged, and just as his opponent was about to reach him, he unleashed his Bluesilver Impaling Array. A vast expanse of Bluesilver Emperor vines abruptly erupted, not just from the ground, but also from Tang Wulin''s mecha. These Bluesilver Emperor vines hurtled directly toward Bubble King''s mecha like sharp spears.


    Bubble King reacted extremely quickly. In the instant that the Bluesilver Emperor vines appeared, his mecha abruptly changed directions, taking virtually a 90-degree turn to fly directly upward.


    One had to realize that this maneuver completely defied the laws of physics, and under normal circumstances, with the tolerance capacity of these generic mechas, that maneuver would''ve definitely damaged its joints.


    However, Bubble King had pulled this off, and he made it look very easy.


    Was this due to the buoyancy of his bubbles? Tang Wulin almost instantly formulated this theory.

 Chapter 1069: The Powerful Bubble King

    His Bluesilver Impaling Array struck empty air, and at the same time, light flashed from Bubble King''s mecha. The massive bubble detached itself from its body, hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin like a gargantuan soul bomb. Tang Wulin could clearly see that one bubble after another was being produced within the huge bubble, and these bubbles were constantly expanding before fusing with the original outermost bubble. The massive bubble then began to turn red.


    This thing really was being used as a soul bomb!


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before raising the left arm of his mecha, and a burst of golden light appeared as his Golden Dragon Spear emerged in the mecha''s grasp before being hurled forth without any hesitation.


    He had to pop that bubble!


    The Golden Dragon Spear flew through the air like a bolt of golden lightning, and as it passed through the bubble, a string of loud booms rang out in rapid succession in its wake.


    Tang Wulin could see one layer of bubble explode after another, and resulting shockwaves proliferated outward, encompassing close to half of the competition platform. He was situated quite far away from the epicenter of the explosion, but his mecha was still sent flying through the air, and he could imagine just how fearsome that bubble would''ve been had it landed on his mecha.


    However, before the residual shockwaves of the explosions had completely died down, Bubble King''s mecha appeared soundlessly in front of Tang Wulin once again, and it had done so in a very bizarre manner.


    In the wake of the explosions, Bubble King''s mecha had hurtled down toward the ground within a giant bubble in order to evade the shockwaves. As soon as the bubble landed on the ground, it sprang up like a gigantic rubber ball, propelling it up into the air around twice as fast as when it had crashed into the ground, thereby immediately launching it toward Tang Wulin.


    Thus, the huge bubble quickly expanded in Tang Wulin''s field of view as it approached him, and he was quite stunned by the versatility of his opponent''s bubbles.


    A serious expression appeared on his face as he thrust his spear forward, and a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines wound themselves around his spear. At the same time, a tremendous burst of spear intent also erupted forth. He wasn''t taking any evasive measures, and he didn''t even seem to be afraid of being enveloped by the bubble; he was merely thrusting his spear forward with unstoppable force.


    The two instantly collided, and the spearhead plunged into the bubble, causing it to cave in. The bubble immediately tried to engulf Tang Wulin''s mecha, but it was kept at bay by a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines. Meanwhile, a spear projection erupted from the tip of Tang Wulin''s spear to try and forcibly pop the bubble.


    Another bubble was released from Bubble King''s body, fusing with the outermost bubble from the inside, and the two mechas were situated extremely close to one another, separated only by two layers of bubbles.


    Tang Wulin''s spear jolted as a thunderous roar of fury abruptly erupted from within Tang Wulin''s mecha. A huge golden dragon head surged forth from his mecha''s chest, letting loose an almighty roar and creating powerful soundwaves that sent ripples running along the surface of the outermost bubble.


    Bubble King''s mecha clearly faltered momentarily, and the spear projection was finally able to pierce through the two layers of bubbles before thrusting directly toward the pilot room on the opposing mecha''s chest.


    As the golden dragon head let loose that ferocious roar, Tang Wulin''s mecha also began to emit a buzzing sound. The generic mecha''s spear was unable to withstand his explosive power, and it abruptly shattered, but the spear projection formed by the spear still existed, and it instantly reached Bubble King''s chest.


    "Thump!" Bubble King''s mecha was completely punctured by the devastating force behind the spear projection, but a peculiar scene then ensued.


    The punctured area suddenly took on a pink color before beginning to squirm violently. At the same, Bubble King suddenly activated the propeller on his mecha''s back, abruptly launching his mecha forward to crash into Tang Wulin''s mecha.


    The force of the impact completely shattered the protective barrier around Tang Wulin''s mecha, and immediately thereafter, a series of bubbles enveloped his mecha before quickly turning red, then unleashing a string of explosions before his Bluesilver Emperor had a chance to push them away.


    In the blink of an eye, the tables had turned twice, and the spectators had no idea who was on top.


    Tang Wulin activated his soul power with all his might, and both his soul core and dragon core were pumping energy at a supramaximal rate. All of his soul power was being used to defend his mecha while his Bluesilver Emperor vines created a makeshift suit of armor around his mecha to withstand the string of explosions.


    The spectators didn''t know who had gained the upper hand, but Tang Wulin was well aware of the fact that he had come off second-best following that clash.


    In the instant that his spear projection had punctured Bubble King''s mecha, he had already sensed that something was wrong. Not only had he used his Golden Dragon Roar in his last attack, he had even unleashed his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion at at the same time. However, as his spear projection pierced through the opposing mecha, he felt as if it had plunged into something extremely viscous and rubbery, kind of like a completely solid and filled-in bubble. Even the vibrational force that had been imbued into his spear projection quickly dissipated after it had pierced into that viscous substance, and immediately thereafter, Bubble King had launched his counterattack.


    This was his martial soul! Tang Wulin was convinced that this was definitely the effect of his opponent''s martial soul true body. Bubble King had used his martial soul true body to defend himself, then retaliated by sending Tang Wulin flying before attacking him with a string of bubbles. What a troublesome opponent!


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin was feeling stumped by an opponent in the mecha battle discipline. Not only did his martial soul possess both offensive and defensive prowess, it even had control abilities and was immune to physical attacks. This was an insanely powerful martial soul! His bubbles were like rubber balls, and the more power he exerted into them, the stronger the rebound force was. This was like an invincible martial soul!


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin recalled a lesson that Wu Zhangkong had once taught him.


    There were no invincible martial souls in this world; every single martial soul had its strengths and weaknesses, and it was often the case that the more powerful a martial was, the more fatal its weakness would be.


    Wu Zhangkong''s words had been verified over and over again through Tang Wulin''s cultivation, and it applied to himself as well.


    His Bluesilver Grass had many flaws, and it was far from a powerful martial soul. Even after being upgraded to become the Bluesilver Emperor, it was still lacking in offensive power. As for his Golden Dragon King? It appeared to be an extremely powerful bloodline, but it was bestowed upon him by the 18 seals, which were like ticking time bombs within his body.


    Similarly, Dragon King Long Yue had been a virtually insurmountable opponent to Tang Wulin and the others in the past, but he also had his own set of problems to deal with. The mental instability brought to him by his Mountain Dragon King martial soul made him constantly prone to being reduced to a brainless killing machine, so he didn''t dare to use too much of his power.


    As such, this Bubble King also had to have a weakness; he just had to find it.


    The most important lesson that Tang Wulin had learned on the demonic island was the importance of being able to remain calm no matter what kind of perilous situation he was in. The more he panicked, the worse the situation would become. Only by remaining calm could he make the best decisions and give himself a chance to turn the tables.


    It was exactly this mental state that allowed Tang Wulin to remain calm, even though he was expending a vast amount of soul power and sustaining damage to his mecha in the face of his opponent''s exploding bubbles. He was still calm and collected, and searching for his opponent''s weakness.


    After unleashing that string of bubbles, Bubble King''s mecha also paused momentarily before landing on the ground, seemingly waiting for something.


    In reality, he hadn''t emerged completely unscathed after taking that spear strike from Tang Wulin.


    Even though his martial soul true body had allowed him to avoid being killed on the spot, the Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion imbued within the spear projection had still shaken him violently and inflicted a lot of damage on him. He had still underestimated Tang Wulin, and it simply didn''t occur to him that Tang Wulin would be able to pierce through his dual layer of defenses. In reality, his second bubble was different from the first one in that it possessed the greatest defensive prowess among all of his soul skills. Even so, it was still unable to block Tang Wulin''s attack, and the connotations behind this were quite apparent.


    Thankfully, he was able to turn the tables through the use of his martial soul true body, but he wasn''t sure if his opponent would be able to survive that string of bubble explosions.


    Under normal circumstances, the result of this battle would be nothing more than an afterthought. In the face of his exploding bubbles, it wouldn''t be a surprise to him even if his opponent''s generic mecha were reduced to dust. However, this was a mecha pilot who had made it into the semifinals, so he definitely couldn''t be judged by normal standards. He had sensed an extremely vicious and overbearing aura within his opponent''s spear intent projection, and if it weren''t for his fast reactions, this battle would have already concluded. In the face of such an opponent, how could he not be cautious and wary?

 Chapter 1070: Impervious

    Right at this moment, the violent explosions were finally beginning to die down, and Tang Wulin''s mecha crashed down onto the ground with a resounding boom near the edge of the competition platform.


    The Bluesilver Emperor vines around the mecha had already been charred black, making them resemble the blackened skin of a roasted potato.


    However, these Bluesilver Emperor vines were then withdrawn into the mecha, and in the process, they shed what appeared to be layers of black skin. The light emanating from them had clearly dimmed significantly, but the attacks hadn''t been enough to destroy those vines.


    However, Tang Wulin''s mecha was currently in quite a sorry state. Its left arm had already been completely destroyed, and its protective barrier was non-existent. There were many damaged areas all over the mecha, and there were even some swaying parts. Erratic light flashed from the unstable circuits of the mecha, and it looked as if it could explode at any moment.


    Bubble King sat within the pilot room of his mecha with his eyes slightly narrowed.


    Is it still not over? Can you still take more of my attacks? How many more attacks can you withstand?


    He was a rank 87 Soul Douluo, so there most likely weren''t many participants in the entire Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition with cultivation ranks that outstripped his.


    His propeller was activated, and his mecha quickly rose up into the air before hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin. At the same time, another massive bubble materialized around the mecha.


    Right at this moment, a voice that was intentionally being made to sound deeper than normal rang out from within the opposing mecha. "What is the weakness of your martial soul?" Just that one sentence caused Bubble King''s mecha to falter slightly.


    "Let''s hypothesize that your martial soul has no weakness. In that case, you would''ve also entered the Soul Master battle discipline and swept the competition there as well, so what are you afraid of? Perhaps you''re already used to using a mecha to protect yourself, and that would indicate that your powerful martial soul has a very fatal weakness. In the real world, you''ve been using your mecha to mask that weakness, so you''re an exceptional mecha pilot, but nowhere near as outstanding a Soul Master and battle armor master, is that correct?"


    Tang Wulin''s voice continued to ring out, and Bubble King''s mecha slowed down further and further in as it flew through the air.


    "So what is your weakness? It must be something that''s very fatal and easy to discover. Otherwise, you wouldn''t be so fearful and sensitive. Let me guess; your bubbles are kind of like rubber balls in a way. Rubber is impervious to water, and possessed great defensive properties as well as exceptional elasticity. You can even use it as a bomb, so it''s extremely versatile and combines both attack and defense into one. However, I believe it must have a fatal weakness. Rubber may be impervious to water, but what about fire?"


    When Tang Wulin uttered that final word, Bubble King''s mecha clearly faltered, and it even swayed slightly in mid-air.


    Fire! That''s right, rubber was susceptible to fire, so it was very likely that his bubbles were also weak to fire. This Bubble King was indeed very powerful and also possessed an extremely outlandish battle style, but what if his bubbles possessed the same weakness as rubber did?


    Tang Wulin hadn''t deduced all of this from the very beginning. Instead, he had rapidly analyzed the situation and was articulating his words to buy himself time to think.


    As he followed this train of thought and articulated his line of thinking, his eyes lit up further and further. That''s right, rubber was susceptible to fire, so it was very likely that fire was his martial soul''s weakness!


    As expected, Bubble King''s mecha had faltered slightly, clearly indicating that he had been affected by this analysis.


    However, right at this moment, Bubble King''s voice rang out from within his mecha. "How naive! If you have fire attribute abilities, you can give them a try!"


    Another bubble emerged around his mecha as he spoke, and he flew directly toward Tang Wulin again.


    Did Tang Wulin have any fire abilities? Of course not. His Golden Dragon King power could only manifest light that was similar to flames, but it wasn''t actual fire. However, just because he didn''t have any fire didn''t mean that he couldn''t procure it from alternative sources.


    A burst of black light suddenly expanded in front of Tang Wulin''s mecha, and it instantly towered over his generic mecha. As soon as the gigantic figure appeared, all of the spectators erupted into a frenzy.


    That thing was way too massive! Only the extremely few people who had watched Tang Wulin''s matches in the western competition region were aware that he could summon such a thing.


    The gargantuan creature was over 70 meters tall, and it was gently flapping a pair of disproportionately tiny wings on its back. It opened its cavernous mouth before blasting forth a burst of scorching flames directly toward the oncoming bubble.


    The bubble abruptly stopped in the face of the burst of flames.


    Just as Tang Wulin was hoping that the bubble would melt in the face of his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit''s flames, light suddenly flashed before the bubble abruptly accelerated. It then enveloped the Tyrant Dragon''s dragon''s head before quickly turning red and exploding violently.


    The Tyrant Dragon''s massive body stumbled backward a couple of steps in the aftermath of the explosion, and it was shaking its huge head vigorously as if it were a little dizzy.


    The bubbles weren''t susceptible to fire?


    The Tyrant Dragon had blocked the attack for Tang Wulin, but it also proved that his theory had been incorrect; Bubble King''s martial soul wasn''t susceptible to fire! It was truly impervious!


    How was this possible? Could it really be that it possessed no weaknesses? That simply didn''t make any sense!


    At this point, Bubble King had already released a second bubble, immediately followed by a third. One of the bubbles flew toward the Tyrant Dragon while the other flew toward Tang Wulin. Both of them were flying through the air on curved trajectories, and his control was quite exemplary.


    No, there had to be a weakness.


    Tang Wulin forced his own mecha to rise to its feet, then hurled his Golden Dragon Spear through the air to puncture the oncoming bubble.


    But if neither fire nor water was the answer, then what could this weakness be?


    Bubble King didn''t care what Tang Wulin was thinking. In his current martial soul true body state, his bubbles had become extremely powerful, and he released another bubble, which was quickly expanding around him.


    Tang Wulin summoned his Golden Dragon Spear back to himself before appraising Bubble King''s mecha with rapt focus.


    After the Tyrant Dragon warded off the second bubble, it abruptly stepped forward before charging directly toward Bubble King''s mecha, using its own massive body to attack it. It had already raised its huge tail, and even with Bubble King''s immense defensive prowess, he definitely wouldn''t enjoy being struck by a whip from that tail. This was a being that was truly like a Great Beast!


    He released another bubble, and at this moment, Tang Wulin was carefully observing his every move. He suddenly discovered that prior to Bubble King''s bubbles being released, there was clearly some kind of light shimmering within the bubbles. Even though the light was very faint, Tang Wulin still managed to catch sight of it for an instant.


    What was that? Was he injecting his soul skills into these bubbles? Just what was he so afraid of and trying so desperately to hide?


    He was situated within the mecha, so he couldn''t be seen from the outside. Could it be that he was trying to hide his appearance as he released his soul skills? Did that mean that his weakness only emerged when he was releasing his soul skills?


    With that in mind, a thought suddenly occurred to Tang Wulin.


    Perhaps it was...


    He hurled his Golden Dragon Spear through the air again, but in contrast with the previous bubbles, this one was extremely sticky; his Golden Dragon Spear managed to pierce through it, but it was also trapped within it. The bubble then descended onto the ground, and the Golden Dragon Spear was unable to break free in a short time, thereby rendering Tang Wulin completely weaponless.


    In the eyes of the spectators, Tang Wulin had lost his weapon and was like a vulnerable lamb who was completely at Bubble King''s mercy.

 Chapter 1071: Bubble Kings Weakness

    However, right at this moment, a faint smile suddenly appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he sat within his mecha''s pilot room. Even if anyone could see the smile that was currently on his face, they wouldn''t be able to comprehend it.


    "This next attack will spell the end for you!" The Tyrant Dragon had already reached Bubble King, yet he remained completely unflustered as the propeller on his mecha''s back was activated, abruptly sending it flying upward. It completed an exquisite evasive maneuver up above, and the maneuver had been completed so quickly that the spectators almost lost sight of him for an instant.


    Were these maneuvers really possible for a generic mecha to perform? It was undoubtedly the case that this had exceeded the limits of generic mecha. However, if one were to look closely, they''d discover that a rubbery substance of the same color as his bubbles had appeared over all of the joints of his mecha, and that substance had clearly fortified the generic mecha, allowing it to perform maneuvers that would''ve been far too strenuous to complete otherwise.


    The bubble that Bubble King had released expanded even further. At this point, even if Tang Wulin could still somehow withstand his attack, he was still firmly on the back foot and could only passively defend himself.


    However, just as the massive bubble was about to be released, Bubble King''s mecha suddenly faltered in mid-air. The pause was extremely abrupt, to the extent that even the spectators were momentarily rooted to the spot.


    Immediately thereafter, the bubble around him began to turn red.


    What was happening? Why was he making the bubble turn red so quickly? Didn''t this mean that it was going to explode? At this point, virtually all of the spectators had identified the abilities that the colors of the bubbles corresponded to, but they were completely perplexed about why Bubble King was choosing to detonate his own bubble prior to releasing it!


    Before the spectators had a chance to react, a resounding boom had already rung out, and the huge bubble exploded!


    What was going on? Had Bubble King just committed suicide?


    All of the spectators were completely flabbergasted. Bubble King''s mecha had released its protective barrier, but the barrier of a generic mecha was no match for such a devastating explosion, and the mecha was instantly reduced to a ball of fire.


    Immediately thereafter, a gigantic tail that was shimmering with dark golden light swept through the air, instantly sending the fireball flying, and as it hurtled through the air a string of loud explosions erupted.


    "The victory goes to Number 66!"


    He won?


    Who would''ve thought that the match would conclude under such farcical circumstances just as Bubble King had seized an absolute advantage?


    It appeared as if Bubble King had committed suicide while his opponent was completely at his mercy...


    Tang Wulin''s mecha slowly stood up, and the gargantuan Tyrant Dragon stood beside the mecha, looking extremely intimidating. Despite the spectators'' confusion, Tang Wulin was well aware of how he had secured that victory.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he sat within the pilot room. As expected, there was a weakness, after all...


    Just as Bubble King was about to unleash his final full-frontal attack, a possibility suddenly occurred to Tang Wulin.


    His bubbles may have been impervious to water and fire, and possessed exemplary defensive and offensive prowess, but he still felt the need to hide something. As such, the thing that he was hiding had to be a fatal weakness. As such, a notion occurred to him; it was quite possible that these seemingly impervious bubbles were unable to keep out one type of energy, and that was spiritual power.


    That''s right, it was spiritual power. Whenever Bubble King released a bubble, lights of different colors would flash within those bubbles, and that was most likely the process of different soul skills being injected into the bubbles.


    This meant that the basic bubbles were most likely all the same, and they only attained different abilities after the soul skills were injected into them. In that case, it was very likely that his weakness emerged whenever he was injecting his soul skill into his bubbles, and he was trying to hide this process by concealing himself within a mecha.


    There was also another possibility; the bubbles themselves may not be stable enough on their own, and he had to forcibly exert control over them in order to make them truly effective for battle. Under these circumstances, the first thing Tang Wulin thought of was that his opponent could possess a spiritual weakness, which meant that if he were to be disrupted on a spiritual level, something would most likely go wrong.


    Not all Soul Masters possessed spiritual offensive abilities, and spirit attribute Soul Masters were extremely rare. However, don''t forget that the Tang Sect had the Purple Demon Eyes. Not only was this a great technique for cultivating one''s spiritual power, it could also unleash a spiritual attack. The more abundant one''s spiritual power was, the more effective the Purple Demon Eyes would be.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power was already close to the Spirit Domain realm, which was undoubtedly an extremely high level, and even among Titled Douluos, there were very few who could match him in this regard. As such, his Purple Demon Eyes were naturally devastatingly powerful. Thus, he decided to experiment with a spiritual attack right as his opponent was releasing a soul skill, and it turned out that he was right.


    The spiritual disruption caused Bubble King to lose control over his bubble for a short time, and that was all that was required for it to explode. As such, Bubble King had essentially fallen on his own sword.


    Even so, Tang Wulin still had a lot of admiration for his opponent. Even though he had been defeated, there was no way that he would be piloting a generic mecha in real life, and as long as his mecha in the real world possessed powerful spiritual defensive prowess, then he really would be presenting a near-invincible package.


    It was no wonder that he had chosen to become a mecha pilot when it was very likely that he wasn''t even a battle armor master; this was the underlying secret.


    In any case, this Bubble King would definitely be considered to be one of the most powerful mechas pilots in the real world.


    Compared to the frustrating and inexplicable victory he''d secured over Sima Jinchi, this one made a lot more sense as he at least knew how he had won.


    However, there was more admiration than excitement in his heart. During this competition, he had witnessed the abilities of many powerful beings, and the experience had shown him that this world was filled with beings with unimaginable powers. He had witnessed so many strange martial souls, soul skills, and battle styles, and this had greatly broadened his horizons. Furthermore, this experience had improved his practical combat experience far more so than in his past cultivation.


    As such, Tang Wulin was genuinely grateful toward Blood One for assigning him this mission.


    Now, Tang Wulin could say with confidence that he was Blood Nine of the Blood God Battalion. He had made it into the grand final of both the mecha battle and Soul Master battle disciplines, and he knew that his cover had most likely already been blown.


    After he unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar, there were surely some keen-eyed spectators who had identified the fact that many of his abilities overlapped with those of Golden Dragon King.


    He had made it into the grand final of both disciplines, and it could already be said that he was the true overall champion of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition.


    Tang Wulin didn''t pay much attention to the spectators'' cries of surprise and expressions of befuddlement. He left the Star Cabin, and the first thing that he did was take a hot shower.


    Even though the Star Battle Net was only a simulated world, the sticky sensation that Tang Wulin had experienced from Bubble King''s bubbles was still very unpleasant, and he felt a lot better after taking a shower.


    His semifinal opponents were already this difficult to deal with; what challenges would he face in the grand final?


    It had been a very long time since Tang Wulin had looked forward to something as much as he was looking forward to this. He was truly filled with anticipation for the grand final matches!


    He wasn''t even thinking about whether he would be able to become the final champion. In comparison, being able to fight these powerful opponents brought him even more joy than becoming the champion, and this was a path that he had to take.


    He didn''t meditate as he had won this battle more so with his own intelligence. In reality, he still had many trump cards he hadn''t used, and he only unleashed a small number of his soul skills.


    As such, even if he hadn''t found Bubble King''s fatal weakness, it was still far from certain that he would''ve lost that match. However, being able to defeat a powerful opponent with his intelligence was still very satisfying to him.


    After exiting his dormitory room, he didn''t go to the resting area. There were simply far too many people there. Almost everyone in the legion knew of him now, and he could no longer find the peace and quiet that he sought in the cafe.


    Thus, Tang Wulin arrived in his forging workshop instead.


    It had been quite a few days since he''d last visited his workshop. He had been constantly busying himself with preparing for the finals recently, and as soon as he caught sight of his familiar forging bench, a scorching sensation immediately welled up in his heart.


    Following the conclusion of the competition, he was going to be very busy. Firstly, he was going to prepare the metals required for his suit of three-word battle armor, at least to a basic level. On top of that, he had to construct a black mecha that was suitable for himself with the best materials possible.


    The mecha battle competition and Ling Wuyue''s instructions had made him develop a strong sense of fascination toward mechas, and besides, there was no conflict between being a battle armor master and a mecha pilot! Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case in the generic mechas supplied by the Star Battle Net as there wasn''t enough space in there after he donned his suit of battle armor.

 Chapter 1072: Irregular Disturbance

    However, the situation would be completely different when it came to a mecha crafted by himself. If he could possess a black mecha that was perfectly suited to him, then his battle stamina and combat prowess would definitely both reach a whole new level.


    He had already set a goal for himself; he was going to progress steadily in his soul power, striving to reach the Soul Sage level as soon as possible. At the same time, he was going to prepare the materials required for his suit of three-word battle armor as quickly as he could, then dedicate all of his efforts to crafting a mecha for himself.


    After doing all that, he would finally have developed a certain foundation and could begin to prepare for the rebuild of Shrek Academy. After that, he had to visit his friends to give them their 100,000-year-old soul spirits to elevate the overall powers of Shrek''s Seven Monster so that everyone would have more influence in the military.


    Of course, that was still far from enough. All seven of them had to become Titled Douluos, and only then would they truly have some speaking rights in the Soul Master world, as well as in the military and the federal parliament.


    They were going to face stern opposition in their endeavor to rebuild Shrek Academy, and the most powerful of those opponents were most likely going to be the federal parliament and the Spirit Pagoda!


    Never had Tang Wulin been under the impression that he would be able to do everything on his own. He had to recruit more help; if he wanted to stand at the pinnacle of the entire continent, he had to develop his own forces, and that would require time to accumulate.


    Following the time he''d spent at the Blood God Legion thus far, the lust for vengeance in his heart had condensed. He was less fixated on doing things quickly and had learned to see the bigger picture.


    He wasn''t alone, after all; he still had his friends and the support of the Tang Sect, and what he had to do was use all of the resources at his disposal to make himself more powerful.


    Soon, a rhythmic tapping akin to that of rain falling on a banana leaf rang out from within his forging room, and the sound was very pleasant to the ears.


    By immersing himself in his forging, Tang Wulin''s heart entered a completely calm and placid state.


    ¡­¡­


    "He made it into the grand final of both disciplines? That truly is an incredible feat!" Zhang Huanyun wore a rather peculiar look on his face, and he felt as if his heart were dripping blood! Why hadn''t he insisted on taking Tang Wulin under his wing earlier? Perhaps he could''ve had a chance!


    At the time, Tang Wulin had technically "attacked" him, and if he refused to drop those charges, even Cao Dezhi wouldn''t have been able to protect him. He could only blame himself for being too easygoing.


    Zhang Huanyun watched the footage of the match between Tang Wulin and Bubble King three times, heaving internal sighs the entire time.


    "You''re becoming more and more convinced by my judgment, right?" A slightly gloating voice suddenly sounded from beside him.


    Zhang Huanyun grumbled, "Do you not know how to knock?"


    "We''re such close friends; knocking would be creating distance between us, wouldn''t it?" A man had suddenly appeared in the chair on the other side of his desk, and it was none other than the Blood One that he had just been cursing in his mind.


    "What''s your plan?" Zhang Huanyun asked as he appraised Cao Dezhi with an intense gaze.


    Cao Dezhi chuckled, "You sure are good at sniffing out these things! I came to find you to discuss this matter. I know your petty mind is thinking about trying to take him away from me, but set that aside for now, and let''s discuss the feasibility of my plan. After watching his recent match footage, I feel like he''s getting closer and closer to reaching maturity, and he''s performed even more exceptionally than I imagined. It has to be said that Shrek Academy possesses foresight that''s superior to ours!"


    Zhang Huanyun harrumphed, "Of course! Shrek Academy has been the number one academy on the continent for over 20,000 years. Even over 20,000 years ago, their academy mantra was that they only accepted monsters and no ordinary people; of course we can''t match them when it comes to selecting talents. Come to think of it, your Tang Sect has also been around for 20,000 years, right? It''s somewhat interconnected with Shrek Academy, so why isn''t your sect nurturing these freakish talents?"


    Cao Dezhi grumbled, "I''m not here to bicker with you! I''m going to tell you my plan, and you can tell me if I''ve missed any details."


    ¡­¡­


    Within the abyssal passageway.


    "Thump, thump, thump!" Faint booms were ringing out within the passageway.


    Jiang Wuyue''s brows furrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward the passageway, only to find that there was nothing there. He turned toward his vice-battalion commander, and asked, "Have you investigated that region?"


    "We''ve already conducted an exhaustive investigation with our devices, but we didn''t detect any auras of abyssal creatures. With our newest detection equipment, even Possession Demons wouldn''t be able to escape our detection, so I can verify that there are definitely no abyssal creatures, at least not on our end."


    "Lub-dub, lud-dub, lub-dub!"


    "Then where is that noise coming from?" Jiang Wuyue was rather displeased.


    A wry smile appeared on his deputy''s face. "I don''t know. We''ve already investigated all of the passageways, and the results have all been the same; there are no signs or traces of any abyssal creatures. Don''t be too uptight, Battalion Commander; the abyssal tide has just concluded recently. According to the precedents set in the past several thousand years, there won''t be any large-scale attacks from the abyssal plane for at least two or three more decades. The recently concluded abyssal tide wasn''t as ferocious as we expected, so the abyssal creatures wouldn''t have suffered very heavy losses, but at the very least, they shouldn''t be able to attack us for at least a year or two."


    "I certainly hope that''s the case. It''s just that I''ve been feeling rather uneasy lately. In any case, all of you keep your eyes peeled; we can''t let anything happen while we''re on duty here, understood?"


    "Yes!"


    After issuing some instructions to his subordinates, Jiang Wuyue was feeling slightly more at ease. He was feeling quite cautious, perhaps because there had been a lot of pressure on him recently. This wasn''t the first time that strange sounds had appeared in the abyssal passageway, so if the investigation yielded no results, then it most likely wasn''t a big deal.


    On the thought of the recent pressure he''d been facing, a sense of anger immediately welled up in his heart. All of this pressure stemmed from none other than Tang Wulin! This guy was way too insane!


    He should be participating in the semifinals of the mecha battle competition now, right? Please lose!


    If he were to progress to the grand final in both disciplines, then Jiang Wuyue would be extremely disheartened.


    Back in the day, he was once an idol figure that the younger generation of the Blood God Legion looked up to, but with the arrival of Tang Wulin, he was immediately discarded like an old rag!


    What was even more frustrating to him was that Long Yuxue was still just as cold toward him as ever. She had clearly already given up on Tang Wulin, but she still refused to give him a chance. Even his sister couldn''t help him in this regard, and she was constantly scolding him for having a low EQ.


    How did he have a low EQ? He wasn''t very good with words, but was that a crime? Jiang Wuyue was feeling quite frustrated, but he couldn''t do anything about this situation. After this round of guard duty, he was going to confront Yuxue and tell her his feelings no matter what.


    He had already prepared himself to confess, then borderline harass her until she agreed. He was going to put everything on the line!


    The abyssal passageway fell silent again. No signs of abyssal creatures were detected in the 36 branches of the passageway, but the main passageway that had been sealed for countless years seemed to be trembling slightly amid the faint thudding noise...


    ¡­¡­


    After returning to his dormitory room from his forging workshop, Tang Wulin was feeling as light as a feather, and this feeling came from expressing himself to his heart''s content. Every hammer blow that he struck during the forging process allowed him to vent some of his frustrations, clearing his mind and calming his heart.


    After returning to his dormitory room, he was surprised to discover that even though he''d only participated in two semifinal matches, he could clearly sense that his spiritual power had increased once again.


    As expected, pressure was the best catalyst for improvement. Not only had his spiritual power improved, his Golden Dragon Spear had also undergone a transformation.

 Chapter 1073: The Sharpened Dragon Spear

    Following his battle against Sima Jinchi, this feeling hadn''t been very pronounced, but he immediately sensed that something was amiss following his battle against Bubble King the day before.


    His Golden Dragon Spear seemed to have undergone a subtle transformation. In the beginning, he couldn''t quite put his finger on what kind of transformation this was; all he could feel was that the Golden Dragon Spear seemed to be different somehow. Following his forging session, he had entered a tranquil state, and thus, he was able to identify just how it had changed.


    The Golden Dragon Spear had become sharper. Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber had clearly benefited immensely from the stimulus provided by his Golden Dragon Spear, but what about his Golden Dragon Spear? What had it gained from that battle?


    Only after some careful inspection did he gradually realize that the Dragonslaying Saber had been like a whetstone for his Golden Dragon Spear. Following every single clash, his Golden Dragon Spear became sharper, and it was truly coming into its own.


    He was able to penetrate Bubble King''s most powerful defenses, and that wasn''t just because he had used his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion; another contributing factor was that his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion had become sharper than before.


    In its current state, the Golden Dragon Spear was so sharp that one couldn''t help but tremble in the wake of its aura. Even his spear intent had combined to a greater extent with his Golden Dragon Spear, and the two were truly beginning to fuse as one.


    As it turned out, the Dragonslaying Saber and Golden Dragon Spear were a pair of symbiotic weapons that greatly benefitted one another, and this win-win situation naturally made him develop a very good impression of Sima Jinchi. If he ever got the opportunity to do so, he really wanted to meet Sima Jinchi in real life.


    His Golden Dragon Spear was a divine weapon, and anything that could improve a divine weapon was an extremely rare and brilliant opportunity. Unfortunately for him, Sima Jinchi was all the way over at the Southern Legion, so he didn''t have time to go and seek him out.


    Perhaps if he had enough time following the conclusion of the competition, he could apply for some leave with Blood One and take Gu Yue to visit the Southern Legion. He would also be able to see how Zhengyu and Xiaoyan were going as well.


    Wait a minute! Tang Wulin''s body suddenly shuddered.


    The clash between his Golden Dragon Spear and Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber had taken place in the Star Battle Net. No one could take anything out of the Star Battle Net aside from battle experience, so how had his Golden Dragon Spear become sharper in real life? That didn''t make sense!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly. It was undoubtedly the case that facing the Dragonslaying Saber had allowed him to glean some of the secrets of his Golden Dragon Spear, and those secrets could very likely impact just how powerful his Golden Dragon Spear was going to become in the future.


    It could be said that the Golden Dragon Spear was a part of his powers, and it was a very prominent part. If Tang Wulin were the Golden Dragon King, then the Golden Dragon Spear would be the fangs of the Golden Dragon King.


    The sharper the fangs were, the more fearsome the Golden Dragon King''s offensive prowess would be. But just how had the Dragonslaying Saber managed to sharpen the Golden Dragon Spear?


    Indeed, Tang Wulin was already convinced that the improvement his Golden Dragon Spear had made stemmed from the Dragonslaying Saber, but he had no idea about the specific details behind this.


    It appeared that he would have to find a way to meet Sima Jinchi no matter what. If his Dragonslaying Saber were also a divine weapon, then he would definitely be able to figure out what had happened once the two divine weapons came into contact with one another in real life.


    After making that decision, Tang Wulin switched on the soul television in his room. He very rarely watched television, and as Blood Nine, his dormitory room appeared to be quite sparsely furnished, but all of the furniture that he had were of the highest quality. After flicking through a few channels, he quickly found what he was looking for.


    At the center of the soul screen was a massive sports stadium, and not long after this, the countdown from five commenced.


    Tang Wulin was undoubtedly very familiar with this countdown. That''s right, he was watching the live broadcast of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition.


    This was a Soul Master battle, and the two participants were appraising one another from afar.


    One of them was extremely tall and broad with a musclebound body. The Star Battle Net made it impossible for one to glean the facial features of the participants, but his bulging muscles were quite clear for everyone to see. This man''s figure was definitely extremely rare among normal people. He was over 250cm tall, and his shoulders were at least twice as wide as those of the average person. His arms were completely bare, and the muscles on them were downright terrifying. A series of snake-like blood vessels were visible under the surface of his skin, presenting a rather harrowing sight to behold.


    Following the conclusion of the countdown, his hands abruptly balled up into tight fists, and spread his arms in a powerful motion, sending a massive shockwave erupting from his body.


    "Boom!"


    His entire body quickly expanded in size, and a layer of crimson color appeared over his skin. This wasn''t the color of crimson flames. Instead, it resembled the color of blood, and this only made him appear even more terrifying. A layer of fine patterns had also appeared over his crimson skin.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of these patterns, and golden light flashed through his pupils.


    This was a secret technique of the Body Sect!


    That''s right, he was able to immediately identify that this hulking mountain of a man was currently using a secret technique of the Body Sect.


    As a direct disciple of the Body Sect Master, how could he fail to recognize something like this?


    This was an extremely aggressive and powerful secret technique that required one to bathe in countless spirit items and spirit medicines. From the moment one was born, they had to bathe in a certain solution for 10 years.


    Don''t make the mistake of thinking that bathing in spirit items would be an enjoyable experience. On the contrary, it was far more painful and torturous than the average person could imagine, and one had to experience this as an infant, so the agony would only be even further compounded.


    This type of Body Sect secret technique was known as the congenital body refinement method, and it was even more powerful than the cultivation method Tang Wulin had adopted.


    It had already been too late for Tang Wulin to use the congenital body refinement method, so Mu Ye used the most difficult acquired secret technique on him. It did enhance his body significantly, but it was still nowhere near the level of enhancement one would receive from the congenital body refinement method.


    Not only was the congenital secret method extremely painful, the amount of resources required to facilitate it was quite staggering, even for a powerful sect like the Body Sect. It would take them around 100 years to gather a batch of spirit items required to enact this secret method once, and if the infant''s body were unable to handle the process or they possessed insufficient mental fortitude, then the secret technique would fail, and the child would perish, while the spirit medicines were completely wasted.


    This congenital secret method was also the reason behind the Body Sect''s steady decline. During the past 400 years, not even a single infant had managed to successfully endure this process. That was until this generation, where the secret method had finally been successfully implemented on the man on the screen.


    This was the senior disciple brother whom Tang Wulin had never met, and he was also Mu Ye''s disciple. He had cultivated the congenital secret technique of the Body Sect from birth, and he was the future hope of the Body Sect. The entire sect was hoping to see him recover the former glory of the Body Sect.


    Unfortunately with the inventions of battle armor, mechas, and all types of modern weapons, the powers of Soul Masters were no longer as important, and as such it would be very difficult for the Body Sect to make a resurgence on the back of one person. However, there was hope, at the very least.


    Mu Ye had once told Tang Wulin that when he had first taken Tang Wulin as his disciple, he was nurturing him to be the replacement for his senior disciple brother. If his senior disciple brother were to perish, at the very least, the Body Sect would still have a pure heir.


    The congenital secret method required one to bathe in spirit items for 10 years, and after that, they had to cultivate for more than 10 years to truly control their own body. If one could succeed, then they would automatically become the heir to the master of the Body Sect.


    Even though Tang Wulin''s senior disciple brother had succeeded, he had heard from Mu Ye that this hadn''t been a perfect success.


    He possessed extraordinary mental fortitude and aptitude, both of which were imperative to his success, but the only issue was that his brain didn''t seem to work that well. To put it in simpler terms, he was very gullible and had certain personality flaws.


    Mu Ye had asked Tang Wulin to look after this senior disciple brother of his if he were to ever go out into the world.


    It was undoubtedly the case that his senior disciple brother had successfully cultivated the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, and he was displaying an extremely high level of power.


    Tang Wulin was staring at the match taking place on the screen with rapt focus. He had to watch carefully as his senior disciple brother was most likely going to be his opponent in the grand final that was taking place the next day.


    That''s right, the grand final of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition was very likely going to be an internal Body Sect battle, and Tang Wulin knew that Mu Ye was most definitely in a very good mood right now.

 Chapter 1074: Crystalline Jade Qilin

    Even though Tang Wulin had been going to great lengths to conceal his abilities, those who were familiar with him would still be able to identify him, and his teacher was definitely no exception to this.


    Show me how powerful the congenital secret method of the Body Sect is, Senior Disciple Brother!


    On the screen in front of Tang Wulin, his senior disciple brother had already sprung into action. His hulking crimson figure advanced forward with a vicious aura emanating from his body, and every single step that he took was like a giant hammer blow on the competition platform, resulting in a string of violent booms.


    The name of Tang Wulin''s senior disciple brother was A''Ruheng, and there was a ferocious light shimmering within his flashing golden eyes. His aura was so powerful that it conjured up a massive humanoid projection behind him that was several dozens of meters tall.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had seen anyone else aside from himself with such enormous blood essence power. As expected of the only man to have successfully cultivated the Body Sect''s congenital secret method in the past several centuries! It could be said that A''Ruheng was a product of a century of accumulation from the Body Sect, and he was going to announce himself to the world during this competition.


    In ancient times, the Body Sect was one of the most powerful sects on the entire continent, and it was even able to contend with the likes of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. However, due to the advancements of soul technology and the difficulty of cultivating the Body Sect''s secret techniques, some of those techniques had been lost in the sands of time, and the Body Sect also gradually fell into obscurity.


    Now, they had finally been blessed with A''Ruheng, who had successfully cultivated their congenital secret method, and the Body Sect was placing all of its eggs in one basket with him. The sect was going to give him its full support so he could gain enough influence on the continent and lead the Body Sect on a resurgence.


    Soul Masters with body martial souls were very rare, and if the Body Sect couldn''t recruit more disciples, the future would only become bleaker for them, and it wouldn''t be impossible for the sect to disappear altogether someday.


    At this moment, A''Ruheng''s opponent was also undergoing a peculiar transformation. His eyes had turned green, and eight soul rings, two purple and six black, rose up from beneath his feet before revolving around his body. At the same time, a layer of green scales appeared all over his skin, and his body swelled to over three meters tall while a layer of green energy appeared around him.


    A''Ruheng was the trump card of the Body Sect, and he had the nickname of Strength King in this competition. The opponent that he was facing had the nickname of Jade King, and his martial soul was the Crystalline Jade Qilin. Among all of the remaining participants, A''Ruheng didn''t have the highest odds. In fact, his odds were even below Tang Wulin''s, languishing down at dead last among the four semifinalists. In contrast, the one with the highest odds was none other than this Jade King!


    The Crystalline Jade Qilin martial soul was a mutated martial soul that possessed an ancient bloodline. During ancient times, Qilins were even rarer than giant dragons, but their powers could be comparable to those of dragon kings. This Jade King had awakened a type of mutated Qilin bloodline, and his martial soul had been rated as the most powerful in the entire competition.


    At the same time, he had displayed extremely powerful combat prowess that was well above the rest of the field, and that was why he had the highest odds.


    This semifinal clash between Jade King and Strength King was undoubtedly going to be an extremely brutal encounter, and it garnered even more attention than the match between Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi. After all, Jade King was participating in this match.


    A''Ruheng was rushing toward Jade King, while the latter only took a single step forward. A green halo of light spread from beneath his feet, quickly expanding to cover half of the entire competition platform in the blink of an eye. His opponent was naturally also encompassed within the halo.


    Tang Wulin was immediately able to identify this as a domain!


    Furthermore, it was an innate domain that was similar to his Violent Golden Dragon Domain, which meant that it came with his martial soul and wasn''t a soul skill of his. Had this Jade King already attained a domain? How was A''Ruheng going to battle such a powerful opponent?


    Sure enough, as soon as A''Ruheng rushed into the domain, he immediately seemed to have lost his sense of direction and charged off to the side.


    The Illusionary Jade Domain was similar to a spiritual control domain that could confuse and control one''s opponent to a very high degree.


    After A''Ruheng rushed into the domain, Jade King''s body swayed before splitting up into three clones that rushed toward A''Ruheng from different directions.


    At this moment, A''Ruheng launched his fist through the air, triggering a violent deafening boom. At the same time, everything within a radius of several dozens of meters was instantly enshrouded under a burst of reddish-golden light.


    His fist naturally struck nothing more than empty air, and a perplexed look appeared on his face. Right at this moment, Jade King''s three projections appeared around him in three different directions before unleashing gentle palm strikes toward him.


    As their palms traveled soundlessly through the air, their hands took on a glittering and translucent green color, making them appear as if they had turned into chunks of green jade.


    "Thump, thump, thump!" Three dull thumps rang out in unison as the three green palms struck A''Ruheng''s body at almost the exact same moment.


    A''Ruheng shuddered, and the places on his body that had been struck quickly turned green. Furthermore, the green color began to spread over his entire body, and at the same time, Jade King''s sixth soul ring had lit up.


    It was quite clear that these gentle-looking palms weren''t as simple as they appeared.


    Was this forced crystallization? What a terrifying attack!


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned to see this. This was clearly an attack unleashed through a culmination of his martial soul and bloodline power. It was able to crystallize his opponent''s body, and once his opponent''s body was completely crystallized, they would inevitably perish.


    However, A''Ruheng didn''t panic as everyone expected. His massive body seemed to have abruptly stiffened, immediately following which a strange sound rang out from his body.


    "Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub!"


    This was clearly a powerful heartbeat, and even though Tang Wulin was only watching this match through a soul screen, he could clearly feel his own heart rate accelerating along with A''Ruheng''s heartbeat.


    Right at this moment, an extremely astonishing turn of events unfolded. Jade King''s body clearly stiffened momentarily, and countless agonized howls suddenly rang out from the spectator stands. Plumes of blood mist exploded one after another as large groups of spectators were felled like crops during a harvest.


    What the hell was happening?


    All of a sudden, countless bursts of reddish-golden light erupted from A''Ruheng''s crystallized body. He abruptly turned around to appraise Jade King, and golden light erupted from within his eyes before shining directly upon Jade King''s head.


    Jade King stumbled back in retreat, and his Illusionary Jade Domain instantly dissipated. At the same time, A''Ruheng''s fist was also flying toward him.


    There were still three Jade Kings on the competition platform, but for some reason, after the powerful heartbeat sound had appeared, two of the clones had become illusionary and transparent, so A''Ruheng was naturally attacking his true body.


    Jade King just barely managed to raise his arms as he tried to activate his seventh soul skill. However, right at this moment, all of the green light around A''Ruheng''s body disappeared, and he abruptly stomped his right foot onto the ground. A violent boom rang out, and reddish-golden light suddenly erupted from Jade King''s body.


    A dazzling golden soul ring emerged from beneath A''Ruheng''s feet, and it only had a diameter of around 10 meters, but that was enough to encompass Jade King within it as well.


    At this moment, Jade King had only just managed to raise his arms to defend himself against A''Ruheng''s oncoming fist. A Qilin projection appeared behind him, but it only appeared for an instant before it was completely pulverized.


    "Boom!"

 Chapter 1075: Unspeakable Brutality

    The unspeakably brutal punch sent Jade King flying through the air, and A''Ruheng''s body swayed before he caught up to his opponent, as if he had used instantaneous teleportation. He then grabbed onto Jade King''s shoulders and hurtled down from above while rotating rapidly like a spinning top. The two of them crashed heavily down onto the ground, and the golden patterns on his body spread to Jade King''s body. A string of resounding booms rang out, causing the entire competition platform to tremor violently.


    Tang Wulin looked on in a completely flabbergasted manner. He already had very high expectations for this senior disciple brother of his, but even he didn''t think that A''Ruheng would be this powerful.


    He had watched some of A''Ruheng''s past match footage, and he had displayed a lot of power during those previous matches, but not power to this degree! It was undoubtedly the case that he had held back to hide his true power prior to this. Following the emergence of the powerful heartbeat, he was unveiling the true power of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method!


    Tang Wulin wore a completely stunned look on his face. It could be said that Jade King had suffered a very tragic loss. He had definitely reviewed A''Ruheng''s past competition footage as well, but he had completely misjudged A''Ruheng''s power. That string of transformations was most likely the second awakening of the secret method.


    No, the second awakening should''ve already happened when his body had first expanded in size; that much was apparent to both Tang Wulin and Jade King, so what was that powerful heartbeat that appeared thereafter?


    Could it be... a third awakening of his body martial soul? Was this an unprecedented third awakening? It had to be!


    It could be said that among all of the spectators, Tang Wulin was definitely the one who understood the most about the secret techniques of the Body Sect, so he was able to more clearly sense the changes in A''Ruheng''s Body Sect abilities. It was no wonder that Jade King had been defeated so quickly; there was no way that he could''ve anticipated that A''Ruheng still has such an ability.


    Not only did A''Ruheng''s third awakening render Jade King''s attacks completely ineffective, it also allowed him to gain extremely fearsome offensive prowess and explosive power.


    Even with this newfound knowledge of A''Ruheng''s full power, would he be able to face him and come out on top?


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and he found that he was unable to give an affirmative answer to his own question! As expected of the senior disciple brother whom Mu Ye had placed such high hopes on!


    However, the more powerful A''Ruheng was, the more excited Tang Wulin became. Only by facing powerful opponents would he be able to better tap into his own latent potential and reap the most benefit from these matches.


    At this point, the match on the screen was already over. Jade King possessed extremely powerful defensive prowess, but A''Ruheng didn''t give him any chances at all to turn the tables, unleashing a barrage of devastating attacks to completely destroy Jade King and end the match.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t look down on Jade King because of this. He had lost this match due to a lack of understanding of A''Ruheng''s abilities. His martial soul had been rated as the most powerful in the entire competition, and he also had the highest odds; he definitely hadn''t reached this stage of the competition through dumb luck, that was for sure. He was going to have a bright future ahead! Perhaps Tang Wulin would get a chance to meet him someday.


    Tang Wulin reviewed the footage three times, and every time he saw A''Ruheng begin to undergo his transformation, it evoked within his mind the imagery of an erupting volcano. That powerful heartbeat indicated that he had already cultivated the Body Sect''s secret technique to his heart.


    All of a sudden, a thought occurred to him; what if he could also cultivate this congenital secret method? if he were to succeed, wouldn''t that make him better equipped to handle the influxes of energy from breaking his Golden Dragon King seals?


    The implementation of the secret method required a huge quantity of spirit items, but he didn''t need all that! His current concern was that his Golden Dragon King seals contained too much energy for his own body to handle.


    He was going to ask Mu Ye later down the track if he could teach him the congenital secret technique. Even if he couldn''t successfully cultivate it, he would at least be able to reference it for his future body refinement.


    Overall, Tang Wulin was grateful toward his 18 Golden Dragon King seals. After all, there was no way that he would''ve been able to attain this level of power at such a young age without them, but at the same time, the 18 seals also presented him with a massive threat. Under the current circumstances, it appeared that he wouldn''t have to worry about them for at least the next three years, but what would happen after that?


    He had to accelerate in his cultivation progression, but most importantly, he had to progressively improve his own physical tolerance. He had already accumulated such a strong foundation before breaking the 10th seal, yet he had still been afflicted with such intense agony; would he be able to forge a foundation that was just as strong prior to breaking his next seal? At this point in time, that appeared to be a very difficult task.


    As such, he had to find more methods to cultivate his own body, or secure some spirit items that would be extremely beneficial to strengthening his body.


    The federation announced that the Star Battle Net was going to be shut down for three days for maintenance so that it could handle the intensity of the grand final match.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the federation had made losses on both of the semifinal matches when they had been anticipating massive profits instead, and this was simply due to the fact that the system''s tolerance capacity was too low. In fact, even the Star Cabins were experiencing some issues.


    Following his semifinal match, Tang Wulin could feel that some of the parts within his Star Cabin were already overheating. He was going to be facing the most powerful opponent in the grand final, so he would definitely have to fight with all his might, and it would be a massive joke if the Star Battle Net were to break down. On top of that, it would undoubtedly cause irreparable damage to the Star Battle Net''s reputation.


    As such, the federal government quickly made a series of adjustments. Firstly, they were implementing temporary upgrades on the Star Battle Net to ensure the successful completion of the grand final matches at all costs. Secondly, the developers and relevant experts had released a detailed statement, explaining why such a situation had taken place. They were making it very clear that nothing was wrong with the battle net itself; it was simply the case that the participants were too powerful. Even though they were only two-word battle armor masters, their powers had already far exceeded that of even the average three-word battle armor master.


    For example, during the clash between Jade King and Strength King, neither of them had donned their suits of battle armor before the match was decided, yet a large proportion of the spectators were still killed, and that was sufficient testament to their extraordinary powers.


    That''s right, Jade King didn''t even get a chance to release his suit of two-word battle armor before he was completely destroyed by that explosive and sustained barrage of attacks from A''Ruheng.


    When there was still one day left before the grand finale, Tang Wulin received the brand new Star Cabin sent to the Blood God Legion by the federation.


    Compared to his previous Star Cabin, this one was over three times larger, and it appeared to be more intricate and resolute.


    It was undoubtedly the case that there was no way such massive Star Cabins could become prevalent fixtures, but in order to ensure the smooth progression of the grand final, the federal government had no choice but to send this fortified Star Cabin to Tang Wulin for his final two matches.


    After Tang Wulin finished testing out his new Star Cabin, Blood One asked, "The grand finals are about to begin; is there anything on your mind?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Not really, I just want to keep becoming more powerful during these matches. If these matches were taking place in real life, I would be able to make greater improvements, but the Star Battle Net allows everyone to fight without any inhibition. It has to be said that this is a monumental piece of technology that is very much worthy of widespread implementation."


    Blood One nodded, and said, "The federation has already made up its mind to promote the Star Battle Net. The Star Battle Net and space exploration are the two major areas that the federal researchers and developers will be working toward in the future."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "Space exploration? Would you happen to know what level the federation has reached in that field?"


    Blood One replied, "They''ve made a few breakthroughs, but it''ll still take a very long time before they can develop the vital pieces of technology. Most importantly, the continent is running very low on resources, and that will have a very severe negative impact on sustained research and development, so..."


    Blood One''s voice trailed off here, and Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. Indeed, after so many years of development, many of the Douluo Continent''s mineral resources were quickly dwindling.


    Battle armor, mechas, and soul technology all required vast amounts of resources as a foundation to facilitate continued research and development, but the continent''s resources were finite, constant exploitation of these resources by humans was really beginning to take its toll.


    At present, human technology was still nowhere near advanced enough to facilitate voyages into outer space to search for resources, so they could only set their sights within the Douluo Star.


    The Douluo Federation already had sufficient military power under its belt, and it had been eyeing the two neighboring continents for a very long time. However, the circumstances surrounding those two continents were rather special, so they weren''t willing to attack at this point and were lying in wait.


    Following the release of the Star Battle Net, the federation had clearly taken another extremely significant stride in its technological development, so it was difficult to predict when war was going to be waged.

 Chapter 1076: Arrival of the Grand Final

    Even though there was no clear evidence, there was no doubt that the peace-loving Shrek Academy had always been an obstacle to the federation in its endeavor to instigate wars. As such, in a sense, the destruction of Shrek Academy was a good thing for those who belonged to the Eagle Faction. At the very least, there was less resistance against their cause.


    Even though organizations like the Spirit Pagoda were also neutral, they weren''t a peace-loving entity like Shrek Academy, and the Battle God Hall was under the direct control of the federation, so if war were to ever break out, they were going to be the federation''s most powerful weapon.


    Blood One turned to Tang Wulin. "What does this make you think of?"


    "It makes me think of a war for resources!" Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation.


    Blood One sighed, "That seems almost inevitable at this point."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly. "A war is going to kill so many innocent people and destroy so many homes!"


    Blood One said in an indifferent voice, "Do you think the federal government has only been proposing going to war for the past few years? They began proposing this idea many years ago, and it never became a reality due to vehement opposition from the Dove Faction led by Shrek Academy. Now, it''s really hard to say what''s going to happen."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I just want to revive the academy so its ethos can continue to be passed down."


    Blood One shook his head. "No, the scope of your responsibility is not limited to this. I originally also thought that this would be enough, but in reality, it''s far from enough; do you know why?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head.


    Blood One continued, "Our Blood God Legion has been constantly guarding the abyssal passageway for over 6,000 years, not allowing the abyssal plane to invade our Douluo Continent. The greatest wish of one generation of Blood God Legion soldiers after another is to be able to completely eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane. However, no one in the past 6,000 years has been able to achieve this, and no one has even managed to propose a good course of action. All of that changed when you showed up. Your Golden Dragon Spear could well be a divine weapon for us when it comes to opposing the abyssal plane.


    "If you can eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane, then you will be the true hero of the Blood God Legion and the entire federation, so you have to do more. No one can teach you exactly what to do, but as your senior, I can help you in every way that I''m capable of. You will need to control your own future, but I firmly believe that you''ll accomplish greater things than anyone could ever imagine."


    Eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane? Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. He hadn''t completely understood the meaning behind Blood One''s words, but he still nodded in response.


    The grand final finally arrived.


    Following a series of emergency damage control, the general public''s attention was finally drawn back to the grand final match that was about to commence.


    This was the grand final of the Soul Master battles! It was a matchup between Golden Dragon King and Strength King, and it was undoubtedly going to be an extremely spectacular match.


    Even though lethal incidents had taken place in both of the semifinal matches, no one could actually die in the Star Battle Net, after all. Furthermore, this was a grand final, and the federal government had guaranteed that no dangers would arise during the course of this match. Otherwise, the government was going to be offering large sums of money as compensation, so the spectator stands for this match were still completely packed. On top of that, the viewership for this match had also set a new record.


    Tang Wulin was seated in his resting suite with his legs crossed, meditating to prime himself into the best possible condition. His Golden Dragon Spear rested across his knees, and his spirit, aura, and intent were very naturally elevated to the very peak.


    Compared to his match against Sima Jinchi, he was actually a bit more relaxed for this grand final. Perhaps the fact that he was going to be facing his senior disciple brother has alleviated a lot of his nerves, and he was more so looking forward to facing the powers of the congenital secret method in order to verify his own body refinement method.


    Tang Wulin''s body refinement used his Golden Dragon King bloodline as a foundation before adopting the cultivation method of the Body Sect. At present, there weren''t many people in this entire world who would dare to say that they possessed a more powerful physical constitution than him.


    In particular, as his powers had increased and after he broke his 10th Golden Dragon King seal, his body had become even more powerful. Only the senior disciple brother of his, whom he was about to face, struck him with a sense of inferiority when it came to his physical constitution. However, this battle would allow him to ascertain the gap between himself and his senior disciple brother, and he was going to treat this as a learning experience.


    As such, he was regarding this battle more so as a sparring match against his senior disciple brother, so the end result didn''t matter as much to him. Through his communication with Blood One, he could sense that Blood One didn''t really care much about his final placing in the competition, either; he simply wanted Tang Wulin to learn and grow as much as he could through the course of this competition.


    The fact that he''d progressed to the grand final in both disciplines meant that he had already guaranteed himself participation in all of the matches that he could possibly compete in, and that was enough. As such, in this grand final, he wanted to enjoy the contest more than anything else.


    Of course, that didn''t mean that he wasn''t going to do his best. On the contrary, he was going to display his full power to see just how far he could go.


    After all, there were already fewer and fewer opponents against whom he could unleash his full power and still encounter ample resistance.


    He had made another breakthrough in his soul power the night before, progressing to rank 66. This speed of progression was quite astonishing, even to himself. One had to realize that these rapid improvements were being made while he was also forging an extremely stable foundation!


    "The match is about to begin, Golden Dragon King." A delightful and delicate voice rang out.


    Tang Wulin slowly opened his eyes before striding out of the room with his Golden Dragon Spear in his hand.


    The gate leading to the competition platform lay up ahead, and when Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward it, then looked down at the path beneath his feet, he was somehow suddenly struck by a hint of enlightenment.


    This was a very abstract feeling that he couldn''t seem to grab onto, but it was unspeakably profound.


    He raised his Golden Dragon Spear slightly, and the light shining from the competition venue reflected off the spear as a golden hue. The direction that his spear was pointing in was the path that he had to advance toward.


    He stepped forward and was immediately met with deafening cheers. Countless voices were chanting "Golden Dragon King" and "Strength King".


    In the distance, the man-mountain that was A''Ruheng had also appeared on the other side of the competition venue. The two of them looked at one another from afar. Due to the system''s concealment effect, neither of them could see one another''s expressions, but A''Ruheng raised his arm and gave Tang Wulin a thumbs-up to express his feelings.


    Tang Wulin also raised his Golden Dragon Spear as acknowledgment.


    ¡­¡­


    Mu Ye was standing silently in front of a soul screen. The screen was very close to him, so close that he could even hear the faint electric current fluctuations from the soul screen.


    Divine Blacksmith Zhen Huan and Tang Wulin''s other teacher, Saint Blacksmith Mu Chen were sitting not far behind him.


    Compared to Mu Ye, they were clearly a lot more calm and collected.


    Mu Chen picked up his teacup and took a sip before asking in a low voice, "Is he alright?"


    Zhen Hua replied, "He''s ok; he''s just too excited. The Body Sect has been on a constant decline for the past several centuries, and that''s naturally taken a great toll on him as the current sect master. The Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition is a competition between the elite Soul Masters across the entire federation, yet the grand final is a match between his two disciples; you can only imagine his excitement right now."


    Zhen Hua paused momentarily before yelling to Mu Ye, "Oi, you''re not gonna cry, are you?"


    "Piss off!" Mu Ye grumbled in reply.


    However, Zhen Hua could clearly hear that his voice did suggest that he was about to burst into tears.


    "They''re both your disciples; who do you think is going to win?" Zhen Hua asked.


    Mu Ye was silent for a long while before finally replying in a low voice, "It''ll be very difficult for Wulin to win. It looks like he still hasn''t reached the Soul Sage level yet; his bloodline is more powerful than that of Ruheng''s, but the congenital secret method of our Body Sect is able to amend all bloodline imperfections, thereby enhancing one''s body to a supramaximal degree. Ruheng has been cultivating arduously for many years; if he unleashes his congenital secret method to the height of its powers, even I won''t be able to defeat him in a short time unless I use my battle armor."

 Chapter 1077: Can He Still Create Another Miracle?

    "I have to disagree. My nephew-disciple''s forte lays in his ability to create miracles," Zhen Hua countered with a smile.


    Mu Ye turned around with a surprised look on his face. The film of tears over his eyes had already been evaporated by him using his soul power. "You think Wulin can win?"


    Zhen Hua shrugged in response. "Why not? We''ve all watched Wulin''s past matches; how much of his power do you think he''s used in the previous rounds? What was that final clash with Saber Demon in the last match all about? Saber Demon withdrew under inexplicable circumstances, but do you think he threw the match for Wulin''s sake? Compared to that Saber Demon, do you think A''Ruheng is more powerful?"


    Mu Ye said in a proud manner, "That Saber Demon may have attained a saber soul already, but the congenital secret method of our Body Sect transforms one''s body into their soul, so Ruheng is still more powerful than that Saber Demon.."


    Zhen Hua continued, "Even so, he won''t be more powerful by much, right?"


    Mu Ye faltered slightly upon hearing this. Zhen Hua was right! A''Ruheng had the lowest odds among all four of the semifinalists, while Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi had the second-highest odds. Of course, this was a result of A''Ruheng hiding his true power, but that Saber Demon was definitely no slouch. If Tang Wulin could even defeat Sima Jinchi, then...


    A faint smile appeared on Zhen Hua''s face. "Don''t you think that Wulin has been constantly progressing at a rapid rate during the past half a year? He has made it to this grand final on the merit of his own power, and if you ask me, this is going to be a very fierce match, one that A''Ruheng may not emerge victorious from."


    All of a sudden, Mu Ye burst into boisterous laughter. "So what? They''re both my disciples! Both of them will continue to pass on the teachings of our Body Sect!"


    Zhen Hua and Mu Chen both remained silent. Indeed, Mu Ye had all the reasons in the world to be excited. The two combatants who had made it to the grand final were both disciples of his!


    Regardless of who secured the final victory in the end, this was still one of the happiest moments of Mu Ye''s entire life. He was still of the opinion that A''Ruheng was slightly more powerful, but he also wanted to see if his other disciple could truly create another miracle as Zhen Hua suggested he would.


    On the competition platform, the two combatants were appraising one another from afar with serious expressions. Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear was shimmering with faint light, and even though he couldn''t see A''Ruheng''s facial features, his hulking body still gave off a very intimidating aura.


    "This is the grand final; five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    As the countdown commenced, a referee descended onto the competition platform. He glanced at two combatants before waving a hand through the air as a commencement signal.


    Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng both sprang into action almost in complete unison. A''Ruheng stepped forward with his right foot, and an explosive boom rang out from his body as his muscles began to bulge.


    Witnessing it through a screen wasn''t as immersive of an experience, but seeing A''Ruheng now, Tang Wulin could clearly sense a terrifying vicious aura surging toward him from A''Ruheng''s body. Even though they were separated by a distance of several hundred meters, he could still clearly sense this devastating aura.


    In the face of his senior disciple brother, he felt as if he were appraising a humanoid Great Beast. It was no wonder that Jade King had immediately released his domain without any hesitation; he had virtually been forced to do so in the face of A''Ruheng''s intimidating aura!


    In response to the external pressure weighing down on Tang Wulin, his dragon core began to beat faster of its own accord. With every single compression, powerful blood essence fluctuations were pumped throughout his entire body, and a layer of faint golden light appeared around him. At the same time, he unleashed his Golden Dragon Body, and golden dragon scales appeared all over the surface of his skin.


    Neither of them immediately released their suits of battle armor, and they were charging toward one another in their base forms.


    Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward and stomped his left foot heavily into the ground, accelerating drastically as a result. A''Ruheng also did the same.


    Their speeds both stemmed from their respective absolute strength, so speed wasn''t actually their forte. Even so, the instantaneous explosive force that they were able to generate still propelled them forward faster than the vast majority of agility attack system Soul Masters of the same caliber.


    The two figures almost instantly met at the center of the competition platform. A''Ruheng let loose a thunderous roar as he launched his right fist through the air. A ball of reddish-golden light exploded violently like a cannon blast, stunning all of the spectators present.


    A burst of scorching heat surged toward Tang Wulin. This wasn''t actual heat, but instead, the terrifying power that one was able to generate after their blood essence reached a certain degree of power.


    So one could unleash such powerful explosive force with their blood essence alone once it became powerful enough? This senior disciple brother of his most likely really did possess a body as powerful as that of a Great Beast.


    These thoughts flashed through Tang Wulin''s mind in an instant, and instead of thrusting his Golden Dragon Spear forward, it suddenly disappeared from his grasp. At the same time, he flapped his golden wings vigorously before clenching his right golden dragon claw into a tight fist and unleashing a punch in retaliation.


    These instantaneous changes that Tang Wulin had made seemed to be quite simple, but the timing involved, as well as his bodily control and judgment of the match situation were all close to perfection.


    A''Ruheng''s attack encompassed a very large area, but it was undoubtedly the case that there was one point on his fist that was the most powerful. As such, he would naturally be striving to aim that most powerful point at Tang Wulin.


    However, never did he think that Tang Wulin would put away his most powerful weapon at a time like this.


    The Golden Dragon Spear was close to five meters in length, and the fact that it had suddenly disappeared naturally meant that the most powerful point of A''Ruheng''s attack had struck nothing but empty air. Right at this moment, Tang Wulin flapped his golden dragon wings to instantly close the rest of the distance between them, and his fist struck A''Ruheng''s right as the power of A''Ruheng''s attack was running out.


    Just a simple change had completely thrown off A''Ruheng''s rhythm, allowing Tang Wulin to avoid the full brunt of his attack.


    "Boom!"


    A resounding boom akin to the explosion of a high-grade soul missile rang out at the center of the competition platform, and bright reddish-golden light instantly encompassed a diameter of over 50 meters, enshrouding Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng within it as well.


    Immediately thereafter, two figures flew backward out of the explosion of reddish-golden light.


    Tang Wulin was constantly swaying his own body as he flew through the air in order to better arrest his own momentum, yet on the other side, A''Ruheng simply flew backward in a balanced manner, only arresting his own momentum after he crashed into the protective barrier.


    Both of them then began to shake out their arms at almost the exact same moment. Neither of them had managed to gain the upper hand during this clash.


    Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were disciple brothers, but neither of them used any soul skills or special abilities during that clash; it was nothing more than a clash of pure strength.


    At the time, Tang Wulin felt as if he were about to be devoured by a tsunami. The devastating blood essence fluctuations radiating from A''Ruheng''s body made it feel as if he were a miniature sun. Was this the power of the congenital secret method? To think that it could elevate one''s bloodline power to such an insane level; this was downright terrifying!


    A''Ruheng was also quite astonished. He discovered that Tang Wulin possessed inferior blood essence compared to his own, but there was an extremely regal aura in Tang Wulin''s bloodline that struck him with a sense of pressure and affected his performance. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had stowed away his Golden Dragon Spear at the last moment, and his golden dragon claw possessed a crushing special effect, so he had no choice but to divert some of his power to protect his own fist. Thus, he was unable to gain the upper hand during that clash, but even so, both sides were able to accurately gauge one another''s strength as a result of that exchange.


    In terms of strength, Tang Wulin was indeed inferior to A''Ruheng, and not just by a little. He was only able to just barely match A''Ruheng during that clash through the use of his Golden Dragon Body, golden dragon claws, and some battle tactics.


    A''Ruheng was the perfect epitome of explosive strength, and not only was Tang Wulin stunned by his power, he was even more intrigued by the congenital secret method.


    "Nice!" A''Ruheng let loose an explosive cry before bursting into boisterous laughter. His body swayed, and a resounding boom erupted from the ground beneath his feet. In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Tang Wulin before launching both of his fists straight toward Tang Wulin''s shoulders.


    Tang Wulin was indeed inferior to him in terms of strength, but ever since he''d successfully cultivated the congenital secret method, no one had been able to withstand such a clash of pure strength against him! The feeling of encountering someone with ample strength to resist him filled him with elation. Even Mu Ye was very reluctant to engage in direct clashes of strength with him, and now, he had finally found a suitable opponent; how could he not be ecstatic?


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before slowly thrusting his palms forward. A deafening dragon''s roar immediately rang out as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    "Boom!" Another violent boom rang out, and A''Ruheng was sent flying backward for several dozens of meters, but Tang Wulin plummeted straight from the sky before slamming into the ground amid another resounding boom.


    The spectators were all completely flabbergasted. Every single one of them could feel adrenaline pumping through their veins.


    This type of battle was so brutal and manly! There was no technique to speak of; they were simply fighting fire with fire!

 Chapter 1078: The Fearsome Strength King

    A''Ruheng was feeling very elated, as was Tang Wulin. Ever since he''d absorbed the energy from his 10th Golden Dragon King seal, he had yet to encounter an opponent who could match him in strength. On this occasion, A''Ruheng''s strength completely dominated his, and only against an opponent like this could he completely unleash his full power! As such, even though he had already been forced onto the back foot after just the first two clashes, he felt as if the Golden Dragon King bloodline had been completely ignited within his own body.


    He let loose a loud roar as he flapped his golden dragon wings vigorously, propelling him up into the air. At the same time, he unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight, transforming into a giant dragon that ascended toward the heavens. Powerful Golden Dragon King blood essence fluctuations erupted from his dragon core in a frenzy, and the giant golden dragon projection instantly swelled to several dozens of meters in size.


    In the eyes of the ordinary spectators, it looked as if he had just released his martial soul true body.


    The first, second, and third of A''Ruheng eight soul rings lit up at once, and his body swelled in size once again while the golden patterns on his skin seemed to have sprung to life. A massive projection appeared behind him, and it was identical to his appearance, except it was over 100 meters tall, and an indescribable sense of mountainous pressure began to weigh down the massive golden dragon. He abruptly raised his right hand, and a peculiar turn of events unfolded. His fist suddenly swelled to a diameter of around three meters in the blink of an eye, and it was swung toward the golden dragon''s head like a massive war hammer.


    This was the power of the Body Sect''s secret technique!


    After successfully cultivating the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, every single part of his body had become almighty weapons; that was the most powerful ability of those from the Body Sect.


    "Boom!"


    The golden dragon roared, and A''Ruheng''s entire body shuddered violently. Tang Wulin was slammed back down onto the ground again, and when his feet came into contact with the surface of the competition platform, a massive crater was blasted into the ground.


    "Nice!" Tang Wulin was also starting to feel the adrenalin rush. He flapped his golden dragon wings once again, and violent fluctuations erupted from his soul core and dragon core, producing a layer of bluish-golden light around his body.


    It was very clear to him that if he were to only use his strength and Golden Dragon King bloodline, he would be no match for the power of A''Ruheng''s Body Sect congenital secret method. If he didn''t use his blood soul fusion skills, he would have no chance at all. Furthermore, he could tell that A''Ruheng was still holding back. Judging from the continuous barrage of attacks he had unleashed to completely dismantle Jade King, he could be doing the same thing to Tang Wulin, and the fact that he wasn''t pressing his advantage was already a sign that he wasn''t fighting at his full power. However, Tang Wulin didn''t want to face a Strength King who wasn''t going all-out!


    A thunderous dragon''s roar of fury and indignation rang out as his Golden Dragon Spear reappeared in his hand. At the same time, his eyes also turned into a golden color.


    A massive golden dragon head appeared within the deep crater, and a layer of bluish-golden light emerged alongside a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines within the golden dragon head.


    His aura was originally being dominated, but it instantly swelled and erupted upward in retaliation, matching and even surpassing A''Ruheng''s enormous aura.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had used his Golden Dragon Roar to elevate his own aura. In the next instant, a massive golden dragon that was shimmering with bluish-golden light erupted upward.


    This was his blood soul fusion skill, Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    A''Ruheng burst into boisterous laughter as his body abruptly compressed inward to only around three meters tall before taking on a golden hue. He then abruptly plummeted directly toward Tang Wulin.


    This was the second awakening of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method.


    "Boom, boom, boom..." A string of resounding booms rang out through the air. The entire competition platform was quaking violently, and powerful halos of light were radiating from the epicenter of the clashes.


    All of the spectators were completely dumbfounded. Was this really only a battle between two-word battle armor masters? Even Titled Douluos may not be able to trigger such enormous energy fluctuations!


    The protective barrier over the competition platform was swaying violently, and both Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng separated at the same time. When they reappeared, both of them had already donned their suits of two-word battle armor.


    A''Ruheng''s suit of battle armor was crimson in color with lavish golden patterns, and it strongly resembled an enlarged suit of his muscles. The helmet that he was wearing bore the appearance of a beastly head with tusks protruding from it, while Tang Wulin was naturally in his usual suit of Dragon Moon battle armor.


    In contrast with last time, Tang Wulin wasn''t slammed back down onto the ground. Instead, both of them were hovering in mid-air and intently appraising one another.


    The wings on A''Ruheng''s suit of battle armor were larger than Tang Wulin''s dragon wings, and there was a layer of crimson light over those wings, giving them a very menacing and intimidating appearance.


    Through the use of his blood soul fusion skill, Tang Wulin was finally able to bridge the gap between them somewhat. A''Ruheng was also quite stunned by what had just happened. Tang Wulin''s soul fluctuations were clearly inferior to his, but during that last clash, the power displayed by Tang Wulin had clearly exceeded his current upper limit! How had he accomplished this?


    He had been cultivating the Body Sect''s congenital secret method from birth, whereas Tang Wulin had been educated in Shrek Academy, so his understanding of other types of martial souls naturally wasn''t as in-depth as Tang Wulin''s knowledge in this area.


    Tang Wulin raised his Golden Dragon Spear and completely immersed himself in his own spear intent. Bursts of dragon''s roars rang out as his bloodline surged within his body. Golden light shimmered from the surface of his Dragon Moon battle armor, and each and every ridged dragon scale on the suit of battle armor was quite dazzling to behold.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin''s appearance was far more appealing among the two, and after a brief stunned stupor, all of the spectators erupted into raucous cheers.


    The vast majority of them were chanting the name of "Golden Dragon King", and the entire competition venue was filled with an atmosphere of frenetic excitement.


    "I''m gonna go all-out now, so you better brace yourself, Junior Disciple Brother," A''Ruheng chuckled, and just as Tang Wulin was pausing to process this, the same sound that had appeared during A''Ruheng''s battle against Jade King rang out once again.


    "Lub-dub, lud-dub, lub-dub!"


    A''Ruheng''s chest began to rise and fall violently, and the sound of a powerful heartbeat immediately rang out all of the raucous cheers from the spectator stands.


    Light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he almost instantly unleashed a Golden Dragon Roar as an automatic response.


    He had been waiting for this from A''Ruheng, and he knew that when this heartbeat sound appeared, it indicated that A''Ruheng''s combat prowess was going to be raised to its limit.


    Upon careful observation, Tang Wulin could clearly see that A''Ruheng''s seventh soul ring had rippled slightly when that heartbeat sound first appeared. A layer of fine golden patterns then appeared over the soul ring.


    Was this heartbeat a manifestation of his martial soul true body?


    Tang Wulin was instantly enlightened. It was no wonder that A''Ruheng''s heartbeat could become so powerful.


    His deafening heartbeat had a disorienting effect, and what was even more fearsome was that it could influence one''s bloodline fluctuations.


    The cheers from the spectator stands suddenly disappeared; the Star Battle Net had undoubtedly cut off all sounds to avoid any further casualties resulting from this violent heartbeat.


    The Golden Dragon Roar and the thunderous heartbeat intertwined while Tang Wulin''s entire body was enshrouded within a massive golden dragon head. At the same time, a huge purple tulip silently blossomed behind the gigantic golden dragon head.


    Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    All of the energy particles in the air converged toward Tang Wulin in a frenzy. He didn''t dare to hold back at all at a time like this. Under the effect of his Devouring Heaven and Earth, his own power also swelled drastically, and a layer of bluish-golden light immediately surfaced around the giant golden dragon head manifested from his Golden Dragon Roar.


    The layer of bluish-golden light radiated outward, and a sense of soul was immediately injected into the Golden Dragon Roar, allowing the blood essence fluctuations within Tang Wulin''s body to avoid the effect of A''Ruheng''s heartbeat.

 Chapter 1079: Complete Domination

    He had also cultivated the secret techniques of the Body Sect, and at the same time, he possessed the almighty Golden Dragon King bloodline, and both of those factors had minimized the effect that A''Ruheng''s powerful heartbeat had on him.


    A''Ruheng''s body flashed through the air, and he launched his right fist forward with devastating power. His body didn''t expand any further, but there was a peculiar aura emanating from him, as if he were a super soul missile that had been compressed to an extreme degree.


    In the past, Tang Wulin had almost lost his life to the ninth-grade soul missile, and it was Gu Yue who had saved him. Now, he was experiencing the same feeling as he had when that ninth-grade soul missile had exploded right before him.


    He thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward amid his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Roar, unleashing his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens once again. However, due to the enhancements of his Devouring Heaven and Earth, his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens was clearly more powerful than the previous one.


    His spear intent erupted forth, and the dazzling platinum spear projection hurtled forth like the fangs of a giant dragon. A layer of bluish-golden light instantly appeared over the body of the massive dragon, which was attempting to devour A''Ruheng whole.


    Right at this moment, A''Ruheng''s eyes suddenly widened, and there was even light flowing out of the corners of his eyes.


    "Lub-dub!" A''Ruheng suddenly opened his mouth amid the sound of his powerful heartbeat before letting loose an almighty roar toward Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    "Roar!"


    In the face of the enormous soundwaves unleashed by that thunderous roar, the energy fluctuations emanating from the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens decreased sharply by around a third. Immediately thereafter, A''Ruheng rushed toward the Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens with nothing more than his body as his weapon.


    "Boom!"


    Tang Wulin was sent flying in the wake of the clash, and after the Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens vanished, even his Dragon Moon battle armor was beginning to emit a string of high-pitched screeching sounds from the immense strain it was having to endure.


    If A''Ruheng had been like an erupting volcano before, then in his current form, he was like a scorching sun descending from the heavens. His scorching bloodline fluctuations made Tang Wulin feel as if his internal organs had been set alight, and it was as if his blood essence fluctuations were being evaporated in the face of A''Ruheng''s scintillating aura. At the same time, his dragon core clearly began to beat more vigorously.


    Only when facing A''Ruheng for himself could he truly comprehend just how fearsome A''Ruheng was when in full flight. Jade King may have suffered a loss against A''Ruheng before he had a chance to unleash most of his powers, but even if that hadn''t been the case, he would''ve most likely been defeated anyway. It was no wonder that Jade King didn''t even get a chance to retaliate during that battle.


    Just as these thoughts were flashing through Tang Wulin''s mind, A''Ruheng''s body flashed, and he appeared right in front of Tang Wulin. He was clearly not going to give him any opportunity to catch his breath on this occasion. He clenched his right hand into a tight fist before sending it hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin''s chest.


    There was no technique to speak of; he was merely exerting pure domination over Tang Wulin with his absolute speed and absolute strength.


    In this critical situation, Tang Wulin instantly activated his Violent Golden Dragon Domain without any hesitation. A golden halo proliferated from his body, and at the same time, his Golden Dragon Spear vanished before he also lashed out with his right hand.


    A massive set of Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws appeared before flying through the air.


    A violent boom rang out from the resulting clash. The Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws combined his Bluesilver Emperor, Golden Dragon Dreadclaws, and Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws, as well as the enhancements from his Devouring Heaven and Earth, yet he was still unable to nullify the force of A''Ruheng''s punch.


    His fist was like an unstoppable object that would plow its way through any defenses or attacks. It tore through Tang Wulin''s attack before appearing in front of his chest, and he only just barely had time to position his Golden Dragon Spear in front of himself as a shield before he was struck by the almighty fist.


    His entire body instantly flew back like a cannonball before crashing heavily onto the protective barrier in the distance. In contrast, A''Ruheng had only suffered a few scratch marks on his suit of battle armor from the Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws.


    Tang Wulin''s body bounced off the protective barrier, and A''Ruheng charged forward once again in his full devastating glory before unleashing another punch.


    Tang Wulin swept his Golden Dragon Spear upward with his left hand while his body quickly sped away horizontally. In terms of speed, he received enhancements from his golden dragon wings, so he certainly wasn''t much slower than A''Ruheng.


    He unleashed his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Whips its Tail, lashing out with his leg amid a thunderous dragon''s roar.


    A''Ruheng made no effort to evade whatsoever as he adjusted the direction of his punch, bringing his fist downward.


    "Bam!" Tang Wulins right leg dealt a vicious strike upon A''Ruheng''s body, but he felt as if he had kicked a mountain. A''Ruheng let loose a muffled groan, but at the same time, his fist also struck Tang Wulin''s left arm, which he had raised in defense.


    "Crack!" The clearly audible sound of bones being broken rang out, and Tang Wulin plummeted down from above.


    Just as he was about to crash down onto the ground, A''Ruheng appeared beside him again, putting his terrifying strength on full display as he sent both of his fists crashing down toward Tang Wulin''s body at once. If this attack were allowed to land, there was no way that Tang Wulin would survive.


    Right at this moment, a burst of golden light suddenly appeared beneath Tang Wulin, supporting his body from down below and allowing him to quickly dodge to the side. As such, he was able to evade A''Ruheng''s fists just when it appeared that the attack was unavoidable. At the same time, a massive figure descended from the sky, landing on A''Ruheng''s body and crushing him to the ground.


    His soul spirits, Goldsong and the Tyrant Dragon, had both been summoned at the same time!


    Tang Wulin''s body tumbled through the air before he stabilized himself in the distance. He spread open his dragon wings, and at this point, a large area of the left side of his Dragon Moon battle armor had been damaged. Furthermore, his arm was bent at a very strange angle clearly completely broken. The sorry state that he was in was a great indication of just how fearsomely powerful A''Ruheng was.


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to catch his breath, the enormous body of the Tyrant Dragon suddenly rose up into the air before immediately flying off to the side.


    It was a rather comical sight to see its massive 70-meter-tall body flying through the air, but no one could bring themselves to laugh. Just how terrifyingly strong did one have to be to be capable of sending a Tyrant Dragon flying?


    Reddish light emerged from the ground like a rising sun before hurtling toward Tang Wulin again. The violent heartbeat rang out across the entire competition venue, and Tang Wulin flapped his wings in a panicked manner to try and accelerate. However, due to the injury inflicted on his left arm, he was clearly flying in a rather unstable manner, and A''Ruheng almost immediately caught up to him.


    He reflexively thrust his Golden Dragon Spear backward, but at this point, there wasn''t even any spear projection emanating from the spear, so no matter how one looked at it, there was no way that he''d be able to withstand this punch.


    A''Ruheng grabbed toward the tip of the Golden Dragon Spear with his left hand while his right fist continued to hurtle toward Tang Wulin''s back.


    It''s over!


    Many of the spectators had already closed their eyes, unable to bear watching for any longer. With A''Ruheng''s terrifying strength, his fist was most likely going to reduce Tang Wulin to mincemeat!


    He was truly far too powerful; the power that he was currently displaying was even superior to the power that he''d unleashed during his match against Jade King.


    At the time, Jade King wasn''t able to offer up any resistance. In contrast, Golden Dragon King was able to put up some resistance, but it appeared to be completely futile in the face of A''Ruheng''s devastating power. How could a human attain such a terrifying level of strength?!


    In front of the soul screen.


    Mu Ye was nodding gently as he murmured to himself, "It''s already quite remarkable that Wulin managed to last this long. Even among eight-ring Soul Douluos, there are very few who can oppose the power of Ruheng''s Sun Body, which he attains after his third awakening. With the power from his body as the Child of the Sun, Ruheng is powerful enough to face any Titled Douluo; who would''ve thought that he would make another breakthrough in such a short time? At this rate, he should be able to reach the Titled Douluo level in another year at most. I finally have a suitable heir who can inherit my position as the master of the Body Sect."


    Mu Chen''s brows were slightly furrowed. Tang Wulin was his most exceptional disciple, and even though Tang Wulin was losing this battle fair and square, it was still rather uncomfortable for him to watch this.


    In contrast, Zhen Hua wore a puzzled look on his face.


    When had Tang Wulin ever panicked like this? He was always as calm and calculating as a sly old fox!


    All of this had taken place in a very short time, and in the next instant, A''Ruheng had already grabbed onto the tip of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    In that instant, it was as if time suddenly stopped. A''Ruheng''s rights abruptly faltered while Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear instantly took on a reddish-golden color.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly turned around, and he arched his spine in a very strange pose, meeting A''Ruheng''s right fist with his left shoulder.


    "Bam!" The battle armor on Tang Wulin''s left shoulder was instantly pulverized, and even his shoulder itself had been completely destroyed as a cloud of blood mist erupted into the air.


    However, the keen observers in the spectator stands all discovered that his panic seemed to have suddenly disappeared, and it was as if his mutilated left shoulder didn''t even have any connection to him.


    At this moment, A''Ruheng felt as if the Golden Dragon Spear that he was holding onto was like a vortex that was devouring his blood essence power in a frenzy. The power of his right fist had also been hampered as a result, thereby weakening his offensive prowess, but in his eyes, even that weakened attack should''ve been enough to take care of his opponent.

 Chapter 1080: Tactical Victory

    However, as his fist struck Tang Wulin, he was able to completely pulverize Tang Wulin''s shoulder and pauldron, but he was struck by a sense of emptiness from Tang Wulin, as if his entire body were hollow and nonexistent. Furthermore, a very large portion of the power behind his punch had vanished on the spot, as if it had been directly devoured by Tang Wulin. In that instant, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear also began to glow with scintillating light.


    The reddish-golden color that was devouring A''Ruheng''s blood essence suddenly became even more pronounced, and a string of powerful vibrational explosions abruptly erupted. Much to A''Ruheng''s astonishment, he discovered that even with his insane strength, he was unable to maintain a secure grip over the tip of the spear.


    As such, almost right after Tang Wulin''s left shoulder was destroyed, the vibrational force emanating from his Golden Dragon Spear allowed it to strike A''Ruheng''s chest, despite the fact that it was still locked in A''Ruheng''s left hand.


    "Thump!"


    The sharp tip of the spear pierced straight into A''Ruheng''s body, and he let loose an explosive roar as the reddish-golden light on his body began to release incredibly scorching heat, which was erupting outward in an attempt to force the Golden Dragon Spear away.


    However, the suction force erupting from the Golden Dragon Spear instantly increased drastically in potency, and it was constantly devouring his energy while reciprocating this energy into Tang Wulin''s body. A golden figure also pounced toward him from behind, instantly winding itself around his body before opening its mouth and sinking its fangs into the back of his neck. It was Goldsong!


    There was only a spear''s length of distance between A''Ruheng and Tang Wulin, and no one had imagined that Tang Wulin would be able to turn the tables in the dire situation that he was in.


    The Golden Dragon Spear really had pierced into A''Ruheng''s body, and at the same time, he was unleashing his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion!


    Tang Wulin was appraising A''Ruheng with an intense gaze while the latter drew back his right fist to try and unleash another punch. However, he was prevented from doing so by Goldsong. He flailed violently with all his might, and in the face of his terrifying power as the Child of the Sun, Goldsong''s body was torn in half. However, it was also right at this moment that Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion reached the height of its power.


    "Thump!"


    The tip of the Golden Dragon Spear pierced into A''Ruheng''s chest before stabbing into his huge heart.


    The Golden Dragon Spear instantly turned red, and A''Ruheng''s formidable strength quickly began to seep away as if he were a punctured balloon.


    "Roar!" A thunderous dragon''s roar erupted out of Tang Wulin''s mouth as a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines surged forth in a frenzy, winding themselves around A''Ruheng''s body. Meanwhile, the vast blood essence power within A''Ruheng''s body was flowing into Tang Wulin''s body at an alarming rate.


    This influx of blood essence power was simply far too enormous, so much so that even Tang Wulin was unable to control it, and it surged directly toward his Golden Dragon King seals.


    The dragon core within Tang Wulin''s body was absorbing this tremendous bloodline energy in a greedy manner, and it was beating violently. His bloodline aura was elevating at an astonishing rate, and every single one of the meridians under the surface of his skin bulged as they took on a reddish-golden hue.


    One meridian exploded after another, causing plumes of blood mist to erupt from Tang Wulin''s body. At the same time, his 11th Golden Dragon King seal was beginning to waver, and cracks had already appeared on its surface. As a result, the incredibly vicious Golden Dragon King essence began to seep through in wisps and strands.


    He abruptly flapped his golden dragon wings, propelling his own body downward along with A''Ruheng, and the two of them crashed heavily onto the ground. His Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion had reached the height of its powers, and under the enhancements of his Bluesilver Emperor, it was triggering one explosion of light after another.


    "Junior Disciple Brother." A''Ruheng suddenly spoke, and his voice was tinged with a hint of bitterness.


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin was rather taken aback.


    "You tricked me." A hint of peculiar emotions crept into A''Ruheng''s voice, but he didn''t seem to be in too much pain.


    Never did Tang Wulin think that A''Ruheng would say something like this to him.


    However, he was right! He had indeed tricked A''Ruheng. In reality, A''Ruheng had fallen into Tang Wulin''s trap since the very beginning of this match.


    It was quite apparent to Tang Wulin that he was no match for A''Ruheng in direct clashes of power. The congenital secret method of the Body Sect had allowed the sect to stand at the pinnacle of the Soul Master world on the Douluo Continent for countless years, and it was certainly nothing to be scoffed at.


    It could be said that the entire Body Sect had worked for several centuries to create the man that was A''Ruheng!


    As such, Tang Wulin had been setting a trap for him from the very beginning. The lessons he had learned on the demonic island certainly weren''t just for show, and he had actually been holding something back this entire time; it was his Golden Dragon Spear.


    After being polished by the Dragonslaying Saber, the Golden Dragon Spear had become extremely sharp, and the sharpest part about it was naturally none other than the spear itself.


    Tang Wulin had been hiding the sharpness of his spear this entire time, and only at the last second, when A''Ruheng was about to secure his victory, did Tang Wulin sacrifice his left arm and left shoulder to create an opportunity for himself.


    Right before his left shoulder was struck, he''d unleashed the sixth technique of his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, Golden Dragon Nullification, to dispel and draw upon the vast majority of the power behind A''Ruheng''s attack. At the same time, he unleashed his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion to complement the sharpness of his Golden Dragon Spear, and with the energy devouring ability of his spear, he was finally able to create a sliver of a chance for himself to secure victory.


    In the end, A''Ruheng had underestimated the sharpness of the Golden Dragon Spear. After successfully cultivating the congenital secret method, his body had indeed become extremely powerful, but it still wasn''t enough to keep the Golden Dragon Spear at bay in the end.


    No spear projection had emerged from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, but not because he was unable to release one. Instead, it was due to the fact that he hadn''t even attempted to release it. The sharpness of the spear projection was far inferior to that of the actual spear itself; only by using the actual spear could he perfectly unveil its newfound sharpness. At the same time, he was trying to convince his opponent that he was in such a blind panic that he wasn''t even capable of releasing a spear projection anymore.


    One of the most important lessons Tang Wulin had learned on the demonic island was to use everything that could be used to secure victory. Prior to the commencement of the match, he had already gauged A''Ruheng''s powers.


    The congenital secret method of the Body Sect was extremely difficult to cultivate, and A''Ruheng''s soul power rank was far above his, so he knew that he most likely wouldn''t be able to match A''Ruheng in power. If he wanted to defeat A''Ruheng, then he''d have to unleash his full power, and also find a suitable opportunity.


    A''Ruheng had been cultivating at the Body Sect since birth, and had had very minimal contact with the outside world. Even if he possessed a sufficient wealth of battle experience, he was most likely lacking in experience in other areas.


    As such, ever since the match commenced, Tang Wulin had been holding back slightly. Otherwise, in terms of pure speed, he could actually surpass A''Ruheng. It was exactly because of this that A''Ruheng was lured into his trap. In the end, Tang Wulin took advantage of the opportunity he''d created for himself, turning the tables with his Golden Dragon Spear''s sharpness and devouring ability, and taking out his opponent in one fell swoop.


    However, Tang Wulin had also had to sacrifice a lot; he had allowed his left arm to be completely obliterated in order to buy himself this opportunity! If it weren''t for the fact that he possessed sufficient mental fortitude to still maintain his peak offensive prowess even after the demolition of his arm, it would not have been an easy task to defeat A''Ruheng.


    This was why A''Ruheng was accusing Tang Wulin of tricking him. This sudden turn of events had caused the entire spectator stands to completely fall silent.


    No one could''ve anticipated that Golden Dragon King would be able to turn the tables under such desperate circumstances.


    This silence lasted for close to 20 seconds before a wave of raucous cheers rang out in a frenzy!


    "Golden Dragon King! Golden Dragon King! Golden Dragon King!"


    The deafening cheers were threatening to flip the entire competition platform on its head. The majority of the spectators supported Tang Wulin in the first place, but they had all been quite subdued as Tang Wulin was getting dominated in the match. Now, they were finally able to cheer for him to their heart''s content.


    Tang Wulin stood up straight, and even though he had lost an arm, and half of his body was covered in blood, he still raised his Golden Dragon Spear with his remaining arm in a proud manner.


    The word "CHAMPION" appeared in a massive font on the large screen. A crown projection had also appeared above Tang Wulin''s head, cementing the notion that he had been crowned as the most powerful being of this entire competition.

 Chapter 1081: Champion!

    He was the final champion of the Soul Master battle discipline of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition!


    Pavilion Master, teachers, friends, and all of my Shrek Academy peers and mentors who have passed away, can you see this?


    I won! I''m the champion, but this victory doesn''t belong to me; it belongs to our Shrek Academy!


    The Golden Dragon Spear that was being held aloft above his head was radiating dazzling golden light, in that instant, Tang Wulin''s blood was churning violently through his veins while everything that he''d kept repressed within his heart was erupting in a frenzy.


    No matter how arduous the path ahead may be, I will continue to pursue it. My friends and I will revive Shrek Academy, and this will be the first step. I won, and I did so for the glory of Shrek!


    There were countless excited people standing in front of their screens, and there were just as many spectators who had been stunned speechless.


    At this moment, the shimmering golden man was all everyone could see.


    He was the champion, Number 33 Golden Dragon King!


    Blood One and all of the Blood Gods were spectating the match in the hall of the Blood God Battalion, and at this point, the former Blood Nine''s jaw had already dropped to the ground. He suddenly discovered that his brimming confidence had been replaced by a hint of fear. He had once thought that his victory during his next clash with Tang Wulin was assured, but that confidence had completely vanished at some point.


    Could he have defeated that Strength King? The answer was quite obvious. Would he be able to defeat Tang Wulin, who had just taken down that Strength King?


    Blood One wore a brooding look on his face, and no one could tell what he was thinking. Meanwhile, Blood Three and Blood Five, who had both come from Shrek Academy, already had their fists tightly clenched.


    He won! As expected of the leader of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters! There was still hope for the future of Shrek Academy!


    Mu Ye was also standing in front of his soul screen with a slightly dazed look on his face. In his eyes, the glowing golden figure who was missing an arm was extremely proud and resolute. Indeed, he deserved to be proud; he had won! Just as Mu Chen and Zhen Hua had said, he had a knack for creating miracles, and he had just created another miracle.


    "Junior Disciple Brother was so strong!" A voice rang out from the neighboring room, and a burly man emerged in a rather sheepish manner. It was none other than the opponent whom Tang Wulin had just faced in battle, A''Ruheng!


    That''s right, he had been with Mu Ye this entire time, and Mu Ye had been his coach, guiding him through all of these matches. As such, he knew a considerable amount about Tang Wulin, but unfortunately for him, even Mu Ye wasn''t aware of the extent of Tang Wulin''s current powers.


    A''Ruheng wasn''t as handsome as Tang Wulin, but he still had thick brows and large eyes, and was filled with a strong masculine aura. He had a very overdeveloped physique, resembling a miniature mountain as he stood in the room.


    Mu Ye turned to A''Ruheng, and said in a calm voice, "Don''t let that loss weigh on you; you have too little experience compared to Wulin."


    A''Ruheng rubbed his own large bald head, and chuckled, "It''s alright, I don''t mind losing to my junior disciple brother; I''ve always got a positive mindset."


    Mu Ye''s lips twitched upon hearing this. Positive mindset? He was clearly just lackadaisical!


    This disciple of his was perfect in every way aside from his careless personality. If Mu Ye had a choice, he would much rather pass down the Body Sect to Tang Wulin than A''Ruheng! Compared to Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng was nowhere near as wise and steadfast, but Tang Wulin was already carrying too many things on his shoulders; he couldn''t contribute further to his burden.


    A''Ruheng chuckled, "Teacher, fighting with Junior Disciple Brother was really exciting! Those other people seem like they''re molded out of clay; I barely touch them, and they still break. Junior Disciple Brother is much more durable! Can I go to find him? If I can spar with him every day, I''ll definitely be able to improve faster."


    The most important way of cultivating the congenital secret method of the Body Sect was to constantly refine one''s body, and the best way to do that was through battle. However, even Mu Ye was struggling to fill the role of a suitable sparring partner for A''Ruheng. After all, this type of bodily refinement required direct physical clashes!


    With that in mind, Mu Ye was also quite taken with this idea. It was about time the two disciple brothers met and forged a relationship.


    "Alright, go and cook now, Mu Ye." A voice sounded from behind Mu Ye, and his expression immediately stiffened.


    "Winning and losing are all part of life, so don''t be too dejected," Zhen Hua said as he patted Mu Ye on the shoulder.


    Mu Ye''s lips twitched as he grumbled, "What do you mean by ''don''t be too dejected''? He''s also my disciple, alright? They''re both mine!"


    Zhen Hua chuckled, "Alright, but weren''t you saying that Ruheng would win? What happened? Just go and cook. Taking a loss isn''t the end of the world."


    "I..."


    ¡­¡­


    "Rumble, rumble." Snow crashed down along the mountain faces in devastating waves, and all of a sudden, massive amounts of snow began to plummet from all of the surrounding mountains.


    This avalanche had been triggered by a wave of deafening cheers.


    In the instant that Tang Wulin became the final champion, the entire Blood God Legion had been transformed into a sea of joy.


    Guarding the abyssal passageway was a lonely and thankless task. They were secluding themselves in this godforsaken land, protecting the Douluo Continent, as well as all of the living beings on the entire Douluo Star. They had made countless sacrifices, and their daily lives were extremely bland.


    Now, there was finally an opportunity for the Blood God Legion to shine. That''s right, the championship title of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition Soul Master battle discipline belonged to the Blood God Legion. This was a great honor for the entire legion!


    Almost all of the soldiers who weren''t on guard duty in the abyssal passageway had emerged from the barracks, and had raised their hands high above their head while cheering at the tops of their lungs.


    They had been oppressed for far too long. Their legion was clearly the most powerful legion in the entire federation, yet no one knew of them. On this occasion, Tang Wulin had secured the championship title, and all of them would share in his glory!


    In the final moments following Tang Wulin''s victory, he had put away his Golden Dragon Spear before slamming his right fist heavily into his chest as a military salute to the Blood God Legion.


    That''s right, this was a military salute that belonged only to the Blood God Legion! They were the only ones who understood the meaning behind that action, but that was enough.


    Everyone''s excitement had dispelled the biting chill in the entire legion, and they were even more excited for this than when the life tide had struck.


    "Champion, champion, champion!" Cheers rang out in thunderous waves, and even the surrounding avalanche couldn''t dampen their excitement in the slightest.


    Jiang Wuyue was roaring with bloodshot eyes, Jiang Qiyue was yelling with all her might, and Long Yuxue was screaming at the top of her lungs.


    Ma Shan was vigorously thumping his own chest with his fist, as if he had been the one who had secured the final championship title.


    Ling Wuyue wore a wide smile on her face, and both of her arms were raised aloft with her fingers pointed up at the heavens. She was still waiting, waiting for Tang Wulin to secure the championship title in his upcoming mecha battle grand final as well.


    Perhaps, he wasn''t the most technically proficient mecha pilot, but he definitely possessed the greatest overall power; that was something that she firmly believed. She believed that Tang Wulin was going to secure a double championship crown for the Blood God Legion!


    The Blood God Legion had been oppressed for far too long, and the entire legion had come together to vent their negative emotions on this joyous occasion.


    However, at this moment, the legion commander, Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun, only wanted to sob into his own hands. He was even slapping himself when no one was looking.


    The opportunity had been presented before him; why had he given up without a fight? He had a chance to make this exceptional young man his successor! Who could be more suitable than him? That old bastard, Cao Dezhi, had swooped in to take Tang Wulin, and Zhang Huanyun was kicking himself!


    He was feeling very remorseful, but at the same time, he was also filled with pride.


    Do you see this, you old military bastards? The final championship title belongs to our Blood God Legion! Even if we''re not even listed as part of the military, our Blood God Legion is still the most powerful legion in the entire federation!

 Chapter 1082: You Go, Bear Lord

    The only place where there was any peace and quiet in the Blood God Legion was Tang Wulin''s dormitory room.


    His blood was also churning in his veins as he listened to the raucous cheers around him, but he still chose to log out of the battle net and return to his room.


    He had reaped more rewards during this battle than even his battle against Sima Jinchi. This battle had truly shown him just how powerful the Body Sect''s congenital secret method was, and he was certain that if he could successfully cultivate this congenital secret method, then he wouldn''t encounter any issues in breaking at least the next two Golden Dragon King seals. The congenital secret method of the Body Sect was most likely the most powerful body refinement method of the entire human race, so he had to try it no matter what.


    With that in mind, he dialed Mu Ye''s soul communication number.


    "Ring ring, ring ring, ring ring!" The ringtone rang out a few times, yet no one was picking up.


    What was Teacher Mu Ye doing? Why wasn''t he accepting the call? Tang Wulin was rather perplexed.


    Right at this moment, the call was finally connected.


    "What''s up?" Mu Ye''s slightly feeble voice rang out from the other end.


    "Teacher?" Tang Wulin asked in a hesitant manner.


    "It''s me. Congratulations on your victory," Mu Ye said in an indifferent voice.


    It didn''t sound like Mu Ye was congratulating him! He didn''t seem to be all that happy. Tang Wulin was rather perplexed. Could this be because he had defeated his senior disciple brother?


    "What are you up to, Teacher?"


    "I''m cooking!" An enraged tone suddenly crept into Mu Ye''s feeble voice.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Are you alright, Teacher?"


    Mu Ye had already calmed himself down at this point, and he replied, "It''s alright, I''m just cooking for a couple of middle-aged bastards and a massive glutton. By the way, the glutton says that he really enjoyed fighting you, and that he''s going to visit you."


    Glutton?


    "Is Senior Disciple Brother with you?" Tang Wulin asked in a surprised manner.


    "Yes. If you called me just to tell me about your victory, then you can hang up now; I''ve got my hands full over here," Mu Ye grumbled.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "No, I''m not just calling to inform you about my victory; I was really stunned by how powerful Senior Disciple Brother''s congenital secret method was, and seeing as I''m a direct disciple of yours as well, I was wondering if I could try to cultivate it as well."


    "Huh. Huh?" Mu Ye didn''t think much of what Tang Wulin was saying at first, but he then quickly processed Tang Wulin''s words before asking in a surprised voice, "You want to cultivate the congenital secret method?"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Will it be possible for me?"


    Mu Ye faltered slightly, and his mood immediately began to change. "Do you know how difficult the congenital secret method will be to cultivate."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ve heard about it from you, but I possess exceptional bloodline aptitude, and my physical constitution is also very powerful. I still can''t compare to Senior Disciple Brother in that area, but at the very least, I''m far superior to the average Soul Master in that regard. I feel like I might have a chance of successfully cultivating the congenital secret method."


    Mu Ye raised an eyebrow and thought about this for a moment before replying, "You can give it a try. Are you also of the opinion that our Body Sect''s congenital secret method is very powerful?"


    "Of course! There was no way that I could''ve defeated Senior Disciple Brother without tricking him. Our Body Sect''s congenital secret method is definitely the number one body refinement method in the world. If possible, I really want to try it."


    "That was very well said! If you can successfully cultivate the congenital secret method, you''ll be able to crush every future enemy who dares to oppose you! You''re at the Blood God Legion, right? I''ll send your Senior Disciple Brother over to find you, and he''ll tell you how to cultivate the congenital secret method. However, you have to gauge for yourself whether it''s suitable for you. If you can''t successfully cultivate the first level, then don''t force the issue; the backlash from the congenital secret method is very troublesome to deal with. However, with your powerful physical constitution, you can certainly give it a try. Just make sure you cultivate the first level before you move on to anything else."


    "Thank you, Teacher!" Tang Wulin was ecstatic. The congenital secret method was definitely the best-kept secret of the Body Sect, yet Mu Ye was willing to bestow it upon him! In a sense, he was actually more so a disciple of the Tang Sect than the Body Sect. He had only accepted Mu Ye as his teacher, and he hadn''t actually even officially joined the Body Sect.


    After ending the call, Mu Ye''s dejected mood had been completely replaced by excitement, and he murmured to himself, "This is fantastic! I didn''t think he would take the initiative to ask me for the congenital secret method. This just goes to show just how powerful our congenital secret method is! It''s a little late for him to start cultivating this congenital secret method, but with his physical constitution, there may be a chance that he could succeed. It''s just that the first level involves manifesting a blood essence core, which is extremely difficult. Even with his physical constitution, it''ll be a very arduous task for him.


    ¡®I''ll get Ruheng to take some spirit items with him when he goes to visit Wulin. If he can successfully cultivate the congenital secret method as well, then our Body Sect will truly have an opportunity to make a grand resurgence! After cultivating the congenital secret method, he''ll have no choice but to admit that he''s a disciple of our Body Sect. Hehehe, Amorous Douluo, Heartless Douluo, you can both eat my dust! We''ll see who the little monster pledges his allegiance to when the time comes, hmph!"


    "What are you mumbling about over there, Mu Ye? Is the food ready yet?"


    "F*ck..."


    ¡­¡­


    With that promise from Mu Ye, Tang Wulin was naturally in a very good mood. From the sound of it, the congenital secret method was split up into multiple levels, and the first level seemed to be the most important one. Furthermore, A''Ruheng was coming to visit him, and he was coming at a perfect time; neither Ma Shan nor Jiang Wuyue were suitable sparring partners for him anymore.


    A''Ruheng was extremely powerful, and his forte also lay in his strength, so he would be a perfect training partner!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin was very much looking forward to A''Ruheng''s arrival.


    With a sparring partner against whom he could fight as his full power, he was sure that he would be able to further improve the speed of his progression.


    A''Ruheng was also hoping to speed up his own cultivation by sparring with Tang Wulin.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he brought his hands together in front of his chest. With every flash of light within his eyes, the air would warp slightly, and he entered a meditative state.


    The sound of A''Ruheng''s thunderous heartbeat and the changes in his blood essence fluctuations during the battle had both provided Tang Wulin with a lot of inspiration for his cultivation. In the face of that immense pressure, he could even sense that he had developed an idea for how to cultivate his own Golden Dragon King bloodline. Furthermore, it was time for him to make further improvements on his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon. The final three techniques would have to be invented by him, and those would be abilities that were unique to him.


    ¡­¡­


    He won.


    A faint smile appeared on Gu Yuena''s face. At this moment, she was in a very good mood. He truly was becoming more powerful, and his rate of progression was even faster than what she had anticipated.


    It was time to go back. After participating in the grand final of the mecha battle discipline, he would travel to the Scorching Basin to visit her again.


    "My Lord." A deep voice suddenly sounded.


    Gu Yuena''s brows furrowed slightly in response. "Why are you here?"


    A black figure had appeared not far beside her in a completely soundless manner. The surrounding area immediately darkened, as if all of the light had been drawn away.


    "My Lord, the champion of that Star Battle Net competition is him, right? Are you still unable to strengthen your resolve? As you can see, he''s growing very quickly, and if we allow him to continue to thrive, he could pose a significant obstacle for us in the future. After all, he can even affect you."


    A cold expression appeared on Gu Yuena''s face. "I don''t need you to teach me what to do!"


    "My apologies, my Lord, I only wanted to remind you that it''s best to strike as soon as possible, both for the sake of our countless deceased brethren, as well as for our future survival and for our endeavor to become the masters of this continent again."


    Gu Yuena''s expression cooled even further. "I understand all that. You can go now."


    The black figure sighed before departing.


    The light in the room returned to normal, but Gu Yuena''s good mood had been completely soured, and she fell silent for a long time with her brows tightly furrowed.


    ¡­¡­


    "Is our Lord still unable to make up her mind? That man should definitely be in the west, and our Lord returned from the west; there''s no mistaking the spatial fluctuations."


    "You go, Bear Lord."


    "Alright."


    ¡­¡­


    After Tang Wulin awakened from his cultivation, an entire day had already passed. The first thing that he heard after waking up was his own powerful heartbeat.


    No substantial power improvements could be taken out of the Star Battle Net, but everything that had experienced during the battles would remain with him. Tang Wulin could sense that he had developed some new feelings toward the heartbeat of his own dragon core. It seemed to be rather similar to the sound of A''Ruheng''s heartbeat.


    It appeared that there was more room for improvement in the power of his dragon core.


    After taking a glance at the time, a serious look immediately appeared on his face.


    There was only one day separating the grand finals of the Soul Master battle discipline and the mecha battle discipline as no one could''ve imagined that one person could progress to both grand finals.


    As such, Tang Wulin''s mecha battle grand final was about to begin. The opponent that he was going to face was undoubtedly going to be even more powerful than Bubble King.


    He rose to his feet before doing some stretches. He could feel that he was already in his peak condition, and he turned around before walking into his Star Cabin.


    The final match of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition was finally about to begin.

 Chapter 1083: Skeleton King, King Skeleton

    This was going to be the final battle!


    The entire federation was eagerly awaiting the commencement of this final match on the nearest screens.


    To the general public, mecha battles were even more appealing than Soul Master battles as even normal people could pilot mechas. As long as one''s physical constitution and spiritual power could satisfy a certain set of criteria, they could enroll for mecha academies.


    The final mecha battle was finally about to commence, and everyone wanted to see just what the most powerful mecha pilots were capable of.


    Ever since he had progressed to the final 16, no one saw Spear King as a genuine contender for the championship title. However, he had managed to progress through one round after another against all odds, and now, he was in the grand final.


    His opponent had the highest odds among all of the mecha pilots in the entire competition, and he had won almost all of his matches in an extremely crushing manner.


    It could even be said that this man was a legend in the mecha world, and he was vastly renowned throughout the world of mecha pilots. Even the Star Battle Net was unable to hide his identity as he was simply far too well-known, and with his current powers, he could even put up a good fight against a divine-grade mecha pilot.


    He was a man who was almost certain to become a divine-grade mecha pilot in the future.


    Back when he was only 30 years of age, he was already a ninth-rank mecha maker, which made him the youngest ninth-rank mecha maker in the history of the entire federation. Furthermore, he had already successfully constructed a divine-grade mecha for someone else, and he was renowned for possessing the "Hands of God".


    He also possessed superb aptitude when it came to mecha piloting. No matter what kind of mecha he used, he was always able to bring out far more of its power than anyone else could.


    At the same time, he had an extremely outlandish and memorable name, and during his youth, it was a name that had earned him much ridicule.


    However, this name was already renowned across the entire continent at this point.


    His name was Wang Kulou [Literally translates to King Skeleton], and he was referred to as Skeleton God. His martial soul was his own skeleton, and he had the highest odds among all mecha pilots in the entire competition.


    Compared to him, Spear King''s path to the grand final had been a lot more arduous, and there were many matches where he had only narrowly escaped defeat.


    However, that wasn''t to say that Spear King wasn''t a legend in himself. There were rumors circulating that Spear King and the champion of the Soul Master battle discipline, Golden Dragon King, were one and the same!


    During the final match between Golden Dragon King and Strength King, Golden Dragon King had summoned a massive Tyrant Dragon soul spirit that was identical to the one Spear King had summoned in the past, so were they the same person?


    If so, then Golden Dragon King''s immense powers as a Soul Master would surely significantly enhance his mecha, and it would be difficult to say who was the favorite going into this match.


    If this were true, then this battle would be a clash between the most powerful Soul Master and the most powerful mecha pilot in the format of a mecha battle.


    In just a single day, the match between Spear King and Skeleton God had been promoted all over the entire federation, and everyone was eagerly awaiting this epic clash. Now, the grand final was finally about to arrive.


    Skeleton God, Wang Kulou! To put it more accurately, it should be Skeleton King, Wang Kulou!


    Tang Wulin sat within his resting suite and reviewed all of the information he had about Wang Kulou.


    This Wang Kulou''s martial soul definitely wasn''t just a skeleton. Instead, it was the Skeleton King. He was using his skeleton as a martial soul, which was a part of his body, but after asking Mu Ye about him, Tang Wulin was told that those with skeleton martial souls weren''t from a branch of the Body Sect. Instead, they came from a mysterious clan.


    He was a divine-grade mecha maker, and even though there were far more high-grade masters in other occupations compared to forging, there were still only 13 ninth-grade mecha makers in the entire federation, and even for them, it was certainly not an easy task to construct divine-grade mechas.


    Furthermore, crafting a divine-grade mecha for someone else was more difficult than crafting one for oneself, and it was important to remember that Wang Kulou was only 33 years of age. If it weren''t for the limitations of his physical constitution, he would most likely already be a divine-grade mecha pilot.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this battle against Wang Kulou definitely wasn''t going to be any easier than his battle against A''Ruheng.


    The atmosphere in the competition venue was even more frenetic than he had imagined, and the spectators seemed to have already completely forgotten the incidents that had taken place during the semifinal matches. Before Tang Wulin had even emerged into the competition venue, he could already hear waves of thunderous cheers erupting outside. The same cheers were also ringing out throughout the Blood God Legion as everyone cheered on Tang Wulin with all their might. They already knew for a fact that Spear King and Golden Dragon King were the same person!


    ¡­¡­


    Within the abyssal passageway.


    "Ding!" A faint clang rang out within the deepest part of the abyssal passageway, and even the most sensitive of detection devices failed to pick up this sound.


    A thin crack began to appear on the core at the deepest part of the passageway, and a layer of faint light appeared on the passageway''s seal. This layer of light only appeared for an instant before abruptly vanishing again.


    Wisps of black mist began to emerge soundlessly from within the crack. This stream of mist was very feeble, to the extent that the seal was completely unmoved. The black mist formed the shape of a needle, and as it drifted through the air, there was warped light constantly shimmering around it.


    The black mist began to coil around, and during this process, it seemed to be winding itself around an invisible hand. The invisible hand gently pulled back, and an indistinct figure took shape within the black mist on the side of the seal that belonged to the Blood God Legion. The figure then dragged itself along the line formed by the black mist and quickly flew away from the seal.


    ¡­¡­


    "Clunk, clunk, clunk!" With each and every step the mechas took, a loud clang would ring out. Every single one of the spectators had their eyes focused intently on the two mechas that were making their way into the competition venue.


    Tang Wulin was piloting his usual spear-wielding melee combat mecha, and the opponent that he was facing was also a melee combat mecha that was wielding a saber and a shield.


    The two mechas didn''t look any different; they were generic mechas, after all. However, as soon as they emerged, raucous cheers immediately rang out, threatening to blast the roof off the entire venue.


    "Skeleton God, Skeleton God, Skeleton God!"


    In contrast with the Soul Master battle grand final, virtually everyone was chanting Skeleton God''s name, and no one was optimistic about Tang Wulin''s chances.


    Tang Wulin''s expression remained unchanged. He had seen Skeleton God''s past competition footage, so he was naturally aware of why his opponent was so popular.


    Skeleton God''s battle style was extremely flashy yet effective, and it was very pleasing to watch.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha held its spear halfway up the shaft, and the spear was pointed diagonally down toward the ground as he appraised Skeleton God from afar. Skeleton God was also appraising him with intense focus, and there seemed to be some kind of invisible connection between them.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Skeleton God was far more familiar with mechas than Tang Wulin; this was a direct result of their differing occupations. During his past battles, Skeleton God''s forte lay in his flashy combo attacks. Those attack sequences perfectly integrated power and speed, and there was almost no way to defend against them.


    Skeleton God was renowned as the mecha pilot to have reached the upper limit of human mecha handling skills. Otherwise, his odds wouldn''t have been so high.


    "This is grand final match of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition''s mecha battle discipline; get ready!"


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    The electronic announcement was just as concise as ever.


    Following the conclusion of the countdown, Tang Wulin and Skeleton God sprang into action almost in complete unison, charging directly toward one another.


    The difference between them was made quite apparent right away.


    They were both piloting generic melee combat mechas, but in comparison, Skeleton God''s weapons were heavier than Tang Wulin''s. However, neither of them had activated their mecha''s propellers, yet Skeleton God was half a second faster than Tang Wulin. This reflected the absolute advantage he had over Tang Wulin in terms of mecha piloting skills.

 Chapter 1084: Identity Reveal

    What extraordinary mecha piloting skills! Tang Wulin was stunned to discover that this Skeleton God''s mecha piloting skills were definitely superior to those of even Ling Wuyue.


    Ling Wuyue had once told him that Skeleton God''s mecha piloting skills were virtually perfect, and that he was able to use any mecha to the limit of its capabilities.


    His skeleton martial soul was extremely practical as he could use it as his mecha''s skeleton, thereby enhancing his mecha''s tolerance capacity to an extremely great extent. To put it in simpler terms, he could truly become one with his mecha.


    That, in conjunction with his near-perfect mecha piloting skills naturally made him far more formidable than all of the other mecha pilot participants in the competition.


    Now that Tang Wulin was facing him in battle, he could see that Ling Wuyue hadn''t been exaggerating in her assessment of Skeleton God. The battle had only just commenced, yet Skeleton God was already half a second faster than him; the situation would naturally only worsen for Tang Wulin once the two mechas clashed.


    The two mechas quickly approached one another, and it was quite clear that Tang Wulin was slower than his opponent. As such, the site at which the two mechas clashed wasn''t at the direct center of the competition platform, but instead, a little more on Tang Wulin''s side.


    Skeleton God positioned his shield in front of his mecha and glided toward Tang Wulin, sending his shield crashing directly toward Tang Wulin''s mecha.


    Tang Wulin raised his spear, and a spear projection emerged from its tip following an influx of soul power. At the same time, a vast number of Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from within the gaps on his mecha, and he immediately unleashed his Bluesilver Overlord Transformation. Each and every Bluesilver Emperor vine was like a long spear that was hurtling toward his opponent from virtually all directions.


    This was an alternative use for his Bluesilver Impaling Array.


    Tang Wulin knew that his mecha piloting skills were inferior to those of his opponent, so he naturally went all-out from the get-go.


    Skeleton God remained completely unflustered in the face of Tang Wulin''s attack and reacted very quickly. His shield was still crashing directly toward Tang Wulin, but his mecha''s footwork had changed.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his vision had blurred for an instant, following which Skeleton God''s mecha, which should have been approaching him, was distancing itself from him instead. Just this maneuver alone was quite extraordinary to behold.


    Immediately thereafter, Skeleton God''s mecha transformed into a trail of afterimages as it rushed directly toward him. The Bluesilver Emperor vines that were thrusting through the air were also swept aside by the afterimages, and when Tang Wulin finally caught a clear glimpse of his opponent, Skeleton King''s saber was already right over his mecha''s head.


    His saber and movement techniques were both extraordinarily fast!


    One had to realize that there was an upper limit on the speed that these generic mechas could reach, but this Skeleton God seemed to be able to completely ignore this limit, giving Tang Wulin the impression that he was battling a Soul Master rather than a mecha.


    Tang Wulin''s spear was forced to the side by his opponent''s shield, and his spear projection completely failed to strike the opposing mecha.


    Not only that, but there was an eruption of energy being released by Skeleton God''s mecha, making Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor vines unable to wind themselves around the mecha.


    He had conducted research into his opponent, and his opponent had naturally done the same. Even though Tang Wulin was the clear underdog in this match, the fact that he had made it the grand final was a sufficient testament to his power.


    In this critical juncture, it was clearly already too late for Tang Wulin to dodge, so he lowered the head of his mecha while turning it to the side. At the same time, he activated the mecha''s protective barrier, and it appeared that he was going to withstand his opponent''s saber strike with his mecha''s shoulder.


    Not only were Skeleton God''s movements extremely quick, they were also very light and graceful. His mecha''s saber was crashing down with unstoppable force directly toward the neck of Tang Wulin''s mecha, yet right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s spear suddenly took on a golden hue. A dull explosive sound rang out, and the shield that was in direct contact with his spear was immediately blasted back by a burst of vibrational force.


    Skeleton God reacted extremely quickly to this sudden development, drawing back his mecha, as well as its saber, before drifting toward the side.


    Tang Wulin''s spear quivered, and a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out as a massive golden dragon erupted out of the tip of the spear before pouncing toward Skeleton God in a menacing manner.


    "Golden Dragon King?"


    A burst of commotion immediately rang out from the spectator stands.


    That''s right, Tang Wulin was no longer concealing his identity. This was the grand final, so there was no need for him to conceal himself any longer. If he didn''t use his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, there was no way that he would stand a chance against this opponent.


    As such, as soon he forced back his opponent with his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion, he immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    At the same time, golden light flashed from his mecha''s left hand, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in its grasp. The spear was thrust forward, and countless spear projections surged forth along with his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens; it was his Fury of the Masses!


    He was unleashing an explosive barrage of attacks while his opponent was still unfamiliar with his abilities in an attempt to end this battle as quickly as possible.


    Skeleton God had clearly been caught off guard by this sudden sequence of attacks. Instead of facing the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens head-on, his mecha rapidly retreated, and its footwork appeared to be rather panicked and messy, but in reality, it was actually quite measured and following a set pattern. The mecha was moving all over the competition platform in a wraith-like manner, and it was constantly using its shield to parry the Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens from the side, thereby gradually nullifying its power and momentum.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s Fury of the Masses also arrived. The countless spear projections converged in unison, and a burst of invisible suction force erupted from the tip of the spear, making it an unavoidable attack.


    Skeleton God''s mecha instantly slowed down significantly, and it was looking as if Tang Wulin''s spear projections were going to strike it any moment.


    It really was Golden Dragon King!


    All of the spectators instantly erupted into a frenzy, and even the commentators had risen to their feet.


    "Good heavens! What am I seeing? It''s Golden Dragon King''s signature attack! That golden dragon really is a spectacular sight to behold. Looks like our Skeleton God is in some trouble; he''s encountered an unprecedented challenge. Who would''ve thought that the champion of the Soul Master battle discipline, Golden Dragon King, would also progress to the grand final of the mecha battle discipline? I can now officially announce that Golden Dragon King is already the biggest winner of this entire competition! If he can defeat Skeleton God here, then he will be crowned as the Dual Championship King, as well as the most dominant participant in this inaugural edition of the competition!"


    Tang Wulin and Wang Kulou completely ignored the frenetic voices of the commentators and spectators. At this very moment, they only had eyes for one another, and their sole objective was to defeat their opponent.


    In the face of the converging Fury of the Masses, Skeleton God''s mecha gently swayed, and a bust of black light appeared soundlessly behind it. The layer of black light took the place of his mecha, transforming into a gigantic black skeleton that was around the same size as his mecha.


    This black skeleton was also wielding a saber and a shield. The saber was slashed through the air, and a streak of black light fell from the sky before striking Tang Wulin''s Fury of the Masses.


    This appeared to be only a single saber strike, but what Tang Wulin felt was a saber wave instead, and it was an extremely ferocious wave.


    Immediately thereafter, a resounding boom rang out from the clash, and Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly as he discovered that in the face of his opponent''s saber wave, his Fury of the Masses was unable to take shape.


    He hadn''t cultivated his Fury of the Masses to the highest level yet, but after using it for long, he had already mastered it to quite a high degree. This was the first time that he had encountered a situation where he was unable to completely unleash his spear technique in the face of an attack from his opponent.


    What was that black skeleton? Was it his martial soul true body?


    No, that couldn''t be the case. Wang Kulou''s mecha was still rapidly retreating and skirting around toward Tang Wulin from the side; how could it be doing this if it didn''t have a pilot? Furthermore, during a mecha battle, a Soul Master would automatically forfeit the match if their martial soul true body caused them to detach from their mecha.


    If it weren''t his martial soul true body, then how could this gigantic black skeleton be so powerful?


    Could it be that this was his soul spirit? But could a Soul Master''s soul spirit really be this powerful?


    Even a 100,000-year-old soul spirit shouldn''t have been this powerful. Not only had it withstood the power of Tang Wulin''s Fury of the Masses, the saber wave it had unleashed was threatening to completely devour Tang Wulin''s attack.


    As such, Tang Wulin was quite perplexed about just what this black skeleton was. He had never seen Skeleton God summon this black skeleton during any of his past matches. With Skeleton God''s combat prowess, he should''ve been able to withstand Tang Wulin''s Fury of the Masses with his mecha alone, yet he had chosen to summon this black skeleton instead. This indicated that he had the same thought process as Tang Wulin; he was also trying to end this match as quickly as possible.


    Just as the black skeleton was keeping the Fury of the Masses at bay, Skeleton God had already reached Tang Wulin from the side. The black skeleton was forcibly charging toward him from the front, while Skeleton God was attacking from the side using his mecha''s shield and saber.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha stomped its left foot violently into the ground, and eight gigantic golden dragons erupted from the competition platform. At the same time, vibrational waves proliferated outward in all directions, causing both Skeleton God and the black skeleton to slow down slightly.


    Tang Wulin then plunged the tip of his Golden Dragon Spear into the ground, using it as a pivoting point as he swept his right leg horizontally through the air to unleash his Golden Dragon Whips its Tail!


    Using a mecha to unleash these soul skills naturally wasn''t all that smooth, but after taking mecha piloting lessons from Ling Wuyue for so long, and using his Bluesilver Emperor vines for assistance, the attacks that Tang Wulin had unleashed were still very powerful.

 Chapter 1085: Pistol on the Wall

    Skeleton God used his shield to defend his mecha, and a layer of black light appeared over the surface of the shield as it opposed Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Whips its Tail. At the same time, he slashed his saber through the air, sending a saber projection hurtling directly toward the knee joint of Tang Wulin''s mecha.


    While executing his Golden Dragon Whips its Tail, Tang Wulin thrust the spear in his mecha''s right hand forward. Spear projections immediately erupted forth as he unleashed his Fury of the Masses once again, but on this occasion, the spear projections encompassed both the black skeleton and Skeleton God.


    The black skeleton strode forward and gripped onto its saber with both hands before bringing it downward with devastating might, as if it were threatening to part heaven and earth. A saber projection crashed down from above, disrupting the Fury of the Masses from the side. Meanwhile, Skeleton God''s shield had completely turned black as it met the Fury of the Masses head-on.


    Tang Wulin swept his Golden Dragon Spear upward to shatter the saber projection, but at the same time, his mecha began to tumble toward the ground as if it had lost its balance.


    Right at this moment, he abruptly activated his mecha''s propeller, sending it hurtling straight up into the air. Even though his Fury of the Masses had been blocked by his opponent, he had still managed to propel his own mecha upward.


    Skeleton God''s body swayed, and it also rose up into the air in hot pursuit behind Tang Wulin. Meanwhile, his black skeleton swept toward Tang Wulin''s mecha from the side like a violent tornado. His reactions, speed, and control were all exemplary. However, right at this moment, something completely unexpected to him suddenly happened.


    Light flashed, and Tang Wulin''s mecha suddenly descended downward in a diagonal direction when it was flying upward just a moment ago, thereby completely breaking the laws of physics.


    The spectators could clearly see that a golden figure had appeared on the ground in the distance with a Bluesilver Emperor vine wrapped around its body, and the golden figure was tugging vigorously on the vine to change the direction that the mecha was traveling in.


    Tang Wulin also had soul spirits of his own!


    Tang Wulin''s mecha was being pulled downward by Goldsong, and at the same time, a massive black figure appeared in mid-air in the place of Tang Wulin''s mecha. The gargantuan black figure then descended from the sky, crashing down directly toward Skeleton God and the black skeleton.


    The massive creature had a layer of thick and heavy dark golden scales all over its body, and it was none other than Tang Wulin''s Tyrant Dragon soul spirit.


    The Tyrant Dragon plummeted down from above, and just its enormous body weight in free fall was an extremely damaging force.


    Skeleton God and the black skeleton''s attacks struck its body, sending countless sparks flying in all directions, but the attacks were unable to break through the Tyrant Dragon''s defenses.


    Skeleton God''s mecha quickly descended toward the side while the black skeleton roared as its body instantly expanded to over 30 meters tall. It then slammed its shield into the Tyrant Dragon''s body, and the Tyrant Dragon lowered its head to look down at the shield that had just crashed into its chest. All of a sudden, the scales on its chest bulged outward, and the black skeleton was instantly forced backward.


    The Tyrant Dragon had never been bested in a contest of strength, except when facing the likes of A''Ruheng, who possessed downright freakish strength.


    The black skeleton and the Tyrant Dragon landed on the ground almost at the exact same time, and the Tyrant Dragon''s body swayed as its massive tail swept toward the skeleton with devastating force.


    The black skeleton wasn''t backing down in the slightest; it quickly leaped up into the air before holding its saber in both hands and bringing it down upon the Tyrant Dragon''s tail. As its body had swelled to over 30 meters tall, its saber had also expanded to over 10 meters in length, and the saber projection erupting from it was astonishingly powerful.


    It was looking as if the Tyrant Dragon''s tail were going to be severed by the devastating saber strike.


    However, right at this moment, a resounding boom suddenly rang out from within the Tyrant Dragon''s body.


    The black skeleton clearly faltered momentarily, and the Tyrant Dragon''s massive body instantly turned into a transparent dark golden color, as if it had suddenly transformed into a gargantuan statue.


    "Clang!"


    The huge saber struck the Tyrant Dragon''s tail, and the massive black skeleton was repelled backward, but the tail remained completely unscathed.


    The Tyrant Dragon raised its right foot before stomping it violently down onto the ground.


    "Boom!"


    A violent boom rang out, and the black skeleton was forcibly flung up into the air before immediately being paralyzed by the enormous resulting shockwaves.


    The Tyrant Dragon was unable to use Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, but this attack was not inferior to the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth in any way. Furthermore, all of the offensive of the attack was dedicated to its shockwaves, so despite the black skeleton''s tremendous powers, it was still completely immobilized for a short time.


    The Tyrant Dragon''s tail then reared upward and crashed heavily into the black skeleton''s body, sending it flying through the air like a gargantuan cannonball and breaking at least four of its ribs.


    All of this had taken place in a very short time. The black skeleton had appeared to be extremely fearsome just a moment ago, but in the face of the Tyrant Dragon, it was like a vulnerable little child. Regardless of what techniques or attacks it used, it was rendered completely powerless in the face of the Tyrant Dragon''s absolute defense and absolute power.


    Skeleton God was also quite stunned by this turn of events. He had just gained the upper hand over Tang Wulin, yet as soon as the latter summoned his soul spirits, the tables were instantly turned.


    Furthermore, it wasn''t as if Tang Wulin hadn''t summoned his Tyrant Dragon before in previous matches. However, during those occasions, the Tyrant Dragon was still as massive and intimidating as ever, but it didn''t seem to be very bright, and it always appeared to be quite slow and cumbersome. During his match against Strength King, the Tyrant Dragon had been flung away in an instant, doing nothing more than delaying Strength King for a brief moment, so why was it that this soul spirit seemed to have become a completely different being during this match?


    It was only natural that he didn''t understand what was happening because this was a figurative pistol that Tang Wulin had hung on the wall during his previous matches!


    Tang Wulin was unaware of the fact that Skeleton God possessed an extremely powerful soul spirit in the form of his black skeleton. This was a soul spirit that had been carefully and painstakingly nurtured by Skeleton God, and to put it more accurately, he only actually had a single soul spirit. In the beginning, this skeleton soul spirit was only of the hundred-year-old caliber, and Wang Kulou had managed to make it progressively evolve through all types of methods. At present, the soul spirit had already reached the 80,000-year-old caliber, and just this one black skeleton alone provided him with as many as five soul skills.


    As for his other soul spirit, he simply gave up on it, and that was why this black skeleton soul spirit was so powerful. This black skeleton was something that had been formed following the death of a Soul Master who had used a special cultivation method during their lifetime. As such, it possessed a certain level of intelligence to begin with, and that was why it was able to execute so many battle techniques.


    However, unbeknownst to Wang Kulou, whenever Tang Wulin had used his Tyrant Dragon in his past matches, he actually hadn''t allowed it to reveal the full extent of its power.


    Even in his battle against A''Ruheng, he had intentionally made the Tyrant Dragon appear confounded and cumbersome. This was partially a ploy to draw A''Ruheng into a false sense of security, and also to convince Skeleton God that the Tyrant Dragon didn''t pose any threat to him when he reviewed Tang Wulin''s past competition footage.


    As such, he immediately used his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon from the get-go to reveal to Skeleton God that he was Golden Dragon King. As such, Skeleton God would definitely think of his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit, but he wouldn''t think much of it.


    Now, he was releasing his Tyrant Dragon at the most critical juncture and allowing it to display its full power. An unyielding soul spirit was certainly no slouch, and even with Tang Wulin''s current power level, he was only able to summon the Tyrant Dragon for a maximum of five minutes.


    In reality, the Tyrant Dragon had constantly been growing along with Tang Wulin, and its true combat prowess was even superior to Tang Wulin''s!


    Wang Kulou was quite stunned by this startling turn of events, but the battle was still in progress. Tang Wulin pointed both of his spears at Skeleton God at the same time, and right at this moment, Goldsong''s body swayed, conjuring up a series of golden halos that quickly proliferated outward to encompass both Tang Wulin and Wang Kulou.


    It was his Bluesilver Golden Array!


    Despite Wang Kulou''s astonishment, he was still charging toward Tang Wulin while brandishing his saber and shield. In his eyes, with Tang Wulin''s shoddy mecha piloting skills, there was no way that he could defend himself, even with two spears. Seeing as his soul spirit was this powerful, he had to take care of Tang Wulin''s true body as quickly as possible. No matter how powerful a soul spirit was, it wouldn''t matter if its master were to perish.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s mecha suddenly lit up, and a massive purple flower appeared behind him in a diagonal direction, radiating dazzling pink light. Countless energy particles surged toward him in a frenzy, and a massive burst of suction force erupted from the ground, quickly sapping away the darkness elements that Skeleton God relied very heavily upon.


    Not only that, but a golden halo was also released from Tang Wulin''s body before quickly spreading outward to encompass the Tyrant Dragon as well.


    The Tyrant Dragon immediately let loose a thunderous roar of fury as its body expanded even further. It opened its mouth, and a pillar of orange flames that was tinged with golden specks of light was blasted toward the black skeleton in the distance.


    Meanwhile, spear projections erupted from both of Tang Wulin''s spears as he unleashed his Fury of the Masses!


    Countless Bluesilver Emperor vines surged forth before winding themselves around the two massive spears, and the countless spear projections naturally took on a bluish-golden hue.


    Crap! I can''t take this head-on!


    Skeleton God was struck by a sense of remorse. He had still underestimated his opponent in the end. Even after ascertaining the notion that his opponent was Golden Dragon King, he had still made such a grave error, and that was simply inexcusable.

 Chapter 1086: Dual Champion King

    He still had many combination techniques that he could unleash with his black skeleton, and those techniques could even be described as mecha soul fusion skills. However, he had been completely cut off from his black skeleton, making those options completely inaccessible to him.


    This Spear King or in other words, Golden Dragon King, had truly done an exceptional job concealing his own abilities. His only opportunity to turn the tables now was to reach his black skeleton.


    Brilliant black light abruptly erupted from his saber, and his soul power fused perfectly with his mecha. The shield then suddenly exploded, transforming into a massive black light barrier in front of him. At the same time, he was controlling his mecha to rapidly retreat by executing a profound movement technique.


    It would definitely be unwise to continue to clash with his opponent head-on under these circumstances.


    "Boom!" The black light barrier was shattered, and the spear projection hurtled through the air.


    At the same time, a burst of black light suddenly erupted from the ground before transforming into a series of golden halos that ensnared Skeleton God''s mecha within. At the same time, a vast expanse of Bluesilver Emperor vines rose up from the competition platform. Immediately thereafter, the Tyrant Dragon slammed its tail onto the ground once again, and Skeleton God''s mecha was instantly immobilized for a short time by the resulting violent shockwaves.


    A loud dragon''s roar rang out, and a substantial golden dragon head appeared in front of his mecha pilot room, appraising him with a pair of ferocious eyes before rushing forward with devastating force.


    "Boom!"


    Even with Wang Kulou''s physical constitution, he was still struck by a rush of dizziness in the face of such a severe impact. At this point, the countless spear projections had already converged and arrived.


    The Tyrant Dragon''s true power wasn''t the only thing that Tang Wulin had been hiding. Even the Tyrant Dragon had evolved to such an extent; Goldsong was his first soul spirit, and it had been with him ever since he first awakened his Golden Dragon King bloodline, so it was certainly no slouch, either.


    Bind, Bluesilver Impaling Array, and Bluesilver Golden Array were all abilities that Tang Wulin had bestowed upon it. Furthermore, it had been most heavily affected by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline, so it had also mastered some elements of Tang Wulin''s Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon. This was the final trump card that Tang Wulin had prepared for Skeleton God.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin still had his 100,000-year-old soul spirit behind him. This was a Beautiful Silk Tulip that possessed intelligence that wasn''t inferior to that of a human, and it was also able to support Tang Wulin with its Devouring Heaven and Earth.


    During these two grand final matches, Tang Wulin had perfectly displayed to everyone the notion that intelligence was also a crucial constituent element of one''s powers. Of course, it was hard to say how many people had actually managed to grasp this lesson.


    In the face of the many restrictions and attacks that Tang Wulin had unleashed upon it, Skeleton God''s mecha exploded violently as if it had been struck by a ninth-grade soul missile.


    A massive skeleton was revealed within the mecha, and it was clearly Wang Kulou''s martial soul true body.


    If this were a battle of life and death, Tang Wulin''s attacks may not have been enough to kill him. However, in the instant that his mecha was destroyed, the match was already decided.


    The black skeleton was being completely dominated by the Tyrant Dragon''s fiery breath, and it couldn''t even rise to its feet. In the end, it could only transform into a stream of black energy that fused into Wang Kulou''s skeletal body.


    There was a ball of green flames dancing within each of Wang Kulou''s eye sockets, and he was appraising Tang Wulin with an intense gaze. He looked at the two spears that had punctured through his body, and his teeth clattered as he said, "You deserved to win. I look forward to our next encounter."


    Light flashed, and Wang Kulou disappeared into thin air. A golden crown then appeared above Tang Wulin''s head, indicating that he was the champion!


    An enormous burst of force suddenly erupted from behind Tang Wulin. His Tyrant Dragon had clamped its fang down onto his mecha before flinging it up into the air. Tang Wulin adjusted the positioning of his mecha in mid-air, thereby allowing it to land on top of the Tyrant Dragon''s head before he pointed both of his spears up at the heavens.


    I won! The mecha battle championship title is also mine!


    It was undoubtedly the case that not only was Wang Kulou superior to him in terms of mecha piloting skills, all of the opponents that he''d encountered during the past few rounds had superior technical skills compared to his. However, the abilities of a Soul Master still had an extremely important role to play, despite the fact that these were technically mecha battles, and he had proven himself to be the most powerful mecha pilot overall.


    This was the final battle of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, and during the past few months of competing, both Tang Wulin''s powers and confidence had been significantly elevated. After facing one powerful being after another, he had truly found himself and proven to himself that he was the most powerful being in the entire federation below the three-word battle armor master level.


    It didn''t seem all that long ago when he had been so envious toward that three-word battle armor master who had saved him and his friends from the powerful Evil Soul Master that had attacked them following the destruction of that soul train. Now, he was confident that he was just as powerful, if not superior in power to that man.


    He was taking one firm stride after another toward the very pinnacle of this world.


    Gu Yue, can you see this? Wait for me! I''ll definitely become powerful enough to protect you!


    Tang Wulin held tightly onto the spears in his hands, and at this moment, he wanted to throw his head back and roar to the heavens to vent his pent-up emotions.


    He couldn''t wait to inform Gu Yuena of this good news. He couldn''t wait to return to her side and hold her in his arms. For the very first time, he truly felt that he finally had the power to protect the one that he loved, and he also saw the first rays of hope for the revival of Shrek Academy.


    Following a brief silence, all of the spectators erupted into thunderous cheers.


    They were no longer chanting Golden Dragon King or Spear King. Instead, it was...


    "Dual Champion King, Dual Champion King, Dual Champion King!"


    The raucous cheers and the electrifying atmosphere ignited the blood within Tang Wulin''s veins and set his heart alight. All of his pain and frustration was released to his heart''s content. How could he not be proud of himself?


    At this moment, there were countless people in the Douluo Federation who were sitting in front of their soul screens, living vicariously through the almighty figure on the competition platform and extending toward him their unreserved praise.


    At this moment, the Star Battle Net took root deep in everyone''s hearts, especially in the hearts of Soul Masters. If I work hard enough, will I be able to participate in the next edition of the competition?


    The Blood God Legion had already been transformed into a sea of joy. All of the accumulated snow had already tumbled down surrounding mountains the day before, so no further avalanches were triggered, but the thunderous cheers were clearly audible even from a few mountains away.


    Everyone was chanting the name of "Dual Champion King" at the top of their lungs.


    Right at this moment, a black vortex silently appeared deep within the abyssal passageway, far away from the seal.


    Wisps of black energy were seeping out of the cracks on the seal before surging toward the vortex, expanding it further and further, and there were faint traces of purple lightning flashing within the vortex.


    A massive inky-black hand slowly extended out of the vortex, and immediately thereafter, powerful abyssal aura fluctuations erupted forth in a frenzy!


    "Beep, beep, beep, beep..." A loud and piercing siren rang out across all corners of the Blood God Legion, just as everyone was celebrating to their hearts'' content.


    Zhang Huanyun, Blood One, and all of the other powerful beings within the legion were all sitting in front of soul screens, witnessing the creation of history, and the sirens that had abruptly rung out startled everyone.


    Zhang Huanyun and the Blood Gods immediately departed from the Blood God Battalion before quickly traveling toward the abyssal passageway.


    "Boom!"


    A violent boom erupted deep within the abyssal passageway, and an enormous figure appeared.


    This was a monstrous creature that was over 100 meters tall with six sharp claws. Its entire body was covered in a black enamel-like substance, and there was also dark red lava-like liquid flowing down all over its body.

 Chapter 1087: Major Crisis

    As soon as it appeared, the size of the black vortex expanded by around twofold, and a series of four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats rushed out from within it.


    The main passageway was the widest of all the abyssal passageways, and these abyssal creatures instantly surged out into this main passageway in a frenzy.


    An illusionary figure appeared beside the gigantic Six-clawed Demon Emperor, and it whispered into the demon emperor''s ear, "We''ve completed our mission, so the rest is up to you. Kill and destroy to your heart''s content! Bring the abyssal aura to this world!"


    "Howl howl howl..." The Six-clawed Demon Emperor threw its head back and roared to the heavens. A series of dark red halos proliferated from its body, encompassing all of the four-clawed and six-clawed bats, making their bodies expand dramatically in size while a bloodthirsty light appeared in their eyes.


    They rushed forth in a frenzy, and at this point, all of the soul weapons that were situated at the exit of the abyssal passageway had already begun to fire automatically. A series of soul lasers and soul missiles formed a massive net that struck down one abyssal creature after another.


    In the face of the ferocious barrage of soul laser attacks, countless abyssal creatures were destroyed, before their energy returned to the abyssal passageway. However, even more abyssal creatures were rushing out at an astonishing speed.


    Only then did the Blood God Legion soldiers who were guarding the branch passageways react to the situation, but all of their heavy artillery was situated within the branch passageway, so there was no way for them to access it.


    "Quick! We have to go and guard the exit of the passageway!" A series of commands were issued, and one flashing mecha after another rushed toward the exit of the abyssal passageway. They quickly retreated as the barrage of soul lasers kept the abyssal creatures at bay, then formed a defensive line at the exit.


    This attack had come far too abruptly, to the extent that they had been given no time to prepare. Almost all of the soldiers of the Blood God Legion were celebrating Tang Wulin''s dual championship crown just a second ago, yet now, they were suddenly being struck by a major crisis.


    "Boom!" A mecha was latched onto from behind by a six-clawed bat. The bloodthirsty six-clawed bat tore at the mecha''s barrier in a violent frenzy while a dozen or so four-clawed bats also quickly converged toward it.


    "Long live the legion!" A cry that was filled with grief and indignation rang out from within the mecha, and in the next instant, the mecha self-detonated, exploding into a massive fireball that engulfed all of the abyssal creatures around it.


    All of the soldiers of the Blood God Legion knew that if they were to fall into the hands of the abyssal creatures, their energy would become a part of these abhorrent creatures. As such, all of the mechas of the Blood God Legion were fitted with self-destruction mechanisms. Even if they couldn''t defeat their enemies, they definitely weren''t going to allow their life force energy to be taken.


    One mecha after another exploded before they could rush out of the exit of the passageway, and it was their heroic sacrifices, along with the barrage of attacks being unleashed by the automatic soul weapons, that were buying their comrades an opportunity to survive.


    The vice-commander of the Iron Will Corps looked on with bloodshot eyes as one comrade after another lost their lives to this inexplicable crisis. His heart was burning with fury as he roared, "Hold them back! Keep these bastards back; we can''t let them rush out of the passageway no matter what!"


    No one knew how the seal that had remained unbroken for several millennia had suddenly been broken, thereby allowing so many abyssal creatures to emerge from the main passageway.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this was the largest abyssal tide in the history of the Blood God legion, and it could even compare to the abyssal tide that had taken place over 6,000 years ago, when the abyssal plane had suddenly descended upon this world.


    If they couldn''t defend the abyssal passageway, then countless human lives were going to be lost, and the entire continent would be in grave danger.


    Compared to 6,000 years ago, human technology had made rapid advancements, and mechas and soul weapons were already far more powerful than they were in the past. However, the horror of the abyssal creatures had left an extremely dark chapter in the history of the continent, and they had to keep these creatures at bay no matter what!


    Aside from the soldiers that had self-detonated their mechas, everyone else had finally managed to retreat out of the passageway. They didn''t flee from the scene. Instead, they immediately retaliated, supplementing the defensive measures that were already in place at the exit of the main passageway.


    At this moment, there was only a single thought in the hearts of all of the Blood God Legion soldiers; they had to keep these abyssal creatures at bay and prevent them from leaving the abyssal passageway at all costs!


    During this brief period of time, over 400 of the 3,000 Blood God Legion soldiers that were guarding the passageway had perished. This was almost the same number as the total death toll of the past century combined! It was undoubtedly the case that an extremely heavy blow had been dealt to the Blood God Legion.


    The soldiers looked on as one comrade after another self-detonated to hold the abyssal creatures at bay, and tears were shimmering in their eyes as they gritted their teeth with all their might. All of their excitement in response to Tang Wulin''s double crown had been completely replaced with fury.


    They were unleashing attacks with all their might to keep their enemies at bay, and one abyssal creature after another was being reduced to streams of energy that flew back into the abyssal passageway. In contrast, there was no reviving the comrades that had lost their lives here.


    Developing a Blood God Legion soldier was far from an easy process, yet following the deaths of these abyssal creatures, their energy would be recycled, and they would soon be reborn as new abyssal creatures.


    All of the Blood God Legion soldiers were aware that this was the case, but they couldn''t do anything aside from opposing these enemies with all their might.


    Even as they did so, their hearts were filled with despair.


    Over 6,000 years ago, virtually all of the most powerful beings on the entire continent at the time had joined forces to force these abyssal creatures back into their plane, but even then, extremely heavy casualties were suffered. At this point in time, there were only less than 30,000 soldiers in the entire Blood God Legion; would they be able to hold back this enormous abyssal tide?


    No one knew, but every single one of them was doing their best.


    This was a battle to the death, and no one tried to escape as they knew that if their defensive line were to be bypassed, no one would be able to escape.


    All of the soldiers of the Blood God Legion had witnessed just how fearsome these abyssal creatures were, and it was exactly because of this that they were even more motivated to protect their home. Furthermore, the vast majority of them had their entire families in the Blood God Legion base! If they were to back down now, their families would undoubtedly be slaughtered in brutal fashion.


    Sirens were blaring throughout the entire Blood God Legion base, and one group of white figures after another were traveling toward the abyssal passageway in an orderly manner.


    "Requesting reinforcements! Requesting reinforcements! A vast number of abyssal creatures have emerged from the main passageway, and we desperately need large-scale weaponry on the scene as quickly as possible!"


    The request for reinforcements had already been made, and the vice-commander of the Iron Will Corps was hovering in his black mecha above the exit of the abyssal passageway, looking down at the abyssal creatures below him with a wary expression.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the exit of the main passageway had the most powerful defenses, and in the face of the devastating crossfire, even these bloodthirsty abyssal creatures were unable to immediately break through the defensive line.


    However, the expression on the vice-corps commander''s face was progressively becoming grimmer and grimmer as through the illumination of the soul lasers and soul cannon blasts, he could see that the number of abyssal creatures emerging from the abyssal passageway was still constantly increasing.


    In the beginning, there were only four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats flying out from within the passageway, but now, there were also already some reptilian abyssal creatures that were rushing out along the sides of the passageway, and there were even more abyssal creatures looming in the distance.


    The more massive abyssal creatures were all looking on from down below with cold expressions on their faces. They were in no hurry to charge out, and it was quite clear that they were waiting for something.


    "Howl!" A deranged roar suddenly erupted from deep within the abyssal passageway. Immediately thereafter, the abyssal creatures down below quickly parted, and the gargantuan Six-clawed Demon Emperor emerged, surrounded by countless abyssal creatures.

 Chapter 1088: Six-clawed Demon Emperor

    It suddenly thrashed violently, and countless dark red balls of light erupted forth, hurtling directly toward the exit of the abyssal passageway. At the same time, a pair of massive bat wings spread open on its back, stretching to a wingspan of over 200 meters. It flapped its wings vigorously and abruptly flew toward the exit of the passageway.


    "Put the defense system into overdrive!" the vice-commander commanded without any hesitation, but at the same time, his heart had completely sunk.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this gargantuan being definitely wasn''t a normal abyssal creature. At the very least, he had never seen an abyssal creature like this before, and that indicated that this was very likely one of the 108 abyssal emperors. Furthermore, this was not just a projection; its actual body had descended upon this place! Each abyssal emperor was at least as powerful as a Hyper Douluo, and they possessed bodies far more powerful than those of humans.


    Violent explosions erupted, transforming everything down below into a fiery red color. The balls of light released by the Six-clawed Demon Emperor were all targeted by soul lasers, and its massive body also crashed into the oncoming soul lasers.


    Soul lasers and soul cannon blasts fell upon it before exploding into balls of fire, turning its body bright red, and also instantly hampering its upward momentum as it made its ascent. However, it was also managing to shield the abyssal creatures behind it from most of the oncoming attacks, and vast hordes of abyssal creatures quickly rose up from around it.


    "Use the high explosive bombs!" the vice-commander of the Iron Will Corps quickly commanded.


    Balls of scorching white light exploded down below, encompassing the entire abyssal passageway. The Six-clawed Demon Emperor was indeed very powerful, but in the face of such concentrated barrages of attacks, even it was only able to last less than 20 seconds before its massive body plummeted downward to evade a large number of soul lasers and soul cannon blasts.


    The vice-commander of the Iron Will Corps heaved a long sigh of relief. The defensive measures that had been set up here hadn''t gone to waste; this defensive line had been created with the intention of targeting demigods. Now, he could only hope that reinforcements could arrive on the scene as soon as possible! After all, the energy reserves were limited, and only with a sufficient supply of energy could the defensive line continue to unleash such enormous bursts of power output.


    Looking on at the streams of black energy that were being absorbed back into the abyssal passageway, there was no sense of achievement whatsoever in the vice-corps commander''s heart. The biggest problem that had plagued the Blood God Legion was the inability to truly destroy these abyssal creatures.


    If they could actually destroy these beings, then the power of the entire abyssal plane would''ve been significantly worn down during the past 6,000 years.


    Right at this moment, groups of Blood God Legion soldiers appeared in the distance, along with all types of equipment and machinery. They quickly began to get to work, replacing the batteries, replenishing energy, and taking over the defensive positions littered all around the passageway. More soul cannons were being set up, and more soldiers joined in on the defensive efforts as one mecha after another surrounded the exit of the main passageway, forming a strict formation that was ready to plunge into battle at any moment.


    "What''s the situation like?" A massive mecha descended from above before arriving beside the vice-corps commander.


    The vice-corps commander finally heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this man, and he replied, "We''ve managed to hold them off for now, but more than four battalions worth of our brothers have fallen."


    "What?" Ma Shan was stunned to hear this. The emergency sirens immediately made him realize that an abyssal tide had most likely struck as only abyssal tides could trigger such loud sirens. However, never did he think that things would be this serious. This was roughly equivalent to the total number of Blood God Legion soldiers who had fallen during the past century!


    One had to realize that all of the Blood God Legion soldiers are elites among elites, and the fact that so many of them had perished in such a short time was making his heart throb with pain. Furthermore, the main units guarding the passageway at this point in time came from none other than his Iron Will Corps!


    "Those bastards!" Ma Shan roared in a furious voice.


    The vice-corps commander was clearly quite familiar with Ma Shan''s short temper, and he hurriedly said, "Commander, now''s not the time to be letting out emotions get the better of us! The situation on this occasion was very bizarre. For some reason, these abyssal creatures came from the seal in the main passageway; something like this has never happened in the past 6,000 years! It was exactly because of this that we were completely caught off guard, and many of the brothers had to self-detonate to keep the enemies at bay. Let''s guard the exit to the best of our ability and wait for the legion commander and the Blood Gods to get here."


    Ma Shan''s aura was clearly a little unstable. He had a fiery temper, but he was very good to his subordinates and was a respected and revered figure among the troops of the Iron Will Corps. However, close to a third of his brothers had fallen here; how could he continue to remain calm?


    "I''ll kill these bastards!" Ma Shan raised a hand and removed the massive mace that was attached to his mecha''s back. It was quite clear that the vice-corps commander wasn''t going to be able to stop him.


    Right at this moment, a figure suddenly appeared beside him. This was a human who wasn''t in a mecha, and he immediately grabbed onto the shoulder of Ma Shan''s mecha. The huge black mecha instantly faltered in mid-air and was unable to rush forward.


    "Calm down, you idiot! Now''s not the time for you to lose your cool. This situation is indeed very bizarre; your top priority now is to command your troops." The deep voice seemed to possess some kind of magical quality that instantly made Ma Shan calm down.


    "Legion Commander, you have to avenge our brothers!" Ma Shan''s voice was trembling as he spoke, not from grief, but from extreme rage instead.


    Zhang Huanyun nodded before patting Ma Shan''s mecha. "Go and command your brothers; there will come a time for you to fight these abyssal creatures to your heart''s content."


    "Yes!" Ma Shan yelled before retreating with his vice-corps commander.


    Zhang Huanyun was in his usual military uniform complete with his shimmering general epaulets, and with his arrival, it naturally became his duty to command all of the Blood God Legion troops present. Following his arrival, the defensive line also clearly became more organized and less chaotic. Even the emotions of all of the soldiers present had become a lot more stable.


    This was the effect of Zhang Huanyun''s charisma. He had been at the Blood God Legion for over 60 years, and he was the psychological pillar of the entire legion. It was exactly due to the fact that he was the legion commander that the Blood God Legion had developed such a high level of cohesion, making it the most powerful it had ever been during the past 6,000 years.


    Following the retreat of the Six-clawed Demon Emperor, the charging abyssal creatures were forced to fall back a little, and Zhang Huanyun began to issue a series of commands, following which the offensive output from the soul lasers and soul cannons also lessened.


    They had to conserve energy!


    More and more defensive equipment of all types were delivered to the scene before quickly being set up.


    During the past 6,000 years, the Blood God Legion had done countless preparatory work to guard against the abyssal plane, and this included everything that had been set up within the abyssal passageway.


    Aside from the original defensive forts, there were also many foundational structures that had been erected. As soon as the defensive soul tools arrived on the scene, they were able to be integrated with these foundational structures to complete a large-scale defensive fort.


    Groups of soldiers were quickly split up before getting into position without requiring any instructions from Zhang Huanyun himself.


    A series of figures also quickly began to approach him.


    Blood One appeared soundlessly beside Zhang Huanyun with his brows tightly furrowed, and even without an explanation from Zhang Huanyun, he could tell that there was something amiss about this situation.


    The current situation was completely unexpected to them. The last abyssal tide had only just concluded not long ago; how could the abyssal plane be unleashing another full-frontal assault so soon? Through the surveillance devices, they had already ascertained the situation here before arriving on the scene, so they knew that the situation was very bad.


    The main issue was that they had no idea why these abyssal creatures were emerging from the main passageway. If they couldn''t remedy that issue, then more and more abyssal creatures were going to emerge from the main passageway in relentless waves.


    No matter how much energy reserves they had, it was always going to be completely exhausted at some point.


    Abyssal creatures couldn''t actually be killed; their energy could constantly be recycled, which meant that there was no end to them.


    With the legion''s energy reserves, Zhang Huanyun was confident that they could keep the abyssal creatures at bay for three months with no issues. But what would happen after those three months?


    Furthermore, this attack was completely different from previous abyssal tides, and the main difference was that an abyssal emperor had appeared. Among the 108 abyssal emperors, the Six-clawed Demon Emperor was ranked quite low, but the issue was that it had appeared here in its true form. This would''ve been impossible in the branch passageways.


    6,000 years ago, the human race had set up this seal in the main passageway specifically to keep the 108 abyssal emperors from crossing over to this world. As long as none of those emperors appeared, the Blood God Legion and the Blood God Battalion''s powers were more than enough to take care of all of the other abyssal creatures.


    However, now that a Six-clawed Demon Emperor had appeared, were there going to be even more powerful abyssal emperors to follow? They didn''t know just exactly how powerful the abyssal emperors were, and against enemies of a certain power level, soul laser and soul cannons simply failed to pose much of a threat.


    "Should we request for assistance from the federation and request reinforcements from the Spirit Pagoda and the Battle God Hall?" Blood One asked.

 Chapter 1089: Wulins Arrival

    Zhang Huanyun replied in a grim voice, "We''ve already sent out a request for reinforcements, but it''ll take them a while to get here. Even the reinforcements from the Battle God Hall will take 10 days to arrive. On top of that, the main problem that we''re facing is that we don''t know what''s wrong with the seal. Even if the Battle God Hall reinforcements arrive on the scene, we can only play to these abyssal creatures'' strengths by engaging them in a prolonged battle, and that would be greatly disadvantageous for us."


    Blood One''s brows were tightly furrowed. There were simply too many abyssal creatures down below, and no one knew how many abyssal emperors were going to appear later on. If they couldn''t advance deep into the abyssal passageway, then they wouldn''t be able to ascertain what was wrong with the seal, and this seemed to be an irresolvable conundrum.


    This crisis had struck extremely abruptly, and it had caught them completely off guard.


    "Let''s just wait and see if any other abyssal emperors will appear aside from the Six-clawed Demon Emperor. If not, then we have to venture into the abyssal passageway to conduct an investigation," Blood One said with a grim voice. This investigative duty would undoubtedly have to fall on his shoulders.


    Zhang Huanyun nodded, and said, "You go and rest for now; I''ll call for you when your services are required."


    "Alright!" Blood One gave a concise reply before retreating to the outskirts of the passageway, where he joined the other Blood Gods in silent seated meditation.


    During the past 6,000 years, the Blood God Battalion had already developed perfect strategies against the abyssal passageway, and it would be impossible for the abyssal creatures to breach their defensive line in a short time.


    Over 20,000 Blood God Legion soldiers had already arrived nearby, and they were ready to substitute their comrades at any time. All of the soldiers who weren''t engaged in battle were meditating while slowly injecting their soul power into the batteries as a backup energy source.


    The soul power within the human body could be endlessly replenished, but of course, this also had its limits. However, they had no choice but to do this under the current circumstances. This was something that they had simulated countless times, and all of them had learned to inject their soul power into the batteries while expending as little energy and spiritual power as possible.


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin was still full of excitement as he logged out of the battle net, and his first thought was to visit Gu Yuena.


    He emerged from his Star Cabin, and just as he was preparing to put on some clothes before visiting Blood One to apply for some leave, he was met by the sound of blaring sirens.


    Tang Wulin was quite startled to hear this, and in the aftermath of the battle that he''d just endured, it took him a few seconds to realize what was happening.


    Was something happening over at the abyssal passageway? This was quite an astonishing notion to Tang Wulin as the last abyssal tide had only just concluded not long ago, and during his recent trip deep into the abyssal passageway, he hadn''t discovered any signs of abyssal creatures aside from that Possession, so how could this possibly be happening?


    He was a soldier of the legion and also the incumbent Blood Nine of the Blood God Battalion, so despite his confusion, he still immediately sprang into action.


    He quickly put on his military uniform and rushed out of his dormitory room, then immediately donned his suit of two-word battle armor, flapping his wings with all his might as he flew toward the abyssal passageway.


    He could already hear deafening booms and feel the tremors running through the entire mountain ranges even from quite a distance away.


    As expected, something really was happening in the abyssal passageway, and judging from the concentration of the soul weapons blasts that he could hear, there seemed to be a very severe problem!


    He flapped his wings vigorously, and the legion base wasn''t far away from the abyssal passageway, so he was soon greeted by the sight of virtually the entire legion surrounding the exit of the abyssal passageway. A series of huge soul tools had been positioned around the abyssal passageway, and Zhang Huanyun was hovering in the air directly above the passageway with his hands clasped behind his back, inspecting the situation unfolding within the abyssal passageway down below.


    He also immediately caught sight of the Blood Gods of the Blood God Battalion, including the former Blood Nine that he had dethroned. All of them were sitting at the closest location to the passageway and were engaged in seated meditation.


    Blood One suddenly raised his head as if he had sensed Tang Wulin''s arrival. He cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin''s direction before gesturing toward him.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly flapped his wings and descended from the sky.


    His arrival naturally attracted the attention of many of the Blood God Legion soldiers, and despite the tense atmosphere that was permeating through the air, expressions of excitement still appeared on many people''s faces at the sight of him.


    This was their Blood God Legion''s Golden Dragon King and Dual Champion King!


    Tang Wulin''s arrival was undoubtedly very effective in boosting everyone''s morale. They all automatically neglected his nickname of Spear King as Golden Dragon King was far more badass of a title.


    Tang Wulin landed beside Blood One before asking in a low voice, "What happened, Senior Blood One?"


    The expression that was currently on Blood One''s face was rather perplexing to him; he seemed to be very excited for some reason.


    "I didn''t even get a chance to create an opportunity yet, but the abyssal creatures have brought themselves right to our doorstep! They''ve come a little early, but we still have to do our best to take advantage of this opportunity."


    Tang Wulin was completely befuddled by what Blood One was saying.


    "What do you mean?"


    Blood One smiled, and said, "From now, stay by my side, and do everything that I tell you to do. You can use your Golden Dragon Spear right now, right?"


    "Of course." Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    "Alright, then let''s wait for now. Rest so you can return to your peak condition; I''m sure that grand final match must''ve taken a lot out of you."


    "Yes." The matches in the Star Battle Net didn''t actually expend one''s soul power in the real world, but they were always quite mentally taxing. In particular, this was a grand final, so he had been very tightly wound the entire time.


    A deafening battle was taking place not far away, but Tang Wulin still quickly entered a meditative state to facilitate mental recovery.


    Meanwhile, Blood One raised his head to look up at Zhang Huanyun, and his lips tremored slightly as if he were transmitting his voice in a soundless manner.


    Zhang Huanyun turned to look at him before taking a glance at Tang Wulin, who was sitting beside Blood One, and he immediately gave Blood One a quick nod.


    Down below, the battle against the abyssal creatures was becoming more and more intense. More and more abyssal creatures were joining the battle, and in the beginning, most of the abyssal creatures that appeared were only capable of engaging in melee combat, so they could only withstand the attacks from the Blood God Legion with their bodies.


    However, as time passed, some abyssal creatures that were adept at unleashing long-range attacks also appeared.


    They began to use their long-range attacks to oppose the soul lasers and soul cannons in order to create opportunities for the melee-combat-oriented abyssal creatures.


    The Six-clawed Demon Emperor hovered in mid-air while issuing commands to its subordinates. It was gently flapping its wings, and it looked as if it could unleash a full-force attack at any moment.


    Half an hour had already passed since the commencement of this abrupt abyssal tide. Deep within the abyssal passageway, the black vortex was still expanding in size, and the streams of energy being released by the bodies of the destroyed abyssal creatures didn''t return to the abyssal plane as they normally did. Instead, they were absorbed by the black vortex and became a part of it, thereby causing it to expand further and further.


    More and more abyssal creatures began to emerge as the vortex continued to enlarge.


    If Zhang Huanyun could see what was happening deep within the abyssal passageway, he would definitely lead his troops to charge into the passageway at all costs in order to destroy this vortex and fortify the seal again. Unfortunately, he was completely oblivious to all of this, and as such, he could only choose to adopt a conservative course of action.


    A burst of bright light flashed through the air, and another figure slowly emerged from deep within the black vortex. This was a creature with eight legs and a body that was divided into three segments. Its head was the largest of those segments, and that segment was roughly circular in shape. Its mouth was extremely large with two pincers protruding from it, and there were two gently-swaying feelers on its head, each of which was several dozens of meters in length.


    Any of the weaker abyssal creatures around it would immediately explode into mist when coming into contact with its feelers, and those streams of mist would then be absorbed into its body through those feelers.

 Chapter 1090: Heartless Sword

    Its eight legs were constantly exerting force into the ground, and it had to expend a lot of effort before it could drag itself out of the vortex. It was as if there were some kind of enormous suction force pulling back on it from behind.


    It raised its head to look up at the Six-clawed Demon Emperor, which was hovering in mid-air and concealing everything down below, and the enormous ant-like abyssal creature flashed suddenly adhering itself to the side of the abyssal passageway. The front end of its massive head suddenly took on a corkscrew shape before he rammed it into the wall on the side of the passageway. As it did so, its corkscrew head suddenly began to rotate at a rapid speech.


    "Clang!" A loud noise rang out, and large ripples of light immediately appeared on the surface of the passageway. The ripples proliferated outward, and the seal on the underside of the passageway immediately lit up.


    The giant ant was sent flying before shaking its own head, seemingly in a slightly dizzy and disoriented manner, and it mused to itself in a human language, "The seal that the humans set up is just as annoying as ever. Even if my true body were to descend upon this place, I wouldn''t be able to break this seal. It looks like the only way out is through the exit of this passageway."


    Among the 108 abyssal emperors, the Six-clawed Demon Emperor was ranked as 97th, while the Ant Emperor was ranked at 76th.


    Instead of rushing forward to join in on the attack, the Ant Emperor merely rested on the wall of the passageway and waited.


    As the first spearhead of the attack, their objective was to buy more time and get more of the normal abyssal creatures here to perish in battle. As a result, they would disintegrate into abyssal energy that would then contribute to expanding this black vortex, which was actually an alternate abyssal passageway created with the assistance of the humans on this side. As the passageway continued to expand, more and more abyssal emperors would be able to travel through it, and they were going to conquer the human world in one fell swoop.


    At the moment, the Six-clawed Demon Emperor and the Ant Emperor were the only two abyssal emperors present, so they didn''t constitute much of a threat. However, as the passageway continued to expand, more and more normal abyssal creatures were rushing out in a frenzy, and later on, other abyssal emperors would also be able to emerge through it.


    The Blood God Legion was completely oblivious to all of this. They merely continued to defend in an organized and orderly fashion while countless abyssal creatures rushed to their deaths before disintegrating into streams of abyssal energy.


    "Have the radars discovered anything?" Zhang Huanyun asked the investigation department. The Blood God Legion had the most advanced sensory and detection devices available in the entire federation.


    "At the moment, we can only see that there are vast numbers of abyssal creatures that are constantly emerging from down below, and there''s also a powerful being that''s not inferior to in power to that big guy down there. However, the abyssal energy fluctuations are too violent for our devices to detect what''s happening deep within the passageway, so we don''t know the exact nature of the situation."


    "Alright, keep doing what you''re doing."


    Zhang Huanyun''s body swayed, and he arrived beside Blood One.


    Blood One rose to his feet before giving him a slight nod.


    Zhang Huanyun said in a low voice, "I can cover you, but won''t you be alerting the abyssal plane by doing this?"


    A faint smile appeared on Blood One''s face. "This is not an issue of whether we''ll alert the abyssal plane; if we can destroy any of their emperors, we''ll be able to truly weaken the abyssal plane, and that''s an opportunity that we can''t afford to pass up. We don''t know what the situation is like deep within the abyssal passageway, so we have to retreat after just a single attack to drag that big guy out of there. I''ll be responsible for restraining it, and you''ll be responsible for transferring it."


    "Alright!" Zhang Huanyun nodded in response before his body flashed, and he appeared in the air above the abyssal passageway once again.


    "Releasing the high explosive bombs at a frequency of 300 per minute!"


    Balls of scorching white light rapidly flew out of one circular cannon barrel after another, and 300 of these white balls of light were being launched per minute.


    Within each and every ball of light was what appeared to be a small metal ball, and when the scorching white light expanded to its maximal extent, the metal ball would explode.


    In contrast with soul missiles, high explosive bombs couldn''t be launched over long distances, but in terms of explosive power, they could trigger chain reactions, so it was best to use them within a concentrated area, in which case they would produce a better effect than soul missiles.


    These types of soul tools were disposable items, and they were extremely effective against abyssal creatures.


    300 high explosive bombs exploded, and the interior of the abyssal passageway was instantly illuminated by a vast expanse of scorching white light. Hordes upon hordes of abyssal creatures were being destroyed in the face of this white light, and countless streams of abyssal energy were sent flying in all directions.


    All of the abyssal creatures in the passageway were temporarily wiped out.


    At the same time, Zhang Huanyun hurriedly issued a series of commands, and the defensive line at the exit of the passageway was instantly relaxed. Behind the smokescreen provided by the scorching white light down below, a mirror that resembled a bright moon appeared behind Zhang Huanyun.


    When the mirror first appeared, it only had a diameter of half a meter. However, three soul rings then immediately lit up around Zhang Huanyun''s body, and the mirror swelled to over 50 meters in diameter in the blink of an eye.


    A large number of coiled dragon patterns became clearly visible on the back of the enlarged mirror, and these patterns all seemed to have sprung to life.


    Violent energy fluctuations also began to appear on the surface of the mirror, and it was also right at this moment that a figure snuck soundlessly into the abyssal passageway before vanishing in a flash.


    The Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s six arms were raised above its head to protect itself from the high explosive bombs, and it wasn''t bothered in the slightest to see so many of its brethren being destroyed. The more abyssal creatures that were killed, the larger the vortex would become, which would allow more of its brethren to enter this world, and also facilitate passage for more abyssal emperors, so it was actually quite glad to see the humans expending more efforts to kill these abyssal creatures.


    Of course, that didn''t include itself as it would take a very long time for an abyssal emperor to recover following their death. During this process, they would also be challenged by other powerful brethren, so they may not even be able to reclaim their position as abyssal emperors.


    Within the abyssal plane, there was an emperor on every level, and each emperor was entrusted with the core of that level. The cores would bestow upon the emperors superior powers and status, and if an abyssal emperor were to perish, its core would carry their energy back to the level that they came from. However, resurrection took time, and if one of its brethren were to find them and take their core during this process, then they would truly lose their sentience, and even their energy could be devoured by the new emperor.


    As such, normal abyssal creatures had no qualms about dying, but these abyssal emperors didn''t dare to die for no good reason in case they were to be replaced by their brethren.


    Just as the Six-clawed Demon Emperor was about to withdraw its six arms, it suddenly sensed a temperature change around its body. If it had to describe this sensation in a human way, then it seemed to be... cold!


    It was then suddenly struck by the feeling that the space around it seemed to have become different, and that the surrounding space seemed to have been sliced open. There were clearly countless abyssal creatures around it, but in that instant, it was as if it had lost connection with all of these abyssal creatures. It was as if it had been enclosed in an isolated cuboid space, and even sound couldn''t travel in and out of this space.


    What was going on? What had just happened?


    The Six-clawed Demon Emperor was quite stunned by this sudden development. As an abyssal emperor, it possessed intelligence that was not inferior to that of a human, and it instantly sensed that something was amiss. However, when it tried to struggle free from this space, it was already too late.


    Four massive swords silently isolated the space around it and ensured it within. In the sky above, a beam of bright light shone down upon it, and in the next instant, the Six-clawed Demon Emperor transformed into a streak of white light that rose upward, then vanished as if it were an immortal that had ascended into the heavens.


    Its gargantuan body didn''t leave so much as a single trace behind.


    The Ant Emperor was appraising the situation up above with a cold expression, and it remained completely unperturbed by the sight of the violent explosions.


    However, right at this moment, it was surprised to see that four antiquated giant swords had suddenly appeared out of thin air. These four swords sliced through space with ease, and it felt as if the Six-clawed Demon Emperor had been stuffed away into a packaging box. It couldn''t even offer any resistance before it was drawn away as a streak of white light.

 Chapter 1091: Devour

    Not only had the vast numbers of abyssal creatures obstructed the vision of the human soldiers, they also obstructed the vision of the Ant Emperor down below.


    It still had no idea what had just happened right until the very instant that the Six-clawed Demon Emperor vanished. This was simply incredible!


    The humans were capable of abducting the Six-clawed Demon Emperor? Were they already this powerful?


    The Ant Emperor looked on in a flabbergasted manner, but it didn''t have the courage to rush forward. It was a lot more powerful than the Six-clawed Demon Emperor, but the Six-clawed Demon Emperor possessed spatial abilities, which was why it had been sent out first. Furthermore, it had a vast number of brethren, so it was naturally assigned with the task of being the spearhead.


    The Ant Emperor was superior to the Six-clawed Demon Emperor in terms of combat prowess, but if that bizarre situation had befallen it instead, it was not confident at all that it would''ve been able to resist.


    It couldn''t afford to just charge recklessly onward. But then again, what were these humans trying to do? So what if they captured the Six-clawed Demon Emperor?


    Even if the Six-clawed Demon Emperor were to perish, its planar core would naturally carry its energy back to the abyssal plane! This was something that the humans were completely powerless to stop.


    Light flashed, and the huge mirror behind Zhang Huanyun dimmed once again. However, a massive figure that was appraising its surroundings in a bewildered manner had appeared within the mirror. It was none other than the Six-clawed Demon Emperor!


    A faint smile appeared on Zhang Huanyun''s face. Everything was going to hinge on this.


    108 sounded like a large number, but if they were to destroy the abyssal emperors one by one, then it wouldn''t be all that difficult to shake the foundation of the entire abyssal plane.


    With that in mind, he turned toward Cao Dezhi and gave him a thumbs-up. This Heartless Douluo truly was an extremely powerful being! As expected of Blood One to be able to capture an abyssal emperor in an instant.


    During the past few decades, the Heartless Douluo was the one who had entered the abyssal plane the most number of times, and he had even assassinated abyssal emperors in the past, causing chaos and unrest within some of the abyssal levels to buy the Blood God Legion more time to rest and recuperate.


    This Six-clawed Demon Emperor was clearly one of the weaker abyssal emperors, and capturing it proved to be a simple task for him.


    "Wulin."


    A voice sounded beside Tang Wulin''s ear, waking him up from his meditative state. He turned toward Cao Dezhi, who was standing beside him.


    Cao Dezhi said, "Come with me."


    He grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder as he spoke, and a burst of peerlessly sharp aura abruptly erupted from his body. In the next instant, Tang Wulin felt as if he''d been teleported into a strange and abstract world.


    Everything around him was twisted, but at the same time, everything was extremely sharp, and he felt as if he would immediately be sliced into ribbons if he were to do anything careless here.


    He had experienced Ye Xinglan''s sword intent in person before, and he had even witnessed Ye Xinglan attaining a sword soul during her match against Sima Jinchi, but none of that could even begin to compare with everything that he was seeing and feeling at this moment.


    This mystical sword intent seemed to have a life of its own, and it had connected all of the surrounding space while carrying him to freely traverse through this space.


    Was this what humans were capable of when they reached the peak of their powers?


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with astonishment. Never did he think that Blood One would be capable of this.


    A faint smile appeared on Blood One''s face. "Wulin, what I need you to do next is to stab that abyssal creature with your Golden Dragon Spear. We have to experiment and see if you can truly kill these powerful abyssal creatures. If your body is unable to handle the energy you''re devouring, tell me right away."


    He had been brought here to kill an abyssal creature?


    As soon as this thought appeared in Tang Wulin''s mind, the setting around him transformed, and he and Blood One arrived in another space without any premonition.


    There were only clouds and powerful gusts of energy swirling around the area, and there was also a gargantuan figure situated up ahead. It was none other than the Six-clawed Demon Emperor.


    At this moment, the Six-clawed Demon Emperor was looking very disoriented, and it clearly had no idea what was happening.


    As soon as it caught sight of Tang Wulin and Blood One, it immediately let loose a roar of fury while swinging its six arms through the air, causing the surrounding air to twist and warp violently.


    However, right at this moment, the cloud and mist in the surrounding area suddenly transformed into a series of chains that quickly bound its massive body, causing the energy it had just released to instantly dissipate.


    Blood One waved a hand through the air, and an antiquated longsword emerged out of thin air. The longsword split into two, then into four, and the four swords instantly appeared around the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s head, following which the twisted space was immediately stabilized.


    "Go on, Wulin," Blood One instructed in a serious voice.


    Tang Wulin naturally wasn''t going to hesitate. His Golden Dragon Spear could devour the energy of abyssal creatures to enhance his powers, and even though many impurities were filtered out during this process, the energy that was transmitted to him was the purest neutral attribute energy!


    He had been itching to hunt down some abyssal creatures to elevate his own powers for quite a while now, so he certainly wasn''t going to pass up this brilliant opportunity.


    He could clearly sense that this abyssal creature was more powerful than any of the other abyssal creatures that he had encountered before.


    His body flashed forward, and a pair of wings appeared on his back. He flapped his wings vigorously while unleashing his Golden Dragon Takes Flight!


    At the same time, his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp, and he thrust it directly toward the Six-clawed Demon Emperor.


    The Six-clawed Demon Emperor had 16 pairs of compound eyes on its head, and those eyes were all filled with rage and indignation. It wasn''t afraid of death. Following its death, its planar core would take its energy back to the abyssal plane, and as long as it still had the core, it had a chance to be resurrected. It had been the emperor of the 97th abyssal level for many years, and during that time, it had set up many trump cards for itself that would significantly increase his chances of successful resurrection and becoming the ruler of the abyssal level again. However, it didn''t want to die under these inexplicable circumstances!


    The closer Tang Wulin drew to the Six-clawed Demon Emperor, the more he was able to experience Blood One''s incredible power. The four antiquated longswords hovering around the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s head had completely immobilized it. Were those sword souls? It was incredible to think that a sword soul could be split into four segments. Furthermore, each segment seemed to possess power that was capable of parting heaven and earth.


    In the face of these four longswords, Tang Wulin felt extremely tiny and insignificant.


    The dual championship crown he had secured during the competition had instilled within him a lot of confidence, but only after witnessing the power being displayed by Blood One did he realize that he was still very far away from becoming a truly powerful being.


    All of these thoughts traveled through Tang Wulin''s mind in a flash, and at this point, he had already reached the Six-clawed Demon Emperor. He instantly thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward, yet when it struck the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s chest, it was met by a strong sense of obstruction.


    What a powerful body! It was quite difficult even for his Golden Dragon Spear to pierce into it.


    A surprised look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and at the same time, he unleashed his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion.


    A buzzing sound rang out from the Golden Dragon Spear, and the Six-clawed Demon Emperor was still appraising him with a hint of disdain in its eyes just a moment ago, but in the next instant, its disdain was completely replaced by astonishment.


    "Thump!" The Golden Dragon Spear pierced into the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s body before faltering slightly. Immediately thereafter, the Golden Dragon Spear took on a scorching white color, and white halos of light instantly enveloped Tang Wulin''s spear-wielding arm. This white light then swept backward and quickly injected itself into Tang Wulin''s body.


    Tang Wulin shuddered slightly, and in the next instant, a vast burst of energy abruptly surged into his body.


    This feeling was similar to when he had absorbed dragon clouds in the Dragon Valley for the very first time, and this energy was only even purer and more concentrated.


    The white light flowed into his body, and his dragon core began to beat violently while absorbing this pure life force energy in a greedy manner.


    As the life force energy surged into his body, his soul core also began to light up. He hurriedly activated his Mysterious Heaven Method, controlling this influx of energy to flow into his two major energy cores.


    This wasn''t the first time that he was facing abyssal creatures. Back then, he still didn''t have either of his energy cores, and it was very easy for his body to be overfilled with energy. However, at this moment, both of his major energy cores were absorbing energy at an astonishing rate while radiating scintillating light.


    His soul core became even more glittering and translucent, and as the vast influx of energy flowed into it, a series of tiny facets began to appear on its rhomboid surface. With each facet that appeared, the soul core would become even brighter.


    Meanwhile, his dragon core was constantly beating like a heart, and every time it expanded, it would devour a vast amount of life force energy. This energy was converted by his dragon core before fusing into his bloodline energy, then pumped to every corner of his body.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he were expanding like a balloon as more and more energy continued to flow into his body.


    What...


    Blood One was constantly standing beside him and observing the changes taking place to the Six-clawed Demon Emperor, and he could see that a hint of astonishment first appeared on its face, quickly followed by an expression of horror. It could clearly sense that this human was constantly sapping away at its abyssal energy! How was this possible?


    Could it be that this was the human who was capable of devouring abyssal energy that the most powerful abyssal emperors had been referring to?

 Chapter 1092: Activate, Seed of Life

    Was a human really capable of doing this? This was downright incredible!


    An expression of shock and horror appeared on its face. If things were to continue like this, it was going to die!


    It couldn''t allow this to go on! It had to be break through the restrictions here and return to the abyssal plane. Only then would it have a chance at resurrection. With that in mind, the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s body began to expand and contract violently while a faint light seemed to have lit up within its body. This was a strange purple light, and as soon as this light appeared, its enormous body immediately began to collapse in on itself.


    "Hmm?" Blood One''s expression changed slightly as he waved his right hand through the air, and another antiquated longsword shot forth like lightning before instantly pinning the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s body, significantly slowing down the rate at which it was collapsing in on itself.


    "Time is of the essence, Wulin; this thing''s trying to self-detonate." Blood One had the most experience when it came to dealing with these abyssal emperors, so he was well aware of their abilities. If an abyssal emperor were to perish, their abyssal energy would quickly escape toward the abyssal plane. This abyssal energy was able to pass through anything, and even Zhang Huanyun''s domain was unable to capture it. If the energy were allowed to escape, then after a while, the abyssal emperor that was slain would be resurrected, and their operation would end in failure.


    Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response; he had also sensed that something was amiss. Even though the rate at which his Golden Dragon Spear was devouring the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s energy was speeding up, the energy within its body was also quickly becoming more violent, and it seemed as if it were getting closer to breaking free.


    He could sense that there seemed to be some kind of special entity within the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s body, and it was currently absorbing the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s energy with all its might.


    "Senior Blood One, it seems to be trying to open a spatial passageway! You..." All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s voice abruptly trailed off, and his glabella shuddered as a strange feeling instantly spread through his entire body.


    Blood One''s expression changed slightly as he waved his right hand through the air, and the four longswords around the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s head instantly began to glow with scintillating light while slicing through space.


    However, powerful spatial fluctuations abruptly erupted from within the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s body, and it was as if its entire being were collapsing inward.


    "Hehehe, you puny humans think that you can kill the almighty Six-clawed Demon Emperor with your pitiful little tricks? No matter how powerful you are individually, how can you hope to contend with an entire place? The abyssal plane possesses power that is infinitely approaching godly power; that is the basis of the abyssal plane. My planar seed will take me back to the abyssal plane, and it won''t be long before I return."


    Planar seed? Even though Blood One had been battling abyssal creatures for many years this was the first time that he had been made aware of this existence known as the planar seed.


    Furthermore, he could clearly sense that his spatial locking and Zhang Huanyun''s domain were slowly becoming unable to control the Six-clawed Demon Emperor.


    Blood One''s heart sank, and he realized that he had still been too naive. It would take more than just devouring their energy to truly destroy the 108 abyssal emperors. This was a very low-ranking emperor, yet they were still unable to kill it; one could only imagine that the more powerful emperors would undoubtedly be even more difficult to control. Furthermore, the seal within the main abyssal passageway had clearly somehow been breached, making the situation very grim and difficult for them to deal with.


    Just as Blood One''s brows were tightly furrowed in contemplation, a strange turn of events abruptly unfolded.


    A total of six soul rings suddenly emerged from beneath Tang Wulin''s feet, consisting of four blacks, one green, and one orange. The fifth greenish-golden soul ring suddenly lit up, immediately following which a beam of green light erupted from Tang Wulin''s glabella like lightning.


    To Blood One''s surprise, a green symbol that resembled a tiny sapling had appeared on Tang Wulin''s head, and that symbol was where this green light was originating from.


    The green light struck the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s chest, and a peculiar scene ensued; a hole appeared on the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s chest as if the flesh there had been melted away, and immediately thereafter, the green light took on a substantial form, transforming into a branch that was riddled with green leaves before plunging itself into the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s chest.


    The Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s deranged cackling immediately cut off. "What? What the hell is this! Argh!"


    Deafening howls of anguish abruptly rang out, causing the entire space within the domain to twist and warp violently. However, there was still green light that was clearly shimmering from its chest.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin felt as if the seed of life that was contained deep within his glabella was transmitting emotions of joy and elation to him. It was the exact same feeling that he experienced when tasting his mother''s cooking as a small child.


    The energy being devoured by the Golden Dragon Spear clearly subsided a little, but the extremely rich life force energy being released by the seed of life filled every corner of his entire body. He could clearly sense that every single cell within his entire body in a state of joyous celebration. In the face of this enormous influx of life force energy, a layer of greenish-golden light that was filled with vitality surfaced all over his body, and he was struck by an indescribable sense of comfort. Both his physical and spiritual exhaustions were wiped away in an instant, and what was even more of a pleasant surprise to Tang Wulin was that in that instant, he was able to clearly sense all of the elemental particles around him.


    Was this the feeling of attaining Spirit Domain realm spiritual power?


    The Six-clawed Demon Emperor was letting loose deranged roars of fury and struggling with all its might, but the vine that had emerged from Tang Wulin''s forehead, which was only as thin as a finger, had taken root firmly on the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s chest, turning it into a bright green color.


    Had the tides suddenly turned? Even Blood One was completely rooted to the spot. He was already aware that Tang Wulin had an unknown source of enormous life force energy within his body. This life force energy had appeared back when he was materializing his soul core, and it had benefited the entire legion immensely.


    At this moment, the life force energy had appeared once again, and it seemed to have controlled the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s planar seed. What was going on? Even with Blood One''s vast wealth of experience, he still couldn''t ascertain exactly what was happening, but one thing appeared to be certain; the Six-clawed Demon Emperor had been dealt a lethal blow.


    A powerful heartbeat rang out from Tang Wulin''s dragon core, and he felt as if his blood essence power had never been this abundant before. With the nourishment his body received from the rich life force energy, he wasn''t worried in the slightest that his body wouldn''t be able to handle this influx of blood essence power. His dragon core was clearly expanding little by little, and the number of facets on his soul core was also quickly increasing. This was undoubtedly an indication that his soul core was undergoing evolution.


    The two major energy cores were absorbing the energy from the Six-clawed Demon Emperor in a greedy manner, but the seed of life within his glabella was devouring the most energy.


    All of a sudden, the Six-clawed Demon Emperor shuddered violently before slumping in a limp and lifeless manner. The branch that had emerged from Tang Wulin''s forehead instantly shot back, and at the tip of the branch, there was a dark purple ovular crystal. The crystal was flashing with light that was fluctuating in brightness, and the branch from the seed of life had taken root upon it. There seemed to be a series of roots that had pierced into the crystal, and layers of green light were quickly surging toward Tang Wulin''s forehead along the branch. The vast life force energy was then devoured in its entirety by the seed of life.


    Six projections appeared around Tang Wulin, and they were none other than the six plant system Great Beasts.


    Each of them had a layer of greenish-golden light around their body, and they all wore ecstatic expressions. It was quite clear that the rich life force energy had benefited them immensely as well.


    The Golden Dragon Spear continued to devour the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s remaining energy, and Tang Wulin turned to the Beautiful Silk Tulip as he asked, "What''s going on here? What''s that purple crystal?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip burst into elated laughter. "I must say, you''ve been extremely lucky, Master. We had thought that staying around the seed of life and being influenced by its aura would already be the best form of nourishment for us, but we didn''t think that you would be able to activate the seed of life and provide it with such pure life force energy! As a result of this influx of energy, the seed of life is truly beginning to germinate!"

 Chapter 1093: Collapse of the 97th Level!

    Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "Hold on, can you explain in greater detail? I still don''t understand!"


    Blood One was also very surprised to see so many beings with such powerful auras suddenly appear around Tang Wulin. These beings were all radiating rich life force energy, and it was quite clear that they shared a very close connection with Tang Wulin.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "All of our knowledge on this matter was bestowed upon us by the seed of life. The seed of life itself is actually the patriarch of all life in our world, so in a sense, it is a representative of nature. The seed of life has constantly been residing within the ancient Golden Tree in a certain form, but due to excessive exploitation of the continent''s resources by you humans, the number of plants and soul beasts in this world quickly dwindled, resulting in a loss of a vast amount of life force energy. After many years, the seed of life suddenly awakened for some reason, and it attained a certain level of sentience. It seemed to have sensed something, and that was why it had urged the Golden Tree to bestow its power upon you."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip''s voice had already become quite grim at this point, and he continued, "Perhaps this is because you humans have damaged the continent to such an extent that the entire continent is on the verge of extinction. As such, the seed of life chose you to be the Son of Nature in the hope that you can restore the continent''s life force energy and vitality so that it wouldn''t be destroyed in the end."


    Both Tang Wulin and Blood One were quite alarmed to hear this. Was environmental damage already this severe?


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip continued, "The seed of life represents the life force energy of the entire continent, so in order to truly awaken it and allow it to germinate, the amount of energy required is naturally extremely enormous. This is definitely not something that you can achieve on your own, so when the ancient Golden Tree perished, it transferred the seed of life into your body. The seed of life hopes that through following you, it will find a sufficiently enormous supply of life force energy to activate itself."


    "We can evolve by being influenced by the aura of the seed of life, but at the same time, our life force energy can also be reciprocated to the seed of life in order to support its vitality. To plants like us, this the greatest honor, as well as a responsibility that we must carry on our shoulders. However, the seed of life is currently in a very feeble state as the life force energy in the entire world is decreasing. Hence, we didn''t know when the seed of life would truly be able to awaken.


    "That was until you attained your soul core and released such an enormous burst of life force energy that you were able to awaken the seed of life and allow it to germinate. However, we all knew that the seed of life was forcing itself to do this. If it didn''t draw upon your power to forcibly germinate, then the next opportunity for it to awaken most likely wouldn''t arrive for countless years. Due to the fact that it had forced itself to germinate, the seed of life was sorely lacking in energy, so it could only slowly search for life force energy to replenish itself.


    "Hence, following the conclusion of your military service here, I was going to suggest for you to visit a forest, where there would be an enormous wealth of life force energy for the seed of life to draw upon, but much to my surprise, you''ve managed to find the energy that the seed of life craves the most in such a short time. That purple crystal is a manifestation of the purest life force energy. This is life force energy of the planar level, and it''s also what the seed of life needs the most.


    "Furthermore, this energy doesn''t belong to our plane, which means that the seed of life has replenished itself using life force energy from an alternate plane; this is the most brilliant situation that it could hope for! That planar energy crystal is at least enough to stabilize the seed of life in its current state so that its condition wouldn''t continue to deteriorate. If possible, please find as many of these life forms as possible and devour their energy. This would significantly increase the chances of allowing the seed of life to completely awaken.


    "As the beings who are closest to the seed of life, we''ll all be reciprocated by the seed of life, and when its life force energy reaches a certain level, the seed will be able to completely awaken, bringing even more life force energy to this world. As a result, more life will be created in this world to replenish the life force energy that has been lost."


    Both Tang Wulin and Blood One were quite astonished after hearing the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s explanation. Planar energy? Did this mean that the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s body contained the life force energy of the abyssal plane? It was most likely trying to escape using this energy not long ago, but the seed of life had latched onto that energy.


    If Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear still weren''t enough to destroy these abyssal emperors, then with the addition of his seed of life, he would definitely be able to truly put an end to these abyssal emperors.


    What made Blood One even more elated was that through killing these abyssal emperors, they would be able to transfer the life force energy of the abyssal plane into the Douluo Continent, which was most definitely fantastic news!


    This was most likely what the abyssal plane had also been trying to do all along. They wanted to devour the Douluo Continent in order to replenish their abyssal plane in order to give rise to their own divine realm.


    The light that was shimmering from the Golden Dragon Spear gradually subsided, and at his point, the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s massive body had already completely shriveled up like a gigantic raisin. Most of its life force energy had been devoured by the seed of life, along with its planar seed, but a small portion of the energy had also fused into Tang Wulin''s body.


    That, in addition to the life force energy reciprocation that Tang Wulin had received from the seed of life, made him feel more powerful than ever. He could sense that he wouldn''t be able to maintain this state for very long, but this feeling of being filled with unprecedented power was still extremely wonderful and exhilarating.


    "Senior Blood One, there are more abyssal creatures like this one, right?"


    A faint smile appeared on Blood One''s face. "Of course there are! And there are quite a few of them, as well. If the seed of life really did just devour a planar core, then the abyssal realm is going to be in some trouble."


    ¡­¡­


    "Rumble, rumble!"


    The earth collapsed, and magma erupted forth in all directions. The 97th abyssal level had completely collapsed, and during this process, countless abyssal creatures on the 97th level were reduced to dust. Even the entire abyssal plane was quaking violently in the face of this disaster.


    The destruction of the planar seed meant that the abyssal level that the planar seed belonged to had lost its origin. All of the abyssal energy on that level began to dissipate, spreading toward the other abyssal levels. All of the four-clawed bats, six-clawed bats, and other abyssal creatures on that level quickly disintegrated into abyssal energy that surged away in all directions while the abyssal level itself quickly crumbled.


    "What''s happening? What''s happening to the 97th level?" A furious roar erupted throughout the entire abyss.


    A series of terrifying colossal figures emerged deep within the abyssal plane, and their eyes were all filled with astonishment and rage.


    "The 97th level collapsed! How is this possible?"


    The abyssal emperors on the levels closest to the 97th level had a clearer sense of what was happening than anyone else. The collapse of a level was a disaster to the entire abyssal plane, and the neighboring few levels were also heavily impacted with countless abyssal creatures perishing in the wake of this catastrophe. Even though their energy could still be recycled and contribute to the birth of new abyssal creatures, this was something that the abyssal plane had never seen before!


    "Something happened to the Six-clawed Demon Emperor; he seems to have died in the human world, and even his planar seed was destroyed."


    "What? Since when did the humans attain the power to destroy planar seeds? This is impossible! The planar seeds contain the purest energy of our plane; only by drawing upon the essential power of their plane would they be able to..."

 Chapter 1094: Vanquishing the Ant Emperor

    "Looks like we''ll have to change our plan and perhaps even speed up its implementation. Have the humans already become this powerful? Through the abyssal passageway, they can actively access our world. If they already possess the power to destroy our planar seeds, then our entire plane will be in grave danger!"


    "That''s enough!" A voice that was cold to the extreme suddenly rang out, and the frenzied conversing voices instantly died down.


    Deep within the darkness, a massive vertical pupil slowly lit up. This was a crimson eye, and if one were to look closely, they''d discover that this massive eye was comprised of countless tiny red eyes. If a person suffering from trypophobia were to witness this harrowing scene, they would most likely be instantly racked with violent, uncontrollable spasms.


    As soon as this eye opened, the entire abyssal plane immediately fell silent. The collapsed 97th level had disappeared, and it was no longer able to affect its neighboring abyssal levels.


    "Holy Lord." All of the emperors that were gathered at the deepest point within the abyss lowered their proud heads in unison and bowed respectfully toward this crimson eye.


    "A being who is capable of destroying us has appeared in the human race; we must seize the initiative first before they can pose any threat to us. Tear open the passageway at all costs and completely destroy the human race. For those who are willing to sacrifice themselves to contribute to our plight, I guarantee that you won''t encounter any obstruction in your future resurrections, and your planar level will be raised by three. In order to completely open up the passageway, 10 emperors will need to be sacrificed."


    The cold voice reverberated throughout the deepest part of the abyss and was met by a fearful uneasy silence.


    That''s right, it wasn''t the case that the abyssal plane couldn''t break that seal; it was just that doing so required a massive sacrifice. If an abyssal emperor were to perish, then there was a very good chance that their position as emperor would be taken by one of their brethren; this was something that no abyssal emperor wanted to see.


    The Holy Lord had already been hibernating for countless years, and as soon as it reappeared, all of the other abyssal emperors immediately pledged their subordination. Furthermore, they knew that with a guarantee from the Holy Lord, they would definitely be able to successfully resurrect themselves and reclaim their emperor status. This Holy Lord had never gone back on his word before.


    "I''m willing to sacrifice myself for the abyss." A burly monster with five arms slowly strode forward before standing in front of the Holy Lord in a respectful manner.


    Immediately thereafter, one abyssal emperor strode forward after another, volunteering themselves as tributes. They were definitely going to be dormant for a long time, but if they were guaranteed successful resurrection and their respective abyssal levels would be raised by three, then that was naturally a worthwhile trade-off.


    "Very good. It''s time to destroy the human race and devour that world to expand our abyssal plane." The Holy Lord''s sinister voice rang out throughout the entire abyss, and that massive crimson eye seemed to be able to peer into every single corner of the abyss.


    The abyssal creatures immediately entered a riotous frenzy.


    ¡­¡­


    A sudden sense of intense fear welled up in the Ant Emperor''s heart, striking it with a very unsettling feeling. Had the Six-clawed Demon Emperor really been killed? Why hadn''t its planar seed managed to escape back into the abyss? Could it be that the humans already possessed the power to destroy planar seeds? How was that possible!


    Right at this moment, all of the countless four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats in the air above suddenly began to disintegrate. Their bodies exploded violently, even without being afflicted by any human attacks, and they transformed into one ball of abyssal energy after another that surged into the abyssal vortex in a frenzy.


    The abyssal vortex did indeed expand as a result, but at what cost? An astonishing thought suddenly occurred to the Ant Emperor; could it be that the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s planar level had collapsed? Had its planar seed really been destroyed by the humans?


    Right at this moment, a massive sense of peril descended upon the Ant Emperor, and it instantly rushed toward the abyssal vortex as quickly as it could without any hesitation. It had to return to the abyssal plane as quickly as possible!


    It was indeed far more powerful than the Six-clawed Demon Emperor, but if the humans could kill the Six-clawed Demon Emperor, then it was most definitely susceptible to suffering the same fate!


    As such, it immediately attempted to flee the scene.


    However, right at this moment, it suddenly discovered that its own emotions seemed to have congealed, and it was as if it had lost the ability to think


    A tragically beautiful sword projection silently appeared beneath it before sweeping toward its body.


    However, the Ant Emperor was an abyssal emperor that was ranked near the top of the lower 36 levels, after all, so it was certainly no slouch. It immediately reacted and sprang into action as it curled itself up into a ball while extremely thick and heavy scales appeared all over its body. At the same time, a layer of strange black liquid began to spread outward from every single part of its body.


    This was formic acid that was capable of eroding everything, and any life form that came into contact with it would quickly be reduced to a puddle of blood.


    The way through which the Ant Emperor cultivated was to use its formic acid to destroy its enemies and even its own brethren, then devour the puddles of blood and nutrients that remained of its prey''s bodies. This was its latent ability.


    However, a burst of cold intent suddenly erupted from the longsword, and even though it was clearly surrounded by so many of its own brethren in that instant, the Ant Emperor felt as if it were completely alone. It was as if everything was extremely far away from it.


    Was this a spiritual domain?


    This is bad! One of the most powerful beings of the human race is here! No wonder Six-clawed Demon Emperor perished.


    Compared to the Six-clawed Demon Emperor, the Ant Emperor was much more decisive, especially after sensing the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s complete death. The Ant Emperor immediately activated the planar seed within its own body, trying to self-detonate so it could return to the abyssal plane.


    "Boom!"


    The antiquated longsword crashed into its body, shattering large patches of its scales, but it had still managed to initiate its self-detonation sequence.


    However, right at this moment, a speck of green light suddenly flashed forward from behind the massive sword projection before silently adhering itself to the Ant Emperor''s chest.


    The abyssal energy that was just about to explode within the Ant Emperor''s body suddenly congealed, as if it had encountered some kind of natural predator, and immediately thereafter, the planar seed began to tremble violently.


    Right at this moment, a streak of golden light flashed through the air like a bolt of lightning before piercing into a spot on its body where its scales had just been destroyed. The Ant Emperor was then immediately struck by the feeling of its own life force energy rapidly seeping away.


    In the air above, what appeared to be bright moonlight descended before enshrouding the Ant Emperor''s entire body during its brief moment of immobilization, and the Ant Emperor abruptly vanished.


    "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!" Seven swords crashed down in succession, and all of them struck the Ant Emperor''s head, which was the hardest part of its body.


    Under the devastating blows being dealt upon it by the Heartless Swords, the Ant Emperor was unable to formulate any coherent thoughts.


    If Blood One had wanted to kill him, then those seven swords would''ve already been enough. However, that was not his intention. Instead, he was trying to buy time for Tang Wulin and his seed of life.


    The Ant Emperor also possessed a planar seed, but this one was far more powerful than the planar seed within the Six-clawed Demon Emperor''s body.


    When the branch of Tang Wulin''s seed of life pierced into the Ant Emperor''s body, he was immediately faced with vehement resistance from the planar seed. It thrashed from one side to another with all its might, attempting to evade the obstruction of the seed of life, only to be cut off over and over again.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin was absorbing the Ant Emperor''s life force as quickly as he could. The weaker the Ant Emperor''s life force energy became, the less energy the planar seed had to draw upon.


    The green symbol on Tang Wulin''s forehead looked as if it were about to break out of his body, and it was shimmering with dazzling light. The branch of the seed of life had clearly also become thicker than before. Powerful energy fluctuations revolved around Tang Wulin''s body, and his Golden Dragon Spear was also gently vibrating.


    The amount of energy being devoured was far too enormous, and it was causing his dragon core to beat at an extremely fast rate. At the same time, even his heart rate was speeding up. Both of his major energy cores were approaching the limits of their energy tolerance capacity.


    Hurry up, seed of life!


    If it weren''t for the fact that the seed of life was devouring the majority of the Ant Emperor''s energy, at his current power level, Tang Wulin''s body would''ve already been unable to handle such an enormous influx of energy. Even so, he had only managed to last this long due to his extremely powerful physical constitution.


    As an analogy, his body was like a small lake, and it was trying to devour a massive turbulent river. He could hold on for a short time, but after a while, the small lake was naturally going to overflow and be split apart by the excessive influx of water.


    However, with his past experiences in breaking his Golden Dragon King seals, both Tang Wulin''s pain threshold and the tolerance capacity of his meridians far exceeded that of the average person.


    Blood One was attacking the Ant Emperor over and over again, scattering its thoughts so that it wouldn''t be able to attack Tang Wulin, and at the same time, Tang Wulin was absorbing its energy with all his might.


    "Thump!" All of a sudden, it was as if something had been successfully punctured within the Ant Emperor''s body. The energy flowing into Tang Wulin''s body from the Golden Dragon Spear suddenly faltered slightly, and in the next instant, a surge of warmth suddenly flowed throughout his entire body. His soul core trembled slightly, and a burst of dazzling light began to radiate from its surface.


    He had made another breakthrough! This was already his third breakthrough of the day, taking him to rank 69 [hehe ( ?~ ?? ?¡ã)] in soul power!


    However, making too many breakthroughs in a short time wasn''t a good thing. Even if he had progressed up three ranks in rapid succession, the enormous influx of energy was simply lingering within his body and hadn''t actually been fully absorbed.

 Chapter 1095: Crisis in the Abyssal Passageway

    The seed of life finally took root on the planar seed, and the entire branch immediately turned as green as jade. Powerful life force energy was immediately reciprocated into Tang Wulin''s body from the seed of life, alleviating the severe throbbing pain in his meridians.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this type of nourishment was going to be immensely beneficial to improving his physical constitution, and it could also resolve the issues brought to him by the extremely fast breakthroughs that he had just made. Simply put, this nourishment was allowing the small lake that was his body to expand while also fortifying his physical constitution.


    It was not an exaggeration to say that in this brief period of time alone, Tang Wulin''s physical constitution had improved by a greater degree than if he were to cultivate normally for an entire year.


    This was definitely fantastic news for him, especially considering the Golden Dragon King seals that he would have to break in the future.


    With his current physical constitution, it was extremely difficult just to make slight improvements, let alone a drastic improvement like this.


    The opportunity that had been presented to him today was something that had been completely unimaginable to him in the past.


    The Ant Emperor finally understood how the Six-clawed Demon Emperor had been destroyed. After its planar seed was latched onto by the seed of life, the former''s struggles became feebler and feebler, and the essential power of the abyssal level that it belonged to was being devoured by the seed of life in a frenzy.


    Tang Wulin could even sense that a series of intriguing changes had taken place within the seed of life. The branch extending from it had become even thicker, and what was even more remarkable was that the rich life force energy within the seed was beginning to compress inward to an extreme degree, as if this energy were being stored away.


    Now that the seed of life had latched onto the planar seed, the vast majority of energy was flowing toward it, and Tang Wulin was able to take advantage of this opportunity to sense the nourishment of the life force energy while activating his Mysterious Heaven Method to adjust his own bodily condition.


    He definitely wouldn''t receive many opportunities in his life to make such drastic improvements! Furthermore, he could vaguely sense that his understanding of life and destruction had deepened slightly.


    In the past, he had sensed both of these types of energy on the demonic island, and the life force energy currently being transmitted to him through the seed of life was far richer and purer than even the life force energy on the demonic island. After all, this was the power of an entire plane! He couldn''t directly use this power, but don''t forget that he was the Son of Nature. As the Son of Nature, the life force energy was definitely going to enhance his body as much as it could, and Tang Wulin was the one who had brought about this opportunity to devour the planar seed in the first place, so he certainly deserved to be reciprocated.


    Blood One withdrew his Heartless Sword, and he was feeling extremely elated. He hadn''t had a chance to inspect the condition within the abyssal passageway yet, but the fact that only two abyssal emperors had appeared so far indicated that the passageway still wasn''t very easily accessible. By destroying two abyssal levels, they had dealt an unprecedentedly heavy blow to the entire abyssal plane. Furthermore, they were also benefiting from destroying their enemies.


    If they could destroy more abyssal emperors in this fashion in the future, then the abyssal plane would cease to pose a substantial threat. Not only was the Douluo Continent''s seed of life being nourished, this was also accelerating Tang Wulin''s growth, so it was truly a win-win situation.


    Just as Blood One was feeling very pleased with himself, the entire domain unleashed by Zhang Huanyun suddenly tremored violently.


    An urgent voice immediately rang out, "I need your help, Old Man Cao; the abyssal passageway is about to completely split open!"


    Blood One''s heart jolted with shock upon hearing this. When he had ventured deep into the abyssal passageway not long before, he had actually already seen that the seal on the abyssal creature hadn''t been completely broken; it was most likely the case that the abyssal creatures had somehow opened up a small passageway using some unknown methods. So many powerful beings had combined their powers over 6,000 years ago to set up this planar seal; it was not something that could be broken so easily.


    Despite the thoughts that were flashing through Blood One''s mind, he still immediately released his domain. Tang Wulin had already completely gained the upper hand over the Ant Emperor, so he no longer required any assistance.


    At this moment, a string of loud shattering sounds were constantly ringing out from within the abyssal passageway. Terrifying energy fluctuations were erupting outward in a frenzy, pulverizing all of the abyssal creatures that had just emerged and reducing them to streams of abyssal energy that returned to the abyssal plane.


    The vortex that was situated deep within the passageway suddenly sank downward, and large cracks were beginning to appear on the seal that had stood in a resolute manner for several millennia. Extremely viscous abyssal energy was beginning to seep out of those cracks.


    "What''s going on?" Blood One''s expression changed drastically, and he could immediately sense that something was very wrong.


    Zhang Huanyun wore a dark expression on his face. "We''re in trouble. Did you succeed back there?"


    "We did. The Six-clawed Demon Emperor is dead, and its abyssal level has probably been destroyed as well. Could it be that the abyssal emperors have sensed that something''s wrong, and they''re rushing out of the abyssal passage at all costs to engage us in a final battle?" Cao Dezhi had initially thought that once a few abyssal emperors were slain, thereby causing their abyssal levels to collapse, the abyssal plane would cut off the abyssal passageway and completely sever its connection with the Douluo Continent.


    As such, the sword that had been hanging over the Douluo Continent''s head for over 6,000 years would be removed.


    However, what he didn''t expect was that following the death of that abyssal emperor, the abyssal plane was using some kind of method to forcibly break through the seal on the passageway. They were clearly trying to instigate an all-out war!


    The Six-clawed Demon Emperor and the Ant Emperor were only two abyssal emperors, but if more abyssal emperors were to emerge, then they would be in deep trouble.


    "Huanyun, we can''t allow them to break the seal. We have to join forces and activate the Blood God Array to fortify the seal," Cao Dezhi immediately said.


    However, Zhang Huanyun was rather hesitant. "But if we do that, you and all of the other Blood Gods won''t be able to participate in the rest of this battle. Now that cracks have already appeared on the seal, more and more abyssal creatures will continue to rush out of it; if more abyssal emperors emerge and none of the Blood Gods are around to oppose them, our defensive line may not be able to stop them!"


    Cao Dezhi insisted, "We have no choice! We can''t allow the abyssal passageway seal to be broken. If that happens, all of the abyssal emperors will be able to descend upon our world at once, and that would be a truly catastrophic disaster, so we have to activate the Blood God Array. You assist Wulin and seal up the cracks while we fortify the seal; we have to hold back these abyssal creatures at all costs. At a time like this, we can only place our trust in the younger generation."


    After his voice trailed off, Cao Dezhi''s body swayed, and he immediately rose up into the air before yelling, "All members of the Blood God Battalion, prepare the Blood God Array! Wulin''s position will be taken by the former Blood Nine."


    He raised his right hand as he spoke, and the antiquated longsword that had appeared before emerged in his grasp, but on this occasion, there was only one sword.


    The longsword was around one and a half meters in length, and its blade was shimmering with cold light that resembled rippling water. Nine soul rings rose up from beneath him before revolving around his body, consisting of six blacks and three reds.


    This was the most powerful being in the Tang Sect, the master of the Tang Sect and the Douluo Palace. As the full extent of his aura erupted from his body, even the sky above had begun to dim, and it was as if there were countless sharp streaks of energy that were about to descend from the heavens.


    Cao Dezhi raised a hand and pointed his Heartless Sword diagonally up toward the heavens. The sky immediately lit up, and a ray of light shone down from above. As the ray of light descended, it transformed into a gigantic golden sword that fell from the sky, instantly piercing into the depths of the abyss while radiating an aura of peerless sharpness.


    The powerful abyssal passageway energy that had just surged out of the cracks immediately recoiled in the face of the huge golden sword, thereby completely clearing out the passageway.


    Zhang Huanyun also immediately sprang into action. He knew that Cao Dezhi was right; if they didn''t fortify the seal and simply allowed it to break, then a true nightmare would dawn upon them.


    He waved both of his hands through the air, and nine streaks of golden light flew toward the cave wall around the exit of the abyssal passageway.


    When those nine streaks of light descended upon the cave wall, they were revealed to be nine shield-shaped badges. Each of the badges had an image on it, depicting the first owner of the badge.

 Chapter 1096: Blood God Array

    In the past, it was these nine powerful beings who had joined forces to seal the abyssal plane, and following the passage of over 6,000 years, these badges had finally reappeared.


    The nine badges vanished into the cave wall, and the entire abyssal passageway immediately began to tremor violently. A vast expanse of golden patterns erupted with the nine badges as their origin points before extending into the depths of the abyssal passageway.


    A loud rumbling sound could still be heard ringing out from within the abyssal passageway, but it had become slightly more stable.


    Nine circular platforms slowly emerged from the cave wall. Blood One''s body swayed, and he arrived first onto the platform that was situated in the 12 o''clock position before taking a seat upon it. The other eight Blood Gods also descended onto each of the platforms before sitting down with their legs crossed.


    "I offer my blood as tribute!" A plume of blood mist erupted from Blood One''s body. The blood had been forced out of his pores, and as the blood mist permeated through his airs, his complexion instantly paled slightly.


    "I offer my blood as tribute!" The other eight Blood Gods repeated the same incantation before large plumes of blood mist also erupted from their bodies.


    After the blood mist was released, it instantly descended and fused directly into the platforms that they were seated on without even a single drop being wasted. Golden runes instantly lit up within the entire cave, illuminating everything in the deepest part of the abyss so that it was clear as day.


    Looking down from above, one could see a vast expanse of black mist swirling within the depths of the passageway, and a string of loud shattering noises were ringing out in quick succession.


    Dark purple light was flashing deep within the abyss and attempting to spread upward.


    However, with the injections of blood from the nine Blood Gods into their respective platforms, the array immediately became more stable, and it was beginning to force the purple light downward.


    "Innate spirits, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation." Blood One''s vehement voice rang out in the air above the abyssal passageway. The round platform beneath him was already glowing as bright as the sun, and a series of golden halos revolved around his body before rising upward.


    Blood Two then immediately yelled, "Spirit of water, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation."


    Blood Three yelled, "Spirit of fire, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation."


    Blood Four yelled, "Spirit of earth, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation."


    Blood Five yelled, "Spirit of wind, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation."


    Blood Six yelled, "Spirit of light, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation."


    Blood Seven yelled, "Spirit of darkness, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation."


    Blood Eight yelled, "Spirit of time, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation."


    Blood Nine yelled, "Spirit of space, heed my call; the soul of Douluo will forge a foundation."


    As the nine incantations rang out, the nine round platforms all began to radiate lights of different colors. Water was blue, fire was red, wind was azure, earth was yellow, light was white, darkness was black, and the most peculiar ones of all were time and space; time was of a golden color that was constantly transitioning between darker and lighter shades, while space was of an ethereal rippling silver color.


    With the blood of the nine Blood Gods as a tribute, the nine innate spirits of nature completely activated the array down below.


    This Blood God Array was created by those aforementioned nine powerful beings, and the seal hadn''t just been forged by the powers of those nine beings. Instead, their powers were used as a catalyst in conjunction with some extremely complex symbols to gather the nine types of essential spiritual energy on the Douluo Continent to create this seal. They had drawn upon the power of laws of the Douluo Continent, which was resistant to alternate planes, and this was why the seal had managed to keep the abyssal plane at bay for such a long time.


    Right as the seal was about to be completed, the powerful beings of the abyssal plane at the time resisted with all their might, and they were able to create a few small gaps around the seal that would allow some normal abyssal creatures to pass through without being killed by the seal. This was how the 36 branch passageways came into existence. Otherwise, if the seal had been perfectly implemented, then the abyssal plane would''ve already been completely cut off from this world.


    One of the most important duties of the Blood Gods was to replicate the nine powerful beings of the past, drawing the nine types of innate spiritual energy toward the seal to activate it to its most powerful degree during times of grave peril.


    The nine Blood Gods weren''t as powerful as those nine powerful beings of the past, but it was important to remember that over 6,000 years ago, battle armor was still a very new invention. Suits of battle armor were now a lot more powerful than they were in the past, and with their assistance, even if not all of the nine Blood Gods could attain powers on par with Limit Douluos, Blood One was even more powerful than any of those nine seniors. Just his powers alone were enough to complete a third of the array''s activation, and everyone else had also had their powers elevated to at least the Hyper Douluo level by their battle armor.


    Changes were gradually beginning to take place within the dark clouds up above. Lights of many different colors began to appear, and for a Limit Douluo like Zhang Huanyun, his spiritual power allowed him to clearly sense that the rich particles of all different elements were quickly converging toward the array down below.


    Those innate spirits were all laws of the Douluo Continent, and they were undoubtedly also able to sense the invasion from the alternative plane. Under the guidance of the array, they were choosing to protect their own plane without any reservation.


    A massive nine-colored light barrier appeared in above the abyssal passageway, and the light was being injected into each of the bodies of each of the nine Blood Gods, then being transmitted into the array through their bodies.


    The golden patterns on the array instantly brightened significantly, and the cracks down below quickly became unable to expand any further. In fact, it appeared as if they were about to be sealed again.


    On the other side, one abyssal emperor self-detonated after another, releasing explosions of the purest abyssal energy. This energy was surging into the passageway in a frenzy like a series of monsters that were tearing at the cracks.


    This was no longer just a battle between two races; it had become a clash between two planes. A loud piercing screech was constantly ringing out from deep within the abyssal passageway, and Zhang Huanyun raised a hand as he commanded, "Prepare the protective barriers and shockwaves. Everyone, we have entered a state of red alert."


    The nine Blood Gods had stabilized the seal, but the abyssal plane was attempting to break open the seal at all costs, so the Blood God Legion was most definitely going to be facing a massive abyssal tide of unprecedented proportions.


    Many of the powerful beings of the Blood God Legion had already gathered behind Zhang Huanyun. Even if the nine Blood Gods weren''t taken into account, the Blood God Legion still had more than 10 Titled Douluos among their ranks, and all of them were wearing suits of three-word battle armor as they silently awaited the commencement of this all-out battle.


    Meanwhile, deep within the abyssal plane.


    "We''re sacrificing too much, Holy Lord! Cracks have already opened up on the seal, but the humans have somehow been able to fortify it, so it''ll be very difficult for us to break through. Sacrificing 10 emperors most likely won''t be enough; should we..."


    "Shut up! If 10 isn''t enough, then sacrifice 15; if that still isn''t enough, then sacrifice 20! We can''t afford to give the humans a chance to regroup and recuperate! I can already sense that among the laws of the human world, a type of power that is capable of completely destroying our entire plane is being born! This is very likely going to be our only chance, and we can''t afford to allow that power to grow and develop in the human world."


    "Yes, Holy Lord."


    "Rumble, rumble!"


    Right at this moment, the abyssal plane began to quake violently once again. All of a sudden, the laws of the plane were thrown into complete disarray while countless weaker abyssal creatures on a certain abyssal level quickly disintegrated.


    The massive crimson eye flashed, and a vicious aura instantly erupted forth, causing the chaos within the abyssal plane to subside a little.


    "The Ant Emperor''s planar seed is gone as well. Do you understand why I''m insisting on waging all-out war with the humans now? If we don''t do everything in our power to conquer their plane, then it''s very likely going to be the humans who completely destroy our plane instead!"


    The Holy Lord''s aura abruptly proliferated outward as he let loose a rumbling roar, and a streak of red light passed through countless obstructions before crashing viciously against the passageway seal that was formed by countless golden runes.


    "Boom!"


    The nine Blood Gods shuddered violently in unison, and the three weakest Blood God each threw up a mouthful of blood.


    Blood One''s expression changed slightly, and he pointed his right index finger forward, upon which three Heartless Swords shot forth like lightning before hovering over the heads of Blood Seven, Blood Eight, and Blood Nine, helping them fortify the seal below them.


    At this moment, Blood Nine was considering himself to be very fortunate. Due to his loss to Tang Wulin, he had been training his backside off during the past month, and as a result, he had improved significantly. Even his soul power had progressed by one rank, and that made it slightly less strenuous for him to guard this seal.


    If his past self from a month ago were in this situation, then it wouldn''t be just a simple matter of throwing up a mouthful of blood for him.


    The cracks in the seal were just beginning to mend, yet that violent explosion just now smashed them open again. Bursts of dense black energy surged forth before gradually taking shape, forming countless abyssal creatures that were rushing toward the passageway''s exit in a frenzy. Among these abyssal creatures, there were at least five abyssal emperors.

 Chapter 1097: Ninth Level, Black Sovereign!

    The abyssal emperor that was situated at the center appeared to be no different from a human woman. Her entire body was clad in a black leather suit, and she had a pair of black wings spread open on her back. Her long black hair fanned out behind her in a roughly circular formation, and her facial features were extremely beautiful, but her eyes were filled with a cold and forbidding look.


    Those frosty eyes seemed to be able to see through this entire world, and she pointed her right index finger toward the exit, upon which countless abyssal creatures immediately surged forth.


    "Black Sovereign!" Zhang Huanyun''s expression immediately changed at the sight of this abyssal emperor.


    The Blood God Legion had been battling the abyssal plane for over 6,000 years, so it naturally had a huge wealth of data on these abyssal creatures.


    During each and every abyssal tide, the abyssal emperors were never able to descend upon this world in their actual forms, but their projections would appear on many occasions.


    Through these projections, the humans had assigned many of the abyssal emperors with names. Among the 108 abyssal emperors, at least half of them were known to humans.


    This Black Sovereign was the one who appeared the most frequently among the top 10 abyssal emperors. She resided on the ninth abyssal level and was the sovereign of that level. Only the rulers of the top 10 levels were known as sovereigns, and she possessed a very lofty status in the abyssal plane.


    The Black Sovereign was the ruler of the Black Empress race, and she possessed the powers of a demigod, making her comparable in power to a human Limit Douluo in a suit of four-word battle armor.


    She was so powerful that even her projection had created a lot of trouble for the human world in the past. The abyssal plane was trying to break open the passageway''s seals at all costs, and they were sending out the Black Sovereign in her true form from the get-go; it was quite clear that the abyssal plane was extremely determined to wipe out the human race once and for all.


    The Black Sovereign seemed to have understood Zhang Huanyun''s words, and she raised her head to look up at him. Their eyes met, and Zhang Huanyun was immediately struck by the feeling that his eyes had been stabbed by sharp needles.


    He had also reached the Limit Douluo level, but he had only completed the breakthrough recently, so his powers were still slightly inferior to the likes of Blood One and this Black Sovereign.


    To think that the abyssal plane was even capable of sending the Black Sovereign''s true body into this world; if other sovereign-level abyssal emperors were to emerge as well, then there really would be no hope.


    Thankfully, following the arrival of this vast horde of abyssal creatures, the abyssal energy that was supporting the cracks on the seal clearly abated somewhat, and the cracks were sealed to a great extent under the effect of the Blood God Array. It was quite clear that they wouldn''t be able to send any other powerful beings of the Black Sovereign''s caliber to this world in a short time.


    The five abyssal emperors didn''t immediately attack. Instead, they hovered deep within the passageway with the Black Sovereign at the center of the group, casting their eyes out toward the exit.


    Countless abyssal creatures were flooding outward in a frenzy, and the defensive line was having some trouble keeping them at bay. Thankfully, under the combined powers of the nine Blood Gods, the passageway''s seal had been temporarily stabilized. Otherwise, if even more abyssal emperors were to emerge, then this would truly become a catastrophic disaster.


    The sounds of weapons being fired immediately increased in frequency, and the interior of the entire abyssal passageway had already become a violent sea of energy.


    All of the slain abyssal creatures were reduced to streams of viscous abyssal energy that surged toward the seal, while the living abyssal creatures continued to charge ahead without any regard for their own safety.


    It was undoubtedly the case that human soul technology had constantly been advancing during the past 6,000 years. 6,000 years ago, the human race only had ninth-grade soul missiles, yet now, there were already 12th-grade soul missiles that were capable of destroying even almighty entities such as Shrek Academy.


    Following the passage of these 6,000 years, human technology had already become far more advanced than in the past.


    The Blood God Legion wasn''t officially a part of the federal military, but no matter what was going on behind the scenes in the federal parliament, they didn''t dare to cut back even in the slightest on their support of the Blood God Legion. The invasion of the abyssal creatures 6,000 years ago was regarded as top-secret information in the federal parliament, and maintaining the power of the Blood God Legion was also one of the highest priorities of the federal government.


    As such, throughout these 6,000 years, the Blood God Legion had constantly received the newest technology from the federation, regardless of whether it was defensive equipment or weapons. Even some weapons that were still in their experimental phases had been sent here, and they were improved upon based on their performances during battles against the abyssal creatures.


    With the current weaponry and equipment available to the human race, even the abyssal emperors weren''t worthy of fear. Throughout these past 6,000 years, it had always been the unkillable nature of these abyssal creatures that was the most difficult thing to deal with. This was why Blood One was so ecstatic after witnessing the ability of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear to devour abyssal energy.


    Of course, in order to allow Tang Wulin to truly make a decisive impact on this millennia-long conflict, the Blood God Legion had to be able to keep the abyssal plane at bay first. Otherwise, if they were allowed to invade the Douluo Continent, then the entire Douluo Star would face imminent destruction. After all, humans couldn''t just resurrect themselves like abyssal creatures could!


    As such, the Blood God Legion had to defend the abyssal passageway no matter what.


    Zhang Huanyun currently had an extremely grave look on his face. Even though he had been battling abyssal creatures for over 60 years, he was still feeling very tense and nervous in the face of such a fierce abyssal tide.


    He did indeed possess a vast wealth of experience when it came to battling abyssal creatures, but that was only limited to a certain scope. It had been countless years since any abyssal emperors had appeared in the human world in their true forms, and as the legion commander, he was the psychological pillar of the entire legion, so he couldn''t venture into the abyssal plane to experience the powers of the abyssal emperors for himself. As such, in this area, Blood One was far more experienced than him.


    The deaths of the Six-clawed Demon Emperor and the Ant Emperor had instilled them with a lot of confidence, but these five abyssal emperors were not beings that could be kept at bay by the weapons that were currently being used; they would only be able to ward off these fearsome beings if they were to unleash weapons with more destructive power. However, the issue was that he didn''t know just how powerful the Black Sovereign was. She was the sovereign of the ninth abyssal level and the ruler of the Black Empress race, so she had to be an extremely fearsome being.


    In the branch passageways, it was considered to be a major crisis even for a Black Empress to appear, let alone the Black Sovereign herself.


    Among the races of the abyssal plane, the Black Empress race had a very small population, but their individual combat prowess was extremely formidable. In terms of overall powers, they were at least able to rank among the top five races of the entire abyssal plane.


    During his younger days, Zhang Huanyun had fought a Black Empress before, and he could still remember just how close he had come to being killed in that battle. Black Empresses were already such formidable beings; one could only imagine just how powerful the Black Sovereign was.


    Explosions rang out in rapid succession as the frequency of weapon fire increased even further. The soldiers of the Blood God Legion were displaying an extremely high level of composure, managing to remain completely calm and collected even in the face of such a ferocious assault. They were constantly swapping out energy units from the weapons as they had practiced during training drills countless times in the past, and some of the backup weapons were already in use.


    "Prepare the corrosion bomb!" Zhang Huanyun issued one order after another with an extremely grim look on his face.


    A massive cylindrical soul weapon with a diameter of over 30 meters slowly emerged from the ground not far away from the exit of the passageway. This cylindrical barrel was entirely dark green in color with the image of a black skull on its surface. One could sense just how fearsome this weapon was just by looking at it.


    The barrel aimed itself toward the abyssal passageway in a diagonal manner, and faint energy fluctuations were emanating from within it.


    At this point, countless abyssal creatures were still charging forward with no regard for their own lives, and they were getting closer and closer to the defensive line.


    "Launch the corrosion bomb!" Following an order from Zhang Huanyun, a ball of dark green light appeared within the massive green barrel. Immediately thereafter, the dark green ball of light was launched through the air, flying in a graceful parabolic trajectory and hurtling directly toward the very center of the abyssal passageway.


    The offensive output from the defensive line at the exit of the abyssal passageway eased slightly, and the abyssal creatures down below immediately took advantage of this opportunity to gain more ground. Right at this moment, the dark green ball that had a diameter of close to 30 meters landed among them.

 Chapter 1098: The Golden Dragon Joins the Battle

    The ball of light struck the abyssal creatures in an unavoidable manner, and a peculiar scene ensued. All of the abyssal creatures that came into contact with the ball of light seemed to have been glued to it and were unable to struggle free. They then began to slowly melt away, and what was even more peculiar was that there seemed to be some kind of suction force emanating from the ball of light. As a result of this suction force, the abyssal energy being released by the abyssal creatures that had melted away was only able to slowly seep away into the abyssal passageway.


    Humans had been researching abyssal creatures for so many years, so they had naturally managed to develop some weapons to target them. Corrosion bombs were one of the secret weapons that had been created specifically to target these abyssal creatures.


    Some special circuits were applied to these bombs, and not only could they cover a large area and cause all of the abyssal creatures that came into contact with them to melt away, they also had a very strong adherence effect to abyssal energy. As such, the abyssal energy being released by deceased abyssal creatures was unable to escape back into the abyssal plane right away.


    Even though this was still only a band-aid fix, these weapons were quite effective in the face of these large-scale abyssal tides.


    The corrosion bomb tumbled down into the depth of the abyssal passageway with countless abyssal creatures adhered to it, and Zhang Huanyun issued a calm order. "Detonate!"


    A resounding boom rang out, and a massive green ball of light almost instantly exploded within the depths of the abyssal passageway. Light radiated in all directions, and large swathes of green liquid spread outward before striking a vast number of abyssal creatures. The green liquid immediately began to erode the bodies of these abyssal creatures while adhering to their abyssal energy.


    In the face of this attack, the power hierarchy of the abyssal creatures was revealed. The normal abyssal creatures quickly perished after coming into contact with the corrosion bomb, but some of the more powerful abyssal creatures had countermeasures against this.


    There were 12 Black Empresses who had accompanied the Black Sovereign into this world. These Black Empresses were clearly smaller than the Black Sovereign, and there was black mist permeating around their bodies.


    There were currently six Black Empresses protecting the Black Sovereign while the other six had already risen up into the air. The dense black mist around their bodies surged upward, and it fluctuated violently after coming into contact with the corrosive liquid that had erupted from the corrosion bomb.


    Their intervention prevented the corrosive liquid from killing even more abyssal creatures, but even so, the momentum of these abyssal creatures had been abruptly halted.


    The six Black Empresses continued to rise up into the air. As the most powerful abyssal creatures on this battlefield aside from the five abyssal emperors, they were finally joining the battle. Meanwhile, the five abyssal emperors continued to remain on the spot while silently observing the scenes unfolding before them.


    As soon as the six Black Empresses began their ascent, all of the other abyssal creatures instantly gathered around them. There was dense black mist being released from the bodies of all six Black Empresses, and the mist seemed to be comprised of substantial abyssal energy that was as viscous as treacle. Soul missiles that struck this black mist weren''t even able to detonate, and soul lasers also simply vanished into the mist like sandcastles being swallowed by the rising tide.


    Zhang Huanyun looked on with a grave expression. He knew that this was the Demonic Engulfment Mist that the Black Empress race was vastly renowned for. This was an ultra-powerful ability that could engulf all objects and energy and convert them into energy for the user to a certain extent. It was the perfect fusion of attack and defense!


    This was the innate ability of the Black Empress race, and it could even be said that all of their abilities stemmed from this Demonic Engulfment Mist as a foundation.


    As the Demonic Engulfment Mist rose up into the air, most of the oncoming attacks were instantly kept at bay. The six Black Empresses each possessed powers close to that of a normal Titled Douluo. Of course, the Titled Douluos being referred to here were ones that weren''t wearing any battle armor.


    They provided a brilliant canopy for the vast hordes of abyssal creatures behind them, and they were extremely fast, able to exceed even the speed of sound in short explosive bursts.


    Zhang Huanyun took a deep breath. The only way to take care of Demonic Engulfment Mist was to overwhelm it with energy. Only by releasing an energy attack that exceeded the engulfment limit of the Demonic Engulfment Mist could it be dispelled in one fell swoop before it could devour the energy. A massive amount of energy would undoubtedly have to be expended to accomplish this, but he had no choice.


    Right at this moment, Zhang Huanyun''s heart stirred, and something seemed to have suddenly surfaced in his mind. Immediately thereafter, light flashed from the mirror behind him, and a figure appeared by his side.


    A pair of massive golden dragon wings were spread open, and powerful blood essence fluctuations surged through the air. The blood essence fluctuations were so immensely powerful that in the instant they appeared, even Zhang Huanyun''s own blood essence was influenced.


    Even the sky above had been tinged a reddish-golden hue by the immense blood essence fluctuations being released.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the one who had just emerged from his mirror domain was none other than Tang Wulin. At this moment, Tang Wulin''s eyes had completely turned into a reddish-golden color, and his aura was fluctuating in an extremely unstable manner. Arcs of golden lightning were constantly flashing around him, and even his Dragon Moon battle armor had undergone some changes.


    A layer of reddish-golden mist had appeared over the golden-scaled surface of the suit of battle armor, and it was giving Tang Wulin an air of surrealism. This mist was constantly expanding and contracting as if in accordance with his heartbeat, and during this process, Tang Wulin''s blood essence fluctuations were also surging forth relentlessly.


    "Argh!" Tang Wulin suddenly threw his head back and let loose an almighty roar, as if something had become too much for him to bear, and his Golden Dragon Spear instantly appeared in his right hand. Immediately thereafter, his body shot forth directly toward the abyssal passageway as a reddish-golden streak of light.


    "Tang Wulin! What the hell are you doing?" Zhang Huanyun was given a massive fright. This kid was the future hope of the Blood God Legion; he couldn''t be allowed to die here!


    Thankfully, Tang Wulin didn''t venture deep into the passageway. Instead, he abruptly thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward, and a thunderous dragon''s roar immediately erupted as a gigantic golden dragon shot forth from the front tip of his spear. The dragon flew through the air in a ferocious manner before crashing into the oncoming Demonic Engulfment Mist.


    The Demonic Engulfment Mist was already less than a kilometer away from the exit at this point, and the abyssal creatures being concealed within the mist were just about to emerge and charge toward the exit. However, right at this moment, the golden dragon released by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear arrived.


    This golden dragon roared with unprecedented power, and its massive tail was still connected to Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear. This golden dragon was over 500 meters in length, and as it spread its colossal wings, it filled up virtually the entire passageway in an instant.


    Tang Wulin had just devoured the life force energy of both the Six-clawed Demon Emperor and the Ant Emperor. The seed of life had devoured most of this energy, but it mainly devoured the planar seeds within the bodies of these two abyssal emperors. After all, the planar laws and life essence contained within those planar seeds was what it required the most.


    As the host of the seed of life, Tang Wulin had already been reciprocated by it to an extremely enormous extent, and after devouring the life force energy of the two abyssal monarchs as well, he felt as if his entire body were about to explode, and he was in excruciating pain.


    He couldn''t just absorb all of the energy that he devoured; both his dragon core and soul core were already absorbing energy with all their might, but he had bitten off far more than he could chew. When the two major energy cores reached a temporary state of saturation, Tang Wulin felt as if he had become an inflated balloon. He appeared to be completely normal from the outside, but in reality, he truly felt as if he were about to explode.


    Thankfully, the massive influx of life energy had secured the Golden Dragon King seals within his body. Otherwise, if his 11th seal were to break at a time like this, then he would be well and truly screwed.


    As such, what he needed now was to vent and release all of the extra energy that he couldn''t absorb. Only then would he be able to recover from his current state, where he was a walking ticking time bomb.


    Thus, the 500-meter-long golden dragon emerged. Even if he were to reach the Titled Douluo level in the future, he may not be able to unleash such a powerful spear strike, but he was able to do so now.


    Tang Wulin''s soul power was already at rank 69 [hehe ( ?~ ?? ?¡ã)], and in conjunction with the enhancements he received from his Golden Dragon King blood essence power and two-word battle armor, his powers were already comparable to those of a Titled Douluo who wasn''t wearing any battle armor. However, this spear strike that he had just unleashed had far exceeded the capabilities of a Titled Douluo, and even those of a Hyper Douluo.


    To put in simpler terms, he was using the life force energy of the Six-clawed Demon Emperor and the Ant Emperor to unleash this attack, and one could only imagine just how devastatingly powerful it was.


    Before the abyssal creatures down below had even come into contact with the gigantic golden dragon, their bodies took on a reddish-golden hue, following which they quickly evaporated into abyssal energy. However, what was very peculiar was that this abyssal energy wasn''t allowed to escape. Instead, it was devoured by the massive golden dragon, thereby further enhancing its powers.


    It was as if the golden dragon were an extension of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.

 Chapter 1099: Its You!

    No abyssal creatures could pierce through the terrifying blood essence fluctuations being released by the golden dragon, and its aura was so devastatingly fearsome that even the five abyssal emperors'' expression changed at the sight of it.


    "Boom!" The giant golden dragon crashed headfirst into the Demonic Engulfment Mist being released by the Black Empresses, and golden and black light virtually instantly intertwined with one another in mid-air. A terrifying string of explosions rang out, and the entire abyssal passageway was tremoring violently.


    The golden and black colors only grappled with one another for a very short time before the black mist abruptly exploded and dissipated, revealing the six Black Empresses, who were clearly a little dumbstruck. They were instantly devoured by the ferocious golden dragon, and they didn''t even get a chance to utter a single sound before they were vaporized by the golden dragon, then became a part of it.


    After devouring the six Black Empresses, the golden dragon abruptly elongated to around a kilometer in length, and there was a strand of golden light connecting it to the Golden Dragon Spear.


    The golden dragon continued to charge into the depths of the abyss, and right at this moment, the Black Sovereign finally sprang into action.


    Her body flickered momentarily, and in the next instant, she appeared right in front of the golden dragon.


    Bright reddish-golden light erupted from the golden dragon''s body, illuminating the Black Sovereign before it. The Black Sovereign wore a frosty look on her face, and her long black hair suddenly extended even further. It appeared as if a massive black hole had emerged behind her, and she was the core of this black hole. Part of the light within the entire abyssal passageway, including the light emanating from the giant golden dragon, was instantly devoured by this black hole.


    The gigantic golden dragon shrank by about a third before crashing violently into the black hole.


    The black hole was immeasurably deep and completely devoid of light, and the giant golden dragon vanished into it in an instant. However, in the next instant, a powerful tremor ran through the interior of the abyssal passageway, and a burst of reddish-golden mist surged out of the black hole, following which the entire abyssal passageway began to vibrate violently.


    Vast hordes of abyssal creatures were destroyed in the face of these violent vibrations, and some of them disintegrated into abyssal energy that was drawn back into the abyssal plane, while the rest surged toward Tang Wulin before becoming a part of his body.


    The reddish-golden color reappeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward. Waves of reddish-golden light were radiating from his body, and he was exuding an aura of invincibility.


    The black hole contracted, and the Black Sovereign was revealed once again. She raised her head to look up at Tang Wulin, and she spoke in a voice that was very pleasing to the ear, yet extremely cold and forbidding at the same time. "It''s you!"


    Her voice was clearly audible to all of the Blood God Legion soldiers present, and Blood One''s pupils immediately contracted as he sat atop his round platform.


    He wasn''t surprised in the slightest that the Black Sovereign was capable of human speech; he was more concerned that the Black Sovereign had identified Tang Wulin as the one who had devoured those two abyssal emperors.


    The 108 abyssal levels formed a complete abyss, a complete plane. It didn''t appear to be a big deal that two of the 108 abyssal levels had collapsed, but in reality, the core of the entire abyssal plane had been shaken by this ordeal.


    If they could continue to destroy more abyssal levels, even if they couldn''t annihilate the entire abyssal plane, they would at least be able to scare the abyssal plane into actively cutting off the passageway, thereby completely ridding the human race of this major threat.


    It was quite clear that the Black Sovereign had discovered this, and they were undoubtedly going to try and kill Tang Wulin at all costs in order to eradicate this lethal threat to the abyssal plane.


    Blood One was beginning to regret his decision to expose Tang Wulin so early. Of course, this was also due to the fact that the abyssal tide had arrived far too abruptly and far earlier than anyone had anticipated. Otherwise, he would''ve definitely waited until Tang Wulin was more powerful before setting his plan into motion. If Tang Wulin could reach his power level, then perhaps he would truly be able to eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane with his Golden Dragon Spear''s energy devouring ability.


    "Huanyun!" Blood One yelled, and Zhang Huanyun immediately responded, silently appearing behind Tang Wulin to protect him from any potential threats. Seeing as Tang Wulin had already been exposed, the only thing that they could do was protect him at all costs.


    The Black Sovereign sprang into action. Her body swayed, and she suddenly appeared within 100 meters from Tang Wulin. The closer she came, the clearer her exquisitely beautiful features became to Tang Wulin. Among all of the women whom Tang Wulin had ever seen, only Gu Yuena was slightly more beautiful than her. This Black Sovereign''s human imitation ability truly was very powerful.


    The Black Sovereign''s frosty eyes were like a pair of black holes that were filled with violence and slaughter. She appraised Tang Wulin with an intense gaze before reaching out with both hands at once and making a grabbing motion in Tang Wulin''s direction. Two gigantic claws that were constructed from black mist instantly tore through space, and at the same time, the black hole behind her suddenly began to rotate. A massive black hole silently appeared behind Tang Wulin, separating him from Zhang Huanyun.


    This was the first time that Zhang Huanyun had faced this Black Sovereign, and he was quite alarmed by this sudden development. Brilliant light erupted from the mirror behind him as he attacked the black vortex without any reservation, but at this point, the Black Sovereign''s giant claws had already enveloped Tang Wulin''s body.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly, and countless spear projections abruptly erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear. Each and every spear projection was like a scorching bolt of lightning that clashed with the oncoming black light without displaying any signs of weakness. The two types of energy collided, and the Demonic Engulfment Mist was attempting to devour Tang Wulin''s spear projections with its powerful corrosive and engulfment abilities.


    However, it was also at this point that Tang Wulin''s blood essence fluctuations were elevated to their very peak. The more blood essence power he expended, the less strain there was on his body, so he was naturally pouring his blood essence power into his attacks without any reservation.


    Thus, streaks of reddish-golden light surged through the air with unstoppable force before abruptly converging inward to form a substantial reddish-golden spear that was over 100 meters long. The massive spear pierced through the pair of black claws before reaching the Black Sovereign, and she made no effort to evade as she gave a cold harrumph.


    Her right hand shot forth like lightning to grab onto the tip of the spear, and its momentum was immediately stopped cold.


    A brief impasse ensued between the two, and Tang Wulin felt as if he were facing a massive black hole rather than a humanoid being. A burst of enormous suction force erupted from his Fury of the Masses in a frenzy, and it felt as if it were going to instantly exhaust all of his energy.


    However, it was also right at this moment that a series of strange symbols appeared on the surface of his Golden Dragon Spear. None of these symbols existed on the Douluo Continent, and they seemed to resemble dragons, but at the same time, they were also completely different from dragons in appearance. The layers of symbols stacked on top of one another, and his Golden Dragon Spear abruptly elongated to become the same size as his Fury of the Masses.


    The feeling of having his energy sucked away immediately disappeared, and at the same time, the Black Sovereign''s expression changed slightly, and she abruptly withdrew her right hand as if she had just touched something hot.


    Right at this moment, an extremely enormous burst of energy surged violently into Tang Wulin''s body, and he let loose an involuntary muffled groan as trails of blood began to flow out of all of his orifices.


    The Golden Dragon Spear had forcibly devoured a wisp of the Black Sovereign''s energy from the place where her hand had made contact with the tip of the spear.


    The Black Sovereign was glowering at Tang Wulin with fury in her eyes, and she was radiating palpable killing intent!


    Her right hand clenched into a fist, and she launched it through the air.


    The interior of the entire abyssal passageway abruptly congealed, and it was as if her fist had expanded to the same diameter as the abyssal passageway. After devouring a wisp of the Black Sovereign''s energy, Tang Wulin''s body had returned to that extremely swollen and inflated state, but there was no way for him to immediately convert such an enormous amount of energy into an attack.

 Chapter 1100: Nine Spirit Protection

    At the end of the day, he and the Black Sovereign simply weren''t beings of the same level. At this point in time, there was no way for him to evade, and the Black Sovereign''s punch was definitely a Limit Douluo level attack, so there was no way that he could withstand it.


    All of a sudden, the darkness behind Tang Wulin dissipated, and a mirror appeared high above his head. At the same time, a loud cry rang out around him.


    "Myriad laws of heaven and earth, spirit of Douluo, circle of Blood Gods, seal!"


    The voice belonged to Blood One, as soon as his incantations rang out, nine-colored light erupted from the exit of the passageway. A massive rune descended from up above, hurtling toward the passageway down below.


    At the same time, a thin layer of nine-colored light appeared on all of the walls surrounding the passageway. The light swirled, and the black light emanating from the Black Sovereign''s fist instantly subsided significantly.


    This wasn''t Blood One''s power. Instead, this was planar power from the entire Douluo Continent.


    To the Douluo Continent, abyssal creatures were invaders from an alternate plane, so the continent naturally rejected them. Otherwise, with the overall power of the 108 abyssal levels, they would''ve taken over Douluo Continent when they had first invaded over 6,000 years ago.


    At the time, this seal had only been created after drawing upon the planar power of the Douluo Continent.


    At this moment, Blood One was using the Blood God Array to draw upon planar power in order to oppose the Black Sovereign. At the same time, this power was also descending upon the abyssal passageway, debilitating all of the powerful abyssal creatures that had emerged in this world.


    If it weren''t for the existence of the Blood God Array, the human race wouldn''t have been able to keep the abyssal plane at bay for over 6,000 years.


    A streak of scintillating light flashed over Tang Wulin''s head, and the light underwent three transformations as it hurtled through the air. It then combined with the spirits of heaven and earth of the Douluo Continent plane, instantly completing nine revolutions before finally striking the Black Sovereign''s fist.


    A powerful energy storm was instantly swept up within the passageway, and Tang Wulin abruptly vanished amid the bright white light.


    This was the power of Zhang Huanyun''s mirror domain. He was able to draw Tang Wulin back into his domain, then combine his own power with that of the Blood God Array to oppose the Black Sovereign.


    However, right at this moment, the Black Sovereign displayed her power as an abyssal sovereign.


    In the face of the fearsome energy storm, she remained hovering in mid-air in a completely stationary and statuesque manner. Regardless of how fierce the energy storm became, she didn''t retreat so much as a single step, and her eyes were shimmering like a pair of black gemstones. She waved her hands gently before her in a rhythmic manner, and a series of black threads spiraled out of her fingertips before surging toward Zhang Huanyan.


    However, Zhang Huanyun had no intention of engaging in a direct clash with her. He had already become a Limit Douluo, and with his suit of four-word battle armor, even if he couldn''t defeat the Black Sovereign, he would at least be able to keep her at bay. However, there was currently no need for him to do that.


    There were only two Limit Douluos in the Blood God Legion, with the other one obviously being Blood One, and they were the true pillars of the entire legion. In order to combat these powerful abyssal emperors, it was important to draw upon the planar power of the entire Douluo Continent rather than rely solely on their own powers. Otherwise, they would have no chance at all against the collective power of the abyssal plane. This was why Blood One had immediately decided to activate the Blood God Array with the other eight Blood Gods rather than participate directly in the battle.


    As long as the Blood God Array remained stable, they would be able to make use of their home plane advantage. Even a demigod level being like the Black Sovereign was going to be restricted by the Douluo Continent plane, thereby rendering her unable to unleash her full power. As such, it would become a lot easier to keep her at bay.


    As for Tang Wulin, he was someone who was truly able to pose a threat to the abyssal emperors, so he was the ultimate trump card of the Blood God Legion and even the entire human race. Even with the Black Sovereign''s immense powers, she wouldn''t dare to charge into the Blood God Array on her own. If she were to be subdued, she would be at risk of being permanently killed by Tang Wulin, which was why Zhang Huanyun had immediately retreated with Tang Wulin.


    His current top priority was to stabilize the situation.


    White light flashed, and Zhang Huanyun retreated to outside of the Blood God Array rather than continuing to face the Black Sovereign in battle. At the same time, Tang Wulin had also appeared beside him with reddish-golden light swirling around his entire body.


    Everything that had happened just now had taken place in the blink of an eye, but all of the Blood God Legion soldiers had still witnessed the events that had just transpired.


    What they saw was that Tang Wulin had descended with unstoppable force, instantly destroying six Black Empresses before engaging in and surviving a direct clash against the Black Sovereign. His invincible reddish-golden figure had been imprinted deep into everyone''s hearts.


    After securing the double crown in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, Tang Wulin had already become a hero in the hearts of all of the legion''s soldiers, but even so, they didn''t really think that Tang Wulin was truly all that powerful. After all, the competition was restricted to those who were below the Titled Douluo level and didn''t yet possess suits of three-word battle armor.


    However, the fearsome combat prowess that Tang Wulin had just displayed and the gargantuan golden dragon that he had unleashed had truly stunned everyone.


    Following Tang Wulin''s reappearance, the reddish-golden light around his body was beginning to expand and contract once again. The six Black Empresses truly possessed an enormous amount of energy. Even though he had released most of the energy that he didn''t have time to absorb through his previous attacks, the essential power of the Black Empresses had still fused into his body.


    His dragon core and soul core were constantly being overloaded, and as a result, the aura that he was exuding was extremely unstable. If a normal Soul Master had absorbed such an enormous amount of energy, they would''ve exploded already. However, not only did Tang Wulin possess an immensely powerful physical constitution, what was even more important was that after absorbing the planar seeds of those two abyssal emperors, the seed of life was extremely pleased with its host. As such, it was releasing bursts of extremely rich life force energy to protect his body. Even though there was an enormous amount of energy within his body, he didn''t have to worry about being harmed by it so long as the seed of life continued to protect him.


    Every living being possessed their own life essence, and the more powerful one''s life essence was, the more potent their life force would be. The energy being converted by the seed of life was constantly bolstering Tang Wulin''s life essence, and in a sense, it was elevating him to become a higher life form. As a result, his body was able to remain in a stable state and not explode in the face of the tremendous energy it contained.


    Even so, Tang Wulin still felt as if he had endless power within his own body. His energy was constantly expanding and contracting, and the spear projection on his Golden Dragon Spear was also constantly fluctuating in length. He wanted nothing more than to rush into the abyss again and fight to his heart''s content.


    He was naturally able to sense the overwhelming power of the Black Sovereign. Even in his current state, he was still no match for a being of her caliber. Even so, the energy that was churning within his body was constantly elevating his battle intent, making him feel as if he could destroy any enemy, no matter how powerful they were!


    As his life essence was strengthened, his spiritual power was also undergoing a series of constant minute changes. He sensed the transitions of the nine types of spiritual energy within the Blood God Array, and he felt as if he were the ruler of heaven and earth.


    "Get back, Huanyun." Blood One''s voice suddenly sounded.


    Zhang Huanyun faltered slightly before turning toward him. At this point, all of the abyssal creatures had been impacted by the devastating clashes that had just taken place, and they had temporarily paused in their advance. However, there were still abyssal creatures constantly pouring out of the cracks on the seal. The abyssal plane had used some kind of power to oppose the Blood God Array, preventing it from sealing those cracks.


    Blood One said in a serious voice, "The array will protect Wulin. At a time like this, only he can truly lead us to force back these abyssal creatures. Listen up, Wulin: from now on, we''re going to help you become the core of the Blood God Array. You don''t have to worry about defending yourself; just do everything in your power to kill your enemy, understood? If the energy is too much for you to absorb, then don''t latch onto it; just transfer it all to that seed of yours."


    Blood One had already sensed that Tang Wulin was currently in quite a special state. Furthermore, he had also made some evaluation on what that seed was, and that was why he had issued these instructions.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was like a massive balloon that was filled with violent energy. He didn''t even dare to open his mouth to respond as he was afraid that doing so would allow the energy to escape and blow his own body away. Thus, he merely nodded in response.


    It was not that he was unwilling to transmit the energy within his own body to the seed of life. Instead, the problem was that the seed of life was very picky and was very reluctant to accept any energy aside from the energy contained within planar seeds.


    "Circle of Blood Gods, Nine Spirit Protection, initiate!"

 Chapter 1101: Blood God Array

    The nine circular platforms suddenly began to rotate, and streaks of spiritual light descended from above to form a conical light barrier. Tang Wulin was abruptly struck by a burst of suction force, and in the next instant, a wonderful feeling spread through his entire body.


    In that instant, he felt as if he had truly become the master of heaven and earth, and that everything in this world was within his grasp. His senses extended out into infinity and beyond, and the elemental particles that originally weren''t very clear to him instantly became very clear and defined. The entire mountain ranges seemed to be within the scope of his sensory, and his senses could even extend beyond that to further places.


    He could even sense that the fortune of the entire Douluo Continent was converging toward him. This was a completely indescribable experience, and he felt as if his entire body had undergone a series of transformations.


    The swelling sensation within his body clearly abated as he had become the ruler of heaven and earth. With the enhancements he received from the spirits of heaven and earth his power was unmatched. His Golden Dragon Spear had become burning hot in his hand, and there seemed to be deafening dragon''s roars reverberating beside his ears.


    His Golden Dragon Spear seemed to have sprung to life and was shimmering with unprecedentedly brilliant light. The symbol of the seed of life had also become clearer on his forehead, and wisps of green light suddenly began to surge out of the symbol before returning to his body along with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that was being supplied to him by the Blood God Array.


    All of a sudden, the entire light barrier took on a faint green hue, and extremely rich life force energy instantly spread through the entire array.


    The green light descended upon all nine of the Blood Gods, and expressions of surprise and elation appeared on their faces in unison. They could clearly sense that their life force was being bolstered significantly, and all of the energy that they had expended before was quickly being replenished. What was even more remarkable was that as this life force energy became more potent, the spiritual energy of heaven and had earth that had originally only been drawn here by the Blood God Array suddenly converged in a frenzy as if it had found its origin.


    Blood One''s eyes lit up, and he knew that he had made the right choice. He wasn''t completely sure just what that thing within Tang Wulin''s body was, but he could guess that it was somehow related to the entire plane. It had just devoured the essence of two abyssal emperors, and now, it was time for it to reciprocate them by assisting them in drawing upon planar power. With its assistance, they would have a far better chance of keeping the abyssal plane at bay.


    Bursts of scintillating light surged through the air, and the Black Sovereign hovered down below with a cold and completely expressionless look on her face.


    In her eyes, Tang Wulin''s body seemed to be constantly expanding. As those wisps of light were injected into his body, he quickly reached over 10 meters tall, and his Golden Dragon Spear was also swelling in size along with him. He was only one man, but under the enhancements of the Blood God Array, he was resembling an invincible deity.


    The Black Sovereign abruptly waved a hand through the air, and the vast hordes of abyssal creatures that had paused earlier immediately shot forth into the air.


    Zhang Huanyun issued a command, and all of the Blood God Legion soldiers began to attack once again. All types of lasers and cannon blasts intertwined to form a massive net of destruction that cut off the oncoming abyssal creatures.


    Tang Wulin held his Golden Dragon Spear in his hand and looked down with a cold expression. As the abyssal creatures down below were killed, a peculiar scene ensued.


    Not only did their abyssal energy not return to the abyssal plane, they instead surged collectively toward Tang Wulin. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the abyssal energy had formed a vortex with the Golden Dragon Spear at its center before surging into the divine weapon.


    An extremely powerful burst of energy was instantly injected into Tang Wulin''s body, and the reddish-golden light around him became even brighter. His body continued to expand, and he reflexively unleashed a spear strike.


    Another colossal golden dragon emerged from the front tip of his Golden Dragon Spear before crashing into the hordes of abyssal creatures down below, destroying countless abyssal creatures before drawing their abyssal energy toward him.


    With the enhancements from the spirits of heaven and earth, Tang Wulin''s body had attained a significantly higher tolerance capacity. It was as if he had attained an extra enormous body, and any energy that his actual body couldn''t handle was absorbed by this extra body while his aura became more and more powerful.


    Tang Wulin was completely sure of the fact that his current level of power was comparable to that of a Limit Douluo. With the protection granted to him by his seed of life and the spirits of heaven and earth, he didn''t have to worry about his body blowing up into smithereens.


    This was undoubtedly a situation that couldn''t be replicated anywhere else as there was only a single Blood God Array on the entire Douluo Continent. Furthermore, he had only attained such an enormous amount of power after being reciprocated by all of the energy that the seed of life had absorbed from the abyssal plane.


    This was definitely an unprecedentedly fantastic experience for Tang Wulin, and the main benefit of this was that through this experience, he could sense what it was like to become a powerful being of this caliber, which was immensely beneficial to his future cultivation.


    Under normal circumstances, all Soul Masters progressed at a slow yet steady rate as they would only be able to advance further after creating a good foundation for themselves. Just as Zhen Hua had once said to Tang Wulin, if he wanted to focus solely on forging, then there were even ways for him to be quickly elevated to the Titled Douluo level. However, Tang Wulin turned down that proposal as doing so would result in an unstable foundation, which would make it very difficult to reach greater heights in the future.


    Tang Wulin had been cultivating for many years, and it could be said that his foundation was extremely solid. He possessed both a dragon core and a soul core, so even though he was absorbing such a vast amount of abyssal energy, he didn''t have to worry about anything as his foundation was far more secure than that of the average Soul Master.


    Even so, his cultivation rank still couldn''t experience drastic improvements that went beyond the norm. Otherwise, he would still be afflicted by some major issues.


    As Tang Wulin''s dragon core and soul core converted this abyssal energy, he was only absorbing the most essential parts, and most of it contributed toward enhancing his physical constitution rather than elevating his soul power rank.


    Even so, his soul power rank had still been elevated to the pinnacle of the Soul Emperor level in a short time.


    In comparison, it was far more important for Tang Wulin to use this energy to strengthen his own body in order to create a good foundation in preparation for breaking his future Golden Dragon King seals.


    The Golden Dragon King seals were most important to Tang Wulin as not only could they enhance his powers, they could also kill him, so he had no choice but to take them seriously!


    A vast amount of energy continued to flow into his body, and he silently sensed all of the changes taking place within the seed of life. He was voluntarily guiding most of this energy into the seed of life and leaving only a very small portion for himself.


    Even though the seed of life was rather reluctant to accept this energy, it still absorbed all of the energy in its entirety. Not only did the seed of life possess sentience, it also seemed to possess a high level of intelligence, and it understood Tang Wulin''s intentions.


    The rich life force energy being released was making the reddish-golden light around Tang Wulin more and more pronounced, while the swelling sensation he was experiencing in his own body had receded significantly. He swung his Golden Dragon Spear through the air with reckless abandon without having to worry about running out of energy. Each and every spear strike he unleashed was like a high-grade soul missile being set off, destroying countless abyssal creatures down below. Even abyssal creatures as powerful as Black Empresses didn''t dare to charge toward him.


    He was truly like an invincible deity, and with the assistance from the Blood God Legion''s high-tech weaponry, he was able to completely stabilize the situation. Even the five abyssal emperors didn''t dare to engage him in battle, not because they weren''t confident in their own ability, but because the more they approached the passageway''s exit, the stronger the planar oppression they would be struck by.

 Chapter 1102: Astonishing Turn of Events

    The forefathers of the Douluo Continent had made massive sacrifices in order to create this Blood God Array, and it had constantly been refined over the past 6,000 years. In its current form, the Blood God Formation was extremely effective when it came to drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Furthermore, it was being reciprocated by the life force energy from the seed of life, and that allowed the array to be sustained by more than just the Blood God''s powers.


    The Black Sovereign''s brows were tightly furrowed as she looked up at Tang Wulin, who was constantly unleashing spear strikes and devouring abyssal energy. They could afford to lose this amount of abyssal energy, but this was still chipping away at the essence of the abyssal plane. Furthermore, he had slain two abyssal emperors.


    She was obviously able to sense that this human wasn''t very powerful yet. At the very least, he wasn''t powerful enough to pose a threat to them. However, the problem was that humans were able to grow and develop far faster than any abyssal creature. If that human were to reach the demigod level, it was quite possible that he could destroy the entire abyssal plane in the future with that weapon of his. At the very least, it would be very difficult for the abyssal plane to conquer this world so long as he continued to exist.


    As those thoughts flashed through her mind, there was almost substantial killing intent radiating from her eyes. It was no wonder that the Holy Lord, who had been hibernating this entire time, waiting for the abyss to evolve into a divine realm, had awakened and was trying to break open this main passageway at all costs; a human being that posed a threat to them really had appeared. They had to kill him no matter what before he became too powerful.


    With that in mind, the Black Sovereign''s expression cooled even further. However, she didn''t immediately join the battle. The four abyssal monarchs beside her were already raring to go, but she was still waiting calmly for an opportunity.


    With the current situation of the Blood God Array, there wouldn''t be much of a chance for them to be able to break through it. The debilitating effect of this alternate plane was simply too powerful, and even with her immense powers, she would only be able to assure her own safety. If more abyssal emperors were to fall, then the foundation of the abyssal plane would be shaken once again. An opportunity would definitely come, and when it arrived, they were going to destroy the human race in one fell swoop.


    Black threads revolved around the Black Sovereign''s hands before forming a massive net in mid-air. The net was constantly devouring and absorbing the abyssal energy in the air before injecting it into the cracks on the seal.


    The cracks were constantly fluctuating in size; they would contract when being repressed by the power of the Blood God Array, but they would then expand in the face of the abyssal plane''s unreserved efforts to break this seal, and as this cycle continued, more and more abyssal creatures were rushing out of the cracks.


    As Tang Wulin continued to lay waste to the abyssal creatures down below, two more abyssal emperors emerged. Neither of them were abyssal sovereigns, but the number of high-level abyssal powerful beings had clearly increased.


    Blood One was pouring his power into the Blood God Array while inspecting the situation down below with a cold expression. His eyes were completely emotionless, and he wasn''t very concerned about the current situation. The Blood God Array was already operating at full power, so if the abyssal plane wanted to maintain the cracks, then they would have to make some extremely heavy sacrifices. Even though they could recycle some abyssal energy, it was not that easy to convert this abyssal energy into offensive power.


    As long as they could keep the abyssal plane at bay, they would definitely be dealt heavy blows during the course of this battle, and perhaps they wouldn''t possess the power to instigate another abyssal tide for the next several centuries.


    After receiving reciprocation from the seed of life, the Blood God Array was currently in the best condition it had ever been in. With the enhancements that Tang Wulin was receiving from the array, Blood One was confident that no one would be able to get past him unless a true god were to appear.


    Within the area encompassed by the Blood God Array, Tang Wulin''s powers were currently at the pinnacle of the demigod level. It wasn''t the case that he had actually reached this level. Instead, it was the energy fluctuations being generated by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth from his attacks that were unleashing this level of power. Even if the most powerful abyssal sovereign were to descend upon this world, they may not be able to get past Tang Wulin in his current form, and with the seed of life on his side, none of the abyssal emperors would dare to engage in a direct battle with Tang Wulin. After all, the seed of life was capable of devouring even their planar seeds!


    As such, as soon as Tang Wulin began to unleash his attacks from the center of the Blood God Array, Blood One already knew that there was no way for the Blood God Legion to lose this battle.


    Even he couldn''t have predicted that Tang Wulin would be able to keep the entire abyssal plane at bay on his own when he wasn''t even a Soul Sage yet.


    The vice-commander of the Blood God Legion, Long Tianwu, was also on the scene, but his heart was filled with complex emotions.


    He looked on at Tang Wulin, who was clad in a suit of radiant golden armor and emanating peerlessly dazzling light, and for the first time, he was regretting his decision. He regretted implementing the rule that prevented Tang Wulin from earning promotions through his forging accolades, and he regretted cautioning his daughter against getting too close to him.


    This young man did indeed shoulder a burden and responsibility that was far heavier than anyone else, but at the same time, he possessed more power and aptitude than anyone else of his age!


    As one of the highest-ranking officials of the Blood God Legion, he was naturally aware of what the Blood God Array was all about. At this moment, Tang Wulin was able to maintain this array to such an extent through his own powers alone. This meant that as long as he existed, there would be virtually no way for the abyssal plane to invade the Douluo Continent!


    Tang Wulin''s reputation in the legion was undoubtedly going to be significantly enhanced following this battle, and he would most likely become even more influential than Zhang Huanyun was at his age. After all, Zhang Huanyun also possessed extraordinary aptitude, but even he didn''t possess the ability to defend the abyssal passageway on his own.


    If Tang Wulin were willing to accept the role, Zhang Huanyun would definitely make Tang Wulin the successor to his role as legion commander without any hesitation. No one was more suited to the role than he was, and he would definitely receive the support of the entire legion.


    Unfortunately, it was too late for him to regret his actions. Thankfully, this young man didn''t seem to have held a grudge against him.


    With that in mind, his gaze began to reflexively sift through the crowd in search of his own daughter. He quickly caught sight of Long Yuxue in the distance.


    As the commander of the special service department, Long Yuxue was responsible for reinforcing the long-range attacking units at any moment required. She was constantly on the move, but her eyes had never left the golden figure that was hovering in the air.


    Looks like you''ve got a better eye than your old man, Yuxue!


    A self-deprecating smile appeared on Long Tianwu''s face, and he no longer had any intention of holding back his own daughter from pursuing the man of her dreams. The Douluo Continent was still a world where power reigned supreme. Even if Tang Wulin had to face extremely powerful enemies in the future, he would most likely be able to at least keep himself safe with his abilities.


    Just as these thoughts were flashing through Long Tianwu''s mind, his brows suddenly furrowed slightly as he discovered that an indescribable chilling sensation had welled up in his heart.


    This was a very special sensation, and as a Titled Douluo, his senses were extremely sharp.


    This was not good! There was something wrong!


    Long Tianwu reflexively cast his gaze toward a certain direction, and there didn''t seem to be anything amiss over there. However, right at this moment, his gaze suddenly landed on a Blood God Legion soldier.


    This was a soldier who was responsible for operating a soul cannon, and there didn''t appear to be any issues with his movements. However, Long Tianwu could clearly sense that he was somehow different from everyone else.


    His martial soul was ice, so in this world that was filled with snow and ice, his senses were far sharper than other powerful beings of the same caliber. He had become absorbed in his train of thought earlier, so his attention had strayed from the main battlefield, and as such, he wasn''t able to sense that something was amiss down below.


    Long Tianwu didn''t say anything. Instead, he began to approach that person while activating his own soul power in a surreptitious manner. He trusted his own judgment.


    However, right at this moment, that person seemed to have also sensed something. The soul cannon that he was operating suddenly stopped firing, and he stood up before turning around to look at Long Tianwu.


    Long Tianwu was greeted by the sight of a young face that was wearing a faint smile, but in his eyes, that smile was clearly filled with sinister undertones.


    In the next instant, that man suddenly sprang into action. He abruptly transformed into a wisp of smoke, and eight other figures in different directions also sprang into action in unison. There were nine of them in total, and each of them was pouncing toward one of the Nine Blood Gods at the same time.


    Not only were they extremely fast, they also instantly released their suits of battle armor to reveal that they were all three-word battle armor masters, and their auras also indicated that they were all of the Titled Douluo level.


    What was even more terrifying was the powerful evil aura erupting from their bodies. After being struck by these evil auras from the outside, the stable Blood God Array clearly wavered slightly.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1103: Surprise Attack from Evil Soul Masters

    It was undoubtedly the case that the Blood God Array was extremely powerful, and it could even be said that this was the most powerful array on the entire Douluo Star. However, it also had a problem, which was that it could only target beings from alternate planes. The planar power that was manifested by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth only rejected outsiders, but it didn''t affect the beings that belonged to this plane.


    These nine figures that suddenly emerged definitely didn''t belong to the abyssal plane, but they were attacking the nine Blood Gods as if they were allied with the abyssal plane.


    This sudden development had struck so abruptly that everyone was caught off guard.


    It was also right at this moment that the Black Sovereign also sprang into action. She had been observing the exit of the abyssal passageway this entire time, and she immediately led the six abyssal emperors to launch an attack against the defensive line. Thus, the Blood God Legion was under attack both from the inside and the outside.


    This was the opportunity that the Black Sovereign had been waiting for; it was an opportunity that had been created for them by their allies.


    The current stable situation was suddenly turned on its head, and no one could''ve anticipated that this would happen.


    Even Blood One was stunned that enemies had appeared on the inside in such a secluded place on the continent, and there were so many of them at once!


    Zhang Huanyun was the main commander that was overseeing the entire battlefield, and he was the one to react first. Long Tianwu had already informed him of the situation via voice transmission as soon as he sensed that something was amiss. However, the enemies had also reacted very quickly, pouncing toward the Blood Gods at once and completely taking them by surprise.


    The three-word battle armor master who was charging toward Blood One gave him a sinister smirk, and a burst of light suddenly appeared on his back before hurtling directly toward Zhang Huanyun. As soon as the ball of light appeared, it began to radiate extremely scorching golden light, and a powerful metallic aura erupted from it in a frenzy.


    Zhang Huanyun was immediately able to identify this as a ninth-grade soul missile! This missile possessed enough destructive power to raze an entire mountain to the ground, and there were so many Blood God Legion soldiers present, all of whom would be in grave danger if the soul missile were to explode.


    Zhang Huanyun instantly released his mirror domain without any hesitation to engulf the ninth-grade soul missile. At a time like this, his decisiveness as the commander of the Blood God Legion was on full display.


    He didn''t even take a single glance at the nine Blood Gods before his mirror domain engulfed the soul missile. Immediately thereafter, he charged straight into the Blood God Array while his domain ejected the soul missile toward the seven oncoming abyssal emperors.


    Zhang Huanyun knew that in this situation, there was no way for him to address both sides at once; he could only prioritize one side over another. The enemies from the abyssal plane were indeed very powerful, but the entire Blood God Legion was there to keep them at bay. In contrast, these internal enemies were far more fearsome. If the abyssal emperors were allowed to charge through the Blood God Array, then disaster would truly be upon them.


    As such, after redirecting the ninth-grade soul missile toward the Black Sovereign and the others, he immediately rushed into the Blood God Array to eradicate the internal enemies.


    Even a Limit Douluo wouldn''t want to face a ninth-grade soul missile''s terrifying destructive power head-on. Otherwise, that 12th-grade soul missile wouldn''t have been able to destroy the entire Shrek Academy!


    Zhang Huanyun had undoubtedly made the right decision here. If he were to be bogged down by the enemies from the abyssal plane, then the internal problems would only be further exacerbated.


    At this moment, the nine Blood Gods were being attacked at once, and Long Tianwu was the first to react. He finally managed to stop the enemy that he had discovered first before he could reach Blood Eight.


    He unleashed a ferocious barrage of attacks to stop this enemy in his tracks, but the enemy was also extremely powerful.


    A wisp of grey mist exploded from his body amid a dull thump, and the ice and snow being released by Long Tianwu quickly turned grey. Immediately thereafter, piercing screeches and terrifying howls of anguish rang out around him.


    "You''re an Evil Soul Master!" Long Tianwu roared with fury.


    He raised his right hand in front of him, and a blue ice spike erupted from the ground. In the instant that it appeared, a peculiar scene unfolded. One of the nine types of spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the air was suddenly diverted onto the ice spike, causing it to instantly expand in size.


    All of the evil aura in the surrounding area was frozen solid under the guidance of the ice spirit!


    The Blood God Legion had been able to keep the abyssal plane at bay for 6,000 years, and they certainly hadn''t done so through dumb luck. In particular, all of the powerful beings who hailed from families that had served the Blood God Legion for multiple generations were all extremely fearsome.


    Compared to normal Soul Masters, the main advantage Evil Soul Masters had lay in the unpredictable nature of their abilities. However, if they were faced with truly powerful Soul Masters, then this advantage would be significantly neutralized.


    As expected, the Evil Soul Master''s expression changed drastically, and he instantly rushed back in retreat. He was here to launch a surprise attack, not to throw his own life away. When the aura of the ice spirit had entered his body, he had felt as if his soul were about to be frozen solid, and his powers were significantly debilitated as a result.


    Long Tianwu didn''t give chase to press his advantage. Instead, the ice spike that he had summoned hurtled directly toward another Evil Soul Master while radiating the aura of the ice spirit.


    The most important thing here was to protect the nine Blood Gods. The main advantage that the Evil Soul Masters on their side was the element of surprise. If they hadn''t caught everyone off guard, even nine three-word battle armor masters would struggle to survive in the face of tens of thousands of Blood God Legion soldiers.


    This was no longer the generation where a Titled Douluo could reign supreme over an entire army; the powerful modern soul weapons of the current generation posed a very significant threat even against top-tier Soul Masters.


    The nine Evil Soul Masters had sprung into action at once, and they were trying to create an opportunity for the abyssal emperors.


    A faint green figure, who was also the fastest among the nine Evil Soul Masters, reached Blood One virtually in the blink of an eye. He had put on a piece of green headgear that revealed only his eyes, nose, and mouth, so it was impossible to glean his facial features. His eyes were completely dark green in color, and there were faint traces of purple intermingled within his suit of green battle armor. Before he had even reached Blood One, the latter was struck by a rank, repugnant odor.


    The Evil Soul Master swung his arms through the air, slashing his two scythe-like weapons toward Blood One like a pair of long green snakes.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the true absolute core of the Blood God Array was Blood One. If he were to be shaken, then the array would no long be able to be maintained. As such, this Evil Soul Master was attacking with all his might from the get-go.


    Blood One looked on with a cold expression at the two streaks of green light that were sweeping toward him. Never did he think that humans would be plotting against them in this battle against the abyssal plane, which would directly impact the survival of the entire human race. To think that these deranged Evil Soul Masters would choose to ally themselves with the abyssal plane.


    It was no wonder that the abyssal plane was able to break open the main passageway and unleash an abyssal tide of unprecedented proportions; this was clearly an attack that had been planned for a very long time. The Holy Spirit Cult was working together with the abyssal plane to destroy the entire Douluo Continent!


    He almost found it laughable that these people were deranged enough to completely disregard the survival of the entire human race.


    Blood One''s eyes reflected the oncoming streaks of green light, and he raised his left hand, upon which a longsword that was around four feet in length appeared in his grasp.


    As he maintained the Blood God Array, he gently slashed his sword through the air.


    His attack appeared to be very gentle, and there were no energy fluctuations being released, but the green-armored Evil Soul Master''s expression abruptly changed drastically.


    He could sense that after Blood One unleashed that sword strike, it was as if his entire being had disappeared and fused into the surrounding environment. All of the particles of every element in the air immediately became a part of him and heeded his command.


    Wasn''t he maintaining the Blood God Array? How was he still able to do this? And why was his spiritual power...

 Chapter 1104: Grueling Battle

    The two oncoming green snakes were instantly destroyed, and a burst of invisible sword intent also fell upon the Evil Soul Master''s body.


    The green-armored Evil Soul Master only just managed to position his scythes in front of his chest, only for the scythes to be destroyed in the next instant, and his battle armor also crumbled in large chunks. His entire body was sent flying backward, and a mouthful of blood was thrown up onto the headgear that he was wearing.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had already held the Heartless Douluo, who was the master of the Tang Sect and the Douluo Palace, in extremely high regard. However, they also knew that it would take an enormous amount of power to maintain the Blood God Array and draw upon planar power. Even so, they had still underestimated him.


    Even as he was maintaining the array, he still had enough power left over to severely wound his attacker, who was a Hyper Douluo clad in a suit of three-word battle armor master.


    After reaching a certain level of power, the advantage held by Evil Soul Masters simply ceased to exist.


    A hint of disappointment appeared on Blood One''s face. He was attempting to kill his attacker with that sword strike, but it seemed that this Evil Soul Master was just powerful enough to survive that attack.


    At this point, all of the other Blood Gods had also been attacked. Under normal circumstances, these surprise attacks would be lethal as it would be very difficult for them to deal with their enemies while maintaining the array. However, the situation was a bit more optimistic due to the replenishment they''d received from the reciprocation of the seed of life. As such, they had some power to resist their foes.


    Blood Two and Blood Three both managed to keep their attackers at bay with relative ease, and immediately thereafter, these Evil Soul Masters were attacked by the powerful beings of the Blood God Legion.


    However, the rest of the Blood Gods were having a hard time. Blood Eight was the luckiest among them as the Evil Soul Master who had tried to attack her was stopped in his tracks by Long Tianwu.


    In contrast, Blood Nine was in the most peril as the Evil Soul Master who was attacking him was even more powerful than he was. In reality, the Holy Spirit Cult hadn''t actually expected to take down Blood One during this operation. They were only hoping to distract the other Blood Gods and create chaos while their true target was the weakest link, Blood Nine.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had been studying the Blood God Legion for more than just a day or two, and they had infiltrated this place specifically for this opportunity. They had even conducted some research into the Blood God Array.


    Among all of the Blood Gods, Blood Nine was undoubtedly going to be the weakest one, but the Evil Soul Master who was attacking him was even more powerful than the one who had attacked Blood One, and she was unleashing a full-force attack to take down Blood nine in one fell swoop. The Blood God Array had to be maintained by nine people, and not just any Titled Douluo could fill in; the nine people had to have practiced together for many years before they could maintain the array together. As such, as long as they could kill even just a single one of the Blood Gods, the array would completely fall apart.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had never been naive enough to think that they could overpower the entire Blood God Legion in a direct conflict. After all, this was the most powerful legion on the entire continent. All they were trying to do was to guide the abyssal plane into this world so an all-out war could ensue between the human world and the abyssal plane. Regardless of who won this war in the end, countless beings would most definitely perish, and that was the ideal situation for the Holy Spirit Cult as they derived sustenance from all types of negative emotions and dead vengeful spirits.


    The Evil Soul Master who had appeared before Blood Nine was a woman with a black veil over her face. As soon as she sprang into action, her Blood God Legion uniform had torn into shreds before vanishing into nothingness, revealing a suit of inky-black battle armor that was shimmering with faint purple light. Her weapon was a purplish-black longsword that wasn''t releasing any energy, but there was also a purplish-black figure with three pairs of wings hovering behind her.


    If Yuanen Yehui were present on the scene, she would immediately be able to identify that this was a projection of a Fallen Angel. Furthermore, this was a high-level Fallen Angel as its six wings represented the Titled Douluo level. On top of that, this Evil Soul Master was certainly not an ordinary Titled Douluo.


    She instantly slashed her Dark Demonic Sword through the surrounding area eight times, and nine soul rings also appeared around her, consisting of six blacks and three reds. At this moment, her fifth soul ring had lit up, and following her eight sword strikes, eight inky-black gates of light appeared in the surrounding area, cutting off all of the Blood God Legion soldiers'' fields of view.


    A three-headed giant dog that was over five meters in length and over three meters tall rushed out of one of the gates in a ferocious manner, and attacks of the ice, fire, and darkness elements were erupting out of its three mouths.


    These were Infernal Gates, and the creature that had just emerged was the Infernal Cerberus!


    Yuanen Yehui also had the same soul skill, but it was nowhere near as powerful as the one being unleashed here.


    As soon as the eight Infernal Gates appeared, curled horns with their tips pointing up toward the heavens resembling mountain goat horns appeared on her head.


    Brilliant light erupted from the Dark Demonic Sword in her hand, and she slashed it toward Blood Nine without any technique to speak of.


    Blood Nine was clearly being protected by the entire legion, but in this instant, he felt as if he were completely alone as he faced this enemy.


    The Evil Soul Master wore a black mask over her face, revealing only her eyes and eyebrows. There were also faint purple floral patterns on the surface of her mask that gave her a sense of mystery. Her eyes were also very special; they were of a deep purple color, and they were as alluring as the abyss, making the onlooker feel as if their soul were about to be sucked into her eyes.


    The longsword reached Blood Nine in a flash, and his expression changed drastically. He was the weakest among the nine Blood Gods, and just maintaining the Blood God Array was already taking up all of his power and effort, so he had no power left over to defend himself. Furthermore, this woman was far more powerful than he was.


    Right in this instant, countless thoughts flashed through Blood Nine''s mind, and he abruptly bit down on the tip of his own tongue as crimson light erupted from his eyes a layer of flames rose up over his body.


    He had no choice but to ignite his flame of life.


    All Soul Masters at or above the Soul King stage had the ability to ignite their flames of life. Doing so would instantly increase their powers significantly, but the flames of life drew upon one''s life force and aptitude as fuel!


    Once a flame of life was ignited, one would quickly overexert their own life force before perishing.


    Blood Nine had seen the seven abyssal emperors springing into action, and he knew that if he couldn''t withstand this attack, disaster would befall the entire Blood God Legion. As such, he had to maintain the Blood God Array array no matter what, even if it meant giving his own life.


    He had already developed this resolve from the moment he became a backup Blood God. Every single member of the Blood God Legion was willing to lay down their lives to guard the abyssal passageway when required, so in this instant, there was only a faint smile on his face, and his expression was devoid of any pain or sorrow.


    This was his glory as the former Blood Nine!


    Blood Two had just forced back the Evil Soul Master who had attacked him, and tears immediately welled up in his eyes. However, he was one of the cores of the Blood God Array, so he couldn''t do anything. He and Blood Nine were connected by blood, so even with the Infernal Gates in the way, he could still clearly sense that his son''s life force was being elevated to an unprecedented level, and he was fully aware of what this entailed.


    Blood Nine heaved a faint sigh as holy and pristine flames of life burned around his body, and he raised his right hand before a spear appeared in his grasp. The spear was emanating a layer of holy radiance as it struck the Dark Demonic Sword.


    A crisp ringing sound rang out, and the spear shuddered violently along with Blood Nine''s body as a hint of astonishment appeared in his eyes. Even after igniting his flame of life, he was still struggling to withstand this Evil Soul Master''s attack; this was a clear indication that she was far more powerful than he was. Both of them were three-word battle armor masters, yet their powers were on entirely different levels.

 Chapter 1105: Sacrificial Burning

    Blood Nine instantly realized that the enemy he was facing had most likely already reached rank 97 or above in her soul power.


    Rank 95 was the minimum threshold for a Hyper Douluo, and there was a saying that each rank above that was like a heavenly rung climb up. With every successive rank that was attained past rank 95, one''s powers would be increased drastically. Furthermore, this Evil Soul Master''s martial soul was also of the highest caliber.


    His father''s soul power was rank 97, yet even he may not be able to defeat this opponent.


    All of these thoughts flashed through Blood Nine''s mind in an instant, and he opened his mouth to expel a mouthful of blood. The blood burst into flames in mid-air, transforming into a ball of reddish-golden flames that landed on his spear. All of a sudden, a burst of indescribable radiance erupted from the spear. Even the Evil Soul Master that he was facing had become rather hesitant about how to proceed.


    "Boom boom boom!" Powerful attacks were raining down upon her Infernal Gates from the outside, and despite her immense powers, the gates wouldn''t be able to withstand the attacks for long.


    Black light flashed from her Dark Demonic Sword, and the horns on her head instantly turned into a dark purple color. Immediately thereafter, the surrounding space began to warp violently, and Blood Nine''s suit of three-word battle shattered amid a resounding boom before transforming into a storm of metal shrapnel that swept toward the Evil Soul Master. At the same time, blood mist was pouring out of almost all of the pores on his entire body, and this blood mist was infused into his flame of life, causing it to burn even brighter.


    A hint of surprise flashed through the Evil Soul Master''s purple eyes. She had thought that this would be an easy opponent for her to take down, but he was unexpectedly tenacious.


    She had no choice but to protect herself by withdrawing her Dark Demonic Sword, and it transformed into a dark purple light barrier that kept Blood Nine''s attack at bay.


    Right at this moment, three of her eight Infernal Gates shattered almost in complete unison, and several formidable auras instantly surged toward her.


    "As expected of a Blood God." There was no emotion in her words, but her voice was tinged with a peculiar seductive quality.


    Her dark purple figure rose up into the air, and a purplish-black rift abruptly appeared up above. As she rose upward, she slashed her Dark Demonic Sword through the air, and her ninth soul ring abruptly lit up. The sky dimmed, and the other eight Evil Soul Masters all transformed into streaks of purple light that vanished into the rift in a flash. As for herself, she took one final meaningful glance at Blood Nine before also disappearing into the rift.


    Blood Nine''s attention had been focused on her the entire time, and in the instant that their eyes met right before her departure, he was suddenly struck by a strange feeling. Those eyes were completely expressionless, yet they had been imprinted deep into his mind.


    However, he didn''t have any spare mental capacity to think about this. His flame of life was burning in an extremely exuberant manner, and he was currently more powerful than he had ever been in his life, but he couldn''t snuff out the flame.


    Blood Nine was throwing up large mouthfuls of blood in an uncontrollable manner, and his flame of life became more and more exuberant as it injected itself into the Blood God Array to stabilize it. Blood Five, Blood Six, Blood Seven, and Blood Nine had all been wounded to a certain extent during that surprise attack, but thankfully, the seed of life had reciprocated them with enough energy for them to survive that ordeal. The Blood God Array was wavering and flickering, but it didn''t collapse in the end.


    However, there was no going back for Blood Nine. His flame of life had already burned to the point of no return, and it would continue to burn until his body and soul had both been burned away into nothingness.


    Tears began to streak down Blood Two''s face. He only had one son, and despite how strict he normally was with Blood Nine, watching his son die before his eyes without being able to do anything was naturally an extremely excruciating feeling.


    Blood Two was in a state of complete despair, but he was greeted by the sight of his son''s smiling face, even as blood continued to gush out of his mouth.


    It was as if he were communicating to Blood Two through this smile, telling him that he hadn''t brought dishonor upon him nor the Blood God Battalion.


    However, none of that was important to Blood Two; all he wanted was for his son to survive!


    All of the auras of the Blood Gods had become very unstable. In particular, Blood Eight, who was situated the closest to Blood Nine, already had tears shimmering in her eyes.


    She knew that Blood Nine really liked her and had always been pursuing her, but she was too conceited for her own good, and she always told him that she would only give him a chance if he could become more powerful than her.


    Blood Nine had always been working toward that goal, and the competitive Blood Eight was also constantly improving. In the end, he never managed to surpass her.


    At this moment, Blood Nine''s flame of life had reached the peak of its exuberance, it was drawing closer and closer to the point where it would be entirely snuffed out. Blood Eight''s heart was filled with boundless remorse. She hated herself for being so arrogant and not accepting his feelings sooner.


    Blood Nine''s gaze shifted from his father to Blood Eight, and even though he was still constantly throwing up blood, his smile became very gentle. The pride in his eyes had disappeared and was replaced by a warm gaze. He wanted to imprint the image of her firmly in his mind during the final moments of his life and use his final radiance to bless her and wish her well.


    Following the surprise attacks from the Evil Soul Masters, a battle of life and death was also unfolding within the Blood God Array.


    Resounding booms rang out across the entire abyssal passageway amid fearsome metallic storms, and countless abyssal creatures were torn into shreds. The destructive power of the ninth-grade soul missile was simply far too fearsome, even more so than the abyssal creatures could comprehend.


    These superweapons had already existed over 6,000 years ago, but at the time, the human army didn''t use them in battle in fear of harming their own allies. However, here in this abyssal passageway, there were only abyssal creatures around, so there was no chance of any allies being harmed. As such, the explosion of the ninth-grade soul missile completely stopped the eight abyssal emperors in their tracks.


    The Black Sovereign spread open her wings, which transformed into a barrier of darkness to shield herself and the other seven abyssal emperors. At the same time, she released her Demonic Engulfment Mist to its full extent, and it intertwined with the metallic storm in a fierce clash.


    In order to protect the other six abyssal emperors, she had no choice but to withstand the explosive power of the soul missile head-on, and in the face of the missile''s tremendous power, even the Black Sovereign''s aura was significantly hampered.


    This type of explosive energy was also unable to be absorbed by her Demonic Engulfment Mist, and Zhang Huanyun took advantage of this brief respite to fly over to Tang Wulin.


    He said in an urgent voice, "Wulin, don''t worry about anything aside from fighting enemies; I''ll take care of everything else."


    His seventh soul ring lit up as he spoke, and the mirror behind him instantly expanded to a diameter of over 100 meters. Zhang Huanyun''s body had already fused with the mirror, and this was his Mirror True Body!


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before letting loose a low cry. "Everyone, lend me your power!"


    Six streaks of light emerged from his body to heed his call, and they were none other than the six plant system Great Beasts of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.


    They were led by the Beautiful Silk Tulip, and the group consisted of the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, the Blackjade Divine Bamboo, the Land Dragon Golden Melon, and the Keen Gaze Dew.


    These Great Beasts had all attained intelligence already, and ever since they decided to follow Tang Wulin, they had constantly been nurtured by the aura of the seed of nature within Tang Wulin''s spiritual world. These six Great Beasts very rarely communicated with him under normal circumstances, but they were all genuinely thankful for the decision they had made.


    In the beginning, they had departed with Tang Wulin so they could bask in the aura of the seed of life in order to fortify their current powers before searching for opportunities to make breakthroughs.


    However, they quickly discovered that they were deriving far more benefits by following Tang Wulin than they had expected.


    Tang Wulin''s bloodline aura was downright incredible to them, and what was even more astonishing was that every time Tang Wulin made a breakthrough, particularly after his dragon core took shape, his rich blood essence power would wash over their bodies, providing them with more sustenance than even the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well did.


    The Ice Fire Yin Yang Well contained two different types of spiritual energy of heaven and earth, yet at this stage, Tang Wulin''s rich life force energy and Golden Dragon King bloodline aura was able to enhance them to an even greater extent than the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.


    In a sense, they were already no longer pure soul beasts. After exceeding 100,000 years of age and attaining human forms, they had to also imitate human bloodlines. Even if they didn''t choose to be reborn as humans, this was still a necessary process.

 Chapter 1106: Spirit Borrowing

    The most difficult aspect of their cultivation lay in imitating bloodline auras. With the injection and nourishment of Tang Wulin''s rich bloodline aura, they had all benefited immensely and taken the first steps to stabilize their human forms.


    Of course, energy was conserved, so they weren''t just taking energy from Tang Wulin. At the same time, they were also providing him with benefits as well.


    Why was Tang Wulin''s spiritual power able to improve so quickly? Why was he able to sense the elemental particles of the world so quickly? This was all directly correlated to the six plant system Great Beasts.


    They had completely opened up their affinity with the elements to Tang Wulin, making it easier for his spiritual power to comprehend the origins of these elements. Through this process, his spiritual power was naturally able to improve at a far faster rate. At the same time, all of them were life forms that were comprised of extremely pure life force energy, and they were constantly reciprocating this energy to Tang Wulin in order to nourish his body.


    It could be said that the aura of the seed of life was more suitable for Tang Wulin to absorb after it was filtered through them, and all of this was taking place in a very subtle and profound manner.


    As such, even though Tang Wulin hadn''t consumed any of the spirit items in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well as his friends had, he had actually reaped the greatest rewards from that trip. This was why he was able to make so many consecutive breakthroughs in such a short time without suffering any negative side-effects.


    At this point, the six plant system Great Beast''s auras were completely different from what they had been in the past, and each of them had a domain of a different attribute around their bodies.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was standing directly in front of Tang Wulin with a faint pink light emanating from his body. The murky air in the surrounding area was instantly cleared, and even Zhang Huanyun was feeling greatly reinvigorated after inhaling the fragrance that he was releasing.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was the monarch of all immortal plants, making it a plant system being of an even higher caliber than Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor.


    The fact that all of the immortal plants in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well were willing to pledge their subordination to him was a clear indication of his lofty status in the plant world.


    It may not possess any directly offensive abilities, but its assistance abilities were unmatched among all other immortal plants.


    The Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower was situated to the front left direction of Tang Wulin. There was a scorching red light radiating from her body, and this was stemming from fire elemental particles. The Mysterious Octoganal Ice Grass was situated to the front right direction of Tang Wulin, and he was radiating an icy blue light. There was a frosty aura around him that was the direct polar opposite to that of the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower, but at this moment, their auras seemed to be drawing upon and improving one another.


    They appeared to be in opposition against one another in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, but in reality, they had already completed yin yang neutralization in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well. As such, not only did they not debilitate each other in one another''s presence, it was instead the case that both of them were greatly enhanced.


    The Land Dragon Golden Melon and Blackjade Divine Bamboo were situated to the rear left and rear right directions of Tang Wulin, respectively. The Land Dragon Golden Melon was radiating yellow light, while the Blackjade Divine Bamboo was emanating an azure domain. Finally, there was the Keen Gaze Dew, which was situated directly behind Tang Wulin and was emitting a faint white light. The six immortal plants were all ready for action!


    Zhang Huanyun was already situated deep within his own domain after releasing his Mirror True Body, and he was quite stunned by the scenes unfolding before his eyes.


    He had already thought that he held a very high opinion of Tang Wulin, but it appeared that Tang Wulin was still far more powerful than he had imagined.


    These beings clearly weren''t humans, but they were able to adopt human forms, and that was a clear indication of what they were. These were true 100,000-year-old soul beasts! In this current day and age, where soul beasts were on the brink of extinction on the Douluo Continent, even a single 100,000-year-old soul beast was a very rare sight to behold, let alone six!


    Six soul rings then emerged from beneath Tang Wulin''s feet, consisting of four blacks, one greenish-golden, and one orange.


    Before Tang Wulin knew it, his first three soul rings had already been elevated to the 10,000-year-old level. It had been a long time since he had visited the Spirit Ascension Plane, but his soul rings had still evolved over time. Furthermore, they seemed to have only just made the breakthrough, so it was most likely due to the reciprocation he''d received from the seed of life after absorbing the planar seeds.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. His eyes were shimmering with an indistinct light while his Golden Dragon Spear was glowing with brilliant radiance, and he pointed the spear downward.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip raised his head to look up at the Blood God Array up above, a slightly mocking smile suddenly appeared on his face. He raised both hands before feigning an embracing motion, and all of the nine-colored light on the Beautiful Silk Tulip rippled before being drawn downward by him in a tornado-like form.


    Was this spirit borrowing?


    Even the true core of the Blood God Array, Blood One, was stunned to see this, let alone Zhang Huanyun. Even among the nine Blood Gods who were operating the Blood God Array, only Blood One was capable of using the spirit borrowing ability, yet this being that appeared to be Tang Wulin''s soul spirit was showing that it was capable of doing this as well!


    A massive flower naturally blossomed behind Tang Wulin, and it was none other than the Beautiful Silk Tulip in its true form.


    Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip had unleashed the soul skill in Tang Wulin''s stead even without requiring an instruction from him.


    Planar power and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth immediately converged toward Tang Wulin before instantly filling his entire body.


    He felt as if his body had already become part of the elements around him, and furthermore, there were bursts of suction force originating from all five of the other directions. The six immortal plants were all borrowing his power to strengthen their domains, and their auras instantly began to elevate at a rapid rate.


    The Black Sovereign had already taken care of the explosion caused by the ninth-grade soul missiles, and she continued to rise directly up toward Tang Wulin. The six other abyssal emperors behind her had also unleashed their abilities, and all of them only had a single target: Tang Wulin!


    However, right at this moment, the Black Sovereign was greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin''s eyes, which were shimmering with nine-colored light. Even the golden scales on his suit of two-word battle armor had been covered by a layer of nine-colored light.


    All of a sudden, the Black Sovereign felt as if something had bumped into the deepest part of her soul, and her aura reflexively faltered for an instant.


    Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin spear began to descend from above.


    On this occasion, the Golden Dragon Spear didn''t let loose a dragon''s roar as it usually did. Instead, it was merely shimmering with the purest light, and its tip was aimed directly at the Black Sovereign.


    Each of the six immortal plants around Tang Wulin were radiating dazzling light, and the collective lights being released by them had even concealed the Mirror Douluo behind them.


    Tang Wulin was only a six-ring Soul Emperor and a two-word battle armor master, yet with the enhancements he received from the Blood God Array, the six plant system Great Beasts, and the seed of life, he had attained an unprecedentedly terrifying level of power.


    "Boom!"


    The Demonic Engulfment Mist and nine-colored mist exploded almost in complete unison, and two bursts of extremely fearsome energy erupted within the abyssal passageway.


    In that instant, the two of them were struck by completely different feelings. The first thing that the Black Sovereign experienced was the pressure from this plane. The more she approached the exit of the passageway, the more potent the oppressive force being exerted upon her by the plane became. This was the downside of trying to invade an alternate plane.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin''s spear strike was different from any spear strike that he had ever unleashed in the past. There were no longer any blood essence fluctuations emanating from it. Instead, it had overlapped with this entire plane.


    In that instant, the Black Sovereign was even struck by the illusion that Tang Wulin had become the core of the Douluo plane, and that this spear strike had been unleashed on behalf of the entire plane.


    Despite how immensely powerful the Black Sovereign was, in that instant, she felt as if she were being crushed under a mountainous weight, and she was forced back into the depths of the abyssal passageway. The other six abyssal emperors that had risen up into the air with her were also struck by a sense of asphyxiation and retreated back into the passageway.

 Chapter 1107: Unstoppable

    The spear strike was imbued with such devastating power that even Zhang Huanyun and Cao Dezhi were completely stunned. They had always hoped that Tang Wulin would be able to permanently eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane in the end, but they didn''t think that he would play such a prominent role on the battlefield at his current cultivation rank.


    Tang Wulin was hovering in mid-air, and at this moment, he was completely immersed in the reflection of the spear strike he had just unleashed.


    He didn''t use his Golden Dragon King bloodline essence nor his Fury of the Masses to enhance the spear strike; it was just a pure and simple attack. The feeling of being completely enveloped by planar power and becoming one with the entire Douluo plane was truly a riveting experience.


    This is the path I need to pursue! I think I''ve found it!


    Tang Wulin raised his Golden Dragon Spear again before throwing his head back and letting loose a long cry up into the heavens. As he did so, the nine-colored light within the Blood God Array began to tremor gently.


    The radiance of the seed of life flashed on his forehead, and all of the surrounding natural energies surged toward Tang Wulin as if they had found their origin.


    The seed of life couldn''t directly enhance Tang Wulin''s powers, but it could assist him during critical moments of enlightenment. In particular, under the special environment of this Blood God Array, he was able to reap rewards that would be beyond his reach anywhere else.


    His suit of battle armor began to glow with scintillating light, and a projection of a massive golden dragon took the place of the massive purple flower projection behind him. Every single scale on his suit of battle armor was radiating dazzling light, and the nine-colored light in his eyes faded before being replaced by an unprecedentedly scintillating golden light.


    In that instant, he stood like a pillar between heaven and earth, and it was as if he had become the master of this entire world.


    His Golden Dragon Spear was also glowing with dazzling light, and all of the golden patterns on it had become extremely bright and pure. He thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward at a very slow speed, but as it traveled through the air, all of the energy in the surrounding area converged toward it.


    Tang Wulin''s entire body was trembling gently, but his eyes were filled with an unprecedentedly resolute and determined expression.


    That''s right, this was the path that he was searching for; the path of regal domination!


    Seventh technique of the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, Path of Regal Domination!


    Countless specks of light converged toward a single point, and the entire abyssal passageway was trembling in the wake of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    The Black Sovereign''s frosty expression took on a noticeable change for the very first time. The aura that she was facing now was something that she had only ever felt from that being.


    How was this possible? How could such a puny human being be able to unleash such a powerful attack? How could his aura bear such a strong resemblance to that of the Holy Lord? His powers were completely incomparable to those of the Holy Lord!


    It was also right at this moment that the Black Sovereign finally understood why the Holy Lord was so wary of such a puny human being and trying to destroy him at all costs; this human''s latent potential was downright terrifying! If he were allowed to grow and develop into a truly powerful being, then there would be no chance for the abyssal plane to invade the human world, and they could even face an invasion from the humans instead.


    A serious look appeared in the Black Sovereign''s eyes as her long hair pooled down behind her back. She brushed her hands over her sides, seemingly in a gentle manner, but in doing so, she left a trail of afterimages in the air.


    These afterimages stacked on top of one another before her hands finally came together in front of her body. A speck of pure blackish-purple light surged forth from her chest.


    As soon as this speck of light appeared, the pressure that was being exerted on the Black Sovereign by the Douluo plane clearly lessened somewhat.


    It was also right at this moment that the seed of life on Tang Wulin''s forehead suddenly began to pulse violently. It had never been this active before, and it seemed to almost be in a frenzied state.


    The Black Sovereign pointed a finger forward once again, but on this occasion, her fingertip had completely taken on a blackish-purple color.


    "Ding!" A crisp sound rang out, and countless ripples surged through the air. Even the six abyssal emperors couldn''t help but cover their ears in unison while their bodies rapidly descended.


    The Black Sovereign remained completely stationary in mid-air, but her entire body had already been basked in a layer of golden light that stemmed from the Golden Dragon Spear.


    In the next instant, her body was swept aside and crashed heavily into the side of the abyssal passageway.


    The Path of Regal Domination was imbued with unstoppable might!


    Scintillating golden light pierced straight into the abyss, catching up to one of the retreating abyssal emperors before almost instantly puncturing its chest.


    The golden light drew back, and in the next instant, the abyssal emperor that had just had its body punctured was dragged back to Tang Wulin.


    A green vine immediately shot forth from the seed of life before abruptly plunging into the abyssal emperor''s body and latching onto its planar seed right away.


    The aura of the seed of life had become immeasurably more powerful than it had been back in the mirror domain, and it was able to instantly control this severely wounded abyssal emperor. Its abyssal aura was quickly fading away, and its planar seed couldn''t even offer up a shred of resistance.


    Blood One was suddenly struck by a sense of enlightenment upon seeing this, and a smile finally appeared on his face. Blood Nine was also looking on with a smile despite the fact that his flame of life was close to being snuffed out, and his entire body was becoming more and more transparent.


    Blood One realized that his plan for Tang Wulin had been wrong from the very beginning. Tang Wulin and his seed of life should''ve been activated in the Blood God Array from the very beginning.


    The planar power and spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered by the Blood God Array were able to enhance them to an immeasurable degree, thereby making them the true cores that could oppose the abyssal plane. This was something that had never happened in the past 6,000 years!


    It appeared that if the Black Sovereign hadn''t allowed herself to be swept aside, then she would''ve most likely been the one to be destroyed by that attack. To think that just one man and one spear could unleash such devastating power!


    Of course, this wasn''t Tang Wulin''s power. Instead, he was channeling planar power through his body and using his Golden Dragon Spear to vent the fury of the Douluo Continent.


    The Douluo Continent plane may not be of a caliber that could surpass the abyssal plane, but it was important to remember that true godly beings had been born on this plane before! Regardless of how powerful the abyssal plane, it had never been graced with the presence of a god, so there was a fundamental difference between the two planes.


    The Black Sovereign''s expression had already changed drastically, and she flew back into the depths of the abyssal passageway in a panicked manner. The closer she was to the exit, the more planar pressure she would be afflicted by, whereas the further away she was from the exit, the more abyssal power she would be able to draw upon.


    What had appeared to be a perfect opportunity to strike was now completely non-existent.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes flashed with golden light, and he flapped his wings gently before immediately arriving outside the Blood God Array. He then pointed his left index finger at Blood Nine, who was about to fizzle out of existence, and a beam of green light instantly shot forth from his forehead before landing on Blood Nine''s body.


    The flame of life that was burning around him was instantly snuffed out, and just as everyone was letting loose cries of alarm, Blood Nine''s translucent body suddenly turned into a green color and was abruptly stabilized. Extremely rich life force energy was instantly injected into his body, allowing him to take on a substantial form once again.


    Blood Nine''s expression was filled with disbelief. He could already sense that he was about to blink out of existence, but at this moment, he was stunned to discover that not only did he exist, his life force was being elevated to a higher level!


    Never did he think that something like this would happen. How was this possible?


    Blood Two''s dead and soulless eyes immediately lit up as if the life had returned to his body. He stared intently at Tang Wulin with incredulity and gratitude in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin had naturally sensed what had happened outside the Blood God Array earlier, and he had been deeply moved by Blood Nine''s decision to sacrifice himself in order to maintain the Blood God Array.

 Chapter 1108: Abyssal Holy Lord

    In that instant, he was suddenly struck by the feeling that he really couldn''t compare with these seniors of the Blood God Battalion.


    Back when he had taken Blood Nine''s position, he had been a little pleased with himself. However, that feeling had now completely disappeared and was replaced by an indescribable sense of admiration.


    After leaving the Blood God Array, Tang Wulin immediately sensed his own aura plummeting at a rapid rate, and his soul power dropped a few major ranks in the blink of an eye.


    Without the guidance of the Blood God Array, he was unable to draw upon planar power. Not long after those alarmed cries had rung out from the Blood God Legion soldiers, they were replaced by raucous cheers of elation.


    Blood Nine was alive! Their hero was still alive! On top of that, the one who had revived him was the heroic figure who had rescued the entire legion!


    In that instant, Tang Wulin''s image had become even more scintillating in everyone''s eyes than those of the legion commander and the Blood Gods. They had just witnessed Tang Wulin destroy an abyssal emperor with a single spear strike!


    The abyssal plane tremored violently, and another level completely collapsed in the absence of its planar seed.


    The Black Sovereign could see that Tang Wulin had left the Blood God Array, but she still didn''t dare to try and attack him. In that instant just now, she truly felt as if she had brushed shoulders with death.


    She knew that Tang Wulin had only managed to unleash such an attack by drawing upon the power of the entire plane, but as long as that array existed, she couldn''t do anything to him.


    She was afraid that Tang Wulin was simply baiting her into attacking before unleashing another attack like the one he had just unleashed. There was no way that she could defend herself against such a devastating attack, and if she were to be slain by this opponent, she would truly be dead. As such, she didn''t dare to take the risk.


    In that instant, thoughts of retreat crept into her mind, and she was even beginning to question whether it was a correct decision to attack the human world in the first place.


    Right at this moment, the abyssal cracks behind her suddenly began to tremor violently. Blood One''s expression immediately changed as he hurriedly activated the Blood God Array''s power to the very max in order to bolster the seal.


    However, in that instant, he was stunned to discover that the seal was unable to repress the abyssal plane. An unprecedented pressure was slowly seeping out of the cracks before surging into the abyssal passageway in a frenzy.


    After being influenced by this aura, faint layers of energy appeared over the bodies of the Black Sovereign and the other five abyssal emperors, and their auras swelled at a drastic rate. Even the planar pressure from the Blood God Array seemed to be no longer able to affect them.


    "Useless trash!"


    A thunderous voice reverberated throughout the entire abyssal passageway. Immediately thereafter, the interior of the entire passageway suddenly lit up with an indescribably bleak and barren white light. It was as if the Blood God Array had suddenly frozen, and even Blood One was unable to continue to use its power to bolster the seal. How was this possible? What kind of power was this?


    Cao Dezhi was a four-word battle armor master, and he had thought that his powers had already reached the very peak below the godly level. However, only now did he realize that there was more than half a step between a Limit Douluo and a god.


    This almighty aura had even thrown his thoughts into disarray. Had such a terrifying being always existed in the abyssal plane? How had their forefathers managed to resist the abyssal plane when they had to face such an immensely powerful being?


    The seal on the passageway began to shatter, and the cracks quickly expanded as the bleak white color washed over the entire passageway.


    The cheers from the Blood God Legion soldiers abruptly drew to a halt, and everyone looked on with incredulity at the scenes unfolding before their eyes.


    The energy emanating from the abyssal passageway had already exceeded their realm of comprehension. The terrifying aura radiating from the depths of the passageway was far more formidable than any soul tool could compare with. Even the 12th-grade Godslayer soul missiles didn''t possess anywhere near this level of energy fluctuations.


    The entire mountain range began to quake violently due to the destruction of the seal, and everyone could sense that when that energy finally emerged from the abyss, the entire mountain range was going to be destroyed.


    "We pay our respects to the Holy Lord!" The Black Sovereign and the five other abyssal emperors backed off to the side with reverent expressions on their faces.


    Holy Lord? Did such a being exist in the abyssal plane?


    There was an extremely bitter taste in Blood One''s mouth. This was no longer power that they could oppose.


    Right at this moment, golden light flashed, and Tang Wulin returned to the interior of the Blood God Array again. His eyes were still golden in color, and faint golden light was rising up around his body.


    Strangely enough, as soon as he returned to the Blood God Array, it suddenly seemed to have sprung to life again and regained the ability to gather the nine types of spiritual energy of heaven and earth, all of which was injected into Tang Wulin''s body. Planar power was triggered once again, the energy fluctuations emanating from Tang Wulin''s seed of life also became more violent.


    "Oh? so it''s the seed of life of this plane that was behind this." The deep and authoritative voice seemed to be tinged with a hint of elation.


    "This is fantastic! You''ve spared me the trouble of having to look for you. After capturing the seed of life, all of the life of this world will heed my command. Looks like it was worth expending over 10,000 years of my power to break this seal."


    The seed of life within Tang Wulin''s glabella tremored gently, and in the next instant, Tang Wulin''s fifth greenish-golden soul ring tremored slightly as well. The six plant system Great Beasts that were revolving around his body flew out of the Blood God Array in unison before landing on the ground outside the abyssal passageway and taking root there!


    The Son of Nature soul skill had been automatically unleashed. No, to put it more accurately, it had been unleashed at the behest of the seed of life.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the seed of life was extremely wary of this voice. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have displayed such a strong reaction.


    Just what kind of being was this? Was it the most powerful being of the abyssal plane?


    There was no time for him to think, and he immediately pointed his Golden Dragon Spear downward. However, the six abyssal emperors merely looked on with disdain and mockery in their eyes at the sight of Tang Wulin''s actions.


    Indeed, the abyssal plane had been forced into retreat by the human race over 6,000 years ago, but at the time, the Holy Lord and a few more of the most powerful abyssal sovereigns were all in hibernation.


    On this occasion, the Holy Lord was planning to destroy the human race at all costs, and there was nothing that could stand in its way! This array that was able to draw upon planar power was indeed quite powerful, but the Holy Lord was the ruler of the entire abyssal plane!


    In the human world, planar power was distributed all over the entire plane. However, the abyssal plane was different. The constant pressure from the 108 abyssal levels stacked on top of one another had condensed into the purest form of energy, and as a result, a planar ruler was born after countless years. In the instant that it attained sentience, the entire abyssal plane was destined to rise to greater heights.


    The Holy Lord didn''t even want to stoop to ascending into their divine realm as it wanted to create a divine realm of its own! Otherwise, with the Holy Lord''s powers, it could''ve become a god a long time ago, and it would''ve definitely been a godking, so there was no way that the human race could hope to oppose it.


    On this occasion, the Holy Lord had broken the seal at all costs in a bid to conquer the human world in one fell swoop, thereby crushing the final traces of hope that the human race was clinging onto.


    All of a sudden, a green color that was filled with vitality almost instantly appeared everywhere outside the abyssal passageway.


    The green color originated from the six immortal plants, and it was spreading at an unimaginable rate.


    Countless plants emerged from the snow and ice in virtually the blink of an eye, and greenery spread over the entire mountain range.


    Rich life force energy surged forth before being injected into the Blood God Array.


    At the same time, a series of branches fell into the hands of every Blood God Legion soldier, and they received mental prompts to inject their soul power into these branches.


    They all did as they were instructed, and the branches lit up with their injections of soul power. The Blood God Array that had already dimmed significantly instantly lit up once again. It was undoubtedly the case that even the seed of life had been struck by a sense of peril and had sprung into action.


    As the Son of Nature, Tang Wulin was releasing his own life force energy to draw all of the surrounding life force energy to himself at all costs. He was even sacrificing his own life force energy to create more life in order to better absorb natural energies.


    Tens of thousands of Blood God Legion soldiers were also contributing their soul power, making the Blood God Array more and more exuberant.


    All of the power that had been borrowed was drawn into Tang Wulin''s body for him to use as he saw fit. This amount of energy was definitely not something that Tang Wulin''s body could handle, but he was able to make use of it through the Blood God Array.

 Chapter 1109: Know Your Place

    The feeling of becoming the ruler of heaven and earth returned to Tang Wulin once again, and on this occasion, this feeling was even clearer to him.


    He could even sense that there were two familiar figures rapidly climbing toward the Blood God Legion.


    It was them!


    One of them was none other than Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi, the wielder of the Dragonslaying Saber who had forfeited their semifinal match under inexplicable circumstances, and the other one was his senior disciple brother from the Body Sect, A''Ruheng!


    Why were they both here?


    That''s right, both A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had arrived, and of course, they were here for Tang Wulin. They were traveling through the mountain ranges from different directions, and during their journey, they could already sense the enormous energy fluctuations emanating from the Blood God Legion in the distance.


    Their mentors had told both of them during their first trip to the Blood God Legion, they had to climb there. They weren''t allowed to fly as that would be a sign of disrespect to the legion.


    As such, they were scaling one mountain after another en route to the legion base, and all of a sudden, enormous energy fluctuations had erupted from the distance, causing the entire mountain ranges to tremor violently. As a result, A''Ruheng was even struck by an avalanche.


    Right at this moment, all of them were greeted by the sight of countless green plants emerging from the snow and ice, and their hearts were filled with astonishment. What kind of power was this? Why was it that the mountain ranges that were covered entirely by ice and snow had become a green world that was filled with vitality?


    They began to rush toward the legion base as quickly as they could. There were clearly extraordinary circumstances taking place, so both of them broke the rules and released their suits of battle armor to take flight.


    When they finally flew up high into the air, they were greeted by the sight of nine different colors of light converging toward a single direction. At the same time, a vast expanse of green light was spreading over every single part of the entire mountain ranges.


    Both of them flapped their wings with all their might as they flew toward the site of the incident.


    Even from afar, they could already see a man who was hovering within a nine-colored barrier of light, looking as if he were a pillar between heaven and earth.


    This golden-armored figure was extremely familiar to both of them. Wasn''t this the one that they were searching for?


    A''Ruheng was appraising Tang Wulin''s massive body, while Sima Jinchi was staring intently at the Golden Dragon Spear in Tang Wulin''s hand.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin slowly raised his right arm as if he were drawing a massive bow before aiming his Golden Dragon Spear directly into the depths of the abyss.


    In the next instant, both of them were forced back onto the ground at the same time by a burst of terrifying pressure that had appeared in the heavens above.


    Was the sky falling down?


    Even the untamed Sima Jinchi and proud A''Ruheng could only look on in astonishment. It was completely unfathomable to them that these energy fluctuations that were threatening to lay waste to heaven and earth could be coming from a single person, and it was the person that both of them were searching for!


    How could this be? How had he become so powerful? It was as if he had become an actual god!


    Despite their incredulity, the scenes unfolding before their eyes were undeniably real.


    "A trapped beast still dares to fight? Know your place!" Even the Blood God Array was unable to cut off this rumbling voice, which spread through the entire mountain ranges and even into the Scorching Basin.


    They were then astonished to see that the entire sky had become twisted and warped. It appeared as if the sky were about to fall down a moment ago, but it suddenly congealed, and all of the clouds up above instantly crumbled to reveal a clear yet slightly twisted blue sky.


    They were both struck by a powerful sense of asphyxiation, and in that instant, they felt as if they were about to be completely erased from this world.


    Vast expanses of green plants in the surrounding area disintegrated into dust before transforming into green light that surged toward that direction.


    Horror! This was the emotion that Tang Wulin was sensing from the seed of life. This type of horror was the same emotion that the planar seeds had displayed when faced with the seed of life.


    The seed of life was horrified that it was going to be harmed by this unknown being. Just what was this thing? How could it be so powerful?


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly, but there was no fear in his heart.


    The path of regal domination that he had just attained was swirling deep within his heart, and both his dragon core and soul core were beating violently.


    If this is to be the end of me, then I must make sure that the spark of my life ignites into the most perfect final flame!


    "Boom!" Scorching golden flames abruptly erupted around Tang Wulin''s body.


    This was an opponent that was feared even by the seed of life, so he certainly didn''t dare to hold back. That''s right, he had ignited his own flame of life.


    Back when he had witnessed Blood Nine igniting his flame of life to protect the Blood God Array, Tang Wuiln''s blood had already been set alight in his veins. He was going to protect the entire human race and everyone that he loved! If he could save the tens of thousands of people here and all of the living beings on the entire continent, then so what if he had to sacrifice himself?


    The Golden Dragon Spear seemed to have sensed that Tang Wulin had ignited his flame of life, and the Golden Dragon King aura within his body suddenly began to fluctuate violently.


    He took a deep breath before directing the enormous energy within his body toward his 11th Golden Dragon King Seal without any hesitation.


    This was no time for being bogged down by qualms and inhibitions; even the seed of life was drawing upon power at all costs, so he certainly couldn''t leave any stone unturned.


    A violent explosion erupted within Tang Wulin''s body, and much to his surprise, after the 11th Golden Dragon King seal was broken, there was no enormous influx of violent blood essence energy as there usually was. Instead, on this occasion, the blood essence fluctuations were like a gentle stream of water that instantly washed over his entire body.


    Scales appeared on Tang Wulin''s face for the very first time, and his pupils instantly turned vertical. An unprecedentedly thunderous dragon''s roar erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear, and as a result, the warped sky in the outside world returned to normal.


    This meant that the power currently being unleashed by Tang Wulin had temporarily managed to repress the abyssal Holy Lord''s aura.


    "Hmm?" A faint cry of surprise escaped from the Holy Lord''s mouth.


    It was also at this moment that the seal on the abyssal passageway completely exploded, and a colossal hand emerged from within.


    This was a hand that was as pristine white as jade. It had seven fingers and was completely devoid of any blood vessels, scales, and hair.


    In the instant that it appeared, the surrounding patterns of the seal crumbled, and the entire Blood God Array began to flicker violently.


    Tang Wulin let loose an explosive cry, and in that instant, he poured forth all of the energy within his body without any reservation. The energy from the Douluo plane, the energy of the seed of life, as well as his own bloodline essence and soul power were all injected into his Golden Dragon Spear.


    As a result, the Golden Dragon Spear transformed into a massive golden dragon that was over 100 meters in length. It was as if the spear had sprung to life, and it hurtled directly toward the huge white hand.


    All of the patterns on the Blood God Array regained their former radiance in the wake of the Golden Dragon Spear, and they began to glow with the most dazzling light. At this moment, all of the Blood God Legion soldiers and the Blood Gods of the Blood God Battalion were pouring forth their power with all their might.


    All of them knew that if they couldn''t force back this Holy Lord, then the entire Blood God Legion would be destroyed with the human race to follow!


    They didn''t dare to hesitate or hold back; only by giving everything that they had would it be possible to oppose this fearsome being.


    Eighth technique of the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, All or Nothing!


    In this desperately dire situation, Tang Wulin had attained another technique that belonged solely to him. That''s right, it was all or nothing!


    Fury of the Masses was an ability taught to him by Old Tang, but Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing truly belonged to him.

 Chapter 1110: Arrival of the Silver Dragon

    If the Fury of the Masses were like a medicinal catalyst for Tang Wulin, then the Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing were unstoppable techniques that were invented by and truly belonged to him.


    This was his path; he had finally found it. However, he was currently facing the ruler of an entire plane!


    There was no loud clash as everyone had anticipated. Everyone looked on in hope and anticipation, but in the instant that the Golden Dragon Spear finally clashed with the massive seven-fingered white hand, everyone''s expressions immediately stiffened.


    The massive hand had caught the Golden Dragon Spear in its grasp and was playing with it as if it were a little snake.


    The power within the Golden Dragon Spear had been instantly sealed by the hand, rendering it completely unable to unleash its offensive prowess.


    Everyone could only look on in despair as the hope completely faded from their eyes.


    "Hmph! It''s time for you to die!"


    The cold voice seemed to have added a layer of frost to bleak white color in the surrounding area, and the Golden Dragon Spear shot back in a flash before instantly reaching Tang Wulin''s chest.


    If it weren''t for the fact that Tang Wulin had to be killed, the abyssal Holy Lord wouldn''t have paid such a heavy price to send a part of its own true body into this world. In doing so, it had expended a lot of its own energy, as well as the energy of the abyssal plane.


    As the target of the Holy Lord, Tang Wulin felt as if the entire space around him were collapsing inward. The planar power that was protecting him before had been entirely dispelled, leaving him in a completely vulnerable state. Only the seed of life was still releasing life force energy in a panicked frenzy to try and protect him, but all of those efforts appeared to be completely futile.


    In that instant, it was as if the entire world had turned into his enemy; everything between heaven and earth was trying to oppress and crush him.


    Everything had come so abruptly, yet all of these events were transpiring so slowly in his mind, as if all of his senses had been blunted.


    What kind of power was this?


    This was something that Tang Wulin had never experienced, even when facing the destructive energy storm unleashed by the 12th-grade Godslayer soul missile.


    The entire space was collapsing, and the Holy Lord seemed to be also struggling against something as its entire seven-fingered hand had turned into nine different colors.


    As the ruler of a plane, it had forced a part of its true body into an alternate plane that hadn''t yet been conquered, so it was naturally going to face vehement resistance from the entire plane.


    However, this Holy Lord had still descended upon this plane without any hesitation, and it only had one goal; to kill Tang Wulin! It had to kill this human who was truly able to pose a threat to the survival of the entire abyssal plane.


    The Holy Lord had initially planned to pay a heavy price for no other reward than to kill Tang Wulin, but after sensing the seed of life within his body, it became extremely excited. If it could capture the seed of life of the Douluo plane, then it would be a lot easier for it to devour this entire Douluo Continent in the future. A seed of life was an entity that was at the very core of the plane.


    The Golden Dragon Spear had already arrived, yet Tang Wulin was completely powerless to resist. He didn''t even harbor any fear in his heart as he had been rendered physically unable to muster up any emotions.


    Right at this moment, a faint sigh suddenly sounded within the abyssal passageway.


    The sigh was extremely gentle, but it was clearly audible to the abyssal Holy Lord, Tang Wulin, Zhang Huanyun, and the nine Blood Gods.


    As soon as this sigh rang out, it was as if vitality had suddenly returned to this congealed space.


    A fair and slender hand appeared in front of Tang Wulin before gently grabbing onto the Golden Dragon Spear that was about to plunge into his chest as if the spear were nothing more than a toy.


    In the instant, that the hand gripped onto the Golden Dragon Spear, a layer of curved silver scales instantly appeared over its skin.


    Immediately thereafter, the Golden Dragon Spear began to radiate scintillating light as if to forcibly struggle free from the restriction that the Holy Lord had placed upon it before falling into the slender hand.


    "Who gave you the courage to challenge the entire Douluo plane?" A cold, yet extremely delightful voice reverberated throughout the abyssal passageway.


    Someone had appeared beside Tang Wulin. She was clad in a suit of platinum armor that was covered in curved scales. A pair of massive dragon wings were spread open on her back, and the radiance of her battle armor was intertwining with that of Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon battle armor.


    She was holding Tang Wulin''s hand with one of her hands while holding the Golden Dragon Spear in her other hand. In the instant that she appeared, an incredible change suddenly took place within the Blood God Array.


    The nine-color light that was only operating as normal just a moment ago suddenly swelled by in excess of tenfold, transforming into a massive nine-colored pillar of light that was erupting into the heavens. The pillar of light reached at least 10 kilometers in the sky, and countless specks of lights of all types of colors began to converge from even further away.


    All nine of the Blood Gods felt as if a massive burden had been lifted from their shoulders, and they were stunned to discover that the Blood God Array was now completely out of their control. However, the aura emanating from the array was swelling at an incredible rate.


    "Who are you? This is impossible! This plane has no ruler! Tell me who you are!" The Holy Lord''s rumbling voice was filled with fury and incredulity.


    The cold female voice rang out in response. "Just because you''re not aware of something doesn''t mean that it doesn''t exist; it''s merely a sign of your ignorance." The woman''s voice didn''t seem to hold any joy or elation. On the contrary, it was clearly tinged with hints of sorrow.


    In the next instant, nine-colored light descended from above, enveloping both her and Tang Wulin''s bodies. Immediately thereafter, the two of them began to fuse as one right before everyone''s eyes.


    Their bodies swelled in size, and all of the planar power within the array seemed to have instantly become a part of their bodies. There was even a silver dragon that had appeared around the Golden Dragon Spear, and it quickly turned into a nine-colored spear while its aura was elevated in a frenzy.


    The nine-colored dragon spear began to emanate unprecedented power, and the entire abyssal passageway was illuminated by nine-colored light as the shattered patterns of the array reappeared.


    "The puny abyss dares to rear its ugly head against the Douluo plane?" The woman''s cold voice rang out again.


    At this moment, the woman who was hovering in mid-air had already taken on the appearance of a nine-colored battle deity. Her suit of battle armor had far exceeded the size of a normal suit of battle armor, and the projection of a massive nine-colored dragon had appeared behind her.


    Everyone on the scene was immediately struck by the urge to bow toward this massive rainbow dragon, as if it were the very core that the entire world revolved around.


    Rainbow life flashed, and in the next instant, the female deity had already appeared right in front of the massive white hand. Her spear was thrust forward like lightning, and in that instant, all of the streaks of rainbow light in the surrounding area instantly fused into the spear, while an extremely lavish and exuberant floral pattern appeared beneath her feet.


    The abyssal passageway began to tremor violently, and the sky also turned into nine different colors in that instant. Every type of element was jumping for joy, and in that instant, it was as if all of the natural energies on the entire Douluo Continent had gathered at this place.


    The seven-fingered hand was clearly no longer as relaxed as it was before. It abruptly clenched into a tight fist before clashing with the rainbow dragon spear.


    A piercing screech rang out while a dull explosion reverberated throughout the passageway.


    The seven-fingered hand was clearly being forced back while the rainbow dragon spear thrust forward over and over again. Every time the spear clashed with the massive hand, the latter would take on a more pronounced nine-colored glow, and it was clearly firmly on the back foot.


    Who would''ve thought that such a dramatic turn of events would unfold? Who was this silver-armored woman, and where had she come from?


    Why was it that her suit of battle armor was only at the three-word level at most, but she was able to emit such stunning radiance in the Blood God Array?

 Chapter 1111: Godly Power?

    The abyssal Holy Lord was the ruler of the entire abyssal plane, yet it was being completely dominated!


    "Th, this is impossible! This is godly power! How could you possibly possess this power?"


    The Holy Lord''s voice was filled with shock and rage. Aside from godly power, what else could dominate his power as the ruler of an entire plane?


    "Hmph!" the woman harrumphed coldly, and the rainbow dragon spear suddenly faltered momentarily in mid-air.


    "Dragon God Transformation! Second transformation, Dragon God Possession!"


    An unprecedented powerful aura abruptly erupted from her body, and this was an extremely primordial and ancient aura. In that instant, almost all of the powerful beings on the entire Douluo Star who were at or above the Titled Douluo level looked up into the sky in unison.


    The powerful beings on all three continents had sensed what was unfolding here.


    On a set of plains, an untamed figure was charging forward at a rapid speed when he suddenly seemed to have sensed something and abruptly came to a halt. An extremely stunned expression appeared on his rugged features, and he abruptly fell to one knee. His aura had been extremely violent and powerful just a moment ago, yet all of a sudden, he was acting like a timid little bunny.


    In a faraway forest, several figures appeared high up in the air almost at the exact same time, and all of them wore incredulous looks on their faces.


    A trail of golden hair suddenly rose up naturally on the head of a black-haired middle-aged man, and he had an extremely excited look in his eyes. "She''s done it! Our Lord has succeeded! Has, has she really awakened? This is..."


    At the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    The chairman of the Spirit Pagoda rushed over to the window like lightning before casting his gaze into the distance. As a Limit Douluo, he could sense what was happening with an extremely high level of clarity.


    How could this be? Power of this level shouldn''t be able to appear in this world! Unless... Could it be that someone had ascended to become a god? But hadn''t the divine realm disappeared a long time ago? Could it be that the divine realm had returned?


    "Boom!"


    A pillar of rainbow light instantly rose up into the heavens from within the abyssal passageway, and the entire Blood God Array was radiating scorching radiance. The nine Blood Gods were all affected by this, and their bodies were sent flying backward in unison. However, as they were basked in the rainbow light, they could sense that their bodies were being cleansed by natural energies.


    Even all of the Blood God Legion soldiers present were benefitting from the rich natural energies within the abyssal passageway, and everyone could clearly sense their powers being enhanced by this mass cleansing.


    Such a vastly fortunate event was completely unheard of, yet it was unfolding right before their eyes!


    This battle had truly been an emotional rollercoaster; whenever they were about to be plunged into despair, they were always somehow able to turn the tables.


    "I''ll be back! You won''t be able to draw upon the power of your plane every time!" The fury had faded from the rumbling voice, and it was replaced by a very determined tone.


    The seven fingers on the massive hand curled inward before abruptly unfurling to knock back the rainbow figure. In the next instant, the hand grabbed onto the Black Sovereign and the other abyssal emperors before retreating back into the depths of the abyssal passageway in a flash.


    Rainbow light almost instantly swept forth, and the seal that had been broken before was instantly restored. All of the complex symbols reappeared, and everything returned to the way that it was before in virtually the blink of an eye!


    ¡­¡­


    Where am I?


    Tang Wulin was inspecting his surroundings with a blank look on his face. This was a world that was filled with nine-colored light, and everything was so illusory and surreal.


    In the instant prior to this, he had clearly sensed that his life had been about to draw to a conclusion and was on the verge of being snuffed out, as if his entire being were about to be destroyed.


    However, in the next instant, he was suddenly greeted by the aura and the voice that he was most familiar with.


    As soon as he made this recollection, an extremely peculiar look appeared on his face.


    It was her! But...


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with countless complex emotions as he hovered aimlessly on the spot.


    His dual championship crown, the feeling of becoming the ruler of heaven and earth, and the abyssal plane had all faded from his mind. In that instant, there was only the figure of a single woman in his heart.


    "Who are you?" Tang Wulin murmured to himself.


    ¡­¡­


    "Why? Why are you doing this?" a furious female voice interrogated.


    This was also a nine-colored space, but Tang Wulin wasn''t situated within this space. Instead, there were two figures that were separated by about 10 meters, and one of them was appraising the other with a furious expression.


    If Tang Wulin were present, he would definitely be stunned to see these two people.


    "Why, Gu Yue? Tell me why! Why did you do that? You''re going to die! How can you forcibly ignite your spiritual flame to activate your Dragon God godseat? There was no need for you to do that! You could¡¯ve just taken a conservative approach to wear down that abyssal Holy Lord; the planar power of the Douluo plane was only going to constantly whittle away at its power."


    Gu Yue looked on at the furious Na''er, but there was a smile of release and relief on her face. "Do you still not understand, you silly girl? I was the one who had lost from the very beginning. However, I didn''t lose to you. Instead, I lost to him. On one side is our brethren, who are on the verge of extinction, while on the other side is the man that I love. Even I can''t even tell whether I''m a human or the Silver Dragon King. You''re a part of me, so you should be able to empathize with the torment I''ve been experiencing. I wanted to run away from reality, and I even stooped as low as to feign memory loss and call him father just so I could be with him for a while longer, just so I could see him become a little more powerful.


    "However, I know that if things are to continue like this, we''ll stand against one another as enemies someday. Our ideologies are completely different; my goal is to destroy the entire human race! But now, there''s no way that I can bear to hurt him. Di Tian and the others have already caught on to this, and I''ve also sensed the shifts in their emotions when they mention him now. It won''t be long before they try to kill him, yet we''re still nowhere near our peak. I face an impossible choice; I can''t betray my brethren as it is my duty to bring resurgence to the soul beasts, yet I also can''t bring myself to kill the man I love. If I had it in me to do so, I would''ve killed him long ago.


    "Hence, I can only be a coward and completely run away. I activated the power of the Dragon God''s godseat to forcibly seal the abyssal passageway in its entirety, so it''ll take at least several thousands of years for the abyssal Holy Lord to break into this plane again. My soul has already been ignited, and this is irreversible. I will be devoured by my godseat, but there is more than one soul in my body; you will live on in my stead, and without my presence, you''ll be able to do what you''ve always wanted to do. You''ve never experienced the world of soul beasts, so you can be with him without any emotional burdens.


    "With his current powers and our powers, we''ll be able to protect ourselves from Di Tian and the others, so just allow me to be a deserter. I wish you two all the happiness in the world, and I hope you can love him in my stead."


    Gu Yue''s voice was becoming more and more relaxed, and her body was also becoming more and more transparent.


    "Are you really willing to let him go?" Na''er suddenly asked in a cold voice.


    Gu Yue''s body shuddered slightly, and she suddenly became slightly more substantial again.


    A wry smile appeared on her face. "So what if I''m unwilling? We''re simply not meant to be."


    Na''er took a deep breath, and said, "Thank you for your generosity, but it''s not appreciated. He loves you, not me, so I''m not going to let you die."


    "Na''er, you..."


    The two figures instantly overlapped, and the nine-colored light faded while everything else suddenly fell silent.


    ¡­¡­


    After an indeterminate period of time, Tang Wulin finally awakened from his slumber.


    His final memory before falling unconscious was of that surreal and abstract nine-colored world, and after that, everything fell into darkness.

 Chapter 1112: Where is She?

    The roof was exactly the same as it normally looked, and there didn''t seem to be anything wrong with his body, either.


    He blinked and sensed his own body before reflexively turning his head to the side, upon which he caught sight of the Star Cabin beside him.


    This was the Star Cabin that had been specifically assigned to him so he could participate in the grand final of the competition.


    Tang Wulin shook his head vigorously, and memory fragments began to surface in his mind.


    "That was such a realistic dream? Could it be that I was too tired from my battle yesterday and fell asleep?"


    Everything felt way too surreal. An abyssal tide of unprecedented proportions had suddenly struck, and he had become the core of the Blood God Array, drawing upon the power of heaven and earth to oppose the abyss. In the end, a seemingly invincible enemy had emerged from the abyssal plane, and after that, she appeared...


    Tang Wulin chuckled as he shook his head. Everything was so absurd that it could''ve only been a dream. How could all of that have possibly taken place in reality?


    He smiled as he got up, yet just as he was about to reach out for his outer garment, his hand suddenly stiffened in mid-air.


    Was that... really all just a dream?


    His heart rate suddenly began to elevate, and his hand also began to tremble slightly.


    He abruptly rose to his feet before quickly dialing the number that he had already become extremely familiar with at this point.


    "Beep, beep, beep..."


    No one was picking up.


    Unwilling to give up, he dialed the number again.


    "Beep, beep, beep..."


    He was still greeted by nothing more than the sound of the busy tone.


    Tang Wulin''s heart immediately sank, and he wrenched open the door of his room before rushing out of the barrack. He only managed to run a few steps before bumping into someone.


    As such, he had no choice but to stop. "Senior Blood Two."


    Blood Two had always held a rather neutral attitude toward him, and he was the Blood God that Tang Wulin had communicated the least with.


    However, on this occasion, Blood Two''s eyes immediately lit up at the sight of him, and a wide smile appeared on his face. "I''m so glad you''re awake, Wulin! You have my eternal gratitude." He extended a grateful bow toward Tang Wulin as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly stepped aside. "What are you doing, Senior Blood Two?" [In Chinese culture, if you sidestep a bow or any gesture of reverence, it''s basically a humble gesture through which you''re proclaiming that you''re not worthy of their reverence.]


    When Blood Two stood up straight again, there were already tears shimmering within his eyes. "I really must thank you. I only have a single son, and no matter how strict I normally am to him, that doesn''t change the fact that he''s the most important person in my heart. You saved his life, and that means even more to me than if you had saved MY life, so how could I not thank you? Besides, I''m also thanking you on behalf of the entire Blood God Legion. You saved everyone from certain death, so you are the true hero of the legion."


    "Me? I saved Blood Nine? So that wasn''t just a dream?"


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at Blood Two, and even though there was incredulity in his heart, his memories were gradually becoming clearer. His body began to tremble slightly, and an indescribable sense of horror welled up in his heart.


    Nothing else mattered to him, but the final figure that had appeared was her!


    "No, this isn''t real! Senior Blood Two, that was all just a dream, right? There was no abyssal tide, no abyssal emperors attacked us, and I didn''t do anything, right?"


    Blood Two was appraising him with a surprised expression. "What do you mean? Are you alright, Wulin?"


    Tang Wulin''s face turned deathly pale, and he hurriedly rushed away. There was snow falling from the sky, but when he rushed out of the legion base, he was completely rooted to the spot.


    On the snowy white mountain peaks, there were countless plants standing in a proud manner. They were already wilting away as they were unable to grow accustomed to the frosty weather here, but it was undoubtedly the case that they had once lived.


    Everything was real. That wasn''t just a dream; it had actually happened.


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at the scenes laid out before him, and his entire body was trembling slightly.


    The thing that he was most afraid of had still happened in the end.


    She had already recovered her memories, but perhaps she had already recovered them long ago.


    She had appeared by his side once again in his direst hour of need.


    She was already so powerful, powerful enough to activate the entire Blood God Array on her own and force back the abyssal Holy Lord.


    She had yelled out Dragon God Transformation rather than Divine Dragon Transformation.


    What was she afraid of? Why did she have to leave him? Who was she? Where was she?


    ¡­¡­


    Tang Wulin''s fists were tightly clenched, and he was completely oblivious to the fact that his nails had dug through the skin on the heels of his hands. At this moment, his entire body was trembling slightly, and he felt as if he had completely lost the ability to think.


    What he feared the most wasn''t loss; it was the unknown.


    Regardless of whether she was Gu Yue or Gu Yuena, at the end of the day, she had become a complete mystery to him, one that he couldn''t decipher no matter how much he thought about her.


    "Argh!" Tang Wulin threw his head back and roared to the heavens as if he were trying to release all of his internal frustration.


    She had left without any hesitation and without telling him anything. She had most definitely already left, and she wasn''t going to be calling him father anymore. Where was she?


    Tang Wulin''s lips were pursed into a tight line, and he felt as if his entire world were devoid of all light and color.


    Nothing mattered to him anymore. He couldn''t contact the most important person in his life, and he didn''t even know anything about her.


    A series of figures were drawn to the scene by his anguished roar. These were all soldiers of the Blood God Legion.


    None of them understood why Tang Wulin was looking so heartbroken, but all of them did the same thing.


    They stood up straight and clenched their right hands into fists before thumping it into their own chests. This was the military salute of the Blood God Legion, and all of them had nothing but reverence and admiration in their eyes.


    They had just weathered a catastrophic storm, and he was the one who had saved everyone. After the abyssal passageway was sealed again, the nine-colored figure that he had transformed into descended from the sky and reverted back to his original appearance before falling unconscious.


    More and more people were beginning to gather around, and Tang Wulin was finally brought back to reality. When he finally noticed that he wasn''t alone, there were already at least 1,000 Blood God Legion soldiers around him, all of whom were extending military salutes toward him, and he couldn''t help but falter slightly at the sight of them.


    "Golden Dragon King!" someone suddenly yelled. In the next instant, all of the Blood God Legion soldiers repeated the same chant. "Golden Dragon King!"


    "From this day forth, Tang Wulin will no longer be Blood Nine of the Blood God Battalion. He will be given the honorary title of Blood Dragon and receive the highest level of privileges available to members of the Blood God Battalion. At the same time, he is now a vice-commander of the Blood God Legion."


    A low voice rang out, and two figures descended beside Tang Wulin almost at the same time. They were none other than Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun and Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi.


    The arrival of the two Limit Douluos further fueled the excitement of the Blood God Legion soldiers.


    "Blood Dragon, Blood Dragon, Blood Dragon!" All of them chanted Tang Wulin''s honorary title in unison.


    This was the first time in the 6,000-year history of the Blood God Battalion that a member of the battalion hadn''t been assigned with a number.


    Zhang Huanyun laid a hand onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder, and said, "Wulin, How about you take over from me as legion commander so I can go into happy retirement?"


    Tang Wulin was at a slight loss as to what to do, and he glanced at Zhang Huanyun before looking at Cao Dezhi as a wry smile appeared on his face. "Legion Commander, Senior Blood One, I want to speak to the two of you in private."


    10 minutes later, in Blood One''s room.


    "What? You''re going to retire?" Even with Zhang Huanyun''s composure as a Limit Douluo, he still immediately sprang out of his seat upon hearing Tang Wulin''s words.


    Tang Wulin nodded as he confirmed in a bitter voice, "Yes, please accept my request." At this moment, all he wanted to do was to find Gu Yuena and ask her exactly what was going on.

 Chapter 1113: Progression to Soul Sage!

    He had always thought that she was unwilling to be with him due to some kind of threat that she was facing, but during that recent battle against the abyssal plane, he wasn''t the one who had saved everyone; it was her!


    With her powers and aptitude, what could possibly pose a threat to her? Even though Tang Wulin had only been awake for a very short time, it had already dawned on him that Gu Yuena''s situation was far more complex than he had imagined. All he wanted to do now was to find her and ascertain the situation.


    Hence, he had to go and search for her. Only after receiving an answer from her in person could he lay these feelings to rest.


    Zhang Huanyun yelled in an enraged voice, "Tang Wulin, do you even know what you''re saying? You are now Blood Dragon and a vice-legion commander. Your reputation and influence are virtually equal to ours, and the entire legion will be yours in the future! All of our troops look up to you, and the seal on the abyssal plane has been strengthened, so the threat has been temporarily eradicated; this is the perfect opportunity for you to cultivate and develop, yet you''re telling me that you want to quit?"


    Tang Wulin remained silent with his head lowered.


    The more Zhang Huanyun ranted, the angrier he became. He pointed at Cao Dezhi, and continued, "For your sake, Blood One requested me to lend you the Blood God Legion''s assistance in reviving Shrek Academy if we can completely eradicate the threat of the abyssal plane someday. What are you doing quitting on us now? Are you going to revive the academy? On your own? Don''t think that you can accomplish such a feat just because you managed to kill a few abyssal emperors. You were relying heavily on the planar power of the Blood God Array; without it, you''re just a Soul Emperor."


    "Soul Sage, now," Cao Dezhi corrected in an indifferent voice.


    Soul Sage? Zhang Huanyun faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Tang Wulin also raised his head again.


    Soul Sage? Me?


    Before he had a chance to say anything, Zhang Huanyun continued in his furious rant. "So what? You think a Soul Sage is going to be enough to take down all of those bastards who destroyed Shrek Academy? What do you expect to be able to do on your own? Go on then, tell us why you''re quitting!"


    Zhang Huanyun wore an expression that was a combination of rage and disappointment.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin had a rather peculiar look on his face. He couldn''t just tell them that he was going to search for his girlfriend!


    "Does it have something to do with the woman that appeared at the end?" Cao Dezhi immediately spotted the crux of the issue.


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily, but still nodded in the end.


    Cao Dezhi''s brows furrowed slightly. "Who is she?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "She''s my lover, but even I didn''t know that she possessed such abilities. She''s a disciple of the Spirit Pagoda, and I want to find her so I can ask her what''s going on."


    "She''s from the Spirit Pagoda?" Both Zhang Huanyun and Cao Dezhi''s expressions changed slightly upon hearing this.


    At the time, Tang Wulin was clearly about to be overpowered, and it was that woman who had saved the day. She had even taken over control of the Blood God Array from Blood One, and that couldn''t just be accomplished through power alone; one had to be able to draw upon the laws of heaven and earth to accomplish that. They had analyzed what had happened after the event, and their conclusion was that no human could''ve been able to achieve that! The only explanation was that she was a god, but how could there possibly be gods on the Douluo Continent?


    Zhang Huanyun''s brows furrowed tightly. "What are you going to ask her when you find her? Do you know that the Spirit Pagoda..." His voice suddenly trailed off here.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I know that the Spirit Pagoda most likely played a hand in the destruction of the academy."


    "And you''re still going to go there?"


    Tang Wulin insisted, "I can''t get over something like this unless I find out the truth. Rest assured, I''ll be careful and make sure I don''t expose my identity to anyone."


    "Rest assured my arse! You''re our only answer to the abyssal plane, and you expect us just to not worry about you? You didn''t get killed by those bastards from the abyssal plane, but you could easily end up being killed by us humans if you rush off to the Spirit Pagoda! No! I won''t allow it! You''re not leaving no matter what, and that''s an order!" Zhang Huanyun said in a vicious manner.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Did that mean that he could only sneak out of the legion base? In that case, he would be a deserter.


    Right at this moment, Cao Dezhi suddenly interjected, "Let him go."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up as he raised his head to look at him.


    Zhang Huanyun also turned to look at Cao Dezhi, but his reception to Cao Dezhi''s proposal was far from positive.


    A faint smile appeared on Cao Dezhi''s face. "He''s no longer just a little baby bird; his wings are fully-fledged, so how can he be content with not being able to see just how wide the sky is? Besides, with his current powers, self-preservation isn''t an issue. However, you have to promise me a few things before you go, Wulin."


    "What is it?" Tang Wulin hurriedly asked.


    Cao Dezhi said in a serious voice, "Firstly, I can sense that you are in a lot of emotional turmoil, which is not a good state to be in. You have to remember that as a man, you can''t have fear in your heart no matter what comes your way. In your heart, I can sense fear and internal conflict. Only by remaining calm can you resolve your issues. How is your fear going to help you in any way? Hence, my first requirement is that you have to face everything in a calm manner so you can do everything to the best of your ability. I believe that you have the ability to control your emotions."


    "I understand." Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this, and he took a deep breath. As he did so, he quickly became a lot calmer.


    Cao Dezhi continued, "Secondly, there''s no need for you to retire. You can treat this as being sent out on a mission; your position in the legion will continue to be reserved for you. As long as Huanyun and I haven''t agreed to let you quit, you will always be a member of the Blood God Legion."


    "It''s a great honor." Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response.


    Zhang Huanyun''s expression finally eased slightly after hearing this condition from Cao Dezhi.


    Cao Dezhi continued, "Thirdly, due to the sensitive nature of your identity and your limited powers, I will be sending some people on this trip along with you to assist you. You can also try to complete some preparatory work for reviving Shrek Academy rather than just go off to find a single person."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up upon hearing this. This was definitely a good thing! All of the soldiers of the Blood God Legion were among the elite of the elite, so even the ordinary soldiers were quite powerful.


    "I understand. How many people will be coming with me?"


    Cao Dezhi glanced at Zhang Huanyun before replying, "We''ll go with 20. I''ll choose those 20 people for you, and all of them will be Soul Emperors or above."


    "Thank you!" Tang Wulin was ecstatic.


    His power alone was still rather lackluster, but if he could have 20 powerful beings at or above the Soul Emperor level to help him, then everything would definitely be made a lot easier. It was undoubtedly the case that the 20 people Cao Dezhi was referring to were all definitely going to be two-word battle armor masters as well!


    Cao Dezhi paused momentarily before continuing, "Lastly, you''ve made a breakthrough to the Soul Sage level, but you still haven''t had a chance to consolidate your powers yet. As such, you can''t leave right away. You have to consolidate your powers in the Blood God Battalion and fully integrate your experiences from this recent battle before you can leave. When that time comes, I''ll be personally examining the fruits of your efforts."


    "Alright," Tang Wulin agreed once again. None of Cao Dezhi''s requirements were unreasonable, and they had all been made for his sake.


    "Go back and cultivate now. You''ve reaped substantial rewards during this battle, so it would be best if you could go into deep meditation to collate everything," Cao Dezhi said.


    As soon as Tang Wulin departed, Zhang Huanyun immediately flew into a thunderous rage. "How could you agree to let him go? There''s clearly something not quite right with his mental state right now! He''s the greatest treasure of our entire legion; what if something happens to him?"


    Cao Dezhi replied, "It''s better to go with the flow than force him to stay against his will. Do you think he''ll really stay just because you forbade him from leaving? Are you going to wear him on your belt and constantly keep an eye on him? With his powers, do you think it''ll be a difficult task for him to escape? If he gets away behind our backs, we''ll be in real trouble. Don''t worry about his safety; our Tang Sect is down, but not out. Even though Wulin hasn''t been here for a very long time, he has made significant improvements, and I''ll get people to watch over him. Also, aren''t you curious about what that woman is all about?"


    Zhang Huanyun said in a serious voice, "But there''s a very good chance that he''ll have to face the Spirit Pagoda and the Holy Spirit Cult, as well as..."


    His voice trailed off here, and his brows furrowed as his expression darkened even further.


    A faint smile appeared on Cao Dezhi''s face. "Don''t worry so much; the rainbow will only come out after the storm. It''s a little early, but it can''t hurt to let him go out into the world. Besides, do you think that Shrek Academy had really been destroyed in its entirety? He does indeed have many enemies, but there will be no lack of allies around him, either, so let''s just sit back and see what he''s capable of. Following that recent battle, he has truly come into his own, so it won''t be that easy to kill him."


    Zhang Huanyun reluctantly nodded before asking, "Who are you planning to send along with him?"


    A faint smile appeared on Cao Dezhi''s face. "That''s simple."


    After returning to his room, Tang Wulin had already calmed down significantly. His mental fortitude far exceeded that of his peers, after all. Following this great ordeal, he had been thrown into a blind panic, but he had already stabilized his own mindset at this point.

 Chapter 1114: Spirit Domain realm

    Even if he were in trouble, he''d just have to get himself out of trouble! This was what he was telling himself.


    He would figure everything out sooner or later, and he was no longer the same powerless boy that he once was.


    He reflexively clenched his fists. Not only did he have to search for Gu Yuena, it was also time for him to search for his parents. Hadn''t his father told him to come and find them when he became powerful enough? Not only did he currently possess a certain level of status in the military, he also possessed enough power to protect them now.


    He sat down with his legs crossed before focusing his attention and inspecting his own internal condition.


    He quickly entered a meditative state, and his aura also became calmer and more stable. As soon as he inspected his own internal condition, he was stunned by what he saw.


    His bodily condition was far better than he had imagined.


    The first things that he saw were his dragon core and soul core. The two major energy cores had clearly expanded in size, and what was even more remarkable were the fundamental changes that they had undergone. The surface of his dragon core looked as if it had undergone a bronzing process, thereby making it look more substantial, while his soul core had become more glittering and translucent. The two of them were beating an alternating rhythm to adjust the interaction of the energies within his body.


    As he sensed the changes that the major energy cores had undergone, Tang Wulin''s heart suddenly jolted as he recalled an important issue. Back when he was facing the abyssal Holy Lord, he had been prepared to sacrifice himself and had broken his 11th Golden Dragon King seal, trying to use its power to forcibly enhance his own offensive prowess.


    At the time, he hadn''t felt any discomfort, but this power was definitely going to affect him in an extremely prominent way. After all, every Golden Dragon King seal he''d broken in the past had enhanced his powers significantly. After the ninth seal, each successive seal that was broken would also become more and more dangerous. If he hadn''t been facing the abyssal Holy Lord with a self-sacrificial resolve, he definitely wouldn''t have broken the seal so soon.


    At present, it appeared that his body hadn''t suffered any negative side-effects, and in reality, even Tang Wulin himself didn''t know how he had endured everything at the time. There were many possible factors that could''ve led to this. For example, it could be due to the enormous influx of life force energy from the seed of life, it could be the enhancements his body had received from absorbing so much abyssal energy, and it could also be the assistance he had received from the six plant system Great Beasts.


    The likeliest scenario was that his condition had been stabilized after he had completed that Dragon God Transformation with Gu Yuena.


    However, at the very least, it appeared that his powers had received a drastic overall improvement once again.


    His consciousness seeped into his soul core to experience the changes that had taken place within it, and he quickly discovered that the internal structure of his soul core had changed. Deep within the soul core, a vortex that was far smaller than his past soul power vortex had taken shape, and this was allowing him to absorb natural energies at a far faster rate than before.


    His soul core''s increased ability to draw natural energies into his body would undoubtedly greatly enhance his sensory of the outside world and increase the rate of his cultivation.


    Right at this moment, he was struck by an even more peculiar feeling. Much to his surprise, after his consciousness began to spread, everything in the surrounding area suddenly became very clear to him, even though he still had his eyes closed.


    His consciousness continued to quickly spread, and he was greeted by the sight of a strange nine-colored world.


    If he were to concentrate, he could even discern every single minute elemental particle. He could sense the existence of each and every one of those particles, and he could even sense their emotions; this was something that had definitely never happened before.


    Tang Wulin was quite astonished, and at the same time, he carefully attempted to influence these elemental particles with his own emotions. To his surprise, these elemental particles converged toward him at his behest in a very obedient manner.


    All of a sudden, the nine-colored light around him became even more pronounced, and he felt as if his entire being had been immersed in a joyful sea of elements.


    All of the frustration and sorrow in his heart was cleansed away by these elements, leaving him feeling quite enlightened and carefree.


    At the same time, through the influence of these elements, his consciousness began to expand even further, and the entire mountain range in the distance was within the scope of his senses. Only after his consciousness had expanded to close to the edge of the mountain ranges was he struck by a hint of feebleness.


    He withdrew his consciousness, bringing back even more elemental particles in the process. These natural energies of all types of elements revolved around his body before being absorbed by him in accordance with the rhythm of his breathing. His soul core flashed as it filtered and absorbed these natural energies, making them a part of his soul power.


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes, and a sense of elation welled up in his heart. He was naturally aware of what this situation entailed, and in reality, this was the direction that he had been constantly working toward in his prior cultivation!


    That''s right, he had made a breakthrough in his spiritual power. After such a long time, he had finally reached the Spirit Domain realm, which was a realm that most Soul Masters could only dream of.


    What did the Spirit Domain realm entail? It entailed that a Soul Master''s spiritual power had already reached the pinnacle of this world. Even Limit Douluos only required Spirit Domain realm spiritual power as a spiritual foundation!


    Tang Wulin had only just become a Soul Sage, yet his spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Domain realm; this was nothing short of a miracle!


    He understood that this opportunity had been presented to him by the power of this plane and the seed of life. During the battle against the abyssal plane, he acted as an outlet for the power of the Douluo plane, as well as the seed of life, and for the very first time, he was able to sense the paramount laws of heaven and earth on the Douluo Continent in an extremely profound manner. During this process, his spiritual power, which was already extremely difficult to improve upon, had finally made that significant breakthrough, crossing over to the Spirit Domain realm.


    Even though he had only just reached the Spirit Domain realm, it was still an extraordinary feat! After reaching this level, he had truly become a high-grade Soul Master, and if he were to continued to cultivate with his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power as a foundation, he would definitely be able to become a Hyper Douluo in the future.


    At the same time, possessing Spirit Domain realm spiritual power would definitely significantly elevate his rate of cultivation, thereby allowing his soul power to grow at a far faster rate than that of the average person.


    The battle against the abyssal plane had undoubtedly been an extremely arduous and painful one for Tang Wulin, but he had also reaped immense benefits from it.


    His soul power had reached the Soul Sage level, thereby officially making him a high-grade Soul Master. His soul core and dragon core had both been significantly enhanced, his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Domain realm, and he had broken his 11th Golden Dragon King seal, thereby improving his physical constitution in all aspects.


    It was no exaggeration whatsoever to say that he had been reborn as a new man. If the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition were to be held again, Tang Wulin would be able to blow away the competition with ease with his current powers.


    As he breathed in a steady manner, his soul power circulated naturally within his own body, and it didn''t appear to be circulating very quickly, but its efficiency was actually far higher than before.


    His meridians and bones had already turned completely golden, and no matter how one looked at them, they didn''t seem to belong to a human. His strength had also been boosted significantly. He had failed to notice this before, but now, he could sense a very peculiar feeling, as if his body had become larger than before. Furthermore, he could even hear faint yet ferocious dragon''s roars ringing out alongside the circulation of his bloodline.


    Dragon God Transformation! Gu Yuena had definitely said Dragon God Transformation at the time, and there was no way that she had misspoken.


    Gu Yue had told him the story about the Dragon God quite a few years ago; could it be that both his Golden Dragon King aura and her Silver Dragon King aura were inherited from the bloodline of the Dragon God?


    Could it be that the bloodline of the Dragon God had descended into the human world, and that was how she had found him?


    That sudden moment of enlightenment made Tang Wulin feel as if he had grasped something. If that were the case, then there was even more reason for her to be with him!

 Chapter 1115: ARuheng and Sima Jinchi

    Only by being together would they be able to enhance one another''s powers, and it was undoubtedly the case that after undergoing their Dragon God Transformation, they would become extremely powerful. Recalling back to the final clash during that battle, it was clearly Gu Yuena who had taken control over the planar power through the Dragon God Transformation, and that was how the abyssal Holy Lord had been forced back into the abyssal plane.


    Even though that wasn''t entirely her power, her ability to control the planar power of the Douluo Continent through the Dragon God Transformation was most likely unmatched.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already calmed down, and his memory had also become a lot clearer as a result. He recalled that when Gu Yuena had first appeared on that day, she had clearly heaved a forlorn sigh. Why had she sighed?


    It was quite clear that she had already recovered her memories, and it was possible that she could''ve recovered them long ago. Perhaps she may have even recovered from her amnesia right after consuming the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum. However, she was still constantly calling him father and remained by his side. She was constantly waiting for him at the Scorching Basin and had refrained from telling him the truth. Why was this?


    She was clearly running away from something so that she could continue to be with him!


    She loves me!


    These thoughts flashed through Tang Wulin''s mind like lightning. If she didn''t love him, then why hadn''t she left as soon as she recovered? She was definitely hiding many things from him, but that didn''t conflict with her love for him.


    After arriving at this epiphany, Tang Wulin felt as if a heavy load had been taken off his shoulders, and it was as if all of his problems had suddenly disappeared.


    As long as she loved him, was anything else important? No!


    A faint smile finally appeared on his face, and he was truly able to stabilize his own mental state. He had improved significantly during the last battle, and he also consolidated the experience he''d accumulated during the competition. In particular, the two greatest rewards that he had reaped were the two spear techniques that he had invented for himself. He had found his path, and what he needed now was more experience and enlightenment.


    Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing.


    He possessed the power and bloodline aura of the Golden Dragon King, which allowed him to crush all of the enemies that stood in his way. In the face of absolute power, all techniques and tricks were completely invalid and futile. His forte was his strength and direct combat prowess, and both his Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing undoubtedly stemmed from this.


    Relatively speaking, Path of Regal Domination was more suitable for use during battle, while All or Nothing was, just as its name suggested, a technique that should only be used as a final roll of the dice. The technique involved him pouring all of his energy into his Golden Dragon Spear, so no matter how powerful he became, he would only be able to use it once. However, it would become more powerful as he continued to progress over time.


    As he reflected on these past experiences, Tang Wulin gradually entered a state of deep meditation.


    Cao Dezhi slowly opened his eyes, and there was clearly a hint of excitement shimmering within them. "Has he reached the Spirit Domain realm? As expected, he really has made the breakthrough. Perhaps he has already been entrusted with the will of the entire plane as the plane has chosen him. It most likely won''t be easy for anyone to harm him in the future as the will of the plane will naturally protect him. Huanyun, you have all these unnecessary concerns precisely because you''ve failed to identify this."


    As he murmured to himself, a contemplative look appeared on his face. "What will the will of the plane entail? Perhaps it''ll bless him with immense fortune?"


    A faint smile then appeared on his face. "I''m really looking forward to seeing how he develops in the future. In the direst time of need for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, another mighty figure will most likely be born. Esteemed forefathers, could it be that you''re protecting us from above?"


    He turned toward a wall in his room as he spoke, and there was a piece of artwork hanging from that pristine white wall.


    There was a person on the piece of artwork. The boundless ocean lay beneath his feet, and his long blue hair fluttered in the wind behind him, giving him an ethereal appearance. He wore a set of white robes, and there was a massive golden trident in his right hand.


    His eyes were gentle yet distant, and even though it was only a piece of artwork, looking at those eyes still struck the beholder with the feeling that they were peering into the abyss.


    Cao Dezhi''s heart immediately felt more settled at the sight of this piece of artwork.


    "Esteemed forefather, does the divine realm really no longer exist? If so, where are you now?"


    ¡­¡­


    "You''re Sima Jinchi? Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi?" A''Ruheng patted his own large bald head and appraised the man beside him with an intrigued expression.


    Following that massive battle, the entire Blood God Legion had been extremely anxious, and as a result, the two of them were captured...


    As outsiders, it only made sense that they would come under scrutiny after arriving at the Blood God Legion base at a time like this, especially after that surprise attack from the evil Soul Masters.


    Thankfully, their performances during the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition had left a deep impression on the soldiers of the Blood God Legion, and after verifying their identities, they had only been detained rather than executed on the spot.


    "That''s me. Are you Strength King?" Sima Jinchi was also appraising A''Ruheng with an intrigued expression.


    The two of them had never faced one another in battle before, but they had a common past opponent, and they had both traveled all the way here to meet that person. Both of them had performed exceptionally well during the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, and there were sparks flying as they sized up one another.


    "Nice to meet you!" A''Ruheng extended his right hand toward Sima Jinchi.


    Sima Jinchi didn''t suspect anything and shook his hand. However, as soon as he gripped onto A''Ruheng''s hand, his expression immediately changed.


    He had already thought that his strength was superior to that of the vast majority of Soul Masters, but only after shaking A''Ruheng''s hand was he made aware of what the pinnacle of strength was. His strength was virtually instantly nullified, and his hand was being abused in A''Ruheng''s hand as if it were a soft noodle.


    A furious expression immediately appeared on Sima Jinchi''s face. "You''re despicable!"


    A''Ruheng released Sima Jinchi''s hand and pursed his lips as he remarked, "You''re nothing much."


    Sima Jinchi immediately flared up with rage. "My forte lays in my saber techniques; I''m not some neanderthal caveman like you who has nothing but brute strength!"


    A''Ruheng glowered at him in response. "Who are you calling a neanderthal caveman?"


    "I''m talking to you!" Sima Jinchi abruptly rose to his feet, but a gloomy expression then quickly appeared on his face.


    The reason for this was very simple; both he and A''Ruheng were wearing what appeared to be suits of armor right now, and these suits of armor had a very simple purpose, which was to seal away the wearer''s soul power.


    Sima Jinchi''s powers relied heavily on his martial soul as a basis, yet without access to his soul power, he couldn''t even release his Dragonslaying Saber.


    In contrast, A''Ruheng''s forte lay in his strength, and in reality, he could break open this suit of armor with ease; nothing could truly confine a freakish strong man like him.


    Sima Jinchi could only look on in fury as A''Ruheng also rose to his feet. Sima Jinchi was already a very tall man, but A''Ruheng was towering over him with a sinister look on his face, and Sima Jinchi''s lips immediately began to twitch.


    Back in the Southern Legion, he had always been the enforcer, yet now, he was being bullied! No words could describe his rage and frustration.


    His eyes were practically spitting fire as he glowered at A''Ruheng. "Just you wait! When I recover my soul power, I''m going to beat you into a quadriplegic!"


    A''Ruheng cracked his knuckles in response. "A quadriplegic-to-be is trying to threaten me? What a joke!"


    Just as he was approaching Sima Jinchi with a sly smirk on his face, the door of the detection chamber was suddenly flung open.


    Two Blood God Legion soldiers who were armed to the teeth stood in front of the doorway with cold expressions on their faces. "You two, come with us."


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng glanced at one another before letting loose cold harrumphs in unison and striding toward the door.


    A''Ruheng intentionally bumped into Sima Jinchi from the side with his shoulder and led the way out of the detention chamber.


    Sima Jinchi was absolutely furious, but he couldn''t do anything aside from emerge behind A''Ruheng with a look of thunderous rage on his face.


    The two soldiers then "escorted" them into an office.


    It was him!


    Their expressions changed in unison at the sight of the man in the office.

 Chapter 1116: Death Sentence

    With their powers, they naturally weren''t willing to be detained without putting up a fight, and there were certainly no ordinary Blood God Legion soldiers who were a match for them.


    Just as they were being surrounded by a large number of soul weapons, a figure descended from the sky with a bright mirror behind him. Under the illumination of the light being released by the mirror, the two of them were instantly detained.


    They could still clearly recall that the one who had taken them down was an old man with general epaulets on his shoulders; it was none other than this man!


    Zhang Huanyun appraised the two extremely burly men before him with a cold expression.


    "You''re Legion Commander Zhang, right? I''m Sima Jinchi from the Southern Legion; I''m a subordinate of Legion Commander Yue..." Sima Jinchi began in a loud voice.


    "Did I allow you to speak?" Zhang Huanyun glowered at him with a cold expression, and a burst of invisible mountainous pressure instantly weighed down upon Sima Jinchi, striking him with a sense of asphyxiation and cutting him off with immediate effect.


    Sima Jinchi had never felt so frustrated in his life! If his soul power hadn''t been restricted, then he would''ve definitely been able to resist, but now, he couldn''t do anything?


    A''Ruheng glanced at him, and smirked but didn''t say anything.


    "Do you know what crime the two of you have committed?" Zhang Huanyun asked in a cold voice.


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng exchanged a glance with one another, yet just as they were about to speak, the pressure being exerted on them increased, rendering them completely unable to utter even a single sound.


    Sima Jinchi''s frustration was mounting by the second!


    You asked us a question, but you''re not allowing us to speak! What the hell do you want!


    Zhang Huanyun continued as if he were talking to himself. "You two trespassed on the Blood God Legion base, which is the most confidential legion base in the entire federation. All trespassers are killed with no exceptions. Get these two out of here and execute them."


    What?! Did he just say execute?


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng''s eyes widened in unison, and they couldn''t believe what they were hearing!


    A''Ruheng immediately tried to struggle out of his suits of soul power restriction armor, but as soon as he attempted to do so, Zhang Huanyun raised a hand to summon a beam of light that shone upon him.


    As a result, A''Ruheng was completely immobilized and unable to muster up even a single shred of strength.


    Four soldiers had already rushed in, and the two of them were each dragged away by two soldiers.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi could clearly sense the substantial killing intent emanating from the bodies of these four Blood God Legion soldiers.


    Were they really going to be killed?


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were both shocked and horrified by this sudden development.


    There was not a single person who truly didn''t fear death. Perhaps they would be able to cast aside their fears on the battlefield, but what the hell was this? They were going to be executed for no reason! They were clearly here to find someone, and both of them even had recommendation letters!


    Even if the Blood God Legion had just endured a massive ordeal, they couldn''t just kill people for no reason! This was nothing more than senseless slaughter!


    However, in the face of the pressure being exerted upon them by Zhang Huanyun, they weren''t even able to verbally defend themselves.


    Both of them felt as if there were countless alpacas stampeding over their hearts! [Alpaca (²ÝÄàÂí) has a similar pronunciation in Chinese to f*ck your mum, so this is a play on words here where they''re basically cursing Zhang Huanyun internally LOL] The two of them were dragged out onto the snowy ground, and bone-chilling winds began to bite into their bodies.


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng were finally beginning to panic. They wanted to struggle, but the soul power restrictions placed upon them in conjunction with the residual power of Zhang Huanyun made them completely powerless to resist.


    At this point, their hearts had become far colder than their bodies. In particular, their hearts sank even further at the sight of the two black mechas waiting for them in the distance. Both of the mechas were wielding huge soul cannons that were being aimed at the two of them.


    The four soldiers dragged them over to a pair of metal poles, and there were metal locks on these poles that held their bodies firmly in place.


    Meanwhile, the two black mechas began to raise their soul cannons in unison. The soul cannon barrels had diameters far larger than even their heads, and those barrels were being aimed straight at their heads.


    The feeling of impending doom instantly spiked their horror to the very max.


    Even though A''Ruheng had successfully cultivated the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, there was no way that he could increase his own body''s defensive prowess while not being able to use any strength or soul power!


    As such, if he were to be struck by this soul cannon blast, then that would definitely be the end of him.


    How could this happen!


    "No, don''t kill me!" A''Ruheng suddenly roared, and only then did he discover that he could speak again.


    Sima Jinchi also roared with fury, "This is senseless murder! You have no right to kill me; I''m a senior colonel of the Southern Legion!"


    "Prepare and aim for their heads." The soldiers completely ignored their desperate cries, and one of them raised his right hand high above his own head as if it were the scythe of the grim reaper.


    The two soul cannons in the hands of the black mechas were clearly beginning to charge energy, and light was flashing within the barrels.


    A''Ruheng was filled with fury and indignation! Never did he think that he would be killed here under such inexplicable circumstances after suffering through so many years of torment to get to this point.


    "Fire!"


    The soldier abruptly brought down his right hand, and the soul cannons being wielded by the black mechas were fired at once. Two scintillating balls of light were immediately sent hurtling toward A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi''s heads, and both of them were high explosive bombs that could even raze small mountains to the ground, let alone a pair of Soul Masters who had no access to their soul power.


    An intense feeling of impending doom instantly spread through A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi''s bodies, and both of them let loose desperate roars in unison.


    "Boom, boom!"


    Two deafening explosions rang out as two balls of light were instantly launched through the air.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi''s minds instantly went blank. Were they dead? Was this it?


    They felt as if their souls had already drifted over to another world, and their bodies were trembling uncontrollably.


    Right at this moment, a slightly enlarged voice suddenly rang out. "Why is an execution taking place? Who are those two people?"


    I can still hear? Does that mean I''m not dead?


    The same thought appeared almost simultaneously in the minds of A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    They reflexively opened their eyes and were greeted by the sight of a middle-aged man with general epaulets on his shoulders, standing in front of the soldiers with a stern expression.


    "Legion Commander ordered for this execution to take place, Superior. It''s very likely that these two are spies from the Holy Spirit Cult. They suddenly appeared at our legion base just as we were sealing the abyssal plane again, and they were detained by the legion commander. Legion Commander says that he''d rather kill innocents than risk being attacked by Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult again."


    "I''m not an Evil Soul Master!" A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi yelled in unison.


    "Oh?" The middle-aged man turned around, and Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng were greeted by the sight of a handsome yet serious face. Neither of them had seen this man before, but they could detect an indescribable sense of pressure emanating from him. This sense of pressure was not inferior in the slightest to that of the legion commander who had just ordered for their execution.


    They had been told some general information about the Blood God Legion before coming here, but the Blood God Legion was a top-secret organization of the federation, so even their teacher and superior didn''t know much about the legion. As such, their knowledge of the Blood God Legion was also very limited. In a short span of time since coming here, they had already encountered two beings who were either Limit Douluos or extremely close to that level, so how could they not be astonished?


    The middle-aged man''s brows furrowed slightly. "You say you''re not Evil Soul Masters? How can you prove that?"


    Everyone was the same; being presented with a ray of hope amid the depths of despair was enough to make anyone extremely vulnerable, even the likes of A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    Sima Jinchi hurriedly yelled, "I''m from the Southern Legion; you can confirm my identity with His Majesty, Angel Douluo Yue Zhengen, who''s the commander of the Southern Legion! I''m not a spy! I just participated in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition not long ago, and I encountered your Golden Dragon King in the semifinals; I came here this time so I can spar with him!"


    A''Ruheng also chimed in, "I''m Tang Wulin''s senior disciple brother from the Body Sect, and I also came here to spar with him; how could I possibly be an Evil Soul Master? I''ve cultivated the secret method of the Body Sect; you can examine my powers to verify that! I''m definitely different from those Evil Soul Masters!"


    The middle-aged man heaved a faint sigh as he looked at the two of them. "The legion really has been a little oversensitive lately. Having said that, we can''t just kill innocent people. I''ll go speak to the legion commander about this; you guys hold off on executing them for now. I''ll be back soon."


    The middle-aged man departed after that.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi both heaved sighs of relief as they looked on at his departing figure. At the very least, they still had a chance at survival!


    However, what they failed to see was that as soon as the middle-aged man turned away from them, a smile had already appeared on his face.


    Sure enough, he went straight to Zhang Huanyun''s office, and he strode in without even knocking on the door.


    Zhang Huanyun raised his head to look at him, and he also wore a smile on his face. The images of A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi being held captive outside were being depicted on the screen beside him.

 Chapter 1117: An Act

    "You sure left it until the very last minute! Weren''t you worried that those two would piss themselves from fear? You really are worthy of your ''Heartless'' Douluo title!" Zhang Huanyun chuckled.


    Cao Dezhi also chuckled in response, "I wasn''t the one who ordered to have them executed, so they''ll only thank me for saving them. You''ll be the one that''s resented for being a cruel and unreasonable tyrant."


    Zhang Huanyun''s smile faded upon hearing this. "You were the one who came up with this ploy, yet I have to play the bad guy! You really are a nasty piece of work! Also, is this really necessary? This situation is rather forced; it''s quite easy to verify their identities, especially because they''ve only just recently participated in that competition."


    Cao Dezhi nodded in response. "This is still a necessary evil. With their aptitudes and performances during the competition, it''s inevitable that they''ll be quite conceited and untamed. If we don''t take them down a notch here, it might not be a good thing to have them follow Wulin in the future. Wulin is undoubtedly going to stand at the pinnacle of the continent someday, but even the most powerful of beings require allies, and he''ll need more powerful and reliable allies than just his friends from Shrek Academy. That Sima Jinchi''s martial soul seems to have a certain level of synergy with Wulin, while A''Ruheng is his senior disciple brother from the Body Sect, and both of them are quite trustworthy. All we have to do now is tame them so they''ll be of better use to Wulin in the future."


    Zhang Huanyun gave Cao Dezhi a meaningful look. "I had thought that if I had met Wulin first instead of you, perhaps I would''ve been able to take him under my wing, but I can now see just how much effort you''ve put into paving the way for his future."


    Cao Dezhi chuckled, "There was no way I was ever going to let you take him. Don''t forget that he''s a disciple of our Tang Sect, and the higher-ups of our sect have had our eyes on him for many years now. From the moment he became one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, our Tang Sect had already decided to do everything in our power to nurture him. The surprise attack caught both our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy completely off guard and dealt us extremely heavy blows, but if they think that this is enough to completely uproot two super organizations that have stood at the pinnacle of the continent for tens of thousands of years, then they couldn''t be more wrong.


    "The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy didn''t strike back right away, and that''s because we''re accumulating power, waiting for a new leader to appear. Now, the time is just about right; the new leader is about to emerge, and he''s going to continue to advance and improve through hardships. I was never under the impression that Shrek Academy would be permanently erased in the aftermath of the attack; in my eyes, Shrek Academy will simply be reborn from the ashes, and when it returns, it will be more glorious than ever."


    Zhang Huanyun couldn''t help but be surprised by Cao Dezhi''s words. He had also always held the belief that Shrek Academy wouldn''t fall so easily, but he didn''t have as much confidence in it as Cao Dezhi did, either.


    "Just wait and see. You''ve definitely made the right decision by choosing to have the Blood God Legion side with us, and this is definitely a decision you''ll be thankful for in the future. The Blood God Legion will most definitely be elevated to even greater heights for this decision."


    Zhang Huanyun nodded in response. "I would''ve brushed off your words as mere hyperbole if you had told me this a few days ago, but after I sensed his spiritual power reach the Spirit Domain realm, I had no choice but to acknowledge everything you just said. It''s just that the burden on his shoulders is extremely heavy. It''s naturally important for him to continue to improve in power, but we have to keep an eye on him and help him in his mental development."


    "You''re right, this is my concern as well. However, there are some things in life in which one can only rely on themselves, and I believe Wulin can handle everything that''s thrown at him. He is an exceptional prodigy who is blessed by the heavens, so it won''t be that easy to strike him down."


    ......


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had already begun to shiver uncontrollably about two hours ago.


    The normal temperature in the area surrounding the Blood God Legion base was around -30¡ãC, [-22¡ãF for mah American homies] but the bone-chilling winds could drop the apparent temperature to as low as -50¡ãC. [-58¡ãF for mah American homies]


    Under normal circumstances, these low temperatures would pose no issues to them; with their powers, they were already virtually completely impervious to temperature changes.


    However, their powers had been completely sealed away, so all they could rely on was their physical constitution. Under these circumstances, no one could remain unfazed after standing in the cold for so long!


    The soldiers that were guarding them were armed to the teeth, yet the two of them were severely underdressed. More than six hours had passed since that middle-aged man went to speak to the legion commander about them. There was a coat of ice over their eyebrows and facial hair, and if a pair of normal people were in their shoes, they would''ve most likely been frozen to death long ago. Even with their powerful physical constitutions, their faces were still completely devoid of color.


    A''Ruheng was in slightly better condition among the two. He was a powerful being from the Body Sect, after all, so there were very few people who could match his physical constitution. Sima Jinchi also possessed an extremely powerful body, but even he was beginning to struggle.


    "Can you go and ask about us..." Sima Jinchi asked in a trembling voice, but the soldiers were standing nearby like statues, displaying no reaction whatsoever and completely ignoring them.


    A wry smile appeared on A''Ruheng''s face. "Save your energy; these guys are no different from robots. What did I do to deserve this? How could something like this happen to me? If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn''t have come here in the first place. I wonder where my junior disciple brother is."


    Sima Jinchi rolled his eyes in response. "Are you an idiot? You didn''t even contact him before coming here? You deserve this for being such a stupid buffoon!"


    A''Ruheng immediately flared up with rage. "I''M a stupid buffoon? You speak like you''re some kind of genius! Did you contact him beforehand? What right do you have to denounce me? I don''t really mind the cold anyway; my body can still handle it."


    "F*ck off!" Sima Jinchi retorted, "There''s no way you''re in much better condition than me! Besides, we''re both gonna get shot here, so we''re both in the same boat."


    A''Ruheng suddenly turned to one of the soldiers, and said, "Hey, do you know Golden Dragon King? You know, the one from your legion who became the champion of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition? He''s my junior disciple brother! How about you get him to come here so he can vouch for our identities? I fought him in the grand final not long ago; did you not watch the match?"


    The soldiers continued to ignore him in a stoic statuesque manner.


    "I feel like I''m speaking to a wall!" An enraged look appeared on A''Ruheng''s face. All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and he looked around to inspect his surroundings.


    The Blood God Legion base had been set up on a mountain peak, and even though it spanned quite a large area, its barracks were packed far more densely together than in normal legions in order to trap as much heat as possible.


    A''Ruheng took a deep breath, and his chest slowly began to expand. He was the most exceptional disciple of the current generation in the Body Sect, and he had also cultivated the congenital secret method. As time passed, the restriction that Zhang Huanyun had planted on his body seemed to have also weakened a little, and as he took a deep breath, his entire body seemed to have expanded slightly like a balloon.


    Sima Jinchi immediately sensed that he was up to something, but he had no idea what exactly he was planning to do.


    Right at this instant, A''Ruheng suddenly opened his mouth, and roared with all his might, "Tang Wulin, your senior disciple brother is here; come and save me!"


    Even though he still couldn''t draw upon any soul power, his lung capacity was far superior to that of the normal person, and this roar of his was truly like a clap of thunder. Even the soldiers that were guarding them reflexively took a backward step in unison in the face of his thunderous voice.


    "Tang Wulin, your senior disciple brother is here; come and save me!"


    A''Ruheng was howling like a madman. Tang Wulin had to be in this legion base; why didn''t he think of this method to seek help from Tang Wulin earlier? It may be a very crude method, but it was most likely going to be extremely effective as well!

 Chapter 1118: Two Idiots

    As long as Tang Wulin could come here and see him, his identity would naturally be verified! It was much better to save oneself than wait to be saved by others!


    "Shut up!" One of the soldiers immediately strode over to approach him.


    However, A''Ruheng had already been backed into a corner and continued to yell at the top of his lungs without any regard for anything else. Thus, his thunderous voice began to echo throughout the entire legion base.


    If it weren''t for the fact that the snow on the mountains was currently being supported by countless plants, his raucous yelling would''ve most likely caused an avalanche already.


    Sima Jinchi also immediately began to yell upon seeing this, and he was also yelling the same thing as A''Ruheng. Compared to him, Tang Wulin was closer with A''Ruheng, and it was easier to attract his attention with the notion that his senior disciple brother was here.


    Inside the office.


    Cao Dezhi couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "I can''t believe it took these two idiots this long to think of something this simple. It''s a good thing that they managed to think of this in the end; it saves us the trouble of having to do anything else."


    Zhang Huanyun chuckled in response, "They deserved to freeze for six hours for their stupidity; it''s time for Wulin to come in and play the good guy now. Looks like our crude plan is about to succeed."


    They weren''t worried in the slightest that Tang Wulin wouldn''t be able to hear their voices. After reaching the Spirit Domain realm, one''s spiritual power would constantly be released to sense the changes in the natural energies within a very large area around them. It would be far too preposterous if he still couldn''t hear his own name being yelled with his immense spiritual power.


    Tang Wulin was sitting in his room, and he was just getting into his groove. After this period of meditation, he had already attained an elementary level of mastery over his own bodily condition.


    The recently concluded battle had presented him with a brilliant opportunity, allowing him to draw upon a vast amount of natural energies to withstand the backlash from the influx of energy from breaking his 11th Golden Dragon King seal. Furthermore, the seed of life had also contributed to further bolstering his body, and only then was he able to successfully fuse with the power within the 11th seal.


    After breaking the 11th seal, his dragon core had undergone a qualitative change. He could clearly sense that his dragon core was no longer just pumping blood essence throughout his own body; it was also producing blood essence power itself. If it had only resembled a heart in the past, then in a sense, Tang Wulin''s dragon core was now truly a heart of his.


    Even if his real heart were to be damaged, he wouldn''t die as long as his dragon core wasn''t destroyed. In fact, he could even regrow a destroyed heart so long as his dragon core remained intact.


    All of his bones, meridians, and internal organs had turned into a golden color, and even he wasn''t sure whether he could continue to be classified as a human.


    This was a very wonderful feeling. After natural energies were absorbed into his body, they were no longer just being absorbed by his soul core; they were also being absorbed by his dragon core as well, and with the beating of his dragon core, those natural energies would also become a part of his blood essence.


    Tang Wulin knew that once Soul Masters reached rank 70 in soul power, they would actually no longer be purely human. All seven-ring Soul Masters obtained the same soul skill, which was the martial soul true body. This soul skill allowed them to display the full power of their martial souls, as well as enhance the combat prowess of their martial souls to an extremely great extent. This was why one could only be truly considered to be a high-grade Soul Master after becoming a seven-ring Soul Sage.


    Attaining a martial soul true body was an indication that a Soul Master had completely fused with their martial soul, and the martial soul had completely become a part of the Soul Master. Conversely, the Soul Master would also have become a part of their martial soul, and they would no longer be two separate entities.


    It was also for this reason that 100,000-year-old soul beasts that chose to become humans, would also have to reach this level before they could truly be referred to as humans.


    In Tang Wulin''s current state, not only had his body completely fused with his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul, his Golden Dragon King bloodline seemed to have also effected some minute changes in his body.


    Two dragon horns had emerged on his forehead, and they weren''t very long, but they were extremely resolute. Following their emergence, he could clearly sense that he seemed to have gained an additional innate ability. This ability wasn''t a physical or spiritual attack. Instead, it was a type of intimidation that stemmed from the deepest part of his bloodline. To put it in simpler terms, it was dragon''s might!


    That''s right, only after he became a seven-ring Soul Sage did his dragon''s might finally manifest itself.


    Prior to this, all Soul Masters who possessed dragon-type martial souls would be impacted by his blood essence power, but with his dragon''s might now, all martial souls with inferior bloodlines compared to his would naturally be affected by him. His dragon''s might could intimidate and weaken enemies while enhancing his own powers, so this was a qualitative change!


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s disposition had also undergone a certain transformation throughout this period of meditation.


    He was already extremely handsome to begin with, and now, there was an extra hint of masculinity and prestige in his disposition. He had attained the aura of a supreme ruler, and with the manifestation of his dragon''s might, he seemed to have suddenly aged a few years. Even when doing nothing aside from sitting with his legs crossed, he was giving off a natural sense of intimidation.


    He was no longer a boy or a child; in that instant, he seemed to have truly become a powerful adult Soul Master.


    "Tang Wulin, your senior disciple brother is here; come and save me..."


    Right at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded within his mind, and his spiritual power jolted ever so slightly.


    After progressing to the Spirit Domain realm, he was able to sense the changes taking place in the natural energies within an extremely large area, and he could even trigger natural energy tides to assist himself in his own cultivation. At the same time, he was able to detect all types of changes transpiring within this area.


    Of course, he would automatically filter out those pointless changes and only pay attention to extremely severe changes in energy fluctuations or changes that were related to him. For example, this included his name.


    Was someone calling him? What was this about his senior disciple brother?


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power quickly ascertained the direction that the voice was coming from. His spiritual power was like his eyes, and even though he had only just progressed to the Spirit Domain realm, he could still sense the extremely powerful blood essence fluctuations in that direction. Wasn''t that his senior disciple brother, A''Ruheng? There was also another familiar aura beside him.


    What was going on? Why had he come here?


    Tang Wulin was rather surprised, but at the same time, he hurriedly focused his spiritual power to transmit his spiritual fluctuations to A''Ruheng.


    ¡­¡­


    A soul laser gun had been jammed into A''Ruheng''s mouth, and Sima Jinchi had also received the same treatment, so neither of them were able to yell anymore. However, after that short burst of yelling, their stiff and cold bodies had warmed up a little.


    Right at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded within A''Ruheng''s mind. "Wait for me, Senior Disciple Brother."


    "Hmm?" A''Ruheng was initially ecstatic as he immediately identified that this voice belonged to none other than this junior disciple brother. However, he was then struck by a sense of bewilderment. How had Tang Wulin''s voice appeared directly in his mind? This was not just a simple voice transmission. He was one of the most powerful beings in the Body Sect and also the heir to the sect master, so he was naturally able to discern just how powerful this ability was. Even so, it didn''t occur to him that Tang Wulin could''ve attained Spirit Domain realm spiritual power already. After all, that was simply an absurd notion.


    Following the span of only around a dozen breaths, a figure rapidly approached them in the distance.


    A''Ruheng was immediately struck by the urge to weep at the sight of Tang Wulin, who was in his usual pristine white military uniform with major general epaulets on his shoulders. They were finally saved!


    Tang Wulin was feeling quite bemused at the sight of A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi, both of whom had been strapped to metal poles. He could clearly recall that these metal poles didn''t exist in the legion base before this! When had they been erected?


    "Senior Disciple Brother, why are you here? What''s going on?" Tang Wulin reflexively glanced at the soldiers who were standing off to the side.

 Chapter 1119: Please Have Mercy

    The soldiers and mechas saluted him in unison.


    "Greetings, superior."


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were feeling rather speechless at the expression in the eyes of soldiers, who were appraising Tang Wulin with nothing less than fervent reverence.


    Almost every single Blood God Legion soldier had witnessed how Tang Wulin had turned the tables, saving the entire legion and sealing the abyssal plane again. In particular, the image of Tang Wulin opposing an entire plane like an invincible deity had been cemented firmly into their hearts. In their hearts, he was close to a literal god! Not everyone understood that Tang Wulin had borrowed upon planar power at the time; the secrets of the Blood God Array were only known to the highest-ranking officials of the Blood God Legion.


    "These two are spies that appeared during the recent abyssal tide. The legion commander has ordered us to execute them, but Superior Blood One was passing by, and he''s now trying to convince the legion commander to spare them," one of the soldiers recounted in a brief and concise manner.


    A peculiar look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Since when did Legion Commander Zhang and Blood One become so rash and hot-headed? No matter how wary they were of evil Soul Masters, they couldn''t just execute innocent people like this!


    Right at this moment, Cao Dezhi''s voice sounded within his mind. "These two are guards that we''ve prepared for you. Tell them that you''ll try to prove their innocence, then come to Old Man Zhang''s office."


    With Tang Wulin''s intelligence, he immediately understood what was going on, and he hurriedly said, "Senior Disciple Brother, Brother Sima, please bear with me for a moment; I''ll go and ask about the situation right away."


    A grief-stricken look appeared on A''Ruheng''s face. "Please make it quick, Junior Disciple Brother; I''m about to freeze to death!"


    "Alright, I''ll go right away," Tang Wulin said as he removed his military coat and draped it over A''Ruheng''s body.


    A''Ruheng was immediately moved to the point of tears by this heartwarming gesture. In contrast, Sima Jinchi''s eyes widened, as if to ask "where''s mine? What about me?".


    Tang Wulin turned to him with an apologetic expression, "Sorry, I only have one coat, but I''ll be back soon, so please wait for me." He quickly rushed toward Zhang Huanyun''s office as he spoke.


    "Haha, we''re saved!" A''Ruheng chortled with glee. The swords hanging over their heads were finally going to be removed! He firmly believed that Tang Wulin would be able to save them.


    In contrast, Sima Jinchi wore an expression of grief and indignation. This was so unfair!


    That bastard''s as strong as an ox; I''m way colder than he is! Why didn''t I get the coat?


    A''Ruheng turned to him with a smug expression. "You see this? This is my junior disciple brother''s coat. Have you ever worn a major general coat before?"


    "Go, f*ck, yourself!" Sima Jinchi finally snapped in the face of A''Ruheng''s blatant provocation.


    However, A''Ruheng was in high spirits, and he chuckled, "No thanks, I''m not into that stuff like you are! Ohhh, this military coat is so nice and warm, it''s even warming the cockles of my heart, hahaha!"


    Tang Wulin was unaware of the fact that A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were bickering once again. At this point, he had already arrived in Zhang Huanyun''s office.


    "Legion Commander, Senior Blood One, what''s going on here?" he asked.


    Cao Dezhi smiled, and replied, "These two were captured as spies on the day that the abyssal tide took place. Seeing as you''re about to leave, you have to take some reliable people with you. These two are both quite conceited and untamed, but we''ve set up this scenario so you can save their lives, and that should make them more obedient and feel more indebted toward you. Don''t ask about the details; in any case, we''ve played the bad guys here to make you look good. Old Man Zhang, it''s your turn to take the stage again."


    Zhang Huanyun rose to his feet as he chuckled, "Let''s go. Come with me." He patted Tang Wulin''s shoulder as he spoke before striding out of his office.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry, but at the same time, a surge of warmth was flowing through his heart. He was naturally aware that as lofty generals, there was no way that Zhang Huanyun and Blood One would do something like this if it weren''t for his sake.


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng were in the process of trading insults with one another, but both of them immediately fell silent like fearful bunnies at the sight of Zhang Huanyun.


    Zhang Huanyun wore a dark expression as he appraised them with cold killing intent flashing within his eyes.


    If it weren''t for the fact that Tang Wulin knew that this was an act, he''d be convinced that Zhang Huanyun really was determined to kill them. He was speculating whether Zhang Huanyun had trained on the demonic island as well; his acting skills would surely be worthy of some kind of prestigious acting award!


    He had fought both A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi before, so he was naturally aware of just how untamed they were. However, neither of them dared to utter so much as a single sound in the face of Zhang Huanyun, and it was clear that they were truly petrified!


    Zhang Huanyun asked in a cold voice, "Wulin, is that really your Senior Disciple Brother?"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly nodded in response. "It''s true, Legion Commander; he''s using the same cultivation method as me, so there''s no mistaking it; he''s definitely my senior disciple brother from the Body Sect."


    Zhang Huanyun nodded, and said, "Alright, we''ll temporarily mark him as innocent for now then. However, trespassing on the Blood God Legion base is a crime punishable by death. I can spare him, seeing as he''s your senior disciple brother, but he can''t escape without any punishment. Otherwise, any piece of trash out there will think that they can just trample on the honor of our Blood God Legion!"


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi both gulped upon hearing this. Had they already been reduced to mere pieces of trash? The two of them exchanged a glance, and the enmity in their eyes had suddenly disappeared; they felt as if they were comrades fighting in the same trench.


    "Get him down from there." Zhang Huanyun pointed at A''Ruheng.


    Soldiers immediately rushed forward to bring him down from the metal pole. Zhang Huanyun then pointed at Sima Jinchi, and asked, "This guy has nothing to do with you, right?"


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. Technically, there really wasn''t much of a connection between him and Sima Jinchi. At most, they could only be counted as rivals who appreciated one another''s powers, so he was a little stumped by Zhang Huanyun''s question.


    "Kill him!" Zhang Huanyun waved a hand, and the two black mechas raised their soul cannons in unison, sending two cannon blasts hurtling toward Sima Jinchi amid an explosive boom.


    "Please spare him!" Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng yelled in unison.


    A''Ruheng was still unable to move, but Tang Wulin was able to rush forward and position himself in front of Sima Jinchi.


    "Boom! Boom!" The two cannon blasts struck his body, yet a layer of golden light naturally appeared around him.


    The layer of golden light appeared to be very faint, and it only became slightly brighter after being struck by the two cannon blasts. However, this layer of golden light was able to easily ward off those two extremely destructive high explosive bombs.


    These were the main weapons of the two black mechas!


    Even Zhang Huanyun couldn''t help but raise his eyebrows slightly upon seeing this. Tang Wulin didn''t possess this type of ability before. If he wanted to stop these two attacks in the past, he would at least have to lash out in retaliation.


    This was dragon''s repulse!


    After reaching the Soul Sage level and absorbing the energy from the 11th seal, Tang Wulin had manifested the Golden Dragon King innate abilities dragon''s might and dragon''s repulse, both of which were extremely important Golden Dragon King innate abilities.


    Tang Wulin was trying out dragon''s repulse for the first time, and even he was stunned by its incredible defensive prowess.


    As his dragon''s repulse was released, his dragon core was in the process of contracting, thereby forcing his blood essence power out of his own body to form a protective barrier of repulsion energy. Dragon''s repulse required less expenditure to release than his other Golden Dragon King skills, but it was extremely powerful. Furthermore, it could clearly be used alongside any of Tang Wulin''s other abilities.


    In that instant, Sima Jinchi felt as if his heart were about to stop. What the hell was this situation? He hadn''t even had a chance to speak out for himself yet, but he had almost been killed! Regardless of how rough and untamed he was, there was still cold sweat pouring down his back in the aftermath of that ordeal.


    "Tang Wulin, you may have just made an extremely significant contribution to the legion, but you can''t just disregard military orders over and over again!" Zhang Huanyun appraised Tang Wulin with a grave expression as he abruptly released his crushing aura as a Limit Douluo.


    The dragon''s repulse that Tang Wulin had released began to shimmer with golden light, clearly having been impacted by Zhang Huanyun''s aura.

 Chapter 1120: The Blood Dragon Squad

    He hurriedly said, "Legion Commander, please let me explain. I also recognize this Sima Jinchi. I fought him once during the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition. and he''s one of the most powerful Soul Masters among the younger generation of the military. He''s an official of the Southern Legion, so he''s most likely not an Evil Soul Master, and his martial soul seems to have great synergy with mine. As such, I implore you to have mercy and at least do some proper research before making a decision?"


    Zhang Huanyun''s eyes immediately widened. "Do proper research? I can''t even juggle all of the internal affairs in the legion at the moment! You should be well aware of just how dangerous the situation on that day was. If it weren''t for those Evil Soul Master spies who infiltrated our legion, we wouldn''t have suffered such heavy losses! I would rather kill innocents than risk having more spies infiltrate our ranks; I don''t have any time to do research on just any piece of trash!"


    Tang Wulin was at a loss for a response to this. In his mind, the Blood God Legion had suffered the severest losses prior to the activation of the Blood God Array, when the abyssal tide had first struck and caught everyone completely off guard. As for after that, the only person who almost died was Blood Nine, and he was saved in the end, so they hadn''t really suffered any severe losses from the infiltration of the Evil Soul Masters.


    However, he couldn''t just pull the rug out from under Zhang Huanyun''s feet by pointing that out, so he could only urge, "Legion Commander, I can vouch for his innocence, so please spare him. I''m willing to offer the contributions I''ve made to our legion in exchange for a fair hearing for him."


    Zhang Huanyun appraised him with a cold expression as he harrumphed, "Alright, seeing as you''re willing to use your contributions to save him, then you''ll be missing out on an opportunity to become a lieutenant general. These two can have their lives spared, but they must be punished for trespassing on our Blood God Legion base. Throw them back into the detention chamber, and I''ll pass judgment down on them when I''m ready."


    A''Ruheng''s mouth immediately gaped open with shock. He had thought that this would be the end of this story, but it appeared that he was going to receive further punishment!


    Tang Wulin gave him a reassuring look, and as Sima Jinchi was making his way past Tang Wulin, he whispered, "Thank you."


    Even though these were only two simple words, they were filled with strong emotions! If it weren''t for Tang Wulin, he would already be dead, so Tang Wulin had saved his life.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh before giving him a gentle nod.


    After A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were taken away, the killing intent radiating from Zhang Huanyun''s body naturally disappeared as well, and he waved a hand to dismiss Tang Wulin as he said, "Go back and cultivate; I''ll release them when you decide to leave. These two ruffians have to be polished before they can come into their own."


    Tang Wulin was rather speechless to hear this. This method of "polishing" was way too extreme! It was almost comparable to the horrendous training one had to undertake on the demonic island!


    Seven days later.


    A long cry erupted into the heavens as Tang Wulin finally concluded his meditation and came out of seclusion.


    He didn''t immediately depart from the legion base after that. Instead, he took 10 more days to forge all of the metals he required, including the metals for his mecha, in his forging room in the legion base.


    In terms of the construction of the mecha, he had provided a set of instructions to the legion''s mecha maker, and he would be able to collect the completed mecha once he returned. As for his battle armor, he didn''t ask the legion''s mecha maker to construct it for him. Not only were all of the metals he had prepared for his suit of three-word battle armor all soul refined metals, he had also incorporated more metals together. During the battle armor construction process, he had to be present on the scene to provide his assistance. Otherwise, there was no way that the suit of battle armor could be constructed. As such, he simply took the metals with him so he could construct his suit of battle armor when the right opportunity arose.


    When Tang Wulin saw A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi again, both of them had become noticeably thinner. There was no way for them not to lose weight; all they were given to eat every day was vegetable soup, so it would be a miracle if they DIDN''T lose weight.


    A''Ruheng was struck by the urge to burst into tears again at the sight of Tang Wulin.


    Zhang Huanyun had already officially passed down their punishments; they had to act as guards for Tang Wulin for three years. Furthermore, each of them had a remote control bomb choker installed around their neck. This was the newest technology, and no one would be able to remove these chokers without the required keys and passwords. If they were to attempt to remove these chokers by force, they would immediately explode, and the resulting explosion would be too much to handle even for someone with a body as powerful as A''Ruheng''s.


    Tang Wulin was feeling rather speechless upon seeing this. The legion commander really had put a lot of effort into "polishing" these two!


    Aside from those two, there were also a few familiar faces among those who were going to leave with Tang Wulin.


    There was Tang Wulin''s good friend, Tyrant Dragon Soul Master Jiang Wuyue, the commander of the Iron Will Corps, Herculean Divine Ape Soul Master Ma Shan, Ice and Snow Soul Master Long Yuxue, and Tang Wulin''s mecha teacher, Ling Wuyue.


    These were all elite prodigies among the younger generation of the Blood God Legion, particularly Ma Shan. Even though he hadn''t reached the Titled Douluo level yet, he had finally managed to complete his suit of three-word battle armor with Tang Wulin''s assistance. He was an extreme strength-type Soul Master, and even in the legion, he was a force to be reckoned with.


    Even more importantly, these people were the ones who were closest to Tang Wulin in the legion.


    The four of them, in addition to Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi and Strength King A''Ruheng, presented a truly formidable force. Even though there were no Titled Douluos among them, many of them already possessed powers that weren''t inferior to those of Titled Douluos.


    Aside from them, there were also 20 Blood God Legion soldiers that were going to accompany Tang Wulin on his trip. All of them were two-word battle armor masters at or above the Soul Emperor level, and they were also all black mecha pilots as well.


    This group would most likely constitute the entirety of the elite forces in a normal legion, yet they were now all members of Tang Wulin''s squad, which had been assigned the name "Blood Dragon Squad" by Zhang Huanyun.


    There were a total of 27 people in the squad, including Tang Wulin, and all of them had been painstakingly hand-picked by Blood One. Aside from their individual combat prowess, their martial souls were also taken into consideration, and all of them possessed martial souls that were related to dragons to a certain extent.


    This meant that all of them would be impacted by Tang Wulin''s dragon''s might and Violent Golden Dragon Domain, and as his allies, this impact would naturally only be a positive one.


    As Tang Wulin appraised the two rows of black mechas standing in an orderly fashion before him, awaiting his instructions, he couldn''t help but be slightly overcome by emotions. The legion really was doing everything in its power for his sake! Even though the core of the legion still consisted of the Legion Commander Zhang Huanyun and all of the Titled Douluos, all of the people who were accompanying him were the future of the legion!


    It could be said that Zhang Huanyun and Blood One had entrusted him with the future of the Blood God Legion, and the heavy meaning behind this didn''t need to be articulated through words.


    Tang Wulin thumped his right fist against his own chest to extend a respectful military salute toward the two Limit Douluos.


    Zhang Huanyun, Blood One, and all of the other Blood Gods also returned the salute.


    There were even Blood Gods from the Blood God Battalion who wanted to accompany Tang Wulin on his trip, with Blood Eight and Blood Nine expressing the strongest urge to follow him on his journey. After all, Tang Wulin had saved Blood Nine''s life.


    However, all of the Blood Gods had to remain in the legion to oversee the Blood God Array in the abyssal passageway, so they couldn''t leave with him.


    "Look after yourself, Wulin. Words cannot express my gratitude toward you, so I won''t thank you, but I''ll be sure to join your Blood Dragon Squad once I find a successor." Blood Nine gave Tang Wulin a massive hug and spoke in a voice that was filled with conviction.


    Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response. "I would be honored to have you."


    He then turned to the two Limit Douluos, and said, "Senior Blood One, Legion Commander, I guarantee you that so long as I still live, I''ll be sure to bring everyone back with me."


    All of the Blood God Legion soldiers were extremely touched to hear this, with the exceptions of A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    Who would want to come back to this godforsaken place? They certainly didn''t want to! They never wanted to come back here!


    Blood One replied in a serious voice, "The most important thing to us is for you to stay alive. Your life no longer belongs to just yourself; it belongs to the entire legion, and even the entire human race, do you understand?"


    It could be said that Tang Wulin was a divine weapon of the human race against the abyssal plane, so no harm could be allowed to befall him no matter what.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1121: Set Off, Blood Dragon Squad

    "I understand! I''ll make sure to protect myself."


    Blood One nodded in response. "Go on, I wish you a smooth journey."


    After extending another military salute, Tang Wulin turned around before rising up into the air. The dragon wings on his suit of battle armor spread open, and he glided toward the east.


    Sima Jinchi, A''Ruheng, Ling Wuyue, Ma Shan, Jiang Wuyue, Long Yuxue, and the 20 other Blood Dragon Squad members also rose up into the air before flying into the distance behind him.


    Cao Dezhi looked on at their departing figures with a faint smile on his face. "A supreme prodigy will complete their metamorphosis to become a dragon as soon as they rise up into the heavens. Wulin, I wish you all the success in the world. We can only give you a helping hand, but how far you can go will depend on you."


    Zhang Huanyun sighed, "You know what? I''m a little sad to see him go."


    Cao Dezhi chuckled, "You''re just sad that he''s taking so many of our legion''s elite young talents, right?"


    "Ahem!"


    Light began to shimmer in Cao Dezhi''s eyes as he mused, "It''s about time these young people take over the Douluo Continent; let''s see just how brightly they''ll shine."


    Zhang Huanyun''s brows furrowed slightly. "You don''t seem to be concerned at all. You should be well aware of just how powerful his future enemies will be."


    Cao Dezhi replied in an indifferent voice, "How will he continue to improve without powerful opponents to test him? Besides, he''s never been fighting alone. Do you really think that just two Godslayer missiles can truly destroy the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, both of which have stood at the pinnacle of the continent for over 20,000 years?"


    Zhang Huanyun''s expression changed slightly, and he seemed to have gleaned the implications behind Cao Dezhi''s words.


    "Let''s go back, I have to further examine the seal. I''m sure the abyssal plane will remain dormant for quite a while after this. That so-called Holy Lord has most likely been severely wounded, and according to our past experience, there may not be another abyssal tide in the next few centuries."


    Indeed, the abyssal plane had been dealt an extremely heavy blow during this recent battle. Three of the 108 planar seeds had been completely destroyed, thereby shaking the entire foundation of the plane. Even more abyssal emperors had perished in order to force open the seal, and even though they could be revived in the abyssal plane, their resurrections would take a very long time.


    It could be said that this was the heaviest blow that had been dealt to the abyssal plane, second only to when they had first invaded the Douluo Continent over 6,000 years ago.


    After that battle, the abyssal plane hadn''t attacked the Douluo Continent for over 1,000 years, so the Blood God Legion should be given a long time to rest and recuperate following this battle. Furthermore, it was important to remember that the Blood God Legion could enter the abyssal plane through the abyssal passageway at will.


    Another reason that Cao Dezhi had agreed for Tang Wulin to depart was in order to prepare for the complete eradication of the threat posed by the abyssal plane in the future.


    Tang Wulin required more growth and development. He was already a Soul Sage now, but in the eyes of truly powerful beings, there was still a lot of potential for him to improve.


    With Tang Wulin''s current situation, once he became a Titled Douluo, Hyper Douluo, and even Limit Douluo, he would pose an extremely potent threat to the abyssal plane. After he reached that level, the threat of the abyssal plane could truly be eradicated for good.


    They didn''t need to destroy the entire abyssal plane; all they had to do was force them to cut off the passageway, and by extension, the connection to the Douluo Continent.


    ¡­¡­


    A heavy aura was permeating throughout a greyish-white world, striking all of the abyssal creatures with a sense of asphyxiation.


    This situation had already persisted for three abyssal days. Every single abyssal level was trembling as the ruler of the entire abyssal plane, the Holy Lord, was in a maddened state of fury.


    They had failed!


    Even after making such massive sacrifices, the abyssal plane had still failed in their invasion of the human world; they didn''t even manage to kill that man who posed a fundamental threat to the entire abyssal plane!


    When the Ant Emperor''s planar seed had been completely devoured, causing that abyssal level to be destroyed, tremors had run through the entire abyssal plane, and this had happened twice in quick succession! The complete destruction of the two planar seeds struck all of the abyssal emperors with an extremely urgent sense of peril. They finally understood why the Holy Lord was determined to find that human and kill him at all costs.


    That human really was posing a threat to the survival of the entire abyssal plane.


    The Holy Lord sat on his massive lofty chair with an unmatched aura radiating from its body. The entire abyssal plane was trembling in the face of his peerless might. To the Holy Lord, who was the true ruler of this plane, it was an extremely simple matter to destroy any of the abyssal levels.


    The 108 abyssal levels were like parts of its body, and the deepest level was the level where its essence lay.


    At this moment, all of the other abyssal emperors were standing before the Holy Lord. Aside from the Holy Lord, only 84 of the 107 abyssal emperors remained. In order to facilitate that final attack from the Holy Lord, 20 abyssal emperors had to sacrifice themselves in order to produce enough energy to temporarily open up a spatial passageway.


    The Holy Lord''s power was indeed unmatched. However, as the ruler of the abyssal plane, it had to face enormous pressure from an entire plane when it tried to attack an alternate plane.


    Tang Wulin was able to draw upon so much natural energies through the Blood God Array and avoid overexertion despite wielding far more power than he was capable of, and this was exactly because the entire Douluo Continent plane had been protecting him at the time. Otherwise, how could a mere Soul Emperor like him have played such a significant role during that battle?


    Despite the heavy price that had been paid by the abyssal plane, Tang Wulin was still alive, and the Holy Lord had even been injured in its attempt to kill him; this was simply unimaginable.


    The Holy Lord had already been sitting in silence for three abyssal days, and no one dared to utter a single sound as a grave atmosphere settled over all of the abyssal emperors.


    They had always regarded the human world as prey that could be hunted down to elevate the abyssal plane into a divine realm, but could it be that the human world now truly possessed the power to destroy the abyssal plane instead? This was something that they were simply unable and unwilling to accept.


    "That was the power of a god; it was true godly power!" The Holy Lord''s voice was very calm and completely emotionless. However, all of the abyssal emperors heaved a collective sigh of relief upon hearing this. At the very least, the Holy Lord had eased the tense atmosphere by breaking the silence.


    However, was that really the power of a god? How could a godly being exist in the human world? Gods should be entities that existed outside of all of the planes. They were higher life forms that all beings on all planes strove to become.


    The Holy Lord could''ve become a god a long time ago if it had intended to so. However, as the ruler of a plane, it had many innate advantages, but also extremely severe disadvantages.


    With the Holy Lord''s power, there would be no issue for it to become even a godking if it were willing to ascend into the divine realm of its plane. It possessed absolute power, and all it required was a godseat.


    However, as the ruler of a plane, it had to face an issue that no other living beings had to face during their journeys to ascension.


    A planar ruler was the core of an entire plane and ruled over everything within that plane. If the Holy Lord wished to do so, it could even make the entire abyssal plane self-detonate and destroy all of the abyssal creatures within it. The Holy Lord could bend the entire abyssal plane to its will, but due to the fact that it was a planar ruler, it was completely integrated with the entire abyssal plane. In a sense, it could be said that it and the abyssal plane were the same inseparable entity.


    As such, if it wanted to become a god, then it would have to transform the entire abyssal plane into a brand new divine realm. Setting aside whether that would result in clashes with other existing divine realms, just the energy required to elevate a plane to become a divine realm was downright immeasurable.


    As such, only through devouring the power and life force energy of other planes could the abyssal plane become more powerful than other divine realms, thereby giving the Holy Lord a chance at ascension.


    As for the abyssal emperors and abyssal sovereigns, no matter how powerful they became, they wouldn''t be able to become godly beings. As long as the abyssal plane didn''t become a divine realm, they would never have any hope for ascension. In this regard, the abyssal plane was completely different from the Douluo Continent.


    The Douluo Continent didn''t have a true planar seed, and all of the planar power had transformed into all types of resources on the Douluo Continent, including martial souls, soul beasts, Soul Masters, humans, plants, oceans, mountains, rivers, etc.


    These were all constituent parts of the Douluo Continent''s planar power, and any living being could earn themselves a chance at becoming a god as long as they could cultivate to the human peak using these resources.


    Of course, the prerequisite to this was the existence of a divine realm.

 Chapter 1122: The Holy Lords Wisdom is Unmatched

    The divine realm that corresponded with the Douluo Continent had first made it impossible for soul beasts and animals to become gods, and a long time ago, the divine realm disappeared without a trace. This was why no one had been able to ascend during the past 10,000 years.


    However, there was definitely more than one person in human history to have ascended to the divine realm, and this was the fundamental difference between the two realms.


    The Holy Lord had been plotting for countless years, constantly searching for an opportunity to elevate the abyssal plane into a divine realm in one fell swoop. It had been searching for this opportunity for far, far too long, and it had finally found the Douluo Continent, a world that was teeming with life force energy. However, much to its surprise, the abyssal plane wasn''t able to take over the Douluo Continent in the initial battle over 6,000 years ago, and now, their plane was at risk of being attacked by the Douluo Continent instead.


    "Holy Lord, was that really the power of a god? Didn''t the divine realm that corresponded with the Douluo Continent already disappear a long time ago?" the Black Sovereign asked in a perplexed manner.


    If it weren''t for the fact that they had sensed that the corresponding divine realm of the Douluo Continent had already disappeared, they wouldn''t have dared to connect with and invade the Douluo Continent plane!


    The divine realm normally wouldn''t interfere with lower realms, but it would definitely intervene if a plane belonging to an alternate divine realm attempted to invade one of its subsidiary realms. The abyssal plane was indeed very powerful, but it was nothing compared to a true divine realm.


    The Holy Lord replied in an indifferent voice, "I''m not sure about the exact details, either, but the power that they released in the end was definitely true godly power. Those two humans perhaps don''t possess such godly power, but they possess a godly seed. They were able to draw upon the power of the Douluo plane to forcibly release godly power. Otherwise, how would they have been able to force me back? I truly didn''t think that such power existed on the Douluo Continent; no wonder that human is able to devour abyssal energy.


    "He has the shadow of a god behind him, and he also possesses the seed of life; after this recent battle, he''s become a lot more powerful. If I can find him and devour him, then all of the life forms on the Douluo plane will be forced to relinquish their life force energy to our abyssal plane."


    A hint of excitement crept into the voice of the Holy Lord as it spoke, and all of the abyssal emperors and abyssal sovereigns were quite surprised. They had thought that the Holy Lord had been in a constant state of extreme fury during the past few abyssal days, but it seemed that this was actually not the case.


    The Holy Lord continued in a cold voice, "I''ve been searching for so many years and finally found a shortcut to elevate our abyssal plane; how could we give up on this opportunity so easily? Human greed is infinite, and we can use that to our advantage to manipulate our human allies into doing our bidding. Get into contact with them, and I''ll express our ''sincerity'' to them in person. We appear to have failed on this occasion, but in reality, we''ve discovered where the seed of life of the Douluo Continent lies, so this is a huge victory for us. So what if he devours all of you? As long as I can devour him in the end, all of the life force energy on the entire Douluo Continent will become a part of our abyssal plane. When that time comes, I''ll forcibly elevate our plane into a brand new divine realm!"


    "The Holy Lord''s wisdom is unmatched!"


    All of the abyssal emperors and abyssal sovereigns knelt down onto the ground to extend respectful salutes.


    The Black Sovereign lowered her head with a contemplative look in her seductive eyes, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.


    ¡­¡­


    The feeling of flying freely through the air was truly an intoxicating one.


    After making a breakthrough to become a Soul Sage and reaching the Spirit Domain realm, Tang Wulin was able to experience this freedom in far greater depth than before.


    There seemed to be countless particles of all types of elements revolving around him in an elated manner. The wind elements were carrying his body, the water and fire elements were dancing around him, the light elements were nourishing his body... All of this made Tang Wulin feel as if the entire world had completely changed.


    Was this the true Douluo Continent?


    After receiving the blessings of the entire Douluo Continent plane, he had naturally made a breakthrough to the Spirit Domain realm. At the same time, his sensory of all elements had become countless times more potent than in the past, and he possessed a level of elemental affinity that was far superior to all other Soul Masters.


    This was the result of the blessing of the entire plane, and this made it far easier for him to absorb natural energies.


    As particles of all elements surged naturally through his body, he basked in the pleasure of being one with nature.


    He couldn''t help but heave an internal sigh as he thought back to how difficult things had been for him when he had first begun his cultivation journey. Back then, he had put in more effort than anyone else, yet only reaped a fraction of the rewards.


    He could still recall the crushing pain and disappointment when he had purchased Goldsong with the money that he had earned so arduously over such a long time.


    At the time, he truly considered giving up on cultivation. After all, he only possessed a trash martial soul, and even the soul spirit that he had purchased with his hard-earned money was a defective one.


    Thankfully, he persevered in the end. His forging had taught him the importance of persistence, and his resolute will had allowed him to finally reach the point that he was at today.


    All of this was naturally directly related to the Golden Dragon King seals within his body, but his persistent efforts and unbreakable will had been even more important.


    Now, he could finally consider himself to be a powerful cultivator, and he could finally set off in search of his parents, as well as her. No matter how difficult the road ahead was going to be, he was definitely going to overcome all obstacles that came his way.


    No matter what kind of arduous circumstances he encountered, nothing would be an issue as long as his will and spirit remained strong.


    Jiang Wuyue looked on at Tang Wulin, who was flying up ahead, and a sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart.


    When he had first met Tang Wulin, the latter was still just a newbie, yet he was already a battalion commander at the time.


    During their first sparring session, there didn''t seem to be that much of a gap between them, but as time passed, Tang Wulin continued to grow at a constant, insane rate. His rate of growth was simply terrifying and unfathomable to Jiang Wuyue.


    During the most recent battle, Jiang Wuyue had witnessed Tang Wulin''s peerless power in person. While it was indeed true that he had drawn upon the power of the Blood God Array, the fact of the matter was that he''d opposed the entire abyssal plane on his own! At the very least, that was what had happened in Jiang Wuyue''s eyes. In the past, he had regarded Tang Wulin as his rival in love, but that notion had already been completely swept out of his mind.


    How could they be rivals when they weren''t even on the same level?


    Thankfully, he already had a girlfriend. Was the woman who had appeared near the conclusion of the battle his girlfriend? In that case...


    With that in mind, Jiang Wuyue turned to appraise Long Yuxue, who was flying beside him.


    Aside from Tang Wulin, Sima Jinchi, and A''Ruheng, everyone else was flying in black mechas. After all, it was quite taxing to fly for extended periods of time for all Soul Masters below the Soul Sage level, even if they were to wear their suits of battle armor. The main benefit of using a mecha was that it didn''t exhaust the mecha pilot''s power.


    Long Yuxue''s black mecha was filled with a sense of streamlined beauty. Compared to others, her newly constructed black mecha was very delicate and graceful in appearance. It was only around 7 meters tall, and it was very lithe and slender, just like her captivating figure. Aside from a massive soul gun, the mecha had no other weapons that were outwardly displayed. This gun was over eight meters in length, and it had to be carried on a slant, even on the back of her black mecha. The gun was entirely dark blue in color with countless fine symbols inscribed on its surface. The barrel of the gun alone exceeded three meters in length, and in reality, it was more appropriate to call it a cannon than a gun.


    Even with Jiang Wuyue''s powers, he was struck by a sense of sharp pain all over his body at the mere sight of that thing.


    Long Yuxue also had her eyes fixed on Tang Wulin as she flew through the air in her mecha, and compared to Jiang Wuyue''s powerlessness and dejection, her heart was filled with far more complex emotions.

 Chapters 1123: Sudden Warning Signs

    It''s no wonder that he doesn''t want me; his lover is so beautiful and powerful in equal measure.


    She had seen the exquisitely gorgeous woman with silver hair and purple eyes with her very own eyes. At the time, she had appeared out of thin air beside Tang Wulin and fused as one with him during his time of dire need.


    They had only stood beside one another for a very short time, but Long Yuxue could clearly see that during that brief period of time, they only had eyes for each other. She had never seen such an expression from Tang Wulin before.


    Even though his eyes were filled with astonishment at the time, the shock was intermingled with boundless passion. His heart was only big enough to contain her, and she was so exceptional and powerful.


    But why did she leave? She left without saying anything to anyone, and Long Yuxue hadn''t even learned her name.


    Only a woman like her was worthy of him. Even Long Yuxue herself wasn''t sure why she had insisted on being a part of the group that was selected to accompany Tang Wulin on his journey.


    She had told her father that she wanted to broaden her own horizons by seeing the outside world, but was that really the truth?


    She was naturally aware of how Jiang Wuyue felt about her, but one''s first love was always going to be their first choice! She knew that it was impossible for a relationship to blossom between them, but he was her first love, and she was still unwilling to give up on him, despite her better judgment.


    He was a major general and the captain of the Blood Dragon Squad, while she was only his subordinate, so it couldn''t be a bad thing for her to follow him and see more of the world.


    In contrast with everyone else, A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi''s thought process was completely different. They flew out of the snowy mountain ranges behind Tang Wulin in an extremely eager manner, and the first feeling that they were struck by was a sense of freedom! In that instant, these two burly man-mountains were struck by the urge to weep tears of joy!


    They were finally free! They had almost been executed under the most farcical circumstances imaginable! In their eyes, the Blood God Legion base was like hell on earth, and they never wanted to come back to this place for as long as they lived.


    At the same time, their hearts were filled with gratitude toward Tang Wulin. If he hadn''t swooped in to save them, then they would''ve truly been in a lot of danger.


    Aside from them, most of the other members of Tang Wulin''s Blood Dragon Squad were around 30 years of age, and they were all among the elite of the elite in the younger generation of the Blood God Legion. For them, leaving the Blood God Legion was a very new and exciting experience. It had been so long since they''d left the legion base that they''d almost forgotten what the outside world was like.


    In reality, almost all of the soldiers in the legion wanted to join the Blood Dragon Squad. Aside from a desire to follow the heroic Blood Dragon who had saved the entire legion, they also wanted to see the outside world as well! This was particularly true for the younger soldiers of the legion. All of them had heavy responsibilities on their shoulders, but if given the opportunity, who wouldn''t want to go and explore the outside world?


    Now that they were finally able to leave the legion base, all of them were filled with excitement.


    Tang Wulin was flying at the forefront of the group, and all of a sudden, he seemed to have sensed something and began to decelerate in his flight.


    In order to further sense his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he had released his spiritual aura to its maximal extent as he flew through the air so he could sense the largest area possible. This was a spiritual power cultivation method that Cao Dezhi had taught him. After one''s spiritual power reached a certain level, the best way to continue to cultivate it was to constantly search for their limits.


    Just now, Tang Wulin had suddenly sensed an extraordinary burst of blood essence fluctuations through his spiritual power.


    What was that? The blood essence fluctuations were even more powerful than his own! This was simply unimaginable!


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly as he cast his gaze into the distance.


    These blood essence fluctuations were far more powerful than his own, and if it weren''t for his immensely powerful spiritual power, he may not even have been able to sense the fluctuations. What kind of powerful being was this? Why was there such a powerful being here in the westernmost region of the continent?


    Those blood essence fluctuations didn''t seem to belong to a human at all. He and his senior disciple brother, A''Ruheng, already possessed the most powerful blood essence fluctuations among the human race. However, the blood essence fluctuations that he had just sensed were more powerful than his and A''Ruheng''s combined!


    Tang Wulin raised a hand, and everyone immediately slowed down slightly.


    A''Ruheng arrived beside Tang Wulin, and asked, "What is it, Junior Disciple Brother?"


    Tang Wulin pointed toward a certain direction, and replied, "There seems to be an extremely powerful being over in that direction. Should we avoid them or..."


    "Why would we do that? Let''s go and have a look!" A''Ruheng''s eyes lit up before he immediately flew toward the direction Tang Wulin was pointing in without any hesitation.


    He was still filled with pent-up fury from the mistreatment he had received at the Blood God Legion, and he wanted nothing better than to clash with a powerful being to vent his frustrations. He was initially planning to spar with Tang Wulin, but Tang Wulin had just saved him and Sima Jinchi, and it didn''t seem right for him to challenge his savior. Now that they had encountered a powerful being, he certainly wasn''t going to shy away from battle!


    "Wait for me, Senior Disciple Brother." Tang Wulin hurriedly flapped his wings to catch up to A''Ruheng. The blood essence fluctuations in that direction were far beyond the normal threshold!


    Everyone else also hurriedly followed along. Right at this moment, a loud roar suddenly rang out in the direction that Tang Wulin had detected the blood essence fluctuations from.


    "Roar!"


    In the instant the roar rang out, everyone was struck by the imagery of a gigantic primordial beast stretching its body. In the distance, a layer of dark golden light appeared, and even the natural light in the sky dimmed slightly.


    Long Yuxue couldn''t help but cover her mouth with her hand in astonishment as she sat in her mecha''s pilot room. Good heavens! What kind of being was that? How could it possibly be capable of releasing such a fearsome aura?


    Even A''Ruheng, who was flying at the forefront, immediately drew to an abrupt halt as a stunned look appeared on his face.


    Just that roar alone was enough to shake the entire heavens; just how powerful did one have to be before they could unleash an aura of this caliber?


    Tang Wulin stopped beside A''Ruheng, and for some reason, the roar and aura struck him with a faint sense of familiarity.


    Sima Jinchi arrived on Tang Wulin''s other side, and mused, "Is it coming for us?"


    A hint of befuddlement had also appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes. They had only just left the Blood God Legion base, which was extremely obscure and confidential, so why was there such an unfathomably powerful being in this area?


    The first thing they could be sure of was that this wasn''t an abyssal creature. Such a powerful abyssal creature wouldn''t be able to break through the new seal on the abyssal passageway anyway.


    Secondly, this definitely wasn''t an Evil Soul Master, either, as this being''s blood essence fluctuations were simply far too powerful. It was like a small sun that was filled with an extreme yang-attribute aura, one that no Evil Soul Master could possibly possess.


    However, he couldn''t recall having any enemies aside from Evil Soul Masters and powerful beings from the abyssal plane! Furthermore, was it really a coincidence that they had encountered this powerful being as soon as they left the snowy mountain ranges? Could it be that this was a powerful being that had just emerged from seclusion?


    Tang Wulin shook his head, and said, "Let''s avoid a confrontation."


    He had extremely heavy responsibilities on his shoulders, and this unknown powerful being was clearly extremely fearsome. As such, it was best to avoid them and move on.


    However, some things simply couldn''t just be avoided at will. Just as Tang Wulin was preparing to lead everyone toward another direction, the being that was exuding the insanely powerful blood essence fluctuations seemed to have also discovered them.


    The powerful blood essence fluctuations almost instantly began to travel toward them at an incredible speed, and from a birds-eye perspective, it looked as if there were an extremely bright ball of dark golden light hurtling toward them.


    "Is it really here for us?" A''Ruheng raised an eyebrow.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. "Everyone, get ready for battle."


    All of the Blood God Legion soldiers accompanying him had extremely extensive battle experience, and they quickly got into the ideal formation even without any further instructions from him. The 24 black mechas quickly dispersed before adopting different positions depending on their respective strengths. The mechas fanned out in a semi-circular formation with Tang Wulin''s trio at the very center, and Jiang Wuyue positioned his black mecha in front of Long Yuxue in a very natural manner.


    Meanwhile, Long Yuxue''s mecha picked up the massive soul gun on its back before carrying the gun on its shoulder.


    A hint of blue light began to flash from the surface of the huge gun, and it also began to emit a faint buzzing sound.


    Ma Shan had situated himself in front of Ling Wuyue, and his black mecha was wielding a pair of gigantic hammers, ones that were even larger than the pair that Tang Wulin had once used. The hammers were shimmering with faint azure light, and they weren''t as simple as their appearance suggested. Both hammers had high-frequency vibration capabilities, and that, in conjunction with Ma Shan''s fearsome strength, would allow the hammers to smash through even a black mecha''s protective barrier.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he circled his arms in front of him as a burst of golden radiance appeared around him while his suit of two-word battle armor appeared over his own body.

 Chapter 1124: Arrival of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear

    Following the evolution he had recently undergone, his suit of two-word battle armor had become more dazzling than ever, and he instantly became the core of the entire Blood Dragon Squad.


    In particular, everyone was struck by a sense of reinvigoration as his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his hand, and this feeling was most pronounced for A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi, who were standing right beside him.


    They had both fought Tang Wulin during the recently concluded competition, so they had thought that they were quite familiar with Tang Wulin''s powers. However, as Tang Wulin released his weapon and battle armor before them, they suddenly felt as if he had become a completely different person.


    His aura...


    Both A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were quite stunned by his growth.


    There was a very peculiar sensation being released from Tang Wulin''s body. It wasn''t as powerful as the blood essence fluctuations in the distance, but what was quite alarming was that they couldn''t even sense Tang Wulin''s existence unless they were to look directly at him.


    Was this what it was like to become one with nature?


    However, one had to possess Spirit Domain realm spiritual power before they could enter this state, so only extremely powerful beings with immense spiritual power could achieve this state of oneness with nature. Even Sima Jinchi could only accomplish this when releasing his saber intent and saber repulse; he definitely couldn''t enter this state as easily as Tang Wulin could.


    The competition had only just concluded a few days ago! How had he become this powerful already?


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng exchanged a glance with one another, and both of them could see their own confusion mirrored in each other''s eyes.


    Their astonishment was exacerbated even further at the sight of the seven soul rings that were slowly rising up around Tang Wulin.


    There were four black, one greenish-golden, and two orange-golden soul rings.


    The first thought that occurred to the two of them was, did Tang Wulin really come from the Douluo Continent? This soul ring configuration shouldn''t be something that a normal Soul Master could attain!


    They had heard of orange-golden soul rings in the past, but what was that green one all about?


    Before they had a chance to delve deeper into this matter, the dark golden ball of light had appeared in their field of view before suddenly rising up into the air like a cannonball. In the instant that it rose up into the heavens, a deafening boom rang out from the ground down below. From the air above, one could clearly see that the ground down in a diameter of around 100 meters had caved in significantly, as if it had just been stomped on by a terrifying gargantuan creature.


    The dark golden ball of light reached everyone in the blink of an eye before stopping and revealing its true appearance to be an extremely burly man.


    A''Ruheng was already quite muscular and imposing, but even he was completely dwarfed by this man, both in height and musculature. There was a layer of faint golden color on the surface of the man''s skin, and he was only wearing a singlet, revealing a pair of thick musclebound arms that were comparable to mecha arms. His entire body was radiating extremely powerful blood essence fluctuations, and his eyes were shimmering with a vicious light.


    Even in the face of over 20 black mechas, he still remained completely unfazed. He then quickly caught sight of Tang Wulin, upon which his eyes immediately lit up.


    "Are you Tang Wulin?" His voice was very deep and filled with an indescribable sense of power.


    "I am. Who are you?" Through his immense spiritual power, Tang Wulin was instantly able to sense that this man didn''t harbor any benevolence toward him at all.


    "I am Bear Lord, and you can refer to me as such. I''ll give you a chance to commit suicide so I won''t have to dirty my hands," Bear Lord said in a nonchalant manner.


    Even before Tang Wulin had a chance to say anything, A''Ruheng immediately flared up with rage. "Who the hell do you think you are?"


    A''Ruheng had quite a fiery temper to begin with, and he was extremely frustrated by the mistreatment he''d recently received, so even though he was aware that this was an extremely powerful being, he still charged into battle without any hesitation.


    Powerful blood essence fluctuations abruptly erupted from A''Ruheng''s body, perfectly exemplifying the might of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method.


    Even though he only had a very short distance to cover, A''Ruheng still left a trail of afterimages in his wake while all of the other members of the Blood Dragon Squad looked on from behind him. His fist reached Bear Lord in virtually the blink of an eye, and his extraordinary strength had even torn through space, causing the surrounding air to twist and warp violently.


    A hint of disdain appeared on Bear Lord''s face, and he instantly raised his left hand before his palm turned into a dark golden color.


    "Bam!" A muffled thump erupted from Bear Lord''s palm, and violent shockwaves immediately erupted forth alongside a layer of powerful reddish-golden light.


    Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi''s pupils contracted almost in complete unison as they could see that A''Ruheng''s immensely powerful punch had struck Bear Lord''s palm, but the latter didn''t even move so much as a single inch. He was like an impregnable fortress that remained completely unmoved by A''Ruheng''s strength.


    A cold smile appeared on Bear Lord''s face, and he suddenly brought his fingers together to clamp down on A''Ruheng''s fist in his own hand.


    "Crack!" The sound of cracking bones made everyone wince involuntarily.


    A''Ruheng had cultivated arduously for so many years before finally completing the Body Sect''s congenital secret method and attaining such a powerful body, yet his right fist had been completely crushed by Bear Lord''s palm.


    This was downright unimaginable, and Tang Wulin''s expression darkened as he instantly sprang into action. He flapped his wings, and his body shot forth like a shooting star while his spear was thrust toward Bear Lord like a bolt of golden lightning.


    He didn''t know why he was being targeted by Bear Lord, but at a time like this, he could only go into battle.


    Bear Lord swept his left hand through the air to toss A''Ruheng away, sending him hurtling directly toward Sima Jinchi, who had sprung into action almost at the exact same moment as Tang Wulin. At the same time, he thrust his right hand toward Tang Wulin.


    Only when truly facing Bear Lord was Tang Wulin able to sense just how terrifying he was. There didn''t seem to be anything special about Bear Lord''s attack, but in reality, when his palm reached Tang Wulin, the latter felt as if there were a massive mountain crashing toward him.


    He was instantly struck by a sense of asphyxiation, there seemed to be no way to escape this palm. He felt as if he were about to be reduced to dust, and his expression darkened even further.


    In the past, he would''ve had no choice but to think of a way to fall back and take evasive measures in this situation. However, he was no longer the same Tang Wulin that he once was after integrating all of the fruits that he''d reaped during his battle against the abyssal plane.


    A loud dragon''s roar erupted out of his mouth, and his Golden Dragon King bloodline fluctuations were fully unleashed. His dragon core contracted violently before expanding, then contracting again, and extremely powerful blood essence fluctuations radiated from his body.


    He began to emit an unimaginably powerful aura, and a huge golden dragon head emerged with his body at its very center. Even with Bear Lord''s extraordinary powers, he couldn''t help but be slightly alarmed by that thunderous Golden Dragon Roar.


    This Golden Dragon Roar made him feel as if he were facing the Golden Dragon King itself, and the peerlessly powerful blood essence fluctuations forcibly restricted Bear Lord''s bloodline aura, causing his palm to falter slightly as he thrust it through the air.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear reached him, and the massive golden dragon head had already transformed into a giant dragon. The dragon then immediately opened its mouth in an attempt to devour Bear Lord whole.


    After inventing Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing, Tang Wulin''s Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon had undergone a complete transformation. His Golden Dragon Roar transitioned into Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, and at the same time, he unleashed his blood soul fusion skill. His soul power and bloodline power instantly combined before erupting forth, and it was as if countless bluish-golden giant dragons had fused into his spear strike.


    The aura of the giant golden dragon drew a slight change in even Bear Lord''s expression, and he clenched his palm into a fist as he let loose an explosive cry.


    "Boom!"


    Terrifying energy fluctuations wreaked havoc through the air!

 Chapter 1125: The Terrifying Bear Lord

    Tang Wulin appeared to have unleashed a very simple spear strike, but it was actually a combination of his blood soul fusion skill, Golden Dragon Spear, and unyielding will. He was only a seven-ring Soul Sage, but with the enhancements from his suit of two-word battle armor, his powers were comparable to those of a Titled Douluo. In addition, he possessed several types of extremely powerful abilities, and even a Hyper Douluo would likely struggle to force him back.


    A terrifying explosion of energy erupted in the air. Sima Jinchi had just caught A''Ruheng, and the two of them were sent flying for several dozens of meters. They managed to right themselves in mid-air just in time to witness Tang Wulin unleashing his devastating attack, and they discovered that his Golden Dragon Spear was exuding an overbearing intent that they had never seen during the competition.


    He was like a powerful eagle that was soaring through the heavens, unwilling to back down in the slightest even against the most fearsome of opponents.


    The Golden Dragon Spear was repelled upward amid a resounding boom, and the giant golden dragon seemed to have already devoured Bear Lord. However, in the next instant, the golden light dissipated to reveal Bear Lord''s true body.


    Tang Wulin''s face was slightly pale, but his spear-wielding was still firm and steady.


    "I really didn''t think that you''d become powerful enough to take a punch from me in such a short time. It''s no wonder that Boss wants me to kill you as soon as possible; I now understand his reasoning. You''ve earned yourself the right to witness my true power!"


    Bear Lord suddenly spread open his musclebound arms as he spoke, and a series of dark golden blades instantly sprang out of his fingertips. At the same time, his aura swelled drastically, and his body instantly expanded as he transformed into a terrifying giant bear that was over 100 meters tall in the blink of an eye. His dark golden claws also expanded along with his body, reaching over 30 meters in length each.


    Even the perpetually headstrong A''Ruheng, Sima Jinchi, Ma Shan, and Jiang Wuyue couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath in unison upon seeing this.


    The creature standing before them was like a vicious deity who was capable of tearing through the heavens and crushing the earth!


    "Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear!" Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    He finally understood why this man''s aura was so familiar to him. Back in the Spirit Ascension Plane, he had once encountered a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear and obtained a right-hand soul bone from it, which had greatly enhanced his powers.


    "Your martial soul is the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear?" A grave tone had crept into Tang Wulin''s voice.


    He was naturally aware of just what a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear entailed. From what he had been taught in Shrek Academy, this type of martial soul was comparable to giant dragons! However, there seemed to be no human Soul Masters in history who possessed Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear martial souls, and this was simply because this type of soul beast was far too ferocious.


    1,000-year-old Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear could easily destroy normal 10,000-year-old soul beasts, and they truly stood at the very top of the soul beast food chain.


    "Martial soul? That''s something that only accursed humans like you possess! All humans deserve to die!"


    Bear Lord didn''t have any intention of wasting time with words, and he immediately swept his terrifying dark golden claws horizontally through the air.


    His claws truly seemed to be capable of tearing through the heavens, and in the instant that they were unleashed, fearsome claw projections swept through an area with a radius of 500 meters. Not only were Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi caught in the scope of this attack, even the 24 black mechas that were situated further away were also encompassed within the range of this attack.


    The sky abruptly dimmed, and in that instant, it was as if armageddon had descended upon the Blood Dragon Squad.


    This is a Limit Douluo!


    This thought suddenly occurred to Tang Wulin. This Bear Lord''s powers were already comparable to those of a Limit Douluo, and on top of that, he was a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. That''s right, he had just said "humans like you", so it was extremely likely that this man was actually an extremely powerful Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear!


    Did such powerful soul beasts really exist in this world? Furthermore, this Bear Lord seemed to be targeting him.


    All of these thoughts flashed through Tang Wulin''s mind in an instant. With his current powers, abilities, and two-word battle armor, Tang Wulin was confident that he could even face a Hyper Douluo in battle, but this enemy was clearly far more fearsome than a Hyper Douluo.


    This was Bear Lord, the ruler of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, and one of the very few Great Beasts that still remained on this continent!


    It was truly displaying its fearsome might now, and even though it was only unleashing a single attack, everyone was struck by the feeling that the sky was falling down onto them!


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and a grave look instantly appeared on his face. He couldn''t back down. He was the core of the Blood Dragon Squad, and if he were to back down now, everyone behind him would be struck by Bear Lord''s devastating attack.


    Even now, he would still have a chance to evade the oncoming attack if he were to retreat right away. However, retreat had already become a foreign concept to him from the moment he invented Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing.


    No matter how powerful and overbearing his enemies were, he could only continue to forge ahead and establish his own path of regal domination!


    A loud dragon''s roar instantly erupted from his Dragon Moon battle armor, and a huge golden dragon projection also surfaced behind him. The Golden Dragon Spear in his hand began to glow with scintillating light, and it was as if he had transformed into a golden sun.


    Elemental particles of all different attributes in the air converged toward him in a frenzy, and even a Titled Douluo wouldn''t be able to match his current level of power.


    Countless streaks of golden light instantly erupted forth, and in that instant, Tang Wulin''s mind was completely devoid of all thoughts aside from the spear in his hand.


    Every single streak of golden light was like an actual Golden Dragon Spear, and all of them instantly tracked down the trajectories of the Duskgold Dreadclaws as they surged through the air. Each and every spear strike was aimed at the most resolute sections of the Duskgold Dreadclaws with unerring accuracy, and even though the golden spear projections were all destroyed by the devastating Duskgold Dreadclaws, the claws were slowed down as a result of the clash.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin wasn''t fighting on his own. The sound of a violent heartbeat rang out from Tang Wulin''s right side, and A''Ruheng''s body instantly swelled to over 10 meters tall. The sound of his heartbeat was akin to muffled thunderclaps as he unleashed his blood essence fluctuations with all his might, and there were faint crimson flames burning around his body.


    His peerlessly powerful blood essence seemed to have set his body alight, and he knew that this was the most powerful enemy he had ever faced, so he didn''t dare to hold back at all. A layer of crimson-golden color appeared over his skin, and he hurtled forth toward Bear Lord from the side like a shooting star.


    At this point, Sima Jinchi had also released his Dragonslaying Saber. A shrill dragon''s roar of grief erupted throughout the entire heavens, and a gargantuan evil dragon emerged. Its anguished howls provided a whetstone that sharpened the Dragonslaying Saber, and the saber seemed to be threatening to part heaven and earth as it was swept through the air.


    Peerless unstoppable intent was injected into the saber soul, and Sima Jinchi''s body had completely disappeared. He had unleashed his seventh soul skill, His Dragonslaying True Body, and his saber soul had manifested itself in the form of an infernal hell.


    At the same time, the 24 black mechas also unleashed their attacks in unison.


    All of the melee combat mechas positioned themselves in front of the long-range attacking mechas, and there just so happened to be 12 of each.


    Long Yuxue''s heavy sniper soul cannon had already locked onto its target, and the blue light flowing over the surface of the massive soul cannon was becoming more and more pronounced. Just as Bear Lord''s Duskgold Dreadclaws were about to reach everyone, this fearsome soul cannon finally fired its first shot.


    A dark blue laser beam silently shot forth, and there was no resounding boom, nor any powerful aura being released. Despite the weapons enormous size, the laser beam it released was only about as thick as a human finger. In fact, one could easily miss the laser beam altogether unless they were to focus their attention on it.


    The dark blue beam of light reached Bear Lord''s chest in a flash, and there wasn''t even any need to aim as Bear Lord''s hundred-meter-tall body provided a gigantic target.


    Tang Wulin''s spear projections were only able to slightly oppose Bear Lord''s Duskgold Dreadclaws, but the claw projections were still converging inward. However, his efforts hadn''t been in vain. At the very least, he had bought the 24 black mechas behind him enough time to retreat to outside the range of the attack.


    Bear Lord didn''t pay much heed to this. He was only targeting Tang Wulin anyway, and as long as he could kill Tang Wulin, it didn''t matter to him even if all of the other humans escaped.


    However, right at this moment, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his chest. Bear Lord''s expression stiffened slightly, and a layer of dense dark golden light instantly erupted from his dark golden fur.


    The forte of a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear lay in their defensive and offensive prowess, and even though he didn''t possess any long-range attacks, it was no exaggeration to say that he was the king of close-quarters combat.


    Bear Lord had already become one of the 10 Great Beasts tens of thousands of years ago, and he was ranked very high on the list. Aside from the lord of all soul beasts, the only one who drew genuine respect from him was the leader of the 10 Great Beasts.

 Chapter 1126: Long Yuxues Laser

    He had never paid much heed to human attacks, and even a Limit Douluo would have a hard time trying to harm him.


    "Thump!"


    All of a sudden, Bear Lord''s body shuddered slightly, and an incredulous look appeared in his massive eyes. His sharp claws abruptly faltered in mid-air, and an enormous burst of dark golden energy erupted forth as a massive explosion, immediately sending Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi flying backward in unison.


    Tang Wulin had already prepared a trump card, but he didn''t even get a chance to unleash it. He had originally planned to unleash the blood soul fusion skill version of his Fury of the Masses, and even though there was no way that would be able to keep Bear Lord''s attack at bay, he was preparing to combine his Fury of the Masses with All or Nothing to unleash a kamikaze attack against Bear Lord. His spear projections were constantly being forced back, but in reality, he was borrowing Bear Lord''s power to compress his spear intent to the greatest possible extent.


    However, Bear Lord was simply far too powerful, and even Tang Wulin didn''t know whether his final kamikaze attack would be able to harm him. However, what he was sure of was that there was at least an 80% chance that his body would be torn into pieces by Bear Lord.


    However, right at this moment, a startling turn of events suddenly unfolded. A burst of vibrational force abruptly erupted from Bear Lord''s Duskgold Dreadclaws, and it did indeed send them flying, but it didn''t actually inflict any damage upon them.


    Bear Lord''s eyes were wide with astonishment, and at this moment, his gaze was no longer fixed on Tang Wulin. Instead, his attention had turned to Long Yuxue''s black mecha, and the massive gun that was sitting on its shoulder.


    What was that? What kind of attack was that?


    A sense of fear, which had been a foreign concept to Bear Lord for countless years, suddenly welled up in his heart in the face of this human weapon, which he had completely disregarded earlier.


    What is that?


    Bear Lord was completely befuddled. He hadn''t felt his defenses being struck by any particularly heavy impacts, but the sense of sharp pain had suddenly exploded directly within his own body. If it weren''t for the fact that he had cultivated his internal organs to be just as defensively astute as his skin and muscles, his body would''ve most likely exploded from the inside.


    Even so, that completely inconspicuous laser beam had truly hurt him. If it weren''t for the fact that he had instinctively shifted the location of his heart within his own body just in the nick of time, there was a chance that his heart would''ve been punctured.


    Right at this moment, the other 11 long-range attacking mechas also unleashed their attacks in unison. Two massive boomerangs sliced through the air, while the other 10 black mechas all unleashed the same attacks, sending 10 crimson laser beams hurtling toward Bear Lord at the same time.


    Bear Lord''s body was far too massive, and the light was far too fast for him evade, so he could only bolster his defenses to the very max.


    However, as those red beams of light came into contact with his body, he was struck by the same feeling as before; his defenses didn''t seem to have been afflicted by any heavy blows, but a string of loud booms was constantly erupting from within his body. Compared to the blue laser beam from before, these red laser beams were significantly weaker, but they were still truly harming him!


    The strong scorching sensation drew an involuntary roar of pain and fury from Bear Lord''s mouth, and even Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi were completely flabbergasted.


    What was going on? This was a powerful being who was virtually comparable in power to a Limit Douluo! How could he be having this much trouble against attacks from black mechas? From the looks of it, these attacks seemed to be impacting him quite significantly, and they couldn''t help but wonder what kind of attacks were being unleashed by these Blood God Legion black mechas.


    If these attacks were capable of harming even Limit Douluo level soul beasts, how would they fare against this fearsome assault?


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were most alarmed by this as they had almost been executed in the Blood God Legion base!


    A''Ruheng was extremely confident in the power of his own body, but there was clearly still a significant gap between his and Bear Lord''s physical constitutions. Just how powerful were these long-range attacks to be causing so much trouble even for Bear Lord?


    Bear Lord''s body instantly began to shrink as if it were a punctured balloon. As one of the most powerful Great Beasts in existence, he possessed intelligence that was not inferior to humans in the slightest. As such, he immediately decided to shrink down so that he wouldn''t be as massive a target for these laser beams. At the very least, this would allow him to evade some attacks.


    Immediately after shrinking down to his original size, Bear Lord switched targets and rushed directly toward Long Yuxue, who had harmed him the most.


    If one were to look closely, they would discover that there was blood pouring out of Bear Lord''s mouth, and this was a result of the internal injuries inflicted on him by none other than Long Yuxue''s massive soul gun.


    This sudden development was quite astonishing to Tang Wulin, but he still managed to react very quickly.


    "Roar!" A thunderous dragon''s roar rang out from Tang Wulin''s mouth as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Roar.


    At the same time, his eyes suddenly became extremely bright, and his pupils turned vertical as a burst of invisible might abruptly erupted from his body.


    This was his dragon''s might!


    This was the first time he had unleashed this Golden Dragon King innate ability after progressing to the Soul Sage level and attaining his martial soul true body.


    His dragon''s might erupted forth, and all of the surrounding space instantly turned into a faint golden color. The golden dragon projection behind him also became more substantial, and its golden eyes suddenly turned crimson as it appraised Bear Lord with an enraged expression.


    Bear Lord was in a state of extremely violent rage due to the injuries that he just sustained, but even in this state, he couldn''t help but shudder as the pair of crimson eyes locked onto him.


    This was the same feeling he had been struck by when the lord of all soul beasts had first emerged from underground seclusion, and he almost fell to his knees before the golden dragon projection. This, in addition to the Dragon God aura that had appeared not long ago, evoked a sense of fear within Bear Lord''s heart, and the violent rage in his heart abated slightly, causing his movements to naturally slow down as a result.


    "Boom!" A crimson-golden figure crashed into Bear Lord from the side.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had a common trait, which was their love for battle, and all people who loved to battle shared a common trait, which was that all of them possessed extensive battle experience.


    Neither of them knew why Bear Lord had suddenly slowed down, but they clearly weren''t going to let slip such a brilliant opportunity.


    Following the intimidation from Tang Wulin''s dragon''s might, A''Ruheng crashed into Bear Lord''s body, and at this point, he had already donned his suit of battle armor.


    A''Ruheng was already extremely close to the Titled Douluo level, and with his suit of battle armor and the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, he could put up a good fight even against a Hyper Douluo. His body crashed into Bear Lord like a fiery crimson cannonball, and despite Bear Lord''s immense powers, even he was sent flying for over 10 meters.


    Right at this moment, a dazzling saber projection also descended toward him from above.


    Only then did Bear Lord return to his senses, and he raised his right hand to grab the massive Dragonslaying Saber.


    "Clang!" A thunderous dragon''s roar of anguish rang out, and Bear Lord was struck by a bleak chilling sensation. He felt as if there were countless giant dragons being felled right before his very eyes, and that all of the resentment and hatred from those fallen giant dragons were being directed at him.


    It was also right at this moment that Tang Wulin''s dragon''s might abruptly became more powerful, and a burst of golden light instantly erupted forth, forming what appeared to be a golden path. As the golden path passed through Bear Lord''s body, he was struck by an indescribable sense of regal domination, causing his own aura to deflate at a rapid rate. Even his body faltered momentarily as a result of this, and he was then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin, who had donned a suit of golden armor with a golden visor concealing his handsome face, while a pair of dragon wings had spread open on his back.


    At this moment, it was as if Tang Wulin''s body had expanded to infinity and beyond. The symbols on his Golden Dragon Spear began to glow with scintillating golden light, and all of the anguished giant dragons on the Dragonslaying Saber immediately bowed in subordination toward him upon sensing this aura.

 Chapter 1127: Alternative Soul Fusion Skill?

    The Dragonslaying Saber also instantly turned into a golden color, and nine giant dragons rose up from its blade, causing Sima Jinchi''s body to also adopt the same golden hue. Bear Lord had originally already locked the Dragonslaying Saber firmly in his grasp, but he was suddenly struggling to hold on.


    A golden halo also proliferated from Tang Wulin''s body, and the lavish golden halo instantly encompassed the entire battlefield along with his powerful bloodline aura.


    This was his Violent Golden Dragon Domain!


    In the face of this enemy, who was very likely a Limit Douluo level powerful being, he didn''t dare to hold back in the slightest.


    His Violent Golden Dragon Domain instantly enhanced the powers of all of his allies significantly, and among them, Sima Jinchi was the one who was reaping the most benefits.


    An extremely elated cry suddenly rang out from his Dragonslaying Saber, and an enormous burst of suction force suddenly erupted from the blade, instantly dragging his body into it, causing him to adopt his martial soul true body state again. However, on this occasion, everything had happened automatically beyond his control.


    The Dragonslaying Saber shuddered violently, and a peerlessly vicious aura abruptly erupted from its blade.


    Even the immensely powerful Bear Lord was unable to hold onto it any longer, and the Dragonslaying Saber rose straight up into the air. Brilliant golden light radiated from the saber, and a series of symbols quickly began to appear as if some kind of seal were being undone.


    Tang Wulin immediately sensed what was happening, and as he unleashed his Path of Regal Domination toward Bear Lord with all his might, his seventh soul ring also lit up.


    This was his martial soul true body!


    He didn''t become a massive Bluesilver Emperor vine. Instead, his suit of battle armor suddenly liquefied, immediately following which the golden scales on the surface of his skin suddenly became thicker and heavier. He had transformed into a golden dragon in the blink of an eye.


    The golden dragon was only around five meters in length, but Bear Lord''s expression changed drastically as soon as it appeared.


    The golden dragon extended his front left paw forward, and the Dragonslaying Saber up above instantly descended into his grasp.


    The saber was only gently slashed through the air, and a golden line appeared on the Path of Regal Domination, surging directly toward Bear Lord along the dazzling golden Path of Regal Domination.


    Bear Lord''s pupils contracted violently, and he abruptly threw his head back to let loose a violent roar of fury. His dark golden fur stood up on end, and a peerlessly powerful aura erupted from his body.


    The Path of Regal Domination was instantly shattered, and at the same time, Bear Lord swept his Duskgold Dreadclaws through the air. Even though the claws weren''t as intimidating as they were when he was in his giant form, they were still imbued with devastating might that threatened to tear through heaven and earth.


    "Ding!"


    A crisp clang rang out, and the golden line unleashed by the Dragonslaying Saber clashed with the Duskgold Dreadclaws.


    The golden line was destroyed, but Bear Lord''s body shuddered violently as if he had been electrocuted. He then immediately hurtled into the distance like a dark golden shooting star, vanishing from view in the blink of an eye.


    Tang Wulin''s Purple Demon Eyes enhanced his vision, and allowed him to clearly see that a series of rice-sized chinks had been inflicted onto Bear Lord''s peerlessly sharp Duskgold Dreadclaws by the golden line he''d just unleashed. The chinks weren''t large by any means, but those were true Duskgold Dreadclaws!


    As for why Bear Lord had displayed such a violent reaction, that was beyond him.


    The golden dragon''s body swayed before reverting back to Tang Wulin''s human form.


    This was the first time Tang Wulin had adopted his martial soul true body state, and it was truly a wonderful feeling. However, he was rather perplexed about why he had automatically adopted his Golden Dragon King form as his martial soul true body rather than his Bluesilver Emperor form.


    After heaving a long sigh of relief, Tang Wulin turned to A''Ruheng. "Are you alright, Senior Disciple Brother?"


    A''Ruheng flexed his right fist, which had been crushed by Bear Lord earlier, revealing to Tang Wulin that it had already completely healed. "I''m fine, it''ll take a lot more than a broken hand to slow me down."


    Tang Wulin''s wrist shuddered, and the golden Dragonslaying Saber flew out of his grasp. The golden light faded, and Sima Jinchi also reappeared. However, he currently wore a very peculiar expression, and he was looking at Tang Wulin as if he had seen a ghost.


    Tang Wulin was also looking back at him in a very perplexed manner. He didn''t know why the situation from before had happened, either!


    They had all departed from the Blood God Legion base in high spirits, yet they had encountered such a powerful being after really only just beginning their journey. Tang Wulin wasn''t feeling smug or pleased that they had managed to force Bear Lord into retreat. Instead, he was filled with wariness and caution. It was undoubtedly the case that Bear Lord definitely possessed the power to wipe out their entire squad, and he had only been reduced to such a sorry state as he didn''t know enough about his enemies.


    Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi had already unleashed all of their most powerful trump cards, and Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber had even taken on an unexpected transformation in the end, but they were still unable to truly harm Bear Lord.


    The three of them were the most powerful members of the Blood Dragon Squad, but in reality, it was instead Long Yuxue who had turned the tides of that battle.


    As such, after exchanging a few glances, all three of them turned to appraise Long Yuxue in the end. Just what was that soul gun of hers? How had it managed to wound Bear Lord despite his immensely powerful defenses?


    "Let''s descend onto the ground and find a place to rest." Everyone required some time to recuperate, and there was no telling if and when Bear Lord would suddenly return. Tang Wulin didn''t know why Bear Lord was so intent on killing him, but he had to make sure that everyone was in the best possible condition to face him should he decide to return.


    Thus, everyone landed on the ground, and Tang Wulin knew that his top priority was to understand more about his new set of companions.


    He had thought that he possessed a good understanding of everyone''s abilities as he had faced A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi in battle in the past, and he had fought alongside everyone else during prior battles against the abyssal plane.


    However, it now appeared that he didn''t know anywhere near as much about his companions as he thought he did, so he had to learn more about them.


    The members of the Blood Dragon Squad quickly constructed a makeshift fort, and all types of sensory devices and miniature radars were quickly set up.


    It took less than 10 minutes for the 24 black mechas to establish the fort, and A''Ruheng didn''t know much about military operations, so he wasn''t overly surprised by this, but Sima Jinchi was so astonished that there were veins bulging on his forehead.


    He had always thought that the Southern Legion was the federation''s most powerful legion, yet just from witnessing these super black mechas alone, it had become quite apparent to him that the Southern Legion couldn''t even hold a candle to the Blood God Legion!


    One had to realize that all black mecha pilots in any legion were extremely proud and arrogant, and every single one of them held very important positions in their respective legions.


    Black mecha pilots were all at least colonels and corps commanders, but what about these black mecha pilots?


    These 24 black mecha pilots were like the most ordinary soldiers, willing to follow all of Tang Wulin''s orders without any complaints or objections. Furthermore, they were far more efficient than black mecha pilots from other legions, and even setting aside how advanced these black mechas were, just the weapons that they were equipped with were quite alluring to Sima Jinchi, even though he never even used mechas.


    Not only had Long Yuxue''s blue laser wounded Bear Lord, all of the other black mechas'' red lasers had also managed to injure him!


    What kind of superweapons were these? They definitely weren''t readily available to any other legion in the entire federation!


    Tang Wulin turned to Sima Jinchi, and suddenly said, "Was that a soul fusion skill between us just now?"


    Sima Jinchi was still lusting over the weapons that the black mechas were equipped with, and he immediately turned around with a dark expression upon hearing Tang Wulin''s words. "Of course not! When have you ever seen someone involuntarily use a soul fusion skill?"


    He was feeling extremely dispirited! Right after Tang Wulin had released his Violent Golden Dragon Domain during the battle against Bear Lord, he had become completely unable to control himself. His Dragonslaying Saber had evolved, and when he had fused as one with his saber, he had been struck by a sliver of enlightenment that took him closer to make that elusive breakthrough, but that was all beside the point! The fact of the matter was that he had become completely unable to control his own powers, and he had even been forced to adopt his martial soul true body form just so he could be used as a weapon by someone else!

 Chapter 1128: Heavy Ion Laser

    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I don''t know what happened, either, but it appears that your martial soul really is quite closely related to my bloodline."


    Sima Jinchi nodded in response. "I could sense during our last battle in the Star Battle Net that I had made a breakthrough to become a Titled Douluo, but I returned to normal after logging out. I came to find you in the hope of sparring with you to see if I can make this breakthrough in real life, but I didn''t think that I''d encounter all of this. What happened back there? Did you actively exert control over me?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head. "I''m not sure what happened, either. When your Dragonslaying Saber evolved, I was struck by an instinctive feeling that I should adopt my martial soul true body form, and at the time, it felt as if your Dragonslaying Saber had become a part of my body. After that, I used it to attack before I really even knew what I was doing."


    Sima Jinchi''s lips twitched upon hearing this. It didn''t take a genius to realize what had happened. He had always thought that his Dragonslaying Saber martial soul stood at the pinnacle of this world, but not only was it closely related to Tang Wulin''s bloodline, it was clearly a subsidiary entity to his Golden Dragon King bloodline! With his pride and ego, this was quite a bitter pill to swallow. However, he had to admit that just being with Tang Wulin was clearly taking him closer to making that elusive breakthrough.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in a resigned manner at the sight of Sima Jinchi''s dark expression. "This isn''t necessarily a bad thing; we''re friends, after all."


    Sima Jinchi opened his mouth, and he really wanted to deny any friendly affiliation with Tang Wulin, but he couldn''t bring himself to do so. After all, Tang Wulin had saved his life not long ago, and saying something like that would be far too hurtful.


    A''Ruheng chuckled, "You should just resign yourself to your fate; it''s not necessarily a bad thing to act as a weapon for my junior disciple brother! Besides, it''s not like you can change anything anyway."


    Sima Jinchi turned to A''Ruheng with a vicious look on his face. "I''d advise you not to run your mouth! I haven''t even exacted my revenge on you yet; you better be on your guard in case I chop you into pieces!"


    "Come at me!" A''Ruheng raised his eyebrows in a provocative manner.


    "Yuxue, what''s that gun that''s equipped to your mecha?" Tang Wulin pretended not to be able to hear the quarrel taking place as he turned to Long Yuxue, who was resting nearby.


    She had already emerged from her black mecha at Tang Wulin''s request, and his question instantly drew A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi''s attention, both of whom also turned to appraise Long Yuxue.


    Even Bear Lord hadn''t been able to ward off an attack from her giant gun, and no matter how conceited they were, they weren''t delusional enough to think that they could fare any better. As such, both of them were quite curious to hear Long Yuxue''s response. Had modern technology really already developed to such an extraordinary extent? If even Limit Douluos could be killed so easily with modern weaponry, then what was the point in cultivating for Soul Masters like them?


    Long Yuxue remained completely expressionless as she replied, "This is the newest technology developed by our legion''s research facility; it''s called heavy ion laser."


    "Heavy ion laser?" This was the first time that they had heard of such a thing.


    Long Yuxue took an indifferent glance at A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi. "This is confidential military information that can''t be disclosed to outsiders."


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng''s expressions stiffened in unison upon hearing this.


    Tang Wulin glanced at them before turning back to Long Yuexue. "They''re a part of our Blood Dragon Squad, so they should count as members of our legion; if it''s not a strictly confidential matter, can you make an exception for them?"


    "Yes yes! Please tell us," A''Ruheng urged as he nodded in an eager manner.


    Sima Jinchi was working hard to put on an aloof display, but he was unable to disguise the burning curiosity in his eyes. No one wanted to face such terrifying indefensible attacks in the future!


    Long Yuxue paused momentarily before complying. "Alright, you don''t need to know exactly how these weapons work anyway. The red lasers that everyone else used are proton lasers. Proton lasers are very special in that they possess extremely potent penetrative properties, allowing them to be able to pierce through virtually all energy and physical defenses. However, proton lasers aren''t very powerful, and they''re like normal beams of light that aren''t harmful to the human body. However, after research and development, we''ve been able to use these proton lasers as bridges over certain distances. When these lasers reach a certain depth into one''s body, we can ignite these lasers through these bridges in order to damage a target''s body from the inside, thereby resulting in direct damage to one''s internal organs. This technology is already quite mature in our legion, but due to its extreme destructive power, it''s something that''s currently only available to our legion. As for the heavy ion laser that I used, that''s still in its experimental phase, but to explain it in simple terms, it''s a more powerful version of proton lasers.


    "If proton lasers are ignited within a target''s body, then striking a target with a heavy ion laser would be like detonating a soul bomb directly within their body. The main flaw of heavy ion lasers and proton lasers is that they have a relatively short effective range, and with current technology, they''re only effective within 300 meters. Any further than that, and we won''t be able to accurately detonate the lasers within the target''s body.


    Long Yuxue''s explanation was a little complex, and it left both A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi slightly befuddled. Thankfully, Tang Wulin was able to provide a simpler summarized explanation. "So what you''re saying is that these long-range weapons can disregard the target''s defenses and shoot lasers that can be detonated within the target''s body?"


    Long Yuxue nodded in response. "That''s the general gist of these weapons. In practice, it''s a lot more complex to explain, but you can interpret it like that."


    Disregard defenses...


    That was way too insane!


    Sima Jinchi couldn''t help but ask, "Even battle armor and mechas can''t keep out these lasers?"


    Long Yuxue replied, "Suits of battle armor at or above the three-word level and red mechas can keep proton lasers at bay, but there''s still a chance for these lasers to break through following sustained periods of striking their target. As for heavy ion lasers, only suits of four-word battle armor have been established to be a complete counter. Of course, battle armor of lower calibers can also weaken the effects of these lasers, but that guy from before didn''t have any defensive equipment, so the laser was able to detonate directly inside his body. However, his internal constitution must also be extremely powerful. Otherwise, that heavy ion laser beam should''ve been able to detonate his internal organs."


    "Gulp!" A''Ruheng gulped nervously as a chill ran down his spine.


    His greatest weapon was none other than his body! He was the future heir of the Body Sect, and he normally didn''t even like to use his suit of battle armor during battle. However, these proton lasers and heavy ion lasers seemed as if they had been tailor-made to target him! He had thought that his body was completely impervious after successfully cultivating the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, but it appeared that his confidence was completely blind and unfounded!


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but heave a faint sigh. "Modern technology really is advancing far too quickly. Were these proton and heavy ion laser weapons created to target the abyssal plane?"


    Long Yuxue nodded in response. "Proton laser technology is already mature, and if those abyssal creatures had managed to break through our defensive line that day, the proton lasers would''ve been used on them. Shooting proton lasers requires a huge amount of energy expenditure, but it''s extremely effective against living beings without metallic suits of armor, so it had always been designed to target abyssal creatures. In contrast, they won''t be very effective against mechas unless one can target the vital regions of the pilot controlling the mecha. Only after heavy ion lasers were invented was this problem rectified. However, heavy ion weaponry is still in the infancy stages of its development, and the one I''m using is currently the smallest one that can be used in a stable manner."


    Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi were finally feeling a little more reassured after hearing her explanation.


    However, regardless of what the situation was like now, the fact of the matter was that humans had already invented such weapons, so they would end up in the hands of the military sooner or later. It appeared that the Soul Masters of future generations would have no choice but to learn to better use this modern equipment.


    Was this a good thing or a bad thing?


    After developing a deeper understanding of everyone''s abilities, Tang Wulin was feeling a lot more assured. Even though the situation from earlier had been very dangerous, they had still managed to force away a powerful being, who was essentially equivalent in power to a Limit Douluo that wasn''t wearing any battle armor. This indicated that they had the power to oppose some of the most powerful beings in this world.


    "Where do we go next?" A''Ruheng asked.


    Tang Wulin opened his electronic map and used the GPS to ascertain their current location, then pointed toward a certain direction. "We''ll go to Bright City first, then take a soul train further into the continent."


    They were indeed part of the military, but the Blood God Legion had been established in the Skyend Mountain Ranges to defend against the abyssal plane, and if so many of the legion''s black mechas were to fly into a city at once, they would definitely be discovered by radars, which would lead to a lot of unnecessary problems.


    Of course, Tang Wulin was still rather apprehensive as he mentioned the words "soul train". He had already lost count of the number of accidents he''d encountered while traveling by soul train, and it seemed that he and high-speed soul trains simply weren''t meant to be. ......


    Bright City, the capital city of the Douluo Federation. Following the demolition of Shrek City, Bright City had become the largest city on the entire continent. It was situated in the western region of the continent, and resembled a forest of iron and steel.

 Chapter 1129: Arriving at Bright City Again

    Tang Wulin had visited this city with his friends in the past. After a brief period of rest, everyone set off on their journey again. Bear Lord didn''t reappear, and no one knew whether he had gone away to tend to his injuries or if he was truly fearful of them.


    Prior to entering the sensory scope of the city''s military radars, everyone emerged from their black mechas and put on some normal clothing. They then rented a few SUVs, and only then did they continue on toward Bright City.


    The legion had already taken care of all identification problems for them. The Blood God Legion had retirement quotas every year anyway, so it was a very simple matter for the legion to arrange some identities for them. Furthermore, aside from Tang Wulin, no one even had to hide their identities. At present, the name on Tang Wulin''s identification documents was "Long Yue". [This is Long Yue (ÁúÔÂ), which directly translates to Dragon Moon, just like Tang Wulin''s suit of two-word battle armor, and it''s not to be confused with Long Yue (ÁúÔ¾), the guy with the Mountain Dragon King martial soul.]


    Tang Wulin was sitting in the passenger''s seat and looking out the window at the rapidly passing scenery, but his mind was constantly operating at high speeds. After departing from the Blood God Legion, he had lost his most powerful backers. Even though an alternate identity had been arranged for him, his powers were quite distinctive, and it most likely wouldn''t be difficult for people to discover his true identity if they were to pay close attention to him.


    Thankfully, the final ninth-grade soul missile that had been unleashed during the Shrek Academy bombing had provided a perfect smokescreen, convincing the vast majority of people that he was already dead. Furthermore, he hadn''t made too much of a name for himself on the continent yet, and the people from Shrek Academy who truly came under widespread scrutiny were still the members of the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    It could even be said that he was more renowned on the Star Luo Continent than he was on the Douluo Continent.


    If he wanted to revive Shrek Academy, it naturally wouldn''t be anywhere enough just to rely on the members of his Blood Dragon Squad. Even the Tang Sect was still being oppressed at this point in time, so the first thing that he had to do was to unite all of the powers that he could unite under his banner. In doing so, he would at least be able to ensure that his efforts to revive Shrek Academy wouldn''t be stomped out right away.


    His heart immediately began to throb with pain at the thought of his past teachers and peers of Shrek Academy. These were all people whom he had studied with and grown alongside.


    Shrek Academy had provided him with a warm haven that assuaged the pain of losing his family, but now, even this new big family was gone.


    His powers had been rapidly advancing during the past few years, and he was now finally a high-grade Soul Master, but he would gladly relinquish all of this power if it meant that he could be together with his family and friends. After all, his pursuit for power was all in a bid to better protect the people who were important to him, yet now, he was beginning to run out of people for him to protect.


    He shook his head to shrug off these negative emotions, and his hands balled up into tight fists. Happiness was something that he had to fight for.


    He closed his eyes to organize his own thoughts. Everything that he wanted to do, including reviving Shrek Academy and finding his parents, had to be done step by step.


    The fatigue of traveling wasn''t an issue for high-grade Soul Masters like them, and two days later, they finally arrived at the federal capital, Bright City.


    After entering Bright City, the first thing that they were struck by was the extremely modernized nature of everything there. All types of soul cars were driving along the streets, which were lined by countless skyscrapers that were extremely spectacular to behold.


    Occasionally, a patrolling mecha could be seen flying through the sky, leaving a trail of dazzling light in its wake.


    The law and order in Bright City was actually quite good, and the patrolling mechas acted more so as devices to get the younger generation interested in joining the army, rather than to actually enforce law and order.


    Ever since the Eagle Faction had seized the upper hand in the re-elected federal parliament, the influence of the military in the federation had increased significantly. War seemed to be an imminent inevitability, and even though Tang Wulin had been at the Blood Legion base this entire time, he had been constantly learning information about the federation''s current situation during the days leading up to his departure.


    At the moment, the federation was spreading a lot of negative press about the other two continents, to the extent that they were even digging up historical events that had taken place thousands of years in the past.


    This was undoubtedly a blatant attempt to spread propaganda and create controversy in order to evoke enmity toward the two neighboring continents.


    Was war truly inevitable?


    Tang Wulin was absolutely against wars and conflict, but he had to admit that if a war really were to break out, it would perhaps create an opportunity for him.


    The three continents were situated very far away from one another, and if the Douluo Federation wanted to attack the other two continents, then it would definitely have to send its troops on extremely far journeys. Even with the invention of soul planes, there was no way for these devices to win an entire war against two other continents. Furthermore, even if the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire were inferior to the federation when it came to technological advancement, they weren''t too far behind, and if a war were to break out, it would not be one that could be decided in a short time.


    A war would most definitely whittle down the Douluo Federation''s military power, and even the major powers would most likely get involved in order to reap more benefits in the future.


    What was the root cause behind all wars? They were all conflicts of interest. The Douluo Federation was quickly running out of all types of resources, and if it weren''t for the abundance of resources on the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent, the federation wouldn''t be taking such blatant steps to try and start a war.


    Seeing as there were benefits to be reaped, the major families and major powers certainly weren''t going to just look on from the sidelines. In particular, a super organization like the Spirit Pagoda that had a presence on all three continents would stand to benefit the most from a world war.


    In order to improve everyone''s overall combat prowess, the Spirit Ascension Plane would definitely receive more patronage, and the soul spirits would also only become more expensive, and that wasn''t even taking into account the huge number of Soul Masters that were under the Spirit Pagoda''s control.


    Tang Wulin had recently heard a piece of news, which stated that the Spirit Pagoda seemed to have successfully developed 1,000-year-old and 10,000-year-old soul spirits. If this were true, then the Spirit Pagoda''s status on the continent would receive another enormous boost, especially if they could actually successfully synthesize 10,000-year-old soul spirits.


    10,000-year-old soul spirits would be able to provide qualitative enhancements to Soul Masters and also decrease the overall requirements on one''s spiritual power. After all, a 10,000-year-old soul spirit could offer a Soul Master four soul skills at most, thereby allowing them to absorb fewer soul spirits.


    Of course, these synthesized 10,000-year-old soul spirits were also supposed to be extremely expensive. Ever since they had been released, the Spirit Pagoda had already made extremely significant earnings from them, and they had even voluntarily lowered the prices of the newly synthesized 1,000-year-old soul spirits, thereby resulting in an even greater influx of revenue. It was no exaggeration at all to say that the Spirit Pagoda was as rich as the entire federation. It was always said that destruction always pursued those who became too great or too powerful for their own good, but as things currently were, that didn''t seem to be a problem for the Spirit Pagoda.


    They had even become the main source of financial support behind the military''s Eagle Faction, and all of this information had been compiled by Tang Wulin during the past few days.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Spirit Pagoda benefitted the most from Shrek Academy''s destruction and the Tang Sect''s decline.


    At present, the Spirit Pagoda had already well and truly cemented itself as the number one superpower on the entire continent. Of course, it had always been the most powerful organization on the continent, but in the past, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had been there to counteract its influence. However, these restrictions had already disappeared, and the Spirit Pagoda was naturally able to do anything it wanted without any qualms or inhibitions.


    With that in mind, the Holy Spirit Cult naturally surfaced in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    He had already had countless run-ins with evil Soul Masters, and the impression that they had given him was one of ferocity, cruelty, evil, and also mystery.


    Regardless of whether it was him or the other powers on the continent, there was almost no one who knew just where these evil Soul Masters came from, nor where they were currently situated and in what form their organization existed. No one knew even the slightest details about them, which resulted in this current situation, where evil Soul Masters could strike any corner of the continent at any time.


    They had even played a hand in the recent abyssal tide, and from that alone, it was clear to see that they were nothing short of completely demented!


    If the abyssal plane were to invade this world, countless people would undoubtedly perish, yet the Holy Spirit Cult had still made the completely inhuman decision of siding with this abhorrent alternate plane.

 Chapter 1130: Vice-captain of the Blood Dragon Squad

    How would they benefit from widespread carnage and mass slaughter?


    The Holy Spirit Cult was undoubtedly going to be the most powerful enemy he would have to face in the future, and even though he had his suspicions about the Spirit Pagoda, there was no concrete evidence at the moment to prove that the Spirit Pagoda had been involved in that bombing.


    As such, one of his top priorities was to understand more about the Holy Spirit Cult. The most fearsome thing about the Holy Spirit Cult wasn''t its overall power. Instead, it was the cult''s ability to conceal themselves under a shroud of mystery.


    A mysterious Holy Spirit Cult was the most terrifying thing. When you know nothing about your enemies, they could appear before you at any moment to become your most formidable adversaries.


    The recent battle in the abyssal passageway was a clear example of this; if it weren''t for the Blood God Legion''s fast reactions and Blood Nine''s willingness to sacrifice his own life by igniting his own flame of life, that surprise attack from those evil Soul Masters would''ve been enough to cause a massive disaster.


    But how could he learn more about the Holy Spirit Cult? Not only were all of those evil Soul Masters very powerful, they were also extremely loyal to their cause. Any evil Soul Masters who were detained or cornered were generally dead before they could be captured; they had all types of secret techniques that they could end their own lives with.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly. There were still many things that he still had to learn, and seeing as his enemies were still in the shadows, he had to keep himself concealed for now as well.


    Alternatively...


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed as he mapped out a course of action in his mind.


    After entering Bright City, they had to find a place to settle down at first. Prior to traveling further into the continent, Tang Wulin also had to learn more about the general situation of the federation in the capital city. In particular, he had to ascertain the nature of the current situation following the federal parliamentary reform.


    However, just as he was preparing to find a place to stay, he suddenly realized that there was an issue...


    Tang Wulin wore an awkward look on his face as he turned to A''Ruheng, who was sitting in the back. "Senior Disciple Brother, do you have any money on you?"


    "Money? What for?" A''Ruheng asked as he rubbed his own large bald head.


    Tang Wulin then turned to Sima Jinchi, and the latter replied, "I have a few tens of thousands of federal credits."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. He didn''t have much money, either! He had failed to consider an extremely important issue. If it were just the three of them, then a few tens of thousands of federal credits would definitely be enough to support them on their journey. However, their squad consisted of 27 members, all of whom would require money for things like food and lodging!


    This was definitely going to require quite a large sum of federal credits, and prior to doing anything else, he had to resolve their financial issues first. Furthermore, a vast amount of money would also be required to rebuild Shrek Academy in the future.


    Tang Wulin massaged his own temples as these thoughts ran through his mind. He had always known that he would face a myriad of issues and pressures in his plight to revive Shrek Academy, but he didn''t think that the first issue that would befall him would be financial in nature.


    After settling down in an ordinary hotel and having some lunch, Tang Wulin discovered that he had to further raise his projected expenses.


    All of the members of the Blood Dragon Squad were cultivators at the primes of their lives, so their appetites were truly...


    He was finally beginning to understand why his friends had been so flabbergasted when they had watched him eat in the past. He had to earn money! But how was he going to do that?


    The first avenue of income that he thought of was forging. As a Saint Blacksmith, nothing would earn him income quicker than through forging. However, if he were to pursue this avenue, then there was a very good chance that his cover would be blown. After all, he was the youngest Saint Blacksmith on this entire continent by far.


    Wait a minute...


    Tang Wulin''s eyes suddenly lit up. During his recent period of cultivation in the Blood God Legion base, he had forgotten many of the skills that he had accrued in the past.


    Thus, Tang Wulin called Sima Jinchi, A''Ruheng, Ma Shan, Jiang Wuyue, Long Yuxue, and Ling Wuyue into his room.


    "I have to go out for a bit. In order to keep ourselves concealed as much as possible, it would be best for everyone to stay in the hotel and wait for me. During the time that I''m away..." Who was going to be in charge during his absence?


    Tang Wulin''s gaze swept over everyone''s faces, and he was momentarily stumped. It was undoubtedly the case that A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were the most powerful beings present, but neither of them had good leadership skills, and there was also a heated rivalry between them. As such, putting one of them in charge would definitely be a bad idea, and it would be a minor miracle if they didn''t stir up some trouble.


    Ma Shan was a suitable candidate, but A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were both far more powerful than him; would they be willing to conform to that arrangement?


    "Who''s going to be in charge?" Ling Wuyue asked with a smile on her face. She had clearly identified the issue that was troubling Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin nodded, and said, "Our Blood Dragon Squad needs a vice-captain that can be in charge during my absence. This is why I called all of you here; I wanted to ask which one of you would like to take on this role."


    Ling Wuyue immediately shrugged in response. "Whoever it is, it''s not gonna be me."


    Jiang Wuyue glanced at Ma Shan, and as Ma Shan''s past subordinate, he also immediately shook his head without any hesitation.


    A''Ruheng turned to Sima Jinchi, and there were practically sparks flying between them as their eyes met. It looked as if a battle were about to break out between them at any moment.


    Meanwhile, Ma Shan wore a troubled look on his face. These two were extremely powerful yet untamed, and he simply wasn''t confident enough in his own powers to keep the two of them in check during Tang Wulin''s absence.


    Right at this moment, an unexpected voice rang out. "I''ll do it." Everyone''s attention was instantly drawn by this voice, and they turned in unison to appraise Long Yuxue, who was looking at Tang Wulin with a calm expression.


    "I''ll be in charge during your absence."


    "You?" Jiang Wuyue turned to Long Yuxue in a surprised manner.


    Long Yuxue shot a glance at him. "Do you have a problem with that?"


    Jiang Wuyue hurriedly shook his head.


    Ling Wuyue chuckled, "Sister Yuxue wants to take on the role? That''s not a bad arrangement."


    Ma Shan also remained silent as a faint smile appeared on his face.


    Long Yuxue then turned toward A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    The two of them immediately stopped glowering at one another and shuddered in unison as both of them reflexively recalled the scenes where Bear Lord had been struck by her heavy ion laser. That weapon was truly terrifying!


    "Do either of you have any objections?" Long Yuxue asked in an indifferent voice.


    Sima Jinchi had never been a good leader anyway, and he nodded in response. A''Ruheng also shrugged as he replied, "I don''t really mind."


    "Alright, then it''s decided. Is that alright?" Her question was directed toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin looked back at her with a surprised expression. He didn''t think that this issue would be resolved so easily by her, and he was forced to see her through new eyes.


    Long Yuxue said to Tang Wulin, "If there aren''t any issues, then you can go and do what you want to do. Do you need any of us to go with you?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "There''s no need for that; I''m just going out to gather some information, and I''ll be back very soon. Just get everyone to stay in the hotel, and if possible, try not to band together. Just lie low and wait for me to come back."


    "Alright," Long Yuxue replied with a nod.


    Ling Wuyue smiled, and said, "Looks like you''ve landed yourself a good housekeeper, Captain."


    Tang Wulin turned to Long Yuxue, and she was also looking intently back at him. He wanted to thank her, but for some reason, he couldn''t bring himself to do so.


    Everyone left, and only Long Yuxue remained.


    "If you need us to do anything, then you can contact us at any time. Also, there''s something that I have to remind you of; all of the people in our Blood God Legion are well-rounded talents who are proficient in much more than just battle. If you need us to do something, then I''d advise you to delegate duties for everyone as soon as possible so we can get started right away. Otherwise, you''ll be wasting a valuable resource," Long Yuxue said to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "You''re right, I''m also considering this matter. Thank you, Yuxue."


    Long Yuxue shook her head in response. "There''s no need to thank me; I''m currently your subordinate, so I''m only doing my duty. If there''s nothing else you need, then I''ll take my leave now."


    Tang Wulin looked on at her departing figure, and a sense of warmth flowed through his heart. It was good to see that there were companions by his side who were truly thinking for his best interests.


    After exiting Tang Wulin''s room, a slightly forlorn look appeared on Long Yuxue''s face. Her personality simply made it impossible for her to give up on him, after all. She knew that it was impossible for anything to happen between them, but if she decided on something, then she had to see it through to the very end. After being shown the best option, she simply couldn''t settle for anything inferior. Perhaps she took after her father in this stubborn facet of her personality.


    At the very least, I''m still able to remain by his side. Maybe someday...


    ......


    Half an hour later, Tang Wulin left the hotel in a surreptitious manner, and at this point, he had already completely changed his appearance.


    At present, he appeared to be a middle-aged man in his forties with a completely unremarkable appearance. He had even modified his own body to be quite a bit shorter than before, which made him appear quite stocky and burly.


    It was very difficult to notice him in a crowd with his current appearance, and this was naturally a result of the disguise techniques he had learned on the demonic island.


    The techniques that he had learned on the demonic island could even alter the color of his soul rings, let alone his outward appearance.


    After emerging from the restaurant, Tang Wulin didn''t immediately head to the blacksmith association. Instead, he hailed a soul taxi and provided an address to the driver.


    The taxi traveled for around half an hour before reaching the designated location, and Tang Wulin disembarked before raising his head to look up at the storefront before him.

 Chapter 1131: A Presence Equivalent to That of the Palace Master

    Benevolence Hall; it was a name that was ordinary as ordinary could be. The red cross symbol on the sign indicated that this was a medicine shop, and this was a medium-sized shop that wasn''t too small, nor particularly large.


    Everything about the shop was completely mundane and unremarkable. Tang Wulin entered through the door, and there weren''t many customers inside. There were also only three or four staff members, and the rows of shelves were filled with all types of common medicines.


    Tang Wulin walked through the aisles between the shelves and quickly chose a few types of medicine before making his way over to the counter.


    The employee standing behind the counter glanced at the medicinal ingredients that had been placed before him, and his expression immediately changed slightly. He looked up at Tang Wulin in a slightly surprised manner, and said, "Sir, the medicines you''re purchasing aren''t concurrent with any condition! Are you sure this is what you want?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I''m not buying these medicines to treat any conditions; I''m just purchasing them for consumption."


    The employee hurriedly said, "All medicines are poison to a certain extent; how can you treat them as food?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "It''s alright, I have a good appetite."


    The employee nodded, and said, "Alright, please come with me; our on-site doctor will be able to provide you with better advice."


    The conversation between the two of them seemed to be rather farcical, but it was actually a string of secret signals. The sequence had commenced as soon as Tang Wulin had carried those specific medicines to the counter.


    Tang Wulin followed the employee through a door, and the employee remained completely silent as he led Tang Wulin to the second floor. There was an elevator on the second floor, and the elevator only had two buttons, one for the second floor, and one for the third floor. However, the employee ignored the buttons and began to tap against the metal wall on one side of the elevator. After several dozens of rhythmic taps, an option for the negative second floor appeared on the electronic screen.


    The elevator descended before the door opened, and the employee made an inviting hand gesture toward Tang Wulin before walking out of the elevator first.


    Even though they were currently situated two floors underground, the lighting here was still very bright, and after passing through a passageway, they arrived at a spacious underground room.


    There were many people busy at work in this room, and they seemed to be putting some things together. With Tang Wulin''s eyesight, he was immediately able to tell that the things they were putting together were all related to mecha parts. Furthermore, they were all parts for high-grade mechas, as well as some core equipment.


    He didn''t ask any questions and continued to maintain his silence. He was led to another room by the employee, and there was a middle-aged man sitting in the room who was just as mundane-looking as Tang Wulin in his disguised form.


    "The first generation of the Tang Sect had seven monsters; which monster are you?"


    Tang Wulin smiled and pulled out an item before handing it over to the middle-aged man. "I am the third one."


    The first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had founded the Tang Sect, but the main founder wasn''t the eldest one among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters at the time. Instead, it was the third-oldest monster, Tang San.


    Prior to his departure from the Blood God Legion base, Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi had given Tang Wulin some things, all of which could be used at the Tang Sect''s secret bases that were littered throughout the continent. Each base had a different set of secret signals, and none of the bases knew of the existence of the other secret bases. Only the truly high-ranking members of the Tang Sect were aware of the locations of these secret bases.


    The token that Tang Wulin was currently offering belonged to the Douluo Palace. It was a rhomboid badge that wasn''t very large, and the words "Tang San" were engraved on one side, while the words "Tang Sect" were engraved on the other side.


    Tang Sect, Tang San!


    For some reason, Tang Wulin was always struck by a peculiar feeling at the sight of this name, as if this name was somehow extremely closely connected to him.


    The middle-aged man accepted the badge, and he only took a single glance at it before immediately rising to his feet with a surprised expression. He then hurriedly strode over to a device before inserting the badge into it.


    A light screen quickly appeared, upon which the image of a longsword was being depicted. Engraved on the sword were the words "the heartless one denies his innermost feelings, but he was once a man who was filled with passion".


    The text on the longsword then flashed seven times in quick succession on the light screen.


    "Seven flashes indicates a presence equivalent to that of the palace master himself!"


    After extricating the badge from the device, the middle-aged man''s expression had completely changed as he turned to Tang Wulin in a respectful manner. "Ji Qi, the manager of the Tang Sect''s Bright City branch, pays his respects to the esteemed envoy."


    The badge that Cao Dezhi had given him was a Douluo Palace badge of the highest level, and with this badge, he had the right to draw upon all of the Tang Sect''s resources. Even this manager was only seeing a badge of this level for the first time.


    Ever since the Tang Sect headquarters had been destroyed by that Godslayer soul missile, the Tang Sect had always kept a low profile, all of its major branches had withdrawn significantly. Even so, they were still being severely oppressed from all sides.


    As such, the arrival of Tang Wulin with the highest level Douluo Palace badge immediately struck this branch manager with a sense of elation.


    Tang Wulin appraised the man standing before him to find that he was quite tall and broad with fair skin and a slightly chubby figure. He wore a bashful smile on his face and appeared to be completely harmless.


    Tang Wulin accepted the badge, and asked, "There''s no need for such formalities; I''m just here to learn about the current situation in Bright City, especially after the parliamentary reform. Do you have a detailed list of names of all of the new parliamentary members?"


    "I do, please give me a moment." Ji Qi did things very quickly, and soon, a list of names was being offered to Tang Wulin.


    "The federal parliament makes decisions on all matters across the entire federation, and the president is the one who holds the highest level of political power in the federation, but even the president is restricted by the entire federal parliament. On the surface, this looks like a very fair system of power, but in reality, the federation is very corrupt, and many of the parliamentary seats are occupied by the various major powers. Ever since the continent was united around 10,000 years ago and was renamed to become the Douluo Federation, the federal parliament system was adopted, and in the beginning, it really did help the federation develop at a phenomenal rate.


    "However, as time passed and exchanges of benefits took place between all sides, all of the major powers began to infiltrate the parliament, and what was formerly a fair and open system gradually took a more sinister turn. As things currently stand, the referendum no longer holds any sway over the final decisions made by the federal parliament, and all decisions are made based on whichever power holds the most parliamentary seats. Following the Shrek City bombing, the federation was dealt an extremely heavy blow, and the parliament was temporarily abolished, while the president at the time abdicated himself. "


    This provided an opportunity for all of the major powers to completely transform the power balance within the parliament, and over two-thirds of the current parliamentary members were recently newly elected."


    Tang Wulin interjected, "Brother Ji, I''m not particularly familiar with the structure of the federal parliament; can you provide me with a more detailed explanation, including the differences between the parliamentary factions?"


    Ji Qi nodded, and continued, "There are a total of 231 seats in the federal parliament, which equates to 231 parliamentary members. This number was decided on after many alterations were made, and each and every one of the parliamentary members were elected by different areas. The larger cities naturally had more members, while the smaller cities received less representation. These 231 parliamentary members comprised the entire federal parliament, and 42 presidium members are chosen among them to make decisions on daily federal affairs. It can be said that these 42 presidium members comprise the standing committee. The presidium includes a president, as well as 15 vice-presidents and 26 members. This presidium holds the most power of any organization in the entire federation."


    Tang Wulin was rather surprised to hear this. "There are that many vice-presidents?"


    Ji Qi nodded in response. "The large number of vice-presidents is necessary in order to balance all of the major powers. Super organizations like the Spirit Pagoda and Battle God Hall each have a permanent vice-president berth, as do our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. However, Shrek Academy relinquished this berth around 6,000 years ago and chose to continue to uphold absolute neutrality. As for our Tang Sect''s berth, it has been revoked during this parliamentary reform."


    A slightly indignant expression appeared on Ji Qi''s face as he mentioned the unjust treatment directed toward the Tang Sect.


    In summary, the 231 parliamentary members, which included 42 presidium members, comprised the core of the entire federation. Tang Wulin committed all of this information to memory.

 Chapter 1132: The Federations Political Situation

    Ji Qi continued, "The federal parliament has always been split up into two major factions; the Eagle Faction, and the Dove Faction. There is also a neutral faction, but that faction has less than 30 members, so it doesn''t have much speaking rights when decisions are being made in the parliament. In particular, following Shrek Academy''s forced withdrawal from the neutral faction, there is no one to lead the faction, and it''s become an even less influential force. Those of the Eagle Faction are very aggressive and overbearing with their proposed political policies, and are in favor of waging war against neighboring continents.


    "Those of the Dove Faction are in direct contrast with them as they champion a more gentle and conservative approach, and are firmly against instigating wars with other continents. In fact, they''re even against further research and development into military weaponry to a certain extent. The Dove Faction has always held the opinion that excessive research and development in soul weapons will quickly deplete the continent''s resources, which would be detrimental to the overall development of the human race.


    "However, the Dove Faction supports research and development into space exploration in order to search for other planets that are suitable for human habitation. The Eagle Faction is also in support of this, but they think that the federation should accrue more military power so that when alternate inhabitable planets are discovered, they can be made into colonies. Their thought process is that no one knows if other life forms exist in outer space and whether they''re powerful or not, so who knows if we''ll encounter resistance in our attempt to settle onto new planets? In any case, both sides have valid arguments, as well as their own groups of loyal supporters."


    A contemplative look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Let me guess, the Spirit Pagoda supports the Eagle Faction, while our Shrek Academy and Tang Sect support the Dove Faction, right?"


    Ji Qi nodded in response. "Indeed. In the past, our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy have always supported the Dove Faction. Even though the academy withdrew from the federal parliament later on, it has connections all over the entire continent, not just in the Dove Faction, but some of the core members of the Eagle Faction had also come from our academy. This is why our academy has always remained a neutral entity. Conversely, the most direct supporters of the Eagle Faction are the Spirit Pagoda and the Battle God Hall; it can be said that they are the main pillars of the Eagle Faction.


    "The general public was normally more inclined toward supporting the Dove Faction as they didn''t want to see wars and excessive resource depletion, so the Dove Faction held the upper hand in the federal parliament the vast majority of the time. However, the Shrek City bombing changed all that, and the Dove Faction is now struggling to keep the Eagle Faction in check. Not only did the terrorist attack destroy Shrek Academy, our Tang Sect has also been dealt an extremely heavy blow, and the Eagle Faction has seized the initiative to spread controversy and propaganda, using the general public''s fear of the Holy Spirit Cult to catapult themselves into the lead.


    "During this parliamentary reform, the Eagle Faction claimed over 110 seats, and even most of the members of the neutral faction have sided with them, thereby giving them an absolute advantage. As things are right now, it''s already very difficult for the Dove Faction to sway the current political situation."


    Tang Wulin''s mind began to race rapidly after hearing Ji Qi''s explanation. There were a lot of things that could be deduced from the current state of the federal parliament.


    The power that had benefited the most from the disaster that had befallen Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect was undoubtedly the federation''s Eagle Faction, and the main supporters of the Eagle Faction were the Spirit Pagoda and the Battle God Hall. There was no concrete proof cementing a connection between them and the Holy Spirit Cult, but it was an undeniable fact that they had benefited from this horrendous tragedy. Furthermore, even if they hadn''t directly assisted the Holy Spirit Cult, was everyone really expected to believe that they didn''t at least turn a blind eye to the situation?


    One had to realize that the Spirit Pagoda headquarters was virtually within a stone''s throw away from Shrek City, and compared to the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda was an even more powerful organization.


    So why hadn''t the two Godslayer missiles targeted Shrek City and the Spirit Pagoda rather than Shrek City and the Tang Sect? If that had been the case, then an even heavier blow would''ve been dealt to the entire continent.


    Just this factor alone made it impossible not to suspect the Spirit Pagoda of foul play. Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly, and his aura had also changed.


    Ji Qi handed a list over to Tang Wulin, and said, "This is a roster; blue represents the Dove Faction, red represents the Eagle Faction, and white represents the neutral faction."


    From the colors on the list, it was quite apparent that the Eagle Faction held an absolute upper hand; just the Eagle Faction alone had close to 50% of all of the parliamentary seats.


    Tang Wulin mused, "It doesn''t seem like there''s too much of a disparity. The Dove Faction also has over 80 seats, so if we can garner the support of the neutral faction..."


    "It doesn''t work like that," Ji Qi hurriedly interjected, "You can''t just look at the number of parliamentary seats each faction possesses; the final result of the election depends on the level of support the factions receive from the general public, and the faction that receives the most support will be in power for the next five years. Only very rarely has there ever been such a huge disparity between the number of parliamentary seats owned by the two major factions, this essentially means that the Dove Faction won''t be able to turn the tables for a very long time in the future.


    "The Eagle Faction is very smart in the way it goes about spreading its agenda; the faction has always been in support of waging wars, but they''re insisting that the wars will take place on foreign land, and at the same time, they''ve stated that they''ll do everything in their power to ensure the safety of their soldiers. This, in addition to the devastating terrorist attacks from the Holy Spirit Cult during the past few years has raised the support for the Eagle Faction to over 65%, which is an all-time record high."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I see."


    He inspected the list of names in his hand as he spoke, and the vast majority of names on the list were completely unfamiliar to him.


    There was only the occasional familiar name, such as Yue Zhengyu''s grandfather, who represented the Southern Legion. He was a member of the Eagle Faction, as well as a member of the presidium, but not a vice-president. There was no representation for the Blood God Legion in the federal parliament, and that was most likely due to the relatively independent nature of the legion.


    None of the names in the Tang Sect that he was familiar with were included on the list, and it was as if they had been completely wiped out. This was a clear indication of just how far the federal parliament was going to oppress the Tang Sect.


    "It seems like the parliament is targeting us quite heavily," Tang Wulin mused in a grave voice.


    A wry smile appeared on Ji Qi''s face. "This has always been the case. In reality, even as far back as when the Douluo Federation was first founded, our Tang Sect has always sided with the Star Luo Empire. If it weren''t for us, the Star Luo Empire would''ve been destroyed long ago. At the time, the mighty figure Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao restricted the Sun Moon Empire, which was the previous form of the Douluo Federation, all on his own to save the Star Luo Empire. As such, our status is loftier over in the Star Luo Empire than that of the Spirit Pagoda. Of course, the Spirit Ice Douluo was the one who had founded the Spirit Pagoda in the first place, but the Spirit Pagoda is no longer the same organization that he had first created."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. He had been to the Star Luo Empire, so he was well aware of this; even Dragon King Long Yue belonged to the Tang Sect over there!


    The Tang Sect was by far the most powerful organization in the Star Luo Empire, and this was quite fortunate as it meant that the Tang Sect still had ample resources and influence elsewhere.


    "Back when Shrek Academy first decided to support our Tang Sect, the federal parliament had been very displeased, but they couldn''t do anything about it. Those politicians of the federal parliament have been itching to adopt oppressive measures against us for a long time, but they were unable to as the academy was too powerful, and our headquarters were situated in Shrek City. However, they''ve taken advantage of the Holy Spirit Cult''s terrorist attack to try to bring down our Tang Sect in its entirety. On this continent, our Tang Sect is almost being viewed as an illegal organization."


    Tang Wulin chuckled coldly, "Are they trying to clear out all potential obstacles in their plan to wage war against the Star Luo Empire? They''re afraid that we''re going to alert the Star Luo Empire of their plans in advance, right?"


    Ji Qi nodded in response. "That''s a very plausible notion. Hence, our forces are being oppressed and ostracized to a very severe extent in the military, and many of them have already been falsely prosecuted based on slanderous claims. The situation is currently extremely bad."


    Tang Wulin could imagine that the situation had to be extremely complex, but in any case, the Tang Sect was clearly only receiving such treatment as its ideology clashed with those who were in power.


    Compared to the Spirit Pagoda, the Tang Sect had always been quite understated and kept a low profile. As such, the general public wasn''t even aware of the fact that the sect was being oppressed by all sides.


    Tang Wulin continued to read over the list of names as he listened to Ji Qi''s analysis, and when he reached the Dove Faction section of the list, he suddenly saw a very familiar name.


    "Hmm? Why is she on the list?" Tang Wulin pointed to a name that was highlighted in blue with a surprised look on his face.


    Mo Lan!


    This was a name that Tang Wulin was naturally extremely familiar with. She was a train conductor who had been willing to sacrifice herself for her passengers, and in the end, she had almost perished, but was thankfully saved by Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    After that, Heaven Dou City was struck by a terrorist attack from the Holy Spirit Cult, and Tang Wulin was also dealing with issues on his own end. He had attempted to contact Mo Lan at the time, but was unable to connect to her original number. Who would''ve thought that this familiar name would be on this list? He couldn''t help but wonder if this Mo Lan really was the Mo Lan that he knew.

 Chapter 1133: Dove Faction Representative

    A surprised expression appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    "You''re referring to her? She''s a bright new political star for the Dove Faction. Come to think of it, she has quite a tragic backstory; she was once a train conductor, and in order to protect the masses during a terrorist attack from the Holy Spirit Cult, she was severely injured and became a hero. Her father was a high-ranking official in Heaven Dou City and also a parliamentary member, but he unfortunately perished during the Heaven Dou City bombing. At the time, she had already entered the Heaven Dou City political system upon request from her father, and Heaven Dou City was in a state of complete turmoil.


    "She was the one who stepped up during those tumultuous times, urging and guiding officials to address the emergency situation. Not only did her father perish during the bomb, her husband and child also passed away. Despite this, she was able to contain her grief and placed the people ahead of herself, thereby controlling the situation in Heaven Dou City; she really is a very remarkable woman!"


    A crushing sense of grief also welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart upon hearing this. Mo Wu had perished, and even Mo Lan''s husband and child had also...


    Just how much pain did she have to go through!


    Tang Wulin''s hands reflexively balled up into tight fists. All of these accursed evil Soul Masters deserved the most painful of deaths!


    Tang Wulin had never been so enraged in his life. He forcibly repressed his emotions, and asked, "What happened after that?"


    Ji Qi replied, "After that, this Mo Lan became an extremely revered figure in Heaven Dou City, especially among the general public. During the parliamentary reform, she became the representative for Heaven Dou City, and also one of the youngest Dove Faction parliamentary members. At the same time, she became the deputy mayor of Heaven Dou City. The current mayor of Heaven Dou City is also a vice-president, so Ms. Mo Lan is actually taking care of most of the matters in the city. It''s said that she''s currently in a very strange state; aside from sleeping, all of her time is dedicated to her work, and it seems that she''s trying to numb her pain and grief through overworking."


    The more Tang Wulin heard, the more forlorn and enraged he became.


    "Where is she right now? Is she in Heaven Dou City or Bright City?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Ji Qi replied, "The federal parliament is holding its third plenary meeting soon, so she should currently be in Bright City. The main topic of discussion during this meeting will be about waging war against the Star Luo Empire."


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Can you find out where she''s staying?"


    Ji Qi replied, "I should be able to. However, due to how rampant the Holy Spirit Cult has been recently, all of the parliamentary members are receiving very high levels of protection, so even if we find out where she''s staying, you may not be able to meet her anyway. Do you recognize Ms. Mo Lan?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in silence as a wry smile appeared on his face.


    Sister Mo Lan, how are you?


    Tang Wulin emerged from the underground Tang Sect base with a heavy heart. He had benefited greatly from this trip as he had learned a lot about the continent''s current overall situation, yet he had also learned about the tragedy that had struck Mo Lan.


    After getting into a soul taxi, he instructed the driver to take him to the Bright City blacksmith association.


    No matter how tight the security was, he had to find a way to meet Mo Lan, just to offer her some consolation, if nothing else.


    Tang Wulin was quite confident in his ability to bypass any security measures.


    The Bright City blacksmith association was no smaller than the blacksmith association headquarters, which was situated in Heaven Dou City. This made sense, seeing as this was the federal capital, and the demand for high-grade metals was extremely high here.


    However, as soon as Tang Wulin walked into the blacksmith association building, he discovered that there was barely anyone around. Wasn''t the blacksmith association here supposed to be a lively and bustling place?


    There were relatively few people who chose to pursue forging as their occupation, but even so, there was no lack of blacksmiths, especially low-grade and mid-grade ones.


    There were many blacksmiths at or below the third-rank who weren''t even Soul Masters, and they relied solely on their skills and expertise to earn themselves a living. After all, the metals they forged could definitely be used for the construction of ordinary mechas.


    However, the massive first floor of the blacksmith association building was currently extremely sparsely populated, and there were no more than 10 blacksmiths present. The building was made to look especially spacious as a result, and there weren''t even that many employees around.


    What was going on?


    Tang Wulin strode over to a desk with befuddlement in his heart, and the employee behind the desk immediately stood up. "Hello, are you a blacksmith or would you like to release a mission?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m a foreign blacksmith who''s only just arrived in Bright City. What''s happened here? Why is there barely anyone here?"


    A wry smile appeared on the employee''s face. "All of the blacksmiths have been conscripted to the military with high wages on offer! Did you not receive a conscription order? Due to the fact that wars could break out at any time, the military is conscripting all blacksmiths, and especially favorable terms are being offered to blacksmiths of the fifth-rank or below. The military is willing to provide a vast amount of uncommon metals to these blacksmiths, which is naturally a very attractive offer for those trying to achieve spirit refinement for the first time. As such, there are very few blacksmiths on the first floor here. In contrast, the terms being offered by the military aren''t as attractive to blacksmiths above the fifth-rank, so all of the high-grade blacksmiths are on higher floors."


    Tang Wulin was rather surprised to hear this. "Isn''t the parliament still deciding whether they''re going to wage war or not? Why are they conscripting blacksmiths already?"


    A cold smile appeared on the employee''s face. "The decision has already been made, and they''ve been mobilizing troops for a long time already. One of my friends is currently serving in the military, and he told me that they''re already mobilizing everyone toward the east sea. The parliament is only following some formalities to make the decision more official."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed upon hearing this. Was the situation this bad already? The Eagle Faction really was keen to take up arms!


    A war would be beneficial to his endeavor to revive Shrek Academy as it would buy him a lot of time, but he really didn''t want to see this happen. It couldn''t really be said that he was very fond of the Star Luo Empire, but the fact of the matter was that everyone was human and lived on the same Douluo Star; if a war were to break out, countless people would undoubtedly lose their lives!


    "Alright, thank you for the introduction; can I still take on any forging missions now? Preferably some higher-level ones if they''re available," Tang Wulin asked.


    "Of course. We have mountains of forging missions that are waiting to be completed! If you''re a third-rank or fourth-rank blacksmith, then there''s virtually an endless number of missions for you to complete. Would I be able to see your blacksmith badge?"


    Tang Wulin smiled and pulled out his blacksmith badge before pinning it to his own chest. The badge was golden in color with seven shimmering black stars on its surface.


    The employee was completely flabbergasted at the sight of this badge, and she exclaimed, "You''re a seventh-rank Saint Blacksmith?"


    In the blacksmith world, one''s badge indicated their rank, as well as their status. Even in a large branch like the one in Black City, Saint Blacksmiths were extremely rare!


    The badge colors of blacksmiths followed this template:


    Expert Blacksmiths possessed blue badges with one or two white stars.


    Master Blacksmiths possessed orange badges with three or four yellow stars.


    Grandmaster Blacksmiths possessed white badges with five or six purple stars.


    Saint Blacksmiths possessed golden badges with seven or eight black stars.


    Finally, Divine Blacksmiths possessed platinum badges with nine red stars.


    Tang Wulin''s badge instantly revealed the fact that he was a Saint Blacksmith, which meant that he was capable of soul refinement! He was an extremely rare commodity, even in the context of the entire continent!


    Why was it that there were far fewer three-word battle armor masters on the continent than two-word battle armor masters? This wasn''t because two-word battle armor masters weren''t able to cultivate to the extent that they were powerful enough to become three-word battle armor masters; instead, it was because there was simply a severe shortage of Saint Blacksmiths, and they simply didn''t have enough time to forge so many suits of three-word battle armor. Suits of three-word battle armor had extremely high metal requirements, and if one were to fail in the forging process, then they would have to start again from scratch. As such, many two-word battle armor masters refrained from upgrading their suits of battle armor unless they had a sufficient economic foundation.


    Hence, all Saint Blacksmiths were extremely revered on the continent, and almost all of them were blacksmith association branch presidents!

 Chapter 1134: Time to Earn Some Money

    Even though the employee didn''t recognize this mundane-looking middle-aged man, his badge was irrefutable proof of his identity! No one would dare to fabricate a seven-star Saint Blacksmith badge!


    The blacksmith association didn''t possess as lofty a status as that of the mecha association, but the president of the blacksmith association was a parliamentary member. That''s right, Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua was a parliamentary member, and on top of that, he was a member of the presidium. He was also one of the familiar names that Tang Wulin had seen on the list, and he was one of the leaders of the neutral faction.


    "My apologies, I didn''t know you were a Saint Blacksmith!" The employee didn''t dare to chastise Tang Wulin for not wearing his badge to begin with. In reality, if it hadn''t been for the fact that there was barely anyone on this floor, Tang Wulin wouldn''t have put on his badge. Otherwise, he''d definitely be scrutinized like an endangered animal in a zoo.


    "It''s alright, there''s no need to be nervous; I''m just here to do some missions. Which floor do I need to go to?"


    The employee virtually jogged around from behind the counter, and said, "I''ll take you there."


    "That''s a Saint Blacksmith! I heard that the federal military is contacting all blacksmiths, hoping that they''ll participate in the upcoming war, and they''re offering extremely handsome rewards, including the newly synthesized black soul spirits from the Spirit Pagoda! I wonder how they missed out on this one."


    Tang Wulin''s hearing was quite exceptional, so he was naturally able to overhear the hushed conversations taking place around him. The federation was offering synthetic black soul spirits as reparations? They really were making a huge investment; just those synthetic black soul spirits along had to be worth an astronomical sum of money.


    The Spirit Pagoda really was the undisputed number one organization in this world when it came to soul spirit research. It had to be said that the Spirit Pagoda''s current status was inseparable from the contributions they had made toward soul spirit research.


    Every type of synthetic soul spirit that was successfully developed resulted in an overall increase in power for the Soul Master world, and the fact that there were barely any soul beasts left on the continent made this technology even more valuable. As such, virtually all Soul Masters had to be affiliated with the Spirit Pagoda to a certain extent.


    For example, if the Spirit Pagoda were to refuse to sell soul spirits to a certain Soul Master, then that would undoubtedly severely hamper their future cultivation! This was most likely an issue that he would have to face in his plight to rebuild Shrek Academy.


    He took the elevator all the way to the fourth floor, and there were even fewer people on this floor than on the first floor. There wasn''t even a spacious hall; there were only a series of passageways.


    Tang Wulin had deduced that this was most likely where the highest level forging rooms in the association branch were situated.


    Saint Blacksmith''s were extremely rare, and even in a branch as large as Bright City''s, there were definitely not more than three Saint Blacksmiths among their ranks.


    A beautiful young woman had already risen to her feet and made her way over to Tang Wulin with a smile on her face. "Greetings, esteemed Saint Blacksmith, is there anything I can assist you with?"


    It was undoubtedly the case that she had already been notified of Tang Wulin''s identity.


    "I want to complete a few missions with federal credits as reparations."


    As a Saint Blacksmith, he could directly request what kind of reparations he wanted for his work, rather than having to choose missions for himself.


    "No problem, that can certainly be arranged," the young woman immediately replied, despite the slightly surprised look that had appeared on her face.


    She was feeling rather perplexed. One had to realize that all Saint Blacksmiths were extremely wealthy; when had there ever been a Saint Blacksmith who was short on federal credits?


    Generally speaking, most Saint Blacksmiths would only accept missions when they required some rare materials. Otherwise, just the high-grade Soul Masters who were looking to become three-word battle armor masters would be more than enough to keep them busy.


    Furthermore, a Saint Blacksmith could virtually ask for anything in repayment for their services, as long as the terms weren''t too absurd. This was why high-grade blacksmiths were held in higher regard than high-grade mecha makers, mechanics, and designers. They were simply far too rare!


    A list of missions was presented to Tang Wulin, and there were no corresponding prices as the prices were to be proposed by the Saint Blacksmiths themselves.


    That''s right, the Saint Blacksmith could ask to be paid what they wanted. This was almost absurd in a way, but these were the rules of the blacksmith association.


    Even though Tang Wulin had been a Saint Blacksmith for a very long time, this was the first time that he had received such treatment.


    It appeared that money wouldn''t be an issue now.


    "Just select three missions that can be completed by seventh-rank Saint Blacksmiths, and as for the price, I''ll charge the same as the market price; you can determine the prices after you evaluate the metals that I forge. Give me a forging room and the required materials, and I''ll get started right away."


    "Yes!"


    Service was always extremely fast and convenient for a Saint Blacksmith. After making these decisions, everything would be taken care of for him by the association. The material costs would be deducted from the final reparations that he received, and all of the materials chosen for him were definitely going to be the best.


    For a Saint Blacksmith, material costs were virtually negligible.


    Thus, three missions were quickly presented to Tang Wulin.


    All three missions were of the same type, and they were ones that Saint Blacksmiths faced the most; they were soul refined metal molding missions!


    To put it in simpler terms, these missions required one to soul refine metals, then mold them into whatever shape or form that was required. To put it in even simpler terms, these missions revolved around creating fundamental pieces of three-word battle armor.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face at the sight of these three missions. All three were soul refined metal molding missions, which were the simplest missions that Saint Blacksmiths could complete. It was quite clear that the young woman had been quite reserved in her choices as Tang Wulin was an unfamiliar face that she had never seen before. However, this wasn''t necessarily a bad thing; he hadn''t forged for quite a while, so it would be good for him to practice with these relatively simple missions.


    Soon, a string of rhythmic clangs rang out from within a high-grade forging room. The sound was very crisp and pleasant, and was completely devoid of any violence.


    The expression on the face of the employee who was standing outside immediately eased upon hearing this sound.


    Yu Lan had been working on the Saint Blacksmith floor for over three years, yet she had only seen a total of six Saint Blacksmiths during this time. When she saw Tang Wulin, the first thing she did was try to verify his identity, but there were no records in the system of a Saint Blacksmith like him. However, through their scanning devices, it could be determined that his Saint Blacksmith badge was authentic, and it was also most definitely his. However, there was no way for her to inquire about Tang Wulin''s situation without encroaching upon his privacy, so she had been quite reserved in her mission choices and chose the three simplest missions for Tang Wulin.


    As soon as she heard the pleasant clangs coming from his forging room, she was immediately assured that this was indeed a Saint Blacksmith. If he weren''t a Saint Blacksmith, there was no way that he could make his forging sound so captivating and delightful. Furthermore, this man was most likely a veteran Saint Blacksmith who was possibly quite close to reaching the eighth rank.


    He appeared to be in his forties, but generally speaking, all blacksmiths worked extremely hard, so they often didn''t age very well and looked older than they actually were. As such, perhaps he wasn''t even 40 years old yet! Even if he were slightly older than her, she could certainly accept such a young Saint Blacksmith! After all, if she could become a Saint Blacksmith''s woman...


    Yu Lan was already getting carried away by her train of thought. In contrast, Tang Wulin had already entered a highly concentrated state of complete immersion.


    As his powers had improved, especially from the enhancements of his Golden Dragon King bloodline, Tang Wulin discovered that his entire being could be integrated into his forging, even his bloodline aura.


    What was the difference between a seventh-rank and an eighth-rank blacksmith? The difference lay in whether one could infuse their own aptitude into the metals that they forged, thereby bestowing upon the metals aptitude, on top of life and sentience.


    Tang Wulin was still lacking in this regard, which was why he was still a seventh-rank blacksmith. In order to accomplish this, he required more practice and enlightenment, as well as to constantly better his understanding of himself and his own forging.


    For example, his teacher, Saint Blacksmith Mu Chen, could already impart some of the special characteristics of his Sun martial soul into the metals that he refined. As such, the soul refined metals that he forged were most suitable for fire-attribute Soul Masters or Soul Masters who didn''t possess martial souls with attributes that clashed with the fire element. If a suit of three-word were to be constructed using his soul refined metals, the battle armor would possess an innate fire attribute, thereby adding extremely potent fire-attribute power to the Soul Master''s attacks without any additional soul power expenditure.


    This was the equivalent of giving the battle armor master a brand new innate ability, and that was certainly nothing to be scoffed at.


    Tang Wulin was also at a stage where he was beginning to try and master this ability. Prior to today, he had only developed a slight inkling for how he was going to accomplish this, but he was still very far away from being able to infuse his aptitude into the metals that he forged.


    However, he was feeling different today. He could immediately sense that he was somehow different as soon as he began his forging.

 Chapter 1135: My Name is Gu Yue

    There were all types of elements dancing around him in an elated manner in the surrounding space, and he could clearly sense the changes taking place in the metal elements. His Spirit Domain realm spiritual power allowed him to experience all of these changes in greater depth, and as he forged, all of the natural elements around him were actually also constantly affecting the piece of metal before him.


    He could even sense that as he breathed, his bloodline fluctuations was also affecting the metal that he was forging. This was a benefit of possessing immense spiritual power, and the benefits of having enormous spiritual power could manifest themselves in almost all aspects of a Soul Master''s abilities. Possessing tremendous spiritual power enhanced one greatly both in battle and in their secondary occupations. As such, almost all Soul Masters who excelled in their secondary occupations also possessed high levels of spiritual power.


    Even so, there were very few Saint Blacksmiths who had reached the Spirit Domain realm.


    For example, Tang Wulin''s teacher, Saint Blacksmith Mu Chen, was only at the Spirit Abyss realm, and that was already enough for a blacksmith.


    Tang Wulin was using his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power to sense the intricacies of his forging, and he was completely immersed in sensing the metal that was being forged. He had become one with the metal that he was forging, and after reaching the soul refinement level, every soul refinement that was completed involved bestowing upon a piece of metal life and intelligence. This was why high-end blacksmiths were far rarer than mecha makers, designers, and mechanics.


    A metallic life form with life and intelligence could be used to construct battle armor or mechas, but that was purely a molding process, while the forging process was one of creation.


    Tang Wulin had been a Saint Blacksmith for quite a while now, and he possessed exceptional aptitude when it came to forging. However, even so, he had only just attained the ability to create life.


    The higher level of understanding of life force energy he had attained back on the demonic island and all of the soul refinements he''d completed had all been invaluable experiences, allowing him to advance further and further in the field of Saint Blacksmiths.


    However, only in this moment was he truly beginning to take a step toward becoming an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith. His Spirit Domain realm spiritual power allowed him to communicate perfectly with each and every metal element, thereby allowing him to experience the differences between metal elements and other natural elements in greater depth. At the same time, these experiences were allowing him to constantly improve, and at this moment, he was like a parent to the metal that he was refining. He was constantly modifying this fetus through his forging, bestowing upon it his DNA.


    The forging process was quite lengthy and sustained, but as far Tang Wulin was aware, only a split second had passed. He only awakened from his immersion after a ray of gentle light and an excited burst of intelligent spiritual fluctuations washed over him, and he took a deep breath before withdrawing his soul refined heavy silver hammers.


    He looked at the piece of metal in front of him, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He reached out with his right hand and gently pressed it onto the silver metal, which appeared to be completely ordinary and mundane, and a startling turn of events immediately unfolded.


    The piece of silver metal suddenly softened, then climbed up along his fingertips before instantly covering his entire hand. Immediately thereafter, it flowed up his forearm, then his elbow, and finally concealed his entire arm as if it were a piece of armor.


    What was even more remarkable was that Tang Wulin could clearly sense the reverence emanating from the piece of metal. It was like a child who was joyfully showing off its abilities to its father.


    A layer of rhomboid scales instantly appeared over the surface of the piece of metal at Tang Wulin''s behest, and those scaled patterns resembled the shape of his golden dragon scales. The scales were extremely lifelike, and they were even capable of opening and closing.


    Tang Wulin raised his arm, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He no longer needed to forge the metal any further to complete the molding process; all he had to do was will it to take on any shape he wanted. The only problem was that he was now feeling quite reluctant to part with it.


    Each and every piece of soul refined metal that he forged felt like his child, and he really didn''t want to give his children away to other people! It was no wonder that Teacher Mu Chen had told him that the higher the caliber of the blacksmith, the more reluctant they generally were to sell their creations.


    The forging missions were quickly completed, and they were very simple jobs for Saint Blacksmiths, but due to the fact that these were soul refined metals, they were still going to fetch an astronomical sum. Furthermore, demand far outweighed supply in the market for soul refined metals.


    By the time he emerged from the forging room, night had already fallen. He didn''t spend all of this time on forging; a large chunk of this time had also been spent on thinking and feeling.


    His schedule had been extremely packed of late, and it was a rare opportunity to be able to ponder his own forging in such great depth like this. The forging missions that he had completed had allowed him to reap many valuable rewards. He could even sense that once he could completely integrate his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power into his forging, then he would definitely be able to become an eighth-rank blacksmith.


    This was a level that countless blacksmiths had pursued for their entire lifetimes without any luck. The employee carried the refined metals from Tang Wulin to a designated testing room for an in-depth examination.


    Soul refined metals were extremely rare and fetched astronomical prices; if a counterfeit piece of soul refined metal were to be sold, the blacksmith association would suffer severe repercussions, both in their finances and in their reputation.


    Tang Wulin was taken to a VIP resting suite to wait, and he took the opportunity to further ponder the rewards that he''d reaped from his forging.


    Not long after that, someone knocked on the door of his suite, and on this occasion, it was an elderly man who had come to see him as opposed to the young woman from before.


    The old man''s eyes were practically glowing, and his gaze settled on Tang Wulin as soon as he walked into the room.


    "May I ask your name? I recognize most of the Saint Blacksmiths in our federation, but forgive me for not being able to identify you." The old man cut straight to the chase.


    With Tang Wulin''s experience, he was quickly able to deduce that this man was most likely also a Saint Blacksmith, and there was a good chance that he was the president of this blacksmith association branch. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be speaking on equal terms with Tang Wulin despite being aware that he was a Saint Blacksmith.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I only just became a Saint Blacksmith not long ago, and my teacher is the esteemed Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua. My teacher prohibited me from showing off my skills prior to reaching a level that he deemed to be acceptable, and I''ve only just satisfied his requirements not long ago."


    He removed the Saint Blacksmith badge hanging from his chest as he spoke before offering it to the old man.


    The man accepted the badge, and a respectful look immediately appeared on his face. He was naturally able to sense that this was a badge that had been created by a legendary Divine Blacksmith.


    The old man chuckled, "I see, so you''re a disciple of the president; it''s no wonder that you can create such exceptional soul refined metals, then. My name is Yao Ling, and I was fortunate enough to have been given the honor of becoming the president of the Bright City blacksmith association branch. May I ask your name?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "My name is Gu Yue."


    He had initially planned to call himself Long Yue, [Another reminder that this is Long Yue (ÁúÔÂ), which directly translates to Dragon Moon, just like Tang Wulin''s suit of two-word battle armor, and it''s not to be confused with Long Yue (ÁúÔ¾), the guy with the Mountain Dragon King martial soul.] but for some reason, he reflexively used Gu Yue''s name, and this slip of the tongue left him feeling a little forlorn.


    "Gu Yue?" Sure enough, Yao Ling had never heard this name before. It appears that this was a disciple that the president had kept a secret from everyone. He appeared to only be around 40 years of age at most, but from the metals he had refined, it was clear that he was already very close to becoming an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith. In fact, he could already be an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith and simply wasn''t able to display his true abilities as the forging missions given to him were too simple.


    "Welcome to our Bright City branch, Brother Gu; please do stay for a few days so we can communicate and exchange some ideas. By the way, I haven''t met the president for a long time; how is he?" Yao Ling asked.

 Chapter 1136: Yao Lings Opportunity

    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I also haven''t seen Teacher for quite a while. My apologies, President Yao, but I have some things that I must take care of, so I won''t be able to stay for too long. I''ll be sure to converse with you and exchange ideas the next time I come here."


    A disappointed look appeared on Yao Ling''s face. "That truly is a pity; I really wanted to exchange some ideas with you. I just examined your soul refined metals and was greatly inspired. At the same time, I could tell that your skills exceed mine in some areas. Also, I wanted to discuss something with you; would you be able to give your soul refined metals to me? The association will still pay you the same reparations for the missions, and I''ll forge some soul refined metals myself for the buyers."


    A hint of surprise appeared on Tang Wulin''s face upon hearing this. It was quite clear that Yao Ling wanted to keep his soul refined metals for further research. This wasn''t a big issue, and it certainly wasn''t a bad thing that Yao Ling held him in such high regard.


    "No problem. I hope my metals can be of help to you."


    Yao Ling nodded with a pleased expression before hurriedly departing after exchanging contact details with Tang Wulin.


    Even though Yao Ling and Mu Chen were both Saint Blacksmiths, the former was the president of the Bright City blacksmith association branch, so in reality, it could be said that his status in the association was second only to that of Zhen Hua.


    For someone of his lofty status to take the initiative to seek out Tang Wulin was a testament to just how much Tang Wulin''s soul refined metals had inspired him.


    The arrival of any Saint Blacksmith to the association branch was a major event, and after the employee verified Tang Wulin''s abilities as a Saint Blacksmith, she immediately took his soul refined metals to Yao Ling for inspection. Yao Ling wasn''t all that surprised to hear that a Saint Blacksmith had come to visit their branch. After all, Bright City was now the number one city on the entire continent, so while Saint Blacksmith visits were still rare, they were certainly far from unheard of. However, he was given a massive shock upon seeing Tang Wulin''s soul refined metals.


    As a veteran Saint Blacksmith, he was far more sensitive to metals than normal people, and the first feeling that he was struck by was that these were extraordinary creations. Setting aside everything else, just the conception imbued within these pieces of metal far exceeded that of the soul refined metals forged by the vast majority of Saint Blacksmiths.


    In his eyes, the forging techniques used were still a little rough around the edges, but this blacksmith clearly excelled in his understanding of metals, as well as in the process of bestowing upon metals life and intelligence. The vitality imbued within these pieces of metal clearly far exceeded that of the vast majority of Saint Blacksmiths, and even he couldn''t do much better. This was the symbol of an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith! Even more importantly, this method of bestowing life upon metals was different from the method that he normally used, and that was even extremely rare.


    As such, Yao Ling immediately rushed over to see just which Saint Blacksmith had forged these extraordinary pieces of metal. Most importantly, these pieces of soul refined metals had caused his forging bottleneck to waver slightly. This was a feeling that he hadn''t experienced for many, many years, and he felt as if he had stepped one foot into the realm of Divine Blacksmiths.


    For a Saint Blacksmith to progress to becoming a Divine Blacksmith, the difficulty involved was comparable to that of a soul beast transcending their 100,000-year tribulation to become a Great Beast. In fact, the process was arguably even more difficult.


    Spirit refinement bestowed upon metals life, while soul refinement bestowed upon metals instincts and low-level intelligence. In contrast, heavenly refinement allowed a metal to completely evolve into an intelligent life form with no less intelligence than a human. This level of intelligence coupled with absolute loyalty naturally formed an extremely desirable combination.


    Why were suits of four-word battle armor so powerful? This was because these suits of battle armor were able to constantly adjust and perfect themselves, and their overall powers were equivalent to their wearers!


    A Limit Douluo''s four-word battle armor was like a clone of themselves.


    The number one mecha in the world was undoubtedly the one that belonged to Zhen Hua, but red mechas weren''t all that rare, and all major powers had a supply of them. However, what allowed Zhen Hua''s mecha to stand about and rise above the rest? His mecha was special because he had put countless effort into crafting it, and it had been entirely constructed from heavenly refined metals. This was no longer just a simple mecha; it could be said that it was his personal guardian.


    Yao Ling had been an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith for many years already, and there was nothing more important to him than progressing to the Divine Blacksmith level.


    This was why he was so eager to seek out Tang Wulin to see if they could exchange some ideas. Furthermore, he was also hoping to be able to keep the soul refined metals that Tang Wulin had forged, and thankfully, his request was granted.


    Tang Wulin departed from the blacksmith association building after being given a massive sum of money, and a smile naturally appeared on his face.


    Perhaps it was because it had been an extremely arduous process for him to save up money to buy his first soul spirit as a child, but he was still unable to shrug off his own stinginess.


    It was already quite late at this point, and Tang Wulin didn''t return to the hotel. Instead, he went to a restaurant to have a meal.


    Right at this moment, the ringtone of his soul communicator sounded, and he glanced at it to find that the caller was the manager of the Tang Sect''s Bright City branch, Ji Qi.


    His heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he accepted the call. "Ji Qi?"


    "It''s me. I''ve gotten into contact with Ms. Mo Lan and passed on your message to her. She has agreed to meet you tomorrow at noon at a cafe near the parliament building."


    "Alright, tell me the address."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of reminiscence. In reality, it had only been a few years since he had last seen Mo Lan, but those few years had been like an entire lifetime, and both of them had experienced far too many things.


    Many major events that had changed them to an extreme degree had taken place during the past few years, and Tang Wulin could only heave a faint sigh at the thought of the tragedies that had befallen Mo Lan.


    After paying the bill and emerging from the restaurant, Tang Wulin strolled along the streets of Bright City.


    Bright City was now the largest city on the entire continent, and due to how early it had been developed, the central region of the city was extremely packed. The buildings in the area were looking rather squashed, and there were countless skyscrapers in all directions. Even though it was already very late into the night, the city was still as brightly-lit as if it were daytime.


    The people who had endured a tiring day of work were now clearly a lot more relaxed as they walked on the city streets, and there were many inebriated young couples walking together in an intimate fashion. Some of them let loose a yell from time to time as if they were venting the fatigue and frustrations they''d accumulated during the day.


    Tang Wulin felt as if it would be very difficult for him to integrate himself into this world of iron and steel. He couldn''t help but think back to his life at Shrek Academy.


    He loved the simple and pure environment in the academy, far removed from the deceitful and shady environments that one would often find in society. Unfortunately, the academy no longer existed, and he could think back to his experiences there as wonderful past memories. Thinking back now, even the fights against Wu Siduo and the others had been such enjoyable experiences.


    A Godslayer missile had erased all of this. He could still recall the scenes back when Wu Siduo had confessed to him. Now, everything had been reduced to dust. Wu Siduo no longer existed, and countless peers of his had most likely been wiped off the face of this world during the bombing.


    Tang Wulin reflexively clenched his fists. He had never hated anything like he hated the Holy Spirit Cult before. This was no longer just a personal vendetta; it was a vendetta that belonged to Shrek Academy and even the entire human race.


    The fact that the Holy Spirit Cult dared to attack the Blood God Legion clearly indicated that their goal was to destroy the entire human race, and in order to accomplish this goal, they were even willing to release the abyssal plane into this world.


    Just as Tang Wulin was walking, his shoulder suddenly bumped into something, and he faltered slightly before reflexively raising his head. He had gotten lost in his own thoughts and unintentionally bumped into a passerby on the street.


    The person that he had bumped into was clearly quite inebriated, and after bumping into him, she immediately began to fall sideways.


    Tang Wulin reached out to grab her before supporting her into a standing position. The strong scent of alcohol immediately wafted toward him alongside the woman''s natural bodily fragrance, and it wasn''t a very pleasant concoction, but it was rather alluring in a sense.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the woman who had practically fallen onto him. Her eyes were a little bleary and out of focus as she stared at Tang Wulin, and she pressed her hands against Tang Wulin''s chest. "Wh, what are you doing? Get away from me!"


    Tang Wulin helped her into an upright position. "Be more careful when you''re walking."


    After giving her that brief piece of advice, he released her and prepared to leave.


    He didn''t like the smell of alcohol, especially when it was coming from a woman in such a potent dose. Alcohol was something that was very unfamiliar to Tang Wulin, but he knew that it could numb someone, and it was undoubtedly unsafe for a woman to drink so much, especially with all of the shady individuals roaming the city streets at this late hour.


    Even though he had only taken a fleeting glance at her, he could tell that the woman was quite an exceptional beauty. Her looks were quite stunning, and her figure was also very exceptional. She wore a singlet and a pair of denim shorts, revealing a pair of long and fair legs. There was a pair of high heels on her feet, and her long hair had been arranged into a simple ponytail that trailed down the back of her head. Her cheeks were quite flushed, and she was wearing some heavy makeup, including blue eyeliner. However, the makeup didn''t look excessive and vulgar, and this was most likely an indication that it was very high-quality makeup.

 Chapter 1137: Its Her

    This was an extremely attractive and scantily-clad young woman who was in an inebriated state; it was difficult for passersby NOT to pay attention to her, and if she were to encounter some sinister individuals, she would be in some trouble.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t interested in sticking his nose into other people''s business. She was dressed like this and had gotten herself intoxicated to this extent, so perhaps a one-night stand was what she was looking for anyway. In any case, he was certainly in no place to do anything about this.


    As such, he turned around to leave, yet right at this moment, an enraged voice suddenly sounded beside his ears. "Where the hell are you, you bastard? When are you going to get out of my dreams!"


    Tang Wulin''s footsteps faltered upon hearing this. He was suddenly struck by a sense of familiarity upon hearing this voice, and he seemed to have heard similar interrogative words in the past.


    He reflexively turned toward the woman again, and right at this moment, five or six young men in colorful attire caught up to her.


    The man at the forefront of the group wore a yellow singlet with a pair of floral shorts and expensive-looking sandals.


    "Haha, I''m here for ya, lil'' cutie! Why were you in such a hurry to leave? Didn''t you say you were going to the bathroom? What are you doing here? Let''s go back and drink some more." The man quickly strode forward before latching onto the woman''s arm as he spoke.


    "Let go of me! I don''t want to drink anymore. I''m telling you, you better get away from me; I''m from the m, military!" The woman seemed to have retained a shred of consciousness, and she violently shrugged off the young man, causing him to stumble back unsteadily.


    The man wasn''t irked in the slightest by this. Instead, he chuckled, "You''re from the military? That''s great! My dad''s a member of parliament; we make a perfect match! Come on, brothers; help her back to the restaurant, and let''s drink some more."


    The other young men in the group also approached the young woman with sly grins on their faces.


    The military?


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly as he looked at the young woman, and he finally began to realize who she was. Was it really her? He was struggling to reconcile her current image with the image as a cold and forbidding female military official. If it were really her, then wouldn''t the bastard that she was referring to be him?


    A peculiar look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he gave a resigned shrug. Seeing as this was someone that he knew, he couldn''t just stand by idly and watch. In any case, it would be a simple matter for him to help her out anyway.


    With that in mind, he quickly strode forward before gently tapping his left foot onto the ground, and a gentle burst of shockwaves instantly proliferated forth.


    All of the young men''s bodies instantly stiffened, and they were rooted to the spot. These were just ordinary people, and not only had the shockwaves immobilized them, even their thoughts had been scattered.


    Tang Wulin latched onto the young woman, and he didn''t seem to be moving very quickly, but the two of them soon disappeared after veering into another street.


    Only after several seconds had passed did the group of young men return to normal.


    "Where''d she go? Where is she?" The young man in the yellow singlet immediately flared up with rage.


    Unbeknownst to him, even though Tang Wulin had taken the woman away, he had actually saved their lives.


    Even a drunk Soul Master would instinctively defend themselves in the face of danger, and for normal people like them, if the woman were to release her martial soul, she would be able to easily take their lives.


    "Eurgh..."


    Tang Wulin was standing relatively far away with his brows tightly furrowed as he looked at the woman, who was throwing up on the side of the road.


    The pungent odor of alcohol and gastric acid was truly abhorrent, and if it weren''t for the fact that this woman was technically an acquaintance of his, he really wanted to get far away from her.


    After vomiting for close to 15 minutes, the woman finally seemed to have recovered somewhat, but she was struggling to stand up.


    Tang Wulin walked up behind her before pulling her to her feet, then quickly striding into a nearby public restroom.


    He then tapped his left hand against her waist and pressed her head into the faucet with his right hand right before the astonished eyes of the passersby on the street. He opened the tap, sending a stream of icy cold water washing over her head, and she immediately tried to struggle, but Tang Wulin had rendered her completely feeble and powerless with that tap to the waist, so she could only conform to what he was doing.


    "Wh, what are you doing?" A middle-aged woman who was passing by approached Tang Wulin with an appalled expression.


    Tang Wulin sighed, "This daughter of mine is constantly going out drinking and hanging out with shady characters, so I have to teach her a lesson. Can you smell the alcohol on her? I swear she''ll be the death of me!"


    "Ngh, wh, who''s your..." The woman was already returning to her senses under the stream of icy cold water, and she wanted to yell out, but was unable to say anything. Streams of water were being forced into her nose and mouth under Tang Wulin''s control, thereby forcing back her words.


    The middle-aged woman''s expression immediately changed upon hearing this, and she adopted a critical expression as she scoffed, "The young people these days really are getting more and more unruly! I support you; what you''re doing is right!"


    Tang Wulin currently had the appearance of a middle-aged man, so no one was suspecting his claim to be the woman''s father.


    After being blasted with cold water for a full 10 minutes, the woman''s consciousness was beginning to fade once again, and only then did Tang Wulin pull her head out of the faucet. He waved a hand through the air, and a gentle burst of soul power forced the water out of her hair. He then dragged her out of the public restroom and onto the street again.


    Shen Xing was shivering as she was dragged out into the open. The water from the tap was very cold, and she had thrown up most of the alcohol that she had ingested, so she was finally fully conscious now. However, her hair was still quite damp, and her entire head was numb from the cold water. Her body was trembling, and her lips were pale and devoid of blood, but she was finally able to clearly see the man standing before her.


    "You, you..."


    After being blasted by water for so long, her heavy makeup had already been cleansed away, revealing a set of facial features that were far more beautiful than her original appearance.


    It really was her.


    Tang Wulin wore a resigned expression as he said, "If you''re conscious now, then go home. A girl like you shouldn''t be drinking so much." He then turned to leave. He didn''t have any duty to take care of her, and he had only stepped in as he didn''t want to see her get into any trouble.


    "Stop right there!" Shen Xing suddenly yelled.


    However, Tang Wulin completely ignored her and continued to walk away.


    A hint of fury flashed through her eyes, and her body abruptly flashed as a series of soul rings emerged from beneath her feet. She now had a total of five soul rings, and she was extraordinarily fast, appearing in front of Tang Wulin to block his path in an instant.


    "Do you need something?" Tang Wulin appraised her with a calm expression.


    Shen Xing was panting slightly, but as her soul power circulated within her body, the inebriation and cold sensation was quickly fading away.


    "Who are you? Why is it that I don''t recognize you, but you seem so familiar to me?"


    As an outstanding prodigy in the military, Shen Xing had grown up in a military family her entire life, and now that she had fully regained her consciousness, she was immediately able to sense that something was amiss. This mundane-looking middle-aged man that she''d definitely never met before somehow struck her with an indescribable sense of familiarity. Furthermore, her sixth sense was very sharp, and she could clearly sense that she would regret letting this man go.


    All of a sudden, golden light began to shimmer from within Tang Wulin''s eyes. "Sometimes, it''s best not to know everything."


    He raised a hand and extended it toward Shen Xing as he spoke. Shen Xing faltered momentarily, and she reflexively tried to evade. In her eyes, there was no way that he would be able to resist a five-ring Soul King like her, and she was going to detain this man before figuring out who he was.


    However, she was then stunned to discover that she was somehow unable to evade this simple-looking palm no matter what she tried. She could only look on as his palm struck her forehead, and her vision turned black as she slumped to the ground.


    However, in that instant, Shen Xing''s mind suddenly became extremely clear. That familiar aura, that familiar voice at the end, and those familiar golden eyes...


    It was him!


    She was yelling with all her might in her heart, but she was unable to utter so much as a single sound. The blackness in her vision persisted for close to 20 seconds before she could see again, and by then, Tang Wulin was long gone.


    He was here! He had come to Bright City! This thought immediately appeared in her mind.


    Ever since Shen Xing had returned to Bright City from the Northsea Legion, her nightmares had begun once again. In the beginning, they were rather abstract and indistinct, but they were becoming clearer and clearer.


    She was clearly supposed to be full of hatred toward the man who had taken her as hostage in the past, but for some reason, she was unable to muster up any anger toward him. What was even more unsettling was that she had developed many unimaginable emotions toward him. The fact that she was dreaming of him every single night was a testament to just how much of an impression he had left on her, and as a result, she was suffering from severe insomnia, to the extent that she was unable to fall asleep without the assistance of alcohol.

 Chapter 1138: Parliament Member Mo Lan

    This was why she had gradually developed an alcohol problem, but she didn''t think that she would bump into him again under these circumstances.


    He was in Bright City!


    Bright City was very large, but it was certainly a smaller area to scour through than the entire Douluo Continent. Furthermore, the status of the Shen Family in Bright City would allow her to draw upon a lot of power to try and find him. She had to find him no matter what!


    The thought of finding the man who had plagued her dreams every night struck her with a sense of excitement, which had been absent from her life for a very long time. She had to find him and make him beg for mercy on his knees, then... then...


    She hadn''t thought about what she was going to do after that yet, but all she wanted to do right now was to capture that abhorrent bastard!


    After organizing her damp long hair, an unprecedentedly determined look appeared in Shen Xing''s eyes.


    To Tang Wulin, meeting Shen Xing was nothing more than a minor interlude. After that chance encounter, he returned to his hotel room and immediately began to meditate. Cultivation had become the most enjoyable daily activity for him, partially because he was currently able to make progress at a phenomenal rate. Even more importantly, only during his cultivation could he completely relax his mind and better sense everything in the outside world.


    The forging he had completed earlier had given him many new feelings, and he now had a better understanding of his own Spirit Domain realm spiritual power.


    The Spirit Domain realm was the absolute upper limit for Soul Masters, and no one was even sure what the spiritual power upper threshold of the Spirit Domain realm was. The only thing that everyone knew was that it was virtually impossible to advance beyond the Spirit Domain realm, even for Limit Douluos, and it was most likely the case that only true gods would be able to reach the Divine Origin realm.


    A peaceful night passed by, and Tang Wulin gave his debit card to Long Yuxue the next morning so she could purchase some daily necessities for everyone. Having a vice-captain like her truly alleviated much of the load on his shoulders.


    As for what he was going to do next, Tang Wulin already had a plan. After getting into contact with Mo Lan in Bright City, he was going to leave with everyone as soon as possible and return to the original site of Shrek City. It was undoubtedly the case that the areas near Shrek City, including Heaven Dou City, would''ve been impacted by Shrek Academy the most in the past, so he should be able to find more Shrek Academy supporters there.


    After having some breakfast, Tang Wulin arrived near the cafe that Mo Lan had agreed to meet him at quite early. He didn''t immediately enter the cafe upon his arrival. Instead, he walked a lap around the cafe first. He didn''t disguise himself today, but he had worn a large wide-brim hat that concealed his facial features.


    After conducting a brief inspection of the area, then using his spiritual power to verify that nothing was amiss nearby, he stood still in a corner on the side of the street and silently awaited the arrival of the agreed meeting time.


    It was always better to be safe than sorry; this was a valuable lesson that the old demons had taught him. Even the slightest moment of complacency could spell his downfall, so he had to constantly be vigilant. Tang Wulin knew that he carried an extremely heavy responsibility on his shoulders, and he couldn''t truly rely on anyone but himself. As such, he was constantly in a cautious and careful state, and would take the safest route as soon as he discovered anything amiss.


    "Would you like to buy some cigarettes, sir?" A salesman passed by Tang Wulin with his tobacco cart.


    Tang Wulin glanced at him before waving a hand in refusal, and the salesman continued on his way.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance. Her figure was still quite slender, and she looked very sharp and professional in her black suit.


    However, her gentle and beautiful features had been marred by the passage of time, and even though they had only been apart for a short few years, it was as if she had aged a full 10 years.


    There was a young woman following along close behind her. The young woman was also quite tall and slender. She appeared to be around 170cm in height and was wearing a set of simple white activewear. What was quite noteworthy was that her hair was also white, and only her eyes were blue, thereby creating a rather peculiar sight to behold.


    Even Tang Wulin could sense a hint of threat from her, which was a clear indication that this young woman who appeared to be around 20 years of age was definitely a very powerful being.


    The two women strode into the cafe, and only after making another inspection of the surrounding area did Tang Wulin also enter the cafe.


    Mo Lan had already taken a seat at the spot that they had agreed on, and the white-haired young woman was sitting on the neighboring table. The waiter was currently saying something to Mo Lan, and Tang Wulin took a moment to calm his slightly erratic emotions, then made his way over to Mo Lan and took a seat across from her.


    Mo Lan''s body clearly shuddered at the sight of him, and when Tang Wulin removed his wide-brim hat, the waiter''s voice was instantly cut off to her as a film of tears surfaced over her eyes.


    The white-haired young woman was appraising Tang Wulin in a curious manner, and her backside had already lifted slightly off her seat; she was like a prowling leopard who was ready to strike at any moment.


    "Big Sister..." Tang Wulin called out in a gentle voice.


    Mo Lan was unable to hold back her tears any longer, and they instantly gushed out of her eyes as she grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s hand. "I''m so happy to see you..."


    She was barely able to speak through her sobs.


    The waiter was clearly aware that this was a special moment between the two, and he immediately departed from their table, leaving Tang Wulin and Mo Lan staring at one another.


    Mo Lan was unable to hold back her tears no matter how hard she tried. She was constantly telling herself to be strong, but the floodgates were completely thrown open at the sight of Tang Wulin, who had saved her life once before, and she broke down into sobs.


    Tang Wulin held onto her hands, and no words could describe what the two of them had been through during the past few years.


    Mo Lan had lost the people closest to her, and that was also the case for Tang Wulin.


    The white-haired woman was initially rather surprised to see Mo Lan breaking down into sobs, but she then quickly furrowed her brows and made her way over to Mo Lan''s side before handing her a tissue.


    Mo Lan accepted the tissue to wipe away her tears, and it took her a lot of effort to stabilize her emotions.


    "I didn''t think that I would be able to meet you again." It was a simple sentence, but her words were filled with boundless bitterness.


    Tang Wulin didn''t say anything and merely held tightly onto her hands.


    Only now was Mo Lan able to inspect him closely, and she could see that he was clearly taller, more muscular, and more handsome than before. His back was ramrod straight, and he was well and truly an adult. However, Mo Lan''s heart throbbed with pain at the sight of the maturity in Tang Wulin''s eyes, which completely belied his age. She then thought back to the ordeals that he had suffered through, and she knew that he had suffered through no less pain than she had.


    As the daughter of a high-ranking official of Heaven Dou City, she had constantly been keeping tabs on Tang Wulin, who was a student of Shrek Academy.


    He disappeared for three years on the Star Luo Continent, but following his return, he quickly became the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. This information was known by very few outsiders, but Mo Lan was aware of all of this.


    It had been around five years since they had last met, and Tang Wulin had grown up. However, his current level of maturity had come at the expense of his past exuberance and naivety.


    How many painful experiences did he have to go through before reaching this point?


    "I thought you were already..." Tears began to well up in Mo Lan''s eyes again.


    Tang Wulin consoled, "It''s alright, I''m still alive and thriving."


    Mo Lan nodded emphatically as tears began to flow down her face again.


    Tang Wulin gently swayed her hands as he said, "Seeing as we''re both alive, those people have to pay for what they''ve done. We have to put an end to them, both for ourselves, and for the sake of the entire human race."


    Mo Lan''s tears almost instantly ceased upon hearing this, and an astonishingly hateful look appeared in her eyes. She wasn''t even aware of the fact that her fingernails had dug into Tang Wulin''s palms.


    "That''s right, they must pay! This is not the right place to speak; come with me." Mo Lan led Tang Wulin out of the cafe as she spoke.

 Chapter 1139: Who is the Military Going to Detain?

    Right at this moment, both Tang Wulin and the white-haired woman''s expressions changed slightly, and they cast their eyes toward the entrance of the cafe.


    "Slam!" The doors of the cafe were thrown open, and a dozen or so uniformed soldiers holding soul laser guns rushed into the room. They aimed their guns at the customers in the cafe, and a wave of alarmed cries instantly rang out.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly, and he was clearly rather perplexed by this situation.


    From these soldiers'' uniforms and equipment, it was quite clear that they were from the military. Why had they suddenly appeared here? Could it be that they had come here for Mo Lan?


    A dozen or so soldiers naturally wasn''t a cause for alarm, but this was Bright City, and only the most exceptional soldiers were stationed here. Whenever they appeared on a scene, it was very likely that major trouble was going to follow.


    No matter how powerful he was, it would be very difficult for him to save Mo Lan if the military were determined to plot against her.


    "We''re here on official military orders! Everyone, put your hands on your heads and don''t move! We''re here to search for the suspect of a crime."


    The cafe wasn''t very large, and with the influx of the dozen or so soldiers, it was virtually completely packed. Tang Wulin wore a heavy expression as he appraised the soldiers.


    At the same time, countless thoughts were quickly racing through his mind. Could it be that someone from the Tang Sect had leaked this information? Was there a spy under Ji Qi? Alternatively, could it be that someone under Mo Lan had spread the word?


    "Stop!" Right at this moment, Mo Lan strode over to the soldiers who were preparing to search through the customers.


    She wore an enraged look on her face, and she interrogated, "Which department are you from? Who gave you permission to search for suspects in a public setting like this? Where is your official military warrant? Where is it? Show me!"


    Tang Wulin was standing right beside Mo Lan, and he was surprised to discover that she had truly become different from her past self. In the past, she was strong, brave, and selfless, but she clearly didn''t possess such an overbearing side at the time. Her aura alone was rather intimidating, even to him.


    The soldiers that were about to spring into action instantly faltered slightly upon hearing her interrogation, and Tang Wulin almost reflexively positioned himself in front of Mo Lan, shielding her from the soul laser guns being aimed at her.


    "What right do you have to be asking these questions?" a second lieutenant asked in a cold voice, "Search this place! We''ll be held responsible if the suspect gets away."


    Mo Lan harrumphed in an enraged manner, "Over my dead body! Does the military just do what it wants now? You''re being paid by the federation to protect the general public, not to enforce tyranny on the people! Let me see who''s abusing their power like this! Little Bai, make a call to the Bright City Police Station and report the situation here. Wulin, disarm all of these people and make sure none of them get away! I''m not going to let this slide unless the military provides a legitimate explanation for this!"


    Mo Lan''s overbearing demeanor immediately made the second lieutenant have second thoughts about his actions. If he had thought that Mo Lan was only bluffing before, then he definitely no longer thought this now. If she were only bluffing, then how could she be putting on such a convincing display?


    "Don''t move!" he hurriedly yelled in a thunderous voice. He had to control the situation.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin had already sprung into action. He used the same tactic he used the night before to immobilize those shady young men, stomping his right foot gently into the ground. With his ultra-powerful spiritual power, he was able to direct the offensive force of his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth right under the feet of the dozen or so soldiers with unerring accuracy, and the second lieutenant''s voice abruptly cut off.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin circled his arms together, unleashing his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to gather all of the soldiers together before dumping them onto the ground of the cafe.


    Only then did Tang Wulin stride over to confiscate their soul laser guns, then struck all of them with his palms to seal off their bloodlines.


    After he did all this, the white-haired woman hadn''t even finished dialing the number for the police station.


    Mo Lan had always known that Tang Wulin was very powerful. After all, it was none other than Tang Wulin who had saved that entire train, and he had also gone on to become the leader of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Even so, Mo Lan didn''t think that Tang Wulin would be this powerful already.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he turned around before giving Mo Lan a reassuring nod.


    At this point, the call to the police station had already been made, and Mo Lan turned to everyone within the cafe as she said, "Don''t panic, everyone; please give me some of your time and attention. I''m parliament member Mo Lan, and I guarantee all of you that you''re safe right now. I''ll be sure to force the military to release an official statement on the unjust treatment everyone received here, and I apologize on behalf of the federation."


    Mo Lan extended a bow toward everyone as she spoke.


    "Mo Lan?" The alarmed customers in the cafe were instantly a lot more reassured after hearing this name, and some of them had even begun conversing among themselves. It was quite clear that they had heard Mo Lan''s name before.


    Mo Lan had consoled the customers, and Little Bai had also finished making her call. However, right at this moment, a deep rumbling noise suddenly sounded outside. With Tang Wulin''s understanding of modern weaponry, he was naturally able to immediately identify this as the sound that mechas made during landings.


    Following the turn of events that had just unfolded, Tang Wulin was able to verify one thing; those soldiers had most likely not been sent out to target Mo Lan. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have been intimidated by her. In that case, who were they targeting? During his prior observation, he had already ascertained that there were no other Soul Masters in the cafe aside from Little Bai and himself.


    Could it be that they were targeting him?


    Right at this moment, a voice sounded from outside. "Attention, everyone inside the building, someone among you is suspected of having committed a serious crime, so please come out with your hands on your heads. You only have 30 seconds; if you don''t come out after 30 seconds, our mechas will begin to attack. In order to avoid undue injury, come out with your hands on your heads right away!"


    Mo Lan was enraged to the point of bursting into laughter. "Let me see who''s behind all this! I''ll go out first."


    She strode directly out of the cafe as she spoke.


    Little Bai hurriedly followed along beside her. Mo Lan was only a normal person, and if she were to be attacked by mechas, there was no way that she would survive. Prior to walking outside, she aimed a vicious glare at Tang Wulin. If it weren''t for him, Mo Lan wouldn''t be in such a dangerous situation.


    However, she couldn''t help but falter slightly as she glowered at Tang Wulin. She had always been standing beside him, so she had only seen his side profile, and only now did she get a chance to see him from the front.


    Why was this guy so handsome? Even as a woman, Little Bai couldn''t help but be jealous of his looks. What was a man like him doing looking so outrageously good?


    Tang Wulin naturally accompanied Mo Lan on her other side, and the trio emerged from the cafe together.


    At this point, there were already four mechas outside with their weapons aimed at the cafe. Two of these were yellow mechas, and the other two were purple.


    "Put your hands on your heads!" An intimidating voice sounded from within the mecha.


    Mo Lan was completely unfazed as she yelled in an enraged manner, "Mechas are major military weapons; were they assigned to you just so you could threaten the general public? I''m going to report you to the federal parliament for this! Little Bai, record their number plates."


    All military mechas had a unique number assigned to them, which made it more convenient for the military to manage them.


    "This is your last opportunity; put your hands on your head!" Mecha pilots were of a far higher status than normal soldiers, so it was quite clear that these mecha masters hadn''t been intimidated by Mo Lan.


    Right at this moment, loud police sirens sounded on the streets, and the sound was approaching this direction.


    The police force was here?


    Tang Zihao''s expression changed slightly as he sat in his purple mecha. The military didn''t fear the police force, and they were ranked far above the police department, but this was Bright City, and according to federal laws, the police force was responsible for maintaining law and order within the city. They were ordered to detain a certain person here, and if they could quickly complete their mission, then there naturally wouldn''t be any issues. However, even though they weren''t afraid of the police force, it would undoubtedly be troublesome if the police were to get involved, and most importantly, they would fail to capture their target.

 Chapter 1140: Its Him!

    "Captain, it''s him!" Right at this moment, the other purple mecha suddenly raised a hand and pointed at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Zihao immediately made a decision, and yelled, "Get him!"


    The purple mecha beside him raised its soul cannon and immediately unleashed a cannon blast. A ball of light shot forth out of the barrel before quickly exploding, forming a lightning-net-like attack that hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward to shield Mo Lan behind him. Sure enough, they really were targeting him. He had only just arrived at Bright City, so who could possibly be plotting against him? There definitely wasn''t an issue in the Tang Sect. If there were a spy in the Tang Sect, they would be aware that he would be with a federal parliament member, and they definitely wouldn''t deploy military units to try and capture him under broad daylight. If the problem hadn''t arisen in the Tang Sect, then could it be...


    The inebriated woman from the night before instantly surfaced in his mind.


    He lashed out with a direct and simple fist.


    A dull boom immediately rang out in the air, and he didn''t use any skills or abilities; it was just an ordinary punch.


    However, the lightning net seemed to have encountered some kind of barrier in the face of his punch, and it was instantly stopped before fizzling out into nothingness.


    "How dare you!" Mo Lan was both alarmed and enraged at the same time.


    Meanwhile, Little Bai didn''t do anything. Her duty was to protect Mo Lan, and she wasn''t required to protect anyone else. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had taken care of a bunch of soldiers so easily in the cafe earlier, and she also wanted to see just what he was capable of.


    Two massive claymores crashed down toward Tang Wulin from both sides almost in complete unison; the two yellow mechas had also sprung into action. Tang Zihao aimed his soul cannon toward Tang Wulin, and his thought process was very simple; all he had to do was capture Tang Wulin as quickly as possible, and his higher-ups would take care of all of the resulting repercussions.


    Thus, all four mechas attacked Tang Wulin at once, both from long range and at close quarters. The fact that they were mecha pilots in Bright City indicated that they were definitely all elite military soldiers, and they were extremely adept both in power and battle tactics. They were clearly more powerful than mecha pilots of the same level, but they had no idea what kind of opponent they were facing.


    This was the Dual Champion King of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, also known as Golden Dragon King. He was touted as the most powerful being of the younger generation, and was the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters!


    "Clang, clang!" The air seemed to have congealed as soon as the two claymores fell. All four mecha pilots were completely stunned by what they were seeing.


    In the face of the two oncoming claymores, Tang Wulin didn''t release his martial soul, nor his battle armor or mecha in retaliation. Instead, he did something extremely simple; he merely raised his arms and extended his hands outward.


    The pair of claymores then struck his palms, or in other words, he had reached out to grab the two claymores, which were crashing down with unstoppable force,  and the explosive power generated was definitely in excess of 10 tons.


    The two yellow mecha pilots felt as if their mecha''s claymores had struck a peerlessly resolute chunk of metal rather than a human body.


    The two claymores came to an abrupt halt, and both of the mecha pilots were stunned by the absurdity of the situation. How could a human body withstand the attacks of mechas without relying on any martial soul or weapons? Was this guy really a human?


    They were rooted to the spot in shock, but Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t. In the next instant, he abruptly raised his arms, and the two yellow mechas were instantly hoisted up into the air before being slammed heavily onto the ground.


    At the same time, the yellow mechas'' claymores were forcibly wrenched out of their hands, and Tang Wulin hurled them through the air as massive projectiles, which struck the cannon blasts from the two purple mechas with unerring accuracy. The cannon blasts were diverted up into the air as a result before exploding like dazzling fireworks, but were unable to harm Tang Wulin in the slightest.


    Even Little Bai, who had been appraising Tang Wulin with a cold expression this entire time, was completely flabbergasted.


    Was this guy really a human? In her eyes, Tang Wulin was like an almighty humanoid dragon! He had caught those two claymores with his bare hands, and she didn''t sense any soul power being released from his body. This meant that he had crushed two yellow mechas and blocked the attacks from two purple mechas with nothing more than his bare hands and his physical strength.


    There was no way that this guy was human!


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin had already risen up into the air, and he almost instantly appeared in front of Tang Zihao''s purple mecha before he lashed out and kicked one of his mecha''s knees. An explosive boom rang out from the knee joint of the massive purple mecha, and its leg was completely destroyed. Tang Wulin used its leg as a springboard to propel himself up into the air before slamming a fist into the purple mecha''s waist.


    "Boom!"


    Tang Zihao could feel that his beloved mecha was toppling over to the side and hear the piercing sirens that had been set off, but he was still in a state of complete shock.


    He was a mecha squadron commander of the Bright City garrison, and he possessed quite an abundance of battle experience, but he had never encountered an opponent like this before!


    This had to be a soul beast in human form! That was the only thought in Tang Zihao''s mind. In the next instant, his mecha topped heavily onto the ground.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin forcibly changed directions in mid-air. Wind-attribute elements converged toward him at his behest, carrying his body toward the final purple mecha in a maneuver that seemed to have completely broken the laws of physics.


    "Boom!" The soul cannon was finally fired once again, and the massive cannon blast instantly engulfed Tang Wulin''s entire body.


    Mo Lan couldn''t help but let loose an alarmed cry. She had indeed become a lot more assertive and overbearing than before, but she was still a woman, after all! Without a martial soul to enhance herself, there was nothing that she could do; it was too late even for her to ask Little Bai to help him.


    However, in the next instant, her concern transformed into astonishment. From Mo Lan''s perspective, it was as if the soul cannon blast that had struck Tang Wulin''s body had instantly vanished without a trace.


    Tang Wulin emerged from the shockwaves of the cannon blast, hurtling toward the purple mecha like a shooting star.


    The mecha''s protective barrier was activated to its full extent, and at the same time, it swung its left fist through the air. This purple mecha pilot''s reactions were quite exceptional, but in the face of Tang Wulin''s absolute power, anything he did was destined to be in vain.


    "Boom!" Tang Wulin''s fist looked as if it had been carved out of pristine white jade, but it was imbued with downright terrifying explosive power. The purple mecha''s protective barrier was destroyed, and even its metal fist was completely demolished while its massive body was tipped backward.


    Tang Wulin swung his left fist through the air, and as he did so, one could clearly see that the air surrounding his fist was compressed by an invisible force, thereby forming a layer of twisted light. Immediately thereafter, a thunderous boom erupted, and the purple mecha seemed to have been struck by a gigantic invisible sledgehammer, sending it flying backward before crashing heavily onto the ground.


    Air Cannon!


    Of course, Tang Wulin hadn''t actually mastered Yuanen Yehui''s soul skill; he had merely emulated her ability through his pure strength.


    He had taken on four mechas on his own, and throughout the course of this entire battle, he had completely dominated the entire battlefield with nothing more than his strength and spiritual power. This had truly been a display of absolute crushing power!


    He landed gently onto the ground, and the four mechas had already been reduced to scrap metal. It was also right at this moment that the police vehicles arrived on the scene with their sirens on full blast before quickly surrounding the site of the incident.


    Mo Lan grumbled, "The police are always a step too late!"


    She then turned to glare at Little Bai, as if to chastise her for not helping Tang Wulin earlier.


    Little Bai gave her a resigned shrug, but when she looked back at Tang Wulin, her cold expression had been replaced by an extremely intense gaze that was only reserved for those whom she considered to be formidable opponents.

 Chapter 1141: Central Federal Guard Bureau

    She still couldn''t ascertain what Tang Wulin''s exact cultivation rank was, but the fact of the matter was that he had defeated four mechas with his physical strength alone, so no matter what his martial soul was, he certainly wasn''t someone to be scoffed at.


    Mo Lan was well aware of how sensitive Tang Wulin''s current identity was, so she didn''t tell anyone that Tang Wulin was a past Shrek Academy disciple. As such, Little Bai was oblivious to all of this. All she knew was this was a powerful guy, more so than she had imagined, and that he seemed to be a decent opponent.


    Tang Wulin returned to Mo Lan''s side in a very natural manner before giving her a reassuring smile. He then stood beside her in an innocent manner, as if he hadn''t been the one who had just destroyed those four mechas.


    The police force converged onto the scene, and they were far less well equipped than the soldiers from before. Even so, they represented the law and order of the entire Bright City, so their presence still had great symbolic importance.


    All of the police officers were given a fright at the sight of the four demolished military mechas. Soon, a high-ranking police officer caught sight of Mo Lan, and he quickly rushed over. "Are you alright, Ms. Mo Lan? What happened here?"


    Mo Lan appraised him with a cold and enraged expression as she replied, "These soldiers barged into this cafe to detain a so-called criminal suspect under broad daylight without any arrest warrants! On top of that, they used military weaponry to threaten the general public, and they even deployed these mechas in the end! All I want to ask is, who gave them the right to do this? Are taxpayers paying for their weapons so they can turn around and aim those weapons at the very hands that feed them? The unruly actions of the military have already posed a threat to the harmony of the entire federation, and I demand that you launch an exhaustive investigation into this!"


    Sweat immediately began to appear on the forehead of the police officer. It was quite clear that a major incident had just taken place, and Mo Lan''s demands made his job even more difficult.


    He was naturally aware of the fact that Mo Lan was a Dove Faction representative, and that even though she was quite young, she was already an extremely well-respected and supported figure in the Dove Faction. She had a strong sense of justice to begin with, and following the deaths of all of her loved ones from the Holy Spirit Cult terrorist attack, she no longer had qualms or inhibitions. As such, following the parliamentary reform, she had led from the front during multiple clashes with the Eagle Faction, garnering extensive support from veteran parliament members of the Dove Faction in the process.


    However, the other side was not someone that he could mess with, either! This was the military that they were talking about here! How could a mere police force stand up against the might of the military? If he couldn''t address this issue in a sound manner, then major problems could arise.


    With all these thoughts racing through his mind, he instantly replied, "We''ll be sure to conduct a thorough investigation into this matter, Ms. Mo Lan. For now, we''ll detain these soldiers and take them back to the police station."


    Mo Lan nodded in response. "I''ll be keeping tabs on this situation, so please inform me as soon as any new developments arise."


    "Yes!" The police officer extended a salute toward her before leading the other police officers to take care of the soldiers on the scene. At the same time, they recorded statements from the members of the general public in the cafe in order to ascertain the situation that had unfolded earlier.


    The detained soldiers were all extremely tight-lipped, but the police officers soon understood the gist of the situation from the general public. It was undoubtedly the case that the military was in the wrong here; they had barged into the cafe to capture someone without an arrest warrant.


    These soldiers and mechas all belonged to the Bright City garrison, but they had been incorrectly mobilized to capture someone without an official warrant. This issue could be blown up and be made into a big deal or be stifled and gradually forgotten as an insignificant incident. It was very easy to verify which military department these soldiers and mechas belonged to, and the fact that all of the soldiers were refusing to say anything was a clear indication that they were waiting for their higher-ups to take care of this issue. As such, there would be no way to get them to talk.


    Tang Wulin was spectating the proceedings beside Mo Lan this entire time, and the police officers had taken care of the situation in a relatively appropriate manner. The four mecha pilots were all "escorted" out of their mechas and temporarily detained, as were all of the soldiers in the cafe. They were going to be taken back to the police station for further interrogation.


    Just as the police force was about to depart with these detained soldiers, a military vehicle suddenly sped onto the scene.


    Tang Zihao clearly heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this military vehicle. The arrival of the higher-ups meant that this load would be taken off their shoulders. In reality, if they were to be truly prosecuted for their actions today, they would have to attend hearings at the military court!


    The military vehicle quickly drew to a halt, and a lieutenant colonel emerged from within with a pair of majors in accompaniment.


    "Hold on." The lieutenant colonel strode over to the high-ranking police officer and raised a hand to stop them from continuing to detain the soldiers into their police vehicles.


    "We''re from the garrison''s investigation regiment; what''s happened here? We heard from a report from our soldiers that a misunderstanding has taken place here between them and your police force; is that true?"


    In terms of official rank, the high-ranking police officer wasn''t inferior to the lieutenant colonel, and the former replied in a serious voice, "An incident just took place where these soldiers were issued an order by someone to use military weapons to threaten the general public, and they were unable to provide an arrest warrant. Even mechas were deployed and attacked members of the general public. We have to launch a thorough investigation into this so we can provide a proper explanation to the people. Hence, we have to take these soldiers back to the police station for further interrogation."


    "You can''t do that! These soldiers belong to the military, so we''ll be responsible for investigating them; this has nothing to do with you. Please hand them over, and we''ll keep you updated on the situation." The lieutenant colonel waved a hand as he spoke, and a dozen or so armed soldiers immediately got out of the military vehicle to stop the police officers in their path.


    There were definitely more police officers on the scene, but in terms of equipment and combat prowess, they couldn''t hold a candle to these true soldiers.


    Mo Lan said in a cold voice, "So this is the tyranny of the military; you''ve truly opened my eyes!"


    "Who are you?" The lieutenant colonel glanced at her with furrowed brows.


    Mo Lan replied in an indifferent voice, "I''m nobody; I''m just an ordinary member of the general public. Does that make me unworthy of speaking the truth?"


    The lieutenant colonel harrumphed coldly, "We''re here on official military duty; all unrelated personnel must vacate the scene right away or you''ll be regarded as an enemy of the military and punished accordingly."


    Mo Lan couldn''t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. This was the perfect opportunity for her! She had always been trying to find some leverage against the military in order to bring the Eagle Faction down a notch.


    Little Bai raised an arm and began to take photographs of everything with her soul communicator.


    "What are you doing? Taking pictures is prohibited!" The lieutenant colonel reacted very quickly and immediately discovered what Little Bai was doing.


    A major lunged toward Little Bai while raising a hand to make a grab for her arm.


    Little Bai harrumphed coldly as her left hand shot forth like lightning, and the major gave a muffled groan as he was forced back a few steps. He then looked down at his palm to find that an insignia had already been imprinted there.


    The insignia consisted of a series of small words, and upon closer inspection, he discovered that the words were "Central Federal Guard Bureau".


    His expression immediately changed drastically upon seeing this. He was well aware of what the Central Federal Guard Bureau did; they were elite powerful beings who were responsible for ensuring the safety of important federal parliamentary officials.


    One had to at least be a five-ring Soul King before they could enter this guard bureau, and at the same time, they had to at least be purple mecha pilots. Of course, they could also be battle armor masters.


    The fact that someone from the Central Federal Guard Bureau was here was a clear indication of the status of the woman who had just spoken.


    "How dare you attack members of the military!" The lieutenant colonel had only seen his comrade being forced back by Little Bai, and he didn''t know what had just happened, so he was just about to flare up with rage. Thankfully for him, the major reacted very quickly, instantly returning to his side before offering his own hand for the lieutenant colonel''s examination.


    The lieutenant colonel''s expression also changed drastically upon seeing the words imprinted on his palm. They were in some trouble now!


    The Central Federal Guard Bureau''s most important duty was to protect members of parliament, and only parliament members were entitled to protection from them. Furthermore, not all parliament members were entitled to this privilege.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this middle-aged woman was a parliament member, and from her attitude, it was quite clear that she was quite opposed to the military. The Eagle Faction held the upper hand at the moment, but in reality, the results of all elections and other major events had to be decided by referendum. If the incident that had just taken place wasn''t properly taken care of, then the military''s image could take a very severe hit.


    This wasn''t supposed to be a major incident, but who would''ve thought that it would escalate to this extent? The lieutenant colonel''s expression darkened as the nature of the situation dawned on him.


    Mo Lan continued in an indifferent voice, "So? Are you going to arrest me as well? Let me see who dares to obstruct the police in completing their official duties!"


    The lieutenant colonel''s expression changed several times in quick succession. The current situation was already very difficult to deal with, but if he were to allow the police to detain those soldiers, then the situation would take a further turn for the worse; even the higher-ups of the military would have to be very careful in the way they handled this incident. After all, the Douluo Federation was still a democratic government.


    "Take everyone back with us." The lieutenant colonel immediately made a decision and issued an order. At the same time, he strode over to Little Bai and positioned himself in front of her soul communicator to prevent her from taking photos.


    In the process, he completely ignored Mo Lan, pretending as if he hadn''t realized who she was, and he merely appraised Little Bai with a calm expression as he urged, "Please stop taking photos. If you can take a step back on this, the military will be sure to repay you for your generosity."

 Chapter 1142: The Military Family That Supports the Dove Faction

    Little Bai''s expression changed slightly. "Get out of my way!"


    The lieutenant colonel appraised her with a cold expression and refused to move a single inch.


    Little Bai took a step to sidestep him, and he immediately followed suit.


    Little Bai''s brows furrowed slightly as she turned toward Mo Lan. As a member of the Central Federal Guard Bureau, she had a great level of autonomy when Mo Lan came under threat, but there was no direct threat to Mo Lan''s safety at the moment, and this was quite a high-ranking military official, so she was still rather wary of him. As such, she wouldn''t be able to do anything in this situation unless she received an explicit order from Mo Lan.


    "Is the military free to do whatever they want and oppress people as they please?" Right at this moment, a clear voice suddenly sounded, immediately following which a hand appeared on the lieutenant colonel''s shoulder.


    The lieutenant colonel turned his head, and was greeted by the sight of a handsome face. Just as he turned to look at this man, he was stunned to discover that his pupils had suddenly turned vertical. Even as a six-ring Soul Emperor, he was instantly struck by an overwhelming sense of fear that made all of his fine hairs stand up on end.


    He was then dragged off to the side, unable to offer even a single shred of resistance.


    The horror in his heart was making his entire body tremble slightly, and even though Tang Wulin was only laying a hand on his shoulder without exerting any force, he still didn''t dare to do anything reckless.


    Little Bai was still taking photos, and at this point, a confrontation between the military and the police force had already ensued.


    Under normal circumstances, the high-ranking police officer would perhaps turn a blind eye and let things slide, but he couldn''t do that here! With Mo Lan present to supervise the proceedings, he would most likely be out of a job tomorrow if he dared to let the soldiers go.


    "Stop!" The high-ranking police officer stood in the way of the soldiers. However, these soldiers only took orders from their direct superiors, and the soldier walking at the forefront of the group raised his soul laser gun before swinging the butt of the weapon toward the police officer. The order he had received was to recover the detained soldiers; everything else could wait until later.


    However, the high-ranking police officer was no slouch, either. Light flashed from his body, and four soul rings rose up from beneath his feet. He caught the butt of the soul laser gun with one hand before throwing the soldier off to the side.


    All of the soldiers instantly aimed their weapons at him, and it seemed that the situation could spiral out of control at any moment.


    "Stop!" Right at this moment, a delicate cry sounded, and a figure rushed out from the distance.


    It really was her!


    Tang Wulin''s expression instantly darkened at the sight of her.


    Compared to the sorry state she had been in the night before, Shen Xing seemed to have transformed into a completely different person today. Her military uniform gave her a very sharp and crisp appearance, and the epaulets on her shoulders indicated that she was a lieutenant colonel. It was already quite a feat for someone of her age to have climbed up to such a high rank in the military.


    Tang Wulin appraised her with a cold expression. She was undoubtedly the one behind this farcical situation. She wanted to capture him, but everything had escalated into a major incident. However, this was also a clear indication of just how powerful her backers were. Otherwise, she wouldn''t dare to mobilize military forces so recklessly in Bright City like this.


    Shen Xing quickly strode over to the high-ranking police officer with a slightly apologetic look on her face, and she said, "My apologies, please hold off on detaining my men for now."


    After that, she quickly strode over to Mo Lan before giving her a massive hug right before Tang Wulin''s astonished eyes.


    "Sister Mo Lan, what are you doing here?"


    Mo Lan also faltered slightly upon seeing her. "I could ask you the same, Little Xing."


    Shen Xing laid her chin on Mo Lan''s shoulder and whispered something into her ear, upon which a peculiar look instantly appeared on Mo Lan''s face.


    "This is absurd! The military is there to serve the federation, not to act as your personal army! What if they had hurt innocent civilians?"


    Shen Xing hung her head like a guilty little girl, and pleaded, "I''m sorry, I know what I did was wrong, and I''ll never do it again. Please don''t tell my father and my big sister or I''ll be in big trouble. If the higher-ups hear about this, it''ll be over for me! Please?"


    Tang Wulin was already completely flabbergasted as he looked on from the side. Shen Xing had whispered into Mo Lan''s ear in a very quiet voice earlier, but as a Soul Sage, his hearing was naturally sharp enough to overhear their conversation.


    What she had told Mo Lan was that Tang Wulin was her boyfriend, and the two of them had had a lover''s quarrel. She was really angry about the situation and wanted to force him to come back to her, so she had deployed members of the military in a moment of senseless rage.


    Tang Wulin was completely speechless. This was downright bullsh*t! When had he become her boyfriend?!


    However, Tang Wulin could sense from Mo Lan''s expression that things were rather complex. As a representative of the Dove Faction, it was quite clear that she definitely wasn''t fond of the military, but from her attitude toward Shen Xing, it was quite clear that the latter was no ordinary person. Her backers were either powerful enough to make even Mo Lan quite wary, or they were people whom she had no choice but to appease. Otherwise, her attitude would be completely different.


    Mo Lan turned to look at Tang Wulin, and the latter remained silent. In a situation like this, it was best not to say anything. After all, he also wanted to reduce the scope of the incident to prevent his cover from being blown.


    "Alright, this is the only exception I''ll make, but I have to tell your big sister about this. As for your father, you''ll just have to beg your sister to keep this a secret from him," Mo Lan grumbled.


    "Thank you! You''re the best, Sister Lan!" Shen Xing was ecstatic, and she latched onto Mo Lan''s arm before swinging it from side to side.


    Mo Lan could only heave a resigned sigh in response. "You really are a little trouble-maker! It''s a pity..."


    She was clearly referring to how it was a pity that she couldn''t use this incident as leverage against the military.


    Now that Mo Lan had agreed to let things slide, everything else flowed very easily. The police force was more than eager to release the soldiers in question, and the military also cleared up the scene before departing as quickly as they could.


    Shen Xing stood beside Mo Lan and glowered at Tang Wulin with an enraged expression, thinking to herself that no good situations could arise with him involved. She was furious that she had been caught abusing her power by Mo Lan!


    The key behind Tang Wulin''s discovery lay in the cigarette salesman who had passed by him in front of the cafe.


    The Shen Family controlled an enormous information network, and this network included all of the traveling salesmen in the city. Shen Xing had posted a picture of Tang Wulin on the internal information network, and the entirety of Bright City was searching for him. As such, the salesman instantly reported his presence to her after seeing him outside of the cafe, and that was what led to this situation.


    Shen Xing had actually already been here for a while. She was hoping to remain in the shadows and observe the situation while Tang Wulin was captured, but she didn''t think that he would be able to take care of four mechas with his bare hands so easily. She then caught sight of Mo Lan, and she was naturally aware of Mo Lan''s attitude toward the military. The situation was threatening to spiral out of control, so she had no choice but to rush out and mediate.


    "It''s all your fault!" Shen Xing mouthed a silent accusation at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin could tell what she was trying to say by reading her lips, and he turned his head away while putting on his wide-brim hat, completely ignoring her in the process.


    Shen Xing was instantly infuriated as she began to imagine what she was going to do to him if he ever ended up in her hands. However, he seemed to have become even more handsome than before, and an additional facet had also appeared in his character.


    As someone who had lived all her life in a military family, she was very sensitive toward the demeanor of a soldier, and she could sense a familiar disposition from Tang Wulin that was akin to that of her father and grandfather. She didn''t want to admit this, but she knew that Tang Wulin was only burrowing deeper and deeper into her heart.


    "You can go back now, but don''t do something so wilful and reckless again," Mo Lan said to Shen Xing in a resigned manner.


    Shen Xing stuck out her tongue and pointed at Tang Wulin. "Can I take him back with me? I..." Her words trailed off, and she blushed as she spoke.


    Her acting skills really were top-notch! Could it be that she had been to the demonic island as well?


    Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of speechlessness at the sight of her pitiable display.

 Chapter 1143: So its Love

    Mo Lan glanced at her, then looked at Tang Wulin, and she couldn''t help but feel rather perplexed. She naturally didn''t believe Shen Xing''s claims; Tang Wulin had only just arrived in Bright City, so how could he possibly be Shen Xing''s boyfriend? However, it wouldn''t be a good idea to expose this fact, but with how sensitive Tang Wulin''s current situation was, she couldn''t allow Shen Xing to take him away.


    "He''s my little brother, and I have something I still need to speak to him about; you guys can settle your argument later. You can go back now." Mo Lan adopted a very serious expression as she spoke.


    Shen Xing didn''t dare to say anything at the sight of Mo Lan''s serious look, and she stuck out her tongue before aiming a vicious glare at Tang Wulin before reluctantly trudging away.


    Tang Wulin was just about to say something at the sight of her departing figure, but Mo Lan raised a hand to stop him. Little Bai then drove Mo Lan''s car over to them; this was a very ordinary and understated soul car.


    Tang Wulin instantly realized what Mo Lan''s intentions were, and the two of them got into the car while Little Bai drove them toward the central region of the city.


    Mo Lan didn''t say anything along the way, and there seemed to be something on her mind. Tang Wulin didn''t say anything, either, and he merely sat beside her in silence.


    Not long after that, Little Bai drove the car into an underground garage beneath a tall building. The three of them emerged from the car before taking the elevator upward.


    The elevator rose all the way to the top floor, and Mo Lan turned to Little Bai as she instructed, "You can go back for now. Don''t record anything that happened today, and pretend as if nothing happened, understood?"


    "Yes, I understand." Little Bai departed in the elevator after taking one final curious glance at Tang Wulin.


    Mo Lan led Tang Wulin into a very large room that was close to 200 square meters in size, but the room was very sparsely furnished.


    Due to the fact that they were on the top floor, the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling window was quite breathtaking. One could look out very far into the distance, upon which they would be greeted by the sight of a bustling city situated in a forest of iron and steel.


    Mo Lan switched on the light, pulled down the curtain, then pressed a button. With Tang Wulin''s sharp senses, he was immediately able to discover that an energy barrier seemed to have appeared around the room, making it impossible for the sensory devices outside to eavesdrop or spy on them.


    "Alright, we can talk now. Wulin, it looks like you''re in some trouble already. What''s the deal with you and Shen Xing?" It was already quite remarkable that she had managed to repress her curiosity for so long.


    Tang Wulin heaved a resigned sigh in response. "It''s a long story. I met her by chance..." He gave Mo Lan a brief recount of his military training stint on the demonic island, and how he had abducted Shen Xing on the Northsea Legion, as well as their last meeting just the night before.


    Mo Lan listened very carefully to his words, and in the beginning, her brows had been tightly furrowed. However, her expression then began to relax, and at the end, she was already looking at Tang Wulin with a suggestive smile on her face.


    "So that''s the gist of the matter. Why are you looking at me like that?" Tang Wulin was growing rather embarrassed under her suggestive gaze.


    Mo Lan couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "I thought your cover had been blown and that you''ve been targeted by the military already, but who would''ve thought that it''s just a matter of love? That makes sense; this little brother of mine is so handsome and powerful, which woman wouldn''t fall in love with you? How about you accept her feelings? Shen Xing is quite an outstanding girl, and even though she comes from a powerful family, there has never been any controversy or reports of misconduct surrounding her. Her family is very strict, so something like this has most likely never happened before, and the fact that she was willing to go to such great lengths to capture you is an indication of just how much of an impact you''ve had on her."


    Tang Wulin wore a resigned expression as he replied, "Please don''t make jokes at my expense; how can I possibly be with her? I already have someone I love. By the way, from your interactions with her, it seems like you''re somehow related to her family?"


    Mo Lan nodded and heaved a faint sigh. "I would''ve much rather encountered anyone else from the military than her; that would''ve given me the opportunity to instigate an anti-military rally. At the very least, that would hamper the influence of the military to a certain extent. However, I can''t do that to the Shen Family. In reality, the military isn''t a completely tightly-knit unit. After so many years of development, there have been many major families who have planted their members in the military, thereby essentially staking a partial claim in the federal military. These major families have established their own areas of control that are very difficult to shake, and even the federal government wouldn''t dare to encroach upon their authority for no good reason. After all, any politician who wishes to rise to power would require the support of these families."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "Are you saying that the Shen Family is related to the Dove Faction?"


    Mo Lan nodded in response. "There are five major families in the military, one of which is the Shen Family. They''re also the only family that supports our Dove Faction, and the current head of the family, who is also Shen Xing''s grandfather, is one of the federal military''s main advisers, as well as a general. He''s one of the three most powerful military officials, ranking alongside the commander-in-chief and head of the federal general armament department. The Shen Family''s sphere of influence mostly lies in the Northsea Legion, as well as in the Bright City garrison, and they''re a very powerful family. During our Dove Faction''s time in power, it was all thanks to the Shen Family that we didn''t fall prey to the dirty tactics the Eagle Faction used to target us in secret.


    "The Shen Family stands for justice and champions peaceful development, which is directly concurrent with our ideology. Furthermore, the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Engineer Academy stands behind the Shen Family, and under these circumstances, even I have no choice but to let things slide. Otherwise, if the Shen Family were to be dealt a heavy blow as a result of this incident, then the entire Dove Faction would be severely impacted."


    Tang Wulin was enlightened upon hearing this explanation. It was no wonder that Mo Lan had let Shen Xing off the hook and given up on this opportunity.


    "Are the other four major families in the military all supporters of the Eagle Faction?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Mo Lan shook her head in response. "Three of them support the Eagle Faction, with the most prominent one being the Qiangu Family. The remaining one is the Yue Family of the Southern Legion, and they support the neutral faction, so they could potentially be our ally in the future."


    The Yue Family? Wasn''t that Yue Zhengyu''s family? Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief upon hearing this. Two of the five major families didn''t support the Eagle Faction, so the situation wasn''t too bad. It was no wonder that the Dove Faction could still maintain the current situation.


    "However, the situation is still not a very optimistic one," Mo Lan sighed, "Ever since Qiangu Dongfeng became the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, the Qiangu Family has been developing at a phenomenal rate. They''ve kept a low profile for many years, and now that the family is rearing its head, they''ve quickly accumulated a lot of power. With the support of the Spirit Pagoda, the Qiangu Family is now too powerful for anyone to contend with; they''ve even seized direct and indirect control of over 20% of all parliamentary seats, and this has never happened in the history of the federation."


    Tang Wulin was quite alarmed to hear this. "Is the federation unable to do anything to address this? How can they allow a single family to continue developing like this? If things continue in this manner, won''t the Qiangu Family become a dictatorship in the future?"


    Mo Lan replied in a grim voice, "We''ve instigated many discussions about this matter, but the Qiangu Family is very cunning; they have direct control over very few seats, so they brush aside our arguments as ad hominem attacks. Furthermore, there are many people who are clearly affiliated with them, but pretend as if they have nothing to do with the Qiangu Family."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "Do you think they played a hand in the Shrek City bombing?"


    Mo Lan gave him a meaningful look, and replied, "This is not something that I can say for sure; all I can say is that it''s very possible. The Qiangu Family has always kept a very low profile, and if it weren''t for the fact that Qiangu Dongfeng had become the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, they would''ve most likely continued to lie low, and no one knows exactly how powerful they are. However, this is a family that has been around for a very long time, so one can only assume that they''ve accumulated an enormous amount of power and resources.


    "As the number one academy on the continent, Shrek Academy was the main pillar of support for the neutral faction, and with the Tang Sect acting as another major source of support, no powers dared to look down on the neutral faction. Back when Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were in their heyday, neither the Dove Faction nor the Eagle Faction dared to overstep their boundaries, and this was exactly because both sides feared intervention from the neutral faction. The neutral faction appeared to be the weakest among the three, but Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had both stood at the pinnacle of the entire continent for over 20,000 years, and they were far too powerful to contend with.


    "In particular, Shrek Academy had alumni in all three factions, all of whom were closely affiliated with the academy, so for some people, Shrek Academy was constantly a thorn in their sides. The sudden attack launched against Shrek Academy definitely wasn''t something that could''ve been thrown together in a day or two."


    Mo Lan suddenly paused here before continuing, "What are your future plans, Wulin? If you plan to revive the academy, then I have to firmly advise you against it."


    "Why?" Tang Wulin asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Mo Lan''s face. "It''s far too difficult. If you want to revive Shrek Academy, then you''ll be making all of the major families your enemies, including the Shen Family and the Yue Family. No one wants to see an organization as powerful as Shrek Academy appear again as the academy acted as a restrictive force on all of the major families. Do you understand what I mean?"

 Chapter 1144: The Grim Situation

    Tang Wulin''s expression stiffened slightly upon hearing this. "Are you saying that all five major families played a role in plotting against Shrek Academy?"


    Mo Lan shook her head in response. "No, I''m not going as far as to say that. I don''t know exactly which sides contributed to the Shrek Academy bombing, but it''s undoubtedly the case that the powerful Shrek Academy had been a restrictive force on all powers, including sects, families, and other organizations. It was only as a result of their influence that the continent was peaceful for so many years. Do you think the Eagle Faction has only recently been proposing war against the Star Luo Empire? Countless people have been supporting a war even prior to the founding of the federation, and it was only through the constant intervention and mediation from Shrek Academy that a war didn''t eventuate.


    "However, war is virtually unavoidable now, and it''s something that we can''t stop no matter how hard we try, and that''s exactly because we''ve lost the almighty pillar that was Shrek Academy. Do you think anyone would wish to see a new Shrek Academy emerge under these circumstances? It''s impossible. If you revive Shrek Academy, you''ll be facing all five major families, the Spirit Pagoda, and the Holy Spirit Cult, any one of which is enough to crush you into nothingness. It''s just too difficult.


    "I understand what you''re thinking and feeling. As the current leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, it''s your duty and responsibility to revive Shrek Academy, but can you at least promise me that you won''t do anything reckless before you accumulate a vast amount of power? I''ve lost too many loved ones and people who are close to me; I don''t want you to follow in their footsteps!"


    Tears began to well up in Mo Lan''s eyes again as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin had always known that reviving Shrek Academy would be an extremely difficult task, but he didn''t think that it would be this difficult.


    It was just as Mo Lan had said; if he wanted to rebuild Shrek Academy, then he''d be facing opposition from all of the major powers on the entire Douluo Continent. None of those powers wanted to see Shrek Academy make a resurgence, and that was the main issue that he had to face.


    However, was he supposed to give up just because it was difficult? As the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, he had to do this no matter what. However, Mo Lan''s words had at least given him a much-needed reality check, warning him against doing anything reckless before he had made ample preparations.


    Even if the federation were to wage war against the Dou Spirit Empire and the Star Luo Empire, it would not be a suitable opportunity for him to reveal the fact that he was reviving Shrek Academy; he still had to do things in the shadows.


    "Don''t worry, Sister, I won''t do anything rash until I have absolute confidence in my own abilities, and I''ll be sure to grow and develop at an even faster rate." Tang Wulin held onto Mo Lan''s hands, and his heart throbbed with pain at the sight of her teary eyes.


    Mo Lan had once had a happy family, yet she was now all alone.


    He had to restructure his thought process, and it was also imperative for him to accumulate power in the shadows. Only after receiving sufficient support would he be able to create a stable foothold for Shrek Academy following its revival.


    Tang Wulin then inquired Mo Lan about the current political situation on the continent, particularly about the military''s current plans to instigate wars.


    Mo Lan had quite an extensive understanding of the military''s current plans, and she knew that troops were being mobilized toward the Northsea Legion base and the Eastsea Legion base.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Douluo Federation was the most advanced among the three continents when it came to soul weapon development, and as soul technology had progressively improved over the years, modern wars were no longer affairs that could be decided based on who had the most number of troops. At the same time, the federation was also prioritizing the construction of giant battleships. Soul fighter aircrafts could already be used in long-range battle, but an extremely long supply line had to be ensured in order to facilitate the invasion of another continent.


    As such, these giant battleships were being constructed to transport fighter aircrafts, as well as to ferry supplies over to alternate continents, and they were going to be extremely important weapons in the upcoming wars to be waged against the Dou Spirit Empire and the Star Luo Empire. Everything was progressing at a rapid rate, and according to Mo Lan''s estimations, all of the preparations would be completed in about a year, following which war would inevitably break out.


    "Even if the federation is going to start a war, aren''t they going to address their internal affairs first? What if the Holy Spirit Cult wreaks havoc within the federation once the war commences?"


    A wry smile appeared on Mo Lan''s face. "This is one of our main arguments against the Eagle Faction''s war proposal. However, the Holy Spirit Cult is far too cunning and secretive, and we have no way of attacking them without receiving any concrete leads. The Eagle Faction''s opinion is that we can''t allow the Holy Spirit Cult to throw off the plans of the entire federations. The Eagle Faction currently supports research into spatial exploration, and they''ve also expressed strong support toward research and development into spaceships and aircrafts.


    "However, at the same time, they state that if we want to engage in spatial exploration and find alternate planets that are suitable for human habitation, that endeavor would require a vast amount of resources. At present, the entire continent is extremely short on resources, and there are no superfluous resources available to be used for research and development beyond the resources required to satisfy the basic operation of the federation. In contrast, the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent are very rich in resources, so war is mandatory for the development of the entire human race as there''s no way that the other two empires would be willing to hand over their resources to us. As such, they proclaim that only by uniting the Douluo Star can they better develop soul technology, thereby forging a stable foundation for us to venture into outer space."


    Tang Wulin was rendered speechless upon hearing this. He had to admit that the Eagle Faction presented quite a compelling case. However, if a war were to break out, then the first victims would be the general public! The Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire were also filled with humans, just like the Douluo Continent; regardless of the outcome of the war, humanity would be the biggest loser.


    Mo Lan continued with a wry smile, "The Eagle Faction had received some support from the neutral faction, as well as majority support from the general public. After all, this war will take place on foreign land, so it won''t impact our people too much; this is the main reason behind their willingness to support the Eagle Faction."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "What a short-sighted way of thinking! The Holy Spirit Cult was able to destroy Shrek City, so they''re clearly capable of laying waste to any city. Instead of addressing such a major internal threat, they''re considering invading other continents; this is downright absurd!"


    Mo Lan sighed, "The prospect of reaping profits has blinded everyone! Nothing anyone says can change everyone''s mind now; this war is essentially inevitable. The Eagle Faction has stated that the Battle God Hall and Spirit Pagoda will work together to guard the federation against the Holy Spirit Cult. Furthermore, they''ve expressed a high level of confidence in their own abilities, and they''re willing to take full responsibility if further terrorist attacks from the Holy Spirit Cult were to arise, so we''re unable to raise any counter-arguments."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Does the Dove Faction have any effective plans to target the Eagle Faction?"


    Mo Lan shook her head in response. "We don''t have anything decisive at the moment; we can only protect the power that we currently hold. This is why I had no choice but to back down in the face of the Shen Family. Wulin, you have to realize that the power of a single person is far too insignificant. Even if you can become the most powerful being in this world someday, you''ll still only be one man, so please don''t do anything reckless."


    Tang Wulin nodded in a serious manner. "I understand. Don''t worry, I won''t do anything rash; I know my limits. Also, I understand how I need to face all of this. I''ll be taking my leave now, Big Sister; keep in touch."


    Mo Lan escorted him out of the building, then looked on as he hailed a taxi and departed. As she did so, she heaved a faint internal sigh. Despite how young Tang Wulin was, he had far too heavy a load on his shoulders, and even she couldn''t help him much.


    After returning to his hotel room, Tang Wulin immediately began to meditate and reorganize his thoughts. Some of his past plans would have to be modified and improved.


    He was definitely going to revive Shrek Academy, but his original plan had now been revealed to be unrealistic.


    It was far too naive to think that he could simply announce to the world that he was reviving Shrek Academy and expect all of the Shrek Academy supporters to flock to his banner.

 Chapter 1145: Shen Xings Persistence

    It was just as Mo Lan had said; if he wanted to rebuild Shrek Academy, then he would have to face opposition from almost all of the major powers on the entire continent. As such, he couldn''t reveal his plans to the world until he was absolutely ready.


    However, just because he couldn''t reveal his plans didn''t mean that he couldn''t work toward his goals in the shadows.


    The information that he had received from Mo Lan was not very optimistic, but it had been very helpful to his planning. At the very least, she had taught him to be more cautious toward everything and to not act recklessly under any circumstances.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and his eyes gradually lit up.


    He had the support of the Tang Sect behind him, so why couldn''t he hide Shrek Academy just as the Holy Spirit Cult had hidden themselves? In any case, he had to visit the original site of Shrek City. Following this visit to Bright City, he had essentially already decided on a course of action, and all he had to do next was to set his plan into motion.


    The next morning, Tang Wulin and the others set off for the original site of Shrek City via soul train.


    The 27 of them were split up into five carriages, and Tang Wulin was sitting beside Long Yuxue. The two of them were posing as a pair of lovers, and aside from the disguise that Tang Wulin had applied to himself, everyone else was still in their original appearance. There was no need for them to adopt any disguises as their identities weren''t sensitive.


    Tang Wulin looked at the rapidly receding scenery through the window of the soul train, and a mixture of emotions welled up in his heart. He was now hoping that the Holy Spirit Cult would attempt to hijack this train as that would give him an opportunity to avenge his deceased teachers and peers of Shrek Academy.


    However, for some reason, the Holy Spirit Cult hadn''t launched a terrorist attack on the continent for a very long time, and the only appearance they had made was during that last incident at the Blood God Legion base.


    They hadn''t been dealt any destructive blows, so their sudden and complete disappearance was truly perplexing. In Tang Wulin''s eyes, the Holy Spirit Cult was intentionally keeping a low profile to contribute toward instigating the inevitable war.


    If the war were to commence, the federation would undoubtedly be lacking in military power, and if the Holy Spirit Cult were to strike then, the consequences would only be even more disastrous.


    If he wanted to revive Shrek Academy, not only did he have to balance the external powers so they kept one another in check, thereby preventing them from interfering with the revival of the academy, he also had to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult.


    The initial steps were always the most difficult ones to take in any endeavor, so this was the most arduous stage of Tang Wulin''s plan, but his thought process was very clear. Following his conversation with Mo Lan, he was made even more aware of the fact that he couldn''t afford to be too hasty in implementing his plans as that would only achieve the opposite of the desired effect.


    He and his friends were the only remaining seeds that Shrek Academy had, so they had to ensure their own safety no matter what. As such, it was most definitely better for them to be safe than sorry, even if they had to err on the side of caution. After all, he and his friends were still nowhere near powerful enough to truly make a difference in this world.


    Just as Tang Wulin was departing from Bright City with his Blood Dragon Squad, Shen Xing was sitting in her own room with a frustrated look on her face.


    That bastard had vanished into thin air without so much as a single trace. How was that possible? After separating from Mo Lan on that day, she had sent out her subordinates to wait for Tang Wulin in secret. They managed to track Tang Wulin even as he departed from Mo Lan''s office, but he then stopped at a shopping center and suddenly disappeared there.


    Following her drunken encounter with Tang Wulin that night, Shen Xing knew that he was extremely proficient in disguise techniques, so it would be extremely difficult to find him.


    However, she couldn''t just pass up on this rare opportunity and let him scurry away right under her nose.


    With that in mind, Shen Xing decided to pay a visit to Mo Lan.


    "Sister Mo Lan." Shen Xing walked into Mo Lan''s office before making her way over to Mo Lan''s desk with a smile on her face.


    "You again? What do you want now? Oh, that reminds me, I forgot to tell your sister about what you did; let me give her a call now." She began to reach for her soul communicator as she spoke.


    Shen Xing hurriedly rushed around Mo Lan''s desk and latched onto her hands. "Please don''t! Seeing as you''d already forgotten, then just let it remain forgotten, heehee. I came here because I have a favor to ask of you."


    Mo Lan shot a glance at her. "What do you need?"


    A resentful look appeared on Shen Xing''s face. "It''s still about that bastard! He suddenly disappeared just because we had a disagreement. Otherwise, how could I have been so impulsive as to send military troops after him? Do you know where he went? I''m looking all over the place for him!"


    Mo Lan appraised her with a hint of a smile on her face. "Is he really your boyfriend? Xing''er, you''re a good girl, and our families are very close, so tell me the truth; what''s going on between you and him? Actually, let me ask you two simple questions first; do you know his name? Do you know who he is?"


    Shen Xing faltered slightly before she replied, "He''s from Shrek Academy! Of course I know who he is. What do you..." Her voice abruptly trailed off, and she suddenly realized that Mo Lan and Tang Wulin most likely shared a very special relationship.


    Mo Lan heaved a faint sigh. "Xing''er, there are some people that you should never approach. I can tell that you like him, but if you fall in love with someone like him, it could very likely affect your entire life, and the impact can only be a negative one; even your family won''t agree for you to be with him. I''m sure you know what happened to Shrek Academy; if you really want what''s best for him, then don''t tell anyone that you saw him in Bright City. His identity is very sensitive, and there are many people who are currently looking for him, most of whom do not have his best interests in mind."


    Shen Xing''s brows furrowed slightly. "What do you mean?"


    Mo Lan sighed, "I can''t elaborate much more than that. All I can tell you is that he''s not good for you, and that pursuing him will very likely completely ruin you. This is not a path that you should take."


    "No, I don''t believe you! Be, besides, I don''t really like him, I just..."Shen Xing stomped her foot as an enraged look appeared on her face. "He told you everything, didn''t he?"


    Mo Lan appraised her with an intense gaze. "What do you think?"


    Shen Xing became even more furious upon hearing this. "Where is he? I have to see him and interrogate him in person! He..."


    A gentle look appeared in Mo Lan''s eyes at the sight of Shen Xing''s frustrated display. She stood up and stroked Shen Xing''s hair as she said, "I''ve been through this stage of my life, so you can''t hide your feelings from me; you''ve fallen in love with him, right? Forget him. He''s like poison to you, silly girl! Do you know how heavy a responsibility is weighing on his shoulders in the wake of Shrek Academy''s destruction? Just this responsibility alone could crush him if he''s not careful; he doesn''t have time to be bogged down by a relationship.


    "Besides, your identity is quite sensitive; how will you face your grandfather, your father, and your sister if something were to happen between the two of you? If an important member of the Shen Family such as yourself were to marry someone from Shrek Academy, your relationship could destroy your entire family! Don''t you see the severe implications behind all of this? This is definitely not something that you can face on your own, so give up on him. There''s no way for you two to be together, so forget him and live your life."


    "No!" Shen Xing suddenly yelled. She bit down on her lower lip, and tears were already swimming in her eyes.


    "I have to find him! I have to find that bastard and kill him! I have to exact my revenge; I, I..." She began to back away from Mo Lan as she spoke before abruptly turning and running away.


    Mo Lan shook her head in a resigned manner as she looked on at Shen Xing''s departing figure. This little brother of hers was simply far too attractive to the opposite sex, even if he didn''t do anything to garner this attraction.


    Indeed, even she would be attracted to him if she were 10 years younger. His looks and abilities were both impeccable and formed a hopelessly alluring package. Come to think of it, he had proclaimed he already had someone that he loved, and Mo Lan couldn''t help but wonder who it was.


    After a brief moment of contemplation, she decided that she had to tell Shen Yue about this. She and Shen Yue had been close friends ever since they were children, and their families were also very close with one another. After that, they grew up and went their separate ways, and it was undoubtedly the case that Shen Yue was more exceptional than her in their younger days, but that didn''t affect their friendship at all. This was why she regarded Shen Xing as her own little sister.


    "Shen Yue, it''s me. There''s something that I have to tell you about Xing''er..."


    At the Bright City garrison command center.


    Shen Yue put down her soul communicator with a dark expression on her face. She had actually already figured out from a long while ago that there seemed to be something going on with her little sister.


    Something had been off about her even back at the Northsea Legion base, and following her return to Bright City, her situation seemed to have only worsened. She was naturally aware of Shen Xing''s alcohol problem, and she had scolded Shen Xing many times due to this issue. However, Shen Xing had burst into tears and told her that she was suffering from severe insomnia and couldn''t sleep without relying on alcohol, and that she was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

 Chapter 1146: Im Back

    As such, she had no choice but to allow Shen Xing to do as she pleased. After all, she wasn''t displaying any issues in any other areas, and she was only becoming more and more outstanding following her stint in the Northsea Legion. She had even reached the Soul King stage, and with her powers, it would be very difficult for anyone to pose a threat to her even if she were in an inebriated state.


    Shen Yue naturally firmly believed Mo Lan''s words. Could it be that that kid was the root cause behind her sister''s severe insomnia?


    That handsome face surfaced in Shen Yue''s mind. It was a young man with a pair of bright eyes who was perpetually calm and collected, even in the face of the entire Northsea Legion.


    Shen Yue didn''t know who he was, but she had done some research into him following the event. Even though Mo Lan had refrained from telling her his name, she still had a good idea of who he was.


    That man was most likely Tang Wulin, the leader of the current generation of Shrek''s Seven Monsters. But how was he still alive? He didn''t perish during that bombing? According to all sources, he was in Shrek Academy at the time!


    Even Mo Lan was oblivious to the fact that she had unintentionally revealed to her good friend that Tang Wulin was still alive.


    It was precisely because Shen Yue was aware of Tang Wulin''s identity that she currently wore such a dark expression. Her sister really had fallen in love with someone extremely troublesome!


    What had he come to Bright City for? What was he going to do next? His importance to Shrek Academy was a clear indication of his future goal, and she definitely couldn''t allow Shen Xing to get involved with him.


    "Ask Lieutenant Colonel Shen Xing to come and see me. I don''t care where she is; I have to see her within an hour."


    She definitely couldn''t allow Shen Xing to continue to do as she pleased; this was an extremely important matter, and she had to nip the bud before something happened.


    ¡­¡­


    High-speed soul trains really did live up to their reputation of being the most convenient modes of transportation. A safe and smooth journey passed, and Tang Wulin and his companions arrived in Heaven Dou City.


    That''s right, they could only take the train to Heaven Dou City as the transport network of Shrek City had also been destroyed during the bombing, and no one had displayed any intention of rebuilding it.


    Heaven Dou City seemed to have made a good recovery. Everything had returned to normal in the antiquated city, and it was displaying many of the special characteristics of the ancient times on the Douluo Continent.


    The Blood God Legion soldiers were clearly very curious about this place as most of them had never been to anywhere aside from the legion base, let alone seen an antiquated city like this one. Long Yuxue was one of these people, and she was occasionally looking around with a curious look on her face.


    Tang Wulin asked everyone to disperse and maintain a certain distance from one group to another in order to avoid attracting attention.


    He was very familiar with Heaven Dou City, and besides, the current blacksmith association headquarters was situated here.


    "Let''s find a place to stay first. Yuxue, I''ll leave that to you. Senior Disciple Brother, are you familiar with Heaven Dou City?" Tang Wulin asked as he turned to A''Ruheng.


    A''Ruheng rubbed his own large bald head. "I have some recollection of the place."


    Tang Wulin continued, "Then please give Yuxue a hand; she''s never been here before. I have some things that I have to take care of, and I''ll contact all of you via soul communicator later." He then turned to leave, and Jiang Wuyue couldn''t help but complain, "This guy''s getting more and more irresponsible! He''s hardly ever around nowadays."


    "Shut up!" Long Yuxue turned to glare at him.


    Jiang Wuyue shrugged in a resigned manner, and sighed, "This is blatant discrimination!"


    Long Yuxue ignored him and after a brief conversation with A''Ruheng, she led everyone further into Heaven Dou City.


    Tang Wulin got on a soul taxi and quickly arrived at the place that he was most familiar with in Heaven Dou City.


    He dialed a number on his soul communicator, and the call was quickly connected.


    "Wulin?" Zhen Hua''s voice sounded from the other end.


    "It''s me, Uncle-teacher, I''m back. Are you at the headquarters?" Tang Wulin gave a brief account of his current situation.


    Zhen Hua was silent for a moment before replying, "I''m here. Come on up; make sure to go through the back door."


    Five minutes later, Tang Wulin appeared in Zhen Hua''s office, and as soon as he entered the office, he was greeted by a familiar figure. Not only was Zhen Hua there, his teacher, Mu Chen, was also present.


    "Teacher, Uncle-teacher." Tang Wulin stepped forward and began to extend a bow, only to be prevented from doing so by Mu Chen.


    Mu Chen smiled, and asked, "The Golden Dragon King in that Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition was you, right?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in confirmation.


    Mu Chen approved, "Not bad, you definitely did me proud; your powers have probably almost outstripped mine. Have you been neglecting your forging, though?"


    Zhen Hua chuckled, "I can answer that in his stead. Not only has he not fallen behind in his forging, he''s also about to outstrip you soon in that area."


    "Oh? How do you know that?" Mu Chen asked.


    Zhen Hua smiled, and replied, "Yao Ling called me yesterday and complained that I was keeping secrets from him by not telling him about this exceptional disciple of mine. Apparently, this disciple''s name is Gu Yue, and he''s already displayed a level of forging ability that''s very close to the standard of an eighth-rank blacksmith; am I wrong to say that he''s about to outstrip you soon?"


    "Eighth-rank? You''re already close to that level?" Mu Chen was given quite a shock upon hearing this.


    He was an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith himself, and he was naturally aware of just how difficult it was to progress to the eighth rank. As such, how could he not be surprised to hear about Tang Wulin''s rapid development?


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m only just beginning to approach that level. I made another breakthrough in my spiritual power recently, so my understanding of metals has become clearer."


    He was actually feeling a little guilty as in reality, he had indeed been slacking off in his forging during his time at the Blood God Legion.


    His forging skills had improved partially due to his breakthrough to the Spirit Domain realm, but also because he was now being blessed by the entire Douluo Continent plane, thereby allowing him to gain an elementary understanding of the paramount laws of heaven and earth. This was reflected in his forging, and only then was he able to improve so quickly. However, it would require a lot of further refinement for him to truly reach the eighth rank.


    "In any case, this is fantastic news! I certainly wasn''t wrong about you. An eighth-rank blacksmith in just his twenties; hahaha, Mr. President, are you envious?" Even with Mu Chen''s steadfast personality, he couldn''t help but reveal a smug display.


    Zhen Hua grumbled, "Are you trying to say that you were solely responsible for nurturing Wulin to this level? Didn''t you hear me earlier? He told Yao Ling that he was MY disciple; he didn''t even mention you."


    At the time, Tang Wulin had told Yao Ling that he was Zhen Hua''s disciple to make his story more plausible.


    "Don''t try to drive a wedge between us; it''s not going to work! At the end of the day, my disciple is still my disciple, so you can just be envious all you want." Mu Chen wasn''t going to fall for his tricks.


    Zhen Hua harrumphed coldly before turning to Tang Wulin. "Wulin, why have you come here? Don''t get conceited just because you''ve made some forward strides; you should be aware of what you have to face in the future, and that your current powers are far from sufficient to take on the monumental task ahead of you."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I understand, Uncle-teacher, but it''s about time I began to do some preparatory work. I''m not naive enough to think that I can revive Shrek Academy right away, but I have to work toward that direction. I have to learn more about everything on the continent, including the circumstances surrounding all of the major powers and organizations, as well as how much power our Shrek Academy can draw upon. On top of that, I also have to familiarize myself with the state of the Tang Sect, and that will all require time. Hence, I decided to come back, and I''m planning to pay a visit to the original site of Shrek City."


    A slightly dejected look appeared on his face as he spoke, and the images of Atlas Douluo''s final moments reflexively surfaced in his mind.


    Zhen Hua nodded, and said, "Times are different now compared to in the past, so you have to be extra careful; even our association isn''t completely safe. What are you going to do after you go to Shrek City? I want to hear your plans."


    Tang Wulin replied, "After that, I''m going to continue to improve myself and contact all of the sources of power that I can draw upon and use. Rest assured, I won''t do anything reckless, and I''ll be sure to notify you before I do anything big."

 Chapter 1147: Goldwater Consonance

    Zhen Hua replied, "We''ll be firm backers of yours at all times, but what you have to understand is that regardless of whether it''s us, or the Tang Sect, or any other power who wants to support you, no one will step in unless the time is right. We''re not doing this because we''re selfish and solely looking out for ourselves; the issue is that all of us represent more than just ourselves, do you understand?"


    "I do," Tang Wulin replied with a nod.


    Zhen Hua continued, "If it were 10,000 years ago, individual powerful beings could resolve a lot of problems. Under those circumstances, I would''ve advised you to reach at least the Titled Douluo level, and perhaps even the Limit Douluo level before you consider reviving Shrek Academy. However, with the rapid advancements of soul technology, even Limit Douluos are no longer invincible. Otherwise, no one would''ve been able to destroy Shrek Academy.


    "At the same time, the military''s attitude is very important; you have to do your best to garner support from the military. At the same time, you have to be wary of the Spirit Pagoda. Qiangu Dongfeng is a very ambitious man, and it can be said that the Qiangu Family are the main beneficiaries to the destruction of Shrek Academy. The Spirit Pagoda has also released synthetic black soul spirits and drastically lowered the prices of synthetic purple soul spirits, so they are truly at the height of their powers. As such, now would not be a good time to directly clash with them."


    Mu Chen stretched lazily as he interjected, "Wulin, if you require anything in forging, both your uncle-teacher and myself will be more than happy to support you. You''ve already reached a level where you can handle a suit of three-word battle armor, right? You should complete your three-word battle armor as soon as possible. Once you reach the Titled Douluo level, you can get your uncle-teacher to forge you a set of heavenly refined metals to use as an inferior substitute, then forge something for yourself once you''re capable of doing so."


    Zhen Hua flared up with rage upon hearing this. "Inferior substitute? Is my heavenly refinement that worthless in your eyes?"


    A disdainful look appeared on Mu Chen''s face. "It''s pretty mediocre. If you hadn''t had those miraculous strokes of luck back in the day, how could you have possibly become a Divine Blacksmith?"


    A surge of warmth flowed through Tang Wulin''s heart as his teacher and uncle-teacher bickered with one another. This feeling of warmth was something that he hadn''t experienced in a very, very long time.


    "Alright, let''s stop bickering about these useless matters. Wulin, seeing as you''re close to the eighth rank, forge something for us before you leave," Zhen Hua said. It was clear that he wanted to offer Tang Wulin some guidance.


    Being close to the eighth rank and actually reaching it were two completely different concepts, and this was also an extremely important step to be taken. If he could establish a good foundation for himself as an eighth-rank blacksmith, then there would be a greater chance for him to become a Divine Blacksmith in the future.


    Tang Wulin may have become a Saint Blacksmith in his early twenties, but neither Mu Chen nor Zhen Hua dared to proclaim that he would definitely become a Divine Blacksmith in the future.


    The step to be taken from Saint Blacksmith to Divine Blacksmith was like a massive gulf, and exceptional luck was required to take this step. Otherwise, no one would be able to reach that level no matter how hard they tried.


    Mu Chen had already been stumped by this bottleneck for 20 years without being able to take that final step. Tang Wulin clearly had a far greater chance of taking this step than he did, but no one dared to proclaim that he would definitely reach that level.


    "Yes!"


    Zhen Hua''s private forging room was undoubtedly the most high-end one in the entire federation. It was completely isolated from the outside world, and only in the forging room could one hear the sounds of forging. The room had also been reinforced to the highest level, and it could be said that this was Tang Wulin''s favorite place; just the uncommon metals that lined the entire wall were extremely appealing to him.


    Some of the uncommon metals that Zhen Hua had here were ones that he had only seen in pictures elsewhere, and they were all priceless treasures. Only a Divine Blacksmith like Zhen Hua could get his hands on such precious metals.


    A faint smile appeared on Zhen Hua''s face at the sight of Tang Wulin''s intense gaze. "If you can reach the Divine Blacksmith level, I''ll give you everything here, including this entire forging room, how about that?"


    "Really?" Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up. As a seasoned cheapskate, the prospect of being able to inherit so many precious things was an extremely alluring one to him. Furthermore, some of these uncommon metals couldn''t even be bought with money! On top of that, Zhen Hua''s forging bench was constructed from soul refined metals with a layer of heavenly refined metals on its surface; even a full-force attack from a Limit Douluo may not be enough to destroy it. For a low-grade or mid-grade blacksmith, a forging bench of this caliber wouldn''t be much different from a normal forging bench. However, for Saint Blacksmiths and above, such a forging bench could improve their success rate by at least 10%.


    Almost all Zhen Hua''s heavenly refined metals had been forged here, so one could only imagine just how valuable this forging room was; its value could not be measured in monetary terms.


    "Don''t fall for his sly tricks! He''s willing to give you everything here, but he''s also going to offload all of his responsibilities onto you! Besides, this place belongs to the blacksmith association, so it''s not even his to give!" Mu Chen hurriedly cautioned.


    Zhen Hua turned to glare at him in an enraged manner. "Why are you sabotaging me? I offered this position to you, and you didn''t want it; you can''t dissuade someone else from taking it!"


    Mu Chen smiled, and replied, "I''ve already gotten what I wanted the most. You''ve already made your choice, so there''s no use regretting it."


    A wry smile appeared on Zhen Hua''s face. "I''ve been regretting my decision for several decades now, but what good will that do? It''s not like we can go back to the past. Besides, even if I were given a second chance, I''d probably make the same choice anyway. This is just a product of my personality; there''s no use lamenting over spilled milk."


    Tang Wulin scratched his head, and said, "Uncle-teacher, if I inherit your forging room, do I have to become the president of the blacksmith association?"


    Zhen Hua smiled, and asked, "Don''t you think it''s about time I found a successor for myself? Don''t worry, I know you have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders, so I won''t force you to constantly stay at our association. However, you have to at least be the president on an in-name basis. After all, by the time you inherit this position from me, you''ll already be a Divine Blacksmith, and the association needs a Divine Blacksmith as its leader."


    "Alright, I agree," Tang Wulin accepted this offer almost without any hesitation.


    Mu Chen and Zhen Hua were both slightly surprised by this. Both of them knew Tang Wulin very well, and even though he was quite young, he knew that he definitely wasn''t the type of person to make rash snap decisions. There were indeed many precious materials here in Zhen Hua''s forging room, but as a Saint Blacksmith, it wouldn''t be impossible for Tang Wulin to gather such a collection for himself if he were willing to put in the time and effort.


    Tang Wulin smiled at the sight of the surprised expressions on Zhen Hua and Mu Chen''s faces, and said, "It''s all thanks to Teacher and Uncle-teacher that I''ve become who I am today, so I certainly can''t shirk my responsibilities when the blacksmith association needs me. As a disciple, it is my duty to share the load with my teachers."


    Zhen Hua burst into elated laughter upon hearing this. "Good on you, Wulin! I''m very happy to hear that you think that way."


    In contrast, Mu Chen heaved a faint sigh. "You really have grown up, Wulin."


    He knew that Tang Wulin''s words were genuine, but at the same time, he also understood that this arrangement would tie the blacksmith association to Tang Wulin to a certain extent. As such, if he were to truly begin reviving Shrek Academy in the future, the association would be compelled to lend him its assistance. Hence, Tang Wulin was killing two birds with one stone here.


    He had truly already grown up and was no longer the naive child he once was.


    Tang Wulin stepped up to the forging bench, and asked, "Uncle-teacher, what kind of metal will I be using?"


    The difficulty of soul refinement differed vastly depending on the type of metal used.


    Zhen Hua waved a hand, and a piece of metal rose up from the nearby shelf before landing on the forging bench.


    "Use this one. If you refine it well, I''ll give it to you free of charge, but if you can''t satisfy my standards, then you''ll have to pay for it."


    Tang Wulin lowered his head to look down at the piece of metal, upon which a shocked expression immediately appeared on his face. He then abruptly turned to Zhen Hua, and said, "Uncle-teacher, this, this is way too valuable!"


    In terms of pure value alone, the piece of metal that was currently sitting on his forging bench definitely ranked among the top three of the hundreds of types of metals in this entire forging room. On top of that, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that it was the rarest type of metal in the entire room. Even more importantly, this type of metal was truly extremely useful to Tang Wulin.


    He had already prepared the metals for the construction of his own suit of three-word battle armor, and all that was left for him to do was integrate his current suit of two-word battle armor, then mold the shape of the battle armor before carving the core circuits.


    The main use for this piece of metal was as an intermediary agent as it could maximize the level of affinity between any metals. In other words, with the addition of this type of uncommon metal, the harmony rate of any spirit alloy that was forged would be raised to 100%, no matter how many types of metals were used to create the alloy. Of course, the prerequisite to this was that the alloy forging had to be successful. Even so, this piece of metal would still drastically decrease the difficulty of metal fusion!


    The piece of metal was of a faint blue color, but there were golden thread-like strands within it, making it appear as if it were a combination of golden threads submerged in blue water. As such, it was given the name Goldwater Consonance, and it possessed both metal and water elements, fusing the two perfectly as one.


    It had an affinity with all other types of metals and could also fuse with any other type of metal to become a part of that metal. However, it was extremely rare, and its value far exceeded that of the vast majority of metals. As such, no one would be willing to convert it into another type of metal.

 Chapter 1148: Its Mine?

    After extensive research conducted by countless generations of blacksmiths, it was finally discovered that the most worthwhile purpose that it served was as an intermediary agent during fusions of metals.


    Tang Wulin had only seen this Goldwater Consonance metal in Zhen Hua''s forging room, and this was a piece of metal that was so precious that even Zhen Hua couldn''t bear to use it himself!


    The fact that this was something held in such high regard even by a Divine Blacksmith was a testament to just how outrageously precious it was.


    Just the value of this small piece of Goldwater Consonance alone was comparable to that of a divine-grade mecha, yet Zhen Hua was offering to give it to him. He was undoubtedly intending for Tang Wulin to take this piece of metal so he could fuse more types of metals into his suit of three-word battle armor, thereby maximizing its power. This was an immeasurably precious gift.


    "Uncle-teacher, this is too precious for me to accept," Tang Wulin couldn''t help but exclaim.


    Zhen Hua scoffed, "What? Do you think it''s yours already? Quit dreaming! If you want Goldwater Consonance to act as an intermediary agent between soul refined metals, you''ll have to soul refine it first. It''s the most fickle and unpredictable metal, so it won''t be that easy for you to soul refine it. If it weren''t for the fact that it''s impossible for this piece of metal to be heavenly refined, I wouldn''t be generous enough to offer it to you!"


    Goldwater Consonance couldn''t be heavenly refined? This was the first time that Tang Wulin had heard of this. But then again, it made sense that only a Divine Blacksmith was aware of this information as only he had the ability to attempt to heavenly refine Goldwater Consonance.


    Goldwater Consonance was extremely precious, and anyone who came into possession of it would undoubtedly regard it as a treasure of immeasurable value. Those who possessed it and wanted to have it heavenly refined were undoubtedly all beings who stood at the pinnacle of the entire continent, so they naturally weren''t going to leak this information to lower the value of Goldwater Consonance.


    "You can begin now. If you can successfully soul refine it, then it''s yours. Otherwise, you''ll have to pay for it, or I''ll be taking it back," Zhen Hua said in a serious manner.


    "Alright." Tang Wulin didn''t make any further attempts to turn down this offer. Goldwater Consonance really was something that was extremely useful to him. Originally, he had planned to only fuse four types of metals into his suit of three-word battle armor, but he could now add at least two additional types of metals. He had already decided on the two additional types of metals that he was going to use, and alloys constructed from six types of metals were extremely rare, even among suits of four-word battle armor, so that would definitely enhance his future suit of three-word battle armor to an extreme extent. With the addition of Goldwater Consonance, his chances of success would be increased significantly, and he could also drastically improve the harmony rate between the metals, thereby forging a strong foundation.


    If he could attain such a suit of three-word battle armor, he was confident in his ability to combat a Titled Douluo, even if they were also a three-word battle armor master.


    After shifting the Goldwater Consonance to the center of the forging bench, Tang Wulin didn''t immediately begin to forge it, nor did he begin to calcine it. Instead, he slowly closed his eyes and used his spiritual power to sense the piece of metal.


    After reaching the Spirit Domain realm, his spiritual power was virtually a substantial force, and it spread itself over the piece of Goldwater Consonance, thereby allowing him to glean the metal''s special characteristics and unique properties.


    Zhen Hua and Mu Chen were standing not far behind him, and Mu Chen failed to sense anything, but a hint of astonishment suddenly flashed through Zhen Hua''s eyes.


    As a Divine Blacksmith, his combat prowess couldn''t compare with the most powerful Titled Douluos, but his spiritual power was not inferior to that of any Titled Douluo.


    It was impossible for anyone to complete heavenly refinement without Spirit Domain realm spiritual power as a foundation, and one of the major factors behind his ascension to become a Divine Blacksmith was his brilliant spiritual power aptitude.


    As such, in the instant that Tang Wulin released his own spiritual power, Zhen Hua immediately sensed his virtually substantial spiritual power, as well as its ability to perfectly integrate itself with the outside world. These were all clear indications that he had already reached the Spirit Domain realm! Within a certain area, Spirit Domain realm spiritual power was capable of generating a domain-like effect, thereby allowing one to sense the most minute of details.


    No wonder he managed to improve so quickly; his spiritual power has already reached this level! This is incredible!


    Zhen Hua couldn''t help but nod in approval, and he became even more confident that Tang Wulin would be able to become a Divine Blacksmith in the future.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and he made a hand gesture to Mu Chen. Initially, Mu Chen was still oblivious to what Zhen Hua was trying to convey, but after Zhen Hua communicated something to him via voice transmission, Mu Chen''s eyes immediately widened.


    Even as an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith, he was currently still very far away from the Spirit Domain realm, and that was one of the major obstacles dictating his inability to ever become a Divine Blacksmith, but he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would''ve already reached this level.


    Tang Wulin was completely oblivious to the communication taking place between Zhen Hua and Mu Chen. His attention was focused entirely on the piece of Goldwater Consonance in front of him, and using his spiritual power to sense the piece of metal was completely different from appraising it with his eyes.


    Within his spiritual world, he could sense that this piece of Goldwater Consonance was filled with vitality. Was this its innate life force energy?


    This meant that this piece of metal''s basal state was similar to that of a normal piece of metal after undergoing spirit refinement; how could he not be stunned by this?


    After careful assessment, he discovered that Goldwater Consonance''s internal structure was very stable, but also very active. Metal and water elements were perfectly integrated within the piece of metal without any disharmony; there was no other way to describe it than perfection.


    However, the metal elements were constantly flowing and changing within the water elements, thereby causing the structure of the metal to constantly fluctuate.


    Even the most unstable metals that Tang Wulin had seen couldn''t compare with the Goldwater Consonance, which possessed vitality that was akin to flowing water. It was like it possessed its own unique tiny space, within which metal and water elements were constantly revolving and flowing into different forms.


    This was truly an extremely interesting piece of metal.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he wasn''t fazed in the slightest by the difficult process that soul refining this piece of metal would undoubtedly entail. Instead, he was raring to go. Other people may not be able to comprehend its complexities, but with his immense spiritual power, he was able to constantly sense the changes taking place within the piece of metal.


    It was undoubtedly the case that there was no set pattern to the changes taking place in the piece of Goldwater Consonance. There was no way that a normal blacksmith would even be able to grasp its unique characteristics, let alone soul refine it, or even hundred refine or thousand refine the piece of metal.


    However, this didn''t apply to him. Seeing as this was a metal that combined two elements and resembled a life form, he could use his spiritual power to try and control these innate metal and water elements. He didn''t have to stabilize these elements; all he had to do was guide them to move in a set pattern, which would therefore make them a cooperative force in his forging.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had already surged forth before revolving around the piece of Goldwater Consonance. His spiritual power enveloped the piece of metal and constantly pulsed as it seeped into the metal, attempting to affect its internal structure.


    From Mu Chen and Zhen Hua''s perspectives, they could see a layer of dazzling golden and blue light appearing over the surface of the piece of Goldwater Consonance. The light permeated in a misty manner like water vapor, and it also began to fluctuate, not in an overly violent manner, but the fluctuations were definitely discernible to the naked eye.


    That''s amazing!


    Mu Chen couldn''t help praise Tang Wulin internally. He was naturally also capable of refining Goldwater Consonance through his own method, but he definitely couldn''t replicate what Tang Wulin was doing; just Tang Wulin''s ability to directly influence this piece of metal with his spiritual power alone was beyond the realm of his capabilities.


    Tang Wulin''s smile widened, and he suddenly opened his eyes. Two beams of substantial purple light abruptly shot forth from within his pupils; this was none other than his Purple Demon Eyes.


    Purple Demon Eyes provided him with a spiritual attacking ability, as well as a method to significantly enhance his eyesight, but at the same time, it was also a spiritual power training method.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t able to reach the highest level of the Purple Demon Eyes, but after his spiritual power reached the Spirit Domain realm, his Purple Demon Eyes had already reached the third level.


    Purple Demon Eyes had a total of four major levels; Surveyance, Totality, Mustard Seed, and Boundlessness.

 Chapter 1149: Dragon’s Might Control

    After reaching the third Mustard Seed level, Tang Wulin was already able to control his own spiritual power as if it were an extension of his own body. At the same time, he was able to see extremely minute things with his eyes.


    At this moment, his Purple Demon Eyes spiritual power was gushing forth at full force and almost instantly enveloped the entire piece of metal. Faint light began to emanate from the surface of the Goldwater Consonance, and in the face of the external stimulus from his Purple Demon Eyes, it began to emit a buzzing sound. All of a sudden, brilliant blue and golden light erupted, illuminating the entire forging room into the same two colors.


    Tang Wulin raised both of his hands at the same time, and his pair of soul refined Heavy Silver Hammers appeared. From a material perspective, these forging hammers definitely weren''t exceptional; heavy silver was one of the most ordinary types of uncommon metals.


    However, these Heavy Silver Hammers had been with him ever since he had first begun his forging journey, and he had refined them with his own blood, so it could be said that they were connected to him both in heart and in spirit. They had improved alongside him and were the forging hammers that had the greatest synergy with him.


    Gentle light was emitting from the surfaces of the two hammers, and it was as if the heavy silver had sprung to life. Tang Wulin didn''t even bother to calcine the piece of Goldwater Consonance before his Heavy Silver Hammers came crashing down toward it.


    "Clang, clang!"


    The Heavy Silver Hammers struck the Goldwater Consonance, and the blue and golden light emanating from the piece of metal instantly brightened even further, striking the onlooker with a sense of disorientation.


    The Heavy Silver Hammers in Tang Wulin''s hands also lit up in the instant that they came into contact with the piece of metal, dazzling with scintillating light while releasing a high and mighty sense of pressure.


    In essence, heavy silver wasn''t a metal of the same caliber as Goldwater Consonance. In fact, there was a massive disparity between the levels the two metals were on. However, Tang Wulin''s Heavy Silver Hammers had already been soul refined, and they were able to instantly exert superiority over the Goldwater Consonance.


    His Heavy Silver Hammers fell one after another in a profound manner, and under the illumination of the hammers'' silver light, as well as the effect of Tang Wulin''s spiritual power, the blue and golden light emanating from the Goldwater Consonance faltered slightly.


    "Rotate!" Tang Wulin abruptly roared, and in that instant, even Zhen Hua and Mu Chen''s hearts jolted in response. It was as if the blood within their bodies had begun to circulate in a much more violent manner.


    Both of them possessed soul cores, and the soul power around their soul cores abruptly began to circulate in a frenzied manner as well, causing a layer of faint soul power light to emanate from their bodies.


    What kind of ability was this?


    Both Zhen Hua and Mu Chen were feeling quite flabbergasted. They were definitely vastly experienced and knowledgeable individuals, yet never had they encountered anyone who could affect other people''s soul power through their voice alone.


    While it was indeed true that neither of them had their guard up, Zhen Hua was a Titled Douluo, and Mu Chen was also only one step away from that level. It was quite clear that Tang Wulin was inferior to them when it came to soul power alone, yet he was able to affect their soul power with just a single word. What kind of fearsome ability was this?


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin had grown at a far faster rate than they had anticipated during the few months that they''d been apart.


    Immediately thereafter, an even more peculiar scene unfolded. The light emanating from the Goldwater Consonance, which had originally faltered and become more sluggish, suddenly began to revolve more quickly again in the aftermath of Tang Wulin''s abrupt roar.


    The light began to revolve like a vortex, and in the beginning, the rotation of the blue and golden light was rather uneven. However, the trajectories of their rotation quickly began to overlap, and the two different colors of light began to combine in an even manner.


    This was not a forging technique being employed by Tang Wulin. Instead, it was the effect of a unique innate ability of his; dragon''s might!


    His spiritual power was an integral part of the intimidation effect of his dragon''s might, as Tang Wulin attained his martial soul true body and progressed to the Spirit Domain realm, his Golden Dragon King innate abilities had also been awakened. The addition of dragon''s might and dragon''s repulse to his repertoire had significantly enhanced his powers, and at the same time, these two innate abilities were applicable in any type of battle.


    Tang Wulin raised his Heavy Silver Hammers, and a faint smile appeared on his face. His hammers fell once again, but they seemed to be descending at a very slow speed.


    When his Heavy Silver Hammers struck the Goldwater Consonance again, a concentrated string of clangs that were stacked on top of one another immediately rang out. Even with the Stacked Hammers effect, it was impossible to be able to deal so many hammer blows at once.


    Zhen Hua could clearly see that in that instant, Tang Wulin had flicked his wrists to inflict three consecutive hammer blows in rapid succession. In addition to the Stacked Hammers effect, this resulted in nine hammer blows, which equated to a total of 18 blows when taking both hammers into account.


    This wasn''t a particularly remarkable technique; even some spirit refinement level blacksmiths were capable of dealing three hammer blows in rapid succession as Tang Wulin had just done. However, the fact that he had applied this technique to a piece of Goldwater Consonance made it quite noteworthy as this was an indication that he had to be extremely confident.


    He had to have completely grasped the special characteristics of the metal before executing this technique, and even a blacksmith of Mu Chen''s caliber wouldn''t use this type of forging technique lightly on a piece of Goldwater Consonance, particularly not when this technique was also going to be combined with the Stacked Hammers special effect.


    Mu Chen was just about to open his mouth to say something, yet right at this moment, a burst of dazzling light suddenly erupted forth.


    Golden and blue seemed to have instantly fused as one in that instant, forming a blue and golden pillar of light that rose up into the air.


    The forging room was tall enough to allow the light to reach its apex without hitting the ceiling, and it rose up all the way to over 10 feet in height. The blue and golden light was extremely dazzling and filled with vitality, and it was as if it were attempting to fill this entire world.


    First-grade thousand refinement! Thousand refinement with spirit!


    Mu Chen and Zhen Hua looked on in a flabbergasted manner, and the former nudged the latter with his elbow, as if to ask "can you do that?".


    The higher the light rose following the completion of thousand refinement, the higher the caliber of the thousand refinement completed. Just a single foot of light was an indication of first-grade thousand refinement, and it had to be one of a very high standard as well.


    Generally speaking, the limit for most metals was five feet of light. It was undoubtedly the case that Goldwater Consonance was a metal of a high enough caliber to break through this limit, but both Mu Chen and Zhen Hua were well aware of just how difficult this metal was to forge.


    This type of metal was filled with vitality and could even be described as cheeky and mischievous, so it was very difficult to even complete first-grade thousand refinement on it, let alone thousand refinement with spirit.


    Zhen Hua had a rather peculiar look on his face, and he glowered at Mu Chen before nodding his own head as a silent confirmation that he was indeed also capable of this.


    As a Divine Blacksmith, he was indeed capable of completing thousand refinement with spirit on a piece of Goldwater Consonance, yet this was only a partial truth; if he wanted to replicate what Tang Wulin had just done, then the preparatory work that he would have to complete in advance and the forging time expended would have to at least be twice that of Tang Wulin. This meant that when it came to thousand refinement of Goldwater Consonance, even a Divine Blacksmith like him was inferior to Tang Wulin.


    Mu Chen was unaware of the information that Zhen Hua had withheld, and a sheepish look appeared on his face. He didn''t have the ability to accomplish this, so he was naturally feeling a little disgruntled.


    Zhen Hua quickly turned back to appraise Tang Wulin with an intense unblinking gaze. He was indeed essentially offering this piece of Goldwater Consonance to Tang Wulin as a gift, but at the same time, he wanted to test Tang Wulin and examine what level his forging had reached. This was very important for him to make a judgment on which path Tang Wulin should take in the future to become a Divine Blacksmith, but he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would give him such a massively pleasant surprise from the get-go.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the abrupt roar that he had let loose earlier had been the key behind his ability to instantly complete thousand refinement. Following the guidance of his spiritual power, the Goldwater Consonance had reached a profound state of equilibrium for an instant, thereby making its internal vitality circulate in a set pattern and rhythm. It was only after grasping this pattern was Tang Wulin able to complete thousand refinement so quickly.


    Regardless of whether it was his creation of this pattern, or his guidance of the Goldwater Consonance, or the timing with which he had completed the thousand refinement, all of these steps had been completed to near perfection.


    A layer of faint light surfaced over Tang Wulin''s face, and he suddenly leaped up into air before striking his Heavy Silver Hammers down upon the scintillating blue and golden light that had risen up into the air.


    The two-colored light was vanquished by the Heavy Silver Hammers, forming a series of halos that proliferated outward, and a low dragon''s roar also rang out from within Tang Wulin''s mouth.


    The dragon''s roar was low and faint, but it was relentless and continuous. The dispersed blue and golden light seemed to have been guided by this sound and began to revolve around the piece of Goldwater Consonance, illuminating the piece of metal into the same blue and golden color.


    He had just solidified the state of the metal!


    Zhen Hua couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow upon seeing this. Was there anything that Tang Wulin COULDN''T do?


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s hammers began to fall at a rapid rate akin to rain falling upon a banana leaf, and the relentless dragon''s roar continued to stream out of his mouth.


    At the same time, the dragon''s roar was constantly maintained within a certain decibel range, and under the influence of this sound, the blue and golden light that was released by the Goldwater Consonance following its thousand refinement continued to linger while revolving around the piece of metal.


    This method of forging without allowing the spiritual light to dissipate was something that had been taught to him by Zhen Hua. This method would allow the blacksmith to preserve a piece of metal''s vitality to the greatest degree, but it also made the forging process a lot more difficult.


    Zhen Hua had told him from the very beginning that it was best not to attempt this method if he didn''t possess sufficient spiritual power, and even if he did attain sufficient spiritual power, he had to be careful about when using this method. Every time this method was employed, it would significantly deplete one''s spiritual power, and if any mishaps were to occur, it could negatively impact one''s mind.

 Chapter 1150: Another Blood Sacrifice

    Of course, the current Tang Wulin clearly didn''t have to worry about this issue as his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power could support him in any forging he attempted.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and a burst of bright light flashed through his eyes. The speed at which his Heavy Silver Hammers fell increased, and the dragon''s roar he was letting loose grew louder and louder.


    As opposed to using only his dragon''s might, he was now also combining it with his Golden Dragon Roar. The combination of the two was injected into his forging, thereby allowing him to intimidate the metal and water elements within the Goldwater Consonance, forcing them to act in the way that he stipulated. At the same time, he was infusing his dragon''s might into the piece of metal to forge a greater level of synergy between it and himself.


    He wasn''t going to give up this Goldwater Consonance for anyone as it provided a brilliant opportunity for him to maximize the power of his future suit of three-word battle armor. As such, he was certainly going to give it his all during this forging process.


    All he wanted to do now was to complete soul refinement of this piece of Goldwater Consonance at all costs, and he was also going to do his best to make the soul refinement as perfect as possible.


    "Boom!"


    10 minutes later, both of Tang Wulin''s hammers fell at the same time, striking the surface of the Goldwater Consonance in a vicious manner. The blue and golden light emanating from it abruptly congealed, and immediately thereafter, a blue and golden vortex appeared out of thin air around the piece of metal before absorbing all types of natural elements from the surrounding area in a frenzy.


    He had succeeded in spirit refinement, thereby bestowing life upon this piece of metal!


    The rich life force energy that erupted from it made Tang Wulin feel as if they had been teleported into a forest, and the elation radiating from the Goldwater Consonance was affecting every other piece of metal in the forging room.


    Some of the metals of higher calibers began to emit a faint buzzing sound in reciprocation, as if to celebrate and praise the Goldwater Consonance.


    Bestowing life upon a piece of metal was a miracle that took place during spirit refinement, and the higher the caliber of a piece of metal, the more difficult spirit refinement was going to be to complete.


    The blue and golden vortex fluctuated violently, and Tang Wulin took a step backward while panting slightly. In the next instant, his eyes suddenly lit up again, and he abruptly slammed the Heavy Silver Hammer in his right hand into his own chest amid a dull thump.


    The sound of a violent heartbeat rang out immediately thereafter, and Tang Wulin opened his mouth to expel a jet of blood that shot forth and landed directly at the center of the Goldwater Consonance vortex.


    Blood sacrifice!


    This was the second time that Tang Wulin had ever offered a blood sacrifice, and the first occasion he had done this was on the Heavy Silver Hammers that he was currently using. This second blood sacrifice had been given to this piece of Goldwater Consonance, and this blood sacrifice was countless times more potent in its efficacy than his first one.


    The current Tang Wulin had already broken 11 of his Golden Dragon King seals, and his blood was no longer purely that of a human being; it could even be said that he was a half-dragon being.


    This mouthful of Golden Dragon King blood was infused with the purest life aura of a supreme life form, and both the richness of its life force energy, as well as the purity of the Golden Dragon King bloodline, were completely unmatched.


    As such, as soon as this mouthful of blood landed on the surface of the piece of metal, a loud ringing sound immediately rang out from the Goldwater Consonance. Immediately thereafter, this ringing sound transformed into a dragon''s roar, and the blue and golden light instantly took on the shape of a dragon in mid-air before revolving around the piece of metal in an elated manner.


    With this blood sacrifice, he had significantly elevated the caliber of this piece of Goldwater Consonance, and the blue and golden dragon projection was constantly weaving in and out of the piece of metal, cleansing and reforming the life that had just been created.


    Tang Wulin''s face was slightly pale. What he had just expelled was not just a normal mouthful of blood. Instead, it was a mouthful of his quintessential blood, and it was an indication of just how much he wanted to perfect the soul refinement of this piece of Goldwater Consonance.


    Zhen Hua raised an eyebrow upon seeing this. He was rather surprised by Tang Wulin''s decisiveness, and at the same time, he was also made aware of just how confident Tang Wulin was in himself.


    Quintessential blood was extremely important to a Soul Master, and the more powerful a Soul Master was, the more precious their quintessential blood became as it would contain more and more energy as their powers increased. The expulsion of a mouthful of blood essence could take more than several months to recover from, and in extreme cases, it could even dent one''s cultivation rank.


    As such, Tang Wulin''s actions were a clear testament to just how high a regard he held this piece of Goldwater Consonance. Furthermore, following this blood sacrifice, this piece of Goldwater Consonance wouldn''t be able to be used by anyone else aside from him, even if he couldn''t successfully complete soul refinement. His blood sacrifice had already branded his mark onto this piece of metal, so it could only belong to him. Zhen Hua couldn''t help but chuckle internally at how much of a cheapskate Tang Wulin was, but at the same time, he was greatly assured by this as it was an indirect declaration of Tang Wulin''s confidence.


    If he still couldn''t complete soul refinement following a blood sacrifice, then that would be a massive loss.


    Tang Wulin''s soul core and dragon core pulsed in unison as he silently sensed the intimacy from the piece of Goldwater Consonance after it fused as one with his own bloodline. His Golden Dragon King bloodline was extremely overbearing, and it almost instantly fused with the piece of metal.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He could clearly sense that during the blood sacrifice, the final remnants of impurities within the piece of Goldwater Consonance had been eradicated. Furthermore, it had already formed a profound connection with his spiritual power.


    Through his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, Tang Wulin was able to control all of the natural energies and elements in the air, but he couldn''t directly control the internal structure of a solid object unless he were to unleash a spiritual attack.


    However, following his blood sacrifice, he was able to use his spiritual power to control this piece of Goldwater Consonance through the bloodline connection he had established with it. A blood sacrifice entailed a significant expenditure, but at the same time, it laid a solid foundation for his soul refinement.


    "Roar!"


    A loud dragon''s roar rang out from Tang Wulin''s mouth, and golden scales abruptly surfaced over his skin. His entire body became slightly taller, and following the injection of his Golden Dragon King bloodline power, his Heavy Silver Hammers had also turned golden in color.


    No matter how one looked at the current Tang Wulin, he didn''t seem to be a human being anymore. Dragon''s might erupted from his body, and even Mu Chen and Zhen Hua reflexively took a few steps backward as their expressions changed drastically. Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin resumed his forging.


    "Is he this powerful already? Why do I feel like I might be no match for him anymore?" Mu Chen transmitted his voice to Zhen Hua in a stunned manner.


    Zhen Hua replied in an exasperated voice, "There''s no ''might'' about this; you ARE no match for him! If I''m not mistaken, he seems to have already become a seven-ring Soul Sage, and with his bloodline power, you''d have no chance against him in a one-on-one battle. Of course, he''s still far from my level."


    "Tch, quit spouting nonsense! How about you fight him without your four-word battle armor, then? You can''t tell me you can beat him without your battle armor. You can''t use your divine-grade mecha, either; are you confident in beating him in a one-on-one battle?" Mu Chen immediately retorted.


    Zhen Hua harrumphed in response, "I am the president of the blacksmith association, and I''m beyond the primitive neanderthals who only know how to settle things through senseless battle."


    Mu Chen couldn''t help but burst into laughter. At the same time, he was quite stunned by Zhen Hua''s response. The fact that he was dodging the question was an indirect indication of his lack of conviction, which meant that even as a Titled Douluo, he wasn''t confident in his ability to defeat Tang Wulin on an even playing field. Was he really this powerful already? Mu Chen was suddenly forced to see Tang Wulin through new eyes. It was no wonder that he dared to return as he was now; he really had built up a significant foundation of power.


    After that, Mu Chen and Zhen Hua ceased their conversation and continued to appraise Tang Wulin''s forging with rapt focus.


    From his forging techniques alone, they could see that Tang Wulin was close to the eighth-rank level, but he was still some way away from truly becoming an eighth-rank blacksmith. However, he was using some alternative methods to assist himself in his forging, and these were resources that no normal blacksmith had access to!


    Each and every strike of his Heavy Silver Hammers was accompanied by a deafening dragon''s roar, and it was a good thing that they were in Zhen Hua''s forging room; if they were doing this anywhere else, the massive commotion would''ve already attracted hordes of people to the scene.


    With each dragon''s roar and hammer blow, there seemed to be a golden dragon being injected into the Goldwater Consonance, and the blue and golden light radiating from it became brighter and brighter.

 Chapter 1151: Soul Refinement!

    Zhen Hua''s lips twitched as he turned to Mu Chen. "So this is how you teach your disciple? Forging is an art; how could you allow him to become such a violent blacksmith?"


    Mu Chen chuckled, "You have to admit that his violent methods are very effective, aren''t they? He''s making up for his shortcomings in technique and experience with his own unique advantages; you can only commend him for being extremely intelligent in the way he goes about his forging. The blood sacrifice that he offered earlier was a preparatory measure for the subsequent stages of his forging."


    Indeed, Mu Chen was right; Tang Wulin had already made preparations for the rest of this forging process during his blood sacrifice. The main effect of the blood sacrifice was its ability to perfectly fuse his own bloodline power with the Goldwater Consonance, and that was an extremely important opportunity.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t at an eighth-rank blacksmith yet, but through this type of method, the effect of the soul refinement he completed was far superior even to that completed by the average eighth-rank blacksmith.


    To put it in simpler terms, he was treating this Goldwater Consonance as a part of himself during this forging process. The Goldwater Consonance that he forged was perfectly integrated with his own Golden Dragon King bloodline, thereby bestowing upon the metal some of the special characteristics of his bloodline. As such, it could be said that Tang Wulin was giving the metal a part of himself while also bestowing intelligence upon it. As such, his synergy with this piece of metal would be heightened, and of course, it could only ever be used by him.


    Tang Wulin had already formulated this plan when he first caught sight of this piece of Goldwater Consonance, and he was merely enacting his plan now.


    His initially heavy and rapid hammer blows gradually became more gentle, and as he kneaded his own Golden Dragon King aura into the piece of metal, Tang Wulin became completely immersed in his communication with the Goldwater Consonance.


    The Goldwater Consonance was like an extremely adorable and energetic newborn baby, and it continued to grow in response to Tang Wulin''s forging and injections of energy. From an infant, it grew to become a child, then a young boy, and finally a young man.


    In the end, Tang Wulin was even struck by the feeling that he and this piece of Goldwater Consonance were one and the same. They were connected by bloodline, and there was nothing separating the two of them.


    The scales on his body gradually began to undergo a transformation, and specks of light emerged from his joints. His body also began to grow taller and broader as he released his Dragon Moon battle armor.


    His aura swelled once again, and the Great-Beast-like aura fluctuations erupting from his body struck even Zhen Hua and Mu Chen with a slight sense of asphyxiation. He had truly grown up and was now a force to be reckoned with!


    As his shimmering golden Heavy Silver Hammers fell for the final time, an elated cry suddenly rang out. In the next instant, the piece of Goldwater Consonance swayed before transforming into a miniature golden dragon and rising up into the air. It then flew directly over to Tang Wulin before fusing with his suit of battle armor.


    Immediately thereafter, scintillating light erupted from Tang Wulin''s suit of battle armor, and the dragon patterns on its surface took on a glittering and translucent quality, as if a layer of enamel had appeared over it. As a result, the dragon patterns were made to look more life-like, and it was as if they had truly sprung to life. The suit of battle armor even began to squirm in a gentle manner, presenting quite a peculiar sight to behold.


    There was no extravagant release of aura or spectacular light effects, but both Zhen Hua and Mu Chen knew that Tang Wulin had succeeded. He had completed soul refinement!


    The Goldwater Consonance had even become directly connected with his heart and mind as soon as soul refinement was completed, and only then was it able to immediately fuse into his body and his battle armor to do what he needed it to do the most.


    Even though Tang Wulin hadn''t begun forging his suit of three-word battle armor, the Goldwater Consonance had already begun to enhance his current suit of two-word battle armor, thereby forging a stronger foundation for when he decided to progress toward a suit of three-word battle armor.


    "Can you do that?" Mu Chen nudged Zhen Hua in a provocative manner.


    Zhen Hua harrumphed coldly, "I can definitely replicate this if I were to offer a blood sacrifice as well, but there''s no point for me to do that."


    Mu Chen chuckled, "Stop trying to argue; I know you better than anyone else. At the very least, you couldn''t achieve this back when you were an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith, right? It''s always been my belief that if one wants to become the best Divine Blacksmith, they have to possess exemplary forging skills, but also power in equal measure. Wulin holds advantages that you don''t possess, so you can expect him to surpass you any day now, hahaha!"


    Zhen Hua immediately flared up with rage, "What are you acting all smug for? The Goldwater Consonance was given to him by ME; what have you given him? You''re not even qualified to be his teacher! If you ask me, Wulin should become my disciple!"


    "Oh? Sounds like you''re losing your cool," Mu Chen chuckled, "If you can convince him to become your disciple, then go ahead; I definitely won''t do anything to stop you. However, I trust that Wulin is one who respects the importance of his teachers."


    "Hmph, you merely hit the jackpot and discovered him before I could. Let''s get out of here and leave him to meditate in peace." Zhen Hua turned and strode out of the forging room as he spoke.


    Mu Chen glanced at Tang Wulin, who was standing in front of the forging bench with his eyes closed, and a gratified smile appeared on his face before he followed Zhen Hua out of the room.


    Tang Wulin was currently completely oblivious to what was transpiring in the outside world as he had completely immersed himself in sensing the changes that had taken place within his Dragon Moon battle armor following the infusion of the Goldwater Consonance.


    As expected of one of the most premium types of uncommon metals in this world; following its soul refinement, it could no longer just be considered as a catalyst. At this moment, his Dragon Moon battle armor was constantly undergoing evolution, just like Goldsong when it had first begun to evolve in response to his power.


    The Dragon Moon battle armor already had a very high harmony rate, but under the influence of the Goldwater Consonance, there were minute defects that were being rectified in a subtle manner. In particular, following so many major battles, the suit of battle armor had inevitably incurred some damage, yet all of those damaged areas were slowly being repaired by the Goldwater Consonance.


    The entire suit of battle armor seemed to have softened as if it had been calcined, thereby allowing it to be molded and enhanced as the Goldwater Consonance saw fit.


    After an indeterminate period of time, the transformation that his suit of battle armor was undergoing finally ceased. However, his Dragon Moon battle armor had now lost its original luster, and even the scales on it had become quite indistinct.


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes and inspected his own suit of battle armor, and as opposed to being alarmed by these changes, he was very elated. He knew that these were signs that his suit of battle armor was now prepared to progress to the three-word level.


    Of course, due to the fact that it had entered this basal state, he wouldn''t be able to use this suit of battle armor before it was elevated to the three-word level. As such, it was a good idea for him to take this opportunity and make that significant stride.


    The development of soul tools had already made it very difficult for an individual''s power to influence an entire battlefield, but individual power was still the foundation to everything. After all, no matter how powerful soul tools had become, divine-grade mecha pilots and four-word battle armor masters still stood at the pinnacle of the entire continent.


    In the example of the Atlas Douluo, if he had turned his back on Shrek Academy and was determined to escape, no one would''ve been able to stop him. Even a Godslayer missile would have only been able to kill him if it had been detonated right next to him.


    Seeing as this opportunity had arisen, he would be remiss not to capitalize on it.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin dialed a number on his soul communicator.


    "Yuxue, I''m going into seclusion in the blacksmith association headquarters for a while. During this time, you can take everyone to familiarize them with Heaven Dou City, as well as the neighboring cities."


    Long Yuxue didn''t inquire about why Tang Wulin was choosing to go into seclusion at a time like this; she merely replied in a calm voice, "Alright."


    Tang Wulin was being made more and more aware of just how important Long Yuxue was; her presence truly had saved him a lot of trouble.


    "Yuxue, ask my senior disciple brother to come to the blacksmith association as well," Tang Wulin continued.


    "Sure." Long Yuxue''s reply was still a very simple and concise one.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his suit of battle armor before emerging from the forging room and arriving at Zhen Hua''s office.


    Zhen Hua and Mu Chen were both waiting for him, and as soon as he walked in, Mu Chen turned to him with a smile on his face. "How do you feel?"


    Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "Thank you for providing me with this opportunity, Uncle-teacher; Goldwater Consonance truly is a priceless treasure."


    Zhen Hua grumbled, "Hmph, not only did you take my Goldwater Consonance, this shameless teacher of yours is constantly provoking me! I''ve been good to you, haven''t I, Wulin? How about you become my disciple instead of his? You''ve reached a stage where he can''t teach you much anyway; you have to find yourself a better teacher so you can continue to improve!"


    An awkward look immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Uncle-teacher, a teacher is like a father figure, I can''t just..."


    Mu Chen turned to Zhen Hua with a smug expression. "You see?"


    Zhen Hua harrumphed, "You two are a pair of stubborn idiots! Wulin, I suggest you stay here for a while. Forging that piece of Goldwater Consonance should''ve been a very educational experience for you, but in reality, you were only able to complete soul refinement on it through a somewhat non-replicable gimmick. Even so, I''m sure that this process has given you a deeper understanding of soul refinement. As such, you should stay here so Mu Chen and I can offer you our guidance. I''m sure that you''ll have a very good chance of reaching the eighth rank within three months at most."


    This was already very high praise from Zhen Hua, and he hadn''t been of this opinion prior to witnessing Tang Wulin''s forging.


    However, after discovering that Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Domain realm, he knew that there was nothing that could stop him from reaching the eighth rank. As such, it was naturally best for him to take that step forward as soon as possible.

 Chapter 1152: Preparatory Work Will Only Speed up the Process

    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I was just going to propose to stay here for a while longer. The Goldwater Consonance has already fused into my suit of two-word battle armor, and I want to take this opportunity to forge the base for my suit of three-word battle armor."


    Zhen Hua''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "You want to progress to the three-word battle armor master level? I guess it''s about time you did that. You''ve already become a Soul Sage, right?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Despite the fact that they had already guessed this, Zhen Hua and Mu Chen were still quite stunned to hear this notion being confirmed, and they couldn''t help but exchange a shocked glance. Mu Chen couldn''t help but exclaim, "As expected of a little monster from Shrek Academy! Our projections are struggling to keep up with the rate of your development!"


    Zhen Hua asked, "I know a few ninth-rank mecha makers; do you want me to ask them to assist you in the construction of your three-word battle armor?"


    Only after the core circuits were carved could Tang Wulin truly attain a suit of three-word battle armor.


    However, Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "There''s no need for that; I have friends who are high-grade mecha makers, and they''ll help me complete the construction process."


    Tang Wulin''s battle armor had been designed by Gu Yue, and the construction had always been taken care of by Yuanen Yehui and the others, just as all of his friends'' suits of battle armor had been forged by him. They were a single entity, and they were assisting one another and better familiarising themselves with each other in the process.


    As their captain, Tang Wulin had absolute trust in his friends, which was why he was going to entrust his friends with these tasks.


    In the past, Gu Yue had completed the designs for his suit of three-word battle armor, and at the time, she had been unable to design suits of four-word battle armor. As for what path he was going to take to attain his suit of four-word battle armor in the future, that was something that Tang Wulin hadn''t put too much consideration into as that would only be a relevant issue once he reached at least the Titled Douluo level. For now, his suits of battle armor had to be constructed by his friends.


    "Alright." Zhen Hua didn''t insist on the matter; he was naturally aware that everyone had their go-to mecha makers, not just because of familiarity, but also for confidentiality. After all, everyone''s suit of battle armor had their own unique characteristics, especially suits of three-word battle armor, which bestowed upon their wearers domains.


    Mu Chen encouraged, "Preparatory work will only speed up the process, so it''s a good idea for you to go into seclusion."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Teacher, Uncle-teacher, a senior disciple brother of mine from the Body Sect is going to be coming here later; can he stay here to help me?"


    Zhen Hua replied, "I have no objections as long as you trust him. Is the guy you''re talking about that Strength King?"


    Tang Wulin nodded with a smile.


    Zhen Hua and Mu Chen exchanged a knowing smile. They naturally recognized A''Ruheng.


    ......


    After A''Ruheng arrived at the blacksmith association, Tang Wulin took him directly to the forging room.


    "Senior Disciple Brother, I plan to go into seclusion here for a while to complete the foundation for my suit of three-word battle armor. You still have a suit of two-word battle armor, right? I can help you forge your suit of three-word battle armor as well. What''s your secondary occupation?"


    A''Ruheng replied, "I''m a mecha mechanic, but my skills in that area are pretty ordinary. As you know, I cultivated our Body Sect''s congenital secret method, so I''m constantly being tortured and barely have any time to work on my secondary occupation!"


    Tang Wulin paused momentarily before continuing, "What about Sima Jinchi? What''s his secondary occupation?"


    "He''s a mecha maker; even his own suit of battle armor was constructed by himself. He hasn''t attained a suit of three-word battle armor, either; should we call him over as well?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "Senior Disciple Brother, do you think he''s trustworthy?"


    A''Ruheng replied without any hesitation, "For sure. He''s practically addicted to fighting, and if it weren''t for the fact that you saved our lives, he would''ve challenged you long ago. I think it''s a good idea to get him over here so that the three of us can go into seclusion together. I''m sure he''ll be extremely grateful to you if you can forge a suit of three-word battle armor for him. With his powers, he should''ve upgraded to a suit of three-word battle armor long ago. If all three of us can become three-word battle armor masters, then we won''t have to be afraid of that Bear Lord guy."


    The fact that A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were able to participate in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition clearly indicated that neither of them were three-word battle armor masters, but with their powers, they were well overdue for an upgrade. Even Ma Shan had already become a three-word battle armor master at this point.


    "Alright, that sounds like a good idea. I''ll invite Brother Sima over as well, and we can all go into seclusion together."


    The situation on the continent was currently very unclear, and it was very likely that his cover had been blown in Bright City, so it would not be a bad idea for him to keep a low profile for now.


    Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber and A''Ruheng''s congenital secret method were both related to Tang Wulin''s cultivation, so it would help all three of them if they could go into seclusion and cultivate together.


    ¡­¡­


    Countless specks of gentle golden light converged before fusing into the four pristine white wings.


    An altar that was as pristine white as jade lay underfoot, and there was nothing in the surrounding area aside from boundless empty space. The dark space was the source of the specks of starlight, which was converging toward the wings as gentle glowing radiance.


    The owner of the wings had faint golden flames burning all over his body and a head of golden hair. His skin was as translucent and fair as jade, and there seemed to be golden light circulating within his body, giving him the appearance of a regal holy angel.


    When the final speck of golden light fused into his body, the golden flames around him also slowly receded.


    A faint sound rang out from his body, and it resembled a delightful holy song.


    "You are the first person in our clan in the past 500 years to have completed the second ritual in their twenties. I have high hopes for you." An almighty voice reverberated throughout the boundless space before finally trailing off into silence.


    A pillar of dazzling golden light abruptly erupted from the body of the man who was standing on the altar, and the pillar of light seemed to have appeared out of thin air, enveloping his entire body before cleansing his entire being. In the next instant, he suddenly vanished.


    ¡­¡­


    At the summit of a valley, a woman was seated in silence with her legs crossed, and a longsword was placed over her knees.


    She was sitting in a completely still manner, making her appear as if she were a stone statue that had become one with her surroundings.


    Within the valley, there was a waterfall that was several hundred meters tall in the distance. The waterfall plunged into the clear lake within the valley, and relentless rumbling booms were echoing throughout the majestic valley.


    She slowly opened her eyes, and the waterfall was reflected within her pupils, which also seemed to contain something else.


    In the next instant, she sprang into action, and a dazzling sword projection was sent hurtling into the distance. The sword projection was constantly expanding as it flew through the air, engulfing her longsword, as well as her body. In the end, the sword projection vanished into nothingness, and she reappeared at the summit of the valley. She was still seated with her legs crossed, and it was as if nothing had happened.


    Several seconds later, the deafening booms abruptly ceased, and looking from the distance, it could be seen that the massive waterfall had been sliced in half down the center with the two halves separated by an extremely smooth and even incision.


    In the instant that the waterfall parted, a man was revealed beyond it, sitting on a massive rock.


    He was only wearing a tight-fitting pair of shorts, and despite his chubby body, he struck the onlooker with a sense of prestige and authority. His hands were moving in front of him in a rhythmic manner, and there was a layer of white and purple light flowing around his body.


    All of a sudden, the white was injected into the purple, and the light around his body also instantly took on a dark purple color that threatened to dominate the onlooker''s entire field of view.


    In the next instant, the chubby figure raised his palms to the sky, and the waterfall that had just begun to descend again was instantly reduced to nothingness as it rushed into the dark purple light. Meanwhile, the purple light swept upward and devoured the entire waterfall.


    ¡­¡­

 Chapter 1153: The Congenital Secret Method was Very Simple?

    Disappear, reappear, disappear again, then reappear once again... He was like the monarch of the night, constantly flashing through the darkness. He enjoyed this feeling of traversing through space, of soaring in a completely free and uninhibited manner.


    That''s right, he had finally made a breakthrough to that level. Space could no longer restrict him, and he had finally also found his own path.


    He was going to be a spatial traveler, but also a guardian of space. His daggers were merely keys that granted him access to this world, yet they weren''t his true martial soul.


    He was the Space Time Dragon, a being that was a manifestation of an overlap of light and shadow that only appeared during every violent transition in space and time. He was the loneliest traveler of the dragon clan, and he was once the shadow guardian of the Dragon God.


    His powers were extremely unpredictable, yet in his eyes, there was only a single figure, one that seemed to stand as a pillar between heaven and earth.


    Even though he was stirring up space, she remained completely unmoved, and she seemed to be sensing the changes taking place within the space around her.


    He couldn''t approach her carelessly as she possessed the ability to tear open space. She seemed to have always been the bane of his existence, even when it came to the abilities.


    Ever since that battle, her Divine Cloudvortex Fists had become more and more fearsome, and it was as if she had attained the ability to stir up heaven and earth. What was even more terrifying was that her aura had become darker and darker, and if she were to adopt her Fallen Angel form, she would become far more powerful than the realm of her cultivation rank.


    Thus, the two of them maintained a delicate balance, and neither of them attacked first. They were both far too familiar with one another, and neither of them dared to do anything that could reveal a weakness to the other.


    A faint smile appeared on her face. After reaching the Soul Sage level, he had truly become more powerful.


    ¡­¡­


    Rays of starlight descended from above, shining down upon a certain figure like a shower of shooting stars.


    She merely stood on the spot, and those streaks of starlight shone down upon the long staff in her hand.


    She had already been here for a very, very long time, to the extent that even she didn''t know how long she had been here for. All she knew that was she had become a Soul Sage, and it was as if all of the stars in the sky had become part of her body, while she had become the blessed child of starlight. She wasn''t even completely sure where her seventh soul ring had come from. In the instant that she made her breakthrough, she suddenly felt a burst of almighty power descend upon her, immediately following which a strange roar rang out within her mind.


    An illusionary being with the head of a lion yet a body that was comprised of countless specks of starlight had appeared in her mental world. After it fused with her body, it silently vanished, and even she was unable to summon it. However, something deep in her mind told her that the being had entered a state of hibernation within her body.


    The starlight was extremely captivating, and every single streak of it abided by the paramount laws of heaven and earth. It was as if the stargazing platform had been tailor-made for her, and the glorious starlight was constantly elevating her body and soul to higher levels.


    Her staff had also undergone a transformation, which was still ongoing. It no longer resembled a substantial staff and instead, it appeared to have been manifested from starlight. It could take on any length or form, and it was as if it had become a part of her body. Even she herself had become a star.


    ¡­¡­


    "This doesn''t make sense!"


    A''Ruheng sat on the ground with a slightly haunted look in his eyes, and murmured to himself, "This doesn''t make sense, this doesn''t make sense, this doesn''t make sense..."


    "Lub-dub, lud-dub, lub-dub!" A powerful heartbeat could be heard not far away from him.


    A''Ruheng turned to Tang Wulin, who was sitting beside him, and a dejected look appeared on his face as he continued, "This doesn''t make sense; this doesn''t make sense!"


    He could still clearly recall that when he had first begun instructing Tang Wulin to cultivate the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, he had told him that the most difficult part of the secret method to cultivate was the first part, which involved body refinement.


    The congenital body refinement method essentially completely tore one''s body apart before reconstructing it according to the ideal configuration. Not only did countless types of spirit medicines have to be used to facilitate this process, the subject had to possess peerless willpower to be able to endure everything.


    Tang Wulin told him that he would give it a try, and so he did.


    Three days later, he told A''Ruheng that he had succeeded and seemed to have already completed body refinement.


    A''Ruheng was naturally skeptical, so Tang Wulin showed him the fruits of the past three days of his cultivation.


    Listening to the violent heartbeat that could set the listener''s bloodline alight, A''Ruheng felt as if he had returned to the instant where he had emerged from this living hell.


    After countless years of torment, he had finally refined his body to the required degree, thereby completing the most important and most painful step of the congenital secret method. Countless Body Sect predecessors of his had fallen at this step, yet his junior disciple brother had achieved this monumental feat in just three days! How was this possible!


    It didn''t make sense!


    It made no sense at all!


    "There''s nothing implausible about this; you should just resign yourself to the truth," Sima Jinchi said with a look of gloating pleasure on his face.


    In reality, he wasn''t feeling much better than A''Ruheng. He had always thought that his Dragonslaying Saber was the most powerful tool martial soul in this world, all the way until he encountered Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.


    During these past three days, he had fought Tang Wulin on countless occasions, and he finally realized the truth. His Dragonslaying Saber and Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear were both divine weapons, but the Golden Dragon Spear was only Tang Wulin''s weapon, while the Dragonslaying Saber was his martial soul.


    Furthermore, there was a hierarchy even among divine weapons, and relatively speaking, his Dragonslaying Saber was like a whetstone for the Golden Dragon Spear that sharpened it with each and every clash. His Dragonslaying Saber also benefited from these clashes, but why was he always struck by the urge to bow to Tang Wulin in subordination at the conclusions of their battles?


    No matter how much he hated to admit it, he knew that his Dragonslaying Saber was pledging its subordination to the Golden Dragon Spear.


    Tang Wulin was currently completely immersed in sensing the congenital secret method, and it had to be said that this really was an extraordinary cultivation method.


    In essence, the congenital secret method involved guiding the power of heaven and earth to perforate through one''s body, cleansing and reforming them in the process. This three-step process was known as body refinement, and it essentially entailed using the power of heaven and earth to remold one''s body and forge a golden body.


    As such, one could only imagine how painful this process would be. Tang Wulin didn''t have that many spirit items from the Body Sect for him to use, but what he did have was the bloodline power of the Golden Dragon King.


    After absorbing the Golden Dragon King essence contained within the 11th seal, his cumulative bloodline power had already far exceeded the energy that could be produced from all of the spirit items that the Body Sect had gathered during the past century.


    As such, when he truly began to cultivate this congenital secret method, he was able to essentially use the Golden Dragon King''s body to experience the paramount laws of heaven and earth, thereby allowing him to be cleansed by the power of heavens and earth to attain a more powerful body.


    Body refinement consisted of four stages; perforation, cleansing, remolding, and golden body. After completing those four stages, one would attain a third awakening of their body martial soul, and it had taken A''Ruheng several decades to reach the golden body stage.


    Among the four stages, the most painful one was perforation. Perforation from the power of heaven and earth was the process of essentially completely tearing one''s body apart, then putting it back together.


    The three later stages were also extremely painful, but they were at least bearable. Of course, that was also only relative to the first stage.


    Tang Wulin had completed perforation in just three days, and through the secret method of the Body Sect, he was able to sense the power of heaven and earth to cleanse and remold his own body. In this process, he could even sense that his Golden Dragon King power had undergone a certain transformation.


    Every time he broke a Golden Dragon King seal, he had to endure excruciating pain, and the main reason behind this was that his body was different from that of the Golden Dragon King. After all, how could a human''s body be the same as that of a dragon?


    However, during the perforation process, he had attained a hint of enlightenment. As a result, he was struck by the indistinct notion that there seemed to be some area of overlap between his human body and the Golden Dragon King''s body.

 Chapter 1154: Molten Crimson

    Tang Wulin was one of the best students that Shrek Academy had to offer, and there was no other entity in this world that had a greater knowledge base of martial souls than Shrek Academy did.


    As such, the first thought that occurred to him was that after soul beasts cultivated to the Great Beast level, they could adopt human forms. However, even in their human forms, they could still draw upon their enormous strength, and their human bodies could still bear this strength.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Golden Dragon King was a being that was far superior to the average Great Beast, so it was definitely also able to manifest a human form. In that case, what would its bodily structure be like after it adopted its human form?


    With that thought as a premise, Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of enlightenment; he could make use of the perforation process to ascertain how to make his body better equipped to handle such enormous exogenous power.


    As such, his skeletal structure was constantly adjusting itself, and his muscles, blood, and meridians were also undergoing subtle enhancements. Through cultivating the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, he could adjust his body toward its perfect form; even he hadn''t thought that the Body Sect''s congenital secret method would assist him to such a great extent.


    Just the first perforation stage was able to adjust his body and significantly enhance his bodily abilities. Now that he was able to unleash his Golden Dragon True Body, he could familiarize himself with the Golden Dragon King''s bodily structure after he adopted that form. In doing so, he would be able to experience how the Golden Dragon King stored and used its energy, then use the Body Sect''s congenital secret method to adjust his own body to better resemble that of the Golden Dragon King.


    After ascertaining this path, the congenital secret method that Tang Wulin was cultivating had already become an ability that was unique to him, rather than the original congenital secret method of the Body Sect.


    What A''Ruheng was frustrated about was that during the perforation process, not only was Tang Wulin not displaying any signs of pain, he was even smiling from time to time!


    This world was so unfair! Where was the justice?!


    Thus, one day passed by after another. Tang Wulin forged in the morning, cultivated the Body Sect''s congenital secret method in the afternoon, and sparred with A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi at night. All of his days were spent in a busy manner, and he contacted the Blood Dragon Squad every week to enquire about their experiences and observations from visiting the areas near Heaven Dou City.


    Even though he didn''t ask her to do so, Long Yuxue had already paid a visit to the original site of Shrek City, and she had sent him some information and photos surrounding her trip there.


    The current Shrek City had already become a massive lake that was more than 10 times the size of the original Sea God''s Lake. The lake encompassed virtually the entire former area of Shrek City, and its diameter was too massive for one to see from one side to the other.


    The government had named this the Sea God''s Lake, rather than Lake Shrek, and this was clearly in an attempt to gradually make the general public forget about the existence of Shrek Academy and Shrek City.


    This wasn''t something that could be accomplished in just a day or two, but all of the major powers were undoubtedly working toward that collective goal. Since the destruction of Shrek Academy, there had been many voices on all sides proposing the revival of the academy, but none of those voices had amounted to anything thus far.


    After all, no matter how powerful Shrek Academy had once been, it was still an academy. The alumni of the academy naturally held it in high regard, but the issue was that following their graduations, they now all belonged to different powers, so before they did anything, they had to take into account the potential reactions from the powers that they belonged to. As such, no matter how furious or grief-stricken they were, all of them were bogged down by too many societal responsibilities to do anything.


    This was why Tang Wulin had always been aware that if he wanted to revive Shrek Academy, then a leader would have to rise up to unite everyone; only then would all of the alumni of Shrek Academy all over the continent be united under a single banner, but it was also undoubtedly the case that this leader would become public enemy number one in the eyes of all of the major powers.


    "Clang!"


    A melodious clang rang out, and a burst of crimson light rose up into the air. Golden light flashed and transformed into a giant dragon that lingered and circled around in the air. In the end, it transformed into a piece of armor that settled onto the forging bench in a peaceful manner.


    This was a molten crimson piece of battle armor with layers of scale on its surface, presenting an antiquated and bold design that was also not lacking in luxury.


    For some reason, as he had become more powerful and fused more and more of the Golden Dragon King''s bloodline, Tang Wulin had become fonder and fonder of lavish things. Perhaps he had been affected by the preferences of dragons, so during his construction of his own suit of three-word battle armor, the outward design was a lot more lavish than it had been in the past. Every single dragon pattern was extremely intricate, and he didn''t even need to carve them himself as the Goldwater Consonance could naturally alter the form of the alloys at his behest.


    Even with the assistance of the Goldwater Consonance, fusing six different types of metal into an alloy had still been a very difficult undertaking, and it had taken him three whole months to forge the foundational metals.


    During this time, he had also forged the metals required for A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi''s suits of three-word battle armor. Furthermore, with the uncommon metals provided by the blacksmith association, he had been able to further enhance their suits of battle armor. As such even though both of them had been quite frustrated with their sparring sessions with Tang Wulin, they didn''t have any complaints.


    After all, being able to forge their suits of three-word battle armor with support from the blacksmith association headquarters was the best possible outcome that they could''ve envisioned.


    "Is it ready, Junior Disciple Brother?" A''Ruheng had always been very interested in forging, so he was often present to watch Tang Wulin during his forging sessions.


    "Yes, it''s finally done; all that''s left now is to carve the core circuits." A smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. It was finally complete! He had forged the foundation for his suit of three-word battle armor, and all that was now required were the finishing touches. Of course, prior to that, he was essentially deprived of his suit of battle armor.


    It was time he gathered his friends together again; everyone was due for an upgrade to suits of three-word battle armor, and he had already prepared the metals required for everyone. All that was left was for them to gather together and cooperate to complete their suits of three-word battle armor.


    Yuanen Yehui and the others were going to be responsible for the construction of the suits of battle armor, and he also had something that he had to do; he had always been planning to construct an ideal mecha for himself, and he had already finalized the blueprints, so it was time for him to put his plans into practice.


    After all, not only was he a battle armor master, he had also become an exceptional mecha pilot!


    "Let''s go for another sparring match; there''s no way your body is more powerful than mine right after completing perforation! Sima is also raring to go."


    During the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, they had both been evenly-matched with Tang Wulin or perhaps even slightly superior to him when it came to overall power. However, the rate of Tang Wulin''s development had been truly fearsome during the past few months, to the extent that he and Sima Jinchi currently had next to no chance against him on a one-on-one basis; how could they not be frustrated by this?


    However, through battling one another, all three of them were reaping significant benefits, both in terms of accumulating practical combat experience, as well as in assessing their own abilities.


    A''Ruheng had already become a Titled Douluo, so his powers had been drastically enhanced, and even though Sima Jinchi hadn''t made that breakthrough yet, he was rapidly building up a strong foundation, and his Dragonslaying Saber had become vastly more powerful under the stimulus of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear. On top of that, it had already been confirmed that he did indeed have a soul fusion skill with Tang Wulin. No matter how disgruntled Sima Jinchi was by this notion, he had no choice but to accept it.


    There was a huge underground drill ground beneath the blacksmith association building, and it was used to test various types of weapons, primarily battle armor. Zhen Hua had already given Tang Wulin the highest level of access to the drill ground, and the protective facilities here were far superior to those in the Star Battle Net. The drill ground here could withstand clashes between Titled Douluos, but of course, that was also limited to those at or below the three-word battle armor master level.


    When Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng arrived at the drill ground, Sima Jinchi was already there, and he was sitting with his legs crossed in a corner with his Dragonslaying Saber resting over his knees. There were eight soul rings pulsating around his body and releasing a faint light.


    As soon as he sensed Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng''s arrival, he opened his eyes and cast his gaze toward them. All of a sudden, he let loose a loud roar. "Tang Wulin, take this!"


    Immediately thereafter, his aura suddenly swelled explosively before forming a massive black dragon behind him.


    The black dragon was extremely menacing, and its crimson eyes were filled with ferocity. The dragon was only around 10 meters in length, but its sheer presence made it feel as if it were over 100 meters long. Rich darkness elemental fluctuations surged over the entire drill ground, and even the surrounding area had dimmed significantly.


    Right at this moment, the Dragonslaying Saber that was resting over Sima Jinchi''s knees suddenly let loose a buzzing sound before rising up into the air. It was unknown which of his soul rings had lit up, but the giant black dragon suddenly let loose a wail of anguish before surging into the Dragonslaying Saber in a frenzy.


    The Dragonslaying Saber remained the same size, but the saber projection that resembled inky-black mist instantly began to swell, as if it were threatening to part heaven and earth.


    His saber intent manifested into a saber soul, and it was as if the Dragonslaying Saber had sprung to life. The saber projection flashed, and it dragged a shimmering gash that was over 100 meters through the air before slashing directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Meanwhile, A''Ruheng had already leaped into the distance, and the events that were currently unfolding had been repeated countless times during the past three months.

 Chapter 1155: The Majestic Law-enforcing Saber

    After encountering Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, the power of Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber had improved at a drastic rate, and he felt as if he were improving virtually every single day. However, at the same time, his Dragonslaying Saber was also becoming closer and closer with Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.


    In the face of this terrifying saber projection that was imbued with the power of a dragon, Tang Wulin remained completely unfazed. His eyes abruptly lit up, and he let loose a loud cry.


    "Roar!"


    A massive golden dragon head suddenly appeared, and it was as if he had transformed into a golden dragon himself. His Golden Dragon Roar was combined with his dragon''s might to produce a devastating attack that instantly shrank the saber projection down to only around half of its original size. Immediately thereafter, a burst of golden light appeared before flying through the air like lightning, and all of a sudden, countless bursts of dazzling golden light combined as one, converging toward the inky-black saber projection as it struck the golden spear projection.


    A crisp clang rang out, and the deafening dragon''s roar triggered a fierce energy storm within the drill ground.


    Tang Wulin had already attained perfect mastery of his Fury of the Masses, and even back at the conclusion of the Star Battle Net competition, he had already attained an inkling of a spear soul. Following his battle against the powerful beings of the abyssal plane with the assistance from the planar power of the Douluo Continent, he managed to attain a complete spear soul, and that was how he had been able to invent his Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing.


    During the past few months of sparring with A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi, his spear soul had been well and truly established, and his spear techniques had reached an extraordinary level.


    He was able to use Fury of the Masses as if it were an extension of his own body, and even though it wasn''t quite as powerful as the Fury of the Masses that Old Tang had demonstrated to him, it was undeniable that he had completely mastered it.


    Golden light punctured through the air before piercing into the black saber projection. The Dragonslaying Saber began to emit an incessant ringing sound, and the spear soul imbued within the Fury of the Masses was threatening to detach the giant black dragon from the Dragonslaying Saber.


    Right at this moment, the black dragon''s crimson eyes suddenly turned golden in color, and the Dragonslaying Saber''s aura also instantly changed drastically.


    The violent aura of slaughter and ferocity suddenly became more placid, and its vicious nature instantly faded, only to be replaced by an indescribable sense of paramount might.


    Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi''s bodies shuddered in unison, and a loud cry of elation rang out from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear. It then transformed into a real golden dragon that revolved around the Dragonslaying Saber.


    Meanwhile, all of the light on the surface of the Dragonslaying Saber suddenly crumbled, and it abruptly rose up into the air as a burst of scintillating golden light. The saber expanded in size once again, and a strange scene appeared between Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi.


    This was a giant dragon with nine-colored light emanating from its entire body. Its peerless might struck even Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi with a sense of asphyxiation, and the latter almost instantly knelt down and lowered his head to the ground.


    Tang Wulin was still standing on the spot, but aside from the enormous pressure, he was also sensing an indescribable intimacy toward this giant dragon.


    "My horn shall form the law-enforcing blade, and it shall slay all heinous dragons and sever all injustices. From this day forth, the law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan will be born, and heaven and earth must be parted to celebrate its arrival!"


    The giant dragon suddenly shrank down to a humanoid figure wearing a long nine-colored robe. However, his facial features were obscured, and the giant golden blade fell into his grasp before he abruptly slashed it toward the heavens.


    A burst of golden light erupted into air, and the sky was instantly halved with the sun, moon, and stars on one side, while the other side was completely devoid of light.


    All of a sudden, the roars of countless dragons rang out throughout heaven and earth, as if there were tens of thousands of giant dragons expressing their utmost reverence.


    The dragon horn had been forged into the law-enforcing saber, and all dragons were subject to its judgment!


    "Dragon God, you''ve become far too conceited! Are you plotting to destroy the entire Divine Realm?" A sharp voice suddenly rang out from all directions.


    Immediately thereafter, a dark green figure appeared out of thin air, not far away from the nine-colored figure. The voice was extremely high-pitched and uncomfortable to listen to.


    "This is an internal affair of our dragon clan; how does it have anything to do with you?" the Dragon God asked in a cold voice.


    The dark green figure chuckled coldly in response. "You''re the monarch of the dragon clan and the paramount ruler over all of the beasts of the Divine Realm, yet you''ve created this divine weapon from your dragon horn, which can be regrown. Are you trying to create an endless supply of divine weapons to fuel a rebellion against the Divine Realm? The Divine Realm Committee has sent me here to warn you to restrain yourself."


    The Dragon God immediately burst into condescending laughter. "I am the king of all beasts and beast gods alike; who are you to issue warnings to me? If the committee wants to tell me something, then get the godkings to come to me in person; a junior like you has no right to speak to me in such a rude manner. If you don''t leave now, you''ll become the first victim of my law-enforcing blade!"


    "You''ll regret this, insolent Dragon God! I''m here as a representative of the Divine Realm Committee!" The dark green figure seemed to have become enraged.


    "What a joke! When has the Divine Realm Committee ever issued an order to me through a lowly god like you? They''ve always sent a godking to communicate with me in person. The gods and us beast gods have always co-existed in harmony; a mere yaksha like you has no place here! Piss off! "


    The Dragon God let loose a thunderous roar, and the dark green figure instantly flew away as a streak of green light as if it had been targeted by some kind of fearsome power.


    The Dragon God raised the giant golden saber in his hand in the air. "All evil-doers, all liars, and all disloyal traitors will be slain by this blade!"


    The nine-colored figure suddenly expanded to the point where he stood like a pillar between heaven and earth. The giant golden saber in his hand also began to glow with boundless dazzling radiance.


    Tang Wulin looked on in a stunned manner, and it was clear to him that these scenes depicted the origin story of the Dragonslaying Saber. In the instant that the nine-colored figure swelled to the apex of its stature, Tang Wulin discovered that he was suddenly able to clearly see his eyes.


    The Dragon God''s eyes were as clear as water without any impurities, and they seemed to contain the entire world alongside dazzling nine-colored divine light.


    What an unfathomably powerful being!


    The Dragon God seemed to have aimed a meaningful glance at Tang Wulin before the image suddenly crumbled before surging into the huge golden saber.


    It was also right at this moment that Sima Jinchi suddenly raised his head up from the ground and let loose a thunderous roar to the heavens.


    Bursts of golden light abruptly erupted from within his body, and the dazzling light pierced through his skin and his orifices. In that instant, it was as if his body had been completely destroyed. His skin was peeling off incessantly, and his clothes had been reduced to dust, leaving only a shimmering golden body.


    In the next instant, golden light flashed, and he rose up into the air. The final remnants of the Dragon God''s image faded, and all that was left was the golden figure, which had risen up into the air to combine as one with the huge golden Dragonslaying Saber.


    What appeared to be a scintillating golden sun had also suddenly appeared above the drill ground, and under the radiance of this golden light, Tang Wulin could also clearly sense that something extra seemed to have appeared within his body.


    His Golden Dragon Spear began to vibrate incessantly while emitting a ringing sound that resembled grief-stricken sobs, but also cries of elation. Its complex emotions were also influencing Tang Wulin''s emotions, and he was suddenly struck by a sense of enlightenment.


    The war that had taken place between the beast gods led by the Dragon God and the human gods most likely wasn''t as simple as he had imagined it to be. There were most likely hidden details behind all of this. Otherwise, why had the beast gods turned on the entire Divine Realm, to the extent that they were hunted down to extinction?


    Just how complex were the hidden circumstances behind this monumental war?


    A''Ruheng had already been completely rooted to the spot. What he had witnessed was different from what Tang Wulin had seen. Instead of witnessing the scenes depicting the Dragon God, what he saw was that following Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi''s clash, dazzling golden light had erupted, and the Dragonslaying Saber had suddenly expanded drastically in size. Immediately thereafter, golden light had erupted from Sima Jinchi''s entire body, transforming him into a golden man that rose up into the air before becoming one with the Dragonslaying Saber.


    This was undoubtedly the sign of a breakthrough, but he had never heard of any other Soul Master experiencing the same situation in their breakthrough.


    It felt as if Sima Jinchi had essentially sacrificed himself to elevate the Dragonslaying Saber.

 Chapter 1156: Master?

    Tang Wulin was also feeling different somehow. His connection with the Dragonslaying Saber had clearly grown stronger, but he couldn''t tell exactly what had resulted in this; all that he could deduce was that the Dragonslaying Saber seemed to have already become a part of him.


    The golden light lingered in the air for a full 10 minutes before the dragon patterns on the surface of the massive Dragonslaying Saber finally began to fade. It then plummeted from above as a streak of golden light before plunging itself into the ground.


    The golden light receded, and the Dragonslaying Saber warped slightly before returning to its human form. As soon as this humanoid figure appeared, both Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng''s pupils contracted drastically.


    Was this... really still Sima Jinchi?


    He was tall and imposing, and he seemed to have become the core of the entire heaven and earth. Compared to the past Sima Jinchi, this new version of him seemed to have become over 10 years younger and returned to his early thirties. His tanned skin was shimmering with faint golden light, and his long golden hair was trailing down both sides of his face. His facial features looked as if they had been carved out of marble, and his pupils had also become vertical.


    His muscles were filled with an artistic and graceful sense of power, and his aura was more concealed, rather than sharp as a blade as it had once been before. Nine soul rings rose up from beneath his feet before revolving around his body, and the most eye-catching one among them was his ninth soul ring. This was a golden soul ring, and all of his eight other soul rings completely paled into insignificance, as if they were mere accessories to that ninth soul ring.


    "Holy crap, you became more handsome, Sima! What happened? What kind of breakthrough was that?" A''Ruheng exclaimed in a slightly envious manner.


    Sima Jinchi didn''t offer any reply. His eyes were fixed on Tang Wulin, and there were complex emotions flashing within them. Only after several seconds had passed did he stride over to Tang Wulin before falling to one knee in a respectful manner. "Master!"


    Tang Wulin was given a fright by this and hurriedly sidestepped his respectful gesture. "What are you doing, Brother Sima?"


    Sima Jinchi was an extremely proud person, so why was he suddenly referring to Tang Wulin as "master?"


    Sima Jinchi explained in a respectful voice, "There''s no need to be alarmed, Master; I was only born into this world by your hands, so I owe my life to you. From this day forth, I will be your law-enforcing saber, and you can use me to sever all injustice, disloyalty, evil, and vanity in this world."


    Tang Wulin was feeling rather perplexed, but he could sense that this seemed to have something to do with the scenes that he had just witnessed earlier. Sima Jinchi definitely wouldn''t refer to him as master for no reason, and it was quite clear that he had now progressed to the Titled Douluo level.


    Furthermore, with his powers, he was definitely one of the most powerful Titled Douluos on the entire continent. Even with Tang Wulin''s confidence in his own abilities, he could sense that he most likely wasn''t a match for Sima Jinchi anymore.


    "Hmm? You''re calling my junior disciple brother master, so you should call me master''s senior disciple brother from now on," A''Ruheng jibed with a sly smile.


    Sima Jinchi rose to his feet and shot a glance at him. "Piss off."


    "F*ck, you think you''re a top sh*t now that you''ve made a breakthrough? Are you looking down on me? Let me see what you''re like now that you''re a Titled Douluo," A''Ruheng chortled as he threw a fist at Sima Jinchi.


    The two of them were used to fighting one another, and neither of them were willing to concede to the other. Ever since A''Ruheng had progressed to the Titled Douluo level, he had consistently been able to best Sima Jinchi. Now that Sima Jinchi had also progressed to the Titled Douluo level, he was naturally extremely eager for a fight.


    Sima Jinchi suddenly ducked down before ramming his shoulder toward A''Ruheng. In the instant that A''Ruheng''s fist struck his shoulder, A''Ruheng was struck by the strange feeling that he had punched the edge of a blade rather than a human being.


    The power of his congenital secret method erupted forth, and his fist abruptly expanded in size. Following a resounding boom, the two of them quickly separated before rapidly rushing back.


    They appeared to be evenly matched!


    "Nice! Again!" A''Ruheng was extremely enthused, and he abruptly took a deep breath, following which his body instantly began to expand. With the span of just a few breaths, he had already reached over 10 meters in height. A metallic sheen glinted from his large bald head, and nine soul rings appeared around his body.


    A powerful rumbling heartbeat rang out, and he immediately activated his martial soul''s second awakening.


    Golden light flashed from Sima Jinchi''s vertical pupils, and he strode forward as the projections of nine giant dragons shimmered behind him. A massive golden saber appeared out of thin air, and it was over five times larger than the original Dragonslaying Saber. He grabbed onto the hilt of the huge saber before slashing it through the air, and a violent boom erupted as A''Ruheng was sent flying with golden light flashing all over his body.


    In contrast, Sima Jinchi''s body merely swayed slightly, and he only had to take a couple of steps back before he steadied himself.


    "Again!" A''Ruheng roared, and in the next instant, his body hurtled through the air like a cannonball.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already retreated off to the side and was appraising this clash with a contemplative look on his face.


    After reaching the Titled Douluo level, Sima Jinchi had become far more powerful than he had been in the past. Sima Jinchi was older than both him and A''Ruheng, and he looked older than his age, yet following this breakthrough, not only did he look significantly younger than before, his entire disposition had also completely changed. In particular, there seemed to be a hint of an aura that was akin to that of the Dragon God within his body, and this was quite a strange feeling for Tang Wulin.


    Through this aura, he could clearly sense that he and Sima Jinchi had a certain bloodline connection, as if he were a part of his body, but this sense of closeness wasn''t one what he normally expected to feel toward another person. Instead, it resembled the connection that he had with his Golden Dragon Spear. Why was that the case?


    This was a rather peculiar feeling, but it definitely truly existed.


    Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber was too powerful, and his saber soul had clearly already reached an extraordinary level of power. Even in direct clashes, A''Ruheng was now at a slight disadvantage against him.


    However, A''Ruheng also had his own unique strengths. With the power of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, he possessed a near-idestructible body that was always able to self-regenerate at an extraordinary rate, thereby allowing him to sustain a high level of combat prowess over an extended period of time.


    Sima Jinchi sent A''Ruheng flying over and over again with his Dragonslaying Saber, only for A''Ruheng to rush back every single time, and in terms of overall powers, the two of them appeared to be quite evenly matched.


    Of course, this was under the premise that neither of them had used their more powerful soul skills. What Tang Wulin was quite curious about was what ability that golden ninth soul ring of Sima Jinchi''s possessed.


    He had once heard that golden soul rings were supposed to be million-year-old soul rings! Sima Jinchi clearly hadn''t obtained this soul ring from killing any soul beasts, and it seemed to have been bestowed upon him by his Dragonslaying Saber. In that case, how powerful was this soul ring?


    If it really were a million-year-old soul ring, then its corresponding soul skill would most likely be very difficult for A''Ruheng to withstand.


    Tang Wulin also really wanted to see what kind of ability this golden soul ring possessed.


    The two of them had been engaging in back-and-forth exchanges for a while now, but Sima Jinchi had barely used any of his soul skills, and he certainly hadn''t touched that final soul skill.


    "Alright, let''s leave it here for now. You really have become more powerful; I''ll finally have a suitable opponent now! Haha, Junior Disciple Brother, it won''t be that easy for you to defeat us now." A''Ruheng disengaged himself from the battle, having thoroughly enjoyed himself.


    A suitable opponent was quite rare for him, so he was more than happy to see Sima Jinchi improve.


    Sima Jinchi also withdrew his Dragonslaying Saber, but he wore a slightly brooding look on his face as if he were contemplating something, and he didn''t seem to be fully present.


    "Brother Sima, I have something that I want to speak to you about in private," Tang Wulin said.


    It was quite clear that A''Ruheng hadn''t witnessed the scenes depicting the Dragon God. Otherwise, with his personality, there was no way that he wouldn''t be asking questions. Seeing as only he and Sima Jinchi had witnessed those scenes, this was naturally something that they had to discuss. Sima Jinchi had clearly sensed something after fusing with the Dragonslaying Saber at the end, and that had to be why his attitude toward Tang Wulin had shifted so drastically. Tang Wulin was quite curious about what he had experienced.


    "Alright," Sima Jinchi agreed.


    "Oi, what''s going on between you two? You haven''t turned gay for Sima just because he became more handsome, did you? Hahaha!"


    Sima Jinchi immediately turned toward him with an enraged expression. "Shut your stupid mouth! No one misses your voice!"


    A''Ruheng chortled, "Alright, I was just trying to cheer you up, you gloomy bastard. I''m going now; you two can have some quality time alone with each other." A''Ruheng appeared to be quite tone-deaf and oblivious most of the time, but he was actually quite thoughtful on the inside. Thus, he departed without asking any further questions, leaving only Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi on the drill ground.


    "Brother Sima, you saw the Dragon God just then as well, right? Why are you referring to me as your master?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Sima Jinchi clearly had a complex look in his eyes as he cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin, then heaved a faint sigh.

 Chapter 1157: I am the Dragonslaying Saber

    "That''s because you were always my master to begin with." A wry smile appeared on his face as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "I still don''t really understand."


    "I don''t understand, either," Sima Jinchi shook his head, and sighed, "I had always thought that I had been blessed by the heavens to have attained such a powerful martial soul as the Dragonslaying Saber, and that''s allowed me to embark on a meteoric rise in the Soul Master world. However, I have a secret: I''ve never actually fused with a single soul spirit before, and every single one of my soul rings automatically appeared after I made my breakthroughs. I had always been perplexed about this, but now, I''ve finally figured out why."


    Complex emotions appeared in his eyes as he spoke. "It''s because I''m not a human at all."


    "Hah?" Tang Wulin appraised him in a stunned manner, and exclaimed, "You''re not a human?"


    Sima Jinchi closed his eyes in an anguished manner. He had been stuck at the pinnacle of the Soul Douluo level for far too long, so making this breakthrough should''ve had him riding on cloud nine, but after making this breakthrough, he regretted everything. If he had a choice, he would rather continue to be the ignorant Soul Douluo that he once was. At the very least, he would be oblivious to some things, such as the fact that he wasn''t a human.


    However, it was already too late. He had already made a breakthrough, and he had naturally been made aware of everything as a result.


    In reality, if it weren''t for Titled Douluo, perhaps he would have remained a Soul Douluo for the rest of his life. He had only made this breakthrough through a vast stroke of fortune, and this fortune had been brought to him by Tang Wulin.


    "I am the Dragonslaying Saber," Sima Jinchi said in a bitter voice.


    Tang Wulin was no less befuddled than before. "What do you mean? You''re the Dragonslaying Saber?"


    Sima Jinchi explained, "That''s right, I''m not a human. I am the Dragonslaying Saber, or in other words, I''m the saber soul of the Dragonslaying Saber. You saw everything just now; the Dragonslaying Saber is a divine weapon that was crafted from the Dragon''s God''s horn. It''s the law-enforcing blade of the dragon clan, and all dragons who have committed heinous crimes must face the wrath of the Dragonslaying Saber. As soon as I fused with the Dragonslaying Saber just now, I received a massive influx of information. This is information left behind on the Dragonslaying Saber by the will of the Dragon God, and it''s made me aware of many things, things that I''m going to tell you about now."


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with curiosity. "What did the Dragon God tell you?"


    Sima Jinchi replied in a grim voice, "Massive unrest erupted in the Divine Realm, and the Dragon God led all of the beast gods on a war against the human gods, a war which resulted in a crushing defeat. Only in his final moments did the Dragon God realize that he had been swindled and taken advantage of by snide beings who were plotting against him. The Dragon God was once the king of all beast gods, and he was the most powerful being in the entire Divine Realm. In a one-on-one battle, even the godly monarchs of the Divine Realm Committee wouldn''t be able to match him. However, it was exactly due to his astonishing power that he also developed a strong sense of pride, to the point of arrogance.


    "Those who were plotting against him took advantage of that pride to sow dissension between the beast and human gods, thereby resulting in the tragic war of the Divine Realm. In the end, the human gods had greater numbers and overall power, so the Dragon God was felled. Only in the instant before his demise did he realize the mistakes he''d made. However, the Dragon God is the most powerful deity, after all, so even following his demise, he didn''t completely die. Instead, his power split into two parts to form the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King.


    "At that time, he had already developed remorse over his own actions. His overly inflated ego had resulted in a war that should''ve never taken place, and it also led to the demise of all beast gods, as well as the fall of the dragon clan. Prior to his death, he injected his final memories into the law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan and hurled it onto the Douluo Continent, where it hibernated for many years. The power of the saber then began to awaken when the aura of the Dragon God appeared on this continent, and it took on the form of an orphan, which was me."


    Many thoughts appeared in Tang Wulin''s mind upon hearing this. Could it be that he was the source of the Dragon God''s aura in this world?


    Sima Jinchi continued, "I was adopted by my foster parents and awakened my Dragonslaying Saber martial soul at six years of age. I had innate full soul power, so I quickly received a lot of attention, and my cultivation journey progressed extremely smoothly. With my powerful Dragonslaying Saber martial soul, I was able to brush aside all obstacles. Everyone else required soul spirits to attain soul skill, but I didn''t need that. As soon as I made a breakthrough, my soul skill would automatically manifest itself, and that has always been my greatest advantage. However, after reaching rank 89 in soul power, I wasn''t able to continue to progress no matter what I did.


    "At that time, I had already joined the Southern Legion, and I was constantly looking for sparring partners to try and improve myself through battle. As a result, my practical combat abilities did indeed improve, but my cultivation rank remained stagnant, all the way until I met you."


    Even though Sima Jinchi''s story was extremely far-fetched, Tang Wulin still believed him. He possessed the Golden Dragon King bloodline, so why wouldn''t it be possible for Sima Jinchi to be a manifestation of the Dragonslaying Saber?


    "I finally made a breakthrough today, but I truly regret it. Only after making this breakthrough did I realize that I''m nothing more than the saber soul of the dragon clan''s law-enforcing saber. It was your Dragon God aura that allowed me to make this breakthrough and attain all of this dormant knowledge, so you are my master, and I am your law-enforcing blade."


    Sima Jinchi heaved a long sigh at the conclusion of his story, and he was feeling very dejected.


    He was nothing more than a dragon horn, just like how Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear was a rib of the Golden Dragon King. They were both divine weapons, but he had attained intelligence and taken on a human form. He had already grown accustomed to his identity as a human, and he wanted nothing more than to continue to be a human!


    However, he knew that this was no longer possible. He wasn''t a human anymore; he was only a saber soul, and he was a saber soul with a master.


    "I don''t know what to say, Brother Sima, but what I have to tell you is that I also have many unresolved mysteries. Seeing as you''ve been so honest and forthright with me, there''s nothing for me to hide," Tang Wulin said in a genuine manner.


    From the lessons taught to him by the old demons on the demonic island, he was well aware of how he should treat different types of people.


    Sima Jinchi had just made a long-awaited breakthrough, but the shocking revelation that he was merely the saber soul of the Dragonslaying Saber had completely floored him, and if he were allowed to wallow in his despair, it was very likely that he would fall into depression.


    Tang Wulin was able to empathize with Sima Jinchi''s current emotional state. Just as Sima Jinchi''s fate had been entirely dictated by the Dragonslaying Saber, his fate had also been extremely closely connected to his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    Without his Golden Dragon King bloodline, he wouldn''t be where he was today, and he wouldn''t have his current level of power. However, at the same time, his Golden Dragon King bloodline had also given him far too many responsibilities and placed him in many perilous situations.


    Sima Jinchi raised his head to appraise Tang Wulin with a perplexed expression. He was also quite curious toward Tang Wulin. Could it be that this guy really was the reincarnation of the Dragon God?


    Tang Wulin seemed to have gleaned his thoughts, and he shook his head as he said, "Firstly, I''m not the Dragon God, nor am I the Dragon God incarnate. The Dragon God most likely really is already dead, and I''ve even seen his remains in the past."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but recall everything he had witnessed within the Dragon Valley at the mention of this topic. The Dragon God''s body had vanished in the end, but he was sure that the dragon tomb was the Dragon God''s final resting place.


    "I was only an ordinary human, but in contrast with your situation, I had parents, so I wasn''t an orphan. When I was a child, I was very mundane. I awakened my martial soul at six years old, but it was only the trash martial soul, Bluesilver Grass. At the time, I really thought that I wouldn''t be able to become the Soul Master and mecha pilot that I had dreamed of becoming. The only silver lining on that dark cloud was that as my martial soul was awakened, I also attained soul power. At the time, even my parents thought that it would be impossible for me to pursue the path of becoming a Soul Master, but I was still determined to give it a try. I began to learn forging at six, and the only reason for that was because I wanted to earn some money to buy a cheap soul spirit for myself when my soul power reached the 10th rank."


    Sima Jinchi''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. All he saw was the almighty Golden Dragon King that had won both disciplines of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, and he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would''ve had such a troubled past. It seemed that Tang Wulin''s cultivation path had been far more arduous than his own.


    "I worked myself into the ground every single day in order to save up enough money, so can you imagine my despair when I ended up purchasing a defective soul spirit?"

 Chapter 1158: Saber God Douluo

    Even though many years had already passed since then, Tang Wulin was still struck by a sense of bitterness whenever he thought back to those dark days.


    "I forged with all my effort every day for three whole years. Layers upon layers of calluses accumulated over my hands, and I popped one blister after another, only to work through the pain. I finally saved up enough money, but in exchange for my painstaking efforts, I received a defective soul spirit. On that day, I cried like the heartbroken little boy I was, and I refused to listen to any words of encouragement or optimism. All I could think of at the time was how unfair the heavens had been to me, and questioned why I was always afflicted by the worst-case scenarios.


    "After I shed my tears and got over my pain, I still chose to fuse with it. Even though it was a defective soul spirit, I refused to give up. I wanted to become a powerful Soul Master, and even if I were destined to fail, I had to give it my all. Thus, I fused with my first soul spirit. It was very weak, and it gave me the weakest soul skill, but from that day forth, I finally became a true Soul Master.


    "After that, I suddenly discovered that there was another type of power within my body. I had a dream that I had 18 seals within my body, behind each of which was a powerful burst of energy. When the first seal was broken, the energy contained within it integrated itself with my body, and it was such a painful experience that I wanted to die. However, I endured the ordeal in the end, and my body began to evolve. I attained far greater strength than my peers, as well as abilities that were unique to me.


    "Only after a long time did I figure out that this was power stemming from a Golden Dragon King bloodline, and that the 18 seals within my body seemed to be sealing away the power of the Golden Dragon King. After the Dragon God was slain in the Divine Realm, he was divided into the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King, and I seemed to have inherited the power of the Golden Dragon King. I don''t know why it''s in my body, but it''s always helped me become more powerful while also posing a constant threat to my life.


    "Each successive Golden Dragon King seal contained more fearsome power than the previous one, and every seal that was broken was like a trial of life and death for me. Behind the enormous power that I attained was the terrifying possibility that I could be destroyed at any moment. I was constantly facing the threat of death, and even now, there are still many layers of seals that I haven''t broken. The threat that these seals pose to me will only continue to grow, and perhaps it''ll be too much for me to bear and I''ll explode someday.


    "All of us have given up so much to become who we are today, and we all have problems that we must face. So what if you''re the saber soul of the Dragonslaying Saber? How does that make you different from a human? You still possess the body of a human, and you''re still cultivating like a human. At the very least, you don''t have a ticking time bomb within your body like I do. We are companions tied together by our connection to the Dragon God, not some kind of master and subordinate relationship.


    "Hence, don''t call me master from now on. I''m not your master; I''m simply another beneficiary to the Dragon God''s power. Seeing as we''ve both been blessed by so much power, we should make good use of it and do what we want to do. As long as we''re not turning our backs on this world and our own morals, does it really matter where our powers came from?" Tang Wulin was looking directly into Sima Jinchi''s eyes as he delivered this speech, and all of his words were filled with the most genuine emotions.


    Sima Jinchi''s expression gradually changed as he listened to these words, and he also developed a better understanding of Tang Wulin.


    It had to be said that Tang Wulin had experienced far more hardships than he had, but both of them had already made it to this point; what excuse did they have to not continue onward?


    "I was too weak and became overwhelmed by this new information," Sima Jinchi sighed, "You''re right, no matter where our powers stem from, we''re humans as long as we continue to regard ourselves as humans; all we have to do is continue to pursue our goals. However, I can''t not refer to you as my master. The Dragonslaying Saber is a law-enforcing saber, so it''s of utmost importance that I uphold a sense of internal justice. If I refuse to respect even the power of the Dragon God that gave rise to me, then my powers will be severely debilitated, and I could even perish from my internal conflict."


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned to hear this. "Is that true? You''re not trying to fool me, are you, Brother Sima?"


    Sima Jinchi chuckled, "Why are you so hung up over a verbal title, Master? In any case, I''ve already gotten over my irrational sense of despair. At the very least, I''ve become a Titled Douluo, and it''s time to think of a good Douluo title for myself. I can''t just emulate that shameless bastard and call myself Body Douluo! He''s not even the master of the Body Sect yet; haven''t you also cultivated the Body Sect''s congenital secret method?"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "The position of the Body Sect Master is reserved for my senior disciple brother alone, and he''s the only person who''s cultivated the congenital secret method to its pinnacle, so he''s worthy of the title of Body Douluo. What do you plan to call yourself, Brother Sima?"


    Sima Jinchi thought about this for a moment before replying, "What do you think of Saber God Douluo?"


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. He had just denounced A''Ruheng for being shameless, but his Douluo title was even more shameless! How could he refer to himself as Saber God?


    Sima Jinchi chuckled, "I know you think I''m being conceited, but during my breakthrough just now, I attained a slight sense of the power of the Saber God, and only then was I made aware of the fact that there was something that lay above my saber soul. That''s an ability that will lay out a path for me to become a deity, and if I master it, I''ll possess the power required to cross over to the godly domain. It''s a pity that the Divine Realm no longer exists; otherwise, I could become the first person to ascend in 10,000 years, hahahaha!"


    Tang Wulin was suddenly regretting spilling his guts to Sima Jinchi. Sima Jinchi was clearly far more resilient than he had expected, and even if he hadn''t tried to comfort him, he would''ve most likely been able to recover from his depression quite quickly. It seemed that he simply wasn''t the type of person who was capable of wallowing in pessimism for too long.


    "Alright, you can be called Saber God Douluo, then," Tang Wulin sighed in a resigned manner.


    Sima Jinchi immediately burst into hearty laughter. "I''m going to tell that stupid baldie right now! Saber God Douluo Sima Jinchi sounds much more badass than Body Douluo A''Ruheng, hahahaha!"


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless. A thought then suddenly occurred to him, and he hurriedly said, "Wait, Brother Sima, before you go, can you tell me what your ninth soul skill is? I''m very curious about what kind of soul skill that golden soul ring gave you."


    A slightly peculiar look appeared on Sima Jinchi''s face upon hearing this. "This soul skill actually belongs to the Dragon God rather than myself, so I can''t even use it. You have to be the one to use it, but I can sense that you''re currently not powerful enough to do so. Only after you reach the Titled Douluo level will you be able to use my ninth soul skill, but even before that, our soul fusion skill will definitely have become more powerful. From now on, I''m your law-enforcing saber, and when we fuse, you should be able to draw upon a wisp of the Dragon God''s power."


    In all honesty, Tang Wulin was somewhat averse to this soul fusion skill he had with Sima Jinchi; perhaps this was because his soul fusion skill with Gu Yuena was so spectacular.


    Thankfully, he didn''t have to embrace Sima Jinchi to activate this soul fusion skill. Otherwise, he''d rather never use it again!

 Chapter 1159: What Happened to Your IQ?

    "Alright, I have to go and find that stupid baldie so he doesn''t get too full of himself. You should take some time to relax as well, Master; you''ve packed your schedule way too tightly during the past few months."


    "I will."


    Tang Wulin looked on as Sima Jinchi departed, and after everything that had just transpired, he was struck by the rare urge to take a day off from cultivation.


    After exiting the drill ground, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he dialed a number on his soul communicator. "Yuxue, can you accompany me to the Sea God''s Lake?"


    "Sure." Ever since Long Yuxue had become the vice-captain of his Blood Dragon Squad, she had developed a signature way of talking that was clipped and concise.


    Long Yuxue drove her soul car to the entrance of the blacksmith association, where she picked up the disguised Tang Wulin, then drove out of Heaven Dou City. The car traveled onto the highway and set off for the original site of Shrek City.


    Following Shrek City''s destruction, the federation had constructed a few more highways around the current Sea God''s Lake, which were also connected to some important places within the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    The highway that they were currently traveling on was one that led straight toward the Spirit Pagoda.


    ¡­¡­


    "Father, this is really good! You should have some too."


    "Hmm, it does taste really good."


    "Father, do I look good in this?"


    ¡­¡­


    Gu Yuena''s voice echoed in Tang Wulin''s mind, and from a distance, he could already see the majestic headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda. He was immediately struck by a strong impulsive urge to travel there and seek out Gu Yuena.


    Following his conversation with Sima Jinchi, he had developed a clearer understanding of the Dragon God, as well as the subsequent Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King.


    What did it entail that he and Gu Yuena were able to unleash the Dragon God Transformation together?


    He possessed the powers and physical abilities of the Golden Dragon King, while Gu Yue possessed the power to control all types of elements, an ability that she had retained even after she became Gu Yuena.


    Furthermore, Na''er''s weapon of choice was the Silver Dragon Spear; all of this clearly indicated that Gu Yuena was somehow related to the Silver Dragon King.


    So why was it that she was trying to distance herself from him, even though they had clearly both inherited a part of the Dragon God''s power? Was the Spirit Pagoda really that powerful? Alternatively, could it be that she was simply reluctant to give up her lofty status at the Spirit Pagoda?


    No, Gu Yuena wasn''t that type of person; she had to have her reasons, but why wasn''t she willing to share those reasons with him? No matter what she was facing, they should be facing it together!


    He was doing his best to become more powerful, so no matter what obstacles stood before her, they should be facing them together!


    A pained look flashed past his face, but it was unable to escape Long Yuxue''s detection. In reality, she could tell that something had been weighing on Tang Wulin ever since the battle in the abyssal passageway, so something had to have happened between him and her.


    However, as a smart woman, she didn''t ask any questions and merely stayed by his side.


    She made no attempt to try and force her way into his heart during his lover''s absence, but she firmly believed that time would do its due diligence.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s body shuddered, and he reflexively sat up straighter as his hands balled up into tight fists. A terrifying aura akin to that of a primordial beast erupted from his body, and Long Yuxue''s face paled in the face of this fearsome aura. Was he already this powerful?


    Tang Wulin was looking out the window intently at the boundless lake in the distance.


    The water was extremely blue, and the lake looked like a gigantic boundless sapphire.


    It was extremely large, just as Shrek City had once been, and it had curved edges. There was no one maintaining it, and there were no plants growing on the shore, but it was still so beautiful, yet also extremely hollow and empty.


    What was the largest city on the entire continent had once stood here, and within that city was the number one academy on the continent. Those titles had not changed throughout the past 20,000 years, but now, all that was left was this enormous lake.


    This was known as the Sea God''s Lake, but was it really still the Sea God''s Lake without the Sea God''s Island?


    Without Shrek Academy''s presence, it was nothing more than a lake, no matter how clear it was.


    Long Yuxue adjusted her own aura and exited the highway before driving her soul car over to the shore of the lake.


    There were no plants to be seen on the shore, and it presented a rather bleak sight to behold. The water of the lake was very, very beautiful, but it was sorely lacking in vitality.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he could hear the sound of past Shrek Academy disciples sparring with one another, and see the antiquated buildings that comprised Shrek Academy once again.


    Tears began to flow down his face in an untrollable manner.


    It had been around a year since he was last here, and Shrek City was already completely unrecognizable. He didn''t even dare to think back to the city during its heyday. All of its past beauty and grandeur had been reduced to this lifeless lake, and 20,000 years of heritage had vanished in a single night.


    As a past student of Shrek Academy and the current leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, one could imagine the grief and pain in Tang Wulin''s heart.


    He abruptly stepped forward before leaping high up into the air directly toward the Sea God''s Lake.


    Long Yuxue was given a massive fright upon seeing this, and she hurriedly yelled, "No!"


    However, it was already too late. Tang Wulin plunged into the icy cold water amid a loud splash, and as soon as he did so, he could immediately sense that the water elements here had become extremely rich. Aside from that, all elements of other attributes had become a lot more sparse.


    Within his sensory scope, he could see that the Sea God''s Lake was extremely vast, and that the water was absolutely pristine, but there were some strange energy fluctuations within the lake.


    These energy fluctuations surged toward Tang Wulin''s body, and even though they weren''t powerful enough to threaten him, he could clearly sense that they were malicious.


    Was this the radiation left behind by the Godslayer missile?


    Tang Wulin didn''t know how the Godslayer missiles had been constructed, but he knew that weapons of that caliber definitely had more fearsome destructive power than just the initial explosion. The federation had severely depleted its resources and only managed to construct three of these Godslayer missiles, so one could only imagine just how much resources had been expended to construct even a single one of these missiles.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t sense any signs of life within the entire Sea God''s Lake, and only then did he realize that the bombing had left the Sea God''s Lake with an inherent problem. The remnants of the radiation from the Godslayer missile had spread through the entire lake, making it impossible for any life forms to exist here.


    Tang Wulin''s body was naturally impervious to radiation of this level, but there was no end to this radiation, and it was constantly trying to invade his body, so he had no choice but to activate his own soul power to keep it at bay.


    He continued to swim downward, and the deeper he went, the stronger the radiation became, to the extent that Tang Wulin was eventually forced to release a layer of faint golden light to ward off the radiation.


    This was most likely one of the reasons why the federation was unwilling to rebuild Shrek City. Even though this place hadn''t been cordoned off as a restricted area, no life forms could exist in the lake, so there was nothing anyone could do. Even just living by the shore of the Sea God''s Lake would most likely result in one falling ill over time.


    Tang Wulin had always known that he would face many obstacles in his quest to rebuild Shrek City, but he didn''t anticipate something like this to be the most direct issue.


    If he wanted to rebuild Shrek City on its original site, then the first thing that he had to address was this radiation!


    Just as he was sensing the radiation and about to make a further investigation, panicked emotional fluctuations suddenly appeared in his spiritual world.


    He twisted around in an agile manner before quickly swimming toward the surface of the lake, and he quickly discovered who the panicked individual was.


    Long Yuxue was currently flailing violently in the Sea God''s Lake, and even though she was quite powerful in her own right, she was in a blind panic after falling into the water.


    Tang Wulin quickly swam over to behind her, then hoisted her out of the water with his hands under her armpits.


    "What are you doing? Are you committing suicide?" Tang Wulin asked in a resigned manner.


    "You bastard! You''re the one who''s committing suicide!" Long Yuxue gasped as she gulped down air. As someone who was drowning just a moment ago, her body was desperate to get more air into her lungs.


    A peculiar look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Did you think that I was jumping into the lake to kill myself?"


    Long Yuxue countered, "Weren''t you? You suddenly started crying, then jumped into the lake; isn''t that committing suicide?"


    Tang Wulin was rather speechless to hear this. "What happened to your IQ? I''m a seven-ring Soul Sage; I can hardly drown myself even if I wanted to! What are you doing jumping down after me? And why were you flailing around like you were drowning? Were you trying to attract my attention?"

 Chapter 1160: Right Before Your Eyes

    "You..." Long Yuxue was extremely furious and indignant as she yelled, "I wasn''t trying to attract your attention! I, I can''t swim..."


    Indeed, she had lived all her life on a snowy mountain, so it only made sense that she couldn''t swim. In her desperation to "save" Tang Wulin, she had forgotten about her own inability to swim and also jumped into the lake. Only in the instant before she hit the water did she recall the fact that she couldn''t even swim, upon which she began to flail in a panicked manner.


    She attempted to activate her own soul power to help her struggle out of the water, but water was completely formless, so the more she struggled, the more prone she became to drowning. In her blind panic, she was forced to gulp down quite a few mouthfuls of water, and the more she struggled, the more panicked she became.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Are you not a two-word battle armor master? Didn''t it occur to you that you could use your wings to fly?"


    "Er..." Long Yuxue was left rather stumped. Indeed, she could''ve flown out of the water!


    "Your IQ is quite concerning," Tang Wulin sighed in a resigned manner as he flew out the water with Long Yuxue in tow, then landed on the shore.


    Long Yuxue was currently completely soaked, and her clothes clung tightly to her body, revealing the full extent of her beautiful curves. She was immediately very embarrassed by this, and exclaimed, "Don''t look at me! Turn around!"


    Tang Wulin could only do as he was told in a resigned manner before pondering the situation surrounding the Sea God''s Lake.


    If he wanted to gather all of Shrek Academy''s supporters to rebuild the academy, then this would be the ideal place to facilitate the rebuild. After all, this was the only place that gave everyone a sense of belonging.


    However, Shrek City had now been reduced to this massive lake, so it would be impossible to rebuild everything on the original site. As such, everything could only be rebuilt on the shore of the lake. Even if the costs required weren''t taken into account for now, just this radiation-filled Sea God''s Lake alone posed a massive headache. If he couldn''t resolve this issue, then all of the surrounding sources of water would also be corrupted by the radiation. Without a sufficient supply of water, how was he supposed to rebuild Shrek City?


    With that in mind, a thought occurred to Tang Wulin, and pink light flashed from his body, following which a figure emerged beside him. It was none other than the Beautiful Silk Tulip.


    "Brother Luo." Tang Wulin turned toward the Beautiful Silk Tulip.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip mused, "I can sense the problem that you''re facing, and it''s indeed quite a troublesome one. The radiation in this lake is extremely strong, and it seems to only be stronger the deeper you go. This was left behind by the explosion that had taken place, and I don''t know what this Godslayer missile that you''re thinking of is, but it''s definitely something extremely fearsome. The radiation here most likely won''t completely fade even after 1,000 years, and if you want to make this place inhabitable, it''s imperative that you take care of the radiation here first."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Brother Luo, do you know of any way to take care of this radiation energy? Will your universal antidote ability work on this radiation?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip shook his head in response. "I''m afraid not. My ability can only remove toxins and poison, but this radiation is a type of energy that''s extremely negative and filled with destructive power; it''s beyond the scope of my abilities. However, there''s someone else who''s extremely well equipped to handle this situation."


    "Oh?" Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up as he asked, "Who is it?"


    A faint smile appeared on the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s face. "Why look elsewhere when the answer is right before your eyes?"


    "Are you talking about me?" Tang Wulin pointed at himself as he appraised the Beautiful Silk Tulip with an incredulous expression. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn''t figure out how he was supposed to be able to address this problem.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip explained, "Of course it''s not you, but the key lies with you. Think about it; what being is most proficient at addressing environmental issues on this continent?"


    Tang Wulin was extremely intelligent, and he immediately gleaned the implications being raised. "You''re talking about the seed of life?"


    Indeed, the seed of life was the source of all life on the Douluo Continent! If anything could resolve the issues plaguing this place, then it had to be the seed of life.


    It had shown itself to have been capable of turning an entire snowy mountain green, and the Sea God''s Lake was its former home anyway, so why couldn''t it better the environment here?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin activated his spiritual power and attempted to communicate with the seed of life within his body.


    It had to be said that having immense spiritual power really was very helpful in all areas, and he quickly detected the aura of the seed of life.


    A faintly shimmering green symbol began to appear on his forehead, and his seven soul rings also emerged, following which the fifth greenish-golden soul ring began to glow.


    After absorbing the planar seeds of three abyssal emperors, the seed of life had clearly become a lot more powerful than before. The fifth soul ring lit up, and rich life force energy instantly began to emanate from Tang Wulin''s body.


    Even the embarrassed Long Yuxue couldn''t help but turn her attention toward him. She had been soaked by the water of the Sea God''s Lake, and her body wasn''t anywhere near as powerful as Tang Wulin''s, so she had been somewhat affected by the radiation. She was using her soul power to keep the effects of the radiation at bay, but she was still in some discomfort.


    However, as soon as Tang Wulin began to release that life force energy, her entire body was struck by a sense of comfort. She felt as if her vitality had completely flourished, and she was struck by the urge to fold herself into his arms.


    Tang Wulin silently attempted to communicate with the seed of life, and a peculiar look soon appeared on his face.


    "Did the seed of life respond?" the Beautiful Silk Tulip asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "You were right; the seed of life can combat the issue here. However, in order to nullify the enormous amount of destructive power here, it requires just as much life force energy. The destructive power of the two Godslayer missiles is far too potent and it certainly won''t be easy to nullify it. Hence, the seed of life requires more life force energy. Furthermore, it''s essential foundation lies here, so it''s willing to take root and grow here."


    "How can we provide it with the life force energy that it needs?" As a plant-system soul beast, the Beautiful Silk Tulip was naturally well aware of what caliber of life form the seed of life was, and as such, he knew that the life force energy it required definitely couldn''t be provided by just any life form.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "The only ways I can think of are to kill more abyssal emperors or find some other places on the continent where life force energy is extremely abundant. For example, the life crystal in the central circle of the Great Star Dou Forest should suffice, but that''s not a place that we can access."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. Neither the abyssal plane nor the core circle of the Great Star Dou Forest were places that they could enter as both places were just as dangerous.


    In particular, the Holy Lord of the abyssal plane was extremely wary of Tang Wulin, and if he were to venture into that plane, he would essentially be asking to be killed. After all, the Holy Lord was the ruler of the entire abyssal plane.


    As for the core circle of the Great Star Dou Forest, that was clearly not a viable option, either. It was said that the few remaining Great Beasts in the world were situated there, and even with the current state of human soul technology, they had still managed to avoid being killed or captured by the Spirit Pagoda. Just that alone was sufficient testament to their powers.


    They were most definitely far more powerful than plant-system Great Beasts like the Beautiful Silk Tulip, and if he were to encroach upon their territory, he would be killed for sure.


    It was said that the Gold-eyed Black Dragon King, which was referred to as a beast god, was currently hibernating in the core circle of the Great Star Dou Forest. It was exactly due to the existence of this fearsome near million-year-old soul beast that the soul beasts of the Great Star Dou Forest hadn''t been hunted into extinction.


    "What should we do now?" the Beautiful Silk Tulip asked.

 Chapter 1161: Planting the Seed of Life

    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I can only get the seed of life to commence the Sea God''s Lake''s recovery process for now. It tells me that even though the situation here is quite horrible, it''s able to use its own life force energy to convert the destructive energy here. The energy required for this will be quite significant, but if successful conversion can take place, the life force energy that would be gained would be even more enormous, and that will be very beneficial to its growth.


    "That''ll allow it to become far more powerful than before, and with the life force energy hidden within the rich water elements here coupled with the fact that it had been planted here to begin with, this is the best place for it to take root again. I''ll plant it at the deepest point of the lakebed first, and its current life force energy supply is enough to sustain it for at least a year. After that, we''ll have to supply it with more life force energy. If we can''t obtain the life crystal or planar seeds, then other forms of life force energy can also suffice. However, we''ll most likely have to obtain this energy through killing others."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip nodded with a serious look on his face. "That can''t be helped. The seed of life is connected to the entire continent, and it''s no exaggeration to say that even the future safety of the entire Douluo Star may hinge on it. If the seed of life is allowed to wilt away, then the entire place will gradually follow suit, and the human race will go down a path that will inevitably lead to extinction. Hence, we have to help the seed of life take root and recover its vitality no matter what."


    "Alright, then I''ll plant the seed of life here first." Tang Wulin nodded at the Beautiful Silk Tulip before asking Long Yuxue to wait for him here, then sprang up into the air and plunged down toward the lake again.


    Long Yuxue couldn''t help but let loose a disgruntled harrumph at the sight of Tang Wulin''s calm and graceful diving technique. She had truly been worried for nothing; she didn''t think that he would be such a strong swimmer.


    Little did she know, Tang Wulin grew up by the sea and was forced to combat the winds and waves even as a small child, so his swimming skills were naturally quite exceptional.


    There was destructive radiation energy that was constantly attempting to infiltrate his body from the surrounding water in the lake, but at this point, he had already made contact with the seed of life and was no longer affected by this energy.


    The greenish-golden soul ring naturally conjured up a faint green light barrier around him, keeping the radiation at bay. Tang Wulin continued to dive deeper, and he could sense that the radiation was becoming more and more powerful the deeper he went.


    This was sufficient testament to just how fearsome the Godslayer missiles were. Even a god would struggle against such insanely devastating weapons! Wasn''t the human race afraid that it would destroy itself someday by creating these weapons?


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip had already fused back into Tang Wulin''s body, but it was also releasing its own faint fragrance. Even though that did nothing to ward off the radiation, it assisted Tang Wulin in making him more alert.


    The deeper Tang Wulin dove, the dimmer the surrounding area became, and the seed of life continued to guide him onward.


    Without any life forms around, the Sea God''s Lake was silent to an unsettling and harrowing extent. Everything in the surrounding area was completely empty, and Tang Wulin''s dragon core was beating vigorously to supply him with sufficient sustenance.


    After reaching the Soul Sage level, one had actually already evolved beyond the realm of a human being, so diving underwater for extended periods of time posed no issue to him.


    At this point, Tang Wulin was already several hundred meters deep into the lake, and he continued to descend. Thankfully, he had the seed of life to guide him. Otherwise, it would be quite difficult for him to find the central point of the Sea God''s Lake.


    Finally, the seed of life in his glabella shuddered slightly, and Tang Wulin stopped before controlling his own body to descend directly downward.


    There was boundless water swirling around him, and through his spiritual power, he could even observe the faint purple radiation energy fluctuations that intermingled within the water. Even marine soul beasts with extremely powerful life forces would struggle to survive here. A faint itchy sensation appeared on his glabella, and a burst of green light shot forth before landing on the lakebed.


    Immediately thereafter, a glowing figure emerged from Tang Wulin''s glabella. This was an azure vine, and it burrowed directly into the lakebed, and there seemed to be no end to it as it continued to flow out of his glabella and dig deeper and deeper into the lakebed.


    Tang Wulin was instantly struck by the feeling that he was being sucked dry. His soul core and dragon core were both pulsating violently, but they were releasing their purest energy into the vine in an uncontrollable manner.


    Some changes began to take place on the lakebed. With the influx of the seed of life, faint green light began to emanate at the bottom of the lake, and as soon as this green light appeared, the surrounding destructive energy began to churn. This energy was naturally averse to the life force energy being released by the seed, and a dark purple vortex soon took shape around the place where the seed of life had taken root.


    However, what was quite peculiar was that after the purple vortex appeared, the green light emanating from the lakebed became even brighter. The faint purple energy was being devoured by the green light in thin wisps and threads, and sure enough, the seed of life had begun to convert the destructive energy within the lake.


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic to see this, and he injected his own soul power into the seed without any reservation, using the power of his Mysterious Heaven Method to assist the seed of life.


    He was gradually struck by a sense of mounting feebleness, but right at this moment, an extraordinary scene ensued within the Sea God''s Lake.


    Tang Wulin could sense that the rich water elements had begun to fluctuate, and the tiny blue specks of light in his sensory scope were beginning to slowly manifest into larger specks of blue light. These larger specks of light were visible even to the naked eye, and they converged directly toward the seed of life, making the green light it was radiating even more pronounced.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s glabella shuddered, and he felt as if something were struggling free of his body. Immediately thereafter, his fifth greenish-golden soul ring instantly dimmed before becoming transparent, looking as if it could vanish at any instant.


    Meanwhile, the green light on the lakebed became even brighter, resembling a massive emerald. Deep within the emerald, there was a faint golden seed that was pulsating in a gentle and rhythmic manner like a heart, releasing extremely pure life force energy.


    Every time its life force energy was released, large amounts of destructive energy in the surrounding area were absorbed and devoured, following which the green light continued to increase in brightness.


    It had successfully taken root!


    Tang Wulin was extremely elated to see this, and he wasn''t dejected in the slightest at losing his fifth soul skill. The seed of life taking root was clearly far more important, and it could be said that this was an imperative step to reviving Shrek Academy. As long as the seed of life existed, Shrek Academy had a foundation and a core.


    In the past, the ancient Golden Tree was like a guardian of Shrek Academy and the Sea God''s Pavilion, allowing the academy to produce more powerful beings while also acting as its final line of defense. Without the Golden Tree, Tang Wulin wouldn''t even be alive right now. However, as an extension of the seed of life, the Golden Tree had become quite feeble due to the progressive deterioration of the life force energy on the continent. On top of that, it had been further debilitated after bestowing so much of its power upon Tang Wulin. Otherwise, it should''ve been able to protect even more people.


    Tang Wulin had always felt extremely guilty about this. If it weren''t for him, perhaps more people would''ve survived.


    As such, as soon as the seed of life began to take root, the pent up emotions in his heart erupted like a volcano.


    Pavilion Master, Grandteacher, and all of my teachers and peers of Shrek Academy, please bless me from the heavens and allow the seed of life to flourish so our Shrek Academy can return to this continent!


    Tang Wulin''s lips were tightly pursed, and his hands had reflexively balled up into tight fists as he silently appraised the seed of life while injecting his own life force energy into it without any reservation. Even though he was already beginning to feel rather feeble, he showed no signs of stopping, and the light from the seed of life grew brighter and brighter.


    The tip of the seed gradually split open, and tiny little seedling emerged from the soil. Despite the vast amount of destructive energy around it, it had peeked out of the soil in a proud and resilient manner before swaying gently in the water.


    In the instant that it appeared, all of the destructive energy within a radius of around 100 meters suddenly surged toward the seed of life at once.


    Tang Wulin was given quite a fright by this, and he wanted to keep the energy at bay, but he didn''t know how.


    Right at this moment, a layer of green light radiated from the seed of life, and as soon as the destructive energy came into the contact with the light barrier, it became a part of the green light before flowing along the seedling to its roots.


    Was this life conversion? Was it converting destructive energy into life energy? As expected of the seed of life!


    As the seed of life continued to absorb this destructive energy, it began to grow at a rate that was discernible even to the naked eye. After just a short while, it had grown to become a small tree that was around three feet tall. The tree had seven branches, and each branch had seven leaves, all of which were of a vibrant green color and contained rich life force energy.

 Chapter 1162: Life Blossom

    It was done! The seed of life had successfully taken root!


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh of relief. The seed of life naturally benefitted him greatly when it was within his body, but he would still rather see the seed of life take root and flourish.


    It was the representative of all life force energy in the entire plane! Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be struck by a sense of lingering fear as he recalled back to how he had almost been devoured by the Holy Lord of the abyssal plane. If even the seed of life had been devoured, then the entire Douluo Continent plane would''ve inevitably been destroyed by the abyssal plane.


    Now that the seed of life had finally taken root again, the next problem was how to make it grow stronger.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh of relief as the destructive energy and life force energy in the air gradually trended toward an equilibrium. Destructive energy was constantly being converted before being transferred deep into the soil by the roots of the seed of life, and Tang Wulin prepared to return to the surface of the lake.


    Under normal circumstances, holding his breath for this period of time wouldn''t pose any issues, but he was very feeble after lending his energy to the seed of life with all his might. This, in conjunction with the crushing water pressure this deep in the lake, was really starting to make him feel uncomfortable.


    Right at this moment, the uppermost branch on the small tree suddenly rustled before a small golden flower blossomed from it. As soon as it appeared, the surrounding water was completely basked in a golden light. The flower bud grew extremely quickly and was in full bloom in the blink of an eye. Tang Wulin couldn''t help but pause at the sight of this miraculous scene.


    The seed of life was flowering?


    Before he had a chance to think of anything else, the golden petals of the flower suddenly fell away, and a golden fruit began to grow from where the flower once was. The golden fruit then flew directly toward Tang Wulin, and it suddenly exploded right before his astonished eyes, transforming into a stream of golden liquid that flowed into his orifices.


    Tang Wulin could immediately sense that an indescribable fragrance had permeated throughout every single corner of his body. The exhaustion and feebleness he had been afflicted by completely vanished, and he was even struck by the feeling that his life force seemed to have been enhanced. Even the final seven Golden Dragon King seals had become more stable.


    Tang Wulin looked down at his own skin, which had become translucent, and he didn''t know what had just happened. In the next instant, a golden seed silently appeared where the golden fruit had just exploded.


    This seed was only around a third the size of the original seed of life, and in the instant that it appeared, it vanished straight into Tang Wulin''s glabella as a streak of golden light.


    The void left behind in the absence of the seed of life was filled again, and it was as if everything had returned to normal.


    "Go now, my child. Through our life connection, you can transmit life force energy to me at any time. I''ll be relying on you to restore the vitality of this continent."


    A burst of gentle energy enveloped Tang Wulin''s body as a layer of golden light, sending him rising toward the surface of the lake.


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned by this development. Was this the power of the seed of life? It was already capable of communicating with him?


    He wanted to say something to the seed of life, but the connection was cut off here. Right as he departed, he could see that the tree of life had clearly dimmed slightly after producing that fruit.


    "Brother Luo, what was that?" Tang Wulin asked in a perplexed manner.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip immediately replied in a voice that was brimming with excitement, "This is the tribute of life! You''ve received the tribute of life from the tree of life! We couldn''t have made a better decision than when we decided to leave the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well with you! The tribute of life from the seed of life will grant you the power of virtual immortality. It will completely elevate your life force to the demigod level, and it also forges the most direct connection between you and the seed of life.


    "I see now. The seed of life is concerned that it wouldn''t be able to survive here, and if you can''t supply it with sufficient life force energy, it''s destined to wilt away in the end anyway. Hence, it expended a lot of its energy to produce a fruit of life that allowed it to bestow a tribute of life upon you. This will allow you to better absorb the life force energy of heaven and earth. The secondary seed of life will also become a future hope that will allow the seed of life to be revived even if it were to wilt away here. The seed of life really is doing everything in its power to help us help it! We have to find sufficient life force energy for it no matter the cost. You''ll understand just how important the tribute of life is to you once the seed of life becomes a huge tree."


    Tang Wulin didn''t completely understand what the Beautiful Silk Tulip had said, but he knew what he had to do.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the tree of life was the core of the entire Douluo Star, and only by supplying it with sufficient life force energy would it be able to grow. It would then be able to reciprocate enormous life force energy to the Douluo Star, thereby restoring the vitality of the entire planet.


    What he had to do now was to supply it with sufficient life force energy and to keep it from wilting away at all costs. He firmly believed that once the tree of life grew up to become the ancient Golden Tree of the past, just its power alone would be able to contribute significantly toward the revival of Shrek Academy.


    As such, he had finally taken a definitive stride toward rebuilding the academy.


    After emerging from the water and taking a deep breath of fresh air, Tang Wulin felt as if he were a new man. With the nourishment from the tribute of life, his heart seemed to be beating stronger than before, and this was a result of his own power, as opposed to purely the Golden Dragon King bloodline power that originated from his dragon core.


    He discovered that his heart had turned into a golden color, and that it was beating just as strongly as his dragon core. This enhancement had been bestowed upon him by the rich life force energy from the tribute of life!


    Just as he was preparing to swim toward the shore, he suddenly sensed violent spiritual power fluctuations on the shore right at where Long Yuxue had parked her car.


    Had she encountered an enemy?


    Tang Wulin instantly rose up out of the water, and even though he couldn''t use his battle armor at the moment, his powers as a Soul Sage allowed him to charge over the waves.


    In the distance, he could already see lights flashing from different soul skills, and these were accompanied by a series of delicate cries, as well as violent soul power fluctuations.


    Long Yuxue''s opponent was more powerful than he had anticipated. One had to realize that she was now a six-ring Soul Emperor, as well as an elite of the Blood God Legion, so normal Soul Masters of the same cultivation rank were no match for her.


    However, the opponent that Long Yuxue was currently facing was clearly more powerful than her. She was rushing through the air like an illusionary shadow, but her attacks were also imbued with immense power, and Long Yuxue had clearly been forced onto the back foot. If it weren''t for the powerful control abilities of her ice and snow martial soul and the enhancements she received from the rich water elements of the Sea God''s Lake, she would''ve most likely already been defeated.


    "Let''s see how much longer you can last!" The indistinct figure let loose a delicate cry, immediately following which her body suddenly became more substantial. She transformed into a black cat that rushed toward Long Yuxue like lightning. At the same time, the black cat''s front paws suddenly swelled drastically in size while its body instantly became transparent, thereby allowing it to evade Long Yuxue''s ice spear attack. The giant cat paws reached Long Yuxue in the blink of an eye before crashing down toward her shoulders. Long Yuxue had already released her suit of two-word battle armor at this point, but from the power imbued within those paws, it was most likely the case that even her battle armor wouldn''t be able to withstand the attack.


    Right at this moment, golden light flashed, and a tall and broad figure appeared in front of Long Yuxue.


    The cat''s paws crashed down viciously onto the golden figure, but the latter only swayed slightly before steadying himself, standing before the black cat like an impregnable fortress.

 Chapter 1163: Reuniting with the Hell Civet

    The black light leaped back and performed a graceful somersault before its paws landed on the ground in a completely soundless manner. One of its eyes was blue while the other was green, and both of them were locked firmly on the golden figure up ahead in a vicious manner.


    This naturally wasn''t an actual cat; there were virtually no feline soul beasts that could cultivate to such a powerful level. As such, it had to be a martial soul true body!


    A seven-ring Soul Sage with such immense power was naturally able to dominate Long Yuxue, who was only a Soul Emperor.


    The one who had just shielded Long Yuxue was naturally none other than Tang Wulin, and at this moment, he was staring intently at the black cat through narrowed eyes, and his arms were spread open by his sides as faint golden light swirled around his body.


    "Yuxue, get in the car," Tang Wulin instructed in a grim voice.


    "Alright." Long Yuxue had been comprehensively dominated by her opponent throughout this battle, and that was even after she had released her suit of two-word battle armor while her opponent had refrained from doing so. This meant that her opponent was dominating her through her martial soul true body alone. Just how powerful was she?


    One had to realize that with her Soul Emperor cultivation rank coupled with her suit of two-word battle armor, her combat prowess was comparable to that of an eight-ring Soul Douluo!


    The black cat merely paused momentarily before pouncing toward Tang Wulin like lightning. Its two front paws instantly conjured up countless claw projections, making it impossible for Tang Wulin to clearly identify the trajectory of her attack. All he could sense was that he seemed to be under attack from all sides.


    The cat claws were extremely sharp and shimmered like sharp blades.


    Tang Wulin let loose a low cry before stepping forward with his left foot, then launching his right fist through the air. There was no technique involved; he was merely using his absolute strength to combat his opponent.


    In the face of this extraordinarily fast agility attack system Soul Master, Tang Wulin had no intention of engaging her in a contest of speed. At the same time, he was very confident in the Body Sect''s congenital secret method that he had begun to master. In a direct clash, he was confident that his opponent wouldn''t be able to harm him.


    She had countless claws, while he only had a single fist. Tang Wulin''s punch seemed to be completely mundane and ordinary, but to the black cat, it felt as if his fist were a devastating shooting star, and the fearsome pressure it was releasing was causing even her soul to tremble in fear.


    Its claws may not be able to defeat its opponent, but it had no doubt in its mind that it would definitely die a very terrible death if it were to be struck by that punch.


    As such, in this critical situation, the black cat suddenly withdrew its claws before performing a somersault in an extremely lithe and graceful manner. A streak of black light appeared in the air above Tang Wulin''s fist, and his opponent chose not to fight fire with fire. The streak of black light tore through the pressure being released by Tang Wulin''s fist, and immediately thereafter, the black cat''s body took on an illusionary quality as it vanished in a flash through a spatial rift it had opened.


    In the next instant, it appeared behind Tang Wulin before thrusting both of its front paws toward Tang Wulin''s back.


    The black cat''s reactions, speed, and usage of soul skills were all near perfect, and through the enhancements of the martial soul true body, this attack seemed to be powerful enough to tear through the very air. Even before the paws had struck him, Tang Wulin was already struck by a sense of sharp pain in his back muscles.


    He harrumphed coldly as the muscles on his back abruptly bulged, and a series of rhomboid scales appeared over his skin. Immediately thereafter, he rushed backward without even making the effort to turn around, using his back as a weapon against his opponent.


    This was not something that he was used to, but he had learned it from A''Ruheng. Those of the Body Sect used their bodies as their weapons, and any body part could be weaponized.


    The black cat was clearly taken aback by Tang Wulin''s actions, and on this occasion, it didn''t take any evasive measures. It also wanted to see just what gave him the confidence to use his own back as a weapon.


    A piercing screeching sound rang out, and his clothes were torn apart, revealing the golden scales on his back. The cat''s claws scratched over the scales, sending a flurry of sparks flying through the air and leaving a series of white marks on the scales. However, much to the black cat''s astonishment, its claws, which were capable of tearing through iron and steel, were unable to pierce through Tang Wulin''s defenses.


    His wide back was about to reach her in an instant, and what was even more terrifying was that his scales had stood up on end, making his back appear as if it were a wall of nails. If it allowed itself to be struck by this attack, grievous injuries would definitely result.


    What kind of monster was this? How could his defenses be so powerful? Furthermore, he hadn''t even released his martial soul yet!


    Not only was Tang Wulin using his back to attack his opponent, his right elbow was also swiveling around with tremendous force amid a faint dragon''s roar.


    The black cat reacted extremely quickly after failing to harm Tang Wulin with its attacks, attempting to thrust its paws against his body to propel itself backward, but right at this moment, a layer of golden light suddenly erupted from his back.


    The black cat was struck by a sticky sensation, and her paws did manage to strike Tang Wulin''s back, but her body was locked into place by that burst of power. His back was about to crash into the rest of her body, and his elbow had also almost reached her head.


    This was not good!


    In this dire situation, the black cat remained completely unflustered, and its body suddenly underwent a strange transformation. The black cat was already over two meters in length, but its body abruptly expanded even further as tufts of white fur began to appear, interspersing itself with her existing black fur. At the same time, its body instantly swelled to over seven meters in length, and its strength also increased drastically. A layer of golden light instantly appeared over its fur, and it lowered its tiger head to oppose Tang Wulin''s elbow. At the same time, it swept its tiger paws through the air in a vicious manner, sending them crashing into Tang Wulin''s back.


    A pair of dull thumps rang out, and despite the fact that the black cat had already transformed into a giant white tiger, it was still sent flying by Tang Wulin. In a contest of pure strength, even A''Ruheng was now reluctant to face Tang Wulin. After absorbing the Golden Dragon King essence from the 11 seals, his strength was now comparable and perhaps even superior to that of a mature Tyrant Dragon.


    The white tiger rolled along the ground before springing to its feet with a look of ferocity intermingled with wariness in its eyes. It was staring intently at Tang Wulin in a menacing display, and at this moment, Tang Wulin had already turned around. As soon as he caught sight of the giant white tiger, a stunned look appeared in his eyes.


    At this point, Long Yuxue, who had already returned to the car, was completely rooted to her seat. As one of the young elites of the Blood God Legion, she had always been extremely confident in her own power. She had even thought that she was one of the most powerful beings on the entire continent at her age, and even after Tang Wulin appeared in her life, she had merely thought that he was just an extreme outlier.


    After all, he was the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and there was only a single Tang Wulin in this world.


    However, she couldn''t help but be struck by a sense of dejection at the sight of Tang Wulin''s opponent. Tang Wulin hadn''t seen this Soul Master in her human form, but she had, and she could tell that this was clearly a female Soul Master who was even younger than her. However, she was evidently far more powerful than Long Yuxue. She had come off second best during her past few clashes with Tang Wulin, but she hadn''t actually fallen to a significant disadvantage, and in her current white tiger form, she was clearly more powerful than before.


    She hadn''t even bothered to adopt this form against Long Yuxue, nor had she even donned her suit of battle armor. As a seven-ring Soul Sage at such a young age, it was downright impossible for her not to have a suit of battle armor!


    The massive white tiger crouched downward, and its body expanded once again, becoming even more muscular in the process. Her first, third, fifth, and seventh soul rings were glowing in unison, and just the ability to activate four soul skills at once placed her far above the average Soul Master.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly yelled, "Wait!"


    The white tiger faltered momentarily and didn''t immediately pounce. Instead, it asked in a cold provocative voice, "What? Are you scared?"


    A hint of incredulity appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he asked, "Are, are you Wu Siduo?"


    The white tiger''s massive body clearly stiffened, and it immediately roared, "Who are you?"


    Only then did Tang Wulin remember that he was currently in disguise, and a series of cracks and pops rang out from his bones as he reverted back to his original height. At the same time, he rubbed his hand over his own face to reveal his original appearance.


    The giant white tiger''s massive body began to tremble at the sight of his true appearance, and the four soul rings dimmed in unison as it exclaimed, "Tang Wulin? Is, is that you?"


    The white tiger stood up on its hind legs as it spoke before reverting back to its human form, revealing itself to be none other than Wu Siduo.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had returned to a former life at the sight of Wu Siduo. Ever since the first day he had arrived in Shrek Academy, he and Wu Siduo''s paths had crossed on multiple occasions.


    They were once rivals who were constantly competing with one another, and they had also once been comrades who had given rise to the most powerful class of Shrek Academy.


    During the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, Wu Siduo had laid down her pride to confess to Tang Wulin, only to be rejected and departed in a fit of rage. Who would''ve thought that they would be reunited on the shore of Sea God''s Lake, roughly one year after the destruction of Shrek Academy?

 Chapter 1164: Sanctuary

    Both Tang Wulin and Wu Siduo felt as if they were dreaming, and they were overcome by countless emotions.


    "It''s me." Tang Wulin''s lips were trembling, and there were tears shimmering in his eyes, but his heart was filled with an indescribable sense of joy.


    The Godslayer missile had destroyed the entirety of Shrek Academy, and he had thought that everyone was dead aside from Shrek''s Seven Monsters; who would''ve thought that he''d be able to see Wu Siduo again? What could be more exciting than this? Wu Sidou was still alive, and she had become a seven-ring Soul Sage!


    Wu Siduo suddenly let loose a loud cry before abruptly springing forward and crashing into Tang Wulin''s arms. She screamed over and over again as she wound her arms around his neck and her long legs around his waist with all her might. She then bit down onto his shoulder in a vicious manner as she sobbed uncontrollably.


    Tang Wulin was afraid that his defenses would shatter Wu Siduo''s teeth, so he made his muscles adopt a softened state as he wound his arms around Wu Siduo''s body. His heart was also filled with countless emotions. There was nothing more exciting than being reunited with someone after an ordeal of life and death.


    Long Yuxue was also experiencing strong emotions as she sat in the soul car. In the instant that the young woman wound her arms and legs around Tang Wulin, Long Yuxue''s mood had soured significantly.


    That clearly wasn''t his girlfriend! She had only caught a brief glimpse of Gu Yuena in the abyssal passageway, but her stunning beauty had been branded deep into her mind. Furthermore, there was also that image of Gu Yue that Tang Wulin had drawn for her. She hadn''t asked him about the specifics, but it was quite clear that one of those two women was definitely Tang Wulin''s girlfriend.


    However, never would she have thought that she''d encounter another beauty here who appeared to share a very special relationship with Tang Wulin as well!


    Long Yuxue was feeling a little frustrated and infuriated. She had more love rivals than she had anticipated, and each and every one of them was so exceptional! That young woman seemed to possess twin martial souls, and judging from how excited they were to see one another, she most likely also came from Shrek Academy. Could it be that she was also one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters?


    Tang Wulin gently patted Wu Siduo''s back and comforted her as she sobbed, but she was struggling to collect her emotions. She continued to bite down viciously onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder, refusing to let up even when traces of blood were beginning to seep through his clothes.


    Tang Wulin''s heart had been entirely filled with elation, so this pain was nothing to him.


    Long Yuxue finally couldn''t bear it any longer and got out of the car. She made her way over to Tang Wulin before glaring at him in a furious manner, and Tang Wulin was starting to feel rather awkward at the sight of her enraged gaze.


    Thus, he patted Wu Siduo''s back, and gently urged her to get down off him.


    Wu Siduo reluctantly unwound her legs from around Tang Wulin''s waist, but only got off him after biting his shoulder viciously a final time.


    She was already an adult now, and had grown to over 180cm tall, making her only slightly shorter than Tang Wulin. Her legs were astonishingly long, and she was a little thin, but her voluptuous backside and slender waist created an extremely alluring figure.


    Her long hair was draped haphazardly over her shoulders, and perhaps it was because she had just bitten Tang Wulin, but there was a feral aura about her.


    Tang Wulin looked into her red and swollen eyes with an emotional smile, and said, "I''m so glad you''re alive."


    Wu Siduo couldn''t help but burst into sobs again upon hearing this. She was once such a strong woman, yet following the destruction of Shrek Academy, she had been close to suffering a mental breakdown, and she was releasing all of those pent-up emotions now. She couldn''t help but throw her arms around Tang Wulin again, but on this occasion, she was a lot more gentle and merely held him in her embrace.


    Tang Wulin allowed her to hug him and sob into his chest as he silently patted her back to comfort her.


    After a long while, Long Yuxue''s eyes were practically shooting flames, and only then did Wu Siduo reluctantly release Tang Wulin. "Where have you been all this time, Wulin? We''ve been searching all over for you. If it weren''t for Teacher''s insistence that you were still alive, we would''ve given up in our search already."


    "We?" Tang Wulin almost sprang up into the air upon hearing this. He abruptly grabbed onto Wu Siduo''s shoulders, and asked in a fervent manner, "Did you say we? Are there more survivors aside from you? Is our teacher still alive?"


    Wu Siduo nodded firmly as she smiled through her tears, and replied, "Yes, they''re all still alive. Teacher, Xu Yucheng, Luo Guixing, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran are all still alive. What about you guys?"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into tears after hearing all of those names.


    Wu Zhangkong was still alive. He was the teacher whom he had the closest connection with and he was also Tang Wulin''s childhood idol.


    Furthermore, Yang Xianxia, Zheng Yiran, Luo Guixing, and Xu Yucheng were also alive, along with Wu Siduo, who was standing before him. The most exceptional members of their class were all still alive! He still had so many friends and peers!


    How could he not be excited to hear this news after such a devastating ordeal?


    "They''re all still alive as well; the pavilion master protected us seven monsters. This is great!" Tang Wulin was sobbing while laughing like an emotional child, and the envy in Long Yuxue''s eyes had already completely faded.


    She had never seen Tang Wulin release his emotions like this. In her eyes, he was always so calm and collected, yet looking at him now, it was hard to imagine that there was such a calm and steadfast facet to his personality at all.


    She was even feeling rather envious toward them, envious that they had once studied together at Shrek Academy and shared so many valuable experiences. If only she had been one of them.


    "Tell me what happened; how did you guys survive?" Tang Wulin urged.


    Wu Siduo''s expression soured upon hearing this, and a wry smile appeared on her face. "The academy''s formation saved us. At the time, we were with Teacher Wu, helping him instruct the outer court junior disciple brothers and sisters in their cultivation. As you know, the five of us chose to stay at the academy even though we''d already satisfied the graduation criteria. We had already grown accustomed to life in the academy, and we loved the academy with all our hearts, so we chose to stay and become teacher aides to Teacher Wu.


    "On that day, disaster suddenly struck, and the academy''s teachers instantly reacted, activating the academy''s defensive formation. When the Godslayer missile exploded, they bought us a minute of time by sacrificing themselves. Only then were we made aware that the academy had always had an underground sanctuary. It was only a single minute, but almost all of the teachers gave their lives to buy us that minute so the students could live on in their stead. The sanctuary had a limited capacity, and the protective barrier required energy input to be maintained, so we could only look on as one teacher after another ignited their flames of life.


    "Even as they were consumed by the flames, all of them wore proud smiles as they urged us to enter the sanctuary. At the time, we wanted to join in on the defensive efforts, but Teacher Wu forced us into the sanctuary, and just as he was about to rush out to help the other teachers, Elder Li kicked him into the sanctuary as well."

 Chapter 1165: The Shrek Spirit

    "Do you still remember Elder Li? He''s the constantly smiling old man who was present during our entrance examinations. At the time, Elder Li told us that we were still young, and that we were the future hopes of Shrek Academy. He told us to never forget the tradition of Shrek Academy and the glory of Shrek. The teachers sacrificed themselves so we could survive. They chose to give their lives without any hesitation, illuminating us with their flames of life and demonstrating the Shrek spirit to us through their actions.


    "They were truly noble men and women, and they used their flames of life to cleanse our hearts. Only 216 people managed to make it into the sanctuary, and Teacher Wu was the only teacher among us. All of the other teachers and the students who didn''t get a chance to make into the sanctuary perished along with the academy."


    Wu Siduo was already sobbing uncontrollably at this point.


    Indeed, they had only had a minute at the time, but during that short minute, all of Shrek Academy''s teachers made the same decision. Not even a single one of them had chosen to cower, and none of them competed with the students for space in the sanctuary.


    If it weren''t for the fact that Wu Zhangkong was still quite young, Elder Li would''ve allowed him to sacrifice himself as well. This was the Shrek spirit, the spirit of the number one academy on the entire continent!


    The teachers of Shrek Academy released their final radiance by igniting the flames of life, basking Shrek Academy in the most radiant light in its final moments.


    Even as an outsider, Long Yuxue was completely rooted to the spot by this story.


    This was Shrek Academy!


    Her seniors had always spoken extremely highly about Shrek Academy, and even in the Blood God Legion, there were many Shrek Academy alumni. However, she had always been unconvinced. Wasn''t it just an academy? So what even if it were truly as powerful as everyone proclaimed?


    Only now did she truly understand that Shrek was no longer just an academy; it represented a type of spirit.


    Even following the passage of 20,000 years, the Shrek Spirit hadn''t waned in the slightest, and all of its teachers had made the selfless decisions in the most critical juncture. This was the Shrek Academy, an academy of heroes and legends!


    Tang Wulin fell heavily to his knees before kowtowing toward the Sea God''s Lake three times with tears streaming down his face.


    Wu Siduo also fell to her knees beside him as she cast her gaze toward the lake before her, and they felt as if they could see the smiles and hear the voices of the seniors of Shrek Academy again.


    Those strict teachers who were constantly urging them to better themselves now ceased to exist with the destruction of Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin could still clearly recall how stringent Silver Moon Douluo Elder Cai had been toward them in the past, but where was she now? As the principal of Shrek Academy''s outer court, it was undoubtedly the case that she would''ve led the teachers from the very forefront.


    In the dire situation that Shrek Academy had been faced with, all of the academy''s powerful beings had given their lives without any hesitation to give the students the greatest chance at survival. All of them had departed from this world with smiles on their faces as they hadn''t tarnished the glory of Shrek Academy. None of them thought themselves to be teachers; they had merely done what was expected of them as teachers.


    In their minds, it was a teacher''s rightful duty to protect their students with their lives, and in an ordeal of life and death, they had taught their students one final invaluable lesson through their actions. This was an extremely heavy lesson that all of the students would undoubtedly remember for the rest of their lives.


    "Take me to see them; I want to see Teacher Wu and everyone else," Tang Wulin said to Wu Siduo through his sobs.


    Wu Siduo nodded firmly in response before wiping the tears from her face, then turning toward Long Yuexue. "Who is she?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "She''s a friend of mine from the military; she''s definitely trustworthy."


    Wu Siduo glanced at Long Yuxue, and Long Yuxue was also looking back at her. As their eyes met, figurative sparks began to fly.


    "Wulin, this is an extremely important matter, so I can''t allow you to bring an outsider with you. I''m sure you know what I mean," Wu Siduo said with a serious look on her face.


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily before turning to Long Yuxue. "Yuxue, can you go back for now?"


    Long Yuxue didn''t express any displeasure in response to this request. She merely nodded before departing in her soul car like an obedient wife.


    Wu Siduo looked on as she departed with a peculiar expression, and asked, "Is she your woman?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Don''t make jokes like that; we''re just comrades. You know who I love."


    Wu Siduo rolled her eyes in response. "Then what about her? Why isn''t she with you?"


    Tang Wulin''s body stiffened upon hearing this, and he didn''t know how to respond. He wished more than anything for Gu Yuena to be by his side, but he didn''t even know where she currently was.


    Wu Siduo could see the awkward look in his eyes, and she was rather taken aback. "Is she not with you?"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "It''s a long story. Take me to see Teacher Wu first."


    He couldn''t wait to see Wu Zhangkong. Ever since the destruction of Shrek Academy, he had always thought that he and his friends were Shrek Academy''s final hopes. Only after meeting Wu Siduo today was he made aware that the academy had 216 survivors.


    Perhaps there weren''t any top-tier powerful beings among them, but they were all seeds of Shrek Academy! Furthermore, Wu Zhangkong had also survived.


    "Come with me." Wu Siduo didn''t pose any more questions as she rushed away, and Tang Wulin hurriedly followed along behind her. She led him toward one side of the Sea God''s Lake, and after running around approximately a third of the lake''s entire circumference, she waved a hand toward him before leaping into the lake.


    Tang Wulin naturally followed suit, and looking at Wu Siduo from behind, she was like a graceful mermaid flaunting her gorgeous figure as she swam through the water.


    Wu Siduo continued to dive deeper into the lake, and light began to flash around her body, indicating that she was releasing her soul power to keep the radiation in the water at bay.


    This place was quite far away from the epicenter of the explosion, so the radiation wasn''t as severe here, but it was still completely devoid of all signs of life.


    Tang Wulin followed Wu Siduo all the way down to the lakebed, and she turned around before planting her feet on the bottom of the lake. After searching around momentarily, she gently pressed down on a certain section of the lakebed, and a grinding sound rang out, following which a strange metal frame slowly rose up. There seemed to be air flowing out of it to prevent the water from gushing into the opening.


    Wu Siduo waved a hand toward Tang Wulin before bright soul power light emanated from her body, and she dove directly into the opening.


    Tang Wulin also arrived beside the opening, and the water pressure here was already very severe, but with his powers, this was naturally next to nothing.


    Immediately after he entered through the opening, the powerful bursts of air being expelled ceased, and Wu Siduo pressed a button to close the metal door. After the door was completely closed, the air currents were naturally also cut off, and no water had managed to make it into the interior.


    The lighting beyond the metal door was slightly dim, and there were soul lights on the walls, but they were only releasing a faint light.


    Wu Siduo waved a hand toward Tang Wulin before walking on ahead, leaving Tang Wulin to follow along behind her with barely repressed excitement in his heart.


    They made their way through many twists and turns, and the general trend seemed to be a downward one. As they continued, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask, "How was this underground sanctuary constructed to have allowed it to survive the explosion?"

 Chapter 1166: Reuniting with the White-robed Swordsman

    Wu Siduo explained as she walked, "The sanctuary is situated 300 meters beneath the ground, and it was designed specifically to be able to defend against powerful soul weapons. It was completed 3,000 years ago, and at around 200 meters beneath the ground, is where the first layer of concrete mixed with alloys lies. There are several dozens of these layers, so even the explosion of a Godslayer missile won''t be able to affect the interior of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is actually large enough to house more people, but the attack was too abrupt, and without the sacrifice of the teachers, the protective barrier wouldn''t have lasted until all of us could enter the sanctuary.


    "The elevator leading to the sanctuary also has a limited capacity, and that was why we suffered so many deaths. Following the explosion, we had no idea what the situation was like on the surface, and it was Teacher Wu who used the facilities inside the sanctuary to gradually dig upward, thereby creating this exit. However, this isn''t the only exit; there''s also another exit further away. The forefathers of our academy prepared these emergency measures well in advance, and it was what saved all 216 of us."


    Only after descending for over 100 meters did the terrain begin to flatten, and at this point, Tang Wulin could already see the aforementioned layers of concrete and alloys.


    This was quite a stunning sight to behold, and it would indeed be able to stand up against even the most powerful modern weapons. The forefathers of Shrek Academy had used their wisdom and foresight to give those of the present generation an opportunity for survival.


    "Wu Siduo?" Right at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly sounded up ahead.


    However, the voice quickly became rather tense and wary. "Who''s that with you? Why do I hear two sets of footsteps?"


    Soul power fluctuations erupted as the voice rang out, and a massive black scythe abruptly appeared before slashing directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Wu Siduo merely smiled and didn''t say anything. A slightly resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and golden light flashed as his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his right hand before blocking the inky-black scythe amid a crisp clang.


    "It''s me, Xu Yucheng!"


    The familiar voice and the giant scythe naturally belonged to none other than Xu Yucheng.


    In the dark corner, a figure flashed, and Xu Yucheng appeared before Tang Wulin and Wu Siduo before being completely rooted to the spot at the sight of the former. He then rubbed his own eyes vigorously, and his dumbfounded expression coupled with his cold features presented a rather comical contrast.


    Following the passage of a year, Xu Yucheng was clearly more mature than before, but his disposition had also become even colder.


    As he stared at Tang Wulin, he instantly withdrew his scythe, and exclaimed, "You, you''re still alive?"


    Tang Wulin nodded firmly before striding forward and giving him a massive hug.


    Xu Yucheng''s facial muscles spasmed slightly, and he glanced at Wu Siduo before turning to Tang Wulin. "Let go of me! I don''t wanna be hugged by a stinky man like you!"


    Tang Wulin immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this. This guy''s personality was foul as ever. A total of seven soul rings had appeared around him just now, indicating that he was also already a Soul Sage!


    All of the most prodigious members of their class seemed to have reached the Soul Sage level in their early twenties. It was no exaggeration to say that they were definitely the most exceptional batch of students Shrek Academy had seen in the past millennium. Perhaps this was compensation from the heavens for the massive ordeal that Shrek Academy had suffered.


    "How did you survive?" Xu Yucheng asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m sure many other people are interested in hearing the answer to this question, so let''s meet up with Teacher Wu first before I tell you the answer."


    "Alright." Xu Yucheng gave him a firm nod before turning to glance at Wu Siduo.


    "Why do you keep looking at me? Hurry up and lead the way!" Wu Siduo snapped.


    Xu Yucheng heaved a faint sigh before shaking his head and leading the way forward.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly, and he could roughly guess the reason behind Xu Yucheng''s rather peculiar emotional state. He and Luo Guixing had always been pursuing Wu Siduo, but Wu Siduo had proposed to Tang Wulin, making it seem as if he were their rival in love.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know if their relationship had progressed during the past year, but judging from Xu Yucheng''s reaction, it didn''t seem to be going all that well. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be appraising Tang Wulin as with that hint of enmity in his eyes.


    Thinking back to the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, Tang Wulin was struck by a warm sense of nostalgia. If only he could go back to those times! If he could go back in time with his current memories, he would prevent this tragedy from taking place at all costs.


    After descending deeper into the sanctuary, Tang Wulin was surprised to find that the environment in here was actually quite dry and refreshing. The roof was around six meters tall, so it wasn''t claustrophobic at all, and Tang Wulin''s heart was currently filled with excitement.


    He had already prepared himself to shoulder all of the pressure of rebuilding Shrek Academy, but never did he think that he would have so many allies here.


    There were over 200 Shrek Academy students here! Even though they were only students and wouldn''t provide as much assistance to him as teachers, the fact that they were still alive alongside Wu Zhangkong instilled him with immense hope.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin was barely able to contain himself and was filled with anticipation.


    After Xu Yucheng opened a mundane-looking stone door, they passed through it to arrive in a more cavernous space, and Tang Wulin could sense powerful soul power fluctuations here.


    Xu Yucheng said, "Everyone has been cultivating here, and even though the resources can''t compare to what the academy had in the past, everyone is more dedicated and determined than ever."


    Xu Yucheng was a man of very few words, and it was quite rare for him to say so much in one go.


    Wu Siduo also smiled, and chimed in, "It really is great that you''re back; Teacher Wu will be ecstatic. In order to ensure confidentiality, we didn''t install any communication devices in here, so let me go and find Teacher Wu. You two can wait here for me."


    She then rushed off in a flash, and Xu Yucheng''s eyes remained fixed on her this entire time. He was still very persistent toward her, but neither he nor Luo Guixing had managed to capture her heart.


    Compared to Tang Wulin, Xu Yucheng knew Wu Siduo much better, and he knew just how prideful she was. She wanted the best of everything, and that was why she had been so determined to confess to Tang Wulin. She had failed in the end, but it was undoubtedly the case that she had never forgotten Tang Wulin. Even after he had disappeared for three years, she had still rejected Xu Yucheng and Luo Guixing without any hesitation in preference for Tang Wulin.


    Now that he was back, even though his return would undoubtedly be greatly beneficial to the revival of Shrek Academy, Xu Yucheng knew that it would be even more difficult for him to win Wu Siduo''s heart now.


    Tang Wulin could see the slightly dejected look on Xu Yucheng''s face, and he wound an arm around his shoulder as he asked, "What are you thinking about? The future rebuild of Shrek Academy or Wu Siduo?" Tang Wulin was quite observant, and Xu Yucheng had never excelled at hiding his own emotions, so Tang Wulin was naturally able to see that he was in low spirits.


    Xu Yucheng raised his head and glanced at Tang Wulin before a wry smile appeared on his face. "There''s no need to comfort me; this isn''t your fault. We''re just too weak. By the way, I haven''t sparred with you in many years; we should do that when we get the chance."


    Wu Siduo was very competitive, and so was he. Ever since he had first entered the academy, Xu Yucheng had always been an extremely exceptional disciple. His soul power had already reached rank 76, which was even higher than Wu Siduo.


    Despite that, he knew that he still didn''t have much of a chance against Tang Wulin, but he couldn''t just give up before trying!


    "Sure!" Tang Wulin agreed without any hesitation. This was his way of showing respect to Xu Yucheng.


    Not long after that, a streak of white light flashed from the distance, and a white figure abruptly appeared in front of Tang Wulin.


    He still wore his usual white robes, and despite the fact that he had grown a few strands of white hair, he was still just as cold and handsome as ever. He was still the frosty white-robed swordsman that he once was.


    However, as Tang Wulin looked into his eyes now, he could see a sense of exhaustion coupled with unprecedented determination.


    This was Wu Zhangkong!


    "Teacher Wu!" Tang Wulin was almost sobbing as he stepped forward before bowing deeply toward Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong''s face was a little pale, and his eyes were still as cold as ever, but a hint of emotion crept into his gaze in the instant that he caught sight of Tang Wulin.


    He grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s shoulders and forced him into an upright position before staring intently at him, as if he were trying to see through him.

 Chapter 1167: Im Glad Youre Alive

    Only after a long while did he choke out the words, "I''m glad you''re alive."


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth to prevent his tears from flowing again, and he replied, "It''s so good to see all of you again."


    Wu Zhangkong nodded in response. "Come with me."


    He then strode deeper into the sanctuary.


    Tang Wulin followed along behind him, but Xu Yucheng remained where he was. He merely looked on as Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong departed, and he heaved a faint internal sigh. No matter how hard he worked, he still couldn''t compare with Tang Wulin in Wu Zhangkong''s heart. This wasn''t just because of how exceptional Tang Wulin was, but also because their bond extended to beyond just that between student and teacher.


    Wu Zhangkong had nurtured Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, and Gu Yue all the way into Shrek Academy, and all of them had proven through their abilities that they were the best.


    Now that Tang Wulin was back, even though Wu Zhangkong hadn''t said anything, Xu Yucheng was aware that he and Wu Siduo and the others were no longer going to be leaders of the remaining students of Shrek Academy.


    Wu Zhangkong led Tang Wulin through a plaza, and Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of a series of familiar figures, not because he actually knew all of them, but because they all wore Shrek Academy uniforms.


    Wu Zhangkong continued to walk on ahead as he explained, "The academy is still split up into the inner and outer courts. The disciples you see are from the outer court, and all the rules remain the same; if they want to enter the inner court, they have to earn it through their powers, just like all of you had to in the past. Everyone is working very hard here."


    Tears began to flow down Tang Wulin''s face again upon hearing this. It had been so long since he had heard the familiar terms of the inner court and outer court.


    The two courts still existed, and Shrek Academy had never truly fallen. Shrek academy still existed, as did its spirit!


    After passing through another passageway, Tang Wulin was stunned by how large this underground sanctuary was and how many facilities there were here.


    Tang Wulin followed Wu Zhangkong into a stone chamber, which was completely devoid of furniture and ornaments aside from a futon on the ground.


    Wu Zhangkong turned around, and said, "This is where I cultivate."


    The two of them looked at one another, and tears began to flow from Tang Wulin''s eyes again while Wu Zhangkong took a deep breath to forcibly repress his emotions.


    "Who else survived?" He asked in a solemn voice.


    Tang Wulin sobbed, "All seven of us did, as well as Her Majesty, the Holy Spirit Douluo. The pavilion master saved our lives, but he..."


    Wu Zhangkong''s hands balled up into tight fists as he took a deep breath. "Don''t dwell too much on the past; all that matters is that you''re all alive, and you have to look toward the future. Everyone here has a responsibility to get Shrek Academy above the ground again, do you understand? Where is everyone else right now?"


    Thus, Tang Wulin gave Wu Zhangkong a detailed recount of their experiences since the bombing, including how everyone was currently at different legions in a bid to improve themselves. He even revealed the existence of the Blood God Legion and the abyssal plane to Wu Zhangkong, who listened to his story with rapt focus.


    After hearing about how Tang Wulin had participated in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition and became the champion in both disciplines, a gentle look finally appeared in his eyes.


    "All of you have done extremely well. You haven''t forgotten the academy, nor the responsibility on your shoulders, and for that, I thank you on behalf of the academy."


    In that instant, Tang Wulin saw a hint of vulnerability in Wu Zhangkong''s eyes, but he seemed to be even more exhausted.


    Indeed, just as he didn''t know that Wu Zhangkong and the other were alive, Wu Zhangkong had also been oblivious to the fact that they were still alive. As such, the burden that he had carried during the past year had to be even heavier than the one on Tang Wulin''s shoulders. As the final remaining teacher, one could only imagine his pain as he watched one teacher after another sacrifice themselves for the students.


    "Teacher Wu, let''s work hard together. We''ll definitely rebuild Shrek Academy and make it more powerful than ever," Tang Wulin said in a voice that was filled with conviction


    Wu Zhangkong nodded in response. "Shrek Academy has never disappeared."


    Tang Wulin asked, "How is everyone right now, Teacher Wu?"


    He had to understand more about the situation here. It was naturally fantastic news that Wu Zhangkong and so many of the students had survived, but this was an academy, after all, not a sect, so it would be understandable if some of the survivors had decided to abandon the sinking ship. As such, he had to find out how many people were left that were willing to pour forth their efforts into rebuilding Shrek Academy.


    A hint of pride flashed through Wu Zhangkong''s eyes. "Not a single person left, and every one of them voluntarily swore vows that every fiber of their beings belonged to Shrek Academy. All of us have already died when that Godslayer missile exploded, and it''s Shrek Academy''s final radiance that allowed us to temporarily remain in this world. Our mission is to carry the glory of Shrek and pass it down to future generations."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this. Not a single person had left? This meant that over 200 Shrek Academy students were willing to give their all for the academy! It was just as Wu Zhangkong had said; all of them had already died on that day and cast aside their tie with the rest of the world. They only had one future goal, which was to revive Shrek Academy and revitalize its glory.


    "During the past year, everyone has been cultivating day and night. No sunlight reaches us down here, and aside from the very people who have gone out to purchase some daily necessities, the vast majority of us have never left. We are indeed lacking in resources compared to in the past, but everyone had been progressing faster than before, and all of the resources and facilities in the sanctuary are being used to their full advantage. It can be said that these kids have experienced the fastest rate of growth in their lives during the past year."


    Tang Wulin''s expression immediately eased slightly upon hearing this. "That really is fantastic news. You''ve taken a massive load off my shoulders, Teacher Wu."


    Wu Zhangkong looked deep into Tang Wulin''s eyes, and said, "I will always support you, but you have to remember that you are the current leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, so you¡¯re the true future of Shrek Academy."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Teacher Wu..."


    Wu Zhangkong waved a hand to cut him off. "I didn''t make the decision to make you the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; this was a decision made by the Sea God''s Pavilion. Did you know that even the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion were once stunned by how fast you and the others have grown? You are the most exceptional talents to have appeared in the academy for the past millennium. At the time, all of us teachers were stunned by how lucky the academy was to have been blessed by such a strong cohort, but I realize now that this was perhaps all designed by fate. It''s exactly because of the tragedy that the academy was about to face that all of you were sent to us by the heavens. It is your destiny to save Shrek Academy!"


    A fervent look flashed through his eyes as he spoke, and Tang Wulin could see that the current Teacher Wu was different from his past self. It was quite clear that the destruction of Shrek Academy had impacted him severely.


    "Wulin, what are your future plans?" After allowing his emotions to get the better of himself for a brief moment, Wu Zhangkong finally calmed himself back down.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m going to accumulate more power and unite all forces that are willing to unite for our cause, then search for an opportunity to strike."


    Wu Zhangkong nodded in response. "It''s important not to be rash, and it''s even more important not to expose the forces that currently remain in our Shrek Academy. You are all future hopes of the academy, and all of you are still very young. You''re already a Soul Sage, yet you''re only 21 years old. I wonder what dizzying heights you''ll reach once you get to my age. I have high hopes, not just for you, but also for your friends. The 215 students and I are all doing everything in our power to contribute toward the resurgence of Shrek Academy, and perhaps in the not too distant future, we''ll have over 10 Titled Douluos and even Hyper Douluos among our ranks. Hence, what I''m telling you is to take your time and ensure safety first. If you''re too eager or overzealous, it''ll only spell disaster."


    "Yes!"


    Indeed, all of these students were students of Shrek Academy, so all of them were undoubtedly the most exceptional young talents the continent had to offer. Furthermore, they were being spurred on by the enormous responsibility on their shoulders, so their motivation for improvement was far more potent than before.


    The forte of Shrek Academy lay in its ability to nurture its young talents, and that was what made it the undisputed number one academy on the continent. There were over 200 extraordinary talents who were willing to give everything they had for the academy, and it was spine-tingling to envision the powerful army that they would become.

 Chapter 1168: They Need More Experience?

    Furthermore, these people were exceptional talents such as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Wu Siduo, Xu Yucheng, Luo Guixing, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran. All of them were going to be imperative to Shrek Academy''s future revival.


    Tang Wulin suddenly said, "Teacher Wu, I have a suggestion."


    "Oh?" Wu Zhangkong turned toward him in an intrigued manner.


    Tang Wulin continued, "Seeing as everyone is willing to give everything they have for the future of Shrek Academy, I don''t think it would be in their best interest to stay here all the time."


    Wu Zhangkong''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "If they stay here in this isolated little bubble, all they''ll experience are improvements in cultivation rank and nothing else. If we want to maximize their power in order to create a stronger foundation for the revival of Shrek Academy, they have to grow mentally as well, and they must also come into contact with the outside world; perhaps it''ll even be necessary for them to go out into society in the future under all types of different identities. With their aptitude, they should quickly be able to make some substantial achievements and garner widespread support. When Shrek Academy steps into the limelight to announce its return, they''ll have all reached high positions and can play major roles in the revival of the academy."


    "No," Wu Zhangkong immediately rejected, "That won''t work. With so many people, no matter how cautious everyone is, someone is inevitably going to let something slip. Besides, don''t you think it''ll raise suspicions for over 200 exceptional talents to suddenly appear? They''re all students of Shrek Academy, and it''ll be very likely that their covers will be blown if they get released into society like this. If they get exposed, all of the powers that are against Shrek Academy will work together to hunt them down, and they''ll be in grave danger."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Your concerns are valid, but continuing to cultivate exclusively in this underground sanctuary where they can''t even see the light of day is too detrimental to everyone''s development. Our Douluo Continent is a huge place, and a war is most likely going to commence in the near future. All of the major powers will have their attention focused on this war, so even though there are more than 200 of us, if we spread everyone across different places, it won''t attract that much attention. Besides, we can disguise them and change their identities as well."


    Wu Zhangkong''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Tell me your specific plan."


    These thoughts had also formulated very quickly in Tang Wulin''s mind, and he had constantly been thinking about this matter since the destruction of Shrek Academy, so he was able to quickly devise a plan.


    "Firstly, I suggest that everyone must attain better survival skills, so I think we should send them to the demonic island in batches to undergo military training. Once they successfully return from the demonic island, their survival skills will undoubtedly be significantly improved, and they''ll also learn a series of disguise techniques that''ll make it very easy for them to integrate themselves into society. As for alternative identities, that''s even simpler to arrange; the Tang Sect may be coming under heavy oppression at the moment, but a sect that has stood at the pinnacle of the continent for 20,000 years isn''t that easy to bring down.


    "With the Tang Sect''s assistance, fabricating new identities for everyone won''t be a difficult task. I''ll contact the Tang Sect to arrange this, and after that, everyone can be released into society. They can join the army or take on certain occupations or even join some sects. Of course, some of them have to remain here, and this will be the headquarters for our Shrek revival project, as well as the temporary Shrek Academy. We can even enroll more students through the Tang Sect, and when we decide to rebuild Shrek Academy in the future, all of these people will step forward to prevent the new Shrek Academy from collapsing."


    Wu Zhangkong''s eyes gradually glazed over as he listened to Tang Wulin''s plan. He was quite elated at the prospect of this ambitious plan, but that elation was also tinged with a hint of bitterness.


    It had been over a year since the academy had been destroyed, and during this time, he had been the strictest teacher, constantly urging the students to improve themselves with all their might. They were fighting against time every day, but he suddenly discovered that his thought process had been too dogmatic and narrow-minded. Compared to Tang Wulin, he was an old man, and this disciple of his was only becoming more and more mature. His thought processes and judgments had already exceeded that of his teacher.


    "What do you think, Teacher Wu?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Wu Zhangkong nodded in response. "You''re right, I''m being overly cautious. Let''s follow your plan. I''ll select the first batch of students to be sent to the demonic island, and I''ll make sure to select those who excel both in strength and willpower. Your plan is very sound, and I''ll take care of the logistics from the inside, but I''ll have to leave it to you to take care of all of the external matters, especially when it comes to contacting all of the different powers. At the same time, if we want to drastically enhance these children''s abilities, we''ll be needing more resources, especially when it comes to the battle armor department.


    "You''ve shown us that five-ring Soul Kings can attain suits of one-word battle armor, and even four-ring Soul Ancestors can just barely satisfy the requirements as well, but the main problem we''re currently facing is a lack of resources. Uncommon metals are very hard to come by, and the academy didn''t leave behind enough wealth for us, so you''ll have to address those matters as well. If I''m not mistaken, you''re already a sixth-rank blacksmith, right? Can you get some uncommon metals from the blacksmith association to forge suits of battle armor for everyone? We''ll take care of the final construction."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Leave it to me. Also, I''m already a seventh-rank Saint Blacksmith, so I can even forge metals required for suits of three-word battle armor. Wu Siduo and the others are all ready for suits of three-word battle armor, right? I can begin forging metals for them once I source the raw materials."


    Wu Zhangkong faltered slightly upon hearing this, immediately following which a smile appeared on his face for the first time in a long time. He was already a Saint Blacksmith!


    A Saint Blacksmith was going to be very, very useful to Shrek Academy. The academy once had Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu as their sole Saint Blacksmith, and he was enough to support all of Shrek Academy''s forging needs. Now, Tang Wulin had also become a Saint Blacksmith; didn''t that mean that he could take over Feng Wuyu''s role?


    In this current world, individual power was naturally very important, but in order to become a truly powerful being, battle armor was imperative. Among these 216 people, he was the only three-word battle armor master, and that was nowhere near enough. Now that Tang Wulin had become a Saint Blacksmith who was capable of soul refinement, he would be able to drastically minimize the time required to forge metals for everyone''s suits of high-grade battle armor, and that was definitely fantastic news.


    "What about you? Are you already a three-word battle armor master?" Wu Zhangkong asked in an expectant manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ve already forged the metals required for my suit of battle armor, and only the final construction is required. I''ve already called up my friends, and once they return, I should be able to become a three-word battle armor master very soon."


    Wu Zhangkong heaved a long sigh upon hearing this. Tang Wulin''s arrival had ignited the flames of hope in his heart. Even though he had constantly been doing everything in his power and telling all of the students that Shrek Academy had to be revived, he knew just how difficult an undertaking this was going to be. However, Tang Wulin''s return had given him something of the utmost importance; it was hope!


    With hope, everything was possible.


    With that in mind, Wu Zhangkong''s smile instantly widened even further.


    Tang Wulin said, "Send Wu Siduo and the others to the demonic island as part of the first batch. With that experience under their belt, they''ll become even more mature. All of them had been oppressed for too long after the destruction of the academy; they need to go out and relax."


    He was sure that if Xu Yucheng were to undergo the military training on the demonic island, it wouldn''t be as easy to draw emotional responses out of him as it had been earlier today.

 Chapter 1169: Childhood Idol

    Completely unbeknownst to Xu Yucheng, his blatant emotional response had drawn concern from Tang Wulin, and neither was he aware of the nightmare that would await him as a result of this concern.


    Right at this moment, Wu Zhangkong suddenly said, "Wulin, let''s have a sparring match."


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin turned to him with a surprised expression.


    However, Wu Zhangkong gave him no chance to say anything further as he led the way out of his room. "Come with me."


    Following along behind Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin quickly arrived at a spacious hall. There were already a dozen or so people sparring there, and this was the largest area that Tang Wulin had seen in this sanctuary.


    It had a diameter of around 200 meters and a height of roughly 30 meters. The roof formed a perfect round dome shape, so it had clearly been artificially excavated. One could only imagine how much time and resources had to be expended to complete such a massive project several hundred meters underground.


    However, Shrek Academy had accomplished this, and Tang Wulin was full of praise and awe toward the forefathers of the academy. At the same time, he made a mental note to himself to make similar preparations once he rebuilt Shrek Academy in the future rather than putting all eggs in one basket as the academy had done with Shrek City.


    The Tang Sect headquarters had also been destroyed, thereby dealing the organization a heavy blow, but it wasn''t a lethal blow like the one that had been dealt to Shrek Academy! They still had branches in the Star Luo Empire that could support the oppressed branches of the Tang Sect on this continent, and even now, Tang Wulin had no idea how much power the Tang Sect currently had.


    The Tang Sect had built up an unfathomable foundation during the past 20,000 years, and even though all of the major powers wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to uproot the sect altogether, no one dared to make the first move. This was the intimidation effect that only came with sufficient power.


    In contrast, Shrek Academy was in a far worse situation, and the root cause behind this was that it had placed all of its eggs in one basket in the form of the Shrek City. Now that Shrek City was destroyed, the academy had lost everything. This was why the instigators behind the bombing were able to carry out such a heinous act without any fear of repercussions.


    "Clap clap clap!" Wu Zhangkong clapped his hands to attract the attention of all of the sparring students in the hall.


    All of the students put on respectful expressions as they turned toward Wu Zhangkong, but most of them were clearly rather perplexed at the sight of Tang Wulin.


    These students were even younger than Tang Wulin, and most of them had never seen him before, so he was a complete stranger. This was the first time they had seen a stranger in over a year!


    Wu Zhangkong announced, "You can all spectate a sparring match between us from afar."


    He made no effort to introduce Tang Wulin. Seeing as everyone was going to be sent out into society someday, it was best for them to know as little about Tang Wulin as possible.


    Wu Zhangkong made his way over to one side of the hall, and Tang Wulin naturally followed him. He understood that this was Wu Zhangkong''s way of testing his current powers.


    It had been a long time since the two of them had last sparred, and Tang Wulin could sense an aura emanating from Wu Zhangkong''s body that resembled a boundless abyss. During the past year or so, his powers had clearly also improved significantly, and he was most likely at least an eight-ring Soul Douluo now.


    Furthermore, Wu Zhangkong was a member of Shrek Academy, so he was certainly not to be compared to a normal Soul Douluo.


    "I won''t be holding back," Wu Zhangkong warned in a cold voice as his white robes fluttered in the non-existent breeze.


    Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward Wu Zhangkong, and he felt as if time had reversed back to the first time they had faced one another.


    Even though Tang Wulin was now already at a level where he could be considered to be a worthy opponent for Wu Zhangkong, he could never forget Wu Zhangkong''s gallant appearance from back then.


    It could be said that Sky Dragon Ice Wu Zhangkong had always been his childhood idol.


    That''s right, after becoming a three-word battle armor, Wu Zhangkong had added the word "dragon" to the name of his battle armor to commemorate his deceased lover, Long Bing. [Long (Áú) Bing (±ù) translates literally to Dragon Ice.] His suit of battle armor was now called Sky Dragon Ice, and in Tang Wulin''s mind, there was no doubt that Wu Zhangkong would become a four-word battle armor master in the future.


    The two of them faced each other, and their auras instantly transformed. The sparring students had already retreated far away and were looking on with surprise and anticipation toward the upcoming sparring match.


    Most of them had their eyes fixed on Tang Wulin. All of them were already well aware of how powerful Wu Zhangkong was, but who was this young man who didn''t look much older than them? Could he really match Teacher Wu in battle?


    Wu Zhangkong''s eyes suddenly turned into an icy blue color, and a longsword of the same color then instantly appeared in his grasp. Against Tang Wulin, he had released his martial soul first.


    Tang Wulin was then greeted by the sight of a series of soul rings emerging from beneath Wu Zhangkong''s feet. One, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight... nine?


    Nine? Tang Wulin was quite taken aback at the sight of final black soul ring that emerged around Wu Zhangkong. Even though it had been a very long time since they had last sparred, only less than five years had passed since his trip to the Star Luo Empire.


    Five years ago, Wu Zhang Kong had still been a seven-ring Soul Sage, yet now, he was already a Titled Douluo!


    Even though Tang Wulin had great confidence in his own abilities, he was rather daunted by the prospect of facing even an eight-ring Wu Zhangkong, let alone Wu Zhangkong at the Titled Douluo level.


    After reaching this level, one became part of a very exclusive club in the Soul Master world, and it would now be fitting for him to refer to Wu Zhangkong as "Your Majesty".


    Aside from astonishment, Tang Wulin''s heart was also filled with joy. Any Titled Douluo would be a brilliant addition to a major power, and that certainly applied to Shrek Academy as well.


    The fact that Wu Zhangkong was a Titled Douluo indicated that Shrek Academy now had one more Titled Douluo among their ranks! Furthermore, Wu Zhangkong possessed extremely powerful combat prowess, so he was going to be a major pillar of support for Shrek Academy.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin was instantly filled with excitement and battle intent.


    Right at this moment, a few people walked into the drill grounds. They were led by Wu Siduo, and the rest of them were also all familiar faces.


    There were Xu Yucheng, Luo Guixing, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran. What came as a surprise to Tang Wulin was that Yang Nianxia and Zheng Yiran were currently holding hands, so this pair of rivals had clearly entered a relationship.


    Zheng Yiran''s expression was just as proud as ever, and it seemed to be her only expression. Tang Wulin couldn''t help but wonder if she had been born that way or had a serious case of resting bitch face.


    In comparison, Yang Nianxia appeared to be far more bashful and harmless, but his more cunning side had left a deep impression on Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin really wanted to yell with elation at the sight of these familiar faces!


    However, right at this moment, Wu Zhangkong suddenly sprang into action. He could naturally tell that Tang Wulin had been distracted, and he had no intention of passing up this opportunity. On a real battlefield, would his opponent wait until he regained his focus?


    Clearly not.


    Hence, Wu Zhangkong immediately attacked. His body shot forward like lightning, and an extremely cold aura immediately surged forth, making Tang Wulin feel as if he had instantly been plunged into a world of snow and ice.


    Even with his powerful body, he felt as if he were about to be frozen solid.

 Chapter 1170: Tang Wulin vs Wu Zhangkong

    So powerful!


    The temperature changes resulting from Wu Zhangkong''s Skyfrost Sword had to be at least twice as potent as it had been in the past.


    The blue Skyfrost Sword slashed horizontally through the air without any tricks or embellishments, reaching Tang Wulin in a flash.


    Compared to in the past, Wu Zhangkong''s attacks were cleaner and more direct, but also clearly more effective.


    Even before being struck by the Skyfrost Sword, Tang Wulin was struck by the feeling that his heart had been frozen solid.


    Wu Siduo and the others had all stopped and were looking on with rapt focus at the sparring match that had suddenly been arranged. All of them also wanted to see just how far Tang Wulin had come now.


    After all, all five of them were once rivals with him! There was a period of time where they had already resigned themselves to being inferior to Tang Wulin, but after so long had passed, it was hard to say who was more powerful. All of them were very confident in their own improvements. Ever since Shrek Academy had been destroyed, they had focused wholeheartedly on their cultivation, and they were almost constantly working hard to improve every single moment of every day. They were confident that this level of hard work would''ve allowed them to catch up to and even surpass Tang Wulin.


    Through his sparring match with Wu Zhangkong, they would naturally be able to see the extent of his powers.


    Tang Wulin also sprang into action. In the face of Wu Zhangkong''s attack, he didn''t dare to display any complacency. A series of halos rose up from beneath his feet, culminating to five golden soul rings in total, and at the same time, a layer of golden light appeared over his body.


    He then instantly swelled to over two meters tall, and his skin was covered by rhomboid golden scales, while the golden light emanating from his body was like a substantial barrier.


    As Wu Zhangkong''s Skyfrost Sword struck the golden light, it suddenly took on a translucent quality, becoming as transparent as golden crystal. A series of ripples ran over its surface, and the Skyfrost Sword was still advancing onward, but not only had its speed been drastically hampered, the sword itself was also revealed. The ripple continued to run through the golden light, and it just barely managed to stop the Skyfrost Sword''s attack.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin raised his right Golden Dragon Claw and lashed out toward the Skyfrost Sword in a flash. At the same time, a pair of golden dragon wings spread open on his back.


    "What is that golden light?" Zheng Yiran was stunned to see this, and the proud look on her face also vanished for an instant.


    They were more aware than anyone of how sharp Wu Zhangkong''s Skyfrost Sword was, yet Tang Wulin had managed to keep it at bay. Furthermore, he had only used some kind of protective barrier ability to block it, rather than any soul skills.


    However, Yang Nianxia''s attention was focused elsewhere, and he murmured, "If I recall correctly, he only had three of those golden bloodline soul rings the last time we saw him! Now that he''s got five, his powers..."


    Just as all of them were speculating about Tang Wulin''s newfound powers, his clash with Wu Zhangkong truly commenced.


    In the instant that his Golden Dragon Claw came into contact with the Skyfrost Sword, the latter suddenly exploded, transforming into countless sword threads that instantly rushed toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was quite startled by this, and the golden light radiating from his body became even brighter. At the same time, he abruptly stomped his right foot into the ground, and a loud dragon''s roar rang out as eight golden dragons rose up from the ground.


    These golden dragons were completely substantial and didn''t look as if they had been formed by energy at all. In the instant that they appeared, they circled around in the air to stop the oncoming sword threads. At the same time, the violent vibrational effect generated by the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth spread directly to the ground beneath Wu Zhangkong''s feet.


    Wu Zhangkong was already a Titled Douluo, but it wasn''t like Tang Wulin hadn''t faced beings of this caliber before.


    In the past, Blood Nine had also been a Titled Douluo, and he had been defeated by Tang Wulin, albeit mostly because he had underestimated Tang Wulin. However, the current Tang Wulin was completely incomparable to that Tang Wulin, so even though he was surprised by Wu Zhangkong''s current cultivation rank, he wasn''t fearful in the slightest.


    The layer of light emanating from his body was none other than his dragon''s repulse. His dragon''s might and dragon''s repulse actually hadn''t been attained after he broke his 11th seal. Instead, those abilities were manifested after he attained his martial soul true body, thereby allowing his body to further integrate with his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    As the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth was unleashed, Tang Wulin''s aura also abruptly changed.


    In Wu Zhangkong''s eyes, it seemed as if a burst of golden energy had abruptly erupted from Tang Wulin''s body in the instant that he stomped his right foot into the ground. This eruption of energy seemed to have slowed down his cognitive function, and to him, it seemed as if Tang Wulin''s stature had suddenly expanded.


    It was during this split second of disorientation that the vibration waves underfoot arrived. Wu Zhangkong was immediately able to react as blue light flashed from beneath his feet, propelling him up into the air. An ice spike had appeared from the ground that he was standing on just a moment ago, and that was what had launched him directly upward.


    However, the eight golden dragons refused to give up and continued to fly toward him.


    Meanwhile, the dragon''s repulse around Tang Wulin''s body tremored, and all of the sword threads that fell upon it were destroyed amid a string of explosions. This was a result of Tang Wulin''s innovative integration between his dragon''s repulse and Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion.


    The most fearsome part about his dragon''s might and dragon''s repulse was that they were the Golden Dragon King''s innate abilities, so they could perfectly integrate with all of the Golden Dragon King''s abilities. After going through so many practical battles and experiencing such marked enhancements in his spiritual power, Tang Wulin had already attained full mastery over his own powers, thereby allowing him to use his Golden Dragon King abilities in an extremely flexible manner, rather than having to use one skill at a time.


    Wu Zhangkong hovered in the air, and his Skyfrost Sword abruptly expanded before splitting up into eight. The eight sword projections crashed down from above, instantly sending the eight golden dragons flying before transforming into a wheel of swords that hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin with devastating force.


    As expected of Teacher Wu, Tang Wulin was immediately placed under immense pressure.


    At the same time, a halo of golden light quickly radiated from beneath his feet, and his five golden soul rings also transformed into seven soul rings, the third of which was already shimmering with light. It was none other than his Bluesilver Golden Array. Aside from its control abilities, the Bluesilver Golden Array''s forte lay in its elemental stripping ability.


    Meanwhile, the Skyfrost Sword was only in its most powerful state when it was enhanced by ice elements, so he was trying to strip these ice elements away.


    Luo Guixing couldn''t help but furrow his brows as he looked on from afar. "What is Wulin doing? How can he still worry about things like this when facing a direct attack from Teacher Wu?"


    In his eyes, Tang Wulin had made a fatal blunder. With Wu Zhangkong''s powers, how could his elemental stripping take effect in time? How was he supposed to defend himself against the sword wheel unleashed by the descending Skyfrost Sword?


    However, right at this moment, an astonishing turn of events unfolded.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes suddenly lit up, and he raised his head to the heavens. Golden light erupted from his eyes, and there was even golden light flowing out from the corners of his eyes.


    His Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his hand, and he thrust it forward at once; Fury of the Masses!


    Countless streaks of golden light shot forth before converging and meeting Wu Zhangkong''s sword wheel. As opposed to taking any evasive measures, he was going to take the attack head-on!


    A crisp clang rang out, and Tang Wulin''s body shuddered slightly as a layer of ice and frost instantly appeared over his entire body. However, with the protection of his dragon''s repulse and the elemental stripping effect of the Bluesilver Golden Array, the ice and frost quickly faded away.


    Meanwhile, the sword wheel up above was instantly shattered into powdered ice that wafted through the air, revealing a stunned Wu Zhangkong looking on from above.


    He had already known that Tang Wulin had become a Soul Sage, and with his Golden Dragon King bloodline, his powers were most definitely far superior to those of the average Soul Sage. However, he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would be able to directly oppose his sword wheel, given that both of them were assault system battle Soul Masters. He hadn''t held back at all, so that was an attack that was truly of the Titled Douluo caliber. However, the terrifying penetrative and offensive power imbued within Tang Wulin''s spear strike was not only enough to break his sword wheel, even he was forced to take evasive measures. What an immensely powerful display Tang Wulin was putting on!


    Even with such a drastic cultivation rank disparity between them, Tang Wulin had completely managed to hold his own. Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, and the others were already completely rooted to the spot. Was he already this powerful?


    He didn''t appear to have done anything special, but he had managed to block a full-power attack from Wu Zhangkong! Just that alone was beyond the capabilities of every single one of them!

 Chapter 1171: Snapped

    After unleashing his Fury of the Masses, Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Golden Array began to take effect.


    In the instant that the elemental stripping effect manifested itself, the chill in the surrounding air abated significantly. At the same time, Tang Wulin flapped his wings, and instead of giving the Bluesilver Golden Array more time to exert its elemental stripping effect, he immediately unleashed an attack.


    He had never sought to completely restrict Wu Zhangkong using his Bluesilver Golden Array; that was completely unrealistic. Instead, what he was trying to do was to use the Bluesilver Golden Array''s ability to affect Wu Zhangkong and disrupt him as he unleashed his abilities.


    Tang Wulin had undoubtedly already accomplished this. In the face of his Fury of the Masses and the effect of the Bluesilver Golden Array, the continuous string of attacks he had prepared had already faltered.


    It was also right at this moment that Tang Wulin rose up into the air, flapping his wings to unleash his Golden Dragon Takes Flight. In doing so, he instantly transformed into a dazzling golden streak of light, hurtling directly toward Wu Zhangkong with his Golden Dragon Spear leading the charge.


    At the same time, a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines emerged from his body before winding around the Golden Dragon Spear as he unleashed a blood soul fusion skill!


    After being disrupted by Tang Wulin''s tactics, Wu Zhangkong also instantly made adjustments. Rather than engaging in a direct clash with Tang Wulin, he instantly changed directions in mid-air and flew to several dozens of meters away.


    However, his retreat undoubtedly allowed Tang Wulin to build up even more momentum, and his Golden Dragon Takes Flight changed directions in mid-air before continuing to pursue Wu Zhangkong.


    In the face of the momentum that was mounting in a frenzy within the Golden Dragon Spear, Wu Zhangkong''s expression changed for the very first time. His sixth soul ring lit up, and he placed both hands on the hilt of his sword before sweeping it upward.


    Tang Wulin had a deep impression of Wu Zhangkong''s sixth soul skill. This was a soul skill that required time to accumulate power, and Tang Wulin couldn''t recall what it was called, but he knew that it was an extremely powerful attack.


    Just as these thoughts were flashing through his mind, his Golden Dragon Spear clashed with the Skyfrost Sword.


    "Clang!" The golden light around Tang Wulin''s body instantly dimmed, and a layer of ice and frost appeared once again. There were even bursts of white frosty air surging throughout the surrounding space, but Wu Zhangkong''s body was sent flying for over 100 meters like a cannonball.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin had been frozen by Wu Zhangkong''s Skyfrost Sword, but much to everyone''s astonishment, the assault system Titled Douluo, Sky Dragon Ice Wu Zhangkong, His Majesty, the Sky Ice Douluo, was sent flying by a single spear strike from Tang Wulin!


    He was only a Soul Sage while Wu Zhangkong was already a Titled Douluo!


    How was this possible? How could there be such a huge disparity between them? Neither of them had donned their suits of battle armor; how was this happening?


    Wu Siduo, Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, and Zheng Yiran''s jaws had already dropped to the ground.


    Was this guy even a human anymore? Their former confidence had been wiped away in an instant. Even back when Wu Siduo was being dominated in battle by Tang Wulin outside, she had thought that with her Hell White Tiger soul fusion skill, she wouldn''t be much weaker than Tang Wulin. However, she had no choice but to face reality now; the reality was that there was a massive insurmountable gulf between her and Tang Wulin!


    How had he become so powerful? If they were in Wu Zhangkong''s shoes, would they have possibly been able to block that spear strike?


    Right at this moment, the golden light emanating from Tang Wulin''s body reached the peak of its brightness. He was like a scintillating golden sun as he hovered in the air, pointing his Golden Dragon Spear directly down toward Wu Zhangkong.


    Golden light immediately erupted forth, creating a dazzling trail of golden light through the air. This was the soul skill that he had invented for himself, the seventh of his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, Path of Regal Domination!


    The best gesture of respect that he could extend toward Wu Zhangkong was to fight him with all his power. This was something that Tang Wulin had already understood prior to the commencement of the sparring match, so he wasn''t holding back at all, unleashing his most powerful attack right away.


    After being sent flying, Wu Zhangkong also instantly reacted. With his vast wealth of battle experience, he was naturally able to instantly deduce that even though he had already become a Titled Douluo, his strength was still far inferior to that of Tang Wulin. Furthermore, he had also been truly stunned by Tang Wulin''s blood soul fusion skills. Even so, he remained completely unflustered, and in the instant that he was sent flying, his seventh soul ring lit up as he unleashed his Skyfrost True Body!


    His entire body suddenly began to elongate, and after being sent flying for about 100 meters, he had already reached four meters tall, while his Skyfrost Sword had extended to a terrifying six meters in length.


    Wu Zhangkong currently bore the appearance of a white ice statue, and his facial features had become completely concealed. The Skyfrost Sword in his hand had also turned into a pristine white color, and this was the most powerful form of his Skyfrost Sword: it was his martial soul true body!


    At the same time, Wu Zhangkong''s eighth soul ring also lit up. As it did so, he raised his Skyfrost Sword high up into the air, and countless ice shards instantly erupted from it, causing the surrounding air temperature to plummet drastically.


    Skyfrost Absolute Zero!


    Wu Zhangkong sprang into action. He was still just as graceful as ever even in mid-air, and despite the fact that he currently resembled an ice statue, he still struck one with a peculiar feeling.


    The ultra-low temperature of the Skyfrost Absolute Zero was contained within a small range, and it formed a ball of ice before crashing directly toward Tang Wulin''s Path of Regal Domination.


    In its absolute zero state, the Skyfrost Sword was capable of vanquishing all opposing forces!


    "Boom!"


    The two clashed, and everything had taken place in an extremely short time. It would''ve been impossible for a normal Titled Douluo to have unleashed their martial soul true body and eighth soul skill in such rapid succession, but Wu Zhangkong had accomplished this, and he was facing Tang Wulin''s attack in his most powerful form.


    In the instant that the clash took place, Wu Zhangkong was greeted by the sound of countless thunderous dragon''s roars. He felt as if he were facing a burst of terrifying pressure that resembled the paramount laws of heaven and earth, but even in the face of this overwhelming pressure, his Skyfrost Sword remained resolute and stable.


    No one could shake his determination to revive Shrek Academy, and he had injected this unshakeable resolve into his sword.


    Thus, the clash ensued, and in that instant, everyone was struck by a sense of disorientation.


    The white ball of ice that Wu Zhangkong had unleashed was completely stained golden by the golden light, and it rapidly began to melt. However, in the next instant, the ball of ice abruptly exploded, and countless sword projections erupted through the air before flying in all directions.


    Thunderous booms rang out as terrifying energy fluctuations surged through the entire drill grounds. Thankfully, the protective barrier on the drill grounds had been designed specifically to target clashes between Titled Douluos.


    None of the spectators could see what exactly was going on as the terrifying clashes of energy were making the protective barrier release extremely scintillating light, to the extent that they were unable to see what was happening inside.


    The light lingered for a long time before it finally faded, and the two figures within the barrier were revealed once again.


    Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong had already swapped positions, and they had their backs facing one another. Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear was pointing diagonally down toward the ground, and Wu Zhangkong had already reverted back out of his martial soul true body form.


    However, much to everyone''s surprise, a suit of icy blue armor had appeared over Wu Zhangkong''s body. The suit of armor was releasing wisps of white energy, and there seemed to be icy mist revolving within it. It was none other than his suit of three-word battle armor, Sky Dragon Ice!


    Wu Zhangkong had been forced to don his suit of battle armor!


    Right at this moment, a crisp and pleasant crack rang out in an extremely audible fashion. Wu Zhangkong''s Skyfrost Sword then snapped right before everyone''s astonished eyes.


    Around a quarter of the sword''s blade fell onto the ground, and Wu Zhangkong''s body also swayed slightly.


    The Skyfrost Sword had been snapped?

 Chapter 1172: Revered

    That was Wu Zhangkong''s martial soul! As a Soul Master, getting one''s martial soul destroyed could most definitely count as a heavy blow, and it would require a very long time to recover from.


    In a battle between a Soul Sage and a Titled Douluo, it was the latter who had his sword broken!


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin still had golden light shimmering around his body, and he didn''t appear to have sustained any damage. The golden scales over his skin slowly receded, and he was standing on the spot like an almighty immovable mountain.


    Wu Siduo stared blankly at him, and both in her eyes and within her heart, his stature continued to grow.


    He had always been so exceptional, but she didn''t think that he would already be this powerful. Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng''s eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. Yang Nianxia''s mouth had completely gaped open, and all of the young students were staring at Tang Wulin with fervent and astonished looks in their eyes.


    Who was that and what was going on with his soul rings? He seemed to be able to switch between two sets of soul rings at will, but even the most powerful set of the two only consisted of seven soul rings. Despite this, he had been able to defeat Teacher Wu, someone who was invincible in their eyes!


    Not only had Wu Zhangkong lost and had his martial soul snapped, he had even been forced to don his suit of three-word battle armor to withstand his opponent''s final attack. What if his opponent had also released his suit of battle armor? What would''ve happened then?


    The Golden Dragon Spear was ringing slightly as if in a display of elation, and its sharp tip was so transparent that it was difficult to tell whether it actually even existed.


    After being polished by the Dragonslaying Saber, which acted as the perfect whetstone, his Golden Dragon Spear was now sharper than ever. The Skyfrost Sword was unable to match the insane sharpness of this divine weapon in the end.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin hadn''t attained complete mastery over his Path of Regal Domination yet, so he was unable to withdraw it at will. Thankfully, he was able to control his Golden Dragon Spear so that it refrained from unleashing its energy devouring ability. Otherwise, Wu Zhangkong would''ve most definitely been severely wounded, and even his three-word battle armor wouldn''t be able to save him as even a suit of three-word battle armor would struggle to withstand the sharpness of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    "Phew!" Tang Wulin opened his mouth to expel a burst of frosty white air, and his face also paled significantly. Defeating Wu Zhangkong had certainly not been an easy task, and even his dragon''s repulse had been unable to completely ward off the threat of Skyfrost Absolute Zero. After all, he had only just attained his dragon''s repulse and was far from being able to perfectly control it.


    Only after several seconds had passed did Tang Wulin and Wu Zhangkong turned around to face one another almost at the exact same time.


    Wu Zhangkong''s Sky Dragon Ice battle armor melted away like snow and ice, and his face was also a little pale, but his eyes were filled with elation as he nodded at Tang Wulin. "You really haven''t disappointed me. I can now fully approve your plan."


    In his eyes, Tang Wulin had only attained his level of power through his experiences on the demonic island and in the military.


    He was extremely elated that Tang Wulin had become so powerful, and he was also stunned that Tang Wulin had been able to defeat him as nothing more than a Soul Sage. What could be more exciting than to have such an exceptional disciple?


    Only after this sparring match did he truly see hope in Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his Golden Dragon Spear before extending a bow toward Wu Zhangkong. He didn''t enquire about Wu Zhangkong''s bodily condition as that would be a gesture of disrespect.


    "Where are you staying at the moment?" Wu Zhangkong asked.


    "I''m staying at the Heaven Dou City blacksmith association. The president of the association, Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua, is my uncle-teacher, and my other teacher, Saint Blacksmith Mu Chen, is also there. Teacher Wu, should we bring Her Majesty, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, here as well? I know where she currently is."


    Wu Zhangkong nodded in response. "Alright, get that arranged as soon as possible. The pavilion master''s death must''ve dealt her an extremely heavy blow; perhaps being with everyone will ease her pain slightly."


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali was the only remaining high-ranking member of Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin''s expression fell slightly at the thought of her.


    Wu Zhangkong said, "What''s happened has already happened, and no amount of remorse will change the past. All we can do is look ahead and do what''s expected of us. Go and reunite with your friends. I''ll formulate a plan and get the first batch of people sent to the demonic island as soon as possible. Are you going to make a trip to the demonic island in person?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I think that would be best."


    "Alright." Wu Zhangkong nodded before turning and departing.


    Tang Wulin''s arrival had truly instilled him with hope for Shrek Academy''s arrival, and he couldn''t wait to formulate this plan. The sooner he could send the first batch of students to the demonic island, the sooner they would become more powerful.


    Following Wu Zhangkong''s departure, Yang Nianxia immediately let loose a comical war cry before rushing toward Tang Wulin. He was far taller and broader than Tang Wulin, and he was built like a giant bear. He reached Tang Wulin after taking just a few steps before lowering his head and charging onward. A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he raised his right hand and pressed it against Yang Nianxia''s head.


    Yang Nianxia was far bigger than him, but just a single hand alone was enough to keep him from being able to approach Tang Wulin any further.


    This was an indication of his absolute power!


    Everyone else had already gathered around him, and all of the younger students were staring at him with curiosity in their eyes, especially those who were unfamiliar with him.


    Luo Guixing smiled, and said, "Allow me to make an introduction. You may not have seen him before, but you''ve definitely heard of his name. He is the leader of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Dragon Moon Tang Wulin."


    Dragon Moon was the name of his suit of battle armor, while Tang Wulin was his true name. All of the young students'' eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this name. Indeed, they had definitely all heard of this name before, and it was no exaggeration to say that this name had accrued legendary status among everyone.


    They had even seen this upperclassman during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but their memories were understandably a little fuzzy due to the passage of time. Never did they think that this upperclassman who wasn''t much older than them would be powerful enough to defeat Wu Zhangkong.


    "Hello everyone, I''m Tang Wulin," Tang Wulin greeted everyone with a smile.


    "You''re so powerful, Senior Disciple Brother! Even Teacher Wu was..."


    Tang Wulin immediately cut off the young student who was speaking, and interjected, "There''s no way that I''m a match for Teacher Wu; Teacher Wu went easy on me and didn''t even use 50% of his soul power."


    All of the young students were enlightened at the sight of Tang Wulin''s genuine expression. No wonder this senior disciple brother had been able to defeat Teacher Wu; it was all a result of Teacher Wu holding back during their sparring match.


    However, Wu Siduo and the others clearly weren''t as easy to fool as the young students. All of them were easily convinced, but they were naturally well aware of whether Wu Zhangkong had used his full power or not.


    In reality, even Tang Wulin himself was stunned by his own powers. He was naturally aware that he was far more powerful than the average Soul Sage, and that after breaking his 11th Golden Dragon King, he would''ve definitely been powerful enough to face the average Titled Douluo. However, even he didn''t think that a powerful Titled Douluo like Wu Zhangkong would be defeated by him.


    This undoubtedly had something to do with the peerless sharpness of his Golden Dragon Spear, but the role that his powers had played was certainly also a significant one that was not to be discounted. During the final clash, Wu Zhangkong''s absolute zero really had affected him and made him feel as if his bloodline were about to freeze solid in his veins. However, thinking back now, his dragon core and heart had both exhibited emergency reactions at the same time, thumping violently to counteract the biting chill.


    Tang Wulin was enlightened as he recalled this detail. It wasn''t that Wu Zhangkong wasn''t powerful enough; the reality was that his abilities had countered his Skyfrost Absolute Zero to a certain extent.


    The Golden Dragon King had given him an ultra-powerful physical constitution, as had the congenital secret method of the Body Sect. The two sources of physical enhancements made him far more resistant to super-low temperatures than the average person, and on top of that, he also had his Golden Dragon Body, golden dragon scales, and dragon''s repulse to defend himself, so the Skyfrost Absolute Zero had very little effect on him.


    This was how he was able to unleash such devastating power during the clash. In the face of his Path of Regal Domination, Wu Zhangkong was immediately struck by a sense of life-threatening peril, which caused his suit of three-word battle armor to be released on its own, and only then was he able to withstand that attack. Even so, his Skyfrost Sword had still been snapped by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear. To summarize, Wu Zhangkong shouldn¡¯t have used absolute zero against Tang Wulin. If he had used any other soul skills, they would''ve been far more effective, and the final outcome of the battle wouldn''t have been so clear-cut.

 Chapter 1173: Its a "Very Good" Place

    Tang Wulin quickly analyzed the battle that had just taken place. His Spirit Domain realm spiritual power gave him the sense that he controlled the entire battlefield, and he was able to clearly recall every single minute detail.


    He had constantly been improving, and in particular, his rate of growth following that battle against the abyssal plane had been truly astonishing.


    Luo Guixing and the others had initially been itching to challenge him, but after witnessing his battle against Wu Zhangkong, all of them immediately relinquished that urge. Even Wu Zhangkong couldn''t beat him; they were certainly no match.


    After reuniting with everyone, Tang Wulin gave everyone a brief recount of his experiences. Everyone fell into a solemn silence after hearing about how the Atlas Douluo had sacrificed himself to save Tang Wulin and his friends.


    "The academy may have been destroyed, but it''s never actually disappeared. We''ll revive Shrek Academy no matter what price we have to pay," Yang Nianxia vowed in a voice that was filled with conviction.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Teacher Wu just told me that he''s going to be splitting everyone up into batches to undergo training in the outside world. The location for the training has already been decided, and all of you will most likely be part of the first group."


    "Oh? What kind of place is this?" Wu Siduo asked in a curious manner.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "That''s confidential information. If I disclose it to you in advance, it''ll impact the effect of the training. In any case, I''ve already been there, and I can tell you that it''s a ''very good'' place."


    For some reason, Luo Guixing was feeling rather uneasy at the sight of the smile on Tang Wulin''s face. He couldn''t help but feel that there was a somewhat sinister element to his smile, and it was quite clear that this was not going to be some ordinary training.


    No one else managed to catch onto this. They were now all seven-ring Soul Sages with the exception of Zheng Yiran, and even she was at rank 68, so they were very confident in their own abilities. During the past year, they had been constantly cultivating arduously without slacking off in the slightest.


    "What about us, Senior Disciple Brother? Will we also be able to undergo this training?" a young student asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded with a smile in response. "Of course you can. Everyone will get a chance, but you have to improve yourselves to a satisfactory degree first."


    "We''ll be sure to work hard, Senior Disciple Brother!"


    Tang Wulin turned to Wu Siduo, and asked, "You''re all still two-word battle armor masters, right? Have you thought about your suits of three-word battle armor yet?"


    Wu Siduo replied, "Not yet. As you know, there''s no way for us to get our hands on sufficient uncommon metals here. All uncommon metals are registered with the federation, so it''ll be extremely difficult for all of us to secure sufficient uncommon metals for our suits of battle armor. Hence, we only have designs and haven''t put anything into practice."


    She wore a resigned expression as she spoke, and Yang Nianxia continued where she left off. "The most important element is forging. I''m sure you''re aware that elevating a suit of two-word battle armor to the three-word level is a very important step up, and three-word battle armor masters are considered to be first-rate Soul Masters. However, suits of three-word battle armor require soul refinement, and there are only a handful of Saint Blacksmiths on the entire continent! It''s way too hard for us to find a Saint Blacksmith to help us, so we can only set aside these plans for now."


    Tang Wulin asked, "If I recall correctly, you''re also a blacksmith; what''s your skill level?"


    A wry smile appeared on Yang Nianxia''s face. "My skills are pretty shoddy. Spirit refinement is too difficult, and it requires the expenditure of a large amount of resources to perfect. Prior to the bombing, I had only just progressed to the fifth rank, but my spirit refinement success rate is less than 40%. Even the metals for my suit of two-word battle armor weren''t refined by myself. The path to becoming an exceptional blacksmith is way too arduous. In the past, I had thought that everyone had simply been exaggerating your talents, but only after I became a fifth-rank blacksmith myself did I realize just how impressive it was for you to have reached the same level at such a young age."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. If it weren''t for the endless supply of strength he received from his Golden Dragon King bloodline, combined with his arduous cultivation and immense spiritual power, he wouldn''t have been able to reach this level so easily. Furthermore, he had two Saint Blacksmiths and a Divine Blacksmith instructing him! It could be said that he had the best teachers on the entire continent, and only then had he been able to progress so rapidly.


    "Seeing as you already have the designs, you can leave the forging to me. Can you tell me what metals you require for your suits of three-word battle armor? We''ll discuss a plan, and I''ll source the metals. As for the specific construction of the battle armor, that''ll have to be done by you guys. I want all of you to have at least partial suits of three-word battle armor before you get sent out for training."


    Everyone was ecstatic to hear this, and even Xu Yucheng and Luo Guixing''s envy toward Tang Wulin had clearly abated slightly. As Soul Masters and battle armor masters, who wouldn''t want to become more powerful? In particular, once one became a three-word battle armor master, they would even be a match for Titled Douluos and perhaps even Hyper Douluos given that they didn''t use their battle armor. Furthermore, the domains provided by suits of three-word battle armor would undoubtedly significantly enhance their powers.


    As such, everyone eagerly brought out their battle armor designs and took Tang Wulin to the stone chamber where Yang Nianxia forged. All of the young students had been ordered to cultivate on their own by Wu Siduo. They weren''t at a stage where they had to consider matters regarding suits of three-word battle armor yet.


    Tang Wulin carefully listened to everyone''s ideas first, particularly their thoughts surrounding the fusion of metals. After that, he gave some suggestions of his own, making sure to satisfy everyone''s prerequisites while proposing plans that would improve their suits of battle armor in the metal fusion aspect. However, this would undoubtedly severely compound the difficulty of the forging process involved as well.


    "So metal can be fused in such a manner; you''ve truly opened our eyes! At the very least, I think this is completely feasible from a theoretical standpoint," Yang Nianxia said as he looked at Tang Wulin with eyes that were filled with praise. They were both blacksmiths, so why was there such a huge disparity between them? He was far inferior to Tang Wulin in vision alone.


    However, Luo Guixing was rather concerned. "If we do this, the difficulty of the forging process will be significantly increased, and we''ll require even more uncommon metals. That''ll make it very difficult for us to become three-word battle armor masters."


    Yang Nianxia chuckled, "Guixing, aren''t you supposed to be the smart one among us? Can''t you see how confident Wulin is? He definitely has his ways. Besides, his teacher is a Saint Blacksmith, and his uncle-teacher is a Divine Blacksmith!"


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Nianxia''s right, so just leave it to me. In terms of the uncommon metals required, the federation does keep records on the uncommon metals at the blacksmith association and will conduct audits periodically, but the blacksmith association has a private metal storage unit; I''m sure I''ll be able to source some metals from there. On top of that, the Tang Sect can also supply uncommon metals. Even the federation isn''t aware of just how much of a supply of uncommon metals the Tang Sect has."


    Only the highest-ranking members of the Tang Sect were aware of just how much resources the Tang Sect had, and even Tang Wulin wasn''t aware of this information. Prior to his departure from the Blood God Legion, Cao Dezhi had only told him to go to Zang Xin if he wanted any resources, and Zang Xin would do his best to source them.


    The Tang Sect had built up a vast amount of power and influence during the past 20,000 years, and this influence spread over multiple continents. No one knew exactly how much wealth the sect had accrued, but Tang Wulin was sure that it wouldn''t be an issue for the sect to supply the uncommon metals required for a few suits of three-word battle armor. As for forging, he would be able to complete everything on his own.


    During the past few months, he had forged the soul refined metals required for the suits of three-word battle armor for A''Ruheng, Sima Jinchi, and himself, and as a result, his forging skills had improved markedly once again. Even though he hadn''t verified this, Tang Wulin was sure that he already satisfied the prerequisites required for one to become an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith. Even if his skills were still inferior to Mu Chen''s, it wouldn''t be by much.

 Chapter 1174: Taking the First Step

    Forging the metals required for the suits of three-word battle armor for Wu Siduo and the others would provide him with further soul refinement practice.


    Tang Wulin turned to Yang Nianxia, and said, "I''ll take care of your suits of battle armor, but you''ll have to forge the metals for all of the other students'' suits of battle armor. You''re already a fifth-rank blacksmith now, and there''s no way for you to improve other than to practice more. I''ll provide you with the metals required for that."


    "Sure!" Yang Nianxia was ecstatic. He was certainly hoping that he would be able to refine the metals for his own future suits of battle armor. Even though that appeared to be quite a far-fetched goal, he still had a passion for forging, so it was naturally fantastic news to him that Tang Wulin was able to provide him with the uncommon metals for him to practice on. A major factor behind his stalling forging progress was the lack of sufficient resources. The academy sanctuary only had some basic daily necessities, but was sorely lacking when it came to forging resources.


    After grasping everyone''s requirements, Tang Wulin left the underground sanctuary and returned to the surface.


    Long Yuxue had been waiting for him this entire time, and when she saw Tang Wulin again, she could clearly sense that there was something different about him. The brooding look deep in his eyes had disappeared, and he seemed to be filled to the brim with excitement.


    The discovery that Teacher Wu was still alive along with 215 other Shrek Academy students naturally instilled Tang Wulin with extreme excitement, not just because it would make the future rebuild of Shrek Academy easier, but simply because they were alive! Only after enduring a life and death ordeal would one truly be able to understand just how lucky they were to be alive.


    After returning to the blacksmith association, Tang Wulin was still in a state of high excitement as he returned directly to his room before dialing a number on his soul communicator.


    "How long will you take to get here?"


    After receiving a reply, Tang Wulin continued, "Alright, I''ll wait for you, and I have some good news for all of you when you get here."


    After that, he dialed a few more numbers and repeated the same conversation.


    The first step on the monumental journey of rebuilding Shrek Academy had finally been taken, and during the next few days, Tang Wulin dedicated himself wholeheartedly to forging, and perhaps he was lifted by his good mood, but his soul refinement success rate was becoming higher and higher.


    The soul refined metals he forged for Wu Siduo and the others were not as difficult as the metals forged for his own suit of three-word battle armor, and even the most difficult metals, which were for Wu Siduo, only consisted of soul refining alloys consisting of four different types of metals. In contrast, Tang Wulin''s battle armor consisted of alloys forged from eight different types of metals. The differences in the numbers and types of metals used were dictated by individual abilities, and on top of that, the Goldwater Consonance that Tang Wulin had obtained had also been a contributing factor.


    Even as a Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua had no way of bringing out another piece of Goldwater Consonance. With that piece of uncommon metal, Tang Wulin was able to forge the metals required for his suit of three-word battle armor to perfection.


    Even Zhen Hua was full of praise toward the metals he had forged for his suit of three-word battle armor, proclaiming that even if he were to infuse no additional metals and simply heavenly refine everything in the future, that would still result in a suit of four-word battle armor that ranked above all suits of such armor in this world.


    The Goldwater Consonance was extremely effective, but even it had its limits. It could only facilitate the fusion between nine different types of metals, and its effects were only applicable to soul refined metals. As such, Tang Wulin would have to rely solely on his own abilities when it came time to forge the metals required for his suit of four-word battle armor.


    As a Divine Blacksmith, Zhen Hua was clearly a better blacksmith than Tang Wulin, but not everyone would benefit from having suits of battle armor that had many different types of metals infused. To put it more accurately, the power of the battle armor depended on the physical constitution of the battle armor master. Without a sufficiently powerful body, the Soul Master wouldn''t be able to handle an overly powerful suit of battle armor.


    This was exemplified by the fact that Tang Wulin had forged alloys consisting of six different types of metals for A''Ruheng''s suit of three-word battle armor, but Sima Jinchi could only handle five types of metals as his upper limit.


    Even with his current physical constitution, Tang Wulin wasn''t entirely able to support alloys consisting of eight different types of metals. However, he was confident that he would be able to handle it after absorbing the essence in the 12th Golden Dragon King seal.


    After cultivating the Body Sect''s congenital secret method and completing the first perforation stage, Tang Wulin was becoming more and more confident in his own physical constitution. He was confident that if he were to continue to cultivate like this, breaking the 12th seal shouldn''t pose too stern of a test for him.


    The seed of life had greatly fortified his seals, so as long as he didn''t voluntarily break them, they wouldn''t break on their own for at least the next decade. This gave Tang Wulin even more confidence to carry out the plan to revive Shrek Academy.


    It was imperative now to improve the overall powers of the 215 remaining Shrek Academy students and source sufficient resources for them. At the same time, he also had to accumulate wealth and resources in preparation to rebuild Shrek Academy in the future.


    Seeing as he was going to rebuild Shrek Academy, he definitely couldn''t make it worse than its predecessor. Shrek Academy was once a city; the largest city on the entire continent! One could only imagine the resources required to rebuild such a city. In fact, it couldn''t even be considered to be a rebuild as there wasn''t even a foundation left. There was only a massive lake that remained of the former Shrek City, so accumulating wealth and resources was extremely important.


    Furthermore, he also had to address the current state of the Sea God''s Lake. He had to completely eradicate the radiation left behind by the Godslayer missile and make the seed of life flourish into a massive tree so it could become the core of Shrek Academy. Both of those tasks couldn''t be accomplished in a short time, but it was imperative for him to complete them as quickly as possible.


    However, in any case, he now had a clear target at the very least, and he wasn''t fighting alone.


    Tang Wulin forged a piece of uncommon metal each for Wu Siduo and the others, and it was up to them to complete the transition from suits of two-word battle armor to suits of three-word battle armor.


    After that, he traveled to the Tang Sect''s Heaven Dou City branch.


    Following the destruction of the Tang Sect headquarters, the entire Tang Sect had kept an extremely low profile, and many of the Tang Sect branches that were out in the open had already shut down.


    The only large branch that was still open to the public was the Heaven Dou City branch. To put it more accurately, this was the current Tang Sect headquarters.


    The Tang Sect originated in Heaven Dou City, and the headquarters had been established here since the Tang Sect was founded 20,000 years ago.


    After returning to Heaven Dou City, Tang Wulin had refrained from coming here as he was worried that doing so would attract attention.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the current Tang Sect headquarters was being scrutinized by countless powers. It wasn''t that those powers didn''t want to force the Heaven Dou City branch into closure; their attempts had simply been thwarted by the Tang Sect. Furthermore, Mo Lan was now essentially the mayor of Heaven Dou City, and she extended a lot of assistance toward this Tang Sect branch, thereby allowing it to continue to operate.


    Even so, the Tang Sect branch was extremely inconspicuous and was frequented by far fewer people than before. It was quite apparent to anyone that following that major disaster, the entire Tang Sect was falling into obscurity.


    After disguising himself, Tang Wulin arrived outside the gate of the Tang Sect''s Heaven Dou City branch.


    He looked at the antiquated courtyard and the huge plaque above the entrance, and a peculiar light flashed through his eyes. He then made his way into the building without any hesitation.


    The antiquated feel became even more pronounced in the building. This building had already stood for over 10,000 years, but it had been maintained extremely well, and countless Tang Sect forefathers had frequented it in the past.


    One of the reasons why the Spirit Pagoda hadn''t targeted this place was because its founder, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, had once grown up here! This was the Tang Sect branch established by him and his generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so despite the animosity the Spirit Pagoda harbored toward the Tang Sect, they refrained from targeting this branch as a gesture of respect to their founder.


    As for other powers, there were many who wanted to target this branch, but they would face immense pressure by doing so.


    The Tang Sect had been founded by Tang San, and the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Huo Yuhao, had grown up at this branch. These were two legendary figures that received unanimous consensus from historians as two beings who had most definitely already become gods.


    Hence, even the Eagle Faction of the federal government decided to take no further action toward this new Tang Sect headquarters after an internal conference.


    After all, the Tang Sect was already keeping a very low profile, and it would be wise not to overly repress them. Otherwise, if the Tang Sect were to retaliate, it would spell some major issues.


    At the very least, the current situation suggested that the Tang Sect was being very sensible and displayed no intention to oppose the federation. Compared to the Spirit Pagoda, which was at the very height of its powers, the Tang Sect was far inferior anyway.


    Tang Wulin continued onward, yet he was stopped in his path by a pair of young men in Tang Sect uniforms before he could even pass through the second courtyard.

 Chapter 1175: The Heartless Denies His Innermost Feelings

    "Who are you and what business do you have here?" one of the young men asked in a serious voice.


    The current Tang Sect received very few visitors, and even though the federation hadn''t released any new policies that targeted the Tang Sect, all of the major powers knew why the sect was falling into obscurity. Thus, the Tang Sect naturally received fewer and fewer visitors. On this day, Tang Wulin had disguised himself into a middle-aged man in his forties who was extremely mundane in terms of height, figure, and appearance.


    "I''m here to discuss a business deal. The heartless one denies his innermost feelings, while the amorous one is left to rue what could''ve been," Tang Wulin replied with a smile.


    Surprised looks flashed through both of the young men''s eyes upon hearing this. The one who had just spoken made an inviting hand gesture toward Tang Wulin, and said, "Please come with me."


    He then led Tang Wulin further into the branch.


    Meanwhile, in a completely nondescript house not far away from the Tang Sect headquarters.


    In direct contrast to the mundane exterior of the house, the interior was like a scene straight out of a science-fiction world, and it was filled with all types of complex and intricate devices.


    "Who is that?" There were three people in the room who were staring at a screen.


    If Tang Wulin were present, he would''ve definitely been able to identify that the images being depicted on the screen were none other than those of the courtyard within the Tang Sect headquarters. The images were shot from a bird''s-eye perspective, but they were extremely clear.


    "I don''t know; I''ve never seen this man before, so he''s most likely not a member of the Tang Sect. He seems really ordinary, but he''s so ordinary that I can''t help but be suspicious. Should we report this to the higher-ups?"


    "Don''t be so quick to jump to conclusions; let''s keep observing first."


    "It''s going to be very hard for us to continue to observe him after he enters the building, though. The Tang Sect has internal masking systems, and we''ve tried to infiltrate the building many times to install surveillance devices, all to no avail."


    "Activate the thermal imaging analysis device and analyze him before he enters the building," a middle-aged man who was sitting at the center of the trio instructed.


    "Yes!"


    The other two people in the room immediately sprang into action, and Tang Wulin''s body began to turn red on the screen, clearly being viewed through thermal imaging devices.


    "His blood essence is significantly more powerful than a normal person, and his heartbeat is quite strong. It''s beating around 45 times a minute, which is on par with that of a very healthy human. He''s not releasing any soul power fluctuations, and his spiritual fluctuations are also within the normal range. It feels like he''s nothing more than a normal person who exercises regularly."


    "Alright, keep observing him, then," the middle-aged man instructed before closing his eyes to rest.


    Their mission was to observe the Tang Sect headquarters at all times and report anything amiss to their higher-ups right away.


    The Tang Sect was nowhere near as powerful as it was during its heyday, but up until recently, it was still one of the most powerful super organizations on the entire continent, so there were always going to be some visitors.


    As such, the instructions they had received were to observe all powerful Soul Masters at or above the Soul Emperor level that visited the Tang Sect headquarters, then follow them after they left to see where they came from.


    This type of surveillance had already been going on for over half a year, but as it turned out, the Tang Sect really was keeping an extremely low profile; not only had they not done anything in the past half a year, there had been very few powerful beings that required tracking. The members of the Tang Sect themselves also rarely ever left the building, and it was almost as if they were in semi-seclusion. Furthermore, all of the Tang Sect''s business operations seemed to have ceased, and even though its headquarter was very large, it was like a large family manor that couldn''t be any more understated and inconspicuous.


    However, the more this proved to be the case, the more the higher-ups of these surveillance personnel were convinced that the Tang Sect was up to something. With the enormous foundation that the Tang Sect had established, they shouldn''t have been reduced to such a state even if their headquarters had been destroyed; they should''ve at least had the power to retaliate.


    Tang Wulin was led into a room by the young man, and after coming here, the cautious look in Tang Wulin''s eyes finally eased slightly. With his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he could sense all of the sensory devices around him. To put it in simpler terms, all sensory devices emitted energy fluctuations, and no matter how faint those fluctuations were, they couldn''t escape Tang Wulin''s detection.


    With his immense spiritual power, he was able to discover all of them with ease. As a result, he had intentionally disguised his own energy fluctuations to fool whoever was conducting surveillance on him. With his enormous spiritual power as a foundation, it was extremely simple for him to use the disguise techniques he had learned from the old demons to fool the sensors.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he sat in silence to wait.


    Not long after that, a bookshelf beside him suddenly shifted to the side, and a person emerged from behind it.


    Tang Wulin''s smile instantly widened at the sight of him.


    This was an extremely handsome middle-aged man. In particular, he had a pair of clear magnificent eyes that were framed by long eyelashes, and he was no less handsome than Tang Wulin. He was none other than the vice-palace master of the Tang Sect''s Douluo Palace, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin.


    Zang Xin turned to Tang Wulin before giving him a slight nod, then waving a hand before walking into the hidden door behind the bookshelf.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly followed along. He wasn''t surprised at all that Zang Xin had been able to recognize him, not because of his cultivation rank as a Limit Douluo, but because he had notified Zang Xin in advance of the fact that he was coming.


    After entering through the hidden door, they arrived in an elevator, which began to travel downward.


    Only then did Zang Xin turn to Tang Wulin with a smile. "Your disguise abilities are truly becoming more and more extraordinary! Even I couldn''t recognize you. I was only able to confirm that it was you because you didn''t completely conceal your aura."


    The elevator was moving very quickly, and Tang Wulin could sense that he was descending at a rapid speed, but strangely enough, there was no sense of weightlessness that one would associate with such a rapid descent. If it weren''t for the sharp senses of his spiritual power, he wouldn''t even have been able to identify that he was descending at such a fast speed.


    This was definitely the fastest elevator that Tang Wulin had ever taken; even the ones at the Spirit Pagoda and the blacksmith association couldn''t compare with it. The elevator had descended for at least 200 meters in less than 20 seconds, and it was still continuing downward.


    Zang Xin smiled at the sight of Tang Wulin''s surprised expression. "Not bad! Not many people can notice this."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Do you have a mind-reading ability, Your Majesty? Why do you always know what I''m thinking."


    Zang Xin chuckled, "I can''t think of anything else that you could be surprised about. You''ve done very well, Wulin; I''m very impressed that you''ve grown to this extent in just a year."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Did Senior Blood One tell you about me?"


    Zang Xin''s expression changed slightly at the mention of Cao Dezhi, but he then quickly looked away, and harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, that bastard wouldn''t speak to me. He has ways of informing me of certain things, though."


    The elevator finally stopped, and Tang Wulin was sure that it had descended at least 500 meters underground, which placed them even deeper than Shrek Academy''s sanctuary beneath the Sea God''s Lake.


    This made Tang Wulin suspect whether everyone in the Tang Sect headquarters had actually been completely wiped out during the bombing.


    If there was such a deep place here, wouldn''t there have been a similar place at the past Tang Sect headquarters?


    The elevator doors opened, and Zang Xin strode out first. Compared to the Shrek Academy sanctuary, this place was completely different.


    The first thing that Tang Wulin was struck by after exiting the elevator was the strong technological vibes here.


    There were all types of different soul tools positioned throughout the massive metallic space, some of which Tang Wulin recognized while others were completely unfamiliar to him. There were also some strangely-shaped soul tools that he didn''t know the functions of.


    After passing through a large door, Tang Wulin was given quite a fright as he found himself in a massive factory that stretched as far as the eyes could see. This was none other than a mecha manufacturing factory.

 Chapter 1176: The True Power of the Tang Sect

    Indeed, these were mechas, and they were being produced on an assembly line! There were over 1,000 workers in here!


    What the hell was happening? It was incredible to think that the Tang Sect could have such a massive factory right under the noses of all of the major powers.


    Zang Xin led Tang Wulin toward the front of the factory along the side, and he smiled as he said, "The true headquarters of the Tang Sect has never been in Shrek City. That branch holds an extremely high level of symbolic importance as it''s a representation of our close bond with Shrek Academy, but this is where the Tang Sect''s true headquarters lie. What you see now is only a very small portion of the Tang Sect headquarters, and we have a total of 16 factories like this one that are 500 meters underground. These were all gradually constructed over 3,000 years by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and to put it in simpler terms, the entire underground world 500 meters beneath Heaven Dou City belongs to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. The external defenses here were all designed with Godslayer missiles in mind."


    Tang Wulin was truly astonished. He had always known that the Tang Sect was extremely powerful and wouldn''t be brought down so easily, but he didn''t think that it would be THIS powerful!


    The entire underground world of Heaven Dou City belonged to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect? Wait, why was Shrek Academy included in this?


    "Your Majesty, are you saying that our academy also has a claim over this place?" Tang Wulin asked in a surprised manner.


    Zang Xin nodded with a smile. "Over 10,000 years ago, the Tang Sect faced its most severe crisis and was almost destroyed as a result. Only a few people remained from that generation of the Tang Sect, but after that, the Tang Sect made a resurgence, and it could be said that the miraculous resurgence had been supported in its entirety by Shrek Academy. That generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were almost all members of the Tang Sect, and I''m sure you''ll be very familiar with one of those names; he was none other than Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, who later went on to found the Spirit Pagoda.


    "In order to find a way to revitalize the Tang Sect, the Spirit Ice Douluo developed a series of hybrid weapons that combined Tang Sect hidden weapons with soul technology, and that resulted in the Divine Zhuge Crossbow Cannon, which was the primitive form of the modern high-frequency repeating automatic soul cannons. From that time onward, the Tang Sect began its resurgence on the back of soul tool production, and all of this only happened because of the support from Shrek Academy.


    "If it weren''t for Shrek Academy''s extensive support, there was no way that the Tang Sect would''ve been able to make its resurgence. At the time, the higher-ups of the Tang Sect held a conference and decided to give Shrek Academy a share in all of the properties under the Tang Sect. The academy didn''t need all of that, but it was a gesture of gratitude, and those shares still exist to this very day, 10,000 years after that decision had initially been made. Hence, Shrek Academy has a share in everything you see here, including everything that the Tang Sect owns on the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent.


    "Prior to your departure to the Blood God Legion, I refrained from telling you all of this as we still couldn''t be sure whether you would be capable of reviving Shrek Academy at the time. However, you''ve shown us through your efforts that you''re definitely capable of leading Shrek Academy on a resurgence, just like how Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had once done the same for the Tang Sect. Hence, I can show you these things now. The Tang Sect will return the favor for the kindness that Shrek Academy bestowed upon us 10,000 years ago.


    "We''ll support the revival of Shrek Academy with all our efforts, just as Shrek Academy had wholeheartedly supported the Tang Sect''s resurgence. The bond between Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect will only be stronger than you can imagine."


    Zang Xin raised a hand and patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder as he spoke. "Hence, you''ve never been fighting on your own."


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath to try and repress his turbulent emotions.


    Meanwhile, Zang Xin continued in a grim voice, "However, what I must remind you of is that even though the Tang Sect has accumulated this much power, our opponents are still even more powerful than us. Once you decide to announce to the world that you''ll be rebuilding Shrek Academy, you''ll face opposition from all of the major powers on the entire continent. Hence, we won''t be supporting you in making such a move until you show us that you have what it takes to do so.


    "There is only one chance, and if the Tang Sect displays its entire hand to the world, only for everything to end in failure, then we''ll also follow in the footsteps of Shrek Academy. The Tang Sect has been accumulating all this time, but the Spirit Pagoda has also been doing the same during the past 10,000 years. It has to be said that the Spirit Ice Douluo truly left an extremely precious heritage to the Spirit Pagoda. The emergence of soul spirits and the decline of soul beasts has elevated the Spirit Pagoda to an extremely lofty position on this continent.


    "They''ve amassed such an enormous amount of wealth that it would be no exaggeration to say that their wealth is comparable to that of the federation. Just as no one knows how much power the Tang Sect has accumulated, no one knows just how much power and wealth the Spirit Pagoda has amassed, either. I''m even being led to suspect that the shortage of resources our continent is currently experiencing could be due, in large part, to the fact that the Spirit Pagoda had hidden away a vast amount of resources."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted with shock upon hearing this.


    "Your Majesty, it''s quite clear that the Spirit Pagoda is plotting something, and it''s very likely that they were behind the bombing; what are their intentions?"


    A cold smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face. "I know Qiangu Dongfeng all too well; he''s an extremely ambitious man, and he only has one goal in life, which is to elevate the Spirit Pagoda to the dizzying heights occupied by the Soul Hall 20,000 years ago before it was vanquished by Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San. He wants the Spirit Pagoda to take over the entire world and control all Soul Masters!"


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. Qiangu Dongfeng was the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda and the current head of the Qiangu Family. He was a Limit Douluo and a four-word battle armor master, and he was the true supporting pillar of the Spirit Pagoda.


    It was undoubtedly the case that he was going to be a major obstacle in the quest to rebuild Shrek Academy.


    "But the federation is a democratic government; have they not realized how ambitious the Spirit Pagoda is? Doesn''t the federation have the Battle God Hall as well? On top of that, there are so many powerful hidden sects; how can they allow the Spirit Pagoda to develop as they please like this?"


    In the face of Tang Wulin''s questions, Zang Xin heaved a faint sigh. "All of the major powers are supposed to keep one another in check, and despite how powerful the Spirit Pagoda is, they didn''t dare to go too far when the academy was still around. However, following the bombing, the entire situation was tipped on its head. No one could''ve envisioned that the Holy Spirit Cult would suddenly unleash such a devastating attack involving two Godslayer missiles. The attack was simply far too abrupt, and we paid dearly for our complacency. We underestimated Qiangu Dongfeng''s ambition, and we didn''t think that he would stoop to something like this just to clear the way for his envisioned path to world domination."


    A cold expression appeared in Zang Xin''s eyes as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. He had always suspected this to be the case, but he was still a little puzzled after hearing confirmation from Zang Xin.


    "Your Majesty, are you saying that the bombing really did have something to do with Qiangu Dongfeng and the Spirit Pagoda?"


    Zang Xin nodded in response. "It''s not related to the entire Spirit Pagoda, but only certain individuals of the Spirit Pagoda. Since the bombing, we''ve been constantly investigating everything, and through our investigation, we discovered that there are issues surrounding many of the checkpoints on the roads around Shrek City. They destroyed most of the evidence, including the video footage of the vehicles entering the city around the time of the bombing, and even those who were in charge of the checkpoints in question have disappeared.


    "There was definitely something extremely sinister afoot, and aside from the federation, only the Spirit Pagoda has sufficient influence to control those checkpoints. After a series of thorough investigations, we can basically confirm that the bombing had something to do with the Qiangu Family. No matter how well they tried to hide it, it''s impossible to erase all evidence. The evidence that we found isn''t sufficient to provide concrete proof that they were the perpetrators, but it''s already beyond a reasonable doubt. If they hadn''t been involved, how had those Godslayer missiles been transported into Shrek City so easily?


    "As soon as those weapons reached a certain distance of Shrek City, all of the powerful beings of Shrek Academy would''ve definitely been able to sense them. Evil Soul Masters alone are unable to mask the auras of those weapons as their auras are even more apparent, and attempting to do so would only lead to their covers being blown. They had to have received assistance from some extremely powerful beings, and only then were they able to effect such a massive disaster."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "Was the Spirit Pagoda also responsible for providing the two Godslayer missiles to the Holy Spirit Cult?"


    Zang Xin shook his head in response. "That''s not something that we''re currently aware of. Now then, let me answer your question; the Spirit Pagoda will indeed receive opposition from other powers if they become too powerful, but they''ve become so powerful that it''s extremely difficult to do anything about them."

 Chapter 1177: Tang Sect Master

    "Qiangu Dongfeng announced the successful development of black soul spirits at the perfect time while also introducing large discounts on purple and yellow soul spirits. In doing so, they''ve won over countless Soul Masters across the entire continent, and they''ve even given the federation and the Battle God Hall a large batch of black soul spirits as a gesture of support. On top of that, they''ve vowed to combat the Holy Spirit Cult with all their might and also given the military an astronomical sum of money in an announcement of wholehearted support to the military''s endeavor to instigate inter-continental wars.


    "Following the reform of the federal parliament, the Spirit Pagoda managed to gain a large number of allies in a short time and it appears that the Spirit Pagoda''s massive selfless donations have weakened them significantly. However, is that really the case? They''ll be able to earn back everything they''ve given in a short time by selling black soul spirits, and it''s hard to say whether those donations have even put a dent in the Spirit Pagoda''s enormous hidden wealth. When all Soul Masters have to go to the Spirit Pagoda for their future soul spirits, their influence and control over the Soul Master world will even exceed that of the former Soul Hall."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "So aside from the Holy Spirit Cult, our main adversary will be the Spirit Pagoda?"


    Zang Xin replied, "You can put it that way. Furthermore, what I''m most concerned about is that we don''t know just how much the Spirit Pagoda and Holy Spirit Cult are cooperating with one another. Qiangu Dongfeng hails from a prominent family, so no matter how he uses the Holy Spirit Cult, he''ll have to stand against them in the end. The Holy Spirit Cult exists solely to destroy and to seek ascension through slaughter and destruction. Hence, their goal is to end all of humanity, which makes them unworthy of even being referred to as humans. In contrast, Qiangu Dongfeng''s objective is for the Spirit Pagoda to take over the federation and rule over the human race, so the two objects are conflicting ones.


    "However, both of the organizations will benefit from the destruction of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, which is what has led to their cooperation. Qiangu Dongfeng is already willing to stoop to any lows to achieve his objectives, and my main concern is that his selfishness will allow the Holy Spirit Cult to rise into prominence. Both Heaven Dou City and Shrek City have been severely ravaged by the Holy Spirit Cult, resulting in the deaths of a vast number of life forms, creating countless vengeful spirits and boundless negative energy, both of which act as perfect sustenance to Evil Soul Masters.


    "I think that even Qiangu Dongfeng doesn''t know just how powerful the Holy Spirit Cult currently is, and once the federation declares war on the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent, a vast number of casualties will inevitably result, and I''m sure I don''t need to tell you who will benefit the most from that. Qiangu Dongfeng is doing this to plunder more resources for the Spirit Pagoda and sell more soul spirits, while the Holy Spirit Cult simply wishes to see more casualties.


    "Hence, in a sense, the invasion of the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent will unite them again as common beneficiaries. Once they join forces again, not only will disaster strike all three continents, the biggest issue lies in just how powerful the Holy Spirit Cult will become in the aftermath of the disaster."


    Tang Wulin had nothing but burning hatred for the Holy Spirit Cult. The fact that they were even willing to release the abyssal plane into this world was a clear indication that there was no semblance of empathy or compassion in their hearts.


    "I need more allies," Tang Wulin said without any hesitation.


    Zang Xin nodded in approval. "Indeed, which is why I have a suggestion: I think you should visit the Star Luo Empire, then the Dou Spirit Empire."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You mean on behalf of the academy? But the academy is already..."


    If Shrek Academy were still around, then that obviously wouldn''t be an issue, but Shrek Academy didn''t even exist now; would the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Continent still take him seriously? This was quite a problem.


    However, Zang Xin shook his head in response. "No, not on behalf of the academy; you''ll be representing the Tang Sect and the federal Dove Faction."


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin could understand representing the Tang Sect, but what was this about the Dove Faction?


    A faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face. "Have you thought about how the Dove Faction is still able to hold its own against the Eagle Faction even under such terrible circumstances? Truth be told, there are at least seven hidden sects that support the Dove Faction, as well as at least two military factions. As for us, we are the main source of financial support for the Dove Faction. Qiangu Dongfeng thinks that the answer to all his problems is to kick our Tang Sect''s parliamentary members out of parliament, but what he doesn''t know is that we are the main source of financial support for the Dove Faction, as well as even the hidden sects and military factions that support them. Not only that, but there''s even a military faction in the Eagle Faction that''s supported by our Tang Sect."


    Tang Wulin''s mouth gaped open upon hearing this. This was most definitely top secret information that few people would believe even if it were to be made public!


    A hint of pride flashed through Zang Xin''s eyes. "Even back before the Spirit Pagoda had even been founded, our Tang Sect had already accumulated an enormous amount of wealth through developing soul technology, so our Tang Sect has actually had our own legion ever since 10,000 years ago. The Spirit Pagoda may have developed extremely quickly, but think about this; does the federation have a greater requirement for soul tools or soul spirits?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. The answer to that was quite apparent; only Soul Masters required soul spirits, yet the entire human race required soul tools. Soul tools didn''t just include soul weapons, but also many pieces of technology that were used in everyday life.


    Zang Xin continued, "The largest few manufacturers of soul tools in the federation and even the largest few retailers all have ties with the Tang Sect. We control over a third of their shares, and as for the other two thirds, we hold shares in around 60%. Truth be told, even I don''t know just how much total wealth the Tang Sect has. If we really wanted to prevent this war from taking place at all costs, we can even boycott the military! Qiangu Dongfeng has his trump cards, as do we."


    Wealth! The Tang Sect''s trump card lay not only in its power, but also in its wealth!


    Tang Wulin forcibly repressed his awe and astonishment, and asked, "What would you like me to discuss with the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire? What kind of help can our Tang Sect provide them with, and what do we want in return?"


    Zang Xin replied, "It''s very simple; I want you to encourage the two empires to form an alliance, then sell them weapons that are powerful enough for them to contend with the federation. What we have to do is prevent this war from taking place, and only by creating a situation where both sides are equal in power can we achieve this."


    Tang Wulin looked at Zang Xin in a stunned manner. "You want me to set all of these things into motion?"


    Zang Xin smiled, and replied, "Of course it has to be you. Not only does a leader have to be powerful, they also have to be charismatic and have enough allies. These allies will have to be earned through your power and cannot be given to you by us."


    "But I''m just a nobody! Can I really do this?" Tang Wulin was only a Soul Sage who was in his early twenties; he wasn''t confident at all in his ability to secure approval from both of the major empires! Even with the support of the Tang Sect behind him, he was still so young; how could he convince the two empires to place their trust in him?


    He would undoubtedly have to face countless issues; he wasn''t afraid or daunted by the task, he was simply concerned that he would ruin everything with his lack of power and credibility.


    "Of course you can. After you''ve heard everything I just said, no one will be able to look down on you ever again. Do you think I''d reveal these core secrets of the Tang Sect to you before you attain a certain status? In this regard, my thoughts are concurrents with that heartless bastard; from this moment forth, you are the master of the Tang Sect."


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had been struck by lightning upon hearing this.


    Zang Xin had revealed this information to him in a casual manner, but the subject matter being discussed was anything but casual!


    If he were to become the Tang Sect Master, he would be one of the most powerful people in this world! The Tang Sect had a heritage of 20,000 years that was comparable to Shrek Academy, and now, he was the sect master?


    Even his status as the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was nowhere near as important as that of the Tang Sect Master! The Tang Sect Master was someone who was equal to the Sea God''s Pavilion Master! Never did Tang Wulin think that Zang Xin would suddenly drop such a massive bombshell on him!


    "I''m not dreaming, am I, Your Majesty? Or perhaps you misspoke just then?" Tang Wulin asked in a hesitant manner.

 Chapter 1178: From This Day Forth, You are the Tang Sect Master

    Zang Xin chuckled, "I didn''t misspeak, and you didn''t mishear. From now on, you are the master of the Tang Sect. Most of the past masters of the Tang Sect were also the masters of the Duoluo Palace, and that''s applied to this generation as well, so that heartless bastard has always been the sect master. However, he ran off to the Blood God Legion and hasn''t been back for over 60 years. I''ve always wanted to convince all of the other higher-ups of the sect to join forces and abolish him, but now, he''s made things far easier by retiring and recommending you as his successor.


    "I''ve already discussed this with the higher-ups of the sect, and none of them have any objections, so from now on, you''re the master of the Tang Sect. Will anyone from the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire dare to look down on you when you''re the master of the Tang Sect? All of your problems will be easily resolved."


    A relaxed smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face as he spoke.


    "No, this isn''t right! It''s not supposed to be like this," Tang Wulin gulped nervously. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn''t help but feel that Zang Xin was simply shirking his responsibilities and offloading them onto him!


    What was going on? How had he become the Tang Sect Master?


    "What isn''t right about this? Vice-Douluo Palace Master Zang Xin pays his respects to the sect master." Zang Xin cupped his fist and bowed toward Tang Wulin as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin immediately jumped off to the side like a startled rabbit. "Your Majesty, please stop joking around! I..."


    "Shut up! Do you think I would make jokes about something like this?" Zang Xin''s expression darkened as he said, "Wulin, you should be aware of the heavy responsibilities on your shoulders. Without sufficient power, do you think that you and your friends will be enough to revive Shrek Academy? In order to rebuild the academy, the first thing you have to do is to attain the power to be able to oppose all enemy powers. Do you have that right now? Even if you continue to cultivate and reach my cultivation rank someday, do you think you can make a difference on your own or with your friends?


    "You''re going to be facing the entire federation! The role of Tang Sect Master will undoubtedly give you more pressure and responsibilities, but at the same time, only after you become the sect master will you be able to use the sect''s resources as you please and do what you want to do. You are the leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and half of all of the Tang Sect''s property belongs to Shrek Academy. Only by adopting both of those roles will you be able to draw upon all of the resources. We didn''t make this decision as a blind leap of faith; we thought long and hard about this.


    "All of us will be supporting you from the shadows, you are the only one who can truly step out into the open to rebuild Shrek Academy and draw all allies to your side. What you need to do now is to get yourself to the pinnacle of the human race as quickly as possible, not just in terms of individual power, but even more so in terms of status and influence. Only then will you be able to achieve the intended effect when you step forward."


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he had to admit that Zang Xin definitely had a point.


    If he were to rely on his current set of allies alone, even with Wu Zhangkong and the 215 students thrown into the mix, how long would it take before they could accumulate enough power to truly revive the academy? They had to wait until everyone integrated themselves into society before building up their own spheres of influence. It was yet to be seen whether this plan would even succeed, and even if it did succeed, it would most likely take decades to implement. Even then, he still wouldn''t be confident that Shrek Academy could be rebuilt and not collapse under the intense pressure it would undoubtedly have to face.


    "There''s no need to rush your decision; you have a maximum of three months to consider this, and we won''t force you to do anything against your will. If you choose not to accept the role of the Tang Sect Master, I''ll head to the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire myself. However, what you have to understand is that I belong solely to the Tang Sect, not Shrek Academy. As such, I can support the rebuild of Shrek Academy when it comes to resources, but we can''t lead the charge."


    "I accept," Tang Wulin said in a heavy voice. It was only two simple words, but they seemed to bear the weight of the entire world.


    During this brief period of time, countless thoughts had rapidly raced through his mind. He knew that Zang Xin was right; if he wanted to rebuild Shrek Academy, then the first thing he had to do was to become more powerful in all areas.


    "Good! I''m glad you''re shouldering your responsibilities like a man should," Zang Xin nodded in approval before urging, "In that case, it''s best to set things into motion as soon as possible. You''ll be setting off in three months, so make sure to prepare yourself during this time. Don''t worry, you definitely won''t be fighting on your own. You came here to pick up the Holy Spirit Douluo, right? I''ve got a surprise for you. Come with me."


    The underground world of the Tang Sect was indeed very massive. Under Zang Xin''s guidance, Tang Wulin took two more elevator rides, then passed through two tunnels and even took a ride on a transportation device that was similar to a small train. In the end, they finally arrived at their destination after he had already lost track of where he was.


    Tang Wulin was led through a metal door by Zang Xin, and in the next instant, he was completely rooted to the spot.


    He rubbed his own eyes vigorously, then immediately rushed forward, and emotional tears had already welled up in his eyes.


    Holy Spirit Douluo was there, yet compared to her past self, she seemed to have become a completely different person. Her long hair was as pristine white as snow, and she still appeared to be as youthful as ever, but there was no longer any exuberance about her.


    The death of Yun Ming had dealt far too heavy a blow upon her. However, the Holy Spirit Douluo wasn''t alone; she was currently speaking with someone next to her.


    This was an elderly woman with a head of white hair, but a pair of bright and piercing eyes. She wore a set of coarse cloth garments, and it seemed like she was the most ordinary old woman one could imagine. However, Tang Wulin almost sprang up into the air at the sight of her because this woman was none other than Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue!


    She was one of Shrek Academy''s two Limit Douluos, and just like the Atlas Douluo, she was also a four-word battle armor master!


    Even prior to the explosion of the Godslayer missiles on that day, she had risen up into the air to face the enemies that had descended upon Shrek Academy, and Tang Wulin had thought that she had perished already on that day, but never did he think that she would be here with the Holy Spirit Douluo.


    A Limit Douluo was simply far too important for the revival of Shrek Academy, so how could Tang Wulin not be excited at the sight of her?


    What made him even more astonished was that he had caught sight of some other familiar figures aside from the two Titled Douluos.


    These were the hosts of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng! On top of that, there were many other inner court peers that should''ve perished along with the Sea God''s Island. There were just under 30 of them, but their average age was over 30, and it was undoubtedly the case that they were the future pillars of the inner court!


    They were all still alive!


    Zang Xin patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder. "I told you you weren''t fighting alone."


    Indeed, he certainly wasn''t fighting alone. Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue was still alive, as were so many past inner court disciples, the vast majority of whom were seniors to Tang Wulin. This was definitely a force to be reckoned with, and with their inclusion, it would become countless times easier to revive Shrek Academy!


    He had caught sight of everyone else, so everyone else had naturally seen him. In contrast with the survivors in the lakebed sanctuary, these people clearly knew that Tang Wulin was still alive, but all of them still wore wide smiles at the sight of him.


    Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue seemed to have aged even further, but her eyes were still as clear as ever.

 Chapter 1179: Long Yeyues Recount

    "Tang Wulin pays his respects to his seniors!" Tang Wulin''s voice was trembling with excitement.


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali seemed to have become a lot calmer than before, and she gently nodded in acknowledgment. However, Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue''s eyes abruptly lit up at the sight of him, as if she had discovered something.


    Immediately thereafter, the air around Tang Wulin suddenly congealed. It wasn''t that time had stopped; instead, he could sense that all of the elemental particles in the air had suddenly faltered in that instant.


    These elemental particles then surged toward him in unison, and Tang Wulin reflexively instructed them to stop. As a result, the elements in the air became quite chaotic, and to everyone else, it felt as if the surrounding air had become more viscous and that energy fluctuations had suddenly appeared.


    A hint of surprise flashed through Yali''s soulless eyes, and a faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face as he stood a half-step behind Tang Wulin.


    The energy fluctuations in the air only lingered for a very short time before returning to normal, and Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue gave Tang Wulin a nod of approval. "Very good! You''ve done very well and you certainly haven''t let Yun Ming down!"


    At this moment, it was quite clear to Tang Wulin that the elemental changes in the air were a test from Long Yeyue.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Long Yeyue also possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, but her spiritual power was clearly far more immense than his, and she had instantly detected his current level of spiritual power.


    During this past period of cultivation, Tang Wulin''s Spirit Domain realm spiritual power had already been fortified, but he still didn''t know just how far he could go in the Spirit Domain realm in the future. After all, he hadn''t had a chance to learn about this at Shrek Academy, and he had only reached this level not too long ago.


    Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng strode over to him, and the former smiled, and said, "Welcome back, Wulin."


    Tang Wulin immediately replied, "It''s so good to be able to see all of you again!"


    Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng exchanged a smile, but a hint of sorrow also flashed through their eyes in unison.


    Long Yeyue asked, "What have you come here for, Wulin?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I was going to take Her Majesty, the Holy Spirit Douluo, elsewhere, but I didn''t think this would be the situation at the Tang Sect." The Tang Sect''s underground world boasted far better conditions than that Sea God''s Lake sanctuary, so it was definitely a better choice for her to stay here. Furthermore, she had the Light Dark Douluo and so many senior disciples for company, so there was even less reason to transfer her elsewhere.


    "Where do you want to take her? To where Wu Zhangkong is?" Long Yeyue asked.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You know about Teacher Wu''s situation?"


    Long Yeyue replied, "How could I not know of the sanctuary when I''m the oldest living member of Shrek Academy? We''ve been keeping an eye on them the entire time, and Wu Zhangkong has done very well. We didn''t ask them to come here right away as we were concerned that some of the outer court disciples could prove to be volatile factors, but it''s been over a year, so it''s time to bring them here."


    Indeed, this was a far better place for the Shrek Academy disciples to stay than at the sanctuary. The Tang Sect had a vast abundance of resources that would greatly benefit them in their cultivation.


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic. "That''s great! I''ll get Teacher Wu and the others to come here right away!"


    Long Yeyue waved a hand in response. "There''s no hurry. Come with me."


    She then rose to her feet and walked into another room while Holy Spirit Douluo Yali gave him an encouraging nod.


    After Tang Wulin walked into the room behind Long Yeyue, the door of the room closed on its own.


    "Tell me how you reached the Spirit Domain realm." Long Yeyue cut straight to the chase.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I made the breakthrough over at the Blood God Legion..."


    Thus, he gave her a brief recount of his experiences over at the Blood God Legion, but refrained from mentioning the seed of life. After all, the seed of life was far too important an entity, and he had to keep this secret before the tree of life truly flourished.


    A hint of surprise appeared on Long Yeyue''s face upon hearing his recount. "I see. It''s no wonder, then..."


    "What are you referring to?" Tang Wulin asked in a perplexed manner.


    A faint smile appeared on Long Yeyue''s face, and she explained, "It''s no wonder that Zang Xin told me that he was going to make you the Tang Sect Master. He and Cao Dezhi are a pair of stingy bastards, and I was wondering why they were suddenly being so generous by handing all of the resources over to you; it turns out that they''ve given you everything because you''ve received the approval of the entire plane."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Why would that convince them to hand over the reins to me?"


    Long Yeyue explained, "Looks like you still don''t know what it means to receive the approval of the plane. Any plane is an individual entity in itself, and even the Divine Realm is also a plane. There is a hierarchy of planes, and planes with highly intelligent life forms are known as high-grade planes, while planes that rule over three or more high-grade planes are known as Divine Realms."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly as he listened to Long Yeyue''s words with rapt focus.


    As the oldest living member of Shrek Academy and perhaps one of the oldest seniors in the entire Soul Master world, Long Yeyue had been a Limit Douluo for countless years, and it was undoubtedly the case that she had the greatest level of understanding of the higher planes. Listening to her explanation would allow him to develop a target for his future cultivation!


    "Every single plane exists as a result of energy division in space. A myriad of things could happen to the parts of energy that are split up; some of them will simply slowly wane over time and fade out of existence, while others could transform into planets like our Douluo Star. This transformation process takes billions of years to complete, and only after a plane begins to develop its own sentience will it be possible for it to be elevated into a high-grade plane. As I just said, the defining trait of a high-grade plane is the presence of highly intelligent life forms.


    "During the process of developing such life forms, the plane must also develop a certain level of intelligence for itself. This process is known as evolution, and our Douluo Star underwent a constant process of evolution, and given rise to soul beasts, humans, and all other life forms. The ruler of this plane is the entire Douluo Star, and the Douluo Star is a high-grade plane. Not only has it given rise to life and intelligence, it even created a set of laws that were unique to itself.


    "What I''m referring to here is the existence of martial souls. The martial souls that we humans possess and all of the powers that soul beasts attain are affected by the laws of this plane. These laws control the intelligence of the entire planet and fuel its development. Under normal circumstances, humans will continue to evolve, and once we evolve to a certain point, we''ll ascend to the Divine Realm. In fact, it''s even possible that countless years into the future, if the humans that ascended to the Divine Realm from the Douluo Star could take over control of the Divine Realm, they could elevate the Douluo Star to make it a part of the Divine Realm.


    "That''s the direction that our Douluo Star plane has chosen to evolve toward, but no one could''ve envisioned what had happened around 10,000 years ago. The Divine Realm had suddenly disappeared, and no one knows why or how. All we know is that the disappearance of the Divine Realm has had a huge impact on our Douluo plane as well. If you look back in history, you''ll realize that the human race has produced far more Limit Douluos in the past 10,000 years than in the 10,000 years before that. It''s undoubtedly the case that the human race has become more powerful, but at the same time, resources are quickly dwindling due to the rapid development in soul technology.


    "It can be said that all of these changes have something to do with the ruler of this plane. The human race has only been able to develop so quickly as the power of the plane is supporting this rate of development. In particular, in the past millennium, soul aircraft and mecha technology have completely matured, and humans have begun to set their sights on outer space and other inhabitable planets. All of this is being set into motion by the ruler of the plane."

 Chapter 1180: The Secrets of the Plane

    Tang Wulin was rooted to the spot upon hearing this. These ideas existed on a completely different level; to think that while he was still considering how he was going to revive Shrek Academy, the Light Dark Douluo was already pondering inter-planar issues.


    Long Yeyue continued, "The disappearance of the Divine Realm has had a huge impact on the direction that our Douluo Star plane is evolving toward, which is what led to these decisions being made by the ruler of the plane. However, from the current situation, we can see that those decisions have very likely gone awry in that the human race has developed far faster than anticipated. The rapid advancements in soul technology have severely impacted the life force of the entire planet, resulting in a shortage of resources on the whole planet, particularly on the Douluo Continent.


    "Under these circumstances, the resources on the Douluo Continent are completely incomparable to what was available in the past. There''s even a possibility that our resources could be completely exhausted in the future. Soul beasts could go into extinction, the ecosystem could face severe issues, and when all intelligent life forms are destroyed, then the Douluo Plane will also perish. Hence, the ruler of the plane made some adjustments. We don''t know what these specific adjustments are, but it''s very likely that they''ve fallen upon your generation.


    "Space exploration has become inevitable, and at the same time, the ruler of the plane is most likely looking to control the ecosystem or plunder more life force energy for itself. The Sea God''s Pavilion Master of our Shrek Academy from around 15 generations ago made the bold hypothesis that it''s very likely that the ruler of our plane had connected the abyssal plane to our Douluo Continent. In doing so, an opportunity has been created for our plane to plunder the planar energy of the abyssal plane as replenishment."


    This was a massive bombshell for Tang Wulin. "What? You''re the saying the abyssal plane was actively drawn here by our plane?"


    Long Yeyue shook her head in response. "That''s just a hypothesis; we don''t know what the exact situation is like. It''s more likely that the abyssal plane sought out our plane as prey. After all, the abyssal plane seems to have a more powerful planar ruler than ours. However, from an overall planar perspective, our Douluo Continent is superior."


    Tang Wulin''s mind was racing at a rapid rate as he processed Long Yeyue''s words. "So what you''re saying is that the Holy Lord is more powerful than our planar ruler, but our plane is superior overall to the abyssal plane?"


    Long Yeyue nodded in response. "You can interpret it that way. From the perspective of energy division in space, the abyssal plane is more powerful as it developed sentience almost as soon as it came into existence. In that respect, it''s far superior to our Douluo plane. The fact that it developed sentience so quickly meant that it was able to actively devour energy from the get-go, progressively making itself more powerful until it reached this point. During this process, it''s undoubtedly the case that the best way for it to develop is to exist in an energy state.


    "However, the main issue with that is that through this type of development, the abyssal plane won''t possess a substantial form, which takes billions of years to accrue, just like the actual planet that is our Douluo Star. Why is it that abyssal creatures can return to the abyssal plane as energy after their deaths? That''s because the abyssal plane isn''t a true planet in itself. The entire plane is a massive energy entity, and every single abyssal race is a manifestation of the will of the abyssal plane''s ruler.


    "The ruler of the abyssal plane split up its energy into countless segments, thereby giving rise to intelligent life forms before allowing them to develop on their own. In terms of life force, the abyssal plane is superior, but due to the fact that it has no substantial form, it''s very difficult for it to continue to evolve after reaching a certain point. To put it in simpler terms, high-grade energy planes like the abyssal plane will be the easiest planes to directly evolve into Divine Realms, whereas substantial planes like our Douluo Star can only approach the Divine Realm through a variety of complex methods; that''s a fundamental difference between our two planes.


    "However, the substance that our Douluo plane possesses gives it advantages that the abyssal plane doesn''t have. First and foremost, a substantial plane is far more stable than an energy plane. Many disasters in outer space that substantial planes are completely immune to will be able to affect energy planes. Our plane is of as high a caliber as the abyssal plane, but it''s far safer and more stable. The ruler of our plane isn''t a tangible entity like the Holy Lord, but its foundation is more solid.


    "Hence, it''s very difficult for either of our planes to devour the other. At the same time, the biggest advantage that our plane holds over the abyssal plane is that all life forms born on substantial planes are individual entities. All of those life forms are affected by the laws of the plane, but they have a chance to ascend to higher planes. This is why there were Soul Masters in the past who were able to become gods and ascend to the Divine Realm. However, it''s virtually impossible for any life form in the abyssal plane to go beyond the Holy Lord''s realm of control and jurisdiction as all of those life forms are a part of the Holy Lord."


    Long Yeyue paused momentarily here to allow Tang Wulin some time to process everything before continuing, "I''ve dumped all of this information on you to make you understand the different goals that different planes have, as well as their different purposes for existing. As the one who was chosen by the Douluo plane, you''ll be the target that the abyssal plane wants to kill the most. Similarly, you were only chosen because you possess the potential to destroy the abyssal plane, which is why the Holy Lord was willing to pay such a heavy price to directly attack you. Furthermore, it''s very like that this won''t be the only time; the abyssal plane will seek to destroy you at all costs."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask, "If I have the potential to destroy the abyssal plane, can''t they just run away by severing the connection between our two planes? It''s not like I can traverse across planes to hunt them down."


    Long Yeyue shook her head in response. "You''re oversimplifying things. A connection between two planes isn''t that easy to sever. Besides, even if the abyssal plane wanted to sever the connection now, our Douluo plane may be unwilling to accept such an arrangement. Furthermore, the ruler of our plane must''ve secured the coordinates of the abyssal plane already, so if you progress to a level where you can destroy the abyssal plane, the ruler of our plane will definitely have a way of sending you to the abyssal plane. Even I''m aware of all of this, do you think the Holy Lord would be oblivious to everything? This is why he''s so intent on killing you."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Back in the abyssal passageway, he had only been able to just barely force back the Holy Lord through drawing upon the planar power provided by the Blood God Array, then adopting the Dragon God Transformation with Gu Yuena.


    If the Holy Lord were to attack him again in the future, how would he be able to defend himself? This wasn''t a matter of confidence; the main issue was that he had no idea when and where the Holy Lord was going to strike next.


    Long Yeyue continued, "There''s no need for you to be overly pessimistic; I''ve gone through all of the downsides of being chosen by the ruler of the plane, but as I''m sure you can imagine, there are also extraordinary advantages involved. Seeing as the ruler of the plane has chosen you, it will nurture you with all its power so you can become powerful enough to oppose the abyssal plane as soon as possible. We speculate that Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San and Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had also been beings who had been chosen by the ruler of the plane.


    "Your cultivation will become easier, and most importantly, you will be blessed with immense fortune and increased learning abilities. You''ll even be protected by the ruler of the plane to a certain extent, and when the abyssal plane tries to destroy you, the ruler of the plane will do everything in its power to alert and help you. Hence, you don''t have to be overly concerned. All you need to do now is to grow up as quickly as possible and attain the power to protect yourself as soon as you can. Think about it; how were you able to make a breakthrough to the Spirit Domain realm seemingly by chance? It''s a result of the blessing you''ve received from the plane."


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. He was the one who had been chosen by the plane? A contributory factor behind his rapid progression was the blessings he received from the plane?


    Perhaps he wouldn''t have been convinced in the past, but ever since he had become a Soul Sage, he had truly felt a difference.


    The most direct instance of this was after he planted the seed of life at the bottom of the Sea God''s Lake. There, it had reciprocated him with life force energy to bolster his seven remaining Golden Dragon King seals. It was as if the seed of life knew exactly what he needed.

 Chapter 1181: Inheriting the Divine Atlas Spear!

    In a sense, the seed of life was a part of the ruler of the plane, and ever since his progression to the Soul Sage level, his powers had been increasing at a rapid rate. Furthermore, he had obtained that piece of Goldwater Consonance from Zhen Hua, and it really did seem that his luck had improved. He was even able to make smooth breakthroughs in his cultivation of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method. Were these all benefits of being the chosen one?


    "You must''ve thought of some things just now as well, right? This is why the Tang Sect made the decision to make you the sect master," Long Yeyue explained.


    "Your Majesty, I, I already agreed." After a brief pause, Tang Wulin decided to come clean.


    Long Yeyue replied, "Good. I¡¯m telling you all of this not because I''m trying to expose the Tang Sect as an organization that''s trying to use you. Instead, what I''m telling you is that I agree with their decision. From now on, not only are you the leader of the Tang Sect, you will also be the new leader of Shrek Academy, and we will support you with all of our power."


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin stared at Long Yeyue and was struggling to wrap his head around what he had just been told.


    Long Yeyue smiled, and said, "In these extraordinary times, we need an extraordinary leader. I''m already an old woman; are you expecting someone in their 200''s to shoulder this burden? Perhaps I can bring some victories, but I can never be the future hope of Shrek Academy; that''s a duty that can only fall to you!"


    Tang Wulin was feeling a little disoriented. He had been struck by too many shocking revelations during this trip to the Tang Sect headquarters.


    "We will all assist you in your plight, and I''m telling you this to make you understand that the path you take from here must be concurrent with the needs of the plane. Only then will you have the smoothest journey. Otherwise, even if you were chosen by the plane, it''s a possibility that you could be abandoned."


    "I understand," Tang Wulin replied.


    "Alright, go back and bring Wu Zhangkong and the others over here now."


    Even after Tang Wulin left the Tang Sect, he was still feeling a little woozy. However, this didn''t impede his ability to fool all of the sensors outside, and he quickly disappeared into the crowd outside as a normal person.


    In the span of only a few hours, he had become the Tang Sect Master and the new leader of Shrek Academy. Neither of these super organizations were anywhere near their peaks, but he was only 21 and no one in history had ever been entrusted with both of these roles at once!


    Even Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San and Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, who went on to become gods, never achieved this.


    This was simply incredible to him, but it was the truth, nonetheless.


    After returning to the Sea God''s Lake, Tang Wulin sought out Wu Zhangkong before revealing to him the news that Long Yeyue and some of the inner court disciples were still alive.


    Wu Zhangkong was naturally ecstatic to hear this, but after careful consideration, he decided against going to the Tang Sect with the 215 students. Instead, he returned to the Tang Sect with Tang Wulin on his own.


    After arriving before Long Yeyue, Wu Zhangkong extended a respectful bow before cutting straight to the chase. "Elder Long, I don''t think this is the right time for everyone to be reunited."


    Long Yeyue asked, "What''s your reasoning?"


    Wu Zhangkong explained, "Your prior concerns were valid; these 215 students have benefited greatly from the academy and are willing to give everything they have to the academy, but they''re still too young and don''t have enough experience. I think they need more improvement and training before they can become true pillars of the academy in the future. Hence, I think that the training proposed by Wulin is absolutely imperative. Only after passing the demonic island trials can they be considered to have matured and earned themselves the right to know the secret here."


    Long Yeyue thought about this for a moment before replying, "That makes sense. We''ll do as you say, then. Splitting up into two different areas will also be a safer arrangement; if something were to happen to one side, there would at least still be hope."


    While Wu Zhangkong was speaking with Long Yeyue, Tang Wulin was also chatting with Lan Muzi. From Lan Muzi, he finally learned how the inner court disciples had survived.


    The elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion had given their lives to ward off the power of the Godslayer missile and gave them a chance to survive. Just like the teachers of the outer courts, the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion had given everything they had to buy the disciples an opportunity to live on.


    There was no sanctuary in the inner court, but there was a strange teleportation array that teleported everyone away during the crisis. Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue was situated on the outskirts of the explosion, and she had used her powers to forcibly withstand the shockwaves of the explosion before escaping after sustaining some injuries.


    Just as everyone was sharing past experiences, Long Yeyue and Wu Zhangkong made their way over to them. Her lips tremored slightly as she transmitted her voice toward Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, who was currently instructing a pair of healing system soul masters.


    Yali made her way over to Long Yeyue, and all of the inner court disciples hurriedly rose to their feet before gathering around Long Yeyue in a respectful manner.


    Long Yeyue said in a serious voice, "I hereby announce the revival of Shrek Academy. Wu Zhangkong will be principal of the outer court, I will be the principal of the inner court, and Yali will be the vice-pavilion master of the Sea God''s Pavilion. Tang Wulin, Wu Zhangkong, Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng, and the other six members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters will be elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion."


    Expressions of excitement appeared on everyone''s faces upon hearing this, and they clenched their fists tightly as they replied in unison, "Yes, Pavilion Master!"


    However, Long Yeyue waved a hand, and said, "No, I''m still a vice-pavilion master. From this day forth, the role of pavilion master will be inherited by the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Tang Wulin."


    Aside from Tang Wulin, who was already aware of this arrangement, everyone was given a massive shock upon hearing this, and even Wu Zhangkong had an astonished look on his face.


    Tang Wulin was the Sea God''s Pavilion Master?


    But he was only 21! He was indeed the future hope of the academy, but Wu Zhangkong and Lan Muzi were both more suitable candidates than him both in terms of status and ability.


    All of the inner court disciples turned to stare at Tang Wulin in unison with shock and befuddlement in their eyes. Even if he was the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, he was still far too young!


    However, no one dared to challenge Long Yeyue''s authority.


    Yali slowly made her way over to Tang Wulin before light flashed in her hands, and a spear that was shimmering with scorching white light appeared in her grasp. This was none other than Atlas Douluo Yun Ming''s Atlas Spear martial soul, which had attained a substantial form in his dying moments.


    "Wulin, Yun Ming left this behind, and I''m giving this to you now seeing as you also use a spear. I hope you can inherit his will and return Shrek Academy to its former glory."


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with a myriad of emotions at the sight of the spear being presented to him by Yali.


    The Atlas Spear was radiating scorching white light, and it was almost transparent. In contrast with the dual-tip nature of the Golden Dragon Spear, the Atlas Spear only had one sharp spearhead, but it was very long and took up almost a third of the length of the entire spear. The spearhead was glowing brighter than the rest of the spear, and the word "Atlas" was inscribed in antiquated text on the shaft of the spear connected to the spearhead.


    Through his spiritual power, the first thing that Tang Wulin could sense from the spear was boundless spear intent. No, to put it more accurately, this was the essence of the spear.


    The last time that Tang Wulin had seen the Divine Atlas Spear, he had only been a novice spearman, so he hadn''t had a very clear sense of this. However, even looking at the shaft of the spear now, he was struck by a completely different feeling.


    "Your Majesty." Tang Wulin''s voice was trembling slightly.

 Chapter 1182: Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal

    A warm and gentle smile appeared on Yali''s face. Even though her eyes were completely dim and soulless, her smile was just as gentle as ever.


    "Call me ''mistress'' from now on. You''re inheriting his Divine Atlas Spear, so I''m taking you as his disciple in his stead. His inheritance has been contained in the spear in its entirety."


    Yali offered the Divine Atlas Spear to Tang Wulin, and he accepted the spear as countless emotions surged through his heart.


    He fell to his knees before raising the Divine Atlas Spear high above his head, then kowtowed to Yali three times in succession. "Wulin pays his respects to Mistress Yali!"


    Yali looked on with a gratified look in her eyes. "I''ll make sure to stick around until that day comes. I''m sure you''ll glow just as radiantly as he did in the instant you revive Shrek Academy. The most painful moment of Yun Ming''s life was the moment that the academy was destroyed, but I never thought of him as a failure of a Sea God''s Pavilion Master, and I will always take pride in him. Don''t squander his spear; I hope it''ll become a pillar that supports Shrek Academy one day."


    "Yes, Mistress; I''ll do everything in my power to live up to Teacher''s expectations!"


    Yun Ming was once Na''er''s teacher, and from this moment forth, he was also Tang Wulin''s teacher.


    Tang Wulin rose to his feet again with the Divine Atlas Spear in his hand, and Lan Muzi smiled as he said, "Lan Muzi pays his respects to the pavilion master."


    Only then did the other inner court disciples return to their senses, and all of them bowed toward Tang Wulin at the same time. "We pay our respects to the pavilion master!"


    That''s right, from the moment Tang Wulin accepted the spear, he had already become the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master, the true leader of Shrek Academy.


    A faint smile appeared on Long Yeyue''s face as she nodded at Tang Wulin in an approving manner. "I also have something to give to you."


    She extended a hand toward him as she spoke, revealing a transparent rhomboid crystal. The crystal was of a shimmering blue color, and there seemed to be water rippling within it.


    Tang Wulin''s attention was instantly drawn to the blue crystal. There seemed to be an enormous suction force within the crystal, and as soon as his gaze settled on it, he immediately sensed that his enormous spiritual power was drawn into the crystal.


    His surroundings instantly fell silent, and Tang Wulin was stunned to discover that he seemed to have entered a boundless blue world.


    There were translucent blue fish swimming past him, and this entire blue world seemed to be filled with boundless life force energy.


    This was an extremely wonderful feeling, and he felt as if he were bathing in rich life force energy.


    After what seemed like an eternity, but also what could''ve been the mere blink of an eye, Tang Wulin returned to his senses, and he was still staring blankly at the dazzling crystal in Long Yeyue''s hand.


    He raised his head to look at everyone else, and it seemed that none of them had been struck by the same feeling as him; all of them were merely stunned by the radiant beauty of this rhomboid crystal.


    "This is the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal, and it''s an extremely rare treasure that has always been kept in the Sea God''s Pavilion. It''s also the most precious treasure in the entire academy, and its origins date all the way back to over 20,000 years ago. The first master of the Tang Sect, Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San, who was also the leader of the first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, was the one who had obtained this treasure.


    "We don''t know how he managed to obtain it, but what we do know is that this crystal played an extremely important role in his ascension to become a god. In our academy, only those who have reached the Limit Douluo level and have accrued enough experience have the right to sense the crystal and search for a path to the Divine Realm through doing so. This Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal has always been kept in the Sea God''s Pavilion, and on the day that the disaster struck, the pavilion master gave it to me and told me to protect it.


    "As the oldest living member of Shrek Academy, I should''ve been the one to protect the academy until the very end, but he told me that he had a responsibility to see things through as the pavilion master, so I lived on. Today, I''m giving this Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal to you in the hope that you can complete his final wish. I hope that you can restore Shrek Academy to its former glory and protect it as all of the past Sea God''s Pavilion Masters have done."


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin carefully accepted the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal with a solemn look in his eyes.


    The crystal was cool to the touch, but had a soft texture like that of jelly rather than an actual crystal, which was a rather peculiar feeling.


    Long Yeyue continued in a serious voice, "Next, we''ll act according to the plan. Zhangkong, you take the first batch of students to the demonic island in person. I''ve already finalized which students will be going. Wulin, don''t go anywhere for the next three months. Just cultivate here in the Tang Sect, and after the three months pass, you''ll be going to the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire."


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    However, Long Yeyue''s expression abruptly darkened slightly. "Wulin, you are now the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, and the true leader of Shrek Academy, as well as the Tang Sect Master; you have to act according to your status. No matter where you are, you represent the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so don''t ever display that attitude again, even to myself or Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi. You have to carry yourself with the aura of a leader, not the humble air of a student or disciple."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this before nodding with a wry smile on his face. In all honesty, these roles had fallen upon him far too abruptly, and he still hadn''t grown accustomed to them yet.


    Long Yeyue withdrew her gaze, and continued, "Alright, everything will proceed as planned. The Sea God''s Pavilion will still be responsible for making all of the specific decisions."


    Aside from Tang Wulin, everyone else from Shrek Academy extended respectful bows toward Long Yeyue.


    Tang Wulin was taken to an independent silent chamber. Due to his meteoric rise in status, the room that was given to him was naturally also of the highest caliber. This was a room with an area of close to 200 square meters with his very own study, bathroom, cultivation chamber, as well as a designated forging room. There was everything that he needed here.


    After returning to his room, Tang Wulin went straight into his cultivation chamber, and even as he sat down with his legs crossed, he still couldn''t help but feel as if this were all a dream.


    Had he really become the leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy? It was no exaggeration to say that he was the first person in history to achieve this status! Even the legendary Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San and Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had never reached such heights before.


    Furthermore, he was only 21 years of age, so it was naturally inevitable that he was feeling rather proud of himself. However, at the same time, he knew that the burden on his shoulders had grown even heavier.


    He had thought that Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue and Wu Zhangkong would be able to alleviate some of this burden, but it seemed that the brunt of the responsibilities still fell upon him. This was undoubtedly testament to the fact that everyone held him in extremely high regard, but it also meant that he would be carrying a greater burden.


    However, compared to in the past, his mood was drastically different. At the very least, he was no longer alone. Shrek Academy hadn''t been completely destroyed, after all, and there were still so many exceptional inner court and outer court disciples who had survived. The foundation of Shrek Academy was still there, and once they all grew up in the near future, Shrek Academy''s foundation would be bolstered even further.


    Perhaps this would be a slightly lengthy process, but the heritage of Shrek Academy hadn''t been severed, and the Sea God''s Pavilion still existed.


    Tang Wulin was struck by an indescribable sense of excitement as he followed this train of thought, and he wanted to roar to the heavens in elation.


    Back when he had first traveled to the Blood God Legion, he had been in a very depressed state of mind. His academy had been destroyed, which meant that he no longer had a home; how could he not be depressed and in pain?


    Now, he had finally seen hope, and at the very least, everything was progressing toward a positive direction.


    With the foundation of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, everything was possible. He was even beginning to think beyond his original final objective. Rebuilding Shrek Academy definitely couldn''t be his final goal. After all, the continent was still being controlled by the federal government, so not only did he need to rebuild Shrek Academy, he had to garner the support of the entire federation.


    There were many enemies that he and his friends were going to face in the future, including the Holy Spirit Cult, and even the powers supporting the Eagle Faction, the most difficult of which to deal with was very likely going to be the Spirit Pagoda. In fact, the threat that they posed could be even more lethal than that of the Holy Spirit Cult.

 Chapter 1183: Where are You? Wait for Me

    Aside from that, there were also countless powers in the shadows that he had to deal with, and that wasn''t even taking into account the stern opposition he would most likely face from the federal military.


    That was why Zang Xin was so eager to encourage the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire to join forces in order to at least delay, if not prevent this war from taking place altogether.


    With that in mind, a harrowing scene appeared in Tang Wulin''s mind. It was the scene during which he had faced the Holy Lord in the abyssal passageway.


    He could still clearly recall the boundless killing intent that the Holy Lord had harbored toward him. The abyssal plane had since been forced back, and the seal had also been fortified, but was this really enough to ward off the next attack from the abyssal plane?


    Tang Wulin didn''t know, and no one knew the answer to that question. If the abyssal plane decided to attack without paying any heed to consequences, then the next abyssal tide could happen at any moment.


    Hence, the abyssal plane was also one of the enemies that he would have to face. As the one who had been chosen by the plane, he was also going to be under the most pressure, and it could even be said that the abyssal plane could be his most powerful enemy in the future.


    As such, it was imperative for him to become more powerful. During the past few weeks, Tang Wulin could clearly sense just how quickly he had been progressing.


    During the three-month period where he had been in seclusion, he had collated all of the rewards he had reaped during his time at the Blood God Legion in the first month. In particular, he had integrated all of the experiences he had attained through his spiritual power during the battle against the Holy Lord into his abilities. After that, he had cultivated with all his might, and defeating Wu Zhangkong in that sparring match definitely hadn''t been a case of pure dumb luck.


    This was a manifestation of everything that he had accumulated and a display of his true power. With the enhancements he received from his Golden Dragon Spear and Golden Dragon King bloodline, his overall combat prowess was already comparable to the average Titled Douluo, even though he was only a Soul Sage.


    Of course, this only applied when neither side was using their battle armor. In reality, Tang Wulin was completely unable to use his battle armor at the moment. The structure for his suit of three-word battle armor had already been completed, but the core circuits hadn''t been carved yet.


    He was currently at rank 73 in soul power, which meant that he had progressed two ranks during just three months.


    As a Soul Sage, this rate of progression was downright inconceivable. Furthermore, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the rate of his progression was still increasing, and under the current circumstances, he was confident that he would be able to progress to the Soul Douluo level after another year at most. As for the Titled Douluo level, that was one that he would reach in no more than three years. By then, he would only be 24 years old, and even in the history of Shrek Academy, such a young Titled Douluo would be extremely rare.


    Tang Wulin had already made up his mind; once he reached the Soul Douluo level, he was going to break his 12th Golden Dragon King seal at the same time, which should give him his sixth golden soul ring. His fifth golden soul ring''s Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion had already drastically enhanced all his existing abilities, so the sixth golden ring would definitely only bestow upon him an even more fearsome soul skill.


    With his physical constitution and tolerance, he would perhaps be able to consider constructing a suit of four-word battle armor for himself as soon as he became a Titled Douluo. Once he became a four-word battle armor master, Tang Wulin was confident that he would be able to face any powerful being in this world.


    He had a very clear plan for his future cultivation, and ever since he became a Soul Sage, he could clearly sense that he had risen to a completely different level. From that moment forth, he had truly become a powerful being.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and just as he was about to begin cultivating, the soul communicator on his wrist suddenly began to ring.


    Tang Wulin glanced down at his wrist, and an excited look immediately appeared in his eyes.


    He accepted the incoming call, and a familiar voice rang out from the other end of the line.


    "Where are you?... Alright, wait for me." After an extremely brief conversation, Tang Wulin quickly rose to his feet before rushing out of his room.


    The Tang Sect headquarters encompassed virtually the entire underground world of Heaven Dou City, so it had a myriad of exits.


    Several minutes later, Tang Wulin appeared on the streets of Heaven Dou City, and due to his excessive excitement, he hadn''t even had a chance to disguise himself.


    He had only put on a mask and a hat to conceal his own appearance as much as possible, and he narrowed his eyes slightly as he released his spiritual power almost in a reckless manner.


    At his level of spiritual power, no one would be able to detect what he was up to unless they were also at the Spirit Domain realm. On top of that, he was so excited that he didn''t want to think about these details. After all, it wasn''t a significant issue.


    ......


    "Hmm?" A middle-aged man in a set of ordinary clothes suddenly faltered just as he was about to walk into the largest auction house in Heaven Dou City.


    This middle-aged man was completely mundane in appearance, but he also wore a mask like Tang Wulin did.


    There was another person accompanying him, and if Tang Wulin could see her right now, he would definitely be excited beyond belief.


    She also wore a mask to conceal her exquisitely gorgeous features, but she had a head of luscious silver hair and a pair of captivating purple eyes, both of which were extremely distinctive features.


    "That''s some impressive spiritual power," the middle-aged man murmured, "Do you sense that, Na''er?"


    Gu Yuena shook her head in silence as she walked along beside the middle-aged man.


    The middle-aged man''s eyes narrowed slightly. "You''re close to the Spirit Domain realm now, right? Don''t try to force it; you''ll know once you break through that bottleneck."


    "Chairman, from the sounds of it, are you saying that there''s a powerful being nearby who''s releasing their spiritual power?" Gu Yuena''s voice was still as heavenly as ever, but it was completely emotionless.


    "Indeed. They seem to be searching for something and harbor no animosity. Let''s go in. Heaven Dou City really is rife with powerful beings; if I didn''t have to purchase that auction item for you, I would definitely go and see which mighty figure is releasing their spiritual power so carelessly here." After that, he walked directly into the auction house.


    However, Gu Yuena paused slightly before looking back with complex emotions in her eyes. She then clenched her fists tightly, and the impulsive urge in her eyes vanished in a flash.


    ......


    Found him! Tang Wulin''s spiritual power scoured over the surrounding area before he quickly found that familiar figure.


    In the instant that he caught sight of him, the smile on Tang Wulin''s face widened even further, and he strode directly toward his target.


    That man seemed to have also sensed Tang Wulin''s presence, and he abruptly turned around to face him.


    In contrast with Tang Wulin, this man wasn''t wearing a mask. He had a set of ordinary facial features, but his back was remarkably straight, and his golden hair practically shimmered under the sun.


    A sly smile appeared on his face as he made his way toward Tang Wulin, and just as they were about to reach one another, Tang Wulin abruptly lashed out first, thrusting a palm toward the other man''s chest.


    The golden-haired man retaliated in kind, and their two palms clashed with a crisp clap before gripping tightly onto one another.


    Tang Wulin pulled back his right hand, and it was undoubtedly the case that he was a lot stronger than the golden-haired man, so his shoulder rammed straight into his chest. However, in the next instant, both of them burst out laughing in unison.


    "Welcome back!" Tang Wulin firmly held the man''s hand in his own.


    "Aren''t you being a little too passionate? It''s a good thing Xiaoyan isn''t around," the golden-haired man chuckled.

 Chapter 1184: Reunion Between Brothers

    Tang Wulin asked, "Now that you mention it, where is Xiaoyan?"


    The golden-haired man was none other than Yue Zhengyu in disguise, and he smiled as he replied, "She told me that she has her own path to pursue, and she didn''t tell me where she went before she left, but I can roughly guess her destination. Don''t worry, I already contacted her, so she should be here in one or two days. You may have become the champion of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, but we''ve improved quite a bit as well! You better not let down your guard lest you get beaten by us!"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes in response. "When Xiaoyan gets here, you two can fight me two on one."


    Yue Zhengyu''s eyes abruptly lit up. "I''m taking you up on that offer! Don''t start crying when you lose, though!"


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback to hear this. "Sounds like you''re really confident! You''ve progressed to the Soul Sage level, right?"


    A proud look appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. "Of course! It was a piece of cake."


    Tang Wulin said, "Let''s go somewhere else; this isn''t the right place to talk."


    He then released Yue Zhengyu''s hand, and the two of them walked along the street side by side. Yue Zhengyu looked around at the city, and sighed, "It feels good to be back. It''s just a pity that this isn''t Shrek City."


    A slightly dejected look then appeared on his face. Not only did Tang Wulin have an extremely strong bond with Shrek Academy, Yue Zhengyu had been at Shrek Academy three years more than Tang Wulin, so he was actually even closer with the academy. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have worked so hard during this past period of time.


    "By the way, I''m already a colonel, and don''t go saying I made it to that rank through my familial connections! Even my strict grandpa didn''t say anything. What about you?" Yue Zhengyu nudged Tang Wulin with his shoulder.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "You seem pretty excited! Looks like you must''ve had a hard time in the Southern Legion."


    Yue Zhengyu shrugged in response. "I did nothing aside from cultivate every day, and after Xiaoyan left, I didn''t even have anyone to talk to. Then again, it''s not like I had the spare time to talk to anyone anyway. By the way, where''s everyone else? I''m not the first one to have arrived, am I?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "So what if you''re first? It just shows how eager and conscientious you are. Everyone else will probably arrive in the next few days as well."


    Yue Zhengyu suddenly fell silent, and only after a few seconds did he heave a long sigh. "It''s really good to be able to see everyone again."


    Tang Wulin didn''t respond and merely bumped him with his shoulder. Indeed, it really was fantastic to be reunited with his friends. He already had the Blood Dragon Squad by his side, as well as the support of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, but no one provided better support to him than the friends that he had been with for so many years! They were the current Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and they were a unified entity.


    "Oh, by the way, Zhengyu, I''ve got some good news for you: you''re now an elder of the Sea God''s Pavilion and can participate in Sea God''s Pavilion meetings."


    Yue Zhengyu faltered slightly upon hearing this, but as opposed to being elated by this news, a wry smile appeared on his face instead. "Elder of the Sea God''s Pavilion? Are we just giving ourselves these titles now? It''s not like there''s anyone else left aside from us."


    In order to give everyone a surprise, Tang Wulin had refrained from revealing the fact that there were still so many members of Shrek Academy who were alive at the Tang Sect.


    Yue Zhengyu seemed to have realized that he was being a spoilsport, and he forced a smile onto his face as he said, "In that case, as the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, shouldn''t you be the Sea God''s Pavilion Master?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I sure am!"


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled, "Alright, then let''s support this new Sea God''s Pavilion together! We''ll definitely be able to revive Shrek Academy, right?"


    "Of course," Tang Wulin replied in a voice that was filled with conviction.


    Yue Zhengyu then lowered his voice, and said, "Hey Boss, seeing as no one else is back yet, shouldn''t you be giving me the title of vice-pavilion master? You can give the other spot to Yuanen or Xinglan. The Sea God''s Pavilion usually has two vice-pavilion masters, right?"


    A hint of a smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "We''ll discuss this with everyone during the Sea God''s Pavilion meeting. As you know, the Sea God''s Pavilion has always been renowned for its fairness and openness; everything has to be discussed with everyone."


    Yue Zhengyu shrugged in response. "Can''t you make an exception? There are only seven of us anyway. Oh, I almost forgot, there''s still Her Majesty, the Holy Spirit Douluo. Is she not willing to be the pavilion master? Has she still not recovered from her trauma?"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "It''s not that easy to recover from something like this. Her heart is already dead, and if she weren''t determined to see the revival of Shrek Academy, I''m afraid she would''ve most likely..."


    Yue Zhengyu''s expression also fell upon hearing this. "Truth be told, rebuilding Shrek Academy is going to be a very difficult task. Before I came here, my grandfather told me many things regarding the current situation, and he''s very pessimistic about our chances."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "The Southern Legion belongs to the Eagle Faction, right?"


    Yue Zhengyu nodded in response. "The Southern Legion is rather special in that it''s situated in quite a wealthy region and is also quite far away from all other legions. Generally speaking, the legion doesn''t participate in political battles, but our Yue Family descends from the former master of the Soul Hall, and our family ethos states that the Star Luo Empire is our enemy. Hence, if the federation declares war on the Star Luo Empire, the Southern Legion will definitely support the cause."


    Tang Wulin nodded before asking, "What about rebuilding Shrek Academy? Will the Southern Legion support us?"


    A wry smile appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. "It''ll be very difficult to garner their support. I don''t want to dent your confidence, but I have to tell you the truth; my grandfather explicitly told me prior to my departure that he and the Southern Legion won''t support the rebuild of our Shrek Academy as doing so could greatly impact our entire family."


    Tang Wulin had already guessed that this would be the case, but he still couldn''t help but be a little disappointed to hear this notion being confirmed.


    "However, at the very least, my grandfather said that the Southern Legion won''t oppose the revival of Shrek Academy, and he even proposed two possible scenarios where they''ll be willing to lend us their support. The first scenario is if we can display sufficient power to combat all of those who are opposed to the revival of Shrek Academy, and the second scenario is if I become a four-word battle armor master. If I ever reach that point, I will inherit the role of legion commander from my grandfather, and the legion will lend us their assistance for my sake. However, neither of those sets of criteria will be easy to fulfill."


    Tang Wulin nodded upon hearing this. Indeed, both sets of conditions were quite difficult to satisfy.


    Barring extremely special circumstances, most Soul Masters could only become four-word battle armor masters after reaching at least the Hyper Douluo level, and a lot of the time, just reaching the Hyper Douluo level was still insufficient as one required heavenly refined metals to become a four-word battle armor master.


    There weren''t that many Hyper Douluos, but there definitely wasn''t a small number of them, either. However, every heavenly refinement that Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua completed was extremely taxing to him, and after completing one suit of four-word battle armor, he would have to rest for a long time before he could replicate the feat. Hence, he very rarely accepted heavenly refinement jobs now.


    "We''ll find a way; you can count on me." Tang Wulin patted him on the shoulder.


    Yue Zhengyu turned to him with a slightly surprised expression. Not only had Tang Wulin not been disheartened by this bad news, his eyes were still glowing with confidence.


    "Looks like becoming the champion of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition has instilled you with a lot of confidence, Boss! I have to commend you for that."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Confidence stems from ability. Come with me..." He dragged Yue Zhengyu into a nearby alley as he spoke.


    After releasing his spiritual power to verify that there were no prying eyes around, he led Yue Zhengyu into a small courtyard, and when they arrived in the underground world of the Tang Sect, Yue Zhengyu was also given a massive shock.


    "Th, this is..."


    The awe-inspiring underground world had shocked him beyond words. He looked at all of the busy workers and mechas being churned out on the production lines, and he couldn''t help but gulp in astonishment.


    "Everything here belongs to the Tang Sect?" Yue Zhengyu asked in a stunned manner.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "And it also belongs to us."


    Tang Wulin led him to the door of a room, and before he had even pressed the doorbell, the door opened on its own.


    Lan Muzi strode out from within before smiling at the sight of Tang Wulin and extending a respectful bow. "Pavilion Master."


    "No need for formalities, Senior Disciple Brother Lan," Tang Wulin replied with a smile and a nod. After Long Yeyue''s reminder, he was trying to act more befitting of his current status.


    Lan Muzi then quickly caught sight of Yue Zhengyu, who was staring at him with his mouth gaped wide open.


    "Long time no see, Junior Disciple Brother Zhengyu."


    Yue Zhengyu was so shocked that he had developed a stutter. "Se, Senior Disciple Brother Lan, you, you''re not dead? You, you..."

 Chapter 1185: Are You Surprised?

    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Quit stuttering! Are you surprised?"


    Yue Zhengyu had already rushed forward and was closely inspecting Lan Muzi in fear that he had simply misidentified this man to be Lan Muzi.


    "Are you really not dead? Are you sure you''re not a ghost?" Yue Zhengyu asked in a flabbergasted manner.


    Lan Muzi didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry. "Are you that eager for me to become a ghost? Don''t worry, I''m alive and well."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t bear to watch any longer, and he gave Lan Muzi an apologetic glance before dragging Yue Zhengyu into the room.


    Inside the room, Long Yeyue and Wu Zhangkong were currently discussing the first batch of students to be sent to the demonic island. Wu Zhangkong rose to his feet first, followed by Long Yeyue, and both of them bowed slightly toward Tang Wulin in unison. "Pavilion Master."


    Yue Zhengyu hadn''t thought much of it when Lan Muzi had referred to Tang Wulin as pavilion master, but he was completely stunned that Wu Zhangkong and Long Yeyue were doing the same thing.


    "Elder Long! Teacher Wu!" Yue Zhengyu became even more emotional than Tang Wulin had been when he had first been reunited with Wu Zhangkong. He had already had his suspicions when he saw Lan Muzi, but as soon as he caught sight of Wu Zhangkong, his emotions immediately overflowed.


    He hadn''t grown up under Wu Zhangkong''s watchful eye like Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, and Gu Yue had, but he had still been Wu Zhangkong''s student for many years. Now that Wu Zhangkong had essentially risen from the dead as far as he was concerned, there was no way that he could repress his own emotions.


    Tears gushed out of his eyes almost instantly, and he charged over to Wu Zhangkong before giving him a massive hug and bursting into sobs.


    A faint smile appeared on Wu Zhangkong''s perpetually cold face. Even though Tang Wulin had already told him that Yue Zhengyu was alive, he was still filled with emotions by this reunion, and even as he was smiling, there were tears welling up in his eyes.


    Only after losing something did one realize just how important that thing was.


    Long Yeyue nodded at Tang Wulin before turning to Yue Zhengyu with a pleased look in her eyes.


    She was the Light Dark Douluo, and in terms of cultivation base, even Atlas Douluo Yun Ming may not have been a match for her. Furthermore, she controlled the power of light, so she could naturally sense the virtually substantial light elements swirling around Yue Zhengyu''s body. It was as if his entire being were constructed from light elements. For a Soul Master with the Holy Angel martial soul, becoming a Soul Sage was a massive milestone that granted a qualitative power boost, which was why Yue Zhengyu was so confident in his current abilities.


    Not only had he become a Soul Sage, he had also completed the extremely arduous second holy cleansing of the Holy Angel clan. This was an extremely rare occurrence even in the history of the entire clan, so how could he not be excited?


    Only after a long while did Yue Zhengyu manage to get his emotions back under control, and he turned to Tang Wulin with an accusatory look on his face. "You already knew, didn''t you? Why didn''t you tell me?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "If I had told you in advance, would I have gotten the chance to see you cry?"


    Yue Zhengyu looked at him, then turned back to Wu Zhangkong, and he suddenly burst into laughter through his tears. "If crying can bring Teacher back to life, then I''d gladly cry 100 times!"


    Tears began to well up in Tang Wulin''s eyes as well upon hearing this. Indeed, he would also be willing to cry 100 times if it meant Teacher Wu could return to life.


    Only then did Tang Wulin reveal the current situation of the academy to Yue Zhengyu, and the latter was naturally ecstatic to hear that so many members of Shrek Academy were still alive.


    "By the way, Teacher Wu, Elder Long, Zhengyu was telling me earlier that he wanted to..." Tang Wulin was only halfway through his sentence before Yue Zhengyu realized what he was about to say, and he darted forward before clamping a hand over Tang Wulin''s mouth.


    "If you tell them what I said, our friendship is over!" Yue Zhengyu threatened in a deliberately menacing manner.


    Thus, Tang Wulin didn''t reveal what Yue Zhengyu had said about wanting to become a vice-pavilion master, but he was still quite amused. "Alright, I''ve been looking for a sparring partner recently. Seeing as you''re back, and I can tell that you''re really confident, why don''t we have a sparring match and get Elder Long and the others to give us some instruction?"


    Yue Zhengyu countered, "Didn''t you say that you''d wait until Xiaoyan came so you can fight us two on one?"


    He was very confident in himself, but he had witnessed in person how Tang Wulin had won the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, and he wasn''t confident enough to think that he could beat Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin immediately turned to Long Yeyue. "Elder Long, Zhengyu made a request earlier..."


    His mouth was clamped shut again, and Yue Zhengyu gritted his teeth as he said, "Alright! If you want a sparring match, that''s what you''ll get!"


    Long Yeyue nodded as she said, "I think that''s a good idea."


    She had already heard from Wu Zhangkong about how Tang Wulin had defeated him in a battle where neither of them had used their battle armor. Hence, she continued, "Zhengyu is permitted to use his suit of two-word battle armor, but Wulin is prohibited from doing so."


    Yue Zhengyu wasn''t exactly thrilled to hear this. He still wore a wry smile as he said, "Elder Long, Wulin reforged my suit of two-word battle armor to create a foundation for my three-word battle armor, and I''ve constantly been cultivating after that, so I haven''t had a chance to attain my suit of three-word battle armor yet and I won''t be able to use my battle armor, either."


    Back when the seven of them had first separated, Tang Wulin had helped them complete the elementary forging required for their suits of three-word battle armor. However, everyone had been working hard in the cultivation thereafter, and constructing a suit of three-word battle armor wasn''t an easy task, so none of them had attempted to do so.  [1]


    In particular, after Tang Wulin''s soul refinement had improved, he had notified everyone vial soul communication, telling them not to be in a hurry to construct their suits of three-word battle armor and to hold off until he made further improvements. Hence, the primary objective for this reunion of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was to complete their suits of three-word battle armor. All of them were Soul Sages now, so they could handle suits of three-word battle armor, and attaining them would undoubtedly drastically enhance their powers.


    Long Yeyue said, "Then I can only wish you the best of luck."


    The drill ground in the underground world of the Tang Sect was of a far higher caliber than that of the sanctuary. It had a massive diameter of 500 meters, which made it large enough to house mecha battles, and it was not inferior in size at all even when compared to sports stadiums. Furthermore, all of the protective facilities were geared toward beings at or above the Titled Douluo level, so even three-word battle armor masters wouldn''t be able to damage this place.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he was struck by a strong sense of nostalgia as he turned to look at Yue Zhengyu.


    As soon as Yue Zhengyu entered the drill ground, his aura completely changed.


    He seemed to have been a little fearful before, but after actually entering the drill ground, the look in his eyes and his aura underwent a massive transformation. His eyes shimmered with absolute confidence, and faint fluctuations of light began to appear around him. Tang Wulin could clearly sense that there were powerful light elemental fluctuations all around him, making him glow like a massive soul lightbulb.


    The two appraised one another from 100 meters apart while Long Yeyue, Wu Zhangkong, and all of the inner court disciples spectated from afar.


    Many of the inner court disciples were actually of the opinion that Tang Wulin was unworthy to be Sea God''s Pavilion Master, particularly those who were friends with Lan Muzi.


    In their eyes, Lan Muzi, who had already become a Titled Douluo, was more worthy of this position. Lan Muzi wasn''t any less qualified than Wu Zhangkong, and his powers were comparable if not superior to Wu Zhangkong''s so he should''ve been the number one choice among the younger generation.


    However, the Holy Spirit Douluo and the Light Dark Douluo had chosen Tang Wulin without any hesitation, despite the fact that he was only 21 years old.


    [1] [I''m not sure how this makes any sense considering I''m sure I''ve at least seen Yuanen Yehui use her suit of battle armor during the Star Battle Net competition, and I''m pretty sure there were other instances where TW''s friends used their battle armor during the time they''ve been apart. Plus, it seems really dumb to give your friends such a huge handicap right before they go off to the military, but this is what the author wrote, make of it what you will.]

 Chapter 1186: Holy Angel Yue Zhengyu

    In contrast, Lan Muzi was already in his thirties and was in his prime; why hadn''t the academy chosen him over Tang Wulin?


    Even Lan Muzi himself was rather perplexed and a little hurt; it was simply an inevitable emotional response. He knew how much pressure the Sea God''s Pavilion Master was subjected to, but as the oldest disciple of the inner court, it was impossible for him not to feel a little indignant, and he was also more than willing to shoulder this responsibility.


    Hence, when Elder Long summoned everyone to spectate this battle, everyone had arrived on the scene without fail, including even the Holy Spirit Douluo. She had come to spectate the battle in case someone was injured. With her present, recovery was guaranteed unless someone were to die.


    Elder Long''s voice rang out across the entire drill ground. "On your marks. This is a battle with no rules, and the battle will end when one or both sides lose the ability to continue."


    Tang Wulin took a glance over at Elder Long, and he understood that Elder Long had summoned everyone to spectate this battle to create an opportunity for him to stamp his authority. As such, this couldn''t just be regarded as a normal sparring match.


    "Begin!"


    As soon as Long Yeyue gave the signal, seven soul rings instantly emerged from beneath Yue Zhengyu''s feet. What was quite astonishing to everyone was that his seven soul rings were all golden! Tang Wulin could tell that he was using the disguise technique he had learned from the demonic island to prevent others from being able to glean his true soul ring configuration.


    Not only did his soul rings appear, dazzling golden light also erupted from his body, and the rich light elements that he was releasing made him resemble a miniature scintillating sun.


    What powerful light elements!


    All of the inner court disciples were rooted to the spot.


    At this point, Wu Siduo and the others had also been brought over to the Tang Sect headquarters. They were also inner court disciples, so they were also going to be cultivating here from now on, and they were also preparing to set off for the demonic island.


    Their expressions had also changed slightly as they sensed the powerful light elements radiating from Yue Zhengyu''s body.


    He appeared to only be a Soul Sage, but even without using his suit of battle armor, he was already releasing energy fluctuations that were far more powerful than the average Soul Sage was capable of.


    Yue Zhengyu was bathed in a sea of light as he said to Tang Wulin, "You better be careful, Boss; I''m not the same person I once was."


    He then sprang into action as he spoke, raising his hand to bring a beam of golden light crashing down onto Tang Wulin from above.


    Tang Wulin had been struck by a burst of holy light, even though none of Yue Zhengyu''s soul rings had lit up.


    At the same time, the light radiating from Yue Zhengyu''s body became even brighter, and a huge projection surfaced behind him. The projection was around 15 meters tall, and it was releasing dazzling golden light. The 12 wings on its back were flapping gently, and its facial features were rather blurry and indistinct, but in the instant that it appeared, Yue Zhengyu''s entire body turned transparent.


    On this occasion, everyone could clearly see that his seventh soul ring had lit up, which meant that he had adopted his Holy Angel True Body!


    Yue Zhengyu had been friends with Tang Wulin for many years, so he was more than familiar with Tang Wulin''s abilities, and he was well aware of just how fearsome Tang Wulin''s explosive power was. That was why he was releasing his most powerful ability from the get-go in order to prevent Tang Wulin from instantly defeating him through an eruption of explosive power.


    As he adopted his Holy Angel True Body, two pairs of pristine white wings also appeared on his back, and as he flapped those wings, his body turned completely transparent.


    At this point, Tang Wulin was still being bombarded by holy light, making it impossible for anyone to see him. It was undoubtedly the case that the rich light elements also provided a smokescreen that cut off his field of vision, and he wouldn''t even be able to sense anything using his spiritual power with the disruption from the light elements.


    This meant that he was still unaware of the fact that Yue Zhengyu had already adopted his martial soul true body. As such, Yue Zhengyu had seized the initiative from the get-go through his battle tactics.


    All of the spectators were inner court disciples of Shrek Academy, all of whom were extremely prodigious Soul Masters, and two-word battle armor masters at the very minimum. All of them also couldn''t help but nod in approval at how well Yue Zhengyu was utilizing his abilities. Furthermore, it was truly astonishing how powerful his light energy had become after adopting his martial soul true body!


    In the next instant, they were greeted by the sight of Yue Zhengyu hurtling down toward Tang Wulin like a golden shooting star. Meanwhile, the 12-winged angel projection behind him appeared silently behind Tang Wulin.


    "Judgment!" A solemn voice echoed through the air, and it was as if the entire space had congealed in that instant. At the same time, Yue Zhengyu''s third soul ring lit up as he released his third soul skill, which was Light of Judgment.


    The holy light that was shining down upon Tang Wulin instantly turned into a golden color, and the boundless might surging through the air was clearly detectable even to everyone outside the drill ground.


    Basked in the Light of Judgment, Tang Wulin''s entire body seemed to have become warped and twisted. The Light of Judgment compounded by the Holy Angel True Body was too powerful; it was an attack that was imbued with boundless holy might, and even Tang Wulin couldn''t help but let loose a muffled groan.


    Long Yeyue nodded in approval as she looked on from afar. She possessed twin martial souls and was renowned as the Light Dark Dragon Empress as she controlled both the Light Holy Dragon and Darkness Holy Dragon martial souls, but the holiness of her light elemental power was still inferior to that of the Holy Angel martial soul.


    The Holy Angel martial soul definitely stood at the very pinnacle of all light-attribute martial souls, and it was most effective against Evil Soul Masters.


    Long Yeyue could tell that Yue Zhengyu had already completed his second holy cleansing, and with a holy aura of this caliber, he would pose a huge threat even to Titled Douluo level evil Soul Masters.


    This Light of Judgment attack alone was enough to eradicate most Evil Soul Masters in one attack, and he wasn''t even wearing his suit of battle armor.


    Once Yue Zhengyu attained a suit of three-word battle armor, he would most definitely receive a holy-attribute domain, which would make his holy light even more terrifying.


    In the face of the Light of Judgment, Tang Wulin''s entire body seemed to have become very sluggish, and at this point, Yue Zhengyu had already reached him. A golden holy sword had already materialized in his hand during his flight, and he slashed it toward Tang Wulin without any reservation.


    Tang Wulin seemed to have been immobilized by the Light of Judgment, and the holy sword struck his chest, immediately sending him flying as golden holy flames burned all over his body.


    It seemed that this new Sea God''s Pavilion Master was completely at his opponent''s mercy!


    However, Yue Zhengyu wasn''t under that impression. As soon as he sent Tang Wulin flying with his holy sword, his fourth soul ring lit up, and the 12-winged angel that had released the Light of Judgment behind Tang Wulin earlier instantly fused as one with him, causing him to become taller and broader than before. Aside from the four substantial feathered wings on his back, a pair of light wings also appeared, and the holy sword in his hand instantly manifested into a substantial golden holy sword.


    Yue Zhengyu held the sword in both hands, and roared, "Slash!"


    A burst of golden light appeared between heaven and earth, and this golden light seemed to be threatening to slice through the entire world. The golden line instantly reached Tang Wulin, and even though there weren''t any light elements seeping out in this instant, all of the spectating inner court disciples'' expressions had completely changed.


    What a powerful attack! Yue Zhengyu certainly wasn''t holding back at all!


    It was also at this moment that Tang Wulin finally reacted. The golden flames burning around him instantly exploded, fading into countless specks of light in the surrounding air and revealing his body, which had now been covered in a layer of shimmering golden scales.


    The Golden Dragon Spear had also appeared in his hand, and it had a transparent quality to it. Even after taking three of Yue Zhengyu''s attacks in succession, he seemed to have remained completely unscathed.


    In the face of the oncoming golden line, a serious look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and a loud dragon''s roar erupted from his body. In the next instant, he abruptly flapped his golden dragon wings.


    He only had one pair of wings, but his dragon wings were far larger than any of Yue Zhengyu''s pairs of wings. He flapped the wings vigorously, and they instantly propelled his body through the air like a streak of shimmering golden light as he hurtled directly toward the golden line.


    The golden line passed over Tang Wulin''s body in a flash, but strangely enough, the segment of the line that struck his body was held back rather than passing through his body.

 Chapter 1187: Holy Fusion Technique

    The tip of the Golden Dragon Spear struck the golden line to force it back, and at the same time, an indescribable aura erupted from Tang Wulin''s body.


    A resounding boom rang out as the golden line exploded, and countless spear projections also erupted at the same time.


    Not only had Tang Wulin used his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion to destroy Yue Zhengyu''s attack, he had also unleashed his Fury of the Masses.


    Countless spear projections appeared in everyone''s field of view before hurtling toward Yue Zhengyu, and a grim look appeared on his face as he spread open his three pairs of wings at the same time.


    He slashed his golden holy sword slowly through the air, and his fifth soul ring also lit up.


    Terrifying energy fluctuations instantly surged through the air as countless miniature angels appeared in the surrounding area. Each angel was gently flapping its wings while letting loose roars of fury, and countless bursts of golden holy light also appeared in the air. It was as if every single light element had been ignited before transforming into sharp needles that were hurtling toward Tang Wulin.


    The Archangel''s Fury!


    This was his fifth soul skill, which was enhanced by his Holy Angel Descends and Holy Angel True Body.


    Every single beam of angelic light struck Tang Wulin''s spear projections with unerring accuracy to oppose his attack.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had encountered such strong opposition to his Fury of the Masses, and he was very pleased to see just how much Yue Zhengyu had grown.


    It was also right at this moment that he caught sight of a flash of light from Yue Zhengyu''s sixth soul ring. It only lit up for an instant, but Tang Wulin immediately sensed that there was something amiss.


    A thunderous dragon''s roar erupted from his mouth, and a massive golden dragon head appeared around his body.


    This was his dragon''s might combined with his Golden Dragon Roar!


    All of the energy in the air suddenly stopped in that instant, and in the face of this devastating roar of fury, all of the spectating inner court disciples felt as if their hearts had almost stopped beating.


    Right at this moment, one of the many tiny angels behind Tang Wulin suddenly expanded before adopting an identical form to Yue Zhengyu.


    However, both this clone and Yue Zhengyu himself faltered for an instant in the face of the Golden Dragon Roar, and only after a split-second did the two of them charge toward Tang Wulin, one from behind, and the other in a full-frontal assault.


    That instant of delay naturally significantly hampered the abrupt nature of the attack, and a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he instantly withdrew his Fury of the Masses before he stomped his left foot onto the air below.


    A violent explosion erupted, and a black hole suddenly appeared in mid-air beneath Tang Wulin''s feet. The edge of the black hole was golden in color, and it resembled a violently rotating golden halo. Eight small golden dragons instantly emerged from the halo before flying off in all directions.


    In the instant that the black hole had appeared, the air in a diameter of 100 meters became completely twisted and warped. The two Holy Angels were also warped and instantly immobilized as a result.


    The spectating Lan Muzi''s pupils abruptly contracted upon seeing this. What kind of power was this? To think that he was able to shatter space with a single stomp!


    It was exactly because he was a Titled Douluo himself that he was more aware of just how fearsome this ability was.


    Yue Zhengyu was also quite startled to see this, but right at this moment, he revealed the fruits he had reaped from this latest period of seclusion.


    All of the golden light suddenly crumbled and transformed into countless tiny angels. In the face of the attacks from the eight golden dragons, the tiny angels fled in all directions within the twisted light. Even the black hole was unable to devour them, and a hint of surprise appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes.


    He had combined his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth and Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion to restrict Yue Zhengyu in mid-air, but he didn''t think that Yue Zhengyu would be able to escape using such a crafty method.


    The golden light overlapped, and Yue Zhengyu reappeared in the distance, but at this point, his face had already become rather pale.


    All of the spectators could only see how spectacular this battle was, but only he himself could experience just how enormous the pressure of facing Tang Wulin was.


    In the instant that his first pillar of holy light had struck Tang Wulin''s body, he had been struck by the feeling that his attack wouldn''t be able to hurt Tang Wulin. Even when he struck Tang Wulin with his Light of Judgment before sending him flying with his golden holy sword, he was still struck by the same feeling.


    Tang Wulin was like an impregnable mountain in his eyes, and his holy light elements seemed to automatically wane after striking Tang Wulin''s body.


    What kind of ability was this? Why couldn''t his attacks hurt him?


    Unbeknownst to him, Tang Wulin had already reached the Spirit Domain realm, and even though he couldn''t completely control the light elements released by Yue Zhengyu in his attacks, he was still capable of nullifying the light elements somewhat. That, in addition to the effect of his dragon''s repulse, granted him extraordinary defensive prowess, so Yue Zhengyu''s attacks were completely unable to harm him.


    To put it more accurately, at Tang Wulin''s current level, it was far too difficult for an opponent of the same cultivation rank to hurt him.


    Yue Zhengyu was panting slightly, and the phenomenon around Tang Wulin''s body gradually vanished.


    Tang Wulin wore a smile on his face as he asked, "Was that an innate ability of yours?"


    Yue Zhengyu nodded in response. The Holy Angel True Body had an alternative title, which was the Holy Indestructible Body. As long as his holy light still existed, he was virtually indestructible in his Holy Angel True Body form. Even if there were only a single ray of holy light left, he could still escape through it.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve? If not, then let''s end things here."


    "I''m not giving up that easily!" Yue Zhengyu''s competitive nature had been completely ignited, and he abruptly took a deep breath as his body became transparent again.


    Immediately thereafter, an astonishing scene ensued; Yue Zhengyu''s seven soul rings began to light up one after another, and in the blink of an eye, all seven of them were glowing with scintillating light.


    From Yue Zhengyu''s expression, one could tell that it was quite strenuous for him to achieve this effect. Tang Wulin was also looking on in a stunned manner, and right at this moment, Yue Zhengyu''s first, second, and third soul rings suddenly moved, overlapping with one another before combining as one.


    What was happening? Had his soul rings fused with one another?


    Long Yeyue was also quite taken aback to see this, and she exclaimed, "He''s mastered the Holy Angel Clan''s Holy Fusion Technique already? Even if it''s only a very elementary level of mastery, this is still quite a remarkable feat!"


    This was indeed quite an astonishing scene, and no one had even heard of such an occurrence before, let alone witness such a scenario right before their very eyes!


    Yue Zhengyu slowly raised his holy sword up into the air, and at this point, it had already undergone a massive transformation.


    Tang Wulin was struck by the feeling that Yue Zhengyu had suddenly attained a sword soul, and his holy sword seemed to be imbued with an extremely terrifying aura.


    Was this a fusion between his Holy Light, Holy Sword, and Light of Judgment? Was this a self soul fusion skill as well?


    However, this wasn''t a fusion between two martial souls; it was a fusion between soul skills, and Tang Wulin naturally wasn''t naive enough to think that the fusion of the three soul skills would result in power that was equivalent to the sum of its constituent parts. This type of fusion would definitely produce power that was several times that of the sum of the three soul skills.


    He couldn''t keep allowing him to fuse his soul skills as he pleased! With that in mind, Tang Wulin took the initiative for the first time. He pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward and unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    One Bluesilver Emperor vine erupted forth after another before instantly fusing into his Golden Dragon Spear to form a blood soul fusion skill!


    The Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens instantly transformed into a giant bluish-golden dragon that hurtled directly toward Yue Zhengyu.

 Chapter 1188: Dragon King True Body

    However, Yue Zhengyu seemed to have currently entered a peculiar state. Streaks of golden light were flashing incessantly around him, and the holy sword in his hand had become extremely heavy. At the same time, the 12-winged angel that had fused into his body reappeared behind him.


    In the face of the giant bluish-golden dragon, Yue Zhengyu''s eyes were shimmering with golden light, and his pupils seemed to have become transparent. It was as if he really were an angel that had descended into the mortal world.


    The holy sword abruptly turned transparent, and a massive golden sword projection appeared. The sky abruptly took on an illusionary quality, and the entire underground drill ground seemed to be quaking slightly.


    No matter how one looked at it, the illusionary golden sword projection wasn''t of the same caliber as the giant bluish-golden dragon. However, in the instant that the two clashed, an extremely astonishing turn of events unfolded.


    A peculiar tearing sound rang out, and the giant dragon faltered in mid-air. One had to realize that this was one of Tang Wulin''s blood soul fusion skills! In the next instant, a golden line appeared all the way from the front of the giant dragon''s head to the tip of its tail. The golden sword projection, which had been slightly weakened, then struck Tang Wulin''s body.


    However, in the instant before it struck him, it was rotated slightly so that the hilt of the sword struck his body rather than the blade.


    "Boom!"


    Tang Wulin was instantly sent flying before crashing into the ground in the distance.


    "Pwah!"


    As Tang Wulin was sent flying, Yue Zhengyu also threw up a mouthful of blood before plummeting from above. During his descent, all of his soul rings vanished, and he crashed straight down onto the ground.


    He had only mastered the Holy Fusion Technique not long ago, so using it was still extremely difficult for him. Swiveling the sword around to strike Tang Wulin with the hilt instead of the blade was already outside the realm of his control, so he instantly suffered backlash for it.


    The entire drill ground had fallen completely silent.


    This fight had been a see-sawing affair from the very beginning. Yue Zhengyu had unleashed the first ferocious barrage of attacks, almost as if he had a vendetta against Tang Wulin, and each successive attack was more powerful than the previous one. He hadn''t held back at all, unleashing his Holy Angel True Body from the get-go and reducing Tang Wulin to a sandbag.


    However, Tang Wulin soon began to retaliate, and everyone realized that Yue Zhengyu''s powerful attacks had had no effect on him. After that, Tang Wulin quickly unleashed a fearsome retaliation to completely dominate Yue Zhengyu.


    Right at this moment, Yue Zhengyu revealed an ability that they had never even heard of before, fusing his three soul skills together before unleashing a devastating sword strike.


    Just the hilt of the sword had sent Tang Wulin flying; what if he had used the blade instead? Would he have killed Tang Wulin on the spot or at least forced him to use his battle armor?


    The final attack that Yue Zhengyu had unleashed was definitely already of the Titled Douluo level. There weren''t that many inner court disciples present who had reached that level, but all of them had been at Shrek Academy for over 10 years and had seen many powerful beings during that time, so they were naturally able to comprehend just how powerful that attack was.


    Just as their hearts were filled with astonishment, Tang Wulin had already dusted himself off and risen to his feet as if nothing had happened. The attack looked as if it had dealt him a devastating blow, but aside from the fact that he was a little disheveled, he didn''t appear to have been injured at all.


    Tang Wulin rushed over to Yue Zhengyu''s side in a flash to help him up from the ground, and a beam of holy light also descended from above, falling upon Yue Zhengyu and returning a hint of color to his pale face.


    "Am I powerful or what?" Yue Zhengyu chuckled.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Indeed you are. If you had used the blade of the sword, you probably would''ve been able to wound me."


    Just the fact that his final attack had destroyed the Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens was a testament to how powerful it was.


    However, not only was Tang Wulin not disheartened by this in the slightest, he was filled with elation instead. How could he not be elated to see his friends becoming more powerful? The more powerful they became the lighter the burden on his shoulders would become!


    "Hehe, are you scared?" A smug look appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. It had been a very long time since he had been able to defeat Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes at him. "You''re not under the impression that you''ve won, are you?"


    Yue Zhengyu puffed his chest out in response. "Haven''t I?"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "Alright, we''ll count that as a victory for you, then."


    Yue Zhengyu''s eyes immediately widened. "You''re not going to refuse to admit defeat, are you?"


    Tang Wulin looked at him, then turned toward all of the inner court disciples before standing up straight. "Elder Long, can I ask for your assistance?"


    Light flashed from Long Yeyue''s body, and in the next instant, she appeared directly before him.


    Tang Wulin continued, "Zhengyu held back at the end there, so it''s hard to say who won that sparring match based on that ambiguous ending. Would you be able to take an attack from me, then decide who the victor is?"


    A hint of a smile appeared on Long Yeyue''s face. "Are you saying you have an attack that''s more powerful than the Holy Fusion Technique?"


    Tang Wulin could naturally deduce that this so-called Holy Fusion Technique was the ability that Yue Zhengyu had just unleashed, and he nodded in response.


    Long Yeyue said, "Alright, then attack me with everything you have."


    A serious look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and a layer of golden light also began to spread from beneath his feet.


    A low dragon''s roar revolved around his body, and his aura began to swell at an astonishing rate.


    Tang Wulin was a competitive person, but he didn''t need to go out of his way to prove to everyone that he was more powerful than Yue Zhengyu.


    However, at the conclusion of the sparring match, he could clearly see that a hint of doubt had crept into the eyes of the spectating inner court disciples. He then recalled Elder Long''s lecture about how he was no longer just a student of Shrek Academy and a disciple of the Tang Sect. Instead, he was now the Sea God''s Pavilion Master and the Tang Sect Master.


    In order to stamp his authority to cement his status, the first thing that he had to do was display enough power. Hence, he made this request to Elder Long to show everyone just how powerful he was and prove to everyone that he was worthy of his current status.


    Tang Wulin held his Golden Dragon Spear in his hand, and his entire body seemed to have entered a profound state. The golden light around him gradually became more substantial, and his entire body was enshrouded within a layer of dragon''s repulse that was around three feet thick.


    Elder Long had initially had a smile on her face, but her expression soon turned into one of shock. Much to her surprise, Tang Wulin was exuding a type of invisible pressure that struck her with a strong sense of oppression.


    Was this, the bloodline intimidation from a superior dragon bloodline? Was this dragon''s might?


    One had to realize that she possessed two dragon-type martial souls of the highest caliber; she was the invincible Light Dark Dragon Empress! However, even as a Limit Douluo, she was struck by a sense of pressure in the face of Tang Wulin. This was something she had never experienced before. Even in her younger days, she had never felt pressure that stemmed directly from her opponent''s martial soul.


    Even as a Limit Douluo, the bloodline disparity still affected her.


    She was beginning to look forward to seeing just what Tang Wulin was capable of!


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s eyes began to glow with golden light, and in the next instant, he stepped forward with his left leg as a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out across the entire drill ground.


    He had unleashed his Dragon King True Body, which he had refrained from using even against Wu Zhangkong.


    His body instantly began to swell in size at a rapid rate and he still retained his human form rather than transforming into a dragon, but his entire body had taken on an illusionary quality, and it was as if a crown had appeared on his head. Countless Dragon''s roars were erupting from all directions as if all dragons were bowing to him in subordination. His dragon''s might was also instantly elevated to its peak.

 Chapter 1189: Devastating Strike of Stored Power

    The countless dragon roars created an extremely astonishing spectacle, and powerful soundwaves surged throughout the entire drill ground. Not only was Long Yeyue struck by a sense of pressure, even the inner court disciples who were outside the protective barrier all felt their bloodlines fluctuate as a sense of horror welled up in their hearts.


    Soul Masters with dragon bloodline martial souls were exceedingly rare, but these were all disciples of Shrek Academy''s of the inner court, so there was quite a considerable proportion of them who possessed dragon-type bloodlines and martial souls. All of them were filled with a sense of horror that stemmed from deep within their hearts, and they were all struck by the urge to fall to the ground in subordination in the presence of Tang Wulin.


    It was as if he was no longer just a Soul Master, but a monarch that ruled over the entire dragon clan instead.


    "Golden Dragon King! He''s the Golden Dragon King that won the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition!" an inner court disciple suddenly exclaimed.


    In order to hide their identities, none of these inner court disciples competed in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, but they had certainly been keeping tabs on the competition. However, never did they think that the Golden Dragon King who had crushed countless powerful beings to claim the championship title was standing right in front of them!


    Furthermore, it was quite apparent that Tang Wulin had become far more powerful than when he had participated in the competition. In the past, the Golden Dragon King had only been a six-ring Soul Emperor, but he was now already a seven-ring Soul Sage.


    Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue originally had her hands clasped behind her back, but now, her arms were reflexively hanging by her sides. This was an unconscious reaction to danger that stemmed from the vast amount of battle experience she had accumulated over the past 200 years. It was quite clear that she was sensing a threat from Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin slowly raised his Golden Dragon Spear, and it was only a simple gesture, but it made his aura swell even further at a drastic rate. All of the energy particles in the air surged toward him regardless of what attribute they were, and he was like a black hole as he devoured this energy in a frenzy.


    Under normal circumstances, there would be no way for him to do this in battle as he was taking far too long to prepare his attack. However, in order to prove to everyone that he had the power to lead Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, Tang Wulin chose to take the time he needed to store power.


    At this point, his mind had already entered a complete state of immersion, and the only thing he could feel was his body swelling incessantly. He thought back to the battle he had fought against the abyssal plane, back to the scenes during which he had fought the Black Sovereign and countless other powerful abyssal beings, while absorbing the vast amount of natural energies being bestowed upon him by the blessing of the ruler of the plane.


    At the time, even the enormously powerful Black Sovereign was no match for him, and if it weren''t for the Holy Lord''s appearance, Tang Wulin could''ve forced back the abyssal tide all on his own.


    Without the Blood God Array, there was no way to absorb as much natural energies as he had in the past, but with his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he was still capable of drawing upon some natural energies. As for his physical tolerance, that was something that he didn''t even have to consider. His body was more powerful than even that of a Hyper Douluo, and that was his main advantage.


    In reality, Yue Zhengyu''s Holy Fusion Technique had indeed been quite powerful, but even if he had been struck by the blade of the sword, it would''ve only resulted in some slight injuries at most.


    "Boom!"


    The light around Tang Wulin''s body suddenly exploded, and all of his dragon''s repulse was set alight before fusing as one with his devastating dragon''s might. A thunderous dragon''s roar that shook heaven and earth erupted from Tang Wulin''s body, and a massive golden dragon abruptly rose up into the air behind him.


    The first thing to appear was the dragon''s head. This was an extremely life-like and gigantic golden dragon head that rose up into the air with a ferocious look in its eyes. This was immediately followed by the massive dragon''s body, which was close to 100 meters in length. When its entire body finally emerged onto the drill ground, the entire space was illuminated by the golden light radiating from its body.


    Long Yeyue''s expression finally changed slightly. Her eyes were full of approval at the sight of the enormous energy fluctuations erupting from Tang Wulin''s body, but at the same time, the horror in her heart had risen to its peak.


    The disparity between their powers quickly dwindled, and at this point, the energy fluctuations emanating from Tang Wulin''s body had already exceeded those of a Titled Douluo. Furthermore, she could clearly sense that her own soul power was being debilitated to a certain extent by this pressure.


    What a powerful bloodline! He really did deserve to become the champion of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition.


    Could it be that the legends about the Dragon God splitting up into the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King are true, and that he''s inherited the Golden Dragon King bloodline?


    With her Light and Darkness Holy Dragon martial souls, there was no way she would have such a violent reaction to a normal elemental dragon king, so he had to possess the Golden Dragon King bloodline!


    Long Yeyue didn''t attempt to take Tang Wulin''s attack without adopting any defensive measures. She slowly raised her right hand, and light and darkness alternated as they shimmered over her palm, creating a peculiar vortex that absorbed the energy particles in the air.


    As expected of one of the most powerful beings in the world and the pillar of Shrek Academy; as soon as she raised her hand, Tang Wulin immediately discovered that he could no longer absorb the elements of light and darkness in the air.


    At the same time, Long Yeyue''s aura stabilized itself. There was simply too massive a disparity between their cultivation ranks. As a Limit Douluo, there was no way that Tang Wulin could truly restrict her no matter how powerful his bloodline intimidation was.


    It was also at this moment that Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had been raised to the point where it was perpendicular to his body.


    A loud dragon''s roar rang out as the giant golden dragon circled around in the air before hovering behind him.


    As Tang Wulin vigorously flapped his golden dragon wings, the giant dragon also flapped its wings, and their two figures instantly fused as one.


    In the instant that they fused together, a black halo suddenly appeared in the surrounding area. It was as if the entire space had been broken and they had fallen into a black hole.


    "Roar!"


    Only then did the dragon''s roar spread over the entire drill ground, and the protective barrier instantly began to warp and twist violently as it reached virtually the upper limit of its tolerance threshold.


    All of the spectators were greeted by the sight of an illusionary projection, and the giant golden dragon seemed to have struggled out of the black halo before shimmering in mid-air for an instant.


    The entire drill ground erupted into a frenzy. The earth instantly peeled back, and the protective barrier began to rattle like a windowpane, seemingly unable to withstand such powerful energy fluctuations.


    Was it about to be broken?


    All of the spectating inner court disciples hurriedly released their martial souls and prepared to defend themselves as astonishment welled up in their hearts.


    Was this guy even a human anymore? Was he really only a Soul Sage? He wasn''t even wearing his suit of battle armor! The explosive power that he was displaying had already risen above the realm of a Titled Douluo, and even a full-power strike from a Hyper Douluo couldn''t be more powerful than this!


    Yue Zhengyu had also been completely rooted to the spot. He knew that Tang Wulin was very powerful and that he may not be able to defeat Tang Wulin even with his Holy Fusion Technique, but only now, as Tang Wulin began to display his true power, did he realize that the gap between them had only widened rather than shortened.


    This guy truly wasn''t a human!


    A light barrier that seemed to be substantial and illusionary at the same time enshrouded the entire drill ground just in the nick of time to prevent the energy within from escaping. Countless streaks of golden light then erupted forth before coming to a rest right in front of Elder Long''s right palm.


    It appeared to be a massive vortex that was imbued with unfathomably terrifying power, and the conical tip of the vortex was right in front of Long Yeyue''s hand.

 Chapter 1190: Gu Yuena at the Auction House

    This was a light barrier that was alternating between light and darkness, as well as illusion and reality. It didn''t appear to be very large; it only had a diameter of around a meter with Long Yeyue''s palm at the center, but it was able to ward off Tang Wulin''s All or Nothing attack.


    The giant golden dragon gradually emerged from within the vortex, and it was extremely grandiose to behold. Even though it had been stopped cold in its tracks, it still presented quite a stunning sight to everyone.


    Lan Muzi''s expression had changed drastically as he knew that there was no way he would be able to block this attack, even if he were to don his suit of battle armor. Was Tang Wulin already this powerful? Who would''ve thought that this would be the outcome.


    Who else aside from Elder Long would be able to block this attack? Perhaps Holy Spirit Douluo Yali would also be capable of replicating this feat, but she wasn''t a Soul Master who specialized in battle, so in the face of such an ability, she would most likely be forced to take evasive measures as well.


    The more powerful the inner court disciple, the clearer it was to them just how terrifying Tang Wulin''s attack was. The golden light gradually receded as Tang Wulin reappeared on the drill ground, and everyone''s expressions had changed slightly as they appraised him from afar.


    Right at this moment, they were greeted by an even more astonishing sight. Long Yeyue''s upper body swayed slightly, and she retreated a half-step.


    What?! He had managed to force Elder Long back by a half-step?


    Everyone was stunned into complete silence.


    Who was Long Yeyue? She was one of the most powerful Limit Douluos in this world! She had twin martial souls, and she was also the eldest living Limit Douluo. If one had to choose the most powerful being in this world, then she would certainly be a very strong candidate! Aside from her old age, everything else about her was virtually unmatched. However, she had been forced back a half-step by Tang Wulin, even though he was only a seven-ring Soul Sage!


    How was this possible?


    Tang Wulin plunged his Golden Dragon Spear into the ground to support his body as he panted heavily. His face was slightly pale, but his heart was filled with elation.


    He had given everything he had, combining all of his essence, energy, and spirit as one to unleash that All or Nothing attack. He was absolutely sure that the power of that attack was comparable to that of a Hyper Douluo.


    Ever since he had become a Soul Sage, he had never given everything he had in a single attack as he had done here, and it had to be said that this was a wonderful feeling. He had released everything that was pent up inside him, and only in that extreme state could he better experience what level of power his body was currently at, thereby allowing him to find ways to better utilize this power.


    The Holy Fusion Technique hadn''t managed to harm him earlier, but it had provided him with quite a bit of inspiration. It was undoubtedly the case that the Holy Angel martial soul''s unique characteristics were what allowed one to unleash the Holy Fusion Technique. Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor martial soul wasn''t able to accomplish this, but his Golden Dragon King bloodline was also very special, so would he be able to somehow replicate the Holy Fusion Technique?


    From Yue Zhengyu''s reaction, it was quite apparent that using the Holy Fusion Technique placed a huge strain on one''s body, but bodily strain was something that Tang Wulin was the least afraid of. What kind of strain could harm his body?


    Furthermore, if he had worn his suit of battle armor, he would''ve definitely been able to unleash even more offensive power! That spear strike was most definitely the most powerful attack he had ever unleashed through his own power alone.


    Long Yeyue withdrew her hand before giving Tang Wulin a nod of approval. "Well done, you are indeed capable of withstanding the Holy Fusion Technique."


    Yue Zhengyu was no longer in the mood to compete with Tang Wulin, and he wore a sullen look as he said, "You''re not even a human being! I don''t want to speak with you anymore."


    An amused smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he extended a respectful bow toward Long Yeyue. "Thank you, Elder Long."


    "You''re welcome, Pavilion Master. I''m very pleased to see how much you''ve grown, Pavilion Master. Alright, let''s leave things here for today. Everyone, go back and cultivate now." Long Yeyue slowly departed as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin looked on at her departing figure and heaved an internal sigh. Elder Long really was doing everything she could to support him!


    No one else had been able to identify this, but he was certainly aware that Long Yeyue had deliberately taken that half-step backward, rather than having been forced back by his attack.


    At the time, Long Yeyue still had energy to spare to support the protective barrier around the entire drill ground, so how could she have been unable to completely withstand his attack?


    In the instant that his attack struck Long Yeyue, Tang Wulin felt as if he were facing the core of the entire world. If his body had already been over 100 meters tall at the time, then to him, Long Yeyue felt like a bottomless abyss. No matter how powerful his attack was, it would be easily nullified by Long Yeyue. This wasn''t just a disparity in power anymore; they were simply on two completely different levels.


    If he wanted to reach Elder Long''s level, then he would have to put in countless hours of hard work.


    This sparring match had truly been a great experience for him. Not only did he get a chance to witness the power of Yue Zhengyu''s Holy Fusion Technique, he also had a chance to release everything he had against Elder Long.


    At the same time, it was made clear to him that he still had a long way to go. Long Yeyue''s palm had seemed to be quite simple and mundane, but it taught him a valuable lesson, which was that he had to remain conscientious and maintain a good work ethic no matter how fast he was progressing.


    ¡­¡­


    Gu Yuena was sitting beside Qiangu Dongfeng, and her purple pupils suddenly turned vertical for an instant. In that instant, she felt as if she had heard an extremely familiar roar, and her bloodline began to churn within her veins.


    Had he already reached that level?


    Her eyes became slightly glazed over. It was quite painful for her that she couldn''t go and see him even though they were so close to one another. She really missed him!


    Right at this moment, Qiangu Dongfeng''s voice suddenly sounded. "Na''er, it''s here." Only then did Gu Yuena return to her senses and cast her gaze toward the auction stage.


    A golden trolley was pushed onto the stage with a red cloth draped over it. Under normal circumstances, this vibrant red color would be flashy to the point of vulgarity, but in the grandiose setting of the auction hall, it seemed to fit in perfectly.


    An excited look appeared on the elderly auctioneer''s face. "The next auction item could be said to the most important one in the history of our auction house. We''ve waited a very, very long time for this auction item, and it''s attracted the most important guests from all over the continent. Before the bidding begins, I must thank everyone for coming on behalf of the Heaven Dou Auction House. Now then, I''m sure everyone''s sick of waiting, so without further ado, let''s begin. I''m sure most of the guests present will have heard about this auction item through different avenues, but as the auctioneer, I must still present a detailed introduction for this unmatched treasure."


    A serious look appeared on the auctioneer''s face as he spoke, and the lights in the auction hall also dimmed collectively, leaving only a ray of golden light shining down upon the trolley. Just what as under that red cloth?


    "The auction house had a duty to keep the origins of its auction items strictly confidential, but what I can tell you is that this is something that can change the future. It''s not a spirit item, nor an uncommon metal. Instead, it''s something that no one knows the exact origin of. We named it the Ice God''s Heart."


    The auctioneer abruptly removed the red cloth as he spoke, and in the instant that he did so, everyone''s gaze was immediately drawn to the item under the cloth.


    This was a transparent box that was constructed from some kind of unknown material, and there was what appeared to be a gem within the box.


    It was only around the size of a longan and had the shape of a water droplet. It was entirely icy blue in color and had countless tiny facets.


    It wasn''t very large, but when the golden light shone down upon it, it reflected countless rays of dazzling light that were icy blue instead of golden in color.


    The dazzling icy blue light was reflected to all corners of the auction house, and everyone was struck by a chilly sensation.


    "It appears to be just an ordinary gem, but I''m sure that everyone can see just how unique it is from the way it refracts light. One detail that we''ve managed to verify is that nine Titled Douluos have already given their lives thus far to obtain it, and I''m sure all of you can guess its function from its name. That''s right, its ability is extremely cold. Our testing devices tell us that the temperature around the Ice God''s Heart is constantly maintained at between -200¡ãC to -237¡ãC [-328 to -394.6¡ãF for mah American homies].


    "This means that its temperature is always hovering around absolute zero [I have a feeling the author is under the impression that absolute zero is -237 when it''s actually -273, hence this statement]. We have reason to believe that its the core of all cold temperatures, and it most likely originates from the extreme northern lands. Following thorough examinations, we''ve determined that the energy imbued within it is so enormous that it''s somewhere between that of a ninth-grade soul missile and a 10th-grade soul missile."

 Chapter 1191: Ice Gods Heart

    "On top of that, the energy contained within the Ice God''s Heart is of the extremely pure ice attribute. Among the Titled Douluo who perished for it, aside from those who died during battle, three of them were frozen to death as soon as they came into contact with it. Hence, no one knows how to use it, nor how to utilize its power. However, we''d like to present a bold hypothesis that if a fourth Godslayer missile were to appear in this world, this would be the best core material for it, period!"


    The entire auction house immediately erupted into chatter upon hearing this.


    The fearsome power of a Godslayer missile had already been verified, as exemplified by the fact that the entirety of Shrek City had been razed to the ground by two of those missiles. Even all of the powerful beings of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were unable to nullify the fearsome might of the explosion, and that was sufficient testament to just how terrifying those Godslayer missiles were.


    As such, the fact that this was being proclaimed to be the potential core for another Godslayer missile made it an extremely attractive item. All of the people who had come to participate in this auction were important figures from major powers; they were extremely powerful beings themselves, or represented a prominent force.


    Everyone knew what it entailed for them to get their hands on another Godslayer missile; that would be an extremely effective trump card!


    Qiangu Dongfeng listened to the auctioneer''s vehement introduction with a cold smile on his face. If it weren''t for the fact that the true owner of the Heaven Dou Auction House was someone whom he didn''t want to offend for no good reason, there would''ve been no need for him to participate in this auction to secure the Ice God''s Heart.


    Furthermore, he was already aware of some secrets that the auctioneer definitely couldn''t reveal. In reality, this Ice God''s Heart had already undergone countless hours of research by the military and the federal government, and the auctioneer was correct in proclaiming that it was powerful enough to be the core for a Godslayer missile. However, that was actually impossible to put into practice.


    This was because not only was it constantly releasing ultra-low temperatures, it refused to interact with any other types of energy, which meant that the energy it contained couldn''t be drawn upon by any soul tools or soul arrays.


    If it weren''t for that pitfall, there was no way that this Ice God''s Heart would appear in an auction house.


    Of course, Qiangu Dongfeng was determined to secure it naturally because he knew how to truly use it.


    With that in mind, he glanced at Gu Yuena, and a faint smile appeared on his face.


    The auctioneer was finally reaching the closing stages of his introduction. Whether this Ice God''s Heart could truly be used was still up for debate, but one thing was for sure: it was most definitely a divine-grade ice-attribute item.


    "Alright, let the bidding begin. The starting price will be 5,000,000,000 federal credits, and each bid must be an increment of at least 100,000,000 federal credits."


    This was undoubtedly an astronomical price, and it had been a very long time since a lofty auction price had appeared in the federation. Furthermore, no one could be sure whether this Ice God''s Heart really was a divine item. If it really were a divine item, then there was no way that it would be auctioned.


    The auction house was essentially attracting all of the major powers here to make a gamble that they would figure out a way to use the Ice God''s Heart. Regardless of whether it was in constructing a Godslayer missile or for some other alternative purpose, as long as this item could be used, then its value would far surpass its starting price.


    "You may begin bidding now," the auctioneer said with the smile. However, he was greeted by complete silence. No one made a bid, but everyone''s eyes were firmly fixed on the Ice God''s Heart.


    5,000,000,000 federal credits was not a small number, and it wouldn''t be that easy to issue such a large sum all at once, even for many major powers.


    However, the auctioneer remained completely unflustered. It was never an easy task to sell such an outrageously extravagant auction item. This starting price wasn''t actually all that high when one considered the immense amount of energy contained within the Ice God''s Heart, so even if it were to be passed up by everyone, that wouldn''t be an issue. After all, there was no instruction from the higher-ups stating that this item had to be sold.


    Only after three full minutes had passed did he issue another reminder. "You may begin bidding now."


    "5,000,000,000." Someone finally made a bid, and it was a man sitting in a dark corner to the left of the auction.


    "Alright, we have a bid of 5,000,000,000." The auctioneer immediately responded to this opening bid.


    "5,100,000,000!" Another bid was quickly made.


    The main appeal in the Ice God''s Heart lay in its potential. Qiangu Dongfeng wasn''t the only one here who was aware that the military hadn''t managed to find a purpose for the Ice God''s Heart. In fact, many of the people present were aware of this, but they still wanted to research it.


    After all, the Ice God''s Heart was a divine item, and if a method of usage were to be found for it, even hundreds of billions of federal credits wouldn''t be too expensive a price to pay for it!


    Qiangu Dongfeng didn''t immediately join in on the bidding. Instead, he merely looked on as everyone else placed bids.


    Such an expensive auction item was naturally beyond the budget of many people, and only a very small proportion of people present were able to participate in the bidding. There were currently four bidders competing against one another, and the price quickly climbed past 6,000,000,000 federal credits.


    This wasn''t a very high price considering the amount of energy that was contained within the Ice God''s Heart. However, the fact that there was no clear way to use the item made the bidders rather hesitant.


    The auctioneer repeated the bids while constantly introducing more and more appealing features about the Ice God''s Heart, even going as far as to say that it would never rot or decay.


    A faint smile appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face. It wasn''t like this was a coffin; so what if it would never rot or decay?


    Gu Yuena remained completely expressionless as if this Ice God''s Heart had nothing to do with her, but in reality, Qiangu Dongfeng had only come to the auction house today as she had told him that with the Ice God''s Heart at her disposal, she would be able to make a breakthrough to the Spirit Domain realm in a short time.


    Her martial soul was elemental control, so spiritual power was more important to her than to any other Soul Master. It could even be said that her spiritual power would determine the rate at which her cultivation rank progressed. Even though she was Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu''s disciple, she had passed the backup spirit envoy trial with flying colors, which made her an extremely bright and important prospect in Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes.


    She was far too young! She was only 21 years old, yet she was already an eight-ring Soul Douluo; she was definitely the future of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Even more importantly, the Spirit Pagoda had only attained its current level status due to a piece of research that Gu Yuena had presented.


    Around a month ago, her contributions had prompted Qiangu Dongfeng to make an exception for her despite widespread opposition, promoting her to one of the four Spirit Pagoda spirit envoys despite the fact that she wasn''t even a Titled Douluo yet. Thus, she also became the youngest spirit envoy in the history of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had asked her what type of reward she wanted. Her research had been extremely important to the Spirit Pagoda, and he was naturally very eager to please such an incredible young talent. Furthermore, Qiangu Dongfeng was also hoping that she would be able to take her research a step further. If she could do that, then he would definitely be one step closer to achieving his ultimate goal.


    Once he achieved this, not only would he take over control of the Douluo Continent, he firmly believed that even the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent would fall under the control of the Spirit Pagoda, even if no wars were instigated. As such, he would be able to control the entire Douluo Star, which was why he held Gu Yuena in such high regard. In his eyes, she was truly a blessing from the heavens.


    Gu Yuena had initially refrained from asking for any rewards, and her attention had only been drawn to the Ice God''s Heart after Qiangu Dongfeng had told her that it would be an auction item here.


    Even though she had only taken a glance at the image of the item, Gu Yuena had told Qiangu Dongfeng with great conviction that if she were to get her hand on the Ice God''s Heart, her spiritual power would quickly reach the Spirit Domain realm, and that she would become a Titled Douluo within a year.

 Chapter 1192: Old Tangs Awakening

    Qiangu Dongfeng was naturally ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately traveled to Heaven Dou City with Gu Yuena.


    On top of that, there was a selfish element involved in his eagerness to nurture Gu Yuena despite the high costs. Among the four current spirit envoys of the Spirit Pagoda, the second youngest one was Qiangu Zhangting, who was his grandson. He was 31 years of age and a Titled Douluo, and it could be said that he was the most exceptional talent to have emerged from the Qiangu Family for a long time. He was also being groomed by Qiangu Dongfeng as his eventual successor.


    Many years had passed since the Qiangu Family''s first rose to prominence, and during this time, the family had completely monopolized the Spirit Pagoda, and the so-called election system was just there for show to create an illusion of fairness.


    Qiangu Zhangting was Qiangu Dongfeng''s eldest grandson, and he was truly outstanding, displaying exceptional aptitude from a very young age.


    Back when he was 28 years old, he progressed to the Titled Douluo stage and was instantly promoted to become one of the four Spirit Pagoda spirit envoys. During these past three years, Qiangu Zhangting had been focusing wholeheartedly on his cultivation and was yet to marry.


    However, it was love at first sight for him the first time he had met Gu Yuena, who had been 18 at the time.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was naturally eager to play the match-maker, but Leng Yaozhu turned him down, citing Gu Yuena''s young age as an issue.


    Now that Gu Yuena had been promoted to become a spirit envoy, she stood at the pinnacle of the younger generation regardless of whether it came to status, ability, aptitude, or looks, and in Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes, she was the ideal bride for his grandson!


    Qiangu Zhanting had only recently come out of seclusion, and during the past three years, he had progressed to rank 94 in soul power.


    He was only one step away from becoming a Hyper Douluo, and he also had the unreserved support of the Spirit Pagoda behind him. He was currently pursuing Gu Yuena with all his might, hoping to secure her hand in marriage, and Qiangu Dongfeng was certainly more than willing to give him a hand.


    Hence, he came to the auction house with Gu Yuena and was determined to purchase the Ice God''s Heart for her at all costs. If Gu Yuena could also reach the Titled Douluo level in the near future, then she and his grandson would be a match made in heaven, and they would also be the pillars that supported the entire Spirit Pagoda in the future.


    Whenever Qiangu Dongfeng thought of his grand scheme, he was struck by an indescribable sense of excitement. At his level of power, wealth was no longer important; his only objective was to attain more influence and widespread jurisdictive power. What he wanted to see the most was for the younger generation to be able to continue to take the Qiangu Family to greater heights.


    "6,800,000,000 going once! 6,800,000,000 going twice!" The auctioneer was practically yelling at the top of his lungs at this point.


    The auction for this Ice God''s Heart wasn''t progressing as well as he would''ve hoped. The instruction from his higher-ups was to try and sell it for 10,000,000,000 federal credits, but who would''ve thought that the auction-goers would display so little interest in the item?


    "7,000,000,000." Right at this moment, another bid was made, and the auctioneer felt as if he had been saved.


    Qiangu Dongfeng lifted his number one paddle and gave the auctioneer a nod.


    The entire auction house fell completely silent.


    All of the auction-goers were wearing masks, but it was quite clear to everyone just how important someone had to be to have secured the number one paddle.


    "7,000,000,000 going once." The auctioneer commenced his countdown again while vehemently selling the allure of the Ice God''s Heart, but no one took the bait.


    "Ahem." Qiangu Dongfeng suddenly cleared his throat at this moment, and it was only a quiet noise as far as everyone else was concerned, but it sounded like a deafening thunderclap in the ears of the auctioneer.


    He felt as if his blood were churning in his veins, and he was naturally quite stunned by this. As the main auctioneer of the Heaven Dou City Auction House, he was also a powerful Soul Master in his own right, but he felt as if his soul had almost been scattered by that gentle clear of the throat.


    "7,000,000,000 going twice."


    "7,000,000,000 going thrice."


    "Slam!"


    He brought down his hammer to seal the deal.


    Nothing was more important than his own survival, and there really wasn''t anyone else making further bids anyway.


    "Congratulations, guest number one, the Ice God''s Heart is all yours!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng smiled as he turned toward Gu Yuena, and said, "Na''er, once we get back, Yaozhu and I will assist you so you can progress to the Spirit Domain realm as quickly as possible."


    "Thank you, Chairman." Gu Yuena nodded in response.


    Qiangu Dongfeng also gave her a benevolent nod, but what he actually wanted was for her to call him grandfather.


    The dazzling Ice God''s Heart was delivered to Qiangu Dongfeng and Gu Yuena, and its container had undoubtedly been custom made to be able to withstand the ultra-low temperatures of the Ice God''s Heart. Gu Yuena''s eyes glazed over slightly as she looked at the Ice God''s Heart, and that same familiar figure appeared in her mind again.


    At this moment, the person that Gu Yuena was thinking of also just happened to be holding a crystal that was just as spectacular as the Ice God''s Heart, but wasn''t cold in the slightest. It was none other than the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal.


    Yue Zhengyu had gone back to rest. He had expended a lot of energy and also sustained some injuries from using the Holy Fusion Technique, so he needed some time to rest and recuperate.


    Thus, Tang Wulin also returned to his own room, and prior to going into a meditative state, he suddenly recalled the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal that Elder Long had proclaimed to be the academy''s most precious treasure.


    It was referred to as a divine item, so it was definitely something that was quite extraordinary, but how was he supposed to use it? Was it really just to be sensed by the powerful beings?


    Tang Wulin could still clearly recall that he had been drawn into a boundless sea when he had first set his eyes on this crystal. That was truly a wonderful feeling, and it had left him feeling completely reinvigorated and refreshed.


    However, he had been staring at the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal for quite a while now, but he was unable to enter that profound state again, so just what kind of secrets could it contain?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin attempted to inject his soul power slowly into the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal in the hope that this would achieve something.


    As his soul power was slowly injected into the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal, it really did begin to display a reaction. A layer of blue light was released by the crystal, making it appear even more dazzling and glorious. However, there was no other reaction aside from that, even when Tang Wulin increased his soul power output.


    Was this not the right way to approach things?


    Right at his moment, a voice suddenly sounded within his mind.


    "Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud?" The voice was quite familiar, and it gave Tang Wulin quite a fright.


    "Old Tang?" Tang Wulin called out internally.


    Indeed, the voice came from none other than Old Tang, and he seemed to be rather surprised.


    The last time he had seen Old Tang was when he had been taught Fury of the Masses. It was this spear technique that had officially guided Tang Wulin onto the right path of spear usage, thereby allowing him to invent Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing, as well as to attain a spear soul.


    Old Tang had told him that he could call for him after he mastered Fury of the Masses, but with everything that had happened, he hadn''t yet had a chance to call Old Tang. To put it more accurately, he had simply been improving far too quickly, to the extent that he was too busy juggling his own abilities and had forgotten about calling Old Tang...


    "Are you talking about this Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal?" Tang Wulin asked. Why had Old Tang referred to it as the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud?


    A hint of excitement suddenly crept into Old Tang''s voice as he urged, "Press it against your forehead! Quick!"


    Tang Wulin had never seen Old Tang this excited and urgent before, and he had absolute trust in Old Tang, so he immediately pressed the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal to his own forehead.


    The crystal was cool to the touch, and he didn''t feel anything in the instant that he pressed to his forehead. Just as Tang Wulin was wondering if the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal would take him into that mystical marine world again, something began to happen.

 Chapter 1193: Universal Fusion

    Tang Wulin suddenly felt a scorching sensation well up in his mind, and everything around him turned into a golden color. Immediately thereafter, the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal abruptly adhered itself to his glabella as if it had been glued there.


    His spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Domain realm, and his enormous spiritual power was like a boundless ocean, but at this moment, he was struck by the feeling that there were boundless spiritual fluctuations surging through his mind.


    Due to the fact that he was holding the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal against his forehead, he could clearly sense that it was shrinking.


    Much to his alarm, the crystal quickly shrank down to the size of a fingernail, and only then did it stop shrinking.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin discovered that not only was he unable to move his own body, everything about him had congealed with the exception of his mind.


    However, he could sense ripples proliferating outward from his body, and those ripples all seemed to be spreading into the distance. The Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal seemed to be the origin of these ripples, and unbeknownst to him, a golden symbol had appeared on his forehead. The symbol was of the shape of a golden trident, and the minimized Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal was situated right under the sharp tip of the trident''s central spike, as if it were the core of the entire symbol.


    Golden light was still revolving around and rising up from the golden trident, but Tang Wulin was unable to do anything. His soul power and spiritual power were both being depleted at an astonishing rate, but elements of all different attributes were also rapidly surging toward him to replenish what he had lost.


    In the beginning, it wasn''t too pronounced, but as time passed, these elements began to converge at a faster and faster rate, making Tang Wulin feel as if he were back in the Blood God Array.


    He didn''t know what was happening, but a peculiar balance had appeared within his body, and he seemed to have become a statue. Energy was constantly being injected into his body before being released as these strange ripples.


    Was Old Tang doing all this? Could it be that Old Tang was capable of controlling his body?


    Tang Wulin''s heart tightened as this thought occurred to him. Old Tang had always been so mysterious to him. It was Old Tang who had made him aware of the existence of his Golden Dragon King seals, and it was also these abilities that had made him who he was today.


    However, Old Tang was suddenly controlling his body now; how could he not be concerned?


    The cycle of influx and release of energy continued, and he couldn''t do anything about it.


    After this brief period of concern, Tang Wulin gradually relaxed. It wasn''t like overthinking things would help him here anyway. Even if Old Tang really did possess the ability to control his body, he couldn''t do anything about it now. Furthermore, during these years of interaction with Old Tang, he had never done anything to his detriment, so it would be unfair to suspect him now.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin began to immerse himself in sensing the changes in the elemental particles around him. He began to observe every type of element to experience their complexity.


    This was the way to cultivate spiritual power after reaching the Spirit Domain realm, and seeing as he couldn''t do anything else, he may as well take this opportunity to cultivate his own spiritual power.


    Time passed by slowly, and after an indeterminate period of time, Tang Wulin suddenly felt his scalp tighten, following which all of his hair suddenly stood up on end.


    It was also in this instant that the ripples proliferating from his body suddenly stopped, and immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin felt his own mind tremor violently, as if something were being injected into it from the outside.


    This was not a good feeling, and he was immediately struck by an excruciating headache that made him feel as if his spiritual world were about to explode. However, this feeling only persisted for an instant before it disappeared, and he was gasping for breath as he relaxed his tensed-up body.


    However, at the same time, he was quite stunned by the events that had just unfolded. What had just happened?


    There were no longer any ripples spreading from his body, but Tang Wulin could sense that something seemed to have forged a connection with his mind. This was a very abstract sensation, but at the same time, he was sure that it existed.


    "I need to hibernate for some time; look after yourself. I''ll explain everything once I reawaken." Old Tang''s voice finally sounded again, and he seemed to be very exhausted. However, his weariness was also tinged with a hint of excitement.


    "I''ll leave another spear technique in your mind for you to cultivate." After that, Old Tang''s voice faded, and Tang Wulin finally regained control over his own body.


    He immediately inspected himself internally to try and sense Old Tang''s existence, but it was as if he had completely vanished and hadn''t left behind any trace of his aura. However, as he inspected his own internal condition, Tang Wulin was stunned to discover that his spiritual power had received another major boost that was several times more significant than the improvements he had made during the past three months.


    He was even able to clearly see every single cell within his own body, and he hurriedly raised his hand toward the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal on his forehead, only to find that there was nothing there.


    He hurriedly rushed into the bathroom to look into the mirror, and sure enough, there was nothing but skin on his glabella. It was as if nothing had ever happened.


    What...


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. What was going on? Elder Long had just entrusted him with the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal, the most precious treasure of Shrek Academy, yet he had immediately gone and "eaten" it! He really was a dubious Sea God''s Pavilion Master...


    No, to put it more accurately, it had been "eaten" by Old Tang. How was he going to explain this to Elder Long and to everyone else from Shrek Academy?


    After experiencing so many things in his life, Tang Wulin had already developed an extremely high level of mental fortitude, and after a brief period of uneasiness, he gradually calmed down.


    It was clearly beyond his current ability to recover the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal, but this wasn''t the first time that something had entered his glabella. The seed of life had also taken refuge there in the past, but it had still emerged in the end.


    All he could do now was wait until Old Tang reawakened before asking him about what had happened. Elder Long most likely wouldn''t just randomly ask him about where the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal was for no good reason, and even if she did ask, he would just have to tell the truth and say that it had fused into his glabella.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin shook his head in a resigned manner before deciding to cultivate first. His spiritual power had suddenly received an inexplicable boost, so he needed some time to acclimate himself to it.


    He sat down with his legs crossed and entered a meditative state, and his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power began to circulate through his body of its own accord. His soul power was like a pure white liquid that was tinged with a layer of golden light. He had already completed the first perforation step of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, and he was currently in the process of consolidation. He wasn''t in a hurry at all to move on to the next step. He had already coexisted for so many years with the Golden Dragon King seals, and he knew how important it was to constantly bolster his own body. With every large improvement he made, he had to take some time to consolidate and adjust to his new powers.


    If he couldn''t control his own newfound powers, then many problems could arise that could prove to be detrimental to his cultivation.


    Tang Wulin quickly entered a completely immersive state of meditation, and his consciousness receded into his body while also experiencing the changes taking place in the air around him.


    Elemental particles of all different elements were within his sensory scope, and following that improvement in spiritual power, he was able to sense them with even greater clarity than before.


    He tried to control them, to dissect them, and to experience them on a deeper, more minute level.


    As he entered this special immersive state, his mind suddenly stirred, and he could sense that something seemed to be calling out to him.


    There seemed to be an extremely distant voice that was gently calling out his name over and over again, and even though the voice was quite indistinct, he could clearly sense an extremely profound closeness toward that voice.


    He abruptly opened his eyes as he was jerked out of his meditative state, and he was surprised to find that his clothes were plastered to his body by sweat. It was incredible that he could sweat such a large amount at his current level of power!


    That voice... That voice was...

 Chapter 1194: News About His Parents

    All of a sudden, an extremely powerful emotion welled up in his heart.


    "Father, Mother!"


    As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, a strong sense of longing washed over him, and his chest tightened as he was struck by a sense of asphyxiation.


    Under the pressures exerted on him by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin had constantly been growing and developing, but another mission that was just as important to him was to find his parents!


    The joy of seeing all of these members of Shrek Academy "rising from the dead" had made him forget about this all-important task, and only after hearing those voices that had suddenly appeared in his spiritual world was he suddenly reminded of this. He still had to search for his own parents!


    He gently pressed his left hand onto the ground and sprang to his feet. As soon as this thought sprang into his mind, he was struck by a rush of irrepressible emotions.


    He raised his wrist and dialed a number on his soul communicator as his breathing began to accelerate, and only after the soul communicator had rung for a long while was the call connected.


    "Wulin?" A familiar and slightly jaded voice sounded from the other end of the line.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly replied in an urgent voice, "It''s me, Teacher Mang Tian; how are you?"


    That''s right, the voice on the other end of the line belonged to none other than Mang Tian, the sixth-rank blacksmith, and Tang Wulin''s first forging teacher. Even after so many years, he was still a sixth-rank blacksmith and hadn''t managed to progress to the Saint Blacksmith level.


    Tang Wulin had constantly been in contact with him, giving him a call every once a while to check on him, as well as to ask if there had been any news about his parents. That question was always greeted by a disappointing answer.


    "I''m alright, what''s going on with you? You sound like you''re really emotional about something. Aren''t you currently in the military?" Mang Tian asked in a slightly puzzled manner. Due to the confidential nature of the Blood God Legion, Tang Wulin had only told Mang Tian that he had joined the military without revealing any specific details.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I left the legion a while ago to complete some missions. Is there any news about my parents?"


    Mang Tian was silent for a moment before replying, "Unfortunately not."


    Over 10 years had passed, yet there had still been no news about his parents. Tang Wulin felt as if his heart were being stabbed by countless needles, and that feeling had only become more pronounced after he had heard the voices of his parents in his mind.


    "Why? Why haven''t my parents contacted me even after all this time? Where are they? I miss them so much! Didn''t they say I can go to find them when I become a seven-ring Soul Sage? I''ve reached that level now, but I don''t even know where they are."


    Tang Wulin was overwhelmed by his emotions, and his voice began to tremble with sobs.


    "What? You''re already a Soul Sage?" Mang Tian''s voice was filled with shock and incredulity. After all, Tang Wulin was only 21 years old! Surely a 21-year-old Soul Sage was considered to be quite extraordinary even in Shrek Academy! However, at the same time, he was also aware that Tang Wulin was one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so he didn''t doubt this claim and was immediately filled with elation by this news.


    "Yes, I became a Soul Sage in the military, but what use is that? I still can''t..."


    Mang Tian suddenly cut him off here, and interjected, "Wulin, listen to me."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before shuddering as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. "Teacher Mang Tian, could it be..."


    Mang Tian sighed, "Seeing as you''re already a Soul Sage, I can tell you everything now. I''m sorry, I''ve been lying to you this entire time, but your father insisted that I did so, and I could only comply. He has actually contacted me already."


    "What?" Tang Wulin''s voice instantly spiked up a few octaves, and it was also trembling slightly. This was the first time he had heard any news about his father in over 10 years!


    "Teacher Mang Tian, I don''t blame you for this; just tell me where they are!" Tang Wulin''s hand was trembling so badly that he was almost unable to hold onto his soul communicator.


    Mang Tian replied, "You have to calm down first. Your father told me not to reveal his current situation to you exactly because he''s worried that you''d let your emotions get the better of you. What I can tell you first and foremost is that they''re both alive and well, and they''re not in any danger."


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh of relief upon hearing this. After calming himself down a little, his intelligence also returned, and he immediately deduced, "Have they had their freedom restricted somehow?"


    "That''s right. It''s not safe for your father to contact anyone via soul communicator, but he still takes the risk to call me every once in a while to hear about how you''ve been. In reality, every time he calls me, I give you a call soon after, and I tell him about your situation during every one of our conversations. He was very happy to hear that you made it into Shrek Academy, and he became more intent on keeping this a secret from you as he was afraid that knowing the truth would negatively impact you.


    "They wanted you to flourish in Shrek Academy, so don''t blame them for hiding the truth; they were simply doing everything with your bests interests in mind. I know you''ve had a very hard time these past years, but they''ve also had their fair share of struggles. They miss you very, very much, just like you miss them." A hint of emotion had clearly crept into Mang Tian''s voice as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Where are they right now?"


    Mang Tian replied, "They''re currently in a research facility, and even they aren''t aware of the exact location of this facility. The only thing they can be sure of is that the research facility has something to do with the Spirit Pagoda. This is why your father told me to keep this a secret from you this entire time. The Spirit Pagoda is the most powerful organization on this continent, and their research involves extremely dangerous weapons. Hence, they were taken to the Dou Spirit Continent and are no longer on the Douluo Continent. The only thing your father knows is that they were taken to a city with a very high altitude before they were locked into this research facility."


    The Dou Spirit Continent? Tang Wulins brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. Never did he think that his parents would be on another continent altogether, and that the Spirit Pagoda would''ve played a role behind their disappearance.


    Tang Wulin didn''t have a very good impression of the Spirit Pagoda to begin with, and he reflexively clenched his fists after hearing what Mang Tian had to say.


    At the same time, it seemed that the heavens were on his side; he was going to travel to the Dou Spirit Continent and Star Luo Continent in three months!


    "Don''t do anything rash, Wulin. You may already be a Soul Sage, but how can you contend with the Spirit Pagoda on your own? Your father called me about a month ago and told me that their research would be complete after another year at most. The Spirit Pagoda promised to send them back after that."


    Send them back? Not only was Tang Wulin not excited to hear this, a chill ran down his spine instead.


    In the past, he would''ve been extremely elated to hear this, but after learning about the relationship between the Spirit Pagoda and the Eagle Faction, as well as the fact that the Spirit Pagoda was very likely one of the masterminds behind the Shrek Academy bombing, he no longer harbored any expectations toward the Spirit Pagoda.


    What COULDN''T the Spirit Pagoda do to keep their secret new research a secret? Furthermore, his parents had been secretly abducted anyway, so what better way was there to ensure confidentiality than to make them disappear off the face of this world?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin became extremely anxious. "Teacher Mang Tian, when my father calls you again, please tell him to to slow down the completion of his research no matter what. Also, give him my number and tell him to find a way to speak to me. In three months, the higher-ups of the Tang Sect will be visiting the Dou Spirit Empire, and I''ll be going with them. I already have a certain level of status in the Tang Sect, and I''ll implore the seniors of the Tang Sect to save them."

 Chapter 1195: Illusion?

    He hadn''t told Mang Tian that he was now the Tang Sect Master as that was simply far too far-fetched. However, mentioning the fact that he had the support of the Tang Sect naturally made Mang Tian feel a lot more reassured.


    "Wulin, are you concerned that the Spirit Pagoda will... But they''re the number one organization on the continent; surely they wouldn''t..."


    Tang Wulin chuckled coldly, "I don''t have a trace of trust in my heart for them anymore. If they had any sense of responsibility that the number one organization on the continent should have, then they wouldn¡¯t have abducted my parents."


    "Alright, if your father calls me again, I''ll relay this message to him. You make sure to look after yourself as well. You should know that your parents want you to be safe more than anything else. By the way, how''s Na''er doing? Your father was really happy to hear that you had found her last time."


    Tang Wulin''s heart throbbed with pain at the mention of Na''er. He still hadn''t figured out what the relationship between Gu Yue and Na''er was.


    After a brief hesitation, Tang Wulin decided to hide the truth. "Na''er is... doing quite well."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin was unable to calm himself down anymore. He had finally received news about his parents, and at the very least, they were still alive. However, at the same time, his resentment for the Spirit Pagoda had spiked even further. He couldn''t keep waiting like this; he had to go and save his parents no matter what.


    However, it would not be an easy task to save them. The main issue was that he had next to no leads. As for the Spirit Pagoda, Tang Wulin actually wasn''t too worried about it as he was confident in his own abilities. Furthermore, he had so many companions by his side as well.


    The Spirit Pagoda was most powerful here in the Douluo Continent, so it would definitely be weaker on the Dou Spirit Continent. What he had to do now was conduct research so that he would be able to find his parents on the Dou Spirit Continent.


    Currently, his only lead was that they were situated in a city that was at a very high altitude.


    Tang Wulin had no idea about the situation on the Dou Spirit Continent, but thankfully, he had the assistance of the Tang Sect. The Tang Sect was a super organization that spanned all three continents, so it would definitely have information pertaining to the Dou Spirit Continent.


    A sleepless night passed, and Tang Wulin went to find Zang Xin early the next morning before informing him of the situation his parents were currently in.


    After hearing Tang Wulin''s story, Zang Xin contemplated the issue momentarily before replying, "The Dou Spirit Continent is the smallest of the three continents, and its terrain is very uneven. There are around three cities with high altitudes, two of which are rural cities. The largest of those three cities is Spirit Wave City, which is situated beside Heaven Dou City; the Dou Spirit Continent''s capital city is also known as Heaven Dou City. There just so happens to be an important branch of the Spirit Pagoda there, so that would be my best guess."


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic to hear this. With Zang Xin''s guidance, he had a far greater sense of direction. He may not be able to find his parents there, but at the very least, he now had some direction and wouldn''t be running around like a headless chicken.


    After receiving this reliable information, Tang Wulin calmed down again, and thinking back to the strange dream he had last night, he couldn''t help but feel that the dream had been extremely realistic. Could it be that after his spiritual power reached a certain level, he was now able to sense his parents? It would be great if that were the case as that would undoubtedly make it much easier for him to track down his parents.


    Perhaps he would be able to sense their exact location when he focused his attention. Thus, he eagerly entered a meditative state and focused all of his attention to try and recapture that same voice, but it failed to appear to him.


    Had it really been just an illusion?


    In his exhausted state, Tang Wulin had no choice but to enter a normal state of meditation. His consciousness began to fade, and he felt as if his entire body were immersed within all types of elements. He was being nurtured by them, and as he sensed the changes they brought to his body, he was constantly improving.


    It had to be said that possessing tremendous spiritual power really was a fantastic asset when it came to cultivation. Through the use of his spiritual power, he was able to draw upon more natural energies, thereby allowing him to cultivate at an extremely fast rate. He didn''t have to worry about his own physical tolerance, so if he were to continue to progress at this rate, it would take him a year at most to reach the Soul Douluo level.


    "My child... Wulin..."


    The voice appeared again, and it was still just as faint and ethereal as ever, as if it had originated from another distant world. However, it really had appeared.


    Tang Wulin was almost instantly jerked out of his meditative state, and he shuddered, but didn''t dare to open his eyes. Instead, he quickly focused his attention on that voice.


    However, when he tried to take the initiative to pursue that voice, it suddenly cut off and vanished without a trace.


    What...


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes with a frustrated look on his face. He had clearly just heard the voice, so why had it suddenly disappeared? Could it be that he could only hear this voice in an unconscious state?


    He decided to try again, but now that something was on his mind, he found it quite difficult to enter a meditative state. After a long while, he finally managed to re-enter that state, and when he reopened, it was already the next morning, but the voice hadn''t appeared to him again.


    Was it because he didn''t possess enough spiritual power? Was that why the voice was so faint and out of reach? There was no way that he could ascertain his parents'' location from this!


    He sought out Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue and raised this question to her. In terms of cultivation experience, there was most likely no one on this entire continent who could match her.


    After hearing Tang Wulin''s recount of events, Long Yeyue''s brows furrowed slightly as she replied, "It''s very unlikely that the voice came from your parents. As you said before, both of your parents are normal people, and normal people have very limited spiritual power, so there''s no way they can contact you on a spiritual level. It''s indeed true that a human experiences significant changes once their spiritual power reaches the Spirit Domain realm, and one of the potential changes could be spiritual resonance under certain sets of special circumstances.


    "This means that if you use your spiritual power to call out to someone, there''s a chance that they can sense your call if they''re within a certain range. However, the possibility of that happening is extremely slim, and at the very least, you''re far from being at a level where you can accomplish this. I''ve been at the Spirit Domain realm for over 100 years and attained a spiritual domain, yet even I can only just barely accomplish this within a very limited range. By the way, while we''re on this topic, I''ll give you some information about Spirit Domain realm spiritual power. I''m sure you haven''t received much guidance in this area yet."


    Tang Wulin''s eye immediately lit up upon hearing this. Elder Long was like a walking wealth of information, and having her presence would surely prevent him from making many mistakes in his cultivation.


    Long Yeyue continued, "Perseverance is very precious in cultivation, but aptitude ultimately decides how far one goes. You have both in equal measure, which is why you were able to become what you are today. The Spirit Domain realm is different from all prior levels of spiritual power, and it can even be said to be a completely independent realm. Prior to reaching the Spirit Domain realm, improvements in one''s spiritual power corresponds with their sensory range; the larger their sensory range, the more immense their spiritual power is.


    "That''s why there are devices that can measure how large your sensory range is. However, the Spirit Domain realm is different as that''s the stage where one''s spiritual power attains a substantial form. It''s exactly because of this that you''re able to sense all of the elements around you and even draw upon them to unleash your own abilities and replenish yourself. The greatest thing about having Spirit Domain realm spiritual power is that through cultivation, one can develop their own spiritual domain, which is essentially like your very own small world.


    "Your spirit is the ruler of this small world, and you can control everything inside it. You can even use it to attack, defend, control, and everything else you can think of. The formation of a spiritual domain is the foundation for one''s progression to the demigod level, and it''s a mandatory step that has to be taken before one can reach that level. Your spiritual power has already reached the Spirit Domain realm, but due to a lack of guidance, you still haven''t attained a spiritual domain.


    "I want you to focus more of your efforts on this area in the next three months. The sooner you can attain your spirit domain, the more beneficial it will be for you. When that time comes, you''ll discover that you can control many things that were previously beyond your control, and you''ll also be able to control many things you can already control on a far more minute level."

 Chapter 1196: Spiritual Domain

    Tang Wulin had naturally heard of a spiritual domain in the past, but he had never seen one before.


    "This is what a spiritual domain feels like," Long Yeyue said as her eyes suddenly began to glow. In Tang Wulin''s eyes, he felt as if Long Yeyue''s eyes had become a pair of dazzling stars that were almost too bright to look directly into.


    Immediately thereafter, everything around him seemed to have become a starry sky that he was situated in. The surrounding area was completely abstract and ethereal, and he could see everything, but it was all beyond his reach.


    In the next instant, he was struck by a strong sense of asphyxiation, as if he had suddenly been teleported into outer space, where there was a vacuum of both air and elemental particles.


    Tang Wulin''s bloodline fluctuations immediately became more powerful on their own, and a golden layer of dragon''s repulse appeared around his body to alleviate his discomfort somewhat, but no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to detect any elemental particles in the surrounding area.


    Just as he was feeling stunned by this sudden development, the starry sky around him suddenly turned into a dream-like rainbow world. All of the elements that had vanished earlier suddenly returned with a vengeance, and extremely rich bursts of elemental particles surged toward him from all directions.


    However, these elements didn''t flow into his body. Instead, they all seemed to be filled with rage and repulsion toward him, and their objective seemed to be to drive him out of this world.


    The dragon''s repulse around Tang Wulin''s body began to fluctuate violently, and his body also began to sway. If it weren''t for his immensely powerful physical constitution, he felt as if he would''ve been torn to shred by these elements already.


    In the next instant, all of the elements of different colors quickly converged to form a tornado, and the only elements that remained were of the light and darkness attributes.


    Elder Long appeared at what seemed like the edge of the heavens with light and darkness elements revolving around her, creating a terrifying storm of light and darkness. This feeling of something being able to destroy the entire world was something that Tang Wulin had only felt in the face of those Godslayer missiles.


    During this entire process, he was completely powerless. His immense spiritual power was completely unable to control the outside world, and it couldn''t even take him out of this world.


    "Roar!" Tang Wulin couldn''t help but let loose a thunderous dragon''s roar that was filled with powerful dragon''s might, but the storm of light and darkness continued to ravage the dragon''s might around him, resulting in a very painful experience.


    Was this the power of a Limit Douluo? This was just the pressure from her spiritual power alone!


    Back when he had unleashed that All or Nothing attack against Elder Long, he had been aware that she had intentionally displayed signs of weakness to elevate his status, but he had still been rather pleased with himself. Only now did he truly realize just how colossal of a gap there was between him and a Limit Douluo. If Elder Long wanted to kill him, it truly wouldn''t be much more difficult to her than killing an ant. He still had a very, very long way to go in his cultivation.


    In the next instant, all of the light faded, and Long Yeyue was still standing in front of him. They were still in Elder Long''s room, and it was as if nothing had happened, but it also felt as if an eternity had passed by.


    "That was a spiritual domain?" Tang Wulin appraised Long Yeyue with a stunned expression.


    Long Yeyue nodded in response. "Did you feel that? In your spiritual domain, you are the ultimate ruler who can rule over everything. As long as your opponent possesses inferior spiritual power to yours, and especially if they don''t have a spiritual domain themselves, their powers will be severely debilitated by your spiritual domain. A spiritual domain has always been associated with Limit Douluos, and even among Hyper Douluos, there are very few who have managed to attain one.


    "On the Douluo Continent, there are currently no more than 10 beings who possess spiritual domains, and once you reach this level, it basically means that you will be sure to become a Limit Douluo in the future, and you''ll get there extremely quickly. Most Soul Masters only get to this level after they become Limit Douluos, but you''ve bucked that trend. You''ve been blessed by the plane, and your spiritual power is growing far faster than that of the normal person, which means that your spiritual power far exceeds your cultivation rank.


    "The plane has bestowed upon you everything you need to succeed, so you''d better not disappoint it. You have to attain a spiritual domain as quickly as possible, and when you reach that level, it''ll be immensely beneficial to your cultivation. With your current foundation and rate of cultivation, if you can attain a spiritual domain, you''ll definitely become a Limit Douluo before you turn 35; you could very like be the youngest Limit Douluo in the past 1,000 years."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up with motivation as he took a deep breath, and said, "I understand. How should I cultivate my spiritual domain, Elder Long?"


    Long Yeyue replied, "Everyone''s spiritual domain is different, and never have there been two identical spiritual domains, so the cultivation process involved to attain it will also be different for everyone. What I can tell you is that you must assess yourself. Your body is a domain, and you possess everything within that domain. When you can reflect this from a physical to a spiritual level, you''ll attain your spiritual domain."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this, and he had no idea how he was supposed to accomplish this.


    "There''s nothing else for me to teach you in this regard. It took me 17 years to attain my spiritual domain, yet Yun Ming only took 12 years; it''s different for everyone. There have even been seniors before us who attained their spiritual domains in the instant they became Limit Douluos. You can call it luck or a moment of sudden enlightenment, but whatever the case may be, this is something that no one can teach, so you can only rely on yourself. Assess yourself to the best of your abilities.


    "Everyone''s body is a treasure trove, even more so for Soul Master''s like us. You''ve been blessed by the plane and you possess the Golden Dragon King bloodline, so your body holds more mysteries than anyone else. When you reflect all of this onto a spiritual level, I''m sure you''ll attain an extremely powerful spiritual domain. Even I''m very much looking forward to seeing it."


    "Thank you for your guidance, Elder Long."


    It appeared that a spiritual domain wasn''t something that could be attained purely through hard work. Long Yeyue''s words echoed in Tang Wulin''s mind as he returned to his room and continued to cultivate. How was he supposed to assess himself? The best way to begin would most likely be to engage in internal inspection.


    ......


    At the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    Gu Yuena was seated with her legs crossed in a silent chamber, and it was quite surprising to see her here as this silent chamber belonged to the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, Qiangu Dongfeng. It was also the highest caliber silent chamber in the entire Spirit Pagoda headquarters, yet Qiangu Dongfeng has allowed her to use it.


    The reason that he had given her was that he wanted to provide her with the best environment to progress to the Spirit Domain realm using that Ice God''s Heart.


    Not far in front of Gu Yuena was the Ice God''s Heart that had been sealed in the custom-made box. It was shimmering with faint light, and it looked like the most beautiful gem, but those who were truly aware of what it was knew that if it were to appear in the outside world, everything would instantly be transformed into a land of snow and ice.


    Gu Yuena''s eyes were closed, and her long hair draped down her shoulders, along her back, and pooled the way down onto the ground.


    She seemed to have entered another plane, another world altogether.


    All of a sudden, a low yet pleasant dragon''s roar echoed throughout the room, and the entire cultivation chamber dimmed as if her body had suddenly drawn away all of the light rays.


    In the next instant, specks of rainbow light began to appear around her. They emerged in a very rhythmic manner, arranging themselves evenly around her body before silently revolving around her.

 Chapter 1197: Big Brother...

    If Qiangu Dongfeng could see what was happening right now, he would definitely be stunned as Gu Yuena had already reached the Spirit Domain realm even without using the Ice God''s Heart. Furthermore, even as a Limit Douluo, Qiangu Dongfeng had failed to detect this.


    The low dragon''s roar gradually became louder and clearer, but Qiangu Dongfeng''s silent chamber was virtually completely isolated from the outside world, so no energy fluctuations or sound would escape from it.


    As the dragon''s roar rang out, and the rainbow elements in the air began to undergo a transformation. The elemental particles of the same colors began to converge, forming a series of miniature dragons that revolved joyfully around her body.


    There was a blue water elemental dragon, a red fire elemental dragon, an azure wind elemental dragon, a yellow earth elemental dragon, a black darkness elemental dragon, a silver spatial elemental dragon, and a golden light elemental dragon.


    The dragons circled around Gu Yuena''s body, and right at this moment, she slowly opened her mouth and exhaled, expelling a burst of nine-colored breath.


    As soon as she exhaled, the surrounding elemental dragons suddenly froze on the spot, immediately following which the entire room turned silver in color. All of the elemental dragons also took on a dazzling platinum hue as they flew through the silver world, and Gu Yuena slowly opened her eyes.


    Her purple eyes were as clear as space, and the platinum dragons reflected in her eyes were like specks of starlight.


    A nine-colored crystal slowly emerged on her forehead, and an indescribable burst of might erupted from her body.


    All of the silver and platinum colors in the surrounding area were also basked in a faint layer of nine-colored light.


    Gu Yuena slowly rose up into the air before exhaling once again, and the light before suddenly turned into a silver light screen. The blurry image being depicted within the light screen slowly became clearer, and it was none other than that of Tang Wulin, who was sitting with his legs crossed, attempting to search for the path that would lead to his attainment of a spiritual domain.


    The cold and regal look in Gu Yuena''s eyes gradually warmed and softened, and a faint smile also appeared on her face. "Big Brother..."


    ¡­¡­


    After a long while, Tang Wulin still hadn''t made any progress in his spiritual cultivation, and he no longer had the heart to cultivate anymore as he had received another call.


    "Where did Zhengyu go?" Tang Wulin went to Yue Zhengyu''s room, but he wasn''t there.


    "What an unreliable guy. So be it, I''ll go on my own."


    That''s right, they were back, and they had all returned together. Shrek''s Seven Monsters had finally been reunited.


    Yue Zhengyu had returned with the Holy Fusion Technique and the fruits he had reaped from his second holy cleansing; what about everyone else? How much had they grown from their respective experiences?


    How was Xinglan''s sword soul cultivation going? How were Yuanen Yehui''s fist techniques coming along? Tang Wulin had witnessed their powers during the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, but he didn''t know anything about the others. He really, really missed them!


    On this occasion, he didn''t immediately rush out. Instead, he disguised himself into an ordinary-looking middle-aged man before departing from the underground Tang Sect headquarters, then headed straight for the Heaven Dou Soul Train Station. There was still around half an hour left until his friends were due to arrive, and the train station was as lively and bustling as ever.


    Ever since the destruction of Shrek City, Heaven Dou City had become an even more important hub, and this was technically the main city of the Dove Faction, so the reconstruction process had gone very well. The city had also been armed with far more soldiers than before, and the military faction that supported the Dove Faction had given the city an extremely high level of security measures.


    Tang Wulin arrived at the exit of the station and stood at a discreet corner. It was really good to be able to reunite with everyone!


    Everyone had grown significantly during their military training stints, including himself, and in the next three months, he was going to complete everyone''s suits of three-word battle armor. After that, all of them were going to travel to the other two continents.


    At the thought of the Star Luo Empire, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think of Long Yue and the former princess of the Star Luo Empire.


    Dai Yun''er and Long Yue had left in the end. After being rejected by Tang Wulin during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, Dai Yun''er had returned to the Star Luo Empire with a broken heart while Tang Wulin had set off for his demonic island military training. As Dai Yun''er''s guardian, Long Yue had no choice but to go back with her.


    Xu Mi''er and Long Yue became a couple during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but she didn''t leave with him. She couldn''t bear to leave Shrek Academy behind, and she wasn''t going to sever her ties with the academy because of a man.


    Following the bombing, the two of them had fallen out of touch. In order to keep it a secret that there were survivors from Shrek Academy''s inner court, Xu Mi''er hadn''t contacted Long Yue this entire time, and she was the one who had told him about all of this.


    Now that they were about to head to the Star Luo Empire soon, they were definitely going to meet Long Yue and Dai Yun''er again. Thinking back to everything that had happened in the past, Tang Wulin felt as if it had all been a dream. Even now, it still seemed extremely unrealistic that Shrek Academy had actually been destroyed.


    The Dragon Valley small world was mostly no longer accessible. Tang Wulin looked down at his rainbow bracelet. He had spent three years in the Dragon Valley, and even though there weren''t any living dragons there, he could still clearly sense that his bond with the dragon clan had strengthened significantly during his time there.


    It appeared that he had delayed his cultivation significantly by burying dragon skeletons for 1,000 days, but that experience allowed him to attain true peace of mind, which then led to his current achievements.


    All of them had been buried, so they should be able to rest in peace now.


    Just as these thoughts were running through Tang Wulin''s mind, he suddenly sensed something and reflexively raised his head to cast his gaze toward the station exit.


    The first thing that he was greeted by was the sight of a bulging stomach, followed by a portly and familiar figure.


    Compared to in the past, he was even fatter, but also taller and broader. His height had even surpassed Tang Wulin''s by a little, so it was quite clear that he had been very well fed during the time they had been apart. He still wore a harmless smile on his face, and what was quite surprising to Tang Wulin was that he couldn''t sense any soul power within his body.


    Had he managed to completely subdue his essence? This was something that even Yue Zhengyu couldn''t do! Tang Wulin could clearly sense an overflowing holy aura from Yue Zhengyu, yet there was no aura nor any soul power fluctuations being released by this portly figure at all.


    Directly following this portly figure was a young beauty. She still wore her usual cold expression, but she was just as beautiful as ever. Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think back to the first time they had met. At the time, she had been a proud and overbearing representative of Shrek Academy with powerful sword techniques.


    At the time, Tang Wulin had been very envious of her, envious that she was a member of Shrek Academy and envious of her powers.


    Since then, she had become one of his closest friends, and it was truly a great feeling to see them again.


    Tang Wulin made his way directly toward them, and with his masterful disguise techniques, even his closest friends wouldn''t be able to recognize him.


    Furthermore, with his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, it was an extremely simple task for him to hide his own aura.


    He walked directly toward the portly figure before bumping straight into his body.


    "Hey, look out!" The portly figure raised a hand and pressed it against his shoulder.


    The hand was wide and warm like a soft cushion, but at the same time, it was like an immovable mountain.


    If this were a normal person, then they would''ve undoubtedly been brushed aside with ease, but the portly figure could feel a sudden burst of enormous power erupt from the middle-aged man''s shoulder.


    He felt as if he had pressed his hand against an awakening giant dragon, which was now crashing directly toward his chest.


    The cold beauty behind him was slightly alarmed by this before a smile immediately appeared on her face. Her gorgeous looks were already attracting a lot of attention, and her smile was like a spring breeze melting through winter snow, instantly rooting many onlookers to the spot.


    "Thump!" Tang Wulin''s shoulder crashed into the portly figure''s chest, which was very soft and cushioned. The portly figure''s flabs trembled as they absorbed the impact, and he raised both of his hands to grab Tang Wulin''s shoulder.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin had already spread open his arms and did his best to encircle them around the enormous waist before him.


    "Huh? Boss?" No matter how slow Xu Lizhi was to catch on, he had naturally already identified Tang Wulin at this point.


    "Why aren''t you two in disguise?" Tang Wulin asked in a low voice.

 Chapter 1198: All Grown Up

    Xu Lizhi chuckled, "We''re all grown up now! We don''t look like we did in the past, and this is the Dove Faction''s territory anyway."


    Tang Wulin released him and smiled as he said, "Let''s go."


    Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan weren''t all that noteworthy, and the Spirit Pagoda and Holy Spirit Cult didn''t even know of their existence. It could be argued that even Tang Wulin himself was just being overly cautious as there weren''t actually that many people who knew of him, either.


    After taking the two of them to the corner that he had been standing in before, he couldn''t help but look at them with an irrepressible smile on his face.


    "Where''s everyone else, Captain?" Ye Xinglan still preferred to refer to him as captain.


    "Zhengyu has already arrived, but I don''t know where he is right now. Otherwise, I would''ve brought him along."


    All three of them were filled with genuine excitement upon their reunion.


    "Congratulations on winning the competition," Ye Xinglan said with a smile. Only in the company of her close friends did her cold facade ever fade.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I was pretty lucky, especially in the mecha battle discipline."


    Ye Xinglan asked, "Are you really planning to take mecha piloting seriously?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I think mechas are very important. Battle armor is superior in many regards, but it still can''t replace mechas altogether. The best way to proceed is to use both at once, which will significantly improve both battle stamina and overall defensive prowess. Mechas are like exoskeletons with boundless potential. Modern technology is all geared toward space exploration; it''s very difficult for humans to survive in space with just battle armor alone, but mechas are different. Mechas that are powerful enough can even be used in battle in outer space, so I think it''s very much necessary that we pursue mechas as well."


    Ye Xinglan''s brows furrowed slightly. "But won''t we risk becoming jacks of all trades, masters of none?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Of course that''s a risk, but we''re not normal people; we''re Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters! We just need to properly organize our priorities. In any case, there''s no hurry; I''ll get everyone''s suits of three-word battle armor finished first. As for mechas, we have more than enough time. I''ll custom make a mecha for everyone so all of you can practice."


    "Alright." Ye Xinglan was obsessed with her sword, but it definitely wasn''t a single-minded obsession. In particular, she had been truly swayed when Tang Wulin had mentioned outer space.


    Tang Wulin turned to Xu Lizhi with a smile, and asked, "Are you looking forward to this? With a mecha, you''ll also possess practical combat prowess. I''ll custom make your mecha first."


    "Hehe." Xu Lizhi chuckled as a smug look flashed through his eyes.


    Tang Wulin had known him for such a long time, so he was naturally very familiar with Xu Lizhi''s facial expressions. As such, his heart stirred slightly, and he asked, "Have you already cultivated some kind of practical combat ability?"


    Xu Lizhi nodded in response. "It''s basically complete; I can show you later."


    "Sure!" Tang Wulin couldn''t help but smile at the sight of his confident expression.


    Xu Lizhi had a vast abundance of soul power, but due to the nature of his martial soul, he had always been focused on a limited scope in his cultivation. Among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, he was definitely the one with the greatest understanding of the Mysterious Heaven Method. Tang Wulin couldn''t help but wonder what other practical combat skills he had learned aside from the Tang Sect techniques.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s soul communicator began to ring.


    "Zhengyu? Where did you go?"


    "Where are you, Boss?"


    Tang Wulin and Yue Zhengyu both spoke almost in unison from the two ends of the line.


    "I''m at the train station; Xinglan and Lizhi just arrived. What about you?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Are you at the station exit? Wait for me." Yue Zhengyu abruptly ended the call there.


    "I have no idea what''s going on with him," Tang Wulin chuckled.


    A smile also appeared on Ye Xinglan''s face. "Is he still just as scatter-brained as ever? I heard from Xiaoyan that he cultivated like a madman after being inspired by you."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "He''s improved significantly, and he''s even mastered his Holy Angel Clan''s Holy Fusion Technique. It''s said that very few people in his clan master that technique, and he''s already been unofficially deemed to be the successor to his grandpa as commander of the Southern Legion. What about you? How is your sword soul going?"


    Ever since Ye Xinglan had lost to Sima Jinchi, she had been cultivating in seclusion the entire time, so Tang Wulin hadn''t had a chance to ask about how her cultivation had been progressing.


    "It''s going pretty well," Ye Xinglan replied with a nod.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Do you still recall the Wild Gale Saber Demon? He''s here in Heaven Dou City."


    Ye Xinglan''s eyes immediately lit up in response, and it seemed that she had been struck by a slightly impulsive urge.


    "He''s here as well?"


    "That''s right, he came here with me." They were waiting for the others anyway, so Tang Wulin gave the two of them a recount of how Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng had traveled to the Blood God Legion to find him. By the time he was finished with his story, Xu Lizhi was doubled over with laughter, and Ye Xinglan was also quite amused.


    These were two of the brightest stars of the youngest generation, yet they had almost been executed at the Blood God Legion; it was truly quite a comical story.


    "Captain, if it''s not too much trouble, I want to face Sima Jinchi again," Ye Xinglan said in an earnest manner.


    "Well..." Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily upon hearing this. Tang Wulin would''ve naturally had no objections prior to Sima Jinchi''s breakthrough, but now, he had become a Titled Douluo and fused as one with his Dragonslaying Saber, thereby resulting in a massive power boost. Furthermore, he had also taken a step toward becoming the Saber God, albeit only a very minor one, so he was far more powerful than before.


    "He''s already progressed to the Titled Douluo stage, and he''s truly become far more powerful than in the past. He''s already risen beyond the realm of the saber soul," Tang Wulin said in a truthful manner.


    To his surprise, not only was Ye Xinglan not disheartened by his euphemistic warning, her eyes lit up even further. "That''s great! That''s the type of opponent I want to face. Captain, please arrange a rematch for us."


    Tang Wulin gave her a meaningful glance before nodding in response. "Alright, then."


    Sima Jinchi was also one of his friends now and also had a profound connection with him; he was sure that Sima Jinchi wouldn''t hurt Ye Xinglan.


    "Haha, long time no see, everyone!" Yue Zhengyu''s excited voice suddenly sounded behind him.


    "You sure got here quickly," Tang Wulin said as he turned around, but not only was Yue Zhengyu approaching him from behind, there was also someone else with him.


    "Captain!" Xu Xiaoyan dove into Tang Wulin''s arms and gave him a huge hug.


    That''s right, Yue Zhengyu had disappeared as he had come to the train station to pick up Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan knew Tang Wulin even before meeting Yue Zhengyu. She and Xie Xie, as well as Gu Yue, were Tang Wulin''s earliest childhood friends.


    As such, she was naturally very excited to see Tang Wulin again after being separated for so long.


    Tang Wulin patted Xu Xiaoyan''s back, and he felt as if a warm stream were flowing through his heart. "Welcome back, Xiaoyan."


    Xu Xiaoyan had already broken down into sobs. "Captain, can we never separate again?"


    "Oi, oi! Your boyfriend is right here; can''t you have some restraint?" Yue Zhengyu complained as he glowered at Tang Wulin in case he did anything out of line.


    Xu Xiaoyan blushed as she released Tang Wulin, then stomped on Yue Zhengyu''s foot and ground her heel in a vicious manner. "Why did you have to ruin that good atmosphere?"


    A dejected look appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. "After we''ve been apart for so long, you only gave me a kiss, but you hugged him for so long; can''t I be jealous?"


    "Who, who kissed you?" Xu Xiaoyan blushed even further, yet before she could say anything else, she was dragged away by Ye Xinglan, and the two sisters also shared an excited reunion of their own.


    "Aren''t you developing a little too well, Lizhi? How are you still growing even after turning 20?" Yue Zheng appraised Xu Lizhi with a stunned look in his eyes.


    Xu Lizhi chuckled, "I can''t help it; I was fed really well. As a food system Soul Master, eating is a part of my cultivation, and the legion was constantly sourcing good food for me, so I became like this..."


    He was even more cherished and revered than Ye Xinglan in the legion. As the legion''s number one food system Soul Master, he was treated like a true VIP. With all of the delicious and highly nutritious foods provided to him, it seemed as if he had truly undergone a second round of puberty.


    Yue Zhengyu patted his stomach, and asked, "You''re a Soul Sage as well now, right? What''s your steamed bun martial soul true body like? Can you give me a taste?"


    Xu Lizhi chuckled, "My martial soul true body is rather special; you wouldn''t want to taste it."


    "Oh?" Both Yue Zhengyu and Tang Wulin were surprised to hear this.


    Xu Lizhi smiled, and said, "This isn''t a suitable place to show you my martial soul true body; I''ll show you when we get back."


    "Alright, then. So all we''re waiting for are Xie Xie and Yuanen. Where are they? They''re sure taking their sweet time." Yue Zhengyu was in a very excited mood. Indeed, Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie were the only two members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters who still hadn''t turned up yet.

 Chapter 1199: The Reunion of the Seven Monsters

    "Some people just can''t seem to kick the habit of speaking badly about others behind their backs! People like that really should take a good look at themselves." A resentful voice suddenly rang out.


    Surprised expressions appeared on everyone''s faces upon hearing this voice, and even Tang Wulin couldn''t identify the source of the voice.


    "Xie Xie?" Yue Zhengyu faltered momentarily before an ecstatic look appeared on his face, and he urged, "Hurry up and show yourself! We''re not playing hide and seek here!"


    "How about you find me if you can?" Xie Xie chuckled.


    Yue Zhengyu listened to his voice while inspecting his surroundings, and even though the voice seemed to be coming from right beside him, he couldn''t see any trace of Xie Xie nearby.


    What was going on? What kind of ability was this? Was it voice transmission? That couldn''t be the case; not everyone could hear a voice transmission.


    Right this moment, a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he suddenly reached out. His hand then vanished into thin air right before everyone''s bewildered eyes.


    "Whoa!"


    In the next instant, he dragged a person out of space. This was a handsome young man in a set of black activewear; it was none other than Xie Xie.


    "That''s impossible! How did you find me, Boss?" Xie Xie immediately exclaimed in an incredulous manner.


    Tang Wulin was also appraising him with surprise in his eyes. "You''ve really outdone yourself, Xie Xie! When did you attain spatial abilities?"


    No one else was able to find Xie Xie, but with his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, Tang Wulin was able to detect something amiss.


    When Xie Xie spoke for the second time, Tang Wulin could clearly sense spatial fluctuations surging through the air. With his spiritual power, he was able to directly control the spatial elements in the surrounding area, and even though he was unable to capture Xie Xie, it was quite a simple task for him to track Xie Xie down. On top of that, Xie Xie had thought that no one would be able to find him, so he was caught completely off guard.


    After a brief moment of surprise, a smug look immediately appeared on Xie Xie''s face. "That''s a secret. I''ll tell you about it later. I''m sure none of you here is a match for me now aside from Boss! Oh, and aside from Yuanen as well!"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Why are you by yourself? Where''s Yuanen?"


    Xie Xie looked around before focusing his gaze in a certain direction. "There she is."


    Everyone turned toward that direction to find that Yuanen was in her usual nondescript male disguise, and at this point, she had already caught sight of everyone else and was rushing toward them with a smile on her face.


    In that instant, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters finally reunited in Heaven Dou City.


    Xie Xie''s spatial abilities and Yuanen Yehui''s Divine Cloudvortex Fists had both been attained during the time everyone had been apart. It hadn''t been a long time since they had all joined the army, but the destruction of Shrek Academy had weighed extremely heavily on them.


    This pressure and burden became motivation for them to constantly improve, which was why all of them had made their own breakthroughs.


    They were truly deserving of their title as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters!


    Instead of taking everyone back to the Tang Sect right away, Tang Wulin led them into a secluded alley and applied simple disguises to them.


    They were Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, after all, so there were definitely portraits of them on record both in the Spirit Pagoda and the Holy Spirit Cult. A group of seven was rather unusual to begin with, and if most of them weren''t in disguise, then there was a chance that they could be caught.


    After applying simple disguises, everyone looked a lot more ordinary, but the irrepressible excitement in their eyes was still quite apparent.


    "Where are we going now?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Tang Wulin turned to Yue Zhengyu. "You didn''t tell her?"


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled, "I was given a massive shock, so I can''t let them miss out on such a fantastic experience! I haven''t told a single soul!"


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Alright, let''s go, then. Follow me."


    Everyone was quite perplexed by this conversation. Ye Xinglan was a steadfast woman of few words, and Xu Lizhi had quite a nonchalant personality, so neither of them were all that eager to ask questions. Yuanen Yehui also had a similar personality to Ye Xinglan, but Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie were completely different. Both of them had very strong senses of curiosity, and they were very eager to get to the bottom of things.


    "What''s going on, Boss?" Xie Xie was trying to get an answer out of Tang Wulin.


    As for Xu Xiaoyan, she was exploring an alternative avenue. She was pinching Yue Zhengyu''s waist in a vicious manner while appraising him with a threatening look in her eyes, clearly trying to force him into revealing the nature of the situation to her.


    An indignant look appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. "I would tell you, but Boss won''t let me! We have to listen to our captain, right?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "It''s good news. You''ll know once you get there. Besides, this is something that has to be seen to be believed."


    Everyone became even more curious upon hearing this, and even Ye Xinglan was appraising Tang Wulin with a slightly peculiar expression.


    Yue Zhengyu quickly changed the subject as he turned to Xie Xie, and asked, "What was that ability of yours? How were you able to hide in thin air? You couldn''t do that before!"


    Xie Xie replied in a smug manner, "You''re keeping secrets from us, so why should I tell you anything?"


    Yue Zhengyu pursed his lips in a disdainful manner. "You''re telling me you developed some kind of secret technique? What a joke!"


    Xie Xie raised an eyebrow in response. "How about you fight me one on one, then? I''ll have you rolling on the ground in seconds!"


    Yue Zhengyu burst into derisive laughter. "You think you have what it takes?"


    "Can both of you shut up? We''ve been apart for so long, yet the first thing you do after our reunion is fight!" Yuanen Yehui grumbled.


    Xie Xie immediately put on a fawning smile. "We''re not fighting; I wouldn''t fight a little kid who doesn''t know any better."


    "What did you call me?" Yue Zhengyu immediately flared up with rage.


    Tang Wulin led from the front, and for some reason, his heart was filled with warmth as he listened to his friends bicker behind him. He really liked this feeling of having his friends back by his side.


    After turning onto the main street, Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie finally called a truce in their war of words. After all, a busy street like this one was where they were most prone to having their covers blown, so it was best not to attract any attention.


    Xie Xie was holding Yuanen Yehui''s hand, and the two of them were conversing quietly, while Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi were also walking hand in hand.


    On this occasion, Tang Wulin chose a different route compared to the one he had taken Yue Zhengyu on. They entered a private residence before making their way into the basement, where there was an elevator waiting for them.


    "Where are we going?" Xie Xie looked around at the simple metal wall of the elevator in a bewildered manner. He didn''t recall there being a base like this one in Heaven Dou City!


    Everyone else was also quite surprised; they had thought that they would be taken to a hotel.


    "The Tang Sect," Tang Wulin replied in a concise manner to dispel everyone''s befuddlement.


    An enlightened look immediately appeared on Xie Xie''s face, and he thought he had figured everything out. "I get it now; the surprise is the Tang Sect, right, Boss? Looks like the Tang Sect must still have a lot of power hidden up their sleeve. With their help, everything will become a lot easier for us in the future. By the way, what are our future plans, Boss?"


    Tang Wulin glanced at him with a smile, and said, "I''ll tell you when we get there."


    Xie Xie was rather displeased. "We''re all close friends; why are you being so secretive?"


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I''m afraid you might cry if I tell you everything."


    "Cry? Me? How could I possibly cry? I have a heart of steel!" Xie Xie said in a nonchalant manner, "I didn''t even cry when the academy was bombed!"


    Yue Zhengyu pursed his lips. "You were probably scared sh*tless."


    "Ding!" The elevator stopped in its descent, and its metal doors parted.


    Xie Xie said, "Let me see what about this secret Tang Sect base is enough to make me cry..."

 Chapter 1200: Uncontrollable Tears

    Xie Xie was the first one to emerge from the elevator. "Let me see what about this secret Tang Sect base is enough to make me cry..."


    All of a sudden, his voice abruptly cut off, and his entire body stiffened as he was rooted to the spot.


    Yuanen Yehui was behind him, but she was slightly shorter than him, so she couldn''t see what lay up ahead. However, she could naturally sense that there was something amiss from Xie Xie''s reaction, and she hurriedly tried to go around him.


    It was also right at this moment that Xie Xie let loose an incredulous howl. "Teacher Wu..."


    He then rushed forward like the wind. Wu Zhangkong''s facial features were still as cold as ever, but his eyes were filled with a gentle light.


    He had been waiting patiently for their return, and when Xie Xie caught sight of him for the first time, he couldn''t believe his own eyes. His heart was then instantly overcome by irrepressible emotions.


    It was just as Yue Zhengyu had said, everyone had truly been scared witless in the wake of the Shrek Academy bombing, to the extent that their minds had gone completely blank, and they had been incapable of expressing their emotions.


    However, as time passed, the pain naturally caught up to them. All of their peers at Shrek Academy and even Teacher Wu had perished during that calamitous disaster, and the pain in their hearts remained fresh to this very day.


    Never did Xie Xie think that he would be able to see Wu Zhangkong again, and all of his pent-up emotions immediately erupted forth uncontrollably.


    He charged directly toward Wu Zhangkong before rushing into his arms and bawling at the top of his lungs. Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, Yuanen Yehui, and Ye Xinglan were also rooted to the spot.


    Teacher Wu was still alive...


    Xu Xiaoyan had been a student of Wu Zhangkong ever since she was a small child, so they shared an extremely deep bond, and she also let loose a shrill shriek before rushing forward.


    Thus, the sound of broken sobs echoed throughout the entrance to the elevator.


    Yue Zhengyu nudged Tang Wulin, and asked, "Did we go too far, Boss? What if they recover later on and decide to blame us for not telling them everything in advance?"


    "Us? What do you mean us? My girlfriend isn''t here," Tang Wulin replied in a nonchalant manner.


    "Boss, you can''t do this to me!" Yue Zhengyu howled in anguish. Thinking back to Xu Xiaoyan''s threatening gaze, chills immediately rang down his back.


    "Hehe." Tang Wulin paid no heed to him and hurried forward to join the huddle.


    What could make one more excited and elated than a reunion following an ordeal of life and death?


    Even Wu Zhangkong had tears in his eyes. Being reunited with everyone had evoked within him emotions that he hadn''t felt for a very long time.


    "Alright, everyone, let''s all calm down a little." Only after a long while did Tang Wulin begin to console his friends.


    The one who was crying the loudest was Xie Xie. Perhaps it was because he was the first one to have caught sight of Wu Zhangkong, but he simply couldn''t stop his tears.


    Yue Zhengyu nudged him with a hint of mockery in his eyes. "What was that about a heart of steel?"


    Xie Xie turned to glare at him through a film of tears. "I was wrong! So what? If Teacher Wu can come back to life, I''d gladly be proven wrong countless times!"


    All of a sudden, a thought occurred to him, and he abruptly stood up straight as he looked at Wu Zhangkong, then turned toward Tang Wulin. "You''re not pranking us, are you, Boss? Is this someone else disguised as Teacher Wu?"


    They had all learned disguise techniques on the demonic island, and Tang Wulin was the most adept in those techniques among them. As long as he could find someone of a similar stature and build, he could make an extremely convincing imposter for Wu Zhangkong.


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I can disguise someone to look like Teacher Wu, but how can I replicate his aura as well?"


    "It''s not an imposter! You can''t replicate Teacher Wu''s eyes!" Xu Xiaoyan yelled as she pinched Yue Zhengyu''s waist in a vicious manner. Her eyes were also filled with tears of excitement.


    Wu Zhangkong was Tang Wulin''s childhood idol, and that applied to her and Xie Xie as well.


    "What''s going on?" Xu Lizhi couldn''t help but ask with an elated look on his face.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and right at this moment, one figure after another emerged from nearby.


    "Wu Siduo? Xu Yucheng? Luo Guixing? Zheng Yiran? Yang Nianxia? My God! All of you are still alive?" Everyone''s emotions were reignited at the sight of them.


    They had once been rivals, but ever since they had entered the inner court, their relationship had improved significantly. After all, they were all from the most exceptional class one!


    Wu Zhangkong smiled, and said, "If we hadn''t heard that you were all coming back, I would''ve left with them already. I can finally rest easy now that I''ve seen all of you for myself."


    It had been a very long time since Wu Zhangkong had been in such a good mood.


    These disciples of his were all far more exceptional than him. They were only in their early twenties, yet all of them had reached the Soul Sage level with the exception of Zheng Yiran; this was an extraordinary cohort even in Shrek Academy!


    Furthermore, they had all been nurtured by him; what could be more exciting to him than this as a teacher?


    "You''re all going somewhere? Where are you going?" Xie Xie asked in a curious manner.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Xie Xie, and replied in their stead, "They''re going to military training. You know, to the place that we went to before."


    Peculiar expressions appeared on all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters'' faces, mirroring the expressions on the faces of their inner court seniors back when they had set off for their military training stint.


    They were undoubtedly going to the demonic island! That place was surely going to leave them with many "lasting memories".


    "Oh, that''s great! I''m sure you''ll enjoy it," Yue Zhengyu said with a sly smirk.


    Wu Siduo and the others glanced at one another at the sight of their expressions, and Yang Nianxia asked, "What is this place? Why do I feel so uneasy when I look at all of you?"


    Xu Lizhi put on a serious expression. "Don''t be uneasy, you''re going to a good place. Just trust us; can''t you see how quickly we''ve grown? It''s all because of that special military training. Perhaps you''ll have caught up to us by the time you get back from there."


    Wu Siduo glanced at them, and said, "No matter how arduous the training is going to be, we''ll complete it as soon as possible so we can come back and rebuild Shrek Academy with everyone."


    Tang Wulin nodded with a smile.


    Wu Zhangkong said, "Take them to rest now, Pavilion Master. I also have to prepare to set off with Wu Siduo and the others. For the first group, we''ve selected 12 people; that''s the upper limit for the number of people they can accept at a time."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    He respected Wu Zhangkong as his teacher, but he was currently the Sea God''s Pavilion Master and the Tang Sect Master, so he couldn''t act as respectfully as he did in the past.


    "Pavilion Master?"


    All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters turned to Tang Wulin with surprised expressions with the exception of Yue Zhengyu.


    Wu Zhangkong explained, "The academy''s rebuilding process has already commenced, and the outer and inner courts have been established. Wulin is now the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, and all of you are elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion as well."


    A surprised yet solemn expression appeared on the faces of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters upon hearing this.


    The rebuilding process had already commenced, and they had become elders at such a young age; the future rebuilding process was definitely going to be an extremely arduous one, but they had to face forward with a positive mindset no matter what.


    Yue Zhengyu smiled, and said, "That''s not the end; they''re not the only survivors!"


    Yue Zhengyu was being crucified by Xu Xiaoyan''s vicious pinching techniques, and he didn''t dare to withhold any more information.


    An hour later, all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were taken to their rooms, and aside from Tang Wulin and Yue Zhengyu, everyone felt as if they were still in a dream.


    So many of their junior disciple sisters and junior disciple brothers of the outer court had survived, as well as their peers of the inner court. Even Elder Long had survived. Could there be any better news than this?

 Chapter 1201: How Do We Deal With Him?

    As opposed to returning to their rooms, everyone gathered together in Tang Wulin''s room.


    "How could you keep such a huge secret from us, Boss? That was way too dishonest of you!" Xie Xie accused in an enraged manner.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I wanted to give all of you a surprise. Besides, what if I had told you during your trip here, and you all lost control of your emotions in public? You would''ve attracted way too much attention. I''m also just as stunned as every one of you. When His Majesty, the Amorous Douluo, told me that I was the new Tang Sect Master, I was shocked beyond belief!"


    "We''re not actually all that surprised about that," Yuanen Yehui said, "You''re the captain of our Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so the position of Sea God''s Pavilion Master would''ve inevitably fallen to you; it was only a matter of time. If no one else had survived, then you''d already be the Sea God''s Pavilion Master by default. As for the Tang Sect Master, we don''t think that''s too far-fetched, either."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "The responsibilities on our shoulders have become even heavier. Elder Long said that we''ll have to travel to the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire next."


    With that as an introduction, Tang Wulin gave everyone a brief recount of the plan.


    Xie Xie wore a sly smile on his face as he said, "It''s fantastic news that all of them are going to be sent to the demonic island, hehe."


    Yuanen Yehui rolled her eyes at him in response.


    Tang Wulin said, "I hope everyone can improve through those hardships. There''s finally hope for our Shrek Academy now, but it''s still going to be very difficult for us to rebuild the academy. We have enormous support from the Tang Sect in terms of money and resources, but we can only rely on ourselves to unite more people to our cause. The Tang Sect headquarters also suffered severe losses during the bombing, and many powerful beings perished.


    "At the same time, the Tang Sect also has to focus on the other two continents, so they won''t be able to lend sufficient powerful beings to our cause. We can only rely on ourselves, so during the three months we have before we set off for those two continents, we have to at least complete most of our suits of three-word battle armor. We also have some time on the ship, and that should be enough for us to finalize everything if we''re not already finished by then. Xinglan, Yuanen, how are your mecha making skills progressing?"


    Ye Xinglan nodded in response. "Both Yuanen and I are seventh-rank mecha makers, so we shouldn''t have any issues. Yuanen is slightly more skilled than me and is close to reaching the eighth rank."


    Tang Wulin instantly heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this.


    "Alright, then we''ll prepare to begin constructing our suits of battle armor right away. Yuanen, Xinglan, I''ll forge all of the metals required for your suits of three-word battle armor first so you can construct them as early as possible, then help everyone else with their battle armor construction."


    After attaining their suits of three-word battle armor, it would naturally become easier for them to help construct everyone else''s suits of battle armor. Among the seven of them, their powers were ranked just below Tang Wulin anyway.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan both nodded in unison.


    "Boss, it''s been so long since we last sparred; how about we have a match to assess everyone''s progress before we begin constructing our suits of battle armor? You''ll be even more aware of everyone''s needs, then," Xie Xie suggested in an eager manner.


    Yue Zhengyu immediately chimed in, "I agree. You guys wouldn''t know this yet, but Boss is currently ridiculously powerful. Even Teacher Wu is no match for him anyway, and even Elder Long was forced back a half-step by him during a sparring match. I think even the six of us together may not be a match for him."


    Tang Wulin''s expression immediately darkened upon hearing this. "Elder Long clearly went easy on me!"


    Yue Zhengyu shrugged in response. "I only believe what I saw with my own eyes. In any case, there''s no way I would''ve survived that attack. Hence, if we want to have a sparring match, I strongly suggest a six on one match. Otherwise, we have no chance at all."


    Xie Xie thought about this for a moment before turning to Tang Wulin with a snide look in his eyes. "I think that''s a good idea! With Boss''s physical constitution, there''s no way we''ll be able to hurt him anyway."


    "You two seem to be enjoying this a lot!" Tang Wulin snapped.


    "We certainly are! So how about it? Are you scared, Boss?" Yue Zhengyu goaded.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan remained silent, but there was amusement shimmering in their eyes, and Xu Xiaoyan also looked very eager for a six on one match.


    "I refuse to do one on six; at least give me two people." Tang Wulin tried to negotiate some more favorable terms for himself.


    "We''ll have no chance in a three on four battle! No way! It has to be one on six." Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie were suddenly completely on the same page here.


    "Is no one willing to fight with me?" Tang Wulin asked in a resigned manner.


    Ye Xinglan suggested, "How about this, Captain? You can get Sima Jinchi to come and help you."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, but he still refused. "There''s no way I can win even in a two on six battle!" From Yue Zhengyu''s Holy Fusion Technique, it was quite apparent that all of his friends had been progressing rapidly. Ye Xinglan had to have attained a better understanding of her sword soul, and with Yuanen Yehui''s Divine Cloudvortex Fists and Fallen Angel martial soul, she was definitely no less powerful than Ye Xinglan.


    Furthermore, he still didn''t know what Xie Xie''s spatial ability was all about, Xu Xiaoyan had a mysterious smile on her face that was very unsettling to him, and Xu Lizhi had even admitted himself that his combat prowess was different from in the past. The six of them combined would surely present an extremely powerful force.


    "This isn''t like you, Boss! When did you become such a coward?" Xie Xie continued to goad Tang Wulin.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t falling for it. "I''m not being a coward; it''s just that I''ve already fused all of the metals required for my suit of three-word battle armor, so I can''t use it before it''s completed. Unless you all promise not to use your suits of battle armor, I won''t be a match for you even with Sima Jinchi on my side! With your suits of two-word battle armor, all of you are comparable in power to Titled Douluos; this is simply too unfair, and it won''t be fun for you guys, either." [Not sure how everyone is suddenly able to use their battle armor again, but once again, this is what the author wrote, so make of it what you will.]


    "Then what do you suggest?" Yue Zhengyu asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "How about this? Strength King A''Ruheng is also here; I''ll fight with those two against the six of you, how about that?"


    "A''Ruheng?" Everyone was rather taken aback to hear this. This was Tang Wulin''s senior disciple brother at the Body Sect, and due to the fact that all of them had followed Tang Wulin''s matches, they had all seen A''Ruheng in action, so they were well aware of how powerful he was.


    However, they were still confident in their chances in a three on six battle.


    "Let''s settle on that," Yuanen Yehui decided. All of them wanted to defeat Tang Wulin, but there was no point in defeating him in an extremely lopsided affair.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Alright, I''ll bring them over here."


    The Blood Dragon Squad was situated in their original hotel. After all, aside from A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi, all of them belonged to the Blood God Legion. No matter how independent the Blood God Legion was, it was still a military organization, and the underground world of the Tang Sect was far too important a secret to be revealed to them. As such, even though Tang Wulin had great trust in his comrades, he wasn''t going to bring them here.


    However, A''Ruheng was Tang Wulin''s senior disciple brother, and Sima Jinchi was now referring to him as master, so there wouldn''t be any issues with bringing them here. Tang Wulin had been cultivating with them this entire time anyway.


    Thus, after securing permission from Zang Xin, Tang Wulin traveled to the hotel to find the two of them.


    As soon as Tang Wulin left, Xie Xie turned to his friends in an eager manner, and said, "Alright, brothers and sisters, shall we formulate a plan to deal with Boss and the others?"

 Chapter 1202: Three on Six

    After arriving at Heaven Dou City, the main mission of the Blood Dragon Squad was to collect all types of information and familiarize themselves with everything in Heaven Dou City.


    They had lived their entire lives in the Blood God Legion, so they weren''t familiar with the outside world at all. Heaven Dou City and Bright City, the latter of which they had just visited, were both large cities with vastly contrasting styles, so familiarizing themselves with those two cities would make it a lot easier for them to integrate themselves into society.


    Before Tang Wulin had even met A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi, he bumped into his vice-captain first.


    "I barely even see you nowadays; what have you been up to?" Long Yuxue asked in a befuddled manner.


    Ever since Tang Wulin had entered the Sea God''s Lake with that woman with the black cat martial soul true body, he had become very mysterious, and even his emotional fluctuations had become very violent. Long Yuxue very rarely even saw him anymore, and now that they had bumped into one another, she was naturally going to inquire about the reasons behind this.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ve been juggling quite a few things recently. I''ve formulated a plan for how to proceed, and I was going to find you to discuss these plans anyway. I''ve already contacted the Tang Sect, and I might be traveling to the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent with people from the Tang Sect in three months. I''ll be going there to assess the situation and also keep tabs on the imminent war."


    "You''re going to the Star Luo Empire? Why?" Long Yuxue was stunned. "The war is going to start in a year at most; if you get caught traveling on the other two continents at that time, you''re very likely going to be branded as a traitor to the federation! Besides, it''s not safe, either. You''ve seen how powerful the federation''s soul weapons are; what if you get caught up in the war there?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m going there for the specific purpose of preventing this war from happening! If a war were to erupt, how many people would die? Regardless of which continent they live on, they''re all humans."


    Long Yuxue shook her head in a stern manner. "I won''t agree to this. It''s too dangerous. What are you going to do when you get there anyway? Do you think you can sway the situation on your own? Even the Tang Sect won''t be able to accomplish this."


    Tang Wulin fell silent for a moment before deciding against telling her the entire truth. "I recently received news that my missing parents could be on the Dou Spirit Continent, so I have to go."


    Long Yuxue shuddered slightly upon hearing this, and she looked into Tang Wulin''s determined eyes as she took a deep breath, then insisted, "If you have to go, then take me with you!"


    Tang Wulin asked, "You''re a federal soldier; aren''t you afraid that you''ll encounter the problems you just outlined to me?"


    "I''m not afraid of anything! I''ll go wherever you go. Our Blood Dragon Squad was assembled to protect you in the first place, and don''t forget that you''re carrying the burden of opposing the entire abyssal plane. If something were to happen to you, what will we do when the next abyssal tide strikes?" The reasons Long Yuxue provided were very valid, and Tang Wulin was having a hard time trying to rebut them.


    "Alright, but there''s still some time left, so it''s too early to be discussing such things. I''ll only be leaving in three months anyway."


    Long Yuxue insisted, "In any case, if you''re going, then you have to take the Blood Dragon Squad with you. You''ll always have a need for some extra hands."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. Long Yuxue was right. The situation on the other two continents was completely unknown to him, and even though he had the Tang Sect to back him up, which should theoretically result in a smooth trip, he did need some people who could perform various duties for him. In particular, the more people he had to help rescue his parents, the better.


    "Alright, I''ll notify you if there are any changes to the plan."


    ¡­¡­


    "What? You failed?" There was a middle-aged man with a head of black hair appraising Bear Lord with a dark expression on his face. This middle-aged man had a golden streak down the middle of his black hair, and he had his hands clasped behind his back as he paced back and forth in an agitated manner.


    "AND you revealed your identity to them? Are you an idiot?" a young man standing off to the side sneered.


    "Shut up!" Bear Lord glowered at the young man before explaining, "I didn''t know I was going to fail. I had thought that I was going to be killing those people anyway, so what did it matter if I told them my name? How could I have known that human technology has already developed to this extent? I don''t know what that weapon is, but it''s able to pierce through my outward defenses and detonate within my body. I was caught off guard and wounded by those weapons. Otherwise, I would''ve been able to kill them for sure."


    "That''s enough!" the middle-aged man snapped in a cold manner, "Who would''ve thought that Tang Wulin would develop this quickly? As expected of a man with the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King. We can''t wait any longer; we have to get rid of him right away. Our Lord still refuses to kill him on her own, so we''ll have to do so in her stead. On top of that, we have to kill him before she finds out what we''re doing. Only after he dies can our Lord focus her entire attention on controlling and enslaving the entire human race to provide us with enough resources.


    "When our Lord transforms into the Dragon God again, us soul beasts will enjoy our long-awaited resurgence. When that time comes, we''ll no longer be bound by the laws of this world, and our Lord will be able to create a new Divine Realm."


    No one was looking forward to this day more than he did as he knew that no matter what he tried, there was no way that he would be able to survive his next heavenly tribulation. If this opportunity weren''t taken, then this could be the end for him.


    "Are you going after him in person, Boss? Won''t our Lord notice what you''re doing?" the young man asked.


    "I can''t worry about things like that now. I can''t give him any more chances. Don''t tell Bi Ji and Ah Xie about what we''re doing. The three of us will go together, I''ll see just how many attacks this Tang Wulin can take from me."


    Bear Lord immediately burst into laughter. "Boss will surely be able to crush him with a single attack."


    At the same time, he heaved an internal sigh of relief. Back when he had attacked Tang Wulin, he hadn''t actually unleashed his full power. He wasn''t actually as forthright as he looked, and he knew that if he were to kill Tang Wulin, he would definitely have to face the fury of their Lord. He didn''t want to be the scapegoat, and he didn''t have to now.


    Regardless of whether their Lord would want to kill Di Tian in an act of vengeance, she currently didn''t possess the power to do so, and as for whether she would turn on him once she became powerful enough, that was something for him to worry about in the future.


    "Where are we going to find him, though?" the young man mused.


    Bear Lord and Di Tian both faltered in unison.


    Indeed, where was Tang Wulin right now?


    Di Tian replied in a cold voice, "It won''t be difficult to find him. He has the aura of the Dragon God, so I''ll be able to sense him as long as he''s within a certain range. However, it''s exactly because of that Dragon God aura that I won''t be able to kill him without suffering severe consequences. If I attack him directly, I''ll receive backlash from his Dragon God aura, so I''ll clear away all of the obstacles while you two kill him in the shortest time possible."


    Bear Lord and the young man''s expressions both changed slightly upon hearing this. So they were going to have to be the executioners anyway? They didn''t want to accept this duty, but they had to admit that Di Tian''s reasoning was quite valid!


    ¡­¡­


    "Three on six? Of course I''ll come! I don''t mind even if it''s three on 60!" A''Ruheng chortled with glee. He was beyond excited to hear that a sparring match was being organized.


    "60? Why don''t you take on all six of them on your own while we watch?" Sima Jinchi sneered in a disdainful manner.


    A''Ruheng countered, "That won''t do! It''s not every day that I get a chance to fight alongside my junior disciple brother." He wasn''t an idiot, and he knew that the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters definitely weren''t going to be pushovers. In a one on six battle, he would have no chance at all.


    Tang Wulin cautioned, "There''s one thing that I have to tell you: due to the disparity in cultivation ranks, we won''t be allowed to use our suits of battle armor, but they can, so don''t get complacent."


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were already three-word battle armor masters now, and it would simply be too unfair for Shrek''s Six Monsters if they had access to the enhancements and domains provided to them by their suits of battle armor. After all, A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were both Titled Douluos, and they were very powerful Titled Douluos who were most likely more powerful than even the average Hyper Douluo.


    "Alright." Sima Jinchi nodded without any hesitation.


    He was full of confidence about his match. After fusing as one with the Dragonslaying Saber, he had learned the truth about his past, and following the constant polishing provided by the Golden Dragon Spear, the Dragonslaying Saber was now even more powerful and self-contained.


    As a result, Sima Jinchi''s cultivation was also progressing at a rapid rate. However, he knew that the Dragonslaying Saber had only become this powerful due to the polishing effect of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear. As such, he had to protect Tang Wulin with all his might. If something were to happen to Tang Wulin, he would experience severe problems as the law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan. He didn''t know what the exact outcome of that would be, but whenever the thought sprang into his mind, he would be struck by a strong sense of fear.

 Chapter 1203: Everyones Here

    Hence, Sima Jinchi had already resigned himself to his fate; he would just have to follow Tang Wulin wherever he went.


    After arriving at the Tang Sect''s underground world, both Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng were also given a huge shock.


    "The Tang Sect has an amazing place like this? This is right under Heaven Dou City! How do the authorities not know anything about this? This is insane! If the Tang Sect wanted to destroy a city, they would probably be able to do so even easier than Shrek City was destroyed!" A''Ruheng was truly stunned by this underground Tang Sect world.


    Tang Wulin said in a serious voice, "Senior Disciple Brother, Brother Sima, you have to keep everything about this underground world strictly confidential. This is the Tang Sect''s biggest secret. Oh, by the way, His Majesties, the Amorous Douluo and Blood One have already passed down the position of Tang Sect Master to me."


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng couldn''t help but exchange an astonished glance upon hearing this. They were both well aware of what this entailed.


    The fact that the Tang Sect was able to become one of the four supporting pillars of the Blood God Legion was a testament to its status. Compared to the Spirit Pagoda, the Tang Sect flew more so under the radar, and its main source of income and expansion lay in its research and development, as well as production into soul tools.


    Compared to the Spirit Pagoda, the Tang Sect had a longer history, and it had always shared an extremely close bond with Shrek Academy.


    However, at the same time, the Tang Sect was more understated than the Spirit Pagoda, so no one knew just how powerful it was.


    Back when the Tang Sect headquarters had been bombed, many people had thought that it was over for the Tang Sect. In particular, the Tang Sect had been constantly shrinking following the bombing, to the extent that it had almost disappeared from the public eye, but who could¡¯ve imagined that the Tang Sect would have an underground world like this?


    These ancient sects really couldn''t be judged by normal standards! Their wealth and power were simply unimaginable.


    They all knew that Tang Wulin''s objective for returning to Heaven Dou City was to revive Shrek Academy in the near future, but at the same time, they knew just how arduous an undertaking that was going to be.


    However, when they saw the unfathomable foundation that the Tang Sect had retained coupled with the fact that Tang Wulin was now the Tang Sect Master, they were finally beginning to be convinced that everything Tang Wulin wanted to achieve didn''t seem to be impossible after all.


    Tang Wulin had contacted his friends via soul communicator, asking them to wait on the drill ground, so he took A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi there directly. For everyone''s safety, he invited the Light Dark Douluo and the Holy Spirit Douluo as referees and for supervision purposes.


    After all, at their levels of power, it wouldn''t be that easy to hold back during their sparring matches, so they could easily hurt one another if they weren''t careful.


    By the time they arrived at the drill ground, the Holy Spirit Douluo was already sitting with her eyes closed on a chair at the edge of the drill ground, and she seemed to be meditating. She was still as beautiful as ever, but Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel sad every time he saw her as he could no longer sense any vitality from her. She was dead on the inside.


    Elder Long had also arrived, and she was saying something to Xu Lizhi in a quiet voice. Xu Lizhi was listening in an extremely animated and focused manner, and his chubby cheeks were jiggling slightly with his excitement.


    Long Yeyue had accepted Xu Lizhi as her disciple following the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention and began to instruct him in his cultivation. However, the academy had been bombed not long after they had returned from the demonic island, so he didn''t actually get a chance to learn from Elder Long for a very long time. Now that he was reunited with his teacher, Xu Lizhi was naturally in extremely high spirits.


    As soon as Sima Jinchi strode into the drill ground, he immediately sensed something, and he cast his gaze toward a certain direction to find a young woman appraising him while sitting on the ground with her legs crossed.


    Their eyes met, and Sima Jinchi clearly felt a faint hint of pain spear through his mind. At the same time, he also immediately identified this young woman.


    Wasn''t she the swordswoman who had given him quite a tough fight during the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition? Was she one of Shrek''s Seven Monsters as well?


    He had originally been very relaxed, just like A''Ruheng, but a hint of wariness welled up in his heart at the sight of Ye Xinglan.


    Even though he had already reached the Titled Douluo level, he wasn''t allowed to use his battle armor during this sparring match.


    During their last battle, that woman had already attained a sword soul, so she would''ve most definitely become more powerful since then, and would not be an easy opponent to face.


    If all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were as powerful as her, then this three on six match wasn''t going to be easy at all!


    Yue Zhengyu, Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie strode over to them, and Xu Lizhi also followed suit after excusing himself with Elder Long.


    Xie Xie was the first to arrive before them, and he looked up at the man-mountain that was A''Ruheng in a slightly awe-struck manner. "You really are massive, Strength King. You''re far more intimidating in person than on television."


    "Hehe," A''Ruheng chuckled as he flexed his monstrous right bicep to Xie Xie.


    Ye Xinglan''s gaze had been fixed solely on Sima Jinchi this entire time. "We meet again. Please enlighten me."


    Sima Jinchi replied, "Looks like you''ve developed your sword soul quite well, lass. Unfortunately for you, the gap between us can''t be bridged in such a short time."


    Ye Xinglan didn''t say anything in response to this. Instead, she merely closed her eyes, and the sharp aura that she was releasing abruptly disappeared.


    Sima Jinchi''s expressions changed slightly upon seeing this. She had learned to contain the aura of her sword! She was truly an exceptional prodigy!


    "Everyone''s here, so let''s begin," Elder Long urged.


    Only then did A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi notice her, and both of them shuddered slightly as soon as they caught sight of her.


    Elder Long seemed to be the epitome of a frail and ordinary old woman, and there wasn''t even a single trace of aura emanating from her body.


    In contrast, A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were both Titled Douluos, and they were quite powerful even among those of their cultivation rank. They couldn''t sense Elder Long''s aura, but they could sense that Elder Long was someone whom they had to look up to.


    This was an instinctive reaction. Elder Long was too ordinary; so much so that she didn''t even seem to exist in their spiritual world, and it was exactly this that made her even more terrifying in their hearts. This was clearly an indication that her spiritual power far outstripped theirs! She most definitely possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power. Never did they think that such an unfathomably powerful being would exist in Shrek Academy or the Tang Sect.


    Even without an introduction from Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi took the initiative to extend respectful bows toward Elder Long. "We pay our respects to our esteemed senior."


    Long Yeyue replied, "No need for formalities."


    Tang Wulin turned toward everyone. All of the participants in this sparring match were close friends of his, and the main objective of this first match was for everyone to familiarize themselves with one another''s powers and abilities.


    Strictly speaking, Tang Wulin had actually lost in his match against Yue Zhengyu. He had underestimated just how much Yue Zhengyu had improved and refrained from unleashing his true power from the get-go, thereby giving Yue Zhengyu the opportunity to destroy his blood soul fusion technique with his Holy Fusion Technique.


    However, Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t going to make the same mistake twice. His expression remained as calm as ever, but fierce battle intent was already raging within his heart.


    Through this sparring match, he wanted to see just how much his friends had grown.


    Everyone backed away to open up some distance, and Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue abruptly vanished before reappearing beside the Holy Spirit Douluo. She waved a hand through the air, and the protective barrier was activated to encompass the entire drill ground. Not only that, but a layer of black and white light had appeared outside the protective barrier; this was Elder Long''s power of light and darkness.

 Chapter 1204: Commencement of the Sparring Match

    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but take an extra glance at the black and white light outside. He hadn''t ever directly clashed with Elder Long''s power of light and darkness, but after experiencing Elder Long''s spiritual domain, he had been well and truly stunned.


    In a three on six match, it was quite apparent which side held the advantage in numbers, but in terms of individual powers, it was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi held the clear upper hand.


    However, individual power could never decide the outcome of a battle. Tang Wulin knew that his friends definitely had far better teamwork and synergy than he had with Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng.


    The two sides were separated by 200 meters, and in terms of Soul Master configuration, Shrek''s Six Monsters was definitely more balanced.


    Yue Zhengyu, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui were the assault system Soul Masters, Xu Xiaoyan was the control system Soul Master, Xie Xie was the agility attack system Soul Master, and Xu Lizhi was the food system Soul Master.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin''s trio consisted entirely of assault system Soul Masters, with only Tang Wulin doubling as a control system Soul Master as well.


    "Begin!" Elder Long was just as direct and straightforward as ever and announced the commencement of the match without wasting any time with words.


    Tang Wulin was the first to spring into action. He stomped his left foot into the ground amid an earth-shattering boom, and his body shot forth like a golden arrow toward Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi also charged forward on either side of him, and all three of them unleashed their martial souls in unison.


    Seven soul rings rose up around Tang Wulin''s body with his greenish-golden and orange-golden soul ring the most eye-catching of the seven.


    All of his friends actually could''ve already attained orange-golden soul rings as well, but because they had been separated for a year, they hadn''t yet had a chance to absorb the plant system Great Beasts within Tang Wulin''s body.


    Everyone also had different reasons for not coming to Tang Wulin for these 100,000-year-old soul spirits back when they had progressed to rank 70 in soul power. In order to attain the Holy Fusion Technique, Yue Zhengyu had to use his original angel soul spirit as his seventh soul ring.


    Ye Xinglan had reached a critical juncture in her sword soul breakthrough and couldn''t afford to stop and absorb a plant system soul spirit, and she simply made a breakthrough on her own.


    Xie Xie''s situation was similar to Ye Xinglan''s; after reaching rank 70 in soul power, he could sense that his martial soul had mutated, and in order to successfully complete the mutation, he had to make his breakthrough right away as well.


    Xu Lizhi had originally intended to wait, but once he reached rank 70 in soul power, the soul spirit that he had already absorbed acted on its own to bestow upon him a seventh soul ring.


    Yuanen Yehui had twin martial souls, and based on her own special circumstances, she had decided to hold off until she became Soul Douluo before fusing with one of the plant system Great Beasts.


    Thus, the only one who could fuse with one of the plant system Great Beast was Xu Xiaoyan. However, everyone else had made their breakthroughs, and after witnessing how hard Yue Zhengyu had been working, she decided to travel to the stargazing platform and also completed her breakthrough there.


    At the time, she had thought that everyone was waiting until they became Soul Douluos before they fused with the plant system Great Beasts, so she would do the same. Besides, the plant system Great Beast may not suit her anyway, so she decided to make a breakthrough on her own.


    As such, Tang Wulin still had the six Great Beasts, and he was also the only one present with an orange-golden soul ring.


    Tang Wulin''s trio rushed forward in a triangular formation, and Shrek''s Six Monsters had also adopted a formation that they had decided on in advance.


    Xie Xie stepped off to the side and vanished silently into thin air. Yuanen Yehui was at the center with Ye Xinglan and Yue Zhengyu on either side of her, while Xu Xiaoyan was behind her, and Xu Lizhi brought up the rear.


    All six of them were chewing on steamed buns, but they had intentionally kept their actions very discreet so Tang Wulin didn''t even know which type of steamed bun they were eating. He could only assume that it was the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun.


    Aside from Xie Xie, who had disappeared, the other five simply remained standing on the spot, seemingly waiting for Tang Wulin and the others to reach them.


    Tang Wulin was accelerating further and further with his golden dragon wings spread open to make any directional adjustments that he would need, and his Golden Dragon Spear had already appeared in his grasp. His aura was so overbearing that it was almost threatening to tear the very air apart.


    With his powers, the distance of 200 meters was covered virtually in the blink of an eye, and even though A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were a step behind him, they certainly weren''t any slower than him.


    Sima Jinchi brandished his Dragonslaying Saber, and he was directly facing Ye Xinglan. Their eyes met, and he could see unmatched battle intent burning within her eyes. Sima Jinchi felt as if he were looking at his past self in Ye Xinglan, but in contrast with him, Ye Xinglan wasn''t obsessed with battle; she was simply obsessed with her sword.


    What level had her sword soul reached?


    Even though they were at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, Sima Jinchi was still feeling very confident. He knew just how powerful Tang Wulin currently was; in a one on one battle, even he wasn''t a match for Tang Wulin unless he were to use his battle armor.


    One had to realize that he was quite exceptional even among Titled Douluos, whereas Tang Wulin was only a seven-ring Soul Sage. The enhancements bestowed upon him by his Golden Dragon King powers were truly astounding.


    A''Ruheng''s thought process was much the same as Sima Jinchi''s; he also didn''t favor Shrek''s Six Monsters'' chances.


    Under normal circumstances, a Titled Douluo should be able to take on seven-ringed Soul Sages with ease. If it weren''t for the fact that their opponents were going to be Shrek''s Six Monsters, he wouldn¡¯t even be interested in participating in this battle.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He was the only one among the three of them who wasn''t convinced that this would be an easy victory as he was far too familiar with the powers of his friends.


    All of them had grown and developed alongside one another. He had completely evolved during his year-long military stint, as had all of his friends.


    Hence, even though it appeared that he was charging full steam ahead, he was actually keeping some effort in reserve. Furthermore, his gaze wasn''t focused on Yuanen Yehui. Instead, his attention was directed toward Xu Xiaoyan, who was standing behind her. He knew that the only person who could truly stop a full-frontal assault from him was her.


    After Tang Wulin had covered over 100 meters, Xu Xiaoyan''s staff finally lit up with starlight, and it seemed that she was about to release a soul skill.


    It was exactly because of how familiar Tang Wulin was with her powers that he chose to strike at this moment without any hesitation. Two beams of purple light erupted from his eyes like lightning.


    Tang Wulin''s Purple Demon Eyes hadn''t yet been cultivated to the final Boundless level, but with his immense spiritual powers, even his current Purple Demon Eyes were capable of unleashing an extremely terrifying spiritual attack. If he were targeting a normal Soul Sage, it wouldn''t even be impossible for their head to explode from an attack like this.


    Tang Wulin knew that the most fearsome aspect of Xu Xiaoyan''s abilities was their absolute nature. This was why she was able to become one of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, so he definitely couldn''t give her a chance to work her magic. The only option available to him was to cut her off before she could do anything. Thus, he released a spiritual attack from his Purple Demon Eyes without any hesitation.


    This was a surprise attack that was fueled by his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, so he was confident that Xu Xiaoyan wouldn''t be able to defend herself against it, even if she were wary of such an attack.


    After all, none of his friends were aware that he had reached the Spirit Domain realm.


    Purple light flashed, and even Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng couldn''t help but shudder internally as they sensed the devastating spiritual power imbued within the two beams of light.


    Even they wouldn''t be able to defend themselves against such a fearsome spiritual attack! They were able to sense how terrifying the attack was from the side, let alone Shrek''s Six Monsters, who were directly up ahead.


    During their sparring matches against Tang Wulin, both of them had suffered extensively in the face of his Purple Demon Eyes.


    Tang Wulin had been focusing his efforts on cultivating his Purple Demon Eyes recently, and one of the objectives he was trying to achieve was to reach the Boundless level as quickly as possible. He was confident that once he reached that level, it would be easier for him to attain his own spiritual domain.


    However, the events that unfolded next were rather surprising to all three of them.


    As soon as Tang Wulin unleashed his Purple Demon Eyes, Xu Xiaoyan suddenly raised her head and gave him a peculiar smile.


    Tang Wulin''s heart immediately tightened at the sight of this smile. Back when they had first entered Shrek Academy, Xu Xiaoyan had secured a place in their class with her skills as a master actress.


    Hence, she definitely wasn''t smiling for no reason now.


    Right at this moment, a golden light barrier appeared silently in front of Shrek''s Six Monsters, and Tang Wulin''s Purple Demon Eyes attack crashed directly into it.

 Chapter 1205: Surrounded

    Theoretically speaking, energy barriers shouldn''t have been able to block spiritual attacks, but Xu Xiaoyan had achieved this.


    A layer of purple light spread over the barrier before proliferating outward, but Xu Xiaoyan remained completely unaffected.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had also reached them, and his body flashed with golden light as his Golden Dragon Spear struck the light barrier.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin suddenly felt as if his spear had pierced into space rather than a barrier. He felt as if his peerlessly sharp Golden Dragon Spear had fallen upon nothing, and it was as if everything had abruptly vanished.


    His opponents also disappeared in that instant, and from everyone else''s perspective, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had vanished into the light barrier, and his rapidly accelerating body quickly followed suit.


    What...


    What was happening?


    Right at this moment, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and Ye Xinglan sprang into action in unison.


    Yuanen Yehui bent her knees to lower her center of gravity while slowly launching her right fist through the air. Countless streams of air instantly converged toward her fist before rapidly rotating to form a fearsome vortex that crashed directly toward Tang Wulin''s chest.


    Ye Xinglan''s body flashed, and she transformed into specks of starlight. Her peerless sword intent transformed into her sword soul, and she fused as one with her sword before charging straight toward Tang Wulin.


    Yue Zhengyu wasn''t holding back, either. The 12-winged angel projection immediately appeared behind him, following which his holy sword instantly fused as one with the angel, and he unleashed his Holy Angel Descends and Light of Judgment in unison.


    Their attacks were all directed toward Tang Wulin, and they didn''t even take so much as a single glance at A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    It was also right at this moment that two halos silently appeared beneath Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng''s feet. The halos had appeared far too abruptly for them to evade, and their rapidly advancing figures suddenly stopped cold before tipping forward from the momentum they had built up.


    A series of starlight chains then instantly bound their bodies, and even though it only took them a split second to struggle free from those chains, they were still struck by the one-second absolute immobilization effect, and one second on a battlefield was enough to completely change everything.


    In just a single second, Shrek''s Six Monsters had unleashed a perfect combination attack against Tang Wulin.


    The golden light barrier had actually only stopped Tang Wulin for a second, but that one-second delay had completely nullified his spiritual attack and full-frontal assault.


    This was the terrifying power of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and in the blink of an eye, this had become a six on one battle.


    During the one second that they were immobilized, both Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng''s expressions changed drastically. Never did they think that there would be such a powerful control system Soul Master among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Right at this moment, bright golden light erupted from Tang Wulin''s body, and his golden scales suddenly took on a mirror-like quality while flashing rapidly.


    The first attack to strike him was the Divine Cloudvortex Fists. A resounding boom rang out, and Tang Wulin''s aura swelled drastically amid the eruption of golden light.


    This was his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body!


    In the instant that Tang Wulin''s spiritual attack had failed to take effect, he had immediately released this soul skill. He didn''t dare to wait as he was facing his friends in their most powerful form!


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he remained calm and collected despite being surrounded.


    The power of the Divine Cloudvortex Fists lay not in its offensive prowess, but more so in its control. Despite being struck by such a heavy punch, not only was Tang Wulin not sent flying, he seemed to have been stuck to the fist, and his entire body faltered in mid-air.


    The Light of Judgment was the next to arrive, and it struck Tang Wulin''s body with ferocious might. Light was always going to be faster than Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword.


    Tang Wulin waved his right hand through the air, and dazzling golden light radiated forth as a layer of shimmering golden dragon''s repulse appeared over the surface of his Golden Dragon Spear. Meanwhile, the power reciprocated to him by his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body abruptly erupted forth, and at the same time, his fifth golden soul ring also lit up as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion.


    His dragon''s repulse and Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion culminated in an extremely powerful combination that managed to even dispel the Light of Judgment unleashed by Yue Zhengyu in his martial soul true body form.


    At the same time, his Golden Dragon Spear instantly conjured up countless projections that not only surged toward Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword, they also encompassed Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and Ye Xinglan themselves.


    This was the current Tang Wulin; he was completely different from his past self.


    A crisp clang rang out, and Tang Wulin was surprised to discover that the Stargod Sword before him had taken on an illusionary quality. In the next instant, it suddenly projected itself into his mind.


    Was her Stargod Sword already capable of unleashing spiritual attacks by projecting the aura of its sword soul?


    Tang Wulin had faced a similar type of attack from Sima Jinchi in the past, but even though he was familiar with it, he was still quite surprised. It was undoubtedly the case that Ye Xinglan had grasped the true meaning of her sword soul.


    It was also right at this moment that a streak of light erupted out of thin air before hurtling toward Tang Wulin''s neck. The streak of light had appeared far too abruptly, and even he had failed to sense it.


    His dragon''s repulse had just erupted and was in the process of being withdrawn, so this attack had arrived right when his dragon''s repulse was at its weakest.


    Thus, the dragon''s repulse was silently parted, as if it had been torn apart by spatial fluctuations, and by the time Tang Wulin sensed the perilous situation he was in, the illusionary streak of light had already reached the back of his neck.


    It was Xie Xie!


    Tang Wulin instantly figured out who was attacking him. It turned out that the final attack was to come from Xie Xie rather than Ye Xinglan.


    They had dedicated all of their efforts to attacking him and completely disregarded A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi; his friends really were giving him special "care"! What a good group of friends they were.


    Xie Xie''s attack was not going to be easy to withstand. At this point, his Fury of the Masses still hadn''t completely taken shape as he had been affected by the sword soul.


    Most importantly, Xie Xie''s timing was simply far too immaculate. Yue Zhengyu''s Light of Judgment was dispelled, but his holy sword was slashing through the air toward Tang Wulin. Meanwhile, Yuanen Yehui had unleashed her second burst of Divine Cloudvortex Fists after her first wave of attacks was devoured by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Tyrant Body. The attacks were coming in relentless waves with seamless transitions, and they only seemed to be becoming more powerful.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin instantly formed his judgment; he definitely wouldn''t be able to last more than three waves of these combination attacks.


    He couldn''t engage in a direct clash with his six opponents, so if he wanted to secure victory, he had to link up with his two teammates.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had just struggled free of the Starwheel Shackles and were just about to charge forward when Xu Xiaoyan exerted her control again.


    This time, it was Dazzling Starlight!


    Countless beams of starlight erupted forth, shining down upon A''Ruheng, Sima Jinchi, and Tang Wulin, and immobilizing all three of them at once.


    In terms of control timing, even Tang Wulin didn''t dare to proclaim that he was superior to Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s control was far too accurate. The first beam of starlight struck Tang Wulin just as he was swiveling around and attempting to block Xie Xie''s attack with his left hand. However, he was immobilized right at this critical juncture, and this split-second delay was enough to spell his defeat!


    Tang Wulin discovered that Xu Xiaoyan''s control had become even more powerful than before. Not only had his body been immobilized, even his cognitive functions had stalled for an instant. Losing the ability to think in such a perilous situation was undoubtedly a massive disaster.

 Chapter 1206: First Victory

    Tang Wulin knew that he had still been too complacent and underestimated just how quickly his friends had grown. He shouldn''t have charged out so quickly at the beginning and opened up so much distance between himself and his teammates, thereby giving Shrek''s Six Monsters a chance to isolate and surround him.


    Furthermore, his friends really did hold him in high regard; it was quite clear their plan from the very beginning was to take him out as quickly as possible before addressing A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi. The six of them had perfect synergy, and their attacks had clearly been bolstered by the effects of the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns, making even Tang Wulin struggle to defend himself against them.


    His Golden Dragon Tyrant Body had blocked the first wave of attacks, but this sneak attack from Xie Xie was simply far too lethal.


    Even the spectating Long Yeyue didn''t think that Tang Wulin had any chance of turning the tables, but she had a very pleased smile on her face.


    If Tang Wulin were the only powerful member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, then she would be very disappointed. No matter how powerful he was, he was still only one person, and there was simply far too severe a limitation on the things that one person could do.


    However, if the rest of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were also forces to be reckoned with, then they would form a generation of powerful beings that would lead from the front in the revival of Shrek Academy and take it to the pinnacle of the entire continent again.


    As such, how could Long Yeyue not be elated to see the dire situation that Tang Wulin was in? These kids had all grown up!


    However, right when everyone had thought that Tang Wulin was completely at the mercy of his friends, the sound of a violent heartbeat suddenly rang out.


    "Lub-dub, lub-dub!"


    As the thunderous heartbeat erupted, everything else seemed to fall silent. Xie Xie, who was the closest to Tang Wulin and currently in the process of attacking him, clearly faltered momentarily. However, this heartbeat didn''t come from Tang Wulin; it came from A''Ruheng instead.


    The first one to be struck by Dazzling Starlight was Tang Wulin, followed by Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng, and right before he was struck, the sound of A''Ruheng''s heartbeat rang out.


    In a team battle, it was a huge disadvantage not to have a control system Soul Master. A''Ruheng certainly wasn''t a control system Soul Master, but the congenital secret method of the Body Sect that he had cultivated did possess certain control system abilities. As such, in the instant that he unleashed this control ability, the sound of his heavy heartbeat affected all of Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    They had actually all witnessed A''Ruheng using his heartbeat to disrupt his opponents during the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, but seeing it on a television screen was completely different from facing it in person.


    On top of that, A''Ruheng had progressed from the Soul Douluo level to the Titled Douluo stage since that competition, and he was now the true Body Douluo. As a result, he improved even further in his congenital secret method and had truly reached a stage of full mastery. Hence, his raucous heartbeat made all of Shrek''s Six Monsters'' hearts skip a beat.


    Due to the insufficient blood circulation that resulted from this, their martial soul outputs were abruptly cut off, and the effect of Dazzling Starlight was forcibly nullified.


    A smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He wasn''t fighting on his own, after all!


    Silver light flashed from his left hand, which he had reached behind himself, and another spear appeared in his grasp amid a flash of silver light. This was the Divine Atlas Spear of the Atlas Douluo, which was a weapon that had once reigned supreme over the entire continent, and a crisp clang rang out as the spear blocked Xie Xie''s attack.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s soul rings suddenly lit up; not his five golden soul rings, but his seven soul rings instead, which he had instantly switched to. As opposed to unleashing his martial soul true body, the soul ring that lit up was his second one.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were all very familiar with Tang Wulin, and they naturally knew what his second soul skill was.


    Bluesilver Impaling Array? How was that going to help him in a situation like this? Did he think that his Bluesilver Impaling Array would be enough to control everyone?


    At this moment, everyone had surrounded Tang Wulin, so his Bluesilver Impaling Array was indeed able to encompass all of his opponents, but this was still only his second soul skill; so what if it could encompass the entire battlefield? With the current powers of Shrek''s Six Monsters, they had many ways to deal with such a weak control ability.


    However, just when they had thought that Tang Wulin was only making futile efforts, an astonishing scene ensued.


    A series of thick and powerful Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from the ground, but in the instant that they appeared, they turned into a bluish-golden color amid bursts of dragon''s roars. They were light bluish-golden dragons that were surging out of the ground, and the front tip of each and every Bluesilver Emperor vine had taken on the shape of a dragon''s head.


    What was even more astonishing was that the vines were shimmering with golden light, and being struck by them was inevitable as the array had already encompassed a radius of over 100 meters.


    Everyone had unleashed abilities that they thought would be sufficient to ward off the effects of the Bluesilver Impaling Array, but they still fell under its control.


    Their bodies were momentarily immobilized, and even their bloodlines also seemed to have been dominated. All of their attacks were cut off almost in complete unison, and the pressure on Tang Wulin was instantly alleviated.


    A faint smile appeared on his face as he swept his Golden Dragon Spear and Divine Atlas Spear horizontally through the air at the same time.


    Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui were both sent flying by his spear, and he had already held back as they were his friends, but they were still launched into the distance like speeding arrows.


    At the same time, the Divine Atlas Spear disappeared from his grasp, and he reached out behind himself with his left hand like lightning while stomping his right foot into the ground to unleash his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth!


    Eight blush-golden giant dragons erupted forth, and shockwaves proliferated in all directions, immobilizing Xu Xiaoyan again just as she was about to exert her control again. Even Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword was affected, and she was cut off by Sima Jinchi, who rushed onto the scene to reinforce Tang Wulin.


    During a battle between Soul Masters, it was quite often the case that a single soul skill could completely turn the tide of the battle. This was why all Soul Masters pursued powerful soul skills in their cultivation.


    Tang Wulin''s trio looked as if they were on the cusp of defeat just a moment ago, yet a simple Bluesilver Impaling Array was enough to instantly transform the situation.


    Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui, who were two of the main sources of offensive output, were sent flying, and no one could stop Tang Wulin now. He reached out with his left hand and grabbed a figure out of thin air, but as soon as Xie Xie was pulled out into the open, he vanished in a wraith-like manner again.


    However, the situation on the battlefield was already set in stone. Tang Wulin smiled as he gently tapped his Golden Dragon Spear onto Xu Xiaoyan''s shoulder.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s control was indeed extremely powerful, but once an enemy Soul Master got close to her, that would be the end of the role that she would play in the battle.


    Xu Lizhi was standing behind Xu Xiaoyan, and he immediately raised both of his hands up into the air in a gesture of surrender while putting on a completely harmless expression. As a food system Soul Master, it wasn''t his job to fight on the battlefield anyway.


    Meanwhile, A''Ruheng had already rushed forward like a fierce gust of wind to hold back Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui, who were attempting to return to the battlefield.


    This battle was already as good as over.


    Tang Wulin exhaled as he turned to appraise the battle between Ye Xinglan and Sima Jinchi.


    During this short time, the Dragonslaying Saber and Stargod Sword had clashed several hundred times in rapid succession. Even though Ye Xinglan was constantly backing away, she was still able to keep all of Sima Jinchi''s attacks at bay, seemingly through nothing more than sheer willpower.


    "Alright, that''s enough!" Elder Long''s voice rang out to announce a conclusion to this sparring match.


    The saber and sword clashed one final time before Ye Xinglan performed a backward somersault and gently landed in the distance with a grim look on her face.


    Even though she and Sima Jinchi had only clashed for a very short time, she had been forced to bear immense pressure from him during this time.

 Chapter 1207: Another Battle

    Sima Jinchi had become more powerful than before, to the extent that he seemed to be on a completely different level compared to his past self. Each and every attack unleashed by his Dragonslaying Saber was accompanied by a piercing dragon''s roar that swayed her mind and almost rendered her unable to summon her sword soul.


    During their brief battle, the Dragonslaying Saber had displayed enormous power, and Ye Xinglan felt as if her Stargod Sword were wailing with anguish with every clash, seemingly about to snap at any moment.


    This was something that she had never experienced during all of her previous battles. While it was indeed true that Sima Jinchi was now a Titled Douluo, wasn''t he still a little too strong? How had he become so much more powerful than before?


    Ye Xinglan had already been working extremely hard in her cultivation, but she discovered that the gap between her and Sima Jinchi had only widened rather than shortened. This discovery dealt a rather heavy blow to her confidence.


    Everyone separated, and Xie Xie also emerged out of thin air. Both sides were appraising one another with shock and incredulity in their eyes, and at this point, Long Yeyue''s smile had already faded. In reality, no one had even noticed that she had been smiling while spectating their battle.


    "What were you all doing? You were fighting like a ragtag bunch of schoolkids! Is this the result of your cultivation?" She was directing these words at everyone, and she certainly wasn''t holding back.


    Tang Wulin''s trio didn''t feel too bad about this. After all, they were the victors, but Shrek''s Six Monsters all wore rather sour expressions.


    They had already gained the upper hand, but A''Ruheng''s violent heartbeat had disrupted the entire battle.


    Xie Xie couldn''t help but ask, "When did your Bluesilver Impaling Array become so powerful, Boss?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "That wasn''t my Bluesilver Impaling Array; it was a culmination of my Golden Dragon King bloodline power and my Bluesilver Emperor martial soul. I call it a blood soul fusion skill. The power of my Bluesilver Emperor martial soul can be used to bolster my Golden Dragon King bloodline abilities, and vice versa."


    Indeed, what appeared to be a simple Bluesilver Impaling Array was actually a blood soul fusion skill that had been imbued with Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline power, and it should be referred to as Golden Silver Impaling Array!


    The combination of the two created a product that was definitely not inferior to a soul fusion skill, and having been caught completely off guard by this, it was only natural that his friends would fall under its control.


    "Do you think you were unlucky? If you were on a real battlefield, you''d all be dead already!" Long Yeyue said in a cold voice.


    Shrek''s Six Monster''s expressions darkened even further. In particular, Ye Xinglan hung her head in a shameful manner. She was the one who had devised their strategy, yet they had suffered such a terrible loss, so she had to take the brunt of the blame.


    "Did you think that you''d be able to beat them just because you outnumber them? Why didn''t you use your suits of battle armor right away despite the large cultivation rank disparity? Are your suits of two-word battle armor pretty ornaments?" Long Yeyue was delivering a scathing tirade without mincing any words!


    That''s right, during that battle, none of Shrek''s Six Monsters had used their suits of battle armor. Prior to the commencement of the sparring match, it had been decided that they could use their suits of battle armor while Tang Wulin''s trio couldn''t.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were already three-word battle armor masters, so it would be far too unfair for them to be able to use their battle armor. However, the prideful Shrek''s Six Monsters refrained from using their battle armor right away, and that was what had resulted in their final crushing defeat. If they had donned their suits of battle armor right away, Tang Wulin definitely wouldn''t have been able to ward off their attacks so easily.


    "Again!" Long Yeyue commanded before turning and making her way back toward the edge of the drill ground.


    Again?


    Tang Wulin turned to A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    A''Ruheng chuckled, "Sure! I didn''t even get a chance to warm up during that last battle. Hurry up and put on your suits of battle armor, little kiddies; otherwise, don''t come crying to me when you lose!"


    He then turned and made his way back to his starting position.


    Yue Zhengyu gritted his teeth in an enraged manner. "Don''t get cocky! Once we put on our battle armor, you''ll have no chance!"


    Sima Jinchi''s gaze had been focused on Ye Xinglan this entire time, and he said, "If you put on your suit of battle armor, perhaps I can consider using my full power."


    Ye Xinglan''s complexion was a little purple, and even though she didn''t say anything, she was clearly not in a good mood.


    The six monsters gathered together for a quick discussion while Tang Wulin''s trio returned to their original positions.


    Even though they had won in the end, that was far from an easy victory. Shrek''s Six Monsters hadn''t actually made any errors in their tactics, nor their teamwork; they had only lost as they weren''t familiar enough with the abilities of Tang Wulin''s trio.


    As such, both sides had learned a lot during that first match. In particular, Xu Xiaoyan''s control abilities had left a very deep impression on both A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi. It was incredible to them that such a gentle and fragile-looking little girl could control them to such an absolute extent.


    Tang Wulin was still situated at the center with A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi on either side of him, and Shrek''s Six Monsters also adopted the same formation as before.


    "Begin!" Elder Long was just as concise and straightforward as ever. Thus, the second sparring match commenced.


    The last sparring match hadn''t been very taxing to any of them, everyone had already attained soul cores, which granted extremely fast soul power recovery, so the last battle didn''t affect them much at all.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t as reckless on this occasion. As he released his martial soul, he also activated his Golden Dragon Body, and he held his Golden Dragon Spear as he charged forward with Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng on either side of him, rather than behind him like last time. At the same time, his aura was constantly elevating during his advance.


    On the other end, Shrek''s Six Monsters had learned from their mistakes and released their suits of two-word armor in unison.


    All of their suits of battle armor had names that were related to their lovers, whom they were fighting alongside. They were Star Wisdom Ye Xinglan, Guardian Star Xu Lizhi, Dragon Night Xie Xie, Sky Twin Yuanen Yehui, Star Universe Xu Xiaoyan, and Sky Word Yue Zhengyu.


    Their suits of battle armor radiated dazzling light as they appeared over their bodies, and their auras instantly swelled to far greater heights than before.


    A seven-ring Soul Sage with a suit of two-word battle armor was comparable in power to a Titled Douluo. They were missing their final two soul skills, so they couldn''t be compared to actual Titled Douluos, but Shrek''s Six Monsters were certainly not inferior to Titled Douluos in battle.


    Tang Wulin''s trio was immediately struck by a sense of vastly increased pressure, but all three of them only became more excited for it.


    All three of them were people who could only maximize their latent potential when facing powerful enemies, and in the face of the six two-word battle armor masters, their auras were also becoming more powerful.


    "Lub-dub, lud-dub, lub-dub!" A''Ruheng''s heart thumped in a powerful manner, and his body also swelled to over seven meters tall in the blink of an eye. A layer of crimson-golden color appeared over his skin, and his aura felt comparable to that of Bear Lord.


    Sima Jinchi had a solemn look in his eyes as his Dragonslaying Saber shimmered like rippling water. There were projections of all types of giant dragons that were radiating evil auras behind him, and they were constantly flashing and overlapping, seemingly ready to truly project themselves into this world at any moment.


    The sharp blade of the Dragonslaying Saber was radiating terrifying pressure, and with every forward stride he made was accompanied by the anguished wails of giant dragons.


    Tang Wulin was situated at the center of the trio with dragon''s repulse shimmering around him and a platinum spear projection extending out of the front tip of his Golden Dragon Spear. His spear soul reverberated within his mind, and his aura was elevating the most drastically among the trio. As his dragon''s might was released, Shrek''s Six Monsters were all struck by immense bloodline pressure.


    A smile had reappeared on Long Yeyue''s face. Watching these exceptional young people fight was truly an enjoyable activity.


    How she wished that she was over 100 years younger so she could join them!


    But then again, when she was at their age, she didn''t possess their current level of power.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1208: Suppression

    The more she looked at Tang Wulin, the more pleased she was with him. Of course, she was also very pleased with her precious disciple.


    Tang Wulin was looking more and more like a leader, and even powerful beings like A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi couldn''t steal the limelight away from him.


    The two sides drew closer and closer, and Shrek''s Six Monsters were still adopting the same strategy of waiting on the spot. Xie Xie vanished once again, and light shimmered from Xu Xiaoyan''s staff, looking as if she were about to spring into action at any moment.


    Complemented by her suit of two-word battle armor, it was as if she had become the starry sky herself with countless specks shining starlight around her, basking her staff in a brilliant radiance.


    She was the one who had the most attention directed toward her, and it was undoubtedly the case that she was going to be playing the most direct role in the outcome of this battle. The absolute nature of Xu Xiaoyan''s abilities was simply far too fearsome, and even Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng were extremely wary of her.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly sprang into action. His entire body abruptly lunged forward by a huge step, and he stomped his foot onto the ground with a resounding boom.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters almost instantly reacted, and Xu Xiaoyan almost released a soul skill. However, Tang Wulin merely smiled after taking that step, and reassured, "Don''t be scared!"


    That was just a bluff? Peculiar looks appeared on Shrek''s Six Monsters'' faces, but in the next instant, Tang Wulin''s body suddenly took on an imaginary quality.


    Only A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi could see that he had abruptly flapped his golden dragon wings in an extremely discreet motion, and his third golden soul ring also lit up, indicating that he was unleashing his Golden Dragon Takes Flight!


    After charging ahead and being surrounded in the last battle, Shrek''s Six Monsters were all under the impression that surely he wouldn''t make the same mistake again, and Tang Wulin was using this preconceived bias to his advantage. He had stomped forward as a bluff to affect the mental states of Shrek''s Six Monsters, then abruptly charged onward while they were still yet to recover.


    Not only was this an eruption of power, a psychological warfare tactic had also been used. As such, as his body rushed forward, Shrek''s Six Monsters were all slightly slow to react.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin instantly activated his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body. On top of that, his dragon''s repulse also erupted in a frenzy. He was combining his dragon''s repulse and Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion again, and on this occasion, he had unleashed both of them in the same instant.


    Xu Xiaoyan reacted very quickly as her sixth soul ring flashed, and the light barrier that had thwarted Tang Wulin during the last battle appeared once again.


    This light barrier was known as Absolute Star Barrier, and even though it could only last for an instant, it possessed extremely potent defensive power. Furthermore, it was also an absolute ability, and it was able to ward off all energy, spiritual, or physical attacks.


    Tang Wulin had fallen victim to the effect of this barrier during the last battle, and now that Xu Xiaoyan had donned her suit of two-word battle armor, she was able to maintain her Absolute Star Barrier for a split second longer.


    However, the events that unfolded next came as quite a surprise to her. Tang Wulin''s full-frontal charge suddenly stopped cold just as he was about to crash into the Absolute Star Barrier, and only his devastating dragon''s repulse surged into it.


    Not only that, but his Golden Dragon Spear suddenly vanished, and in the next instant, he summoned his Golden Silver Impaling Array again. A vast expanse of vines immediately erupted forth, and Tang Wulin had intentionally manufactured this situation to try and turn the tables by exerting control over Xu Xiaoyan instead.


    Even though the Absolute Star Barrier managed to block the first barrage of the Golden Silver Impaling Array, there was no end to Tang Wulin''s vines, yet Xu Xiaoyan''s Absolute Star Barrier could only last for an instant.


    Once the Absolute Star Barrier vanished, the Golden Silver Impaling Array would exert control in reverse, and even with their suits of two-word battle armor equipped, Shrek''s Six Monsters would still be affected by the array, thereby ruining their formation.


    After grasping Xu Xiaoyan''s abilities, Tang Wulin immediately devised a plan to target her.


    However, Shrek''s Six Monsters were also extremely seasoned combatants. They didn''t choose to retreat as retreating at a time like this would allow A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi to catch up with Tang Wulin, which would force them completely onto the back foot.


    As such, starlight flashed from Xu Xiaoyan''s staff, and a Starwheel Shackle appeared beneath Tang Wulin''s feet. Only by controlling Tang Wulin first could she prevent his control ability from taking effect.


    This was a clash of pure control abilities!


    All of a sudden, a massive purple flower appeared behind Tang Wulin; it was none other than the Beautiful Silk Tulip, and it immediately unleashed its Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    The fact that he was unleashing Devouring Heaven and Earth when he was situated so close to his opponents was a clear indication of how confident he was.


    The Golden Silver Impaling Array was cut off, and the Devouring Heaven and Earth had been unleashed by the Beautiful Silk Tulip, so even though he had been controlled, it didn''t interfere with the output of the soul skill.


    The Golden Silver Impaling Array was cut off, and the Absolute Star Barrier also vanished.


    The two sides were right in front of one another, and Tang Wulin was about to be struck by a torrential barrage of attacks!


    However, right at this moment, his body suddenly flew backward. A Bluesilver Emperor vine was stretched taut on the ground, and everyone had failed to notice that Tang Wulin had left behind a Bluesilver Emperor prior to commencing his forward charge.


    Furthermore, the other end of the vine was being held by A''Ruheng, and he forcibly dragged Tang Wulin back right as Devouring Heaven and Earth was unleashed. Thus, everyone''s attacks fell upon nothing but empty air, which made for quite a jarring experience.


    In particular, Yue Zhengyu had even unleashed his martial soul true body, yet the dazzling light unleashed by his holy sword had completely failed to strike its target.


    Tang Wulin''s control had been exquisitely implemented, and he had essentially tricked Xu Xiaoyan into prematurely using her Absolute Star Barrier.


    Tang Wulin was confident that even Xu Xiaoyan wouldn''t be able to use such an insane control ability in quick succession; there had to be some cooldown time required before she could use it again.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters had all donned their suits of battle armor, but they had also just eaten Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns, which would tax their bodies over time, so he wasn''t in a hurry at all. On top of that, even though he had been struck by a Starwheel Shackle, it didn''t affect his Devouring Heaven and Earth at all, and his aura continued to swell as the energy particles in the air surged toward him in a frenzy.


    By the time the three of them were reunited, they were only around 50 meters away from Shrek''s Six Monsters. A''Ruheng stepped forward and rushed directly toward them, while Sima Jinchi brandished his Dragonslaying Saber and charged toward Ye Xinglan with a fearsome aura radiating from his body.


    This was going to be a direct three-on-six clash!


    To put it more accurately, it was three on five as Xie Xie was still nowhere to be seen.


    Was a direct clash about to ensue?


    Among Shrek''s Six Monsters, Yuanen Yehui''s body abruptly swelled in size as she unleashed all of her enhancement soul skills, including Titan Strength and Diamond Titan, thereby resulting in a sharp spike in her aura. Her Divine Cloudvortex Fists had been developed based on her Air Cannon soul skill, and with the enhancements from her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, the power of her Divine Cloudvortex Fists naturally increased drastically.


    "Boom!"


    The first two clashes were Yuanen Yehui and A''Ruheng.


    A violent boom erupted, and Yuanen Yehui was evenly-matched with A''Ruheng, able to completely hold her ground without even taking half a backward step.


    Even though this had only been achieved through the enhancements of her battle armor, it was still sufficient testament to how powerful she currently was.


    Her Divine Cloudvortex Fists had improved again, to the extent that she was able to match even A''Ruheng in their initial clash.


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised to see this. Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were only below him in power among Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and both of them possessed extremely powerful combat prowess. Furthermore, they were developing just as quickly as he was, but even so, Tang Wulin was stunned by how powerful this punch from Yuanen was.


    Wasn''t her body supposed to have been weakened to a certain extent by the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun she had consumed?


    A''Ruheng immediately burst into hearty laughter. "Nice! Again!" He swung his fists toward Yuanen Yehui as he spoke, and on this occasion, he wasn''t holding back in the slightest. Pronounced veins appeared all over his body, and crimson-golden light erupted all around him.


    After taking a deep breath, Yuanen Yehui''s body swelled once again, and the air currents around her became more violent, forming a tornado that instantly compressed itself onto her fist.


    The two clashed again, and A''Ruheng felt as if he had punched a deep-sea vortex. The rapid rotational force was stripping away his power, and there was an indescribably violent current at the core of the vortex that was tearing at him in a frenzy.


    What a powerful technique!


    In contrast, Yuanen Yehui felt as if A''Ruheng''s attack were bearing down upon her like a mountain. Regardless of how much her Divine Cloudvortex Fists tried to whittle down his power, it seemed that he wasn''t being weakened in the slightest.


    "Boom!"


    During this second clash, Yuanen Yehui fell short of the mark. Even with the enhancements from her battle armor, her powers were still significantly inferior to those of the Body Douluo, who was the only one in the current generation of the Body Sect to have successfully cultivated the congenital secret method.

 Chapter 1209: Domain?

    Yuanen Yehui was forced to stumble back three steps in succession, while A''Ruheng remained standing on the spot.


    However, his eyes were filled with surprise and elation. Tang Wulin had already revealed to him that Yuanen Yehui was a woman, and it was simply astounding to him that a woman could keep up with him in a direct clash of strength.


    Meanwhile, Sima Jinchi was just as elated as he was. His Dragonslaying Saber came crashing downward, and it was met by what appeared to be a bright star.


    The star was instantly shattered, but the Dragonslaying Saber was also repelled, and they appeared to be evenly matched as well.


    With the enhancements from her suit of battle armor, Ye Xinglan''s aura swelled drastically, and her Stargod Sword had become far more stable than before. Her sword soul flourished, and it was exploiting every single chink in Sima Jinchi''s defense while crashing down like a devastating meteor shower.


    The saber and sword clashed, and Ye Xinglan was able to hold off Sima Jinchi on her own.


    The two women were dealing with the two Titled Douluos, so Yue Zhengyu was naturally left to face Tang Wulin.


    Yue Zhengyu had suffered the most from the jarring effect of his attack failing to strike Tang Wulin, and now that Tang Wulin was rushing toward him, he immediately sent a pillar of Light of Judgment crashing down upon him.


    As Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Tyrant Body absorbed the energy from the Light of Judgment, his Golden Dragon Spear was thrust forward like lightning, and it was none other than the first spear technique that Old Tang had taught him: Fury of the Masses!


    Countless spear projections erupted forth before converging and hurtling toward Yue Zhengyu.


    Yue Zhengyu''s swordsmanship was far inferior to that of Ye Xinglan as his forte lay in his light-attribute powers.


    As such, in the face of the Fury of the Masses unleashed by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, his holy sword immediately began to struggle to keep up. He was being enhanced by the 12-winged angel behind him and his suit of two-word battle armor, but Tang Wulin was also being bolstered by his Devouring Heaven and Earth and Golden Dragon King powers, and Yue Zhengyu had been forced firmly onto the back foot. He was about to stumble back into Ye Xinglan at any moment now, and even though Tang Wulin''s attacks appeared to be quite ferocious, he wasn''t actually using his full power.


    Xie Xie''s disappearance was very abnormal, especially because he still hadn''t attacked yet. He was very opportunistic in battle and could appear at any moment. Furthermore, Xu Xiaoyan had also remained inactive for a long while, ever since she had unleashed her Starwheel Shackle and Absolute Star Barrier. With her current powers as a seven-ring Soul Sage, that was also quite bizarre. However, due to the smokescreen created by Yue Zhengyu''s wings and the violent energy surging through the air, Tang Wulin had no idea what Xu Xiaoyan was doing, which was why he was feeling quite wary.


    It could be said that Tang Wulin''s trio had already gained a considerable advantage in this battle. This was technically a three on six battle, but in reality, only four of Shrek''s Six Monsters possessed powerful offensive prowess; the remaining two consisted of a control system Soul Master and a food system Soul Master, neither of whom could directly participate in the battle.


    Hence, as soon as one of A''Ruheng or Sima Jinchi defeated their opponent, this battle was as good as over.


    However, Tang Wulin knew his friends very well, and even though the tactics he''d employed at the beginning of the battle had led to this situation, they shouldn''t be this easy to overwhelm. All of them had improved significantly during their respective military stints, and from the first battle, it was quite apparent that they still had great teamwork and synergy.


    Hence, as he was dominating Yue Zhengyu, he was also waiting for Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie to strike. If one of them were to be thwarted by him, then the battle really was as good as over.


    Yue Zhengyu was truly pulling out all the stops to oppose the Fury of the Masses. His holy sword was flashing violently, and in the face of the insanely sharp Golden Dragon Spear, he felt as if his sword were about to shatter at any moment.


    He really was extremely powerful! If he had unleashed such a fearsome assault from the outset of their one on one sparring match, he may not even have been able to unleash his Holy Fusion Technique. However, he was confident that they would be able to secure the final victory!


    "Hehe!"


    A faint chuckle suddenly sounded beside Tang Wulin''s ears, and he immediately swung his right arm through the air without any hesitation.


    His Golden Dragon Spear was transferred into his left hand, and he used his Fury of the Masses again, completely encompassing Yue Zhengyu within his attack. Even if Xu Xiaoyan were to unleash her control abilities now, there still wouldn''t be many holes in his defense for Yue Zhengyu to exploit.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s right hand transformed into his Golden Dragon Dreadclaws.


    To put it more accurately, this attack was his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws! He was waiting for Xie Xie to strike, and that chuckle had come from none other than Xie Xie.


    In that instant, he was able to clearly gauge Xie Xie''s location through his spiritual power, but as soon as he swept his claws through the air, the surrounding space instantly twisted and warped violently.


    The light in the surrounding area also dimmed, and the drill ground vanished, only to be replaced by a starry sky.


    Tang Wulin''s pupils abruptly contracted, and his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws naturally fell upon nothing. Within this boundless space, no matter how fearsome his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws, there was no way he could unleash their full power.


    What was going on?


    After a brief moment of surprise, Tang Wulin was immediately struck by an immense sense of pressure.


    In the next instant, he was able to answer his own question; this was a domain!


    Not long ago, he had personally experienced Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue''s domain, and the space that he was currently in was very similar in nature to a domain!


    He finally understood why Xu Xiaoyan had remained inactive after unleashing two of her soul skills; she was biding her time to prepare a trump card! This domain was very likely her martial soul true body, but she most likely required some time before she could unleash it, and everyone else''s job was simply to buy her the time that she needed.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin understood everything, and he was immediately filled with elation.


    Even though he was currently falling victim to this insanely powerful control ability, it was most definitely going to be an extremely valuable asset when they faced other enemies in real battles in the future. What he was facing now was something that their collective enemies were going to have to face in the future! How could he not be elated by this thought?


    Right at this moment, a burst of mountainous pressure suddenly appeared off to the side before crashing directly toward him.


    Yuanen Yehui seemed to have emerged out of a star and was unleashing a barrage of Divine Cloudvortex Fists toward him.


    It was most likely the case that Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng had been disoriented by this domain, so Shrek''s Six Monsters were taking this opportunity to attack him.


    Tang Wulin instantly realized what his friends'' tactics were, and a wry smile appeared on his face. They really were giving him a lot of special care! Even at a time like this, they were determined to eliminate him first.


    Despite the dire situation that he had been plunged into, it was at times like this that Tang Wulin''s strong willpower really shone through.


    He took a deep breath before thrusting his Golden Dragon Spear forward, and a piercing spear projection flashed as it opposed the Divine Cloudvortex Fists.


    At the same time, a burst of devastating sword intent descended from above like a shooting star; it was none other than Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword.


    Tang Wulin flicked his left wrist, and the Divine Atlas Spear appeared in his grasp, radiating powerful spear intent. With his immense strength, he was able to withstand Ye Xinglan''s attack, but she had already attained a very high level of mastery over her sword soul, so it was attacking not just his body, but also his mind.


    The combination attacks unleashed by Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui were giving Tang Wulin quite a hard time. If this were a fair battle, then Tang Wulin wouldn''t be having much trouble in this situation.


    However, his friends had all donned their suits of two-word battle armor, but he was unable to release his own suit of battle armor, so he was naturally at a huge disadvantage.


    "Haha! Let''s see how you dig yourself out of this hole, Boss!" Yue Zhengyu descended from the sky, and a dazzling pillar of Light of Judgment crashed heavily down onto his body.


    Tang Wulin had a way to nullify this Light of Judgment, but he still found it to be a very annoying attack, simply because there was no way to evade these light-speed attacks!


    He could only take the attacks head-on, but doing so would inevitably require expenditure of soul power.

 Chapter 1210: Embark on the Path of Regal Domination!

    He was forced to use his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body again, but thankfully, he was able to absorb energy through his Devouring Heaven and Earth. Thus, even though Tang Wulin was being forced back by his three friends, he was able to just barely withstand their attacks.


    During this brief clash, he had also formed a series of judgments. The first thing that he could be sure of was that after unleashing this domain-like soul skill, Xu Xiaoyan was unable to exert further control, so he still had a chance.


    Secondly, A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had most likely completely lost their way, and he had no idea where they were. This was the main issue; without any allies, he had no chance against his friends, all of whom had donned their suits of battle armor!


    However, there was nothing he could do before he broke through this domain.


    Tang Wulin was confident that even in her martial soul true body form and the assistance from Xu Lizhi''s steamed buns, Xu Xiaoyan shouldn''t be able to maintain this domain for too long. After all, this was a domain that had befuddled two Titled Douluos, and Xu Xiaoyan was still only a Soul Sage.


    Even so, Tang Wulin was still very happy for her. She already possessed such a powerful soul skill at her current cultivation rank; how formidable would her domain become once she became a Titled Douluo?


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and even though he was having a very hard time, he was in a very good mood. It was exactly due to the arduous situation that he was in that his latent potential had completely been brought to the fore. His dragon core was beating violently, and his heart was beating to the exact same rhythm.


    There was no way that Tang Wulin''s soul power could exceed that of his three opponents, but in terms of strength, even the three of them combined were no match for him. In this situation, his insane strength played an extremely important role, and that, in conjunction with his understanding of his spear soul, allowed him to just barely withstand everyone''s ferocious attacks while wielding his dual spears.


    He still had trump cards up his sleeve, including his two other soul spirits. The Tyrant Dragon and Goldsong could keep everyone occupied for some time, and what he had to do now was stall as much as possible. Once the domain faded, Xu Xiaoyan would undoubtedly be severely debilitated, and when that time came, the victory would still belong to them.


    However, right at this moment, a bone-chilling aura suddenly appeared behind him, and Xie Xie''s voice rang out again.


    "Have a taste of the power of the Space Time Dragon!"


    A sharp and illusionary burst of power tore through Tang Wulin''s dragon''s repulse again, and much to his surprise, he discovered that Xie Xie''s attack was completely different compared to before. Even his dragon''s repulse had been affected by spatial fluctuations, but he couldn''t sense any spatial elements emanating from Xie Xie''s body.


    What kind of ability was this?


    Even though he had been progressing rapidly of late, he was still struggling in this one on four battle.


    One had to realize that these weren''t just any four opponents; they were four of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters! No matter how powerful Tang Wulin was, it was inevitable that he would struggle to keep up against four opponents of this caliber.


    "Boom!" His dragon''s repulse surged forth along with the power of his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion in an attempt to force Xie Xie''s attack away, and the sharp aura did indeed falter momentarily, but it was only for an instant before it continued to penetrate.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had always had brilliant teamwork, and Xie Xie wasn''t speaking as he unleashed his sneak attack against Tang Wulin just to gloat. Instead, he was giving his friends a verbal signal, so right as he attacked, Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, and Yue Zhengyu also sprang into action in unison.


    Brilliant starlight erupted from Ye Xinglan''s body, and the specks of light on her Star Wisdom battle armor linked up with one another. In that instant, it was as if she had transformed into a primordial divine sword and was slashing toward Tang Wulin with unrivaled power.


    This was her seventh soul skill, Stargod Sword True Body!


    At the same time, Yuanen Yehui''s body swelled drastically in size as she fully adopted her beast form. Her fists lashed out in rapid succession, and one giant vortex after another erupted forth to encompass Tang Wulin''s body.


    This was also her seventh soul skill, Titan Giant Ape True Body.


    Meanwhile, the 12-winged angel projection behind Yue Zhengyu abruptly became clearer, and his seventh soul ring lit up. The four pairs of wings on his back expanded and elongated in unison, and his entire body seemed to have been coated in gold.


    Seventh soul skill, Holy Angel True Body!


    The three assault system Soul Masters had unveiled their martial soul true bodies in unison, to attack Tang Wulin from the front, and their sole objective was to keep him from being able to deal with Xie Xie''s attack from behind.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Xie Xie was supposed to deliver the decisive blow.


    Xu Xiaoyan had used her powerful domain ability to control the battlefield and temporarily rid A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi of the ability to help Tang Wulin, following which all of Shrek''s Six Monsters pooled together their powers to take him out first.


    Tang Wulin was the weakest of the trio in terms of cultivation rank, but Shrek''s Six Monsters were all his closest friends, and they were more than aware of what he was capable of. He was a man who regularly created miracles and made the impossible possible.


    Hence, they had to take him out first before dealing with the other two; that was the strategy that the six monsters had decided on from the very beginning, and it appeared that this strategy was about to bear fruit.


    Tang Wulin wore an expression of fury and indignation on his face. Did they really have to go this far? They were all wearing suits of two-word battle armor, and they were ganging up on him four on one; this was way too unfair!


    Even with all of his powers and abilities, he was struck by a sense of powerlessness, and the last time he had felt this level of pressure was when he had faced Bear Lord.


    However, just as his friends had predicted, the more pressure that was exerted on Tang Wulin, the more of his latent potential he would be able to draw upon.


    On this occasion, he didn''t use his Golden Silver Impaling Array. In the face of his friends, who had all unleashed their martial soul true bodies and donned their suits of two-word battle armor, he unleashed his most powerful abilities without any hesitation.


    A loud dragon''s roar erupted from his body, and his seventh soul ring lit up as he released his Blue Emperor True Body!


    Countless vines erupted from his body in a frenzy, and each vine was like a giant dragon that was sweeping toward his four oncoming friends.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the Bluesilver Emperor vines surging toward Xie Xie were constantly being snapped and broken. However, he also knew that this was unavoidable, so he managed to constantly remain calm and collected.


    Through the fusion of his Bluesilver Emperor and Golden Dragon King bloodline, he was retaliating and assessing the powers of his friends.


    The most fearsome aspect of one''s martial soul true body was its ability to enhance the power of all of their soul skills. As such, the six monsters weren''t in their most powerful forms after adopting their martial soul true bodies; they were at their most powerful when they unleashed their other soul skills through their martial soul true bodies.


    This was exemplified by how Yue Zhengyu''s Holy Fusion Technique had once destroyed Tang Wulin''s Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    As such, as soon as Tang Wulin adopted his Blue Emperor True Body form, brilliant golden light radiated forth, and he pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward as an unrivaled aura of dominance that threatened to conquer the entire world abruptly erupted from his body.


    Path of Regal Domination!


    Golden light erupted forth and extended forward with Yuanen Yehui right in its path.


    The vortexes formed by her Divine Cloudvortex Fists were all vanquished by the Path of Regal Domination, and the golden light hurtled directly toward her massive body at an incredible speed.


    All Soul Sages possessed extremely powerful abilities and sensory skills, and Yuanen Yehui was no exception to this.


    She was immediately able to sense the huge threat that the golden light posed to her, and her heart jolted with shock as she took evasive measures. Her instantaneous judgment was that there was no better way for her to deal with this attack than to evade it, so she could only try to attack Tang Wulin from the side.


    Xie Xie''s attack finally struck Tang Wulin from behind, but in that instant, he felt as if he had struck a golden illusion.

 Chapter 1211: The Six Monsters Trump Card

    Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword True Body also struck the golden light, but it was as if she had struck a furnace, and the spiritual shock she was struck by instantly made her sword soul recoil.


    Yue Zhengyu''s attack was also repelled, and in the blink of an eye, Tang Wulin''s Path of Regal Domination had stretched for over 100 meters.


    The Path of Regal Domination was imbued with unstoppable might!


    This was a perfect integration of his essence, energy, and spirit, as well as a culmination of all of his abilities.


    Not only did this produce enormous offensive power, it was also the perfect skill for him to get out of a sticky situation.


    Tang Wulin didn''t stop there. As his Path of Regal Domination stretched onward, his body suddenly became as fearsome as a black hole, and in that instant, his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power was elevated to its very maximal extent. The huge Beautiful Silk Tulip appeared behind him again, allowing him to absorb all of the energy around him in a frenzy.


    With the sensory ability of his spiritual power and the effect of his Devouring Heaven and Earth, he was able to draw upon some natural energies even though he was still inside Xu Xiaoyan''s domain.


    Immediately thereafter, the Divine Atlas Spear in his left hand was hurled through the air, not toward his friends, but simply toward the very air itself.


    All or Nothing!


    This was the other technique that Tang Wulin had invented alongside his Path of Regal Domination.


    In the same instant that the Divine Atlas Spear was hurled forth, dazzling white light erupted from the spear. The scorching white light was just like the final radiance that Atlas Douluo Yun Ming had released when nullifying the explosion of the Godslayer missile, and it was filled with an air of peerless might.


    A series of antiquated silver runes appeared along the spear, and a boundless aura erupted as the runes shimmered and flashed. All of Shrek''s Six Monsters felt as if they could see the handsome and mighty figure who had once protected them and unleashed that peerless spear strike.


    "Rumble!"


    The domain tremored, and all of the surrounding stars were snuffed out by the devastating spear strike.


    Everything instantly shattered and crumbled away, and as the domain fell apart, the outside world was revealed again.


    They were still on the drill ground, but under the influence of the domain, A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had already rushed into the distance on two different sides of the drill ground. Not only that, but there was a beam of starlight shimmering above each of their heads, constantly raining rays of light down upon them. Not only was this starlight encroaching upon their bodies, it was also slowing down their movements, making them look as if they were moving in slow motion.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin himself was still being surrounded by Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    Xu Xiaoyan let loose a muffled groan as her legs gave out from under her, and she sat onto the ground. Her face was quite pale, and her seventh soul ring had dimmed significantly, clearly indicating that the destruction of her domain had also affected her physical condition.


    Only after Xu Xiaoyan had collapsed onto the ground did the starlight above A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi''s heads fade away, following which the two of them immediately turned and rushed toward Tang Wulin as quickly as they could.


    This was way too embarrassing! The two of them were Titled Douluos, and even though they weren''t using their suits of battle armor, it was still simply incredible that they had been bamboozled to such an extent by the control system soul skill unleashed by a Soul Sage.


    Tang Wulin broke the domain with his spear strike and heaved a long sigh of relief. A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were only just over 100 meters away from him, so it would only take them an instant to arrive by his side. As such, all he had to do was withstand one more wave of attacks.


    He immediately activated his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and every single one of his scales became as smooth as mirrors. At the same time, he brandished his Golden Dragon Spear and unleashed a blood soul fusion skill version of his Fury of the Masses.


    Yue Zhengyu''s trio was still in their martial soul true body forms, but they had been affected by the destruction of the domain, and their attacks had clearly been delayed a little.


    Xie Xie''s body faded into an indistinct shadow as he pounced toward Tang Wulin like an imaginary giant dragon.


    "Roar!" Tang Wulin''s dragon''s might erupted forth alongside his Golden Dragon Roar.


    Even though Xie Xie''s abilities posed quite a threat to Tang Wulin, it had been proven in the past that his Golden Dragon King bloodline had a suppressive effect on all dragon-type martial souls.


    As soon as Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Roar rang out, the enormous pressure it created immediately forced Xie Xie to revert back to his original form amid a muffled groan.


    Tang Wulin''s dragon''s might was simply too powerful.


    Only then was Tang Wulin able to see that Xie Xie''s Dragon Night battle armor had been covered by a layer of scales that seemed to be both substantial and illusionary at the same time. It was impossible to tell what color these semi-circular scales were as the color seemed to be constantly transitioning, thereby presenting quite a peculiar sight to behold.


    He was forced to reveal himself by the intimidatory effect of the dragon''s might, but when Tang Wulin''s Fury of the Masses struck his body, it merely passed through him without being able to inflict any damage upon him.


    All of Tang Wulin''s friends were wearing their suits of battle armor, which granted them extremely powerful defensive prowess, so he naturally wasn''t going to be holding back in his attacks. Fury of the Masses was the spear technique that he was most familiar with, and he was unleashing it with all his might on the basis of his spear soul. On top of that, this was also a blood soul fusion skill, and all of his friends'' attacks were kept at bay by this spear strike.


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief, and his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body turned out to be an unnecessary precaution. The one-second mirror-surface effect disappeared, and he had finally dug himself out of the hole that he had been entrenched in.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had almost arrived on the scene, and Xu Xiaoyan''s domain had been broken, so her control abilities had to have been severely hampered as well. Once the three of them reunited, the victory was theirs.


    Just as Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi all thought that this match was as good as over, an unexpected wild card suddenly appeared.


    A hand silently imprinted itself onto Tang Wulin''s back, and it had appeared in a very abrupt manner. The hand was very chubby and innocuous, and resembled a large meat bun, but in the instant that it struck Tang Wulin''s body, he immediately stiffened, and his Fury of the Masses completely crumbled.


    His eyes were filled with shock and incredulity. Never did he think that he would be the one to turn the tide of the battle.


    Terrifying destructive energy surged into his body through his back, and even his Golden Dragon Body and dragon''s repulse were only able to filter out a small portion of this destructive energy.


    Tang Wulin had given everything he had to withstand the attacks of the four monsters. Regardless of whether it was his All or Nothing, Path of Regal Domination, the blood soul fusion skill version of his Fury of the Masses, or the Golden Dragon Tyrant Body that had just faded, every single one of those soul skills had been extremely taxing on him. If it weren''t for his insanely powerful physical constitution, his body would''ve given out on him already.


    Not only did the palm on his back arrive extremely abruptly, its timing was also perfect, striking him right when he had relaxed, which was also when he was at his most vulnerable.


    "Roar!" The dragon''s roar erupting from Tang Wulin''s mouth immediately took an anguished turn, and his dragon core, heart, and soul core all began to thump violently. He forcibly activated his fifth Golden Dragon King soul skill, and his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion erupted forth as his body began to tremble violently.


    However, the destructive energy being injected into his body also became more intense, and he was sent flying directly toward Yuanen Yehui amid a loud boom.


    Both A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had shocked expressions on their faces. From their perspective, Tang Wulin''s entire body was flashing with purple light, and even his Golden Dragon King scales had become completely dull and lusterless.


    Right at the spot where Tang Wulin had been standing a moment ago, there now stood an innocuous and harmless-looking fatso.


    His battle armor was shimmering with gentle white light, and a ball of dark purple light was shimmering over his extended palm.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this dark purple light was what had wounded Tang Wulin.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s entire body was completely numb, and he felt as if his Gold Dragon Body were about to crumble away at any moment. His soul power and bloodline power were both in tatters from the influx of destructive energy, making him unable to gather and muster up any power.


    However, the destructive energy only condensed in his back, and even though it was affecting him quite significantly, it didn''t actually erupt, so it was clear that Xu Lizhi was already holding back.


    Smiles appeared on the faces of Yue Zhengyu, Xie Xie, Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, and even Xu Xiaoyan, who was sitting on the ground.


    They knew Tang Wulin far too well, so they were aware that not only did he possess insane combat prowess, his battle intent was also unmatched. With the combined powers of all six of them, they could still defeat him despite his resilience, but they definitely wouldn''t be able to do so in a short time.


    The strategy they had devised from the very beginning was to target Tang Wulin and take him out first, but they weren''t sure of just how much Tang Wulin had developed after such a long separation.


    Yue Zhengyu had described the attack that Tang Wulin had unleashed on Elder Long in detail to everyone, and that was when they had devised this extremely complex strategy.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t the only one who had studied on the demonic island; they had also suffered through that nightmarish ordeal, and it certainly hadn''t been all for nothing.

 Chapter 1212: Xu Lizhis Steamer

    Under these circumstances, they knew that if they wanted to defeat Tang Wulin, they had to devise a plan that would be completely unexpected to him.


    As such, this plan had actually already been set into motion from the first loss suffered by the six monsters. Not only had they done everything to target Tang Wulin, they were also misleading and manipulating him.


    The most important aspect of the plan was that everything leading up to this point was real. If the initial stages of the plan were enough to spell Tang Wulin''s defeat, then they wouldn''t have to progress to the later stages. Throughout this entire plan, they had been intentionally making one person seem more innocuous, and that person was the most forgettable member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters to begin with.


    Aside from providing the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns to everyone at the start of the battle, he had remained completely inactive and done everything in his power to make himself appear more inconspicuous, all to prepare for this opportunity!


    As such, the trump card of the six monsters wasn''t actually Xie Xie, who was hidden in space. Instead, it was the "harmless" Xu Lizhi who had constantly been lurking in the shadows!


    Right when Tang Wulin thought he had withstood everyone''s attacks, Xu Lizhi finally struck, and he had timed his attack perfectly, allowing him to strike Tang Wulin''s back right when he was at his most vulnerable to deal him a heavy blow.


    Not only was this plan extremely well-thought-out, every single part of it was interconnected.


    Ye Xinglan had released the brightest light she was capable of to attract the attention of Tang Wulin''s trio, and everyone else had also fought with all of their power. Everything they had done had contributed to creating a smokescreen to mask Xu Lizhi''s final attack, and as expected, it was a resounding success.


    However, the battle still wasn''t over yet; there were still A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi who had to be dealt with. Even so, everyone was greatly relieved to have taken care of the major threat that was Tang Wulin. In their eyes, without Tang Wulin, A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had lost their leader and guiding force.


    Elder Long had been spectating this battle the entire time, and even Xu Xiaoyan''s domain had been unable to obstruct her vision. As such, her smile widened even further when she saw that it was none other than Xu Lizhi who had delivered the final blow and sent Tang Wulin flying through that injection of destructive energy.


    These kids were truly forces to be reckoned with! Their powers and strategic acumen truly made them worthy of their title as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Compared to the first match, she was extremely pleased with this second match. Tang Wulin had been progressing far too quickly, so this defeat wasn''t necessarily a bad thing for him. Furthermore, he had suffered this defeat at the hands of his friends, which was certainly better than suffering such a setback in an actual battle against enemies.


    The process seemed to have been quite a lengthy one, but everything had actually taken place in the blink of an eye.


    Through their actions, Shrek''s Six Monsters had proven just how high a regard they held Tang Wulin in. Despite the fact that Tang Wulin had been sent flying by Xu Lizhi''s destructive power, Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, Yuanen Yehui, and Ye Xinglan still immediately flew after him. They had to make sure that he was truly eliminated from this battle.


    As such, the only ones standing against A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan, the latter of which was still sitting on the ground as a completely spent force.


    Were they sacrificing the two of them to ensure Tang Wulin''s elimination? If that were the case, would the four of them be enough to defeat the two Titled Douluos?


    Long Yeyue''s heart stirred slightly, and she could sense that the situation wasn''t as simple as it seemed. As such, she was even more eager to find out what their plan was, and the answer was quickly provided to her by Xu Lizhi!


    His rotund buddy shuddered, and his seventh soul ring suddenly expanded. At the same time, his portly body seemed to cave in on itself and transformed into a massive...


    Steamer!


    That''s right, it was a steamer; an enormous one, at that. Even this steamer was looking rather chubby, just like Xu Lizhi in his human form.


    There was a lid on the steamer, but the lid was constantly rattling as if there were steam trying to force its way out of the steamer. A huge white steamed bun flew out of the bottom of the steamer first before landing in Xu Xiaoyan''s hand.


    Xu Xiaoyan immediately bit into the steamed bun without any hesitation, and a warm burst of energy flowed throughout her body to somewhat alleviate her overexerted state.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi couldn''t help but falter slightly at the sight of Xu Lizhi''s martial soul true body.


    What the hell was this? A steamer? Was this steamer his martial soul true body?


    The first feeling that A''Ruheng was struck by was one of... hunger...


    Meanwhile, Sima Jinchi''s lips twitched, and he didn''t know what to make of this.


    Who could¡¯ve thought that a steamer martial soul true body could possibly exist. But then again, Xu Lizhi''s martial soul was steamed buns, so it wasn''t entirely implausible for him to attain a steamer true body.


    But what was he trying to do? Was he still trying to assist his friends with his steamed buns at a time like this?


    A''Ruheng strode forward first and swept a palm directly toward the massive steamer.


    However, right at this moment, the sixth soul ring revolving around the steamer suddenly lit up, and another steamed bun flew out of the steamer, hurtling directly toward A''Ruheng.


    A''Ruheng immediately burst into laughter. Could this kid read his mind? How did he know that he was hungry?


    Is he trying to stall me by feeding me this steamed bun? What a joke! Would I be so gluttonous as to let my appetite get in the way of a battle?


    The answer to that question was... yes!


    He could eat while he fought, and in any case, Tang Wulin appeared to be beyond saving anyway.


    Thus, the palm continued to sweep toward the steamer while his other hand reached out to grab the steamed bun.


    However, upon closer inspection, A''Ruheng was rather taken aback. This steamed bun didn''t look very appetizing! There was nothing wrong with its shape and form, but why was it purplish-black in color? What kind of steamed bun was this? Could this be some kind of steamed bun made with fruit-juice-infused dough?


    Just as these questions appeared in his mind, a burst of violent energy fluctuations suddenly erupted from the steamed bun.


    "Crap!"


    A''Ruheng was greatly alarmed by this, yet before he had a chance to do anything, the purplish-black steamed bun exploded!


    "Boom!"


    The violent explosion shook the entire drill ground, and the detonated steamed bun instantly transformed into a purplish-black ball. However, this ball of light merely hovered on the spot without exploding. The eruption of destructive energy was far too abrupt, and A''Ruheng was sent flying by the explosion. With the defensive prowess of his congenital secret method, he naturally hadn''t been injured by this attack, but he was still astonished by the explosive power. In particular, the destructive energy released by the explosion was infiltrating his body in a frenzy before destroying his soul power and bodily structures.


    What the hell was going on? What kind of steamed bun was this?


    This was Xu Lizhi''s seventh soul skill, Steamer True Body, in conjunction with his sixth soul skill, Destructive Explosive Bun!


    It was the first time that Xu Lizhi had displayed his two new soul skills, and everyone was stunned by his power.


    There had always been a saying in the Soul Master world, which stated that the most fearsome Soul Masters were those with unknown soul skills, and Xu Lizhi was a perfect example of this!


    However, that wasn''t the end of his performance. After the first Destructive Explosive Bun was detonated, more of them began to fly out of the steamer in a relentless stream before hurtling directly toward A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    With the enhancements provided by his martial soul true body, his Destructive Explosive Buns were truly terrifying. As it turned out, the other four monsters hadn''t abandoned them; they were simply confident that Xu Lizhi alone would be powerful enough to hold back A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi for now!


    Even the extremely prideful A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi couldn''t help but in awe of their calculation and teamwork.


    Just as they were being held off by Xu Lizhi, the other four monsters had already reached Tang Wulin.


    "Haha, I''m going to enjoy beating you, Boss!" Xie Xie chortled as he reached out to grab Tang Wulin. As long as they could control him, he would essentially be eliminated from the match.


    Tang Wulin still had the destructive energy from Xu Lizhi implanted within his body, and even though some of it had been nullified by his dragon''s repulse and Golden Dragon Body, the rest had managed to take root within his body. The destructive energy could be detonated at any moment by Xu Lizhi, so no matter how they looked at it, this battle was already over.

 Chapter 1213: Tang Wulins Trump Card

    After eliminating Tang Wulin, everyone could combine their powers to face A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi. Xu Lizhi''s Steamer True Body would be able to churn out more steamed buns to enhance everyone''s powers, and once Xu Xiaoyan also recovered her ability to battle, it would only be a matter of time before they took down A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    Everything was progressing according to plan.


    "Bam!"


    However, something that came as quite a surprise to them suddenly took place.


    Right as Xie Xie''s hand was about to reach Tang Wulin, golden light flashed, and a thick vine abruptly swatted his hand aside. The golden "vine" wound itself around Tang Wulin''s waist before abruptly sending him flying through the air.


    "Goldsong? What''s the point, Boss? You''re just prolonging your suffering!" Xie Xie appraised Tang Wulin with a surprised expression. He didn''t think that Tang Wulin would still be unwilling to give up.


    However, the other three monsters certainly weren''t just standing around. Tang Wulin had created far too many miracles in the past for them to simply take their victory for granted.


    As such, all three of them immediately flapped their wings to pursue Tang Wulin.


    Yue Zhengyu was flying the fastest of all. He possessed flight abilities to begin within, and as he flew toward Tang Wulin, he unleashed a pillar of Light of Judgment that crashed down from above.


    An enormous figure abruptly appeared in front of Tang Wulin, and the massive Tyrant Dragon shielded him from the Light of Judgment while also acting as a makeshift wall.


    At this moment, a speck of green light appeared on Tang Wulin''s forehead, and extremely pure life force energy abruptly spread through his entire body, quickly dispelling the destructive energy that Xu Lizhi had injected into his body.


    Xu Lizhi could sense that his destructive energy was being nullified, and he immediately detonated it. As expected, he really couldn''t afford to hold back against Tang Wulin!


    "Bam!" A dull thump rang out from within Tang Wulin''s body, and wisps of green and purple energy rose up around him as his face paled slightly, indicating that he hadn''t been able to remain completely unscathed while dispelling that destructive energy.


    However, right at this moment, a faint smile appeared on his face, and his voice reached everyone''s ears.


    "Seeing as you''ve shown me your trump card, it''s time for me to show you mine!"


    What?


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were all shocked to hear this. Tang Wulin''s voice was far too calm and collected; this wasn''t the voice of a man who had been severely wounded and was in such a dire situation!


    He still had trump cards? Could it be that he had predicted everyone''s plan?


    Elder Long was also quite astonished. She couldn''t think of any way that Tang Wulin could possibly turn the tables in this situation.


    Right at this moment, Sima Jinchi''s ninth soul ring lit up, and he rose up into the air as a streak of golden light.


    Thunderous dragon''s roars rang out across the entire drill ground, and everyone was struck by the feeling that they had entered a lair that was filled with giant dragons.


    The dragon''s roars were filled with emotions of reverence and subordination, and Xie Xie fell straight out of the sky.


    Even the almighty Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue''s expression changed drastically in the face of these dragon''s roars, and she stumbled back several steps in quick succession before hurriedly circulating her own soul power to steady herself.


    Elder Long and Xie Xie displayed the most prominent reactions while everyone else fared slightly better, but their bloodlines were still churning in response to these thunderous roars, and they felt as if their auras were being completely dominated.


    A layer of golden light proliferated from Tang Wulin''s body. This wasn''t his dragon''s repulse. Instead, it was an aura that was imbued with peerless might.


    A rainbow projection then appeared behind him, and the seven-colored projection was only around 10 meters tall, but in everyone''s eyes, it was as if it were a pillar that stood between heaven and earth. It was as if the entire world were under the control of this almighty figure.


    The golden soul rings around Tang Wulin vanished into the rainbow figure, upon which it instantly became clearer and took on the appearance of Tang Wulin.


    He wore a lavish rainbow robe with a dragon crown on his head, and his entire body was radiating an aura of unmatched power. Upon closer inspection, one could see that his robes were filled with embroidered images of giant rainbow dragons and that was where the rainbow light was stemming from.


    The rainbow bracelet Tang Wulin was wearing also began to radiate faint light, resonating with the radiance of his lavish rainbow robes.


    A deep and authoritative voice rang out. "Come, my blade!"


    Sima Jinchi''s body had already transformed into the massive Dragonslaying Saber at this point, and its original rugged appearance had become extremely lavish and grandiose. It was also radiating rainbow light, and there were anguished wails from countless giant dragons erupting from the blade of the saber.


    This was the law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan!


    All of Shrek''s Six Monsters were completely rooted to the spot. The aura emanating from Tang Wulin''s body wasn''t even on the same level as theirs anymore.


    Good heavens! Was this a soul fusion skill between Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi? If that were the case, then why did it feel different from normal soul fusion skills?


    The rainbow blade was gently swept through the air, and a rainbow saber projection surged forth with its flat side facing outward, as opposed to its sharp blade.


    "Bam, bam, bam!" Three muffled thumps rang out in unison, and Yue Zhengyu, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui were all sent flying like cannonballs by the rainbow saber projection before slamming heavily onto the protective barrier in the distance.


    The rainbow figure descended from the heavens, and he seemed to possess a substantial form, but at the same time, he also seemed to be constantly warping as if he were about to ascend beyond this space.


    Long Yeyue''s eyes had become particularly bright, and she was staring intently at Tang Wulin. This was clearly the aura of a god!


    She had reached the demigod level long ago, and she could clearly sense an aura from Tang Wulin that only existed in a god. It was a very feeble aura that didn''t make him an actual god, but this aura was still far beyond anything she could muster up. Just from the caliber of the aura alone, it felt as if Tang Wulin had become a true god.


    The rainbow figure split apart amid a flash of light, and Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi were revealed again.


    Sima Jinchi didn''t appear to have suffered any consequence from that transformation, but Tang Wulin''s face was completely pale, and he seemed to be barely able to remain on his feet.


    He was only a Soul Sage, yet he had just been struck by Xu Lizhi''s palm, then unleashed his soul fusion skill with Sima Jinchi. Fusing with the Titled Douluo level Dragonslaying Saber had instantly exhausted all of his remaining soul power, and he was only able to remain upright with Sima Jinchi''s assistance.


    "Tang Wulin''s team wins."


    Without the oppressive pressure from the Dragonslaying Saber, even Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue heaved a sigh of relief, and her expression had changed significantly as she looked at Tang Wulin.


    As expected of the blessed child of the plane; could it be that the aura he had just radiated was related to the Dragon God?


    Xie Xie, Yuanen Yehui, and Yue Zhengyu, and Ye Xinglan got up one after another, and their complexions weren''t looking much better than Tang Wulin''s. In the face of the Dragonslaying Saber, their soul power had almost completely disintegrated, and if Tang Wulin had attacked them with the blade of the saber, they would have instantly been sliced in half.


    Their trump card had failed to overcome Tang Wulin''s trump card in the end, and they were left feeling very frustrated and dejected.


    "Did you already figure out our plan from the beginning, Boss?" Xie Xie couldn''t help but ask.


    Tang Wulin replied. "Kind of. You guys were making too much of an effort to conceal Lizhi, so I developed an inkling that he was preparing something very early on. However, Xiaoyan''s domain was too powerful, and I simply thought that Lizhi had been constantly assisting her, which was why I was still struck by that palm in the end, so your plan was actually a success."

 Chapter 1214: Still Beyond Reach

    "However, I ignored Lizhi as I knew that even if he''s developed some kind of new ability, it''s most likely related to destructive energy, but I have something within my body that can counteract destructive energy. Hence, I intentionally left a hole in my defense for you to exploit. In reality, there was no way for you to win this battle ever since the outset, but even I didn''t think that you''d be able to force me to this extent."


    That''s right, the fact that he had brought Sima Jinchi here meant that there was no way Shrek''s Six Monsters could''ve secured victory. Sima Jinchi''s ninth soul skill allowed him to transform into the true law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan and display its power. Even though he was only able to unleash a very small amount of the Dragonslaying Saber''s power, it was already enough against the six monsters.


    Tang Wulin''s trump card was simply too powerful, to the extent that he could''ve ended the battle at any moment. This was the difference between the two sides, and Shrek''s Six Monsters never had a chance to begin with.


    A look of grief and indignation appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. "So you were still out of reach from the very beginning! I won''t accept this! You have to fight us one on six!"


    "Where''s your humility?" Tang Wulin glared at him, but his eyes were filled with elation.


    His friends had developed far more than he imagined, and he was sure that everyone had also held back during that battle.


    The six monsters had to hold back as they still had to deal with Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng. For example, Yue Zhengyu hadn''t used his Holy Fusion Technique, and he was sure that Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui would''ve also had other trump cards up their sleeves.


    However, the one who had surprised him the most was Xu Xiaoyan. Xu Xiaoyan had displayed her control abilities to near-perfection during that battle.


    Thankfully, he had many types of abilities that could bolster his defenses, including his dragon''s repulse, Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and Golden Dragon Body, while A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi also possessed powerful defensive prowess. Otherwise, just a single barrage of attacks from Shrek''s Six Monsters could''ve potentially eliminated one of them.


    At the same time, this was a sparring match, after all, and no one wanted to truly hurt their opponents. Otherwise, the result of this match wouldn''t have been so clear-cut. Unless he was to use his trump card right away, it would be very difficult for his trio to defeat Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    Nothing made him happier than to see his friends grow, so Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with excitement.


    Long Yeyue was appraising Tang Wulin with a slightly peculiar look in her eyes while nodding internally in approval. She had initially planned to accompany Tang Wulin and the others on their trip to the two neighboring continents, but after witnessing that battle, she had already decided to let them spread their wings and fly freely on their own.


    If she were to constantly protect them, when would their feathers ever become fully-fledged?


    Once they became three-word battle armor masters, their powers would be enhanced once again, and it would be difficult to say what they would be capable of by then.


    If Tang Wulin had had access to his suit of two-word battle armor, he wouldn¡¯t have had such a hard time in that battle. It was just as Yue Zhengyu had said, he was still out of reach, after all.


    Tang Wulin had won the battle both in terms of power and in mind, so he was truly deserving of his title as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters'' leader.


    From here onward, it would only be a matter of time before he reached the lofty heights of the past Sea God''s Pavilion Masters. When that day arrived, she would truly be able to hand over the reins to him.


    What made Long Yeyue even more elated was the fact that she had sensed a sliver of an opportunity when Tang Wulin had wielded the Dragonslaying Saber. That inkling of an opportunity seemed to be able to help her in her quest to become a god.


    The Divine Realm could no longer be sensed in this world, but as a demigod, even the slightest improvement in her powers could extend her lifespan.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi arrived beside Tang Wulin, and looked at Tang Wulin''s friends. In their hearts, they had already fully acknowledged these young men and women.


    They couldn''t help but be in awe of how powerful they were at their age. Thinking back to when they were in their early twenties, they were nowhere near as powerful as the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters!


    The two of them were particularly intrigued by Xu Xiaoyan. They had been completely bamboozled by her control abilities earlier, and even though she had access to her suit of battle armor, she was still only a Soul Sage who didn''t yet possess her final two soul skills. Despite this, they were still struck by a sense of powerlessness in the face of her abilities. With such an extraordinary control system Soul Master among their ranks, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters virtually defied the natural order! Any Titled Douluo would have to think twice before engaging them in battle. After all, the existence of battle armor actually whittled down the gaps between high-grade Soul Masters.


    They were struggling to imagine just how powerful Shrek''s Seven Monsters would become once they all became Titled Douluos.


    They had thought that it would be impossible to revive Shrek Academy in this generation, but after witnessing the powers of Shrek''s Seven Monsters and the likes of Elder Long, it seemed that this wasn''t a completely impossible task, after all!


    "I''m going to cultivate," Ye Xinglan said before departing.


    Xu Lizhi still wore a bashful smile on his face, but he immediately departed behind Ye Xinglan without any hesitation.


    Xie Xie wore an expression of grief and indignation as he said, "I didn''t even use my full power during that match! If I hadn''t been afraid of hurting Boss, he may not have won in the end! My Space Time Dragon is super powerful!"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "How about a one on one match, then?"


    "No way! Yuanen, let''s go cultivate as well." He latched onto Yuanen Yehui''s hand as he spoke.


    Yuanen Yehui glared at him in a disgruntled manner but allowed him to hold her hand.


    Xu Xiaoyan let loose a cry of surprise as she was picked up from the ground in a princess carry position by Yue Zhengyu, who said, "We''re also going to cultivate, Boss. We''ll work hard to catch up to you, so you better work hard as well. By the way, when are you going to forge our suits of three-word battle armor? How about we repeat the three on six match next time, but we get to wear our suits of three-word battle armor while you still get nothing?"


    "Go away!"


    Tang Wulin looked on at his departing friends, who were clearly eager to process the fruits they reaped during this battle, and a surge of warmth flowed through his heart, but he also couldn''t help but feel a little dejected.


    All of them were with their lovers, but what about him? Where was the woman he loved?


    All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had benefited greatly from that battle, and the main benefit they had derived was that they had developed a clear understanding of how much their friends had improved.


    If it weren''t for Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi''s terrifying soul fusion skill, they may not have been able to defeat Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    Furthermore, this was also under the premise that the six monsters had all attained new abilities, and their teamwork hadn''t quite yet adapted to make the best use of those abilities.


    This was mainly exemplified by the assault system Soul Masters, Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, and Yue Zhengyu. Due to the improvements they had made, their offensive power and range had all increased. Hence, when they attacked together, they were constantly inadvertently getting in each other''s way, and that gave Tang Wulin an opportunity to withstand their attacks and strike back in retaliation.


    In order to remedy this issue, they had no choice but to attack one after another during the battle, which still created a torrential barrage of attacks, but they weren''t able to combine their attacks and use them to their full advantage. Otherwise, Tang Wulin definitely wouldn''t have been able to last so long against them.


    The biggest surprises to Tang Wulin were Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s control abilities were downright terrifying, and even A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had been wrapped around her finger. During the second match, the two of them had been largely useless. Otherwise, Tang Wulin''s trio should''ve had the clear upper hand in terms of overall power.


    On top of that, Xu Lizhi''s utilization of destructive energy, as well as his rather comical yet immensely powerful Steamer True Body had managed to hold off the two Titled Douluos, even though he was just a food system Soul Master, thereby creating an opportunity for his friends.


    Those Destructive Explosive Buns were truly unique, and they were akin to extremely powerful bombs.


    If it weren''t for the fact that the seed of life within Tang Wulin''s body was a direct counter to Xu Lizhi''s destructive energy, that palm to the back would''ve rendered Tang Wulin unable to participate in the rest of the battle.


    Furthermore, due to the fact that this was a sparring match between friends, Xu Lizhi had refrained from using his full power when unleashing that palm.


    After pondering the situation, Tang Wulin was able to roughly understand why Xu Xiaoyan and Xu Lizhi had undergone such drastic transformations. Back in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, they had consumed the Star Luo Spirit Bead, and the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb, respectively. Aside from the soul power enhancements those spirit plants had brought to them, their foundations and martial souls had most likely been vastly improved as well. After all, those were among the best spirit items this continent had to offer.


    Of course, while Tang Wulin was astonished by his friends'' powers, everyone was also stunned by how fearsome he had become.


    His blood soul fusion skills allowed him to withstand everyone''s attacks even without the use of his battle armor, and on top of that, he was able to control the entire battlefield with his dragon''s might and dragon''s repulse. During large chunks of the two matches that had just taken place, he had essentially been fighting a one on six battle! Even so, he was able to hold his own while being at a battle armor disadvantage, and that was truly astounding to the six monsters.

 Chapter 1215: Arriving at Skysea City

    It was undoubtedly the case that following their return from the military, all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had matured significantly, both mentally, as well as in terms of their abilities. Even Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue had to praise the overall power of their group.


    In her eyes, perhaps not all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters would become Limit Douluos, but they definitely all had the potential to become four-word battle armor masters.


    If Shrek Academy could have seven four-word battle armor masters among their ranks in the future, then its resurgence was all but assured.


    The secret rebuild project of Shrek Academy entered a quiet period of inactivity during the coming days.


    Wu Siduo and the others had already set off for the demonic island with Wu Zhangkong in accompaniment, and Tang Wulin and the others could only express sympathy toward them.


    Some of the inner court disciples had also traveled to the demonic island as part of their group, and the demonic island was definitely going to be a lively and bustling place for a long time to come.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin and his friends were also making preparations.


    Amorous Douluo Zang Xin had disappeared for a long time, and no one knew what he was up to. All of Shrek Academy''s inner and outer court disciples were working hard in their cultivation every day, and in Wu Zhangkong''s absence, the duty of instructing the outer court disciples fell upon Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng. The Tang Sect''s resources were also sent to the Sea God''s Lake sanctuary through various different avenues, and it had been decided by Tang Wulin and Elder Long that only the disciples who satisfied the conditions to become inner court disciples would be sent over to the Tang Sect headquarters.


    These were necessary arrangements as the rebuilding process for Shrek Academy had only just begun, so they had to keep everything as confidential as possible in order to avoid unnecessary trouble.


    The seven monsters also began their combat training together, but their opponents weren''t A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi; it was Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue instead.


    This made the seven monsters feel as if they had returned to the demonic island. Only by truly facing a Limit Douluo could one comprehend just how powerful Limit Douluos were.


    They were constantly improving through their training, and they had also begun constructing their suits of three-word battle armor.


    Tang Wulin had originally planned to construct his own mecha as well, but he gave up on that plan as there simply wasn''t enough time. As such, he had only forged the metals required for his mecha.


    His daily schedule was completely packed: he forged in the morning, engaged in combat training in the afternoon, and discussed ideas with the Tang Sect''s master mecha makers at night.


    Only after truly coming into contact with Tang Sect''s underground world did Tang Wulin realize just how powerful the Tang Sect was. There were 16 ninth-rank mecha designers and 21 ninth-rank mecha makers constructing their mechas for them, and Tang Wulin very much doubted that even the federation could assemble such a large group of highly-skilled craftsmen.


    Indeed, not only was his mecha being constructed, the other six monsters, as well as A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi, were also getting their mechas constructed at the same time.


    Thus, everyone was going to possess a black mecha of the highest caliber produced by the Tang Sect. The only reason why the mechas were black rather than red was because the metals themselves weren''t up to that standard.


    Theoretically, red mechas could be constructed using soul refined metals, but according to the most stringent set of judging criteria, a mecha couldn''t be referred to as a divine-grade mecha unless its core was constructed from heavenly refined metals. This was why divine-grade mechas were so rare on this continent.


    However, black mechas also had different calibers, and the ones being constructed for Tang Wulin and the others were definitely going to be of the highest caliber. This process required a lot of communication as everyone had different requirements for their mechas.


    The role of a top-tier mecha was to maximize a Soul Master''s combat prowess, so it had to have perfect synergy with its wearer and act as an extension of their body.


    Hence, prior to constructing the mechas, Tang Wulin had to forge more soul refined metals to satisfy the requirements of the mecha makers, and on top of that, he and his friends also had to be constantly communicating with the mecha designers and mecha makers involved. They had to allow the craftsmen to develop a better understanding of their needs and abilities so they could construct the mechas that would suit them the best.


    Aside from Tang Wulin, everyone had already begun mecha piloting training in the mornings, and A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were quite averse to this.


    They both preferred to fight with their bodies, and they firmly believed that Soul Masters were always going to be superior to mecha pilots, so they were quite unwilling to dabble in the field of mechas, but they reluctantly agreed upon persuasion from Tang Wulin.


    However, Tang Wulin quickly came to understand that the most powerful Soul Masters didn''t necessarily have the best mecha piloting aptitude; the clumsiest mecha pilot was none other than Sima Jinchi. Even with his powers as a Titled Douluo, it took him a very long time to finally grow accustomed to piloting a mecha.


    In direct contrast to him was A''Ruheng. With his exceptional bodily control, he was able to rapidly acclimate himself to mecha piloting, and he also quickly fell in love with the art. His requirement for his mecha was also very simple: he wanted it to be able to maximize his strength.


    After working from morning to night, Tang Wulin was always able to almost instantly enter a meditative state when he retired to his room to rest. The fact that he was exhausting himself despite his immensely powerful physical constitution was a testament to just how hard he was working every day.


    He had always been the one who had to work the hardest as there were simply too many things that he had to do.


    The battle armor construction process had commenced, and just as Tang Wulin had planned, Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were going to be prioritized in this process, and they would then construct his suit of battle armor once their battle armor was ready.


    All of Shrek''s Seven Monsters were very much looking forward to their suits of three-word battle armor, but this was not a project that could be completed overnight. ......


    Three months passed by in the blink of an eye.


    Eastsea City.


    This seaside city was just as peaceful as ever. As one of the largest cities on the east coast of the continent, it had always been an important trade center of marine products.


    Not far away from Eastsea City was Skysea City, which had the largest dock on the entire continent and was also where the most powerful naval legion in the federation, the Eastsea Fleet, was situated.


    Ever since the Eagle Faction had gained the upper hand in the federal parliament, the training drills of the Eastsea Fleet had become more and more frequent. Even members of the general public could regularly see massive warships slicing through the waves in the distance and occasionally hear a burst of rumbling booms.


    At the Eastsea Soul Train Station.


    Nine people strode onto the platform before stopping at the VIP boarding section, waiting for the soul train to arrive.


    At the forefront of the group stood a tall and broad young man with a set of warm and handsome facial features, who gave off a placid disposition. Beside him was a group of ordinary-looking young men and women, and judging from their attire, it seemed that they were students of a certain academy.


    Upon closer inspection, one would discover that they had the words "Skysea Academy" embroidered on their uniforms.


    The student standing right next to the young man was another young man who was fidgeting with his hair and clothes as he grumbled in a low voice, "This is really uncomfortable!"


    He had a head of long hair that draped down the sides of his cheeks to conceal his chiseled facial features.


    Another burly young man standing beside him chuckled, "That''s what you get for being bald."


    The long-haired young man glared at him, and countered, "You''re one to talk! Look at your face; you look like a hard-boiled egg with the shell removed now that you''ve shaved! Are you trying to become a pretty boy?"


    "F*ck, who did you call a pretty boy?"


    "That''s enough from you two!" the young man leading the group scolded.


    Both of them harrumphed in unison before turning away, and everyone else in the group was quite amused. There was never a moment when these two weren''t bickering about something.


    "Why do we have to take the soul train? Isn''t it better if we drive there?" the long-haired young man asked as he flexed his neck from side to side.


    The leader of the group replied, "There have been regular military drills taking place around Skysea City recently, so it''ll be very troublesome getting through the checkpoints on the roads. If we take the train, we can directly reach the center of Skysea City, where someone will be waiting for us."

 Chapter 1216: Rigorous Examination

    A slightly forlorn feeling welled up in his heart as he spoke. He had passed through Eastsea City on the way to Skysea City as he wanted to return to the city where he had once lived and studied, and where everything had begun for him. It was here that he became acquainted with his first set of friends and the love of his life.


    Upon his return, he discovered that Eastsea City didn''t seem to have changed much, as if the passage of time hadn''t affected it at all during the past 15 or so years. However, everything had changed in his heart.


    He resisted the urge to return home as he reaffirmed his conviction to bring back his parents.


    The soul train arrived, and everyone boarded. The VIP carriage was indeed very comfortable. Everyone had their own designated spacious area, as well as all types of beverages and foods that they could choose from.


    After boarding the train, the leader of the group sat down in the seat at the very front, and a sharp look appeared in his eyes to replace his forlorn expression.


    Everything was about to begin!


    The Eagle Faction had gained the absolute upper hand in the federal parliament, and a war was imminent. There were all types of long-distance projects that had been set into motion in preparation for the war, and that was also why the security in Skysea City had become so rigorous.


    All of the vehicles entering and exiting the city had to undergo thorough examinations, and this was perhaps a result of the trauma left behind in the wake of the Shrek Academy bombing.


    The soul train arrived at Skysea City Station, and the first thing that the nine of them had to face was the security check.


    The security check here wasn''t as thorough as it was for cars and other vehicles, but they still had to be scanned by special devices. Only those who were able to pass the scans without a hitch would truly enter Skysea City.


    The young man walking at the front of the group was naturally none other than Tang Wulin, and the long-haired man beside him was A''Ruheng.


    His large bald head was far too eye-catching, so Tang Wulin had prepared a wig for him as part of his disguise. The result had been quite good, and at the very least; it made him look a lot less menacing.


    Sima Jinchi''s disguise was the simplest of all; he had his facial hair shaved and his eyebrows plucked a little to give him a more gentle appearance, and he suddenly looked like a different man. This was also why A''Ruheng was calling him a pretty boy.


    Everyone else had also put on simple disguises to conceal their original exceptional appearances.


    Due to the fact that Tang Wulin''s parents were very likely on the Dou Spirit Continent, that was the continent that they were visiting first. On top of that, the Dou Spirit Empire was also weaker than the Star Luo Empire, so they were more in need of assistance from the Tang Sect, thereby further cementing it as the appropriate first destination.


    Tang Wulin was very excited for this. If they could arrive at an agreement with the Dou Spirit Empire, then it would become a lot easier for him to search for his parents on the continent.


    Tang Wulin was just walking out of the train station with his friends when a clear voice suddenly sounded. "Hey, which faculty are you from?"


    A figure appeared in Tang Wulin''s way, and he was greeted by the sight of a smiling face.


    From just a single glance, it became quite apparent why this person had approached them. This was a young woman who appeared to be around 18 or 19 years of age, and she was wearing the same uniform as them.


    She was very beautiful with a pair of large eyes and long eyelashes, and she seemed to be filled with youthful exuberance.


    Even though Tang Wulin had disguised his own appearance, he hadn''t altered his own height and figure. He was carrying a bag in his right hand that contained a few changes of clean clothes, and the strap of the bag was draped over his shoulder. His tall and athletic frame was perfectly accentuated by his tight-fitting uniform, so he still attracted quite a bit of female attention.


    He was carrying a bag with him in order to make his disguise more complete. After all, it would appear a little suspicious if he were to emerge from the train empty-handed. After all, what was a student like him doing without a bag?


    A slightly peculiar look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. These Skysea Academy uniforms were being used by them as disguises, but he didn''t think that he would encounter an actual student from the academy here.


    Skysea Academy was the largest academy in the city, and it had students of all ages, as well as a Soul Master faculty and a mecha pilot faculty. It was also the most powerful academy on the east coast of the Douluo Continent.


    "We''re from the Soul Master faculty," Tang Wulin said in an aloof manner, putting on a cold and forbidding display that was essentially telling her to go away, clearly not wanting to have anything to do with her.


    Alas, it was impossible to read the heart of a young maiden, and much to his dismay, the young woman seemed to have only become more intrigued by his cold demeanor. "You must be an upperclassman, right? I''m a new student of Skysea Academy, and I''m also in the Soul Master faculty. I don''t know how to get there; can you take me there, Upperclassman?"


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and everyone else was also rather bemused. This had become a rather farcical situation.


    "I''m in a hurry. Figure it out for yourself." Tang Wulin turned and departed, giving her the cold shoulder in the process. Everyone else naturally followed along, and the young woman stood on the spot as she pouted in an indignant manner.


    What the hell''s his problem! Am I that unappealing to him? But his cold demeanor is sooooo cool! Hmph, we''re both from the Soul Master faculty, so I''ll see him again sooner or later!


    Xu Xiaoyan chuckled, "It''s rare to see you get embarrassed like that, Captain!"


    Xie Xie sighed, "People just aren''t born equal in this world! Even after applying a disguise, he can still attract young women."


    "Who do you want to attract?" Yuanen Yehui asked in a placid manner.


    Xie Xie immediately shuddered as he replied, "No one! My only objective in life is to attract you! Ever since I saw your ''that which shall not be named'', my heart and soul were both taken captive by your ''that which shall not be named''!"


    "Do you have a death wish?"


    Tang Wulin was also feeling a little apologetic. He didn''t know if his cold demeanor would hurt the feelings of that young woman, but he really didn''t want to waste any time here.


    Right at this moment, the soul communicator on his wrist began to ring, and he answered the call, upon which he was greeted by Long Yuxue''s voice on the other end of the line. "Bad news, Captain; I don''t know what happened over at Skysea City, but they suddenly made their examinations even more rigorous. In particular, all of the security checks at transport junctions have had soul power detection devices added to them. All Soul Masters at or above the rank 30 in soul power will need to undergo detailed identity verification. You''ve made it to Skysea Station, right? Be careful when you''re passing through the security checks."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. What was going on? Could it be that the Tang Sect''s operation had been discovered?


    The soul power detection devices were going to be a little troublesome. The newest soul power detection devices from the federation were extremely advanced and could detect minute soul power changes.


    Tang Wulin could use his bloodline power to conceal his soul power fluctuations, but that was too difficult for everyone else.


    They all had fabricated identities, but if it were discovered that they were all at or above the Soul Sage level, that was very likely to attract a lot of unnecessary trouble.


    The biggest advantage they had was that news of Shrek Academy''s rebuild hadn''t been leaked yet, so everything could progress in the shadows.


    "We''ll be waiting for you at the exit. If any problems arise, we''ll cover you," Long Yuxue reassured.


    "There''s no need to be so nervous; I''ll take care of the situation," Tang Wulin replied before ending the call.


    A slightly forlorn look appeared on Long Yuxue''s face as she put away her soul communicator. His words were always so reassuring, and he seemed to be becoming more and more influential to those around him. Just a simple "I''ll take care of the situation" instilled her with confidence that he would indeed be able to handle the situation. Was this an effect of his charisma?


    Unbeknownst to her, once a Soul Master''s spiritual power reached the Spirit Domain realm, they would naturally emanate some minute spiritual fluctuations that would influence those around them and make them appear more charismatic.


    "What is it, Captain?" Ye Xinglan asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "There are soul power detection devices up ahead. Give me a moment."


    He then turned around and quickly walked back the direction they had come from.


    The young woman from Skysea Academy was in the process of stomping her foot in indignation, and she was just about to leave when Tang Wulin suddenly turned back toward her.


    "Let''s go, I''ll take you to the academy," Tang Wulin said in an indifferent manner.


    A faint blush appeared on her face as she looked at his tall and broad figure, and her heart rate began to accelerate despite her best efforts to remain calm.


    "My name''s Lina; what''s your name, Upperclassman?"


    "I''m Gu Yue," Tang Wulin replied with a slightly resigned look in his eyes, "Are you from another city?"


    "I am! I''m from Eastsea City, and I attended Eastsea Academy before, but I was accepted into the Skysea Academy Soul Master faculty based on my excellent results," Lina replied with a smile.


    Eastsea City? What a coincidence. It seemed that she was on the same train as them.


    Tang Wulin nodded, and said, "Let''s go, then. You''ve prepared your proof of identification, right? The security checks in Skysea City have been very rigorous of late, especially when it comes to Soul Masters like us."

 Chapter 1217: Lina

    He directed his spiritual power toward this young woman, and to his surprise, despite the fact that she only appeared to be around 18 to 19 years of age, she had already reached the pinnacle of the Soul Elder level, and was only one step away from becoming a Soul Ancestor.


    A Soul Master of her caliber was naturally quite mediocre among Shrek Academy disciples of the same age, but this was already quite exceptional under normal circumstances.


    "I did!" Lina quickly fished her identification card out of her bag as she said, "The academy has sent me my uniform, enrolment registration, and identification card, and they also reminded me to make sure I had everything with me as the security checks at Skysea City were very stringent. I prepared everything as I was told, but this is my first time making such a long journey on my own, so I''m still a little scared. I''m so glad you''re willing to help me, Upperclassman; you''re the best!"


    Tang Wulin''s expression softened slightly at the sight of her bubbly and energetic display. "Let''s go, then."


    He led Lina back to his friends, then allowed Lina to walk at the forefront of the group.


    Sure enough, just as Long Yuxue had cautioned, there were soul power detection devices placed at the exit of the station, and everyone who tried to leave the station would have to be scanned by this device.


    Tang Wulin briefly inspected his surroundings before releasing his spiritual power, which spread around him like a huge net.


    One had to realize that his spiritual power was currently comparable with that of a Hyper Douluo, so he was quickly able to grasp the entire situation around the station.


    There was a mecha squadron patrolling near the train station, and over 30 federal soldiers were situated at the exit. There was also a mecha and 10 soldiers situated at the soul power detection devices, and they would immediately conduct identity verification as soon as they discovered any suspicious individuals.


    Tang Wulin made a hand signal to everyone behind him, and they all slowed down a little while Tang Wulin and Lina walked on ahead. At the same time, they were secretly adjusting their own soul power fluctuations.


    When the two of them passed by the soul power detection device, it immediately began to beep, and the soldiers instantly directed their attention toward them. They raised their soul laser guns and aimed them at the two of them as one of them said, "You two, please come over here."


    Lina was given a fright by this development. "What are you doing? How could you point guns at us! We''re students of Skysea Academy!"


    "This is a regulation check. Please come over here so we can verify your identities."


    A few soldiers were already approaching them, and Lina seemed to have been frightened by this as she turned toward Tang Wulin in a panicked manner. "What do we do, Upperclassman?"


    "Just let them conduct their checks," Tang Wulin replied in a calm manner and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.


    The two of them followed the soldiers to the soul power detection devices, and all of the soldiers put down their soul laser guns.


    "Please display your identification documents."


    Lina glanced at Tang Wulin, and after receiving a nod from him, she handed over her acceptance certificate and identification card. Tang Wulin did the same. His identification documents were also genuine. With the Tang Sect''s resources, it was no problem at all to arrange some genuine identification documents.


    Following a thorough examination, the soldier responsible for conducting the checks said in a warm and reassuring manner, "There''s no need to be scared; this is just a regulation check. You may go now. It''s very impressive to see such a young Soul Elder and Soul Ancestor; keep up the good work."


    Lina cast an admiring glance at Tang Wulin. He didn''t appear to be much older than, yet he was already a Soul Ancestor, and she was very impressed.


    Tang Wulin nodded before departing with Lina.


    Right at this moment, the soldier that was inspecting the soul power detection device suddenly exclaimed, "What''s going on? Why did the screen suddenly go black? Is there a power outage?"


    The soldiers hurriedly began to conduct some checks, and meanwhile, Shrek''s Six Monsters, as well as Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng, had already emerged from the exit, and the soldiers were none the wiser.


    After exiting the station, Lina turned to Tang Wulin, and said, "Thank heavens you were there, Upperclassman; I was so scared back there. What''s going on with Skysea City? Why are those soldiers using their guns so liberally? I heard that a war is about to start soon; is that true?"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Do you want it to be true?"


    Lina shook her head, and replied, "Of course not; wars are the worst. The novels I''ve read say that lots and lots of people die during wars; it''s so scary!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I still have some errands that I need to run. Now that you''re in Skysea City, you shouldn''t have any more problems. I''ll hail a taxi for you, and the driver will take you straight to the academy. I hope we meet again."


    A surprised and disappointed look appeared on Lina''s face. "You''re not coming to the academy with me?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I still have some important things to take care of. If I meet you bump into you in the academy, I''ll treat you to a meal."


    "Alright, then," Lina pouted in a displeased manner, and said, "You have to keep your word, Upperclassman."


    "I will." Tang Wulin waved farewell before departing with his friends. Long Yuxue and the members of the Blood Dragon Squad were already waiting nearby.


    Lina looked on in a displeased manner as they departed before making her way toward a nearby taxi. As she turned away, her displeased look suddenly vanished, and a hint of green flashed through her eyes. "Two Titled Douluos and seven Soul Sages; how interesting. Could they be from the Battle God Hall?"


    After getting onto the cars that Long Yuxue and the others had already rented in advance, Tang Wulin and the others arrived at a medium-sized hotel at the center of Skysea City.


    By the time Tang Wulin arrived at his room, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin was already waiting there for him.


    "Your Majesty." Tang Wulin extended a salute toward Zang Xin.


    Zang Xin also rose to his feet. "Welcome, Sect Master."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I still can''t get used to that."


    Zang Xin smiled in response, revealing a set of pristine white teeth. If it weren''t for the slightly jaded look in his eyes, Tang Wulin would seriously be led into believing that Zang Xin was around the same age as him. After all, his appearance suggested that he was only a young man in his twenties!


    "You''ll get used to it eventually. We''ll be setting off in three days, and all of the preparatory work is complete," Zang Xin said in a concise manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I don''t know how you did it, but I truly admire your resourcefulness. I heard that the ports have already been shut down, and no merchant ships are allowed to travel to the other two continents. All news regarding the two continents have also been placed on lockdown; how did you manage to get a massive ferry that would go on this trip?"


    Zang Xin smiled, and said, "Our Tang Sect has a strong presence on all three continents; if we can''t even do something like this, then we''ll truly be bringing shame to our illustrious 20,000-year-long history. You''ll know everything when the time comes. This is an extremely important trip, and we''ll be counting on you to liaise with the other two empires."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Rest assured, Your Majesty, I''ll be sure to do my best, not just for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, but even more so for all of the innocent people on the three continents. We have to prevent this war from happening no matter what."


    Zang Xin said, "Everything will progress according to the plan. Once we get there, there will be someone to meet us on the other side."


    Tang Wulin replied, "Alright. Do you have anything else you want to tell me, Your Highness?"


    Zang Xin was silent for a moment before replying, "I must remind you that not only do you have to provide our weapons to them, you have to do your best to make sure that those weapons don''t actually get used on our federal soldiers. Otherwise, the Tang Sect will truly become traitors of the federation. The conflict between the three continents had been raging for many years, and if the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Lou Empire were to use these powerful weapons to attack the federation rather than just to intimidate, then the federal military will suffer heavy losses, which is not something that we want to see.


    "We have to maintain a delicate balance. Even though the Tang Sect has a lot of influence on the other two continents, we can''t guarantee that some more aggressive factions won''t try to take the initiative to start the war before the federation can. As such, don''t hesitate to stamp your authority when necessary. Make it known to them that we can support them, but we can also bring about their downfall."

 Chapter 1218: Lineup

    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. This was not going to be an easy balance to maintain!


    Zang Xin continued, "Due to the fact that our headquarters was bombed, we won''t be able to send many people with you. Only after you arrive on the other two continents will the Tang Sect branches over there be able to provide you with assistance. Look after yourself during the journey. "


    "I''ll do my best," Tang Wulin replied with a solemn nod.


    They were going to be facing the most powerful people in the political world of the two continents during this trip. Not only did they have to face potential opposition from within the two empires, it was likely that they would also have to face the Spirit Pagoda and Holy Spirit Cult, so it definitely wasn''t going to be easy to achieve their final objective.


    "The plan has already been devised well in advance, so I won''t waste any more time with words. Remember this: ensure your own safety above all else. You are the hope of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so make sure to protect yourself, especially when you face powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult. It''s very likely that the Holy Spirit Cult has already infiltrated the two empires, and even the federal military isn''t free from their influence. Those who have infiltrated those organizations must be extremely powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult, and they''ll rear their ugly heads when widespread casualties occur. Your goal is to prevent this from happening, so you''ll definitely be targeted by the Holy Spirit Cult."


    Intense killing intent appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this. He and the Holy Spirit Cult were nothing short of sworn enemies. So many teachers and students of Shrek Academy had perished during the bombing instigated by the Holy Spirit Cult!


    After Zang Xin departed, Tang Wulin took some time to organize his own thought process. What he was going to do on this trip was very likely going to change the power balance between all three continents, and he was quite excited by this notion, but also felt a lot of pressure weighing on his shoulders. If it weren''t for everything he had experienced, perhaps he wouldn''t even have the right to undertake such a duty.


    Elder Long, the Amorous Douluo, and the Heartless Douluo all had extremely high hopes for him, so failure was not an option.


    The lineup that was traveling to the two empires was quite a powerful one, which included the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Body Douluo A''Ruheng, Saber God Douluo Sima Jinchi, the entire Blood Dragon Squad, and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    Even though Elder Long and the Amorous Douluo had refrained from accompanying them on this trip, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali had volunteered to come with them in order to ensure their safety.


    She was the number one healing Soul Master on the entire continent, so her presence naturally made this trip a lot safer.


    After all, she was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, and even Tang Wulin and the others didn''t know just how powerful she was. However, what they did know was that against Evil Soul Masters, her powers definitely wouldn''t be inferior to those of a Limit Douluo.


    If it weren''t for the two Godslayer missiles that the Holy Spirit Cult had somehow gotten their hands on, it definitely wouldn''t have been so easy for them to destroy Shrek Academy.


    Aside from these powerful beings, a mecha squadron from the Tang Sect''s Douluo Palace was also accompanying them on this trip.


    They were the hidden forces of the Tang Sect, and all of them were at the Soul King level or above with access to the best equipment. The mecha squadron consisted of 120 mechas, 20 of which were black while the rest were purple, and they truly presented a force to be reckoned with.


    There were a total of six mecha legions in the entire Douluo Federation, and each of them had 3,000 mechas, among which only around 20 were black. Each mecha legion had around 20,000 members to take care of maintenance and logistics, as well as countless maintenance vehicles and equipment.


    This mecha squadron from the Tang Sect alone was comparable to a third of the forces of a mecha legion.


    In this era of modern warfare, mechas were mainly responsible for battle on land, as well as at low altitudes, while battle aircrafts dominated the battlefield at higher altitudes.


    At present, the Douluo Continent had a total of three soul battle aircraft fleets, which amounted to a total of around 1,000 soul battle aircrafts. This was the main advantage they had over the other two continents.


    The Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire were lagging behind quite significantly when it came to battle aircraft and mecha technology. In particular, the Star Luo Empire only had less than 200 soul battle aircrafts in total, and the technology they were using was far inferior to that of the Douluo Continent.


    As for the Dou Spirit Empire, they only had around 100 battle aircrafts, and their technology was even worse than that of the Star Luo Empire.


    Tang Wulin and the higher-ups of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had theorized that if a war were to eventuate, the federation would destroy all of the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire''s aerial forces first to dominate the aerial battlefield.


    Mechas were also capable of flight, but unless black mechas were being taken into account, they were going to be far slower than battle aircrafts, and they also expended far more energy than battle aircrafts.


    Soul battle aircraft technology was rapidly advancing, and even some space exploration technology was beginning to be integrated into this area of research and development. Compared to mechas, soul battle aircrafts were slightly more expensive to produce, but they were more versatile and had wider avenues of development. After all, it was still impossible at this point for any mechas outside of divine-grade ones to operate in outer space.


    Aside from the mecha squadron, Tang Wulin''s group was also being accompanied by battle aircrafts, all of which were of the most advanced models. However, these weren''t for use in battle. Instead, they were escape devices that had been prepared for Tang Wulin and the others should the trip go awry, so everything had been thoroughly planned out for them.


    "Do you have some spare time, Yuxue? Let''s go to the beach."


    "Sure!"


    Tang Wulin didn''t alert anyone else, and he and Long Yuxue left the hotel before hailing a taxi.


    Even though three months had already passed, everyone''s suits of three-word battle armor still hadn''t been completed. The higher the level of a suit of battle armor, the more difficult it was to design and carve the core circuits.


    Thus, none of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had access to their suits of battle armor. All of the soul refined metals required for these suits of battle armor were ready, so it could be said each successive suit of battle armor that Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan finished constructing would directly contribute to an increase in the overall power of the group.


    When it came to suits of three-word battle armor, the construction process was no longer just a matter of skill; luck was also an inseparable element to the process, and it definitely wasn''t easy to perfect the end product.


    In particular, Tang Wulin had forged the best metals that he was capable of for these suits of three-word battle armor, and that made the construction process even more difficult. Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were already doing their best, but it would still take quite some time before they completed everyone''s suits of three-word battle armor.


    Tang Wulin rolled down the window of the taxi slightly and inhaled the slightly salty seaside breeze outside. This was a rare moment for him to relax, and his eyes were a little lost and out of focus.


    It had been so long since he had left his home that even his concept of his home had become a little blurred. However, inhaling this familiar scent made him feel as if he had been transported into a dream.


    He suddenly felt that the happiest days of his life weren''t the ones where he had grown more powerful day by day. Instead, it was the jovial and carefree days he had spent with his parents and Na''er.


    His memories of those days were already quite indistinct, but his heart was still filled with happiness when he looked back on those memories. He had to find his parents and Na''er no matter what.


    Gu Yuena had taken on Na''er''s appearance, and even her name had been changed to Gu Yuena. He had constantly been avoiding this issue, but that was only a band-aid solution. Deep down in his heart, he knew that Na''er''s disappearance had to have something to do with Gu Yue.


    Once he returned from his trip to the two empires, he was sure that he''d become even more powerful than he currently was. Following his return, he had to go and find Gu Yuena no matter what. He had to ask her where Na''er had gone, and also ask her...


    Tang Wulin exhaled, and complex emotions began to flash through his eyes. He could never remain calm when he thought about Gu Yuena.


    Long Yuxue sat beside Tang Wulin, and the latter was looking out the window, but she was looking at him the entire time.


    His eyelashes really were so long. Even as a woman, Long Yuxue couldn''t help but be envious of them. His eyes were too beautiful; especially when they appeared so lost and out of focus. The look in his eyes was so gentle that it made her heart throb.


    A hint of sorrow gradually crept into his disposition. Everyone else could only see how exceptional and talented he was, but Long Yuxue saw many other things about Tang Wulin that others couldn''t, perhaps because she paid much more attention to him than others.


    He had far too heavy a burden on his shoulders. Something had to have happened between him and his girlfriend. Otherwise, why wasn''t she by his side? He was so outstanding; why didn''t she want to be with him?


    The impression that Tang Wulin gave her was one of a mystery, and also a trap. She knew that the more she approached him, the more incorrigible her love for him would become, but she simply couldn''t help but be attracted to him.


    Falling in love with a man like him really wasn''t a blessing! However, meeting him was the best thing that had ever happened to her.


    Long Yuxue knew that she had never regretted falling in love with him.

 Chapter 1219: Explosion

    "We''re here." The taxi stopped, and the driver glanced at the pair sitting in the backseat through his rearview mirror.


    The woman was really beautiful, and there was a cold and heroic disposition about her that none of the girls who grew up in seaside cities possessed. As for the young man, his looks were rather ordinary, but his eyes left one with a really deep impression.


    Long Yuxue paid the driver, and Tang Wulin got out of the car first before casting his gaze out toward the boundless ocean.


    Long Yuxue got out of the car on the other side before making her way over to him.


    At this moment, the driver suddenly poked his head out of the window, and yelled, "Lemme give you some advice, young man: you gotta be the one to take the initiative and resolve a lover''s quarrel. Women have to be sweet-talked and pampered, haha."


    After that, he stepped on the gas, and the taxi raced away.


    Tang Wulin faltered momentarily before turning to look at Long Yuxue.


    Long Yuxue blushed slightly in response. "You didn''t say anything to me the entire ride, so he must''ve misread the situation."


    Tang Wulin scratched his head in an awkward manner, and for some reason, Long Yuxue couldn''t help but burst into laughter at the sight of his discomfort. Why was it that he was still so attractive to her even though he was in disguise? Could it really be because he was already imprinted too deeply in her heart?


    "I grew up by the sea, so I''ve always had a soft spot for seaside cities, and Skysea City is the largest city on our east coast. I once participated in a competition here, and that was where I met Xinglan and Lizhi for the first time. They were representatives of Shrek Academy, and at the time, Xinglan was really powerful!"


    "Are those two part of your Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters?" Long Yuxue had only met Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters on several occasions and wasn''t very familiar with them.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "It''s been almost 10 years since then; time sure passes quickly."


    "Oi, you''re only in your early twenties; don''t make yourself sound like an old geezer."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Isn''t this a sign of maturity? Look over there; that''s the renowned port of Skysea City, and its the largest port on the east coast. It''s also the reason why Skysea City was able to flourish to become what it is today. However, a very large section of it has now been expropriated to be used as a military port. Not long after this, an invasive war is going to be instigated here."


    Long Yuxue observed, "You seem to be very much against the idea of war."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Many people will perish in a war. Many children will become orphans, and even more people will lose their loved ones. War is waged purely for profit, but these profits come at the expense of countless lives; how cruel is that? You''re right; I detest war, and I abhor dictatorships. Back when I was still a small child, my parents were abducted by a certain power and forced to work for them, and I still don''t know where they are to this very day.


    "Back then, I really wanted to become a Soul Master, but part of the reason behind how I was able to become who I am today is that I was forced to become more powerful by the absence of my parents. The federation has always championed equality and freedom, but in reality, equality and freedom have never appeared in this world."


    Long Yuxue asked, "What do you want this world to be like?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Truth be told, I have no answer to that question. I don''t have any grand aspirations; I just want to alleviate the pain of as many people as possible."


    Long Yuxue encouraged, "You''ve already done very well. If it weren''t for your efforts during that last invasion from the abyssal plane, our Blood God Legion could have already been overwhelmed. If you hadn''t stopped them, the abyssal plane army could be wreaking havoc on this continent as we speak, and that would truly be a calamitous disaster. No one else knows about this, but everyone in the Blood God Legion knows that you''re a hero who saved the entire federation."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I don''t care if I''m a hero or not. I only have a few wishes; I want to find my parents, then rebuild Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters, and after that..."


    "What comes after that?" Long Yuxue could already guess his answer, but she still couldn''t help but raise this question, and she regretted it as soon as the words escaped from her mouth.


    "After that, I want to have a home with her." A gentle look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes. Indeed, all he really wanted was to have a home; that was his biggest dream. He wanted to be able to live with his lover and his parents, and even his future children.


    A film of tears instantly appeared in Long Yuxue''s eyes in response to Tang Wulin''s frail expression. Never did she think that he would have such a vulnerable side, and strangely enough, there was no envy in her heart whatsoever; all she felt was sympathy for him.


    She stepped forward and gave him a tight hug. In this moment, all she could do was give him her warmth and support. She really wanted to tell him that if that person couldn''t give him a home, she would be more than willing to.


    Tang Wulin was slightly taken aback by Long Yuxue''s embrace, and right at that moment, an overwhelming sense of peril welled up in his heart, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up on end.


    He immediately wound an arm around Long Yuxue before abruptly leaping to the side and landing behind a sand dune.


    "Boom!"


    A violent explosion rang out from the distant sea, and Tang Wulin and Long Yuxue''s ears immediately began to ring while all of the sounds in the surrounding area were drowned out. Immediately thereafter, the sand dune beside them exploded into countless grains of sand, and the violent shockwaves struck their bodies.


    Tang Wulin reacted very quickly as a layer of golden scales instantly appeared over his skin, and at the same time, he used his own body to shield Long Yuxue. He borrowed the impact of the shockwaves to propel himself through the air and get further away from the epicenter of the explosion.


    If a normal person had been in his shoes, they would''ve most likely already been torn to shreds by these powerful shockwaves, but with Tang Wulin''s insanely powerful physical constitution, such an impact only acted as propulsion force for him.


    However, right at this moment, both he and Long Yuxue were greeted by the sight of a gargantuan wave.


    In that instant, it was as if the sky had become the sea, and they were flying over an empty world beneath the ocean; this was a very peculiar sight to behold.


    Tang Wulin spread open his golden dragon wings and flapped them vigorously, sending himself hurtling through the air like a speeding arrow with Long Yuxue in his arms, but the giant wave had come far too abruptly and covered too large an area, so they were still struck by it in the end.


    A faint blue light barrier silently appeared, and as the seawater crashed down upon them, Long Yuxue was shocked to discover that it was completely kept at bay by the barrier. A trident symbol had appeared on Tang Wulin''s forehead, and the symbol was radiating faint blue light.


    Tang Wulin was also quite perplexed by this himself, but that didn''t affect his reactions at all. He flapped his golden dragon wings, propelling himself through the water and rising up into the air, but his body remained completely dry in the process.


    At this point, all of the vulnerability in Tang Wulin''s eyes had been replaced by a sharp and alert look.


    He had been far too careless. His emotional fluctuations had been too violent, thereby clouding his sharp senses and preventing him from sensing this impending peril. This was also partially due to the fact that this perilous situation hadn''t been specifically directed at him, but he still should''ve noticed it far sooner than he did.


    At this moment, enormous waves were sweeping through the sea as if a tsunami had erupted. At the epicenter of the explosion in the distance, Tang Wulin could clearly see terrifying energy fluctuations exploding relentlessly in the air amid a string of resounding booms.


    There were shimmering dark purple fragments in the air that were breaking down into even smaller pieces, and a massive vortex with a diameter of over a kilometer had appeared on the ocean with dark purple light flashing within it.

 Chapter 1220: Sudden Peril

    It was a soul missile! Only a soul missile could produce such terrifying destructive power!


    Furthermore, this was most likely a ninth-grade soul missile. Otherwise, the explosion definitely wouldn''t have been so fearsome.


    A black-grade warship that was docked by the port was blasted into smithereens by the explosion, and there were also two purple-grade frigates in the distance that were capsized by the massive waves. Thankfully, the battleships hadn''t been docked too close to one another, so the damage was limited.


    Had there been an attack? Someone had attacked a federal fleet, and they had used a ninth-grade soul missile to do so!


    Among the federal fleets, there were red aircraft carriers, black warships, purple frigates, yellow gunboats, and white patrol boats. Battleships of different grades also had different equipment, and these types of warships combined to form a fleet with the aircraft carrier acting as the core of the fleet.


    At this moment in time, there were three aircraft carriers docked on the sea near the coast of Skysea City, and there were only six carrier-based vanguard groups in the entire federation. These three carrier-based vanguard groups had been prepared for the imminent war that was about to be instigated against the other two continents, and all of them had been fitted with the best equipment.


    Who could''ve anticipated that someone would dare to unleash an attack at a time like this? Furthermore, they had used a taboo weapon in the form of a ninth-grade soul missile.


    Seawater surged forth violently to strike against the shore, and it was as if doomsday had arrived. A fierce energy storm was wreaking havoc at the center of the ocean, and Tang Wulin had experienced the power of a ninth-grade soul missile for himself back at Shrek Academy, so he was naturally well aware of just how fearsome these weapons were.


    As for Godslayer missiles, even the ancient Golden Tree and all of the most powerful beings of Shrek Academy had been unable to contain its explosion; that was the most terrifying part about human technology.


    There were even researchers who had stated that with the current rate at which technology was advancing, humans would eventually die out to their own technology.


    Ninth-grade soul missiles had been invented as early as 10,000 years ago, but extremely few ninth-grade soul missiles had actually been detonated, so they were definitely extremely important weapons. There was even a stretch of several thousand years where not even a single missile of this caliber had been used, yet Tang Wulin had witnessed its power in person on two occasions in just a few years; he really did have godawful luck...


    In contrast with Tang Wulin''s astonishment, Long Yuxue was experiencing a completely different type of emotion.


    A doomsday-like scenario was unfolding before her eyes with enormous waves and terrifying energy storms, but she was being held by a pair of strong and reliable arms.


    She could clearly sense the powerful blood essence fluctuations emanating from his body. Those fluctuations completely enveloped her, shielding her from all of the energy blasts erupting in the outside world.


    His embrace was warm and secure, like the ideal safe harbor. With him by her side, she wasn''t afraid of anything.


    All of the emotions that she had repressed for such a long time were finally released, and Long Yuxue felt like everything she had given was worth it. This was a very clear feeling, and it filled her with a sense of comfort and release.


    She closed her eyes and no longer looked at what was unfolding around them. Instead, she completely immersed herself in his masculine aura and powerful blood essence fluctuations. She wound her arms tightly around his waist, and even though they were separated by a layer of dragon scales, she really wanted this moment to last forever.


    After briefly inspecting the situation, Tang Wulin immediately flapped his wings and flew toward the distant shore with Long Yuxue in his arms.


    They couldn''t stay here any longer.


    In the wake of such a devastating attack against the carrier-based vanguard group, the entire military would most likely be stirred up into a frenzy. The entirety of Skysea City was going to be placed into lockdown, and all suspicious individuals on the coast were most definitely going to be detained for further investigation.


    Hence, after a brief stunned stupor, Tang Wulin immediately fled the scene with Long Yuxue.


    The tsunami was still raging, and seawater had washed over all of the buildings near the coastline. Thankfully, there were dams on the shore that kept most of the waves at bay, so not much of the city was affected.


    Even as Tang Wulin was flying toward the shore, there were already loud sirens blaring. On the surface of the ocean, all of the battleships were swaying atop the turbulent waves while activating their protective barriers, and the entire ocean was illuminated by the light of these barriers.


    All of the battleships had white protective barriers, but they were of different calibers depending on the caliber of the ship. As the loud sirens began to blare, all types of military radars were also beginning to scour through the surrounding area.


    One battle aircraft after another quickly took to the sky, and many mechas were rushing out of the battleships.


    With Tang Wulin''s immense spiritual power, he didn''t even have to look to "see" the scenes unfolding around him, and he was truly astonished by just how powerful the federal military was.


    Tens of thousands of mechas were gushing out of the battleships, and when he occasionally turned around, he could even see some red figures among the mechas.


    The sensory scope of the military radars soon encompassed an area with a radius of several hundred kilometers, and it was as if the entire carrier-based vanguard group had transformed into a massive hedgehog.


    The two capsized purple frigates had already been pulled upright again, but the black warship that had been directly struck had already completely sunk, and its only remnants were the countless fragments floating on the surface of the ocean.


    Tang Wulin had no time to marvel at the power of the ninth-grade soul missile as he could sense that he was already inside the sensory scope of the military radars. After all, no matter how fast he was, he was still a human, while radars could be instantly activated to scan through large areas, so there was no way that he could outrun them.


    At least 100 mechas instantly detected him and Long Yuxue before flying toward them.


    Mechas weren''t all that worrisome to Tang Wulin as his golden dragon wings would allow him to outspeed the vast majority of mechas; the main concern was that there were also battle aircrafts that were flying toward them from all directions.


    Tang Wulin had learned how to pilot battle aircrafts on the demonic island, so he was naturally very aware of just how fast they were. If he were to be caught by these aircrafts, then there was no way he would be able to escape.


    Even a Titled Douluo wouldn''t be able to resist the power of the federal military, let alone a Soul Sage like him.


    He couldn''t keep running like this!


    Countless thoughts flashed through his mind at once, and he instantly made a decision. He immediately crushed Long Yuxue against his chest, and the abrupt tightening of his embrace even struck Long Yuxue with a sense of compressive pain.


    At the same time, he instantly withdrew his golden dragon wings, and a burst of yellow light erupted from his body as he plummeted straight toward the ground like a shooting star.


    He was at an altitude of around 100 meters, and with the assistance of that yellow light, he was instantly able to plummet at an incredible speed, and he was accelerating even further during his descent.


    "Boom!"


    Long Yuxue''s entire body jolted violently, and if it weren''t for Tang Wulin holding her tightly in his embrace and protecting her with his energy, she would''ve most likely been knocked out by that impact.


    She was then struck by the feeling that the air around her had become very sparse, and she was soon having difficulty with her breathing.


    However, she was a Soul Emperor and a two-word battle armor master herself, and she hurriedly circulated her own soul power to make her breathing more shallow in order to minimize her oxygen needs.


    At this point, she had already snapped out of her love fantasy and immediately realized the nature of the situation that they were in.


    To put in the simplest way, they had been in the wrong place at the wrong time...


    Regardless of who it was that had been responsible for this attack, they were Soul Masters near the scene, and they had fled right after the incident, so they were definitely going to be detained for investigation. However, both she and Tang Wulin had extremely sensitive identities and couldn''t allow themselves to be investigated by the authorities. As such, they could only run, and they had to avoid being captured by the federal military no matter what.


    However, at this point, Skysea City was like an inescapable cage that had almost been completely encompassed by radars, so it was virtually impossible to get away.


    Even so, Tang Wulin still chose to flee, and from the dwindling supply of air in the surrounding environment, Long Yuxue could tell that they were currently most likely burrowing deep into the ground. She didn''t know how Tang Wulin had accomplished this, but this was definitely the best course of action to take.


    There were battle aircrafts, mechas, and radars in the air, and only by burrowing deep into the ground could they escape the detection of the radars. It wasn''t that easy to activate the underground radars, and the process took time. By the time the radars were activated, they''d be long gone.


    The ability that Tang Wulin had used to achieve this was his Mountain Dragon King torso bone''s gravitational control ability.

 Chapter 1221: Mouth-to-mouth Resuscitation

    The Mountain Dragon King was an earth-attribute being, so its power in conjunction with Tang Wulin''s powerful body allowed him to quickly drill his way into the earth.


    His arms were occupied as he had to protect Long Yuxue, so he could only use the sharp edges of his wings to clear away the earth in his path. His physical constitution had already far exceeded the realm of what was humanly possible, and soon, he had burrowed several dozen meters into the ground.


    At this depth, even underground radars would have a very hard time trying to detect him. However, it was also quite difficult to move this deep underground, so he wasn''t exactly racing along.


    In a situation like this, Tang Wulin''s immense spiritual power played a very important role. Through his ability to sense earth-attribute elements, Tang Wulin was able to quickly get a grasp of the underground structure within a radius of around a kilometer, and he soon discovered an underground lake. He burrowed through the earth and into the lake, allowing its natural flow to carry them away.


    The underground lake wasn''t flowing very quickly, but it was still far faster than burrowing through the earth. The sense of peril gradually faded away, and Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh of relief.


    However, right at this moment, he suddenly sensed that there seemed to be something wrong with Long Yuxue.


    They had been underground for a while now, and Long Yuxue had been silently enduring everything this whole time, from the heavy impact of plummeting into the ground, to the subsequent sense of asphyxiation.


    Even though she was a Soul Emperor, her physical constitution couldn''t even hold a candle to Tang Wulin''s, and internal soul power regulation could allow her to hold her breath for a long time, but that time period had already passed. In particular, the initial impact had completely knocked the breath out of her, and the situation had set her heart racing at far above its resting rate, so her body''s oxygen needs had spiked even further.


    At this point, her body was already beginning to stiffen, and her life force fluctuations were slowly ebbing away.


    This was not good!


    Tang Wulin was quite alarmed by this, and he hurriedly looked down at Long Yuxue. Through the use of his Purple Demon Eyes, he could see that Long Yuxue''s eyes were tightly shut, and her face was completely pale, but also a little purple. This was clearly a sign that she was suffocating to death.


    In this dire situation, Tang Wulin couldn''t think of any other way to save her, and he hurriedly pressed his lips against hers to conduct mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.


    His Mysterious Heaven Method ensured that he had a virtually endless supply of soul power, and with the cycle formed by his two energy cores within his insanely powerful body, he could hold his breath for half a day without any issues.


    The air that Tang Wulin had injected into Long Yuxue''s lungs brought her back from the brink of death, and her body clearly relaxed a little while her chest began to rise and fall drastically.


    Her lips were soft and fragrant, but Tang Wulin didn''t have the spare capacity to pay any heed to that. His mind was scrambling as he quickly rushed toward their hotel, guided by nothing more than his memory.


    His spiritual power surged forth as he closed his eyes, allowing him to inspect the situation on the surface, and he finally found a rather secluded street, where he emerged from the ground with Long Yuxue.


    After the two of them burst out of the earth, their lips parted, and Tang Wulin immediately dragged Long Yuxue behind a building. At the same time, he restrained his own soul power fluctuations in case they were detected by any soul power detection devices.


    Long Yuxue was gasping for air, but her eyes were focused intently on Tang Wulin.


    He kissed me! He actually kissed me!


    She knew that he had only done so out of necessity, but she was still completely on cloud nine, and the pain of asphyxiation had been completely forgotten.


    Tang Wulin tried to dust himself off as best as he could, which wasn''t an easy task considering he was covered in soil and couldn''t use any soul power. At this point, sirens were already blaring over the entire Skysea City, and it didn''t take a genius to envision that the city was going to be placed under strict military lockdown for a long time to come. This was going to be very troublesome for them. However, everything would have to wait until they returned to the hotel.


    Tang Wulin opened his soul communicator, and hesitated momentarily before sending out a signal to gather everyone together.


    "Are you alright?" he asked.


    Long Yuxue shook her head in response and buried that bittersweet memory deep within her heart.


    "Let''s hurry back to the hotel. The plan is most likely going to have to change, and we''ll have to go into hiding no matter what that attack entails," Tang Wulin said in a serious voice.


    Long Yuxue nodded in response.


    Many of the citizens of Skysea City still had no idea what was going on. All they heard was an earth-shattering explosion that had been audible throughout the entire city, followed by loud blaring sirens, so everyone was cast into a blind panic. The streets were in a state of complete chaos, and Tang Wulin and Long Yuxue blended into the frenzied throngs of people as they quickly returned to the hotel.


    Everyone had already returned to the hotel after receiving Tang Wulin''s signal, and Yue Zhengyu asked, "What happened, Boss?"


    Tang Wulin replied in a serious voice, "There''s no time to elaborate on the situation. I''ve already contacted the people from the Tang Sect, and we have to get out of here right away. Someone just set off a ninth-grade soul missile to attack a federal fleet over at the military port, and a black warship was sunk. Skysea City is most likely going to be in a hypersensitive state for the near future, so we need to find a better place to hide."


    "A ninth-grade soul missile?" Everyone''s expressions changed drastically upon hearing this. They had almost perished to such a missile in the aftermath of the Shrek City bombing, and they didn''t think that they''d encounter another ninth-grade soul missile explosion so soon.


    Right at this moment, the door was flung open, and Amorous Douluo Zang Xin strode into the room. "Come with me."


    The place they were living at belonged to the Tang Sect, so there were no records stating that they had checked into this hotel. Thus, everyone was led by Zang Xin into a passageway behind the hotel and entered the underground world again. However, compared to the underground world of Heaven Dou City, this one was a lot cruder and only consisted of a dank sanctuary.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, A''Ruheng, Sima Jinchi, and the Blood Dragon Squad were all taken down here in groups, and it only took one hour for everyone to be gathered.


    Just as Tang Wulin had predicted, the authorities had already placed the city into complete military lockdown and were scouring the city for the perpetrators. Furthermore, they were making efforts to keep this incident confidential, so news of the attack would be limited to the smallest area possible.


    Soon, news returned, stating that the military had initiated an exhaustive search and were using all types of large-scale detection equipment. All Soul Masters at rank 30 soul power or above had to undergo strict interrogation in order to verify their identities.


    Zang Xin had also brought back a piece of news that Tang Wulin found to be rather intriguing. According to the current information that the military had gathered, the ones who had initiated this attack came from a secret organization in the Star Luo Empire.


    "That''s impossible," Tang Wulin concluded, "The Star Luo Empire has agreed to work with us; how could they possibly do something like this to escalate the conflict now? A ninth-grade soul missile is indeed very powerful, but it''s still just a single missile, and it can''t do much to a carrier-based vanguard group. The only thing that this will accomplish will be to spark further animosity from the federation, which could lead to the war commencing even earlier than planned. Also, it''s definitely not an easy task to transport a ninth-grade soul missile to the federation, especially to Skysea City."


    Zang Xin nodded in response. "We all know that it''s virtually impossible that the Star Luo Empire was behind this attack, but the military doesn''t think this. A black warship is extremely expensive to construct, and the military must be completely riled up right now, so all of the accusations are being aimed at the Star Luo Empire."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "Who could it be if it''s not the Star Luo Empire? Could it be the Holy Spirit Cult?"


    Zang Xin replied in a serious voice, "I also think that the Holy Spirit Cult is most likely behind this attack. However, according to the military, they couldn''t find any links between this attack and the Holy Spirit Cult. Instead, all of the signs suggest that the attack came from the Star Luo Empire."


    Tang Wulin speculated, "Could it be that someone is intentionally directing the blame toward the Star Luo Empire?"

 Chapter 1222: Response

    Zang Xin replied in a serious manner, "It''s hard to say. However, this attack did indeed cause a lot of damage, and from the information we''ve received, the warship that had been destroyed was undergoing maintenance at the time, so there were only basic maintenance staff on the ship. Hence, not many people perished during the attack. Under normal circumstances, over 3,000 people would''ve died on that warship."


    A thought suddenly occurred to Tang Wulin. "Could this have been orchestrated by the military itself?"


    Zang Xin shook his head in response. "No, the price being paid is too heavy. That black warship does indeed belong to the Eagle Faction, and they definitely wouldn''t be able to sacrifice such an expensive warship as part of an act. Hence, someone else had to have been responsible for the attack, and there are only so many people who have access to ninth-grade soul missiles."


    Tang Wulin contemplated the issue for a moment before deciding, "Let''s wait and observe how this situation unfolds for now. If this attack is an intentional ploy to instigate the war earlier than it would otherwise commence, then someone will definitely blow the entire incident out of proportion and spread information to create controversy. Have you contacted the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire? We need to verify that they aren''t responsible for the attack first."


    Long Yuxue interjected, "That''s very hard to say. Even if one of the empires were responsible for the attack, they most likely wouldn''t admit it."


    Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.


    Yuanen Yehui asked, "Your Majesty, will this incident affect our trip to the Dou Spirit Empire?"


    Zang Xin nodded in response. "It definitely will. The coastline had been placed into complete lockdown, and even though we can still set sail, the chances of us being discovered will be much higher than before, so we''ll most likely have to wait. However, if we keep waiting and the federation decides to instigate the war earlier than planned, then we might not be able to step in in time. Unless..."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he continued where Zang Xin left off.


    Yue Zhengyu''s brows furrowed, and he said, "Our identities are too sensitive, so we won''t be able to do any investigating. How are we going to accomplish this?"


    Tang Wulin paced from one side of the room to the other, and Zang Xin''s brows were also tightly furrowed. They had everything planned out, yet his sudden interlude could quite possibly ruin their entire plan and render them unable to prevent the war from taking place.


    After a long while, Tang Wulin suddenly raised his head and turned toward Long Yuxue. "We can''t expose our identities, but what if we do this on behalf of the Blood God Legion? The Blood God Legion is a confidential legion that only the higher-ups of the federation know about, but at the same time, the Blood God Legion is undeniably a federal legion, and officials in our legion are ranked higher than the same level officials in other legions. We have no choice but to take a risk now. Yuxue, contact the legion and ask them to cooperate with us. I''ll tell His Majesty, the Mirror Douluo, about this situation."


    "Alright." Long Yuxue always seemed to have unconditional support for Tang Wulin, and she immediately agreed to his request before going to the surface to make the call as there was no signal underground.


    Zang Xin turned to Tang Wulin with a slightly concerned expression. "Wulin, make sure you don''t bite off more than you can chew!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "We have no choice but to take some risks now. Otherwise, if things continue to play out like this, all of our efforts will be wasted. We can''t let this war happen no matter what. They want to add more fuel to the flame, right? Then we''ll just have to divert everyone''s attention. Compared to the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire, the most hated entity in the federation is still the Holy Spirit Cult."


    "Do you have evidence that they were behind this, Boss?" Xie Xie asked.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "I don''t care who did it, but from now on, the Holy Spirit Cult will be the sole perpetrator. The evidence will come, regardless of where it comes from and whether it''s real evidence or not. They''re not the only ones who can blackmail and shift the blame onto others."


    ¡­¡­


    Following that massive explosion, a very tense atmosphere had settled over the entirety of Skysea City.


    Citizens of the city didn''t dare to emerge from their homes, and to the vast majority of people, this was the first time that it had truly dawned on them that a war was imminent.


    Even though the Eastsea Fleet had been docked on the coast of Skysea City this entire time, that had nowhere near as much of an impact as that explosion had.


    That doomsday-like explosion and the tsunami that had almost rushed into the entire city filled everyone with panic and horror.


    Everyone was staying indoors, watching the news being broadcasted on their soul televisions for further updates on the situation.


    "According to the evidence we''ve discovered, it''s very likely that a secret organization in the Star Luo Empire was responsible for this attack. The federation has adopted a very firm and aggressive stance on the matter, and the military has stated that should these reports be confirmed to be true, then they''ll definitely be retaliating in an even more intense manner."


    News reports surrounding the incident were cropping up one after another, and aside from reports condemning the perpetrators behind this incident, there were also experts analyzing the probability of a war taking place, as well as how the federal military stacked up against the military of the Star Luo Empire.


    There seemed to be the same underlying message embedded within all of these news reports; war was imminent!


    At the Eastsea Legion United Control Center.


    It had been less than half a year since the united control center had been established, and it was a conglomeration of the Northsea Fleet, the Eastsea Fleet, and the number one fleet in the federation, the Sea God Fleet.


    The united control center currently presided over three fleets, as well as the field armies that these fleets belonged to, which amounted to a total of over 400,000 troops.


    The entire Douluo Federation had around 1,000,000 troops, of which 300,000 were part of the navy, and over half of all of the naval troops had been gathered here.


    It could be said that this united control center presided over close to half of the entire federal military.


    At this moment, the atmosphere inside the control center was very heavy, and on the main seat sat an elderly man with a high nose bridge and a pair of sunken eyes. He had a grim look on his face, and his epaulets indicated that he was a federal admiral.


    His aura was like a boundless unfathomable abyss, and the vast majority of the oppressive atmosphere in the entire control center stemmed from him.


    All of the soldiers sitting on either side of the long table before him were all extremely high-ranking military officials, and even major generals could only sit at the end of the table. The two people seated directly on either side of him were also admirals and generals, but their auras were far inferior to his.


    According to Douluo Federation''s military hierarchy, admirals and generals ranked directly below the military commander-in-chief. However, due to the different roles they were assigned, even admirals and generals weren''t all equal. It was undoubtedly the case that the man occupying the main seat here definitely stood at the very pinnacle of the federal military, and was vastly influential.


    "Commander, according to the information we''ve gathered, all of the evidence points toward the perpetrators coming from the Star Luo Empire. We''ve already begun an exhaustive investigation to search for all suspicious individuals," a major general said in a respectful manner.


    "The Star Luo Empire?" The commander on the main seat swept his gaze over the faces of all of the military officials present with a cold smile on his face.


    "Are you all idiots or do you think I''m an idiot? The basis for anyone''s actions lay in their motives. How about you tell me what motive the Star Luo Empire would have for attacking us? Also, why did they just so happen to attack a warship that had been vacated for maintenance? Are you telling me it was a coincidence? Old Man Xu, the warship was yours; you tell me what''s going on," the commander said as he turned to one of the generals beside him.


    The general also had a dark expression on his face. Black-grade warships were extremely expensive to produce, and it would take an astronomical sum to replace the one that had been destroyed.


    General Xu Yangyun had only recently become the commander of the Northsea Legion, and to say that he was currently in a foul mood would be a massive understatement.


    He slammed a hand onto the table, and replied, "We have to launch an exhaustive investigation! I don''t care who''s behind this; we have to get to the bottom of this!"


    The commander looked into his furious eyes, and nodded in response. "We do indeed have to launch an exhaustive investigation, and that begins with an internal investigation. Who''s responsible for the federal fleet radar department?"


    One of the major generals sitting near the end of the table stood up with a pale complexion and extended a military salute. "It''s me, Commander."


    "Detain him!" the commander said in a cold manner.


    Two burly soldiers immediately strode in from outside before each grabbing onto one of the major general''s arms.


    "I''m innocent, Commander! This has nothing to do with me!" The major general immediately began to panic. He was well aware of how harsh their commander was, and if he were to be detained, then it was all over for him.


    "Setting aside whether you colluded with the perpetrators, you''re still guilty of malfeasance, and that alone is enough to prosecute you. Take him away for interrogation," the commander said in an implacable manner.


    All of the other officials present reflexively sat up straighter, and sweat began to bead up on many people''s foreheads. Even the fury in Xu Yangyun''s face seemed to have abated slightly in the wake of this development.

 Chapter 1223: Execute You

    After all, at the general level, it was difficult, even for one''s higher-ups, to prosecute them. However, this commander clearly had no qualms doing so. He may have only been an admiral, but at times, he was even more influential than the military commander-in-chief as he had a few more identities that made him a figure of utmost importance to the entire federation.


    He was the commander of the Sea God Legion, the Battle God Hall Master, and a Limit Douluo!


    Any one of those three identities was enough to cement one''s spot at the very pinnacle of the entire federation, let alone all three at once.


    Furthermore, this commander was one of the representatives of the Eagle Faction. There were different factions even in the Eagle Faction itself, and he definitely belonged to the most aggressive one.


    "I don''t care who''s involved and for what reasons; anyone who''s been found to be the perpetrator of the attack or had colluded with the perpetrator will be executed!"


    Right at this moment, a soldier outside suddenly yelled, "Report!"


    The commander''s expression darkened even further. "What is it?"


    The soldier hurried over before extending a military salute. "Sir, a group of soldiers in strange military uniforms have arrived outside our barracks, and they claim to be special investigators sent by the federation to investigate the recent attack."


    "Special investigators from the federation?" Chen Xinjie raised an eyebrow as he instructed, "Bring in their leader to see me; let me see what this is all about."


    All of the other military officials present were also rather bemused. Special federal investigators? Could this have been a team that had only just been assembled to investigate this matter?


    According to military regulations, there were indeed some special departments that were responsible for overseeing certain military divisions, but this united fleet was different! The commander of this united fleet was the current Battle God Hall Master, Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie; who would dare to barge in at a time like this, especially when he was at the height of his rage? Did they have a death wish?


    With Chen Xinjie''s status in the military, he could easily find an excuse to execute someone, and no one would dare to say anything about it.


    Not long after that, a young man in a white military uniform was led into the room.


    This was a tall and broad young man with wide shoulders and a set of handsome yet authoritative facial features. He appeared to be around 28 to 29 years of age, and his military uniform was pristine and completely creaseless. He also had a pair of major general epaulets on his shoulders, and gave off a rather imposing aura.


    Despite the fact that there were several dozens of high-ranking military officials present, he was completely unfazed and strode over to Chen Xinjie before stopping around five meters away. He then made a fist with his right hand and thumped it against his chest in a rather special military salute.


    A hint of enlightenment appeared in Chen Xinjie''s eyes at the sight of this military uniform, and he was made aware of this young man''s identity after witnessing this military salute.


    However, his brows then quickly furrowed. Since when did this legion become the lapdog of the federation?


    "Greetings, esteemed commander, I''m a special investigator from the federation military''s supervision department. My codename is Blood Dragon."


    Much to everyone''s surprise, Chen Xinjie didn''t immediately erupt into a thunderous rage. Instead, he appraised the young man calmly, and asked, "Why are you here?"


    Blood Dragon replied, "We weren''t responsible for investigating the united fleet initially, but we suspect that the recent attack has something to do with the matter that we''re investigating. Skysea City is currently in a state of lockdown, which hinders our investigation, which is why I''ve come to see you. If possible, I''d like to speak with you in private."


    All of the other military officials present were quite relieved to hear this. They had been rather suspicious of the identity of these so-called special investigators. After all, the explosion had only just taken place, and they had already arrived, but it made a lot more sense if they happened to be in the area investigating something else to begin with. However, how could there be such a young major general? Furthermore, the fact that he could remain so composed even in the presence of Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie was quite remarkable. None of the high-ranking military generals present could remain so calm in Chen Xinjie''s presence.


    Chen Xinjie instructed, "Take him away for now, and I''ll see him after the meeting."


    He waved a hand as he spoke, and the soldier led Blood Dragon away.


    Xu Yangyun turned to Chen Xinjie, and asked, "Commander, is he from that place?"


    The major generals present were oblivious to Blood Dragon''s identity, but as a general, Xu Yangyun knew many federal secrets, so he was able to identify Blood Dragon''s origins.


    Chen Xinjie nodded in response. "It does look like it. I''ll ask him about this later. If he really is from that place, then perhaps he can provide some leads for us in regard to this attack."


    Xu Yangyun nodded in response. "If he really is from that place, then he really does deserve our attention. They''ve made extremely significant contributions to the federation. I heard that..."


    Chen Xinjie raised a hand to cut him off, and Xu Yangyun also realized that he was about to reveal too much, so he fell silent and sat down. However, the newly promoted admiral sitting across from him, Admiral Zhu Ming, was rather perplexed. However, he had also realized that the major general in white most likely had something to do with the secrets of the federation. It was just that he hadn''t been in this position for a very long time, so he hadn''t been made aware of all of these secrets.


    Blood Dragon was taken to a guest hall, and he sat down on the couch as he inspected the room around him.


    The decor in the room wasn''t very lavish, but it was quite refined. The carved timber doorframe and the timber furniture all had an antiquated feel to them, and this resembled the office of an artist rather than that of an admiral.


    Blood Dragon closed his eyes to rest, and he thought back to his performance following his arrival here. After ascertaining that he hadn''t slipped up at any point, he entered a meditative state.


    Of course, Blood Dragon was none other than Tang Wulin. His decision to visit this place seemed to be quite a risky one, but he was actually quite confident. Most importantly, he couldn''t afford to allow things to continue to progress according to the Eagle Faction''s plan. Otherwise, severe problems could arise in the near future.


    Hence, he decided to come here with all of his friends, and prior to his visit, he had already done sufficient preparatory work.


    The united control center meeting didn''t progress for very long after that. The basic premise had already been set; they had to launch an exhaustive investigation and find the perpetrators at all costs!


    The federation was determined to point the finger at the Star Luo Empire as the perpetrators of this attack, so it was undoubtedly the case that support for the Eagle Faction will continue to increase. A war truly did seem to be imminent now.


    When Chen Xinjie strode into his office, he was greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin sitting in silence, breathing evenly with his eyes closed.


    His back was ramrod straight, and his white military uniform made him look very sharp and dashing. It had been four hours since the meeting had first begun.


    Chen Xinjie nodded internally in approval. As expected of a soldier from the Blood God Legion; his composure was truly commendable. It was no wonder that he could become a major general at such a young age.


    However, what was rather surprising to him was that he was unable to identify Tang Wulin''s exact cultivation rank. He could only sense that his soul power fluctuations seemed to be below the Soul Douluo level, but he seemed to possess some other type of energy fluctuations that were even more powerful, yet also more difficult to detect. On top of that, his spiritual fluctuations were also quite powerful.


    From his blood essence fluctuations and bone structure, he could tell that this was truly a young man and not an older man in disguise; it truly was quite remarkable that he had achieved everything he had at such a young age.


    Tang Wulin sensed Chen Xinjie''s arrival, and he withdrew his aura as he opened his eyes to look directly into Chen Xinjie''s sharp piercing gaze.


    "Commander." Tang Wulin immediately rose to his feet before extending another military salute toward Chen Xinjie.


    "Young man, do you know what my first thought was when you declared your identity?" Chen Xinjie asked in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I do not."


    "To execute you." Even though Chen Xinjie was only speaking, Tang Wulin felt as if there really were a soul laser gun pointed at his head.

 Chapter 1224: Your Identity is Fake

    Powerful spiritual pressure instantly descended, striking Tang Wulin with a sense of asphyxiation. He felt as if he were facing a boundless gargantuan wave that had no end in sight and was going to completely destroy him.


    This was a spiritual domain!


    Tang Wulin was able to immediately identify this as the spiritual domain released by Chen Xinjie. If he hadn''t experienced Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue''s spiritual domain before, he most likely wouldn''t be able to withstand the power of this spiritual domain. However, after cultivating for so long, his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power had continued to improve, and even though he hadn''t yet attained his own spiritual domain, he was already quite adept at resisting the spiritual domains of others.


    The spiritual pressure only lasted a very short time before a hint of surprise appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face. "You possess Spirit Domain realm spiritual power?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart tightened upon hearing this. Under the pressure of Chen Xinjie''s spiritual domain, he was unable to conceal his own Spirit Domain realm spiritual power. This was quite troublesome; it would not be a good thing for him to receive too much attention from this Limit Douluo as he was the current Battle God Hall Master! His disguise was completely seamless, but if he were to be scrutinized too closely by a Limit Douluo, there was a very good chance that his cover would be blown.


    Chen Xinjie''s gaze was as sharp as daggers. If every Eagle Faction soldier could be described as an eagle, then he would definitely be an undisputed king among the eagles. Even admirals like himself would struggle to maintain their composure in the face of his powerful aura, let alone a major general, yet this young man was able to remain completely calm and unflustered.


    Chen Xinjie was still maintaining the output of his overwhelming aura, but at the same time, he was very surprised. This young man was clearly less than 30 years of age, yet he already possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power; this was simply unheard of! Even he was nowhere near this level at that age.


    The improvement in one''s spiritual power was different from that of soul power as consumption of spirit items could enhance the latter. However, spiritual power would require solid accumulation through cultivation, and one had to possess exceptional aptitude to be able to reach the Spirit Domain realm.


    There was virtually nothing that could directly boost one''s spiritual power, and even among all of the spirit items that he knew of, there were extremely few that could directly enhance one''s spiritual power. Furthermore, this Blood Dragon''s spiritual power was very condensed and settled, indicating that he had clearly been at the Spirit Domain realm for a while already, rather than someone who had only just reached this level. That made Chen Xinjie even more astonished.


    He was well aware of what spiritual power of this level entailed, and he knew that barring any mishaps, this young man was definitely going to stand at the pinnacle of the entire continent someday.


    As the Battle God Hall Master, his position was actually of an even higher rank than a normal admiral as the Battle God Hall represented the most powerful forces the federation had to offer.


    There were some secrets that were unknown to the outside world, such as how the divine-grade mechas of the federation were solely given to the Battle God Hall. There were many other such secrets surrounding the Battle God Hall, and the federation invested astronomical sums of money into the Battle God Hall every year.


    Regardless of which faction rose to power in the federal parliament, the status of the Battle God Hall remained completely unshakeable. Aside from Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie, there weren''t many people who were aware of just how powerful the Battle God Hall was, and the extent of the knowledge that the outside world had on the Battle God Hall was limited to its 18 Battle Gods.


    "Are you Zhang Huanyun''s successor? Or perhaps Blood One''s successor?" Chen Xinjie asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m not here to talk about this, Commander. Don''t you want to hear the result of our investigation into this attack?"


    Chen Xinjie raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. There was almost no one in this world who dared to speak to him like this. In Tang Wulin''s eyes, he could see a strong sense of confidence and conviction.


    "Do you know where you are, kid?" Chen Xinjie asked in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin replied with a calm smile, "I''m here in your office."


    Chen Xinjie chuckled coldly, "Your identity is fake. You''re no special investigator; the federal supervision department wouldn''t dare to send their people to me unless they have a death wish!"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. He didn''t expect Chen Xinjie to be speaking like a gang leader, and he was also stunned by how aggressive he was. Prior to his visit, he had already done some research into Chen Xinjie''s personality. Even though he was the leader of the Eagle Faction, he had a strong sense of justice and moral compass, which was why Tang Wulin had been determined to pay him a visit.


    "There''s no way that the Blood God Legion would collaborate with the supervision department, so my first thought after you declared your identity to me was to execute you! You sure are a brave kid! You managed to swindle your way into the united control center, to the point where you were even brought to me. Not everyone can pull that off, which is why I''m giving you a chance now; tell me what your objective is."


    In the face of Chen Xinjie''s intimidating gaze, Tang Wulin remained completely calm and collected, and wasn''t flustered in the slightest by what Chen Xinjie had said.


    "I knew from the beginning that my identity wouldn''t be able to fool you, and you would''ve definitely been able to figure out that I''m no special investigator. I only announced this identity as a way to request an audience with you," Tang Wulin admitted in a very natural manner.


    "Oh?" Chen Xinjie raised an eyebrow and asked in a cold voice, "Do you know that your actions are incriminating enough to earn you a prosecution in the military court?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I''m confident you wouldn''t hand me over to the military court."


    "Go on, then. You only have one chance to convince me," Chen Xinjie said as he sat down on the couch.


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief. Just as he had expected, Chen Xinjie acted in an overbearing and aggressive way, but he was very logical and cunning on the inside. As expected of one of the most powerful beings in this world. This man was someone who ranked alongside the likes of the past Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Yun Ming, the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, Qiangu Dongfeng, and the Douluo Palace Master, Cao Dezhi.


    "This is something that I can only disclose to you and concerns federal affairs of the highest level of confidentiality, so if you have any voice monitor devices in this room, I suggest you switch them off. I''m only able to disclose this information to you after receiving authorization from Blood One and Legion Commander Zhang," Tang Wulin said as a serious look appeared on his face.


    Chen Xinjie replied in an indifferent voice, "There are no voice monitor devices in here, and I never require any evidence when I want to do something, so you can say what you have to say without any worries."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he continued, "I''m sure you know of the existence of the abyssal plane, Commander. Not long ago, an unprecedented abyssal tide appeared; I''m sure the military was made aware of this. Our Blood God Legion had requested reinforcements from the military at the time."


    Chen Xinjie nodded in response. "The issue was resolved quickly after that, wasn''t it? How was it different from the abyssal tides of the past?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "There was a massive difference. During the last abyssal tide, the abyssal plane paid an enormous price to send over 10 abyssal emperors into the passageway, including even abyssal sovereigns. What was most terrifying was that even the ruler of the abyssal plane, the Holy Lord, had attacked."


    Chen Xinjie abruptly sat bolt upright upon hearing this. This was something that he was completely oblivious to, so the Blood God Legion either hadn''t reported this to the military or the report had been filed away as top secret information by the parliament.


    "The Holy Lord?"


    Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response. "That''s right. The Holy Lord didn''t even appear when the abyssal passageway first took shape over 6,000 years ago, yet he appeared during the last abyssal tide, and he almost demolished the entire Blood God Legion. The Holy Lord represents the power of the entire abyssal plane."


    "That''s impossible," Chen Xinjie exclaimed, "This is a conflict between two planes, we''re the ones being invaded; there''s no way that the power of our plane would allow the abyssal plane to send over so many of their powerful beings."

 Chapter 1225: Convinced

    Tang Wulin asked in a grim voice, "Then what if it had been an inside job? What if they had initiated the abyssal tide with no regard for the consequences?"


    "An inside job?" Chen Xinjie''s pupils abruptly contracted as he asked in a cold voice, "What do you mean by inside job? Are you telling me there were traitors in your Blood God Legion?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "Of course there were no traitors in the legion; every soldier who joins the Blood God Legion must have undergone rigorous background checks. However, there are some people who want to destroy this plane and are willing to stoop to any lows to bring disaster upon this plane. If the abyssal tide had broken through the defenses of our Blood God Legion, then a calamitous disaster would''ve definitely ensued, resulting in the loss of countless lives, which would only benefit a certain group of people."


    "You''re referring to Evil Soul Masters?" Chen Xinjie''s aggression clearly eased slightly, indicating that he was beginning to believe Tang Wulin''s story.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "That''s right. We don''t know how the Evil Soul Masters managed to infiltrate our legion, but they damaged a certain point on the seal within the abyssal passageway, and the abyssal plane used this to their advantage to unleash an all-out attack that caught us completely off guard. The federation doesn''t know the full story, but what I can tell you is that the situation at the time was extremely perilous. Not only had we fully activated the Blood God Array, we also had to face the surprise attack from the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    "In our direst hour of need, we were blessed by the power of the plane, and only then did we just barely manage to force back the abyssal tide. However, the legion had suffered heavy losses during the ordeal, and what''s even more damning is that the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult are like sharp swords that are constantly hanging over our heads; we don''t know when they''re going to collude with the abyssal plane again."


    "Hold on," Chen Xinjie interjected, "Everyone''s actions are governed by motives; what motive did the abyssal plane have to unleash such an attack when doing so required them to make such heavy sacrifices? Why were they in such a hurry? The powerful beings of the abyssal plane are definitely aware that it won''t be easy to conquer the entire Douluo Continent, and that they''ll have to face the pressure of the entire plane during their attempt at making a conquest. Even the slightest misstep could result in them suffering heavy losses, so why did they decide to take such a risk?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "The abyssal plane has always wanted to devour the life force energy of our plane, and truth be told, a major motivating factor behind the abyssal plane''s decision to strike at a time like this is because our plane is becoming weaker. Due to excessive exploitation from the human race, the resources on the Douluo Star are gradually being depleted. That must also be the main reason behind your Eagle Faction''s intention to wage war and plunder resources from the other two continents."


    "At the same time, the severe lack of resources on the Douluo Star has also damaged the balance of the planet''s entire ecosystem. Back when Shrek Academy was destroyed by the Godslayer missile, the ancient Golden Tree that protected the Sea God''s Pavilion had also been destroyed. Did you know that the Golden Tree is the tree of life of our entire Douluo Star and is the core of nature? Its destruction has led to the overall situation on the planet deteriorating even further. The power of the plane has waned even further, and that''s the root cause behind the abyssal plane''s decision to strike at this juncture. They want to completely destroy and devour us when we''re at our weakest to evolve their plane."


    Chen Xinjie was slightly shaken by Tang Wulin''s words. Indeed, why did the Eagle Faction support war, and why were they so eager to invade the other two continents? It was all because of the lack of resources in the federation was becoming more and more apparent. The plan formulated by the higher-ups of the federation was to colonize the other two continents, then move on to colonize other planets in the near future.


    The small spacecrafts developed by the secret research center of the federation had already discovered some planets that could support human life. However, mass immigration to those planets would require a vast amount of resources to be dedicated to research and development. With the severe lack of resources on the Douluo Continent, the federation no longer had the means to support such massive projects.


    This was the main instigating factor behind the imminent war. Tang Wulin''s word had had a profound impact on Chen Xinjie as he was explaining the problem that the Douluo Continent was currently facing on another level.


    The federation wasn''t directly behind the Shrek Academy bombing, but they had definitely turned a blind eye to certain events leading up to the horrific event. Shrek Academy was simply far too powerful and influential, and any attempt to instigate a war would be affected by the neutral faction, spearheaded by Shrek Academy. Hence, Shrek Academy was going to pose a major hindrance to the federation''s future plans.


    As such, some extremists had colluded with certain unscrupulous powers to give rise to that unprecedented terror attack, which completely destroyed Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters.


    Chen Xinjie had his own set of ideals. His greatest wish was to see the human race truly begin to immigrate to other planets during his lifetime. In order to find more habitable space for the humans on the Douluo Continent, he was willing to do anything and give up everything. However, even he wasn''t aware that Shrek Academy''s destruction had led to such severe negative implications on the entire plane.


    "The other reason behind the abyssal plane''s action lies in the fact that the Blood God Legion has recently attained a type of secret weapon that can truly destroy the abyssal energy within abyssal creatures. This struck fear into their hearts as it meant that they would actually be suffering irreversible losses if they were to continue to fight the human race. If they can''t conquer our Douluo Star, then there''s a chance that we''ll be able to launch a counterattack against the abyssal plane after we whittle them down to a certain extent. In that situation, the roles of hunter and prey would be reversed."


    "What did you say?" Tang Wulin''s earlier analysis had only intrigued Chen Xinjie, but his latest claim had shaken Chen Xinjie to the very core.


    "The Blood God Legion has developed a weapon that can destroy abyssal energy?" Powerful spiritual pressure erupted from Chen Xinjie''s body once again.


    Tang Wulin resisted his spiritual aura and nodded in an earnest manner. "That''s right, we''ve developed such a weapon, and what we can be sure of is that it''s extremely effective. During the last abyssal tide, we permanently slew three abyssal emperors, thereby completely destroying three of the 108 abyssal levels."


    Chen Xinjie was breathing slightly heavily as his eyes shimmered with bewilderment. He was naturally aware of what this entailed. The abyssal plane had posed a massive threat for several millennia; it was like a constantly ticking time bomb. It was no wonder that the abyssal plane would initiate such an unprecedented abyssal tide; who could''ve thought that the Blood God Legion would be able to develop such a weapon? This entailed that the Blood God Legion''s status was going to enjoy a massive boost!


    "On top of that, we can convert abyssal energy into life force energy that can be injected into our Douluo Continent, thereby resolving the issue of the dwindling life force energy on the continent."


    Chen Xinjie felt as if he had been dealt several heavy blows in succession. "Is that true?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m sure you can get into contact with Legion Commander Zhang; why don''t you ask him? This is top secret information even in our Blood God Legion, so I had to secure permission from the legion commander before I disclosed all of this to you. The four pillars of the Blood God Legion have always been Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, and the Battle God Hall, and during these past 6,000 years, the Battle God Hall has always been an important component of our legion."


    After a brief period of astonishment, Chen Xinjie gradually calmed himself down before asking, "What does all this have to do with the objective of your visit?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "My friends and I established the Blood Dragon Squad, and we really have been sent out by the legion. I am the captain of the Blood Dragon Squad, and our objective is to search for Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult. They already know of the existence of our aforementioned secret weapon, so the Holy Spirit Cult will definitely become one of the legion''s most powerful enemies. We don''t want to be stabbed in the back when war breaks out between our legion and the abyssal plane.


    "Hence, if we can discover the whereabouts of the Holy Spirit Cult, then our legion will wage war on them at all costs to cleanse them off the face of this world. Only then will we be able to focus all of our efforts and attention on facing the abyssal plane. No matter how you analyze the situation, there''s no way that the Star Luo Empire or the Dou Spirit Empire would attack the federal military at a time like this.


    "They know that they''re inferior to us in power, so they would only be fearful of a war, rather than provoke us to try and instigate the war sooner. Going by the same logic, which side would benefit the most from a war between the three continents? Once a war commences, the Holy Spirit Cult will be able to attain a vast amount of death energy. Hence, even though we don''t have any concrete evidence, it makes logical sense that they were behind this attack. As such, I hope you can give us some time to find these Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult. Finding the true perpetrators would be the best way to try and track down the lair of the Holy Spirit Cult through them."

 Chapter 1226: 10 Days?

    Chen Xinjie fell into silent contemplation upon hearing this. It was undoubtedly true that everything Tang Wulin had said made sense. In reality, Tang Wulin had made extensive preparations before coming here, so everything he had said was true with no fabricated information presented. It was indeed one of his missions to find the headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult; he had merely omitted his and the Tang Sect''s objective, which was to prevent this war from happening.


    The fact that Chen Xinjie was pondering the situation indicated to Tang Wulin that he had been swayed. Next, it was up to Chen Xinjie to make a decision.


    Chen Xinjie was currently thinking back to the call that he had made prior to returning to his office.


    ......


    "What''s going on, Brother? I wasn''t expecting a call from you."


    "Have you heard of someone by the codename of Blood Dragon? Is he from your legion?"


    "Blood Dragon? Are you referring to the Blood Dragon Squad? How did you come into contact with them?" A surprised voice sounded from the other end of the line.


    "Just tell me who he is," Chen Xinjie urged in a serious voice.


    The man on the other end of the line was silent for a while before replying in an emotional voice, "He''s an extremely outstanding young man. If it weren''t for him, perhaps all of us would''ve already been killed during the last abyssal tide. At the very least, your nephew would be dead for sure. The specific circumstances surrounding him is top-secret information in our legion, so I can''t disclose it to you. However, what I can tell you is that he''s definitely trustworthy, and he''s the most integral member of our Blood God Legion, so you have to protect him no matter what. You can''t let any harm befall him, or the entire continent will suffer the consequences."


    ......


    The words of his blood brother echoed within his mind, and this was the first time that Chen Xinjie had ever heard such glowing praise for anyone from that stubborn brother of his. Even the almighty Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, who was also his direct superior, had never been referred to by him in such a flattering light. This was sufficient testament to just how important this young man was in his heart,


    "How much time do you need? You''re trying to stall the commencement of this war, right?" Chen Xinjie was extremely cunning and immediately identified the gist of the issue.


    Tang Wulin made no effort to disguise his objective. "That''s right. At the very least, I want to find more Evil Soul Masters and destroy them first, rather than allow them to benefit from the vast amounts of death energy that is sure to arise during the course of the war. In reality, I''ve never seen this war as something that''s entirely necessary. Invasion isn''t the only option to allow the federation to make a resurgence. If we can destroy the abyssal plane and absorb all of the energy in the plane, then we can achieve the same objective they had for attempting to devour our plane. Of course, these are only my thoughts. I know that I can''t change much on my own, but at the very least, the Holy Spirit Cult is a lifelong enemy of mine."


    Chen Xinjie said, "I''ll give you 10 days; that''s all the time you have. If you can''t find sufficient evidence to prove that the Holy Spirit Cult was behind the attack, then even I won''t be able to prevent the early commencement of the war. I''m actually a supporter of this war, but I don''t want this war to commence before we''ve made ample preparations. You''re still young, so it''ll be quite difficult for you to see the bigger picture. Wars are indeed extremely horrific, but for the sake of the advancement of the entire human race, some sacrifices are often unavoidable."


    Tang Wulin looked into Chen Xinjie''s unshakably determined eyes, and he didn''t say anything further. He knew that there was no way he could convince Chen Xinjie to give up on this war.


    "Alright, I''ll be sure to give you a response within 10 days."


    Light flashed from Chen Xinjie''s hand, and a crystal with a layer of metal around it flew over to Tang Wulin.


    "This is my Sea God Badge. Carry it with you, and you''ll be able to go anywhere you like in Skysea City without encountering any opposition. The legion will place Skysea City into complete lockdown 10 days from now, so you''ll have this 10-day period during which you can conduct your investigation, but I can only repress the social pressures for 10 days."


    "Thank you, Commander." Tang Wulin heaved a sigh of relief before extending another military salute and departing from Chen Xinjie''s office.


    Prior to his arrival, he had already considered the worst-case scenario. Even if Chen Xinjie refused to listen to reason and was determined to detain him, he would still have a way to escape. Amorous Douluo Zang Xin had accompanied him during this visit in case things were to go awry, but thankfully, everything went according to plan, and he successfully managed to buy 10 days of time for himself and his friends.


    Only after emerging from Chen Xinjie''s office did Tang Wulin relax a little. Prior to coming here, he had already had an extensive discussion with Zhang Huanyun and Cao Dezhi before formulating a plan.


    Of course, he didn''t tell those two that he was going to prevent this war from happening; he had only told them that he didn''t want this war to commence too quickly, and that he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to dig up more members of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Zhang Huanyun and Chen Xinjie were acquaintances, and extremely familiar ones, at that. They had both come from the Battle God Hall, and Chen Xinjie had been superior to Zhang Huanyun both in terms of powers and influence.


    Zhang Huanyun eventually chose to join the Blood God Legion, while Chen Xinjie became the Battle God Hall Master.


    Furthermore, Blood Two was Chen Xinjie''s younger brother, and it was exactly because of these relationships that Zhang Huanyun allowed Tang Wulin to pay Chen Xinjie this visit.


    As for the documents from the supervision department, that wasn''t all that difficult for them to get their hands on.


    At the very least, with Chen Xinjie''s Sea God Badge, Tang Wulin and the Blood Dragon Squad wouldn''t have to do everything in the shadows. The next 10 days were going to be extremely important to them, and they had to prevent the early commencement of this war no matter what.


    After reuniting with his friends, Tang Wulin didn''t disclose to them the exact details of his conversation with Chen Xinjie. He told them to go and rest first before discussing the matter with Zang Xin in private.


    "Your Majesty, how much resources can our Tang Sect make use of in Skysea City? We only have 10 days, and Skysea City has been placed in complete lockdown, so those Evil Soul Masters most likely haven''t managed to get away; they''ve merely hidden themselves very well. Where do you think we should start first in our search?" Tang Wulin already had some ideas, but he decided to ask for Zang Xin''s input before he did anything.


    Zang Xin replied, "10 days doesn''t seem like a short time, but it''s actually not a long time, either, so we can''t afford to waste any of it. We currently have the support of the military, which will be very beneficial for our operation. We have many people whom we can call upon in Skysea City, but we can''t mobilize too many of them. After all, you only took the Blood Dragon Squad with you to the united control center, so we won''t rouse any suspicions if there are only around 20 of us, but if we have too many people on the case, the military will most likely begin to suspect our motives, which could expose our true objective. As for where we should begin, it''s going to be extremely difficult to find these Evil Soul Masters in such a massive city. Hence, our best bet would be to lure them out!"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. Great minds really did think alike! His thought process was concurrent with Zang Xin''s. The forte of the Holy Spirit Cult''s Evil Soul Masters lay in their ability to hide themselves, so searching for them aimlessly would be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. As such, the best course of action was definitely to lure them out instead.


    "If we want to lure them out, we''ll need something to tempt them with. Do you have any ideas, Wulin?" Zang Xin asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Our greatest advantage lays in the fact that we''ve secured the support of the military, and the Holy Spirit Cult is also oblivious to our existence. Everyone is siding with the narrative that the Star Luo Empire was responsible for this attack, but the Boundless Ocean Douluo insists on launching an exhaustive investigation on the matter. I think that the first thing we have to do is to get the military to ease up on their internal investigation.


    "I''m sure there are military personnel from the Eagle Faction cooperating with the perpetrators of this attack from the inside, and if the Boundless Ocean Douluo adopts a stance that suggests that he''s turning a blind eye and allowing the incident to instigate the war earlier than it otherwise would, then the Holy Spirit Cult would be lured into a false sense of security. After that, if we can dangle some alluring bait in front of them, they''ll be sure to reveal themselves, and all we have to do is strike and detain them."


    Zang Xin nodded with a pleased smile. "Alright, you go ahead and do everything according to your plan, then. We''ll support you with all of our power. I''ll constantly be by your side during these 10 days."


    He wasn''t insisting on following Tang Wulin because he was worried that Tang Wulin would botch the investigation; he was merely concerned for Tang Wulin''s safety. After all, Tang Wulin was absolutely irreplaceable, both to the Tang Sect and to Shrek Academy.


    Unbeknownst to Tang Wulin, even though Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue hadn''t come on this trip, she had implored Zang Xin in private to keep Tang Wulin safe no matter what.


    Five days had already passed since the attack on the military port in Skysea City, and the entire federation was itching for vengeance against the perpetrators, which all of the evidence suggested was the Star Luo Empire.


    There were even claims that strong evidence had been discovered, indicating that the Star Luo Empire was plotting another follow-up attack, and all of the major media outlets were scrambling to fan the flames on the situation.

 Chapter 1227: Convoy

    After a period of fugitive-hunting, the defenses around Skysea City gradually eased, and the military lockdown was removed. However, there were still rigorous checks taking place at all of the important transport junctions in the city in order to prevent the same thing from happening again.


    The defenses around the carrier-based vanguard group became a lot tighter, with all types of detection radars constantly activated to conduct surveillance.


    The attack''s success could be linked directly to malfeasance from the radar surveillance department, and the relevant personnel had already been sent to military court. Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie would be keeping an eye on the proceedings of the case in person, and his stance on matters remained firm no matter who pleaded for the innocence of those people. Hence, they were going to be prosecuted soon, and their sentences were going to be very severe.


    Meanwhile, there were a total of 20 large soul vehicles traveling along the highway toward Skysea City.


    Each of these large soul vehicles was over 30 meters in length and over 8 meters tall, with 30 massive wheels required to carry their enormous weight.


    The vehicles were painted a navy blue color, and there were skull designs painted on them, as well as special military symbols, indicating that these were dangerous military resources.


    In the sky above, there were 100 mechas led by two black mechas to protect the group of vehicles in case of any mishaps, and it was quite clear that the vehicles contained extremely important military resources.


    Mobilization of similar military resources had already commenced since a few days ago, and war seemed to be imminent. It was undoubtedly the case that the united control center was overseeing the mobilization of these military resources.


    The convoy continued onward in an orderly manner, and the mechas in the sky were relatively spread-out, with some of them inspecting the surrounding area, while others occasionally reported the situation to the control center.


    The person sitting in the passenger''s seat of the first vehicle was a senior colonel, and even the driver was a lieutenant colonel. There was an electronic screen in front of the senior colonel, displaying to him the current situation of the 20 vehicles in the convoy, as well as some surveillance statistics being gathered by the detection radars that were on top of the vehicles.


    "The control center is being really urgent with their resource mobilization; is the war really about to begin, Boss?" the lieutenant colonel asked.


    The senior colonel''s eyes remained on the screen as he replied, "Anything is possible before the actual order for war arrives, so it''s hard to say."


    The lieutenant colonel rolled his eyes in response. "Can you not speak like a politician, bro?"


    The senior colonel and lieutenant colonel were cousins, yet very few people in the military were aware of this.


    The senior colonel scolded, "Just focus on driving! What''s the point in asking so many questions? I don''t know if the war is going to commence or not. To be honest, I hope the war will commence sooner rather than later. With the power of our military, the Dou Spirit and Star Luo Empires are no match for us. In my opinion, this war should''ve begun long ago. The earlier we unite this whole planet, the sooner we''d have access to more resources. The federation has been holding back this entire time due to the obstacles posed by the Dove Faction and neutral faction."


    It was quite clear that this senior colonel was an Eagle Faction representative.


    The lieutenant colonel pursed his lips in disagreement. "What''s so good about a war? Wars always result in death; I have no interest in that. I only just got married, and my wife is pregnant. At a time like this, I want to be as far-removed from wars as possible."


    The senior colonel snapped, "Alright, quit complaining! I know you recently got married, which is why I put you in the logistics department. Even when the war commences, I won''t send you to the front lines."


    The lieutenant colonel chuckled, "You''re the best, bro! Speaking of which, how many soul missiles are we delivering here? There must be a massive number of them to have filled 20 of these huge vehicles. If all of these soul missiles get detonated, the entire city would most likely instantly be reduced to ashes."


    The lieutenant colonel shuddered as he spoke. He was well aware of what was being transported by the convoy.


    Soul missiles were considered to be weapons of war in the federation, and their power was simply far too fearsome. As soldiers, all of them knew very well just how powerful these things were.


    Soul missiles had already been invented over 10,000 years ago, and following the last 10,000 years of development, the modern soul missiles had all improved significantly in power, range, variety, and functions. Not only could they be accurately controlled and strike targets a long distance away, there was also a lot of diversity among the missiles. There were radar signal jamming missiles, missiles purely for destruction, missiles that targeted large areas, as well as missiles that specifically targeted life forms or buildings, and that was only the tip of the iceberg.


    Compared to over 10,000 years ago, soul missiles of the same grade had become several times more powerful. There were currently no longer any soul missiles that were below the fourth grade, so all soul missiles were regarded as the most important resources by the federation, which meant that they were also subjected to the strictest management.


    "Can you wish for something good to happen? Why would this stuff suddenly explode? Less talking, and more driving! The sooner we get these hot potatoes into the storage units, the better. The soul missiles contained in these 20 vehicles are enough to equip quite a few black warships."


    The lieutenant colonel paid no heed to the senior colonel''s words. "I was just raising a hypothetical situation. Come to think of it, back when Shrek City was bombed, just two soul missiles had been enough to rase the entire city to the ground! That''s downright unimaginable to me. Aren''t Godslayer missiles supposed to kept under the highest level of security? How could they have been stolen? This is..."


    "Shut up!" the senior colonel suddenly yelled, "Is this something that you should be asking? Shut up and drive!"


    The two stolen Godslayer missiles had always been a taboo topic in the federal military, even to this very day, and the military still hadn''t been able to release a proper explanation to the general public.


    The Shrek City bombing was also around the time when the Eagle Faction began its rise to power, and during these past two years, the military had developed and expanded at a drastic rate, with much more money being poured into the military than in the past. Sure enough, the Holy Spirit Cult had kept a low profile ever since, but as for how the two Godslayer missiles had been stolen, there were still no decisive conclusions.


    At the very least, the federal parliament took full responsibility and underwent a complete reform, but who were the actual perpetrators involved, and where were they right now?


    The new federal parliament had stated that they were going to launch an exhaustive investigation, but there were still no results.


    There were many people like the lieutenant colonel who had doubts in their hearts, but this was a strictly taboo topic in the military.


    "There are many things that we shouldn''t know," said the senior colonel as he continued, "And the less you know, the better. That was not just a terrorist attack; there were definitely political elements involved as well. That''s all I''ll say on the matter; the rest is not for us to speculate about. How much longer until we reach the base?"


    "We still have over 300 kilometers to travel, and at our current speed, it''ll take around three and a half more hours to reach our destination." The vehicles were simply too heavy to be driven too quickly, and he could only maintain a consistent and even speed.


    "Alright, we need to focus on the final stretch of this journey. Transporting such important military resources will look very good on your resume."


    "Alright."


    The lieutenant colonel fell silent and focused on driving, while the senior colonel focused his attention on the screens before him. He was the only one in the convoy who was aware that aside from a large number of regulation fourth to sixth-grade missiles, the convoy was also carrying three ninth-grade soul missiles that were to be equipped to red aircraft carriers, as well as over 30 seventh-grade and eighth-grade soul missiles.


    Aside from the mecha battalion in the air above, there was at least a squadron of fighter aircrafts accompanying the convoy at even higher altitudes. That was a group of at least 36 battle aircrafts, and it was sufficient testament to just how important this batch of military resources was.


    Perhaps there were also some secret resources that they were carrying that even a senior colonel like him didn''t have the right to know about. As such, all he wanted was to get to their destination safely, and as quickly as possible.


    But then again, with so many fighter aircrafts and mechas in accompaniment, there most likely wouldn''t be any issues. After all, this was the power of the military.


    The distance of over 300 kilometers that they still had to travel before reaching Skysea City seemed to be very long, but to these fighter aircrafts that were capable of breaking the sound barrier, it would only take them a few minutes to reach the city.

 Chapter 1228: Sudden Underground Change

    With that in mind, the senior colonel heaved a faint sigh of relief. These special deliveries were indeed quite dangerous, but at the same time, they would be counted as significant military contributions. Hence, after taking all of the relevant factors into account, he decided to bring his cousin along with him.


    After carefully checking the screens again, he was able to ascertain that all of the figures were normal, and there were no suspicious individuals that had been discovered. In order to facilitate this delivery, the entire highway had been sealed off to civilian vehicles.


    There were over three hours left, and he couldn''t wait for it to be over!


    Just as the senior colonel was preparing to relax a little, he suddenly felt a burst of faint tremors.


    "Hmm?" The senior colonel faltered momentarily before immediately becoming more alert.


    The highway was extremely smooth and flat, so how could these tremors have arisen? The lieutenant colonel who was driving the vehicle had also sensed that something was amiss, and just as befuddlement began to well up in his heart, an astonishing turn of events suddenly unfolded.


    "Boom!" Violent tremors erupted from beneath the vehicle, immediately followed by a strong sense of weightlessness.


    The road suddenly exploded, and the explosives had been set up very accurately so that their explosions only destroyed the road down below without affecting the vehicles in the convoy. The 20 military vehicles began to plummet downward almost in unison. These vehicles were extremely heavy, so the sudden fall instantly brought horrified looks to everyone''s faces.


    These vehicles were holding soul missiles! Even if just a single one of the missiles were to be detonated, all of them would explode! The entire area in a massive radius would most likely be razed to the ground as a result.


    As such, all of the mechas in the air above were completely stunned by the sight of the 20 military vehicles abruptly plummeting downward. In that instant, they didn''t even know whether they should rush downward to assist the vehicles.


    Mecha pilots didn''t have much knowledge in the field of construction, so they had no way of identifying whether the highway had been damaged by explosives, or if it had simply crumbled as it had been unable to withstand the enormous weight of the convoy.


    As such, everyone was at a temporary loss for what to do.


    The senior colonel sitting in the first vehicle was the first to react as he heard a grinding scraping sound that made his skin crawl.


    There were rocks and soil tumbling down all around him, but through the windows of the vehicles, he could still clearly see that a series of chains had appeared around the vehicle. The unpleasant scraping sound was coming from none other than the chains grinding against the vehicle as they supported the vehicle''s weight. The sense of weightlessness also abruptly disappeared.


    "This is an enemy attack! This is not an accident! Please reinforce us!" he roared into the communication device.


    However, in the instant that his voice rang out, all of the images on the screens before him had been reduced to static, and an extremely powerful disruptive signal had instantly made all of the electronic equipment in the vehicle malfunction.


    This was undoubtedly a planned enemy attack, and it had struck very abruptly.


    There were battle aircrafts and mechas accompanying the convoy in the air above, but who could¡¯ve anticipated a surprise attack from underground?


    The vehicle was quickly stabilized, following which the senior colonel and lieutenant colonel realized that they couldn''t see anything. Everything around them was a vast expanse of greyness, and they didn''t know if this was a dense cloud of mist or dust, but in any case, this was definitely not good news for them.


    The chains had already completely enveloped the vehicle like a giant cobweb, both holding the vehicle¡¯s weight and also imprisoning its passengers.


    "Thump!" A dull thump rang out, and something seemed to have struck the vehicle, causing the entire vehicle to sway violently. Immediately thereafter, a burst of powerful pulling force erupted up ahead, forcing the vehicle to advance.


    At this point, the mechas in the air above had already sprung into action. As federal soldiers, all of them were very well-trained, and even though they were momentarily held back by the fear in their hearts, the two black mechas leading the battalion still quickly issued an order before quickly flying downward with all of the other mechas.


    Due to the huge storm of dust that had erupted, they were unable to see what was happening down below. At the same time, not only had the powerful disruptive signal affected the vehicles down below, it had also impacted the mechas'' detection and communication systems.


    All of the soul vehicles down below contained soul missiles, so no one dared to unleash any attacks; all they could do was descend onto the scene before reacting to the situation.


    Right at this moment, over 100 streaks of light suddenly erupted from within the gigantic crater before surging toward the mecha battalion up above like lightning.


    This attack came extremely abruptly, and each and every soul laser had a diameter of over half a meter. Loud explosions rang out in the air, and over 10 yellow mechas were instantly blown into smithereens. The protective barriers of the purple and black mechas also swayed unsteadily, and not only was the mecha battalion kept at bay by the attacks, their formation had also been shattered.


    The main issue was that they didn''t dare to unleash any attacks, but the enemies down below were able to attack without any such qualms.


    This was an enemy attack! It was most definitely an enemy attack, and it had come so abruptly that no one had been able to react. Even the fighter aircrafts up above had only just realized that something was amiss, but they had also been severely impacted by the disruptive signal, thereby rendering them unable to request assistance from the control center. It seemed that this entire area in a radius of 50 kilometers had been affected by this powerful disruptive signal.


    The surrounding area had been inundated by darkness, but the grey mist was gradually fading. The military vehicles'' headlights had been switched on automatically in response to the dim environment, thereby lighting up the dark tunnel up ahead.


    The senior colonel and lieutenant colonel in the vehicle were in a highly alert state, but they didn''t do anything reckless. The senior colonel was a Soul Sage, and he had already released his martial soul, but he knew that his mission wasn''t to run away; it was to protect the soul missiles in the vehicle at all costs!


    Right at this moment, a figure slowly approached them from the illuminated tunnel up ahead.


    This was a human woman with a slender figure, and gave off a strange sense of beauty.


    Her entire body was encased in a suit of armor, which was most likely her battle armor, and the entire suit of armor was of an inky black color. There was purple light spilling out of the gaps where the pieces of battle armor were connected with one another to illuminate the entire suit of grandiose battle armor.


    The suit of armor looked as if it had been constructed from black crystals instead of metal, and under the illumination of the purple light, it was radiating faint dark purple light.


    There was a crown of the same color sitting on her head, and at the very center of the crown was a miniature statue of a phoenix. The phoenix''s eyes were of a bright purple color while its body was also completely inky-black. There was a black mask on her face that revealed only her eyes, which were also shimmering with purple light.


    A giant and lavish pair of wings hung down her back, and the crease of her wings peeked out just above her shoulders, while the wings themselves trailed along on the ground behind her.


    There was purple light flowing between every single feather, leaving a series of vibrant trails in her wake. There was also a massive halo that was over 20 meters in diameter beneath her feet, and within the halo was an extremely grandiose image of a soaring purple phoenix.


    Her left hand hung by her side, while her right hand was held in front of her chest with her palm facing upward, and there was something sitting atop her palm.


    This was a rhomboid crystal that was around a foot in length, and it was entirely of a strange silver color. This was a rather deep silver color, and it was made to look all the more dazzling by her purple suit of battle armor. On top of that, it illuminated her near-perfect figure.


    There seemed to be a vortex at the center of the silver crystal, and light was constantly proliferating outward from the vortex, concealing the purple light that was flowing over her body.


    The halo beneath her feet suggested that she was a three-word battle armor master, but could a suit of three-word battle armor really look this spectacular?


    Her battle armor didn''t even look like a normal suit of armor; it was more like an incredibly terrifying dark life form!


    Both the senior colonel and lieutenant colonel felt as if a lump had appeared in their throats. In the next instant, dazzling silver light erupted in their field of view, and their vision blurred before they crashed heavily down onto the ground.


    The lieutenant colonel fell unconscious on impact, but the senior colonel was a Soul Sage and had already released his martial soul, so he was just barely able to control his own body. Even so, all he could feel in that instant was that the world was spinning around him, and he had no idea what had happened.


    He was then greeted by a sight that he would never forget.


    One massive military vehicle after another rose up into the air with their bright headlights lighting up this world of darkness, only to then plunge toward the silver vortex in the distance.


    When these vehicles were also illuminated to take on a silver color, the passengers in the vehicles were ejected out of the silver light before crashing to the ground. As for the vehicles themselves, they simply disappeared into the massive silver vortex.


    Good heavens! What was that thing? Was that a spatial storage soul tool? But how could there be a storage soul tool with such a massive capacity? Did such a thing really exist in this world?

 Chapter 1229: Divine Space Time Shuttle, Dark Phoenix

    This was downright incredible!


    This was clearly an attack that had been planned in advance, and their target was none other than the resources in these 20 soul vehicles! The value of over 300 soul missiles amounted to an astronomical sum, but what was even more terrifying was their destructive capabilities.


    No, I can''t let them take these soul missiles!


    The senior colonel gritted his teeth as he clambered to his feet. He knew that he was no match for this enemy, but he still released his martial soul.


    Not only was he a Soul Sage, he was also a two-word battle armor master, and his suit of dark red battle armor quickly encased his body. Flames then erupted from the battle armor while a pair of wings were spread open on his back, and he activated his seventh soul skill without any hesitation, transforming into a giant fiery winged wolf before pouncing directly toward the dazzling silver light.


    A hand that was encased in black armor suddenly appeared, and this hand rapidly expanded in the senior colonel''s field of view.


    Everything around him congealed, and in that instant, he didn''t feel like a giant flaming wolf in his martial soul true body form. Instead, he felt like a fly that had been caught in a cobweb.


    A wince-inducing grinding sound rang out from his suit of battle armor, and he felt as if his body were being compressed by a burst of terrifying power. He felt like he would be completely crushed like a grape and reduced to a pile of mincemeat in the next instant.


    What kind of terrifying power was this?


    Right at this moment, the surrounding darkness suddenly lit up, and a sense of formidable pressure suddenly appeared. A dazzling sword projection descended from the sky, and it seemed to be capable of slicing through all lies and the root of all pain.


    The terrifying force that was crushing the giant fiery wolf abruptly vanished, and the black-armored hand suddenly clenched itself into a fist before crashing upward.


    A dull boom rang out alongside the pleasant ringing of a sword, and in the aftermath of the clash, a streak of light flashed back in retreat while the vehicles that were suspended in mid-air crashed down onto the ground. Only the first three military vehicles in the line had vanished into the silver vortex.


    Under the illumination of the vehicles'' headlights, the senior colonel could see two figures facing one another from afar. He wore a rather blank look on his face, and his body was trembling involuntarily from the near-death experience he had just suffered.


    "Dark Phoenix!" An incredulous voice that was tinged with a hint of befuddlement rang out.


    "When did the Amorous Douluo become so nosy?" A pleasant yet frosty voice rang out from the black-armored woman.


    The senior colonel turned toward his savior and was greeted by the sight of a man in a suit of white armor. The suit of armor looked as if it had been carved out of white crystal, but there was faint golden mist within it, giving it an ethereal appearance. The massive pair of crystalline wings on the back of the suit of armor left one with a very deep impression, and a series of translucent crystalline feathers had been carved onto the surface of these wings. Even with the very limited light in this setting, those wings still reflected exuberant dazzling light.


    There was a golden halo beneath his feet, within which was a simple design of what appeared to be a roaming celestial maiden. The halo had a diameter of over 30 meters, so it was larger than this Dark Phoenix''s halo.


    The senior colonel wasn''t overly familiar with the abilities of top-tier powerful beings, but he knew that the larger a halo was, the more powerful the corresponding domain was.


    In terms of how lavish and grandiose their suits of battle armor were, even the Dark Phoenix''s suit of battle armor paled into insignificance in comparison to this suit of white armor.


    Could this be a suit of four-word battle armor?


    Indeed, the man in a suit of white armor was none other than Amorous Douluo Zang Xin. There was a translucent Amorous Sword in his hand, and it was shimmering with a faint light. There were no soul rings visible around his body, so he either hadn''t summoned them, or they had been concealed somehow. In the instant that he appeared, it seemed as if the situation had already been completely turned on its head.


    A series of figures emerged from the darkness before converging toward Zang Xin, and beams of light were still erupting into the air to keep the mecha battalion at bay.


    "So the Divine Space Time Shuttle ended up in your hands. When did you join the Holy Spirit Cult? Your sister would be very distraught to hear about this," Zang Xin said as he appraised the woman before him with a grim expression. Never did he think that she would be the one to lead the Holy Spirit Cult members in hijacking these vehicles.


    Their plan had worked to perfection. Under the control of Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie, the defenses of Skysea City had gradually been lowered, and it was all for this day.


    In order to ensure that these Holy Spirit Cult powerful beings would be lured out by this bait, a third of all of the soul missiles on these vehicles were real. Of course, there obviously weren''t any ninth-grade soul missiles. Even a man as powerful as Chen Xinjie wouldn''t dare to take risks with such devastating weapons.


    It was quite clear that the Holy Spirit Cult members had been convinced that all of the soul missiles on the vehicles were real, but never could Zang Xin have anticipated that the person standing against him in this scenario would be the Dark Phoenix Douluo.


    "Retreat!" The light from the Divine Space Time Shuttle faded, and it vanished over her palm as a streak of light. In the instant that Amorous Douluo Zang Xin had appeared, she immediately understood that this was a trap that targeted the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Regardless of whether the soul missiles in those vehicles were real or not, there was no way she would be able to take them away.


    The figures in the surrounding darkness instantly converged toward the Dark Phoenix Douluo. Meanwhile, a long inky-black feather appeared in her hand. This was the feather of the Dark Phoenix.


    Zang Xin''s expression remained unchanged, but he heaved a faint sigh. "I had heard that the Holy Spirit Cult had one sovereign, two emperors, and four heavenly monarchs, amounting to a spearhead consisting of seven top-tier powerful beings; you must be one of the four heavenly monarchs, right? You should know that seeing as we''ve set up this trap, there''s no way that we''ll afford you an opportunity to get away."


    The Dark Phoenix Douluo said in a cold voice, "I see you still spout just as much useless dribble as ever."


    Zang Xin suddenly said, "I can understand the Holy Spirit Cult attacking the Tang Sect; we''ve always been sworn enemies, after all, but did you participate in the Shrek Academy bombing as well? You were even more infatuated with Yun Ming than your sister was; how could you let him die at the hands of the Holy Spirit Cult? Is that what you wanted to see?"


    The Dark Phoenix Douluo shuddered slightly, and her baleful aura was clearly thrown into disarray for a moment. "Shut up! That''s right, I wanted him dead! If I can''t have him, then no one can! His body has already been defiled by that b*tch! Only death can cleanse his soul. I''ll always protect his soul, and it''ll always be with me. This is true love; love that rises beyond all of the filth in this world. He''s forever mine, and no one can take him away from me!"


    Zang Xin''s expression changed drastically upon hearing her deranged screeching. "What? Yun Ming''s Soul? Could it be that you extracted his soul from his body, making him unable to even reincarnate? How did you become such a toxic woman..."


    Bright light abruptly erupted from the Amorous Sword, and a fearsome energy storm swept forth in all directions with Zang Xin at its center. Everything in the surrounding area suddenly brightened, and the full wrath of a Limit Douluo and four-word battle armor master was just beginning to descend. All of the dust and mist in the surrounding area instantly vanished, making everything clear again.


    "Toxic? I''m toxic just because I want to be with the one I love, while those who took him away from me AREN''T toxic? Hypocrites like you can all die!"


    The Dark Phoenix Douluo abruptly swept the feather in her hand through the air, and countless sword projections erupted forth. At the same time, a black phoenix that was radiating purple light rose up into the air behind her before letting loose a loud cry that reverberated through the air.


    A burst of powerful force acted upon the senior colonel''s body, instantly sending him flying so that he wouldn''t be caught in the battle between these two almighty beings.

 Chapter 1230: The Amorous Douluos Soul Skills

    The countless sword projections instantly surged forth to encompass Zang Xin''s entire body; this was her Phoenix Reverence Parade!


    Every single sword projection had a special debilitating effect, and anyone struck by them would feel as if they had sunk into quicksand.


    Regardless of what the Dark Phoenix''s current mental state was like, there was no way that she would hold back against Zang Xin. She was at rank 97 in soul power, and one of the most powerful beings among Hyper Douluos. On top of that, she had obtained some secret techniques from the Holy Spirit Cult, but even so, she was well aware that she was still far inferior to Zang Xin in power.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was unable to construct any suits of four-word battle armor, and that was one of the biggest problems they had to face. As such, her suit of battle armor was still only at the three-word level. It had been elevated to the pinnacle of the three-word level, but there was still a fundamental difference between it and a suit of four-word battle armor.


    This was why the Holy Spirit Cult had tried to assassinate Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua on countless occasions. Without a Divine Blacksmith, no one would be able to attain suits of four-word battle armor.


    Even the powers that were supporting the Holy Spirit Cult in the shadows knew that they definitely couldn''t allow these deranged extremists to get their hands on suits of four-word battle armor. As such, there were extremely powerful forces protecting Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua both on the surface, as well as in the shadows, which was why the Holy Spirit Cult hadn''t managed to succeed in their assassination attempts.


    To this very day, there was still no second Divine Blacksmith on this continent.


    This phoenix feather was a type of sword, and it was constructed from a true legendary phoenix feather. It wasn''t very sharp, but it was able to unleash sword projections that resembled sharp needles. These sword projections were imbued with the aura of the phoenix, thereby granting them extremely potent penetrative power.


    The Dark Phoenix Douluo''s Dark Phoenix Feather hadn''t yet reached the divine weapon level, but it was most definitely a weapon of the highest caliber. On top of that, it took up one of her nine soul skills, and was one of her most powerful abilities.


    Zang Xin harrumphed coldly as he slashed his Amorous Sword through the air, and a layer of vapor seemed to have appeared in the air. As soon as the Dark Phoenix Feather sword projections surged into the vapor, they quickly vanished like sandcastles disappearing in the rising tide.


    Furthermore, this strange vapor was expanding, seemingly at a slow rate, but was actually quite rapid, and all of the Holy Spirit Cult powerful beings who were retreating as quickly as they could felt as if the air around them had become more viscous. They slowed down significantly as a result, and no matter how much they struggled, they couldn''t free themselves from this effect.


    In the face of someone as powerful as the Dark Phoenix Douluo, Zang Xin didn''t dare to let down his guard, either. It could be said that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had a sworn vendetta against the Holy Spirit Cult. It was the duty of those with justice in their hearts to eradicate the evil in this world, so Zang Xin wasn''t planning on allowing any of these Evil Soul Masters to get away. Thus, he unleashed his battle armor domain right away.


    The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been!


    The two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect consisted of the Heartless Douluo and the Amorous Douluo, and there had always been a saying surrounding these two: the heartless one denies his innermost feelings, while the amorous one is left to rue what could''ve been. This sounded like a barely concealed description of their relationship, but in reality, this was also a combination of the names of Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi''s domains.


    The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been captured the passion between lovers, and once the domain was released, those caught within the domain would be struck by a sense of infatuation. This was an ultra-powerful assistance domain with a massive range. All opponents within the domain would be severely debilitated both in terms of offensive power and speed, and the degree of debilitation correlated directly with the power of the Soul Master caught in the domain.


    The Dark Phoenix Douluo''s Phoenix Reverence Parade was an extremely powerful attack, but it was still instantly debilitated by The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been, let alone all of the other Evil Soul Masters. All of them had been slowed down so significantly that they looked as if they were moving in slow motion.


    The Dark Phoenix Douluo had known Zang Xin for a long time, so she was naturally aware of how troublesome he was as an opponent. His domain had been rated as one of the three most abhorred domains among all battle armor masters of the three-word level or above on the Douluo Continent. It was glue that was almost impossible to struggle free from once it clung onto a target''s body.


    The Dark Phoenix Feather instantly transformed as she let loose a sharp cry, and her sixth soul ring abruptly lit up. Within the darkness, a streak of dark purple light suddenly shot forth from the tip of the Dark Phoenix Feather, hurtling directly toward Zang Xin.


    The purple light tore a gash into The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been domain, and at the same time, a vast expanse of dark purple light erupted from the halo beneath her feet. One layer of purple light after another was released, clashing with The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been domain to nullify part of its power.


    In the face of the dark purple light, Zang Xin''s body suddenly turned transparent as a warm and gentle look appeared in his eyes. He appraised the Dark Phoenix Douluo as if she were the woman he loved the most in this world, and his eyes were tinged with a hint of sorrow. In the instant that Zang Xin''s expression shifted, the Dark Phoenix Douluo immediately closed her eyes. The Amorous Douluo''s martial soul was the Amorous Sword, so to many people who didn''t know him that well, it seemed that he was an assault system Soul Master.


    However, in reality, Zang Xin had always been a spiritual control system Soul Master instead, and that was what made him so fearsome. All of his soul skills were related to spiritual control, and he had once been rated as the world''s number one control system Soul Master. At the very least, among all of the Limit Douluos that were known to this world, he definitely possessed the most powerful control ability, particularly over a large range.


    The soul ring that had lit up around Zang Xin was his fifth one. When the oncoming purple light reached him, his body had already vanished like an illusion. The dark purple light passed through Zang Xin, but in the next instant, he had already appeared in front of the Dark Phoenix Douluo.


    Trace!


    This was a soul skill that many had once deemed to be completely pointless, but Zang Xin had made it his fifth soul skill. As he had become more powerful, everyone gradually came to realize that this seemingly impractical soul skill that could only allow him to bully the weak was actually an extraordinary ability when used appropriately.


    Its effect was very simple: after entering this tracing state, he would become immune to all energy attacks for an instant. That''s right, instead of being immune to physical attacks, his seemingly illusionary body was immune to energy attacks.


    As soon as he was struck by an energy attack, the trace effect would instantly activate, allowing him to trace the trajectory of the enemy''s energy attack and taking him to the enemy in an instant.


    This was the effect of the soul skill, and it had been considered as a useless soul skill as it was simply impractical against more powerful opponents or even opponents of the same power level as Zang Xin himself. He could evade an enemy''s attack using Trace, but it would also instantly close the distance between himself and his enemy; this was seen as downright suicidal for a spiritual control system Soul Master!


    However, only after Zang Xin reached the Titled Douluo level did all of the powerful beings of the Soul Master world realize just how much foresight he had.


    In the words of the current chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin wasn''t the most powerful Titled Douluo he knew, but Zang Xin was definitely the one that he was most averse to facing in battle as all of his soul skills had been chosen to mess with his opponents.


    The two prime examples of this were his domain, and this Trace soul skill.


    Trace allowed Zang Xin to teleport directly to an enemy who had just unleashed an energy attack against him, and after that, Zang Xin had a whole set of ultra-powerful control soul skills that he could use. During a sparring match between him and Qiangu Dongfeng, the latter had suffered extensively as a result of this tactic.


    At this moment, the Dark Phoenix Douluo was facing his most powerful ability.


    Trace had taken Zang Xin straight to the Dark Phoenix Douluo, and at this point, his eyes were already filled with boundless passion and reminiscence.


    His voice was extremely alluring, and he whispered, "Past."


    His first soul ring lit up, and the Dark Phoenix Douluo was instantly struck by a sense of disorientation. Even though she had already closed her eyes and her ear canal, Zang Xin''s voice traveled straight into her mind, and she was instantly taken back to the first time she had met Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    Not only that, but the Dark Phoenix Feather in her hand instantly reverted back to its Phoenix Reverence Parade form. Of course, it was the instant that the Phoenix Reverence Parade had concluded, which was a second ago.


    Zang Xin''s first soul skill, Past, evoked within one the purest emotions from deep within one''s heart, striking one with the feeling that they had just fallen in love for the first time, and at the same time, everything was reverted back to its former state from a second ago.


    This was only his first soul skill! Many years ago, it was this soul skill that had caught the eye of the higher-ups of the Tang Sect, thereby leading to the Douluo Palace''s decision to nurture him as an exceptional young prospect.


    Trace and Past comprised a tried and tested combination that had felled countless enemies in the past. All of the powerful Soul Masters of the older generation knew that once Zang Xin successfully implemented his Trace soul skill, Past would definitely follow immediately thereafter. However, despite being aware of this combination, no one had been able to devise an effective countermeasure against it during the past century.


    All they could do was activate their own defenses as much as possible.


    However, there was also a flaw in this combination, which was that Zang Xin couldn''t directly attack his opponent after implementing this combination as doing so would affect his own emotions, thereby resulting in catastrophic consequences. Otherwise, he would truly be invincible.

 Chapter 1231: The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Couldve Been Domain

    It was exactly because of these two soul skills that none of the powerful beings of his generation wished to face him in battle.


    The Dark Phoenix Douluo had fallen prey to this combination, and the most damning part about this was not that her Phoenix Reverence Parade had been withdrawn. Instead, it was that her domain had also reverted back to one second ago, which was prior to its release.


    Thus, all of the Evil Soul Masters who had just regained some mobility were instantly plunged into the figurative quicksand again.


    All of a sudden, Zang Xin''s third soul ring lit up, and the passion in his eyes suddenly turned into despair. The look in his eyes struck the beholder with the feeling that he had lost something that was most precious to him forever. Dazzling specks of light instantly appeared over the entire battlefield like countless drops of tears that were proliferating outward.


    "Thump, thump, thump thump..." A string of dull thumps rang out, and one head after another exploded like watermelons.


    All of those Evil Soul Masters were struck by the feeling that their biggest regrets had instantly been magnified by countless times, and their hearts were unable to bear this agony. Thus, their heads exploded in their excruciating pain, and it seemed that this was the only way they could free themselves from this unspeakable torment.


    There were over 100 Evil Soul Masters present, and over two-thirds of them had their heads detonated by these countless specks of light. Even those who managed to survive were all throwing up mouthfuls of blood and had turned deathly pale.


    One had to realize that all of the Evil Soul Masters that had been sent out on this operation were at least at the Soul King level, yet Zang Xin was still able to wreak such widespread havoc in an instant despite the fact that he was facing someone as powerful as the Dark Phoenix Douluo. This was the power of one of the two most powerful beings of the Tang Sect.


    It had been over 50 years since the Heartless Douuo and the Amorous Douluo had unleashed their power in battle, and many people had already forgotten their abilities. Now that Zang Xin had stepped in to oppose these Evil Soul Masters, everyone was given another poignant reminder of just how fearsome he and Cao Dezhi were.


    Remorse!


    This was the name of Zang Xin''s third soul skill.


    The Dark Phoenix Douluo had also been affected by this, and she felt as if she had been taken back to the moment where Yun Ming had valiantly sacrifice himself to limit the explosions of the Godslayer missiles. Her heart was instantly overwhelmed by boundless remorse, and she didn''t have any spare capacity to assist the other Evil Soul Masters.


    Among those of the same cultivation rank, Evil Soul Masters were very powerful, and almost no normal Soul Masters could oppose them. However, in exchange for this power, they had to endure far more pain and suffering then normal Soul Masters, which resulted in more holes in their psyche to be exploited. Thus, to Evil Soul Masters, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin was even more fearsome than Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi.


    After unleashing three soul skills in succession, Zang Xin continued in his assault without any pause. The despair in his eyes quickly transitioned into the purest and sincerest emotions, and he finally thrust his Amorous Sword forward. Sword projections flashed, and a streak of dazzling and translucent light surged through the air. The sword projections were extremely grandiose and spectacular, and the Dark Phoenix Douluo was struck by the illusion that Zang Xin had already transformed into Yun Ming right before her eyes, and he was expressing to her the pain in his heart, as well as his most genuine emotions.


    Zang Xin''s eyes lit up further and further, and the light in his eyes fused as one with the sword projections from his Amorous Sword. There was no killing intent radiating from the sword whatsoever, but it was piercing through the air directly toward her.


    Second soul skill, Genuine!


    In the face of this soul skill, those with lackluster spiritual power would very likely end up dead before they even knew how they had perished. This was a soul skill that could impact a single target or an entire battlefield, and it could instantly reduce the enmity that his opponent''s harbored toward him by a significant degree.


    In the eyes of his enemies, this soul skill would make him appear as if he had transformed into the one that they trusted or loved the most.


    However, the Dark Phoenix Douluo was a rank 97 Hyper Douluo, which made her one of the most powerful beings in the dark world of Evil Soul Masters, and the lethal threat concealed within the Genuine soul skill instantly made her soul core tighten.


    The man standing before her eyes was clearly Yun Ming, and he was laying his heart bare for her to see, but she had to grit her teeth with all her might and scream at herself over and over again that this wasn''t real.


    She was finally forced to release her seventh soul skill, and a slightly hoarse phoenix cry rang out as she transformed into a massive black phoenix.


    It had been many years since she had last seen Zang Xin, and even though they were acquainted with one another, she had never faced Zang Xin in battle before, so she didn''t know just how powerful he was. Only during this first clash was she truly made aware of just how fearsome this veteran Limit Douluo was. Even with her immense powers, she was struck by a sense of powerlessness in his presence. She didn''t care about all of the other Evil Soul Masters anymore; all she wanted was to get away from this place and away from this terrifying man as quickly as possible.


    The black phoenix vigorously flapped its wings, releasing a vast expanse of dark purple light, which was constantly crumbling in the face of the Amorous Sword, but it at least bought her some time. Taking advantage of this opportunity, she turned and fled without any hesitation.


    "You''re not getting away," Zang Xin called out in a gentle voice.


    He had finally tracked down one of the four heavenly monarchs of the Holy Spirit Cult; how could he allow her to get away?


    Zang Xin heaved a faint sigh as he vanished on the spot, and the domain around him underwent a peculiar transformation.


    The translucent domain suddenly took on more substance, and everything in the surrounding area transformed into the past Shrek Academy. There was a gargantuan tree, and the top of which stood a young man. This was a white-robed young man who had a head of flowing long hair, and held a spear in his hand.


    He was merely standing still on the spot, but it was as if he were the core of the entire world.


    He had once dominated the Soul Master world and was considered to be an invincible being. Countless female Soul Masters of the highest caliber had confessed their love to him, but he turned down all of them without any hesitation to pursue the woman he loved.


    Countless powerful beings had challenged him in the hope of dethroning this legendary man, only to fall before his Divine Atlas Spear.


    The giant black phoenix flew toward him, seemingly in an uncontrollable manner, and no matter how vigorously it flapped its wings, it was unable to get away from him.


    From the perspective of those outside the domain, the black phoenix was simply flying in circles around Zang Xin.


    The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been domain was certainly not that easy to free oneself from, and countless powerful beings had fallen within it.


    This was a culmination of both his battle armor domain and his spiritual domain. His battle armor domain was known simply as "Amorous", and he had named his own spiritual domain "To Rue What Could''ve Been", and the combination of the two thus resulted in this domain.


    Even the almighty Dark Phoenix Douluo had instantly fallen under the control of this domain, thereby adding another feather to the already illustrious cap of the number one control system Soul Master on the continent.


    "Kukuku, kukuku! As expected of the Limit Douluo who''s considered to be the least favorable opponent among his peers; Dark Phoenix is no match for you. I don''t really like her, but I can''t let you kill her! Greetings, Amorous Douluo."


    A peal of tinkling laughter suddenly rang out, and it should''ve been quite a pleasing sound to the ears, but it was somehow extremely eerie instead, and sent chills running down the listener''s spine.


    Zang Xin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. It was quite incredible that this woman had gotten so close to him while escaping his detection. He had already guessed that the Holy Spirit Cult had more powerful beings lurking in the shadows, but he didn''t think that this would be someone who was just as, if not more, powerful than the Dark Phoenix Douluo.


    A figure slowly skipped her way out of the darkness, and this was a little girl who appeared to be in her teens. Her eyes were pure and adorable, and her hair had been arranged into a pair of buns on her head, thereby further contributing to her youthful and energetic appearance.


    She wore a short-sleeve mini dress that revealed her fair arms and legs, and as she skipped along, the buns in her hair gradually began to undo themselves, hanging down as a pair of large braids on either side of her head like a pair of elongated bunny ears. The full length of her hair quickly trailed down onto the ground behind her.

 Chapter 1232: Dark Bell

    Zang Xin''s brows furrowed even further at the sight of her. He was completely sure that this woman was at least at the Hyper Douluo level, and her spiritual power had reached the Spirit Domain realm as well, so at the very least, she was superior to the Dark Phoenix Douluo in that aspect. What was most perplexing to him was that there was no powerful being of her description in his memory, which meant that this Evil Soul Master had definitely only recently risen to prominence.


    It was quite unsettling to think that the Holy Spirit Cult had such a powerful being lurking among their ranks.


    "Are you one of the four heavenly monarchs as well?" Despite being able to sense how powerful this woman was, Zang Xin remained calm and collected, while the Dark Phoenix Douluo continued to fly around him in a tormented state within his domain.


    "I am! They all call me Dark Bell, but you can call me Little Bell if you''d like. Can you release her and let me take her away? I''m sure you wouldn''t turn down someone as adorable as me. Why don''t you hand her over, and we can be friends," the Evil Soul Master giggled.


    Zang Xin replied in a cold manner, "Friends? Do you think our Tang Sect would befriend your Holy Spirit Cult?"


    The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been domain expanded as he spoke, and it quickly illuminated Dark Bell''s body.


    Dark Bell pouted in a displeased manner. "You''re a really boring guy, you know that? Everyone''s spoken so highly about you for so many years; I wanted to witness your powers for myself as well."


    She gently waved her right hand through the air as she spoke, and nine soul rings, consisting of six blacks and three reds, emerged from beneath her feet.


    Even Zang Xin couldn''t help but be taken aback at the sight of her soul ring configuration. Almost all of the beings on the Douluo Continent who possessed a set of soul rings of this caliber were Limit Douluos, which made them part of an extremely exclusive group of the most powerful beings on the continent.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had a sovereign and two emperors above the four heavenly monarchs. Just a heavenly monarch alone was already this fearsome; how powerful would the sovereign and emperors be?


    In Zang Xin''s memory, he could only confidently say that he had encountered one of those three powerful beings. Many years ago, that man had been defeated by Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, but managed to escape with his life and fell into complete obscurity thereafter.


    The unknown was always the most terrifying; who could have envisioned that the Holy Spirit Cult would reappear on the continent after remaining dormant for over 10,000 years?


    10,000 years ago, the Holy Spirit Cult had sought to bring disaster to this world, but unfortunately for them, they encountered one of the most exceptional generations of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. In particular, their core member and the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, was considered to be one of the greatest Soul Masters of all time.


    He had led that generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters to completely crush the Holy Spirit Douluo and slew almost all of the high-ranking members of the cult. This made many people think that Holy Spirit Cult was just a thing of the past, but who would have imagined that they would resurface after all this time?


    Furthermore, they had made themselves known to the world by detonating two Godslayer missiles in a bombing of unprecedented proportions. They followed up their attack on Heaven Dou City by destroying Shrek City and the Tang Sect headquarters, thereby announcing their return in the most horrific and spectacular way imaginable.


    The Amorous Douluo and Heartless Douluo had already realized that the Holy Spirit Cult had to have made ample preparations before they decided to resurface, but they still had heavy hearts as they witnessed the terrifying power that the Holy Spirit Cult had accumulated begin to reveal itself.


    An inky black bell appeared in Dark Bell''s hand, and there was a series of peculiar runes on the surface of the bell. These runes were shimmering with green light and emitting faint green mist, creating a rather unsettling sight to behold.


    Halos of light began to proliferate outward from beneath her feet, and at the same time, a suit of dark green battle armor appeared to encase her entire body.


    In the face of the Amorous Douluo, even the most conceited of individuals didn''t dare to let down their guard.


    Her suit of battle armor was also of the three-word level, and the halo beneath her feet was slightly larger than even that of the Dark Phoenix Douluo. An eerie sobbing sound began to echo in the air as if there were countless people weeping at once.


    "I''ve heard that the Amorous Douluo is the number one control system Soul Master on the Douluo Continent. What a coincidence! I''m also a control system Soul Master. Let''s see who''s control is superior."


    The small bell in her hand expanded to a diameter of over a meter as she spoke, and she gently shook it to release a tinkling chime. A layer of soundwaves proliferated from the bell before fusing as one with the halo beneath her feet.


    The soundwaves were green in color, and they seemed to possess form and substance as they spread outward. Alongside these soundwaves were the shrill cries of countless dark green tormented vengeful spirits, and in the instant that this green halo clashed with The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been domain, a peculiar scene unfolded. The vengeful spirits exploded one after another in the face of The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been domain, but as they exploded, the baleful aura that they released became more than 10 times more powerful than before. This instantly granted the green domain a significant power boost, and it began to devour the Amorous Douluo''s domain in a frenzy with its unrivaled aura of resentment.


    Thus, Zang Xin''s domain was affected, as was his control over the Dark Phoenix Douluo, and the giant black phoenix began to shudder violently as if it were about to escape from his control.


    This was a soundwave control type evil martial soul, and Zang Xin could sense that it seemed to be able to suppress his abilities to a certain extent, so this matchup had clearly been set up by design to target him.


    There was no way that the Holy Spirit Cult could''ve known that he would come here today, but they had such a powerful Evil Soul Master among their ranks that could target his abilities, so it was quite clear that they had been planning everything meticulously for a very long time.


    There was still a large disparity between the powers of Dark Bell and the Amorous Douluo. She was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, and even though there was only a gap of one soul power rank between them, it would be no exaggeration to compare this with the gulf between heaven and earth. Furthermore, she only possessed a suit of three-word battle armor, which was vastly inferior to a suit of four-word battle armor.


    However, her powers were able to effectively counter Zang Xin''s abilities, and by detonating one vengeful spirit after another, she was able to bridge the power gap between them and face him on even terms. As such, the situation wasn''t looking good for Zang Xin. Once Dark Bell freed the Dark Phoenix Douluo from his domain, it would be very difficult for him to stop both of them from getting away.


    It was also right that this moment that a ball of golden light suddenly illuminated the darkness and descended from the sky like a golden sun, plummeting straight toward the spot where the two domains were clashing.


    Dark Bell''s expression changed slightly at the sight of this ball of golden light. She had engaged in a conversation with Zang Xin earlier in order to buy herself enough time to accumulate power. She had never imagined that she and the Dark Phoenix Douluo would be enough to defeat Zang Xin; all she hoped for was to be able to disrupt Zang Xin to the extent that the two of them could escape.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this was a trap, so the Amorous Douluo definitely wouldn''t have been the only one who had been sent here. However, in her eyes, the only ones who posed a real threat to her in the Tang Sect were its two Limit Douluos.


    Much to her alarm, the golden figure that was descending from the sky struck her with a sense of devastating pressure, making her feel as if there were a giant Great Beast plummeting toward her, threatening to reduce her to dust.


    What was even more astonishing to her was that the ball of golden light was truly like a sun. The scorching blood essence fluctuations that it was radiating were the bane of all vengeful spirits.


    They had set up this elaborate plan to attack the convoy underground firstly as they wanted to avoid having to face the mechas and fighter aircrafts in the sky, and also because vengeful spirits feared sunlight, so her powers would be severely debilitated when fighting on the surface during daylight hours.


    However, this golden "sun" had lit up the entire underground world, and she felt as if the light of the true sun had flooded into the darkness. Her domain had originally been evenly matched against Zang Xin''s domains, but it was now being dominated and suppressed. As a result, the Dark Phoenix Douluo fell firmly under his control again.


    "Buy me 10 minutes," Zang Xin said in a concise manner. Meanwhile, the golden sun crashed violently down onto the ground.


    Just as Zang Xin had been astonished by the emergence of Dark Bell, Dark Bell was also stunned by the appearance of this ball of golden light. Her skeptical and paranoid nature immediately urged her to fall back in retreat to avoid a direct confrontation, and she rushed back over 100 meters in a flash, leaving a trail of afterimages in her wake.


    "Boom!" The golden light struck the ground like a meteorite, and the first thing that Dark Bell saw was a pair of golden wings. Those wings completely enshrouded their owner within, and they were completely devoid of feathers, but covered by golden rhomboid scales. Each and every scale had an extremely sharp appearance, and translucent golden light was swirling over them.

 Chapter 1233: Na Nali

    In the instant that he landed on the ground, a dragon''s roar that was imbued with peerless might erupted, and the powerful blood essence fluctuations instantly proliferated outward to suppress all of the howling vengeful spirits.


    Not only that, but scorching crimson-golden light was surging through the air, illuminating the surrounding area and clearing away the darkness.


    The golden wings spread open to reveal a tall and broad figure in a suit of golden armor. The man''s face was concealed by a golden visor, and there were dazzling golden scales all over his suit of armor. The golden dragon patterns on the suit of armor all seemed to be releasing dull dragon''s roars, and the patterns weren''t heavy at all, but they were full of substance.


    HIs arms were particularly thick and strong, and aside from the layer of golden scales over those arms, they seemed to also have been encased in even larger pieces of armor.


    The armor on his arms resembled golden crystals, and this crystalline appearance was a signature trait for suits of three-word battle armor. His hands had transformed into dragon claws, and the surface of the armor on his arms seemed to be covered in enlarged dragon scales. Dragon patterns extended all the way from the tips of his claws to his elbows, while a sharp spike protruded from each elbow joint. He also held a golden dual-tip spear in his right hand.


    This was a partial suit of three-word battle armor, so did this mean that this golden figure wasn''t all that powerful?


    Dark Bell instantly formulated her judgment.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this man seemed to be wearing battle armor, but those scales were most likely a part of his martial soul, while the only pieces of actual battle armor were on his arms.


    For a battle armor master, the process of upgrading their suit of battle armor actually made them very vulnerable as prior to completing a suit of upgraded battle armor, they would actually find themselves to be less powerful than before.


    This man was a perfect example of this; only the forearm guards of his suit of three-word battle armor had been completed, and while they did look quite spectacular, he wasn''t even a three-word battle armor master.


    In contrast, Dark Bell was a three-word battle armor master of the highest caliber, and if it weren''t for the Holy Spirit Cult''s lack of access to a Divine Blacksmith, she would have upgraded to a suit of four-word battle armor long ago.


    After instantly recognizing the disparity between their powers, Dark Bell quickly realized that she had been bluffed by this man, and missed out on the best opportunity to save the Dark Phoenix Douluo as a result.


    The man who had just appeared was naturally none other than Tang Wulin.


    In reality, his helmet and visor had also been completed alongside his forearm guards, but they simply weren''t as eye-catching in comparison. Furthermore, to Dark Bell, all incomplete suits of three-word battle armor were worthless anyway.


    "Hmph!" She harrumphed coldly and wasted no time with words as she hurled the huge bell in her hand directly toward Tang Wulin.


    The shrill howls rang out once again, and the power of her domain swept toward Tang Wulin in an all-encompassing wave. The bell continued to expand while hurtling through the air, and the unsettling howls and sobs were extremely disturbing to listen to.


    Tang Wulin had actually arrived long ago, and he had constantly been surveying the entire battlefield. When the underground battle commenced, the battle above the ground had also begun to unfold. The Holy Spirit Cult was determined to get their hands on these military resources, and they had made extensive preparations for this cause. After the military vehicles sank into the ground, over 100 mechas had immediately begun launching attacks from down below to keep the mecha battalion in the air at bay. Not only that, but a surface to air soul missile formation had risen up not far away, launching a series of missiles into the sky to prevent the fighter aircrafts at higher altitudes from approaching the scene.


    Tang Wulin had been completely astonished by this. He didn''t think that the Holy Spirit Cult would already be this brazen and reckless. To think that they could control a mecha squadron and set up a surface to air soul missile formation so close to the Eastsea Legion base without being noticed; this was the ultimate slap to the face! If there had ever been any doubt before, it was now more than apparent that people within the federation were colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult.


    All of his friends had already joined the battle on the surface, and everyone was carrying a special identification chip given to them by the united control center so that they wouldn''t be targeted by the ally mechas up above. They had finally lured so many Holy Spirit Cult Evil Soul Masters into a trap; how could they not go all-out here?


    As the captain, Tang Wulin kept tabs on the entire situation, keeping an eye on the battle on the surface while also inspecting the underground battle with his spiritual power.


    Even though Zang Xin was the only one fighting underground, he was a Limit Douluo and one of the most powerful people in this world. With him present, Tang Wulin wasn''t worried in the slightest about the leader of the Evil Soul Masters getting away.


    Only after Dark Bell appeared did Tang Wulin quickly show himself, and his objective was very simple: he was here to buy time for Zang Xin.


    Capturing someone alive was far more difficult than killing them, and Zang Xin''s objective was to capture the Dark Phoenix Douluo alive.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was such a fearsome organization, not just because they had amassed astonishing power. What was an even greater contributor to how dangerous they were was the air of mystery that always surrounded them. Regardless of whether it was Shrek Academy of the past or the Tang Sect of the present, none of them had any useful information about the Holy Spirit Cult. The unknown enemies in the shadows were always the most troublesome ones to deal with. If they could get some information out of the Dark Phoenix Douluo, who was one of the Holy Spirit Cult''s four heavenly monarchs, that would undoubtedly be immensely helpful to combating the cult in the future.


    The dark green wave continued to expand, and the terrifying aura of a top-tier Hyper Douluo made the air around him twist and warp violently. This Dark Bell certainly hadn''t stumbled into her position as one of the four heavenly monarchs by sheer luck. Even though Tang Wulin had been making rapid progress of late, there was still quite a large power disparity between him and the top-tier powerful beings of this world.


    In the face of the oncoming bell, he suddenly yelled, "Lina!"


    Dark Bell faltered momentarily upon hearing this, and her control over her bell was compromised for an instant as a result. Right at this moment, Tang Wulin swept his right hand violently through the air, sending a burst of dazzling golden light surging forth. Countless streaks of bluish-golden light converged around that burst of golden light, and a thunderous dragon''s roar erupted alongside overwhelmingly powerful blood essence fluctuations. At the same time, a dull yet powerful heartbeat also rang out.


    "Boom!"


    A resounding boom erupted within the entire underground world, and a bright light radiated from all of the runes on the surface of the dark green bell. However, it was still forced back and tremored slightly as it returned to the air above Dark Bell''s head.


    This was Tang Wulin''s blood soul fusion skill, Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    "Who are you?" Compared to the shock of having her bell forced back by Tang Wulin, she was more astonished that he had called out her name.


    Tang Wulin''s aura was as heavy as a mountain as he looked on at Dark Bell from afar. In terms of cultivation rank, he was naturally far inferior to his opponent, but at the same time, he certainly wasn''t an ordinary Soul Sage.


    He had mastered a portion of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, and that, combined with his powerful Golden Dragon King bloodline and blood soul fusion skills, closed the power gap between the two of them significantly. On top of that, his immense blood essence fluctuations also had a suppressive effect on Evil Soul Masters.


    "Am I right to call you Lina?" Tang Wulin asked in an indifferent voice. He was in no hurry to unleash another attack. He knew that he couldn''t defeat his opponent, so his objective was merely to stall for time.


    Indeed, this Dark Bell was none other than that female student that he had encountered after reaching the Skysea City Train Station.


    Compared to Lina''s astonishment at Tang Wulin calling out her name, Tang Wulin had been even more stunned when he had first caught sight of her. Only now did he realize that the "schoolgirl" he had encountered at the train station was far from what she appeared to be on the surface.


    "Heeheehee," Dark Bell giggled, "I see who you are. You changed your voice, but your aura still strikes me with a sense of familiarity. Let me guess; you''re that kid from the train station, right? You even posed as my upperclassman; how sly of you! By the way, my real name isn''t Lina, it''s Na Nali. Of course, you can also call me Little Bell."

 Chapter 1234: Might of the Law-enforcing Saber

    Even as she was speaking, she was constantly preparing her attack. Having been disrupted by Tang Wulin, her attempt to free the Dark Phoenix Douluo from The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been domain had been thwarted.


    If Zang Xin were to successfully capture the Dark Phoenix Douluo, she would be beyond saving, and on top of that, it would most likely become quite difficult even for Na Nali herself to escape.


    A repugnant feeling welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. This Na Nali was clearly an old monster who was at least old enough to be his grandmother, yet she was still acting like a bubbly and energetic little girl.


    Brilliant light erupted from her dark green bell, and Tang Wulin could indistinctly make out the glow of a soul ring from within the dense mist rising up from Na Nali''s body. Immediately thereafter, a crisp tinkling sound rang out from the bell above her head.


    "Tinkle... Tinkle...."


    Upon hearing this sound, Tang Wulin was struck by the feeling that he had been plunged into a dark green world. Countless dark green needles were piercing into his mind in a frenzy in an attempt to destroy him on a spiritual level.


    This was the first time that he had faced someone with a soundwave type martial soul, and to further compound his woes, she was also one of the most powerful Hyper Douluos on the continent. Even though he had already thoroughly prepared himself, he still couldn''t help let loose a muffled groan, and he quickly felt blood beginning to flow out of his orifices.


    What was even more alarming was that a relentless string of cracks had rung out from his Golden Dragon Body in the face of the soundwave attack; it was as if his body and even the space around him were rapidly being shattered.


    What a powerful opponent! Was this the power of a Hyper Douluo?


    His heart rate climbed, and his dragon core and soul core also began to beat more violently to provide him with an enormous supply of energy. At the same time, he took one deep breath after another, and his Golden Dragon King bloodline began to fluctuate more violently at his behest.


    "Roar!"


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin let loose a thunderous roar, and countless bluish-golden Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from his body. These vines intertwined to form a dragon''s head in mid-air, and it lashed out alongside his Golden Dragon King bloodline aura, dragon''s might, and dragon''s repulse.


    The deafening dragon''s roar clashed with the terrifying chimes of the bell, and Tang Wulin could feel his blood essence and soul power trembling violently. However, the effect that the soundwaves had had on his body had thankfully been nullified.


    "Hmm?" Na Nali was quite taken aback by this.


    When she had first met Tang Wulin, she had sensed that his soul power fluctuations were at around the Soul Sage level. The only thing remarkable about him was that his blood essence fluctuations were far more powerful than the average Soul Sage, but he was still just a Soul Sage, after all, so she thought that he would be an opponent she could easily brush aside.


    She wasn''t the most powerful of the four heavenly monarchs, but her abilities were the most unpredictable. The special nature of her soundwave martial soul also granted her the most destructive power among the four heavenly monarchs.


    She hadn''t held back at all in that last soundwave attack, which she had unleashed through her soul skill, yet much to her surprise, Tang Wulin had managed to withstand it. Furthermore, that thunderous dragon''s roar had even impacted her own blood essence, striking her with a sense of unease.


    With such a massive power gap between the two of them, Na Nali was truly astonished and perplexed by this turn of events.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin sprang into action. He abruptly stomped his left foot onto the ground, drawing upon his Golden Dragon Roar to enhance his aura, and his body shot forth like a speeding arrow toward Na Nali. As he hurtled through the air, his blood essence contracted, and his Golden Dragon Body returned to normal. At the same time, he activated his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, making his scales take on a mirror-like appearance, and the spear projection from his Golden Dragon Spear expanded drastically.


    Through the use of his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Takes Flight, he reached Na Nali virtually in the blink of an eye, and at the same time, a string of dragon''s roars rang out as he instantly unleashed his Violent Golden Dragon Domain. On top of that, he also adopted his martial soul true body form, thereby transforming him into a giant golden dragon that was over 10 meters in length.


    In the face of this Hyper Douluo, he wasn''t holding back in the slightest and unleashed all of his abilities at once.


    This was what set the students of Shrek Academy apart from the rest of the Soul Master world. If a normal Soul Sage had been in Tang Wulin''s shoes, there was no way that they would be able to stack so many abilities on top of one another, yet Tang Wulin had accomplished this. With the ultra-powerful physical constitution bestowed upon him by his Golden Dragon King bloodline, he was able to withstand the negative side-effects from receiving so many enhancements at once.


    "You''re like a suicidal moth diving into a flame!" Na Nali harrumphed coldly as she raised her right hand and snapped her fingers. On this occasion, as opposed to the chime of a bell, the deafening boom of a giant gong being struck rang out.


    Layer upon layer of soundwaves surged forth to crash into Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon True Body, and one could clearly see that his martial soul true body was being gradually stripped away and destroyed by the soundwaves. However, Tang Wulin was like a giant dragon that had escaped from its cage, unleashing a thunderous roar of defiance and reaching Na Nali in a flash.


    The biggest mistake that Na Nali had made was that she had underestimated Tang Wulin. However, any Hyper Douluo would most likely fall prey to the same error in the face of a Soul Sage level opponent.


    Never did she think that Tang Wulin would be able to stack his Bluesilver Emperor, Golden Dragon King bloodline, Golden Dragon Spear, Golden Dragon Body, Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and Violent Golden Dragon Domain on top of one another to unleash such a devastating attack.


    Prior to this, Tang Wulin had faced Limit Douluos in battle before, so he had already formulated some judgment about her power level. A very large part of Na Nali''s soundwave attacks targeted her opponent on a spiritual level, and in her eyes, there was no way that Tang Wulin would be able to withstand her attacks. After all, how much spiritual power could a Soul Sage possibly possess? She didn''t even consider for a single split second that Tang Wulin could''ve already reached the Spirit Domain realm and was only one step away from mastering a spiritual domain.


    It was exactly due to this series of errors that Tang Wulin was allowed to close down the distance between the two of them.


    How could this be? This was the first thought that sprang into Na Nali''s mind at the sight of the expanding giant dragon''s head in her field of view.


    However, she was still one of the most powerful Hyper Douluos, after all, so despite her astonishment, she still managed to react very quickly. Her body swayed, and the bell above her head abruptly expanded before completely encapsulating her body. At the same time, another tinkling chime rang out.


    This was her Dark Bell True Body!


    In a one-on-one battle, Tang Wulin could already be quite proud of himself for forcing a Hyper Douluo to adopt their martial soul true body form.


    Virtually substantial soundwaves erupted forth as a layer of dense dark green light that clashed with Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon True Body. In the end, the green light crumbled, yet Tang Wulin was also sent flying.


    There was still a fundamental disparity between their cultivation ranks, after all.


    Tang Wulin''s blood essence circulated within his body, and his dragon core contracted violently to expel even more powerful blood essence. At this moment, Tang Wulin''s incredible defensive prowess really shone through. His blood essence was churning within his body from being sent flying by Na Nali''s attack, but he was the one who had taken the initiative, and Na Nali had still reacted slightly too slow in that instant, thereby preventing her from being able to unleash her full power. As such, Tang Wulin didn''t sustain any serious injuries from that clash.


    By the time he steadied himself, he had already reverted back to his human form. His right arm then abruptly swelled in size, and he transferred his Golden Dragon Spear into his left hand as he roared, "Come, my blade!"


    A burst of dazzling golden light abruptly descended through the air like lighting, and an aura of peerless might immediately erupted from Tang Wulin''s body. His dragon''s might swelled in power by over tenfold, and a huge nine-colored projection appeared behind him before fading in a flash.


    His entire body seemed to have expanded, and it was as if he had completely fused with the nine-colored projection that had appeared behind him. He slashed the Dragonslaying Saber through the air, unleashing a golden saber projection while countless dragon''s roars rang out from all directions, completely drowning out the chimes of the bell. In the next instant, the golden saber projection struck the massive bell.


    From the instant he had unleashed Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Takes Flight to the moment that he had slashed the Dragonslaying Saber through the air, only around two seconds had passed. Everything had progressed according to Tang Wulin''s plan. He wasn''t naive enough to think that his all-out assault would be enough to hurt a Hyper Douluo, so this was his true trump card.


    After Sima Jinchi had discovered himself through the assistance he received from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, the two of them had forged a certain spiritual connection. Tang Wulin was naturally aware that there was no way he could hold back Na Nali on his own for 10 minutes, so he had already contacted Sima Jinchi in advance.


    At this moment, he had finally arrived on the scene, and the two of them immediately unleashed their soul fusion skill to unleash this unprecedentedly fearsome attack.


    Saber God Douluo was a Titled Douluo who was powerful enough to hold his own even against the average Hyper Douluo, and the immense offensive power of his soul fusion skill with Tang Wulin was enough to contend with Na Nali.


    On top of that, Na Nali possessed a soundwave-type martial soul, so close-quarters combat was far from her forte, yet she had made the grave error of allowing Tang Wulin to close down the distance between them, thereby placing herself at a severe disadvantage.


    "Clang!"


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1235: Cunning and Calculated

    The Dragonslaying Saber struck the huge bell in a vicious manner, and the saber was repelled in the end, but the dark green bell instantly took on a nine-colored hue. At the same time, a prominent crack had appeared on its surface, and nine colored light was rapidly expanding from within the crack.


    Na Nali let loose a howl of agony, and the bell abruptly shrank before fleeing into the darkness as a streak of dark green light, leaving the Dark Phoenix Douluo to fend for herself.


    Tang Wulin drifted down onto the ground while holding the Dragonslaying Saber before throwing up a mouthful of blood.


    Light flashed, and the Dragonslaying Saber reverted back into Sima Jinchi, who immediately reached out to support Tang Wulin. "Are you alright, Master?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I''m fine. Those soundwave attacks sure were powerful, though."


    Indeed, if a normal Soul Sage had been in his shoes, those devastating soundwaves would''ve been enough to destroy their target both physically and spiritually.


    Zang Xin was controlling his own domain while keeping an eye on Tang Wulin''s battle, and he nodded in approval at the sight that he was greeted by. Tang Wulin had truly grown up. With his friends by his side, they were already powerful enough to face the truly powerful beings of the Soul Master world. If it weren''t for the fact that his suit of three-word battle armor was far from complete, he most likely would''ve been able to hold off Na Nali for a very long time even without having to resort to this soul fusion skill.


    What was even more important was that his rate of development was far too rapid. During the short time that they had spent in Skysea City, Zang Xin could sense noticeable changes in Tang Wulin even if they were only apart for a few days. After cultivating for so many years, he had well and truly entered the fast lane when it came to his progression. At this rate, he would definitely become a Titled Douluo within the next few years, and by then, he would truly be worthy of his titles as the Sea God''s Pavilion Master and Tang Sect Master.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath while releasing his spiritual power into the distance in case Na Nali were to return.


    His internal organs had been somewhat damaged from the soundwave attacks, but they had already mostly recovered during this brief period of rest. In terms of self-regenerative ability, he was already comparable to his Senior Disciple Brother, A''Ruheng.


    Even though he hadn''t completely mastered the congenital secret method yet, his Golden Dragon King bloodline combined with the portion of the congenital secret method he had mastered already culminated to form a very terrifying product.


    Sima Jinchi was right beside him, and he couldn''t help but be stunned as he looked at Tang Wulin. Through their spiritual connection, he could sense just how quickly Tang Wulin was recovering from his internal injuries.


    Meanwhile, Zang Xin had finally controlled the Dark Phoenix Douluo, and she had fallen completely unconscious, lying limply in Zang Xin''s arms.


    "Now that we''ve captured her, we should have sufficient proof to support our case," Zang Xin said with a faint smile.


    This was the first time that the Tang Sect had seized the upper hand against the Holy Spirit Cult ever since the cult had resurfaced.


    The trap was a success. An entire division of mechas had already converged upon this place, both in the air and on the ground, so there was no way that any of the Evil Soul Masters would be able to escape.


    Zang Xin took the Dark Phoenix Douluo away, while Tang Wulin and the Blood Dragon Squad communicated with the personnel deployed to the scene by the united control center.


    However, all of them were quickly disappointed by what they saw. As opposed to capturing living Evil Soul Masters, they were greeted by the sight of one dead Evil Soul Master after another, all of which had coughed up mouthfuls of black blood and had somehow managed to commit suicide.


    A total of over 400 Evil Soul Masters were captured in the end, but all of them were dead. There was an extremely foul and toxic stench permeating through the area, and the military could only seal off this place while biochemistry experts arrived on the scene to address the situation.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin had already appeared before Boundless Douluo Chen Xinjie again.


    "Dark Phoenix? Dark Bell?" Chen Xinjie appraised Tang Wulin with an intent gaze.


    He naturally hadn''t participated directly in this operation. As the Battle God Hall Master and the commander of the united fleet, his duty was to oversee everything on a broad level.


    "We were able to verify the identities of over 400 Evil Soul Masters, but do you have evidence that they were behind the attack?" Chen Xinjie asked.


    Tang Wulin was stumped by this question. Wasn''t it obvious? If the Holy Spirit Cult hadn''t been plotting something, why would so many of their Evil Soul Masters, including even two Hyper Douluos, have appeared here at once?


    "Both of the heavenly monarchs have gotten away, and the other Evil Soul Masters have all committed suicide; what evidence do you have to link them to the attack?" Chen Xinjie asked in an abrasive manner.


    Tang Wulin quickly regained his composure, and asked, "Are you insisting on starting this war? I don''t have any concrete evidence, and if you still insist on pushing your agenda, I''m powerless to stop you. I''ve done everything in my power; the rest will be down to your judgment and decision."


    A rare smile appeared on Chen Xinjie''s perpetually serious face.


    Tang Wulin was even more exceptional and steadfast than he had imagined, and he couldn''t help but be envious of Zhang Huanyun for unearthing such an outstanding successor.


    ¡°Come to the Battle God Hall!¡± Chen Xinjie invited with a smile.


    Tang Wulin had developed far greater mental fortitude than his peers through all of the ordeals he had endured, but he was still left feeling rather speechless by Chen Xinjie''s unpredictable and erratic way of conversation.


    "Come to our Battle God Hall, and you''ll immediately become one of the main candidates to become one of our 18 Battle Gods. There are still two vacant spots among the 18 Battle Gods. As long as you can become a Titled Douluo within the next five years, you''ll be the successor to my title as Battle God Hall Master. I''ll be retiring in 15 years at most, so you won''t have to wait long," Chen Xinjie continued as a slightly jaded look appeared on his face.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. "Your Majesty, we''ve only just met; should you really be giving me such an important offer?"


    Chen Xinjie replied in a calm manner, "There are some people whom I''ve known all my life, but they''re still just acquaintances in my eyes. I trust in my judgment, and I know that I''ve found a worthy successor in you. You should be aware of the Battle God Hall''s influence in the federal military, and I can tell that you wish to build up some influence in the military; what could help you more in achieving this goal than to become the Battle God Hall Master?"


    It was undoubtedly the case that Chen Xinjie was very overbearing, almost suffocatingly so, but the conditions he was offering were also very alluring. Tang Wulin trusted that if he were to accept this offer, Chen Xinjie would definitely nurture him to the best of his abilities.


    "Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Your Majesty, but I still have things that I need to do, and the Blood God Legion is still in need of my services." He couldn''t tell Chen Xinjie that he was already the Tang Sect Master and Shrek Academy''s Sea God''s Pavilion Master, so he could only use the Blood God Legion as a shield. If he were to tell the truth, Chen Xinjie would most likely fly into a thunderous rage, thinking Tang Wulin was fooling around with him.


    Chen Xinjie seemed to have anticipated this response from Tang Wulin in advance, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he said, "Alright, you can go now."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. He simply couldn''t keep up this wily old fox!


    After a brief moment of contemplation, he extended a military salute before turning to leave. He knew that with Chen Xinjie''s personality, there was no way that he would be convinced of anything that he didn''t approve of, so Tang Wulin didn''t try to press his case any further.


    As for why he hadn''t told Chen Xinjie about the capture of the Dark Phoenix Douluo, that was because she was more important to the Tang Sect than to the military. If they were to hand her over to the military, the members of the military who were colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult could potentially find a way to release her, so it was best to keep them in the dark.


    "Hold on!" Chen Xinjie called out just as Tang Wulin was about to exit his office.


    "Do you have some other instructions, Your Majesty?" Tang Wulin asked as he turned around.


    Chen Xinjie flicked his wrist, and a piece of paper flew toward Tang Wulin like a sharp blade. Tang Wulin raised a hand to catch the piece of paper to discover that there was a long string of numbers written on it.


    "That''s my number. If you wish to consider my offer someday, you can call me at any time. Give me your number as well."

 Chapter 1236: The Love Story of the Battle God Hall Master?

    Thus, Tang Wulin left his soul communication number with Chen Xinjie before departing. Chen Xinjie looked on at his departing figure, and a faint smile appeared on his face. "This is certainly no ordinary kid! Looks like I''ll have to get the military to approve of my proposal even earlier now."


    He pulled out his soul communicator as he spoke before dialing a number.


    "It''s Chen Xinjie. I''m calling regarding the sixth clause of my proposal. The Blood God Legion is given so much financial support by the military every year, so why can''t they be officially included as part of the military? At the very least, I would like to strongly reiterate my suggestion for members of their legion to engage in periodic exchanges with members of our Sea God Legion. Of course, only the elite of the elite serve at the Blood God Legion, so those sent to their legion from our Sea God Legion as part of the exchange program will also be the best that we have to offer."


    Tang Wulin returned directly to the Tang Sect. Even though they had successfully dealt a heavy blow to the Holy Spirit Cult today, they still hadn''t completed their objective. Just what was that sly old Chen Xinjie thinking?


    Was war really imminent?


    Their successful operation against the Holy Spirit Cult had already proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the Holy Spirit Cult had been plotting something in Skysea City. So many powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult had been sent here, including even two of their heavenly monarchs, so it would simply be unreasonable to assume that they had nothing to do with the recent attack.


    As such, everyone had already returned. They were all living in the same hotel, and of course, this was a hotel that belonged to the Tang Sect.


    Zang Xin was absent, so he was most likely taking care of the matters surrounding the Dark Phoenix Douluo. Meanwhile, Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui had resumed working on everyone''s suits of three-word battle.


    "What''s the situation like, Boss?" Xie Xie asked. He was the only one with Tang Wulin as everyone else had gone back to rest or were helping Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan in their battle armor construction.


    This was a splendid victory, and it was also their first victory against the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Tang Wulin replied, "The military refrained from giving a definite verdict, citing insufficient evidence, so we can only continue to wait and observe."


    "This STILL isn''t enough evidence for them?" Xie Xie''s voice immediately sprang up a few octaves.


    Tang Wulin shot a glance at him. "Quiet down! Are you afraid that people won''t be able to hear you? The military has always been in support of going to war, and it''s virtually impossible that no one from the military has participated, either directly or indirectly, in this attack. As the representative of the Eagle Faction and one of the most powerful figures in the military, his verdict will be extremely important. The fact that he''s willfully turning a blind eye to this irrefutable evidence suggests that a war really is imminent."


    "Not necessarily." A voice suddenly sounded from outside, and Zang Xin opened the door before striding into the room.


    Only a powerful Limit Douluo like him would be able to overhear their conversation even after Tang Wulin had used his soul power to seal off the room.


    "Oh? What do you think, then, Your Majesty?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Zang Xin smiled, and said, "That old geezer, Chen Xinjie, is only putting on an act. He knows full well who was behind this attack, and he doesn''t hate the Holy Spirit Cult any less than we do."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Does the Boundless Ocean Douluo also have a vendetta against the Holy Spirit Cult?"


    Zang Xin nodded in response. "Chen Xinjie has never married in his life as he once fell in love with a woman during his younger days. The two of them entered a relationship, but it didn''t work out in the end due to some misunderstandings, and the fact that both of them were too stubborn and unyielding. However, from his decision not to marry, one can tell that he still hasn''t forgotten her, and that woman never married, either. Despite this, they were both too stubborn and prideful to resolve their differences, and in the end, the woman perished at the hands of the Holy Spirit Cult. At the very least, that''s what he thinks to be the case, so how could he not hate the Holy Spirit Cult?"


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this. "Is that so? This Boundless Ocean Douluo is clearly very old, so his lover from back then should also be quite old; has their relationship not been diluted?"


    Zang Xin replied, "Love is something you never forget, especially when one falls in love at a young age, and both of them are the type of people who will only love a single person in their lives. When his lover passed away, Chen Xinjie had flown into a thunderous rage and vowed to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult. This is not known to many people, but someone from our Tang Sect just so happened to hear about it. Following the event, he had even visited the original site of Shrek City to mourn his lover''s passing."


    Tang Wulin said, "But from our communication today, he seems to still be in support of a war, and this doesn''t conflict with his hatred of the Holy Spirit Cult. Perhaps we should hand the Dark Phoenix Douluo over to him?"


    Zang Xin shook his head in response. "No. The Dark Phoenix Douluo is going to be very important to us; more specifically, for our trip to the other two continents, so we can''t hand her over to him. We''ve already proven that powerful members of the Holy Spirit Cult had infiltrated Skysea City en masse, so what we have to do now is to convince Chen Xinjie."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "That''s probably going to be very difficult; the Boundless Ocean Douluo is a very stubborn man."


    Zang Xin nodded in response. "Indeed, Chen Xinjie is a dogmatic and conceited old fart. Neither of us will be able to convince him, but someone can, and you have to convince that person to go and see Chen Xinjie."


    A puzzled look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Who are you referring to?"


    The smile on Zang Xin''s eyes widened as he replied, "I''m naturally referring to his ''deceased'' lover. She''s the only one who can convince him!"


    A series of thoughts flashed through Tang Wulin''s mind, and a thought quickly occurred to him, upon which his mouth gaped open in shock. "You don''t mean..."


    "The one you''re thinking of is exactly the person I''m referring to. As such, you need to make a trip back. I''m sure it won''t be a difficult task for you to leave Skysea City despite the city''s current state of lockdown. Make sure to get her here as quickly as possible. The Dark Phoenix Douluo is going to be very useful to me, and perhaps I''ll have some good news for you when you come back. "


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "That''s a very tall order. Is there no other way?"


    Zang Xin shrugged in response. "Do you think I would''ve told you something like this if there were an alternative? I have to go into hiding after this. Otherwise, that lover of Chen Xinjie''s is going to be out for my blood! Do you think you''re the only one facing a lot of pressure? I''m also going to be facing a lot of heat after this!"


    "What are you two talking about, Your Majesty? Why can''t I understand what you''re saying?" Xie Xie looked at Tang Wulin and Zang Xin with an indignant expression. He could understand the story that Zang Xin had told, but after that, the conversation took a completely inexplicable turn to him. Who was this person that Tang Wulin and Zang Xin had been referring to?


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Do you not have a brain? Think about it; this is someone who''s in the same generation as the Boundless Ocean Douluo, and is outstanding enough for mutual attraction to appear between them. She also ''died'' recently at the hands of the Holy Spirit Cult, but we know her, and we know that she''s still alive. Is that still not enough to clue you in?"


    Xie Xie wasn''t an idiot, and his jaw also quickly dropped to the ground. "My God! No way! Is that really true? This is a secret among secrets! Your Majesty, which one is more powerful between you and her?"


    "How about you make this trip in Wulin''s stead?" Zang Xin asked with a smile.


    Xie Xie hurriedly shook his head vigorously in response. "No, thanks! I don''t have what it takes. Only our Sea God''s Pavilion Master can pull off something like this."


    "Then shut your trap!"


    ......


    Two hours later, Tang Wulin had gotten on a soul train back to Heaven Dou City.


    He had disguised himself as a middle-aged man, and he was traveling alone to attract the least attention possible. Even now, he was still stunned by this revelation.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Chen Xinjie''s love story was a secret of the past, and the story had probably taken place over a century ago. This meant that even though the Boundless Ocean Douluo appeared to be a middle-aged man, he had to be around 200 years old.


    It was truly remarkable to think about a love story that had taken place over 100 years ago. What about the Soul Masters of 1,000 years ago or even 10,000 years ago?


    Humans had a traceable history of around 30,000 years on the Douluo Continent. This was an extremely lengthy process, and during this time, technology had constantly advanced. As the occupation of Soul Master emerged, people learned to use their innate martial souls to combat the soul beasts, which were the rulers of the continent at the time. Gradually, the power balance shifted, and humans became the masters of this continent. At present, soul beasts were teetering on the precipice of extinction, and the entire Douluo Star was also suffering from resource shortages. During these past 30,000 years, far too many things had happened in the human race.


    The most important reason behind the widespread support that the federal military was receiving was that the future they described was a reliable and feasible one.


    They were going to obtain more resources, then go into space exploration to find a new home for the human race. After all, as the resources on the Douluo Star continued to be depleted, even the planar ruler was becoming more feeble. If things were to continue in this fashion, the vitality of the entire planet would most likely be snuffed out eventually.

 Chapter 1237: So Handsome!

    However, why didn''t the members of the general public who supported the military consider how difficult it was going to be to find another habitable planet? No one knew what the world outside the Douluo Star was like. If they couldn''t find a habitable planet in 100 years, then they could afford to stretch the search to 200 years. But what if they continued to fail in that endeavor? What could they do? Give up?


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed involuntarily as he followed this train of thought.


    He could clearly sense the seed of life''s yearning for life force energy. If the seed of life had sufficient life force energy to support the ancient Golden Tree, perhaps Shrek Academy could''ve avoided destruction altogether.


    Humans were constantly plundering the planet''s resources to satisfy their own wants and needs, and to create terrifying weapons. Eventually, this was going to lead to humanity destroying itself.


    Tang Wulin found the Dove Faction''s ideologies to be easier to accept. They championed population control, reductions in the exploitation of the planet''s resources, environmental conservation, and conserving more resources for future generations. Technological advancement was a must, but this rate of development was definitely not sustainable.


    Technology on the Douluo Star had been advancing far too quickly, and that would inevitably result in the expenditure of a vast amount of resources. Without resources, technology wouldn''t be able to continue to advance, and that was what had resulted in this current situation, where war was all but inevitable.


    During a conversation via soul communicator, Mo Lan had once told Tang Wulin that the Dove Faction had suggested a plan in parliament that involved exchanging technical information with the other two empires for resources, but this plan was turned down by the parliament.


    In the eyes of the majority, particularly from the perspective of the Eagle Faction, they deemed it unnecessary to engage in an exchange when they could take what they wanted by force using their superior weaponry. Weren''t these exchanges only going to strengthen the opposition?


    This viewpoint received majority support, both in the federal parliament and among the general public. After all, in the eyes of the people, the Douluo Continent was too powerful for the other two continents to contend with, and the war was only going to take place on foreign soil, so it had nothing to do with them.


    Mo Lan''s counterargument to this was that the inhabitants of the other two continents were humans, just like those on the Douluo Continent, and this viewpoint resonated greatly with Tang Wulin. Perhaps the absence of his parents from a young age gave him a stronger yearning for familial bonds, and that made him quite sensitive in this area. How terrifying would it be for someone to lose all of their loved ones? If this war were to eventuate, it was undoubtedly the case that countless people were going to be stripped of their loved ones.


    The soul train had already accelerated to full speed, and as Tang Wulin looked out at the rapidly passing scenery outside the window, he was suddenly struck by a hint of amusement. Perhaps it was due to his recent drastic change in status that had him worrying about the state of the entire world. In reality, his most important objective for making this trip to the other two continents was to find his parents.


    A surge of warmth flowed through his heart at the thought of his parents. Even though his parents had disappeared when he was at a very young age, it was only through his father''s guidance and his mother''s kindness that he went on to become the resolute young man he currently was. It was exactly due to their abduction that he had more motivation to cultivate and learn, to constantly improve himself in the hope of being able to rescue his parents someday, and now, he had finally gained the power to begin taking steps toward that objective.


    He closed his eyes to rest, and his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power circulated naturally throughout his body. Even though his cultivation speed had improved dramatically, Tang Wulin had become even more averse to slacking off. During this recent period of time, he had integrated all of his abilities into a cohesive package, and he was confident that he would be able to progress to the Soul Douluo level without encountering any bottleneck.


    After reaching that level, it was about time that he considered breaking his 12th Golden Dragon King seal.


    According to the past trend, after breaking the 12th seal, he would receive a new Golden Dragon King ability, and every such ability that he attained had enhanced his powers drastically.


    "Is this seat taken?" A pleasant voice suddenly sounded beside Tang Wulin, and he reflexively raised his head as alarm bells began to ring in his heart.


    Prior to this voice sounding beside him, he had completely failed to sense that someone was approaching him. With his powers, this was virtually impossible even if he had been in deep thought. This could only mean one thing; the person who had approached him was quite a powerful being in their own right.


    Na Nali was still wearing the same school uniform as the one she had worn during their first meeting, and she sat down beside Tang Wulin with a smile, looking as if she really were a student. Tang Wulin''s heart immediately sank at the sight of her.


    He had already carefully disguised himself, to the extent that he had even altered his own figure and aura, so why had he still been discovered?


    Perhaps this was a coincidence? Surely that was too much of a stretch.


    Despite the tumultuous emotions in his heart, Tang Wulin managed to remain expressionless as he replied in a coarse voice, "Not at all."


    "Heehee, you have a really good poker face. Shouldn''t you show me what you actually look like? I''m super curious. It''s not good to always wear a disguise." She reached a hand toward Tang Wulin''s face as she spoke.


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to stop her, she transmitted her voice to him as a warning. "There are close to 2,000 passengers on this train; you''d better listen to me or none of you will live to see tomorrow."


    Tang Wulin remained still in the end and allowed Na Nali to place her hand on his face, but his heart had turned ice cold. He had no idea how she had seen through his disguise.


    Na Nali''s palm seemed to possess magical powers, able to sweep away Tang Wulin''s disguise in an instant to reveal his true appearance.


    "Wow, you''re so handsome!" Na Nali couldn''t help but exclaim as her eyes lit up at the sight of Tang Wulin''s large eyes, long eyelashes, and handsome facial features.


    She sidled up closer against Tang Wulin before wrapping her arms around his arm and whispering into his ear in a seductive manner, "Did you know that a really good-looking person automatically possesses the equivalent of a captivation domain ability? How about you let me eat you up?"


    Tang Wulin remained silent. He was all alone here, and there was no way he could oppose Na Nali at such close quarters. Countless thoughts quickly flashed through his mind as he scrambled to find a way out of this situation, but much to his dismay, he discovered that he had no chance against someone who was so close in power to a Limit Douluo. Furthermore, who knew just how many members of the Holy Spirit Cult were on this train?


    "Are you curious about how I found you? Your disguise technique is actually really good. If you want to ask, then go ahead; ask and I''ll tell you," Na Nali encouraged with an innocent smile on her face.


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with nothing but disgust at the sight of her. This was a heinous old hag who was trying to pose as a schoolgirl, and it was truly abhorrent.


    He remained silent, and at the same time, he was preparing for the worst.


    "Are you really not curious? I was planning to refuse to tell you if you had asked me. Now that you refuse to ask me, I''m going to force the answer on you! I actually left my soundwave vibrations on you during our last clash. This is my soundwave tracking ability, and those soundwave vibrations would''ve disappeared after a few more days. Without this, I really wouldn''t have been able to see through your disguise. I didn''t think you''d be leaving to go somewhere on your own so soon after our battle, so I immediately followed you here; isn''t it funny how fate works sometimes?"


    Tang Wulin could only lament his own ill-fortune. Indeed, fate really did work in some "funny" ways.

 Chapter 1238: How Vulgar!

    Tang Wulin continued to remain silent as he knew that he was susceptible to falling under her influence if he were to respond. The only thing he could do now was to bide his time and search for an opportunity.


    Na Nali smiled, and continued, "Are you not going to say anything? How about this? Let''s play a game from now on. I''ll ask questions, and you give me answers. For every question you refuse to answer, I''ll kill someone on this train. Who do you think I should start with?"


    She raised a hand to point at the surrounding passengers as she spoke, and her entrancing smile coupled with her beautiful features captivated many of the nearby male passengers.


    "What''s your name?" A burst of gentle energy began to swirl around her fingertip.


    "Blood Dragon." Tang Wulin had no choice but to speak. He couldn''t just sit idly and watch as she engaged in senseless slaughter.


    "Heehee, I knew you weren''t a mute. Blood Dragon? That''s not your real name, is it?"


    Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent voice, "I have many names; do you want me to make one up for you on the spot."


    Na Nali continued, "Alright, next question, then: are you from the Tang Sect?"


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied in a clipped and concise manner.


    Na Nali cocked her head to the side in a show of contemplation. "I didn''t think that the Tang Sect would have such an exceptional disciple. You really do seem very young, which makes it all the more incredible. You must be a very important figure in the Tang Sect, right? I was shocked that you were able to hurt me as a mere Soul Sage. By the way, that really hurt; you cracked my martial soul. How about you guess how much remaining power I have? You should give it a try; maybe you can even beat me. Where''s your friend that you used that soul fusion skill with?"


    She raised her hand in a grand gesture as she spoke, and imitated Tang Wulin''s voice. "Come, my blade!"


    "You were so cool at the time. Heehee, it''s too bad that you don''t have your blade with you now. I can''t believe that idiot phoenix was captured. Don''t worry, I couldn''t bear to hurt you; I''m just going to exchange you for that idiot phoenix. Speaking of her, I don''t like her, either. She looks pretty, but she''s even more evil than I am. I only collect some vengeful spirits here and there, but she directly extracts the soul out of living people''s bodies and turns them into vengeful spirits or collects them to be tortured. She''s really abhorrent! I''m much better than her; I only like the invisible soundwaves that vengeful spirits emit. Am I not the kindest person in the entire Holy Spirit Cult?"


    "Hehe," Tang Wulin chuckled coldly in response.


    "That''s such a sly smile, but you''re still so handsome! I really have fallen for you. How about you become my boyfriend? I''m not even old; I''m only 37 this year. I''m sure you''re aware that age becomes largely inconsequential when Soul Masters reach a certain level. We''ll both live until we''re over 200 anyway, so what''s the difference between 37 and 20 something? If you become my boyfriend, you can do whatever you want to me."


    She lowered her head in a shy manner as she spoke, and Tang Wulin glanced down at her, upon which he was immediately struck by a sense of entrancement.


    Right at this moment, a burst of refreshing coolness spread through his body from his silver dragon scale pendant, snapping him out of his instant of infatuation.


    Na Nali raised her head in a slightly surprised manner. She had clearly noticed the shift in Tang Wulin''s mental state and was quite stunned by this. Her seduction ability had elements of her domain intermingled into it, yet he was able to resist her!


    "I''m becoming more and more convinced that you''re an exceptional talent in your Tang Sect. It''s a good thing that I encountered you now. Otherwise, given 10 more years, I may not be able to control you. Heehee, I''m really glad to have met you now."


    She tightened her arms around Tang Wulin''s arm as she spoke while pressing herself against his chest.


    Tang Wulin was also quite shocked by what he had heard. If this Na Nali really were only 37 years old, then that would simply be extraordinary! A 37-year-old rank 98 Hyper Douluo was truly an outstanding talent in the Soul Master world.


    He had already heard from Zang Xin that among the higher-ups of the Holy Spirit Cult, the four heavenly monarchs were ranked below the sovereign and two emperors; didn''t that mean that there were at least three beings in the Holy Spirit Cult who were more powerful than her? They could even all be Limit Douluos!


    They were going to use him to exchange for the Dark Phoenix Douluo? She was most likely telling the truth here. He did appear to be quite important, but compared to the Dark Phoenix Douluo, who was already a Hyper Douluo, he still paled in significance. Thus, he temporarily set aside the thought of turning on Na Nali regardless of the consequences.


    This was not the time to be lamenting his ill-fortune or to be feeling sorry for himself. Instead, he had to find a way to escape or to minimize the harm resulting from this exchange.


    "I don''t like guys who don''t talk. Let''s have a chat; how did you join the Tang Sect?" she asked in a curious manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "My teacher introduced me to the sect."


    "Who''s your teacher?" Na Nali asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I have many teachers; you wouldn''t know the one I''m referring to even if I told you."


    Na Nali pouted in a displeased manner. "You''re not being very interesting. I don''t want to speak with you anymore. I''m injured and I need rest, so I''m taking a nap." She leaned her head on Tang Wulin''s shoulder and closed her eyes as she spoke.


    From an outsider''s perspective, they appeared to be a pair of lovers, and a very harmonious pair, at that.


    Soon, her breathing evened out, and Tang Wulin continued to look out the window as he brainstormed all types of ideas.


    Could he break out through the window? Na Nali appeared to be holding onto his arm in a gesture of intimacy, but in reality, her palm was constantly adhered to just under Tang Wulin''s ribs, and she could exert force at a moment''s notice. With her powers, Tang Wulin would be sure to be severely wounded by her at such close quarters, so there was no way that he would be able to escape.


    Thus, the soul train continued on toward Heaven Dou City. This was an express train service with no intermittent stops, so the journey was completed very quickly, and it only took just over three hours for them to arrive at Heaven Dou City.


    "Hmm, that was a really good nap! It''s been a long time since I''ve slept so soundly. You make a really good pillow. Are we almost at the station? Lend me your shoulder again on the return trip!" Na Nali said in a provocative manner.


    Tang Wulin didn''t say or do anything in response. All he could do now was wait for a suitable opportunity to arise. Only then would there be a chance that he could escape his current predicament.


    The train came to a steady halt, and Na Nali held Tang Wulin''s hand in an affectionate manner, dragging him over to the ticket station before buying a pair of return tickets. It seemed that she was just another law-abiding young woman, and if Tang Wulin didn''t know better, he would''ve also fallen under that impression.


    "Let''s go back to Skysea City. I really hate that Amorous Douluo from your sect. I''m going to break that annoying domain of his sooner or later. People like him are reputed to be full of emotion, they''re actually the most heartless ones."


    Na Nali released Tang Wulin''s hand before stretching lazily, showing off the gorgeous curves of her body as she did so.


    "Let''s go get something to eat, then return to Skysea City. Traveling with a handsome man like you really is an enjoyable experience," Na Nali said with a smile.


    Tang Wulin continued to remain silent and did whatever Na Nali asked of him. There was no need to irk her at a time like this, and he was also putting on this meek and obedient facade to lure her into a false sense of security.


    "By the way, tell me about that soul fusion skill of yours; it''s so powerful! What''s the deal with that saber? I felt like, at the time, your friend turned into a saber for you to wield; it''s the first time I''ve seen a soul fusion skill like that. Your powers were instantly elevated, and your aura was really terrifying. If it hadn''t been for the fact that you''re still lacking in power, I may not even have been able to get away. What was that saber technique?"


    Tang Wulin offered no reply.


    "Are you not going to respond? If not, I''m going to..."


    "Kill someone?" Tang Wulin shot a glance at her.


    "Of course not. I''m a kind-hearted and gentle girl; how could I possibly kill someone for no reason? I was only joking on the train. If you''re not going to talk, then I''ll give you a kiss as a punishment!"


    She began to sidle up closer to Tang Wulin as she spoke, and the latter''s brows furrowed involuntarily. Na Nali could clearly see a strong sense of loathing in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and her lips paused en route to his cheek.


    "Oi, do you hate me that much? I''m even more determined to kiss you now!" She reached out with her right hand to grab toward Tang Wulin as she spoke.


    "How vulgar!" A frosty voice sounded right at this moment.


    Na Nali was slightly alarmed by this voice, and she reflexively turned around. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin shuddered as if an electric current had jolted through his body, and he also turned toward the source of the voice.

 Chapter 1239: Gu Yuena and the Young Man

    His expression instantly stiffened at the sight of this person. The woman standing before him was none other than the woman who was constantly on his mind.


    Gu Yuena was wearing a long white dress that complemented her silver hair and purple eyes to form an exquisitely beautiful package. Na Nali was already very beautiful, but she couldn''t hold a candle to Gu Yuena, just as how a wild flower would pale into insignificance in the face of a lily in full bloom.


    A hint of resentment flashed through Na Nali''s eyes. She absolutely detested women who were more beautiful than her, and this one even dared to provoke her. She didn''t want to make a scene in such a large city, but the situation really did get to her.


    After a brief stunned stupor, Tang Wulin immediately realized the dangerous situation that Gu Yuena had unwittingly placed herself in, and he immediately grabbed onto Na Nali''s arm. "You want to hear about my soul fusion skill, right? I''ll tell you about it."


    The resentment in her eyes faded, and she turned back to Tang Wulin with a smile. "Really? Why do I get the feeling that you know her? Are you trying to protect her?"


    With her cunning and guile, she was able to glean many things through Tang Wulin''s panicked reaction.


    Right at this moment, a man approached Gu Yuena with a smile. "What''s going on, Nana [this is a pet name that he has for Gu Yuena]? Who are you talking about?"


    This was a tall and broad young man who appeared to be around 27 to 28 years of age with his golden hair arranged in a neat manner. He also wore a set of white robes, but in contrast with Gu Yuena''s white dress, his attire had golden patterns on it, which made it appear more lavish and prestigious.


    This young man was also extremely handsome. He appeared to be slightly less masculine compared to Tang Wulin, but his eyes were particularly bright, and there seemed to be something special within them.


    "Oh, it''s another handsome boy! Heeheehee," Na Nali''s eyes lit up at the sight of the young man before she turned back to Tang Wulin with a smile, and said, "I still like you better. You''re more energetic and masculine. Looks like she''s already got a boyfriend, so she doesn''t seem to have anything to do with you."


    Gu Yuena replied in an indifferent manner, "No one."


    She then turned and made her way over to the nearby waiting area before taking a seat.


    The young man followed her and didn''t take so much as a single glance at Tang Wulin and Na Nali. He had a smile on his face this entire time, but there was no way to conceal the superiority that was an integral part of his being.


    Tang Wulin appeared to be quite calm, but how could he possibly be actually as tranquil as he looked? Never did he think that he would encounter Gu Yuena at a time like this, and the young man with her also seemed to have quite a special relationship with her.


    Who was he? The aura he released was very powerful, so he was most likely a Titled Douluo. It was quite remarkable to see such a young Titled Douluo. Considering that Gu Yuena was from the Spirit Pagoda, this young man was most likely from the same organization.


    These thoughts quickly raced through Tang Wulin''s mind, but he didn''t do anything. Compared to the possibility that he now had a new rival in love, Na Nali was far more fearsome a prospect.


    He had to get this ticking time bomb away from Gu Yuena no matter what, even if doing so meant that he could be misunderstood by Gu Yuena.


    It was quite clear that Na Nali had also sensed the white-robed young man''s power, and there was an intrigued look in her eyes, but she didn''t say anything about him.


    Her main objective was still to capture Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin appeared to only be a Soul Sage, but his powers were not inferior to those of the average Titled Douluo, so she didn''t want anything to distract her. In reality, it was just as she had said to Tang Wulin; she had been able to capture him purely by chance.


    "Ignore those boring people, Nana. Why are you traveling to Skysea City? Are you really planning to take a trip to the Star Luo Continent? If so, I''d have to advise against that. That''s a foreign continent, after all, and once the war begins, it''s going to be quite dangerous over there. I think it''s best if we stay at the headquarters. Your spiritual power has almost reached the Spirit Domain realm, right? Can you give me a chance after you make your breakthrough?" the white-robed young man asked.


    Gu Yuena glanced at him, and replied, "We''ll discuss that when the time comes. As for making a trip to the Star Luo Continent, I haven''t made up my mind about that yet. I only want to go and visit Skysea City. I heard that there are three fleets gathered there, so it must be a very spectacular sight to behold."


    "Alright." The white-robed young man didn''t force the issue any further and merely gave Gu Yuena a captivating smile before sitting in silence beside her.


    Tang Wulin had extremely good hearing, so he naturally overheard their conversation. She was going to Skysea City, and possibly the Star Luo Empire? Why?


    "Do you know her? Is that your little lover? Looks like you''ve got a rival in love," Na Nali whispered into Tang Wulin''s ear. She was clearly deriving gloating pleasure from this situation, but on a deeper level, a hint of coldness seemed to have crept into her voice.


    Tang Wulin glanced at her and remained silent.


    Na Nali was too dangerous; he couldn''t afford for Gu Yuena to have a run-in with her! As such, at a time like this, he could only give her the cold shoulder and pretend not to know her.


    There was still some time until the train back to Skysea City arrived, and there weren''t many people on the platform. Tang Wulin, Gu Yuena, Na Nali, and the white-robed young man were all extremely good-looking, so they naturally attracted a lot of attention from passersby.


    Tang Wulin remained silent while Na Nali maintained a smile on her face, and no one could tell what she was thinking. The white-robed young man also wore a warm smile on his face, giving him a graceful and refined appearance. In contrast, Gu Yuena''s expression remained rather indifferent, quite similar to the expression that Tang Wulin currently wore.


    All four of them were wrapped up in their own thoughts, and they presented a collection of exceptional eye candy for all of the other people on the platform.


    Gu Yuena tucked a few stray strands of her long silver hair behind her ear, and a rather peculiar look suddenly appeared on her face. This was a very subtle change in expression that one would completely fail to notice unless they were paying very close attention to her. This was the slightest hint of a smile, and in the next instant, she abruptly sprang into action without any premonition.


    Her movements didn''t appear to be very fast or jerky. Instead, she made quite a natural and graceful gesture, pressing a palm toward Tang Wulin seemingly in an absentminded manner.


    This simple-looking gesture caused the space in front of her palm to collapse; it was as if the air had become a balloon, which was being compressed by her palm. On the other end, the air suddenly warped around Tang Wulin, and a burst of powerful force crashed toward his body.


    Everything had happened extremely abruptly, to the extent that both Na Nali and the white-robed young man failed to react.


    Tang Wulin gave a muffled groan, and his body was sent flying as if it had been struck by some kind of powerful force.


    Na Nali was quite alarmed by this sudden development, and she held onto Tang Wulin''s hand with one of her hands while also pressing her other palm against the air to oppose the oncoming burst of force. A dull explosion rang out, and the shockwaves immediately surged through the surrounding area.


    In the next instant, Gu Yuena sprang up into the air, sweeping her right hand through the air to conjure up a massive fireball out of nowhere, then sent it flying directly toward Na Nali. The scenes that unfolded next were quite astonishing, even to a being as powerful as Na Nali.


    Following the emergence of the fireball was a ball of azure light that was constructed from fierce winds. After that, a rippling ball of water appeared, then a yellow ball of earth, and each ball of light flew through the air faster than the previous one. By the time they had flown 10 meters away from Gu Yuena, all of them had already fused together as one, forming a colorful yet extremely unstable massive ball of light that enshrouded Na Nali''s entire body.


    Even Na Nali couldn''t help but be astonished by the elemental power that Gu Yuena was able to muster up in such a short time. At the very least, there was no one that she knew of that could accomplish this.

 Chapter 1240: Battling the Dark Bell

    "Ding!" A dark green bell appeared out of thin air and let loose a crisp chime, upon which the four-colored ball of light abruptly faltered before exploding to unleash a terrifying energy storm. At the same time, a dark green light barrier appeared in front of Na Nali, shielding her and Tang Wulin from the oncoming energy blasts.


    In the instant after Gu Yuena unleashed those four balls of light, she swept her right hand through the air, and her soul rings appeared around her, following which a thin and long elemental staff appeared in her grasp. She drew a circle with the staff in the air, conjuring up a silver ring of light. Na Nali faltered slightly upon seeing this, and in the next instant, an identical silver ring had appeared beneath her feet.


    Silver light flashed, and before she had a chance to resist, she found herself standing right in front of Gu Yuena.


    This was spatial teleportation, and she had used it on an enemy!


    Na Nali was well and truly astonished. This woman''s elemental control abilities were simply extraordinary! At her cultivation rank, even if she had been caught off guard, she shouldn''t have been passively teleported so easily!


    Gu Yuena''s movements were smooth and flowing like those of an artist. As soon as the silver ring of light was conjured up, she seemed to have already determined that Na Nali wouldn''t be able to escape her teleportation. She thrust her left hand toward the ring of light, and by the time Na Nali was teleported to her, the former was greeted by the sight of a completely golden palm that was thrusting directly toward her.


    Light elements that were so dense that they were almost in a solid form erupted forth, and Na Nali could only raise her arms to protect herself in the face of this abrupt turn of events.


    In the instant that she was teleported to Gu Yuena, the white-robed young man beside her also reacted to the situation, and nine soul rings instantly emerged beneath his feet, consisting of seven blacks and two reds. His third soul ring lit up, and a strange weapon instantly appeared in his hand, which he swept horizontally through the air.


    This was a halberd that resembled a long spear, except there was a crescent blade on each side of the tip of the weapon. With the activation of his soul skill, the halberd turned into a scorching white color, and as he swung it through the air, an enormous burst of suction force erupted from it. One of the crescent blades on the weapon instantly reached Na Nali''s neck, and everything had happened so quickly that Tang Wulin and Na Nali were left reeling by this turn of events.


    Who could''ve envisioned that Gu Yuena would suddenly lash out in such an abrupt and devastating manner?


    Furthermore, she seemed to have great synergy and teamwork with the white-robed young man, who was also an extremely powerful Titled Douluo in his own right, as exemplified by his exceptional soul ring configuration. Even compared to the soul rings of Na Nali, he was only missing a 100,000-year-old soul ring.


    In the face of these sudden attacks, Na Nali displayed her power as one of the four heavenly monarchs. She let loose a delicate harrumph, sending soundwaves piercing into the listeners'' mind, and the white-robed young man''s attack clearly faltered for an instant as a result. Right at this moment, her palm clashed with Gu Yuena''s and a dull thump immediately rang out.


    Gu Yuena''s body swayed slightly, and countless bursts of dark green energy instantly surged toward her body amid shrill howls of anguish.


    In contrast, a layer of golden light had appeared over Na Nali''s body, and on the surface, it appeared that Na Nali had seized the clear upper hand. However, she certainly wasn''t enjoying herself. The extremely rich light elements from Gu Yuena''s palm had surged directly into her body through her palm before clashing violently with the dark energy inside her.


    Just as Na Nali was steeling herself to repress her agony and take down Gu Yuena, the elemental staff in Gu Yuena''s hand suddenly tapped onto the ground.


    A dull boom rang out, and a silver halo abruptly erupted outward with her body at its very center. The force of this attack caused Na Nali to stumble slightly, and the halberd finally arrived in this instant.


    The attack from the halberd was imbued with immense force and unstoppable momentum! Na Nali was far more powerful than the white-robed young man, but the offensive power from such a top-tier tool martial soul was simply far too tremendous; taking this attack head-on definitely wouldn''t be a good idea for her. As such, Na Nali could only duck down while hurriedly darting backward in a wraith-like manner, drawing upon the power of Gu Yuena''s spatial elemental blast to aid herself in her retreat.


    How were these two so powerful? The white-robed young man was most likely already close to the Hyper Douluo level, but Na Nali was more wary of Gu Yuena as she found herself struggling to comprehend what Gu Yuena''s exact power level was. She only had eight soul rings, consisting of seven blacks and one red, but as a powerful being who was extremely close to the Limit Douluo level, Na Nali had extremely sharp senses, and all of her senses were telling her that this woman posed a far bigger threat than the halberd-wielding young man.


    "Run!" An extremely faint voice sounded beside Tang Wulin''s ears. At the same time, Gu Yuena raised her elemental staff high up into the air.


    Water, fire, earth, wind, light, and spatial elements instantly manifested themselves in a physical form, conjuring up a vast expanse of six-colored light that swirled around the beautiful gem on the tip of her staff. The six-colored light formed a giant vortex, and a burst of extremely powerful suction force acted upon Na Nali''s body, quickly drawing her toward the vortex.


    At this moment, countless projections of the white-robed young man had also appeared, and they dispersed before converging toward a single target. It was as if he had suddenly been cloned thousands of times, and all of the projections seemed extremely realistic. This was an immensely powerful attack that even Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be in awe of.


    He tapped his foot onto the ground without any hesitation and instantly spread open his golden wings. He flapped his wings vigorously and almost instantly flew over 100 meters away, then rapidly fled from the train station.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to join forces with Gu Yuena. With the white-robed young man''s assistance, there was a chance that they could even detain Na Nali. However, he had absolute trust in Gu Yuena; she had told him to run, so she naturally had her reasons. Furthermore, Gu Yuena had clearly become far more powerful than before, and with the white-robed young man''s assistance, there was no way that Na Nali would be able to defeat them.


    Na Nali could sense that Tang Wulin was fleeing the scene, and she immediately flew into a thunderous rage. She let loose a sharp cry, and her Dark Bell instantly expanded while her pupils turned into a dark green color.


    "Ding, ding, ding!" The bell chimed thrice in succession, and over two-thirds of the white-robed young man''s projections were instantly shattered, while the light above Gu Yuena''s head also crumbled.


    Na Nali then immediately rushed off in pursuit of Tang Wulin. She couldn''t afford to be delayed by these two; capturing Tang Wulin was her top priority.


    However, Gu Yuena definitely wasn''t going to allow her to get away. An icy blue streak of light instantly surged toward her, and Na Nali waved a hand to swivel her Dark Bell around to act as a shield against the oncoming attack.


    In her eyes, there was still a significant disparity between their powers, so if she wanted to escape, her two opponents definitely wouldn''t be able to stop her.


    However, her judgment proved to be incorrect on this occasion.


    A burst of glacial aura instantly swept forth, making her feel as if her entire mind had been frozen solid, and she plummeted from the sky like a dead weight. The massive halberd also struck her in a vicious manner thereafter, and in this dire situation, Na Nali abruptly fused as one with her Dark Bell, so the halberd struck the bell amid a thunderous clang.


    As a result, the white-robed young man shuddered as if he had suffered an electronic shock, and blood began to pour out of his nose and mouth. This was the most fearsome aspect about a soundwave-type martial soul. Even if it were being struck by an attack, it could retaliate by using the clash to unleash soundwave attacks of its own.


    However, Na Nali certainly wasn''t enjoying herself, either. Her Dark Bell still hadn''t fully recovered after being struck by the Dragonslaying Saber, so being struck by the halberd now certainly wasn''t doing her any favors.


    Cracks instantly appeared over a large area of the Dark Bell''s surface, and Na Nali was at the height of her fury. Her eighth soul ring instantly lit up, and a terrifying bell chime rang out across the entire train station. Even the sky above the train station had turned a dark green color in the blink of an eye.


    In the air above, a massive bell with a radius in excess of 50 meters began to sway, and if it were allowed to chime, all of the living beings in the entire train station would most likely be reduced to dust in an instant.


    However, right at this moment, an authoritative voice rang out from above. "Don''t you dare!"


    The sky turned a scorching white color, and a powerful pillar of dazzling light descended from above, piercing directly through the huge bell in the air. Na Nali let loose an anguished cry and gritted her teeth before throwing up a mouthful of black blood. At the same time, she fused into the black blood and fled into the distance as a streak of crimson light, flying away as quickly as a shooting star.


    This was her darkness secret technique, Blood Flee. [This is most definitely turning into a xianxia LOL. I translate RMJI as well, which is a xianxia through and through, and this sequence of events is soooo reminiscent of what I''m constantly translating in RMJI.]


    The white-robed young man was about to give chase, but the authoritative voice up above sounded again. "Let her go."


    Light flashed, and a figure descended out of nowhere, positioning himself in front of the white-robed young man and Gu Yuena. "Don''t chase a cornered beast. I didn''t think members of the Holy Spirit Cult would dare to appear in Heaven Dou City again."

 Chapter 1241: Qiangu Zhangting

    The man who had just destroyed Na Nali''s Dark Bell was none other than the Spirit Pagoda Chairman, Qiangu Dongfeng.


    If Tang Wulin were still here, he would immediately understand why Gu Yuena had told him to run.


    "We''re just going to let her go? She''s already been severely wounded; I''m sure I''ll be able to chase her down and take care of her," the white-robed young man said in an urgent manner.


    Qiangu Dongfeng furrowed his brows, and scolded, "You''re in your early thirties already; why are you still so reckless? Do you think the Holy Spirit Cult is that easy to deal with? How can you be sure that there aren''t any other Holy Spirit Cult powerful beings nearby? These Evil Soul Masters have a myriad of unpredictable abilities, and you could easily fall prey to one of them. A wise man would never place himself in unknown peril. Do you know who you are? You''re far too important to be risking your life hunting down these filthy beings who can only live in the darkness!"


    Qiangu Zhangting lowered his head in a slightly embarrassed manner upon hearing this. "You''re right, Grandfather. It''s a good thing that Nana identified those two to be members of the Holy Spirit Cult. Otherwise, I would''ve still been completely oblivious."


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to Gu Yuena, and he immediately adopted a much warmer expression. "Are you alright, Na''er?"


    Gu Yuena nodded in response. "Her soundwave attacks are very powerful and unpredictable. It''s a good thing that Zhangting was with me; I wouldn''t have been able to take her on by myself."


    Qiangu Zhangting was instantly reinvigorated upon receiving a compliment from the woman of his desires. "If she hadn''t run away so quickly, I would''ve taken her down there and then!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng said, "There must be a reason why powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult have suddenly appeared in Heaven Dou City. Don''t go to Skysea City for now; I fear that the Holy Spirit Cult will target you after what happened just now. Let''s go back to the headquarters."


    Qiangu Zhangting turned to Gu Yuena, and only after she nodded to accept this arrangement did he also agree with a smile. He was definitely in support of not going to Skysea City. The Spirit Pagoda headquarters was his territory, and it was the place where he would be able to interact with Gu Yuena the most.


    He had fallen in love with the cold and exquisitely beautiful Gu Yuena from the moment that he first saw her. Not only was she absolutely stunning, she had beauty and aptitude in equal measure. Even the picky Qiangu Dongfeng had nothing but praise for her, and she was also the disciple of Vice-chairman Leng Yaozhu, so he was a perfect match for her regardless of whether it was in ability, status, or looks. They were truly a match made in heaven.


    Gu Yuena cast a glance in the direction that Tang Wulin had fled toward, seemingly in an absentminded manner, then departed from the train station with Qiangu Dongfeng and Qiangu Zhangting.


    Tang Wulin flew very quickly, and he was out of the train station after just a few flaps of his wings.


    Ever since Heaven Dou City had been struck by the terror attack, the defenses here had become far tighter, and even after he had flown out of the train station, he didn''t dare to delay. Na Nali had a way to track him down, so he definitely couldn''t afford to give her a chance.


    Thankfully, Heaven Dou City was the territory of the Tang Sect, and it only took him less than 20 seconds to find one of the secret Tang Sect buildings.


    He quickly entered the elevator in the building and descended underground. Surely Na Nali wouldn''t be able to track him down once he was 500 meters underground!


    On top of that, there was a top-tier powerful being in the underground world of the Tang Sect, so it would actually be greatly welcomed if Na Nali were to somehow come after him here.


    As the elevator descended, Tang Wulin wasn''t thinking about the perilous ordeal he had just endured. Instead, he was thinking about Gu Yuena.


    She was still so beautiful, and when he saw the barely detectable change in expression on her face, he had already sensed what she was going to do.


    This was like a spiritual connection; there was no need for verbal communication for them to understand each other''s intentions.


    Gu Yuena had been very smart not to directly attack Na Nali. Instead, her attack had fallen upon him, and that had confused Na Nali.


    Otherwise, if she had attacked Na Nali right away, she may have guessed Gu Yuena''s intentions, which would lead to her keeping an even tighter grasp on Tang Wulin.


    At the very least, the fact that she had attacked Tang Wulin instead forced Na Nali to think about the situation, and the rest of the attacks were all designed to hold down Na Nali, thereby creating an opportunity for Tang Wulin to escape.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the white-robed young man was a powerful being from the Spirit Pagoda, and Gu Yuena couldn''t expose her relationship with Tang Wulin in his presence. Under the volatile circumstances, Gu Yuena had controlled the situation to an extremely minute degree. She had helped Tang Wulin escape from his dire situation without arousing the suspicion of the white-robed young man, and everything had been executed brilliantly.


    However, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel uncomfortable when he saw her with that white-robed young man, especially when he was clearly pursuing her.


    It was just as Na Nali had said; he was facing a rival in love.


    The thought of this struck Tang Wulin with a sour feeling. Why couldn''t Gu Yue tell him what her situation was like? Just what had happened between her and Na''er?


    "Ding!" The elevator arrived at its destination, and as the doors opened, Tang Wulin heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that he was now safe.


    It was really fortunate that he had run into Gu Yuena. Otherwise, it would''ve been very difficult for him to get out of that sticky situation on his own.


    He reflexively raised a hand to touch the silver dragon scale pendant hanging around his neck, and he was suddenly struck by a peculiar thought. Why was Gu Yuena going to Skysea City? Could it be that she had sensed that he was there? Otherwise, that was way too much of a coincidence. Also, was meeting her at the train station also a coincidence?


    The pendant was slightly warm from his body heat, and as he gripped onto it, that warmth flowed into his palm. At the same time, he had an epiphany, and everything became clear to him.


    She would always appear before him whenever he was in danger; why was that? Was it just a coincidence? Clearly not. She was always able to appear before him just in the nick of time, and it had to be because she could sense the danger that he found himself in.


    Thinking back, Gu Yuena had appeared right as he was being attacked by that ninth-grade soul missile following the Shrek Academy bombing. Without her intervention, he would already be dead.


    Back in the abyssal passageway, when he was about to be slain by the Holy Lord, it was her again who had instantly teleported herself to his side, joining forces with him to unleash their Dragon God Transformation to force back the Holy Lord.


    Compared to those two scenarios, this was the least dangerous one.


    During the first scenario, she had suffered such physical trauma to save him that she had suffered from severe amnesia, and the second scenario was definitely no less perilous than the first one.


    Today, she had appeared before him in his hour of need, just as she always had.


    Tang Wulin abruptly raised a hand before giving himself a vicious slap to the face. She had done so much for him and protected him with her life; what excuse did he have to doubt her? What RIGHT did he have to doubt her?


    So what if a so-called rival in love had appeared? Her heart belonged to him, regardless of whether she was willing to admit it or whether she was with him. She had proven everything to him through her actions, so why was he still thinking about all this useless junk? He was being stupid beyond belief!


    Despite his immensely powerful body, his face was still stinging from the ferocity of that slap, and he couldn''t help but chuckle to himself. Why did he have to hit himself so hard? It was still his own face! But then again, he really did deserve a beating.


    It was as if bright sunshine had illuminated his mood, and he was feeling euphoric.


    "Wulin? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice sounded, and it was tinged with a hint of surprise.


    Tang Wulin raised his head and was greeted by the sight of Wu Zhangkong, who was in his usual set of white robes.


    An elated look immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You''re back, Teacher Wu!"


    Wu Zhangkong nodded with a peculiar expression. "Shouldn''t you be in Skysea City?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I came back as I have something that I need to do here. How are Wu Siduo and the others doing on the demonic island?"


    The peculiar look on Wu Zhangkong''s face was exacerbated even further at the mention of Wu Siduo and the others. "Them? They''re... doing ok."


    A bemused look also appeared on Tang Wulin''s face upon hearing this. He had endured the special training on the demonic island, and it had almost made him regret ever being born. Thankfully, his mental fortitude allowed him to pull through. As for Wu Siduo and the others...


    "Our seniors on the demonic island have heard about what happened to Shrek Academy, and they''ve told me that they''re willing to accept more people to undergo their training. I''ll be taking the next batch of students to the demonic island in two days."


    Tang Wulin was taken aback to hear this. "Are the old de... Are the seniors doing alright?"


    Wu Zhangkong''s expression fell slightly. "They would''ve come back with me if they could. The demise of the academy was extremely painful news to them, and it''s impacted them even more than it''s affected us. They sacrificed themselves to live a life of solitude on the demonic island for the sake of the academy, and the destruction of everything they had dedicated their lives to was crushing news for them to hear. They told me..."


    He paused here and raised his head to look at Tang Wulin.


    "What did they say?" Tang Wulin asked in a curious manner.

 Chapter 1242: The Youthful Elder Long

    "What did they say?" Tang Wulin asked in a curious manner.


    Wu Zhangkong replied, "I can only tell you that you were very fortunate compared to Wu Siduo and the others. The seniors have attributed the fate of the academy to a lack of power on our part, so they''re going to make their training even more rigorous."


    Even more rigorous? Tang Wulin shuddered upon hearing this. He was suddenly very thankful toward the Atlas Douluo. Thank heavens the Altas Douluo had sent them to the demonic island to undergo their military training already. Otherwise, they would be plunged into an even more horrendous situation!


    "Teacher Wu, I''m going to see Elder Long now."


    "Alright, go on. Make sure to look after yourself during your trip to the other two continents." Wu Zhangkong''s cold eyes were tinged with hints of concern. In his eyes, Tang Wulin was no longer just a disciple but also a brother of sorts.


    Wu Zhangkong had watched him grow and develop over the years, and he was extremely gratified to see that Tang Wulin had caught up to him in power.


    During their last sparring match, he hadn''t actually used his full power, and he had forfeited the match to instill Tang Wulin with greater confidence. Tang Wulin certainly hadn''t disappointed him, either, and with the rapid improvements Tang Wulin had made, Wu Zhangkong truly wasn''t confident in his ability to defeat him.


    After entering deeper into the underground world and making use of a special access card, Tang Wulin arrived at the place where Elder Long was cultivating in seclusion, upon which he was immediately greeted by the sound of a dull rumbling dragon''s roar.


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline instantly began to churn in his veins, and he couldn''t help but be in awe of Elder Long''s unfathomable powers.


    "Is that you, Wulin? Come in." Long Yeyue''s voice rang out beside Tang Wulin''s ears.


    "Yes!"


    Long Yeyue was seated on a futon, and much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, she currently appeared to only be around 20 years of age. Her long hair spilled down her shoulders, and her exquisitely beautiful features were complemented by the incessant dragon''s roars to create a mystifying and alluring combination.


    "Are you very surprised to see me like this?" Long Yeyue smiled before heaving a faint sigh as she said, "I''m no longer able to maintain my youthful appearance as that would expend more of my life force. Hence, the Long Yeyue you see all the time is a shriveled up old woman. Only during my cultivation when I''m stimulated by my soul power can my physical functions return to what they were like in my youth."


    Her voice was tinged with a faint hint of sorrow, as well as reminiscence and yearning toward her younger days.


    "You''re still young, Elder Long. There are many spirit items in the Tang Sect''s Ice Fire Yin Yang Well that can enhance one''s life force; how about..." Tang Wulin suggested.


    Long Yeyue shook her head in response. "I''ve already been to the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well once during my younger days, and one has to learn to be content with what they''re given. On top of that, this is a clause of the agreement between the academy and the Tang Sect; even those chosen by the academy can only visit the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well once in their lifetimes with no exceptions. This is a rule, and rules must be upheld. Otherwise, the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well would''ve already ceased to exist."


    Tang Wulin was struck by a faint hint of guilt upon hearing this. Come to think of it, he had taken away all of the most valuable elements of the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well! The six Great Beasts were still with him, and one of the reasons why he hadn''t panicked when confronted by Na Nali was exactly because of their presence.


    In the worst-case scenario, he would just have to release them to help him in battle. Each of them possessed Titled Douluo level power, and even if they couldn''t defeat Na Nali together, the Great Beasts would at least be able to protect him.


    It was just that doing so would expose his identity, and he would immediately become a target of the highest priority for the Holy Spirit Cult. Thankfully, Gu Yuena had saved him from that sticky situation.


    "What have you come back for? Have you encountered some difficulties? You''re not someone to cower in the face of hardships, so I''m very curious about why you''ve returned," Long Yeyue said in a calm voice, waiting patiently for his explanation.


    A wry smile appeared on his face in response. Zang Xin really had assigned him quite a tall order!


    "I have indeed encountered some difficulties in Skysea City..." Thus, he gave Elder Long a brief recount of the incident where the united fleet at Skysea City had been struck by that ninth-grade soul missile.


    Long Yeyue had constantly been in seclusion this entire time in order to conserve her energy and extend her own lifespan, so she wasn''t able to keep up with news in the outside world.


    No one else here was aware of the fact that Tang Wulin and the others had traveled to Skysea City, so no one filled Long Yeyue in on these matters.


    Tang Wulin paid special attention to Elder Long''s expression when he mentioned Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie, and sure enough, her expression did indeed change upon hearing this name. It was only a very minute change, but Tang Wulin had still been able to detect it.


    Zang Xin really hadn''t been kidding about these two!


    "Chen Xinjie! Hmph, that stubborn old mule!" The dragon''s roars around her suddenly grew louder, and the invisible might they were giving off caused a layer of golden light to appear involuntarily over Tang Wulin''s body. This was the pride that his Golden Dragon King bloodline was reflexively displaying in the face of a threat from another source of dragon''s might.


    Long Yeyue shot a glance at Tang Wulin. "That blabbermouth Zang Xin must''ve told you something, right?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before nodding with a wry smile. He couldn''t cover for Zang Xin at a time like this.


    Long Yeyue harrumphed coldly, "I really should rip out his tongue! You came back here to find me clearly because you know that I''m familiar with that old fart, Chen Xinjie, and no one else beside you aside from Zang Xin knows about this. He didn''t dare to come and see me in person, so he sent you, right? I''m not going to let him off easy for dragging up my history like this! Let''s go to Skysea City."


    Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue rose to her feet and made her way out of the room as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin didn''t think that she would agree to this so quickly, and he was quite taken aback. He naturally followed Long Yeyue out of the room, and he looked on as her black hair slowly turned white, and her figure gradually became more hunched over while her aura took on a jaded element.


    Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of sorrow at the sight of this.


    Elder Long was already at such an old age, yet she still had to put herself on the front lines for the sake of Shrek Academy; this was all because their generation wasn''t powerful enough! He reflexively clenched his fists, and raging battle intent welled up in his heart.


    He had to be able to support Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect on his own as quickly as possible so the seniors of the older generation could rest and enjoy what remained of their lives.


    After getting on the soul train again, Tang Wulin''s heart was completely devoid of the heavy feeling that had befallen him during this entire journey to Heaven Dou City. With Elder Long by his side, he didn''t have to be afraid even if the most powerful being in the current world were to attack him.


    He and Elder Long had both put on simple disguises, and Long Yeyue had inspected his body. Sure enough, there really was a soundwave tracking mark left behind on his body by Na Nali, and Long Yeyue taught him a trick that involved an alternate utilization of his spiritual power, thereby allowing him to cleanse himself of that mark. If he were to encounter similar issues in the future, he would be able to take care of it on his own.


    Long Yeyue rested on the train with her eyes closed the entire journey, and her aura appeared to be extremely stable, but it was clearly a little too stable to be normal. It was most likely the case that she was having to steel herself in anticipation for her upcoming encounter with Chen Xinjie.


    At a time like this, Tang Wulin knew that it was best for him to remain silent, and he also trusted that Elder Long would be more than capable of making her own decisions.


    Seeing as she had agreed to come to Skysea City with him, she clearly had confidence that she would be able to iron out the issues that he was facing, and this was quite encouraging to him.


    Now, all he could hope for was that a positive outcome would be reached. It was quite clear that Elder Long didn''t want to see Chen Xinjie; she was only swallowing her pride and going against her will to travel to Skysea City for the sake of Shrek Academy''s future, as well as to prevent this war from taking place.

 Chapter 1243: Mental Manifestation

    Only after the train arrived at the station did Long Yeyue reopen her eyes, and she sighed, "Wulin, you have someone you love as well now, right?"


    Tang Wulin nodded reflexively in response.


    "If you''re sure that you love someone, then make sure you don''t let them go. Life may be very long, especially for Soul Masters like us, but true love often only comes once a lifetime. If you grab it, you''ll be happy for life, but if you let it slip, you may lose it forever."


    After that, Long Yeyue stood up and strode out of the train.


    The meaning behind her words was quite simple, but how much of her past sorrows and regrets did those words contain? It seemed that the story between Long Yeyue and Chen Xijie was truly a complex one.


    "Where is he?" Long Yeyue asked after they emerged from the train station.


    "He should be at the united control center. The Boundless Ocean Douluo is the commander of the united fleet," Tang Wulin replied.


    "Do you have a map?" Long Yeyue asked.


    "I do." After being at Skysea City for so long, Tang Wulin had naturally already prepared these basic facilities.


    "Point out to me where the control center is on the map," Long Yeyue instructed.


    Tang Wulin pulled out a map before pointing out the location of the control center to Long Yeyue.


    "Alright, you can go back now. Tell Zang Xin that he won''t be getting away with this. You can follow your original plan for everything else; I''ll take care of everything here. After this, I''ll return to Heaven Dou City. Come and find me when you go back as well."


    After that, Long Yeyue stepped forward, and her body suddenly turned transparent before vanishing right before Tang Wulin''s eyes. As for all of the surrounding bystanders, it was as if they couldn''t see what had happened at all. To them, it seemed that Long Yeyue had never even been here in the first place.


    It was quite clear that Elder Long was at a level that was still completely incomprehensible to Tang Wulin, and he had a feeling that her powers definitely exceeded that of Zang Xin.


    It was no wonder that Shrek City was such a force to be reckoned with in its heyday; both Elder Long and Atlas Douluo Yun Ming were most likely true demigods, and in addition to them were the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect. With the presence of these four almighty beings, even the Spirit Pagoda wouldn''t have dared to oppose Shrek City''s will.


    Tang Wulin returned to meet up with his friends, and after close to 20 minutes, an illusionary figure appeared outside the united control center before gradually taking on a more substantial form.


    The elderly Long Yeyue appeared on a small hill while holding her cane, and she cast her gaze toward the control center as countless images flashed through her eyes. The same images gradually began to appear around her, but they weren''t very clear. One could only just barely make out some humanoid figures flashing in the images and occasionally hear a faint voice or two.


    This was mental manifestation!


    If a Limit Douluo were present, they would definitely be able to identify the scenes unfolding around Long Yeyue as the sign of a true demigod.


    It was said that a true god could travel through space and time to return to any point in time. However, this was only a legend, after all, but the most powerful beings in the world, the demigods, were indeed able to manifest their thoughts in an almost substantial form. This was a type of spiritual fluctuation as opposed to a domain ability.


    Thus, Long Yeyue continued to stand still in silence, and close to 20 minutes later, a large military SUV emerged from the united control center before driving directly toward this hill.


    Long Yeyue was situated quite close to the united control center, and she was standing completely still on the spot, so the radars had already discovered her, and the patrol squad was naturally drawn to the scene.


    The sound of the SUV''s soul core seemed to have jerked Long Yeyue out of her train of thought, and all of the projections around her instantly vanished. She cast her gaze toward the approaching SUV, and it drove all the way to the foot of the hill, following which eight lithe soldiers who were armed to the teeth jumped out of the vehicle.


    They were then quickly led by a lieutenant up the hill, and after arriving before Long Yeyue, the lieutenant said in a serious voice, "Madam, this is a military control zone, so I''m going to have to ask you to vacate this area as soon as possible."


    If she were only an ordinary person, then she wouldn''t have been picked up by the radars. To the soul power detection radars, Long Yeyue appeared to be a normal person with no detectable soul power fluctuations, but the projections that had appeared around her had been captured by the radars.


    The military official overseeing the radars had no idea what this entailed, which was why he had issued a command for the patrol squad to investigate the situation.


    The fleet bombing had taken place not long ago, so the united fleet was still in a state of high alert in case some other issues were to arise.


    Long Yeyue glanced at the lieutenant before her voice rang out. "Chen Xinjie, get over here."


    Her voice was very calm and placid, but it was filled with a sense of implacable might. To the soldiers before her it seemed that she was merely speaking in a normal voice. Furthermore, they had no idea who Chen Xinjie was. At their level, how could they possibly know the name of the united fleet commander?


    Just as they were perplexed about who this Chen Xinjie was, an astonishing scene that they wouldn''t forget for as long as they lived unfolded.


    "Chen Xinjie, get over here..."


    "Chen Xinjie, get over here..."


    A series of echoes rang out like rumbling thunderclaps, encompassing the entire united control center and the united fleet on the shore. The placid yet almighty voice encompassed everything in a radius of several tens of kilometers, and the echoes lingered in the air, refusing to fade.


    The area of the ocean that was encompassed within the range of this voice became completely placid and smooth as a mirror, making it resemble a peaceful lake more so than the sea.


    The lieutenant and his soldiers were completely flabbergasted, and they stared at the elderly woman before them in an astonished manner, but none of them had the courage to even raise their soul laser guns at her.


    What kind of being was this?


    Long Yeyue naturally wasn''t going to pay a visit to the united control center to find Chen Xinjie; that simply wasn''t her style. Even if she was the one seeking him out, she wouldn''t go directly to him; that was her pride.


    The soundwaves surged over the entire control center and united fleet, and all of the people encompassed within this scope, of which there were over 1,000,000, were all stunned by this voice.


    Those who knew who Chen Xinjie was were even more astonished. Who would dare to speak to Chen Xinjie in this manner?


    This was the man who had been the Battle God Hall Master for close to 100 years, and the Sea God Legion Commander, Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie! He was arguably one of, if not the most powerful people in the military, yet he was being summoned like a pet dog!


    This was downright incredible! Who was the one calling his name? Who would dare to speak to him in this manner?


    The lieutenant gulped nervously, and he was suddenly struck by the urge to jump into the ocean. It didn''t take a genius to know that he was in the presence of an extremely powerful being! Why was he so stupid? He had clambered to accept this mission earlier, thinking it would make an easy contribution to his military resume, and now, he was in a situation where he couldn''t leave, but it was downright painful for him to stay.


    He could only stand on the spot like a deer in the headlights, staring blankly at the elderly woman in complete silence.


    The soundwaves finally faded, and peace and quiet returned. Long Yeyue continued to stand on the spot, casting her gaze calmly toward the united control center, looking as if she hadn''t even been the one who had spoken just now.


    Right at this moment, a burst of bright light appeared in the air above, and the placid ocean returned to life as waves began to appear over its surface again.


    The burst of light appeared before Long Yeyue virtually in an instant, then faded to reveal a man with such dazzling epaulets that the lieutenant was almost blinded by inferiority.


    Chen Xinjie had already heard this voice during the first echo, and he was in complete disbelief. He had never thought that he would be able to hear this familiar voice ever again.


    The echo was like a mirage, yet everything was so realistic, and when the sirens began to blare, he finally returned to his senses. He immediately issued an order for the entire united fleet to stand down and await his orders, then rushed over to the place where the voice had originated from as quickly as he could.


    She had changed. No, she was most likely in disguise; this wasn''t what she had looked like in the past.


    Her back was hunched, and her figure was frail, but she was still her. She was still the proud and unyielding Light Dark Dragon Empress. No matter how many years had passed, she was still the proud princess in his heart.

 Chapter 1244: Chen Xinjies Confession

    Chen Xinjie''s vision instantly blurred. Never did he think that he would be reduced to tears at over 100 years old.


    "All of you, piss off!" he abruptly roared as he turned around before waving a hand through the air, and a burst of extremely terrifying force swept forth like the tide, picking up the soldiers and the SUV, and sending them flying toward the legion base.


    Everything in the surrounding area then became warped and indistinct. There were no detection devices that could conduct surveillance on a place that a Limit Douluo was determined to hide in.


    He turned around again, and their eyes met. Her eyes were slightly murky, but they were just as resolute and determined as ever. Of course, there was no lack of emotion in her gaze, either.


    How long had it been since they had last met? 36 years, four months, and eight days. She still remembered, as did he. Thus, two of the most powerful beings in the world looked on at one another, and neither of them said anything, as if it were enough for the two of them just to be seeing the other.


    Projections arising from Long Yeyue''s mental manifestation began to appear around her again, but she immediately waved a hand through the air to disperse them.


    Chen Xinjie''s heart jolted upon seeing this. Nothing could stun him more than the sight of those projections. She hadn''t said anything, but those projections were worth more than a 1,000 words. Others may be oblivious to what those projections represented, but as someone who was a part of those memories and also had the ability of mental manifestation, how could he possibly fail to see what those images depicted?


    They depicted the story between him and her!


    Chen Xinjie''s heart instantly softened. All of his persistence and stubbornness seemed to have vanished in that instant, and he abruptly stepped forward to take himself right in front of Long Yeyue.


    Long Yeyue seemed to have been taken aback by this, and she reflexively took a half step backward, as if she had been frightened.


    However, in the next instant, she was bound by a strong and warm embrace.


    Tears gushed uncontrollably out of Chen Xinjie''s eyes. His voice trembled with sobs as he roared, "You''re still alive!"


    In the instant that Long Yeyue was caught in his embrace, her heart was filled with anger and embarrassment, and her first thought was to send him flying.


    However, when she heard his sobbing voice and felt his strong yet trembling arms, her heartstrings were violently tugged on, and her immense powers as a Limit Douluo seemed to have completely disappeared in that instant. She had already thrust her palms forward to push Chen Xinjie away, but she reflexively grabbed onto his military uniform instead.


    "I''m so glad you''re alive..." Chen Xinjie was unable to stop his tears no matter how hard he tried. In that instant, he had completely cast aside his dignified and authoritative facade as the Battle God Hall Master, and was weeping like an inconsolable child. The emotions that had been bottled up in his heart for close to 100 years erupted forth all at once, and he no longer wanted to control this outpouring of emotions, nor was he able to.


    All he wanted was to hold the woman that he would never be able to forget for as long as he lived.


    "Let go of me!" Long Yeyue demanded in an indignant manner.


    "No!" Chen Xinjie tightened his embrace around her.


    She knew that she could easily exert power to send him flying, as did he, but their embrace continued.


    In the next instant, Long Yeyue began to transform. Her hunched over spine quickly straightened, and her snowy white hair returned to a glossy black hue. Her wrinkles gradually reverted back to smooth fair skin, and she seemed to have aged 100 years in reverse in an instant.


    Inhaling the familiar scent of the young woman in his arms, Chen Xinjie felt as if his heart had completely melted. His appearance also began to transform as he, too, reverted back to his more youthful days.


    As a young man, Chen Xinjie had a pair of clear-cut eyebrows and a set of chiseled facial features. He was only one man, but it seemed as if he were capable of carrying the entire world on his shoulders.


    All of a sudden, the youthful Long Yeyue seemed to have suddenly returned to her senses, and she abruptly pushed him away before lashing out with her right hand like lightning.


    "Slap!" This was a very powerful slap, and Chen Xinjie stumbled involuntarily as a slender handprint quickly appeared on his face.


    Long Yeyue''s eyes were spitting daggers. "Who said you could touch me?"


    Chen Xinjie stared blankly at her in response. Now that she had pushed him away, he was able to see her in her full glory, and he was slightly slack-jawed as he marveled, "You''re so beautiful."


    There was no semblance of the almighty Boundless Ocean Douluo in this enraptured young man, and Long Yeyue was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.


    Chen Xinjie continued to stare blankly at her, and as they looked at one another, faint projections occasionally emerged around them. These were scenes depicted by their mental manifestation, and they quickly appeared before crumbling away just as quickly.


    At this point, Chen Xinjie had already returned to his senses, and his expression was constantly changing, transitioning between pain, excitement, and hesitation. However, whenever he focused his gaze on Long Yeyue, he would involuntarily adopt a gentle and passionate expression.


    "Yueyue [Yueyue is his pet name for Long Yeyue, much like Nana, Qiangu Zhangting''s nickname for Gu Yuena], when I heard that Shrek Academy had been destroyed by that Godslayer missile, I truly felt like everything was over. Only after losing you did I realize how important you were to me. We''ve known each other for over 100 years, and during that time, we each had our own pursuits. Our ideologies were conflicting; I always had a domineering personality and wanted to control everything. You were actually the same in your youth. We did as we pleased during our younger days and lived our best lives. However, you hailed from Shrek Academy, after all, and the traditions of Shrek Academy changed you in the end.


    "That sharp facet of your personality gradually faded, and you became more placid and peace-loving, just like everyone else in Shrek Academy. I''ve always been of the opinion that the human race should be the master of its fate, yet you championed protecting what we have over further creation. Our ideals began to clash, and at the time, I had already been chosen as the successor to the position of Battle God Hall Master. I always thought that a man should be able to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders. I loved you so much, but I couldn''t bring myself to abandon my career for you.


    "At the time, all I wanted to do was recruit you to the Battle God Hall so you could stay by my side. I was so selfish at the time; I only considered things from my own perspective and never thought for your sake. Your personality was just as sharp as mine, so we had a falling out. We worked hard to salvage our relationship, but the fights were becoming too much for us to bear, and we separated in the end, but I know I still have a place in your heart. Otherwise, you wouldn''t have refrained from marriage for your entire life. You hold just as important a place in my heart. No one can replace your position in my heart. If I were to marry someone in this lifetime, then it can only be you."


    Chen Xinjie clearly became more animated and vehement at this point, and he continued, "But we were both too stubborn, and we both occupied lofty statuses that prevented us from discarding our pride to compromise with one another. I had always thought that there would be no chance for us to reconcile with one another during this lifetime. That was until the day I received that horrible news. Shrek Academy was gone; it had been completely destroyed, and you had disappeared along with it.


    "Only then did I realize how laughable and foolish my persistence and stubbornness was. Everything became so pointless when you suddenly disappeared, and only then did I truly realize how important you were to me. You''re more important to me than my own life, and everything that I had been working toward was nothing more than a joke. If I hadn''t been so stubborn and realized all of this earlier, perhaps we would already be living a happy life together. Unfortunately, I made this realization too late, and you were already gone.


    "I locked myself in my room for a very, very long time, and thought about many things. You may not believe this, but it was only during my mourning for you that I truly attained the ability of mental manifestation. It was my yearning for you that took me to that step. Never did I think that you would still be alive; there''s no news in this world that could make me happier. Yeyue, I don''t know why you came to find me, and you don''t have to state your reason. I just want you to know one thing; now that you''re back in my life, I''m willing to cast aside my roles as Battle God Hall Master, Sea God Legion Commander, and United Fleet Commander.


    "None of that is important to me anymore. I am now nothing more than your man, a man who is willing to give up everything for you. Even if you ask me to take my life now, I''d do so without any hesitation! I''ve lived my entire life for others and my own pitiful goals. I don''t know how much longer I''ll have to live, but what I can be sure of is that every minute, every second of the rest of my life will belong to you, and I''ll do everything you say."


    Long Yeyue was initially quite cold and distant in response to Chen Xinjie''s confession. In the instant that she had first seen him, ripples had run through her heart, but she still held onto her pride.


    However, as Chen Xinjie laid his heart bare for her to see, her expression gradually began to change. Never did she think such a stubborn and dogmatic man would be capable of uttering such words.

 Chapter 1245: Its Too Late!

    He was headstrong and stoic, and even back when they were passionately in love with one another, he was never capable of saying anything romantic to convey his feelings. She was unable to believe her own ears. Was this really something that Chen Xinjie was capable of saying? Was this really him?


    Chen Xinjie looked on at her slack-jawed expression, and he strode toward her in an urgent manner. "Do you not believe me? I mean every single word I just said. In the instant that I heard that Shrek Academy had been destroyed, my first thought was that if I were given a chance to do everything again, I would lay down all my pride and love you with all my heart, but I knew that there was no redo button in life. However, at the height of my despair, the heavens brought you back to me and gave me another chance. I''ve already missed out on a life with you for over 100 years; I can''t pass up this opportunity no matter what.


    "Even if you no longer love me, I''ll cling to you like gum on the bottom of your shoe. Wait for me here, I''ll go back to the control center and retire right away, and after that, I''ll go wherever you want with you. Wherever you go, I''ll be by your side."


    Chen Xinjie then immediately turned to leave.


    Long Yeyue reflexively yelled, "Stop!"


    Chen Xinjie immediately did as he was told before turning back toward her, following which an enlightened look appeared on his face. "You''re right, I can''t go on my own."


    He hurriedly returned to Long Yeyue''s side before latching onto her hand. "Come with me. I''ll never part with you ever again."


    "Let go of me!" Long Yeyue struggled free from Chen Xinjie''s hand in an indignant manner, and exclaimed, "You''re an old man; have you no shame?"


    Chen Xinjie smiled in response. "You''re right, I''m an old man, so why would I feel any shame? I''ve already wasted 100 years of my life. From the instant that I realized what was important to me, everything else paled into insignificance. Do you think the social norms of the world can still bind us? I''m the Boundless Ocean Douluo, and you''re the Light Dark Douluo; no one can stop us, and there''s no way I''m letting you leave my side."


    Long Yeyue was at a loss for words. Her fury toward Zang Xin had already completely disappeared, and she was even feeling a hint of gratitude toward him.


    If she hadn''t come here today, she would''ve never met this completely new and different Chen Xinjie. However, she discovered that after hearing his confession, she couldn''t bring herself to tell him the purpose of her visit as she didn''t want to use someone who had just made the epiphany of his life and was in such an emotionally vulnerable state. She couldn''t use their relationship as leverage. She would rather see the same old stoic and dogmatic Chen Xinjie, and even fighting him here and now would be easier for her to deal with than this current situation.


    In the face of this Chen Xinjie, she was at a complete loss for what to do.


    "I''m leaving." Long Yeyue''s body swayed, and she instantly appeared over a kilometer away.


    "Where are you going?" Chen Xinjie hurriedly set off in pursuit in an urgent manner.


    They were both Soul Masters of the same caliber, and Long Yeyue was slightly superior when it came to speed, but there wasn''t a major disparity.


    "Yueyue, is this still not enough? What do I have to do?" Chen Xinjie raised his right hand, and the entire sky turned a clear blue color. An enormous burst of suction force akin to that of the receding tide surged through the surrounding space, stopping Long Yeyue on the spot.


    "Go away, I don''t want to see you." Long Yeyue turned around before thrusting her right hand through the air, and the dull roars of countless giant dragons erupted alongside the emergence of countless dragon projections, tearing through the tide before she attempted to fade into space again.


    An enormous vortex appeared, and the tremendous suction force from the vortex caused the giant dragon projections to twist and warp. Chen Xinjie appeared in front of Long Yeyue again, and asked, "Yueyue, how can I show you my heart?"


    "It''s too late!" Long Yeyue suddenly roared in a furious voice.


    "100 years have already passed; what were you doing 100 years ago? I''m just a bag of wrinkly skin and bones now, and my life is about to come to an end. My heart is already dead, so why would you say something like this to me at a time like this? I don''t want to waste the rest of what little time I have left with you. I hate you, Chen Xinjie. I truly regret ever meeting you. Without you, I wouldn''t have been put through this torment for 100 years. If you hadn''t ever appeared in my life, I would''ve already found my own happiness. Do you think that 100 years of resentment can be ironed out with just a few words from you? I''ll never forgive you!"


    Long Yeyue had tears in her eyes as she lashed out with her right fist, and two giant dragon projections, one golden and one black, appeared behind her. The projections raised their massive heads and let loose thunderous roars, and a vortex that appeared to be very small, but was even more powerful than a ninth-grade soul missile took shape in front of her fist.


    Chen Xinjie had already been rooted to the spot by her words.


    Indeed, 100 years had already passed, and they had both lost far, far too much. There was no way to make up for the 100 years that had already passed them by.


    A wry smile appeared on his face, and the massive vortex beneath him vanished, exposing him to the full brunt of Long Yeyue''s attack.


    He didn''t attempt to defend himself against Long Yeyue''s fist. Instead, he merely closed his eyes in acceptance. She refused to forgive him in the end, and he didn''t know how to repent for what he had done, so he was being wilful one final time and using his life to express his remorse.


    If Long Yeyue didn''t forgive him, there was no meaning to his life anyway.


    Never did Long Yeyue think that Chen Xinjie would simply allow himself to be struck by her attack, and at this point, her signature Dual Extreme Explosion had already reached his chest.


    In that instant, she saw a faint smile of relief on Chen Xinjie''s face. His entire body was relaxed, and it was if he were allowing himself to be set free.


    Long Yeyue''s heart shuddered violently upon seeing this, and all of her indignation and rage transformed into remorse. She immediately swatted her own right fist away with her left hand, causing the Dual Extreme Explosion to veer off course, and the explosion of light and dark energy made even the sun in the sky pale into insignificance. Chen Xinjie had completely relinquished all defenses, and he was sent flying by the resulting shockwaves.


    "You''re a bastard!" Long Yeyue yelled before her body vanished into space.


    ......


    Tang Wulin sat on the roof of the hotel and cast his gaze into the distance. He was slightly worried at the sight of the explosion taking place from afar, and he asked, "Your Majesty, Elder Long and the Boundless Ocean Douluo aren''t actually going to fight each other, are they?"


    Zang Xin chuckled, "Of course not. If they were actually fighting, they''d be creating a far more violent scene. This is just how two Limit Douluos flirt with one another; you just need to get used to it. Having said that, I''m planning to go into hiding for a while. I''ve almost gotten what I need out of the Dark Phoenix Douluo, so it won''t be too much of an issue even if Elder Long fails here."


    "What do you mean?" Tang Wulin turned to Zang Xin in a perplexed manner.


    Zang Xin shrugged in response. "We''ll be making an exchange with the Holy Spirit Cult. In exchange for the Dark Phoenix Douluo, they''ve agreed to declare responsibility for this attack, as well as a few other conditions."


    "We''re letting her go? What conditions could compare with a Hyper Douluo? We went to so much effort to capture her..."


    "How about the Atlas Douluo''s soul?" Zang Xin asked.


    Tang Wulin shuddered violently upon hearing this. "What did you say?"


    Zang Xin turned to him with a smile. "And that''s not all. Do you think I''d go around spilling the Light Dark Douluo''s secrets without a backup plan?"

 Chapter 1246: The Most Powerful Being on the Continent

    Tang Wulin stared at Zang Xin in a flabbergasted manner. Never did he think that Zang Xin would have this up his sleeve! These Limit Douluos of the older generation truly were extraordinary people!


    Zang Xin continued, "During my battle against the Dark Phoenix Douluo, I could sense that there was clearly something wrong with her. Her personality is completely different from what it was like in the past, and from our conversation, I deduced that this was most likely due to her love for Yun Ming ultimately breeding resentment, thereby resulting in a warping of her personality. Also, I''ve verified that she participated in the Shrek Academy bombing. She unintentionally revealed to me that she had taken Yun Ming''s soul so he could be with her, which is obviously an extremely twisted thought process."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Your Majesty, can someone''s soul really continue to survive even after they''ve lost their physical body?"


    Zang Xin replied, "That''s impossible for normal people, of course, but for demigod level Limit Douluos, it''s a distinct possibility. You weren''t born in our generation, so perhaps you''re unaware of exactly how powerful Yun Ming was. Come to think of it, you remind me of a young Yun Ming. At the time, he was invincible among his peers, and his power combined with his Shrek Academy background attracted him a lot of attention from many exceptional female Soul Masters. The sisters, Dark Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaolai and Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu, were both deeply in love with him. You''ve met the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, right? She''s the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda."


    "Hah?" Tang Wulin was stunned to hear this. He had only seen the Dark Phoenix Douluo in her martial soul true body form, so he was unaware of how much she resembled Leng Yaozhu, which was why he was so surprised to hear that they were sisters.


    "Both of them fell in love with Yun Ming back in the day, and Yun Ming was quite fond of them as well. However, it was exactly because of him that cracks began to appear in their sisterly bond. Who would''ve thought that Yun Ming would choose neither of them and pick the Holy Spirit Douluo in the end? Leng Yaozhu left with a broken heart, and Leng Yaolai refused to accept this for a while, but I don''t know exactly what happened to her after that. Judging from the current situation, Yun Ming''s rejection must''ve hurt her more than I thought.


    "At the time, Yun Ming really was a womanizer. He became the Sea God''s Pavilion Master solely through his own power, and he reached the Titled Douluo, Hyper Douluo, and Limit Douluo levels at 23, 26, and 31 years of age, respectively. In doing so, he created miracles and was compared to the likes of the founder of the Tang Sect, Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San, and the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao. Everyone, including Yun Ming himself, was of the opinion that he would''ve definitely been able to ascend to the Divine Realm had it not ceased to exist.


    "I''m sure you''ve seen how youthful Yun Ming has been able to remain despite his age. Among the Limit Douluos of his generation, very few are like him. Cao Dezhi and I have only been able to maintain our youthful appearances as we had consumed some spirit items from the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, yet he was able to maintain his appearance through his powers alone. Cao Dezhi, Yun Ming, and I are all Limit Douluos and four-word battle armors masters, but I would have to join forces with Cao Dezhi to just barely get an upper hand over Yun Ming, and that slight advantage wouldn''t even be enough for us to defeat him.


    "Godslayer missiles are far more fearsome than you can imagine. If Yun Ming hadn''t nullified most of the power from the explosion, there''s no way your peers would''ve had enough time to escape into the underground sanctuary. Hence, he was the one who gave everyone a second chance at life. If he didn''t have to worry about everyone else, that Godslayer missile may not even have been enough to kill him. On top of that, the Dark Phoenix Douluo disclosed to me that both of the two emperors of the Holy Spirit Cult had been involved in the Shrek Academy bombing, and Yun Ming had to face them while nullifying the power of the explosion. Otherwise, he would''ve been able to save even more people."


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had heard someone describe Atlas Douluo Yun Ming''s power, and the fact that he was able to contend with the Heartless Douluo and Amorous Douluo on his own was sufficient testament to just how formidable he was.


    "He was widely accepted as the most powerful being on the entire continent at the time, and he reigned supreme in all departments. With his spiritual power, it''s quite normal that his soul has managed to survive to this point. On top of that, I''m sure he has certain methods that allow him to prevent the Holy Spirit Cult from making use of his soul. He won''t be able to become the Atlas Douluo of old even if we recover his soul, but he''ll still have huge symbolic importance for Shrek Academy. At the very least, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali''s mood would surely be lifted significantly."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Has the Holy Spirit Cult agreed to this?"


    Zang Xin nodded in response. "They have no choice. The Dark Phoenix Douluo is one of the four heavenly monarchs, so she''s extremely important to the Holy Spirit Cult. With her aptitude, there''s a decent chance that she''ll become a Limit Douluo in the future. Compared to the soul that they can''t exploit, it''s quite clear that Leng Yaolai is more important to them. On top of that, Leng Yaolai is carrying a divine tool that the Holy Spirit Cult can''t afford to abandon, so they demanded that I return both her and the divine tool to them."


    "Are you referring to that spatial tool?" Tang Wulin had also witnessed the extraordinary abilities of the Divine Space Time Shuttle. This was a spatial tool that could swallow massive military vehicles whole!


    Zang Xin nodded with a smile. "Exactly. However, I''m not going to be handing it over to them that easily. The agreement we''ve made is that I''ll return the Dark Phoenix Douluo to them first, and they have to announce responsibility for the attack, and also ensure that the war doesn''t commence within a year. We''ll only return the Divine Space Time Shuttle if a war doesn''t break out in a year, and in return, they''ll give us Yun Ming''s soul. "


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Your Majesty, the Atlas Douluo''s soul is more important!"


    It was only a soul and not an actual Limit Douluo, but Yun Ming bore far too much symbolic importance for Shrek Academy. This was something immeasurable, and even a divine tool couldn''t compare.


    Zang Xin replied, "I''ve considered this matter carefully and also discussed this with the Holy Spirit Douluo; we''ve both arrived at the decision that this is the best way to do things. It''ll delay the recovery of Yun Ming''s soul, but this spatial divine tool will be very important to you in your upcoming trip to the two empires. With this tool, you''ll always have a backup plan that you can fall back on."


    "Yun Ming''s soul? What''s this all about?" Right at this moment, a surprised voice rang out, and light flashed as Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue appeared. She had already reverted back to her normal elderly form, and the altercation she had just had with Chen Xinjie didn''t appear to have affected her at all.


    Zang Xin''s expression stiffened at the sight of her sudden arrival, and an awkward look appeared in his eyes.


    "Hmph!" Long Yeyue slammed the bottom of her cane into the ground and appraised Zang Xin with an intense gaze.


    A resigned look appeared on Zang Xin''s face. "I had no choice, Elder Long; I had to make multiple plans and implement them all at once. Besides, it''s about time we let Chen Xinjie know that you''re still alive. Otherwise, he''ll continue to act as a major hindrance in our efforts to prevent this war from happening."


    Long Yeyue remained silent and continued to appraise him with a cold expression.


    Zang Xin was squirming a little as he continued, "Er, I still have some matters to attend to regarding the exchange with the Holy Spirit Cult; let''s talk later."


    He then immediately vanished amid a flash of light.


    Long Yeyue didn''t give chase, and following Zang Xin''s departure, the enraged aura emanating from her body abated slightly. She then cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin, who didn''t dare to ask Long Yeyue how her meeting with Chen Xinjie had gone.


    Long Yeyue said, "I''m going back to the Tang Sect. Go to Chen Xinjie and tell him that you''re my disciple. If you want him to do something, then just tell him directly. If he asks you where I am, tell him that I won''t see him unless Shrek Academy gets rebuilt."


    Her body swayed as her voice trailed off, and she also vanished on the spot.


    Tang Wulin didn''t even get a chance to say anything before both of the Limit Douluos departed. After hearing about the Atlas Douluo''s relationship history from Zang Xin just now, he certainly didn''t envy those of the older generation!


    An image of Gu Yuena reappeared in his mind, and he reflexively closed his hand around the pendant hanging from his neck.


    Gu Yue, we''ll be together unlike our seniors, right? Are you doing this because of the Spirit Pagoda or because I''m not powerful enough? I''ll work hard; I''ll become a Titled Douluo as quickly as possible, then go to find you!


    Right at this moment, the surrounding air suddenly tightened, and light flashed, following which a flustered Chen Xinjie abruptly appeared. He initially faltered slightly at the sight of Tang Wulin before immediately grabbing onto Tang Wulin''s arm.


    "Did you see her?" Long Yeyue''s remnant aura was lingering here, and he had already gotten here as quickly as he could, but she was still nowhere to be found.


    Tang Wulin nodded in confirmation.


    "Where did she go?" Chen Xinjie asked in an urgent manner. Long Yeyue had used some kind of secret technique that had completely masked her aura to him.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I am Elder Long''s disciple, and she told me that I can state any request to you. She also said..."


    Tang Wulin paused here as he wasn''t sure whether it was a good idea to deal Chen Xinjie another blow in his current emotional state.

 Chapter 1247: Even if One Day

    "What did she say? Hurry up and tell me!" Chen Xinjie grabbed Tang Wulin by the shoulders and shook him vigorously.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Elder Long said that she won''t see you unless Shrek Academy gets rebuilt."


    "Shrek Academy?" As opposed to the enraged reaction Tang Wulin had expected, Chen Xinjie''s eyes glazed over slightly, and he reflexively released Tang Wulin, following which a bitter look appeared on his face.


    "Rebuilding Shrek Academy is going to be a monumental endeavor. I''m willing to help you, but why can''t you be with me so we can work together? Yueyue, we have so little time left; are you really unwilling to give me another chance?"


    In that instant, Tang Wulin clearly caught sight of a hint of grief flashing through Chen Xinjie''s eyes.


    Tang Wulin merely listened and didn''t dare to say anything. However, his heart was filled with a peculiar feeling. Chen Xinjie had been so dogmatic and overbearing when dealing with him, yet even an almighty Limit Douluo was just as lost and inconsolable as he was when it came to love.


    "Are you from Shrek Academy?" Chen Xinjie calmed himself down before turning to Tang Wulin. He could only show this side of himself to Long Yeyue.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. Elder Long had told him that he could make whatever request he wanted to Chen Xinjie, and from the looks of it, Chen Xinjie was going to be far more receptive than before.


    Chen Xinjie''s eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised Tang Wulin. "Your objective is to prevent this war from happening, right?"


    Tang Wulin nodded again.


    Chen Xinjie raised his head to the heavens, and sighed, "I understand. Perhaps you''ll only forgive me if I show you how serious I am through my actions. Tell her that I still have 10 years left at most, and I''ll spend every single day of the rest of my life working toward fulfilling her wish. You have my number; keep in touch. Even if she gives me only a single day before I pass away, I''ll be satisfied. I don''t know when or if Shrek Academy will be successfully rebuilt, but I want to implore her to allow me to love her with all my heart for a single day."


    As soon as his voice trailed off, Chen Xinjie''s body abruptly transformed into watery ripples before vanishing into thin air.


    Tang Wulin had been stunned by his words. This was a relationship that had spanned over 100 years, yet Chen Xinjie''s love for Elder Long was still so pure that he would be content with just spending a single day with her. Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by the feeling that Elder Long was being too cruel, but he quickly cast that thought aside. After all, he had no idea what had happened between the two of them.


    "Everything seems to have worked out pretty well." Zang Xin had appeared behind Tang Wulin again without his notice.


    Tang Wulin turned to look at him with a resigned look on his face. It certainly wasn''t a good feeling to be caught in a figurative revolving door with three Limit Douluos!


    "We won''t need to do anything from now on, right, Your Majesty?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "That''s right, you and your friends can prepare to set off; don''t worry about anything else."


    ......


    One day later, the Holy Spirit Cult suddenly took over control of a soul television station in the federation and announced responsibility for the Skysea City military port bombing. The announcement created a massive stir in the media, and the Dove Faction took advantage of this opportunity to lash out at the Eagle Faction, accusing them of mindlessly plotting invasions when they hadn''t yet addressed the internal issues within the federation.


    The threat of the Holy Spirit Cult was far too massive to be ignored, and the federal parliament was forced to issue an order to hunt down the cult.


    In reality, it would be virtually impossible to actually hunt down the core members of the Holy Spirit Cult, given how secretive the organization was, but at the very least, this could divert the attention of the public to a certain extent.


    Thus, the general public''s concern surrounding the Holy Spirit Cult began to outweigh their support for the war, and the military came under a cloud of controversy as a result. The Dove Faction continued to attack the Eagle Faction, asking them what they were going to do if the Holy Spirit Cult were to strike while the bulk of the military was away attacking other continents.


    The Dove Faction was adopting an indirect strategy here. They didn''t continue to directly oppose the prospect of war; they were simply alerting the general public of just how fearsome the threat of the Holy Spirit Cult was.


    In doing so, the Dove Faction received a huge amount of public support, and they finally gained the upper hand, albeit only on a temporary basis.


    The Sea God Legion Commander and Battle God Hall Master, Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie, made a public announcement to declare war against the Holy Spirit Cult, and that they were going to launch widespread search and destroy operations against the Holy Spirit Cult with Skysea City as the starting point.


    Thus, it became quite clear that no war was going to be taking place anytime soon.


    It was also at this time that a massive whale-like submarine was silently traveling into the distance beneath the surface of the East Sea.


    Tang Wulin was seated in a cross-legged manner, meditating in his cabin. He had been completely stunned when he had first caught sight of this submarine docked by the secret harbor.


    He was already aware of just how much power the Tang Sect had, but never did he think that they would possess such a gargantuan instrument of war!


    The federal government''s research into submarines was only in its infancy stages, and there were only some experimental submarines in the federal military, as opposed to any official submarine fleets. Despite this, the Tang Sect possessed such a gigantic submarine, which was over 360 meters in length. At its widest point, it had a width of 78 meters, and at its tallest point, it measured 62 meters in height. Its shape resembled that of a massive whale, and it could house 5,000 people at once.


    There were designated mecha and soul missile cabins, all of which were split up in a very clear manner. According to Zang Xin, this submarine had been named Thousand Spirit after the Thousand Hand Douluo and Spirit Ice Douluo, and it possessed the newest technology that wasn''t even available to the federation. It was far larger than a federal submarine, and it was also over 30% faster.


    It was propelled by the most advanced soul circuits, and in the ocean, it could absorb the surrounding water elements to fuel itself. Theoretically, as long as there was a Soul King or above present to operate the soul circuit and cleanse it of impurities, this submarine could keep traveling forever.


    The submarine had 36 openings through which soul missiles could be launched, and all soul missiles below the ninth-grade could be launched through them. On top of that, it also had special marine soul missiles, and with the power of the federal military''s current submarines, they would be no match for the Thousand Spirit. It was able to travel over long distances at a depth of three kilometers, and only after witnessing this submarine did Tang Wulin truly understand just what level of development the technology in the Tang Sect had reached.


    This was the true trump card of the Tang Sect that gave them the confidence to travel to the other two continents without being discovered.


    Tang Wulin and the others had entered the submarine through a secret passageway. The submarine itself was docked in the deep sea, and supplies were transported into it from the surface through a special passageway.


    The federal navy''s underwater detection devices were quite lackluster, so they were completely unable to detect the existence of the Thousand Spirit.


    They had finally set off. The Thousand Spirit descended into the deep sea and gradually traveled further and further away from the Douluo Continent. This wasn''t the first time that Tang Wulin had left the Douluo Continent, but this trip felt completely different.


    During his last trip to the Star Luo Empire, he had only been a student with very little responsibilities on his shoulders, and was only participating in a competition. He had been stuck in the Dragon Valley for several years, but he still completely belonged to the Douluo Continent.


    In contrast, from the perspective of the Douluo Federation, what he was doing now could easily be framed as treason. In a sense, he was already opposing the federation. He didn''t feel any guilt toward this, but this was certainly a different feeling compared to last time.


    All Tang Wulin could do now was to cultivate as conscientiously as possible. Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui were still constructing everyone''s suits of three-word battle armor as quickly as they could, trying to complete as many pieces of battle armor as possible before they arrived at the Dou Spirit Empire.


    Tang Wulin''s run-in with Na Nali had given him a very nasty awakening, alerting him to the fact that in the face of truly powerful beings, their powers were still quite insignificant.

 Chapter 1248: Abstract Calling

    Tang Wulin didn''t know how long it would take before he returned from this journey, and his thoughts strayed to Gu Yuena again. Was she going to come to Skysea City again? Even if she did, she wouldn''t be able to find him there.


    At this point, he was deep in the ocean, and he didn''t know if she could still sense his existence through the silver dragon scale pendant.


    Tang Wulin reflexively laid a hand on the pendant, and a surge of warmth flowed through his heart.


    Once he returned with his parents, he was going to peel back the layers of mystery surrounding her. He was going to figure out just what connection she had with Na''er, and when he returned with his parents, he would have a complete family with her as his wife. What could make him happier than this?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with motivation, and he gradually entered a meditative state.


    ¡°Wulin, Wulin, Wulin,¡± After an indeterminate period of time had passed, a gentle call rang out from deep within his mind, waking him from his meditative state.


    However, after he opened his eyes, he was surprised to discover that he had entered that golden world again.


    The last time Old Tang had awakened was when he had sensed the existence of that Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal, and he had quickly fallen into hibernation again thereafter for some unknown reason. Ever since then, he would often sense an extremely distant calling during his meditation, but the voice wasn''t particularly clear. However, he had never arrived in this golden world that belonged to Old Tang before without being summoned here.


    After arriving here once again, his heart was filled with elation. Could it be that Old Tang had reawakened?


    However, on this occasion, Old Tang didn''t appear. The only thing that greeted him was the same voice ringing out incessantly from all around him, and the voice seemed to belong to Old Tang, but it was also somehow different.


    "Old Tang, is that you? Are you there?" Tang Wulin called out as he inspected his surroundings.


    Old Tang was still nowhere to be seen, but right at this moment, Tang Wulin caught sight of something that was familiar to him. The Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal had expanded to many times its original size, and it was hovering up ahead. The golden light in the area surrounding it was slightly dim, but the crystal itself was brighter than it had been in the past.


    It was now around the same height as Tang Wulin, and a beam of golden light was shooting up into the heavens from the top of the crystal with no end in sight. Faint light was emanating from the surface of the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal, and Tang Wulin reflexively reached out to lay a hand onto it.


    All of a sudden, he was struck by a rush of dizziness, and everything around him abruptly became extremely abstract and peculiar. It was as if a giant path had appeared, from which an extremely enormous burst of suction force was emanating, dragging his body toward the distance.


    The sense of dizziness struck Tang Wulin with waves of vertigo and the urge to throw up. With his current physical constitution, this was almost an impossible occurrence!


    He wanted to struggle free from this terrible feeling, but he couldn''t muster up any strength.


    "Wulin, Wulin, my child..." The voice became clearer and clearer, and Tang Wulin was surprised to discover that it was no longer just a single voice. Aside from the voice that resembled that of Old Tang, there seemed to also be another female voice.


    "Who are you?" Tang Wulin wanted to cry out, but he couldn''t make any sound. Within this abstract world, he could make out white clouds, rivers, and mountains, and he could sense life force energy that was even richer than that of the seed of life. He could also see a massive palace, in front of which stood a man and a woman. The man had a head of long blue hair that spilled down the back of his head, and those voices were coming from none other than those two people.


    However, Tang Wulin couldn''t make out their exact appearances. He could only barely make out the man''s eyes, which was a pair of eyes that were extremely clear and seemed to be able to illuminate everything. Deep within those eyes, Tang Wulin saw himself.


    A burst of sharp pain suddenly speared through his mind, and everything around him crumbled before quickly vanishing.


    "Argh!" Tang Wulin let loose an agonized cry, and when he could make out his surroundings again, he discovered that he had returned to the golden world from before. Old Tang was standing right next to him.


    Tang Wulin panted heavily, and he was struck by an intense burst of feebleness that made him feel as if his mind were about to crumble.


    Old Tang pressed a hand against his forehead, and faint golden halos of light revolved around his head, bringing a cool and refreshing feeling that made him feel a lot better.


    "What happened? What was that, Old Tang?" Tang Wulin asked in a slightly breathless manner.


    Old Tang appraised him with a smile, and replied, "That was a call from afar. I''ve finally completed a connection with them. I don''t know why I had to do that, and I don''t know where this connection leads to, but I can tell you that this is extremely important for you."


    Tang Wulin was very perplexed. "I don''t understand what you''re saying!"


    Old Tang elaborated, "To put it simply, right after you absorbed the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, the urge to contact something in the distance automatically appeared in my mind. The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud was to be used as an intermediary to facilitate this contact, and all I know is that this is my mission. It''s very important, and it''s also the most important thing that''s embedded deep in my memory. Hence, I began to attempt to contact those in the distance and finally established the most basic connection. After that, I brought you here as my power alone isn''t enough to complete this connection; only your aura can accomplish this."


    Tang Wulin stared at him in a flabbergasted manner. "I still don''t understand."


    Old Tang shrugged in response. "I don''t understand, either. Perhaps we''ll only be able to understand the situation once you complete the connection and get into contact with them. For now, you don''t need to understand too much anyway."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''m only getting more and more confused. Is this supposed to be very important to me?"


    Old Tang nodded in a serious manner. "This is an extremely important matter for you. I don''t know why that''s the case for now, but you have to contact that distant place, and that requires you to become sufficiently powerful. This type of contact takes place across planets, and the other planet is an extremely distant one. The ones on the other side will be bearing the brunt of the energy expenditure required to facilitate contact, but you also have to be powerful enough to connect with the signal from the other side. To put it in simpler terms, you still need to make drastic improvements in your physical abilities and spiritual power."


    Tang Wulin was still quite befuddled. "What level do I need to reach before I can complete this contact?"


    Old Tang had no answer for this. "I still don''t know yet, but what I can tell is you is that your current power level is only enough to complete the basic contact that you saw earlier. It allows you to sense those on the other side, and as you grow more powerful, this connection will become clearer and clearer. I suggest trying again after you break your 12th Golden Dragon King seal or when you make some other massive improvement, such as attaining a spiritual domain. When that time comes, perhaps you''ll be able to understand why this connection is so important, as well as who''s on the other side."


    Tang Wulin shrugged in a resigned manner. "Alright, then, I''ll be sure to give it a try in the future. That feeling really wasn''t all that great, though."


    A contemplative look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he spoke. He had been struck by an indescribably horrible feeling when he had heard those voices. It was as if something had gotten stuck in his throat, and the feeling was quite prominent, but also rather difficult to pinpoint and substantiate.

 Chapter 1249: Millennium White Clouds

    What kind of feeling was this? And who were those two people in that distant place?


    Old Tang said, "Alright, don''t think too much about this for now. You''ve already mastered Fury of the Masses, so it''s time I taught you the next spear technique."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up. "What is it?"


    It could be said that Fury of the Masses had led him onto the path of spearmanship, and it had allowed him to familiarize himself with his Golden Dragon Spear, thereby leading to the genesis of All or Nothing and Path of Regal Domination.


    The more powerful he became, the more he came to realize just how powerful Fury of the Masses was, and he was filled with anticipation for this next spear technique.


    Light flashed from Old Tang''s hand, and he conjured up a spear that resembled the Golden Dragon Spear. "Fury of the Masses is only a basic foundational spear technique that''s designed to allow you to familiarize yourself with your spear, whereas a true spear technique will allow you to perfectly integrate your essence, energy, and spirit, which correspond directly with spear intent, spear soul, and spear spirit. If you want to reach the pinnacle of spearmanship, you have to master all three of them and integrate them to perfection.


    "Your emotions, your will, everything you have must be poured into your spear, and the resulting spear techniques will resemble domains; they are true spear techniques that belong to you. You were able to invent Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing through Fury of the Masses, and both of those techniques are a result of combining your will with your spear. You''ve taken the first steps on the path of the spear, and that''s very commendable. This is also a required foundation for me to continue to impart more spear techniques upon you.


    "This next spear technique that I''m about to teach you will take an even longer time to master. You can''t just master it through training and practice; you''ll only be able to truly inherit it through attaining enlightenment. Pay attention, now."


    Old Tang slowly raised his Golden Dragon Spear as he spoke, and his aura immediately began to transform.


    From Tang Wulin''s perspective, it was as if Old Tang had become insubstantial, and the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand also seemed to have vanished in that instant. An indescribable ethereal feeling then swept toward Tang Wulin, and he felt as if he had been transported back into that abstract place that he had been sent to after touching the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal.


    Everything around him surged and transformed into faint light mist that permeated through the air. Within the light mist, it seemed that there were countless minute particles, each of which contained its own story and its own time and space.


    Tang Wulin felt as if thousands of years had passed as he basked in the ethereal fluctuations. There was no pain, nor any sense of the spear''s existence; it seemed that the only thing that was happening was the passage of time.


    He then discovered that his body had begun to change. His strong and youthful body became more muscular and developed, then gradually aged and shriveled up, finally disintegrating into a skeleton, which then fell away as dust. He had been buried without a trace by the passage of time.


    The entire process was completely painless, but that was what made it all the more alarming. He didn''t even know what had happened, nor what he had just endured.


    All of a sudden, Old Tang reappeared before him, and his body also returned to normal. It was as if nothing had ever happened.


    "What was that..." Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with astonishment as he stared at Old Tang.


    He had no idea how Old Tang had unleashed that spear technique, but the feeling of aging and wasting away had been so realistic. Thousands of years had passed in an instant, and his body had crumbled away into nothingness.


    As opposed to answering Tang Wulin''s question, Old Tang prompted, "Tell me what you felt."


    Tang Wulin immediately nodded in response. He was worried that he would forget the feelings he had just experienced, so he was eager to tell Old Tang what he had felt so Old Tang could correct him if he had developed any misconceptions.


    "I feel like that spear technique was the spear of time. The spear technique was filled with the intricacies of the passage of time. I don''t know how you used it, but in that instant, I felt like thousands of years had flown by, which was far beyond what the human body can handle, so my body completely crumbled and was destroyed by time. Is the essence behind this spear technique control over time?"


    "Yes, but no. Is that all you have to say?" Old Tang''s expression remained unchanged, and his reaction to Tang Wulin''s words seemed to be quite minimal.


    "Yes and no?" Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly.


    All of a sudden, he was struck by a sense of inspiration as he thought back to everything Old Tang had said prior to demonstrating the spear technique, and his eyes immediately lit up. "Could it be that that wasn''t the actual passage of time, but one''s interpretation of the passage of time? Time itself hadn''t changed, but due to the psychological blow I had received, I was led to think that thousands of years had flown by, which means that this was a spiritual attack that destroyed me on the inside, is that correct?"


    A hint of surprise appeared on Old Tang''s face upon hearing this, and he nodded in a pleased manner. "You really do possess extraordinary aptitude. Indeed, that''s one of the most important points of this spear technique, but that''s actually still far from the whole picture. What you just experienced was the complete version of the spear technique, and you won''t be able to reach this level unless you become a god. The prerequisite of this spear technique is demigodly power; it requires you to master mental manifestation before you can unleash its power."


    Tang Wulin was rather puzzled to hear this. If this technique could only be mastered by a demigod, then why was Old Tang imparting it upon him now?


    Old Tang continued, "You must be confused about why I''m bestowing upon you such a high-level spear technique at such an early stage, right? That''s because demigodly power is required to unleash the power of this spear technique, but as long as you can glean some of its intricacies and unleash even a sliver of its power, it''ll serve you extremely well. At the same time, developing a better understanding of the intricacies of time will assist you in breaking your future Golden Dragon King seals. The name of this spear technique is Millenium White Clouds."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and for some reason, this name seemed to be quite familiar to him. It was as if he had always been destined to learn this spear technique.


    Old Tang continued, "Next, I''ll begin by talking about time. If Millennium White Clouds were to be unleashed by a god, then thousands of years would truly pass in an instant, not just in the target''s mind. Hence, the first thing you need to understand is the meaning of time..."


    In contrast with Fury of the Masses, which Old Tang had simply demonstrated over and over again for Tang Wulin to see, Old Tang was more focused on imparting upon Tang Wulin theoretical knowledge on this occasion. Millennium White Clouds had no set form. Just as Old Tang had said, it was a godly spear technique that perfectly integrated one''s essence, energy, and spirit, and was unleashed with one''s spiritual power as the essential source.


    As such, this was an extremely difficult spear technique to master, even for someone with Tang Wulin''s extraordinary aptitude. However, through Old Tang''s teachings, he was still able to develop a clearer and clearer understanding of time, and even space.


    Time slowly passed by, and after an indeterminate period of time had flown by, Old Tang finally ceased his lecture. At this point, Tang Wulin felt as if his mind had been inundated by newly imparted knowledge.


    As he awakened from his meditative state, his eyes were still filled with hints of confusion.


    Too much knowledge had been imparted upon him at once, and it was not an easy task to process and digest it. He required more time to think and ponder everything he had just learned.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Millennium White Clouds had shown him another level. The three Limit Douluos had been able to appear and disappear around him at will, and that was a demonstration of their control over space.


    If he could master a portion of Millennium White Clouds, he would at least develop a far deeper understanding of time.


    ......


    The submarine was quite massive, but they were still deep under the ocean, so there was no way that there could be cultivation venues in here as large as the ones on land. Hence, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and the members of the Blood Dragon Squad were all cultivating in their own rooms.


    The voyage was a very lengthy one, and it would require around two months for them to reach the Dou Spirit Empire.


    Compared to the Star Luo Empire, the Dou Spirit Empire was even further away, so they were traveling to the Dou Spirit Empire first, then doubling back to the Star Luo Empire before finally returning to the Douluo Continent.


    Aside from cultivating every day, Tang Wulin was also constantly pondering Millennium White Clouds. However, time and space had always been the most complex abilities in the world, and even with Old Tang''s guidance, this was not something that he could make significant breakthroughs in just a day or two.


    Thankfully, Old Tang would always appear during his mediation in this period of time to instruct him in his cultivation.


    Tang Wulin could sense that he was still very far from being able to use Millennium White Clouds, but this process of learning and pondering had benefited him immensely, nonetheless.

 Chapter 1250: Arriving on Land

    Ever since he had first begun cultivating, Old Tang had provided him with a huge amount of assistance, the most significant of which lay in his Golden Dragon King seals. However, at the same time, he would often disappear without any premonition, and this was the first time he had spent a prolonged and continuous period instructing Tang Wulin in his cultivation. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had a feeling that ever since he had contacted that mysterious place through the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal, Old Tang seemed to be in much higher spirits than before.


    Tang Wulin sat in his cabin and slowly waved his arms through the air while experiencing the intricacies of time.


    Two months quickly passed by, and the fact that they were traveling deep in the ocean combined with how powerful the Thousand Spirit was meant that the journey was a very smooth one, even though they had encountered some powerful sea soul beasts along the way. Not long ago, the submarine captain had informed him that they were about to reach the Dou Spirit Continent soon, and that the Thousand Spirit was preparing to begin its ascent.


    There was no secret passageway on the Dou Spirit Continent to connect the Thousand Spirit to the land, so it could only rise to the surface.


    Tang Wulin exhaled, and the slightly warped projections around him vanished as a result.


    During these two months, he had finally grasped some of the most basic elements of time control, and the more he continued down this path, the more he became aware of just how unfathomable the concept of time was. As expected of an abstract concept that ranked alongside space!


    Old Tang had told him that if he could unleash 10% of the power of Millennium White Clouds, he would bestow upon Tang Wulin a spatial spear technique, and the combination of the two would benefit him immensely.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t in a hurry to learn this new spatial spear technique. He knew that taking on too much at once would only hamper his overall progress, so he was determined to master Millennium White Clouds first.


    To Soul Masters, two months wasn''t a very long time, and after Tang Wulin concluded his cultivation, he contacted his friends to organize a meeting.


    There were many people who were accompanying him on his journey. Aside from the Tang Sect''s mecha squadron, there was the Blood Dragon Squad, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and the Holy Spirit Douluo herself.


    After learning that Yun Ming''s soul still existed, Yali was clearly in higher spirits than she had been in the past. Tang Wulin didn''t know how Zang Xin had convinced her to wait for a year before recovering Yun Ming''s soul, but at the very least, it seemed that she was no longer dead on the inside.


    Thinking back to what Zang Xin had told him about the Atlas Douluo, the Dark Phoenix Douluo, and the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think that Yun Ming was quite the womanizer! It seemed that every woman who had fallen in love with him was deeply infatuated with him.


    However, he wasn''t envious of that. He only liked a single person, and that was enough.


    "Are we finally about to arrive? I can''t bear to eat the stuff on this submarine anymore; let''s find a place to have a good meal after we reach the Dou Spirit Continent," A''Ruheng said in a relieved manner.


    Cultivators of the Body Sect had extremely stringent requirements when it came to nutrition, which was why Mu Ye was such a good chef. The food on the submarine was certainly sufficient and serviceable, but it was far from delicious.


    Tang Wulin said, "We''ll be reaching Dou Spirit Continent soon, and according to the plan we decided on, the mechas will all remain on the submarine for now. The Blood Dragon Squad, those from our Shrek Academy, and the Tang Sect representative team will travel onto the continent first. Our trip to the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire is an extremely secretive one, so take care not to expose yourselves, and travel in groups at all times."


    As the leader of this group of envoys, this was the first time that Tang Wulin had undertaken such an important mission, so he was feeling slightly nervous. After all, the Dou Spirit Empire was a completely unfamiliar place to him, and he still didn''t know what he was going to have to face here.


    He had memorized all of the important information about the Dou Spirit Empire, but there were always disparities between information on paper and reality.


    Everyone nodded before discussing some further details. At this point, the submarine had already begun its ascent, which required a somewhat lengthy process, and a brand new continent was just up ahead.


    After the submarine rose to the surface, the ventilation system allowed the fresh briny air outside to enter the submarine, and everyone felt as if the past two months had been part of another life. They had embarked on this journey to a completely unfamiliar place, and it was quite a strange experience.


    This was a secret journey, and all of the contact they had established with the Dou Spirit Empire had been facilitated between the Tang Sect branches on the Douluo Continent and the Dou Spirit Continent. Hence, even the Dou Spirit Empire officials were unaware of when they were going to arrive.


    The place where the submarine had surfaced was still 50 nautical miles away from the shore. This was a safe distance, and on top of that, the destination they had arrived at wasn''t an important port on the Dou Spirit Continent.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t very familiar with the technology on the submarine, but he could sense clear energy fluctuations being released by the submarine during their journey. This was most likely a type of disruptive wave that could prevent radars from detecting the submarine to a certain extent.


    The more Tang Wulin learned about the Tang Sect, the more he became aware of just how much power it possessed. Perhaps only the truly high-level members of the Tang Sect were aware of just how extraordinarily powerful the Tang Sect was.


    In contrast, Shrek Academy had placed all their eggs in one basket, and it had been completely destroyed alongside Shrek City. However, Shrek Academy also had a unique advantage, in that it had connections all over the three continents. Unless the files of Shrek Academy could be recovered, no one could say with certainty exactly how many important positions on the three continents were occupied by Shrek Academy alumni.


    In the distance, the grey shoreline was already visible. The waves weren''t too fierce at the moment, and the majestic sight of the boundless ocean lay behind them, while a completely alien continent lay up ahead. Tang Wulin''s heart rate was beginning to accelerate. He felt as if he were getting closer to his parents somehow.


    It had been more than a decade since his parents had left, and as Tang Wulin''s father had said, he had been able to rely on no one but himself during this time. He had taken one determined step after another, continuing to advance no matter what hardships were thrown his way. He continued to work hard, not just to become more powerful, but more so for the opportunity to be able to rescue his own parents someday!


    He was now getting closer and closer to the parents that he hadn''t seen for over 10 years; how could he not be filled with exhilaration and anticipation?


    He was confident in his ability to rescue his parents. As for the Spirit Pagoda, he still couldn''t be sure whether they were the ones who had captured his parents, so he was going to prioritize saving them first.


    Not long after that, a middle-aged man in a military uniform approached Tang Wulin. Strangely enough, he wasn''t wearing any epaulets, and he said in a low voice, "Sect Master, we''ve already received the signal and can arrive on land now."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    A series of figures rose up from the submarine before releasing their suits of battle armor, and spread their wings as they flew toward the shore.


    The Tang Sect''s mecha squadron was going to remain on the submarine for now, and after this, they were going to split up and infiltrate the Dou Spirit Continent, where members of the Tang Sect branches here would be responsible for receiving them. If and when required, they could be summoned to Tang Wulin''s side at any time.


    When Tang Wulin and the others reached the shore and stepped onto this continent for the first time, there were already people from the Dou Spirit Empire branches of the Tang Sect waiting for them.


    There were only seven people present, and they were led by a middle-aged man whose appearance and figure were both very ordinary. He also wore a set of simple attire of an antiquated style, and it was most likely traditional attire on the Dou Spirit Continent.


    After Tang Wulin and the others landed on the shore, he hurriedly made his way toward them in a respectful manner. "Supervisor of the Tang Sect''s Dou Spirit Empire branches, Li Yun, pays his respects to the sect master."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "No need for such formalities, Hall Master Li."


    Li Yun made an inviting hand gesture toward Tang Wulin and the others, and said, "Please come with me, and we''ll leave this place first, Sect Master."


    He then turned and led the way without introducing any of his companions.

 Chapter 1251: More Than Meets the Eye

    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly, and he quickly followed along behind Li Yun. From the aura emanating from this man''s body, Tang Wulin could sense that he was most likely at or above the Hyper Douluo level. Even with his current level of soul power, he was unable to ascertain Li Yun''s exact cultivation rank.


    There really was more to the Tang Sect than meets the eye! At the same time, he could tell that this Li Yun wasn''t taking him very seriously, most likely because he had discovered that Tang Wulin was only a Soul Sage.


    Zang Xin had introduced Li Yun to Tang Wulin as a veteran member of the Tang Sect. As the Tang Sect supervisor of the Dou Spirit Empire, he ranked alongside the Tang Sect''s inner hall masters. He had been working at the Dou Spirit Empire for over 30 years, and was a very well-respected figure in the sect. Furthermore, he was an extremely powerful Soul Master as well.


    The Tang Sect''s main sources of financial income included production and selling of soul weapons, research and development in soul technology, as well as control over and distribution of resources.


    Due to the shortage of resources on the Douluo Continent, the prices of uncommon metals on the Douluo Continent are far higher than those of the other two continents. This was the core reason behind the Douluo Continent''s eagerness to start a war.


    Hence, the Tang Sect naturally purchased most of its resources from the Dou Spirit Continent and Star Luo Continent. One of the main contributing factors behind the Tang Sect''s lofty status on these two continents lay in the fact that it had brought some important pieces of soul technology to these two continents. The Douluo Federation was made aware of this through certain avenues, but all of the technology that was provided to these two continents stemmed from the Tang Sect itself, so the federation couldn''t accuse the Tang Sect of anything.


    On top of that, the Tang Sect had extremely close ties with Shrek Academy, and even the federation didn''t dare to incur the wrath of these two super organizations. This was undoubtedly a key factor behind the sudden bombing of Shrek Academy.


    Of course, the Tang Sect hadn''t sold its most advanced technology to the other two continents. Both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were lovers of peace. With the abundance of resources on the Star Luo Continent and Dou Spirit Continent, if their soul technology were to outstrip that of the Douluo Federation, then there was a possibility that they could declare war on the Douluo Continent instead. After all, these two empires were once part of the Douluo Continent as well, and their rulers were constantly searching for an opportunity to unite the three continents as one again, under their rule, of course.


    As such, the Tang Sect shared a delicate relationship with these two continents. They were close partners, but their partnership was limited at the same time. The two empires had no choice but to rely on the Tang Sect, but they were also constantly trying to get more out of the Tang Sect as well.


    Tang Wulin''s mission for this trip was to represent the Tang Sect and give these two empires enough weapons so they can intimidate the Douluo Federation into having second thoughts about starting a war. However, he also had to moderate and ensure that the two empires weren''t so buoyed by the influx of weapons that they became the ones eager to start a war.


    Zang Xin had told Tang Wulin that Li Yun was extremely powerful and capable, but he was rather conceited and would only obey someone he felt to be worthy. As such, earning Li Yun''s allegiance was the first problem that Tang Wulin would have to overcome as the Tang Sect Master.


    There were already two large soul vehicles waiting by the roadside, and Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and the seven people from the Dou Spirit Empire''s Tang Sect branches got in the first vehicle, while everyone else got in the second one.


    Li Yun didn''t do or say anything as everyone got into the vehicle, and only after they had all taken a seat did he turn his gaze toward Tang Wulin. "We''ll be setting off now, Sect Master. It''ll take around five hours for us to get to Heaven Dou City, and you can ask me anything you''d like during that time."


    He was prompting Tang Wulin to ask him questions rather than informing Tang Wulin of the situation here, and that alone was sufficient testament to his conceited nature.


    "Sure." Tang Wulin didn''t pay much heed to this and remained unbothered by Li Yun''s attitude. He was simply far too young, after all, and if he were in Li Yun''s shoes, he would also be quite skeptical toward such a young sect master.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t ask Li Yun any questions and merely cast his gaze out the window to appraise the scenery outside.


    They drove along a dirt path for around 20 minutes before finally arriving onto a main road. The road wasn''t particularly wide, and the surrounding area was clearly yet to be developed with clusters of unruly plants growing as far as the eyes could see.


    Some information surrounding the Dou Spirit Continent surfaced in Tang Wulin''s mind. Compared to the Star Luo Continent, the Dou Spirit Continent had actually been developed earlier, and the remaining citizens of the past Dou Spirit Empire had traveled to this continent over 10,000 years ago.


    At the time, they were already a completely spent force, and it was said that a total of less than 10,000 of them had arrived on this continent, carrying a pitiful amount of resources. Most importantly, they didn''t have enough talent in any of the major fields, which was why they were lagging behind the Star Luo Empire, which had voluntarily immigrated to the Star Luo Continent with a population of millions.


    Hence, even though the Star Luo Continent had been developed far later than the Dou Spirit Continent, it was actually far more advanced in comparison. After all, they had far more resources and skilled personnel with them when they first immigrated to the new continent.


    Looking at it now, this was indeed the case; the Dou Spirit Continent was indeed the least developed of the three continents, and it also had the smallest area of the three. This meant that there was going to be a more enormous reserve of resources to be exploited on this continent.


    Tang Wulin continued to look out the window in silence, and the atmosphere in the vehicle became a little subdued.


    Li Yun was sitting on the seat next to Tang Wulin, and he was slightly surprised by the composure of this young sect master.


    Back when he had received instructions from Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, he had been vehemently opposed to this arrangement as he didn''t think that a young man in his twenties would be capable of completing such an important mission. However, Zang Xin had forcibly imposed this arrangement upon him, and he had no choice but to accept it. Even so, he was still quite averse toward Tang Wulin.


    From his outward appearance alone, this young man was truly impeccable. He was tall and broad with a pair of captivating eyes, and was extremely handsome. Even as picky as he was, he would be more than happy to have such a handsome young man as his son-in-law.


    However, his aura clearly indicated that he was only a Soul Sage, which was even worse than what he had projected. He had thought that for someone to become the sect master at such a young age, he had to be an extraordinary cultivation prodigy, but only after meeting Tang Wulin did he realize that Tang Wulin was even younger and possessed an even lower cultivation rank than he had imagined.


    He was only a Soul Sage!


    Just as he was inspecting Tang Wulin, the latter suddenly turned toward him with a smile, and asked, "Hall Master Li, what is the Dou Spirit Empire''s reaction toward the looming threat of war? I''m referring to specific details; have they taken any measures in response?"


    The Dou Spirit Empire was potentially going to be attacked by the most powerful continent on the entire planet soon, so they were definitely in a state of panic. However, what was important to Tang Wulin was to assess what preparatory measures they had taken as that would tell him what kind of attitude he should adopt toward the Dou Spirit Empire in order to complete his mission.


    Li Yun replied, "When they first received this news, the royal family of the Dou Spirit Empire was in disbelief. After all, the entire planet had been in a peaceful state for a very long time. Let me give you a brief rundown of the overall situation in the Dou Spirit Empire. The empire currently has a population of around 26,000,000, which is around 10% that of the Douluo Continent, and around a third of the Star Luo Continent''s population. They have an army of 400,000 troops, including 100,000 members who are responsible for logistics and general duties.


    "There are 10 legions, of which two are naval fleets, and the equipment they have access to can''t even begin to compare to that of the Douluo Continent''s federal military. According to our estimations, the entire military on the Dou Spirit Empire only possesses around 10,000 mechas, and very few large-scale soul weapons. If a war were to commence, the Douluo Continent would most likely be able to conquer this empire in a very short time with just a single carrier-based vanguard group alone. The power of the 300,000 troops in the Dou Spirit Empire''s military is roughly equivalent to that of only 50,000 elite federal military soldiers from the Douluo Continent."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Does the Dou Spirit Empire have any advantages?"


    Li Yun replied, "I can only think of a home continent advantage. They''re more familiar with this continent than the Douluo Continent''s federal military, but that''s hardly a significant advantage that they can bank on. Hence, according to my knowledge, their plan is to allow the federal military to enter the Dou Spirit Continent, then employ guerrilla warfare tactics to stall for time before finding an opportunity to sever the federal military''s supply lines."

 Chapter 1252: Unruly

    "There are currently two prominent voices in the Dou Spirit Empire, the first of which I just elaborated on. The other side advocates engaging the federal military in direct battle and letting the chips fall where they may. Of course, there''s also a minority that proposes negotiating for peace. In reality, if it isn''t for the fact that the Dou Spirit Empire is a monarchy, most of the empire would probably be in support of surrender. They''re well aware of the disparity between them and the Douluo Federation. This is a fundamental gap that can''t be bridged."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. "How is our Tang Sect''s relationship with the royal family?"


    Li Yun replied, "We are the number one arms suppliers to the Dou Spirit Empire. Almost all their high-end weaponry technology was sold to them by our Tang Sect, but in reality, we''ve been very conservative with the technology that we''ve been selling them in the past several millennia. This is to limit the rate of their technological development and to prevent them from depleting their resources too quickly. As such, our Tang Sect holds a very lofty status in the Dou Spirit Empire, but the royal family is actually rather dissatisfied with us. They''re harboring great hopes that you''ll be bringing them sufficient weapons for them to contend with the Douluo Federation. As such, it''ll be very easy to give them the weapons, but preventing this war from happening will be nowhere near as simple."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I see. Is there a city known as Spirit Wave City near Heaven Dou City?"


    "There is. Spirit Wave City is quite a small city, though." Li Yun was rather befuddled by the sudden change in direction this conversation had taken.


    "Let''s go to Spirit Wave City first," Tang Wulin instructed.


    Li Yun''s brows furrowed slightly. "Why do you want to go to Spirit Wave City? The Dou Spirit Empire''s royal family has already received news of your arrival; shouldn''t you be going to see them first?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "No, we''ll go to Spirit Wave City first."


    Li Yun''s brows furrowed even more rightly upon hearing this, and he wanted to say something further, but he repressed the urge to do so in the end and turned to the driver at the front. "Go to Spirit Wave City."


    The atmosphere had become rather awkward, and Li Yun turned to Tang Wulin with a contemplative look before asking, "Sect Master, would you be able to tell me your purpose for visiting Spirit Wave City? I believe it would be inadvisable to simply ignore the royal family."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I have something I need to do in Spirit Wave City. On top of that, I didn''t know that we had to visit the royal family right after arriving here, so they can wait."


    Li Yun could tell from Tang Wulin''s demeanor that he had already decided everything without discussing the matter with him, and that made him quite displeased. This young man''s cultivation rank wasn''t anything special, but he sure had a bit of a temper!


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Sometimes it''s good to make people wait, wouldn''t you say so, Hall Master Li?"


    Li Yun replied in a serious manner, "I think that would be very inadvisable in this current situation. If you''re determined to do this and sour our relationship with the Dou Spirit Empire as a result, it''ll be very difficult for us to carry out the rest of our mission."


    Tang Wulin said, "We shouldn''t be the ones clambering to meet them. You just said that the Dou Spirit Empire is a monarchy, and the biggest concern for a monarchy is that the inheritance of their power gets severed. Hence, they won''t surrender to the federation no matter what, and they need us far more than the Star Luo Empire does. We are in a position of power here, so why should we be in a rush to meet them? Let them wait."


    Li Yun remained silent in response, but cast his gaze out the window to express his displeasure toward this course of action.


    Tang Wulin naturally had selfish intentions behind his decision to visit Spirit Wave City first. Saving his parents was extremely high on his list of priorities, but at the same time, it really was a good idea to make the royal family wait for now. If they wanted to gain the upper hand in the negotiation, the first thing that they had to do was place themselves in an advantageous position. In the face of the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire, the last thing the Tang Sect wanted to do was to appear overly eager as that would completely ruin the basis for negotiation.


    Thus, silence returned to the vehicle, and Tang Wulin closed his eyes to rest. For some reason, ever since he arrived in the Dou Spirit Empire, he had been struck by an indistinct feeling that there was something familiar and intimate nearby.


    Was this the feeling of being in close proximity to his parents?


    Spirit Wave City was less than 100 kilometers away from the capital of the Dou Spirit Empire, Heaven Dou City, and they arrived at their destination after about four hours.


    From a distance, it could be seen that Spirit Wave City was quite a simple city that was rather antiquated in design. The style of the buildings was similar to that of Heaven Dou City on the Douluo Continent, and they had clearly drawn inspiration from the same sources.


    What was quite intriguing to Tang Wulin was that Spirit Wave City had city walls. In the Douluo Federation, city walls were almost relics of the past that could only be seen in ancient tomes; who would''ve thought they would still be in use in the Dou Spirit Empire?


    This was a clear indication that the Dou Spirit Empire was still very much fond of the traditions of the Douluo Continent, and many of the buildings here were of the same style as buildings on the Douluo Continent in ancient times.


    Spirit Wave City was a small city without any particularly tall buildings, and most of the structures were less than six stories tall. The streets were very clean and sparsely frequented, striking Tang Wulin with the feeling that he had returned to the distant past on the Douluo Continent.


    What a beautiful little city! How could he allow a city like this to be ravaged by war?


    Father, Mother, are you here?


    Tang Wulin turned to Li Yun, whom he had barely spoken to at all during this trip, and asked, "Hall Master Li, would you be able to organize lodging for us near the Spirit Pagoda? I have some matters that I need to take care of."


    "You want to stay near the Spirit Pagoda?" Li Yun''s brows furrowed upon hearing this.


    He was already very displeased with Tang Wulin''s decision to visit Spirit Wave City first. After all, he had already arranged a meeting with the royal family of the Dou Spirit Empire, and now that Tang Wulin was asking to stay near the Spirit Pagoda, he finally couldn''t hold back any longer.


    "Sect Master, I''m sure you''re aware of our delicate relationship with the Spirit Pagoda. Is this really appropriate?" His expression had darkened significantly as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin replied, "We''ll be sure to disguise ourselves properly. I''ll leave it to you, Hall Master Li."


    Li Yun was silent for a moment before nodding in response. As the supervisor for the Dou Spirit Empire branches of the Tang Sect, he had the courtesy and self-restraint to not argue any further with Tang Wulin.


    However, Li Yun''s self-restraint wasn''t shared by all of his subordinates, and one of the men accompanying him immediately flared up with rage. "Sect Master, are you aware that the Spirit Pagoda is most likely partially responsible for the Shrek City bombing? The Spirit Pagoda is our enemy!"


    Tang Wulin turned to the man, and replied, "Of course I''m aware of that."


    The middle-aged man continued, "And yet you still insist on staying near the Spirit Pagoda? The Spirit Pagoda is very powerful, and Spirit Wave City is the center of their sphere of influence on this continent. Are you aware of how heavily our plan would be impacted if your covers are blown by them? Shrek Academy was destroyed, as was our Tang Sect headquarters on the Douluo Continent, yet you''re still approaching the Spirit Pagoda despite this; are you going to cooperate with them? Even if we set aside the mission, we won''t even be able to face all of those who perished alongside Shrek Academy!"


    "Oh? Are you from Shrek Academy?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "That''s right. I graduated from the inner court of the Shrek Academy before joining the Tang Sect here on the Dou Spirit Continent," the middle-aged man replied in a proud manner, displaying a lot of pride for his connection to Shrek Academy.


    "In that case, do you know who you''re speaking to?" Xie Xie suddenly asked.


    The middle-aged man turned toward him. "What do you mean, kid?"


    Xie Xie sighed, "It''s a shame to see that the alumni of the academy no longer follow the academy''s rules."


    "What did you say?" the middle-aged man immediately exclaimed, "How dare you slander me?"


    Xie Xie rose to his feet before leaning against Tang Wulin''s seat as he appraised the man with an indifferent expression. "How is this slander? I also come from Shrek Academy, but unlike you, I''m a member of the current Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and I''m also an elder of the Sea God''s Pavilion. Are you not disrespecting your superiors here?"


    The middle-aged man was a Soul Douluo, and he stared at Xie Xie in an incredulous manner. "You''re an elder of the Sea God''s Pavilion? The academy really has fallen..." He didn''t make this abundantly clear, but it was quite obvious what he was implying.


    Xie Xie immediately flared up with rage. "What are you trying to say? These people no longer have any respect for the academy, Boss! How can we gather all of the academy alumni under our banner when even someone like him is disrespecting you? It''s truly going to be an arduous task to revive the academy!"

 Chapter 1253: Do You Still Recognize Me?

    Li Yun had also figured out what Xie Xie was implying at this point, and he asked, "Sect Master, are you related to Shrek Academy as well?"


    Xie Xie explained, "The man you''re looking at is not just the Tang Sect Master, but also the leader of the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and the Sea God''s Pavilion Master. He''s not just a representative for the Tang Sect, but also for Shrek Academy. The academy may have been destroyed, but I''m sure that all three continents have to acknowledge our status."


    Li Yun was quite stunned to hear this, and he couldn''t help but see Tang Wulin through new eyes. The Sea God''s Pavilion Master was someone who ranked alongside the Tang Sect''s Douluo Palace Master, and the last Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, was widely regarded as the most powerful being on the entire continent. Just how impressive was this young man to have obtained the approval of both Yun Ming and the Tang Sect?


    "Yun, do you still recognize me?" All of a sudden, a person sitting in the back wearing a baggy hooded cloak suddenly drew back the hood, revealing a set of exquisitely beautiful facial features and a head of white hair.


    All of the people from the Tang Sect''s Dou Spirit Empire branches were momentarily stunned at the sight of her. She was simply too beautiful, and the color of her hair was very striking as well.


    Li Yun''s expression stiffened upon seeing her, following which an incredulous look appeared in his eyes, and his voice began to tremble as he said, "You, you''re the Holy Spirit Douluo?"


    "That''s right," a faint smile appeared on Ya Li''s face as she replied, "Xie Xie is telling the truth; Wulin is not just the Tang Sect Master, he''s also our Sea God''s Pavilion Master. I can vouch for him."


    Li Yun suddenly rose to his feet in a slightly frantic manner before hurriedly making his way over to Yali, then falling to one knee. "Li Yun pays his respects to Her Majesty!"


    Everyone present was stunned to see this, especially those from the Tang Sect branches. Here in the Dou Spirit Empire, even the royal family treated him as an esteemed guest, yet now, he was kneeling down in front of this exquisite beauty. This was something that he wouldn''t even do in the face of the king of the Dou Spirit Empire. He was a Hyper Douluo who represented the Tang Sect, and held an extremely lofty status; surely it was an overreaction for him to be kneeling down to this woman.


    A slightly resigned look appeared on Yali''s face. "What are you doing? Please get up."


    Li Yun refused to get, and his voice began to choke up as he said, "It''s been 30 years since I last saw you, Your Majesty; you saved my life! Without your kindness, I wouldn''t even be alive today, so please allow me to pay my respects to you. Not only did you save me, you saved my entire family; I owe you everything, and even to this day, we have a plaque of you set up in our home. Your Majesty, your hair..."


    A wry smile appeared on Yali''s face. "It became like this after Yun Ming passed away. Please get up, everyone''s watching." She waved a hand through the air, and a burst of gentle force helped him up to his feet.


    Li Yun stood before her in a respectful manner, and said, "I didn''t know you were coming, Your Majesty; my actions are inexcusable!"


    Yali said with a faint smile, "I can tell that you''re prouder than you were in the past. The leader of this group is Wulin, not me, so just do everything that he says. He''s the joint successor selected by Yun Ming, the Heartless Douluo, the Amorous Douluo, and myself. We all believe that he''s the future of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so please lend him all of your assistance."


    Li Yun''s face paled slightly upon hearing this, and sweat began to bead up on his forehead as he hurried back to Tang Wulin before extending a respectful bow. "Sect Master..."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he stood up before laying a hand on Li Yun''s shoulder to prevent him from sinking into a deep bow. "We''re a family, Hall Master Li. Rest assured, I''ll prioritize our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy''s interests above all else at all times. Thank you for your hard work here in the Dou Spirit Empire. I won''t try to convince you to support me with my words. After all, actions speak much louder than words, isn''t that right?"


    Li Yun looked deep into Tang Wulin''s eyes, and said, "Rest assured, Sect Master, I''ll find a place in Spirit Wave City for everyone to stay right away."


    This young man who was nothing more than a Soul Sage truly was full of surprises. Just how exceptional did he have to be to have received acknowledgment from so many top-tier powerful beings? Li Yun still didn''t know much about Tang Wulin, but he definitely didn''t dare to disobey Holy Spirit Douluo Yali. She was one of the most important people in his life!


    Over 30 years ago, his entire family had been struck by disaster. Yali happened to be passing through at the time, and she saved his entire family, and even cure his son of his disability. He could still clearly recall the scenes leading up to the Holy Spirit Douluo''s arrival. Her descent was accompanied by heavenly symphonies, and in his eyes, she was like a godly being. Even now, after he had become a powerful Hyper Douluo, that first impression had never changed.


    He had been greatly shaken by the sight of Yali''s white hair. She had brushed it off in a casual manner, but he could imagine just how much emotional trauma and torment she would''ve had to endure.


    All he wanted to do now was to do everything he could for her. If she wanted him to obey Tang Wulin, then that was what he would do. At the same time, he wanted to see for himself just what was so special about this young sect master.


    Rooms were organized for everyone in an antiquated hotel in Spirit Wave City. Due to the fact that this was the center of the Spirit Pagoda''s sphere of influence, Li Yun had taken cautionary measures and split everyone up into groups of three to five, and they all checked into the hotel at different times. Li Yun had also adopted a simple disguise. He was quite a renowned figure in the Dou Spirit Empire, so if he were to be spotted here, the Spirit Pagoda would definitely be made aware of his arrival.


    "Do you have any other instructions, Sect Master?" Li Yun asked in a respectful manner after accompanying Tang Wulin to his room. His respectful mannerisms were genuine now, in contrast with the front he had put on out of necessity.


    Tang Wulin turned to Li Yun, and asked, "Hall Master Li, are you familiar with Spirit Wave City?"


    Li Yun replied, "I''m relatively familiar with this city; what would you like to know?"


    Tang Wulin explained, "I actually came to Spirit Wave City for two people. Please wait for a moment; I''ll detect whether they''re here or not, and if they are, I may need you to provide me with specific instructions to get to where they are."


    Tang Wulin sat down with his legs crossed on the couch as he spoke, and he closed his eyes before slowly releasing his spiritual power.


    He was naturally extremely familiar with the auras of his parents, and at the Spirit Domain realm, his spiritual power was able to cover an extremely large area. As such, it was naturally the best course of action to search for his parents using his spiritual power.


    Li Yun stood beside Tang Wulin, and he was immediately astonished by the spiritual fluctuations being released by him.


    Was this Spirit Domain realm spiritual power?


    As a Hyper Douluo, he naturally possessed exceptional spiritual power as well, and that made him even more aware of just how important spiritual power was to Soul Masters of higher calibers.


    Hence, he had always been cultivating his spiritual power arduously in the hope of being able to ascend to a higher level in the future. As such, he was more than aware of what Spirit Domain realm spiritual power entailed. This was a prerequisite for one to reach the Limit Douluo level, and it was synonymous to the most powerful beings in this world.


    Never did he think that this seven-ring sect master would''ve developed such an incredible level of spiritual power already. What was even more astonishing to him was that after Tang Wulin released his own spiritual power, it felt as if he had fused as one with the entire world around him. It was as if he were a part of this room, or a constituent component of the air around him. Even with his immense powers, he wouldn''t be able to sense Tang Wulin''s presence if he were to close his eyes.

 Chapter 1254: News, Plan

    This was downright terrifying! He had only ever experienced this feeling before in the presence of the Heartless Douluo and the Amorous Douluo, and it felt to him that Tang Wulin had fused even more completely into the surrounding area than those two Limit Douluos could. This entailed that he had a deeper understanding of the secrets and order of this world.


    How could a young man in his twenties possibly have developed such an in-depth understanding of the entire plane?


    Of course, Tang Wulin hadn''t actually achieved this, and nor did he need to work toward this goal. He had been blessed by the ruler of the plane, so he was naturally able to reach this level without having to make any effort, and that was his biggest advantage.


    Li Yun took a deep breath and began to stand guard beside Tang Wulin. He didn''t know what Tang Wulin was searching for, but he firmly believed that with his level of spiritual power, there was no way that he was just an ordinary Soul Sage. It was no wonder that he was able to become the current sect master. It was downright preposterous to consider that someone could reach the Spirit Domain realm in their twenties! At the very least, he had never heard of anyone like this.


    He was even more stunned by Tang Wulin''s spiritual power than when he had learned that Tang Wulin was both the Tang Sect Master and the Sea God''s Pavilion Master. After all, in the world of Soul Masters, power reigned supreme.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power quickly encompassed the entire hotel before spreading into the distance, scouring through the entire surrounding area and searching for those familiar auras.


    He was confident that with the bloodline connection he shared with his parents, he would be able to find them, even though they had been apart for over 10 years. This hotel was already very close to where the Spirit Pagoda was situated, so he would definitely be able to sense the presence of his parents as long as they were in this branch of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Time passed by slowly, and Tang Wulin''s spiritual power finally reached its limit after encompassing an area with a diameter of over 10 kilometers. This was the extent of his sensory range, and keeping this up was extremely taxing for both his brain and mind, so he wouldn''t be able to keep this up for long.


    However, he still hadn''t detected his parents'' auras, nor could he sense any bloodline connections. How could this be? Could it be that Teacher Mang Tian had been mistaken?


    When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was tinged with a hint of exhaustion and resignation.


    If they weren''t in Spirit Wave City, then searching for his parents on this continent would be like searching for a needle in a haystack!


    On top of that, he couldn''t contact Mang Tian here, so he wouldn''t be able to secure any further useful information. Prior to coming here, Tang Wulin had already confirmed the information he had with Mang Tian on multiple occasions, but all of his efforts seemed to have gone in vain, and that was rather disheartening to him.


    "Did you fail to find them?" Li Yun could tell from Tang Wulin''s expression that his search hadn''t yielded the desired results.


    Tang Wulin nodded before asking, "Hall Master Li, do you know if the Spirit Pagoda has any secret research centers in this Spirit Wave City?"


    "Secret research centers? Like for weapons?" Li Yun asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m not sure, but it should be for weaponry research."


    Li Yun nodded without any hesitation in response. "I know that there''s definitely a secret research center in Spirit Wave City. In reality, our Tang Sect has also been constantly searching for this research center so we can plant some spies and see just what the Spirit Pagoda is up to. Aside from our Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda is the organization that purchases the most resources from the Dou Spirit Empire. Due to the fact that they''re the developers of soul spirits, their status is not inferior to that of our Tang Sect in the Dou Spirit Empire, and they''re even more influential than us in the world of Soul Masters."


    "Where is their secret research center situated? Do we have any leads?" Tang Wulin asked. Just because he was unable to find something with his spiritual power didn''t mean that it didn''t exist. It was quite likely that there were some secretive places that could keep out spiritual power detection.


    Li Yun replied, "We can basically confirm that this secret research center is situated in Spirit Wave City, but we don''t know exactly where it is. The Spirit Pagoda has kept the research center hidden very well, but according to the information that we''ve gathered, we think that it''s most likely situated within the Spirit Pagoda or underground beneath the Spirit Pagoda branch. Those would be the safest places."


    Tang Wulin was enlightened to hear this. "If it''s situated underground, then it''s only natural that my spiritual power would fail to detect it. Hall Master Li, there''s something I should tell you; I''m actually searching for my parents. When I was only 10 years old, they were abducted by some people and taken to the Dou Spirit Continent to conduct some kind of research. They can only occasionally contact the Douluo Continent, and I was only made aware recently that they''re most likely being controlled by the Spirit Pagoda.


    "Hence, I have to save them before we begin negotiations with the royal family here. This is technically a private matter, so I won''t ask the Tang Sect and the academy to help me here; I''ll only bring along a few of my friends to conduct the search, but I hope you can assist me by providing the relevant information that I need to know."


    He revealed his objective to Li Yun as he knew that if he wanted to find his parents in this completely unfamiliar place, he would definitely require Li Yun''s assistance.


    Li Yun faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately nodding in response. "That''s very understandable. I didn''t think that there was such a motive behind your decision. Rest assured, Sect Master, I''ll think of a way for you. We''ve actually been constantly trying to search for and infiltrate this research center as well, and according to the information we''ve gathered, this research center is most likely developing a special type of weapon. It should be related to us Soul Masters, but we don''t know exactly what it is. However, the fact that the Spirit Pagoda is pouring so much effort and resources into its development clearly indicates that it''s not going to be some ordinary weapon. I''ll contact the people from the Tang Sect branch here right away, if I receive any useful information, I''ll relay it to you right away."


    "I''ll leave it to you, then." Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief. This was a private matter, so Li Yun was most likely only willing to help him due to his connection with the Holy Spirit Douluo.


    Li Yun did things very efficiently, and he returned to Tang Wulin''s room that same night.


    "We have a spy planted in the Spirit Pagoda; you can disguise yourself to look like him and infiltrate their branch. He can confirm that there is indeed a secret research center beneath the Spirit Pagoda branch, but he''s not authorized to enter it, so he doesn''t know what kind of place it is. However, it''s quite possible that this is the secret research center that you''re searching for."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up. "That''s fantastic news!"


    Li Yun continued, "He drew up a map that will show you the general scope of where the entrance is; you can infiltrate the Spirit Pagoda by borrowing his identity to search for that place, but there''s going to be some risk involved."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "How powerful is this Spirit Pagoda branch?"


    Li Yun replied, "Very powerful. Heaven Dou City is the center of our sphere of influence, so overall, we''re more powerful than the Spirit Pagoda there, but the Spirit Pagoda is more secretive, so we can''t accurately gauge just how much power they have up their sleeve. What we do know is that this branch is essentially the Spirit Pagoda headquarters on the Dou Spirit Empire, and there are at least five Titled Douluos situated in there, of which at least two are Hyper Douluos. On top of that, it''s also guarded by a large number of other powerful Soul Masters, and the internal defense systems are also quite highly developed. As such, if your cover gets blown, you could get trapped and surrounded very quickly."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I understand. We''ll make a detailed plan so we can infiltrate the Spirit Pagoda headquarters while minimizing the chances of being discovered. Please give me the information regarding this spy that we''ve planted, and I''ll begin emulating his mannerisms."


    "Alright!"


    ......


    On the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda''s Spirit Wave City branch.


    The entire top floor was a single spacious hall, and the center of which a large round table was situated. Around the table sat all of the higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda on the Dou Spirit Continent.


    The person sitting at the head of the table was a handsome elderly man who appeared to be in his sixties, and he gave off quite an intimidating presence even just sitting still in his chair.


    Aside from him, there were six more people, and these seven were collectively known as the seven most powerful Spirit Pagoda members of the Dou Spirit Empire.


    "Branch Chairman, who are these important figures being sent here by the headquarters? Are they sending people to supervise us or are they here to oversee the imminent war? At the very least, it has to seem like we''re adopting a neutral stance on the surface; we can''t make our allegiances clear to the general public. Otherwise, if the federation is unable to conquer the Dou Spirit Empire, we''ll be in some trouble," a middle-aged man said.

 Chapter 1255: Infiltrating the Spirit Pagoda

    The branch chairman replied in an indifferent voice, "Do you think the Dou Spirit Empire can withstand an invasion from the federal fleets?"


    "Of course they wouldn''t be able to; they would still be significantly lacking in power even if they were to somehow recruit the assistance of the Star Luo Empire. However, I''m worried about our old enemy. The Tang Sect headquarters may have been bombed, but they''ve only become more aggressive here in the Dou Spirit Empire, and the royal family is oppressing us very heavily. They''re even turning the royal family against us by telling them that we''re partially responsible for instigating this war. If they step in to assist the Dou Spirit Empire, things will become a lot more complicated.


    "We all know that no one can compare with the Tang Sect when it comes to the ability to create soul missiles. If it isn''t for the fact that some of the special metals have been under the control of the federation this entire time, the Tang Sect would''ve most likely developed soul missiles in excess of the ninth grade long ago. No one knows exactly how powerful the Tang Sect is."


    The branch chairman''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "You''re saying that the Tang Sect could support the Dou Spirit Empire?"


    "That''s right. There are no clear signs to suggest that this could happen at the moment, but according to the information we''ve gathered over the past few months, the people of the Tang Sect have clearly grown a lot closer with the royal family of the Dou Spirit Empire, and it would be far too naive of us to think that the Tang Sect would be unaware that a war is most likely imminent. This isn''t the Douluo Federation; the Tang Sect is more powerful and influential than us here, so we have to be wary of them."


    The branch chairman nodded in response. "This is indeed an issue. When are those people leaving? If they haven''t left yet, we might need their help. We won''t be able to resist the Tang Sect on our own."


    "The research is finally close to fruition, and those people will leave as soon as they get their hands on the results. All of the researchers will be taken care of so they won''t be able to leak any information. We''re finally close to getting results after so many years of research and development. Hopefully, they''ll be able to make good use of this. In all honesty, I don''t think this is a good thing. The chairman thinks that he can control everything, but those people are downright deranged..."


    "Alright, let''s not discuss this here. Tell everyone over at Heaven Dou City to focus and keep their eyes peeled for anything abnormal. In particular, if there are any unfamiliar people visiting the royal palace, make sure it gets reported to us right away. I''ll also be keeping the chairman updated on the situation here, and the federation will most likely make a move in half a year at most."


    "Yes!"


    ......


    After entering the Spirit Pagoda, Tang Wulin''s gaze remained focused up ahead. With his spiritual power, he could clearly sense everything around him even without having to look around.


    During the past two days of practice, he had basically mastered all of the mannerisms of his adopted identity. He was a mid-level official in the Spirit Pagoda and was mainly responsible for some areas of logistics such as purchasing and distributing resources.


    It was not an extremely important role, but it brought him into contact with many people in the branch as everyone had to come to him for resources. His name was Ni Chen, and he possessed a second-rate dragon martial soul. On top of that, he had a slightly portly figure, so he was jokingly referred to as Little Fat Dragon by his colleagues in the Spirit Pagoda.


    He always wore a harmless-looking smile on his face, and having cultivated the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, Tang Wulin was able to alter his body to resemble Ni Chen''s appearance with ease. On top of that, he had also disguised his cultivation rank very well, and he occasionally greeted the people that he passed by as he walked along.


    Ni Chen was very good at taking care of interpersonal relations, so he was on friendly terms with everyone. According to the information and map that he provided, Tang Wulin could ascertain that there was a special place underground here, but he wasn''t sure whether it was a research center.


    At the very least, this was an important lead. As for his own safety, Tang Wulin wasn''t all that concerned. With his current level of powers, he would at least be able to escape unless he was to encounter a Limit Douluo, and there were no Limit Douluos in the entire Dou Spirit Empire, which was why it was the weakest of the three continents. In fact, in terms of overall power, it couldn''t even compare to half of the Star Luo Empire.


    After strolling around in the Spirit Pagoda for a while, Tang Wulin returned to his office and began to take care of some daily duties, as instructed by Ni Chen.


    The sound of door-knocking suddenly rang out, and Tang Wulin smiled as he said, "Come in."


    The door was opened, and a woman who appeared to be around 27 to 28 years of age strode into the room. She had above average looks, and her figure was quite exceptional. There was a smile on her face as she said, "Little Fat Dragon, can you get some things for me?"


    Tang Wulin quickly scoured through the information Ni Chen had given to him, and he was instantly able to identify this woman as another official of the Spirit Pagoda. She was responsible for the matters in the Spirit Ascension Plane, and her position was slightly loftier than that of Ni Chen''s. She was a very promiscuous woman and would often go around the Spirit Pagoda in a flirtatious manner. It was said that she had an intimate relationship with one of the higher-ups here, and her husband was in another branch. Her name was Jia Feifei.


    Tang Wulin rose to his feet and intentionally put on a suggestive expression as he asked, "What do you want this time, Feifei?"


    Jia Feifei replied, "Same as always; we expend a lot more uniforms on my end, so get me 10 more sets of uniforms."


    A troubled look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "That''s going to be rather difficult. As you know, the uniforms are all numbered, and you already took five last time. If I give you 10 more, the higher-ups won''t take kindly to me if they find out."


    Jia Feifei sidled up closer to him before gently pinching his portly waist and aiming a flirtatious look at him. "Don''t give me that; everyone knows you''re in charge of resources here. Hurry up and get it done."


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I really can''t, Feifei. I would love to help you, but..."


    Jia Feifei harrumphed coldly as she placed her hands on her hips. "So you''re gonna play hard to get, are you? Let me tell you this; the vice-chairman is also aware of this. Hurry up and get the uniforms for me. Otherwise, the vice-chairman will come to see you in my stead, and he won''t be anywhere near as easygoing."


    Tang Wulin was well aware of why Jia Feifei wanted uniforms. The management in the Spirit Pagoda was very strict, and all uniforms were numbered. A uniform was the equivalent to identification documents in the Spirit Pagoda, and she was hoarding these uniforms so she could sell them to outsiders wishing to enter the Spirit Pagoda.


    This was not the first time that Jia Feifei had done something like this, but she was asking for more uniforms than usual on this occasion.


    Of course, none of this had anything to do with Tang Wulin. It was just that handing over the uniforms without offering any objections would be far too uncharacteristic for Ni Chen.


    "Alright, alright. Feifei, if something happens, please put in a good word for me with the vice-chairman," Tang Wulin sighed in a resigned manner.


    The cold look on Jia Feifei''s face immediately gave way to an elated smile. "Alright, let''s go. The vice-chairman really did instruct me to get the uniforms this time. Otherwise, why would I be asking for so many at once? They''re going to be given to some guests, so no one will accuse you of anything."


    She latched onto Tang Wulin''s arm and rubbed it against her own body as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin resisted the urge to retract his arm in disgust and nodded in response. "Do you want them right now?"


    "Of course! Let''s go." Jia Feifei dragged him out of the room as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin was dragged by her to the resource storage unit in a resigned manner and brought out 10 uniforms for her.


    "Feifei, who are these guests that you were talking about?" Tang Wulin asked.


    A hint of fear flashed through Jia Feifei''s eyes. "I don''t know."


    However, she was clearly lying, and her expression also made Tang Wulin quite perplexed. Who could strike so much fear into the heart of a Spirit Pagoda official like her?


    "Do you need me to accompany you?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Jia Feifei immediately replied, "Of course! Are you going to make me deliver all of these uniforms by myself? You can come with me to lend me courage as well."


    It was quite apparent that these were no ordinary guests, and Tang Wulin followed Jia Feifei to the main elevator of the Spirit Pagoda branch.


    After entering the elevator, Jia Feifei pressed the button for the third underground level, and Tang Wulin was ecstatic to see this as this was his target!


    Ni Chen had once been to the third underground floor, and the security there was very tight. He could only roughly deduce that this level was at least 30 meters below the ground, and the defense system there was of the highest level in the entire Spirit Pagoda. Even if a high-grade Soul Master were to infiltrate that level, they would be in grave danger if their cover were to be blown. He didn''t think that he would have such splendid luck as soon as he infiltrated the Spirit Pagoda.


    Soon, the elevator arrived, and the doors opened. Tang Wulin emerged from the elevator and immediately released his spiritual power.


    Now that he was underground, it should be much easier for him to detect his parents using his spiritual power.

 Chapter 1256: That Agonized Cry...

    The third underground level was a world of metal. The ceiling, the walls, and the ground were all covered in thick layers of metal, and they contained clear energy fluctuations. It was no wonder that his spiritual power was unable to seep into this place; the defenses here were simply far too tight.


    There were 10 armed Spirit Pagoda members standing in front of a thick and heavy metal gate up ahead.


    "We''ve got the uniforms; this is a handwritten order from the vice-chairman." Jia Feifei strode over to the guards before handing them the order.


    After Tang Wulin and Jia Feifei''s identities were verified, the metal door was slowly opened. Tang Wulin discovered that this metal door was over a meter thick.


    This was most likely the place. He held the uniforms and released his spiritual power beyond the door. Jia Feifei walked on ahead, making an extra effort to flaunt her thin waist and voluptuous backside, and all of the guards stared at her with desire in their eyes, thereby naturally ignoring Tang Wulin.


    Unbeknownst to them, after the metal door was opened, Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had quickly seeped into this metallic world to search for his parents.


    Soon, he came to sense just how perilous this place was. After one''s spiritual power reached a certain level, one became able to sense danger, which meant that the defense system here could pose a threat to him.


    There weren''t many people in here, and this level was much the same as the first floor of the Spirit Pagoda. Tang Wulin quickly felt a familiar aura within his sensory scope, and his heart immediately jolted in response.


    His heart rate began to accelerate, and his hands reflexively tightened around the uniforms he was holding.


    Following the passage of over 10 years, he was unable to completely ascertain whether that aura was the one that he was searching for, but it was very familiar to him. However, what was rather strange to him was that he felt no bloodline connection, which was why he wasn''t able to immediately verify things.


    Jia Feifei strode over to a metal door before pressing a button, and a man dressed completely in black soon emerged.


    The man wore a mask that covered his entire face with holes only for his eyes, mouth, and nose, and Tang Wulin was given a massive shock at the sight of this man. He didn''t know this person, but his aura was far too familiar to him. It was filled with evil and coldness, as if the entire world had no bearing on him.


    He had a pair of dark purple eyes that resembled balls of purple flames, and he raised a pair of hands that were completely pale and devoid of blood.


    This was an Evil Soul Master!


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had always speculated that the Spirit Pagoda could be connected to the Holy Spirit Cult, but how could Tang Wulin not be stunned to encounter an Evil Soul Master in such a secretive place in this Spirit Pagoda branch? He had stumbled upon this astonishing secret even before he had discovered the whereabouts of his parents.


    It was now beyond a doubt that the Spirit Pagoda was colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult!


    "Greetings, I''m here to bring you the uniforms you requested," Jia Feifei said in a rather timid manner.


    "Hand them over." The man in black had a coarse and raspy voice, and he accepted the uniforms from Tang Wulin before closing the metal door.


    The door slowly began to close, and it was quite clear that he had no intention of allowing Tang Wulin and Jia Feifei to come inside. Jia Feifei heaved an internal sigh of relief and immediately turned to leave, almost as if she were fleeing the scene. She was always struck by an indescribable sense of fear whenever she saw these people.


    "Argh!" Right at this moment, an agonized cry suddenly rang out from beyond the doorway.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin sprang into action, raising a hand to catch the metal door with unerring accuracy.


    The metal door was being closed mechanically, so it was moving with enormous force, but in the face of his hand, it instantly drew to a complete halt.


    The man in black was walking away, and he turned toward the door again in a confused manner. He was then greeted by the sight of the thick and heavy metal door being completely torn open.


    Tang Wulin didn''t hesitate in the slightest as he abruptly stomped his right foot onto the ground, and violent shockwaves instantly erupted forth alongside a thunderous dragon''s roar, propelling the Evil Soul Master up into the air. One golden dragon after another then rose up to catch him before crashing into his body like a series of bombs. This Evil Soul Master was at least a Soul King, but he was instantly reduced to countless scraps of flesh and blood.


    Golden light flashed behind him, and Tang Wulin immediately spread open his Golden Dragon King wings before hurtling directly toward the direction that the agonized cry had come from.


    If he couldn''t be sure whether the aura he had detected was the correct one, that agonized cry was enough to erase all of his doubts. That was clearly his father''s voice!


    Even though more than 10 years had passed since their abduction, Tang Wulin would never forget the voices of his parents.


    His father had taught him how to live his life at a very young age, and he could never forget how his father had told him that the only person in the world one could absolutely trust and rely on was oneself.


    At the time, his father had told him that only by making himself more powerful would he be attaining true power.


    His teachings had influenced Tang Wulin throughout his entire life, and these words had always stayed with him.


    His father''s cry just now had been so urgent and filled with pain and fury; how could he continue to turn a blind eye?


    Beyond the metal door was a spacious area, beyond which were a series of rooms. Tang Wulin was guided solely by sound toward a certain room, and his body plowed straight through the metal door of the room as if he were a humanoid weapon.


    His golden dragon claws protruded out of his hands, and he tore through the metal before charging into the room, upon which he was immediately greeted by a sight that set his blood boiling.


    There were seven or eight people in the room wearing the same attire as the Evil Soul Master he had just killed. Aside from them, there were also a few people on the ground, laying in a large puddle of blood. The man in black at the forefront of the group had his right arm raised, and his right hand had already transformed into what appeared to be the front leg of a giant praying mantis. It had lacerated a body and was hoisting it up into the air.


    The person that had been stabbed was none other than Tang Wulin''s missing father.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes turned completely bloodshot in an instant upon seeing this. He had already sensed that there was at least one Titled Douluo present, but he didn''t have the spare capacity to think about that right now.


    He flapped his wings with all his might, and his body shot forth like a cannonball toward the man who had stabbed his father, and he immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws with his right golden dragon claw.


    Massive golden claw projections encompassed most of the men in black present.


    He had appeared far too abruptly; from the instant that the dragon''s roar rang out to the moment that Tang Wulin burst through the door, only around a second had passed. On top of that, he had attacked without any hesitation as soon as he barged into the room, and the Evil Soul Masters were caught completely off guard.


    "Boom!" Three of the men in black were instantly torn into smithereens by the claw projections, including the one who had stabbed Tang Wulin''s father.


    Tang Wulin immediately caught his father before quickly injecting his soul power into his body to seal off all of the blood vessels around the laceration wound.


    Tang Ziran''s body was spasming violently from excruciating pain, and he suddenly fell completely still in a stunned manner as he stared at Tang Wulin.


    Who was this chubby stranger?


    A Bluesilver Emperor vine erupted from Tang Wulin''s body before winding itself around Tang Ziran, strapping him to Tang Wulin''s back. At the same time, his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his right hand before being thrust backward. Fury of the Masses!


    Countless spear projections erupted forth, each of which was shimmering with bluish-golden light, encompassing all of the remaining men in black.

 Chapter 1257: Tang Zirans Dire Condition

    The man in black who was sitting in a chair at the very rear of the group immediately stood up with a stunned and infuriated expression, and he waved his right hand through the air, upon which a green halo instantly appeared beneath Tang Wulin''s feet. Dense green toxic mist instantly surged upward, causing Tang Wulin''s movements to noticeably decelerate, and even his Fury of the Masses had been weakened to a certain extent.


    One of the men in black standing near the front of the ground released his soul rings, of which there were a total of seven, consisting of two yellows, four purples, and one black. At the same time, a pair of huge inky-black axes appeared in his hands before being swept toward Tang Wulin like lightning.


    Meanwhile, one of the other men in black had summoned a crimson longbow and shot an arrow at Tang Wulin from close range, while another man in black pulled out a soul tool that blasted a series of scattered pellets toward Tang Wulin amid a loud boom.


    The Evil Soul Masters had reacted very quickly, releasing their martial souls to retaliate as soon as Tang Wulin unleashed his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws.


    The red arrow hurtling toward Tang Wulin was instantly destroyed, but it continued to permeate toward him as a cloud of red toxic mist. Meanwhile, the ax-wielding Evil Soul Master clashed directly with Tang Wulin''s Fury of the Masses, and a string of collisions ensued. The heavy-looking axes were no match for Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear and were swept aside with ease while the spear plunged into his chest.


    Even though they were both Soul Sages, there was clearly no Soul Sage who could be a match for Tang Wulin.


    In response to the scattered pellets unleashed by the soul tool, Tang Wulin thrust his left hand forward, and a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines intertwined with one another to form a shield that kept the attack at bay. At the same time, a massive tulip bloomed behind him. In the face of the aura being released by the giant purple flower, all of the red mist in the air and the green mist rising up from the ground instantly melted away into nothingness.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was the monarch of all immortal plants, and the bane of all poison!


    "Roar!" A thunderous roar of fury rang out, and a giant golden dragon head appeared in front of Tang Wulin. The remaining three Evil Soul Masters shuddered in response to his roar, and the one who had been seated before displayed the least reaction, but his two companions had completely stiffened on the spot.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward before sweeping his Golden Dragon Spear horizontally through the air, and a halo proliferated outward. At the same time, Bluesilver Emperor vines shot forth toward the three men in black as countless spears. The surface of every single Bluesilver Emperor vines was covered by a layer of fine thin scales, and they were hurtling through the air with peerless might.


    This was his blood soul fusion skill, Blue Emperor Dragon Impaling Array!


    The two Evil Soul Masters around him were only Soul Emperors, and they were instantly punched full of holes and killed on the spot. Meanwhile, the Evil Soul Master directly up ahead waved his right hand through the air, and a dark green toxic spring suddenly erupted from the ground to dispel the Blue Emperor Dragon Impaling Array.


    He was the leader of all of these Evil Soul Masters, and he was a rank 91 Titled Douluo. His martial soul was the Poison Spring.


    However, for some reason, in the face of this enemy who clearly possessed a far inferior cultivation rank, he felt as if he were being overwhelmed.


    Right at this moment, he suddenly sensed that everything around him seemed to have slowed down, and the opponent before him had become slightly blurry and indistinct.


    For some reason, the poison spring that had gushed forth suddenly began to withdraw and it was also in this instant that a speck of golden light abruptly reached him.


    The Evil Soul Master''s pupils contracted violently, and he was barely able to believe his own eyes. In the next instant, all of his energy was abruptly deprived from him by a burst of enormous invisible force before flowing into the spear that had run through his chest.


    Tang Wulin had reverted back to his original appearance, and his entire body was covered in golden scales, giving him the appearance of a celestial deity that had descended into the mortal world.


    It had only taken him less than 20 seconds to kill all of these Evil Soul Masters, including that Titled Douluo.


    Ever since his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Domain realm, his aura in battle had become overwhelmingly powerful, and this also seemed to partially be the result of the Golden Dragon King bloodline''s influence.


    With his current level of power, it still wasn''t that easy for him to take down a Titled Douluo, especially when neither of them had donned their suits of battle armor. After all, he was still only a Soul Sage.


    However, perhaps it was due to the massive psychological shock that he had received or how extensively he had pondered Millennium White Clouds on the journey here, but in that instant, he was abruptly struck by a sense of enlightenment. His spiritual power took on a substantial form and warped time to a certain extent, thereby stalling the Titled Douluo for a split second, which was all the time that his Golden Dragon Spear needed to pierce through his body.


    That''s right, his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power had been elevated once again, and he had attained a spiritual domain!


    Never did he think that he would take this all-important step at a time like this. In reality, he had already been extremely close to making this breakthrough, but if he had a choice, he would rather never attain a spiritual domain than witness what he had just seen.


    His father''s aura had clearly already become extremely feeble, and he didn''t even dare to take him away from here.


    After taking care of all of the enemies, Tang Wulin quickly helped his father down from his back while wiping away the disguise from his face, and tears were already flowing uncontrollably from his eyes.


    "Father, it''s me, Wulin!" He poured his soul power incessantly into his father''s body to maintain his vitality.


    Tang Ziran forced his own eyes open with great difficulty. At this point, all of the color had left his face, and Tang Wulin could sense that his life force was close to non-existent. There wasn''t even much blood flowing in his veins.


    The Evil Soul Master that had just stabbed him had a Vampire Praying Mantis martial soul, so not only did he stab through Tang Ziran''s heart, he had also sucked away most of Tang Ziran''s blood. If Tang Wulin had arrived on the scene any later than he did, Tang Ziran would already be dead.


    Only through Tang Wulin''s sustained injection of soul power could he just barely cling onto life.


    Tang Ziran raised his hand feebly to point toward a certain direction, and a gratified smile appeared on his face.


    He was no longer capable of speech, but he was truly very happy. He didn''t think that he would get a chance to see his son before he passed away. Following the passage of over 10 years, he had grown up from a little boy into a handsome and heroic adult.


    This was his son!


    Tang Ziran''s heart was filled with elation as he witnessed Tang Wulin killing those bastards who had constantly terrorized him and his wife for the past decade. Even though his feebleness was being exacerbated by the second, his heart was filled with happiness.


    He had imagined killing all of these Evil Soul Masters and destroying everything here on countless occasions, and never did he think that his son would accomplish all of this in his stead. What could make him happier than this?


    Tang Wulin turned toward the direction that Tang Ziran was pointing in, and he was greeted by the sight of a metal wall. He hurriedly picked up his father in his arms before rushing toward the wall and tearing it down.


    Cries of alarm rang out from the neighboring room, and there were four women in there, all of whom were wearing identical work uniforms. One of those women was none other than his mother.


    Lang let loose a cry of grief at the sight of Tang Ziran before quickly rushing toward him. She had failed to recognize her own son, but she could see that her husband was on the brink of death!


    "Mother!" Tang Wulin cried out with intense sorrow in his voice.


    Lang had aged. She clearly had more white hairs than in the past, and more wrinkles had also appeared on her face. Her eyes were swollen and soulless, and her body shuddered violently upon hearing Tang Wulin''s voice as she turned toward him in an incredulous manner.


    Tang Wulin had changed far too much during the years they had been apart. He had grown from a boy into a man, but the shape of his facial features was still familiar to her, and those large clear eyes proved to her beyond a doubt that this was indeed her son.


    Tears immediately gushed out of Lang''s eyes, following which a horrified look appeared on her face. "Get out of here! Those bastards will kill you!"


    "We''re getting out of here together!" His final hope lay in the Holy Spirit Douluo. Only she would be capable of bringing her father back from the brink of death.


    Bright golden light erupted from Tang Wulin''s eyes, and six figures separated themselves from his body. They were none other than the six plant-system Great Beasts.

 Chapter 1258: Peerless Killing Intent

    They were Tang Wulin''s most important trump cards, and he hadn''t even revealed them when he was being abducted by Na Nali. However, in order to rescue his parents, he had summoned these Great Beasts to aid him.


    A golden visor appeared over his face, and he handed his father over to the Beautiful Silk Tulip. Meanwhile, the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower and the other Great Beasts carried Lang and the three other panicked women with her out of the room.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were filled with unbridled fury, and his palpable killing intent was emanating from his body. He held onto his Golden Dragon Spear and strode out of the room. He had a spiritual connection with the Beautiful Silk Tulip, so he could constantly monitor Tang Ziran''s condition while the Beautiful Silk Tulip used its energy as an immortal plant to nourish his body.


    Tang Wulin charged out of the room, and at this point, blaring sirens had already rung out across the entire level.


    As soon as Tang Wulin emerged, he was greeted by a series of soul lasers, and it was at this moment that he displayed his prowess on the battlefield.


    He activated his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body and stomped his right foot onto the ground without taking any evasive measures. A series of golden dragon''s rose up before revolving around him, keeping all of the oncoming attacks at bay.


    Meanwhile, Bluesilver Emperor vines intertwined to form a protective barrier that shielded everyone behind him. At the same time, countless spear projections erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear, and all of the weapons that had appeared from the ceiling and the walls were destroyed.


    In the distance, one guard after another appeared, and all of them began to attack Tang Wulin from afar with their soul weapons. Tang Wulin''s third golden soul ring lit up, and a Golden Dragon Roar erupted alongside his dragon''s might. Amid the thunderous roar of fury, large swathes of Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters were felled like wheat in a harvest.


    After attaining a spiritual domain, Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had improved even further, and there was no way that these low and mid-grade Soul Masters would be able to withstand his Golden Dragon Roar.


    After all, this was only the Dou Spirit Empire and not the Douluo Federation. They charged headfirst into the elevator, and at this point, it had already been disabled, thereby making it inaccessible.


    Tang Wulin put away his Golden Dragon Spear before tearing through the wall with his golden dragon claws, forcibly plowing open a passageway through the earth.


    Yellow light emanated from his Mountain Dragon King torso bone, and the earth parted for him as they rapidly ascended in a diagonally upward direction.


    His heart was burning up with urgency, and he had no time for subtlety. Nothing was more important now than his father''s life. The sooner they could reach the Holy Spirit Douluo, the greater the chances of his father''s survival.


    The entire Spirit Pagoda had already been plunged into complete turmoil. The elevators had been disabled to prevent enemies from rising up from underground, but when the higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda piled into the elevator to descend to the underground levels, they discovered that it had already been destroyed.


    Prior to tearing through the earth, Tang Wulin had destroyed the elevator''s soul-power-operated system with his golden dragon claws. If he couldn''t go up, then they wouldn''t be able to come down, either.


    "Brother Luo, once we get out of here, take my parents to find the Holy Spirit Douluo. I''ll take care of everything here." After tearing through the metal walls, the earth was no longer able to pose any hindrance to his spiritual detection. Earth elements were also a part of his world, and with Tang Wulin''s affinity with this entire plane, it was naturally a simple task for him to transmit his spiritual power through these earth elements.


    He didn''t even dare to turn around to look at his father right now as doing so could make him completely lose control. He was constantly telling himself to be calm, and the best course of action he could take now was to hold back everyone from the Spirit Pagoda while the plant-system Great Beasts took his parents away.


    "But Wulin, you''ll be on your own... Alright." The Beautiful Silk Tulip accepted this arrangement in the end, following which a set of golden dragons emerged from the ground amid a violent thump.


    Tang Wulin used his soul power to part the earth, and the six plant-system Great Beasts immediately rushed out before rapidly traveling toward the direction that Tang Wulin had pointed out for them using his spiritual power.


    As for Tang Wulin himself, he had no intention of leaving this place. His friends had already received notification from him that he was going to destroy this place.


    He had initially still harbored a shred of hope toward the Spirit Pagoda. After all, this was an organization founded by the legendary Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao! The last time the Holy Spirit Cult threatened to lay waste to the continent, the Spirit Ice Douluo had spearheaded the effort to bring them down. Never did he think that the Spirit Pagoda would actually collude with the Holy Spirit Cult, and on top of that, it was yet to be seen whether his father would survive this ordeal.


    He had never been so furious in his entire life, and on top of that, he was absolutely convinced that the Spirit Pagoda had to be almost directly responsible for the Shrek Academy bombing.


    The entire Spirit Pagoda was in a state of turmoil, and all of the detection devices had been activated, so they naturally immediately detected Tang Wulin, who had just emerged from underground.


    To the higher-ups of this Spirit Pagoda branch, the sirens blaring from underground were like alarming thunderclaps. It wouldn''t be too severe an issue if their research were to be leaked, but the most important thing was that they had Evil Soul Masters from the Holy Spirit Cult down there! If those Evil Soul Masters were to be exposed, the Spirit Pagoda would be severely impacted.


    Several figures descended from the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda like massive birds, and blaring sirens had rung out across almost the entire city.


    Hordes of Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters were pouring out of the building, and several dozens of mechas had flown out of designated mecha openings on the building before descending onto the ground. The Spirit Pagoda branch was like a porcupine that was brandishing all of its spikes in a menacing display.


    It was also right at this moment that a series of figures rushed toward Tang Wulin from behind. These were the other six members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, as well as A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    They had been waiting here all along, and they weren''t accompanied by any of the people from the Tang Sect''s Dou Spirit Empire branches. In order to not affect the overall plan, Tang Wulin had requested Li Yun to keep the members of the Tang Sect from directly participating in this matter as this was a personal affair.


    "What''s the situation, Boss?" Xie Xie arrived by Tang Wulin''s side first, and he was stunned by Tang Wulin''s current appearance.


    He had never seen Tang Wulin in such a furious state, and what was even more terrifying was the violent aura emanating from his body.


    Tang Wulin replied in a heavy voice, "I found my parents, but Father is on the brink of death. There were Holy Spirit Cult members in there. The Spirit Pagoda really is colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult!"


    Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.


    All of a sudden, A''Ruheng''s body expanded drastically, and a peerlessly powerful aura erupted forth as he roared, "F*ck them up!"


    Sima Jinchi didn''t say anything, but he had already arrived by Tang Wulin''s side, and the massive Dragonslaying Saber appeared in his grasp as his aura also swelled at an alarming rate.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters also fanned out with Tang Wulin at the forefront and Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui on either side of him. Xie Xie vanished into thin air, Xu Xiaoyan stood behind him with Xu Lizhi by her side, and Yue Zhengyu brought up the rear. The seven of them maintained a near triangular formation, and at this point, the figures descending from above had already arrived. The first to land on the ground was none other than the branch chairman of the Spirit Pagoda.


    "Who dares to attack the Spirit Pagoda?"


    The branch chairman was quite surprised to see Tang Wulin and the others, not because of the terrifying aura erupting from A''Ruheng''s body, but instead, due to the fact that they hadn''t fled the scene. This was a clear indication that they were confident in their own ability to contend with the entire Spirit Pagoda branch.


    Tang Wulin didn''t say anything as words couldn''t express the fury in his heart. His golden visor had concealed his face, but his bloodshot eyes were still visible.


    He abruptly stepped forward and stomped his right foot heavily onto the ground. A dragon''s roar akin to a rumbling thunderclap immediately rang out, and was audible within a radius of several kilometers. A massive halo that was over 100 meters in diameter rose up from the ground to encompass everyone within it. The halo was comprised of countless intertwined golden dragons, and it was none other than his Violent Golden Dragon Domain.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s body began to swell in size as pieces of battle armor emerged. This wasn''t a complete set of battle armor, but he already had a helmet, visor, pauldrons, cuirass, and gauntlets.


    The metal used to construct these pieces of battle armor were like golden crystals inscribed with dragon scale patterns, creating a sight of streamlined beauty. On his shoulders, he had a pair of thick and heavy pauldrons that resembled the shape of dragon claws, and his pair of Golden Dragon King wings abruptly spread open on his back. What was even more terrifying was that in that instant, Tang Wulin''s aura swelled to several times its original intensity. It was as if his blood had been set alight, and golden flames had ignited over his body.

 Chapter 1259: Dragon King Onslaught

    "Roar!" A thunderous dragon''s roar abruptly rang out, and Tang Wulin''s body swelled once again to seven meters tall. The scales brought to him by his Golden Dragon Body were far thicker and heavier than before, and layers of them stacked on top of one another. An extremely fearsome aura erupted from his body, and his Golden Dragon Spear expanded along with his body. A layer of dragon scales had also appeared over the surface of the spear as if it had been influenced by Tang Wulin''s power.


    A burst of piercing golden light suddenly erupted from Tang Wulin''s body, and it extended forward to form a long golden path that instantly struck the branch chairman. At the same time, Tang Wulin''s aura also swelled to its peak.


    At this moment, his heart was filled solely with violence and slaughter. The yearning he had felt for his parents for so many years had already been transformed into the purest hatred. It was as if his Golden Dragon King bloodline had truly been set alight, and he was completely plunged into a state of mindless violence.


    The effect of the Violent Golden Dragon Domain seemed to have become several dozenfold more potent, and this wasn''t all that prominent to everyone else, but Tang Wulin was benefitting immensely from it.


    "Boom!" The branch chairman''s entire body was instantly illuminated into a golden color, but at the same time, he unleashed a layer of white light that abruptly exploded as a light barrier. The explosive force generated as a result propelled him into the distance, thereby allowing him to evade the direct trajectory of Tang Wulin''s Path of Regal Domination.


    However, just because he was able to evade it didn''t mean everyone else could as well. Around a dozen Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters had arrived on the scene, and they immediately suffered a gruesome fate.


    Tang Wulin''s Path of Regal Domination seemed to be releasing a burst of invisible suction force that drew in all of the Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters within a range of several dozens of meters. These Soul Masters were then all reduced to golden statues before exploding into nothingness.


    A''Ruheng had always thought that his own battle methods were already quite violent, but what Tang Wulin was currently putting on display could no longer just be referred to as violent; it was borderline deranged!


    Even his closest friends were only seeing this side of him for the very first time, and they were slightly rooted to the spot, which prevented them from working together with him from the get-go. In any case, the current Tang Wulin didn''t seem to require any assistance anyway.


    The golden path continued to linger in the air, and Tang Wulin''s massive body sprang up before crashing into a purple mecha.


    The mecha was instantly stained golden in color before it was torn apart and thrown aside like a rag doll by Tang Wulin''s left golden dragon claw.


    Yue Zhengyu gulped in awe at the sight of Tang Wulin''s rampage. "Is this what Boss fights like when he''s serious?"


    "Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub!" A powerful heartbeat rang out from A''Ruheng''s body, and he thumped himself vigorously on the chest while the sound of the heartbeat struck all of the oncoming Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters with a sense of disorientation. The two Titled Douluos were stopped in their tracks by him, and he immediately attacked them with his massive fists.


    A dazzling saber projection flashed up above like a bolt of lightning, and a Titled Douluo who attempted to attack Tang Wulin from the side was instantly sent flying.


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng were both still only Titled Douluos, but they already possessed Hyper Douluo level combat prowess. The Spirit Pagoda had a total of seven Titled Douluos on the scene, but the only Hyper Douluo among their ranks was the branch chairman, and over half of them had been stopped in their tracks by Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng.


    Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan had also released their suits of battle armor. Domain halos appeared beneath their feet, reflecting the complete suits of three-word battle armor that they were wearing.


    Yuanen Yehui''s suit of three-word battle armor was yellowish-brown in color, and had a very heavy and sturdy appearance. She was wielding a pair of giant hammers, and these weapons were truly gigantic!


    Even in her Titan Giant Ape form, the hammers were disproportionately massive, and they appeared to be of a similar size to the mecha war hammers that Tang Wulin had once obtained, except the metals used and the method through which they were crafted were completely different.


    Tang Wulin had expended a lot of effort on Yuanen Yehui''s hammers, and just sourcing a sufficient amount of metal for them had been quite a tall order. If it weren''t for the support in resources offered to them by the Tang Sect, there was no way that he could''ve completed the hammers, and they weren''t actually a part of the designs for Yuanen Yehui''s suit of three-word battle armor to begin with.


    The two hammers were eight meters in length each, and their diameters were three and a half meters. They had been constructed from a type of siderite, and their most prominent trait lay in their weight. This type of siderite wasn''t particularly precious, but a vast amount of it had been used to construct the pair of hammers. The two hammers contained a total of seven tons of this material, and the main function of their internal core circuits was to nullify the detrimental effect their enormous weight had on Yuanen Yehui''s control over them. Due to the sheer size of the hammers, she could only use them in her Titan Giant Ape form. The core circuits of the hammers also significantly bolstered how resolute they were, and according to the calculations of the Tang Sect''s mecha makers, these two giant hammers possessed sufficient defensive prowess to allow them to survive direct attacks from all soul missiles at or below the seventh grade.


    The hammers only had a single offensive special effect: obliteration! All physical matter struck by the hammers would have to endure the explosive might of this special effect, and that made the hammers truly fearsome weapons of destruction. They weren''t divine weapons, but on a battlefield, particularly one that included mechas, they were even more effective than the average divine weapon.


    The main weapons crafted by the Tang Sect''s mecha makers for Yuanen Yehui''s black mecha was also a pair of giant hammers.


    At this moment, she was swinging her hammers toward a Titled Douluo while hurtling toward him with unstoppable force, and the Titled Douluo was struck by a sense of asphyxiation, as if the surrounding air were about to be shattered. As a result, he hurriedly flew backward in a panicked retreat, not daring to face her attacks head-on.


    Ye Xinglan''s suit of battle armor was of a bright silver color, and there seemed to be countless stars shimmering within the dazzling crystalline metal. Her Stargod Sword glowed the brightest of all, and specks of starlight erupted around her before surging toward her opponent''s saber martial soul.


    This Titled Douluo was only a two-word battle armor master, and the disparity between their suits of battle armor compensated for the gap in their cultivation ranks. However, Ye Xinglan''s understanding of the way of the sword was far superior to before. It was as if she had transformed into starlight that had surrounded her opponent, rendering him completely unable to escape.


    "Don''t judge a bun by its folds!" Xu Lizhi''s seventh soul ring suddenly lit up, and he transformed into a massive steamer before rapidly rotating on the spot, sending one purplish-black Destructive Explosive Bun after another flying toward the surrounding enemies with unerring accuracy. It was also at this moment that dazzling starlight erupted, and streaks of starlight appeared in the perfect places to cut off the Spirit Pagoda''s oncoming reinforcements.


    Several kilometers away, Li Yun was standing on the top floor of the tallest building in Spirit Wave City, spectating this battle from afar.


    He was a veteran member of the Tang Sect, so he had naturally cultivated the Purple Demon Eyes, and he had already mastered the third stage. Hence, despite the fact that he was so far away, the battle was virtually unfolding right before his eyes as far as he was concerned.


    His eyelids twitched involuntarily at the sight of the Spirit Pagoda branch chairman detonating his own power to propel himself away from Tang Wulin.


    As expected, he really was no ordinary Soul Sage! What kind of aura was this?


    Even from several kilometers away, he could sense the terrifying aggression, and the dazzling golden light was almost too scintillating to behold. Even this old rival of his had been frightened into retreat.


    The Spirit Pagoda''s branch chairman was the Air Douluo, Hua Tao. He and Li Yun had been rivals for many years, and even though Li Yun had constantly managed to maintain an upper hand throughout their rivalry, the advantage he held was far from a decisive one.

 Chapter 1260: The Violent Tang Wulin

    Hua Tao possessed rank 96 soul power, which was only slightly inferior to that of Li Yun. Furthermore, he possessed an extremely rare martial soul in the form of air control, which allowed him to battle through air manipulation. Not only did he possess extremely powerful combat prowess, he was also an assault and control system Soul Master. His control over air had been honed to near perfection, and his signature attacks included the likes of Air Cannon and Air Bind.


    What he had just used was another one of his soul skills, Air Repulse, except he had used it on himself, rather than his opponent as he normally would. He was blasting himself back in order to forcibly evade Tang Wulin''s attack, and Li Yun was extremely astonished to see this, precisely because he was aware of just how powerful Hua Tao was.


    This young Tang Sect Master truly was something else! However, their original plan didn''t involve directly combating the Spirit Pagoda; could it be that he was planning to destroy this Spirit Pagoda branch?


    Regardless of how much the Dou Spirit Empire disliked them, this was still the Spirit Pagoda! They needed the Spirit Pagoda to provide the Soul Masters of their empire with sufficient soul spirits to support their cultivation.


    If the Spirit Pagoda were to be destroyed, then the ramifications were certainly going to be far from minor!


    He didn''t know what had caused Tang Wulin to go berserk like this, but he was powerless to do anything in this situation. All he could do was look on as everything unfolded before his eyes, and do his best to minimize the role that the Tang Sect played in this incident. At the very least, he couldn''t allow any members of the Tang Sect to appear on the scene. It seemed that Tang Wulin and his friends were doing quite well on their own anyway, so that wouldn''t be an issue.


    In reality, this battle was a very satisfying one for Li Yun to behold. He had held a grudge against the Spirit Pagoda for a long time, and his discontent toward them had reached a boiling point following the bombing of the Tang Sect headquarters.


    Now that Tang Wulin and his friends were laying waste to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, he was struck by a sense of vindictive satisfaction.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly became even more fearsome. His body expanded even further, and a massive golden dragon tail appeared behind him. The enormous tail swept horizontally through the air, sending a pair of mechas flying with devastating force.


    A pair of dragon horns then sprouted out of his head as he let loose a painful roar. This didn''t seem to be his martial soul true body. Instead, it was as if his body were truly morphing into that of a dragon.


    Following the emergence of the dragon horns, Tang Wulin''s aura became extremely unstable and violent to the extreme. His eyes were completely of a bright red color, and there seemed to be boundless violent intent struggling to erupt out of his body.


    He turned toward Air Douluo Hua Tao, who was rushing toward Tang Wulin from afar, and he pointed his Golden Dragon Spear at Hua Tao before hurtling directly toward him.


    Hua Tao was currently feeling extremely enraged and frustrated. Never in the history of this branch of the Spirit Pagoda had they ever been dealt such a heavy blow, and what was even more infuriating to him was that he had no idea where this group of powerful beings had come from. Judging from their powers and abilities, he could tell that he had never encountered any of them before, so why were they suddenly attacking the Spirit Pagoda? Could it be that they were targeting members of the Holy Spirit Cult?


    If the Holy Spirit Cult members in the secret underground research facility had been exposed, then the Spirit Pagoda was going to be in a lot of trouble.


    Hence, right after he struggled free from Tang Wulin''s Path of Regal Domination, the first thing that he considered was how to minimize losses for the Spirit Pagoda in the aftermath of this incident. This was the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, so he wasn''t concerned for his own safety. The sirens had already been activated, and the Spirit Pagoda branches in the nearby few cities would already have been notified of this situation. In less than an hour, over 200 mechas would be deployed to the scene, and no matter how powerful these people were, they would eventually be worn down and killed.


    However, he was feeling rather fearful of the golden-scaled leader of this group. His aura was simply far too powerful, and the extraordinarily devastating blood essence fluctuations emanating from his body didn''t even seem to belong to a human. As such, he was completely unable to ascertain Tang Wulin''s exact cultivation rank.


    In the face of the oncoming Tang Wulin, Hua Tao circled his arms in front of himself, and one of his soul rings lit up, causing the surrounding air to become extremely viscous, creating an invisible cage around Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin felt as if all of the air around him were compressing toward his body in an attempt to limit his movements. He felt as if he were being rejected by heaven and earth, and ejected out of this world.


    In the face of such an attack from Hua Tao, it would be quite normal for a weaker Soul Master to have their body completely crushed. However, this naturally wasn''t applicable to Tang Wulin.


    As his violent aura continued to proliferate from his body, his Golden Dragon Spear suddenly turned transparent, and countless streaks of golden light erupted from the spear, tearing through the surrounding air, then surged directly toward Hua Tao.


    Hua Tao swung his arms to the side, and a burst of enormous force wound itself around Tang Wulin before attempting to send him flying, but brownish-yellow light suddenly flashed from his body, and his Mountain Dragon King torso bone abruptly increased gravity by tenfold, thereby forcibly holding him in place. He then flapped his wings violently, and fearsome dragon''s might erupted forth in a frenzy.


    "Roar!"


    This was the most powerful Golden Dragon Roar that Tang Wulin had unleashed, and it was filled with savagery and violence. Not only were all of the Soul Masters present with dragon-type martial souls heavily affected, all those who possessed beast martial souls were struck by the urge to fall to the ground and bow their heads in subordination.


    ......


    Meanwhile, a large ship had just docked on a distant coast of the Dou Spirit Empire, and a silver-haired woman on the ship seemed to have sensed something. She abruptly raised her head with a stunned look in her eyes, and in the next instant, silver light appeared over her entire body, following which she vanished into thin air.


    ......


    Hua Tao felt as if his aura were being completely dominated. He felt like he was facing a primordial beast rather than a human, and even as a Hyper Douluo, his powers had been severely handicapped in the face of this devastating aura. He didn''t dare to face this attack head-on, and he detonated the air again, blasting him back over 100 meters in a flash.


    Right at this moment, a golden streak of light passed right through where he had been standing just a moment ago, tearing through space and leaving a black gash in the air.


    As opposed to setting off in pursuit of Hua Tao, Tang Wulin suddenly shot forth directly toward the Spirit Pagoda like a golden cannonball. At this moment, he resembled a golden shooting star, and at the same time, a massive Tyrant Dragon appeared out of thin air.


    The Tyrant Dragon''s body was covered in dark golden scales, and its height had already exceeded 75 meters. The relatively tiny dragon wings on its back had become a lot larger than before, and what was even more terrifying was that its head had also enlarged dramatically. It opened its cavernous mouth and blasted a jet of golden flames directly toward the Spirit Pagoda building.


    My god! Is he trying to destroy the Spirit Pagoda?


    A hint of astonishment appeared on Hua Tao''s face, and he immediately charged toward Tang Wulin like lightning, putting the Spirit Pagoda above his own safety.


    However, it was already too late. Tang Wulin crashed viciously into the side of the Spirit Pagoda building, and countless pieces of rubble flew in all directions amid a resounding boom.


    A gargantuan crater with a diameter of over 10 meters was blown into the side of the Spirit Pagoda building, and Tang Wulin raised his right hand to unleash his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    A giant golden dragon surged directly into the Spirit Pagoda through the crater that had just been created, and a string of explosive booms quickly rang out.


    At the same time, an enormous wave of air swept up Tang Wulin''s body and sent him flying. At this point, Hua Tao was at the height of his rage. He no longer cared about where these people had come from; all he wanted was to destroy them!


    Ever since the Spirit Pagoda had been founded, no one had ever dared to attack one of its branches in such a blatant and brazen manner!


    Hua Tao''s body quickly turned transparent as he became a part of the air. This was his martial soul true body, Air!


    At the same time, he donned his suit of three-word battle armor, which was also transparent.


    The surrounding air suddenly became dense and heavy, and there seemed to be countless clouds swirling within it. Not only did this dense air encompass Tang Wulin, it had settled over the entire battlefield.


    Immediately thereafter, he released his three-word battle armor domain, Air Domain. This domain was different from the vast majority of three-word battle armor domains as it was a massive domain field. It wasn''t all that powerful, but it encompassed a massive area that was thrice as large as that of the average three-word battle armor domain.

 Chapter 1261: Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre

    Within this area, all of the air would become a part of his body, and he would be virtually unkillable. On top of that, he would be able to maximize the effectiveness of his control abilities.


    However, at the same time as he unleashed his domain, Tang Wulin had already turned toward him, and a massive golden dragon projection appeared behind Tang Wulin''s body.


    This was an enormous and ferocious golden dragon that was far clearer than the golden dragon projections Tang Wulin had conjured up in the past. Its eyes were filled with deranged ferocity, and the air around Tang Wulin was abruptly ignited; there even seemed to be flames erupting out of his eyes.


    On top of that, Tang Wulin''s original five golden soul rings had suddenly increased to six, and in contrast with the five previous golden soul rings, this one was tinged with a crimson color.


    What was even more terrifying was that Tang Wulin''s scales and other five soul rings had all been illuminated into the same crimson-golden color by that six soul ring.


    As soon as Hua Tao''s binding domain attempted to approach his body, it would be incinerated into nothingness.


    In the next instant, another thunderous dragon''s roar rang out, and all of the beast Soul Master, who were already quite feeble, were all flattened onto the ground.


    Even several of the mechas in the air had plummeted out of the sky, and Tang Wulin released a halo of crimson-golden light that encompassed everyone on the battlefield, regardless of whether they were friend or foe.


    A crimson-golden world had been created around him, and everyone within this world was also struck by bloodlust and a desire for slaughter.


    The same inexplicable expression appeared in everyone''s hearts.


    "Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre!"


    The golden dragon behind Tang Wulin had become completely crimson in color at this point, and even in his Air form, Hua Tao felt a burst of astonishing killing intent spear directly into his mind. As a Hyper Douluo, he possessed quite a high level of spiritual power, but he was still quite far away from the Spirit Domain realm. In the next instant, he felt as if his entire mind had turned crimson, and the surrounding air no longer heeded his command.


    The giant crimson dragon had filled the entirety of everyone''s field of view, and it didn''t seem to have the ability to discriminate between friend and foe. Thankfully, it''s true target was Hua Tao.


    A burst of crimson flames erupted into the air, and Hua Tao didn''t even get a chance to cry out before he was incinerated into nothingness. Immediately thereafter, a vast expanse of darkness appeared within the crimson flames, and it was as if hell had truly descended upon this world.


    The one who was affected the most by this was Yuanen Yehui. In the face of the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre, her Titan Giant Ape faded on its own, and she transformed into her Fallen Angel form.


    She was looking at the crimson dragon in the distance with a fanatic look in her eyes, and at this point, Tang Wulin had already completely disappeared.


    The giant crimson dragon was the only thing that stood in his place, and it whipped its powerful tail violently through the air, sending it crashing viciously into the Spirit Pagoda building.


    Black and crimson patterns spread forth, and the midsection of the Spirit Pagoda suddenly seemed to have become extremely soft. All of the construction materials in that section of the building quickly melted away, and the top half of the Spirit Pagoda slowly began to teeter off to the side.


    Everyone had been completely rooted to the spot, even the rest of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, as well as Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng.


    Prior to this day, none of them had imagined that Tang Wulin would possess the power to kill a Hyper Douluo on his own, and even destroy an entire Spirit Pagoda branch!


    Was he really only a seven-ring Soul Sage?


    In the distance, Li Yun was also looking on in a completely flabbergasted manner. Cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead. He knew that he was slightly more powerful than Hua Tao, but due to the special nature of Hua Tao''s martial soul, he wouldn''t actually be able to do anything to Hua Tao in battle.


    However, in the face of the crimson dragon that was Tang Wulin, Hua Tao seemed to be so powerless and vulnerable. It was incredible that a Hyper Douluo and a branch chairman of the Spirit Pagoda had fallen just like that, but the truth was right before his eyes, so he had no choice but to believe it.


    The crimson dragon raised its head and let loose another thunderous dragon''s roar, sending a burst of crimson light sweeping toward the Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters down below. All of the Soul Masters who came into contact with this light were quickly reduced to puddles of blood.


    All of Tang Wulin''s companions were at a complete loss for what to do. Prior to this day, Tang Wulin had never killed anyone aside from Evil Soul Masters, and the violent emotions he was displaying finally alerted everyone to the fact that something was wrong. Had he lost control over his own emotions?


    It was undoubtedly the case that the near-death condition his father was in had dealt Tang Wulin a massive blow, but even as his closest friends, none of them knew what kind of state Tang Wulin was currently in.


    "We can''t let him keep killing like this! The more he kills, the more his emotions will run rampant. Sima, let''s work together to stop him. Xiaoyan, use your control abilities to restrict him."


    "Alright!"


    Everyone immediately sprang into action, with A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi charging directly toward Tang Wulin, while Xu Xiaoyan raised her staff to release streaks of shimmering starlight toward Tang Wulin in an attempt to control him.


    However, her starlight abilities, which had been completely infallible up to this point, didn''t affect Tang Wulin at all! He continued on his rampage without any pause or respite, and right at this moment, A''Ruheng''s body expanded drastically as he rushed forward and wound his arms around the crimson dragon.


    However, the power emanating from the crimson dragon''s body was simply far too enormous, and the crimson flames burning over its body made A''Ruheng feel as if even his soul had been set alight. As such, he was only able to hold on for a moment before he was forced to let go with an agonized cry.


    Sima Jinchi and the others hadn''t even reached Tang Wulin yet, but they could still feel the devastating aura of the crimson dragon crashing down toward them.


    At this point, the remaining few Titled Douluos of the Spirit Pagoda had already fled the scene. Even the Air Douluo was no match for this deranged dragon; they naturally had no chance, either.


    "What do we do? We have to request assistance from the Tang Sect. Perhaps the Holy Spirit Douluo can control him," Yue Zhengyu said in an urgent voice.


    None of them dared to approach Tang Wulin, but they could all sense the overwhelming grief emanating from his body.


    Having known Tang Wulin for so long, all of them were naturally aware of the situation regarding Tang Wulin''s family. His parents had disappeared when he had only been a small child, and now that he had finally been reunited with them, his father had been pushed to the brink of death. All of the emotions he had repressed for well over a decade had erupted forth at once, and it seemed to have triggered some kind of transformation.


    Everyone had always known that Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline was extremely powerful, but they didn''t think that he would become this fearsome after undergoing an emotion-fuelled transformation. In the face of the ferocious attacks from the crimson dragon, all of the weaker Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters were killed in less than a minute. After that, the crimson dragon began to attack the Spirit Pagoda building itself, and it was being ravaged like a rag doll. Such a grand and majestic building was quickly being reduced to rubble. Sirens had already rung out across the entire city, and the officials of Spirit Wave City had naturally taken notice of what was going on.


    Through some of the advanced surveillance devices in the air, they were able to monitor the situation from afar.


    That crimson dragon was far too formidable; even Hua Tao had fallen to it in an instant. There was a Dou Spirit Empire mecha squadron comprised of 100 mechas stationed near the city, but most of them were yellow mechas; they certainly didn''t dare to approach such a fearsome being!

 Chapter 1262: Silver Dragon Bind, Blood Dragon Reawakening

    Life was precious, and no one wanted to toss it away for no reason. The situation unfolding in Spirit Wave City had already been reported to the royal family of the Dou Spirit Empire, and everyone was awaiting further instructions from them. At this point in time, no one could do anything about this crimson dragon, and Shrek''s Seven Monsters were all feeling extremely flustered and concerned.


    All of a sudden, a rift opened up in the air above the crimson dragon, following which a silver figure emerged. The figure had a head of long silver hair that spilled all the way down her back, and a pair of purple eyes that were filled with urgency.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi''s expressions both changed slightly upon seeing this. Could this be a powerful being from the Dou Spirit Empire or Spirit Pagoda?


    They were just about to rush forward to face her, when Xu Xiaoyan suddenly exclaimed, "Na''er? Is that Na''er?"


    "Who''s Na''er?" A''Ruheng asked.


    "Wulin''s sister."


    Just as they were speaking, Gu Yuena had already descended from the sky and spread open her arms. Water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, space; seven types of elements erupted from her body, and it was as if she were the adored child of heaven and earth. Silver scales appeared all over her skin, and her body rapidly expanded in size, transforming into a giant silver dragon in the span of just a few breaths.


    The first part of the silver dragon to descend was its tail. It hooked its tail around the crimson dragon''s tail, then grabbed onto the crimson dragon''s back with its claws. Its tail then continued onward, winding itself tightly around the crimson dragon''s body. At the same time, the silver dragon spread its wings before wrapping them around the crimson dragon''s wings.


    The crimson dragon struggled violently, and the crimson flames burning over its body quickly charred many of the silver dragon''s scales black, but the silver dragon was extremely determined and refused to release the crimson dragon no matter what. At the same time, a layer of silver light emanated from its body to envelop both itself and the crimson dragon.


    The air above them began to take on a rainbow color, and within this rainbow color, two more colors emerged: gold and platinum.


    The silver scale hanging around the crimson dragon''s eyes lit up, and at the same time, the light emanating from the giant silver dragon''s body became brighter and brighter.


    The crimson dragon''s struggles gradually became more feeble, and the crimson flames around its body also began to recede. However, its scales were still of a crimson-golden color, and a faint sigh rang out as the giant silver dragon reached out with a set of claws, digging them under a scale situated just under the crimson dragon''s neck, then tore off the reverse scale with one powerful motion.


    The crimson dragon let loose a furious roar, but the crimson color staining its scales finally receded, and they reverted back to their normal golden color. At the same time, the dragon''s body began to quickly shrink, and its deranged and devastating aura faded away thereafter.


    The silver dragon raised its head to the heavens and let loose a thunderous roar, instantly destroying all of the surveillance devices in the air above. It then raised its head and turned toward Shrek''s Six Monsters with a complex look in its eyes before flapping its wings, vanishing into the spatial rift with the shrinking golden dragon still firmly in its grasp.


    Everyone on the scene felt as if they had just witnessed a dream. A''Ruheng wore a blank expression as he mused, "His sister is so powerful; I can''t believe she was able to subdue him so easily. The crisis should be averted now, right?"


    Meanwhile, Sima Jinchi seemed to be more astonished than everyone else as he focused his gaze on the spot where the silver dragon had just disappeared.


    He had already been stunned by Tang Wulin''s almighty Golden Dragon King bloodline, yet somehow, he could sense a dragon aura from the woman''s body that was no weaker than Tang Wulin''s aura! Who was she?


    "Let''s get out of here first," Ye Xinglan said in a decisive manner.


    Tang Wulin had been taken by Gu Yuena, so he wouldn''t be in any danger. At this point, the Spirit Pagoda branch had already been reduced to a pile of rubble, so there were definitely going to be hordes of people from all sides arriving on the scene soon. As such, they had to get out of here as quickly as possible. After all, despite how weak the Dou Spirit Empire was, it was still an empire!


    At this point, all of the surveillance devices had been destroyed, so no one knew what was happening. The surveillance images had become warped and twisted ever since Gu Yuena first appeared, so the only ones to have witnessed her arrival were Shrek''s Six Monsters, as well as A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi. Of course, there was also Li Yun, who was appraising the situation from afar.


    Li Yun had already prepared himself to step in, but even he didn''t have any confidence in his ability to control Tang Wulin. After all, that crimson dragon had been far too fearsome! As such, he was very relieved by this turn of events.


    If the crimson dragon had been left unchecked, the situation would completely spiral out of control once the Dou Spirit Empire military arrived on the scene. Tang Wulin was the current Tang Sect Master, as well as Shrek Academy''s Sea God''s Pavilion Master, so his actions here would reflect very badly on both of those organizations. Thankfully, that mysterious woman had managed to take him away, and it seemed that they shared quite a close bond.


    In any case, everyone had been stunned by the battle that had just taken place. In the eyes of Li Yun, Tang Wulin had been elevated to a higher level altogether. However, at the same time, he was quite perplexed; just what was that terrifying uncontrollable power? Furthermore, how had the Tang Sect allowed him to become the sect master given the volatile nature of that power?


    Unbeknownst to him, the Tang Sect and even Tang Wulin himself hadn''t been aware that this power had been lurking within his body.


    ......


    Kill kill kill!


    Tang Wulin''s entire spiritual world had taken on a crimson color, and his mind was entirely filled with endless thoughts of slaughter. He felt as if he had entered an ancient battlefield and was surrounded by enemies in all directions.


    He had already transformed into a giant dragon and had gone on a killing rampage. Countless demons and devils were rushing toward him from all sides. They had corkscrew horns on their heads and bodies that were covered in scales, and as he tore these creatures apart, his golden scales were being stained by their blood.


    This blood made him even more violent and powerful, which fueled him to kill more and more enemies. Thus, he no longer cared that his body was being stained by blood, and he continued to indulge in slaughter and destruction.


    The joy of destruction took over his heart and soul, and he felt as if this world of slaughter was the only place where he could truly express himself. His mental state was slowly being warped, and even his mind had taken on a crimson color.


    Deep within his heart, there was an urgent voice that was constantly calling out to him, but that voice was far too feeble for him to pay it any heed. The sight of his father''s grievous wound had tipped him over the edge, and all of the negative emotions that he had been repressing had erupted forth at once. Only through destruction and slaughter could he assuage these negative emotions. Thus, the voice of reason faded further and further, and a giant golden dragon appeared in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    The dragon''s eyes were completely crimson in color, and were filled with ferocity and tyranny. The dragon possessed unfathomable power, and it was constantly injecting this power directly into Tang Wulin''s mind, making him more powerful, but also eroding his sense of reason.


    His 12th Golden Dragon King seal had been broken without him even noticing, and the enormous surge of energy from the broken seal combined as one with his desire for destruction. Furthermore, the terrifying giant golden dragon in his mind was directing his power toward the 13th Golden Dragon King seal.


    After receiving the enormous influx of energy from the 12th Golden Dragon King seal, the golden dragon within Tang Wulin''s mind had already become clearer. A peerlessly overwhelming aura was emanating from its body, and its power was constantly elevating Tang Wulin''s aura, allowing him to better destroy and release the pain in his heart with reckless abandon.


    This was undoubtedly an extremely exhilarating process, but it also gradually made him lose himself. Just as the 13th seal was about to come undone and Tang Wulin''s mind was about to become a sea of crimson, a burst of powerful restrictive force suddenly bound him from all directions, stopping the golden dragon in his mind cold in its tracks.


    Immediately thereafter, red, yellow, blue, green, golden, black, and silver light formed seven giant chains that surged directly into his mind to bind the giant golden dragon.


    A cold aura surged into glabella, and under its stimulus, Tang Wulin finally awakened slightly from his trance of slaughter and destruction. He was slightly disoriented and reflexively paused, upon which the cold aura instantly spread throughout his body, cleansing it of the violent tendencies it had been corrupted by.

 Chapter 1263: Dont Move

    The giant golden dragon within his mind struggled and thrashed with all its might, but all to no avail. With the injection of that cold aura, Tang Wulin''s boiling blood gradually subsided, and layers of rainbow light surged into his body, causing the crimson color in his mind to recede.


    He gradually calmed down, and the cold sensation seemed to have frozen his mind as well. The energy that was surging toward the 13th Golden Dragon King seal also gradually receded. At this point, cracks had already appeared on the 13th seal, but thankfully, everything was stopped before it became too late.


    Tang Wulin gradually regained control over his senses, and he felt as if he had just woken up from a vivid dream. He was extremely groggy and disoriented, and the world around him had fallen completely silent.


    At this moment, he felt as if he were submerged in a pool of cool and refreshing water, and he gradually fell into a slumber amid the nourishing embrace of this pool of water.


    After an indeterminate period of time, Tang Wulin finally woke up again, and in his half-asleep state, he was struck by a strong sense of hunger. He instinctively wanted to eat or drink something, and when he unintentionally came into contact with something that was soft and warm, he immediately latched onto it and reflexively began to devour it.


    A cool and refreshing aura emanated from that warm and soft place, and that only further spiked his yearning and desire.


    His senses gradually returned to him, and the soft and flawless body in his arms filled him with boundless satisfaction and pleasure. He reflexively tightened his arms around that alluring body and continued to express his desires with reckless abandon.


    A burst of urgent panting suddenly rang out, and right at this moment, a bone-chilling sensation spread through his chest, dousing the flames in his heart and also abruptly jerking him completely awake.


    In the instant he opened his eyes, he felt as if time had completely stopped.


    He was greeted by the sight of a set of exquisitely beautiful blushing features, and the purple eyes looking back at him were filled with boundless allure. If it weren''t for the cold sensation constantly pouring into his body from his chest, his blood would most likely instantly be ignited once again.


    Strands of silver hair were draped all over his chest and face, and they carried her unique fragrance.


    She was right on top of him, and their bodies were completely intertwined. What came as an even bigger shock to him was that neither of them were wearing any clothes, and they were adhered against one another in the most intimate possible way.


    There was a beseeching look in her eyes, and she pleaded, "You can''t! Please stop! If we do that, your domain will be activated again, and if that happens, I won''t have the power to repress it again."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly, and only then did he discover that his arms were firmly locked around her body.


    He bit down onto the tip of his own tongue, using the pain to inject a hint of clarity into his own mind. However, when he looked at her again, the intense visual stimulus immediately threatened to set his blood alight again.


    Don''t look! He abruptly closed his eyes and pushed her away. He was extremely reluctant to do so, but his respect for her and his trust in her judgment outweighed his own reluctance.


    As soon as their bodies parted, Tang Wulin was greeted by the sound of loud labored panting. Elemental fluctuations erupted in the surrounding area, and after separating from that alluring body, he felt as if all of his strength had been sucked away.


    Only now could he truly assess his own bodily condition, and he was immediately struck by a sense of intense agony that speared through his entire body. He felt as if he had been torn to pieces, then crushed into mincemeat. Even with his superhuman pain tolerance, he couldn''t help but let loose a muffled groan, and cold sweat began to bead up on his forehead.


    He felt as if his body no longer belonged to him, as if every single cell of his had been torn apart. He was so feeble that he couldn''t even move a single finger. With his incredible self-regenerative ability, this was a completely unprecedented situation for him.


    In the past, even if he were to suffer severe injuries in battle, he would be able to recover in a short time, but on this occasion, he was not so lucky.


    His consciousness gradually returned to him, and he finally recalled some things. His final memory was of his battle against the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda, and after that, his mind was infiltrated by that sea of violence, which was where his memories cut off. However, even now, he could still recall the joy of expressing himself with reckless abandon through destruction and slaughter.


    He forced himself to ignore his own extreme physical discomfort and peeled back his own eyelids. In his mind, there was something more important than his own bodily condition.


    How was Father? Had he survived?


    When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by the sight of Gu Yuena, who had already sat up and conjured up a suit of blue ice armor around herself.


    However, the ice that the suit of armor was constructed from was semi-transparent, so the alluring outline of her body was still somewhat visible to him. However, his concern for his own father outweighed his carnal desires, and he hurriedly asked, "How''s my father?"


    "Father?" Gu Yuena faltered momentarily before asking, "What happened to Father?"


    Tang Wulin''s hands balled up into tight fists, and intense hatred appeared in his eyes. "There were members of the Holy Spirit Cult in the Spirit Pagoda..." Thus, he gave Gu Yuena a brief recount of everything that took place within the Spirit Pagoda, and Gu Yuena''s expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "No, Father won''t die! We''ll go back together and save him!"


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback by the fact that Gu Yuena was also referring to his father as "Father", and a peculiar look appeared in his eyes.


    "Who are you? Are you Na''er or are you Gu Yue?" Tang Wulin tried to struggle into a sitting position, but the intense agony in his body prevented him from doing so as he was forced to lie back down with another muffled groan.


    "Don''t move." Gu Yuena hurriedly made her way toward him before pressing her hands against his shoulders, injecting gentle water elements into his body to soothe his pain.


    "You can''t move right now. Just as you said, the Beautiful Silk Tulip and the others have already taken Father away, and with the Holy Spirit Douluo''s treatment, there''s a very good chance that he''ll be saved. The Beautiful Silk Tulip and the others still haven''t returned, so they''re most likely contributing to treating Father. What you need to do now is worry about yourself. Your condition is extremely bad, and I have to help you repress your condition. Otherwise, you could easily return to your former state. Hence, you have to make sure to calm yourself down."


    Tang Wulin immediately flared up with rage. "My father is almost dead! How am I supposed to calm down? Gu Yuena, I really can''t take this anymore. I did everything in my power to respect you and consider your feelings, but why can''t you tell me who you are? Do you know how much it hurts me to be kept in the dark like this?"


    Gu Yuena faltered slightly upon hearing this, and she bit down on her lower lip as she continued to inject water elements into Tang Wulin''s body. Only after a long while did she finally murmur, "Do you really want to know?"


    Tang Wulin insisted, "Tell me."


    Gu Yuena took a deep breath before giving him a firm nod. "Right now, I''m Na''er."


    Na''er? Tang Wulin''s mind went completely blank upon hearing this. Did that mean that the person he had just been kissing was Na''er? He had always thought that Gu Yuena was still Gu Yue, and this revelation had truly stunned him into silence. A series of complex emotions welled up in his heart, and he was at a loss for words.


    However, Gu Yuena then said something else that snapped him back to reality. "Before this, I was Gu Yue."


    Tang Wulin turned to her in a perplexed manner, awaiting a further explanation.

 Chapter 1264: I Lost, But She Didnt Win, Either

    "To put it more accurately, we were always the same person. Have you heard of split personalities, Big Brother?" Gu Yuena asked with sorrow in her eyes.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Split personalities?"


    Gu Yuena nodded in response. "When I was still very young, I experienced a personality split due to some special reasons, and that was when I split up into two personalities. Gu Yue is my main persona, while Na''er is a subsidiary persona that was born due to that personality split. As a result of this, I lost my memories and became Na''er, and I was picked up by you. Hence, I grew up under the love and care of you, Father, and Mother, completely oblivious to the fact that I was a split persona."


    After that, Gu Yue found me and helped me recover my memories, but at that point, my personality had already taken shape, and I had developed a strong sense of independence, which conflicts with my main persona. As a result of that, I almost had a mental breakdown, and in the end, my two personas could only coexist alongside one another, rather than fuse back as one.


    "Gu Yue didn''t understand why I was so determined. In her eyes, once the main persona awakens, the subsidiary persona should automatically fuse back with the main persona. She tried to make that happen in the past, but during the process, she discovered that a lot of her personality traits were going to be assimilated by Na''er, which would cloud her future judgment and affect her ability to complete her ultimate goal. As such, she was unable to fuse with Na''er in the end.


    "As the two personas grew up alongside one another, Na''er became more and more independent, and through some special methods, the two personas became two separate people, which were Na''er and Gu Yue. Gu Yue was very curious about you, and she didn''t understand why Na''er was so fond of you. She didn''t believe in our relationship, so she made a bet with me. She said that she would adopt an ordinary physical appearance and approach you to try and get you to fall in love with her. If you do, then that proves your feelings toward me are fake. If I lose, I have to give up all resistance and fuse as one with her, whereas if she loses, she has to allow me to fuse with and change the main persona."


    Tang Wulin was already completely rooted to the spot. He had always been very curious about just what kind of relationship Gu Yue and Na''er shared, and how they had become Gu Yuena, but never did he think that the answer would be something so far-fetched. To call this story incredible was an understatement; it was like a fairytale!


    Gu Yuena continued, "In the end, I lost during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. Your love for Na''er was only love for a sibling, not a romantic love. It made sense, considering we were only together during our childhood. I didn''t want to admit defeat. If I could''ve constantly lived with you, I was sure that I would''ve been able to make you fall in love with me, but in the end, I still lost."


    She suddenly smiled as she spoke, and it seemed that she wasn''t in any pain over the fact that she had lost the bet.


    "I lost, but Gu Yue didn''t win, either. She made you fall in love with her, but in the process, she fell in love with you as well!"


    The smile on Gu Yuena''s face gradually became rather bitter at this point. "Only following the conclusion of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention were we able to truly understand one another. At that point, her main persona and my subsidiary persona no longer opposed each other. At that time, I was content to fuse as one with her as I knew that her love for you wouldn''t change, no matter what happened. There was only a single person that the two of us would be able to love.


    "At the time, I had thought that I would be destined to disappear, to become a part of her. However, she didn''t completely devour my persona. Instead, she kept me in a corner. After saving you and losing her memories, our two personas communicated once again, and only then did I understand why she did that. She was afraid that you would be sad if Na''er disappeared. Her love for you is even deeper than I had imagined."


    Tang Wulin''s heart trembled upon hearing this. "Then what about her? Where is she now?"


    Gu Yuena sighed, "Do you recall that battle in the abyss? In order to save you from that Holy Lord of the abyssal plane, she incinerated her own main persona. Otherwise, there was no way the two of you would''ve been able to unleash enough power to force back a planar ruler through your Dragon God Transformation. She wanted to sacrifice herself and completely hand over our body to me so I can be with you without any inhibitions. She''s such an idiot! We are two parts of the same whole, and just like how there''s a part of me in her consciousness, there''s a part of her in my consciousness as well.


    "Hence, I protected her consciousness, and she went into hibernation to recuperate. She should be able to reawaken once I become a Titled Douluo, but even now, I still don''t know how I should face her. She''s simply too stubborn in certain areas, and there are some things that we have to face together. That''s why we can''t be with you."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask, "What is she so fixated on? Can''t she face those issues with me by her side?"


    Na''er took a meaningful glance at Tang Wulin. "So you still love her in the end. I''m so mad, Big Brother!"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he didn''t know what to say.


    "It''s best that you didn''t know. Otherwise, you would only be in even more pain. As for how the future is going to pan out, everything will have to wait until she reawakens. However, there''s something that I must caution you about right now. Just like how you''ve always been very curious about my relationship with Gu Yue, we''ve both been very intrigued by your Golden Dragon King bloodline. According to our observations, that''s the true power of the Golden Dragon King, not just some bloodline inheritance. It''s just that the Golden Dragon King''s power is too enormous, so it''s been sealed up within your body in many parts, and gradually gets released as your cultivation rank progresses.


    "Hence, it''s the reason why you''ve been able to become so powerful, but it''ll also bring you a lot of peril, just like the power of the Silver Dragon King that Gu Yue and I inherited. The past Dragon God led all of the beast gods on a war against the human gods, and this is naturally because humans and soul beasts have always had their difference, but also because of the Dragon God himself. When the Dragon God became a god, he possessed his own godly power, and the godseat that he inherited was that of destruction and creation.


    "Those are the most fundamental powers in the universe, and the Dragon God came into contact with some of it by chance. The influence of the godseat that he inherited was relatively minor, but this was still the most fundamental power of the universe, which is why he was so powerful. In terms of pure combat prowess, the Dragon God was more powerful than any of the five godly monarchs. However, the universe is fair, and these enormous powers do not come for free.


    "The power of creation is an extraordinary thing. It can create life, and it created the most powerful dragons that once roamed the Douluo Continent. However, at the same time, the power of destruction is extremely fearsome. The conclusion of creation is destruction, and the conclusion of destruction is creation. The two exist alongside one another in a synergistic yet conflicting relationship, and as a result, the Dragon God himself also possesses two personas, just like with me and Gu Yue.


    "However, he faced a far more severe issue than me and Gu Yue as his two personas completely opposed one another, and they were just as powerful as each other. The godly power of creation is governed by the Dragon God''s wisdom and sense of reason, while the godly power of destruction is governed by a more deranged facet of his personality. To put it in simpler terms, the Dragon God has a wise persona and a deranged persona. Back when the Dragon God was slain and split up into the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King, the latter was allowed to go free, while the former was sealed in the Divine Realm as it''s the deranged persona of the Dragon God.


    "We have no idea how its power was transferred into your body, and you''ve constantly been benefiting from it, growing far more powerful than your peers, but in reality, you''ve never grasped the core of the Golden Dragon King''s power, which is insanity! In its insane and deranged state, the Golden Dragon King is a destructive force of nature, and it''s virtually invincible."

 Chapter 1265: Confession

    "In that last battle, you finally tapped into this core element of the Golden Dragon King''s power as you were tipped over the edge by your hatred. Hence, you displayed ultra-powerful combat prowess, and also unleashed the Golden Dragon King''s most fearsome domain. Within this domain, all slaughter and destruction would become fuel for the Golden Dragon King, which means that the more it kills and destroys, the more powerful it would become until it laid waste to the entire planet.


    "If you become completely possessed by this insanity, then you''ll become the blind killing machine that is the Golden Dragon King, and its will will devour your consciousness. In a sense, you''ll be possessed by the Golden Dragon King."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. Gu Yuena''s analysis was even more accurate than Old Tang''s insights. Never did he think that his fit of rage would''ve almost resulted in him being possessed by the Golden Dragon King. That was downright terrifying!


    Gu Yuena wore a solemn expression as she continued, "The only reason why I was able to awaken you is because you''re still not powerful enough, and you''d only just begun your descent into insanity. If you had indulged in destruction for a while longer, or if you were more powerful than you currently are, then even I would be completely powerless. When that time comes, you''ll go on a rampage of constant destruction. Without any infusions of the power of creation, you''ll destroy the entire planet, and perhaps even the entire universe, until you yourself are destroyed. Destructive power that isn''t kept in check by the power of creation is the most fearsome thing imaginable."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Then what should I do?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "You have to keep your own emotions in check no matter what. Don''t let your negative emotions consume you, and don''t engage in excessive slaughter. Also, try not to release your Golden Dragon King power anymore. Once you release the entirety of the Golden Dragon King''s power, you''ll be consumed by insanity no matter how powerful you become, and you''ll be possessed by the Golden Dragon King."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "The problem is that as time passes, the seals in my body will become undone on their own, and I won''t be able to control them."


    Gu Yuena nodded in response. "I''m aware of that. Gu Yue and I possess the power of the Silver Dragon King, which is the Dragon God''s power of creation. Once we reach a certain level of power, perhaps we''ll be able to help you control the seals. However, we''re definitely still unable to do that now. Hence, I''ll give this to you for now, and I''ll discuss the matter further with Gu Yue once she reawakens."


    Gu Yuena flicked a wrist as she spoke, and a ball of blue light hovered over to Tang Wulin.


    She then made a hand seal, and the silver dragon scale around Tang Wulin''s neck immediately lit up. The blue ball of light landed on the silver dragon scale, and bright light instantly began to radiate from the scale, turning it a dazzling platinum color as opposed to its original silver color. An extremely cold sensation surged into Tang Wulin''s body, striking him with an indescribable sense of comfort. His rampant blood essence and even the agony he was experiencing all abated significantly, but his body also became slightly stiff from the cold.


    "This is an Ice God Bead. After fusing it into my reverse scale, the two will be able to help you keep your emotions in check. Using its glacial power to subdue your violent tendencies will also benefit your cultivation."


    Some of the ice in front of Gu Yuena''s chest melted as she spoke, and she looked down at the golden scale hanging around her neck as she continued, "I''ve taken your reverse scale. This reverse scale contains the most potent violent tendencies, and without it, the Golden Dragon King''s insanity won''t be able to completely awaken."


    The rhomboid golden scale was very angular, and there seemed to be a tiny dragon head on its tip. It hung in front of Gu Yuena''s fair skin, creating an entrancing sight to behold. Tang Wulin couldn''t help but stare, and a blush appeared on Gu Yuena''s face as she yelled, "What are you looking at?"


    Despite what she was saying, she leaned forward and wound her arms tightly around Tang Wulin. As a result, the icy sensation surging through his chest became even more intense, and a layer of ice and frost appeared over both of their bodies.


    As this cold sensation infiltrated his body, Tang Wulin was struck by a strong sense of exhaustion, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.


    ......


    Two days had already passed since the incident, and Li Yun was still struggling to come to terms with what had happened. The terrifying image of the giant crimson dragon laying waste to the Spirit Pagoda had become deeply embedded in his mind.


    A Hyper Douluo had been erased from existence in that battle, virtually without being able to offer any resistance. Furthermore, less than a third of the people in that Spirit Pagoda branch had managed to survive, and the only ones who did were the people who had run away the fastest.


    The destruction of the Spirit Pagoda branch had created a massive stir throughout the entire Dou Spirit Empire, and Spirit Wave City was placed into a state of complete lockdown.


    With Li Yun''s lofty status in the Dou Spirit Empire, it was naturally an easy task for him to protect Tang Wulin''s companions, and nor did he have to worry about being investigated, but the image of the giant crimson dragon continued to loom over his heart like a persistent shadow.


    He couldn''t forget those deranged and vicious eyes, and just the recollection of the dragon''s fearsome aura sent chills running down his spine. Those were clearly all signs that Tang Wulin had completely lost control. In that state, he could''ve most likely put up a good fight even against a Limit Douluo. It was naturally a good thing for the Tang Sect that the sect master possessed such incredible power, but if he couldn''t control that power, then it would become a harbinger of disaster.


    It was extremely inconvenient for the Dou Spirit Continent to contact the Douluo Continent. A special device was required, and an extremely large amount of resources had to be expended. Furthermore, this communication could only take place in Heaven Dou City. Li Yun was far too busy dealing with the aftermath of this incident, so he still hadn''t had a chance to contact the Amorous Douluo.


    What made him even more concerned was that Tang Wulin seemed to have gone missing. He still didn''t know exactly what was going on; all he had heard from Tang Wulin''s companions was that something seemed to have happened to his parents, and that they had discovered members of the Holy Spirit Cult in the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Tang Sect had always suspected that the Spirit Pagoda was colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, and now, there was finally concrete evidence. It was now beyond a reasonable doubt that the Spirit Pagoda had to have played a hand in the bombing of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters.


    However, none of this stunned him as much as that giant crimson dragon did. Not just him, but everyone who had been present to witness that terrifying rampage definitely wouldn''t be able to forget that image for as long as they lived.


    The Dou Spirit Empire''s royal family had initially been very displeased that Tang Wulin hadn''t gone to Heaven Dou City right away, and dealing with them had been quite a headache for Li Yun. However, ever since the Spirit Wave City incident, the royal family had fallen completely silent.


    Li Yun had told them that the Tang Sect Master had some private matters to attend to in Spirit Wave City, and that he would be paying the royal family a visit after that. Due to how important the Tang Sect was to the Dou Spirit Empire, they accepted this arrangement, even though they were clearly very displeased.


    However, after hearing about what had happened to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters in Spirit Wave City, the royal family naturally couldn''t help but fear for the worst. After all, there weren''t many powers in the entire empire capable of destroying the Spirit Pagoda headquarters!


    The Tang Sect Master had only just arrived in Spirit Wave City before this incident took place; no one was going to believe that the Tang Sect had nothing to do with this.


    Of course, Li Yun vehemently denied any Tang Sect involvement in the incident, but the royal family had formed their own conclusions and fallen into complete silence. Li Yun didn''t know whether this was a good thing or not. He didn''t know if they had intimidated the royal family or if the royal family was now wary of them. Everything would have to wait until Tang Wulin returned.


    The official statement being released by Spirit Wave City was that they were doing everything they could to track down the perpetrators, and the remaining members of the Spirit Pagoda were busy salvaging whatever they could, but it would be virtually impossible to repair the Spirit Pagoda; the only option would be to rebuild it.


    However, all Spirit Pagoda branches of this scale had Spirit Ascension Planes, so the rebuild process would definitely require an astronomical sum of money.

 Chapter 1266: Return of the Sect Master

    From this perspective, Li Yun was actually taking a lot of vindictive pleasure in the Spirit Pagoda''s misfortune. The Spirit Pagoda had been involved in the destruction of the Tang Sect headquarters, so he wouldn''t feel any sympathy toward them even if their entire organization were to be eradicated.


    However, none of this answered the pressing question of when their sect master was going to return. Ever since Shrek''s Six Monsters had returned from the site of the incident, they had stayed in the hotel the entire time.


    Furthermore, they had brought back some people, and they were all in the hotel as well. Even the members of the Tang Sect had no idea what they were doing.


    I can''t just keep waiting like this; I have to report this matter to the Amorous Douluo and request further instructions from him.


    Regardless of whether it was the discovery of Evil Soul Masters in the Spirit Pagoda or the destruction of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, both were extremely important pieces of news that had to be reported back to the Tang Sect. In particular, he had to notify the Amorous Douluo of the deranged state that Tang Wulin had flown into.


    With that in mind, he immediately rose to his feet and pulled out his soul communicator. He contacted his subordinate in Heaven Dou City to set up intercontinental communication right away and prepared to set off for Heaven Dou City.


    When he emerged from the hotel, there was already a car waiting for him outside, yet just as he was about to get into the car, he was suddenly struck by the feeling that the air around him had cooled slightly. As a Hyper Douluo, he instantly reacted to this, and reflexively cast his gaze toward a certain direction.


    There, a man in white activewear was making his way directly toward Li Yun. He wore a hat, and his head was slightly bowed, so his features were obscured. The cold sensation was emanating directly from his body.


    This wasn''t an actual change in temperature. Instead, it was an invisible aura that couldn''t be felt unless one were to reach a certain cultivation rank.


    The man raised his head and cast his gaze toward Li Yun, and Li Yun almost blurted out the words "Sect Master".


    The young man in the hat was none other than Tang Wulin. The suit of white activewear complemented his tall and athletic figure, accentuating his muscular arms, slim waist, and long legs. His eyes were as bright and clear as a starry night sky, and there was no longer any hint of insanity within them.


    Tang Wulin didn''t appear to be walking very quickly, but it only took him a few steps to reach Li Yun. It was as if the air around him had become more sluggish.


    "Sorry to make you worry, Hall Master Li. Is everyone in the hotel?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "They are; they haven''t left the hotel ever since they returned. Sect Master, you..." Li Yun unconsciously lowered his head toward Tang Wulin as he spoke.


    In the past, he had only respected Tang Wulin as he had the support of the Holy Spirit Douluo, but now, he had developed a hint of fear toward Tang Wulin, and he had clearly discarded his conceited demeanor. Even though this sect master was extremely young, he had just killed a Hyper Douluo with ease a few days ago! The only adjective that Li Yun could think of to describe him was "unfathomable".


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Apologies for all of the trouble I''ve caused. I''ll come to find you later." After that, the surrounding air seemed to grow sluggish once again, and Tang Wulin vanished from his field of view.


    Li Yun turned toward the entrance of the hotel in a slightly slack-jawed manner. Was that the power of a domain?


    Tang Wulin hadn''t adopted any disguise, and there were many passersby on the street, but none of them had paid him any notice despite his exceptional looks.


    It was as if he had entirely become one with the surrounding space itself, as if he didn''t even exist.


    No, this isn''t the effect of a normal domain; this is a spiritual domain!


    Li Yun still hadn''t reached the Spirit Domain realm, but he was a Hyper Douluo, after all, and had witnessed spiritual domains in the past.


    In a sense, the domain that Tang Wulin had just displayed was the most profound spiritual domain he had ever seen. He couldn''t exactly pinpoint what the effect of the domain was, but one thing was for sure in his mind: Tang Wulin was more powerful than he had been a few days ago, and not just by a little bit.


    Tang Wulin strode into the hotel, and he reflexively began to assess his surroundings. His calm facade wavered slightly as he strode forward once again, and in the next instant, he appeared on the second floor. It was as if space and time could no longer bind him.


    After waking up again, he discovered that Gu Yuena had already left, and she had only left him a note, telling him to look after himself. However, when he laid a hand over the platinum dragon scale hanging around his neck, he could sense her existence, and that she was situated somewhere not far away. It was just that he couldn''t teleport himself to her side as she could. Perhaps that was because he didn''t have a sufficient grasp on spatial elements.


    The pain in his body had already vanished; his incredible regenerative abilities had allowed him to make a full recovery in just a day and a night. Even though his meridians were still aching, this pain was within his tolerance threshold.


    The platinum dragon scale was releasing a faint cool aura that cleared both his mind and his heart. Tang Wulin discovered that his body had undergone considerable changes.


    His mental capacity had expanded by over a third, and his spiritual power had also become more viscous, clearly indicating a qualitative change. The insanity of the Golden Dragon King had almost thrust him onto a path of destruction, but it had also allowed him to break his 12th Golden Dragon King seal. He had clearly made a breakthrough in his spiritual power, and his spiritual domain had already been completely consolidated. However, due to the excessive increase in spiritual power in too short a timeframe, his control was still lacking, which was why Li Yun had been able to sense the changes taking place around him. This was a result of the time-warping effect stemming from a lack of control over his own spiritual power.


    Another thing that he was unable to control was the effect of the Ice God Bead. He was still unable to completely conceal the cold aura emanating from it, and that was something that he would have to work on over time. Not only was the Ice God Bead able to repress his violent tendencies, it was also nourishing his body in a subtle manner.


    If the Golden Dragon King bloodline were a scorching flame and the Mysterious Heaven Method was the most neutral and placid soul power, then the Ice God Bead would be cool and refreshing water.


    With the neutralizing effect of this cool aura, the terrifying scorching violence stemming from the breakage of the 12th Golden Dragon King seal was neutralized, thereby resulting in a qualitative change that significantly increased his soul power. His body felt far more comfortable than before, and the negative side-effects stemming from the breakage of the 12th seal had also been significantly alleviated.


    On top of that, his soul power had reached rank 80, and he was now a Soul Douluo.


    At the same time, after the 12th seal was broken, he had attained his sixth golden soul ring. However, he hadn''t yet had a chance to examine all of the changes that had taken place within his own body as the first thing he did after waking up was contact the Beautiful Silk Tulip.


    His location hadn''t been all that far away from the hotel, and all of the plant system Great Beasts had been nourished by the seed of life for quite some time now, so they could leave his body for a certain period without any repercussions. Through their spiritual connection, Tang Wulin received a piece of fantastic news; his father was now in a stable condition. However, detailed communication couldn''t be facilitated through spiritual fluctuations, so he immediately rushed to the hotel as quickly as he could. As for the clothes he was wearing now, they had already been on him from the moment he woke up.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to the room at the very end of the corridor on the hotel''s second floor, then silently pushed the door open.


    His mother was lying on one of the beds in a deep sleep, while his father was lying on another bed. Tang Ziran''s face was quite pale, but he was most definitely breathing.


    As soon as Tang Wulin caught sight of them, he began to release strong emotional fluctuations. In response, the dragon scale in front of his chest immediately began to glow with a faint platinum light, releasing a cloud of icy mist that enveloped his entire body. Under the stimulus of this cold mist, his spiritual fluctuations were quickly quelled.


    Following the modifications Gu Yuena had made, the reverse scale of the Silver Dragon King had combined as one with the Ice God Bead, and it was now truly a divine item.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo was seated on a chair with her legs crossed, and upon sensing Tang Wulin''s arrival, she slowly opened her eyes before giving him a slight nod.


    A shameful look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he extended an apologetic bow toward the Holy Spirit Douluo.


    A burst of gentle white light was released from her body and enveloped Tang Wulin, making him feel as if he were basking in a relaxing hot spring.


    A hint of surprise then appeared on the Holy Spirit Douluo''s face. "You attained a spiritual domain?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response before speaking in an embarrassed manner. "Sorry for making you worry, Your Majesty. On that day..."


    The Holy Spirit Douluo merely waved a hand to cut him off. "All that matters is that you managed to control it. If I had been in the same situation as you, I wouldn''t be able to hold back, either. I''m not adept in battle, but I''d love nothing more than to kill all of those abhorrent scum." A hint of intense resentment flashed through her eyes as she spoke.

 Chapter 1267: Family Reunion

    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before immediately empathizing with the Holy Spirit Douluo''s words. The collusion between the Spirit Pagoda and Holy Spirit Cult meant that the former had undoubtedly played a role in the destruction of Shrek Academy, as well as the death of Yun Ming.


    "Your father''s condition is rather troublesome. You really should thank those plant friends of yours; your father''s life force had almost been completely sucked away by that Evil Soul Master, and he would''ve been dead for sure had they not used their auras to stabilize his condition. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have made it to me. The injury he suffered has been extremely damaging to his body, so he''ll need a long time to rest and recuperate, but his life isn''t in any danger now."


    Tang Wulin heaved a huge sigh of relief upon hearing this. He could sense that all of the plant system Great Beasts were in the neighboring room. His father was going to live, and his mother was also sleeping soundly. The sight of them filled his heart with warm emotions that completely quelled the more violent facets of his psyche. He thanked the heavens for blessing him with this final result. Even though the process had been extremely perilous, the outcome was ultimately a positive one.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo rose to her feet and made her way over to Tang Wulin''s side. "Stay with your parents for now; you can come and tell me what happened later."


    "Words cannot express my gratitude to you, Your Majesty," Tang Wulin said in a heartfelt manner as he extended a deep bow toward the Holy Spirit Douluo.


    Yali sighed, "I''ve saved countless people in my life, yet I was unable to save him. Why must the heavens be so cruel? Come and see me after your parents recover; I have something I want to speak to you about." A hint of grief and sorrow flashed through her eyes as she spoke, and she opened the door before departing from the room.


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh. Indeed, the heavens had been extremely cruel to Yali and Yun Ming. The Atlas Douluo had given his life for Shrek Academy, and even his soul had been captured. Tang Wulin could only hope that they would be able to recover Yun Ming''s soul as soon as possible.


    He made his way over to the side of his father''s bed, then knelt down and laid a hand over his father''s forehead. Tang Ziran''s forehead was slightly cool to the touch, and his aura was clearly far more feeble than that of a normal person, indicating excessive loss of blood essence. Thankfully, his life force was quite stable.


    It had been over 10 years since he had last seen his parents, and they had all aged noticeably. There were already wrinkles on his father''s forehead, and his brows were tightly furrowed. He had sorely missed them during these past years, but they had also been constantly thinking about him.


    He looked at his father, then turned to his mother before planting a gentle kiss on her cheeks. A wave of emotion washed over him, yet just as tears were about to flow out of his eyes, a cool sensation spread from his chest again, calming his tumultuous emotions.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry. This Ice God Bead was indeed an extremely useful asset to him, but at the same time, it had also deprived him of his capacity for emotion.


    Tang Wulin sat on the chair beside his father''s bed and tried to enter a meditative state, but Na''er''s words were constantly echoing within his mind.


    She and Gu Yue were two personas of the same person, and Gu Yuena was their true complete form. He loved Gu Yue, but Na''er was his sister! He couldn''t bear to part with either of them. Na''er had said that it was very strange that he had inherited the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, but hadn''t Gu Yuena also inherited the Silver Dragon King bloodline?


    In the end, Na''er had left instead of choosing to stay with him. She had told him many things on that day and answered many of his questions, but at the same time, even more questions had popped up.


    For example, just what was holding back Gu Yue? Na''er hadn''t revealed this information to him. With Gu Yuena''s powers, what could possibly be holding her back from being with him, to the extent that she was actively avoiding him, and even feigned amnesia just to be with him?


    Every time this train of thought appeared in Tang Wulin''s mind, his heart was filled with a smorgasbord of emotions.


    In any case, he had managed to successfully save his parents, and they were both still alive. On top of that, he now understood Na''er and Gu Yue''s situation much better, and everything seemed to be progressing toward a positive direction. As the expression went, after hitting rock bottom, the only way to go was up. He had to continue to work hard and become more powerful. During the deranged rampage he had gone on, he had almost completely lost himself, but the experience had also enhanced the power of his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    This seemed to be a purification process that was changing both his bloodline power and aura in a subtle way.


    As he circulated his Mysterious Heaven Method soul power and basked in the cool calming sensation provided by the Ice God Bead, he gradually managed to iron out his own tumultuous emotions and enter a meditative state.


    One streak of light surged into the room from outside before silently vanishing into Tang Wulin''s glabella. After sensing his return, all of the plant system Great Beasts were also returning to their rightful place.


    The recent incident had dealt him a very heavy blow and also changed him significantly. He had to spend some time to consolidate all of these changes, and this wasn''t a process that could be completed overnight. However, what was undeniable was that he had taken another massive stride. Not only had he advanced significantly in his cultivation rank, the fact that he had broken his 12th Golden Dragon King seal so early meant that the inevitable breakage of the rest of the seals would be delayed. If the Golden Dragon King bloodline really were destined to lead him toward a path of destruction as Gu Yuena had proclaimed, then it was naturally best for him to break the seals as slowly as possible.


    The next morning, a faint moan jerked Tang Wulin out of his meditative state, and he reflexively turned to discover that his mother was the one who had uttered the moan. She had already turned over, and she was opening her eyes in a groggy manner. However, she then quickly noticed Tang Wulin sitting beside her, and her eyes gradually widened before glowing with joy.


    "Mother!" Tang Wulin did his best to lower his voice as he collapsed onto the side of his mother''s bed and held tightly onto her hand.


    Tears immediately began to flow down Lang''s face, and her lips quivered as she stared at Tang Wulin with elation and incredulity.


    On that day, everything had happened so quickly, and she didn''t even get a chance to take a good look at her own son.


    Looking at him now, he had grown up into an exceptional young man with a unique disposition and a set of extremely handsome features. After hearing his heartfelt cry, how could Lang possibly hold back her own emotions?


    For over 10 years, her heart had been tormented by guilt and sorrow. Back when they had been forced to leave, Tang Wulin had only been 10 years old! At such a tender age, he was forced to take care of himself and take on such a heavy burden. Whenever Lang thought about this, she would weep uncontrollably.


    She struggled to get up, and Tang Wulin hurriedly helped her up into a sitting position. Lang threw her arms around Tang Wulin, and even though she was already very petite compared to him, she still felt as if she were holding her little boy. In that instant, all of her emotions spilled over, and she burst into loud sobs.


    Tang Wulin didn''t try to stop her from crying. He merely released a layer of soul power that enshrouded himself and his mother so that her sobs didn''t disrupt his father.


    Lang was incapable of uttering even a single word. Only through her tears could she express the multitude of emotions surging through her heart. Tang Wulin also had tears flowing down his face. He basked in the familiar aura of his mother, and even the cool sensation emanating from the Ice God Bead wasn''t enough to repress his emotions.


    Only after a long while did Lang regain control over her emotions, and she slowly stood up before looking up at Tang Wulin through tear-filled eyes. She appraised him in an unblinking manner, as if she were trying to commit every single detail about him to memory.


    "Mother," Tang Wulin called out in a gentle voice.


    "My son!" Lang caught Tang Wulin in a tight embrace as the floodgates were thrown open once again.

 Chapter 1268: Dont Cry, Mother

    Tang Wulin gently stroked Lang''s back and injected his soul power into her body to assuage her grief.


    After a while, Lang raised her head again, and asked in a gentle voice, "Wulin, is that really you? I didn''t think I would ever get to see you again."


    "It''s me, Mother. Don''t cry, it''s not good for you; we''ve finally been reunited, so you should be happy! Don''t worry, Her Majesty, the Holy Spirit Douluo, just told me that Father will be fine, and all he needs is rest."


    Lang nodded firmly in response. She had naturally already learned about her husband''s condition from the Holy Spirit Douluo. "Your father and I are so sorry for leaving you behind for all these years!"


    Not only was she crying for her husband, her heart throbbed even more for her son! They had been forced to leave him back when he was only 10 years old, and 12 years had passed since then. Every single day of the past 12 years had felt like a year in itself, and she was constantly worrying about how Tang Wulin was going to fare on his own. At the time, Tang Wulin had already displayed some talents in forging, but he was still only a child. After that, she and her husband were finally granted the opportunity to contact home using the long-distance communication facilities in the Spirit Pagoda. This was a benefit that had been granted to them so that they would be more willing to work.


    However, the communications were constantly being monitored, so they couldn''t say too much, and they could only get some information from Tang Wulin''s first forging teacher, Mang Tian.


    When they were made aware that Tang Wulin had made it into Shrek Academy, their hearts had been filled with excitement, but that was greatly overshadowed by pain and guilt. Just how much hardships did a child have to go through to reach this point without the protection of their parents?


    When they heard from Mang Tian that Tang Wulin was becoming more and more exceptional, they finally saw some faint glimmers of hope. However, they didn''t dare to pass on their location to Tang Wulin through Mang Tian, and there was no way the guards here would let them disclose this information, anyway. Tang Ziran had only managed to inform Mang Tian that they were in the Dou Spirit Empire during a rare opportunity when the guards had been slacking off.


    Their research had finally bore fruit, and they had thought that they would be released. It had always been promised to them that once they completed their research, they would be granted a massive monetary reward and sent back home. However, when the day actually arrived, they immediately sensed that something was wrong.


    Those people had no intention of releasing them at all, and Tang Wulin had arrived just in time to see them being executed. If he had arrived on the scene any later, his parents would''ve most likely been dead already.


    Just as Tang Wulin had thought, perhaps the heavens had blessed him so that he was able to save his parents in the direst of circumstances.


    The sorrow in Lang''s heart finally gradually faded away, and her breathing began to accelerate as she held tightly onto her own son. She was petrified that this would be nothing more than one of the countless dreams she had had about Tang Wulin.


    "How have you been all these past years, Wulin?" Lang finally managed to muster up a complete sentence.


    Tang Wulin gently wiped the tears away from his mother''s face, and replied, "I''ve been very well these past years, Mother. Ever since you and father left, I''ve been constantly cultivating while honing my forging skills. After that, I made it into Shrek Academy, then joined the Tang Sect and was nurtured by both the academy and the Tang Sect. Upon my insistence, Teacher Mang Tian told me about where you two could be, and Father once told me that I would have the power to save you two once I became a Soul Sage. I came to the Dou Spirit Continent on behalf of the Tang Sect on this occasion, and thank heavens I made it just in the nick of time."


    He glossed over the past 12 years with a nonchalant recount, withholding all of the details of the hardships and difficulties he had endured as he didn''t want his mother to worry.


    Tears welled up in Lang''s eyes again as she looked up at Tang Wulin. He had made everything sound so simple, but she was naturally aware that things couldn''t possibly have been anywhere near as simple as he made it out to be.


    "Don''t cry, Mother. Our family has finally been reunited; I''ve been waiting for this day for a very long time," Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    "Alright, I won''t cry." Lang raised a hand to gently stroke Tang Wulin''s head, and her heart was filled with happiness at the sight of her handsome and reliable son.


    "I''ll bring back some breakfast for you, Mother. Wait for me here; I''ll be back soon," Tang Wulin said as he gave his mother a hug. He didn''t want to leave her even for a single second, but he had to get her something to eat first.


    On the other bed, his father was still sleeping soundly, and his complexion also appeared to have improved.


    Lang''s gaze remained on Tang Wulin as he walked out of the room, and her eyes were filled with a soft and gentle light. She sat down beside her husband''s bed, and said, "We''ve finally been reunited with our son, Ziran..."


    Tang Wulin came to the restaurant in extremely high spirits and ordered the most lavish breakfast, not just for his mother, but also for himself. Everything was progressing toward a positive direction, so how could he not be elated? He had already formulated a plan; he was going to take his parents back to the Tang Sect''s submarine so they could rest and recuperate there, then take them back home once the matters in the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire had been taken care of. He was going to take them back to the Tang Sect headquarters, where it would be easy for him to look after them.


    His main objective for his cultivation was to find his parents, and now, he had finally completed that objective; what could possibly make him happier than this?


    The only thing that was still weighing on his heart now was Gu Yuena. Once he settled his parents in the Tang Sect headquarters, he was going to set off to find her. With the connection between their silver dragon scale and golden dragon scale, he was confident that he would be able to find her.


    "You''re back, Boss!" An elated voice suddenly rang out, and Tang Wulin turned around to discover Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan standing behind him.


    A smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face at the sight of them. "Looks like you''re still the one who''s most eager for meals!"


    Xu Lizhi patted his own large stomach, and chuckled, "There''s a problem with your attitude if you''re not eager for food. I''m glad you''re back, Boss."


    Ye Xinglan wore a slightly concerned look on her face. "Are you alright, Captain? On that day..."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. "I really did lose control on that day. The issue was most likely caused by my Golden Dragon King bloodline."


    "Was Na''er the person who saved you?" Ye Xinglan asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I don''t even know how to explain this to you guys. In a sense, Gu Yue and Na''er were always the same person, so she should be referred to as Gu Yuena now."


    Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi exchanged a shocked glance upon hearing this.


    "They''re the same person?" They were clearly two different people; how were they suddenly the same person now?


    Tang Wulin continued with a wry smile, "Even I still haven''t completely figured out what''s going on, let alone you guys. In any case, she was the one who saved me and helped me repress the insanity in my heart. My emotions ran amok due to the condition my father was in, but I won''t let it happen again."


    Ye Xinglan said, "We''re just glad you''re OK. Having said that, you really were extraordinarily powerful on that day." The image of the almighty crimson dragon had been deeply ingrained into everyone''s minds, and at the time, Tang Wulin seemed to have been an invincible being capable of destroying anything in his path.


    Ye Xinglan had always been very competitive and constantly pursued Tang Wulin as her target, but after witnessing his crimson dragon transformation, she was struck by a sense of powerlessness. She had a feeling that there was no way she would be able to catch up to Tang Wulin in her lifetime.


    Xu Lizhi smiled, and said, "What are you eating for breakfast, Boss? The food here is actually quite similar to the stuff you''d find on our Douluo Continent. You can even find some dishes here that have already disappeared on our Douluo Continent. For example, that chicken sticky rice in lotus leaf is really delicious; you have to get at least 10 of those!"


    A resigned smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I don''t have to eat as much as I did in the past! You two enjoy your breakfast here; I''m going to take some back to eat with my mother. I really must thank you for helping me save my parents."


    Ye Xinglan replied with a smile, "You''re more than welcome; what are friends for? Pass on my regards to your parents."


    "I will." Tang Wulin picked up a large platter in each hand and piled the two platters full with food.


    He had been separated from his parents for 12 years, and he didn''t know if their tastes had changed during this time, so he took a bit of everything. In any case, if his parents couldn''t eat it, he would finish everything, so none of it would go to waste.

 Chapter 1269: Blood Demon Curse

    Tang Wulin quickly carried the platters upstairs, then opened the door of the room with his foot. "Mother, I''m back. What would you like to eat? I got a bit of every..."


    As soon as he entered the room, his voice immediately trailed off as his mother was currently lying on top of his father, seemingly having fallen asleep again. She was clearly still very exhausted from her ordeal.


    He gently placed the platters onto the table beside him, and as soon as he did that, his body suddenly stiffened.


    There was something wrong! Even in a sleeping state, his mother''s aura shouldn''t be this feeble!


    He instantly rushed over to Lang''s side before helping her up. Her body was completely feeble in his arms, and her face was completely devoid of any color. What was even more harrowing was the crimson diagram that had appeared on her forehead. It was the diagram of a ghostly face, and it seemed to be a living creature that was constantly writhing and squirming, creating an extremely sinister sight to behold.


    Tang Ziran also had the same pattern on his forehead, and his improved complexion had clearly worsened once again.


    "No! No! No!" A suffocating sense of horror instantly welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. His spiritual power erupted forth in a frenzy, and he almost instantly tracked down the Holy Spirit Douluo, who was meditating in her room.


    With the span of just two breaths, a burst of white light appeared in the room, and as soon as Yali arrived, she immediately sensed the changes that had taken place in Lang and Tang Ziran''s bodies without even requiring an explanation from Tang Wulin. She reached out with both hands, which were enveloped in a layer of gentle white light, then pressed them against Tang Ziran''s and Lang''s foreheads.


    The crimson diagrams on their foreheads immediately opened their sinister mouths, as if they were attempting to chomp down on the Holy Spirit Douluo''s hands.


    Yali''s expression changed drastically, and she exclaimed, "This is a Blood Demon Curse! He''s still alive?"


    "What is a Blood Demon Curse, Your Majesty? Will my parents be alright?" Tang Wulin asked in an urgent manner.


    Yali offered no response. An extremely serious look appeared on her face, and she encircled her arms in front of her own chest, instantly summoning a white domain that encompassed Tang Wulin''s entire family.


    A layer of pristine holy light appeared over Lang and Tang Ziran, and the white holy light was tinged with a faint golden hue. The light surged forth in ripples, attacking the diagrams on their foreheads while soothing their blood essence at the same time.


    Tang Wulin could only look on from the side. He was a complete novice when it came to healing, so he could only pin his hopes on the most powerful healing system Titled Douluo in existence.


    The sinister ghostly faces suddenly put on derisive sneers, as if they were mocking the Holy Spirit Douluo for not knowing her limits.


    "Argh, argh!"


    Lang and Tang Ziran let loose agonized howls in unison, and plumes of blood mist erupted from all of their orifices.


    Tang Wulin was greatly alarmed by this, but he was completely powerless to do anything. He would gladly pay any price necessary if it would grant him the ability to help his parents, but there was simply nothing he could do, and the pain of this predicament made him want to tear his own hair out.


    "Seal!" the Holy Spirit Douluo yelled, and a massive angelic projection appeared behind her. This projection was rather similar to Yue Zhengyu''s, except it had eight wings rather than six. On top of that, this projection was as pristine white as snow, rather than golden in color, and its beautiful features were filled with boundless mercy and grace.


    As the angelic projection spread its wings, halos of white light quickly surged into Tang Ziran and Lang''s bodies, slowing the rate at which blood was pouring out their orifices.


    Right at this moment, both of the ghostly crimson faces spoke in unison.


    "Is that you, Yali? Yun Ming is dead, but you''re still alive; I''ve always craved your body and soul. You and Yun Ming destroyed my body all those years ago, and now, you''re trying to save these two from me? How laughable! My Blood Demon Curse only requires one drop of my blood to have an irreversible effect. Even if Yun Ming were to be resurrected, there''s no way he would be able to stop me! Just you wait; I''m going to make you my blood slave for what you did to me!"


    The two ghostly faces then suddenly melted away, and at the same time, Tang Ziran and Lang''s bodies both turned bright red. They opened their eyes almost in complete unison, but their pupils were also bright red.


    "Father! Mother!" Tang Wulin roared as he held tightly onto his parents'' hands.


    There was already sweat beading up on the Holy Spirit Douluo''s forehead, and the white light being injected into Tang Ziran and Lang''s body was becoming brighter and more intense, but it could only just barely repress their worsening condition.


    "I can only keep them conscious for a short time! Say what you have to say now!" Yali''s eyes were also filled with fury, but it was tinged with pain and resignation.


    The Blood Demon Curse was simply too powerful, and most importantly, the one who had cast the curse definitely had samples of Tang Ziran and Lang''s blood. Furthermore, that man possessed a superior cultivation rank to her. If Tang Ziran and Lang were a pair of cultivators, perhaps she would be able to save them. After all, Soul Masters possessed far more powerful bodies than normal humans. However, in the current situation, she was powerless to do anything.


    "No, Your Majesty, please save them! I''m begging you!" Tang Wulin implored in a trembling voice.


    Yali closed her eyes in a pained manner. She was already doing everything within her power. There were naturally more powerful abilities that she could use, but there was no way that Tang Ziran and Lang''s bodies could handle such drastic measures.


    All of a sudden, a familiar voice rang out. "Don''t force Her Majesty, my child; this is all a part of fate."


    Tang Wulin raised his head and was greeted by the sight of Tang Ziran''s bright red eyes. They created a rather harrowing sight to behold, but they were filled with a warm and gentle light.


    Tang Ziran held onto his wife''s hand, and a faint smile appeared on his face. "Even a few days prior to the completion of our research, I already sensed that they were most likely going to kill us to keep our research a secret. At that time, I was in complete despair, but the heavens smiled down on us and allowed us to see you again before we pass on. You''ve grown up, my son. You''re taller and more handsome than I was in my youth. Your mother and I are both very, very happy to see how exceptional you''ve become. These past 12 years must''ve been very hard for you.


    "Truth be told, back when we were first forced to leave you, I already had a feeling that perhaps we would never be able to see you again. At the time, I left you a message telling you to come and find us only after you became a Soul Sage, and that was actually only to encourage you. Just as I told you all those years ago, there''s only one person in this world that you can absolutely trust and rely on, and that''s yourself. That has always been the case, and it will continue to be the case in the future, so you must become stronger in order to be able to better protect yourself. The only wish your mother and I have is for you to live a happy life."


    "Father!" Tears were streaming uncontrollably down Tang Wulin''s face, and his body was trembling violently at the sight of his parents'' remarkably calm faces.


    The silver dragon scale in front of his chest was releasing a cold aura into his body, but it was unable to repress his overwhelming grief.


    "Don''t be sad, Wulin. Before we go, there are two things that we must tell you. You have to listen carefully as this is very important." Tang Ziran''s voice suddenly became very serious, and in his dying moments, a sense of unprecedented authority began to emanate from his body.


    Tang Wulin''s grief receded ever so slightly. "Father..."

 Chapter 1270: Death

    Tang Ziran continued in a serious voice, "The first thing I have to tell you about is the research that we did. There''s definitely more than one research center like the one we were in, and we don''t know the ultimate objective of this research. Hence, I can only give you my hypotheses. During these past 12 years, we''ve been constantly researching and developing a special type of medicine. Back in the day, both your mother and I were federal pharmacists, and we also did work in mecha design. When we were captured, we had thought that we''d been abducted for our mecha design skills, but only after arriving in the research center did we realize that we were going to be developing a type of medicine. To put it more accurately, we were developing a part of a type of medicine, and the main effect of this medicine is repression."


    "Repression?" Both Tang Wulin and the Holy Spirit Douluo were rather surprised to hear this.


    "That''s right, it''s a type of depressant that''s specifically designed to repress emotions, and there are also many other research centers conducting similar research and development, but I believe that our research center was the most successful one. This type of depressant is extremely effective, but it''s not for use in humans as human bodies wouldn''t be able to handle it. The depressant is too potent, and if a human were to use it, they would become so devoid of emotions that they would be reduced to a walking vegetable. "


    Only extremely powerful soul beasts would have a chance of surviving the administration of this type of depressant, so it''s most likely the case that this research is targeting some kind of powerful soul beast. That''s the extent of my knowledge on this matter. They took away all of our prescriptions, but little did they know that I had already committed all of these prescriptions to memory. I''ll recite them now; make sure to record them carefully, Wulin."


    "Father, please rest and allow Her Majesty to treat you first," Tang Wulin said in a grief-stricken voice.


    "There''s no time! My life is about to come to an end, and I must pass on this knowledge before I go. I don''t know what the Spirit Pagoda plans to do with this depressant, but it took your mother and I, as well as many other researchers, over 10 years to develop it, so it must serve a purpose. With the prescription, you''ll be able to better prepare yourselves if the Spirit Pagoda were to attempt to do something with this depressant in the future."


    "Alright..." Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and pulled out a pen and some paper from his storage soul tool.


    Tang Ziran''s breathing was beginning to accelerate as he said, "Lang, if I miss anything, make sure to fill in the blanks. The prescription consists of..."


    He spoke very quickly, and it was very clear that this information had been ingrained deeply within his mind. A string of medicine names and ratios were being recited in rapid succession, and even though the words didn''t mean anything to Tang Wulin, but he still recorded them as quickly as he could.


    More and more sweat began to appear on the Holy Spirit Douluo''s forehead. This wasn''t a sign of excessive soul power expenditure; it was an indication that she was reaching the limit of her control.


    Tang Ziran and Lang''s conditions were simply far too awful, and she had to ensure that her power created a perfect equilibrium with the power of the Blood Demon Curse within their bodies. Otherwise, if either power were to overwhelm the other, they would quickly perish.


    "..., alright, that''s it." Tang Ziran heaved a long sigh of relief, and at this point, a long list of medicines had been inscribed onto the piece of paper in Tang Wulin''s hand.


    "Take a rest, Father." Tang Wulin gritted his teeth tightly. He had been holding back his tears this entire time so it wouldn''t smudge the writing on the paper.


    "Don''t cry, my child. Everyone dies eventually; this is simply the natural order of things. Your mother and I are more than content to have a son like you. It''s a pity that we won''t get to hear your story. After we pass on, you can come to our grave and tell us your experiences during these past 12 years; we''d love to hear it."


    "Father!" Tang Wulin couldn''t repress his tears any longer.


    Tang Ziran waved a hand, and continued, "There''s something else that''s also very important that we have to tell you. Your mother and I actually never wanted to tell you this as we couldn''t bear the thought of losing you."


    He turned to Lang with a pained expression as he spoke, and she merely gave him a gentle nod of encouragement.


    Tang Ziran took a deep breath, seemingly to strengthen his resolve, then said, "You are actually not related to us by blood."


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin was so stunned by this bombshell that even his tears ceased for an instant.


    Tang Ziran continued with a wry smile, "Your mother and I wanted nothing more than to have a son like you. You were so obedient, conscientious, and determined; you were the most outstanding child I''ve ever seen. Perhaps that''s because my judgment is clouded by my bias as your father, but to me and your mother, you are perfect in every way. Even when you were so young, you managed to remain resilient after receiving that defective soul spirit, and seeing that made me immensely proud to be your father.


    "However, what I have to tell you now is that you aren''t our son. Back in her younger days, your mother was contaminated by a certain type of medicine during her research, and she lost her reproductive abilities as a result. We picked you up in the wilderness when we were hiking one day. In the instant that we picked you up, both of us heard a voice in our hearts that told us your name is Tang Wulin, which means you and I share the same surname."


    Lang took over the story from there. "You were so very adorable as a child. You had a pair of large eyes, and your little body was so delicate, I couldn''t get enough of holding you. You were always smiling and never cried, and you were very, very obedient and clever. In the instant that we picked you up, we decided to adopt you. In our eyes, you were a gift from the heavens."


    Her voice was very gentle, and her eyes glazed over with reminiscence as she spoke.


    Tang Ziran continued, "Not long after we took you home, we could already sense that you were different from other children. Back when you were a child, you fell ill very frequently, and regularly had persistent fevers. There were a few times when we had thought that you wouldn''t make it, but you pulled through every time and seemed to grow stronger on the other side of each ordeal."


    Lang continued, "You always ate far more than normal children. Your father and I no longer wanted to work in pharmaceutics and mecha design, so it was always hard to make ends meet, but no matter how tired we were from work, we were always filled with contentment when we returned home to see you. You were our psychological pillar, and at that point, we''d even forgotten that you weren''t actually our child."


    Tang Ziran continued, "When we first found you, you were completely naked and didn''t even have any swaddling around you, but we were both sure that we had heard the voice that had told us your name. Perhaps your parents weren''t ordinary people like us. If it isn''t for the fact that we''re about to pass on, perhaps we would''ve kept this a secret forever. We''re both selfish at heart, and we couldn''t bear the thought of losing you. However, now that we have to leave you, I don''t want you to have no loved ones in this world. At the very least, you can go and search for your birth parents. When we first found you, we were nowhere near the ocean, but the voice that had told us your name was accompanied by the sound of loud crashing waves; that''s the only potential lead that we have on where your parents may be."


    Two lines of blood tears slowly flowed down Lang''s cheeks. "Go and find your parents, my son. You''re such a good child; I''m sure they would''ve been extremely reluctant to part with you. I''m sure that they''re constantly thinking about you and searching for you. You still have loved ones in this world, so you''ll never be lonely."


    Tang Ziran''s body began to tremble, and so did his voice, but his gaze remained firmly locked on Tang Wulin. "My son... If there''s a next life, I only ask that the heavens make me your birth father."


    Lang''s condition was also beginning to noticeably worsen. "If there''s a next life, we would never leave you. Even if you grow up to become a spoiled brat, we''d have no complaints."


    Tang Ziran took a deep breath, and it was clearly becoming difficult for him to speak. "Don''t be sad for us, my son. Your mother and I will still have each other on the other side, so we won''t be lonely; we''re just worried about you. You are our pride and joy, and we just want you to be happy. You''ve endured far too much during these past 12 years, and we''re very ashamed of ourselves for not being able to provide you with a warm and loving home. Just remember this; if you want us to be happy on the other side, then the best thing you can do is live a happy life yourself."


    "Seal!" the Holy Spirit Douluo suddenly yelled, and dazzling white light erupted from the eight-winged angel projection behind her. The bright red color that had stained both Tang Ziran and Lang''s bodies instantly receded, and they solidified into what appeared to be a pair of pristine white jade statues.


    "Father! Mother!" Tang Wulin let loose a heartwrenching cry of grief before blacking out on the spot.


    ......

 Chapter 1271: My Name is Tang San

    Everything had been plunged into boundless darkness. Tang Wulin felt as if he had fallen into a gargantuan black hole that was devouring everything.


    The edge of the darkness was punctuated by a crimson lining that seemed to be filled with menace and destruction, but also resembled the light of a new dawn.


    "My child..., wake up, my child..."


    A voice came calling out from the distant, and Tang Wulin wanted to latch onto the voice, but found himself unable to do so.


    He wanted to hold onto everything, but could only look on helplessly as it all drifted away.


    "Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub." A powerful heartbeat rang out, and it seemed that something was about to emerge.


    An extremely frosty aura surged forth to repress the strong heartbeat. Time slowly passed by, and everything seemed to be caught somewhere between reality and illusion.


    It was as if everything were both distancing itself from him and gradually approaching him at once.


    "Father!"


    "Mother!"


    "Wulin, in this world, the only one you can completely trust and rely on is yourself. You have to be brave and resilient at all times, and only when you become more powerful will everything that you possess truly belong to you. Nothing is as reliable as yourself."


    "Have some more, Wulin; if it''s not enough, Mother will cook some more for you."


    "Wulin, I support you."


    "Wulin, can you not go forging anymore? I can''t bear to see you so exhausted every day..."


    ......


    A faint golden light began to revolve through the surrounding area, and when Tang Wulin gradually opened his eyes again, his mental state also underwent some changes.


    Everything before his eyes seemed to be fading away, and the golden light around him seemed to both be realistic, yet also illusionary.


    "My child."


    A gentle voice was calling out to him.


    Tang Wulin looked up with difficulty, and he felt as if something were about to explode deep within his heart.


    A beam of golden light suddenly became brighter before him, and a figure slowly emerged from within the golden light. The golden figure resembled a dreamy illusion, but it was extremely familiar.


    "Old Tang?" Tang Wulin''s voice was a little hoarse. As his gaze settled on the golden figure, he quickly discovered that Old Tang seemed different from his past self.


    On this occasion, he seemed to be younger, and he wore a suit of golden armor. His long blue hair trailed down his back with only a few strands resting in front of his chest, and there was a golden trident helmet on his head, at the center of which was a dazzling gemstone. Within his right hand was a golden trident that seemed to represent boundless might and authority, and the dark starry sky in the surrounding area was different from the large golden hall of the past.


    There was a calm yet gentle expression on his face, and his eyes were as clear and blue as the ocean, yet also as deep and unfathomable as a boundless starry sky.


    "Old Tang?" Tang Wulin stared at Old Tang in a slightly slack-jawed manner. If it weren''t for the fact that the massive change in Old Tang''s appearance had affected his mood, he would most likely have been consumed by his own grief already.


    "You should call me Father," Old Tang said as he appraised Tang Wulin with a gentle look in his eyes.


    "Father?" Tang Wulin was completely rooted to the spot.


    "That''s right, [Luke, I mean, uh...] Wulin, I am your father. Just as Tang Ziran said, you have your own birth parents, and just as they were unwilling to part with you, we had also been very reluctant to leave you. It was only the most unfortunate and dire of circumstances that led to our decision to leave you."


    Tang Wulin was already on the verge of a mental breakdown, and this sudden revelation threw his thoughts into complete disarray. Father? Old Tang had just asked him to call him Father?


    Old Tang heaved a faint sigh before continuing, "I promise you that they won''t truly die. We''ll have to expend a massive price to do this, and it would even deprive us of the ability to contact you for some time, but your mother and I can''t just stand by and watch as you suffer through such crushing grief. I''ll take them away, and they''ll be able to live on in another world. You have to listen to everything I say, as in exchange for taking them away, the price that I have to pay is that I won''t be able to continue to remain by your side and protect you. From here onward, we can only wait for you to come and find us."


    Tang Wulin took a moment to compose himself. When Old Tang had told him that they wouldn''t die, his heart had been filled with an indescribable sense of elation.


    "Ever since your mother and I had you and your sister, I''ve always been proud of my past efforts as my past accomplishments can allow you and your sister to refer to me as your father with pride in your hearts." Tears suddenly began to well up in Old Tang''s eyes as he spoke. He was the only one who knew just how much pain and hardships his own words contained.


    "My name is not Old Tang; Old Tang is only a fragment of my will that I instilled within you to help you and protect you as you developed. You''ve grown up now, and I can finally contact you through the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. My call was reciprocated by that fragment of my will, and I was finally able to sense your existence. On that day, your mother and I were happy beyond belief. Now, it''s time for me to tell you who your birth father is. My name is Tang San; I am the founder of the Tang Sect, one of the five godly monarchs of the Divine Realm, the Sea God, and the Asura God. Above all else, I am your father!"


    Tang San''s words struck Tang Wulin''s heart like a series of heavy hammer blows, and he stared at the golden-armored figure standing before him in a flabbergasted manner. This god-like figure, no, this godly figure, was his Tang San?


    He was the founder of the Tang Sect, and had been verified by countless historians to have become a god. It was him who had led the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire to overthrow the Soul Hall. He was also the leader of the first generation of Shrek Seven''s Monsters and created the glorious legacy of Shrek Academy.


    It was none other than this legendary figure who was standing before Tang Wulin and telling him that he was his father.


    "As incredible as this sounds, it''s all true. Your name was given to you by me. Your mother''s name is Xiao Wu, and your name, Tang Wulin, means Tang San and Xiao Wu''s little Qilin. You also have a big sister called Tang Wutong, which means Tang San and Xiao Wu''s little Phoenix.  [1] The four of us should''ve lived as a happy family in the Divine Realm, but a massive disaster forced us apart. The Divine Realm was swept to a faraway place by space-time turbulence, and we had to sacrifice almost everything, including two godly monarchs, to ensure that the Divine Realm wasn''t completely destroyed.


    "During the process, the Golden Dragon King that had been sealed deep within the Divine Realm managed to escape before attempting to destroy the entire Divine Realm. It took us all of our power to restrain it, but prior to its death, it injected all of its destructive essence into you, and you were only a newborn at the time. It did so to try and kill you, but I sealed its energy into 18 parts within your body to prevent it from being able to kill you right away. However, there''s immortal spirit energy in the Divine Realm, and as long as you''re in the Divine Realm, you''ll automatically continue to absorb this energy.


    "That would speed up the rate at which the seals are broken, which would''ve undoubtedly resulted in your demise; even I wouldn''t have been able to save you. Hence, we had no choice but to leave you on the Douluo Continent; only when you''re outside of the Divine Realm would the seals come undone at a slower rate. As long as we can make it back in time and you become powerful enough when that time comes, there''s always a chance for us to nullify the Golden Dragon King''s violent energy together."


    [1] [In Chinese mythology, phoenixes reside on mythical trees known as Tong Trees, so, the "tong" character became directly correlated with the phoenix.]

 Chapter 1272: Wait For My Return, My Child

    "Your Golden Dragon Spear was given to you by your big sister; our entire family misses you greatly."


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at Tang San in a stunned manner. He now finally knew where his Golden Dragon King bloodline had come from. The man standing before him was his father? And this man was a god?


    Tang San''s body was beginning to fade away, but his eyes were still filled with a multitude of emotions as he appraised Tang Wulin. He raised a hand to try and touch his own son, but his hand merely phased through Tang Wulin''s body.


    At this point, the grief in Tang Wulin''s heart had abated significantly, and he became more and more astonished and in disbelief. Everything had struck him far too abruptly, and he was struggling to keep up.


    "I don''t have much time left; this type of inter-realm communication requires a vast amount of expenditure. The passing of your foster parents dealt you an extremely heavy blow, and your personality is a lot like mine, so I had to come back in order to ensure you didn''t fall into depression. However, as a result, Old Tang will no longer be by your side, and the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud will also break, so you''ll have to rely on yourself from now on. I''ll do everything in my power to help the Divine Realm return to its former place, but I don''t know how long that''s going to take.


    ¡°We''ve also encountered many problems on our end; we''ve clashed with other Divine Realms, and in order to return, we have to borrow their power. Hence, I hope that you can continue to better yourself and find a way to control the energy within the Golden Dragon King seals. The Golden Dragon King essence will undoubtedly bring you extreme peril, but it''s also a brilliant opportunity. As long as you can remain true to yourself, you''ll be able to forge a path that''s different from the one I took. Wait for us; your mother and I will definitely return, and when that time comes, we''ll be reunited.


    "Alternatively, if you can become powerful enough to create your own Divine Realm someday, then you can come to find us. I''ll be leaving the coordinates of the Divine Realm in your mind, and you''ll be able to access this information once you break through your limits and become a god. Don''t worry about your foster parents; I''ll save them, and they''ll live here in the Divine Realm. When you reunite with us, you''ll also be reunited with them, so don''t be depressed; you need to face your future with a brave and resilient heart.


    "If I didn''t appear today, I was afraid that you wouldn''t be able to repress your Golden Dragon King power. Thankfully, the power of the Golden Dragon King will grant you a virtually immortal body, so even if you become contaminated by its power and are driven to insanity, don''t give up on yourself. Trust me, we will come back and find you no matter what."


    Tang San''s voice was filled with absolute confidence as he spoke, and at this point, his body had almost completely faded into nothingness.


    "Make sure to work hard in cultivating Millennium White Clouds; that''s one of my most powerful abilities. If you can master the secrets of time someday, you''ll be able to transcend beyond the Douluo Continent even without the Divine Realm, and create a small world of your own. Aside from Millennium White Clouds, I''ll teach you another technique; this one revolves around the secrets of space."


    Tang San waved his right hand through the air as he spoke, and the golden trident that he was holding flew directly toward Tang Wulin as a streak of light. A golden trident insignia immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s forehead, and the two seemed to be resonating with one another.


    The oncoming golden trident vanished into Tang Wulin''s glabella, and he was struck by a sharp pain and a sense of heaviness that made him utter a muffled groan. At the same time, a vast amount of information appeared in his mind.


    Tang San''s indistinct voice rang out one final time. "Look after yourself and wait for our return, my child. By the way, be wary of the silver..."


    His voice abruptly cut off there, and everything disintegrated into darkness.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had been constantly spinning, and a series of golden halos proliferated outward within his mind. The words "Unpredictable Storm" also appeared within his consciousness.


    Everything felt so dense and heavy...


    ......


    "He''s awake!" An elated voice rang out, followed by some indistinct chatter.


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes with some difficulty, and it took him a moment to focus his gaze. There was currently an empty feeling in his heart, as if something had disappeared.


    As his consciousness returned to him, his power also came back, and he could hear the powerful beating of his heart and dragon core.


    He reflexively sat up, and was immediately greeted by the sight of several pairs of concerned eyes.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were all there, and they were accompanied by Long Yuxue, Sima Jinchi, A''Ruheng, and the others, filling the entire room to the rafters.


    "Boss, death is a part of life; you have to look ahead and not allow yourself to wallow in depression," Xie Xie said in a careful manner as he stood beside Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin turned to look at him, then turned to everyone else before asking in a slightly hoarse voice, "Where are my parents?"


    "After I used my healing abilities to transform their bodies into jade, a burst of suction force suddenly erupted from your glabella. A strange vortex that was filled with countless specks of starlight then appeared and sucked their bodies away. Do you know why that happened?" the Holy Spirit Douluo asked with furrowed brows.


    Tang Wulin shuddered upon hearing this, and he could still feel that sense of heaviness in his mind. At the same time, the memories of what had just transpired quickly returned to him.


    "Father..."


    ......


    Tang San stood up with some difficulty, and his face was slightly pale while his long blue hair was completely dull and devoid of luster, but there was a pleased look in his eyes as he appraised the two jade-statue-like bodies before him.


    Standing beside him was a woman in a pink dress with a long ponytail that trailed down her back, and her eyes were filled with urgency. As soon as Tang San stood up, she latched onto his arm to offer him her support, and asked in a gentle voice, "Are you alright, Brother San?"


    "I''m fine, I''m just a little weak from overexertion," Tang San replied as he stroked her long hair.


    "How''s Linlin? What does he look like now?" the woman asked in a trembling voice as tears welled up in her eyes.


    "He''s great. His eyes are very beautiful and look just like yours, and he''s about as tall as I am now. He also holds relationships and bonds in extremely high regard, just like we do. From the fragment of my will that I instilled in him, I''ve received a lot of information about him; I''ll tell you all about it. I''ve told him that his foster parents will be fine so his heart''s been put at ease. Don''t worry about him; the Dragon God once possessed an immortal body, which is why we could only seal the Golden Dragon King in the first place.


    "Linlin may come under the influence of the Golden Dragon King''s will, but its will was severely damaged by my Asura Sword, so as long as he can remain true to himself, he''ll be able to retain his own will. The most difficult times are already behind us. When we return, our entire family will be reunited."


    Tears began to stream down the woman''s face. "But how long is that going to take? I haven''t even had a chance to take a good look at him ever since he was born. I miss you so much, Linlin!"


    Tang San gently wound his arms around her, and sighed, "I do too. I didn''t even get a chance to hear him call me father before I was forced to return due to overexertion."


    Xiao Wu abruptly raised her head. "Brother San, the battle of the gods is imminent; will you be ok?"


    A proud and confident smile appeared on Tang San''s face. "Don''t worry, I must win for the sake of my son!"

 Chapter 1273: Spacing Out Again

    "Are you really alright, Boss?" Xie Xie asked for the nth time as Tang Wulin slurped down his 15th bowl of noodles.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Xie Xie and ignored his question as he asked, "When is Hall Master Li getting here?"


    "We already contacted him, so he should be here soon." No matter how Xie Xie looked at him, he couldn''t help but feel that there was something different about Tang Wulin.


    It had been a few hours since he had woken up, and much to everyone''s surprise, he had been extremely calm. There was no outpouring of grief for his deceased parents. Instead, he merely sat by himself and spaced out for half an hour before attending to his various duties, such as contacting Li Yun to prepare for the negotiation with the Dou Spirit Empire''s royal family.


    However, the calmer he appeared, the more concerned everyone was. They were all well aware of what type of person Tang Wulin was, and how much he cherished his friends and family. The near-death ordeal suffered by his father had given rise to his transformation into the crimson dragon that had destroyed the entire Spirit Pagoda branch; how could he possibly be so calm following the deaths of both of his parents? Could this be the calm before the storm?


    Aside from how uncharacteristically calm he was, Tang Wulin would occasionally space out and stare into nothingness, but strangely enough, that didn''t seem to have affected his appetite in the slightest.


    "Let''s go." After finally having his fill of noodles, Tang Wulin stood up and strode out of the room, followed closely by Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    All of them had accompanied him at all times ever since he had woken up in case he lost control over his own emotions again, but during the past few hours, Tang Wulin had behaved in a manner that couldn''t have been more normal.


    However, the more normal he appeared, the more abnormal he seemed to everyone.


    In reality, Tang Wulin''s emotions were currently in an extremely tumultuous state. During the short span of just three days, he had encountered far too many inconceivable things, and he was reeling from the enormous influx of information. In particular, the deaths of his foster parents and the revelation that his birth parents were a pair of legendary gods still had him feeling as if he were in a dream.


    Everything seemed to be so far-fetched and unrealistic. There were no longer any traces of his foster parents and birth father left in this world, and he wouldn''t even be able to see Old Tang ever again.


    The knowledge that his foster parents weren''t going to die had soothed his pain and grief significantly, but it did nothing to assuage the sense of loneliness that he had been left with.


    In the face of this myriad of tumultuous emotions, he needed time to reflect and adjust, which was why he seemed to be so calm on the outside. He needed time for introspection and to come to terms with his far-fetched reality.


    At the very least, there was one thing that he was sure of; there was indeed another spear technique that had been left in his mind. On top of that, something extra seemed to have appeared in his mind, and the feebleness and emotional instability he had experienced in the aftermath of his crimson dragon transformation had all been erased.


    The Ice God Bead was no longer as active as before, and he had become more steadfast both in heart and in mind. Tang Wulin could sense that the things his father had injected into his mind had resulted in an improvement in his spiritual power. This wasn''t a quantifiable improvement. Instead, it was something that was far more profound and unfathomable.


    However, at this point, Tang Wulin had no interest at all in examining these changes; he was far too busy thinking about what his foster parents had told him before they had passed away, as well as the fact that his father was a godking.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were standing in a semi-circle in front of the seated Tang Wulin.


    "Is Boss spacing out again? Is he really alright?" Xu Xiaoyan asked in a low voice.


    Yue Zhengyu prompted, "Captain, if you''re sad, then cry; we''ll always be with you."


    Yuanen Yehui sighed, "His heart is dead, so he''s incapable of coming to terms with his own grief. This is a very bad thing. It would be much better for his mental state if he could go on a rampage to vent his emotions like he did at the Spirit Pagoda."


    Tears began to well up in Xu Lizhi''s eyes. "I feel so bad, but I can''t do anything. Those accursed Evil Soul Masters! They better pray that I don''t get my hands on them!"


    Tang Wulin continued to sit on his chair, staring off into space in a completely unresponsive state. The Holy Spirit Douluo had examined his body earlier and confirmed that he was fine. Otherwise, everyone would be even more worried.


    Xie Xie squatted down in front of Tang Wulin and waved a hand in front of Tang Wulin''s face. Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he swatted Xie Xie''s hand aside before looking up, and he was quite surprised to see that everyone was standing in front of him in a semi-circle formation.


    "What are you all doing?"


    A wry smile appeared on Xu Xiaoyan''s face. "You can''t keep bottling everything up like this, Captain. How about we go somewhere and have a sparring match?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I''m fine; sorry for making all of you worry. It''s just that there are some things I can''t wrap my head around. There''s a very good chance that my parents aren''t dead; they were simply taken somewhere else. I don''t know the exact details myself, so I''m feeling rather confused. I just need some time to think, so there''s no need to worry about me."


    Everyone exchanged bewildered glances upon hearing this. The Holy Spirit Douluo had said that Tang Wulin''s parents had inexplicably disappeared, and now, Tang Wulin was proclaiming that his parents were most likely still alive; these pieces of information left them at a loss for what to think.


    Xu Lizhi asked in a careful manner, "Boss, weren''t your parents on the path to recovery? What happened to them?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this before a cold light flashed through his eyes. There was clearly someone behind his parents'' death, and judging from what the Holy Spirit Douluo had said at the time, she was most likely aware of who the perpetrator was. Regardless of where his parents had been taken and whether they were going to live, he had to avenge them no matter what!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin abruptly rose to his feet. "I''m going to find Her Majesty; she definitely knows who killed my parents. At the time, I heard her mention something called a Blood Demon Curse!"


    "Let''s all go together! We''ll all help you avenge your parents," Yue Zhengyu said in a determined and supportive manner.


    Right at this moment, the Holy Spirit Douluo''s voice sounded within the room. "That man''s name is Blood Demon, and his Douluo Title is Blood Curse. Even as far as 40 years ago, he was already a rank 97 Hyper Douluo, and he''s a particularly heinous being among Evil Soul Masters. He cultivates using the blood of others, and every time he cultivates, he requires sacrifices of hundreds of lives. His powers are extremely peculiar, and I once encountered him with Brother Ming by my side. At the time, Brother Ming had already killed him, but he clearly managed to survive somehow. His Blood Demon Curse is his signature ability, and he uses it to control his blood slaves.


    "Every time he wants to control someone, he would take a drop of their blood to complete the curse. Even from tens of thousands of kilometers away, he can instantly kill the cursed subject at will. He''s an extremely insidious individual, and it seems that he''s most likely become a high-ranking member of the Holy Spirit Cult. The situation surrounding your parents is very strange, Wulin. If you know that they''re not dead, then it would do you a lot of good to relax. No matter what situations arise, we''ll all be here to support you and share your burden.


    "You already carry the heavy responsibilities placed on your shoulders by Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, so you can''t allow yourself to be crushed no matter what. If there''s something that you don''t understand, then reveal it to us, and perhaps we''ll be able to help you analyze the situation. Of course, if those matters concern secrets that you don''t want to disclose, then you can choose not to tell us. Brother Ming chose you as his successor, and I trust his judgment. Just be yourself, and we''ll always support you."


    A hint of warmth welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart upon hearing the Holy Spirit Douluo''s words. In the wake of Yun Ming''s death, the Holy Spirit Douluo''s heart had completely died, yet she chose to live on for the sake of completing Yun Ming''s dying wish, as well as for the people who were still alive and needed her help. She was able to remain strong despite her crushing circumstances, so he had no excuse to be weak.

 Chapter 1274: The Dou Spirit Royal Palace

    "I''m fine, Your Majesty; we have to begin carrying out our mission right away."


    The Holy Spirit Douluo didn''t say anything further, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the scorching battle intent burning in Tang Wulin''s eyes.


    Dou Spirit Empire royal palace.


    Xue Yuntian was reading the report in his hand with tightly furrowed brows. He was the king of the empire, but his life was far from carefree. The Dou Spirit Empire had been founded before the Star Luo Empire, but during the first 1,000 years since its founding, the entire empire was almost focused wholeheartedly on increasing its own population.


    Back then, less than 3,000 people had managed to escape and make it to this continent alive, and such a trifling population made it very difficult to ensure the continuation of the empire''s lineage.


    In order to increase the birth rate, there were many who married their close relatives, and as a result, there was a period of time in the Dou Spirit Empire''s history where many infants had birth deformities. However, not all inbred children suffered from birth deformities; there were normal children being born as well. As such, the population of the Dou Spirit Empire gradually began to increase over time.


    In the earliest days, this continent was completely bleak and barren, so everything had to begin from scratch. The soul beasts here were rather similar to those on the Douluo Continent, but aside from them, there weren''t even any native humans dwelling on the continent, and that was the main reason behind why it had been so difficult for the empire to develop.


    After arriving on this continent, the royal family changed its surname to "Xue" to signify a new beginning. Everything was finally beginning to progress in the right direction.


    However, all of the people who had moved to the Dou Spirit Empire had once been the most traditional of Douluo Continent inhabitants. Back when they had left the Douluo Continent, soul technology had already been advancing at a rapid rate, and the Dou Spirit Empire had been destroyed precisely because of their shortcomings when it came to soul technology. After coming here, the Dou Spirit Empire had expended the majority of its efforts to increase its population, engage in reclamation of barren land, and to constantly build up the empire''s infrastructure. As such, they still hadn''t made any progress when it came to soul technology.


    The Douluo Federation had very strict confidentiality measures in place when it came to soul technology, mostly to target the Star Luo Empire, but it was undoubtedly the case that the Dou Spirit Empire was also being restricted by these measures. If it weren''t for the soul tools that the Tang Sect had sent to the empire in secret, they would most likely be lagging even further behind.


    However, the support that the Dou Spirit Empire received from the Tang Sect was also limited; the sect only sold finished soul tools to the empire, yet never sold any soul technology.


    This was a rule that the Tang Sect had always abided by, and the reason for this was very simple: they didn''t want to see the emergence of an empire powerful enough to oppose the federation as that would inevitably lead to a war. The Tang Sect only wished to help the Dou Spirit Empire continue to survive on this continent, but they didn''t want to instigate a world war.


    As such, the soul technology that the Dou Spirit Empire possessed remained extremely limited. Only after the passage of several thousand years did they finally begin to make some progress in this area, but they still couldn''t hold a candle to the federation.


    Hence, when news spread of the Douluo Federation''s intention of starting a war, the royal family instantly became extremely anxious. As the king of the empire, there were often nights where Xue Yuntian wouldn''t get even a single wink of sleep. He was well aware that with the disparity between the powers of the Dou Spirit Empire and the Douluo Federation, their empire most likely wouldn''t even be able to last 10 days if a war were to break out.


    The Star Luo Empire had already forged an alliance with the Dou Spirit Empire, but the two continents were separated by a vast distance, so it would be very difficult for them to reinforce one another. What was even more damning was that the main area of disparity between the federation and the two empires lay in their respective navies. If the federation wanted to cut off the connection between the two empires, it would be a simple task for them.


    In this desperate situation, Xue Yuntian could only turn to the two most powerful organizations in existence, the Spirit Pagoda and the Tang Sect, for assistance. The Tang Sect readily agreed, but the Spirit Pagoda''s attitude was more ambiguous, and they took advantage of the opportunity to extort the Dou Spirit Empire for resources. The Tang Sect also wanted resources, but they were willing to exchange weapons for those resources. In contrast, the Spirit Pagoda was offering only an empty promise in exchange for resources. They had told the royal family that once they received the requested resources from the Dou Spirit Empire, they would convince the federation to delay the deployment of its troops.


    After extensive discussions with the high-ranking officials of the empire, it was decided that the Tang Sect''s offer was more viable. At the very least, they were offering something substantial, whereas the Spirit Pagoda was offering something completely intangible. In the context of a war between continents, were promises really reliable? Even with the massive influence that the Spirit Pagoda had on all three continents, Xue Yuntian didn''t dare to believe what they were proposing.


    However, up to this point, the Tang Sect still hadn''t provided an exact list of what they were going to be giving to the Dou Spirit Empire. All they had told the royal family was that the Tang Sect Master would visit them in person and bring them what they needed.


    Not long ago, Xue Yuntian had received news that the Eastsea Fleet had been attacked, and that as a result, war was imminent. Ever since then, he had felt like an ant scurrying around on a hot frying pan, yet the reinforcements from the Tang Sect still hadn''t arrived.


    After a torturous wait, there was finally some good news; the people from the Tang Sect had arrived. However, instead of meeting the royal family at Heaven Dou City as had been agreed upon, the Tang Sect Master traveled to Spirit Wave City instead for some reason.


    Xue Yuntian had already prepared himself and was willing to cast aside his pride as the king to go and meet the Tang Sect Master in Spirit Wave City, but just as he was about to set off, he received a piece of news that had his jaw dropping straight onto the ground. The Spirit Pagoda headquarters in Spirit Wave City had been destroyed, and less than a third of the people in the entire headquarters had managed to escape.


    Xue Yuntian was naturally aware that there was some conflict between the Spirit Pagoda and the Tang Sect, but at the very core, the two were supposed to be extremely closely connected. After all, the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, had once been a member of the Tang Sect, as well as one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. As such, despite their differences, the two organizations had still been exercising restraint.


    So what was going on this time? Why was it that as soon as the Tang Sect Master set foot on the Dou Spirit Continent, the Spirit Pagoda headquarters was destroyed?


    There was no way that Xue Yuntian would believe that the Tang Sect didn''t have anything to do with this. Even if he wanted to destroy the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, he would have to deploy a huge number of troops from the imperial military. Of course, he wouldn''t dare to do that anyway.


    The Spirit Pagoda was filled with countless powerful beings, yet the Dou Spirit Empire didn''t even have a single Limit Douluo or four-word battle armor master among their ranks; the most powerful being they had at their disposal was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo. Even when it came to red mechas, there were only three on the entire Dou Spirit Continent, and that was nowhere near enough to match the high-end offensive forces of the Spirit Pagoda.


    What exactly was the Tang Sect doing?


    "Your Majesty, we''ve received news from the Tang Sect." An elderly servant rushed into the palace while holding a report in his hand.


    "What is it?" Xue Yuantian immediately stood up to meet him, completely lacking the regal composure that he normally had.


    The servant''s hands were trembling slightly as he offered the report to Xue Yuntian, who immediately began to read the report.


    "We''ve discovered Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult inside the Spirit Pagoda branch. On top of that, we have concrete evidence that the Spirit Pagoda is colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, and that they''re developing a secret medicine that will be used to target the Dou Spirit Empire. Hence, we have destroyed the branch.


    The Tang Sect takes full responsibility for this incident."


    "Clatter!" The report fell to the ground. Xue Yuntian was completely gobsmacked as he murmured to himself, "This world has gone insane!"


    It was one thing for him to speculate that the Tang Sect was responsible for the incident, but it was another matter entirely to receive an open admission from the Tang Sect. This meant that they were officially declaring war on the Spirit Pagoda! This was definitely news that could shake all three continents!


    The Tang Sect seemed to have gone into a recessive state in the Douluo Federation, but after working with the Tang Sect for so long, Xue Yuntian was naturally aware of just how powerful this super organization was. If there were any organization in this world that could threaten the Spirit Pagoda, then it could only be the Tang Sect. And now, they were declaring war on the Spirit Pagoda in the most brutal fashion imaginable.


    Could it be that the Spirit Pagoda really had been colluding with Evil Soul Masters? Furthermore, the medicine that had been mentioned in the report was supposedly being developed in Spirit Wave City, which was virtually a stone''s throw away from his royal palace! A chill immediately ran down Xue Yuntian''s spine. This was like having an assassin sleeping on his bedside!


    The Spirit Pagoda was no less powerful than the Tang Sect, and even more importantly, they currently held greater significance in the world. Almost all Soul Masters had to forge connections with the Spirit Pagoda as they wouldn''t be able to progress in their cultivation without the soul spirits provided by the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Spirit Pagoda hadn''t actively done anything to control these Soul Masters who were dependent on them, but what if they accrued a certain level of power?


    The Spirit Pagoda was able to make a promise to delay the deployment of the federation''s troops as they held some seats in the federal parliament. Under these circumstances, it wouldn''t be strange for the Spirit Pagoda to develop greater ambitions.


    If the Tang Sect were telling the truth in this report, and the Spirit Pagoda really was colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, then that would be downright terrifying! This meant that the Spirit Pagoda would''ve definitely played a role in the bombing of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters, and it would also explain why the Tang Sect was striking back in such an extreme fashion.

 Chapter 1275: Being Decisive When Decisiveness is Called For

    The Spirit Pagoda was already this powerful; if they were colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult as well, then who would be able to stop them? Perhaps even the Battle God Hall and the Tang Sect combined wouldn''t be a match for them.


    What was the Spirit Pagoda''s ultimate objective for colluding with these Evil Soul Masters?


    Countless thoughts were flashing through Xue Yuntian''s mind at once, and he was struck by a splitting headache. He felt as if the empire were a rootless lotus leaf that could be capsized at any moment.


    "Your Majesty, you have to make a decision!" the servant urged. This servant had been by Xue Yuntian''s side ever since the latter was just a child, and he had a lot of power in the royal palace. On top of that, he was extremely loyal to Xue Yuntian, and was the person that Xue Yuntian trusted the most.


    "What should I do?" Xue Yuntian closed his eyes in a pained manner.


    "Your Majesty, a decision must be made now. There is no turning back for us; if we don''t pledge our allegiance to one of two sides, then..." The servant''s words cut off here, but Xue Yuntian was naturally aware of what he wanted to say.


    He took a deep breath before instructing in a solemn voice, "Contact Li Yun and tell him I want to meet the Tang Sect Master right away. I''ll go to Spirit Wave City to see him. Hurry!"


    Xue Yuntian had managed to fight off competition from many princes before finally ascending to the throne, and he certainly hadn''t done so by being fickle and indecisive. He had already decided that the Spirit Pagoda could no longer be trusted. Regardless of whether the Tang Sect was telling the truth or not, the fact of the matter was that their headquarters had been destroyed, and war was likely to break out at any moment. Under these circumstances, the only way he could save his empire was to rely on the Tang Sect. He couldn''t allow the Dou Spirit Empire to fall into ruins in his hands!


    He had already decided to cast aside his dignity to meet the Tang Sect Master in Spirit Wave City. No matter what conditions the Tang Sect proposed, he would have no choice but to agree as he had to prioritize the preservation of his empire above all else.


    Spirit Wave City.


    "Sect Master, we''ve just received news from the Dou Spirit Empire royal palace that King Xue Yuntian will be coming to see you in person in Spirit Wave City," Li Yun informed in a respectful manner.


    He was actually opposed to Tang Wulin''s decision to announce that the Tang Sect was responsible for the destruction of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters. Prior to the incident, he would''ve definitely offered verbal opposition to this decision as this would undoubtedly place the Tang Sect under a lot of peril and scrutiny.


    However, ever since he had witnessed the truly horrific side of Tang Wulin on that day, he had developed a sense of fear toward this young sect master. As such, he didn''t offer some token opposition, but quickly caved upon Tang Wulin''s insistence.


    Of course, Tang Wulin had thought about this decision extensively, and wasn''t just doing something rash and hotheaded. Firstly, announcing responsibility for the Spirit Pagoda incident was meant as a form of intimidation to the royal family. He was letting them know that there was no other power the Dou Spirit Empire could rely on aside from the Tang Sect.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin was intentionally allowing this news to travel back to the federation. The Spirit Pagoda''s position in the federation was extremely secure, and they would definitely use all types of methods to try and prosecute the Tang Sect, but the Tang Sect was currently in a completely underground state, so he didn''t have to worry about them in the short term. Even if a very small proportion of people were to believe that the Spirit Pagoda had indeed colluded with the Holy Spirit Cult, then that would be quite a heavy blow to their reputation.


    After all, many people would still choose to trust the Tang Sect, and the recent bombing of the Tang Sect headquarters and Shrek Academy was more than enough to capture people''s imaginations.


    From the moment that Tang Wulin had discovered Evil Soul Masters in the underground research facility of the Spirit Pagoda, he knew that the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda were inevitably going to have to oppose one another. As such, he was taking the initiative to declare war on the Spirit Pagoda in the most emphatic way possible. The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had to rally up the people that were willing to support them. This wasn''t exactly the perfect opportunity to make this rallying call, but taking into account the imminent war and the fact that the Tang Sect was now lurking in the shadows, thereby making it a lot less vulnerable than before, he still decided to launch this attack on the Spirit Pagoda. At the very least, this would result in some controversy that would cause the Spirit Pagoda many headaches.


    At the same time, this decision was also related to his breakthrough to the Soul Douluo level. His powers had always been far beyond those of his peers, and it was very important that he possessed sufficient power as that would allow him to do more things and face more severe repercussions.


    Furthermore, he was confident that by making this announcement, he would definitely be able to complete the objective for this trip far more smoothly. The Dou Spirit Empire was actually quite a simple case; this was a weak empire that didn''t really have many choices. In contrast, the Star Luo Empire was a lot more powerful. If the war were to truly break out, then the Star Luo Empire would be the federation''s main target. As such, it would not be an easy task for him to convince the Star Luo Empire to comply with the Tang Sect''s conditions.


    "Inform the Dou Spirit Empire royal family that we''ve already set off to meet His Majesty in Heaven Dou City," Tang Wulin instructed.


    Li Yun faltered slightly upon hearing this. Could it be that Tang Wulin hadn''t announced responsibility for the Spirit Pagoda incident to force the Dou Spirit Empire to bow its head to the Tang Sect?


    However, he quickly saw the wisdom in Tang Wulin''s decisions.


    Forcing the king to bow his head and come to Spirit Wave City would naturally place the Tang Sect on a superior pedestal when it came to negotiations, but taking into consideration the long-term relationship between the Tang Sect and the Dou Spirit Empire, it would be best not to take things too far.


    Announcing responsibility for the Spirit Pagoda incident was a show of power, while expressing a willingness to go to the royal palace to meet the king was a show of compassion; this was a far better combination than to simply force the Tang Sect''s will onto the Dou Spirit Empire through brute power alone. It seemed that his sect master was not only far more powerful than his cultivation rank suggested, he was also wise beyond his years!


    Thus, they set off for the royal palace. Two soul buses drove onto the highway, and Tang Wulin sat in the front seat of one of them with his eyes closed.


    There were currently countless thoughts racing through his mind, and he was doing his best to collect his own thoughts.


    There were some things that he had to set aside for now as the top priority was to prevent this war. Following some careful consideration, he discovered that all he could do was believe everything that he had seen earlier to be true. His foster parents had been saved and taken away by his birth father, who was a legendary historical figure and a true god.


    Only by believing this would he be able to minimize the impact that everything had had on him.


    As such, he carefully recalled everything that Tang San had told him and committed those words deep into his memory.


    After analyzing everything that Tang San had told him, he was able to summarize several important points. Firstly, his birth parents hadn''t abandoned him; they had left him on the Douluo Continent out of necessity and for his own survival. Furthermore, he had to constantly maintain control over himself to oppose the will of the Golden Dragon King, but at the same time, he didn''t have to be overly concerned about the Golden Dragon King as its bloodline would make him very difficult to kill.


    After that came the inheritance and words of advice.


    The more Tang Wulin delved into these memories, the more he became convinced that everything had been real. Tang San''s words had provided a perfect explanation for why the power of the Golden Dragon King was in his body, and why it had been sealed up in 18 parts.


    Tang Wulin had asked the Holy Spirit Douluo whether he and his foster parents shared the same bloodline, and after some hesitation, she had confirmed that they were indeed unrelated by blood.


    This meant that they really were his foster parents, and that they hadn''t just said that to console him. With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s mood brightened significantly.


    He was still struggling to wrap his head around the concept that his father was a godking, and at the same time, he had been extremely touched by Tang San''s declaration that everything he did was so that his children could be proud of him.


    It was just as Tang Ziran had said, one could only absolutely trust and rely on oneself.

 Chapter 1276: If Hes My Father, Then My Mother...

    From Tang San''s words, Tang Wulin could sense his love and concern.


    He had attempted to contact Old Tang, and sure enough, Old Tang seemed to have completely disappeared along with that strange spiritual plane.


    Fatherly love was truly an awe-inspiring thing. If Tang San really were his father, then that would truly be something that he could be proud of.


    Tang Wulin was naturally well versed in the history of Tang San; this was a history lesson that almost everyone learned in school, regardless of whether they were in the Douluo Federation, or the Dou Spirit Empire, or the Star Luo Empire.


    This was because that man was an irreplaceable legend. He established the Tang Sect, and all of the Tang Sect''s incredible abilities, including the Mysterious Heaven Method, Purple Demon Eyes, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, Mysterious Jade Hands, and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, had been invented by him.


    He had led all of the Soul Masters on a revolution against the Soul Hall, which had been at the height of its powers at the time. In the end, he had become a god and defeated the Soul Hall Master, who had also ascended to become a god.


    In those legends, he was much more like a god that descended from the heavens than a normal human. Even the legendary Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao couldn''t really be said to rank alongside Tang San as the two were simply on different levels.


    Furthermore, Tang San had informed him that he had an elder sister by the name of Tang Wutong. Why was it that this name sounded rather familiar? Tang Wutong? Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong?


    Tang Wulin immediately sat bolt upright upon making this connection. This name wasn''t as renowned as those of Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San and Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, but she was still a legendary figure in history as she was Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao''s wife, as well as one of the Shrek''s Seven Monsters. It was said that for a very long time, she had been even more powerful than Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao.


    If this were all true, then it would mean that his father had stood at the very pinnacle of the continent 20,000 years ago, while his sister and brother-in-law had founded the Spirit Pagoda 10,000 years ago.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to share this information with his friends; it was just that no one would believe him! They''d most likely all diagnose him with some kind of mental disorder developed from the trauma of his parents'' passing.


    With that in mind, a wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. However, at the same time, the grief in his heart finally completely vanished.


    If his birth father were a god, then his foster parents would most likely truly be saved. What could be greater news than that?


    All he had to do was become more powerful and await their return. His father had told him that he would definitely bring back the Divine Realm and return to his side. When that time came, he would also be reunited with his mother. He couldn''t help but wonder what his mother was like. If his father really were Tang San, then his mother would be Soft Bone Douluo Xiao Wu.  [1]


    Tang Wulin''s mind suddenly wandered back to the statues that once stood beside the Sea God''s Lake of Shrek Academy. One of them had been a statue of his mother, and it had been right beside his father''s statue!


    Tears began to well up in his eyes at this thought.


    In just a short few days, Tang Wulin had experienced a myriad of emotions, and he had evolved as a result. The revelation surrounding his foster parents and birth parents, the uncovering of what was most likely the most incredible secret on the entire Douluo Continent, and his crimson dragon transformation, as well as the improvement in his cultivation rank; all of this had changed him in subtle ways, and he was like a wyrm that was gradually evolving to become a dragon.


    Li Yun was seated near Tang Wulin, and his heart was filled with amazement as he looked at the young sect master. Tang Wulin hadn''t put on any disguise, but he struck the onlooker with a sense of illusion. Li Yun could clearly see what he looked like, but he felt as if he would forget Tang Wulin''s appearance as soon as he looked away.


    In the past, he had been able to determine that Tang Wulin''s spiritual power was at the Spirit Domain realm, but now, he was completely unable to ascertain the magnitude of Tang Wulin''s spiritual power.


    His long black hair seemed to be emanating a faint golden sheen even without being illuminated by any light, and he was merely sitting still on his seat, yet the light rays around him seemed to be warping and refracting on their own. What was most jarring to Li Yun was that the current Tang Wulin bore the appearance of an immovable and insurmountable mountain.


    Not only had Li Yun discovered these changes, everyone else had also noticed this, particularly Shrek''s Six Monsters, who were most familiar with him. Ever since his crimson dragon transformation, Tang Wulin had become rather unfathomable in their eyes.


    Spirit Wave City really was very close to Heaven Dou City; after driving for just over an hour, the city walls of Heaven Dou City had already become visible in the distance.


    City walls had become redundant on the Douluo Continent long ago, yet they still stood in the Dou Spirit Empire, and the sight of them made everyone feel as if they had been transported back to ancient times. On the Douluo Continent, only in an ancient city like Heaven Dou City could similar constructions be seen. Unfortunately, many of these historical relics had been destroyed by the terrorist attack from the Holy Spirit Cult. At a glance, the Heaven Dou City seemed to be no smaller in area than the Heaven Dou City of the Douluo Continent.


    As the capital city of the Dou Spirit Empire, it had a very majestic and imposing appearance.


    Vehicles that arrived at the city gate had to undergo an examination before they were granted passage. The examination process for vehicles of the Tang Sect was very simple; the guards standing in front of the city gate merely glanced at the permits adhered to the front of the vehicles before quickly allowing them through.


    Tang Wulin noticed that the equipment being used by the Heaven Dou City soldiers were quite modernized. All of them wore modern uniforms and were equipped with weapons like soul lasers, and they didn''t seem to be all that different from the soldiers on the Douluo Continent.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think of Long Yuxue''s heavy ion laser gun; that was a true piece of cutting-edge technology! It was extremely effective against both mechas and biological targets, and it was a very good thing that it couldn''t be mass-produced yet. Otherwise, there would truly be no hope for the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire.


    By the time the two buses arrived in Heaven Dou City, there were already a dozen or so official vehicles of Heaven Dou City waiting for them. The cars surrounded the two buses, and the roads seemed to have been sealed in anticipation of their arrival, so the drive into the city was very smooth. 20 minutes later, they arrived at the Dou Spirit Empire royal palace. There was a red carpet that was 30 meters wide leading all the way from the main gate of the palace right to the two buses. There was a row of guards standing on either side of the red carpet, but in contrast with the guards stationed outside the city gate, these ones were wearing antiquated suits of armor that shimmered under the sun.


    All of them were also holding antiquated weapons, and if it weren''t for the fact that the immersion had been broken by the soul vehicles present, it would really be as if they had returned to a palace of ancient times.


    Standing in front of the red carpet was a middle-aged man in a lavish golden robe with a crown on his head, and standing directly behind him were close to 100 high-ranking Dou Spirit Empire officials.


    Li Yun got off the bus first, then stepped away to the side before making a respectful inviting hand gesture. Only then did Tang Wulin emerge from the vehicle.


    His long black hair was draped over his shoulders, and his eyes were as bright as stars. He wore an antiquated white robe, and there was a golden mask-like emblem on the front of the robe. The top half of the mask was a crown, and one half of the emblem was solid, while the other half was hollow. This was none other than the symbol of the Tang Sect, and it represented an almighty figure who oversaw the balance of Yin and Yang.


    Only the Tang Sect Master and Battle God Hall Master had the right to wear robes with this golden symbol engrave upon them. Tang Wulin was already extremely handsome to begin with, and the dashing white robes only further complemented his exceptional looks.


    In the instant that Xue Yuntian caught sight of Tang Wulin, he was suddenly struck by the feeling that he was appraising a tall mountain rather than a human being. Tang Wulin clearly hadn''t released any of his aura, but there was somehow still an ethereal and unfathomable air about him.


    The powers of a Soul Master could never be judged from their outward appearance and age, so the peculiar disposition that Tang Wulin gave off immediately made Xue Yuntian take him even more seriously. He needed a powerful ally more than anything else, so the more powerful Tang Wulin was, the more reassured he would feel.


    Xue Yuntian stepped forward with all of the high-ranking officials behind him, and Li Yun said, "Sect Master, this is His Majesty, the king of the Dou Spirit Empire."


    Tang Wulin gave Xue Yuntian a slight nod. "Greetings, Your Majesty, I am Tang Wulin of the Tang Sect."


    Xue Yuntian extended a hand toward Tang Wulin with a smile. "I''ve heard much about you, but it''s completely different seeing you in person; you look so young, Sect Master!"


    Tang Wulin merely smiled and shook Xue Yuntian''s hand. Following his crimson dragon transformation and the awakening of his spiritual domain, it was now impossible for anyone to ascertain his true age from his outward appearance alone. This was the result of a qualitative improvement in power.


    "Please come with me, Sect Master." Xue Yuntian made an inviting hand gesture, and all of the officials behind him immediately parted to open up a path.


    The situation in the Dou Spirit Empire was very dire, and the king was making no effort to hide his urgency. He didn''t introduce any of the high-ranking officials to Tang Wulin, and immediately led him into the royal palace.


    [1] [Was gonna go for Soft "Boned" Douluo as concurrent with previous installments of the DD series, but it felt a little too suggestive for comfort LOL]

 Chapter 1277: Intimidation

    Neither of the two said anything as they walked toward the palace. Tang Wulin remained calm and collected, but he could sense that there were at least two Hyper Douluos accompanying Xue Yuntian, and both of them were constantly appraising him. However, what was rather disappointing to him was that there wasn''t even a single Limit Douluo among their ranks. Even those two Hyper Douluos were only around the same power level as Li Yun, and their spiritual powers definitely hadn''t reached the Spirit Domain realm, which meant that there would be no hope for them to become Limit Douluos.


    Generally speaking, one''s spiritual power would reach its peak at around 40 years of age. After that, spiritual power would naturally cease to develop, then gradually regress with age.


    Hence, if one wanted to reach the Spirit Domain realm, the best time to do so was before turning 40. This was why the vast majority of Limit Douluos forged resounding reputations at very young ages. If one couldn''t attain a certain level of power by the time they turned 40, then it was most likely the case that they would never be able to become a Limit Douluo.


    The Hyper Douluos only scrutinized Tang Wulin for a short while before averting their eyes with astonishment in their hearts.


    There was no doubt in their minds that Tang Wulin was at the Spirit Domain realm, and they couldn''t ascertain his cultivation rank, so they naturally assumed that he was a Limit Douluo. After all, the Spirit Domain realm had always been the symbol of a Limit Douluo. Only Li Yun was aware of the fact that Tang Wulin was only a Soul Sage.


    Of course, unbeknownst to him, Tang Wulin had already made a breakthrough to the Soul Douluo level in the past few days, and he had failed to notice this due to the disruption from Tang Wulin''s spiritual domain.


    "I hope you had a smooth journey, Sect Master. I heard that you made a visit to Spirit Wave City before coming here." Xue Yuntian was the one to break the silence first.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I did. I received some information and decided to pay a visit to Spirit Wave City first, and the reality there truly was very disheartening. Never did I think that the Spirit Pagoda would actually be colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult. I''m sure you''ve heard about the disaster that befell Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters; our Tang Sect will most definitely be exacting our revenge on all of the perpetrators behind that attack. I had always been perplexed about how the Holy Spirit Cult had managed to transport so many of its members and so many powerful soul missiles into Shrek City despite the thorough border checks; the answer is very apparent to me now.


    Xue Yuntian clearly didn''t think that he would receive such a direct and straightforward reply, and he couldn''t help but ask, "Does that mean we''ll be declaring war on the Spirit Pagoda, Sect Master?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "We''re not the ones declaring war; the Spirit Pagoda had already declared war on us from the moment they decided to bomb our Tang Sect headquarters. Have you considered their incentives for doing this, Your Majesty?"


    Xue Yuntian''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Please enlighten me."


    Tang Wulin turned to look at Xue Yuntian, and all of a sudden, a voice rang out in the ears of the latter. "Please enlighten me."


    This voice didn''t belong to Tang Wulin. Instead, it was his own voice. Furthermore, not only had he heard the voice, all of the surrounding officials had also heard it.


    The two Hyper Douluos accompanying Xue Yuntian were particularly stunned by this development, and one of them exclaimed, "Was that time reversal?"


    Xue Yuntian''s heart jolted with shock upon hearing this. He really did feel as if time had been reversed for an instant just now.


    Was this time control? Could it be that this Tang Sect Master''s martial soul had something to do with time? If so, then that would be downright terrifying! This was a Limit Douluo with the ability to control time; even if he had more than two Hyper Douluos by his side, Tang Wulin would still be able to take his life with ease if he so pleased!


    Li Yun was just as astonished by this development. He was also a Hyper Douluo, and he had interacted with Tang Wulin more than the king and his entourage, so he had a greater sense of what had just happened. In the instant that Tang Wulin had turned toward Xue Yuntian, Li Yun could clearly sense that a strange force field had settled over the surrounding area. Even though it had only managed to warp time for an instant, that was still enough to send chills running down his spine.


    Even with his lofty cultivation, he had also been frozen for an instant. This was no longer just a matter of time control; there was most likely an element of spatial manipulation as well. Just what was Tang Wulin''s spiritual domain? It was no wonder that he was able to kill Hua Tao so easily. Could it be that he had never been a Soul Sage to begin with? Li Yun was seriously starting to doubt his own judgment.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Ambition."


    He had answered Xue Yuntian''s question as if that instant of time reversal had never even happened.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and said in a grim voice, "Some people are never content with what they have!"


    "Indeed," Xue Yuntian chimed in. For some reason, even though he was the king of an empire, he was starting to feel like a subordinate to Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin continued, "However, we can''t let them get what they want. The Spirit Ice Douluo founded the Spirit Pagoda so that humans and soul beasts could coexist in harmony, and so that soul beasts can rebound from the brink of extinction. However, as time has passed, the Spirit Pagoda has strayed further and further away from the Spirit Ice Douluo''s initial vision. They''ve domesticated soul beasts and captured countless of their numbers under the guise of providing them with a habitat that''s nothing more than a glorified cage.


    "Now, there are almost no soul beasts to be seen on the entire Douluo Continent, yet they''ve only become more brazen and are now colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult. The Tang Sect isn''t the police, but we will always stand on the side of justice; we won''t allow such an insidious organization to do as they please."


    Tang Wulin''s words were extremely impactful, and everyone was immediately struck by the urge to agree with him.


    This was spiritual intimidation!


    All of the powerful beings present who were at or above the Titled Douluo level could sense the powerful spiritual fluctuations released by Tang Wulin. This wasn''t a direct attack, but it could influence one''s thoughts in a very subtle way.


    Aside from the few most powerful beings among the king''s entourage, all of them couldn''t help but nod in agreement with Tang Wulin''s words.


    As the king of an empire, Xue Yuntian naturally possessed more mental fortitude than others, and after a brief moment during which he was influenced by Tang Wulin''s spiritual intimidation, he quickly returned to his senses. "How should we right the Spirit Pagoda''s wrongs, then, Sect Master?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "An illness must be treated, and the same applies for an organization that has lost its way."


    At this point, they had already strode through the main gate of the palace, where a series of vehicles were awaiting them. Xue Yuntian and Tang Wulin got onto one of the vehicles together, while everyone else got into the other vehicles.


    Xue Yuntian decided to not let any of the powerful beings in his entourage accompany him. He knew that with the powers displayed by Tang Wulin, no one would be able to stop Tang Wulin if he wanted to kill him anyway, so he may as well call off his guards as a gesture of trust and sincerity.


    "I truly didn''t think that the Spirit Pagoda would stoop to something like this! Are they trying to replicate what the Soul Hall did 20,000 years ago? How would that benefit them? No matter how much they try to hide their ultimate objective, they''ll eventually be exposed and targeted from all sides," Xue Yuntian said in a perplexed manner.


    He was truly unable to understand. The Spirit Pagoda was already the world''s most powerful organization, and their wealth and status were both unmatched; what did they stand to gain from destroying the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy? Could it be that they had some other objective?


    "They''re doing this for a chance at ascension," Tang Wulin sighed.


    "Ascension?" Xue Yuntian turned to Tang Wulin with a surprised look in his eyes. An answer gradually took shape in his mind, and his heart rate immediately began to quicken.

 Chapter 1278: Convinced

    Everyone had a fear of death, and everyone had entertained the thought of what it would be like to attain immortality. As the king of an empire, he had naturally had the same thoughts in the past.


    "That''s right, they''re doing this to pursue that unfathomable goal," Tang Wulin said, "This is something that I only figured out for myself after the event. I''m sure you''re very familiar with the history of the Soul Hall, right? There was a legendary final battle between the Tang Sect Master, Tang San, and the Soul Hall Master, Bibi Dong. At the time, both of them had already become gods. In the end, Bibi Dong was defeated and killed, and her godseat was destroyed, while Tang San ascended to the Divine Realm."


    Xue Yuntian nodded in response. "Indeed, there are extensive records on this chapter of history in the data vaults of the royal family."


    Tang Wulin continued, "Then I''m sure that you noticed that both Tang San and Bibi Dong had become gods. Why was it that Bibi Dong was able to reach that level as the Soul Hall Master? And why is it that following their ascensions, only Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao has managed to successfully follow in their footsteps? The Spirit Pagoda is already standing at the very pinnacle of the entire continent. If they want to advance even further, then their only possible objective would be to take control over the entire federation, or even the entire Douluo Star.


    "Aside from the objective of ascension, I can''t think of any other reason that would fuel such strong ambitions. As for how they''re going to take that final step, I don''t know, but I''m sure they have some methods they want to try. Also, there''s something else I can disclose to you. Have you heard of the Douluo Continent''s Blood God Legion?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Xue Yuntian shook his head in a befuddled manner. "Does such a legion exist in the Douluo Federation? Are they very powerful?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "They are indeed very powerful, and they''ve existed for 6,000 years. You''ve never heard of them as they''ve been constantly guarding a secret. On the Douluo Continent, there is a spatial passageway that links us to another plane. That plane is more powerful than ours, and it''s constantly attacking us in an attempt to destroy and devour us. The Blood God Legion was founded for the specific purpose of keeping that plane at bay. 6,000 years ago, the legion was founded and consisted of a conglomeration of powerful beings from Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Battle God Hall, and the Spirit Pagoda. Since then, these heroes have been guarding the spatial passageway between the two planes for generation after generation."


    "Is that true?" Xue Yuntian was staring at Tang Wulin in a stunned manner.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "It is. I''m telling you this secret as the threat posed to our plane by the abyssal plane is constantly mounting in magnitude. This isn''t because the abyssal plane itself has become more powerful. Instead, it''s because they''ve found allies in our world who wish to invite the abyssal plane into our plane to destroy and devour everything. Those allies of theirs are none other than the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult! The Holy Spirit Cult is naturally doing this for their own benefit, and their objective has to be congruent with that of the Spirit Pagoda; they also wish to ascend beyond this world.


    "Looking at the past trend, it seems that people are able to ascend once every 10,000 years, and it''s been around 10,000 years since Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao ascended to the Divine Realm. I have reason to believe that the Spirit Pagoda is colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult because the method of ascension they''re pursuing involves the destruction of the entire Douluo Star. If I hadn''t discovered members of the Holy Spirit Cult in the Spirit Pagoda, I still wouldn¡¯t have been able to connect the dots, but now, I can see that there''s an extremely high likelihood that this is the case.


    "The Blood God Legion was only just barely able to force back the last abyssal tide, but what about next time? If the Spirit Pagoda and Holy Spirit Cult joins forces to release the abyssal plane into this world, then the demise of the entire Douluo Star will become virtually unavoidable."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly as he continued, "It''s undoubtedly the case that they''ve already strayed onto the wrong path. Due to the destruction of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters, they''ve become the undisputed number one superpower on the Douluo Continent, and the Eagle Faction is also firmly holding the upper hand in the federal parliament, which is why a war is now imminent. If a war were to break out, the Holy Spirit Cult would undoubtedly be the main beneficiary. They crave death, and widespread death would greatly benefit their cultivation.


    "Hence, I have reason to believe that there are definitely members of the Holy Spirit Cult lurking on both the Dou Spirit Continent and the Star Luo Continent. As such, our fundamental objective is to prevent this war from happening so the Holy Spirit Cult won''t become any more powerful than it already is. At the same time, we hope to unite more powers of justice to work toward protecting our homes together when the need arises."


    Xue Yuntian stared at Tang Wulin in silence for a long while.


    He had considered many ways through which Tang Wulin would try to persuade him, but never did he think that Tang Wulin would disclose such an astonishing collection of information to him.


    As the Tang Sect Master, he definitely wouldn''t lie about something like the abyssal plane. If things really were as Tang Wulin theorized, then the Dou Spirit Empire was at risk of being destroyed at any moment!


    The Holy Spirit Cult and Spirit Pagoda were going to destroy the entire continent to create an avenue for ascension! Just the mere thought of this sent chills running down his spine.


    Even though Tang Wulin was only providing his own speculation, his theories were very logically sound.


    Indeed, there was no other way to explain why the Spirit Pagoda would be pursuing more power despite how immensely powerful it already was, and why it was colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult.


    He had already sent people to conduct a thorough investigation into the destruction of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, and within the wreckage, he had found many pieces of evidence that would be very damning to the Spirit Pagoda.


    The few remaining members of the Spirit Pagoda had started a protest and demanded that the royal family provide them with protection, as well as reconstruct the Spirit Pagoda. Xue Yuntian had already agreed to their demands, but now that the Tang Sect had announced responsibility for the attack, he had no choice but to place the entire original site of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters into lockdown, and he had no intention of returning the site to the Spirit Pagoda anytime soon.


    After that, Tang Wulin didn''t say anything further; he merely sat in his seat and looked out at the scenery within the palace around him.


    The royal palace of the Dou Spirit Empire was truly a masterpiece of construction and craftsmanship, and there was always something new to see. All of the buildings and pavilions were extremely uniquely and intricately designed, and it was truly like paradise.


    Compared to a world of steel and concrete, Tang Wulin much preferred this more antiquated and natural setting, and he was especially fond of the pure and fresh air here.


    Xue Yuntian''s mind was in a state of complete turmoil. During the past few days, he had considered many, many things. He had worked with the Tang Sect for many years, and with the Tang Sect''s immaculate reputation, he had no reason to doubt Tang Wulin''s words.


    Even more importantly, following the destruction of the Spirit Pagoda''s Dou Spirit Empire headquarters, he no longer had any choice. On top of that, the conditions offered to the Dou Spirit Empire by the Tang Sect were clearly more beneficial to the empire.


    His top priority now was to prevent the imminent war and ensure the survival of the Dou Spirit Empire; everything else would have to come after that.


    The vehicles drove on for close to 20 minutes before finally stopping in front of a lavish and grandiose palace.


    Xue Yuntian got out of the vehicle first, then voluntarily strode over to Tang Wulin''s side before making an inviting hand gesture. The fact that he was willing to make such a gesture even though he was the king of an empire was already indicative of many things.


    Tang Wulin smiled and nodded, and just as he was about to get out of the vehicle, Xue Yuntian suddenly said in a decisive manner, "Sect Master Tang, I''ve made my decision. On behalf of the Dou Spirit Empire, I accept all the conditions proposed by your Tang Sect and would like to forge a collaborative relationship between our two parties."

 Chapter 1279: Success

    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback by this. They hadn''t even reached the negotiation phase yet, so there was still an opportunity for Xue Yuntian to contest the conditions proposed by the Tang Sect. Never did he think that Xue Yuntian would agree in such a decisive fashion even before they had strode into the palace up ahead, which was clearly the venue where the negotiations were supposed to take place.


    A wry smile appeared on Xue Yuntian''s face. "We have no other choice, Sect Master Tang. We are willing to support the Tang Sect, but at the same time, I hope the Tang Sect will support us in an unreserved fashion as well. I can guarantee that the Dou Spirit Empire will always be a firm ally of the Tang Sect."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin nodded before extending a hand toward Xue Yuntian.


    Xue Yuntian reached out to shake his hand. "You must be wondering why I agreed so quickly, right? Aside from the fact that we have no other alternatives, your analysis just now suddenly made me realize something; neither the Tang Sect nor Shrek Academy have ever been overly ambitious, despite the power they''ve held throughout history. However, the Spirit Pagoda has shown through their actions that this does not apply to them. I would rather ally myself with a positive force that tries to protect, rather than an ambitious one that tries to destroy."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Thank you for your kind words, Your Majesty; I''m sure you''ve made a wise decision. I''m here not just on behalf of the Tang Sect, but also on behalf of Shrek Academy, and I''d like to thank you on behalf of the academy as well. Shrek Academy hasn''t disappeared; it will be rebuilt in the near future."


    "Shrek Academy hasn''t disappeared?" Xue Yuntian was stunned to hear this.


    Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response. "That''s right. Shrek Academy has never ceased to exist. The academy that has been the number one academy on the Douluo Continent for 20,000 years won''t be erased that easily. Truth be told, aside from the Tang Sect Master, I''m also the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy."


    Xue Yuntian stared blankly at Tang Wulin for a long while before a smile finally appeared on his face. It was the first time in many days that he had smiled in such a genuine and relieved manner.


    "The Dou Spirit Empire would be more than willing to become the new site for Shrek Academy. If you''d like, you can even build the new Shrek Academy here in my royal palace."


    Tang Wulin could see a fanatical look in Xue Yuntian''s eyes as he spoke. As the king of an empire that held tradition in extremely high regard, there was nothing more that he craved for his empire than powerful Soul Masters.


    Tang Wulin smiled in response. "I promise you that when Shrek Academy is rebuilt, we''ll definitely set up a branch in the Dou Spirit Empire."


    ......


    It had been three days since the submarine had departed from the Dou Spirit Empire.


    Even as Li Yun accompanied Tang Wulin and the others onto the submarine, the astonishment on his face still hadn''t completely faded. Tang Wulin had used his domain to isolate his and Xue Yuntian''s voices, so no one was aware of the content of their conversation. However, the fact of the matter was that the Dou Spirit Empire had agreed to all of the Tang Sect''s conditions, and additionally, they had even added a clause on their agreement that allowed the Tang Sect to use the imperial military anytime as they saw fit.


    This was an incredible clause that basically bound the Dou Spirit Empire together with the Tang Sect as a single entity, yet this was a non-binding agreement for the Tang Sect.


    Li Yun had already been won over by Tang Wulin''s powers, but after that "negotiation", he was even more in awe of Tang Wulin''s diplomatic abilities. The changes he had set into motion were simply incredible! In the past, Xue Yuntian had been determined to sit on the fence between the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda; who could''ve imagined that the destruction of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters would prompt such a drastic change of heart?


    The rest of the process was very simple. The things promised to the Dou Spirit Empire by the Tang Sect weren''t on the submarine. Instead, they were being carried by Tang Wulin. Xue Yuntian had been completely gobsmacked as Tang Wulin released tons upon tons of resources into a massive warehouse right before his astonished eyes.


    He was like a walking arsenal, and the weapons that he was carrying were so terrifying that if they were to explode all at once, the entirety of Heaven Dou City would be erased from the face of the Douluo Star!


    Thus, the Dou Spirit Empire leg of the mission had been completed with resounding success. There was a slight delay due to the detour to Spirit Wave City, but the rest of the process had been so smooth that they had completed this leg of the journey earlier than anticipated.


    The second leg of the journey was going to be far more important, and potentially far more troublesome. Compared to the Dou Spirit Empire, the Star Luo Empire was far more powerful, they were a lot more confident in their ability to ward off an invasion from the Douluo Federation. At the very least, they had the home continent advantage, and they were certainly far better equipped to protect themselves than the Dou Spirit Empire was.


    Of course, the Tang Sect actually held a loftier status in the Star Luo Empire than in the Dou Spirit Empire. The Spirit Pagoda was also held in high regard in the Star Luo Empire, but it was distinctly ranked below the Tang Sect.


    Tang Wulin and his friends had all been to the Star Luo Empire in the past, and they had even met the emperor of the empire before. However, it was exactly because of this that their mission was going to be even more difficult. Xue Yuntian was convinced that Tang Wulin was an old monster who was using some kind of ability to preserve a youthful appearance, but the emperor of the Star Luo Empire had met Tang Wulin before.


    The emperor''s beloved daughter had even confessed her love to Tang Wulin once in Shrek Academy, and this would most likely pose another obstacle to completion of their objective.


    Hence, prior to making this trip, the Amorous Douluo had told Tang Wulin far more about the Star Luo Empire than the Dou Spirit Empire. The latter could be intimidated into forging an alliance with the Tang Sect, but the same did not apply to the Star Luo Empire.


    The Star Luo Empire only believed in absolute power, so if he wanted to make them agree to the Tang Sect''s conditions, then he had put his power on display. This was going to be a true test for Tang Wulin and his friends, and Tang Wulin went into seclusion as soon as they returned to the submarine.


    Prior to doing so, he had requested Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui to prioritize the completion of his suit of three-word battle armor. There were only a few parts left of his three-word battle armor that were yet to be completed, and once he obtained a full suit of three-word battle armor, his powers would be drastically enhanced once again.


    This wasn''t required back in the Dou Spirit Empire, but it was definitely going to be a necessity in the Star Luo Empire.


    Back when they had come here the first time, they had competed in the Continental Young Elites Tournament and clinched the championship title. In reality, their opponents at the time were more powerful than them from an overall perspective. Since then, they had all reached far greater heights than before, but their opponents would''ve undoubtedly developed significantly as well. Tang Wulin was very much looking forward to meeting them again.


    In order to convince the emperor of the Star Luo Empire, it was most likely the case that he and his friends would have to display their abilities.


    This was already the third day in a row that Tang Wulin had been sitting silently on his bed, and he was completely immersed in his own world.


    Ever since he had "met" Tang San, his mind had constantly felt very heavy and foggy. It was as if too much information had been injected into his mind all at once, resulting in an information overload.


    This overload made him feel as if his head had been filled with lead, so the first thing he had to do was to digest and absorb all of this information so that it didn''t hamper his condition.


    After that, he was going to integrate and consolidate the power boost he had received from breaking the 12th Golden Dragon King seal, as well as attaining a spiritual domain.


    These drastic improvements weren''t necessarily a good thing. In reality, Tang Wulin had somewhat swindled the king of the Dou Spirit Empire. If a real battle had erupted, he wouldn''t even have been able to control his own newfound powers.


    The improvements he had made on this occasion had simply been far too drastic, and even after meditating for three days, Tang Wulin still hadn''t made any substantial progress. He simply didn''t know where to start.


    It seemed that improving any particular aspect first would impact other areas. If he were to digest and absorb the information in his mind first, that would most likely take too long.


    If everything that his birth father had told him were true, then this information contained the inheritance of a god, and it definitely wouldn''t be a quick process for him to process it in its entirety.


    The journey from the Dou Spirit Empire to the Star Luo Empire was a lot shorter than that between the Douluo Continent and the Dou Spirit Empire; it would only take less than a month for them to reach their destination.


    This amount of time definitely wasn''t enough for him to absorb all of the information in his mind, and that made it very difficult for him to further improve his spiritual domain as doing so would inevitably make him tap into that information.


    He was afraid that he would enter a deep meditative state that would render him unable to attend to the task at hand.

 Chapter 1280: An Unintentional Piece of Enlightening Advice

    As for the powers he attained from breaking his 12th Golden Dragon King seal and his breakthrough to the Soul Douluo level, cultivating those powers on their own was also an unfeasible option due to one issue or another. The power of the Golden Dragon King was too violent, so he wouldn''t be able to unleash it to his heart''s content in this submarine. Following some internal assessment, he gained a rough understanding that the sixth Golden Dragon King ability he had attained was most likely the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre that he had unleashed once before. This was a very powerful ability that could enhance all his powers.


    As for his eighth soul skill, that had been provided by the Beautiful Silk Tulip, and he had integrated it during the past three days. However, just like the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre, he was unable to unleash this soul skill here in the confinement of the submarine.


    With that in mind, he slowly opened his eyes with a frustrated look on his face. What could he do? Three days had already passed, and he had only just completed a basic examination of the changes that had taken place within his body. He could sense that the things that Tang San had given him seemed to be able to play a role in fortifying the Golden Dragon King seals, making his last six seals noticeably more stable and resolute.


    After that, he tried to assess his own bodily condition, but he simply didn''t know where to start.


    He jumped down from the bed and did some stretches. At the very least, his body had completely recovered. Continuing to think about this matter would only drive him further into a corner, so it was a good idea to go out for some exercise and for a change of mood. In the worst-case scenario, he would just have to solely cultivate his soul power to consolidate his new cultivation rank. At the same time, he could slowly experience the changes brought to him by his spiritual domain and new abilities. This would be rather slow and inefficient, but at the very least, it would circumvent the possibility of making any errors.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin became slightly more relaxed. He emerged from his cabin, and the first thing that he thought of was naturally to visit the cafeteria.


    During his three days in seclusion, he hadn''t eaten any food. Even though he was situated in a submarine, the environment around him was still rich with water elements as they were deep in the ocean. Furthermore, he could sense that ever since his Sea God father had appeared before him, his affinity with the ocean had noticeably improved. He didn''t know whether this was an actual improvement or merely a placebic change, but he could feel it, nonetheless. With the nourishment from the water elements, he didn''t need to eat, but as a veteran foodie, he had never been one to be able to resist the nagging of an empty stomach.


    The cafeteria was quite large, but it wasn''t yet mealtime, so it was completely empty, and the workers were busy preparing for the next meal.


    "Sect Master," someone greeted with a respectful bow as soon as they caught sight of Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin smiled and gave the worker a slight not. "Is there anything to eat?"


    "What would you like to eat? We''ll prepare it for you right away," the worker said in a respectful manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Anything is fine. I''ll have some seafish; don''t we have fishing equipment on this submarine? It would be a waste not to have some fresh seafood in a submarine. Prepare some more than you normally would; I have quite a large appetite."


    Right at this moment, a boisterous voice sounded. "Make that two portions."


    Tang Wulin didn''t even have to look to know who it was, and he turned around as he chuckled, "Senior Disciple Brother."


    A''Ruheng strode into the cafeteria while rubbing his large bald head, then sat down beside Tang Wulin with a smile on his face. "Looks like you''ve got a pretty good appetite! Everyone else is so worried about you, but I knew you wouldn''t go down so easily. I''ll eat with you; how about we have a contest to see who can eat more?"


    As the heir of the Body Sect, A''Ruheng was scared of no one when it came to an eating contest.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I''m not going to compete with you. I don''t need to eat too much now, but your stomach is like a bottomless pit, so we''ll only be wasting food by having an eating contest. During our return journey, we may not have anything to eat other than sea creatures."


    In order to ensure safety, the submarine wasn''t going to be stopping at any docks during their journey. This was their all-important backup base, so they couldn''t afford for it to be exposed.


    A''Ruheng smiled as he said, "You look like you''re completely fine now. You were really badass on that day. By the way, have you mastered the congenital secret method as well? The transformation you underwent was kind of similar to that of the integration between the congenital secret method and one''s martial soul. Your bloodline power must''ve also played a role in that as well, right?"


    "The congenital secret method?" Tang Wulin faltered momentarily before turning to A''Ruheng, and his eyes slowly lit up.


    A''Ruheng was growing rather disgruntled under his intense gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that?"


    "Why didn''t I think of that? Thank you, Senior Disciple Brother! I''m going back to my cabin now." Tang Wulin jumped up in an excited manner as he spoke before quickly rushing out of the cafeteria.


    "Oi, aren''t you going to eat?" A''Ruheng yelled in a flabbergasted manner.


    "You can have my portion as well," Tang Wulin said before quickly disappearing from view.


    A''Ruheng''s words had reminded him that all of his abilities used his body as a basis. The Body Sect''s congenital secret method was extremely powerful as it could enhance one''s body to its very limits. It could bring out all of one''s latent potential, and that naturally also included the refinement of one''s mind. To put it more accurately, it involved strengthening one''s brain. Once the brain became strengthened, the mind would also be enhanced. This wouldn''t result in a direct improvement in one''s spiritual power, but it would greatly increase the mind''s capacity for spiritual power, and that was exactly what Tang Wulin needed right now.


    He had already achieved initial success in his cultivation of the congenital secret method, but that was still far away from A''Ruheng''s complete mastery. Tang Wulin had originally intended to take some time to cultivate the congenital secret method, but he had been sidetracked by the Millenium White Clouds that Old Tang had bestowed upon him. Only after hearing what A''Ruheng had just said did Tang Wulin suddenly realize that in his efforts to pursue greater powers, he had forgotten the basics. The most important thing for him was to continue to improve his own body.


    If he could master the congenital secret method, then both his physical resistance and mental capacity would be greatly enhanced, and that would benefit him significantly when it came to integrating all of his abilities.


    After breaking his 12th Golden Dragon King seal, Tang Wulin''s current body was actually already more powerful than that of A''Ruheng. The power one attained from cultivating the congenital secret method largely had to do with the cultivator themselves, and even though it was undoubtedly the case that A''Ruheng was an exceptional talent, there was no way he could match the power of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline. Tang Wulin may not have been nourished by a vast amount of medicines, but the Golden Dragon King bloodline was far more nourishing than any combination of medicine, so it wouldn''t be a very difficult task for him to achieve full mastery of the congenital secret method. Furthermore, an enhancement in his body would also benefit him in assessing and integrating his many abilities.


    With that in mind, he naturally immediately abandoned the meal and rushed back into his cabin right away to commence his congenital secret method cultivation.


    Having achieved initial success in the congenital secret method, his entire body had been refined, yet in order to attain full mastery, he would have to target each important part of his body for minute refinement. This process would start from his heart and internal organs, followed by his meridians, muscles, bones, and skin. The most complex organ, which was the brain, would be saved for last.


    This refinement process was just like forging, and it was an extremely lengthy one that had to be treated with extreme caution for normal cultivators; it was very likely that excessive refinement could result in irreversible damage.


    However, for Tang Wulin, the process was made a lot simpler due to some of the unique advantages he possessed. Firstly, his spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Domain realm, so his grasp over his own body was naturally far superior to the average cultivator. On top of that, with how powerful his body was, his only concern was that he wouldn''t be able to refine it to a severe enough extent.


    As he began to cultivate, a powerful heartbeat rang out, and he controlled his dragon core to circulate his blood essence all throughout his body. The blood essence then combined as one with his soul power and surged through his internal organs to commence the refinement process.


    Soon, he discovered that there was indeed no need for him to be concerned that his internal organs wouldn''t be able to withstand the influx of soul power. His Golden Dragon King bloodline had already enhanced his internal organs to an extreme extent, and with his incredible self-regenerative abilities, there was no need for him to worry about taking things too far.


    The heart was the core of the human body; not only was it essential for survival, it was also the source of one''s power.


    Hence, the first place that Tang Wulin began to refine was none other than the heart.


    The sounds of his beating dragon core and heart overlapped and resonated with one another, sending a dull rumbling sound reverberating throughout his entire cabin. Thankfully, this was a special cabin that isolated all sound. Otherwise, someone of a lackluster cultivation rank could easily experience abrupt heart failure or even have their hearts explode when walking past the cabin.

 Chapter 1281: Arriving at the Star Luo Empire Again

    Thus, Tang Wulin fully immersed himself into his cultivation, his recently increased soul power and bloodline power was also being fused into his body in the process.


    Close to 30 days passed by in a flash, and Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters finally arrived on the Star Luo Continent for the second time.


    When everyone reached the shore and stepped onto the soil of the Star Luo Empire for the first time, Xie Xie couldn''t help but take a few extra glances at Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin had been cultivating virtually the entire time he was on the submarine, so no one had seen him aside from A''Ruheng.


    Upon seeing Tang Wulin again, Xie Xie was struck with the strongest impression. Following the evolution of his martial soul, the twin dragons had combined as one to form the Space Time Dragon. The Space Time Dragon was the adored child of space and time, so he was now able to use the powers of space and time to enhance his own powers.


    Ever since Tang Wulin had awakened his spiritual domain, Xie Xie had always felt like he would lose control over space and time in Tang Wulin''s presence.


    To put it simply, he was merely using the power of space and time, whereas Tang Wulin was controlling that power. This made Xie Xie rather dejected.


    Prior to departing from the Dou Spirit Empire, Xie Xie was always struck by a very powerful sense of oppression whenever he saw Tang Wulin. This wasn''t because he was fearful of Tang Wulin; it was just that his martial soul was always completely suppressed when he was in Tang Wulin''s presence.


    However, just as everyone was exiting the submarine together, Xie Xie suddenly realized that Tang Wulin had changed.


    Compared to his past self, the current Tang Wulin was more simple and unremarkable. In the past, his lack of control over his own spiritual domain made him appear very mysterious and unfathomable in everyone''s eyes, but he seemed to have returned to normal now.


    However, if one were to carefully appraise him, then they would be struck by a sense of blurriness. Furthermore, only someone who had reached the cultivation rank that Xie Xie and the others had would be struck by this feeling. If a normal person were in their place, they wouldn''t see anything remarkable about Tang Wulin, but if they were to look at him again, they would find that he was somehow slightly different from last time.


    Could it be that Tang Wulin had managed to restrain his own aura in under a month? That was incredible!


    Of course, Tang Wulin hadn''t actually managed to completely control his newfound powers. No matter how supremely talented he was, a time span of less than a month was simply too short to make any substantial changes.


    During his time on the submarine, he had merely completed one cycle of bodily refinement with the congenital secret method, thereby allowing him to just barely restrain his aura from seeping out of his body.


    At this rate, it would most likely take him another year before he could fully master the congenital secret method. Of course, when that time came, he would most likely also have to face the issue of making a breakthrough to the Titled Douluo level.


    With the improvements in his powers, the fusion of his Golden Dragon King bloodline, the increase in his spiritual power, and the blessings from the plane, cultivation now felt like an extremely smooth process to him. The difference between this and the arduous nature of the initial phase of cultivation journey was simply night and day.


    He still had to bear the pressure of his Golden Dragon King bloodline potentially running rampant and causing catastrophic consequences, but in terms of power alone, his rate of improvement had already far exceeded that of his friends.


    At this point, he was the member of the Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters with the highest cultivation rank. Yuanen Yehui came a close second with her rank 79 soul power, which meant that she was only one step away from also becoming a Soul Douluo. This was partially due to the fact that she was slightly older than everyone else, and her twin martial souls also gave her a distinct advantage when it came to soul power cultivation.


    As for everyone else, they were all between the ranks 75 and 78. After becoming a Soul Sage, it was inevitable that one''s rate of progression would slow down. Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters were already making extremely fast progress, but Tang Wulin had still managed to catch up from behind and was now leading the pack. In terms of combat prowess, the gap between him and Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters was even larger than the disparity in their cultivation ranks.


    They had chosen to arrive on the northern part of the Star Luo Empire, and the sea breeze here was quite cold.


    Aside from Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi, the entirety of the Blood Dragon Squad and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali were also in accompaniment. The mecha pilots sent out by the Tang Sect didn''t immediately set foot on the continent. They would arrive on the continent later at a different place, then gather in Star Luo City to await further instructions.


    There were only three people who had come to greet Tang Wulin and everyone else. The trio was led by a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties. He had a faint smile on his face, and he immediately flew over to welcome everyone.


    However, the first thing that Tang Wulin noticed was the two people behind him. The duo consisted of a man and a woman who only appeared to be slightly older than Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Most importantly, all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters recognized these two people.


    "Which one of you is the sect master?" the middle-aged man asked with a smile. He had a rather peculiar figure. To put it in simple terms, his height seemed to be concurrent with the diameter of his waist. That enormous stomach of his presented quite an astonishing sight for everyone.


    His eyes weren''t very large, so they almost disappeared when he smiled, and he had his hands placed over his giant stomach, presenting a very benevolent and harmless demeanor.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his gaze from the duo behind the middle-aged man, and replied, "I am. My name is Tang Wulin."


    "You?" the duo behind the middle-aged man exclaimed before he had a chance to reply, and they were both staring at Tang Wulin with incredulity in their eyes.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Do I not look like I fit the role? Long time no see, Hua Lantang, Ye Zhi."


    That''s right, these were two of the Monster Eight Kings, Wolf King Hua Lantang, and Pagoda King Ye Zhi.


    Both of them had left Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters with strong impressions in the past. In particular, Ye Zhi had inherited the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda martial soul, which was one of the most powerful tool martial souls on the entire Douluo Continent.


    After all these years, they had clearly matured a lot, but their physical appearances hadn''t changed much. Both of them were currently staring at Tang Wulin with their eyes wide and their mouths gaped open.


    They weren''t all that surprised to see Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters come here as representatives of the Tang Sect. After all, they had witnessed just how exceptional Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had been in the past.


    However, never did they think that this past opponent of theirs, one whom they''d even defeated in the past, would have climbed to such lofty heights since their last encounter. Tang Wulin had become the Tang Sect Master! This was downright absurd!


    In their recollection, Tang Wulin had only been able to defeat Long Yue through sheer luck. In their hearts, the Tang Sect Master was supposed to be a peerless being and one of the most powerful cultivators on the entire Douluo Star.


    Hence, they were all in complete disbelief. However, Tang Wulin was the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; even if Shrek Academy didn''t exist now, surely Tang Wulin wouldn''t make a joke about something like this.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Do I not look like I fit the role?"


    "You don''t!" Ye Zhi immediately blurted out.


    The middle-aged man turned to her with a stern glance before turning back to Tang Wulin and extending a respectful salute. "Supervisor of the Tang Sect''s Star Luo Empire branches, Hu Jie, pays his respects to the sect master. Please forgive them for their rudeness; the fact that you were made sect master is strictly confidential information in our sect, so they were completely unaware of this."


    Tang Wulin shook his head in a nonchalant manner. "It''s alright, we''re all old friends. Greetings, Hall Master Hu."

 Chapter 1282: Hu Jie

    Compared to Li Yun, Tang Wulin knew more about Hu Jie as the Amorous Douuo had given him a very detailed introduction of this man.


    Hu Jie was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, and his powers and cultivation rank were below only the Heartless Douluo and the Amorous Douluo in the entire Tang Sect. The most remarkable thing about him was his martial soul; he also possessed a body martial soul, and he was actually Body Sect Master Mu Ye''s uncle-teacher.


    There was quite a complicated story detailing how he had left the Body Sect and joined the Tang Sect. To summarize, he left due to the pain of an unrequited love.


    In his younger days, Hu Jie had had a crush on Mu Ye''s mother. At the time, he was the most exceptional disciple of the Body Sect, but due to his martial soul, he developed a physical appearance that made him very unpopular with the opposite sex. In the end, his crush failed to bear fruit, and Mu Ye''s mother, who was the last Body Sect Master before Mu Ye, married Hu Jie''s Junior Disciple Brother, a Body Sect disciple who was far less talented than him. Hu Jie''s heart was broken, and he left the Body Sect in a fit of rage before joining the Tang Sect.


    Due to this incident, the Body Sect and Tang Sect had engaged in a huge conflict. Hu Jie had expressed his feelings toward Mu Ye''s mother in person, and stated that he wouldn''t ever meet anyone from the Body Sect again, but nor would he see the Body Sect as his enemy.


    After that, he voluntarily asked to be deployed to the Star Luo Empire. With his extraordinary aptitude and powers, he finally became the supervisor of the Tang Sect''s Star Luo Continent branches. In the Tang Sect, he ranked above Li Yun, and below only the two Limit Douluos. Hence, Tang Wulin was being very respectful toward him.


    On top of that, from the perspective of the Body Sect, Hu Jie was technically Tang Wulin''s granduncle-teacher.


    The Amorous Douluo''s appraisal for this Smiling Douluo had been very simple: he had a cold heart behind his benevolent smiling face. Under his leadership, the Tang Sect''s Star Luo Empire branches had further elevated its status, and the Spirit Pagoda had been crushed firmly beneath the Tang Sect here.


    Hu Jie was also the deputy hall master of the Star Luo Empire''s Holy Hall, which placed him below only En Ci, the principal of Monster Academy.


    Hu Jie chuckled, "There''s no need to be so polite and formal, Sect Master. Age doesn''t necessarily determine one''s achievements; the two palace masters chose you to inherit the role of Tang Sect Master, and I''m sure they had their reasons. Now that I''m meeting you in person, I think I understand their decision. Don''t pay these two any heed; they don''t know anything."


    He pointed to Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. Just as Hu Jie had managed to glean his level of spiritual power, Tang Wulin had discovered that this Smiling Douluo was also at the Spirit Domain realm. However, he seemed to still be a sliver away from attaining a spiritual domain, which was the exact same situation that Tang Wulin had been in prior to embarking on this journey.


    As someone with Spirit Domain realm spiritual power himself, Hu Jie was naturally able to sense Tang Wulin''s spiritual power, which was of a higher level than his own.


    "You''re far too kind, Hall Master. Now then, shall we set off?"


    Hu Jie smiled, and said, "Of course. Please follow me."


    He turned and made his way toward a forest as he spoke.


    At this point, Ye Zhi and Hua Lantang had already arrived in front of Tang Wulin and the others, and their eyes were still filled with shock and befuddlement.


    Ye Zhi couldn''t help but want to ask more questions, but the more steadfast Hua Lantang placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook his head. Even Hall Master Hu had acknowledged Tang Wulin''s status, which meant that he really was the Tang Sect Master. In that case, even though they had been making rapid improvements here in the Star Luo Empire, there was still an insurmountable gap between them and Tang Wulin.


    In their recollection, Tang Wulin had disappeared for a very long time after Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had come to the Star Luo Empire. After that, they didn''t hear much more about him. Apparently, Long Yue had met him in Shrek Academy, but he had never disclosed exactly what had taken place there. Not long after that, they received news of the Shrek Academy bombing.


    At the time, the entire Monster Academy had been in shock. Even though they had always been competing with Shrek Academy, they definitely didn''t want to see the number one academy in the world be razed to the ground! The academy had been a sacred place for countless people generation after generation.


    Now, they were meeting not just Tang Wulin, but the entirety of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so there was no doubt that they had survived the attack. Furthermore, they had come here on behalf of the Tang Sect, and both Ye Zhi and Hua Lantang were reeling slightly from the information overload.


    After walking into the forest, Tang Wulin could sense that there were at least several dozens of people moving quickly in the forest, spreading outward in all directions. It was quite clear that the Smiling Douluo had been quite cautious, and far more people had come to meet them than just the trio that was out in the open.


    A series of soul cars were parked on the other side of the forest. However, on this occasion, the vehicles were luxury sedans rather than buses, and there was an entire motorcade parked together. Each door of every car had a silver Tang Sect symbol on its surface, and Hu Jie led Tang Wulin to the second car in the motorcade; the first car was going to be the safety car.


    Everyone else was led onto the other cars by designated workers, and everything was far more organized than it had been back in the Dou Spirit Empire.


    Tang Wulin and Hu Jie sat down on the backseat. Thankfully, the back row of the car was very spacious. Otherwise, Tang Wulin would''ve been flattened against the side of the car by Hu Jie''s enormous stomach.


    Hu Jie patted his own huge stomach before taking a seat beside Tang Wulin in a slightly clumsy manner. "My apologies for showing you something so unsightly, Sect Master; unfortunately, this is something that I can''t control."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "His Majesty, the Amorous Douluo, told me that the larger your stomach is, the more powerful you are."


    Hu Jie chuckled, "The Amorous Douluo is far too kind."


    Tang Wulin was naturally aware that the Amorous Douluo hadn''t been exaggerating as the Smiling Douluo''s martial soul was none other than his stomach. That''s right, not only was Hu Jie a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, he also possessed twin martial souls. If he hadn''t ever left the Body Sect, he would most likely be the current sect master. If he could''ve come into contact with more of the congenital secret method, perhaps he would already be a Limit Douluo by now.


    Even though he was only at rank 98 in soul power, he was able to oppose the average Limit Douluo. Otherwise, the Tang Sect wouldn''t have made him the supervisor of all of the Tang Sect branches on this continent.


    Several decades ago, when Hu Jie had still been on the Douluo Continent, he had been known as the Golden Belly Silver Backside Smiling Tiger. Of course, there were also people who tried to bring him down by calling him Smiling Pig instead. His other martial soul was his huge backside, and it created a truly unique combination with his enormous stomach.


    "You''ve come here earlier than anticipated, so we have a lot of time on our hands. I''ve already organized everything in advance; once we arrive at Star Luo City, we''ll be traveling to the royal palace to meet with Emperor Dai Tianling in around two days. This information is currently strictly confidential. I''ve heard about the situation over at the Dou Spirit Empire; I didn''t think that the Spirit Pagoda would actually be colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult. I''ve informed the imperial family of the Star Luo Empire of this situation, but they still haven''t given me a definitive response."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I was too rash and hot-headed back in the Dou Spirit Empire, but what''s done is done; we can only make the most of the current situation. At the very least, we''re going to stir up controversy in order to attack the Spirit Pagoda on all three continents. I''ve already convinced the Dou Spirit Empire to oppress the Spirit Pagoda on all sides, and I''ve also notified His Majesty, the Amorous Douluo, of the situation. At the moment, it''s unclear just how much trouble this controversy will cause for the Spirit Pagoda."


    Hu Jie said in a grim voice, "This is an incident that has extremely severe and broad connotations, and the Spirit Pagoda won''t be that easy to attack. They''re at the height of their powers right now, so they''re definitely going to retaliate. It''ll most likely be very difficult to create a substantial enough controversy to truly affect the Spirit Pagoda in the Douluo Federation, but we can certainly give it a try here. Unfortunately, the evidence is very limited. After the incident in the Dou Spirit Empire, I''m sure the Spirit Pagoda will eradicate the rest of the evidence and leave us with no chances."


    An apologetic look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "That was an oversight on my part; I should''ve searched for more evidence on the Star Luo Continent and in the federation before making that announcement."


    Hu Jie chuckled, "Hehe, you didn''t do anything wrong, Sect Master. Without launching that attack, we would''ve never discovered any evidence in the first place, and we would still be completely in the dark. Regardless of whether you had made that announcement, the Spirit Pagoda would''ve quickly cut their ties with the Holy Spirit Cult in the short term to erase all evidence anyway. It''s already fantastic news that you managed to use that announcement to take care of the Dou Spirit Empire in such a short time. Hence, I''ve always been of the opinion that you did the right thing, and I would''ve done the same thing in your position. It''s much better to be decisive than hesitant in such a situation."

 Chapter 1283: Please Enlighten Me

    Tang Wulin turned to the Smiling Douluo in a slightly surprised manner. He didn''t think that Hu Jie would be so supportive of him from the very beginning; this was a very good sign! With Hu Jie''s support, his position as Tang Sect Master would become a lot more secure. At the same time, it would make it much easier for him to do what he wanted to do here in the Star Luo Empire.


    "Sect Master, there''s something that I have to remind you of: the Star Luo Empire is different from the Dou Spirit Empire. During these past years, the Star Luo Empire has been developing very quickly. They hold soul technology in very high regard, and at the same time, they are a fighting empire with an extremely high Soul Master population; the Dou Spirit Empire simply can''t compare. Furthermore, the Star Luo Empire holds individual power and heroism in extremely high regard, so as the Tang Sect Master, there''s a very good chance that they''ll issue a challenge to you."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. He had already anticipated this situation. Back when he had first visited the Star Luo Empire, he had already sensed the general reverence toward power here. The Star Luo Empire''s Monster Academy couldn''t compare with Shrek Academy, but it was still an extremely powerful academy, and the principal was a Limit Douluo.


    "Do you know what kind of challenge they''ll propose?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Hu Jie shook his head in response. "I''m not sure, but Dai Tianling met with En Ci on at least two separate occasions during the past few days, most likely to discuss this exact matter. In any case, it definitely won''t be a simple challenge. The Spirit Pagoda''s status is inferior to that of our Tang Sect here in the Star Luo Empire, but the fact that they can provide soul spirits makes them an undeniable force. It won''t be easy for us to convince the Star Luo Empire to completely stand with us and believe that the Spirit Pagoda is colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult."


    Tang Wulin nodded upon hearing this. The Star Luo Empire revered power, and their rapid development had allowed them to build up a powerful foundation, as well as a lot of confidence. As such, they weren''t necessarily fearful of a war. At the very least, they would be able to put up a good fight.


    Hu Jie continued, "I can sense that you possess immense spiritual power; may I ask what your actual power level is?"


    He was aware of Tang Wulin''s true age, so he had naturally been skeptical of this extraordinarily young sect master. The spiritual power that Tang Wulin had displayed had given him quite a huge shock, and he had begun to understand why Tang Wulin had been selected to be the Tang Sect Master at such a young age.


    Hu Jie was already an extremely prodigious cultivator, but even now, he still hadn''t managed to attain a spiritual domain. In contrast, Tang Wulin was only in his early twenties, and he had never heard of anyone reach such an incredible level of spiritual power at such a young age.


    Even Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, who had been the undisputed most powerful being on the entire continent, hadn''t been able to achieve such an incredible feat.


    Tang Wulin pauses momentarily before replying, "I only recently became a Soul Douluo, but in terms of combat prowess, I shouldn''t be inferior to any three-word battle armor master."


    Hu Jie''s eyes lit up upon hearing this. Tang Wulin had spoken in a very calm manner, but Hu Jie could hear the strong sense of self-confidence in his voice.


    Three-word battle armor masters covered a very broad spectrum. One could attain a suit of three-word battle armor after becoming a Soul Sage, but suits of three-word battle armor were extremely difficult to create, so it was most often the case that only Soul Masters at or above the Soul Douluo level would be able to obtain such a suit of battle armor.


    Furthermore, it was even more difficult for a three-word battle armor master to upgrade to a suit of four-word battle armor, and almost all four-word battle armor masters were at or above the Hyper Douluo level. There were no Divine Blacksmiths in the entire Star Luo Empire, so aside from En Ci, who had managed to create a suit of four-word battle armor using special methods as a Limit Douluo, almost all of the battle armor masters below the Limit Douluo level were only three-word battle armor masters.


    Tang Wulin may not be able to oppose Limit Douluos yet, but with the confidence he had displayed, there was at least a good chance that he would be a match for a Hyper Douluo. Furthermore, Hu Jie had heard that Tang Wulin had adopted a special form and killed the Dou Spirit Empire''s Spirit Pagoda branch chairman, who was most likely also a Hyper Douluo. This instilled him with a lot of confidence.


    Even at such a young age, Tang Wulin already possessed such incredible power; he was definitely going to become the Tang Sect''s next Limit Douluo within 10 years. If he could become a Limit Douluo before turning 30, then he could lead the Tang Sect for well over 100 years.


    Overall, he was very pleased with Tang Wulin. The decision made by the two palace masters seemed a little rash, but how could they expect to keep an extraordinary talent like Tang Wulin without giving him a sufficient reason to stay?


    "That should be enough," Hu Jie chuckled as he patted his own massive stomach.


    Tang Wulin suddenly turned to him, and said, "Hall Master Hu, I''ve heard a lot about your resounding reputation; would you be able to enlighten me in my cultivation? I''ve recently made some progress, and I would be greatly honored if you could offer me some guidance."


    Guidance? Hu Jie''s smile widened even further as he turned to Tang Wulin.


    It was quite clear that Tang Wulin was trying to put him at ease through his actions, and Hu Jie found this to be very interesting. In reality, Tang Wulin''s proposal had already further fueled Hu Jie''s confidence in him.


    "I wouldn''t dare to say that I can provide you with any guidance, but I''m certainly open to a sparring match. When we get to the Tang Sect, there will be a designated venue for sparring. I''m also very much looking forward to seeing your abilities for myself, Sect Master."


    In reality, Hu Jie had misconstrued Tang Wulin''s words. Tang Wulin wasn''t trying to display his powers to him. Instead, he really did require some guidance as the drastic improvements he had recently made had left him feeling slightly lost. After making so many breakthroughs, even he wasn''t sure where the limits of his own powers laid; he could only roughly estimate that his current powers should be able to match those of a Hyper Douluo with no issues.


    The Smiling Douluo was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo and also possessed twin martial souls, so he stood at the very pinnacle of all Hyper Douluos. As such, it would be a great opportunity for Tang Wulin to be able to spar with him, and it would also be very beneficial to his endeavor to integrate all of his abilities.


    The Star Luo Continent was slightly larger than the Douluo Continent, and there was quite some distance from the shore to Star Luo City. Only after night had fallen did the motorcade finally arrive in Star Luo City before continuing on toward the Tang Sect headquarters located in the city.


    Along the way, all of the cars that noticed the Tang Sect motorcade would merge into different lanes to make way for them, and some of the drivers would even honk their horns as a gesture of acknowledgment and admiration.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but heave an internal sigh upon seeing this. Back on the Douluo Continent, the Tang Sect had been reduced to an underground organization, yet here in the Star Luo Empire, the Tang Sect was at the height of its powers. At the same time, this instilled him with an even greater sense of respect toward the Smiling Douluo. Without his efforts, the Tang Sect wouldn''t have attained such a lofty status in the Star Luo Empire.


    The motorcade drove into the Tang Sect headquarters, and there were already many of the Tang Sect''s high-ranking members waiting for them.


    After getting out of the car, Hu Jie introduced all of these people to Tang Wulin one by one. The Tang Sect here in the Star Luo Empire was far more powerful than the Tang Sect in the Dou Spirit Empire, and Tang Wulin was introduced to over 12 Titled Douluos by Hu Jie.


    This was an astonishingly formidable lineup!


    Separate rooms had already been organized in the Tang Sect Headquarters in advance for everyone to stay in.


    "You can go and rest first, Sect Master; I''ll send someone to deliver all of the information about the Star Luo Empire to you later. Tomorrow morning, the Star Luo Empire will send their fourth prince, Dai Yueyan, to come and see you for a preliminary meeting, and the day after that will be when the official meeting with the imperial family will be held."


    Dai Yueyan? Wasn''t that one of Dai Yun''er''s elder brothers and one of Monster''s Eight Kings? If he recalled correctly, Dai Yueyan''s nickname seemed to be Tiger King.


    It seemed that the past Monster''s Eight Kings had all begun to climb up the social ladder in the Star Luo Empire. Tang Wulin couldn''t help but wonder what Long Yue was currently doing. Perhaps he was still in Monster Academy.


    The thought of Dai Yun''er then crept into his mind, and his heart was immediately filled with a series of complex emotions. He could still clearly recall the sadness and pain in Dai Yun''er''s eyes following his rejection, but love was not something that could be forced.


    Dai Yun''er was also a member of the Tang Sect, so she was most likely aware of his visit.


    Back in the Dragon Valley, they had banded together and journeyed all the way to the dragon tomb. It was most likely during this time that she had fallen in love with him.


    She was a good girl, but unfortunately, he already had Gu Yue, who was now Gu Yuena. Deep down, Tang Wulin still wanted to meet her to see if she was currently doing well, but at the same time, he was a little scared to see her again.


    "Hall Master Hu, organize our sparring match for tonight. The schedule will become rather hectic starting from tomorrow, and I''m worried that I may not have time for a sparring match before we meet the royal family in two days. Also, I would like my friends to be able to spectate the match. If you''d like, you can invite the high-ranking members of the Tang Sect to spectate as well. Hopefully, our match will be able to inspire them."

 Chapter 1284: The Smiling Douluo

    Hu Jie''s smile grew even more pronounced upon hearing this. "Sure."


    As expected of a young man, he was in a hurry to show off his powers. However, this was a good thing as it was a show of his confidence. Hu Jie hadn''t always been a steadfast old fox, either. During his younger days, he had also been extremely sharp and abrasive, but as he aged, he became more and more mellow, at least on the outside. Back in his youth, he had been renowned for how quick he was to jump into physical altercations, and even after joining the Tang Sect, he had been known for his tough and, at times, brutal methods.


    However, he had once again misconstrued Tang Wulin''s intentions. He had indeed proposed for others to spectate the match in order to display his powers and prove himself, but he was insisting on holding the sparring match tonight as he wanted to be able to have an entire day to digest and analyze the battle.


    Hu Jie quickly organized some dinner for everyone, and due to the fact that he was going to be sparring with Tang Wulin right after dinner, he didn''t organize any alcoholic beverages.


    The drill ground in the Tang Sect headquarters was a massive hall, and it was the largest building in the entire headquarters.


    After dinner, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, the Blood Dragon Squad, A''Ruheng, Sima Jinchi, and the others all gathered at the drill ground. Even the Holy Spirit Douluo had arrived.


    She was still keeping a very low profile, wearing a large hooded cloak that concealed her head of white hair, and with her aura completely restrained, even Hu Jie had failed to notice her.


    All of the spectators from the Tang Sect were Titled Douluos; even the bright young talents, Ye Zhi and Hua Lantang; hadn''t been permitted to spectate this match.


    However, there was also another figure seated in a corner on the second floor of the drill ground, appraising everything that was unfolding down below in silence.


    Hu Jie habitually placed his hands onto his own huge stomach, and said, "Please go easy on me, Sect Master!"


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I should be the one saying that to you."


    Hu Jie sighed, "Ever since I took over this position seven years ago [It actually says five years ago here, but if I recall correctly, Tang Wulin was around 15 years old when he disappeared in the Dragon Valley, and he''s currently 22, so that should make seven years instead of five. Pls correct me in the comments if I''m wrong.], I''ve rarely had the chance to fight anyone; I really am looking forward to sparring with a brilliant young prodigy like you, Sect Master."


    Seven years ago? That was around the time after he and his friends had competed in that tournament. Not long after that, he had disappeared and stayed in the Dragon Valley for three years. Could it be that this change in leadership in the Tang Sect had had something to do with his disappearance?


    As he was thinking this, Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I''m also very much looking forward to this."


    "Then I won''t waste any more time. Please enlighten me, Sect Master." Hu Jie made an inviting hand gesture toward Tang Wulin as he spoke.


    Xu Xiaoyan whispered into Yue Zhengyu''s ear, "Is it really a good idea for Boss to be doing this? When he transformed into that crimson dragon on that day, I almost couldn''t even recognize him anymore."


    A wry smile appeared on Yue Zhengyu''s face. "I''m really worried as well. His parents only just recently passed away; if he can''t control his emotions and transforms into that crimson dragon again, there''s going to be a lot of trouble. Was it Na''er who saved him on that day? Didn''t she disappear a long time ago? I always wanted to ask him, but I never got the opportunity."


    Xu Xiaoyan replied, "He hasn''t said anything about it, either. Let''s just watch the match for now. I wonder how powerful Boss is going to be now."


    "He''s definitely going to be more powerful than you imagine," Xie Xie interjected.


    "Oh? Do you have some valuable insights, Mr. Know-it-all?" Yue Zhengyu scoffed in a disdainful manner.


    A mysterious look appeared on Xie Xie''s face. "I certainly know more than you do! I possess similar abilities to Boss, so I can sense some things that are beyond lowly beings like you two."


    Xu Xiaoyan immediately flared up with rage. "Do you wanna fight? We''ll beat you to a pulp!"


    "Sure, I''ll take you on in a two-on-two battle anytime!" Xie Xie said in a smug manner.


    Ever since his martial soul had awakened to become the Space Time Dragon, he had become a counter to Xu Xiaoyan''s abilities. Her martial soul did indeed possess abilities with an absolute nature, but that wasn''t going to help her if she couldn''t even lock onto Xie Xie. With the power of the Space Time Dragon, Xie Xie had become the ultimate assassin, and Yue Zhengyu may not be able to protect her in a battle.


    "No, it''ll be a one-on-two battle." Yuanen Yehui''s voice drifted over from nearby.


    Xie Xie''s face immediately fell upon hearing this. "Can you not be so cold to me, darling? We were bonding so well last night..."


    "Do you want to die?" Yuanen Yehui was immediately reminded of the night before, where Xie Xie had forced her to accept a kiss from him, going as far as to say that he was determined to kiss her even if she adopted her Titan Giant Ape form. Just the mere recollection instantly made her flare up with rage.


    "Alright, I''m sorry." Xie Xie sidled over to Yuanen Yehui and stood obediently by her side with a fawning look on his face.


    "Piss off." Yuanen Yehui turned away and ignored him. Xie Xie extended a hand toward her and latched onto one of her hands, only to be swatted away. However, when he latched onto her hand for a second time, she merely put up some token resistance before allowing him to do as he pleased.


    Xu Xiaoyan couldn''t help but chuckle at the sight of the two of them. One of them was completely shameless, while the other was determined to keep up a cold facade.


    Yuanen Yehui was very harsh with her words, but in reality, she now very rarely adopted her male disguise and appeared in her normal female form most of the time. On top of that, she was also adopting her Fallen Angel form more so than her Titan Giant Ape form when sparring with everyone else. One had to realize that her Titan Giant Ape used to be her main martial soul.


    It was quite clear that their relationship was constantly improving; this was already very apparent to everyone else, so Xie Xie was naturally aware of it as well. In reality, Yuanen Yehui had always thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being pursued, and Xie Xie was naturally more than willing to play to her ego.


    At this point, Tang Wulin and Hu Jie had already made their way to the center of the drill ground, and everyone''s eyes were firmly fixed on them.


    Tang Wulin''s friends stood on one side, while the high-ranking members of the Tang Sect stood on the other side. These Titled Douluos were also very curious about this upcoming match. This young sect master of theirs was putting on a display of power as soon as he had arrived; this was rather strange and perhaps a little rash, but at the same time it was a display of his confidence.


    It was undoubtedly the case that if Tang Wulin were to lose the match very quickly, then his reputation would take a heavy blow. Was someone who didn''t even know their own limits and went around issuing hot-headed challenges really worthy of being their sect master?


    However, the fact that he was chosen to become the sect master clearly indicated that he wasn''t that type of person. Hence, all of the Titled Douluos were very curious about what Tang Wulin was going to be displaying to them, and whether he would be able to win everyone over with his powers.


    "Shall we begin, Sect Master?" Hu Jie asked with a smile.


    "Sure." Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    This was an internal sparring match, so there was no need for any referees. As soon as both sides yelled "begin", the two of them immediately released their martial souls in unison.


    A series of soul rings emerged from beneath Tang Wulin''s feet. Black, black, black, black, greenish-golden, orange, orange, orange; Tang Wulin''s soul ring configuration immediately made many people do a double-take.


    They could accept the first four soul rings being black, but all of the Titled Douluos of the Tang Sect were completely stunned by the greenish-golden and orange soul rings.


    They were naturally aware of what orange soul rings entailed; those were soul rings that could only be obtained from Great Beasts! However, what was that greenish-golden soul ring? How could such a soul ring possibly exist?


    Meanwhile, nine soul rings had emerged from beneath Hu Jie''s feet, consisting of six blacks and three reds, which was an exceptional soul ring configuration that indicated that he had at least one 100,000-year-old soul spirit. As expected of one of the most powerful beings in the world.


    Tang Wulin''s soul rings had naturally astonished everyone, but at the same time, they had also revealed to everyone that he was only a Soul Douluo.

 Chapter 1285: Golden Belly Silver Backside

    There was a distinct cultivation rank disparity between the two; one was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, while the other was only a Soul Douluo. Rank 80 and rank 98 didn''t sound like a huge disparity, but the difference was night and day. The fact that Tang Wulin wasn''t even a Titled Douluo immediately attracted some skepticism.


    Aside from Hu Jie, no one was aware of Tang Wulin''s true age, so they were all rather perplexed by the cultivation rank he was displaying. Now, all they wanted to see was how long their Soul Douluo sect master would last against the Smiling Douluo.


    Hu Jie also faltered slightly at the sight of Tang Wulin''s soul rings. Greenish-golden? What was that supposed to be?


    He wasn''t surprised that Tang Wulin had a Great Beast soul spirit. After all, there had to be something extraordinary about him for him to have become the Tang Sect Master at such a young age. However, he had never seen a greenish-golden soul ring before.


    It was said that Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had once possessed a 1,000,000-year-old soul ring, but that was a white-golden soul ring, not a greenish-golden one.


    "Here I come, Hall Master Hu." Tang Wulin made a hand gesture toward Hu Jie before instantly launching himself forward amid a resounding boom.


    This explosive sound didn''t result from a clash between the two of them. Instead, it had erupted as soon as Tang Wulin had taken his first stride. A layer of golden scales quickly appeared over his body, which then swelled at a rapid rate. His giant fists transformed into clenched dragon claws, and he reached Hu Jie almost in the same instant that he had set off.


    He had broken the sound barrier as soon as the match had begun! This was a simple and direct, yet devastatingly brutal attack.


    Everyone was immediately in awe of Tang Wulin''s extraordinary speed. As soon as the sonic boom rang out, Tang Wulin''s fist had already reached Hu Jie.


    A''Ruheng''s eyes immediately lit up. Breaking the sound barrier with an instantaneous exertion of power was a signature skill of the Body Sect. It was something that could only be achieved after enhancing one''s body to the extreme, so did that mean that Tang Wulin had already mastered the congenital secret method?


    Of course, that wasn''t the case; it was just that the terrifying power bestowed upon him by his Golden Dragon King bloodline coupled with the congenital secret method had already produced a far superior effect to just mastering the congenital secret method alone.


    "Bam!" A rotund hand stopped Tang Wulin''s fist cold in its tracks.


    This was a hand that looked as if it had been carved out of white jade. It appeared to be quite plump and harmless, but Tang Wulin felt as if his fist had struck an immovable mountain.


    Furthermore, in the instant that his fist had struck Hu Jie''s hand, he could feel a peculiar burst of power erupting from Hu Jie''s palm that nullified most of the force behind his fist, and even stifled its crushing special effect.


    Hu Jie''s smile widened as he abruptly thrust his own stomach forward and crashed directly toward Tang Wulin. This was a very simple attack. Tang Wulin''s punch had been completely nullified, and before he had a chance to do anything else, Hu Jie''s bulging stomach was already upon him.


    He only had time to raise his right knee to retaliate against Hu Jie''s enormous stomach, and he was immediately sent flying like a cannonball by a burst of devastating power.


    Golden Belly Silver Backside; this stomach of Hu Jie''s was one of his most powerful weapons.


    After sending Tang Wulin flying, Hu Jie suddenly encircled his rotund arms in front of himself to release a burst of tremendous suction force. As Tang Wulin was flying through the air, he was abruptly drawn to a halt by the suction force before flying back toward Hu Jie.


    Hu Jie''s body then suddenly vanished before reappearing in mid-air as if by instantaneous teleportation, following which he instantly sat downward with his enormous backside.


    It was the first time that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had seen his type of strange battle strategy, and they were all feeling rather speechless. In contrast, A''Ruheng was staring intently at the Smiling Douluo. He had naturally already identified this to be the signature fighting style of someone from the Body Sect. Furthermore, this man was even more powerful than his teacher, Body Douluo Mu Ye.


    In the instant that Tang Wulin was sent flying by Hu Jie''s almighty belly, he immediately fell into a state of dizziness and disorientation. The collision appeared to have been quite straightforward, but an enormous burst of vibrational force had been injected directly into his organs and even his mind, thereby striking him with a sense of paralysis.


    Hu Jie''s stomach really was as extraordinary as the rumors proclaimed it to be!


    After taking a deep breath, a powerful heartbeat suddenly rang out from Tang Wulin''s body.


    "Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub!" There were two heartbeats that could be heard simultaneously as his dragon core was beating alongside his heart. Both of them were contracting in unison to circulate blood all throughout his body, and his golden dragon scales instantly became more substantial. A low dragon''s roar rang out, and only then did Tang Wulin fully recover from his paralysis and dizziness. At this point, the Smiling Douluo was already crashing down from above with mountainous force, and Tang Wulin let loose a thunderous dragon''s roar as he thrust both hands up toward the heavens.


    Even with the protective barrier over the drill ground, the dragon''s roar still rang out across the entire venue, striking everyone with a sense of disorientation. Even the descending Smiling Douluo was impacted by this.


    His enormous backside plummeted downward and came into contact with Tang Wulin''s hands, only for Tang Wulin to twist around in an agile manner and push the Smiling Douluo away, redirecting him using his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    Of course, he was only able to accomplish this with his extraordinary strength acting as a foundation. If a normal Soul Master of his cultivation rank were to attempt the same thing, they would be crushed to a pulp before they could do anything.


    "Haha, nice!" the Smiling Douluo chortled as his body suddenly curled up in mid-air. The air instantly became denser, and he abruptly crashed down onto the ground like a giant meatball before bouncing up and flying toward Tang Wulin again.


    In the instant that he launched himself through the air, he also broke the sound barrier.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up as he abruptly stepped forward with his left foot before stomping it heavily onto the ground. Countless giant dragon roars erupted, and it was as if hordes of massive golden dragons had appeared in the drill ground. A golden halo also appeared beneath his feet before proliferating outward; this was none other than his Violent Golden Dragon Domain.


    Under the enhancement of the Violent Golden Dragon Domain, a layer of golden light appeared over Tang Wulin''s entire body, and his eyes also turned golden while his aura swelled drastically.


    "No way! Is he going to become that thing again?" Xu Lizhi murmured in a concerned manner.


    Back when Tang Wulin had laid waste to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters in the Dou Spirit Empire, he had unleashed his Violent Golden Dragon Domain before transforming into that crimson dragon.


    Now, he was using the domain again, and it seemed to be even more powerful than last time. If he were to lose control and transform into that crimson dragon again, then things would become very problematic.


    "Place your trust in him!" The Holy Spirit Douluo''s voice rang out beside everyone''s ears.


    At this moment, the Smiling Douluo had already reached Tang Wulin, and the latter thrust both of his fists forward to unleash Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    An enormous golden dragon abruptly emerged, and with the enhancements from the Violent Golden Dragon Domain, it was as if a real giant golden dragon had appeared on the drill ground. It raised its massive head and opened its cavernous mouth as if it were going to swallow the giant meatball whole, but right at this moment, a peculiar turn of events unfolded.


    Hu Jie''s body suddenly faltered in mid-air, following which his giant stomach was thrust forward and struck the golden dragon''s head with devastating force.


    It was impossible to see which of his soul skills he had used, but in the instant that his rotund body crashed into the golden dragon, the latter was instantly destroyed and disintegrated into specks of golden light. The enormous stomach then continued on toward Tang Wulin like a wrecking ball.


    A serious look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he made no attempt to evade the attack as his eight soul rings were switched to six golden soul rings. The fifth golden soul ring lit up, and a dull explosion rang out.


    Tang Wulin was blasted backward as a result, but the Smiling Douluo''s body was also stopped cold in its tracks.


    Tang Wulin performed a somersault in mid-air before releasing a pair of golden dragon wings. Countless Bluesilver Emperor vines then erupted from his body, and on this occasion, he was unleashing his blood soul fusion skill, Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    The entire battle had progressed at a breakneck pace thus far. The Smiling Douluo''s attacks had been extremely simple and direct with no intricate technique involved, but for the first time in a long time, Tang Wulin found himself struggling to keep up in a contest of pure strength. However, he had still managed to keep the Smiling Douluo''s attacks at bay, and that alone was enough to force the Titled Douluos present to see him through new eyes.

 Chapter 1286: Time Reversal!

    The Smiling Douluo''s attacks appeared to be very simple, but all of them were imbued with peerless power; even a Titled Douluo wouldn''t be able to oppose his attacks head-on.


    That one-two combination that Hu Jie had just used on Tang Wulin was one of his signature attacks. On one occasion, he had used that sequence to send a Titled Douluo flying with his stomach, then sat down on the poor man so hard that every single bone in his body was broken. It took that Titled Douluo an entire year to recover from those injuries.


    Hu Jie had proclaimed earlier that he hadn''t fought in a long time, but only an idiot would believe that this would truly hamper his combat prowess. For a cultivator of his caliber, his powers wouldn''t regress by much even if he didn''t fight for several decades on end.


    The smile on Hu Jie''s face became even more pronounced at the sight of Tang Wulin''s Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens, but in the next instant, his expression stiffened slightly as he suddenly sensed that Tang Wulin had slowed down in his flight.


    This was his spiritual domain!


    Hu Jie had already anticipated that Tang Wulin had already attained a spiritual domain, but he was still caught slightly off guard. If this spiritual domain were powerful enough, then it could turn the tides of this entire battle!


    After activating his spiritual domain, Tang Wulin''s body had taken on an ethereal and illusionary quality.


    Hu Jie suddenly let loose a low cry, and a massive projection appeared behind him. The projection was completely identical to him in appearance, except it wasn''t wearing any clothes on its upper body, and was entirely of a shimmering golden color. At the same time, a layer of golden light appeared over his body, and a golden halo lit up behind his head, while piercing purple light flashed within his eyes. This was none other than his Purple Demon Eyes.


    At this point, the Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens had already reached Hu Jie, and he thrust his bulging stomach forward again. On this occasion, his movements seemed to have slowed down, but his aura had become far more powerful than before.


    There was no resounding boom as anticipated. Instead, in the instant that Hu Jie had thrust his stomach forward, Tang Wulin had abruptly vanished before reappearing around 10 meters away from him. Hence, his attack had fallen upon empty air, and only then did the Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens crash into his body.


    "Boom!"


    Tang Wulin was sent flying again, but for a lesser distance than last time. He performed another somersault in mid-air before sending five massive dark golden claw projections hurtling directly toward Hu Jie.


    These were his Golden Dragon Dreadclaws!


    The Golden Dragon Dreadclaw were over 15 meters in length and presented an extremely menacing sight to behold. The peerlessly sharp claws were slicing black rifts into space itself, and the Smiling Douluo raised an eyebrow as his entire body swelled drastically in size.


    His height swelled to 10 meters in the blink of an eye, and fused as one with the golden projection behind him before meeting the claw projections with his drastically enlarged stomach. At the same time, he swung his hips around, and a ball of silver light abruptly erupted from his rotund backside. The ball of silver light had a diameter of over two meters, and it resembled a more powerful version of an Air Cannon as it instantly arrived before Tang Wulin.


    However, instead of being struck by the Golden Dragon Dreadclaws right away, Hu Jie suddenly found himself several meters away from the Golden Dragon Dreadclaws just as he was thrusting his stomach forward, and only then did the claw projections strike his body.


    "Time reversal!" The Smiling Douluo''s brows finally furrowed slightly upon seeing this.


    This spiritual domain of Tang Wulin''s was very troublesome! Even a Hyper Douluo at the Spirit Domain realm like him was finding this spiritual domain to be very bothersome; a normal Soul Master would only be impacted even more severely.


    He reared back with his upper body and thrust his own belly forward again, and the Golden Dragon Dreadclaws struck his belly with the crisp metallic clang, as if his body were made from uncommon metals rather than flesh and blood.


    Tang Wulin''s body swayed, and his six golden soul rings transformed into eight soul rings once again. His seventh soul ring lit up, and he transformed into a giant golden dragon before sweeping his tail toward the oncoming silver ball of light.


    This was his Dragon King True Body!


    With the enhancements from the Violent Golden Dragon Domain, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon True Body exceeded 20 meters in length, and it pounced toward Hu Jie in a ferocious manner while letting loose a vicious dragon''s roar.


    The Smiling Douluo descended from above and remained completely still on the spot, keeping Tang Wulin''s fierce attacks at bay with his belly and backside.


    From the looks of it, he had been forced onto the back foot. This was simply unavoidable. Tang Wulin''s time reversal was far too troublesome an ability to deal with, and Hu Jie was completely unable to judge when Tang Wulin''s attacks were going to land. Hu Jie''s defensive prowess was extremely powerful, but Tang Wulin''s offensive prowess was certainly nothing to be scoffed at, either. After adopting his Golden Dragon True Body, his offensive prowess and strength were already comparable to that of the Smiling Douluo.


    In order to not harm Tang Wulin, Hu Jie had been holding back throughout this entire match, but the longer the match progressed, the more stunned he became.


    He had thought that as a Soul Douluo, there was no way that Tang Wulin would be able to keep up such a ferocious barrage of attacks for too long. As soon as his power gave out, Hu Jie would deal him a decisive blow to end this battle.


    However, there was seemingly no end in sight to Tang Wulin''s relentless assault, and Hu Jie was having to expend an enormous amount of energy to withstand these attacks.


    Could it be that Tang Wulin possessed limitless stamina?


    As ridiculous as that notion was, the Smiling Douluo couldn''t help but think that.


    Both of them were clearly holding back as neither side had donned their suits of armor, and Hu Jie still hadn''t adopted his martial soul true body.


    However, he was still a rank 98 Hyper Douluo! A cultivator of his caliber should''ve been able to brush a Soul Douluo aside with ease.


    Tang Wulin was unleashing his Golden Dragon King soul skills with reckless abandon, and his attacks were only growing more and more ferocious while showing no signs of stopping. At the same time, he was also becoming more and more proficient in using time reversal, which allowed him to completely dominate Hu Jie on a spiritual level.


    At this point, the entire drill ground had been inundated by golden light, and it was becoming more and more difficult to see Tang Wulin and Hu Jie. The light radiating from Tang Wulin''s martial soul true body was as bright as ever, and his offensive prowess had also been raised to its maximal limit. The protective barrier on the ground was no longer sufficient to withstand their attacks, and countless cracks had begun to appear.


    "Fantastic! Be careful now, Sect Master." Even after all this time, the Smiling Douluo still couldn''t ascertain where Tang Wulin''s limits lied, and he finally couldn''t hold back any longer.


    Golden and silver light radiated from his body before filling the entire drill ground, and the air seemed to have become heavier. A gigantic projection slowly emerged, and the Smiling Douluo''s body swelled to 50 meters tall in the blink of an eye. The height of the drill ground was only just over 50 meters, and his enormous stature dwarfed even Tang Wulin''s Dragon King True Body.


    Even more importantly, Hu Jie''s aura had also swelled along with his stature. He spun around on the spot, and both his giant golden belly and massive silver backside swung through the air, instantly creating a golden tornado at the center of the drill ground.


    Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters were completely rooted to the spot upon seeing this. What kind of outlandish attack was this?


    Tang Wulin could feel a burst of terrifying power intermingled with devastating blood essence fluctuations hurtling toward him, and he was instantly sent flying before crashing into the protective barrier around the drill ground.


    Meanwhile, the golden and silver vortex continued to expand, and the repulsive force emanating from it suddenly transformed into suction force that abruptly began to act on Tang Wulin''s body.


    Tang Wulin knew that if he were to be drawn into that golden and silver vortex, he would most likely be shredded into smithereens. This was the true power of the Smiling Douluo!


    Tang Wulin flapped his golden dragon wings vigorously to resist that burst of terrifying suction force.


    Of course, it would be a lot easier for him to hold his own if he were to don his suit of battle armor, but if he did that, he would essentially be admitting defeat in this sparring match.


    He heaved a faint internal sigh as he came to the realization that he would have to resort to that technique, after all.

 Chapter 1287: Millennium White Clouds

    Tang Wulin raised his head, and golden light swirled within his huge golden dragon eyes, while a crimson color appeared over the surface of his scales.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters immediately became very nervous upon seeing this. Was he going to transform into that crimson dragon again?


    Tang Wulin''s sixth golden soul ring flashed, and immediately thereafter, he suddenly faltered on the spot. He then waved his right hand through the air, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp. A burst of golden light also erupted from beneath his feet, and everything around him became ethereal and indistinct. It was as if his body had transformed into illusionary golden clouds that were drifting toward the golden and silver vortex.


    For some reason, the rapidly revolving vortex suddenly began to slow down in its rotation. All of a sudden, the vortex exploded, and the resulting shockwaves instantly dispersed the oncoming golden clouds. Hu Jie''s enormous body rapidly shrank down, and he reverted back to his original form as he reappeared at the center of the drill ground with a bewildered look on his face.


    "I lost." Golden light converged on the side of the drill ground, and Tang Wulin also reappeared. His face was slightly pale, and he was panting heavily while using his Golden Dragon Spear as a crutch. However, with the powerful beating of his heart and dragon core, he was quickly able to stand up straight again.


    "No," Hu Jie''s smile had already completely vanished, and his brows were tightly furrowed as he shook his head. "You didn''t lose, Sect Master. Both of us were holding back, and I must thank you for not going through with your final attack. Otherwise..."


    His voice trailed off there, but from his expression, it was quite clear that nothing good would''ve happened to him had Tang Wulin persisted with his final attack.


    Tang Wulin forced a weary smile onto his own face. "Thank you, Hall Master Hu; I''ve been truly enlightened."


    He then gave Hu Jie an earnest nod before walking away. Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu rushed over to offer him their support, but Tang Wulin merely brushed them off with a shake of his head. His incredible regenerative abilities had allowed him to recover his mobility in a very short time.


    "I''m going back to my room to rest and reflect on this battle. You can all go back and rest as well," Tang Wulin said before quickly departing.


    Hu Jie remained rooted to the spot, and only after Tang Wulin had disappeared from his field of view did the astonishment in his eyes gradually fade away.


    He raised a hand and gently plucked a strand of white hair off his own head. As soon as the white hair was removed, it quickly disintegrated into nothingness.


    The Smiling Douluo''s most powerful ability was his martial soul true body, and just as he had said, he had also been holding back. His martial soul true body was different from that of all other Soul Masters. Generally speaking, a Soul Master with twin martial souls would possess two martial soul true bodies. However, both of his martial souls were parts of his body, and after he had left the Body Sect, he had found a special cultivation method that allowed him to fuse both of his martial souls together in his martial soul true body.


    In a sense, his martial soul true body was like a self soul fusion skill, and its power was downright terrifying.


    In his ultimate martial soul true body form, his height would exceed 100 meters, and he would weigh over 1,000 tons; even a Limit Douluo wouldn''t want to oppose him in a direct clash.


    However, he was restricted by the size of the drill ground, and he was also holding back in order to avoid harming Tang Wulin, but he could see that Tang Wulin most likely had other options prior to unleashing his final attack. Hu Jie didn''t know what that final soul skill was, but he knew that if the two of them had clashed, Tang Wulin would''ve definitely been severely wounded, but at the same time, he would''ve had at least five years cut off his lifespan, and that was only a conservative estimate.


    That final attack was directly related to Tang Wulin''s time domain, and it was extremely formidable. Furthermore, Hu Jie could sense that he hadn''t completely mastered the attack. Otherwise, it would''ve been even more fearsome.


    No one would be willing to sacrifice five years of their lifespan just to wound someone in a sparring match!


    Hu Jie was confident that his powers were not inferior to a Limit Douluo''s by much, yet Tang Wulin was only an eight-ring Soul Douluo! Just how much had Tang Wulin been holding back?


    He didn''t know the answer to that question, but after recovering from his astonishment, he was now even more confident in this young sect master.


    After returning to his room, Tang Wulin immediately collapsed onto the floor. No matter how powerful his physical constitution was, it had been extremely taxing for him to face a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, particularly when there wasn''t a huge disparity in their spiritual powers, and his bloodline hadn''t been able to suppress Hu Jie by much, either.


    Tang Wulin even had a feeling that with his current level of powers, even facing Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue wouldn''t have been such a grueling battle for him; at the very least Elder Long''s martial souls would be affected by his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    This Smiling Douluo had been even more powerful than he had imagined, so in the end, he had been forced to use Millennium White Clouds.


    This was the first time he had used Millennium White Clouds in battle, and in that instant, he felt as if his essence, energy, and spirit had all combined as one. His spiritual domain had also become a part of Millennium White Clouds, transforming the attack into an omnipresent domain-like existence. No matter how powerful his opponent was, they would still be affected by the power of time.


    At the last second, he had withheld the true power of his Millennium White Clouds. The Smiling Douluo had naturally sensed this. At the time, he had been using his own martial soul true body to dispel Millennium White Clouds with all his might, but if Tang Wulin hadn''t withdrawn the attack, he wouldn''t have been able to do so.


    Unfortunately, Tang Wulin''s mastery of Millennium White Clouds was still only at a very preliminary stage, but the fact that he was able to pose a threat to such a powerful being with the attack truly made it live up to its name as a divine technique.


    Tang Wulin was very pleased with himself, and a faint smile appeared on his face. The pressure from practical combat always helped him improve at a rapid rate.


    Even though the Smiling Douluo hadn''t mastered the congenital secret method, he had still been able to attain such a formidable level of power. It was no wonder that the Body Sect had once been an organization that had rivaled the Tang Sect. As expected, he had definitely made the right decision when he chose to cultivate the congenital secret method.


    Not long after that, Tang Wulin gradually entered a meditative state. The crimson dragon transformation had triggered an evolution within him, and after obtaining the Ice God Bead and meeting his birth father, Tang San, he was beginning a metamorphosis.


    Every cultivation session and every battle thereafter would assist him in this process, and once he completed his metamorphosis, then he would become one of the most powerful beings on the Douluo Continent. In Tang Wulin''s eyes, that time wouldn''t be too far away.


    In the instant that Millennium White Clouds had encompassed the entire battlefield, Tang Wulin felt as if he had witnessed the past several decades of Hu Jie''s life. He had sensed the changes Hu Jie had undergone at different points in his life, and also seen Hu Jie in his old age.


    Hundreds of years had passed by in an instant in his eyes, and that was the true power of time. No power could compare with time. As long as a power hadn''t transcended beyond the human body, it would inevitably be affected by time and eventually be erased by the passage of time.


    During that final attack, he had attained a more profound understanding of his own spiritual domain. Time wasn''t an element, and it was different from space. Space seemed to be comprised of countless tiny particles, within which all types of elements were encompassed, whereas time was the process of change in and formation of space. Compared to space, time was far more difficult to grasp. It was purely a feeling rather than a type of energy.


    This was why Tang Wulin''s Millennium White Clouds was effective against someone near the Limit Douluo level, even though he was only a Soul Douluo himself.


    However, unleashing that Millennium White Clouds had also instilled Tang Wulin with a sense of panic. The amount of expenditure required to unleash the attack was downright terrifying. Not only had his spiritual power been instantly exhausted, his soul power, bloodline power, and all of his energy had also been infused into Millennium White Clouds and converted into that special type of power. Perhaps that was the power of time. If he had persisted and completely unleashed his Millennium White Clouds, it would take at least three days for him to somewhat recover, and that wasn''t even taking into account the severe injuries he would''ve suffered from that final clash.


    At his current level of power, he would have to wait at least three days between one usage of Millennium White Clouds to the next. He would most likely have to become a Limit Douluo before he could use the attack at will.


    At the time, he had originally planned to use his Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre, but he was concerned that it would affect his emotions, and he also wanted to test out his Millennium White Clouds, which was why he had made a split-second decision to switch attacks in the end.


    As it turned out, Millennium White Clouds was indeed extremely powerful, even more so than he had expected.


    In a corner on the second floor of the Tang Sect''s drill ground. The same figure was still seated on the spot with a blank look in her eyes.

 Chapter 1288: Im Very Glad That Theyre Still Alive

    The man that she had been thinking about day and night really had come to Star Luo Continent; he was still alive, after all! Furthermore, he had become powerful beyond belief! Even the Smiling Douluo could only defeat him after unleashing his martial soul true body, and in the final moments of the battle, it seemed that he had even posed a threat to the Smiling Douluo.


    As she looked on at the giant golden dragon that was unleashing one devastating attack after another, there was even a point where she had thought that Tang Wulin would win. Disregarding everything else, just the fact that he had lasted so long against the Smiling Douluo as a Soul Douluo was an extraordinary feat, even if the Smiling Douluo had been holding back.


    He really was an exceptional prodigy! Even in the entire empire, there was no one of the same age who could compare with him. As it turned out, her choice had always been right. With that in mind, a hint of pride welled up in her heart.


    Seeing as he was here on her territory, she definitely wasn''t going to let him get away from her again. A sly smile appeared on her face as she stood up before quickly departing. A plan was already beginning to hatch in her mind.


    The warm sunlight spilled in through the window, basking Tang Wulin in a golden sheen. He slowly opened his eyes, and his pupils seemed to have become clearer and brighter.


    The sunlight that was shining on his body seemed to be slightly warped. The change was very minute, but if one were to look closely, they would definitely be able to notice it.


    A brief moment later, the warped light returned to normal, and Tang Wulin''s aura also reverted back to that of a normal person.


    He got out of bed before opening the window to allow some fresh air into the room. He took a deep breath, and everything seemed so wonderful. He had been in a very good mood the past few days, and he found that it was often the case that people merely created their own troubles and concerns.


    After coming to terms with the fact that Tang San and Xiao Wu were his birth parents, his mood had been lifted significantly. He was the son of a pair of gods, his birth parents had taken away his foster parents, and with the protection of the gods, they would definitely be fine.


    Furthermore, Gu Yuena had also disclosed to him the relationship between Gu Yue and Na''er. Tang Wulin had made a decision to be with her no matter what, even if she possessed two souls. Did he really not have any feelings toward Na''er? Of course he did. This was something that he had realized after hearing Na''er''s confession.


    His birth father had been able to defeat the Soul Hall and found the Tang Sect while also forging the glorious legacy of Shrek Academy, so why couldn''t he rebuild Shrek Academy?


    His top priority was to become more powerful and revive the academy. When that time came, no one would be able to prevent him from being together with Gu Yuena.


    After thinking through all of these matters, Tang Wulin''s mental state had stabilized significantly, and his cultivation was progressing at a rapid rate. He wasn''t in a hurry to make any further breakthroughs. Instead, he was going to spend some time at his current level to consolidate his foundation. In order to do so, he was even going to repress his own soul power cultivation and compress his own soul power so he could learn more things before becoming a Titled Douluo. Doing this would allow him to better his understanding of the paramount laws of heaven and earth.


    His encounter with Tang San had prompted him to set a higher goal for himself. Just like those who were in power in the Spirit Pagoda and the Holy Spirit Cult, his objective was also to become a god. Only by achieving that goal would he be able to search for his parents!


    ......


    "He really did come! I almost thought I was dreaming when I first saw him," Ye Zhi said into her soul communicator.


    "Did they all come?" A pleasant male voice sounded from the other end of the line, and the voice was tinged with a hint of surprise, as well as anticipation.


    "They did. Tang Wulin is already the Tang Sect Master; I was in shock!"


    "Alright, thanks for telling me that. I''ll come and find you," the man said as a hint of calmness returned to his voice, but was he really as calm as he sounded?


    ......


    After cutting off the call, Su Mu slowly closed his eyes. He appeared to have not changed at all compared to several years ago, and the passage of time didn''t seem to have left any traces on his body. However, his disposition was now more refined, and he was also more steadfast then in the past.


    He once had the nickname of Fox King. Fox King Mu Su had once been the brain of Monster''s Eight Kings, and even though he was only ranked third among the eight kings, both the Tiger King and Dragon King had held his opinions and insights in very high regard.


    Even to this day, he still couldn''t forget that defeat. How powerful were they now?


    During these past few years, he hadn''t dared to slack off even for a single instant. The defeat he had suffered back then wasn''t exactly a disgrace, but it had constantly been spurring him on to advance further and further.


    He dialed another number on the soul communicator on the wrist. "Lin San, Shrek''s Seven Monsters are here."


    After a brief pause, a reply sounded from the other end. "What have they come here for?"


    "They''re here on behalf of the Tang Sect," Su Mu replied.


    "On behalf of the Tang Sect?"


    "Yes."


    Lin San suddenly burst into laughter. "I''m very glad that they''re still alive."


    "So am I," Su Mu also chuckled.


    Both of them were very excited and elated to hear that their rivals were still alive and well.


    Su Mu''s eyes lit up as he said, "Call up Teng Teng and come to my place."


    "Sure! Have you informed Boss and the others?"


    ......


    The morning sun was bright and warm, but wasn''t scorching nor overbearing in the slightest. The sight of the rising sun always instilled one with a sense of elation of motivation, and there was currently a woman standing in front of a tall gate under the exuberant morning sun.


    She looked up at the large characters above the gate with pursed lips, and was struck by a sense of reminiscence.


    She slowly strode in through the gate, and there were all types of plants growing on either side of the long passageway she was walking on. The air here was particularly pure and refreshing, and this place was more like a huge garden than an academy.


    Her eyes were extremely bright to begin with, and they lit up even further after coming here.


    There were already students entering and exiting the academy, and many of them turned their attention toward her.


    Even though it had been a long time since she had last been here, her stunning beauty still made her the center of attention. Furthermore, there were many people here who still recognized her.


    Flashes of recognition flashed through the eyes of many people at the sight of her, but none of them approached her; they merely extended curt nods toward her with admiration and respect in their eyes. Only some of the particularly confident students or the teachers here would appraise her as an equal.


    After passing through this lush passageway, she arrived in a wide open area, and the first thing that she saw was a giant pond with a diameter of over 100 meters.


    During special occasions, the fountains in the pond would be turned on, releasing geysers up into the air that shimmered with vibrant colors under the light of the sun.


    There was no special occasion on this day, so the water in the pond remained as still and smooth as a mirror, reflecting the antiquated academy building on the other side.


    This eight-story ring-shaped building was a symbolic building, and the core of the entire academy. Almost all of the prodigies who managed to earn a spot in the academy would receive the best education here. The woman stopped in front of the pond, and her captivating eyes suddenly began to glow as she cast her gaze toward the aforementioned building in the distance.


    It seemed that even from this far away, she was able to see into the building.


    She dialed a number on her soul communicator. "I''m standing beside the Heavenly Spring Pond right now."


    "Oh? Why are you here?" A slightly surprised voice sounded from the other end.


    "I''m here to see you, of course. Are you free to come and meet me?" the woman asked.


    "Sure." The reply was very simple and concise.

 Chapter 1289: I Want to Be My Old Self

    Right at this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind her. "Hello there, which faculty are you from?"


    The woman''s brows furrowed slightly as she turned around, and she was greeted by the sight of a tall and broad young man with a pair of bright and piercing eyes. There were dense soul power fluctuations emanating from his body, and as he caught sight of the woman''s stunning features, his heart rate began to climb.


    He tried to adopt a nonchalant demeanor as he said, "You''ve been standing beside this pond for quite a while now, and I was getting rather worried. Let me introduce myself; I''m a freshman, but I was in seclusion prior to enrollment, so I was a little late and could only enroll directly into the fourth year."


    The education here was split up into six year levels, and the fact that he had managed to enroll directly into the fourth year was an indirect brag in itself. Of course, he had earned himself the right to brag.


    The woman''s expression eased slightly, and she said, "Sorry, I''m waiting for someone."


    "Oh? I don''t think I''ve seen you here before." The young man didn''t seem to have heard the rejection in her voice, and his smile grew even brighter.


    "I''m sorry, I have a lot on my mind." The woman turned back to face the pond in a graceful manner as she spoke.


    "Maybe you just need someone to listen to what''s on your mind. How about I take you out for a drink?" the young man proposed as he strode over to her side.


    The woman''s expression finally darkened in response to his insistence. "Can you please just give me some peace and quiet?"


    She was suddenly struck by the urge to laugh as she said this. Five years ago, she would''ve most likely thrown this annoying man into the pond.


    However, she was no longer the impish and impulsive little girl she once was. Whatever she did, she had to consider the reputation of her family and couldn''t just act as she pleased. Thinking back, those days were far more enjoyable than the present!


    The young man shrugged in response. "Alright, then."


    He wasn''t some brazen criminal; no matter how attracted he was to the woman before him, he wasn''t going to do anything out of line.


    Just as he was preparing to leave, he suddenly noticed that a hint of a smile had appeared in the woman''s eyes. He then immediately thought back to the instructions of his sly uncle, who had told him that a woman would gradually warm to a pursuer over time, and that there was always a chance as long as he didn''t give up.


    "Why are you smiling? Do you find me funny?" he asked in a curious manner.


    The woman turned to him, and replied, "I was just thinking that if you were buzzing around like an annoying fly beside me five years ago, you''d already be in this pond, but I have no choice but to act like a refined gentlewoman now."


    The young man stared at her in a gobsmacked manner. The words that were coming out of her mouth and her outward appearance were completely incongruent with one another.


    "I don''t believe that; you''re not that type of person," the young man said in a confident manner. He was sure that a woman whom he had deemed to be a goddess at first sight wouldn''t be capable of doing something like this.


    Just as he was affirming his conviction to himself, something suddenly tightened around his neck, and before he had a chance to react, he was hurled up into the air.


    The world spun around him, and he couldn''t help but let loose a cry of surprise. He was completely unable to control his own body as he flew through the air in an arc before plummeting toward the distance. He tried to circulate his soul power to right himself, but found himself completely unable to do so; it was as if his entire body had been sealed.


    He reflexively closed his eyes and curled up into a ball, but right at this moment, a burst of force supported him from down below. His body spun through the air, and before he knew it, his feet had already landed on the ground. He reflexively recoiled as he opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of flat solid ground, and as he stood up straight in a flabbergasted manner, his soul power also began to circulate freely within his body.


    He looked down at his own feet in a perplexed manner, then looked down at his own body and laid a hand onto his own neck, but it was as if nothing had ever happened.


    However, when he inspected his surroundings, a stunned look appeared on his face. He was still standing in front of the Heavenly Spring Pond, but he was now on the other side, situated right in front of the academy building.


    He turned to the other side of the massive pond to find that the woman was still there, but there was now another person standing beside her. This man was extremely tall and broad, and he was as imposing as a mountain.


    The young man gulped nervously at the sight of this man.


    Prior to coming to this academy, he had never felt true fear, but after coming here and meeting this man, he was taught the lesson that fear was a necessary emotion for survival.


    This man was the learning coordinator of the academy, and he was responsible for overseeing the students'' studies and cultivation. Ever since he had become the learning coordinator, the students in the academy had clearly become a lot more disciplined.


    He was most likely going to be the next principal; this was something that almost everyone in the academy had accepted.


    As the young man was appraising him, the man also turned toward him, and their eyes met. His eyes were calm and completely devoid of any threat or menace, but even though they were separated by the diameter of the entire pond, the young man still had chills running down his spine.


    Just who was that woman?


    Looking at the woman before him, Long Yue heaved an internal sigh. She was the first woman who had found her way into his heart, and everyone had once hoped that they would be together. However, fate was never something that could be swayed by human will.


    In the end, he had found the woman that was right for him, and she also had someone that she loved. Unfortunately, the man of her dreams didn''t seem to know exactly how lucky he was.


    "You look even more muscular than before, Brother Long Yue," the woman praised as she squeezed his musclebound bicep.


    The learning coordinator was extremely strict and stern in the face of students, but an embarrassed blush appeared on his face as he reflexively took a step backward before looking around. "Yun''er, you can''t do something so unbecoming of your status."


    The woman smiled, and said, "I really want to cast aside my status; I enjoy being the old me much more. What about you? Isn''t it the same for you?"


    Long Yue faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking with furrowed brows, "What happened?"


    The woman replied, "He''s back."


    "You mean him?" A serious look immediately appeared in Long Yue''s eyes upon hearing this.


    "That''s right, he didn''t die." The smile on her face crumbled as she spoke, and tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes.


    When she had heard the news of the Shrek Academy bombing, she had had a mental breakdown. No matter how disappointed she had been in Tang Wulin''s rejection, she had never forgotten him. It was very hard to fall in love with someone, but forgetting someone after falling in love with them was even harder.


    In particular, the notion that the man of her dreams could potentially no longer be in this world drove daggers into her heart and tormented her every day.


    As a princess, she was already of the age where she should be finding a spouse, but she couldn''t allow herself to do so. The adoration from her father gave her much more freedom, and under the protection of her brothers and father, she wasn''t forced into an arranged marriage like many princesses of the past were.


    Even so, her heart had still been filled with pain. She spent most of her time cultivating in her room as only when cultivating could she temporarily forget him.


    However, never did she think that he would suddenly arrive on the Star Luo Continent under these circumstances. She just so happened to be in the Tang Sect, preparing to exchange for a Tang Sect hidden weapon technique, when she saw a car drive into the headquarters, and received a welcome of the highest caliber.

 Chapter 1290: Please Do Me a Favor

    If she had only seen him on his own, then she would''ve most likely thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her, but his friends were there as well! Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui... They were all there!


    In that instant, she fell into an intense internal conflict and followed them in silence like a soulless husk.


    Due to her special status, she had special privileges in the drill ground, so she was able to witness that sparring match.


    He was different from before. His appearance hadn''t changed, but his disposition was completely different. In the past, he had been a benevolent and motivated young man, but now, he was giving off the same sense of authority and gravity that her father did.


    The change was simply far too massive, and even in the face of a being as powerful as the Smiling Douluo, he still remained as calm and immovable as a mountain.


    The past Tang Wulin had left a strong impression in her heart, but the current Tang Wulin was tugging on her heartstrings in a completely different way.


    In comparison to him, the young man who had just approached her wasn''t even worth a second glance. He was by far the most exceptional character among men of his age.


    However, falling in love with someone so exceptional seemed to be destined to be the greatest source of pain in her life. Thankfully, she wasn''t by his side. Perhaps they were no longer together!


    Dai Yun''er knew that this was perhaps her only chance.


    "What do you intend to do?" Long Yue asked.


    Dai Yun''er took a deep breath, as if she were mustering up all of her courage, and said, "I need you to do me a favor, Brother Long Yue. This is something that only you can help me with."


    "Alright," Long Yue replied in a simple and direct manner.


    "Aren''t you going to ask what it is? What I''m asking you to do may go against your moral code," Dai Yun''er said as she bit down on her lower lip.


    Long Yue shook his head in response. "When have I ever turned you down? You''re my little sister; I can''t refuse a request from you."


    Tears began to flow from Dai Yun''er''s eyes again as she threw herself into Long Yue''s arms. "Thank you, Brother Long Yue."


    Long Yue heaved an internal sigh and shook his head in a resigned manner as he thought about what kind of punishment he was going to receive for this hug. After learning that he was coming out to meet Yun''er, his other half had also followed him and was appraising their interaction from not far away! Dai Yun''er had well and truly screwed him over!


    ......


    "What are you doing, Brother?" An energetic voice sounded from within the soul communicator. A faint smile appeared on Dai Yueyan''s face. "When are you ever going to grow up? You still sound like a little boy."


    "Haha, I wouldn''t be me if I didn''t sound like this; I''m the bundle of joy of our Eight Monster Kings! By the way, did you know that Shrek''s Seven Monsters are here? What do you say? We''ve been cultivating arduously for all these years; we can''t just let them off the hook. I''m sure we''ll be able to beat the crap out of them this time! Hurry and contact Boss so we can arrange a rematch!" Teng Teng was speaking very quickly. Thankfully, his voice couldn''t leave any afterimages. Otherwise, his words would be completely unintelligible.


    "Why don''t you call Boss yourself?" Dai Yueyan chuckled.


    "Me? I''ll pass. He''s already grown accustomed to his role as learning coordinator, and he''s scolding everyone he sees; even I''m no exception! I don''t want to set myself up for that; you''re the only one he won''t scold."


    Dai Yueyan said, "Alright, I''ll speak to him, but don''t be too confident; we''ve been improving, but the same applies to them as well. Don''t cry if we lose."


    Teng Teng chuckled, "You''re the one who always takes losses the hardest."


    Dai Yueyan faltered slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, even now, after he had become the next-in-line heir to the throne, that defeat still weighed extremely heavily on his heart. Even though he was extremely busy attending to a multitude of matters, he still hadn''t slacked off at all in his cultivation, and perhaps this was due to none other than that loss.


    At times, failure was the best source of motivation. With the memory of that defeat to constantly spur him on, he was now being revered by all of the officials as someone who was on track to become the most powerful emperor of the Star Luo Empire in the past 1,000 years.


    This was indeed an opportunity that they couldn''t afford to pass up.


    "I''m on my way to meeting Tang Wulin right now," Dai Yueyan said in a calm manner.


    "What? Are you going there to fight him already?" Teng Teng exclaimed, "Why didn''t you call me first? That''s so sly of you!"


    "Ptui! Why would I call you? I''m meeting him on behalf of the empire! Tang Wulin is no longer just a member of Shrek''s Seven Monsters; he''s here as a representative of the Tang Sect and as the Tang Sect Master."


    "Tang Sect Master?" Teng Teng clearly hadn''t received this information from Lin San, and he was completely rooted to the spot.


    "Alright, I''m hanging up now; I''ve just arrived at the Tang Sect."


    As he cut off the call, the car that he was in had already stopped in front of the Tang Sect. Aside from the Tang Sect''s vehicles, even imperial vehicles weren''t allowed to enter the Tang Sect, so he had to walk the rest of the way.


    Dai Yueyan was once a member of the Tang Sect as well, but after becoming the rightful heir to the throne, he had to withdraw from the Tang Sect due to imperial rules. However, he still had a very close connection with this place, and had a far greater affinity with the Tang Sect than the other princes.


    Many officials were of the opinion that the fourth prince had been chosen as the first-in-line heir precisely due to the fact that he had the Tang Sect''s support.


    In reality, this was indeed the case. The Tang Sect had only ever supported him from the shadows, but that had still played an integral role. Dai Yueyan was most fond of the Tang Sect for its neutrality when it came to political matters, and its endeavor to maintain peace.


    Of course, a domineering entity such as the Douluo Federation wasn''t very fond of the Tang Sect''s insistence on maintaining peace, but to the relatively weaker Star Luo Empire, this was very necessary.


    This was also why the Tang Sect held a higher status than the Spirit Pagoda in both the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire.


    A sect was still a sect, regardless of whether it was the Spirit Pagoda, the Tang Sect, the Body Sect, or any other such entity. Hence, they would all be influenced by politics to a certain extent, and that influence would play a role in deciding whether a sect would be powerful or not.


    There were already people from the Tang Sect emerging to greet the prince by the time he made his way through the main gate of the Tang Sect headquarters.


    Hu Jie and Tang Wulin were standing at the center of the group; this was a necessary formality. Dai Yueyan was accompanied by an imperial entourage, and he immediately caught sight of Tang Wulin.


    Just like when Dai Yun''er had seen him for the first time, the first feeling that Dai Yueyan had been struck by was that Tang Wulin had changed. There was a sense of gravity about him, and he looked like a normal person, but possessed an aura that no ordinary person could achieve. Even as he was merely standing on the spot, he naturally became the center of attention.


    He was appraising Tang Wulin, and Tang Wulin was looking at him as well. Dai Yueyan also seemed to have changed a lot. After becoming the heir to the throne, there was an air of majesty and authority about him. Furthermore, he had become a lot more muscular than before, and his aura was now far more restrained. He was truly living up to his title as Tiger King.


    "Long time no see," Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    They shook hands, and it was a simple and brief handshake, unlike the grip strength contest it had become back in their younger days. Dai Yueyan was surprised to discover that he was completely unable to see through Tang Wulin. He really had changed significantly!


    Tang Wulin was younger than him, and his age was only around that of Dai Yun¡¯er. Several years had passed, and all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had changed. They had once been rivals, but they were now reunited, representing different powers, and the stark change evoked within him a series of complex emotions.


    "Please come with me, Your Highness," the Smiling Douluo said as he made an inviting hand gesture, breaking the slightly tense atmosphere.


    "No need for formalities, Your Majesty." Dai Yueyan was very polite to the Smiling Douluo. Just as Long Yue had En Ci as his teacher, the Smiling Douluo had provided him with a lot of guidance, and was like half a teacher to him. It was exactly because of this that Dai Yueyan had been very close with the Tang Sect ever since his childhood, and went on to become a member of the Tang Sect. It was just that most people were unaware of the relationship he shared with the Smiling Douluo.


    Under the Smiling Douluo''s guidance, everyone arrived in a conference chamber, and Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters sat on one side, while Dai Yueyan and his entourage sat on the other side.

 Chapter 1291: Waste of Time?

    After exchanging some pleasantries, Dai Yueyan sighed, "I didn''t think we would be reunited under these circumstances. Truth be told, I would much rather face you on a competition platform; perhaps I would have the opportunity to set the record straight, then."


    Dai Yueyan couldn''t help but chuckle as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin also smiled as he said, "If you want a sparring match, then I''m happy to accept your challenge at any time. I also really miss the days when we competed against one another. We were all still very young at the time."


    Dai Yueyan chuckled, "Even now, you''re still very young! Who would''ve thought that someone as young as you would be the Tang Sect Master?" A slightly sharp tone crept into Dai Yueyan''s voice as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin merely smiled, and said, "I have the seniors of the Tang Sect to thank for my current position, and I only hope to reciprocate the Tang Sect for their trust and kindness. May I ask what the Star Luo Empire thinks of our collaboration, Your Highness?"


    Dai Yueyan replied, "The negotiations can wait until you meet Father tomorrow; I''m not here to talk politics today."


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "It sounds like the Star Luo Empire isn''t too concerned about this war."


    Dai Yueyan smiled calmly in response, "Do you think we should be worried?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I see. In that case, is there still any need for me to meet His Majesty?"


    Dai Yueyan faltered slightly upon hearing this, clearly taken aback by Tang Wulin''s domineering demeanor. He was hoping to gain a slight advantage for the negotiation to be held the next day by establishing a position of power over Tang Wulin, but he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would respond so aggressively.


    "You seem different from before." Dai Yueyan quickly composed himself.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I haven''t actually changed much; I''m merely concerned that the Star Luo Empire will struggle in the face of the federal army. Seeing as you clearly think that the empire is capable of defending itself, then it appears my concerns were unwarranted. Our Tang Sect has forged an extremely close bond with the Star Luo Empire, and the last thing we want to see is for the Star Luo Empire to be negatively impacted by this war. However, I can now see that there''s no need for such concerns, so I won''t need to waste any of His Majesty''s precious time."


    Dai Yueyan said, "You say you haven''t changed, but you definitely weren''t so overbearing in the past."


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "You''re misconstruing my words. I''m concerned, but not for the power of the Star Luo Empire. Instead, I''m concerned about your current attitude. How about I show you something before we continue our discussion?"


    Tang Wulin rose to his feet as he spoke, and at this point, he had already cast aside all pretenses of geniality.


    Dai Yueyan also stood up, and asked, "So you''re saying that what we''re doing here is a waste of time?"


    "That''s right," Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation, "Perhaps you think the Star Luo Empire is already sufficiently prepared for the war. In that case, there would be no point in continuing our discussion until I show you what I''m about to show you now."


    He walked out of the conference chamber as he spoke, and throughout this entire process, the Smiling Douluo didn''t utter even a single word.


    Tang Wulin had been able to address the situation in the Dou Spirit Empire in outstanding fashion, so he had full trust in Tang Wulin''s ability to do the same here in the Star Luo Empire.


    Dai Yueyan and Tang Wulin were acquaintances to begin with, and that was why Dai Tianling had sent him to meet with Tang Wulin. However, neither Dai Yueyan nor the Smiling Douluo had anticipated that Tang Wulin would be acting in such an overbearing manner. One had to realize that the Tang Sect was still just a sect, whereas Dai Yueyan represented the entire empire. Whether this style of negotiation was appropriate or not would hinge entirely on what Tang Wulin was about to show Dai Yueyan.


    Dai Yueyan followed Tang Wulin to the drill ground in silence, but he was not in a very good mood.


    Even if he was one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and the Tang Sect Master, he still couldn''t compare with the rightful heir to the throne of the Star Luo Empire, so it was only appropriate that Tang Wulin conceded a position of slight inferiority during the negotiation. However, Tang Wulin wasn''t making any concessions, and was even threatening to call off the negotiations. Even if the Star Luo Empire were to comply with the Tang Sect''s conditions in the end, such a style of negotiation would still leave a bitter taste in Dai Yueyan''s mouth.


    There was already someone waiting for them at the drill ground. To put it more accurately, there was a black mecha standing at the center of the hall.


    The mecha was around eight meters tall, and had a massive gun on its back. Dai Yueyan glanced at the mecha before turning to Tang Wulin. "This is what you wanted to show me?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response before making a hand signal toward the black mecha.


    The black mecha took the gun off its own back, and in the instant that it did so, powerful beings from the imperial Holy Hall immediately positioned themselves in front of Dai Yueyan.


    Dai Yueyan merely brushed them off. "There''s no need to be so wary; this is the Tang Sect."


    Tang Wulin was rather surprised by his composure, and he glanced at Dai Yueyan with a hint of approval in his eyes.


    At this moment, another group of people made their way into the drill ground from another direction, and they were pushing something along with them.


    The first thing was a huge metal ball that was placed on one side of the drill ground. This was followed by 10 thick metal boards that were placed in front of the black mecha one after another at intervals of around three meters.


    Dai Yueyan could already see that this was going to be a weapon demonstration. He turned to Tang Wulin, only to find that the latter was looking straight ahead with a serious expression.


    Soon, everything had been set up, and Jiang Wuyue made a hand signal to Tang Wulin to indicate that they were ready.


    Tang Wulin nodded before instructing, "Activate the protective barrier."


    Faint yellow light flashed, and the entire competition area was encompassed within a barrier of soft yellow light. The giant metal ball, which had a diameter of around three meters, was situated outside of the protective barrier.


    Tang Wulin turned to Dai Yueyan, and said, "Your Highness, if you like, you can get your people to examine the structural integrity of those alloy boards and that alloy ball. Each alloy board possesses defensive prowess roughly equivalent to that of a yellow mecha, and all of these combined can roughly match the defensive prowess of a black mecha."


    Dai Yueyan waved a hand, and someone immediately rushed away to examine the alloy structures. Meanwhile, Dai Yueyan asked in a low voice, "What exactly do you intend to show me? An experimental weapon? Even if these alloy boards possess defensive prowess comparable to that of a black mecha, it wouldn''t be all that remarkable for a soul cannon with high penetrative power to tear through all of them."


    Tang Wulin replied, "Please have patience, Your Highness; everything will soon be revealed."


    Soon, the person that was examining the alloy structures returned and gave Dai Yueyan a nod, indicating that Tang Wulin hadn''t exaggerated the defensive properties of these structures.


    Tang Wulin raised a hand toward the black mecha. "Get ready!"


    The black mecha took a step forward, and its foot landed on the ground with a solid clang. It then raised the giant gun in its hands, aiming it at the first alloy board while making some minor adjustments.


    A faint buzzing sound rang out from the giant gun, and dark blue light swirled as the black mecha made a hand signal toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin waved his right hand, and the black mecha immediately pressed the trigger. The giant gun shuddered slightly, and a beam of blue light surged through the air in a flash. The entire process was very fast, and before everyone knew it, it was already over.


    There was no resounding boom; only a faint buzzing sound had rung out, and the alloy boards in front of the huge gun remained completely unscathed.


    Dai Yueyan and his entourage faltered upon seeing this before peculiar looks appeared on their faces.


    He had invited the prince here just to see this? Nothing had happened!


    "Was there an error?" Dai Yueyan turned to Tang Wulin. There was no mockery in his voice nor his expression as he knew that a man of Tang Wulin''s status wouldn''t do something like this unless he had a proper reason. However, this error appeared to be quite a massive one!

 Chapter 1292: Experiment

    Tang Wulin shook his head before pointing into the distance.


    Only then did everyone recall that there was a metal ball that had been rolled into the drill ground. However, it was situated quite far away, and wasn''t even inside the protective barrier, so they had automatically thought that it had nothing to do with what Tang Wulin wanted to show them.


    With the protective barrier in the way, it was rather difficult to see the metal ball, but now that the shot had been fired, the protective barrier was withdrawn, and everyone finally caught a clear glimpse of the alloy ball.


    The disdainful looks on the faces all of the imperial Soul Masters instantly stiffened, and they looked as if they had seen a ghost.


    A huge hole with a diameter of over two meters had been blasted into the metal ball. Strangely enough, the wall that was not far behind the metal ball remained completely unscathed. It was as if the core of the metal had spontaneously melted on its own.


    Dai Yueyan was quite stunned to see this, but he still didn''t really understand.


    "What is this meant to show me?" he asked.


    "You don''t get it?" Tang Wulin asked in a calm manner.


    "I''m afraid not."


    "Alright, there should be mecha pilots among your entourage, right? How about we get one of them to release their mecha and repeat that experiment?" Tang Wulin suggested.


    Dai Yueyan waved a hand, and a middle-aged mecha pilot standing beside him immediately raised an arm. A halo of light erupted from the bracelet on his wrist, and a beam of light surged forth before materializing a black mecha out of thin air.


    "Do you need me to participate in the experiment?" the mecha pilot asked.


    Not only was Dai Yueyan completely perplexed, none of them had understood what exactly Tang Wulin was trying to show them.


    Tang Wulin replied, "No need, just place something that you think is quite solid and hard in your mecha''s pilot room, then activate its automatic defense system to release its protective barrier."


    The mecha pilot was slightly hesitant. "Will this experiment damage my mecha?"


    To any high-grade mecha pilot, their mechas were like their second lives, so they definitely didn''t want their mecha to be harmed in any way.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "It won''t. If any damage is caused, I''ll repay you by twofold."


    Having received that promise from Tang Wulin, the mecha pilot didn''t say anything further. He rose up into the pilot room of his black mecha and placed a chunk of uncommon metal in there, then activated its automatic defense system.


    Once a mecha reached the black caliber, some simple functions could be completed remotely, such as protective barrier activation or opening and closing of the pilot room.


    A slightly warped transparent protective barrier was released by the black mecha, and a content look appeared on the mecha pilot''s face. Every high-grade mecha pilot made sure to painstakingly fine-tune their own mecha, so he was very confident in his black mecha''s defensive prowess. With its defenses fully activated, he was confident that it would be able to withstand even an attack from a Titled Douluo.


    Tang Wulin made another hand signal toward the black mecha in the distance, and on this occasion, it didn''t need to make any further adjustments before firing off another shot.


    On this occasion, the beam of blue light was clearly weaker, and the buzzing sound also wasn''t as loud as before.


    The targeted back mecha merely shuddered slightly before falling still again, and its protective barrier was still in place.


    The black mecha in the distance then put down its gun again, and the mecha pilot from the Star Luo Empire turned to Tang Wulin with a skeptical look. "That''s it?"


    Tang Wulin made an inviting hand gesture. "Open your pilot room and have a look."


    The mecha pilot strode over to his mecha in a perplexed manner, then remotely deactivated the protective barrier before opening the pilot room.


    In the instant that the pilot room was opened, a plume of acrid smoke wafted out from within. At this point, the piece of uncommon metal that had been left on the pilot seat had already disappeared, and even the seat itself had been melted away.


    Tang Wulin said in a slightly apologetic manner, "My apologies, our control wasn''t up to scratch, and we damaged your pilot seat as well; our Tang Sect will repay you for twice the cost of the seat."


    Everyone had failed to see the point of the first experiment, but now, the meaning was clear as day, and horrified looks appeared on all of their faces.


    All of the items used in the first experiment had been provided by the Tang Sect, so no matter what the effect had been, they could always raise suspicions or be skeptical. However, it was different on this occasion.


    The mecha belonged to the Star Luo Empire, and its pilot was definitely someone who was trustworthy as well. They had witnessed the entire process during which he had fully activated the defense system of his mecha, so how had the inside of the mecha become like this?


    The most astonished one among them was naturally the mecha pilot himself. Just a minute ago, he had asked Tang Wulin whether his cooperation was required in the experiment; what would''ve happened to him had he been sitting in the pilot room? He would''ve most likely vanished along with that piece of metal and that chair.


    This was no longer just incredible; it was like a magic trick! Just what was that giant gun?


    Tang Wulin turned toward Dai Yueyan, but didn''t say anything, and merely appraised Dai Yueyan''s astonished expression in silence.


    "This is what you wanted to show me?"


    Dai Yueyan''s breathing was slightly labored. Even though he was constantly telling himself to calm down, he simply couldn''t do so. The scenes he had just witnessed were far too incredible! It had gone beyond the realm of his imagination.


    This was definitely beyond the capabilities of any soul weapon that he knew of, and there were many implications behind this experiment. In the face of that giant gun, the black mecha''s defenses were rendered completely null. No matter how powerful the mecha itself was, it would be useless if the mecha pilot were killed.


    "What weapon is that?" Dai Yueyan asked in a slightly strained voice.


    Tang Wulin replied, "This is one of the federation''s newest weapons, and it''s a federal secret. I''m sure that if we hadn''t brought one here to show you, you''d be discovering its existence on a battlefield. This is a heavy ion laser gun, it doesn''t possess much more offensive power than a normal super soul cannon, but its main advantage lies in its penetrative ability. It can pass through virtually all defenses, regardless of whether they''re physical or energy-based, and the wielder can detonate the laser at any point to inflict as much damage as possible.


    "Hence, it doesn''t even need to damage the surface of an object to destroy everything within it. On top of that, it''s effective against both mechas and battle armor. The federal military is already being equipped with this type of weapon, and its only one of the newest weapons of the federation that we know of. What do you think would happen if this type of weapon appeared in a large-scale mecha battle, Your Highness?"


    What would happen? This was an answer that everyone present could easily provide; the Star Luo Empire''s mecha legion would be crushed without being able to offer any resistance. The protective barriers that they took so much pride in would be rendered completely ineffective, and the mecha pilots would be reduced to dust. After that, their mechas would be captured by the federal military to be used against them.


    The faces of all of the mecha pilots present had turned deathly pale at the thought of this notion, and the Soul Masters weren''t looking much better, either. Battle armor could enhance Soul Masters to a tremendous extent, but that didn''t mean that battle armor was more powerful than mechas.


    Mechas weren''t all that inferior to battle armor when it came to power, but in comparison, battle armor was more compact and had greater synergy with a Soul Master. At the same time, a battle armor master could still use a mecha if they wanted to, which was why battle armor had always been ranked above mechas.


    However, who was to say that a weapon that would be so effective against mechas would be ineffective against battle armor? No one present was willing to volunteer themselves as an experimental guinea pig.


    Waves of shock were surging through Dai Yueyan''s heart. He had dared to try and establish a position of power over Tang Wulin as he was confident in the power of the Star Luo Empire. Of course, they still wanted to receive the assistance of the Tang Sect, but they didn''t want to give up too much for that assistance. In particular, they didn''t want to be overly restricted by the Tang Sect as part of their agreement. Hence, Dai Yuyan had come more so to test Tang Wulin than anything else. However, the test had yielded completely unexpected and downright terrifying results.


    Heavy ion laser gun!


    This was the first time he had ever heard of such a name, and there was no information in the Star Luo Empire that indicated the existence of such a weapon.


    Dai Yueyan''s previously unwavering confidence in his own empire was beginning to sway, and he was at a loss for what to do.

 Chapter 1293: Convinced

    Tang Wulin said in a grim voice, "I''m sure you understand why I held such an attitude after seeing this heavy ion laser gun. I''ve come here with a great deal of sincerity. Our Tang Sect does indeed produce all types of soul weapons, but we champion peace as war will only result in the loss of countless innocent lives, and fuel the heinous individuals lurking in the shadows. After meeting you, I discovered that the Star Luo Empire hasn''t fully grasped the gravity of this imminent war. The three federal fleets and the Sea God Legion combined may not hold an advantage over the Star Luo Empire in terms of the total number of troops, but in modern warfare, having more troops or even having more Soul Masters is no longer the key to ensuring victory. The key now is technology. If the Star Luo Empire could compete with the federation in technology, then it wouldn''t have come to this continent in the first place."


    Tang Wulin''s words were quite harsh and abrasive, and enraged looks appeared on the faces of all of the Star Luo Empire powerful beings present, but they had to admit that Tang Wulin was right.


    The Star Luo Empire was well aware of the disparity in soul technology between them and the Douluo Federation. It was just that during these past years, soul technology had also been advancing rapidly in the Star Luo Empire, and they had made several major breakthroughs and were even threatening to catch up to the Douluo Federation in some areas. Only now, after witnessing this inconceivable heavy ion laser gun, did they realize that there was still an insurmountable gap between the two continents when it came to technology.


    It would be much easier to ignore the truth, but that would simply lead the empire to ruin.


    "What about the Tang Sect''s technology? Can it compare with that of the Douluo Federation?" Dai Yueyan asked in a grim voice.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "There''s no way the power of a sect could compare with that of an entire federation. However, our Tang Sect has been accumulating power for 20,000 years, at the very least, we''ll be able to assist the Star Luo Empire to transcend this tribulation. In exchange, we''re not asking for much; we merely request that the empire doesn''t use these weapons to instigate a war. As for the price, our Tang Sect definitely wouldn''t go overboard, and I''m sure you have people who can analyze whether our prices are fair."


    Dai Yueyan was naturally aware of this, but even if the Tang Sect didn''t charge unfair prices, it would still amount to an astronomical sum. Furthermore, if they were to agree to the Tang Sect''s conditions, then that would bind them together with the Tang Sect, which would inevitably make them oppose some other powers.


    "Can your Tang Sect get these heavy ion laser guns?" Dai Yueyan asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "We won''t be able to get them in bulk, and following our research, we discovered that these weapons are being guarded extremely rigorously by the federation due to their importance; any attempt to disassemble them would result in self-destruction of the weapon. We''ve only brought one of these weapons here on this occasion, and we won''t be able to provide it to the empire. I''m not sure if you heard about what happened in the Dou Spirit Empire not long ago. Our Tang Sect officially declared war on the Spirit Pagoda, and the reason for that is very simple; the Spirit Pagoda has colluded with Evil Soul Masters, and that has erased the final trace of hope we had in them. As such, we had no choice but to turn against them."


    Dai Yueyan had naturally already heard of such an astonishing incident. In order to oppose the Douluo Federation, the Star Luo Empire had always kept up good relations with the Dou Spirit Empire, and the Dou Spirit Empire''s royal family had informed them of everything, including their decision to collaborate with the Tang Sect.


    It was exactly because of this that the Star Luo Empire was even more reluctant to let Tang Wulin continue to take the lead.


    "I think I understand what you''re trying to say, Sect Master. I''ll pass on everything I''ve seen here to my father, and he''ll make the final decision. For now, I''ll be taking my leave."


    There was no point in staying here any longer. After witnessing the true power of this heavy ion laser gun, he was very keen to return to the imperial palace to discuss what he had seen. Firstly, he had to enquire the imperial research center about whether such a weapon could possibly exist. A weapon that could kill black mecha pilots and even powerful battle armor masters in an instant was enough to turn the tide of an entire war!


    The Star Luo Empire had been very confident as they championed power and had a huge population of Soul Masters and Soul Engineers, all of whom received absolute support from the empire. They believed that even if the Star Luo Empire was inferior to the federation in terms of the total number of top-tier powerful beings, the disparity wouldn''t be by much. Furthermore, the powerful beings of the federation definitely weren''t as united as those of the Star Luo Empire. The advantage of a monarchy was that it gave those in power the ability to bestow upon its officials many things that a federation wouldn''t be able to. This naturally made it a lot easier to encourage cohesion and loyalty.


    The Smiling Douluo and Tang Wulin accompanied Dai Yueyan and his entourage to the front entrance, and only after they had departed did the Smiling Douluo turn to Tang Wulin with an expression of approval. "That was splendidly done, Sect Master! That was the first time even I have ever seen such a weapon, let alone His Highness. Is this weapon really able to breach the defenses of all black mechas."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Of course, someone from that entourage of imperial powerful beings would''ve definitely noticed if we were trying to play tricks on them."


    The Smiling Douluo''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "In that case, even if we achieve our objective, the Star Luo Empire may still be unable to withstand an invasion from the federation."


    With this type of super weapon at their disposal, the federation was virtually unstoppable! After all, even black mechas were no match for these weapons; what could possibly stand in their way?


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "These heavy ion laser guns are indeed extremely powerful, but they''re not as unstoppable as you think. Firstly, it only has an effective range of one kilometer, and a black mecha has to be within a range of 500 meters for the weapon to be effective against it. Most importantly..."


    His lips tremored slightly, and only the Smiling Douluo could hear what he said next. Upon hearing Tang Wulin''s explanation, a peculiar look immediately appeared on Hu Jie''s face.


    "I see, you really are something else, Sect Master. Haha, everyone says that I have a sly heart beneath my smiling facade, but I''m no match for you, Sect Master."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I merely showed them the truth, and none of what I said was a lie; what more can they ask from me?"


    Hu Jie sighed, "It''ll all be down to His Majesty''s decision tomorrow, then. He''s most likely not going to fold so easily; he has a very headstrong personality, and he may not choose to comply even if he''s aware of how powerful his enemy is, so the negotiation method you used on His Highness definitely can''t be replicated tomorrow. Otherwise, there''s a good chance that he''ll decide to take a risk rather than comply with our Tang Sect."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. This was a very important point that had just been raised by the Smiling Douluo. In reality, he was also rather concerned about how the king would react to this situation.


    It would be best to take care of everything as quickly as possible as no one knew exactly when the war would break out. It had already been four months since they had left the federation, and according to the information they''d received from the Dou Spirit Empire, the military docks near Skysea City have all been placed under complete lockdown, making it impossible for them to see the situation inside. All of the federation''s satellites and surveillance devices had also been prohibited from roaming over that area of the ocean.


    It was quite clear that even the Boundless Ocean Douluo had been unable to prevent this war from taking place, and everything was still progressing; it seemed to only be a matter of time before the federal army was deployed.


    Under these urgent circumstances, he naturally wanted to complete this mission as soon as possible so they would have the most time to prepare, thereby maximizing their chances of avoiding this war.


    "Boss, do you think the Monster Eight Kings will challenge us for a rematch? That would be great! I''ve always been one to hold grudges," Xie Xie said with a sly smile.


    They were younger than the Monster Eight Kings, and even though they had secured the final victory during the tournament, they had been reduced to an extremely sorry state. If it weren''t for the final miraculous turnaround from Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, they would''ve lost.


    After the passage of so many years, the Monster Eight Kings would''ve definitely improved, but Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were still extremely confident, nonetheless, especially when they had such a powerful captain to lead them.


    Tang Wulin shot a glance at him. "We''re here to discuss important matters; there''s no time for your personal grudges here. Besides, they didn''t exactly have a good time during the match, either."


    Thinking back, he had almost severed Fox King Su Mu''s tails, so there were most likely grudges being held on both sides.

 Chapter 1294: The Imperial Palace

    However, following the passage of so many years and with the new responsibilities that had been placed on his shoulders, those comparatively trivial matters no longer mattered to Tang Wulin.


    Long Yue was once his rival and target, but now, his target was truly the heavens. Up above in the heavens, his birth parents were still waiting for him to go and find them.


    He had to become a Limit Douluo as soon as possible. Only by breaking through his limits could he gain access to the coordinates that would be required to find them.


    The survival of his foster parents was all but assured, but at the same time, his connection with his birth parents had also been severed. However, as long as there was still hope, he would never give up.


    The pilot room of the black mecha opened, and Long Yuxue jumped down in a graceful manner before striding over to Tang Wulin. Back when Tang Wulin had sought her out in the morning to prepare this experiment, she already knew that he was preparing to bluff Dai Yueyan, and from the looks of it, his plan had worked quite well. Then again, the heavy ion laser gun truly was a formidable weapon that had even managed to severely wound the likes of Bear Lord.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Thanks for your hard work."


    Long Yuxue replied, "I''m glad to be of assistance."


    Peculiar looks appeared on the faces of Shrek''s Six Monsters upon hearing their exchange. Long Yuexue definitely wasn''t the first woman after Gu Yuena to have fallen in love with Tang Wulin, and she most likely wasn''t going to be the last one. Unfortunately for everyone else, Tang Wulin simply wasn''t the promiscuous type, and they could only take pity on Long Yuxue.


    "Go back and have a good rest, everyone. We''re going to be meeting the emperor of the Star Luo Empire tomorrow, and that will be the most important part of our journey, so we have to make ample preparations."


    The Star Luo Empire revered power above all else, so everyone was naturally aware of what Tang Wulin meant when he told them to make preparations. After staying on a submarine for so long, they were bored out of their minds, and the prospect of a battle was making them very excited.


    "Sect Master, allow me to introduce to you the current situation and some of the important members of our Tang Sect; I''m sure that information will be helpful to your negotiations. I think there''s a very good chance that the negotiation will go smoothly, so we need to prepare some other things in advance."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "If a war really does break out, then the Star Luo Empire will be the key. If the federation attacks the Dou Spirit Empire first, then the Star Luo Empire must provide them with reinforcements right away. If the Star Luo Empire is attacked first, then it must withstand the invasion, and in the best-case scenario, intimidate the federal army to the point of retreat. It is indeed time to make some preparations. Aside from the weapons that we brought along with us, our Tang Sect has also brought them some resources that they can use when required."


    "Of course. Please come with me, Sect Master."


    ......


    The next day.


    The previous day had been quite hectic, and Tang Wulin had only returned to his room late at night, but after a night''s rest, he was fully reinvigorated.


    After taking a shower, he put on an antiquated robe that represented his identity as the Tang Sect Master, and he prepared himself for the most important part of this trip.


    The Blood Dragon Squad stayed behind, and aside from the personnel from the Tang Sect, Tang Wulin was accompanied by only Shrek''s Six Monsters, as well as Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng.


    With Sima Jinchi by his side, Tang Wulin would be able to unleash even greater power through their soul fusion skill.


    The Tang Sect motorcade drove out of the headquarters, their privileges were immediately made very apparent as there was not a single vehicle on the wide roads. Furthermore, there were soldiers standing on either side of the road to ensure a smooth journey.


    All of the Tang Sect vehicles were custom made, and Tang Wulin was seated with his eyes closed in the second car with Hu Jie.


    This was going to be a very important step to deciding whether war would descend upon this continent.


    The imperial palace was very heavily guarded, and all of the cars were stopped after reaching the entrance of the palace. From there onward, they would have to continue on foot. Dai Yueyan and some other members of the imperial family were waiting for them. The emperor himself naturally wasn''t among them. After all, Tang Wulin was only the Tang Sect Master, so there was still quite a disparity between him and the ruler of an entire empire.


    The fact that the rightful heir to the throne had come out to welcome him in person was already an honor of the highest order. For some reason, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel that Dai Yueyan was looking at him in a rather peculiar manner.


    "Your Highness," Tang Wulin greeted with a nod.


    The smile on Dai Yueyan''s face widened even further, and he said in a very hospitable manner, "Please come with me, Sect Master Tang."


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback by Dai Yueyan''s rather excessively benign demeanor. Ever since he had first met Dai Yueyan, this was the first time that he had been so amiable toward him.


    Of course, this was a good start.


    The two of them strode side by side, while everyone else trailed along behind them, and even the Smiling Douluo made sure to follow along half a step behind the duo.


    Dai Yueyan asked, "Sect Master Tang, what do you think of our Star Luo Empire?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I think it''s a very good place! The Star Luo Empire focuses more on the development of Soul Masters and individual power, which prompts many Soul Masters to work harder in their cultivation. Furthermore, I can see many aspects of traditional culture here that have already disappeared from the federation, and I''m a big fan of that."


    Dai Yueyan nodded in response. "Indeed, there are many things in the Douluo Federation that only came after the continental clash."


    The Douluo Continent hadn''t always been as large as it was now; it was only after two continents had collided due to continental shift that the current Douluo Continent had come into existence.


    At the time, the other continent had been known as the Sun Moon Continent. The Sun Moon Continent had plentiful resources, but far fewer Soul Masters. However, they were very advanced in soul technology, and the merging of the two continents had brought a revolution to the Douluo Continent.


    Regardless of whether it was the Star Luo Continent or the current Dou Spirit Continent, they were inhabited solely by the natives of the Douluo Continent, whereas the Douluo Federation was a melting pot of many groups of people, including Douluo Continent natives and people from the Sun Moon Continent.


    The Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire had opposed the people of the Sun Moon Continent precisely due to their racial differences, and that was why the Star Luo Empire had moved to the Star Luo Continent in the end.


    Over 10,000 years ago, Soul Masters had been the most revered beings on the Douluo Continent, but with the advancements in technology since then, Soul Engineers and mecha pilots had slowly taken the ascendency.


    It was undeniable that the inventions of mechas and soul tools had allowed normal people to attain previously unachievable levels of destructive power, but it was also exactly because of this Soul Masters were no longer as revered as before. Hence, the total number of Soul Masters, particularly high-grade ones, had constantly been decreasing in the Douluo Federation. [Huh, not sure that''s particularly true considering Titled Douluos, Hyper Douluos, and Limit Douluo seem to be a lot more prevalent than in DD1 and DD2, but we''ll roll with it, I guess.]


    Only after becoming a Soul Sage could one be considered to be a high-grade Soul Master, and this required a long and arduous process of cultivation, as well as a high level of cultivation aptitude. In contrast, the process would be far faster if some talented Soul Masters were to become Soul Engineers and take some shortcuts to elevate their soul power, then became mecha masters. This process would at least be twice as fast as that of becoming a high-grade Soul Master, and there wouldn''t be too much of a disparity between the combat prowess of the two.


    Hence, the trend in the federation was one where Soul Engineers and soul technology were being developed as a priority. In doing so, they hoped to be able to conquer other habitable planets to find new homes for the human race.


    Hence, even though the Spirit Pagoda held control over all soul spirits, the federal parliament didn''t really pay that much heed. As technology continued to advance, the role that powerful Soul Masters played would continue to diminish.

 Chapter 1295: The Star Luo Court

    Many federal scientists had already stated that technology would definitely replace the occupation of Soul Masters in the future, and at that point, they would become completely redundant. In any case, soul beasts were already virtually extinct, and research and development in soul spirits had also reached a bottleneck. With sufficient cutting-edge technology to enhance one''s powers, who would still bother to cultivate?


    This viewpoint was even affecting the Dou Spirit Empire to a certain extent. They were at a huge disadvantage in terms of soul technology, so they had been constantly working toward developing their soul technology in the hope of catching up to the other two continents.


    In contrast, the Star Luo Empire assigned greater importance to traditional values, and reverence toward individual power was a deep-rooted part of its culture. Even in its research and development into soul technology, it was mostly to enhance individual combat prowess. They still firmly believed that if a single person were powerful enough, they would be able to turn the tide of an entire war.


    Perhaps this was because the Star Luo Empire had witnessed Tang San''s miraculous heroics in his battle against the Soul Hall, as well as Huo Yuhao''s legendary feat of forcing the Sun Moon Empire into retreat on his own.


    However, it was exactly because of this that Dai Yueyan had been so stunned after witnessing the power of the heavy ion laser gun. If technology in the federation had already outstripped that of their empire to this extent, then how were they supposed to even stand a chance in the imminent war?


    The imperial palace was extremely lavish and grandiose. Even though the Star Luo Empire had also already progressed into the modern age of soul technology, the guards in front of the imperial palace still wore antiquated suits of armor to pay homage to their traditions. This imperial palace was virtually no different from the palace of the Star Luo Empire from 10,000 years ago. It was extremely spacious with a ceiling that was over 40 meters tall, and just being inside it struck one with an indescribable sense of pressure.


    On either side of the hall stood the officials of the Star Luo Empire, and it was no coincidence that they had been gathered on the same day that Dai Tianling had been scheduled to meet Tang Wulin.


    The Smiling Douluo had already told Tang Wulin in advance to expect this, so he was mentally prepared.


    He looked up to find a staircase consisting of a dozen or so steps at the conclusion of the red carpet on the ground before him. At the top of the staircase was what appeared to be an independent miniature city with dozens of guards and servants surrounding a man seated on a throne. The man wore a set of golden robes with the diagram of a fierce white tiger embroidered on its surface. The white tiger was the symbol of the Star Luo Empire, and the direct lineal martial soul of the imperial family, so the empire had always revered tigers.


    Dai Tianling was a powerful Soul Master himself, so the passage of time hadn''t left many traces on his physical appearance. The last time Tang Wulin had seen this emperor was from afar, and even when the awards were being presented, he hadn''t paid any particular attention to this man. Now that he was meeting the emperor again, he was struck by a rather peculiar feeling. He was back, but he was in a completely different position compared to in the past.


    Never did he think that he would be able to negotiate with the ruler of an empire as equals in only his early twenties.


    There were two chairs beside Dai Tianling''s throne, and they were the only ones on this independent platform aside from the throne. There was an elderly man occupying one of the chairs with his eyes closed, and he seemed to be sound asleep.


    Tang Wulin was not very fond of this old man. He was the principal of Monster Academy and a Limit Douluo. Back when Long Yue had lost control and tried to kill Tang Wulin, this man had displayed no intention of stepping in, whatsoever. If it weren''t for Tang Wulin''s incredible regenerative abilities and the timely intervention from Mu Ye, he most likely wouldn''t even be standing here today.


    Tang Wulin recalled this man''s name very clearly; it was En Ci. He was able to sit beside the emperor not just because he was a Limit Douluo, but also because he was the imperial teacher.


    The current emperor had studied and cultivated under his guidance for a very long time, so he had a great deal of respect for En Ci.


    However, what caught Tang Wulin''s attention the most was the person sitting on the other side of Dai Tianling. This was a woman in a long palatial dress with her hair organized in an immaculate fashion indicative of an unmarried noblewoman.


    There was an intricate phoenix with a pair of exuberant eyes and its wings spread open embroidered on the dress, and the woman wearing the dress had a pair of large bright eyes that had left a strong impression on Tang Wulin on more than one occasion.


    Their eyes met, and Tang Wulin''s determined gaze wavered ever so slightly.


    There was no way that he wouldn¡¯t have any feelings toward a woman like her. At the very least, he had been touched by her persistence. She had once traveled across the ocean to find him in Shrek Academy, only to be rejected by him, and for that, Tang Wulin was still feeling very apologetic.


    Dai Yun''er was looking back at him with a series of complex emotions in her eyes. There was a hint of anticipation, but that was far outweighed by a look of sorrow.


    The last their eyes had met was during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. Since then, the Sea God''s Island had already disappeared, yet they were reunited here in the imperial palace of the Star Luo Empire. Fate really did work in strange and unexpected ways sometimes.


    Dai Yueyan quickly stepped forward before extending a respectful bow. "Your Majesty, I''ve brought Sect Master Tang Wulin here."


    Even though the Star Luo Empire still abided closely to traditions, there were still many changes that had been made. For example, officials no longer needed to kowtow to the emperor, and one of the main reasons why the Dai Family was so revered by its people.


    One had to realize that even the Spirit Ice Douluo was a member of the Dai Family. In the federation, the Spirit Ice Douluo had always been known as Huo Yuhao, but here in the Star Luo Empire, his name had always been Dai Yuhao. He had the blood of the imperial family flowing through his veins, but unfortunately, he hadn''t inherited the white tiger martial soul.


    Dai Tianling nodded at Tang Wulin in an expressionless manner. "Thank you for coming all this way to our Star Dou Empire, Sect Master Tang. Please take a rest, and we''ll begin our negotiations once I finish addressing my officials."


    "Thank you, Your Majesty." Tang Wulin extended a slight bow of gratitude.


    Someone quickly carried a chair over to Tang Wulin, and he took a seat in front of all of the officials, just one step away from the platform up ahead.


    The Smiling Douluo was given a seat on the other side, while Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters were offered seats behind Tang Wulin.


    Dai Tianling said, "Let''s continue. How is the mobilization of our troops coming along, Minister of War?"


    One of the officials below the platform strode forward, and said, "Your Majesty, everything is going smoothly. Our empires first, third, and seventh legions have been deployed to the borders, and the mobilization of the Spirit Ice Fleet and White Tiger Fleet is also complete."


    "Good. If you encounter any problems in resource distribution, then turn to the Ministry of Revenue for timely assistance. Ensure that our troops on the front lines are in the best possible condition to face a war should it arise."


    "Yes, Your Majesty," another official said in a respectful voice as he also stepped forward.


    After that, they discussed some general affairs, and Tang Wulin listened in silence. All of the officials of the Star Luo Empire struck him as being very efficient and concise, and as the emperor, Dai Tianling mostly just had to approve the courses of action being presented to him.


    This was the main advantage of a monarchy. However, this was still very different from a traditional monarchy as the officials clearly had more speaking rights, but they still had to maintain a certain level of respect toward the royal family.


    On the surface, the court appeared to be extremely cohesive and well-run, and it was no wonder that the Star Luo Empire was so confident in itself.


    Tang Wulin sat in his chair and looked straight forward, not taking any further glances at Dai Yun''er. He didn''t seem to be tuning out everything around him, nor did he seem to be listening very carefully; everything about him appeared to be very natural.


    At this moment, En Ci slowly opened his eyes, and his gaze settled on Tang Wulin. His eyes were slightly murky, but the complex emotions within them were still quite clear to see.


    Back during the tournament, he hadn''t stepped in to save Tang Wulin from Long Yue precisely because he had identified Tang Wulin''s latent potential at the time.


    As it turned out, his judgment had been correct. No more than seven years following the tournament, he had reappeared before them as the Tang Sect Master. It was undoubtedly the case that the higher-ups of the Tang Sect were even more aware of his potential than En Ci was.


    When En Ci first heard the news that Tang Wulin had become the Tang Sect Master, he had been given a massive shock as well. This was the Tang Sect Master, the representative of the number one sect on the continent!

 Chapter 1296: Negotiations with the Emperor

    No matter how much latent potential Tang Wulin had, he was still only a young man in his early twenties. His powers may have earned him some recognition, but would he really be able to handle the enormous pressure on his shoulders and manage the Tang Sect appropriately?


    There was no one to answer that question for him, but nonetheless, this was the decision that had been made by the two Tang Sect Douluo Palace Masters. Furthermore, after becoming the Tang Sect Master, Tang Wulin had immediately been sent off to the two neighboring empires for negotiations on behalf of the Tang Sect. This was undoubtedly the most important matter that the Tang Sect had had to attend to in many years, so this was a clear indication of just how much the higher-ups of the Tang Sect trusted this young man.


    Of course, they were unaware of the fact that the Heartless Douluo had only made the decision after witnessing Tang Wulin being blessed by the plane. To put it in simpler terms, the fortune of the entire planet was with Tang Wulin.


    It would not be incorrect to describe him as the child of destiny, and if they were to miss out on him due to their reluctance to bestow upon him greater responsibilities, then they would definitely be left ruing their decision.


    Don''t forget that Tang Wulin was also a part of Shrek Academy. Even with how close Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were, they still weren''t the same organization. In these tumultuous times, Shrek Academy had made Tang Wulin the new Sea God''s Pavilion Master, so the Tang Sect naturally had to offer him a corresponding position. Otherwise, he would inevitably be more inclined to side with the academy, even if it was only on a subconscious basis.


    En Ci closed his eyes again. Tang Wulin was now no longer someone who could simply be killed off. The empire couldn''t afford to sour its relationship with the Tang Sect over just a single person, so they could only leave him be and watch as he continued to develop. It was undoubtedly the case that he would become a Limit Douluo in the future, and with such a young Limit Douluo among their ranks, the Tang Sect''s future would be all but assured for at least the next century.


    As he was discussing the empire''s affairs with his officials, Dai Tianling had also been keeping an eye on Tang Wulin. The white-robed Tang Wulin was quite a sight to behold, but there was no powerful aura emanating from his body.


    Dai Tianling couldn''t help but internally praise him for his handsome looks and steadfast demeanor. In particular, it was very remarkable that Tang Wulin was able to remain so calm and collected in such a high-pressure setting.


    Only after two hours did the proceedings conclude, and at this point, many of the officials were beginning to look rather weary, but Dai Tianling was still as energetic as ever.


    The officials departed, and he strode down from the platform, followed closely by En Ci.


    "My apologies for making you wait for so long, Sect Master Tang." The serious expression on Dai Tianling''s face had been replaced by a very warm smile.


    "It''s only right that you prioritize your empire''s affairs first above all else, Your Majesty. Do you need some rest before we begin?" Tang Wulin asked with a smile. His demeanor was quite respectful, but not overtly so.


    Dai Tianling chuckled, "I''m no longer a young man, but I''m not old enough to require a midday nap just yet. Come, let''s go take a seat in the rear palace."


    It seemed that Dai Tianling''s attitude was quite a positive one. At the very least, he didn''t seem to be opposed to Tang Wulin.


    The Smiling Douluo smiled, and said, "If even you''re no longer a young man, then what are Brother En Ci and I supposed to be?"


    En Ci glanced at the Smiling Douluo before countering, "Don''t compare yourself to me; we''re not the same age."


    Indeed, En Ci was over 30 years older than Hu Jie.


    Hu Jie chuckled, "You may be older than me, but there''s a decent chance that you''ll live longer than me."


    Tang Wulin was rather surprised by the casual interaction taking place between Hu Jie and En Ci; it seemed that they were on very good terms with one another.


    En Ci shook his head in a resigned manner, and didn''t say anything further.


    Dai Tianling chuckled, "I truly envy the friendship between you two. I may be the emperor, but what I wouldn''t give for a good friend that I can confide in. Sect Master Tang, please follow me."


    Tang Wulin and the others were led to the rear palace by Dai Tianling, where tea and snacks had already been prepared for them. The rear palace was just as grandiose and spectacular, and Dai Tianling sat down on the main seat. En Ci took a seat by his side again, while Tang Wulin and Dai Yueyan sat across from him.


    Dai Yun''er was still standing behind Dai Tianling, and she hadn''t uttered even a single word to Tang Wulin, but her eyes had never strayed away from him, either.


    Dai Tianling smiled, and asked, "Are you well rested after your journey, Sect Master Tang?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m very well-rested, thank you for asking, Your Majesty."


    "I''m well aware of the purpose of your trip, Sect Master Tang. I''ve seen all of the conditions proposed, and most of them are very reasonable. The Star Luo Empire has also always been very grateful for the support of the Tang Sect, but there are some conditions that I wish to negotiate."


    "Oh? Which conditions are you referring to, Your Majesty?" Tang Wulin asked in a calm manner.


    Dai Tianling smiled, and said, "Setting that aside for now, do you have any additional requests on top of these conditions, Sect Master Tang?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this, and he replied, "Our Tang Sect only hopes to prevent this war and the loss of innocent lives. We encountered members of the Holy Spirit Cult in the Dou Spirit Empire, and they will stand to benefit the most from a war as they can use all death and suffering to their advantage. The Holy Spirit Cult has become more and more active of late, and they''ve been responsible for several major terrorist attacks in the federation. It''s quite clear that they''re planning something big, and now that we can confirm that the Spirit Pagoda is colluding with them, that makes things even more troublesome. Hence, we can''t allow them to benefit from this war."


    Dai Tianling''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Are you implying that members of the Holy Spirit Cult have infiltrated our empire as well?"


    Tang Wulin nodded without any hesitation. "That''s for sure. They''re hiding in the shadows and waiting for the commencement of the war. The higher the death toll, the more they''ll benefit, and the Holy Spirit Cult will only be more powerful than we imagine. I''ve encountered two of the Holy Spirit Douluo''s four heavenly monarchs, and one of them is a rank 97 Hyper Douluo, while the other is at rank 98 soul power. Furthermore, there are at least five Evil Soul Masters more powerful than them in the Holy Spirit Cult, including the Blood Demon that we were made aware of in the Dou Spirit Empire."


    At the mention of the Blood Demon, a cold look crept into Tang Wulin''s eyes, and his calm aura shifted ever so slightly. The change lasted only for an instant, but En Ci still caught onto it, and a hint of astonishment appeared in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin had hidden his powers very well earlier, and even he had failed to detect the fact that Tang Wulin had already reached the Spirit Domain realm.


    This discovery struck En Ci with a hint of incredulity. It had only been a few years since he had last been on the Star Luo Continent! How much spiritual power had he possessed at the time? How had he made such astonishing progress in just these short few years?


    Even the Smiling Douluo had only recently reached the Spirit Domain realm and was yet to materialize a spiritual domain. Could it be that this young man had encountered some kind of miraculous opportunity? En Ci was suddenly struck by the realization that he had to reevaluate this young man.


    It was quite clear that he was here, not just for his potential, but also for the level of power he had already achieved.


    This wasn''t the first time that Dai Tianling had heard of the Holy Spirit Cult, but it was still a relatively unfamiliar organization to the Star Luo Empire. This was because the Holy Spirit Cult still hadn''t made any major moves in the Star Luo Empire, so they hadn''t really made their presence known. Furthermore, it was not a bad thing for the Star Luo Empire that the Holy Spirit Cult was acting as a thorn in the side of the Douluo Federation. Of course, that was only under the premise that the threat of the Holy Spirit Cult didn''t spread to the Star Luo Empire as well.

 Chapter 1297: The Simplest Condition?

    Tang Wulin nodded with a grim expression. "The Holy Spirit Cult was able to destroy our Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters, and they definitely have the power to replicate these heinous feats here on the Star Luo Continent." He cast his gaze around the rear palace as he spoke, and it wasn''t difficult to read between the lines and see what he was implying.


    Dai Yueyan couldn''t help but interject, "Aren''t you being a little too pessimistic, Sect Master Tang? Even if the Holy Spirit Cult has infiltrated our empire, their main forces should still be in the Douluo Federation."


    Tang Wulin replied, "It''s much better to be safe than sorry. The Holy Spirit Cult benefits the most from chaos and destruction; can you expect me to believe that they played no role in instigating this war? According to the latest news, the federation has cut off its entire coastline from radar detection, and also began to monitor large areas of the coast. No one knows when the federal fleets will be deployed, so the situation is very urgent, and I implore you to make a decision quickly, Your Majesty."


    He had already said everything he needed to say to Dai Yueyan the day before, and now, it was up to the emperor to make his decision, or to propose conditions for the Tang Sect to consider.


    The Tang Sect was providing weapons, but it wasn''t just a weaponry merchant; the main distinction was that the usage of these weapons had to be approved by the Tang Sect, and they had to be used only when necessary. This meant that they couldn''t be used to instigate a war, and in order to enforce these regulations, all of the weapons had passcode locks that only the Tang Sect could unlock.


    Thus, the Star Luo Empire was purchasing these weapons, but the usage rights weren''t actually in their hands, and that was quite a heavy restriction. Otherwise, if the deal simply consisted of the Tang Sect selling power soul weapons with no strings attached, then both empires would''ve agreed in a heartbeat.


    Dai Tianling appraised Tang Wulin with an intense gaze, and said, "Sect Master Tang, the conditions proposed by your Tang Sect are rather difficult for us to accept, but a potential war is imminent, and we really do need these weapons, so how about we make a bet?"


    Dai Tianling maintained a smile as he spoke.


    A bet? Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of absurdity upon hearing this. These words were being spoken by the ruler of a major empire, and the empire in question could be in great peril soon!


    Despite what he was thinking, Tang Wulin''s expression remained calm. "A bet? What would you like to bet, Your Majesty?"


    Dai Tianling replied, "I''m sure you know which conditions our empire is reluctant to accept, so we''ll make our bet based on that. If we lose, then we''ll accept all of your conditions. On top of that, we''ll throw in an additional 10% on top of the prices proposed by your Tang Sect. If we win, then you have to remove the restriction clause."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "Your Majesty, this isn''t child''s play."


    Dai Tianling replied, "Of course not, I fully intend to do as I say."


    Tang Wulin was rather bemused. "That''s not what I mean, Your Majesty; I''m sure you understand what I''m trying to say."


    Dai Tianling said in an indifferent manner, "My apologies, Sect Master Tang, but this is my final decision. How about you listen to the conditions of the bet first? Alternatively, there''s another option; if you can satisfy a certain condition of mine, not only will we fully accept the deal proposed by your Tang Sect, we''ll even throw in an extra 20% on the total price as a present to you."


    20%? That didn''t sound like much, but one had to realize the total price for such a large batch of soul weapons was already an astronomical sum to begin with. The Tang Sect was preparing to provide the Star Luo Empire with four times the amount of weapons they had supplied to the Dou Spirit Empire, and the total cost was more than enough to fully equip an entire mecha legion.


    Even the Smiling Douluo''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. He was quite close with the imperial family, but he didn''t know what the imperial family intended to do, either, and only now was he able to hear the imperial family''s plan.


    This extra 20% could help the Tang Sect purchase an enormous amount of additional resources from the two empires.


    "What''s your condition, Your Majesty?" Tang Wulin wasn''t allowing himself to become overexcited by this prospect. The fact that Dai Tianling was willing to promise an additional 20% was an indication of just how rigorous the condition was going to be.


    Dai Tianling smiled, and replied, "It''s not a very rigorous condition, and the Tang Sect won''t even need to sacrifice anything; the most important thing here is you."


    He turned to Dai Yun''er as he spoke, and a sense of foreboding instantly welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. Sure enough, what Dai Tianling said next confirmed his suspicions.


    "Yun''er is my only daughter, and I''ve cherished her for her entire life. She can''t inherit the throne from me, but everyone who''s close to me knows that she''s more important than any of my sons in my heart. Even though she''s a princess, I chose to accept her disregard for the rules of the royal family, and I even allowed her to be exempt from entering a political marriage. This is all because she is the most important person in my life. I''m not just an emperor; I''m also a father, and as a father, all I want is for my precious daughter to be happy.


    "You two were already acquainted the last time you came to the Star Luo Empire. I don''t know what happened between the two of you, but I know one thing is for sure; my daughter definitely has feelings for you. Sect Master Tang, if you''re willing to become my son-in-law, then we''ll be a family, and our deal will naturally go ahead without any issues. Furthermore, you don''t need to stay in our Star Luo Empire; all that I ask is that you make my daughter your principal wife [rather than a concubine]. After that, wherever you choose to go, the Star Luo Empire will forever be your staunchest supporter."


    Tang Wulin was at a complete loss, and Dai Yun''er had turned away to hide the deep blush on her face.


    She had sought out Long Yue and En Ci to convince her father together, all for this opportunity.


    If Gu Yuena had been by Tang Wulin''s side, then perhaps she wouldn''t have done this. However, she wasn''t, yet Tang Wulin was with all of his other friends, so there was a very good chance that something had happened between them.


    Dai Yun''er was well aware that a man as exceptional as Tang Wulin definitely had more than one or two pursuers, so perhaps this was her final chance, and she wasn''t going to give up on this chance no matter what.


    She had always been very wilful and determined ever since she was a child, and she certainly wasn''t going to back down when it came to love. She was determined to find someone she loved, rather than someone who loved her.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were also all stunned by this turn of events. They had all witnessed Dai Yun''er''s confession to Tang Wulin during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, but never did they think that the emperor would propose such an inexplicable condition during such an important and serious meeting.


    However, now that they thought about it, this was a brilliant move that was killing multiple birds with one stone.


    If Tang Wulin were to marry Dai Yun''er, then that would mean that the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master had married the princess of the Star Luo Empire. With Tang Wulin''s current status, he was definitely a worthy match for the princess.


    If this were to eventuate, then the bond between the Star Luo Empire and the Tang Sect would be further strengthened and far outstrip the bond between the Tang Sect and the Dou Spirit Empire.


    Even though the Tang Sect had been keeping a low profile in the federation, the Star Luo Empire was well aware of just how much power the Tang Sect still had up its sleeve. If the Tang Sect were willing to unconditionally support the Star Luo Empire, then it certainly wouldn''t be impossible for them to catch up to the Douluo Federation in the future. As such, this was a meticulously thought-out plan, and certainly not a spur of the moment decision.


    Furthermore, even if Tang Wulin were removed from his position in the Tang Sect following the marriage, he was still someone with the potential to become a Limit Douluo. If his daughter could marry a Limit Douluo, then their empire would have the support of another Limit Douluo; this was already a fantastic arrangement in itself!


    Hence, no matter how the situation was looked at, a marriage between Tang Wulin and Dai Yun''er would be brilliant for the Star Luo Empire.


    On top of that, Dai Yun''er was also head over heels for Tang Wulin, so his daughter''s happiness would also be ensured if this marriage could be arranged. As such, it didn''t take much to convince Dai Tianling to propose this condition.

 Chapter 1298: I Understand

    A smile had also appeared on Dai Yueyan''s face. He had once faced Tang Wulin in battle, and he was well aware of Tang Wulin''s potential and fighting qualities. The last time he was here on the Star Luo Continent, Dai Yueyan had thought that he wasn''t worthy of his sister, but now, the situation was completely different.


    Tang Wulin''s powers and his status as the Tang Sect Master made him more than worthy of securing Dai Yun''er''s hand in marriage.


    The Smiling Douluo clearly had no idea about the history between Tang Wulin and Dai Yun''er, which made sense, considering there was no reason for Tang Wulin to have divulged this information to him.


    As such, he was initially stunned by this proposal before a smile quickly also appeared on his face.


    With his experience and wiles, he was naturally able to see just how smart this decision from Dai Tianling was, and on top of that, this wasn''t a bad thing for the Tang Sect, either.


    The Tang Sect was being severely suppressed in the federation, so it needed more support as well. If their sect master could marry the princess of the Star Luo Empire, then that would undoubtedly further strengthen the relationship between the sect and the empire. Of course, the potential issue there was that Tang Wulin could make decisions that were beneficial to the Star Luo Empire at the expense of the Tang Sect later on, but his decision wasn''t absolute as the two palace masters could still step in when required. As such, this marriage would strengthen the Star Luo Empire''s trust in the Tang Sect, it would complete this mission to perfection, and it would also bring the Tang Sect a massive haul of resources.


    It really was a win-win situation.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin had only just become the Tang Sect Master; if he could bring such a vast collection of benefits to the Tang Sect, then that would naturally bolster his position as sect master as well.


    The Smiling Douluo was very pleased with the direction that everything had taken. He had thought that there would be a heated debate, but it appeared things would conclude in a much smoother fashion than he had expected.


    He had observed all of the people who had accompanied Tang Wulin to the Star Luo Empire, and he could tell that Long Yuxue had feelings for Tang Wulin, but it was a completely unrequited love. The six other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were all couples, and only Tang Wulin was presumably still single, which was perfect for this situation.


    At this moment, everyone was staring at Tang Wulin, waiting for his answer. If he were to agree to the proposal, then everyone would be happy.


    Dai Yun''er had already cast aside her embarrassment and was staring at Tang Wulin with burning anticipation in her eyes.


    She was already prepared to dive right into his arms as soon as he agreed, even though doing so was clearly unbefitting of a princess like her.


    Tang Wulin raised his head, yet instead of turning to Dai Tianling, his gaze settled on Dai Yun''er. He rose to his feet, and appraised Dai Yun''er with a complex look in his eyes while everyone looked on in silence.


    "Yun''er," Tang Wulin called out in a strained voice.


    Dai Yun''er looked into his conflicted guilt-ridden eyes. His eyes were still so beautiful, even more so than the vast majority of women. However, they were no longer clearly visible to her as a film of tears had blurred her vision.


    When they had first met, she had played a trick on him and made him a laughing stock.


    After that, they had competed against one another over and over again, and in the end, he had led Shrek Academy to victory over what Dai Yun''er had thought to be the invincible Monster Eight Kings.


    At the time, he had merely left a strong impression on her. The next time they met was in the Dragon Valley. She had been completely vulnerable and helpless, yet he had protected her time and time again.


    Over time, they had formed a seamless duo and advanced onward together. As they spent more time together, the image of him in her heart began to take on a rose-tinted quality.


    During that perilous situation, he had sent her out of the Dragon Valley, yet he hadn''t made it and disappeared for three years. During those three years, Dai Yun''er felt as if she were nothing more than a soulless husk, and even she didn''t know how she managed to make it to the other side.


    After that, she received news stating that he was still alive, and that he had returned to Shrek Academy. She had set everything aside to pursue him, and when she finally saw him again, she had courageously confessed to him during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, despite knowing that he and Gu Yue most likely shared a very special relationship. However, what she had received at the time was an apologetic rejection, and the same expression appeared on his face once again.


    This was the expression that she least wanted to see. She didn''t need his apology or sympathy; that wasn''t what she wanted at all!


    Tears quickly welled up in her eyes, and even with her Spirit Eyes, her vision had completely blurred.


    She felt as if her heart had been wrenched away, leaving an excruciating hole in her chest.


    "That''s enough, I understand." Dai Yun''er immediately turned before rushing outside.


    Tang Wulin reflexively took a step forward and opened his mouth to call out after her, but he couldn''t bring himself to do so.


    Dai Tianling''s smile had completely stiffened, and a look of thunderous fury immediately appeared in his eyes. En Ci''s brows furrowed tightly, and Dai Yueyan was clenching his fists as his face became flushed with rage.


    In contrast, the Smiling Douluo was rather bemused. It seemed that the princess had been rejected even though Tang Wulin had said nothing more than her name?


    The atmosphere in the rear palace immediately became extremely tense and hostile, and the Smiling Douluo knew that this negotiation was most likely going to end in failure now.


    Tang Wulin had his own bottom line. For the sake of the sect, he could give up his life, but love was sacred.


    His heart had been entirely filled by Gu Yuena, and there was no room in there for anyone else.


    Their love was already so brittle, and there were countless hardships ahead of them. He had already worked so hard, yet they still couldn''t be together; how could he possibly accept love from someone else?


    If there were an alternate universe where he had met Dai Yun''er first, then perhaps everything would''ve been different. However, even he who possessed the Time Reversal domain couldn''t make that into a reality.


    Dai Yun''er was a good person, and he truly didn''t want to hurt her, but he had no choice.


    For a man of his status, polygamy would be more than warranted, but his heart simply wouldn''t allow him to love more than one person.


    Dai Yun''er, Long Yuxue, Wu Siduo... All he could give them was an apology as he already had Gu Yuena in his heart.


    Tang Wulin had already given his suit of three-word battle armor the name "Dragon Moon Song". The three words described his connection to the dragon clan, his love for Gu Yuena, and his first soul spirit. All he wanted was for her to be constantly by his side every single day. They would live together, cook food together, take walks together, whisper into each other''s ears...


    It was a simple wish, yet it was his greatest wish, and one that he had constantly been striving toward.


    Hurting Dai Yun''er once again had further exacerbated his guilt, but there really was no helping the situation. Loving someone was painful, yet what was even more painful was for two people who clearly loved one another to be forced apart by circumstances.


    "Sect Master, perhaps she misconstrued your intentions?" the Smiling Douluo asked in a low voice, finally breaking the tense silence.


    Tang Wulin turned to Hu Jie, and he knew what answer the Smiling Douluo wanted him to give, but he still shook his head. His voice wasn''t very loud, but it was very determined as he said, "I''m sorry, Your Majesty, but I already have someone I love and have lost the right to marry Yun''er."

 Chapter 1299: Trial of Five Gods

    His words were spoken in a very apologetic manner, and he really was feeling very apologetic at the fact that he had to reject both the princess and the emperor in front of so many people.


    Dai Tianling''s eyes were still filled with thunderous rage. There were indeed many objectives that could be achieved from this marriage, but most importantly, he just wanted his beloved daughter to be happy. However, he was greeted by the sight of his daughter''s tears instead.


    His heart was burning with fury, and he wanted nothing better than to reduce Tang Wulin to ashes right away. As a father, any man who tried to approach his daughter would be met with enmity, but any man who dared to refuse his daughter would be met with burning fury.


    The veins on the backs of his hands were already bulging, and his aura was fluctuating in a rather unstable manner.


    "Your Majesty," En Ci called out in a gentle voice. Dai Tianling turned toward him, and En Ci shook his head at him with a forlorn look in his eyes.


    When Long Yue and Dai Yun''er had first come to him with the request of helping them in this matter, he had happily agreed as this was a good thing for the Star Luo Empire. However, he didn''t anticipate that this would be how the situation played out. Tang Wulin didn''t even hesitate to think before he turned down the princess, which meant that there was no way that this marriage could take place.


    However, he was still a representative of the Tang Sect, and for the sake of the empire, Dai Tianling couldn''t afford to kill him, no matter how angry he was.


    Tang Wulin sat down again, and his brows were slightly furrowed. He didn''t really know what to say at a time like this.


    A tense atmosphere settled over the entire rear palace, and Tang Wulin could clearly sense the burning fury in the eyes of Dai Yueyan.


    He looked up in a resigned manner before turning to Dai Yueyan with an apologetic expression.


    Dai Yueyan harrumphed coldly in response. Under different circumstances, he would''ve definitely already pounced on Tang Wulin.


    In the end, it was the Smiling Douluo that broke the silence again. He cleared his throat to attract everyone''s attention, then asked, "Your Majesty, what is the bet you were referring to earlier?"


    Dai Tianling appraised him in a cold manner, and replied, "In ancient times, there was once a trial on the Douluo Continent known as the Trial of Five Gods. In a conflict between two nations, the weaker of the two could select one representative to take on five challenges from the more powerful nation, and if that person were to secure victory in all five challenges, then the more powerful nation would have to retreat, and no war could be instigated between the two nations for at least a year. The Star Luo Empire reveres power, and even more so individual power. If the Tang Sect can prove to us that Sect Master Tang is a true hero through this trial, then we can agree to the Tang Sect''s conditions."


    In the end, Dai Tianling had chosen to repress his own fury. After all, the safety of the empire hinged on this negotiation.


    Trial of Five Gods?


    Tang Wulin was immediately intrigued upon hearing this. It was undoubtedly the case that he would have to be the representative to face the five challenges.


    Dai Tianling continued, "Our Star Luo Empire will send out five people to challenge Sect Master Tang in the disciplines of mechas, battle armor, soul skills, weapons, and soul spirits. If Sect Master Tang can secure victory in all five challenges, then like I said earlier, we''ll accept all of the Tang Sect''s conditions and throw in an extra 10% on top of the total price."


    The Smiling Douluo''s brows furrowed tightly. "Your Majesty, isn''t that a little too harsh? With Brother En Ci on the empire''s side, how is our sect master supposed to win all five challenges?"


    Even though En Ci was the Star Luo Empire''s only Limit Douluo, the empire had countless talented individuals, so it certainly wouldn''t be difficult to find five people who excelled in the aforementioned five disciplines. As such, Tang Wulin had virtually zero chance of winning all five challenges.


    Dai Tianling rose to his feet, and declared in a heavy voice, "That''s my decision, and I''m not changing it. If the Tang Sect Master can''t fulfill this condition, then either remove the restriction clause from our deal or go back to where you came from."


    After that, he abruptly turned and strode away.


    Prior to Tang Wulin''s rejection of Dai Yun''er, he would''ve placed an age limit of 50 years old on the opponents that Tang Wulin would have to face during the Trial of Five Gods. However, his daughter''s heart had been broken, so he was determined to punish Tang Wulin, even if it would mean offending the Tang Sect.


    The heavy ion laser gun was indeed very formidable, but the Star Luo Empire was certainly no pushover, and Dai Tianling had never feared the Douluo Federation.


    "Boss, I really have to commend you for standing up against oppression like that," Xu Lizhi said as he gave Tang Wulin a thumbs-up.


    Xie Xie chuckled, "That''s not right, he''s clearly standing up against temptations! When you think about it, Dai Yun''er is a good person, and she''s a princess as well."


    "You''d take her if you were in Boss''s position, wouldn''t you?" Yue Zhengyu asked.


    "Of course... NOT!" Xie Xie immediately changed his tune after sensing the killing intent rising up behind him.


    "You guys don''t look nervous at all." The Smiling Douluo was a lot less cheerful. Without any restrictions in place, the Trial of Five Gods would be extremely difficult to complete.


    The most apparent obstacle that stood in Tang Wulin''s way was none other than En Ci. En Ci was a Limit Douluo, and his martial soul was the Holy Radiant Dragon; he was simply an insurmountable opponent.


    "Hall Master Hu, you should have more confidence. After all, he even managed to last a while against you, didn''t he? What''s so scary about this Trial of Five Gods?" Xie Xie chuckled.


    "You have that much confidence in him?" the Smiling Douluo asked in a surprised manner.


    "Well, he''s destined to lose, so why wouldn''t we have confidence?" Xie Xie replied.


    The Smiling Douluo didn''t know what to say to that.


    Xu Xiaoyan harrumphed coldly, "They''ve gone way too far here! What kind of bet is this? It''s just an impossible condition that''s as good as a rejection."


    Yuanen Yehui said, "Looks like we''ll need to consider our backup plans; His Majesty clearly isn''t willing to listen to reason."


    Tang Wulin looked at everyone, and said, "Looks like none of you think I can win the Trial of Five Gods."


    Everyone immediately nodded without any hesitation.


    Yue Zhengyu said, "The Star Luo Empire is definitely going to send out one Limit Douluo and four Hyper Douluos; how are you supposed to win? Unless they enforce an age restriction, this is simply an impossible task. On top of that, the five challenges will take place on successive days back-to-back. There''s just no way!"


    The Smiling Douluo sighed, "I''ll contact the Amorous Douluo to see if we can make some compromises in our conditions. After all, our ultimate objective here is to prevent the war from happening."


    Ye Xinglan said, "It looks like that''s our only option. I didn''t think the Star Luo Empire would pull something like this on us."


    A''Ruheng rubbed his own large bald head. "What a pity; perhaps Junior Disciple Brother would be able to win this Trial of Five Gods in five more years."


    "There''s no need for five more years; I want to try it now," Tang Wulin suddenly said.


    Everyone immediately fell silent upon hearing this. This was clearly an impossible task!


    "You can''t, Captain! You represent the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy; you..." An urgent look appeared on Ye Xinglan''s face.


    Even though she didn''t finish her sentence, it was quite clear what she intended to say. Tang Wulin couldn''t afford to lose as his loss would equate to a loss for the Tang Sect, and for Shrek Academy, as well.


    No matter how supremely talented he was, there was no way he could defeat a Limit Douluo in just his early twenties! They simply weren''t even on the same level.


    Tang Wulin said in a determined manner, "It''s exactly because I represent the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy that I can''t back down. Back when we were last here in the Star Luo Empire, we had also been convinced that we would lose to the Monster Eight Kings. However, we still did our best, and in the end, we created a miracle."


    "That''s not a fair comparison! On this occasion, it''s you up against the power of an entire empire; this is not some youth tournament!" Yuanen Yehui countered.


    Tang Wulin insisted, "I want to try it. Even if I lose all five matches, I''ll see it through to the end. Hall Master Hu, contact His Majesty, the Amorous Douluo, in the meantime, and work out a backup plan. At the very least, this Trial of Five Gods will buy us five days of time. Perhaps this will be the greatest challenge I will ever face, and it''s also a rare opportunity for me that may never come again."

 Chapter 1300: What a Pity

    Hu Jie''s brows furrowed tightly. "Are you sure you want to take on this bet? The Star Luo Empire is definitely going to be broadcasting the matches to as wide an audience as possible. There''s no shame in losing at your age, but I''m concerned that losing will traumatize you and hinder your future cultivation progress; that would be catastrophic!"


    Tang Wulin turned to the Smiling Douluo with a serious look on his face. "When I was 10, I finally saved up enough money to buy my first soul spirit and cultivated to rank 10 in soul power.  At the time, I was just a nobody with the most mediocre Bluesilver Grass martial soul. However, I never gave up hope. After I went to the Spirit Pagoda, I was told that the money I''d saved up would only be enough for one lottery pick. I didn''t have exceptional luck; my luck was exceptionally bad, if anything. I picked a defective soul spirit that may not even be able to bring me any soul skills.


    "Even so, I fused with it, and continued to work hard in my cultivation. At the time, my rate of cultivation was slower than everyone else, and I could only progress at a snail''s pace. I put in hard work and dedication that was unimaginable to the average person to make it into Shrek Academy, and now, here I am today. Failure has never been able to break me; it''s only acted as motivation for me to continue to advance onward. The Trial of Five Gods is just another obstacle that''s been thrown my way, and I''ll take on all five challenges, even if it means losing five out of five times. I''m sure that this will be an important stepping stone for me to reach greater heights."


    Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, and Hu Jie looked into Tang Wulin''s eyes, only to see a fiery yearning for battle.


    "Alright, but I have to inform the Amorous Douluo of this, and I must ask you to remember at all times that you are currently representing the Tang Sect," the Smiling Douluo said in a serious manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "It is of the utmost honor to me that I am able to represent the Tang Sect, and I will give everything I have to defend the honor of the Tang Sect."


    His birth father was the founder of the Tang Sect, and his goal was to follow in his father''s footsteps to find the Divine Realm. There was virtually no chance for him to complete the trial, but Tang Wulin firmly believed that the experience would bestow upon him many things that he wouldn''t be able to attain from cultivation alone.


    In stark contrast with the warm and grand welcome they''d received when arriving at the palace, their departure was a very sullen and cold affair. Even Dai Yueyan hadn''t come out to accompany them, clearly still enraged by Tang Wulin''s rejection toward Dai Yun''er.


    After returning to the headquarters, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters went back to rest, while Hu Jie arrived at the information transference hub and made an intercontinental call.


    As soon as the call was connected, the Amorous Douluo''s lazy voice rang out from the other end. "What is it, Old Man Hu?"


    "Vice-palace Master, we''ve had a bit of a situation here in the Star Luo Empire."


    Thus, Hu Jie delivered a brief recount of events, and Zang Xin allowed him to speak uninterrupted before finally heaving a faint sigh at the conclusion of his story. "That''s a pity."


    "Indeed it is, but the sect master can''t be blamed for this; no one could''ve anticipated that such a curveball would be thrown at us, and things like love and relationships can''t be forced. Besides, it would be an even greater sign of disrespect if the sect master were to accept the princess''s feelings without actually reciprocating them," Hu Jie sighed.


    The Amorous Douluo suddenly burst into laughter on the other end. "Are you defending the sect master, Old Man Hu? That''s not like you at all! I didn''t think you would acknowledge the sect master so easily."


    Hu Jie replied, "I''ve acknowledged him due to the power he''s displayed, and what he did in the Dou Spirit Empire. I''ve been wanting to stomp the Spirit Pagoda into the ground for a long time, and the sect master accomplished that over at the Dou Spirit Empire; it was really satisfying just for me to hear about it! Getting back on topic, the situation in the Star Luo Empire will be rather troublesome; do you have any backup plans, Vice-palace Master?"


    The Amorous Douluo replied, "Why are you asking me? You''re with the sect master, and he''s calling all the shots."


    "Huh?" Hu Jie faltered slightly upon hearing this. Both he and Li Yun were under the impression that Tang Wulin was still essentially just a trainee sect master, while the two Douluo Palace masters were the ones truly in power.


    Zang Xin said in a serious voice, "Remember this, Old Man Hu; you have to maintain a necessary level of respect toward the sect master at all times. Cao Dezhi and I have both placed our trust in him, so his decisions are the equivalent to the decisions of the Tang Sect; even we wouldn''t disobey his orders. He wasn''t chosen by us; he was chosen by the heavens. In the future, it''s very likely that he''ll reach dizzying heights that are unimaginable to us. As for the Trial of Five Gods, if the sect master wants to participate in it, then of course he can."When I said ''that''s a pity'', I was referring to the fact that I wouldn''t be there to see the trial in person. Trust in our sect master; so what if he loses? Who hasn''t lost in battle before? Don''t you think that we should be proud of having a sect master with the courage to oppose an entire empire like this? The Trial of Five Gods is the ultimate trial that has only ever taken place between nations since its inception in ancient times; the fact that the Star Luo Empire is proposing this Trial of Five Gods indicates that they see our Tang Sect as equals. From this perspective, this is also a good thing."


    Zang Xin paused momentarily here before continuing, "On top of that, even in the worst-case scenario, we can give up on the restriction clause. Those weapons have the potential to turn the tables in the short term, but they''re all disposable items that can only be used for a single war; they''re not going to be enough for the Star Luo Empire to retaliate and invade the federation. The restriction clause was mostly put in place as a display of our attitude, and the sect master is aware of this, so let him do as he pleases.


    "Haha, even the Atlas Douluo has never had the honor of participating in a Trial of Five Gods before! Everyone expects him to fail, so we have nothing to lose, but if he wins one or two of the five challenges, then that would bring immense glory to our Tang Sect."


    The Smiling Douluo was instantly enlightened upon hearing this. "Alright, I understand now. In that case, I won''t have to worry about anything. I think there''s a very good chance that our sect master will be able to win one or two challenges; with his Time Reversal spiritual domain and those time-based abilities, even En Ci would have to be wary of him. After all, at his age, if he were to lose a few years of his life, he would be close to getting buried six feet under, haha!"


    "Wait, what''s this about a Time Reversal domain?" Zang Xin asked.


    "Huh? You don''t know about this?" the Smiling Douluo asked in a surprised manner, "That''s our sect master''s spiritual domain! It''s truly incredible that he was able to manifest a spiritual domain at such a young age; it makes me feel like I''ve been squandering my life away. Even now, I still haven''t been able to manifest a spiritual domain, and it''s precisely because of this that I haven''t managed to take that final step."


    The Amorous Douluo fell silent.


    "What is it, Vice-palace Master? Is there something wrong?" Hu Jie asked.


    The Amorous Douluo sighed, "I don''t want to dent your confidence any further, but our sect master has only been at the Spirit Domain realm for just over a year, and prior to leaving the Douluo Continent, he still hadn''t manifested a spiritual domain. Time Reversal, eh? Haha, that''s fantastic!"


    The Smiling Douluo suddenly couldn''t bring himself to laugh anymore. "Where the hell did you two find a freak like him? Other Soul Masters like us should just kill ourselves at this point!"


    The Amorous Douluo chuckled, "Do you understand why we decided to make him the sect master now? Prior to the Atlas Douluo''s passing, he had already passed on the position of Sea God''s Pavilion Master to him; if we hadn''t acted as quickly as we did, we would''ve been permanently one-upped by Shrek Academy. If it isn''t for the fact that Shrek Academy has to rely on our Tang Sect for their future rebuild, the Light Dark Douluo wouldn''t even have agreed to this arrangement, so we''re actually immensely fortunate to have been able to make him our sect master, not the other way around."


    A smile reappeared on Hu Jie''s face upon hearing this. "Alright, I understand everything now. Rest assured, I''ll protect our sect master with everything I have and ensure that he returns safe and sound. This sect master of ours really does have an immeasurable future ahead of him! If things continue like this, he''s definitely going to eclipse the likes of the Atlas Douluo. Speaking of that, he''s attracting just as much attention from the opposite sex as the Atlas Douluo once did."


    The Amorous Douluo heaved a resigned sigh. "This is what happens when a man is too exceptional; it can''t be helped. By the way, on the topic of the Atlas Douluo, one of the four heavenly monarchs of the Holy Spirit Cult turned to the dark side because of him. Do you still remember the phoenix sisters?"

 Chapter 1301: Willing to Be a Concubine

    "Are you talking about the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo and Dark Phoenix Douluo?" Hu Jie asked.


    "That''s right. They''re both extremely proud women and were known as exceptional talents in our generation. If their admirers were to line up, the line would stretch all the way from Shrek Academy to the Spirit Pagoda. However, they both fell in love with Yun Ming, and that''s when the tragedy began. The Heavenly Phoenix Douluo became the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda in the end, while the Dark Phoenix Douluo became one of the four heavenly monarchs of the Holy Spirit Cult. Following the Shrek Academy bombing, she even went as far as to abduct Yun Ming''s soul."


    Hu Jie''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "How troublesome. This is why I''ve remained single all this time; I have no such concerns!"


    The Amorous Douluo chuckled, "Old Man Hu, if you don''t lose some weight, you''ll most likely be single for life."


    "You should shut up and eat more!"


    ......


    Tang Wulin returned to his room and sat on his bed with a bright gleam in his eyes.


    The Trial of Five Gods! All of the opponents that he was going to face were definitely at the pinnacle of the five respective disciplines. He had been improving far too quickly these past days; he had broken his 12th Golden Dragon King seal, manifested a spiritual domain, and become an eight-ring Soul Douluo.


    Any single one of these breakthroughs would be extremely remarkable already, yet he had completed all of them in just a few months.


    It was undoubtedly the case that he was far more powerful than before, but at the same time, his foundation had become slightly shaky, and he was still yet to truly incorporate all of his powers into a cohesive package.


    After cultivating the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, he was able to reflect on the improvements that he had made through refining his own body, and this had helped him integrate all of his powers, but if things were to continue at this rate, it would take a long time for him to complete this process.


    The battle against the Smiling Douluo had benefited him immensely. In particular, he had developed a far better grasp over his Time Reversal domain and Millennium White Clouds. However, that was still just a sparring match, after all, and he needed a true battle of life and death to force him to fully tap into his latent potential.


    Of course, Tang Wulin had no confidence at all in the upcoming Trial of Five Gods, but this was going to be an extremely important and positive experience for him. On top of that, the Tang Sect had already decided that their bottom line was actually far lower than the Star Luo Empire had imagined, so he definitely couldn''t pass up this opportunity.


    After making the decision to participate in the Trial of Five Gods, Tang Wulin had constantly been in a state of extreme excitement, and this was something that he hadn''t felt for a very long time.


    The current five challenges were definitely different from those of ancient times, and the disciplines involved were mechas, battle armor, soul skills, weapons, and soul spirits.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the pinnacle of the five challenges was going to be the battle armor master battle, but that didn''t mean that the other four battles were going to be any less challenging. The Star Luo Empire definitely had rules surrounding the trial, so he had to ascertain those rules before devising a strategy.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin contacted the Smiling Douluo.


    "Hall Master Hu, please request from the Star Luo Empire the exact times when the five challenges are going to be held, as well as a detailed set of rules for all of the challenges, so I can make preparations accordingly. Also, I have a request that I would like you to pass on to the imperial family."


    "Go on, Sect Master." Hu Jie was starting to become quite excited as he listened to Tang Wulin''s calm voice. He had once been a hot-blooded young man as well, and he was also very much looking forward to this Trial of Five Gods, which hadn''t taken place in the Star Luo for over 10,000 years.


    "My condition is that regardless of whether I win or lose the challenges, I want all five challenges to go ahead," Tang Wulin said.


    This trial was going to be very important for refining his body and mind, so he didn''t want to miss out on the rest of the challenges if he were to lose the first one. Furthermore, this condition certainly wasn''t out of line, and the Star Luo Empire was essentially obliged to comply as the Trial of Five Gods they had proposed was extremely unfair to begin with.


    "Alright, I''ll pass on your request; there shouldn''t be any problems with getting this condition granted."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin immediately began to meditate on his bed. He had to take advantage of every single second that was available to him. Even if he could only make a tiny improvement, it would help him immensely during the upcoming Trial of Five Gods.


    ......


    "What? Trial of Five Gods? How could this be?" Dai Yun''er was sobbing into her pillow, but her sobs immediately cut off as she sat bolt upright before turning to Dai Yueyan. Wasn''t the Trial of Five Gods something that only existed in legends? How could there possibly be a single person who could defeat an entire empire''s most powerful beings in five major disciplines?


    "The Trial of Five Gods was something that Father had already decided in advance, except there was originally supposed to be an age restriction imposed on our empire''s representatives. However, he rejected you today, which made Father very angry, and he decided to do away with that restriction."


    At this point, Dai Yueyan''s fury had already abated slightly, and he was more so disappointed by how things had played out. If the age restriction had been imposed, perhaps he would''ve had the chance to compete in one of the five trials. As things stood now, that was clearly impossible.


    "How could Father do this? This is clearly unfair, and it''s going to tarnish the image of our empire as well! How are our people going to see us? We''re a mighty empire, yet we''re targeting such a young sect master in such an underhanded way; even if we win, there''s no glory to be had!" Dai Yun''er yelled.


    Dai Yueyan was rooted to the spot upon hearing this. "Father is only doing this for you! Which side are you on? Have you forgotten that he just rejected you? Wake up, Yun''er; he''s not your husband!"


    "I''m just saying this from the perspective of a neutral bystander!" Dai Yun''er countered in an unconvincing manner as a deep blush appeared on her face.


    Dai Yueyan shook his head with a wry smile. "In any case, it''s too late to change anything now. Father has already issued the challenge, and Tang Wulin accepted. I have no idea what he''s thinking; he knows he''s going to lose, so why insist on making a fool out of himself? Having said that, it would be unwise for us to sour our relationship with the Tang Sect over something like this, so our imperial family has already decided not to announce results of the challenges to the public."


    Dai Yun''er''s breathing was slightly heavy, but there was a contemplative look in her eyes. She suddenly asked, "Brother, do you think there''s a chance Tang Wulin could win a challenge or two?"


    Dai Yueyan raised an eyebrow in response. "Do you really want him to win?"


    Dai Yun''er bit down on her lower lip, and said in a quiet voice, "I already know he loves someone else, and this isn''t the first time he''s rejected me. I was just thinking that if he could win one or two of the five challenges, then that would indicate that he is indeed one of the brightest young talents across all three continents. In that case, do you think Father would agree for me to become his concubine."


    "What did you just say?" Dai Yueyan stared at Dai Yun''er in a stunned manner. Never did he think that he would hear her say something like this.


    "I think you''ve gone mad!" A furious voice rang out from outside, and Dai Tianling strode in like an enraged tiger.


    Dai Yueyan extended a respectful greeting toward his father before stepping away to the side like a frightened rabbit.


    Dai Tianling glowered at Dai Yun''er, and roared, "Do you not have any self-respect? How can a princess like you consider becoming someone''s concubine? Setting that aside, monogamy is mandated by law in both our empire and in the Douluo Federation; becoming a concubine doesn''t even work from a practical perspective!"

 Chapter 1302: You Win

    In contrast with Dai Yueyan, Dai Yun''er had never been fearful of her father. "All of the laws only apply to commoners; what''s wrong with polygamy? I think polygamy is very normal! Monogamy is negatively impacting society as it''s artificially skewing the gene pool. Exceptional people deserve to have more partners so they can leave more of their genes behind, thereby advancing human society. In contrast, those who are unable to attract partners don''t deserve them in the first place; this is the basic premise of natural selection!" [Wow, I feel personally attacked (T?T)]


    "What a load of nonsense! You, you, you..." Dai Tianling was just about ready to explode.


    "Father, how many women do you have?" Dai Yun''er immediately dealt him a fatal blow that instantly rendered him at a complete loss for words.


    "You were the one who taught me this by example, Father! You are the most exceptional man in our Star Luo Empire, so you can have more spouses, and everyone regards that as completely normal. Similarly, Tang Wulin is also very outstanding, so why should he be relegated to monogamy?"


    Dai Tianling had no idea how to respond to this twisted argument. Theoretically, Dai Yun''er was right, but it just sounded wrong to him for some reason.


    "You are a princess! How could you share a husband with someone else?" Dai Tianling roared.


    Dai Yun''er countered, "Didn''t you teach me and my brothers that we are equals to our people? It''s exactly because of this philosophy that you''re so loved and revered by the people; did you say that just for the sake of it?"


    "You..."


    "Please stop, Yun''er, you''re just making Father angry now!" Dai Yueyan hurriedly tried to step in, only to be pushed aside by Dai Tianling.


    "Piss off!"


    Dai Yueyan could only slouch away in an indignant manner. His father couldn''t bear to scold Dai Yun''er, so he was taking his anger out on his son instead!


    "Let me tell you this, Dai Yun''er; I initially planned to ease up on the difficulty of the Trial of Five Gods and impose an age restriction. I was prepared to eat my own words so our Star Luo Empire isn''t seen in a bad light, but now, I''m going to throw the most powerful beings in our empire at him! He wants to participate in all five challenges even if he loses, so I''ll grant him that wish; I''ll make sure he loses every single one of those challenges, and I''m going to broadcast everything to the entire empire! This is the price he has to pay for rejecting my daughter. As for you, you can become his concubine over my dead body or..."


    "Or what?" Dai Yun''er looked up at Dai Tianling with a pitiable expression.


    "Or if he wins all five challenges!" Dai Tianling said in a cold voice before storming away.


    Dai Yun''er immediately pouted with displeasure. "Father is so stupid!"


    "Shh! Please quiet down; we''re the ones who Father is going to vent his anger on later," Dai Yueyan said in an exasperated manner.


    Dai Yun''er said, "Father needs to open his eyes! If Brother Three wants me, then I don''t mind becoming his concubine at all. If Father doesn''t agree, I can always just elope with him!"


    Dai Yueyan was completely speechless as he stared at Dai Yun''er. "How could you say that? Father would be very sad if he heard you say this."


    Dai Yun''er replied, "It''s not like I''m not coming back. Once I come back with his child, Father will have no choice but to accept our relationship."


    "Dai Yun''er!" Dai Yueyan''s voice immediately spiked up a few octaves. He suddenly felt as if his mischievous little sister from a few years ago had returned.


    "What?" Dai Yun''er looked up at him with a smile.


    "You win!" Dai Yueyan sighed as he sagged like a balloon.


    A smug look appeared on Dai Yun''er''s face. "I suddenly realized something just now: happiness is something that needs to be pursued. Tang Wulin, you''re not getting away from me! Even if I have to drug you, I''ll have your child; there''s no way you can abandon me then!"


    "Thump!" Dai Yueyan slammed his head against a wall.


    ......


    "You''re watching the imperial television network, and our latest story involves the newly assigned Tang Sect Master, Tang Wulin, who has come to visit our empire. After some diplomatic negotiations, the Tang Sect Master will be participating in a mock Trial of Five Gods, which is a trial that was devised in ancient times. The trial will last a total of five days, and we''ll be broadcasting the entire event live and free of charge. This is definitely going to be a spectacle for the ages, so make sure you don''t miss it. The first match of the trial will be held three days from now, and the next four trials will be held on successive days thereafter. We will strive to bring you the latest coverage on the event."


    This piece of news quickly spread through the entire empire like wildfire. The people of the Star Luo Empire were far from unfamiliar with the Tang Sect, and the legends of the Tang Sect were even part of history textbooks used in schools; it was a mandatory class that everyone had to take.


    The member of the Tang Sect that the Star Luo Empire was most proud of was Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, who was a member of the royal family, and also the founder of the Spirit Pagoda. Hence, the people of the Star Luo Empire were all very fond of the Tang Sect, but no one knew who Tang Wulin was. However, at the same time, his name seemed to be rather familiar somehow.


    Soon, all types of information regarding this young Tang Sect Master was being dug up. As it turned out, he was the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, who had competed in the Continental Young Elites Tournament and defeated the Monster Eight Kings at the time. Replays of that match were broadcasted on several channels, and Tang Wulin had become a household name in the Star Luo Empire within the short span of just a few days.


    "What a sly old fox!" Hu Jie couldn''t help but praise after watching all of the televised coverage of the upcoming Trial of Five Gods.


    On that day, Dai Tianling had seemed to be extremely enraged, but from the way that he was treating this matter, it was quite clear that he hadn''t been led astray by his own emotions at all.


    By proclaiming the very real Trial of Five Gods as a mock Trial of Five Gods, he was making the event out to be a friendly competition. After that, he had even released a statement encouraging the young Soul Masters and mecha pilots of the empire to derive motivation from the Trial of Five Gods.


    In doing so, he was spurring on the entire population and playing to their deep-rooted reverence toward individual power. Even more importantly, this announcement would confirm the strong relationship between the Tang Sect and the Star Luo Empire.


    Just as there were definitely spies from the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire in the federation, the Douluo Federation had to have spies in the Star Luo Empire as well, so this information would quickly return to the federation. The Tang Sect was already being heavily oppressed in the federation, and this would undoubtedly deal them another heavy blow. This would only benefit the Star Luo Empire as the Tang Sect would be forced to rely even more on the empire, thereby further distancing them from the federation.


    If the Star Luo Empire could receive all of the Tang Sect''s soul technology, then it would definitely be able to advance significantly.


    At the same time, this would expose Tang Wulin as the Tang Sect Master. Even prior to the commencement of the Trial of Five Gods, the Star Luo Empire had gained an absolute advantage.


    Hu Jie had communicated with the imperial family earlier, requesting them to keep Tang Wulin''s visit to the Star Luo Empire a secret, and the imperial family had agreed.


    However, they were breaking their promise with this public announcement, and in response to Hu Jie''s protests, the imperial family had given him a very simple response: the king was still in a state of blind fury, and he had made the decision without considering the consequences. It was now too late to do anything about this, so that was the end of the matter.


    The Smiling Douluo had been rendered completely speechless by this. As the emperor of the Star Luo Empire, would Dai Tianling really completely lose his cool over something like this? Only an idiot would believe this alibi. As things turned out, the Star Luo Empire had bound the Tang Sect to them through this sly and underhanded tactic, forcing the Tang Sect firmly onto the back foot.


    Setting aside everything else, the Spirit Pagoda was definitely going to make a huge deal out of this to further oppress the Tang Sect in the federation. The Tang Sect had just announced that the Spirit Pagoda was colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, but the Spirit Pagoda could use this to counter the controversy that had been created against them.


    Just the mere thought of the situation was giving the Smiling Douluo a headache; he could only imagine what the Amorous Douluo had to be going through.


    Hu Jie heaved an internal sigh. In any case, everything had already happened, and the only thing they could do was face the consequences.


    Their priority now was to endure the Trial of Five Gods, then seal the deal on the negotiations. As for what was happening over at the federation, that would just have to wait until everything had been taken care of here. The Tang Sect had extremely deep roots in the federation, so it wouldn''t be that easy to shake its foundations.


    Hu Jie hadn''t informed Tang Wulin of any of this, and currently, the latter was in seclusion in his room, awaiting the first match of the Trial of Five Gods that was going to take place in three days.


    ......

 Chapter 1303: The Monster Eight Kings

    "Trial of Five Gods? What an incredible plan from His Majesty!" Teng Teng praised.


    At this moment, there was a group of people gathered in the largest and most luxurious booth of the Prosperous Pavilion, which was one of the most high-end restaurants in Star Luo City.


    Aside from Spirit King Dai Yun''er, all other seven members of the Monster Eight Kings were present. Long Yue sat in the main seat in silence like an immovable mountain, while Teng Teng was speaking with a look of amazement in his eyes.


    Wind King Lin San nodded in response. "His Majesty really has made a brilliant move here. Judging from the news reports, it won''t be easy for the Tang Sect to detach itself from our empire now. It''s just that I''m worried about how the Tang Sect will react. The war could break out at any time, so it would be very detrimental to the Tang Sect for news to spread of their sect leader visiting the Star Luo Continent at a time like this; will this draw displeasure from the Tang Sect?"


    Dai Yueyan replied, "It definitely will, but they can''t do anything, right now. It''s actually quite underhanded of us to do this to the Tang Sect when they''re only trying to help us, but we have no choice. Tang Wulin brought along a weapon with him known as the heavy ion laser gun, and it can destroy the interiors of mechas while completely bypassing their defenses; even black mechas are susceptible to this. Only after seeing such a terrifying weapon did we realize that in terms of soul technology, we''re still lagging extremely far behind the federation.


    "If we want to catch up, then our imperial research center alone definitely won''t be enough. The conditions proposed by the Tang Sect are slightly rigorous, but considering how the Tang Sect hadn''t raised the prices on these important resources even under the current circumstances, we''re not completely unwilling to accept their conditions. However, father came up with this idea after the Tang Sect showed us just how much of a technological disparity there was between us and the federation. Only by getting the Tang Sect to completely side with us can we truly hope to oppose the federation in the future."


    Hua Lantang turned to Dai Yueyan with a peculiar expression. "Your Highness, have you forgotten that we''re all members of the Tang Sect? We''re obliged to report everything you say here to our superiors!"


    Dai Yueyan smiled, and replied, "Well, we already did this, so we have to own up to it. The empire doesn''t want anything to drive a wedge between itself and the Tang Sect over something like this. Hence, I''m telling you this in private precisely so you can go back and pass on what I said to the Smiling Douluo and Tang Wulin. Our empire truly has no choice, and besides, this situation was caused by Tang Wulin himself."


    Ye Zhi couldn''t help but exclaim, "Just how much do you hate our sect master?"


    Dai Yueyan harrumphed coldly, "Hmph, I''d kill him if I could! You didn''t see how much he embarrassed Father; he rejected the marriage condition right in front of everyone! If he had agreed, then none of this would''ve been necessary. Yun''er is the most beloved princess of our imperial family; all the love that my brothers and I receive from Father don''t even compare to the love that she receives. Father truly was enraged by Tang Wulin''s rejection, so he can''t blame us for doing this."


    "Tang Wulin is not someone you can deal with as you please," Long Yue suddenly interjected, and everyone immediately turned toward him.


    Even though all of them currently occupied high-ranking positions in various important institutions, and Dai Yueyan was even the rightful heir to the throne, Dragon King Long Yue was still the leader of the Monster Eight Kings. Hence, when he spoke, everyone listened.


    "What makes you say that, Boss?" Dai Yueyan asked.


    Long Yue replied, "Tang Wulin may be younger than all of us, but his steadfast nature completely belies his age, and he won''t just take this without any retaliation. Also, don''t ever make the mistake of underestimating him; the Trial of Five Gods may not necessarily be an embarrassment for him. At the very least, there''s one area where he''s far superior to me, and that''s his resilience in the face of hardships and failure. On top of that, his aptitude is superior to mine as well; even Teacher is unable to gauge just how powerful he currently is."


    "No way!" a stunned look appeared on Shadow King Teng Teng''s face as he exclaimed, "Are you saying that he''s even more powerful than you are, Boss? But you''re already a Titled Douluo!"


    Long Yue replied, "I don''t know how powerful he is now, but back when we last met in Shrek Academy, he was already no less powerful than I was at the time. Also, Shrek''s Seven Monsters have always developed at a rate superior to ours, so if we match up against them again, I think we''ll still lose."


    Everyone fell silent upon hearing this. If anyone else had said this, then they would definitely immediately disagree. However, these words held more gravity when spoken by Long Yue.


    Long Yue was the most competitive one among all of them, and he never accepted defeat, which was why he had constantly stood at the pinnacle of the younger generation. He had already become a Titled Douluo at just 25 years of age, and it was pretty much set in stone that he was going to be the next principal of Monster Academy.


    At present, he was already a vice-hall master of the empire''s Holy Hall, and he was also the person with the greatest potential to become a Limit Douluo in the entire empire. [I guess we''re not counting the Smiling Douluo here LOL]


    However, even he was conceding that he was very likely no match for Tang Wulin; this was a clear indication of just how incredible Tang Wulin''s aptitude was.


    "Regardless, I really do want a rematch against them," Wind King Lin San said in a calm manner.


    Fox King Su Mu nodded, and chimed in, "I do, as well. They''ve already come here, so how can we pass up this opportunity? Boss, would we be able to have a seven-on-seven match against them prior to the Trial of Five Gods?"


    Long Yue''s eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he turned to Dai Yueyan. "What do you think, Your Highness?"


    Dai Yueyan''s hands balled up into tight fists as he replied, "I''m itching for an opportunity to beat the crap out of Tang Wulin! Lantang, when you go back to the Tang sect, ask the Smiling Douluo if a match can be facilitated between us; just say that we''re trying to help the Tang Sect Master warm up for the upcoming trial. The match can be held in private in the drill ground of your Tang Sect headquarters."


    Hua Lantang took a deep breath, and replied, "Alright, I''ll pass on the request. However, there''s something that I have to disclose to all of you first; our sect master had a sparring match against the Smiling Douluo on the first day that he arrived, and at the time, only the Tang Sect members at or above the Titled Douluo level were allowed to spectate the match, so we didn''t get to see it. However, many of our Titled Douluos were full of praise for our sect master following the sparring match, and at the very least, I''m certain he was able to hold his own against the Smiling Douluo in that sparring match."


    Teng Teng didn''t think much of this. "So what? It''s just a sparring match; the Smiling Douluo definitely wasn''t going all-out."


    Hua Lantang continued, "I don''t know about the exact details, but I''d advise everyone to be careful; Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters are no longer the same Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters of the past."


    A faint smile appeared on Long Yue''s face. "I don''t have the right to participate in the Trial of Five Gods, so this will be our only chance; so what even if we lose? Tang Wulin is more than willing to accept failure, so we should be able to do the same. Besides, do all of you really have so little confidence in yourselves? They''ve been improving these past years, but have we been stagnant this entire time?"


    His voice was loud and powerful, and all of the kings present felt as if their blood had been set alight.


    Indeed, had they not been working hard these past years? All of them had constantly been making rapid improvements; even Dai Yueyan, who was the rightful heir to the throne, had never slacked off in his cultivation. He was living like a robot every single day, all for the chance to redeem himself.


    Now, the opportunity for redemption was here, and they couldn''t give up on it no matter what!


    ......

 Chapter 1304: Old Friends

    "Long Yue and the others are challenging us? They really are good friends, aren''t they?" Xie Xie said with a hint of mockery in his voice.


    The Smiling Douluo said, "The sect master is still in seclusion, so he won''t be able to participate. After all, our priority is the Trial of Five Gods. If you want to accept their challenge, then wait until after the Trial of Five Gods."


    Xie Xie turned to Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan. In Tang Wulin''s absence, the two women were the ones who called the shots.


    "There''s no need for that, Your Majesty; we''ll take them on without Wulin," Yuanen Yehui said.


    The Smiling Douluo raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "You''ll fight them six-on-seven?"


    Yuanen Yehui replied in a calm manner, "We''re all members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so the six of us will be enough."


    "That''s right, the six of us will be more than enough!" Xie Xie chuckled, "It''s been a long time since we encountered any powerful opponents. Back when we last fought, Long Yue swatted me away like a fly, but we''re no longer the same as we once were, and it''s time to take revenge! Boss and Gu Yue had to carry us last time; we have to prove to them now that we no longer need to be carried!"


    The Smiling Douluo turned to all of the other members of Shrek''s Six Monsters, only to find that all of them wore the same relaxed and confident expressions.


    "Among the Monster Eight Kings, Long Yue is already a Titled Douluo, and the Tiger King, Fox King, and Wind King are all Soul Douluos. Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi are also close to the Soul Douluo level, and only Teng Teng is lagging slightly behind them, but he''s still a Soul Sage as well. They''re all disciples of the Tang Sect as well, so I''m aware of their situation. Among the younger generation, they stand at the pinnacle of the Star Luo Empire, so don''t get complacent. If you lose this sparring match, I''m concerned that it''ll affect the sect master''s mental state going into the Trial of Five Gods."


    "Rest assured, Your Majesty; we know what we''re doing." Ye Xinglan rose to her feet, and in the instant that she did so, a burst of enormous sword intent erupted from her body, and her eyes became as bright as stars. Even the Smiling Douluo involuntarily narrowed his eyes slightly in response. Was this... sword soul?


    Due to how exceptional Tang Wulin was, they were constantly being overshadowed, but were they really as mediocre as their captain made them appear? Of course not. They were also part of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and they were truly the elite of the elite.


    If the Eight Monster Kings stood at the pinnacle of the Star Luo Empire''s younger generation, then the six of them were standing at the pinnacle of the entire Douluo Star''s younger generation.


    Soul power ranks alone were no longer clear indications of anything, and Shrek''s Seven Monsters had never stopped advancing.


    "Alright, I''m really looking forward to seeing your match," the Smiling Douluo said as a wide smile appeared on his face. He really was anticipating this matchup now as all of the people participating in the match, with the exception of Dai Yueyan, were members of the Tang Sect. No matter who won and who lost, they were all going to be bright talents who would support the Tang Sect in the future, and just the thought of this struck him with a sense of excitement.


    This really was a generation that was rife with brilliant young talents!


    "What? Six-on-seven? Tang Wulin is in seclusion?" Even the calm and steadfast Hua Lantang couldn''t help but flare up with rage upon hearing this.


    They were being looked down on! They had once defeated Shrek''s Seven Monsters, yet Tang Wulin had chosen to sit out this rematch! This was a blatant insult!


    "Yes, the sect master is in seclusion to prepare for the Trial of Five Gods, so if they wish for a rematch, then only six of Shrek''s Seven Monsters will be available."


    "My apologies, Hall Master, but I can''t make a decision on this. However, I''m sure that all of my teammates will view this as an insult," Hua Lantang said in a heavy voice.


    Hu Jie heaved a resigned sigh. "We have to prioritize the Trial of Five Gods, so we can''t just ask the sect master to come out of seclusion. Perhaps you can wait until after the Trial of Five Gods, but I have to caution you; you may no longer have the courage to challenge them after the trial."


    Hua Lantang faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Is there that much of a disparity between us?"


    Hu Jie replied, "I don''t know about anyone else, but the sect master''s powers are truly well beyond his years."


    Hua Lantang was quite stunned to hear this. "Are you saying that the sect master was able to defeat you during your sparring match?"


    Hu Jie shook his head in response. "That''s not the case. After all, our sect master is only in his early twenties. However, even if I want to defeat him, I''ll have to pay a heavy price. It seems to everyone that the sect master will be thoroughly embarrassed during the Trial of Five Gods, but I think that he''ll at least be able to win one or two matches."


    Hua Lantang was stunned into silence for a long while before replying, "Alright, I''ll go discuss this with everyone else."


    Hu Jie continued, "Don''t misrepresent the situation to them; the sect master really can''t participate in this match, so Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters isn''t doing this just to insult you. This is a sparring match anyway, so if you win, you can just have another seven-on-seven match following the Trial of Five Gods. Frequent sparring matches will be immensely beneficial for young people like you."


    Hua Lantang departed in a gloomy mood, and the Smiling Douluo wasn''t sure if this sparring match would go ahead or not. However, regardless of what happened, things were going to be very lively in the Tang Sect during this period of time. His only concern was whether the Tang Sect would be able to handle the pressure over at the federation. The Amorous Douluo most definitely had his plate full.


    Unsurprisingly, when Hua Lantang relayed the response from Shrek''s Six Monsters to his teammates, everyone was extremely displeased.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were being far too conceited! They had indeed secured the final victory during the tournament, but they had only just barely scraped through to the championship title from a downright miraculous eruption from Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, and the complacency of Monster Academy had also played a role in their victory.


    On average, the kings of Monster Academy were five years older than Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so they had naturally had a lot more time to cultivate. In terms of cultivation rank, there was no way that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters could compare with them.


    However, they were proposing a six-on-seven match, and the one to sit out on their side was Tang Wulin, who was the most powerful one among them; this was an extremely inflammatory insult!


    "Accept their offer," Long Yue decided.


    "Boss, how can we do that? They''re missing a person; there''s no glory to be had even if we win!"


    Dai Yueyan suggested, "How about this? You sit out this match as well, Boss, and we''ll take them on -six-on-six. Tang Wulin clearly has a good reason and isn''t just sitting out this match to insult us, but we can''t take advantage of this."


    Long Yue nodded in agreement to this proposal. This was only a sparring match, but they still had to compete with honor. Long Yue was the captain of this team, so he was a direct counterpart to Tang Wulin. As such, if he sat out the match as well, then everything would be fair.


    Thus, it was decided that this sparring match was going to be held the next morning.


    In contrast with the sparring match between Tang Wulin and Hu Jie, which could only be spectated by Titled Douluos, this match was open to everyone in the Tang Sect headquarters.


    Such a legendary rematch would undoubtedly attract everyone''s attention, and also encourage young people to improve.

 Chapter 1305: Wreck Them to Our Hearts Content

    As soon as the announcement was made, a massive stir was created within the Tang Sect. Many of the Tang Sect disciples outside of Star Luo City drove overnight to the headquarters just to be able to witness this match. Of course, what was even more important to them was the opportunity to witness their sect master in action during the Trial of Five Gods. The new sect master was rather unfamiliar to everyone, so they all wanted to see just how powerful he was.


    "Long Yue''s also sitting out?" When Shrek''s Six Monsters were informed of the situation by Hu Jie, a joyful smile immediately appeared on Xie Xie''s face. Of course, it was a very sly smile.


    "In that case, we''ll wreck them to our hearts'' content! We''ll return the favor for everything they did to us last time."


    Yuanen Yehui aimed a glare at him. "Don''t get complacent; they''re the best that Monster Academy has to offer, and they haven''t been slacking off, either, so this match may not be an easy one for us."


    "Yes, Mistress," Xie Xie replied with a cheeky smile.


    Yue Zhengyu urged, "Let''s hurry up and get some breakfast, then discuss strategy after that. Who''s going to be the stand-in captain?"


    Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui looked at one another before pointing toward Xu Xiaoyan in unison.


    "Me?" Xu Xiaoyan pointed at herself with a smile, and said, "Alright then, I''ll fill in for captain."


    Tang Wulin was an assault and control dual system Soul Master, while Xu Xiaoyan was a pure control system Soul Master.


    Generally speaking, the commander of a team was always a control system Soul Master as they had to control the entire battlefield. Yue Zhengyu gave Xu Xiaoyan an encouraging thumbs-up, and his expression suggested that he was full of confidence in her.


    In the cafeteria of the Tang Sect headquarters, Shrek''s Six Monsters received a lot of scrutiny. It was really easy to pick them out as they were almost the only unfamiliar faces here.


    "What''s wrong with a seven-on-seven match? I''d be more than happy to fill in." A''Ruheng appraised the six of them with an indignant look on his face. He was always eager for a battle.


    Xie Xie chuckled, "It''s not that we''re keeping you out of this for the sake of it; it''s just that this is a rivalry between our Shrek Academy and Monster Academy, so we have to face it on our own. If we add you to the team, they''ll definitely accuse us of sourcing external help when they lose."


    "Are you that confident that you''ll win?" A slightly enraged voice suddenly rang out.


    Xie Xie turned to discover an adorable and petite young woman appraising him with an angry look in her eyes.


    She was eating on the neighboring table, so she was able to overhear Xie Xie''s words.


    Xie Xie shrugged in response. "I''m just stating the truth. Are you rooting against us?"


    The young woman harrumphed, "My big sister won''t lose!"


    She was Ye Zhi''s younger sister, and she was also a Tang Sect disciple, as well as a Monster Academy graduate, so she had virtually infinite confidence in the Monster Eight Kings. As such, she was naturally very displeased to hear Xie Xie and the others speaking as if they had already won the match.


    Yuanen Yehui was present, so Xie Xie didn''t dare to say anything too suggestive. As such, he merely smiled, and said, "The proof will be in the pudding."


    The young woman harrumphed, "There''s no way you can beat my big sister!"


    Xie Xie chuckled, "Is that the only thing you know how to say? Alright, seeing as there''s no way we can win, we''ll be the underdogs, right? Can you cheer for us during the match?"


    The young woman faltered slightly upon hearing this before an enraged look reappeared on her face. "I''ve never seen someone as shameless as you! You''re definitely going to get your ass kicked!"


    She then picked up her tray of food and stormed away.


    Everyone was quite amused by this, and Yue Zhengyu chuckled, "We''re all Tang Sect disciples, but it looks like everyone''s rooting against us here; home court advantage really is something that can''t be ignored."


    Xie Xie shrugged, and asked, "What do you think, Lizhi?"


    In response, Lizhi pointed to his own mouth, which was bulging with food, indicating that he was unable to speak.


    "Prove your dominance to everyone through your actions. In a place where individual heroism is revered and romanticized to such an extent, you have to display sufficient power to be taken seriously," Sima Jinchi said.


    If one were to look closely at him, they''d discover that his eyes were filled with excitement. He wouldn''t be able to participate in the match today, but he had a role to play in the Trial of Five Gods. After all, he was technically Tang Wulin''s weapon, so Tang Wulin should be able to wield him in battle. As such, the match where Tang Wulin had the greatest chance of securing victory was most likely the weapons match of the Trial of Five Gods.


    Just as Yue Zhengyu had said, this was the Tang Sect, but there were very few people who truly supported them.


    In the Star Luo Empire, Monster Academy was the equivalent of Shrek Academy in the Douluo Federation. Many of the empire''s exceptional talents had graduated from Monster Academy, and that included Tang Sect disciples, so they were naturally more supportive of the Monster Eight Kings.


    Furthermore, Long Yue''s generation of the Monster Eight Kings was legendary. At the very least, Monster Academy hadn''t been able to produce a group like them before, and in particular, Long Yue himself was an extraordinary talent.


    Even though they had lost the final match during the youth tournament all those years ago, almost everyone was of the opinion that they were actually more powerful than Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and had simply lost due to complacency. This opinion was naturally shared by all those who supported Monster Academy.


    By the time Shrek''s Six Monsters arrived at the drill ground in the Tang Sect headquarters, the place was already packed to the rafters. At least 500 people had come to spectate the battle, the vast majority of whom were Tang Sect disciples, there were also some important figures who had received news of this and somehow gained access to spectate the match.


    This was a long-awaited rematch between Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and the Monster Eight Kings. Furthermore, it had been many years since their last match, so all of them had to have definitely become a lot more powerful.


    The match was going to be refereed by the Smiling Douluo himself in order to ensure safety.


    As Shrek''s Six Monsters strode into the venue, the raucous chatter instantly died down significantly.


    If this were a public match with commoners spectating, then there would most likely already be a lot of booing going on. However, this was the Tang Sect, after all, and all of Shrek''s Seven Monsters were high-ranking figures in the Tang Sect, while the captain was even the new Tang Sect Master.


    Hence, the Tang Sect disciples present were all exercising some restraint. Even so, there was certainly no one cheering for them, and it seemed that it was truly them up against the world here.


    The Smiling Douluo greeted them before taking to one side of the competition platform.


    "Are you all ready? I didn''t think that so many people would turn up; almost all of the Tang Sect disciples in the three neighboring cities have gathered here to watch and learn from this match."


    "Leave it to us," Xie Xie smiled, and said, "It seems that we''re not so popular here, but I''m sure that''ll change following the match."


    The Smiling Douluo also smiled in response. "I certainly hope so."


    "Where are Long Yue and the others? Have they arrived yet?" Yue Zhengyu asked.


    He had the most resentment toward Long Yue as he had almost perished by Long Yue''s hands in the past, and he certainly didn''t have any good memories of his Mountain Dragon King martial soul.


    Even though he was far more powerful than he had been back then, the trauma from that experience still lingered somewhat to this day.


    "They should be here soon. Your six-on-seven proposal has really lit a fire under them. This is their home court, so you''d better be mentally prepared." The Smiling Douluo wasn''t actually all that concerned about the outcome; all he wanted was to be able to witness a spectacular match.


    These young men and women were part of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, just like Tang Wulin was, so they definitely weren''t slouches. On the surface, it appeared that they were all only Soul Sages, but the students of Shrek Academy could never be judged based on soul power rank alone.


    Right at this moment, a loud cheer suddenly rang out from one side of the drill ground, and the crowd immediately parted to create a path.


    A line of people then strode directly toward the competition platform through the path that had been created. The man standing at the forefront of the group had a large bald head and a mountainous aura; it was none other than Dragon King Long Yue.

 Chapter 1306: Legends?

    Long Yue was wearing a set of grey activewear, and his musclebound body seemed to be filled with explosive power. After the passage of so many years, he didn''t appear to have changed at all, aside from the fact that he now looked more mature and steadfast.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were very familiar with Long Yue as he had once been to Shrek Academy with Dai Yun''er. However, due to their past differences, they had barely interacted with one another at all.


    Standing beside Long Yue wasn''t the vastly renowned Tiger King Dai Yueyan. Instead, it was a beautiful woman wearing the same style of activewear as Long Yue. Her long hair had been arranged into a ponytail, and her bright and piercing eyes were filled with excitement.


    At this point, Shrek''s Six Monsters had already gotten onto the platform, and when the woman saw them, she instantly sprang onto the platform before rushing toward them as quickly as she could.


    Her actions immediately drew a collective cry of surprise.


    Was she going to attack even before the match had commenced?


    However, Shrek''s Six Monsters weren''t alarmed by this at all. They all strode forward to meet her, and their eyes were filled with excitement as well.


    "I''m so glad you''re all still alive!" The woman threw her arms around Xu Xiaoyan and immediately began to sob uncontrollably.


    "Senior Disciple Sister!" the six of them yelled in unison.


    Indeed, this beauty was none other than Xu Mi''er, a past inner court disciple of Shrek Academy, and she and Long Yue had come together during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.  [1]


    As Long Yue was returning to the Star Luo Empire with Dai Yun''er, Xu Mi''er had immediately made the decision to follow him. The two of them had already established their relationship, but it was too difficult for Xu Mi''er''s family to come all the way here, so no wedding had been held. However, everyone in Monster Academy already knew Xu Mi''er as Long Yue''s wife.


    She was currently also a teacher in Monster Academy who was teaching mecha piloting classes. Ever since she had heard about the Shrek Academy bombing, she hadn''t smiled in a very long time. She really wanted to go back, but she couldn''t bear to leave Long Yue behind.


    Long Yue had originally promised her to return to the Douluo Continent with her, but the federation then began to prepare to instigate a war, so it clearly wasn''t a good time to go back, and everything had been delayed.


    As such, Xu Mi''er had been ecstatic when she had heard that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were all alive and well, and had come to the Star Luo Empire. She had a million questions she wanted to ask them, but this was not an appropriate place to have a conversation.


    Xu Xiaoyan, Ye Xinglan, and Yuanen Yehui approached Xu Mi''er one after another to hug her. Back in the inner court, they had all been close friends.


    "Is there anyone else..." Xu Mi''er sobbed.


    "There are a lot of people who are still alive aside from us, including all of our senior disciple brothers and sisters from the inner court. It''s just that the teachers..." Tears began to well up in the eyes of Shrek''s Six Monsters as well at the mention of this topic.


    As they were conversing with one another, the Monster Eight Kings had already stepped onto the competition platform.


    Standing behind Long Yue was naturally none other than Tiger King Dai Yueyan, followed by Fox King Su Mu, then Wolf King Hua Lantang, Wind King Lin San, Pagoda King Lin Zhi, and Shadow King Teng Teng. The one bringing up the rear was naturally none other than Spirit King Dai Yun''er.


    The eight of them had parted ways following graduation, but they still regularly met up and dined together. However, it was the first time in many years that they had gathered together for a sparring match.


    They were clearly far more popular with the spectators than Xu Mi''er, so after a brief moment of shock in response to Xu Mi''er''s actions, the raucous cheers rang out once again.


    The Monster Eight Kings all raised their hands to acknowledge the crowd, and soon, all of their voices combined to form a single chant. "Legends, legends, legends!"


    That''s right, they were the legends of Monster Academy; the most powerful team that Monster Academy had ever assembled.


    Even though this was the Tang Sect and many of the spectators hadn''t come from Monster Academy, they still all joined in on the chants.


    Teng Teng was starting to become rather emotional. "Do you guys hear that? They still remember us!"


    "That''s right, so we''d better not disappoint them," Hua Lantang said as he clenched his fists tightly.


    Fox King Su Mu closed his eyes and basked in the raucous cheers. All of the blood within his body was churning and burning.


    Ye Zhi gripped onto Hua Lantang''s hand with her lips tightly pursed. "We have to win! We have to win for everyone!"


    Long Yue held up his hands, and the cheers gradually died down. His deep voice then rang out across the entire venue. "Thank you for your support, everyone, and we are even more grateful that you still remember us. You should also thank our opponents today for reuniting us. Shrek''s Seven Monsters have always been opponents that we greatly respect, and we hope to be able to put on a spectacular match for everyone. During the match, I would like to request for everyone to remain silent in order to create a fair environment, thank you."


    He then extended a slight bow before striding directly toward Shrek''s Six Monsters. Applause instantly filled the entire venue, and Long Yue seemed to be even more imposing, as if he had been boosted by the support from the spectators.


    The rest of the Monster Eight Kings followed closely behind him, and Dai Yun''er''s eyes were constantly searching through the crowd, but she was quite disappointed upon realizing that the one she was searching for wasn''t anywhere to be seen.


    She wasn''t here to compete today; she only wanted to see him. Even though he had rejected her, and she wanted to skin him alive, she wanted even more to be with him.


    Tang Wulin was indeed absent; he was preparing for the upcoming Trial of Five Gods. At the thought of the Trial of Five Gods, Dai Yun''er couldn''t help but be concerned for Tang Wulin, but at the same time, she was very proud of him. As expected of the man of her dreams; he refused to give up or cower no matter what hardships were thrown his way.


    In the eyes of the infatuated Dai Yun''er, Tang Wulin had already won in the instant he had agreed to the Trial of Five Gods.


    "Just ignore him; he''s always acting so serious and uptight," Xu Mi''er said with a smile, but her eyes were filled with pride as her gaze lingered on Long Yue.


    Only after coming to the Star Luo Empire did she truly come to understand just how influential he was in this empire; he had even been referred to as the future of the empire''s Soul Master world.


    He had many close friends, he was affiliated with the immensely powerful Monster Academy, and he had a Limit Douluo as a teacher; he was perfect in every way.


    He appeared to be quite rough and insensitive on the outside, but he was actually a very thoughtful man. Xu Mi''er had a fiery temper, so she would often erupt over some trivial matters, but Long Yue never fought fire with fire; he would always bear her fury in silence. He was like a safe haven for her, and she had grown accustomed to having him by her side, which was why she hadn''t insisted on returning to the Douluo Federation. With the important status he held in this empire, it was simply unfeasible for him to travel to the Douluo Federation. Despite her headstrong personality, she was actually quite gentle on the inside, and she decided to stay with him out of consideration for his situation.


    Yue Zhengyu strode forward to greet the Monster Eight King''s first. "Long time no see."


    Long Yue shook hands with him, and replied, "Indeed, it''s been a long time; we''re very glad to see that you''re all still alive and well. My apologies for this ''welcome'', but we really couldn''t wait any longer for this rematch."


    [1] [Sigh, so this is another massive brain fade from the author where he forgets that Xu Mi''er is still supposed to be back in the Douluo Federation. It''s kinda hard for me to iron out this plot hole, so please just bear with it and pretend as if Xu Mi''er has always been in the Star Luo Empire (?_?)]

 Chapter 1307: Six-on-six

    Yue Zhengyu smiled, and said, "We understand; we''re actually very much looking forward to this sparring match as well."


    Long Yue nodded in response. Yue Zhengyu was more mature than he had been in the past. He was the eldest among the male members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so he had stepped forward in Tang Wulin''s absence. The rest of the Monster Eight Kings also greeted Shrek''s Six Monsters in a relatively friendly manner. However, both sides were sizing up one another, eagerly anticipating the commencement of the match.


    At the same time, they were all struck by a sense of nostalgia, as well as a smorgasbord of emotions. They had all grown into young men and women with their own careers, and each of them had a high-ranking spot in their own respective domains.


    Compared to their past selves, they were no longer completely lacking inhibitions. Humans were social creatures, so they would inevitably be affected by society, so even though they were all full of anticipation toward this sparring match, this wasn''t a purely enjoyable event as it would''ve been for them in the past.


    The Smiling Douluo had also stepped onto the platform at this point, and he arrived in between the two sides with a smile on his face. "This is a sparring match, so make sure you don''t go too far. When someone is about to lose the ability to battle, then I''ll step in to eliminate them. You''re all elite young members of the Tang Sect, so make sure to remember at all times that this is not a battle of life and death."


    "Yes," everyone answered in unison.


    "Alright, then prepare to begin; I''m sure everyone''s growing tired of waiting."


    Long Yue latched onto Xu Mi''er''s hand in a very natural manner, then patted Dai Yueyan''s shoulder before stepping off the platform with Dai Yun''er. He didn''t need to say anything to Dai Yueyan; they had been brothers for so many years that they had already developed a tacit understanding with one another. There was no need for verbal communication; all they had to do was perform to the best of their abilities.


    Yue Zhengyu looked on with disappointment in his eyes as Long Yue left the platform.


    Thus, there were only 12 people left on the platform.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters consisted of Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, Yue Zhengyu, Xu Xiaoyan, Xie Xie, and Xu Lizhi, while the Monster Six Kings consisted of Tiger King Dai Yueyan, Fox King Su Mu, Wolf King Hua Lantang, Wind King Lin San, Pagoda King Ye Zhi, and Shadow King Teng Teng.


    The Smiling Douluo made a hand signal, and the protective barrier slowly appeared over the entire drill ground. At the same time, it cut off all sound from the outside world, so there was only peace and quiet on the platform.


    All of the spectators fell silent and focused their attention on the 12 people on the platform, who retreated in unison and adopted their respective formations.


    Among the Monster Six Kings, Tiger King Dai Yueyan stood at the very forefront with Wolf King Hua Lantang and Wind King Lin San on either side of him. Behind him were Fox King Su Mu and Shadow King Teng Teng, while Pagoda King Lin Zhi brought up the rear. The six of them had arranged themselves into a triangular formation.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were also in a triangular formation with Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, and Yue Zhengyu at the front, forming a wall of assault system Soul Masters. Behind this trio were Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan, and curiously enough, the agility system Soul Master, Xie Xie, had been left to bring up the rear.


    The two triangular formations were very symmetrical from a birds-eye view.


    The Smiling Douluo''s powerful voice rang out. "Begin!"


    The match between the most elite young members of the Tang Sect from two different continents finally commenced.


    Long Yue stood beside the drill ground and looked on with an intense gaze that was shared by Xu Mi''er and Dai Yun''er as well.


    The Monster Eight Kings had been looking forward to this match for a very long time. They had always been unwilling to accept the defeat they had suffered all those years ago, and the best way to erase that shameful experience was naturally to rewrite it with a victory.


    Both sides sprang into action almost in complete unison. They all released their martial souls as well as their suits of battle armor; no one was planning to hold back during this match.


    A series of dazzling soul rings emerged from beneath their feet, and specks of light surfaced over their bodies as they donned their suits of battle armor.


    A sinister-looking halo with a sawtooth border appeared beneath Dai Yueyan''s feet, while a suit of battle armor that was as pristine white as jade quickly appeared over his body. His breastplate was in the shape of a giant tiger''s head, and his suit of battle armor seemed to be very thick and heavy, giving him a very imposing appearance.


    His aura swelled dramatically, and as he released his suit of battle armor, he also completed his White Tiger Diamond Transformation, transforming him into a huge tiger.


    The domain halo beneath his feet indicated that he was definitely wearing a suit of three-word battle armor, and a pair of white wings spread open on his back. Sharp tiger claws sprang out of his suit of battle armor from both his hands and feet, then combined as one with the tiger claws released by his martial soul. A peerlessly domineering aura erupted from his body, and a thunderous tiger''s roar could be heard reverberating through the air.


    Meanwhile, Wolf King Hua Lantang had spread open a pair of azure wings, and a suit of azure battle armor that gave off a dangerous aura appeared over his body. His pauldrons were in the shape of a dragon''s head and a wolf''s head, and there was no halo beneath his feet, so this was clearly a suit of two-word battle armor.


    A suit of streamlined green battle armor had appeared over Wind King Lin San''s body, and there was also no domain halo beneath his feet, but eight soul rings had risen up around him, consisting of four purples and four blacks.


    There were four major levels of battle armor, and there was a vast disparity between each level. Dai Yueyan was the current rightful heir to the throne, so it naturally wasn''t difficult for him to get his hands on a suit of three-word battle armor. However, for normal cultivators, even if they were prodigies of Monster Academy, it was not that easy to secure a suit of three-word battle armor. Hence, Hua Lantang and Lin San still had suits of two-word battle armor, and the Tang Sect would craft their suits of three-word battle armor for them in two or three years at most.


    Another member of the Monster Six Kings who possessed a suit of three-word battle armor was standing behind them. Fox King Su Mu''s eight large tails were all raised up into the air, and he also had a suit of white battle armor that somehow gave off a furry appearance. Whatever metal was used to construct the suit of battle armor, it somehow appeared more like a fox pelt than metallic armor. If it weren''t for the domain halo beneath his feet, one could easily be misled into thinking that this wasn''t a suit of battle armor at all.


    Standing beside Su Mu was Shadow King Teng Teng, who had a suit of two-word battle armor, and he also possessed one of the lowest cultivation ranks among the Monster Eight Kings.


    However, there was one more three-word battle armor master among the six of them, and that was Pagoda King Ye Zhi.


    Ye Zhi''s cultivation rank was inferior to that of Lin San and Hua Lantang, but she possessed the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, which was renowned as the number one support tool martial soul in existence! She would definitely be able to provide enhancements of the highest caliber, and it was exactly because of this that the Tang Sect had pooled together their resources to construct a suit of three-word battle armor for her first.


    Ye Zhi''s suit of three-word battle armor was extremely grandiose in design. It was translucent and shimmering with rainbow-light, with all types of gems embedded onto its surface, making it look more like a spectacular artistic masterpiece.


    As soon as Ye Zhi had become a Soul Sage, the Tang Sect had crafted her this suit of battle armor without any hesitation, and it was of an even higher caliber than Su Mu''s suit of battle armor.


    A Soul Sage who possessed the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda martial would be able to provide enhancements that could virtually double the powers of all of their allies. Such a formidable enhancement effect would undoubtedly be a nightmare for all those who stood against them.


    Three sets of three-word battle armor, three sets of two-word battle armor, three Soul Douluos, and three Soul Sages; this was a very formidable lineup regardless of which continent they were on. On top of that, they were the elite young talents of Monster Academy, so their true powers would definitely be far superior to Soul Masters of the same cultivation rank.


    There were already cheers and praise ringing out across the entire drill ground. At the same time, Shrek''s Seven Monsters had also released their martial souls and suits of battle armor.


    Yuanen Yehui was clad in a suit of dark yellow battle armor with a dual-layer halo beneath her feet. The outer section of the halo was of a dark yellow color, while the inner section was dark red. The two colors intertwined with one another, and a series of extremely complex patterns could be seen within the halo. In particular, there seemed to be an entire small world within the red section of the halo.


    The suit of battle armor itself didn''t seem to be remarkable in any way; it was completely understated and very simplistic, just like Yuanen Yehui''s understated personality.

 Chapter 1308: Shrek VS Monster

    The domain halo beneath her feet indicated that this was a suit of three-word battle armor as well.


    Standing beside Yuanen Yehui was Ye Xinglan, and she also had a domain halo beneath her feet. The halo was of a faint golden color and had a saw blade shape with each and every sawblade resembling a sharp sword. The inner circle was very small, and it was more like a sword wheel than a saw blade.


    Her suit of battle armor was as dazzling as the starry night sky, and even though it was entirely black in color, it seemed that there were countless stars sprinkled over its black surface. What was even more peculiar was that these stars seemed to be constantly moving over her suit of battle armor.


    This was another suit of three-word battle armor.


    A hint of astonishment flashed through the Smiling Douluo''s eyes at the sight of their suits of battle armor. As a veteran three-word battle armor master himself, he was far more familiar with battle armor than everyone else present.


    All battle armor masters knew that there were different levels of battle armor, but not everyone could tell how powerful a suit of battle armor was at a single glance. However, the Smiling Douluo was able to do this as he had seen far too many suits of battle armor.


    As such, it was quite clear to him that Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui''s suits of three-word battle armor were far from ordinary. Yuanen Yehui''s suit of battle armor appeared to be very simplistic, but the domain halo beneath her feet was very remarkable. Generally speaking, a domain halo would only be a single color; the two colors indicated that this was very likely two domains. Just what kind of powerful material could withstand the power of two domains at once?


    In contrast, Ye Xinglan''s domain halo looked very straightforward, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that everytime the specks of starlight on her suit of battle armor shimmered, the halo beneath her feet would undergo some intriguing changes; it seemed that a small world had been formed between the domain and the suit of battle armor.


    Planar manifestation of a domain halo was one of the defining characteristics of a suit of four-word battle armor. Ye Xinglan''s suit of three-word battle armor hadn''t reached that level yet, but the effect of planar manifestation was already beginning to show, which indicated that the materials used for her suit of battle armor were most likely quite extraordinary as well.


    In contrast, among the three battle armor masters in the Monster Six Kings, it seemed that only Ye Zhi''s suit of battle armor could just barely compare with those of Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui. Even as the rightful heir to the throne, Dai Yueyan''s suit of battle armor was constructed from inferior materials in comparison.


    This indicated that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had to be supported by an extremely talented blacksmith. Could it be that Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua had personally forged the metals required for their suits of battle armor?


    Design and construction were both very important determining factors in how powerful a suit of battle armor would be, but the most important factor was the material used. The better the material, the more powerful the core circuit it would be able to handle.


    Good materials would make the carving of the circuit a lot easier, and would also provide the potential for more to be achieved.


    Aside from Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui, the rest of Shrek''s Six Monsters were looking rather strange as none of them had full suits of battle armor.


    Yue Zhengyu had pauldrons, a cuirass, a helmet, and gauntlets, but no armor on his legs, and nor had his battle armor been fitted with a pair of wings.


    The pieces of battle armor that he did possess were white with golden patterns that fit very well with his lavish style. The white armor complemented by the golden light created a very grandiose sight to behold, but it still looked off as the suit of armor wasn''t complete.


    In contrast, Xu Lizhi was missing a left gauntlet, a pair of greaves, and a helmet, so he was missing a bit more than Yue Zhengyu. The pieces of battle armor that he did possess were yellow in color, and they were slightly more complex in design than his past Guardian Star battle armor.


    Aside from Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui, Xu Xiaoyan had the most complete suit of battle armor, missing only her left gauntlet. The entire suit of battle armor was transparent and also had specks of shimmering starlight within it. The Starwheel Staff martial soul in her hand seemed to have fused as one with her suit of battle armor, giving her a rather blurry and indistinct appearance, as if she belonged to the starry sky rather than this world.


    As for Xie Xie, he looked like he wasn''t even wearing a suit of battle armor. However, upon closer inspection, one would be able to just barely make out a suit of near-invisible battle armor under the illumination of his seven soul rings, and his body also began to fade out of existence.


    All of Shrek''s Six Monsters had seven soul rings each, the majority of which were black.


    On the surface, it seemed that the Monster Six Kings held a clear advantage; three of them were already at the Soul Douluo level, while Shrek''s Six Monsters didn''t even have a single Soul Douluo among their ranks, which was quite a huge disparity.


    In terms of battle armor, it was a contest of three three-word battle armor masters up against two. The rest of Shrek''s Six Monsters all had incomplete suits of battle armor, which naturally placed them at a further disadvantage against the Monster Six Kings, all of whom were fully equipped with battle armor. Hence, no matter how one looked at it, the Monster Six Kings clearly had the upper hand. However, was that really the case?


    In the eyes of experienced individuals and the Monster Six Kings themselves, the situation was different.


    The battle armor worn by Shrek''s Six Monsters was rather inconsistent, but all of them were wearing three-word battle armor.


    Perhaps the overall enhancements provided by incomplete suits of three-word battle armor would be inferior to those of complete suits of two-word battle armor, but three-word battle armor possessed some special properties that were beyond suits of two-word battle armor. Even more importantly, this meant that all of Shrek''s Six Monsters were going to become three-word battle armor masters in the near future. In contrast, the three two-word battle armor masters among the Monster Eight Kings hadn''t even begun constructing their suits of three-word battle armor yet.


    Several years ago, when they had last faced Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters during the youth tournament, they had been far superior to Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters in both cultivation rank and battle armor caliber. However, it seemed that they were about to be overtaken in all aspects soon.


    There was a vast gulf between six-ring Soul Emperors and seven-ring Soul Sages. After becoming a Soul Sage, the caliber of one''s martial soul, battle armor, and soul skills would comprise a significant portion of their power. As for just how much of a disparity there was between Soul Sages and Soul Douluos, that was much more specific to individual situations.


    This seemed to have been quite a lengthy process, but in reality, only several seconds had passed since the commencement of the battle. The display of power put on by both sides had attracted the attention of all of the spectators, and they were all waiting with bated breath for the battle to begin.


    A rumbling tiger''s roar rang out across the entire venue, and the giant tiger''s head on Dai Yueyan''s cuirass suddenly lit up. A gust of fierce winds were swept up, and the winds propelled him forward as he charged toward Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    As he did so, a series of halos appeared beneath his feet. This was not one of Dai Yueyan''s abilities. Instead, it was originating from their main control system Soul Master, Su Mu.


    These were his Speed-reducing Halo and Soul-power-draining Halo, and they were quickly traveling toward Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    Behind Su Mu, Ye Zhi raised her right hand, and a dazzling Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda appeared. Streak of rainbow light then shot forth from the pagoda and fell upon all of her teammates. In particular, Dai Yueyan had a total of six streaks of light injected into his body, and his aura immediately swelled drastically, making it comparable to that of a Titled Douluo in a suit of three-word battle armor. With the enhancements of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, Dai Yueyan would be able to hold his own even against a Titled Douluo.

 Chapter 1309: The Immovable Mountain, Yuanen Yehui!

    Shadow King Teng Teng rushed off to the side as an afterimage while Wind King Lin San followed closely behind Dai Yueyan like a shadow.


    Hua Lantang''s seventh soul ring lit up, and his body was also being illuminated by the enhancing lights of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda as he transformed into a massive wolf that was over four meters tall and over eight meters in length. His entire body was covered in battle armor and a suit of armor formed by dragon scales, and he charged forward at a speed that exceeded even that of Dai Yueyan.


    The six of them were working together seamlessly and displayed the full extent of their power from the get-go.


    Meanwhile, Shrek''s Six Monsters had also sprung into action. Yuanen Yehui led the way, taking a large stride forward as her body instantly swelled drastically in size.


    Dai Yueyan was already very imposing in his giant tiger form, but he was still dwarfed by Yuanen Yehui''s Diamond Titan.


    Her suit of earthy yellow battle armor instantly became as thick and heavy as a mountain, and a fearsome primordial aura erupted from her Titan Giant Ape True Body, which was over eight meters tall. The Titan Giant Ape looked straight ahead with a calm expression, then swung both fists through the air in unison, launching them toward both Dai Yueyan and Hua Lantang at once.


    Hua Lantang''s Dragon Wolf True Body abruptly accelerated and sprang forth like lightning. A giant dragon seemed to have surfaced over his body, and flapped his wings vigorously, evading Yuanen Yehui''s fist before crashing directly toward her chest as fast as lightning.


    After attaining a martial soul true body, every single one of a Soul Master''s attacks would become significantly more powerful than they had been in the past.


    Hua Lantang had a vast wealth of battle experience, and he knew that in Tang Wulin''s absence, Yuanen Yehui was undoubtedly going to be the core of Shrek''s Six Monsters. If he could eliminate her from the battle or force her into retreat, then the rest of Shrek''s Six Monsters would all be completely exposed.


    Furthermore, Hua Lantang was also extremely confident in his own powers. With the enhancements provided by Ye Zhi, his powers would be close to those of a Soul Douluo, so he was confident that he would be able to force back even the most powerful of assault system Soul Sages.


    These thoughts all flashed through his mind in an instant, and as he continued to hurtle through the air, he was already planning his next attack.


    With Dai Yueyan assisting him from the side, there was no way that Yuanen Yehui would choose to take them on in a direct clash.


    Just as he was thinking this, a burst of strange suction force suddenly appeared, and Hua Lantang was stunned to find that he was being led astray from his original course. He was forcibly drawn to the side, and the giant fist that he should''ve already evaded was suddenly right in front of him.


    After a brief split-second of shock, Hua Lantang adjusted to take on the oncoming fist, but instead of crashing directly toward him, he found that it was crashing down toward him instead.


    He immediately felt as if he had sunk into a swamp-like vortex, and even with Ye Zhi''s enhancements, he was struck by a sense of powerlessness.


    His dragon scales immediately stood up on end before flying toward the fist as a metallic storm. At the same time, he abruptly flipped over in mid-air, swiping his wolf claws toward the fist as opposed to meeting it with his back.


    He had reacted extremely quickly, and his execution and judgment had also both been exceptional.


    Without the enhancements from the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, there was no way that he could''ve performed this series of maneuvers so quickly, but Hua Lantang was already used to this. He and Ye Zhi were lovers, so they always battled alongside one another, and he had grown accustomed to Ye Zhi''s enhancements long ago.


    Right at this moment, the fist that was crashing down from above suddenly disappeared, only to be replaced by a vortex that swept up the storm of dragon scales before sending them flying in all directions, including toward Dai Yueyan and the rest of the Monster Six Kings. In the next instant, Hua Lantang''s back landed on the ground, and he immediately sprang to his feet. This first clash had taken place within the span of just a few seconds, and Hua Lantang''s offensive momentum had been completely nullified.


    In his mind, both he and Yuanen Yehui had gone all-out during that clash, but that wasn''t the case in the eyes of the spectators as Yuanen Yehui was facing another opponent as well.


    Dai Yueyan rushed forward in his giant tiger form, swiping his claws viciously toward Yuanen Yehui''s right fist. The sharp tiger claws sliced several black rifts into the air, and they possessed offensive power equivalent to an attack from a Titled Douluo.


    The same spiraling suction force also acted upon Dai Yueyan''s body, and his brows furrowed slightly, but he remained as firm as ever. The rumbling tiger''s roar he was uttering suddenly became louder, and his claws tore through the vortex before clashing with Yuanen Yehui''s fist.


    "Clang!" A clear clang rang out, and Yuanen Yehui''s enormous Titan Giant Ape body swayed slightly before taking a step backward. She then immediately ducked down before ramming her shoulder toward Dai Yueyan''s chest.


    Meanwhile, Hua Lantang had just clambered to his feet, and his dragon scales were flying in all directions.


    Even though it was only for a very short time, Yuanen Yehui had managed to keep both of these assault system Soul Masters at bay on her own, and that was even after they''d been enhanced by the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda.


    Dai Yueyan was extremely stunned by this. He was well aware of how powerful his own tiger claws were, but they had only left a few faint white marks on his opponent''s battle armor, and these marks quickly faded away. Just what kind of material could be this resolute?


    In the face of Yuanen Yehui''s shoulder charge, Dai Yueyan''s sixth soul ring lit up, and his body instantly took on an illusionary quality, transforming into white streaks of light that converged inward. This was his White Tiger Devil Slash!


    Clashes between assualt system Soul Masters were always the most exhilarating to watch. At the same time as Dai Yueyan was unleashing his White Tiger Devil Slash, the Speed-reducing Halo and Soul-power-draining Halo also arrived, and they both encompassed Yuanen Yehui at the same time.


    However, right at this moment, the entire drill ground suddenly fell dark. Specks of shimmering light appeared in the sky, and countless dazzling stars had emerged above the drill ground.


    Hua Lantang looked up at the mesmerising stars and was struck by a sense of captivation. Just as he was wondering where these stars had come from, one of them suddenly descended from above and reached him almost instantaneously.


    The star posed no threat to him. Instead, from Hua Lantang''s perspective, being illuminated by the star would be the best thing to ever happen to him.


    Following that last clash against Yuanen Yehui, his momentum had been completely halted, so there was no way that he could evade the descending star.


    Right at this moment, a halo appeared above him, and the star was suddenly reversed, shooting back up into the sky.


    This was Su Mu''s Repelling Halo, and it had saved Hua Lantang just in the nick of time.


    Cold sweat immediately began to bead up on Hua Lantang''s forehead. It was undoubtedly the case that if that seemingly innocuous attack had actually struck him, he would''ve been eliminated for sure.


    What is that?


    Right at this moment, countless streaks of starlight began to descend all over the entire drill ground, affording the Monster Six Kings no avenue for evasion.


    Fox King Su Mu''s third soul ring lit up even further, and with the enhancements he received from Ye Zhi, he was able to conjure up Repelling Halos that reversed the trajectories of these stars.


    Even so, he was still extremely astonished. Even though this attack encompassed a very large area, he could tell that it was still extremely formidable and hadn''t sacrificed quality over quantity. If it weren''t for the fact that his Repelling Halo just so happened to be a counter to this soul skill, all of them would be in dire straits!


    "Thump!" A dull thump rang out, and Dai Yueyan stumbled backward a few steps, while Yuanen Yehui''s body only swayed slightly.


    They were also being enhanced by Xu Lizhi''s steamed buns. Under the enhancement effects of the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun and Sturdy Crystal Bun, Yuanen Yehui was like an immovable mountain.


    Dai Yueyan''s White Tiger Devil Slash was indeed very formidable, but Yuanen Yehui had countered it using her Devil Titan soul skill. Regardless of how many attacks and skills Dai Yueyan had, she was determined to keep him at bay with her astonishing defenses and strength.


    The effect of her battle armor really shone through at a time like this, and her defensive prowess was so extraordinary that even Dai Yueyan was struck by a sense of powerlessness.

 Chapter 1310: Stunning Reversal

    A gentle breeze swept past, and countless wind blades suddenly appeared behind Dai Yueyan, sweeping up the flying dragon scales at bay before forming an enormous tornado that enveloped Yuanen Yehui.


    Piercing slicing sounds rang out as the dragon scales screeched over her suit of battle armor, sending countless sparks flying through the air. In the face of such a fearsome attack, even a piece of metal would''ve most likely been sliced into shreds, yet Yuanen Yehui merely disregarded the attack as yellow light erupted from her suit of battle armor.


    She lowered her own center of gravity, and widened her stance to create a more stable base, then threw another punch.


    In the face of her enormous fist, the entire space seemed to have congealed, and the tremendous resulting suction force was far more powerful than what she had unleashed before. Her punch seemed to have struck nothing but empty air, but both Hua Lantang and Dai Yueyan felt a powerful burst of suction force that made them stumble in an unsteady manner.


    Yuanen Yehui''s three-word battle armor domain was known as Mountainous Abyss. It possessed extremely powerful suction and defensive properties against all physical attacks, and it also increased the power of her own attacks by more than twofold.


    In addition to the ultra-powerful defensive prowess of her suit of battle armor, she was the most resolute defense that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had to offer. Even Tang Wulin had been inferior to her from a purely defensive perspective prior to the completion of his suit of three-word battle armor.


    Confidence stemmed from power; Shrek''s Six Monsters were confident enough to propose a six-on-seven match as they had a clear understanding and judgment of their own powers.


    The howling winds ceased, and the tornado was destroyed by a single punch. Prior to the match, who could''ve imagined that the seven-ring Yuanen Yehui would be able to keep both Dai Yueyan and Hua Lantang at bay, especially when they were being enhanced by the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda?


    Fox King Su Mu was only able to use his Speed-reducing Halo and Soul-power-draining Halo on Yuanen Yehui for an instant before being forced to focus wholeheartedly on keeping the stars in the sky at bay with his Repelling Halos.


    However, that split-second alone was still enough for Hua Lantang to pounce, and he sprang toward Yuanen Yehui before swinging his paws directly toward her.


    Yuanen Yehui shielded herself with her left arm, and a dull thump rang out as she was forced back a few steps by Hua Lantang. Dai Yueyan immediately followed up, charging toward Yuanen Yehui as well, but right at this moment, Hua Lantang, Dai Yueyan, and Lin San were all struck by a scorching sensation that originated from up above.


    The starry night sky suddenly lit up, and a scintillating sun suddenly appeared in the sky.


    Su Mu let loose a muffled groan as his Repelling Halos were instantly vanquished by the scorching sun, which crashed down directly between Hua Lantang, Dai Yueyan, and Lin San.


    The enormous resulting explosion was intermingled with a terrifying heatwave and an extremely powerful holy aura. All three of them were forced to stumble back a few steps as they did everything in their power to withstand the attack.


    The scintillating light of the sun receded slightly, and Yue Zhengyu was revealed with his entire body shimmering with golden light.


    His Holy Angel martial soul was glowing with unprecedented radiance, and scorching holy power was erupting outward in all directions. Even battle armor was becoming scorching hot in the face of this terrifying heatwave.


    Wind King Lin San had the weakest defenses, so he was the first one to be forced to spring back. At the same time, he swept both hands through the air to send two pillars of wind hurtling toward Yue Zhengyu.


    With Yue Zhengyu''s interference, Yuanen Yehui was able to catch her breath, and at the same time, countless stars began to descend from the heavens again.


    Su Mu harrumphed coldly as his seventh soul ring lit up, and at the same time, Ye Zhi''s seventh soul ring also lit up.


    Ye Zhi transformed into a dazzling Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda that was three meters tall, and as the pagoda hovered in mid-air, all of the enhancements received by her teammates were instantly increased drastically. A layer of bright rainbow light appeared over all of their bodies, and at the same time, Ye Zhi''s domain halo lit up, increasing the already staggering 70% enhancement effect by a further 10%. With her support, all of the Monster Six Kings had their powers enhanced to the Titled Douluo level, and this was truly a testament to the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda''s status as the number one tool martial soul in existence.


    After becoming a Soul Sage, Ye Zhi had become the core of the entire team.


    The Repelling Halos surfaced once again, and they rose up into the air alongside the rainbow light, forming a rainbow light barrier that repelled all of the descending specks of starlight.


    It was also right at this moment that Shadow King Teng Teng appeared out of thin air behind Xu Xiaoyan, and he also had rainbow light shimmering over his body. He reached out like lightning to eliminate Xu Xiaoyan from the battle.


    The match was over! The same thought ran through the minds of all of the spectators. It was undoubtedly the case that at this point in the battle, the result had already been decided, and Shrek''s Six Monsters had been comprehensively crushed!


    As expected, the Monster Eight Kings were truly legends among legends. Su Mu had controlled the entire battlefield, while Ye Zhi provided everyone with extraordinary enhancements. With the enhancements, the other four were able to crush their opponents, and in contrast, the teamwork of Shrek''s Six Monsters had been made to appear a lot more clumsy and lackluster. The starry sky seemed to be very powerful, but it was completely countered by Su Mu, and everything was over.


    Or at least, that was supposed to be the case.


    All of a sudden, one of the stars in the sky became particularly bright, and it descended from above, completely disregarding Su Mu''s Repelling Halos.


    A plump hand then appeared behind Xu Xiaoyan''s neck with unerring accuracy, and Teng Teng was greeted by the sight of a rotund face, as well as a burst of tremendous soul power fluctuations.


    The chubby jade-like hand caught his wrist firmly, preventing him from being able to reach out any further, and purple light instantly erupted from that hand. A burst of destructive power immediately surged into Teng Teng''s body, threatening to destroy his soul, and he was instantly rendered completely powerless.


    Meanwhile, Dai Yueyan and Hua Lantang were charging toward Yuanen Yehui in unison. Lin San''s wind pillars had been vanquished by the Holy Angel, but he had unleashed his martial soul true body, transforming into a blade of wind that was over three meters in length before sweeping through the air with devastating force.


    As opposed to taking evasive measures, Yuanen Yehui abruptly stepped forward and thrust both fists forward again, still relying on her Divine Cloudvortex Fists.


    "Boom boom!"


    Two resounding booms rang out, and Hua Lantang was sent flying like a rag doll, while Dai Yueyan''s power was completely nullified by the Divine Cloudvortex Fists before he was struck by Yuanen Yehui''s huge fist. Even though his suit of three-word battle armor had nullified most of the power from the punch, he was still forced to stumble back six or seven steps in succession before stumbling onto his backside.


    How could this be? How had she suddenly become so powerful?


    The same thought appeared in the minds of Dai Yueyan and Hua Lantang at the same time.


    Meanwhile, another speck of dazzling starlight descended from above, slicing through the Repelling Halos with ease before reaching Su Mu in an instant.


    A golden halo appeared beneath Su Mu''s feet, and he was completely immobilized for an instant. A sword flashed through the air, and his eight tails protected him of their own accord, but he was still sent flying by the attack. His entire body trembled, and the light shimmering from his suit of three-word battle armor dimmed significantly as fur from his fox tails were sent flying in all directions.


    How was this possible? How had their opponents become so powerful?


    Holy light shone down from the heavens, melting away the oncoming blade of wind, and a pillar of Light of Judgment descended upon Lin San.


    The Holy Angel then pressed its advantage, unleashing a barrage of powerful attacks that forced Lin San to stumble back in retreat.


    The sudden turn of the tables left everyone reeling.


    Was it really the case that Shrek''s Six Monsters had suddenly become more powerful?


    As Dai Yueyan sat heavily down onto the ground, he realized that this was not the case.


    It wasn''t that their opponents had become more powerful; they had simply become weaker. In the instant before all of their opponents'' attacks had struck, the rainbow light shimmering over their bodies had completely disappeared.


    The Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda was already gone, and the Smiling Douluo had taken Ye Zhi off the competition platform. In her place, a handsome young man was standing with a wide grin on his face.

 Chapter 1311: Well Fought

    It was him!


    In the instant that the clashes between the two sides had commenced, Xie Xie had immediately vanished on the spot, and now, he was standing right where Ye Zhi had been standing before.


    Ye Zhi was focusing wholeheartedly on enhancing her teammates, and she didn''t even have a chance to evade before the light around her warped, and a sharp burst of pain forced her to cut off her support to her teammates. Thus, Shrek''s Six Monsters was able to complete an instant come-from-behind victory. Was their teamwork really lacking? Of course not! Shrek''s Seven Monsters would never allow their teamwork to grow rusty.


    "Boom!"


    Lin San was sent flying, and Su Mu was eliminated.


    Streaks of Dazzling Starlight descended from the heavens, striking the Monster Six Kings and completely immobilizing them.


    Neither Yuanen Yehui nor Yue Zhengyu continued to attack. At this point in the match, the outcome was already as clear as day.


    At the Soul Sage and Soul Douluo levels, battles were often decided in an instant, and this was certainly the case here.


    No matter how much they were unwilling to accept defeat, the truth was right in front of their eyes, and the cheering spectators had instantly fallen silent.


    The sudden turn of events left everyone reeling, and Long Yue''s fists had balled up into tight fists as soon as he witnessed Xie Xie appearing behind Ye Zhi.


    Had they lost due to complacency? No, it wasn''t that simple. Protecting Ye Zhi was one of their top priorities, and the responsibility had fallen upon Su Mu''s shoulders.


    However, due to the immense pressure exerted on them by their opponents, they were unable to protect Ye Zhi properly in a critical moment, thereby resulting in this sudden defeat.


    The teamwork of Shrek''s Six Monsters had appeared to be rather incohesive during the match, but in the final instant where it mattered, they had sealed the deal in emphatic fashion. Furthermore, Long Yue could clearly sense that they hadn''t even been fighting at their full power.


    Were Shrek''s Six Monsters already this powerful? Even if another rematch were held right away, and Long Yue participated as well, he knew that there was still no way they''d be able to secure victory.


    What drew his attention the most was Yuanen Yehui. Her suit of three-word battle armor was essentially a moving impregnable fortress, and her offensive and defensive prowess, coupled with those simple-looking fist techniques, had allowed her to hold off Dai Yueyan, Hua Lantang, and Lin San. She had been the core that the rest of Shrek''s Six Monsters had revolved around.


    As the main control system Soul Master, Su Mu had played a very minimal role in this battle as he had to focus wholeheartedly on keeping Xu Xiaoyan''s Dazzling Starlight at bay.


    On top of that, thinking back, the starry night that Xu Xiaoyan had conjured up seemed to have encompassed Ye Xinglan, Yue Zhengyu, and Xu Lizhi as all of their attacks had come from above. Just what kind of soul skill was this?


    Dai Yueyan was sitting on the ground with a blank look on his face. Following their last defeat, everyone had felt that they had only lost due to complacency, but could they use the same excuse again here?


    Yuanen Yehui had been like an immovable mountain that had completely kept Hua Lantang, Lin San, and him at bay, even after they had received all those enhancements from Ye Zhi.


    In the instant that the enhancements faded, he and Hua Lantang had both been forced back by Yuanen Yehui with ease, indicating that there was a massive power disparity between them.


    The only member of Shrek''s Six Monsters who had truly displayed their powers was Yuanen Yehui, and perhaps one could argue that Xu Lizhi had done so as well. After Teng Teng had been caught by the wrist by him, everyone had only caught sight of a brief glimpse of purple light before Teng Teng had been rendered completely powerless.


    The battle had concluded faster than anyone had anticipated, and throughout the entire match, Yuanen Yehui was the only one who had been placed under any substantial pressure.


    There were several hundred people present in the venue, but it was currently so silent that even a pin drop could be heard.


    Those chants of "legends" felt so ironic and embarrassing now.


    To all of the spectators and the Monster Six Kings, it felt as if the battle had been lost almost as soon as it had begun.


    Xu Lizhi released Teng Teng and patted him on the shoulder before handing him a Recovery Pork Bun with a warm smile.


    Teng Teng accepted the large steamed bun, and a film of tears welled up in his eyes.


    They weren''t sore losers or people who couldn''t accept defeat, but losing in such a manner had dealt all of them a heavy blow.


    Su Mu was looking at Ye Xinglan, who was standing before him. There was a massive longsword hovering behind Ye Xinglan, and the hilt of the sword was shimmering with dazzling starlight. He felt as if the sword were threatening to suck his soul away. All of a sudden, the light radiating from the sword faded, and Ye Xinglan gave him a calm nod before turning and making her way back to her friends.


    Following a brief period of stunned silence, all of the spectators outside the protective barrier immediately began to discuss what they had just witnessed.


    The invincible legends in their eyes had just lost, and the vast majority of spectators didn''t even see exactly how they had lost.


    The Smiling Douluo glanced at the slack-jawed Ye Zhi beside him, and gently shook his head without saying anything.


    Meanwhile, Shrek''s Six Monsters had all withdrawn their suits of battle armor and reverted back to their original forms.


    Yuanen Yehui was wearing a super elastic jumpsuit that perfectly outlined her perfect figure, and Xie Xie immediately arrived by her side before taking off his outer garment and draping it over her shoulders to conceal her alluring curves.


    The six of them strode toward the Monster Six Kings together, and Dai Yueyan finally rose to his feet before pulling Hua Lantang up from the ground as well.


    The two looked at one another, and they could both see their own indignation in each other''s eyes. They really didn''t want to accept defeat, but there was no fighting reality.


    The six of them gathered together and arrived at the center of the competition platform. They looked at Shrek''s Six Monsters, who were standing in front of them, and none of them could bring themselves to say anything.


    "Well fought," Yuanen Yehui said to Dai Yueyan.


    A wry smile appeared on Dai Yueyan''s face. "All of you have become a lot more powerful than we last met."


    Yuanen Yehui said, "You''ve all become very powerful as well, but we''ve changed quite significantly compared to back then, and you aren''t familiar enough with our abilities. Perhaps we''ve had to change more because we''ve been through more ordeals these past few years."


    The current Monster Eight Kings were indeed all legendary figures who were among the most brilliant young talents on all three continents, but different people experienced different things, and different experiences created different people.


    Not only had Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters been cultivating in the past few years, they had endured the demonic island military training, experienced the destruction of Shrek Academy, and underwent the most rigorous training in their respective legions. These experiences were undoubtedly extremely painful, but they were also the most precious wealth they possessed.


    It was exactly due to these experiences that they had managed to become more powerful and develop a better grasp on their own abilities, and it was also thanks to these experiences that they were who they were today.


    In contrast with Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, the Monster Eight Kings had far simpler experiences that mostly consisted of cultivating and studying in the academy. On top of that, there was still an undeniable gulf between Shrek Academy and Monster Academy.


    Long Yue had already walked onto the platform again. His right fist had loosened, but there was still a rather gloomy look in his eyes.


    He strode over to Dai Yueyan and patted him on the shoulder. Dai Yueyan looked up at him with an inquisitive expression, as if to ask whether they should propose another six-on-seven rematch, just as Shrek''s Six Monsters had originally suggested.


    Long Yue shook his head, and turned to Shrek''s Six Monsters. "I''m very much looking forward to Tang Wulin''s Trial of Five Gods. The powers that you''ve displayed have shown me that it''s far too early to completely write him off as most people have."


    Yue Zhengyu replied, "We actually really want to face you in battle as well."

 Chapter 1312: Wh, what...

    Long Yue said in a heavy voice, "We''ll leave it until after the Trial of Five Gods. We can accept defeat, but we won''t accept an unfair sparring match."


    Yue Zhengyu extended a hand toward him. "Perhaps we''ll fight alongside one another as allies someday."


    Long Yue faltered slightly upon hearing this. Yue Zhengyu was right! They were both members of the Tang Sect, and even though Long Yue was focusing more of his time and effort on his role in Monster Academy, there was certainly a chance that they could be allies someday.


    "Zhengyu is right; maybe you''ll become comrades in the future, and perhaps that day won''t be too far in the future." The Smiling Douluo strode over to them, and he was very pleased to see the competitive looks in the eyes of these young individuals.


    The younger generation was growing extremely quickly, and they were definitely going to be able to take the Tang Sect to greater heights. Both Tang Wulin and Long Yue were very likely to become Limit Douluos in the future, and there was a good chance that many of their companions would also reach that level someday.


    Soul technology had indeed been constantly advancing, but the most powerful beings in the world were still more powerful than Godslayer missiles.


    If the Tang Sect could have five Limit Douluos among its ranks someday...


    Just the thought of it was getting Hu Jie very excited, and that scenario certainly wasn''t very implausible. All of them were currently only in their twenties; what cultivation rank had he been back at the same age?


    At the same time, he was also struck by a sense of dejection as he thought of his original sect. In contrast with the almighty entity that the Tang Sect had become, the Body Sect was in a far worse position. The Body Sect had once been the number one most powerful sect, ranked above even the Tang Sect, yet it was now nothing more than a second-rate sect. Soul Masters with bodily martial souls were very rare to begin within, and the cultivation methods of the Body Sect were too painful for the present-day youth to pursue, especially in this age of technology, and these were the key reasons behind the Body Sect''s decline.


    "How about we go out for a meal? It''ll be my treat," Long Yue suggested.


    Yue Zhengyu turned to Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan, both of whom were rather taken aback by this invitation. Xu Mi''er approached them with a smile, and said, "I wanted to ask you about the academy''s current situation as well, so let''s catch up over a meal. Star Luo City has many delicious traditional cuisines that can no longer be found in the federation."


    "Yes, let''s go!" Xu Lizhi was almost drooling at this suggestion.


    Ye Xinglan rolled her eyes at him while Yuanen Yehui nodded in agreement. "Alright, we''ll be in your care, then."


    The Smiling Douluo rubbed his own round tummy, and said, "You can go on without me; an old man like me will only spoil the occasion. What I wouldn''t give to be young again!"


    Long Yue didn''t take everyone to any high-end restaurant. Instead, he led them to a nondescript small courtyard. This was a place that belonged to the Eight Monster Kings, and they had pooled together their funds to purchase it. The place was furnished with everything that they liked, and they would often meet up here. Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi were usually responsible for looking after the place, and with the status of the Eight Monster Kings in Star Luo City, they could order food from any part of the city and have it delivered very quickly.


    Soon, an entire table was filled with a delectable feast, and in the beginning, the atmosphere was still slightly tense and awkward. After all, they had been rivals for so many years, and this was the first time that all of them had sat down for a meal together.


    Only after Xu Mi''er brought out a few jugs of specially brewed rice wine for everyone to drink did the atmosphere liven up a little.


    Long Yue was sitting in the main seat, and Yue Zhengyu was seated beside him initially, but he was soon substituted by Xu Lizhi. The reason for this was very simple: Long Yue''s alcohol capacity was incredible, and Yue Zhengyu quickly found himself unable to keep up.


    "How about we play a game?" Teng Teng suddenly suggested.


    "What kind of game?" Perhaps it was because they were both agility system Soul Masters, but Xie Xie had a natural disliking for Teng Teng.


    Teng Teng replied, "A drinking game, of course. Speaking of which, have you reached the legal drinking age yet?"


    This was plain provocation, and Xie Xie immediately took the bait. He raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What are the rules?"


    Teng Teng replied, "Each person has to accept a toast from everyone else, and only after completing these toasts can they continue to eat. After that, the next person will take their place, and we''ll keep going in cycles until someone''s too drunk to continue, what do you think?"


    Xie Xie wasn''t about to back down. "Sure, let''s do it! You suggested it, so why don''t you go first?"


    Teng Teng stood up with his wine cup, and a sly smirk appeared on his face. "If you can''t continue or don''t want to get drunk, you can just say ''I''m a coward'', and you''ll be exempt from the game."


    "What do I have to say?" Xie Xie asked in a stunned manner.


    "I''m a coward," Teng Teng immediately repeated.


    Xie Xie immediately burst into laughter. "I see you''ve already given up on the game."


    "F*ck! That''s cheating! Xie Xie, down this cup of wine with me." Teng Teng rushed over to Xie Xie as he spoke, and it had to be said that his skills as an agility system Soul Master were really shining through here; even as he was quickly traveling toward Xie Xie, the wine in his cup didn''t even sway in the slightest.


    Xie Xie chuckled, "I was only kidding; you''re not actually mad, are you?"


    Teng Teng harrumphed, "I won''t be mad after you drink this."


    "Alright then, cheers." The two touched their cups together, then gulped down the contents of their respective cups, which consisted of close to 250 milliliters of wine each.


    Teng Teng raised the cup above his own head, then tipped it over to display the fact that there wasn''t any wine left in the cup.


    Xie Xie replicated what he was doing, but there were still a couple of drops of wine in the cup, and they instantly dripped down onto his hair.


    "Haha, there''s technique involved behind that!" Teng Teng chortled in a smug manner, feeling as if he had gotten Xie Xie back for that joke earlier.


    Xie Xie wiped away the wine on his head with a paper towel. "You''re a sneaky guy! Alright, you can go drink with everyone else now."


    Teng Teng filled his cup with wine again, then said with a smile, "Oh, by the way, there''s another rule to this game; no one is allowed to go to the toilet, and every time you go to the toilet, you have to drink three cups of wine as a punishment."


    Yue Zhengyu''s eyes immediately widened upon hearing this. "That''s way too cruel!"


    Teng Teng harrumphed, "Are you scared?"


    Yue Zhengyu argued, "You guys have more people!"


    Teng Teng replied, "Sister Mi''er is from your Shrek Academy as well, so she can be on your side. You know what? You''re our guests, so we''ll give you the advantage; you can have Yun''er as well. That way, you''ll have more people than us. Let''s see who''s left standing at the end."


    "Alright, let''s do it!"


    These were all competitive young men and women, so no one was willing to concede. Thus, a "rematch" commenced between the two sides.


    Even though they were all Soul Masters, none of them stooped as low as to use their soul power to nullify the alcohol they were ingesting. After accepting a toast from everyone, Teng Teng''s eyes were even brighter than before, but there was nothing else that was different about him.


    One person stepped up to the plate after another, and after one cycle, everyone had drunk over 20 cups of wine. Under the stimulus of alcohol, the rather cold and rigid atmosphere immediately became a lot more relaxed.


    A seductive smile suddenly appeared on Xu Mi''er''s face, and she nudged Long Yue as she called out in a gentle voice, "Husband..."


    Despite Long Yue''s stalwart personality, he still couldn''t help but shudder upon hearing Xu Mi''er adopt this mellow voice. This was also the first time everyone else had seen Xu Mi''er behave in such a manner, and the room immediately fell silent as everyone turned to look at her.


    "Wh, what..." Long Yue turned to Xu Mi''er in an awkward manner, and said, "Don''t speak like that; it''s giving me chills!"


    "I wanna go to the toilet..." Xu Mi''er lowered her head in a pitiable display, as if she constantly had to ask permission from Long Yue over even the most trivial of matters.


    Long Yue gulped nervously, and a thought suddenly occurred to him; if Xu Mi''er could always act like this, then he certainly wouldn''t mind!


    "Go on, then," he hurriedly said.


    Xu Mi''er hung her head, and said, "But I don''t want to be punished."


    Only then did everyone else realize what she was up to, and they all burst into raucous laughter, especially the Monster Eight Kings; none of them had imagined that Xu Mi''er would have such a trump card up her sleeve.


    Teng Teng chortled, "I regret allowing Sister Mi''er to defect to the other side now!"


    A resigned look appeared on Long Yue''s face, but when he thought about it, being able to see his wife in such a state was worth the three cups of wine he would have to drink. He had never seen Xu Mi''er act in such a gentle and docile manner before!


    In Monster Academy, Xu Mi''er had a vastly renowned nickname, which was Guns N'' Roses. If it weren''t for the fact that she was Long Yue''s lover, there would be many people trying to pursue her.

 Chapter 1313: Ill Drink For You!

    In Shrek Academy, everyone cultivated on their own, and Xu Mi''er was constantly doing her own research, so she didn''t really come into contact with anyone else. In contrast, she was now a teacher in Monster Academy, so increased interaction was inevitable. Her gorgeous looks and her strict teaching style, as well as her powerful combat prowess, made her a very popular figure among both teachers and students, and she was quickly able to integrate herself into Monster Academy.


    When using mechas of the same caliber, there was virtually no one who could defeat her, and she was ridiculously powerful. Furthermore, she was adept in mecha construction and constructing all types of weapons, and she helped everyone who came to her for help as long as it was within the realm of her abilities. Her extroverted and hospitable personality was the complete antithesis to Long Yue''s introversion, and they complemented one another perfectly.


    In terms of reputation, Long Yue was naturally number one in the academy, but in terms of popularity, Xu Mi''er was quickly catching up.


    It was exactly due to Xu Mi''er''s selflessness toward Monster Academy that made Long Yue respect and adore her even more. The two of them hadn''t officially married, but they really were as good as married.


    Long Yue really liked her straightforward and simple personality, but the uncharacteristically seductive display she was suddenly putting on was evoking a different type of emotion within him.


    "I''ll drink in your stead!" he said without any hesitation.


    Thus, Xu Mi''er went to the toilet with a wide smile on her face, leaving Long Yue to down three cups of wine in succession in her stead.


    Even though he wasn''t using his soul power to nullify the alcohol, this amount of rice wine wasn''t much of an issue to him.


    Right at this moment, another seductive voice rang out. "Brother Teng Teng."


    Teng Teng was still laughing at Long Yue when his laughter was abruptly cut off, and goosebumps appeared all over his body. He turned with a stunned expression toward Dai Yun''er, and the latter was appraising him with a seductive look in her eyes.


    "Brother Teng Teng, I also want to go to the toilet."


    "Go ahead, we''re not part of the same team here!" Teng Teng wasn''t going to fold that easily.


    A film of tears immediately welled up in Dai Yun''er''s eyes. "Brother Teng Teng, I always thought that you really cared about me; can you really bear to see me drink these three cups of wine? My stomach is going to get all bloated, and I''ll become really ugly. You''re so handsome and dashing; I didn''t even complain when you pushed me over to Shrek Academy..."


    "I''ll drink for you!" Teng Teng instantly cut her off. If he allowed her to continue, he would most likely get slapped with treason soon!


    "Hahahaha!" Everyone immediately burst into raucous laughter. Xu Mi''er and Dai Yun''er''s performances had brought everyone a lot closer together, and the awkward atmosphere had completely faded. On many occasions, wine had a magical property of being able to bring people closer together.


    Xie Xie gently nudged Yuanen Yehui, and said, "Darling, if you beg me in the same way they just did, you can go to the toilet as many times as you want, and I''ll take the fall for you!"


    Yuanen Yehui turned to look at him, and her cheeks were tinged with a seductive flush from the alcohol she had ingested. A captivating smile appeared on her face, and Xie Xie''s mouth immediately ran dry as a scorching sensation appeared in his lower abdomen.


    "Piss off!"


    "Hahahaha!" Another round of raucous laughter rang out.


    Under this atmosphere, no one could recall what the initial bet had been; all they did was continue to drink to their hearts'' content.


    At some point, Xie Xie and Teng Teng, who were initially antagonizing one another, had begun to refer to one another as brothers. Meanwhile, Xu Mi''er and Xu Xiaoyan were sobbing together as they discussed what had happened to the academy.


    Everyone needed instances where they could vent their emotions, particularly when they were under immense pressure; this was the case for both Shrek''s Six Monsters and the Monster Eight Kings.


    Hence, even the perpetually calm and steadfast Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan had allowed themselves to get a little drunk.


    In terms of the final result of the game that everyone had already forgotten about, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had secured the final victory in the end. Much to everyone''s surprise, the person with the greatest alcohol capacity among everyone wasn''t the musclebound Long Yue. Instead, it was the understated Xu Lizhi who had constantly been stuffing his mouth with food.


    His stomach was like a bottomless pit, and even Long Yue was beginning to sway unsteadily at the end, but Xu Lizhi was still completely conscious.


    Even as they parted ways, the thoroughly inebriated Teng Teng was still mumbling about how he was never going to engage a food system Soul Master in a drinking contest again.


    Thus, the dozen or so most exceptional young talents of the Tang Sect all experienced a drunken night of bonding.


    The promotion for the Trial of Five Gods was becoming more intense, to the extent that virtually everyone on the Star Luo Continent was aware of the event. This was different from all other trials of competitions in the past; all of those competitions had certain restrictions, such as age and cultivation rank restrictions, to create as fair an environment as possible in order to better facilitate improvement for the competitors.


    However, this Trial of Five Gods had no restrictions at all, so this was definitely going to be a trial for the ages.


    More and more information about Tang Wulin was becoming known to the public, and everyone was stunned that the almighty Tang Sect had chosen a young man in his early twenties as their new sect master. Furthermore, how could such a young man possibly stand a chance in the Trial of Five Gods? Was there really a need for the empire to promote such an event so heavily? Why was it that the event seemed to be taken so seriously?


    Could it be that the Tang Sect Master had openly provoked the empire? Had his confidence gotten the better of him?


    All types of theories were being thrown out, and this was only adding to the hype around the trial.


    As for Tang Wulin himself, he was completely oblivious to what was taking place in the outside world. He was currently immersed in a special state that would often appear when external pressure reached a peak, and he was always able to make the fastest improvements in this state.


    Of course, the prerequisite to this was that the pressure didn''t stem from an internal source.


    His foster parents had been taken away by his birth father, thereby leaving a hole in his life, but at the same time, he no longer had to be concerned about them. Na''er''s confession finally allowed him to understand why Gu Yue and Na''er had acted so strangely in the past, and how Gu Yuena had come into existence.


    Na''er hadn''t told him why Gu Yuena was able to split up into two people, and it was a very strange notion to consider, but at the very least, it provided the answer to a question that had weighed on his heart for a long time, and that lifted some further pressure from his shoulders. As for the pressure that stemmed from other sources, that would only act as motivation for Tang Wulin, who had always become stronger in the face of adversity.


    When he had first begun cultivating, he had chosen to continue to cultivate the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, but he quickly fell into a deep meditative state. As such, his cultivation of the congenital secret method was naturally cut short, and even he didn''t know exactly what kind of state he was currently in.


    He could only sense that he had become a figurative ball, one that wasn''t completely smooth and uniform. The ball was comprised of many components, which were naturally his abilities.


    Ever since he had entered this state of deep meditation, the ball had begun to rotate, and during this process, its irregular exterior was slowly becoming smoother and more uniform, as if everything were being integrated and assimilated.

 Chapter 1314: First Battle of the Trial of Five Gods!

    Unbeknownst even to Tang Wulin himself, this type of ability integration was already very close to the change that Limit Douluos would undergo prior to making that final breakthrough. Even though he was nowhere near that level yet, the effect of this process was still very similar.


    All of a sudden, an intriguing feeling welled up in his heart, rousing him from his deep meditative state.


    In the instant that he opened his eyes, the first thing that he saw was the brightness outside his window. His bedside window faced the east, and at this moment, the sun was just beginning to rise.


    Tang Wulin caught sight of a wisp of purple in the distance, and his pupils also turned purple as a relaxed feeling of comfort spread through his entire body.


    Experiencing the nourishment from the purple qi, he exhaled, and the window was gently pushed open by his expulsion of breath. The pure and fresh air outside immediately surged into his room, nourishing his body and soul.


    Everything in his field of view seemed to have become more vibrant and exuberant, and Tang Wulin was struck by how wonderful the world was.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and his arms naturally hung down by his sides. He rose to his feet and made his way over to the window, then laid a hand over the platinum dragon scale hanging in front of his neck, sensing her aura through the scale.


    He was completely oblivious to what had happened in the outside world; all he knew was that he was in prime condition.


    Trial of Five Gods, here I come!


    The Star Luo Imperial Sports Stadium was already packed to the rafters, and all of its 100,000 seats had been completely occupied just to see a single match.


    This one match could end in as little as one or two minutes, or perhaps stretch on for close to 20 minutes. Very rarely did battles between Soul Masters wear on for a long time. However, that still didn''t stop everyone from buying expensive tickets to attend the match.


    They were all very curious about what the legendary ancient Trial of Five Gods would entail.


    The rostrum was also completely filled, and Dai Tianling and En Ci were both already in attendance. Aside from them, there was the Smiling Douluo, Hu Jie, who sat on the other side of Dai Tianling, while Dai Yueyan was sitting in the second row.


    Prior to their match against Shrek''s Six Monsters, he would''ve been completely convinced that this Trial of Five Gods was nothing more than a formality where Tang Wulin was going to be thoroughly embarrassed, but following that match, he had changed his mind.


    All of Shrek''s Six Monsters had made such drastic improvements; how could Tang Wulin have failed to improve himself?


    His decision to accept the Trial of Five Gods and to participate in all five matches regardless of the results were an indication of his supreme self-confidence. Dai Yueyan knew that he wouldn''t be able to muster up that level of courage. If he were in Tang Wulin''s place, there was no way that he would participate in a trial that he was destined to lose.


    When he arrived at the sports stadium and felt the enthusiastic atmosphere from the countless spectators present, he felt for the very first time that perhaps his little sister had made the right decision. Tang Wulin was indeed outstanding and worthy of her fancy, but just the thought of Tang Wulin''s immediate rejection toward her struck him with a sense of rage.


    After drinking with Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters, his discontent toward them had decreased significantly, and all of Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters were also on the rostrum, so they were considered to be special guests.


    They were all seated in the second row alongside Dai Yueyan, and in contrast, only Dai Yueyan and Long Yue of the Eight Monster Kings had been granted a seat on the rostrum.


    As for Dai Yun''er, she was currently sitting in a corner that was even closer to the competition platform; this was a special privilege granted to her as the princess.


    "Is Tang Wulin here yet?" Dai Yueyan asked.


    Yue Zhengyu replied with a smile, "He got here quite a while ago. Do you think he''s going to bail out, Your Highness? If so, there''s no need to worry about that."


    Dai Yueyan raised an eyebrow. "All of you seem to be very confident!"


    Yue Zhengyu replied, "Do you believe in miracles, Your Highness?"


    Dai Yueyan pursed his lips. "I only believe in power."


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled, "Then back when we defeated you for the first time, was that a miracle or a true reflection of power?"


    Dai Yueyan had no response to this.


    "Our captain is the best miracle-worker in the world. Who knows? Maybe he''ll win the entire trial, even though it''s clearly weighed heavily against his favor," Yue Zhengyu said with a nonchalant shrug.


    Dai Yueyan harrumphed, "We''ll see about that. Let''s see how long he''ll last in this match and whether he''ll actually be able to finish all five matches."


    Xie Xie, who was sitting beside Yue Zhengyu, suddenly mused, "This event is being broadcast live to the entire Star Luo Empire; I wonder what everyone''s reaction will be if Boss wins this first match."


    Dai Yueyan pursed his lips with disdain, clearly discounting this as an impossible scenario. However, had he really not considered this possibility before? It was undoubtedly the case that Dai Tianling had done something very underhanded and forcibly tied the Tang Sect to the Star Luo Empire.


    The Tang Sect could''ve denied the public statement released by Dai Tianling by declaring that they weren''t going to participate in the Trial of Five Gods, and nor was their sect leader even in the Star Luo Empire. However, they couldn''t do that.


    The Tang Sect''s status in the Star Luo Empire was far different from its status in the Douluo Federation. Even though the tactics employed by Dai Tianling had been rather sly, the Star Luo Empire had always strongly supported the Tang Sect, so there was no way that the Tang Sect could choose to turn on the Star Luo Empire at a time like this.


    The Star Luo Empire was undoubtedly going to benefit immensely from promoting this event, while the Tang Sect would be oppressed to an even greater extent in the federation. As a result, they would be more likely to lean toward the Star Luo Empire and exclusively sell their precious resources to the empire.


    However, there was also another scenario that would bolster the reputation and minimize the benefits the Star Luo Empire derived from this. That scenario would be if Tang Wulin could secure victory in all five matches of the Trial of Five Gods.


    If that were to happen, then this would be a win-win situation, and the Tang Sect would even benefit more greatly than the Star Luo Empire.


    However, could Tang Wulin really achieve such a feat? It was simply far too difficult.


    The Trial of Five Gods wasn''t a best-of-five trial where three victories would suffice; he had to win all five matches. It was exactly due to this rigorous condition that this trial was able to decide the relationship between two nations during ancient times.


    The probability of Tang Wulin winning all five matches was infinitely approaching zero. Dai Tianling''s original plan was to create a win-win situation, but he had changed his mind in the wake of Tang Wulin''s rejection of his daughter.


    It wasn''t like he had no regrets at all about this decision, and nor did he wish to drive a wedge between the empire and the Tang Sect due to something like this, but Tang Wulin and Dai Yun''er had truly infuriated him.


    Whenever he thought back to when Dai Yun''er had said that she would be willing to become Tang Wulin''s concubine, he would be struck by a sense of fury.


    There would be many chances for him to make amends with the Tang Sect in the future, but he had to vent his rage here first.


    "Teacher, how much of a chance do you think Tang Wulin has of winning this match?" Dai Tianling asked.


    En Ci''s brows furrowed slightly in contemplation. "30%."


    "30?" Dai Tianling was very surprised to hear this. His teacher had always been very conservative, and Tang Wulin was only in his early twenties, so a 30% chance of victory was already a very high evaluation for this first match of the Trial of Five Gods.


    "Don''t underestimate Tang Wulin, Your Majesty. I heard from Long Yue that he had zero confidence if he were to go up against Tang Wulin now, which means that Tang Wulin''s powers are at least comparable to those of a Titled Douluo, so don''t be fooled by his cultivation rank. On top of that, I could sense during our meeting in the palace that he''s already reached the Spirit Domain realm, and there''s a very good chance that he''s already attained a spiritual domain."


    Dai Tianling heaved a faint sigh. "The Tang Sect really is filled with exceptional young talents."


    En Ci smiled, and made a rare attempt at flattery. "But they''ll all serve you in the future, Your Majesty."


    A faint smile appeared on Dai Tianling''s face upon hearing this, but it was quickly replaced by a hint of vexation. "This brat doesn''t know what''s good for him! If he had agreed to become my son-in-law, there wouldn''t be this much trouble."


    If Tang Wulin had agreed to marry Dai Yun''er, he would''ve been more than willing to keep his visit to the Star Luo Empire a secret. On top of that, the relationship between the Tang Sect and the Star Luo Empire would be improved even further, and a lot of the inhibitions the two sides had toward one another would be erased.


    However, Tang Wulin had chosen to turn down the offer, and not only had this enraged Dai Tianling, it had also completely derailed his plans.

 Chapter 1315: Pillar of the Empire, Reaper of Despair!

    En Ci said, "Let''s wait and see if he can create another miracle."


    Dai Yueyan was sitting right behind them, so he naturally heard En Ci''s appraisal of Tang Wulin, and he was also very much looking forward to seeing whether Tang Wulin would be able to bring about another miracle.


    Right at this moment, a pleasant male voice rang out within the sports stadium.


    "The Trial of Five Gods was devised in ancient times in a generation of wars and heroes, and only the truly courageous would dare to accept such a stern challenge."


    As this voice sounded throughout the entire venue, all of the chatter in the spectator stands quickly died down.


    They knew that an introduction of the Trial of Five Gods was about to be made, so they all began to listen carefully.


    "The Trial of Five Gods is known as such as it''ll be a series of five peak matchups. The challenger will face five battles on five successive days, and they can''t turn down any of the battles or they''ll be denounced by everyone under the heavens. The side being challenged naturally holds an absolute advantage as they can send their most powerful beings in each of the five disciplines to participate in the trial, whereas the challenger can only compete on his own. If the challenger emerges as the final victor, they''ll have the right to raise a condition.


    "In ancient times, this condition would often be a truce of one year or even many years. Given enough respite, a country could entirely transform itself, so in the past, the challengers participating in the Trial of Five Gods would always be seen as the heroes of their respective nations, as well as the pillars of those nations. Success will undoubtedly cement their names in the history books, and on this day, the new Tang Sect Master will be replicating the Trial of Five Gods of ancient times, participating in a series of five battles that will be sure to make for spectacular viewing.


    "As one of the most important sects in our empire, the Tang Sect has been constantly making significant contributions to our empire, and this Trial of Five Gods is being held to further strengthen the friendship between sect and empire, so let''s all cheer on Sect Master Tang and celebrate this Trial of Five Gods. Regardless of the outcome, I''m sure this is going to a thrilling event."


    The introduction was very simple and concise, and at the end, it was specifically reinforced that this was a friendly affair, while the status of the Tang Sect was also being elevated.


    Even though the empire was using the Tang Sect, they still had to make sure that the empire and the Tang Sect remained on friendly terms. In terms of political maneuvers, the Star Luo Empire excelled far above the Dou Spirit Empire. In contrast, the Star Luo Empire was also more powerful and relied on the Tang Sect far less than the Dou Spirit Empire did.


    "The first match that''s going to be held today is the mecha battle! Mechas have become one of the most important types of modern weapons, and their research stemmed from one of the vastly renowned forefathers of our Star Luo Empire, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao. He was the one who proposed the concept and created the earliest mechas. At the same time, the Spirit Ice Douluo himself was also a member of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and I''m sure this mecha battle is going to be a very spectacular and exciting one.


    "The rules of the mecha battle will be as follows: the upper limit on the grade of mecha that can be used by both sides will be black mechas. This is in order to ensure fairness as the Tang Sect Master doesn''t possess a red mecha. If there''s too much disparity between the calibers of the mechas, then there''s no way to decide who''s actually superior when it comes to mecha piloting abilities. During the mecha battle, anything can be used aside from soul spirits. The Star Luo Empire representative for this mecha battle will be the commander of the empire''s number one mecha corps.


    "He is a divine-grade mecha pilot, and he''s known as the Pillar of the Empire; he is none other than Corps Commander Huang Zhengyang. He was once known as the empire''s most promising mecha pilot and won many mecha tournaments en route to forging an extraordinary legacy for himself. On top of that, he''s a Titled Douluo as well, and he''s certainly worthy to represent our empire in this Trial of Five Gods."


    As soon as Huang Zhengyang''s name was announced, cheers immediately rang out across the entire stadium. In the Star Luo Empire, Huang Zhengyang was a household name.


    His nickname was the Pillar of the Empire, and this was not a nickname he had given himself. Instead, it had been personally bestowed upon him by Dai Tianling after the emperor had witnessed his exceptional mecha piloting abilities.


    Huang Zhengyang had been very fond of mechas ever since he was a child, and his father was an outstanding mecha pilot as well. He was already regularly spending time in the pilot room of his father''s mecha at just two years old, and during his childhood, it wouldn''t have been an exaggeration to say that he had spent more time in mechas than on his own bed.


    To him, mechas were even more important than his own life, and he had something special that allowed him to pilot mechas with a higher level of skill and proficiency than all other mecha pilots in the entire empire.


    At just 23 years of age, back when he had only been a Soul Emperor, he had already become a ninth-grade mecha pilot, and was one of the candidates to become a divine-grade mecha pilot of the imperial family.


    At 31 years of age, he became a Titled Douluo, and the empire pooled together an enormous amount of funds to construct a divine-grade mecha for him. At present, he was still only 41 years of age, and he was a major general, as well as the commander of the empire''s most powerful mecha corps. He was a vastly renowned figure in the military, and he was also the vice-principal of Monster Academy''s mecha faculty.


    In the Star Luo Empire, his name would always be brought up in any conversation involving mechas, and that was sufficient testament to just how resounding his reputation was.


    He was going to be Tang Wulin''s first opponent in this Trial of Five Gods.


    On the rostrum, a faint smile appeared on Dai Yueyan''s face upon hearing Huang Zhengyang''s name, and he mused, "Looks like there''s no way your captain is going to be able to secure victory today."


    "Oh?" Yue Zhengyu turned to him, and remarked, "You seem to be very confident in this Huang Zhengyang, Your Highness."


    Indeed, Dai Yueyan was clearly brimming with confidence. "You''d be confident as well if you had witnessed Huang Zhengyang''s mecha piloting skills in the past. Prior to receiving the nickname of the Pillar of the Empire, his nickname was the Scythe of Despair as virtually all of his opponents would be plunged into despair in the face of his attacks. Let me put it this way; he can control mechas with even greater precision than Soul Masters like you can control your own bodies. Every single joint in his mecha is controlled with unerring precision, and that''s what sets him apart from everyone else."


    Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie exchanged a glance upon hearing this. "Let''s see what happens."


    Tang Wulin was the champion of the mecha discipline the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition and was revered as the Spear King during that competition. As such, he was certainly no slouch when it came to mecha piloting. His opponent did indeed sound very powerful, but was he really powerful enough to defeat Tang Wulin? That question could only be answered through battle.


    All of the lights in the entire sports stadium began to dim, but the competition platform lit up, and searchlight beams shone down from above. The spectator stands were plunged into complete darkness, but the competition platform was like a bright jewel at the center of the stadium.


    The change in lighting immediately set the atmosphere alight. Even though the announcer had asked everyone to cheer on the Tang Sect Master, all of the spectators were exclusively cheering for Huang Zhengyang.


    "You hear that? Huang Zhengyang is like an idol in the eyes of the general public. On top of being a superb mecha pilot, he''s also very handsome, but he''s still yet to be married as he says that he has no time for marriage. His goal is to become the first Limit Douluo level divine-grade mecha pilot," Dai Yueyan said in a proud manner.


    Xie Xie chuckled, "I recall this is exactly how the spectators were cheering a couple of days ago."


    Dai Yueyan''s voice immediately cut off as he turned to glower at Xie Xie.

 Chapter 1316: Unpredictable Blue Emperor

    "Ahem, let''s have some wine." Xie Xie cleared his throat in an apologetic manner, but there was nothing apologetic about the smirk on his face.


    Two beams of bright light appeared on either side of the sports stadiums, and each beam of light illuminated a diameter of around 10 meters. A series of metallic clangs rang out as two mechas emerged from the resting areas, and they strode into the light, putting them on full display to the spectators.


    Huang Zhengyang''s mecha was of a dark azure color, and it was very streamlined and elegant. It was clad in layers of protective armor, but didn''t seem to be maladroit or clumsy in the slightest. His mecha was around seven meters tall, and its upper body was slightly hunched over. Its legs were short and thick, and its upper body was longer in comparison. Its back was slightly arched like a prawn, and there was a giant scythe resting on its shoulder that was definitely longer than the height of the entire mecha. The long shaft of the scythe was being held in the mecha''s right hand, and its blade was over four meters wide and flashing with a cold light.


    The dark azure mecha gave off a very menacing appearance under the illumination of the beam of bright light, and as soon as it emerged, a burst of invisible killing intent began to emanate from it.


    It was quite clear that this was a melee combat mecha.


    As for Tang Wulin, his mecha was entirely black in color, and it was also around seven meters tall. The mecha had a very lithe and agile appearance, and it completely mimicked the form of a human body with a thin waist, wide back, and large arms. The mecha was also very streamlined, and it appeared to be black, but under the illumination of the light, there were traces of a faint blue color emanating from its surface.


    This was a special type of color that was only applied to a special type of metal that had been used to construct the mecha. This type of blue was known as cavansite blue, and only under the illumination of bright light would it reveal a sapphire glow. During the night, it simply looked like a completely black mecha.


    In terms of appearance, this mecha was clearly much more appealing to the vast majority of spectators, but the dark azure mecha across from it had left far too strong of an impression on all of the citizens of the Star Luo Empire due to its glorious past.


    Prior to obtaining a divine-grade mecha, Huang Zhengyang had always used this mecha, and it had been the origin of his nickname of Scythe of Despair. This was the mecha that he had used for the longest period of time in his life, and he still used it regularly; it was virtually an extension of his own body.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha was wielding a long spear that was also of the cavansite blue color. Aside from that, he wasn''t equipped with any other weapons, such as the heavy ion laser gun that Dai Yueyan had expected him to bring to this battle.


    This was going to be a clash between melee combat mechas, so it was undoubtedly going to be very exciting. It seemed that sparks were about to fly during this first battle of the Trial of Five Gods.


    The lights shining down upon the two mechas faded, and the mechas made their way to the center of the venue.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha had been given the name Blue Emperor by him, and as it was striding toward the competition platform, Tang Wulin noticed that Huang Zhengyang''s mecha was also doing the same. However, its gait was rather peculiar in that the entire mecha would crouch down slightly with every step it took. This seemingly inconsequential detail did not escape Tang Wulin''s notice, and he realized that Huang Zhengyang was doing this so that his mecha could spring up explosively at any moment as it was walking forward.


    As expected of the most powerful mecha pilot of the Star Luo Empire!


    Tang Wulin''s mecha had already been constructed as they were traveling to the Dou Spirit Empire. He had refined all of the metals used, while the ninth-grade mecha makers of the Tang Sect had overseen its construction.


    The entire mecha had been constructed according to Tang Wulin''s specifications, and its bodily proportions mirrored his own, it was basically an enlarged suit of armor.


    "If you''re both ready, then raise your weapons," the announcer prompted.


    Tang Wulin raised his spear, and Huang Zhengyang also raised his giant scythe.


    "I hereby announce that the first match of the Trial of Five Gods, the mecha battle, begins now!"


    The match finally commenced with that announcement.


    Huang Zhengyang had named this mecha of his Reaper of Despair, and after he obtained a divine-grade mecha, he had received more than one offer to purchase this Reaper of Despair for astronomical prices, but he had turned down all of them.


    This mecha had already become something that felt like an indispensable part of his body.


    As soon as the battle began, the Reaper of Despair glided forward as if it were skating over ice, rushing toward Tang Wulin''s Blue Emperor while sticking close to the ground.


    Blue Emperor''s full name was Unpredictable Blue Emperor, and the "Unpredictable" part of the name had been added following the departure of his foster parents to pay homage to the divine technique his birth father had bestowed upon him.


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor quickly rushed to the side, and Reaper of Despair instantly changed trajectory accordingly, gliding in an arc as opposed to its initial straight-line course. At the same time, it was already swinging its massive scythe through the air.


    The entire sports stadium was completely silent at this moment, and everyone''s attention was focused on this match.


    In order to allow everyone to see more details, there was a series of large screens around the sports stadium that displayed information such as the names of the two mechas, and their current conditions.


    The battle had only just begun, so both mechas were naturally at 100% condition. During the course of the battle, damage could be inflicted onto the mechas, and this percentage figure would change to allow the spectators to gauge which side held the upper hand.


    Why was he attacking so early? A hint of befuddlement welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart at the sight of Huang Zhengyang swinging his scythe through the air. There was still quite a large distance between their two mechas, there was no way that the scythe would be able to reach him.


    Even so, Tang Wulin naturally didn''t dare to get careless. For a mecha pilot of Huang Zhengyang''s caliber, every move he made had to have a purpose, and as it turned out, he was right to have been cautious.


    A streak of faint light silently drifted forth from the huge scythe, traveling through the air at an incredible speed and reaching Tang Wulin''s Unpredictable Blue Emperor virtually in the blink of an eye.


    Tang Wulin immediately reacted by controlling Unpredictable Blue Emperor to execute the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. In the eyes of the spectators, it was as if Unpredictable Blue Emperor had become completely weightless, and it was even leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.


    Just how fast did it have to be traveling to achieve this?


    All of the spectators were feeling rather flabbergasted.


    Dai Yueyan was also staring at Tang Wulin in a stunned manner. He had always known that Tang Wulin was very powerful, but that was only in the Soul Master and battle armor master disciplines; never would he have thought that Tang Wulin would be such an outstanding mecha pilot as well.


    After all, mecha and Soul Master battles were two completely different things. Was this guy really human? How did he have the spare time and effort to practice mecha piloting?


    Due to the fact that the streak of light had been released by the wide blade of the scythe, it encompassed a very large area. Unpredictable Blue Emperor had executed a series of brilliant evasive maneuvers using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, but the streak of light wasn''t an ordinary attack, either. Even though it was evaded by Tang Wulin, it somehow stopped on the spot and hung in mid-air. Huang Zhengyang then swung his scythe through the air again, and another identical streak of light appeared before hurtling toward Unpredictable Blue Emperor again.


    At the same time, the front tip of the massive scythe suddenly shot forth through the air, and one could see that the rear of the blade was connected to the scythe''s shaft by a chain.


    The attack was extremely fast, and the giant scythe blade almost instantly reached Tang Wulin. Meanwhile, the second streak of light hurtled toward Unpredictable Blue Emperor from another direction, and in conjunction with the first streak of light that had been unleashed, all of Tang Wulin''s avenues for retreat and evasion had been cut off, forcing him to face this unavoidable scythe blade.


    Tang Wulin quickly made a series of judgments in his mind. Due to the fact that neither he nor his opponent knew anything about one another prior to this battle, he could only gather information on his opponent throughout the course of the battle.


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor abruptly stopped, and as opposed to attempting to evade the streak of light, it lashed out with its Blue Emperor Spear like lightning. The spear shot forth, truly like a bolt of dark blue lightning, and struck the face of the giant scythe blade with unerring accuracy, and the spot it had struck was exactly where the blade''s center of gravity was.


    A crisp clang rang out as the scythe faltered in mid-air, but immediately thereafter, the blade suddenly tumbled through the air in an extraordinary maneuver, instantly appearing behind Unpredictable Blue Emperor while leaving a trail of cold light in its wake.

 Chapter 1317: Scythe of Despair

    This turn of events had taken place far too quickly for Tang Wulin to react properly, but he was instantly able to understand that the scythe blade had changed its trajectory as it had borrowed the power of his spear strike.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had ever encountered an opponent with such exceptional minute control. Huang Zhengyang had most likely performed this maneuver by manipulating the scythe blade with the chain, and just the thought of the complexity of such a maneuver was giving Tang Wulin a headache.


    In the eyes of those who knew what to look for, they could see that in the instant that Tang Wulin''s Blue Emperor Spear had struck the Scythe of Despair''s blade, the chain that was connected to the latter had been abruptly flicked, causing the blade to sweep toward the side. As it did so, it just so happened to come into contact with the first streak of light that had been released, and it was repelled once again, thereby bringing it behind Unpredictable Blue Emperor. At the same time, the second streak of light just so happened to strike the scythe blade, which repelled it backward, allowing it to perfectly strike the back of Tang Wulin''s Unpredictable Blue Emperor.


    On top of that, it was also releasing a burst of dragging force that was forcibly dragging Unpredictable Blue Emperor toward Reaper of Despair.


    The burst of force was extremely powerful, and eight honeycomb-shaped jet propellers lit up on either side of Reaper of Despair''s wide shoulders. Enormous soul power fluctuations surged forth alongside the fearsome burst of tremendous force as the core circuits were activated.


    On top of that, Reaper of Despair began to transform as the armor on its back, chest, and shoulders suddenly stood up on end, forming a series of sharp blades that began to rotate at a rapid speed.


    These sharp blades were all emitting a buzzing sound as they were vibrating at a very high frequency, and there was light shimmering on their surfaces.


    If Unpredictable Blue Emperor were to be dragged onto those blades by the tremendous burst of dragging force, it would undoubtedly sustain severe damage.


    During this process, Huang Zhengyang had flipped the roles of his mecha and scythe, using the mecha as a weapon while the scythe was only there for assistance.


    All of Shrek''s Six Monsters and the members of the Blood Dragon Squad were awestruck upon seeing this. This type of battle tactic was very rare in the Douluo Federation.


    It had been less than 20 seconds since the commencement of the battle, and there was already such a spectacular scene on display; all of the spectators were completely enthralled.


    Reaper of Despair''s method of attack appeared to be extremely simple, but in order to execute this, an unfathomable amount of control and battle experience were required.


    One had to realize that Tang Wulin was the mecha champion during the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition, so he also had a wealth of mecha battle experience, but his opponent''s control was simply far too exemplary. Each and every one of Reaper of Despair''s actions seemed to be very simple, but they were able to transition into one another seamlessly to achieve an ultimate objective.


    After just the first series of exchanges, Tang Wulin had already been forced completely onto the back foot.


    The dragging force was extremely powerful, and Unpredictable Blue Emperor was hurtling toward Reaper of Despair''s rapidly rotating blades like a moth to a flame.


    This Corkscrew of Death was one of Huang Zhengyang''s signature techniques that had forged his resounding reputation, and the most fearsome thing about it was that even if you knew he was going to use the attack, there was simply no way to avoid it as he was always able to maneuver his opponents onto the Corkscrew of Death. This sense of inevitability struck all of his opponents with a sense of despair, and that was how he had been given the nickname of Scythe of Despair.


    Was the Tang Sect Master about to suffer a crushing defeat before even half a minute had passed in the match?


    Everything had taken place in the blink of an eye, and even Tang Wulin didn''t really know what had happened before his Unpredictable Blue Emperor was propelled toward the Corkscrew of Death, let alone the spectators.


    In this dire situation, his incredible reflexes shone through.


    Judging from this series of maneuvers, Tang Wulin instantly deduced that his opponent''s mecha piloting IQ was definitely the highest among anyone he had ever faced; even Ling Wuyue couldn''t compare with him in this aspect. As expected of a powerful being chosen by the Star Luo Empire for this Trial of Five Gods.


    However, there was always more to a mecha battle than just pure mecha piloting skills; there were many details that hinged on the mecha pilots themselves. This was why almost all powerful mecha pilots were also powerful Soul Masters.


    "Roar!" A massive golden dragon head abruptly emerged from Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s chest before letting loose a thunderous roar.


    As a result, the Corkscrew of Death immediately ceased in its rotation for an instant, and Tang Wulin instantly took advantage of the opportunity to thrust his Blue Emperor Spear forward.


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s right arm tremored as countless spear projections were unleashed. As opposed to attempting to escape from the scythe blade behind Unpredictable Blue Emperor, Tang Wulin had chosen to fight fire with fire.


    "Clang, clang, clang..." A string of clashes took place in rapid succession, and the strikes from the Blue Emperor Spear appeared to be quite light and agile, but they were imbued with immense power, and the Corkscrew of Death was forced to a complete standstill. However, right at this moment, a burst of sideways dragging force suddenly erupted behind Unpredictable Blue Emperor, throwing off the direction of his attacks and causing at least half of them to miss their target. It turned out that the serrated edge of the Scythe of Despair''s blade had dug into Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s back before abruptly pulling it sideways.


    At the same time, the blades on Reaper of Despair began to rotate even more violently, and it rushed directly toward Unpredictable Blue Emperor from the side.


    At this point, Unpredictable Blue Emperor had just been pulled off balance, and it appeared that there was no way it would be able to evade the attack. Right at this moment, it stomped its right foot violently into the ground, and a resounding boom rang out as the entire sports stadiums seemed to tremor slightly. Using the force of the stomp, Unpredictable Blue Emperor abruptly propelled itself upward to evade the oncoming Reaper of Despair.


    "Get down here!" Huang Zhengyang yelled from within his mecha, and the scythe blade descended violently to pull Unpredictable Blue Emperor downward.


    If Unpredictable Blue Emperor were to crash down onto the ground, Tang Wulin wouldn''t have any further opportunity to unleash his soul skills, no matter how powerful they were.


    As it turned out, Unpredictable Blue Emperor was indeed dragged downward. It had completely lost its center of gravity, so even if Tang Wulin were to try and use its jet propellers to take flight, it would most likely veer out of control anyway. However, in the next instant, Huang Zhengyang immediately sensed that something wasn''t right; Unpredictable Blue Emperor was descending way too quickly!


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor had jumped up in an extremely powerful manner to evade the charge from Reaper of Despair, and such a powerful jump meant that it would take some time for it to be pulled down from above.


    However, Unpredictable Blue Emperor was currently crashing down like a bolt of lightning, descending even faster than when it had sprung up into the air.


    With his vast wealth of practical battle experience, Huang Zhengyang was able to instantly formulate a judgment. The propellers on the back of his Reaper of Despair were immediately activated, launching it to the side, and at the same time, it detached its Scythe of Despair from Unpredictable Blue Emperor with a flick of its wrist.


    The Scythe of Despair was a double-edged sword that connected both mechas together, thereby allowing Huang Zhengyang to control his opponent, but if his opponent were powerful enough, then the control could be reversed, and if that were to happen, then Huang Zhengyang would be placed in quite a troublesome situation.


    As such, as soon as he realized that Unpredictable Blue Emperor was descending far more quickly than it should, he immediately relinquished his control and chose to retreat.


    After enduring countless battles, he had learned that in a mecha battle, one couldn''t afford to make any errors. Even the slightest moment of complacency or overambition could lead to a complete and utter loss.


    Huang Zhengyang had absolute confidence in himself, so he wasn''t in a hurry at all. He was going to completely shut Tang Wulin down and not give him any chance to turn the tables.


    As he was rapidly retreating, Unpredictable Blue Emperor crashed heavily down onto the ground like a meteorite.


    "Boom!"


    "Roar!"


    A rumbling boom rang out alongside a thunderous dragon''s roar, and eight giant golden dragons erupted out of the ground before sweeping outward in unison.

 Chapter 1318: White Reaper

    Even though Reaper of Despair had already reacted very quickly, it was still struck by one of the golden dragon''s tails, causing it to be immobilized for a split second.


    In the next instant, Unpredictable Blue Emperor sprang up from the ground and unleashed countless spear projections that converged as one, which hurtled toward Reaper of Despair like a bolt of blue lightning with peerlessly powerful spear intent.


    Everything had taken place far too quickly, and the spectators were struggling to keep up.


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor had initially been controlled, but it had then sprung up into the air before descending from above to release those eight golden dragons, creating a spectacular sight to behold. It had then unleashed countless spear projections, and this entire process had taken place in the blink of an eye.


    Enormous pressure converged toward Reaper of Despair from all sides, forcing it to take the attack head-on. A giant golden dragon had already surged forth from Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s arm and was hurtling through the air alongside the blue spear projection. It was quite clear that this spear strike was not going to be easy to withstand.


    In terms of mecha piloting skills, Tang Wulin knew that he was no match for Huang Zhengyang, but a mecha battle was always more than just a battle of piloting skills. He had already manifested his own spear soul, and he was infusing it into his mecha''s Blue Emperor Spear to make up for his fallacies in mecha piloting skills.


    Just as Tang Wulin knew nothing about Huang Zhengyang, Huang Zhengyang had no information about Tang Wulin, either.


    Tang Wulin had participated in that youth tournament back when he was last on the Star Luo Continent, but that was many years ago, and he was far more powerful than his past self.


    Due to the mutual lack of information, Huang Zhengyang was naturally unaware of just how powerful Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King abilities were.


    Tang Wulin had accelerated Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s descent using his Mountain Dragon King torso bone''s gravitational control, then immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth to create this large-scale attack. If Huang Zhengyang had reacted any slower than he did and allowed Reaper of Despair to be struck by the brunt of Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, then he would have no choice but to rely on his mecha''s defenses to withstand Tang Wulin''s attack head-on.


    Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth followed by Fury of the Masses; this was basically how Tang Wulin would fight in a Soul Master battle, and only Tang Wulin could control his mecha to replicate his movements.


    The main characteristic that set his black mecha apart wasn''t how outstanding the mecha itself was. Instead, the materials used and the degree to which it was in sync with his body were what made it the perfect mecha for him. Tang Wulin had designed this mecha so that its pilot room would be humanoid in shape. When piloting the mecha, he would stand in the pilot room, and his actions would be directly transmitted to his mecha.


    This meant that whatever motion he made, the mecha would replicate it. This type of mecha piloting wasn''t nonexistent, but the vast majority of mecha pilots used sensors to control their mechas to replicate their actions.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin was only using the sensors to activate some of the mecha''s abilities, while the mecha itself was predominantly being manipulated by his strength.


    Hence, his movements and reaction speed were both faster than normal mechas.


    In the instant that Reaper of Despair was immobilized and Fury of the Masses was unleashed, a serious look appeared on Huang Zhengyang''s face. This was the first time that he had begun to take his opponent seriously.


    The Scythe of Despair, which had been connected together again at this point, was swept through the air, and in that instant, a layer of white light appeared over the dark azure exterior of the mecha. It was as if the mecha itself had changed color.


    A crisp clang rang out like the melodious chime of a bell, and the Scythe of Despair struck the tip of the Blue Emperor Spear with unerring accuracy.


    Reaper of Despair shuddered slightly, but it was still able to withstand the Fury of the Masses. At the same time, it borrowed the momentum of its scythe, which had just been knocked aside, to swivel around and unleash a streak of white light that swept horizontally through the air.


    This was a giant white scythe that appeared to be similar in size to the Scythe of Despair, but in the instant that it appeared, the white scythe turned black. It was as if it had truly become the weapon of the Grim Reaper, and it was sweeping directly toward Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist.


    This attack had come far too quickly; Unpredictable Blue Emperor had only just unleashed Fury of the Masses, and the giant black scythe had already reached it.


    Huang Zhengyang was unleashing an attack that Tang Wulin had to defend against, and it was undoubtedly the case that this attack stemmed from Huang Zhengyang''s martial soul, rather than his mecha. Not only was Huang Zhengyang a divine-grade mecha pilot, he was also a powerful Soul Master.


    All of a sudden, Unpredictable Blue Emperor drew to a complete halt during its forward charge, and it crashed down onto the ground before adopting a rather strange pose. As it did so, the surface of the mecha suddenly took on a mirror-like quality. What was even stranger was that a layer of thick and heavy golden scales abruptly appeared on the exterior of the mecha.


    "Thud!" The huge black scythe struck the mecha''s waist with vicious force. It wasn''t that Tang Wulin didn''t want to evade or defend against it; it was just that it was far too fast, faster than almost all of the soul skill attacks he had ever witnessed in the past.


    Light flashed rapidly and erratically from Unpredictable Blue Emperor, and the golden dragon erupting from the tip of the Blue Emperor Spear abruptly expanded even further. At the same time, it accelerated and hurtled directly toward Reaper of Despair like a soul missile.


    The Scythe of Despair conjured up countless blade projections to oppose the golden dragon, and both of the mechas were sent flying, one horizontally and one backward, in rapid succession.


    This was the first time that the two mechas had separated since the commencement of the match.


    Only after their separation did the spectators seem to recover the ability to breathe, and many of them began to pant heavily. The battle had been far too intense, and everything was happening so quickly that their eyes could barely keep up.


    Both sides had unleashed a series of abilities from the get-go, and the spectators felt as if they could miss the moment that decided the battle if they were to even blink.


    Huang Zhengyang''s Reaper of Despair was indeed extremely powerful; each and every one of its attacks were very threatening and clearly unleashed with exceptional control. However, in the face of Huang Zhengyang''s incredible assault, not only was Tang Wulin''s Unpredictable Blue Emperor able to hold its own, it had even been able to unleash counterattacks; this was astonishing to all of the spectators.


    This was a clear testament to Tang Wulin''s tremendous powers!


    On the rostrum, all of the powerful beings from the Star Luo Empire, including Dai Tianling, had been rooted to the spot.


    Everyone was aware that Tang Wulin was an extremely powerful Soul Master; they had all deduced that his powers most likely outstripped those of the average Titled Douluos, but none of them had imagined that he would be such an exceptional mecha pilot as well.


    His mecha piloting skills were clearly still inferior to Huang Zhengyang''s, but after integrating his Soul Master abilities with his mecha, he was able to keep up with Reaper of Despair, and that was something that no one had anticipated.


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor tumbled through the air before springing up from the ground, and everyone could see that a deep gash had been sliced into its waist. Thankfully, the incision wasn''t deep enough to harm the internal components of the mecha.


    Meanwhile, Reaper of Despair also sprang up from the ground, and its chest had caved in, while its Scythe of Despair had also been slightly bent.


    It appeared that both sides had been evenly matched during that clash, but in reality, Huang Zhengyang knew that he had come out second-best.


    Tang Wulin''s golden dragon head had struck Reaper of Despair''s chest, which was where the pilot room was. Following that direct clash, Huang Zhengyang had been somewhat affected by the impact.


    He had thought that his Scythe of Despair would''ve been able to withstand the brunt of the attack, but the golden dragon head had been far more powerful than he had anticipated; it had rammed his Scythe of Despair straight into Reaper of Despair''s chest and sent the entire mecha flying.

 Chapter 1319: Transition Between Attack and Defense

    There was something very odd about the mirror-like quality that Tang Wulin''s mecha had taken on earlier; that was the first conclusion that Huang Zhengyang arrived at. He was very perplexed by the sight of the inconsequential gash that had been inflicted onto Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist. That attack that he had just unleashed was not just an ability of his martial soul; it was an attack that had integrated the powers of both his martial soul and his mecha, and a normal black mecha would''ve at least lost the ability to engage in further battle, if not be completely dismembered by that attack. However, the gash on Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist looked to be less than half a foot deep.


    Both sides were appraising one another, and the tense atmosphere in the air continued to build. Neither of them attacked first; they were both assessing their own condition while inspecting the damage suffered by their opponent.


    Through the large screens, the spectators were also able to clearly see that both mechas had been damaged in the wake of that clash.


    In their hearts, Huang Zhengyang was truly the pillar of the empire, and the fact that the Tang Sect Master was able to match him was already sufficient testament to his abilities. This made everyone even more eager to see his performance during the rest of the Trial of Five Gods.


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor raised its Blue Emperor Spear before crouching down slightly, and in the next instant, it shot forth like a bolt of blue lightning, taking the initiative to unleash an attack on this occasion.


    Reaper of Despair remained standing on the spot and didn''t immediately spring into action. The damage dealt to the Scythe of Despair was going to negatively impact his combat prowess.


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor was traveling extraordinarily quickly, and all of the propellers on its back had been activated. The instantaneous explosive speed of a black mecha was downright astonishing, and it wouldn''t be strange for one to be able to break the sound barrier in a short time.


    Reaper of Despair crouched down slightly, and just as Unpredictable Blue Emperor was about to reach it, it suddenly stepped away to the side and swept its Scythe of Despair through the air, targeting the gash that had already been inflicted onto Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist.


    He had timed his movements perfectly and sidestepped with perfect precision, almost making Unpredictable Blue Emperor look as if it were delivering itself right onto the Scythe of Despair''s blade. Furthermore, Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s Blue Emperor Spear was bound to miss its target now, and the roles of attack and defense had quickly been switched.


    The Scythe of Despair was sweeping toward its target with unerring accuracy, yet just as the two mechas were about to pass one another, Unpredictable Blue Emperor suddenly performed a maneuver that completely went against the laws of physics, instantly twisting around in mid-air before rushing toward Reaper of Despair again.


    Even with Huang Zhengyang''s massive wealth of mecha battle experience, he still found this to be inexplicable. It was unimaginable to him how his opponent had been able to instantly change directions.


    After already breaking the sound barrier, such an instantaneous change in direction would place incredible amounts of strain on both the mecha and its pilot. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had performed such a maneuver while ensuring that the mecha didn''t spiral out of control and maintained sufficient offensive prowess; this was extremely difficult, to say the least.


    Huang Zhengyang could also change directions in mid-air, but he would require some time to do so. The window time required wouldn¡¯t be very long, but definitely wasn''t completely non-existent as it was in the case of Tang Wulin.


    "Boom!" The two mechas clashed again, and Reaper of Despair was forced to use its Scythe of Despair again to ward off the Blue Emperor Spear.


    Having been caught completely off guard, Reaper of Despair was forced to stumble back several steps due to the force of the impact, and Unpredictable Blue Emperor continued to press its advantage, unleashing countless spear projections toward Reaper of Despair with its Blue Emperor Spear. In the eyes of the audience, it was as if Unpredictable Blue Emperor had completely vanished and fused itself with the spear projections it had unleashed.


    This was a spear soul! Tang Wulin was unleashing the power of his spear soul through his mecha.


    All of the high-grade mecha pilots present were stunned to see this. People who possessed weapon souls were already extremely rare, and it was virtually unheard of for someone to be able to infuse the power of their weapon soul into their mecha.


    Just this alone made it beyond a doubt that Tang Wulin was also a prodigious mecha pilot!


    Right at this moment, a burst of white light erupted from Reaper of Despair''s body, forming a huge arc of white light that enveloped all of the oncoming spear projections. A rapid string of violent clashes rang out like a torrential storm, and the two mechas collided countless times in an instant.


    Both the spear and scythe were being wielded in a small area, and only a handful of spectators were able to see the clashes clearly.


    On the rostrum, the perpetual smile on the Smiling Douluo''s face had widened even further, and there was a hint of elation in his eyes. This elation didn''t stem from the fact that Tang Wulin was the Tang Sect Master. Instead, he could tell that Tang Wulin''s sudden change in direction was a product of integrating the Body Sect''s techniques into his mecha!


    Normal mecha pilots and their mechas wouldn''t be able to withstand such enormous strain, but what if the mecha pilot were a Body Sect disciple? With their ultra powerful physical constitution, it wouldn''t be difficult to handle the strenuous forces. As for the mecha, there was an easy solution; the materials used in the mecha and construction process would just have to be tailored to focus on making the mecha more resolute at the expense of some other functions.


    It was quite clear that Tang Wulin''s mecha had been designed in such a way, which was why it was able to handle his style of battle.


    Even though the Smiling Douluo had left the Body Sect, he still harbored deep-rooted feelings for his sect of origin, and it naturally made him very pleased and a little emotional to see Body Sect representation during this Trial of Five Gods.


    The distance between Unpredictable Blue Emperor and Reaper of Despair had already been completely closed down, and neither side could back down now. If either of them were to be overwhelmed by their opponent, then they would most likely lose the match within mere moments.


    The more Huang Zhengyang engaged in this battle, the more astonished he became. He had thought that he had already reached the limit of human capabilities when it came to mecha piloting. He was able to control his mecha to an extremely minute degree, and with his exceptional control, he had been able to defeat one powerful opponent after another.


    On this occasion, his judgment of Tang Wulin had been completely accurate, and he was clearly far superior to his opponent when it came to mecha piloting skills, but Tang Wulin was still able to hold his own against him. There were many attacks unleashed by Unpredictable Blue Emperor that had clearly been unleashed by Tang Wulin himself, and he was seemingly breaking the laws of physics and mecha battle conventions with ease.


    In response to each attack unleashed by Reaper of Despair, Unpredictable Blue Emperor would often have to perform five or six actions to defend itself, so the latter was clearly far inferior when it came to efficiency, but it was still able to keep up, which meant that this mecha battle was several times more taxing for Tang Wulin than it was for Huang Zhengyang.


    In the beginning, Huang Zhengyang had habitually assumed that Tang Wulin wouldn''t be able to keep this up for long, but even after all this time, their clashes were only becoming fiercer and fiercer, while Unpredictable Blue Emperor was showing no signs of slowing down.


    After the spear soul was infused into the mecha, the gap between each side''s mecha piloting skills was whittled down even further, and Tang Wulin seemed to be having no trouble keeping this up.


    Was this guy really a human?


    As this thought appeared in Huang Zhengyang''s mind, he knew that he couldn''t continue like this any longer. He still couldn''t see the limits of his opponent''s capabilities, yet he was quickly approaching his own limits.


    His entire body was beginning to ache, and this meant that his piloting proficiency would begin to wane soon. He was a Titled Douluo, but he focused most of his time and effort on honing his mecha skills, so his physical constitution was only just barely comparable to that of the average Titled Douluo.


    Reaper of Despair suddenly began to rapidly rotate on the spot, and it was as if he had unleashed his Corkscrew of Death again. Several of Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s attacks were repelled in an instant, and on this occasion, Huang Zhengyang had activated the power of his Reaper of Despair to its maximal extent. His soul power fused as one with his mecha, and a burst of white light surged forth like lightning, attacking Unpredictable Blue Emperor in the instant that its attacks were repelled.


    This eruption of power was very abrupt, and there was no opportunity for Unpredictable Blue Emperor to evade, nor any time for it to withdraw its Blue Emperor Spear to defend itself. That burst of white light was none other than the same Reaper Scythe that Huang Zhengyang had unleashed once before, and this was a planned attack.


    Huang Zhengyang had intentionally created a scenario where he was forced slightly onto the back foot to lure his opponent into a false sense of security, then unleashed this attack at point-blank range so that there was no way Tang Wulin would have enough time to react.


    He didn''t even need to look with his eyes; with his experience and the battle instinct that he had honed, Huang Zhengyang had absolute confidence that his Reaper Scythe would strike the very same gash that had been inflicted onto Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist earlier.


    Aside from a mecha''s protective barrier, its metallic exterior was its most important line of defense. That line of defense had already been broken earlier, so this attack would undoubtedly inflict severe damage on the interior of the mecha.


    Huang Zhengyang was already thinking ahead, deciding that he would withdraw his Reaper Scythe right as it came into contact with the pilot room in Tang Wulin''s mecha. After all, this was the new Tang Sect Master; he certainly couldn''t just kill him in what was supposed to be a friendly event that was this mock Trial of Five Gods.

 Chapter 1320: Final Outcome

    Tang Wulin appeared to have completely lost his cool. In his desperation, Unpredictable Blue Emperor thrust its Blue Emperor Spear forward, targeting the opposing mecha''s pilot room.


    It seemed that he was taking a desperate leap of faith, and the final outcome would be decided by which side''s attack would land first. A layer of golden scales had appeared over the surface of the Blue Emperor Spear, and it was giving off a powerful aura, but a faint smile appeared on Huang Zhengyang''s face as he sat in his pilot room.


    Was he planning to go for a kamikaze attack? Huang Zhengyang had been in this situation countless times in the past. He abruptly withdrew his Scythe of Despair, then clamped down onto the tip of the Blue Emperor Spear with the blade of the scythe just in the nick of time. At the same time, Reaper of Despair swiveled around slightly to evade the spear strike, and even though the spear still impaled its shoulder, the puncture was only around a foot deep, and had missed the pilot room.


    The Scythe of Despair then clamped down even harder to completely jam the Blue Emperor Spear into place. At this point, his Reaper Scythe had already reached Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist.


    The surface of Unpredictable Blue Emperor took on a mirror-like quality again, and light flashed rapidly from its surface, but the Reaper Scythe still managed to slice into it.


    "Clang!"


    Was this the end?


    All of the spectators waited for the final outcome with bated breath, and some of them didn''t even dare to look anymore.


    Right at this moment, scintillating light abruptly erupted from the Blue Emperor Spear, and it thrust forward violently again while the blade of the Scythe of Despair that was clamping the spear into place was snapped in half.


    Thus, the Blue Emperor Spear completely pierced through Reaper of Despair''s shoulder, and at the same time, countless Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted out of Unpredictable Blue Emperor, then instantly wound themselves around Reaper of Despair before picking it up and slamming it into the ground.


    Everything had taken place far too quickly, to the extent that some of the spectators hadn''t even managed to identify who had seized the upper hand yet.


    On the rostrum, Dai Yueyan had already risen to his feet and was staring at the competition platform with an intense unblinking gaze.


    In the instant after Reaper of Despair crashed down onto the ground, the Blue Emperor Spear had already been withdrawn before being thrust forward again like lightning, stopping just short of the pilot room. It was quite clear that if he had intended to do so, he could¡¯ve plunged his spear straight into the pilot room to end Huang Zhengyang''s life.


    A pin drop silence settled over the entire sports stadiums, and Dai Tianling''s eyes widened with incredulity.


    Huang Zhengyang had clearly gained the absolute upper hand during that final clash, yet he had lost?


    "The Tang Sect Master wins the mecha match of the Trial of Five Gods!" The announcer was stuttering slightly as he delivered this result, and this was clearly far different from the script he had been rehearsing.


    The script he had prepared involved offering congratulations to the Pillar of the Empire, while also consoling the Tang Sect Master and commending him for putting on a spectacular display, but that entire script had been thrown out the window!


    The Blue Emperor Spear was withdrawn, as were the Bluesilver Emperor vines, and Unpredictable Blue Emperor stood under the bright lights, right before the awestruck eyes of all of the spectators present.


    The pilot room of Reaper of Despair opened up, and Huang Zhengyang was revealed in his major general military uniform.


    His face was slightly pale, and as the loser of the battle, he emerged from his mecha''s pilot room first.


    At the same time, he immediately turned his attention to Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist. There, he saw that the gash was still around half a foot deep, and his second strike had made absolutely no difference.


    His heart was filled with befuddlement. Why was this the case? How was it that the first attack had inflicted that gash, yet the identical second attack had been completely ineffective?


    Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s pilot room also opened up, and the white-robed Tang Wulin jumped out from within. There were beads of sweat on his forehead, and it was quite clear that this battle had been quite a grueling one for him, more so on a mental level than a physical one.


    He landed on the ground in front of his mecha before making his way over to Huang Zhengyang and extending his right hand.


    Huang Zhengyang''s figure and height were quite average, and his looks didn''t stand out, either.  [1]


    However, despite his unremarkable appearance, he was the divine-grade mecha pilot who held the title of Pillar of the Empire.


    A genuine look of admiration appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he said, "Thank you for taking it easy on me, General Huang."


    Huang Zhengyang shook his hand with a wry smile. "I didn''t go easy on you; I lost fair and square. I''ve fought in countless mecha battles in the past, but this battle has truly opened my eyes; I still don''t even know how I lost in the end!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "You didn''t actually lose to me. In terms of mecha piloting skills, you are far beyond me; I only managed to win as my mecha itself is very special, and you don''t know much about me. Take a look at this."


    Tang Wulin pointed at his Unpredictable Blue Emperor as he spoke.


    Huang Zhengyang cast his gaze toward that direction to find that Tang Wulin was pointing at the gash on Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist.


    Much to Huang Zhengyang''s surprise, he could see that the gash was slowly closing at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye.


    "Is that... soul refined metal?" He turned to stare at Tang Wulin with incredulity in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "That''s right, this Unpredictable Blue Emperor of mine was entirely constructed from soul refined metals, so its resistance and self-regenerative capabilities are both far beyond that of normal black mechas. As such, I''m able to perform some special maneuvers with it. On top of that, the soul skill I used to take your attacks during the battle can convert your offensive power into my own attack, which was why I was able to turn the tables on you on two separate occasions. Otherwise, you would''ve already won even with the soul refined metals my mecha had been constructed from, so this match was actually quite unfair for you."


    Huang Zhengyang''s lips twitched as he murmured to himself, "That''s way too extravagant!"


    Soul refined metals could be used to construct several dozens of suits of three-word battle armor! Using so much of it to construct a black mecha was an incredible waste. Even his red mecha hadn''t been entirely constructed from soul refined metals; only the important joints and core circuits had been constructed from soul refined metals. It was no wonder that he had lost.


    Was this even still a black mecha? If the entire thing had been constructed from soul refined metals, then the materials used for it would be enough to construct several dozens of suits of battle armor!


    What an astonishing waste!


    At the same time, Huang Zhengyang couldn''t help but feel a little envious. Only an unfathomably wealthy organization like the Tang Sect would be able to dedicate so much soul refined metal into a single mecha.


    Unbeknownst to him, Tang Wulin was a brilliant Saint Blacksmith himself.


    At his current skill level, soul refinement of individual metals was no longer difficult to him; only soul refinement of alloys that consisted of multiple types of metals posed a challenge to him.


    How had Yuanen Yehui been able to keep Dai Yueyan and Hua Lantang at bay on her own? Aside from her own incredible combat prowess, her suit of three-word battle armor had been a major key.


    Her suit of three-word battle armor had been constructed from alloys that were comprised of over five types of different metals; how could it compare with a normal suit of three-word battle armor?


    Huang Zhengyang sighed, "I understand why I lost now, and there''s nothing unfair about this. If anything, this Trial of Five Gods is outrageously unfair for you. I''ll be rooting for you in the upcoming matches. I hope to be able to spar with you again with my current mecha when you become a divine-grade mecha pilot. I''m going to go back and conduct some extensive research on the style of battle you showed me today. In terms of integrating your powers with your mecha, you''ve done a better job than I have. If I''m not mistaken, you possess twin martial souls, right?"


    [1] [From chapter 1315: "On top of being a superb mecha pilot, he''s also very handsome, but he''s still yet to be married..." Er, so apparently, he turned ugly overnight, I guess LOL]

 Chapter 1321: Dont Get Cocky!

    Tang Wulin replied, "Yes, that''s about right." He couldn''t disclose his Golden Dragon King bloodline to Huang Zhengyang, and it really did appear as if he possessed twin martial souls, so he was just going to pretend as if he did.


    As the two were conversing with one another, the spectator stands had erupted into raucous discussion.


    "Please quiet down, everyone. Next, we''ll have the Pillar of the Empire personally analyze and review this spectacular mecha battle."


    Tang Wulin turned to Huang Zhengyang in a slightly surprised manner upon hearing this.


    A wry smile appeared on Huang Zhengyang''s face as he said, "I didn''t think I would lose, so I agreed to do this in order to share my knowledge in mechas, but it''s pretty ironic that a loser like me has been tasked with reviewing the match."


    "You''re no loser; you''re the most exceptional mecha pilot I''ve ever seen," Tang Wulin said in a genuine voice.


    In terms of pure mecha piloting skills, the difference between them really was night and day. Furthermore, Tang Wulin knew that when divine-grade mechas were concerned, the individual powers of Soul Masters would play a far lesser role in mecha battles. At that point, there would be no way he would be able to beat Huang Zhengyang with his current mecha piloting skills; he would only be able to give himself a chance of victory if he were to use some special methods. As such, Huang Zhengyang was truly a mecha pilot who was worthy of respect.


    After stowing away their respective mechas, Tang Wulin left the platform, while Huang Zhengyang remained behind to review the match.


    On the rostrum, Yue Zhengyu nudged Dai Yueyan, and said, "I think we won this match, Your Highness!"


    Xie Xie immediately chimed in, "See? What did I say? It''s so much like the sparring match we had the other day; none of the spectators are cheering now, are they?"


    Dai Yueyan turned to the smug pair with a furious expression. "Don''t get cocky!"


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu both burst into laughter. Watching Tang Wulin win the first match of the Trial of Five Gods had been extremely satisfying, and at the same time, even Shrek''s Six Monsters were in disbelief, let alone Dai Yueyan.


    They could only sense that Tang Wulin''s mecha piloting skills had changed compared to back when he had participated in the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition.


    During that competition, Tang Wulin had been forced to use a vast array of other abilities to compensate for his lackluster mecha piloting skills, but his current set of mecha piloting skills was more complete.


    Most importantly, they knew that Tang Wulin hadn''t even had to display many of his powerful abilities to win this battle, which meant that he would have more trump cards to use during the rest of the matches in the Trial of Five Gods.


    All of the representatives of the Star Luo Empire in the Trial of Five Gods were the best that the empire had to offer! Even if this were the only match that Tang Wulin won among all five, it would still mean that he was the best mecha pilot in the Star Luo Empire.


    As such, he had already brought immense glory to the Tang Sect.


    The Smiling Douluo''s smile was as wide as ever, and instead of a gloomy expression that one would expect to see on Dai Tianling''s face, there was only a contemplative look in his eyes.


    In contrast, En Ci was clearly more astonished than Dai Tianling was. Mechas and Soul Masters were completely different things. Essentially, a mecha was a tool through which a Soul Master could magnify their powers, but it definitely wasn''t a simple task to pilot a mecha to a high degree of proficiency.


    Tang Wulin''s mecha piloting skills were clearly inferior to Huang Zhengyang''s, but he surpassed Huang Zhengyang when it came to integrating his soul skills with his mecha, which meant that he was a better overall mecha pilot than Huang Zhengyang.


    Huang Zhengyang was a Titled Douluo, and he had done everything he could to maximize the offensive power of his Reaper Scythe. His mecha would take care of defenses, so he didn''t have to worry about that aspect.


    Even so, he had still lost this match, and that basically confirmed that Tang Wulin was currently at least as powerful as a Titled Douluo.


    "Hey fatty, I heard you had a sparring match with your sect master," En Ci said to Hu Jie.


    Hu Jie shot a glance at him. "What about it? Are you trying to get information out of me? Do you think I''ll tell you? Haha, are you scared, Brother En Ci."


    "What would I have to fear?" En Ci snapped, "I''m just very curious about your sect master."


    Hu Jie shrugged, and said, "You won''t have to be curious for long; I''m sure he''ll put on even more spectacular displays during the next few matches. In any case, we''ve won the first match, so we''ve already performed well beyond expectations; isn''t that right, Your Majesty?"


    Instead of giving a direct reply, Dai Tianling merely said, "Let''s listen to what Huang Zhengyang has to say."


    At this point, Huang Zhengyang had already recovered his composure and made his way to the center of the stage.


    "I''m sorry for not securing a victory." His first sentence immediately had all of the spectators falling silent, with the exception of a few female superfans yelling things like "Huang Zhengyang, we''ll always love you" at the tops of their lungs.


    Huang Zhengyang sighed, "A loss is a loss; I won''t cheapen this match by spouting any excuses. Next, I''m going to begin the replay and commentate on the important points during the match from a third-person perspective."


    All of the images on the large screens reverted back to right before the commencement of the match.


    "I''m sure everyone is already very familiar with Reaper of Despair, so I won''t spend any time introducing it. Instead, I want to focus on my feelings when I first saw Sect Master Tang''s Unpredictable Blue Emperor. The first impression I was struck by was that this was an extremely simple and pure mecha. It didn''t have any fancy bells and whistles, nor any special weapons; its weapon was only an extremely simple spear. However, I''d like to draw everyone''s attention to the construction of this mecha.


    "The entire mecha was designed to be extremely streamlined, and all of its joints are very solid. Hence, my first impression was that this is a mecha that was designed to pursue absolute speed and control."


    As a divine-grade mecha pilot, one of the most important skills was to accurately appraise an opponent''s mecha prior to a battle, and Huang Zhengyang had always been very good at this. Now that he was sharing his thoughts, the spectators were all feeling very enlightened.


    "After that, the battle began. After confirming the characteristics of the opponent''s mecha, I unleashed my first wave of attacks, prioritizing the goal of closing down the distance between the two mechas so his mecha doesn''t go beyond the sphere of my control. From the rest of the match, I''m sure everyone could see that when Unpredictable Blue Emperor was allowed some space, its explosiveness would increase significantly. With sufficient space to make use of, it would be able to convert all of that space into speed and power. Hence, the tactic that I employed from the get-go was correct."


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already returned to the resting area, where there was also a screen that was broadcasting the scenes unfolding in the stadium.


    As he looked at the images on the screen and listened to Huang Zhengyang''s commentary, Tang Wulin was struck by a novel sensation that he hadn''t felt for a very long time.


    As he continued to listen, his admiration for Huang Zhengyang grew even further as his commentary was spot on; there was no hyperbole, nor any details that had been missed. Furthermore, from his perspective, Tang Wulin was developing a deeper understanding of his own Unpredictable Blue Emperor.


    Huang Zhengyang continued, "Reaper of Despair glided forward to close down the distance and also used the Scythe of Despair to try and control Unpredictable Blue Emperor. Just as I was unfamiliar with Unpredictable Blue Emperor, the Tang Sect Master knew nothing about my Reaper of Despair as well. As such, he fell into my trap, and I was able to successfully control Unpredictable Blue Emperor with my Scythe of Despair."


    Huang Zhengyang expanded the image to focus on Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s back as he spoke.

 Chapter 1322: The Pillar of the Empires Review

    "Please watch carefully here, everyone; at this point, I noticed something very important, which was Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s defensive capabilities. The Scythe of Despair possesses extremely potent offensive prowess and has a high-frequency vibration function that''ll allow it to slice through normal metals with ease. However, this effect was severely limited by Unpredictable Blue Emperor, and the Scythe of Despair was only able to inflict a very shallow gash. At that point, I realized that my opponent possessed extremely powerful defensive prowess.


    "Hence, I dragged Unpredictable Blue Emperor toward Corkscrew of Death to try and end the match using my Corkscrew of Death. Regardless of how powerful Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s defensive prowess was, it had to have an upper limit, and even a divine-grade mecha would be damaged if it were to be struck head-on by my Corkscrew of Death. However, this was when Unpredictable Blue Emperor began to display its combat prowess. Please take note here that Unpredictable Blue Emperor had thrust its spear forward at this point, choosing to retaliate rather than to try and evade or resist the dragging force of my scythe blade.


    "The most important thing to take note of here is the roar unleashed by the dragon head that appeared out of its chest. Even with my mecha to shield me, my mind went completely blank for an instant, which means that this was a spiritual attack, and that Sect Master Tang''s spiritual power is superior to mine. A mecha battle could often be decided in an instant, and during the split-second where my mind went blank, I reflexively tugged on the chain to throw Unpredictable Blue Emperor off its intended course to buy myself some time..."


    Tang Wulin listened carefully to Huang Zhengyang''s analysis, benefitting immensely in the process. It was very insightful to hear Huang Zhengyang''s thoughts during the battle, and the fact that Huang Zhengyang had been forced to change his strategy so many times was a testament to how much pressure Tang Wulin had exerted upon him.


    Furthermore, he also elaborated in great detail on which areas both sides had performed well in, as well as in which areas the two had been found lacking.


    He really was a mad mecha scientist! Huang Zhengyang was even willing to share some of the secrets of his mecha piloting skills without making any selfish attempt to keep the information to himself. Of course, listening to him was one thing, putting his words into practice was another entirely different thing.


    "This was the first clash where I came out second-best. It seems that damage was inflicted on both sides, but the impact I was struck by was more severe, and the damage dealt to my mecha was also more apparent. My entire body was jolted during the clash, and that resulted in some fallacies in my control later on in the match."


    At this point, Huang Zhengyang''s commentary had already reached the part where the two mechas had separated for the first time.


    "Only after the conclusion of the match did I learn from Sect Master Tang that I had fallen into his trap during this first clash."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but chuckle upon hearing this. Indeed, that was when he had begun to set a trap for Huang Zhengyang. The trap that he had set at the time would''ve been completely ineffective against a normal mecha pilot as no normal mecha pilot could control their mecha to anywhere near Huang Zhengyang''s level of precision. Without that level of precision in his opponent''s control, his trap would''ve been completely pointless.


    "Sect Master Tang was struck by me, and I was sent flying by him, so overall, we were evenly matched. At the time, I habitually only remembered the exact location where I had inflicted the gash onto Unpredictable Blue Emperor, and that was the first mistake I made that ultimately contributed to my loss in the end. Please take note of the changes that Unpredictable Blue Emperor underwent during the rest of the battle."


    Huang Zhengyang slowed down the replay as he spoke, and what came next was a rapid exchange of blows between both sides, during which neither side seemed to have gained an advantage. Even with the replay slowed down, it could still be seen just how rapid that sequence had been.


    "At this point, my attention had been completely drawn to Sect Master Tang. In hindsight, the damage that my Scythe of Despair sustained had hampered my performance to a certain extent. Of course, that''s not an excuse. The most damning mistake that I made during the battle was that I didn''t pay attention to the changes that Unpredictable Blue Emperor had undergone."


    He drew a red circle on the screen, and continued, "Please turn your attention to the gash on Unpredictable Blue Emperor''s waist; this is the key to my defeat. As I''m sure you''ve all figured out at this point, the gash is regenerating on its own, but I failed to notice this detail as I was too engrossed in the rapid pace of the battle. Here, I intentionally exposed a chink in my defense to attract Sect Master Tang''s attention, then lashed out to make what I thought would be a lethal blow. Unbeknownst to me, the gash that I was targeting had already completely healed.


    "In the end, I inflicted the exact same gash onto Unpredictable Blue Emperor while my Reaper of Despair was pierced through by the Blue Emperor Spear, and after that, I was bound by Sect Master Tang''s other martial soul, which he hadn''t used in the battle prior to this point. Thus, the battle concluded, and only after the match did I learn from Sect Master Tang how I had lost. Ultimately, I lost fair and square. Sect Master Tang has sacrificed all other pieces of equipment on his mecha, not because he doesn''t want to or doesn''t know how to use them; he had done so to minimize the weight of his mecha.


    "On the surface, my Reaper of Despair appears to be far larger than Unpredictable Blue Emperor, but if I''m not mistaken, Unpredictable Blue Emperor is at least twice as heavy as my Reaper of Despair. This weight disparity is a direct result of the materials used. As for why Unpredictable Blue Emperor is able to self-regenerate, that''s a secret of the Tang Sect, so I won''t say anything further about it. This is the conclusion of my commentary, and once again, I would like to apologize for disappointing everyone."


    After that, Huang Zhengyang extended a deep bow toward the rostrum before making his way down from the competition platform.


    Everyone present in the stadium, including the people on the rostrum, were all enlightened by his expert analysis.


    Without his analysis, it would''ve felt like the spectacular match everyone had just witnessed was somehow incomplete. Now, even the most ordinary of spectators could understand just how many fine details that Huang Zhengyang had to consider during the battle. Even though he had lost, the spectators were still very satisfied and certainly not disappointed.


    They had witnessed an extraordinary battle where both sides had displayed an incredible level of skill and execution. The final result wasn''t just due to the disparity in the battle styles and powers of the two competitors; what had been even more important was the psychological warfare that had taken place.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Tang Wulin had won that war, which was why he was able to catch Huang Zhengyang in his trap.


    If a rematch were to be held, it would really be difficult to say who would come out on top. Of course, this was only referring to the powers that both sides had already displayed. As for which side was actually more powerful, that would depend on how much each of them had kept in reserve up their sleeves.


    In any case, the Tang Sect Master had won the first match in this Trial of Five Gods, and it meant that he already stood above all of the mecha pilots in the Star Luo Empire.


    As for Tang Wulin himself, he was full of awe and admiration toward Huang Zhengyang. As expected of the Pillar of the Empire; his commentary today would''ve undoubtedly evoked a passion in mechas within many young people who had watched the match.


    In reality, Tang Wulin had prepared very extensively for this mecha battle, and it was one that he had been determined to win.


    While it was true that virtually all high-grade mecha pilots were also high-grade Soul Masters, Tang Wulin had learned at a very early stage from Mu Ye just how difficult it was for a divine-grade mecha pilot to also become a Hyper Douluo.


    As such, there was a very low chance that his opponent would be a Hyper Douluo. Huang Zhengyang''s mecha piloting skills could well be superior to Mu Ye''s, but there was still a disparity in power between the two.


    In order to win this mecha battle, Tang Wulin had even been prepared to display all of his trump cards. If Huang Zhengyang hadn''t fallen into his trap, then he would''ve been forced to use his Time Reversal domain, and perhaps even his Millennium White Clouds. With those two combined, he was confident that he would have a good chance of winning the match.


    In reality, never did he think that he would be able to secure victory in the Trial of Five Gods. After all, he was facing an entire empire on his own, and that was simply far too unrealistic. As long as he could win one or two matches, that would be enough to make the Tang Sect proud. After all, he was still only in his early twenties.

 Chapter 1323: Spike in Popularity

    If he had another 10 years, Tang Wulin was confident that he''d be able to secure victory in the entire Trial of Five Gods.


    Ever since he had met his birth father, the goals he had set for himself had changed. As such, even though he had won this first match, he wasn''t overly excited. This was all part of the plan.


    "You''re the best, Boss!" Xie Xie rushed over to Tang Wulin before giving him a huge hug.


    "Let go of me; you''re making a fool out of yourself," Tang Wulin said in a resigned manner.


    Xie Xie chortled, "I knew it! We all knew that you would definitely be able to create a miracle!"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes in response. "Don''t lie to me; that''s not what you said when I first decided to take on this Trial of Five Gods."


    "Ahem, that was back then; things are different now. You were in seclusion for a few days, and at the rate you''re going, that''s more than enough for a huge breakthrough," Xie Xie said with a cheeky smile.


    Everyone else from Shrek''s Six Monsters also strode into the room, and even Dai Yueyan had accompanied them.


    "Congratulations, Wulin," Dai Yueyan said as he extended a hand toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin shook his hand, but the wry smile on Dai Yueyan''s face clearly belied his words of congratulations.


    "Ever since I was a kid, I had a goal that I was going to inherit the throne as the most powerful Soul Master in the entire empire, and rule with wisdom and aplomb. Now, you''ve dealt me a heavy blow, at least when it comes to cultivation. I had always thought that Brother Long would be the only one who could best me in cultivation, but you''re also on that list now. I really don''t know how you guys cultivate; perhaps it really is all down to talent."


    As he looked at Tang Wulin, Dai Yueyan was suddenly struck by the same impression as his father, which was that Dai Yun''er seemed to be the one with the best eye in the entire family. If they had known that this would happen, they should''ve never allowed Tang Wulin to leave all those years. Perhaps if they had struck at the time, then Tang Wulin and Dai Yun''er would already be a couple by now.


    Back then, Tang Wulin was nowhere near his current status, so there wouldn''t be any issues if they had done some things to keep him in the Star Luo Empire.


    "You''re far too kind, Your Highness. You''re already very exceptional; it''s just that our experiences and circumstances are different. We can focus more of our time and energy on cultivation, whereas you have to attend to much more important affairs, so that''ll inevitably distract you."


    Dai Yueyan grumbled, "There''s no need to mollycoddle me; you clearly still had time to spare to become such an outstanding mecha pilot on top of your cultivation. Alright, go back and rest now; I hope to see you put on another spectacular display tomorrow. Oh, by the way, I won''t forgive you if you don''t sort out your issues with my sister."


    After that, Dai Yueyan departed, and the Smiling Douluo arrived as soon as he left.


    Hu Jie didn''t say anything to Tang Wulin; all he did was give him a thumbs-up. No one in the Star Luo Empire had thought that Tang Wulin would be able to win even a single match in this Trial of Five Gods, yet he had created a miracle on just the first day.


    Yue Zhengyu smiled, and said, "Hall Master Hu, you wouldn''t be so surprised if you knew that Wulin is the champion in both the mecha and Soul Master disciplines of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition. I don''t think he''s even human!"


    Hu Jie chuckled, "I''m very proud to have an inhuman sect master like him! You should''ve seen the look on En Ci''s face! Haha, the old bastard was like a floundering fish! Having said that, after this match, the rest of the matches will most likely become more difficult."


    A puzzled look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this.


    Hu Jie explained, "The Star Luo Empire still underestimated you in the end. Your age makes it very easy to make that mistake, and Dai Tianling doesn''t actually want there to be any bad blood between the royal family and our Tang Sect, so he chose Huang Zhengyang to participate in this mecha battle. Huang Zhengyang is indeed a divine-grade mecha pilot, but he''s not a Hyper Douluo, and when facing someone like you in the mecha battle, it''s more important to possess immense power than exceptional mecha piloting skills.


    "After this loss, the reputation of the entire Star Luo Empire will hinge on the rest of the matches, so they''re most likely going to send out their truly powerful beings. Hence, you have to be on your guard during the upcoming matches."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. Huang Zhengyang had been chosen, not just for his skills as a mecha pilot, but also for his popularity and importance to the Star Luo Empire. He was the most popular divine-grade mecha pilot in the entire empire, but he may not necessarily be the most powerful one. Furthermore, he had made use of a set of unique advantages to win that battle. Huang Zhengyang hadn''t underestimated Tang Wulin, but neither had he ever seen someone that would waste so much soul refined metal on a single black mecha. As such, it could be said that he essentially lost under extraordinary circumstances.


    The next match would undoubtedly be more arduous than this first one, but that only made Tang Wulin more excited, and he was already looking forward to the second match.


    He was confident that as long as he performed to the best of his abilities, even if he were to lose, he would still benefit immensely. Even in the mecha battle today, the skills that Huang Zhengyang had displayed and his analysis following the match had struck Tang Wulin with a lot of inspiration. Only by facing off against these exceptionally powerful beings could he continue to improve at a rapid rate.


    "I''m going back to rest now."


    Much to everyone''s surprise, the Tang Sect Master has secured victory in the first match of the Trial of Five Gods, and this piece of news had stunned the entire Star Luo Empire.


    Over 15% of the entire empire''s population had watched the live broadcast of this match, and over 40% of the population had tuned in to the replay.


    What had originally been thought to be nothing more than a formality had concluded with an outcome that had stunned everyone in the Star Luo Empire.


    In an empire that championed individual power and heroism above all else, what could be more astonishing than something like this?


    Thus, Tang Sect Master Tang Wulin quickly became a household name. The Tang Sect had always held an extremely lofty status in the Star Luo Empire, so it was very easy for Tang Wulin''s popularity to gain traction.


    Furthermore, the Star Luo Empire had done a very good job in promoting the event, and all of their promotional material stated that Tang Wulin had accepted this trial after becoming the new Tang Sect Master to further strengthen the relationship between sect and empire. All of the revenue generated from the broadcasts and the sales of tickets would be donated to the imperial research center to develop mechas and soul tools.


    This type of promotion naturally evoked within the citizens of the Star Luo Empire a great deal of fondness toward this Tang Sect Master.


    Their patriotism naturally made them more inclined to support their empire, but due to how close the Tang Sect was with the Star Luo Empire, the outcomes of the matches were far less important in their eyes than how spectacular the matches were.


    After hearing Huang Zhengyang''s commentary on the first mecha battle, everyone was greatly enlightened and filled with praise and admiration toward this Tang Sect Master. At the same time, they were also very proud of Huang Zhengyang for the grace with which he had carried himself, even in defeat.


    Soon, all types of headlines were being released, and the general consensus was that even though the Tang Sect Master had won the match, Huang Zhengyang had actually lost due to rather extraordinary circumstances.


    There were some experienced and knowledgeable individuals who had identified the fact that Tang Wulin''s Unpredictable Blue Emperor had been entirely constructed from soul refined metals, so in the eyes of the empire''s citizens, this had been an evenly-matched and extremely enthralling battle.


    Several of the empire''s divine-grade mecha pilots had also expressed an interest to spar with Tang Wulin as well.


    Thus, the popularity of the Trial of Five Gods spiked at a rapid rate, and the empire had already earned an astronomical sum in revenue from ticket sales and broadcast commissions for the upcoming second match.

 Chapter 1324: Trial of Five Gods, Individual VS Empire!

    Thus, the popularity of the Trial of Five Gods continued to increase, and even the instigator, Dai Tianling, hadn''t anticipated such a scenario.


    Initially, only 60% of the tickets had been sold for the second match, but following the first match, all of the remaining tickets were quickly swept up, and the tickets to relatively good seats had been bid up to astronomical prices.


    Second only to the empire itself, the Tang Sect was the main beneficiary to this situation. The Tang Sect''s business covered a huge scope in the Star Luo Empire, including areas such as construction of infrastructure, research and development of soul tools, etc.


    Within just a single day, the number of orders received by the Tang Sect increased by 10%, which resulted in an astronomical sum of increased revenue. Even a super organization like the Spirit Pagoda was extremely envious of this.


    Virtually everyone in the entire empire was discussing the Trial of Five Gods, while some of the young women in the empire had their attention focused on something different.


    Following the first match, both Tang Wulin and Huang Zhengyang had emerged from their mechas, thereby revealing their appearances. After attaining a spiritual domain, Tang Wulin no longer required any disguises, so he had appeared before all of the young women in the empire in his full incredibly handsome glory.


    The combination of his handsome features, clear and gentle eyes, exceptional figure, and incredible powers was made even more compelling by the fact that he was only in his early twenties. Thus, Tang Wulin quickly became an idol among the young women in the empire. Tang Wulin''s looks quickly became the talk of the town, and newspapers with pictures of Tang Wulin taken during the first match sold like hotcakes.


    What was even more amusing was that the number of female applicants for job positions in the Tang Sect had increased dramatically.


    This was all an unexpected yet pleasant surprise. At the very least, it quickly made all of the major powers in the Star Luo Empire aware of the Tang Sect''s new sect master.


    What was the most astonishing to everyone was that he was only in his twenties. Just how had he cultivated to have reached his current level at such a young age?


    The past sect masters of the Tang Sect had virtually all been Limit Douluos; this was a reflection of the unfathomable power that the number one sect in the world possessed. However, there were very few past Tang Sect Masters who had achieved so much at such a young age. The most renowned Tang Sect Masters were the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao and its founder, Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San.


    Now, the Tang Sect had another extremely young yet outrageously powerful sect master; did that mean it was set for another resurgence?


    News of how the Tang Sect was being oppressed in the Douluo Federation had traveled to the Star Luo Empire, and that had definitely had a negative impact on the Tang Sect. When it was made known to everyone that this new Tang Sect Master was only in his twenties, many major powers and merchants had automatically written him off.


    However, following this first match in the Trial of Five Gods, they were forced to reevaluate him. This was like a chemical reaction that was only intensifying as time passed.


    "Father." Dai Yun''er made her way over to Dai Tianling with a wide smile and began to gently massage his shoulders.


    "I can already tell from that smile of yours that you have some kind of ulterior motive," Dai Tianling harrumphed. He was still very angry about how Dai Yun''er had declared that she was willing to become a concubine, but after seeing his daughter again, he simply couldn''t bring himself to be mad at her.


    Dai Yun''er giggled, "Don''t be mad; I only said what I did the other day as a spur-of-the-moment thing. I''m not actually going to become someone''s concubine."


    Dai Tianling''s expression immediately eased slightly upon hearing this. "Good. I don''t ever want to hear you say anything like that again."


    Dai Yun''er continued, "Father, Tang Wulin is really outstanding, right? I bet you didn''t expect the outcome of this first match."


    Dai Tianling''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and as the emperor, he couldn''t just lie through his teeth, so he nodded, and said, "He is indeed quite impressive. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have agreed for him to become my son-in-law. It''s just that he doesn''t know what''s good for him. Hmph!"


    Dai Yun''er chuckled, "Don''t be mad, Father. I''ve known Tang Wulin for a long time, and I also know who he likes, but there seems to be some kind of conflict between the two of them. No matter how deep their love for one another is, their prolonged separation is bound to take a toll on their relationship, so I think I still have a very good chance. Father, if I convince him to stay, the entire Tang Sect will be more inclined toward our empire, right? On top of that, surely the performance he put on today is enough to earn the acknowledgment of the citizens of our empire."


    "How are you going to convince him to stay?" Dai Tianling grumbled.


    Dai Yun''er lowered her voice slightly, and replied, "I''ll need your help to create an opportunity for me. A person is always most complacent when they''re at their most triumphant point."


    "What are you plotting? Don''t go doing something that''ll embarrass our entire imperial family!" A sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in Dai Tianling''s heart.


    A faint blush appeared on Dai Yun''er''s face. "Father, you have to make an investment to see a return. If you don''t invest your daughter, you won''t..."


    "Stop! What is all this nonsense you''re spouting? I''m warning you, Dai Yun''er; you''re a princess, and the reputation of our royal family is the most important thing at all times. Don''t say anything else; just get out!" Dai Tianling was truly enraged. He could clearly tell that his daughter was up to no good again.


    Dai Yun''er pouted in a pitiable manner. "Father doesn''t love me anymore."


    Dai Tianling yelled, "You''ve only become like this because I''ve spoiled you too much. Get out of here; I don''t want to see you! I''m warning you, if you do something that brings disgrace to our imperial family, you won''t get away with it like you always do with everything else!"


    Dai Yun''er faltered slightly upon hearing this before tears began to flow down her face. In her memory, her father had never scolded her in such a harsh manner before.


    Dai Tianling was immediately struck by a pang of guilt and regret at the sight of his daughter''s tears, and he was just about to say something, but Dai Yun''er had already rushed away with tears streaming from her eyes.


    Dai Tianling picked up an ornament on his table in an enraged manner, but he couldn''t bring himself to smash it in the end, and placed it back onto the table. He grumbled to himself in a furious manner, "This is all that little bastard''s fault! Hmph, I''m going to teach him a good lesson in the next few matches!"


    The second match of the Trial of Five Gods was the battle of soul spirits.


    After awakening from his meditation in the morning, Tang Wulin could feel that his essence, energy, and spirit had all returned to prime condition, and he felt just as full of energy as he did after making every major breakthrough in his cultivation rank.


    The mecha battle that had taken place the day before had been extremely satisfying for him. He had racked his brains to combat Huang Zhengyang, and he had constantly been in a state of extreme concentration, taking in every single fine detail while also maximizing all of the advantages that he possessed.


    He had already asked the Smiling Douluo to get Huang Zhengyang''s contact details for him. Prior to leaving the Star Luo Empire, he was determined to see just how powerful Huang Zhengyang was in his divine-grade mecha. Only by putting more pressure on himself could he continue to increase his rate of improvement.


    After doing some washing up, he emerged from his room and headed to the cafeteria. Along the way, all of the Tang Sect disciples that he encountered would greet him with respectful smiles.


    It wasn''t that they hadn''t respected him in the past; it was just that not many people knew of him, and he didn''t have much authority. However, the victory he had secured the day before belonged not just to himself, but also the entire Tang Sect! All of the Tang Sect disciples were immensely proud of him; how could they not admire someone who was opposing the might of an entire empire on his own?

 Chapter 1325: Please Stay, Sect Master Tang

    As the Tang Sect vehicle drove toward the sports stadium, Tang Wulin discovered that the traffic was a lot more congested than the day before.


    There were clearly more people on the streets, and in particular, many people were crowding around the Tang Sect vehicle in an attempt to see the Tang Sect Master at close quarters for themselves.


    Among these people, there was a clear predominant female demographic, and some of them were holding banners with his name written on them.


    Tang Wulin had even seen some strange banners such as one that read: "The Tang Sect belongs to the Star Luo Empire! Please stay, Sect Master Tang!"


    A surge of warmth flowed through Tang Wulin''s heart at the sight of these banners, and he found the citizens of the Star Luo Empire to be very adorable. In contrast with the Douluo Federation, which was renouncing and oppressing the Tang Sect at every turn, he felt far more at home here.


    The Tang Sect would truly have made a resurgence once they became just as popular in the federation, and he was confident that that day would arrive.


    Hu Jie was sitting beside Tang Wulin, and he smiled as he said, "You seem to be very popular, Sect Master. You were in a mecha yesterday, so you''re most likely going to attract even more attention today."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I have no confidence in today''s battle at all. I wonder if their attitude toward me will change if I lose."


    Hu Jie said, "Don''t put so much pressure on yourself. Everyone is already astonished that you won yesterday''s match; if you win this match as well, His Majesty will probably jump out of his seat! At the very least, yesterday''s battle proves that you''re the best mecha pilot in the entire empire; isn''t that enough for someone of your age? You''ve already secured more than enough glory for the Tang Sect, so take on the rest of the Trial of Five Gods without any inhibitions, and really enjoy yourself. I understand that you''ve agreed to accept this trial mostly for a chance to improve yourself, and I think that''s a very good mindset. In that case, there''s no need to worry too much about the outcome. Perform to the best of your abilities, and continue to improve through the matches; that''s all that you need to do."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. The Smiling Douluo''s words had somewhat settled his nerves. Indeed, he should enjoy this Trial of Five Gods. Perhaps at the conclusion of the trial, he would undergo another evolution.


    With imperial vehicles clearing the way, the Tang Sect vehicle finally arrived at the imperial sports stadium. In the instant that Tang Wulin got out of the car, he was greeted by a barrage of screams, cheers, and some words of abuse. It seemed that he was a slightly polarizing figure, but also definitely a very popular one.


    Instead of making his way into the sports stadium right away, he turned around to the people who had gathered to see him, and extended a slight bow. "Thank you all for coming out to see me."


    His words were very calm and concise, but the commotion ringing out from the crowd instantly died down, and everyone felt as if this voice had sounded right inside their minds. This was a very peculiar feeling; they felt as if a stream of warm water had flowed through their brains, suddenly calming them down and striking them with an indescribable sense of comfort.


    All of their excitement and frustration quickly gave way to calmness, and this was a feeling that they had never experienced before.


    They couldn''t help but focus their attention on Tang Wulin, and as they appraised his handsome features and listened to his voice reverberating in their minds, all of them began to see him through new eyes.


    The calming effect of spiritual power was one of its many applications. It could put one in a healthier mental state, and it was especially effective on those with conditions such as depression and anxiety.


    Tang Wulin had injected his spiritual power into his voice as a way to reciprocate all of the people who had come out to see him. Regardless of whether they supported or despised him, that wasn''t important. Everyone had their own circumstances, and Tang Wulin would much rather believe that all people were kind at heart.


    After that, he turned and made his way into the sports stadium, and only then did the crowd slowly return to their senses.


    "What just happened? Why did I feel so relaxed and calm after hearing his voice? He''s so handsome! He''s even more handsome than he is on TV, and his voice is so soothing as well; I think I''ve fallen in love with him!"


    "Where''s the guy that was selling his ticket before? I accept your price; hurry up and hand over the ticket!"


    "I changed my mind! I''m going to keep the ticket and watch Sect Master Tang''s match myself. Just hearing his voice was such a fantastic experience; how can I sell this ticket for money? I''m sorry, everyone, but if I miss out on this match, I''m sure I''m going to regret my decision for the rest of my life."


    "I really shouldn''t have insulted him just now. Sect Master Tang is only here to strengthen the relationship between the Tang Sect and our Star Luo Empire, and the Trial of Five Gods is really only a series of sparring matches; I''m sure all of the matches will be extremely spectacular regardless of the outcome."


    "That''s not what you said before! You were ranting yesterday about how disgraceful it was that our empire was losing to a mere sect!"


    "Did I say that? I don''t remember. I don''t know why, but after seeing Sect Master Tang just now, I suddenly feel so calm, and all the resentment I harbored toward him has disappeared."


    "Did you also hear his voice just now? Why is it that we were still able to hear his voice so clearly even though we''re standing so far away?"


    "I guess this is just one of the many abilities that set powerful beings like Sect Master Tang apart from people like us."


    Tang Wulin''s greeting toward the crowd was quickly sensationalized by everyone who had gathered to see him, and word of the seemingly insignificant interaction spread like wildfire.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already made his way into the resting area, and he calmly reviewed the strategy that he had prepared in his mind.


    He had already made ample preparations, and with his physical constitution, the mecha battle from the day before hadn''t had any residual negative impact on him, so he was still in his best condition.


    There was still half an hour until the commencement of the match, but the entire sports stadium was already packed to the rafters, and it was so lively and bustling that even Dai Tianling was quite startled when he first arrived. Such a scene was normally only reserved for the grand finals of important sporting events held in the empire. It seemed that the spectacular battle that had taken place the day before had left a very strong impression on the spectators.


    En Ci strode onto the rostrum alongside Dai Tianling, and the former''s expression remained completely calm and neutral.


    "What do you think of Tang Wulin''s chances of securing victory today, Teacher?" Dai Tianling asked.


    He had asked the same question the day before, and En Ci had replied with 30%, only for Tang Wulin to give him a resounding slap on the face by winning the match.


    A faint smile appeared on En Ci''s face, and he replied, "If you ask me, he only has a 20% chance at most today. Soul spirits are different from mechas. At the very least, the mecha battle was held on equal footing as both sides were using black mechas, and Tang Wuiln even had an advantage as his mecha was completely constructed from soul refined metals."

 Chapter 1326: Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal?

    "However, that advantage won''t be replicated in this soul spirit battle. The level of power of a soul spirit is strongly correlated with the powers of the soul master, and there''s a vast disparity in power between Soul Douluos and Hyper Douluos. Generally speaking, a Soul Master will normally obtain their last soul spirit when they progress to the Titled Douluo level, and that will also be their most powerful soul spirit. Tang Wulin is quite exceptional for his age, but he still hasn''t reached the Titled Douluo level yet."


    A perplexed look appeared on Dai Tianling''s face. "But according to my knowledge, many Titled Douluos will obtain a powerful soul spirit when they become a Soul Sage, and that soul spirit will provide soul rings for them until they reach the Titled Douluo level."


    En Ci chuckled, "That is indeed true under most circumstances, but Tang Wulin''s opponent for today isn''t an ordinary Titled Douluo. I personally chose his opponent for this match, and you''ll soon see for yourself that Tang Wulin doesn''t stand much of a chance. Tang Wulin seems to possess a very powerful dragon bloodline that can heavily impact other Soul Masters with dragon martial souls. Long Yue fell victim to that several years ago, so on this occasion, I made sure to choose a Soul Master without a dragon-type martial soul. In my opinion, this match most likely won''t last very long."


    "Oh? Have you become a clairvoyant overnight, Principal En Ci?" A mocking voice suddenly rang out, and En Ci didn''t even have to turn around to know who it was; there was only one person who dared to speak to him like this in the presence of the emperor.


    The Smiling Douluo sat down on Dai Tiangling''s other side, and the presence of his enormous belly and backside immediately struck Dai Tianling with a somewhat claustrophobic sensation.


    "Your Majesty," Hu Jie greeted with a smile.


    "Welcome. How is Tang Wulin''s condition today? Has the mecha battle from yesterday affected him much?" Mecha battles were generally less taxing for Soul Masters, but a battle that was as mentally intensive as the one that had taken place the day before would also be quite grueling.


    "Rest assured, Your Majesty; our sect master has recovered more than adequately. By the way, did I just hear someone predict a quick defeat for our sect master? Who''s going to be his opponent for today?"


    The Smiling Douluo hadn''t been made aware of what opponents Tang Wulin was going to face in advance. Dai Tianling was solely in charge of choosing his opponents, and he had chosen to delegate that duty to En Ci today.


    En Ci suddenly smiled, and proposed, "How about we make a bet, fatty?"


    The Smiling Douluo shot a glance at him. "What''s the bet?"


    En Ci replied, "If I recall correctly, there''s a place owned by your Tang Sect over at the federation where all types of precious immortal plants can be found; if you lose, then I''ll get an opportunity to pick an immortal plant from there. Of course, it may not be me that picks the plant; it could be my disciple as well."


    The Smiling Douluo faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately shaking his head. "No way."


    The Ice Fire Yin Yang Well was extremely important to the Tang Sect; there was no way an outsider could be granted access to it.


    "When did you become such a coward?" En Ci goaded in a mocking voice.


    The Smiling Douluo chuckled coldly, "Have I become a coward or have you become an idiot? I''m nothing more than a branch supervisor; I have no right to grant anyone access to that place, so what am I supposed to be betting here?"


    En Ci continued, "Then why don''t you ask your sect master? He should be able to make the decision. I''m going to be putting something on the line that''s just as precious."


    The Smiling Douluo''s expression remained unchanged. "Oh? And what could that be?"


    En Ci seemed to have already made a decision in advance, and he smiled as he replied, "A Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal, how about that?"


    The Smiling Douluo was astonished to hear this. A Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal? Did such a thing actually exist? This was the first thought that sprang to his mind, but he then quickly decided that such a thing had to exist as there was no way a man of En Ci''s status would make a joke about such an important matter.


    He turned to En Ci with a meaningful expression. "Are you sure?"


    En Ci nodded in response. "Positive."


    Even though En Ci hadn''t said this himself, Hu Jie knew that a Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal had to be extremely important to him.


    It was extremely difficult for a Soul Master to become a Limit Douluo; only a combination of an unimaginable amount of hard work and countless incredible opportunities could give rise to such an unfathomably powerful being.


    Due to the emergence of soul spirits, modern Soul Masters were able to progress faster in their cultivation than Soul Masters of ancient times, but their cultivation foundations weren''t actually as stable on average. Even so, there were definitely less than 10 Limit Douluos in total on the entire Douluo Star. It was undoubtedly the case that this Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal had to have played an important role in En Ci''s progression to the Limit Douluo level.


    Perhaps this crystal would only be effective for those with the Holy Radiant Dragon martial soul, but there were countless Soul Masters in the Tang Sect, and it would definitely benefit the Tang Sect immensely to get their hands on such an extraordinary treasure. Furthermore, a Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal really was comparable with an immortal plant.


    "I''ll contact the sect master." This was a very important matter, and the Smiling Douluo immediately stood up before walking off the rostrum.


    En Ci smiled as he looked on at Hu Jie''s departing figure, and Dai Tianling could clearly sense that there was a rather sly element to his smile, so this had to be a trap.


    Shortly thereafter, Tang Wulin closed his soul communicator with a faint smile on his face.


    A Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal, eh? That''s truly an extraordinary item!


    The Dragon God had nine children, and the Light Dragon King was one of the most powerful of its offspring. A Holy Radiant Dragon was a type of lightning attribute giant dragon with the closest bloodline to the Light Dragon King, and they had once stood at the pinnacle of the food chain back when the dragon clan had been the rulers of the continent.


    A Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal was truly a priceless treasure. Tang Wulin possessed the Golden Dragon King bloodline, so he didn''t care much for this Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal himself, but it could be extremely useful for his friends. Yue Zhengyu''s holy attribute powers and Xie Xie''s Time Space Dragon martial soul would surely both be able to benefit immensely from this item, and if it were used as the core for one of their future suits of four-word battle armor, that would definitely significantly bolster the power of that suit of battle armor.


    The fact that En Ci was willing to offer something so precious in a bet was a clear indication that he was very confident in Tang Wulin''s opponent. However, unbeknownst to En Ci, Tang Wulin was also very confident in this match, even more so than he had been for the mecha battle.


    The Trial of Five Gods had been proposed by the Star Luo Empire, but the sequence of the five matches was decided by Tang Wulin.


    He was confident in his chances in the mecha battle, but that confidence wasn''t absolute. If he lost in the mecha battle, then he would need to make a comeback in the second battle, so unbeknownst to everyone, Tang Wulin was actually the most confident in this match.


    As for the bet, it really was an easy decision to accept. Even if he did lose, En Ci wouldn''t be getting much out of this as virtually all of the immortal plants over 100,000 years of age were currently with Tang Wulin, so there was basically nothing there.


    In contrast, just the mere thought of a Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal was getting him very excited.


    Right at this moment, a bell chimed to notify everyone of the imminent commencement of the match. Tang Wulin rose to his feet and strode out of the resting area.


    In the sports stadium.


    With Dai Tianling as the witness, the Smiling Douluo and En Ci sealed their bet on the rostrum. On the surface, both of them seemed to be very confident.


    At this moment, the announcer declared, "The second match of the Trial of Five Gods will be the soul spirit battle. Allow me to introduce to everyone the basic rules of the soul spirit battle. Firstly, it must be established that the soul spirit battle didn''t exist during ancient times as soul spirits were invented by the legendary forefather of our Star Luo Empire, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao. It was his revolutionary invention that ensured Soul Masters didn''t fall into obscurity and continue to exist today. Hence, this battle will pay homage to the legendary Huo Yuhao.


    "During this battle, the only participants can be the soul spirits of the two competing Soul Masters. Furthermore, the Soul Masters can enhance their soul spirits to a certain degree, but can''t directly participate in the battle, which means enhancement skills can be used, but not directly offensive or defensive skills. The match will conclude once one side''s soul spirits are all defeated."


    The rules were quite simple, and they had been accepted by both sides in advance.

 Chapter 1327: Second Match of the Trial of Five Gods

    "Now then, please welcome our two competitors. The representative for our Star Luo Empire today will be..."


    The announcer intentionally paused here to build suspense.


    "The supervisor of the Star Luo Empire''s Spirit Pagoda branches, and Spirit Pagoda branch chairman, Zhang Geyang!" Zhang Geyang''s Douluo Title was Infernal Flame, and he was the most powerful being in the Spirit Pagoda in the Star Luo Empire. The announcement that he was going to represent the empire in this soul spirit battle immediately sent a massive stir running through the spectator stands.


    Infernal Flame Douluo Zhang Geyang was a vastly renowned figure in the Star Luo Empire, and as a Spirit Pagoda branch chairman, his soul spirits were naturally extremely powerful. Just like the Smiling Douluo, he was also a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, but Hu Jie was slightly superior to him in terms of overall combat prowess. In a sense, the two of them had been long-standing rivals.


    Hu Jie''s expression clearly changed slightly upon hearing this name, and he turned to En Ci with a hint of rage in his eyes. "This is the man you chose? He can represent the empire?"


    En Ci replied in a calm manner, "Why not? Regardless of whether it''s the Tang Sect or the Spirit Pagoda, both are organizations in our empire, so they''re part of our empire; even you''re eligible to participate in this trial as long as your participation is approved by the empire. Do you think there''s anyone else more suitable than Zhang Geyang to participate in this soul spirit battle? I had to do a lot of convincing before he agreed to compete on behalf of our empire. Only by defeating him can your sect master prove that he''s number one in soul spirits in our Star Luo Empire."


    Hu Jie''s breathing became noticeably heavier upon hearing this. Only an idiot would believe what En Ci had just said! Tang Wulin had just destroyed the Spirit Pagoda headquarters in the Dou Spirit Empire and declared war on the Spirit Pagoda; the Spirit Pagoda was definitely more than eager to strike back at Tang Wulin.


    If anything, Zhang Geyang was most likely the one who had to convince En Ci to let him participate in this trial!


    This was undoubtedly the person that the Smiling Douluo least wanted to see. Infernal Flame Douluo Zhang Geyang was a truly powerful being, and certainly not someone the likes of the deceased Air Douluo Hua Tao could compare with. Furthermore, Zhang Geyang was also a vice-chairman of the entire Spirit Pagoda, which ranked him alongside someone like Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu.


    Hu Jie had always held a slight edge over Zhang Geyang with his twin body martial souls, but Zhang Geyang''s soul spirits were extremely powerful, so Hu Jie wasn''t able to do anything to him. Just that fact alone was a clear indication of just how powerful Tang Wulin''s opponent for today was.


    Zhang Geyang''s soul spirits had left Hu Jie with a very strong impression, and in contrast, Tang Wulin had only just progressed to the Soul Douluo level, so he would only have three soul spirits at most, which placed him at an absolute disadvantage against Zhang Geyang. As such, his chances of winning this battle were very slim.


    Most of the Star Luo Empire''s citizens weren''t aware of the conflict between the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda, but they had virtually all heard of Zhang Geyang.


    Infernal Flame Douluo Zhang Geyang had been the supervisor of the Star Luo Empire''s Spirit Pagoda''s branches for 27 years, and he possessed tremendous powers, as well as a steely personality. He was one of the most powerful and revered beings in the entire Spirit Pagoda, and even Chairman Qiangu Dongfeng referred to him as an equal.


    The Tang Sect''s status was clearly superior to that of the Spirit Pagoda in the Star Luo Empire, but they were unable to truly crush the Spirit Pagoda into the ground, and Zhang Geyang was one of the primary reasons behind that. Under his leadership, the Spirit Pagoda had established a very solid foundation in the Star Luo Empire.


    As the lights in the sports stadium dimmed, Zhang Geyang appeared at one of the entrances to the stadium. Under the illumination of the bright searchlight, he was revealed to be an extremely handsome middle-aged man.


    His hair was impeccably arranged, and he wore a black robe with golden embroidered edges. He was completely expressionless as he strode forward with his hands clasped behind his back, and he immediately drew the attention of all the spectators present.


    "Next, let''s put our hands together for Sect Master Tang! I''m sure we''re going to be treated to another fiercely contested battle today."


    Tang Wulin made his way into the stadium under the illumination of another bright searchlight beam, and his white robes created a stark contrast with Zhang Geyang''s black attire.


    Tang Wulin''s brows had furrowed involuntarily upon hearing Zhang Geyang being introduced while he was in the waiting area. What were the Star Luo Empire''s intentions? Were they using this Spirit Pagoda branch chairman to target him? Was the Star Luo Empire trying to make a display of power to the Tang Sect?


    There were many important implications behind this situation, and Tang Wulin had to tread with caution. In any case, it was extremely important for him to secure victory in this battle.


    No one was going to consider his age and make excuses for him; in the eyes of the vast majority of people, this was a battle between the Tang Sect Master and the Spirit Pagoda branch chairman. If he were to lose, then that would be the equivalent of the Tang Sect losing to the Spirit Pagoda! This was truly an underhanded tactic being employed by the Star Luo Empire, and even Dai Tianling was currently appraising En Ci with a hint of discontent in his eyes.


    The Trial of Five Gods was already very unfair to Tang Wulin, and the fact that they were now getting the Spirit Pagoda involved was making it far too obvious that this was not just a friendly match between sect and empire. This was not what he wanted to see. After all, the Star Luo Empire was closer with the Tang Sect, and it really wouldn''t be worth it to drive a wedge between the Tang Sect and the empire over something like this.


    En Ci''s lips tremored as he transmitted his voice toward Dai Tianling, upon which an enlightened look appeared on Dai Tianling''s face, and he smiled as he gave En Ci a slight nod.


    Hu Jie was keeping an eye on the two of them this entire time, and he knew that En Ci had to have an objective behind getting Zhang Geyang to participate in this match. Aside from doing this to exert power over the Tang Sect, there had to be some other objective, and this objective was most likely not a harmful one to the Tang Sect.


    Under the current circumstances, this was the extent of what he could analyze.


    At this point, both participants had already strode onto the competition platform, and the first thing that Tang Wulin sensed from Zhang Geyang was a powerful yet peculiar aura. It seemed to be as hot as fire, but also as cold as ice at the same time, and this conflicting dual-faceted aura was very unsettling.


    Zhang Geyang was also appraising Tang Wulin. He had watched Tang Wulin''s match against Huang Zhengyang the day before, but he still couldn''t help but be in awe of just how young Tang Wulin was now that they were meeting in person. He was truly far too young! How could the Tang Sect allow someone so young to become their sect master? This was truly perplexing to him.


    Tang Wulin had indeed displayed powerful abilities, but that was only in a mecha battle. In the eyes of Zhang Geyang, a young man in his early twenties definitely wouldn''t have the emotional maturity to be able to lead such a powerful sect. Could it be that the Tang Sect really had no one else?


    He had heard about what had happened in the Dou Spirit Empire, but he didn''t know that Tang Wulin had been the perpetrator. All of the Spirit Pagoda survivors of that attack could only recall that their branch had been completely destroyed by a crimson dragon, and they had no idea that it was the Tang Sect Master that had been responsible for the attack.


    Currently, all news surrounding the Spirit Pagoda had been completely sealed off by the Dou Spirit Empire, and all types of rumors concerning collusion between the Spirit Pagoda and the Holy Spirit Cult had surfaced in the federation.


    At a time like this, why had the Tang Sect Master come to the Star Luo Empire? One couldn''t help but wonder if this Tang Sect Master was somehow related to the incident that had taken place in the Dou Spirit Empire.

 Chapter 1328: Soul Spirit Battle

    After contacting Qiangu Dongfeng, Zhang Geyang received the instructions to try and ascertain the new Tang Sect Master''s purpose for visiting the Star Luo Empire, as well as to foil his plans as much as possible.


    As such, when En Ci approached Zhang Geyang and asked him to participate in this Trial of Five Gods, he agreed without any hesitation. At the same time, En Ci had consoled him by telling him that the empire still had trust in the Spirit Pagoda.


    From En Ci''s words, Zhang Geyang could sense that the empire seemed to be trying to strike at the Tang Sect to keep them in check, and that came as quite a relief to him. He had already made ample preparations for this battle; if he could defeat Tang Wulin, then the Spirit Pagoda''s status would definitely be significantly elevated, thereby granting them a stable foothold in the Star Luo Empire.


    "Please get ready, Sect Master Tang, Branch Chairman Zhang; you may release your soul spirits in 10 seconds."


    As this announcement was made, the entire venue quickly fell silent.


    As soon as the announcer had declared the Star Luo Empire representative for this match, the spectators had become very excited. This was essentially a match between the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda, which was very intriguing.


    Just who would secure the final victory in this clash between the two super organizations? Everyone was filled with anticipation. If the Tang Sect could secure this victory, then their new sect master would undoubtedly rise to the peak of his popularity. However, if he were to lose, then this match could have rather negative implications for the Tang Sect. Due to the increased stakes, this second match was clearly more important than the first match, and was undoubtedly going to be an even more fiercely contested one.


    The countdown had already begun, and Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up with battle intent.


    Come at me, Infernal Flame Douluo Zhang Geyang!


    "10, 9, ..., 3, 2, 1."


    As soon as the countdown concluded, soul rings emerged from beneath the feet of both competitors in unison. Eight soul rings emerged beneath Tang Wulin, while Zhang Geyang naturally had nine.


    Tang Wulin''s soul ring configuration was truly a sight to behold; following the first four black soul rings was a greenish-golden soul ring, followed by three orange-golden soul rings.


    Zhang Geyang was given quite a fright by the sight of the three orange-golden soul rings. As one of the most high-ranking figures in the Spirit Pagoda, he was naturally aware of what an orange-golden soul ring entailed. The earliest orange-golden soul ring to appear was Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao''s first orange-golden soul ring, and a soul spirit of this caliber was something that the Spirit Pagoda couldn''t create.


    This indicated that Tang Wulin had at least one Great Beast level soul spirit, and that was a slightly alarming discovery for Zhang Geyang.


    The number of Great Beasts that remained in this world could virtually be counted on two hands, so it was quite incredible that this Tang Sect Master had gotten his hands on a Great Beast soul spirit.


    This was also the first time that En Ci and Dai Tianling had seen Tang Wulin''s soul rings, and they were also quite surprised by the sight of the greenish-golden and orange-golden soul rings.


    "He has a Great Beast soul spirit?" En Ci turned to Hu Jie in a stunned manner. No wonder the Tang Sect had dared to accept this trial; he certainly was full of surprises.


    Tang Wulin had a total of three orange-golden soul rings, which would undoubtedly significantly enhance his powers. As such, it was no wonder that he was able to match even Titled Douluos in battle as a Soul Douluo.


    However, what was the most striking to powerful beings of En Ci and Zhang Geyang''s caliber was Tang Wulin''s fifth soul ring. That greenish-golden soul ring was far too special. As everyone was aware, the colors of soul rings consisted of white, yellow, purple, black, red, orange-golden, and the legendary white-golden.


    Orange-golden soul rings could only be bestowed upon Soul Masters by Great Beast over 200,000 years of age, and the legendary white-golden soul ring could only be provided by a million-year-old beast.


    Orange-golden soul rings had popped up very occasionally during the past 10,000 years, but it was said that only Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had ever possessed a white-golden soul ring. Perhaps Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San had also come into possession of such a soul ring, but it had never been confirmed. There were also people who proclaimed that million-year-old soul rings were golden rather than white-golden, and there was no way to verify the claims of either side as million-year-old soul rings were simply far too rare.


    However, this greenish-golden soul ring that Tang Wulin possessed was definitely one that had never been seen before.


    Perhaps it wouldn''t have been as astonishing if it had only been a green soul ring, but the gold intermingled with the green suggested that this was an extremely regal soul ring.


    On the Douluo Continent, all powerful soul beasts, martial souls, soul rings, soul bones, and virtually everything else of substantial power was entirely or partially golden in color.


    As such, this greenish-golden soul ring was truly astonishing to everyone. Just what could it possibly entail?


    In contrast, Zhang Geyang''s soul ring configuration was a lot more normal, consisting of five blacks and four reds. That''s right, he possessed the most red soul rings that Tang Wulin had ever seen in any single being, one more than even Smiling Douluo Hu Jie.


    Generally speaking, red soul rings were the absolute limit for normal Soul Masters, and even someone as powerful and with as lofty a status as Zhang Geyang didn''t have an orange-golden soul ring.


    As such, the first feeling he was struck by upon seeing Tang Wulin''s orange-golden soul rings was envy. If a freakish prodigy like him were allowed to flourish, he would most definitely grow to become a major thorn in the Spirit Pagoda''s side!


    Thinking back, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming had dominated the Spirit Pagoda for close to 100 years, and this new Tang Sect Master seemed to be on track to reach even greater heights!


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand before pointing a finger forward, and a burst of golden light immediately erupted from his fingertip before hurtling directly toward Zhang Geyang like a bolt of lightning.


    As the streak of golden light landed on the ground, the spectators were immediately able to identify it as a golden dragon.


    That''s right, it was a dragon rather than a snake.


    It possessed very unique dragon characteristic; even though it had no wings, there were horns on its head, and it had five-clawed limbs. Its entire body was covered in fine golden scales, and it was over 15 meters in length. Its entire body was shimmering with golden light, and it was quite clear that this was no ordinary soul spirit. This was naturally none other than Goldsong.


    As Tang Wulin had progressed in his cultivation rank, he had very rarely used his soul spirits in battle as he much preferred honing his own powers. However, that didn''t mean that his soul spirits weren''t constantly growing alongside him, and the one that had changed the most was undoubtedly Goldsong.


    Even Tang Wulin didn''t know how it had become like this. As opposed to the traditional winged giant dragon, Goldsong had become a five-clawed golden dragon, and its scales were very similar to those of Tang Wulin''s, except they were thicker and heavier. After it had grown those horns on its head, it had gone into hibernation to undergo another evolution, and it had only reawakened on the way here to the Star Luo Empire.


    Goldsong''s eyes had already completely turned golden, and looking at it now, who could possibly imagine that it had once been a defective soul spirit?


    Goldsong''s aura stemmed directly from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline aura, and as soon as it appeared, it let loose a thunderous dragon''s roar before charging directly toward Zhang Geyang.


    Zhang Geyang had also released his own soul spirit, and he wasn''t all that surprised to see Goldsong. In his eyes, this was nothing more than a second-rate dragon soul spirit, as evidenced by its lack of wings.


    A giant beast erupted from Zhang Geyang''s body, and the beast was around 10 meters in length and roughly four meters tall.


    It had a powerful musclebound body that was covered in blue fur, and it had the head of a lion, the body of a baboon, and the sharp claws of a tiger; it possessed the attributes of many ferocious beasts in a single package. Blue flames were burning over its entire body, and it was appraising Goldsong in a cold manner.


    All of a sudden, it let loose a ferocious roar before springing forth at an incredible speed. As it did so, its body instantly turned transparent, but the blue flames burning around it only burned with even greater intensity.


    The soul spirit that was most synergistic with a Soul Master would always be one that was the same as their martial soul.


    To put it in simpler terms, if Tang Wulin''s soul spirit was the Bluesilver Emperor, then its synergy with his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul would be unmatched. It was just that there was no way for him to find another Bluesilver Emperor. This was the case for Zhang Geyang''s soul spirit.

 Chapter 1329: Bonded Soul Spirit

    Zhang Geyang hailed from a family that had held high-ranking positions in the Spirit Pagoda for many generations, so his first soul spirit was one that had been painstakingly sourced for him by his family.


    A normal Soul Master could obtain multiple soul spirits as their cultivation rank progressed, and the later soul spirits would definitely become more and more powerful. However, the soul spirit that remained with a Soul Master for the longest time would always be their first soul spirit, and if a soul spirit possessed sufficient evolutionary potential, then it would improve alongside the Soul Master. This was the type of soul spirits that Soul Masters liked the most, and they were referred to as bonded soul spirits.


    This soul spirit, which was the Infernal Flame Beast, was the same as Zhang Geyang''s martial soul, as well as his bonded soul spirit.


    In reality, Tang Wulin''s Goldsong could also count as his bonded soul spirit. It had grown alongside him, and evolved to this point from the nourishment of the Gold Dragon King bloodline. All of its inherent flaws had been ironed out over time, and it was constantly undergoing metamorphosis. However, it had become like this as it didn''t possess a dragon-type bloodline to begin with, so it was technically a mutated beast that had integrated the Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    From their outward appearances alone, both soul spirits were extremely eye-catching to the spectators, and their battle soon quickly commenced as they charged toward one another.


    Tang Wulin and Zhang Geyang both stood in the distance, instructing their soul spirits through their spiritual connections with them. As such, this was still a battle between Soul Masters, except the soul spirits were being used as tools to facilitate the battle.


    The Infernal Flame Beast was extraordinarily fast and reached Goldsong in virtually the blink of an eye. It raised its front right paw and swept it toward Goldsong at an incredible speed, and at the same time, blue flames erupted from its body, hurtling directly toward Goldsong.


    This soul spirit had been with Zhang Geyang all the way from rank 10 to rank 98, and it had become extremely powerful over this extended span of time.


    Goldsong''s eyes were as glittering and translucent as a pair of golden crystals, and neither side was able to gain the upper hand as the golden light emanating from Goldsong''s body clashed with the Infernal Flame Beast''s blue flames.


    Goldsong twisted around in the air to evade the Infernal Flame Beast''s sharp claws, then swept its tail toward the Infernal Flame Beast like a giant whip.


    In response, the Infernal Flame Beast made no effort to evade and simply allowed Goldsong''s tail to strike its body, but in the instant that it was struck, it abruptly swelled slightly in size.


    Goldsong''s tail sank into the Infernal Flame Beast''s body as if it were a mere illusion, but at the same time, the Infernal Flame Beast''s blue flames reared up with even greater ferocity to incinerate Goldsong from all sides.


    These blue flames were capable of directly incinerating the target''s soul, and Tang Wulin could sense Goldsong''s pain through their spiritual connection.


    Goldsong had only developed intelligence through its constant evolution; if its intelligence were to be erased, then that would result in irreversible damage.


    Light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes, and the scales on Goldsong''s body immediately began to shimmer with bright golden light. At the same time, it opened its mouth to let loose a deafening dragon''s roar.


    "Roar!"


    The spectators had all heard the same roar during Tang Wulin''s battle against Huang Zhengyang the day before, and even though the version unleashed by Goldsong was slightly less powerful, it still caused the Infernal Flame Beast to stiffen for an instant.


    Bright golden light erupted from Goldsong''s body as it abruptly swept its front paws through the air.


    "Boom!"


    This didn''t appear to have been a very significant motion, but it created a powerful explosive effect, and the Infernal Flame Beast was sent flying amid an anguished howl.


    Zhang Geyang''s expression changed slightly, and blue light flashed in his eyes as the Infernal Flame Beast tumbled through the air a few times before landing on its feet. However, its aura was clearly not as domineering as before.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly upon seeing this. Zhang Geyang was significantly underestimating Goldsong if he thought he could restrict it like this.


    As Tang Wulin''s bonded soul spirit, Goldsong possessed all of Tang Wulin''s soul skills, particularly his Golden Dragon King abilities. The Golden Dragon King bloodline was undoubtedly one of the most powerful bloodlines in existence, and even though Goldsong only possessed a very small portion of the Golden Dragon King bloodline, it was still superior to all other soul beasts in this area.


    The dragon''s repulse and Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion were more than enough for it to send the Infernal Flame Beast flying. The Infernal Flame Beast didn''t actually have a physical body; it was merely able to use a strange type of soul skill that made its body insubstantial, but even an insubstantial body would be damaged by energy-based attacks.


    Of course, Goldsong had also been harmed somewhat by its blue flames, so it could be said that the first clash had concluded in a tie.


    On the rostrum, En Ci was staring at Goldsong with a stunned look in his eyes. He was naturally aware that Zhang Geyang possessed a bonded soul spirit, but he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would have one as well.


    Zhang Geyang''s soul spirit was clearly of a higher caliber than Goldsong, and he was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo while Tang Wulin was only a Soul Douluo. With such a vast disparity between their cultivation ranks, the power gap between the two soul spirits should''ve been very apparent, but that wasn''t actually the case. During that first clash, Goldsong hadn''t fallen to a disadvantage.


    This entailed that Tang Wulin''s soul spirit possessed a superior bloodline to the Infernal Flame Beast. One had to realize that the Infernal Flame Beast was an ancient beast that had already been extinct for countless years, and this soul spirit had been developed by the Spirit Pagoda.


    It was an extremely rare mutated black soul spirit, and it was completely different from the mass-produced black soul spirits that the Spirit Pagoda was currently churning out.


    The Infernal Flame Beast wasn''t the highest caliber soul spirit that Zhang Geyang possessed, but as his bonded soul spirit, it shared the closest tie with him.


    In terms of appearance, Goldsong was more pleasing to the eyes to the vast majority of spectators. It was very lithe and powerful, and even somewhat elegant, thus creating a stark contrast with the Infernal Flame Beast''s sinister appearance.


    Both of the soul spirits only stopped momentarily before pouncing toward one another again.


    Following that first clash, they had developed a basic understanding of one another''s powers. The Infernal Flame Beast was still as fast as ever, and it rushed over to Goldsong before swiping its front right paw toward Goldsong''s neck.


    Goldsong opened its mouth to expel a ball of golden flames, which transformed into a dragon''s head before exploding in mid-air, sending powerful shockwaves sweeping forth in all directions.


    The Infernal Flame Beast was forced to recoil and unleash more blue flames to withstand the shockwaves. Following that clash, the two separated once again, and on this occasion, it was Goldsong''s turn to take the initiative.


    It sprang toward the Infernal Flame Beast, and at the same time, countless Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from its body. As a soul spirit, it was obviously unable to directly use Tang Wulin''s martial soul, but it could use its own power to emulate Tang Wulin''s soul skills.


    The Infernal Flame Beast faltered slightly upon seeing this, clearly rather perplexed by this ability being displayed by Goldsong, which didn''t exactly correspond with its powers. However, it reacted very quickly, and the blue flames around its body swirled before forming a giant vortex. The vortex shielded its body, while the flames within the vortex transformed into a series of sharp blades that threatened to tear the oncoming Bluesilver Emperor vines into shreds.


    Goldsong sprang up into the air and appeared right above the Infernal Flame Beast, then swept its claws downward to unleash its Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws!

 Chapter 1330: Golden Dragon, Blue Beast

    The Infernal Flame Beast didn''t display any sign of weakness whatsoever and abruptly reared up again, following which a projection that was identical to the Infernal Flame Beast sprang forth through the air.


    "Boom!" Powerful shockwaves surged through the air as golden and blue light erupted in all directions, and neither side was able to gain the upper hand.


    The two bonded soul spirits clashed over and over again, leaving streaks of dazzling light in their wake.


    The first feeling that all of the spectators were struck by was that this match was already worth the ticket price!


    Soul spirits were extremely familiar entities to everyone, and the vast majority of people in the Star Luo Empire had seen soul spirits before. However, almost no one had seen such powerful soul spirits before!


    This was more like a clash between a pair of ancient Great Beasts, and all of the spectators were thoroughly enraptured.


    The vast majority of spectators didn''t have the technical acumen to analyze the battle, but the spectacular display being put on by these two soul spirits was more than enough to ignite their excitement.


    The golden dragon and blue beast engaged in one violent clash after another, and the two seemed to be evenly matched.


    Tang Wulin was looking at Zhang Geyang from afar, and Zhang Geyang was also looking back at him. All of a sudden, Zhang Geyang''s pupils contracted slightly as he could see purple light shimmering within Tang Wulin''s eyes.


    Is he going to use his Purple Demon Eyes to throw me off?


    The rules of the match stipulated that only soul spirit were allowed to engage in the battle, but who could say anything if no one noticed the spiritual interference that Tang Wulin was about to exert.


    Just as Zhang Geyang was being distracted by this, a burst of golden light suddenly erupted from Tang Wulin''s body, following which a golden halo instantly encompassed the entire competition platform.


    A thunderous dragon''s roar also abruptly rang out, and this was none other than Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain!


    In the instant that the golden halo appeared, a golden halo also erupted from Goldsong''s body, and it instantly assimilated itself with the Violent Golden Dragon Domain unleashed by Tang Wulin.


    Goldsong''s body expanded drastically to 30 meters in length in the blink of an eye, and its eyes also quickly took on a crimson color.


    "Boom!" The Infernal Flame Beast was lifted up by a strike from one of Goldsong''s front paws, then struck by a vicious Golden Dragon Whips its Tail that sent it flying through the air.


    He tricked me!


    Zhang Geyang was furious! He had reacted a split-second slower than he otherwise would''ve as he had been distracted by the threat of Tang Wulin''s Purple Demon Eyes, and Tang Wulin had taken full advantage of this opportunity to unleash this attack.


    A burst of piercing blue flames abruptly rose up from Zhang Geyang''s body, and the Infernal Flame Beast instantly transformed into a ball of flames. Goldsong''s subsequent attacks merely passed through the flames without inflicting any damage, and at the same time, specks of blue flames had appeared on its body.


    However, after being enhanced by the Violent Golden Dragon Domain, Goldsong was virtually unable to sense pain, and it wasn''t slowed down at all by the blue flames burning on its body.


    It let loose a thunderous Golden Dragon Roar, and the Infernal Flame Beast was instantly forced back into retreat.


    It was quite clear that Goldsong had gained the upper hand during that exchange.


    Right at this moment, a dull rumbling boom suddenly rang out, and bolts of lightning crashed down from the heavens, hurtling directly toward Goldsong. At the same time, a series of vines rapidly emerged from the ground. In contrast with Bluesilver Emperor vines, these vines were segmented like bamboo poles, and were of a dark purple color. As these vines appeared, the entire competition platform was transformed into a sea of lightning, which formed a cage with the lightning up above that encompassed Goldsong within it.


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted at the sight of these vines, which had appeared without any premonition, and he knew that his opponent had released his second soul spirit.


    Taking advantage of the threat that the lightning posed to Goldsong, the Infernal Flame Beast rushed back into Zhang Geyang''s body, and when it re-emerged after the span of just a single breath, it seemed to have completely recovered to its peak condition. At this moment, a string of violent booms were already erupting from within the cage of lightning.


    Bolts of lightning struck Goldsong''s body from all sides, and it could only use its Golden Dragon Body and Golden Dragon Tyrant Body to protect itself. As such, it had been reduced to nothing more than a massive target that could only turn to passive defense.


    Zhang Geyang was a rank 98 Limit Douluo, so his soul spirits were overall more powerful than Tang Wulin''s. Furthermore, this Infernal Lightning Vine was an extremely rare plant-type soul beast that the vast majority of Soul Masters had never even heard of, let alone witnessed as a soul spirit.


    This was a type of plant system soul beast that stood at the pinnacle of the plant world ever since it came into existence. It possesses innate intelligence, and in its infancy stage, it resembled a bamboo shoot that comprised of only a single segment. This type of soul beast grew exclusively in places where lightning strikes were very commonplace as it could only grow and develop from being struck by lightning. With each lightning strike it endured, it would become slightly more powerful, and 100 lightning strikes for it was the equivalent to a year of cultivation for a normal soul beast.


    Lightning was one of the most violent forms of power in nature, and the Infernal Lightning Vine thrived on this form of volatile power. In the initial phase of its development, its growth would always be very slow and arduous as it had to wait for natural lightning to strike it.


    As such, it could take 10 years to accumulate 100 lightning strikes, which meant that its rate of cultivation was often more than 10 times slower than that of the average soul beast.


    However, once an Infernal Lightning Vine reached 100 years of age, everything would change. This was because once it reached that level, it would be able to actively draw lightning to itself during lightning storms.


    As such, it would often be able to endure hundreds of lightning strikes in a single stormy night, and even though it would take more than 100 lightning strikes at that point to achieve the equivalent effect of a year of cultivation, its rate of cultivation would still be significantly enhanced.


    Due to the special nature of this soul beast, once an Infernal Lightning Vine reached a certain stage in its development, it would attain extremely fearsome destructive power, and it would often create spectacular phenomena, such as a domain of lightning. As the Infernal Lightning Vine became more powerful, this lightning domain would continue to expand, until it devoured everything around in the surrounding area.


    A 10,000-year-old Infernal Lightning Vine was capable of altering the weather and controlling the power of lightning to destroy anything it so pleased. As such, once an Infernal Lightning Vine of that caliber appeared, disaster would inevitably strike the area it had emerged in, and only extremely powerful beings would be able to destroy it.


    However, there was a fatal flaw to the Infernal Lightning Vine''s method of cultivation. Due to the fact that it had to constantly absorb lightning to enhance itself, the lightning within it would continue to compress, thereby building up extremely fearsome destructive power. Once this destructive power reached a certain level, the vine would be constantly at risk of destroying itself.


    As such, the vast majority of Infernal Lightning Vines eventually died by their own figurative swords.


    The general lifespan of an Infernal Lightning Vine was around 20,000 to 50,000 years before it would self-detonate, and very rarely did an Infernal Lightning Vine reach over 50,000 years of age. As for Infernal Lightning Vines that reached 100,000 years of age, none had ever appeared in history.


    For lightning attribute Soul Masters, Infernal Lightning Vines were an extremely sought-after soul beast as it could provide three types of extremely powerful soul skills, which were Lightning Forest, Lightning Hell, and Lightning Dance.


    Generally speaking, the vast majority of vine-type plant system soul beasts provided binding soul skills; the Bluesilver Emperor vine was one of these. However, the Infernal Lightning Vine had no such ability. It was a type of soul beast that was born to destroy, and that was why it had been rated as the most powerful attacker among plant system soul beasts.


    As a student of Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin was able to instantly identify this soul beast, and he immediately drew a sharp breath.


    No one had seen an Infernal Lightning Vine for countless years, and during Shrek Academy''s 20,000 year history, only three Soul Masters had possessed a soul ring from this type of soul beast.


    With such an insanely powerful soul beast up his sleeve, it was no wonder that Zhang Geyang was so confident and assured.


    Even with the enhancements provided by the Violent Golden Dragon Domain, Goldsong had been forced completely onto the back foot by the Infernal Lightning Vine''s Lightning Forest, and its Lightning Hell and Lightning Dance were supposed to be even more powerful.


    This was truly a destructive force of nature!


    Right at this moment, the relaxed voice of the Beautiful Silk Tulip suddenly sounded deep within Tang Wulin''s mind. "Release me, my Lord."


    "Are you sure? You''re not an offensive soul spirit." Tang Wulin was rather hesitant.


    "Don''t forget that you''re the Son of Nature, my Lord; your opponent is making a grave error by releasing such a soul spirit. You''re still missing a ninth soul ring in the future, and I think this Infernal Lightning Vine will be the ideal choice."


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to ask any further questions, a burst of pink light was released from his body, and a giant purple flower appeared, dispersing a natural cloud of faint mist around him.

 Chapter 1331: The Fearsome Infernal Lightning Vine

    As soon as the Beautiful Silk Tulip emerged, it transformed into its human form before turning and giving Tang Wulin a reassuring nod.


    In contrast with Goldsong, the Beautiful Silk Tulip was a Great Beast that possessed an extremely high level of intelligence, so it was able to communicate on a far more sophisticated level with Tang Wulin. Goldsong could only follow Tang Wulin''s instructions, but the Beautiful Silk Tulip had its own thoughts and ideas, and was able to actively assist Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin''s fifth greenish-golden soul ring suddenly lit up at its behest, and a huge greenish-golden halo immediately proliferated outward.


    All of the spectators present were quite startled by this as the greenish-golden halo had expanded at a far more rapid rate than anyone had anticipated. It had covered the entire sports stadium in virtually the blink of an eye, then instantly vanished as if it had seeped into the venue.


    Regardless of whether it was the Beautiful Silk Tulip, Goldsong, the Infernal Lightning Vine, Tang Wulin, or Zhang Geyang, all of them had been encompassed within the greenish-golden halo.


    Zhang Geyang''s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. He had always been keeping an eye on Tang Wulin, and the fact that he had been forced to release his second soul spirit first was an indirect admission that he had lost the clash between their first soul spirits. However, he had absolute confidence in his second soul spirit.


    In reality, this Infernal Lightning Vine wasn''t his most powerful soul spirit, but that was only because he was unable to nurture it to the 100,000-year level. However, this was definitely the most powerful soul spirit among all soul spirits of the same caliber.


    In order to capture it, the Spirit Pagoda had sent out 11 powerful beings, all at the Titled Douluo level or above, and only then were they able to take it captive in a valley in the Star Luo Empire. At the time, it was already over 40,000 years old and was on the verge of self-destruction.


    Zhang Geyang had to expend countless effort before he was finally able to successfully make this Infernal Lightning Vine his soul spirit. He stabilized the Infernal Lightning Vine and prohibited it from absorbing more lightning so that it would be able to survive, and in return, the Infernal Lightning Vine had to follow him and do his bidding.


    During his development, the Infernal Lightning Vine had played a massive support role, and it was only after he obtained this second soul spirit that he really began to stand out in the Spirit Pagoda.


    As such, it could be said that this was the soul spirit that he relied on the most. Unfortunately, there was no way for it to continue to evolve, not even in the Spirit Pagoda''s Spirit Ascension Plane. Otherwise, it ran the risk of losing control and self-detonating at any moment.


    Otherwise, it would most definitely have already become his most powerful soul spirit.


    In reality, the Infernal Lightning Vine didn''t actually have great synergy with his Infernal Flame Beast martial soul; he had only forcibly fused with the vine as it had been far too exceptional a prospect for him to pass up. In order to compete for this soul spirit, his family had paid a heavy price, and even then, it had only fallen into his hands as there wasn''t a suitable candidate to fuse with it from the Qiangu Family, which was the number one family in the Spirit Pagoda.


    "Lightning Hell!" Zhang Geyang issued a command to the Infernal Lightning Vine.


    After using Lightning Forest to rescue his bonded soul spirit, it was now time for the Infernal Lightning Vine to shine. He was confident that a Soul Douluo like Tang Wulin wouldn''t be able to stand up against the Infernal Lightning Vine''s devastating power.


    Upon receiving his command, the Infernal Lightning Vine immediately took on a purplish-golden color, and the lightning up above faltered momentarily before the entire sky began to dim. Within the dark purple sky, balls of lightning quickly took shape, and balls of lightning also began to rise up from the ground. A terrifying doomsday-like aura spread over the entire venue, and all of the spectators were completely rooted to their seats. Was this the power of a rank 98 Hyper Douluo''s soul spirit? It was incredible to think that a soul spirit alone would be capable of unleashing such fearsome might!


    Tang Wulin''s expression also changed upon seeing this. With his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he was naturally able to sense just how much lightning elements had gathered in the surrounding air. Each and every one of those balls of lightning was like a volcano that was on the verge of eruption, and if they were to explode all at once, perhaps the protective barrier over the sports stadium wouldn''t even be able to hold itself intact.


    At this point, En Ci had already disappeared from the rostrum. In order to ensure safety in a battle of such a high caliber, he had to support the protective formation in person.


    A sinister look flashed through Zhang Geyang''s eyes.


    Die, Tang Sect brat!


    He had no intention of holding back at all. He was going to destroy Tang Wulin''s soul spirit, then direct Lightning Hell toward Tang Wulin and blast him into smithereens.


    The Tang Sect had already declared war on the Spirit Pagoda anyway, and he had to avenge the destruction of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters in the Dou Spirit Empire. He could simply blame the outcome on a momentary lapse in concentration, and he couldn''t care less about what the Tang Sect''s reaction would be. If he could kill their new sect master, then he would definitely be rewarded handsomely by the Spirit Pagoda.


    Right at this moment, the Beautiful Silk Tulip began to undergo some changes. A burst of pink mist proliferated from its body, and the mist was completely unaffected by the violent lightning aura in the air, forming a series of pink specks of light that drifted outward in all directions.


    Upon closer inspection, one would discover that these were a series of tiny vortexes that were absorbing the energy particles in the air, including the volatile lighting elements.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip raised a hand, and a beam of pink light shone down upon Goldsong, which was still struggling within the Lightning Forest. The golden light emanating from Goldsong''s body immediately brightened, and it was able to keep the assault of Lightning Forest at bay.


    A hint of disdain appeared on Zhang Geyang''s eyes upon seeing this. So what if that was a Great Beast soul spirit? With such a weak host, they were only destined to be blown up into smithereens once Lightning Hell was detonated.


    When the Infernal Lightning Vine unleashed its Lightning Hell to its maximal extent, even Zhang Geyang didn''t dare to remain at the center of the attack, and this incredible volatile power was exactly why the Infernal Lightning Vine couldn''t continue to evolve.


    "Boom!" The first ball of lightning exploded near Goldsong, and in the instant that it was detonated, a burst of liquid suddenly flew through the air. This was liquefied lightning energy, which was presenting itself as lightning plasma. Goldsong let loose a cry of anguish, and the golden light radiating from its body brightened even further, but it was still completely numbed by the lightning plasma.


    Sections of the Infernal Lightning Vine were also gradually being charred black, clearly indicating that it was also being pushed to its limits by Zhang Geyang.


    One ball of lightning exploded after another, and waves of lightning plasma surged through the air, creating a massive pool of lightning that really did resemble a lightning hell.


    All of Shrek''s Six Monsters looked on with horrified expressions. This soul spirit was truly a devastating force of nature!


    Hu Jie''s expression was even more strained. As a rank 98 Hyper Douluo himself, he was able to clearly sense this Infernal Lightning Vine''s power. In fact, he had faced this soul spirit himself in the past, and even he had only just barely managed to withstand its insanely powerful attacks through the use of his martial soul true body and soul spirits.


    Thankfully, even though Zhang Geyang''s Infernal Lightning Vine possessed extreme explosive power, it had very lackluster stamina and had to rest after unleashing each wave of attacks. Otherwise, it would be at risk of pushing itself beyond its limits, but even these short explosive outbursts were extremely terrifying.


    Goldsong had already been inundated by Lightning Hell, as had the Beautiful Silk Tulip. The pink light around it was quickly being whittled away by the lightning plasma, which was about to reach its body soon.


    Right at this moment, the Beautiful Silk Tulip pointed one finger down at the ground while raising its other hand to the heavens to point up at the sky. "Devouring Heaven and Earth!"


    The pink light around it immediately intensified, and Tang Wulin slowly drifted up from the ground as the greenish-golden light around his body abruptly brightened.


    All of a sudden, countless tiny specks of light began to surge toward the competition platform from outside the Lightning Hell, and all of the spectators were stunned by this phenomenon. The specks of light were drifting right past them, and they could even reach out to touch the light.


    The specks of light were of all types of different colors, but due to the fact that each speck of light only contained an extremely minute amount of energy, no one felt anything even when the light came into contact with their bodies.

 Chapter 1332: Azure Jade Phoenix Demonic Greenbird

    The specks of light currently surging into the sports stadiums numbered in the billions, and they were all converging toward Tang Wulin and the Beautiful Silk Tulip.


    When they entered the scope of Lighting Hell, a huge number of these specks of light were destroyed, but as more and more of them converged, even the Lightning Hell was unable to impede all of them, and they surged into Tang Wulin and the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s bodies in massive waves.


    The pink light radiating from the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s body became brighter and brighter, as did the golden light around Goldsong''s body.


    Lightning Hell was still raging with devastating destructive power, and Goldsong''s defenses were already about to be breached, but with the continued injection of energy it was receiving from the Beautiful Silk Tulip, it was beginning to hold its own, and a faint greenish-golden color had appeared over its golden scales.


    The pink light around the Beautiful Silk Tulip also gradually turned into a greenish-golden color, and it began to radiate a vast natural aura.


    Rich life force energy erupted from its body, and Lightning Hell began to waver. The flowing lightning plasma seemed to have been devoured and was quickly fading into nothingness.


    "What the hell is going on?" Zhang Geyang''s eyes were about to pop out of their sockets! His Infernal Lightning Vine had used Lightning Hell on countless occasions, but it was the first time that something like this had happened.


    Just what kind of power could possibly nullify the Infernal Lightning Vine''s insanely destructive power?


    Lightning Dance! He immediately issued an instruction for the Infernal Lightning Vine to unleash another wave of attacks.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine began to dance in mid-air, and streams of lightning plasma were being absorbed by it as it prepared to unleash its most powerful attack.


    Right at this moment, the Beautiful Silk Tulip suddenly turned to the Infernal Lightning Vine with an intense expression, and yelled, "Do you still not understand?" At the same time, it raised its right hand and sent a beam of greenish-golden light raining down upon the Infernal Lightning Vine.


    As opposed to harming the Infernal Lightning Vine, the greenish-golden light quickly healed the charred and blackened patches on the Infernal Lightning Vine''s body, and its aura became even more powerful than before.


    However, at the same time, the Infernal Lightning Vine suddenly stiffened, and even though it was still absorbing streams of lightning plasma, it seemed to have suddenly become very hesitant.


    A sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in Zheng Geyang''s heart upon seeing this. "What are you waiting for? Attack!"


    At the same time, he instructed his Infernal Flame Beast to pounce toward the Beautiful Silk Tulip. The Infernal Lightning Vine had clearly been somehow affected by this Beautiful Silk Tulip, so his priority was to take care of this pesky soul spirit.


    On top of that, another two streaks of light shot forth from Zhang Geyang''s body, but they appeared to be only a single streak of light as one was far brighter than the other, thereby outshining the lesser of the two streaks of light.


    The streak of light that was leading from the front was a large azure bird with dazzling flames burning all over its body. Its three vibrant tail feathers were extremely eye-catching, and it resembled the form of a phoenix. This was clearly a soul spirit formed by a soul beast from the phoenix clan, the only type of legendary soul beast that was said to be able to oppose giant dragons.


    This was a second-rate phoenix known as the Azure Jade Phoenix, but its bloodline was already extremely close to that of a true phoenix. As it flapped its massive wings, azure flames swept toward the Beautiful Silk Tulip in a devastating wave, and it was working together with the Infernal Flame Beast to eliminate this Great Beast soul spirit.


    Following closely behind the Azure Jade Phoenix was a green figure, and it reached Goldsong in the blink of an eye. This was only a palm-sized green bird, and if one were to look closely, they would discover that it was targeting none other than Goldsong''s eyes.


    At this point, Zhang Geyang had displayed his full power and released all four of his soul spirits. These final two soul spirits were both 100,000-year-old soul spirits, and they were his true trump cards.


    Once someone reached the Titled Douluo level, they would develop a sense of premonition that was highly accurate. As such, as soon as Zhang Geyang was struck by that sense of foreboding, he immediately made a decision. This was the killer instinct he had honed as a Hyper Douluo who had fought in countless battles, and he was immediately addressing the source of this negative premonition before it became an insurmountable problem.


    Thus, the situation was tipped on its head once again. Zhang Geyang had released all four of his soul spirits, and his Azure Jade Phoenix was particularly eye-catching. Its Azure Jade Flames were capable of incinerating everything in this world, including all types of energy, and the energy particles converging from all directions were being rapidly incinerated into nothingness. At the same time, the Infernal Flame Beast''s aura received a significant boost from the Azure Jade Flames, and the same type of flames were ignited over its body as well.


    The two soul spirits formed a synergistic relationship where they were enhancing one another, and this was the true sign of a high-grade Soul Master.


    The Azure Jade Phoenix was the core of Zhang Geyang''s four soul spirits, and it was also the one that he was most fond of. It had become his most valuable ally after he had become a high-grade Soul Master, and its devastating Azure Jade Flames had defeated countless opponents in the past.


    On the rostrum, the Smiling Douluo was already sitting on the edge of his seat. The battle appeared to be drawing to a conclusion soon, and he had already prepared himself to leap onto the competition if Tang Wulin''s soul spirits were to be destroyed. He knew what kind of person Zhang Geyang was; he wouldn''t be Zhang Geyang if he didn''t take advantage of this opportunity to attack Tang Wulin.


    Losing this match would perhaps deal the Tang Sect quite a heavy blow, but if Tang Wulin were to perish during this battle, then that would truly be disastrous for the Tang Sect. As such, he had to ensure Tang Wulin''s survival no matter what.


    All of a sudden, a colossal figure appeared without any premonition right in front of the Azure Jade Phoenix.


    In the instant that it appeared, it was as if a mountain had been airdropped into the sports stadium.


    The ceiling of the sports stadiums was 150 meters tall, but this gargantuan creature still struck the spectators with the feeling that it was about to burst through the ceiling.


    Its body was over 100 meters tall, and it was extremely muscular, resembling a giant pillar that connected heaven and earth.


    Its body was covered entirely in extremely thick and heavy scales the size of wagon wheels, and these dark golden scales were riddled with complex patterns. What was even more terrifying was its peerlessly domineering aura. In the instant that it appeared, it was as if the surrounding air had instantly congealed.


    It opened its cavernous mouth to blast forth a pillar of dark golden flames, which immediately clashed with the Azure Jade Flames amid a resounding boom. At the same time, the colossal beast swiveled around, sweeping its massive tail through the air like a battering ram, sending it hurtling directly toward the Azure Jade Phoenix, which was only around seven meters in length.


    In the face of the gargantuan creature, the Azure Jade Phoenix was like a tiny ant. As for the Infernal Flame Beast, it was already quite a large beast, but it was also completely dwarfed by this mountainous creature.


    Instead of pouncing onto the Beautiful Silk Tulip as it had originally intended, it crashed into the massive beast''s leg, and even though the Azure Jade Flames had rubbed off onto the colossal beast, the Infernal Flame Beast had been sent flying as well.


    This was the unyielding soul, the Tyrant Dragon!


    Compared to when it had first become Tang Wulin''s soul spirit, the Tyrant Dragon had undergone a drastic transformation. Its height had ballooned from 60 meters to over 100 meters, and its body weight had increased by more than threefold.

 Chapter 1333: Incredible Reversal of Fortunes

    Among Tang Wulin''s soul spirits, it possessed the bloodline that was closest to the Golden Dragon King, and even though it hadn''t been with Tang Wulin for as long as Goldsong had, it had still been heavily affected by the Golden Dragon King bloodline and was constantly evolving.


    Its wings had become significantly larger than before, and there was now even a single giant horn on its head. Just from its appearance alone, even the most knowledgeable and experienced soul beast researcher most likely wouldn''t be able to identify exactly what it was. Its appearance had truly stunned the entire venue.


    It was simply way too massive! What kind of terrifying soul spirit was this?


    Right as this colossal beast appeared, Goldsong found itself in a very perilous situation. The green figure flying toward it was too fast for it to evade, and it only had time to close its eyes before the oncoming streak of green light struck its eyelid.


    Sharp pain speared through Goldsong''s eye socket, and it let loose an agonized roar as its aura swelled drastically, and it unleashed its combination of dragon''s might and Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion again.


    As a result, the green streak of light was instantly repelled, but it then quickly swerved around as a green arrow of light that shot forth toward Goldsong again.


    "That''s a Demonic Greenbird!" Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    However, this Demonic Greenbird was far more powerful than the one he and Gu Yuena had captured in the past. Its green body had already become transparent, making it look as if it had been carved out of translucent green jade, and it possessed such incredible speed and offensive prowess that even Goldsong''s defensive capabilities were struggling to keep up.


    This was a 100,000-year-old Demonic Greenbird soul ring, and it was also Zhang Geyang''s final soul spirit. Among his four 100,000-year-old soul rings, three of them had been provided by the Azure Jade Phoenix, while the final stemmed from this Demonic Greenbird.


    The ninth soul skill provided by the Demonic Greenbird wasn''t extremely powerful, but it was a very practical life-saving ability. In contrast, Zhang Geyang placed much higher value on the offensive prowess of the Demonic Greenbird soul spirit.


    Even though the Demonic Greenbird was very small, it was the bane of virtually all large soul beasts, and it was a truly fearsome killer in the soul beast world; even Great Beasts were extremely wary of it.


    Even with its tiny mass, it was still posing a very substantial threat to Goldsong, and if it weren''t for the fact that it possessed no actual body as a soul spirit, Goldsong would most likely be in an even more perilous situation.


    The Demonic Greenbird''s most prominent characteristic was its insane speed. It could easily break the sound barrier, and despite its diminutive body, it boasted incredible offensive prowess.


    Meanwhile, the Infernal Flame Beast had already recovered after being knocked back by the Tyrant Dragon, and it was currently rushing off to the side to run around the colossal beast in its path.


    Dazzling flames erupted from the Azure Jade Phoenix''s body at Zhang Geyang''s behest, and it also quickly swelled to become a giant fiery phoenix with a wingspan in excess of 30 meters as it engaged the Tyrant Dragon in a fierce battle.


    This Azure Jade Phoenix was a 100,000-year-old soul spirit, and its Azure Jade Flames were of an even higher caliber than the Tyrant Dragon''s dark golden flames. As such, swathes of Azure Jade Flames were quickly ignited on the Tyrant Dragon''s body, and it roared with fury as it unleashed one attack after another toward the Azure Jade Phoenix. It seemed that the battle between these two soul spirits was going to be an extremely prolonged one.


    Overall, it was undoubtedly the case that Zhang Geyang had claimed the upper hand again. The Infernal Flame Beast and Infernal Lightning Vine only had the Beautiful Silk Tulip to deal with now, and Goldsong was clearly struggling against the Demonic Greenbird.


    Despite this, Tang Wulin seemed to be very calm, and he didn''t appear to be fazed at all by the current situation.


    The Infernal Flame Beast was extremely fast and reached the Beautiful Silk Tulip in the blink of an eye. It swiped a front paw toward the Beautiful Silk Tulip like lightning, using its infernal flames to incinerate the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s body and soul. Fire was always the bane of all plants.


    However, when the Infernal Flame Beast reached the Beautiful Silk Tulip, it was greeted by the sight of a sly smile on the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s face.


    Immediately thereafter, a powerful numbing sensation spread through its entire body, and it instantly stiffened in mid-air.


    A segmented bamboo-like vine then struck its waist with a vicious blow, and it let loose a howl of anguish as it was slammed viciously down onto the ground with lightning plasma piercing through its body.


    At the same time, a rumbling thunderclap, and the Demonic Greenbird was the second one to bite the dust.


    No matter how fast the Demonic Greenbird was, there was no way it could outrun the speed of light. Thus, it was struck by a bolt of lightning with unerring accuracy, and it also instantly stiffened in mid-air.


    Goldsong''s rage had been building this entire time, and it certainly wasn''t going to pass up on such a brilliant opportunity. It immediately opened its mouth to unleash a Golden Dragon Roar, and as the Demonic Greenbird plummeted out of the sky, Goldsong''s claws sprang forth like lightning to catch it.


    At this point, it had developed an intense hatred for this Demonic Greenbird, and it instantly tore the bird to shreds.


    As long as the Soul Master still existed, the soul spirit wouldn''t truly die, but a destroyed soul spirit required a very long time to regenerate, and the Soul Master would also be negatively impacted on both a physical and spiritual level.


    Zhang Geyang gave a muffled groan, and blood splurted out of his nose and mouth as an incredulous look appeared on his face.


    Right at this moment, countless lightning dragons rose up into the heavens to cut off all avenues of evasion and retreat for the Azure Jade Phoenix. The Tyrant Dragon swept its giant tail through the air again, and on this occasion, the Azure Jade Phoenix was a sitting duck that could only retaliate with a burst of flames.


    "Boom, boom, boom!" A string of resounding booms rang out in the air, and the explosions of lightning created a dazzling scene akin to fireworks.


    In the end, the Azure Jade Phoenix was still struck by the Tyrant Dragon''s tail, and not only that, but the Tyrant Dragon charged forward like lightning. It displayed explosive speed that completely belied its massive body, and the horn on its head viciously impaled the Azure Jade Phoenix''s body.


    The Azure Jade Phoenix let loose an agonized cry as the flames around its body converged to heal its wound, but its body had shrunk noticeably to around only two-thirds of its original size.


    The Tyrant Dragon stomped forward with its right foot, and a resounding boom rang out as a pillar of dark golden flames erupted from beneath the Azure Jade Phoenix, blasting it even further up into the air.


    The Tyrant Dragon then opened its cavernous mouth to blast forth a burst of dark golden flames, while Goldsong unleashed Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, springing up from the ground in hot pursuit.


    All of a sudden, the Azure Jade Phoenix found itself being targeted by a barrage of attacks, and it let loose a string of anguished cries as it was forced into retreat.


    Zhang Geyang''s expression had darkened significantly, and he waved his right hand through the air, upon which the Azure Jade Phoenix flew back into his body as a streak of green light. Meanwhile, the Infernal Flame Beast had already been completely devoured by lightning plasma.


    All of the spectators present, regardless of whether they were powerful Soul Master or average civilians, were completely rooted to their seats.


    What had just happened? How had such a stunning reversal just taken place?


    Just a moment ago, Zhang Geyang had held the absolute upper hand, and it had seemed that Sect Master Tang''s soul spirits were about to be defeated, so how had this happened? In the span of just a few breaths, two of Zhang Geyang''s four soul spirits had been destroyed, one had been forced into retreat, and the other one had... betrayed him?


    That''s right, everything had begun when the Infernal Lightning Vine had made the abrupt decision to jump into the opposing trench.


    Just as the Infernal Flame Beast was about to attack the Beautiful Silk Tulip, the Infernal Lightning Vine suddenly lashed out, impaling the Infernal Flame Beast while also using its Lightning Dance to trap the Azure Jade Phoenix and to strike the Demonic Greenbird.


    Overall, it was a soul spirit of a lesser caliber than the Azure Jade Phoenix and the Demonic Greenbird, but in terms of pure destructive power, it ranked above both of them, particularly the Demonic Greenbird. Just as the Demonic Greenbird was the bane of most soul beasts, it was the bane of the Demonic Greenbird, and that was why the Demonic Greenbird had been killed in such a brutal manner.


    Everything had taken place in the blink of an eye, and from the instant that the Infernal Lightning Vine had betrayed Zhang Geyang, the battle had already been as good as over.


    Even the announcer was so stunned that he had forgotten to declare the outcome of the match.


    After a brief stunned stupor, a furious look appeared on Zhang Geyang''s face, and he charged toward Tang Wulin with blue flames erupting around his body, making his expression appear even more sinister and twisted.

 Chapter 1334: A Wise Beast Chooses the Best Owner

    Tang Wulin had been keeping an eye on Zhang Geyang this entire time, and a disdainful smile appeared on his face at the sight of Zhang Geyang''s infuriated attack.


    His golden spear was thrust forward like lightning, and he was displaying no fear in the face of this rank 98 Hyper Douluo. He stepped forward with his left foot, and bright greenish-golden light suddenly erupted from his body. His golden spear also took on a greenish-golden color, and countless vines surged forward around the spear.


    The vines resembled powerful giant dragons, and as they clashed with the blue flames around Zhang Geyang''s body, a thunderous boom instantly rang out.


    Not only was the rank 98 Zhang Geyang stopped cold in his tracks, the greenish-golden spear instantly reached his chest, and his brows furrowed tightly as he lashed out in retaliation.


    He swung his right fist through the air, and the fist took on an azure jade-like appearance as it struck the tip of the spear.


    "Clang!" A loud metallic clang rang out as Tang Wulin''s momentum was completely halted, while Zhang Geyang shot back several dozens of meters in the blink of an eye as if he had just been shocked by electricity.


    He looked down at his own fist to find that a small puncture wound had been inflicted on it, and the edge of the hole had turned grey in color. If he hadn''t reacted as quickly as he did, it was very possible that he would''ve lost this hand altogether.


    How could this be? Was he really only a Soul Douluo?


    "Zhang Geyang, do you really think there''s no one in our Tang Sect to keep you in check?" the Smiling Douluo bellowed in an enraged manner before leaping off the rostrum and onto the competition platform.


    "Stop!" En Ci also quickly descended from the rostrum before raising a hand toward the Smiling Douluo, then turned toward Zhang Geyang with a dark expression. "Branch Chairman Zhang, you owe our empire an explanation and apology after this. You are currently representing the empire, not the Spirit Pagoda."


    Zhang Geyang had unleashed that attack against Tang Wulin as his rage had made him lose his sense of reason, but after calming down now, he immediately realized that this wasn''t the right place to be targeting Tang Wulin.


    He cast his gaze toward the young man who had just forced him back into retreat, and a chill ran down his spine. This young man was far more powerful than he had imagined. He hadn''t held back at all in that attack, yet not only was Tang Wulin able to withstand the attack, he had even managed to harm Zhang Geyang in retaliation. There was no way that he was only a Soul Douluo!


    This piece of information was extremely important; he had to go back and report this to the higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda. Since when did such a powerful young man appear in the federation? Why didn''t the Spirit Pagoda headquarters have any detailed information on him? If this young man were allowed to develop for another 10 years or 20 years, who would be able to oppose him?


    Zhang Geyang didn''t say anything further, and he turned to leave as he waved a hand toward the Infernal Lightning Vine. He didn''t know why his soul spirit had suddenly betrayed him, but it presumably had something to do with Tang Wulin''s Great Beast soul spirit. He would be able to figure out the exact reason behind this once he went back and carefully assessed the Infernal Lightning Vine''s emotional fluctuations.


    However, much to his surprise, the Infernal Lightning Vine didn''t heed his call at all.


    Immediately thereafter, its segmented vines stood up on end, and a string of rumbling booms rang out as both the Infernal Lightning Vine and Zhang Geyang shuddered violently.


    Zhang Geyang threw up a mouthful of blood, while large cracks appeared all over the Infernal Lightning Vine''s body.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip waved a hand through the air, and a burst of greenish-golden light shone down upon the Infernal Lightning Vine, upon which it quickly shrank down before vanishing into the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s body.


    "How dare you!" Zhang Geyang''s fury returned in full force, and he pounced toward Tang Wulin again.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine had just renounced the contractual relationship between them!


    A normal soul spirit wouldn''t have been able to do this, and once they signed a contract with a Soul Master, its effects were permanent. This was because a soul spirit was a subsidiary entity to their Soul Master host, and if they were to forcibly renounce the contract, then they would suffer irreversible damage that would lead to their death.


    However, the Infernal Lightning Vine''s situation was different. Its energy was far too violent, so when the contract was first signed, it wasn''t as binding as a normal soul spirit contract was supposed to be. From Zhang Geyang''s perspective, the Infernal Lightning Vine couldn''t live without him anyway, so he had thought that he had nothing to worry about, and that had proven to be true for several decades.


    However, never did he think that the Infernal Lightning Vine would choose to leave him and renounce their contract without any hesitation at a time like this.


    As a result, not only would Zhang Geyang be losing a soul spirit, the soul skills bestowed upon him by the Infernal Lightning Vine would also be weakened by at least 50%! He possessed as many as three soul skills that stemmed from the Infernal Lightning Vine, so this was going to deal him a heavy blow; it was not something that could be remedied by simply fusing with another soul spirit. This was an irreversible loss as his current soul spirits and soul skills were already set in stone, so there was no way to change them.


    En Ci''s brows furrowed tightly as he swept a hand through the air to force back Zhang Geyang. "That''s enough! Do you really want me to step in?"


    "Principal, he took my soul spirit! Do you not see this?" Zhang Geyang no longer cared about the situation he was currently in. The loss of the Infernal Lightning Vine was a permanent blow to his foundation, and it meant that he would never be able to become a Limit Douluo. Only after becoming a Limit Douluo did one have a shot at immortality, so Tang Wulin had essentially completely deprived him of that opportunity.


    "I said THAT''S ENOUGH!" En Ci seemed to have truly been enraged, and an astonishingly powerful aura erupted from his body, forcing Zhang Geyang back a few steps further.


    Right at this moment, he caught sight of Tang Wulin''s gloating expression, and he almost passed out from his fury as he threw up another mouthful of blood.


    Tang Wulin said in a nonchalant voice, "A wise beast chooses the best owner. I didn''t steal your soul spirit; it came to me of its own volition. If I recall correctly, the mantra that the Spirit Pagoda abides by is that the union between Soul Masters should be one that''s fair, just, and equal. In that case, what right do you have to force the Infernal Lightning Vine to submit to you when it no longer wants to?"


    "You took it from me!" Zhang Geyang bellowed in a furious manner.


    "So what if I did? Why don''t you take it back from me?" Tang Wulin countered with an indifferent smile.


    "You..." Zhang Geyang couldn''t allow himself to engage in this war of words any further. He was a vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda and the supervisor of the Spirit Pagoda''s Star Luo Empire branches, so he had to curb his own fury and uphold the reputation of the Spirit Pagoda.


    After taking one final resentful glance at Tang Wulin, he promptly departed.


    En Ci''s eyelids twitched at the sight of Zhang Geyang''s departing figure. Zhang Geyang had lost an extremely important soul spirit, but he had also lost something of great significance.


    En Ci felt as if his heart were leaking blood as he thought of the bet he had made with Tang Wulin. He had been filled with elation when Zhang Geyang was about to secure victory.


    There was an immortal plant that he desperately required as he had found an ancient medicinal recipe that could extend his life. For a man like him, who was about to come to the end of his life, nothing was more important than this. However, one of the ingredients stipulated in the medicinal recipe was an extremely rare and precious immortal plant, and the only place he could think of where such a plant could exist was in that restricted area owned by the Tang Sect.


    This was why he had been willing to offer a Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal to goad the Tang Sect into accepting this bet. Of course, it would''ve been a lot safer to bet on himself during the battle armor master battle, but that battle was skewed far too severely against the Tang Sect''s favor, and there was no way they would accept such a bet!


    Hence, he decided to propose the bet during this battle.

 Chapter 1335: Back-to-back Victories

    However, who could''ve imagined that a battle that was supposed to be in the bag would be won by Tang Wulin, and that he would secure victory as result of such an incredible comeback? Life was truly a rollercoaster ride...


    Furthermore, he had also been quite startled to see Zhang Geyang being forced back by Tang Wulin. Was Tang Wulin already this powerful?


    Upon further analysis, he determined that Tang Wulin seemed to have borrowed some other type of power to force back Zhang Geyang, but the fact of the matter was that he had forced Zhang Geyang into retreat without assistance from anyone else. As such, En Ci knew that he had to reassess this young man.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip, Goldsong, and Tyrant Dragon all vanished into Tang Wulin''s body as streaks of light, and he turned to En Ci with a smile. "Isn''t it time to announce the result, Principal?"


    En Ci shot him a slightly indignant glance before turning to the announcer and giving him a nod. This was a match that had been witnessed by countless spectators; the Star Luo Empire certainly couldn''t just cheat and refuse to accept this outcome!


    Furthermore, Zhang Geyang''s actions would''ve most definitely dealt an extremely heavy blow to the Spirit Pagoda''s reputation, so the empire definitely couldn''t side with them now.


    "Sect Master Tang has secured victory in the second match of the Trial of Five Gods, thereby achieving back-to-back wins!"


    Waves of raucous cheers rang out from the spectator stands in response to this announcement, and there was clearly a very high proportion of female spectators cheering for Tang Wulin.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were already jumping up and down on the rostrum. Tang Wulin had just secured two consecutive victories in the Trial of Five Gods!


    What could be more exciting than this? Tang Wulin had just secured two consecutive victories against an entire empire! This was undoubtedly going to be extremely beneficial for Tang Wulin''s confidence, reputation, and development.


    Furthemore, with these two victories in the bag, so what even if he lost the remaining three matches? For the Tang Sect, two victories were already more than enough. At the very least, the reputation of the Tang Sect would be sure to reach new heights in the Star Luo Empire, and all of the citizens here would definitely acknowledge him as the new Tang Sect Master.


    The disciples of the Tang Sect''s Star Luo Empire branches were filled with awe and admiration toward their new sect master. One had to realize that even the Smiling Douluo may not have been able to win these first two battles.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters rushed onto the competition platform and threw Tang Wulin up into the air. Even they were still coming to terms with the fact that Tang Wulin had won such a crucial match.


    When they had learned that Tang Wulin''s opponent was going to be a rank 98 Hyper Douluo from the Spirit Pagoda, their hearts had immediately sunk. Zhang Geyang was far more powerful than Tang Wulin, and his forte lay in his soul spirits as well.


    Regardless of how confident Tang Wulin was in his own soul spirits, he was simply not powerful enough, and there was no way his soul spirits could match up to those of a Hyper Douluo.


    The Golden Dragon King bloodline did provide powerful enhancements, but those were limited as well.


    When the Infernal Lightning Vine had appeared, Tang Wulin had thought that this battle was lost. The Infernal Lightning Vine''s offensive power was simply far too incredible; even Tang Wulin had been completely stunned by it.


    However, the Beautiful Silk Tulip had suddenly requested to be released, and that was when the tide had begun to turn.


    At the time, the Beautiful Silk Tulip had told him that using a plant system soul beast against him was the equivalent of asking for defeat. Furthermore, Zhang Geyang hadn''t been able to completely tame the Infernal Lightning Vine, so this was a brilliant opportunity as the Infernal Lightning Vine was going to be a perfect final soul spirit for Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin still didn''t know why the Infernal Lightning Vine was supposed to be so perfect for him, but trusted the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s judgment.


    After unleashing his Son of Nature soul skill, Tang Wulin was able to sense the auras of all of the plants in the entirety of Heaven Dou City. All of the power of nature had flowed into his body and was then transferred into the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s body.


    With the enhancements it received from the Beautiful Silk Tulip, Goldsong was able to withstand the attacks being directed at it, and following that was the communication between the Beautiful Silk Tulip and the Infernal Lightning Vine.


    Even Tang Wulin didn''t know exactly how they had communicated, but the outcome was already clear by the time he had summoned his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit. The Infernal Lightning Vine had already made its decision at that point, and everything after that became very simple. The Infernal Lightning Vine''s betrayal led to a stunning reversal, allowing Tang Wulin to defeat Zhang Geyang with ease.


    All Tang Wulin wanted to do now was to return to the Tang Sect headquarters as soon as he could so he could ask the Beautiful Silk Tulip exactly what was going on with the Infernal Lightning Vine.


    Could the Infernal Lightning Vine really become a valuable asset for him? It was certainly extremely powerful, but it was quite clear that even it was unable to completely control its own power.


    Dai Yun''er was seated in the spectator stands, patting her own chest as she heaved a long sigh of relief. There was a time during the match where she had thought that Tang Wulin was going to lose, and her heart had leaped into her throat.


    When it was revealed that Tang Wulin''s opponent was Zhang Geyang, she had cursed En Ci countless times in her heart! En Ci was well aware of the strained relationship between the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda, yet he had still invited Zhang Geyang to participate in this match; what if he had taken this opportunity to harm Tang Wulin?


    With that in mind, she had constantly been watching the match with rapt focus, preparing to step in to assist Tang Wulin should that be required. However, as soon as the match began, she realized that a battle of this caliber wasn''t something that she could play a role in.


    Several years ago, they had faced one another in the same tournament, yet now, he was so powerful that she could only look up at him from down below. She felt like he was now so far ahead of her that she could barely even see him anymore.


    Despite this, Dai Yun''er''s eyes were filled with pride. Even as far as seven years ago, when he had first begun to display his potential, she had already fallen in love with him. She was going to keep him in the Star Luo Empire and by her side no matter what she had to do. She clenched her delicate fists and cheered for Tang Wulin with all her might in her heart.


    After losing two consecutive matches, her father was definitely in a very foul mood. She had decided to pay him a visit, and instead of saying anything, she was merely going to smile and look at him in silence.


    Dai Tianling''s current expression was indeed quite strained, and it was also tinged with incredulity as he stared at Tang Wulin from the rostrum.


    Zhang Geyang had lost? There were better options for the first mecha battle than Huang Zhengyang, but purely from a soul spirit perspective, the only person who could compare with Zhang Geyang in the entire empire was En Ci. Even the Smiling Douluo was far inferior in this field.


    During the Trial of Five Gods, each participant from the Star Luo Empire could only take part in a single match, and Zhang Geyang was definitely the best option that they had.


    It seemed that Tang Wulin had used some special methods to turn the tables in the end, but the fact of the matter was that he was now the most powerful soul spirit user in the entire Star Luo Empire.


    That little bastard!


    Right at this moment, a guard hurriedly rushed onto the rostrum before kneeling down beside Dai Tianling. "Your Majesty, I bring urgent news."


    "What is it?" Dai Tianling''s heart jolted upon hearing this. Ever since the Douluo Federation had displayed an intention to start a war, he had become very sensitive to bad news.


    "All of the plants in the entire city are inexplicably growing at an insane rate, and the flowers of many plants are now in full bloom, even though they should be out of season."


    "What?" Dai Tianling faltered slightly upon hearing this before immediately instructing, "Launch an investigation into the matter right away!"


    "Yes, Your Majesty."


    All of the plants in the city were growing at an insane rate. What was going on? Dai Tianling hurriedly rose to his feet and departed from the rostrum. He had to get to the bottom of this matter first. If it were the premonition for a major disaster, then he would have to make extensive preparations right away.


    "Tang Wulin, Tang Wulin, Tang Wulin..."


    When the Tang Sect vehicles left the sports stadium, a massive crowd had already gathered at the main entrance, and they were all chanting his name. Many of them wanted to see the Tang Sect Master up close, and the city''s soldiers had to intervene to clear out a path for the Tang Sect vehicles.


    Tang Wulin''s consecutive victories had forged a resounding reputation for him, and this was also the best possible form of promotion for the Tang Sect.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1336: The Reason For the Infernal Lightning Vines Betrayal

    After returning to the headquarters, Tang Wulin retired to his room right away, citing a need to rest.


    He took a moment to collect his thoughts, then began to review the soul spirit battle that had just taken place. It had been a very long time since he had last used the Son of Nature soul skill, and this was because it was extremely taxing on him. However, when he used it today, things were different.


    As the vast number of energy particles surged into his body from the outside world, his own body seemed to have reciprocated with these particles. It was like breathing, except energy was being inhaled and exhaled rather than air.


    The expenditure required to unleash the Son of Nature soul skill on this occasion was far less than he had expected, but the result had been just as potent. He had been able to force back Zhang Geyang so easily at the end of the battle as his body had been filled to the brim by the energy accumulated by the Son of Nature soul skill. With his immensely powerful physical constitution, his body had an incredible capacity for soul power, and Zhang Geyang was far from his peak condition, having just had two of his soul spirits destroyed, thereby further closing the power gap between the two of them.


    This had been an extremely thrilling and satisfying battle for Tang Wulin, and he had gained a much better understanding of his Son of Nature soul skill. Perhaps this was due to the blessings of the plane, or perhaps it was due to the awakening of the seed of nature. In any case, it was definitely a good thing.


    Unfortunately, it would still be very difficult to use Son of Nature in an actual battle as it required too much time to accumulate the power required to unleash the soul skill.


    After sitting in silence for a while, Tang Wulin finally called out for the Beautiful Silk Tulip in his heart.


    Light flashed, and the Beautiful Silk Tulip appeared before him with a faint smile. "You must have a lot of questions, my Lord. Here''s the simple answer: you are the Son of Nature, so no plant in this world can oppose you. The Infernal Lightning Vine was oblivious to this, so I asked you to release your Son of Nature aura to convince it."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I figured that out for myself; I''m just curious about how you convinced it to betray Zhang Geyang? For a soul spirit, the contract they enter with their Soul Master host is very important, and betrayal could result in dire consequences."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip nodded, and replied, "That is indeed true. Firstly, the Infernal Lightning Vine had absolute trust in you as you are the Son of Nature, the one chosen by the seed of life. This means you were chosen by nature and by all plants, so it has no reason to doubt you. As for why it made its decision so quickly, that''s because it''s bound by duty as a plant to protect you. Secondly, it''s not happy with its former host."


    "Oh? Does Zhang Geyang not treat it well? How could he not appreciate such a powerful soul spirit?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "It''s not that Zhang Geyang treated it badly; it''s that he broke their agreement. The Infernal Lightning Vine is a creature that''s fixated on only one thing in life, which is to constantly absorb lightning in order to make itself more powerful, and it''ll do that until the day it literally explodes. They know that what they''re doing will lead to their eventual demise, but that''s a deep-rooted part of their being that they can''t renounce. Back when the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda captured the Infernal Lightning Vine, Zhang Geyang had promised it that he''ll help it to continue to cultivate and resolve the issue of its suicidal method of cultivation.


    "He had told the Infernal Lightning Vine that with his help, it would be able to become the first-ever 100,000-year-old lightning attribute immortal plant. However, after it became his soul spirit, he had constantly made up all types of excuses to placate it. Further progression in the Infernal Lightning Vine''s cultivation would benefit Zhang Geyang as well, so if I''m not mistaken, it''s not that he didn''t want to help the Infernal Lightning Vine progress; he simply never had a way to accomplish this in the first place.


    "The Infernal Lightning Vine''s energy is too violent, and it incurs an enormous amount of risk during its cultivation. As a Soul Master, who would be willing to help their soul spirit cultivate, knowing that doing so would very likely lead to self-detonation of the soul spirit at some point? As such, not only did Zhang Geyang not help it continue to cultivate, he used the power of the soul spirit contract against the Infernal Lightning Vine, rendering it unable to cultivate. As such, Zhang Geyang was able to ensure his own safety, but at the expense of the Infernal Lightning Vine.


    "At the time, the Infernal Lightning Vine had already abandoned its physical body and become a soul spirit, so it would immediately perish if it were to leave Zhang Geyang. As such, it had constantly been waiting for an opportunity, and we provided this opportunity. As the Son of Nature, you''ll definitely be able to accomplish what Zhang Geyang is unable to achieve. In order to ensure its safety during its cultivation, the Infernal Lightning Vine requires a vast amount of life force energy, and who could provide it with more life force energy than you?"


    Tang Wulin nodded with a contemplative expression, and asked, "So you want it to become my last soul spirit?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip nodded in response. "This is a brilliant opportunity. Do you know how difficult it is for an Infernal Lightning Vine to reach this stage of development? An Infernal Lightning Vine appeared in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well in the past, but in order to ensure everyone''s safety, we had no choice but to destroy it. It''s destined to lead a life of loneliness and constant evolution through endless pain and hardships. What you witnessed today is only a fraction of the Infernal Lightning Vine''s power; it doesn''t dare to unleash its full power as it''s afraid of self-detonation. If it can develop to become a 100,000-year-old immortal plant, then it''ll be powerful enough to destroy a small city with a single all-out attack."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "Are you saying that the Infernal Lightning Vine has hidden abilities?"


    "Indeed. It''s said that prior to the disappearance of the Divine Realm, there was once a first-rank Lightning God. The Lightning God perished during a battle in the Divine Realm, and fell onto our Douluo Continent. It was only after this that the Infernal Lightning Vine came into existence, so in the plant world, we regard the Infernal Lightning Vine as a creature that possesses the bloodline of the Lightning God. It is the true number one destroyer of the plant world, and it''s unable to become an immortal plant as once it reaches that point, there''s a very good chance that it''ll be able to awaken the bloodline of the Lightning God.


    "The plane won''t allow this to happen, so all Infernal Lightning Vines have constantly been repressed, making them unable to develop to over 50,000 years of age. Hence, I believe that if you can nurture it to become an immortal plant, it''ll be sure to give you a brilliant surprise. You are blessed by the plane; you are the only one who can truly help it."


    A hint of enlightenment appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this. "I see. How is its current condition? Even if its contract with Zhang Geyang was flawed, surely breaking it would''ve harmed it quite severely."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip nodded in response. "It was able to survive by drawing upon your power as the Son of Nature, but it''ll need some time to recover. It''ll be quite some time before you progress to rank 90 anyway; once you become a Titled Douluo, it should be ready to fuse with you. As for its progression, that''s not something you have to worry about; plant system soul beasts like us will continue to evolve just by being by your side. Your friends are all almost at the Soul Douluo level, and all of my companions are very reluctant to part with you."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "They''ll be nourished even if they become my friends'' soul spirits! The seed of nature bestowed this Son of Nature status upon me, and we''ll be reconstructing Shrek Academy at the site where the seed of life is currently growing. When that time comes, the core of all life on the entire continent will be there, and that''ll be the perfect environment for all of you to grow and develop."


    "We''re all aware of this, and we''ll be sure to help you achieve this goal. However, it''s been quite a long time, and we still haven''t discovered any life force energy that''s particularly suitable for the seed of life to absorb. Without sufficient life force energy, its rate of growth will be severely compromised, so please do pay more attention to this."

 Chapter 1337: Opportunity For Immortality

    "I''ll be sure to do so." This was indeed an issue. Up to this point, he still hadn''t found any noteworthy source of life force energy, and normal life force energy was simply far too insignificant to make a difference for the seed of life.


    After pondering the situation for a moment, Tang Wulin asked, "Is the Infernal Lightning Vine currently alright? Does it need me to help it in any way?"


    "No, just being inside your body is the best thing for it. It''ll continue to rest and recover at its own pace, and when you become a Titled Douluo, you can sign a contract with it right away. That Zhang Geyang''s physical constitution wasn''t good enough to maximize the power of the Infernal Lightning Vine anyway; you''ll be the perfect host for it. Also, with your Bluesilver Emperor martial soul, you''ll struggle to find another soul spirit more suitable for you than the Infernal Lightning Vine. After it fuses with your Bluesilver Emperor, your martial soul will definitely undergo a mutation.


    "With your status as the Son of Nature, it''s virtually certain that you''ll be able to provide the Infernal Lightning Vine with enough life force energy to help it become an immortal plant. What''s even more important is that you''re making us more and more hopeful that we''ll be able to attain immortality by following you."


    Tang Wulin fell into deep thought upon hearing this. From its outward appearance, the Infernal Lightning Vine did appear to be a vine. It was different from Bluesilver Emperor, but they were both plant system martial souls, so they shared quite a few similarities. Tang Wulin''s heart rate began to spike as he thought of the three abilities that the Infernal Lightning Vine had displayed. If it could become a 100,000-year-old immortal plant and could attack to its heart''s content without any fear of self-detonation, what would that be like?


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline had already bestowed upon him many explosive offensive abilities; if he were to add lightning attribute powers to the mix as well, then his explosive power would truly shock the entire Soul Master world.


    Zhang Geyang was most likely kicking himself right now. Not only had he failed to defeat Tang Wulin, he had also lost an extremely important soul spirit, which would undoubtedly significantly dent his powers. Without the Infernal Lightning Vine, there was most likely no chance for him to ever become a Limit Douluo, but that was obviously of no concern to Tang Wulin at all.


    It had been a long time since Tang Wulin had used his soul spirits in battle. He was more interested in honing his own powers, and overusing his soul spirits would develop a habit of reliance. Hence, he very rarely released them. It was also better for his soul spirits to remain inside his body to cultivate, and when the Tyrant Dragon soul spirit had been released, even Tang Wulin himself had been given a massive fright. It''s hundred-meter-tall frame truly resembled a mountain, and its destructive power had also increased drastically.


    Tang Wulin could sense that the Tyrant Dragon was only a sliver away from becoming a true dragon, and once it made the breakthrough, it would most likely undergo enormous changes. Tang Wulin couldn''t help but wonder what the Tyrant Dragon would be like following the breakthrough.


    It was already over 100 meters tall now; wouldn''t it become even more fearsome? Just the mere thought filled Tang Wulin with anticipation.


    After entertaining this train of thought for a while longer, Tang Wulin gradually entered a meditative state.


    Thus far, the Trial of Five Gods hadn''t actually been too taxing on his body, but the matches had been extremely mentally strenuous. He had faced two extremely powerful opponents, and his overall powers actually didn''t match up with theirs. He had only managed to secure the victories by taking advantage of his overall set of abilities and the lack of information his opponents had on him, and he had truly been forced to rack his own brains for strategies.


    There were three matches left, and each match was undoubtedly going to be more arduous than the previous one. The third match was going to be the battle of soul skills. A battle of soul skills was actually just a traditional Soul Master battle, where battle armor and weapons outside of martial souls were prohibited. Aside from that, there were no other restrictions.


    This was definitely going to be Tang Wulin''s most difficult match yet, second only to the final battle armor battle.


    His opponent was definitely going to be a Hyper Douluo, and most likely one that was going to be no less powerful than Zhang Geyang. In the face of absolute power, it was certainly not going to be an easy task for Tang Wulin to secure victory.


    However, he knew that the more arduous the battle was, the more beneficial it would be to his development, and the more seriously he would have to regard it. Even if he were to lose, he had to lose with dignity.


    ......


    "Boom!" The timer table was instantly reduced to dust before being incinerated into nothingness by blue flames.


    Zhang Geyang''s face was twisted with fury, and it had been many, many years since he had been this angry.


    When he had received En Ci''s invitation, he had accepted almost without any hesitation. What could be more enjoyable for him than to represent the Spirit Pagoda and crush the Tang Sect''s new sect master?


    Never did he think that he would lose, and he certainly would''ve never anticipated that even one of his soul spirits would be taken by his opponent.


    He could accept losing the match. After all, that was only a matter of reputation, and for a man of his powers and age, that was no longer something that he held in high regard.


    In contrast, he was much more focused on pursuing progression in his cultivation. He had been at rank 98 in soul power for many years already, and it was his lifelong pursuit to become a Limit Douluo. Only after reaching that level would he have a sliver of a chance at attaining immortality.


    During this recent period of time, he had been on the right track, and had everything gone smoothly, he may have been able to make the breakthrough once his Azure Jade Phoenix completed its evolution.


    However, the betrayal of the Infernal Lightning Vine had dashed all of his hopes. Without the Infernal Lightning Vine soul spirit, three of his soul skills and his overall powers would be negatively affected, and this was an irreversible blemish.


    There was no longer any chance for him to become a Limit Douluo, and just the mere thought made Zhang Geyang feel as if there were a dagger stabbing into his heart.


    He had been so close to his lifelong goal, yet his hopes had been dashed in the most brutal way right as he was about to reach the finishing line. This was truly unacceptable.


    "Tang Wulin!" Zhang Geyang spat through gritted teeth, and the resentment in his eyes made them appear as if they had also been ignited by infernal flames.


    Right at this moment, one of Zhang Geyang''s subordinates delivered a report in a rather uneasy voice. "Branch Chairman, the spirit envoy is here."


    "The spirit envoy?" The resentment in Zhang Geyang''s eyes faded slightly upon hearing this, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.


    This spirit envoy was very special, and Qiangu Dongfeng had called him in person, telling him to take good care of her.


    It was said that she had made a significant contribution to the Spirit Pagoda. As for exactly what this contribution was, Zhang Geyang didn''t know as this was information of the highest level of confidentiality in the Spirit Pagoda.


    However, what Zhang Geyang did know was that this spirit envoy was most likely going to become Qiangu Dongfeng''s granddaughter-in-law, and would hold a very important position in the Qiangu Family. He had known that she would be arriving soon, but he didn''t expect her to arrive quite this early.


    "Invite her to the conference chamber," Zhang Geyang instructed with a dark expression.


    When Zhang Geyang met the vastly renowned spirit envoy of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, he couldn''t help but be stunned by her beauty.


    It was no wonder that Qiangu Dongfeng wanted her to become his granddaughter-in-law; she was truly stunning! If he had been several decades younger, he would most definitely have been attracted to her as well. Furthermore, Zhang Geyang could detect a rather viscous sensation around her body; those were clearly extremely dense elemental fluctuations.

 Chapter 1338: Gu Yuenas Arrival

    She appeared to only be in her twenties, and it was truly remarkable that she had already attained her current level of power.


    "Greetings, Vice-chairman Zhang," Gu Yuena greeted as she extended a slight bow.


    The most high-ranked members of the Spirit Pagoda were the chairman, the two vice-chairmen, and the four spirit envoys. Gu Yuena was already part of that exclusive group, but her status still ranked slightly below that of Zhang Geyang.


    At this point, Zhang Geyang had managed to force a smile on his own face, and he said, "No need for formalities, Spirit Envoy; I hope you had a smooth journey. Are there any instructions from the chairman?"


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "The chairman has no instructions; I''m just here as part of my customary visit to the Dou Spirit Continent and Star Luo Continent following my induction as a spirit envoy."


    Zhang Geyang knew that the headquarters would periodically send someone to visit the Spirit Pagoda branches on the other two continents, and the fact that she had been entrusted with this duty on this occasion meant that she was most likely going to climb even higher up the ranks in the future.


    With Qiangu Dongfeng''s personality, he was most likely going to occupy the position of chairman until the day he died, so it was very likely that she would take over Leng Yaozhu''s position.


    "I heard that you''re Vice-chairwoman Leng''s disciple?" Zhang Geyang asked.


    "That''s right, it''s all thanks to my teacher that I''ve made it to where I am today," Gu Yuena replied while appraising Zhang Geyang.


    Even though he had already disguised his emotions very well, with her spiritual power, she was still able to sense that he was full of rage and resentment.


    Was it because of the Trial of Five Gods?


    Gu Yuena had heard about the Trial of Five Gods as soon as she arrived in the Star Luo Empire, and she had been quite surprised that Tang Wulin was participating in this trial. There was no way that he would''ve publicized his presence in the Star Luo Empire by proposing something like this, so it was most likely the case that the empire had set him up. The Trial of Five Gods truly was a high-pressure event! But then again, Tang Wulin had always flourished in the face of adversity and excelled at making the impossible possible.


    On the way here, she had watched Zhang Geyang and Tang Wulin''s battle on the soul television in the car. As such, she was already aware that he had secured two consecutive victories in the Trial of Five Gods. He had developed even further, and he was improving at a rate that exceeded her lofty projections. He was truly different now!


    Na''er''s heart was filled with elation for him, but that elation was also tinged with a hint of bitterness. The more powerful he became, the greater the likelihood that he would become her enemy in the future. She was currently controlling Gu Yuena''s body, so everything was fine, but once Gu Yue reawakened, she would be forced to shoulder her heavy burden again.


    You have to develop even faster, Big Brother!


    At the very least, he had to become powerful enough to be able to ensure self-preservation in the future.


    "You mentioned that you''re visiting the Dou Spirit Empire on your trip as well; have you already been there?" Zhang Geyang suddenly asked.


    Gu Yuena nodded in response. "I have, but by the time I got there, the Tang Sect had already declared war on us, and the situation is far from positive. Our Spirit Pagoda is currently under immense pressure on the Dou Spirit Continent, and many of our disciples are being restricted and monitored, which is why I arrived here a little later than I had planned."


    Zhang Geyang harrumphed coldly, "It''s downright laughable that a pathetic little empire like theirs dares to oppose our Spirit Pagoda! Let''s see if they can keep this up once the federal army arrives on their shores. The Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire should''ve ceased to exist long ago."


    The Spirit Pagoda was currently at the height of its powers in the federation, so if the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire were to be destroyed, then the Spirit Pagoda would undoubtedly be a major beneficiary.


    "Indeed, Vice-chairman Zhang," Gu Yuena affirmed in an indifferent manner.


    Zhang Geyang was currently in a very foul mood, so he didn''t want to speak with Gu Yuena any longer. "I''m sure you must be weary from your travels, Spirit Envoy; I''ll get someone to organize a place for you to rest, and I''ll set up a feast to welcome your arrival later."


    "Sure, thank you for your hospitality, Vice-chairman Zhang." Gu Yuena rose to her feet and extended another slight bow toward Zhang Geyang before departing with two of his subordinates.


    For some reason, Zhang Geyang was suddenly struck by a sense of familiarity at the sight of her departing figure. She seemed to be giving off an aura that was rather familiar to him.


    ......


    "Two consecutive victories! The Tang Sect Master is amazing! I can''t believe he managed to get back-to-back wins in the Trial of Five Gods. His soul spirits were so powerful; my favorite one is that golden dragon. It was so cool, and I''ve never seen a dragon with two horns and five-clawed before. It didn''t have any wings, but it was fast enough to keep up with even that Infernal Flame Beast."


    "I prefer the giant soul spirit that appeared at the end. It was so badass! And it looked like it was over 100 meters tall. I don''t know much about soul spirits, but surely no other soul spirit can compare to its enormous mass."


    "Tch, you guys don''t know anything; the most powerful soul spirit is that humanoid one. All soul beasts that can adopt human forms are Great Beasts, and didn''t you see the orange-golden soul rings that Sect Master Tang had? Those had most likely been provided by that soul spirit. It looked like that soul spirit didn''t participate directly in the battle, but it definitely played a pivotal role in the final outcome. At the very least, it was most likely the one that tamed the Infernal Lightning Vine."


    "Haha, speaking of the Infernal Lightning Vine, that was hilarious! That Spirit Pagoda chairman instantly lost the battle after his soul spirit betrayed him; I bet he''s coughing up blood right now!"


    "Indeed, I wonder if he''s going to require therapy after this."


    "You two are so mean! Didn''t you see how enraged poor Chairman Zhang was at the end? He even broke the rules to attack Sect Master Tang. Having said that, Sect Master Tang really is amazing; he managed to force back Chairman Zhang with ease!"


    "I don''t care about all that; I''m just swooning over his looks! He''s so handsome it''s downright unfair! I want to bear his children!"


    "You''re a vulgar pervert! I only wish for a loving and emotionally fulfilling relationship with Sect Master Tang."


    "Suuuuure, an emotionally fulfilling relationship is definitely all you want."


    Virtually the entire Star Luo Empire was discussing Tang Wulin, and there were all types of rumors and stories being spread about him. For example, the words of gratitude that he had extended toward everyone prior to entering the sports stadium had been heavily romanticized, to the point that people were proclaiming that just his voice alone was an all-curing panacea.


    His exceptional looks, his lofty status, and his incredible powers quickly made him a household name in the entire empire, and everyone became even more eager to see the third match.


    Tickets were completely sold out, and even some high-ranking societal figures were searching for tickets through all types of avenues. The prices of tickets on the black market had been bid up to astronomical sums, and that was a clear indication of just how alluring the Trial of Five Gods was.


    In this current climate, Tang Wulin seemed to be more like a celebrity than a Soul Master. At the very least, his popularity would only continue to increase until he suffered a defeat, and many people were counting down the hours to the next match.


    The third soul skill battle was going to be a traditional Soul Master battle, and everyone was already making guesses about who would represent the Star Luo Empire.


    Huang Zhengyang and Zhang Geyang had both been defeated, so the field of candidates that could represent the empire in the soul skill battle was very small.


    It had to be someone of the Hyper Douluo level or above, and on top of that, they had to possess soul skills that were sufficiently powerful to defeat Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 1339: Obtaining the Dragon Crystal

    The Star Luo Empire had to win this match no matter what. If this were a best-of-five trial and Tang Wulin won another match, then he would sweep the Star Luo Empire three to zero. Even if the empire were to win the final two matches, the overall victory would still belong to Tang Wulin.


    It was a completely unfair condition that Tang Wulin had to win all five matches of the Trial of Five Gods, so it was easier for everyone to accept this as a best-of-five trial.


    They were all looking forward to seeing Tang Wulin''s performance during the soul skill battle, and they were also speculating about who would be the one to represent the empire. All types of rumors and theories were being passed around, and the hype surrounding the match was at an all-time high.


    Early the next morning, Tang Wulin snuck out of the hotel, accompanied by a woman with a hood over her head.


    Heaven Dou City had been extremely lively and bustling the past few days, with many people from nearby cities flocking to the capital. Even those who didn''t have tickets wanted to experience the atmosphere of the Trial of Five Gods in the city.


    "There''s really no need for you to go out of your way to accompany me, Your Majesty," Tang Wulin said to the woman beside him.


    The hooded woman was none other than Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    Yali smiled, and replied, "The glory of the Trial of Five Gods belongs not just to the Tang Sect, it belongs to the academy as well. Even if you had lost the first two matches, it wouldn''t have impacted your body much, but this match is different, so I have to come with you to ensure your safety. On top of that, the Star Luo Empire has already exposed itself to be completely shameless by publicizing your identity and forcing you into this Trial of Five Gods, so we have to prepare some countermeasures."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response and didn''t say anything further.


    As he was having breakfast earlier, the Holy Spirit Douluo had come to find him and told him that she would be accompanying him to the sports stadium.


    Tang Wulin had chosen to walk to the stadium for a very simple reason: the Tang Sect vehicle simply drew too much attention, and it would most likely take even longer to drive through the crowd that would inevitably gather than to go to the venue on foot.


    Hence, he and Yali had put on hooded activewear along with masks and sunglasses, so no one would be able to identify them. On top of that, Tang Wulin had used his spiritual domain to alter their auras.


    As they were walking along, they occasionally caught sight of people holding newspapers with Tang Wulin''s photograph printed on them, and Yali couldn''t help but chuckle, "I feel like the entire Star Luo Empire knows who you are at this point."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "The federation will most likely have been made aware of this as well; there''s going to be some trouble when we get back."


    Yali replied in a calm voice, "Some things simply have to be done; it''s about time we spoke up. This isn''t necessarily a bad thing as you can take advantage of this opportunity to rally the allies of Shrek Academy under your flag. Otherwise, you would have to think of other ways to increase your popularity and heighten your reputation, so this makes things a lot more convenient."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this. "Do you mean... Aren''t we getting ahead of ourselves a little, Your Majesty?"


    Yali smiled, and replied, "Time is of the essence. Also, I''m guessing you''re not aware of just how much influence our Shrek Academy has. All will be revealed to you when the time comes."


    In the distance, the sports stadium was already visible to Tang Wulin and the Holy Spirit Douluo, and they could see that the entrance was completely packed with people. Some of them had gathered here to watch the large screen, some were hoping to buy second-hand tickets, and some were waiting for Tang Wulin''s arrival. It would be a wonderful experience if they could see the Tang Sect Master up close and hear his all-curing voice.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Looks like we made the right decision to come here on foot; the Tang Sect vehicles most likely wouldn''t even be able to enter the stadium!"


    There were many workers who were maintaining order, but there were simply too many people gathered here. The Star Luo Empire clearly hadn''t expected the Trial of Five Gods to become this popular, and things were rather chaotic.


    Tang Wulin and Yali snuck into the crowd and made their way toward the entrance. Right at this moment, a stir ran through the crowd in the distance as they caught sight of a group of Tang Sect vehicles.


    "Sect Master Tang is here!" someone suddenly yelled, and the entire crowd immediately flooded toward that direction, creating a large pocket of space around Tang Wulin and the Holy Spirit Douluo.


    The two of them exchanged an amused smile before calmly making their way over to the entrance. When Tang Wulin displayed his identification documents, the workers at the entrance were all completely blindsided, and they cast a glance toward the massive crowd in the distance before hurriedly ushering the two of them into the venue.


    After entering the sports stadium, Tang Wulin shook his head with a wry smile. "Judging from the expressions of the workers at the entrance, this trick most likely isn''t going to work tomorrow."


    "You''re the Tang Sect Master and the main attraction here; you''ll definitely be granted passage into the venue. I''m sure the Star Luo Empire will step in to ensure that this chaos is resolved."


    Tang Wulin made his way to the resting area, and at this point, the entire sports stadium had already been packed to the rafters. Aside from the rostrum, there were some designated booths in the sports stadium, and one of them belonged to the Spirit Pagoda.


    Zhang Geyang was seated in the Spirit Pagoda booth with a dark expression, while Gu Yuena sat calmly beside him.


    Zhang Geyang had approached En Ci the day before and expressed a desire to represent the Star Luo Empire in this third match, only to be turned down by En Ci, so he wouldn''t even have a chance to exact his revenge. It made sense considering he had already been defeated by Tang Wulin, and the rules of the Trial of Five Gods stated that no one person could represent the Star Luo Empire in more than one match.


    Zhang Geyang had mostly recovered from the match, but the dent in his powers was permanent. He had stayed up the entire night, trying to think of a way to rectify the situation, and the only plausible course of action he could think of was to kill Tang Wulin and take back his soul spirit.


    Tang Wulin was currently a Soul Douluo and had a full set of soul spirits, which meant that he wouldn''t be able to fuse with the Infernal Lightning Vine in the immediate future. He didn''t know how Tang Wulin had managed to make the Infernal Lightning Vine pledge its loyalty to him, but there was still a chance for Zhang Geyang. Before Tang Wulin fused with the Infernal Lightning Vine, he could take back the Infernal Lightning Vine and restore the contract between them to recover his powers. It would still be more difficult for him to become a Limit Douluo than it had been in the past, but at the very least, it would be a possibility.


    Hence, Tang Wulin had to die. Only then would he be able to recover his soul spirit.


    Even just by sitting beside Zhang Geyang, Gu Yuena could sense the burning resentment in his heart. She was naturally able to guess the reason for this. Following her arrival the day before, she hadn''t asked Zhang Geyang any questions about the soul spirit battle as she didn''t want to bring up a topic that was clearly still very painful for him. However, it seemed that he wasn''t willing to simply give up on the matter.


    Gu Yuena lowered her head slightly, and a hint of killing intent flashed through her eyes. Anyone who dared to plot against Tang Wulin had to die!


    In the stadium, the announcer was currently introducing the rules and tradition of the soul skill battle of the Trial of Five Gods, and the spectators were all extremely excited. The burning question in everyone''s mind was which Soul Master the Star Luo Empire was going to send out. Shrek''s Six Monsters were also wondering the same thing. They had made it into the sports stadium with great difficulty in a Tang Sect vehicle.


    The crowd outside had been extremely displeased by Tang Wulin''s absence, and they held up the group of Tang Sect vehicles for close to half an hour before the imperial military stepped in to address the situation and grant the Tang Sect vehicles free passage.


    Who was his opponent going to be? It definitely wasn''t going to be En Ci. He was currently sitting beside Dai Tianling in a calm and composed manner.


    On Dai Tianling''s other side was the Smiling Douluo, and true to his Douluo Title, he was beaming from ear to ear. It was no wonder that he was in such a good mood; he had just obtained a Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal from En Ci as part of their bet from the day before.


    No matter how reluctant En Ci was to hand over the crystal, he couldn''t not follow through with a bet that had been made with the emperor as the witness!

 Chapter 1340: Qilin Douluo

    What could make him happier than for the Tang Sect to obtain such a precious treasure?


    "Fatty, tell Sect Master Tang that I would still like an opportunity to enter that place. If you have any conditions, state them and I''ll do my best to satisfy you," En Ci said in a serious voice.


    Hu Jie glanced at him before replying, "I''ll pass on the message. As for whether the sect master agrees or not, that''ll be up to him. By the way, who''s going to be representing the empire today?"


    A mysterious look appeared on En Ci''s face. "You won a Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal from me yesterday; what kind of opponent do you think I''ll organize for your sect master today? Let me put it in simple terms for you; your sect master won''t even have a 10% chance of winning the next three matches."


    "Oh?" Hu Jie raised an eyebrow as he countered, "What did you say about our sect master''s chances yesterday? Was it 20% or 10%? If 20% in your eyes equates to 100%, then can I interpret less than 10% as the equivalent to over 80%? I actually have to thank you; your prophecies have been the best luck charm that we could ask for, hahahaha!"


    En Ci''s eyelids twitched in the face of Hu Jie''s mockery. He was cursing Zhang Geyang internally. Zhang Geyang may have lost a soul spirit, but he had lost something just as if not more precious.


    If it weren''t for his absolute confidence in Zhang Geyang, he would''ve never offered his Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal in a bet. He had done so as he knew that there was no way that Zhang Geyang would hold back, but who would''ve thought that he would still lose despite that?


    It was quite clear that Tang Wulin was harboring some kind of secret, and it was exactly this secret that had allowed him to complete that stunning turnaround. Even now, En Ci still had no idea what that secret was, but he believed that in the face of absolute power, everything else was inconsequential.


    This soul skill battle was going to be the most direct clash between Soul Masters, and it was a test of pure power. He was confident that Tang Wulin wouldn''t be able to create another miracle under these circumstances.


    "Now then, please welcome our two competitors. As usual, from the Tang Sect, we have Sect Master Tang Wulin, and representing the Star Luo Empire..." The announcer intentionally paused here to create suspense, and everyone''s attention was drawn to the other entrance.


    "Qilin Douluo Tong Yu!"


    As soon as this announcement was made, the entire spectator stands instantly erupted into a frenzy.


    The Smiling Douluo''s expression abruptly stiffened, and he hurriedly turned toward En Ci. "Tong Yu? He''s back?"


    It was En Ci''s turn to smile now. "Indeed, and he''s the perfect choice for this match, isn''t that right, fatty?"


    The Smiling Douluo''s expression darkened slightly upon hearing this. Even if En Ci were to participate in the battle himself, he wouldn''t be this concerned. After all, the worst thing that could happen was a defeat for Tang Wulin. However, this Qilin Douluo was different.


    A man slowly made his way into the stadium from the entrance, and his appearance was quite frightening. He was around two meters tall, and was extremely muscular. In particular, his arms were even thicker than the legs of the average adult man. Those musclebound arms were bared to reveal a layer of vibrant five-colored scales, that gave off a very menacing appearance.


    The colors of his eyes were also very strange; one of them was blue while the other was red. His blue eye seemed to be able to freeze the beholder''s soul, while his red eye seemed to be filled with scorching flames.


    In contrast with the handsome and well-built Tang Wulin, this was like a showdown between a hero and a demon.


    Everyone in the entire empire had heard of Qilin Douluo Tong Yu. He was also from Monster Academy, but in contrast with the other students of the academy, he had truly become a monster.


    When Tong Yu had first awakened his martial soul, it had been a dog-type martial soul, and his innate soul power had only been at the second rank. As such, he wasn''t very suited for cultivation, but he had awakened soul power nonetheless, so his family had suggested that he pursue mecha piloting.


    However, Tong Yu refused to comply to this. He had grown up idolizing heroic Soul Masters, and he vowed to become a powerful Soul Master. After that, the first half of his life was a true feel-good story.


    With his resolute determination and impeccable work ethic, he constantly improved and finally managed to just barely earn enrollment into an elementary Soul Master academy.


    He worked harder than everyone else to keep up with his peers, but due to his lackluster aptitude, the fruits of his labors were quite barren.


    As a result, he was unable to graduate, and he didn''t even make it to rank 20 in soul power at the time.


    This dealt Tong Yu a very heavy blow, and on top of that, the girl of his dreams at the time had abandoned him for a student that had made it to an intermediate Soul Master academy. At the height of his rage and despair, Tong Yu did something unthinkable and chugged down a whole bottle of insecticide to commit suicide.


    By the time his family discovered what he had done, he was already frothing at the mouth and completely unconscious. After being taken to the hospital, the doctors had concluded that he was beyond saving.


    Just as his family was preparing for his funeral, a startling turn of events unfolded. Scales began to appear all over Tong Yu''s body, and his aura also began to change.


    After that, he woke up.


    Following that ordeal, Tong Yu had become a lot more reclusive and quiet. At the same time, his cultivation rank had swelled to almost 30, which was very remarkable for someone of his age at the time.


    However, his appearance had been altered significantly. His body had become extremely muscular, and his skin was covered in irregular five-colored scales. This gave him a very unsettling appearance, and in the eyes of everyone else, including his own family, he was a monster.


    During the next few years, he was constantly cultivating by himself in his room, and the lack of acceptance from the outside world gradually exacerbated his reclusive personality. That was until Monster Academy discovered him and took him away. Following a routine examination, the academy discovered that his martial soul had mutated after his attempted suicide. As a result, he had awakened an extremely recessive part of his bloodline, so essentially, his martial soul had undergone a second awakening.


    Following an evaluation, it was determined that this martial soul was the Qilin, a type of ancient divine beast. Due to the fact that the Qilin bloodline in his body was far too diluted, even though it had been awakened, it was very impure, and that was what had resulted in the changes in his appearance. Furthermore, these changes were irreversible.


    After that, he remained in Monster Academy to cultivate. This was the opportunity he had always wanted, and his stellar work ethic, combined with the exceptional resources offered by Monster Academy, allowed him to develop at a rapid rate. Within the span of just a few years, he became the top prospect among the younger generation of the academy. However, it was also during this time that the flaws in his personality began to show.


    During a sparring match, he almost beat a student to death, and he was handed down a severe punishment by the academy.


    After that, he became even more reclusive and focused entirely on cultivation. He became a Titled Douluo at 24, and a Hyper Douluo at 30. Up to this point, his life story was still a very inspirational one.


    However, a major event then took place in his life not long thereafter.


    Hatred had become a deep-rooted part of his being, and he could never forget the root cause behind his suicide attempt. After he became a Hyper Douluo, he sought out the female student who had abandoned him. At that point, she was already married and had a child. In his fit of maddened fury, he maimed and slaughtered her right in front of her child.


    After that, he did nothing to cover his trail and voluntarily handed himself in. This was, of course, a positive gesture, but the crime that he had committed was simply far too heinous. Not only had he killed someone, he had killed the mother of a child right in front of the child in one of the most cruel acts imaginable.


    Following the event, the child was severely traumatized, but as a Hyper Douluo, there was no way that Tong Yu could be treated as a normal criminal.


    In reality, if he had attempted to escape, there wouldn''t have been many people on the entire continent who could''ve stopped him.


    In the end, the fault was attributed to Monster Academy. Not only did an academy have to provide instruction to its students, it also had to teach its students how to be a good human being; Tong Yu''s actions were a clear manifestation of the flaws in the academy''s educational ethos.

 Chapter 1341: Nine Red Soul Rings

    As the principal of Monster Academy, En Ci had been furious, and he took Tong Yu back to the academy in person to execute him.


    Tong Yu offered no resistance throughout the entire process, and after ascertaining the sequence of events that had led up to his heinous crime, En Ci was very hesitant about how to proceed.


    It was extremely difficult to produce a Hyper Douluo, particularly one like Tong Yu, who was willing to remain in the academy, but this matter couldn''t just be settled without any consequences being handed down.


    Thus, after extensive discussions with the officials of the empire, they decided to give Tong Yu some leniency. All powerful beings at the Titled Douluo level or above had certain amnesty rights, but Tong Yu''s crime was far too heinous to simply go unpunished. As such, he was given a sentence of 50 years imprisonment, and he was prohibited from owning a suit of battle armor for the rest of his life. At the same time, he would have to remain in Monster Academy for as long as he lived, unless the academy gave him express permission to go elsewhere.


    In the end, En Ci had saved his life, but also taken away his freedom, and in a sense, Tong Yu had become the guardian of Monster Academy.


    It had been 37 years since that incident, and Tong Yu was close to 70 years of age. En Ci was the only one that he took orders from, and he was technically a secret guardian of Monster Academy. There were very few people even among the academy''s students who were aware of his existence.


    The Tong Yu incident was an important factor behind why En Ci was so strict to Long Yue, especially when it came to emotional control.


    The general public had been extremely displeased by this outcome, and signed a petition to have Tong Yu executed. In the end, he was only able to survive as the officials and Monster Academy had stood up against the social pressures until the incident was gradually forgotten.


    As such, all of the spectators had erupted into a frenzy upon hearing the words "Qilin Douluo Tong Yu".


    "Piss off, you murderer!"


    "Why is a murderer representing our empire? Who gave him that right?"


    "Execute him!"


    A series of enraged voices rang out, and the atmosphere of excitement in the stadium instantly turned into one of fury.


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback by this response as he waited near the other entrance. He didn''t know who this Qilin Douluo Tong Yu was, but what he did know was that he definitely wasn''t on the list of potential opponents that the Smiling Douluo had outlined for this match.


    However, from the reaction of the spectators, Tang Wulin could tell that this Qilin Doluo was quite renowned. No, to put it more accurately, he seemed to be extremely notorious.


    How could the Star Luo Empire have chosen someone like him to participate in the Trial of Five Gods?


    On the rostrum, Dai Tianling''s brows furrowed tightly as he turned to En Ci with displeasure in his eyes.


    This was the Trial of Five Gods! How could a criminal represent the empire during such a sacred event?


    Dai Tianling was suddenly struck by the feeling that he was too trusting of this teacher of his. Choosing Zhang Geyang the day before had already been a very controversial decision, yet he had managed to even outdo that today. Even if Tong Yu were to win this match, there would still be no glory for the empire. How pitiful was it that their empire had to turn to a criminal to defend its honor?


    En Ci stood up from his seat before half-kneeling in front of Dai Tianling as he said in an earnest manner, "Your Majesty, Tong Yu has always been waiting for an opportunity, and this is extremely important for him. I can guarantee you that he won''t bring shame to our empire. He''s waited 37 years for this day, so please grant him this opportunity, Your Majesty. After this match, I''m willing to accept any punishment you wish to pass down onto me."


    Dai Tianling didn''t know why En Ci had made this decision, but En Ci''s earnest display showed him that there had to be a legitimate reason for this. As such, his expression eased slightly as he hurriedly helped En Ci to his feet. "Please don''t be like this, Teacher; I have trust in you."


    "Thank you, Your Majesty." En Ci turned and cast his gaze toward Tong Yu with an encouraging expression.


    Go and do what you want to do, Tong Yu!


    Even in the face of all of the abuse being hurled at him by the spectators, Tong Yu remained very calm. He had already faced the exact same thing several decades ago, and this was an extremely important day for him, so nothing in the outside world mattered in his eyes.


    All of the abuse and resentment being directed toward him was inconsequential, and he looked straight ahead as he strode directly toward the competition platform.


    The protective barrier rose up to cut off all sound from the outside world, and a cold look appeared in Tong Yu''s eyes.


    Tang Wulin also strode onto the competition platform. He was unable to sense his opponent''s exact cultivation rank, but he knew that this definitely wasn''t going to be an easy opponent.


    The announcer was afraid to rile up the spectators any further than they already were, so he immediately announced the commencement of the match without wasting any time.


    Tong Yu didn''t immediately attack. Instead, he threw his head back and roared to the heavens.


    The sound from the outside world couldn''t be heard from within the protective barrier, but the sounds that rang out within the barrier were audible to everyone outside.


    Tong Yu''s roar sounded like a pride of lions roaring in unison, and his voice managed to drown out the collective voices of the 100,000 spectators present. A series of soul rings then began to emerge beneath his feet, and Tang Wulin was stunned to discover that all of Tong Yu''s soul rings were red. There were nine of them in total, and as they emerged, Tong Yu''s aura began to swell at an insane rate.


    Never had Tang Wulin ever seen or heard of someone who possessed nine 100,000-year-old soul rings. This indicated that he possessed at least 18 soul skills, and all of them were definitely going to be extremely fearsome.


    Tang Wulin could also hear an undertone of frustration and fury in Tong Yu''s roar, as if he were trying to release all of his pent-up emotions through his voice.


    Everyone''s expressions changed drastically at the sight of the nine red soul rings that had emerged from beneath his feet, and the spectator stands were stunned into silence.


    Inside the Spirit Pagoda booth, Zhang Geyang was also astonished by this incredible spectacle, but he then quickly burst into laughter. "Fantastic! I didn''t think that Monster Academy would have someone like this up their sleeve; En Ci really is pulling out all the stops for this Trial of Five Gods!"


    Gu Yuena merely looked on in silence. Zhang Geyang was laughing, but there was clearly a hint of envy in his eyes at the sight of Tong Yu''s nine red soul rings.


    This was undoubtedly the ultimate pursuit of a Soul Master, and not even any of the Limit Douluos in history had ever achieved such an incredible soul ring configuration. Did this mean that Tong Yu was already a Limit Douluo?


    He had already been a Hyper Doulou 37 years before, and he had somehow managed to evolve all of his soul rings to the 100,000-year level, so what about his cultivation rank? 37 years was definitely enough for an outrageous talent like him to make that all-important breakthrough. Could it be that he was the Star Luo Empire''s second Limit Douluo?


    The same thoughts were running through the minds of almost everyone present. He was indeed a murderer, but he had already been imprisoned for 37 years. If he had become a Limit Douluo and could control his own power, then could he be forgiven? The opinions of some of the spectators were already beginning to sway.


    After all, this was a Limit Douluo in a world where power was revered above all else. A being of his caliber could perhaps play a pivotal role in deciding the fate of the entire empire if a war were to break out.


    There wasn''t even a single Limit Douluo in the Dou Spirit Empire, and even in the Douluo Federation, there were only several Limit Douluos in total. If the Star Luo Empire could add another Limit Douluo to their ranks, then the overall power of the entire empire would definitely be significantly enhanced.

 Chapter 1342: Five-elemental Domain?

    However, could he really be forgiven for the heinous crime that he had committed?


    A grim expression had appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he had also released his own martial soul.


    A series of soul rings emerged from beneath his feet, and his greenish-golden and orange-golden soul rings were still as eye-catching as ever, but in the face of the nine red soul rings, they were rendered rather insipid.


    Tang Wulin knew that Tong Yu was most likely going to be the most powerful opponent that he had ever faced, and he even suspected that his powers may have already surpassed those of En Ci.


    The thunderous roar continued to echo throughout the entire stadium, but Tong Yu had already lowered his head again and focused his gaze on Tang Wulin. The scales on his face and his red and blue eyes were very unsettling to behold, and without uttering a single word, Tong Yu suddenly sprang into action.


    The scales on his body abruptly expanded, and his stature also swelled to over three meters tall. He charged directly toward Tang Wulin with unstoppable might and those nine dazzling red soul rings revolved around him.


    Tang Wulin could clearly see that there was five-colored light emanating from his body. The light was quite bright and piercing to behold, and what was quite strange was that the surrounding air had begun to twist and warp. There seemed to be five types of elements surging toward the five-colored light around Tong Yu, but even Tang Wulin was unable to identify what those five types of elements were.


    Was this a domain? A spiritual domain? Was he a Limit Douluo?


    These were the first thoughts that occurred to Tang Wulin. He knew that he would be facing an extremely powerful opponent during this battle, but he didn''t think that he would be facing a Limit Douluo.


    At his current cultivation rank, he had no chance at all against a Limit Douluo.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath to compose himself. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to hold back at all today, and that this was going to be a battle of survival for him.


    Instead of retreating, he took a step forward before stomping a foot heavily down onto the ground. Golden scales instantly surfaced all over his body, and he also rapidly grew to over three meters tall. This was his Golden Dragon Body!


    A thunderous dragon''s roar rang out, and his eight soul rings instantly switched to his six golden soul rings, following which the first, third, and fourth soul rings lit up in unison.


    These soul rings corresponded with his Golden Dragon Body, Golden Dragon Roar, and Violent Golden Dragon Domain, respectively.


    In the face of the Golden Dragon Roar, Tong Yu only faltered momentarily before continuing to rush toward Tang Wulin, seemingly having been affected by the attack to a very minimal degree.


    Tang Wulin felt as if everything around him had suddenly congealed, making it impossible for him to even evade his opponent''s attack. As such, he could only raise his own fist and lash out in retaliation.


    "Boom!"


    The two fists collided, and Tong Yu wasn''t as powerful as Tang Wulin had imagined that he would be. However, there was a very special type of energy intermingled with his power; it was like a vortex that was drawing in Tang Wulin''s power.


    Only following this initial contact did Tang Wulin suddenly realize Tong Yu''s power wasn''t a traditional elemental power. Instead, it was five-elemental power. Among those five elements, water, fire, and earth were quite common, but metal and wood were extremely rare.


    The five-elements gave rise to and enhanced one another to produce a different type of power. This indicated that Tong Yu''s martial soul was most likely the Five-elemental Qilin.


    A resounding boom rang out, and Tang Wulin was forced to stumble back three steps, while Tong Yu was merely stopped cold in his tracks. It seemed that Tang Wulin had fallen to a disadvantage, but he was actually very relieved following the clash as he had verified that Tong Yu was not a Limit Douluo.


    His powers were at the Hyper Douluo level at most, and they were only comparable to those of a rookie Hyper Douluo who had only just made it to rank 95 in soul power. In that case, there was still a chance for him.


    After gaining the upper hand during that first clash, Tong Yu continued to press his advantage. He swept his left hand through the air to send a burst of five-colored light hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin, and within the five-colored light, Tang Wulin could feel that his soul power was seeping away at a rapid rate, as if it were being absorbed by his opponent.


    At the same time, Tong Yu''s fist arrived again, and Tang Wulin adopted the same countermeasures, clenching his right golden dragon claw into a fist as well to oppose his opponent''s attack.


    A resounding dragon''s roar rang out across the entire venue, and a giant dragon emerged from Tang Wulin''s back, then flowed all the way along his right arm before reaching his fist. This was his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!


    "Boom!" Once again, Tang Wulin was forced back three steps, while Tong Yu''s first soul ring lit up, and a giant Qilin projection emerged behind him.


    His right arm abruptly expanded, and scales emerged from beneath his skin as a string of dull cracks and pops rang out from his joints. This was his Qilin Arm!


    Tang Wulin''s cultivation rank was far inferior to that of his opponent, but he had supreme confidence in his own strength. He switched over to his original eight soul rings again, and his third soul ring lit up as a halo proliferated outward from beneath his feet.


    At the same time, his right arm also expanded, and he unleashed his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws.


    Giant claw projections emerged without any premonition, and they clashed with Tong Yu''s Qilin Arm, which was radiating bright five-colored light that had taken on the form of a Qilin.


    Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws combined the power of the Golden Dragon King and the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, the latter of which had virtually the sharpest claws in the entire world of soul beasts.


    As such, even the five-colored light conjured up by the Five-elemental Qilin was torn apart, and explosive power erupted in all directions as the claws projections continued on toward Tong Yu.


    Tong Yu''s third soul ring lit up, and he raised his left arm as a giant shield that was completely formed by scales appeared in front of him.


    "Boom!" Tong Yu was forced back a couple of steps by the force of the impact, but the light radiating from the red soul rings around him only brightened even further. He supported the shield with both arms, then instantly broke the sound barrier as he crashed directly toward Tang Wulin amid a resounding sonic boom.


    Tang Wulin stomped his right foot into the ground, and Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from his body to combine with his Golden Dragon King power. This was his Blue Emperor Dragon Shocks the Heavens.


    Another resounding boom rang out, and Tang Wulin was forced back while Tong Yu was stopped in his tracks again. Right at this moment, Tong Yu felt a burst of powerful suction force erupt from the ground down below, and it severely weakened his five-elemental domain.


    This was the Bluesilver Golden Array that Tang Wulin hadn''t used for a very long time, and its main ability was elemental stripping.


    Tong Yu''s five-elemental domain allowed him to absorb the opponent''s power for himself, so he was benefiting himself at the expense of his opponent. In contrast, Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Golden Array weakened his opponent for no benefit to himself, and he was using it precisely to weaken Tong Yu.


    Tong Yu harrumphed coldly as he let loose a loud roar, then made a grabbing motion toward Tang Wulin. His second soul ring lit up, and a massive five-colored hand appeared around Tang Wulin before grabbing onto him.


    This was his Five-Elemental Grip.


    He then used the second soul skill again, and another huge hand appeared, but this one balled up into a fist before striking Tang Wulin''s body. This was his Five-elemental Ram.


    The most fearsome part about Tong Yu''s attacks was that every single one of them was imbued with five-elemental power, and this unique power was very difficult for the opponent to nullify. If someone with a lesser physical constitution were in Tang Wulin''s shoes, their body would''ve most likely already broken down.


    Tang Wulin only had a chance to unleash his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body before he was struck by the Five-elemental Ram, and the scales on his body flashed erratically as he gave a muffled groan. Due to the restriction of the Five-elemental Grip, he wasn''t sent flying, but this was a very heavy blow. In particular, the injection of five-elemental power into his body was steadily chipping away at his powers.


    What could he do? There were no options open to Tang Wulin. He had been entirely suppressed by his opponent, and the vast disparity between their cultivation ranks made it very difficult for him to resist.

 Chapter 1343: Five-elemental Fire

    Tang Wulin''s sixth soul ring lit up, and he was forced to be the first one to use a soul skill of a higher caliber.


    A massive purple flower projection appeared behind him. The Bluesilver Golden Array had already crumbled after Tang Wulin was struck by that Five-elemental Ram, but when this giant flower appeared, the five-elemental power around Tong Yu and the Five-elemental Grip that was binding Tang Wulin suddenly transformed into specks of light that surged toward Tang Wulin''s body.


    Five-elemental power belonged to nature as well, so it was also prone to the effect of Devouring Heaven and Earth.


    With the assistance of Devouring Heaven and Earth, Tang Wulin''s aura swelled drastically, and his body shuddered slightly as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion to struggle free from the Five-elemental Grip. He spread his wings before flapping them vigorously, and actively unleashed an attack for the first time during this battle.


    It was his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Takes Flight!


    His blood soul fusion skills were one of his greatest trump cards, and the speed of this attack was simply extraordinary.


    He reached out with his golden dragon claws, and his body seemed to have transformed into a streak of light that virtually instantaneously reached his opponent.


    Tong Yu''s emotional fluctuations seemed to have subsided at this point, and two beams of dazzling light suddenly erupted from his blue and red eyes before intertwining as they hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin.


    What would happen when two completely contrasting powers, fire and ice, combined as one? This was a situation that Tang Wulin hadn''t encountered even in the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, but it was unfolding right before his eyes now.


    A resounding explosion rang out, and his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Takes Flight was stopped cold in its tracks. Tong Yu had already leaped into the air above him, and his first soul ring lit up. It was still his Qilin Arm soul skill, but on this occasion, the arm was burning with five-colored flames.


    These were five-elemental flames!


    Each 100,000-year-old soul ring could grant two soul skills, and Tong Yu was displaying this to Tang Wulin now. What was even more fearsome was that all of his soul skills were of the 100,000-year level!


    "Boom!"


    Tang Wulin was smashed straight into the ground, where he left a massive crater on the competition platform.


    Even though the five-elemental power he had been struck by had been significantly nullified by his Devouring Heaven and Earth, he had still been dealt an extremely heavy blow, and in the eyes of the spectators, the battle was already decided.


    However, Tong Yu wasn''t of the same opinion. When his attack had struck Tang Wulin, he could clearly feel that Tang Wulin''s body had become extremely flexible and supple, but also peerlessly solid and tough at its core. The supple part had nullified part of his power, while the tough part had resulted in backlash force that had stopped him cold in his tracks, thereby preventing him from being able to swoop in and press his advantage.


    After being slammed into the ground, Tang Wulin didn''t immediately get up. Instead, his body began to undergo a transformation. A series of giant Bluesilver Emperor vines emerged from the crater, and they were like bluish-golden giant dragons that swept toward Tong Yu.


    This was a combination of his Bluesilver Overlord Transformation and Bluesilver True Body!


    Those dragon-like vines intertwined in the air, and Zhang Geyang reflexively rose to his feet upon seeing this, thinking that this was his Infernal Lightning Vine. If Tang Wulin had already fused with the Infernal Lightning Vine, then he wouldn''t be able to recover his soul spirit even if he were to kill Tang Wulin.


    Upon catching a clear glimpse of the appearance of these vines, he immediately heaved a sigh of relief, but at the same time, his brows were tightly furrowed.


    Each and every vine was covered in bluish-golden scales, and they didn''t even look like plants anymore. In particular, their tips had taken on the form of rough dragon''s heads, and they were extremely dazzling to behold.


    The vines enveloped Tong Yu in the blink of an eye before attempting to bind onto him, and five-elemental flames erupted from Tong Yu''s body in retaliation to try and burn these vines. However, the scales on the surface of these vines were extremely tough, and even though they were somewhat affected by the flames, they still continued to converge around Tong Yu''s body.


    Right at this moment, Tong Yu''s fifth soul ring lit up, and five balls of light that were golden, azure, blue, red, and yellow in color emerged around him before exploding in unison.


    This was his Five-elemental Divine Lightning!


    A violent explosion rang out, and the five elemental powers instantly fused as one to form a five-elemental storm that forced back the converging Bluesilver Emperor vines. At the same time, Tong Yu clasped his hands together before raising them high over his head, and a vibrant five-colored blade emerged in his grasp before crashing down directly toward the core of the Bluesilver Emperor vines. This was his sixth soul skill, Great Five-elemental Divine Saber.


    The air twisted and warped in the wake of the Great Five-elemental Divine Saber, which was imbued with a peerlessly destructive aura.


    At the center of the Bluesilver Emperor vines, Tang Wulin re-emerged with a solemn expression. He seemed to have entered a very special state, and he clenched his right fist before slowly extending it as he took a step forward.


    Golden flames instantly rose up from his body, and his aura began to climb at an alarming rate. His outward appearance didn''t really change, but in that instant, even Tong Yu, who possessed the bloodline of the Qilin, felt as if he were facing an almighty being whom he couldn''t oppose.


    A golden path of light began to extend toward Tong Yu with Tang Wulin as its origin, and within that golden path, Tang Wulin''s fist was rapidly expanding.


    This was his Path of Regal Domination!


    "Boom!" A violent explosion of energy ensued, and Tong Yu was blasted up into the air. Countless wounds appeared over Tang Wulin''s body, and there were many sections of his dragon scales that had been torn open, but he still stood on the spot in a resolute manner. This was the might of the Path of Regal Domination; unless Tang Wulin were to be killed, there was no way that his opponent could force him to take a backward step.


    In the next instant, countless Bluesilver Emperor vines rose up before instantly converging to form a spear. This was his Blue Emperor Fury of the Masses, and it was being thrust directly toward Tong Yu, who had just been flung up into the air.


    The entire spectator stands were completely silent at this point; everyone had the entirety of their attention focused on this battle.


    As soon as the match had begun, Tang Wulin and Tong Yu had exchanged a series of devastating attacks, and both sides had directly fought fire with fire.


    Initially, it appeared that Tang Wulin had been forced onto the back foot, but he had quickly managed to claw his way back into the match. This undoubtedly indicated that his powers were already comparable to those of a Hyper Douluo!


    Furthermore, the battle between them was extremely spectacular with lights and flames of all types of different colors hurtling through the air. Tong Yu was like a vibrant and colorful monster, whereas Tang Wulin was the glamorous golden dragon warrior.


    In the eyes of many of the female spectators present, Tang Wulin was like a hero who was battling a demon, and they were completely entranced.


    In contrast, the people on the rostrum and the other powerful Soul Masters in the spectator stands were rather confused.


    The Smiling Douluo was one of those people. This Qilin Douluo Tong Yu didn''t seem to be as powerful as he had imagined!


    He had been very alarmed when he had heard that Tang Wulin''s opponent would be Tong Yu as he was aware of Tong Yu''s past criminal record. There were definitely some flaws in his personality, which could lead to him going overboard in this battle. The other reason for his concern was that all of the most powerful Soul Masters in the Star Luo Empire knew that this Qilin Douluo was the likeliest candidate to become a Limit Douluo. The main reason that Monster Academy had chosen to protect him following the crime that he had committed was his cultivation aptitude, so in the face of a powerful being of his caliber, Tang Wulin should''ve had no chance at all.


    However, the battle wasn''t progressing as the Smiling Douluo had expected. Tong Yu''s attacks were very fierce, but they seemed to be lacking in power. At the very least, the attacks definitely weren''t at the Limit Douluo level, and it was debatable whether he was even displaying Hyper Douluo level power.


    Of course, his Five-elemental Qilin martial soul was extremely powerful, but he was still unable to completely dominate Tang Wulin, and that came as quite a relief to Hu Jie, but also left him feeling quite perplexed.


    Could it be that not only had Tong Yu not improved during the past 37 years, he had regressed instead?


    Hu Jie wasn''t the only one perplexed by this; En Ci was also appraising the match with befuddlement in his eyes, so it was quite clear that Tong Yu should''ve been more powerful than his current display suggested.


    So what exactly was hampering his performance? Could it be that he was waiting for Tang Wulin to grow complacent before dealing a decisive blow to defeat him, or even worse... to kill him?

 Chapter 1344: Five-elemental Revolution, Qilin Transformation

    With that in mind, a hint of fear welled up in the Smiling Douluo''s heart. However, this was the Trial of Five Gods, so even he couldn''t intervene to stop the battle; he could only pray that Tang Wulin doesn''t fall prey to Tong Yu''s tricks.


    "Boom!" The Blue Emperor Fury of the Masses clashed with Tong Yu''s fists, and he was sent flying even higher up into the air.


    A series of Bluesilver Emperor vines then immediately erupted forth to form a giant net that swept toward him. At the same time, a resounding dragon''s roar rang out from the center of the Bluesilver Emperor vines, and a giant golden dragon emerged.


    In contrast with Goldsong, this golden dragon had a pair of wings and was over 30 meters in length. As soon as it appeared, the entire sports stadium was instantly basked in a golden radiance.


    It was as if countless giant dragons were roaring in unison, and the peerlessly powerful blood essence fluctuations radiating from Tang Wulin''s body struck all of the dragon-type Soul Masters present with an intense sense of pressure.


    To put it more accurately, all Soul Masters with beast martial souls were struck by the urge to bow down in subordination as if they had met their ruler, and there was no room for any emotions in their hearts other than fear and reverence.


    Fox King Su Mu sat bolt upright on the rostrum upon seeing this. Back when he had faced Tang Wulin during the youth tournament, he had initially gained the upper hand, only to be defeated due to the blood oppression that Tang Wulin was able to exert upon him.


    After so many years had passed, Tang Wulin''s bloodline aura had become countless times more powerful, and his Nine-tailed Fox bloodline was trembling in his veins.


    The protective barrier should''ve been able to filter out all types of energy fluctuations, including bloodline auras, so could it be that the reaction he was displaying was in response to just the sound alone? Was Tang Wulin truly already this powerful?


    As one of the Eight Monster Kings, he and all of the other kings had a virtually blind and unconditional confidence in Long Yue, but for the first time, Su Mu was beginning to wonder whether Long Yue would still be a match for Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was truly far too powerful. He had secured two consecutive victories in the Trial of Five Gods, and both of his opponents had been at or above the Titled Douluo level. Su Mu really didn''t want to admit it, but he was feeling completely inferior and defeated in the face of Tang Wulin. How was he supposed to overcome an opponent like this? They weren''t even on the same level anymore!


    The thunderous dragon''s roar had stunned the entire stadium, but all of the high-grade Soul Masters present were more astonished by the form that Tang Wulin was currently displaying.


    Those massive powerful vines were undoubtedly an extension of his martial soul true body, but what was that giant golden dragon? It definitely wasn''t a soul spirit as it was different from all of the soul spirits he had revealed the day before. Could it be that this was another martial soul true body?


    But even Soul Masters with twin martial souls couldn''t release both of their martial soul true bodies at once! This was simply unheard of! How had Tang Wulin managed to accomplish this?


    Indeed, there was no way for someone with twin martial souls to accomplish, but Tang Wulin never had twin martial souls to begin with. Even he hadn''t been aware that he was able to do this until he unintentionally discovered one day that his Bluesilver Emperor and bloodline power could be separated after he unleashed his martial soul true body.


    In a sense, this was like using two martial soul true bodies at once, but his Bluesilver Emperor could operate on his battle instincts alone, so his Golden Dragon King bloodline occupied the primary position.


    His Bluesilver Emperor martial soul was adept in control, while his Golden Dragon King bloodline was perfect for offense, and the combination of the two was an ideal match that drastically enhanced his combat prowess.


    Tong Yu had just been sent flying and was still reeling from the effect of the Blue Emperor Fury of the Masses when he was met by a charge from the Golden Dragon King True Body, which was hurtling toward him at over the speed of sound.


    This was a combination of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Roar, Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, and Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion. In that instant, Tong Yu had been completely forced onto the back foot, and he was also extremely stunned, not by Tang Wulin''s twin martial soul true bodies, but by his bloodline instead.


    Ever since his recessive Qilin bloodline had been awakened, his bloodline had never been suppressed by anyone else. However, in the instant that Tang Wulin revealed his Golden Dragon King True Body, Tong Yu instantly felt that his bloodline fluctuations had been quelled. For the first time ever, Tong Yu could sense a hint of fear originating from his Five-elemental Qilin bloodline, and that was undoubtedly going to severely affect his powers. On top of that, Tang Wulin''s ferocious attack had already arrived.


    Having been driven into a corner, Tong Yu took a deep breath, and a layer of five-colored light emerged from his body. The five-color lighted conjured up five giant runes of different colors beneath his feet, each of which corresponded with one of the five elemental powers that he controlled. As soon as these runes emerged, it was as if five giant vortexes had appeared in the air above.


    "Five-elemental revolution, Qilin Transformation!"


    Tong Yu swiveled around in mid-air, and abruptly transformed into a five-colored Qilin that was over 10 meters in length. In contrast with his ghastly human form, his Five-elemental Qilin form was a lot more majestic and spectacular. He opened his mouth to expel a burst of five-colored flames, which surged directly toward Tang Wulin, and Tang Wulin was instantly struck by a rush of dizziness.


    The Five-elemental True Flames clashed with his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens, and he felt as if his energy and soul power were being cleansed away. He then caught sight of a flash of light from the tip of the horn on the Five-elemental Qilin''s head, and in the instant that this light emerged, Tong Yu''s eighth soul ring also lit up.


    This was not good!


    An overwhelming sense of peril washed over Tang Wulin, and he could sense that his life was under threat. The five-colored light reached his glabella almost instantaneously, and his body began to tremble slightly from intense fear.


    His subconsciousness told him that this was not an attack that he could withstand, and that if he were to be struck by it, then the only possible outcome that awaited him was death.


    This was the power of a domain, and it was most likely a spiritual domain. With this Five-elemental Revolution domain, Tong Yu had managed to instantly enhance his own five-elemental powers and nullify the effect that Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline had on him.


    The Five-elemental True Flames didn''t seem to be a direct attack, but it was more powerful than any attack. In the face of the Five-elemental True Flames, at least 70% of the power of Tang Wulin''s attack had been nullified, and the streak of five-colored light that followed was the truly lethal blow.


    On the rostrum, Hu Jie had already risen to his feet with a horrified look in his eyes. This was what he had been most concerned about.


    En Ci and Dai Tianling''s expressions also changed drastically. They didn''t want to see the Tang Sect Master perish during the Trial of Five Gods, either! If that were to happen, their entire empire would have to bear the wrath of the Tang Sect, and in the face of the impending war, that would put them in an extremely perilous situation.


    In contrast, Zhang Geyang''s face had lit up with elation, but what he had failed to notice was that Gu Yuena''s body had suddenly become rather illusionary in appearance.


    Time seemed to have completely frozen in that instant. The reversal had taken place far too quickly. Tang Wulin had held a decisive upper hand just a moment ago, yet now, he was being faced with a lethal threat; who could possibly envision such a drastic turn of events?


    Tang Wulin knew that there was no way that he would be able to evade this attack, nor did he possess the power to withstand it. It was undoubtedly going to be a lethal strike, but in the face of this lethal threat, his body reacted on its own.


    Powerful energy fluctuations erupted forth, and the space around Tang Wulin''s body suddenly began to twist and warp. All of the spectators and the people on the rostrum were then struck by a sense of disorientation that caught everyone completely off guard.

 Chapter 1345: Time Reversal, Spiritual Domain

    In that instant, the world in the eyes of the spectators had become warped. This warping effect only lasted for an instant, but during that split second, they couldn''t hear any sound, and all they could see were warped rays of light; it was as if they were in a dream.


    They were then greeted by the sight of the giant golden dragon twisting around in a brilliant maneuver to evade the five-colored flames descending from above, then appeared beside the Five-elemental Qilin True Body before lashing out with its claws. The Golden Dragon King True Body held the upper hand both in terms of strength and in bloodline, so the Five-elemental Qilin was instantly sent flying.


    The entire stadium had erupted into a frenzy; even the most average person in the spectator stands had sensed something just now. What had just happened? Was it a hallucination?


    They had clearly witnessed the Golden Dragon King being struck by the Five-elemental True Flames, so how was it that not only had Tang Wulin evaded the Five-elemental True Flames, he had gained the upper hand as well?


    On the rostrum and in the booths, at least 10 people rose to their feet in unison. They could barely believe their own eyes!


    Even the steadfast Smiling Douluo was unable to control his own emotions, and cheered, "Nice!"


    En Ci was looking on in a slightly slack-jawed manner, while Dai Tianling''s expression was a mixture of relief and incredulity. What had just happened?


    "Time reversal!" En Ci murmured to himself in a stunned manner.


    In the air above, the luster radiating from the giant golden dragon''s body clearly dimmed for an instant as it swatted the Five-elemental Qilin away, but the golden radiance then quickly returned.


    That''s right, in that dire situation, Tang Wulin had used his spiritual domain. With his Time Reversal, he was able to alter the time within a small scope, thereby allowing him to react in the instant right before he was struck by the Five-elemental True Flames.


    Having evaded the Five-elemental True Flames, the subsequent attack unleashed by Tong Yu naturally didn''t pose anywhere near as much of a threat.


    This was the truly incredible part about the Time Reversal domain, and it was why the Smiling Douluo had been stunned when he discovered that Tang Wulin possessed such a domain.


    At this moment, not only was Tong Yu stunned by Tang Wulin''s abilities, Tang Wulin himself was just as astonished.


    The Five-elemental Revolution domain that Tong Yu had unleashed was a complementary domain that could nullify virtually all control system soul skills. On top of that, it could drastically enhance his powers and affinity with five-elemental power. Most importantly of all, it was a spiritual domain!


    This meant that Tong Yu had reached the Spirit Domain realm and had attained a spiritual domain. As such, his spiritual power wasn''t inferior to Tang Wulin''s, and he had most likely attained a spiritual domain prior to Tang Wulin, so his spiritual power likely outstripped that of Tang Wulin.


    Furthermore, that eighth soul skill of his was truly incredibly powerful. Even with Tang Wulin''s martial soul true body, Golden Dragon King bloodline, and Body Sect congenital secret method, he was still struck by an overwhelming lethal threat; who could possibly withstand such an attack?


    After Tong Yu was sent flying by Tang Wulin, five deep gashes had been inflicted onto his body, and five-colored scales rained down from above. However, he was too stunned to pay any heed to those injuries.


    What had just happened? He had just gained an absolute upper hand and was about to deal the decisive blow; how had things turned out like this instead? He had also been struck by a sense of disorientation just now, but due to his own immense spiritual power, he was able to return to his senses faster than everyone else.


    Was that a spiritual domain? How could someone have attained a spiritual domain at such a young age?


    This was the first time that the two had paused since the commencement of the match, and both of them had been stunned by one another''s powers.


    In the face of such a formidable foe, both of them had only respect and wariness in their hearts for each other.


    Tang Wulin swiveled around, and golden light rose up from his body, forming a cloud of faint golden mist around him; it was none other than his dragon''s repulse. At the same time, his bloodline aura became even more powerful, and he released his dragon''s might to its full extent.


    Even so, he was still appraising Tong Yu in a very cautious manner. He couldn''t afford to be struck by those Five-elemental True Flames again no matter what. When those flames had come into contact with his body, he felt as if all of his power had been cleansed away, and it was the first time that he had ever faced such a soul skill.


    Tong Yu appraised Tang Wulin intently, and said in a deep voice, "You''re very powerful. It''s a pity; if I still had time, I would really want to battle you again when you reach the Limit Douluo level. That would surely be a wonderful experience."


    This was the first time that Tong Yu had spoken during the match. His voice was rather coarse and husky, but it had a special allure that made it very distinct and unforgettable.


    Tang Wulin replied, "You''re even more powerful. I can sense that what you''re displaying now isn''t your full power; I hope you can show me everything you have."


    He had already completely cast the outcome of this match out of his mind. In contrast, he was much more interested in facing Tong Yu at his full power.


    Tong Yu didn''t say anything in response, but a mixture of emotions had appeared in his eyes, including anticipation, excitement, but also a hint of sorrow.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think back to a few moments ago, where he had almost been killed by Tong Yu''s Five-elemental Divine Arrow. In the instant that it was about to strike his head it suddenly veered off its original course, which meant that it would glance over his forehead rather than pierce straight through his brain.


    It was quite clear that Tong Yu had held back, and that he wasn''t as barbaric as he seemed.


    The two of them sprang into action again almost at the exact same moment, and Tang Wulin accelerated rapidly as he flapped his golden dragon wings. At the same time, a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted from beneath him, but as opposed to sweeping toward his opponent''s body, they were binding around him instead.


    With the vast cultivation rank disparity between the two of them and Tong Yu''s formidable Five-elemental True Flames, Tang Wulin knew that he wouldn''t be able to face his opponent with his Golden Dragon King True Body alone. As such, he had to change. One Bluesilver Emperor vine after another pierced into his massive dragon body, and as they did so, he quickly shrank down to only around 10 meters in length, which made him roughly comparable in size to the Five-elemental Qilin.


    His golden scales also took on a bluish-golden color, and his aura underwent a complete transformation, as if it had suddenly evolved. For the first time, the energy fluctuations emanating from his body were matching those of the Qilin Douluo.


    The Five-elemental Qilin faltered slightly upon seeing this. Was this a soul fusion skill?


    That''s right, it was a blood soul fusion skill, a perfect integration between Tang Wulin''s bloodline and martial soul.


    He had named this form "Dragon Emperor True Body", and this was one of the main trump cards leading into the Trial of Five Gods. This was a form that he had only managed to attain after reaching the Soul Douluo level, and he had achieved this by completely integrating his blood soul fusion skill into his overall combat prowess, rather than simply fusing a pair of soul skills as one.


    In his Dragon Emperor True Body form, every single attack he unleashed was going to be a blood soul fusion skill, and if he were to don his suit of battle armor, he would be in his ultimate form.


    On the rostrum, En Ci was sitting bolt upright in his chair. Even with his vast wealth of knowledge and experience, he felt as if he were on a rollercoaster ride. Just how many secrets and trump cards was Tang Wulin hiding?


    Many people, including En Ci, had simply written off Tang Wulin as the Tang Sect Master. It wasn''t that they thought that the Tang Sect didn''t have anyone else left; they were merely of the opinion that this was an unwise decision.


    Both the Heartless Douluo and Amorous Douluo were still around, and it simply made no sense for them to crown such a young man as their sect master. Even if he were destined to become a Limit Douluo in the future, assigning him such a heavy burden at such an early stage in his development could easily crush him.


    Even the Smiling Douluo had to correspond with the Amorous Douluo on multiple occasions to verify that Tang Wulin was indeed the Tang Sect Master, let alone everyone else.

 Chapter 1346: Spectacular Showdown

    However, during this Trial of Five Gods, Tang Wulin had displayed powers that far exceeded everyone''s imagination. Even if the Heartless Douluo and Amorous Douluo were present, they would definitely be just as shocked.


    Who could''ve possibly imagined that he would develop to such an extent in such a short time?


    Perhaps only the Heartless Douluo would find it slightly easier to come to terms with this as he had personally witnessed Tang Wulin receive the blessing of the plane, and circumvent that major disaster.


    After releasing his Dragon Emperor True Body, Tang Wulin''s aura transformed again. His violent aura had been completely subdued, and his eyes were shimmering with a purplish-golden light.


    In this state, Tang Wulin was experiencing a wonderful feeling, as if all of his abilities had been integrated with one another to perfection. This was the feeling that he had been pursuing during this recent period of cultivation, and now that it had finally arrived, he was ecstatic.


    He had to latch onto this feeling and grow accustomed to battling in this state; only then would he be able to further improve and become more powerful.


    Having reached his current cultivation rank, improvements in soul power were no longer important as he had built up a sufficiently solid foundation. If he wanted to become more powerful in the future, then he would have to consolidate his powers at his current cultivation rank.


    Just as the Amorous Douluo had once told him, even among Limit Douluos, not everyone was equal. There were beings like the Atlas Douluo, who was the undisputed most powerful being in the world, and on the other end of the spectrum were weaker Limit Douluos.


    Even the Amorous Douluo himself wasn''t considered to be all that powerful among Limit Douluos, and he had even admitted that he was no match for the Heartless Douluo and the Spirit Pagoda Chairman.


    What kind of Limit Douluo was Tang Wulin going to be in the future? This was a question that the Amorous Douluo had once posed to him.


    If Tang Wulin only wanted to be an ordinary Limit Douluo, the Amorous Douluo was absolutely confident that he would be able to reach that level in five years at most. All he had to do was to attain a spiritual domain during that time, and everything else would automatically fall into place. This was because he had already completely tapped into his latent potential, and his soul power would only continue to improve at a faster and faster rate, as opposed to what was the case with normal Titled Douluos.


    However, if he were to settle for that, then he would never be able to stand at the pinnacle of this entire world. The other path he could take was a slow and steady one, one where he ensured that every step he took contributed to a more solid foundation.


    Throughout this process, he had to completely understand himself and experience this world to its full extent. As the one who had been blessed by the ruler of the plane, this was the path that Tang Wulin should take.


    After the Amorous Douluo had given Tang Wulin this lecture, the Heartless Douluo had also supported this notion. He had set a target for Tang Wulin, which was to reach a level of power where he would be able to represent the entire Douluo Continent to face the Holy Lord of the abyssal plane. This was the responsibility delegated to him by the ruler of the plane, only by achieving this could he live up to his full potential.


    It was exactly because of this that the Heartless Douluo and Amorous Douluo had decided to instate him as the Tang Sect Master, even though he was only in his early twenties. By doing this, they would be able to support Tang Wulin with all of the resources of the entire Tang Sect in order to help him reach that level as soon as possible.


    There was no doubting Tang Wulin''s foundation; what he required the most now was experience and growth, and that was why they had chosen to send Tang Wulin on this trip as the Tang Sect representative.


    Otherwise, everything would have progressed a lot more smoothly had they sent the Amorous Douluo instead. A Limit Douluo would be treated with respect everywhere they went, and he wouldn''t have to deal with the pressures that Tang Wulin had to face.


    This was also why Tang Wulin had decided to participate in the Trial of Five Gods; he needed more pressure to facilitate his own growth.


    As it turned out, the two Limit Douluos had made a very wise decision. During this trip, Tang Wulin had evolved over and over again, and it almost seemed as if he were being reborn anew every single day.


    The Qilin Douluo was undoubtedly going to be an important stepping stone in this journey. Hence, Tang Wulin wanted to face the Qilin Douluo at his full power, just as he was looking forward to facing En Ci in the battle armor master battle that would conclude the Trial of Five Gods.


    Tong Yu could sense the powerful battle intent radiating from Tang Wulin''s body, and this was a very familiar sensation to him. Back in his youth, he had also experienced a similar process of constant growth.


    Compared with him, this young man had greater aptitude, as well as many other things that he didn''t possess.


    In that instant, a hint of envy had even welled up in his heart, but that irrational pang of emotion quickly vanished. He had taken the wrong route, so it was only natural that their paths had diverged. Otherwise, perhaps he would also be an adored hero of the empire.


    Not every powerful Soul Master enjoyed a smooth journey and developed to fulfill their full potential. There were ones like him, who made irreversible mistakes and permanently lost the ability to turn back. However, this opportunity was not something that he could relinquish no matter what.


    A thunderous roar rang out from the Five-elemental Qilin''s mouth, and scintillating light erupted from the Five-elemental Revolution domain. A five-colored light barrier instantly appeared around Tong Yu''s body; this was an indication that the five-elemental power around him had reached an extreme level of density. Within this five-colored light barrier, his aura swelled at an insane rate.


    In response, Tang Wulin raised his head and let loose a resounding dragon''s roar. There was no point in focusing on technique or fine details now; all he could do was put everything he had into this attack.


    He flapped his wings and unleashed his Blue Emperor Golden Dragon Takes Flight, propelling himself toward his opponent like a moth to a flame.


    Tong Yu also shot forth through the air at an incredible speed while blasting a plume of Five-elemental True Flames out of his mouth toward Tang Wulin.


    Having shrunk down to only around 10 meters in length, the Dragon Emperor True Body was clearly far more agile than before, and it twisted around to evade the Five-elemental True Flames before also blasting forth a burst of flames.


    The flames were of a dazzling golden color, and were imbued with a peerlessly powerful bloodline aura. There was no temperature to the flames, but they were still extremely formidable.


    The Five-elemental Qilin shifted horizontally in a maneuver that defied the laws of physics to evade Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor True Flames, and the two clashed in mid-air.


    Just as Tang Wulin didn''t dare to be struck by the Five-elemental True Flames, the Five-elemental Qilin was also very careful not to come into contact with the Dragon Emperor True Flames.


    The Dragon Emperor True Flames were imbued with the enormous bloodline aura of the Golden Dragon King, and being struck by it would result in complete bloodline suppression. At the same time, the Dragon Emperor True Flames also contained a virtually deranged destructive aura, and even Tang Wulin himself didn''t know what would be the consequence of being affected by that aura.


    The destructive aura within the Dragon Emperor True Flames stemmed from the essential power of the Golden Dragon King, and it was also the best way that Tang Wulin had found to release the Golden Dragon King''s innate destructive aura.


    Thus, the two clashed over and over again, creating a spectacular light show in the process. Neither of them were using any more powerful soul skills as there was no margin for error at this point in the battle.


    This match was dragging on far longer than the previous two matches in the Trial of Five Gods, and it was also by far the most spectacular battle.

 Chapter 1347: Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier

    The match soon reached the half-hour mark, and much to everyone''s surprise, Tang Wulin was able to hold his own after unleashing his Dragon Emperor True Body.


    This was a Hyper Douluo level clash, and both sides were displaying powers beyond those of the average Hyper Douluo. Tang Wulin''s attacks became more and more ferocious as he fought, and his abilities were constantly being integrated with one another, putting the Five-elemental Qilin under immense pressure. This type of battle was a process of constant evolution for Tang Wulin, and it was truly an exhilarating experience.


    The aura of the Five-elemental Qilin was also becoming more and more powerful, and with the enhancements he received from his Five-elemental Revolution domain, he was able to maintain a slight upper hand over Tang Wulin.


    If any of his Five-elemental True Flames were to come into contact with Tang Wulin, then Tang Wulin would be forced to use his Time Reversal domain to take evasive measures. Conversely, having learned his lesson from before, Tong Yu was also able to react to Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal domain appropriately.


    As a complementary spiritual domain, the Five-elemental Revolution domain was relatively less taxing on Tong Yu''s spiritual power, whereas Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal Domain had the ability to warp time, thereby requiring enormous spiritual power expenditure. As such, he couldn''t simply use it as he pleased, so even with this trump card, he was unable to gain the upper hand.


    Soon, a series of wounds began to appear on both of their bodies.


    It was at this point that the disparity between their bloodlines began to show; Tang Wulin''s self-regenerative ability was clearly superior to that of Tong Yu. The Five-elemental Qilin''s wounds were also healing on their own, but at a much slower rate than that of the Dragon Emperor True Body.


    Why was Tong Yu in such lackluster form? Was he trying to hide something?


    En Ci''s brows furrowed tightly as he appraised the battle from the rostrum. Only he was aware of just how powerful Tong Yu truly was, and he had very lofty expectations for him.


    Tong Yu had proposed to participate in this match, hoping to display his powers to the entire Star Luo Empire, and also to explain some things. He wanted to tell his side of the story so he could be accepted by the public again. However, the powers that Tong Yu was currently displaying were far different from what En Ci had expected.


    In his mind, this battle should''ve concluded long ago; there was no way that Tang Wulin should''ve been able to last this long.


    Indeed, Tang Wulin''s powers were far beyond those of the average Soul Douluo, but still should''ve been completely insignificant in the face of Tong Yu''s powers. After all, they were on completely different levels!


    Just what was Tong Yu trying to do? Why was he still hiding his true power at a time like this? If he wanted to give the spectators a surprise, he should''ve done so already.


    Instead, it appeared that Tang Wulin was gradually turning the tables on him!


    All of the spectators were completely entranced by this battle. They were witnessing a Soul Master battle of the highest caliber; who could''ve imagined that such a battle would be open to the public? This really was well worth the ticket prices they had paid!


    "Boom!" Dazzling light erupted from the Five-elemental Qilin''s body to send the Dragon Emperor flying, but at the same time, the Dragon Emperor had inflicted a deep claw gash onto its back.


    The Five-elemental Qilin swiveled around before expelling a burst of Five-elemental True Flames out of its mouth, which surged toward the Dragon Emperor True Body in a ring formation.


    At the same time, his ninth soul ring finally lit up for the first time. In the instant that it did so, the air suddenly congealed.


    A spherical barrier of light appeared in the sky, encompassing the Five-elemental Qilin and Dragon Emperor, both of which were frozen in mid-air.


    Even with the Dragon Emperor''s immense powers, it was unable to move in the slightest.


    Tang Wulin felt the power within his body rapidly seep away, just like how it had felt when he had been struck by the Five-elemental True Flames. What was even more terrifying was that within this light barrier, time and space seemed to have also congealed, so even his Time Reversal domain was rendered largely ineffective.


    Tang Wulin knew that this wasn''t because his Time Reversal domain wasn''t powerful enough. Instead, his opponent''s spiritual power had always been superior to his, and he was finally pressing this advantage.


    His eighth soul ring lit up, and the Five-elemental Divine Arrow that had posed such a major threat to Tang Wulin''s life before emerged once again. It was clear that this was going to be the decisive exchange.


    Tang Wulin didn''t panic at all. In fact, he had been waiting for this moment. Tong Yu''s powerful ninth soul skill would undoubtedly be able to decide the battle, but this also meant that he had been forced to unleash his most powerful attack by Tang Wulin. Thus, this was also an opportunity for Tang Wulin.


    Six golden soul rings appeared around his Dragon Emperor True Body, and the sixth one abruptly lit up. In that instant, the Dragon Emperor True Body''s golden eyes suddenly turned into a crimson color. This was his most powerful Golden Dragon King ability, one that he hadn''t even used in that sparring match against Hu Jie, yet he was displaying it again now.


    This ninth soul skill of Tong Yu''s was known as the Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier. Due to how fearsome the offensive power of his eighth soul skill was, it would be pointless for him to have another powerful offensive soul skill for his ninth one. Hence, he decided to obtain a soul skill that could complement his eighth soul skill, thereby giving rise to the Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier.


    The most fearsome aspect about this soul skill was that it could be released instantaneously, and it was like an enlarged version of his Five-elemental True Flames. Once someone became encompassed within the barrier, they would be severely restricted unless their spiritual power or soul power were to outstrip that of Tong Yu. Otherwise, they would have no choice but to take Tong Yu''s attack head-on in their severely debilitated state.


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly began to undergo a transformation. In the instant that his golden eyes had turned crimson, a layer of crimson light also appeared over his massive dragon body.


    The expressions on the faces of Shrek''s Six Monsters changed drastically upon seeing this. They were petrified that Tang Wulin would go on the same rampage as he had in the Dou Spirit Empire!


    He was currently representing the entire Tang Sect; if he were to lose control on such a grand occasion, then the resulting negative impact would definitely be immeasurable.


    At this moment, they could only place their trust in Tang Wulin, and pray that he would be able to control himself while displaying his most powerful form.


    The battle had finally reached its climax, and the fearsome roars of countless dragons suddenly rang out from within the Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier. Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor True Body abruptly swelled in size, and a strange rune appeared on each and every one of his scales. In that instant, the light in the entire sports stadium suddenly dimmed, and a layer of crimson light appeared outside the Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier.


    The crimson light struck the beholder with a terrifying sense of asphyxiation, as if heaven and earth were about to be destroyed.


    The Five-elemental Divine Arrow had already shot forth from the Five-elemental Qilin''s head, yet right at this moment, a burst of crimson light suddenly erupted from the Dragon Emperor''s body.


    As soon as the Five-elemental Divine Arrow traveled into the crimson light, it decelerated sharply, and its power was also being constantly weakened during the process.


    Within the Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier, a voice that only Tong Yu could hear rang out deep within his heart.


    "Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre!"


    All of a sudden, a peculiar scene surfaced in Tong Yu''s mind. Even though his spiritual power was superior to that of Tang Wulin, he felt as if he had been transported into another world.


    This was a completely crimson world, within which countless living beings were wailing in despair. In the sky above, there was what appeared to be a boundless golden dragon that was roaring to the heavens, and its terrifying aura was crucifying one living being after another.


    What kind of soul skill was this? It was clear that this wasn''t just some simple energy-based soul skill; it was also imbued with a powerful spiritual attack.


    This was not good!


    The Five-elemental True Flames around Tong Yu swelled drastically as he let loose an enraged roar, fighting to preserve his Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier against the fearsome power that was converging from outside.


    In that instant, the two powers reached a brief state of equilibrium.


    The Five-elemental Divine Arrow pierced through the Dragon Emperor''s shoulder, but under the influence of the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre, it had missed Tang Wulin''s vitals. Meanwhile, his crimson Dragon Emperor Claws had also reached the Five-elemental Qilin, and the only thing stopping them from actually striking Tong Yu was the power of the Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier.


    However, even though the power of the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre had been restricted, it was continuing to build and only becoming more and more ferocious. As a result, Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Claws were slowly inching toward Tong Yu''s chest.

 Chapter 1348: Mental Manifestation!

    The light from the Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier and the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre began to wane almost at the exact same moment, indicating that the energy being released by both sides was beginning to subside.


    Everyone had their limit, even Limit Douluos. The Five-elemental Divine Arrow had pierced through the Dragon Emperor''s shoulder, but having been weakened by the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre, it hadn''t managed to deal much damage to Tang Wulin. With Tang Wulin''s self-regenerative ability, this match was far from over.


    Were they still evenly matched?


    At this point, Tang Wulin was already in a position where he couldn''t lose, and the Smiling Douluo heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this.


    At the same time, he was filled with admiration toward this young sect master. Never did he think that Tang Wulin would still have such a powerful trump card hidden up his sleeve at this point in the battle; it was truly an incredible sight.


    Just as everyone thought that both sides would run out of power, thereby leading to the battle reaching its endgame, an alarming turn of events suddenly unfolded.


    Tong Yu raised his head, and in that instant, Tang Wulin suddenly discovered that the bright and piercing light in his eyes had suddenly dimmed. On top of that, they were filled with emotions of contentment and relief.


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to process this, the Great Five-elemental Divine Light Barrier around him suddenly crumbled away into the specks of five-colored light without any warning.


    Thus, all impediment was abruptly lifted from Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Claws, and the power of his Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre instantly erupted forth in a frenzy.


    The Dragon Emperor Claws pierced through the Five-elemental Qilin''s chest in an instant, while also injecting the fearsome destructive power of the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre into its body. The shimmering five-colored light around Tong Yu''s body was immediately tinged with a hint of crimson.


    This was not good!


    Tang Wulin was very alarmed by this sudden turn of events, and he instantly unleashed his Time Reversal domain. However, in that instant, the Five-elemental Qilin suddenly raised its head and looked him square in the eyes.


    In the face of Tong Yu''s gaze, Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by an abrupt spiritual blow. At this point in the battle, he had actually already reached his limit as well, and both his spiritual power and soul power had been exhausted to the extreme. As such, the spiritual interference rendered him unable to completely manifest his Time Reversal domain.


    At Tang Wulin''s current level of power, he could only reverse time for an instant using his spiritual domain; reversing time any further would require far too much spiritual power expenditure.


    "Boom!" Both of the enormous combatants plummeted to the ground almost at the exact same time, and cries of surprise rang out across the entire venue.


    Even the Star Luo Empire citizens who bore the utmost contempt toward Tong Yu couldn''t help but rise to their feet. The battle they had just witnessed had been truly spectacular. The powers displayed by Tong Yu had stunned everyone present, yet much to everyone''s astonishment, his power had suddenly crumbled away just as everyone had thought that this would be an evenly matched contest.


    Tang Wulin''s mind was currently completely blank. Why? Why had Tong Yu prevented himself from being saved?


    With these past few days of cultivation, the effect of the Ice God Bead, and the holy light baptism he had received from the Holy Spirit Douluo prior to the match, he was able to completely control his emotions even after unleashing his Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre.


    Initially, he had regarded Tong Yu with nothing but enmity, yet as the battle had progressed, he had begun to see Tong Yu more and more as a rival who was worthy of respect. In particular, he couldn''t forget how Tong Yu had spared him when he had a chance to kill him. This intimidating man definitely had an appearance that belied his internal self.


    Tang Wulin didn''t want to strike down such a respectable figure during this Trial of Five Gods!


    However, everything had unfolded so quickly, and his mind was filled with questions.


    The two massive bodies crashed heavily down onto the ground, upon which they reverted back to their human forms.


    Tang Wulin had caught Tong Yu in his arms so that he wouldn''t fall onto the ground.


    At this moment, there was a clearly visible fist-sized hole on Tong Yu''s chest. What was even more fearsome was that not a single drop of blood was flowing out of such a large wound; the edge of the wound was completely crimson in color, and this crimson color was permeating toward his entire body.


    This was terrifying destructive power that struck one with a sense of asphyxiation. Due to how close Tang Wulin was situated to Tong Yu, he could sense just how rapidly Tong Yu''s life force was fading.


    In spite of this, Tong Yu wore a relieved smile.


    "Thank you." Tong Yu laid a hand onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder and stood up as if he were completely fine.


    Even with the gaping wound on his chest, he was standing with his back completely straight and his head held high and proud.


    En Ci immediately flew down from the rostrum and rushed onto the competition platform, but Tong Yu held up a hand to keep En Ci from approaching him. "Don''t come near me! I have something to say!"


    At this moment, the entire sports stadium was completely silent, and all eyes were on him.


    As a Limit Douluo, En Ci was naturally also able to sense that Tong Yu''s life force was rapidly fading, and this was something that he had never thought would happen.


    How had things become like this?


    "Why? Why are you doing this?" En Ci couldn''t help but yell in an enraged manner.


    Tong Yu cast his gaze toward En Ci with a gentle look in his eyes before extending a deep bow. "I''m sorry, Teacher, but I must disappoint you here."


    Teacher? Aside from Long Yue, everyone on the rostrum was stunned to hear this. No one was aware that the notorious Qilin Douluo was En Ci''s disciple.


    That''s right, not only was he En Ci''s disciple, he was En Ci''s first disciple.


    "Rest assured, Teacher, I won''t bring shame to your name. I''ve waited for this day for far too long. You can forgive me for some things, but I can never forgive myself. All these years, I''ve been waiting for this opportunity. There are some things that I must do, and some things that I must say. Before my life comes to an end, please allow me to say what I have to say."


    In that instant, Tong Yu''s aura began to transform, and Tang Wulin was struck by a repulsive force that quickly carried him to over 100 meters away.


    What a powerful aura! This aura was on a completely different level compared to what Tong Yu had displayed during the match.


    Tang Wulin had only sensed an aura of this caliber from very few people; these people were the Atlas Douluo, the Heartless Douluo, the Amorous Douluo, the Light Dark Douluo, the Mirror Douluo, and the Boundless Ocean Douluo. All of them were Limit Douluos! Did that mean that this Qilin Douluo was actually a Limit Douluo as well?


    Just as Tang Wulin was repelled away, a series of images began to appear around Tong Yu. These images were extremely clear and were displaying one story after another.


    This was mental manifestation, the signature ability of all Limit Douluos!


    The general public wasn''t aware of what mental manifestation entailed, but all of the high-grade Soul Masters present certainly were!


    He really was a Limit Douluo!

 Chapter 1349: The Qilin Douluos Story (1)

    Everyone was struck by a sense of shock, followed by befuddlement. Even if the Qilin Douluo had committed an extremely heinous crime, he was still a Limit Douluo! As long as he was willing to serve the empire, all would be forgiven. However, not only did he not turn to the empire for amnesty, he lost this match in the Trial of Five Gods and seemed to be about to lose his life as well.


    This had indeed been an extremely spectacular battle, but those in attendance who were at the Titled Douluo level or above could all see that Tang Wulin was still quite a way off from reaching the top. If Tong Yu really were a Limit Douluo and had battled with his powers as a Limit Douluo, there was no way that Tang Wulin would''ve been a match for him.


    However, he had only chosen to display his powers as a Limit Douluo now that he was on the brink of death; why had he done this?


    Everyone was completely perplexed. No one knew what could''ve happened to him to have led to the decision to throw away this match, as well as his own life.


    At this point, Tong Yu was already in a very bad condition. His entire face had turned crimson, and all of the scales on his body were tinged with a destructive aura. However, he paid no heed to this at all, and the images arising from his mental manifestation began to change.


    One of the images suddenly expanded, and was made visible to everyone in the sports stadium, as well as all of the Star Luo Empire citizens sitting in front of their soul television screens.


    The image depicted a little boy and a little girl.


    The little girl only appeared to be around seven or eight years of age, but she was already quite a beauty. She wore a pink floral dress and was dancing over a lush meadow. The little boy stood beside her and watched her in silence. Even though he was also very young, there was a gentle look in his eyes that belied his age.


    Upon closer inspection, one would discover that there were some faint similarities between the contours of the little boy and Tong Yu''s faces.


    The dancing little girl stopped before waving a hand toward the little boy, upon which the latter immediately rushed over and handed her a towel, then also pulled out some food and water for her out of his backpack.


    Tong Yu''s deep voice rang out to narrate the unfolding scenes. "A very long time ago, a little boy fell in love with a little girl. Both of them were from ordinary families, and the little girl had always been very beautiful and elegant. Perhaps it was predetermined by fate, but the little boy fell in love with her at first sight."


    Everyone knew that he was telling his own story. If a normal person were telling their own life story, there most likely wouldn''t be many people who were willing to listen. However, this was a story being told by a Limit Douluo who was on the brink of death on the grand stage of the Trial of Five Gods. Under these circumstances, over 40% of the entire Star Luo Empire was listening to his story.


    Regardless of whether someone detested him or knew nothing about him, they were all listening to his story.


    "The little girl was adored by everyone around her, and to his credit, the little boy was quite brave; he expressed his feelings to her very early on, and he told her that he would love and cherish her for the rest of his life. At the time, the little girl had proudly told him that when she grew up, she was going to marry a hero, the most powerful one in the entire world. Hence, the little boy set that as his target and promised her that he would do his best."


    Such a story was very commonplace, and perhaps everyone had experienced similar childhoods. However, it was a completely different feeling to be hearing it from a Limit Douluo.


    "From that day forth, the little boy became completely devoted to the little girl. If she wanted something, he would do everything in his power to get it for her, even if it meant that he had to steal and lie. In order to be able to pick her up for school every day, he would wake up over an hour earlier than he''d otherwise have to and run to her house. Their parents were aware of this, but they didn''t think much of it, thinking that this was nothing more than a fleeting crush for a pair of children who didn''t know any better. However, no one knew just how much he loved her. In his eyes, she was his goddess. At the time, the girl was eight, and the boy was nine."


    The image gradually transitioned, revealing the little boy seated on his bed with a determined look on his face.


    "After awakening his martial soul, the little boy constantly worked extremely hard in his cultivation. However, he was quickly made aware of the fact that his martial soul was a dog-type martial soul, and that he only possessed rank 2 innate soul power. There was no future for him. However, he was very resilient because he was constantly striving toward his goal of becoming the most powerful hero in the world. Once he reached those dizzying heights, he would be able to marry the girl of his dreams."


    The image transformed again, and both the little boy and the little girl had grown up a little. The little boy seemed to be a little introverted, while the little girl had become even more beautiful. She was surrounded by many other kids of her age, while the little boy stood further away and watched over her in silence.


    "Wherever she went, the little girl was always the center of attention, and the little boy was content with just being able to see her every day. The little girl continued to order him around like a servant, and there were many other kids who referred to him as her dog, but he didn''t care; he was happy as long as she was happy. When she was in a good mood, she would call him up to play with her, and when she was in a foul mood, she would beat him and verbally abuse him to vent her emotions. However, the little boy never got mad at her. At the time, the little boy''s family wasn''t very wealthy. He would always buy the cheapest food for himself to eat and save up the rest of his money to buy the little girl the things that she wanted."


    In the image, the little boy was quite thin with a rather unhealthy pallor to his skin, and he was even slightly shorter than the little girl. One was like a vibrant jewel, while the other was like a lusterless discarded jewelry box.


    The image transitioned to the gates of an academy. The little girl rushed into the academy in an excited manner, followed by the little boy, who was wearing clothes that were slightly worn and tattered.


    "Through his unrelenting efforts, the little boy finally made it into the academy that the little girl wanted to attend. However, he was only accepted as a working student, so he was only permitted to attend the academy by completing a large array of manual labor jobs every day. Even so, he felt like he was one step closer to his goal. Time slowly passed by, and soon, both the little boy and the little girl had reached puberty. The little girl was more beautiful than ever, while the little boy was still just as mundane, and to his shock and horror, he discovered that many pursuers had begun to appear around the little girl."


    In the image, both of them had reached around 15 to 16 years of age. The little girl was surrounded by a group of tall and handsome boys, while the little boy was standing not far away, carrying her bag with his fists tightly clenched.


    Tong Yu stood with a faint smile on his face as he spoke, seemingly having completely immersed himself into his memories. Virtually the entire Star Luo Empire was listening to his story, and even Dai Tianling made no effort to stop him.


    This was the wish of a Limit Douluo, and it was perhaps even his final wish; he had to be allowed to finish his story no matter what.


    "In order to prove his power, the little boy challenged the little pursuers in private. He didn''t care how many injuries he sustained from those fights, and during that time, he earned himself the nickname of ''mad dog''. However, his heart was broken when the little girl suddenly told him one day that she hated him as he had made her lose all of her friends, that no one wanted to play with her because of him. The little boy told her that all he wanted to do was to protect her. He begged her not to cut him out of her life, and from that day forth, the little boy became even more withdrawn. He worked harder and harder in his cultivation, but his aptitude was still too lackluster in the end. As the two grew up, the little girl''s powers far outstripped his, and he was gradually being left behind by his peers."

 Chapter 1350: The Qilin Douluos Story (2)

    "However, he still didn''t give up. He cultivated with everything that he had, and he believed that as long as he continued to work toward his dream, his efforts would come into fruition someday. That was all until that day..."


    His voice suddenly trailed off here, and in that instant, even his body was beginning to tremble slightly.


    In the image, the beautiful little girl had grown up to be around 18 to 19 years of age, and she was holding hands with a tall and handsome boy, while an elderly woman was standing before them. They were having a conversation, and the little boy, who had also grown up to be a young adult at this point, was watching them from a hidden corner.


    "The little boy''s mother had always been aware of just how much her son loved the little girl. She had tried to tell him that they weren''t a good match, but he refused to listen. On that day, the little boy''s mother was suddenly unable to find him, and she bumped into the little girl while searching for her son. She told the little girl that if she didn''t return the little boy''s feelings, then she should give him a clear rejection, but to do so in a way that wouldn''t hurt him. As a mother, her greatest wish was for her son to grow up to be happy and healthy.


    "Perhaps the little girl was trying to show the boy that she had nothing to do with the little boy; she told the little boy''s mother that she had always seen him as nothing more than a dog, and that he was constantly sticking to her like an annoying bandage. She wanted nothing more than for the little boy to leave her alone, and after saying all those hurtful things, she departed with her boyfriend in an arrogant manner, leaving the little boy''s mother behind to weep on her own."


    The image transitioned alongside his story, and everyone''s emotions were also being swayed. This sounded more like the pure yet tragic story of an ordinary little boy, rather than the story of a Limit Douluo.


    "The little boy ran away like a madman. Later that day, it began to rain so heavily that it was almost impossible to see the path ahead. However, the little boy continued to run, and even he didn''t know where he was. Never did he think that the little girl had seen him as nothing more than a dog, and his heart was completely broken. His young impulsive heart was filled with negative emotions, and he felt like he was a failure, a disgrace to his own family. He no longer wished to live, and he bought some insecticide to put an end to his own life." Tears were already streaming down Tong Yu''s face at this point.


    Even though so many years had passed, the recollection of these memories still brought him immense pain.


    Tang Wulin was appraising Tong Yu from not far away while listening to his story, and he felt like he could empathize with Tong Yu''s suffering. His relationship history wasn''t as tragic as that of Tong Yu, but back then, he had also awakened a trash martial soul, and even the soul spirit he had obtained was a defective one. As such, he was more than aware of how much effort someone with lackluster aptitude had to give in order to become powerful, and it seemed that Tong Yu had sacrificed even more than he had.


    "The little boy didn''t die, but he became a monster. Scales grew all over his body, and he wasn''t very good-looking to begin with, so he was even more detested by everyone who saw him. Even members of his own family had fainted from fear after seeing what he had become. From that day forth, his mental state began to change. He came to hate the entire world, and on that day, he met the little girl one last time."


    The image transitioned to depict the little girl, who was staring at the little boy in shock and horror, clearly having been frightened by his new monstrous appearance.


    "The little boy asked her if she had ever loved, even just a little bit. The little girl was a little fearful of him, but she then quickly remembered that she was more powerful than him and didn''t have anything to fear. Hence, she proudly told him that she had never loved him, and that the sight of him disgusted her, so she never wanted to see him again. In that instant, the little boy truly died on the inside. He bade her farewell, and also said goodbye to his youth. However, he had always had a sense of conviction in his heart. He was going to return to her someday as the most powerful being in the world and show her that she had made the wrong choice.


    "It was there that the little boy decided to pursue further Soul Master education. He didn''t tell his family; he merely departed on his own without telling anyone. He was determined not to return until he had made a name for himself. It was also at that time that he discovered that his own martial soul had mutated. Finally, he arrived at the academy of his dreams. In order to make it to Monster Academy, he had put in countless effort, and it was then that his fortune began to turn. Following its mutation, his martial soul improved at an extraordinary rate.


    "Things that had been virtually impossible for his past self were things that he could now accomplish with ease, and he was ecstatic. He believed that the little girl would definitely regret her decision when he returned to her after attaining sufficient power. Hence, even though his aptitude had become exceptional, he still worked extremely hard. He learned from everyone around him and constantly refined himself in his quest for greater power. His cultivation rank rose at a rapid rate, and in 10 years, he had reached close to the Titled Douluo level from his starting point as Soul Grandmaster.


    "After that, he chose to go into seclusion, and he had already made the decision to go back and find the little girl once he completed his seclusion. He was going to stand before her and tell her that she had been wrong about him, and that he was going to stand at the pinnacle of this entire world someday. At the time, the little boy no longer harbored any expectations for her; he simply wanted to recover his pride. Perhaps he was blessed by the heavens, but on that occasion, he managed to go into a state of deep meditation.


    "This was an extended period of deep meditation, and it was like a long slumber. When he awakened, he discovered that not only had he become a Titled Douluo, he also established an extremely solid foundation. When he obtained his ninth soul skill, everything that he had accumulated erupted forth at once, and he became a Hyper Douluo. At that point, he had become the most powerful being among the younger generation of Monster Academy."


    Tong Yu''s eyes were filled with pride. This was pride that he had in himself, and he had obtained it through his relentless conscientious efforts.


    "He bade farewell to his teacher and returned to his home with excitement in his heart. He was going to find that little girl, and to visit his own family. Even though he was still very hideous, he was already a teacher at Monster Academy, and he had a very lofty social status, as well as a level of income that would ensure he would never have to worry about money."

 Chapter 1351: The Qilin Douluos Story (3)

    "It had been over 10 years since he had last been home, and he really missed his mother. His father had passed away when he was still very young, so his mother had been his only parent. Only when he embarked on the journey back home was his heart filled with guilt toward his mother. Back when he had become this monster, his mother had scolded him after learning that he had ingested insecticide to kill himself, and her words may have been harsh, but they came from a good place! However, he was unable to see through the hatred that had clouded his heart at the time, and abandoned her for over 10 years.


    "He was a failure of a son, and he sorely regretted what he had done. He vowed to give his mother a good life when he returned. After displaying his power to the little girl, he was going to take his mother back to the academy, where she could live out the rest of her life in comfort. Finally, he returned home, and he was feeling very nervous. He didn''t know if his mother would still be able to recognize him, or whether she would be willing to forgive him. However, when he saw his mother again, his blood immediately ran cold.


    "His mother was living in an extremely dilapidated room on a squalid little bed. What was even more alarming was that she was missing both of her legs and seemed to be on the brink of death."


    Tong Yu had begun sobbing uncontrollably at this point.


    "When the little boy saw his mother again, she was already blind and nothing more than skin and bones. She had clung onto this torturous state for three whole years, and the only thing that kept her alive was the final ray of hope that her son would return to her. She wanted to touch her son''s face and hear his voice one final time before she passed on. Mother, do you know how much remorse I felt at that moment? If I could go back in time, I would dedicate my entire life to no one but you. You are the one I owe the most in this world!"


    Tong Yu fell to his knees as he spoke before kowtowing with all his might toward a certain direction.


    Tang Wulin was unable to hold back his tears any longer. He couldn''t help but recall the passing of his foster parents, and tears streamed down his face. He turned away and didn''t dare to look at Tong Yu any longer, in fear that he would be unable to control his own emotions.


    Among the audience, a very large proportion of them had already been swayed by his grief.


    A child was always most reliant on their mother in the early stages of their development, but that reliance would fade as they aged, and they would gradually begin to consider their mother''s feelings less and less. However, a mother would always love her child, regardless of whether that love and consideration was reciprocated.


    As they listened to Tong Yu''s story, everyone was reminded of their own mother, and tears had welled up even in the eyes of Dai Tianling.


    "The mother was ecstatic that her son had returned, but she could no longer see what he looked like. The little boy asked her what had happened to her legs and eyes, to which the mother replied in an indifferent manner that she had gone blind from excessive crying, while her legs had been broken by someone. However, none of that was important to her in contrast with the return of her son. The little boy asked her who it was that had broken her legs, but she refused to tell him. Her only hope was that he would always remain by her side and never leave again.


    "The little boy agreed with tears streaming down his face, but his mother''s condition was even worse than he had imagined. His return had satisfied his mother''s final wish, and three days later, she relinquished the stubborn grasp she had maintained on her life. In that instant, the little boy had a complete mental breakdown. Never did he think that he would be returning just to see his mother one final time. During the final three days of her life, his mother had told him that she had never been disgusted by him; she had scolded him to try and snap him out of what was clearly an unhealthily obsessive fixation.


    "After burying his mother, the little boy wanted to follow after her. He stayed in her room for an entire month, and after that month, he gradually returned to his senses. He suddenly recalled his mother''s broken legs. The cause of her death was none other than those broken legs. They had taken away her ability to walk, thereby leading to the gradual deterioration of her health. She had told him that someone had broken her legs, which meant that someone was directly responsible for her death.


    "Thus, he began to investigate who the culprit was. After gathering all the leads and evidence, he was faced with an incredible reality: the person who had broken his mother''s legs was none other than the little girl, whom he''d once loved with all his heart and was willing to give up everything for. Following his disappearance, his mother had gone to the little girl repeatedly in the hope that she would know where the little boy had gone. The little girl humiliated her and shooed her away over and over again, but she continued to return.


    "Finally, the little girl grew sick of her, and brutally broke her legs before leaving her in the wilderness to fend for herself. If it weren''t for the fact that she had been discovered and saved by a few kind-hearted individuals who just so happened to be passing by, she would''ve already been dead long ago. Never did the little boy think that his mother would''ve fallen to such a cruel fate. It was no wonder that she didn''t want to tell her son the culprit; she didn''t want the little boy to think that he had caused his own mother''s death!


    "Without his initial fixation on the little girl, none of this would''ve happened. If he had never left, perhaps this tragedy would''ve never taken place. At the height of his pain and despair, the little boy''s heart was filled with hatred. He tracked down the little girl, who had married into an affluent family at this point. She was already married and had a son who was about seven or eight years old. When she saw the little boy again, she was still as cold as ever. She told him to piss off so that he wouldn''t scare her son.


    "The little boy interrogated her about why she had hurt his mother, only for her to respond with a cold sneer by saying that she had thought his mother had already died long ago. She said that his mother was just like him, a dog who would never leave her alone, and that she had broken her legs so that she wouldn''t be able to continue nagging her. In the face of the person who had murdered his mother, the little boy was finally unable to hold back any longer. He displayed his Hyper Douluo level powers to her; never did he think that he would be displaying his powers to the little girl for revenge.


    "The little girl''s son looked on as the little boy broke her legs, then asked her whether she regretted what she had done. In response, she told him that she didn''t. Even though the little boy had become extremely powerful, he was still a hideous mad dog. The little boy left. He didn''t kill her as she hadn''t killed his mother, either. However, the heavens seemed to have frowned down upon her, and she died from excessive blood loss before anyone could save her. Her son had witnessed the entire ordeal."


    That''s right, that was the truth, one that was completely unexpected to everyone. Those who had denounced Tong Yu as a remorseless brazen criminal all felt as if lumps had appeared in their throats.


    If they had been in Tong Yu''s shoes, would they have been able to hold back?


    Tong Yu took a deep breath before continuing, "In the end, the little boy handed himself in. He didn''t want to bring shame to his academy and to his teacher. He no longer had any reason for living, and he no longer cared if he lived or died. He didn''t want to explain anything, and his heart was filled with remorse, both for the mother he had lost, and for the mother that he had deprived someone else of. In the eyes of that child, he was also a heinous man who had killed his mother. All he wanted was to die. At the very least, that would allow him to escape the agony in his heart."

 Chapter 1352: Five-elemental Qilin Bead

    "His teacher came. It was his teacher who saved him, but he was deprived of his suit of three-word battle armor and lived a life of imprisonment in the academy. In reality, he didn''t want to continue living as there was no point for him. However, he gradually came to realize that he still had two wishes that he had yet to fulfill. He still recalled that the little girl had said that her future lover was going to stand at the pinnacle of this entire world. Even though she was already dead, he had to reach that pinnacle to prove that she had made the wrong choice.


    "Hence, he began to cultivate with all his might from that day forth, and he finally reached that level after over 20 years. Today, he stands here before all of you. He had hoped to serve the empire with his powers, but he''s unable to fulfill that wish as there''s something more important that he must do, which is repent. I don''t know if that child is watching this match; you should be well into adulthood at this point. Yes, I killed your mother; I apologize to you and repent with my life. I hope that my death can put your heart at ease.


    "In order to repent, I''ll also be leaving to you the essence that I''ve been cultivating all my life in the hope that it can assuage some of your pain. I don''t expect you to forgive me; all I want to tell you is to discard the hatred in your heart and pursue the light."


    Tong Yu expelled a ball of five-colored light out of his mouth as he spoke. This was a dazzling five-colored bead, and it flew directly toward En Ci as a streak of red light.


    En Ci raised his hand to accept the bead, but he did so with a very strained expression. This was Tong Yu''s Five-elemental Qilin Bead, and it was the manifestation of all of the vital essence that Tong Yu had accumulated during his cultivation to the Limit Douluo level.


    It was exactly because he had manifested this Five-elemental Qilin Bead that he had displayed powers far below his normal standard, and failed to defend himself against Tang Wulin''s final attack in the end.


    "I''m sorry, Teacher. I''m doing this today to tell everyone the truth. The academy hasn''t protected me unfairly, and I can''t allow the reputation of the academy to be tarnished because of me. After 27 years, I''ve finally had a chance to repent for my crime and restore the academy''s reputation. I no longer owe anyone anything in this world."


    After that, Tong Yu sat down onto the ground with his legs crossed, and the destructive light emanating from his body faded along with his aura.


    During the third match of the Trial of Five Gods, Tang Wulin had won, while his opponent, Tong Yu, had perished. The entire empire was in shock.


    ......


    If this were a best-of-five trial, then Tang Wulin would''ve already secured an unassailable lead. Even though it was required of Tang Wulin to win all five matches to truly secure victory in the Trial of Five Gods, in the hearts of all of the Tang Sect disciples, their sect master had already won.


    So what even if the Star Luo Empire were to win the final two matches?


    It was just that everyone was too stunned to cheer for the outcome following the conclusion of this third match. It was downright unimaginable for a Limit Douluo to have such a tragic story and to leave this world in such a fashion.


    It seemed that the heavens were fair, after all. The heavens had bestowed upon the Qilin Douluo incredible aptitude in the form of a martial soul mutation, but struck him down with so much misfortune at the same time.


    His life had turned out this way due to the heavy psychological blows he had received during his development, but at the same time, society was also to blame. That night, Dai Tianling immediately implemented a series of laws to minimize the instances of ordeals similar to the one that Tong Yu''s mother had suffered.


    On top of that, he made Tong Yu the postmortem honorary master of the Imperial Holy Hall, and also granted him amnesty for the crime he had committed.


    His death was enough to repent for his crime, and at the same time, he had cleared the name of Monster Academy.


    The death of a Limit Douluo was mourned by the entire empire, and the atmosphere of excitement in the Trial of Five Gods had been replaced by one of oppression and grief.


    At the Star Luo Empire Tang Sect headquarters.


    At this point, night had already fallen, and stars littered the entire sky. Tang Wulin strode through a door and into a corridor. Rays of starlight were shining in through the window, and there were many people already waiting in the corridor.


    The most prominent figure among them was none other than the Holy Dragon Douluo, the principal of Monster Academy, Limit Douluo En Ci.


    As soon as Tang Wulin emerged, En Ci immediately rushed toward him in an urgent manner. "What''s the situation?"


    "He''s in a stable condition. He possesses extraordinary life force, and I was able to cleanse all of the destructive power within his body; the rest will be up to him. He only managed to survive as he''s a Limit Douluo. Otherwise, even a true deity most likely wouldn''t be able to save him."


    En Ci heaved a long sigh of relief before appraising Tang Wulin with a complex look in his eyes. "Thank you. I didn''t think that something like this would happen; who could''ve anticipated that he would resort to such extreme measures?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "If we want to truly cure him, I think we need to heal his psychological scars; I think we need to find the child of the woman that he once loved. If we don''t do that, he''ll most likely just end up creating another Qilin Bead. Her Majesty, the Holy Spirit Douluo, told me that if he were to do that again, even she wouldn''t be able to save him. In reality, his Qilin Bead is useless to the average person anyway; it contains his vital essence, which will immediately kill the person who tries to absorb it."


    A wry smile appeared on En Ci''s face. "He really is a stubborn child. I''ve already sent out some people to track down the son of that woman, but apparently, the entire family immigrated to the Douluo Continent, so it won''t be easy to find them. Come to think of it, I''m partially to blame for this as well. I knew the truth behind this, and I was afraid that Tong Yu would resort to extreme measures, so I exerted pressure on that family and essentially forced them to leave the Star Luo Continent.


    "In reality, there were many more factors at play under the surface that led to that tragedy. The girl had lashed out against Tong Yu''s mother at the time because her husband had recently died in an accident, and she was in a very emotionally unstable state. The people who had saved Tong Yu''s mother after the incident had been sent by her as well, so she still had some kindness in her heart in the end. She had made a terrible mistake, but she shouldn''t have had to lose her life for it."


    A wry smile also appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Most things are far more complex than they appear at first glance. In any case, I''m sure the Qilin Douluo will have learned a lesson from this and won''t be as fixated on his past. I think you should tell him all of these things. As a Limit Douluo who''s been through so much, there shouldn''t be anything that he can''t handle."


    En Ci nodded in response. "If he can survive this ordeal, then I''ll be sure to tell him. Thank you very much for your generosity, Sect Master Tang. To be honest, our empire is going a little too far with this Trial of Five Gods. Would you like the fourth match to be delayed for a day? After all, I''m sure this battle has been quite taxing for you as well."


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a smile. "That''s alright, this will be a valuable experience for me; I''m very much looking forward to facing you in the final match. It would be a great honor for me to be able to face a Limit Douluo like you in an all-out battle. I don''t fear defeat; I only wish to improve myself through these battles."

 Chapter 1353: Renowned Around the Entire World

    En Ci cast a meaningful glance at him and heaved a forlorn internal sigh. Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were still far superior to Monster Academy in terms of cultivating talent. Only organizations with staggering foundations such as Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect could give rise to a freakish prodigy like Tang Wulin.


    Following the conclusion of that astonishing third match, Tang Wulin had brought the Holy Spirit Douluo to the scene. In terms of healing abilities, no one in the Star Luo Empire, or even the entire Douluo Star, could compare with her.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo had immediately repressed the dissipation of Tong Yu''s soul, forcing it to remain in his body before taking him directly back to the Tang Sect for treatment.


    Thankfully, all Limit Douluos had exceptional life force, so it was not that easy for them to die. On top of that, Tong Yu was only around 70 years of age, which was a prime age for Limit Douluos where they were at the height of their life force.


    In that final instant during the match, Tang Wulin had held back with his right hand to prevent his own destructive aura from completely erupting within Tong Yu''s body. As such, Tong Yu''s life was saved, and during the process, that Five-elemental Qilin Bead was also fused back into his body.


    Yali had borrowed a drop of Tang Wulin''s blood to activate the divine beast Qilin bloodline within Tong Yu''s body, thereby kicking off the self-regeneration process. As for whether he would be able to make a full recovery, that would be decided during the next few days.


    "I''ll be taking my leave to prepare for tomorrow''s match, then, Your Majesty." Tang Wulin bade farewell to En Ci before returning to his own room.


    There wasn''t enough time in what remained of the night for him to digest the benefits he had reaped from his battle against Tong Yu. His top priority now was to recover to his peak physical condition for the fourth match.


    Among the three matches that had already passed, this third one was the one that he had benefited the most from. Even though Tong Yu had been significantly weakened due to his manifestation of that Qilin Bead, his battle experience and utilization of soul power were all on a Limit Douluo level. Otherwise, Tang Wulin wouldn''t have had such a hard time battling a Soul Master who barely possessed Hyper Douluo level powers.


    The battle had lasted around an hour, and he had completely exhausted himself in all aspects. In the end, he had only managed to secure victory as the Qilin Douluo had run out of power, so he had been very fortunate. If the Qilin Douluo had fought him at his full power, Tang Wulin would''ve had no chance at all.


    A relatively uneventful night passed by, and by the next day, the battle that had taken place the day before had become the hot topic on everyone''s lips. The name of Qilin Douluo Tong Yu had also spread throughout the entire Star Luo Empire.


    He wasn''t a hero, nor was he a criminal. As was often the case in life, there were hidden circumstances behind many things. His story had drawn empathy and compassion from over 70% of all of the people who had witnessed it. As such, the special pardon that the empire granted him was met with majority support.


    When everyone gradually began to calm down, they suddenly realized something: Over half of the Trial of Five Gods had already passed, and Tang Wulin was yet to suffer a defeat!


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Qilin Douluo hadn''t displayed true Limit Douluo level power, but those who had watched the battle unanimously agreed that it had still been an extremely tense and fierce contest.


    During such a battle, Tang Wulin, who was only in his early twenties, had defeated the Qilin Douluo, which amounted to three consecutive victories for him to date!


    Who could''ve predicted this would happen prior to the commencement of the Trial of Five Gods? In light of this, Dai Tianling found himself in a rather difficult position.


    The reality was that the Tang Sect had already taken an unassailable lead, and as the emperor, the situation had become quite awkward for him. Tong Yu''s name had become vastly renowned overnight due to his story, but Tang Wulin was now even more of a household name in the Star Luo Empire!


    On top of that, the support behind him was growing day by day. Everyone wanted to support a winner, and the fact that he had secured three consecutive victories perfectly captured the imaginations of the citizens of the Star Luo Empire, who revered individual heroism.


    The Tang Sect Master had everything. Youth, power, status, wealth; he was virtually the epitome of perfection, and his allure was far too great for the female audience. Furthermore, that allure extended to women of all ages, not just those who were around his age.


    To all young people, a man like him was the perfect idol. During an analysis that was held following the battle, Dai Tianling discovered that the most replayed snippet of the third match wasn''t the moment of Tong Yu''s death. Instead, it was the scene of Tang Wulin with tears streaming down his face as he listened to Tong Yu''s story.


    There were already female superfans who were swooning over his compassion, and were yelling to the world that the Tang Sect Master was still so handsome even with tears flowing down his face.


    There was also video footage that caught banners that read things such as "Tang Wulin is my god!" being held up by spectators in the stands. If things were to continue like this, he would most likely become even more popular and influential than the emperor at the conclusion of the Trial of Five Gods!


    Dai Tianling''s emotions toward Tang Wulin were very mixed. On one hand, he truly admired the power that Tang Wulin had displayed. It was downright unimaginable for a young man in his early twenties to achieve something like this.


    However, it was also exactly because of this that he became rather wary of the Tang Sect. The current Tang Wulin was also such a brilliant talent; in a few more decades, he was virtually guaranteed to become the most powerful being in the entire world. Aside from his status as the Tang Sect Master, he was also Shrek Academy''s Sea God''s Pavilion Master. If he were to fulfill his potential, then the future rebuild of Shrek Academy would be inevitable. Furthermore, with those two all-important statuses that he occupied, it would be virtually impossible to draw him into the Star Luo Empire unless a special connection could be forged.


    Thus, Dai Tianling couldn''t help but think of his own daughter again. He was even thinking that if his daughter had acted more quickly, perhaps they would be a couple already.


    Perhaps it wouldn''t be too preposterous to allow his daughter to become Tang Wulin''s concubine?


    As soon as this thought sprang into his mind, he was struck by the urge to slap himself. She was an imperial princess! How could she resort to being someone''s concubine?


    No, he had to bring Tang Wulin down a notch no matter what. Otherwise, the momentum that he was gathering would become far too great, and that would be to the empire''s detriment when they worked with the Tang Sect in the future.


    What if all of the representatives for the Star Luo Empire during the negotiations were fans of Tang Wulin? During these past few days, he had virtually become the idol of the entire empire!


    He wasn''t the only one who harbored mixed feelings about Tang Wulin; the same could be said about En Ci, Zhang Geyang, the Smiling Douluo, and many other people. It was undoubtedly the case that after coming to the Star Luo Empire, Tang Wulin had made a name for himself in the shortest time possible, and proven to everyone that he was fit to represent the Tang Sect.


    The influence of the Trial of Five Gods wasn''t just limited to the Star Luo Empire; the effects were also felt in the Douluo Federation and Dou Spirit Empire.


    Tang Wulin had appeared before everyone in a completely unreserved manner, and just as the Holy Spirit Douluo had said, it was time for him to step up and prepare to gather all of Shrek Academy''s allies under his banner.


    ......

 Chapter 1354: The Controversial Spirit Pagoda

    At the Spirit Pagoda headquarters of the Douluo Federation.


    Qiangu Dongfeng sat on the main seat with a dark expression. "How are we handling this PR crisis? Are there still any media outlets saying undesirable things about us?"


    A middle-aged man seated near the rear of the conference chamber replied in a respectful manner, "We''ve established control over all of the mainstream media outlets, but the Tang Sect''s declaration of war was too abrupt, and we didn''t anticipate the scope to which they''ve infiltrated the media. Despite our best efforts, there''s still a lot of negative press about us circulating among the general public. Furthermore..."


    "That''s enough." Qiangu Dongfeng cut him off in an abrupt manner. He had been under a lot of pressure of late. The Spirit Pagoda was currently extremely powerful and had many allies, but the problem was that the Tang Sect was incriminating them by linking them to the Holy Spirit Cult. The Holy Spirit Cult had caused several major disasters in the Douluo Federation, including the bombings of Shrek City and Heaven Dou City. As such the general public abhorred anything that had to do with the Holy Spirit Cult.


    What was most damning to the Spirit Pagoda was that with the close ties that the Tang Sect now shared with the Dou Spirit Empire, they had obtained a lot of evidence from the empire and exposed the underground facility beneath the Spirit Pagoda headquarters. The information had even been available for the public viewing for an entire day on the Star Battle Net before the Spirit Pagoda managed to remove it. As a result, many powers in the federation, including some of the Spirit Pagoda''s allies, had developed suspicions toward them.


    There was no way that any of their allies would accept their collaboration with the Holy Spirit Cult. Hence, even with his lofty status in the federation, Qiangu Dongfeng was under immense pressure.


    This matter had to be addressed no matter what, but the problem was that the negative press only seemed to be gaining traction, and the Tang Sect had played an important role in this.


    Even Qiangu Dongfeng himself had become too complacent. Ever since the Tang Sect had withdrawn into the underground world, it had become a shadow of its former self, and many people were drawn to the conclusion that it no longer had any substantial influence.


    As such, when the Tang Sect secured all of this evidence and began their retaliation, the Spirit Pagoda was caught completely off guard.


    At the root of the matter, Tang Wulin was the one who had set things into motion. He had destroyed the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, as well as the long-distance communication system in the headquarters. In the Dou Spirit Empire, there weren''t many pieces of technology that could facilitate intercontinental communication. As such, by the time the Spirit Pagoda managed to find a way to contact the Douluo Federation, three days had already passed.


    During those three days, the Tang Sect had collected sufficient evidence, and that was why the Spirit Pagoda was in such a bad position.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had appeared on multiple occasions to try and silence the negative press, and he had used many underhanded tactics to repress the situation. As such, they had managed to weather the storm, but during the span of just a single month, the Spirit Pagoda''s reputation had been dealt a massive blow. In contrast, the Tang Sect was displaying signs of making a resurgence and was beginning to appear to the general public again.


    At a time like this, the Spirit Pagoda didn''t dare to do anything to the Tang Sect in case they were to even further incriminate themselves. Thankfully, news arrived from the Star Luo Empire not long ago, stating that the new Tang Sect Master, Tang Wulin, was currently in the Star Luo Empire. Furthermore, he was participating in some kind of friendly tournament with the Star Luo Empire.


    This piece of news allowed Qiangu Dongfeng to heave a sigh of relief, and he immediately began to manipulate the media to promote the story that the Tang Sect and the Star Luo Empire were close allies. They accused the Tang Sect of trying to harm the relationship between the federation and the Spirit Pagoda for the benefit of the Star Luo Empire, and these stories greatly impacted the Tang Sect as well.


    In order to prove the authenticity of the story, he had even secured footage of the Trial of Five Gods and was broadcasting them from television stations in the federation.


    However, much to Qiangu Dongfeng''s surprise, following the broadcast of the first two matches, the support for the Tang Sect grew even further, while the opposition against them was quelled significantly.


    The reason for this was very simple: the Tang Sect had proclaimed that this was a sparring tournament between the Tang Sect and the Star Luo Empire. Furthermore, they specified that this Trial of Five Gods had been held as Tang Wulin representing the Douluo Federation to challenge the Star Luo Empire. The Spirit Pagoda''s influence was present over all three continents, and the same applied to the Tang Sect as well, so why couldn''t the new Tang Sect Master pay a visit to the Tang Sect''s Star Luo Empire branches? Had Qiangu Dongfeng never been to the Star Luo Empire in the past?


    Thus, the Tang Sect had twisted the narrative and made this Trial of Five Gods a matter of glory for the federation.


    Tang Wulin was opposing an entire empire on his own and secured two consecutive victories. The Douluo Federation didn''t revere individual heroism as much as the Star Luo Empire did, but the general public still respected power. In particular, after they witnessed Tang Wulin defeating the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda during the second match, the support had tilted overwhelmingly in the Tang Sect''s favor.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had only assigned a task for his subordinates to broadcast the Trial of Five Gods, and even he didn''t know that Zhang Geyang would be representing the Star Luo Empire during the second match. By the time he realized this, it was already too late.


    During that match, it was as if the Spirit Pagoda had given itself a vicious slap to the face, and the Tang Sect certainly wasn''t going to let that slide. They insulted the Spirit Pagoda, saying that the Tang Sect was facing the Star Luo Empire for the glory of the federation, whereas the Spirit Pagoda was representing the imperial family of the Star Luo Empire. If the Tang Sect were colluding with the Star Luo Empire, then what about the Spirit Pagoda?


    What was even more infuriating to Qiangu Dongfeng was that not only was Zhang Geyang representing the Star Luo Empire, he had lost the match! The excuse could be made that Zhang Geyang had chosen to participate in the match to avenge the Spirit Pagoda''s Dou Spirit Empire headquarters, but he had completely disgraced the Spirit Pagoda by losing the match.


    On top of that, even his soul spirit had betrayed him.


    Zhang Geyang was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, whereas Tang Wulin was only in his early twenties! How had he managed to lose?


    Qiangu Dongfeng was greatly infuriated by Tang Wulin, but also completely astonished. As a result of his extraordinary feats, Tang Wulin was also rapidly making a reputation for himself in the federation, and the Tang Sect was steadily gaining more and more supporters.


    Of course, there was still much opposition against the Tang Sect. After all, the federation was preparing to declare war on the other two empires, yet the Tang Sect had destroyed the Spirit Pagoda''s Dou Spirit Empire headquarters, and their sect master was currently in the Star Luo Empire; there was definitely something going on behind the scenes.


    As such, both the Spirit Pagoda and the Tang Sect were in some hot water, and they were busy addressing their respective crises. At the very least, it appeared on the surface that the Tang Sect had gained the upper hand during this power struggle.


    "Have you still not gathered information on that Tang Wulin?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked.


    Leng Yaozhu replied in an indifferent manner, "I''ve already presented to you all of the information we have on him in our database; it''s just that we never had much information on him to begin with. We know that he was classmates with Gu Yuena and that the two of them grew up together. On top of that, he''s the leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, but you already know all of that. We have no further information on him, particularly after the Shrek City bombing. We don''t know where he went, what he did, nor how he was able to progress so quickly during the past few years. I have a feeling that even if we were to dig any deeper, we most likely wouldn''t be able to find any further information about him."


    Qiangu Dongfeng could clearly hear the discontent in Leng Yaozhu''s voice, but he was focused on something else. "Did you just say that Gu Yuena and Tang Wulin were classmates? She''s currently in the Star Luo Empire; would she have more information on Tang Wulin? Contact the Star Luo Empire; I want to speak to Spirit Envoy Gu Yuena."

 Chapter 1355: Approach Him?

    The inter-continental call was soon connected, and Gu Yuena''s pleasant yet calm voice sounded from the other end. "I heard you wanted to speak to me, Chairman."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression eased significantly upon hearing her voice. "Have you grown acclimated to the conditions over there, Nana?"


    All of the people present in the conference chamber were high-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda, and it was very rare for them to see Qiangu Dongfeng putting on such a benevolent display. They all understood that Qiangu Dongfeng was putting on a display to show them just how important Gu Yuena was to him.


    Indeed, this spirit envoy was truly a freakish talent. Not only was she extremely powerful, her family had made many significant contributions to the Spirit Pagoda during the past few years. This was a mysterious and ancient family, and it was only with their assistance that the Spirit Pagoda had managed to devise the method for creating black soul spirits. On top of that, they were able to do so while minimizing costs, and that had been a major contributing factor to the current lofty status of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was encouraging his own grandson, Qiangu Zhangting, to pursue Gu Yuena, not just for her looks and powers; what was more important to him was gaining the support of Gu Yuena''s family. Currently, the Spirit Pagoda was still collaborating with that family in the development of a very important project. As such, Gu Yuena held a very special status in the Spirit Pagoda, and in Qiangu Dongfeng''s heart, even Leng Yaozhu ranked below her.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was hoping that Gu Yuena would marry Qiangu Zhangting, and that the two of them would inherit the Spirit Pagoda together to take it to greater heights. When that time came, he would focus all of his energy and attention on pursuing ascension to that higher world.


    "I have, thank you for asking, Chairman," Gu Yuena replied.


    "Nana, I''m sure you''re aware of the current situation with the Tang Sect in the Star Luo Empire; can you tell me anything about that Tang Wulin? I heard from your teacher that you used to be classmates with him, right?"


    Gu Yuena was silent for a moment before replying, "That''s right, we used to be classmates, but we went our separate ways when he became part of Shrek''s Seven Monsters while I joined the Spirit Pagoda."


    "What kind of person is he? Do you know how he became the Tang Sect Master?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked.


    Gu Yuena replied, "I don''t know how he became the Tang Sect Master so quickly, either. He does indeed possess outstanding aptitude and natural leadership qualities, which is why he was able to become the leader of Shrek''s Seven Monsters. I once fought alongside him in the Star Luo Empire, and he was always the true core of our team. He''s very independent and likes to help others, but he''s also very headstrong and resistant to taking in advice. I had lost contact with him following the Shrek City bombing, and this is the first time I''ve seen him since then."


    Qiangu Dongfeng quickly latched onto the flaw in Tang Wulin''s personality that Gu Yuena had disclosed, which was his headstrong nature. As long as he had fallacies that could be exploited, it wouldn''t be difficult to bring him down.


    "Seeing as you two were former classmates, would you be able to take advantage of this opportunity to approach him and see if you can get some information out of him? Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin must have their considerations for making him the Tang Sect Master at such a young age, and we have to find out these reasons as soon as possible. I''m sure you''re already aware that the Tang Sect has already declared war on us. Under these circumstances, we have to gather more information on them so we can formulate the best strategy to counter them."


    Gu Yuena faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You want me to approach him?"


    "That''s right. We haven''t announced to the outside world that you''re a spirit envoy, so he shouldn''t be aware of your status. You can try to approach him, but make sure to prioritize your own safety above all else. Have you been watching the matches in the Trial of Five Gods?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "I have. He just won the third match not long ago; you should be able to see the footage soon."


    "He won again? Is there no one with any semblance of competence in the entire Star Luo Empire?" Qiangu Dongfeng''s voice abruptly spiked up a few octaves, and his aura became noticeably more agitated as well.


    "The Tang Sect sure is innovative; they''re piling pressure on us here in the federation while promoting themselves in the Star Luo Empire, hmph!"


    Even through the intercontinental communication system, Gu Yuena could sense Qiangu Dongfeng''s powerful killing intent.


    "Alright, I''ll try to approach him. Should I inform Vice-chairman Zhang of this?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "I''ll notify him of this. He has truly disappointed me. Send me a report containing all of the information you have about Tang Wulin, and make it as detailed as possible; we''re sorely lacking in information about him at the moment."


    "Alright," Gu Yuena replied.


    ......


    Tong Yu opened his eyes in a disoriented manner to find nothing but darkness all around him.


    He tried to sense everything around him, but the only sensation he could feel was one of crippling feebleness.


    This type of feeling didn''t seem to be death. As death had approached him back in the sports stadium, he had felt as if his consciousness were moving toward another world. His body was completely weightless, and there was no pain, nor any elation.


    However, at this moment, he was feeling completely feeble, and it was as if his body had lost all of its vitality. Could it be that he hadn''t died?


    How could this be? At the time, his life force had clearly been completely exhausted!


    ......


    "Thank you for your hard work yesterday, Your Majesty," Tang Wulin said to the hooded Holy Spirit Douluo as they walked on the bustling streets of Heaven Dou City.


    Yali smiled, and replied, "As a healing system Soul Master, being able to help treat others gives me great pleasure; I''m very glad that I was able to help him."


    Tang Wulin said in a heartfelt manner, "You really are the most kind person in the world."


    The Holy Spirit Douluo had managed to drag the Qilin Douluo back from the brink of death the day before. Without her, he''d be nothing more than a cold hard corpse at this point.


    A reminiscent look flashed through Yali''s eyes. She could still remember that night, when she had been standing in his arms beside the Sea God''s Lake.


    ......


    "There are so many exceptional and beautiful women who love you; why did you choose me?"


    "I chose you because you''re the most kind woman in the world. I want to spend the rest of my life protecting and cherishing your purity and kindness. The Sea God''s Lake isn''t very big; it only has enough room for a single Sea God''s Island. My heart isn''t very big, either; it only has enough room for you."


    ......


    Tang Wulin could sense the sudden emotional fluctuations from the Holy Spirit Douluo, and he turned to discover that a film of tears had appeared over her eyes.


    He realized that he must''ve triggered the recollection of a sad memory within her, and he wanted to say something in apology, but couldn''t find the right words in the end.


    The imperial sports stadium had been surrounded in a virtually airtight manner. The venue wasn''t even open yet, but there was already an enormous crowd gathered outside.


    There was a staggering number of people holding banners that expressed their support of the Tang Sect, and there were also some banners that were inscribed with the words "Qilin Douluo". It was quite clear that they had already forgiven him. Of course, in their hearts, he was also dead.


    En Ci had expressed an urge to hide the fact that Tong Yu was still alive from the general public. After all, he was a Limit Douluo, and if a war were to break out, Tong Yu would be an invaluable secret trump card.


    As Tang Wulin and Yali passed through the crowd, all of the people before them automatically parted without even noticing it themselves. However, if one were to look down from a bird''s eye perspective, they would see that the two of them weren''t being impeded by the crowd at all, and nor did the people in the crowd realize that someone was gliding past them.


    "You''ve improved further in the control over your own powers." Yali finally broke the silence again.


    "I did indeed make some improvements," Tang Wulin replied in a truthful manner.


    Even though only three days had passed since the commencement of the Trial of Five Gods, he could clearly sense that the rate at which he was integrating his own powers and abilities had been rapidly accelerating. As a result, he had finally integrated everything that he had gained from his recent breakthroughs, and his powers had been enhanced significantly.


    "The Star Luo Empire has lost three consecutive matches already, so they''re definitely going to throw a powerful opponent at you today. Look after yourself."

 Chapter 1356: He is the Future

    During Tang Wulin''s battle against the Qilin Douluo, Yali had constantly been on standby, ready to swoop in should Tang Wulin have required her healing abilities.


    She was already prepared to intervene when the Five-elemental Divine Arrow had almost pierced through Tang Wulin''s head, but everything had happened far too abruptly, and Tang Wulin had also reacted very quickly, so she didn''t get a chance to intervene.


    During the rest of that battle, Yali had been thoroughly impressed. Her lover had been the most powerful being on the entire continent, and she had been with him for longer than everyone else, so she was very familiar with powerful beings who stood at the pinnacle of the world.


    In Tang Wulin, she could see the shadow of Yun Ming. In his youth, Yun Ming had also been constantly improving as Tang Wulin had, and always made breakthroughs against all odds and expectations. He climbed up the ranks over and over again until he finally stood at the pinnacle of the Soul Master world, and became the guiding force of Shrek Academy. The current Tang Wulin reminded her a lot of the Yun Ming of the past. He was always able to do what was impossible to others.


    He had forged a resounding reputation for himself during this Trial of Five Gods, and it was undoubtedly the case that he was going to receive a lot of attention from all of the major powers on the three continents.


    Currently, the federation was in a very precarious situation. The Spirit Pagoda was colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, the Tang Sect was being oppressed, Shrek Academy had been destroyed, and the Dove Faction was being dominated by the Eagle Faction. War was imminent, and at a time like this, it was more important than ever for someone from Shrek Academy to step up.


    The Heartless Douluo was tied to the Blood God Legion, so he was unable to return. As for the Amorous Douluo, he was more suited to the role of an advisor, and he had always played such a role when he was with the Heartless Douluo. Furthermore, both of them shared the same problem that plagued Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, and that was their age.


    All of them were Limit Douluos of the older generation, and among all known Limit Douluos, the youngest one was Tang Wulin''s opponent from the day before, Qilin Douluo Tong Yu. All of the other Limit Douluos were over 100 years of age; even if they were to step up, how long would they be around for? It was very difficult to see the future of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy in any of them.


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were still in a very perilous situation. At a time like this, these two major powers would only be able to make a resurgence if the younger generation could develop to fill the shoes of their predecessors.


    Hence, when the Heartless Douluo discovered that Tang Wulin had been blessed by the plane, he immediately gave Tang Wulin his unreserved support. Among the younger generation, there was no better candidate than him to take up the mantle. As for the powerful beings of the older generation like them, their duty was to support and protect Tang Wulin with everything they had. No matter how bad of a state the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were currently in, they still had three Limit Douluos among their ranks. In terms of high-end offensive power, they weren''t inferior even to the Spirit Pagoda and Holy Spirit Cult combined.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin hadn''t disappointed them, either. Ever since he had become the Tang Sect Master, he had developed at a rapid rate, as had his friends. Once they grew to fulfill their full potential, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy would definitely be able to make a resurgence.


    No one knew what the situation was like in the Holy Spirit Cult, but at the very least, there was no one in the younger generation of the Spirit Pagoda who could compare with Tang Wulin.


    During this recent period of time, Yali had constantly been with Tang Wulin, and she had witnessed how hard he had worked in his cultivation, as well as how he had taken care of the issues that had arisen before him. He had never disappointed her; even after the death of his parents, he had been able to recover very quickly and prioritize the bigger picture, and that was truly remarkable for someone of his age.


    Of course, she was unaware that Tang Wulin''s foster parents hadn''t actually passed away.


    Following these three consecutive victories, Tang Wulin was beginning to remind Yali more and more of Yun Ming. He was already beginning to glow, and someday, he was going to become the next Atlas Douluo to support both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    After making his way into the resting area, Tang Wulin immediately sat down. Even though he had already done his best to rest and recover the night before, the third match had been an extremely grueling and taxing one for him. On top of that, he had to help with reviving the Qilin Douluo, so even with his physical constitution, he had felt rather weary when he had woken up earlier in the morning.


    Yali strode over to him before placing her right hand gently onto his back, and a layer of gentle white light instantly enveloped his entire body.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had been basked in a warm pool, and his soul power was rapidly recovering as if he had consumed some type of regenerative spirit item. All of the powers within his body were being organized and, and most importantly, he had entered a half-asleep state that was very conducive to spiritual recovery.


    It truly was fantastic to have the Holy Spirit Douluo by his side!


    Dai Yun''er had arrived at the sports stadium very early in the morning, and she was seated in a very discreet and secluded corner. She couldn''t help but purse her lips at the sight of the bold banners that Tang Wulin''s fangirls had written up for him, but at the same time, she became even more determined to implement her original plan.


    You''re so handsome, Wulin; even I''m becoming your fangirl! I''m not going to let you go. You delivered yourself right to my doorstep, so there''s no chance I''m letting you get away, hmph!


    Dai Yun''er''s eyes began to glow at the thought of her plan. When the time came, even her father wouldn''t be able to blame her.


    All she was praying for now was that Tang Wulin could continue to keep up his current miraculous streak. The more power he displayed, the less resistant Dai Tianling would be to her plan. She didn''t care about anything else; all she wanted was to be with him.


    You have to win this weapons match, Brother Wulin!


    That''s right, the fourth match of the Trial of Five Gods was the battle of weapons. The rules were as simple as ever; both sides could use their soul power and physical powers, but all soul skills and soul spirits were strictly prohibited.


    Furthermore, the only weapons that could be used were those outside of the combatant''s martial souls, and the inception of this type of battle that had stemmed back from ancient times, prior to the invention of soul tools.


    There were many types of Soul Masters, and they were split up into two different major categories: Battle Soul Masters and Tool Soul Masters. As the name suggested, Battle Soul Masters honed all of their abilities for the purpose of battle. Most of them had martial souls that were suited to battle, and possessed powerful offensive soul skills.


    In contrast, Tool Soul Masters were more suited to complementing others, but that didn''t mean that they didn''t want to be able to battle as well.


    Their martial souls were ill-suited for battle; examples of this were food system Soul Masters and support system Soul Masters. Hence, if they wanted to battle, then they had to rely on external help, which was where weapons came in.


    Generally, it wasn''t common for support system Soul Masters to use weapons to battle, but it was still a viable option.


    In fact, this was a major factor behind the initial rise of the Tang Sect. The Tang Sect was able to produce hidden weapons that could bestow offensive power upon support system Soul Masters and even ordinary people. Conversely, the decline of the Tang Sect around 10,000 years ago was a result of the emergence of soul tools, which had replaced its hidden weapons.


    Thankfully, the Spirit Ice Douluo and his friends had reconstructed the Tang Sect and integrated soul tools with the Tang Sect''s hidden weapons, thereby giving rise to the resurgence of the Tang Sect.


    The battle of weapons was one of the less important matches of the Trial of Five Gods, but this was still the Trial of Five Gods, after all. Who was going to represent the Star Luo Empire, and what kind of weapon was he going to use?


    Tang Wulin actually had a great deal of confidence in this match as he possessed a pair of divine weapons. His Golden Dragon Spear and Dragonslaying Saber were undoubtedly going to be invaluable assets during this battle, and he also had the spear techniques bestowed upon him by his father, as well as his immense reserves of strength and soul power to rely on.


    As such, this was actually the match that Tang Wulin had the most confidence in among all of the matches of the Trial of Five Gods.

 Chapter 1357: Taken Care of?

    Of course, all confidence was relative; no matter how confident Tang Wulin, he didn''t dare to say that he would definitely be able to defeat his opponent for today.


    With the three consecutive victories he had already chalked up, the Star Luo Empire was definitely going to bring out the most powerful opponent to cut his streak short in this fourth match.


    Dai Yun''er cast her gaze toward the rostrum and wondered to herself who was going to be representing the empire in this match. Even as the princess, this information was unavailable to her.


    Apparently, Dai Tianling had stayed up very late the night before to discuss this matter with En Ci.


    In any case, she was confident that Tang Wulin would win. At this point, her confidence in Tang Wulin was virtually blind and absolute. She was sure that Tang Wulin would be able to overcome any obstacle that stood in his way.


    Dai Tianling only arrived at the sports stadium when there were only 10 minutes left until the commencement of the match, and this was the latest that he had arrived for any of the four matches.


    He had indeed stayed up very late the night before, and it was truly because the empire couldn''t afford to lose anymore. No one could''ve foreseen that the empire would lose three consecutive matches, and the powers displayed by Tang Wulin had astonished everyone, but even so, he shouldn''t have been able to win three consecutive matches!


    Zhang Geyang and Tong Yu''s defeats could be attributed to extraordinary circumstances, but Huang Zhengyang had lost the first mecha battle purely because he didn''t know enough about Tang Wulin and had underestimated him. At the time, Dai Tianling had chosen Huang Zhengyang as opposed to some other mecha pilot with greater combat prowess as he didn''t want to embarrass the Tang Sect by crushing Tang Wulin.


    However, the empire was now the one that was being thoroughly embarrassed instead, and as the one who had instigated this entire event, Dai Tianling was truly regretting his decision.


    As such, he had to ensure that the empire won this match and recovered some of its dignity no matter what. He wasn''t concerned about the final battle armor battle. There was no chance that Tang Wulin would be able to defeat En Ci, and even though there was no glory in sending out a Limit Douluo to defeat Tang Wulin, he had no choice.


    En Ci was a Limit Douluo and a four-word battle armor master, which meant that he stood at the pinnacle of this world among a very exclusive group of powerful beings. No matter how powerful Tang Wulin was, there was still a massive gulf between them.


    He was going to make sure that Tang Wulin was crushed in the final two matches!


    Thinking back to the decision that he had made the night before, a faint smile appeared on Dai Tianling''s face. Of course, this was a rather sinister smile. Even he felt himself to be a little sly and underhanded, but he had no other choice.


    Of course, he didn''t actually resent Tang Wulin. Instead, as the Trial of Five Gods progressed, he was becoming fonder and fonder of Tang Wulin. The news that Tong Yu had been saved had allowed him to heave a huge sigh of relief. That was a Limit Douluo, after all!


    When he had seen Tong Yu''s mental manifestation, his jaw had almost dropped straight onto the ground!


    If the Star Luo Empire could have another Limit Douluo, then the overall power of the entire empire would be enhanced significantly.


    Aside from its advanced technology, the other fearsome aspect about the Douluo Federation was its sheer number of Limit Douluos. In the federal parliament, Spirit Pagoda, and the military, there were at least five or six Limit Douluos. Not all of them would heed orders from the federation, but the federation definitely held an absolute advantage over the Star Luo Empire in this regard. If the Douluo Federation were to send out their Limit Douluos in a decapitation strike, it would be extremely difficult for the Star Luo Empire to stop them.


    Of course, there was an unspoken rule among Limit Douluos that prevented them from directly participating in battles and killing ordinary people unless the situation absolutely demanded it. Otherwise, the world would''ve been thrown into disarray long ago. Even so, Limit Douluos were still extremely formidable and influential beings, and with an additional Limit Douluo among their ranks, the Star Luo Empire would be bolstered significantly.


    As such, after the Tang Sect had saved Tong Yu, he immediately made the decision to grant Tong Yu amnesty and remove all of the restrictions placed on him, particularly the deprivation of his battle armor. After that, he was going to do everything in his power to get a suit of four-word battle armor created for Tong Yu so he could truly become one of the powerful beings who stood at the pinnacle of this world. If that plan could come into fruition, the overall power of the Star Luo Empire would definitely be significantly enhanced, and he wouldn''t have to worry about anything with two Limit Douluos protecting him.


    On top of that, Tong Yu was a lot younger than En Ci. With the life force of a Limit Douluo, he would be able to support the empire for at least half a century.


    The final result of the Trial of Five Gods was going to be three to two in Tang Wulin''s favor. He didn''t want to accept this outcome, but at this point, he had no choice. There was no alternative for the empire but to agree to the Tang Sect''s conditions, but at the very least, if Tang Wulin couldn''t secure the victory in the Trial of Five Gods, the empire would be able to save some money. After that, he would have to think of some ways to appease the Tang Sect and improve the relationship between sect and empire.


    This Tang Wulin truly had an immeasurable future ahead of him! If only Tang Wulin really were his son-in-law.


    With that in mind, Dai Yun''er''s proposal suddenly sprang into his mind again, and his mood was immediately soured. Why was Tang Wulin such a stubborn brat?


    At this point, there was not a single empty seat to be seen in the sports stadiums, and everyone was spiritedly discussing the upcoming match.


    Every single match of the Trial of Five Gods thus far had been extremely spectacular, and even more importantly, the outrageously handsome Sect Master Tang had won three consecutive matches against all odds. He was beating an entire empire on his own! Who wouldn''t want a chance to see a heroic figure like him in action?


    The Tang Sect had always kept a relatively low profile. Even though they held a very lofty status in the Star Luo Empire and was vastly renowned among the general public, very little was known about its sect master. In fact, very few even knew who the former sect master prior to Tang Wulin was.


    In contrast, this new Tang Sect Master has chosen to appear before the Star Luo Empire in such an emphatic fashion. In the eyes of the general public, this was an effort that was being made by the Tang Sect Master to forge stronger relations with the empire. The Tang Sect was an ally to the Star Luo Empire, and the Star Luo Empire had also always viewed the Tang Sect as an important collaborative partner. As such, Tang Wulin''s perceived efforts to further strengthen the relationship between sect and empire only served to further enhance his popularity among the general public.


    En Ci arrived slightly later than Dai Tianling.


    Dai Tianling turned to En Ci with a smile, and asked, "Has everything been taken care of, Teacher?" He was in very high spirits as the empire now had an additional Limit Douluo.


    "Rest assured, Your Majesty; everything has been taken care of."


    Dai Tianling turned to the Smiling Douluo, who had arrived earlier than both him and En Ci, and said, "There''s no need for you to ask Teacher about Tang Wulin''s chances in this match; I can tell you that it''s next to impossible for him to win. If I had to give a number, then I''d say that we have an approximate 95% chance of winning this match."


    The Smiling Douluo raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "You sound very confident, Your Majesty." He couldn''t help but wonder what gave Dai Tianling so much confidence. He clearly recalled that prior to the first match of the Trial of Five Gods, Tang Wulin had told him that the weapons match was the one that he was most confident in.


    Based on what he had learned about Tang Wulin during these past few days, he knew that this young sect master of theirs definitely wouldn''t make baseless statements like this.


    Dai Tianling smiled, and said, "I am indeed quite confident. Your sect master has already won three matches. There were some extraordinary circumstances involved, particularly in yesterday''s match, but the fact of the matter is that he''s secured three consecutive victories. Even if he loses the final two matches, we''re still willing to accept the terms proposed by the Tang Sect, but a 10% price reduction will have to be provided."


    The Smiling Douluo was quite elated to hear this. Even though the price had gone down, the collaboration was finally in the bag. In reality, the Tang Sect''s bottom line was far lower than this. By saying this, Dai Tianling was agreeing to comply with the Tang Sect''s condition, which would prevent them from using the provided weapons in battle unless the situation demanded it.

 Chapter 1358: The Weapons Battle

    "Thank you, Your Majesty," the Smiling Douoluo said in a genuine voice as he heaved an internal sigh of relief. A positive outcome had finally been reached.


    If Dai Tianling had continued to insist on opposing the Tang Sect''s conditions, then the Tang Sect would have no choice but to make concessions. After all, the Tang Sect''s top priority was to prevent this war from taking place.


    Dai Tianling waved a hand, and said, "The power displayed by your sect master has already shown us that your Tang Sect will continue to be an important ally to our Star Luo Empire for at least the next century."


    While it was indeed true that an element of luck had been present in all three of the victories that Tang Wulin had secured, he was still only in his early twenties! With his incredible talent, what lofty heights would he scale to in the future?


    One had to realize that in the past 20,000 years, the only two people who had reached the very pinnacle and ascended to become gods were from the Tang Sect! No one knew exactly how much power the Tang Sect had.


    One of the reasons that the Spirit Pagoda had targeted the Tang Sect was because they wanted the cultivation notes left behind by the Tang Sect''s forefathers. Which Limit Douluo didn''t want to take another step forward?


    Tang Wulin was so outstanding that even the Atlas Douluo couldn''t compare with him at the same age, so who would dare to say that Tang Wulin didn''t have a chance of reaching that level in the future?


    The founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, had ascended to godhood and led two empires in battle against the Soul Hall. He had faced the two gods of the Soul Hall on his own and slain one of them while crippling the other. He was the one who had established the legend of Shrek''s Seven Monsters.


    Then, there was the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao. He had emerged when the Tang Sect was on the brink of fading away into a relic of the past and led it on a stunning resurgence. Even though he had founded the Spirit Pagoda, he never actually took control of the organization, choosing to remain in the Tang Sect for the most part instead. At the time, the invincible Sun Moon Empire''s army had reached the Star Luo Empire''s border, but Huo Yuhao had faced the entire army on his own and forced the ruler of the Sun Moon Empire at the time to concede.


    On top of that, he vowed to protect the Star Luo Empire from the Sun Moon Empire for as long as he lived, and that gave the Star Luo Empire the chance to recuperate and survive. In a sense, it could be said that Dai Tianling was a descendant of the Spirit Ice Douluo. Both of the two most legendary figures in the history of the Douluo Continent had extremely close ties with the Tang Sect; would Tang Wulin, who was currently besting an entire empire on his own, also follow in their footsteps?


    Even if there was only the slightest possibility of that happening, Dai Tianling didn''t want to make Tang Wulin the empire''s enemy. Hence, he had made his intentions known prior to the commencement of the fourth match, and in reality, he had made this decision well in advance.


    Dai Tianling and En Ci also smiled at the sight of the relaxed smile that had appeared on the Smiling Douluo''s face.


    This was undoubtedly going to be the most relaxed they had been while spectating one of the matches of the Trial of Five Gods.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already made his way to the entrance of the sports stadium. With the Holy Spirit Douluo''s assistance, he could feel that he had returned to his top condition.


    This was a very wonderful feeling, and his three consecutive victories had instilled within him a lot of confidence and momentum. This was the match that he was most confident in, so he had to win!


    The battle against En Ci the following day would be a chance for him to fully express himself. He was going to face the almighty Limit Douluo with everything that he had.


    The gate up ahead was opened, and it was time to enter the stadium.


    Tang Wulin strode out of the waiting area, and there was someone else who was also emerging through a gate on the other side of the venue.


    In the instant that the two of them made their way into the sports stadium, deafening cheers immediately rang out, and countless people were chanting Tang Wulin''s name.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he raised a hand to acknowledge the spectators, and right at this moment, the announcer''s voice rang out. "The fourth match of the Trial of Five Gods will be the weapons battle. The representative of our Star Luo Empire will be the weaponry master, Weeping Blood Douluo Chu Tiange!"


    Weeping Blood Douluo Chu Tiange? This was a name that was both familiar yet also alien to Tang Wulin. He had heard the Smiling Douluo mention this name in the past, which meant that this opponent wasn''t a surprise.


    Information about his opponent quickly began to surface in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    Weeping Blood Douluo Chu Tiange possessed the Weeping Blood Sword martial soul. He was an exceptional swordsman and had already attained a sword soul. He was a Hyper Douluo who was the chief priest of the Holy Hall. He had invented his own Weeping Blood Sword Techniques, and was indeed a master of weapons.


    At present, he was in his eighties, and his soul power was at around rank 97, which placed him slightly below Infernal Flame Douluo Zhang Geyang. He was quite an understated individual, and his hobbies included studying weapons and collecting antique weapons.


    Chu Tiange was the one who had been projected to be the likeliest representative for the Star Luo Empire during this weapons match, and the Smiling Douluo had formulated a few strategies for Tang Wulin to counter him.


    If Chu Tiange were to be the Star Luo Empire''s representative, then his weapon of choice would definitely be a sword, which meant that Tang Wulin would primarily have to be wary of his sword techniques. Chu Tiange had been studying swordsmanship for over 70 years, and he was truly obsessed with the way of the sword. It was said that he had already begun to grasp sword essence.


    For those who were pursuing the way of the sword, sword intent, sword soul, and sword essence was the order of progression.


    Ye Xinglan was currently already pursuing sword essence, but it would still take her a very long time to reach that level. Tang Wulin had attained a spear soul as well, but was also quite some way away from spear essence.


    This wasn''t something that could be achieved through talent alone; it required sufficient time and deeper understanding of one''s weapon.


    Due to the fact that this was a weapons battle, Chu Tiange would be prohibited from using his Weeping Blood Sword martial soul, so he''d have to use another weapon. However, Tang Wulin wasn''t concerned even if his opponent were to use a divine weapon. After all, he had the Golden Dragon Spear and Dragonslaying Saber, both of which were true divine weapons!


    Thus, Tang Wulin strode into the venue with an abundance of confidence in his heart. His opponent was a disheveled elderly man with messy hair and an unkempt beard. For this occasion, it seemed that he had donned a set of new robes, which were rather antiquated in style.


    There were no embellishments on the entire azure robe, and it was a very mundane piece of clothing. Furthermore, his eyes were a little glazed over and completely devoid of the sharpness that one would expect from a master swordsman.


    However, this only made Tang Wulin even warier of his opponent. There was no aura to be detected from Chu Tiange, which meant that he was already at a stage in his cultivation where he was able to completely subdue his own aura, thereby making him an even more formidable opponent.


    The Smiling Douluo also had his gaze fixed on Chu Tiange as the latter strode into the stadium. He had finally managed to correctly guess the representative for the Star Luo Empire.


    Chu Tiange was indeed very powerful, but he was a rather eccentric character due to his obsession with swords. As such, he was most likely treating this as an opportunity to further hone his own swordsmanship. The fact that he wouldn''t be able to use his Weeping Blood Sword would severely restrict his powers, so Tang Wulin had a very good chance of winning this match. At the very least, he wouldn''t lose too badly.


    In Hu Jie''s eyes, the outcomes of the final two matches weren''t all that important anymore. Even if Tang Wulin were to lose one or both matches, the Tang Sect would only have to make a 10% price concession, which was well within the sect''s tolerance range.


    The research and development of soul tools was far more expensive than the material costs, and the Tang Sect had already recovered those costs in their past collaborations with the empire, so price was never an issue.


    Losing the final two matches wouldn''t be of any detriment to the resounding reputation that Tang Wulin had already forged, so they were essentially completely inconsequential. As for the match that was going to be held the next day, Hu Jie could only curse En Ci for being a shameless old geezer. Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci was the undisputed most powerful being in the entire Star Luo Empire, so there certainly wasn''t any glory to be had for him in victory.


    "Begin!"


    The fourth match of the Trial of Five Gods finally commenced, and the Smiling Douluo suddenly discovered that the smile on Dai Tianling''s face had become even more pronounced.


    In the face of Hu Jie''s inquisitive gaze, Dai Tianling yawned, and murmured to himself, "I stayed up way too late last night; it sure wasn''t an easy task convincing the Weeping Blood Douluo to participate in this battle!"


    Convince? Chu Tiange required convincing to participate in this match? A person as obsessed with honing his swordsmanship as Chu Tiange was shouldn''t require any convincing to participate in a battle!


    Could it be...


    A sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in the Smiling Douluo''s heart. There was definitely something wrong here!

 Chapter 1359: Vajra Bracelet

    On the competition platform, Weeping Blood Douluo Chu Tiange was appraising Tang Wulin with his brows furrowed, looking rather unhappy and deflated.


    Is he trying to lure me into a false sense of security?


    Even as this thought occurred to him, Tang Wulin was already charging forward.


    He couldn''t use his martial soul, but with the enhancements from his Body Sect congenital secret method and Golden Dragon King bloodline, he was still able to instantly break through the sound barrier as he stomped his left foot onto the ground to propel himself forward like a cannonball. Golden light flashed in his right hand, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared.


    A loud dragon''s roar rang out as countless spear projections erupted forth before hurtling toward Chu Tiange with fearsome might.


    Right at this moment, Chu Tiange suddenly raised his head and opened his mouth, seemingly to say something, but remained silent in the end.


    He then raised a hand, and as opposed to a sword as Tang Wulin had expected, what appeared in his hand was a metal bracelet instead.


    This was a white bracelet, and as soon as it was brought out, it began to emanate a radiant white light.


    An indescribable peculiar feeling also welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart in that instant, and the Golden Dragon Spear abruptly shuddered in his hand. It was then wrenched out of his grasp, and his Fury of the Masses was instantly cut off as well.


    A crisp clang rang out, and the Golden Dragon Spear adhered itself to the white metal bracelet that Chu Tiange was holding.


    Ever since Tang Wulin had awakened his Golden Dragon King bloodline and obtained this Golden Dragon Spear, it had virtually become a part of his body. He had suffered defeats in the past, but never had his Golden Dragon Spear left his grasp in battle on an involuntary basis.


    Furthermore, it had left his grasp in such a perplexing manner; this was downright unimaginable to Tang Wulin!


    After the Golden Dragon Spear was drawn to the metal bracelet, it began to slowly shrink before finally disappearing into the bracelet.


    The entire stadium fell silent upon seeing this, and all of the cheering spectators were completely flabbergasted.


    What was going on?


    What had just happened?


    The Smiling Douluo was also rooted to his seat. There was no way that he could''ve anticipated something like this!


    Tang Wulin had been disarmed even before the first clash had taken place; how was he supposed to fight now?


    Tang Wulin had already reached his opponent at this point, but his weapon was gone.


    Chu Tiange raised his right hand, and a peerlessly sharp sword projection swept toward Tang Wulin like lightning. Tang Wulin had been caught completely off guard, and he could only raise his arms to protect himself after losing his Golden Dragon Spear. He only had time to unleash his Mysterious Jade Hands to bolster his defenses before he was sent flying amid a loud boom.


    The attack appeared to have been quite a simple one, but the power imbued within the sword projection exploded seven times in rapid succession after crashing into Tang Wulin, with each explosion more powerful than the last one. The devastating sword Qi threatened to tear his body into pieces, and if it weren''t for his immensely powerful physical constitution, that attack alone would''ve been enough to end the battle.


    Golden light flashed over Tang Wulin''s skin as he unleashed his dragon''s repulse to nullify the attack, but he was still in a state of shock.


    The Golden Dragon Spear was a divine weapon! It was something that was feared even by all abyssal creatures, yet it had been taken by his opponent just like that.


    What exactly was that metal bracelet?


    On the rostrum, the Smiling Douluo had just figured out the answer to that question. He turned to Dai Tianling, and exclaimed, "Isn''t that the empire''s premier divine weapon, the Vajra Bracelet? You''re willing to go this far to win?"


    This was... downright cheating!


    The Vajra Bracelet wasn''t something that the Star Luo Empire had brought over from the Douluo Continent. Instead, it had come from the current Star Luo Continent.


    Back when the Star Luo Empire had mass migrated to this continent, they were naturally met by resistance from the natives here. All invasions incurred a cost; even though the Star Luo Empire wasn''t powerful enough to face the Douluo Federation at the time, it was a simple matter for them to take care of those natives.


    During the war between the two sides, one of the tribal leaders of the natives had used this Vajra Bracelet to cause the Star Luo Empire army a great deal of trouble. The Vajra Bracelet possessed the ability to devour all weapons, and it even worked on martial souls to a certain degree.


    There was a small space within the Vajra Bracelet that was completely independent from the outside world, and at the time, the Star Luo Empire had seven Titled Douluos with tool martial souls, all of whom were severely weakened by this bracelet. In the end, the Star Luo Empire had defeated the natives through the power of their Soul Masters with beast martial souls, but they had still paid a heavy price during that war.


    Ever since the empire obtained the Vajra Bracelet, it had been revered as a prized treasure, and only the emperor had the right to use it.


    However, with the advancement of soul technology, this divine tool was made rather redundant. This was because the space within it was limited, and it could only store the weapons that it devoured; it didn''t have the ability to make the weapons undergo evolution or anything like that. According to the information they had gathered from the natives, the Vajra Bracelet was an ancient treasure, and no one knew exactly where it had come from. The Smiling Douluo had only ever heard of its existence, but never seen it before this.


    Never did he think that he would see this legendary divine tool on such an occasion.


    Thus, Tang Wulin was stripped of his weapon and was unable to use his martial soul or soul skills, facing a master swordsman who was also a Hyper Douluo. How was he supposed to fight like this?


    Dai Tianling merely sat in his chair in a calm and collected manner. Back when he had convinced Chu Tiange to agree to use the Vajra Bracelet, he had already anticipated that he would receive widespread criticism, but so what?


    "This is the Trial of Five Gods; if we bring out anything short of the best that we have to offer, it would be a gesture of disrespect to your sect master. The Vajra Bracelet is a type of weapon, and there''s no rule in the weapons battle stating that only a single weapon can be used!"


    Hu Jie was suddenly struck by the revelation that Dai Tianling had a very punchable face!


    All of the spectators were also completely flabbergasted. Virtually none of them were aware of the existence of the Vajra Bracelet, but it didn''t take a genius to see that Tang Wulin was in a world of trouble.


    Without his weapon, how was he supposed to fight in the weapons battle? How could the Star Luo Empire representative stoop to using such an underhanded tactic? Even if he were to win, there would be no glory to be earned!


    Tang Wulin didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry. It seemed that the Star Luo Empire really didn''t want him to win any more matches; they were even stooping to such shady tactics!


    What exactly was that thing?


    However, just because he had been stripped of his Golden Dragon Spear didn''t mean that he was going to concede this match. He was still oblivious to the fact that Dai Tianling had already agreed to all of the Tang Sect''s conditions under a 10% price discount.


    Ever since he arrived in the Star Luo Empire, he had constantly been targeted by the Star Luo Empire. The Trial of Five Gods had announced to the entire world that he was in the Star Luo Empire, thereby placing the Tang Sect under a lot of pressure in the federation. Tang Wulin was forced to accept all of this as he had to look at the bigger picture. Thus, he decided to participate in this Trial of Five Gods, but even in this completely unfair trial that was skewed heavily against his favor, they were still resorting to such underhanded tactics. At this point, even Tang Wulin couldn''t help but feel enraged by the treatment he had received.


    As the flames of fury were ignited in his heart, his expression only became calmer while his eyes became especially bright and piercing.


    You want to take away my Golden Dragon Spear? Let''s see what else you can take!


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath as a cold light appeared in his eyes, and a spindle-shaped streak of light suddenly appeared in front of him.

 Chapter 1360: Divine Space Time Shuttle

    Chu Tiange faltered slightly upon seeing this. What was that thing? It definitely wasn''t a soul skill; as the Tang Sect Master, there was no way that Tang Wulin would break the rules in such a blatant manner during such a prestigious event.


    If it weren''t a martial soul or soul skill, then it had to be a weapon. What kind of weapon was this? It didn''t seem to be a hidden weapon, nor one that could be used directly in battle.


    Just as Chu Tiange was looking on with a befuddled frown, two bursts of light suddenly flew out of the spindle-shaped object, then landed in Tang Wulin''s hands.


    The two bursts of light were quite mundane in appearance to begin with, but as they were flying toward Tang Wulin''s hands, they began to expand drastically in size, and in the blink of an eye, a pair of giant hammers had appeared in his grasp.


    For Shrek''s Six Monsters, these hammers were rather familiar.


    The two hammers were of a nondescript grey color, and the only thing noteworthy about them was their sheer size.


    Each hammer was around five meters in length, and the diameter of each hammer head was around two and a half meters. While holding the hammers, Tang Wulin had to angle them upward to prevent the heads of the hammers from falling onto the ground.


    As a master of weapons, Chu Tiange was stunned by the sight of this pair of massive hammers. At first glance, the two hammers seemed to be completely ordinary, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that the hammers were releasing a faint sheen that was pulsating gently as if it had a life of its own. The rhythmic expansion and contraction of the light was akin to the breathing of a living being.


    Could it be...


    An outrageous thought suddenly occurred to Chu Tiange, but before he had a chance to think about the matter in greater depth, Tang Wulin had already leaped up into the air.


    These hammers didn''t belong to Tang Wulin. Instead, they were being used by Yuanen Yehui in her Titan Giant Ape form. However, he was the one who had forged them, and the material used was Heavy Silver, a material that Tang Wulin was most familiar with and wasn''t all that precious among uncommon metals.


    However, their sheer mass coupled with the material used ensured that they would be insanely heavy. Furthermore, this wasn''t hundred refined or thousand refined Heavy Silver; it was soul refined Heavy Silver!


    Due to how familiar Tang Wulin was with Heavy Silver, soul refinement of this material had become completely effortless to him, and he had soul refined these hammers as part of his forging practice regimen. Even for an outstanding Sage Blacksmith like him, it had taken him quite a long time to soul refine these hammers, and only a super sect with as much wealth as the Tang Sect did would be able to provide such a huge amount of Heavy Silver for him.


    Both of the hammers in Tang Wulin''s hands weighed over a ton, with the one in his left hand weighing 1335 kilograms, and the one in his right hand weighing 1490 kilograms.


    One could only imagine just how much destructive power these two outrageously heavy hammers would be capable of unleashing. As the one who had forged these hammers, Tang Wulin had a spiritual connection with the soul refined metal, so the hammers would be 30% lighter for him. The hammers only possessed one special effect: pulverization.


    Tang Wulin leaped up into the air, and even with this pair of hammers that totaled close to three tons in weight, he managed to gain over 10 meters of elevation. He raised the hammers high above his own head, then sent them crashing down toward Chu Tiange like a pair of massive shooting stars.


    The female spectators present all looked on in a slightly slack-jawed manner.


    In their eyes, Tang Wulin was outrageously handsome and an impeccably graceful gentleman; he fulfilled virtually all of the qualities that they desired in the opposite sex.


    He was handsome, well-mannered, powerful, and resilient, but this current image of himself that he was displaying completely tipped their impression of him on its head.


    This was a peerlessly handsome man wielding a pair of hammers that were far larger than even his own body, and he had sprung up into the air before swinging the hammers down toward his opponent. The image wasn''t exactly an extremely barbaric one, but it was certainly far from what everyone had come to expect of him.


    There was only a single fangirl sitting in a certain corner of the sports stadium with her eyes glowing as she murmured to herself, "That''s so badass! Brother Wulin really is the best!"


    Chu Tiange was in quite a foul mood. As a weapons master, it had been very disgruntling to have been forced to virtually cheat by using this Vajra Bracelet. He was very disappointed that he couldn''t face Tang Wulin in a fair battle, but all of his disappointment was instantly replaced by astonishment at the sight of the scenes unfolding before his eyes.


    He had just stripped Tang Wulin of that powerful golden spear, yet he was now using this pair of giant hammers; what exactly was his true weapon supposed to be?


    Also, how was that spindle-shaped object able to contain such a pair of enormous hammers?


    As soon as these thoughts sprang into his mind, he felt a gust of fierce wind sweep toward him.


    The soul refined Heavy Silver hammers were extremely heavy to begin with, and they were being swung with Tang Wulin''s insane strength; even before they had struck their target, the ground was already beginning to cave in in the face of the fearsome aura that the hammers were giving off.


    There was no way that Chu Tiange was going to engage those hammers in a direct clash. He was a swordsman, and even though he had a significant cultivation rank advantage, he certainly didn''t dare to fight fire with fire while being attacked by those weapons that clearly weren''t meant to be used by a human!


    He quickly rushed back in retreat in an attempt to evade Tang Wulin''s attack, but Tang Wulin was faster than he had anticipated, and even as his hammers were crashing down from above, he was still able to shoot forward to catch up to Chu Tiange.


    "Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub!" A powerful heartbeat rang out across the entire venue. With the protective barrier in place over the competition platform, the spectators couldn''t feel anything, but Chu Tiange''s body noticeably faltered as his blood essence churned violently.


    Was this a Body Sect cultivation method? Right as this thought was formulated in his mind, Tang Wulin''s hammers had already arrived.


    Chu Tiange had no choice but to grit his teeth and raise his Vajra Bracelet high up into the air before injecting his soul power into it.


    "Clang!" The hammer in Tang Wulin''s left hand was wrenched out of his grasp and drawn to the Vajra Bracelet. The most fearsome thing about this divine tool was that it was able to devour all weapons, regardless of how powerful they were.


    Indeed, the Vajra Bracelet had managed to wrench the hammer out of Tang Wulin''s grasp, but it was unable to seal the hammer away. Instead, the massive hammer crashed straight down onto the ground while the other hammer was also upon him.


    Even the Vajra Bracelet had its limits. Just like a storage soul tool, it had a tolerance limit for the weight or mass of the weapons that it could seal away. If those limits were exceeded, then it would fail to seal the weapon away, and it was quite clear that Tang Wulin''s hammers had breached that limit.


    As such, Chu Tiange had no choice but to summon an antiquated longsword, which appeared in his grasp amid a flash of light.


    This was a sword that he valued over even his own life, and it was completely snowy white in color with a crimson line running down its center. The tip of the sword tremored slightly, and a crisp clang rang out as the sword struck the giant hammer. Sharp sword intent pierced into the hammer as Chu Tiange tried to divert the hammer away, but only after truly clashing with the hammer did he come to realize just how fearsome it was.


    When wielded by Tang Wulin, the true battle weight of the hammer exceeded 10 tons, and upon making contact with the hammer, the longsword''s blade was immediately bent. There was no sword intent or sword soul that could make a difference in the face of such a staggering weight. Even with Chu Tiange''s Hyper Douluo level powers, his sword was almost wrenched out of his hand upon impact, and he hurriedly borrowed the astonishing force to dart away to the side before immediately looking down to inspect his sword in a concerned manner.

 Chapter 1361: Disorder Splitting Wind Giant Hammers!

    This longsword wasn''t his martial soul, but it had also been named the Weeping Blood Sword by him. He had commissioned a Saint Blacksmith to forge the sword for him, and it had been constructed from soul refined alloys. He carried the sword with him at all times, and even though it wasn''t his martial soul, he had already forged a spiritual connection with them. Following that clash with Tang Wulin''s enormous hammer, he was truly petrified that his precious sword could''ve been damaged.


    What was even more worrisome for him was that he hadn''t managed to get very far away from Tang Wulin, and the reason for that was very simple: the Vajra Bracelet was too heavy. Even though the giant hammer had already shrunk down before being sealed away into the Vajra Bracelet, the bracelet wasn''t able to completely nullify its weight. 30% of the hammer''s weight still manifested itself, and that amounted to around 500 kilograms.


    For a Hyper Douluo, 500 kilograms wasn''t too unmanageable a weight under normal circumstances, but being forced to carry 500 kilograms of additional weight naturally posed quite a significant impediment in battle.


    After being diverted to the side, the hammer in Tang Wulin''s right hand slammed onto the ground, and the entire sports stadium tremored violently.


    From afar, the spectators could only see how massive the hammer was by comparing it to Tang Wulin, but only after it actually struck the ground did the spectators truly realize exactly what Chu Tiange was currently facing.


    The giant hammer slammed into the ground, and a deafening boom rang as a giant crater was smashed into the competition platform. The crater had a diameter of over 10 meters and was around three meters deep. Even the construction material used for the imperial sports stadium was no match for such a devastating blow.


    The hammer was repelled into the air upon impact, and Tang Wulin swiveled around in mid-air, adjusting his grip in the process so that he was wielding the hammer with both hands. There was no technique to speak of; he merely rotated on the spot before slamming the hammer down toward Chu Tiange again.


    On the rostrum, the smug expression on Dai Tianling''s face had been completely replaced by astonishment. En Ci had also been rooted to his chair.


    What the hell was that thing? Was it really a weapon that could be used by a human? Wasn''t that a mecha weapon? Scratch that, even a mecha wouldn''t be able to wield such heavy weapons!


    Never did Dai Tianling think that Tang Wulin would bring out a pair of weapons beyond the devouring ability of the Vajra Bracelet.


    Meanwhile, the Smiling Douluo was chortling with glee. "Haha, it''s our Tang Sect''s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique!"


    Indeed, Tang Wulin was currently unleashing the Tang Sect''s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique. This technique was meant for forging, but it could often be used in battle to great effect as well.


    The most fearsome thing about this technique was that the power of each hammer blow would be compounded by borrowing the impact of the previous hammer blow.


    With the enormous strength brought to him by his Golden Dragon King bloodline and Body Sect congenital secret method, the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique that he was unleashing was truly formidable.


    Chu Tiange had practiced swordsmanship all his life and had reached an extremely high degree of mastery in the way of the sword, but in the face of Tang Wulin''s hammer blows, he found himself unable to use any of his advantages.


    Tang Wulin was too strong and too fast; there was no way for him to use his sword intent to affect Tang Wulin.


    If this were a battle without restrictions, he would''ve already used a soul skill to counter Tang Wulin, but this was a weapons battle, so that was obviously prohibited.


    As such, both he and Tang Wulin were forced to resort to many types of battle techniques that they wouldn''t normally use.


    In the face of Tang Wulin''s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique, there was no alternative for him but to evade for now.


    "Boom!" Another resounding boom rang out as the giant hammer slammed onto the ground to create another massive crater. Compared to the previous one, this crater was even more gigantic, and cracks were spreading from it in all directions. The entire sports stadium tremored as if it were on the verge of collapse, and many of the spectators let loose cries of alarm.


    Of course, Tang Wulin wasn''t able to hear these voices. He borrowed the force of the second blow and swung his hammer around for a third strike.


    In the spectator stands, A''Ruheng was chortling with glee. "In strength, I concede only to my junior disciple brother! This is by far the best way to do battle! I have to get him to forge a pair of giant hammers for me, then learn this hammer technique for myself, haha!"


    It was a pity that Sima Jinchi wasn''t by his side to bicker with him. Otherwise, the two of them would be even rowdier.


    "Boom, boom, boom!"


    Each hammer blow was more powerful than the previous one, and soon, the entire competition platform had been riddled with cracks and craters.


    Chu Tiange was darting all over the competition platform to evade the attacks, but the fierce winds being swept up by the hammer was already beginning to affect his movement.


    Was this level of strength really attainable for a human? Surely even En Ci wouldn''t be able to replicate this!


    Soon, over 20 hammer blows had been dealt.


    Initially, only slight tremors were running through the sports stadium, but as the hammer blows continued to increase in power, the protective barrier over the competition platform was beginning to malfunction, and the entire stadium truly seemed as if it were on the verge of collapse.


    No, I can''t let him keep going like this! There are over 100,000 people in this stadium; if he keeps this up, the entire stadium is going to collapse!


    With that in mind, Chu Tiange finally made the decision to retaliate. No one knew how much longer Tang Wulin could keep this up for, and it certainly wasn''t a good idea to find out the answer to that question.


    As another hammer blow came crashing down from Tang Wulin, Chu Tiange chose not to evade. Instead, he leaped up directly toward the giant hammer before thrusting his longsword forward.


    Tang Wulin''s hammer blows were imbued with devastating power that affected a large area, but he was using the tip of his sword to break through that power by attacking a single point.


    A sword projection erupted out of the tip of the sword like lightning, and Chu Tiange''s body began to spin like a top as he rose diagonally up into the air.


    After becoming a Soul Sage, all Soul Masters gained the ability to fly. If he could rise up from the ground, then he wouldn''t have to fear Tang Wulin''s giant hammer any longer.


    He was rotating as he ascended in order to minimize the effect that the power of the giant hammer had on him, and his longsword was releasing a burst of diverting force that caused Tang Wulin''s hammer to veer slightly off course.


    Chu Tiange was gritting his teeth tightly, and his body was clearly being blown off to the side by the fierce winds swept up by the giant hammer, but he was able to continue his ascent by violently contracting his soul core to release his soul power throughout his body.


    "Boom!" The giant hammer fell again, and dust was already beginning to rain down from the roof of the imperial sports stadium.


    Countless spectators heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing Chu Tiange emerge out of the range of Tang Wulin''s hammer blows. At the very least, they didn''t have to worry about the sports stadium collapsing on them anymore.


    Right at this moment, the image on the big screen transitioned to a close-up shot of Tang Wulin''s face.


    The giant hammer he was wielding was undoubtedly a double-edged sword; it was capable of unleashing extraordinary power, but had to be extremely taxing to wield as well. Now that Chu Tiange had rushed out of the range of the hammer''s attacks, the match was virtually in the bag for him. The battle was all but decided. Tang Wulin had surely expended far too much energy, and his opponent had risen up into the air. In the face of Chu Tiange''s signature Weeping Blood Sword Qi, he had no chance.


    However, the image of Tang Wulin''s face on the big screen wasn''t a picture of disappointment and exhaustion as everyone had expected. Instead, there was a smile on his face that seemed to be completely out of place in this current scenario.


    What was he smiling about? The same thought occurred to everyone at once.


    They were then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin tossing his giant hammer to the side. Immediately thereafter, he turned toward Chu Tiange, who had already risen to an altitude of over 100 meters, and he raised his right hand high up into the air, upon which a beam of scintillating light suddenly erupted into the heavens.


    This was like a giant pillar of light that threatened to pierce through heaven and earth, and when it emerged, all other sources of light in the entire sports stadium paled into insignificance.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo was seated in the waiting area in the sports stadium, and tears suddenly began to flow down her face at the sight of this pillar of light.

 Chapter 1362: Re-emergence of the Atlas Spear

    Chu Tiange swung his longsword around as he stood in mid-air, and his breathing had just evened out as he recovered from the impacts of the hammer blows he had been forced to endure earlier. However, he quickly discovered that the world around him seemed to have changed.


    The sky was falling!


    Of course, the sky wasn''t really falling, but in this instant, he felt as if the sky were falling. All of a sudden, his body was plunged into free fall, and he plummeted straight out of the sky.


    Immediately thereafter, a pillar of dazzling golden light erupted up toward the falling Chu Tiange. The golden light struck him with unerring accuracy, and in the next instant, Tang Wulin had already appeared before him. At this moment, he was wielding a snowy white spear, the tip of which was pressing against the blade of Chu Tiange''s longsword, which he had been forced to use as a shield against Tang Wulin''s attack.


    "Ding!"


    The longsword was snapped, and Chu Tiange threw up a mouthful of blood. The white spear stopped just short of his throat, and Tang Wulin could easily take Chu Tiange''s life is he so pleased.


    Everything had happened far too quickly, to the extent that the spectators had been left reeling.


    From the moment Tang Wulin had discarded his hammer to the instant that he defeated Chu Tiange, only several seconds had passed. All of the meticulous plans and preparations that Tang Wulin had made during the past few days came into fruition in this instant.


    Tang Wulin had secured victory in this fourth weapons battle of the Trial of Five Gods!


    Tang Wulin supported Chu Tiange with one hand while holding his spear in the other as he descended onto the ground. He placed the deathly pale Chu Tiange down onto the ground beside him and gave him a nod before taking a few steps backward.


    The entire stadium had been stunned into silence. How could they not be stunned? Everything had happened in what seemed to be nothing more than the blink of an eye.


    On the rostrum, even the smile on the Smiling Douluo''s face had faded, and En Ci was sitting bolt upright as he stared intently at the white spear in Tang Wulin''s hand.


    The spear had runes flashing all over its surface, and it was giving off an indescribable aura. It was only a spear, but it was like the tallest, most insurmountable peak on the entire Douluo Star.


    The average spectator didn''t know what the spear was, but all the powerful beings present who were at or above the Titled Douluo level were certainly aware of what it was.


    En Ci murmured to himself in a slightly strained voice, "That''s the Divine Atlas Spear!"


    Chu Tiange was also staring blankly at Tang Wulin, as well as at the divine spear that he had just been defeated by. There was no disappointment or pain in his eyes, only a sense of indescribable yearning and inspiration.


    "Thank you," he said as he extended a slight bow toward Tang Wulin, then turned to depart.


    He was thanking Tang Wulin for giving him the opportunity to see the most powerful divine spear in the world in person. There was no shame in being defeated by such a spear. At his current power level, he wouldn''t even have the right to challenge the former owner of this divine spear, so this was an honor that he had never thought that he would get to experience.


    Tang Wulin slowly raised the spear high above his head, and a sense of pride welled up in his heart.


    This victory wasn''t for the Tang Sect; it was for Shrek Academy!


    That''s right, it was the Divine Atlas Spear that had been bestowed upon him by the Atlas Douluo that had secured the victory.


    The Star Luo Empire had the Vajra Bracelet up its sleeve, but as the current Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Tang Wulin had the unreserved support of both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so he certainly wouldn''t be lacking in precious treasures himself.


    Tang Wulin had three divine weapons in total in the form of the Golden Dragon Spear, Divine Atlas Spear, and Divine Space Time Shuttle. This was why Tang Wulin had been so confident about this weapons battle!


    Even if the Divine Atlas Spear couldn''t defeat his opponent, he still had more tricks up his sleeve that he could use through the Divine Space Time Shuttle, but this was undoubtedly the best possible outcome.


    This was the first time that the Divine Atlas Spear had been displayed to the world again in its full glory following the passing of the Atlas Douluo, and not just Tang Wulin, but all of Shrek''s Six Monsters also had tears flowing down their faces.


    They had all witnessed how the Atlas Douluo had sacrificed his own life to save them. As the most powerful being in the world, even the Godslayer missile wouldn''t have been able to kill him had he not been so intent on protecting the students of Shrek Academy.


    Dai Tianling exhaled as he sank back into his chair. He was suddenly struck by the feeling that there were some aspects of his outlook that had to change. He didn''t say anything, nor did he express any anger or disappointment; he merely stood up and left the rostrum.


    Prior to the commencement of the Trial of Five Gods, who could''ve anticipated that Tang Wulin would be able to achieve all of this?


    Every single match had been quite perilous for him, and he was forced to come back from behind in all of them, but the fact of the matter was that he had won. Without sufficient power to back himself up, even all of the luck in the world wouldn''t have been able to earn him these victories!


    Even more importantly, with each victory that he secured, his momentum and popularity continued to build. For the first time, Dai Tianling''s confidence in En Ci began to waver.


    Was the final battle armor master match really an assured victory for the empire? Just how many trump cards did Tang Wulin have up his sleeve? Was En Ci really guaranteed to be able to secure victory against him?


    There were no absolutes in this world, and a wry smile appeared on Dai Tianling''s face as this notion dawned upon him.


    ......


    The match was currently being replayed on the big screen, and it wasn''t particularly exciting compared to the previous matches, but it had still most definitely been a spectacle to behold.


    The majority of the battle consisted of Tang Wulin smashing the competition platform into pieces, and the giant cracks and craters on the ground were a clear visual reminder of the havoc he had wreaked.


    The close-up image of Tang Wulin''s smiling face appeared on the big screen again, and at this point, all of the spectators were already aware why he had smiled in that seemingly dire scenario; it was because he already had confidence that he was going to win the match!


    In reality, the attacks he had unleashed with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique were all setting up that final comeback. Tang Wulin had devised many plans for this battle, and using these soul refined Heavy Silver hammers was one of those plans. As soon as his opponent brought out that Vajra Bracelet and deprived him of his Golden Dragon Spear, he knew that it was impossible to have a fair weapons battle where he could hone his skills.


    He had only one objective for unleashing his Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique: to force his opponent to rise up into the air.


    Tang Wulin naturally wasn''t powerful enough to unleash the full power of the Divine Atlas Spear, but he was still able to make use of it to a certain extent. Otherwise, Yun Ming wouldn''t have left it to him in the first place.


    The special effect of the Divine Atlas Spear was flight restriction! Following the activation of this special effect, even a Limit Douluo wouldn''t be able to continue flying within a certain range of the spear.


    There was naturally no way that Chu Tiange could''ve anticipated this, but Tang Wulin was prepared well in advance and immediately followed up with his Path of Regal Domination for an instant victory. Even up until the instant that Chu Tiange was defeated, he still had no idea what had happened.


    On top of that, having been wielded by the Atlas Douluo for so many years, the Divine Atlas Spear had attained an aura of invincibility. As such, using the Divine Atlas Spear to unleash Path of Regal Domination imbued the attack with a powerful sense of intimidation that completely crushed the opponent''s spirit.


    Due to the fact that soul skills were prohibited, Chu Tiange was unable to make use of the power of his sword essence, so his loss was essentially sealed from the very beginning.


    This match had been a very frustrating one for Chu Tiange, but he was in no place to complain. After all, he was the one who had used the Vajra Bracelet and gained an unfair advantage first.


    After making his way down from the competition platform and accepting his Golden Dragon Spear and giant hammer from Chu Tiange, Tang Wulin extended an apology. "My apologies, I really didn''t want to have to resort to something like this to win the match."

 Chapter 1363: Godmother

    Chu Tiange shook his head in response. "I should be the one apologizing to you. His Majesty insisted that I use the Vajra Bracelet, so I had no choice. If the opportunity arises in the future, I would love to face your spear techniques again. I''m honored to have been defeated by the Divine Atlas Spear today. I always wished that I could become powerful enough to challenge the Divine Atlas Spear one day, but after the Atlas Douluo became the undisputed most powerful Soul Master in the world, I knew that I would no longer get the chance to fulfill that wish. Who would''ve thought that I''d get to face the Divine Atlas Spear under these circumstances? I really must thank you for this opportunity."


    Tang Wulin smiled in response. "You''re far too kind; I would also love to face your sword techniques again should the opportunity arise."


    It would definitely be immensely beneficial for him to be able to spar with such an exceptional master swordsman. As was the case with both Chu Tiange and Huang Zhengyang, Tang Wulin really hoped that he could make them regular sparring partners of his.


    He had won another battle, which extended his streak to four consecutive victories; he couldn''t help but wonder what Dai Tianling thought about this.


    The final match was going to be held the next day, and he was going to face the most powerful being in the Star Luo Empire.


    The outcome was no longer important; he had already won more than enough glory for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. What was most important to him now was to enjoy the process of competing.


    With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he was filled with anticipation toward the upcoming match.


    Following Chu Tiange''s departure, the Holy Spirit Douluo approached Tang Wulin before giving him a gentle hug. "Thank you."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I should be the one thanking you, Your Majesty, Without the pavilion master''s sacrifice, I wouldn''t even be standing here."


    Yali wiped away her tears as she gently shook her head. "Even if he had another chance to do everything again, he would definitely still make the same choice, and I still wouldn''t be able to save him. I knew that if I had called out to him, perhaps I would''ve been able to influence his decision, but I couldn''t bring myself to do it. In Shrek Academy, the teachers can die, but the students must live on; that is the most important rule of the academy. The teachers will protect the students with their lives at all times because you are the future of Shrek Academy and the entire continent."


    Tears instantly welled up in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this.


    Indeed, even in the face of the terrifying disaster brought about by the Godslayer missile, so many students from both the inner court and outer court had survived, but almost all of the teachers had perished.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo wasn''t just speaking empty words; they were backed up by reality!


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before replying in an earnest voice, "Your Majesty, we''ll be sure to continue the legacy of Shrek Academy; we''ll also protect all of the academy''s future students with our lives and ensure that the radiance of Shrek Academy is never snuffed out."


    Yali gently laid a hand on Tang Wulin''s cheek. "Don''t call me Your Majesty; call me Aunt Yali. Yun Ming and I never had a child, and we saw Na''er as our daughter, but she''s since disappeared. In the instant that you raised the Divine Atlas Spear and displayed its glory to the world again, I already saw you as my child."


    A sense of warmth suddenly welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. "No, I don''t want to call you Aunt Yali. My parents are no longer around; will you be my godmother?"


    Yali faltered slightly upon hearing this before tears began to flow down her face again.


    This wasn''t because she was very emotionally brittle and fragile; it was just that she was already struggling to control her emotions after seeing the Divine Atlas Spear, and Tang Wulin''s words had tipped her over the edge again.


    She and Yun Ming had both been very fond of Na''er, and due to the fact that she was unable to bear children, they had expressed the desire to adopt Na''er as their daughter on multiple occasions. However, Na''er turned them down in a euphemistic manner each time, and she and Yun Ming naturally couldn''t force the issue.


    Not having a child had always pained Yali greatly, and she had always been racked by guilt over her inability to bear a child for Yun Ming. As such, Tang Wulin''s words had truly touched the deepest part of her soul.


    Tang Wulin took two steps backward before falling to his knees before Yali, then kowtowed to her thrice in succession.


    "Mother!"


    Yali''s emotions instantly spilled over, and she strode forward and enveloped Tang Wulin in a tight hug as she sobbed into his shoulder.


    Ever since Yun Ming had passed away, she had been nothing more than a soulless husk. If it weren''t for her desire to witness the revival of Shrek Academy, she would''ve already followed Yun Ming to the other side.


    She hadn''t been repressing her emotions; her heart had died with Yun Ming, so she couldn''t even muster up any emotions. It wasn''t that she didn''t want to cry; she was simply unable to.


    She was still alive, but she was nothing more than a dead husk.


    Tang Wulin''s cry of mother had dragged her back from the depths of her despair and injected hope into her life once again, so how could she control her emotions?


    The Holy Spirit Douluo wasn''t the only one with tears streaming down her face; there was a gorgeous figure outside who was also sobbing silently into her own hand.


    She really wanted to call Yali mother as well, but she couldn''t.


    Gu Yuena was doing everything in her power to repress her sobs as she quickly rushed away. She didn''t dare to remain here any longer as she was afraid that she wouldn''t be able to control her own emotions. The pain in her heart was no less grueling than that of Yali. Tang Wulin stood in Yali''s tight embrace, and tears also began to flow down his face as he listened to Yali''s emotional sobs.


    He could always sense that Yali had been dead on the inside, and he didn''t know how to reawaken the vitality that had been suppressed within her.


    Just now, he had been overcome by emotions and spoken his heart, and he was very glad that he had done so. The fact that Yali was able to cry meant that her vitality and emotions had finally returned! What could be better news than that?


    As Yali sobbed into Tang Wulin''s shoulder, her aura began to transform. The dead knot in her heart had been untied, and her emotions, soul power, and spiritual power were all fluctuating violently.


    A series of images began to appear around her, depicting her story with Yun Ming. There were scenes of them as a young couple walking hand-in-hand, there were images of them exploring the entire Douluo Star, and there were images depicting them soaring over the ocean.


    The surrounding area suddenly dimmed, and Tang Wulin was surprised to discover that he seemed to have arrived in a holy white world.


    Countless clear angelic voices joined together in a holy choir around him, and he felt as if his soul were being cleansed.


    The images around them began to expand, and holy fluctuations surged through the air, instantly eradicating all of his exhaustion and negative emotions.


    The angelic voices became clearer and clearer, and the surrounding white world began to expand. Tang Wulin felt as if he were standing in the heavens while all of the life forms in the world below were looking up at them.


    A holy angel that was identical to Yali descended from above. The angel spread open her eight wings and gently flapped them, sending one holy halo after another proliferating outward in all directions.


    In that instant, everything was cleansed and elevated, and it was a completely indescribable yet touching sensation.


    It was as if a shimmering golden gate that led to another world had appeared in the sky.


    Yali gently flapped her eight wings, and her eyes were filled with warmth and compassion. The eight wings folded around Tang Wulin, and amid the holy energy that had enveloped his body, Tang Wulin could hear her voice. "I''ll protect you for the rest of my life, my child. Brother Ming, do you see this? We have a child now!"


    She slowly raised her right hand before gently tapping her index finger on Tang Wulin''s forehead. Tang Wulin immediately felt as if his mind had erupted into a frenzy, and his enormous reserve of spiritual power was instantly cleansed. The residual effects left behind by his blood dragon transformation instantly vanished, and he felt as if his bones, meridians, dragon core, and soul core had all been cleansed.


    This was an extremely comfortable sensation. His soul power hadn''t been enhanced, but he could clearly sense that he was somehow different from before.


    Unbeknownst to him, this was a Divine Blessing that Yali had bestowed upon him.


    The most important effect of the Divine Blessing was its ability to enhance one''s aptitude and learning ability. On top of that, Divine Blessing also had a guardian special effect, which was essentially the equivalent of bestowing upon Tang Wulin a second life.


    Divine Blessing was something that Yali could only use once in her life, and it could only be activated when she was in her current state.

 Chapter 1364: Breaking Through the Limit

    Yali had been stuck at rank 98 in soul power for several decades, but Tang Wulin''s heartfelt call had allowed her to take that final step.


    En Ci had only just left the imperial sports stadium when all of a sudden, he stopped and turned back toward the stadium with astonishment in his eyes.


    He wasn''t the only one to have sensed something; everyone who knew what to look for had also been alerted to what had just happened.


    In the air above the imperial sports stadium, a cloud that was radiating rainbow light had appeared. The cloud had a golden lining, and all those who witnessed it were struck by an indescribable sense of comfort, as if their hearts and souls had been cleansed.


    In that instant, the light of the sun seemed to have dimmed slightly, and countless light elements were being absorbed by the rainbow cloud.


    The rich energy fluctuations emanating from the cloud was extremely comforting to everyone in the general vicinity, and countless people were looking up at this divine phenomenon with awestruck eyes.


    "Is someone making a breakthrough to become a Limit Douluo?" En Ci immediately rose up into the air.


    Breakthroughs to become Limit Douluos were very dangerous as they would definitely trigger an energy tide, which could easily result in a major disaster.


    As such, those attempting breakthroughs to the Limit Douluo level would generally choose to do so in a secluded place and arrange for others to help them monitor the situation in the outside world.


    However, not only had this breakthrough arrived in a very abrupt manner, the person making the breakthrough had made no attempt to hide it at all.


    After rising up into the air, En Ci silently experienced the changes taking place in the energy around him, and a complex look gradually appeared on his face.


    Not only were these energy fluctuations not harmful in the slightest, all those who came into contact with them benefitted to a certain extent. At the very least, they were capable of extending one''s lifespan. Even a Limit Douluo like him could experience this change, let alone the average person. This was like a blessing from the very heavens!


    Even En Ci counted himself very fortunate to have encountered such a miraculous phenomenon, but at the same time, he couldn''t help but feel rather confused. This phenomenon clearly indicated that a healing system Titled Douluo was making a breakthrough to become a Limit Douluo, but there were no healing system Soul Masters of that caliber in the entire Star Luo Empire.


    As such, there was only one possibility.


    En Ci had only been made aware of Holy Spirit Douluo Yali''s existence after she had stepped in to save Tong Yu the day before, yet now, she was making a breakthrough to become a Limit Douluo right in the imperial sports stadium!


    She was a representative of Shrek Academy, and according to Hu Jie, she was also the widow of the Atlas Douluo. As such, it was safe to assume that this breakthrough had something to do with the emergence of the Divine Atlas Spear during the recently concluded match.


    This meant that Shrek Academy was going to have another Limit Douluo among their ranks! In addition to the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect, Tang Wulin now had an extremely formidable force behind him.


    There were no precedents of healing system Limit Douluos in the history of the entire Douluo Star. At the very least, there were none that En Ci could think of. Who would''ve thought that such a miracle would take place here and now?


    What would a healing system Limit Douluo be capable of? The day before, Tong Yu had clearly already died, but she had revived him in what was truly a miraculous feat, and that was before she had even become a Limit Douluo.


    En Ci was a Limit Douluo himself, so he was well aware of just how massive a disparity there was between a Limit Douluo and a rank 98 Hyper Douluo. The difference was only a single rank in soul power, but the contrast was night and day.


    With her by Tang Wulin''s side, he would most likely have a hard time dying even if he wanted to!


    He had to inform Dai Tianling of this right away, and reiterate the importance of improving the empire''s relationship with the Tang Sect.


    The Smiling Douluo was also witnessing this scene from a distance. He had already left, but just as the Tang Sect vehicle had departed from the sports stadium, he immediately sensed that something was amiss and rushed back right away.


    He didn''t know what changes a breakthrough from a healing system Titled Douluo could bring about, either, but he could sense that this was an opportunity that he would sorely regret missing. The more powerful someone was, the greater the benefit they derived from this, and the benefit in question was very simple and direct: it resulted in an extension in their lifespan.


    It was truly fantastic that the Holy Spirit Douluo was making a breakthrough under these circumstances. En Ci was unaware of the fact that Shrek Academy still had another living Limit Douluo among its ranks, but he was aware of this.


    Those two Limit Douluos would undoubtedly play an instrumental role in the revival of Shrek Academy. Could it be that Tang Wulin had planned all of this in advance?


    Initially, Hu Jie had only been accepting of Tang Wulin as the new sect master, but now, he was slowly beginning to develop a sense of admiration for this young sect master. Even he hadn''t realized that his attitude toward Tang Wulin had constantly been changing in subtle ways.


    After a long while, Tang Wulin finally awakened from that mystical state. Yali was still standing before him, but she looked as if she had been born anew.


    The hood on her head had been removed, and she appeared to be no more than 20 years of age. What was most astonishing to Tang Wulin was that her white hair had reverted back to its original color.


    There were no traces of the tears that had flowed down her face earlier, and her entire body was radiating holy light while her eight wings of light flapped gently behind her. She was appraising Tang Wulin with a compassionate smile, and Tang Wulin reflexively called out, "Mother."


    Yali nodded before raising a hand to pat his head as she said in a gentle voice, "I have a son now. I haven''t felt such joy ever since your godfather passed away. Thank you, Wulin, I''m truly grateful to you."


    Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "Don''t say that, Mother; I should be the one thanking you. We''ve already tracked down Godfather''s soul, and you''ve become a Limit Douluo; perhaps there''ll be some further possibilities in the future."


    Yali nodded in response. "I certainly hope so. I thought I would never be able to take this step; who would''ve thought that it''d be so easy in the end? I have to return to the submarine right away so I can go into seclusion and fortify my newfound powers; you''ll have to look after yourself in the meantime."


    After making such a sudden breakthrough to become a Limit Douluo, she had to consolidate right away. Otherwise, there was a chance that her cultivation rank would drop back down, and there were also other hazards involved as well.


    "Don''t worry, Mother; I''ll be fine with Hall Master Hu here to help me, and there''s only one match left in the Trial of Five Gods anyway."


    Yali nodded in response. "I''m not overly concerned. After all, the Star Luo Empire is still an ally for us and the Tang Sect. Look after yourself tomorrow. I''m sure En Ci won''t press you too hard in the match tomorrow, but don''t force yourself beyond your limits, do you understand? Sometimes, it''s better to bend than to break, and failure can teach one a valuable lesson."


    Tang Wulin understood that Yali was saying that she was worried that he would be overly dejected after losing the match.


    "Rest assured, I''ve already mentally prepared myself for a defeat. I knew that I would win some of the matches during this Trial of Five Gods, but I didn''t think that I would do this well. I''m already very satisfied, and I know that I haven''t brought shame to our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. For this last match, I''m just going to enjoy myself. Look after yourself as well; you''ve only just made a breakthrough, so take care not to rush things. I''ll go and meet up with you right away once everything is taken care of here."


    Tang Wulin was also in a very good mood. Yali''s breakthrough to become a Limit Douluo was fantastic news for Shrek Academy, not to mention that she had also recovered from her extreme grief-stricken state. On top of that, as his godmother, Yali also filled the void left in his life by the departure of his foster parents.


    Following Yali''s departure, Tang Wulin also strode out of the resting area, yet just as he was about to leave, he suddenly sensed a familiar presence.


    "Why isn''t everyone else with you?" A gentle voice suddenly rang out.

 Chapter 1365: I Dont Want That

    Tang Wulin turned to discover Gu Yuena standing in the corner with teary eyes, and his heart stirred as he immediately rushed over to her.


    He looked at the lips that he had once kissed and the body that he had once held, and a sense of desire welled up in his heart. However, the notion that Na''er''s soul was the one currently occupying this body made him rather hesitant and reserved.


    "You still like her more, don''t you?" Gu Yuena asked with a displeased pout.


    Tang Wulin cleared his throat in a slightly awkward manner and dodged the question. "Why are you here? Did you follow me to the Star Luo Continent?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "I''m here on behalf of the Spirit Pagoda. I didn''t follow you here, but I knew that you had come here. Mistress finally made her breakthrough; I''m so happy for her."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "She still really misses you."


    Gu Yuena also heaved a faint sigh. "I deceived her and Teacher; I no longer have the courage to meet her again, and I don''t know what identity I should present to her. I heard your conversation just now; Mistress really is the kindest person in this world. I''m really glad that you asked her to become your godmother; she''s always really wanted a child of her own."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response before answering Gu Yuena''s original question. "There are too many people outside, and I would risk exposing everyone else by traveling with them, so I''m leaving on my own."


    Gu Yuena said, "I came to see you to advise you to take extra care and travel with everyone else if possible. Zhang Geyang isn''t just going to let you off the hook after you took his soul spirit, and Qiangu Dongfeng has also taken an interest in you. After finding out that you and Gu Yue were once classmates, he asked me to tell him everything I know about you, so you should be very careful when you get back to the federation."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon hearing this. "Is the Spirit Pagoda really fully colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult?"


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "I''m not sure; only Qiangu Dongfeng''s most trusted subordinates know the answer to that question. However, I trust that everything you saw was real. As for the extent of their collusion and their joint objective, that''s beyond me. Of course, on the surface, the Holy Spirit Cult has nothing to do with the Spirit Pagoda. Over in the federation, the Spirit Pagoda has been heavily impacted by the recent controversy. In contrast, the Tang Sect is gaining a lot of support, and your performance during this Trial of Five Gods is further contributing to that trend."


    Tang Wulin nodded before asking, "Do you know what the situation is like with the federal military? When are they planning to deploy their troops?"


    "I''m not sure. The federation has made this information strictly confidential, and the entire eastern coast is currently under lockdown; I doubt even Qiangu Dongfeng knows when the military is planning to deploy its troops. What''s concerning is that this level of strict lockdown could well indicate that the federation is already making preparations for a big move, so go back as soon as you can once you take care of things here. If a war really does happen, try not to get swept up into it. I heard from Qiangu Dongfeng that the federation is very determined. The lack of resources on the Douluo Continent is already severely hampering the development of soul technology, so their objective is to conquer the other two continents at all costs."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response, but he knew that if a war were to actually eventuate, there was no way that he would be able to stay out of it.


    Gu Yuena took one final glance at him before turning to depart. "I''m going now."


    Tang Wulin opened his mouth to say something, but remained silent in the end.


    Just as Gu Yuena was about to leave, she suddenly stopped before turning back to face Tang Wulin. "If my consciousness completely fuses with Gu Yue''s someday, and she becomes the dominant consciousness, will you miss me?"


    "I don''t want that!" Tang Wulin immediately blurted out in response.


    A wide smile appeared on Gu Yuena''s face upon hearing this, and she dove into his arms before locking him in a tight embrace, pressing herself flush against his body. "That''s all I needed to hear, Big Brother. I don''t know what will become of me in the end, but just know that neither Gu Yue nor Na''er will ever hurt you."


    After her voice trailed off, Gu Yuena gently pushed him away before vanishing amid a flash of silver light, leaving Tang Wulin to stare blankly at the spot where she had been standing just a moment ago.


    He had intended to ask Na''er why she was unwilling to leave the Spirit Pagoda, but he didn''t get a chance to do so.


    Na''er and Gu Yue; what exactly was going on with them?


    In any case, it was definitely a good thing that she was also on the Star Luo Continent.


    ......


    "The Tang Sect Master is on the Verge of Defeating an Entire Empire on His Own!"


    Similar headlines were being released by all major media outlets in the Star Luo Empire, and the hype around Tang Wulin had reached an all-time high. His name had become synonymous with the word "hero" in the eyes of the empire''s citizens, and many people were only now realizing just how powerful the Tang Sect was.


    This new Tang Sect Master was truly a freakish prodigy, but of course, in the wake of Tang Wulin''s four consecutive victories, there was no shortage of dissenting and accusatory voices that had appeared, most of which were directed at the imperial family.


    Tang Wulin was only a young man in his early twenties, and he wasn''t even a Titled Douluo yet; why was it that the empire was being beaten so comprehensively by him? If things were to continue in this fashion, the entire empire was going to lose to a single person; who was going to be held responsible for such a disgraceful outcome?


    In ancient times, the loser of the Trial of Five Gods would have to pay a heavy price; did this mean that the empire would have to pay a price to the Tang Sect if it were to lose the final match as well?


    For many years, the empire had been nurturing outstanding talents and promoting the concept of individual heroism; how had these efforts resulted in four consecutive losses in this Trial of Five Gods?


    Monster Academy was also being made to look like a downright third-rate academy. A young man in his early twenties from Shrek Academy was enough to embarrass the entire empire to such a degree; why was there such a vast disparity between the two academies?


    All types of criticisms were being aimed at the imperial family and Monster Academy, and this entailed that if the empire were to lose this final match, even the reputation of the imperial family could be negatively impacted.


    Dai Tianling was feeling quite frustrated. He didn''t think that things would turn out like this. This was supposed to be an arrangement that allowed him to kill multiple birds with one stone, but it turned out that he had shot himself in the foot instead.


    If he had known that Tang Wulin was this powerful, he would''ve implemented an age restriction and made this a contest between those of the younger generation. At the very least, the losses wouldn''t be so embarrassing then.


    Now, he had been backed into a corner. To put it more accurately, he had backed himself into a corner. This Tang Wulin really was a troublesome brat!


    He had intended to teach Tang Wulin a lesson, but the roles had been reversed and Tang Wulin was teaching him a lesson instead! At the same time, this Trial of Five Gods had served to forge a resounding reputation for this new Tang Sect Master. The empire had no choice but to send out the Holy Dragon Douluo for the final match, but there was no glory in winning such a lopsided battle!


    Right at this moment, a familiar voice rang out. "Your Majesty."


    En Ci had the special privilege of entering and leaving the imperial palace as he pleased, and he was now appearing before Dai Tianling.


    "What is it, Teacher?" Dai Tianling was in a foul mood, and even the sight of En Ci didn''t change his mood in the slightest.


    En Ci replied in a serious voice, "I believe it''s necessary for us to reconsider some things. Not long after you left, that healing system Hyper Douluo from Shrek Academy made a breakthrough to become a Limit Douluo."


    "What?" Dai Tianling abruptly rose to his feet with an astonished look on his face.


    He was naturally well aware of just how rare Limit Douluos were, and he had always treated En Ci with respect precisely because he was a Limit Douluo. However, two new Limit Douluos had appeared before him in just the span of two days; what the hell was going on with this world?!

 Chapter 1366: The Federal Fleet

    "It''s true. Many members of the general public bore witness to her breakthrough, and I''m sure you''ll receive the news soon as well. I only came here to verify that it did indeed happen. On top of that, she''s the first healing system Limit Douluo in history! As such, I think it''s necessary that we reconsider the stance that we''re taking with the Tang Sect."


    Dai Tianling could imagine what a healing system Limit Douluo entailed even without a description from En Ci. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that a healing system Limit Douluo would be able to save anyone as long as they weren''t long dead!


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were so close with one another that they were virtually a single entity. As such, he really did have a lot to consider now that such a powerful being had appeared among them.


    Dai Tianling took a deep breath as a wry smile appeared on his face. "Was I too conceited, Teacher? This could''ve easily all been avoided."


    If he had agreed to the Tang Sect''s conditions from the very beginning, none of this would''ve ever happened. Now, the imperial family was in a very difficult position.


    "Now''s not the time for remorse and backtracking, Your Majesty; we have to look ahead and focus on the future," En Ci said.


    "Do you have any good suggestions, Teacher?" Dai Tianling asked.


    En Ci replied, "I do. Seeing things have already progressed to this point, how about...


    ......


    While the entire Star Luo Continent had its attention completely focused on the Trial of Five Gods, there was a group of people gathered in a dark underground dungeon.


    The light here was very dim, and even people with exceptional eyesight would only be able to make out a series of blurry figures.


    Everyone present was wearing large black hooded cloaks that concealed their entire bodies.


    "What are the results of Demon Sovereign''s blood test, Blood Demon?" An authoritative voice rang out within the dungeon.


    A raspy voice replied, "The results are quite positive; the medicine is almost certainly working, and if we continue to administer it, we should be able to keep the situation under control. Once Demon Sovereign recovers, it won''t matter even if the Atlas Douluo gets resurrected."


    "Speaking of the Atlas Douluo, have you taken care of his soul properly? We have to return it to the Tang Sect once the date of our agreement arrives," the authoritative voice asked.


    "Rest assured, I''ve taken good care of it. Yun Ming was no match for us even back when he was alive; now, his soul is naturally completely at our mercy."


    "That''s good to hear. The Divine Space Time Shuttle is very important, so we have to ensure that we can recover it. Alright, keep administering the medicine; I don''t want there to be any mishaps."


    A pleasant female voice suddenly rang out. "My Lord, the attitude displayed by the Spirit Pagoda has been rather ambiguous recently, and they''ve terminated many of the projects that they''re collaborating with us on."


    "The Spirit Pagoda is currently under a lot of pressure, but we''re not going to allow them to cut ties with us so easily. Tell Qiangu Dongfeng that the preparations in the Star Luo Empire are complete; we''re about to reap our harvest."


    The female voice gave an affirmative response before continuing, "My Lord, the new Tang Sect Master, Tang Wulin, has already won four consecutive matches in the Trial of Five Gods. I''ve watched the footage of the matches; if he really is only in his early twenties, then he must be supremely talented. We can''t allow him to continue to develop. Coincidentally, Zhang Geyang has also reached out for our assistance to take care of him; should we do it? If we leave him be, he could very well become the second Yun Ming."


    "I''ll leave it to you. Make sure to kill him, and don''t give him any chance of getting away. Infernal Emperor is currently over at the Star Luo Empire, right? Get him to do the job."


    ......


    A fleet of massive warships was slicing through the waves, creating a marvelous spectacle to behold.


    The most eye-catching ships among them was a trio of giant warships, and the largest of those three warships was the one at the very forefront. The ship was like a floating city, and there were at least 100 of the most advanced soul planes parked on its massive deck.


    Even in the boundless ocean, it resembled a massive monster. Around the three warships were all types of different warships, of which there were over 300.


    A series of giant gleaming metal cannons could be seen on these battleships, and they were all ready to be fired at any moment.


    In the captain''s cabin of the Sea God Airplane Carrier.


    Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie was sitting on the main seat, and he turned to his deputy before asking, "How long until we reach the Star Luo Empire''s territorial waters?"


    "At our current speed, we''ll definitely get there within 10 days. We''ve already activated all of our radar disruption equipment; with the Star Luo Empire''s detection capabilities, it''ll be at least seven days before they discover us."


    "Alright," Chen Xinjie replied in an indifferent manner. He rose to his feet before casting his gaze out the window, and he was greeted by the sight of the boundless ocean.


    For him, the ocean was his closest friend.


    In the end, he had been unable to delay the commencement of this war for very long. The voice of the Eagle Faction had simply been too overbearing; even as one of the leaders of the Eagle Faction, it was impossible for him to repress everyone''s voices.


    Yueyue, please don''t blame me for this; this war is a necessary evil. For the sake of the federation''s future and for the future of the human race, we must seize more resources. I''ll make sure to minimize the amount of slaughter that takes place, and I''ll be ruthless to any Holy Spirit Cult clown that dares to rear their ugly heads!


    On this occasion, he was accompanied by 10 of the 18 Battle Gods of the Battle God Hall, as well as countless powerful beings from all of the major legions and fleets. He didn''t even bother to think about the Dou Spirit Empire; his main opponent was the Star Luo Empire. If he could conquer the Star Luo Empire, then the Dou Spirit Empire would have no alternative other than to surrender.


    Yueyue, if you had been willing to give me a chance, perhaps I wouldn''t even be here. For you, I''m willing to give up the entire world, but you didn''t give me another chance. In 10 days, the Star Luo Empire is going to face the full wrath of our federal fleet!


    ......


    The dazzling sunlight of a new morning shone into Tang Wulin''s room through his window.


    During the Trial of Five Gods thus far, he had secured four consecutive victories, saved a Limit Douluo''s life, bore witness to the emergence of a new Limit Douluo, and even robbed the Spirit Pagoda''s vice-chairman of a soul spirit. What initially appeared to be a negative situation had since become a very favorable one, and Tang Wulin was in a very good mood.


    Following his return the day before, the Smiling Douluo had already told him that even if he were to lose the final match, the Star Luo Empire would still be willing to accept all of the Tang Sect''s conditions, albeit at a 10% discount. This meant that Tang Wulin had essentially already completed his mission.


    The upcoming final match was going to be his first true battle against a Limit Douluo.


    No matter how powerful his opponents had been in the past, they couldn''t compare with a Limit Douluo, particularly one who was also a four-word battle armor master.


    The final match of the Trial of Five Gods was going to be the battle armor battle.


    Are you ready, Tang Wulin? Tang Wulin asked internally, and the answer was most definitely an affirmative one.


    During his meditation the night before, he had completely integrated the Divine Blessing into his own body, and he felt like he had taken another stride toward combining all of his powers and abilities into a cohesive package.


    Even Tang Wulin himself wasn''t sure exactly how powerful he currently was, but he was definitely constantly improving at a rapid rate.


    Under the effect of the Divine Blessing, he was approaching full mastery of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method. The congenital secret method couldn''t make him invincible, but it made his path to invincibility a smoother one.


    Even against En Ci, he wasn''t completely devoid of advantages. At the very least, his bloodline would be able to suppress En Ci''s powers to a certain extent.


    He opened the window and took a deep breath of fresh air, then brushed his teeth before having some breakfast with his friends.


    "Yuxue, make some preparations for the return journey; we can''t continue to delay here. We have no idea what the situation in the federation is like, so we have to get back as early as possible. After the Trial of Five Gods concludes, I''ll meet with the imperial family right away to establish our deal. After that, we''ll stay here for three more days at most before we return to the federation."


    The Tang Sect had declared war on the Spirit Pagoda, so it was definitely under immense pressure over in the federation; he had to get back as soon as possible to support the Amorous Douluo.


    Furthermore, he had been completely exposed to the public, and Yali had also become a Limit Douluo, so it was time to set the revival of Shrek Academy into motion. At the very least, he had to ask Yali and Elder Long just how many powerful beings would be willing to unite under the banner of Shrek Academy.


    At the same time, he had to track down sources of sufficiently potent life force energy to supply to the seed of life. Only after purifying the entire Sea God''s Lake would they be able to rebuild Shrek City on its original site.

 Chapter 1367: Cast Aside All Inhibitions

    There were too many things that he had to do; he had to get back to the federation as soon as everything here was taken care of. With the weapons that the Tang Sect was going to supply to the Star Luo Empire, he was confident that the federation wouldn''t dare to attack the empire without some careful consideration.


    "Alright." Long Yuxue nodded in response while appraising him with a meaningful look in her eyes.


    Looking at the young man before her, she couldn''t help but feel as if she were in a dream. She could still remember the slightly downtrodden state that he had been in when he had first arrived at the Blood God Legion, but now, he was already close to standing at the pinnacle of this world.


    Jiang Wuyue gently nudged her, and said in a hushed tone, "Isn''t it painful to be looking at things that you can''t have? Why don''t you choose something that''s readily available instead?"


    "Shut up and eat your food!" All of the people present were powerful Soul Masters, so they had naturally heard what he had said. A deep blush immediately appeared on Long Yuxue''s face, and she gave him a vicious glare while stomping firmly down onto his foot.


    Amused looks appeared on everyone''s faces, and Tang Wulin was also feeling rather awkward. He could only play dumb and pretend that he hadn''t heard anything.


    "What are your plans after today, Boss? Our battle against the Monster Eight Kings the other day was really anticlimactic; how about we arrange another sparring match after the Trial of Five Gods concludes? I''m sure Long Yue will participate this time," Xie Xie suggested in an eager voice.


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to reply, Yue Zhengyu interjected, "How are you so certain that Long Yue will be willing to participate? After seeing Captain''s Trial of Five Gods, he probably doesn''t even have the courage to challenge us anymore!"


    Indeed, the powers that Tang Wulin had displayed during the Trial of Five Gods had already reached a level far beyond those of the Monster Eight Kings. In the face of such an outrageously powerful opponent, it really was difficult to muster up the courage to issue a challenge.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "My plan is to cast aside all inhibitions."


    Everyone exchanged several glances upon hearing this, and a smile appeared on Ye Xinglan''s face as she said, "Sounds like a great plan; I''m really looking forward to seeing it in action."


    The battle armor battle was going to be the most complete battle between Soul Masters, and it was the best opportunity for one to showcase their powers. Especially when faced with such a powerful opponent, each additional second that he managed to last was something for him to be proud of. Besides, he had already won all of the previous four matches in this Trial of Five Gods, and the deal between the Tang Sect and the Star Luo Empire was all but sealed. As such, all that was left for him to do was to cast aside all inhibitions and wholeheartedly enjoy this battle.


    There was no extensive meticulous planning; in the face of such a powerful opponent, his sole objective was to display his powers to their fullest extent. As long as he could do that, he was satisfied, and he was confident that this match would definitely benefit him immensely.


    As usual, the imperial sports stadium was packed to the rafters. This was going to be the final match of the Trial of Five Gods, so ticket prices had been bid up to an all-time high.


    "Today is the battle armor match, right? Do you think Holy Dragon Douluo will be representing our empire?"


    "If he does, there''s no glory to be had even if we win."


    "There''s no need to read too deep into it; we already had a Limit Douluo representative in the third match, didn''t we? Besides, this is just a friendly match between the Tang Sect and our empire; all I''m interested in is seeing a good show. It''s not like this has anything to do with our conflict against the Douluo Federation; the Tang Sect is on far better terms with our empire than it is with the federation."


    "You''re right. Having said that, that Sect Master Tang really is badass! He''s already won four consecutive matches! I asked my Soul Master friends for an appraisal, and they all say that his powers are at least comparable to a Hyper Douluo. On top of that, he has the backing of the Tang Sect, and that''s why he was able to win so many matches. The Tang Sect''s support was really apparent during the last weapons battle; those two spears and that spindle-shaped thing that he used were most likely all divine weapons. I wonder if he''s going to bring out those divine weapons during the battle armor match today; I didn''t even get a good look at them yesterday before the battle ended."


    "Speaking of yesterday''s battle, that was a really weird match. Sect Master Tang was disarmed from the get-go, but he suddenly brought out those massive hammers. How did he even manage to pick them up? Do you reckon they were hollow?"


    "Are you stupid? Did you not see how powerful those things were? I''m really worried that the sports stadium will actually collapse if he uses those hammers while wearing his battle armor."


    "That''s not going to happen. There were people sighted at the sports stadium yesterday, working through the night to fortify the building. They brought over a lot of large defensive soul tools to make sure that no mishaps arise during today''s battle."


    "That''s good to hear. Safety is number one at all times; if the stadium collapses, we''ll be in big trouble."


    "What do you mean by that? Are you implying that you have tickets?"


    "I do! I bought tickets for all five matches in a package deal before the Trial of Five Gods had even begun, and they were quite cheap back then, especially compared to how expensive they are now."


    "You have tickets?"


    "You have tickets?!"


    All types of discussions were being held around the imperial sports stadium, and the electric atmosphere threatened to set the air alight.


    The final match of the Trial of Five Gods was about to commence.


    On the rostrum in the sports stadium, Dai Tianling had arrived far earlier than he had the day before. He sat at the very center of the rostrum, looking out at the empty stadium with a serious expression.


    The Smiling Douluo was the only one sitting by his side, while En Ci was absent from his designated seat.


    "You should relax, Your Majesty; even I don''t think our sect master has any chances in today''s battle!" Hu Jie said with a smile.


    Dai Tianling glanced at him, and asked, "Oh? Do you really think that?"


    Hu Jie chuckled, "Of course! This is En Ci we''re talking about, after all. I''m always bickering with him, but I have to admit that he''s a little more powerful than I am. It''s just a pity that he''s not all that bright."


    "..." Dai Tianling almost rolled his eyes upon hearing this. Would it kill Hu Jie not to insult En Ci? En Ci wasn''t even here, and he was still throwing around such a snide remark!


    Hu Jie turned toward the competition platform with a smile on his face. Following the conclusion of this match, Tang Wulin was going to return to the federation as soon as possible.


    He had to admit that he was rather reluctant to see Tang Wulin go. It had become immensely enjoyable for him to witness the miracles that Tang Wulin was constantly creating. He was watching Tang Wulin grow and develop every single day while looking forward to the creation of even more miracles; this type of anticipation was something that he hadn''t felt in many, many years.


    Even though Tang Wulin had put on a scintillating performance during this Trial of Five Gods, the situation in the federation was still quite troublesome. There were many things that he had to face following his return, particularly due to his status as the Sea God''s Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy.


    All of these were shackles that were going to bind him, and he would have to work even harder to break these shackles.


    After all, this wasn''t 10,000 years ago, and it certainly wasn''t 20,000 years ago, where the power of a single person could change the entire world. Compared to the federation, the Star Luo Empire was still lagging behind in this area. He could only hope that Tang Wulin would be able to create another miracle.


    Regardless of whether it was reviving Shrek Academy or reinstating the former status of the Tang Sect in the federation, both were going to be monumental endeavors.


    The atmosphere both inside and outside the sports stadium was one of unbridled excitement, and the number of banners in the spectator stands had virtually doubled compared to the day before. Furthermore, there were two distinct sides taken by the banners.


    Some of them read things like "Long Live the Empire", and those clearly belonged to the spectators who didn''t want to see the empire suffer a five-loss whitewash. In contrast, the members of the opposing faction were all holding up banners supporting Tang Wulin.


    They were very accepting of the Tang Sect and were more interested in witnessing a miracle where a single man could secure the final victory in the Trial of Five Gods in this modern age. If Tang Wulin could achieve such a monumental feat, he would undoubtedly be celebrated as a hero by the entire Star Luo Empire. They were looking forward to the rise of a new hero, one who would epitomize the notion of individual heroism. After all, it had been at least 10,000 years since someone had successfully completed a Trial of Five Gods. This Trial of Five Gods wasn''t a true clash between empires, but the Star Luo Empire had brought out the best that it had to offer.


    Many people had naturally noticed that the Holy Dragon Douluo was absent from the rostrum, and thus, Tang Wulin''s opponent for today was made quite obvious. Even though he was an exceptional rising star, it was still too much to ask of him to overcome a veteran Limit Douluo.


    As Tang Wulin emerged from the waiting area with a faint smile on his face, he felt as if everything around him were different.

 Chapter 1368: Final Match of the Trial of Five Gods

    Prior to the commencement of the first match of the Trial of Five Gods, he had been very nervous. His opponent during that match was Huang Zhengyang, a man whose cultivation rank wasn''t particularly exceptional, but his mecha piloting skills were truly incredible.


    That match had actually been a very perilous one for Tang Wulin. If it weren''t for the fact that Huang Zhengyang didn''t know much about him, it wouldn''t have been easy for him to secure that victory.


    After that came the second match. Overall, Zhang Geyang''s soul spirits were more powerful than his, and he had been completely dominated. Zhang Geyang had two 100,000-year-old soul spirits, the most powerful plant system soul spirit in the form of the Infernal Lightning Vine, and his bonded soul spirit, the Infernal Flame Beast, all of which were extremely powerful. If it weren''t for Tang Wulin''s special status as the Son of Nature and the Infernal Lightning Vine''s discontent with Zhang Geyang, he would''ve lost that match.


    If the Tang Sect Master had been defeated by the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, no one would mention the age disparity between the two; it would simply have been treated as a victory for the Spirit Pagoda over the Tang Sect. That match had been an extremely high-pressure affair.


    Following those two consecutive victories, the pressure on him was lessened slightly, but his opponents only became even more powerful. Never did Tang Wulin think that he would face a Limit Douluo for the third match. If it weren''t for the extraordinary circumstances that Tong Yu had been facing, he would''ve lost that battle as well.


    Even though he had secured the victory in the end, that had been an extremely grueling battle. Tong Yu''s Five-elemental Divine Arrow had threatened his life on several occasions, and even though Tong Yu''s powers had been limited to the Hyper Douluo level at the time, a Limit Douluo with handicapped powers was naturally incomparable to an actual Hyper Douluo.


    In the end, Tong Yu had exhausted his power from manifesting that Qilin Bead, and only then was Tang Wulin able to earn a victory by the thinnest of margins. If Tong Yu had been able to continue to battle even in his handicapped state, the outcome of that match could''ve swung in either direction.


    That hard-fought victory had been a huge relief for Tang Wulin, and after saving Tong Yu''s life, he had been in a very good mood. This was the first time that he had experienced such joy ever since he had come here.


    The fourth match pitted him against the weapons master, Weeping Blood Douluo Chu Tiange. In reality, if Chu Tiange hadn''t used that Vajra Bracelet, Tang Wulin was prepared to engage him in a fair battle with his Golden Dragon Spear to hone his spear techniques. Unfortunately, the emperor had decided to play a trick on him and forced Chu Tiange to use the Vajra Bracelet to strip him of his Golden Dragon Spear. As such, he was forced to resort to his backup plan, using his giant hammers to force Chu Tiange into the air before defeating him with the Divine Atlas Spear.


    What was even more worthy of celebration was that the Holy Spirit Douluo had made a breakthrough to become the first healing system Limit Douluo in history after he asked her to become his godmother. This was definitely an unexpected surprise, and a massively pleasant one, at that.


    Thus far, he had secured four consecutive victories, saved Tong Yu, indirectly helped the Holy Spirit Douluo become a Limit Douluo, and convinced the Star Luo Empire to agree to the Tang Sect''s conditions.


    Now, there was no longer any pressure on him, thereby allowing him to cast aside all inhibitions and enjoy this match.


    It was the same venue and the same Trial of Five Gods, but his mental state was completely different as he strode into the sports stadium. It was as if the entire world had become more vibrant, and everything was so wonderful and exuberant.


    He cast his gaze toward the booths of the sports stadiums. He couldn''t see into the booths, but through her reverse scale, which was hanging around his neck, he could sense her approximate location.


    A series of complex emotions welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart at the thought of her. Did he really not have any feelings for Na''er? Of course he did. However, Gu Yue''s position in his heart was completely irreplaceable.


    He didn''t even know whether he should be looking forward to Gu Yue''s awakening, or to be content with Na''er continuing to control Gu Yuena''s body. He had almost completely lost Na''er in the past; if Na''er and Gu Yue were to fuse as one, would she still be her?


    Would Na''er still be Na''er? Would Gu Yue still be Gu Yue?


    Only when thinking about them did a hint of internal turmoil arise in Tang Wulin''s heart.


    He shook his head to rid himself of that train of thought before casting his gaze toward the opposite side of the stadium. The Holy Dragon Douluo had entered the venue almost at the exact same moment as him, and he was currently in a set of casual clothes.


    It was impossible to tell what he was feeling from his expression. At the Limit Douluo level, one could disguise their emotional fluctuations to a great extent.


    Tang Wulin gave En Ci a nod of acknowledgment as a gesture of respect, and a faint smile appeared on En Ci''s face. His heart was filled with complex emotions at the sight of the young man standing before him.


    Several years ago, this young man had almost been killed by his disciple, yet now, they were standing on the same platform as equals. The rate of Tang Wulin''s development had truly been extraordinary, and En Ci had no idea how far he would go in the future.


    However, what he did know was that as long as Tang Wulin could continue to develop at this rate, he would definitely be able to reach his level or even surpass him someday.


    "The final match of the Trial of Five Gods is going to be held today, and the representative for our empire will be the most powerful Soul Master in our empire, the principal of Monster Academy, the master of the imperial Holy Hall, Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci! I''m sure this is going to be the most spectacular match yet, so let''s all enjoy it together. This will be the final match of this friendly trial, and I''ve received permission from His Majesty to cheer on Sect Master Tang on behalf of the empire; we hope to see you create another miracle!"


    Cheering on Tang Wulin on behalf of the empire?


    All of the spectators were quite surprised to hear this, but their expressions began to ease after the announcer reiterated that this was just a friendly match. Indeed, all that should be focusing on was enjoying the match rather than overthinking things.


    This was going to be the ultimate showdown, and even though no one was of the opinion that Tang Wulin could actually defeat En Ci, this was still going to be the crowning jewel of this Trial of Five Gods.


    Tang Wulin had already proven that he had the right to challenge the Holy Dragon Douluo through the four consecutive victories that he had secured thus far.


    En Ci had been appraising Tang Wulin this entire time, and he was surprised to discover that there seemed to be something different about Tang Wulin. Compared to the calmness that he had displayed during the previous few matches, he seemed to be much more excited and exuberant. This wasn''t just the confidence one derived from sustained success.


    Back in his youth, he had also been just as fearless and courageous, and it was quite remarkable that Tang Wulin had managed to retain these traits despite his current status, particularly when he was facing such a powerful opponent in front of such a massive audience.


    Even En Ci was beginning to look forward to this match. Being able to battle such an exceptional young talent would undoubtedly benefit him greatly as well, and it had been a long time since he had felt these emotions.


    He was looking forward to an even more outstanding performance from Tang Wulin.


    All of the lights were focused on the competition platform, and all of the spectators were looking at the two competitors in an intent unblinking manner, awaiting the commencement of the match with bated breath.


    "Begin!"


    The final match of the Trial of Five Gods finally commenced!


    As soon as the starting signal was given, Tang Wulin immediately raised his head and cast his gaze toward En Ci. It was as if two bolts of lightning had erupted out of his eyes, and his powerful aura radiated forth alongside scorching blood essence fluctuations. The projection of a giant golden dragon appeared behind him, and it was as if there were an actual dragon dancing behind Tang Wulin.


    The massive golden dragon had a wingspan of over 100 meters and gave off a peerlessly domineering aura. Tang Wulin sprang forth toward En Ci, and it was as if his blood essence had been set alight.


    Tang Wulin was well aware of his advantages and disadvantages against En Ci, and he knew that his two main disadvantages lay in his cultivation rank and his battle armor.


    He was facing a four-word battle armor master, of which there were perhaps less than 10 on the entire Douluo Star.


    However, he did have some advantages, the most prominent of which was his bloodline. En Ci was superior to Tang Wulin in all aspects except for blood essence.


    Tang Wulin was only in his early twenties, so his blood essence was at its peak. In contrast, En Ci was well over 100 years of age. He may have been a Limit Douluo, but as long as he hadn''t broken through beyond the restrictions of this world, his blood essence would invariably decline.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline was the bane of all dragon-type martial souls, so that would be an important factor as well.

 Chapter 1369: Peak Showdown

    Even though there was a massive cultivation rank disparity, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline was still definitely going to suppress En Ci''s Holy Radiant Dragon martial soul to a certain extent.


    Tang Wulin had already broken 12 of his Golden Dragon King seals, resulting in an extremely powerful Golden Dragon King aura. As such, there was no doubt that his bloodline would affect En Ci quite severely during their clashes. As such, Tang Wulin released his aura to its maximal extent from the get-go, hoping to negatively impact En Ci''s performance with his bloodline power. This was a lopsided battle that was weighed heavily against his favor, so he had to maximize the few advantages that he had.


    A burst of bright light flashed as Tang Wulin brought his arms together in front of his own chest, and the air around him warped slightly as he hurtled directly toward En Ci. His powerful blood essence fluctuations made him resemble a giant dragon, and the momentum that he was building up had raised his aura to its absolute peak.


    When facing an opponent more powerful than oneself, the worst thing one could do was to allow their opponent to gain the initiative right away. This often resulted in one-sided battles where the weaker side was dominated for the entire battle until they were defeated. In order to avoid such a miserable outcome, Tang Wulin was releasing his aura with all his might regardless of the energy expenditure incurred by doing so.


    In the face of Tang Wulin''s scorching aura, En Ci''s murky eyes immediately lit up, and a clear dragon''s roar rang out from his body as a giant white dragon with golden light shimmering around it rose up into the air. The powerful aura of light being released by the dragon seemed to illuminate the entire world. The aura that Tang Wulin was releasing was very spectacular and overbearing, but it still seemed to be somewhat hollow and illusionary.


    In contrast, the white dragon that had risen up from En Ci''s body seemed to be completely substantial, as if it were his martial soul true body.


    The Holy Radiant Dragon was somewhat affected by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King aura, but from the looks of it, it wasn''t affected all that heavily. It spread its wings and let loose one thunderous roar after another, managing to match Tang Wulin''s aura even while remaining on the spot.


    Thus, the disparity between the powers of the two combatants was immediately made very apparent.


    Tang Wulin had already anticipated this, so he wasn''t surprised at all, and it was also at this moment that he unleashed the first attack. As he was charging toward En Ci like a speeding arrow, his Golden Dragon King aura surged toward En Ci like a ferocious tidal wave.


    Tang Wulin''s entire body instantly took on a golden color, and shimmering golden scales appeared all over his skin. He didn''t unleash his martial soul true body right away, but in that instant, his essence, energy, and spirit had all been raised to their very peaks.


    It was as if his body had transformed into a golden cannonball, and he instantly reached En Ci before unleashing a devastating punch.


    Countless spectating Soul Masters drew a sharp breath in unison at the sight of this punch, and they couldn''t help but marvel at Tang Wulin''s speed and explosive strength. Even the average Titled Douluo couldn''t utilize their aura and blood essence to such an extent!


    Of course, ordinary Titled Douluos were unable to accomplish this as their spiritual power didn''t allow them to accomplish this level of coordination. However, Tang Wulin had been able to perfectly integrate his own power and blood essence into one, and even he was struck by a sense of exhilaration as he unleashed this punch.


    En Ci remained completely still on the spot, and his expression also remained unchanged. All he did was raise his right hand.


    "Boom!"


    Tang Wulin''s right fist struck En Ci''s right hand in what seemed to be a sequence that had been choreographed countless times in advance.


    A resounding boom rang out, and both sides came to a complete standstill for an instant. One could clearly see the exact spot where the fist and palm were connected, and a devastating shockwave that was visible even to the naked eye proliferated outward in a frenzy.


    The air over the entire competition platform warped slightly, and the fearsome shockwave crashed into the protective barrier, causing it to flicker and waver erratically.


    So badass! So handsome!


    The eyes of countless female spectators were practically glowing. Almost no woman was immune to the sight of such a direct and manly clash.


    Upon striking En Ci''s palm with his fist, the first feeling that Tang Wulin was struck by was that he had punched an immovable mountain. The violent clash led to a brief impasse, following which Tang Wulin swiveled around like lightning, sweeping his right leg through the air to unleash his Golden Dragon Whips its Tail.


    He didn''t even bother to release his energy against En Ci as there was no way that would amount to anything. As such, he was completely containing his power within his own body and relying on his immensely powerful physical constitution to unleash a ferocious assault. He was confident that En Ci would be too conceited to dodge his attacks, and that would give him an opportunity.


    As expected, instead of taking evasive measures, he merely moved his right hand to the side to block Tang Wulin''s oncoming attack. Another burst of powerful soundwaves swept forth, and many of the spectators couldn''t help but clamp their hands over their ears. Just how much power was required to produce such a violent clash? It most likely wasn''t inferior to the power unleashed by the giant hammers that Tang Wulin had been wielding the day before.


    Tang Wulin continued to unleash one attack after another, and the golden light around him glowed brighter and brighter. His limbs were his most powerful weapons, and with every clash, a burst of powerful shockwaves would erupt around himself and En Ci.


    Meanwhile, En Ci''s hands were like a pair of impregnable shields, firmly blocking all of Tang Wulin''s attacks no matter how ferocious they were. It didn''t look as if he were having any trouble at all, and if it weren''t for the explosive shockwaves sending ripples running over the protective barrier, one could easily severely underestimate the ferocity of the clashes.


    Neither of them were unleashing any soul skills; they were merely clashing over and over again in the simplest and most direct manner imaginable.


    Only the truly powerful beings among the spectators could tell that this type of clash was the most perilous and fearsome; if En Ci failed to ward off even a single one of Tang Wulin''s attacks, then he would risk being reduced to dust.


    However, that clearly wasn''t going to happen. En Ci continued to stand before Tang Wulin like an insurmountable mountain, remaining completely still on the spot no matter what attack Tang Wulin threw at him.


    From Tang Wulin''s perspective, it seemed that En Ci could keep this up forever, and he didn''t seem to have been affected by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline, either.


    Unbeknownst to Tang Wulin, from a pure bloodline perspective alone, Long Yue''s Mountain Dragon King bloodline was superior to that of En Ci''s Holy Radiant Dragon. As such, through his regular interaction with Long Yue, he had become far more acclimated to superior dragon bloodlines than the vast majority of dragon-type Soul Masters.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline was far more powerful than Long Yue''s Mountain Dragon King bloodline, but En Ci was already prepared for this, and there was a vast disparity in their cultivation ranks, so Tang Wulin was unable to gain the upper hand in this area for now.


    28 clashes took place in quick succession, and even with Tang Wulin''s physical constitution, he couldn''t help but falter a little.


    If a normal person had been in his place, their body would''ve given out long ago in the face of such ferocious clashes.


    During this split-second pause, En Ci finally seized the initiative for the very first time.


    He merely raised his right hand and pointed a finger toward Tang Wulin in a completely harmless-looking gesture.


    However, in the face of that nonchalant gesture, Tang Wulin was struck by the same feeling he had experienced when he had witnessed Old Tang unleash Fury of the Masses for the very first time.


    There was nowhere for him to evade or hide, and the surrounding space seemed to be collapsing in toward him from all sides.

 Chapter 1370: Dragon Moon Song Tang Wulin

    A terrifying aura erupted toward him, but he couldn''t sense any energy fluctuations from that finger.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath as he took a half step backward with his right foot. He lowered his center of gravity slightly, then launched his fist against En Ci''s finger in a solemn manner.


    "Boom!"


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had been struck by a soul train traveling at full speed. His body was sent flying like a cannonball, and it was completely outside of his control.


    From the perspective of the spectators, Tang Wulin had been sent flying as a rapid streak of golden light by what seemed to be a nonchalant finger from En Ci.


    He then crashed heavily into the protective barrier in the distance before falling onto the ground.


    Was this the power of a Limit Douluo?


    The entire stadium fell completely silent. In particular, the spectators who were cheering for Tang Wulin were staring at the scenes unfolding before their eyes with their mouths gaped wide open.


    Everyone had heard of Limit Douluos, but the vast majority of people had no idea just how powerful a Limit Douluo was. In this instant, En Ci was displaying to everyone what true power was through his actions.


    Many of the spectators were left reeling by this sudden turn of events. Tang Wulin had secured four consecutive victories, yet he was still being made to look so powerless in the face of the Holy Dragon Douluo.


    He had unleashed such a fierce barrage of attacks to no avail, yet En Ci had only unleashed a single nonchalant attack, and that was enough to send him flying. They were on completely different levels!


    Was this the disparity between the two?


    Tang Wulin''s blood essence was churning within his body as he fell onto the ground, but in the next instant, he immediately sprang to his feet before turning to appraise En Ci through narrowed eyes.


    A hint of surprise appeared on En Ci''s face.


    What the spectators saw, felt, and imagined was always different from reality.


    That finger strike from En Ci seemed to have been very simple, but it was actually imbued with power that En Ci had borrowed from all of Tang Wulin''s 28 successive attacks, and that power had been intermingled with his own soul power.


    However, in the instant that Tang Wulin was sent flying, it felt to En Ci as if he had transformed into a ball, nullifying much of the impact of the clash before hurtling back through the air.


    It seemed that Tang Wulin had been dealt an extremely heavy blow, but En Ci knew that he hadn''t actually managed to deal Tang Wulin any substantial damage. It was quite clear that Tang Wulin was well prepared for this battle!


    Tang Wulin threw his head back and let loose a dragon''s roar as his eyes became particularly bright. Specks of golden light began to appear at all of his joints, and he raised his right hand high above his head before making a grabbing motion, as if he were trying to tear down the heavens.


    A clear and domineering voice then rang out across the entire venue. "Dragon, Moon, Song!"


    In that instant, it was as if the specks of golden light that had appeared over his body had become miniature scintillating suns. The air inside the sports stadium began to warp slightly, and the golden dragon projection appeared behind Tang Wulin once again. However, on this occasion, there seemed to also be countless specks of light all over the giant golden dragon''s body as well.


    How had his battle armor been manifested on that projection? Wasn''t that something that could only be achieved with suits of four-word battle armor? Could it be that he was already a four-word battle armor master? But that was impossible! No matter how powerful Tang Wulin''s physical constitution was, there was no way for him to fuse with a suit of four-word battle armor before he became a Titled Douluo.


    En Ci''s heart was filled with astonishment, and he didn''t take advantage of this opportunity to attack Tang Wulin.


    All of a sudden, he realized how foolish he had been. Tang Wulin had already declared the name of his suit of battle armor to be Dragon Moon Song, thereby confirming it to be a suit of three-word battle armor.


    Gu Yuena''s body shuddered slightly upon hearing this name as she sat in the Spirit Pagoda booth, and a hint of pride flashed through her eyes.


    Tang Wulin''s suit of battle armor contained her name, just as her suit of battle armor had been named Dragon Dance Qilin.  [1]


    He now had the right to refer to himself as Dragon Moon Song Tang Wulin!


    As the specks of light on the giant golden dragon''s body brightened, it became clearer and more substantial, and pieces of battle armor began to emerge over Tang Wulin''s body.


    The glittering and translucent golden battle armor resembled an artistic masterpiece carved out of golden crystal, presenting a spectacular sight to behold.


    The golden visor concealed Tang Wulin''s handsome features, the helmet was covered in golden patterns that extended downward, and each piece of battle armor was filled with layers and textures. The pauldrons on his shoulders resembled golden dragon heads, and the breastplate didn''t appear to be very heavy. On top of that, there was an emblem that seemed to have been carved out of a giant golden gem at the center of the breastplate, and every single piece of battle armor was covered in dragon patterns.


    This was his full suit of three-word battle armor!


    Dazzling golden light flashed, and by the time the entire suit of battle armor appeared, Tang Wulin had already grown to three meters tall. His eyes became even brighter, all of the spectators who had just lost confidence in him were instantly revitalized.


    What a spectacular suit of battle armor! Setting aside how powerful it was for now, just its appearance alone was an incredible sight to behold.


    If a collector''s replica of this suit of battle armor could be created, there would most likely be countless prospective buyers.


    In response to this, the giant white dragon reappeared behind En Ci, and specks of light also appeared over its body, but the same didn''t happen to En Ci himself. This was true battle armor projection, the sign of a suit of four-word battle armor.


    The Holy Radiant Dragon let loose a loud dragon''s roar, and its body suddenly disintegrated before it surged toward En Ci as streaks of dazzling white light.


    "My battle armor is called Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon!"


    Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon En Ci!


    It was clear that the "peerless" in the name wasn''t an adjective to highlight the power of the Holy Radiant Dragon. Instead, it had to have some kind of special meaning to him; it was quite possible that this was the name of his lover!


    A suit of white battle armor quickly encapsulated En Ci''s entire body, and after he donned the suit of battle armor, it became completely impossible to tell that he was an old man who was close to 200 years of age, and his aura also instantly transformed.


    A gigantic white halo encompassed virtually the entire sports stadium, and countless dragons were dancing within the halo. A rich aura of light rose up in what was virtually a substantial wave, and the entire venue was transformed into a sea of light.


    The giant white dragons within the halo slowly ascended, and everything seemed to be so realistic.


    Battle armor projection and domain actualization; both of these were signature traits of a suit of four-word battle armor. Suits of three-word battle armor enhanced a Soul Master by bestowing upon them the power of a domain, while suits of four-word battle armor triggered an evolution in its wearer.


    Four-word battle armor was also known as Demigod Armor, and it was truly something that transcended beyond this world.


    A suit of four-word battle armor was the most important constituent component of its wearer''s life; it was like the wearer''s most important organ.


    Following the creation of a suit of four-word battle armor, the four-word battle armor master had to expend a third of their own blood to awaken the suit of battle armor and truly bestow upon it life.


    The creation of every suit of four-word battle armor was a tribulation of life and death for its corresponding four-word battle armor master. If they could transcend the tribulation, then they would ascend to become part of one of the most exclusive groups on this planet. In contrast, failure could quite possibly result in death.


    This was why four-word battle armor masters were so exceedingly rare.


    Furthermore, the power of suits of four-word battle armor could only be compared with Godslayer missiles.


    To put it in simpler terms, both Tong Yu and En Ci were Limit Douluos, but if they were to face one another in battle with En Ci using his suit of four-word battle armor, Tong Yu wouldn''t even be able to last a minute.


    In the world of battle armor masters, suits of four-word battle armor were known as bridges to the Divine Realm.


    Why was it that all of the Limit Douluos of the Holy Spirit Cult, Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, and Spirit Pagoda were yearning for ascension far more so than the Soul Masters of ancient times? This was precisely because ever since the invention of suits of four-word battle armor, they were able to sense just how powerful that world was through their Limit Douluo powers and suits of four-word battle armor.


    [1] [The wu(Îè) in Tang Wulin translates to dance, while the lin(÷ë) is the same lin in Qilin(÷è÷ë)]

 Chapter 1371: Thousand Dragon Dance

    Only after attaining suits of four-word battle armor could one truly approach the gates of the Divine Realm. As such, suits of four-word battle armor were the only option for further progression for Limit Douluos who had reached the peaks of their powers. Compared with all of the four-word battle armor masters of the Douluo Continent, the process through which En Ci had attained this suit of Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon battle armor had been even more arduous.


    This was because there wasn''t a single Divine Blacksmith on the entire Star Luo Continent.


    As such, he had been forced to nurture his suit of three-word battle armor within his own body for 40 years, and even then, the metal had only evolved and attained life through a coincidence, thereby creating an effect similar to heavenly refinement.


    The process had been one that was rife with hardships, and if it weren''t for his pursuit of this suit of four-word battle armor, he''d at least be able to live 10 more years.


    However, he didn''t regret this. Without this suit of four-word battle armor, he would''ve never been able to sense just how wonderful that world was, nor would he have ever developed such a strong yearning for ascension.


    In this moment, his suit of Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon was being displayed to all of the citizens of the Star Luo Empire. This was the only suit of four-word battle armor in the entire empire!


    The Dragon Moon Song battle armor that Tang Wulin had just released was almost instantly suppressed by En Ci''s Holy Dragon domain. The projection of the countless dancing dragons truly presented a spectacular sight to behold, and even Tang Wulin''s indomitable Golden Dragon King bloodline was being suppressed by the Holy Dragon domain.


    This was the true fearsome power of a suit of four-word battle armor; even bloodline intimidation was rendered completely null in its presence.


    Tang Wulin''s suit of three-word battle armor had only been completed recently, but he had already experienced its power.


    The entire suit of Dragon Moon Song battle armor was constructed from spirit alloys with harmony rates of over 95%, and the amount of uncommon metals used was enough to create six normal suits of three-word battle armor. The soul refinement that Tang Wulin had completed for it was virtually at the upper limit of what a Saint Blacksmith was capable of. There was no compromise; he had spared no effort and expense to make it the most powerful suit of three-word battle armor possible.


    As it turned out, he had succeeded. Dragon Moon Song possessed the trait of battle armor projection, something that was completely beyond normal suits of three-word battle armor.


    However, in the face of a true suit of four-word battle armor, the faint golden light being released by Dragon Moon Song could only revolve around Tang Wulin within a radius of five meters. Even his battle armor domain had also been suppressed and limited to the same scope.


    Was this the disparity between four-word battle armor and three-word battle armor?


    Even though Tang Wulin had never imagined that he would win this match, his heart was still filled with indignation in the face of his current situation.


    He lowered his head and looked down at his battle armor domain as the indignation in his heart swelled even further.


    This three-word battle armor domain halo of his had quite a peculiar appearance. It wasn''t a projection of the Bluesilver Emperor or Golden Dragon King; instead, it was comprised of a series of gorgeous floral patterns. It was as if a huge golden flower had bloomed around him, but its petals were constructed from rhomboid Golden Dragon King scales, each of which carried Bluesilver Emperor patterns.


    The petals of the golden flower were constantly opening and closing, and if one were to look closely, they would be able to see a crimson color at the base of the flower petals as they fully opened.


    This was the crimson color of the blood dragon that Tang Wulin had once transformed into; it was the destructive aura in the deepest part of the Golden Dragon King''s being.


    No one could decide what their battle armor domain was going to be like; only in the instant that the Soul Master fused with their suit of battle armor would their battle armor domain manifest itself based on the Soul Master''s powers, as well as the special characteristics of the suit of battle armor.


    As such, even Tang Wulin himself was rather surprised after he manifested this battle armor domain halo. Even up to this point, he had still yet to truly awaken this battle armor domain.


    His suit of three-word battle armor had been completed far too late, and he had been busy participating in the Trial of Five Gods recently, so he had neglected to do so.


    All three-word battle armor domains had to be awakened, and only then could they truly be used.


    This process differed in length from Soul Master to Soul Master, and for Tang Wulin, he hadn''t even had a chance to complete this process yet.


    In the face of the pressure exerted upon him by En Ci''s battle armor domain, he couldn''t help but ask himself if he were willing to just let things end like this. He was asking his own soul, as well as the soul that was sealed within his body.


    The domain flower petals beneath his feet gently tremored, and the rate at which they were opening and closing had begun to speed up.


    Outside the domain, one giant white dragon after another was soaring and dancing, and the pressure from the Holy Dragon domain was only becoming more and more intense. Thousand Dragon Dance; this was the evolved ability of En Ci''s four-word battle armor domain. He couldn''t actually summon 1,000 giant dragons to attack his opponent, but after actualizing his domain, every giant dragon within his domain possessed real offensive power.


    It was undoubtedly the case that a four-word battle armor domain was supposed to be able to completely crush that of a suit of three-word battle armor.


    En Ci looked on at Tang Wulin and heaved a faint internal sigh. The power gap between the two of them was insurmountable, after all. He was experiencing Tang Wulin''s tolerance capacity, and when Tang Wulin was close to reaching his limits, he would announce the conclusion of this battle as a tied match.


    This was the decision that he and Dai Tianling had arrived at the day before. They had already lost the first four matches, so even if they were to win this final match, it would have no meaning for the Star Luo Empire.


    Hence, En Ci devised this plan. First, he was going to crush Tang Wulin and show the spectators the disparity between them, then conclude the match by declaring it to be a tie.


    This would be a show of the friendship between the Tang Sect and the Star Luo Empire, and would also be a generous gesture that would win the hearts of the general public.


    Furthermore, the displayed gap between En Ci and Tang Wulin''s powers would dampen the impact of Tang Wulin''s four consecutive victories, and the overall effect would be better than that achieved through defeating Tang Wulin.


    Four wins and one tie; that was an outcome that Tang Wulin should be more than proud of. However, it would still be quite apparent to everyone that there was still a vast disparity in power between him and a Limit Douluo. It wasn''t that the empire truly had no one that could stand up against Tang Wulin; the empire was simply more interested in improving its friendship with the Tang Sect.


    After hearing this suggestion, Dai Tianling immediately approved. After all, the four consecutive losses had thoroughly embarrassed the empire, so they had to do something special to win back public support.


    Through the previous series of exchanges, En Ci could clearly sense that Tang Wulin was indeed quite powerful. Of course, there was still a significant disparity in power between them, but it still wouldn''t be easy for him to defeat Tang Wulin if he were to hold back.


    Hence, when Tang Wulin released his suit of three-word battle armor, he immediately donned his own suit of four-word battle armor as well. This was the battle armor match of the Trial of Five Gods, so no one could fault him for this. He was well aware of just how massive a disparity there was between four-word battle armor and three-word battle, and he was going to use this advantage to crush Tang Wulin. After that, he could declare this match a tie and afford Tang Wulin some words of praise. Following the conclusion of the Trial of Five Gods, the collaboration between the two sides would truly commence.


    The empire had already received news that the federation had placed its entire east coast into lockdown, and Dai Tianling was quite concerned to hear this as no one knew when this war could strike.


    Once the war commenced, the support of the Tang Sect and the weapons they provided would play a vital role, so it would be in the empire''s best interests to commence the collaboration as soon as possible.

 Chapter 1372: Tang Wulins Battle Armor Domain

    In the midst of the Thousand Dragon Dance, countless giant white dragons were revolving around Tang Wulin, placing him under immense pressure, which was only mounting by the second. The most effective and suffocating way to defeat someone of a lower cultivation rank was to crush them with a superior domain.


    If a Limit Douluo were to activate the domain actualization effect of their suit of four-word battle armor, they''d be able to crush any number of Hyper Douluos unless there were also four-word battle armor masters among them.


    If it weren''t for the soul missiles and other super soul weapons that humans had created, Limit Douluos would still be invincible beings in this world.


    The pressure was becoming more and more severe; Tang Wulin could even hear his suit of three-word battle armor groaning and straining to keep the external pressure at bay. At this point, his battle armor domain had been compressed to a radius of only around four meters. Its golden color appeared to have become brighter, but in reality, this was a sign that the domain was on the verge of collapse.


    En Ci wasn''t taking advantage of this opportunity to attack Tang Wulin; he was clearly trying to force Tang Wulin into conceding without even raising a finger!


    This was the power of a Limit Douluo.


    Tang Wulin had once tried to attack Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue to experience the power of a Limit Douluo, but there was obviously no way that she would release her four-word battle armor and use her full power against him.


    Only now, in the face of a Limit Douluo who was displaying the full extent of his power, did he truly realize just how fearsome a Limit Douluo was.


    Was he going to have to use his final trump card now? But that was his only hope for victory! Seeing as this was a competition, he had never considered giving up without a fight. No matter who his opponent was, his ultimate objective was always to win. It seemed that victory was beginning to stray further and further away from him, but he was truly unwilling to accept this.


    Was the debut battle of his Dragon Moon Song going to end in a crushing defeat? Was he really going to lose?


    The Tyrant Dragon only possesses a hint of your bloodline, yet it''s renowned as the unyielding soul spirit. You are the masters of violence and destruction; is a suit of three-word battle armor that''s imbued with your aura really going to just concede like this?


    As Tang Wulin raised these questions to himself, a series of subtle changes began to take place deep within him.


    All of the spectators in the venue were astonished by the majestic sight of the Thousand Dragon Dance. The giant white dragons were soaring through the air while releasing peerlessly dazzling radiance, and even the spectators could sense the enormous pressure that they were giving off.


    Tang Wulin resembled a tiny helpless raft in a violent turbulent ocean, looking as if it could capsize at any moment.


    They had thought that the Tang Sect Master could be powerful enough to defeat the empire, but En Ci had shown them that he was still just a young man. In the face of a truly powerful being, there was still a massive disparity.


    It was over. The empire was only going to secure a single victory, but that was sufficient consolation to all of the spectators who were holding up banners that were supporting the empire.


    It wasn''t the case that the empire didn''t have the power to defeat this Tang Sect Master; it was just that this was a friendly exhibition where the outcome wasn''t important. If En Ci had participated in any of the previous matches, he would''ve been able to defeat Tang Wulin just by unleashing his domain. Even though this was a rather narrow-minded way of thinking, and it wasn''t all that realistic, either, the image of invincibility that Tang Wulin had forged for himself was beginning to crumble in the eyes of the spectators.


    Are you willing to just accept defeat?


    A voice rang out in the deepest part of Tang Wulin''s soul, and he felt as if a peculiar scene had appeared before his eyes. A series of giant beasts were soaring between rainbow clouds, arranging themselves into rather uneven groups. Their auras were filled with indignation and intense yearning.


    Their bodies were each over a kilometer in length, and all of them were radiating dazzling light.


    "Are you content to be oppressed by those gods?" A rumbling authoritative voice echoed through the air.


    Countless roars rang out in response, expressing a collective unwillingness to accept their fate.


    In the distance, a dazzling palace could be seen hovering above the clouds. There were countless dazzling humans standing in front of the palace, awaiting the arrival of the army of giant beasts.


    "Fight for the rage and indignation in your hearts! Make them cry, make them scream, make them despair!"


    The authoritative voice took on a hint of insanity, and a layer of crimson light suddenly spread from the forefront of the beastly army, staining their bodies the same color.


    An indescribable sense of insanity and indignation erupted forth!


    "Roar!"


    When the golden domain had been compressed to only around two meters in radius, Tang Wulin abruptly raised his head and roared to the heavens.


    The huge golden flower beneath his feet finally blossomed, transforming into a gigantic crimson color.


    Crimson light instantly rose up from beneath Tang Wulin''s feet before erupting outward like a wave of crimson flames.


    The thunderous dragon''s roar guided the crimson flames, and the surrounding air congealed as powerful blood essence fluctuations proliferated outward in all directions. The crimson light was as exuberant as blood, and it threatened to devour anything and everything.


    All of a sudden, the Holy Dragon domain faltered momentarily, following which the giant white dragons around Tang Wulin stiffened before being stained the same crimson color. The crimson color was like an infection, and their bodies began to crumble away one after another.


    This was the aura of true terror. The contagious crimson color spread outward like a plague, and an indescribable aura of destruction abruptly erupted from Tang Wulin''s body.


    On the rostrum, all of Shrek''s Six Monsters rose to their feet in unison with alarmed expressions upon seeing this.


    Was this the same blood dragon that had destroyed the Spirit Pagoda?


    Inside the Spirit Pagoda booth, Gu Yuena had also stood up involuntarily. Thankfully, Zhang Geyang had also risen to his feet from astonishment, so her actions didn''t appear out of place.


    Zhang Geyang had sparred with En Ci in the past, so he was well aware of just how powerful En Ci''s Holy Dragon domain was.


    However, it was as if a crimson flower had suddenly bloomed within the domain, and the giant white dragons were being devoured one after another.


    What on earth was that? How was it able to devour even a four-word battle armor domain?


    En Ci''s expression also changed drastically as he could clearly sense that the crimson flames that had risen up around Tang Wulin had also been ignited in his own heart.


    An indescribable sense of violence welled up deep within his soul.


    Are you willing to just accept defeat?


    Cry, scream, destroy!


    An impulsive urge to destroy everything rose up within him, and crimson flames appeared over the competition platform, as if the giant crimson flower had bloomed throughout the entire venue.


    Any form of energy that came into contact with the massive crimson flower was instantly devoured and converted into a part of its destructive aura, while the light radiating from Tang Wulin''s body only became brighter and brighter.


    Golden Blood Dragon!


    Tang Wulin finally knew the name of his three-word battle armor domain.


    This was a manifestation of the unyielding destructive intent within his Golden Dragon King bloodline. On this occasion, he hadn''t been driven insane. Instead, the insanity lay within the crimson flames that the suit of battle armor contained.


    Even the suit of three-word battle armor that he had painstakingly crafted was close to being unable to handle the power of his own domain.


    Thousand Dragon Dance was instantly set alight, and the giant white dragons were reduced to nothingness in the span of just a few breaths.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were glowing particularly bright, and a series of bright red patterns had appeared over his suit of golden armor.


    He abruptly took a step forward and swung his Golden Dragon Spear through the air, upon which his suit of battle armor suddenly disintegrated as specks of crimson-golden light, then transformed into a giant dragon again.


    On this occasion, the giant dragon was of a crimson-golden color, and it was glowering down at En Ci with a pair of bright red eyes. In that instant, En Ci felt as if something inside his brain had exploded.


    "Cry, scream, destroy!" The thunderous roar of fury struck him with a sense of disorientation, and his suit of four-word battle armor suddenly crumbled away. It transformed into a giant white dragon that burrowed into space, vanishing almost simultaneously with the crimson-golden dragon manifested from Tang Wulin''s suit of three-word battle armor.


    The Golden Blood Dragon domain halo beneath Tang Wulin''s feet also disappeared, yet his suit of three-word armor still remained, but it had dimmed significantly.

 Chapter 1373: Golden Blood Dragon Domain

    Who could''ve anticipated such a startling turn of events?


    The almighty Holy Dragon domain had crumbled away along with En Ci''s suit of four-word battle armor in the face of Tang Wulin''s Golden Blood Dragon domain!


    There was definitely an element of bloodline suppression involved, but how could a three-word battle armor domain force a four-word battle armor domain into submission? This was incredible!


    "How is this possible?" Zhang Geyang blurted out in a stunned manner.


    This was completely unimaginable to him. He was very close to the Limit Douluo level, but he still didn''t own a suit of four-word battle armor, and his two greatest dreams were to become a Limit Douluo and attain a suit of four-word battle armor.


    He couldn''t recall anyone in history who had used a suit of three-word battle armor to defeat a suit of four-word battle armor as the two were simply on completely different levels!


    Limit Douluos were close to demigodly beings, and with suits of four-word battle armor to enhance them, they were able to become true demigods. Hence, no one had ever doubted the notion that suits of four-word battle armor were divine-grade treasures.


    However, En Ci''s Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon battle armor had crumbled away within the Golden Blood Dragon domain just like that; how could he not be astonished?


    Gu Yuena was standing right beside him, but she was focused on something else entirely. Following a brief moment of astonishment, she realized that Tang Wulin had already begun to grasp some of the essence of the Golden Dragon King''s powers.


    The most fearsome aspect of the Golden Dragon King''s abilities was its peerless destructive power; that was the true root of its power. Unfortunately, destructive power was a double-edged sword that could destroy others, but also oneself from the inside.


    Humans had invented battle armor and fused it with their bodies. The Golden Dragon King''s destructive aura had manifested itself on Tang Wulin''s suit of battle armor instead of within his body, and this was precisely because Tang Wulin hadn''t allowed his soul to be controlled by this destructive intent.


    Even though he had only grasped a tiny portion of the Golden Dragon King''s essential aura, his Golden Blood Dragon domain was already something that could completely dominate other dragon-type domains or battle armor.


    If En Ci''s battle armor had only been of the three-word level, it would''ve most likely been devoured by the Golden Blood Dragon domain before it even had a chance to escape.


    The one who was most astonished by this turn of events was naturally none other than En Ci himself. Never did he think that the Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon battle armor that had been with him for so many years would be defeated by Tang Wulin, and by a suit of three-word battle armor, at that.


    Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon Song battle armor appeared to have been weakened, but his suit of four-word battle armor had completely disappeared! Battle armor projection indicated that suits of four-word battle armor had already grasped some of the power of spatial laws. They possessed life force and instincts of their own, and in the face of serious threats, they had the ability to make their own decisions.


    En Ci could sense that Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon Song battle armor wasn''t powerful enough to overcome his Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon battle armor, but this Golden Blood Dragon domain seemed to be able to erase the sentience of his suit of battle armor. If that were to happen, it would essentially mean that the soul of his four-word battle armor would be destroyed. As such, Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon was forced to flee in horror. Otherwise, it would''ve already been reduced to an ordinary suit of battle armor.


    Didn''t this entail that if Tang Wulin''s cultivation rank were to catch up to or approach his in the future, then he would be no match for Tang Wulin no matter what?


    The killing intent that he had harbored toward Tang Wulin in the past had already faded, but in that instant, it involuntarily resurfaced in his heart.


    The two sides were locked in a brief impasse, and cries of surprise had rung out across the entirety of the spectator stands.


    The clash between domains had created a spectacular sight that encompassed the entire competition platform! What exactly was that giant crimson flower? Why did it seem as if En Ci had fallen to a disadvantage? Had the Tang Sect Master always had this trump card up his sleeve?


    Tang Wulin didn''t immediately spring into action as he was currently reflecting on the sensation he had experienced when the Golden Blood Dragon domain had first been activated.


    A chill ran down his spine as he recalled that burst of deranged destructive intent. If he were the one who had been targeted by that intent, would his mind be able to handle such an assault? The answer was most definitely no.


    That was most likely the true essential power of the Golden Dragon King. He had to be a lot more cautious in the future and do everything in his power to avoid breaking any further Golden Dragon King seals.


    Otherwise, if that deranged destructive intent were to overwhelm him, then he would be reduced to a mindless killing machine.


    "Hmph!" All of a sudden, a cold harrumph jerked Tang Wulin back to reality, and he was greeted by the sight of En Ci''s cold and unforgiving gaze.


    For any Soul Master, their battle armor was their second life, especially a suit of four-word battle armor.


    Having lost his suit of four-word battle armor, En Ci was like a dragon that had lost its claws. Even with his calm and steadfast personality, he was feeling greatly enraged.


    He took a step forward with his left foot and took the initiative to unleash an attack for the first time.


    He rose up into the air in a flash, then made a hand seal as he looked down at Tang Wulin.


    All of a sudden, a giant white dragon''s head emerged above him, and it expeled a burst of white breath toward Tang Wulin. This was followed by two more breaths in rapid succession, and as they descended toward Tang Wulin, he was struck by the feeling that everything around him was about to be engulfed and devoured.


    Even without his suit of four-word battle armor, En Ci was still a Limit Douluo, and in his fit of fury, he had forgotten to hold back.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred upon seeing this. His Golden Blood Dragon domain had just rid En Ci of his suit of battle armor, but as a result, the enhancements he received from his suit of three-word battle armor had also diminished significantly.


    The most fearsome part about En Ci''s attack was that it gave him no opportunity to evade. The three breaths had encompassed virtually the entire space, so he had no choice but to stand his ground and take the attack head-on.


    He took a deep breath as dazzling golden light erupted from his Golden Dragon Spear. There was no fear or indecision in his eyes; only single-minded determination!


    "Roar!"


    A thunderous dragon''s roar rang out, and he unleashed his martial soul true body alongside his Golden Dragon Roar. At the same time, he had also released his most powerful Golden Dragon King bloodline ability: Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre!


    The sky completely darkened, creating a stark contrast with the giant white dragon''s head.


    The three breaths combined as one to form a massive white vortex, which was attempting to draw in and destroy the crimson-golden giant dragon.


    The crimson-golden dragon was clearly already being suppressed, yet all of a sudden, a burst of unyielding intent suddenly erupted from its body. Its fearsome aura swelled drastically amid the Golden Dragon Infernal Massacre, and white and crimson-golden light clashed incessantly up above.


    The dark sky acted as the perfect backdrop, treating the spectators to a spectacular lights show.


    A rumbling boom akin to a thunderclap rang out, and a figure plummeted from the sky before crashing heavily down onto the ground.


    A massive crater was instantly smashed onto the competition platform, and a burst of fearsome shockwaves erupted outward from the center of the crater, sending huge ripples running along the surface of the protective barrier.


    Dai Tianling couldn''t help but furrow his brows upon seeing this. Things weren''t progressing according to what he and En Ci had planned!


    A streak of light flashed over the heavens, and En Ci landed nearby. At this point, he had already reverted back to his usual calm expression.


    Of course, the fact that he had just descended meant that the person who had been slammed into the ground was Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 1374: All Dragons Must Subject to My Judgement!

    Was it over? Tang Wulin had gained the upper hand in the battle armor department, but this was a battle, after all, and the power disparity between the two combatants seemed to have decided the outcome of the match.


    All of Shrek''s Six Monsters, the Blood Dragon Squad, and the Smiling Douluo had risen to their feet with anxious looks in their eyes.


    They were most concerned that Tang Wulin could''ve been severely wounded, or perhaps even...


    In contrast, Gu Yuena remained completely calm and collected in the Spirit Pagoda booth. There was no way that an attack of that caliber could hope to destroy the body of the Golden Dragon King!


    Just as an elated look had appeared on Zhang Geyang''s face, a rumbling dragon''s roar rang out, and in the next instant, the giant golden dragon rose up into the heavens from within the massive crater.


    All of the crimson color that had appeared over its body had faded, but in the instant that it reared up, it began to radiate rainbow light, as well as a peerlessly authoritative aura.


    A projection emerged from the golden dragon''s body, and it was none other than Tang Wulin. However, the golden dragon was currently looking far more substantial, while Tang Wulin appeared to be more like an illusion.


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand, yet the Golden Dragon Spear was no longer in his grasp. Instead, he reached out behind him as he cast his gaze toward En Ci in a solemn manner.


    "All dragons must subject to my judgment!"


    A giant white dragon appeared in mid-air, and it was writhing in pain and horror, trying to break free from something, but no matter how violently it struggled and thrashed, there seemed to be some type of invisible force that was locking it firmly into place.


    A giant blade that was shimmering with rainbow light appeared in Tang Wulin''s hand, and he slashed it toward the giant white dragon from afar.


    An indescribable sense of peril instantly welled up in En Ci''s heart. The Holy Dragon Breath he had just unleashed was a very powerful attack, and he could sense that Tang Wulin was completely unable to withstand it, so he had already planned to hold back thereafter, but much to his surprise, Tang Wulin had recovered almost instantly and was unleashing a fearsome attack of his own.


    In the instant the giant blade had appeared in Tang Wulin''s grasp, En Ci felt as if he had seen a vision depicting countless giant dragons of different shapes and forms slumping down onto the ground in submission. On top of that, he felt as if he had committed an inexcusable crime and was being escorted to his own execution.


    In the instant the giant rainbow blade had appeared, an indescribable wail of anguish and an overwhelming sense of fear had welled up deep within his heart, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably.


    This was not good!


    He didn''t know what type of ability Tang Wulin was currently using, but he instantly realized that this attack was powerful enough to pose a threat to his life. He definitely couldn''t allow himself to be struck!


    He bit down onto his own tongue, using the pain to snap himself back to his senses, and his eyes suddenly began to resemble a pair of deep voids. Celestial bodies then suddenly appeared around him, then instantly began to twist and warp. It was as if the stars were twisting, while the sun and moon were being tipped on their heads. In that instant, all of the light in the surrounding area was completely devoured.


    This was En Ci''s spiritual domain, Black Hole!


    This was one of his true trump cards as a Limit Douluo, and it was capable of devouring everything.


    In the face of the domain, the rainbow light began to tremor, but boundless authoritative might was suddenly injected into the giant blade.


    This was the law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan, and it had been crafted by none other than the Dragon God; it was an existence of an even higher caliber than the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King.


    In the face of the law-enforcing saber, all dragons had to submit.


    The rainbow light streaked through the air like lightning, and the giant white dragon in the air was destroyed amid an anguished wail. At the same time, the all-engulfing black hole had also been destroyed.


    This was the true trump card that Tang Wulin had prepared for En Ci; it was the most powerful attack he had against the Holy Dragon Douluo.


    Never did he think that he would be able to defeat a Limit Douluo, but at the same time, never did he think that he would be completely powerless against one.


    He wasn''t just representing himself; he was representing the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    There were too many responsibilities on his shoulders, and all of them kept him from conceding the match.


    Even in the face of the almighty En Ci, he remained completely fearless. He had his own trump cards that he could rely on.


    The law-enforcing saber was an alternate form of Sima Jinchi, but Sima Jinchi was supposed to be one of his weapons to begin with! On top of that, when had the Trial of Five Gods ever been fair to him?


    Even during the weapons battle, Tang Wulin hadn''t planned to use the law-enforcing saber; he was saving this "huge present" for the Holy Dragon Douluo.


    As it turned out, no matter how powerful one was, they had to bow their head to a divine weapon that suppressed them to their core.


    Another figure plummeted from the sky. On this occasion, the impact wasn''t all that great, and no crater was smashed into the ground, but the figure was still looking quite disheveled.


    A diagonal wound had appeared on En Ci''s body, stretching all the way from his left shoulder to his right hip. The wound was very shallow; it seemed to have only sliced through his clothes and didn''t even draw any blood. However, that was already enough!


    Tang Wulin had truly managed to harm the Holy Dragon Douluo!


    What was even more peculiar was that En Ci had been completely stripped of his Holy Radiant Dragon aura, leaving him with nothing more than his Limit Douluo level soul power.


    The Golden Blood Dragon domain had forced Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon into hiding, while the law-enforcing saber had sealed away En Ci''s Holy Radiant Dragon martial soul.


    This was naturally an indirect product of En Ci''s overconfidence, but it was also testament to Tang Wulin''s powers and just how much he was able to repress dragon-type martial souls.


    Of course, even with the law-enforcing saber, Tang Wulin wasn''t powerful enough to kill En Ci, but he had temporarily sealed away En Ci''s martial soul. This seal wouldn''t last very long; the Holy Radiant Dragon martial soul had only been intimidated by the aura of the Dragonslaying Saber for now. However, this brief period of time was already enough for Tang Wulin.


    The Dragonslaying Saber disappeared, and the Golden Dragon Spear reappeared in his grasp.


    In that instant, all of the violence and authority abruptly vanished, and it was incredible to think that a single person could exhibit three changes in aura that were so drastic in such a short time.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin seemed to be an ethereal cloud that was gently drifting in the sky.


    Everything around him began to warp, and in the eyes of the audience, all of the warped light around him seemed to have transformed into clouds that were drifting down from above.


    At this point, En Ci''s heart was filled with nothing but astonishment. Ever since he had become a Limit Douluo, not even Atlas Douluo Yun Ming had struck him with as much of a threatening sensation as that law-enforcing saber.


    If Tang Wulin were slightly more powerful than he currently was, he would definitely be able to kill En Ci. If Tang Wulin were also a Limit Douluo, then En Ci most likely wouldn''t even be able to withstand a single saber strike. This wasn''t a matter of power; it was the intimidatory effect that the saber itself had on him.


    The authoritative words spoken by Tang Wulin earlier echoed within his mind. All dragons must subject to my judgment!


    Why was that saber able to judge him? Could it be...


    Just as he was reeling from astonishment, everything around him began to warp and twist, and in that instant, En Ci suddenly felt like a frail woman who had been stripped naked.


    His battle armor had been nullified by Tang Wulin''s battle armor domain, his martial soul had been sealed away by Tang Wulin''s Dragonslaying Saber, and even his spiritual domain had been destroyed by Tang Wulin''s last attack, rendering him unable to use it again in the immediate future. All he had at his disposal now was his enormous reserve of soul power.


    He raised his hands to the heavens, and his soul power erupted forth to form an extremely dense light barrier around his own body.


    Ever since he had become a Limit Douluo, he had never been repressed so severely, especially by an opponent who was clearly significantly less powerful than himself. This was an extremely frustrating and downright painful scenario to be in.


    However, this was reality; he had no choice but to accept it.


    In the next instant, his expression suddenly changed once again.


    On the rostrum, a wide smile appeared on Hu Jie''s face. "Let''s see what you do about this, you old fart!"


    Millennium White Clouds! Spear of Time!


    Time began to warp along with the warped light, and a horrified voice suddenly rang out. "Stop! I concede!"


    All of the warping light and descending clouds completely vanished in the next instant, and two figures passed by one another.


    Tang Wulin landed on the ground, panting heavily as he used his Golden Dragon Spear as a crutch to support himself. Upon closer inspection, one could see that there was blood seeping out of his pores.

 Chapter 1375: Eternal Glory

    From the initial clash to being suppressed by En Ci''s domain, followed by a sequence of retaliation; throughout this entire process, Tang Wulin had constantly been bordering on his physical limits.


    He had taken En Ci''s attack, withstood the enormous impact, then unleashed a devastating retaliation. He had used his Golden Blood Dragon domain, Dragonslaying Saber, Millennium White Clouds; he had given everything he had to give, and in the end, he had finally heard the voice that he hadn''t even dared to imagine that he would be able to hear.


    En Ci stood on the spot, looking as if he had lost his soul. He was also panting, but his panting stemmed more so from fear.


    Of course, even though his abilities had been temporarily sealed, he would still have been able to withstand Tang Wulin''s attacks with his Limit Douluo level powers.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t even attacking him; he was warping time instead. En Ci instantly realized what Tang Wulin was doing. He could retaliate following Tang Wulin''s attack and even kill him on the spot, but he could clearly sense that if he were to be struck by Tang Wulin''s attack, then his life force would definitely sharply decline. At the very least, he would lose three years of his lifespan.


    For a young man, perhaps that wouldn''t be too daunting a prospect, but for an old man like himself who was standing at the pinnacle of the continent, three years was far too precious to be thrown away.


    The Golden Blood Dragon domain had been a pleasant surprise for Tang Wulin, the Dragonslaying Saber was the "present" that Tang Wulin had prepared for En Ci, but Millennium White Clouds was the true key that gave him a chance of victory.


    Everything he had done during this battle was building up to an opportunity where he would be able to unleash Millennium White Clouds.


    If En Ci had access to his suit of battle armor, there was no way that Tang Wulin would''ve been able to use his Millennium White Clouds in its complete form with such a massive power disparity between them.


    If En Ci had access to his martial soul, then he''d have countless ways of escaping out of the scope of Millennium White Clouds.


    However, when he had nothing at his disposal, he didn''t dare to face the test of time.


    In the face of such a terrifying threat, he had made a split-second decision to be selfish. This was only to be expected, and it was simply a part of human nature.


    Even if Dai Tianling had the ability to make the decision in En Ci''s stead, he would''ve also conceded the match. Three years of En Ci''s life was more important than the glory of the empire, particularly when a war was imminent.


    The entire stadium had fallen deathly silent.


    It was over. The final battle armor match of the Trial of Five Gods was over, and Tang Wulin was the victor!


    He had done it! He had defeated an entire empire on his own through this Trial of Five Gods!


    No one had been optimistic about his chances, not even his own friends, yet he had secured a complete and comprehensive victory. This victory brought glory to the Tang Sect and hope to Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin had never been battling on his own; there were countless people supporting him from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. Even here in the Star Luo Empire, he already had millions, if not tens of millions of supporters.


    He had won! He had secured victory in the mecha, soul spirit, Soul Master, weapons, and battle armor matches, racking up five victories and creating an eternal legend.


    In that instant, he had become a legend of the Star Luo Empire, as well as a legend of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. His name was going to be known by everyone across the three continents and four seas!


    All of the hardships and adversity that he had suffered through during his youth; none of that seemed to be important now.


    He had defeated an entire empire!


    In that instant, he seemed to have transformed into a giant beacon, and even his blood essence was swelling at a rapid rate.


    Tang Wulin slowly raised his Golden Dragon Spear in a determined manner, then released the Divine Atlas Spear in his other hand before also raising it high up into the air.


    The Tang Sect''s glory was eternal, and Shrek Academy''s return certain!


    Long live the Tang Sect! Long live Shrek Academy!


    Tears began to well up in Tang Wulin¡¯s eyes. Regardless of how calm he had been before the Trial of Five Gods, regardless of how simple the goals he had set for himself were, only he was aware of just how much pressure he had been carrying up to this point. He was the leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and all of the pressure that came with those responsibilities were suddenly lifted, leaving him completely ecstatic and buoyant.


    He hadn''t brought shame to the Tang Sect, and he had certainly proven himself worthy to be one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    He was the Tang Sect Master and the Sea God''s Pavilion Master. From this day forth, he would be truly worthy of those titles.


    Cheers suddenly began to ring out.


    "Legend!" Someone suddenly yelled, and the Smiling Douluo was unable to contain his own emotions any longer.


    He abruptly rose to his feet, completely disregarding Dai Tianling''s feelings as he injected his soul power into a thunderous roar that echoed throughout every single corner of the sports stadium. "Legend!"


    "Legend! Legend! Legend!" A tsunami of cheers rang out while Tang Wulin stood at the center of the competition platform, raising his twin spears aloft.


    In the Spirit Pagoda booth, Zhang Geyang wore an expression of thunderous rage. He smashed the table beside him before storming out of the booth in a fit of fury, leaving only Gu Yuena behind. She was standing in front of the window, staring silently at the radiant figure standing at the center of the competition platform.


    This was her man, the man of her heart. She knew him better than anyone else, so she was more aware than everyone else of just how difficult it would''ve been for him to get to this point.


    He had spent countless days and nights cultivating conscientiously, battling against his own lackluster aptitude.


    No matter how many hardships were thrown at him, he was always able to get up again.


    He hadn''t always been outstanding; he had to fight for everything that he currently had.


    Was he really happy? She knew that he had virtually no happy experiences. He was constantly forging ahead, and his goal had transitioned from reuniting his family, to reviving the academy, to leading the Tang Sect on a resurgence. One heavy responsibility after another fell onto his shoulders, but he refused to be crushed under their enormous weight.


    He was truly the pride of the heavens.


    He hadn''t grown conceited or complacent after the ruler of the plane had chosen him. Instead, he only worked harder and shouldered more responsibilities.


    He had secured victory in the Trial of Five Gods. Regardless of what the process had been like, regardless of how many excuses the Star Luo Empire spouted, the fact of the matter was that he was the final victor.


    He was a true legend!


    In a corner of the sports stadium, there was a woman with tears streaming down her face as she murmured to herself, "Do you see this, Father? This is the man I chose. Do you understand now? You were wrong from the very beginning. You were too prideful and underestimated him. He''s a hero, and now, he''s a legend. As your daughter, I need to do everything in my power to keep this legend in our empire!"


    En Ci departed from the competition platform with a wry smile on his face.


    His plan had completely failed, and he had been forced to concede the match in the end. In the instant that he had conceded, he knew that the halo of mystique and invincibility around him had been lost.


    Other people could concede, but he couldn''t. From this day forth, he would no longer be seen as the most powerful being in the empire.


    Even though he hadn''t actually been struck by the Millennium White Clouds, he seemed to have aged significantly in that moment. As he strode down from the platform, he stumbled slightly and almost fell over.

 Chapter 1376: Conclusion

    Right at this moment, a large and firm hand caught him, and En Ci looked up to see a pair of determined eyes.


    "Teacher."


    A forlorn smile appeared on En Ci''s face as he patted Long Yue''s hand. "I''ve been in an elevated spot for too long; I''ve become bound by my own reputation. Losing this battle is indeed quite a heavy blow to me, but I also feel like a load has been lifted from my shoulders. I lost this match; there are no excuses to be made. The future belongs to young people like you. Make sure to pursue him as closely as you can; he''s going to be the target that you chase after for the rest of your life."


    After his voice trailed off, En Ci''s footsteps became solid and determined again as he departed.


    No matter what, he was still a Limit Douluo and the pillar of the Star Luo Empire.


    Long Yue looked on as En Ci departed, then turned toward the radiant young man standing at the center of the competition platform as he took a deep breath. He still had to work even harder.


    The Trial of Five Gods drew to a conclusion.


    The Star Luo Empire didn''t try to repress news reports about Tang Wulin''s victory.


    Prior to the final match, all of the news reports touted Tang Wulin to be a supreme prodigy, but following that final match, he was now being hailed as a legend.


    His popularity in the entire Star Luo Empire had reached a peak, and when he returned to the resting area, he immediately received a call from the Holy Spirit Douluo.


    Yali only said one thing: "I''m proud of you."


    Even while consolidating her powers, she had watched the final match and witnessed Tang Wulin carry the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy to the peak of their glory.


    This wasn''t just a simple victory; even more importantly, it symbolized the passing of the torch. Just as En Ci had said, the future belonged to the young prodigies of this generation.


    A full-blown celebration was being held at the Tang Sect headquarters. When Tang Wulin returned, he was met by a tsunami of cheers.


    The Smiling Douluo had arranged a lavish feast, and it had been a very long time since the Tang Sect headquarters had been so lively and bustling.


    Even though many of the Tang Sect disciples from other cities had flocked to Heaven Dou City to watch the Trial of Five Gods, the Smiling Douluo still made sure to spare no expense in the celebratory feast, buying out the best restaurant in Heaven Dou City for a day.


    This amount of money was nothing! Tang Wulin''s victory entailed that not only did they not have to offer a 10% discount to the Star Luo Empire, they were going to receive an additional 10% on their asking price! This was a difference of 20% of the asking price, which amounted to an astronomical sum!


    With such an enormous amount of money, the Tang Sect would be able to purchase a staggering amount of resources from the Star Luo Empire.


    Night fell, and Tang Wulin sat silently in his room.


    As the star of the show, he had drunk a lot from the toasts proposed by the Tang Sect disciples.


    However, he had expelled the alcohol with his soul power rather than allowed it to numb his mind.


    He was filled with pride for the glory that he had secured, but as the exhilaration wore off, he gradually calmed down.


    Through his battle with En Ci, he had been made even more aware of the disparity between him and a Limit Douluo. If his opponent had been any other Limit Douluo without a dragon-type martial soul, he would''ve had no chance at all.


    He had indeed won the match, but he knew that he still had a long way to go.


    However, there was one thing that he was particularly happy about, and that was the awakening of his Golden Blood Dragon domain.


    Only after awakening his three-word battle armor domain could he truly make use of it, and the spontaneous awakening of the domain would''ve undoubtedly maximized its effectiveness. Only a suit of battle armor like his would be able to handle such an awakening. Otherwise, a normal suit of three-word battle armor wouldn''t even have been able to handle the enormous rush of energy, and the suit of battle armor would''ve most likely been damaged while the domain remained dormant.


    Did you watch the match as well?


    The image of Gu Yuena surfaced in Tang Wulin''s mind, and a faint smile appeared on his face at the thought that she was somewhere not far away from him.


    He sat down with his legs crossed on his bed, then closed his eyes to assess the improvements he had made during the Trial of Five Gods. After defeating En Ci, his blood essence had suddenly spiked to an unprecedented level, thereby resulting in a qualitative change.


    This was something that had been triggered by the momentum he had accumulated from the five successive victories, as well as the collective chant from the spectators. As a result, his soul power had shot up two ranks, and even more importantly, he had attained full mastery of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method.


    The breakthroughs were coming far too quickly. Tang Wulin''s original goal was to be able to reach the Soul Douluo bottleneck by the time he returned to the federation. However, he was already at rank 83 soul power now, and the improvements he had made certainly weren''t just limited to his cultivation rank.


    Tang Wulin had already formulated a plan. Once he returned to the federation, he would go into seclusion for a while to learn about heavenly refinement from Zhen Hua. Of course, he would only do that if the situation in the federation were relatively stable.


    With his increases in power and the formation of his spiritual domain, he had reached the peak of his soul refinement mastery. As such, it was time to learn about heavenly refinement so he could forge suits of four-word battle armor for himself and his friends in the future.


    Tang Wulin was aware that it would be far too difficult to revive Shrek Academy through his own power alone. However, if all of Shrek''s Seven Monsters could become four-word battle armor masters, then things would be completely different.


    There was only a single Divine Blacksmith in this world, and forging suits of four-word battle armor was extremely taxing on one''s blood essence, so Zhen Hua couldn''t constantly churn out such suits of battle armor. In contrast, Tang Wulin had far more blood essence than Zhen Hua. If he could become a Divine Blacksmith, then he would be able to forge suits of four-word battle armor with far greater regularity, and the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy would be direct beneficiaries of this.


    During this trip to the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire, he had matured a lot, and many things had also become clearer to him. The goal that he had set for himself was very simple; he wanted to break through to a higher level in the near future and make all of his friends four-word battle armor masters.


    Once all seven of them became four-word battle armor masters, they''d have the power to face any opposing force in this world.


    The timeframe he had set for himself to achieve this goal was five to 10 years.


    At their current rate of cultivation, everyone should be able to reach the Titled Douluo level within five years. Generally speaking, one had to at least be a Hyper Douluo before they would be able to handle a suit of four-word battle armor, but for them, that requirement could be lowered slightly.


    During the return trip, everyone''s suits of three-word battle armor would definitely be completed, and after that, it would be time to strive toward suits of four-word battle armor.


    Tang Wulin had secured victory in the Trial of Five Gods, and this was a very meaningful victory that would have a huge impact on all three continents.


    After witnessing his miraculous victory, many people who were sitting on the fence would have to consider what kind of changes he would bring about once he became a Limit Douluo in the future.


    Tang Wulin also understood that this would also undoubtedly place him in a very perilous situation as his enemies would also have the same thoughts.


    However, there was no fear in his heart, only single-minded determination. All of the responsibilities that he had shouldered weren''t meant to be handled with ease anyway.


    In the imperial palace of the Star Luo Empire.


    Dai Tianling was seated on his own in his study with his eyes closed. Of course, he wasn''t sleeping; he was merely thinking.


    Everything had happened too abruptly, and the final defeat suffered by En Ci had left him reeling. This was something that he had never thought would happen.


    He had originally intended to bind the Tang Sect more tightly to the empire through this Trial of Five Gods, but Tang Wulin had used this event as a stepping stone for himself instead.


    Following the conclusion of the final match, many dissenting voices had already arisen among the officials. There were already people questioning why the empire had opposed the Tang Sect by organizing this Trial of Five Gods, rather than collaborate with the Tang Sect in the shadows.


    The imperial family was no longer the same imperial family as 10,000 years ago. In this day and age, the emperor''s rule was no longer absolute; the voices of the officials and the general public was just as important.


    If he were too inept at his job, then he could even be usurped from his position. Of course, the current situation wasn''t severe enough for such an occurrence to eventuate, but nevertheless, this event had had a severe negative impact on the empire.


    Tang Wulin had raised the Tang Sect to the height of its glory, yet it was at the expense of the empire''s reputation.


    Tang Wulin was now the legend and idol of the empire, while he had to accept all of the responsibility for instigating this ill-advised Trial of Five Gods.

 Chapter 1377: Dai Yuners Plan

    En Ci had already explained why he had conceded at the end, and Dai Tianling didn''t blame him as there was no point in playing the blame game at this point. The support of the Holy Dragon Douluo was far too important to the imperial family, so he didn''t even dare to voice any dissatisfaction toward this teacher of his.


    What could he do next? How could he reverse this situation?


    They had to fulfill their promise to the Tang Sect, but how should they react if a war really were to break out? Were the weapons that the Tang Sect was going to supply really going to be enough to intimidate the federal military?


    All of these problems were giving Dai Tianling a massive headache, and the most concerning issue of all was how he was going to minimize the impact this Trial of Five Gods had on his rule over the empire.


    "Knock knock knock." The sound of gentle door-knocking suddenly rang out.


    "Come in," Dai Tianling said as he opened his eyes.


    There was only one person who would dare to disrupt him while he was thinking in his study.


    Dai Yun''er poked her head into the room and took a look at Dai Tianling before calling out in a hesitant manner, "Father."


    A sense of warmth suddenly welled up in Dai Tianling''s heart at the sight of her careful display. Regardless of what situation he was in, he still had his children by his side.


    One of the things that he was most proud of was that his children weren''t displaying any signs of a power struggle. He didn''t know if there were something different going on beneath the surface, but at the very least, everything appeared to be very peaceful and harmonious for now.


    "Come in. Since when did you become so timid?"


    Only after seeing Dai Tianling''s smile did a smile appeared on Dai Yun''er''s face as well, and she said, "I was worried that you would be in a bad mood, so I came to see you."


    "You knew I was in a bad mood?" Dai Tianling asked as he put on an expression of faux chagrin.


    Dai Yun''er giggled, "Alright, I know it''s all my fault. If I hadn''t been so determined to marry Tang Wulin, you wouldn''t have been enraged to the point of instigating this Trial of Five Gods, and none of this would''ve happened."


    A hint of surprise appeared on Dai Tianling''s face. "Oh? Since when did you become so modest and willing to take on responsibilities? Are you still the Dai Yun''er that we all know?"


    "Father!" Dai Yun''er pouted as she said in an indignant voice, "I never run away from my responsibilities! I''m your daughter, so it''s only right that I carry some of our imperial family''s responsibilities."


    "Alright, tell me why you came to see me." Dai Tianling cut straight to the chase.


    "Why do I need a reason to see you? Can''t I just pay you a visit because I miss you?"


    Dai Tianling pursed his lips in an unconvinced manner. "I know my own daughter; you wouldn''t come to see me without a reason. I always have to be the one to call you to me if I want to see you."


    Tears welled up in Dai Yun''er''s eyes upon hearing this, and she approached Dai Tianling before squatting down beside him and resting her head on his leg. "I''m sorry, Father, I''ll definitely come to see you more often. Please forgive me for being so wilful in the past."


    Her voice began to choke up as she spoke, and Dai Tianling was very surprised to hear this. He had never seen his daughter act like this before, and a myriad of emotions welled up in his heart.


    He really liked Dai Yun''er''s impish and mischievous nature, and her current display filled him with a sense of wistfulness as he suddenly realized that his daughter had grown up, while he had become an old man.


    He heaved a faint sigh. "Don''t be silly; Father will love you no matter what. What''s going on with you today? Are you here to cheer me up because I lost?"


    Dai Yun''er looked up and shook her head vigorously. "No, Father has never lost, and you''re never going to lose! This is not necessarily a bad thing; I''m here to propose an idea to you."


    "Oh? Not a bad thing? Our imperial family is in a very precarious situation, and you''re still saying this isn''t a bad thing?" Dai Tianling couldn''t help but burst into laughter.


    "You''re not to blame for this; I tried to tie the Tang Sect to our empire by doing this, but I failed to consider the possibility that Tang Wulin could successfully complete the Trial of Five Gods. As a result, we''re in a rather sticky situation, but there aren''t any major issues; everything will eventually return to normal."


    A mysterious light suddenly appeared in Dai Yun''er''s eyes. "Father, have you considered what would happen if Tang Wulin were to actually become your son-in-law? Wouldn''t everything be different then?"


    Dai Tianling faltered slightly as this possibility flashed through his mind.


    Indeed, if Tang Wulin could become his son-in-law, then that would mean the Tang Sect Master and the legendary victor in this Trial of Five Gods would be his son-in-law, which would make him a part of the imperial family.


    In that case, the situation would indeed be completely different as the legend of the empire would be a member of the imperial family. He could even announce to the empire that this Trial of Five Gods was a test to see if Tang Wulin were worthy of his daughter.


    The entire narrative would be flipped on its head. Not only would the relationship between the Tang Sect and the empire become even closer, they could proclaim that the Trial of Five Gods was just a publicity stunt to raise the popularity of the emperor''s future son-in-law. In addition to that, the power displayed by Tang Wulin indicated that it was virtually assured that he would become a Limit Douluo, and one that was definitely going to be more powerful than En Ci. With Tang Wulin as his son-in-law, it would be like the equivalent of having a modern Spirit Ice Douluo!


    Dai Yun''er''s words immediately made his eyes lit up, but he quickly calmed down. "He''s already given you an outright rejection; what else can we do? I''m not going to force my daughter upon him! Yun''er, have you still not given up on him?"


    Dai Yun''er had seen the sequences of changes in Dai Tianling''s expression, and she said in a low voice, "Father, for the future of the empire, we have to take some special measures, even if they sound downright preposterous. For the empire, I''m willing to sacrifice myself. I have a plan..."


    She stood up and whispered into Dai Tianling''s ear, and Dai Tianling''s pupils quickly contracted drastically upon hearing her plan. He wanted to cut her off on several occasions, but refrained from doing so in the end.


    "No! Absolutely not! We can''t do something like that!" Dai Tianling shook his head vigorously with fury in his eyes.


    However, Dai Yun''er wasn''t backing down in the slightest. "Father, if this fails, then all the blame can fall on me. I went rogue and decided to do this on my own; it has nothing to do with our imperial family. However, if we succeed, then the long-term prosperity of the empire would be all but assured! With his support, everything will be different. He''s not the only powerful being in the Tang Sect; I''m sure you''ve heard about the recent sparring match between Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and our Monster Eight Kings, right?


    "We were completely crushed! Our Monster Eight Kings were proclaimed to be once-in-a-millennium prodigies, yet we were no match for them at all. Besides, Tang Wulin is not just the Tang Sect Master; he''s also the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy. Trust me, Father; Shrek Academy definitely won''t fall so easily. You haven''t seen how powerful the academy is; they have over 20,000 years of history! I''m sure they have other powerful beings who survived and are lurking in the shadows.


    "If we can attain Tang Wulin''s unreserved support, we''ll have the support of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect as well. There''s even a chance that Shrek Academy could be rebuilt in our empire! If that happens, then the federation will be the one that has to fear us in the future!"


    Dai Tianling''s eyes flashed with complex emotions upon hearing this. It was undoubtedly the case that Dai Yun''er''s words had painted a very enticing picture for him.


    Regardless of whether it was the leader of the Tang Sect or Shrek Academy, all of them had never sided too closely with any of the three continents, and this was all in an effort to ensure neutrality. If it weren''t for the fact that Shrek Academy had been bombed and the Tang Sect was being severely oppressed by the federation, the Star Luo Empire wouldn''t even have an opportunity to get closer to the two superpowers.

 Chapter 1378: Completion of the Deal

    "No! That''s far too unfair for you, and what if he denies everything in the end? That''s the riskiest part of your plan; how can you be sure that he''ll comply?"


    Dai Yun''er replied in a firm manner, "Because I know him. Brother Three is a man with a very strong sense of responsibility. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have made it to this point. If my plan succeeds, he''ll definitely be angry, but there''s no way he won''t take responsibility. Even if it fails, is he going to turn on a woman who did everything for love?"


    Dai Tianling closed his eyes as his brows furrowed tightly.


    Dai Yun''er stood beside him and waited with an impish look in her eyes. She was naturally willing to sacrifice herself for the empire, especially when she could kill two birds with one stone.


    After a long while, Dai Tianling finally reopened his eyes. "What do you want to do?"


    Dai Yun''er hurriedly replied, "I need the support of our imperial science institute."


    "Alright, I''ll get into contact with them; you can go there right away. Yun''er..." Dai Tianling embraced his daughter as he closed his eyes with a pained expression, and sighed, "I''m sorry for being such an incompetent father."


    "Father..."


    ......


    The next morning, Tang Wulin awakened from his meditation, feeling completely reinvigorated and refreshed. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he no longer had to compete in the Trial of Five Gods, but this was the most relaxed he had been since arriving in the Star Luo Empire.


    He wasn''t concerned that the imperial family would change its minds as this was a matter of public safety for the entire Star Luo Empire. After he completed this deal, he would be able to return to the federation, and the Smiling Douluo would take care of everything else.


    Following the celebrations the night before, many of the Tang Sect disciples were still sleeping, so the headquarters was very peaceful. When Tang Wulin arrived in the cafeteria for breakfast, there weren''t many people present, but all of them appraised him with respect and reverence.


    After breakfast, the Smiling Douluo came to find him, and he was very pleased to see that Tang Wulin was in such high spirits.


    "Sect Master, we''ve already contacted the empire; we can go and sign the agreement today. We''ll do it in the imperial palace to ensure safety and confidentiality; the imperial palace has vacated a warehouse for this purpose, and it''ll be heavily guarded."


    "Alright, thank you for your hard work," Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Thank heavens we''re finally about to complete the mission. During this time, I''ll have to trouble you to keep the members of our Tang Sect in check and ensure that they keep a low profile. I don''t want to sour our relationship with the imperial family over the Trial of Five Gods."


    Hu Jie chuckled, "I understand. As your subordinate, it''s only right that I take care of such matters in your stead."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. This was the first time that the Smiling Douluo had ever referred to himself as his subordinate! It seemed that the Trial of Five Gods had changed not just the outside world, but also the people around him.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and Hu Jie arrived at the Star Luo Empire imperial palace at the agreed time, and on this occasion, both Dai Tianling and Dai Yueyan were already waiting for them in the largest conference chamber in the palace.


    Dai Yueyan''s expression had clearly changed significantly as he looked at Tang Wulin now.


    When he had first met Tang Wulin, Dai Yueyan had been eager to challenge him in order to examine the fruits of his own cultivation over the past few years, yet now, he didn''t even have the confidence to challenge him anymore.


    Perhaps in this generation, he was destined to be nothing more than a stepping stone for Tang Wulin.


    "Your Majesty, Your Highness." Tang Wulin nodded as a gesture of acknowledgment.


    There was no sign of displeasure on Dai Tianling''s face at all as he smiled, and said, "Congratulations on successfully completing the Trial of Five Gods, Sect Master Tang. As per our agreement, our empire will pay an additional 10% to purchase the weapons provided by the Tang Sect. I''ve seen the list of weapons your sect is going to provide, and there are no issues. We''ve already begun to gather the resources that the Tang Sect requires, and it''ll all be delivered to a warehouse designated by your Tang Sect within three days."


    "Thank you for your support, Your Majesty," Tang Wulin said in a heartfelt manner.


    Dai Tianling sighed, "To be honest, I regret my decision, but at the same time, I''m glad I made this decision. At the very least, the Trial of Five Gods has shown me the future of the Tang Sect, and also strengthened our confidence in collaborating with the Tang Sect. I hope our collaboration can continue for thousands of years to come; please support our Star Luo Empire as well, Sect Master. Regardless of what happens in the federation, our Star Luo Empire will always be a home for the Tang Sect."


    Dai Tianling''s words were very sincere, and Tang Wulin was quite surprised by his attitude considering the defeat they had just suffered during the Trial of Five Gods.


    "You''re far too kind, Your Majesty; it''s our honor to be able to work with the Star Luo Empire," Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    Dai Tianling asked, "What are your plans after this, Sect Master Tang?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m going to return to the federation as soon as possible. As you know, our Tang Sect is facing immense pressure in the federation; I have to go back and face the pressure with everyone else."


    Dai Tianling sighed, "In all honesty, I truly hope that your Tang Sect will move entirely to our Star Luo Empire someday. If that day ever comes, we''ll be able to match up against the federation."


    An apologetic look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Thank you for placing so much faith in our Tang Sect, Your Majesty, but the Tang Sect was founded on the Douluo Continent, and all of our forefathers, including the Thousand Hand Douluo and Spirit Ice Douluo, have fought to ensure that the Tang Sect continues to thrive on the Douluo Continent. I can''t change the heritage left behind by our forefathers, but the Star Luo Empire branches are also very important to our Tang Sect. Our ultimate hope is that the three continents will be able to coexist in harmony someday."


    Dai Tianling nodded in response. "Your Tang Sect''s support is much appreciated. I''d like to offer my sincerest apologies for making your stay in our empire not as pleasant as it otherwise could''ve been. I''ll be setting up a banquet in our palace tonight; please do make sure to attend."


    "Thank you, Your Majesty."


    Following a brief exchange of pleasantries, the agreement was signed. Tang Wulin was responsible for delivering all of the weapons to the imperial palace''s warehouse, and everything else was taken care of by the Smiling Douluo.


    Everything was said and done during the span of a single day, and the imperial family had already prepared all of the resources for the Tang Sect, while the additional 10% was paid in monetary units.


    Tang Wulin was very relieved, and a perfect conclusion had been reached to cap off his first visit to the Star Luo Empire as the Tang Sect Master.


    The banquet was held in the inner court of the imperial palace later that night. From the Star Luo Empire, only Dai Tianling, Dai Yueyan, Dai Yun''er, and some other important members of the imperial family were in attendance.


    From the Tang Sect, there was Tang Wulin, the Smiling Douluo, and Shrek''s Six Monsters.


    For some reason, En Ci wasn''t in attendance, and Long Yue was representing Monster Academy in his stead.


    Tang Wulin sat right beside Dai Tianling on his left, while Dai Yueyan sat across from him.


    In the Star Luo Empire, the left-hand position was considered to be the most important one aside from the main seat, so this meant that Tang Wulin was in a postion that was even higher than that of the rightful heir to the throne. This was another show of the Star Luo Empire''s sincerity.


    Dai Tianling was no longer trying to oppress or intimidate Tang Wulin. Not only was he proposing toasts and engaging in friendly conversation with Tang Wulin and the Smiling Douluo, he was doing the same to Shrek''s Six Monsters as well.


    "I propose a toast, Sect Master Tang." Long Yue''s tall and broad figure appeared before Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin raised his cup and rose to his feet. "There''s no need for such formalities, Brother Long."


    Long Yue smiled, and said, "I''m glad I became acquainted with you. In the future, you''re going to be the target that I''ll constantly be pursuing."


    Tang Wulin glanced at him before asking, "You''re already at the Titled Douluo level, right, Brother Long?"


    Long Yue nodded in response.

 Chapter 1379: Explosion

    Tang Wulin said, "I''m going to be leaving in a few days, but before I leave, I want to spar with the seniors here in the Star Luo Empire. I''ve already invited Senior Huang Zhengyang and Senior Chu Tiange for a mecha battle and weapons battle, respectively; would you be interested in sparring with me as well before I leave?"


    Long Yue''s eyes immediately lit up. "That''s exactly what I was hoping for!"


    This Trial of Five Gods had benefited Tang Wulin immensely; even he was stunned by his rate of progression under such intense pressure.


    He hadn''t battled Huang Zhengyang and Chu Tiange to his heart''s content, so he wanted to spar with them again to consolidate the benefits he had reaped from the Trial of Five Gods, as well as to learn new things.


    Without this Trial of Five Gods acting as a platform for him, it would''ve been quite difficult to find such powerful beings to challenge. However, now that he had such an opportunity and could directly contact these sparring partners, he naturally wasn''t going to pass up the chance.


    If he could spar with Long Yue as well, then that would be even better. Long Yue was already a Titled Douluo, and in terms of martial souls, his Mountain Dragon King ranked even above that of En Ci''s Holy Radiant Dragon. He was the one with the most potential to become a Limit Douluo among the younger generation of the Star Luo Empire, and back when they had last battled, Long Yue had exerted immense pressure upon him.


    In the end, he had only been able to just barely secure victory with Gu Yuena''s assistance. Even though he was already far different from how he had been all those years ago, Long Yue had also made drastic improvements.


    If these three sparring matches could be arranged before his departure, then he would definitely be able to reap many benefits during his meditation on the return journey.


    Now that Tang Wulin had achieved complete mastery of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, enjoyed an increase in his cultivation rank, received the Holy Spirit Douluo''s Divine Blessing, and activated his three-word battle armor''s Golden Blood Dragon domain, he had undergone a drastic transformation.


    Prior to the Trial of Five Gods, he would only just barely be able to keep up with a Titled Douluo, but now, he would at least be able to put up a good fight against most Hyper Douluos.


    It took most Soul Masters at least five to 10 years to get from the Titled Douluo level to the Hyper Douluo level, but it had taken Tang Wulin less than half a year.


    Most importantly, he was still only a Soul Douluo, which meant that he would undoubtedly undergo another drastic transformation once he became a Titled Douluo.


    Tang Wulin had already planned to engage in a series of sparring matches over the surface of the ocean during their return journey. He was trying to improve himself by creating high-pressure environments, and he hoped to do the same for his friends. The return journey was going to take two to three months, which was going to be enough time.


    Of course, he hadn''t disclosed this piece of "good news" to his friends yet as he didn''t want to affect their current mood.


    Long Yue and Tang Wulin both downed the wine in their cups before agreeing on a time together.


    The night continued to pass by, and just as Tang Wulin was thinking that the banquet was about to draw to a conclusion, Dai Yun''er suddenly rose to her feet.


    She had been staring at Tang Wulin this entire time, and Tang Wulin had constantly been able to sense her scorching gaze. It was as if she were trying to burn holes into his body with her eyes, which was why he immediately noticed as soon as Dai Yun''er stood up, and he reflexively turned toward her.


    "Brother Three, I propose a toast to you as well. Congratulations on securing victory in the Trial of Five Gods." Dai Yun''er was holding two cups of wine, and she offered one of them to Tang Wulin while keeping the other one for herself.


    She was currently wearing a palatial dress with her long hair organized in an impeccable manner, revealing her fair swan-like neck. She was so elegant and graceful that she seemed to have become a completely different person.


    Tang Wulin forced a smile onto his face. "Thank you, Your Highness."


    A displeased pout appeared on Dai Yun''er''s face. "I''m calling you Brother Three, yet you''re referring to me as ''Your Highness''; am I really that distant to you? Even if you don''t return my feelings, can''t we still be friends?"


    "I''m sorry, Yun''er, that was never my intention, I was just..." Tang Wulin had managed to remain calm and collected even in the face of the Trial of Five Gods, yet he was becoming rather flustered now.


    He had always felt very guilty toward Dai Yun''er. Dai Yun''er had always been very good to him. As a revered princess of the Star Luo Empire who was adored by the emperor, she had to have a great deal of pride, yet she had set that aside to pursue him. In return, he had rejected her on two separate occasions, the second of which took place right in this imperial palace; that would''ve surely had a severe impact on her.


    Tang Wulin looked into Dai Yun''er''s large beautiful eyes, and he was at a temporary loss for what to do.


    "I''m glad that you''re still willing to call me Yun''er. Brother Three, perhaps this will be the last time we ever see one another. I propose this toast to you, and I wish you a safe and swift journey back to the federation." She held up her cup of wine as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief in response to Dai Yun''er''s innocuous toast, but at the same time, he could sense Dai Yueyan glowering at him in a very unfriendly manner.


    He could completely empathize with Dai Yueyan. If his little sister had been rejected like this by someone else, he most likely wouldn''t have been able to hold back his temper. For Dai Yueyan, it wasn''t that he didn''t want to beat Tang Wulin up; he simply lacked the power to do so.


    After downing her cup of wine, Dai Yun''er didn''t say anything further. She merely extended a graceful curtsey toward Tang Wulin before returning to her own seat.


    From that moment forth, she didn''t look at Tang Wulin again, and it was as if that toast were a symbolic conclusion to the past they had shared.


    Tang Wulin heaved a slightly forlorn internal sigh upon seeing this, but he also felt as if a load had been lifted from his shoulders. At the same time, he wholeheartedly wished for the best for Dai Yun''er.


    Dai Tianling seemed to be in very high spirits, and he was getting a little tipsy by the end of the banquet.


    "Sect Master Tang, let''s end things here for today. Sigh... I really wish you could stay in our Star Luo Empire! Sect Master Tang, I... sigh..."


    After a few consecutive sighs, the drunken Dai Tianling was escorted out of the banquet hall by Dai Yueyan, and thus, the banquet drew to a conclusion.


    Hu Jie made his way over to Tang Wulin with a smile, and said, "You''ve completed your mission with flying colors, Sect Master. Let''s leave as well."


    Tang Wulin nodded, and everyone rose to their feet.


    They strode out of the palace gate, and the cool night breeze felt very refreshing to everyone after that lively banquet. A faint smile also appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he looked up at the starry night sky.


    The Tang Sect vehicles had already arrived, and Tang Wulin and Hu Jie got into one of them, while his friends got into the other. Thus, three Tang Sect soul limousines drove out of the imperial palace toward the Tang Sect headquarters.


    It was already very late in the night at this point, and all of the shops on the streets were already closed.


    There was some distance between the imperial palace and the Tang Sect headquarters, and there wasn''t much traffic, so the Tang Sect vehicles gradually began to pick up speed.


    Tang Wulin and the Smiling Douluo were both resting with their eyes closed. The vehicle that Tang Wulin was in was the first of the three, and it drove through a yellow light, while the other two vehicles were forced to stop in front of the light, which had turned red.


    Thus, Tang Wulin''s vehicle continued onward, opening up some distance between itself and the other two vehicles, and right when that distance had stretched to around 300 meters, a resounding boom suddenly rang out without any warning.


    A ball of red light encompassed virtually the entire vehicle, and a violent explosion abruptly erupted.


    Many of the nearby buildings collapsed, and the terrifying shockwaves shattered all of the window panes of the buildings within a radius of several hundred meters.


    The explosion seemed to have woken up the entire city, and blaring sirens instantly rang out.


    All of a sudden, the sky turned grey, and the murky greyness spread downward, drowning out all of the chaotic sounds.


    Thus, the commotion of the explosion wasn''t able to travel very far, and the entire world had become a vast expanse of murky greyness.


    The ground tremored and cracked open as one lopsided figure after another emerged from the ground before spreading in all directions in a shaky manner.


    Those figures were countless skeletons, mummies, and some other strange creatures. They were all enshrouded in a bleak grey blanket, and in less than a minute, the lavish Star Luo City seemed to have become the land of the dead.


    Even the fireball erupting from the explosion turned into the same grey color, and the noise from the explosion was instantly drowned out.

 Chapter 1380: Grey Terror

    The last two vehicles were instantly inundated by those ghastly grey creatures, while the undead beings in front of the first vehicle parted to open up a path.


    A figure appeared at the conclusion of the path, then slowly began to approach the first vehicle. He didn''t appear to be moving very quickly, but his footsteps were very rhythmic, and he reached the site of the explosion in the blink of an eye.


    He wore a suit of grey armor with a grey cape. The suit of armor was glittering and translucent, and it complemented his handsome facial features. He had a head of long black hair that trailed down his back, creating a stark contrast with his deathly pale face that was devoid of any color.


    He was holding a thin and long sword that was also of a translucent grey color, just like his suit of armor, and there was a layer of grey light that was visible over the surface of the sword.


    His suit of armor didn''t include a helmet; there was only a rhomboid grey crystal on his forehead that was reflecting light in all directions with its countless facets.


    No matter how one appraised him, he seemed more like a god of death from the infernal realm than a human being.


    He gently slashed his grey sword through the air, and the fireball up ahead instantly split into two. His brows furrowed slightly as he sighed, "Rise up, beings of the infernal realm."


    Bursts of grey flames instantly began to spread in all directions from his body, igniting all of the surrounding undead creatures and filling this grey world with an unsettling aura.


    "I didn''t think you were still alive, Infernal King Douluo Harosha." The Smiling Douluo''s grim voice rang out, immediately following which a golden figure expanded drastically in size. In the blink of an eye, he had swelled to over 100 meters tall, and his bulging golden stomach created quite a sight to behold.


    Harosha said in a cold voice, "A junior like you has no right to say my name."


    He gently slashed his sword toward the Smiling Douluo as he spoke, and a blade manifested from a burst of grey flames instantly hurtled toward Hu Jie.


    The blade wasn''t very large, and it was completely insignificant in stature in the face of Hu Jie''s gigantic martial soul true body, but Hu Jie immediately shot back like lightning as his expression darkened even further, not daring to take the attack head-on. He clasped his hands together before himself, then violently thrust his giant stomach forward. The grey blade vanished without a sound, but a layer of grey instantly appeared over Hu Jie''s body, and his expression changed drastically as he rushed backward in an even more frantic manner.


    He had already used his most powerful golden belly to withstand the attack, but he could still feel his own life force seeping away at a rapid rate, and even at a conservative estimate, his lifespan had been reduced by at least two years.


    What kind of terrifying power was this?


    This Infernal King Douluo truly did live up to his fearsomely notorious reputation.


    He was a powerful being who stood at the pinnacle of the world, and he had forged a resounding reputation for himself even before the emergence of the Atlas Douluo. By the time that Yun Ming had become a renowned figure, he had already faded into obscurity.


    If it weren''t for his Infernal Rebirth domain, Hu Jie wouldn''t have been able to identify him.


    Even at Hu Jie''s age, he had only heard legends of this terrifying evil Soul Master.


    It wasn''t inappropriate for Harosha to refer to Hu Jie as a junior. At the very least, Harosha was two generations above Hu Jie. He appeared to be a man in his thirties, but in reality, even if he hadn''t reached 200 years of age yet, he was at least over 170 years old.


    It was said that Infernal King Douluo Harosha bad been born in a small city in the Douluo Federation. The legends stated that he was contaminated by something impure when he was born, and he had completely pale and colorless skin from birth, as well as a pair of grey eyes.


    His peculiar appearance filled his family with horror, and they immediately abandoned him.


    However, Harosha''s life force was very resilient, and he was saved by someone before being taken to an orphanage. Due to his strange appearance, he was denounced and ostracized by everyone else.


    He led a lonesome life in the orphanage until he turned six years old, and his martial soul awakened without any catalyst.


    From the day that his martial soul awakened, he was destined to bring disaster upon this world.


    A domain had awakened alongside his martial soul; it was none other than this Infernal Rebirth domain.


    When his domain had first manifested itself, it hadn''t been all that powerful, but 12 skeleton warriors had arisen along with it. Those 12 skeleton warriors massacred the entire orphanage; all of the children and caretakers in that orphanage became the first group of sacrifices for his Infernal Rebirth domain.


    Their blood and flesh was devoured by his domain and converted into power for him, allowing him to attain innate full soul power.


    At the time, Harosha had been completely shell-shocked as he had no idea what had happened, either. However, after that, he sensed enormous power.


    He had been a loner all his life, so his personality was far from bright and optimistic. After killing all of the people who were always ignoring or mocking him, a twisted sense of joy welled up in his heart. Thus, he left the orphanage. At the time, he was still just a child who had no idea what fear was; all he wanted was to experience more of this joy.


    The 12 skeleton warriors bestowed upon him by the Infernal Rebirth domain went on a horrendous killing spree, and over time, the scope covered by his domain expanded from a radius of just over 10 meters to over 30 meters.


    When the military was finally alerted to what he had done and arrived on the scene, they were greeted by a hellish sight. They immediately concluded that he was an evil Soul Master and killed him along with his 12 skeleton warriors, then buried them together.


    However, no one could''ve imagined what would happen next. Under the effect of his Infernal Rebirth domain, Harosha was resurrected after seven days. He clawed his way out of the soil, then embarked on his path of destruction and slaughter once again.


    Having learned his lesson from that ordeal, he knew that he couldn''t continue to be so reckless, so he left the city and traveled to more rural areas, targeting secluded villages for his killing sprees. During this process, he could clearly sense that he was becoming more and more powerful. The 12 skeleton warriors had been resurrected alongside him, and they were also becoming increasingly more powerful, as well as more evil and merciless.


    It had once been said that Infernal King Douluo Harosha was a punishment handed down to the human race by the heavens. Humans had incurred the wrath of the gods by destroying the environment and ruining the world, and they were now being made to pay for it.


    He grew and developed at an alarming rate, and when the federation finally began to take notice of what he was doing, he suddenly fell into obscurity. No one knew where he had gone until he resurfaced 10 years later.


    When he re-emerged, he slaughtered an entire small city rather than his usual target of secluded villages. Over 60,000 people perished in that disaster, and with that massive influx of sacrifices, he made a breakthrough to become a Titled Douluo. At the time, he was only 19 years old!


    After that, he disappeared once again, and the federation was unable to track him down despite their best efforts.


    Thus, the notorious legend of Infernal King Douluo Harosha was forged.


    During that generation, his name was synonymous to terror and slaughter. He didn''t appear very often; he would only resurface once every five to 10 years, but every time he appeared, widespread death and destruction would follow.


    Thus, he also had the nickname of Grey Terror at the time.


    Only after he gave himself the title of Infernal King Douluo was the nickname of Grey Terror gradually phased out.


    He became a Hyper Douluo at 25 years of age, and that breakthrough had come at the expense of over 100,000 lives.


    After that, Shrek Academy finally tracked him down. Atlas Douluo Yun Ming''s teacher, who was the Sea God''s Pavilion Master at the time, cornered Harosha in a secluded seaside town.


    It turned out that Harosha hadn''t refrained from slaughter during his time in hiding; he was merely slaughtering sea creatures rather than humans. There were virtually limitless living creatures in the sea, and he was able to continue to progress by slaughtering them. Every time he went on a large scale killing rampage, he had to spend some time to digest and absorb the energy he obtained, which was why there were lengthy intervals where he seemed to fall completely off the map.


    At the time, the Sea God''s Pavilion Master was already a Limit Douluo, while Harosha was only a Hyper Douluo, yet the latter managed to escape after suffering severe injuries. The Sea God''s Pavilion Master had also sustained light injuries from that battle, and he predicted that Infernal King Douluo Harosha wasn''t dead, and that there was a very good chance that he would return in the near future.


    Harosha had always been a wanted fugitive in Shrek Academy, and if any member of Shrek Academy were to obtain any leads on him, they had to report the information to the academy right away.


    The last time that Harosha had appeared was at Shrek Academy. At the time, he had become a Limit Douluo, and he was seeking revenge.

 Chapter 1381: Infernal King Douluo Harosha

    The Infernal King Douluo was definitely the first person in history to have dared to seek revenge on Shrek Academy on his own.


    With their past history, he and the Sea God''s Pavilion Master immediately engaged in a fierce battle of epic proportions. In the end, the battle concluded after both sides suffered severe injuries.


    At the time, Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue and the last Spirit Pagoda chairman had joined forces to kill him before he could escape from Shrek Academy.


    After that, Infernal King Douluo Harosha completely disappeared, and that had taken place over 100 years ago.


    However, the Sea God''s Pavilion Master at the time always had a hunch that Harosha wouldn''t die so easily. He had even convinced the Spirit Pagoda to join forces with Shrek Academy to search for relevant leads, but their efforts proved to be futile.


    At the time, three Limit Douluos had combined to destroy not just Harosha''s physical body, but also his soul, and only after that fruitless search was Shrek Academy truly convinced that he had actually died.


    However, who could''ve possibly imagined that this Infernal King Douluo would resurface after all these years?


    Following his century-long absence, no one had any idea of just how powerful he was, and this was why Hu Jie had been so stunned to see him.


    If it weren''t for the fact that the descriptions Hu Jie had read of the Infernal Rebirth domain''s effects had left a very deep impression on him, there was no way that he could''ve identified the Infernal King Douluo.


    Among all of the Limit Douluos who were currently still alive, only Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue and Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie could match him in age, but they may not be as powerful as he was.


    It had taken three Limit Douluos to kill him, but now, he was back and seemingly more powerful than ever.


    "Come on out. Were you prepared for this in advance? Even so, it won''t make a difference," Harosha said in an indifferent voice.


    Two figures emerged from behind Hu Jie in a flash before rising up into the air. On Hu Jie''s left was Tang Wulin, while on his right was Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci in a chauffeur''s uniform. In comparison with Hu Jie, En Ci was even more astonished to see Harosha.


    Harosha had such a resounding reputation that En Ci had heard of him, even though they resided on two different continents.


    Harosha''s terrifying destructive power and ability to slaughter made him a literal walking disaster!


    Ever since he had met Gu Yuena after the fourth match of the Trial of Five Gods, Tang Wulin had known that there would definitely be some people who wouldn''t be willing to just let him leave the Star Luo Continent. He was always at the Tang Sect headquarters, so there weren''t many opportunities for those people to strike; this was undoubtedly an ideal opportunity.


    Furthermore, Gu Yuena had delivered some further information to him thereafter, thus allowing him to confirm the exact time, so he invited the Holy Dragon Douluo to accompany him.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was a common enemy to all three continents, and that was why En Ci hadn''t appeared at the banquet, choosing instead to pose as a Tang Sect chauffeur.


    The explosion that had just taken place was completely expected, but never did they think that they would be faced with an opponent who should only exist in legends.


    "This makes my job a lot easier; I won''t have to go searching for each one of you individually now. Truth be told, my original target was you," Harosha said as he cast a disdain gaze toward En Ci.


    En Ci''s expression darkened even further upon hearing this. Of course, he had absolute confidence in himself. As a Limit Douluo, he already stood at the pinnacle of this world. However, it was also exactly because he was a Limit Douluo himself that he was aware that there were disparities in power, even among Limit Doulous. Otherwise, Atlas Douluo Yun Ming wouldn''t have been the undisputed most powerful being in the world.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this Infernal King Douluo most definitely stood at the very peak of the pyramid, even among Limit Douluos. On a one-on-one basis, it was very difficult to say whether anyone in the current Soul Master world would be able to defeat him; perhaps only a resurrected Yun Ming would have a chance.


    "Hmph, let me see just how powerful the legendary Infernal King Douluo is!" En Ci stepped forward in mid-air, and a giant white dragon instantly appeared behind him.


    In the face of this Infernal King Douluo, he didn''t dare to hold back at all and donned his suit of four-word battle armor from the get-go.


    Harosha harrumphed coldly in a derisive manner. "You think you have what it takes?"


    He slashed his sword gently through the air as he spoke, and a translucent grey sword projection drifted directly toward En Ci, seemingly in a completely harmless manner.


    Tang Wulin was currently only a bystander, yet even he could clearly sense a bone-chilling aura sweeping toward him as soon as the sword projection appeared. This wasn''t an actual drop in air temperature. Instead, it was a chilling sensation that welled up from deep within his very being, and it threatened to freeze his soul solid.


    A solemn look appeared on En Ci''s face, and he immediately activated his Thousand Dragon Dance domain, conjuring up countless giant white dragons around himself.


    Each giant dragon was radiating dazzling holy light alongside an extremely powerful holy aura, and the surrounding greyness was instantly significantly repressed.


    The Smiling Douluo didn''t join in on the battle. Instead, he escorted Tang Wulin off to the side and withdrew his martial soul true body.


    Only then did Tang Wulin notice that the Smiling Douluo''s face was quite pale, indicating that he had suffered an internal injury.


    "Are you alright?" Tang Wulin hurriedly asked.


    Hu Jie''s brows were tightly furrowed as he replied in a grim voice, "I''m fine. His power seems to have reached a level even beyond anything I''ve seen among all of the Limit Douluos I''ve come into contact with in the past. If I were to engage him in a one-on-one battle, I most likely wouldn''t even be able to last 10 minutes."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. Hu Jie was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, and with his unique advantages, it was safe to say that he was one of the most powerful beings below the Limit Douluo level.


    Tang Wulin had encountered powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult in the past, including the Dark Phoenix Douluo, the Dark Bell, and Blood Demon, who had killed his foster parents from afar. Those three were all among the Holy Spirit Cult''s four heavenly monarchs, so they were obviously all immensely powerful, but they hadn''t gone beyond the realm of his comprehension.


    However, this Infernal King Douluo possessed power that was beyond his scope of understanding, power that no longer belonged to this world. Could it be that he had already become a god?


    He had managed to wound a rank 98 Hyper Douluo with just a single nonchalant-looking attack; that was sufficient testament to just how powerful he was. Thankfully, they had invited Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci to accompany them. Otherwise, if they had recruited the assistance of any lesser ally, there was a very good chance that this would be their final resting place.


    It was the first time that Tang Wulin had ever heard the name of Infernal King Douluo Harosha, but during the brief period he had known this fearsome being, his name had been engraved firmly in his mind.


    The holy white dragons dancing around En Ci seemed to have nullified the aura of the Infernal Rebirth domain, and having been enhanced by his four-word battle armor, En Ci''s aura had also been elevated to its peak.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the aura that En Ci had unleashed was far more powerful than what he had displayed during the final match of the Trial of Five Gods. It was quite clear that En Ci had held back so as to not hurt him, and Tang Wulin felt a little embarrassed upon arriving at this realization.


    If En Ci had unleashed his full power from the very beginning, there wouldn''t even have been an opportunity for the Golden Blood Dragon domain to be awakened.


    En Ci pointed a finger forward, and a burst of dazzling white light instantly clashed with the grey sword projection.


    All of a sudden, the white light dimmed slightly, and En Ci gave a muffled groan as his body swayed slightly in mid-air. In contrast, Harosha remained completely still on the spot, and there was nothing but derisive mockery in his eyes.

 Chapter 1382: Sift Away the Faults and Retain the Truth

    Right at this moment, the surrounding grey world began to churn like boiling water, and a series of giant skeletons emerged from the ground. It was impossible to tell what creatures these skeletons belonged to; some resembled dragon skeletons, others resembled skeletons of marine creatures and other animals.


    These massive infernal creatures unleashed a ferocious barrage of attacks toward the giant white dragons, and light was supposed to be the bane of darkness, but these infernal creatures didn''t fear the power of light at all. The infernal energy emanating from their bodies surged forth like massive waves toward the Thousand Dragon Dance, and En Ci''s domain was completely repressed!


    The Infernal Rebirth domain was technically one of Harosha''s soul skills, but it had repressed En Ci''s four-word battle armor domain. It was often the case that reality was even more absurd than fiction; if news of this were to spread, no one would believe it to be true.


    However, this was the reality. The most powerful being in the entire Star Luo Empire, Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci, was being completely dominated by his opponent.


    In that instant, a peculiar thought occurred to Tang Wulin: if Harosha had participated in the Trial of Five Gods in his stead, the Star Luo Empire would''ve been comprehensively crushed.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but wonder if the Atlas Douluo would''ve been able to defeat Harosha.


    En Ci''s expression also changed drastically, and he immediately encircled his arms in front of himself. At his level of power, soul skills themselves were no longer important; everything had already been integrated and could be unleashed at will.


    Qilin Douluo Tong Yu had also become a Limit Douluo, but he was still quite far away from reaching this step.


    En Ci thrust his right hand through the air, generating a faint explosion. Immediately thereafter, a terrifying aura permeated through the air, and it was as if the entire space were collapsing and compressing toward the Infernal King Douluo.


    "Do you still not understand?" Harosha asked in a cold voice.


    He took a small step forward, and his entire body instantly turned translucent. The compressed space naturally decompressed when it reached him, and the vast expanse of greyness around him reared up with unprecedented ferocity.


    The giant white dragons within the Thousand Dragon Dance began to howl with agony. Their illusionary bodies seemed to have taken on substance and were subjected to the frenzied attacks of the infernal creatures. Soon, all of them were on the brink of death.


    En Ci''s expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "You, you''ve already reached that level?"


    Harosha replied in an indifferent voice, "If I hadn''t, why would I have joined the Holy Spirit Cult? They''re all just a bunch of ants. All I''m aiming to do is to sift away the faults and retain the truth. Even as far back as 50 years ago, I had already ascended beyond the level where I still had to resort to slaughter to accumulate energy."


    En Ci''s expression changed again upon hearing this, and a hint of astonishment and enlightenment, intermingled with a slightly forlorn expression, appeared on his face.


    "Sift away the faults and retain the truth, eh?" En Ci repeated as he aimed a meaningful glance at Harosha.


    "You can join us as well if you''d like. As far as I know, we are the closest to reaching that level. We''ve even already made an attempt, and even though we failed, we''ve accumulated a lot of experience. In the future, it''s very likely that we''re going to make that final breakthrough," Harosha said.


    En Ci was very tempted by this proposition. After reaching his level, there were very few things that could attract him, but what Harosha had just described undoubtedly held the greatest allure for him.


    Right at this moment, a burst of authoritative might suddenly erupt behind him, and within that authoritative aura was a powerful sense of intimidation that instantly snapped him back to his senses. At the same time, his heart jolted with astonishment. Even with his immense spiritual power, he had fallen prey to Harosha''s enchanting abilities. It was most likely the case that he had already reached the pinnacle of the Spirit Domain realm and was one step away from crossing over to the Divine Origin realm.


    "No, we are destined to walk different paths," En Ci said in an implacable voice, "You lot are heartless and selfish. You disregard all life as mere tools for you to accomplish your own selfish objective. You are defying the natural order, and you will be punished for it. Perhaps there are many outstanding talents among you, but you''ll never be able to make that final breakthrough as even the ruler of our plane won''t allow people like you to become gods. Otherwise, you''ll bring disaster to the entire plane."


    Harosha''s expression finally changed slightly upon hearing this. "You seem to have a very clear perspective of everything. Striving for godhood is something that defies the natural order in the first place; there will definitely come a day when we will break through the restrictions of this plane. Step aside. You''ve reached this level as well, and I don''t want to kill you; he is my target."


    He cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin as he spoke, and his expression was very calm, but Tang Wulin felt as if his soul were about to be sucked into those void-like eyes.


    Tang Wulin was almost certain that aside from perhaps the Atlas Douluo, this man was most likely the most powerful being he had ever encountered.


    He had a feeling that in the face of a powerful being of this caliber, all soul technology would be rendered completely pointless.


    A series of golden halos rose up from beneath Tang Wulin''s feet, and his eyes also began to glow with dazzling golden light. In this murky grey world, the dazzling golden light was particularly eye-catching.


    "Hmm?" A hint of bewilderment appeared in Harosha''s eye. He was naturally very familiar with his own Infernal Rebirth domain, and he knew that within his domain, all objects and life forms would be contaminated by infernal energy. The main outward representation of this contamination would be a change in color.


    Even a Hyper Douluo like Hu Jie currently had a layer of grey over his body, and when he had used his golden belly to withstand Harosha''s earlier attack, his belly had turned completely grey for an instant.


    The same thing had also happened to En Ci.


    However, when those golden halos emerged from Tang Wulin''s body, he could clearly see that this dazzling golden color was completely free from the grey contamination.


    In the next instant, one of those golden halos lit up, and a giant golden dragon''s head appeared in front of Tang Wulin before letting loose a thunderous roar to the heavens.


    All of the giant white dragons that were being heavily repressed were immediately reinvigorated, as if their blood had been set alight, and a layer of golden light appeared over their bodies, forcing out the infernal energy that had contaminated them.


    The auras of all of the giant white dragon''s began to swell at a drastic rate, and they launched a ferocious counterattack against the surrounding infernal creatures.


    En Ci immediately turned to Tang Wulin with astonishment in his eyes. He felt as if his domain had been fuelled by a sudden injection of power, and even his aura was beginning to swell dramatically.


    This wasn''t an increase in quantity. Instead, it was closer to a percentage-based increase.


    When facing Tang Wulin, the Golden Dragon King bloodline had repressed his martial soul, but now that they were fighting alongside one another, the Golden Dragon King''s aura significantly enhanced his powers.


    Back when Tang Wulin had first awakened his Golden Dragon King bloodline, he and his friends had already discovered its ability to enhance dragon-type martial souls. Now that the enhancements from the Golden Dragon King bloodline was being applied to a powerful being of En Ci''s caliber, the effect was naturally extremely pronounced.


    The aura of his Holy Radiant Dragon was finally displayed in its full glory, and at the same time, all of the dragon-type infernal creatures within the Infernal Rebirth domain had become very feeble.


    Giant dragons were always creatures that stood at the pinnacle of the food chain, and this remained the case even in the Infernal Rebirth domain. Without these dragon-type infernal creatures, the power of the domain would be severely hampered, and En Ci was beginning to make a resurgence.


    "Interesting! No wonder they insisted on killing you; as expected of the one chosen by Shrek Academy. The thing I detest more than anything else in this world is Shrek Academy. If it weren''t for that Heaven Blessed Douluo, I would''ve reached my current level at least 50 years earlier. However, the thing that I admire the most in this world is also Shrek Academy as it''s the only worthy opponent for me. It was extremely foolish of those idiots in the Holy Spirit Cult to destroy Shrek Academy through such underhanded methods. Shrek Academy should''ve been destroyed by me, and all of the lives in the academy should''ve been used as the foundation for my ascension. If it''s not for the fact that I still have too many things to do, I really want to wait until you reach your full potential before I kill you. That would be most satisfying."


    Tang Wulin replied in a cold and resolute voice, "No one wants to hear your senseless rambling! If you want to kill me, then come at me!"

 Chapter 1383: Cavaliers of Death

    A faint smile appeared on Harosha''s face. "Do you really think you have what it takes to oppose me? I''ve killed countless so-called prodigies like you. Your ancestors weren''t even born when I started killing!"


    A furious look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing Harosha insult his ancestors, and right at this moment, a peculiar scene ensued.


    The insignia of a golden trident suddenly appeared on his forehead, immediately following which his eyes turned into a bluish-golden color.


    Harosha let loose a muffled groan as he abruptly hurtled back in retreat, and over a third of the infernal creatures in his Infernal Rebirth domain instantly crumbled away.


    "Godly backlash?!" Harosha''s voice instantly spiked up a few octaves as his calm and collected demeanor completely faded. His expression also changed drastically as he appraised Tang Wulin.


    Initially, he had completely disregarded Tang Wulin as a mere ant, but in this instant, terrifying killing intent had appeared in his eyes alongside an expression of astonishment.


    En Ci was also quite startled by this. What did godly backlash entail? It entailed that there was a god among Tang Wulin''s ancestors, whom Harosha had just insulted.


    Even though they weren''t directly present to protect Tang Wulin, their residual aura that lingered in Tang Wulin''s bloodline automatically generated this reaction to being insulted.


    This was a type of energy fluctuation of a godly caliber, and it wouldn''t actually have any effect on the average person. Only for Limit Douluos who had begun to attempt to ascend to godhood would these fluctuations have a severe impact.


    Even for a being of Harosha''s caliber, he had been dealt a heavy blow directly to the essence of his soul.


    In that instant, En Ci also sensed an aura that was no less authoritative than the Dragonslaying Saber that had repressed his martial soul. The aura was more even and placid, but it was imbued with peerless restrictive power.


    What was even more astonishing was that godly backlash wasn''t something that could happen easily. Humans who ascended to godhood would naturally produce offspring, but with each passing generation, their bloodline would be diluted, and eventually, it would be close to non-existent, and that would make it impossible for godly backlash to occur.


    According to all of the historical records of the Douluo Continent, the last person to ascend to godhood was the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao.


    Huo Yuhao''s bloodline had naturally been passed down, both on the Douluo Continent and in the imperial family of the Star Luo Empire. However, after so many generations, the bloodline had become extremely diluted.


    En Ci had very close ties with the imperial family, but he had never sensed the power of godly backlash from any member of the imperial family. The emergence of godly backlash indicated that Tang Wulin''s bloodline was very close to that of a god. Generally speaking, this should mean that he was within three generations of a god.


    But how was that possible at his age? There were no gods that had emerged during the past three generations on the entire Douluo Star!


    Following that brief flash of killing intent, an expression of scorching yearning suddenly appeared in Harosha''s eyes as he had also realized that Tang Wulin had to be within three generations of a god for godly backlash to occur.


    Perhaps not all gods could be found in historical records; perhaps there were people who had ascended to godhood completely unbeknownst to everyone else.


    If there really were someone who had succeeded within three generations, then this was extremely important information. As such, he no longer wanted to kill Tang Wulin. Instead, he wanted to capture him and take him back for interrogation.


    Instead of speaking any further, the rhomboid grey crystal on Harosha''s forehead suddenly lit up.


    The entire Infernal Rebirth domain shuddered, and a series of grey gates of light suddenly emerged within a radius of 100 meters around Harosha. There were 12 gates in total, and as soon as they appeared, the entire space seemed to have congealed.


    Even En Ci felt his body become more sluggish, and the holy aura that had just made a resurgence was instantly repressed again.


    It was often the case that only after truly facing someone could one grasp the gap between themselves and an opponent. No words could describe what En Ci was currently feeling.


    He had already become accustomed to being the most powerful being on the continent, and even when he had lost to Tang Wulin, that hadn''t been an actual defeat; he had merely conceded in order to preserve his own lifespan. However, in the face of Harosha, he was struck by a genuine sense of powerlessness. Harosha was simply far too powerful.


    The 12 gates were opened, and 12 humanoid infernal creatures emerged from within.


    They were all wearing suits of thick and heavy armor that concealed the entirety of their bodies, revealing only 12 pairs of dark blue eyes.


    All of their suits of armor were of a dark grey color, and they each held a shield in their left hand, while wielding a heavy sword in their right.


    The shields bore the appearances of monstrous heads, and all of the shields were different.


    These infernal creatures were each around four meters tall, and they were extremely intimidating in their bulky suits of armor.


    What struck Tang Wulin with the greatest sense of foreboding was the halos beneath the feet of these infernal creatures, all of which were also different.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had seen these halos, but there was no mistaking them; they were clearly battle armor domain halos that only three-word battle armor masters should possess!


    This meant that 12 powerful beings with suits of three-word battle armor had just emerged from those grey gates.


    There wasn''t a single trace of life force that could be detected from these creatures, and the only parts of their bodies that were visible were their eerie dark blue eyes.


    "Death is the destiny of all things!" they roared to the heavens as they raised their swords in unison.


    As they did so, the grey Infernal Rebirth domain suddenly turned into a dark blue color, and all of the giant white dragons instantly faltered for a moment while their auras were significantly diminished.


    Even Tang Wulin''s Violent Golden Dragon Domain seemed to have been repressed by the emergence of these 12 creatures.


    "Kill them!" Harosha commanded.


    "Your wish is our command," the 12 infernal creatures answered in unison. They then all raised the shields in their left hands before charging toward the center from 12 different directions.


    "These are my 12 cavaliers of death. They gradually evolved to their current level from the most basic skeletons, and each of them is as powerful as a Hyper Douluo. Enjoy this evolved version of my Infernal Rebirth domain, the Banquet of Death!"


    Tang Wulin and Hu Jie''s expressions both changed drastically upon seeing this. They had both encountered powerful beings in the past, but this was the first time that they had encountered a being of Harosha''s caliber.


    It was quite clear that only now was the Infernal King Douluo truly beginning to display his full power, and it seemed that even En Ci wouldn''t be able to match him.


    En Ci heaved a faint sigh, and he knew that he couldn''t hold back any longer. Otherwise, he may not even be able to save himself, let alone Tang Wulin.


    He pointed up at the sky with his right hand while pointing down at the ground with his left, and said in a slow voice, "Illuminate Heaven and Earth!"


    Two balls of light suddenly appeared both in the air and on the ground, and En Ci''s chest also lit up. It was as if a miniature scintillating golden sun had suddenly appeared there. A golden halo proliferated outward, and immediately thereafter, two streaks of golden light suddenly emerged before extending toward Harosha.

 Chapter 1384: Battle Between Limit Douluos

    Harosha had just raised the thin sword in his hand, and all of a sudden, his expression changed slightly as he abruptly rushed over 100 meters off to the side, emerging from the area encompassed by the two streaks of light as if through instantaneous teleportation.


    A clash between Limit Douluos was focused more heavily on a battle between domains, so it wasn''t as thrilling to watch as Tang Wulin''s match against En Ci in the Trial of Five Gods. However, if either side were to fall to a disadvantage, it could quickly result in their death. This was why Harosha had been repressing En Ci the entire time ever since he had first appeared.


    A burst of golden light erupted forth, shooting out from the center of the two streaks of golden light. The area encompassed within the two streaks of light was the scope of its attack.


    Harosha had rushed out of that area virtually instantaneously, but his cavaliers of death were converging toward En Ci in all directions, and three of them were caught in that area.


    "Ding!"


    A crisp crack rang out, and the three cavaliers of death stiffened at once as a golden crack appeared on each of their bodies. Grey light flashed violently to repress the golden crack, and in the meantime, the three cavaliers were completely immobilized on the spot.


    En Ci paid no heed to them as he turned toward another direction before unleashing two streaks of golden light once again.


    This was his Holy Radiant Dragon Slash!


    The attack appeared to be extremely slow, but in reality, it was imbued with the powers of both light and space. If En Ci had been facing any opponent other than Harosha, there would''ve been no way for them to escape out of the scope of the attack; they would simply be repelled by the two streaks of golden light as if they were physical walls.


    He hadn''t used this attack against Tang Wulin as it possessed too much offensive power, and he was worried that it would kill Tang Wulin. Of course, he had no such qualms against the Infernal King Douluo.


    The Holy Radiant Dragon Slash was an attack that involved releasing extremely compressed soul power, and he had to take some time to prepare the attack, during which the streaks of golden light were released, but the attack was truly incredibly powerful.


    Harosha appraised En Ci with a cold expression, and his aura suddenly underwent a transformation. In the next instant, he abruptly vanished on the spot, and a streak of grey light suddenly appeared in the air right directly above En Ci.


    The streak of light extended all the way down to right above En Ci''s head, and in the next instant, Harosha reappeared.


    En Ci''s body swayed as he attempted to use his spatial control to teleport away, but Harosha seemed to have locked onto his body, and he was completely unable to evade the attack.


    "Boom!" The two Limit Douluos engaged in their first full-frontal clash.


    The golden streaks of light that were extending outward instantly faded, and the holy light emanating from En Ci''s body also dimmed significantly. The two figures separated, and En Ci was clearly looking a little disheveled.


    Harosha gripped onto the hilt of his sword with both hands, a dazzling light erupted from both of their suits of battle armor.


    Harosha then disappeared once again, and on this occasion, countless streaks of grey light appeared around En Ci.


    A grim look appeared on En Ci''s face, and he circled around his arms in front of himself, upon which a layer of bright white light was released by his Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon battle armor to encompass his entire body.


    "Boom!"


    Another resounding boom rang out, and En Ci gave a muffled groan as he opened his mouth to expel a burst of grey energy. The white light barrier around him also crumbled away, but when Harosha reappeared not far away, his expression was also rather strained.


    "The true meaning of your battle armor is backlash?"


    A faint smile appeared on En Ci''s face. "I''m merely returning the favor! It''s been a very long time since I''ve fought all-out in such a high-pressure battle like this. Come! Show me what else you''ve got!"


    He raised his right hand in a slow and careful manner as he spoke, as if he were hoisting up a heavy object. He pointed a finger forward, and a beam of golden light instantly shot forth. All of the giant white dragons in his domain let loose a collective deafening dragon''s roar, and in the next instant, they all vanished, thereby ridding the infernal creatures of targets to attack.


    The attacks of the nine cavaliers of death all struck nothing but empty space, but Harosha''s expression remained as calm as ever as he instantly thrust his sword forward.


    In that instant, it was as if he had transformed into a bolt of grey lightning that clashed with the oncoming beam of golden light in a flash.


    A metallic clang rang out, and En Ci gave another muffled groan while Harosha was merely forced to reappear at the site of the clash.


    In the next instant, he transformed into a vast expanse of grey light that surrounded En Ci before unleashing a ferocious barrage of attacks.


    At this point, Tang Wulin and Hu Jie had also joined the battle.


    In the instant that the Holy Dragon domain vanished, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the domain hadn''t actually disappeared. Instead, its power had been borrowed by En Ci, who then used this power to attack the Infernal King Douluo.


    He had thought that at the very least, he would be able to withstand Harosha''s attacks after doing this, but Harosha had unleashed some type of ability that allowed him to dominate En Ci once again.


    No one knew how long En Ci could last against such an immensely powerful being, so he definitely required help.


    Golden light flashed as Tang Wulin donned his Dragon Moon Song battle armor, and a series of bluish-golden giant dragons rose up from beneath his feet before sweeping toward the surrounding infernal creatures.


    The infernal creatures were filled with an extremely potent deathly aura. They possessed no life force at all, and they seemed to be rejecting this entire world. As the Son of Nature, Tang Wulin was struck by a fierce instinctive sense of distaste toward these creatures.


    Aside from the three cavaliers of death that were still struggling within the golden light attack unleashed by En Ci, the other nine cavaliers were already charging toward Tang Wulin, leading the entire infernal army behind them.


    Tang Wulin rushed forward and instantly arrived in front of a zombie-like infernal creature, then thrust his spear directly toward the creature''s chest.


    The zombie only had a chance to raise its hands to defend itself, but the grey energy revolving around its body was no match for the peerlessly sharp Golden Dragon Spear, and its chest was instantly impaled.


    However, these infernal creatures had no regard of their own safety, and the zombie continued to force its way toward Tang Wulin, even though doing so meant that the Golden Dragon Spear was embedded further and further into its chest.


    Tang Wulin paused to detect something for a moment before a faint smile appeared on his face.


    He had just ascertained that his Golden Dragon Spear was able to devour the energy of infernal creatures, just as it was effective against abyssal creatures.


    As the zombie advanced onward, its body gradually disintegrated into nothingness. At the same time, a burst of rather feeble filtered energy flowed into Tang Wulin''s body.


    Infernal energy wasn''t life force energy, but it was still a form of energy that could be devoured by his spear.


    After making this discovery, Tang Wulin was instilled with a lot of confidence. In a sense, it could be said that this Infernal Rebirth domain was a source of sustenance for him.


    With that in mind, he instantly released countless spear projections that hurtled toward the infernal creatures around him.


    All of these infernal creatures still possessed some basic battle instincts, and they had all undergone a certain transformation under the effect of the Infernal King Douluo''s Banquet of Death.


    The most powerful ones among them were definitely the 12 cavaliers of death, but even the majority of them didn''t possess Titled Douluo level power; they had simply been significantly enhanced by the infernal aura of Harosha''s domain.


    As such, they possessed immense power, but no intelligence, and battled purely on instinct.


    Tang Wulin unleashed his Bluesilver Impaling Array, and several dozens of infernal creatures around Tang Wulin were instantly bound, following which they were immediately greeted by the sight of his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Following the Trial of Five Gods, Tang Wulin had made drastic improvements, and all of his abilities were gradually being integrated with one another.


    He had made significant strides in his power, experience, and will, and the spear projections unleashed by his Golden Dragon Spear were no longer as dazzling as they once were, but their penetrative power had increased dramatically.


    The thinner and more condensed the attack, the greater the penetrative power; this was something that Tang Wulin had learned after witnessing Tong Yu''s Five-elemental Divine Arrow. No matter how powerful an attack was, it had to be able to pierce through the enemy''s defenses before it could take effect.


    Through the use of his immense spiritual power and bodily control, he had already begun to refine his spear techniques, thereby allowing him to unleash spear projections that easily pierced through the defenses and bodies of the surrounding infernal creatures.

 Chapter 1385: Devouring Through All or Nothing

    In the face of the Golden Dragon Spear''s devouring effect, all of the infernal creatures that were struck were virtually instantly reduced to dust. Due to the incredible speed of the Golden Dragon Spear, all that could be seen were wisps of white light flying out of the bodies of these infernal creatures, then flowing into the Golden Dragon Spear to reciprocate Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin advanced forward one step after another, thrusting his Golden Dragon Spear forward over and over again like lightning. He was like a golden porcupine, reducing all of the infernal creatures in his path to dust.


    Right at this moment, an open area appeared before him, immediately following which he was struck by a sense of asphyxiation from a mountainous aura that descended upon him from above.


    He didn''t even need to look to know that one of the 12 cavaliers of death was confronting him.


    The cavalier of death had a massive body, but it was extremely fast, and its shield was emanating a deathly grey light. The sinister monstrous head on the shield seemed to be thirsting for blood as it was held in front of the cavalier, crashing directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin raised his head as golden light erupted from his eyes. Instead of evading or retreating, a burst of golden light extended from beneath his feet, and he flapped his wings vigorously, launching himself forward like lightning with his Golden Dragon Spear pointed straight ahead.


    "Ding!" A crisp clang rang out, and Tang Wulin was repelled up into the air, but the golden light that had extended from beneath his feet had temporarily immobilized the cavalier and also turned its suit of armor into a golden color.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be stunned by the cavalier''s defensive prowess and strength, which were not inferior by much even when compared to him.


    One had to realize that his strength definitely outstripped that of the average Hyper Douluo, so for him to be repelled even after using his Path of Regal Domination was a testament to just how astonishing the cavalier''s defensive prowess was.


    Even the peerlessly sharp Golden Dragon Spear was only able to inflict a small hole that was around two inches deep onto the cavalier''s shield.


    Right at this moment, a burst of enormous pressure surged toward him from both sides, and two more cavaliers of death arrived.


    As Harosha''s primary target, Tang Wulin was instantly being targeted by three cavaliers of death.


    Two giant swords whistled through the air to cut off all avenues of retreat and evasion for Tang Wulin, halos emerged from beneath the feet of all three cavaliers as they released their battle armor domains toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin''s pupils abruptly contracted upon seeing this, and he immediately released his Golden Blood Dragon domain. A crimson-golden domain halo that contained what appeared to be a giant flower rose up from the ground, and a deranged dragon''s roar rang out alongside it.


    At the same time, the Silver Dragon King scale hanging around Tang Wulin''s neck also lit up, and a cool sensation flowed into his mind as the Ice God Bead prevented his soul from being affected by the Golden Blood Dragon domain.


    His Dragon Moon Song battle armor turned into a crimson-golden color, and in the face of the deranged will emanating from the Golden Blood Dragon domain, a section of the Infernal Rebirth domain had become bright red.


    Insanity filled one with power, unyielding will, and peerless pride, and in that instant, all of that transformed into greater power for Tang Wulin. An eternally unyielding resolve arose in Tang Wulin''s heart, and in that instant, he felt like no opponent could stop him, no matter how powerful they were.


    He abruptly stepped forward with his left foot, then hurled his Golden Dragon Spear through the air like a bolt of lightning.


    All or Nothing!


    Instead of defending himself against the two claymores slashing toward him from either side, he hurled his Golden Dragon Spear directly forward.


    With the enhancements it received from the Golden Blood Dragon domain, the Golden Dragon Spear hurtled through the air and virtually instantly reached the cavalier of death that had been temporarily immobilized by the Path of Regal Domination. The spear struck the same spot as it had the previous attack, but on this occasion, the cavalier''s shield was unable to stop it in its tracks. The enormous force behind the spear sent the cavalier''s body flying back over 10 meters, flattening a large number of infernal creatures before it was pinned viciously onto the ground.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin stomped his right foot onto the ground, and eight giant crimson dragons rose up amid a fierce dragon''s roar before crashing toward the two cavaliers of death to block their attacks. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin flapped his wings and unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight, allowing him to evade the attacks of the two cavaliers and catch up to his own Golden Dragon Spear.


    What made All or Nothing so fearsome that it was an attack that condensed all of his power for a single ultimate strike; it was the perfect integration of essence, energy, and spirit.


    As Tang Wulin had become more powerful, his All or Nothing had naturally also become far more formidable.


    In the face of this All or Nothing, the cavalier of death was made to look completely powerless and vulnerable.


    However, unleashing such an attack required Tang Wulin to release all of his power at once. As such, his combat prowess would be severely diminished, and he wouldn''t be able to recover it in a short time.


    In the past, Tang Wulin definitely wouldn''t have unleashed such an all-out attack at the beginning of a battle. However, under the effect of the Golden Blood Dragon domain, his heart had been filled with pride and unyielding will. Not only had his mind not been driven insane by bloodlust, it had become clearer than before, and he had also become colder and more ruthless.


    He gripped onto his Golden Dragon Spear with his right hand, and the energy of the impaled cavalier of death instantly surged into his body in a frenzy.


    In this Infernal Rebirth domain, the cavalier of death was a Hyper Douluo level powerful being. Even though its energy had been filtered by the Golden Dragon Spear, it was still enough to replenish what Tang Wulin had lost.


    As such, this seemingly reckless attack was actually a calculated assault, allowing him to eliminate a powerful opponent right away while replenishing all of the energy he had lost through the attack during the process.


    This was a very risky venture, and it required extremely accurate judgment. If his Golden Dragon Spear failed to pierce through his opponent''s body, then he would''ve placed himself in a very perilous situation.


    At the same time, this was a display of his power. In the face of absolute power, everything else was inconsequential.


    The blue light in the eyes of the impaled cavalier of death instantly began to dim, and in the distance, Harosha suddenly shuddered as the infernal power he was attacking En Ci with weakened noticeably. He turned toward Tang Wulin, and fierce killing intent suddenly appeared in his eyes.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if his soul had been frozen solid, and many emotions suddenly welled up in his heart.


    Those emotions didn''t belong to him; they were the emotions that Harosha was currently experiencing, and it was a combination of deranged fury intermingled with a hint of sorrow.


    Back when the entire world had turned its back on him, he had only one source of support. His 12 companions didn''t possess any intelligence, but they had always been by his side, protecting him from powerful opponents.


    They had saved him on countless occasions by shielding him from enemy attacks with their bodies, and they were his 12 brothers.


    All of Harosha''s familial love and friendship were invested in these 12 cavaliers of death.

 Chapter 1386: Holy Light Spirit Formation

    He preferred to be with them over anyone else, and they were his most loyal subordinates, companions, and brothers at all times. They were constantly by his side, and even though Harosha had countless ways to resurrect a fallen cavalier of death, he would still fly into a blind fury whenever they were slain by enemies, and this was what Tang Wulin was having to face right now.


    "Look out!" En Ci yelled as he thrust his left fist forward to try and stop Harosha, but Harosha didn''t even look at him and merely allowed the holy fist to strike his back.


    En Ci felt as if a vortex had appeared on Harosha''s back. The power from his attack was dispersed and nullified by the vortex, and some of it was even borrowed by Harosha.


    In the next instant, Harosha had already arrived before Tang Wulin. He was simply far too fast, reaching Tang Wulin virtually in the same instant that he had felt his soul freeze solid.


    Harosha''s sword was directed straight at Tang Wulin''s heart. Only by killing Tang Wulin could he assuage the burning fury in his own heart.


    This sword wasn''t actually a part of his martial soul, nor was it a part of his battle armor. Instead, it was a divine weapon that he had forged over countless years using his own powers.


    The name of the sword was Sigh of the Infernal Realm, and it could channel the infernal energy within his own body to allow him to fuse with the Infernal Rebirth domain, thereby instantly granting him enhancements from the entire domain. After being struck by Sigh of the Infernal Realm, any living being would instantly become an infernal creature. The most fearsome ability of Sigh of the Infernal Realm was Hundred Penetration, which meant that it could instantly penetrate the defenses of a rank 100 god.


    One became a Limit Douluo after reaching rank 99, so the concept of rank 100 didn''t exist. Beyond rank 99 was the realm of the gods, so essentially, Harosha had named this ability of his sword as such in a bold proclamation that it could even pierce through a god''s defenses.


    This was why such a casual-looking slash from him was able to instantly inflict internal injuries on the Smiling Douluo.


    He very rarely stabbed with his sword, but whenever he did was when Sigh of the Infernal Realm would unleash its most fearsome offensive power.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his soul had been pierced through, and his opponent was far too fast for him to evade.


    An unprecedented sense of powerlessness spread through his entire body. Was this the true power of a Limit Douluo? It had been a very long time since he had felt this close to death.


    When facing Qilin Douluo Tong Yu, the Five-elemental Divine Arrow had posed a threat to his life, but that was only a threat, and he was able to instantly react in a calm manner.


    However, in the face of this attack, he was completely powerless and immobilized, unable to even take evasive measures. He could only look on as the sword extended toward his own heart.


    Everything had happened far too abruptly, and neither En Ci nor Hu Jie could stop Harosha in time.


    A sense of powerless spread through Tang Wulin''s entire body, and for the first time, he wondered if he was going to die.


    Right at this moment, a beam of holy light rained down from above before filling the entire space, and Tang Wulin abruptly teleported backward over 100 meters. Standing in his original spot was an eight-winged angelic projection, which was immediately shattered by Sigh of the Infernal Realm.


    A surge of warmth flowed through Tang Wulin''s entire body, and all of the immobilization and powerlessness instantly vanished as he was returned to his peak condition. Even so, his back was still instantly drenched in cold sweat, and an overwhelming sense of lingering fear welled up in his heart.


    Divine Substitute!


    This was something that Holy Spirit Douluo Yali had bestowed upon Tang Wulin after making a breakthrough to the Limit Douluo level. She was only able to use this ability once, and it had saved Tang Wulin''s life in this dire situation.


    All of a sudden, the dark sky overhead lit up, and a "sun" emerged in mid-air alongside a clear angelic song. All of the infernal creatures instantly became very slow and sluggish, and beams of holy light descended from the heavens.


    Each beam of holy light contained an adorable little angel, and as they descended, they began to cleanse this world of all evil and impurities. The holy light shone down upon En Ci, and all of the negative effects that had befallen him from the Infernal King Douluo''s attacks were completely erased. It also fell upon the Smiling Douluo, and all of his injuries were quickly healed.


    A six-winged angelic projection then appeared behind each of them, injecting beams of holy light into their bodies to grant them significant enhancements.


    En Ci was the most powerful one among the two, so he naturally received the greatest enhancements. His Peerless Holy Radiant Dragon battle armor began to glow with scintillating light, and he instantly appeared before the Infernal King Douluo before thrusting his right fist forward. On this occasion, his Thousand Dragon Dance was completely reinvigorated, and countless giant white dragons surged toward the Infernal King Douluo with unstoppable force.


    Following a devastating clash, En Ci took a half step backward. His right fist was punctured by Sigh of the Infernal Realm, but it was instantly healed by the six-winged angelic projection behind him.


    As for Harosha, he was forced to take three consecutive backward steps, and it was quite clear that he had come off second best during that clash.


    All of a sudden, a vast expanse of holy light surged up from the ground, and countless holy runes surged toward the infernal creatures with unerring accuracy.


    White formations had also appeared beneath the cavaliers of death, releasing beams of white light that temporarily immobilized them.


    Harosha''s expression darkened significantly upon seeing this. "Holy Light Spirit Formation? You''re Yali? Even a little brat like you was able to become a Limit Douluo?"


    A cold voice rang out from all directions. "I didn''t think that you were still alive, Harosha. I''ll complete the job that my forefathers were unable to finish."


    The sun in the sky suddenly lit up even further, and extremely intense holy light began to gather, as if the sun were accumulating some type of immense power.


    "I''ll let you live for a few more days." Harosha cast a cold glance toward Tang Wulin, then shot back in retreat like lightning, and a series of grey halos appeared beneath the infernal creatures before sucking them away


    "You''re not going anywhere!" En Ci stepped forward with his left foot, then punched the air with his right fist, and a ball of scorching white light erupted forth, within which were countless giant white dragons.


    Dragon Realm! This was En Ci''s most powerful attack!


    Harosha harrumphed coldly in a derisive manner, "You think you have what it takes to stop me? Even the Heaven Blessed Douluo was unable to stop me; what makes you think you''re any different?" All of a sudden, everything in the surrounding area took on an ethereal quality, and all of the infernal creatures transformed into streams of grey energy that disappeared alongside Harosha.


    En Ci''s Dragon Realm lingered in the air for close to 20 seconds before gradually fading away, and the Smiling Douluo had already situated himself in front of Tang Wulin.


    The two of them exchanged a glance, and both of them could see their own lingering fear mirrored in one another''s eyes.


    Even the Smiling Douluo had never encountered a being of Harosha''s caliber, let alone Tang Wulin.


    Yali descended beside Tang Wulin and patted her own chest in a slightly flustered manner. "Thank heavens I cast the Divine Blessing on you earlier. Otherwise, things could''ve ended a lot worse than they did."


    Divine Blessing was considered to be a second life not only because it could create a substitute in a dire situation and recover Tang Wulin back to his peak condition, even more importantly, it could instantly teleport Yali to his side to ensure his safety thereafter.

 Chapter 1387: Quasidemigod, Demigod, Quasigod

    "Thank heavens you came, Mother; we really would''ve been in a lot of trouble if it weren''t for you." At this point, Tang Wulin had already regained his composure.


    En Ci had also made his way over to them, and a hint of emotion flashed through his eyes at the sight of Yali.


    He could still clearly recall that he had seen her once many years ago when he had challenged the legendary Atlas Douluo.


    Back then, she was extremely stunning, and after so many years, her appearance hadn''t changed at all. The only thing that was different about her was that she now had a more mature disposition. In contrast, he had become a wizened old man.


    "Thank you for your assistance, Holy Spirit Douluo, and congratulations on becoming a Limit Douluo," En Ci said in a heartfelt manner.


    If Yali hadn''t made her timely arrival, it would''ve been extremely difficult for him and Hu Jie to protect Tang Wulin.


    Not only was Harosha extremely powerful, his abilities were very unpredictable, thereby making them very difficult to guard against. Speed wasn''t En Ci''s forte, and his powers were inferior to those of Harosha, so Tang Wulin was truly in a lot of danger.


    This was the capital city of the Star Luo Empire, and Tang Wulin had just successfully completed the Trial of Five Gods. If he were to die here, then the reputation of the Star Luo Empire would be permanently stained.


    Thankfully, the Holy Spirit Douluo had arrived in time, and her powers were clearly able to suppress the Infernal King Douluo, and that was what had forced him into retreat.


    "You''re far too kind, Holy Dragon Douluo." Yali gave him a nod in acknowledgment, but her attitude was clearly a little aloof. She did not have a very good impression of En Ci.


    Right at this moment, Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters hurriedly rushed over, and they were all looking rather disheveled.


    "Are you alright, Boss? We were surrounded by a bunch of monsters just now. If we hadn''t made preparations in advance, we would''ve been in a lot of trouble!"


    "Don''t worry, I''m fine," Tang Wulin reassured.


    Thus, everyone returned to the Tang Sect headquarters, and En Ci accompanied them all the way into the headquarters before departing, in fear that Harosha would suddenly return to attack Tang Wulin again.


    Following that ordeal, Tang Wulin''s good mood from completing his mission had naturally completely faded. Tang Wulin asked his friends to go back and rest while he accompanied the Holy Spirit Douluo to her room.


    Only now did Tang Wulin truly heave a sigh of relief.


    Everyone was afraid of death, and he was no exception, especially when death had suddenly come knocking under such inexplicable circumstances.


    Yali wore a grim expression as she said, "I always knew that the Holy Spirit Cult was very powerful, but I didn''t think that they''d be able to recruit even the Infernal King Douluo. During the bombing, your godfather had to contain the explosion from that Godslayer missile while also fighting several powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult. One of them was an immensely powerful being of the same caliber as the Infernal King Douluo, and at the time, that had already been an extremely formidable lineup; I didn''t think that they''d have the Infernal King Douluo waiting in the shadows as well."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Is there still a wide range of disparities even between Limit Douluos? It seemed like the Holy Dragon Douluo was almost completely powerless against the Infernal King Douluo, and I was unable to resist at all in the face of the Infernal King Douluo''s attack; why is that?"


    Yali nodded in response. "It''s about time that I educated you on these matters. Indeed, even Limit Douluos are split up into several stages, and the disparities in power between the stages are very significant. I''ve only just become a Limit Douluo, and we refer to this process as metamorphosis, which means that one is gradually rising beyond what it means to be a human. Only after completing this process will I be able to truly experience what it would be like to ascend to godhood. All Limit Douluos aspire to godhood as they''ve all once experienced what it''s like to become a god. Also, after becoming a Limit Douluo, my lifespan will also increase significantly."


    Tang Wulin was very elated to hear this piece of fantastic news.


    "Limit Douluos are beings who have cultivated to the limit of human capabilities; that was the meaning behind the term when it was first coined. However, as time passed and humans continued to develop, several subdivisions were created among Limit Douluos. Someone like me, who has only just become a Limit Douluo and is undergoing metamorphosis, is known as a quasidemigod or a faux demigod. Once I complete this process, I''ll become a demigod, and that''s the stage that most Limit Douluos are at. However, there are some supreme prodigies who are able to progress a step further through consistent diligent efforts and a superior understanding of the Great Dao.


    "Thus, they become a quasigod or faux god. Only after reaching that level would one''s lifespan receive another increase to around 300 years. Your godfather was at this level, as is the Infernal King Douluo, and that''s why the Holy Dragon Douluo seemed so powerless against him. The Infernal King Douluo is a powerful being from the same generation as your godfather''s teacher, who was also the previous Sea God''s Pavilion Master before him. He had once said that Harosha is a manifestation of all of the negative energy in the world and is an envoy sent down by the heavens to punish us humans for ruining the Douluo Continent''s environment. He is a truly superb prodigy, and just like you, he''s also blessed by the plane."


    "What? The Infernal King Douluo is blessed by the plane? How is that possible?" Tang Wulin asked in a stunned manner.


    Yali replied, "There''s nothing impossible about this, and it''s the truth. The ruler of the plane doesn''t just need someone like you, who can help nature recover, it also needs an enforcer who can rid the plane of those who are destroying nature. Us humans have developed far too quickly, and we''ve almost exceeded the boundaries of the planar ruler''s control. Thus, he has to create trouble for our human race. You have to realize something: the planar ruler didn''t just create humans; it created all other living beings as well, such as soul beasts. All living beings are the planar ruler''s children; if you were the planar ruler, wouldn''t you also be enraged that some of your children are killing your other children?


    "Just as the Heaven Blessed Douluo had said, Harosha was born as a product of the will of the heavens. The infernal aura that he controls has never been seen before, and he isn''t actually evil himself, but his abilities are extremely fearsome. If it weren''t for the fact that the Heaven Blessed Douluo was able to rely on the power of Shrek Academy, he would''ve already been no match for Harosha during their second battle. The Heaven Blessed Douluo was also only a demigod, but the enhancement from the Golden Tree temporarily raised him to the quasigod level. After that, your godfather rose into prominence and became a quasigod faster than anyone in the past 1,000 years, but by then, the Infernal King Douluo had already disappeared.


    "Even if your godfather were still alive, he may not be able to defeat this Infernal King Douluo in a one-on-one battle, so don''t feel troubled over the fact that you were unable to stand up to him."

 Chapter 1388: 1:2 and 1:3

    So even Limit Douluos are split up into three stages. This means that quasigods are the beings who truly stand at the pinnacle of this world.


    However, thinking back to how Yali had managed to force a quasigod into retreat as a quasidemigod, it seemed that the disparity between the stages wasn''t all that pronounced.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo seemed to have gleaned his thoughts, and she said in a solemn voice, "Don''t underestimate Harosha; the main reason I was able to force him into retreat earlier is because my power is the bane to all evil Soul Masters. Among all Limit Douluos, I definitely possess the least combat prowess, but when facing evil Soul Masters, even the likes of the Holy Dragon Douluo, Heartless Douluo, Amorous Douluo, and the Light Dark Douluo won''t be as effective as I am. My powers naturally repress the powers of evil Soul Masters and debilitate them on an essential level, and that''s why Harosha was unwilling to face me.


    "Otherwise, if he had insisted on killing you at all costs, even myself and the Holy Dragon Douluo combined may not have been enough to stop him. The ratio of power between a quasidemigod and a demigod is roughly 1:2, while the ratio between a demigod and a quasigod is roughly 1:3, which means that it would take take three beings of the Holy Dragon Douluo''s caliber to contend with the Infernal King Douluo."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. The Infernal King Douluo was that powerful?


    He had been very pleased after Yali had become a Limit Douluo as that meant that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect combined now had four Limit Douluos among their ranks. In the Holy Spirit cult, the four heavenly monarchs seemed to all be below the Limit Douluo level with only that Blood Demon reaching close to that level. Above them were the sovereign and two emperors, all three of whom were most likely Limit Douluos.


    As such, he had thought that the two sides were quite comparable, but it seemed that he had been completely wrong!


    Infernal King Douluo Harosha was most likely one of the sovereign and two emperors; if all three of them were quasigods, then that would make an extremely horrifying lineup. This meant that even the most powerful beings of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy combined couldn''t compare with their most powerful beings.


    On top of that, the 12 cavaliers of death in Harosha''s Infernal Rebirth domain were all three-word battle armor masters that were at the Hyper Douluo level; just how fearsome was the Holy Spirit Cult''s overall power?


    "There''s no need for you to be overly concerned; we still have you!" Yali smiled, and said, "I can see the shadow of your godfather''s youth in you. He had become a quasigod at 35 years of age, which placed him very high on the list in the entire history of Shrek Academy. However, judging from your current situation, I estimate that you''ll have a chance at reaching that level at only around 30 years of age. Your overall aptitude is superior to your godfather''s, so once you become a quasigod, you could quite possibly be invincible in this world."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Are there disparities in power between quasigods as well, Mother?"


    Yali nodded in response. "There are always disparities when it comes to cultivation, and these differences could arise from a variety of factors. Due to the lack of a Divine Blacksmith in the Holy Spirit Cult, Harosha still only possesses a suit of three-word battle armor. After fusing with him, the suit of battle armor had undergone a process of evolution and can be considered as a suit of pseudo-four-word battle armor that''s still a sliver away from becoming a true suit of battle armor; you''ll definitely exceed him in this aspect in the future."


    Thinking back to the powerlessness he had felt in the face of the Infernal King Douluo, Tang Wulin was struck by a heavy sensation in his heart. His opponent was truly formidable, and it was not going to be easy for him to catch up.


    "Also, aside from you, your friends are progressing very quickly as well. In the future, you and your friends will form the backbone of the resistance against the Holy Spirit Cult."


    Tang Wulin asked, "How many quasigods are there in this world aside from the Infernal King Douluo?"


    A grim look appeared on Yali''s face upon hearing this. "The Holy Spirit Cult has at least one more, and he''s the main culprit behind the Shrek Academy bombing. His title is Ghost Monarch, and he''s also known as Nine Ghost Monarch. Harosha has gone on some horrific killing sprees in the past, but his destruction has been limited to a certain area in the past century. In contrast, the Ghost Monarch Douluo is far more terrifying. Your godfather truly established himself after severely wounding the Ghost Monarch Douluo in battle, but he managed to escape.


    "He was the one who led the attack against our Shrek Academy. If it weren''t for him stalling your godfather, he wouldn''t have died." The resentment that had appeared in Yali''s eyes was a clear indication of just how much she detested this Ghost Monarch Douluo.


    "Is there anyone else aside from him?" Tang Wulin quickly changed the subject to something that was less grief-inducing for Yali.


    "Aside from him, Qiangu Dongfeng could also be one, and there''s a sliver of a chance that Chen Xinjie could be one. On top of that, the Amorous Douluo and the Heartless Douluo combined could count as a quasigod."


    "Combined? Do they have a soul fusion skill?"


    A normal quasigod was the equivalent of three demigods, so if the Amorous Douluo and Heartless Douluo could combine to count as a quasigod, then that would mean their combined powers exceeded the sum of their individual powers.


    "That''s right. On top of that, the two of them combined create a very troublesome prospect even for quasigods to face." A rather peculiar look appeared on Yali''s face at the mention of the word "troublesome".


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy each had two Limit Douluos, while the Blood God Legion had Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun. On top of that, there was Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie and Qiangu Dongfeng, which amounted to seven total Limit Douluos on the Douluo Continent.


    Qiangu Dongfeng could be counted outside of this as no one could say exactly what his relationship with the Holy Spirit Cult was, so technically, there were only six.


    As for in the Star Luo Empire, there was only the Holy Dragon Douluo, and he had to live in the shadow of the Infernal King Douluo.


    Over at the Holy Spirit Cult, the fact that the sovereign and two emperors were all Limit Douluos wasn''t all that terrifying; what was alarming was that there was a very high likelihood that all three were quasigods.


    Such a formidable lineup was close to being able to contend with the top-tier powerful beings of the entire world! It was no wonder they had dared to attack Shrek City; their confidence had arisen from their power. In its current form, the Holy Spirit Cult truly posed a threat to the entire world.


    Yali''s brows furrowed tightly as she said, "Infernal King Douluo Harosha is one of the proudest people I''ve ever seen; he could''ve only joined the Holy Spirit Cult for a single purpose: to become a true god. This means that the Holy Spirit Cult must have something with enough persuasive power to make him join them. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have been a simple task to convince him."


    Tang Wulin said, "I recall that he said something like ''sift away the faults and retain the truth'' during the battle, and even the Holy Dragon Douluo was tempted by this; is that another way of declaring his goal to become a true god?"


    Yali nodded in response. "Most likely so. However, there''s no need to worry about the Holy Dragon Douluo turning to them; the Holy Spirit Cult''s methods definitely don''t suit him. His martial soul is the Holy Radiant Dragon; if he abandons the light in his heart, then it''s over for him. A large contributing factor behind his inability to become a quasigod is his own mental state, and at his age, it''s going to be very difficult to take that step."

 Chapter 1389: The Path to Godhood

    Tang Wulin asked, "What should we do now, Mother? If the war commences, won''t the Infernal King Douluo pose a threat to the entire Star Luo Empire?"


    Yali shook her head in response. "I know a thing or two about the Infernal King Douluo; unless it''s for cultivation purposes, he had no interest in killing. On top of that, at his level, killing normal people is completely pointless to him. He won''t stoop to something like that, and he definitely won''t participate in this war. I''m confident that even the Holy Spirit Cult can''t fully control a powerful being of his caliber; there can only be a collaborative relationship between them. He came after you today as your emergence and the rate of your progression could mean that you''ll disrupt his plans to become a true god in the future, which is why he stooped to attacking a junior. Otherwise, with his pride, he would''ve definitely waited for you to fully develop.


    "However, this also entails that they could''ve really already found the path to godhood, which is why the Infernal King Douluo was so willing to come after you at their behest."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask, "What could that path possibly be? No one has attained godhood in the past 10,000 years, and the Divine Realm is gone; how are they going to become gods?"


    Yali replied in a grim voice, "No one knows for sure whether the Divine Realm has actually disappeared. Besides, perhaps they''ve found another way."


    Tang Wulin naturally couldn''t tell her that his birth parents had told him that the Divine Realm had been swept away by space-time turbulence, but Yali''s words had reminded him of something, but it was a rather vague concept that he couldn''t quite grasp.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had suddenly appeared during the past few years to destroy Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. Getting their hands on Godslayer missiles definitely wouldn''t have been easy, so this couldn''t have just been an act of revenge. What else could it be?


    Also, the Spirit Pagoda was supposed to be the sanctuary of all Soul Masters, yet they were colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult; what did they stand to gain from this?


    If their ultimate objective was to become gods, then many things could be explained, but how were they going to achieve that objective?


    Tang Wulin fell into deep thought.


    A benevolent smile appeared on Yali''s face as she appraised Tang Wulin. She was far older than she appeared, and having experienced so many things, nothing was more important to her than to have a loved one by her side, one that she could call her son. To her, assisting Tang Wulin was her most important duty.


    Right at this moment, a flash of heat surged through Tang Wulin''s body to cut off his train of thought, and he asked, "Did your intervention in that battle affect your metamorphosis?"


    Yali shook her head in response. "I''ve already completed the elementary stage of my metamorphosis; after that, it''s only a matter of time. Seeing as you''ve completed your mission here, I suggest that you leave as soon as possible. With the Infernal King Douluo here, I can''t help but constantly be concerned for your safety. If he really wants to kill someone, it won''t be a very difficult task. Even with the defenses set up here in our Tang Sect, it''ll be very difficult to keep him out."


    Tang Wulin nodded in agreement. It was indeed best to leave and return to the Douluo Continent as soon as possible.


    "I''m going back to rest now; you get some rest too, Mother."


    After bidding farewell to Yali, Tang Wulin returned to his own room.


    He had invited the Holy Dragon Douluo to prepare a reverse ambush for the Holy Spirit Cult and put a heavy dent in their forces, but even after Yali arrived on the scene, their reverse ambush still failed to yield a positive outcome.


    Through this battle, it had been revealed to him that a Limit Douluo wasn''t actually the true limit.


    Godhood was a level that countless people strove toward, and it was all for the ultimate objective of immortality! His birth parents were in the true Divine Realm, but it had been swept away by space-time turbulence. Even gods weren''t able to control everything, let alone normal humans.


    Another flash of heat surged through his body, and his brows furrowed in response. Were his emotions affecting his Golden Dragon King bloodline?


    The Ice God Bead hadn''t displayed any reaction, so surely this wasn''t an issue to be concerned about.


    After taking a shower, Tang Wulin took a seat on his own bed before closing his eyes to meditate.


    The battle that had just taken place showed him that he still had a very long way to go before reaching the top. He had to put in even more effort if he wanted to stand at the pinnacle.


    Thus, he gradually entered a completely immersive state, and both his soul power and bloodline power were circulating freely as he digested the benefits he had reaped from the battle.


    Destroying that cavalier of death had given him an abundance of power. Even though the cavalier possessed infernal power, it was still extremely pure, and only a small portion of it had been filtered out, so Tang Wulin had absorbed most of it.


    Not only had his energy expenditure all been replenished, there was still quite a bit leftover in surplus. As such, he was in fantastic condition right now, and his cultivation would definitely benefit from this as well. Even if he could only retain 10% of the power he had absorbed through cultivation, it would still be far faster than normal cultivation.


    After a long while, a peculiar feeling gradually welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. He felt as if his soul had left his own body, and he was feeling extremely comfortable.


    He was basked in a cool and refreshing sensation that nourished his body, and his powers began to undergo noticeable enhancements, as if it had found an opening for a breakthrough.


    He was currently in a meditative state, so everything was taking place naturally.


    Unbeknownst to him, a faint layer of energy had been released around his body, and if one were to sense this energy from the outside world, they''d only be able to sense that his powers were being enhanced.


    Even Yali, whose spiritual power had been lingering in Tang Wulin''s room this entire time, could only sense that Tang Wulin seemed to be making a breakthrough in his cultivation.


    In reality, halos of faint silver light had begun to appear beneath him, and complex runes had emerged over his entire bed, basking Tang Wulin''s entire body in a silver light.


    Not only had his bed lit up, complex runes had appeared all over the ground as well, and when these runes came into contact with the aura that Tang Wulin was releasing, they mimicked his aura and dispersed it throughout the entire room.


    The silver light radiating from the bed suddenly became brighter, and it abruptly enveloped Tang Wulin''s body, following which he vanished into thin air amid one final flash of silver light.


    Meanwhile, Yali was cultivating while seated on her own bed. The emergence of the Infernal King Douluo had piled immense pressure upon her.


    Infernal King Douluo Harosha was a true quasigod; even if there were other quasigods in this world, it would virtually be impossible for them to be more powerful than him.


    How could Yali not be concerned that such a powerful being had become a part of the Holy Spirit Cult? She had to become more powerful so she could help her son resist these Evil Soul Masters in the future.


    She definitely couldn''t allow an Evil Soul Master to become a god; just the mere thought of it sent chills running down her spine. At her current level of power, she had developed a sense of intuition, and it told her that if an Evil Soul Master were to become a god, countless living beings would have to perish.


    She was completely oblivious to the fact that her son had already completely disappeared from his room.


    Tang Wulin was completely enveloped in a gentle and comforting cocoon of soul power. All of the flashes of heat he had been experiencing had become a part of his soul power, and his cultivation rank had continued to climb, breaking through one small obstacle after another.


    Even though this wasn''t a state of deep meditation, he was still in a completely immersive state that made him oblivious to everything around him.


    As such, he had no idea that he had already been teleported to another place altogether.


    This was a large and lavish room with grandiose pink and golden decor. He was currently seated on a large bed, and faint silver runes were just beginning to dim on the surface of the bed.


    This room had an area of at least 300 square meters, and there was only one person currently in it aside from him.


    She was staring at the man before her in a nervous manner while heaving a huge sigh of relief. The first step was complete!


    She carefully lowered the canopy around the bed to conceal everything, then climbed onto the bed herself.


    The most important stage of her plan was about to commence; she was going to do the deed before tying the knot!

 Chapter 1390: Do the Deed, Then Tie the Knot

    Her eyes were even brighter than usual, and a pink blush had appeared on her face to further accentuate her beauty.


    She raised her hands and placed them on her own scorching cheeks, then turned around to glance at the canopy behind her as a sense of shame welled up in her heart.


    Dai Yun''er, you''re such a shameless girl!


    Despite what she was thinking, she didn''t regret this in the slightest. How was she going to be with him if she didn''t do this? She had to conquer his body before conquering his heart!


    She hadn''t been in contact with Tang Wulin for very long, but she was well aware of just how strong his will and sense of responsibility was. It would virtually be impossible for her to make him fall in love with her through conventional means. His love for Gu Yue was unshakeable, and even though Gu Yue wasn''t by his side for some reason, it would still be very difficult for her to convince him to abandon Gu Yue for her.


    However, if something were to happen between them, then everything would be different.


    She had already thought of many followup tactics that she could, including wheedling and shameless denial of all faults, and that was only the beginning.


    Who could''ve imagined that she would set up such an outrageously expensive and disposable teleportation formation in Tang Wulin''s room in the Tang Sect headquarters?


    Following the teleportation, the hidden materials of the teleportation formation would completely disappear, leaving behind no traces whatsoever.


    Tang Wulin had left the banquet on his own, and he had consumed a lot of wine at the time. With his powers, it wouldn''t be a difficult task to sneak into the imperial palace.


    The next morning, he would wake up in her boudoir, having already done the deed; there was no way he could explain his way out of this situation!


    Hehe, even if I can''t be his wife, I wouldn''t mind being a concubine.


    With his personality, perhaps he would make her his official wife.


    As for how he had ended up in here, Dai Yun''er would simply claim that she had no clue, either.


    The scouts they had organized in the Tang Sect had witnessed him return to the Tang Sect, yet this was her boudoir; what other explanation could there be?


    Dai Yun''er had simulated this plan countless times in her mind and expended an enormous amount of time and effort. She had virtually exhausted her entire private coffer, and aside from her, Dai Tianling was the only one who was aware of this plan.


    The most difficult part of the plan to implement was setting up the teleportation formation. This was an extremely complex formation, and it was already being set up during the course of the Trial of Five Gods. In order to avoid detection from Tang Wulin, only a small section was set up each day.


    On top of that, she had to ensure that the formation wasn''t discovered by the Tang Sect. If it weren''t for the fact that she held quite a lofty status in the Tang Sect and had some friends in the right places to help her, it would''ve been very difficult to organize all of this. She had been personally overseeing the establishment of the formation, and all of her efforts had finally come into fruition.


    She had adjusted this plan several times to ensure that it was flawless before finally revealing it to Dai Tianling, who agreed after taking the benefit of the entire empire into consideration. Without his approval, there were some things that would''ve been impossible for her to obtain, such as the wine that Tang Wulin had drunk earlier.


    The wine wasn''t laced with poison; Dai Yun''er definitely wouldn''t have been able to bring herself to do something like that. Instead, it was an extremely nourishing wine invented by the imperial research center that had immense health benefits, and could nourish a Soul Master''s foundation and soul power. Even with Tang Wulin''s current cultivation rank, that one cup of wine alone would''ve been enough for him to progress up a rank in soul power.


    The wine had virtually no side-effects, but excessive consumption would result in instability in a Soul Master''s foundation.


    Of course, virtually no side-effects didn''t actually mean no side-effects. For example, after consuming the wine, one would later enter a state of deep meditation. After that, their blood would begin to boil, and they would become extremely sensitive both emotionally and physically.


    In this state, one would become very impulsive and find it very difficult to control themselves. Hence, it was recommended that this wine was best consumed with one''s romantic partner by their side. Otherwise, the side-effects could prove to be quite troublesome.


    Dai Yun''er had consulted the researchers at the imperial research center, and they had told her that the wine would have greater effect on people like Tang Wulin, who possessed incredibly powerful physical constitutions, while for normal Soul Masters, the effect would be less pronounced.


    This was because on top of nurturing one''s body, the wine also stimulated one''s latent potential. The more latent potential one had, the greater the effect, as well as the side-effects.


    Dai Yun''er bit down on her lower lip to repress the shyness in her heart, and at this point, she could already hear Tang Wulin''s breathing begin to accelerate.


    The side-effects of the wine were beginning to manifest themselves. At a time like this, Tang Wulin would still be in an unconscious state, but his physical sensitivity would be very high.


    With that in mind, Dai Yun''er''s blush deepened even further, giving her the appearance of a ripe apple.


    In reality, she didn''t know what to do, either. However, she only hesitated momentarily before beginning to untie her own nightgown in a determined manner.


    Her nightgown pooled down onto the ground around her, and she looked back at the canopy once again, but strengthened her resolve and climbed onto the bed in the end.


    As his breathing accelerated, Tang Wulin''s skin began to turn slightly red, and a powerful masculine aura emanating from his body struck Dai Yun''er with a sense of intoxication that made her blush even deeper.


    She then suddenly realized something: she had no idea what she was supposed to do here!


    Her entire plan had revolved around getting Tang Wulin here in this inebriated and sensitive state, but she hadn''t thought about what came after that.


    As a princess, it wasn''t like she could just ask the people around her what a pair of lovers were supposed to do with one another! The man of her dreams was right there, but what was she supposed to do?


    Dai Yun''er gritted her teeth as she tried to recall back to all of the relevant stories she had heard during her life.


    She recalled that one of her brothers had told her that two people who loved each other were supposed to sleep together.


    How was he supposed to sleep in a seated position? A sheen of sweat had appeared on Dai Yun''er''s forehead in her urgency.


    She gritted her teeth again before slowly leaning toward Tang Wulin, then hugged him from behind.


    To her surprise, her actions really did bring about a chance. After being locked in her embrace, Tang Wulin shuddered, and the redness of his skin became even more pronounced. Scorching heat began to emanate from his body alongside his masculine aura, and Dai Yun''er''s heart began to race as she trembled uncontrollably.


    "Gu Yue..." Tang Wulin moaned.


    Dai Yun''er immediately pouted as she murmured to herself, "What''s so good about Gu Yue? I''m the one by your side right now!"


    She began to strip Tang Wulin in a clumsy manner, and having never done something like this before, it proved to be a very difficult task.


    By the time she had removed all of the clothing on Tang Wulin''s upper body, she was already sweating profusely.


    She looked at the solid muscles on Tang Wulin''s body, and her blush deepened even further, but the determination in her eyes only grew more pronounced.

 Chapter 1391: Shooting Oneself in the Foot

    "You''re mine! I won''t let you leave the Star Luo Empire this time!"


    Right at this moment, she suddenly noticed the pendant that Tang Wulin was wearing. This was a shell-shaped platinum scale, and it was very beautiful.


    Dai Yun''er reflexively reached out to touch it, only for a large and powerful hand to grab onto her hand, following which she was greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin opening his eyes.


    Up close, his eyes were even more beautiful, but they were slightly red and out of focus, and a hint of fear welled up in Dai Yun''er''s heart at the sight of them.


    "Wh, where am I?" Tang Wulin asked in a strained voice.


    The comfort and enhancements brought to him by his cultivation had indeed allowed him to enter a state of deep meditation, but as the side-effects of the wine had begun to appear, the Ice God Bead within the Silver Dragon King scale had begun to release bursts of coolness in retaliation.


    However, the wine wasn''t poisonous and wasn''t going to harm Tang Wulin in any way, so its side-effects were only being repressed to a certain extent.


    The feeling of Dai Yun''er''s smooth and supple skin on his had caused Tang Wulin to awaken, and he woke up just as she was reaching out to touch his Silver Dragon King scale.


    Their eyes met, and Dai Yun''er felt as if goosebumps had appeared all over her entire body, while an indescribable sense of apprehension welled up in her heart.


    Her mind went completely blank. How did this happen? Wasn''t he supposed to fall completely unconscious after drinking the wine? Why had he woken up?


    Tang Wulin''s senses began to return to him, and he could feel his blood boiling within his own body. His heart was beating far faster than usual, and an enormous burst of heat was erupting within his body. The near-naked woman beside him struck him with an immense sense of allure.


    What''s happened to me? How did my self-control become so bad?


    Dai Yun''er''s mind went completely blank while Tang Wulin felt as if his brain had turned into a pile of mush, leaving him unable to process the current situation.


    Only now did Dai Yun''er discover that things weren''t as simple as she had imagined. She had thought that all she had to do was get Tang Wulin into her boudoir, and the side-effects of the wine would take care of the rest, just like in the stories that she had read.


    However, now that she was facing Tang Wulin, all she wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.


    She was fully willing to give up her body to Tang Wulin, but this was way too awkward and nerve-racking!


    What could she do? What could she do? What could she do?


    Dai Yun''er was so embarrassed that she felt like she was going to die.


    Tang Wulin was also quite disoriented, and it was as if there were flames burning within his eyes.


    Everything began to blur in his field of view, including Dai Yun''er''s face, and the heat rising up within his body was irrepressible, even for the Ice God Bead, or perhaps the Ice God Bead wasn''t even trying to repress this heat in the first place. In his groggy and disoriented state, he felt as if the most beloved woman in his heart had appeared before him.


    "Gu Yue..." Tang Wulin murmured in a slightly slack-jawed manner.


    Dai Yun''er shuddered upon hearing this name, and she instantly became more alert. Her first reaction was that the wine had still worked. Otherwise, Tang Wulin wouldn''t be calling out that name while looking at her.


    If I die, then so be it!


    With that in mind, she gritted her teeth and threw her arms around Tang Wulin, preparing to feed herself to the dragon. She didn''t know what to do next, but she was doing her best.


    Sure enough, in response to this physical stimulus, Tang Wulin shuddered violently as his blood essence surged within his body.


    Just as Dai Yun''er had predicted, due to the tremendous abundance of blood essence within Tang Wulin''s body, the wine was affecting him far more than it would the average person.


    A low dragon''s roar erupted out of his mouth, and he reflexively embraced Dai Yun''er. His hands came into contact with her bare skin, and he felt as if he were about to explode if he couldn''t release the heat pent up within his body.


    Dai Yun''er closed her eyes, and even though she was more anxious than she had ever been in her life, she wasn''t going to back down.


    Even though the side-effects of the wine had reached the height of their potency, the strong stimulus alerted Tang Wulin to the fact that something was amiss, and he immediately bit down onto the tip of his own tongue, using the pain to regain control. He then abruptly pushed Dai Yun''er away as he yelled, "You''re not Gu Yue!"


    He couldn''t even recognize who the woman before him was anymore, but he was sure that she wasn''t the woman he loved.


    Dai Yun''er was pushed away and fell onto the bed, and a sense of sorrow welled up in her heart. Even at a time like this, he was still thinking only of her.


    Doesn''t he have any feelings for me at all?


    Right at this moment, brilliant light suddenly radiated from the platinum scale hanging in front of Tang Wulin''s chest.


    A cool sensation emanated from within the scale; it was none other than the aura of the Ice God Bead.


    Tang Wulin felt as if a bucket of icy cold water had been poured over his head, and he instantly returned to his senses.


    It was also right at this moment that an extremely familiar figure appeared before him amid a flash of light. She had long flowing silver locks, and a pair of bright purple eyes that resembled amethysts.


    She raised a hand to instantly immobilize the panicked Dai Yun''er, and Dai Yun''er didn''t even catch a glimpse of who this woman was before she was struck by a rush of dizziness, following which everything around her was plunged into darkness.


    From Tang Wulin''s perspective, Dai Yun''er had been picked up by a burst of soul power, then stuffed under the bed.


    He turned to the woman who had just appeared, and his eyes began to go out of focus again. The icy sensation that had just repressed the scorching heat in his body was now merely fanning the flames.


    "It''s so hot! I''m so hot!"


    Gu Yuena was also given quite a fright at the sight of Tang Wulin. Through her Silver Dragon King scale, she had sensed Tang Wulin''s violent emotional fluctuations, and she had teleported directly to him in fear that he was in danger.


    Upon her arrival, the first emotions that welled up in her heart were shock and fury. Never did she think that Tang Wulin would do something like this with Dai Yun''er!


    However, when she sensed Tang Wulin''s aura, she immediately knew that something wasn''t right; Tang Wulin definitely wasn''t in a normal state. Furthermore, in the instant that she had arrived, she had caught sight of Tang Wulin pushing Dai Yun''er away.


    As such, she had already guessed that Dai Yun''er had most likely done something to stimulate Tang Wulin''s body, and the stimulus was clearly extremely intense.


    Tang Wulin''s skin was as red as a cooked lobster, and there seemed to be flames flickering within his eyes.


    "Is that you?" His voice was trembling and slightly hoarse, and his body was also trembling, as if he were enduring immense pain.


    "Wh, what happened to you?" Gu Yuena asked in an urgent voice.


    Tang Wulin''s mind had already gone completely blank. It had taken all of his willpower to deny his carnal desires up to this point, and now that Gu Yuena had appeared, he finally snapped. He pounced onto Gu Yuena and embraced her tightly before sealing her lips with his own.


    His scorching aura made Gu Yuena''s mind go completely blank as well, and she could feel Tang Wulin''s hands frantically groping her sensitive regions.


    Dai Yun''er had never felt this awkward in her entire life. She was completely immobilized and couldn''t make a single sound. It was completely dark beneath her bed, so she couldn''t see anything, either, but she could hear the commotion taking place on the bed.


    No way! Are they...


    Who is that?! She didn''t catch a clear glimpse of the intruder; all she had managed to ascertain was that it was a woman.


    However, she could hear what Tang Wulin had just said. Was that Gu Yue? Why was she here?


    Dai Yun''er felt so awkward and embarrassed that she wanted to die!


    After a brief stunned stupor, Gu Yuena immediately decided that she couldn''t allow things to continue like this any longer. If Tang Wulin were to be further stimulated by her aura, perhaps his Golden Dragon King aura would awaken again! If that were to happen, he would be in grave danger.


    With that in mind, she pressed a hand against the Silver Dragon King scale hanging in front of Tang Wulin''s chest before injecting her soul power into it, trying to get the Ice God Bead to release its aura to calm Tang Wulin down. However, she quickly discovered that her efforts were futile.


    The Ice God Bead did indeed release its aura, but in Tang Wulin''s current state, that aura merely added fuel to the flames burning within his body.

 Chapter 1392: Gu Yue

    The wine that Tang Wulin had ingested was extremely nourishing for the consumer and wasn''t harmful in any way. The Ice God Bead had a certain level of conscious will, so the aura that it could release was limited when it couldn''t sense any external threat. On top of that, Tang Wulin''s blood essence fluctuations had already exceeded the threshold of what the Ice God Bead was able to repress.


    All of a sudden, Gu Yuena''s clothes were torn apart by Tang Wulin, and she shuddered as she felt Tang Wulin''s scorching hands roaming over her body like a pair of red-hot brands. The intense physical stimulus was beginning to make her lose control as well.


    This was different from Tang Wulin''s blood dragon transformation. At the time, his aura had been filled with destructive insanity, yet he was currently radiating an invasively scorching aura.


    Their bloodlines originated from the same source, so they were drawn to each other on a fundamental level. On top of that, they both loved one another, and before she knew it, Gu Yuena was also reciprocating Tang Wulin''s tight embrace.


    "Gu Yue..." Tang Wulin''s husky voice rang out.


    Gu Yuena shuddered, and tears immediately began to flow from her eyes.


    He still loved her, after all.


    Gu Yuena''s eyes were filled with tears, but she continued to hold Tang Wulin tightly as she yelled in her heart, "Are you still not going to wake up, you coward? I know that you''ve already awakened; you''re just trying to run away from reality! Are you willing to give me this experience as well? Even if you''re willing to give this to me, I don''t want it! Wake up right now!"


    All of a sudden, Gu Yuena''s purple eyes lit up, and it was as if a pair of silver vortexes had appeared deep within them.


    The silver vortexes seemed to contain countless emotions, and a faint sigh escaped from her lips.


    With Gu Yuena''s alluring body in his arms, Tang Wulin was no longer able to control his instinctive urges, and the clothes on both of their bodies had already been torn away.


    The two of them embraced and became one amid a burst of scorching heat.


    "Why..." Gu Yuena moaned in a trembling voice, following which both of their bodies began to undergo peculiar transformations.


    A golden scale-like pattern began to appear all over Tang Wulin''s body, and its silver counterpart emerged over Gu Yuena''s body.


    They embraced one another tightly, and golden and silver light intertwined before forming a massive cocoon of nine-colored light around them.


    A string of loud and urgent slaps rang out alongside lustful panting, and the two lovers were finally reunited within the nine-colored light.


    The auras of the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King combined as one, and their bodies and souls were both being elevated to a higher level through their embrace.


    A peaceful night passed by, but for some people, it was a sleepless night.


    "Your Majesty." A figure silently appeared beside Dai Tianling before extending a respectful bow.


    At this point, daylight had already arrived, and Dai Tianling''s brows furrowed tightly as he asked, "Are they still not done?"


    A peculiar look appeared on the man''s face, and he nodded in response. "It appears that they''re still going."


    He was Dai Tianling''s most trusted subordinate, but even he had never been assigned such an absurd task before.


    Dai Tianling''s brows furrowed even further. "They''ve been going at it for way too long! How is Yun''er''s body going to be able to hold up? Is it still very loud?"


    The man nodded again. "It''s still quite loud, but rest assured, I made sure to vacate the surrounding area so no one would hear anything."


    An extremely complex look appeared on Dai Tianling''s face. This was also the first time he had ever done something like this! This was his daughter''s first time, and as her father, he wanted nothing more than to tear Tang Wulin to shreds with his bare hands! However, at the same time, he was feeling quite relieved that the plan had succeeded. Having said that, was this brat''s body forged from iron? He had been going for an entire night! ......


    Tang Wulin had never been this happy before.


    Ever since his parents'' disappearance, the only thing that had come close to this was when Gu Yue had agreed to be with him during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.


    However, this time was different as he was euphoric both emotionally and physically.


    Halfway during the night, he had awakened from the effects of the wine, and the scene that he was greeted by instantly had all of his veins dilating violently.


    He didn''t know why he was with Gu Yuena, nor did he want to know; all he wanted to was be able to continue to experience this euphoria.


    What made him even more elated was that her aura had changed. Even though her appearance had still remained the same, he could tell from the minute differences in her voice and the way that she was looking at him that this was not the same Gu Yuena as before.


    It was her! She was back!


    With his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, Tang Wulin was completely sure that this was the woman who was closest to his heart!


    In that case, why should he continue to hold on to his inhibitions?


    Gu Yuena had also seemed to cast aside all of her shackles and was reciprocating with passionate fervor, so there was no reason for him to hold back.


    The nine-colored light around them illuminated their bodies, and Tang Wulin''s emotions remained under control, so none of his Golden Dragon King seals were affected. Instead, under the influence of Gu Yuena''s aura, all of Tang Wulin''s negative emotions were being erased by this euphoric experience.


    Tang Wulin was completely immersed in Gu Yuena''s essence, tightly embracing her body and basking in her warmth.


    Both of them possessed physical constitutions that far exceeded those of normal humans, and they had gone at it for an entire night without any rest or pause.


    Tang Wulin exhaled as he found his release for the last time, and even he had lost count of how many times it had been. He could feel the sunlight streaming in through the window, but he was still unwilling to let go of her body.


    "Gu Yue..." he murmured into her ear.


    Gu Yuena moaned in response with her eyes tightly shut and a deep blush on her face.


    "I love you." Tang Wulin planted a gentle kiss.


    Gu Yuena finally opened her eyes to reveal a pair of mesmerizing purple pupils.


    She stared intently at Tang Wulin as if she were trying to commit every single detail of him to memory, and she replied in a gentle voice, "I love you, too."


    Tang Wulin held tightly onto Gu Yuena''s body, and his lower body began to react again.


    Gu Yuena''s brows furrowed slightly, and Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon seeing this. "I''m sorry, I..."


    Gu Yuena gently shook her head and reciprocated his tight embrace. "This is the Star Luo Empire imperial palace; we should go now..."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, and only then did he realize where they were. The heat in his lower body receded slightly, and he looked up to see a burst of nine-colored light.


    Gu Yuena raised a hand in a slightly lethargic manner to tap a finger onto the nine-colored light while a nine-colored bead flew out of her mouth.


    All of a sudden, a vortex appeared around the bead, drawing all of the nine-colored light into her body, as well as Tang Wulin''s.


    Tang Wulin felt a burst of incredibly rich energy flow into his body, cleansing his bloodline and soul, and significantly enhancing his soul power.


    A layer of nine-colored light began to emanate from both of their bodies, and layers of scales appeared over their bare skin.


    Gu Yuena finally separated from him with a delicate moan, then turned her head away in a shy manner.

 Chapter 1393: Wulin, I Love You

    At this moment, Tang Wulin felt as if he had just completed the Dragon God Transformation with Gu Yuena, but on this occasion, he wasn''t just receiving temporary enhancements. Instead, his powers had been permanently elevated.


    Gu Yuena rolled over, and said, "Let''s get out of here."


    Silver light shimmered around her as she spoke, and spatial elements surged through the surrounding area. At the same time, she made a pressing motion toward the underside of the bed, and both of them vanished amid a flash of silver light.


    A muffled groan rang out from beneath the bed, following which Dai Yun''er crawled out into the open.


    As a princess, even the floor beneath her bed had been kept pristinely clean, but she had two massive black rings around her eyes, and she had a horrified look on her face as she murmured to herself, "They''re not human! Neither of them are human! I, I don''t love him anymore!"


    It wasn''t that she no longer loved him; she no longer dared to love him!


    Thinking back to the ferocious "storm" from the night before, she couldn''t help but shudder. She looked down at her own frail body, and it was clear to her that there was no way she could''ve handled that.


    Was this guy really a human?


    Dai Yun''er was struck by the urge to cry at the sight of her own ravaged bed, but she couldn''t find the tears.


    She had expended so much painstaking effort, only to benefit someone else. She wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow her whole! At the same time, there was a sense of severe lingering fear in her heart. If she had been the subject of Tang Wulin''s desires the night before, would she still even be alive right now?


    It was no wonder that he only loved her; neither of them were human!


    ......


    Silver light flashed, and when Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena reappeared, he was surprised to discover that they had arrived in the forest.


    Both of their bodies had been covered by dragon scales, and it was the first time that he had seen Gu Yuena with silver scales all over her body.


    Despite those scales, the alluring curves of her perfect figure was still clearly visible, and even after that euphoric night, Tang Wulin still couldn''t help but be overwhelmed by desire again.


    He reflexively wound his arm around her slender waist. "Gu Yue..."


    Gu Yuena was given quite a fright by his scorching aura, and she immediately blushed as she asked, "Have you still not had enough?"


    "No! I''ll never get enough of you!" As someone who had just spent his first night basking in the pleasures of being with a woman, how could he possibly repress his burning desire?


    Gu Yuena punched him gently on the arm. "How did you end up together with Dai Yun''er?"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, and his brows furrowed slightly as he replied, "I don''t know! Last night, I had already returned to the Tang Sect headquarters. By the way, we were attacked by the Holy Spirit Cult last night, and they sent..."


    Thus, he gave her a recount of everything that had taken place the night before, all the way until he returned to the Tang Sect headquarters, then somehow ended up in Dai Yun''er''s boudoir in that intoxicated state.


    "She must''ve spiked your food or drink. This Dai Yun''er really is a piece of work!" Gu Yue couldn''t help but roll her eyes at Tang Wulin with a displeased pout.


    The flames of desire in Tang Wulin''s heart were fanned even further by her alluring expression, and his hands began to roam over Gu Yuena''s body again.


    "Don''t move." Gu Yuena grabbed onto his hand and leaned her head against his chest to bask in his warmth.


    "I heard everything you and Na''er said to one another," she sighed.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Did you reawaken because of what happened last night? What happened to Na''er?"


    Gu Yuena raised her head and looked up at him with a lost expression. "Sometimes, even I can''t tell whether I''m Gu Yue or Na''er. I did everything in my power not to fuse with her so she could continue to exist, but we are one entity; as Gu Yuena''s powers continued to advance, we''ll inevitably fuse as one again. Last night, a very large portion of our psyches fused with one another. I had thought that once we fused together, one of us would completely disappear, but that doesn''t appear to be the case. In our current state, we seem to be coexisting, and all of our memories have been collated together."


    Tang Wulin didn''t know what to say in response to this.


    Gu Yuena continued, "She really does love you very much. Initially, when I fell in love with you, I was influenced by her. Otherwise, none of this would''ve happened. She really shouldn''t have urged me to reawaken, and I was even more at fault for being unable to repress my own jealousy. If I hadn''t reawakened, perhaps she would''ve been able to make up her mind about some things; perhaps the two of you would truly be able to be together."


    "What do you mean by that?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yuena lowered her head to avoid Tang Wulin''s gaze. "If we become enemies one day, would you kill me?"


    Tang Wulin immediately replied, "Of course not; how could we possibly be enemies?"


    A wry smile appeared on Gu Yuena''s face as she tightened her embrace around Tang Wulin even further. "You don''t understand. If I''m going to destroy the world one day, are you not going to try and stop me?"


    A confused look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I don''t know. Such a day won''t ever come; how could someone as kind as you destroy the world? You''re not a member of the Holy Spirit Cult."


    Gu Yuena took a deep breath before gently pushing Tang Wulin away. "There are some things that I can''t simply renounce; there are some duties that I''m obligated to complete. Wulin, one day, you''ll understand the source of my pain. Now that I''ve reawakened, I must shoulder my responsibilities again. This is a park in Heaven Dou City. Leave the Star Luo Empire as soon as you can; I can sense that war is not far away."


    Silver light began to shimmer all over her body, while the Golden Dragon King reverse scale hanging in front of her chest was giving off faint golden light.


    "Don''t go!" Tang Wulin stepped forward to try and latch onto her, but Gu Yue''s body was already turning transparent as she shook her head in a wistful manner. "After last night, I no longer have any regrets. Wulin, I love you."


    The silver light collapsed, and Gu Yuena instantly vanished into thin air.


    Tang Wulin stared blankly at the empty air that he had his arms wrapped around, and an overwhelming sense of loss replaced his former euphoria.


    Why was it that she and Na''er were always so mysterious? What exactly were they carrying on their shoulders? It had to have something to do with the Spirit Pagoda, but he was already the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master; was he still not powerful enough to protect them? Why did they have to leave him?


    Tang Wulin''s heart throbbed with pain, and he couldn''t help but throw a punch into the air.


    A resounding sonic boom rang out, and a black hole with a diameter of over a meter was smashed into the air by his punch. The ferocious suction force caused Tang Wulin to stumble forward, and he hurriedly steadied himself before staring down at his own fist in a stunned manner.


    This was definitely something that he hadn''t been capable of in the past! He immediately inspected the Golden Dragon King seals within his own body to find that the remaining six were still as solid as ever. However, his body underwent a strange transformation.


    His golden meridians, bones, and organs had been basked in a layer of faint nine-colored light, and what was most astonishing to him was his soul core; it had swelled to around twice its original size and was completely filled with rich liquid soul power.


    What was even more remarkable was that his soul core was flowing upward like a reverse waterfall, linking together with his mind. Upon closer inspection, he could sense that another soul core had appeared in his mind. This soul core was far smaller than his original one, but there was an undeniable connection between the two.


    He was well aware of what a second soul core entailed; it was the sign of a Hyper Douluo!


    This was an integral step in his journey to become a Limit Douluo.

 Chapter 1394: Reveal

    Furthermore, one had to at least reach the Titled Douluo level before they could attain a second soul core. This meant that the euphoric night he had just experienced had allowed him to become a Titled Douluo!


    Even Tang Wulin himself felt this to be rather absurd. Wasn''t this way too easy?


    Even with his current rapid rate of cultivation, he knew that it would take at least two more years for him to reach the Titled Douluo level while maintaining a stable foundation. However, he had made the breakthrough under such inexplicable circumstances, and his new second soul core was more than sufficient testament to just how stable his foundation was.


    Not every Titled Douluo could attain a second soul core; it was already very remarkable for one to attain just the embryo of a second soul core. This meant that he would encounter no cultivation bottlenecks until he reached at least rank 95.


    In contrast with the grueling cultivation journey of his youth, this rate of progression was downright ridiculous! Never did Tang Wulin think that something like this would happen.


    He stood on the spot in a slightly slack-jawed manner, and it took him a while to confirm that he wasn''t dreaming. At the same time, he gradually calmed down.


    Gu Yuena had to be hiding a secret that she couldn''t tell anyone. He had always thought that she was merely concerned that he wouldn''t be able to protect her from whatever was posing a threat to her, but now, it was clear that this wasn''t the case.


    Both of them were very powerful already at this point, and they had the support of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. Even in the face of the Spirit Pagoda and Holy Spirit Cult, they could still put up meaningful resistance, so she could definitely return to his side if she wished to do so. At their current levels of power, if they were to unleash their Dragon God Transformation, they should be able to hold their own even against a Limit Douluo, provided that the Limit Douluo wasn''t a quasigod.


    So what exactly was she hiding? It wasn''t going to be easy to get to the bottom of this.


    However, Tang Wulin was even more determined to become more powerful now. Only by becoming more powerful could he help Gu Yuena face whatever it was that she had to face in the future.


    The pain in his heart gradually faded, and his mind wandered back to what had happened the night before. That had been a truly wonderful night for him!


    He understood why Dai Yun''er had brought him to her boudoir, and he couldn''t muster up any resentment toward her. After all, her actions had inadvertently given his relationship with Gu Yuena a major boost. Otherwise, he didn''t even know when he would get to see her again.


    Now that daylight had arrived and he wasn''t in the Tang Sect headquarters, Yali was most likely looking all over the place for him, so he had to get back to the headquarters first.


    He fished out a set of clean clothes from his storage soul tool and emerged out of the garden, then immediately returned to the Tang Sect Headquarters.


    As soon as he strode into the building, light flashed before his eyes, and Yali appeared before him with a nervous expression.


    "Mother!"


    A hint of surprise appeared in the Holy Spirit Douluo''s eyes. "Where did you go? Why do I feel like your aura has just been elevated again?"


    Tang Wulin had just reached the Titled Douluo rank, and his spiritual power hadn''t completely adjusted to be able to conceal his cultivation rank yet.


    An awkward look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he replied, "Let''s go somewhere more private, Mother."


    Yali could see that what he wanted to say was related to a sensitive topic, so she didn''t ask any questions and took him back to her room.


    "You had me worried sick! Xie Xie went to find you this morning, but you weren''t there; even with my spiritual power, I couldn''t sense that you were missing, so I knew that something was wrong. Thank heavens you came back safe and sound! What happened?" Yali asked in an urgent manner.


    Tang Wulin was silent for a moment before deciding to tell her the full truth; he really needed someone to analyze Gu Yuena''s situation for him.


    "Mother, I have something to tell you; it''s about Gu Yue and Na''er." Yali had a vast wealth of knowledge and experience accumulated from living for over 100 years, and she was absolutely trustworthy, so Tang Wulin decided to confide in her.


    "Did your disappearance have something to do with them?" A hint of surprise flashed through Yali''s eyes.


    Tang Wulin scratched his own head with an awkward expression. "My disappearance didn''t have anything to do with them, but they came into the picture later on. Let me tell you everything from the beginning."


    Thus, he told Yali about how he had picked up Na''er as a small child and taken her home, followed by the disappearance of her and his parents. After that, he caught the interest of Wu Zhangkong and managed to enter Shrek Academy. He glossed over his cultivation journey and focused on his relationship with Gu Yue and Na''er, making sure to provide extensive details about how the women had fused as one to become Gu Yuena.


    The look of astonishment in Yali''s eyes gradually became more and more pronounced as she listened to Tang Wulin''s story, and she asked, "So you''re saying that her body harbors two souls that can be independent or fuse together to become one? That''s completely unheard of!"


    Tang Wulin asked, "You haven''t encountered anything like this, either?"


    Yali shook her head in response. "Never, and I''m sure that there are no historical records detailing any precedents of such an occurrence. This should be a type of mutation, and it could even be the first of its kind ever. There are historical records of soul beasts cultivating to become humans. For example, it was said that Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San''s wife was a 100,000-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this. Wasn''t Yali referring to his birth mother?


    Yali continued, "However, even after a soul beast cultivates to become a human, they can''t become two different people, and they certainly can''t split their soul into two. Also, her bloodline is closely tied to yours, and she told you the story of the Dragon God; I don''t recall seeing any records about the Dragon God in the library of our Shrek Academy, so this story could''ve been fabricated by her. However, what''s undeniable is that your bloodline is related to hers, and that''s why so many things have happened between you two.


    "I didn''t think that Na''er had such a mysterious past. Back when she was learning under Brother Ming, she had displayed incredible aptitude, and her rate of progression was quite similar to what you''re experiencing now. At the time, both Brother Ming and I had thought that we had found a successor, and Brother Ming had even decided to pass down the position of the Sea God''s Pavilion Master to her. Her martial soul is the Silver Dragon Spear; if Gu Yue''s martial soul really is the Silver Dragon King rather than Elementalist, then they really could be two parts of the same being. That''s very strange. Do you know anything about their family?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I never met any of their family. All I know is that Na''er was taken away by her family, and Gu Yue''s family seems to be very rich. After we seperated, she''s always been very mysterious, and she always seemed to be very sad whenever we met thereafter, particularly after the match-making convention; she''s always saying things about how we can''t be together."


    A peculiar look appeared on Yali''s face. "You really are a lot like Brother Ming during his younger days. Having said that, the girls nowadays have become a lot bolder than we were!"


    Tang Wulin blushed slightly upon hearing this. "Mother..."


    Yali couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "Don''t think too much about this; I''ll give you a basic analysis of this situation. Firstly, Gu Yuena definitely harbors no ill will toward you, and she really does love you. Otherwise, she wouldn''t have given you her body. On top of that, there has to be a deeper connection between you two; I''ve never heard of any cultivator who managed to make a breakthrough to become a Titled Douluo as a direct result of having physical relations with someone else. With that established, we can safely say that she won''t try to hurt you, and as for what her secret is, we''ll just have to wait and see.


    "After we get back to the federation, we can use the power of the Tang Sect to investigate her family; perhaps that''ll give us some additional leads. In the meantime, you don''t need to be overly conflicted. She''s already given you the most important thing she has and saved your life on multiple occasions, so what''s there for you to think about? All you have to do now is to become more powerful so you can help her if she encounters some kind of crisis in the future. She has to face her problems someday, and when she does, the truth will be revealed. Also..."

 Chapter 1395: Fleeing the Empire

    Yali paused here for a moment as a hint of a smile appeared on her face. "As someone''s who''s been through all of this already, I can tell you that after a girl gives a man her first time, her attitude toward him will definitely change. At the very least, she''ll remember the man for the rest of her life, and she could even begin to regard him as more important than her own life. Physical relations are integral to taking a relationship to the next level. In summary, you''re a lucky, lucky man."


    Tang Wulin stared at Yali in a flabbergasted manner; only at the end did he realize that she was kidding around, and he didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry. "Is that really appropriate, Mother? I''m really feeling quite depressed here!"


    Yali chuckled, "What''s there to be depressed about? A princess tried to give herself to you, only to be thrown under her own bed, and you finally had physical relations with the woman of your dreams. On top of that, the experience allowed you to make a breakthrough to the Titled Douluo level. Do you think she''s going to run away? You''re going to be the only man she''ll ever love. A pair of lovers don''t always have to be together; what''s yours will always be yours."


    Tang Wulin suddenly felt like he shouldn''t have revealed everything to Yali. It felt like she was looking at him with different eyes, as if she were appraising some kind of playboy.


    Yali''s smile grew even more pronounced. "All I want to know is what you plan to do with that princess. You saw everything, and you were in the same bed; nothing happened between the two of you, but surely you can''t just abandon a princess like that."


    Tang Wulin was at a complete loss for what to do. "Then... what should I do?"


    Yali replied, "The Star Luo Empire is quite friendly toward the Tang Sect, so why not just marry her? With your status, it''s perfectly normal to have multiple spouses; you''ll be able to have more children then."


    Tang Wulin felt as if something had gotten stuck in his throat, and only after a long while did he manage to say something. "Is it the universal wish of all mothers to see their son marry multiple wives and have lots of children?"


    Yali immediately burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Of course! I finally have a son; in the future, I want lots and lots of grandkids. The best thing about becoming a Limit Douluo is that I now have enough time to help you look after your kids."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched upon hearing this. "I regret telling you everything now, Mother."


    Yali rolled her eyes at him. "It''s too late. Do you need me to go to the imperial palace and ask for the princess''s hand in marriage in your stead?"


    Tang Wulin was given a massive fright by this proposal. "Please don''t! Please stop making jokes at my expense, Mother; I just want to leave the Star Luo Empire as soon as possible!"


    Yali looked at the distressed look on his face, and she suddenly felt like having a son was the best thing ever!


    "You''re not going to take responsibility for her?" Yali asked with a smile.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Take responsibility? The imperial family should be taking responsibility for me! "


    Yali chuckled, "In that case, we really do have to leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, things could get very awkward if the imperial family comes knocking on our door."


    In the end, Tang Wulin chose to run away. Even though Yali''s jibes had made him rather depressed, her analysis from a bystander perspective had instilled him with a lot of confidence.


    In particular, her declaration that he would be the only man Gu Yuena would ever love was exactly what he needed to hear.


    Originally, he had planned to stay for another day or two and had even set up a few sparring matches, but with the current situation, it was best for him to leave right away. Dai Yun''er had already drugged him; who knew if the empire would try to keep him by force? Thus, he had to throw the planned sparring matches out the window and immediately contacted the Smiling Douluo, informing Hu Jie that he and his friends were going to set off for the Douluo Continent on that same day.


    The Smiling Douluo was rather surprised to hear this, but he immediately arranged a Tang Sect vehicle for Tang Wulin and his friends so they could leave Heaven Dou City right away.


    In the imperial palace of the Star Luo Empire.


    "What?!" Dai Tianling was staring at his daughter with an expression that could only be described as spectacular.


    He was initially full of sympathy toward Dai Yun''er at the sight of the dark rings around her eyes, but after being informed that she had failed and someone else had slept with Tang Wulin the night before, he was absolutely furious!


    This was the imperial palace, yet someone had snuck in and out of Dai Yun''er''s boudoir without anyone being alerted! He had even sent his most trusted subordinate to eavesdrop outside Dai Yun''er''s boudoir for the entire night; this was an absolute travesty!


    He was so enraged that he almost fainted and stumbled back onto his chair. Dai Yun''er immediately rushed forward in an alarmed manner and stroked his chest to help him breathe more freely.


    "How did this happen? This is the most disgraceful thing to have ever happened to our imperial family!" Dai Tianling roared!


    It was already extremely embarrassing that his daughter had tried to force herself onto someone like this, and to compound the matter even further, she had failed!


    A hint of lingering fear appeared in Dai Yun''er''s eyes as she said, "To be honest, I''m a little glad about how things turned out. Tang Wulin... I swear he''s not human! They didn''t stop even for a single second the night before! My bed almost collapsed on top of me! If I had been in her place..."


    Dai Tianling shuddered upon hearing this, and he didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry. As wise and cunning as he was when it came to political matters, he had no idea what to do in this situation.


    He couldn''t pin the blame on Tang Wulin as his daughter was the one who had instigated all of this. According to their original plan, they were going to catch him red-handed in Dai Yun''er''s boudoir, then force him to marry her, but what were they supposed to do now?


    "Father, I, I don''t know what to do, either." Tears began to well up in Dai Yun''er''s eyes.


    "Your Majesty, according to our scouts, the Tang Sect Master has just left Heaven Dou City," a servant suddenly reported.


    "He left?"


    Dai Tianling faltered slightly upon hearing this before heaving a long sigh as his expression eased slightly. He had been concerned that Tang Wulin would come to the imperial palace and accuse Dai Yun''er of drugging him. If that were to happen, the situation would become even more troublesome to deal with. Now that Tang Wulin had fled the city, everything could come to an end. It wasn''t ideal, but it certainly wasn''t the worst-case scenario, either.


    "Yun''er, how about I pick a husband for you?" Dai Tianling sighed, and in that instant, he seemed to have aged significantly.


    Dai Yun''er immediately shook her head vigorously in response. "I''m not marrying anyone, Father! I''m just going to remain by your side; it''s all my fault for making you worry like this."


    ......


    Only after the Tang Sect vehicle had left Heaven Dou City and driven onto the highway did Tang Wulin finally heave a sigh of relief. He felt like he had dodged a bullet!


    The Smiling Douluo was traveling with him in the same vehicle. Following that incident with the Infernal King Douluo, he insisted on accompanying Tang Wulin all the way to the submarine as a safety precaution. He wasn''t as powerful as the Holy Spirit Douluo, so he still hadn''t discovered that Tang Wulin had already become a Titled Douluo.


    "There seems to be something on your mind, Sect Master. Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Hu Jie asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''m just concerned about the current situation in the federation. The Holy Spirit Cult is more powerful than we imagined, and the foundation of our Tang Sect is all based in the federation, so it would be best for me to return as soon as possible."


    Hu Jie nodded as a grim look appeared on his face. "Indeed, who would''ve thought that the Infernal King Douluo was still alive? He''s most likely the sovereign of the Holy Spirit Cult, and there is perhaps no one in this world who can currently defeat him in a one-on-one battle. Now that the Atlas Douluo is no longer around, it''s very likely that he''s the most powerful being in the world."


    Having developed a better understanding of the hierarchy among Limit Douluos, Tang Wulin nodded in agreement, and said, "The Infernal King Douluo''s powers have truly begun to exceed the realm of what''s humanly possible. After I get back, I''ll discuss with the Amorous Douluo about what we should do in the future. If the Spirit Pagoda really is colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult on a deep level, then a disaster for the entire planet is imminent."


    Hu Jie said, "At the very least, their top-level power outstrips ours. One quasigod is the equivalent of three demigods; even with the Holy Spirit Douluo, at least two more Limit Douluos will be required to oppose this Infernal King Douluo, and that isn''t even taking the other powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult into account."


    As for the Spirit Pagoda, they''ve never been forced to reveal any of their trump cards, so no one knows exactly how powerful they are."


    ......


    The rest of the journey was very smooth, and they didn''t encounter any obstacles. Tang Wulin and his friends finally arrived at the shore, and at this point, the submarine was already waiting for them in the ocean.


    Long Yuxue contacted the submarine, and it quickly rose to the surface to welcome them.


    "I''ll have to trouble you to oversee everything here in the Star Luo Empire, Hall Master Hu," Tang Wulin said.


    Hu Jie smiled, and replied, "Don''t be too concerned about the Holy Spirit Cult, Sect Master. I see an enormous amount of potential in you and your friends, so you have to prioritize your own safety at all times; you are the future hope of our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy."

 Chapter 1396: Federal Fleet

    The victory Tang Wulin had secured in the Trial of Five Gods had truly forged a resounding reputation for him on all three continents.


    Following his return, many things were going to change; the responsibility on his shoulders was going to become heavier, but at the same time, he had also become more powerful.


    It was exactly because the Holy Spirit Cult was aware of the threat that he posed that they sent a powerful being of the Infernal King Douluo''s caliber to kill him before he could reach his full potential, and that was an indication of how concerned they were about Tang Wulin''s rapid development.


    In the eyes of Hu Jie, it was certain that Tang Wulin was going to become a Limit Douluo in the future, and he definitely wouldn''t just be a normal Limit Douluo.


    After bidding farewell to the Smiling Douluo, Tang Wulin and his friends all entered the submarine. The hatch was closed, and the submarine slowly sank into the ocean like a giant beast.


    After such a long time, Tang Wulin had finally completed his mission in the Dou Spirit Empire and Star Luo Empire. In fact, he had completed his mission above the expected quota.


    Only now had he truly been acknowledged by the entire Tang Sect as the sect master.


    "Wulin, you have to work hard on your cultivation during this return journey. Make sure to take advantage of this period of time to consolidate your powers in preparation to fuse with a ninth soul ring. Once you get back, you''ll become a true Titled Douluo," Yali said.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. Prior to embarking on this trip to the two empires, he had only been a Soul Sage. During this short span of only around half a year, he had progressed all the way to the Titled Douluo level and attained an entire suit of three-word battle armor; this was simply an astounding transformation. Even though he had always been working hard in his cultivation, there was no way that he could maintain a stable foundation following a period of such rapid development. The return journey was going to take more than two months, so this was an ideal opportunity for him to go into seclusion.


    With his current status and all of the things that had to be taken care of in Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, it would be very difficult to open up such a large block of time for seclusion once he returned to the federation.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo also had to go into seclusion so she could progress from a quasidemigod to a demigod as soon as possible; only then would she become a true Limit Douluo.


    Ever since Tang Wulin had become her godson and she had progressed to the Limit Douluo level, she had felt like she had been reborn anew.


    In Star Luo City.


    Dai Yun''er was standing at the top of the stargazing platform in the imperial palace, casting her gaze into the distance with a film of tears shimmering over her eyes.


    I guess we weren''t meant to be in the end. I wish you all the best, Brother Wulin.


    ......


    The submarine traveled rapidly through the ocean; despite its enormous size, it was still made to look completely diminutive in the boundless ocean.


    Everyone was cultivating arduously in their respective cabin, and Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were working hard to complete everyone''s suits of three-word battle armor. According to their estimations, all of the suits of three-word battle armor would be complete by the time they return to the Douluo Continent, and all of Shrek''s Seven Monsters would undoubtedly undergo a complete transformation as a result.


    Not only had Tang Wulin''s Trial of Five Gods stunned the outside world, it had also become a source of impetus for those around him, and everyone was working harder than ever in their cultivation.


    His rate of development was far too fast; even his soul power rank had already outstripped everyone. Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were both on the cusp of becoming Soul Douluos, and once they made their breakthroughs, they''d be able to fuse with an immortal plant each, thereby attaining a 100,000-year-old soul ring that would further enhance their powers.


    During this period of time, Long Yuxue and the members of the Blood Dragon Squad had also been progressing quite quickly in their cultivation. In particular, Long Yuxue and Jiang Wuyue were developing at a rapid rate after receiving some guidance from the Holy Spirit Douluo.


    With someone like Tang Wulin acting as the benchmark, no one would ever become complacent or arrogant no matter how much progress they made.


    All of a sudden, a dull ringing sound rang out to rouse Tang Wulin from his meditation.


    Was that the sound of the submarine''s siren?


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes and rose to his feet with a perplexed look on his face. No one had dared to disrupt him during his seclusion, but with his sensitive hearing, he was still able to detect the sound of the siren, and he wasn''t the only one; all of the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had also awakened in their cabins.


    Tang Wulin immediately picked up the communicator in his cabin and contacted the control room of the submarine. "What''s going on?"


    "Sect Master, our sonars have discovered a large fleet of ships in the distance, and we''re currently conducting further observation."


    Soul sonars were important devices that could preemptively detect potential hazards by releasing soundwaves through the water. When they were first developed, they mainly targeted sea soul beasts, and all submarines were fitted with these devices.


    The Tang Sect''s had the most advanced soul sonars, and these sonars were like eyes to a submarine. Deep in the ocean, only through the use of sonars could the situation in the surrounding area be detected, thereby allowing one to take evasive measures accordingly.


    "I''m coming to the control room right now." Tang Wulin hung up the communicator before walking out of his cabin. At this point, all of his friends had also emerged from their cabins, and he immediately led them toward the control room.


    Xie Xie followed along beside Tang Wulin, and asked, "Do you think it''s them?"


    Tang Wulin''s brows were tightly furrowed as he replied, "I can only think of one large fleet that would appear in this region of the ocean; I didn''t think they would come so quickly."


    Yue Zhengyu said, "If it really is them, then we''re in huge trouble. Their primary target will definitely be the Star Luo Empire, but we''ve only just left the Star Luo Empire, so they most likely haven''t completed their preparations yet. The main issue is that they have no idea that the federal fleet is coming!"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Only the federation currently has the technology to conduct long-distance surveillance with their satellites; neither the Dou Spirit Empire nor the Star Luo Empire is able to do this. They''ll only have radars at their disposal, but the scope of detection of their radars is limited, and the federal fleet is definitely equipped with anti-radar devices. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to get so close to the Star Luo Empire without being detected."


    "Then what should we do now?" Xie Xie asked in an urgent voice.


    If the federal fleet were to successfully unleash a sneak attack, then the completion of their mission would be rendered completely pointless.


    If the Star Luo Empire were to be conquered, there was no way that the Dou Spirit Empire alone would be able to oppose the federal fleet, even if they were given the most advanced weaponry.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Let''s go to the control room and get a grasp on the situation. At a time like this, we can''t afford to panic; the fact that we managed to stumble upon the federal fleet is already a massive silver lining."


    Soon, the group arrived at the main control room, and the captain of the submarine immediately rushed over to Tang Wulin with a grim expression. "Greetings, Sect Master."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Can you confirm the origin of and number of ships in this fleet?"


    The captain replied, "We''re currently unable to do so as we''re still too far away. All we can ascertain through our sonars is that there is a group of enormous objects advancing over the ocean, so it can only be a fleet. According to my knowledge, only the federation possesses a fleet of such a massive scale, so..."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I see. Is there any way for us to contact the Dou Spirit Empire or Star Luo Empire right now?"


    The captain shook his head, and replied. "I''m afraid not. We won''t be able to release the signal underwater; even though the Star Luo Empire isn''t that far away, we''ll still only be able to contact them after we float to the surface. However, with the federation''s advanced radar and sonar technology, we''ll definitely be discovered as soon as we rise to the surface, and that would place us in grave danger.


    "All federal fleets have anti-submarine gunboats that have an effective attack range that reaches around a kilometer underwater; if they were to lock onto our submarine, there would be no way for us to escape. According to the reaction currently being displayed by the sonar, there are definitely more than 100 ships in this fleet, and their destructive power is far beyond what we''ll be able to withstand."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. He hadn''t anticipated that the situation would deteriorate to such an extent this quickly.

 Chapter 1397: Countermeasures

    "Prioritize stealth above all else and make sure we don''t get discovered by them," Tang Wulin instructed.


    If their submarine were to be discovered by the federal fleet, it would be very likely that the fleet would be struck by a sense of urgency and accelerate toward the Star Luo Empire.


    The tenser the situation was, the more important it was to remain calm.


    Neither Tang Wulin nor his friends had ever participated in an actual war, and their hearts were racing with adrenalin. In the face of the almighty federal fleet, individual power was completely insignificant. Tang Wulin knew that at a time like this, the most important thing for him was to remain calm as the decisions that he made next were going to affect the entire war.


    He took a deep breath to calm himself down as much as he could, then said in an urgent voice, "There are a few things that we must do right now. Firstly, verify that this is indeed a federal fleet and not something like a large pack of sea soul beasts. Secondly, we have to notify the Star Luo Empire of this as quickly as possible so they can make preparations right away. Thirdly, and most importantly, we have to buy time for the Star Luo Empire somehow."


    The captain immediately nodded in response. Just as Tang Wulin had said, time was of the essence, and those were the three most important things that they had to do in order to help the Star Luo Empire avert this crisis. However, would they really be able to achieve all three of those objectives?


    Tang Wulin continued, "If this really is a federal fleet, is there any way for our submarine to ascertain the exact number of ships in the fleet without being discovered by them?"


    The captain shook his head without any hesitation. "Our sonars are quite advanced, but the federation''s sonars aren''t bad, either, so we''ll only be able to conduct surveillance on them from afar. Once we get close enough to ascertain further details about the fleet, they''ll definitely be able to detect us and immediately send out their anti-submarine ships to attack us. All federal fleets have groups of anti-submarine gunships that can attack a large area, and it would be very dangerous for us if those gunships were to be deployed."


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath as a determined look appeared in his eyes. "Then there''s no other way to do this; I''ll have to take a look for myself."


    He then immediately turned to the Holy Spirit Douluo, who had followed him to the control room, and said, "Mother, I''ll have to trouble you to make a trip to the Star Luo Empire. You are the fastest among all of us when it comes to flight, and we''ll keep in contact through close-range soul communicators. Once we confirm that this is indeed a federal fleet, we''ll notify you right away so you can alert the Star Luo Empire of the situation as soon as possible."


    The Holy Spirit Douluo immediately shook her head in response. "You''re going to take a look for yourself? No, that''s insane! A federal fleet of such a massive scale must have a Limit Douluo at the helm and countless other powerful beings among their ranks as well, not to mention the advanced radars they''ll have at their disposal as well; it''s far too dangerous for you to go alone!"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I would create the smallest target by myself, and the submarine must remain hidden at all costs. It''s decided; there''s no other way."


    "No, let me go instead, Boss," Xie Xie suddenly said, "With my martial soul, I''ll be able to conceal myself within space, and even the radars may not be able to detect me. I''ll be able to sneak up there and take a look, then immediately come back."


    Xie Xie''s martial soul was the Space Time Dragon, which granted him the ability of spatial concealment, and ever since his martial soul had undergone its second awakening, his powers had been drastically enhanced. On top of that, surveillance and reconnaissance duties always fell upon the shoulders of the agility system Soul Masters.


    There was no time for Tang Wulin to hesitate, and he instantly arrived at the decision that Xie Xie was indeed more suited for this task than he was. "Alright, you can go instead; we''ll be prepared to back you up at a moment''s notice. Just remember that if you get discovered, draw their attention toward the opposite direction of the submarine, and we''ll come to the surface to back you up."


    Xie Xie replied in a confident manner, "Don''t worry, I won''t get discovered. Even with soul power detection soul tools, they''ll only be able to detect my existence but not my exact location."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Time is of the essence, so get going right away. Mother, it''s time for you to go as well."


    The Holy Spirit Douluo nodded and didn''t say anything in response. She was very pleased with Tang Wulin''s calm demeanor and decisiveness in such a high-stakes situations. The ability to embrace responsibility during crucial times and calmly address any crises that arose was one that was mandatory to a good leader. Even if it turned out that he had made wrong decisions in the end, this was still going to be a very important learning experience for him. At the very least, she was of the opinion that Tang Wulin had already addressed the situation very well.


    The submarine slowly rose up, and two openings slowly appeared on its surface before a pair of pill-shaped bailout capsules containing Xie Xie and Yali were expelled.


    The primary function of these bailout capsules was the same as that of lifeboats on a ship. There were only 10 of these capsules in the entire submarine, and they could be propelled through the water for hundreds of meters, then rise to the surface through their own buoyancy. On top of that, the capsules had constant pressure in their interiors, and they were very expensive to produce.


    The federation had also conducted some research and development into submarines, but they definitely didn''t possess any of these capsules.


    Following their departure, Tang Wulin turned to the captain, and said, "What we have to do now is stall this fleet as much as we can. Tell me about the weapons that we have."


    The captain nodded, and replied, "The submarine has 16 soul missile launching barrels that can launch soul missiles of all grades and models, as well as four torpedo ports that can launch torpedoes of three different levels of power. However, even the most powerful of those torpedoes are only at the battleship level; none of them will be able to break through the defenses of an aircraft carrier. On top of that, the three types of torpedoes are also split up into disruptive and explosive torpedoes.


    "Among the two, explosive torpedoes have the most destructive power, whereas the main function of disruptive torpedoes is to release different types of electromagnetic and sonar waves to throw off the opposition''s detection devices. We currently have the most advanced disruptive torpedoes, and our explosive torpedoes will only be effective when detonated within two nautical miles of the target."


    Tang Wulin asked, "What about soul missiles?"


    The captain seemed to have immediately been reinvigorated at the mention of this topic, and he replied in a spirited manner, "For this journey, we''re carrying three ninth-grade soul missiles, 12 eighth-grade soul missiles, 24 seventh-grade soul missiles, and over 100 fifth and sixth-grade soul missiles. Even a battleship definitely doesn''t have such an impressive set of soul missiles at its disposal. In submarines, only soul missiles of the fifth-grade or above can be used as the speed and range of lower grade soul missiles can''t be ensured after they pass through the seawater."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. He knew that these were his trump cards, and he had to use these trump cards to stall the enormous federal fleet for as long as possible.


    "Do you have any suggestions for how we can delay the federal fleet?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The captain hesitated momentarily before replying, "Forgive me for being blunt, Sect Master, but we have no chance."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, clearly taken aback by the absolute nature of the captain''s response.


    "We have no chance at all? Didn''t you say that our submarine is currently the most advanced in the world?" Tang Wulin asked.


    A wry smile appeared on the captain''s face. "That is indeed true, but we''re facing the most powerful fleet in the world. According to the information we''ve gathered, the fleet being deployed by the federation for this war will be a joint fleet consisting of the Sea God Fleet, Eastsea Fleet, and Northsea Fleet; that''s close to half of the federation''s entire naval power, and from a statistical perspective, it''s an invincible force on our Douluo Star. The fleet is powerful enough to destroy the entire Star Luo Empire, and it''s fitted with the most advanced soul tools and surveillance devices. There''s no way that our submarine alone will be able to delay the fleet, and if we were to be discovered, our submarine would be blasted into smithereens within five minutes."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "Even long-distance harassment won''t work?"


    The captain replied, "That could work, but the chances of being discovered are very high. Currently, all of the federation''s major fleets have huge radar systems that can encompass huge areas of the surface of the ocean, as well as underwater. Unless we fire one shot from afar, then immediately sink deep into the ocean and go into hiding, we''ll definitely be discovered. Furthermore, after our first attack, the fleet will definitely activate all of their detection devices, and we won''t even have a chance to launch a second attack."


    The situation was more desperate than Tang Wulin had anticipated. According to the captain, they had no chance at all.

 Chapter 1398: Descending Into the Depths

    However, if they couldn''t delay this fleet, then it would reach the Star Luo Empire in no more than two days, and that may not even be enough time for the Star Luo Empire to set up all of the resources and weapons that Tang Wulin had brought to them.


    As such, he had to stall this fleet no matter what.


    Furthermore, there was another issue for Tang Wulin: he had to stall this fleet without actually damaging it. His ultimate objective was peace, not to harm any side. The soldiers on the federal fleets were also living, breathing humans!


    Right at this moment, Long Yuxue suddenly spoke up. "I have an idea."


    She had arrived a little after Tang Wulin and his friends, and she had heard the conversation between Tang Wulin and the captain.


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic, and he immediately prompted, "Go ahead."


    Long Yuxue continued, "If we want to harass the enemy without exposing ourselves, then we have to think outside the box. Our weapons aren''t the only things we can rely on; we can make use of some other factors, such as the terrain. For example, in our legion, we''ve only been able to keep our enemies at bay for all these years by taking advantage of the terrain in the passageways."


    The captain''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. "But this is the sea; what terrain is there to speak of? Even if we detonate soul missiles in the ocean to cause a temporary tsunami, that''ll only affect a fleet of such a massive scale for a short time, and they''ll definitely know that it was a man-made tsunami!"


    Long Yuxue shook her head in response. "Even the boundless ocean exists as a landmark of the Douluo Star; water has to float on top of something solid, does it not? If we want to create a sufficiently significant disturbance, then our target can''t be the seawater or the surface of the sea."


    Tang Wulin and the captain exclaimed in unison, "You''re talking about the seabed?"


    Long Yuxue nodded in response.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up. "What will happen if we target the seabed with our firepower?"


    The captain replied, "That depends on the area that we target. If we only attack a normal area of the seabed, then the most we''ll be able to accomplish is trigger a tsunami that''ll only last for a short time. However, if we can trigger a seabed earthquake or better yet, set off a seabed volcanic eruption, then the effect would be much more significant."


    Tang Wulin asked, "If we set off an underwater volcanic eruption, will that harm the federal fleet?"


    The captain replied, "A federal fleet of this scale is definitely going to be well equipped to deal with weather changes. For example, the federal fleet has the ability to connect all of its ships in a short time through soul tools in order to stabilize the entire fleet, so it''s most likely going to be very difficult for us to truly damage the fleet. However, if we cause enough of a commotion, then we''ll definitely be able to stall them effectively. For example, if we can trigger a sufficiently powerful eruption of energy, their radars and sonars would malfunction."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "In that case, this seems to be a plausible course of action."


    A wry smile appeared on the captain''s face. "It won''t be that easy. Everything that I just described can only happen if we can trigger a seabed earthquake or underwater volcanic eruption, but our detection devices are completely unable to detect anything beneath the seabed. The only way this will work is if we can stumble upon an underwater volcano that''s already on the brink of eruption and is giving off very clear energy fluctuations, but as you can imagine, the chances of that happening are extremely low. As such, we''ll most likely only be able to set off an ordinary explosion, and the effect of that will be close to negligible for the federal fleet."


    As opposed to being disheartened upon hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    "Leave the seabed scouting mission to me; if there''s something that can be used to our advantage, then I''ll definitely be able to sense it. Captain, organize a bailout capsule for me and release it after the submarine sinks to the seabed. Make sure the capsule is propelled with enough power for it to be able to burrow into the mud and sand on the seabed."


    The captain''s mouth immediately gaped open upon hearing this, "I can''t do that! The bailout capsules are disposable objects; there wouldn''t be any issues if you''re taking the capsule to the surface, but if you''re burrowing into the seabed, you won''t even be able to get out of the capsule, let alone transmit any information back to us. There''s enormous water pressure on the seabed; we won''t even be able to rescue you!"


    Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation, "Don''t worry about all that, I''ll definitely be able to handle it. Just do as I say, and also prepare a ninth-grade soul missile. If I discover a suitable spot on the seabed to target, launch the missile as soon as I return."


    The captain wanted to offer further objections, but Yue Zhengyu laid a hand on his shoulder, and said, "Do as he says. He was able to secure victory even in the Trial of Five Gods; this is nothing in comparison."


    Tang Wulin''s physical constitution was completely incomprehensible to the average person. Even as his closest friends, they were still constantly being surprised by what his body was capable of.


    Water pressure that was lethal to the average person was nothing to Tang Wulin, and with his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he was the ideal candidate to scour the seabed.


    There was indeed immense pressure in the sea, but it was also the place where there was the greatest abundance of water elements. With Tang Wulin''s status as the Son of Nature and his enormous spiritual power, there was a very high likelihood that he would be able to find a suitable trigger point, so long as there actually was one in the nearby area.


    Everyone else''s absolute confidence in Tang Wulin seemed to have rubbed off on the captain, and his expression changed slightly as he said, "Alright, then."


    The bailout capsule was around 2.5 meters in length, and was a pill-shaped metallic structure with a built-in self-righting mechanism. During the ejection process, the capsule was inevitably going to tumble to a certain extent, so it had to be able to right itself.


    Xie Xie and the Holy Spirit Douluo had already left, and there was no way to communicate with them from underwater, so everyone could only pray for their success.


    The captain''s voice rang out through the transmission device in the capsule. "The submarine is now beginning its descent; we are now at 1,800 meters... 1,900 meters... 2,000 meters..."


    The pressure regulation device within the capsule was very effective, so Tang Wulin couldn''t feel any difference.


    He was currently repressing his own emotions to remain as calm as possible. Everyone''s spiritual power fluctuated to a certain extent; the more erratic one''s emotions were, the more chaotic their spiritual power became, and vice versa. Only after reaching a certain level of spiritual power would one be able to sense this, and Tang Wulin had definitely reached that level.


    The depth of this region of the sea was around three kilometers, and Tang Wulin had already inquired the submarine captain about the intensity of the water pressure he would have to face at this depth. The submarine was awaiting his return deep in the ocean, and the thing that the captain was most concerned about was the return process. However, Tang Wulin was very calm and had absolute confidence in himself.


    "2,800 meters... 2,900 meters... 3,000 meters... Now preparing to launch the capsule. Sect Master, are you ready?" The captain was still clearly quite hesitant.


    Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation, "I''m ready."


    "Preparing for launch! Three, two, one, launch!"


    Tang Wulin felt the capsule around him shudder violently from a burst of powerful propelling force, following which he was struck by a severe sense of weightlessness.


    This process passed by very quickly, and all of a sudden, the capsule decelerated dramatically. Tang Wulin knew that it had to have already burrowed into the seabed.


    He focused his attention and began to sense the changes taking place around him. The capsule was designed in such a way that it was able to completely keep out the external pressure even at such a great depth, but also allowed Tang Wulin to clearly sense the water elemental fluctuations outside.


    He released his spiritual power outward and slowly began to communicate with the water elements outside. This was the first time he had been this deep in the ocean; even back when he was training with Mu Ye, he had only reached several hundred meters deep at most.


    What was the sea going to be like three kilometers beneath the surface?


    With this sense of curiosity in his heart, Tang Wulin silently experienced the world around him. There were very few sparks of life force here, but the water elements were so dense that they were feeling slightly viscous.

 Chapter 1399: Unexpected Trouble

    The capsule was buried in the seabed, so it wasn''t bearing the full brunt of the water pressure. Even so, it was beginning to creak and groan. These capsules were designed to be shot upward, so they could only withstand the water pressure on the seabed for a short time.


    Tang Wulin immediately decided that he couldn''t continue to stay in the capsule any longer, and this was something that he hadn''t even mentioned to the submarine captain.


    He could still release his spiritual power to sense the water elements outside from within the capsule, but that wasn''t an optimal arrangement. He opened the release hatch and also took a deep breath to completely fill his lungs.


    However, due to the immense pressure weighing down on the capsule from the outside world, it wasn''t going to be opened that easily.


    Golden light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes, and golden scales appeared all over his body as he tore the capsule apart with his bare hands. A huge plume of sand and mud immediately came rushing in and instantly inundated his entire body.


    Aside from water elements, there was also a vast amount of earth elements that had come crashing down upon him. Tang Wulin felt as if he had been crushed under a heavy mecha, and he was immediately struck by a sense of asphyxiation.


    If a normal human were in his place, they would''ve instantly been killed on the spot. Thankfully, he had never been a normal person.


    His dragon core pulsated vigorously as he activated the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, and he released his own soul power to propel himself out of the seabed.


    After emerging from the sand and mud, the pressure on him only increased, and Tang Wulin felt as if his body had been completely bound.


    There was nothing around him aside from complete darkness, and he felt as if he had entered a pitch-black world.


    Enormous water pressure compressed his body from all sides, forcing him to release his soul power to keep it at bay. With his powerful Golden Dragon King bloodline, he was still able to move freely even in the face of such tremendous pressure.


    A thought suddenly occurred to Tang Wulin: this underwater environment was far more effective than any gravity training chamber!


    It wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea for him to cultivate in a place like this.


    At this depth, even walking was an arduous task for Tang Wulin, but the incredible abundance of water elements here was also unmatched anywhere else. Furthermore, the greater the pressure, the more his latent potential would be stimulated. If he had some time in the future, he really would like to return here for cultivation.


    This thought only flashed through Tang Wulin''s mind for a brief moment before he began to focus on communicating with the water elements around him with his spiritual power. Water elements were supposed to be gentle, yet in this deepsea environment, they were viscous and authoritative.


    The first thing that Tang Wulin had to do was to establish a connection with the water elements around him. Otherwise, with so much pressure weighing down upon him, his spiritual power wouldn''t be able to travel very far.


    Even though he had already reached the Spirit Domain realm, he could still clearly sense that his spiritual power was being oppressed to a very severe extent. This was a result of the natural resistance that the surrounding water elements had toward an outsider like him.


    Tang Wulin released his soul rings to illuminate the area around him. Black soul rings gave off no discernible light, so the brightest and most eye-catching of his soul rings were his greenish-golden Son of Nature soul ring, as well as the orange-golden soul rings provided to him by the Beautiful Silk Tulip.


    As he released his Son of Nature soul ring, a gentle natural aura proliferated outward, and just as he had expected, the pressure that he felt from the surrounding water elements immediately receded significantly.


    Tang Wulin was naturally very elated by this development, and he immediately released his spiritual power in all directions to scour through the seabed.


    However, even though the water elements were no longer all that resistant toward him, he still wasn''t able to sense much. His spiritual power could only spread for around a kilometer before it reached the limit, and that was a far cry from the area that he could encompass with his spiritual power on land. A sensory range of a kilometer was nothing in the boundless ocean, and he hadn''t even begun releasing his spiritual sense deeper into the seabed yet. Once he began to do that, his spiritual power would definitely be restricted even further.


    Was his status as the Son of Nature failing him here in the depths of the ocean? The elements here clearly weren''t as fond of him as they were on land.


    He had already grown accustomed to being blessed by the plane, but for some reason, that blessing seemed to have disappeared now that he was in the deep sea.


    Tang Wulin continued to release his aura as the Son of Nature to try and increase his affinity with the surrounding water elements, and at the same time, he called out to the Beautiful Silk Tulip in his heart. The Beautiful Silk Tulip was a true wealth of knowledge when it came to the power of nature.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip immediately gathered Tang Wulin''s current situation, and said, "I don''t have solutions, either, Master."


    "It seems like my status as the Son of Nature is failing in this environment," Tang Wulin mused in a perplexed manner.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "It does indeed seem that way, and I''m afraid I don''t know why. You''ve been blessed by the plane and possess the power of the Son of Nature, so the sea shouldn''t be rejecting you. Then again, the sea is the most powerful natural entity in this entire plane; it covers over 70% of the planet''s entire area, so it''s almost a plane in itself. Your Son of Nature powers have a greater affinity with life force, and there is very little life force here. Even so, as someone who''s been blessed by the plane, you should be able to communicate with water elements!


    "This is the first time I''ve ever been in a place like this as well, so I''m also unable to make sense of the situation. Could it be that the water elements in the deep sea do not conform to the ruler of the plane?"


    "Is that possible?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "It is. Have you forgotten that the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, became the Sea God in the end? I have a feeling that the ocean''s reluctance to comply with the will of the planar ruler has something to do with this Sea God. After all, even the power of a plane can''t contend with a true god. Perhaps the Sea God sealed the ocean so that even the planar ruler''s power wouldn''t be able to infiltrate it. This is the only explanation that I can think of right now."


    An expression that could only be described as spectacular appeared on Tang Wulin''s face upon hearing this.


    Sea God Tang San? Wasn''t that his birth father?


    This meant that he was not just the Son of Nature, but also the son of the Sea God!


    His status as the Son of Nature clearly wasn''t working; what about his status as the son of the Sea God? The issue that he now faced was that he had to somehow draw upon the power left to him by his father to earn the acknowledgment of the ocean.


    Having found a new direction to work toward, he reflexively delved deep into his own mind. He could still clearly recall that his father had left something in his mind prior to his departure.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t sure exactly what it was, but he knew that it had to be something that was extremely useful to him.


    Tang Wulin searched through his mind, and quickly discovered a ball of light hovering within it.

 Chapter 1400: Golden Trident

    That was none other than the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal that he had obtained from Elder Long, except its initial blue color had since turned golden.


    There was an indistinct symbol on the surface of the crystal depicting a golden trident, and Tang Wulin focused his spiritual power on that golden symbol.


    Right in that instant, Tang Wulin felt a faint buzzing sound ring out in his mind. The sound was very faint, and it seemed to have originated from the golden trident symbol.


    As soon as this buzzing sound appeared, Tang Wulin felt as if his mind had been instantly transformed into a turbulent ocean. One golden wave rose up over another, with each successive wave rising higher than the previous one.


    On top of that, a projection of himself had appeared in this golden sea that was his mind, and it was like a mirror image of his current situation, where his physical body was also hovering deep within the ocean.


    The only thing that was different was that this projection of Tang Wulin had a golden trident symbol on its forehead.


    This was the legendary weapon of the Sea God; had it been left to him by his father?


    He could clearly recall that Harosha had exclaimed that he possessed the bloodline of a god, and now that he was witnessing the golden trident symbol appear on his own forehead, Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with excitement.


    This further verified that he really did have a god as a father. Ever since he was a small child, the only father he had known had been Tang Ziran, and Tang Ziran had also treated Tang Wulin as if he were his own flesh and blood. As such, the sudden emergence of this birth father had been rather jarring to him. However, his birth father had saved his foster parents and left him with some of his power even though the Divine Realm was in such a difficult situation; how could Tang Wulin not be touched by his fatherly love?


    As a young man, he had never gone through a rebellious phase, and this was precisely because he had experienced far too many things. As a result, he knew that there were many situations that deprived one of the privilege of choice. Even as a god, his birth father had no choice but to abandon him, and this was necessitated by his circumstances, so he had never hated Tang San.


    In this moment, as he appraised the golden trident symbol left to him by his birth father, his heart was filled with a profound sense of emotion and longing.


    One day, he was going to find them so they could reunite as a family.


    Golden light began to radiate from Tang Wulin''s body, and the trident symbol on his forehead was giving off an aura of boundless authority. A series of changes began to take place as a result. The immense water pressure weighing down on Tang Wulin suddenly vanished, and as he opened his eyes, he discovered that a barrier of blue light had appeared around him.


    What was even more remarkable was that in this deep-sea environment that was clearly devoid of light, he was somehow able to see extremely far into the distance. It was as if the ocean had transformed into a massive blue crystal!


    All of the rejection and authority had already vanished, and it was as if the ocean were calling out to him like a dependent child calling out for their mother.


    In this instant, Tang Wulin felt as if he had become a part of the ocean. His senses spread rapidly through the ocean even without any conscious effort from himself, instantly encompassing an area of hundreds of kilometers. On top of that, he was able to clearly glean the situation on the surface of the ocean several kilometers overhead.


    His sensory scope had far exceeded what was possible for his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power; it was as if the entire ocean had become his domain, or an extension of his own body.


    A thought immediately occurred to Tang Wulin: if his father were here, then he would most likely be able to force the federal fleet back to the Douluo Continent through the power of the ocean alone, even without using any weapons.


    Of course, he wouldn''t be able to accomplish that, but at the very least, he was able to see far more than before, and he seemed to be able to control a small area of the ocean as well.


    His senses continued to rapidly extend outward, and the ocean began to guide him toward what he wanted to see.


    He saw a series of ships slowly slicing through the waves like a pack of giant metallic beasts. There were over 100 large and medium-sized ships arranged into three carrier-based vanguard groups that were situated in a triangular formation.


    The three aircraft carriers were enormous, and their decks were stacked with advanced soul fighter aircrafts. There were over four warships surrounding each of the aircraft carriers, and the giant aircraft carrier that was situated at the very forefront of the three vanguard groups had as many as eight warships around it. That was most likely the Sea God Fleet, which was commanded by Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had ever witnessed such an incredible spectacle, and his heart was filled with astonishment. This was the power of modern technology and the true power of the federation!


    There were protective soul barriers around the aircraft carriers that could be activated at a moment''s notice, as well as many massive cannon barrels situated on the aircraft carriers. Those cannons weren''t for soul missiles; they were designed for the federation''s most advanced Sea God Missiles.


    These types of missiles could gather water elements directly from the ocean through soul circuits, then convert those elements into offensive power. The most powerful Sea God Missiles possessed destructive power roughly equivalent to that of a sixth or seventh-grade soul missile, but the most fearsome thing about them was that they were able to draw upon an endless source of energy in the form of the ocean!


    On the Douluo Star, it could be said that this was an invincible fleet, and this was what gave the federal military the confidence to invade the other two continents in a bid to unite the entire planet.


    All of this reaffirmed what the submarine captain had told Tang Wulin earlier; the federal fleet really had arrived earlier than anticipated.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly felt a change from one of the warships in the distance. Through the fluctuations in the water elements, he could clearly sense that the warship in question was accumulating energy.


    Immediately thereafter, a ball of yellow energy erupted out of one of the warship''s cannons amid a resounding boom, then sped away into the distance.


    Had Xie Xie been discovered?


    Tang Wulin hadn''t done much research into marine weaponry; all of his knowledge on the subject stemmed from the information bestowed upon him by the submarine captain during this journey.


    Recalling back to what the captain had told him, Tang Wulin vaguely recalled that a yellow energy blast was from a shockwave missile. Shockwave missiles were also known as disruptive cannons, and their main purpose was to disrupt all types of detection devices by sending powerful shockwaves surging through the air.


    Generally speaking, shockwaves cannons were used to disrupt radar signals during marine battles. However, there was no marine battle that was currently taking place, so this cannon blast was clearly meant to serve a different purpose.


    The ball of light exploded, and yellow light instantly encompassed the entire area within a diameter of around a kilometer. A yellow light barrier appeared in the air, and a humanoid figure emerged within the area encompassed by the light barrier before plummeting directly downward.


    Xie Xie was currently kicking himself. He had been concealed in space this entire time, and as soon as he had discovered the three fleets, he had immediately sent a signal to the Holy Spirit Douluo. With his Space Time Dragon martial soul abilities, there was no way that he would''ve been discovered, but the signal waves from the signal he had sent to the Holy Spirit Douluo had been detected by a warship of the Sea God Fleet.


    The Sea God Fleet was the federation''s most elite fleet, as well as a direct subsidiary to the Battle God Hall. Not only did they have the best equipment, all of their personnel were extremely experienced. To put it in simpler terms, even the other two fleets combined may not be able to contend with it.


    The warship had launched a shockwave missile without any hesitation, and everything had happened too abruptly; Xie Xie only had time to don his suit of battle armor before he was affected by the shockwave missile.


    His head was currently ringing violently, and his entire body was trembling uncontrollably. As he was plummeting down from above, he was circulating his own soul power as quickly as he could in order to shake off these negative effects he had been afflicted by.

 Chapter 1401: No Respite

    A single shockwave missile wasn''t enough to truly harm him, but Xie Xie could see that several more cannon barrels on that same warship had released beams of light.


    These beams of light cut off all avenues of evasion for him, and even more alarmingly, they exploded to form a massive net of light that converged toward him from all sides.


    These were capture missiles!


    They had been developed by the federation for the purpose of capturing large sea soul beasts, and even 10,000-year-old soul beasts would find it very difficult to resist these missiles, let alone a human.


    Xie Xie was currently still reeling from the effects of that shockwave missile, so there was no way for him to escape.


    He knew that he had still been too arrogant in the end. If he had been more cautious and traveled further away before contacting the Holy Spirit Douluo, this would''ve never happened. If he were to be captured by the federal fleet, then he really would be completely at their mercy.


    Only after truly facing a colossus like the federal fleet was he made to understand just how fearsome modern technology was.


    A series of mechas had already risen up into the air from the warship, and they were led by a black mecha. As soon as the capture missiles detained Xie Xie, the mechas would swoop in and take him back to the warship for interrogation.


    In this dire situation, Xie Xie displayed his prowess as one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    He immediately bit down onto the tip of his own tongue, and soul power surged through his body as his seventh soul ring lit up, unleashing his Space Time Dragon True Body.


    Xie Xie currently didn''t possess a complete suit of three-word battle armor. Among all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, only Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, and Tang Wulin possessed complete suits of three-word battle armor, and the next in line to have their suits of battle armor completed were Xu Xiaoyan and Yue Zhengyu. This arrangement had been made as Xie Xie and Xu Lizhi were the boyfriends of Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan, respectively.


    As such, Xie Xie currently only had 70% of his suit of three-word battle armor. Thus, he didn''t possess a domain and could only rely on his own martial soul true body.


    The Space Time Dragon had a very peculiar appearance. It resembled a cross between a dragon and a snake, and it had a pair of transparent wings on its back. Furthermore, it was far smaller than the average giant dragon; even in his martial soul true body form, Xie Xie''s body had only extended to just over three meters in length. There was a layer of semi-transparent illusionary light shimmering all around the Space Time Dragon, and as soon as Xie Xie unleashed his martial soul true body, the negative effects of the shockwave missile were noticeably alleviated.


    Xie Xie''s body swayed as he phased into space, instantly unleashing his Spatial Evasion ability to squirm out of the capture net. After that, he immediately tried to plunge into space to flee the scene, but he had underestimated the federal fleet''s capabilities once again.


    Four resounding booms rang out almost in complete unison, and four more shockwave missiles exploded around him, causing the space in the area to tremor violently. If he were to forcibly flee into space, he would most likely be torn apart by the resulting spatial rifts.


    Thus, Xie Xie was forced to re-emerge, and his skin crawled as he felt a burst of energy lock onto him.


    The goosebumps that had instinctively appeared all over his body told him that this attack was definitely one that posed a threat to his life.


    His body flashed through the air as he manifested three identical Space Time Dragon projections, all of which fled toward different directions at the same time. With ample preparation and the enhancements he had received from his martial soul true body, the impact that the shockwave missiles had on him were negligible.


    Several dozens of streaks of light hurtled through the air, striking the three Space Time Dragons with unerring accuracy, but all of them merely faded away while Xie Xie reappeared elsewhere before attempting to flee into space again.


    "Boom, boom, boom!" Several more explosions rang out as more shockwave missiles were detonated, and Xie Xie was cursing internally.


    At least five mechas had already surrounded him, and the black mecha at the very forefront was unleashing a relentless barrage of energy attacks, all of which possessed extremely potent penetrative power.


    Xie Xie maneuvered himself through the air like a agile fish, and layers of illusionary projections appeared over his body, making it impossible for the opposition to ascertain exactly where he was.


    All of the surrounding mechas felt as if they were attacking something with no substantial body; no matter what type of attack they unleashed, their target was always able to evade them with ease. However, with the disruption from the shockwave missiles, he was unable to flee using his spatial abilities, either.


    He knew that the submarine was deep in the ocean, so there would be no way for him to request reinforcements by transmitting a signal back to it. As such, he could only rely on himself, but what could he do? He couldn''t afford to be captured! Otherwise, it was very likely that his cover would be blown.


    He had to get away somehow. He was aware that regardless of how powerful his abilities were, there would be no way for him to escape if the fleet were to deploy a few Titled Douluos to detain him. As such, there was only a sliver of opportunity for him during this period of time in which the fleet wasn''t regarding him as a serious threat.


    With that in mind, he gritted his teeth and on this occasion, he conjured up six illusionary projections of himself. The six Space Time Dragon instantly shot forth in different directions, leaving only six warped images in the air, while the bodies of the dragons were nowhere to be seen.


    This was a combination of his Shadow Dragon Dagger''s concealment ability and his Space Time Dragon''s spatial powers; even soul power detection soul tools wouldn''t be able to ascertain his exact location. As long as one of the dragons could escape out of the range of the shockwave missiles, then he would succeed in his escape.


    However, right at this moment, the thing that Xie Xie had dreaded the most arrived.


    A string of resounding booms akin to rumbling thunderclaps rang out as at least 10 shockwave missiles exploded in mid-air, completely sealing off the entire area.


    Immediately thereafter, a cold voice rang out. "You think you can get away?"


    As the voice sounded within Xie Xie''s ears, the surrounding temperature plummeted drastically, and the six Space Time Dragons all became very slow and sluggish, as if the air had suddenly congealed. Large snowflakes began to drift down from the heavens, and they all converged toward the six Space Time Dragons as if they had minds of their own.


    The snowflakes were very light and didn''t possess any offensive power, but they were imbued with an extremely potent frosty aura.


    The sea was the world in which water elements thrived. As such, it couldn''t be simpler to conjure up snowflakes here.


    Xie Xie immediately realized that an ice attribute control system Titled Douluo had arrived, and he knew that he was in big trouble.


    The six Space Time Dragon''s instantly combined as one again to reduce the number of targets for the snowflakes, and as soon as his true body emerged, the countless snowflakes in the air immediately transformed into a massive vortex with him situated right at the center of it, making it impossible for him to escape.


    It was over. Never did Xie Xie think that a moment of complacency would result in such catastrophic consequences.


    A figure appeared in the mid-air not far away. This was a man in a crisp military uniform with his hands clasped behind his back. He appeared to be in his forties, and there was a cold light in his eyes.


    He was the Snow and Ice Battle God of the Battle God Hall''s 18 Battle Gods. He was the master of snow and ice, and one of the three control system Soul Masters among the 18 Battle Gods. His forte lay in exerting control over large areas, and his abilities struck all of his opponents with a sense of despair.

 Chapter 1402: Entering the Sea

    He was especially proficient at dealing with agility system Soul Masters and had extremely sound judgment. This Snow and Ice Storm that had been unleashed was his signature control ability, and it encompassed a very large area.


    The spy that they had detected was proving to be quite troublesome; he was adept in spatial abilities, and shockwave missiles weren''t cheap. Over 20 of them had already been launched thus far, all to no avail, which was why he had decided to come out in person to get the job done.


    No matter how cunning the spy was, there was no way he would be able to escape.


    The Snow and Ice Storm he had unleashed had the ability to seal off the space that it encompassed, but right at this moment, a stunning turn of events unfolded.


    All of a sudden, a burst of blue light abruptly rose up from the surface of the ocean. Xie Xie was already in complete despair, yet the frosty aura around him was suddenly alleviated significantly, and the snowflakes around him quickly melted away as if they were being subjected to the heat of the scorching summer sun.


    "Get in the sea." A familiar voice traveled into his ears, and his eyes lit up with elation as he immediately plunged into the sea like a cannonball.


    The Snow and Ice Battle God faltered slightly upon seeing this before reflexively pointing a finger at Xie Xie, sending a streak of glacial light hurtling directly toward him.


    However, a massive wave suddenly rose up from the sea without any warning, then swept up Xie Xie''s body and abruptly dragged him into the ocean. Thus, the Snow and Ice Battle God''s attack struck nothing but empty air.


    The Snow and Ice Battle God was furious, and he immediately issued an instruction through his portable military communicator. "Activate the deep sea radars!"


    The underwater sonars, radars, thermal imaging devices, and soul power detection soul tools were all immediately activated, but no discoveries were made; it was as if the Xie Xie had been completely devoured by the ocean, leaving no traces behind.


    How was this possible?


    An astonished look appeared in the eyes of the Snow and Ice Battle God upon receiving this report. He had faced countless agility system Soul Masters throughout his life, but it was the first time that something like this had ever happened. This was downright incredible!


    That wave clearly wasn''t part of that agility system Soul Master''s abilities, so someone had to have backed him up from underwater. Was this person from the Star Luo Empire?


    In any case, the federal fleet was going to be discovered by the Star Luo Empire eventually, but the later the discovery was made, the greater the advantage the federal fleet would gain. On top of that, the Snow and Ice Battle God was feeling very indignant to have a spy sneak away from right under his nose.


    "Come back, there''s an unfathomably powerful being assisting that spy from the shadows." An authoritative voice rang out from within the communicator, and the fury on the Snow and Ice Battle God''s face immediately transitioned into a respectful expression upon hearing this voice.


    He immediately gave an affirmative reply, then flew toward the largest of the three aircraft carriers as opposed to returning to his own warship.


    An opening appeared in the light barrier around the aircraft carrier to grant him entry, and he flew directly to the control center.


    After arriving at the entrance to the control center, he stood up straight outside the door, and yelled, "Sir!"


    "Come in." A placid voice rang out in response.


    The Snow and Ice Battle God strode into the control center, then extended an impeccable military salute toward the elderly man standing before him.


    "Apologies for my incompetence, Hall Master," the Snow and Ice Battle God said with a hint of indignation in his eyes.


    Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie waved a hand in response. "You''re not to blame; that spy had an extremely powerful ally. I didn''t think that there was a powerful being of this caliber in the Star Luo Empire."


    "What do you mean, Hall Master?" the Snow and Ice Battle God asked as his brows furrowed slightly.


    Chen Xinjie replied, "I was unable to sense who had rescued that spy. When I tried to track them down using my spiritual power, the sea rejected me. This is the first time I''ve encountered such a situation."


    "What?" the Snow and Ice Battle God exclaimed in shock.


    Ever since he had joined the Battle God Hall, the Boundless Ocean Douluo had always been his idol, whom he harbored an unconditional sense of admiration toward.


    He was well aware of just how powerful the Boundless Ocean Douluo was; his martial soul was the ocean itself! He had an extremely high level of affinity with the ocean, and even though he hadn''t reached the quasigod level yet, he was only a sliver away. If a battle were to take place on the ocean, even a quasigod won''t necessarily be able to match him. With such a close connection to the sea, it was downright unthinkable that the ocean would reject him.


    How was this happening? It didn''t make any sense!


    Chen Xinjie''s brows furrowed slightly. "I don''t know what happened, but this feeling is making me very uneasy. The sea only rejected me for an instant, but after that instant, both the spy and his ally completely disappeared. The sea produced natural water elemental fluctuations to throw off all of our detection devices for around five seconds, and by the time all of the detection devices returned to normal, both of them were gone."


    The Snow and Ice Battle God asked, "What should we do, Hall Master?"


    A faint smile appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face. "Let''s wait and see what happens. I''m very curious about when such a powerful being appeared in the Star Luo Empire; their ability to draw upon the power of the sea is most likely not inferior to mine. At the very least, I can almost be completely certain that the Star Luo Empire now has more than one Limit Douluo. Isn''t it much more interesting to be facing a more powerful opponent?"


    As the Battle God Hall Master, his combat prowess hadn''t waned in the slightest despite his advanced age, and as one of the leaders of the Eagle Faction, he had always had a strong competitive spirit.


    "Issue my orders: travel full speed ahead toward our original planned destination. Now that we''ve already been discovered, there''s no need to hide anything any longer."


    "Yes!"


    ......


    Xie Xie felt as if the entire world were spinning around him.


    In the instant that he was swept up by that massive wave, he had completely lost control over his own body, but there was a special type of power dragging him rapidly through the ocean. There was barely light this deep down in the ocean, so he had no idea where he was. Thankfully, his forte lay in his speed, so he was able to ward off the sense of dizziness that would often arise when traveling at such a high speed.


    Despite his lack of control over the situation, he felt very safe as the voice that had called out to him was one that he trusted the most and was most familiar with. Even if he misheard Yuanen Yehui''s voice, there was no way that he would mishear this voice.


    Xie Xie had no idea how he had suddenly attained this power, but he had absolute trust in him. After all, it wasn''t like this was the first time he had created a miracle.


    In reality, even Tang Wulin himself hadn''t thought that he would be able to control the sea to such an extent. Furthermore, he had clearly sensed the spiritual power that belonged to the Boundless Ocean Douluo.


    As soon as that burst of spiritual power had entered the sea, it had almost stolen Tang Wulin''s control over the ocean away from him, and it had also come very close to tracking him down.


    Thankfully, the sea had reacted of its own accord to cut off Chen Xinjie''s spiritual sense, and also acted according to Tang Wulin''s instruction to protect Xie Xie.


    Everything had happened so quickly that even Tang Wulin himself was still reeling from this dramatic sequence of events.


    Was that the power of the Sea God that his father had left to him? Even though he wasn''t the actual Sea God, Tang Wulin had a feeling that the sea would protect him.

 Chapter 1403: I Believe You

    As soon as this thought appeared in his mind, he was struck by a pang of guilt. The sea was trying to protect him, yet he was trying to set off an underwater explosion that would undoubtedly kill a large number of marine creatures.


    How could he be so selfish as to sacrifice the lives of marine creatures for the sake of minimizing human casualties in this war?


    As he was dragging Xie Xie back toward himself, he had already decided to abandon his original plan. He wasn''t going to set off an underwater explosion, even if that meant that he wouldn''t be able to delay the federal fleet.


    Right at this moment, he was struck by a peculiar feeling that seemed to be a rather indistinct spiritual connection. Tang Wulin could only sense indistinct yet boundless spiritual fluctuations converging toward him from all sides, transmitting some basic information to him.


    The information transmitted to him by the sea was very simple; all it required was an instruction from Tang Wulin, and it would do everything in its power to help him achieve what he wanted.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that after the ocean had felt his Sea God aura, it had developed a strong sense of affection toward him, akin to the affection that a child felt toward a parent figure.


    Thus, there was even more reason for him to refrain from damaging the marine ecosystem.


    Just as he was struggling to come up with an alternative resolution, an image suddenly appeared in his mind, upon which his heart was immediately filled with elation.


    Can you do that? Tang Wulin asked with his mind.


    The answer he received from the ocean was an affirmative one, and Tang Wulin immediately conveyed his emotions of gratitude toward the sea in response.


    This was a massively pleasant surprise, but at the same time, it made him relearn the lesson that he should never resort to taking lives unless there was no other alternative. Prior to forging this connection with the sea, he had almost made a terrible mistake.


    A ball of faint blue light came flying rapidly toward him, and a faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of the figure within it.


    Thank heavens he had managed to recruit the assistance of the ocean. Otherwise, Xie Xie would''ve been in massive trouble.


    The world around Xie Xie finally stopped spinning, and he was immediately struck by an overwhelming sense of nausea, causing him to dry-retch violently.


    Immediately thereafter, he caught sight of Tang Wulin, who was standing before him with faint blue light emanating from his body. He then looked around to find that he was still in the ocean, and that there was nothing around him aside from endless darkness.


    There was a blue light barrier around his and Tang Wulin''s body that isolated them from the outside world, and Tang Wulin appraised him with a serious expression as he asked, "Do you not value your own life? Do you know what would''ve happened if you had been captured?"


    Xie Xie continued to dry retch as he replied, "Boss... I''m sorry, I won''t ever get complacent again."


    Tang Wulin continued, "The overall power of the federal fleet will only be more formidable than what we can imagine. If the one who had appeared to detain you was the Boundless Ocean Douluo, you would''ve been captured in an instant. If that had happened, even I wouldn''t have any way to save you."


    A hint of lingering fear also appeared in Xie Xie''s eyes upon hearing this, but that was quickly replaced by a hint of befuddlement. "What is this place?"


    "We''re currently situated on the seabed. Stay by my side for now," Tang Wulin replied.


    Xie Xie''s eyes widened with astonishment. "We''re on the seabed? How are we still able to speak to one another? And how did you get me down here in the first place?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Would you believe me if I told you that I''m the son of the Sea God and am adored by the ocean?"


    Xie Xie immediately nodded without any hesitation. "I believe you! I''ll believe whatever you tell me!"


    Xie Xie was completely unable to disguise his own astonishment. How had Tang Wulin managed to do this? This was incredible!


    Tang Wulin said, "Alright, stay quiet and don''t stray away from me; the water pressure outside this light barrier is no joke. Elder Long passed down our academy''s Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal to me, and it can allow me to draw upon the power of the ocean to a certain extent. Just stay still for a while; I need some time to create some trouble for the federal fleet."


    An enlightened look appeared on Xie Xie''s face upon hearing this. "So that''s what it is! You''re the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, so it''s not wrong to call you the son of the Sea God! Haha, you''re the best, Boss! If we had known that you could do this, we wouldn''t even have had to use the submarine!"


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face at the sight of Xie Xie''s frenetic display.


    What do I need to do?


    The sea transmitted its will to him in response. Slowly, he began to get a grasp on his current situation, as well as that of the ocean.


    The sea was the largest existence in nature, and it was its own entity. It had once also been under the jurisdiction of the planar ruler, but that changed when Tang San inherited the berth of the Sea God.


    After becoming the Sea God, Tang San naturally received the acknowledgment of the sea, and he had also done many things for the ocean.


    In a sense, the planar ruler was also a god, but in contrast with the ruler of the abyssal plane, the planar ruler of the Douluo Star only possessed instinctive will and wasn''t able to do anything specific. Thus, it was unable to control the actions of a god.


    After Tang San became a god, he continued to linger on the Douluo Continent for quite a long time, and during that time the sea developed the deep-rooted notion that he was the true master of the sea, which led to the ocean developing a certain resistance toward the planar ruler.


    In reality, the loss of balance in the plane''s ecosystem had a lot to do with the planar ruler''s inability to control the ocean.


    Soul beasts were on the verge of extinction, yet sea soul beasts were still thriving. Tang San had once issued an order to the sea soul beasts to live as deep in the sea as they could, and on top of that, the sea soul beasts were more unified, so they were able to better pass down their lineage while also largely avoiding being hunted by powerful beings.


    After losing control over the ocean, the life force energy that the planar ruler was able to draw upon decreased significantly, and that resulted in a series of problems. All of these problems were further compounded by the excessive consumption of resources by the human race through their rapid development, thereby resulting in this current situation.


    After tapping into the Sea God aura that Tang San had left behind, Tang Wulin managed to receive the acknowledgment of the sea. On top of that, he was blessed by the plane, so in a sense, he had become a bridge between the sea and the rest of the plane.


    Never would the Heartless Douluo have been able to anticipate that Tang Wulin, who had been chosen by both the planar ruler and the seed of life, would also be the son of the Sea God. Normal people were naturally unable to sense this, but the planar ruler was certainly able to detect his bloodline. Even though Tang Wulin couldn''t control the ocean like his father had been able to in the past, he was still able to control it to a certain extent and guide the ocean to do his bidding.


    If Tang San were here, he could conjure up a tsunami with just a single thought to capsize the entire federal fleet. No matter how powerful the federal fleet was, there was no way it could contend with the entire ocean.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t possess godly power, so he wasn''t able to make the sea a part of himself. Thus, he could only control a part of the ocean to trigger some weather phenomena that would be still within the realm of normalcy.


    Even so, he was still the son of the Sea God, and his control over the ocean certainly far exceeded that of all of the other Soul Masters. Even if the Infernal King Douluo had pursued him here, it would be extremely difficult to kill Tang Wulin here in the ocean.


    After getting a grasp on the current situation, Tang Wulin knew what he had to do.


    The blue ball of light slowly rose upward and began to radiate gentle light. In contrast with Xie Xie, who was as good as blind in this environment, Tang Wulin could see countless marine creatures and a boundless underwater world.

 Chapter 1404: Weather Change

    This was a truly wonderful feeling. He could sense that if he were to cultivate in the sea, he would benefit far more than from normal cultivation.


    Through his connection with the sea, he was also gaining a better grasp on the two powerful techniques that his father had bestowed upon him, particularly the second one, which was a spatial technique that emulated part of the ocean''s power.


    Xie Xie could only sense that he was rising upward at a rapid speed, and this was quite a peculiar feeling. In particular, as the surface of the ocean drew closer and closer, the surrounding sea began to light up, presenting a sight that was more spectacular than any scenery.


    "Boss, where''s our submarine?" Xie Xie asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "It''s still waiting for us deep in the ocean. Let it wait there for now; I have another way to delay the federal fleet."


    "What are you going to do?" Xie Xie asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Just wait and see. I can''t be sure that it''s going to succeed, but there should be a good chance."


    At this point, the surrounding area had brightened significantly, and they were about to reach the surface of the ocean soon. Tang Wulin knew that the moment of truth was coming. Even as the son of the Sea God, he wouldn''t be able to trigger the change that he wanted to see if he didn''t have enough physical tolerance.


    The duration of time that he would be able to affect the federal fleet would depend on how long he could persist.


    The sea parted, and a pillar of water carried Tang Wulin and Xie Xie to the surface. Blue light rippled, and it was as if Tang Wulin had sprouted out of the ocean.


    The conditions were currently very placid with blue skies stretching as far as the eyes could see.


    The two of them were currently situated around 30 nautical miles away from the federal fleet, which was already within the detection range of the fleet''s radars. However, there was currently a light barrier formed by seawater around Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, and the barrier was very thin, but it was able to prevent them from being detected by the radars.


    This was the power of nature.


    Tang Wulin turned to Xie Xie, and said, "No matter what happens, stay quiet and don''t stray away from me."


    "You got it," Xie Xie said as he made a zipping motion over his own mouth before throwing away the figurative key.


    Tang Wulin smiled as he looked up into the sky, and said, "Begin."


    He slowly raised his right hand to point up into the heavens, and the golden trident symbol on his forehead instantly began to release dazzling light.


    The sea around Tang Wulin began to churn violently, and enormous waves suddenly began to appear over the surface of the placid ocean.


    Xie Xie could clearly see that there were countless faint blue specks of light rising up into the air from these violent waves. Due to how diminutive these specks of light were, they were only visible to Tang Wulin and Xie Xie.


    The sea continued to churn with ferocious might, and extremely rich energy continued to rise up from the surface of the sea as the waves became more and more violent.


    The sea was a part of nature, so it had no will of its own and couldn''t do anything by itself; only its master would be able to guide it to complete some specific tasks.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t control the sea, but he was able to influence the ocean to create some phenomena that could occur under normal circumstances, such as a storm.


    His right arm gradually turned into a dazzling blue color as he continued to point up into the heavens, and a golden projection began to appear.


    The projection was only around the same height as Tang Wulin, but it was covered from head to toe in a layer of golden radiance.


    It had a head of long blue hair, and handsome facial features that bore a strong resemblance to Tang Wulin''s appearance. The projection also had a golden trident pattern on its forehead, and its eyes seemed to be reflecting a vast starry sky.


    In that instant, dark clouds suddenly began to appear over the clear blue skies, and an indescribable sense of pressure was taking shape, sweeping up gusts of fierce winds and causing the turbulent waves to churn even more violently. The sun was gradually concealed behind a layer of dark clouds, and the sea began to roar as if it had just awakened from a long slumber.


    ......


    The Boundless Ocean Douluo suddenly opened his eyes as he sat on his chair in the control center. A faint layer of light flashed around him, and in the next instant, he arrived in the air above the aircraft carrier.


    He cast his gaze into the distance, and from his position, he could see the ferocious waves on the surface of the ocean, as well as the rich water elements rapidly rising up into the air.


    Someone''s using the power of the ocean! Could it be the same person as the one from before?


    Chen Xinjie''s brows furrowed tightly in a grim manner. If it really were the same person, what exactly did he want to do, and what could he even achieve?


    The sky grew darker and darker, and lightning began to flash within the dense blanket of dark clouds up above.


    The Boundless Ocean Douluo''s heart jolted with shock as he took in the current situation. As a Limit Douluo who was a descendant of the ancient Sea Douluo, he had a very high level of affinity with the ocean. However, at this moment, he could sense that the sea was roaring at him in fury, and he was struggling to even control the seawater around the aircraft carrier.


    Why type of power was capable of doing this?


    "Attention, all units! Prepare to connect all ships and keep your communicators switched on to await my instructions," Chen Xinjie commanded.


    At the same time, he had already begun to fly toward the epicenter where he could sense that the eruption of energy was originating from. He wanted to see exactly who it was that was causing such a commotion and had even turned the ocean against him.


    The weather out at sea was indeed very unpredictable, but such an abrupt and drastic turn in weather conditions was still extremely rare. On top of that, for the very first time in his life, he could sense that the power of the ocean was rejecting him; this was completely abnormal!


    What had happened to make the ocean become like this? This was definitely not a natural occurrence. There was either an extremely powerful Soul Master behind this, or an almighty sea soul beast. If it were a sea soul beast, then it had to at least be a Great Beast for it to be able to make the sea reject a demigod like him. If it were a human, then they had to be from the Star Luo Empire.


    Regardless of what it was, the situation was definitely not within the realm of their expectations.


    All of a sudden, a rumbling thunderclap rang out to break the tense and oppressive silence that had settled over the sea. Bolts of lightning quickly began to flash and intertwine to form massive lightning nets, before crashing down from above.


    The thunderclaps made it sound as if heaven and earth were roaring to vent its fury, and extremely rich lightning and water elements were gathering within a vast surrounding area.


    Tang Wulin looked up into the sky, and all of a sudden, an urgent voice rang out in his heart. A faint smile appeared on his face upon hearing this voice, and he flapped his Golden Dragon King wings, propelling himself straight up into the heavens.


    Xie Xie naturally rose up alongside him, and both of them headed directly toward the lightning clouds up above.

 Chapter 1405: Fusing With the Infernal Lightning Vine

    "Boss, have you gone insane?" Xie Xie was on the verge of soiling himself at the sight of the ferocious bolts of lightning in the sky. Due to the excessive density of lightning within the dark clouds, they were forming balls of lightning that were intertwining in mid-air. Just by looking at the scene unfolding up above, one could sense the devastating destructive power that was brewing.


    "Be quiet. If you''re scared, then close your eyes," Tang Wulin said.


    He was flying at an extremely fast speed, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, he had already plunged into the vast expanse of lightning up above.


    It''s over!


    Xie Xie reflexively closed his eyes and waited for himself to be charred to a cinder crisp, but much to his surprise, he wasn''t struck by any discomfort at all.


    What was happening?


    He opened his eyes again to find himself in a bluish-purple world that was so spectacular that he was momentarily entranced.


    He discovered that a purple ball of light had appeared around himself and Tang Wulin, and it was as if they were situated in a purple crystal. Outside the purple crystal, waves of lightning were crashing down toward them, but not only was the lightning not able to harm the crystal in the slightest, it was being absorbed.


    He then turned to Tang Wulin to find that he had taken a seat with his legs crossed in mid-air. His Golden Dragon King wings were spread open, and there was a hint of elation on his calm face. Eight soul rings, consisting of four blacks, one greenish-golden, and three orange-golden, were revolving around him, and the golden trident symbol on his forehead had become particularly bright.


    What was he doing? Xie Xie looked on in a flabbergasted manner.


    Finally, he discovered that something was amiss. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the purple ball of light around them was woven from a series of vines. It was just that the vines were being completely illuminated by the lightning strikes, thereby giving it the appearance of a single unbroken crystal.


    Was this the Infernal Lightning Vine?


    Xie Xie was astonished as this answer occurred to him.


    What was Tang Wulin doing? Could it be that he was absorbing his ninth soul ring?


    Indeed, that was exactly what Tang Wulin was doing.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine had been struck by a sense of elation upon sensing the lightning storm that Tang Wulin had summoned above the ocean, and it immediately urged him to fly into the lightning clouds so it could absorb the enormous energy within the bolts of lightning.


    Ever since the Infernal Lightning Vine had become Zhang Geyang''s soul spirit, it had constantly been repressed and prohibited from further absorbing lightning in order to prevent self-detonation. However, absorbing lightning was an integral part of the Infernal Lightning Vine''s being, so at this moment, it was like a ferocious beast that had starved for countless years and had suddenly caught sight of a delicious feast; how could it possibly be able to hold back?


    It had betrayed Zhang Geyang as he had repressed its instincts for all these years, and never fulfilled his promise. Over time, it had developed nothing but resentment toward its former host.


    In contrast, it had only been with Tang Wulin for a very short time, but with the assistance and nourishment it had received from the Beautiful Silk Tulip and Tang Wulin''s powers as the Son of Nature, not only had it made a full recovery, many of its inherent flaws had also been ironed out.


    It was now able to devour lightning to its heart''s content without any inhibitions precisely because it was being protected by Tang Wulin.


    With the nourishment from his Son of Nature aura, it didn''t have to worry about self-detonation at all. On top of that, its host wasn''t just the Son of Nature; he was also the son of the Sea God!


    Here in the ocean, the power of the son of the Sea God naturally far outstripped that of the Son of Nature.


    The rich water elements acted as the ideal source of protection for the Infernal Lightning Vine, thereby allowing it to wholeheartedly devour the lightning elements in the air with reckless abandon.


    It was driven by its instincts to devour lightning elements even though doing so would eventually lead to its demise, and nothing was more pleasurable for it than to be able to absorb lightning like this. In the instant that Tang Wulin had released and allowed it to freely devour lightning while protecting it using his control over the surrounding water elements, it had already been completely won over by him.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine absorbed the enormous wealth of lightning elements in the air in an unreserved manner to enhance itself, and it could clearly sense itself becoming more powerful with each passing lightning strike.


    A new Infernal Lightning Vine had virtually the slowest rate of cultivation among all soul beasts, but after reaching 10,000 years of age, its rate of cultivation would become the fastest among all soul beasts. Unfortunately, this rapid spike in the rate of its cultivation also heralded the beginning of the end. Every time it cultivated after reaching 10,000 years of age, it ran the risk of destroying itself. It was the most destructive plant system soul beast, but also one that was destined for tragedy.


    It could be said that this Infernal Lightning Vine was the luckiest one to ever exist as it had found a host who was blessed by the planar ruler, and was also the son of a god. It was now able to devour lightning without any fear of consequences; if it were capable of crying, there would be tears of gratitude and elation streaming down its face.


    It was rejoicing over its own decision. If it hadn''t listened to the Beautiful Silk Tulip and chosen to stay with Zhang Geyang, then it would never have been able to experience this joy ever again.


    The lightning being absorbed by the Infernal Lightning Vine wasn''t affecting the dark clouds at all. The blanket of dark clouds seemed to be descending toward the sea, and the entire ocean began to churn violently as ferocious winds were swept up in a frenzy.


    What was even more terrifying was that up until this point, not even a single drop of rain had fallen. All people who were well-versed with the sea knew that the longer a storm took to brew, the more fearsome it would be.


    However, this also gave the federal fleet ample time to prepare to weather the storm. The three fleets quickly converged, and a series of giant metal pillars extended outward to connect all of the ships before drawing them into a dense cluster.


    From a distance, it appeared as if a continent with an extremely rugged terrain had appeared on the surface of the ocean.


    All of the ships of the three fleets were connected together with the three aircraft carriers at the very center, and they were all arranged in a formation that had been meticulously calculated to be able to withstand the elements to the greatest extent.


    This was the special setup that the federal fleet had prepared specifically to counter dangerous weather conditions.


    The soul fighter aircrafts on the decks of the aircraft carriers had already been stored away into their designated cabins and secured so that they wouldn''t be damaged in the imminent storm.


    Chen Xinjie was still hovering above the ocean, sensing the changes taking place in the surrounding water elements. He could sense that the water elements seemed to have attained life of their own and were constantly rising up into the air.


    What was even more terrifying was that an infernal realm of lightning had appeared up above, and with his enormous powers, he couldn''t help but feel a sense of fear.


    Under normal circumstances, he wouldn''t have to fear any storm as he could easily erase the storm with his affinity with the ocean. However, this was a completely unprecedented situation in which he seemed to have lost the blessings of the sea.


    There was no way for him to control the storm, and he couldn''t disrupt the terrifying lightning that had gathered up above.


    The more he looked at the situation, the more he was struck by the feeling that this wasn''t a man-made situation. He couldn''t imagine any human who was capable of summoning such a fearsome storm and influencing the ocean to this extent.


    This was completely beyond human capabilities, even for Limit Douluos. He was already the Limit Douluo with the greatest level of affinity with the sea, yet he knew that he wouldn''t be able to accomplish something like this.


    Could it be that there was a pack of Great Beasts lurking nearby? There had to be at least two Great Beasts that were the equivalent of Limit Douluos that were creating such a fearsome storm.


    Thankfully, human technology had already advanced to the extent that the power of soul beasts was simply no match, so he didn''t have to be concerned about anything.


    No matter how fierce this storm was, there was no way that it would be able to break the interconnected fleet. As for those two hypothetical Great Beasts, if they dared to appear, then he would show them the power of his four-word battle armor.

 Chapter 1406: Cyclone, Waterspout

    Another rumbling thunderclap rang out, and the entire sky was instantly illuminated into a dark purple color.


    All of a sudden, a pillar of water suddenly rose up into the air, instantly plunging into the dark clouds up above to connect the ocean and the dark clouds.


    Chen Xinjie was greatly alarmed to see this. This was a cyclone that was brewing over the ocean, otherwise known as a waterspout. They were extremely rare, but possessed extremely potent destructive power of both wind and water.


    Even more damning was the psychological impact of witnessing such a devastating natural phenomenon.


    Immediately thereafter, another waterspout appeared, followed by another, then one more, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, at least several dozens of waterspouts had appeared around the fleet. The entire ocean had been stirred up into a violent frenzy, and waves were rising to over 100 meters tall, as if they were being drawn upward by the heavens.


    The entire fleet was being tossed around violently, but thankfully, all of the ships were interconnected to form a massive structure that managed to maintain temporary stability even in the face of such fearsome conditions.


    Chen Xinjie''s expression had already darkened significantly at this point, and he was issuing one order after another. Human technology was able to destroy the power of nature, but not control it, and the ocean was undoubtedly the most enormous source of power in nature, so all they could do was adopt a passive stance and weather the storm.


    At the same time, they had to search for the instigator behind these weather phenomena. No matter who it was, they had to have an objective. Were they trying to defeat the entire federal fleet through these weather phenomena alone? That was clearly impossible.


    All of the waterspouts began to converge in a doomsday-like scenario, sweeping up colossal waves that were hundreds of meters tall, all of which crashed viciously against the interconnected fleets.


    Many of the smaller ships were completely submerged underwater before resurfacing thanks to their connections with larger ships. As the waterspouts wreaked havoc on the surrounding ocean, all of the members of the fleet could only stay in their cabins and hold onto something firm to steady themselves. Thankfully, all of the cabins had a waterproofing function. Otherwise, they would''ve been entirely waterlogged by the massive waves already.


    This was the power of nature.


    Chen Xinjie continued to hover in mid-air, and neither the seawater nor the lightning was able to get close to him. In the face of the ferocious water spouts and gargantuan waves, the interconnected fleets were being thrown around like a small raft, tumbling up and down without any semblance of control.


    However, Chen Xinjie could sense that the giant waves were taking the fleet rapidly toward a certain direction. Under such extraordinary conditions, none of the radars were going to be able to function, so they could only recalibrate and calculate their location after the storm passed.


    Even though all of the members of the fleets had spent most of their lives out at sea, they had never encountered such a devastating situation, and many of them were beginning to develop symptoms of seasickness.


    The only thing that was saving the three fleets from being completely capsized was their interconnection system. Otherwise, they would all be in severe trouble, particularly the smaller ships among the fleets.


    Generally speaking, a storm would normally abate as quickly as it arrived, but this storm was displaying no signs of subsiding. Instead, it was only becoming more and more ferocious.


    The violent tumbling of the ships was extremely taxing on the energy reserves of the members of the fleet, yet they had to maintain a high level of concentration so they didn''t miss any orders from Chen Xinjie. The entire federal fleet was in a state of complete chaos.


    The rain was pelting down from the heavens in waves rather than droplets, and the rainwater was extremely rank and salty, clearly an indication that this was the seawater that was falling after being drawn up into the sky.


    The enormous volume of water crashing down from the heavens had reduced visibility to close to zero, and even Chen Xinjie was forced to return to his aircraft carrier.


    In the control center, Chen Xinjie sat in his chair without a single drop of rain on his body, but he wore an expression of thunderous fury.


    A major general advisor who was also a member of the Battle God Hall approached him, and asked, "Hall Master, what should we do now?"


    Even though the control center was also swaying violently, he stood firmly on the ground as if he had been nailed into the floor.


    "We wait," Chen Xinjie replied.


    Regardless of who it was that had instigated this storm, there was no way that they could keep this up for long. Weathering the storm was indeed going to be quite exhausting for the members of the federal fleet, but they weren''t actually in any substantial danger. Unless the sky were to literally fall down onto the fleet, the interconnection system would allow it to weather any storm.


    The advisor gave an affirmative response before falling silent, while Chen Xinjie pondered the situation with tightly furrowed brows.


    It was clear that their voyage to the Star Luo Empire would have to be delayed. Following such a devastating storm, the members of the fleet needed time to rest and recuperate, and the ships also had to be examined for damage.


    Without any leads to investigate, all they could do was wait. Even with his immense individual powers, there was nothing he could do in this situation.


    ......


    In the Star Luo Empire.


    "What?" Dai Tianling shuddered as he immediately rose to his feet.


    The sight of the Holy Spirit Douluo had struck him with a momentary sense of entrancement. She was so beautiful and pristine; she was like an angel who had descended from the heavens.


    He was well aware of the fact that she was a Limit Douluo who was over 100 years old, but he still couldn''t help but be enraptured by her beauty. However, when he heard what the Holy Spirit Douluo had to say, he had been stunned to the point of springing right out of his throne.


    Even though they knew that the federal military would be deployed soon and they had constantly been making preparations, they didn''t think that the war would arrive this quickly.


    The enemy was already mere days away from them, but they were completely oblivious. According to the Holy Spirit Douluo, the united federal fleet would arrive at the Star Luo Empire in three days at most. The Star Luo Empire was roughly aware of just how powerful the three fleets were, and even though the Star Luo Empire was also quite powerful in itself, he knew that they were still no match for the prowess of the federal fleet.


    The enemy had suddenly arrived, yet they still weren''t prepared; this was a massive issue! If they couldn''t take the correct measures here, then the entire empire could fall in a very short time!


    Dai Tianling took a deep breath to repress the overwhelming sense of horror in his heart, and he immediately turned to the servant beside him. "Issue an order for all of the officials of the empire to gather for a conference right away; we need to address this situation immediately. We''ve already begun to set up the weapons given to us by the Tang Sect, but there''s no way we''ll be able to set everything up in three days! The delivery and installation processes all require time! Holy Spirit Douluo, does Sect Master Tang have any ideas? Would you be able to stay here to assist us?"


    Dai Tianling was truly beginning to panic, and he had completely forgotten the matter about Tang Wulin and his own daughter; nothing was more important now than saving the empire!


    Yali shook her head with her brows furrowed slightly. "My apologies, Your Majesty, but I must get back to them right away. Wulin told me to tell you that he''s going to do his best to delay the arrival of the federal fleet. As for how long he''ll be able to delay them for, that''s really hard to say. I have to go back and help him; the only thing you can do now is to make preparations as quickly as possible, and also contact the Dou Spirit Empire so they can make preparations as well."

 Chapter 1407: Purplish-golden

    Dai Tianling''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. Yali''s refusal to stay had left a very sour taste in his mouth. Even with this Limit Douluo among their ranks, there was no way that Tang Wulin and the others would be able to stall the federal fleet for any meaningful amount of time.


    As such, in his eyes, Yali was simply using this excuse to get away from the Star Luo Empire, which was about to be ravaged by war soon.


    However, he made no outward display of his displeasure. After all, if Yali hadn''t come back all this way to deliver this message to them, he would still be completely oblivious to the massive threat that was looming on the horizon.


    "Alright, then I wish you all the best, and please pass on my regards to Sect Master Tang. If we can survive this ordeal, I''ll be sure to pay Sect Master Tang a visit in person to deliver a formal apology."


    If there were any medicine in this world that could remedy remorse, then he''d down an entire bottle right away! If he hadn''t decided to organize that Trial of Five Gods in a moment of hotheaded idiocy, the agreement with the Tang Sect would''ve been established much earlier, and they would''ve set everything up by now.


    It was exactly because of his inability to swallow his own pride that the entire empire had now been plunged into such a perilous situation. However, remorse wasn''t going to do any good in this situation; he had to think of a way to address this dire situation.


    Right at this moment, a servant suddenly rushed into the room. "I have a report to make!"


    "What is it?" Dai Tianling hurriedly asked.


    "Your Majesty, the meteorology department just delivered an emergency report, stating that a storm of a magnitude and intensity that hasn''t been seen for over 100 years has suddenly appeared over the western sea. The storm is visible even from the western coast, but instead of approaching the mainland, it seems to be gradually moving further away. The meteorology department has only delivered this report due to the ferocity of the storm, and the abruptness of its emergence."


    "The western sea?" Dai Tianling and Yali exclaimed in unison.


    The federal fleet was coming from the western sea!


    Both of them exchanged a glance, and they each could see their own astonishment mirrored in one another''s eyes.


    What did such a fearsome storm entail? It entailed that the federal fleet was most likely going to be affected by the storm, thereby buying the Star Luo Empire some more time.


    Dai Tianling''s expression immediately changed drastically as this thought occurred to him. Just a moment ago, he had been under the impression that Yali was merely using this as an alibi to get away, but his mind had been completely changed.


    He had arrived at the conclusion that there had to be an extremely powerful being capable of controlling the weather among the Tang Sect entourage, and that person was stalling the federal fleet for their sake!


    "You have my thanks, Holy Spirit Douluo!" He immediately extended a deep bow toward Yali. Regardless of whether the Tang Sect was behind this, he had to do this. If the Tang Sect really were responsible for this, then his gratitude was warranted. Even if that weren''t the case, he didn''t lose anything by doing this, and it would improve the impression that Yali had of him.


    "Now''s not the time to be thanking me, Your Majesty; I''d advise you to begin making preparations right away. I''ll be taking my leave now," Yali flew out of the palace as a streak of white light as soon as her voice trailed off.


    Unlike Dai Tianling, she was well aware that there was no one in the Tang Sect entourage capable of conjuring up such a fierce storm!


    ......


    There seemed to be no end in sight to the violent storm, and high up in the sky, the purple light around Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had been completely turned into a purplish-golden color.


    Even Xie Xie could clearly sense the terrifying aura emanating from this purplish-golden light. A series of Bluesilver Emperor vine had already risen up from Tang Wulin''s body and intertwined with this purplish-golden light. The purplish-golden color began to spread over the Bluesilver Emperor vines, while the Bluesilver Emperor vines were releasing bluish-golden light that was being injected into the Infernal Lightning Vine''s body to stabilize it.


    Through its constant engulfment of lightning, the Infernal Lightning Vine had already reached a state of saturation, but even so, it was still devouring lightning like there was no tomorrow.


    This was the nature of the Infernal Lightning Vine; it would continue to devour so long as there was still more lightning for it to devour.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s entire body was completely numb. The lightning power that was purified by the Infernal Lightning Vine was simply far too fearsome; it was unadulterated destructive power without any impurities. He was currently using this power to cleanse his own body of all minor impurities, and also using this experience to consolidate the powers he had attained through this recent period of rapid improvement.


    Essentially, he was using lightning to refine his own body. If he didn''t have the Body Sect''s congenital secret method to support himself, he wouldn''t dare to do this. Even at Xie Xie''s level of power, guiding such pure lightning power directly into his body would immediately reduce him to dust.


    Under the stimulus of the electric currents, a purplish-golden color began to appear in his body as the congenital secret method gradually combined with the lightning.


    The most prominent attribute of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method was that it completely stimulated one''s latent potential to trigger evolution and take one beyond human limits.


    The Body Sect was once considered to be one of the most powerful sects on the entire continent as almost all of its forefathers who had successfully cultivated the congenital secret method had become Limit Douluos. At the same time, they also possessed the most stamina when it came to combat.


    The congenital secret method allowed a Soul Master to withstand far more impact than their cultivation rank would otherwise allow, and through the refinement Tang Wulin was receiving from this pure lightning power, the negative after-effects brought on by his sudden breakthrough to become a Titled Douluo were gradually being ironed out.


    On top of that, his powers were rapidly being consolidated, and he had also begun to fuse with the Infernal Lightning Vine to make it his fourth soul spirit.


    Even though the Infernal Lightning Vine had become extremely violent after devouring so much lightning, it wasn''t resisting Tang Wulin at all.


    There was no one more suitable for it than Tang Wulin, and it was already in a soul spirit state, so it would immediately die if it were to leave Tang Wulin''s body. On top of that, following Tang Wulin gave it a chance to ascend to a higher level!


    Tang Wulin''s Son of Nature aura was able to iron out its biggest inherent flaw, and Tang Wulin''s Bluesilver Emperor was a top-tier martial soul in the plant world, so it was an exceptional match for the Infernal Lightning Vine. The Bluesilver Emperor could bestow upon the Infernal Lightning Vine resilience, while the Infernal Lightning Vine could bestow upon the Bluesilver Emperor violent explosive power. Under the influence of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King bloodline, the Infernal Lightning Vine was rapidly evolving amid the violent lightning storm.


    Throughout this entire process, the storm had shown no signs of subsiding at all.


    Xie Xie was standing on the spot, not even daring to move a single inch as he appraised Tang Wulin in silence. He could sense the terrifying power imbued within the purplish-golden light, so he didn''t dare to touch it; even the slightest physical contact could instantly reduce him to dust!


    In his eyes, Tang Wulin had become so far out of reach that he couldn''t even muster up the urge to try and catch up to him anymore!


    It was downright unimaginable that a human being could bathe in this terrifying realm of lightning.


    Surely even a Limit Douluo wouldn''t be able to accomplish this! Was the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal alone really enough to allow him to do this?


    If the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal possessed this much power, why hadn''t the Atlas Douluo used it against that Godslayer missile? Perhaps it could only display its power in the sea?


    All types of thoughts were flashing through Xie Xie''s mind, and a hint of awe and veneration had crept into his eyes.


    After Tang Wulin became the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, he had constantly been evolving and also becoming more intelligent and authoritative.

 Chapter 1408: Lightning Falling Like Rain

    In particular, the Trial of Five Gods had triggered an evolution within him, transforming him into a truly worthy Tang Sect Master.


    Back when Tang Wulin had first become the Tang Sect Master, no one had paid much heed to him, and everyone thought that he was only being nurtured as a stand-in sect master. They had thought that the Heartless Douluo and Amorous Douluo were still the ones who were truly in power, and that it would take a long time before Tang Wulin could truly become the sect master.


    However, less than a year had passed since then, and Tang Wulin had already shown himself to be more than capable of holding his own; how could his friends not be in awe and admiration of him?


    Even Xie Xie himself hadn''t noticed that he had gradually lost hope in competing with Tang Wulin, and was now simply proud of being one of Tang Wulin''s closest companions.


    Following this trip to the two neighboring continents, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had truly begun to mature. During their first battle against the Monster Eight Kings, there had been a significant gap between them. If Tang Wulin and Gu Yue hadn''t suddenly unleashed their Divine Dragon Transformation at the end, they would''ve had no chance at all. However, during what was supposed to be the revenge battle for the Monster Eight Kings, Shrek''s Six Monsters had crushed their opponents with ease. The tables had been completely turned, and they hadn''t even used their full power during that battle.


    Yuanen Yehui alone had been enough to hold off their two most powerful opponents, and she still had more to spare. All of them were prodigies, but their different experiences had caused their paths to diverge, and it was undoubtedly the case that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were going to be able to go further.


    With that in mind, Xie Xie focused his attention on Tang Wulin again, wondering to himself just how powerful Tang Wulin as a Titled Douluo would be once he fused with this fourth soul spirit. He had already been able to contend with Hyper Douluos at the Soul Douluo level; what was he going to be capable of as a Titled Douluo? With his ultra-powerful suit of three-word battle armor, he would most likely be able to ensure self-preservation even against a Limit Douluo.


    The lightning, wind, and rain showed no signs of subsiding, and even after becoming interconnected, the three fleets were still being tossed around in the turbulent waves.


    All of their communication and sensory devices had been rendered completely ineffective, which meant that they were essentially temporarily completely lost and blind.


    Chen Xinjie''s expression darkened further and further. The longer this storm persisted, the likelier it was that it was a man-made storm. However, if this really were a man-made storm, then just how fearsome was their opponent?


    Even if the sea hadn''t suddenly turned on him, there was still no way that he could possibly conjure up such a ferocious storm.


    Six hours had already passed since the commencement of the storm, and all of the members of the federal fleet were completely exhausted. The interconnection system had allowed them to avoid casualties thus far, but in the midst of such horrible weather conditions, the energy and stamina of the members of the fleet were being forced to undergo a stern test.


    Some of the soul tools on the ships were already being damaged by the storm, and he had already received over 20 emergency reports. Perhaps this was a super soul tool that could disrupt the weather?


    This thought had occurred to Chen Xinjie before, but if it were true, then that would be even more terrifying. If the Star Luo Empire had developed such a fearsome piece of technology, then the federation may not be able to win this war.


    In any case, all they could do now was wait. Even with his powers, he didn''t dare to rise up into the clouds to inspect the conditions within the realm of lightning up above.


    There was simply no way that a single man could contend with the full fury of nature.


    "Boom!"


    All of a sudden, an unprecedentedly deafening boom rang out, and the entire world outside the control center seemed to have suddenly changed color.


    A purplish-golden color had appeared in the air, and it was quickly assimilating all of the lightning in the air, turning them into the same color.


    A ball of lightning descended from above like a massive raindrop, and in the next instant, it had already crashed down upon the ocean.


    The seawater in a radius of over a kilometer was instantly turned into a purplish-golden color, and a string of violent thunderclaps rang out in rapid succession.


    "All ship, activate your protective barriers to full capacity!" Chen Xinjie immediately yelled into the internal communication device.


    He didn''t know what this purplish-golden lightning was, but his instincts told him that it was not something they could afford to mess with.


    More purplish-golden balls of lightning began to fall from the heavens like rain, descending toward the ocean, as well as upon the three fleets.


    Even Tang Wulin himself was unaware of what was currently happening as he had reached a critical juncture in his meditation.


    The surrounding purplish-golden lightning had illuminated him into a purplish-golden color, and his entire body had almost become transparent. The Infernal Lightning Vine was growing in a frenzy, and it had already completely fused as one with the Bluesilver Emperor, but it was still devouring lightning with reckless abandon.


    It had never felt so alive and free of inhibitions! Ever since it had attained sentience, it had always craved more lightning, even if devouring lightning would eventually lead it to destruction. However, it had never encountered such a violent lightning storm that had persisted for such a long time.


    Ever since it had become Zhang Geyang''s soul spirit, it had been forced to essentially starve and deny its greatest instinctive desire, and after being starved for long, its greed had been exacerbated to an unprecedented level.


    Every single vine had elongated to several hundred meters in length, and they were swaying wildly through the air. The inside of the vine was the Bluesilver Emperor, but on the outside was what appeared to be a purplish-golden suit of lightning armor that was radiating dazzling light. With each passing second, large quantities of lightning were flowing into the Infernal Lightning Vine, causing it to constantly evolve. Whenever it reached the brink of self-detonation, a burst of neutralizing power would surge forth to nullify the destructive power, thereby allowing it to devour more lightning.


    This was a euphoric feeling, and the Infernal Lightning Vine had completely lost itself, and also accepted Tang Wulin with all its heart.


    Even if it were to be destroyed, experiencing such bliss and exhilaration was well worth the consequences.


    However, Tang Wulin was already struggling to keep up. Even with his insane physical constitution, his body was beginning to break down within this realm of lightning.


    It was no longer just his power as the Son of Nature that was bolstering the Infernal Lightning Vine; it was his power as the son of the Sea God as well. Through his control over the sea, he was able to draw upon the rich water elements in the environment to protect the Infernal Lightning Vine and allow it to last this long.


    However, Tang Wulin''s body was already filled to the brim with lightning power, and the terrifying destructive power was beginning to repress even his Son of Nature aura. Lightning elements were the most volatile of all elements, and his Son of Nature aura had already been debilitated to begin with here in the sea. No matter how much the realm wished to protect him, there was a limit.


    What could he do? If things were to continue like this, both he and the Infernal Lightning Vine would be led to destruction!


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s forehead suddenly lit up. A burst of dazzling golden light abruptly erupted out of the heavy purplish-golden light, and it emerged out of his glabella before hovering in front of him.


    Xie Xie''s eyes immediately widened upon seeing this. It was a trident that was around four meters in length, and the golden light shimmering over the trident was rippling like water. In the instant that it emerged, the surrounding lightning was suddenly silenced for a moment.


    In contrast, the sea down below began to churn in a frenzy, and a string of countless sobs rang out.


    Below the central prong of the trident was a fist-sized rhomboid blue gemstone that was giving off a gentle light.


    "My son, I am only able to save your life on three occasions, and at the same time, there''ll also be three opportunities for you to experience Unpredictable Storm, so make the most of this opportunity."


    A familiar warm and compassionate voice rang out within Tang Wulin''s heart, and he reflexively opened his eyes. Only he could see that there was currently an almighty figure standing beside the golden trident, resembling a pillar between heaven and earth.


    The man was clad in a suit of golden armor, and his long hair was as blue as the sea. His eyes seemed to contain the entire universe, and he had one hand closed around the long shaft of the trident.

 Chapter 1409: My Son, Wait for My Return

    "Father!"


    Tang Wulin wanted to yell out, but he was unable to do anything in his current state. Tang San turned to him with the benevolent and compassionate smile of a father, then gently waved his golden trident through the air in a beautiful arc as if it were as light as a feather.


    Golden halos proliferated outward one after another, layer upon layer, and as soon as they appeared, everything in the surrounding area became silent. The lightning subsided, and the sea also became peaceful again.


    The golden halos easily encompassed all of the surrounding purplish-golden lightning, and it was as if they contained a small world within them.


    The surrounding space began to fluctuate violently as if it were struggling for its life, but during its struggles, it naturally formed a mystical type of resonance with the golden halos.


    The violent purplish-golden lightning conformed to the order within this small world, and it began to inject itself into the Infernal Lightning Vine in wisps and strands.


    What was even more remarkable to Tang Wulin was that he had lost that overinflated sense of being filled by excessive violent energy. A series of golden halos had appeared around the Infernal Lightning Vine, and he could clearly sense that there was enormous lightning power imbued within the halos, but none of it was able to come out.


    This was a spatial seal, similar to the Golden Dragon King seals within his body.


    The control over spatial power could only be described as perfect, and in that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if his mind had been struck by a bolt of lightning, and he began to attain an unprecedented understanding of the paramount laws of heaven and earth.


    The surrounding lightning disappeared within the golden halos, as did the mighty golden figure.


    "My son, wait for my return."


    After the golden figure vanished, the golden trident flew back into Tang Wulin''s glabella as a streak of golden light, and an indescribable sense of emotion welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart.


    His father had told him that he would be able to save him on three occasions. Even though he was far, far away, caught up in the turbulence of space and time, he was doing everything in his power to protect Tang Wulin.


    Even though Tang Wulin had never actually met his birth father, tears were flowing down his face. He was able to clearly see just how much love his father had for him through those eyes that encompassed the entire world.


    Father, I''ll definitely find you! he roared in his heart as the tears continued to flow.


    In the end, all of the golden halos vanished into Tang Wulin''s body, and a soul ring appeared to join his other eight soul rings.


    This was a purplish-golden soul ring that was riddled with golden patterns, which were giving off a regal aura.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine had already disappeared into Tang Wulin''s body, and it had become as fond of him as a small child was of a parent figure.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine had completed its 100,000-year evolution, and sealed within Tang Wulin''s ninth soul ring was an enormous amount of pure lightning power that hadn''t been completely absorbed earlier.


    This lightning power would continue to support the Infernal Lightning Vine''s future evolution, allowing it to develop countless times faster than normal soul spirits.


    As the lightning disappeared, the sky also gradually cleared. The dark cloud subsided, and the storm was finally about to be over after wreaking havoc for over seven hours.


    The ocean became placid again, but the interconnected fleets were currently looking very much worse for wear.


    The protective barriers had almost been completely destroyed by the ferocious storm, and almost two-thirds of the three fleets'' energy supplies had been depleted.


    On top of that, many of the soul tools on the smaller ships had been damaged. If Chen Xinjie hadn''t reacted quickly enough and immediately commanded all of the ships to release their protective barriers to their fullest extent, that storm of lightning could''ve quite possibly destroyed the entire federal fleet.


    All of the supervisors on the ships were in complete awe, and even Chen Xinjie himself felt as if he had dodged a bullet.


    That storm of purplish-golden lightning had most likely never been seen before in the entire history of the Douluo Continent, and even a Godslayer missile couldn''t match its destructive power!


    The total energy reserve of the three fleets combined could power a major city like Bright City for 20 years, yet during the storm, many of the soul energy battery circuits had been damaged from overexertion; this was simply unimaginable!


    This level of destructive power had most likely never been seen before.


    "Look! There''s someone up there!" an advisor suddenly yelled.


    Chen Xinjie immediately rushed over to the screen and focused his gaze on the two people hovering in mid-air depicted on the screen.


    One of them was standing while the other was seated, and they were situated at the epicenter of where the storm had been before. The one who was seated was a young man with purplish-golden light radiating from his entire body, and his ninth purplish-golden soul ring was extremely eye-catching.


    Standing beside him was none other than the man who had been detected by the sensory soul tools earlier.


    All of a sudden, Chen Xinjie''s pupils contracted drastically as he identified the man seated in mid-air to be none other than the captain of the Blood Dragon Squad! Furthermore, through comparisons with photos supplied by the federation, he was able to confirm that he was also the Tang Sect Master, Tang Wulin!


    How could it be him?


    Chen Xinjie''s heart was filled with incredulity. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn''t understand how Tang Wulin could possess such fearsome power, allowing him to draw upon the power of the sea.


    A series of loud buzzing rang out as all of the functioning soul tools on the federal fleet quickly locked onto Tang Wulin and Xie Xie. Right at this moment, Tang Wulin opened his eyes, which were still glistening from his tears, but what was especially remarkable was that there was a purplish-golden light shimmering within them.


    Under the scrutiny of the entire federal fleet, he waved a hand through the air, and an enormous wave was suddenly swept up over the ocean, which had already returned to a placid state.


    All of the soul tools instantly lost their target, and when the giant wave subsided, both Tang Wulin and Xie Xie were already nowhere to be seen.


    The commanders of the three fleets were rooted to the spot upon seeing this. Who was that and why had he appeared in this place? Was he the one who had brought on that terrifying storm?


    Who was he?


    Chen Xinjie''s expression had darkened significantly, and at the same time, thoughts were racing through his mind, allowing him to instantly form a string of conclusions.


    With the Star Luo Empire''s soul technology, it was virtually impossible that they would possess the power to alter the weather. However, that didn''t mean that others would also be incapable of this.


    As the Battle God Hall Master, he had always been aware of just how powerful the Tang Sect was. If there were any organization that could contend with the Federal Institute of Soul Technology, then it could only be the Tang Sect.


    Furthermore, this Blood Dragon Squad Leader was also the Tang Sect Master; it had to be the Tang Sect that was behind this!


    Chen Xinjie took a deep breath before issuing an order. "Examine all of the equipment and tally up all of the losses that we incurred during this storm. At the same time, attempt to connect with the satellite system to ascertain our location. In the meantime, all three fleets are to remain in place and maintain interconnection."

 Chapter 1410: Star Luo Control Center

    Deep within the sea.


    The anxious group of people on the submarine were finally able to welcome the return of their leader. When Yuanen Yehui saw Xie Xie and Tang Wulin return together through a special piece of equipment on the submarine, she immediately heaved a huge sigh of relief.


    "Sect Master, did you discover any suitable explosion points?" The submarine captain was also extremely relieved. It was already a completely inhuman feat to survive under the enormous water pressure in the deep sea; if it weren''t for the stunning performance that Tang Wulin had displayed during the Trial of Five Gods, he wouldn''t have dared to allow Tang Wulin to take this risk.


    "There''s no need for that; everything''s already been taken care of! We''ve already bought more than enough time for the Star Luo Empire," Xie Xie replied with a wide smile.


    "What happened?" The captain was rather taken aback to hear this.


    Tang Wulin replied, "It''s a long story. Let''s continue back to the federation. If the Star Luo Empire still can''t defend itself even after this, then we won''t be able to do anything, either. Let''s leave this area first, then rise to the surface, and when the Holy Spirit Douluo returns, we''ll set off right away."


    After issuing that sequence of instructions, Tang Wulin''s body swayed slightly, and Yue Zhengyu hurriedly stepped forward to lend Tang Wulin his support. "Are you alright, Captain?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''m fine, I''m just a little exhausted and require some rest."


    Xu Lizhi immediately produced a few Recovery Pork Buns for Tang Wulin to consume, and his condition improved slightly before he was helped back to his cabin by Yue Zhengyu.


    Thus, everyone immediately turned to Xie Xie, and Yuanen Yehui couldn''t help but ask, "What happened?"


    Xie Xie''s eyes were currently glowing with excitement and exhilaration. "You probably wouldn''t believe me even if I told you what happened! Boss was like the true Sea God out there! Even now, my heart is still thumping like crazy."


    "Hurry up and tell us!" Yuanen Yehui grabbed onto one of his ears and gave it a slight twist.


    "I''ll talk! Please have mercy, my esteemed wife!"


    ......


    At the Star Luo Empire''s main frontline control center.


    Dai Tianling was wearing a military uniform with a pair of special epaulets that were emblazoned with the image of a tiger''s head. The entire control center was in an extremely busy and hectic state.


    This frontline control center had actually already been established half a year ago. This was something that concerned the fate of the entire empire, so preparations had naturally been made well in advance. It was exactly because these preparations had been made that Dai Tianling had always thought that the empire was well equipped to face the oncoming federal fleet.


    Only after Tang Wulin''s arrival was he truly made aware of just how massive the gap between the Star Luo Empire and the Douluo Federation was. This gap was far wider than he had imagined, almost to the point where it was impossible to bridge. Thankfully, they had the weapons supplied by the Tang Sect to even out the playing field a little, but never did he think that the federal fleet would arrive so quickly. If it hadn''t been for the Holy Spirit Douluo, he would''ve still been completely in the dark.


    "According to our super long-distance radars, the federal fleet has veered off its original course. They most likely got caught up in that unprecedentedly ferocious storm, and they''re currently temporarily docked 600 nautical miles away from the shoreline, displaying no signs of continuing onward. From our radar surveillance, we can see that all of their ships seemed to have become interconnected to form a man-made island."


    "Keep up the surveillance," Dai Tianling said in a solemn voice.


    As the emperor, he had to oversee the proceedings from the frontlines in person. This first battle was undoubtedly going to be the most important one, and they had to keep the federal fleet from landing at all costs. Otherwise, if they were to establish bridge towers, they would definitely be able to gain a firm foothold with the federation''s technology. If that were to happen, then the federal fleet would be able to deliver more weapons and soldiers to the Star Luo Empire, and that would be the beginning of the end.


    As such, their strategy was to keep the federal fleet away from the shoreline and prevent them from landing at all costs.


    "Father, it looks like the federal fleet was severely damaged during that storm; should we launch an attack on them to assess their current condition?" Dai Yueyan asked.


    Dai Tianling waved a hand in response. "Our navy is far inferior in power to the federal fleet. Even though they were caught up in that storm, they haven''t allowed any chaos to set in, and this strategy where they''re connecting all of their ships is enough to minimize the damage. Just proceed according to the original plan; how are the preparations going on your end?"


    Dai Yueyan replied, "The initial stages will be complete in about two more days. It''s a good thing we prepared early, so we should be able to make it in time."


    Dai Tianling turned to him with a serious expression. "''Should'' isn''t good enough; you have to make sure everything''s ready on time. Otherwise, it''ll spell disaster for our entire empire, do you understand?"


    Not only was he the emperor, back in his youth, he had joined the military under a false identity, working his way up from an ordinary soldier to a general over a span of 17 years. He had climbed up the ranks step by step and forged a dazzling military resume for himself.


    After he revealed his identity and returned to the imperial family, he immediately received the support of the military, thereby allowing him to seize the throne and become the emperor. As such, in terms of military prowess, it could be said that he was one of a handful of the most exceptional emperors in Star Luo Empire history, and this was why he was acting as the commander-in-chief in this frontline control center.


    The current high-ranking officials of the military were once his colleagues and even his subordinates. Ever since Dai Tianling''s inauguration, he had ironed out many major flaws in the military and strongly promoted development in the fields of military affairs, technology, education, Soul Master development, and battle armor development. This had allowed the Star Luo Empire to undergo an enormous transformation, and during the past few decades, the empire had been developing far faster than the federation. It was just that the gap between them was too massive in the first place, so they were still yet to catch up.


    The Star Luo Empire''s development had naturally caught the attention of the federation, and that was one of the important reasons behind the Eagle Faction''s push to instigate this war. According to them, if the Star Luo Empire were to continue developing at this rate, it would eventually pose a threat to the federation someday. Furthermore, the quicker the Star Luo Empire developed, the faster it was going to deplete its resources. The technology between the federation and the empire couldn''t be shared, so the empire would have to expend resources to walk the same path as the federation once already had, thereby resulting in an enormous waste.


    It was none other than these reasons that finally pressured the federal parliament into approving of this war in the end.


    The federal fleet''s mission on this occasion was very simple: destroy the imperial military and seize or destroy the imperial family. At the same time, they had to keep the slaughter of the general public to a minimum and seize resources to prepare for the federation''s future plans of space exploration.


    "Yes, Father," Dai Yueyan said in a solemn voice, "Father, this storm was very bizarre! Our meteorology department didn''t foresee it at all, and it arrived in an extremely abrupt manner. According to the analysis of our meteorology department, the storm doesn''t seem to have been a naturally forming one. On top of that, the federal fleet just so happened to have been situated right at the center of the storm. Otherwise, they would''ve already arrived at our empire by now; isn''t all of this very suspicious?"


    Dai Tianling nodded in response. "Indeed, it is. This storm has helped us immensely, and if it really was artificially created, then there''s only one possibility."

 Chapter 1411: Silver Qilin Douluo Gu Yuena

    Dai Yueyan had been selected by the shrewd Dai Tianling to become the heir to the throne, so he was naturally very intelligent himself, and he immediately realized what his father was implying. "Are you saying it was the Tang Sect?"


    Dai Tianling didn''t respond, but there was a contemplative look in his eyes.


    "Surely that''s impossible!" Dai Yueyan''s voice spiked up a few octaves as he exclaimed, "The Tang Sect can alter the weather? That storm''s focal destructive power can''t compare with that of a Godslayer missile, but according to our statistics, if we were to take into account the area it had encompassed, the destructive power output would''ve been comparable to multiple Godslayer missiles exploding at once! If the Tang Sect had such technology, how did their headquarters get destroyed?"


    Dai Tianling seemed to be rather displeased by his son''s lack of composure, and he turned to him before replying, "The circumstances surrounding this storm were very suspicious; if it really were a man-made storm, then there''s only one possibility. Even if the federation had this technology, it wouldn''t use it on itself. The only other alternative would be multiple ultra-powerful sea soul beasts coming together to create such a storm, but sea soul beasts of that caliber have never appeared on our records. Hence, the only reasonable explanation is the Tang Sect."


    Dai Yueyan drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. "It''s a good thing that the Tang Sect is on our side."


    Dai Tianling harrumphed coldly, "They''re not on our side; they''re siding with the underdogs to try and prevent this war. If we were more powerful than the federation, they would definitely be standing against us."


    Dai Yueyan''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Father, why is it that a weapon-producing sect doesn''t like war?"


    Dai Tianling sighed, "This is where the genius of the Tang Sect lies! They''re not actually arms producers; they specialize in the research and development of soul technology. Only now do I truly believe that the level of technological advancement of the Tang Sect can compare with the entire federation. The federation''s biggest mistake is trying to oppress the Tang Sect."


    "Father, I have to go back to oversee the preparations now; I''ll make sure that everything is set up as soon as possible."


    ......


    After waking up from a long slumber, Tang Wulin''s entire body was still feeling very numb. This was obviously not a very comfortable feeling, but at the very least, his feebleness had abated significantly.


    He inspected his own internal condition to find that a purplish-golden color had appeared over his meridians and bones, and compared to in the past, he seemed to have become thinner. On top of that, the total amount of soul power within his body had also decreased by at least a third. However, this didn''t mean that his powers had decreased. Instead, there was now an indescribable sense of density to his soul power.


    Having had his body refined by that storm of lightning, he seemed to have progressed even further beyond his full mastery of the congenital secret method. A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He was becoming less and less like a human being.


    The soul power within his body had clearly been compressed. Soul power cultivated by the Mysterious Heaven Method was already highly compressed; to further compress it down to two-thirds of its original mass was certainly no simple feat.


    Through this storm of lightning, the Infernal Lightning Vine had undoubtedly benefited immensely, and Tang Wulin had also reaped many fruits.


    The total amount of soul power within his body had decreased, but he had become a true Titled Douluo, and he could clearly sense that his physical constitution had improved even further.


    He didn''t know what soul skills the Infernal Lightning Vine had bestowed upon him, but a 100,000-year-old soul ring would grant him at least two of the three insanely powerful abilities that the Infernal Lightning Vine had displayed in the past; this would definitely provide a massive enhancement in his overall power.


    Thinking back, he had progressed all the way from a Soul Sage to a Titled Douluo during this journey, which had spanned less than a year; this was simply an unimaginable leap.


    On top of that, he now had the full support of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, as well as from the power of his father.


    Even though it was only for a very short time, Tang Wulin had ingrained the image of his father unleashing Unpredictable Storm firmly into his mind. He had never met his father before, but from everything that his father had left to him, he could sense just how much love his father had for him.


    Father, Mother, I''ll definitely find you someday!


    It was time to give himself a Douluo Title. Before he had obtained his ninth soul ring, he hadn''t been a true Titled Douluo, but now, he had the right to attain a title.


    Generally speaking, Douluo Titles were all related to one''s martial soul. For example, Elder Long''s martial soul was the Light and Darkness Holy Dragon, so she was known as the Light Dark Douluo.


    In other cases, there were also Douluo Titles that combined one''s martial soul and the name of their lover, such as Teacher Wu''s Sky Ice Douluo Title, which combined the Skyfrost Sword and the name of Long Bing.  [1]


    His martial soul was the Bluesilver Emperor, but a lot of his power was derived from his Golden Dragon King bloodline. Furthermore, he had the power of the Sea God left to him by his father, and there was also an extremely important woman in his life.


    Dragon Emperor Douluo? That title would cut her out. A Douluo Title could only contain two words, and that didn''t seem to be enough for him.


    His suit of three-word battle armor had been named Dragon Moon Song, and he already decided that when he attained a suit of four-word battle armor in the future, he would name it Golden Dragon Moon Song.


    Seeing as his battle armor was already going to contain the words "Golden Dragon", then he would remove it from his Douluo Title. The Bluesilver Emperor had been inherited from his father, and Gu Yuena''s martial soul was the Silver Dragon Emperor, so "silver" was something that he had to retain. Gu Yuena''s name had three characters; if he were to use the moon part of her name, that wouldn''t be very appropriate as such a Douluo Title already existed in the form of the Silver Moon Douluo, who was Elder Cai.


    He began to stroke the Silver Dragon King scale hanging in front of his chest in an absentminded manner. This name was not easy to come up with!


    He couldn''t go with Silver Ancient Douluo; that simply didn''t sound good! As the Tang Sect Master, he had to have a more grand and spectacular Douluo Title.


    Gu Yue, can you give me a sign?


    All of a sudden, the scale he was stroking tremored slightly, and a burst of faint spiritual fluctuations entered his mind, as if to resonate with his thoughts.


    "My Douluo Title is Silver Qilin, and my four-word battle armor will be named Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin."


    It was Gu Yue! She really was able to contact him through the scale!


    Tang Wulin hurriedly injected his spiritual power into the scale to try and contact Gu Yuena, only to completely fail to detect any spiritual fluctuations.


    This was so unfair! She could sense his thoughts, but he couldn''t sense her at all.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, but at the same time, the message transmitted to him by Gu Yuena had struck him with a sense of inspiration.


    Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin? That matched very well with his Golden Dragon Moon Song.


    Her Douluo Title was Silver Qilin, which was Silver Dragon King combined with his name, so how about...


    Tang Wulin had made a decision.


    ......


    The giant metal pillars were slowly withdrawn, and after five days of rest and recuperation, the federal fleet had fully recovered.


    All of the soldiers had outstanding recovery ability, and aside from some damaged items that couldn''t be repaired, the federal fleet had maintained at least 90% of its peak condition.


    Advance!


    That was the order issued by Chen Xinjie. He was naturally aware that the Star Luo Empire had to have discovered the federal fleet already but so what? That didn''t mean that the empire would be able to stop them.


    The three fleets formed an enormous triangle with the three aircraft carriers at its core, and they sped toward the Star Luo Empire shoreline with all of their soul tools ready for battle.


    "Commander, there are at least four corps of troops stationed on the Star Luo Empire coastline, as well as all types of large defensive soul tools."


    "Commander, according to our sensory devices, the defensive capability of the Star Luo Empire shoreline exceeds our projections by 30%."


    "Commander, there are no Star Luo Empire ships within a radius of 500 nautical miles."


    "Commander, according to our thermal imaging devices, there are over 3,000 Star Luo Empire mechas situated on the shoreline; the grades of the mechas are still unknown."


    A series of reports were being made to the control center, and Chen Xinjie merely listened without giving instructions, which meant that everything was to proceed as planned.


    Things were going to be more troublesome now that the enemy was prepared. As for how much more troublesome, that would depend on how much power the Star Luo Empire had been able to muster up.


    [1] [The Bing (±ù) in Long Bing translates directly to ice.]

 Chapter 1412: Terrifying Missile

    Dai Tianling was renowned as the most outstanding emperor that the Star Luo Empire had seen in 1,000 years; Chen Xinjie wanted to see just how powerful the Star Luo Empire had become under his rule.


    Currently, he was actually more concerned about the storm that had taken place earlier than the Star Luo Empire.


    He had clearly seen that figure following the conclusion of the storm, which meant that he had to have had something to do with the storm. How had he managed to stir up such a devastating weather phenomenon?


    There was a massive gap between their cultivation ranks, so how had Tang Wulin managed to deprive him of his control over the sea?


    As the Boundless Ocean Douluo, Chen Xinjie was at the height of his powers in the ocean. He had always thought that he would be invincible in the sea, but he had been dealt a heavy blow, and by such a young man, no less.


    Exactly what kind of secrets were being harbored by him and the Tang Sect?


    Even if he wanted to cover for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, there would be no way for him to cover up Tang Wulin''s involvement in this incident. The entire federal fleet had seen him, and video footage of him had already been transmitted back to the federation.


    This was definitely going to have a very negative impact on the Tang Sect. Compared to the Tang Sect Master''s participation in the Trial of Five Gods, this was a far more damning incident that would pile even more pressure on the Tang Sect.


    "Commander, we are about to enter the range of the enemy''s large offensive soul tools."


    Chen Xinjie immediately abandoned that train of thought, and ordered, "Proceed according to the original plan. All ships, prepare to attack; all fighter aircrafts, take off."


    The plan for this battle had already been refined countless times, and it was as simple as it was elegant. The entire plan could be condensed into a single word: blitzkrieg!


    They were going to crush the enemy''s defenses through brute force, then establish a firm foothold on land and construct the necessary infrastructure. After that, they were going to scout out the locations of the opposing troops, then attack them with the firepower of the three fleets, crushing the empire''s military forces before conquering the entire land.


    If everything went according to plan, the Star Luo Empire would be entirely conquered in no more than three months.


    In the eyes of Chen Xinjie, this wasn''t a difficult task. After all, the Star Luo Empire''s technology and military prowess couldn''t even begin to compare with that of the federation.


    "Beep beep beep!"


    All of a sudden, a sharp siren sounded, and the aircraft carrier''s protective barrier was automatically activated in the face of an attack. A streak of red light suddenly rose up from the shoreline in the distance without any warning, then hurtled directly toward the Sea God Fleet''s aircraft carrier while drawing a dazzling parabola through the air.


    The Star Luo Empire had unleashed the first attack!


    Chen Xinjie''s expression darkened upon seeing this.


    According to their original plan, he was going to give the empire a chance to surrender, but there was no need for that now.


    The aircraft carrier''s protective barriers were fully activated, and at the same time, streaks of powerful light were launched to intercept the oncoming attack.


    Aircraft carriers were among the most powerful modern weapons and were essentially fortresses on water. There wasn''t even a single aircraft carrier to share between the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire, and if the three aircraft carriers hadn''t acted as the main stabilizing forces of the federal fleet, it would''ve already been wiped out by that storm a few days ago.


    As such, carrier-based vanguard groups were essentially invincible out at sea!


    The aircraft carrier''s protective barriers could easily withstand the explosion of a ninth-grade soul missile, and its interception system was also the most advanced; there were almost no attacks that could breach these stalwart defenses.


    "Boom!" The streak of red light exploded violently after being intercepted, and the entire sky was instantly stained red as fireballs fell from the sky like rain.


    The provocation from the Star Luo Empire had enraged the federal fleet, yet just as they were about to retaliate, another streak of red light suddenly descended from the explosion that had just taken place up above.


    The interception system was kept at bay by the force of the explosion, so this second streak of red light was able to fall directly upon the aircraft carrier''s protective barrier.


    "Rumble!"


    An extremely terrifying explosion erupted on the protective barrier, and the entire aircraft carrier tremored violently as it was forced to tilt off to the side, while the entire world outside the windows had turned bright red.


    Piercing sirens rang out within the entire control center, and the energy storm created by the violent shockwaves had caused all of the sensory devices in the aircraft carrier to temporarily malfunction.


    Even a ninth-grade soul missile couldn''t unleash this much destructive power!


    Setting aside how that streak of red light had managed to pierce through the interception system, just its explosive power was something that a ninth-grade soul missile definitely couldn''t match.


    A chill immediately ran down Chen Xinjie''s spine as a possibility occurred to him, and a sense of fury also welled up in his heart.


    The explosion of red light lingered for close to 10 seconds before finally subsiding, and the formation of the federal fleet had been thrown into disarray.


    From a birds-eye perspective, one would be able to see that even though the protective barrier had just barely managed to withstand the force of the explosion, the front end of the Sea God Fleet''s aircraft carrier had sunk slightly, and it had been forced backward, crashing into several ships in the process. The warship that was closest to it had been sent drifting off to the side, and this was downright unimaginable.


    In the eyes of the federal fleet, the Star Luo Empire was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. However, they suddenly discovered that it was a wolf in sheep''s skin, and now that it was baring its fangs, everyone was taken by surprise.


    The Sea God Fleet''s aircraft carrier was the most powerful one among the three fleets, yet it had still been forced back. The commanders of the other two aircraft carriers couldn''t help but wonder what would''ve happened if the target had been one of their aircraft carriers. Would their protective barriers have been able to withstand such an attack?


    The condition of the Sea God Fleet''s aircraft carrier was currently unclear, but it definitely hadn''t managed to remain completely unscathed. Since when did the Star Luo Empire come into possession of such a powerful weapon?


    Even the aircraft carrier''s defense system hadn''t managed to destroy it, and it had even been capable of exploding a second time.


    What exactly was that thing? There was definitely no such weapon in the federation.


    At the same time, the Star Luo Empire control center had erupted into cheers.


    When the second explosion of red light had appeared on the screen, everyone, including Dai Tianling and Dai Yueyan, had let loose raucous cheers.


    The enormous aircraft carriers were like mountains weighing down on their hearts, yet the Sea God Fleet''s aircraft carrier had been knocked lopsided by 30 degrees. Even with its powerful defenses, it hadn''t been able to withstand that attack; perhaps they would be able to sink it with another one of the same missile!

 Chapter 1413: Twofold Soul Harvesting Missile

    Dai Tianling could still clearly recall the description for the soul missile that had just been launched. Its name was the Twofold Soul Harvesting Missile, and of course, it wasn''t a ninth-grade soul missile.


    According to the Tang Sect''s evaluation system, it was a 10th-grade soul missile, and it was comprised of two soul missiles connected together using a special method.


    The primary missile''s explosion would produce a burst of powerful explosive force, unleashing destructive power while protecting the secondary missile within. The secondary missile''s core circuits allowed it to devour the violent energy in the outside world, thereby making its own internal structure extremely unstable. As a result, an extremely powerful second explosion would ensue, and it would be imbued with exceptional explosive and penetrative power.


    If the Twofold Soul Harvesting Missile had been allowed to strike without any interception, even an aircraft carrier wouldn''t have been able to withstand the power of its two consecutive explosions. The first explosion would allow the secondary missile to burrow straight into the ship, then produce an even greater explosion.


    The core circuits for this type of soul missile had to be accurate to a tee. Otherwise, if both missiles were to detonate at the same time, the effect would be significantly lessened.


    It was essentially a combination of two ninth-grade soul missiles, but the power unleashed was superior to the sum of its two constituent parts, which meant that it had gone beyond the realm of a ninth-grade soul missile. Having said that, it wasn''t entirely accurate to call it a 10th-grade soul missile as there were no set criteria for 10th and 11th-grade soul missiles in the federation.


    It was undoubtedly the case that this Twofold Soul Harvesting Missile had come from the Tang Sect, and it was so expensive that even Dai Tianling had winced at the sight of its price.


    However, in the instant that the missile forced back the aircraft carrier, he knew that this was money well spent!


    If it weren''t for the agreement that the empire had forged with the Tang Sect, he really wanted to immediately launch another one to completely destroy that aircraft carrier.


    Unfortunately, he couldn''t do that. Destroying an aircraft carrier wouldn''t be enough to turn the tide of the war, and it would make the empire and the federation sworn enemies; something that the empire couldn''t afford to have happen.


    On top of that, they only had a total of four Twofold Soul Harvesting Missiles, and regardless of how powerful a weapon was, it always had the greatest intimidation factor before it was used.


    Only after close to 20 minutes did the Sea God Fleet''s aircraft carrier completely stabilize itself, but the sirens continued to blare.


    "The soul power detection system and thermal imaging system have been damaged; the protective barrier''s efficacy has fallen to 30% and is currently slowly recovering. Due to the excessive energy expenditure, the radar detection system has been severely impacted, and seven fighter aircrafts have been damaged."


    A series of reports were being made alongside the loud sirens. As for the warship that the aircraft carrier had crashed into, it was in an even worse condition. Its left side had been severely damaged, and if emergency repairs weren''t applied, it would run the risk of sinking. It hadn''t activated its protective barrier at the time, and was rammed into directly by the aircraft carrier. If this had been a warship from either one of the other two fleets, it would''ve most likely sunk on the spot.


    Not only had Chen Xinjie''s expression become very strained, all of the commanders'' expressions had also darkened significantly.


    That attack had come close to sinking the aircraft carrier! Did the enemy have more of these weapons?


    A stunned silence had settled over the federal fleet, and the Star Luo Empire was also waiting for the situation to unfold further.


    Through the surveillance devices, it could be seen that a series of cannons had been set up on the shoreline, and soul missiles had already been loaded into them, so they were ready to fire at a moment''s notice. The same also applied to the federal fleet.


    The soul missiles that the Star Luo Empire was preparing to fire were all extremely huge and of a dark red color, making them particularly eye-catching.


    Thinking back to the explosions of red light earlier, the federal fleet was naturally very wary of this.


    The biggest problem was that the federal fleet had no idea how many soul missiles of that caliber the Star Luo Empire possessed. If two of them were launched in succession, even an aircraft carrier would be destroyed, and that was far too heavy a price for the federation to pay.


    The main advantage the federation had was its three aircraft carriers; if they were to be destroyed, then the invasion would become extremely difficult to achieve.


    Of course, if the three aircraft carriers were to open fire with all their might, they''d also be able to destroy everything on the shoreline, but at such close range, neither side could ensure that they wouldn''t be struck by enemy retaliation.


    The soul missile from before had arrived far too abruptly, and it had been launched from outside of the federal fleet''s projected attack range, so they hadn''t been able to retaliate right away, but the situation was different now. If either side were to attack under these circumstances, then it was very likely that a mutually destructive battle would commence.


    What should they do?


    Judging from the range of that last attack, the federal fleet no longer had any advantage in that area. If a battle were to break out, even if they were to win, the three fleets would most likely sustain severe damage.


    At this point, it had already become very clear to Chen Xinjie that there was only one possible power that would''ve been able to supply the Star Luo Empire with such a weapon.


    Aside from the Tang Sect, who else could be capable of developing such a weapon? A soul missile of this caliber was truly able to pose a threat even to a warship.


    Tang Wulin had visited the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire most likely for the purpose of delivering weapons to them. In doing so, the Tang Sect was committing an act of treason!


    In any case, the threat was looming right before them, and how they addressed it was going to impact the rest of the war.


    Even though Chen Xinjie''s heart was burning with fury, he forced himself to remain calm as the commander of the federal fleet. "Retreat 100 nautical miles!" He could no longer make a decision on his own in this current situation; he had to contact the federation and ask for a verdict. If the two sides were to clash, the ensuing battle would most likely inflict severe damage onto both sides, and that wasn''t beneficial to the federation in the slightest.


    "They retreated! Hahaha, the federal fleet is scared!" In contrast with the tense and gloomy atmosphere in the federal fleet, the Star Luo Empire control center was in full celebration.


    They had forced back the entire federal fleet with just a single soul missile and completed their first objective.


    However, Dai Tianling wasn''t cheering. In fact, his heart was currently filled with remorse.


    The Twofold Soul Harvesting Missile had shown him just how incredible the Tang Sect''s technology was. It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that if the Tang Sect were to provide all of its soul technology to the Star Luo Empire, the empire would be able to catch up to the federation in just a few years.


    The two continents were extremely far apart, so wars could only be waged through fleets; as long as there wasn''t a massive technological disparity, the Star Luo Empire had nothing to fear. Furthermore, the empire had far more resources than the federation. If it could receive the Tang Sect''s unreserved technological support, then they''d be able to take many shortcuts and outstrip the federation when it came to space exploration!

 Chapter 1414: Testing the Ninth Soul Skill

    Dai Tianling was feeling very remorseful. He should''ve displayed an even better attitude toward the Tang Sect and not been so conceited. Only after witnessing the Tang Sect''s soul weapons did he truly realize just how far the Star Luo Empire was lagging behind.


    He had to tie the Tang Sect and the Star Luo Empire together in the future regardless of the cost; this was the greatest opportunity for the empire to ascend to greater heights!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s handsome face surfaced in Dai Tianling''s mind again. He really wanted to kill this brat who had fled after thoroughly embarrassing his daughter, but at the same time, if it weren''t for Tang Wulin, the people on the federal fleet would be the ones celebrating right now.


    On top of that, he was even more interested in the violent storm that had been conjured up several days ago. If the Star Luo Empire could learn the ability to alter the weather from the Tang Sect, then it would no longer have to fear the federation.


    Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of what Dai Tianling was thinking. At this moment, the Tang Sect submarine was traveling toward the Douluo Continent at its maximum speed.


    After resting for a few days, Tang Wulin had already recovered to peak condition. They were situated deep in the sea, so they had no idea what was happening in the Star Luo Empire, but they had done everything they could. If the Star Luo Empire still couldn''t keep the federal fleet at bay, then there was nothing further they could do.


    "You really do seem to be fine now. Even I can no longer assess the condition of your body; all I can say is that your physical constitution has already exceeded what should be humanly possible. Even a Limit Douluo like myself can''t compare with your physical constitution."


    After returning from the imperial palace, the Holy Spirit Douluo had been constantly monitoring Tang Wulin''s bodily condition during the past few days. She had been informed of what had happened during that storm, and she had been astonished that Tang Wulin had managed to remain completely unharmed during that fearsome storm of lightning.


    At the same time, she was also very concerned for him and examined his body every day to ensure that he was fully healthy.


    As it turned out, Tang Wulin truly possessed an inhuman body; not only was it completely unharmed, it had never been better.


    His physical constitution could only be described as exceptional, and it was improving every single day. After becoming a true Titled Douluo, it was more important for Tang Wulin to consolidate his powers rather than seek to make further improvements, and he had done very well in this aspect.


    The goal he had set for himself was very simple; he wanted to completely consolidate his own powers and fully master his own body prior to returning to the Douluo Continent.


    "Thank you, Mother. I also feel like I''ve never been better." The drastic enhancements Tang Wulin''s body had undergone had left him in very high spirits, and he could even sense that the threat posed to him by the Golden Dragon King seals had diminished significantly.


    At this point, there were still six Golden Dragon King seals left, each of which was definitely going to be even more fearsome than the previous one. However, he was confident that he would at least be able to break the 13th seal without too much trouble.


    Through his communication with his birth father, he knew that he had to delay the opening of the seals as much as possible. Otherwise, even the power that his father had left within his body wouldn''t be able to repress the Golden Dragon King''s destructive intent.


    After all, that was the will of a top-tier god; unless he were to become a god himself, there was no way that he would be able to completely absorb the Golden Dragon King''s power.


    As such, even though he had undergone drastic improvements, Tang Wulin had no intention of opening any of the Golden Dragon King seals in the near future. At present, it was far more important for him to collate all of his current abilities.


    He had benefited immensely from this trip, and the return trip of over two months was the perfect opportunity for him to digest all of the rewards he had reaped.


    In the eyes of his friends, Tang Wulin seemed to be changing every single day. The domineering disposition he once had was now far more gentle, and he often appeared to be an ordinary person, but the more that this became the case, the more dangerous he appeared in everyone''s eyes.


    "Let''s not, Boss," Xie Xie said as he looked at Tang Wulin with a reluctant expression.


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless. "Haven''t you always wanted to surpass me? So let''s have a sparring match. Don''t worry, I''ll go easy on you."


    Xie Xie immediately shook his head vigorously in response. "No, no, I have no intention of surpassing you; I''ve never had such intentions! Yue Zhengyu is the one who''s always wanted to surpass you; you can ask him if you don''t believe me!"


    After witnessing that storm in person, Xie Xie had no interest in sparring with the monster that was Tang Wulin!


    Xu Xiaoyan was standing off to the side, giggling with her hand over her mouth rather than begging for mercy in Yue Zhengyu''s stead. Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui were currently completing everyone''s suits of three-word battle armor, and at this current rate, all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters would become three-word battle armor masters by the time they arrived back at the Douluo Continent.


    Through his recent self-evaluation and consolidation, Tang Wulin had learned many things, but skills could only be put into practice through battle, so he sought out Xie Xie as a sparring partner.


    "Go kill yourself, Xie Xie! When did I ever say I wanted to surpass Captain? How could you stab me in the back like that? Captain, I''ve always been your most loyal supporter. Xie Xie is constantly talking trash behind your back, so you should teach him a good lesson! We''ll all be cheering for you!"


    As soon as the voice trailed off, Yue Zhengyu emerged into the cabin, then took a pained glance at Xu Xiaoyan, who had notified him of what was happening.


    Tang Wulin sighed in a resigned manner, "How about a two-on-one match?"


    "No way!" both of them replied in unison.


    Tang Wulin was now a Titled Douluo, while Yue Zhengyu had only just become a Soul Douluo two days ago, and Xie Xie hadn''t even reached the Soul Douluo level yet. Even when they had been at the same cultivation rank, they had still been no match for Tang Wulin in a two-on-one battle; there was no way they would accept a sparring match with Tang Wulin at a far superior cultivation rank!


    "You''re a pair of cowards!" Tang Wulin felt quite speechless.


    He was truly itching for an opponent and was even beginning to miss the Trial of Five Gods. The greater the pressure exerted on him, the more his latent potential could be stimulated, but there seemed to be no suitable opponent for him on this submarine.


    Yali was a Limit Douluo, but her forte lay in healing rather than battle. As for everyone else, no one wanted to spar with him.


    "How about we throw in Xiaoyan and Lizhi as well? We''ll have a four-on-one match!" Tang Wulin proposed with an expectant expression.


    Xu Xiaoyan pouted in a pitiable manner. "Captain, I''m a girl! How could you?"


    Tang Wulin snapped, "Don''t try to fool me! Even back when we first met, you''ve always had superb acting skills! You''re not going to trick me! I miss Xinglan and Yuanen. If they were here, they definitely wouldn''t turn down my challenge. If you don''t even dare to face challenges, how will you continue to advance? Take me, for example; I always make the fastest progress when I''m constantly facing powerful opponents."


    "No way!" the three of them exclaimed in unison.


    "Fine, I''ll go to the surface and train by myself then. Perhaps I''ll encounter some powerful sea soul beast!" Tang Wulin grumbled in a disgruntled manner.


    In reality, he knew that there was no way he would encounter any antagonistic sea soul beasts; with his Sea God aura, no sea soul beast would attack him.


    The submarine drifted upward, and Tang Wulin flew out onto the surface of the sea. He inhaled a lungful of the fresh and moist air, and he instantly felt reinvigorated.


    Xie Xie and the others weren''t willing to spar with him, but they certainly weren''t going to miss out on an opportunity to leave the submarine for some fresh air, so they had accompanied him. However, they didn''t dare to approach him and only looked on from afar with wariness in their eyes.


    A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi were always up for a battle, but both of them were currently in seclusion, leaving Tang Wulin with no one to test his powers against, and this was not a good feeling.


    A hint of purple flashed through his eyes, and a series of soul rings emerged from beneath his feet, comprised of four blacks, one greenish-golden, three orange-goldens, and a crimson ninth soul ring that was giving off a faint layer of purplish-golden light.


    It was very likely that Tang Wulin was the first person in history to possess a 100,000-year-old Infernal Lightning Vine soul ring and soul spirit.


    The nine soul rings resonated with one another, and even though their colors weren''t uniform, the mystery of the greenish-golden soul ring, the spectacle of the orange-golden soul rings, and the regal majesty of the purplish-golden soul ring presented a marvelous combination to behold.


    His long hair trailed down his back, and he began to give off a peculiar disposition. In the instant that he had appeared, even the seawater seemed to have become clearer.


    Rich water elements revolved around his body, carrying him up into the air, and even in flight, there was no expenditure, thereby allowing him to constantly maintain his peak condition.

 Chapter 1415: Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell

    Tang Wulin couldn''t truly draw upon the power of the sea, but as the son of the Sea God, he would naturally receive the blessings of the ocean, and the sea was his most loyal guardian. It could be said that it would be virtually impossible even for a demigod level Limit Douluo to kill him out at sea.


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with emotion as he sensed the changes in the energy fluctuations within his body. Only after becoming a Titled Douluo did he truly feel like he was worthy of the titles of Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master.


    Looking back, everything had happened so quickly that even he was still in disbelief. So many years of effort and sacrifice had finally allowed him to attain his current level of power. He was confident that he would become a Limit Douluo in the near future, and he had to take that step en route to becoming a god as only then would he be able to find his family!


    Many Soul Masters drew motivation in their cultivation from visions of grandeur and power, but those things weren''t very attractive to Tang Wulin. What truly motivated him was the relationship that he shared with those closest to him.


    In order to attain the power to protect Gu Yuena, he was willing to sacrifice to constantly advance onward, striving toward the day when he would be able to stand by her side to face her troubles together.


    In order to find his birth parents, he had to go even higher and rise beyond the limits of humans to become a god. This goal was an extremely distant one, but so what? His father had managed to achieve it, so why couldn''t he?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin was instilled with a sense of vigor, and he couldn''t help but throw his head back and let loose a long cry straight into the heavens.


    His voice spread far into the distance over the boundless ocean, and the placid seawater began to churn slightly as rich water elements revolved around him in an affectionate manner.


    A series of Bluesilver Emperor vines emerged from Tang Wulin''s body, and each vine was around as thick as a human arm. They seemed to be slightly thinner than they had been in the past, but all of them were covered in fine dragon scales. The vines were bluish-golden in color, but they were enshrouded within a layer of purplish-golden light.


    No visible arcs of lightning had appeared, but in the instant that these Bluesilver Emperor vines emerged, the air around Tang Wulin began to warp noticeably, as if it were about to be torn apart.


    Purplish-golden light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes, and he pointed a finger forward, upon which countless Bluesilver Emperor vines shot forth toward the same direction like lightning, converging to form a giant spear that was his Blue Emperor Fury of the Masses.


    Spear intent surged through the heavens, and a rumbling boom akin to a dull thunderclap suddenly rang out as what appeared to be a purplish-golden void appeared around a kilometer away. The void was only there for an instant before vanishing, but in that instant, the air up ahead had clearly exploded. There was no spillage of energy, and the strike didn''t appear to have been all that powerful, but it was a result of Tang Wulin doing his best to condense all of the energy together.


    He swept a hand through the air, and the Bluesilver Emperor vines suddenly formed a long spear, then a giant hammer, then a massive vortex, then a long staff.


    The Bluesilver Emperor vines underwent a series of rapid transformations before transforming into countless bluish-golden giant dragons that revolved around him while expelling purplish-golden light out of their mouths.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s ninth soul ring lit up, and the purplish-golden light it was radiating abruptly faded. The Bluesilver Emperor vines around him instantly disappeared, and the space around him with a diameter of around a kilometer fell completely dim. Countless bolts of purplish-golden lightning erupted from his body, forming a sea of lightning that threatened to destroy the entire space around him.


    This was the first soul skill that the Infernal Lightning Vine had bestowed upon him: Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell!


    Tang Wulin had initially thought that the Infernal Lightning Vine would bestow upon him two of its three original soul skills, but after the Infernal Lightning Vine had fused with his Bluesilver Emperor, it had undergone a mutation, and this Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell was a result of that. The combination of Lightning Forest and Lightning Hell, in conjunction with the resolute nature of the Bluesilver Emperor, had formed this current ability.


    Within the Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell, every single Bluesilver Emperor vine would become a part of the lightning to create an even more devastating attack. This was an offensive soul skill with a very large scope, and its destructive power was of the same nature as that of the Infernal Lightning Vine, but it was far more fearsome than the original soul skills of the Infernal Lightning Vine.


    Xie Xie''s face paled as he looked on in the distance, and he was giving himself a mental pat on the back for refusing to accept Tang Wulin''s challenge. If he had done so, he would be the one encompassed within that Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell right now!


    After his martial soul had evolved into the Space Time Dragon, he had developed an extremely acute sense of time and space. As such, he could sense that all time and space would be destroyed by the laws of lightning within the scope of that soul skill. On top of that, the attack was imbued with a powerful righteous aura, which would undoubtedly make it extremely effective against evil Soul Masters.


    Yue Zhengyu looked on with a determined expression while repeatedly reaffirming his conviction to never spar with Tang Wulin ever again!


    As for Xu Xiaoyan, she was completely astonished. The current Tang Wulin resembled the Lightning God with purplish-golden light radiating from his entire body, releasing such immense explosive power that simply approaching him would be an extremely perilous task.


    "This is insane! The destructive power of that soul skill can compare with a ninth-grade soul missile!"


    "Captain still hasn''t decided on a Douluo Title yet, right? How about we call him Bomb Douluo? Bomb Douluo Tang Wulin, haha!" Xie Xie chuckled in a low voice.


    Yue Zhengyu pursed his lips and was just about to say something when his pupils suddenly contracted. A pair of wings shot out of his back like lightning, and he instantly encircled an arm around Xu Xiaoyan''s waist before hurtling back in retreat.


    Xie Xie immediately realized that something was wrong upon seeing this, and the air warped around him as he tried to phase into space, but a streak of purplish-golden light emerged out of thin air before striking the patch of space he had just vanished into.


    "Argh!" Xie Xie howled as purple lightning surged all over his body, and he was forcibly shocked out of thin air. His entire body trembled violently, and his hair stood up on end while his eyes rolled back amid his violent convulsions. His martial soul had been completely dispelled by that lightning strike, leaving him unable to even control himself, let alone escape.


    "What''s this about a Bomb Douluo?" Tang Wulin appeared beside Xie Xie with a smile before draping an arm across Xie Xie''s shoulders to prevent him from plummeting out of the sky.


    Xie Xie''s entire body was numb, and his mind was completely blank, so he was in no shape to answer Tang Wulin''s questions.


    Not only was he in great physical pain, even his soul had been shocked violently.


    A burst of suction force was released by Tang Wulin''s hand to draw the lightning power within Xie Xie''s body away, and he murmured to himself, "This Lightning God Whip truly is a formidable attack. Even with only 10% of its power, it was too fast for Xie Xie to evade, and he didn''t even get a chance to release his battle armor."


    The Lightning God Whip was the second soul skill bestowed upon him by the Infernal Lightning Vine.


    It was an individual offensive ability, so it complemented the Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell perfectly.


    However, Tang Wulin still hadn''t completely mastered the ability yet, so he didn''t dare to unleash its full power. Both of these soul skills were extremely taxing on his soul power with both the Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell and the Lightning God Whip expending around 30% of his soul power after a single use. Tang Wulin could sense that there was a type of power of laws that was related to space imbued within this Lightning God Whip. This was perhaps due to the deeper understanding of spatial laws he had attained when completing the final fusion after witnessing the Unpredictable Storm demonstrated by Tang San.


    If he wanted to truly master this Lightning God Whip, he had to continue to attain a better understanding of space.


    Only after several minutes had passed did Xie Xie gradually recover from his numbness, but his body was still spasming from time to time.


    "Boss, th, that thing is way too powerful! Even now, I can still only barely feel my own body. Why was I unable to evade that attack even after escaping into space?" Xie Xie asked with a stunned expression.


    While being struck by the Lightning God Whip, he had felt as if his soul had almost been torn apart, and his Space Time Dragon martial soul was completely powerless. Of course, this was partially due to the fact that he had been struck while completely unprepared, but he had a feeling that even if he had been given ample time to prepare, he still wouldn''t have been able to evade the attack.

 Chapter 1416: Lightning God Whip

    Tang Wulin explained, "The Lightning God Whip doesn''t only draw upon my soul power; it draws upon my spiritual power as well. It''s a type of power that lies on the border of space and time, and it seems to have arisen after the Infernal Lightning Vine reached the 100,000-year level. Even I haven''t completely figured it out yet, so I''ll need more time to experience it, but I can sense it''s imbued with a special type of power of laws, almost as if the Lightning God Whip contains its own unique domain."


    Xie Xie''s lips twitched upon hearing this. "I''m never watching you cultivate again; it''s way too dangerous! I have to work hard to make a breakthrough as well!"


    For some reason, after being struck by that Lightning God Whip, he had attained a greater understanding of the laws of his Space Time Dragon, and he seemed to be closer to reaching rank 80 now.


    The six plant-system Great Beasts within Tang Wulin''s body were the Beautiful Silk Tulip, the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, the Blackjade Divine Bamboo, the Keen Gaze Dew, and the Land Dragon Golden Melon.


    Recently, Yuanen Yehui, Ye Xinglan, and Yue Zhengyu had completed their Soul Douluo breakthroughs and fused with an immortal plant each to attain a 100,000-year-old soul spirit. Yuanen Yehui had chosen the Land Dragon Golden Melon, attaining two soul skills, as well as greater strength and defensive prowess.


    Ye Xinglan had chosen the Blackjade Divine Bamboo and Yue Zhengyu chose the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower. As for Xu Lizhi, he had already consumed an immortal plant, and he was a food-system Soul Master, so he wasn''t going to take any of the other immortal plants. Thus, the only immortal plants that remained were the Keen Gaze Dew and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, the former of which had been assigned to Xie Xie, while the latter was assigned to Xu Xiaoyan.


    Xu Xiaoyan''s martial soul was the Starwheel Ice Staff. She had always been using the power of stars, but the power of ice within her martial soul was not to be neglected, either. As such, she was very eager to fuse with the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass to see if her martial soul would undergo a mutation.


    For Xie Xie, not only could the Keen Gaze Dew directly raise his Purple Demon Eyes to the highest level, it would also improve his learning ability. His Space Time Dragon martial soul was the most difficult to cultivate, and that was why he still hadn''t reached the Soul Douluo level. The higher his cultivation rank, the more understanding and enlightenment he required to make further progress.


    Tang Wulin said, "We have some time on our hands, so why don''t you attack me so I can gauge your current level of power? Perhaps that''ll help you."


    Xie Xie''s eyes immediately lit up. "So you''re only going to defend without retaliation?"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes in response. "You''re such a coward! Fine, are you in?"


    "I''m in!" Xie Xie replied without any hesitation.


    He was unwilling to spar with Tang Wulin as he was afraid of being abused, but if Tang Wulin was only going to defend, then everything was different.


    "Count me in as well!" Yue Zhengyu also flew over to them with excitement in his eyes.


    "Sure," Tang Wulin replied.


    Even though Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu were constantly bickering with one another, they had fought alongside each other on more occasions than they had battled even with Tang Wulin, so they were a very effective pair.


    Dazzling golden light erupted from Yue Zhengyu''s body, and the light shot forth directly toward Tang Wulin like a golden cannonball.


    A layer of golden scales immediately surfaced over Tang Wulin''s skin as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Body, and he raised his hands to oppose the ball of golden light.


    "Boom!" The dazzling golden light exploded, but instead of fading away, it converged toward Tang Wulin from all sides like a massive mouth.


    The scorching heat being released was filled with the power of light and fire, and this was a clear result of an evolution in Yue Zhengyu''s martial soul after he had become a Soul Douluo and fused with the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower.


    Tang Wulin immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body in response, yet right at this moment, a faint streak of light appeared out of thin air before slashing toward the back of his neck without any warning.


    A sense of peril instantly spread through his entire body, and he instinctively dove forward as countless Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted out of his back, making him resemble a porcupine.


    "Ding!" The light behind him suddenly warped, and the streaks of light abruptly accelerated by twofold, allowing it to reach Tang Wulin''s neck before the Bluesilver Emperor vines had completely erupted out of his body.


    However, just as the blade was about to come into contact with Tang Wulin, it suddenly returned to where it had been a second ago, and even the golden flames that had swept over his body retreated slightly.


    This was his Time Reversal domain!


    Almost at the exact same moment, over 100 streaks of light appeared in all directions at once, then instantly slashed toward him from all sides.


    What was even more startling was that the speeds of these streaks of light were constantly changing, making them completely unpredictable.


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly as he instantly increased the power output of his Time Reversal domain, causing all of the oncoming attacks to decelerate slightly. At the same time, a threw a punch into the air up ahead, and a small black hole was punched into space amid a resounding boom.


    A burst of powerful suction force erupted out of the black hole, and as a result, the oncoming blades were slowed down even further. Tang Wulin then spread his Golden Dragon King wings and revolved on the spot like a tornado. At the same time, he rose up into the air to clash with the descending Yue Zhengyu.


    Another resounding boom rang out, and Tang Wulin''s entire body tremored as he was forced to descend from above. The fact that he was only able to defend limited his powers to only around the Soul Douluo level, and he had been forced onto the back foot.


    A streak of reddish-golden light then reached him immediately thereafter before slamming viciously into his body, turning all of his scales a reddish-golden color and causing him to plummet directly toward the sea. Despite this, he was only getting more fired up.


    Streaks of light began to appear once again, and they began to rain down from above like a torrential storm. Some of the streaks of light were normal, while others were imbued with a peerlessly sharp aura, but what was really strange was that this sharpness seemed to both exist and not exist at the same time. He felt like if he were to ignore it, then the sharpness would become reality, but if he were to defend himself against it, it would instantly turn into an illusion. This was a very peculiar attack, and one that was extremely difficult to deal with.


    Tang Wulin praised Xie Xie internally as he withdrew all of the Bluesilver Emperor vines that he had released earlier, and they all began to revolve around him as his seventh soul ring lit up. This was his Bluesilver Emperor True Body!


    A layer of blue light appeared over his entire body, and it was as if he had become completely translucent. Meanwhile, every single Bluesilver Emperor vine around him dispersed in all directions as if they had a mind of their own.


    Regardless of whether the streaks of light were moving quickly or slowly or whether they were illusionary or substantial, all of them were met by a Bluesilver Emperor vine.


    Yue Zhengyu descended once again, and reddish-golden flames burned all over his body as he spread his four wings to absorb the light elements in the air. However, before him stood a massive shield of interwoven Bluesilver Emperor vines.


    Meanwhile, Xie Xie was phasing in and out of space, unleashing a series of peerlessly sharp attacks, acting as the perfect foil to Yue Zhengyu''s direct and aggressive assault.


    However, Tang Wulin was always able to use his Bluesilver Emperor True Body to withstand their attacks at just the right moment.

 Chapter 1417: Collective Cultivation

    This was a reflection of the power gap between them. Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Domain realm, thereby allowing him to instantly gauge the trajectories of Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu''s attacks. In his Bluesilver Emperor True Body form, his Bluesilver Emperor vines had become extremely resolute, and they were imbued with the power of the Golden Dragon King, as well as the numbing effect of the Infernal Lightning Vine. As such, they were always able to effectively nullify Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu''s attacks and keep them at bay.


    The three combatants seemed to be everywhere at once as they flashed through the air, and their battle was an extremely spectacular sight to behold.


    Xie Xie had never had an opportunity to display his abilities to such a complete extent before. He was constantly traversing through time and space, and every time he did so, his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger would become more ethereal and threatening. Every single Bluesilver Emperor vine was like an enemy, and every clash taught him something new.


    He was learning how to avoid being bound by the vines, how to resist their numbing effect, and how to search for opportunities to break through the defensive line.


    He had broken through on more than one occasion through the power of his Space Time Dragon to create attacking opportunities for himself, but Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal domain would effectively counter him every single time, sending him back to square one.


    This was not a good feeling, but it was also exactly because of this that he had to think even harder to find opportunities.


    Tang Wulin had made drastic improvements through constant battle during the Trial of Five Gods, which was the best way to improve oneself, and Xie Xie was currently experiencing the same thing, as was Yue Zhengyu.


    After fusing with the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower, his powers had also been drastically enhanced, and the combination between his flames of light and the flames of the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower soul spirit had allowed him to forge a unique path for himself. Compared to his original Holy Angel martial soul, his powers were now more aggressive and invasive.


    The invasive nature of his power resembled that of flames, and in conjunction with the unpredictable powers of Xie Xie, the duo was posing a huge threat to Tang Wulin. Under these circumstances where none of them were using their battle armor and Tang Wulin was unable to retaliate, he could only use his Time Reversal domain over and over again to bail himself out.


    Without having to worry about retaliation from Tang Wulin, Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu were able to attack to their hearts'' content, and they were quickly consolidating their newfound powers through this process.


    This was a very wonderful feeling for them, and at the same time, Tang Wulin was also benefiting from this sparring match. As someone whose forte lay in his offensive power, he had grown to rely heavily on the power of the Golden Dragon King during battle. This was evidenced by the fact that he had never even used the eighth soul skill of his Bluesilver Emperor during the Trial of Five Gods. He had grown accustomed to attack, and had neglected many of the advantages that his Bluesilver Emperor possessed.


    Now that he was focusing entirely on defense, he was using his Bluesilver Emperor vines to defend himself, thereby allowing him to hone his skills when using his martial soul.


    At the same time, the constant repetitive usage of his Time Reversal domain was also allowing him to become more proficient in unleashing the domain.


    All three of them were above rank 70 in soul power, so they had all attained soul cores, which granted them a virtually limitless supply of soul power. After battling for over an hour straight, Yue Zhengyu was the first to concede.


    At this point, his clothes were completely drenched in sweat, and he flapped his wings to fly back out of the battle as he panted, "I''m done! That was awesome!" He was completely exhausted, but his eyes were brighter than ever.


    The light beside him warped, and Xie Xie emerged with his hands on his hips. He was also panting heavily. "That was the best! Boss, if you''re willing to hold back like this, every time, we''d be happy to spar with you every day!"


    The Bluesilver Emperor vines were withdrawn, and Tang Wulin reverted back to his human form. His breathing was still normal, and he didn''t appear to have undergone any rigorous exercise, but his eyes were slightly dim, which was an indication of a vast amount of spiritual power expenditure.


    "You sure make it sound easy; this is very tiring for me as well!"


    The direct clashes with Yue Zhengyu actually didn''t pose much of a threat to him as his physical constitution had already reached an unfathomably powerful state. To put it in simpler terms, even a quasigod like Infernal King Douluo Harosha''s physical constitution may not even be able to match that of Tang Wulin.


    However, Xie Xie was an entirely different story. Xie Xie''s attacks were virtually omnipresent, and they were completely unpredictable. Without being able to retaliate, he was forced to use his Time Reversal domain over and over again to ward off Xie Xie''s attacks.


    Even though Xie Xie hadn''t become a Soul Douluo yet, he had posed a lot of problems for Tang Wulin, and this was a very encouraging sign. The more powerful his friends became, the better equipped they were going to be to lead the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy to greater heights.


    No matter how powerful he was, he was only a single person. The current situation on the Douluo Continent was very detrimental to both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and he couldn''t reverse everything alone.


    However, once all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters became Titled Douluos, Tang Wulin was confident that they would be able to rebuild Shrek Academy for sure.


    Xie Xie chuckled, "Don''t be like that, Boss; these sparring matches are mutually beneficial for all of us. If you''re allowed to attack, then it''ll be a non-contest that doesn''t benefit anyone. I think all of our future sparring matches should be like this."


    Yue Zhengyu immediately nodded in a rare gesture of support for Xie Xie. "I also think this is a great idea. There were a few areas of my fusion with the Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower that were imperfect, but they seem to have all been ironed out during the course of that sparring match. If we do this a few more times, I''m sure I''ll be able to fuse to an even greater extent with my soul spirit."


    Tang Wulin nodded with a contemplative look on his face. "I''m not opposed to continuing in this fashion, but more changes need to be introduced to benefit our overall development. Once Yuanen and the others complete everyone''s suits of battle armor, they should join in on these sparring matches as well. How about this? We''ll have three sparring matches where I don''t retaliate for every one match where I''m allowed to attack as well. It''s good to be able to hone your offensive abilities, but you need to learn to defend under pressure as well."


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu exchanged a glance upon hearing this. "Boss, you''re not doing this to get back at us, are you?"


    Tang Wulin maintained a serious expression as he asked, "Am I that type of person? I''m proposing this for the sake of everyone''s improvement."


    "Ahem," Xie Xie scratched his head, and said, "Sometimes, I feel like you can be pretty sly."


    Tang Wulin suddenly smiled, but the smile sent shivers running down Xie Xie''s spine for some reason. Before Tang Wulin even spoke again, Xie Xie was already backtracking. "Alright, I think this is a good idea; we do indeed need some pressure as well!"


    During the upcoming period of time, the submarine would rise to the surface almost every day for them to spar. The sea was the ideal drill ground for them where they could battle without any inhibitions, and soon, the other members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters began to join in as well.


    At times, Tang Wulin was battling them without retaliating, and at other times, he was allowed to attack, but everyone was fighting him all at once. Everyone''s combat prowess was constantly improving, and Tang Wulin was also consolidating his own powers through the repetitive cycle of sparring and cultivation.


    Time flew by, and they drew closer and closer to the Douluo Continent.


    On this day, Tang Wulin and his friends had only just returned from their sparring match when he was approached by the submarine captain. "Sect Master, we''ve managed to contact the sect."


    The fact that they had gotten into contact with the Tang Sect indicated that they were already very close to the Douluo Continent.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and asked, "How long until we reach the shore?"


    The captain replied, "We''ll get there in around three days. The vice-palace master has requested that you contact him as soon as possible; he seems to have some urgent matters to discuss with you."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this. Urgent matters? Could it be that the Star Luo Empire had still failed to withstand the assault from the federal fleet?


    He quickly hurried to the communication cabin in the submarine, and the captain asked all of the workers to vacate the room, then also left after using the communication device to get into contact with the Tang Sect.


    Zang Xin''s voice rang out from the other end of the line. "Wulin."


    Tang Wulin could hear the exhaustion of Zang Xin''s voice as he spoke.


    "What happened?" Tang Wulin hurriedly asked, but he wasn''t all that anxious or urgent. After experiencing so much, he had learned how to be calm under all circumstances.

 Chapter 1418: Treasonous Organization?

    Zang Xin chuckled, "There''s no need to worry, you''ve done very well. The federal fleet has already been forced back by the Star Luo Empire, and it''s preparing to retreat. The two sides were initially caught in a stalemate as the federal fleet was wary of the weapons we had supplied to the Star Luo Empire, but the Dou Spirit Empire''s fleet suddenly turned up and also launched a 10th-grade Twofold Soul Harvesting Missile. The missile inflicted some damage upon the federal fleet, and it''s retreated quite a long way back.


    "According to the information provided to us by our contacts over at the Star Luo Empire, this war most likely isn''t going to happen. After all, Chen Xinjie can''t afford to instigate this war knowing that the entire federal fleet could be wiped out. All of the advantages lie with the Star Luo Empire, and they''re able to formulate their defensive efforts on land. Even if sufficient damage could be inflicted upon the Star Luo Empire, the federation definitely wouldn''t want to risk the destruction of the three fleets.


    "Thus, their momentum has been completely halted, and the situation is only worsening the longer this stalemate continues, so I''m guessing that the federal fleet will be forced to return. If the federation still wants to instigate this war, they''ll have to launch an attack of an even larger scale against the Star Luo Empire; who knows how long that would take to prepare?"


    Tang Wulin heaved a huge sigh of relief upon hearing this. "That''s fantastic news! I''m sure we''ve prevented the deaths of many innocent civilians. Why do you sound so exhausted, Your Majesty? Is there something else you have to tell me?"


    Zang Xin sighed, and replied, "The federation has already declared our Tang Sect to be a treasonous organization."


    Tang Wulin''s expression immediately stiffened upon hearing this.


    The federation had declared the Tang Sect to be a treasonous organization?


    During the Tang Sect''s 20,000-year history, it had always been one of the most powerful sects on the Douluo Continent. Countless years ago, the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, had thwarted the evil scheme of the Soul Hall.


    Countless years ago, Huo Yuhao had founded the Spirit Pagoda and protected the entire Star Luo Empire on his own. However, the Tang Sect was now being proclaimed as a treasonous organization.


    This meant that the entire federation was going to reject the Tang Sect and treat them like the Holy Spirit Cult. This meant that the Tang Sect would only be able to exist in the shadows from now on.


    "How dare they!" Tang Wulin''s voice instantly became as cold as ice. It had been a very long time since he had been this enraged by anything.


    The Amorous Douluo chuckled coldly, "Some people simply won''t rest until we''re all dead! This topic sparked a huge debate in the federal parliament, and the Dove Faction did everything in its power to oppose the announcement, but the Eagle Faction and neutral powers joined forces against them. They used your participation in the Trial of Five Gods and the new weapons that the two empires had attained as evidence that the Tang Sect had committed treason."


    "But they have no proof," Tang Wulin said in a cold voice.


    Zang Xin replied in an indifferent manner, "Do you think they need proof? Prior to this, we already anticipated that something like this could happen. Don''t worry, even if we''re being denounced as a treasonous organization, the Tang Sect won''t fall that easily. We''ll face this issue together once you come back."


    Tang Wulin asked, "What about the Blood God Legion? The palace master and many of our Tang Sect''s elites are still at the Blood God Legion; what about them?"


    Zang Xin replied, "The federation clearly thinks that the Blood God Legion no longer needs us. Prior to making this public declaration, the federal parliament had already sent out powerful beings from the Battle God Hall and Spirit Pagoda to the Blood God Legion to apprehend the palace master and the members of our Tang Sect. Thankfully, the Mirror Douluo was tipped off in advance, and the palace master and the others have already returned. They''ve been replaced by powerful beings from the Spirit Pagoda, and Leng Yaozhu is now the stand-in Blood One."


    Tang Wulin clenched his fists with fury. "So everything our Tang Sect has done for the continent for the past thousands of years is just being disregarded?"


    "That''s right!"


    Zang Xin''s voice was very calm, but Tang Wulin could sense the unrest deep in his heart.


    After a brief silence, Tang Wulin said, "I''ll be back in three days."


    Zang Xin replied, "Alright, we''ll discuss this matter further once you return."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin''s good mood had been completely ruined. The Tang Sect had existed for 20,000 years and had done nothing but work for the peace and development of the Douluo Star. How disheartening was it that the Tang Sect was now being declared as a treasonous organization?


    Setting aside everything else, the Blood God Legion had defended the abyssal passageway for 6,000 years, and countless Tang Sect disciples had perished for that cause. As Blood One, the Heartless Douluo had dedicated over 60 years of his life to the Blood God Legion, yet this was how the federation was repaying the Tang Sect!


    It could indeed be argued that his trip to the Star Luo Empire was against the interests of the federation, but he had made this trip for the sake of all of humanity! If a war were to ensue, not only would countless lives be lost, the greatest beneficiary would be the Holy Spirit Cult!


    It had already been proven that the Spirit Pagoda was colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, yet the federation had gone after the Tang Sect while leaving the Spirit Pagoda to its own devices.


    The tag of treasonous organization was like a slap to the face to the 20,000 years of glory of the Tang Sect. This was undoubtedly going to be an extremely heavy blow to all of the Tang Sect''s disciples, yet the federation had made such a decision without taking any of that into account.


    Tang Wulin''s fists were tightly clenched, and the rage in his heart refused to subside.


    Compared to the entire federation, both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were very feeble. There was no way that an academy and a sect would be able to contend with the entire federation, and Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t going to take vengeance on the federation. But what was going to become of the Tang Sect now? Was the federation really going to push the entire Tang Sect to the Star Luo Empire?


    In reality, the Star Luo Empire''s fixation on the Tang Sect was precisely because of the sect''s advanced soul technology. Even if the Tang Sect were to defect to the Star Luo Empire, the empire would just become a second Douluo Federation in a few millennia, and the Tang Sect would be tossed by the wayside again.


    The most painful thing for Tang Wulin was that he didn''t know how to face this situation. He couldn''t see any future for the Tang Sect.


    On top of that, there was no way that the federation would allow the entire Tang Sect to move to the Star Luo Empire. The Tang Sect had been declared as a treasonous organization, so it was undoubtedly going to be heavily targeted.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was a terror organization while the Tang Sect was a treasonous organization; the two were virtually equals.


    What a foolish decision the federation had made!


    For the first time, Tang Wulin was struck by a strong sense of discontent toward the federation.


    He refrained from revealing this news to everyone else and decided to wait until they all returned to the federation. Never did he think that the Tang Sect would be plunged into such a perilous situation.


    The task of reviving Shrek Academy was already an extremely monumental one; now that the Tang Sect had been declared as a treasonous organization, he was going to face even more pressure as the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master.


    Three days later, the submarine silently drew to a halt in the underground lake beneath the Tang Sect, which it had traveled into along a marine tunnel.


    After being at sea for so long, stepping back onto land struck everyone with a sense of relief and stability, but this didn''t apply to Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 1419: Return

    The underground Tang Sect base in Skysea City was still the same as it had been in the past, but Tang Wulin could see a series of complex emotions in the eyes of the Tang Sect disciples, including indignation and pain, but more so fury and humiliation.


    Their expressions only eased slightly upon seeing Tang Wulin, and they all extended respectful bows toward him.


    The Trial of Five Gods had made Tang Wulin a target of the federation, but it had also allowed him to truly establish himself in the Tang Sect.


    Defeating an entire empire through one''s individual power was an extremely glorious and monumental feat, and all of the Tang Sect disciples were in full celebration when they saw the footage of the trial. Only then were they made aware of just how powerful their new sect master was. Having such a young leader with such brilliant potential brought immense hope to the Tang Sect.


    Ever since that period of time around 10,000 years ago when the Tang Sect had almost fallen into complete obscurity, the sect had taken more care in ensuring its heritage wasn''t severed. While still in their primes, all of the past sect masters would choose groups of bright young talents for special nurturing and choose successors from among them. However, the Shrek City bombing had resulted in the deaths of many of the Tang Sect''s brightest young talents, which was a contributing factor behind Tang Wulin''s accelerated ascension.


    Tang Wulin had proven through his actions to the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect that he was worthy of their trust. During this journey, which had spanned less than a year, he had undergone a complete transformation and returned as a truly powerful being.


    At the same time, he had also brought back the newly ascended Limit Douluo, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    Even though the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were being oppressed by all sides, they had a total of four Limit Douluos among their ranks in the form of Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, so they still stood at the very pinnacle of the continent when it came to top-tier power.


    "Welcome back." A familiar voice rang out, and a figure silently appeared before Tang Wulin and Yali.


    "Your Majesty." The figure who had appeared was none other than Zang Xin, and Tang Wulin''s expression finally eased slightly at the sight of him.


    Zang Xin wore a faint smile, displaying no visible sign of the immense pressure he had been facing recently.


    "I''m glad you''re back," Zang Xin said before turning to the Holy Spirit Douluo, "Congratulations, Yali."


    He was surprised to discover that not only had Yali become a Limit Douluo, her essence, energy, and spirit seemed to have undergone a complete transformation. The loneliness and despair in her eyes had disappeared, and she seemed to be full of vitality.


    "Thank you, Your Majesty. How is the Tang Sect?" Yali asked.


    Zang Xin smiled, and replied, "The sky hasn''t fallen on us yet. We''ve actually already anticipated that this day would come. They''ve already unleashed Godslayer missiles on Shrek Academy and our Tang Sect; nothing is beneath them. They''ve become blinded by their power, and they''re trying to drive us into a corner before completely eradicating us."


    Yali nodded in response. "They''re being far too reckless, and they''ve severely underestimated us."


    "Let''s talk further when we get back."


    Lodging was organized for the Tang Sect disciples and Blood Dragon Squad that had accompanied Tang Wulin on his trip, while Tang Wulin, Zang Xin, Yali, and the rest of Shrek''s Seven Monsters gathered in the conference chamber of the Tang Sect headquarters.


    Zang Xin turned to Tang Wulin, and said, "You''ve completed your mission to perfection, Sect Master. We''ve achieved our objective; the federal fleet is still locked in a stalemate with the Star Luo Empire, but it''s inevitable that they''ll have to turn back, so we no longer need to worry about a war for now."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "The Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire have both expressed their gratitude to our sect, and the Star Luo Empire has extended an offer for our Tang Sect to entirely transfer over to their continent if we wished to do so." A hint of admiration for Zang Xin flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes as he spoke. It was clear that aside from trying to prevent this war, the Tang Sect had also chosen to help the two empires to ensure there was always a safety net for the sect.


    Zang Xin said, "I know what you''re thinking, but the Tang Sect won''t leave the Douluo Continent, just as Shrek Academy won''t, either. Our roots lie here, and our forefathers had to expend countless efforts for the Tang Sect to achieve its current scale and glory. As their successors, we can''t abandon everything they built up."


    Yali nodded, and said, "What''s the current situation like? Has the federation done anything?"


    Zang Xin smiled, and replied, "They haven''t dared to do anything too out of line as they''re well aware of the power that our Tang Sect holds, and they know that they can''t afford to push us too hard."


    Indeed, the weapons provided to the two empires by the Tang Sect was sufficient testament of its power. If the Tang Sect were to seek vengeance against the federation without any regard for the consequences, the federation would be in serious trouble.


    Zang Xin continued, "At the moment, they''re only making further efforts to oppress us and cut off as many avenues as possible through which we obtain resources. At the same time, they''ve been searching for our bases and have already found three, but we were prepared in advance, so we didn''t suffer any substantial losses."


    Yali said, "That''s good to hear. What are your plans from here onward, Your Majesty?"


    Zang Xin turned to Tang Wulin, and said, "That''ll be for the sect master to decide."


    "Me?" Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    Zang Xin gave a firm nod in response. "Of course. You are the one calling the shots in our Tang sect; you''ll be the one to decide the future direction our sect goes in, and we''ll be here to support you. We''ve all witnessed your development during the past years, and to be honest, you''ve stunned all of us. Your rapid rate of progression is extremely rare even among all of your predecessors, and it shows us that we''ve made the right decision. On top of that, you''ve already built up a sufficient level of influence in the sect, so it''s time that you lead our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy to glory.


    "You can''t afford to back down and must continue onward now. Your latent potential is already being tapped into, and now, it''s time to tap into your leadership potential as well. Cao Dezhi told me that you''re different; he told me that the greater the pressure you''re under, the more power you release. We all hope to see this trend continue."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Your Majesty, I''m still not familiar enough with our Tang Sect as a whole. I..."


    "Do not fear," Zang Xin cut him off, and said, "Think carefully about this, and when you make your decision, we''ll help you analyze whether it''s viable or not."


    Tang Wulin didn''t continue after hearing this. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes as his brain began to rapidly process the situation.


    Even the Tang Sect was under severe threat, so there was no way that Shrek Academy could be rebuilt under these circumstances. The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were going to face the power of the entire federation, as well as that of the Holy Spirit Cult and the Spirit Pagoda from the shadows. These were all formidable powerhouses; even the Holy Spirit Cult alone may be too powerful for them to oppose at the moment, let alone the might of the entire federation.


    Zang Xin merely waited in silence, and everyone''s attention also fell upon Tang Wulin. Yali was appraising him with a gentle and encouraging look in her eyes. She had witnessed Tang Wulin''s growth during this past year in person, and she had also been astonished by what he had achieved.


    He had developed so quickly that it struck her with a surreal feeling. It was most likely the case that Zang Xin still hadn''t realized that Tang Wulin was already a Titled Douluo, and nor could he be aware of the miracle that Tang Wulin had created while out at sea.


    Without the vital effort he had put in to stall the federal fleet, the Tang Sect''s weapons alone wouldn''t have been enough to prevent this war.


    Tang Wulin currently possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, so even a Limit Douluo wouldn''t be able to glean his cultivation rank.


    After a long while, Tang Wulin reopened his eyes, and a sense of calmness had replaced the urgency on his face.


    "Your Majesty, I think we should split this situation up into several facets and address them in order of priority. Our first priority now is to get rid of this treason tag that''s been assigned to our sect. With such a heavy burden weighing us down, we won''t be able to do anything."


    "How do you plan to do that?" Zang Xin asked.

 Chapter 1420: Rebuild Shrek Academy?

    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I''m not sure how, but we have to find an opportunity. Free speech is a right in the federation; even though the parliament makes all decisions, controversy often plays an important role. We have to wait for an opportunity to prove that the Tang Sect is not a treasonous organization, and prior to that, we have to do our best to develop the sect to minimize the losses we''ll suffer from being declared as a treasonous organization."


    Tang Wulin''s proposed plan was very ordinary, and there wasn''t anything special about it. Zang Xin nodded in response, but there was a hint of disappointment in his eyes.


    "Aside from that, there''s something else I''m going to do." Tang Wulin raised his voice slightly, and a hint of determination and confidence reappeared in his eyes.


    "Oh?" Zang Xin raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What is it?"


    Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation, "I''m going to rebuild Shrek Academy!"


    Everyone''s eyes widened upon hearing this, and the Holy Spirit Douluo couldn''t help but ask, "How can we rebuild the academy in this current situation?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "The federation has declared the Tang Sect to be a treasonous organization, but they can''t declare the same for our Shrek Academy. On top of that, our academy is a victim of a terrorist attack, so there''s no sound reason for them to oppose the academy''s rebuild. If someone were to declare the rebuild of Shrek Academy at a time like this, what would be the reaction from all sides?"


    Xie Xie chuckled, "We''ll probably become public enemy number one!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "That''s exactly our objective; only by doing this can we thrust ourselves under the limelight. The higher-ups of the federal parliament know that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy are virtually a single entity, but they still can''t declare Shrek Academy to be a treasonous organization. On top of that, our Shrek Academy has connections all over the continent, so we''ll definitely receive a certain level of support once the rebuild is announced. We''re no longer the Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters that we once were; we have what it takes to rebuild Shrek Academy now. Not only are we going to announce a rebuild, we''re going to lodge an application to the federation to request their support."


    Zang Xin''s expression gradually changed slightly as he appraised Tang Wulin. He had also prepared some bold plans of his own, but none were as bold as this one. However, upon further thought, it was indeed a good opportunity to rebuild Shrek Academy at a time like this.


    Tang Wulin and his friends had all developed, and the Spirit Pagoda had been struck by a lot of controversy and skepticism over their collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult. The Tang Sect had been declared as a treasonous organization, and the federal fleet had failed to instigate the war that the federation had promised. With the culmination of all of these events, the federation was actually currently in a very sticky situation.


    If they were to announce the rebuild of Shrek Academy now, neither the federation nor the Spirit Pagoda would dare to directly attack the academy.


    Another important factor was the Holy Spirit Cult, which was hiding in the shadows. The Holy Spirit Cult was undoubtedly very eager to see this war eventuate, as evidenced by the fact that they had even sent a powerful being of Infernal King Douluo Harosha''s caliber to the Star Luo Empire. This meant that a very large portion of the Holy Spirit Cult''s forces had to have been transferred to the Star Luo Empire to benefit from the widespread death that would occur during the war. Even though the war hadn''t actually commenced, their people definitely still had to remain there, and it would take quite some time for them to return to the federation from the empire.


    Even if a significant portion of the Holy Spirit Cult''s forces still remained in the federation, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had four Limit Douluos to oppose them. As such, it would also be very difficult for the Holy Spirit Cult to destroy the new Shrek Academy. Even if the Spirit Pagoda wanted to assist the Holy Spirit Cult, they wouldn''t dare to do so under this current storm of controversy.


    Otherwise, if it were to be discovered that the Spirit Pagoda had assisted the Holy Spirit Cult in attacking Shrek Academy, then their collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult would be set in stone. No matter how ambitious Qiangu Dongfeng was, there was no way he would make such a foolish decision, and if Shrek Academy were to establish a stable foothold for itself, then all of the Shrek Academy alumni all over the continent would flock to support it.


    At that point, Shrek Academy would be grabbing everyone''s attention, thereby significantly alleviating the pressure on the Tang Sect.


    As such, this seemingly risky plan actually seemed to be very viable.


    Yali said, "Wulin, rebuilding Shrek Academy is an extremely important task that we have to take seriously. Once the rebuild begins, everything would be exposed to public scrutiny, and the academy will be under a lot of pressure from all sides. On top of that, you''ve already been exposed as the Tang Sect Master, so it''s very likely that the federation is going to target you."


    A confident smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s smile. "I know the importance of this task, but I have a plan..."


    The branding of the Tang Sect as a treasonous organization had taken place very abruptly, and the entire Douluo Continent was in shock.


    After all, the Tang Sect had existed for an extremely long time; oppressing it from the shadows was one thing, but declaring it to be a treasonous organization was something else entirely.


    The general public immediately raised vehement opposition and demanded that the parliament release evidence for these claims, in response to which Tang Wulin''s participation in the Trial of Five Gods and the powerful soul missiles that the Star Luo Empire had used to attack the federal fleet were all presented as proof.


    However, any intelligent individual could see that the federation had no concrete evidence to prove that the soul missiles had been provided by the Tang Sect; they were only using different excuses to link the Tang Sect to this matter. The federation had fabricated a lot of evidence, such as presenting soul missile fragments with the Tang Sect''s insignia on them, but those were clearly forgeries. Even if the Tang Sect really were supporting the enemy, they wouldn''t be foolish enough to leave such evidence behind.


    Despite all this, the federal parliament stuck to its original decision, but they didn''t dare to take things too far. All they did was order the closure of all of the Tang Sect''s branches and prohibit the sect from engaging in all business and societal activities. On top of that, all Tang Sect disciples were ordered to leave the sect.


    It was clear that the federation didn''t dare to eradicate the Tang Sect in fear of retaliation, and what was even clearer was that the Spirit Pagoda''s expression of support in this decision was a blatant act of revenge for the Tang Sect exposing their collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Thus, the entire continent was plunged into turmoil, and all of the major powers were waiting to see what would happen next. The parliament''s decision was receiving vehement objections from the Dove Faction, and they hadn''t taken any extreme measures against the Tang Sect. However, they had set up checkpoints at all of the continent''s ports and docks to prevent the Tang Sect from defecting to the Star Luo Empire.


    Many of the organizations that were friendly with the Tang Sect were lamenting the situation. After being declared as a treasonous organization, the Tang Sect wouldn''t be able to appear before the public eye, and it was clearly beginning to fall from grace.


    This declaration would''ve definitely dealt the Tang Sect an extremely heavy blow, and many of the sect''s disciples were undoubtedly going to leave.


    They were using the pressure of controversy to slowly whittle down the Tang Sect from the inside. In contrast, the Spirit Pagoda was constantly engaging in a series of philanthropic activities, including creating more job openings for the general public to work in the Spirit Pagoda, donating soul spirits to the military, and providing free spots to enter the Spirit Pagoda''s Spirit Ascension Plane. All of these measures had been taken to restore their public image.

 Chapter 1421: Yapings Big Brother

    As the Spirit Pagoda was slowly restoring its public image, the federal fleet was forced to retreat, and the war didn''t commence as planned. According to analysts, if both sides were to attack without any regard for consequences, and the federal fleet would also suffer heavy losses, and without a logistic supply chain to support it, it was very likely that the fleet would be completely destroyed by the two empires.


    As powerful as the federation was, even it wouldn''t be able to handle the loss of its three most powerful fleets. As such, there was no alternative other than to retreat for now.


    Even more aggressive proposals had been raised by the Eagle Faction, such as launching the final Godslayer missile to completely eradicate the Star Luo Empire''s defensive line. However, such a destructive idea received very little support even in the Eagle Faction, so it was naturally nothing more than a far-fetched idea.


    Thus, the Tang Sect had prevented this war from taking place at the expense of being dubbed a treasonous organization.


    At the Sea God''s Lake.


    The clear water of the lake rippled as a gentle breeze blew over its surface.


    This was supposed to be an extremely beautiful scene, but there wasn''t even a single blade of grass growing around the entire lake. This was a memento left behind by the Godslayer missile.


    The destructive energy left behind by the Godslayer missile had extremely potent radiation properties, so the area in a radius of three kilometers around the Sea God''s Lake was unsuitable for habitation, and it was very likely that this radiation would linger for as long as a millennium.


    This was the most fearsome aspect of a Godslayer missile. If a normal person were to live in this area, they would quickly fall ill and could even die from the radiation. Soul Masters naturally had superior physical resistance, but their health would be affected by living in a place like this as well.


    A soul SUV was slowly traveling along the bumpy plain beside the lake, and in the car were five people, two men and three women, all of whom appeared to be in their twenties.


    The thick glass of the vehicle and the internal circulation system had effectively kept all of the destructive radiation at bay.


    "It''s so beautiful, but at the same time, the complete lack of life around it is kind of terrifying," a young woman with a ponytail sighed.


    "Indeed. This is why we have to stand against war. Otherwise, if things were to go out of control, another weapon of this caliber could be used," the young man who was driving said in an expression of social justice.


    The young man sitting in the passenger''s seat sighed, "What a pity; Shrek Academy once stood here! My greatest dream as a child was to become a student of Shrek Academy. Being able to graduate from Shrek Academy would be an immense honor that would immediately make one stand out above everyone else."


    A baby-faced woman sitting in the backseat pursed her lips, and said, "You sure make it sound easy! One has to pass an extremely rigorous examination before they get accepted into Shrek Academy, and even after you make it into the academy, you could easily get expelled if you don''t live up to the academy''s standards. It''s said that as long as one graduates from Shrek Academy, they''ll thrive in the outside world even if they only barely scraped their way to graduation."


    Sitting beside the baby-faced woman was a woman with long hair that trailed down to her shoulders, and she sighed, "Yingying, your father graduated from Shrek Academy, right?"


    The baby-faced woman by the name of Yingying replied, "He did! It''s the thing that he''s most proud of. Didn''t your brother also..."


    Her voice abruptly trailed off as tears welled up in the long-haired woman''s eyes. Indeed, her brother had been a student of Shrek Academy and was the pride of their entire family, but he had disappeared alongside the academy during that calamity. All five of them had come to the Sea God''s Lake precisely to mourn for him.


    "Don''t be sad, Yaping; the perpetrators will definitely suffer terrible fates!" the woman with the ponytail hurriedly consoled.


    Yaping pursed her lips as she cast her teary gaze out toward the Sea God''s Lake. The number one city and number one academy on the continent had once stood here, and she could still recall how excited her family had been when her brother had been accepted into Shrek Academy.


    Her brother was very hard-working and also possessed exceptional aptitude, and he was able to make it into the inner court of the academy. This meant that he would be able to remain in Shrek Academy following his graduation, and that was an immense honor.


    He was the pride and joy of the entire family, but who knew that his life would be cut short in such a cruel and abrupt manner?


    When her family had received news about the bombing, they had all been in disbelief, and her mother had fainted on the spot. Her father seemed to have aged a decade in a night, and her mother wept for her lost son every single day.


    Who could¡¯ve thought that the number one academy that had stood on the continent for 20,000 years would suddenly be erased?


    "Do you guys think the Spirit Pagoda is behind this?" the man in the passenger''s seat asked with a solemn expression.


    The man who was driving hurriedly said in a low voice, "Be careful of what you say! You can say something like this with us, but the Spirit Pagoda is currently at the height of its powers, so don''t go around saying this to anyone else."


    The man in the passenger''s seat harrumphed coldly, "If you ask me, the Spirit Pagoda is definitely behind this. Without their help, how would the Holy Spirit Cult have been able to secure those Godslayer missiles? I heard that the main beneficiary to the bombing was the Spirit Pagoda. It''s the only one that remains of the former three super organizations; if the Tang Sect headquarters hadn''t been bombed, the federation wouldn''t dare to declare it as a treasonous organization!"


    "You can say that, but if the Spirit Pagoda invites you to work for them, would you go?" the woman with the ponytail asked.


    The man faltered slightly before replying with a slightly awkward expression, "Of, of course not."


    However, it was quite clear that he wasn''t telling the truth. There was currently no place more popular and revered than the Spirit Pagoda. In particular, its popularity had spiked drastically after it had announced that it was offering jobs to ordinary people.


    Yaping wasn''t paying attention to the conversation between her friends. She was looking at the placid Sea God''s Lake, and she felt as if she could see the image of her brother.


    The outside world gradually blurred through her film of tears, yet right at this moment, she abruptly stiffened.


    An extremely handsome white-robed figure had suddenly appeared on the surface of the Sea God''s Lake, where no life should exist.


    Yaping reflexively wiped away her tears. Could it be that she was hallucinating because she missed her brother so much?


    However, after she wiped away her tears and refocused her gaze, the figure was still there. On top of that, he was slowly rising up into the air with faint light radiating from his body, and it looked as if he were the core of heaven and earth.


    The man in the passenger''s seat was the second one to take notice of this, and he immediately yelled, "Look!"


    The man who was driving immediately stepped on the brakes to stop the car, and all five of them turned toward the figure who had risen up above the Sea God''s Lake in a flabbergasted manner.


    Who is that?!


    The man in the passenger''s seat reflexively picked up his portable soul camera and aimed it toward the lake.


    Right at this moment, the white-robed young man slowly pointed a finger up toward the heavens.


    A burst of piercing white light erupted upward, looking as if it were going to pierce through heaven and earth.


    All of a sudden, the Sea God''s Lake began to churn violently, then erupted upward to carry him high up into the air.


    The young man made a grabbing motion, and a white spear suddenly appeared in his grasp, following which a voice that was imbued with boundless authority rang out in all directions. "From this day forth, Shrek Academy has been rebuilt!"

 Chapter 1422: Shrek Academy!

    His voice wasn''t very loud, but everyone in the car could hear it very clearly. In fact, his voice was reverberating throughout the entire area hundreds of kilometers around the Sea God''s Lake.


    Scintillating white light erupted from the spear that the white-robed young man was holding, and a spear projection surged upward to illuminate the entire heavens. Even the sun seemed to pale into insignificance in the face of its radiance. The destructive aura on the Sea God''s Lake was clearly repressed, and in the next instant, white light hurtled directly toward the western shore of the lake, following which a massive crater appeared in that direction amid an earth-shattering boom.


    Yaping and her friends couldn''t see all the way to the western shore, but the resounding boom continued to echo through the area.


    "Quick, drive over there!" Yaping yelled as he grabbed onto the shoulder of the man who was driving.


    "You got it! I have a feeling we''re about to bear witness to something amazing!" They were all fearless young men and women, and they had no inhibitions. Then again, if they were timid and hesitant by nature, they wouldn''t have traveled so close to the Sea God''s Lake in the first place.


    Yaping''s hands had clenched up into tight fists. That man was going to rebuild Shrek Academy? Who was he? He seemed to be so powerful. Rebuilding Shrek Academy entailed that there had to be people from Shrek Academy who were still alive; was her brother still alive?


    The SUV drove toward the place where the white figure had descended, but the terrain was too uneven, and the Sea God''s Lake was massive, so it would take them a while to get there.


    They weren''t the only ones to be stunned by that announcement; they had heard the voice of the white figure, so it had naturally also been audible to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, which wasn''t all that far away from the Sea God''s Lake.


    "What?" Qiangu Dongfeng immediately awakened from his meditation.


    "Rebuild Shrek Academy? Did I hear that correctly?" A series of emotions instantly appeared in his eyes. How was that possible? Shrek Academy had already been completely destroyed by the Godslayer missile; how could any remnants of it possibly still remain?


    Following a brief moment of astonishment, Qiangu Dongfeng quickly calmed down. He had sent people to examine the situation over at the Sea God''s Lake, and they had determined that it was not suitable for human habitation. On top of that, people were required to rebuild the academy; who exactly was it that was planning to rebuild Shrek Academy?


    He immediately issued an order, sending out a group of Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters to the Sea God''s Lake.


    Not only had the Spirit Pagoda received news of this, the federal parliament and all of the major powers were notified as well, and the Sea God''s Lake instantly became the subject of widespread attention.


    In the air above a massive crater that was over 30 meters deep with a diameter of over a kilometer, a white figure rose up into the air.


    He looked down at the massive crater, and murmured to himself, "This should be sufficient as the groundwork."


    He then spoke into the soul communicator on his wrist. "You can begin transporting the supplies over now."


    He hovered in mid-air with the spear in his hand, looking down at the massive crater and the boundless Sea God''s Lake down below with excitement surging through his heart.


    Shrek Academy was finally going to be rebuilt! All of them had been waiting for this moment for far, far too long. Next, it was time to wait for more people to arrive.


    The SUV drew closer and closer, and the man sitting in the passenger''s seat pointed out the window as he hurriedly said, "Look, that''s him! Let''s get closer!"


    The SUV quickly approached the site of the explosion, and the massive crater began to appear in their field of view.


    "My god! How could a human be capable of something like this? Who is he?" the woman with the ponytail exclaimed.


    The SUV drew to a halt, and Yaping immediately threw open the door before rushing out, completely forgetting about the lingering radiation.


    Everyone else also emerged from the car, but they had already donned the anti-radiation suits in the car. Yingying chased after Yaping, and yelled, "Wait, Yaping, put on the anti-radiation suit first!"


    However, Yaping paid no heed to this at all. The miraculous scene she had just witnessed told her that there was hope. Even though that hope was extremely minuscule, she wasn''t willing to give up on it!


    She cupped her hands around her mouth, and yelled up to the white-robed figure in the air, "Senior!"


    Yingying had already caught up to her, and as she draped the anti-radiation suit over Yaping''s body, she also looked up into the air.


    Now that they had drawn closer, both of them were able to see his incredibly handsome features. He was like the embodiment of a perfect idol! On top of that, he had just displayed such immense power; how could any young woman not be filled with excitement at the sight of such a perfect man?


    The five of them looked up at the white-robed young man with no fear in their hearts whatsoever. The man had just declared that he was going to rebuild Shrek Academy, and they had grown up hearing all types of heroic stories about Shrek Academy, so they only had admiration and reverence toward the academy.


    "Who are you?" A gentle voice rang out, making them feel as if they''d been basked in a warm spring breeze. They could even sense that an invisible layer of energy had appeared around them, resisting the radiation in the outside world.


    "Senior, my name is Zhao Yaping. Are you from Shrek Academy?" Yaping immediately asked.


    The white-robed young man nodded in response.


    Tears began to flow uncontrollably down Yaping''s face. "Senior, my brother is also from Shrek Academy! He''s an inner court disciple; is he still alive? His name is Zhao Yali; is he still alive?"


    Her body was already trembling with sobs at this point.


    Everyone was looking up at the white-robed young man with tense expressions, eagerly awaiting his reply. His answer could very well be the final verdict!


    The white-robed young man replied, "All of the students of Shrek Academy are still alive. Shrek Academy will always do everything in its power to protect its students, even if it means sacrificing all of the teachers, so your brother is still alive."


    His voice was placid yet filled with warmth, and Yaping slumped onto the ground as she howled with violent sobs.


    Several years had passed since that tragic bombing, and her entire family had been weighed down by crippling grief. However, they couldn''t do anything; they couldn''t even find the remains of her beloved brother! That disaster had stripped her entire family of their hope, but now, she was being told that her brother was still alive! She felt as if she had been reborn anew, as had her entire family!


    "Don''t cry, child; your brother is still alive." Right at this moment, a burst of gentle energy enveloped Yaping''s body, nourishing her soul and soothing her turbulent emotions. Her tears involuntarily ceased, and she was struck by an indescribable sense of comfort, as if she were immersed in a pool of warm water.


    Her eyelids suddenly felt very heavy, and she fell into a deep and comfortable sleep.


    A figure silently appeared beside her and caught Yaping''s body before she could fall.


    Yaping was already very beautiful, but she couldn''t even hold a candle to this woman.


    All of Yaping''s friends were already completely flabbergasted. They had never seen such a beautiful woman; her beauty was seemingly able to make everything around her pale into insignificance, and it was filled with a sense of holiness.


    "She''s too tired, so let her rest; it''ll be very beneficial for her body and mind," the woman said in a gentle voice, then handed Yaping over to her friends.


    Yingying finally mustered up the courage to ask, "Are you telling the truth? Is Yaping''s brother still alive?"


    "He''s still alive. I know of Zhao Yali; he''s currently undergoing special training at a certain place; he''ll be back in around two months. After that, you can come and find him so he can reunite with his family. Just as he said, not only is Zhao Yali still alive, all of Shrek Academy''s students are alive. Regardless of what happens, our teachers will protect the students with all of their power. Shrek Academy is being rebuilt today, and it''s time for them to re-emerge as well."

 Chapter 1423: The Atlas Douluo is Back?

    "Who are you?" Yingying asked the question that everyone had in their mind. She was simply far too beautiful, to the extent that even women couldn''t muster up any envy toward her; they were only struck by a sense of closeness in her presence.


    The woman smiled, and replied, "My name is Yali; I''m also known as the Holy Spirit Douluo."


    "Holy Spirit Douluo?" The group of young men and women were stunned to hear this. They had all received education about Soul Masters in the past, so they were naturally aware of what this title entailed.


    This exquisitely gorgeous woman was a Titled Douluo! This was like a fairytale! In their eyes, all Titled Douluos were paramount beings; never did they think that they would meet one in the flesh, and they certainly didn''t expect there to be such a kind and benevolent Titled Douluo.


    "Then, who is he?" Yingying asked as she looked up at the white-robed young man in the sky.


    Yali also turned to look up at the white-robed young man as her eyes became slightly glazed over.


    "Atlas Douluo?" An astonishing trembling voice suddenly rang out right at this moment.


    A group of people had appeared in the air nearby, and they were all facing this direction. The group was led by an elderly man who appeared to be in his sixties, and his body was trembling slightly. He even rubbed his eyes vigorously to make sure that he wasn''t seeing things, and he was completely stunned by what he was seeing.


    Was that the Atlas Douluo? Was that really the Atlas Douluo? This was incredible! How was that even possible? Wasn''t he supposed to be dead?


    The white-robed young man turned toward them with a placid gaze, but the elderly man and his eight companions all felt their souls tremble in the face of his gaze. An indescribably terrifying burst of spiritual might surged toward them, and the immense pressure rendered them unable to continue flying, forcing all of them down onto the ground.


    "Go and tell Qiangu Dongfeng that I''m still alive!" the white-robed young man said. Every single syllable he uttered was imbued with tremendous spiritual power that struck the elderly man''s soul like a string of heavy hammer blows, and he immediately threw up a mouthful of blood before fleeing from the scene like a terrified dog.


    This was Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, a mighty figure who had dominated an entire generation! Even though he never attended parliamentary meetings in person, everything that he said was taken very seriously by the federal parliament.


    He was the one who had prevented the Holy Spirit Cult from resurfacing and forced the Spirit Pagoda to develop in a slow and steady manner despite its outrageous ambitions.


    Countless evil beings had perished to his Divine Atlas Spear, and he was said to be the one who was closest to becoming a god. If the Divine Realm still existed, then perhaps he would''ve already ascended.


    He was the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, and the pillar of Shrek Academy; even a Godslayer missile had been unable to destroy him on the spot.


    How was he still alive? How was this possible?


    Not only had the elderly man caught sight of Yun Ming, he had also seen the smiling Holy Spirit Douluo standing on the ground below him.


    The two of them never strayed away from one another''s side, and they stood at the very pinnacle of the entire continent.


    The fact that Yun Ming was still alive meant that the soul of Shrek Academy was still alive! This meant that rebuilding Shrek Academy was not just an empty declaration.


    Right at this moment, the surface of the Sea God''s Lake churned, and a series of figures rose up out of the lake before descending around the massive crater.


    They then looked up at the white-robed young man in the air with respectful expressions. "We pay our respects to the pavilion master."


    "Yun Ming" said in a calm voice, "Today marks the commencement of the rebuild of Shrek Academy. We''ll begin taking in new students on the same day next year."


    Yingying and the others could see that there were more and more people emerging out of the lake, and all of them were releasing powerful energy fluctuations.


    If they had still been skeptical a moment ago, then they now firmly believed that Yaping''s brother was indeed still alive! What they believed with even greater conviction was that Shrek Academy really was going to be rebuilt!


    "My god, I feel like we''re bearing witness to a historical moment!" the man who had been driving the SUV earlier said in a stunned voice.


    "The heritage of Shrek Academy is going to be restored!" The other young man was just as astonished.


    "No, not restored; the heritage of Shrek Academy has never been broken," Yali corrected with a smile.


    That''s right, the heritage of Shrek Academy had never been severed. Regardless of what hardships it was going to have to face, the rebuild had commenced, and it had reappeared in the public eye.


    Who could''ve imagined that there were still so many people in Shrek Academy, and that the academy would choose to commence its rebuild at a time like this?


    "I, I have to go home! I have to tell my father about this. Ever since the Shrek Academy bombing, he''s been constantly lamenting its loss; I''m sure he''ll be over the moon!" Yingying exclaimed as she jumped up into the air with glee.


    Her friends exchanged a glance upon hearing this. Indeed, this was an extremely important piece of news. Not only were they first-hand witnesses of this monumental moment, they had even captured it on film; they had to spread this news to the world! The rebuild of the continent''s number one academy was an extremely important matter, and they felt immensely honored to have been able to see it in person.


    "We''ll be taking our leave now, Your Majesty." The four of them extended respectful bows toward Yali and Yun Ming before rushing back to the SUV while carrying Yaping.


    Yali looked on as the SUV departed, and her heart was filled with emotion. Shrek Academy had declared its rebuild, and the upcoming period of time was going to be extremely vital.


    She looked up at the "Yun Ming" in the sky. If only he really were her Brother Ming!


    A series of huge trucks were traveling along the highway. They weren''t moving all that quickly, but a procession of over 100 massive trucks naturally drew a lot of attention.


    Mo Lan was in the passenger''s seat of the first truck, and there was an excited smile on her face. The retaliation was finally about to begin!


    As the true leader of Heaven Dou City, she had finally been announced as the mayor of the city. At the same time, she had become the true leader of the Dove Faction. Regardless of how ambitious the Spirit Pagoda was, they didn''t dare to directly target her.


    There were even many officials of the Eagle Faction who were filled with admiration toward this strong woman with a tragic past. Instead of being overwhelmed by her grief, she was working hard to help more people. She was a vital factor behind how quickly Heaven Dou City had been rebuilt, and she was the one who had soothed the fragile hearts of all of the city''s residents.


    She wasn''t a Soul Master, so she was an even more relatable figure to the general public, and she had been rated as one of the most influential women in the entire federation by some media outlets.


    Among the leaders of the Dove Faction, she was the youngest and received the most love and attention from her seniors, so the Dove Faction was doing a very good job of protecting and supporting her. Even though the Eagle Faction had gained an absolute upper hand, the Dove Faction had managed to weather the storm instead of being completely devoured, and Mo Lan''s efforts were pivotal to ensuring this.


    All of these trucks were carrying resources, and they had begun gathering these resources as far back as a month ago. Heaven Dou City''s reconstruction had received immense support from the federal parliament, particularly in the form of favorable resource distribution, and she was using this advantage to sell these resources to Shrek Academy. With her current power and influence, Mo Lan was able to sell these resources to Shrek Academy at cost price without any repercussions.


    This had all been decided over a month ago when Tang Wulin had come knocking on her door.


    The rebuild of Shrek Academy was something that had to happen quickly. If they were to afford the Spirit Pagoda, the federation, and the other forces that opposed Shrek Academy time to react, then the rebuild would become a lot more difficult.


    Mo Lan didn''t think that this was the best opportunity, but seeing as Shrek Academy had already made this decision, she was giving them her full support.


    If Shrek Academy could successfully rebuild, then the Dove Faction would recover one of its most powerful allies.


    Currently, the Dove Faction only had around 15% support from the military. There were many high-ranking military officials who were Shrek Academy alumni, so if the academy could exert its influence on them, even if that wouldn''t be enough to sway them to support the Dove Faction, it would make the Dove Faction''s life a lot easier.

 Chapter 1424: Rebuild!

    The Dove Faction championed peaceful development, and war and invasion were the last things it wanted to see.


    As the peace-loving entity that it was, Shrek Academy would definitely stand with the Dove Faction at a time like this. Even so, prior to this day, Mo Lan had never revealed to anyone the plan to rebuild Shrek Academy. Everything had been progressing in strict confidentiality, and aside from her, no one knew what these resources were being allocated toward.


    The resources were currently on the way, and thus far, Mo Lan had already been contacted over 10 times via soul communicator. Heaven Dou City was very close to the original site of Shrek City, and many members of the Dove Faction were calling her to inquire about the situation after receiving news of what was happening.


    Mo Lan had expressed her full support toward Shrek Academy''s rebuild, and this was something that the vast majority of the Dove Faction wanted to see as well. However, she refrained from telling anyone about the resources she was providing to Shrek Academy.


    At this point, the reconstruction of Shrek Academy had already commenced.


    All of Shrek Academy''s students had already been assigned with tasks, and they were jumping into things with immense vigor and excitement.


    Many things had already been prepared in advance. One soul tool after another was being pulled out of storage soul tools, and installation commenced right away.


    There was naturally no way that the federation would provide these soul tools, so these resources were all from the Tang Sect.


    Yali flew over to "Yun Ming", and said, "Hopefully, everything goes smoothly."


    "Yun Ming" smiled, and replied, "We''ve commenced the rebuild very abruptly, and no signs were leaked beforehand. During this period of time, we''ve gathered resources from all sides; even if the Spirit Pagoda were to attack us without any consideration for the consequences, there''s no way they''d be able to do so in a short time. In any case, they wouldn''t dare to attack us so blatantly anyway. It''s a pity that we no longer have the Divine Space Time Shuttle. Otherwise, everything would progress a lot more smoothly."


    Yali asked, "Right now, are you him or yourself?"


    "It''s me, Mother," Tang Wulin replied.


    Due to the fact that the Tang Sect had been declared as a treasonous organization by the federation, he couldn''t appear in the public eye as the Tang Sect Master. Thus, he required a new identity.


    By the time they returned, they were already able to use the Divine Space Time Shuttle to exchange for Yun Ming''s soul from the Holy Spirit Cult. The exchange was completed in private, and the Holy Spirit Cult had even tried to recruit the Tang Sect through the Amorous Douluo, but the result of that was obviously very apparent.


    Even though the Atlas Douluo''s soul had finally been recovered, it was slightly incomplete and could only engage in simple communication under certain circumstances. His soul then went into a slumber with the Divine Atlas Spear as its host, and it would awaken every once in a while.


    Yali didn''t know when Yun Ming would awaken, which was why she had asked that question.


    Under the guidance from Yun Ming himself, Tang Wulin''s disguise was virtually impeccable, even down to his voice, mannerisms, and aura. As such, even Yali was unable to tell the difference. After all, her spiritual power was still not superior to Tang Wulin''s at this point.


    There was no one who would be more suited to commencing the rebuild of Shrek Academy than the Atlas Douluo, and the only way to verify the authenticity of this Atlas Douluo was through battle. However, Shrek Academy still had the Holy Spirit Douluo and Light Dark Douluo, so it would not be an easy task to challenge Tang Wulin for verification.


    The abrupt nature of the rebuild announcement had caught everyone completely off guard, and the architects had been hired from Heaven Dou City well in advance. The blueprints had already been drawn up, and the first building they were going to construct was a three-story main school building that replicated Shrek Academy''s original school building.


    Due to the changes that had taken place in the Sea God''s Lake, the new school building also had to be altered, and their first priority was to set up an anti-radiation protective barrier.


    Titled Douluos were able to temporarily repress the destructive aura within a certain area for a short time, but they couldn''t keep it up forever; only a soul formation would ensure that the radiation would be kept at bay.


    Of course, Shrek Academy couldn''t be constructed anywhere else other than on the bank of the Sea God''s Lake.


    The recent period of time appeared to have been quite peaceful, but in reality, Tang Wulin and the higher-ups of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had held countless discussions to perfect this plan before finally implementing it.


    The students of Shrek Academy were currently setting up such a protective barrier.


    Following Tang Wulin''s return, he immediately went to check on the seed of life, only to find that it was developing at an extremely slow rate due to the negative impact of the destructive aura in the area. Among the resources that Tang Wulin requested from the Star Luo Empire were crystals that were filled with life force energy, and providing them to the seed of life did have an effect, but it wasn''t a very pronounced one.


    After all, the seed of life simply required far too much life force energy to grow. Even so, through his communication with the seed of life, Tang Wulin was informed that during this past period of over a year, the seed of life had been constantly neutralizing the destructive energy of the lake and decreased the total amount of destructive energy within the Sea God''s Lake by about 5%.


    This was already the extent of what it could currently do. Unless it had more life force energy to support it, the situation would only continue to progress like this, and the seed of life could even wither away if it were left without sufficient life force energy for too long.


    Tang Wulin had asked the seed of life whether it could grow elsewhere, but the answer had been no. The seed of life had told him that this destructive energy was also energy, and that if the total amount of life force energy it possessed could outstrip the amount of destructive energy in the lake, all of that destructive energy could be converted into sustenance for it. Such an enormous amount of energy would allow it to return to its peak in a short time.


    As such, after some careful consideration, Tang Wulin decided that he was going to pay a visit to the core area of the Great Star Dou Forest in the future to see if he could find any crystals of life.


    He was very confident in his current level of power, and his friends would be accompanying him, so safety shouldn''t be an issue.


    Tang Wulin released his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, allowing him to sense everything that was going on in a very large area. He had been able to transmit his voice over such a large area earlier not just through his own power, but also through drawing upon Yun Ming''s power. Rebuilding Shrek Academy was an extremely important occasion, so Yun Ming had to participate in some way no matter how exhausted he was. As such, he had fused his spiritual power with that of Tang Wulin to create such a stunning effect.


    Tang Wulin could sense that several dozens of bursts of spiritual power had already swept through the surrounding area, but none of them dared to do anything after detecting his presence. It was quite clear that his adopted identity as the Atlas Douluo was playing a very important role here. At the very least, it was making everyone wonder if the Atlas Douluo had truly been resurrected.


    Even the Holy Spirit Cult was most likely wondering the same thing. After all, they had just returned Yun Ming''s soul, and the number one healing system Soul Master on the entire continent, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, had recently become a Limit Douluo. The chances of Yali being able to resurrect Yun Ming using his soul were virtually negligible, but at the same time, she was the first healing system Limit Douluo in history, so who could say?


    If it weren''t for the fact that the Divine Space Time Shuttle was an indispensable part of the Holy Spirit Cult''s future plans, they definitely wouldn''t have been willing to return Yun Ming''s soul.


    As the construction was progressing down below, the Shrek Academy uniform finally returned to the surface. Over 1,000 people had emerged from the Sea God''s Lake, and not all of them were actually students of Shrek Academy; a large proportion of them were disciples and architects of the Tang Sect who had been sent here to help rebuild Shrek Academy.


    The plan devised by Tang Wulin and the higher-ups of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy was to lay down the basic groundwork of the academy as quickly as possible to re-establish Shrek Academy once again. With a foundation, there would be something for everyone to gather around and support, and it was also a declaration to the entire continent that Shrek Academy still stood.


    Tang Wulin knew that there was currently no one who could prevent Shrek Academy''s reconstructions, and he was intentionally creating witnesses such as Yaping''s group to spread the news as quickly as possible. The Dove Faction was also fully cooperating in this effort, instantly doing away with all of their confidentiality measures, and all of the media outlets controlled by the Dove Faction were releasing this news in full force.

 Chapter 1425: Yun Ming is Still Alive?

    The reconstruction of Shrek Academy entailed that the situation on the entire continent would be altered. The bombing had created far too much grief and pain, and the people that would be most directly affected by the reconstruction of the academy would be the families of the students who had been gone for so long.


    As was the case with Yaping, it would be a massively pleasant surprise for all of the families of Shrek Academy''s students to find out that their loved ones were still alive.


    Shrek Academy''s teachers had given their lives to protect the students and ensure their survival. This was the most important point that the Dove Faction latched onto for its promotion, and was definitely going to have an extremely positive impact on the revival of Shrek Academy.


    Looking down at the Tang Sect disciples and Shrek Academy students, tears began to well up in Tang Wulin''s eyes. Following the bombing, he and his friends had been under a cloud of crippling grief as they set off to join the military to preserve the seed of the academy.


    Now, Shrek Academy was finally being rebuilt, and the process was definitely going to be an extremely arduous one, but they were going to see it through to the end and defend the academy with everything they had, just as the teachers had protected all of the students.


    A series of faces surfaced in his mind, including the stern face of Silver Moon Douluo Elder Cai, and the expectant and hopeful faces of his grandteacher, the Scarlet Dragon Douluo, and his teacher, the Blazing Dragon Douluo. All of those familiar teachers and seniors no longer existed now, but the students had survived, and they were the seeds of Shrek Academy.


    Did these students not miss their families during these past few years? Of course they did. However, none of the students left. In order to prevent news of their survival from being leaked, they gritted their teeth and forcibly repressed their longing to see their own families.


    All of them had the same conviction, which was that their lives had been given to them by Shrek Academy. If it weren''t for the teachers'' sacrifices, they would''ve all been dead already.


    There were so many Titled Douluos among their teachers, if they had abandoned the students and attempted to escape, their chances of survival would''ve been very high. However, not a single teacher did that; all of them sacrificed their lives to buy time for the students to escape.


    As a result, the same sacrificial spirit had been instilled deep into the hearts of the students as well. Ever since that tragic disaster, all of them had pledged their lives to Shrek Academy. The glory of Shrek Academy was their glory, and they would live and die with Shrek Academy.


    Thus, all of them followed the rules. Regardless of how much they missed their families, they repressed their impulsive urges, and it was all for this very day! They were finally able to return to the surface, as was Shrek Academy.


    News of the rebuild of Shrek Academy spread like wildfire through the entire Douluo Federation within the span of an hour, and this piece of news garnered even more attention than the news of the federal fleet''s retreat.


    At the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    "What?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s favorite cup slid out of his hand and shattered on the ground as his mouth gaped open in astonishment.


    Yun Ming was still alive?


    How was this possible?


    He didn''t dare to believe that this was real.


    He and the Atlas Douluo were both powerful beings of the same generation. Both of them had enjoyed their respective rise at almost the exact same time, and it was exactly because of this that he had always felt a heavy sense of oppression. No matter how hard he worked and how much effort he gave, he simply couldn''t catch up to the Atlas Douluo. Even after he became a Limit Douluo, he was still painfully aware of just how massive the gap between him and Yun Ming was.


    For all of the powerful beings of their generation, Yun Ming''s death had come as a relief; it was as if a massive mountain had been lifted off their chests. This feeling was shared by virtually all powerful beings of his caliber, including the likes of the Boundless Ocean Douluo.


    Yun Ming''s death meant that the very pinnacle of the pyramid had been vacated.


    Even someone as proud as Infernal King Douluo Harosha had never truly challenged Yun Ming as everyone was aware of just how powerful Yun Ming was.


    Thankfully, he perished during that disaster, and even his soul had been taken by the Holy Spirit Cult, but who would''ve thought that he would return to life? If he really were still alive, then who would be able to shake Shrek Academy?


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s breathing began to accelerate as he waved a dismissive hand. "You can go now."


    Standing before him was none other than the Titled Douluo who had been scared away by Tang Wulin.


    Following his departure, Qiangu Dongfeng was the only one left in the room, and he did his best to calm himself down.


    He pressed a button on the table, and the most cutting-edge isolation light barrier appeared around the room to isolate all sounds and vibrations within the room.


    He then pulled a soul communicator out of a secret compartment beneath the table and dialed a long string of numbers.


    "Why are you contacting me at a time like this?" A coarse voice rang out from the other end of the line.


    Qiangu Dongfeng forcibly repressed his own fury as he asked, "You owe me an explanation! Why is Yun Ming still alive?"


    "What?" the voice on the other end instantly spiked up a few octaves, "That''s impossible! He''s already dead; I killed in person, and nothing remains of his body. I''m still recovering from the injuries that I sustained during my final battle against him."


    "I don''t care about all that, Ghost Emperor; I''m telling you now that he''s still alive, and he''s currently rebuilding Shrek Academy on the bank of the Sea God''s Lake. A large number of people from Shrek Academy have also appeared alongside him, including the Holy Spirit Douluo; how do you explain that?"


    The voice on the other end immediately calmed down. "I know that Yali is still alive; Yun Ming did everything in his power to protect her at the end. During that battle, we lost seven Titled Douluos, and only then were we able to kill Yun Ming in conjunction with the explosive power of the Godslayer missile; there''s no way he''s still alive. We''re all Limit Douluos; I''m sure you''re aware of the circumstances that will result in a Limit Douluo''s death."


    "Then what about his soul? Is it in your hands? If so, then we can confirm that the Yun Ming over at Shrek Academy is an imposter."


    The voice on the other end suddenly fell silent.


    "Well?" A sense of foreboding welled up in Qiangu Dongfeng''s heart.


    Ghost Emperor replied, "We no longer have Yun Ming''s soul. However, his soul had been torn apart by my Nine Ghost Soul Chasing Nail, so it''s only an incomplete soul that''s carrying very severe injuries. There''s no way even for Yali to heal one''s soul; all she can do is watch as his soul gradually dissipates."


    "What did you say?" Qiangu Dongfeng''s fury instantly spiked upon hearing this, "You returned Yun Ming''s soul? Why? Tell me why!"


    Ghost Emperor replied in a cold voice, "A mishap occurred, during which the Divine Space Time Shuttle fell into the hand of the Tang Sect, so we had no choice but to exchange Yun Ming''s soul for it."


    Qiangu Dongfeng felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head upon hearing this.


    Ghost Emperor continued, "There''s no need for you to be so worked up. You should be aware of how powerful my Nine Ghost Soul Chashing Nail is; there''s no way Yun Ming can be resurrected. The Dark Phoenix Douluo begged me to spare his soul, so I didn''t completely destroy it with my Nine Ghost Soul Chashing Nail. Otherwise, it wouldn''t even exist anymore. There''s no way that he can be revived; even a god won''t be able to be resurrected under those circumstances. I''m sure this is just a bluff by Shrek Academy."

 Chapter 1426: The Troublemakers are Here

    Qiangu Dongfeng asked in a furious voice, "Then what about those Shrek Academy students? Do you know how heavy a price I had to pay to get those Godslayer missiles for you? Why didn''t you ensure that all of them had been killed?"


    Ghost Emperor replied in a cold voice, "That''s because the information you provided us is inaccurate; there must be a sanctuary in Shrek Academy, one that we failed to discover. At the time, the entire Shrek City was destroyed, and a huge number of deceased souls had risen up into the air, so there was no way for us to verify whether these souls included those of Shrek Academy''s students. However, we managed to harvest at least 15 Titled Douluo souls, so not many people should remain among Shrek Academy''s higher-ups. It''s just a few students; why are you so bothered by them? You can just kill them so you don''t have to worry about them."


    "I can''t do that with the current controversy that''s arisen surrounding our Spirit Pagoda! Do you know what kind of entity Shrek Academy is? It has even more influence over the entire continent than our Spirit Pagoda! Countless elite Soul Masters are Shrek Academy alumni; if they succeed in their rebuild, then many powerful Soul Masters will flock to join them. When that time comes, it''ll be very difficult for us to deal with them."


    Ghost Emperor asked in an indifferent voice, "So what do you want to do?"


    At this point, Qiangu Dongfeng had already calmed down, and he replied, "I''ll verify the exact situation over at Shrek Academy. In the meantime, prepare your forces to completely destroy Shrek Academy at all costs. Regardless of how many survivors there are, we have to kill them all; we can''t allow Shrek Academy to make a resurgence!"


    "Hehe, and why should I listen to you?" Ghost Emperor sneered.


    "You...! Don''t forget our agreement!" Qiangu Dongfeng snarled with barely-contained rage.


    "Agreement? Where''s the war you promised us? Where are the countless souls you promised us? Your Spirit Pagoda can''t even deal with such a young Tang Sect Master and allowed him to ruin our entire plan. Everything has been set back indefinitely due to your incompetence, yet you still dare to tell me what to do?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "Do you think I wanted to see this happen? Who could''ve foreseen the Tang Sect''s actions? In any case, the Tang Sect has been declared to be a treasonous organization, and I''m going to exert pressure on the federal parliament to restart this war. The commander of the federal fleet, the Boundless Ocean Douluo, is a volatile factor that we can''t control, so next time, I''ll try to instate a commander whom we can directly control. Think about it, Ghost Emperor, if Shrek Academy makes a resurgence, your Holy Spirit Cult will suffer as well. Do you really want to see them rise again?"


    Ghost Emperor was silent for a moment before replying, "Shrek Academy''s decision to rebuild at a time like this definitely isn''t just some ill-advised act of desperation. Setting aside whether Yun Ming has actually been resurrected, even if we discount Yun Ming, the academy still possesses formidable power. On top of that, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect are the closest of allies, so Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin will definitely be supporting the academy''s rebuild as well."


    A hint of killing intent flashed through Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes. "Hasn''t the medicine already been successfully developed? Would we be able to get that man to attack Shrek Academy? Once the high-ranking members of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect are completely eradicated, no one will be able to stop us."


    Ghost Emperor replied, "I have to think about this before I give you a response. In the meantime, verify the situation over at Shrek Academy as quickly as possible, and also do everything you can do to delay their rebuild."


    "Alright, we can''t allow Shrek Academy to successfully rebuild no matter what," Qiangu Dongfeng said in a cold voice.


    He had taken a massive risk to eradicate Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters at the expense of all of the lives in Shrek City, and only then was the Spirit Pagoda able to climb to such lofty heights. If Shrek Academy were to succeed in its rebuild, then all of his efforts would''ve been for naught.


    At the Sea God''s Lake.


    A procession of huge trucks stopped not far away from the site of Shrek Academy''s reconstruction, and Mo Lan emerged from the first truck.


    She cast her gaze toward the people laying down the groundwork in the giant crater, and a faint smile appeared on her face.


    She then caught sight of the Holy Spirit Douluo, who was hovering in mid-air, and the Holy Spirit Douluo had also spotted her.


    Yali descended by Mo Lan''s side, and the latter immediately extended a respectful bow.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo had saved her life, so she had an extremely high level of respect for Yali.


    Yali smiled, and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Our Shrek Academy is greatly indebted to your Heaven Dou City."


    "I''m only doing what''s to be expected of me," Mo Lan replied, "I''ve already spread the news, and I''m sure journalists from all of the major news media outlets are already on their way here; it''s going to get quite lively here soon."


    Yali smiled, and said, "I can imagine that there will be many people who don''t want to see the revival of our Shrek Academy but also many people supporting the rebuild."


    "Indeed, but I''m sure the glory of Shrek Academy will rise again. Please excuse me, Your Majesty; I have to go and oversee the unloading of the trucks now. Aside from resources, I also brought along over 300 skilled workers who are adept in different areas of construction. They''re all elite artisans that I chose from the Heaven Dou City reconstruction project; with their help, I''m sure Shrek Academy''s rebuild will progress faster."


    Yali nodded with a smile in response.


    Thus, Mo Lan departed toward the trucks.


    Each and every one of the trucks was carrying 30 tons of resources, including all types of basic construction materials, as well as construction soul tools.


    According to the plan, the three-story school building was the first construction to be erected. It would act as the centerpiece around which the rest of the academy was to be constructed. The goal was to gradually reconstruct all of the facilities that Shrek Academy once had, and with the support of the Tang Sect, money wouldn''t be an issue for now.


    At the same time, there was also some accumulated wealth in the Shrek Academy Sanctuary. This wealth didn''t comprise solely of money; more importantly, there were some prized cultivation techniques, and those were the most valuable assets of Shrek Academy.


    Under the instructions of Mo Lan, all of the artisans who had been brought here immediately got to work.


    All of them were wearing anti-radiation suits, and they began the process of piling around the outskirts of the crater according to the blueprints they had been given.  [1]


    Vertical metal columns were driven into the ground at intervals of 30 meters, then connected using barbed wire to create a barrier.


    The artisans worked extremely quickly, and a barrier of barbed wire and metal columns was quickly taking shape around the crater.


    This type of barrier was obviously extremely crude, but it served its main purpose, which was to declare that this territory belonged to Shrek Academy.


    "Stop! Stop what you''re doing, right now! Who let you construct these metal columns here? What are you doing?" A dozen or so police vehicles with their sirens blaring at full blast arrived at the construction site.


    A group of soldiers emerged from the vehicles with soul laser guns in their hands and stopped the construction workers in their tracks.


    "Who''s the supervisor here? Who allowed you to start this construction work here?"


    Xie Xie was busy helping with the construction efforts not far away, and he raised his head as a faint smile appeared on his face.


    He had predicted that troublemakers would be arriving at some point, and they certainly didn''t disappoint!


    Xie Xie strode over to them, and said, "This land belongs to us; why aren''t we allowed to begin construction work here?"


    The leader of the soldiers had captain epaulets on his shoulders, and he said in an arrogant manner, "This place has been declared as a restricted area by the federation. It has destructive radiation and isn''t suitable for human habitation, so no one can do any construction work here. Stop right now, or we''ll have to stop you by force."


    Xie Xie chuckled as he pulled a small book out of his pocket before handing it over to the soldier. "Is this how you speak to your superiors, Captain?"


    The captain faltered slightly before accepting the small book. This was something that he was very familiar with; it was an officer identification document. Xie Xie''s officer identification document was blue with two stars emblazoned onto its surface, indicating that he was a lieutenant colonel.


    [1] [In this instance, piling is a piece of construction jargon that refers to setting a type of deep foundation. Google search "piling construction" if you want to get a better idea of what it is.]

 Chapter 1427: News Story

    All colonel-level officer identification documents were blue, and the covers indicated the exact rank of the officer. After opening the document, more detailed information could be found, including an electronic chip that could be used to verify one''s identity.


    After Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters joined the military, all of them had developed very quickly. Compared with everyone else, Xie Xie''s development had actually been quite slow, and he had only been able to climb to the lieutenant colonel rank.


    The captain''s expression instantly stiffened, and he hurriedly opened the document, within which contained the serial number of the legion that Xie Xie was serving at, the department that he belonged to, and his occupation.


    He was most definitely a real lieutenant colonel.


    In the military hierarchy system, a subordinate had to follow the orders of their superiors. The difference between that system and the political system was that if a lower-ranking officer were to oppose a superior, that superior had the right to punish them, and during times of war, it wouldn''t even be going too far to execute a disobedient subordinate.


    "Greetings, Superior!" The captain immediately extended a military salute toward Xie Xie without any hesitation.


    After recovering his officer identification document, Xie Xie continued, "Firstly, we have the right to use this land as we see fit. Federal law mandates that the private property of the federation''s citizens is protected, and no one has the right to take it away. Secondly, all of the workers here have taken extensive protective measures, so safety isn''t an issue here. You can go now. If you want to continue this discussion, then get a higher-ranking officer to come and see me. Otherwise, there''s no need for you to come back."


    He waved a hand as if he were swatting away a fly as he spoke, then returned to work.


    The captain was rooted to the spot with a flabbergasted look on his face. He didn''t think that he would encounter such a situation, but that man really was a lieutenant colonel, so there was nothing that he could do! If he were to stop the construction work taking place here by force, that man had the right to execute him as punishment for defiance against his superiors!


    Furthermore, this captain was well aware of what type of people were reconstructing Shrek Academy. Even if he were to try to stop the construction by force, he would simply be crushed by everyone here! He had come here to instigate a conflict, but everything was different now that there was a superior here. He didn''t dare to provoke the situation any further, so he could only scurry away with his tail between his legs.


    Xu Xiaoyan looked on at the departing soldiers before giving Xie Xie a thumbs-up. "Nicely done! I didn''t think that a clown like you would be capable of saying something so convincing."


    Xie Xie''s lips twitched upon hearing this. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"


    "You can interpret it that way," Yue Zhengyu interjected.


    Everyone was busy at work, and as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, all of them had to participate in the reconstruction process. Tang Wulin was also present in a simple disguise, and he smiled as he said, "This is only the beginning. Let''s see what rank the next military official to arrive will be; we''ll decide what to do after that."


    Xie Xie said, "We''re simply marking our territory as stipulated by our certificate of title, so they have no good reason to stop what we''re doing here. Having said that, the Spirit Pagoda sure is biding its time; they haven''t sent anyone else after you scared away that first group."


    Yuanen Yehui chuckled coldly, "It''s not that they don''t want to intervene, they simply have no reason to do so."


    An hour later.


    A dozen or so police vehicles arrived once again amid the sound of loud sirens.


    On this occasion, it was a lieutenant colonel who emerged out of the first vehicle. This was a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his thirties, and he was followed closely by the captain who had arrived on the previous occasion.


    "Who''s the supervisor here?" the lieutenant colonel asked.


    "I am." Yue Zhengyu strode over to them in his Shrek Academy uniform.


    "Huh? You''re not the same guy from before!" The captain was rather bewildered.


    Yue Zhengyu glanced at him, and said, "All you need to know is that I''m the one calling the shots now. Why are you here again? Didn''t we already clarify this matter last time?"


    The lieutenant colonel said, "Firstly, this is a restricted area. Due to these special circumstances, the federation has the right to intervene for the sake of public safety. Commencing construction work here without a permit is illegal. Secondly, how can you prove that this land belongs to you?"


    Yue Zhengyu replied, "We have a certificate of title."


    He pulled out the certificate of title in question as he spoke before handing it over to the lieutenant colonel.


    This was an antiquated sheepskin certificate of title that was clearly very old, and the lieutenant colonel opened it to find that there was an official stamp on the certificate that was still discernible despite its age.


    "This plot of land has always belonged to our Shrek Academy, and we''re reconstructing the academy here. We''ll gradually resolve the issue of the radiation here over time, so there won''t be any issues. This certificate of title should be enough to prove our ownership, right? As for a permit, Shrek Academy has always had full autonomy over its territory, so there''s no need to secure approval from the federation. You can go now."


    A peculiar smile appeared on the lieutenant colonel''s face as he brandished the certificate of title in his hand. "So this is your proof of ownership? How about now?" A burst of flames suddenly erupted out of his hand, instantly incinerating the certificate of title to ashes.


    Yue Zhengyu''s expression abruptly changed, and all of Shrek Academy''s students immediately stopped what they were doing.


    In the police vehicles, there were already over 10 cameras aimed at Yue Zhengyu and the others.


    They were waiting for Shrek Academy to retaliate so they could make a big deal out of how Shrek Academy was attacking military officials. The conflict would then be escalated so that the military could get involved, thereby delaying or even completely putting a stop to Shrek Academy''s reconstruction. This would buy the federation enough time to stamp out this sudden revolution.


    As opposed to flaring up with rage, Yue Zhengyu said in an indifferent voice, "Well done, all of your actions here have been recorded and will be held against you. Now then, please show me your officer identification document."


    "What right do you have to make me display my officer identification document?" The lieutenant colonel was clearly far wilier than the captain.


    "As your superior, I command you to show me your officer identification document." Yue Zhengyu pulled out a small book as he spoke, but the cover of this book had three stars as opposed to two.


    He was a colonel!


    "Go on, why don''t you burn this as well?" Yue Zhengyu urged as he thrust the officer identification document into the lieutenant colonel''s hand.


    The lieutenant colonel turned to the captain in a dumbstruck manner, as if to ask "Didn''t you tell me there was only a lieutenant colonel here? why is there a colonel all of the sudden?"


    He opened the officer identification document and quickly determined Yue Zhengyu to be a colonel advisor of the Southern Legion.


    He had just burned the certificate of title without any hesitation, but he definitely didn''t dare to burn an officer identification document, especially one that belonged to a superior.


    "We''ve recorded everything you just did; you can go now. If you want to continue this matter, get a higher-ranking official to come and see me. Oh, by the way, we''ll be sending the footage to some media outlets, so I''m sure you''ll be famous soon."


    Yue Zhengyu took back his officer identification document as he spoke, then made his way back to the construction site.


    The lieutenant colonel was completely rooted to the spot.


    He had thought that Yue Zhengyu would attack him, and he had even prepared defensive measures in advance. That was the certificate of title of Shrek Academy! It was an extremely important item, and he had actually been quite uneasy when he had burned it.


    However, his superiors had already guaranteed that his safety would be ensured, and a squadron of 100 mechas had arrived not far away and were ready to pounce onto the scene to escalate the conflict at the drop of a hat.


    However, never did he think that Yue Zhengyu would merely brush off the issue, leaving him feeling as if he had just punched a bag of cotton.


    What could he do? He could only go back for now.


    Thus, the police vehicles departed once again with the lieutenant colonel sitting in the first vehicle with tightly furrowed brows.


    "What the hell is going on?" A furious voice bellowed from the soul communicator.


    A wry smile appeared on the lieutenant colonel''s face. "There''s nothing I could do, Superior! The supervisor at the construction site was a colonel, and he didn''t attack me. On top of that, he told me that he recorded everything I did on film; I''m most likely going to be in a lot of trouble soon."


    "He''s just bluffing! The media is being controlled entirely by the federation, so you''ll be fine. Alright, just come back for now."


    The call was cut off, and the lieutenant colonel heaved a resigned sigh. In all honesty, he didn''t want to take on this mission, either!


    "According to the latest information we''ve received, Shrek Academy has commenced its reconstruction." The news was being broadcasted on the soul screen in the police vehicle, and the lieutenant colonel''s attention was immediately drawn to the screen upon hearing this.


    Sure enough, the scenes being depicted on the screen were of the Shrek Academy construction site.

 Chapter 1428: The Unstoppable Rebuild

    "Shrek Academy was destroyed by two Godslayer missiles several years ago, but according to the latest information we''ve received, the teachers of the academy had sacrificed their lives to protect all of the students, buying them enough time to escape into a sanctuary. After countless hardships, the academy is finally being rebuilt. The number one academy on the continent is the dream academy for countless Soul Masters, and its reconstruction entails that it will be making a return to our continent.


    "To date, the federal government is still yet to provide an explanation for how the Godslayer missiles that had destroyed Shrek City had ended up in the hands of the Holy Spirit Cult, and it''s yet to be seen whether the survivors of Shrek Academy know more about this. Unfortunately, the academy''s rebuild hasn''t been welcomed with open arms; not long ago, military officials were sent to the construction site to try and disrupt proceedings."


    The image transitioned to that of a dozen or so police vehicles speeding onto the construction site with blaring sirens, and the provocative voice of the captain could be clearly heard.


    The captain was seated beside the lieutenant colonel, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.


    The lieutenant colonel''s mind had also gone completely blank. Wasn''t the media supposed to be under the federation''s control? What was going on?


    "What right does a military captain have to oppose the reconstruction of Shrek Academy? Shrek Academy has always been an autonomous entity; has this tradition gone away in the wake of the academy''s destruction? It''s important for us to ask who is the one targeting Shrek Academy by sending that captain to foil the academy''s reconstruction efforts. We have no evidence to prove anything, but perhaps this could be a lead pointing toward the masterminds who orchestrated that tragic bombing in the first place."


    The news report hadn''t declared them to be the perpetrators, but it was an extremely scathing one nonetheless.


    The captain felt as if the sky had fallen on his head, and he couldn''t imagine how he was supposed to face this situation. Shrek Academy''s influences were enormous, and in contrast, he was only a measly captain!


    "Not long after the captain''s departure, a lieutenant colonel arrived on the scene."


    The news anchor''s voice struck the lieutenant colonel like a heavy hammer blow, and he suddenly lost the ability to breathe.


    It had only been less than 10 minutes since he had departed from the construction site! Was the television station doing a live broadcast?


    He was then greeted by the sight of himself burning the certificate of title with an arrogant smirk.


    The captain had only tried to instigate a conflict through verbal provocation, yet he had burned Shrek Academy''s certificate of title!


    It was all over for him!


    At the Shrek Academy construction site.


    Yue Zhengyu sighed, "I wanted to make an even bigger deal out of that, but decided against it in the end. What can I say?"


    He pulled out an identical certificate of title as the one that had been burned as he spoke. Each of Shrek Seven Monsters was carrying a couple of these replicas; they had made extensive preparations for the revival of Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Let''s see if they dare to send anyone else now."


    Xie Xie chuckled, "They can send whoever they like; we''ll be ready to take care of them! Let them all come!"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes shimmered with vigor and determination. Indeed, let them all come! No one was going to be able to shake Shrek Academy''s rebuild!


    The news reports spread far too quickly, and news of Shrek Academy''s rebuild had already spread through the entire continent before the federation had a chance to restrict it.


    In particular, the scenes depicting the two military officials attempting to throw a wrench in the reconstruction effort drew a lot of public outcry.


    The first federal organization to feel the heat was the military.


    Unrest and dissatisfaction was quickly spreading through all levels of the military. Back when Shrek Academy had been destroyed, everything had happened too abruptly, to the extent that the alumni of Shrek Academy didn''t even have a chance to react.


    They were all extremely excited to hear that Shrek Academy was being rebuilt, and they naturally immediately rose up in opposition upon seeing the obstacles the military was trying to create for Shrek Academy.


    All of the departments of the federal government received a flood of enraged calls, and the military and government were both thrown into complete turmoil.


    Only now did some people realize that it would most likely be impossible to obstruct Shrek Academy''s reconstruction on an official level.


    Everything had happened far too abruptly, and it was under these incredible circumstances that Shrek Academy began its rebuild!


    In the face of the immense pressure from all sides, the federal government didn''t dare to restrict media outlets any further, and news of the Shrek Academy rebuild began to spread like wildfire.


    However, there were also some dissenting voices. Some questioned how Shrek Academy could allow its students to study in an area with such destructive radiation that could threaten their lives. On top of that, almost all of the teachers of Shrek Academy had perished; who would be doing the teaching?


    There were also some who made a point to remind everyone that Shrek Academy was no longer the number one academy on the continent, and that everything in the academy had been destroyed during the bombing.


    As these doubts and criticisms were being raised, a massive influx of people began to arrive at the bank of the Sea God''s Lake.


    The first people to arrive were the families of the "deceased" students. No one paid more attention to the Shrek Academy rebuild than they did, and to them, it was more important than anything that their children were still alive.


    The sound of sobbing family members could be heard virtually every day on the Shrek Academy construction site. Three days later, the first large-scale isolation barrier was complete, and it encompassed the area that the three-story main school building was going to be constructed upon. Within that area, everyone could live as normal without having to put on anti-radiation suits.


    The barbed wire continued to expand to encompass a larger area, and at the same time, Shrek Academy announced that the original site of Shrek City was private property that belonged to Shrek Academy, and that no one could trespass on the area without permission.


    Immediately following the families of the students were the people delivering resources to the site. Regardless of whether they were useful or not, all types of resources were being transported to the construction site in large quantities, and they had all come from the alumni of the academy.


    On top of that, the alumni had created a Shrek Academy rebuild trust fund, and large sums of federal credits were being donated into the trust fund every single day for the academy to use.


    Thus, the first stage of the rebuild was complete.


    Tang Wulin had instructed Xu Xiaoyan and Tang Yinmeng to contact the academy''s alumni. Establishing such relations hadn''t been necessary to Shrek Academy in the past, but they were extremely important to the academy now.


    Everything was progressing according to plan in a good direction.


    What came as quite a surprise was that the Spirit Pagoda hadn''t sent anyone else to investigate, and had only sent them some congratulatory bouquets of flowers. After that, they didn''t do anything else.


    Several days later, the buzz began to die down, and even the number of journalists arriving on the scene had begun to dwindle. It seemed that everyone was waiting for something to happen, as if this were the calm before the storm.


    The current area of the Sea God''s Lake was equivalent to that of the entirety of Shrek City, and even after half a month, the barbed wire had only made its way around roughly a third of the lake''s circumference.


    The construction of the main school building was progressing very smoothly, and all of the students had joined in on the construction efforts after the protective soul tools had been set up.


    Mo Lan had sent two more groups of skills workers to the site in succession, and at this rate, the main school building would be complete in about two months. After that would come the internal decor.


    All types of soul tools were also being set up, and after the protective barriers were erected, the next soul tools to be set up were disruptive ones that could prevent radar and satellite surveillance.

 Chapter 1429: Disruptive Celestial Vault

    If another organization had done something like this, they would immediately be questioned by the federation, but in this instance, the federation had remained completely silent, as if they had no idea what was going on.


    However, it was quite clear what Shrek Academy was hiding; they were hiding their reconstruction from prying eyes.


    The disruptive soul tool encompassed not just the main school building, but the entire Sea God''s Lake as well. 32 foundational points had been set up around the Sea God''s Lake, forming a soul tool array created by the invisible Disruptive Celestial Vault, which was several kilometers tall. Only the special energy frequency that Shrek Academy had decided on could be used within this Disruptive Celestial Vault.


    After that was set up, the entire Sea God''s Lake had been wiped off the face of the planet as far as the soul satellites were concerned.


    After around 20 days of construction, the Disruptive Celestial Vault was complete, and this was undoubtedly all thanks to the Tang Sect. All of the soul tools and installation services had been provided by the Tang Sect, and from the day that Disruptive Celestial Vault was completed, no one would be able to see what Shrek Academy was doing unless they traveled to the lake to inspect the proceedings in person.


    Tang Wulin dove into the lake and swam freely through the water. The destructive energy within the lake was kept at bay by a protective energy barrier that he was releasing.


    All of the Shrek Academy students who had returned from the demonic island had developed a high level of resistance to this destructive power, and at this point, three groups of students had already returned from the island, including Wu Siduo''s group.


    Following the return of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, they were immediately scrutinized with intense resentment by all of these students, and when Tang Wulin had seen Wu Siduo for the first time, he had been struck by the urge to flee for his life.


    Tang Wulin swam through the Sea God''s Lake in an expert manner, and perhaps it was due to the lack of life forms in the lake, but the water was extremely clear, and it was as if he were immersed in a massive blue crystal.


    During this recent period of time, Tang Wulin had worked hard to consolidate the fruits he had reaped during his trip to the two empires while also contributing to the Shrek Academy reconstruction effort. The rate of his cultivation had slowed, but this was all to create a more stable foundation.


    He wasn''t an ordinary Soul Master as he had the ticking time bombs that were the Golden Dragon King seals within his body. He was already confident that he could break the 13th seal after his body had been refined by that lightning storm, but he wasn''t in a hurry at all. Only after forging a more stable foundation could he better handle that breakthrough.


    At the same time, he had discovered an issue. Due to the enormous increase in soul power within his body following his progression to the Titled Douluo level, the 13th seal had become slightly unstable.


    The seal was undoubtedly going to be affected by his cultivation as well, and the faster he progressed, the sooner the seal would be broken.


    Purple light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes, allowing him to see everything within the lake. Even from afar, he could already see the seed of life.


    Compared to when it had been first planted, the seed of life had undergone some changes. There was a faint layer of green light shimmering around it, and it had reached over a foot in height with nine small leaves growing on its stem.


    In this place where there were no other life forms, the seed of life struck a very lonesome figure, yet it had brought an aura of life to an otherwise completely dead environment.


    Tang Wulin descended onto the lakebed and sat down with his legs crossed beside the seed of life. Soul power circulated through his body, and a layer of white light was released before surging toward the seed of life in wisps and tendrils.


    The main characteristic of Mysterious Heaven Method soul power was its endless nature, and it was a very nurturing cultivation technique that significantly bolstered one''s life force. He was currently using his soul power to nurture the seed of life, and under its influence, the nine leaves of the seed of life had all turned a vibrant green color.


    Neither the federation nor the Spirit Pagoda could''ve imagined that the biggest function of the Disruptive Celestial Vault was to conceal the existence of the seed of life. If a suitable source of life force energy were to be found, then the seed of life''s rate of growth would accelerate significantly, and that would definitely attract a lot of attention.


    The value of the seed of life could no longer be quantified. In a sense, it was a manifestation of the planar ruler and represented all life force energy.


    Greenish-golden light radiated from Tang Wulin''s body, and his status as the Son of Nature allowed him to absorb life force energy from the outside world in a very large area. He could then funnel this energy into the seed of life, and even though that wasn''t enough to accelerate its growth, it would at least be able to maintain the seed''s current state so it didn''t wilt from digesting destructive energy.


    Following his progression to the Titled Douluo level, Tang Wulin''s Son of Nature powers had naturally been enhanced as well, thereby allowing him to absorb more life force energy.


    As such, he would cultivate here every single night, using himself as a bridge to guide more life force energy toward the seed of life.


    The pure life force energy was injected into the seed of life, which purified the energy and reciprocated some of it back to Tang Wulin.


    Even though the amount of reciprocated life essence was very minute, it was improving Tang Wulin''s body in a subtle fashion.


    Tang Wulin''s rate of cultivation had decelerated significantly as he assisted the seed of life in its growth, but his physical constitution was slowly evolving.


    The seed of life had told Tang Wulin that he would be able to achieve an even better effect if he were to become a Limit Douluo.


    This was going to be the final time that Tang Wulin fed energy to the seed of life during this period of time as he was going to travel to the Great Star Dou Forest the next day.


    Only Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and Sima Jinchi were embarking on this trip; even A''Ruheng was being left behind. No one knew what type of problems Shrek Academy''s rebuild could face, so all of the Limit Douluos were staying behind to protect the academy.


    The initial stage of the rebuild was of the utmost importance, so it definitely couldn''t go wrong. The true core of Shrek Academy was the seed of life that resided on the lakebed. Only after the seed of life grew into an enormous tree that could protect the entire academy would the rebuild truly be successful.


    Just like the ancient Golden Tree, the seed of life was going to be the core of the academy.


    If it weren''t for the ancient Golden Tree keeping most of the destructive force from the Godslayer missile explosions at bay, there would''ve been no way that the teachers of Shrek Academy could''ve saved all of the students.


    At the time, the ancient Golden Tree was missing around a third of its energy, which it had bestowed upon Tang Wulin. If it had been in a fully healthy state, perhaps Shrek Academy wouldn¡¯t even have been destroyed in the first place.


    An uneventful night passed by, and Tang Wulin and his friends left the Sea God''s Lake the next morning under the concealment of the Disruptive Celestial Vault.


    ......


    "We''re unable to verify if the Atlas Douluo is truly alive, and they''ve set up disruptive devices to make us unable to ascertain the progression of the Shrek Academy rebuild. How are your preparations going?" Qiangu Dongfeng spoke into a soul communicator in a grim voice.


    "Demon Sovereign has already awakened, and Harosha has also returned, but we have to join forces to do something very important. Shrek Academy can''t rebuild itself that quickly anyway, so we''ll ignore it for now."


    "What?" Qiangu Dongfeng immediately flared up with rage, "What could be more important than destroying Shrek Academy? Don''t forget what you promised me! Also, the existence of Shrek Academy is definitely going to have a negative impact on our future plans."


    "It''s alright, we''ll take care of Shrek Academy after we finish what we''re doing here. Now that Demon Sovereign has awakened, it won''t even matter if the Atlas Douluo has truly been resurrected; we''ll just have to kill him again."


    Qiangu Dongfeng faltered slightly upon hearing this. "What exactly is it that you''re doing?"


    "You don''t need to know that; this is an internal matter of our Holy Spirit Cult. As for Shrek Academy, just do your best to delay their rebuild as much as possible. If you can get your hands on the third Godslayer missile, then just bomb them again."


    "Do you think Godslayer missiles grow on trees?" Qiangu Dongfeng''s brows furrowed tightly. For some reason, he was struck by a sense of foreboding from the tone that Ghost Emperor had adopted. What exactly was the Holy Spirit Cult planning to do?


    For him, the Holy Spirit Cult had always been a double-edged sword. This terrorist organization was able to do some things that he couldn''t do out in the open, but at the same time, the more he learned about the Holy Spirit Cult, the more it began to dawn on him that this was an organization that he couldn''t control.


    If it weren''t for his ambition to achieve that ultimate goal, he definitely wouldn''t be collaborating with such a dangerous organization.

 Chapter 1430: Entering the Great Star Dou Forest Again

    "Alright, let''s leave things here for now. Rest assured, if we can successfully complete what we''re doing here, the progression of our plan will be sped up significantly. Once we achieve that, Shrek Academy and everything else will be completely irrelevant." Ghost Emperor''s voice softened slightly as he spoke, and a special type of allure seemed to have crept into his voice.


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied in a solemn voice, "Alright, but try to finish what you''re doing as quickly as possible; I''ll do my best to ascertain what the situation over at Shrek Academy is like."


    "You''ve always been bogged down by indecision; there are many things that require bold and decisive measures. You already control the federal parliament now; can''t you use the power of the military against them?" Ghost Monarch chuckled.


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "Shrek Academy has existed for 20,000 years; do you not know how much societal influence it has? Don''t forget who it was that destroyed your Holy Spirit Cult 10,000 years ago. Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect are our collective enemy."


    Ghost Emperor said in a nonchalant voice, "The one who destroyed our Holy Spirit Cult 10,000 years ago was the founder of your Spirit Pagoda, yet you''re still collaborating with us now, aren''t you?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression darkened upon hearing this. "What are you trying to say?"


    Ghost Emperor replied, "Not much, I''m just trying to tell you that we''re not as close as you proclaim. Also, thanks for the new medicine you developed."


    The call was immediately cut off, and Qiangu Dongfeng almost crushed the soul communicator in his hand to a pulp in a fit of fury.


    At the same time, the first thing that occurred to him was that the Holy Spirit Cult was no longer controllable. What exactly were they going to do? What was their objective? These things couldn''t be determined purely through guessing.


    He was beginning to regret his decision. The shift in the Holy Spirit Cult''s demeanor was definitely a direct result of the new medicine that had been developed.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had one sovereign, two emperors, and four heavenly monarchs, and the medicine was developed for Demon Sovereign to use. According to Ghost Emperor, Demon Sovereign was more of a symbolic existence in the Holy Spirit Cult, but what exactly was the medicine''s purpose?


    Back when he had agreed to collaborate with the Holy Spirit Cult, he had two objectives, one of which was to destroy Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, and the other one was to complete the ultimate objective of the Holy Spirit Cult alongside them. However, from Ghost Emperor''s current attitude, it seemed that the Holy Spirit Cult was trying to cast him aside.


    It could be said that the Spirit Pagoda was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes in the federal parliament, how did the Holy Spirit Cult benefit from casting aside such a powerful ally? Did they have enough resources to put their plan into motion without his help?


    At the very least, without the Spirit Pagoda''s efforts, the war would be delayed indefinitely. What exactly was it that had made Ghost Emperor undergo such a drastic shift in attitude?


    ......


    "With a more powerful ally to collaborate with, why would I continue to waste my time with a pathetic idiot like Qiang Dongfeng? Haha!" An abrasive cackling voice echoed within a dark space.


    ......


    This wasn''t the first time that Tang Wulin had come to the Great Star Dou Forest. On the previous occasion, he had been here with Gu Yue, and they had been plunged into a perilous situation. In the end, even he didn''t know how they had managed to escape that ordeal.


    However, one thing was for sure: there were indeed some powerful soul beasts residing in the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest. He didn''t know exactly how many of them there were, but they truly were very fearsome, and they were the reason why the humans had failed to conquer the forest even after all these years.


    For Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, it was a simple task to infiltrate the defenses that the Spirit Pagoda had set up around the forest. Infiltration was one of the important skills they had learned on the demonic island, and it took them only a day to successfully enter the forest.


    In reality, even though the entire core region of the Great Star Dou Forest had been surrounded by a stronghold, the defenses were more aimed toward the soul beasts in the core region rather than to keep people out. No one was concerned that someone would want to enter such a perilous place.


    "Be on your guard, everyone," Tang Wulin cautioned.


    "This place is so beautiful!" Xu Xiaoyan couldn''t help but exclaim.


    The eight of them had formed a formation with Xu Lizhi and Xu Xiaoyan at the center, while the other six were surrounding them.


    Yue Zhengyu said, "Apparently, the Great Star Dou Forest was once the largest forest on the continent in ancient times, and millions of soul beasts resided within it. The occasional beast tides that erupted out of the forest would bring upon our human race massive disasters."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "In ancient times, soul beasts were far more powerful than us humans. At the time, us humans had to fight to survive, and that was how Soul Masters came to be. As humans developed, they gradually staked out a territory for themselves. Countries emerged, as well as the infamous Soul Hall. Come to think of it, the Soul Hall united all Soul Masters and played a pivotal role in ensuring the survival of the human race. It''s just that they later strayed away from their pure objectives."


    Yuanen Yehui said in a grim voice, "The problem is that the human race is developing far too quickly. With the invention of soul tools, soul beasts are no longer a match. Nowadays, there are barely any soul beasts left, let alone beast tides."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Indeed. If things continue like this, soul beasts will become completely extinct sooner or later. As such, the Eagle Faction''s ideologies make sense to a certain extent. Our Douluo Continent has already been overdeveloped, and a massive conflict has arisen between the severe shortage of resources and the ever-increasing demand for them. This war was instigated as a means to defer this conflict."


    Ye Xinglan said, "If this situation doesn''t improve, then us humans will eventually destroy ourselves."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "The best way forward is actually for all three continents to collaborate and make a collective effort to make space exploration a reality. If the Spirit Pagoda truly had an eye for the future, they should be nurturing soul beasts. The fact that they''re able to produce soul spirits indicates that they definitely have soul beasts locked up in captivity, but that''s not the way to go."


    Xie Xie said, "The current objective of the Spirit Pagoda is to create perfect man-made soul spirits so they can make the existence of soul beasts completely redundant."


    Tang Wulin replied, "That''s a ridiculous concept. Soul beasts are a part of the Douluo Continent; the weakness of the ancient Golden Tree was largely a result of the severely damaged state of the current continent''s biosphere. Once we complete Shrek Academy''s rebuild and establish stable footing, I plan to join forces with the Dove Faction to create initiatives to increase the population of soul beasts on the Douluo Continent. If the biosphere continues to be damaged like this, I''m concerned that the continent will fall into complete ruin before we manage to make space exploration a reality."


    Grim looks appeared on everyone''s faces upon hearing this. The Eagle Faction was currently dominating the federal parliament, and the Spirit Pagoda was backing the Eagle Faction; it would not be an easy task to create a soul beast resurgence!


    They advanced deeper into the Great Star Dou Forest as they talked, and the deeper they went, the richer the life force energy in the surrounding area became. The air here was clearly different from that of the outside world, and breathing in itself was an enjoyable activity here.


    "It would be awesome to live here in a small wooden cabin!" Xie Xie sighed.


    Yue Zhengyu said in a disdainful manner, "You think you can abandon your playboy lifestyle in the city?"


    Xie Xie immediately flared up with rage. "When have I ever been a playboy? I''m a good, reliable man; don''t slander me in front of my Yuanen!"


    Yuanen Yehui merely rolled her eyes in response.


    Yue Zhengyu chuckled, "Why are you so defensive, Xie Xie? Have you done something that you should be telling Yuanen about?"


    Xie Xie rolled up his sleeves in a furious display. "Yue Zhengyu, I''m going to teach you a good lesson!"


    "Shh!" Tang Wulin suddenly made a shushing gesture, and everyone immediately fell silent. They all knew that Tang Wulin possessed the most exceptional spiritual power among them, so he had to have sensed something.

 Chapter 1431: Beast God Di Tian

    "There seems to be someone watching us. My spiritual power came into contact with it, but it was only for an instant, so I couldn''t determine exactly what it was," Tang Wulin said with a dark expression.


    He possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, yet the being that was watching them was able to easily shrug off his spiritual detection; the implications behind that were naturally quite apparent.


    "Get out of there!" Right at this moment, a familiar voice rang out deep within Tang Wulin''s mind, and the Silver Dragon King scale hanging in front of his chest also became scorching hot.


    It was Gu Yue''s voice!


    "Retreat!" Tang Wulin instructed without any hesitation.


    No one knew what was going on, but they had absolute trust in Tang Wulin and immediately turned back with him.


    Right at this moment, the surrounding area suddenly darkened, and it was as if night had suddenly fallen. A powerful aura of darkness surged forth from all sides, striking one with a sense of asphyxiation.


    "I''ve been searching for you for a long time, but who would''ve thought that you would turn up on my doorstep?"


    A rumbling voice rang out in all directions, and the voice was imbued with an indescribable authority, as if it were the collective voice of countless soul beasts.


    Everyone''s expression changed drastically. What kind of being was this? How was it able to release such stifling pressure? Was it a Limit Douluo level soul beast?


    "Maintain the formation!" Tang Wulin yelled as he instantly donned his Dragon Moon Song battle armor amid a flash of golden light. Everyone else also immediately released their suits of three-word battle armor, which had been completed during their return trip from the Star Luo Empire.


    All of them were true three-word battle armor masters now, and this was one of the reasons why Tang Wulin had been confident enough to rebuild Shrek Academy.


    The most astonished one among them was Tang Wulin himself. He possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, but he could clearly sense that his spiritual power was currently being completely suppressed. The opponent''s spiritual power was like the almighty power of heaven and earth, and his spiritual power was significantly inferior.


    At the very least, this was spiritual power that was at the pinnacle of the Spirit Domain realm. Even Infernal King Douluo Harosha''s spiritual power couldn''t compare with this.


    Within the darkness, a series of figures slowly emerged.


    On the left was a young man exuding a sense of demonic charm. As he strode forward, a series of yellow unsettling eyes began to emerge on all of the trees around him.


    On the right was an incredibly burly man; it was none other than Bear Lord, who had attacked Tang Wulin and the others back when they were departing from the Blood God Legion. If it weren''t for the heavy ion laser gun saving the day, they would''ve most likely already perished.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin sensed something, and he immediately turned around to find that a woman with long purplish-black hair had already appeared behind them. She had an outrageously alluring figure and snowy-white skin, and her eyes were glowing with a seductive purple light.


    Everyone''s attention was then drawn to a tall and broad figure that had appeared directly in front of them.


    This was an imposing middle-aged man who was around two meters tall with a head of long black hair, punctuated by a single thin trail of golden hair.


    His eyes were also golden in color, and with each step he took, the darkness elements in the air seemed to become more suffocating. It was as if everything in the outside world had been separated from this space. At the very least, Tang Wulin was completely unable to sense that they were still situated in the Great Star Dou Forest.


    "Great Beasts!" Tang Wulin concluded in a grim voice.


    There were only two possible ways for a soul beast to attain a human form; one of them was to be reborn as a human after reaching 100,000 years of age, while the other was to become a Great Beast, thereby attaining the ability to adopt a human form at will.


    The four of them were releasing such powerful auras and were living in the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest, so they could only be Great Beasts!


    Tang Wulin knew that there were powerful soul beasts residing in the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest, but he didn''t think that they would run into them so quickly. On top of that, they were encountering four at once! Weren''t powerful soul beasts supposed to have their own territories? Why had so many of them appeared at once?


    If it were only a single Great Beast, Tang Wulin wouldn''t be fearful in the slightest as he was confident in the abilities of himself and his friends. However, the story was completely different when there were four at once. In particular, the middle-aged man who was directly up ahead possessed an aura that was even more powerful than that of Infernal King Douluo Harosha.


    Was he a quasigod-level Great Beast? Tang Wulin was internally lamenting his own terrible luck!


    "Great Beasts? Is that what you humans refer to us as?" the middle-aged man asked in an indifferent voice, but contrary to his casual tone, there was a hint of wariness in his eyes as he appraised Tang Wulin.


    The last time they had met, Tang Wulin had still been as weak as an ant, yet when he had finally decided to send Bear Lord to kill Tang Wulin, the ant had already grown powerful enough to force Bear Lord into retreat with the help of his friends.


    Now, he was like a completely different person, and he was wearing the fearsome armor developed by the humans. His powers had truly reached a formidable level, and even his spiritual power had reached the Spirit Domain realm.


    He had only ever seen a handful of people develop at such an astonishing rate, and among those people was a human who had once defeated him.


    What was most astonishing to him was that Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King aura had become so powerful that he could now sense the vicious energy of the Golden Dragon King emanating from Tang Wulin''s body. He appeared to be quite calm, but as a Great Beast with the purest of dragon bloodlines, his soul was currently trembling with apprehension.


    Thankfully, the heavens had blessed him by sending Tang Wulin right to him, and he had to kill this rapidly growing threat at all costs. The vast expanse of darkness in the sky was able to keep out all spiritual power, and their lord hadn''t yet fully recovered her powers, so there was no way that she would be able to detect what was happening here.


    Tang Wulin appraised the middle-aged man up ahead with a wary expression. "We bear no ill will; we''re here to search for something, not to kill soul beasts."


    The middle-aged man replied in a cold voice, "You may bear no ill will, but I do."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Do you know me?"


    The middle-aged man replied, "Of course. You possess the bloodline of the Dragon God; how could I not know of you? I''ve wanted you dead for a long time now, so don''t hold onto any false hope that you could get away from here alive. Commit suicide, and I can consider letting your friends go."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Do you think I''ll believe what an enemy says? By the way, may I ask your name?"


    The middle-aged man smiled in response. "I never renege on a promise. My name is Di Tian."


    Di Tian? Tang Wulin was immediately struck by a sense of familiarity upon hearing this name, as if he had seen or heard it before. All of a sudden, a thought occurred to him, and he exclaimed, "Beast God Di Tian?"


    His words were like a rumbling thunderclap that completely stunned all of his friends. This was an extremely renowned name. In fact, it was a legendary name.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1432: Legend

    Back when the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, had reigned supreme over the continent, this Beast God had been in hibernation. After that, a mighty forefather of Shrek Academy had shared many close interactions with Di Tian, and that forefather was none other than Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao.


    It was said that Beast God Di Tian was over 800,000 years old, and it was very likely that he was the oldest living soul beast on the entire continent! He had stood at the pinnacle of the soul beast world for countless years, and if it weren''t for the fact that soul beasts couldn''t become gods, he would''ve most likely ascended long ago.


    It was no wonder that he felt even more dangerous than Infernal King Douluo Harosha to Tang Wulin. Not only was the Beast God still alive and well, he was residing in the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest! How was this possible? Why didn''t he break out of this place? Was he not powerful enough to do so?


    These questions only lingered in Tang Wulin''s mind for an instant before he cast them aside. His priority now was to figure out a way to leave this place alive.


    Never did Tang Wulin think that they would encounter the legendary god of soul beasts on a trip to search for crystals of life.


    It was undoubtedly the case that Di Tian was the most powerful soul beast in all of history; he had once led a beast tide on an assault against Shrek Academy 10,000 years ago, and it took the power of the entirety of Shrek City to withstand that beast tide.


    According to historical records, the only one who had truly defeated Di Tian was Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao right before he became a god, and the Spirit Ice Douluo had disappeared 10,000 years ago, while the Beast God was still here on the Douluo Continent.


    No matter how he thought about it, Tang Wulin knew that there was no way they''d be a match for Di Tian.


    However, instead of panicking, he became extremely calm. He had experienced countless perilous and even dire situations, and he knew that panicking wouldn''t resolve anything.


    "May I ask in what way I''ve offended you? Why do you insist on killing me?" Tang Wulin asked calmly.


    Di Tian replied in a cold voice, "You''re a human; a human has no right to inherit the bloodline of the Dragon God. Only by killing you can I recover the bloodline power of the Dragon God."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Does your offer still stand?"


    "Boss!"


    "Captain!"


    All of his friends immediately yelled out in alarm.


    Ye Xinglan stepped forward and situated herself beside Tang Wulin. "We live and die together!"


    Yuanen Yehui also strode forward to position herself on Tang Wulin''s other side. "Us seven monsters are one unified entity!"


    Even in the face of an opponent like Di Tian, whom they had no chance of defeating, none of them would abandon one of their own for the sake of survival.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh before a determined look appeared in his eyes. "Come on, then, let''s do this!"


    He knew that he wouldn''t be able to convince his friends, so all they could do was display their full power to try and pull off a miracle.


    Di Tian said in an indifferent voice, "I commend your courage, but unfortunately, you have no chance at all. Go!¡±


    He waved a hand, and the other three Great Beasts immediately sprang into action.


    The burly Bear Lord cackled as he charged forward, and with each step he took, his body would expand noticeably. In the blink of an eye, he had already transformed into a dark golden giant bear that was over 15 meters tall. He spread open his sharp golden claws, then swiped them viciously through the air.


    He was the most powerful being among all Duskgold Dreadclaw Bears, and in terms of pure combat prowess, he was second only to Di Tian among all soul beasts.


    If it weren''t for the fact that the heavy ion laser had caught him off guard, Tang Wulin and the others would''ve already perished in that battle.


    On the other side, the charming young man also sprang into action. The yellow eyes on the surrounding trees lit up, and a series of beams of murky yellow light shot forth toward Tang Wulin and his friends.


    This was Myriad Demon King!


    There were once 10 Great Beasts in the soul beast world, several of which had been slain by Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, while two of them became his soul spirits and assisted him on his path to ascension.


    Among the original 10 Great Beasts, Myriad Demon King and Bear Lord had been ranked at fourth and fifth, respectively. Compared to Bear Lord, Myriad Demon King fell short when it came to pure combat prowess, but he excelled in unpredictability and versatility in battle.


    Meanwhile, a layer of purple light emerged from the body of the woman standing behind Tang Wuiln and the others, and she let loose a low dragon''s roar before launching a sudden surprise attack.


    She was the one who was ranked tenth among the former 10 Great Beasts, Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch Zi Ji!


    These three Great Beasts were all beings who stood at the pinnacle of the soul beast world. Bear Lord and Myriad Demon King were both at the Limit Douluo level and were extremely close to becoming quasigods, while Zi Ji possessed power roughly equivalent to that of a rank 98 Hyper Douluo.


    Facing them was like facing Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, and Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi all at once, and the terrifying pressure made them feel as if even the air had become extremely heavy.


    The most powerful Great Beast, Di Tian, hadn''t even made a move yet, and they were already in a dire situation.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly threw his head back and roared to the heavens. Peerlessly dazzling golden light erupted from his Dragon Moon Song battle armor, and it was as if the light of dawn had broken through the darkness.


    Amid the thunderous dragon''s roar, his Golden Dragon King aura exploded outward alongside his Violent Golden Dragon Domain!


    Shrek''s Six Monsters and Sima Jinchi all felt a burst of enormous energy being injected into their bodies, and their suits of battle armor also lit up significantly as their auras swelled at a rapid rate.


    In contrast, the three Great Beasts were negatively affected by that dragon''s roar. Bear Lord''s movements had become slightly more sluggish, the beams of light unleashed by Myriad Demon King dimmed slightly, and Zi Ji was the most heavily impacted; she was brought to a complete standstill, and the purple light emanating from her body dimmed significantly.


    The more perilous the situation, the calmer Tang Wulin was able to remain. In the face of such powerful enemies, he knew just how difficult it was going to be for them to survive this ordeal, so he had to use all favorable conditions available to him.


    Beast God Di Tian was Gold-eyed Black Dragon King, and it was said that he possessed one of the purest dragon bloodlines. Even so, his bloodline definitely couldn''t compare with that of the Golden Dragon King, so Tang Wulin was definitely going to have a bloodline advantage.


    As soon as Zi Ji had released her aura, Tang Wulin had sensed that she was also a dragon, and she belonged to the evil dragon faction, so the scorching aura of the Golden Dragon King would be particularly effective against her.


    As such, he had immediately released his bloodline aura to its fullest extent to suppress the three Great Beasts present.


    During this brief span of time, countless thoughts had already flashed through Tang Wulin''s mind. The four Great Beasts that they were facing were indeed extremely powerful, but one thing that they could use to their advantage was that these were soul beasts without battle armor.


    Battle armor was a product of human intelligence and perfectly combined the powers of Soul Masters with modern technology. It was precisely due to the invention of mechas and battle armor that soul beasts had lost the power to contend with the human race.


    In the face of the four Great Beasts, they had to make full use of their battle armor advantage if they wanted to have any chance of survival.


    After attaining a suit of three-word battle armor, Tang Wulin''s powers were definitely comparable with any Hyper Douluo, and he would be able to put up a fight, even against a Limit Douluo. His Titled Douluo status, three-word battle armor, and Golden Dragon King bloodline had thrust him into the realm of truly powerful beings.


    Among his friends, only Sima Jinchi was already a Titled Douluo, and with his suit of three-word, he also possessed Hyper Douluo level powers.


    In particular, he and Sima Jinchi had a soul fusion skill, and that was definitely going to be vital in this battle.


    As for Shrek''s Six Monsters, they had all made breakthroughs to become Soul Douluos, and with their suits of three-word battle armor, all of them possessed Titled Douluo level powers, which meant that Tang Wulin''s group was essentially comprised of two Hyper Douluos and six Titled Douluos.


    This was an extremely formidable lineup, and it was what had given Tang Wulin the courage and confidence to travel to the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest with his friends.


    The four Great Beasts were indeed very powerful, but all of them were going to be affected by his Golden Dragon King bloodline to a certain extent, especially Di Tian and that purple-haired woman.


    As such, Tang Wulin had already formulated a complete plan in his mind, but the battle had already commenced before he had a chance to communicate it to everyone else.


    Zi Ji''s brows were furrowed tightly. In the instant that Tang Wulin unleashed his Violent Golden Dragon Domain, she had felt as if her soul were trembling.

 Chapter 1433: Rise Up, Shrek’s Seven Monsters!

    She had once sensed Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King aura in the past, but that couldn''t even begin to compare with what it currently was. Just as Di Tian had said, they definitely couldn''t allow him to continue to develop. Otherwise, he would grow to become a major threat. Once his Golden Dragon King bloodline completely awakened, he would be able to contend with even their lord!


    She adjusted the power of darkness within her body to forcibly settle her trembling bloodline, then continued in her attack.


    However, right at this moment, a burly man suddenly appeared before her. He was wearing a suit of golden armor, and he resembled a mighty god of war.


    As he raised the giant saber in his hand, Zi Ji was suddenly struck by a sense of disorientation. It was as if she had adopted her Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch form, and there were countless spectating dragons as a voice rang out with boundless authority. "All dragons must subject to my judgment!"


    A sense of extreme horror immediately overwhelmed her, and she let loose a cry of alarm as she instantly shot back in panic. A burst of powerful purple light erupted from her body, making her resemble a miniature purple sun as she bulldozed through the undergrowth behind her.


    In the face of the purple light, all plants quickly withered away before disintegrating within the darkness.


    Sima Jinchi held his Dragonslaying Saber, yet instead of pursuing Zi Ji, he slashed the saber through the air with devastating might, and his target was none other than Bear Lord''s Duskgold Dreadclaw attacks.


    His true body was the Dragonslaying Saber, so in a sense, he and Tang Wulin had a spiritual connection, which allowed Tang Wulin to directly instruct him in battle.


    After forcing the Demonic Infernal Dragon Monarch into retreat, Sima Jinchi turned to attack his actual target, which was Bear Lord. At this point, everyone else had also sprung into action.


    Streaks of dazzling starlight descended from the heavens, and all of them were falling down upon Bear Lord. At the same time, the surrounding darkness suddenly brightened, and within the dim world, a series of bright stars appeared, forming a star disc that revolved up above, striking the four Great Beasts with a sense of dizziness.


    Myriad Demon King''s attacks were instantly reversed and shot forth in all directions, while the starlight basked Bear Lord in a layer of golden light, instantly immobilizing him on the spot.


    This was Xu Xiaoyan''s three-word battle armor domain, Revolving Heaven and Stars! It was a domain with ultra-powerful control abilities.


    "Clang!" It was also right at this moment that the Dragonslaying Saber crashed into Bear Lord''s attack.


    Without the Revolving Heaven and Stars, Sima Jinchi would''ve most likely been forced onto the back foot by that attack, but under the effects of Revolving Heaven and Stars and Dazzling Starlight, most of Bear Lord''s offensive power was nullified, and he was immobilized on the spot.


    In the starry sky up above, a particularly dazzling speck of starlight suddenly descended directly toward Myriad Demon King''s head.


    Myriad Demon King looked up reflexively, upon which he was immediately struck by an indescribable sense of sharpness that reached him in a flash.


    This was a combination between Revolving Heaven and Stars and the Stargod Sword!


    Even though this wasn''t a soul fusion skill, it was a martial soul combination skill between Ye Xinglan and Xu Xiaoyan, and it was made possible due to their common affinity with starlight.


    Ye Xinglan had already achieved an elementary level of understanding of sword essence, and after becoming a Soul Douluo and fusing with a 100,000-year-old soul spirit, her powers had spiked significantly. Her three-word battle armor domain was very simple; it was known as the Sharp Star domain, and it was peerlessly sharp!


    The combination of the Sharp Star and Revolving Heaven and Stars domains had culminated in this Revolving Heaven and Stars Stargod Sword attack!


    However, Myriad Demon King was a Limit Douluo level powerful being, so he certainly wasn''t going to be crushed by a single attack. The air around him suddenly became extremely viscous, and Ye Xinglan felt as if countless eyes had suddenly appeared around her. All of these eyes were releasing unsettling light that shone down upon her to nullify her power, and her peerlessly sharp attack had been reduced to something that was completely feeble and powerless.


    Everything had become so sluggish, and all she could do was look on as these beams of light shone onto her body.


    This was Myriad Demon King''s Instant Eternity domain! His spiritual power was also at the Spirit Domain realm, so he naturally also had a spiritual domain.


    Instant Eternity was a domain that only took effect for an instant, but the target would feel as if an extremely long time had passed by. During this lengthy period of perceived time, Myriad Demon King would be able to unleash many attacks.


    Ye Xinglan was very powerful, but her domain was being completely dominated by that of Myriad Demon King. Just as she was about to perish in the face of the beams of demonic light, the surrounding area suddenly cleared, and everything returned to a second ago, before Myriad Demon King had unleashed his Instant Eternity domain, but Ye Xinglan''s sword had already reached him.


    "What?!" Myriad Demon King was astounded by this sudden development.


    The sword struck his body, but it merely slid off to the side, and Ye Xinglan felt as if she had struck a piece of resolute dead wood.


    Indeed, an inky-black piece of wood had taken Myriad Demon King''s place, and in the next instant, he appeared several dozens of meters away, staring at Tang Wulin with an astonished expression.


    Just as his domain had suppressed Ye Xinglan''s Sharp Star domain, his domain had also been suppressed by Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal domain.


    Tang Wulin''s control over his own domain was impeccable, as evidenced by the fact that it had only affected Myriad Demon King while sparing Ye Xinglan.


    Right at this moment, a change took place on the battlefield.


    Ye Xinglan was the only one attacking Myriad Demon King, yet as soon as the Revolving Heaven and Stars domain was unleashed, everyone sprang into action.


    Revolving Heaven and Stars didn''t just transfer energy; it was also capable of transferring objects, such as people.


    Yue Zhengyu appeared in the air behind Bear Lord almost instantaneously, then spread open his four wings as holy angelic light erupted from his body.


    In his Holy Angel True Body form, his Light of Judgment was significantly enhanced, and it instantly shone down upon Bear Lord as Yue Zhengyu slashed his holy sword through the air. This was his eighth soul skill, Scorching God Sealing Strike!


    The string of attacks he had unleashed was completely smooth with flawless transitions, and Yue Zhengyu had unleashed the full extent of his offensive power from the get-go.


    Bear Lord was a top-tier Great Beast with incredible defensive prowess, but even he was sent flying as a reddish-golden fireball after being struck by the Light of Judgment and Scorching God Sealing Strike.


    In the direction that he was flying toward, there was someone already waiting for him, and she had also been transferred there by Revolving Heaven and Stars. Her body had already swelled to an enormous size, and her aura had been greatly enhanced by the Violent Golden Dragon Domain. Her fists were like a pair of giant hammers, sending countless fist projections hurtling through the air in an instant.


    Yuanen Yehui had combined her seventh and eighth soul skills, Titan True Body and Cloud Vortex, to unleash the Titan Heaven Rocking Fist!


    This eighth soul skill was one that Yuanen Yehui had obtained after fusing with the Land Dragon Golden Melon. It was a soul skill that perfectly integrated her power and her Divine Cloudvortex Fists, and every single fist projection that had been unleashed was hurtling through the air in a corkscrew shape.


    Her strength and soul power were perfectly combined with the hardness of the Land Dragon Golden Melon, and countless explosive booms erupted all over Bear Lord''s body.


    Even though he had already recovered from the Dazzling Starlight, the terrifying rotational force of the Titan Heaven Rocking Fist made him feel as if his body were about to be torn apart, and as a result, he was immobilized once again.


    At the same time, two figures appeared above his head, one in front, and one behind.


    A streak of light that seemed to have slashed through time glided toward his throat, while the other figure extended a pair of rotund purplish-black hands toward the back of his head.

 Chapter 1434: The Fearsome Beast God

    So what if Bear Lord was a Limit Douluo level Great Beast? They were going to kill him together!


    During this past period of time, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had been constantly training together, and their teamwork had improved significantly. On top of that, they had structured all of their joint training around facing potential Limit Douluo level opponents.


    As Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, they had the heavy responsibility of rebuilding Shrek Academy on their shoulders. Light Dark Douluo was already well into her old age, and the Holy Spirit Douluo''s forte lay outside of battle. As such, as this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, they had to step up.


    They had experienced countless hardships and painful experiences, but never did they give up, and all of them were developing rapidly. In this instant, they put the fruits of their efforts on full display.


    As the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, even though Tang Wulin hadn''t directly attacked Bear Lord, he was constantly by his friends'' side.


    His eyes had remained on Di Tian this entire time, and he stepped forward with his left foot as a layer of crimson suddenly appeared over his suit of battle armor. At the same time, his eyes turned bright red, and he took the initiative to attack Di Tian with an enormously powerful deranged intent in his heart.


    Di Tian''s eyes glazed over slightly upon seeing this. How many years had it been since someone had dared to attack him?


    He felt as if he were being attacked by that young man and his six soul spirits again. Back then, he had been furious. How could those soul beasts have been willing to become a human''s soul spirits? However, as it turned out, they had made the right decision. In the end, all of them had ascended into the Divine Realm with that man and attained immortality. In contrast, he had stood at the pinnacle of this world for countless years, yet he still hadn''t managed to shake off the shackles of mortality.


    In the next instant, he returned to his senses and was immediately struck by the deranged intent of the Golden Blood Dragon domain.


    Even with his immense powers, he could clearly feel his own bloodline trembling in fear in that instant, and he was almost overcome by the urge to bow in subordination.


    He was then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin leaping up into the air, and the person who had forced back Bear Lord also sprang up before transforming into a giant saber that landed in Tang Wulin''s grasp.


    His expression finally changed as he had identified that blade, and he realized why Zi Ji had retreated in such a horrified manner.


    How could she not be afraid of the law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan?


    This was a divine weapon of the dragon clan forged from the horn of the Dragon God!


    The powerful saber projection struck Di Tian with a vision of himself being escorted onto an execution platform with countless giant dragon spectators, and he felt as if that almighty rainbow figure were looking down at him with absolute authority, waiting to pass judgment down upon him.


    Destruction was the essence of the Golden Dragon King''s power, and with the enhancements from the Dragonslaying Saber, Tang Wulin was truly powerful enough to threaten a Limit Douluo. On top of that, Di Tian was a dragon himself!


    Tang Wulin''s plan was very simple; he was going to force back everyone else, then attack Di Tian himself.


    He forced Zi Ji into retreat, then assisted Ye Xinglan in keeping Myriad Demon King at bay before creating an opportunity for his friends to attack Bear Lord together.


    Bear Lord was an offensive juggernaut; if he were allowed to unleash the full extent of his power, no one would be able to stop him. However, if they could restrict Bear Lord at an early stage during this battle, then their chances of survival would increase significantly.


    Tang Wulin was naturally aware that he definitely wasn''t a match for Di Tian, but he was also aware that Di Tian was also a dragon, which meant that he would be impacted by the Golden Dragon King bloodline and Dragonslaying Saber.


    This was why he had formulated this plan. He was going to hold off Di Tian on his own, thereby creating an opportunity for his friends to severely wound Bear Lord!


    A faint sigh rang out before Di Tian''s voice sounded beside Tang Wulin''s ears. "The intelligence that you humans possess is truly admirable. It''s exactly because we soul beasts lack this intelligence that we''ve been hunted to the brink of extinction by you humans, but can you not see the insurmountable power gap between us?"


    "Clang!" A crisp clang rang out, and Tang Wulin was astonished to see that Di Tian had struck the Dragonslaying Saber with a single finger.


    The saber projection instantly crumbled away, and a burst of incredibly fearsome power dealt both Tang Wulin and the saber a heavy blow.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had been struck by a sledgehammer, and it was as if his internal organs had been set alight. His dragon core and soul core both released their power with all their might, but he was still sent flying.


    At the same time, the air around Bear Lord seemed to have suddenly congealed as a roar rang out deep within everyone''s souls.


    Dark golden light erupted out of Bear Lord''s body in a frenzy, and a golden Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear projection that was over 100 meters tall emerged. As soon as the projection appeared, Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, Yue Zhengyu, and Yuanen Yehui were instantly sent flying.


    "Roar, roar, roar!" A string of terrifying roars erupted out of Bear Lord''s mouth, and his body instantly combined as one with the projection. As a result, he transformed into a giant Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, and he slashed his fearsome dark golden claws through the air like lightning.


    Everyone could only defend with all their might, but all of them were still forced back by the violent attacks. This was an absolute disparity in power, and the gap couldn''t be bridged even through suits of three-word battle armor. This was the true complete version of Bear Lord, a fearsome Great Beast capable of tearing giant dragons apart with his bare hands!


    Everyone was instantly struck by a sense of despair.


    Right at this moment, all of the specks of starlight in the sky suddenly turned into yellow eyes, and Xu Xiaoyan let loose a cry of agony as blood poured out of all seven of her orifices. This was martial soul backlash!


    The four Great Beasts had finally begun to display their power.


    Beast God, Bear Lord, and Myriad Demon King; these were three of the most powerful final remaining soul beasts in this world, and they were finally displaying their power.


    As opposed to pressing their advantage, Myriad Demon King merely looked on with a disdainful sneer, as did Bear Lord. The attacks that had struck them had only caused him some pain, but inflicted no actual damage. In terms of pure defensive prowess, even Di Tian was inferior to Bear Lord.


    Zi Ji made her way back from the distance, and her expression was clearly rather strained. A low roar rang out, and a giant purplish-black dragon projection appeared around her.


    Even though Tang Wulin had already predicted that their opponents would be extremely powerful, he didn''t think that they would be this powerful.


    He was finally beginning to understand why the Spirit Pagoda hadn''t completely destroyed this place.


    It wasn''t that humans weren''t powerful enough to kill Di Tian, it was just that with Di Tian''s enormous power, no one would be able to stop him if he were to try and escape, and that would undoubtedly result in a massive disaster for the human race.


    It appeared that the Spirit Pagoda had full control by restricting Di Tian and the Great Beasts to this small area, but in reality, it was a mutual compromise. The Great Beasts had preserved a final home for themselves, but they couldn''t leave this place to take revenge on the human race.


    Sima Jinchi had reverted back to his human form, and there was blood trickling out of his mouth, while his face had turned quite pale.


    He had never been defeated by a dragon before; was their opponent truly this powerful?


    "Only the Dragon God has the right to pass judgment upon me with the Dragonslaying Saber; you don''t have what it takes!" Di Tian said in an indifferent voice.


    Tang Wulin got up from the ground, and all of his friends gathered around them.


    They had all unleashed the full extent of their powers during those clashes, but their opponents were far more powerful than they had imagined.


    However, there was no fear at all in their eyes; only resolute determination, and a strong sense of indignation.


    Shrek Academy had only just begun its rebuild, and there were still so many things that they had to do; they really didn''t want to die here.


    However, in this current situation, they could only fight until their final breaths!


    "Wulin, we''ll burn our life forces to stop them while you get away. The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy can lose us, but you''re indispensable," Ye Xinglan said in a calm voice as she clutched her Stargod Sword, as if it weren''t her life that she was talking about.

 Chapter 1435: Golden Trident

    Yuanen Yehui said in a serious voice, "Xinglan is right. You are indispensable to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, so you have to live on."


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "We came together, and we''re leaving together. Di Tian, you are truly very powerful; too powerful for us to contend with, but you''re still not a god. I''ll have to sacrifice something of the utmost importance to me, but for the sake of my friends, the Tang Sect, and Shrek Academy, I''ll show you the power of a god!"


    The power of a god?


    The four Great Beasts all faltered slightly upon hearing this. Tang Wulin was only a puny human, yet he dared to proclaim that he possessed the power of a god? In contrast, all of Tang Wulin''s friends were struck by a sense of hope upon hearing this. Xie Xie had witnessed the miracle that Tang Wulin had created in person. In particular, that golden trident had left him with a very deep impression.


    A faint trace of golden light surfaced on Tang Wulin''s forehead, and he fully immersed himself into his own mind.


    The giant golden trident hovered high up in the air in his mind, and even just by observing it, he could clearly sense that his own energy was being rapidly absorbed by it. He was injecting energy into the trident using his soul core, dragon core, and spiritual power, but all of that was being devoured at a terrifying rate, as if the golden trident were a bottomless pit.


    Di Tian was the first one to sense that something was amiss. After Tang Wulin closed his eyes, a peculiar golden symbol had appeared on his forehead. This was a shimmering golden trident, and it radiated dazzling light. At the same time, an indescribable sense of gravity and oppression appeared.


    Di Tian was a powerful being who stood at the very pinnacle of the continent, yet even he was being struck by such an immense sense of pressure; could it be that this was truly the power of a god? But how was a puny human like him able to draw upon the power of a god?


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin reopened his eyes, which had already turned as blue as the sea, and they seemed to have infinite depth, just like the boundless nature of the ocean.


    A burst of invisible pressure also began to emanate from Tang Wulin''s body, and he stepped forward with his left foot while raising his right hand, and a streak of golden light suddenly shot forth into his grasp from his forehead.


    The dazzling golden light was like a miniature sun, and everyone present couldn''t help but close their eyes.


    Di Tian could clearly sense that a peerlessly authoritative aura was sweeping toward him, and the terrifying pressure was of the same caliber as the fearsome aura of the Dragon God, but at the same time, he could sense that this wasn''t the Dragon God''s power.


    Only Tang Wulin himself, who was holding the golden trident, could experience exactly how powerful it was.


    He was only just barely able to raise the enormous trident while straining every single muscle and sinew within his body, and the crystal at the very center of the trident was none other than the Vast Sea Cosmic Crystal.


    The prongs of the tridents were as smooth as mirrors, and the golden blade projections it was releasing seemed to be threatening to cause the entire surrounding space to collapse.


    Tang Wulin could still clearly recall how easily his father had been able to wield the trident; it was as if the trident had been an extension of his body. However, in his hands, the trident felt as heavy as a mountain.


    He took a deep breath and poured his energy into the golden trident without any reservation. He knew that he would most likely only be able to unleash a single attack with this incredibly powerful divine weapon.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to use one of the two remaining life-saving opportunities his father had left to him; he simply didn''t have autonomous control over that!


    From the prior clashes, it was quite clear that even the Dragonslaying Saber couldn''t pose any threat to Di Tian in Tang Wulin''s hands, so he knew that this golden trident was most likely their only hope for survival. Only the power of a true divine weapon could pose a threat to the mighty Beast God.


    Piercing golden light erupted forth in all directions, and the black rifts began to appear in the surrounding space, indicating that it was on the verge of collapse.


    Even the domain that Di Tian had released was beginning to tremor and strain.


    "Could it be?" Di Tian''s heart jolted with shock as he identified the weapon in Tang Wulin''s hands.


    A peculiar voice rang out from Tang Wulin''s mouth, resembling both a chant, but also errant mumbling.


    "Millennium White Clouds!"


    Layers of golden light erupted from his body, and gentle clouds and mist drifted around him, giving off an ethereal appearance. What was even more peculiar was that as the clouds and mist emerged, everything around Tang Wulin began to change. His friends seemed to have suddenly vanished, and the surrounding space began to twist and warp.


    Eternal change; that was the true meaning of time.


    Countless clouds and mist spread through the entire surrounding space, and the golden trident in Tang Wulin''s hands began to release a peculiar type of fluctuations that went against the laws of heaven and earth.


    Di Tian''s brows furrowed tightly as he stepped forward and finally initiated an attack for the first time. His attack was very simple: it was a straight punch.


    As his fist was thrust through the air, a giant black hole appeared up ahead, devouring everything in its wake. The spatial rifts created by the power of the golden trident were instantly devoured by this black hole to further bolster it, following which the black hole began to compress and fold in on itself in a frenzy.


    He had cultivated arduously for hundreds of thousands of years, and no human could compare with his control over space and time. As such, upon sensing that something was amiss, he naturally immediately unleashed his power.


    White clouds blossomed as time passed by like flowing water.


    Meanwhile, the fearsome black hole seemed to be capable of devouring this entire world.


    The two bursts of incredible power instantly clashed, and extremely formidable energy fluctuations erupted forth in all directions. An indescribably powerful aura erupted forth, and the laws of space and time intertwined at the focal point of their clash.


    It wasn''t that Tang Wulin didn''t want to use the most powerful Unpredictable Storm; he simply wasn''t capable of unleashing such a powerful attack.


    His spiritual domain was Time Reversal, and he had been cultivating Millennium White Clouds for a longer time, so he naturally had far superior mastery of this attack.


    However, only when he truly held the golden trident in his hand did he discover that he was still nowhere near achieving full mastery and control.


    The golden trident was far too heavy; it most likely weighed over 50 tons, and he was only just barely able to wield it. What was even more damning was that the golden trident was constantly devouring everything that comprised his very being. Regardless of whether it was his spiritual power, soul power, and energy, or his blood, flesh, and bones, all of it seemed to have been fused as one by the trident.


    As such, as Tang Wulin unleashed his Millennium White Clouds, his body was already on the brink of falling apart even before he had managed to do anything to his opponent.


    Was this the power of a true divine weapon? He most likely wouldn''t be able to truly wield such a fearsome weapon even after becoming a Limit Douluo!


    Why exactly had his father bestowed upon him a divine weapon that he couldn''t even use?


    Even as all of these thoughts flashed through Tang Wulin''s mind, he was able to clearly experience his clash with Di Tian.


    Di Tian truly lived up to his title as a soul beast who was the closest to ascending to godhood; his mastery of spatial power had already reached an unfathomable level.


    Time and space clashed, creating a devastating vortex of space and time that rose up into the heavens like a tornado. The protective barrier set up in the air by the Spirit Pagoda was torn apart with ease, and a golden tornado appeared high up in the air. As soon as the clouds and wind came into contact with this golden tornado, they were instantly erased from existence.

 Chapter 1436: Godly Power

    This was true destructive power that incorporated both space and time.


    A look of astonishment appeared on Di Tian''s face. This really was the power of a god! He could sense that Tang Wulin was only able to wield a very small amount of this power, but during their clash, the passage of time around him was rapidly accelerating. He had only just barely managed to transcend his last heavenly tribulation, and he had been using the life force energy within the spring of life to preserve his own life force, as well as to compress time as much as possible so he didn''t continue to age. However, in the face of this Millennium White Clouds, he could clearly sense the rapid passage of time. If things were to continue like this, he was most likely going to have to face his next heavenly tribulation earlier than expected!


    A soul beast became a Great Beast after reaching 100,000 years of age, but Great Beasts weren''t immortal; they had to face a major heavenly tribulation once every 100,000 years. If they could survive the heavenly tribulation, then they would be able to live for another 100,000 years.


    For soul beasts, their supposed "age" was actually directly related to their level of power. It was quite often the case that a soul beast didn''t actually have to live for a certain number of years to attain that corresponding level of power.


    For example, It would often take an Infernal Lightning Vine only 10,000 to 20,000 years to reach the 100,000-year level.


    As such, Di Tian naturally wasn''t actually 800,000 years old. As the Gold-eyed Black Dragon King, his growth had been extremely rapid during its initial stages, and he had reached the 100,000-year level after cultivating for less than 10,000 years. After cultivating for 30,000 years, he experienced his first heavenly tribulation, and since then, he had experienced many more heavenly tribulations. He was constantly evolving during this process, but his body was also aging.


    He knew that if he couldn''t become a god, then there was no way he would be able to transcend his next heavenly tribulation.


    The million-year mark was a major hurdle for all of the most powerful soul beasts, and all of the soul beasts in history that managed to reach that point had all stood at the very pinnacle of the soul beast world at some point. It was often the case that they had only been able to achieve that level of power after receiving a massive amount of external assistance.


    For example, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao''s first soul spirit, the Skydream Ice Worm, was only able to reach the 1,000,000-year level by hibernating for 1,000,000 years in Myriad Year Profound Ice. It possessed no offensive abilities, and all of the soul skills it bestowed upon Huo Yuhao were geared toward assistance.


    However, its existence coupled with its vast wealth of knowledge and experience had helped the Spirit Ice Douluo develop in his journey to become a god, and also allowed him to create the soul spirit system, thereby completely transforming the world of Soul Masters.


    Unfortunately, Di Tian wouldn''t be able to replicate this. He possessed an extremely powerful bloodline, and because of this, the heavenly tribulations that he had to face were far more formidable. The fact that he was able to come this far was already a testament to his powers, and he was certainly worthy of the title of Beast God.


    Judging by the current rate at which his body was aging, he would have to face his next major heavenly tribulation in about 30,000 years. However, during his brief clash against Millennium White Clouds, his aging had accelerated drastically, and even the seal that he had placed on his own body to arrest the passage of his life force had been damaged.


    Tang Wulin had been developing at an incredible rate, but his powers were still far inferior to those of Di Tian. However, his Millennium White Clouds had had a very damning effect on Di Tian.


    En Ci had also faced Millennium White Clouds in the past, and he had conceded precisely because he had been in fear of the effect that the attack would have on his body. In contrast, Tang Wulin''s Millennium White Clouds was far more mature now, and he was using the Sea God''s Trident rather than the Golden Dragon Spear!


    The Golden Dragon Spear was also a divine weapon, but it was a part of the Golden Dragon King''s body as opposed to a part of the Dragon God''s body. As such, it was actually slightly inferior even to the Dragonslaying Saber.


    In comparison, this golden trident was the primary weapon of the Sea God, who was a first-rank god of the Divine Realm. The godseat had been inherited by Tang San, who then went on to become one of the five godly monarchs of the Divine Realm. The Sea God''s Trident had been with him for countless years, and it had constantly been evolving alongside him, so its power naturally far surpassed that of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    On top of that, Millennium White Clouds was a soul skill that was meant to be used with the Sea God''s Trident in the first place!


    This was why Di Tian was suffering so severely in the face of this attack.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t Tang San, so there was no way that he could unleash the full power of the golden trident. The aura of Millennium White Clouds was gradually fading, but the black hole was only expanding in size.


    In his fit of fury, Di Tian had unleashed the full extent of his power, and despair seemed to be setting in.


    Even the other Great Beasts had all retreated far away in fear of being caught up in the clash.


    However, Tang Wulin was completely calm and collected. He knew that the power of his father would step in when his life was truly under threat. In this dire situation, he could only rely on his father''s power to save himself and his friends.


    Even so, his heart was filled with reluctance as he knew that before he attained the power to go and search for his father, he would only have three opportunities to see his father. He had already used up one of those opportunities when fusing with the Infernal Lightning Vine, and after this, he would only have one opportunity left.


    He was beginning to miss the days when Old Tang was still around. At the very least, Old Tang was a projection of his father, whom he could regularly see and turn to for guidance.


    In the face of the terrifying devouring power, everyone behind Tang Wulin was also releasing all of their power to help him weather the storm. However, the Beast God was simply too powerful.


    Right at this moment, the golden trident suddenly began to glow with bright golden light.


    "Father, is that you?" Tang Wulin asked in his heart. Tears of emotion had already welled up in his eyes, and this feeling of being protected had completely warmed his heart.


    However, in the next instant, he discovered that something was amiss.


    His father''s familiar aura didn''t appear. Instead, his body was enveloped within the golden light released by the Sea God''s Trident. The golden light then exploded, destroying the black hole up ahead, and Tang Wulin completely blacked out amid a rush of dizziness.


    From the perspective of everyone else, Di Tian''s attack was nullified by a flash of golden light, which then disappeared along with Tang Wulin. The Sea God''s Trident then rose up into the air as a streak of golden light before vanishing into thin air in the blink of an eye.


    Fearsome energy fluctuations surged forth in all directions, and everyone present was completely rooted to the spot.


    How had Tang Wulin managed to pull off a disappearing act in the face of Di Tian''s devastating attack?


    Di Tian himself was also completely flabbergasted. How was this possible? That power just now seemed to have been released by the divine weapon itself. Tang Wulin clearly didn''t possess the ability to unleash this power, so was this a result of the divine weapon trying to protect its wielder.


    If that were the case, then how exactly was that divine weapon related to Tang Wulin?


    "Roar!" A rumbling roar of fury rang out as Bear Lord swept his sharp claws directly toward Shrek''s Six Monsters and Sima Jinchi.


    "That''s enough!" An authoritative voice abruptly rang out, and a spatial rift appeared, from within which a giant claw emerged.


    The claw had a diameter of over 100 meters, and it completely dwarfed even Bear Lord''s massive frame.


    Bear Lord''s Duskgold Dreadclaws were intercepted, and he was hurled viciously through the air.


    Immediately thereafter, silver light shone down upon Shrek''s Six Monsters and Sima Jinchi from the giant claw, and they also instantly vanished.


    Di Tian immediately returned to his senses before hurriedly extending a respectful bow. "My Lord!"


    Myriad Demon King and Zi Ji also followed suit. All of them were filled with astonishment as they could sense through this claw that their lord had returned; she had returned to the height of her powers, comparable to back when she had first emerged from her underground slumber, and there was no longer any residual feebleness from her transformation into a human.


    Silver light flashed, and the giant claw transformed into a humanoid figure.


    She had her hands clasped behind her back, and her entire body was enveloped within a layer of silver light. "It seems that none of you have ever taken me seriously."


    Di Tian immediately fell to one knee. "We wouldn''t dare, my Lord!"


    "Really? Then how do you explain what just happened?" the silver figure asked in a cold voice.


    She had actually been appraising the battle this entire time, but had only stepped in following Tang Wulin''s abrupt disappearance, which had placed Shrek''s Six Monsters in an extremely perilous situation.

 Chapter 1437: Nine Trials of the Sea God

    "My Lord, I just don''t understand why you''re so protective of that Tang Wulin! His very existence is a threat to us, and his rate of development is only growing faster. If we continue to let him grow, it''s very likely that he could completely master the Golden Dragon King''s power soon."


    The silver figure replied, "That''s exactly what I want to see. I''ve already recovered the core of the Dragon God, and I''m waiting for him to develop to his full potential before fusing with him. Only then will the Dragon God be able to return in his full glory and rebuild the Divine Realm."


    Di Tian stammered in a slightly slack-jawed manner, "B, but, who would claim dominance then? He''s a human!"


    The silver figure replied in a cold voice, "Are you more aware than I am of who will claim dominance following the fusion? I ordered you not to step in, yet you''ve disobeyed me over and over again. If I hadn''t planted some surveillance on him, he would''ve most likely fallen by your hands already! He still hasn''t developed to his full potential and completely absorbed the Golden Dragon King''s power yet. If I kill him now and absorb his power, it''s very likely that the Dragon God will never be able to return in his full glory."


    "My sincerest apologies, my Lord." Di Tian was still rather unconvinced by this for some reason, but he couldn''t pinpoint any fallacies in the silver figure''s explanation.


    The silver figure continued, "I''ll let things slide this time, but from now on, stay out of this matter and leave him to me!"


    "Yes!" The four Great Beasts bowed in unison.


    The silver figure then made her way over to Di Tian and placed a hand onto his head. Di Tian''s body shuddered, and the erratic flow of his life force began to stabilize itself again.


    "Thank you, my Lord." Di Tian heaved a sigh of relief, and at the same time, he could sense that the silver figure''s power had truly returned.


    He had dared to disobey her orders and attack Tang Wulin in large part due to the fact that she still hadn''t fully recovered her powers, so he could still overpower her if need be. However, he certainly didn''t dare to do so from now on. He was well aware of just how fearsome she was at the height of her powers; she was like a deity among men!


    The planar power of the Douluo Continent was no longer anywhere near sufficient to repress a being like her, and in a sense, it could even be said that she could contend with the entire plane on her own.


    "Make the required preparations; we have to initiate the next part of our plan. The human world is going to be thrown into massive turmoil soon, and this is the best opportunity for us."


    "Yes, my Lord!"


    ......


    When Tang Wulin reawakened, he was greeted by the sight of a boundless golden world.


    This was a completely silent and peaceful world. He reflexively raised his head to find a wide path up ahead. It was the only landmark in this golden world, so it was impossible to miss, and it stretched on into infinity.


    "You will be undergoing the Nine Trials of the Sea God. Only after completing the trials will you be able to truly master the golden trident''s power, so forge on ahead with courage and determination."


    The familiar voice of Tang San rang out beside his ears, sending a surge of warmth flowing through Tang Wulin''s heart.


    The Nine Trials of the Sea God?


    ......


    Light flashed, and Shrek''s Six Monsters and Sima Jinchi appeared in an unfamiliar and open place.


    They were situated on a plain rather than in the lush Great Star Dou Forest.


    Xie Xie murmured to himself in a slack-jawed manner, "Can somebody tell me what just happened? Am I dreaming right now?"


    His words echoed everyone''s thoughts.


    Yuanen Yehui''s brows were tightly furrowed as she said, "That silver claw was really powerful."


    All of them could sense that the silver claw that had sent Bear Lord flying was extremely powerful, but they couldn''t sense exactly how powerful it was. Perhaps it belonged to a being of the same caliber as Beast God Di Tian.


    How could they not be stunned after seeing something like that?


    Prior to this day, they had never thought that there would be such powerful soul beasts left in existence. All four of the Great Beasts were top-tier powerful beings. If it hadn''t been for the Sea God''s Trident that Tang Wulin had summoned and that silver claw at the end, they''d most definitely already be dead.


    "I''m more worried about where Boss is right now," Yue Zhengyu said with a wry smile.


    Indeed, where had Tang Wulin gone? He seemed to have been taken away by the golden trident, but where had he been taken to? Was he safe?


    No one could''ve envisioned that their trip to search for crystals of life would conclude in such an inexplicable manner.


    During the recent period of time, everyone had been rapidly progressing. They had all become Soul Doulous and attained a suit of three-word battle armor, as well as 100,000-year-old soul spirits. As a result of this, they had inevitably developed a sense of pride and complacency, but even after going all-out, they had still been comprehensively crushed during the recently concluded battle.


    With their combined powers, they could perhaps contend with one of Myriad Demon King or Bear Lord, but they had no chance against Beast God Di Tian.


    "Have any of you seen that trident before? What was that thing?" Ye Xinglan asked.


    Xie Xie hurriedly replied, "I''ve seen it before; it appeared once back when Wulin was creating that storm and fusing with the Infernal Lightning Vine, and on that occasion, a humanoid projection had also appeared. I couldn''t see the projection very clearly, but the trident''s aura was extremely powerful. It seems like Boss was unable to completely control it. If he was telling the truth back there, then it''s very like that the trident is imbued with godly power!"


    Tang Wulin had declared that he was going to show Di Tian the power of a god, and he was only just barely able to keep Di Tian''s attack at bay using his Millennium White Clouds.


    However, the final outcome was something that even Tang Wulin himself had most likely failed to anticipate. No one was of the opinion that Tang Wulin had intentionally abandoned everyone and fled; that simply wasn''t who he was.


    However, the fact of the matter was that he had disappeared.


    "Let''s go back for now; perhaps he''s already gone back," Sima Jinchi.


    Despite what he was saying, even he was unconvinced by his own words. He had a spiritual connection with Tang Wulin through his Dragonslaying Saber, but at this moment, he couldn''t sense Tang Wulin at all.


    Ye Xinglan nodded in response. "There''s not much else we can do."


    A wry smile appeared on Xu Xiaoyan''s face. "What are we going to tell everyone when we get back?"


    Tang Wulin was extremely vital to both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy; his sudden disappearance was definitely going to be a massive blow to Shrek Academy, which had only just begun its rebuild.


    ......


    "Powerful energy fluctuations appeared in the Great Star Dou Forest, and even the protective barrier was compromised?" Qiangu Dongfeng had been in a very bad foul mood for the past few days.


    Ever since the Shrek Academy bombing, he had thought that Shrek Academy was a thing of the past. Even if someone wanted to rebuild Shrek Academy, surely it wouldn''t be the same Shrek Academy as it once was.


    However, never did he think that this day would come so soon, and what was even more astonishing to him was that all of the academy''s students were still alive.


    This was a major problem, and adopting several different tactics, he discovered that he couldn''t do anything to Shrek Academy.


    In the current situation, where the Holy Spirit Cult was unwilling to do the dirty work, Shrek Academy was virtually untouchable. Both the Spirit Pagoda and the Tang Sect were currently being heavily weighed down by controversy, so he didn''t dare to make any big moves.

 Chapter 1438: Conversation Between Grandfather and Grandson

    On top of that, everyone knew that the Tang Sect had to be supporting Shrek Academy''s rebuild, but no one could say anything about it. Furthermore, the federation couldn''t forcibly take away the land of Shrek Academy as Shrek City had existed even before the federation!


    This land had always belonged to Shrek Academy; if the federation were to take it by force, then that would be equivalent to an invasion.


    Shrek Academy may have been destroyed, but its influence was still extremely strong on this continent. If the federation dared to go that far, then it most likely wouldn''t be far away from dissolution.


    As such, after the Holy Spirit Cult refused to destroy this new Shrek Academy, Qiangu Dongfeng discovered that he was rather powerless in this situation.


    At the very least, Shrek Academy had the support of the Holy Spirit Douluo, the Heartless Douluo, and the Amorous Douluo, so he couldn''t even oppress it by force.


    This had made Qiangu Dongfeng quite irritable of late, and he became uncharacteristically angry upon hearing about the incident that had taken place in the Great Star Dou Forest.


    "Investigate the situation right away!"


    He was naturally aware of the existence of the Great Beasts, and the Spirit Pagoda had a truce agreement with the Great Beasts. The main reason behind the Spirit Pagoda''s decision to make this concession was the existence of Beast God Di Tian; he was simply too powerful, and killing him would be an extremely difficult task.


    According to the instructions left behind by the forefathers of the Spirit Pagoda, they were waiting for the arrival of Di Tian''s final heavenly tribulation, which would present an opportunity to make Di Tian into a soul spirit for the Spirit Pagoda.


    If they could do that, then the Spirit Pagoda would acquire a new powerful guardian. The Spirit Pagoda had already devised a method to allow soul spirits to live on permanently, and for this objective, several dozens of generations of Spirit Pagoda chairmen had communicated with Di Tian, but all of them were rejected.


    Thankfully, during the past several millennia, Di Tian hadn''t done anything out of line, either, so the truce continued. According to the information passed down by the forefathers of the Spirit Pagoda, Di Tian''s next heavenly tribulation wasn''t going to be far away, so the Spirit Pagoda could afford to wait. Once his heavenly tribulation arrived, Di Tian would have no choice but to become a soul spirit, and that would undoubtedly benefit the Spirit Pagoda immensely.


    Once Di Tian became a soul spirit, it would be a lot easier to deal with the other Great Beasts.


    After issuing an instruction to launch an investigation into the Great Star Dou Forest situation, Qiangu Dongfeng fell into a contemplative silence.


    The current situation appeared to be quite peaceful, but Shrek Academy was in the midst of its rebuild. Even without Yun Ming, a new Shrek Academy would be extremely troublesome as it had far too many supporters.


    Even now, the Dove Faction had been significantly bolstered by the news of the Shrek Academy rebuild, and some of the neutral faction was beginning to sway toward the Dove Faction. There were also some high-ranking military officials who had turned their backs on the Eagle Faction, and all of them were Shrek Academy alumni, so the academy had definitely contacted them during its reconstruction process.


    Such a massively influential academy was truly worthy of its title as the number one academy on the continent.


    He couldn''t allow things to continue like this any longer. At the very least, he had to create some news to maintain the Spirit Pagoda''s influence and erase all of the negative press that had arisen.


    Right at this moment, the sound of door-knocking rang out.


    "Come in," Qiangu Dongfeng said.


    The door was opened, and a tall and handsome figure strode in. This was none other than one of the Spirit Pagoda''s four spirit envoys, and Qiangu Dongfeng''s most beloved grandson, Qiangu Zhangting.


    "What brings you here, Zhangting?" Qiangu Zhangting had been cultivating in seclusion this entire time, so Qiangu Dongfeng was rather taken aback to see him.


    "Grandfather, I heard that Shrek Academy is being rebuilt; is that true?" Qiangu Zhangting asked with furrowed brows.


    Qiangu Dongfeng sighed, "It is. This is quite a concern for us as the rebuild is affecting the entire federal parliament in a way that''s heavily against our favor. Shrek Academy has a massive number of supporters; if we can''t stop its rebuild, then it''ll only pick up more and more momentum, and before long, it could return to its former glory."


    "Grandfather, there''s something I''d like to remind you of," Qiangu Zhangting suddenly said.


    "What is it?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked in a befuddled manner.


    Qiangu Zhangting replied, "Do you still remember the time when Nana and I encountered a member of the Holy Spirit Cult in that train station? At the time, the person who was with that member of the Holy Spirit Cult was none other than the Tang Sect Master, Tang Wulin."


    A hint of reminiscence appeared in Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes upon hearing this. "Go on."


    A cold light flashed through Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes. "At the time, it felt to me like Nana was looking at him in a way that was very abnormal, so I did some investigating. I''m sure you''re aware of the Shrek Academy tradition known as the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, right?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "I am."


    Qiangu Zhangting continued in a cold voice, "Nana was a student of Shrek Academy, and she was in the same class as Tang Wulin. Back when they were both in the outer court, Tang Wulin was the class captain, while Nana was the vice-captain, and they were in the same team as well."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.


    Qiangu Zhangting continued, "I bribed a Shrek Academy outer court disciple who was expelled from the academy, and he told me that Tang Wulin had once confessed to Nana during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, and Nana accepted his confession."


    "What did you say?" Qiangu Dongfeng was astonished to hear this.


    The Spirit Pagoda had constantly been spying on Shrek Academy, but with the large number of powerful beings in the academy, it was very difficult to gather much information.


    Qiangu Zhangting harrumphed coldly, "If it weren''t for the fact that Shrek Academy had been destroyed, it would''ve been very difficult for me to successfully bribe that former outer court disciple, but the information that he provided is definitely reliable. On top of that, he also told me that Tang Wulin is not just the Tang Sect Master, but also the captain of Shrek''s Seven Monsters."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. He had always known that Tang Wulin was the captain of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and Shrek Academy had never intentionally hidden this fact, but now that he was being reminded of this by Qiangu Zhangting, he was finally starting to put everything together.


    Qiangu Zhangting continued, "I was very envious upon learning this, and I wanted to ask Nana about this, but I held back because this information provides us with a very important opportunity."


    Qiangu Dongfeng raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "You''re saying we should use Tang Wulin''s feelings for Gu Yuena against him?"


    Qiangu Zhangting nodded in response. "According to that outer court disciple, they share a very strong bond, and it''s most likely the case that Nana also reciprocates his feelings. Otherwise, she wouldn''t have accepted his confession. However, Nana has chosen to come to our Spirit Pagoda, so she must be grappling with an internal conflict. She knows that our Spirit Pagoda is better for her development, but she still can''t forget about Tang Wulin, and I think the destruction of Shrek Academy is the reason why she finally made up her mind to join us."


    Qiangu Dongfeng asked, "What do you want to do?"


    Qiangu Zhangting replied, "Shrek Academy is currently being rebuilt, right? So many powerful beings from their academy perished during the bombing, so Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters must be the current pillars of the academy. If we can eliminate them, particularly Tang Wulin, that would deal both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect an extremely heavy blow, right?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "The problem is that Tang Wulin was at the Star Luo Empire not long ago, and we don''t even know whether he''s back yet; how are we supposed to strike at him?"


    Qiangu Zhangting immediately replied, "You''re allowing your own concerns to blind you, Grandfather. I''m certain that Tang Wulin has already returned, and the Tang Sect definitely has no intention of moving to the Star Luo Empire. Otherwise, Shrek Academy wouldn''t be commencing its rebuild at a time like this. Their thought process is very simple; the Tang Sect has been declared as a treasonous organization, so it will only be able to operate in the shadows. As such, they have to rebuild Shrek Academy so they can still have an organization that exists out in the open. Based on all that, I can assure you that Tang Wulin has to have already returned, and it''s very possible that he''s in Shrek Academy right now."

 Chapter 1439: Joust for a Spouse?

    "What we have to do now is lure him out into the open, then strike against him," Qiangu Zhangting said as a cold light flashed through his eyes.


    "You''ve grown up, Zhangting," Qiangu Dongfeng said with a gratified expression. He was most pleased by the fact that Qiangu Zhangting had managed to come up with such sound and logical analysis without allowing his emotions to cloud his judgment.


    "I really like Nana as well. Are you suggesting we should use her to lure out Tang Wulin? If so, I have to advise you to exercise caution. Nana has made significant contributions to our research into soul spirit evolution. That, in conjunction with the contributions she made toward the development of our man-made black soul spirits makes her the most worthy candidate to inherit the position of chairman from me. This is why I''ve always wanted you to marry her; with her support, no one will be able to dispute your position once you take over from me, and you''ll be able to take our family to greater heights."


    Qiangu Zhangting smiled, and replied, "Rest assured, Grandfather, I certainly wouldn''t do something as foolish as directly using Nana to lure out Tang Wulin. I truly love Nana as well; she''s the most exceptional woman on the entire continent and the only one worthy of becoming my wife. She''s already chosen our Spirit Pagoda and made such significant contributions as well; we can''t abandon her no matter what! I''ve thought of a much better plan."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes lit up as he asked, "What is it?"


    Qiangu Zhangting chuckled, "A joust for a spouse!"


    "Joust for a spouse?" Qiangu Dongfeng was quite taken aback to hear this.


    Qiangu Zhangting nodded in response without any hesitation. "There''s a very simple reason for this; Nana is the most exceptional young talent from our Spirit Pagoda, and she''s at an age that''s ripe for marriage. In order to find a husband for her, the Spirit Pagoda is going to be holding a grand joust for a spouse event, and it''ll also be a platform for Soul Masters to meet and interact with one another."


    Qiangu Dongfeng immediately realized what his grandson''s intentions were.


    "That''s a good idea, but we''ll have to secure Nana''s agreement first."


    Qiangu Zhangting smiled, and said, "It''ll be up to you to convince her, Grandfather. You treat her extremely well, and she''s more receptive to you than anyone else. We''ll decide the rules of the joust for a spouse, and when the news gets released, I''m sure Tang Wulin will take the bait."


    Qiangu Dongfeng said, "There''s an issue that I''m not sure if you''ve considered: that Tang Wulin is very powerful. I''m sure you''ve seen the Trial of Five Gods that he recently participated in; at your current level of power, it''s going to be very difficult to defeat him."


    A cold light flashed through Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes. "Not only am I going to defeat him, I''m going to use this opportunity to ''accidentally'' kill him! Without him, Shrek Academy''s rebuild will completely fail. As for whether I''ll be able to defeat him, that''s not an area of concern; I just went to visit Great-grandfather before coming here."


    Qiangu Dongfeng was ecstatic to hear this. "Father has come out of seclusion?"


    Qiangu Zhangting nodded in response. "He did just recently, so there''s nothing for you to worry about."


    Qiangu Dongfeng burst into raucous laughter. "Haha, alright, then let''s arrange this joust for a spouse!"


    ......


    Tang Wulin stopped in his tracks as he bent over with his hands on his knees, panting heavily from exertion.


    He didn''t know how long he had been walking for as there was no concept of time in this world.


    All his father had told him was that he was currently undertaking the Nine Trials of the Sea God, and that he had to follow this path onward.


    However, as he continued along this path, he was made aware of a series of issues, the first of which was that all of his power had disappeared.


    There wasn''t even a single trace of soul power in his entire body, and even his spiritual power had disappeared, as had his insane strength and physical constitution. In this golden world, it was as if he had become a completely normal person.


    However, what was even more terrifying was that this place was far too quiet; it was deathly silent without any sound, nor anything to be seen.


    All he could do was continue to forge ahead, yet as his energy waned and his physical condition worsened, the sense of loneliness became more and more crippling.


    He trudged onward one step after another, and he knew that he had no choice but to keep going.


    The constant hardships that he had experienced and his experience on the demonic island had given him a will of iron and steel. By his calculations, if time passed by at the same rate in here as it did in the outside world, then he had already been walking for three days and three nights without any food or water.


    His body was already on the verge of collapse, and he didn''t know how far he had walked. At this point, even his thoughts were beginning to scatter, yet he still didn''t stop in this arduous journey.


    Perhaps the first trial was a test of willpower, so he couldn''t stop.


    His father had told him that if he wanted to be able to truly use the power of the Sea God''s Trident, then he would have to complete this trial. He was doing this both for himself and to not disappoint his father.


    Seeing as this was his father''s weapon, then he had to have undergone a similar trial. If his father had been able to complete this trial, then he definitely could as well.


    These thoughts filled Tang Wulin with renewed motivation over and over again and supported him as he continued onward.


    Sweat was dripping down incessantly as he walked, and he had already exceeded his physical limits long ago; he was being fuelled by nothing more than pure willpower.


    His entire field of view had already become blurry, and he could only just barely discern that he was progressing in the right direction. He felt as if his legs had been filled with lead, and it was exactly because he had grown accustomed to a superhuman physical constitution that this complete loss of power was all the more painful for him.


    He continued onward at an agonizing pace, becoming more and more feeble with every step that he took.


    His life force was constantly being expended, and he could even feel death approaching with each passing step.


    The agony that was being brought on by his exhaustion was fading, and it felt as if his soul were drifting toward another world. This was actually quite a comforting sensation, and it was as if there was a voice in his head, telling him to give up so he could be relieved of all of this agony.


    He bit down onto the tip of his own tongue until a metallic bloody tang spread through his mouth, and the sharp pain immediately dispelled that sense of false comfort. However, at the same time, his body thumped violently down onto the ground, unable to go even half a step further.


    The impact upon landing sent a jolt of dizziness running through his head, and he felt as if his life force were about to instantly dissipate.


    Right at this moment, an authoritative voice suddenly rang out in the deathly silent golden world. "There are five meters until the endpoint."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this, and he forced himself to look ahead.


    His vision was already completely blurry at this point, but he could see that a red smudge seemed to have appeared in the distance. His mind told him that that was the endpoint. Was he finally about to complete this arduous trial?


    He took a deep breath and tried to rise to his feet, but he discovered that he had lost all feeling in his legs, and the simple gesture of getting up was completely beyond his capabilities.


    No, I have to go on! There are only five meters left!


    He could no longer walk, so he crawled and clawed his way toward the target with his hands.


    His leaden legs trailed along behind him, and even though all of his energy was already long gone, he was forcing himself onward through sheer force of will.


    He had to complete this trial!


    ......

 Chapter 1440: Completing the First of the Nine Trials of the Sea God

    ¡°What? Wulin disappeared?¡± Yali''s gentle smile instantly disappeared, and her aura began to fluctuate in an extremely unstable manner.


    "Tell me what happened!"


    Thus, Ye Xinglan gave a recount of what had happened to them in the Great Star Dou Forest.


    "Beast God Di Tian?" Even as a Limit Douluo, Yali''s heart jolted upon hearing this name.


    This secret had been hidden by the Spirit Pagoda for far, far too long.


    Beast God Di Tian was still alive?


    It wasn''t the case that no one had entered the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest before; it was just that none of those people came out again. As such, only the past chairmen of the Spirit Pagoda were aware of the fact that Di Tian was still alive.


    "Go and get some rest; I''ll take care of this." Yali did her best to calm herself down. No matter how anxious she was feeling, she had to address the situation with a cool head.


    After all, Tang Wulin hadn''t perished by the hands of Di Tian; he had been taken away by some unknown power instead. What made her even more concerned was the giant silver claw that had appeared at the end. It was able to intimidate Di Tian and rescue Shrek''s Six Monsters and Sima Jinchi, so its owner definitely wasn''t any weaker than Di Tian himself.


    Since when did such an outrageously powerful being appear on the continent?


    Di Tian was a quasigod, and he was definitely the most powerful among the current quasigods. Even if Yun Ming were still alive, he definitely wouldn''t dare to proclaim that he could best Di Tian in battle.


    This was a very important matter, and she had to discuss it with the other Limit Douluos right away.


    All of Shrek''s Six Monsters also had heavy hearts. Tang Wulin had disappeared during such an important juncture in the Shrek Academy rebuild, and no one had any idea where he could be.


    His soul communicator couldn''t be contacted or traced; it was as if he had vanished off the face of the planet, and that was what was most concerning.


    ......


    I''ve reached it!


    Finally, his hand had come into contact with that red line, and in that instant, an indescribable sense of relief washed over his body.


    The same comfort he had experienced when he had been on the brink of death resurfaced, and all of his pain was instantly alleviated.


    All of a sudden, the ground gave away from beneath his feet, but he couldn''t even muster up the emotions of alarm and panic anymore.


    In the next instant, he plunged into a vast expanse of warm liquid that immediately began to nourish his body.


    The crushing sense of exhaustion reappeared, but at the same time, he was able to sense his own body again.


    The liquid didn''t make him recover right away. Instead, it was nourishing him in a slow and subtle way. His exhaustion faded bit by bit, seeping away just as slowly as it had accumulated.


    His consciousness also began to return to him, and after an indeterminate period of time, a voice rang out within his mind.


    "There''s often only a fine line that separates life and death, and only those treading on that line can truly experience death. Death is never the most painful thing, but by choosing death, one is choosing to run away. Everyone''s conclusion is different, but you were able to last until the very end, and that shows that you possess unyielding will. You have passed the first trial of the Sea God!"


    ......


    "What do we do about this?" Gathered in front of Yali were Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, and Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue. All four Limit Douluos were present.


    "There''s no need for us to be concerned for Wulin''s safety; he''ll definitely be fine," Cao Dezhi said in a confident manner. He had the most confidence in Tang Wulin among the four as he had witnessed in person how Tang Wulin had been blessed by the plane and forced back the powerful beings of the abyss.


    "That trident is most likely a part of the godly power that he inherited, and I''m sure it wouldn''t take him to a dangerous place. Even though he hasn''t returned, I don''t think there''s any cause for concern."


    Zang Xin said, "Then what do we do about the Beast God situation? The most concerning thing for us is that we don''t know the current relationship between the Spirit Pagoda and those Great Beasts. The Spirit Pagoda has essentially imprisoned them in the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest, but they''re offering no resistance, and that''s very suspicious."


    Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue nodded in agreement. "That is indeed quite troublesome, but I don''t think the Great Beasts would allow themselves to be used by the Spirit Pagoda. After all, it could be said that the Spirit Pagoda is the main culprit behind the soul beasts'' descent toward extinction. Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao founded the Spirit Pagoda with the intention of minimizing the slaughter of soul beasts, but his successors have completely altered his original plan. They''ve slain and captured countless soul beasts under the guise of research, and that''s resulted in the gradual destruction of the soul beast world. As such, there''s virtually no chance that the Great Beasts would directly collaborate with the Spirit Pagoda."


    Cao Dezhi nodded, and said, "I think they''re only allowing themselves to be contained for their own survival. In any case, I''m sure Wulin will be fine. He was chosen by the plane, so it''s no surprise to see some extraordinary things happen to him. Perhaps the planar ruler is bestowing upon him some type of brilliant opportunity that will contribute to his rise to the top; the fact that he was able to escape with his life even after facing Di Tian is already a testament to many things. However, the fact that the Great Beasts are still residing in the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest indicates that there''s a very good chance that crystals of life can indeed be found there."


    Zang Xin asked, "Are you saying we should all take a trip to the Great Star Dou Forest?"


    Cao Dezhi''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he offered no response.


    Long Yeyue harrumphed in a slightly disdainful manner, "You two sure are on the same wavelength!"


    In terms of age, she was a generation above both the Amorous Douluo and Heartless Douluo, so she naturally didn''t need to be polite to them, especially after the Amorous Douluo had set her up not long ago.


    Cao Dezhi shook his head, and sighed, "Forget it, they''re all in a very pitiable situation as well. No matter how powerful they are, they no longer have any brethren around them. Those Great Beasts can act as a relic to commemorate the soul beast world."


    Yali interjected, "So are we just going to wait and do nothing? What if Wulin doesn''t come back? The other powers aren''t opposing our Shrek Academy rebuild on the surface, but all of them are looking for an opportunity to strike against us. On top of that, Wulin is the Tang Sect Master; what if he appears in the outside world and gets attacked by the Tang Sect''s enemies?"


    Cao Dezhi smiled, and said, "Rest assured, Yali; with Wulin''s current level of power, he should be able to look after himself. We have to be confident in his ability to react and adjust as the situation requires."


    ......


    "Would you like to leave or move on to the second trial?" A vast voice came surging toward Tang Wulin like waves of the ocean.


    Following the conclusion of the first trial, Tang Wulin had returned to that boundless golden world, and everything around him had taken on an illusionary quality.


    "May I ask what the second trial will be?"


    "Each successive trial will be more difficult than the last one, and only after completing all Nine Trials of the Sea God will you be able to fully control the Sea God''s Trident. Following each completed trial, you''ll be given an option to leave, and you''ll also be ejected if you were to fail a trial. With each trial that you complete, your affinity with the Sea God''s Trident will improve, and that affinity will reach its peak once you complete all of the trials."


    Tang Wulin asked, "If I want to continue to undergo the trials, how do I come back here?"


    "All you have to do is use the power of the Sea God''s Trident, and you''ll automatically be teleported here."


    Upon hearing this, Tang Wulin immediately realized that this Nine Trials of the Sea God was something that his father created for him! His father really was sparing no effort to help him.


    With that in mind, he immediately decided, "I choose to leave."


    He couldn''t disappoint his father, so he had to complete all Nine Trials of the Sea God. If he wanted to do that, then he needed to accumulate more power.


    Furthermore, he didn''t know what situation his friends were currently in. He had been teleported here, but what about his friends? Were they still in the Great Star Dou Forest? Were they still alive?


    As such, he had to leave this place no matter what.


    Golden light flashed, and the light around him dimmed. The entire golden world blurred, and Tang Wulin found himself hovering in mid-air.

 Chapter 1441: Joust For a Spouse

    In the next instant, he was struck by a strong sense of weightlessness, and his body began to plummet out of the sky in free fall. He was naturally quite startled by this and hurriedly gathered his soul power to control his own body.


    His soul power had returned, as had all of his other powers, and he was in peak condition, as if he had never even used Millennium White Clouds. He looked down to discover that he was currently at an altitude of several kilometers, and the protective barrier over the Great Star Dou Forest lay down below.


    He concealed himself within a cloud first, then took a moment to collect himself before dialing a number on his soul communicator.


    ......


    "Joust for a spouse?" Gu Yuena was looking at Qiangu Dongfeng in a slightly dumbstruck manner, and a series of emotions welled up in her heart as she instantly recalled back to the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention.


    She still clearly recalled how Tang Wulin had confessed to her, and she knew that she had to turn him down, but she simply couldn''t bring herself to do it. It was in that instant that her heart had truly been swayed.


    "Yes, joust for a spouse. This is going to be an extremely important event for our Spirit Pagoda. As you know, our Spirit Pagoda is currently facing a lot of controversy as a result of the Tang Sect''s attacks against us, so in order to distract the general public and help restore our Spirit Pagoda''s reputation, we''ve decided to hold this joust for a spouse event. The objective of the event is not just to find you a husband, but also earn widespread acknowledgment from the general public for our Spirit Pagoda.


    "Many of the young talents in our Spirit Pagoda are referring to you as the number one beauty in the history of the Spirit Pagoda in private, and this is a very popular opinion. As such, this joust for a spouse will also motivate the young men of our Spirit Pagoda to work harder, so it''ll be killing many birds with one stone. At the same time, exposure to the general public will be beneficial for your future rise up the social ladder. Remember the Trial of Five Gods? It was through that event that the Tang Sect Master, Tang Wulin, accrued so much popularity and support, thereby placing us in a very passive position.


    "Our Spirit Pagoda also needs a new generation of leaders, and you and Zhangting are the ideal candidates. Through this joust for a spouse, your beauty will definitely garner you a lot of attention and support, which will nullify some of the pressure our Spirit Pagoda has been facing. I know that you may be reluctant to take part in something like this, but I hope that you''ll consider it. With your looks, powers, and lofty status as a spirit envoy, you''ll definitely receive widespread attention."


    Gu Yuena''s brows furrowed slightly as she said, "But Chairman, I don''t want to expose myself to the general public."


    Qiangu Dongfeng said, "I know this is something that''s quite difficult for you to embrace. How about this? I''ll promise you two things in return. Firstly, you''ve always wanted to visit the library on the top floor of our Spirit Pagoda, right? I''ll give you the right to access that library anytime you want. Secondly, I assure you that we won''t force you to make a decision during this joust for a spouse. If you''re not satisfied with the final victor, then we''ll think of a way to turn him down; what do you think?"


    Gu Yuena took a deep breath, and replied, "But I''ve been constantly researching soul spirit evolution lately, so I won''t have enough time."


    Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "That''s not an issue; all you need to do is help out during the initial promotion process, and the others will do the rest; you can just show up for the final of the event."


    Gu Yuena thought about this for a moment before replying, "Alright, but I have a condition: the final victor must defeat me for the right to become my boyfriend."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s smile instantly became even more pronounced upon hearing this. "No problem! That would make the event even more exciting. It''s decided, then!"


    ......


    "Now for some breaking news: the Spirit Pagoda announced at 11am today that it would be holding a large-scale Soul Master event. This will be an unprecedented joust for a spouse for the Spirit Pagoda''s newly assigned spirit envoy, Gu Yuena, and all young Soul Masters below 35 years of age can sign up, while the minimum cultivation rank requirement is 60. Regardless of whether you''re a battle armor master or mecha pilot, everyone can sign up, and the specific details will be released by the Spirit Pagoda at a later time.


    "Gu Yuena is the youngest spirit envoy of the Spirit Pagoda at below 24 years of age, and she has been touted as the most exceptional prodigy the Spirit Pagoda has seen in over 1,000 years. During her younger days, Gu Yuena studied in the inner court of Shrek Academy and decided to join the Spirit Pagoda following her graduation. Very little is known about this secretive prodigy, and we have no photographs of her on hand, so we are awaiting further releases of information from the Spirit Pagoda. The only thing we''ve heard from the Spirit Pagoda is that Gu Yuena is at least at the Soul Douluo level, which is extremely remarkable considering her young age."


    ......


    "Did you hear about the joust for a spouse event that the Spirit Pagoda is going to hold? Have they gone insane? Since when did the Spirit Pagoda start doing things like this?"


    "I know, right? And it''s for one of the highest-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda. Apparently, she''s less than 24 years old, but she''s already extremely powerful; her name is Gu Yuena or something."


    "I don''t recall ever hearing that name before. How did she become a spirit envoy at such a young age? Surely this is a joke! Is the Spirit Pagoda intentionally doing this to fool the general public?"


    "I don''t think the Spirit Pagoda is that stupid, but I reckon this Gu Yuena must be very ugly, and no one wants her, so they were forced to resort to something like this, haha!"


    "Let''s wait and see. The Spirit Pagoda will release pictures of her alongside the rules of the event. Who knows? Maybe she''s a beauty!"


    ......


    News of the joust for a spouse event spread to every corner of the continent in virtually just a single day.


    Everyone knew that the highest-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda were the chairman, the two vice-chairmen, and the four spirit envoys; this was the core of the Spirit Pagoda. At the very least, that was the case on the surface.


    No one knew exactly how many powerful beings were in the Spirit Pagoda, but it definitely wasn''t an easy task to rise up to the rank of spirit envoy.


    On top of that, almost all of the past Spirit Pagoda chairmen had been a spirit envoy at some point; the fact that Gu Yuena had reached this rank at such a young age indicated that there was a very good chance that she could become a major candidate for the role of future chairwoman.


    The news quickly gained traction, and just as the Spirit Pagoda had expected, the event was drawing a lot of attention away from the negative press aimed at the Spirit Pagoda.


    This was only to be expected. After all, the general public''s interest was quite easy to sway. Regardless of whether one liked the Spirit Pagoda or not, they had to admit that the Spirit Pagoda was currently the number one organization on the entire continent.


    As such, the fact that it was holding an unprecedented joust for a spouse event was bound to attract widespread interest.


    This piece of news garnered a range of reactions, with some expressing support and some opposing the event, but most people were simply confused.


    The event quickly received official approval, and the Spirit Pagoda began to release the relevant information. It was clear that the Spirit Pagoda had put a lot of thought into this, and they released the information little by little to generate more interest.


    As a result of this strategy, they would also be able to further nullify the controversy aimed against the Spirit Pagoda.

 Chapter 1442: Lavish Rewards

    The first piece of information that was released was the venue for the event. It was going to take place in Bright City, rather than at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, as many people had expected.


    The reason provided was that there was a more suitable venue at Bright City, and that it was only right to hold such an important event in the capital city.


    Following the fall of Shrek City, Bright City had become the continent''s number one city, and the true objective behind this decision by the Spirit Pagoda was to situate the event far away from the rebuilding Shrek Academy.


    Through this joust for a spouse, they were going to attract attention away from the Shrek Academy rebuild. If they were to hold the event at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, which was very close to Shrek Academy, the competitors and spectators could easily be drawn to the situation unfolding at Shrek Academy instead, and that was not something that the Spirit Pagoda wanted to see. The last thing they wanted was for Shrek Academy to achieve the same level of influence as it had prior to its destruction.


    At the same time, the federal parliament was being dominated by the Eagle Faction, and the Spirit Pagoda was one of the Eagle Faction''s primary backers. As such, it could be said that Bright City was a fortress for them as the Battle God Hall was also situated there. Holding the event at Bright City would also attract more powerful beings of the younger generation to participate in the event, thereby further increasing the event''s influence.


    Three days after the venue announcement was made, another astounding announcement was released. In order to ensure that not all participants aside from the final victor went home empty-handed, the Spirit Pagoda was offering a variety of lavish rewards, including 100 black soul spirits!


    That''s right, 100!


    This was a staggering number!


    Following the emergence of man-made black soul spirits, the overall price of soul spirits had decreased slightly, but the price for black soul spirits remained extremely high. As such, 100 black soul spirits was an unimaginable reward to be offering.


    This meant that the top 100 competitors would all receive a black soul spirit, and aside from that, there were other precious rewards such as custom-made suits of battle armor, spirit items, and more. The higher one''s placing, the more rewards they would receive, and this astonishing display of wealth from the Spirit Pagoda had left the entire Soul Master world completely flabbergasted.


    Even the Soul Masters who had denounced the joust for a spouse event were tempted to participate as the rewards were simply irresistible! The attraction of 100 black soul spirit instantly sent the entire Soul Master world into a frenzy, and many Soul Masters who were over the age limit were cursing themselves for not being born a few years later!


    The promotion for the event was a massive success, and three days later, the Spirit Pagoda made another announcement that threw a lifeline to the overage Soul Masters.


    The Spirit Pagoda stated that after consulting with Gu Yuena, it was decided that for every 10 ranks of soul power above the minimum 60, the acceptable age range would be increased by five.


    This meant that all Soul Sages below 40, all Soul Douluos below 45, and all Titled Douluos below 50 could participate in the event.


    This was a massive bombshell that completely changed the entire game, and the Spirit Pagoda''s fierce promotional strategy was drowning both the news of the Shrek Academy rebuild and the negative press aimed at the Spirit Pagoda.


    All of a sudden, the joust for a spouse event had become the biggest event in the entire federation.


    ......


    "How long was I missing for?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Using his soul communicator, he was able to inform his friends right away that he was safe, and he certainly wasn''t going to return to the Great Star Dou Forest to challenge Di Tian again. After hurrying back to Shrek Academy, Xie Xie was the first person that he met.


    "You''ve been missing for half a month, Boss! I''m so glad you''re back! Are you hurt anywhere?" Xie Xie was ecstatic to see him.


    "Half a month? That long?" Tang Wulin was stunned to hear this. Did this mean that he had walked along that golden path for half a month? That was truly a very long time. It looked like he would have to set aside substantial chunks of time when he decided to undergo future trials.


    "That''s right, but all that matters is that you''re back. The situation on that day was truly perilous!"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly asked, "How did you guys manage to get away after I was teleported away by the trident?"


    This was the thing that he was concerned about the most; he had been extremely concerned that his friends may have perished in the Great Star Dou Forest. While making that call with his soul communicator, his heart had been filled with unease, but thankfully, all of his friends were still alive.


    Xie Xie gave him a recount of what had happened on that day. That experience had completely erased the arrogance and complacency that had crept into their hearts, and it was truly a terrifying ordeal!


    Four Great Beasts were far too fearsome for their current selves to be able to contend with, and the four Limit Douluos had told them that even they would struggle to escape from the four Great Beasts without at least one of them sacrificing themselves.


    There was a considerable number of top-tier powerful beings in this world, and they were still quite some way away from reaching that level.


    As such, during the past half a month, they had been working even harder in their cultivation while awaiting Tang Wulin''s return.


    "A massive silver claw?" Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, "Did you manage to get a good look at it?"


    Xie Xie shook his head in response. "It was concealed within a layer of silver light, and it sent that Bear Lord flying with just a single attack. Bear Lord was completely unable to resist, and we don''t know why the owner of that claw decided to save us, but we heard the Great Beasts refer to it as their lord. Does that mean that the owner of that claw is even more powerful than Di Tian? Di Tian is already the most powerful soul beast; wouldn''t that make the owner of the claw a god?"


    A series of thoughts flashed through Tang Wulin''s mind, and he said, "In any case, it''s fantastic that all of you managed to come back alive. It looks we won''t be able to go to the core region of the Great Star Dou Forest for now."


    Xie Xie''s eyes widened upon hearing this. "You''re STILL planning to go there?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Someday, we''ll rise to their level, and when that time comes, we have to go there again."


    His voice was very calm and placid, but Xie Xie could detect immense confidence within it.


    Indeed, they were going to reach that level someday as well.


    "Has the academy''s rebuild been progressing smoothly during my absence?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie replied, "Everything''s been progressing quite smoothly. We made the right judgment; once the academy commenced its rebuild, none of the other powers dared to do anything. On top of that, we''ve managed to contact more and more of our upperclassmen, and all of them have expressed full support of our rebuild. The amount of resources we''ve received thus far has been extremely staggering, and the Tang Sect has provided us with sufficient soul tools. The barbed wire barrier is already complete, and it encompasses the entire area that extends a kilometer beyond the bank of the Sea God''s Lake; the total area is even larger than the original Shrek City.


    "The school buildings are also coming along nicely, and there are many areas where soul tool arrays have been set up to keep out the radiation from the lake."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Why does it sound like there''s something you''re not telling me?"


    A peculiar look immediately appeared on Xie Xie''s face, and he seemed to want to say something, but was grappling with an internal conflict.


    "What happened?" Tang Wulin''s heart immediately tightened upon seeing this.


    Xie Xie replied, "The Spirit Pagoda has made a move, and it''s a completely unexpected one. Even the Limit Douluos found it to be quite perplexing initially, but after thinking about it, we all realized that they''re targeting you."


    "What did they do?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie replied, "They''re holding a joust for a spouse event in less than two months. The news has spread through the entire federation and garnered widespread attention, and the rewards offered are extremely lavish, including 100 black soul spirits. All of the news outlets are reporting on this event, and the age limit is very loose, so many powerful beings are able to participate. The event has now become the hottest talking point of the entire continent."

 Chapter 1443: 18th July

    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "This seems to be an attempt to divert public attention, but what does it have to do with me?"


    Xie Xie hesitated momentarily before replying, "The spouse for this event is Gu Yuena."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before exclaiming, "What did you say?"


    Xie Xie repeated with a wry smile, "It''s Gu Yuena! That''s why I said they''re targeting you!"


    Tang Wulin''s breathing immediately began to accelerate. Even in the face of a powerful being of Di Tian''s caliber, he was able to remain calm, but in this instant, his heart was thumping rapidly.


    The spouse of this joust for a spouse was Gu Yuena! Did she agree to this? The answer was very obvious; if she hadn''t agreed, such an event wouldn''t exist, and that was what was most hurtful to Tang Wulin.


    Right at this moment, Yuanen Yehui''s voice suddenly rang out. "Xie Xie, come and take a look; there''s more information being released about that joust for a spouse event!"


    Due to the Shrek Academy rebuild, everyone spent their spare time resting in the sanctuary under the Sea God''s Lake.


    "Wulin? You''re back!" Yuanen Yehui was ecstatic to see Tang Wulin, and she immediately rushed over with an excited expression.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t feeling the joy of the reunion. "What new information was released about the joust for a spouse?"


    A peculiar look appeared on Yuanen Yehui''s face. "Er, take a look for yourself."


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and Gu Yuena amounted to four pairs of lovers, and the first pair to develop a relationship was Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, but their relationship had also been the most difficult and tumultuous one.


    It had always been a bumpy road for them, and even after they clarified their feelings for one another during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, they still didn''t come together, and even Shrek''s Six Monsters were left feeling quite perplexed about their exact relationship status.


    Tang Wulin was led to the resting area of the sanctuary by Yuanen Yehui, and Tang Wulin''s heart immediately jolted at the sight of the image being displayed on the soul television in the room.


    There was a woman in a long purple dress slowly making her way through a boundless desert, and her body would elevate with each step that she took as if she were a celestial maiden scaling a staircase to heaven.


    Every single strand of her long silver hair was like translucent crystalline threads, and even though only her side profile was visible, the tall bridge of her nose, the exuberant purple of her eyes, and her long eyelashes all resembled perfect works of art.


    Her mere presence alone had lit up the bleak and barren landscape of the desert.


    It was her!


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had seen her through video footage like this, and she was breathtakingly beautiful.


    Right at this moment, she slowly turned toward the camera to face it head-on with a slightly cold and aloof look in her eyes. She didn''t say anything, and her figure began to fade amid a burst of melancholic music.


    The image then transitioned to a massive waterfall with a mountain on either side and a flowing river down below. It was a scene that was thriving with vitality, and she was seated on a large rock not far away from the foot of the waterfall.


    In this scene, she was wearing a white dress with her long silver hair draped over one of her shoulders, and she was gently arranging it using a wooden comb.


    Everything seemed so peaceful and enticing, and the rich life force energy in the air seemed to have been buoyed by her very existence. This was like a scene from a perfect dream!


    All of a sudden, the sky darkened, and a massive fireball appeared high up in the air, crashing down toward this peaceful paradise with a fiery tail trailing along behind it.


    The woman looked up at the scorching fireball as a serious look appeared on her breathtaking face. She waved her right hand through the air, and a long and slender staff appeared in her grasp. Immediately thereafter, rainbow light appeared around her, and she rose straight up into the air.


    Specks of light began to appear all over her body, but in contrast with the light emanating from the oncoming fireball, her light was far more radiant and beautiful.


    As she ascended, an extremely intricate suit of silver armor appeared over her entire body, and the silver light around her glowed brighter and brighter. Soon, the silver light had swelled to the extent that it was able to hold its own against the massive fireball.


    The two balls of light clashed violently, then exploded into countless specks of light that spread to every corner of the screen.


    A resounding boom rang out before gradually subsiding, and a delightful yet cold voice rang out. "18th July!"


    That was it; it was just a date without even a specific time being provided. The image faded away, but its impact continued to linger in everyone''s hearts.


    Xie Xie had known her for a very long time, but even he was struck by a sense of entrancement.


    The juxtaposition of the gentle and delicate young woman sitting beside the waterfall and the powerful battle armor master rising up to face the giant fireball presented a truly stunning contrast.


    It had to be said that the Spirit Pagoda had put a lot of effort into its promotion, and those two videos were undoubtedly going to sweep up massive waves all over the entire continent.


    A woman''s beauty alone would be enough to attract attention. If she possessed a lofty status on top of her beauty, then her allure would be elevated even further. What if that same woman was not just a stunning beauty with a lofty social status, but also a powerful battle armor master? That would be a perfect goddess!


    Those two videos had completely silenced the doubters who were speculating about whether Gu Yuena was a hideous woman with no suitors willing to take her.


    She was incredibly gorgeous, and that suit of battle armor she had displayed was clearly a suit of three-word battle armor!


    She was the Spirit Pagoda''s youngest spirit envoy, and a stunning beauty with immense power; not only was she not some hideous hermit, she was a true goddess!


    Tang Wulin stood in front of the television in complete silence.


    Both Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui were looking at him with concern in their eyes, and they couldn''t tell what he was thinking.


    They knew that to Tang Wulin, it wasn''t important what the Spirit Pagoda was trying to achieve through this event; what was important to him was that Gu Yuena had agreed to this joust for a spouse. Had she turned her back on their relationship?


    They knew that Tang Wulin was very objective and logical most of the time, but if his emotions were to get the better of him, then he could do some very extreme things. He and Gu Yuena had been through so much together, yet Gu Yuena had agreed to this joust for a spouse; what was he supposed to think?


    "This is a trap." Tang Wulin finally spoke, and both Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui were quite relieved to hear this.


    "That''s right, all of the Limit Douluos share the same opinion," Xie Xie hurriedly agreed, "The Spirit Pagoda is using this event to repress the negative press aimed at them and the news of our Shrek Academy''s rebuild, and there''s a very good chance that they''re also trying to lure you into the open. If you ask me, there''s no way Gu Yue would''ve agreed to something like this; there have to be some hidden circumstances behind this. Let them do what they want; I''m sure Gu Yue isn''t going to choose anyone else."


    Tang Wulin turned to him, and said, "Register for me."


    "What?"

 Chapter 1444: Goddess

    So what if this was a trap? He would just have to smash their trap into smithereens! He wasn''t going to allow anyone aside from himself to be the final victor of this joust for a spouse. Even if it were only a nominal title, he wasn''t going to allow any other man to be known as her boyfriend.


    "But Boss, you''ll be falling into their trap if you participate in this!"


    Yuanen Yehui also hurriedly urged, "Wulin, calm down and we''ll discuss this together."


    Tang Wulin turned to them with a smile, and said, "Don''t worry, I''m very calm right now. I''m going to participate in this joust for a spouse, but I won''t do anything reckless. For the sake of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, I''m going to keep myself safe and also ensure that the Spirit Pagoda regrets ever coming up with this ploy."


    ......


    "Goddess, goddess, goddess!"


    The same word was being chanted everywhere across the federation. At the very least, the chants could be heard on many of the streets of Bright City after those two videos were released.


    With the support of the federal parliament, the Spirit Pagoda had launched an extremely extensive promotional campaign that had reached every corner of the continent.


    In contrast with Tang Wulin''s Trial of Five Gods, this promotional campaign was far more effective.


    The Trial of Five Gods had only begun to gain popularity after it had begun, but the joust for a spouse event had already gained an enormous amount of traction well before its commencement. The Douluo Continent also had a far greater population than that of the Star Luo Continent, and Gu Yuena had become a household name.


    The promotional campaign concluded there, and the Spirit Pagoda made a very smart decision to allow the joust for a spouse to continue to gain traction without any further input.


    All of the other information regarding Gu Yuena had been made strictly confidential, but it was already enough for the public to know that she was extremely beautiful and possessed power in equal measure.


    Many young Soul Masters were already filled with motivation, particularly those who fit the criteria for participation. Those who possessed insufficient cultivation ranks could only lament their own laziness and cultivate harder than ever.


    The ones who were most motivated were those who were on the cusp of reaching rank 60 in soul power. They were cultivating like madmen every single day, hoping to claim a late qualification spot.


    There was only going to be one final victor in the joust for a spouse, but everyone was hoping to be able to dip into the mouthwatering prize pool. As such, everyone was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the event, and many people were impatiently calling for the event to be held earlier than its announced date.


    The news of the Shrek Academy rebuild was completely drowned out, and in no more than a month, the basic foundation was complete.


    There were many aspects of construction that required a lot of time. For example, concrete required time to set, and maintenance was also very important to ensure the longevity of the buildings. As such, some steps simply couldn''t be skipped or curtailed.


    With sufficient skilled workers working day and night, the academy was beginning to look like an academy.


    According to the decision made by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, the future Shrek Academy was going to be constructed around the Sea God''s Lake.


    The original Shrek Academy had also included the Sea God''s Lake, but on this occasion, the Sea God''s Lake was far larger than it had been in the past. Once the radiation problem could be resolved, the new Shrek Academy would definitely be a spectacular sight to behold.


    The three school buildings were quickly being constructed, and all types of soul tools were being set up even more quickly. Many of the soul tools were ready-made, and the Tang Sect''s incredible ability to produce soul tools also shone through brilliantly at a time like this. Soul tools were arriving through all types of different avenues before quickly being installed, and only the true core members of the academy knew exactly how many soul tools there were.


    Without any interference from the outside world, the Shrek Academy rebuild was progressing very smoothly. It was at a time like this that a piece of news arrived, stating that the federal fleet would return in 10 days.


    It couldn''t be said that it had scurried back with its tails between its legs, but it was undeniable that the voyage had been a complete failure.


    A massive amount of resources was expended during such a long voyage, and the federal fleet''s imminent return was not good news for the Tang Sect. This was because it would be carrying many powerful beings back to the continent, all of whom harbored resentment toward the Tang Sect, including the Battle God Hall Master, Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie.


    His return made many people wonder if the federation would take further steps against the Tang Sect. After all, a treasonous organization was bound to be destroyed.


    On the surface, the Spirit Pagoda''s joust for a spouse had attracted widespread attention, but behind the scenes, all of the powers were more interested to see how the federation was going to target the Tang Sect.


    ......


    "Looks like idiots aren''t always useless, after all," a coldly raspy voice rang out, "who could''ve predicted that Qiangu Dongfeng would come up with something like this?"


    The voice belonged to a figure that was entirely enshrouded in green light to obscure his features, but he was giving off a very menacing aura.


    Seated across from him was none other than Infernal King Douluo Harosha, who had attacked Tang Wulin not long ago.


    "This is a good thing for us. The general public and even the federation have become completely engrossed in this joust for a spouse or in targeting the Tang Sect, so there''s no one who''s going to affect our plan. How are the preparations coming along?"


    Ghost Emperor replied, "Everything''s almost ready. The idiocy of the federation has given us more opportunities; if we succeed, then we''ll be even closer to our ultimate goal."


    Harosha cautioned, "Don''t get complacent; we squandered all of our previous opportunities through complacency. If this war can commence smoothly, then it would attract more attention and benefit us even further. How is Demon Sovereign''s current condition?"


    Ghost Emperor cackled, "He''s great! He''s already close to fit for battle."


    Harosha rose to his feet with a cold light in his eyes. "Good! I''ve been waiting for this day for a very long time; we have to succeed no matter what. From now, isolate all of the people participating in this operation; make sure no news of this gets leaked, and also begin preparations on that end as well."


    Ghost Emperor also stood up and strode over to Harosha. "You''ll definitely be thankful for the decision you''ve made."


    ......


    As the joust for a spouse drew closer, the prices of hotels in Bright City began to rapidly climb. Even the most ordinary small hotels were charging prices that were catching up to those of luxurious hotels, and there were competitors and spectators flooding in from everywhere in anticipation for the commencement of this grand event.


    As a result, the federation was reaping enormous profits from the tourism sector. The federation also wanted to support this event in order to distract the general public from the recent failure in the attempt to instigate a war.


    The event was due to commence in 10 days, and just a day ago, the federal fleet had returned. As for when another attack was going to be unleashed against the two empires, that was still being discussed by the military.


    At the very least, there was currently no concrete plan.


    At the same time, there were some aggressive parties in the Eagle Faction calling for complete eradication of the Tang Sect, and this topic had already been presented to the parliament''s supreme assembly.


    Due to stern opposition from the Dove Faction and neutral faction, as well as the subtle changes brought on by the Shrek Academy rebuild, the proposal was turned down in the end.

 Chapter 1445: The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan

    Shrek Academy had allies all over the continent, and its rebuild had swayed the stances of many officials in the Eagle Faction. Many of those who were originally in support of war had altered their opinions due to the academy''s rebuild, and this was a major reason behind why Qiangu Dongfeng was so concerned about the Shrek Academy rebuild.


    All of Shrek Academy''s alumni were elite Soul Masters, and many of them occupied important positions in the federation. It was simply unrealistic for the Spirit Pagoda to remove all of those people from power.


    A soul train slowly arrived at the station, and the normal carriages were packed like sardine cans. The standing tickets that no one bought under normal circumstances had been completely sold out, and a group of people emerged from the luxury carriage.


    They were led by a tall and broad young man who appeared to be around 27 to 28 years of age. The young man had a pair of bright and piercing eyes, and his body seemed to be brimming with endless energy.


    Following along behind him were seven or eight burly men, and one of them said, "Young Master, the cars that are picking us up have arrived."


    There were three soul cars already waiting on the platform, and this was undoubtedly a privilege that only extremely important people could enjoy.


    The young man nodded, and asked, "Have you gotten into contact with the Spirit Pagoda yet? Would I be able to meet Gu Yuena in advance?"


    "My apologies, Young Master, but the Spirit Pagoda told us that Gu Yuena won''t be seeing anyone before the commencement of the joust for a spouse."


    The young man became slightly enraged upon hearing this. "They''re refusing even me? What do they take our Blue Lighting Tyrant Dragon Clan for?"


    His voice was rather loud and instantly attracted a lot of attention.


    Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? Those who were well-versed in history were astonished to hear this.


    This was a very ancient clan that could be traced back to over 20,000 years ago. It was one of the six pillar clans of the Soul Hall back when that existed, and that was sufficient testament to how powerful the clan was.


    "Please be quiet, Young Master; you''re attracting a lot of attention," the burly middle-aged man beside him hurriedly said.


    The young man harrumphed coldly, "Let''s get in the car first."


    He made his way toward the middle car as he spoke, and someone opened the door for him before closing it after he took a seat.


    The three luxury sedans slowly left the platform, leaving the surrounding bystanders to discuss what they had just witnessed. That young man was none other than the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and he had come for Gu Yuena as well.


    Gu Yuena had been given the nickname of Silver Dragon Princess, and it had been revealed that her martial soul was the Silver Dragon, which could control all elements, making her particularly adept in using elements in battle.


    Even though there were still 10 days left until the official commencement of the joust for a spouse event, this was a very important day as the specific rules of the event were going to be released on this day.


    The young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan cast his gaze out through the car window, and the arrogance that he had displayed earlier had completely vanished. The burly middle-aged man was seated right beside him, and he currently wore an amused smile. "Your acting skills are truly remarkable, Young Master! If I didn''t know what was going on, even I would''ve been fooled!"


    The young man smiled, and replied, "That''s because you haven''t experienced what I have. If you''re interested, I can send you there as well; I''m sure you''ll be left with a very deep impression, and your overall skills in all areas will improve as well."


    "No, thanks!" the burly man refused right away, "I don''t want to have to go through that! All of the young Shrek Academy students who return from the demonic island looked as if they had seen ghosts. Even you aren''t willing to mention what you experienced on the island; I''m not going to sign up for something like that. Besides, no one knows who I am, so I don''t need any disguise skills anyway."


    The young man smiled, and said, "I''m sure many people have heard of the Wild Gale Saber Demon."


    Indeed, this burly man was none other than Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi, and this so-called young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was actually Tang Wulin in disguise.


    The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had a history of over 20,000 years, but it had become a hidden sect long ago, and its members were very rarely sighted on the continent.


    This was once an extremely glorious sect, and one of its forefathers was one of the founders of Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang. After that, there was also someone from the clan who had become Sea God''s Pavilion Master.


    The leader of Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao''s generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was a member of this clan, and even though it was keeping a very low profile, the clan still had a considerable level of influence in the Soul Master world.


    At the same time, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had always maintained a very close relationship with Shrek Academy, but that was something that only the higher-ups of the academy and clan were aware of. In reality, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had always kept in contact with the academy and would periodically send some of its bright young talents to study in the academy; they just did so in a very discreet manner.


    As the times had changed, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had also been constantly improving itself, and it was one of Shrek Academy''s closest allies.


    Tang Wulin had thought long and hard before deciding to disguise himself as a member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. For this joust for a spouse event, the academy had devised a complete plan, and as the core of the plan, he had arrived early to make some preparations.


    The scene that he had caused at the train station was nothing but an act to spread the news that the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had arrived.


    Bright City was as lively and bustling as ever, and the three luxury sedans were quickly caught in a traffic jam.


    Due to the large influx of people attending the joust for a spouse event, it had become very difficult to find lodging. There were many soldiers patrolling the streets to maintain law and order, and the venue for the event had been decided; it was going to be held at the Bright City Sports Stadium, which had a capacity of 100,000 people.


    The event had received immense support from the federal government, so all of the preparations had proceeded very smoothly. The sports stadium was currently temporarily closed, undergoing construction to prepare for the event.


    The three luxury sedans drove to a tall building not far away from the Bright City Sport Stadium. This building was known as the Radiant Tang Skyscraper, and it was an office building for many companies. It was actually the property of the Tang Sect, but that wasn''t known to the outside world.


    The three sedans drove into the underground garage before parking in the VIP area. Tang Wulin emerged from the sedan and passed through a small door, where people were already waiting for him, and they opened the passcode lock before leading him into the elevator.


    The internal decor of the elevator was completely white, and Tang Wulin couldn''t help but recall his time at the Blood God Legion.


    Long Yuxue and the Blood Dragon Squad had already returned to the Blood God Legion. The Tang Sect had been declared to be a treasonous organization, yet they were official soldiers, so they had to return.


    Cao Dezhi hadn''t said anything about the Blood God Legion''s stance on this matter, and Tang Wulin didn''t ask any questions. He had nothing but respect for this legion that he had served.


    Prior to her departure, Long Yuxue hadn''t said anything; she had merely given him a very tight hug, as if she were trying to completely meld herself into his body.


    As for Jiang Wuyue, he had given Tang Wulin a firm punch on the shoulder. Tang Wulin knew that perhaps he would never see these nameless heroes ever again.


    "Ding!" The chime of the elevator jerked him back to reality, and Tang Wulin emerged out of the elevator.

 Chapter 1446: Rules of the Event

    The top three levels of the Radiant Tang Skyscraper weren''t available to be rented to the general public, and it was an important gathering place for the Tang Sect in Bright City.


    Ever since the Tang Sect was declared as a treasonous organization, it had completely hidden itself into the shadows, and all of its businesses had been withdrawn. With the Tang Sect''s scale, it appeared that doing this would incur severe losses, but in reality, the Tang Sect had existed for 20,000 years and owned countless properties, so this wasn''t actually a very heavy blow.


    The Tang Sect had a Radiant Tang Cultural Investment Company that was responsible for managing these teams that didn''t appear to have anything to do with the sect on the surface, and in reality, all businesses under this company belonged to the Tang Sect.


    This information was kept confidential to the average disciples of the Tang Sect, and it was something that Tang Wulin had only learned after becoming the Tang Sect Master.


    This was an extremely well-established company that dabbled in many domains, such as culture, media, and real estate. It appeared to be a family-owned company, but it had actually always belonged to the Tang Sect.


    Prior to Tang Wulin''s arrival, all of the preparations had already been made. In order to ensure confidentiality, there weren''t many clerks around, and the entirety of the building''s highest floor was reserved for him alone.


    Through the one-way light transmission floor-to-ceiling window, there was a very good view of the Bright City Sports Stadium, and with Tang Wulin''s eyesight, he was able to see everything going on in the stadium.


    Currently, construction was taking place in full swing, and Bright City was taking this event very seriously. There were over 1,000 workers busy at work, and it was said that tickets for the event were already completely sold out.


    Tang Wulin raised a hand and gently stroked the silver dragon scale hanging in front of his chest.


    Gu Yue, are you in this city as well?


    ......


    Gu Yuena was seated in a silent chamber in a meditative state.


    Faint silver light was rippling around her, and there wasn''t a particularly powerful aura emanating from her body, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that there was an indescribable sense of density to her aura.


    Directly in front of her was a ball of rainbow light, and each time it shimmered, it would release rainbow light that was absorbed by her body.


    Gu Yuena''s lips parted slightly as she inhaled, and the ball of rainbow light was instantly devoured by her.


    She then slowly opened her eyes, and in that instant, it was as if her enticing purple eyes contained their own small world.


    She gently raised her hand to stroke the golden dragon scale that she was wearing, and sighed, "So you came, after all."


    ......


    The rules of the joust for a spouse event were officially announced.


    Registration was closing at noon three days before the event''s commencement, and due to the high number of registrants, one had to progress through a selection process before they could take part in the actual event.


    This would cut out a significant portion of the field, thereby conserving a lot of time and resources.


    The initial rounds of the event would all be elimination rounds until the top 100 participants were decided.


    After that, everyone would be split up into 10 groups to compete in round-robin matches. Each victory was worth three points, each loss was worth zero, and a draw was worth one point for both competitors.


    The top competitor in each group would progress to the final 10, and the top 100 were going to receive a black soul spirit each. On top of that, the top three from each group would receive additional prizes, as would the final 10 competitors.


    At the same time, the top 10 competitors would earn the right to be chosen by Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena, which meant that the official joust for a spouse event was going to be held between the top 10.


    This was a very reasonable arrangement as there would be no choice for Gu Yuena at all if there were only one final champion.


    However, if she could have 10 people to choose from, then that would naturally give her far more variety to consider.


    At the same time, Gu Yuena was going to fight these final 10 competitors, and those who managed to defeat her would undoubtedly earn themselves extra points.


    This meant that each of the final 10 competitors would have a chance to challenge Gu Yuena, and it was obvious that Gu Yuena would intentionally throw the match against the man of her desires.


    However, this was a joust for a spouse, not an actual Soul Master competition, so no one was going to call out that unfair loophole.


    The competitor chosen by Gu Yuena in the end wouldn''t receive too many additional rewards as Gu Yuena herself was already the best prize. As for those who managed to defeat Gu Yuena but weren''t chosen by her, they would each receive a very precious spirit item that would be announced once the final 10 competitors were decided.


    The rules were quite sound and fair, so overall, all of the competitors were quite satisfied with them.


    The initial stages were a test of power, and after making it into the top 10, it would become a test of both power and overall charm.


    There were already over 3,000 registered competitors, which had exceeded all past Soul Master competitions, and aside from a chance to win Gu Yuena''s heart, everyone had also been drawn to the lavish prizes on offer.


    The Spirit Pagoda was truly going all-in and had attracted almost all of the exceptional young male Soul Masters on the continent. There were obviously very few people who would receive a chance to win Gu Yuena''s heart, so most of the competitors were going after the prizes.


    There were 100 black soul spirits on offer! On top of that, it was said that the Spirit Pagoda would provide consolation prizes for everyone outside of the top 100. It was yet to be announced what the consolation prizes would be, but this was the Spirit Pagoda, so they presumably weren''t going to be too stingy.


    The minimum requirement for registrants was a soul power rank of 60, which meant that there were at least over 3,000 people in the federation between the ages of 35 and 50 who were Soul Emperors or above.


    This was a truly formidable number! Even the other two empires combined didn''t have two-thirds of this number.


    The first round of the selection process was going to commence in 10 days, and all participants had to attend with no exceptions. At the very least, everything appeared to be very fair on the surface.


    ......


    "Everything has been prepared, Nana. I''ve already done everything you asked me to do; do I get a reward?" Qiangu Zhangting asked as he appraised Gu Yuena with a smile.


    He was around half a foot taller than Gu Yuena, and the more he looked at her, the more entranced he became.


    Gu Yuena rolled her eyes at him. "What reward do you want?"


    Qiangu Zhangting burst into laughter. "You''ve already decided that I''ll be your husband, and that''s all the reward that I''ll need, but can you issue part of the reward in advance? How about a hug?" He spread open his arms as he spoke.


    Gu Yuena blushed slightly as she shook her head. "No."


    Qiangu Zhangting chuckled, "When girls say no, they usually mean yes, right?" [Oh god, this is gonna be veeeeeery controversial, it''s so rapey LMAO]


    He pounced toward Gu Yuena as he spoke, but he merely phased through her amid a flash of silver light, while she appeared at the spot where he had been standing a moment ago.


    Gu Yuena giggled before vanishing again amid another flash of silver light.


    Qiangu Zhangting couldn''t help but grit his teeth in the wake of her departure. She was truly an alluring seductress. She had never let him touch her in an intimate manner, but he liked this type of feeling for some reason.


    The proposal that he had made to Qiangu Dongfeng had actually been taught to him by Gu Yuena. Never would Qiangu Dongfeng have thought that Gu Yuena would be the one to think of the joust for a spouse idea as opposed to his own grandson. The reason that she had given the idea to Qiangu Zhangting was that she wanted to make things official between them through this grand occasion.


    Of course, she hadn''t said anything about luring Tang Wulin into a trap; that was something that Qiangu Zhangting had added himself. He naturally hadn''t told Gu Yuena about this, and in his eyes, he was killing two birds with one stone.


    He was brimming with confidence, and this confidence stemmed from the fact that it had already been decided that he would be the final victor!


    However, Gu Yuena was truly becoming more and more powerful. In particular, her control over spatial elements left him feeling completely helpless.


    Gu Yuena had once told him that he could get intimate with her at any time as long as he had what it took, and he had attempted many sneak attacks, but all of them had failed. [Yep, this guy is definitely a rapist LOL]


    However, the more Gu Yuena left him hanging, the greater his desire to have her became.

 Chapter 1447: Prior to the Event

    Silver light flashed, and Gu Yuena returned to her own room.


    The blush on her face had already vanished, and had been replaced by a cold and aloof expression.


    She cast her gaze out the window with a forlorn look in her eyes. He was in that direction, but what was she supposed to do?


    She had already guessed that he would come, so why was her heart in such turmoil now?


    ......


    Everyone on the streets was discussing the joust for a spouse, and photographs and posters of Gu Yuena were being sold like hotcakes. Such merchandise was only available for sale from the Spirit Pagoda, and it had granted some businesses the sales rights to some dealerships, making huge earnings during the process.


    With the broadcasting fees, ticket sales, and registration fees that the Spirit Pagoda was receiving, it had basically broken even in this event. On top of that, only the Spirit Pagoda itself was aware of the cost price of man-made black soul spirits.


    Overall, not only had this event nullified a lot of the controversy surrounding the Spirit Pagoda, they were profiting from it as well.


    The Spirit Pagoda had prepared a large amount of lavish prizes, but they were basically all produced by the Spirit Pagoda itself with the soul spirits as the crown jewel, so the cost price was actually very low.


    ......


    "Uncle-teacher." Tang Wulin extended a respectful bow toward the middle-aged man standing before him.


    The middle-aged man smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I didn''t think you would develop this quickly; you''ve already become a Titled Douluo in such a short time! Show me your battle armor."


    "Yes," Tang Wulin replied before releasing his Dragon Moon Song battle armor.


    The translucent suit of battle armor gave off a dream-like quality, and it was as if it had been entirely constructed from golden crystal.


    The middle-aged man patted his breastplate, then tapped it with his fingers a few times, and a faint layer of light revolved over the surface of the suit of battle armor.


    After that, the middle-aged man nodded with a pleased expression. "Everyone in our field of work is a perfectionist because only perfectionists can refine the best metals and create the best suits of battle armor; you''ve done very well in this regard. You''ve already reached full mastery of soul refinement, and I''m sure your rapid improvement is closely linked to the progression in your cultivation rank and spiritual power. The foundation has been set; I''ll begin teaching you heavenly refinement today."


    The middle-aged man standing before Tang Wulin was none other than the Divine Blacksmith and chairman of the blacksmith association, Zhen Hua.


    Ever since the assassination attempt, the security around Zhen Hua had been bolstered significantly, to the extent that no one knew exactly where he was.


    Even the federal government and the Spirit Pagoda held him in extremely high regard.


    When the Holy Spirit Cult had first begun collaborating with the Spirit Pagoda, it had proposed for the Spirit Pagoda to help them kidnap Zhen Hua so he could craft suits of four-word battle armor for them. At the time, Qiangu Dongfeng was very eager to recruit their help to attack Shrek Academy, but he still didn''t agree to this, and that was sufficient testament to the importance of the Divine Blacksmith.


    It was exactly due to his existence that the Douluo Federation held a dominant position over the other two continents and the Holy Spirit Cult.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was indeed very powerful, but it had no true four-word battle armor masters. Even Infernal King Douluo Harosha had only just barely managed to give his suit of three-word battle armor some properties of a suit of four-word battle armor after nurturing it for countless years. However, it still wasn''t an actual suit of four-word battle armor, and it would take too heavy a price for him to push it to that level.


    Even though Zhen Hua very rarely took on any heavenly refinement jobs now, his existence still benefited the federation immensely, so he was very well protected.


    The blacksmith association''s status also became far loftier than it had once been because of him.


    A blacksmith association with a Divine Blacksmith and one without would be like two completely different associations, and the treatment they received would be like night and day.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t gone to Heaven Dou City to find Zhen Hua as he was currently situated in Bright City. There were more resources in Bright City that could better protect him.


    Furthermore, it wasn''t that easy to attack Zhen Hua. Not only was he a four-word battle armor master, he was also a divine-grade mecha pilot, and his divine-grade mecha''s forte lay in its defensive abilities.


    Even if Infernal King Douluo Harosha were to launch a surprise attack on Zhen Hua, he wouldn''t be able to pose a threat to Zhen Hua''s safety right away, and Zhen Hua would be able to escape given even the slightest opportunity.


    Aside from attending the joust for a spouse event, Tang Wulin''s other objective for coming to Bright City was to learn heavenly refinement from Zhen Hua.


    In order to learn heavenly refinement, many prerequisites had to be satisfied. Not only did one have to be a Titled Douluo, they also had to be extremely proficient in soul refinement before they could begin attempting heavenly refinement.


    In the blacksmith association, there were only three people who satisfied these criteria, but none of them had been able to make the breakthrough.


    This included Tang Wulin''s teacher, the eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith, Mu Chen. He had reached the Titled Douluo level through consuming some spirit items, but he didn''t have what it took to continue improving his forging skills, and this was one of his greatest disappointments in life.


    To Tang Wulin, heavenly refinement was something that he had to learn as he had to be able to create suits of four-word battle armor through his own power. With his current power and ability, he could already begin to consider creating a suit of four-word battle armor for himself, and if he wanted to contend with the powerful beings who stood at the pinnacle of the continent, a suit of four-word battle armor was imperative.


    "Please enlighten me, Uncle-teacher," Tang Wulin said in a respectful manner.


    A genuine smile appeared on Zhen Hua''s face. "This day has finally come. I had thought that it would take you at least 5 to 10 more years to reach this stage, but you''ve truly exceeded my expectations. Heavenly refinement has actually already crossed beyond the realm of what should be humanly possible. Aside from an understanding of metals, one requires a certain level of understanding of the laws of heaven and earth. During heavenly refinement, the blacksmith has to draw upon the power of heaven and earth to completely transform a piece of metal.


    "To put in simpler terms, soul refinement bestows life upon a piece of metal, whereas heavenly refinement elevates the piece of metal to become a powerful being. This process is similar to the awakening ceremony all of us underwent when we were six. If it succeeds, then we could become Soul Masters, but failure would mean that we''re destined to be ordinary people. The main issue involved in heavenly refinement is the success rate. Even after accumulating so much experience over the years, my success rate is still less than 10%.


    "As such, crafting each suit of four-word battle armor requires the expenditure of a huge amount of resources. In a sense, heavenly refinement is a type of feeling. I can''t teach you any specific techniques, and in reality, it wouldn''t be incorrect to say that heavenly refinement is a matter of luck. This is because the power of heaven and earth is constantly changing during heavenly refinement, and better luck would result in a higher chance of success, so the most important thing for you now is to experience heavenly refinement and incorporate everything you''ve already learned.


    "Remember that every Divine Blacksmith is different, and this has always been the case in history. Everyone has their own path to heavenly refinement, as well as a different understanding of the laws of heaven and earth. Use that understanding in your forging, and if you succeed, you''ll be able to forge heavenly refined metals. Transforming a faux divine-grade metal into a divine-grade metal is going to be a very difficult process, so mentally prepare yourself and don''t get impatient no matter what. During the heavenly refinement, you''ll be fused as one with the power of heaven and earth, so any impatience could result in deviation."

 Chapter 1448: Learning Heavenly Refinement

    Tang Wulin was listening carefully to Zhen Hua''s description, developing some base knowledge about heavenly refinement in the process.


    Zhen Hua continued, "Come with me. The best way to teach you is to show you what heavenly refinement looks like. I''ll demonstrate a heavenly refinement for you, then instruct you to perform one of your own. After that, you can go back to carefully ponder the process, then come to me once per week until you succeed in your first heavenly refinement. I don''t care how busy you are, you have to stay here until you become a Divine Blacksmith. You have a far better foundation than I did, particularly in terms of spiritual power, and that''ll benefit you immensely when it comes to heavenly refinement.


    "Hence, don''t think about slow and steady development; you want to succeed in heavenly refinement as quickly as possible. With one successful experience, the rest will be up to you to explore and fine-tune. Prior to this, I have to be by your side to ensure your safety."


    Tang Wulin became rather hesitant upon hearing this. It was going to be a problem for him to stay in Bright City until he could succeed in his first heavenly refinement.


    Neither he nor Zhen Hua knew how long this would take; what if the process took too long?


    The Shrek Academy rebuild needed him, and he had to participate in the joust for a spouse.


    The Spirit Pagoda was clearly using this joust for a spouse event to target him; if they were to fail, who knew what kind of other snide tactics they would come up with? As the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, he couldn''t just run away from those responsibilities.


    Zhen Hua could see his hesitation, and he said in a sincere and meaningful voice, "Wulin, I''m sure you understand how important heavenly refinement is. If you can become a Divine Blacksmith, you''ll be able to benefit Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect in unimaginable ways. Perhaps you still don''t understand the true importance of a Divine Blacksmith; if you can reach that level, you''ll have the right to negotiate with the federation and demand that they revoke the announcement incriminating the Tang Sect as a treasonous organization, do you understand?"


    "I can do that?" Tang Wulin was stunned to hear this.


    Zhen Hua replied with a faint smile, "Profit is the true core of this world; in the face of sufficient profit, nothing is impossible. What I just said is definitely plausible, but the prerequisite is that you''ll have to give the federation a lot of benefits, such as completing a certain number of heavenly refinement jobs for them. As such, I don''t suggest for you to enter such negotiations as a Divine Blacksmith; I''m just telling you how important a Divine Blacksmith is to the federation. Up to this point, I''m still the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire planet.


    "My abilities are only waning with age, but you''re still young. All blacksmiths have a prime period; I''m not too old yet, but I''m already past my prime. My cultivation rank wasn''t earned purely through arduous cultivation, and as I perform more heavenly refinements, I can feel that it''s becoming more and more taxing on me. However, you''re different. You have a very solid foundation, and you haven''t given up your cultivation in preference for forging. You are far superior to me in terms of both strength and spiritual power; I daresay that you''ll definitely surpass me if you can become a Divine Blacksmith.


    "You will be the youngest Divine Blacksmith in the history of the entire continent, and that will make you an extremely important figure in the eyes of any major power. When that time comes, everyone who''s looking to plot against you will have to reconsider, and the same applies to the enemies of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. Think about it, how much of a boost would Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect receive if a Divine Blacksmith were to appear among their ranks?"


    Tang Wulin knew that Zhen Hua was saying all this to try and convince him to focus on becoming a Divine Blacksmith before doing anything else, and he was naturally aware of the benefits that becoming a Divine Blacksmith could bring, but this wasn''t a personal problem anymore; it was directly related to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect as well.


    "I''m sorry, Uncle-teacher, but I have to discuss this matter with the seniors of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect."


    It was a fantastic honor and opportunity that a Divine Blacksmith was willing to instruct him in heavenly refinement in person, so he was feeling very apologetic.


    Zhen Hua appraised him with a meaningful expression before heaving a faint sigh. "Fine, go ahead; I''m sure they won''t be so short-sighted as to stop you from taking this opportunity."


    Tang Wulin apologized to Zhen Hua again before walking off to the side and dialing a number on his soul communicator.


    The first person that he contacted was Long Yeyue as opposed to Yali. As his godmother, Yali''s decision-making would definitely be clouded by her emotional ties with him. As such, he was contacting Long Yeyue for an objective perspective.


    Long Yeyue''s response was very simple and straightforward. "Of course you have to take this opportunity! Even if the sky falls down during your absence, I''ll carry it on my back until you return."


    After that, he contacted Zang Xin.


    "What''s there to hesitate about? Both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect need a Divine Blacksmith. If I were Zhen Hua, I''d be smacking the soul communicator out of your hand, haha!"


    Tang Wulin turned to Zhen Hua, and sure enough, his expression had darkened significantly.


    He hurriedly made his way over to Zhen Hua in sheepish manner. "I''m sorry, Uncle-teacher."


    Zhen Hua couldn''t help but burst into laughter at the sight of his obedient display. "Come with me."


    He naturally wasn''t going to blame Tang Wulin for considering his responsibilities. In reality, he was very glad that Tang Wulin had become the leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    He had seen a successor in Tang Wulin the first time he had ever met him, but he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would possess such brilliant aptitude in areas other than forging. For the first time, Zhen Hua was struck by the feeling that it wasn''t a good thing for one person to be too exceptional as there were simply too many people fighting over Tang Wulin!


    As the only Divine Blacksmith on the entire planet, Zhen Hua was a very proud man, but he was forced to fight over this exceptional disciple as there was no other candidate with the same level of forging aptitude. If he couldn''t nurture Tang Wulin into a Divine Blacksmith, then that would definitely be the biggest regret of his life.


    If anyone else were hesitating about taking an opportunity to be instructed by him, he would''ve stormed out of the room, but he repressed his own pride and temper for Tang Wulin. Furthermore, it wasn''t a bad thing for a young man to have a sense of responsibility.


    Zhen Hua had already devised a plan for revenge; as soon as Tang Wulin became a Divine Blacksmith, he was going to force the title of blacksmith association president upon him!


    On the heavenly platform.


    This was a platform that was situated under a massive glass ceiling on the top floor of the blacksmith association building. It was one of the tallest buildings in Bright City, and had a total of 78 levels; there were no surrounding buildings that were anywhere near as tall as this one.


    The glass ceiling was like a massive transparent dome, and when the weather was clear, one could see out into the distance for over 100 kilometers.


    The massive heavenly platform was over 2,000 square meters in area, and was extremely spacious. One had to pass through three barricades just to access this place.


    "Don''t underestimate this protective barrier; it looks like it''s made out of glass, but it was constructed according to the standards of a protective barrier for an aircraft carrier; even a Limit Douluo wouldn''t be able to break through it," Zhen Hua introduced.


    The entire heavenly platform was completely empty, and looking out of the surrounding transparent dome made one feel as if they were hovering in mid-air.


    "What a fantastic view," Tang Wulin praised.

 Chapter 1449: Three Hammer Strikes

    Zhen Hua smiled, and said, "This isn''t just a place with a good view; it serves a practical purpose. As I just described, a vast amount of the power of heaven and earth has to be drawn upon during heavenly refinement. In order to prevent the power of heaven and earth from being disrupted by all types of different factors, this heavenly platform was constructed. All of my heavenly refinement creations were completed here, and the price for constructing this heavenly platform alone exceeds that of a full suit of four-word battle armor, but it can only increase my success rate by 10%."


    Tang Wulin was astonished to hear this. A suit of four-word battle armor would definitely cost an astronomical price, yet this heavenly platform supposedly had an even greater price! That was incredible enough on its own, yet this absurdly expensive construction could only increase the success rate by 10%?


    Zhen Hua could guess what he was thinking, and he smiled as he asked, "Are you thinking that the effect is too minimal to warrant creating such an expensive structure?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Is it not?"


    Zhen Hua shook his head, and replied, "If it''s that easy to increase the success rate of heavenly refinement by 10%, then there would be more than one Divine Blacksmith on this planet. I''m referring to an increase of 10% based on my original success rate of 10%, which would increase the overall rate to 11%"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately widened with shock. Such a massive price had been expended only for an increase of 1% in the absolute success rate? This was simply incredible!


    Zhen Hua led him to the center of the heavenly platform before gently tapping his right foot onto the ground. A string of mechanical sounds rang out, following which a series of metal structures emerged out of the ground.


    The first thing to appear was a huge forging bench that was at least five times the size of a normal forging bench. The entire bench was silver in color, and Tang Wulin could immediately sense that it was imbued with a certain type of power, almost like the domain of his suit of three-word battle armor.


    The fact that the metal itself was giving off the sense of a domain meant that the entire surface of the forging bench had to have been constructed from divine-grade metals.


    What insane extravagance!


    Beside the forging bench, a series of shelves slowly rose up, and each shelf was laden with over 100 pieces of metal, amounting to a total of over 1,000 pieces of uncommon metals. This was such a complete and diverse collection that Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be amazed.


    Zhen Hua said, "You are the second person to have come to this place aside from me; even your teacher has never been here before as only those who are assured to become Divine Blacksmiths can access this place. My hope is that you will become the future owner of this place. Here, you won''t have to worry about resources; any metals that you use will be immediately replenished, and the entire blacksmith federation will prioritize this place in its resource allocation, so you''ll have whatever you want."


    Zhen Hua pointed up at the transparent dome before continuing, "Once you become a Divine Blacksmith, you''ll be able to access this place whenever you want."


    Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response. "I''ll be sure to do my best, Uncle-teacher."


    Zhen Hua smiled, making no attempt to disguise the fact that he was trying to lure Tang Wulin into becoming his successor. "Focus now!"


    Zhen Hua raised his right hand as he spoke, and two pieces of metal flew out of the nearby shelf before landing on the forging bench in front of him.


    Tang Wulin immediately entered a state of full concentration.


    He had studied forging under Zhen Hua for a very long time, but this was the first time he was seeing Zhen Hua perform heavenly refinement.


    Zhen Hua gently pressed his right hand down onto the forging bench, and its surface suddenly seemed to melt away, as if it were opening its mouth to swallow the two pieces of metal.


    This forging bench was virtually a life form in itself! It had to be a priceless treasure!


    At the same time, Tang Wulin could clearly sense a change in Zhen Hua''s aura. If he were to close his eyes now, then it would feel as if Zhen Hua had completely disappeared, as if he had become one with heaven and earth.


    At the same time, the entire heavenly platform began to undergo some changes as well.


    A series of colors began to appear on the transparent glass dome. These colors were very faint, but they were definitely there.


    Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin could sense that the abundance of elements of all different types of attributes was beginning to increase on this platform with Zhen Hua at their very center.


    Zhen Hua was releasing a special type of aura, as if he were drawing the elements to himself through his spiritual power. Tang Wulin quickly discovered the purpose of this heavenly platform; it was like a spiritual power magnifier that enhanced Zhen Hua''s spiritual power so he could draw more elements to himself.


    Tang Wulin was very confident in this area as his spiritual power was at the Spirit Domain realm, and he certainly wasn''t at an early stage in the Spirit Domain realm.


    If the Spirit Domain realm were split up into the 10 levels, then the current Tang Wulin would be roughly at the fifth level after completing the first of the Nine Trials of the Sea God, thereby placing him at the mid-Spirit Domain realm.


    One had to realize that even among Limit Douluos, not everyone could reach this level. The greater one''s spiritual power, the more difficult it would be to increase it, and it could even become dangerous at some point. Tang Wulin was only able to constantly progress and reach this level through a series of miraculous opportunities.


    Right at this moment, a dark red vortex appeared at the center of the forging bench, from within which a red fireball slowly emerged.


    Upon closer inspection, Tang Wulin discovered that the two types of metals were contained within the fireball, and at this point, they had been completely melted and combined.


    All of a sudden, Zhen Hua opened his eyes, and they were filled with clarity and concentration. His body didn''t physically expand, but it was as if he had become a pillar that connected heaven and earth.


    He raised his arms, and enormous soul power erupted forth, manifesting a dark red hammer mid-air.


    "Boom!" The red ball of light was flattened with just a single hammer blow.


    Tang Wulin looked on in a dumbstruck manner. This was the first time he had seen someone completely flatten a piece of metal during their forging! Wouldn''t this damage the metal''s internal structure?


    Much to his surprise, he quickly discovered that it didn''t!


    The flattened piece of metal sprang up, and Tang Wulin could sense that the two metals had been fused to a greater degree.


    He was an eighth-rank Saint Blacksmith, so he was naturally extremely familiar with combining metals into alloys, but he definitely couldn''t do it with just a single hammer blow as Zhen Hua had done!


    That''s right, the two types of metals had been combined with just a single blow, and a burst of light rose up into the air for over 10 feet.


    Thousand refinement with spirit! First-grade thousand refinement!


    This was no longer just forging; it was an integration of forging and one''s heart and soul! Not only was Tang Wulin astonished, he was struck by a sense of exhilaration.


    This was the pinnacle of forging; the level that he had constantly been pursuing!


    The hammer was raised before falling again, and another resounding boom rang out, upon which a faint aura of life was born within the metal.


    Tang Wulin paid even closer attention on this occasion, and he noticed that even though this hammer blow had fallen very quickly, all of the elements on the heavenly platform had converged toward it in its descent, as if there were a funnel on the hammer that was drawing all energy toward itself.


    With that hammer blow, an enormous influx of energy flowed into the metal, and what was even more astonishing to Tang Wulin was that even though Zhen Hua''s spiritual power clearly hadn''t reached the Spirit Domain realm, he had achieved perfect control over the elements.


    The elements that were being injected into the metal had clearly been adjusted according to a certain ratio during the descent of his hammer.


    A faint buzzing sound rang out from the flattened piece of metal, and light began to ripple over its surface.


    Spirit refinement had just been completed with a single hammer blow!


    It was already extraordinary enough that thousand refinement had been achieved with one blow, but that could be partially attributed to this incredible forging bench, but that was not the case here.


    One had to realize that countless blacksmith were stuck at the fourth rank precisely because they were unable to complete spirit refinement, yet Zhen Hua had been able to complete it with a single hammer blow! If the blacksmiths of the blacksmith association were to see this, they would most likely go insane!


    However, Zhen Hua was merely treating this like a normal occurrence, and the hammer was raised up into the air again, slightly higher than on the previous two hammer blows on this occasion.

 Chapter 1450: Elemental Tribulation

    At the same time, Zhen Hua let loose a loud roar, and his soul power was injected into the giant hammer in a frenzy. Simultaneously, many types of elements in the air were also rapidly injecting themselves into the giant hammer.


    These were four types of elements consisting of water, fire, earth, and wind.


    On top of that, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that there was a different amount of each element with fire elements taking up the largest ratio, followed by earth, water, and wind in that order.


    These elements enveloped the hammer and integrated with one another, then converged into the hammer in a frenzy under the effect of the heavenly platform.


    "Go!" Zhen Hua roared as the giant hammer came crashing down again.


    "Rumble!"


    The entire heavenly platform tremored violently, and on this occasion, the giant hammer didn''t spring back up. In the instant that it struck the piece of metal, it was as if it had become nailed to the forging bench, and the entire bench was illuminated by four-colored light.


    Powerful energy fluctuations also erupted in this instant as elements of all attributes surged rapidly through the air.


    In the next instant, the giant hammer abruptly sprang up, and a layer of peculiar patterns began to spread over the forging bench. What was even more remarkable was that the flattened piece of metal had suddenly transformed into a sphere and sprung up from the forging bench. It had become completely transparent, and there was four-colored light revolving within it; these were none other than the four elements from before.


    As soon as it sprang up from the forging bench, it released a sense of elation.


    This was soul refinement! That''s right, soul refinement had also been completed with just a single hammer blow!


    Thus, far, only three hammer blows had been struck, and the process had appeared to be extremely simple.


    The three blows had been dealt in less than two minutes, and soul refinement was complete.


    Not only that, but as a Saint Blacksmith, Tang Wulin could see the intricacies present within this type of forging.


    This piece of metal now possessed more than just the characteristics of the initial two pieces of metal. Following the injection of the four types of elements, it was as if had been refined using six different types of elements, and that was what was truly incredible about Zhen Hua''s forging.


    Tang Wulin could also complete soul refinement, albeit at a slower rate, but he was unable to replicate what Zhen Hua was doing here, which was to forcibly improve the quality of a piece of metal to an extremely great extent through his forging.


    Tang Wulin was very confident in his own forging skills, but only now did he realize just how massive a gap there was between himself and Zhen Hua.


    This was true forging! It was no longer just art; it was an accelerated creation of life!


    Unbeknownst to him, even Zhen Hua himself wouldn''t normally forge like this as it simply expended a huge amount of spiritual power for no practical advantage.


    He was only putting on such a display to intimidate Tang Wulin so he would be even more willing to learn heavenly refinement under his guidance. It could be said that Zhen Hua was pulling out all the stops to win over this prized disciple of his.


    The piece of soul refined metal was bouncing around on the forging bench while releasing emotions of elations and intimacy toward Zhen Hua, and right at this moment, the giant hammer manifested by Zhen Hua''s soul power suddenly disintegrated.


    He closed his eyes again, and in that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if he could hear a buzzing sound when there clearly wasn''t.


    This buzzing wasn''t coming from Zhen Hua or the piece of metal; it was coming from all directions.


    This was elemental resonance!


    Tang Wulin immediately identified this feeling.


    In the instant that Zhen Hua had closed his eyes, all of the surrounding elements had begun to resonate with him.


    He wasn''t at the Spirit Domain realm, yet he was able to control his spiritual power to such an extraordinary degree and establish such a high level of affinity with the elements. There was only one possible explanation: he had already reached an extremely in-depth level of understanding of the laws of heaven and earth.


    The same four types of elements began to converge once again, but on this occasion, they were revolving around Zhen Hua, and the entire dome had taken on four different colors.


    The elemental fluctuations in the air began to take on a viscous feel, and a four-colored funnel appeared above Zhen Hua''s head, drawing more and more elements toward him. These elements revolved around the vortex before slowly fusing into it, and even though Zhen Hua''s eyes were still closed, light was beginning to radiate from his body.


    The piece of soul refined metal seemed to have sensed something, and it suddenly fell completely still.


    Tang Wulin could clearly see that the piece of metal was changing shape, even though Zhen Hua clearly wasn''t doing anything to it. After just a short while, it had taken on the form of a human, and its facial features gradually began to appear.


    To Tang Wulin''s surprise, its facial features were completely identical to those of Zhen Hua, as if it were a miniature Zhen Hua statue.


    This definitely wasn''t soul refinement; could it be that this was heavenly refinement? But Tang Wulin could clearly sense that Zhen Hua wasn''t doing anything!


    "This is heart refinement; use your heart to communicate with the metal you''re forging to bestow upon it intelligence and soul. You have to be willing to protect it with everything you have, as if it were your child."


    Heart refinement? This was the first time that Tang Wulin had heard of such a term.


    Zhen Hua''s eyes were still closed as he pointed up at the sky with one hand and down at the earth with his other hand. The four-colored funnel up above slowly shifted over from above him to above the piece of metal, then injected four-colored light directly into it.


    The piece of metal immediately began to glow with four-colored light and was filled with powerful energy fluctuations.


    Zhen Hua''s face paled slightly, clearly indicating that this process was quite taxing on his body.


    All of a sudden, a loud thunderclap rang out, giving Tang Wulin quite a fright.


    A bolt of four-colored lightning suddenly appeared at the center of the vortex, then crashed directly down upon the piece of four-colored metal.


    Dazzling light erupted from the piece of metal, and it shuddered slightly before releasing a faint four-colored light barrier, as if it were trying to protect itself.


    Another thunderclap rang out, and a bolt of even thicker four-colored lightning crashed down upon it.


    A sharp screech erupted from the four-colored metal, and it forcibly absorbed the power of the lightning.


    Immediately thereafter, Zhen Hua stepped forward, and white soul power erupted forth before quickly injecting itself into the piece of four-colored metal. At the same time, he raised his right hand and pointed his right index finger forward.


    The piece of humanoid metal also did the same thing, and their right index fingertips came into contact with one another!


    A third bolt of lightning fell from the sky amid another rumbling thunderclap, and Zhen Hua''s entire body shuddered as his face paled even further.


    There were wisps of electricity roaming all over his body while a layer of golden light appeared over the piece of four-colored metal. As it was absorbing the lightning, the piercing screech of metal grating on metal rang out, indicating that it was also withstanding immense pressure.


    Right at this moment, Zhen Hua heaved a faint sigh before waving his right hand upward, and the four-colored light on the dome up above suddenly faded. The elements that had been gathered also dispersed, and he grabbed onto the piece of metal on the forging bench before quickly shooting back in retreat.


    "Boom!" A fourth bolt of lightning crashed down upon the forging bench, sending a layer of six-colored light rippling over its surface. The lightning was quickly dispersed and dispelled, and following that fourth lightning strike, the clouds up above slowly dissipated as well.


    Zhen Hua''s body swayed slightly in a feeble manner, and Tang Wulin hurriedly rushed forward to lend Zhen Hua his support.

 Chapter 1451: Failure on the Cusp of Success

    Zhen Hua waved him off, and said, "I''m fine. It''s a pity that I failed on the cusp of success."


    He raised the piece of metal in his hand for Tang Wulin to examine as he spoke.


    There was four-colored light revolving over the surface of the metal, and it was also releasing a layer of golden light, creating a spectacular sight to behold. Furthermore, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the life force energy imbued within this piece of metal far exceeded that of his soul refined metals.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Is this not already a success? I can sense that it''s already become very powerful."


    Zhen Hua shook his head in response. "It''s not that easy to complete heavenly refinement. Due to the fact that this heavenly refinement was attempted using four types of elements, it has to withstand four bolts of tribulation lightning. Only after withstanding all four bolts of lightning will it be able to undergo the final solidification process. The light that you''re seeing now is the power bestowed upon the metal by the first three bolts of tribulation, but without that undergoing the solidification process, it can''t make full use of this power; it''ll only receive some enhancements.


    "The most difficult part of heavenly refinement is the final tribulation transcendence. Having failed to transcend the tribulation, this piece of metal can only be referred to as a faux heavenly refined metal, and that''ll severely lower its price. Of course, it can still be used in a suit of four-word battle armor, but the effect will be far inferior."


    Zhen Hua was feeling quite awkward as he explained these things to Tang Wulin. He was feeling very good today, and he could sense that there was a very good chance of success. However, in order to win over Tang Wulin, he had significantly exerted himself by completing soul refinement with a single hammer blow. As a result, he was unable to withstand the final bolt of tribulation lightning.


    Tang Wulin asked, "During the tribulation transcendence, it seemed to me like you were assisting the piece of metal with your power; were you protecting it during its tribulation transcendence?"


    Zhen Hua nodded in response. "Spirit refinement bestows life, soul refinement bestows intelligence, and heavenly refinement bestows ability. During this process, the metal is like a child going through stages of growth, so it needs to be protected and cherished by us blacksmiths. During the tribulation transcendence process, we actually have to bear the brunt of the tribulation lightning''s power. At the same time, we have to ensure that the power of the tribulation lightning is absorbed by the metal in a slow and steady process. Otherwise, there''s no way that it would be able to transcend the tribulation on its own.


    "This is why a Divine Blacksmith has to be a Titled Douluo; not only is heavenly refinement extremely taxing on the blacksmith, how can one possibly expect to withstand this tribulation lighting without sufficient power? Truth be told, this is also the most difficult problem that you''ll have to face. Tribulation lightning is very damaging to us, and it could severely impact our bodies if we''re not careful. During each heavenly refinement, my body is damaged to a certain extent, and this is why my cultivation rank has remained stagnant after I became a Titled Douluo.


    "You''ll definitely fare much better in this regard as your physical constitution is far more powerful than mine. On top of that, you earned your cultivation rank through arduous cultivation, so I have great confidence in you. Now then, did you feel anything from watching my heavenly refinement?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I did, but I''ll need to try it for myself."


    Zhen Hua nodded, and said, "Failure is inevitable when one first begins attempting heavenly refinement. I failed over 1,000 times before I finally succeeded the first time, and even then, your grandteacher praised me as a superb prodigy. The most important thing is to not rush things or allow frustration to set in. If that happens, there''s no way you''ll be able to succeed."


    "Yes, Uncle-teacher!" Tang Wulin replied in a respectful manner.


    Zhen Hua smiled, and said, "Alright, it''s your turn now. Remember, during the heart refinement process, you have to fully communicate with the metal that you''re forging. Only then will the final heavenly refinement process be more harmonious. The tribulation lightning is very damaging to the metal, so you have to make it understand that you''re doing this for its benefit. Otherwise, if it begins to resist the tribulation lightning, then the heavenly refinement will inevitably fail."


    Thus, Zhen Hua disclosed a series of fine details and things to be careful of during heavenly refinement in a patient manner, and Tang Wulin listened with rapt focus.


    Every single step and detail had to be perfect to ensure successful heavenly refinement.


    "Alright, that''s about it. Give it a try, and don''t be disheartened if you fail; the key is to experience the process. I''ll help you draw upon the power of the elements. The most basic heavenly refinement requires the incorporation of four different types of elements, and the greater the amount of elements you inject into the metal, the higher the caliber of the finished product after successful completion of heavenly refinement. After the tribulation transcendence, there''s one final step, which is molding. During that step, we have to alter the characteristics of the piece of metal according to the requirements of the one who commissioned its refinement, thereby giving form to the piece of divine-grade metal."


    After watching Zhen Hua''s demonstration and hearing his explanation, Tang Wulin was raring to go. This heavenly platform was undoubtedly the ideal place for heavenly refinement, and his uncle-teacher was the perfect mentor to guide him through this process.


    It had taken his uncle-teacher over 1,000 attempts to finally succeed, but he had to try his best to beat this mark. There were so many things that he had to do, so it was best for him to make this breakthrough as early as possible.


    He took a deep breath and strode over to the forging bench, then closed his eyes to completely calm himself.


    This was his first attempt at heavenly refinement, and the first thing that he had to do was concentrate. After that, he had to assess every single aspect about the piece of metal that he was about to forge.


    Zhen Hua was standing beside Tang Wulin, and he could feel Tang Wulin''s blood essence fluctuations gradually become more gentle while his aura also became more condensed. He couldn''t help but nod with approval; this disciple of his was truly an exceptional talent! Back when he had first attempted heavenly refinement, he was already a middle-aged man, so it was extremely remarkable that Tang Wulin could be so steadfast and composed at such a young age.


    It had taken him over six years and over 1,000 attempts to finally become a Divine Blacksmith, and only he was aware of just how painful that process had been.


    He firmly believed that with Tang Wulin''s aptitude, it definitely wouldn''t take him that long. As for exactly how long it was going to take, that would depend on his learning ability and how much effort he put in.


    The happiest and most unforgettable day of Zhen Hua''s life was the day when he had successfully completed heavenly refinement for the very first time. Now, the happiest thing for him was to nurture another Divine Blacksmith as his successor.


    Even though he was a Divine Blacksmith, he had a rather unstable foundation due to the excessive consumption of spirit items to enhance his cultivation rank. During these past few years, his success rate in heavenly refinement had been steadily decreasing, and this was a direct result of his physical condition gradually worsening due to the waves of tribulation lightning he had endured. As such, he had already significantly decreased his own heavenly refinement workload so his body could recover.


    It was also exactly because of this that he wanted Tang Wulin to take over from him as soon as possible. Only when led by a Divine Blacksmith would the blacksmith association be considered a first-rate organization on the continent and continue to receive the same amount of resources as it currently did.


    Just as these thoughts were flashing through his mind, Tang Wulin sprang into action. He opened his eyes and reached out with his right hand, drawing a piece of metal onto the forging bench from a nearby shelf.


    Zhen Hua was quite amused to see this piece of metal. This disciple of his really did have a thing for heavy silver!


    Indeed, Tang Wulin had chosen heavy silver again, just as he had for his first attempts in spirit refinement and soul refinement. In order to better experience the process of heavenly refinement, he had only chosen heavy silver rather than attempt to create an alloy, thereby lowering the relative difficulty.


    Zhen Hua almost never used heavy silver for heavenly refinement as it simply wasn''t worth completing heavenly refinement on a metal of that caliber, but Tang Wulin had always had a special bond with heavy silver ever since he had first begun his forging journey.


    As such, he had chosen it almost without any hesitation for his first heavenly refinement attempt.


    He raised both hands in unison, and his soul refined Heavy Silver Hammers appeared in his grasp. The forging bench was activated, and the piece of heavy silver began to calcine.


    He brandished his Heavy Silver Hammers in a well-rehearsed manner, and he felt as if he could hear the hammers cheering joyfully.

 Chapter 1452: First Attempt

    The red-hot piece of heavy silver rose up, and Tang Wulin sent his hammers crashing down like a pair of shooting stars.


    "Boom, boom!" Two loud booms rang out in unison, and Zhen Hua could clearly hear a dull dragon''s roar erupt from Tang Wulin''s body.


    Faint golden light began to radiate from his spine, then traveled along his arms, through his hammers, and finally into the piece of heavy silver.


    Following the pair of resounding booms, a burst of silver light erupted from the piece of heavy silver, rising up to over 10 feet! First-grade thousand refinement!


    Tang Wulin hadn''t completed thousand refinement with a single hammer blow, and he had used his hammers'' Stacked Hammers effect, but there still weren''t many Saint Blacksmiths who could replicate what he had just done. This was a demonstration of Tang Wulin''s exemplary mastery of forging techniques, and Zhen Hua smiled upon seeing this.


    With his sharp discerning eye as a Divine Blacksmith, he was immediately able to identify that Tang Wulin had worked extremely hard in this regard and had improved significantly compared to last time. It was clear that he hadn''t slacked off in his forging since they had last met.


    The soul refinement for all of the suits of three-word battle armor for his friends had been completed by him, and they were all soul refined alloys of the highest quality, so aside from cultivation, forging was the activity that he had spent the most time on. In terms of soul refinement success rate, even Zhen Hua may not be able to compare with him. After all, he had far too much of an advantage in his powers and strength.


    Silver light rose up alongside a faint dragon''s roar, and Tang Wulin took a deep breath as he raised his hammers again.


    His eyes became even clearer, and a strange quality crept into his aura.


    Zhen Hua''s body shuddered slightly as he could sense that the air around Tang Wulin had taken on a slightly warped and illusionary appearance, which was a sign of spiritual power being released outward.


    What immense spiritual power! Zhen Hua''s heart was full of praise toward Tang Wulin, but also a slight hint of envy.


    Aside from soul power, spiritual power was the most important measure of a Soul Master''s abilities, and the higher the caliber of a Soul Master, the more important spiritual power became as it was the basis for further improvement. On top of that, applications for spiritual power were extremely broad, and the higher the rank of a blacksmith, the more spiritual power was required to sense the minute changes within a piece of metal.


    Tang Wulin''s hammers fell again, but on this occasion, they fell a lot lighter. Tang Wulin was only using the power of his wrists to tap the hammers onto the piece of heavy silver at a high frequency, creating a pleasant rhythm akin to that of rain falling upon a banana leaf.


    During this process, the piece of heavy silver was also buzzing incessantly as if it were reciprocating his forging.


    Zhen Hua''s smile became even more pronounced upon seeing this. Tang Wulin had clearly already grasped the essence of forging, and nothing was more pleasing than this for him to see.


    Amid the string of crisp clangs, the light glowing from the piece of heavy silver receded, and a layer of faint silver light appeared over the surface of the metal, within which there seemed to be a freely roaming dragon.


    Spirit refinement was complete!


    Having just undergone spirit refinement, the piece of heavy silver was like a small infant, buzzing incessantly while shimmering with captivating silver light.


    Tang Wulin''s hammers continued to fall without pause, varying in power and rhythm, and a layer of white light began to rise up over his body as he began to inject his soul power into the piece of heavy silver.


    His dense soul power seemed to possess substantial form, and the white light glowed brighter with each passing hammer blow. Soul power was guided into the piece of metal with every strike, causing minute changes to take place within it.


    If Zhen Hua''s soul refinement had been a stunning meteorite crashing down to earth, then Tang Wulin''s soul refinement could be likened to gentle rain. It wasn''t spectacular or grandiose, but it was slowly and steadily enhancing and nourishing the piece of metal, gradually bringing out its intelligence.


    What incredible soul power! As expected, his soul power has already surpassed mine.


    This was the power of a Titled Douluo who had reached this level through cultivation!


    Zhen Hua''s heart was full of praise, and he was appraising Tang Wulin''s forging as if he were inspecting a piece of artwork.


    It was quite clear to him that regardless of how the heavenly refinement went, Tang Wulin was definitely going to succeed in his soul refinement, and it was going to be a soul refinement of a very high caliber. Even though only one piece of metal was being used, he was very pleased by the incredible consistency that Tang Wulin was displaying.


    If another blacksmith were to reach Tang Wulin''s level at his age, then they would definitely employ some more fancy techniques in their forging, but Tang Wulin hadn''t done that. His soul refinement prioritized success rate above all else, and his forging was completely free from even the slightest error.


    Tang Wulin had already created many records in the blacksmith world, one of which was that he was the only blacksmith to reach the Spirit Domain realm.


    As such, even Zhen Hua had no idea how much this level of spiritual power would assist him in his forging, but judging from the current situation, it definitely had an incredible effect on his soul refinement.


    As Tang Wulin continued to tap the piece of heavy silver, he was constantly injecting his spiritual power into the metal, so there was absolutely no chance of failure. His spiritual power was simply too immense; it had an exceptional effect on awakening the piece of metal, particularly when it was heavy silver, a type of metal that he was all too familiar with.


    The light shimmering from the piece of heavy silver became brighter and brighter, and the faint dragon''s roar also gradually became louder. Most intriguing of all, the dragon projection within the silver light was also becoming clearer and clearer, and even its scales had become visible.


    Tang Wulin''s soul refinement took 15 minutes, far longer than Zhen Hua had, but when he struck the final hammer blow, a delightful dragon''s roar immediately rang out.


    The piece of heavy silver rose up into the air, and the small dragon that was revolving around it turned a faint golden color. It seemed to be full of intelligence as it traversed through the piece of metal and occasionally flew over to Tang Wulin, expressing a strong sense of intimacy.


    The soul refinement was complete!


    20 minutes had passed since Tang Wulin had begun forging, and Zhen Hua could sense that Tang Wulin was still in peak condition, as if he hadn''t expended any energy at all.


    His energy and stamina were truly astounding!


    Tang Wulin paused here as he silently recalled the observations that he had made while watching Zhen Hua''s heavenly refinement.


    Zhen Hua didn''t disrupt him. This was his first heavenly refinement, so there was no need to consider success or failure; the most important thing was for him to accrue experience and find the path to heavenly refinement instead of being led astray.


    As such, it was a good thing that Tang Wulin was taking things slowly to experience the process.


    Heavenly refinement was like a Soul Master''s martial soul awakening; the standard to decide if one could become a Soul Master was whether they could awaken soul power. The process of heavenly refinement bestowed upon a piece of metal true ability, and a suit of four-word battle armor was so powerful precisely because all of the metals that it was constructed by possessed powerful abilities.


    When combined as one and enhanced by soul circuits, a suit of four-word battle armor was superior to even a divine-grade mecha, and it could virtually double the power of a Limit Douluo.


    If it weren''t for the invention of battle armor, soul beasts wouldn¡¯t have been pushed toward extinction at such a rapid rate. As such, suits of four-word battle armor were extremely valuable, and heavenly refinement was the key to constructing such suits of battle armor.


    It was once said that four-word battle armor shouldn''t exist in the human world, that it was something that should only exist in the Divine Realm.


    Whenever Tang Wulin was ready, Zhen Hua would activate the heavenly platform again to draw upon the power of heaven and earth. During the heavenly refinement process, he would be able to experience the changes in the laws of heaven and earth, and this was the most difficult process.


    It took Zhen Hua over a year just to learn to make use of the power of heaven and earth, and at the time, he had already become the undisputed number one talent in the blacksmith world.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly opened his eyes, and golden light shimmered within his pupils as all types of elements began to converge toward him from all sides.


    Water, fire, earth, wind; these four types of elements entered the heavenly platform first before revolving around the forging bench.


    Zhen Hua faltered slightly upon seeing this. He hadn''t even activated the heavenly platform yet! How had the power of heaven and earth arrived on its own? Could it be that Tang Wulin had drawn upon this power on his own?


    Immediately thereafter, he was greeted by the sight of a massive pink flower blooming behind Tang Wulin. The quantity of all of the different types of elements in the air immediately increased drastically. On top of that, faint traces of gold, black, and silver had appeared, indicating that the elements of light, darkness, and space had also been drawn upon alongside the existing four elements.


    There were seven types of elements present all at once!

 Chapter 1453: Heavenly Refinement Through Devouring Heaven and Earth

    Zhen Hua was astonished to see this. Incorporating seven types of elements was basically the limit of heavenly refinement! During his forging career, he had completed seven-elemental heavenly refinement very few times, and he would always be severely wounded during the process.


    He opened his mouth to stop Tang Wulin, but decided against saying anything in the end. Only by truly experiencing these things could the most effective lessons be taught.


    On top of that, this was the heavenly platform, and he was present to protect Tang Wulin, so his safety was assured.


    How exactly had he managed to draw upon so much power of heaven and earth? At this point, Zhen Hua was in no hurry to activate the heavenly platform.


    A sufficient amount of elements had already been gathered, and the greater the amount of elements gathered, the greater the impact on the piece of metal during heavenly refinement, and the more fearsome the tribulation lightning would be.


    Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    With this powerful soul skill, there was no need for Tang Wulin to rely on the heavenly platform to draw upon the power of heaven and earth for him. He was the Son of Nature and the one who had been chosen by the plane, so his affinity with nature was far greater than anyone could imagine. The planar ruler couldn''t directly assist him, but it could grant him the greatest level of affinity with the entire plane.


    As his cultivation rank progressed, this effect became more and more pronounced.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin had his eyes closed as he experienced all of the elemental fluctuations around him. There was gentle water, scorching fire, spritely wind, heavy earth, holy light, mysterious darkness, and unpredictable space.


    All of these elements were parts of the laws of heaven and earth, and they were the building blocks of this entire world. These were the purest elements, and they brought the purest power.


    During the past few years, Tang Wulin had experienced far too many things. In particular, he had encountered his godly father on several occasions, so his understanding of the laws of heaven and earth far surpassed that of the average person.


    These experiences were all extremely precious, and they really shone through at a time like this.


    The power of heaven and earth was gathered and absorbed, but as opposed to directly injecting it into the metal as Zhen Hua had done, Tang Wulin was guiding this power into himself.


    Devouring Heaven and Earth could enhance his powers to a great extent, yet as the seven-colored rainbow light surged into his body, he didn''t directly absorb it. Instead, he guided them toward his Heavy Silver Hammers, which quickly took on a rainbow hue.


    He then raised them up into the air before sending them crashing down toward the newly soul refined piece of heavy silver.


    "Boom!"


    The entire heavenly platform tremored slightly from the impact, and the heavy silver instantly turned a rainbow color.


    Instead of using Zhen Hua''s method of forging, he was using a method that was relatively easier for himself to control.


    Heavenly refinement was different for everyone, so he had to find his own path, and the path that he devised was to absorb and inject the power of heaven and earth into the metal through his Devouring Heaven and Earth.


    This was something that he had already thought of while watching Zhen Hua''s heavenly refinement, but he had to put it into practice to verify its feasibility.


    The most important part of heavenly refinement was to grasp the laws of heaven and earth, then graft this interpretation of the laws of heaven and earth onto the metal to bestow upon it ability.


    To put it in simpler terms, heavenly refinement involved injecting the power of heaven and earth into a piece of metal, then sealing that power using tribulation lightning.


    It was naturally far easier said than done to complete this process, and an in-depth understanding of the laws of heaven and earth was imperative.


    Tang Wulin had many unique and incomparable advantages in this regard. He was the Son of Nature and the one chosen by the plane. During his cultivation, the instances during which he had used his power as the Son of Nature, and that one occasion where he had used the Blood God Array, he had received many opportunities to experience the laws of heaven and earth. On top of that, he was at the Spirit Domain realm, so his understanding of the elements was also virtually unmatched.


    Perhaps other Limit Douluos would also possess these abilities, but there were no Limit Douluos who were also master blacksmiths, and their affinity with the power of heaven and earth couldn''t compare with that of the Son of Nature.


    Tang Wulin was very familiar with forging as he had become a blacksmith at a very young age, and he had a very deep understanding of the internal structure, special characteristics, and even the emotions of all types of metals.


    As such, the first feeling that he was struck by was that heavenly refinement didn''t seem to be as difficult as his uncle-teacher had made it sound. At the very least, the injection of elements had been very smoothly completed.


    He had drawn upon the power of heaven and earth using his Devouring Heaven and Earth, then used his own body to transmit this power into his hammers.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the piece of soul refined heavy silver possessed a certain type of suction force, allowing it to naturally fuse with the elements that he was directing into it. Under his conscious control, the elements began to leave a series of marks within the metal, each of which was extremely minute, resembling a series of tiny circuits. As a result, the internal structure of the metal began to transform as part of an evolutionary process.


    So this was what heavenly refinement felt like!


    As expected, only by truly experiencing it could he understand just how unique this experience was.


    Even as Tang Wulin was marveling at this process, he didn''t dare to let any complacency set in and continued with his injection of elements. Soon, he could sense that the tiny elemental marks within the internal structure of the piece of heavy silver was reaching full saturation, and he began to decrease the rate at which the elements were being injected. At the same time, it occurred to him that different types of metals were most likely able to withstand different amounts of elements. Heavy silver was one of more of the ordinary types of uncommon metals, so its capacity didn''t seem to be very large.


    However, he had gathered a considerable amount of elements, and after a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to keep all of them in his Heavy Silver Hammers.


    From Zhen Hua''s perspective, the piece of soul refined heavy silver had already turned a rainbow color, but immediately thereafter, his Heavy Silver Hammers also adopted the same hue, indicating that they were actively absorbing elemental power.


    Zhen Hua opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it in the end. Distracting a blacksmith during heavenly refinement could result in dire consequences. As such, even though he was very displeased with Tang Wulin''s overambitious actions, he caught himself before he could say anything. If he wanted to scold Tang Wulin, then he would have to wait until after the failure of his heavenly refinement.


    The hammers were also made from soul refined heavy silver, but different pieces of metals that were soul refined at different times were bound to have massive fundamental differences, even if they were the same type of metal and refined by the same blacksmith. As such, it was downright absurd that he was attempting heavenly refinement on both his hammers and the piece of heavy silver that he was forging. This was even more difficult than the alloy heavenly refinement he had attempted earlier, so how could he not be angry?


    However, Zhen Hua''s anger was also intermingled with astonishment as the power of heaven and earth that Tang Wulin had gathered had outstripped even what he had managed to gather with the assistance of the heavenly platform. The seven types of elements were constantly flowing into his body, and he was handling them seemingly without any difficulty.


    This was the power of the Son of Nature. If a normal person were to guide so many different types of elements into their own body at such large quantities, they could easily go into deviation or even self-detonate from triggering an elemental storm.

 Chapter 1454: Rainbow Lightning Tribulation

    However, Tang Wulin was the Son of Nature, so all of these natural elements were injecting themselves into his body as gently as they could to prevent harming him. As such, he was able to draw upon them with his Devouring Heaven and Earth to his heart''s content.


    All of a sudden, a peculiar buzzing sound rang out from within the piece of metal. Tang Wulin had been completely focused on his hammers and the piece of heavy silver this entire time, so he immediately detected that when the metal was entirely filled with elemental marks, these marks began to resonate with one another as if they had been instantly awakened, thereby producing a special type of energy fluctuations.


    Even Tang Wulin himself didn''t know what type of energy fluctuations this was, but he could clearly sense that as soon as it appeared, the air around him changed. The elements that he had gathered suddenly became very violent, as if they had suffered an unforgivable ordeal, and immediately thereafter, rainbow clouds began to form overhead.


    The tribulation clouds had arrived!


    Compared to the tribulation clouds that Zhen Hua had gathered earlier, these clouds covered a far larger area, and the overwhelming pressure they were giving off struck one with a sense of asphyxiation.


    Tang Wulin was rather astonished by this, but he wasn''t flustered in the slightest.


    Zhen Hua had told him earlier that a blacksmith had to withstand the lightning tribulation together with the metal that they were forging. This type of elemental tribulation was extremely beneficial to the metal, and it could bestow upon a metal true ability.


    Only by transcending this tribulation could the elemental power injected into the metal be truly stabilized, but to a Soul Master, this lightning tribulation was extremely destructive, so extreme caution had to be exercised. If he couldn''t withstand the lightning, then he had to retreat right away and accept failure. Otherwise, it was very likely that irreversible damage could be caused.


    "Rumble!"


    Three bolts of rainbow lightning descended from the heavens, crashing down toward Tang Wulin''s hammers and that piece of soul refined heavy silver.


    Tang Wulin immediately encircled his arms in front of himself, releasing a burst of gentle soul power to protect the three pieces of metal.


    The three bolts of lightning struck, and each of them was slightly less powerful than the tribulation lightning that Zhen Hua had attracted, but the three of them combined were naturally far more powerful than any single bolt of tribulation lightning that Zhen Hua had to withstand.


    In the instant that the tribulation lightning struck, Tang Wulin could feel seven types of elements exploding all at once. What was even more terrifying was that the elements enhanced one another to further increase the power of the explosion.


    In particular, the clashes between water and fire, as well as light and darkness, instantly released energy fluctuations that were several times more powerful, and Tang Wulin felt his entire body instantly go numb as the power of the lightning coursed through his veins.


    A large portion of this power was filtered by his body while the rest was injected into the three pieces of metal.


    Golden patterns appeared over his skin as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Body, and the vast majority of the rainbow lightning was kept out by his dragon''s repulse.


    Tang Wulin shuddered as the electrical currents ran through his entire body, but the numbing sensation quickly faded as his dragon core thumped violently to pump out scorching blood essence.


    It was very difficult for Tang Wulin to continue to improve the power of his blood essence, but to his surprise, it began to undergo a change in response to the stimulation from the lightning.


    Could he use this lightning tribulation to help him refine his body?


    Thankfully, Zhen Hua didn''t know what he was thinking. Otherwise, he would definitely be left feeling very dejected.


    Elemental tribulations were often referred to as Divine Blacksmith Killers as at least half of the Divine Blacksmiths in history had perished to these tribulations.


    This was why Zhen Hua had said that it was very difficult for Divine Blacksmiths to continue to complete heavenly refinement in their old age after their bodies were past their prime.


    Zhen Hua was feeling very anxious as Tang Wulin was struck by the three bolts of tribulation lightning at once, but much to his astonishment, Tang Wulin only shuddered slightly before instantly recovering as if he had only received a minor jolt.


    Thus, the first wave of the lightning tribulation was transcended.


    Even though Zhen Hua was very displeased by his decision to heavenly refine three pieces of metal at once, his heart was currently filled with elation.


    If he could withstand three bolts of tribulation lighting at once, then there was a good chance that he would be able to complete heavenly refinement on one piece of metal while incorporating only four types of elements.


    This first experience would merely serve as a lesson to him. Failure wasn''t something to be afraid of; the key was to learn through failure. With his physical tolerance, it shouldn''t be an issue for him to retreat before the lightning tribulation became too fierce to handle.


    However, right at this moment, something unexpected happened. A series of bluish-purple vines suddenly erupted out of his body as if he were a blossoming flower. Each and every one of these vines was filled with an aura of extreme excitement, and as soon as they emerged, they sprang eagerly up into the air, giving even Tang Wulin himself quite a fright.


    This was none other than his Infernal Lightning Vine, and there was nothing in this world that loved lightning more than the Infernal Lightning Vine!


    Furthermore, the lightning formed by this elemental tribulation was completely different from normal lightning and was far more powerful. To the Infernal Lightning Vine, this was like a rare delicacy.


    Tang Wulin had previously considered using the Infernal Lightning Vine to nullify a part of the tribulation lightning''s power, but he hadn''t expected it to burst out of his body completely out of his control, and he could sense the intense yearning within it.


    "Boom!" Right at this moment, the second wave of rainbow lightning fell.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine instantly formed a massive net to capture all three bolts of lightning, and all of the vines immediately took on a rainbow color from the influx of lightning.


    "Save some for the heavy silver!" Tang Wulin hurriedly instructed in his heart.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine wiggled in a reluctant manner, then released three bolts of weaker rainbow lightning to strike the three pieces of metal.


    With the experience from the first wave of lightning strikes, Tang Wulin was able to instruct the Infernal Lightning Vine to moderate the power of these bolts of lightning so that they were just enough to satisfy the three pieces of metal, but not enough to damage them.


    Zhen Hua was completely flabbergasted by this. He had never seen anyone capable of controlling tribulation lighting before!


    What exactly were those bluish-purple vines? Those definitely weren''t his original Bluesilver Emperor vines. It appeared that the vines had undergone a drastic mutation and were now filled with destructive lightning power.


    Zhen Hua couldn''t help but gulp in a completely speechless manner. He had never even heard of something like this happening before, let alone seen this in person.


    "Rumble!" The third wave of lightning came crashing down, and it was even more powerful than the second wave. However, it was met by the ecstatic Infernal Lightning Vine, which was thoroughly enjoying this rainbow lightning delicacy.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine had no physical form. After fusing with Tang Wulin, it had become his soul spirit and integrated itself together with his Bluesilver Emperor vines. However, during these tribulation lightning strikes, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that his Bluesilver Emperor was beginning to undergo another mutation.


    This Infernal Lightning Vine was truly a lover of lightning!


    It was undoubtedly the case that this mutation was only going to be a good thing.


    His Bluesilver Emperor was a control system martial soul, but he had a feeling that after fusing with the Infernal Lightning Vine, it was going to slowly become an assault system martial soul in the future!


    "Rumble!"


    The rainbow lightning was clearly far more powerful than the four-colored lightning that Zhen Hua had triggered earlier, as each wave of lighting was more powerful than the previous one. Tang Wulin could even sense that his three pieces of soul refined metal were trembling in fear.

 Chapter 1455: Success

    He was suddenly struck by an epiphany; it seemed that it was very difficult to complete heavenly refinement with heavy silver as its ability to withstand tribulation lightning was limited by the caliber of the metal, even after undergoing soul refinement. It was no wonder that Zhen Hua had attempted heavenly refinement with an alloy comprised of two different types of metals; he had most likely taken into consideration the tolerance of the metals themselves. This was the value of experience!


    Zhen Hua had divulged a lot of knowledge to him, but there were some things that he neglected to mention as the best way to learn was through practical experience.


    During this heavenly refinement process, Tang Wulin had already learned many things.


    If it weren''t for his Infernal Lightning Vine, even he would perhaps be unable to protect these three pieces of metal. This tribulation lightning was extremely fearsome, and even his body may not be able to withstand the last few waves.


    Thankfully, the Infernal Lightning Vine was the most adept devourer of lighting on this continent. With each bolt of lightning that it devoured, the emotion of elation radiating from it became even more pronounced, and it was only sparing the three pieces of soul refined metal some lightning with extreme reluctance.


    Tang Wulin was still feeling quite numb, but this sensation was being transmitted to him by the Infernal Lightning Vine, and under its stimulation, his blood essence was becoming more and more exuberant.


    A peculiar thought occurred to Tang Wulin: it seemed that he had unintentionally stumbled upon a new body refinement method!


    This method wasn''t really applicable to anyone else, but it was clearly immensely beneficial to him. This was quite an unexpected yet pleasant surprise.


    As the seventh thunderclap rang out, the entire heavenly platform was stained a rainbow color, and the fearsome elemental aura threatened to destroy the entire platform. The entire dome had also turned a rainbow color, and everyone near the blacksmith association building could see that a vast expanse of rainbow light had suddenly gathered above the building.


    In the core area of Bright City, there were two middle-aged men standing atop a tall building, and one of them couldn''t help but sigh at the sight of the rainbow, "Is that Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua completing another heavenly refinement? I wonder if another piece of divine-grade metal is going to be created."


    The other middle-aged man also sighed, "If only we could get Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua to forge a piece of divine-grade metal for us."


    "Keep dreaming! All pieces of divine-grade metal are worth astronomical prices, and apparently, Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua rarely ever attempts heavenly refinement anymore. The older a Divine Blacksmith becomes, the more damaging heavenly refinement becomes to their body. There''s no other Divine Blacksmith on the entire planet, so I''d rather see him forge as little as possible. Otherwise, if our continent loses its only Divine Blacksmith, the heritage will most likely be severed, and who knows how many years it''ll take before another Divine Blacksmith appears?"


    "Indeed. It''s been over 30 years since Zhen Hua became a Divine Blacksmith, yet no other Divine Blacksmith has emerged during this time; is it really that hard to reach that level?"


    "You''re a ninth-rank mecha maker; surely you know how difficult it is to reach the very top. Heavenly refinement is at least 10 times more difficult than it is to become a ninth-rank mecha maker. It''s not something that can be achieved purely through cultivation; one must possess an extremely high level of aptitude and experience as well. Having said that, I heard that a young prodigy appeared in the blacksmith association a few years ago, and he became the youngest Saint Blacksmith in history; perhaps he could become a Divine Blacksmith in the future."


    "I hope another Divine Blacksmith emerges soon. Otherwise, with Zhen Hua''s current age, you and I will most likely never attain suits of four-word battle armor!"


    "I''m certainly not holding my breath. It''s hard to say whether we''ll even be able to become Hyper Douluos; before reaching that level, there''s no point in thinking about four-word battle armor."


    ......


    Rainbow light shimmered as the three pieces of metal transformed into liquid before drifting into Tang Wulin''s hands.


    It was as if they had become completely weightless, and there was an indescribable feel to them.


    He had done it!


    Neither Zhen Hua nor Tang Wulin himself had thought that he would be able to complete heavenly refinement on his first attempt. Due to the fact that success was never considered to be a possible outcome, Tang Wulin hadn''t completed the final molding step. However, these three pieces of heavy silver were now bona fide pieces of heavenly refined metal, and seven different types of elements had been incorporated into them.


    No matter how ordinary heavy silver was, these three pieces of metal were now completely extraordinary.


    Zhen Hua stared blankly at Tang Wulin and reflexively murmured, "These are most likely the most powerful pieces of heavy silver in history! Give it a name."


    All divine-grade metals had the right to possess names, and the ones to name them was naturally the Divine Blacksmiths that had created them.


    "I''ll call it Rainbow Heavy Silver!" Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    Zhen Hua chuckled, "You lazy little rascal! Fine, we''ll call it Rainbow Heavy Silver. You didn''t bestow upon the metal shape through the final molding step, and it''s too late to do it now; molding can only be done in the instant that heavenly refinement is completed. Make sure not to neglect this step next time. Molding is very important as it makes the piece of metal conform to the requirements of the user. Molding doesn''t just bestow upon a metal shape; even more importantly, you''ll be establishing its energy profile.


    "For example, you''re a strength-type Soul Master, so your divine-grade metal should be molded accordingly to complement your strength. Molding requires a lot of experience and preparation in advance. Of course, this piece of Rainbow Heavy Silver isn''t completely useless; it can be of use to a Soul Master that excels in control over multiple elements."


    Upgrading a suit of three-word battle armor to a suit of four-word battle armor didn''t require direct forging from a blacksmith. Instead, the process involved fusing the suitable divine-grade metals into an existing suit of three-word battle armor.


    Following the fusion process, core circuits had to be carved out again to complete the final suit of four-word battle armor.


    The rarity of suits of four-word battle armor was a direct result of the rigorous requirements involved in crafting them. Both the divine-grade metals and core circuits could only be created after expending a massive amount of mental and physical energy.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he was appraising the Rainbow Heavy Silver in his hand in an extremely pleased manner.


    He was most likely the first blacksmith to successfully complete heavenly refinement on their first attempt. He wasn''t conceited or arrogant; it was just that heavenly refinement simply wasn''t all that difficult for him.


    This was one of the many benefits of being blessed by the plane.


    All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Tang Wulin, and he asked, "Uncle-teacher, does this mean that I''m a Divine Blacksmith now?"


    Zhen Hua faltered slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, the requirement for someone to become a Divine Blacksmith was to successfully complete heavenly refinement once.


    Tang Wulin had accomplished this, so he was a Divine Blacksmith; the youngest Divine Blacksmith in history!


    Zhen Hua suddenly burst into elated laughter. He finally had a successor! It had been many years since he had been this happy.


    It was already an immense honor for him to become a Divine Blacksmith, but it was an even greater honor for him to give rise to another Divine Blacksmith!


    Zhen Hua''s laughter gradually trailed off, and he said, "Technically, you''re already a Divine Blacksmith, but you didn''t complete the molding process, so you''re still not a Divine Blacksmith in my eyes. Unless you complete molding on your own and forge 10 pieces of divine-grade metal or the metals required for a full suit of four-word battle armor, you''re not a Divine Blacksmith in my heart."


    Tang Wulin''s mouth gaped open as he stared at the sly smile on Zhen Hua''s face. "B, but that''s cheating!"


    Zhen Hua immediately put on a serious expression, and retorted, "What do you mean cheating? I''m setting these high standards for your own good! What do you take a Divine Blacksmith for? Do you think you can call yourself a true Divine Blacksmith after just a single lucky success? Focus on forging a suit of four-word battle armor for yourself. You''re still not a Hyper Douluo yet, but with your physical constitution, you should be able to handle a suit of four-word battle armor."


    Tang Wulin was rendered completely speechless upon hearing this. If a suit of four-word battle armor were that easy to forge, then Zhen Hua wouldn''t have forged only around 10 suits of such armor in his entire lifetime!


    "We''ll leave things here for today. Go back and rest for now; we''ll continue tomorrow. After each heavenly refinement you complete, make sure to thoroughly reflect and review the experience you accrued. Don''t even think about going anywhere before you complete heavenly refinement 10 times!"


    After that, Zhen Hua clasped his hands behind his back and promptly departed.

 Chapter 1456: Commencement of the Joust for a Spouse Event

    Tang Wulin looked on at Zhen Hua''s departing figure in a flabbergasted manner. What had happened to basic trust and integrity? Didn''t he say that he could leave after successfully completing heavenly refinement once? Why was it suddenly 10 times now?


    However, a smile appeared on his face almost as soon as Zhen Hua turned around. He had already succeeded once, so was 10 more really that difficult to accomplish? It didn''t seem so!


    With his Infernal Lightning Vine, the greatest obstacle, which was the lightning tribulation, was very easy for him to overcome. Thus, all he had to do now was accumulate more experience and experiment with different types of metals and alloys.


    He had still had much room for improvement, but thankfully, he had finally made the breakthrough. Furthermore, he could sense that his Infernal Lightning Vine was still rather dissatisfied even after devouring a portion of the elemental tribulation.


    He didn''t know what effect this tribulation lightning would have on his Infernal Lightning Vine, but it was definitely going to be a positive one.


    On top of that, heavenly refinement could also refine his body and allow him to forge divine-grade metals; it was an ideal method of cultivation for him!


    ......


    10 days passed by in a flash, and the day that the entirety of Bright City had been eagerly awaiting finally arrived.


    Since the early morning, the Bright City Sports Stadium had been completely surrounded, and there were many soldiers maintaining law and order, ensuring that the most important roads leading to the sports stadium were unobstructed.


    The Spirit Pagoda was most likely the only organization that could hold a joust for a spouse event of such a massive scale.


    According to the latest statistics, the number of registrants for the event was already close to 4,000. The prizes on offer were simply far too alluring to miss.


    On top of that, the Spirit Pagoda had announced three days ago that it would be offering a 100,000-year-old soul spirit as Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena''s dowry.


    This piece of news was the last straw that broke the camel''s back, and the entire Soul Master world instantly erupted into a frenzy.


    Generally speaking, all Soul Emperors were above 25 years of age, and those between 25 and 50 comprised the true elite core of the Douluo Continent''s Soul Master world.


    The total number of registrants may have only been 4,000, but one had to realize that these were all Soul Emperors, Soul Sages, Soul Douluos, and even Titled Douluos!


    It could be said that this was the top-tier power of the entire continent.


    There were even people who had joked that if a Godslayer missile were to be dropped on the Bright City Sports Stadium, then the majority of the Douluo Federation''s top-tier power would be eradicated.


    This was only a joke, but due to the tragedy that had befallen Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, the federal government had made sure to take extensive safety precautions. They were keeping the final Godslayer missile under strict surveillance, and an aircraft squadron, mecha corps, and a huge number of troops had been deployed to Bright City to ensure public safety.


    Bright City was currently the most populous city on the continent, but it also had the best law and order.


    Each registrant received an electronic card, within which was contained detailed identification information.


    The sports stadium was already completely filled with spectators, and the Spirit Pagoda had spared no effort to hold this event, even donating a huge sum of money to the army that was responsible for maintaining law and order in Bright City.


    It had to be said that the Spirit Pagoda had done an exemplary job promoting the event. Not only had this become a grand event for the entire continent, the stunning prizes that they were offering had significantly improved its reputation. In particular, its status in the Soul Master world had risen noticeably.


    The new motto of the Spirit Pagoda was to use Soul Masters and give back to Soul Masters, and their vision was to create a model organization that was a home to all Soul Masters.


    This drew a stark contrast with its past haughty attitude, making it a lot more relatable to all Soul Masters. As a result, the public image of the Spirit Pagoda was improved significantly, and that drowned out a lot of negative press aimed against it.


    Under these circumstances, the Dove Faction had no way to attack the Spirit Pagoda. After all, this was only a joust for a spouse, and such lavish prizes were being offered.


    Due to the sheer number of participants, even the pre-event selection process was scheduled to be completed in seven days, with around 500 to 600 people undergoing examinations per day.


    In order to give the spectators a better view of this examination process, all of the large soul apparatus used for the examinations were positioned at the center of the Bright City Sports Stadium, and there were 36 massive screens hanging in front of the spectator stands, providing a live broadcast of the proceedings.


    At this point, all of the participants due to be examined on the first day had already been gathered in the lobby by the employees of the stadium.


    Prior to this day, no one knew what the examinations were going to be, so those undergoing the examinations on the first day were at a relative disadvantage. However, according to the Spirit Pagoda, the sequence wouldn''t affect the fairness of the entire examination.


    "Beep!" A handsome young man strode through an electronic door in a proud manner, and his name was displayed on a screen: "Yu Longyue of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."


    The Soul Masters lined up behind him were quite surprised to see this.


    The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon was a top-tier martial soul! Even though this Yu Longyue appeared to be less than 30 years of age, his cultivation rank definitely wouldn''t be too low considering he hailed from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.


    Yu Longyue was naturally none other than Tang Wulin, and this identity had been prepared for him by the Tang Sect. Aside from him, the rest of Shrek''s Seven Monsters were also participating in the event under different identities.


    For this event, they had devised a very thorough plan.


    Tang Wulin was selected to be in the first group to be examined, and only those who passed the examination would be able to participate in the rest of the event.


    Looking at these large soul devices, he couldn''t help but recall back to the Shrek Academy enrolment examination. At the time, it had only been him, Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie. The four of them had worked together and completed the examination with flying colors.


    The moment that he had been accepted into Shrek Academy was the happiest moment of his life; he had never been that happy since the departure of his parents.


    At the time, Gu Yue had been by his side, yet now, she was the subject for this joust for a spouse event, the revered Silver Dragon Princess of the Spirit Pagoda, whereas he had become the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master.


    Everything had changed during the span of 10 years. Time had stripped them of their innocence and replaced it with pressure. How he wished he could return to his carefree childhood days!


    He cast his gaze toward the rostrum, and even though it was concealed behind panels of one-way glass, he could still clearly sense that she was there. He reflexively stroked the silver dragon scale hanging in front of his chest, and his eyes became even brighter.


    All of a sudden, the sky above the sports stadium dimmed as a black barrier appeared over the stadium, making it seem as if night had suddenly descended.

 Chapter 1457: Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena

    This sudden change naturally attracted the attention of all of the spectators and contestants.


    All of a sudden, delightful music began to play, and a beam of light shone down from above to form a huge three-dimensional projection.


    The projection depicted the scene of Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena walking through the desert, and a burst of deafening cheers immediately rang out.


    The scene continued to unfold and transition, and in the instant that Gu Yuena rose up from the valley to clash with the devastating fireball, the cheers in the venue instantly crescendoed to a peak.


    "Welcome to the Bright City Sports Stadium!" A pleasant male voice rang out, and at the same time, the noise reduction soul tools were activated, causing the commotion in the sports stadium to die down noticeably.


    "I''m sure all of you are here today with the common objective of winning the ultimate prize. Without further ado, please give a round of applause to the star of the event, Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena!"


    Raucous cheers and applause rang out again, and even the noise reduction equipment was struggling to repress the commotion.


    All of the spectators present were here to see what Gu Yuena looked like in person. No competition had ever managed to gather such a large collection of powerful Soul Masters, yet the Spirit Pagoda had managed to achieve this.


    A streak of silver light rose up into the air from the rostrum, and everyone was greeted by the sight of a pair of massive silver dragon wings.


    A beam of light shone down from above, illuminating the stunning Gu Yuena. She was currently wearing a silver dress which perfectly complemented her long silver hair, giving her the appearance of a silver celestial maiden. Her large purple eyes were clearly visible on the big screen, and much to everyone''s surprise, she was even more stunning in person than she was in the promotional videos and images.


    This was the real Silver Dragon Princess!


    For some reason, all of the cheering suddenly subsided, as if there were some form of tacit understanding that had been established among all of the spectators, and everyone fell silent to listen to the Silver Dragon Princess''s address.


    Gu Yuena cast her gaze toward the crowd, and her purple eyes seemed to be able to pierce through the entire world. Everyone was struck by the illusion that she was looking directly at them, and even though she was situated at an altitude of over 100 meters, this feeling of being scrutinized still set everyone''s hearts aflutter.


    Tang Wulin was also looking up at her from within the crowd, and the arrogance on his face had already vanished. His gaze was very placid, but also very determined.


    Gu Yue, I''m taking you with me no matter what this time! No one will be able to stop me!


    "Hello everyone, I am Gu Yuena." Gu Yuena''s voice was very placid and pleasant, and it wasn''t filled with much emotion, but it struck everyone with a special sense of resonance, as well as an impulsive urge to fly over to her side.


    "Welcome to this joust for a spouse event; I''ll be waiting for you in the finals."


    After that, Gu Yuena extended a slight curtsey toward the competitors down below, then vanished amid a flash of silver light.


    That was the extent of her address. There was no encouragement offered, nor any attempt made to arouse an emotional response. However, this simple address was enough to set the entire sports stadium alight as everyone''s blood was churning in their veins for her!


    Some people were struck by the urge to conquer her and take her for themselves, while others felt a sense of admiration and reverence. However, all of them were struck by the universal urge to protect and cherish her.


    At this point, Gu Yuena had already returned to the rostrum. The one seated at the very center of the rostrum was naturally none other than the current Spirit Pagoda Chairman, Qiangu Dongfeng, while Qiangu Zhangting and Gu Yuena sat on either side of him.


    As soon as Gu Yuena returned, Qiangu Zhangting leaned around his grandfather, and said, "You''re so beautiful, Nana; you''re like a queen!" His eyes were currently filled with yearning, as if he wanted nothing better than to swallow her whole.


    Gu Yuena turned to him with a smile, and said, "You''re being far too generous."


    Qiangu Zhangting immediately replied, "No, I''m not! My words simply fail to do you justice. Alright, the examinations are about to begin, so I have to get down there as well now. I''m definitely going to make you my wife!"


    Gu Yuena lowered her head as a faint blush appeared on her face, and the flames of yearning in Qiangu Zhangting''s heart were fanned even further. He immediately rose to his feet and bade farewell to his grandfather before departing from the rostrum. Even he had to follow the rules of this event so the Spirit Pagoda wouldn''t be accused of rigging the event.


    Unfortunately for him and Qiangu Dongfeng, neither of them could see the cold look that had appeared in Gu Yuena''s eyes as she lowered her head.


    Qiangu Dongfeng smiled, and asked, "Are you pleased with this event, Nana?"


    Gu Yuena nodded in response. "I am, very much so."


    Qiangu Dongfeng continued, "Are you really going to offer the product of your latest research as a reward? If you do that, the portion that you receive will be significantly diminished."


    Gu Yuena smiled, and replied, "What''s the point in taking so much for myself? It''s not like I''m left wanting for anything in the Spirit Pagoda. With so many exceptional young Soul Masters participating in this event, this is the best platform through which we can advertise the new product. Anyone who uses our product will definitely be hooked, and its best trait is its sustainability. On top of that, this will provide an overall boost to the entire Soul Master world. Once everyone grows accustomed to using our Spirit Ascension Liquid, they''ll become even more reliant on our Spirit Pagoda in the future.


    "Even though the status of Soul Masters has been negatively affected by the advancements in soul technology, Soul Masters are still the pillars of the federation, so we have to invest in them in order to reap greater returns in the future."


    Qiang Dongfeng chortled with glee, "Hahaha, well said, Nana! You''re developing even faster than I imagined you would. You''re completely right; we''ll do exactly as you say. On top of that, all of the rewards being offered during this event will come from the headquarters so your portion won''t be diluted. After this event, I''m going to pay a visit to the blacksmith association and get Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua to forge suits of four-word battle armor for the two of you no matter the cost."


    Gu Yuena hurriedly replied, "Thank you for your kindness, Chairman."


    Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "After this event, you''ll be calling me Grandfather. I''ll arrange your marriage with Zhangting as soon as possible; with you by his side, it''ll become a lot easier for me to gradually pass the torch onto you two."


    He simply couldn''t be more pleased with Gu Yuena. Not only was she an exceptional Soul Master, she possessed unique talent when it came to soul spirit research. Ever since she had joined the Spirit Pagoda, she had proposed one idea after another, resolving many of the issues that had plagued the Spirit Pagoda for years. On top of that, she had even developed black soul spirits, which had formed the basis for the Spirit Pagoda''s rise to become the number one organization on the entire continent.


    Recently, she had repeated her efforts and developed a monumental product for the Spirit Pagoda. The Spirit Pagoda was going to announce this new product at the conclusion of this joust for a spouse event, and it would be sure to shock the entire Soul Master world.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was very pleased with Gu Yuena''s focus on research and development as this meant that she wouldn''t pose a threat to Qiangu Zhangting inheriting the position of chairman in the future. Of course, once the two of them got married, Gu Yuena would become a part of the Qiangu Family, so it wouldn''t really matter. With this exceptional pair of young individuals to inherit the Spirit Pagoda, the future of the Spirit Pagoda was looking extremely bright, and he would finally be able to dedicate all of his efforts to pursue that higher realm.


    At this point, the examinations had already commenced.


    The participating Soul Masters were organized into orderly groups by the workers, then led to the first large soul tool situated at one side of the venue.


    Another worker''s voice then rang out through the loudspeakers. "Attention, all participants; the electronic cards you received earlier will be used to record your examination results. After the completion of each examination, you''ll be assigned a score, and those who score totals above 60 will progress to the elimination matches. There will be a total of 10 examinations, and the first one will be the soul power examination."


    Soul power testing devices were very common, but it was very rare to see such a large one. The advantage of using such a large soul power testing device was that it could provide extremely fast and accurate results.


    The first Soul Master strode onto the device, and a white light barrier instantly enveloped his body, then disappeared after about three seconds, following which he was asked to step down from the device.


    The electronic card that he had been assigned would record his soul power rank, but none of the other participants would be made aware of what it was.

 Chapter 1458: Commencement of the Examinations

    The participants were quite pleased with these privacy measures as no one wanted to expose their soul power ranks prior to the commencement of the elimination matches.


    Tang Wulin was situated slightly ahead of the center of the line, and as he made his way forward, the breathtaking image of Gu Yuena still lingered in his mind.


    He could sense her, so she definitely also knew that he was here.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    His objective here was very simple: he was going to use this event set up by the Spirit Pagoda against them to officially win the heart of the Silver Dragon Princess. On top of that, he was going to reveal his identity once he won the event and announce to the world that the Silver Dragon Princess had been taken by the Tang Sect Master.


    That would undoubtedly deal the Spirit Pagoda an extremely heavy blow, and he would also be able to officially win the affection of the woman of his dreams. He still didn''t know why Gu Yuena refused to be with him, but if it were due to the threat posed by the Spirit Pagoda, then he was going to show her that he already possessed the power to protect her.


    Not only was he the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, he was a Divine Blacksmith!


    From his starting point as a child, he had reached this point in less than 20 years, and he was destined to stand at the pinnacle of the entire continent someday.


    After discussing this plan with his seniors of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, he had received unanimous support. Shrek Academy had already announced its rebuild, and now, it was time for the Tang Sect to also make itself heard.


    The extensive promotional efforts made by the Spirit Pagoda had created the ideal platform, and it was up to the Tang Sect to take advantage of it. The attention of the entire federation was focused on this event, and it was being broadcasted live by all television stations, but it was yet to be seen who would be benefiting from this widespread attention.


    Just as these thoughts were running through Tang Wulin''s mind, the young man in front of him suddenly turned around, and asked, "What''s your soul power rank, Brother? Why are they even testing our soul power? Didn''t they already test this when we registered? Could it be that they''re going to raise the minimum threshold to beyond rank 60?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I''m not sure. It wouldn''t be a surprise if they made an adjustment considering the large number of participants."


    The young man standing before him was of a medium build and was quite handsome. However, his aura was rather indistinct, clearly indicating that he had somehow disguised his own cultivation rank. Tang Wulin could only just barely sense that he was at around rank 60 in soul power at most.


    The young man smiled, and said, "Nice to meet you, Brother! My name is Lan Fuozi; what''s your name?"


    Tang Wulin also replied with a smile, "My name is Yu Longyue."


    The young man continued, "You still haven''t told me what your cultivation rank is, Brother."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly. "That''s a secret."


    Seeing as Tang Wulin wasn''t going to answer his question, Lan Fuozi merely shrugged and turned back around. Soon, it was his turn to step onto the device.


    As he did so, light shone down upon him and enveloped his entire body.


    Several seconds later, the light faded, and Lan Fuozi turned around to give Tang Wulin a faint smile before being directed to the next area by a worker.


    The worker situated in front of the device then made an inviting hand gesture toward Tang Wulin, who also stepped onto the device.


    Gentle light enveloped his body, and he could sense the minute changes in energy taking place within the device.


    He could feel soul power gently stimulating his body from all sides, causing his own soul power to react in a certain way. This device clearly took into account all of these reactions to ascertain a Soul Master''s cultivation.


    Tang Wulin didn''t disguise his own soul power rank and allowed the device to conduct the examination as normal.


    Several seconds later, the electronic chip being worn on his wrist gently vibrated, and he looked down to discover that the number "10" had appeared on the small screen outside the chip.


    10 was a perfect score for a single examination, and a minimum of 60 points had to be scored out of 10 examinations for a pass; this system was quite similar to Shrek Academy''s enrollment examination!


    After stepping off the device, Tang Wulin discovered that Lan Fuozi was waiting for him not far away, and the latter quickly waved at him.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to him, and Lan Fuozi said in a low voice, "How many points did you get?"


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly, but he still replied, "10."


    Lan Fuozi faltered slightly upon hearing this. "10? That''s the same as me! Not bad, Brother! Looks like we''ll be rivals."


    He raised the electronic chip on his wrist for Tang Wulin to see as he spoke, and sure enough, it was displaying the number "10".


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he couldn''t help but pay more attention to this Lan Fuozi character. If one had to be a Titled Douluo to receive a perfect score, then did this mean that Lan Fuozi was also a Titled Douluo? But his aura didn''t seem to be that powerful!


    A smug look appeared on Lan Fuozi''s face. "You''ve got some secrets, and so do I. Come on, let''s move on to the next examination."


    Tang Wulin smiled in response and made an inviting hand gesture.


    The second examination also involved a large soul tool, but it was sealed off, so no one could see what was happening inside it from the outside. This soul tool was far larger than the first one, and was the largest among all of the soul tools in the entire venue.


    Lan Fuozi looked on with a hint of eagerness in his eyes. "I wonder what this examination is."


    Tang Wulin had noticed that two people were tested at a time during this examination, and through the use of his spiritual power, he could sense that they were emerging on the other side before moving on to the third examination.


    Even though there was a huge number of participants, the examinations were very well run, so everything was progressing quite quickly. Soon, it was his and Lan Fuozi''s turn, and they just so happened to be assigned as a duo.


    As soon as they made their way into the large soul tool, an electronic voice instantly sounded. "This is the speed examination. You''ll be passing through the passageway; try to avoid the attacks from the projections that appear around you as much as possible. There are no patterns to the attacks unleashed by the projections; the less of them you come into the contact with, the higher your score, and vice versa."


    Sure enough, there was a passageway at the center of the soul tool that was around 30 meters long. There was a participant up ahead that was just about to undergo the examination, and both Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi immediately turned their attention toward him.


    "Begin!" Following the announcement from the electronic voice, six soul rings instantly rose up from beneath the participant''s feet, consisting of two yellows, three purples, and one black. This was a very good soul ring configuration, and he immediately launched himself forward.


    However, he was clearly a strength-type Soul Master whose speed was rather lackluster, and as soon as he entered the passageway, a series of projections emerged from the walls on either side of him.


    These were all humanoid projections of light, and they were attacking the participant from all directions and angles. The attacks weren''t substantial, but just as the electronic voice had explained, being struck by them would result in score deductions.


    The Soul Master did his best to evade the projections, but he was struck by at least a dozen projections in the end. By the time he arrived at the end of the passageway, his expression was already filled with grief.


    There were only a total of just over 30 projections, so being struck by close to half of them clearly wouldn''t yield a very good result.


    It was naturally Lan Fuozi''s turn next, and he turned to Tang Wulin with a smile as he said, "Check this out!"

 Chapter 1459: Strength Examination?

    He was jumping up and down as he spoke, as if he were performing a warm-up routine.


    However, Tang Wulin could sense that the energy fluctuations he was releasing had undergone a change.


    In contrast with the nondescript energy fluctuations from before, Tang Wulin felt as if he had become an ignited bomb. His soul power was escalating at an alarming rate, and it wasn''t just an instantaneous boost. Instead, it was a continuous rapid rise. Even the space around him was beginning to buzz due to the elevation in his soul power.


    What kind of ability was this?


    "Begin!"


    The electronic voice rang out once again, and Lan Fuozi immediately sprang into action. As opposed to soul rings, a faint blue ring of light appeared around his body. The ring of light was riddled with peculiar runes, and his aura suddenly became extremely placid, as if he were a cloud drifting through the air.


    He wasn''t particularly fast, but he seemed to be able to predict the movements of his assailants, contorting his body to evade their attacks before reaching the other side in the blink of an eye.


    With Tang Wulin''s immense spiritual power, he could sense that Lan Fuozi had only been struck by three projections at most, which was certainly a far better result than the previous participant.


    However, Lan Fuozi was still quite frustrated as he stomped a foot onto the ground. "This is way too hard!"


    Instead of immediately departing, he stood on the other side and appraised Tang Wulin with a hint of intrigue in his eyes.


    He had been struck by three projections, giving him a final score of nine, and in his mind, there was no way that Tang Wulin would be able to do better than him. Even though speed wasn''t his forte, he was very confident in his own evasive skills. Tang Wulin had proclaimed that he had received a perfect score for the first examination, but he hadn''t shown Lan Fuozi his electronic chip; this second examination would most likely give Lan Fuozi a good indication of whether he was telling the truth.


    As a potential rival for this event, he really wanted to see how Tang Wulin was going to handle this examination.


    Tang Wulin made his way to the entrance, and a faint smile appeared on his face as he cast his gaze toward Lan Fuozi.


    "Begin!"


    The electronic voice rang out.


    Immediately thereafter, a layer of bluish-purple lightning suddenly appeared over Tang Wulin''s body, following which he began to hurtle through the passageway at an incredible speed.


    Before Lan Fuozi had a chance to react, Tang Wulin had already appeared by his side.


    However, the keys to success in this examination lay in one''s agility and ability to predict enemy attacks; a faster speed couldn''t diminish the effects of the projections'' attacks.


    However, Lan Fuozi''s eyes had completely widened with shock and he could see that all of the projections around Tang Wulin had warped in his wake. Their attacks were clearly about to strike him, but they were slowed down by this warping effect, thereby allowing Tang Wulin to charge right through them.


    He immediately made a grab for Tang Wulin''s wrist, and Tang Wulin allowed him to do so.


    The number being displayed on the electronic chip was 10!


    "That''s cheating!" Lan Fuozi exclaimed in an indignant manner.


    Tang Wulin glanced at him, and asked, "How did I cheat?"


    "You..." Lan Fuozi suddenly realized that he had no idea how Tang Wulin had cheated. It was clear that the lightning he had released had disrupted the soul tool, but that was a part of his abilities, and there was no rule prohibiting this.


    His lips twitched slightly as he gave Tang Wulin a thumbs-up, then departed from the soul tool.


    Tang Wulin naturally followed along behind him. Following his departure, tragedy befell the participant behind him. He had witnessed the blitzkrieg tactics that Tang Wulin had employed, and he tried to emulate him.


    As a result, he became the only one to be struck by all of the projections during this examination!


    Scoring zero in a single examination would result in an instantaneous elimination, and through this painful ordeal, he learned that some things shouldn''t be emulated!


    "You''re ahead of me by one point for now, but I''m going to catch up to you no matter what this third examination is! Do you believe me?" Lan Fuozi said with a competitive gleam in his eyes.


    "I believe you," Tang Wulin replied with a smile.


    Lan Fuozi felt as if he had punched a bag of cotton. He had prepared a long rambling speech to proclaim his own greatness, but Tang Wulin''s nonchalant response left him feeling even more frustrated.


    Thus, they arrived at the third examination.


    The soul tool there resembled a stone plaque. Of course, it was constructed from an alloy rather than actual stone.


    "Boom!" The participant up ahead was attacking one side of the soul tool. Immediately thereafter, a beam of light sprang up on top of the soul tool, and the final position where it lingered was the final result of the examination.


    The design of the soul tool was very simplistic with 10 grids, which clearly corresponded with the 10 available points.


    "A strength examination?" Lan Fuozi faltered slightly upon seeing this, while a smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    Lan Fuozi turned to look at Tang Wulin to find that he was quite tall and broad, but wasn''t all that muscular, and that was quite a relief.


    The usage of soul power wasn''t permitted during this examination as it was a test of pure strength.


    "Why do Soul Masters like us have to undergo a strength examination? Who even battles using pure strength anymore?" Lan Fuozi grumbled in a displeased manner, and it was clear that this wasn''t his forte.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Do you still think you''ll be able to catch up now?"


    Lan Fuozi replied, "Why not? Are you very strong?"


    "I''m decent," Tang Wulin replied in a modest manner.


    Lan Fuozi said, "Then we''ll see. I''m actually very strong as well; back when I was a kid, I..."


    All of a sudden, his voice drew to an abrupt halt, and a hint of wariness flashed through his eyes.


    Tang Wulin didn''t pry any further and merely looked on as Lan Fuozi stepped onto the examination platform.


    A beam of light immediately shone down upon him; this was to ensure he didn''t use any soul power during the examination.


    Judging from the results received by the participants up ahead, it seemed that strength was no one''s forte. After all, once Soul Masters cultivated to a certain level, who would focus on honing their strength? One''s strength would automatically improve through the enhancements in one''s physical constitution that resulted from an increase in cultivation rank and soul power. As such, only those with exceptional talent in that area would focus on strength.


    Lan Fuozi stood in front of the soul tool with a look of intense focus on his face.


    After the electronic voice announced for him to begin, he took a deep breath, and his rather thin body suddenly seemed to have become taller and broader. All of a sudden, he performed a semi-pirouette, then launched his right fist forward, creating a sonic boom as he did so.


    "Boom!"


    Lan Fuozi immediately turned around after throwing that punch just in time to see the beam of light stop at the seventh grid.


    The best result thus far was only a six, so seven was quite an outstanding score.


    He turned to Tang Wulin with a smile, then pointed at the seventh grid before making his way down from the platform.


    Tang Wulin strode onto the platform in a calm manner. It had been a very, very long time since he had undergone a strength examination, so even he didn''t know how strong he currently was.


    All he knew was that the golden trident weighed around 54,000 kilograms, and he was still able to just barely wield it.


    "Begin!"


    "Bam!"


    Tang Wulin''s setup was definitely the most simplistic among all of the participants. There was no preparatory routine; he had thrown a simple straight punch as soon as the announcement was made by the electronic voice.


    The impact wasn''t very loud, but the entire soul tool had jumped slightly as a result of his punch. The beam of light instantly shot upward, reaching the top in the blink of an eye before a clear clang rang out. All of the participants behind him were completely stunned.


    The meter for this soul tool didn''t actually conclude at the 10th grid. Instead, the 10 grid was situated at around two-thirds the overall height of the device. The meter was only expanded to include the top portion of the device for strength examinations where the usage of soul power was permitted, and the use of soul power was not permitted on this occasion, so it had been thought that 10 grids were already enough.


    However, Tang Wulin''s punch had sent the beam of light flying up to the very top, as evidenced by that loud clang.


    Was this guy really a human?


    All of the workers were looking on in a flabbergasted manner, while Tang Wulin merely looked down at his electronic chip to find the number "10" had been displayed on the screen.

 Chapter 1460: The Fourth Examination

    He had scored 30 points from 10 examinations, but this was nothing to be proud of. After all, there was only a single Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master on this entire planet.


    Lan Fuozi was standing behind the soul tool, but he could still sense that the entire device had jumped slightly. On top of that, Tang Wulin had completed his examination faster than everyone else, and his expression had already changed as he watched Tang Wulin step down from the platform.


    He was beginning to believe that Tang Wulin had received a perfect score for the first examination now.


    He had received perfect scores for all three examinations thus far; what did this entail? It entailed that he was truly a formidable rival! Receiving a perfect score in one examination could be passed off as luck, but what about three in a row?


    "Not bad, Brother!" He gave Tang Wulin a thumbs-up, but his expression had clearly become less enthusiastic.


    All of the participants were potential rivals in love, and he had originally thought that he would be able to show off to Tang Wulin, but now, he could see that Tang Wulin was a serious rival.


    Tang Wulin naturally wasn''t going to pay any heed to Lan Fuozi''s newfound animosity. However, he had also developed an interest in Lan Fuozi. Tang Wulin had never seen anyone enhance their own soul power as Lan Fuozi had done during the second examination. He couldn''t describe what type of feeling that was, but such an explosive yet sustained boost in soul power was something that he had definitely never witnessed before. There weren''t even any records of this in Shrek Academy.


    This was not just a simple matter of disguising one''s cultivation rank. Instead, it was a very peculiar change in Lan Fuozi''s soul power.


    "What was that soul power boost you received earlier? It seems to be very rapid yet also sustainable; is that a secret technique you''ve cultivated?" Tang Wulin asked.


    A smug look appeared on Lan Fuozi''s face. "That''s not a secret technique; it''s an innate talent that only those from my family possess."


    However, a hint of wariness then appeared in his eyes. "Why are you asking about something like this?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I''m just curious."


    Lan Fuozi contemplated the situation for a moment before proposing, "You tell me how you cheated during the second examination, and I''ll tell you about my ability."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "You have yourself a deal."


    Tang Wulin continued, "My martial soul possesses the power of lightning, which can heavily impact space. As a result, I was able to warp space and distort the projections."


    Lan Fuozi was instantly enlightened upon hearing this. "You can do that? But lightning is very difficult to manipulate; wouldn''t it require exceptional control to do this? That''s very impressive!"


    This Lan Fuozi appeared to be rather straightforward and bullish, but Tang Wulin discovered that he was actually very intelligent. Indeed, without sufficient spiritual power, how would he have been able to control lightning to such a brilliant extent? The explanation he had provided was very simple, but Lan Fuozi had still been able to immediately identify the key underlying point, which was quite impressive in itself.


    Lan Fuozi hesitated momentarily before continuing, "My ability also stems from my martial soul. I have a special martial soul that allows me to enhance my own soul power using a special method. This is a family secret, so that''s all I can disclose to you."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "So you''ve basically told me nothing."


    Lan Fuozi gritted his teeth, and said, "The only thing I can tell you is turbocharge. You''ll know what I mean if we encounter one another in battle during the competition."


    Turbocharge? A string of thoughts instantly surfaced in Tang Wulin''s mind upon hearing this. Did this mean that Lan Fuozi was compressing his own soul power to a certain extent in order to produce more power? What kind of martial soul would allow him to do this?


    Lan Fuozi shrugged, and said, "Let''s move on to the fourth examination. I''m definitely going to catch up to you!"


    Tang Wulin merely smiled, and replied, "We''ll see about that."


    The fourth examination was taking place in a spacious area. Following the soul power, agility, and strength examinations, Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi had both realized that these were all examinations of one''s general skill and abilities. Only those who reached a certain standard would be able to move on to the rest of the competition.


    The fourth examination seemed to be progressing rather slowly, as indicated by the long line in front of them. Lan Fuozi sought out someone who had completed the examination to find that this was a martial soul examination.


    "Looks like you won''t be able to hide your martial soul for much longer," Tang Wulin chuckled.


    Lan Fuozi harrumphed in response, "So what? It''s not like they''ll know..."


    His voice suddenly trailed off here before he abruptly changed the subject, "What''s your martial soul? Does it have something to do with lightning?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "That''s right."


    Lan Fuozi smiled, and asked, "How many points do you think your martial soul will receive?"


    "10," Tang Wulin replied in a nonchalant manner.


    "You seem really confident!" Lan Fuozi harrumphed, clearly rather displeased by Tang Wulin''s show of confidence.


    A proud look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "My martial soul has already stood at the pinnacle of the continent since as far back as 20,000 years ago."


    Lan Fuozi countered, "My martial soul is definitely better than yours!"


    "Oh?" It was Tang Wulin''s turn to be surprised now. He could hear a great deal of confidence in Lan Fuozi''s voice, and the determined look in his eyes was a further indication of this immense confidence.


    The martial soul examination process was quite complex as there were 10 judges evaluating the participants'' martial souls, and the average score given would be the final score.


    Only after waiting for around 20 minutes did Lan Fuozi''s turn arrive.


    Tang Wulin was standing right behind him, so he was able to see him walking onto the platform.


    There were many soul tools situated around the platform, and they had clearly been set up to examine multiple aspects of one''s martial soul. Tang Wulin had seen similar setups back in Shrek Academy.


    "Please release your martial soul, and we''ll give you an overall score. Are you ready?" one of the judges asked.


    Lan Fuozi nodded in response.


    "Please begin."


    Lan Fuozi took a deep breath as his eyes suddenly turned blue. This was a very clear and pure blue that resembled that of the ocean.


    Tang Wulin was standing behind him, so he couldn''t see Lan Fuozi''s eyes, but in that instant, he could sense that Lan Fuozi''s aura had undergone a change, giving him a sense of unfathomable depth.


    Immediately thereafter, a series of blue halos was released from his body before revolving around him. The blue halos then began to rotate at a high speed, and Tang Wulin heard the same buzzing sound once again.


    Lan Fuozi''s aura was escalating at an astonishing speed, and his soul power was also being drastically enhanced. The rapidly rotating blue halos had already completely concealed his body.


    The aura that Lan Fuozi was currently giving off was comparable to that of a Titled Douluo, and the figures on the surrounding soul tools were flashing violently. From the rate at which the soul tools were pulsating, it was clear that they had been pushed beyond their normal work capacity.


    "That''s enough!" one of the judges announced.

 Chapter 1461: The Mysterious Lan Fuozi

    Lan Fuozi soul power fluctuations gradually subsided, and the blue halos around him were drawn back into his body. Everything quickly returned to normal, and his thin yet handsome face was revealed once again.


    "Are you a Sea Soul Master, Your Majesty?"


    In the world of Soul Masters, power was everything, so the judge was immediately speaking to Lan Fuozi in a more respectful manner after sensing his Titled Douluo level aura.


    Lan Fuozi nodded in response.


    The judge continued, "Please forgive me, but I was unable to identify what your martial soul is; would you be able to enlighten us?"


    Lan Fuozi hesitated momentarily before replying, "My martial soul is Vortex."


    Vortex? Turbocharge? Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. It seemed that Lan Fuozi wasn''t telling the complete truth.


    With his immense Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he was able to sense many minute things that others couldn''t.


    Right when Lan Fuozi had released his martial soul, a faint sense of ferocity had emanated from his body. This type of aura was something that only beast martial souls could possess, but a vortex would be an elemental tool martial soul, so where had that ferocious aura come from?


    This meant that Lan Fuozi most likely possessed a beast martial soul, but he was able to hide it very well.


    In any case, it was undoubtedly the case that he was astonishingly powerful.


    After a brief discussion, the judges gave him a perfect score.


    Lan Fuozi''s reported age was only 25, so the fact that he was already a Titled Douluo immediately made him one of the favorites for this joust for a spouse event.


    Tang Wulin naturally came after Lan Fuozi, and after glancing at his registration form, the expressions of all of the judges had clearly changed slightly.


    The judge that was sitting at the very center of the panel said, "Greetings, Your Majesty; please release your martial soul."


    According to the registration form, Tang Wulin was Yu Longyue of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and he had recently become a Titled Douluo. He was slightly younger than even Lan Fuozi, and most importantly, he was from one of the most ancient and most powerful Soul Master families!


    If his martial soul really were the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, then he would definitely receive a perfect score.


    Titled Douluos were definitely going to be the favorites during this event, particularly when they were as young as the likes of Lan Fuozi and Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin stood with his hands clasped behind his back with a proud look on his face. All of a sudden, scintillating lightning erupted from his body, following which a layer of bluish-purple scales appeared over his skin. At the same time, a bluish-purple giant dragon projection appeared behind him; it was none other than the legendary Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon!


    This was a product that Tang Wulin had created by combining his Golden Dragon King bloodline, Tyrant Dragon soul spirit, and Infernal Lightning Vine. Even a true member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan may not be able to identify that Tang Wulin''s martial soul was fake, let alone these judges.


    On top of that, the aura that he had displayed was far more powerful than that of the average Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul, indicating that he was definitely a Titled Douluo.


    On this occasion, the judges didn''t even hold a discussion before giving him a perfect score.


    Lan Fuozi was naturally waiting for him at the exit, and as soon as Tang Wulin emerged, he immediately asked, "Do you really like the Silver Dragon Princess?"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Why do you ask?"


    A wry smile appeared on Lan Fuozi''s face. "I was thinking that if you''re only here for the prizes, then perhaps I could somehow bribe you into dropping out of the event; I really don''t want to face an opponent like you. I''m not scared of you, of course; I''m just concerned that my chances of being selected by the Silver Dragon Princess in the end would be diminished with too much competition."


    Tang Wulin asked, "What about you? What did you come here for?"


    Lan Fuozi replied without any hesitation, "I''m here for Gu Yuena, of course. I fell in love with her the first time I saw her; never has any woman enraptured me as much as she has. I''m taking her no matter what; if you become my opponent, I''m going to fight with all my power, so you better be prepared!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Looks like we''re bound to be rivals then; my love for her runs far deeper than yours."


    He was putting on a slightly arrogant display, but his words were nothing but the heartfelt truth.


    Lan Fuozi harrumphed coldly, "You are indeed very powerful, but you''re no match for me! I hope we get matched up in the elimination matches so you won''t even get a chance to progress to the top 10."


    Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent voice, "Let''s move on to the next examination. If you encounter me in the elimination matches, then I can only offer you my condolences in advance."


    All of a sudden, the atmosphere between the two of them had become very tense, and Lan Fuozi completely ignored Tang Wulin as he walked on ahead.


    There was no line at the fifth examination, perhaps due to how slowly the fourth examination was progressing.


    The fifth examination was a very traditional test of spiritual power.


    Spiritual power was one of the most important parameters for a Soul Master''s cultivation, and after arriving at the examination site, Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi immediately figured out why there was no line outside.


    There were a total of 20 metal helmets, so 20 people could be tested at the same time; it was no surprise that this examination was progressing far quicker than the previous one.


    Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi arrived in front of two empty helmets, and the helmets were fitted onto their heads by a pair of workers.


    "Once you receive the signal, release your spiritual power, and the result will automatically be recorded."


    "Alright," Lan Fuozi replied, while Tang Wulin remained silent.


    Soon, the electronic voice rang out. "Please begin."


    Tang Wulin had only just begun to release his spiritual power when he suddenly sensed a very different aura being released by Lan Fuozi.


    He was at the Spirit Domain realm?


    Tang Wulin was quite astonished by this discovery. Not only did Lan Fuozi possess a very lofty cultivation rank, even his spiritual power had also reached the Spirit Domain realm.


    He had never heard of anyone so close to his own age that was also a Titled Douluo at the Spirit Domain Realm.


    One had to realize that attaining Spirit Domain realm spiritual power was even more difficult than becoming Titled Douluo for the vast majority of Soul Masters, so this was very incredible to Tang Wulin.


    After a brief moment of astonishment, Tang Wulin followed his original plan and only released his spiritual power to the above-average range of the Spirit Abyss realm before stopping.


    It was far too astonishing for someone of his age to possess Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, and he didn''t want to attract too much attention at this point.


    However, Lan Fuozi was clearly very competitive and released his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power to its full extent.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but wonder if Lan Fuozi had also attained a spiritual domain.


    "Beep!"


    The examination was complete, and the metal helmets were automatically lifted while a pair of workers made their way toward them with bewilderment in their eyes.


    Exactly who were these two people? One of them was at the Spirit Abyss realm while the other was at the Spirit Domain realm! Even in the Spirit Pagoda, there weren''t that many people who had reached the Spirit Abyss realm, let alone the Spirit Domain realm.


    Up to this point, there wasn''t even a single participant who had displayed Spirit Abyss realm spiritual power, yet these two had both reached that standard.


    Spirit Abyss realm spiritual was already enough for a perfect score, and no one had anticipated that any of the participants would be at the Spirit Domain realm, so that was also a perfect score of 10.

 Chapter 1462: Outstripped

    "I''m at the Spirit Domain realm, yet I''m receiving the same number of points as him? That doesn''t seem very fair," Lan Fuozi complained.


    "My apologies, Your Majesty; we''ll report this to our higher-ups right away to see if the result can be adjusted. Please move on to the next examination, we''ll contact you as soon as a verdict is reached," a worker said in an extremely polite manner.


    Spirit Domain realm spiritual power indicated that Lan Fuozi was definitely going to be able to become a Hyper Douluo, and perhaps even a Limit Douluo in the future. Countless Hyper Douluos in history had been unable to break through the Limit Douluo bottleneck due to insufficient spiritual power, yet this wasn''t going to apply to Lan Fuozi.


    In particular, many of the female employees were staring at Lan Fuozi with glowing eyes.


    His future was truly limitless!


    Tang Wulin had received a perfect score for all five examinations thus far, but he had been completely outshone by Lan Fuozi''s spectacular display of spiritual power.


    Even Qiangu Dongfeng had been alerted to this astonishing result.


    "What? There''s a Titled Douluo level Sea Soul Master at the Spirit Domain realm?" Qiangu Dongfeng''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.


    He was very confident in Qiangu Zhangting, but such a formidable foe was going to present a huge threat to Qiangu Zhangting.


    Gu Yuena consoled in a gentle voice, "There''s no need to be concerned, Chairman; the final choice lies in my hands."


    Qiangu Dongfeng shook his head in response. "No, Zhangting needs to win this event fair and square. Otherwise, there''s no point in holding this event. Spirit Domain realm spiritual power doesn''t mean everything; I''m sure Zhangting will be able to take care of things for himself."


    Gu Yuena nodded in response and didn''t say anything further.


    "Gather all of the information you have on this Lan Fuozi and give it to me as soon as possible," Qiangu Dongfeng instructed.


    Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of the fact that Lan Fuozi had become the center of attention for Qiangu Dongfeng due to his display of spiritual power.


    If he were aware of this, he would be quite pleased as the attention placed on Lan Fuozi would diminish the amount of attention placed on him, which was definitely a good thing in these early stages.


    "I finally beat you!" Lan Fuozi gloated with a wide smile. During the past few examinations, Tang Wulin had constantly been beating him, and he was finally exacting some revenge!


    Tang Wulin replied in a cold voice, "It''s only a matter of time before I get to the Spirit Domain realm as well."


    Lan Fuozi chuckled, "But you haven''t made it yet, have you? It''s ok to be envious, I won''t judge you!"


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow, and said, "The total score is what matters!"


    He had received perfect scores in all five examinations thus, so overall, he was still doing better than Lan Fuozi despite the fact that the latter had displayed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power.


    "There are still more trials to come; I''ll definitely outstrip you soon!"


    Following the first five rounds, Tang Wulin had a total score of 50, while Lan Fuozi''s score was only 46.


    However, just as they were making their way toward the sixth examination, Lan Fuozi was informed that following a discussion from the higher-ups, it was decided that he would receive a bonus five points for the Spirit Domain realm spiritual power he had displayed, thereby improving his tally to 51.


    "What do you have to say now?" Lan Fuozi gloated as he turned to Tang Wulin with a smug grin.


    Tang Wulin merely remained silent as his expression darkened significantly.


    Even though it was a good thing that Lan Fuozi was taking the spotlight away from him, he was beginning to pay more attention to Lan Fuozi.


    Lan Fuozi''s disguise abilities were of a very high caliber, to the extent that Tang Wulin was unable to ascertain his true power. Even though he was only displaying his powers bit by bit, what he had displayed thus far was already very astonishing. Perhaps he really was going to become a formidable rival!


    On top of that, Tang Wulin was very displeased with the entrancement in Lan Fuozi''s eyes whenever he talked about Gu Yuena.


    The sixth examination was a test of one''s proficiency in their secondary occupation.


    This was the examination that took up the largest area as it was split up into four segments, one for each secondary occupation.


    Lan Fuozi wasn''t a blacksmith, so they had to part ways for this examination.


    "You''re a blacksmith? Hmph, that makes sense, seeing as strength is your only redeeming trait," Lan Fuozi said with a hint of mockery in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin asked, "What''s your secondary occupation?"


    Lan Fuozi chuckled in response, "Me? I''m a mecha maker; I''m a prodigy when it comes to mecha construction!"


    Tang Wulin had already anticipated that there would be a secondary occupation examination, so he was prepared.


    Of course, he wasn''t going to display the full extent of his forging abilities. Compared to his spiritual power, his forging ability was something that was even more necessary for him to hide. Thus, he only displayed a level of proficiency roughly equivalent to that of a fifth-rank blacksmith. Even so, forging was the most difficult of the secondary occupations, so he received a score of seven.


    If he had displayed the skills of a Saint Blacksmith, then he would''ve received a perfect score.


    Qiangu Zhangting only joined the examinations near the end, and he had already been made aware of the Spirit Domain realm spiritual power displayed by Lan Fuozi.


    Qiangu Zhangting was currently only at the Spirit Abyss realm, and this piece of news made him even more concerned than Qiangu Dongfeng had been. As such, he had displayed his abilities without any reservation and maintained a streak of perfect scores.


    Due to the special nature of his identity, there were designated passages for him to access the examinations, so he didn''t have to line up.


    He was a mecha mechanic, and he had chosen this secondary occupation as it was the one that took up the least amount of time among the four secondary occupations.


    He had never been very interested in his secondary occupation. In contrast, he much preferred to cultivate and improve his own combat prowess. In his eyes, there was no point in pursuing a secondary occupation. He had the best mecha designers and mecha makers to craft the ideal suits of battle armor for him, so there was no need for him to dedicate any time to this area.


    As such, he was only a sixth-rank mecha mechanic, and he had no plans to improve on that.


    Thus, he received a score of seven for this examination, then moved on to the seventh one.


    As he did so, he just so happened to be run into Tang Wulin, who had also just emerged from the sixth examination.


    Tang Wulin had met Qiangu Zhangting once at the train station, so he was naturally able to immediately identify him.


    Qiangu Zhangting was wearing a set of white robes that complemented his handsome looks, and he was walking toward the seventh examination with a sense of confidence and purpose.


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed ever so slightly upon seeing Qiangu Zhangting. Qiangu Zhangting was the future heir to the Spirit Pagoda, and this event was being held by the Spirit Pagoda, so there was no way that the event wouldn''t be rigged in his favor.


    Qiangu Zhangting paid no heed to Tang Wulin and moved on without taking any notice of him.


    Right at this moment, Lan Fuozi just so happened to have also finished his examination, and he turned to Tang Wulin as he asked with a smile, "How''d you do for the sixth examination?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I got seven points."


    Lan Fuozi chuckled, "I also got seven! I''m still one point ahead of you overall, so you''re probably not going to be able to catch up to me."


    His voice was rather loud, so Qiangu Zhangting naturally heard him as well. He turned around and glanced at the duo with slightly furrowed brows, then continued onward.


    Lan Fuozi''s mood seemed to have improved significantly, and he asked, "Who''s that? Looks like a cocky bastard; do you know him?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "He''s Qiangu Zhangting, the grandson of the Spirit Pagoda Chairman, Qiangu Dongfeng."


    Lan Fuozi''s eyes immediately widened upon hearing this. "Then doesn''t he have an unfair advantage?"

 Chapter 1463: Mecha Control

    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "Perhaps it''s all rigged. He''s the heir to the Spirit Pagoda, and I''ve heard that he''s a Titled Douluo as well. If you''re looking for a rival, I think you should be going after him."


    Lan Fuozi appraised Qiangu Zhangting intently as he harrumphed coldly, "I''m sure they wouldn''t dare to rig such an important event too heavily."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Don''t forget that the rules were made by his family. You better pray that you encounter him during the elimination matches. Otherwise, if he makes it into the top 10, none of us will have a chance."


    "If they dare to rig the event like that, then I''ll..." Lan Fuozi didn''t finish his sentence, but his chest was heaving with rage.


    Tang Wulin said, "Let''s go and finish the examinations first." This Lan Fuozi was extremely powerful and possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, so he would definitely prove to be a formidable foe for Qiangu Zhangting if they were to face one another, and Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t opposed to creating some trouble for Qiangu Zhangting.


    Following the first six examinations, Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi were sitting at 57 and 58 points, respectively.


    The seventh examination was something that Tang Wulin was very familiar with: mecha control!


    However, Lan Fuozi was completely mortified at the sight of the generic yellow mechas being used for the examination.


    "They''re testing mecha control?" Lan Fuozi gulped nervously upon seeing this.


    "Do you not know how to pilot mechas?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Generally speaking, Soul Masters of a certain caliber all had a certain level of mecha piloting experience.


    "I don''t, not even a little bit," Lan Fuozi replied in a dejected manner, "I always thought that this stuff was useless compared to individual power. You''re a battle armor master, right? I am as well! Isn''t battle armor far superior to mechas?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Once you reach a certain level, anything can become very powerful, including mechas."


    "Oh? It sounds like you''re an expert," Lan Fuozi remarked as he raised an eyebrow.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "I''ll definitely do better than you, at least."


    The mecha control examination was very interesting in that each participant had to draw lots to receive a certain skill that they had to perform, and the score was given based on the difficulty and execution of the skill.


    This examination had clearly been prepared for Soul Master who excelled in mecha piloting but were lacking in other areas.


    Qiangu Zhangting went ahead of Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi, and he drew a skill before getting into a mecha.


    The mecha control examination was completed in the air, so it didn''t take up any space in the sports stadium. There were 10 designated areas in the air that could allow 10 participants to undergo the examination at once, and there were dozens of judges standing down below.


    It was originally planned for each participant to complete three designated skills, but due to the large number of participants, that requirement had been reduced to one, but the difficulty of these skills had been raised significantly as a result.


    After Qiangu Zhangting had drawn his designated skill, an electronic voice immediately announced it to be "dual directional change charge".


    "What''s that?" Lan Fuozi asked in a completely perplexed manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Dual directional change charge refers to a mecha changing directions twice in succession during a forward charge to throw off the opponent. The most difficult part about the skill is to maintain control over the mecha during the directional changes. The criteria for this skill should be the speed of the mecha''s movement, as well as the degree of control maintained throughout the maneuver."


    Lan Fuozi turned to Tang Wulin with a surprised expression. "You really are sounding like an expert!"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "That''s because you''re speaking to a master mecha pilot!"


    "Tch!" Lan Fuozi pursed his lips as he cast his gaze toward Qiangu Zhangting''s mecha.


    "Begin!" Qiangu Zhangting''s mecha immediately rose up into the air following the announcement by the electronic voice.


    Tang Wulin was an outstanding mecha pilot himself, so he was able to ascertain a lot based on this sequence alone. Qiangu Zhangting was able to instantly activate the mecha and bring it up to such a high speed in the blink of an eye, indicating that he was extremely familiar with piloting mechas.


    Each mecha had a tolerance limit; if the limit were exceeded, the mecha would be at risk of being damaged, but staying too far within the limits would hamper the mecha''s full potential.


    From the propulsion sequence that Qiangu Zhangting had employed to rise up into the air, Tang Wulin could tell that he had grasped this balance perfectly, pushing the mecha to just within its tolerance limit.


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised that Qiangu Zhangting was such an expert mecha pilot.


    The yellow mecha shot forth into the air like a cannonball, then immediately charged forward without delay, completing two directional changes during the process in an extremely fast, smooth, and controlled maneuver.


    This was truly a flawless textbook display; it was as if two massive streaks of yellow light had flashed through the air, and within the span of a few blinks, the maneuver had already been completed.


    The yellow mecha was trembling slightly from exertion, but the speed, power, and coordination it had displayed had all exceeded the limit of a normal yellow mecha.


    The mecha descended from above, and it only began to decelerate using the propellers beneath its feet at an altitude of around 30 meters, sending fierce winds sweeping in all directions.


    Lan Fuozi harrumphed coldly, "What''s the point in something like this?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "There''s a point to everything; it''s just that mechas of this caliber aren''t able to display anything worthwhile."


    He had always been an avid mecha enthusiast ever since he was a child, which was why he had always made time to practice his mecha piloting skills even after he attained a suit of battle armor. In particular, after Zhen Hua had told him about how useful mechas could be to Soul Masters, he had become even more determined to continue developing in this area.


    Among the Soul Masters that he knew, the first divine-grade mecha pilot was Mu Ye, and he had witnessed just how powerful Mu Ye''s divine-grade mecha was.


    At the very least, the core components of a divine-grade mecha had to be constructed from divine-grade metals; only then would the mecha have a mental connection with its pilot. Mu Ye had told him that a divine-grade mecha was a second life for a Soul Master. He had even given up the chance to become a Limit Douluo in order to become a divine-grade mecha pilot, and that was sufficient testament to just how alluring a divine-grade mecha had been to him.


    The most difficult aspect in crafting a divine-grade mecha was the heavenly refined metals that were required. However, Tang Wulin had recently become a Divine Blacksmith, so that wouldn''t be an issue for him! He was definitely going to craft a divine-grade mecha for himself someday, and that day wouldn''t be too far away.


    Even though his cultivation rank was progressing very quickly, he was still quite far away from the Limit Douluo level. Even with his aptitude, it would take at least 10 more years for him to become a demigod.


    However, the next 10 years were extremely important for both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, so he couldn''t just waste them. As such, he had to do everything in his power to improve himself, and both mechas and battle armor were shortcuts that a Soul Master could take to enhance their own powers.


    "Hey, what are you spacing out for? It''s your turn," Lan Fuozi said as he nudged Tang Wulin on the arm.


    Only then did Tang Wulin return to his senses and make his way forward before scanning his electronic identification badge.


    All of the lots were drawn electronically in order to save time, and soon, the electronic voice rang out. "Your tested skill will be triangular circuit."


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.


    This was a skill that seemed to be very simple, but actually involved many intricacies. It was Ling Wuyue who had taught him this skill, and mastering it had been extremely beneficial to his development in mecha piloting.


    Triangular circuit was a maneuver during which a mecha changed directions thrice in succession while moving to form a triangle. Precision was valued above all else in this skill, and one had to create a perfect triangle during the maneuver before returning to the exact spot where they had started.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1464: Howd You Like That?

    The difficulty in triangular circuit lay in the fact that extremely precise control was required. An equilateral triangular circuit had to be created, which required taking 60 degree turns that had an extremely heavy physical impact on both the mecha and its pilot.


    This could easily result in damage being incurred by the mecha and the pilot, but if the maneuver were performed too slowly, that would completely defeat the purpose.


    As such, the triangular circuit was very easy to execute, but to execute it both quickly and accurately was a very difficult task, which was why triangular circuit was a foundational skill for mecha pilots when it came to directional change.


    Tang Wulin had already climbed into another generic yellow mecha, and even in the mecha pilot room, he could still see Lan Fuozi looking up at him.


    He closed his eyes as he recalled the important technical points involved in triangular circuit, and a possibility suddenly sprang into his mind.


    I''ve already accumulated a lot of points, so maybe I should give it a try.


    With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    "Begin!"


    Tang Wulin controlled his yellow mecha to take flight following the prompt from the electronic voice.


    Instead of flying up at a high speed like Qiangu Zhangting had, his mecha ascended to the test altitude at a very even speed.


    There were other mechas not far away that were executing their respective designated skills.


    Tang Wulin had already reopened his eyes, and sparks of electricity were flashing deep within his pupils.


    There was nothing faster than light in this world.


    Lan Fuozi stood down below, and pursed his lips with disdain at the sight of how slowly Tang Wulin''s mecha had risen up into the air. He had proclaimed himself to be a master mecha pilot, but he didn''t even seem to be as proficient as that Qiangu Zhangting!


    Right at this moment, arcs of electricity began to run along the surface of Tang Wulin''s yellow mecha, as if it were beginning to malfunction. The unstable electrical currents were making the entire mecha tremor slightly, and even the propellers beneath the mecha''s feet and on its back were flashing with electricity.


    The workers overseeing the examination had also noticed this, yet just as they were about to extend an inquiry toward Tang Wulin through their communicator, the yellow mecha suddenly sprang into action.


    A resounding thunderclap rang out, and the yellow mecha shot forth like a bolt of lightning without any acceleration process.


    Three thunderclaps rang out almost in complete unison, making it sound as if the first thunderclap had echoed twice.


    The yellow mecha looked as if it hadn''t moved even a single inch from its original spot, but there was a triangle of electricity left in mid-air that was slowly fading away.


    Before the workers and Lan Fuozi had a chance to figure out what had happened, the yellow mecha suddenly exploded, and its parts came raining down from above.


    Thankfully, the judges and workers were all Soul Masters themselves, and they instantly scattered to avoid being crushed by the falling parts.


    "Holy sh*t!" Lan Fuozi exclaimed as a blue halo was released from his body. All of the falling mecha parts that reached within three meters of his body would immediately be diverted away by a burst of strange rotational force.


    The mecha had exploded, and Tang Wulin was revealed, standing in mid-air with a slightly numb sensation coursing through his body.


    If a normal person had been in his place, they would''ve definitely been killed during that explosion, but with his dragon''s repulse to protect him, he had remained completely unscathed.


    After descending onto the ground, a pleased smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    He had succeeded!


    The lightning triangular circuit he had envisioned really was plausible. However, it had been achieved through his own power, rather than that of the mecha. Of course, if he had been using his own mecha, which had far greater tolerance than this generic yellow mecha, it definitely wouldn''t have exploded.


    Lightning triangular circuit could be counted as an application of the lightning provided by his Infernal Lightning Vine. Not only did lightning possess incredible offensive power, it also represented phenomenal speed.


    Tang Wulin was very pleased with this initial experiment, and it was something that he could continue to refine in the future.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine was currently extremely fond of him. Not only had it broken through the 100,000-year bottleneck, it had devoured so much delicious lightning, and Tang Wulin could even provide it with elemental tribulation lightning, which was something that could not be found in nature.


    This type of lightning was imbued with the power of laws of this plane, and to put it in simpler terms, not only was Tang Wulin refining metals during his heavenly refinements, he was also baptizing the Infernal Lightning Vine using the power of laws. He was the Son of Nature, so he was naturally able to protect the Infernal Lightning Vine, and the power of laws imbued within the elemental tribulation lightning was limited, so it wouldn''t immediately cause the Infernal Lightning Vine to self-detonate.


    As such, elemental tribulation lightning had become an incredible delicacy for the Infernal Lightning Vine, and as a result, the Infernal Lightning Vine was willing to immediately follow whatever order was issued to it by Tang Wulin.


    As long as Tang Wulin took the Infernal Lightning Vine''s tolerance range into account while completing heavenly refinements, he could regulate the vine''s intake of lightning to prevent it from harming itself.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine''s powers had also provided him with the ideal guise for his supposed identity as a member of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and in Lan Fuozi''s eyes, this was simply an application of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul.


    "How''d you like that?" Tang Wulin strutted over to Lan Fuozi with a proud expression.


    "Are you even going to get a score for this?" Lan Fuozi asked with a speechless look on his face.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and countered, "So what if I don''t get a score? Was that badass or what?"


    Lan Fuozi rolled his eyes before skirting around Tang Wulin and making his way over to the mecha examination area as he yelled, "Hey, doesn''t he need to pay for destroying public property? What are the rest of us supposed to use now?"


    Tang Wulin''s expression immediately stiffened upon hearing this. "Oi, do you have to be so annoying?"


    The surrounding workers were also completely speechless.


    The information contained within Tang Wulin''s electronic identification badge indicated that he was a Titled Douluo from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and he had received perfect scores for all of the examinations thus far aside from his forging examination.


    As for the person behind him, he was a Titled Douluo with Spirit Domain realm spiritual power!


    It was undoubtedly the case that both of them were going to be heavy favorites.


    One of the judges made his way over to Tang Wulin with excitement in his eyes. "Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Go ahead."


    The judge continued, "If you had been using a more powerful mecha to execute that skill, would it have been able to survive without exploding? In other words, what caliber of mecha would be required to withstand the triangular circuit you just executed?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "I''m not sure, but a black mecha should be able to withstand the maneuver."


    The judge praised in a heartfelt voice, "That was absolutely spectacular! Your martial soul must''ve contributed to the execution of that maneuver, right? Theoretically, if we were to fit a device in a mecha that could convert soul power into lightning power, would it also be able to execute the same maneuver?"

 Chapter 1465: Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit

    Tang Wulin replied, "Theoretically, it should work, but the mecha pilot will need to control the speed and timing of the lightning explosions. On top of that, the mecha itself would also need to have sufficient physical tolerance for this to work."


    The judge nodded in response. "I thought so, but even so, the triangular circuit you just executed was extremely spectacular and has opened up a new field of possibilities in the realm of high-grade mecha movement! I''m truly honored to have witnessed something like that. If possible, would we be able to get you to demonstrate the maneuver again in a mecha provided by our mecha pilot association?"


    Tang Wulin considered this for a moment before replying, "I''ll have to get back to you after this joust for a spouse event."


    A hint of disappointment appeared in the judge''s eyes upon hearing this. "I''ll be sure to contact you then. May I ask if you''ve named this maneuver already?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ll call it Lightning Triangular Circuit; it''s simple and easy to remember."


    The judge said, "According to the rules of our mecha pilot association, the creator of a monumental mecha piloting maneuver has the right to name it, so you can add a prefix to the Lightning Triangular Circuit."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "Alright, then I''ll call it Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit as a present for her."


    The judge was just about to agree to this when Lan Fuozi suddenly interjected, "Oi, that''s cheating! You can''t do that! This has to be a fair competition; you can''t just go around giving her presents like this!"


    Tang Wulin countered, "If you have what it takes, why don''t you give her a present as well?"


    Lan Fuozi immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this, but he had to admit that he was indeed incapable of matching Tang Wulin, so he could only storm away in a fit of rage.


    A worker hurriedly followed along behind him. "Your Majesty, you haven''t undergone your mecha examination yet!"


    Lan Fuozi didn''t even turn his head as he replied, "Such a farcical examination is completely beneath me; just give me a zero!"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. Lan Fuozi was placing himself on a high pedestal when the reality was that he simply didn''t know the first thing about mecha piloting!


    The judge asked, "Are you sure that''s what you''d like to name the maneuver?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    "Alright, we''ll keep that on our records, but due to the fact that the mecha you just used has exploded, you''ll need to come to our association to execute the maneuver in full before we can officially assign it a name."


    Tang Wulin was immediately enlightened upon hearing this. It was no wonder that the judge had been so enthusiastic about getting him to name the maneuver; he was doing this so Tang Wulin would have to demonstrate the maneuver for them again!


    "Alright, we''ll see if I can make some time to pay your association a visit."


    Thus, he exchanged contact details with that judge. Even though the Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit he had just executed was a high-end skill, he had destroyed the mecha, so there was no way for a score to be assigned, and he had to pay for the mecha as well.


    Tang Wulin gave a nonchalant reaction to this, completely in character with his adopted identity as the proud young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Thus, Lan Fuozi still led Tang Wulin by one point in the total score.


    The first seven examinations had been very simple, and they were far easier than Shrek Academy''s enrollment examination. Unlike Shrek Academy''s examinations, which tested the skills and character of its students, these examinations were more so an opportunity for one to display their talents.


    The enrollment examinations had to be preserved in the reconstructed Shrek Academy, and it was perhaps even necessary to further improve them. Perhaps reference could be drawn from some of the educational methods employed by the old demons on the demonic island. Those examinations would definitely be extremely effective for honing one''s willpower and mental state, but of course, students would only be able to undertake them after reaching a certain age.


    Many of Shrek Academy''s students had already been to the demonic island, and they had clearly all undergone evolutions.


    "What are you smiling about? Don''t think that you''ve won just because you''ve invented that Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit!"


    Lan Fuozi''s critical voice jerked Tang Wulin out of his train of thought, and an amused look appeared on his face. "You shouldn''t be seeing me as the enemy; your greatest enemy is up ahead."


    Lan Fuozi''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "You''re saying that the event is rigged? What if the outcome has already been predetermined, and Gu Yuena doesn''t choose any of us in the end?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Even if the event is rigged, it still must run its course. If you display to everyone that you''re more exceptional than him in all areas, yet Gu Yuena still chooses him in the end, then everyone will begin to doubt the fairness of the event, so just focus on doing your best."


    Lan Fuozi nodded in response. "I have to succeed! This is the first time my heart has ever been swayed like this by any woman."


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "She''s also the only woman for me."


    On the rostrum.


    "Chairman, the explosion that just took place was a result of one of the test mechas being pushed beyond its maximal tolerance capacity. Everything has already been taken care of, and no one was hurt."


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "Good, make sure to prioritize safety above all else." The reputation of the Spirit Pagoda was attached to this event, and it had also received strong support from the federation, so it would be very troublesome if something were to go wrong.


    "Also, the participant piloting the mecha received no score due to the destruction of the mecha, but the people of the mecha pilot association have deemed the skill that he executed to be a monumental maneuver. As long as he can replicate the same maneuver in a high-end mecha, it''ll be confirmed as an original maneuver invented by him."


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to Gu Yuena with a smile, and said, "Looks like you really do possess extraordinary allure, Nana; there are even mecha pilots inventing new maneuvers for you now!"


    The worker hesitated momentarily before continuing, "Chairman, the participant assigned the name ''Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit'' to the new maneuver."


    Even Gu Yuena herself faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Qiangu Dongfeng couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "What a bold young man! Having said that, this is the attitude that''s required when pursuing a woman. Who is this participant?"


    "He is Yu Longyue of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and he''s displayed an exceptional performance thus far in the examinations."


    Yu Longyue? Gu Yuena''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. Wasn''t his battle armor named Dragon Moon Song?  [1]


    According to the workers, the eighth, ninth, and tenth examinations were all going to be tests of one''s overall skills and abilities.


    At the eighth examination was a massive soul tool. It was the most eye-catching fixture in the entire sports stadium as it was over 80 meters tall, and was shaped like a small Spirit Pagoda. It was clear that this was a soul tool unique to the Spirit Pagoda, and Tang Wulin had never seen it before.


    It was clear that the Spirit Pagoda really had poured a lot of effort into this event.


    Under the guidance of a worker, Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi strode into the giant pagoda-shaped soul tool together.


    "You''re going to be teleported into a place similar to the Spirit Ascension Plane, and it''ll be filled with powerful soul beasts, but the teleportation locations will be randomized, so the two of you won''t end up together. Once inside, your goal will be to survive for as long as possible. The longer you survive, the higher the score you''ll receive."


    [1] [1. The direct translation of Long(Áú) Yue(ÔÂ) is Dragon Moon. As another sidenote, as pointed out by Slayer Kh in the comments, the Yu (Óñ) in Yu Longyue is a different Yu (Óï) from the one in Tang Wulin''s three-word battle armor, which is pronounced in Chinese as Long Yue Yu (ÁúÔÂÓï). If Tang Wulin had used the same Yu in his new pseudonym, then it would''ve been a direct anagram of the name of his three-word battle armor, thereby making his identity a lot more obvious.]

 Chapter 1466: Myriad Beast Plane

    Ever since Tang Wulin had made it into Shrek Academy, he had only used the Spirit Ascension Plane on a few occasions, but he could still clearly recall the feeling of his soul spirits being enhanced in the plane.


    However, the conditions that had to be satisfied to enter the Spirit Ascension Plane were very steep, and according to the teachers of Shrek Academy, it would be very difficult for soul spirits to continue to improve in the Spirit Ascension Plane after they reached the black grade. All of Tang Wulin''s soul spirits were currently of an extremely high caliber, thereby making the plane redundant to him.


    Tang Wulin was quite taken aback by the fact that there was such an examination during this event, and he couldn''t help but think back to his encounter with Beast God Di Tian. He was very confident in himself, but he had been made to feel completely powerless in the face of the Beast God, and if it weren''t for his golden trident, he would most likely already be dead.


    With that in mind, he reflexively thought of the giant silver claw that his friends had mentioned. Who could that claw belong to? Could it be that another almighty being capable of commanding even the Beast God existed in the depths of the Great Star Dou Forest? Could this mean that soul beasts weren''t extinct, after all?


    The Spirit Pagoda was providing this examination to Soul Masters who were at rank 60 in soul power, so the soul beasts within this plane were definitely going to be quite formidable.


    "May I ask the name of the plane?" Tang Wulin asked.


    A worker replied, "This is the Myriad Beast Plane that Ms. Gu Yuena recently developed; you''ll be sure to reap unexpected benefits inside. As such, this eighth examination is actually a reward for all participants of this event. You''ll know what I mean once you enter the plane."


    Lan Fuozi couldn''t help but praise, "Ms. Gu Yuena truly is the perfect woman! She possesses power, intellect, and beauty of equal measure, and... Hey, wait for me! Why are you in such a hurry?"


    Tang Wulin had already made his way over to the entrance of the Myriad Beast Plane, which was a door of light. According to the workers, he would be able to commence the trial once he entered through this door.


    This was different from the Spirit Ascension Plane, which one entered spiritually through a device. In contrast, it seemed that the Soul Masters would be physically entering the Myriad Beast Plane, so this was a fundamental difference.


    Tang Wulin strode into the door of light without any hesitation, and from Lan Fuozi''s perspective, Tang Wulin simply vanished amid a flash of light.


    Tang Wulin had gone on ahead, but he certainly wasn''t going to fall behind.


    Thus, Lan Fuozi also strode into the door of light and vanished right on Tang Wulin''s heels.


    Violent yet linear spatial fluctuations surged through the surrounding area, and Tang Wulin felt the space around him warp while experiencing the changes taking place nearby.


    The power of space was extremely mysterious and fearsome, and if space were to shatter, it could produce terrifying destructive power.


    However, using his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, Tang Wulin was able to calmly experience this teleportation process.


    If my body is being teleported into the Myriad Beast Plane, then wouldn''t I be in actual danger if I were to battle a soul beast in there? How are they going to address this issue?


    Tang Wulin was very curious and intrigued.


    This teleportation process felt much like the process of teleporting into the Dragon Valley in the Star Luo Empire, and he couldn''t help but wonder if that small world still existed.


    All of a sudden, he was instantly struck by a sense of weightlessness, and his soul core immediately contracted, circulating soul power throughout his body to stabilize him in mid-air.


    He inspected his internal condition while also appraising his surroundings, and he discovered that his bodily condition was completely normal.


    All of his powers, regardless of whether it was his spiritual power or soul power, remained completely unaffected by his entry into this space.


    Tang Wulin''s soul power was currently still at rank 91. It wasn''t that he was unable to progress beyond this point; he was intentionally slowing down his own rate of progression to prevent his foundation from becoming unstable in the aftermath of his sudden and unexpected breakthrough to the Titled Douluo level.


    His goal wasn''t just to become a Titled Douluo; his aspirations laid among the gods. As such, he had to make sure that every step he took was firm and steady.


    Back when he had first become a Titled Douluo, he had already sensed that a second soul core was materializing within his mind, but it was still quite abstract and indistinct at the time. Now, the second soul core was gradually beginning to take shape, and it was slowly fusing as one with his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power.


    This soul core was clearly different from the one in his dantian in that not only was it able to draw upon his soul power, it was able to do the same with his spiritual power, thereby acting as an ideal bridge between the two.


    Once a Soul Master reached a certain level in their cultivation, they would be able to fuse their spiritual power and soul power together to culminate in many powerful skills and abilities.


    On top of that, with his soul power nourishing and protecting his mind, he would be able to release more spiritual power as well.


    As his second soul core continued to mature, Tang Wulin found that his spiritual domain was also becoming more stable and easier to control.


    What currently lied before him was a world that was filled with vitality, and it struck him with a strong sense of familiarity.


    A peculiar look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he was reminded of the Great Star Dou Forest.


    Not long ago, he had almost perished with all of his friends in the Great Star Dou Forest, and he didn''t think that he would be able to enter the forest again during this joust for a spouse event.


    Regardless of whether this Myriad Beast Plane was a simulated space or something else, it had definitely been designed with the Great Star Dou Forest as reference.


    There was no mistaking it as Tang Wulin was the Son of Nature, so he possessed a very acute sense for life force energy in nature.


    However, when he tried to experience his surroundings in greater depth, he discovered that this space was somehow not as substantial as the true Great Star Dou Forest despite its physical likeness. This was most likely an independent small space that the Spirit Pagoda had somehow created.


    Even though it was still different from the true Great Star Dou Forest, one could only imagine the vast amount of resources that would''ve been required to create such a space. As expected, the Spirit Pagoda really was truly a formidable powerhouse when it came to wealth.


    The Dragon Valley was a small world as well, but it had been formed naturally, and the Tang Sect had only found a key to access that small word. In the Dragon Valley, the dragon spirits and dragon clouds a Soul Master obtained from the Dragon Valley could enhance their bodies on a fundamental level, and Tang Wulin''s endeavor of burying dragon skeletons for three years definitely contributed significantly to the rapid progression he had made in his cultivation thereafter.


    Without the nourishment his body had received during that time, he would''ve most likely already perished while breaking one of his past Golden Dragon King seals.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, inhaling a lungful of refreshing air. Regardless of whether this was a real place or not, it instilled him with a sense of comfort.


    Just as he was about to descend into the forest, the loud cry of a bird suddenly rang out overhead.


    He was quite startled by this, and he immediately raised his head to find a ball of azure light pouncing down toward him like lightning.


    The ball of azure light had appeared extremely abruptly, and it was incredibly fast.


    In response, Tang Wulin immediately crossed his arms to form a barricade in front of himself while also releasing his dragon''s repulse.


    "Boom!" The massive impact caused him to fly backward, but the ball of azure light was also repelled by his dragon''s repulse.


    Only then did Tang Wulin identify it as a huge azure bird that was quite spectacular to behold. Its entire body was of an azure color, and it looked as if it had been carved out of a piece of jade. Its wingspan was around five meters, and it had a pair of menacing green eyes and sharp talons. Even the edges of its wings resembled sharp blades.


    Is this... an Azure Jade Bird?


    This was a type of soul beast that had been extinct for many years!


    Azure Jade Birds were extremely aggressive and would actively attack all living beings that they encountered, but funnily enough, they were herbivorous, and their diets mainly consisted of fruits and seeds.

 Chapter 1467: Dumb Bird

    Azure Jade Birds were similar to Infernal Lightning Vines in that both of them were self-destructive. It was virtually impossible for Azure Jade Birds to break through the 100,000-year bottleneck as they would all transform into giant chunks of jade before that. This type of jade was of superb quality, and many noblemen would collect such prized pieces of jade during ancient times.


    Humans didn''t have anything to do with the extinction of Azure Jade Birds; they were simply far too violent and aggressive, and they would often even attack their own brethren.


    According to the textbooks of Shrek Academy, this was a self-destructive species that paved the way to its own downfall in the end.


    It was exactly due to this description that Tang Wulin had a very clear recollection of this type of soul beast.


    However, just like the Infernal Lightning Vine, this type of self-destructive soul beast was extremely powerful.


    Azure Jade Bird possessed extremely hardy skin and bones, and their physical constitution was virtually the best among all birds. On top of that, they possessed a certain level of control over spatial powers, making their attacks very unpredictable.


    Their bodies were their greatest weapons, but unfortunately for this Azure Jade Bird, Tang Wulin''s physical constitution was even more fearsome than its own. Thus, the surprise attack was thwarted, yet before Tang Wulin had a chance to admire this relic of the past, it began to attack him again.


    It flapped its wings vigorously, piercing through the air amid a sharp screeching sound as it reached Tang Wulin in a flash.


    On this occasion, Tang Wulin was already prepared, and he clenched his right hand into a fist before launching it toward the oncoming bird.


    A loud thunderclap rang out, and Tang Wulin remained standing on the spot in mid-air, but the Azure Jade Bird had completely stiffened in front of his fist with a layer of bluish-purple lightning running all over its body.


    In the next instant, it''s massive body plummeted out of the sky and thumped down onto the ground below.


    Azure Jade Birds were indeed very powerful, but this one was only around 10,000 years old, so it was no match for Tang Wulin. However, Tang Wulin didn''t kill it. It was a very good experience to be able to witness an extinct soul beast, and he didn''t want to kill such a majestic creature.


    After that, Tang Wulin quickly descended into the forest. He was very confident in his own powers, but the teachers of Shrek Academy had taught him not to fly over a forest inhabited by soul beasts as doing so would attract attacks from flying soul beasts, as well as many soul beasts that were concealed within the forest, thereby making for a very dangerous situation.


    In contrast, it was safest to travel along the ground. All soul beasts were territorial creatures, including soul beasts dwelling in forests. This meant that under the majority of circumstances, one would only have to face one soul beast at a time on the ground.


    The Azure Jade Bird was spasming incessantly as it lay on the ground, but it was still glowering at Tang Wulin with unbridled fury in its eyes.


    "Settle down, you dumb bird. You''re going to get yourself killed sooner or later if you keep this up," Tang Wulin sighed with a shake of his head before continuing onward.


    The objective of this examination was to survive for as long as possible in here, and he was going to take this opportunity to experience the Great Star Dou Forest.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and it gradually became more and more pronounced. He really enjoyed being in this type of relaxing environment. Prior to this, he had been forced to endure horrendous torture at the hands of his uncle-teacher.


    Even with his willpower, he couldn''t help but wince at the recollection of the "special training" that his uncle-teacher had forced him to undertake. It was truly a terrible experience!


    Unbeknownst to him, Zhen Hua was practically laughing himself to sleep every night!


    Thus, Tang Wulin paid no further heed to the Azure Jade Bird and departed from the scene. After learning about the fate of the soul beasts, he simply couldn''t bring himself to slaughter them for no good reason. Even though it was very likely that the soul beasts here were simulated, he truly didn''t want to harm them.


    The world was already teetering on a tenuous equilibrium; if all soul beasts were to go extinct, who knew what was going to happen?


    The worsening state of the ancient Golden Tree had been a direct result of the severe imbalance in the ecosystem, and the tree of life was growing so slowly precisely because of the dwindling life force energy on the Douluo Star.


    The lavish human cities of iron and steel had been constructed on the basis of constantly destroying the habitats of soul beasts.


    Even though the Douluo Star was a large world, if it were to be damaged to a severe enough extent, it would perhaps crumble just like some small worlds had.


    The more Tang Wulin progressed in his cultivation, the clearer this became to him.


    The higher-ups of the federation had clearly realized this issue as well, but they weren''t thinking about how to improve the situation. After all, humans had grown accustomed to the modern lifestyle, and technology was constantly advancing.


    As such, as opposed to attempting to repair the environment, the more exciting solution was to find other habitable environments, thereby giving rise to space exploration, as well as the inter-continental war.


    The federation''s vision was to find another habitable planet within the next century and complete mass migration within the next millennium, prior to completely exhausting the natural resources on the Douluo Star.


    As such, all of the research and development taking place were contributing toward this direction.


    However, even if this plan could come into fruition, were soul beasts simply destined to be buried under the sands of time?


    The Spirit Pagoda had been founded with the objective to change the current situation and help soul beasts prosper, but unfortunately, it had become one of the main perpetrators contributing to the extinction of all soul beasts.


    A grim look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as this thought sprang into his mind. He was no longer just a student of Shrek Academy; he was now the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, so he had a duty to try and change everything through his power.


    The most important thing was to change people''s current fundamental values and attitudes.


    Searching for other habitable environments was naturally very much necessary, but there was no guarantee that the plan would succeed. As such, what people really had to do was protect the Douluo Star''s natural environment at all costs in order to preserve the current habitable space.


    With that in mind, a determined look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes. He had initially embarked on the path of cultivation to find his own parents, but now, he had to strive toward the broader and greater goal of saving the entire planet.


    His status had changed, and as a result, he had to take on more responsibilities.


    All of a sudden, a burst of unpleasant beastly cries rang out up ahead. The surrounding area abruptly dimmed as if all of the light had been devoured by something, and as everything began to darken, he was greeted by the sight of many pairs of crimson eyes that looked as if they contained burning flames.


    He couldn''t see the bodies of the creatures that the eyes belonged to, but he was able to determine that he was encountering a type of extinct pack-dwelling soul beasts known as Nightflame Monkeys.


    A hint of sympathy welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart, and he opened his mouth to let loose a thunderous dragon''s roar.


    The entire Great Star Dou Forest began to tremor violently as if a rumbling thunderclap had just erupted within the undergrowth, and he also released his powerful dragon''s might.


    The surrounding area quickly began to brighten, and the pairs of fiery red eyes also rapidly vanished.


    Nightflame Monkeys were very adept in hunting in groups, but they were quite weak individually and very easily intimidated.


    As such, Tang Wulin''s roar and dragon''s might were more than enough to scare them away.

 Chapter 1468: They Should Be Killed Just Because Theyre Soul Beasts?

    After scattering all of the Nightflame Monkeys, a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. This was what the Great Star Dou Forest was supposed to be like; a place that was filled with soul beasts and vitality.


    Judging from the current situation, he seemed to be in the outer circle of the Great Star Dou Forest. Most of those Nightflame Monkeys seemed to be hundred-year-old soul beasts, perhaps with a few thousand-year-old ones among them, so they didn''t pose much of a threat to him.


    Instead of making an effort to decide on a certain direction to progress toward, Tang Wulin merely continued onward in a random direction. Right at this moment, he heard a loud roar that belonged to a human rather than a soul beast.


    Around 100 meters up ahead, a large tree was felled amid a resounding boom, following which a burly figure sprang up into the air. The figure had dazzling crimson flames burning all over his body, and he was swinging a massive ax down from above.


    In the instant that the large tree was felled, a giant brown ape was sent flying before crashing down onto the ground. The huge fiery ax was aimed directly at the ape, and there was no way for it to evade the attack.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly, and he instantly covered the distance of around 100 meters, arriving directly in front of the giant ape.


    "Clang!"


    The fiery ax was stopped cold in its tracks by a large hand that was flashing with electricity.


    The ax was burning with scorching flame and imbued with enormous momentum, as well as the tremendous strength of its wielder, but the hand stood in its way like an immovable fortress.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already identified the wielder of the ax to be a Soul Douluo with a soul ring configuration of two yellows, three purples, and three blacks. The man appeared be around 40 years of age, and both of his arms were bared, revealing cords of bulging muscle.


    A hint of surprise appeared on his face upon having his attack thwarted by Tang Wulin, but that was soon replaced by fury. "Are you insane? Piss off!"


    Tang Wulin asked in a cold voice, "It''s already lost the ability to resist; why do you insist on killing it?"


    The burly man countered, "What kind of question is that? It''s a soul beast, and it ambushed me, so of course I''m going to kill it! Did you forget to take your pills? This is the Myriad Beast Plane; these soul beasts are nothing more than bodies of energy that were made to be killed by us!"


    Tang Wulin continued in a cold voice, "These soul beasts have already gone extinct in the real world, and this is nothing more than an examination. You already know that they''re just bodies of energy, so why do you still feel the need to kill them?"


    "I don''t have time to talk to a madman like you! Piss off!" The burly man attempted to wrench his ax out of Tang Wulin''s hand as he spoke, but found himself unable to move the ax even a single inch.


    His expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and his sixth soul ring lit up as bursts of flames erupted from his body like a series of giant dragons. The flame poured into the massive ax in a frenzy, instantly turning it a scorching white color, and the incredible heat emanating from the ax was making the surrounding air shimmer and warp violently.


    A cold look flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes as he murmured to himself, "I was just curious about how the Myriad Beast Plane would protect the Soul Masters in it."


    Bluish-purple light erupted from his body as he spoke alongside a thunderous dragon''s roar, and thick scales began to appear over his hand, while sharp claws extended out of his fingertips.


    A bluish-golden halo radiated out of his body, and in that instant, the burly man felt as if he had been struck by a burst of irresistible force. He felt as if he had lost the ability to think, and that a wall of iron and steel were bulldozing directly toward him. His fiery battle-ax was instantly destroyed, and the terrifying force began to crush his body.


    This was an attack that Tang Wulin had invented by referencing the battle style of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He had named it Dragon Lightning Storm, and it was the product of a culmination of his dragon''s repulse, Infernal Lightning Vine, and spiritual power.


    "Boom, boom, boom, boom..." The burly man felt as if one thunderclap after another were erupting within his body, and his soul was on the brink of being blown apart. His soul power had already been completely scattered, and his entire body was numb and immobilized.


    What was even more terrifying was that he couldn''t even feel any pain due to the numbness, but he could clearly feel the lightning seeping into his body. On top of that, there was a burst of powerful suction force emanating from Tang Wulin''s hand, so he couldn''t even get away; he could only look on helplessly as his own body was gradually devoured by lightning.


    Right at this moment, the entire surrounding space tremored slightly, and a beam of green light descended from the heavens, shining down upon the burly man''s body. All of the electricity was instantly kept out, and in the next instant, the burly man had vanished into thin air.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and the lightning coursing over his body slowly subsided. That beam of green light seemed to be imbued with the power of laws, and it kept out his power before forcibly teleporting the burly man away.


    However, the light most likely wouldn''t have been able to heal his injuries, and that was the difference between this place and the Spirit Ascension Plane.


    If his attack had been more aggressive and he had instantly killed the man, then the power of laws within this space most likely wouldn''t have been able to protect him.


    As expected, it wasn''t impossible to die here; this was a small world, not a simulated space.


    Dragon Lightning Storm was indeed very powerful, but unbeknownst to the burly man, physical contact had to be established for the attack to unleash its full power. If he had kept some distance between himself and Tang Wulin, then the potency of the attack would''ve been significantly lessened.


    By the time Tang Wulin turned toward the spot where the giant ape had landed, he discovered that it had already fled the scene.


    ......


    The burly man reappeared at the entrance to the eighth examination amid a flash of light. His entire body was giving off a charred scent, and smoke was billowing out of his mouth and nostrils with every breath he took. His entire body was completely numb, and he instantly collapsed onto the ground, where he was immediately attended to by healing system Soul Masters.


    Tang Wulin had actually held back by not unleashing the power of his Dragon Lightning Storm all at once. Otherwise, the burly man would most likely already be dead.


    As he slowly returned to his senses, a hint of fear appeared in the burly man''s eyes. Who was that young man that he had just faced? Surely this level of power was comparable to that of a Limit Douluo! He had only attained his eighth soul ring not long ago, but he was still a Soul Douluo, yet he had just been stomped like an ant; this was simply incredible!


    Of course, he was completely unaware of the fact that he had just faced the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master.


    Even Tang Wulin himself had almost fallen to the powers of the Infernal Lightning Vine during their first encounter, and now that the Infernal Lightning Vine had undergone multiple evolutions, its lightning power was so fearsome that even Tang Wulin was forced to exercise caution when using it.


    It could be said that the Dragon Lightning Storm that Tang Wulin had invented was no less powerful than his eighth soul skill, and it was equivalent in power to a full-force strike unleashed while in his martial soul true body form.


    The burly man could only lament his ill-fortune for becoming Tang Wulin''s experimental guinea pig.


    ......


    Lan Fuozi strolled through the forest with intrigue and amazement in his eyes. It was the first time he had ever been to such a lush forest, and he was basking in the rich life force energy here.


    "What a fantastic place! It doesn''t really suit me, but this really is a beautiful environment. I wonder if the land soul beasts of the past inhabited such a place. The rich life force energy here is striking me with the urge to cultivate! I wonder where that guy was teleported to; maybe I can run into him at some point. Hmm? Why is it so dark up ahead? Whoa, what a massive vine!"


    As Lan Fuozi continued onward, he suddenly discovered a mass of gigantic vines up ahead. At the top of each vine was a huge flower bud that was dark green in color with traces of bright red peeking out of their tops, looking as if they were ready to bloom at any moment.


    If such a massive flower bud were to bloom, the flower''s diameter would most likely exceed five meters!


    The vines were over 15 meters tall, and the massive flower buds were swaying gently in the wind, creating a very intriguing sight to behold.

 Chapter 1469: Lan Fuozis Crisis

    Lan Fuozi continued onward as he appraised the vine with amazement in his eyes, but all of a sudden, he drew to an abrupt halt as a sense of peril welled up in his heart.


    He immediately leaned back before propelling himself backward like a speeding arrow.


    Right at this moment, the closest vine to him suddenly came crashing down like a giant hammer with the massive flower bud aimed directly at him.


    During its descent, the huge flower bud instantly spread open, releasing a burst of powerful suction force.


    Goosebumps appeared all over Lan Fuozi''s entire body at the sight of the giant flower. After spreading itself open, rings of small sharp teeth were revealed within it, giving it the appearance of a meat grinder.


    In this perilous situation, Lan Fuozi spun around in mid-air, and a series of blue halos erupted from his body, producing bursts of powerful repulsive force. The massive flower was instantly repelled by the blue halos, but right at this moment, a rich fragrant aroma wafted into Lan Fuozi''s nostrils, and he was instantly struck by a sense of dizziness.


    The flower had just released a burst of toxins!


    A sense of shock and fury welled up in Lan Fuozi''s heart as his eyes instantly turned blue, and the blue halos around him swept outward as rings of sharp blades.


    The sharp blades swelled drastically in size, almost instantly transforming into huge scimitars over three meters in length that swept toward the huge flower with formidable rotational force.


    The giant flower was instantly torn apart, and crimson juices flew in all directions, while the fragrant aroma in the air became even more pronounced.


    Lan Fuozi had begun holding his own breath as soon as he realized that something was amiss, but he discovered that the fragrance was able to seep into his body through his pores!


    Thankfully, with his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he was able to control his own body to close all of his pores and keep the fragrant aroma at bay. However, the toxins that had already entered his body was making him very drowsy, and at the same time, he was experiencing an indescribable sense of euphoria.


    All he wanted to do was lie down and take a good nap, and even more giant flowers were converging toward him, taking up his entire field of vision.


    He immediately bit down onto the tip of his own tongue, using the pain to shake off the sense of euphoria as he fled the scene. At the same time, blue halos erupted from his body, forming a tornado-like barrier.


    These Man-eating Nightmare Flowers were one of the most feared predators of the Great Star Dou Forest. Countless soul beasts and humans had fallen prey to its toxins before they had even sensed any danger, falling into a deep slumber before becoming sustenance for the flowers.


    Its Nightmare Toxins were listed by the Tang Sect as one of the 10 most potent poisons in nature, and aside from its aroma, it had no shape, color, or form, and it was extremely intrusive, able to seep into its prey''s body even through their pores. Furthermore, the effect of the poison acted extremely quickly, producing a paralysis effect on one''s brain and even one''s mind, thereby rendering them completely unable to resist.


    ......


    Tang Wulin leaped forward, covering several dozens of meters in the blink of an eye, and as he sprang up once again, a grim look appeared on his face.


    This was already the seventh wave of soul beasts that he had encountered. The previous few waves had all been easily taken care of; he didn''t want to hurt any of the soul beasts, so he merely forced them into retreat. If the soul beasts didn''t pay any heed to him, then he wouldn''t actively attack them, either.


    However, perhaps it was due to the influence of the Myriad Beast Plane, but the vast majority of soul beasts in this space were extremely aggressive. For example, the soul beast that Tang Wulin was currently facing was the most powerful one he had encountered thus far.


    It was around four meters in length, so it wasn''t particularly massive, but its bodily proportions were very even and coordinated, and every single one of its muscles seemed to be filled with explosive power. It had a huge head with a black ghostly face that created a stark contrast with its golden fur, and it possessed enormous strength that was on par with Tang Wulin.


    On top of that, it was standing atop a halo with a golden edge on the outside and black runes on the inside; this was a domain.


    The soul beast was another type of extinct soul beast that was known as the Golden Lion Mastiff.


    The legends stated that the Golden Lion Mastiff was the patriarch of all dog-type soul beasts, and there were even legends that claimed it to be the patriarch of all lion-type soul beasts as well.


    All of these soul beasts possessed incredible strength and were born with domain halos. They were renowned for their insanity during battle, and when they unleashed their Dominance domains, their offensive and defensive prowess would be enhanced significantly. On top of that, all of their abilities would become over 50% more powerful, and they would completely lose all sense of pain. Furthermore, they only engaged in battles to the death, thereby earning them countless enemies.


    As a result, they were eventually hunted down into extinction by all of the powerful soul beasts that they had made enemies of.


    Judging from the size of this Golden Lion Mastiff and its domain halo, it still hadn''t reached the 100,000-year mark yet, but even so, it was still exerting immense pressure on Tang Wulin.


    During their first clash, the Golden Lion Mastiff had pounced with incredible power, and Tang Wulin was sent flying like a cannonball! He wasn''t wounded by the attack, but it had certainly startled him.


    All of a sudden, the Golden Lion Mastiff let loose a low roar, and its golden fur began to stand up on end as it slowly made its way toward Tang Wulin with a ferocious look in its eyes.


    The domain halo beneath its paws slowly rose up, and what appeared to be a ghostly shadow was seeping into its body as it activated its Dominance domain.


    With each step it took, its body would expand slightly, and in the blink of an eye, it had swelled to the size of a small mountain. Its fur was glistening with a metallic sheen, and its mouth was filled with sharp fangs.


    "Roar!" Another deafening roar rang out, and a black shadow that was identical to its head erupted out of its massive body. This black shadow was far larger than itself, and its roar released fearsome soundwaves that proliferated in all directions, reducing everything within a radius of 100 meters to dust.


    This was its signature soundwave attack, the Lion Mastiff Roar, and it was one of the applications of its Dominance domain.


    Tang Wulin could sense the space around him begin to vibrate at a high frequency as a result of the roar, and his vulnerable orifices were being severely impacted. The powerful soundwaves were threatening to shatter the nearby space, and this was only the Lion Mastiff Roar of a Golden Lion Mastiff below the 100,000-year mark!


    If it were over 100,000 years of age, how powerful would it be?


    Tang Wulin recalled from his lessons in Shrek Academy that one of the 10 Great Beasts had been a mastiff-type soul beast, but it wasn''t a Golden Lion Mastiff as they were already extinct at the time. He was confident that if a 100,000-year-old Golden Lion Mastiff had existed, that mastiff-type Great Beast definitely would''ve been booted off the list.


    Purple lightning coursed over Tang Wulin''s body, and he let loose a dragon''s roar toward the Golden Lion Mastiff.


    A dragon''s head that was comprised of blue lightning emerged, and the soundwaves unleashed weren''t as fierce as those of the Lion Mastiff Roar, but the roar was still able to protect him while unleashing a counterattack against the Golden Lion Mastiff.

 Chapter 1470: Battling the Golden Lion Mastiff

    After letting loose that thunderous roar, the Golden Lion Mastiff instantly sprang up before sending its front paws crashing down toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly as he sensed the enormous power imbued within the attack, and he knew the aura being released by the Golden Lion Mastiff wasn''t simply just one of pure strength. With the enhancements of the Dominance domain, it''s entire body had been filled with peerless strength that was filled with a sense of insanity, culminating in an extremely fearsome aura.


    Tang Wulin didn''t dare to fight fire with fire, so he quickly shot back in retreat.


    "Boom!"


    The Golden Lion Mastiff slammed its front paws down onto the ground, and the earth tremored violently as countless trees in the surrounding area were uprooted, and Tang Wulin was flung up into the air by the shockwaves.


    During this process, his entire body went numb, and he was carried upward by the shockwaves in an uncontrollable manner. The Golden Lion Mastiff drew upon the impact to propel itself up into the air, then swiped a massive front paw horizontally toward Tang Wulin.


    After unleashing its Dominance domain, its offensive prowess had been significantly enhanced, and Tang Wulin didn''t dare to hold back any longer.


    His dragon core quickly contracted, sending scorching blood essence coursing through his body to instantly alleviated the numb sensation he had been afflicted by. In the face of the Golden Lion Mastiff''s massive paw, he retaliated by unleashing a punch of his own, and a rumbling thunderclap rang out, immediately followed by a resounding boom.


    Tang Wulin was sent flying into the distance, while the Golden Lion Mastiff almost crashed down onto the ground with lightning flashing all over its body, rendering it temporarily unable to continue its assault.


    Tang Wulin''s blood essence churned violently within his body, and he only managed to stabilize himself after he had lost count of how many trees his body had snapped. The Golden Lion Mastiff definitely possessed the greatest strength among all of the soul beasts he had encountered. Perhaps only Bear Lord in full swing would be able to match it in this area, but Bear Lord was a Great Beast that had lived for countless years, so the fact that the Golden Lion Mastiff was able to match his strength was sufficient testament to how effective its Dominance domain was.


    Of course, despite its enormous strength, it would be virtually impossible for it to harm Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin knew that he would definitely be under constant surveillance in the Myriad Beast Plane, so he didn''t dare to display his full power in fear of revealing his true identity.


    "Roar!" The Golden Lion Mastiff let loose another furious roar as its mountainous body appeared directly above Tang Wulin.


    In retaliation, Tang Wulin sprang up and focused all of his power into his fist. Due to the fact that he was unable to use his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, he was relying on his own strength, soul power, dragon''s repulse, and lightning power.


    "Rumble!"


    Their battle was the epitome of destruction. Tang Wulin was slammed back down onto the ground amid an explosive boom, and he was buried into the earth like a nail.


    As for the Golden Lion Mastiff, its body reared up slightly, but aside from the fact that the golden luster of its fur had dimmed slightly, the lightning hadn''t been able to inflict any substantial damage upon it.


    After landing on the ground, it slammed its front paws down onto the ground again, and Tang Wulin was forcibly ejected out of the earth as a result of the enormous impact. After that, it opened its cavernous mouth to try and swallow Tang Wulin whole.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was in a state of complete disorientation.


    When he had first encountered the Golden Lion Mastiff, he had completely underestimated it. After all, it hadn''t even reached 100,000 years of age yet, while he was a Titled Douluo. Thus, he was testing the Golden Lion Mastiff to see exactly what it was capable of.


    Much to his surprise, the Golden Lion Mastiff''s Dominance domain was far more powerful than he had expected, and its string of attacks had almost scattered his powerful blood essence. What was even more shocking to him was that his ever-effective bloodline suppression was failing to take effect on the Golden Lion Mastiff.


    As a result, he was forced firmly onto the back foot, and in his current state, he was completely unable to defend himself against the Golden Lion Mastiff''s oncoming attack.


    He heaved a resigned sigh as a streak of bluish-purple light appeared in mid-air, and in that instant, everything seemed to suddenly slow down.


    This wasn''t a result of Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal domain. Instead, it was due to the fact that the air had become more viscous due to a sudden influx of lightning elements.


    "Crack!" The streak of bluish-purple light struck the Golden Lion Mastiff''s body.


    Compared to its mountainous body, the streak of light was downright diminutive, but in the instant that it was struck all of the Golden Lion Mastiff''s fur stood up on end, and it completely stiffened in mid-air as its body turned a bluish-purple color.


    The current Golden Lion Mastiff was rather amusing to behold as it was like a massive bluish-purple dog that was suspended in mid-air.


    In the next instant, it plummeted down from the heavens in a state of free fall, smashing a massive crater into the ground.


    As for Tang Wulin, his body was still on the ascent from the impact of the Golden Lion Mastiff''s paw slams, and only after he had reached the apex of his ascent did he begin to fall.


    At this point, he had already had a chance to catch his breath, and his dragon core and soul core were fully functional again as he righted himself in mid-air.


    The attack that he had just unleashed was his Lightning God Whip!


    This was the first time that he had used this soul skill during a real battle, and it had proven to be extremely effective.


    Due to his adopted identity as the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, he could only use his own lightning power, and he couldn''t reveal his Infernal Lightning Vine, so he had unleashed that attack in a very sneaky manner. As a result, he was unable to unleash the full power of the Lightning God Whip, but even so, it was still an extremely fearsome attack. This was his ninth soul skill, after all, so it was only natural that the Golden Lion Mastiff was unable to withstand it.


    Thus, Tang Wulin hovered in mid-air as he cast his gaze toward the Golden Lion Mastiff down below.


    Instead of being enraged by the string of attacks he had been forced to withstand, he was quite elated to have encountered such a powerful opponent.


    The Golden Lion Mastiff was a figurative whetstone, with which he could sharpen and hone all of his skills and abilities. At the same time, he wanted to assess just how powerful this Golden Lion Mastiff was.


    The Golden Lion Mastiff was spasming uncontrollably from the effects of the Lightning God Whip, and Tang Wulin could see that its body was beginning to shrink while the Dominance domain''s effect was gradually weakening.


    Oh? Did the Lightning God Whip disable its domain?


    The final trace of bluish-purple lightning finally vanished from the Golden Lion Mastiff''s body, and it had reverted back to its original size. All of its fur had been charred slightly black, but what caught Tang Wulin''s attention the most was that the Golden Lion Mastiff''s black ghostly face had receded to reveal a rather adorable chubby face.


    In the end, the original ghostly face was reduced to a pair of black spots on the Golden Lion Mastiff''s eyelids.


    "Woof, woof!" It barked a few times in Tang Wulin''s direction before immediately fleeing the scene.

 Chapter 1471: Its Him?

    Tang Wulin could only look on in a slack-jawed manner. This wasn''t how Golden Lion Mastiffs were supposed to act! He didn''t know exactly what had happened to this Golden Lion Mastiff, but the simplest conclusion was that it had been forced into retreat by him.


    Weren''t Golden Lion Mastiffs supposed to be fearless and ruthless? Weren''t they supposed to only engage in battles to the death? Why was this one fleeing the scene?


    On top of that, Tang Wulin noticed that as the Golden Lion Mastiff was running away, its body was still continuing to shrink, and its aura was also becoming weaker and weaker.


    He cast his gaze down below to find that the entire area within a diameter of a kilometer had been severely ravaged. If it weren''t for this, he would struggle to believe that the massive, adorable dog running away with its tail between its legs could be so dangerous.


    However, this battle instilled him with even greater confidence in his own Lightning God Whip as a truly formidable individual attack. Not only was it enormously powerful, it was also able to forcibly immobilize its target through electric shock.


    In Tang Wulin''s mind, he was already beginning to consider how this soul skill could work with his other abilities. If he could utilize this soul skill well, it would undoubtedly be a brilliant asset to him.


    After becoming a Titled Douluo, it seemed that the entire world had become different. All Titled Douluos could be referred to as such after attaining their ninth soul rings, but there were massive disparities between the powers of Titled Douluos.


    To put it in simpler terms, without his suit of four-word battle armor, his uncle-teacher would be no match for him. A Soul Master''s power was a culmination of multiple factors, of which one''s array of soul skills was definitely the most important. Of course, with the invention of battle armor, the gap between Soul Masters had been whittled down to a certain extent, but this was only a relative concept.


    After reviewing that previous battle, Tang Wulin had become a lot more cautious and alert. He couldn''t afford to not take an opponent seriously just because he thought that they were weak. If the Golden Lion Mastiff''s attacks had been slightly more ferocious or if he didn''t possess his Lightning God Whip soul skill, it was very likely that he wouldn''t even have gotten a chance to retaliate.


    Currently, he possessed a large array of abilities, including over 10 Bluesilver Emperor soul skills, six Golden Dragon King soul skills, a spiritual domain, the Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, blood soul fusion skills, etc.


    He had already consolidated all of these skills and abilities, but in an actual battle, he often found himself unable to make use of all of them, and at times, he didn''t have enough time to unleash the most suitable skills. Was there a way for him to simplify things and truly integrate all of the abilities that he possessed? In other words, would he be able to completely replace all of his current abilities with his blood soul fusion skills?


    This clearly wasn''t going to be a simple task. It had already been very difficult for him to invent his blood soul fusion skills; it was definitely going to be even more difficult to integrate more abilities on top of that.


    It seemed that this was something that he would have to consider carefully, and it was a process that definitely couldn''t be rushed.


    Thus, Tang Wulin descended onto the ground, and his soul core and dragon core quickly replenished the energy he had lost.


    Right at this moment, he suddenly sensed a burst of strange energy fluctuations erupted in the distance.


    Was this... spiritual power?


    The spiritual fluctuations were radiating outward in a ring formation, which meant that it was being directly released from a certain point.


    The spiritual power clearly couldn''t belong to any soul beast, so could it be that a Soul Master was releasing their spiritual power? Was this the power of a spiritual domain?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin immediately began to rush toward the direction that the spiritual fluctuations were coming from.


    The more he advanced toward the source of the spiritual fluctuations, the more surprised he became as he could sense that this spiritual power was very powerful, and it seemed to be capable of devouring all things.


    It was as if there were a vortex that contained a black hole in the center of this spiritual power, and it was devouring all spiritual power within the general vicinity.


    Tang Wulin felt as if his spiritual power were struggling to break out of his body. Thankfully, he was also at the Spirit Domain realm, so he was able to keep his own spiritual power in check.


    Soon, a vast expanse of darkness appeared up ahead. Actually, instead of pure darkness, it was an extremely deep blue color, and at the core of this vast expanse of deep blue was the black hole that he had detected earlier. The closer he got to the black hole, the more his spiritual power was affected, and he had no choice but to stop.


    This spiritual domain was truly formidable!


    The surrounding plants didn''t appear to be any different, but Tang Wulin couldn''t sense any vitality from them. The black hole had devoured the feeble spiritual fluctuations being released by their life force, thereby completely throwing their life force energy into disarray. As such, all of these plants were destined to die.


    Tang Wulin then caught sight of a person who was standing right at the center of the black hole.


    His head was tilted up toward the heavens, and his eyes were completely black. The dark blue light was being released by none other than his eyes. There were around a dozen huge soul beasts around him, all of which were lying completely still on the ground. It was clear that their minds and souls had been shattered, as evidenced by the fact that they were still giving off life force fluctuations, but all of their signs of life had disappeared.


    The man was Lan Fuozi! He was the one releasing the all-devouring spiritual power!


    Having learned from his battle against the Golden Lion Mastiff, Tang Wulin had become more cautious and didn''t immediately approach Lan Fuozi. If his spiritual domain were to exceed his tolerance range, then he would also be destroyed like those soul beasts.


    Lan Fuozi''s spiritual domain was truly special; it was like a black hole that destroyed everything around it. Could his body really handle such a destructive spiritual domain?


    Right as this thought crossed Tang Wulin''s mind, Lan Fuozi abruptly shuddered before throwing up a mouthful of blood, and the blackness in his eyes faded as he slumped down onto the ground. The terrifying black hole also instantly vanished, but there was no longer any vitality within a radius of several hundred meters.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to Lan Fuozi to discover that his aura had already become very feeble, but Tang Wulin could sense a hint of insanity within it.


    This feeling was rather similar to when he had undergone that crimson dragon transformation, but it was also slightly different. Did this mean that Lan Fuozi had lost control earlier?


    He had only just met Lan Fuozi not long ago, so he certainly didn''t consider them to be friends, but he wasn''t going to leave him, either.


    He pressed a hand onto Lan Fuozi''s chest to assess his bodily condition, and his heart immediately jolted upon discovering that the meridians within Lan Fuozi''s body were in a far severer state of chaos then he had anticipated.


    To put it in simpler terms, Lan Fuozi''s soul power was circulating in a way that almost defied logic, but it somehow managed to continue circulating.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin could sense that Lan Fuozi''s life force energy was extremely abundant. Even though his spiritual power was slightly drained, his body was quickly repairing itself, and his spiritual power was also rapidly being replenished.


    In his current state, his bodily condition was no longer the main concern. Instead, it was the soul beasts that could appear at any time to prey on him.


    He was already unconscious, and this place was rife with soul beasts, so why hadn''t he been teleported out of the Myriad Beast Plane yet? Could it be due to the fact that he had just arrived on the scene? If that were the case, then that further served to prove that the Myriad Beast Plane was constantly monitoring everyone.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin sat down beside Lan Fuozi with his legs crossed. The objective of this examination was to survive for the longest time in this plane anyway, so he was in no hurry to leave. At the same time, he was very intrigued by all of the extinct soul beasts in this plane, and battling them benefitted him immensely.


    Perhaps it was due to the fact that all of the nearby soul beasts in the area had been scared away by Lan Fuozi''s earlier outburst of soul power, but no other soul beasts appeared during the next hour.


    During this time, Tang Wulin had inspected the soul beasts that had been slain by Lan Fuozi, and there were a few that he couldn''t even name, while those that he did recognize were all very powerful.


    After a while, he was beginning to grow rather concerned and perplexed. Judging from Lan Fuozi''s aura, he should''ve been awake already! What was going on?

 Chapter 1472: These... Pectoral Muscles...

    "He''s been poisoned." The Beautiful Silk Tulip''s voice suddenly rang out in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    "Poisoned? What kind of poison is this?" Tang Wulin asked in his heart.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "If I''m not mistaken, this should be the Man-eating Nightmare Flower''s Nightmare Toxins. It''s not lethal, but if left untreated, the victim will continue to be unconscious until they eventually die. The toxins are what the Man-eating Nightmare Flower uses to hunt, and it''s ranked seventh among the top 10 poisons found in nature. This man is very powerful; he''s already been poisoned for a very long time, yet he only just fell unconscious, and that''s a testament to both his powers and will."


    "What can we do? Can you cure him?" Tang Wulin knew that the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s forte lay in its ability to cure all poisoning.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied in a proud manner, "I am the king of all immortal plants; this Nightmare Toxin is indeed very potent, but it''s still not enough to stump me. Take off his clothes; Nightmare Toxins are able to seep into one''s body through their pores, so I won''t be able to draw the toxins out of his body through his clothes."


    "You''re the best!" Tang Wulin praised before immediately beginning to take off Lan Fuozi''s clothes.


    After taking off Lan Fuozi''s outer garment, he hesitated momentarily before releasing a net of lighting that enshrouded both himself and Lan Fuozi within.


    The entire Myriad Beast Plane seemed to be under constant surveillance, so it couldn''t hurt to conceal Lan Fuozi''s body as common etiquette.


    After stripping off the outer garment to reveal the clothes inside, Tang Wulin was struck by a rather strange feeling. Lan Fuozi''s skin was very fair and delicate, and he didn''t seem to have much muscle.


    Having said that, his pectoral muscles were very well-developed, but every other part of his body was sorely lacking in terms of muscular development.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin stopped what he was doing.


    There was something not right about these curves...


    "Did you only just figure it out?" the Beautiful Silk Tulip teased with a hint of schadenfreude in his voice.


    "No way!" Tang Wulin murmured to himself.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip countered, "Why not? You''re very adept in disguise techniques yourself; did you not notice that there was something off about her aura, and the fact that she''s constantly giving off a faint fragrant aroma?"


    A speechless look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "How was I supposed to know? I don''t just go around sniffing people! Only someone like you who''s extremely sensitive to smells would notice. What do I do now? Can the poison be cured without taking off her clothes?"


    Never did he think that Lan Fuozi was a woman. Even though it hadn''t been fully verified, her figure and curves were virtually all the confirmation he needed.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip said in an amused voice, "You''re not that close to her anyway, so just leave her if you don''t want to save her. In any case, once the toxins reach her brain, even I won''t be able to do anything, and she''ll be destined to remain in a deep slumber until she dies. It''s up to you whether you want to save her."


    "Can you take off her clothes instead?" Tang Wulin asked in a gloomy manner.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied, "I can''t do that! I''ve already fused as one with my lover, and I''m a man; I can''t betray her by doing something like this!"


    Tang Wulin snapped, "I''m a man as well! How did this even happen?" Regardless of how calm and steadfast he normally was, he was still at a complete loss for what to do in this current situation.


    Lan Fuozi had proclaimed to him that "he" had found his true love and fallen in love with Gu Yuena at first sight, but it turned out that this guy was a woman! She was either participating in this event as a prank or her sexual orientation was askew.


    In any case, there was a young woman lying before him who had been afflicted by an extremely potent poison. Thankfully, it wasn''t the poison he had been afflicted by last time. Otherwise, things would be even more troublesome.


    "Hurry up, Boss," the Beautiful Silk Tulip goaded in a teasing voice.


    Tang Wulin retorted in an accusatory tone, "You could''ve cured me of the aphrodisiac I drank last time at the Star Luo Empire, couldn''t you?"


    "I don''t know, perhaps, maybe, I might''ve been able to do it. But that was a good thing for you, wasn''t it? As soon as I realized what was happening, I shut off my own six senses so as to not invade your privacy," the Beautiful Silk Tulip chuckled.


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids twitched upon hearing this. He had always thought that the Beautiful Silk Tulip was the most reliable of his soul spirits, but it seemed that he wasn''t all that reliable after all!


    After taking a deep breath, Tang Wulin closed his eyes before releasing his spiritual power, He was purely using his spiritual power to detect Lan Fuozi''s location, and he hurriedly made his way toward her before stripping off her clothes, making sure to minimize the contact between them. However, some physical contact was naturally inevitable when taking off her innermost pieces of clothing. Her skin was delicate and smooth, and she was indeed giving off a fragrant aroma. Even though his eyes were closed, he couldn''t cut off his own senses of touch and smell!


    Tang Wulin could only chant Gu Yuena''s name over and over again in his heart. He had been able to resist Dai Yun''er to a certain extent even under the influence of the aphrodisiac wine, so he definitely possessed sufficient willpower. Even so, this was still very awkward!


    Finally, all Lan Fuozi''s clothes were stripped away, and Tang Wulin was drenched in sweat. With his current physical constitution, it was virtually impossible for him to sweat, but that was precisely what was happening.


    "Hurry up!"


    "You got it!" The Beautiful Silk Tulip didn''t delay any further on this occasion. A large purple flower appeared behind Tang Wulin, and faint pink light shone down upon Lan Fuozi.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip boasted the ability to be able to keep out and cure poisons, and under the nourishment of its aura, a series of fine red water droplets quickly appeared on the surface of Lan Fuozi''s skin alongside a sweet and fragrant aroma.


    "Wow, she really did take in a lot of these toxins! Her physical constitution is truly exceptional; her body instinctively protected her own organs so that the Nightmare Toxins weren''t able to enter her brain. Otherwise, if her mind had been corrupted, then there would be nothing I can do," the Beautiful Silk Tulip analyzed as he administered treatment.


    Tang Wulin urged, "Can you hurry up and stop rambling? We have to get her clothes back on after you''re done."


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was silent for a moment before asking, "Do you remember how this strapping was tied around her chest? I feel like you most likely won''t remember anymore."


    "..."


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids began to twitch again. Why did women have to wear so many different items of clothing?


    Indeed, he had completely forgotten how the strapping had been tied around her chest. Removing it had been quite troublesome, and he was trying his best not to come into contact with her body, so he didn''t make an effort to remember how the strapping had been tied.


    "Hurry up and focus on curing the poison!"


    "Almost done now. Most of the toxins have already been expelled, and they''ll naturally evaporate in the air in around two minutes. Don''t worry about inhaling some of the toxins; I''ll make sure you don''t get poisoned."


    Tang Wulin was quite relieved to hear this. At the very least, he wouldn''t have to rub down her body or something like that; that would be even more awkward. As for the strapping, he would just have to do his best. In any case, it didn''t really matter whether he tied it correctly or not.


    After putting on her clothes for her, he would immediately run away and survey the area with his spiritual power to ensure her safety. She wouldn''t know that he was the one who had saved her, and the awkwardness could be avoided.

 Chapter 1473: Youre Repaying Kindness With Ingratitude!

    After establishing that plan, the awkwardness in his heart was significantly alleviated. Everything would be fine as long as Lan Fuozi didn''t find out that he was the one who had taken off and put on her clothes for her.


    As for the fact that she was a woman, he would just pretend to be oblivious to that.


    With the lightning barrier he had created, surveillance most likely wouldn''t have been able to glean Lan Fuozi''s body.


    "Done," the Beautiful Silk Tulip said.


    Tang Wulin reacted extremely quickly, immediately rushing over to Lan Fuozi before scooping her up from the ground while picking up her strapping with his other hand.


    Right at this moment, he suddenly detected that something seemed to be amiss. Due to the fact that he was using his spiritual power in the place of his eyes, his senses were particularly sharp, and he could feel a fierce gust of wind blowing toward him...


    "Slap!"


    A vicious slap landed on Tang Wulin''s face, causing him to lose his balance and tumble onto the ground, directly on top of Lan Fuozi''s naked body.


    He reflexively opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of a pair of furious blue eyes that were virtually releasing flames!


    Tang Wulin''s face was stinging with pain. This was the first time he had ever been slapped in the face!


    Lan Fuozi still had a set of masculine facial features, but Tang Wulin could clearly feel an extremely supple and delicate body beneath his own, and there were a pair of soft, warm cushions pressed against his chest.


    Tang Wulin immediately grabbed on to Lan Fuozi''s wrists before she could attack any further. "Stop! I''m curing your poisoning!" He pressed her wrists down onto the ground, but that only made their position even more intimate.


    "Get off me, you bastard!" Lan Fuozi was so enraged she felt as if she were about to go insane, and her body was trembling uncontrollably with shame.


    "Alright, but don''t attack me anymore! I really was saving you just now. Don''t you remember how you got poisoned? If it weren''t for me, you would''ve been unconscious forever. How can you repay my kindness with such ingratitude?" Tang Wulin hurriedly said.


    Lan Fuozi faltered slightly upon hearing this, and her memories slowly returned to her.


    She recalled that she only just barely managed to escape from the Man-eating Nightmare Flowers, but she was very heavily poisoned at that point and fled toward a random direction in a blind panic, alerting many soul beasts in the process. All of these soul beasts surrounded her, and she was forced to battle them while the toxins gradually took effect within her body. Right as she was about to be overwhelmed by the soul beasts, she finally lost control.


    Currently, she was in an extremely feeble state, and she could feel that she had severely overexerted her own spiritual power. Otherwise, that slap would''ve been a lot more powerful. However, she could also feel that the euphoric drowsy sensation had faded, so it did indeed appear that she had been cured.


    "Do you remember what happened now? You were poisoned by Nightmare Toxins that had seeped into your skin, so I had to take off your clothes to expel the toxins; I didn''t do it to take advantage of you. I didn''t even know you were a woman, so I certainly had no intention of doing anything to you. I discovered that you were a woman while taking off your clothes, but what was I supposed to do? Just watch you die? If you''ve calmed down, then I''ll let you go, but don''t attack me again! I don''t beat women, but if you insist on attacking me, I''ll have to restrain you by force."


    Tang Wulin had completely taken the moral high ground, and Lan Fuozi''s panted heavily as she bit down on her lower lip and gradually calmed herself down. "Alright, now get off me!"


    Only then did Tang Wulin release her before quickly springing back and turning so that his back was facing her.


    He pointed at the net of lightning around them, and said, "I used my martial soul to conceal the two of us, so the surveillance in this plane wouldn''t have been able to see you. I had my eyes closed the entire time as well, so I didn''t see anything, either. Hurry up and put on your clothes now."


    Lan Fuozi didn''t respond, but Tang Wulin could hear the sound of clothes rustling behind him.


    He was glad that he didn''t have to put on her chest strapping for her, but this situation was even more awkward.


    Tang Wulin grumbled in his heart, "Why didn''t you tell me that she would wake up so quickly?"


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip replied in an innocent manner, "I didn''t know she would wake up this quickly, either, and you didn''t ask me, Boss!"


    "Don''t call me boss!" Tang Wulin snapped internally.


    After a while, the sound of rustling clothes ceased. Tang Wulin had constantly been surveying the situation with his spiritual power in case Lan Fuozi suddenly attacked him again. If she did that, he would immediately run away. In her current feeble state, she would only be able to muster up around 10% to 20% of her power at most, so she posed no threat to him.


    In any case, he hadn''t done anything wrong, so he certainly didn''t owe her anything.


    It was a good thing to save someone in a dire situation, but that slap to the face really was unwarranted! Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think of the fact that even Gu Yuena had never slapped him like this before.


    "I''m done." Lan Fuozi''s cold voice rang out from behind him, and only then did he turn back around.


    She had already returned to her handsome masculine appearance, and there were no longer any discernible feminine traits about her. In terms of disguise skills, she was no less proficient than Tang Wulin.


    At this moment, she was appraising Tang Wulin with a complex expression, and her breathing was still slightly faster than normal.


    "You better not tell anyone about this or spoil my participation in this joust for a spouse event! Otherwise, I''ll kill you!"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes in response. "If I knew you were such an ungrateful person, I would''ve left you to die. Don''t worry, I won''t report you or anything; it''s not like Gu Yuena would fall for a woman anyway. This is where we part ways; just pretend as if you never ran into me."


    He waved a hand through the air as he spoke to withdraw his lightning net, then immediately began to depart.


    "Hey!" Lan Fuozi called out in an urgent voice.


    "What?" Tang Wulin turned around again.


    A slightly awkward look appeared on Lan Fuozi''s face, and she said, "I''m currently very feeble; can you protect me until I recover before you leave?"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes in response. "If your life comes under threat, you''ll be teleported out of here."


    "Then why wasn''t I teleported out of here earlier?" Lan Fuozi countered with a gloomy expression.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, why HADN''T she been teleported away earlier? Could it be that that poisoning didn''t count?


    A cold look appeared on Lan Fuozi''s face as she said, "If you don''t want to, then you can leave."


    Tang Wulin replied, "So this is how you beg people for favors? Fine, I''m leaving now."


    "Hey, don''t actually leave!" Lan Fuozi hurriedly rushed over to him, but she was still in a very feeble state, so she tripped over her own feet and began to fall toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin stepped away to avoid her before laying a hand onto her shoulder to help her back up into a standing position.


    "Don''t you have any chivalry?" Lan Fuozi''s breathing quickened even further, and her face also turned quite pale.


    Tang Wulin retorted, "Who says I''m a chivalrous man? Even if I were, I wouldn''t waste my chivalry on someone so ungrateful." Tang Wulin pointed at his own face as he spoke, and his cheek was still stinging from the earlier slap.


    Lan Fuozi blushed slightly upon hearing this. "Don''t be so petty; how was I supposed to know you were helping me in that situation?"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "Fine, I''ll stay here while you recover. After you''re done, we''ll part ways and pretend we never met each other here."


    He made his way over to a patch of flat ground as he spoke, then sat down with his legs crossed and closed his eyes.


    Even though he had done nothing wrong, he had indeed touched and seen some things that he shouldn''t have, so he was doing this to repay the favor that he owed her.


    Lan Fuozi really wanted to give Tang Wulin a beating at the sight of his disdainful expression, but she knew that she would only be making a fool out of herself in her current state.


    Thus, she gritted her teeth and also sat down on the ground with her eyes closed as she began to cultivate.

 Chapter 1474: Separation

    Even though Tang Wulin had his eyes closed, he was still constantly keeping tabs on Lan Fuozi, and he found it quite remarkable that her emotions were able to settle so quickly to a normal state as soon as she began cultivating. As expected of someone who was able to cultivate their spiritual power to the Spirit Domain realm.


    Furthermore, while examining Lan Fuozi''s bodily condition, he discovered that the route along which her soul power circulated was completely different to his own. As she began cultivating, Tang Wulin could clearly sense the water elements in the air converging toward her, and she also began to release spiritual power fluctuations. They were still quite feeble, but they possessed a special rhythm and seemed to be arising from a cultivation method that specifically targeted spiritual power.


    While cultivating her spiritual power and soul power in unison, Lan Fuozi gave off a sense of balance and harmony, and it was also a display of her immense foundation.


    She appeared to be only slightly older than Tang Wulin, so it was very remarkable that she had been able to cultivate to this level. Judging from her eruption of power prior to falling unconscious, Tang Wulin wasn''t fully confident that he would be able to defeat her in a one-on-one battle. However, she seemed to be rather lacking in battle experience, and that was most likely her most glaring weakness.


    As Tang Wulin cultivated, he was also keeping tabs on the changes taking place in the surrounding area.


    There were currently no soul beasts within the sensory range of his spiritual power, perhaps due to the fact that they had all been frightened away by Lan Fuozi''s terrifying outburst.


    Thus, six peaceful hours passed by.


    When Lan Fuozi opened her eyes again, Tang Wulin immediately sensed this, and he also reopened his eyes.


    At this point, Lan Fuozi''s eyes had regained their clarity, and her aura had also returned to normal indicating that she had most likely already recovered most of her soul power. However, her spiritual fluctuations were still not as powerful as they normally were.


    After rising to her feet, she cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin with a hesitant look in her eyes. "Thank you."


    Tang Wulin waved a hand in response. "Don''t mention it. I''ll see you around." After that, he rushed away into the forest, quickly vanishing into the undergrowth.


    Lan Fuozi looked on at his departing figure, and she reflexively laid a hand onto her own chest, where her heart seemed to be beating slightly faster than normal. "Why do I not find him as repulsive as before? Aren''t all men supposed to be horrible creatures? That''s what Mother told me!"


    Tang Wulin was naturally oblivious to Lan Fuozi''s renewed impression of him.


    He was striding through the lush forest, and his mood was steadily improving as he sensed the rich life force energy in the air.


    Along the way, he encountered some soul beasts, but he was like a tourist, choosing mostly to appraise these soul beasts from afar. Even if a battle were to ensue, he would handle the situation with care to avoid harming the soul beasts.


    Meeting so many extinct soul beasts was truly a surreal and wonderful experience, and he quickly forgot all about the incident surrounding Lan Fuozi.


    However, not long after that, he finally encountered some trouble.


    As he was passing through a certain area, Tang Wulin suddenly detected a powerful aura that struck him with a sense of peril.


    He could tell that this aura didn''t belong to a human, and right as he determined this, dense vapor began to permeate through the air.


    Within the misty vapor, the moos of a cow began to ring out.


    What kind of soul beast was this?


    Tang Wulin slowly made his way into the mist with a hint of curiosity in his heart. Even though he was sensing a threat from that aura, he was very confident in his own abilities, so he was sure that self-preservation wouldn''t be an issue.


    Soon, he discovered the source of the vapor. It had stemmed from a lake that only had a diameter of around 100 meters, and the lake was filled with semi-transparent green water. The misty vapor permeating throughout the area was perhaps a result of the high level of humidity here.


    The mooing gradually subsided, and ripples began to proliferate over the surface of the lake. It seemed that the mooing had come from the center of the lake.


    Tang Wulin released his spiritual power, and bluish-purple light began to course over his body as he proceeded with caution. He had concealed his own aura as much as possible, and he silently hid behind a giant rock as he assessed his surroundings.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly as he could sense that the air currents in the surrounding area had sped up, but the mist had become denser.


    If there were wind blowing through the air, shouldn''t the mist have been dispersed?


    Right as this thought crossed his mind, a gust of fierce wind was swept up, immediately followed by a string of loud moos.


    The ferocious winds suddenly began to converge toward him from all sides like a massive cage, striking him with a strong sense of asphyxiation.


    What was even more terrifying was that the winds were imbued with incredible power that resembled the power of space as opposed to just pure wind power.


    Tang Wulin immediately unleashed his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, trying to charge out of the gaps in the walls of wind, which he was searching for using his spiritual power. At the same time, his dragon core thumped violently, and a layer of scales appeared over his skin.


    "Bam!" Right as he had found a gap that he could exploit, it was filled by another gust of fierce wind that crashed into his body.


    Tang Wulin immediately stomped his right foot down onto the ground, unleashing his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth amid a thunderous dragon''s roar.


    In order to disguise his own identity, he didn''t use the complete version of his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. In other words, he was directing its entire power into the ground, creating powerful shockwaves to counteract the ferocious winds.


    As a result, the pressure that he was under was significantly alleviated, and he formed a barrier for himself with his arms before propelling himself toward a certain direction.


    With his enormous strength, he was able to crash through the converging walls of wind, yet just as he was about to escape, a massive azure shadow suddenly came hurtling directly toward him.


    "Boom!"


    Tang Wulin was sent flying like a cannonball, and he couldn''t help but wonder why he had encountered so many powerful beings in this Myriad Beast Plane.


    Both the Golden Lion Mastiff from before and this unknown creature possessed strength that outstripped his own, and as a result of the clash, he was launched all the way across the lake before landing on the other side.


    With his dragon''s repulse and tremendous physical constitution, the attack wasn''t enough to hurt him, but he definitely hadn''t enjoyed it, either. His arms were slightly numb, and he only regained feeling within them after circulating his blood essence within his own body.


    Not being able to use the abilities that he was most adept in proved to be quite a handicap; if he had used Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens during his escape, then the result would''ve most likely been quite different.


    It was very easy for him to pose as the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but the adopted identity was a restrictive shackle that prevented him from being able to use most of his abilities, such as many of his soul skills and his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Right at this moment, an overwhelming sense of peril welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart, and he immediately released his dragon wings before flapping them vigorously while rolling to the side.

 Chapter 1475: The Fearsome Giant Ape

    "Boom!"


    A mountainous black creature crashed heavily down onto the ground, causing the earth to quake violently.


    Tang Wulin was immediately able to identify the massive creature as an ape that was over 100 meters tall, and it had crashed down from the heavens like a meteorite.


    In the next instant, an enormous burst of pressure began to weigh down upon him. This was gravitational control!


    Tang Wulin instantly unleashed the gravitational control ability of his Mountain Dragon King torso bone as a countermeasure while the giant ape leaped toward him while lashing out with its massive fists.


    Even with its massive body, it was able to unleash hundreds of punches in an instant, and the entire sky was filled with countless fist projections.


    There was no way to evade the attacks!


    Having been struck by this string of attacks, a sense of fury had begun to well up in Tang Wulin''s heart, and he took a deep breath as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, causing all of his scales to take on a mirror-like quality.


    Immediately thereafter, he accelerated in mid-air before lashing out with his right fist.


    Even without his Golden Dragon Spear, he was able to unleash All or Nothing with his fist, instantly injecting all of his strength, soul power, blood essence power, Golden Dragon King bloodline, and the lightning of his Infernal Lightning Vine into the attack.


    "Boom!"


    An earth-shattering boom rang out as the giant ape''s fists were stopped cold in their tracks while Tang Wulin was sent flying backward by the force of the impact.


    He quickly determined that he was definitely facing a soul beast above 100,000 years of age, and this was a soul beast that was of no weaker a species than the Golden Lion Mastiff.


    What was even more concerning to him was that this giant ape clearly wasn''t the one who had unleashed the wind attacks earlier, which meant that there was a very good chance that there were two 100,000-year-old soul beasts in this place.


    Despite this, Tang Wulin remained calm as he released his suit of battle armor.


    More lightning began to course over his suit of battle armor, forming a barrier to conceal its appearance as much as possible.


    ......


    "Hold on, that Yu Longyue just entered the restricted area! We have to report this to our higher-ups right away!"


    "All of the soul beasts in the restricted area are extremely powerful, particularly the ones that are being specially nurtured, and we''re unable to conduct surveillance in that area due to the chaotic energy there. I didn''t think anyone would be able to make it into that area; this is going to be quite troublesome."


    "Is there any way to directly teleport him out of there?"


    "I''m afraid not; we can''t control anything within the restricted area. Let''s report this matter and wait for a verdict from our higher-ups."


    "I''ve just received a response from our higher-ups: if he can make it out of the restricted area, then teleport him out of there right away. If not, then this matter is to be kept strictly confidential."


    "Yes!"


    ......


    After donning his Dragon Moon Song battle armor, Tang Wulin''s aura swelled drastically, he was instilled with a sense of confidence.


    His suit of three-word battle was able to enhance his powers to the pinnacle of the Hyper Douluo level, which meant that he would be able to contend with a rank 98 Hyper Douluo who wasn''t wearing their suit of battle armor.


    The extinction of the soul beasts had truly been set into motion with the invention of battle armor, and in this perilous situation, Tang Wulin had immediately donned his suit of battle armor.


    "Moo!" The moos began to ring out once again as another gust of fierce winds swept forth. Tang Wulin was then greeted by the sight of a water spout rising up from the surface of the lake. The water spout was rife with wind and water elemental power, and it swept directly toward him.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and he knew that he couldn''t hide his powers any longer. He had to address this crisis, even if doing so meant that his cover would be blown.


    A series of bluish-purple vines erupted out of his body, and countless bolts of lightning began to appear as the surrounding air instantly became more viscous.


    "Rumble, rumble!"


    The bolts of bluish-purple lightning were filled with unrivaled explosive power, and they formed a dense forest that spread outward with Tang Wulin''s body at the very center.


    This was his ninth soul skill, Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell!


    As soon as the Infernal Lightning Vine appeared, it was filled with excitement. Not only did it love devouring lightning, it also loved expressing itself.


    The lightning that it released instantly encompassed an area with a radius of hundreds of meters, and the humid air became very dry in the face of the vast expanse of lightning.


    Tang Wulin''s suit of three-word battle armor was frantically devouring all types of elemental particles from the air to reciprocate Tang Wulin, replenishing his energy as quickly as it could.


    Within the lightning, Tang Wulin could sense two enormous figures.


    The one behind him was the giant ape, which had already leaped back onto the shore to avoid the lightning, while the one directly in front of him was the soul beast who had first attacked him, and it had also retreated out of the forest of lightning.


    This was a giant python that was over 100 meters in length with azure scales all over its body, as well as a pair of giant claws beneath its abdomen. What was very strange was that it had a massive cow''s head, which was the source of all the thunderous moos.


    Was this the legendary Sky Azure Bull Python?


    Did this mean that the giant ape was the true Titan Giant Ape?


    One of Yuanen Yehui''s martial souls was the Titan Giant Ape, but even after unleashing her martial soul true body, she was still nowhere as powerful and imposing as the true Titan Giant Ape.


    Tang Wulin had heard stories about both the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, and these stories were related to his birth father.


    These two soul beasts were close friends with the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San. At the time, soul spirits hadn''t been invented yet, but the two almighty soul beasts had still sacrificed themselves to become part of Tang San''s power, thereby helping him to ascend to godhood in the end. Tang Wulin didn''t know any further details about this story, but according to the appraisal made by Shrek Academy, if these two soul beasts were still alive, then they would definitely both claim spots among the 10 Great Beasts.


    Both of them were unique soul beasts and extremely powerful, and they would most likely rank even above Bear Lord and Myriad Demon King.


    Never did Tang Wulin think that he would encounter these two legendary soul beasts in the Myriad Beast Plane.


    Furthermore, even though he was being attacked by them, he couldn''t help but feel a sense of intimacy toward them when he thought about how they had sacrificed themselves for his father.


    If he were facing two ordinary 100,000-year-old soul beasts, then it wouldn''t be much of an issue for him to escape, but this was an entirely different story!


    If he continued to hold back in an effort to hide his own identity, then it would be very difficult for him to escape.

 Chapter 1476: Its Over

    The Titan Giant Ape was forced back onto the shore by the Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell, and large patches of its fur had been charred black.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python had bore the brunt of the attack, but Tang Wulin had clearly seen a net of azure light rise up from its body to nullify the Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell.


    Even though the Sky Azure Bull Python had also shuddered violently within the Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell, it clearly hadn''t actually been harmed, and it slowly raised its pair of massive claws, which instantly turned an azure color.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that its claws seemed to be imbued with a very peculiar type of power, similar to the power exhibited by the Golden Lion Mastiff after it had unleashed its domain.


    Was this the power of domain laws?


    Every domain possessed its own power of laws, and that was what made domains so powerful.


    The reason why three-word battle armor was considered to be such an enormous upgrade from a suit of two-word battle armor was precisely because it possessed the power of laws contained within the battle armor domain.


    The domains attained by Soul Masters were more powerful than battle armor domains as they had a greater understanding of the power of laws contained within their own domains.


    For example, Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal domain contained the power of the laws of space and time, and this type of power was exactly what Tang Wulin was currently sensing from the paws of the Sky Azure Bull Python.


    What kind of power of laws did it possess?


    Before he had a chance to ponder this matter any further, the Sky Azure Bull Python suddenly brought its claws apart in a tearing motion. Immediately thereafter, the azure light erupting from its body intertwined with Tang Wulin''s Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell before both were torn apart in unison.


    Thus, a massive gash was torn into the Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell, following which the Sky Azure Bull Python sent its massive tail crashing directly toward Tang Wulin. This was the same thing that had sent Tang Wulin flying in the first place.


    Tang Wulin had only used his Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell in battle during sparring matches with his friends, and it had proven to be immensely effective every single time; this was the first time that it had ever been nullified like this.


    As expected of one of the most powerful soul beasts in history!


    Right at this moment, all of the fine hairs on the back of Tang Wulin''s neck stood up on end as the Titan Giant Ape had also sprung into action.


    It had crouched down to lower its center of gravity, as if it were straddling the saddle of a horse, and it slowly extended its right fist as a ball of inky-black light materialized on the surface of its fist.


    No sound or explosive power was released by its fist, but the attack had been unleashed at the same time as the Sky Azure Bull Python had whipped its tail toward Tang Wulin.


    "Crap!"


    A sense of life-threatening peril immediately welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart, and the surrounding air suddenly warped, following which both the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape''s attacks returned to a second ago.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin raised both hands in unison. The Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his left hand, and with it, he immediately unleashed his Fury of the Masses toward the Sky Azure Bull Python''s tail.


    Meanwhile, the golden trident appeared in his right hand, with which he unleashed Millennium White Clouds.


    In the face of these lethal attacks, Tang Wulin had also retaliated with his most powerful attacks.


    In comparison, the silent punch that the Titan Giant Ape had unleashed from the shore was far more threatening than the Sky Azure Bull Python''s tail strike.


    Right as it had unleashed that, Tang Wulin felt as if his entire body were about to be pulverized. In contrast, Yuanen Yehui''s Divine Cloudvortex Fists were like mere child''s play!


    "Clang!" The Golden Dragon Spear struck the Sky Azure Bull Python''s tail, and he could feel that the spear had landed a solid blow, but its power was completely nullified as soon as it struck the giant tail.


    The extreme sharpness of the Golden Dragon Spear seemed to have failed in the face of the Sky Azure Bull Python, but the Sky Azure Bull Python had also been forced back into retreat.


    Meanwhile, a giant fist indentation had appeared within the vast expanse of white clouds on the other side. Despite the grueling test of time, the fist indentation was still crashing directly toward Tang Wulin, reaching him in the blink of an eye.


    It''s over!


    The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape were far more fearsome than he had imagined.


    How had he even encountered this pair of almighty soul beasts in this place?


    All of a sudden, the giant fist projection stopped less than 10 meters away from Tang Wulin, and it abruptly exploded, scattering the Millennium White Clouds before gradually fading into nothingness, leaving Tang Wulin feeling very perplexed.


    The power of the Titan Giant Ape''s punch clearly hadn''t been nullified, so why had it suddenly stopped and disappeared?


    Right at this moment, a series of blue halos descended from the heavens to sweep up his body, and in the next instant, the entire world around him began to spin and blur. Just as he was about to be swept away by the blue vortex, a cold harrumph rang out, and a giant azure claw pierced into the huge vortex before making a simple dragging motion to destroy it.


    "Argh!" Another figure stumbled out of the vortex alongside Tang Wulin; it was none other than Lan Fuozi!


    "Run!" Lan Fuozi yelled as her eyes suddenly took on a deep purple hue, and an extremely powerful aura erupted from her body. Everything in the surrounding area instantly took on an illusionary quality, and a total of three purple shockwaves proliferated outward in all directions from her body.


    Both the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape were forced back by these three shockwaves, and the pressure being exerted upon Tang Wulin was instantly alleviated as a result.


    "Hmm?" A bewildered look appeared on the Sky Azure Bull Python''s face, and in the next instant, a slender hand had grabbed onto Tang Wulin''s wrist.


    Lan Fuozi''s face was rather pale as she released another shockwave, except this one was of a purplish-golden color. It only spread to a diameter of around five meters, but it managed to shatter the surrounding space, and she immediately dragged Tang Wulin into the shattered space.


    "I see." A rumbling voice rang out as the nightmarish giant azure claw appeared once again. On this occasion, it had become even more massive, and it prevented the torn space from sealing while piercing azure light suddenly erupted from its other claw.


    Both Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi were struck by a sense of dizziness, and everything around them seemed to have been caught up in an unavoidable storm of annihilation.


    It''s over!


    Father!


    Tang Wulin called out desperately to his father. In this dire situation, only the power that his father had left within his body would be able to save them.


    His consciousness lingered on this thought for only an instant before everything faded into darkness.


    ......


    "The energy fluctuations within the restricted area seem to have subsided, yet that person hasn''t emerged; he''s most likely dead."


    "Indeed. We''ve sent many scouts into the restricted area, but some of them had their memories wiped before they were ejected by whatever is residing in that area, while the rest didn''t even make it out alive. I can only pray for their sake that they''ll be released after having their memories wiped."


    "Should we report this to the higher-ups?"


    "Hold off on that for now; this examination will be under way for quite a few more days anyway."


    "Alright."


    ......


    "Chairman, I want to go back to cultivate now," Gu Yuena said as she rose to her feet.


    "Sure, go ahead," Qiangu Dongfeng said with a smile. He was in a very good mood as Qiangu Zhangting had already completed all of his examinations with flying colors, and this was a very good beginning.


    Even more importantly, the influence of the joust for a spouse event was only continuing to increase. The viewership it was receiving had already set a federal record, and the event was very beneficial for the public image of the Spirit Pagoda.


    In particular, all of the rewards offered by the Spirit Pagoda had swayed public opinion heavily in its favor, and that was what Qiangu Dongfeng was most pleased about.


    At this rate, the Spirit Pagoda''s reputation would be fully restored once the conclusion of the joust for a spouse event was reached, and the marriage ceremony between Qiangu Zhangting and Gu Yuena could be held then.


    After that, he would gradually shift more responsibility onto them as he prepared to hand over the reins.

 Chapter 1477: The Two Powerful Beings

    With that in mind, a slightly forlorn look appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face. If only his son were still alive. Qiangu Zhangting''s father had perished on a scouting mission in a small plane. At the time, the entire plane had collapsed, so even Qiangu Dongfeng had been powerless to save him. Qiangu Zhangting''s mother committed suicide from grief, thereby leaving Qiangu Zhanting as an orphan.


    This was something that had always pained Qiangu Dongfeng, and it made him even more determined to find that world. Only after reaching that level would he truly be able to govern his own fate and never have to watch anyone close to him die again. In order to achieve this goal, he was willing to make any sacrifice without any hesitation.


    Right as Gu Yuena left the rostrum and was about to return to her own living quarters, her brows suddenly furrowed slightly as if she had sensed something, and she laid a hand onto her own chest.


    She could clearly feel the scorching heat from the golden scale in front of her chest, indicating that he was in danger!


    ......


    High up in the air, the massive Sky Azure Bull Python quickly shrank down to become a middle-aged man amid a flash of azure light.


    The middle-aged man was very burly and imposing with a head of long azure hair, he was holding Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi, one in each hand.


    The Titan Giant Ape also quickly shrank into a musclebound pillar of a man, but his brows were tightly furrowed. "Did I see that right? Did this kid just use the golden trident?"


    The azure-haired man''s brows were also tightly furrowed as he replied, "I''m not sure. His aura is very chaotic; he possesses a dragon clan aura of a very high caliber that even has a suppressive effect on my bloodline to a certain extent. However, I''m not technically a member of the dragon clan, so the effect wasn''t very pronounced."


    He laid Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi onto the ground as he spoke, then squatted down and quickly patted up and down Tang Wulin''s body, injecting bursts of gentle azure light into his body before assessing the information reciprocated back to him.


    "This kid''s body is downright inhuman; he was struck by a direct swat of your tail but shook it off like it was nothing! In terms of physical constitution alone, he can probably match us; what a little freak!" the muscular man chuckled.


    "The aura of his golden trident was far more feeble than the one used by Tang San, but it really does possess an aura of the same nature," the azure-haired man mused, "On top of that, his blood essence is so abundant that he''s more like us soul beasts than a human. The dragon-type aura within his body is very pronounced, and there''s a type of deranged aura fluctuations within his body that even I can''t help but feel fearful toward; he''s definitely a very strange case!"


    "Could it be that he''s one of Tang San''s descendants?" the muscular man asked.


    "We''ll have to ask him to find out," the azure-haired man said as he patted Tang Wulin''s cheek, injecting a burst of gentle azure light into his head.


    Tang Wulin shuddered as he gradually awakened, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of a pair of unfamiliar, imposing men.


    He reflexively tried to spring to his feet, only to find that his body was completely immobilized.


    "Who are you?" Tang Wulin asked with a wary expression.


    The muscular man chuckled, "Have you not received enough of a beating yet? If you don''t want to die, then answer our questions!"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking, "Are you the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape?"


    He was still alive, so all was not lost. However, what was quite perplexing to him was that the power his father had left within his body hadn''t been activated, even though he was clearly in a life-threatening situation.


    However, the thought had only just occurred to him before he immediately repressed it. Since when had he started to rely on others? He had to become more powerful himself!


    His battles against Infernal King Douluo Harosha and Beast God Di Tian had been extremely crushing experiences, and if it weren''t for the immense willpower he had honed during his training on the demonic island, he would''ve most likely fallen into a depression already.


    "Hehe, so you''ve heard of us; we won''t be able to let you leave alive now," the muscular man chuckled.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already calmed down. "If you wanted to kill me, then I would already be dead. You woke me up because you have something to ask me, right? Go ahead."


    The Sky Azure Bull Python was rather surprised to hear this. "You''re much more willing to cooperate than I expected!"


    Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent manner, "Why wouldn''t I cooperate when the alternative would be death? Besides, I have no secrets that I can''t reveal to you; I''m a human while you two are soul beasts, so my secrets won''t be of any use to you anyway."


    The Sky Azure Bull Python chuckled, "Very good! It''s always a lot easier speaking to intelligent people. Tell me your name and affiliations."


    Tang Wulin replied, "My name is Tang Wulin; I come from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect."


    "Tang Wulin?" The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape immediately exchanged a glance upon hearing this.


    "Which three characters is your name comprised of?" the Titan Giant Ape asked in a slightly urgent manner.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly at the sight of his urgent display, and he replied, "Tang as in Tang San, Wu as in Xiao Wu, and Lin as in Qilin."


    The Titan Giant Ape asked, "You know of Tang San and Xiao Wu?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Who doesn''t? Not only is Tang San the founder of our Tang Sect, both Tang San and Xiao Wu are legends of the human race."


    The Sky Azure Bull Python asked, "How are you related to them?"


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily and didn''t reply right away. He had a feeling he already knew who these two men were, and if he weren''t mistaken about that, then he shouldn''t be in any danger anymore.


    Right as he was about to reply, the entire space suddenly warped slightly.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape looked up in unison, just in time to see a beam of silver light descend from the heavens, accompanied by a deep, rumbling voice. "I''m taking this man with me."


    As soon as the voice trailed off, a rift suddenly appeared in the air, following which a giant silver claw appeared before reaching downward.


    A beam of silver light instantly appeared around Tang Wulin, enveloping his entire body.


    "Stop!" the Sky Azure Bull Python yelled as he instantly rose up into the air, unleashing a giant azure claw to oppose the silver claw.


    The entire space tremored violently, and rainbow-light rippled forth from the surface of the silver claw, gradually overwhelming the azure light being released by the claw of the Sky Azure Bull Python.


    The Titan Giant Ape harrumphed coldly as he reverted back to his massive ape form before launching a fist upward; it was none other than the same attack that Tang Wulin had been completely powerless against earlier.

 Chapter 1478: Departure

    The light radiating from the silver claw suddenly brightened even further, and a hint of anger crept into the deep, rumbling voice. "I''m collaborating with you, but that doesn''t mean I''ll conform to you!"


    Dazzling silver light erupted forth, and all of the water in the entire lake down below instantly erupted upward. The silver claw swept through the air thrice in succession, and the entire space was suddenly on the verge of cracking.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape were already resisting with all their might, but they were still repressed by the silver claw, and Tang Wulin instantly vanished amid a flash of silver light.


    Both the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape reverted back into their human forms and descended onto the shore with extremely dark expressions.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python grumbled, "What an unreasonable bastard! We didn''t even get to find out if that kid had anything to do with Tang San! If he hadn''t been lying about his name, then it''s remarkably similar to Tang Wutong. I recall Tang San said that the name ''Tang Wutong'' bore the meaning of Tang San and Xiao Wu''s little Phoenix; wouldn''t that mean that that kid''s name entails Tang San and Xiao Wu''s little Qilin?"


    "But he doesn''t look like Tang San and Xiao Wu at all!"


    "Are you an idiot? Could you not see that he was in disguise?" the Sky Azure Bull Python snapped, "If he hadn''t been taken away, we would''ve had a whole host of ways to verify his identity. That attack he unleashed with the golden trident was very rudimentary, but it was rather similar to Tang San''s Millennium White Clouds, so there really is a very good chance that they''re related. If he really is Tang San and Xiao Wu''s son, then we have to protect him at all costs; he''s our only lead to finding the Divine Realm."


    "What do we do? Should we leave this place?" the Titan Giant Ape asked.


    A hesitant look appeared in the Sky Azure Bull Python''s eyes. "We agreed to stay here to oversee all of the revived soul beast seeds in his stead; if we both leave, then something could go wrong during our absence. You go find him, and I''ll stay here. Once you track him down, make sure to protect him at all costs, and establish a mark on his body. That way, we''ll be able to appear by his side at a moment''s notice."


    "Alright, but what do we do with that kid?" the Titan Giant Ape asked as he pointed at the unconscious Lan Fuozi.


    "Get him out of here. He risked his life to save Tang Wulin, so they should be good friends. Once we throw him out of here, he should automatically be teleported away."


    ......


    Silver light flashed, and Tang Wulin regained his mobility again, while his soul power and blood essence also resumed normal circulation.


    On this occasion, he had seen the giant silver claw in person, and it was just like how his friends had described it to be. What type of creature did that silver claw belong to?


    It had saved his friends in the Great Star Dou Forest and just now, it had saved him from the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape in that small plane; this was very strange.


    He felt like there were some leads that he could follow, but he couldn''t quite place his finger on them.


    All of a sudden, the silver light around him vanished, and he found himself situated at the entrance to the Myriad Beast Plane.


    He was rather taken aback by this, and he was quickly surrounded by a bunch of workers.


    "Are you the one who disappeared in the restricted area? How did you get out?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I don''t know! I seem to have fallen unconscious, and now, I''m suddenly here."


    "Do you remember anything?" one of the workers asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "No."


    The worker then asked, "Do you sense any changes within your own body?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head.


    The worker sighed, "That''s a pity. The Myriad Beast Plane examination was meant to be a reward for all participants. Our Spirit Pagoda recently developed a soul spirit evolution method that can enhance one''s soul spirits, and the longer one stays in the plane, the better the effect will be."


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this. "Why is that? Would you need to kill the soul beasts in the plane to reap those benefits?"


    The worker shook his head, and replied, "The Myriad Beast Plane simulates the ancient soul beast habitat, but there are some different laws in there that can accelerate the growth of soul beasts and soul spirits; the longer one remains in there, the more they''ll benefit."


    Tang Wulin was stunned to hear that the Spirit Pagoda had managed to develop something like this. He had indeed sensed the power of laws within that plane, but his soul spirits didn''t seem to have been affected. Was this because he had encountered the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape?


    In that case, the Spirit Pagoda had undoubtedly created another massive asset for itself. The Myriad Beast Plane was going to be extremely alluring to all Soul Masters, and in conjunction with their man-made black soul spirits, it would be very difficult for the Tang Sect to shake the position of the Spirit Pagoda in the federation.


    "With the time you''ve spent in the plane, you''ve received a perfect score for this examination. Please continue to the next examination," the worker said as he shook his head in a disappointed manner.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Would I be able to enter the Myriad Beast Plane again?"


    He still hadn''t finished his conversation with the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape yet, and he really wanted to know if he had made the right assumption.


    The worker shook his head in response. "We don''t have the authority to allow you back in there again. The Myriad Beast Plane will be announced to the public at the conclusion of the event, and you''ll be able to enter it for a certain price."


    Tang Wulin was rather disappointed, but also quite relieved to hear this as this meant that he would at least be able to enter the plane again in the future, and he planned to do so with his friends.


    If this plane really could accelerate the growth of soul spirits, then it would be a monumental invention for all Soul Masters. It had to be said that the Spirit Pagoda really was doing a fantastic job!


    Tang Wulin enquired about the last two examinations and discovered they were only general tests that weren''t really worth participating in, considering he had already accumulated more than 60 points.


    Thus, he decided not to participate in them, but nor did he leave the Myriad Beast Plane.


    If his assumption were correct, then the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape most likely wouldn''t harm Lan Fuozi.


    Lan Fuozi had risked his life to try and save him from the almighty Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape, and Tang Wulin was quite touched by this gesture, so he was going to stay to make sure that Lan Fuozi returned safely.


    Sure enough, after waiting for only a short while, Lan Fuozi was also teleported out of the plane. However, she was still in an unconscious state.


    "There''s an unconscious one over here; he seems to have come out from the restricted area. Where are the medics?"


    A group of medics immediately rushed toward her, but Tang Wulin held up a hand to stop them.


    "Allow me," he squatted down as he spoke and gave Lan Fuozi a gentle nudge while injecting a burst of Mysterious Heaven Method soul power into her body.


    Lan Fuozi hadn''t sustained any severe injuries, so she quickly shuddered and reawakened.


    As soon as she caught sight of Tang Wulin, she reflexively threw her arms around her own chest. "What are you doing? Get away from me!"


    "I... I''m helping you!" Tang Wulin said as he rose to his feet with a resigned expression.


    Peculiar looks appeared in the eyes of the surrounding workers upon seeing this. What was going on with them? They were clearly both men!


    Only then did Lan Fuozi realize that she had already exited the Myriad Beast Plane, and she immediately stood up before departing after giving Tang Wulin a vicious glare.


    Tang Wulin also didn''t want to be scrutinized any longer, so he hurriedly departed as well.


    "Why are you following me?" Lan Fuozi grumbled as she stopped in her tracks.


    Tang Wulin replied in an innocent manner, "I''m not following you; this is the only exit! Are you alright?"


    Lan Fuozi''s expression eased slightly as she replied, "I''m fine, but don''t follow me anymore! You saved me once, and I returned the favor, so neither of us owes the other anything. From now on, we go our separate ways; see you never!"


    After that, she quickly rushed away as if she were avoiding the plague.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He didn''t even get a chance to ask her about why she was participating in this joust for a spouse even when she was a woman!

 Chapter 1479: Soul Spirit Laws Plane

    However, he couldn''t muster up any resentment toward her when he thought about how she had appeared to try and save him in that dire situation. At the very least, she was a good-natured girl who knew to repay the kindness of others. She was like the classic naive, pure, and sweet girl, except without the sweet part.


    His electronic badge was scanned to verify that he had indeed accumulated over 60 points. After that, he was assigned a number, and his opponent would be randomly drawn.


    He could return to participate in the elimination matches once all of the examinations were over, which meant that he had completed the first round of the joust for a spouse event.


    After departing from the Bright City Sports Stadium, Tang Wulin returned directly to the blacksmith association.


    He had thought that these examinations would only be a formality, but who would''ve thought that so many things would happen? Meeting Qiangu Zhangting was to be expected, but it was quite a surprise to have encountered Lan Fuozi. She possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power and was also a Titled Douluo, yet didn''t appear to be much older than him. The fact that he had never heard of such a prodigy before was very strange in itself.


    What was even more important was the discovery of the Myriad Beast Plane.


    If the Myriad Beast Plane really were as incredible as the workers proclaimed, then it would definitely create a massive stir in the Soul Master world.


    All of the accusations levied against the Spirit Pagoda would most likely disappear as a result of the Myriad Beast Plane''s release, and that was not something Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect wanted to see.


    At this point, it was basically proven that the Spirit Pagoda had played a direct role in the destruction of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters, thereby making them sworn enemies. The Spirit Pagoda had to pay for all of the people that had perished during that tragic disaster, and the more powerful it became, the more difficult it would be to bring down.


    Furthermore, its influence was only growing in the federation, and it had received the support of the government and military, so its position was virtually unshakeable in the federation.


    On top of that, he had discovered the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape in the restricted area. When he had emerged from the Myriad Beast Plane, he had clearly heard the workers of the Spirit Pagoda mention the term "restricted area", which meant that the area he had encountered the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape in was a restricted one. This meant that the Spirit Pagoda hadn''t managed to completely control the entire Myriad Beast Plane yet. In other words, the plane hadn''t been invented by the Spirit Pagoda; they had merely discovered it.


    In that case, he was most likely right about the identities of the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape, and that was a good thing.


    After establishing this clear train of thought, Tang Wulin immediately contacted the Heartless Douluo and Amorous Douluo using a encrypted soul communicator to inform them of all of this. The Myriad Beast Plane was undoubtedly going to become an important target for investigation for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    After that, Tang Wulin began to review the battles he had endured within the Myriad Beast Plane. The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape really were incredibly powerful! In a one-on-one battle, perhaps he would have some chances. At the very least, he would''ve most likely been able to get away. However, he had virtually no chance in a one-on-two battle.


    Both the giant azure claws and the Titan Giant Ape''s massive fists struck him with an impression of invincibility.


    But who was the owner of the huge silver claw that had saved him in the end, and why were they helping him and his friends on more than one occasion?


    With all these mysteries hanging in the air, this joust for a spouse event was becoming more and more interesting.


    The examinations for the event progressed very smoothly, and as expected, the one that spanned the longest duration was the eighth examination. All of the Soul Masters that emerged from the Myriad Beast Plane quickly discovered the changes that had taken place within their own bodies.


    Everyone''s soul spirits had evolved to different extents depending on the duration of time they had spent in the Myriad Beast Plane, and the weaker a soul spirit was initially, the more pronounced this effect was.


    Within the next few days, over 100 Soul Masters experienced their yellow soul spirits evolving to become purple soul spirits, and the entire Soul Master world was stunned. The Spirit Pagoda also took advantage of this opportunity to announce the existence of the Myriad Beast Plane.


    The Myriad Beast Plane was the soul spirit laws plane!


    The Spirit Pagoda had announced that they had constructed the Myriad Beast Plane to replicate the prosperous Soul Master world of the past, thereby allowing Soul Masters to obtain a greater selection of better soul spirits.


    The black soul spirits had been created on the basis of the Myriad Beast Plane, and now, the plane was in its second stage of development, and its enhancement effect had become very pronounced. The longer a soul spirit remained in the plane, the more they would be able to evolve, and most importantly, there was no upper limit!


    This meant that if a Soul Master could stay in the Myriad Beast Plane for a long enough time, they could even enhance their soul spirits to the 100,000-year level!


    Of course, this would require an enormous amount of time, but it gave all Soul Masters hope, particularly those who had reached cultivation bottlenecks; if their soul spirits could evolve, then there was a chance that they''d be able to break through those bottlenecks.


    Thus, the Myriad Beast Plane quickly became the center of attention of the entire Soul Master world.


    At the same time, the Spirit Pagoda had explained that the Myriad Beast Plane required a vast amount of resources and energy to maintain, so the number of Soul Masters that could enter it at once was limited.


    They also proclaimed that the Spirit Pagoda had expended an enormous amount of resources to create the Myriad Beast Plane in order to give back to the entire Soul Master world, and they implored all Soul Masters to ignore all "fabricated" rumors about their collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult.


    As for when the Myriad Beast Plane was going to be released to the general public and how much the entry fee was going to be, the Spirit Pagoda declared that this information would be announced following the conclusion of the joust for a spouse event.


    As a result of all of this, the Spirit Pagoda''s reputation was drastically improved, and it quickly became even more revered than it had been during its previous heyday.


    The Myriad Beast Plane had become a place that all Soul Masters yearned for, and the people who were unable to participate in the event due to age or cultivation rank reasons could only lament their ill-fortune.


    The Spirit Pagoda had also announced that the Myriad Beast Plane would be opened to a limited extent in the future, and that more resources of all types were required to support its operation and development. Due to the opposition the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire had displayed toward the Spirit Pagoda, the supply of resources had been significantly hampered, thereby restricting the upcoming development of the Myriad Beast Plane.


    The Spirit Pagoda didn''t directly say anything, but it was clearly blaming this on the Tang Sect. The Tang Sect had been declared to be a treasonous organization, and its conflict with the Spirit Pagoda was common knowledge. As such, the Spirit Pagoda was naturally going to try and stomp the Tang Sect even deeper into the ground using the Myriad Beast Plane as leverage.


    At this point, the joust for a spouse event could already be considered to be a resounding success, and those who knew what to look for could see just how many objectives the event was serving. However, the majority of people were blinded by the Myriad Beast Plane and the prizes offered by the Spirit Pagoda. Thus, all of the doubts and accusations aimed at the Spirit Pagoda disappeared virtually overnight.


    The parliamentary members that supported the Spirit Pagoda also began to strike back at their political enemies, and the Dove Faction''s voice was drowned out even further.


    It was under this tense political climate that the joust for a spouse event continued to progress.


    Less than half of the participants had been able to score over 60 points in the examinations, so most of the field had already been culled. This was a test of overall skills and abilities, so those who only excelled in one area were unable to progress.

 Chapter 1480: The Mecha Association

    There were over 1,600 participants who reached the elimination stage. They were going to undergo four rounds of elimination matches, following which around 100 participants would progress to the round-robin stage.


    Tang Wulin strolled along the streets of Bright City with his hands in his pockets, and he had to admit that it was truly a lively and bustling city.


    There were tall skyscrapers lining the streets, and many massive flyers advertising the joust for a spouse event. The name of Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena was becoming known to more and more people, but even as recently as five years ago, both he and Gu Yuena were completely unknown to the general public. How the times had changed.


    Tang Wulin was currently widely renowned due to his exploits in the Trial of Five Gods, and Gu Yuena was receiving widespread attention due to this joust for a spouse event.


    Neither of them wanted to be famous, but they had no choice in these current circumstances.


    Never did Tang Wulin think that all of this would happen to him back when he first entered Shrek Academy over 10 years ago.


    All of a sudden, a large screen attracted Tang Wulin''s attention. Many people were gathered under the screen, watching the examinations that had just concluded unfold. There were even some snippets of footage from the Myriad Beast Plane, which confirmed Tang Wulin''s assumption that the Spirit Pagoda could monitor everything within the plane.


    However, judging from the images, this type of surveillance wasn''t very clear.


    Come to think of it, they were most likely unable to see into the restricted area. Otherwise, the workers would''ve reacted differently following his ejection from the plane.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s soul communicator began to ring.


    He accepted the call, and was greeted by an extremely polite voice. "Greetings, Your Majesty, I am the secretary-general of the mecha pilot association; may I ask how much longer it''ll take for you to reach our trial venue?"


    "Around 10 more minutes," Tang Wulin replied after glancing at the time displayed on his soul communicator.


    The elimination matches had already begun, but they were split up into several days due to the massive number of participants, and Tang Wulin''s match was scheduled for the next day. On this day, the mecha pilot association had invited him to demonstrate his Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit so he could officially assign the name to the skill.


    "Alright, we''ll be waiting for you at the trial venue."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin immediately picked up the pace. He wasn''t traveling by car as he wanted to observe Bright City.


    He had anticipated the Spirit Pagoda''s retaliation, and it didn''t affect their overall plan. In reality, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy''s plans were progressing simultaneously.


    As expected of one of the largest associations in the federation, the mecha pilot association was far more grandiose than the blacksmith association, and the building was even larger than that of the Soul Master association. After all, Soul Masters were limited, yet there were a vast number of mecha pilots.


    The trial venue was situated to the west of the city center in a building that resembled a sports stadium.


    The building was very large, and considering the land prices in Bright City, such a massive trial venue was a testament to just how wealthy the mecha pilot association was.


    Tang Wulin had only just arrived at the entrance when he was immediately greeted by a worker, who then led him into the venue.


    The entire venue was constructed from metal, and Tang Wulin immediately sensed a forcefield as soon as he entered it.


    The worker introduced, "The trial venue is situated in a very busy part of the city, so in order to ensure safety, this trial venue of ours has the highest grade of protective equipment in all of the federation; the federation has even tested many of its high-grade weapons here. The trial venue is split up into three areas, one for mecha weapons, one for general mecha testing, and one for high-tech weapons; I''ll be taking you to the general mecha testing area."


    This was a female worker who appeared to be in her twenties, and her white uniform accentuated her alluring figure. She wore a bright smile, and her short brown hair was very clean and professional-looking, but also rather alluring. Her eyes were very large and blue, indicating that she was a Bright City local.


    The federation had been formed when the Douluo Continent had crashed into the Sun Moon Continent due to continental drift. Aside from the portion developed by the Tang Sect, the majority of the pieces of most advanced soul technology originated from the Sun Moon Continent. It was exactly due to the advanced soul technology of the Sun Moon Continent that the situation on the entire Douluo Continent had taken a turn, and this was already over 10,000 years ago.


    The eye and hair color of the female worker both suggested that she had descended from a local of the Sun Moon Continent.


    While she was making her introduction, she was also appraising Tang Wulin in a surreptitious manner.


    Tang Wulin was dressed in a very casual manner. He was wearing a pair of black pants and a tight-fitting black shirt with the top two buttons undone, revealing the silver dragon scale pendant around his neck. Aside from that, the rainbow bracelet was the only other thing that he was wearing.


    Even though this wasn''t his true appearance, he had molded his Yu Longyue character to be very handsome as well.


    However, what was far more alluring to the female worker than his looks was the fact that he was a Titled Douluo, and an exceptional mecha pilot.


    Judging from his appearance, he seemed to only be around 27 to 28 years of age, so he had a truly immeasurable future ahead of him. She was certainly not opposed to entering a relationship with such an outstanding man. Even if it didn''t lead to anything, it would still be a fantastic memory, and if it did amount to something, then she would most likely be able to benefit from him.


    She had been very high-achieving and hard-working all her life, and she knew how important it was to take opportunities when they arose.


    Of course, she was very measured in her approach and was displaying a very good image to Tang Wulin.


    As Tang Wulin listened to her explanation, he was also inspecting his surroundings.


    In doing so, he discovered that the entire area was constructed from alloys that were comprised of many types of metals, and this was another display of the mecha pilot association''s enormous wealth.


    As they made their way into an open area, around a dozen mecha pilot association members immediately approached them. "Welcome!"


    They were led by a thin and tall man who appeared to be in his forties. There were some silver patterns on the uniform that he was wearing, indicating that he was different from the normal workers here.


    This was an oval-shaped area that was over 200 meters tall and spanned over a kilometer at its widest point. What was very remarkable was the fact that this massive space was completely isolated, and Tang Wulin could clearly sense very powerful energy fluctuations here.


    "Greetings, Your Majesty; I am the secretary-general of the mecha pilot association, Li Zheping, and I was the one speaking to you earlier. It''s an honor for me to be able to witness your demonstration."


    Tang Wulin shook his hand with an indifferent nod. "Let''s begin then."


    Seeing as Tang Wulin had no intention of exchanging any further pleasantries, Li Zheping smiled, and said, "Alright, I''ll get everything set up right away. Would you like to use your own mecha or one that''s provided by us?"


    Tang Wulin replied in a nonchalant manner, "I''ll use one provided by you to make things easier."

 Chapter 1481: The Complete Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit

    Li Zheping nodded in response. "That will indeed make things easier; we''ll be able to save time as we won''t have to examine the properties of your mecha after the demonstration. Firstly, I''d like to welcome you on behalf of our mecha pilot association. Our vice-chairman who is responsible for this area was going to be in attendance as well, but something else came up at the last minute. Our chairman was also unable to make the time to come here, but all of them really wanted to meet you.


    "The chairman specifically instructed me to invite you to join our mecha pilot association. Exceptional mecha pilots like yourself are in extremely high demand in our association; would you be willing to consider our offer?"


    Tang Wulin asked, "What benefits would I receive if I were to join?"


    Li Zheping faltered slightly in the face of Tang Wulin''s brusque attitude, and he couldn''t help but grumble internally about how rude these young people hailing from major families were.


    Despite this, his smile didn''t waver in the slightest as he replied, "With your powers and mecha piloting skills, we''ll be able to organize a mecha pilot grading certificate for you right away. I''m sure you still haven''t registered for such a certificate, right? With the certificate, you''ll be recognized as a valued member in all of the branches of our association across the entire continent. You''ll also be able to undertake missions released by our association if you choose to do so, and those missions all offer very good compensation upon completion.


    "On top of that, our association periodically organizes some events for mecha pilots to meet up and exchange ideas. Mecha pilots of different grades will have access to different communication platforms, and I''m sure this will be of great help to you. Furthermore, as a high-grade mecha pilot, you''ll receive a lot of support from our association in terms of resources."


    Tang Wulin asked, "What grade mecha pilot will I be evaluated as?"


    "If you can successfully complete the Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit, we can evaluate you as an eighth-grade mecha pilot right away. Theoretically speaking, the ability to execute such a skill is already enough for you to be evaluated as a ninth-grade mecha pilot, but there are many other prerequisites that have to be satisfied before one can reach that level. For example, a ninth-grade mecha pilot has to have achieved high placings in a certain number of known mecha competitions. However, due to the special nature of your case, we can make an exception and upgrade you to become a ninth-grade mecha pilot after you complete three missions for our association."


    Li Zheping was clearly very eager for Tang Wulin to become involved with the mecha pilot association on a deeper level. Even though it was proclaimed that mechas could empower even ordinary people, everyone knew that truly powerful mecha pilots all had to be powerful Soul Masters as well. Only then would they possess the physical resistance required to use more powerful mechas and unleash more powerful skills, which was why Titled Douluos were extremely sought after by the association.


    "Let''s do the demonstration first," Tang Wulin replied in an intentionally nonchalant manner, but internally, he was considering his options. His fabricated identity as Yu Longyue was beginning to come under notice, and it would undoubtedly make this new identity more nuanced and realistic if he could earn some accolades for it. As such, it wouldn''t be a bad thing to become a graded mecha pilot. However, he wasn''t interested in becoming a ninth-grade mecha pilot, and nor did he intend to complete any missions for the mecha pilot association.


    Soon, three black mechas were prepared for Tang Wulin to choose from. Due to the high degree of difficulty of the Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit maneuver, he would definitely be using a humanoid mecha, so all three of these mechas were humanoid in shape with different features and characteristics. None of these trial mechas were custom-made, so they were all quite generic and minimalistic.


    The choice of mecha didn''t really make much of a difference to Tang Wulin, so he chose one at random.


    After entering the mecha, Tang Wulin quickly inspected its interior. As expected of a mecha from the mecha pilot association; even though it wasn''t a custom made super mecha, its configuration was quite exceptional. After that, he briefly familiarized himself with the mecha and its tolerance limit, and he couldn''t help but be amazed by some of the advanced equipment within the mecha.


    "Are you ready, Your Majesty?" Li Zheping''s voice sounded from within the communicator.


    "I''m ready," Tang Wulin replied.


    "Alright, we''ve cleared the venue, so you can begin at any time."


    Li Zheping put down his communicator and appraised the black mecha within the trial venue from a separate room. All of the testing equipment was ready; as soon as Tang Wulin began, all types of data would be transmitted to Li Zheping.


    He had seen footage of Tang Wulin''s execution of the Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit, and he had been stunned by the maneuver. If it could really be reliably executed, then it would be a monumental skill in the field of mecha piloting.


    Regardless of what caliber and type of battle was concerned, speed was the most important factor, and such incredible yet controllable speed could change an entire battlefield.


    Right at this moment, the black mecha within the trial venue sprang into action. It rose up into the air amid a flash of light, having been lifted upward by the propellers on its back and beneath its feet.


    The data stated that everything was normal, and that nothing out of the ordinary was happening.


    Right as Li Zheping''s brows furrowed slightly with befuddlement, the black mecha abruptly shuddered, and a peculiar buzzing sound rang out from within it. Immediately thereafter, the black mecha shot forth like a bolt of black lightning with all of its propellers operating at full power, and three thunderclaps rang out almost in complete unison.


    A perfect black triangle of lightning was created in mid-air, and everything had taken place in the blink of an eye. If it weren''t for the black afterimage left in the wake of the mecha, it would be as if it had never moved at all.


    "Thump!" A sonic boom rang out as the black mecha exceeded the sound barrier, yet as the sonic boom erupted, it had already stopped.


    The buzzing within the mecha became even more intense, but it didn''t explode like that generic yellow mecha in the Bright City Sports Stadium.


    Everything returned to normal, and it was as if nothing had ever happened. The black mecha slowly descended onto the ground, and Li Zheping couldn''t help but gulp in a flabbergasted manner.


    That was it? That was it?!


    He hadn''t made any preparatory movements, and he hadn''t even allowed the mecha to warm up properly, nor had he spend much time to familiarize himself with the mecha, yet the maneuver had been completed!


    How had he managed to withstand the impact from such sharp directional changes executed at such an insane speed?


    According to the data transmitted to Li Zheping, an enormous amount of impact had to be withstood by the mecha pilot while executing Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit, and even the average Titled Douluo may not be able to withstand it.


    However, Tang Wulin had managed to do it without even any warm up, which meant that his physical resistance was at an extremely formidable level.


    Even more data was quickly flickering across the screen like rain, displaying all types of statistical changes that took place during the execution of the maneuver, and the results were downright staggering.


    The data stated that the highest speed that Tang Wulin had reached was over thrice the speed of sound, which was over twice as fast as the maximum speed he had reached in the examination.


    The increase in speed was easy to explain as black mechas were simply far superior to yellow mechas, but with this drastic increase in speed, his body would have to withstand at least thrice the impact compared to when he first executed the maneuver.


    Was he really still a human? Where did his limit lie?


    As expected of a super martial soul that had been in existence since ancient times, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul was truly extraordinary!


    The mecha pilot room was opened, and Tang Wulin jumped out in a nonchalant manner. There was a faint charred scent in the air, which was a result of the flying through air molecules at an excessive speed.

 Chapter 1482: You Shouldnt Have Come Here

    This black mecha had decent physical resistance, but it was still pushed slightly beyond its limits during the execution of the Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit. If he had been using his own black mecha, then such an issue wouldn''t have occurred.


    "Clap, clap, clap!" The sound of applause rang out, and Tang Wulin was given a standing ovation by Li Zheping, as well as all of the workers present.


    All of them were avid mecha enthusiasts, and their hearts were filled with astonishment and excitement after witnessing such a miraculous feat.


    "That was incredible, Your Majesty! Your mecha piloting proficiency is truly extraordinary. From this day forth, the Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit will be recorded in history. Please allow me to confirm one final time that this is still the name you would like to use."


    "It is," Tang Wulin verified without any hesitation.


    "Alright."


    After completing a series of signatures and registrations, Tang Wulin was given a certificate of authority, as well as an eighth-grade mecha pilot certificate.


    This was one of the benefits of being so powerful; if he weren''t a Titled Douluo, there was no way that he would''ve received an eighth-grade mecha pilot certificate so easily.


    Li Zheping insisted on inviting Tang Wulin to a meal, but Tang Wulin had no intention of wasting any more time here. After placating Li Zheping by agreeing to visit the mecha pilot association whenever he had some spare time in the future, he quickly departed.


    After returning to the blacksmith association, Tang Wulin returned to his own room and made a few calls using his soul communicator.


    In his mind, the visit to the mecha pilot association was completely inconsequential compared to his discovery of the Myriad Beast Plane.


    With the Myriad Beast Plane under its control, the Spirit Pagoda would be able to garner even more support from Soul Masters, and it would be very difficult for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy to match its influence in the future. After all, Soul Masters were still the most revered beings on all three continents, and this had always been the case.


    This joust for a spouse event was far more complicated than he had expected, and through it, the Spirit Pagoda was achieving its objectives one after another. Even if Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had been still at the height of their powers, they would be powerless to stop this ploy.


    Anyone who opposed the development of the Myriad Beast Plane was essentially opposing the entire Soul Master world, and that was the most damning thing about this situation.


    If he wanted to address the conundrum, then he would have to investigate the Myriad Beast Plane, but that certainly wasn''t going to be an easy task.


    In any case, he had to think of a way to enter the Myriad Beast Plane again.


    Right at this moment, he suddenly sensed something and abruptly turned around. "Who''s there?"


    "Your senses have become far sharper than before." A gentle voice rang out, and a figure also began to shake before him amid a flash of silver light.


    She had a head of long silver hair, and her large purple eyes were as translucent as ever. The entire world seemed to dim around her, and Tang Wulin immediately rushed toward her as he exclaimed, "Gu Yue!"


    Never did he think that Gu Yue would come to find him, and he had only been able to see her in the promotional footage released by the Spirit Pagoda. Now that the Silver Dragon Princess was right before his eyes, how could he hold back his emotions any longer?


    Gu Yuena raised a hand to conjure up a silver light barrier that stopped Tang Wulin cold in his tracks.


    The two of them looked into each other''s eyes with the light barrier between them, and a hint of panic flashed through Gu Yuena''s eyes at the sight of Tang Wulin''s scorching gaze.


    "You shouldn''t have come here."


    "Why?" Tang Wulin was asking Gu Yuena two questions at once: "why shouldn''t I have come here?" and "why won''t you let me get close to you?".


    Gu Yuena replied, "Can''t you see that this is a trap? They''ve already learned that we were close back at the academy, and that''s why they organized this joust for a spouse event."


    "So what? I can''t come here just because it''s a trap? I''m supposed to just watch as other men fight over you?"


    Gu Yuena said, "You are the Tang Sect Master; you represent far more than just yourself and have many more responsibilities on your shoulders."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I do indeed have many responsibilities, but you are the most important out of all of them. If I can''t even protect you, then what''s the point of continuing to cultivate and become more powerful? I haven''t reached the true pinnacle of this world yet, but can''t we face whatever problems you have together? Are you still unwilling to tell me exactly what it is that''s been troubling you all this time?"


    Gu Yuena was at a slight loss as she looked into Tang Wulin''s scorching eyes. This was the first time Tang Wulin had ever been so intense and aggressive toward her, and it was both familiar yet also quite alien to her.


    The two of them continued to look into each other''s eyes, and Gu Yuena simply didn''t know what to say.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin took a step forward and forced himself into the silver light barrier that stood in his way, and Gu Yuena reflexively took a step backward in response.


    Tang Wulin took another determined step forward, yet he didn''t release any soul power as he was confident that Gu Yuena wouldn''t hurt him.


    Gu Yuena heaved a faint sigh as the silver light barrier faded, and she was instantly enveloped in a scorching embrace.


    Tang Wulin held her with all his might, as if he were trying to fuse their bodies together, and Gu Yuena closed her eyes with a complex look on her face.


    Nothing could compare with the feeling of being embraced by him.


    What had she done to deserve this! Gu Yuena heaved an internal sigh, and tears began to well up in her eyes. Regardless of how strong she appeared before others, she couldn''t maintain her facade in his presence.


    She returned his tight embrace, and much to Tang Wulin''s surprise, she was holding him with more power than he was holding her!


    In this instant, he could sense that beneath her cold facade, Gu Yuena''s emotional fluctuations were as violent as a volcanic eruption.


    Just as he was about to say something, her voice rang out once again. "You can only truly be happy if you forget me."


    Immediately thereafter, she disintegrated into specks of silver light within his embrace.


    "Gu Yue!" Tang Wulin yelled as he tried to grab onto her, but his efforts proved to be completely futile.


    He stared at the spot where she had been standing just a moment ago, and his aura began to fluctuate violently. His ability to think clearly and objectively had been completely thrown out the window.


    From what she had said and the reaction she had displayed toward him, it was clear that she couldn''t resist him, but she was trying to resist with all her might.


    And what did she mean with that parting sentence?


    After a while, Tang Wulin was able to regulate his own breathing and slowly calm down again.


    She still wasn''t willing to tell him what she was facing, so it had to be something extremely complicated. In any case, happiness was something that one had to fight for and strive toward, so he definitely wasn''t going to allow Gu Yue to get away.


    As his hands balled up into tight fists, a determined look appeared in his eyes.

 Chapter 1483: Commencement of the Elimination Matches

    The first day of the elimination stage of the joust for a spouse had finally arrived.


    Over half of the field had been culled by the examinations, but all of the participants had benefited to a certain extent from the Myriad Beast Plane. As such, even those who had been eliminated still had improved impressions of the Spirit Pagoda.


    In the eyes of most Soul Masters, the Spirit Pagoda was an extremely revered organization, but was also a vampire that would suck you dry. Its soul spirits and Spirit Ascension Plane were simply inaccessible for most low-grade and mid-grade Soul Masters due to their prices, but all of the participants in this event were at or above rank 60 in soul power, and at that level, it was rare to find a poor Soul Master.


    The society in the federation was a very realistic and stable one in that one''s cultivation rank directly corresponded with their status and income. The more powerful someone was, the higher they''d be able to climb up the social ladder.


    The Myriad Beast Plane had undoubtedly attracted a lot of attention, and its ability to enhance one''s soul spirits with no upper limit gave many Soul Masters hope.


    As such, very few of the Soul Masters who had been eliminated immediately left Bright City; all of them were very curious to see what type of prizes the Spirit Pagoda was going to offer.


    Due to the revelation presented by the Myriad Beast Plane, the spotlight on Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena was lessened significantly. After all, only a single person would be able to win her heart as the ultimate prize, so there was virtually no chance for anyone below the Titled Douluo level, considering only the final 10 would receive the opportunity to be chosen by Gu Yuena.


    There were four rounds of elimination matches, and in contrast with the round-robin matches, the elimination stage was actually definitely going to be more intense, as one would receive different prizes with each round that they progressed past. With the alluring prizes offered by the Spirit Pagoda, who wouldn''t want to advance further in the event? The Myriad Beast Plane had given everyone a taste of what the Spirit Pagoda had to offer, and they were all eager for more.


    The first round of elimination matches had the most participants, so it would take place over five days. Tang Wulin wasn''t competing today, but he was in the spectator stands, and his ticket had naturally been organized by the Tang Sect.


    As he sat in his seat, he thought back to the participant information he had read in the past.


    Not only had this joust for a spouse event attracted the elite prodigies of the younger generation, there were also some unexpected participants.


    According to the rules of the event, those above rank 60 in soul power and below 35 years of age were eligible, but the age limit was raised five years per additional 10 ranks of soul power.


    This meant that the age limit actually ranged up to 50 for those who were at or above the Titled Douluo level.


    For some prodigiously talented Soul Masters, 50 was already quite an advanced age. As such, on the list of participants prepared for him by the Tang Sect, there were not only Titled Douluos, but even Hyper Douluos who were in their forties.


    For Soul Masters, 40 was still quite a young age, particularly for those who were at the Titled Douluo level or above. Titled Douluos in their forties were in the primes of their lives, and they could expect rapid progress in their cultivation at that age range.


    All Soul Masters who could reach the Titled Douluo level before turning 50 were considered to be supremely talented, and Tang Wulin was going to have to face more competition than he originally anticipated.


    Of course, he wasn''t the only one that this applied to.


    Over 1,600 participants had reached the elimination stage, which meant that over 800 matches had to take place. Even over the span of five days, that amounted to over 160 matches per day.


    For the elimination stage, 10 competition platforms had been prepared in the Bright City Sports Stadium. This could only work in the Bright City Sports Stadium, which was the largest sports stadium in the entire federation; no other sports stadium would have such a massive space.


    Each competition platform had side lengths of over 100 meters and were fitted with protective barriers of the highest caliber.


    The rules had already been announced: there were no rules. The Spirit Pagoda believed that everything, including weapons, soul tools, and mechas, were a part of one''s power and could be freely used without any restrictions.


    The only objective was to defeat the opponent. The competition platforms were quite spacious for Soul Master battles, but they were actually too small for mechas to be able to maneuver themselves properly. However, this was inevitable due to the constraints of the venue, and the participants would just have to adapt and make do.


    At this point, the Soul Masters participating in the first round of the elimination stage had already entered the venue.


    Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward the sixth competition platform, atop which stood a pair of participants. One of them was an extremely imposing man with his arms bared to reveal his bronze skin, and they were so muscular that they were as thick as the legs of a normal person. His short red hair stood up like steel pins, and he was giving off a very intimidating aura.


    His name was Chi Shanming, and his martial soul was Fire Elemental Control. Apparently, his house was set alight as soon as he was born, and he possessed innate full soul power. He was currently 37 years of age and a rank 91 Titled Douluo.


    His style of battle was extremely explosive and aggressive, and his Douluo Title was Flame Tyrant.


    He was renowned for his ferocious offensive prowess and would often crush his opponents with his overwhelming offensive capabilities.


    Standing before him was an ordinary-looking young man who appeared to be around 27 to 28 years of age without any notable features.


    Chi Shanming was the most powerful being in this first of over 10 groups of battles that were to take place on this day. Not only had this match attracted Tang Wulin''s attention, many other spectators were also eagerly awaiting its commencement. It was always a pleasure to be able to witness a Titled Douluo in action.


    Chi Shanming''s opponent was named Yuan Hui, and aside from the fact that he possessed rank 83 soul power, not much more information about him was available.


    Only Tang Wulin knew who this Yuan Hui was, and he couldn''t help but lament Chi Shanming''s ill-fortune.


    That''s right, this Yuan Hui was none other than the alias of Yuanen Yehui!


    All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were participating in this event, and Yuanen Yehui had a very ordinary appearance to begin with in her male attire, and this was even further exacerbated by her disguise.


    Many of the spectators were guessing at how long this match would last.


    In their eyes, the outcome was already set in stone. There was simply an insurmountable gap between Titled Douluos and Soul Douluos, and everyone knew that a Soul Master would undergo an evolution after reaching the Titled Douluo level that would take them to the true pinnacle of the Soul Master world.


    However, a Soul Douluo was already very powerful, and they were only hoping that Yuan Hui would be able to last for some time in the face of Chi Shanming''s attacks.


    Due to the high number of matches that were to take place, there would be no commentary during the elimination stage. After a short electronic countdown, the matches officially commenced.


    Over 80% of the spectators had their attention focused on the sixth competition platform, eagerly awaiting the performance of a Titled Douluo.


    Despite the spectators'' confidence in him, Chi Shanming wasn''t allowing any complacency to take hold. In fact, he wasn''t even confident in the notion that he would definitely secure victory.


    Having become a Titled Douluo before turning 40, he had endured countless battles, and as soon as he saw Yuan Hui, he immediately knew that something was off about this Yuan Hui.


    Why? It was because he was simply far too ordinary and devoid of noteworthy traits.


    What was most unsettling to him was that he couldn''t sense any energy fluctuations from his opponent.


    He had done some research into his opponent, and he was very confident in his own powers, but he definitely wasn''t going to get careless. On top of that, he was participating in this event not for Gu Yuena, nor for any of the prizes; he was simply here to test himself and further improve through battle.

 Chapter 1484: Yuan Hui

    Ever since he had become a Titled Douluo, his rate of progression had tapered off significantly. He was still working very hard in his cultivation, but his progression had slowed to a crawl. He knew that he needed to accumulate more experience in order to continue to improve, and the best way to do this was undoubtedly through battle.


    This was only the first match, yet he had already encountered such a dangerous Soul Douluo, and this was causing his battle intent to escalate through the roof. He would much rather face a powerful opponent than have an easy match as the more powerful his opponent was, the more he''d be able to improve by battling them.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    As the electronic voice announced the commencement of the matches, protective light barriers instantly rose up around all of the competition platforms.


    Chi Shanming immediately took the initiative and lunged forward. In his experience, nothing was more important than offense and momentum. Offense was the best defense and was also the key to victory.


    He didn''t unleash any soul skills and didn''t even release his martial soul; choosing instead to propel himself forward like a cannonball with brute strength alone. However, upon closer inspection, one would discover that his skin had turned slightly red, and he was giving off a scorching aura.


    He was like a soul missile that had just been launched out of the barrel. In the instant that it emerged from the barrel, it instantly began to heat up while continuing to accelerate. The closer he got to Yuan Hui, the redder his skin became, and his aura was only becoming more and more fearsome.


    In contrast, Yuan Hui remained completely still on the spot, as if he had been scared witless. Did he have a death wish? The referee may not be able to intervene in time to save him!


    All of the spectators looked on with wide, astonished eyes, and they discovered that Yuan Hui seemed to have been immobilized on the spot.


    Chi Shanming was also quite perplexed by this, and he began to hold back a little in his forward charge in order to keep his options open. In his experience, there was only one possible explanation for this: his opponent''s forte was speed, and he was confident in evading the attack at the last second. However, Chi Shanming was unconvinced. He was a very burly and powerful man, but that didn''t mean that speed was a weakness for him.


    The two of them drew closer and closer, and Chi Shanming was beginning to anticipate when his opponent was going to evade.


    There were 10 meters left... Five meters... Three meters...


    Why was he still not dodging? Did he think that he still had time?


    Chi Shanming was feeling very slighted by what he perceived to be sheer arrogance from his opponent, and a hint of fury flashed through his eyes. All of a sudden, a burst of scorching red flames erupted from behind him, and his speed was instantly accelerated by threefold, allowing him to cover the remaining three meters in the blink of an eye.


    "Boom!"


    All of the spectators were also anticipating that Chi Shanming''s opponent would dodge, but much to their surprise, Yuan Hui continued to remain still on the spot.


    In the instant that the two of them clashed, a burst of reddish-golden flames erupted like the explosion of a soul missile. The scene was filled with a sense of brutal artistry, and all of the spectators felt bursts of adrenalin coursing through their veins.


    Chi Shanming had claimed the victory with a single attack!


    Instead of erupting into cheers, the spectators were quite disappointed to see this. They were hoping to watch a spectacular match, not a one-sided victory like this. Such a crushing victory presented quite an exhilarating spectacle, but it was simply far too short.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and there was no concern whatsoever in his eyes.


    So what if this Chi Shanming was a Titled Douluo? There was no way he would be able to defeat Yuanen Yehui so easily.


    The flames subsided, and the spectators finally managed to see what was happening on the competition platform.


    Much to everyone''s astonishment, Yuan Hui was still standing on the spot, and all he had done was raise a single hand. However, the hand had stopped Chi Shanming''s fist cold in its tracks.


    Chi Shanming was a mountain of muscle that was over two meters tall, while Yuanen Yehui was a thin and frail young man who wasn''t even 170cm tall.


    Even at a conservative estimate, Chi Shanming had to weigh at least twice as much as him, yet Yuan Hui was standing before him like an immovable brick wall.


    Chi Shanming''s eyes were currently filled with astonishment. Never did he think that this would be the outcome.


    In the instant that his fist had struck Yuanen Yehui''s outstretched right hand, he had thought that his flames and enormous strength would overwhelm his opponent even before the referee had a chance to step in.


    However, when the clash actually took place, things didn''t go as he expected.


    Chi Shanming felt as if his fist had struck an indestructible mountain. All of his strength and fire elemental power were smothered by the mountain, and he was completely stopped in his tracks.


    How was this possible? This didn''t make any sense!


    Chi Shanming had a vast wealth of battle experience, but he had never encountered a situation like this before. It was downright preposterous to think that someone could be this strong!


    However, Chi Shanming only paused for a brief moment before he returned to his senses and stepped forward with his left foot. At the same time, a layer of reddish-golden flames erupted from his body alongside nine soul rings.


    A fiery figure that was virtually identical to him in size and form also rose up behind him.


    This fiery figure was of a reddish-golden color, and it crashed into Chi Shangming''s body as soon as it appeared. As a result, his body instantly turned a reddish-golden color as well, and scorching flames swept toward Yuanen Yehui in an inescapable wave.


    As a Titled Douluo with Fire Elemental Control as his martial soul, the temperature of his flames was extremely fearsome, and these flames were the basis of all of his soul skills. His opponent''s incredible defense hadn''t shaken his unwavering confidence.


    Right at this moment, Yuanen Yehui also sprang into action. Instead of retreating or taking evasive measures, she took a small step forward before violently thrusting her right hand toward her opponent''s fist.


    All of a sudden, the air currents around Chi Shanming began to swirl, his flames were caught in a vortex that was expanding in all directions. Furthermore, there was a strange type of repulsive force being released by his opponent''s hand, making it impossible for his flames to converge. What was even more astonishing was the enormous force being exerted by his opponent''s right hand. The force was too powerful for him to resist, and he immediately tried to withdraw his right fist.


    At the same time, the Flame Spirit that had just fused into his body erupted forth before hurtling directly toward Yuanen Yehui in a fiery embrace.


    The Flame Spirit was one of his soul spirits and one of the most important constituents of his combat prowess. The most fearsome trait of elemental control Soul Masters lay in the unpredictability and versatility of their attacks as they weren''t bound by the same restrictions as normal Soul Masters.


    Chi Shanming had reacted very appropriately to the situation, but unfortunately for him, he was facing one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Yuanen Yehui.


    All of a sudden, Chi Shanming caught a glimpse of Yuanen Yehui''s eyes. Even his scorching flames were unable to outshine the light in those scintillating yellow eyes.


    It was also at this moment that a burst of yellow erupted from her body, which kept all of the scorching reddish-golden flames at bay.

 Chapter 1485: The Formidable Yuanen Yehui

    The yellow light proliferated outward in the form of a vortex, completely rejecting Chi Shanming''s flames, yet his right fist was caught in a vice-like grip, rendering him unable to withdraw it.


    In the next instant, the terrifying yellow light completely erupted. Yuanen Yehui stepped forward with her left foot, and eight soul rings rose up around her. There was no thunderous roar or eruption of aura; she did nothing more than thrust her right hand forward.


    Earth was very effective for suppressing fire, so Yuanen Yehui''s Titan Giant Ape martial soul had extremely potent fire resistance. On top of that, she was a pure strength-type Soul Master whose forte lay in melee combat.


    Her terrifying strength was her forte, and this was something no one expected, considering her thin and frail-looking body.


    Chi Shanming''s flames began to burn with even greater intensity, but his right fist was forced all the way back to his chest by Yuanen Yehui''s hand.


    Not only was she able to attack using her Divine Cloudvortex Fists, she was also able to release powerful repulsive force to repel her enemy''s power while using the internal vortex to gather her own power.


    Tang Wulin was constantly improving, and his friends were also following in his footsteps.


    The terrifying explosive power erupted in this instant, and a giant projection appeared behind Yuanen Yehui before vanishing in a flash.


    "Boom!"


    The Flame Spirit was completely dispersed, and Chi Shanming felt as if a massive pillar had struck him square in the chest. A burst of sharp pain speared through his sternum, and he reflexively released his suit of battle armor to protect himself.


    Even though he was already a Titled Douluo, he still didn''t have enough soul refined metal for a suit of three-word battle armor, so his battle armor was still only at the two-word level.


    In this dire situation, the battle armor had been automatically released to protect its wearer.


    However, Yuanen Yehui wasn''t going to give him a chance to stage a comeback. She abruptly drew back her right hand, pulling Chi Shanming toward her, then lowered her shoulder before ramming it directly toward Chi Shanming''s chest.


    At the same time, she clenched her right fist and unleashed her Divine Cloudvortex Fist down toward the ground below.


    In the instant that Chi Shanming had released his suit of battle armor, his seventh soul ring had also lit up to unleash his Fire Elemental True Body.


    Once his body transformed into fire elements, the effect that physical attacks had on him would be very limited.


    However, as he unleashed his seventh soul skill, violent tremors suddenly erupted from underfoot, and his soul skill was abruptly cut off by a burst of fearsome rotational power.


    Impossible! He can cut off my seventh soul skill?


    Chi Shanming was astonished by this sudden turn of events. Right at this moment, Yuanen Yehui''s shoulder struck his fiery chest in a vicious blow.


    "Bam!"


    Chi Shanming felt as if all of his bones had been shattered, and blood instantly began to flow out of all of his orifices.


    The crisp crack of shattering bones rang out, and both his sternum and the bones in his right arm were broken by the impact.


    Only then did Yuanen Yehui release his right hand, then encircled her arms before her to release a burst of powerful suction force, controlling Chi Shanming''s body and flames and confining them within a certain area. In the next instant, she lashed out with both of her fists in unison.


    At this point, Chi Shanming had finally donned his suit of two-word battle armor, it was immediately struck by Yuanen Yehui''s fists.


    "Boom!"


    Chi Shanming transformed into a fiery missile once again, except he was flying backward on this occasion. His body crashed into the protective barrier in the distance with a resounding boom, and after falling to the ground, he spasmed uncontrollably, unable to get up again.


    The attack hadn''t been enough to kill him, but there was definitely no way he would be able to continue in this battle.


    As Yuanen Yehui had unleashed those two punches, a pair of translucent yellow gauntlets had appeared on her fists. After her opponent was sent flying, the gauntlets were also withdrawn in a very smooth and flowing sequence.


    "The victory goes to Yuan Hui!" the referee announced after a brief hesitation.


    Yuanen Yehui didn''t even take an extra glance at her opponent before departing from the platform. There was no exuberant celebration; it was as if she had done something completely unremarkable and mundane.


    Only after her departure did the entire stadium erupt into chatter.


    Who could''ve imagined that a Titled Douluo would be eliminated in such crushing fashion on the very first day?


    This was simply incredible! The entire battle was extremely short, and Chi Shanming didn''t even get a chance to unleash his most powerful soul skills before he was defeated.


    How was this possible? Of course, some of the more seasoned powerful beings present were able to identify what had happened.


    It was generally considered to be quite shameful for a Titled Douluo to lose to a Soul Douluo, but this also depended on the caliber of the Soul Douluo.


    If Chi Shanming were an elite Soul Master, then his opponent had to be a prodigy, and a super prodigy, at that.


    Chi Shanming had lost primarily because he had subconsciously underestimated his opponent. Due to the fact that his opponent was a Soul Douluo, he had made the grave error of launching an all-out attack without testing his opponent first.


    As a result, he completely exposed himself and was at the mercy of his opponent. With his Fire Elemental Control martial soul, he definitely wouldn''t have lost in such crushing fashion had he chosen to attack from long range. At the very least, he would''ve been able to perform to the best of his abilities. However, he had chosen melee combat, which played right into the hands of his opponent.


    Even the seasoned powerful beings in the spectator stands didn''t manage to identify what Yuanen Yehui''s martial soul was before the match concluded.


    Everything had happened far too quickly, and Chi Shanming had been dominated from start to finish.


    As Chi Shanming was helped up from the ground by the referee, everyone was given a glimpse of his cuirass, which had caved in significantly. There was still blood constantly pouring out of his nose and mouth, clearly indicating that he had suffered severe internal injuries.


    Even now, Chi Shanming felt as if he were in a dream. As his opponent''s fists had struck his chest, he clearly sensed that the defenses of his suit of two-word battle armor had been instantly broken. On top of that, his opponent''s fists had been imbued with terrifying rotational power that had broken through his defenses and could''ve easily torn his entire body apart. The only reason he was still alive right now was because his opponent had spared his life.


    This was a man who had mastered fist intent, and perhaps even attained fist soul! Choosing to engage in melee combat with such an opponent was akin to committing suicide!


    Tang Wulin stood up in the spectator stands with a smile on his face.


    There were no other matches that he was interested in watching on this day.


    Yuanen Yehui had become even more formidable. Even though she was only at rank 83 soul power, she had the most potent soul power among all of Shrek''s Seven Monsters aside from Tang Wulin.


    Most importantly, she had attained an even higher level of mastery of her Divine Cloudvortex Fists, and it seemed that she had benefited immensely from hearing Tang Wulin''s description of the Titan Giant Ape''s Divine Titan Fists.


    In a one-on-one battle where soul skills were prohibited, even he would most likely have some trouble defeating her. In his absence, she was the pillar that supported Shrek''s Seven Monsters.


    Such a stunning occurrence in the first group of matches had sent the entire sports stadium into a frenzy. It was incredible that such a powerful Titled Douluo had been defeated just like that!


    As a result, Yuan Hui instantly became one of the favorites of the entire joust for a spouse event, and all major media outlets were replaying "his" match with expert commentators attempting to dissect and explain what had happened.


    During their analysis, they quickly discovered that he had revealed extremely little about his abilities during the battle.


    The gauntlets that he had used were identified to have most likely been components of a suit of three-word battle armor, which was why they had been so destructive. It had also been deduced that he most likely possessed an earth-attribute pure strength-type martial soul, but overall, this was still very little information.


    No one wanted to encounter such an opponent in an elimination match.


    The overall evaluation was that Yuan Hui''s powers were at the Titled Douluo level, and that it was very likely that he was a three-word battle armor master. At the very least, the gauntlets for his suit of three-word battle armor had been completed.

 Chapter 1486: Tang Wulins Opponent

    People were already beginning to investigate Yuan Hui''s origins; in particular, the Spirit Pagoda was very quick to investigate the unknown three-word battle armor masters.


    According to the results of the investigation, Yuan Hui was from the military. As powerful as the Spirit Pagoda was, even they couldn''t know everything about every branch of the military, and they didn''t dare to investigate any further.


    Soul beasts had been gradually pushed toward extinction due to the rapid advancement of technology, and even the most powerful Soul Master in the world, the Atlas Douluo, had fallen to a pair of Godslayer missiles.


    As such, the Spirit Pagoda knew that they definitely couldn''t stand against the military.


    The elimination matches were very cruel, and after the first day, close to 100 participants had already been eliminated. Practical combat was undoubtedly the best way to examine a Soul Master''s overall abilities, and some of the matches between more evenly-matched opponents had been extremely intense.


    This was an opportunity for everyone to display their own powers, so all of the participants were fighting with all their might, and injuries were a very common sight. Thankfully, the intervention of the referees and the self-restraint of the participants ensured that there were no deaths.


    All of the major media outlets had broadcasted the important matches that took place on the first day, including the peak showdown between Chi Shanming and Yuanen Yehui. Following the commencement of the elimination matches, the joust for a spouse event became even more popular, and some favorites had already begun to emerge.


    The most unexpected outcome on the first day was the elimination of Chi Shanming, which served to prove that the Soul Master world was filled with hidden powerful beings.


    Tang Wulin''s match was scheduled for the third day of the first round.


    Due to his exceptional performance in the examinations and the fact that he was a Titled Douluo from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, his match also received widespread attention.


    His opponent was a Soul Douluo, so everyone was speculating about whether this Soul Douluo would be able to create a miracle as Yuan Hui had on the first day and defeat the heavy favorite that was Tang Wulin.


    After stepping onto the competition platform, Tang Wulin was greeted by the sight of his opponent. This was a Soul Master who appeared to be around 30 years of age with a medium build, but very wide shoulders.


    He stood firmly on the spot like a stone block, and his eyes weren''t very big, but they were very bright and piercing. He was appraising Tang Wulin with an intense gaze, and he remained completely expressionless.


    The attention of the spectators was almost unanimously drawn to this match. During the past matches, they had discovered that battles between Soul Masters of a higher caliber tended to end more quickly; this was either due to a large disparity in power or due to victories being sealed by sudden and explosive displays of power.


    In contrast, the more prolonged and grueling matches tended to take place between Soul Emperors. Up to this point, no mechas had appeared during any of the matches, clearly because they were too clumsy and maladroit.


    On the rostrum, Gu Yuena was seated beside Qiangu Zhangting. Spirit Pagoda Chairman Qiangu Dongfeng wasn''t in attendance as this was only the elimination stage.


    "Nana, who do you think will win this match?" Qiangu Zhangting asked with a smile.


    Gu Yuena replied in an indifferent manner, "There shouldn''t be much doubt about the outcome considering the clear cultivation rank disparity."


    Qiangu Zhangting asked, "So you think that Yu Longyue will emerge victorious? Don''t forget about what happened to Chi Shanming on the first day; he''s one of the most powerful backup Battle Gods of the Battle God Hall, yet even he lost to a Soul Douluo. If you ask me, anything is possible. Isn''t the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon only good at controlling lightning?"


    Gu Yuena asked, "Are you testing me on purpose? How can Fire Elemental Control compare with a martial soul of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon''s caliber? Even in the dragon clan, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragons are very powerful beings. Not only are they adept at controlling lightning, they''ve inherited the immense strength and speed of the dragon clan as well. Even as far back as 20,000 years ago, this ancient family was extremely powerful and was one of the six founding clans of the Soul Hall.


    "After that, they gradually faded from the public eye, but there was even a Sea God''s Pavilion Master that arose from the clan in the past. On top of that, records state that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul has the potential to evolve into the Holy Radiant Dragon martial soul. Yu Longyue is already a Titled Douluo at such a young age; who''s to say he won''t have second martial soul awakening?"


    Qiangu Zhangting gave Gu Yuena a thumbs-up, and praised, "As expected of a high-achieving student from Shrek Academy; you know all this like the back of your own hand! You''re right, I also think Yu Longyue has better chances in this match, but from what I''ve heard, his opponent is no slouch, either. He may only be a Soul Douluo, but if you ask me, he may not be inferior to that Yuan Hui."


    "Oh? Do you know him?" Gu Yuena asked with an intrigued expression.


    "I do, he''s from our Spirit Pagoda, and he''s one of the supervisors at the advanced Spirit Ascension Plane. He''s participating in this event solely for training purposes, and his name is Ao Wuchang. He has a very special martial soul, and his nickname is ''Door of Summoning''. You''ll see what I mean once the match begins. If that Yu Longyue gets careless, he could easily lose this match."


    "Door of Summoning?" Gu Yuena was rather surprised to hear this.


    Qiangu Zhangting nodded with a mysterious smile. "Just watch; I won''t spoil any more of this for you. As for that Yu Longyue, even if he wins this match, if he encounters me later on, hehe, even if he''s a dragon, he''ll have to submit to my Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul!"


    "Then what about me?" Gu Yuena asked with a roll of her eyes.


    Qiangu Zhangting hurriedly put on a fawning smile, and said, "It''s different for you, of course. You''ll also be coiled, but you''ll be coiled around me, and I''ll have to do whatever you say!"


    "That''s more like it." Gu Yuena smiled a hint of purple light flashed deep within her eyes. Qiangu Zhangting faltered slightly at the sight of her, and a hint of purple light also flashed through his eyes.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    Tang Wulin''s match commenced with the announcement from the electronic voice.


    Door of Summoning Ao Wuchang!


    Tang Wulin had already received information regarding this opponent in advance, and he was definitely a very interesting character.


    As such, Tang Wulin wasn''t in a hurry to win the battle as he was very interested in Ao Wuchang''s martial soul.


    Ao Wuchang immediately released his martial soul and battle armor from the get-go.


    Specks of light appeared over his body, starting from the two sides of his collarbone, then slowly spread to his shoulders before trailing down his arms. At the same time, specks of light also emerged from his hips down to his legs.


    It was as if a pair of ÃÅ character had appeared on his body.  [1]


    Furthermore, his battle armor was also quite peculiar. The entire suit of battle armor was flat and planar in shape, completely different from the three-dimensional quality that was usually present in suits of battle armor.


    This strange shape struck the beholder with the impression that each and every piece of his suit of battle armor was giving off a faint sheen. On his back was a pair of folded mechanical wings, and there were even propellers attached to them, sending him flying backward with an eruption of soul power. At the same time, eight soul rings appeared around him, every single one of which was black, presenting an incredible sight to behold.


    [1] [1. ÃÅ is the Chinese character for door.]

 Chapter 1487: Door of Summoning

    A stir immediately ran through the spectators at the sight of these eight soul rings, and they became even more eager to watch this match unfold. Everyone wanted to see an evenly-matched battle between powerful beings, and they were especially interested to see if this Soul Douluo could upset Yu Longyue.


    Tang Wulin remained standing on the spot as lightning began to flash around his body, but he didn''t attack right away.


    Ao Wuchang was quite elated to see this. The main trait of his martial soul was that the longer the battle dragged on, the more powerful it became.


    His first soul ring flashed, and an inky-black door of light appeared right in front of him. A low roar rang out from within the door of light immediately following which a giant black wolf emerged from within.


    The wolf was over six meters in length and was extremely tall with exaggerated, almost cartoonish muscles bulging all over its body. Its fur gave off a glossy sheen, and it was very apparent that it possessed immense explosive power.


    After the giant wolf emerged, it didn''t immediately attack Tang Wulin. Instead, it sprang off to the side and began to slowly circle around Tang Wulin, but its vicious eyes were fixed on his body the entire time, looking as if it could pounce at any moment.


    After summoning this giant wolf, Ao Wuchang was instilled with a lot of confidence, and his second and third soul rings also lit up as two more doors of light appeared beside the first one. Immediately thereafter, two more identical giant wolves emerged, and they also began to stalk around Tang Wulin without immediately attacking him.


    The three giant wolves formed a triangular formation with Tang Wulin at their center, letting loose strings of menacing snarls.


    All of a sudden, a burst of chanting rang out. Ao Wuchang didn''t know why Tang Wulin was adopting such a passive approach, but this played right into his hands. His seventh soul ring lit up as he continued to chant his incantation, and at the same time, a series of golden lines began to spread from beneath his feet, forming a formation with a diameter of over 10 meters.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly, and he could sense that the soundwaves released by Ao Wuchang''s chanting were resonating with one another in a special way. These resonating soundwaves surged through the air, and they seemed to be calling out for something.


    Ao Wuchang was watching Tang Wulin this entire time while he chanted his incantation, constantly preparing for a sudden attack from Tang Wulin.


    However, Tang Wulin merely gestured for him to continue with a proud look on his face, displaying no intention to attack at all.


    A cold look appeared in Ao Wuchang''s eyes, and he was determined to make his opponent pay for his arrogance. Even though he was only a Soul Douluo, given sufficient time, he would be able to display Titled Douluo level power, and his opponent would sorely regret underestimating him.


    At the same time, he was elated by this opportunity. Under these circumstances, he would be able to display 120% of his true power.


    "Howl!" All of a sudden, the three giant wolves that had already been summoned began to howl in unison, and the formation beneath Ao Wuchang''s feet instantly underwent a transformation as a ferocious roar that was filled with boundless might and authority rang out from within it. At the center of the formation, a massive wolf''s head with a diameter of over five meters slowly emerged.


    Ao Wuchang''s face had turned very pale, but his eyes were filled with glee and triumph.


    The three giant wolves he had summoned were his first three soul skills. Generally speaking, no Soul Master would possess three of the same soul skill, but this didn''t apply to him due to the special nature of his martial soul.


    On the Douluo Continent, a martial soul could be anything; it could be a pickax, it could be a cup, and of course, it could be a door!


    When Ao Wuchang awakened his martial soul at six years of age, it was discovered to be a door, which was a trash martial soul in everyone''s eyes.


    However, at the same time, he had been blessed with innate eighth-rank soul power. It was exactly because of this that he embarked on the path of cultivation as a Soul Master.


    Thankfully, his family was quite affluent, and with innate eighth-rank soul power, he could be considered as a prodigy. Even though no one knew what his door would be capable of, his family still enrolled him into a Soul Master academy.


    After entering the academy, Ao Wuchang was often bullied as his martial soul wasn''t able to do anything.


    Even Ao Wuchang himself was beginning to fall into despair.


    That was until he reached rank 10 in soul power and attained his first soul spirit.


    At the time, no one knew what type of soul ring and soul spirit should be fused with his martial soul, so they could only make a blind guess.


    After extensive discussion, his family didn''t dare to give him too powerful a soul spirit, but they didn''t want to settle for anything too weak, either. In the end, they chose a demonic wolf. This was only a mid-range soul spirit among hundred-year-old soul spirits, but to everyone''s surprise, changes began to take place after Ao Wuchang fused with this soul spirit.


    When he opened that door again, the soul spirit emerged to assist him in battle.


    At the time, his family hadn''t thought anything of this as all Soul Masters were able to summon their soul spirits. However, they quickly discovered that this was something different. The soul spirit released from the Door of Summoning possessed all of the demonic wolf''s skills and abilities, whereas normal soul spirits would only be able to retain one of their soul skills.


    Normal soul spirits could only battle for a limited time and would severely deplete the Soul Master''s soul power and spiritual power, but not only was this soul spirit not bound by such limitations, it was made even more powerful by the Door of Summoning.


    As Ao Wuchang continued to progress in his cultivation, the power of the soul spirit being released by his Door of Summoning was also becoming more powerful, and even his soul rings were slowly being upgraded.


    His family had close ties with the Spirit Pagoda, and they introduced this strange martial soul of his to the Spirit Pagoda for guidance.


    With over 10,000 years of accumulated knowledge and experience, the Spirit Pagoda really was able to find a suitable cultivation method for him.


    His martial soul was known as the Door of Summoning, and it could directly summon soul beasts through his soul rings. If they were pure soul rings, then the summoned beasts would become even more powerful, and at his peak, he would be able to summon nine soul beasts to assist him in battle with his nine soul rings.


    However, soul beasts were on the brink of extinction, so he could only choose soul spirits, thereby necessitating a change in his cultivation method.


    He appeared to have summoned three demonic wolves with his first three soul rings, but they were actually all from a single soul spirit.


    Through this special cultivation method, he was able to create a type of resonance between himself and the three demonic wolves, thereby allowing him to open up a passageway through which they could summon their brethren.


    Only after he became a Soul Sage was this type of summoning method fully established, and it granted him immense combat prowess.


    At this moment, he had combined the three demonic wolves and his martial soul true body to summon the Wolf Emperor, which was a 100,000-year-old demonic wolf!


    This wasn''t a 100,000-year-old soul spirit; it was a complete 100,000-year-old soul beast.


    As the giant wolf head slowly emerged, a peculiar feeling suddenly welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. This type of summoning seemed to have evoked resonance between this plane and another plane, which meant that this 100,000-year-old soul beast had to actually exist in some alternate plane.

 Chapter 1488: Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell

    In the past, he would''ve been astonished by this, but following his ordeal in the Myriad Beast Plane, he could sense that this type of summoning had something to do with the Myriad Beast Plane. Soul beasts hadn''t actually gone extinct.


    At the very least, a small portion of them resided in the Myriad Beast Plane, and there was no lack of powerful beings among them. If all of these soul beasts were being raised by the Spirit Pagoda in the enclosure that was the Myriad Beast Plane, then the Spirit Pagoda would truly be a terrifying organization.


    Three streaks of light flashed, and the first three giant wolves instantly fused into the formation as streaks of black light.


    Immediately thereafter, a massive wolf that was over 10 meters in length emerged from the formation amid a thunderous roar.


    This wolf''s fur was also inky-black, but each and every strand of it gave off a crystalline appearance. It crouched down slightly, and an incredibly powerful aura immediately erupted from his body. A series of black halos proliferated outward from beneath its paws, leaving a series of demonic patterns on the ground.


    This was a domain! A 100,000-year-old Wolf Emperor that possessed a domain was undoubtedly going to be more powerful than a normal 100,000-year-old soul beast.


    The entire competition platform only had side lengths of 100 meters, so the emergence of such a gigantic wolf instantly made the available space on the platform very limited, leaving not much room for evasion.


    Could it be that another Titled Douluo was going to be upset? All of the spectators looked on in a flabbergasted manner. In their eyes, the proud display being put on by Yu Longyue was one of unfounded arrogance.


    What the hell was he doing? Did he have a death wish?


    Ao Wuchang was standing above the Wolf Emperor''s head with his eight inky-black soul rings shimmering around him, giving him an invincible, overbearing appearance. He looked down at Tang Wulin with a smug look in his eyes, and he was finally going to make Tang Wulin pay for his arrogance!


    "Howl!" The Wolf Emperor howled, and all of its fur stood up on end like a series of black crystalline spears, following which it pounced directly toward Tang Wulin.


    The attack was very simple, but due to the restricted area, there wasn''t much space for Tang Wulin to take evasive measures.


    The black domain beneath the Wolf Emperor''s paws quickly spread, and a series of inky-black runes rose up from within it.


    The Wolf Emperor''s domain was known as Haunting of Vengeful Spirits! All of the living beings slain by the Wolf Emperor would become a part of its domain, and they would rise up as vengeful spirits to attack the Wolf Emperor''s enemies while also enhancing its powers at the same time.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly let loose a thunderous dragon''s roar, and arcs of blue lightning began to appear over his body, forming a bluish-golden light barrier.


    The Wolf Emperor clearly faltered momentarily in mid-air, and what was even more peculiar was that as soon as the lightning appeared, the Wolf Emperor''s domain parted as if it had been struck by an invisible force.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward with his left foot, then launched his right fist forward.


    Lightning coursed over his arm, following which bolts of lightning erupted out of his body in a frenzy.


    Each and every bolt of lightning was like a ferocious giant python, and the vengeful spirits that didn''t have enough time to evade were all instantly destroyed amid bloodcurdling cries.


    "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom..."


    Lightning filled the entire platform right before the astonished eyes of all of the spectators. That''s right, the entirety of the competition platform had been instantly filled with lightning, and even the powerful protective barrier around it seemed to be on the verge of collapse.


    Ao Wuchang and the Wolf Emperor had been completely inundated in the terrifying world of lightning, making it impossible for the spectators to see them.


    Even the other nine competition platforms were illuminated by the scintillating lightning, and all of the competing participants couldn''t help but turn their attention toward the spectacle.


    Good heavens! What was going on over there?


    On the rostrum, Qiangu Zhangting''s calm facade was instantly shattered, and he abruptly rose to his feet as an astonished look appeared on his face.


    With side lengths of 100 meters, the competition platform had an area of 10,000 square meters, yet all of it had been filled with lightning without even the slightest gap to be seen.


    Just a moment ago, he had thought that he would be watching an upset victory, but now, there were chills running down his spine. Yu Longyue appeared to be very arrogant, but it seemed that he had what it took to back up his own arrogance!


    This was a truly incredible display of power. How much soul power would it require to unleash an attack that covered such a large area? Would the Wolf Emperor be able to withstand such an attack?


    The lightning gradually subsided, and as everything became clearer, the spectators discovered that the Wolf Emperor was still alive and well.


    However, their expressions quickly changed drastically as they discovered that the Wolf Emperor had slumped down onto the ground.


    There was still someone standing on its back, but it was now Tang Wulin instead of Ao Wuchang.


    Ao Wuchang was laying on the wolf''s head, spasming uncontrollably. His entire body was completely charred black and unrecognizable at this point, and the Wolf Emperor was also trembling uncontrollably with its front paws covering its own head.


    The overbearing Wolf Emperor was being made to look like a cowardly dog, and it was truly an indescribable sight.


    All of the spectators were completely flabbergasted, but Tang Wulin merely stood with his hands clasped behind his back as if nothing had ever happened.


    After that, he casually strolled off the Wolf Emperor''s back before departing from the competition platform, and his victory was declared.


    During the match, the foreplay had lasted far longer than the climax ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã), and Ao Wuchang had been made to look like a complete clown. Yu Longyue had allowed him to take all of the preparatory measures that he pleased, only to crush him like an ant in the end.


    Gu Yuena turned to the stunned Qiangu Zhangting, and asked, "Do you still think he''ll be an easy opponent now? It looks like he''s mastered the true meaning of lightning as opposed to pursuing the path of a second Holy Radiant Dragon awakening. Lightning is the embodiment of righteous energy, so it''s no surprise that it was able to nullify the Haunting of Vengeful Spirits, but for him to crush the Wolf Emperor with a large-scale soul skill indicates that his lightning is extremely powerful."


    Qiangu Zhangting nodded in response. He was not some unintelligent buffoon who had nothing but power, and he knew that he had to take this Yu Longyue more seriously.


    "I''ll examine the data to see just how powerful that soul skill was," Qiangu Zhangting said before hurriedly departing.


    Gu Yuena cast her gaze out toward the sports stadium again, but her large, beautiful eyes had already become glazed over and unfocused.


    Tang Wulin reviewed the match in his mind as he left the competition platform.


    Ao Wuchang''s loss had naturally been sealed from the very beginning. With Tang Wulin''s power, even the average Hyper Douluo may not be a match for him, let alone a mere Soul Douluo.


    As for the Wolf Emperor, it was indeed a 100,000-year-old soul beast, but Wolf Emperors were quite ordinary among 100,000-year-old soul beasts, and its domain had been completely dominated by Tang Wulin''s Infernal Lightning Vine.


    On top of that, Tang Wulin had unleashed that roar to release his dragon''s might, and the Wolf Emperor had already been severely intimidated by his Golden Dragon King bloodline aura; it had only survived as Tang Wulin had held back in his Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell.


    After clashing with the Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python, he seemed to have attained a deeper level of understanding of lightning, thereby allowing him to use the Infernal Lightning Vine''s power more effectively. Of course, there was still room for improvement. Tang Wulin had already ironed out all of the abilities that he currently possessed; the most important thing for him now was to continue to integrate them.

 Chapter 1489: Integration

    There had been many integration processes during Tang Wulin''s cultivation journey, and this was going to be a brand new one. It was a change that had taken place after he had experienced the elemental tribulations during his heavenly refinement.


    After achieving heavenly refinement, Tang Wulin discovered that he was no longer just refining the metals, but also himself. The refinement process involved constantly stripping away the impurities while retaining the essence within his own body in order to make himself more powerful.


    Ordinary Soul Masters were generally troubled by a lack of soul skills, but the exact opposite was true for Tang Wulin. With his Bluesilver Emperor, Golden Dragon King bloodline, and Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, he had a vast number of skills and abilities. On top of that, he now possessed a domain and powerful soul spirits that provided him with even more soul skills. All in all, he had several dozens of skills at his disposal.


    With such a massive repertoire, how could he utilize it to perfection during battle? And how many of those skills would he be able to use in a battle?


    This was something that Tang Wulin had been thinking about extensively in recent times.


    As he gradually mastered Millennium White Clouds and Unpredictable Storm, he was made even more aware of the fact that having more soul skills wasn''t exactly better. The key was to integrate himself with the laws of heaven and earth and resonate with those laws; only then would he be able to unleash more power.


    A so-called god was actually just a living being who had mastered the laws of the universe to a certain extent. In other words, any living being who mastered a portion of the laws of the universe could be referred to as a god.


    The laws that one mastered differed from person to person, and Tang Wulin was undergoing this process of mastery during the elemental tribulations he brought upon himself.


    Through those tribulations, he was able to grasp the changes in the power of laws and constantly refine his own body.


    Once he completed this integration process, he would be able to progress to the Hyper Douluo level.


    ......


    "How did you lose? What did you feel during your match?" Qiangu Zhangting asked.


    Standing before him was Ao Wuchang, and even now, his body was spasming slightly. His injuries had been treated by the healing system Soul Masters, but his body was still very numb, and with every few steps he took, he would have to stop and allow his body to spasm for a moment before he could continue onward.


    "I, I''m not sure," Ao Wuchang stuttered, "At the time, I felt like everything around me had turned into lightning, and I reflexively tried to unleash my other soul skills, but I was already immobilized by then. The Wolf Emperor tried to protect me at the time, but its defenses were instantly destroyed, and I immediately blacked out after that."


    Qiangu Zhangting''s eyelids twitched upon hearing this, and he really wanted to denounce Ao Wuchang as a useless piece of trash, but he repressed the urge to do so considering Ao Wuchang possessed quite a lofty status.


    "You can go and rest now. Your opponent is from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and there''s no shame in losing to someone like that."


    Ao Wuchang hesitated momentarily before adding, "At the time, the Wolf Emperor was transmitting a fearful emotion to me, and that''s why it was unable to display anywhere near its full power."


    Qiangu Zhangting was beginning to lose his patience. "That''s called bloodline suppression! Do you not even know something this basic? All dragons are born with this innate ability."


    Ao Wuchang mumbled, "But the suppression felt way more severe than it should''ve been."


    "Alright, you can go and rest now; I''ll analyze the data from the match."


    Qiangu Zhangting no longer had any more patience for Ao Wuchang. Earlier, he had told Gu Yuena that Ao Wuchang had only participated in the event for training purposes, but in reality, with his participation, no one in the Spirit Pagoda would compete against him.


    Those who did participate in the event had actually entered to clear away potential roadblocks for him, yet Ao Wuchang had been eliminated before he could do anything, so Qiangu Zhangting was naturally very displeased with him.


    ......


    The distant northern region of the Douluo Continent was a world of snow and ice.


    The northernmost point of the Douluo Continent was a region of extreme cold, and only some special soul beasts could reside there.


    It was said that the soul beasts there possessed something very beneficial to certain Soul Masters, and that the founder of the Spirit Pagoda had benefited immensely from his trips to this glacial region.


    As such, the federation had once scoured through this region in search of the soul beasts that resided there, but the expedition party was met by fierce resistance from the powerful soul beasts there. As a result, many powerful beings had perished, but the Spirit Pagoda was the main beneficiary as it had slain and captured large numbers of soul beasts during that operation.


    At this moment, there was a group of black figures in this world of snow and ice.


    All of them wore long black robes and black hooded cloaks to keep out the cold, and they were situated in a valley that was entirely covered in snow and ice.


    There were over 300 of these black-robed figures gathered in the valley, and they were setting up many unknown objects in the area in an orderly fashion.


    These objects were giving off a peculiar glow, and the entire valley was filled with them, so it was clear that the black-robed figures had been at work for quite some time.


    This was a region that no humans inhabited, and even the surveillance of the federation''s satellites was very lax in this area.


    On top of that, there were screening soul tools set up all around the valley, so even if a satellite were to focus on this area, it would only be able to see a vast expanse of snow and ice.


    "What''s the status?" A coarse and unpleasant voice rang out.


    "It''s already 60% complete, and everything is progressing according to plan," a black-robed figure replied in a respectful manner toward the cave that the first voice had come from.


    "Very good, continue. Looks like that Qiangu Dongfeng isn''t useless after all; at the very least, he''s drawn everyone''s attention to that stupid joust for a spouse event of his, kukukukukuku!"


    ......


    The first day of the elimination stage had been a very exciting spectacle for the spectators, but the first round alone had spanned five days, and the spectators'' enthusiasm was beginning to wane.


    There were a few matches that were frequently discussed, including Yuanen Yehui and Tang Wulin''s matches, and Tang Wulin had already become a heavy favorite to make it into the final 10 in the eyes of many.


    Even though he had put on a very arrogant display during his match, he had backed up his haughty attitude with his actions.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was currently busy at work at the blacksmith association.


    "Boom!" The final hammer blow was struck and all types of elements began to gather in the air, heralding the arrival of the elemental tribulation.


    Devouring Heaven and Earth!


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip was standing right beside him, maintaining the effects of Devouring Heaven and Earth in his stead. With each bolt of tribulation lightning that fell, Tang Wulin would voluntarily withstand some of it with his own body.


    Through his heavenly refinement during this recent period of time, he had become more and more familiar with the tolerance capacity of different metals. Due to the fact that he was able to precisely moderate the tribulation lightning with his Infernal Lightning Vine, his heavenly refinement success rate was extremely high.

 Chapter 1490: Heavenly Refinement Success Rate

    Zhen Hua was standing not far away, and even though he was trying his best not to show it, his eyes were filled with amazement.


    Did Tang Wulin necessarily possess superior forging aptitude compared to him? Zhen Hua didn''t believe this to be the case. In fact, he had never conceded inferiority to anyone when it came to forging aptitude, even his forefathers.


    However, after reaching the heavenly refinement level, forging aptitude was no longer the only thing that mattered; one''s abilities played a very important role as well.


    Currently, Tang Wulin''s heavenly refinement success rate was at around 35%, and this was due to the fact that there were many unpredictable elements in the process of heavenly refinement.


    In contrast, Zhen Hua''s heavenly refinement success rate was only 11%.


    This didn''t mean that Tang Wulin had already exceeded Zhen Hua; in terms of technique and experience, he was still significantly lacking. However, he was far better at handling elemental tribulations than Zhen Hua, and that was what resulted in his significantly higher success rate.


    To put it in simpler terms, if Zhen Hua also had Devouring Heaven and Earth and an Infernal Lightning Vine soul spirit, his heavenly refinement success rate would most likely swell to over 60%. Unfortunately for him, he didn''t possess such assets, and this made Zhen Hua realize that even if one wanted to dedicate all of their focus on forging, cultivation was still necessary.


    Only a truly powerful Soul Master could become an exceptional Divine Blacksmith!


    Tang Wulin already had no issues performing heavenly refinement on one type of metal, but ever since he began attempting heavenly refinement on alloys, his failure rate had begun to climb.


    Zhen Hua was most amazed by the rate at which Tang Wulin was improving. With each heavenly refinement, Zhen Hua felt as if Tang Wulin would undergo an evolution.


    As a Divine Blacksmith, he had extremely sharp senses when it came to fundamental changes taking place around him, and he was confident in his own judgment. Not only had Tang Wulin achieved heavenly refinement, he had found something that he needed the most.


    To him, heavenly refinement was the best method of cultivation. He had already forgotten his initial agreement with Zhen Hua, and at this point, he wouldn''t be willing to leave even if Zhen Hua tried to chase him away. There was no one to disrupt him here, and he also had access to the best facilities for heavenly refinement.


    Through his heavenly refinement, he was improving both in heavenly refinement itself, as well as in his cultivation.


    "Boom!" The final bolt of tribulation lightning fell, and even though the Infernal Lightning Vine had absorbed a part of it, smoke was still rising up from his entire body from the lightning strike.


    Thankfully, his immensely powerful physical constitution meant that he was able to withstand the lightning strike without sustaining any substantial damage.


    Unfortunately, the piece of alloy that he was forging clearly hadn''t evolved, which meant that he had failed yet again.


    In its current state, this piece of alloy could only be considered to have undergone faux heavenly refinement.


    The higher the caliber of a piece of metal, the more powerful the elemental tribulation it would attract.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine had an insatiable appetite for tribulation lightning, but it was precisely due to its insatiable nature that Tang Wulin didn''t dare to allow it to absorb too much in case it self-detonated.


    The Infernal Lightning Vine had already reached a point of saturation, so he would have to stop for the day.


    He summoned the Infernal Lightning Vine for examination and discovered that its bluish-purple color had become darker than before. What was even more intriguing was that each and every vine was shimmering with rainbow light that could only be discerned upon careful inspection, and its aura was completely different from when Tang Wulin had first obtained it.


    Elemental tribulation was feared by countless Saint Blacksmiths, yet it was a brilliant catalyst for growth in Tang Wulin''s eyes.


    Not only could it create divine-grade metals, it could also help him refine his Infernal Lightning Vine and his own body.


    After mastering the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, Tang Wulin had thought that he had reached his peak physical constitution, but these elemental tribulations had presented a new way for him to refine his own body.


    Of course, he had to be very careful when using elemental tribulation to cultivate in order to avoid breaking his Golden Dragon King seal.


    However, as his physical constitution had continued to improve, he could clearly sense that his next Golden Dragon King seal showed no signs of loosening.


    Furthermore, he had a feeling that even if the next seal were to be broken, it wouldn''t pose much of a threat to him.


    During the next half a month, he spent the vast majority of his time in the blacksmith association practicing heavenly refinement, and he would meditate whenever his Infernal Lightning Vine and body were unable to bear continuing any longer.


    He naturally also participated in the rest of the elimination stage during this time, and his luck turned out to be very good as Ao Wuchang was the most powerful opponent he faced.


    He had encountered one other Soul Douluo after Ao Wuchang, but that opponent wasn''t even as powerful as Ao Wuchang and was brushed aside with ease. Thus, he secured four victories out of four matches and progressed to the round-robin stage.


    All types of promotional material for the round-robin stage had already been released, and even seeds had been predicted for each group.


    With only 100 participants left, everything became a lot more manageable. The Spirit Pagoda had announced a three-day break to improve the venue, following which the round-robin stage would officially commence.


    The stakes in the round-robin stage didn''t seem to be as high as a loss wouldn''t equate to immediate elimination, but every single match was still very important as only the top participant in each group could progress to the final 10.


    Lots had to be drawn to decide the groups, and all of the 100 remaining participants were required to attend the lots-drawing ceremony.


    As Tang Wulin arrived at the Bright City Sports Stadium, he was looking rather weary and sleep-deprived.


    He cast his gaze around him and discovered many familiar figures, including Qiangu Zhangting and Lan Fuozi.


    Following their separation on that day, Tang Wulin had kept tabs on her matches, and he discovered that she really was staying to participate in the rest of the event. She didn''t take the initiative to seek out Tang Wulin, and the two of them acted like complete strangers.


    However, she had left a very strong impression on Tang Wulin, and now, she was also in the top 100.


    Could it be that she really wanted to fight for a spot in the final 10?


    Lan Fuozi seemed to have sensed Tang Wulin''s gaze, and she turned to face him. As their eyes met, Lan Fuozi gave him a vicious glare before turning away, leaving Tang Wulin feeling rather bemused.


    Following the renovations, the entire Bright City Sports Stadium had been transformed. There was only one competition platform left in the entire venue, and in contrast with the square platforms from before, this was a circular platform with a diameter of 300 meters, so it was significantly larger than the previous ones.


    A giant screen that was 50 meters tall had been constructed across from the rostrum, and even though the lots-drawing ceremony was a very grand event, it wasn''t open to the general public. As such, there were no spectators in attendance, but the event was going to be broadcasted live to the entire continent.


    In order to ensure fairness, the Spirit Pagoda had invited personnel from the Battle God Hall to oversee the ceremony. Each participant had received a new number prior to entering the stadium, and a machine had been set up directly under the large screen.


    The machine was comprised of a massive glass cover, within which were placed 100 small balls, each of which held a number that corresponded to a certain participant.

 Chapter 1491: Drawing Lots

    During the ceremony, lots were going to be drawn at random by the machine, and the seeded participants were decided based on popularity among the general public rather than any official jurisdiction.


    As such, it wouldn''t be impossible for powerful beings to be pitted against one another, and it was precisely because of this that the ceremony drew even more attention.


    Those who made it into the final 10 wouldn''t have any further opportunities to clash as the choice would be up the Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena then, so the round-robin stage was the most important.


    Tang Wulin was currently resting with his eyes closed. His sickly, sleep-deprived appearance wasn''t something that was feigned, he was truly slightly under the weather.


    Something had gone wrong during his heavenly refinement the previous day; an elemental tribulation had suddenly erupted, causing the piece of metal to explode, and the Infernal Lightning Vine had also reached the limit of its tolerance range. In order to protect the Infernal Lightning Vine, Tang Wulin had been forced to bear the brunt of the elemental tribulation, and even with his physical constitution he had been dealt a very heavy blow.


    Thankfully, he had managed to save the Infernal Lightning Vine, and it was currently digesting the tribulation lightning. According to Tang Wulin''s own estimation, he wouldn''t be able to attempt any further heavenly refinement for at least three days.


    During this recent period of time, he had been attempting heavenly refinement with excessive regularity, to the point that even his body as the Son of Nature was struggling to keep up with all the elemental tribulation he had to endure.


    Even Zhen Hua had advised him to take a break, and it wasn''t a bad idea to take advantage of this opportunity to participate in the round-robin stage.


    "Welcome, gentlemen, I am Qiangu Dongfeng." Right at this moment, Qiangu Dongfeng''s clear voice rang out, instantly attracting everyone''s attention.


    The image of Qiangu Dongfeng appeared on the big screen, and Gu Yuena was standing right beside him. She was wearing a long black dress that made her long silver hair look particularly resplendent.


    "Firstly, I''d like to congratulate you all on behalf of the Spirit Pagoda for making it to the final 100. The fact that you''ve progressed to this point is a testament to your ability, and you can be proud in the knowledge that you''re the most exceptional cultivators among the younger generation in the entire federation. At the same time, you''ve secured the prizes that our Spirit Pagoda announced prior to the commencement of the event, and you''ll receive those prizes at the event''s conclusion. You''ve all been gathered here today for the lots-drawing ceremony.


    "In order to ensure fairness, we''ve invited the vice-hall master of the Battle God Hall to oversee the proceedings, and I wish you all luck in the upcoming round-robin stage, which will commence tomorrow. I''m sure you''re all very tired after enduring the elimination stage matches, so I won''t waste any more of your time. After the ceremony ends, go back and have a good rest so you can compete in the rest of the event in your best condition. Na''er, I''ll let you do the honors."


    Gu Yuena nodded, and announced, "Let the ceremony begin."


    Her voice was very pleasant, and it drew one in on a subconscious level.


    Tang Wulin looked up at the big screen, and his gaze naturally focused on Gu Yuena.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and he crossed his arms as the air rippled slightly around him.


    Wait for me, Gu Yue.


    Following her announcement, the machine beneath the screen was turned on, and the 100 small balls within it began to bounce around in an erratic manner. It was also at this moment that an elderly man descended from the heavens and hovered above the machine with his hands clasped behind his back. All of the people present were high-grade Soul Masters, so they could naturally sense that this elderly man was an immensely powerful being.


    He was the Vice-Battle God Hall Master, Sky Crossing Douluo Guan Yue.


    He was one of the most seasoned veterans of the Battle God Hall and was a powerful being from the same generation as the Boundless Ocean Douluo. At the same time, he was also a Limit Douluo, but was slightly inferior in power to Chen Xinjie.


    Furthermore, Guan Yue was a very understated character and wasn''t a high-ranking military official like the Boundless Ocean Douluo. He was purely a Battle God and nothing else, and he very rarely appeared in the public eye. In particular, he had rarely ever been seen during the past few decades, and one could only imagine what kind of price the Spirit Pagoda had to pay in exchange for his attendance.


    The Sky Crossing Douluo hovered in mid-air with his eyes closed, looking as if he were asleep, but everyone was filled with awe and veneration toward him. This was a Limit Douluo! Even though the number of Limit Douluos in the present world far outstripped that of ancient times, there were still less than 20 powerful beings of this caliber in the entire federation, and all of them stood at the very pinnacle of this world.


    The Battle God Hall was the most powerful force under the federal parliament, and this was precisely due to the fact that it was being spearheaded by these two Limit Douluos.


    Unfortunately, none of their successors had reached the Limit Douluo level, so once these two passed away, it was likely that the Battle God Hall would enter a slight trough. As such, the federation was investing more and more in the younger generation of the Battle God Hall while recruiting bright young talents at all costs.


    The small balls continued to bounce around in the machine before entering a series of glass tubes. There were 10 tubes in total, and once a tube was filled with 10 balls it would be sealed shut.


    Guan Yue nodded toward the rostrum as confirmation that everything was progressing smoothly.


    Of course, no one was going to doubt his judgment. All Limit Douluos had their own pride and prestige that was not to be encroached upon, and no one was under the opinion that a Limit Douluo would renounce their own moral code over something like this.


    "The results have been decided; the first group will consist of Number 17, Pan Xingzhou, Number 23..."


    One name after another was called out, and everyone listened intently for which group they were in, as well as who else was in their group.


    "Number 66, Yu Longyue." Tang Wulin was the sixth person in the third group, and his expression remained completely unchanged upon hearing this.


    Lan Fuozi had already been assigned to the second group, for which Tang Wulin was quite thankful.


    "Number 88, Qiangu Zhangting!" Everyone''s hearts jolted upon hearing this next name, and they all cast their eyes toward Tang Wulin and Qiangu Zhangting.


    They were both undoubtedly heavy favorites to progress to the final 10, but the fact that they had been split into the same group meant that only one of them would get to advance. Of course, this was assuming that no other participant in their group could perform better than they did.


    Qiangu Zhangting turned to face Tang Wulin with an intense gaze, and Tang Wulin merely looked back at him with a provocative expression, which was completely in character with his adopted identity as the arrogant young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.


    ......


    One day ago.


    "Brother Guan, I had no choice but to ask you for this favor. That grandson of mine is very proud and competitive, and he wants to face the most powerful competition. Many people are saying that this Yu Longyue is very powerful, including Na''er, so he wants to defeat him in order to win Na''er''s heart fair and square. I''m not asking you to rig the competition in Zhangting''s favor. In fact, this will only make things more difficult for him, so please do me this favor, Brother Guan."


    "While it is indeed true that this isn''t helping Zhangting in any way, you''re still asking me to break the rules! You shouldn''t have invited me to oversee this ceremony," Guan Yue said with furrowed brows.


    Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "It wasn''t easy for me to lay down my pride and request this of you, either, Brother Guan."


    After a brief hesitation, Guan Yue nodded in response. "Alright, but you''re the one asking for the rules to be broken; if something happens, I take no responsibility."


    "Of course! Thank you, Brother Guan."


    ......


    The news that the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and Spirit Envoy Qiangu Zhangting of the Spirit Pagoda had been allocated to the same group instantly created a massive stir.


    Countless people all over the continent had their eyes glued to their television screens, and all of them were looking forward to this epic showdown!


    There was no lack of Titled Douluos who had made it to the final 100, but there weren''t many among them who were young and handsome as well, yet Yu Longyue and Qiangu Zhangting definitely both satisfied those criteria.

 Chapter 1492: The Arrogant and the Refined

    Tang Wulin raised his chin toward Qiangu Zhangting, whereas the latter merely gave him a faint smile in a more refined display.


    Even though Tang Wulin was in disguise, his adopted identity of Yu Longyue was also very handsome, and the two of them created a stark contrast in which an arrogant display was clashing with a refined demeanor.


    Lan Fuozi was also appraising Tang Wulin, yet the fury in her eyes had been replaced by a rather peculiar expression.


    After that, the group allotments continued, and there were some other instances of powerful beings allocated to the same group, but none quite as exciting as the Tang Wulin and Qiangu Zhangting duo.


    According to the information that had been prepared for Tang Wulin, there were 23 Titled Douluos, 56 Soul Douluos, and 21 Soul Sages among the final 100.


    As such, the majority of the final 100 were comprised of Soul Douluos, while the 21 Soul Sages were all very lucky in that they didn''t encounter any powerful opponents in the elimination stage. However, in the round-robin stage, they most likely had no chance of further progression.


    There were four Titled Douluos in total in Tang Wulin and Qiangu Zhangting''s group, but the other two Titled Douluos were significantly older than them. This outcome fully convinced the general public that this was indeed a fair event. Even the Spirit Pagoda Chairman''s grandson had been allocated to such a difficult group; how could anyone accuse the Spirit Pagoda of rigging the event?


    Yu Longyue was the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, so there was no way that he would accept a bribe from the Spirit Pagoda, and there were two other Titled Douluos in the group as well, so if Qiangu Zhangting could still progress to the final 10 under these circumstances, then no one would have anything to say.


    "Thus concludes the ceremony. The round-robin stage will commence tomorrow, and one round will be held per day. There will be five matches per group per round, and the matches for two groups will take place each day, all in this venue."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. There were a total of 10 groups, which meant that it would take five days to complete a single round. In order for each member of each group to battle everyone else in their group once, there would have to be nine rounds per group, which meant that it would take 45 days to decide the final 10. It was the first time that he had encountered such a lengthy tournament format.


    The Spirit Pagoda was undoubtedly doing this to attract more attention, as well as to advertise their Myriad Beast Plane.


    Even Tang Wulin had to admit that the Myriad Beast Plane was indeed extremely alluring. It essentially did the same thing as the Spirit Ascension Plane, except one wouldn''t have to slaughter soul beasts in the Myriad Beast Plane to reap the benefits, and there was no upper limit in the Myriad Beast Plane.


    "Go back and rest; the first-round matches for the first and second groups will take place tomorrow, so please be ready."


    There were only going to be 10 matches per day, but due to the fact that the participants were more powerful, the matches were also going to be more spectacular. With a total duration of 45 days, the Spirit Pagoda would be able to make a massive profit from ticket sales alone.


    Furthermore, the matches could be arranged so that there was at least one match between Titled Douluos per day to generate even more interest.


    Thus, all of the remaining participants began to depart from the competition platform, and all of a sudden, Tang Wulin lowered his own center of gravity before quickly stepping to the side.


    "Hmph!" A cold harrumph rang out, and his shoulder was still caught in a firm grasp in the end. A burst of suction force was released by the hand on his shoulder, preventing him from getting away.


    "Can I help you?" Tang Wulin turned around in a resigned manner. He already knew who it was based on the aura alone.


    Lan Fuozi appraised him with a cold expression, and said, "You should be thanking your lucky stars that you''re not in my group. Otherwise, I''d beat you so hard even your mother wouldn''t recognize you!"


    Tang Wulin''s expression immediately fell upon hearing his mother being mentioned. "If you only stopped me to make empty threats, then piss off and go make these threats to the people in your group instead."


    Lan Fuozi faltered slightly upon hearing this. With her Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, she could naturally sense the sudden shift in Tang Wulin''s mood.


    She released his shoulder, and asked in a cold voice, "Are you confident that you can beat that guy?"


    Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent manner, "Of course, just like I''m confident that I can beat you."


    Lan Fuozi gave a disdainful harrumph. "Talk is cheap; how about we go somewhere for a fight?"


    ''''Not interested." Tang Wulin turned and departed without a second thought.


    Lan Fuozi was furious to see this, and she immediately darted around to stop Tang Wulin in his tracks. "Don''t think that I''ll just let you off the hook for what happened that day!"


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "What do you intend to do? Do you want to thank me for saving your life? How are you going to thank me? With your body?"


    "How dare you!" Lan Fuozi was instantly reminded of that awkward ordeal, and she thrust a palm toward Tang Wulin''s chest in a fit of rage.


    The surrounding air currents instantly became extremely viscous, and Tang Wulin was struck by a brief sense of asphyxiation, as if he had been plunged into a deep-sea abyss. What was even more terrifying was that the area around him seemed to have been transformed into a vacuum, within which he was unable to breathe, nor sense the presence of any elements. All he could feel was the terrifying air currents hurtling directly toward his chest.


    Not only was this palm imbued with rotational vortex-like power, it was also very strange in that the vortex and the palm were revolving in different directions, creating a burst of compression force that threatened to crush his body into mincemeat.


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly upon seeing this. He had always known that Lan Fuozi was very powerful, but he didn''t think that she would be this powerful.


    This attack had clearly already exceeded the realm of his body''s normal defensive capabilities, which meant that it posed an actual threat to him.


    He gave a cold harrumph as he stomped his right foot down onto the ground, and a burst of enormous pressure rose up all around his body.


    This was gravitational control!


    As he had become more powerful, his gravitational control had also become more potent, and the two vortexes abruptly sank as if they had been dragged down by some type of mysterious force.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin threw a straight punch.


    Bluish-purple scales appeared all over the surface of his fist, and arcs of lighting converged to form a ball of lightning that exploded violently.


    "Boom!"


    The two of them were still in the Bright City Sports Stadium, and following their resounding clash, Tang Wulin''s body swayed slightly from the rotational power of the vortexes, while Lan Fuozi was forced back a couple of steps.


    Powerful shockwaves erupted in all directions, and all of the surrounding participants instantly scattered in an alarmed manner.


    They weren''t overly familiar with Lan Fuozi, but they had all witnessed Tang Wulin''s powerful displays during the elimination stage, and none of them wanted to be caught up in his attack.


    As it turned out, they were right to take evasive measures. The shockwaves that were proliferating outward were still imbued with traces of powerful lightning, and some of the participants who didn''t manage to get away in time were all instantly rooted to the spot as their bodies began to spasm uncontrollably.


    Furthermore, most of the energy that erupted from the clash had risen upward instead of spreading outward. Otherwise, the effect would''ve been even more fearsome.

 Chapter 1493: The Insanely Popular Myriad Beast Plane

    Lan Fuozi was just about to charge toward Tang Wulin again when a figure descended from above.


    "Stop! No fighting in the Bright City Sports Stadium! If you have differences to settle, then go elsewhere to settle them!" An elderly man in a Spirit Pagoda uniform had positioned himself between the two of them, extending a hand toward each of them with a wary look in his eyes.


    Both of them were very powerful, so if they insisted on fighting here, he would most likely struggle to stop them.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his arm and raised his chin toward Lan Fuozi before departing.


    Lan Fuozi gritted her teeth as she looked on at his departing figure, then stomped a foot down onto the ground with a resounding boom before also leaving.


    Her voice then rang out beside Tang Wulin''s ears. "Just you wait!"


    Tang Wulin merely raised his index finger above his head and wagged it in a derisive manner.


    Their clash had naturally been captured by the surveillance cameras within the venue, and the footage was quickly being broadcasted by all of the major media outlets to further fan the flames of the event''s popularity.


    Apparently, Lan Fuozi had once entered the Myriad Beast Plane together with Yu Longyue, and the two of them had somehow become enemies following that experience.


    Lan Fuozi was at the Spirit Domain realm and was regarded as the most powerful seed in the fourth group, but neither he nor Yu Longyue were able to gain the upper hand during their clash.


    All types of news stories and articles were being released about the incident, and many people were lamenting the fact that Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi weren''t in the same group, which meant that no clash would take place between them in the event unless new rules were introduced for the final 10.


    Of course, if they wanted to progress to the final 10, then they had to emerge from their respective groups first and with three Titled Douluos, including Qiangu Zhangting, in Tang Wulin''s group, it seemed that this task was going to be more difficult for him.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he departed from the stadium.


    The round-robin stage was about to commence, there were some ticket resellers that had begun to appear in Bright City leading up to the matches. With all of the effort the Spirit Pagoda was pouring into the event''s promotion, ticket prices remained extremely high.


    At the same time, the Spirit Pagoda received news that the day of the round-robin stage''s commencement would also be the day that the Myriad Beast Plane was opened. All Soul Masters who wanted to enter the Myriad Beast Plane would have to pay a certain fee, which was obviously a very steep price, but most of the young high-grade Soul Masters in Bright City would definitely have enough disposable income to splurge on something like this.


    Each round of the round-robin stage would take five days to complete, so all participants would have five days of rest between rounds. As such, even they would be able to enter the Myriad Beast Plane during their rest days in order to enhance their soul spirits to put on a greater showing in the rest of the event.


    The Myriad Beast Plane was scheduled to be opened the next day, and all of the slots for the first day had already been reserved. According to the rules of the Myriad Beast Plane, only 200 people could enter it per day, and the entry fee was 5,000,000 federal credits per person, so 200 people equated to 1,000,000,000 federal credits per day.


    Generally speaking, around 10,000,000 federal credits were required to craft a black mecha, so the Spirit Pagoda was essentially earning 100 black mechas per day from the Myriad Beast Plane alone!


    Even the several thousand participants who had registered for the event alone would be enough to ensure that all slots were filled for the 45 days of the round-robin stage, so the Spirit Pagoda was definitely going to be making a massive profit.


    "Well done, Zhangting; your entire plan is perfect!" Qiangu Dongfeng couldn''t be more pleased with his grandson. Qiangu Zhangting was the one who had proposed and planned this joust for a spouse event, and everything had gone according to plan.


    Currently, the Myriad Beast Plane was extremely popular, and the Spirit Pagoda kept 10 entry slots up its sleeve every day to be auctioned to those who needed them and had enough money to purchase them.


    Of course, those slots were going to cost far more than 5,000,000 federal credits, and this idea had been proposed by Qiangu Zhangting as well.


    Under these circumstances, the Myriad Beast Plane would earn an astronomical sum of profit for the Spirit Pagoda within the next two months.


    Qiangu Zhangting smiled, and replied, "You can''t shower me with all the accolades; Na''er''s contribution is integral to the plan''s success as well! If she hadn''t perfected the Myriad Beast Plane, we wouldn''t have been able to open it to the general public."


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "Na''er''s contribution is indeed vital. You two are a match made in heaven, and if you can emerge as first in your group, there will be a lot less opposition for you to inherit my position as chairman. Once you take over from me, I''m sure the two of you will be able to elevate the Spirit Pagoda to even greater heights."


    Gu Yuena smiled, and said, "Rest assured, Chairman; Zhangting is definitely going to be a very wise and astute leader for the Spirit Pagoda."


    Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "Can you finally call me grandfather once this event ends? I''ve been waiting to hear that from you for a very long time."


    Gu Yuena lowered her head as a blush appeared on her face.


    An entranced look appeared in Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes as he looked at her, and he said, "Grandfather, you can hear her call you that as many times as you want after I marry her."


    Qiangu Dongfeng burst into elated laughter upon hearing this. "By the way, Na''er, make sure to keep an eye on the Myriad Beast Plane so that nothing goes wrong. I''m sure everyone is aware that the entry fee of 5,000,000 federal credits that we''re charging isn''t actually very high. Our main objective is to maintain the plane''s stability; we have to give them some benefits, but not too much, and only then will they keep coming back for more."


    "Rest assured, Chairman; I''ll make sure to maintain a good balance. I''ve already made an agreement with the two rulers of that plane, and this is a mutually beneficial exchange for both sides. They require the energy that we provide them with to maintain the plane, so in comparison, they need us more than we need them, which is why I''m confident they wouldn''t dare to break the agreement."


    "Good. Those two planar rulers aren''t easy to deal with. If four-word battle armor hadn''t been invented, I would be very reluctant to collaborate with them. Make sure to take the grand elder with you when you go to meet them again."


    "I''ll be sure to look after myself," Gu Yuena assured with a smile.


    "Alright, I won''t take up any more of your alone time; I''m going back to cultivate now," Qiangu Dongfeng said as he rose to his feet before vanishing into a plume of smoke and mist.


    Following Qiangu Dongfeng''s departure, an excited look appeared on Qiangu Zhangting''s face. "We really did it! Nana, there''s already a massive line outside the entrance of our Myriad Beast Plane! I''m sure there would be just as many people lining up even if we were to raise the entry fee to 10,000,000."


    Gu Yuena smiled, and said, "There''s no rush; we''re keeping the price low so that more people can experience the benefits of the Myriad Beast Plane. Only then will they become more hooked on the Myriad Beast Plane."


    Qiangu Zhangting said, "When that time comes, they''ll become more and more dependent on our Spirit Pagoda. I wonder what they''ll think if they knew that we could take away the enhancements their soul spirits experience in the Myriad Beast Plane using the power of the plane. The more they benefit from the Myriad Beast Plane, the more leverage we''ll have against them. In around 10 years, we''ll be able to control the entire Soul Master world! When that time comes, no one will dare to oppose us as we can significantly dent their powers if we please!"

 Chapter 1494: The Pursuit of Forging is Perfection

    "Shhh, that''s our most important secret; what if someone''s eavesdropping on us?" Gu Yuena hurriedly cautioned.


    Qiangu Zhangting chuckled, "This is Grandfather''s office; there''s no place with better security than here, so don''t worry about anyone overhearing us. Nana, I really have to thank you. You''re the one who planned this joust for a spouse event down to the very last detail, yet you gave all the credit to me. I..."


    Gu Yuena smiled, and interjected, "I''m just a woman, so I''m destined to stand behind a man. Your glory is my glory, is it not? You are the man who''s going to become the Spirit Pagoda chairman, and without you, the chairman wouldn''t have supported me in all my experiments, so the Myriad Beast Plane wouldn''t even exist; you deserve all the credit in the world."


    Qiangu Zhangting faltered slightly before a hint of excitement flashed through his eyes, and he spread his arms to try and embrace Gu Yuena. Gu Yuena looked up at him as purple light flashed within her eyes, and Qiangu Zhangting was stopped cold in his tracks as the same purple light flashed through his own eyes.


    "I''m sorry, Nana; I didn''t mean to offend you. You''ll be mine at the end of this event anyway, so I can wait. It''s just that I''m too excited; I can''t wait to call you my wife!"


    Gu Yuena replied with a gentle smile, "You should go back and rest as well. You have some powerful competitors in your group, so don''t get complacent."


    Qiangu Zhangting nodded in response. "Don''t worry, it''s just Yu Longyue, isn''t it? I''m going to crush him without giving him even a sliver of a chance!"


    ......


    "Boom!" A bolt of rainbow lightning fell violently, sending spasms running through Tang Wulin''s entire body. However, his hands didn''t stop even for a single instant as he raised both of them in unison, guiding a much smaller bolt of rainbow lightning onto the piece of metal before him.


    Rainbow light flashed, and the metal seemed to have sprung to life as it rose up as a streak of rainbow light amid a cry of elation. The lightning clouds in the sky also slowly dissipated at this moment.


    The piece of metal now had rainbow light swirling all over its surface, and it would instantly change to any shape at Tang Wulin''s behest, but it refused to stray far away from him. It seemed to be aware that it would''ve already perished if Tang Wulin hadn''t bore the brunt of the elemental tribulation''s power.


    Tang Wulin closed his eyes as he inspected his own bodily condition, as well as the changes in the power of laws within the piece of divine-grade alloy that had just been successfully created.


    After practicing heavenly refinement for so many days, he was finally beginning to understand its true meaning. The elemental tribulation wasn''t just something to test the piece of metal. Instead, it was something that allowed the metal to communicate with and feel the power of the laws of heaven and earth.


    These laws didn''t just originate from this plane and this planet; they were imbued with a hint of the power of the universe as well.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin discovered that the less he shielded the metal from the power of the elemental tribulation, the greater the effect would be once heavenly refinement was completed.


    Of course, this was a double-edged sword as the more elemental tribulation power the metal was exposed to, the greater the chance that it would be damaged.


    As a Divine Blacksmith, he had to find this balance, and the more he approached this fine line, the greater the effect of the heavenly refinement.


    Furthermore, the greater the number of metals used to create an alloy and the higher the harmony rate, the more fierce the elemental tribulation it would attract.


    Tang Wulin had already developed this theory during soul refinement, and it was verified now that he was capable of heavenly refinement.


    However, this didn''t mean that the greater the physical tolerance of a piece of alloy, the easier heavenly refinement would be to complete. On the contrary, the greater the physical tolerance of a piece of alloy, the more fearsome the elemental tribulation it would attract. Tang Wulin''s physical tolerance was limited, and once the elemental tribulation exceeded that limit, even his Son of Nature physique wouldn''t be able to help him, and this was a problem that he''d been struggling with of late.


    Having practiced heavenly refinement so extensively during this recent period of time, he was already somewhat confident that he would be able to begin forging suits of four-word battle armor for his friends. However, all of his friends had to reach the Titled Douluo level first. Otherwise, their bodies wouldn''t be able to handle suits of four-word battle armor anyway.


    Even though he was already a Titled Douluo, he couldn''t complete heavenly refinement for himself as too many metals were used for his Dragon Moon Song battle armor, and the alloys were also of an extremely high caliber, which would make heavenly refinement exceedingly difficult.


    "Wasn''t this one a resounding success? Why do you still look so unsatisfied?" Zhen Hua asked with a smile. Looking at the piece of divine-grade metal revolving around Tang Wulin, he simply couldn''t muster up a stern expression.


    Tang Wulin''s brows were tightly furrowed as he replied, "It''s not that I''m unsatisfied with this piece of metal; I''m unsatisfied with myself. Do you think I was too greedy, Uncle-teacher? I used alloys comprised of six types of metals for my three-word battle armor, and the harmony rate is over 90%. In order to upgrade it to a suit of four-word battle armor, I''ll have to incorporate at least one more type of metal. Even though I''m a Divine Blacksmith now, I can''t forge a suit of four-word battle armor for myself."


    Zhen Hua chuckled in response, "That''s where you''re wrong. The pursuit of forging is perfection; if I had your physical constitution and abilities, I would also pursue the same extremes. Just because you can''t now doesn''t mean you won''t be able to in the future. The construction of your four-word battle armor will have to be delayed, but I''m sure you''ll be able to complete it through your own power someday."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Is it really possible? My current limit is completing heavenly refinement on alloys consisting of three types of metal. I''ve never succeeded with four-metal alloys even once, and every time I fail, I sustain some injuries in the process. For my own suit of battle armor, there will be seven types of metal, and the harmony rate will be even higher; how is that even possible?"


    Zhen Hua said in a meaningful voice, "Wulin, what you have to realize is that you and I are different. The difference between us is that you''ll be able to go further than me. Becoming a Divine Blacksmith isn''t the end for us blacksmiths; there are different tiers of Divine Blacksmiths, just like there are different tiers of Limit Douluos. I''ve been a Divine Blacksmith for so many years, yet to put it frankly, even if I were to give everything I had and completely disregard all consequences, I would only be able to complete heavenly refinement on a piece of four-metal alloy at most.


    "That is my limit, and if I were to do that at my current age, I''d most likely have to rest for over a year. In contrast, you''re only in your twenties; we''re both Divine Blacksmiths, yet you have far more assets at your disposal than I do. You''re a Titled Douluo who earned your power through arduous cultivation, and you possess Spirit Domain realm spiritual power. In my memory, there has never been a Divine Blacksmith who has reached the Spirit Domain realm before. On top of that, your soul spirit can help you absorb a part of the power of elemental tribulations.


    "Your heavenly refinement success rate is already closing in on 40%; if the forefathers of our blacksmith world were to hear that you''re still unsatisfied with this, they''d be rolling in their graves!"


    An excited flush appeared on Zhen Hua''s face as he continued, "What is heavenly refinement? It''s true creation; an ability that only gods of creation possess. Even though our creation is on a very small scale, and we can only draw upon a sliver of the power of laws of heaven and earth, this ability is completely unique to our blacksmith occupation. I knew you were using many types of metals in your battle armor and even succeeded in soul refinement later on, but do you know why I didn''t stop you? Do you know why I didn''t step in even though I knew you were making heavenly refinement exponentially harder for yourself?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a blank expression.


    Zhen Hua explained, "There are two reasons, the first of which is that I didn''t even think you would be able to become a Divine Blacksmith."


    "Hah?" Tang Wulin''s mouth gaped open upon hearing this.

 Chapter 1495: Two Reasons

    Zhen Hua smiled, and said, "You''re very surprised, aren''t you? There''s actually a saying in the blacksmith world, which states that two Divine Blacksmiths can''t exist in this world at the same time, so I''m sure you can imagine my shock when you succeeded that day."


    "Why is that?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "It''s due to the equilibrium in the laws of heaven and earth. Even though we possess only an extremely watered-down version of the power of a god of creation, it''s still the power of creation; how many people like us do you think the plane will allow to exist at one time? If there were too many of us, the entire world''s equilibrium would be thrown into disarray. In reality, the invention of four-word battle armor is one of the main culprits behind the extinction of the soul beasts. Without four-word battle armor, all those top-tier soul beasts wouldn''t be completely dominated by us.


    "As for the second reason behind why I didn''t stop you from using so many metals, it''s because I know what you''re capable of. When I can no longer complete heavenly refinement, I am confident that you''ll succeed me as the next Divine Blacksmith. When that time comes, you''ll have established an extremely solid foundation, and your breakthrough would open up a whole new world. At that point, you would need a new target to pursue. No one in history has been able to complete heavenly refinement on a piece of seven-metal alloy; the record is six.


    "You''re the greatest prodigy I''ve ever seen, so why can''t you create this piece of history? I have great ambitions for you, and even though I won''t be able to pursue these goals, my life will be complete if my successor can do all this in my stead. After I became a Divine Blacksmith, this is the only thing that can still get me so excited. Hence, never give up and never think that you can''t or that you want to compromise. If you allow those thoughts to set in, you''ll never be able to reach that unprecedented peak.


    "The fact that two Divine Blacksmiths have appeared at once indicates that the laws of this world have been heavily disrupted, and it could lead to disaster. As the one who has been chosen by the plane, you may have to shoulder the duty of saving this entire plane in the future. Hence, you can never look back; no matter how difficult things become, you must continue to advance onward. You will succeed; it may not be now, but you''ll definitely succeed in the future. You''re only a Titled Douluo now, so what would your physical tolerance be like as a Hyper Douluo? What type of elemental tribulation would you be able to endure then? How can you put a cap on your own potential and declare that you can''t complete heavenly refinement on a seven-metal alloy? I believe that you can do it!"


    Zhen Hua was becoming more and more excited as he spoke, and it was the first time that Tang Wulin had ever seen him like this.


    He had begun learning forging at six years of age, and he could still clearly recall how badly his hands had hurt on his first day. The recollection of the layers upon layers of calluses and countless blisters still remained fresh in his mind.


    However, he persevered in order to become a Soul Master. He took one arduous step after another and finally reached the pinnacle of the blacksmith world.


    Forging was no longer just an occupation for him; it was something that he truly loved, and this passion was the best form of motivation.


    His uncle-teacher was right; just because he couldn''t now didn''t mean that he couldn''t in the future. So what if his rise to become a four-word battle armor master would have to be delayed? Once he completed his suit of four-word battle armor with seven-metal alloys, he would stand at the pinnacle of this entire world!


    A frenetic look began to appear in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and Zhen Hua nodded in a pleased manner at the sight of the flames that had been ignited in Tang Wulin''s eyes.


    He had already said enough; the rest would be up to Tang Wulin himself.


    The round-robin stage of the joust for a spouse event officially commenced, and even though it was only the first day, things had already become very intense.


    In the first group, a match had concluded with one participant having an entire arm destroyed and a huge hole blasted into their stomach and chest. If it weren''t for the healing-system Soul Masters on the scene, he would''ve perished.


    At the same time, the Myriad Beast Plane was opened in a grandiose ceremony, and the first entrance was set up in Bright City. As for where other entrances were going to be set up, that information had been withheld by the Spirit Pagoda.


    Thus, 200 people rushed in the Myriad Beast Plane, and the one who lasted the shortest was evicted in 15 minutes, while the one who lasted the longest stayed in the plane for seven hours. After he left the Myriad Beast Plane, one of his soul rings had evolved from the hundred-year level to the thousand-year level!


    5,000,000 was quite a hefty price, but it was definitely tolerable for high-grade Soul Masters. Furthermore, everyone discovered that power wasn''t the key to lasting longer in the Myriad Beast Plane; the one who had lasted seven hours was only a Soul Emperor.


    So what was the most important factor? It was luck!


    If one were to run into a 100,000-year-old soul beast as soon as they entered the plane, then that would be terrible luck. However, those with better luck and didn''t encounter any powerful soul beasts would be able to last longer.


    Each person who entered the Myriad Beast Plane would be given a badge, just like in the Spirit Ascension Plane, and they could activate the badge to teleport themselves out of the plane in the face of insurmountable peril. This made things far safer than they were during the examinations.


    The first day of matches concluded, and there were virtually no upsets. Those who had managed to progress past the elimination stage were not only all very powerful, they also possessed extensive battle experience, so it wouldn''t be an easy task to score an upset.


    In contrast, the second day received more attention than the first day as the matches for the third group were going to take place. According to the match sequence, they would only clash in the final round of the stage, but even so, the matches in the group were still heavily anticipated, and the prices of resale tickets spiked by over 30%.


    Of course, there was also interest generated by the fact that Lan Fuozi of the fourth group would also be making an appearance.


    Her clash with Tang Wulin had become a very hot topic for fans of the event, and her matches were also undoubtedly going to draw a lot of attention.


    That night, prior to the second day of the competition, Tang Wulin was strolling along the streets of Bright City with his hands in his pockets.


    This was the first time he had taken such a leisurely stroll since his arrival at Bright City, and the reason for this was very simple: he had to take a break to relax.


    During this recent period of time, Tang Wulin had constantly been alternating between heavenly refinement and cultivation, thereby leaving him with almost no time for rest. He was absorbing power from elemental tribulations every single day, so both he and the Infernal Lightning Vine were in a state of saturation.


    Even with the Infernal Lightning Vine''s love for lightning, it was struggling to keep up. Thankfully, Tang Wulin also had three other soul spirits. After the terrifying destructive power of the tribulation lightning was filtered by Tang Wulin and the Infernal Lightning Vine, the remaining essence was very beneficial to those soul spirits as well.

 Chapter 1496: Meaty Aroma

    With those soul spirits taking a part of the load, Tang Wulin and the Infernal Lightning Vine were able to absorb this power at a slightly faster rate.


    At night, Bright City was a very luxurious setting, but Tang Wulin was still feeling rather lonely as he walked on the streets by himself.


    If only she were with him. They didn''t need to do anything; he would be satisfied if he could simply walk hand-in-hand with her.


    A faint smile appeared on his face. That dream was definitely something that he would achieve someday.


    All of a sudden, a resounding boom rang out in the distance, and Tang Wulin''s pupils contracted as he instantly began to circulate his soul power within his own body.


    However, he was quickly greeted by the sight of a ball of light rising up into the air before exploding into resplendent fireworks, followed by a loud chorus of cheers.


    Only then did Tang Wulin recall that there was a certain festival taking place on this day.


    The word "festival" was something that Tang Wulin rarely ever thought about. He couldn''t even remember the last festival he had experienced; he only vaguely recalled enjoying festivals as a child with his parents and Na''er. They very rarely bought any fireworks as they were too expensive, and in order to save money, they would only buy smaller and safer fireworks for him and Na''er to set off.


    A forlorn look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes at the thought of his parents. In reality, he was even more attached to Tang Ziran and Lang Yue than he was to his birth parents. After all, Tang Ziran and Lang Yue had given him the warmth of a family and parental love.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sight, and his aura began to fluctuate in a slightly unsteady manner.


    Father, Mother, no matter where you are, I''ll find you!


    After speaking with his birth father, he had realized that he had to set his sights beyond the stars.


    "Boom, boom!" Two more fireworks were set off, and the entire city was filled with a festive atmosphere.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin caught a whiff of a faint meaty aroma, and he followed it to a small rotisserie.


    Even before walking into the rotisserie, he was already carefully considering what he was going to eat. With so much pressure on his shoulders, just the simple luxury of dining out instilled him with a profound sense of happiness.


    This was a very ordinary part of many people''s lives, but for him, it was a rare break from all of his crushing responsibilities.


    In the end, he decided to order a portion of every type of roast meat along with some iced ale. Every type of meat had a different aroma and different juices, and just this mere thought was making him salivate. It seemed that he really was hungry.


    Due to the festivities taking place in the city, the rotisserie was packed to the rafters, and Tang Wulin had to wait in line for a seat. Thankfully, the line wasn''t very long.


    Each table in the rotisserie had a stove that was fitted with a metal frame, atop which meat could be roasted. Chunks of marinated meat were placed on the red hot frame, and the entire rotisserie was filled with the alluring aroma of roast meat.


    The glasses of ale being brought out to the customers were each covered in a layer of frost, indicating that the glasses had been frozen before the ale had been poured into them in order to preserve the ale''s original flavor.


    The rotisserie was quite small, but its attention to detail was very much worthy of praise. Tang Wulin looked around at the customers munching on chunks of roast meat, and he couldn''t help but gulp with a look of yearning in his eyes. Dining on delicious food provided enjoyment of the highest order for humans, and eating was the most important and satisfying activity in everyone''s life.


    Just as Tang Wulin was waiting in the line, he suddenly felt a slight hint of sharp pain on his skin, and he reflexively cast his gaze toward a certain direction. To his surprise, there was a familiar person enjoying a meal there. However, she was glowering directly at him while munching on roast meat, and that burst of sharp pain was a result of none other than her intense gaze.


    That person was none other than Lan Fuozi!


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon seeing this, and he made his way over to her table before taking a seat across from her.


    "Who said you could sit there?" Lan Fuozi protested in an angry manner.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Fate has brought us together again, and this seat is vacant anyway, so why don''t we eat together?"


    He was very curious about Lan Fuozi''s origins, and the Tang Sect had investigated her at his request, but were unable to find out anything about her.


    A Titled Douluo with Spirit Domain realm spiritual power who was only in her twenties was definitely someone who was worthy of attention, and with her foundation, it was very likely that she would become a new Limit Douluo in the future.


    "You''re ruining my appetite! Go away!" Lan Fuozi said with a cold look on her face.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Is this how you speak to someone who saved your life?"


    "I already repaid the favor, so neither of us owes the other anything," Lan Fuozi countered.


    Tang Wulin said, "Alright, then let''s restart from the beginning. My name is Yu Longyue, and I come from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."


    He extended a hand toward Lan Fuozi with a friendly smile on his face as he spoke.


    Lan Fuozi faltered slightly before grumbling, "How are you so shameless? I already told you that you''re not welcome here!"


    "Alright, then I''ll just sit here for now, and I''ll leave once another table opens up," Tang Wulin replied with a smile.


    Lan Fuozi was just about to say something when Tang Wulin''s soul communicator suddenly lit up.


    He accepted the call and only listened for a few seconds before his smile was completely replaced by a grim expression, and he abruptly stood up before departing.


    "Hey, where are you going?" Lan Fuozi was rather taken aback to see this.


    It was the first time she had ever seen Tang Wulin display such a grim expression, and she was very intrigued.


    Tang Wulin merely waved at her in a gesture of farewell before quickly rushing out of the rotisserie.


    After exiting the rotisserie, he immediately accelerated and rushed toward a certain direction, ignoring all of the attention that he was drawing by doing so.


    However, he hadn''t gone far before he suddenly asked, "Why did you follow me?"


    Lan Fuozi had caught up to him, and she replied with a smug smile, "Does this street have your name on it? I''m just going for a jog to help me digest my meal."


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes, and said in a serious voice, "I''d advise you not to follow me; I have some private matters to take care of."


    "Then fight me, and I''ll stop following you if you beat me," Lan Fuozi replied with a smug expression.


    Tang Wulin had no time for something like this. Lan Fuozi was quite powerful, so it would take him quite a while to defeat her. On top of that, they were in a very densely populated area, so fighting here would definitely attract unnecessary trouble that would delay him from getting to where he needed to be. As such, he could only ignore Lan Fuozi and accelerate before rising up into the air, jumping onto one skyscraper after another as he rushed toward his destination.


    Lan Fuozi followed along close behind him. "You''re not getting rid of me that easily!" For some reason, Tang Wulin''s frustrated display gave her a lot of pleasure.


    Thus, the two of them quickly rushed toward the same direction together.


    "Has your location changed?" Tang Wulin made a call with his soul communicator, then continued to accelerate upon receiving confirmation from the other end.


    At their speed, it didn''t take them long to make it to the outskirts of Bright City.


    There were far less people in this part of the city, but the roads were still very congested as it was peak hour, and most of the less affluent residents of the city lived in this area.


    Soon, a lush forest appeared in the distance. Of course, this wasn''t actually some primitive forest; it was a park in Bright City instead.


    The park was surrounded by a metal fence, but that was naturally instantly bypassed by Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi. After entering the park, Tang Wulin immediately released his spiritual power before rushing toward a certain direction.

 Chapter 1497: Yuanen Yehuis Family

    Lan Fuozi trailed along directly behind him; speed was clearly one of her fortes, so she was able to easily keep up with Tang Wulin.


    There was a lake in the forest, and at this moment, there was a group of people standing beside the lake.


    To Lan Fuozi''s surprise, she recognized one of those people.


    The people beside the lake were clearly split up into two opposing factions with over 10 people on one side, and only two people on the other.


    The two people were both young men who appeared to be in their twenties, and the group that opposed them was led by a burly and imposing elderly man.


    Even though the elderly man was merely standing still on the spot, he resembled a gargantuan pillar that immediately drew one''s attention. Even with Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi''s powers, they were instantly struck by a sense of oppressive pressure at the sight of him.


    This elderly man was definitely extremely powerful.


    Tang Wulin arrived in quick succession beside the pair of young men, and their sudden arrival naturally drew the attention of the opposing group.


    A hint of surprise appeared in the elderly man''s eyes at the sight of Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi, while the two young men were elated to see them.


    "You''re Yuan Hui, right?" Lan Fuozi asked with a perplexed expression before turning to Tang Wulin, "You know each other?"


    Indeed, the two young men beside the lake were none other than Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie, the latter of whom had made the call to Tang Wulin.


    "Why did you call for these allies, Yuanen? Are you planning to resist?" a middle-aged man standing beside the elderly man yelled.


    A stubborn look appeared in Yuanen Yehui''s eyes. "He''s my friend; I''m not going back with you."


    The middle-aged man became even more enraged. "How dare you act so rude in the presence of your grandfather?"


    "That''s enough." The elderly man raised his hand to cut off the middle-aged man. He then continued, "Come back with me and change your name, and I can spare your second martial soul."


    Yuanen Yehui suddenly became very emotional upon hearing this. "No! I won''t change my name; I was no longer a part of your family from the day that I left! It''s been so many years; why did you come to look for me? I have no connection to you! My name was given to me by my mother, and my surname was inherited from my father; no one has a right to take those away from me. I won''t go back with you even if the only alternative is death!"


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he assessed the scene unfolding before him. Due to the urgency of the situation, Xie Xie had given him a very brief message, informing him that Yuanen Yehui''s family had come to look for her, and that the situation was very troublesome.


    Everyone had known each other for a very long time, so Tang Wulin was aware of the family situation of Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Yue Zhengyu, Ye Xinglan, and Xu Lizhi, but no one knew what the family situation was like for Yuanen Yehui. She never revealed this information, and it was inappropriate to pry into such matters.


    However, both of Yuanen Yehui''s martial souls were top-tier existences, so everyone had always suspected that she had quite a complex family history.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had seen Yuanen Yehui''s family, and this certainly didn''t appear to be an ordinary family!


    With his wealth of knowledge and experience, Tang Wulin was certain that the elderly man currently standing before him was a Limit Douluo; only a Limit Douluo would be able to exert so much pressure on him and also completely disregard him and Lan Fuozi even after detecting their Spirit Domain realm spiritual powers.


    According to what the middle-aged man had just said, this elderly man was Yuanen Yehui''s grandfather. A family that possessed a Limit Douluo had to be an extremely powerful one, but what was very perplexing to Tang Wulin was that he had no recollection of ever hearing about such a family on this continent. This suggested that Yuanen Yehui''s family was also a hidden family like the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, except it wasn''t as renowned.


    "So you''re unwilling to come with me," the elderly man confirmed in an indifferent voice.


    Yuanen Yehui replied without any hesitation, "I''d sooner die than come with you!"


    The elderly man continued, "You''ve inherited our family''s bloodline, and your power was bestowed upon you by this bloodline. If you''re unwilling to return to your family, then I''ll disable you and capture you by force."


    Yuanen Yehui raised her head with a cold look in her eyes. "Just like what you did to my father, right?"


    The elderly man''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and a complex look flashed through his eyes, yet before he could reply, the middle-aged man beside him flared up with rage. "You don''t know anything, you little brat!"


    He rushed toward Yuanen Yehui as he spoke, and the air seemed to grow heavier around him as his right arm abruptly thickened while he reached toward Yuanen Yehui''s shoulder with his right hand. This was rather similar to the style of battle employed by the Body Sect.


    Yuanen Yehui pursed her lips tightly with a cold expression and stepped forward with her left foot before retaliating with a punch of her own.


    Her enormous strength and soul power converged, and she unleashed her devastating Divine Cloudvortex Fist.


    However, the middle-aged man was also very powerful, and yellow light radiated from his entire body as his arm abruptly expanded once again, threatening to envelop Yuanen Yehui''s entire body.


    Tang Wulin had seen Yuanen Yehui use this technique before; it was Titan Grip!


    They really were from the same family.


    Formidable power instantly erupted from Yuanen Yehui''s Divine Cloudvortex Fist, and the powerful vortex was filled with repulsive power. Her body hadn''t expanded at all, but the energy from her fist was proliferating outward to match the Titan Grip. A dull thump rang out, and Yuanen Yehui was forced back two steps, while the middle-aged man was stopped cold in his tracks.


    At this point, he had already revealed his soul rings, which consisted of three purples and six blacks. This was a Titled Douluo!


    The middle-aged man was quite taken aback to be stopped in his tracks, clearly surprised by Yuanen Yehui''s strength.


    However, he then harrumphed coldly before rushing toward Yuanen Yehui again, but he had only taken a single step before his expression changed slightly, and he stopped once again.


    At the same time, he lashed out with a punch to his right, and a crisp clang rang out as a figure emerged out of thin air.


    Xie Xie sprang back and landed beside Yuanen Yehui with a cold expression. "Even if you''re her family, you have no right to make her do anything against her will."


    "Who are you?" the middle-aged man asked in a cold voice. At the same time, he was surprised by just how stealthy Xie Xie had remained while unleashing his attack. On top of that, he hadn''t been aiming for a vital region, so he was clearly holding back. This was the first time he had ever encountered anyone with such proficient concealment ability, and what was even more remarkable was that he was only a Soul Douluo.


    Xie Xie replied, "I''m her boyfriend, Xie Xie!"


    The middle-aged man faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he turned toward the elderly man.


    Lan Fuozi was even more astonished to hear this as in her eyes, both Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie were men! [1. In Chinese, he/him (Ëû) and she/her (Ëý) are both pronounced the same, so Lan Fuozi wasn''t able to distinguish the fact that Xie Xie had said "her".]

 Chapter 1498: No One Can Take You Away

    Tang Wulin stepped forward and positioned himself in front of Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie. "I''m sure there''s some kind of misunderstanding here. You are Yuanen''s family, so why can''t you settle this with words rather than violence?"


    The middle-aged man countered, "This has nothing to do with you! She has to come back with us. Otherwise..."


    The elderly man interjected, "Alright, that''s enough. Yuanen has to come with us; that''s non-negotiable. Yuanen, do you intend to make me capture you by force? Do you think these little brats will be able to stop me?"


    A complex look appeared on Yuanen Yehui''s face, and she glanced at Xie Xie and Tang Wulin before stepping forward to stand beside Tang Wulin. "I''ll go with them, Captain."


    Tang Wulin turned toward her to discover a hint of finality in her eyes.


    This definitely wasn''t the expression of a tantrum-throwing brat who had run away from home; the look in her eyes suggested that she was ready to die!


    "No! No one is taking you anywhere if I can help it."


    The middle-aged man scoffed in a cold voice, "You sure are a cocky brat! Let me see if you can back up that big mouth of yours!"


    "Can you be any more annoying?" Before Tang Wulin had a chance to respond, a figure suddenly charged toward the middle-aged man before thrusting a gentle palm toward him.


    Yellow light flashed from the middle-aged man''s body, and he unleashed a slow-looking punch in retaliation.


    The fist and palm clashed, and the middle-aged man''s expression changed drastically as he stumbled a couple of steps to the side. Immediately thereafter, he felt as if a vision of a boundless ocean had appeared before his eyes, and palm projections were crashing down upon him like a tsunami wave.


    If it were just a wave, then he wouldn''t be fazed, but all of the palm projections within the wave were rotating in different directions, and they were all interconnected, looking as if they would explode upon contact.


    Even the elderly man was stunned by the sight of such an attack. He had already sensed that Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi were Titled Douluos, and he had also detected their Spirit Domain realm spiritual power. However, Titled Douluos were still far inferior to Limit Douluos, so he didn''t pay them much heed.


    However, the power displayed by Lan Fuozi was comparable to that of a Hyper Douluo, and it was undoubtedly the case that he was a brilliant prodigy.


    The middle-aged man let loose a furious roar as his first, third, and fifth soul rings lit up in unison. His body then swelled drastically in size as he instantly transformed into a terrifying Titan Giant Ape.


    Immediately thereafter, he unleashed several dozens of punches in rapid succession, trying to quell the oncoming attack through brute strength.


    However, the palm projections hurtling toward him were filled with rotational power that quickly nullified the force of his attacks, and as the vortexes approached him, he could sense that the protective soul power around himself was about to be torn apart.


    In this dire situation, golden light flashed from his body, and he crossed his arms to form a barricade in front of himself. A string of resounding booms rang out as the vortexes struck his body, and he was only just barely able to withstand Lan Fuozi''s attack.


    With that one palm alone, Lan Fuozi had shocked everyone present. Even Tang Wulin was astonished by her overwhelming attack.


    Yuanen Yehui''s Divine Cloudvortex Fists also derive their power from rotation, but it was clearly lacking in that regard compared to Lan Fuozi''s attack.


    Thinking back to the wave of palm projections, Yuanen Yehui couldn''t help but consider how she would react if she had to face such an attack.


    The middle-aged man was forced back several steps, and the fury in his eyes had been replaced by shock. Were the young people of this generation this powerful? He was a rank 93 Titled Douluo, yet he had been forced back by just a single attack.


    "You''re nothing much," Lan Fuozi scoffed with a derisive expression.


    The elderly man''s expression darkened upon hearing this. "Don''t get cocky, little brat; you''d have no chance if my eldest son were here."


    Lan Fuozi replied in a cold voice, "How about you fill in for him then? I hate restrictive parents like you!"


    The elderly man''s brows furrowed slightly, and he nodded in response. "Alright, watch carefully."


    As he uttered the words "watch carefully", he had shifted his gaze to Yuanen Yehui. After that, he raised a hand and pointed a finger toward Lan Fuozi in a very simple and straightforward manner.


    Lan Fuozi harrumphed coldly as she unleashed another wave of palm projections, but this one was clearly more powerful than the previous one.


    Even Tang Wulin could clearly sense the terrifying power imbued within the vortexes, and the most fearsome aspect of this attack was the fact that all of the vortexes enhanced one another.


    The attack required immense power to unleash, and incredible spiritual power to control.


    However, the elderly man paid no heed to this and merely continued to extend his finger toward Lan Fuozi.


    Lan Fuozi was very proud, but she knew that she was facing a Limit Douluo, so she was giving this attack her all and hadn''t allowed any complacency to set in. As such, she was very careful and made sure to control each and every vortex so that they exploded at the perfect moments.


    Yellow light began to radiate from the finger, and the vortexes exerted all types of different force upon it, but it remained completely unfazed.


    At the same time, it continued to advance slowly toward Lan Fuozi like a sluggish, immovable mountain.


    "Bam!" All of the vortexes were instantly shattered, and Lan Fuozi stumbled back seven or eight steps before falling onto her backside.


    The elderly man remained at his position and withdrew his finger as he said in an indifferent voice, "An immovable pillar cannot be swayed by any force, do you understand?"


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and he was suddenly struck by a strong urge to challenge this elderly man.


    That finger strike appeared to have been very simple, but it had completely stunned him.


    There was no embellishment or special technique, nor any soul skills used; the finger had simply been filled with unmatched intent and pure, unadulterated power.


    The attack perfectly embodied the power of a strength-type Soul Master.


    It was undoubtedly the case that the Titan Giant Ape was a strength-type martial soul, and for him to have cultivated such a martial soul to the Limit Douluo level meant that he cultivated his strength to the limit. This was the first time that Tang Wulin had ever met a strength-type Limit Douluo, and he was very eager to challenge him.


    Lan Fuozi sat on the ground with a blank look on her face. She hadn''t been injured, but her spirit had been crushed.


    This so-called immovable pillar was similar to her family''s integration of all rotations, but she was still very far from reaching that level, yet the elderly man had already accomplished it. He was truly very powerful!


    Yuanen Yehui was looking directly at the elderly man. Everything he had just done had been a demonstration for her.


    Is, is he teaching me?


    "Come back with me," the elderly man said to Yuanen Yehui before turning and walking away into the darkness.


    "Boss!" Xie Xie yelled in a frantic manner.


    The elderly man was too powerful, and he could only place his hope in Tang Wulin.


    "Please wait, Senior," Tang Wulin said in a respectful voice.


    The elderly man had won his respect through his display of power, and on top of that, he was Yuanen Yehui''s grandfather.


    The elderly man turned his head toward Tang Wulin, and said, "You''re quite exceptional as well, but you''re still too young. This is truly a golden generation. Yuanen is necessary to continue our bloodline, so I won''t do anything to harm her. However, she must come back with me."

 Chapter 1499: Three-Strike Bet

    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "How about we make a bet, Senior?"


    An intrigued look appeared on the elderly man''s face. "A bet?"


    "You have no right!" the middle-aged man yelled in an enraged voice.


    However, Tang Wulin simply ignored him, and continued, "If I can take three of your attacks, then you won''t take Yuanen away. Otherwise, I won''t intervene any further; what do you think?"


    The elderly man''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and the middle-aged man scoffed, "You think you have what it takes to challenge my father?"


    Tang Wulin turned to him, and said, "Alright, you can take his place then; if you can take three of my attacks, then I''ll let you take Yuanen away."


    The middle-aged man was furious to hear this, and he was just about to respond when a burst of pressure converged all around him, forcing him to swallow his words.


    "I can tell you''re a very confident young man, but I won''t take on your bet. Yuanen must come with me; that''s non-negotiable," the elderly man replied.


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he realized that this was a rather troublesome situation.


    Just as he was about to say something further, a voice suddenly rang out in the distance. "Accept the bet. Otherwise, you won''t be able to take her with you."


    A streak of light flashed in the distance, and it seemed to be a sword that was giving off a type of peculiar emotional fluctuations, affecting everyone''s emotions to a certain extent with its mere presence.


    A figure that wore a graceful and refined smile then appeared beside Tang Wulin amid a flash of light, and it was none other than Amorous Douluo Zang Xin.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t surprised at all by Zang Xin''s arrival as he was the one who had asked Zang Xin to come here.


    Xie Xie''s frantic cry for help was a clear indication that he and Yuanen Yehui were facing extremely powerful opponents. Tang Wulin wasn''t going to take a risk with the lives of his friends on the line, so he had contacted the Amorous Douluo right away. The Amorous Douluo had accompanied them to Bright City for the joust for a spouse event, and a serious look appeared on the elderly man''s face for the first time at the sight of him.


    Both of them were Limit Douluos, so even if there were a disparity between their powers, it would be very difficult for him to take Yuanen away. On top of that, a full-blown battle between Limit Douluos would definitely receive attention from the officials of the city, thereby escalating the matter, and no one wanted to see that happen.


    Thus, after considering the situation for a brief moment, the elderly man nodded in response.


    Zang Xin patted Tang Wulin on the shoulder, and offered him some words of encouragement before backing away.


    The elderly man''s entourage also slowly backed away along with Tang Wulin''s friends and Lan Fuozi.


    Xie Xie pumped his fist toward Tang Wulin in encouragement, and he was even more nervous than Yuanen Yehui.


    A slightly forlorn look flashed through the elderly man''s eyes as he gently shook his head before stepping forward. "Are you ready?"


    As a powerful being of his caliber, he naturally wasn''t going to stoop to unleashing surprise attacks.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath to prime his soul core, dragon core, and spiritual power in order to ensure he was in his best condition.


    "I''m ready; please go ahead!"


    The elderly man didn''t waste any more time and raised his right hand before pointing a finger toward Tang Wulin.


    Only when truly facing this finger strike could Tang Wulin experience everything that Lan Fuozi had just felt.


    The sluggish finger really was like an immovable pillar, and everything around it seemed to have paled into insignificance. At the highest level, everything returned to a state of simplicity, and this finger strike epitomized this concept.


    It was a very simple movement, but it was completely unavoidable, and it felt as if resistance were destined to be futile.


    Of course, Tang Wulin wasn''t going to try and evade it anyway; that wasn''t his style of battle.


    He took a deep breath and slowly took a step forward as he lowered his own center of gravity. He clenched his right hand into a fist, and also threw a simple straight punch.


    As he did so, a low dragon''s roar rang out, and everyone present felt their own blood churn within their bodies.


    It was as if there really were a giant dragon residing within Tang Wulin''s body, and it had been awakened as he unleashed his straight punch.


    The dragon''s roar was filled with boundless authority, and Tang Wulin''s eyes had already turned golden in color.


    A series of golden scales appeared over his right fist, and each scale glistened like the surface of a mirror. In the face of enormous pressure exerted upon him by the immovable pillar, he had entered a peculiar state.


    In his mind, it was as if all of his skills and abilities had instantly fused as one.


    Path of Regal Domination, All or Nothing, Fury of the Masses, and all of his Golden Dragon King abilities; everything was infused into this one punch.


    His essence, energy, and spirit were condensed, and he was focusing on the feeling of refining his own body during the final moments of his elemental tribulations.


    "Boom!"


    The fist and finger clashed, and the entire space seemed to have congealed for an instant.


    Everyone was focused intently on the clash, not just to see the outcome, but also to learn from a clash of this lofty caliber.


    In the instant that the clash took place, it was as if time and space had completely fallen still. However, in the next instant, a thunderous boom rang out, and it was only limited to a very small area, but a black hole with a diameter of over three meters had suddenly appeared. Enormous suction force erupted forth in all directions, and all of the plants in a diameter of 100 meters were uprooted before instantly being devoured by the black hole.


    Thankfully, all of the people present were powerful Soul Masters, and they were able to stabilize themselves with their own soul power.


    In the aftermath of the clash, Tang Wulin was sent flying like a flashing golden cannonball for several hundred meters.


    However, even the short-tempered middle-aged man couldn''t muster up a disdainful expression anymore.


    Lan Fuozi had only been forced back several steps by the same attack, yet Tang Wulin had been completely sent flying, so on the surface, it seemed that Tang Wulin had fared far worse than Lan Fuozi had.


    However, all of the people present were powerful enough see that the elderly man''s finger strike had only pushed Lan Fuozi back a few steps as he had been able to control and rein in his power, whereas Tang Wulin had been sent flying as the elderly man was forced to unleash his power and was therefore, unable to hold back.


    This meant that he had been forced to oppose Tang Wulin''s punch with his full power.


    A complex look appeared in Lan Fuozi''s eyes upon seeing this, and the elderly man was also very astonished.


    He finally understood why Tang Wulin was so confident; that punch of his had already incorporated the concept of returning to simplicity. Could it be that he had grasped this concept after only seeing his immovable pillar once?


    The majority of Hyper Douluos hadn''t even grasped this concept, and this ability was virtually limited only to Limit Douluos.


    A hint of elation appeared in Zang Xin''s eyes. With him present on the scene, the elderly man naturally wouldn''t try to kill Tang Wulin, and the pressure of battling a Limit Douluo would benefit Tang Wulin immensely in his development. In particular, this was a Limit Douluo who had no ties with him, so the pressure was even greater.

 Chapter 1500: Opposing the Immovable Pillar

    Compared to his original style of battle, that simple punch that he had unleashed was already a clear improvement that heralded his rise to the top.


    In the distance, Tang Wulin slowly clambered to his feet. At this moment, his entire body felt extremely heavy, as if there were a massive mountain weighing down upon his chest.


    What dense soul power! This was probably what it actually felt like to be struck by a mountain!


    He had faced many Limit Douluos in the past, including even quasigods like Infernal King Douluo Harosha, but this was the first time he had encountered one with such incredible strength.


    This made him realize that his own strength was still far from reaching the peak.


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline was fluctuating violently, as if it were under immense pressure, and even his 14th Golden Dragon King seal had become slightly cracked. This was the proud Golden Dragon King''s instinctive response to being provoked.


    This elderly man was at least a demigod, and he was most likely even more powerful than the Amorous Douluo and Heartless Douluo; perhaps his powers were comparable to those of the Boundless Ocean Douluo.


    Tang Wulin began to make his way back to everyone else, and initially, his body was slightly hunched over. However, as he took one step after another, a peculiar scene began to unfold. A layer of golden light gradually rose up from his body before gradually glowing brighter and brighter, and during this process, his back gradually straightened as a determined look appeared in his eyes.


    The middle-aged man''s eyes widened upon seeing this. He had just been struck by the elderly man''s immovable pillar, yet he was still able to walk and looked as if he hadn''t even sustained any injuries.


    He had no choice but to admit that he really was no match for this young man.


    What was going on with the youngsters these days? Were they determined to upstage the older generation? What a bunch of freaks!


    The elderly man looked on at Tang Wulin''s approaching figure, and he nodded as he said, "Yuanen is very fortunate to have friends like you."


    He very rarely praised anyone in his life, and his entourage were all stunned to hear this. It seemed that the last person that the elderly man praised was Yuanen Yehui''s father, and that had happened several decades ago!


    Ever since that event, the elderly man had never praised anyone else, nor did he ever smile again. However, he was now praising an outsider and involving Yuanen in his praise as well.


    Yuanen Yehui was just as astonished to see this. In her memory, her grandfather had always been stubborn, dogmatic, and completely emotionless, to the extent that he didn''t even seem human anymore.


    Was this man really still her grandfather?


    Of course, she had never been willing to admit that she had such a grandfather.


    Finally, Tang Wulin returned to his original spot. At this point, golden scales had already appeared all over his body, and he raised his right hand, upon which his Golden Dragon Spear appeared amid a flash of golden light. He couldn''t hold back any longer, even if it meant exposing himself to Lan Fuozi. If he didn''t use his weapon, he had no confidence in his own ability to withstand the elderly man''s next two attacks.


    If he had a choice, he would rather face Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, or even Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue than this elderly man.


    That wasn''t to say that he was more powerful than all three of them; it was just that his absolute strength was exerting crushing pressure upon Tang Wulin.


    However, with this immense pressure came motivation in equal measure, and he knew that facing such an opponent would benefit him immensely in his development. That punch he had just unleashed embodied the return to simplicity he had been searching for. Of course, it would take more time for him to master this concept, but at the very least, he was on the right track.


    He had integrated all of his abilities and assets, including his Bluesilver Emperor, Golden Dragon King bloodline, Golden Dragon Spear, and spiritual power.


    What he wanted to achieve the most was the same feeling as the elderly man''s immovable pillar. Of course, he didn''t want the exact same ability, but he wanted to achieve the same thing in principle.


    As such, that finger strike had not only been instructional to Yuanen Yehui, he had also benefited immensely from witnessing it.


    However, after withstanding the first attack, Tang Wulin knew that he couldn''t replicate what he had done for a second time. This elderly man was extremely determined to take Yuanen Yehui away, so Tang Wulin would have to draw upon even more power to withstand this second attack.


    Thus, he slowly raised his Golden Dragon Spear, and the golden light around him faded while the Golden Dragon Spear darkened in color.


    The elderly man appraised Tang Wulin with an intense gaze, and announced, "Second attack."


    As soon as his voice trailed off, he abruptly stepped forward and sent a palm crashing down upon Tang Wulin.


    The attack was still as simple as ever, but from Tang Wulin''s perspective, it felt as if the entire sky were falling upon his head.


    He felt like he was facing the entire world, rather than just a single person.


    His breathing was instantly cut off, and he was being crushed by enormous pressure.


    This was the true power of a strength-type Limit Douluo; there was clearly no change in gravity, but Tang Wulin was left feeling impossibly heavy.


    None of the spectators could feel the same pressure; only those who were above the Titled Douluo level or possessed sufficiently potent spiritual power could sense some of the pressure that was weighing down upon Tang Wulin.


    Zang Xin''s expression changed slightly, and he involuntarily took a small step toward Tang Wulin.


    Would he be able to withstand such an attack?


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly let loose a thunderous roar, and his eyes turned crimson as a crimson-golden halo emerged beneath his feet. At the same time, his suit of three-word battle armor instantly appeared over his entire body.


    His Dragon Moon Song battle armor was comprised of six-metal alloys, placing it far above normal suits of three-word battle armor.


    He raised his Golden Dragon Spear before thrusting it upward, and at the same time, another spear appeared in his left hand amid a flash of white light.


    With his left hand, he was unleashing Fury of the Masses, and with his right hand came Path of Regal Domination.


    At the same time, the flow of time around Tang Wulin also suddenly changed. However, instead of being reversed, it had been accelerated.


    Reversal of time was naturally very important in battle, but at times, a sudden acceleration in the passage of time could create an unexpected effect that could throw off his opponent''s rhythm and timing.


    Right at this moment, the two spears clashed with the descending palm.


    "Bam!"


    A palm-shaped crater with a diameter of 10 meters instantly appeared on the ground, and Tang Wulin abruptly vanished into the earth like a nail.


    "Boss!"


    "Captain!"


    "Yu Longyue!"


    Three cries of alarm rang out in unison from Xie Xie, Yuanen Yehui, and Lan Fuozi, respectively.


    If it weren''t for Zang Xin raising a hand to stop them, they would''ve already rushed toward Tang Wulin.


    Meanwhile, the elderly man stood on the spot with a peculiar look on his face as he mused, "What a crafty little brat."


    All of a sudden, a beam of golden light erupted out of the crater alongside a thunderous dragon''s roar. Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin flew out with his golden wings spread open, then landed on the ground nearby.

 Chapter 1501: Extreme Strength

    You can do that?


    Lan Fuozi was a little slack-jawed as he stared at the radiant golden figure descending from above.


    His battle armor seemed to be very complex and heavy, and it appeared to be different from normal suits of three-word battle armor.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin wasn''t in very good condition. There was blood flowing out of his mouth and nostrils, and both of his arms were trembling slightly; it was clear that he had been injured by the previous attack.


    "Please forgive me for resorting to tricks, Senior," Tang Wulin said in a respectful manner.


    The more Tang Wulin battled this elderly man, the more apparent it became just how fearsome he was.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t fought fire with fire to withstand that second attack. Instead, he had used some tricks to fool the elderly man.


    His Dragon Moon Song battle armor coupled with his Golden Blood Dragon domain had raised his defensive prowess to its maximal extent, following which he had used his Time Reversal domain to speed up the elderly man''s attack, thereby preventing him from switching to different attacks and successfully disrupting his rhythm.


    In the instant that the elderly man''s palm struck the Divine Atlas Spear and Golden Dragon Spear, he immediately sensed that Tang Wulin wasn''t interested in a direct clash. Instead of being aimed upward, the pair of spears had been directed downward, and thus, the elderly man''s attack had slammed Tang Wulin into the ground like a nail, and the earth had been used to nullify the terrifying force of the impact.


    What Tang Wulin had done was maximize his own defensive prowess to transform himself into the most resolute nail.


    A nail that clashed directly with a formidable force could easily snap, but if the tip of the nail were directed toward a piece of wood, then the nail would simply be driven into the material.


    Tang Wulin had used this technique to nullify the power of the elderly man''s attack, and as a result, he had been slammed over 100 meters into the ground before the force of the impact was finally exhausted.


    This was why the elderly man had praised his craftiness, while he had apologized for resorting to tricks.


    In any case, he had withstood this attack in the end.


    In reality, even if a direct clash had taken place, Tang Wulin would''ve had some tricks up his sleeve as well. At the very least, for a powerful being of such an advanced age, the elderly man would definitely be fearful of his Millennium White Clouds.


    However, this was Yuanen Yehui''s grandfather! If he were to reduce the elderly man''s lifespan using Millennium White Clouds, how was he supposed to answer to Yuanen Yehui? As such, he had chosen this method.


    "This is the final attack!" The elderly man didn''t waste any time. The fact of the matter was that Tang Wulin had withstood the attack, and as a man of his status, he certainly wasn''t going to bicker over technicalities.


    The elderly man clenched his palm into a fist, and his body abruptly swelled to over 10 meters tall, putting the intimidating glory of the Titan Giant Ape on full display. As his giant fist slowly traveled through the air, Tang Wulin''s expression changed drastically.


    This was an extremely familiar attack!


    Lan Fuozi also couldn''t help but let loose a cry of surprise upon seeing this as this punch was far too familiar for both her and Tang Wulin.


    Back when they were in the core region of the Myriad Beast Plane, they had faced the same attack. At the time, the attack had been unleashed from very far away, but the feeling was the same.


    The punch was imbued with the power of laws of heaven and earth, and there was no way to defend against or escape from it.


    Divine Titan Fist! This elderly man was also a master of the Divine Titan Fists!


    Tang Wulin''s heart had been filled with astonishment, but at this moment, he had to focus on facing this formidable punch.


    Lan Fuozi''s hands had already reflexively balled up into tight fists. On that day, they had been focused on trying to escape, and they had resisted the attack with their combined powers. Even so, they were still unable to completely withstand it.


    In this world, there was an upper limit to strength; Tang Wulin wasn''t facing an actual Titan Giant Ape, but a Divine Titan Fist from a Limit Douluo certainly wasn''t anything to be scoffed at, either.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that this elderly man''s combat prowess most likely exceeded that of the Heartless Douluo, and was definitely not inferior to the Boundless Ocean Douluo; there was a chance that he was even a quasigod!


    For the first time, Tang Wulin felt like he may have been too conceited in thinking that he could withstand three attacks from the elderly man.


    However, he had no choice now. In order to protect his friend, he had to withstand this attack no matter what.


    His dragon core thumped violently, and all of his soul spirits were instantly awakened.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip appeared behind him, blooming as a massive purple flower before immediately unleashing Devouring Heaven and Earth. Even though the energy that could be absorbed within the laws of heaven and earth of the Divine Titan Fist was limited, it could still enhance Tang Wulin to a certain extent.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin withdrew his pair of spears, and he clenched his right hand into a fist before slowly thrusting it through the air again. However, on this occasion, he was wearing his suit of battle armor, which was currently shimmering with rainbow light.


    The laws of heaven and earth originate from the plane, but the power of elemental tribulations are imbued with the hint of the laws of the universe.


    The power of elemental tribulations within the Infernal Lightning Vine and Tang Wulin''s body were completely activated, and a peculiar vine began to wind itself around his arm.


    The vine was of a dark purple color, but there were faint golden veins running within it.


    Instead of unleashing the Blue Emperor Lightning God Whip, Tang Wulin was using it to enhance his own arm.


    The surrounding air began to warp violently, and the rainbow light glowed brighter and brighter on the surface of the vine.


    The feeling of a successful heavenly refinement instantly surged through Tang Wulin''s entire body, and everything returned to simplicity as he unleashed his All or Nothing!


    "Boom!"


    The giant fist struck the rainbow lightning, and the resulting explosion of scintillating light forced everyone to close their eyes.


    The power of laws fluctuated violently, and it was as if the entire night sky were about to be torn apart.


    All of a sudden, the golden trident symbol appeared on Tang Wulin''s glabella amid a flash of golden light, and golden light enveloped his entire body as the divine weapon sought to protect its owner. His suit of three-word battle armor began to creak loudly, and the vine on his arm crumbled away as thin cracks spread toward his entire body starting from the battle armor on his fist.


    His Dragon Moon Song battle armor groaned as a thunderous dragon''s roar erupted from Tang Wulin''s body, while a burst of golden energy was injected into the battle armor, stabilizing it and preventing it from completely shattering.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had blood flowing out of all seven of his orifices, presenting a very sorry sight to behold.


    The fluctuations in the power of laws persisted for close to 20 seconds before finally gradually subsiding, and a giant crater that was over 200 meters deep had appeared on the ground.


    The water in the nearby lake was rapidly filling the crater, and the elderly man was hovering in mid-air while Tang Wulin was situated at the bottom of the crater.


    Due to the powerful residual energy fluctuations in the air, even the Amorous Douluo was temporarily unable to approach the area.


    The elderly man slowly withdrew his fist with his brows tightly furrowed, seemingly reminiscing the previous attack, and there were several parts of his clothes that had also been charred black.


    "Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough." Tang Wulin was coughing up mouthfuls of blood in the crater, but his eyes were bright with extreme excitement, and it was clear that his injuries hadn''t dampened his spirits in the slightest.


    Almost every single inch of his Dragon Moon Song battle armor was riddled with cracks, and that was sufficient testament to how fearsome the attack he had just faced had been.

 Chapter 1502: I Lost

    However, he had managed to withstand it in the end. He certainly hadn''t done it in style, but he had succeeded nonetheless.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin felt as if all of his internal organs were on fire, and both his heart and dragon core were thumping violently. At the same time, his powerful blood essence began to regenerate his body, and his Dragon Moon Song battle armor was also repairing itself. Due to the residual power of the Divine Titan Fist, he was recovering very slowly, but at the very least, his injuries weren''t worsening.


    Amorous Douluo Zang Xin''s expression had become very strained. In reality, even he hadn''t realized just how much peril Tang Wulin had been about to face prior to the clash.


    The power imbued within the Divine Titan Fist was far too concentrated, to the point that he had been unable to sense it.


    However, as soon as Zang Xin detected the terrifying energy fluctuations being released from the clash, his expression immediately changed drastically. This was a clash between the powers of laws! It was clear that this was a full-force attack unleashed by the elderly man, and only after witnessing Tang Wulin coughing up blood in the giant crater did Zang Xin finally heave a sigh of relief.


    The fact that Tang Wulin still had the energy to cough up blood indicated that his injuries were still within control. Otherwise, his entire body would''ve completely crumbled.


    Complete silence had descended upon the surrounding area, and everyone had been thoroughly astonished by what they had just witnessed.


    He really had managed to withstand all three attacks!


    In addition to shock and astonishment, Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie''s expressions were also filled with gratitude.


    After taking close to 20 breaths, Tang Wulin was finally able to stabilize his own injuries, and his body was quickly regenerating due to the incredible regenerative abilities of the Golden Dragon King. However, the Divine Titan Fist was simply far too powerful. Not only was it imbued with extremely formidable strength, it had also drawn upon the power of laws of heaven and earth, which was still setting off light explosions within his body, making it impossible for him to completely regenerate in a short time.


    "Are you satisfied, Senior?" Even Tang Wulin himself was given a fright by his own voice as it had become extremely hoarse, and he sounded like a pair of broken bellows.


    The elderly man descended onto the edge of the crater, and sighed, "Old men like me really are destined to be replaced by the younger generation. Let''s get out of this place first."


    The Amorous Douluo had already arrived by Tang Wulin''s side, and after ascertaining that Tang Wulin was in a stable condition, Zang Xin brought him out of the crater.


    The elderly man turned to the Amorous Douluo, and said, "My name is Yuanen Zhentian; can we speak elsewhere?"


    "Sure." Zang Xin nodded in response, but his expression was still quite strained.


    Yuanen Zhentian approached him and Tang Wulin, then reached a hand out toward Tang Wulin''s body.


    Zang Xin was struck by the reflexive urge to stop him, but refrained from doing so in the end, and allowed Yuanen Zhentian to press his palm down onto the defenseless Tang Wulin''s shoulder.


    A burst of suction force surged out of his palm, and Tang Wulin could sense the explosive power within his own body quickly fading away, thereby allowing him to regenerate as normal.


    As Yuanen Zhentian was nullifying the power of his own Divine Titan Fist within Tang Wulin''s body, his expression also changed slightly as he discovered that Tang Wulin''s blood essence was nothing short of extraordinary. Even after withstanding the Divine Titan Fist, his blood essence was still so abundant, and there was an aura within his bloodline that struck fear into the heart of even Yuanen Zhentian.


    "The younger generation truly is formidable," Yuanen Zhentian couldn''t help but sigh.


    "Please come with me," Yuanen Zhentian requested before rising up into the air and flying away with his entourage.


    The Amorous Douluo and everyone else also followed along and quickly departed from the scene.


    Even though they were on the outskirts of the city, such a massive commotion would''ve definitely attracted the attention of the city''s official departments, so there were most likely going to be people arriving on the scene soon.


    Yuanen Zhentian flew at the very front, and throughout this entire process, he hadn''t displayed much emotion. Even though Tang Wulin had managed to withstand those three attacks, Yuanen Zhentian''s display of power had truly stunned the Amorous Douluo, and even the likes of Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie.


    Even Zang Xin hadn''t been aware that there was such an immensely powerful pure strength-type Soul Master on the continent. He was very confident in his own The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been domain, and he was renowned as the most troublesome Limit Douluo to face in battle, the power of laws imbued within Yuanen Zhentian''s fists definitely wasn''t going to be easy to deal with. Perhaps only Cao Dezhi''s Heartless Swords could compete with those fists.


    After flying for over 10 minutes, they had already traveled tens of kilometers away, and Yuanen Zhentian descended into a hilly region. The hills in the area were covered in lush greenery, and everyone descended into a dense forest.


    During this period of time, Tang Wulin had finally managed to catch his breath, and even though his injuries were far from fully healed, they didn''t affect his normal speech and movement anymore.


    Yuanen Zhentian landed on the ground, then turned to his entourage, and said, "I lost."


    As he uttered those two words, even he was struck by a peculiar sensation as he couldn''t even remember how many years it had been since he had uttered that same phrase. As such, the words felt quite awkward for him to enunciate, but it was the truth of the matter; a man of his status certainly wasn''t going to deny a loss.


    "Thank you for holding back, Senior." At this point, Tang Wulin''s voice had already returned to normal, further highlighting his incredible regenerative abilities.


    At this moment, Lan Fuozi was the one experiencing the most complex emotions. After witnessing Tang Wulin withstand those three attacks from Yuanen Zhentian, her heart had been filled with astonishment.


    She was stunned by Yuanen Zhentian''s tremendous power, but at the same time, she was also astonished that Tang Wulin had been able to withstand such fearsome attacks.


    What would''ve happened had she been in his place? Lan Fuozi already knew the answer to that question.


    She had never conceded herself to be inferior to Tang Wulin, and she had even thought herself to be more powerful than him, but the truth was far different from her expectations.


    She had sensed Tang Wulin''s spiritual domain and witnessed his suit of three-word battle armor. And then, there was the power of laws that he had drawn upon.


    Even other elite Soul Masters of his age, such as Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui, were still barely able to detect these changes in the laws of heaven and earth, but Lan Fuozi was very familiar with the power of laws of heaven and earth.


    He was so young, yet he had been able to draw upon the power of laws to withstand the most powerful pure strength-type attack in this world; he was most definitely more powerful than her.


    Lan Fuozi was struck by a hint of dejection as these thoughts surfaced in her mind, but at the same time, her impression of Tang Wulin also began to change.


    In the past, she had always felt that he was very proud, arrogant, and annoying. However, in the world of Soul Masters, power meant everything. If one could back up one''s own arrogance with their power, then they would no longer be classified as arrogant.


    "I still hope to take her with me." Right at this moment, Yuanen Zhentian spoke again, causing Lan Fuozi to return to her senses.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Are you planning to revoke your promise, Senior?"


    He was very surprised as a Limit Douluo would normally never openly go back on their own word like this.


    Yuanen Zhentian sighed, "Yuanen, I need to speak to you and this friend of yours in private."


    Yuanen Yehui was the root cause behind all of this, and Tang Wulin had withstood three of his attacks, so he deserved to know some things. Of course, they were going to be accompanied by the Amorous Douluo as well.

 Chapter 1503: Yuanen Yehuis Past

    Zang Xin nodded in agreement to this request, and he could see from Yuanen Zhentian''s expression that he was facing a predicament of his own.


    Thus, Yuanen Zhentian and the three of them separated themselves from the rest of the group, following which a sound-isolating light barrier appeared around them.


    "Let''s sit while we talk," Yuanen Zhentian suggested, clearly as a gesture of thoughtfulness directed toward the injured Tang Wulin.


    Everyone took a seat, and Yuanen Yehui was sitting beside Tang Wulin. She took a look at him, then at her own grandfather before closing her eyes.


    As for Yuanen Zhentian, his gaze was focused on her.


    "Yuanen, you must hate me, right?" he asked in a calm voice.


    Yuanen Yehui abruptly raised her head, and she immediately became uncontrollably worked-up. "Should I not hate you? You forced my mother to her death and disabled my father; why shouldn''t I hate you?"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this. It was quite apparent that there was a conflict between the two of them, but he didn''t think that the conflict would be this severe. On top of that, it was quite incredible to think that Yuanen Zhentian would harm his own son as Yuanen Yehui had accused.


    Yuanen Zhentian continued in a calm voice, "Your mother committed suicide, and I did indeed disable your father, but do you know the reasons behind my actions?"


    Yuanen Yehui roared in a furious voice, "What reasons could there be aside from the fact that my mother was an Evil Soul Master? But so what? She was very kind at heart, and she hadn''t done anything bad prior to or since meeting my father. Why did you force such a kind-hearted woman to her death? Would she have committed suicide if it hadn''t been for you? I''ll never forget how you coldly brushed aside my father''s desperate pleas when I was only seven years old. From that moment forth, you had become my enemy as opposed to my grandfather!"


    A hint of sadness flashed through Yuanen Zhentian''s eyes upon hearing this.


    "If you choose to regard me as the one who killed your mother, then there''s no way for me to change your mind. At the time, you were still very young, and no matter what I had told you, you wouldn''t have been able to accept the departure of your mother. Your personality is very much like your father''s in that you''re steely on the outside, but soft on the inside. You''ve grown up now, so there are some things that I can now tell you. No matter how much you hate me for it, I would still do the same thing if I were given another chance. If you want to know the truth, then I''ll need you to calm down."


    Tang Wulin laid a hand onto Yuanen Yehui''s arm while she spat through gritted teeth, "The truth? The truth is whatever you choose it to be!"


    Yuanen Zhentian replied in a calm manner, "I''ve never told a lie in my life [well there''s a lie already LOL], and I''ll never stoop to telling lies."


    The Amorous Douluo made a hand gesture to Yuanen Yehui, urging her to calm down, then turned to Yuanen Zhentian, and prompted, "Please go ahead."


    Yuanen Zhentian continued, "The story begins with Yuanen''s father. Back in my youth, I was completely enamored with cultivation and dedicated all of my time and energy to it. I traveled to almost every single part of the continent to find better places to cultivate, and I became a Titled Douluo at 28, a Hyper Douluo at 35, and a Limit Douluo at 47; it had been a very smooth cultivation journey for me."


    He was making it sound very simple, but the Amorous Douluo was well aware of the weight that his words held. Only after reaching the Titled Douluo level could one truly comprehend just how much effort one had to give to reach that level in just a few decades.


    Titled Douluos in their twenties had always been considered to be supreme prodigies.


    Tang Wulin had also become a Titled Douluo in his twenties, but he had benefited from a vast array of miraculous opportunities. His Golden Dragon King bloodline was the main factor that had allowed him to reach this level, and in addition to that, he had devoured many rare spirit items and made that all-important breakthrough during that night of bliss with Gu Yuena.


    Reaching the Titled Douluo level at 28 wasn''t the most remarkable of feats, but becoming a Hyper Douluo at 35 was an incredible prospect, and that wasn''t even taking into account the fact that he had become a Limit Douluo just over a decade later. He had progressed all the way to the top virtually without experiencing any plateaus or setbacks.


    "Only after becoming a Limit Douluo did I sense the pressure from this world, and I began to experience the laws of heaven and earth in order to make a further breakthrough. Unfortunately, everyone must conform to societal pressures, and I was forced by my family to find a spouse. I married my wife at 50, and the next year, we had our first son, Yuanen Tiandang, who is also Yuanen Yehui''s father."


    At this point, Yuanen Zhentian seemed to have become completely absorbed in his own recollection.


    "Only after having Tiandang did I realize just how wonderful it was to have a family, and the concept of family began to take up more space in my heart. Even as a child, Tiandang displayed outstanding intelligence, and he was very obedient and willing to work hard. The only flaw that he had was that he was rather vulnerable emotionally. At the time, I had thought that this flaw could be ironed out with time. As we had expected, Tiandang awakened our family''s Titan Giant Ape martial soul at six years of age, and he had innate full soul power.


    "After discovering this, I had decided that I would nurture him as my future successor. Due to the fact that I was already a Limit Douluo at the time, the previous leader of the family passed the position on to me. I was very conscientious in my parenting of Tiandang, and Tiandang didn''t disappoint me; he worked very hard in his cultivation and progressed even faster than I did at the same age. By the time he was 12, he was already a Soul Ancestor, and he was a Soul Douluo at 20. That rate of cultivation had already exceeded mine, and at the time, we had estimated that he would become a Titled Douluo by the age of 25.


    "As a Soul Douluo, he had the power to protect himself, so I decided to send him out on his own to better experience this world. Every Soul Master had their own path, and no one could completely replicate someone else''s path; I had hoped that he would be able to find his own path before becoming a Titled Douluo as that would assist him immensely in his future progression. I had given Tiandang three years to explore the world, following which he would return to our family to go into seclusion in order to progress to the Titled Douluo level before turning 25.


    "If he could successfully become a Titled Douluo, then I would be able to officially announce him to be my successor to the family. I had a few more children after Tiandang, but compared to him, all of them were lacking in aptitude and temperament; they either possessed inferior aptitude or weren''t as steadfast as he was. At the time, Tiandang was the greatest hope for our family. I had reached the Limit Douluo level quite early, and I was confident that I would be able to live until he reached the same level. When that time came, our Titan Family would''ve had two Limit Douluos, and we would''ve been able to face anything."


    The Titan Family was a hidden family that even Zang Xin hadn''t heard of, let alone Tang Wulin.


    "But you disabled my father by your own hands in the end!" Yuanen Yehui interjected.


    Yuanen Zhentian closed his eyes, and a pained look appeared on his face. "Do you think I would''ve done that had there been any alternative? I could only choose one between my son''s life and his power."


    Yuanen Yehui faltered slightly upon hearing this; this was the first time that she had heard something like this.


    Yuanen Zhentian sighed, "Prior to Tiandang''s departure, I had told him that if he met a woman that caught his fancy during his travels, he could bring her back to the family; he didn''t have to sacrifice family for cultivation as I had done for so long. A year and a half later, he really did bring a woman back to our family. I have to say that he had a very good eye; the woman he had brought back with him was very beautiful with a head of long red hair, and her cultivation rank was quite advanced as well. Her name was Ye Hui, and she was your mother."


    Yuanen Yehui instantly calmed down upon hearing mention of her mother. Only now was Tang Wulin made aware that Yuanen Yehui''s name stemmed from her father''s surname and her mother''s name.


    Yuanen Zhentian continued, "Ye Hui was a very gentle woman, and the two of them were truly in love. Tiandang had only left for a year and a half, but his cultivation rank had already progressed to 84 upon his return, so his rate of progression hadn''t been affected despite meeting your mother. I was very pleased with all of this, until that fateful day..."

 Chapter 1504: The Demons Gate

    Yuanen Zhentian''s expression darkened slightly as he continued, "That night, the cries of alarm and the darkness elemental fluctuations alerted me from my slumber, and when I rushed to Tiandang, his entire body was already covered in blood. He was being chased by a demonic being, and I quickly stopped it in its tracks. However, just as I was about to kill it, Tiandang stopped me and begged me not to put an end to its life. After being knocked unconscious by me, the demon slowly reverted back to its human form, and it was revealed to be Ye Hui."


    Yuanen Zhentian hadn''t gone into much detail here, but one could certainly imagine his astonishment at the time.


    "Only then was I made aware that Ye Hui was an Evil Soul Master with a Fallen Angel martial soul. The Fallen Angel was evil by nature, and had ties to a distant demonic plane. On top of that, they were very emotionally unstable, and upon losing control of their emotions, they would transform into a demon or summon demons into this plane. Tiandang implored me to spare her, telling me that he was truly in love with Ye Hui, and that even though she possessed an evil martial soul, she had never truly harmed anyone.


    "At the time, I truly believed him. After all, Tiandang was my most beloved son, but in reality, how was it possible that Ye Hui had never harmed anyone? Tiandang''s injuries had been dealt by none other than her! I''ve always regretted not killing Ye Hui right away on that night. Perhaps if I had done so then, it would''ve been easier for Tiandang to accept, and everything that happened next wouldn''t have taken place."


    Yuanen Yehui was about to flare up with rage again upon hearing this, but Tang Wulin held her in place.


    Yuanen Zhentian continued, "I''m sure you can imagine what happened next. Despite my vehement objections, Tiandang refused to listen to reason. He was emotionally quite vulnerable, but also very stubborn. In the end, my efforts proved to be fruitless, and Ye Hui managed to keep herself in check. Three years later, Tiandang became a Titled Douluo at 24, and during those three years, Ye Hui didn''t relapse. Thus, I allowed them to be together. After reaching the Titled Douluo level, Tiandang told me he wanted to marry Ye Hui.


    "After careful consideration, I decided that I could only agree to this as at the time, Ye Hui was already pregnant with you. If it weren''t for that, I would''ve definitely objected to their marriage. An uneventful period of time passed after that, and Tiandang continued to work hard in his cultivation, progressing very quickly. As opposed to the path of becoming an immovable pillar as I had chosen, he had chosen a path of guardianship to protect his family, his wife, his daughter, and everyone that he loved."


    Tears began to well up in Yuanen Yehui''s eyes at this point in the story. Even though her memories of her father were very limited, she could remember just how loving and benevolent he had been.


    Yuanen Zhentian continued, "Your father became a Hyper Douluo at 30 years of age, and he was the first one in our family''s history to reach that level at such a young age. At the time, the entire family was confident that he would be able to surpass me in the future, and that he would become our family''s first quasigod level leader. Following the incident, Ye Hui very rarely appeared in public, acting as a full-time stay-at-home mother, and the three of you had formed a very loving and happy family.


    "That was until the day that disaster struck. Memories of that disaster remain clear to this very day. Do you know why your uncles are so hostile toward you? Do you know why we sent you to Shrek Academy? The death of your mother and the fate that befell your father were both consequences of that disaster."


    "Disaster?" Yuanen Yehui was rather perplexed as she had no recollection of this so-called disaster.


    Yuanen Zhentian replied, "That''s right, it was a disaster brought on by your mother. As I had said, your mother was a powerful Soul Master as well. Back when she had lost control and transformed into her Fallen Angel form, she had displayed sufficient power to dominate your father, and at the time, she was a Soul Douluo. Even though she hadn''t intentionally cultivated since the incident, her powers continued to progress on their own. Thus, she gradually progressed to the Titled Douluo level, and that was when disaster had struck."


    "According to Ye Hui herself, even she had no idea what had happened at the time. As soon as she became a Titled Douluo, she was struck by an uncontrollable urge to walk outside to somewhere far away from the family, and then, her ninth soul skill took shape on its own. Her ninth soul skill was a gate that led to the demonic plane. This gate connected the demonic plane to our Douluo Continent, and one terrifying demon after another rushed out of the gate, while Ye Hui had completely lost control of her senses.


    "What was even more terrifying was the gate was constantly expanding, and as it did so, the demons that emerged from it became more and more fearsome. By the time we discovered what had happened, there were demons everywhere. Your second aunt-in-law, who had just returned from her travels at the time, was attacked by those demons, and she was completely overwhelmed. By the time we got to her, your second uncle arrived on the scene just in time to see her chest being impaled by a demon.


    "Do you know what your second uncle used to be like? He had a very timid personality, and he would always greet everyone with a benevolent smile. His aptitude was inferior to your father''s, but he was loved by everyone in the family. Even though his marriage with your aunt-in-law was an arranged one, they shared a very close relationship, and his personality had completely changed after witnessing her death."


    Yuanen Yehui was slightly slack-jawed as memories of her childhood surfaced in her mind. Indeed, she faintly recalled that following the death of her mother, she had never seen her second aunt-in-law again, and it was also directly prior to her mother''s passing that her second uncle suddenly became a changed man.


    Yuanen Zhentian continued, "Our entire family was mobilized to combat the demons, and I managed to track down the demon''s gate, but there were far too many of them; even though we were doing everything in our power, we still couldn''t repress the growth of the gate. As such, we were forced to call for reinforcements from Shrek Academy. The Atlas Douluo had arrived as quickly as he could with a whole host of powerful beings from Shrek Academy, and only then were we able to force the demonic army back into the demon''s gate."


    He turned to Tang Wulin, and asked, "The spear you just used was the Atlas Douluo''s Divine Atlas Spear, right?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Yuanen Zhentian said, "If I hadn''t guessed that you were from Shrek Academy, I wouldn''t be allowing you to hear all of this. If I''m not mistaken, you''re the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Tang Wulin, rather than Yu Longyue, right?"


    Tang Wulin nodded again in confirmation.


    Yuanen Zhentian sighed, "On that day, we forced the demons back into retreat and destroyed the demon''s gate with the help of the Atlas Douluo, and at that point, Ye Hui had already fallen unconscious and reverted back to her human form. Only after conversing with the Atlas Douluo did I come to understand just how fearsome the Fallen Angel martial soul was. To put it simply, the Fallen Angel martial soul is a seed that the demonic plane somehow managed to project into our plane, unbeknownst to our planar ruler.


    "This seed will develop in one''s body, and once they become a Titled Douluo, they would uncontrollably open the demon''s gate to release the demonic plane into our plane. This was no longer just a family matter; it was an issue that concerned the safety of the entire human race. I was also in disbelief when I first heard this, and I confirmed this with the Atlas Douluo over and over again, hoping to get a different answer, but to no avail. Your father was completely unable to accept this answer, and he tried to escape with your mother as I was speaking to the Atlas Douluo.


    "In the end, I was the one who stopped your parents. I couldn''t let them leave, not just for our family, but also for the sake of the entire human race. You may think I''m just exaggerating, but if you had witnessed just how fearsome that army of demons had been, you would understand why I did what I did. If the Atlas Douluo had arrived any later than he did and allowed more fearsome demons into our plan, then that would''ve been a true calamity. Even so, 37 members of our family still perished during that battle."


    Tang Wulin had participated in the battle against the abyss, so he was well aware of just how horrific clashes between planes could be, and he listened with a heavy heart.

 Chapter 1505: A Sigh

    He had always speculated that Yuanen Yehui had hailed from extraordinary origins, but he didn''t think that her past would be so tragic. At the very least, his parents were still alive, but her mother...


    Yuanen Yehui''s breathing was slightly labored, and she wanted to issue a retort, but couldn''t find the words to do so.


    The Atlas Douluo had been involved in this matter, so Shrek Academy had to have kept records of this event. As such, she could verify this with the Holy Spirit Douluo and Light Dark Douluo to determine whether Yuanen Zhentian was lying.


    However, she really didn''t want to believe in all of this. In her memories, her mother was so kind and gentle, and the time she had spent as a child with her parents had been the happiest days of her life.


    The tragedy of her childhood was exactly why she found it so hard to open herself up to others.


    During holidays at Shrek Academy, everyone had families to return to, but she didn''t. Without her mother, their family was no longer a family, and her father was a disabled man who had been imprisoned outside of her knowledge.


    She had harbored all of this pain deep in her heart for so many years and never told anyone about it, and she had only gradually begun to open herself up to these friends with whom she had shared so many intimate experiences.


    On top of that, Yuanen Zhentian''s story made her understand that he was most likely trying to take her away due to the fact that she also possessed the Fallen Angel martial soul.


    After a long silence, Yuanen Zhentian continued, "Ye Hui knew what had happened, so she gave us a recount of events after she awakened. The entire family was in uproar at the time, and according to the Atlas Douluo, she had already become a Titled Douluo, so there was no longer a way to restrict the demon''s gate from opening again. In other words, she had already become the demon''s gate; even if I had stripped her of her cultivation base, her body would''ve transformed into the demon''s gate.


    "Ye Hui was a very kind girl; I could see that she was full of reluctance to leave her family behind, but she paid no heed to her own safety, choosing instead to inquire the Atlas Douluo about what would happen if you also inherited the Fallen Angel martial soul. The Atlas Douluo had told us that before you became a Titled Douluo, there would be a way to seal the Fallen Angel martial soul, and shortly after receiving this answer, your mother suddenly committed suicide without telling anyone."


    Tears were already streaming down Yuanen Yehui''s face at this point. "Why? Why did it have to be like this? She didn''t even tell me anything before she left!"


    Yuanen Zhentian sighed, "There''s no way a mother would be able to work up the resolve to kill herself after seeing her own child. Even more importantly, Tiandang was extremely stubborn and was still deeply in love with her; if she had hesitated even in the slightest, he would''ve tried to protect her at all costs. She made this decision for the sake of you and your father, and the look she gave me right before she died was not one of resentment, but a beseeching one; she was pleading with me to protect your father.


    "Your father didn''t cry or kick up a fuss as he watched your mother pass away, but I could see a sense of crushing despair and a peculiar hint of relief in his eyes. After that, he ignited his own soul core, attempting to detonate it to follow your mother to the afterlife. Even though I had anticipated that he was considering suicide based on his reaction, he acted far too quickly, and I was unable to stop him. At the time, the only thing that I could do was separate him from his soul core. With the help of the Atlas Douluo, we sealed away his power, and only then did he completely erupt.


    "He became a madman, and all he wanted was to follow after your mother. If it weren''t for the fact that you were still on his mind, we most likely wouldn''t have been able to stop him. I told him that you also possess the Fallen Angel martial soul and that it could be sealed away, but you''ll need someone to protect you, and only then was I able to talk him out of suicide. However, from that day forth, he became a shell of his former self; he was no longer the brightest prodigy of our family."


    Yuanen Zhentian''s eyes were filled with pain as he spoke, and one could only imagine how unbearable it would''ve been for a father to witness his own son falling into such a dark abyss.


    "In order to settle the unrest within our family, I could only tell everyone that your mother had chosen to commit suicide so that she wouldn''t transform into the demon''s gate again, and that your father had been disabled by me as punishment for bringing her to our family. Otherwise, how was I supposed to answer to those closest to the 37 fallen members of our family? During your time in Shrek Academy, I had constantly been keeping tabs on you. Perhaps it''s due to the fact that you also possess the Titan Giant Ape martial soul, but you weren''t affected emotionally by your Fallen Angel martial soul.


    "After the destruction of Shrek Academy, we had thought that you had died as well, and even now, your father still doesn''t know about this. That was until we saw the footage of your matches. Even though you were in disguise, there''s no way we would''ve failed to identify the characteristics of the Titan Giant Ape martial soul. We were stunned by the fact that you were already a Soul Douluo, and this is the most perilous period of time for you. As such, you have to come back to me so I can seal your Fallen Angel martial soul. Otherwise, you''ll follow in the footsteps of your mother.


    "I''ve already lost my daughter-in-law and even my son; I don''t want to lose my granddaughter. You may have never seen me as your grandfather, but in my heart, you''ve always been my granddaughter, and you''re just as exceptional as your father. Come back with me."


    After learning the truth behind everything, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but interject, "Is there no other way, Senior? Yuanen has twin martial souls, not just the Fallen Angel martial soul alone; perhaps she won''t suffer the same fate. After all, her Fallen Angel martial soul isn''t as pure anymore."


    Yuanen Zhentian replied, "Perhaps, but we can''t take the risk; what if we''re wrong? We''d be bringing a massive calamity to this plane. Only by sealing her martial soul before she becomes a Titled Douluo can we ensure that the same tragedy doesn''t repeat itself."


    Yuanen Yehui was lost for words, and Tang Wulin also fell silent.


    He was undoubtedly full of sympathy toward Yuanen Yehui, but this was indeed a risk that they couldn''t afford to take. At this point, he finally understood why Yuanen Zhentian was so determined to take Yuanen Yehui with him.


    The Amorous Douluo''s brows were tightly furrowed as he said, "This is indeed quite a troublesome matter, but I think it would be best to take things slowly. Yuanen''s situation is quite special in that she possesses twin martial souls. Even though she''s already a Soul Douluo, she won''t become a Titled Douluo in the short term. I''ll get some other Limit Douluos to assess her situation, and even if we''re going to seal her martial soul, we have to devise a plan to do so while impacting her powers as little as possible; what do you think?"


    Yuanen Zhentian said, "I don''t believe we''ve been acquainted with one another yet."


    Zang Xin replied, "I am the Amorous Douluo of the Tang Sect."


    "I see. I''m not opposed to this, but the necessary steps must be taken within half a year. Otherwise, I''m worried that even she won''t be able to control the progression of her own cultivation rank." Yuanen Zhentian didn''t force the issue any further as he had lost to Tang Wulin, after all.

 Chapter 1506: Very Hungry

    Yuanen Zhentian rose to his feet, then cast his gaze toward Yuanen Yehui. "Yuanen, we can''t afford for the same tragedy to repeat itself, and in any case, you should come back and see your father. You are the only reason he''s still alive. If it weren''t for you, he would''ve most likely already..."


    Yuanen Yehui''s body was trembling slightly as she bit down on her lower lip and nodded in response. "I''ll go back to see him."


    Yuanen Zhentian heaved a long sigh before departing, and as Tang Wulin and the others returned to Lan Fuozi and Xie Xie, the latter immediately rushed over to the sobbing Yuanen Yehui before grabbing onto both of her hands.


    "Everything will be alright; I''ll be with you no matter what happens."


    Yuanen Yehui nodded gently in response.


    Tang Wulin said, "Xie Xie is right; we are one unified entity, so we face everything together. Don''t think too much about this matter; we''ll help you resolve this issue after the joust for a spouse event concludes."


    At this moment, Yuanen Yehui''s second uncle approached them and provided them with the Titan Giant Ape family''s contact details.


    He was currently a lot calmer than before, and he handed the contact details over to Yuanen Yehui on a piece of paper.


    As Yuanen Yehui looked up at him, she couldn''t help but think of her beautiful and kind aunt-in-law, and tears immediately began to well up in her eyes again.


    "Did your grandfather tell you everything?" Yuanen Yehui''s second uncle asked.


    Yuanen Yehui nodded in response.


    "From that day forth, I had changed my name to Yuanen Tianshang," Yuanen Yehui''s second uncle said before departing.  [1] His thin figure seemed to be very fragile and full of sorrow.


    The Amorous Douluo said, "Alright, go back and rest now. Don''t think too much; the Atlas Douluo had said that the Fallen Angel martial soul can be sealed prior to reaching the Titled Douluo level, so there shouldn''t be an issue. At most, it''ll only affect Yuanen''s combat prowess. I''m sure we''ll find the best way to resolve this issue."


    Thus, Xie Xie departed with the dejected Yuanen Yehui, and by the time the Amorous Douluo accompanied Tang Wulin back to the blacksmith association, it was already very late in the night.


    Only after Tang Wulin laid down on his bed and completely relaxed did he realize two things.


    Firstly, he hadn''t had dinner and was very hungry.


    Secondly, his injuries were far too severe for a full recovery to be possible in one night, and he had to fight in the first round of the joust for a spouse event''s round-robin stage the next day...


    ......


    Lan Fuozi looked up into the night sky in a slightly dazed manner, reminiscing the events that had just unfolded.


    At this moment, she was seated on the rooftop of the hotel that she was staying in, and the scene where Tang Wulin withstood three consecutive attacks from Yuanen Zhentian flashed through her mind over and over again.


    Her spiritual power had reached the Spirit Domain realm, so she was able to fathom just how fearsome Yuanen Zhentian''s attacks had been, and there was no doubt in her mind that she would''ve been reduced to nothingness by that third attack.


    A wry smile appeared on her face as this thought occurred to her.


    He was so much more powerful than she had imagined, and to think that she had hoped that the two of them would be allocated to the same group. If they really had been assigned to the same group, she most likely wouldn''t have been able to progress beyond the round-robin stage.


    Even though a Soul Master''s combat prowess wasn''t solely dependent on their power, power was still the most important factor to be considered.


    On top of that, was he really lacking in technique? He had withstood the immovable-pillar-like finger with a simplistic punch, and had also grasped the power of laws.


    Lan Fuozi had never believed that anyone of the same age would be more exceptional than her, but she had no choice but to believe it now.


    I also have to work harder! I definitely won''t disappoint you, Mother!


    ......


    Early the next morning, the Bright City Sports Stadium was already extremely lively and bustling. The matches for the third group were going to be held on this day, and with two heavy favorites competing on the same day, tickets had been sold out well in advance.


    Spectators were flooding into the stadium from all entrances, and due to the fact that Qiangu Zhangting was going to be competing, Spirit Pagoda Chairman Qiangu Dongfeng was also in attendance.


    During the course of this event, he had only been in attendance on the day when lots were drawn, and he had arrived on this day to spark greater interest for the event.


    Business for the Myriad Beast Plane had been thriving over the past few days, and as a result of intentional manipulation, all of the Soul Masters who had entered the plane had benefited significantly. These rewards definitely couldn''t be reaped elsewhere or through normal cultivation, so more and more high-grade Soul Masters were being attracted.


    The joust for a spouse event had drawn even more high-grade Soul Masters, and even though the rewards being offered were quite extravagant, the Spirit Pagoda was still profiting massively through the Myriad Beast Plane. The event had undoubtedly been a huge success, and the media had also picked up on this.


    However, to all of the high-grade Soul Masters, improving their own powers was far more important than anything else. Even though they knew that entering the Myriad Beast Plane would bring the Spirit Pagoda greater profits, they had no choice. If they were to refrain from taking part in this trend, then they were going to be left behind by other high-grade Soul Masters who were benefiting from the Myriad Beast Plane.


    Currently, the high-grade Soul Masters in Bright City would often ask one another "have you been to the Myriad Beast Plane?".


    These questions were often accompanied by boastful remarks regarding the benefits one had reaped from the plane, which only worked to further raise its popularity.


    Many Soul Masters were already working hard to save up money to enter the Myriad Beast Plane, and at this point, Qiangu Dongfeng wasn''t even paying much heed to the Shrek Academy rebuild anymore.


    Ever since the commencement of this joust for a spouse event, there had barely been any media coverage about the Shrek Academy rebuild. On top of that, Shrek Academy''s former glory had been built upon the efforts of countless generations of the academy''s forefathers. Even though rebuilding the academy wouldn''t be as difficult as building it from scratch, it would still require a lengthy process that spanned at least several generations.


    In contrast, the Spirit Pagoda was at the height of its powers, and on top of that, Qiangu Dongfeng was preparing to announce the founding of the Spirit Pagoda''s very own high-grade Soul Master academy following the conclusion of the joust for a spouse event. The academy was going to be situated right next to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, directly neighboring Shrek Academy.


    With the financial support of the Spirit Pagoda behind it, the academy would be capable of doing many things. For example, the academy could offer discount soul spirits, free entry into the Myriad Beast Plane and Spirit Ascension Plane, and other incentives of this nature to attract a large number of outstanding young talents.


    The current Shrek Academy was no longer the number one academy on the continent, and there was no way it could contend with the Spirit Pagoda.


    On the surface, Qiangu Dongfeng couldn''t do anything to Shrek Academy, but the heart of an academy was its students; without a reliable source of bright young talents, how could Shrek Academy possibly contend with the Spirit Pagoda''s new academy?


    After Qiangu Zhangting had proposed the idea of the joust for a spouse event to him, Qiangu Dongfeng had devised this follow-up plan.


    He was going to heavily endorse the new high-grade Soul Master academy as soon as the joust for a spouse event concluded, and enrollment for the academy was going to commence even earlier than it was for Shrek Academy; how were they possibly going to be able to compete?


    With that in mind, a pleased smile appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face, and the shadow that the Shrek Academy rebuild had cast over his heart was completely wiped away.


    "You seem to be in high spirits today, Chairman," Gu Yuena remarked.


    Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "Indeed, I am. This event is going splendidly, and I have you and Zhangting as my successors; what''s there not to be pleased about? By the way, how is the Myriad Beast Plane going?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "Rest assured, everything is going smoothly."


    Qiangu Dongfeng said, "Even though you''re quite young, you''re very mature and steadfast, so I have full trust in you. I heard that this Yu Longyue is quite powerful, and he''s in the same group as Zhangting; how do you think the two of them compare?"


    Gu Yuena thought about this for a moment before replying, "It''s hard to say as we still haven''t seen the full extent of Yu Longyue''s powers. I''ve already cautioned Zhangting not to become complacent."


    [1] [The shang(éä) character in his name translates to premature death, obviously to commemorate his wife''s premature passing.]

 Chapter 1507: Li Weisi

    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded, and said, "Don''t worry, Zhangting knows what he''s doing. With the divine weapon that''s been passed down through our Qiangu Family for generations, that Yu Longyue will be no match for him even if he''s a Hyper Douluo."


    "That''s good to hear," Gu Yuena said with an elated expression, but there was a peculiar look in her eyes.


    You think a divine weapon will be able to defeat him? Hehe. You have to win, Wulin. Otherwise, I''ll be forced to resort to my backup plan.


    At this point, all of the spectators have already entered the stadium, and the first batch of matches to take place in the day were the five matches for the third group.


    "Welcome to the Bright City Sports Stadium, everyone; I''m sure the round-robin matches that took place yesterday have left all of you thoroughly entertained. The matches for today are sure to be even more exciting, and there will be several Titled Douluos displaying their abilities for our viewing pleasure. I am your commentator for today, Ai Fei, and the first match of the day will take place between Number 66 Yu Longyue and Number 71 Li Weisi."


    That''s right, Tang Wulin''s match was scheduled to be the first one of the day.


    "Prior to the commencement of the match, allow me to briefly tell you a bit about our two competitors. Number 71 Li Weisi possesses the Crystal Ball martial soul, which is a very special martial soul that excels in creating all types of illusions. It''s extremely versatile and difficult to defend against, and even though Li Weisi is only a Soul Douluo, he has a good knack for punching above his own weight.


    "As for Number 66 Yu Longyue, I''m sure everyone is already very familiar with him. He hails from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and has previously crushed a Soul Douluo with a single attack in a previous round. His power definitely earns him a spot among the top 10 seeds of the event, and overall, Yu Longyue holds the clear upper hand, but if Li Weisi performs well, then he''s not without chances. Now please give a warm round of applause to our two competitors as they enter the stadium."


    Applause and cheers quickly rang out, the vast majority of which was directed toward Yu Longyue. This wasn''t due to the fact that he was the favorite to win the match. Instead, it was due to the disparity in the appearances of the two competitors.


    Li Weisi was a 40-year-old Soul Douluo who was still as short as a child, with a pair of pea-sized eyes that made him appear as if he were a very short-sighted character. Upon closer inspection, one would derive a rather sinister sensation from looking at him, and it was clear that he was not a likable person.


    In contrast, Yu Longyue was far, far more pleasant to look at. As such, their levels of popularity naturally differed massively.


    After all, no one wanted the stunningly gorgeous Silver Dragon Princess to end up with a man who looked like Li Weisi.


    As Li Weisi strode into the stadium, he wore a very serious expression.


    He had watched the match between Tang Wulin and Ao Wuchang, so he had seen how Tang Wulin had completely crushed Ao Wuchang with that formidable forest of lightning. The competition platform for today was far larger in area, which benefited his illusions, but lightning had a suppressive effect on almost all types of illusions. In his heart, he knew that it was impossible for him to defeat Yu Longyue, but as he strode onto the competition platform, his eyes suddenly lit up at the sight of Tang Wulin.


    Commentator Ai Fei could also see that something was wrong, and a surprised look appeared on his face. "What''s going on with Yu Longyue today? He seems to be in very bad condition."


    Indeed, Tang Wulin was looking very much worse for wear. His disguise technique was very remarkable in that it didn''t conceal his complexion, thereby creating a more realistic effect. As such, everyone could see that he was looking very pale, and he seemed to be severely under the weather. His footsteps were still quite solid, but there was clearly something wrong with his aura fluctuations.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t putting on such a display to lure his opponent into a false sense of complacency. Instead, it was simply because Yuanen Zhentian was far too powerful, and he was suffering from the effects of those three attacks.


    Yuanen Zhentian had withdrawn the residual power of his Divine Titan Fist from within Tang Wulin''s body, but that still didn''t change the fact that he was severely injured.


    He had broken five ribs, all of which had healed, but they were still throbbing with pain. His blood essence was rather scattered, his soul power was quite unstable, and even more importantly, he couldn''t use his battle armor, which had almost been shattered the night before.


    Soul-refined battle armor had the ability to repair itself, but the severer the damage inflicted, the longer the repair process would take. Even though Tang Wulin''s battle armor was no ordinary suit of three-word battle armor, it would still take at least three more days for it to fully recover.


    In addition to all of this, the biggest issue was that he was severely mentally exhausted. He had attempted to draw upon the power of laws on several occasions the day before, and that had severely taxed his spiritual power. As such, he would only be able to use 30% of his full power at most.


    It was exactly because of this that he was looking so worse for wear.


    Li Weisi was naturally ecstatic to see this. He knew that with his appearance, there was no way Gu Yuena would choose him even if he made it into the final 10, and there was no way he was getting past Qiangu Zhangting anyway.


    However, the more matches he won, the higher his final placing would be, and the more prizes he would receive. On top of that, if he could defeat Yu Longyue in this match that was being watched by millions, he would forge a resounding reputation for himself!


    "Yu Longyue looks to be in very bad condition at the moment. I won''t speculate about what could''ve happened to him; the most important thing right now is whether he''ll be able to defeat Li Weisi in his current condition. Let''s keep watching."


    Gu Yuena''s pupils also contracted slightly at the sight of Tang Wulin. She had sensed that Tang Wulin had been facing a powerful opponent the night before, but she hadn''t intervened as he hadn''t been in any life-threatening danger. However, it was quite apparent that Tang Wulin had sustained far severer injuries than she had imagined.


    With his incredible physical constitution, who could''ve possibly injured him to such a grave extent? It couldn''t have been someone from the Spirit Pagoda. If the Spirit Pagoda had been the culprit behind this, she would''ve at least received an inkling in advance. So who could it have been?


    Tang Wulin was wearing her silver dragon scale, just as she was wearing Tang Wulin''s golden dragon scale beneath her clothes. As such, she could sense Tang Wulin''s current bodily condition better than anyone else, so she knew that Tang Wulin wasn''t simply putting on an act.


    Could it be that he was going to lose the match? If so, things could become quite troublesome.


    Right at this moment, Gu Yuena suddenly discovered that instead of appraising his opponent, Tang Wulin had raised his head to look up at the rostrum.


    There was a one-way glass barrier in front of the rostrum that allowed those inside to see everything outside, but didn''t allow the opposite. However, Gu Yuena could clearly sense that Tang Wulin was looking straight into her eyes, and in his eyes, she saw nothing but belief and resolve.

 Chapter 1508: Sudden Enlightenment

    "The match will begin right after the countdown of five seconds!"


    A giant protective barrier rose up to isolate all energy and sound within the scope of the competition platform.


    Thus, everything fell silent, and only then did Tang Wulin turn his gaze toward Li Weisi.


    "I''m not sure what''s happened to you, Your Majesty, but please allow me to apologize in advance as I won''t be holding back due to your injuries; this is my way of showing respect to a powerful Titled Douluo like you." Li Weisi extended a slight bow toward Tang Wulin as he spoke.


    This was a competition, not a battlefield, so he couldn''t kill Tang Wulin. As such, if he were to offend Tang Wulin, then he could incur the wrath of the entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, which would result in catastrophic consequences for him. As such, he had wisely decided to deliver such a piece of dialogue to cover for himself.


    Tang Wulin merely nodded in silence in response.


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    The first match of the third group finally began.


    A serious look instantly appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, while Li Weisi raised a hand to summon a beautiful crystal ball.


    The crystal ball was completely translucent with red, blue, and azure light flashing faintly within it.


    The three types of lights were intertwining and pulsating in a rhythmic manner, as if they had life forces of their own. Eight soul rings then rose up around Li Weisi, consisting of two yellows, three purples, and three blacks.


    His first soul ring lit up, and three-colored light surged out of the crystal ball, then instantly transformed into a dense white mist that permeated in all directions, giving Li Weisi''s surroundings a dreamy appearance.


    In the blink of an eye, Li Weisi''s entire body was completely enshrouded within the dense mist, making it impossible for the spectators to see what soul skills he was unleashing.


    The white mist quickly transformed into a giant tiger, which pounced directly toward Tang Wulin, and Ai Fei immediately offered his commentary. "As we can see here, Li Weisi has unleashed his martial soul and first soul skill from the get-go. This first soul skill of his appears to be one that doesn''t possess offensive power, and is designed to confuse the opponent, as well as to protect himself. According to what we already know about Li Weisi, his first soul skill has the ability to keep out his opponent''s spiritual power in order to maintain secrecy.


    "From this, we can deduce that he''s taking a conservative approach rather than striving for a quick victory, which should be a good strategy. Next, we''ll see if Li Weisi will be able to control Yu Longyue and lull Yu Longyue into his rhythm. Under normal circumstances, I would think that this would be very unlikely, but Yu Longyue looks to be in very bad condition at the moment, so perhaps Li Weisi has some chances.


    "Oh no, we have a bit of an issue on our hands; the mist has become too dense for me to see what''s happening, and unfortunately, that''s going to impact my commentary. The mist is about to spread to Yu Longyue, and as we can see, it''s taken on the form of a tiger. Let''s see how Yu Longyue is going to counter this attack. Al... alright, so Yu Longyue has been devoured by the tiger formed by the mist. Over two-thirds of the entire competition platform has been enshrouded in mist, so I''m temporarily unable to see what''s going on."


    Ai Fei had no choice but to pause in his commentary as there was simply no way for him to continue! He could only pray that Tang Wulin would unleash a powerful attack to scatter all of the mist on the platform.


    Tang Wulin had been appraising Li Weisi as the latter had released this dense mist, and the mist was only a hundred-year soul skill, but just as Ai Fei had said, it was very effective for keeping out spiritual power. Unfortunately for Li Weisi, he was facing an opponent with Spirit Domain realm spiritual power.


    Even though Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had been severely taxed, this first soul skill wasn''t enough to keep it at bay.


    The mist tiger was only a figurative jab to test Tang Wulin, so instead of taking evasive measures, Tang Wulin had allowed the mist to completely envelop him. At the same time, a series of soul rings rose up around him, and he intentionally disguised them so that they primarily consisted of purples and blacks.


    With the mist surging around him, Tang Wulin decided to close his eyes. Within such dense mist, even his Purple Demon Eyes would be severely hampered, and it wasn''t like he needed any visual information anyway.


    "Roar roar roar!" Thunderous roars rang out in all directions around him, as if he had suddenly been plunged into a beast tide.


    The surrounding mist became denser and denser, but Tang Wulin remained on the spot, allowing the soundwaves to disrupt his hearing and the mist to impact his spiritual judgment.


    He actually enjoyed this type of pressure as only in situations like this could he better sense his own instinctive reactions.


    He had benefitted immensely from his clash with Yuanen Zhentian the day before; in particular, his understanding of the laws of heaven and earth had reached a higher level.


    Even though elemental tribulation lightning was also imbued with the power of laws, that power stemmed from the laws of the universe, and it was too far out of his reach.


    In contrast, the laws of this plane suited him the most as he was the Son of Nature who was blessed by the laws of the plane. In particular, the power of the laws of this plane was extremely helpful in his efforts to integrate all of his abilities.


    At his level, integration was all about incorporating all of the most powerful attributes of one''s abilities into the most effective attacks. Each and every attack of this nature could only be attained through some type of evolution.


    Following the events that had transpired the night before, he had meditated for the rest of the entire night, recuperating from his injuries while pondering where his own problems lied.


    Due to the existence of his 100,000-year-old soul spirits, he currently had far more than 10 Bluesilver Emperor soul skills. However, as he had continued to progress in his cultivation, these soul skills had become less and less useful in battle, particularly when his style of battle heavily favored the use of pure strength.


    In terms of pure control, his Bluesilver Emperor couldn''t compare with Xu Xiaoyan''s Starwheel Staff. In terms of offensive power, his Bluesilver Emperor wasn''t bad, but only when compared to normal Soul Masters. However, what Tang Wulin was striving toward was the level of paramount powerful beings such as the Atlas Douluo, Infernal King Douluo, Boundless Ocean Douluo, Light Dark Douluo, and Heartless Douluo.


    As such, his Bluesilver Emperor''s offensive power was sorely lacking.


    In the past, he had combined his Bluesilver Emperor and Golden Dragon King abilities to create blood soul fusion skills, which had been very effective at the time.


    However, blood soul fusion skills were rather lackluster when it came to facing powerful beings at or above the Hyper Douluo level.


    All of the opponents that he currently envisioned facing were Limit Douluos such as Yuanen Zhentian. Even though it appeared that he had withstood three of Yuanen Zhentian''s attacks the day before, he knew that Yuanen Zhentian had still held back in the end. If he had faced a full-force attack from a Limit Douluo, he still wouldn''t have been able to directly withstand it.


    Back when he had faced the Holy Dragon Douluo, En Ci had also held back due to the fact that Tang Wulin was the Tang Sect Master. Otherwise, it would''ve been very difficult for him to withstand those attacks.


    It was exactly due to these reasons that Tang Wulin had to assess and organize his own abilities. Now that he had become a Titled Douluo, he had to develop powers befitting his cultivation rank.


    Tang Wulin was rather dissatisfied with the Douluo Title that he had thought of for himself. In fact, he had always been of the opinion that he only truly deserved to possess a Douluo Title after becoming Limit Douluo as only at that level will he be in his final form.


    As such, he had to work harder to continue to improve himself.


    Laws, Bluesilver Emperor, Golden Dragon King, soul spirits, and divine weapons; those were the main abilities and assets that he possessed.


    How could he combine all of these to create a truly powerful soul skill?


    Tang Wulin had pondered this question for an entire night, and his efforts hadn''t gone to waste. Under the pressure brought upon him by Yuanen Zhentian, he had finally attained some enlightenment.


    Faint golden light rose up from Tang Wulin''s body, forcing back the surrounding mist, and a string of faint dragon''s roars that resembled rumbling thunderclaps rang out.

 Chapter 1509: Dragon Emperor Law Restriction!

    The surrounding beastly roars abated noticeably, and the giant beasts formed by the dense mist were all dispersed by the golden light.


    The dragon''s roars resonated with the laws of the Douluo Continent, and Tang Wulin''s eyes became extremely bright as golden scales appeared all over his entire body.


    All of a sudden, he yelled, "Restrict!"


    The surrounding space immediately began to warp violently, and a massive golden dragon''s head erupted out of his body, instantly dispersing all of the mist within a 30-meter radius around him.


    Li Weisi was struck by a rush of dizziness, and in the face of Tang Wulin''s thunderous roar, he was almost unable to control his own crystal ball.


    He was then stunned to discover that all of the mist that he had released had turned a radiant golden color without any warning.


    "Dragon!" Tang Wulin let loose another resounding roar, and his dragon core thumped violently while his soul core began to vibrate at a high frequency.


    His soul power and bloodline power surged forth in a frenzy, and his entire body was beginning to tremble slightly, perhaps due to the fact that he still hadn''t fully recovered from his injuries.


    However, his heart was full of excitement as uttering those two words had finally brought about that catalyst that he couldn''t afford to miss no matter what.


    The massive golden dragon''s head slowly reared up, and it seemed to have attained a substantial form. A golden scale at the very center of the dragon''s forehead suddenly turned a rainbow color that was fluctuating in an indescribable manner.


    On the rostrum, Gu Yuena suddenly rose to her feet and instantly arrived before the glass barrier, where she stared intently at the competition platform with bewilderment in her eyes.


    "Emperor!" Another explosive cry rang out, but the protective barrier around the competition platform made Tang Wulin''s voice completely inaudible to all of the spectators.


    As the word "emperor" was uttered, the dense mist suddenly turned an enchanting rainbow color.


    In that instant, it was as if the air had completely congealed, and Li Weisi felt as if everything around him had solidified, rendering him completely immobilized.


    An overwhelming sense of fear instantly surged through his entire body. Never did he think that his sickly-looking opponent would be capable of releasing such a terrifying aura. Even as a Soul Douluo, he was feeling completely and utterly helpless.


    "Shatter!" Yet another deafening roar erupted, and all of the mist instantly dissipated, clearing the entire competition platform. However, the spectators were still unable to see what was happening as all of the light on the entire platform was warped, and everything was concealed within fluctuating rainbow light.


    The yellow protective barrier remained completely still, indicating that it hadn''t received any impact, and it was as if everything within the barrier were an illusion.


    "What''s wrong, Na''er?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked in a curious manner.


    There didn''t seem to be anything remarkable about the energy fluctuations emanating from the competition platform, and the energy released by Tang Wulin was restricted to within the protective barrier, so even Qiangu Dongfeng hadn''t been able to detect anything amiss.


    "Nothing, it''s just that I was drawn into the illusions for an instant. That Li Weisi sure is something!" Gu Yuena replied in a natural voice, but her eyes were filled with astonishment. However, her gaze was being directed outward, so Qiangu Dongfeng didn''t manage to see her expression.


    "It''s just an illusion. Once your spiritual power reaches a certain level, you''ll be completely immune to such illusions. His illusions primarily rely on the use of water, fire, and wind elements, so if you were facing him in battle, he most likely wouldn''t even be able to conjure up any illusions at all," Qiangu Dongfeng analyzed.


    At this moment, Li Weisi felt as if his soul had left his body.


    In the instant that the word "shatter" was uttered, his crystal ball had exploded, as had his soul core. What was even more terrifying was that everything that had exploded had instantly erupted out of his body.


    He was struck by an overwhelming sense of feebleness that made even standing a difficult task. The spectators couldn''t see anything, but he could see that Tang Wulin was standing before him like a god.


    His right hand was completely covered in golden scales that were reflecting rainbow light, and it appeared to only be a dragon''s claw, but in the eyes of Li Weisi, the claw was like a rainbow-edged black hole capable of grasping the entire world.


    Li Weisi''s body began to slowly move toward the black hole in an uncontrollable manner, and the intense horror in his heart made him want to scream for help, but he was unable to utter so much as a single sound.


    Everything around him was twisted and warped, and his opponent was like an invincible deity.


    Just as Li Weisi thought that his own death was inevitable, the twisted space suddenly shuddered, and everything returned to normal.


    Li Weisi fell flat onto the ground with a dull thump, and he was gasping for air like a fish out of water.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin threw up a mouthful of blood, and his body swayed slightly before he managed to just barely steady himself.


    His face had become even paler, and the dragon claw, dragon scales, and dragon''s head had all vanished, as had the sense that the entire world was about to be torn apart.


    "Wh, what happened?" As a commentator, it was very unprofessional for Ai Fei to say something like this, but there was simply nothing else to be said.


    Indeed, what had happened? He had no idea!


    First came the dense mist, then the mist changed color, then the mist disappeared, only to be replaced by a veil of warped light. After that, everything ended. One lay sprawled out on the ground, while the other was throwing up blood.


    The entire process had only lasted several minutes.


    Where was the spectacular clash? Where were the resplendent displays of power?


    Not only was he disappointed, the spectators also felt this to be a huge letdown.


    It was beyond doubt at this point that Tang Wulin had won, but how had he won? He was clearly in very bad condition, so this had to have been an evenly-matched clash, right? Otherwise, how had this outcome been reached?


    Everyone had bought tickets to see an exciting battle, but they ended up seeing nothing!


    The entire spectator stands instantly erupted into uproar, and many of the spectators were loudly expressing their displeasure.


    The judge strode onto the stage and approached Li Weisi first, only to find that Li Weisi seemed to have become a soulless husk. He then turned his gaze toward Tang Wulin, who gave him a hand signal indicating that he was alright.


    Thus, it became a simple matter to adjudge the outcome.


    "Number 66 Yu Longyue wins!"


    Tang Wulin strode over to Li Weisi and helped him up from the ground, then patted him on the shoulder in a seemingly friendly gesture, but at the same time, his voice rang out within Li Weisi''s mind. "You saw nothing, and you know nothing. Your soul core will reform itself in seven days, and nothing will be different, understood?"


    Li Weisi shuddered in response, and only then did he return to his senses. His eyes were filled with astonishment as he cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin, and he replied with a respectful nod, "I, I understand."


    Tang Wulin gave him a faint smile, then departed in a feeble manner.

 Chapter 1510: Restrict All Laws, Dragon Emperor Break

    His head was slightly lowered to prevent others from being able to see his expression as his eyes were currently filled with ecstasy.


    He had finally succeeded!


    After undergoing so many heavenly refinements and experiencing such immense pressure from Yuanen Zhentian, in addition to everything he had learned during his cultivation journey, as well as transcending so many elemental tribulations, he had finally combined all of his abilities for the very first time.


    The "dragon" originated from the Golden Dragon King, while the "emperor" stemmed from his Bluesilver Emperor.


    His Golden Dragon Roar, Bluesilver Golden Array, Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion, power of laws, Path of Regal Domination, and some other things that he couldn''t fathom had finally integrated themselves into one single attack in that instant.


    Restrict All Laws, Dragon Emperor Break!


    Tang Wulin was throwing up blood not because he had overexerted himself. Instead, it was because he had restricted the attack as much as possible so that its full power wasn''t unleashed. Otherwise, his opponent would most definitely be dead by now.


    In the instant that the integration had taken place, both his dragon core and soul core had moved in unison, with his dragon core sinking downward, while his soul core rose up.


    As he unleashed that almighty punch, his dragon core and soul core fused as one, and all of his spiritual power was also infused to integrate all three types of powers.


    He had uttered the name of the attack one word after another not to show off, but because with every syllable that was enunciated, all of the power within his own body was being shaken up, and in the end, fully integrated.


    Those four words had been formed in his mind in an instant, and everything had been so natural, as if it had been dictated by the laws of heaven and earth.


    Only in the instant that Tang Wulin unleashed that punch did Tang Wulin realize where the pinnacle of Soul Masters lied; his objective wasn''t to be able to use the power of laws, it was to break through these laws!


    His cultivation rank hadn''t changed at all, but in the aftermath of unleashing that attack, his powers had instantly evolved.


    At this moment, he really wanted to face Yuanen Zhentian again and unleash this Dragon Emperor Break in its entirety to see exactly how powerful it was. The attack was definitely far more powerful than the sum of all of his constituent powers.


    On top of that, in contrast with all of the abilities that Tang Wulin had invented for himself in the past, he could clearly sense that this integrated attack would definitely become more powerful as his cultivation rank improved.


    He had finally attained his first powerful ability that belonged solely to him, and this was his true path. Following his Titled Douluo breakthrough, his foundation had become slightly unstable, but he had finally managed to consolidate it once again.


    He had no interest in watching the rest of the matches; all he wanted to do now was to return to the blacksmith association as quickly as possible to reflect on and completely master this attack.


    Dragon Emperor Break had the ability to shatter all laws, which meant that it could destroy all illusionary, energy-based, and spiritual attacks.


    Only after returning to the resting area did Tang Wulin realize just how feeble he had become. Intense waves of dizziness were washing over him, and his clothes were drenched in cold sweat.


    He was already carrying severe injuries into the match, and he had integrated everything that he had without any reservation to unleash that attack. During such an integration process, there was no way he could keep tabs on his own physical tolerance.


    Only after all of the excitement and adrenaline had worn away did the crippling exhaustion set in.


    After Tang Wulin sat down onto a chair, he felt like he never wanted to move again, and even lifting a finger seemed to be a herculean task.


    It had been a very, very long time since he had been this feeble, yet he was also extremely excited.


    This was a wonderful sensation; his physical exhaustion was aiding his mental clarity, allowing to condense all of the changes that had just taken place. He knew that he had succeeded in creating something that he could call his own.


    He had to completely master this attack, and once he did so, integrating all of his other abilities would become a far more straightforward process. Once he completely integrated everything, he would progress to become a Hyper Douluo or even Limit Douluo.


    This was going to forge the foundation for him to be able to contend with quasigod level powerful beings like Infernal King Douluo Harosha in the future!


    Right at this moment, a familiar voice rang out. "Here!"


    Tang Wulin raised his head with difficulty to discover Lan Fuozi standing before him, handing him a bottle of water.


    Tang Wulin accepted the bottle of water, and said, "Thanks."


    In Lan Fuozi''s eyes, Tang Wulin was currently deathly pale and drenched with sweat, seemingly having had all of the energy drained from his body. His aura was in complete disarray, and even his soul power fluctuations were almost non-existent.


    "How can you continue to compete when you''re in such bad condition? Is this event really that important to you?" For some reason, Lan Fuozi felt the urge to suddenly interrogate Tang Wulin.


    "Of course!" Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation, then gulped down several large mouthfuls of water in succession, which slightly alleviated his discomfort.


    "Hmph!" Lan Fuozi harrumphed coldly before storming away.


    "What a weirdo." Tang Wulin was never able to keep up with Lan Fuozi''s sudden mood swings.


    "What am I going to do with you, you reckless boy?" Right at this moment, a gentle voice suddenly rang out in Tang Wulin''s ears, and he immediately shuddered, but at the same time, he identified whom the voice belonged to, and a smile instantly appeared on his face.


    "Mother, why are you here?"


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali had arrived by his side, and she was currently disguised as an old woman.


    "How could I not come here after hearing about your injuries? I was living the life and thoroughly enjoying myself, but I had no choice but to drop everything and pay you a visit. Why is your condition so serious? According to what Zang Xin told me, it shouldn''t be this bad! How did you exert yourself so much battling a Soul Douluo?"


    Yali pressed a hand against Tang Wulin''s back as she spoke. With her powers, no physical contact was required for her to administer treatment, but they were currently in a public resting area, so she didn''t want to display more of her abilities than necessary.


    Warm and gentle soul power flowed into Tang Wulin''s body, and he felt as if he were basked in warm sunlight. His body immediately began to warm up, and the flow of cold sweat quickly ceased. All of his injuries were also being nourished by this warm sensation, and it was extremely comfortable.


    "It''s so good to have a mother," Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    "Foolish boy," Yali chuckled in response, following which her brows furrowed slightly with concern. "Even with your physical constitution, these injuries won''t be easy to recover from. Hmph, that Yuanen Zhentian really is an old bastard!"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly shook his head, and said, "It''s not Senior Zhentian''s fault. During the earlier match, I seem to have made a breakthrough in my control over my own powers, and I went a little overboard, which is how I ended up like this."


    "You made another breakthrough? My son is the best!" Yali said with a warm smile. In her eyes, Tang Wulin was the epitome of perfection, and she wasn''t being sparing at all with her motherly love.


    Tang Wulin was just about to elaborate further when Yali raised a hand to cut him off. "Concentrate on recovery first; we''ll talk about everything else after we go back."


    As the undisputed most powerful healing-system Soul Master on the entire Douluo Star, Yali''s healing abilities were beyond reproach, and her pure and holy energy was slowly repairing all of the damage within Tang Wulin''s body.


    Her healing didn''t involve overtly stimulating the body''s natural recovery response. Instead, she was injecting her own soul power into Tang Wulin''s body as if her soul power were a spirit item.


    Of course, this method of treatment wasn''t applicable to everyone. Even if she were willing to expend so much soul power, not everyone could absorb such pure and rich energy.


    Right at this moment, another figure approached Tang Wulin, and he raised his head to discover that Lan Fuozi had returned.


    Lan Fuozi had already reverted back to her normal calm expression, but she couldn''t help but falter slightly at the sight of the Holy Spirit Douluo. Even though Yali had already released an invisible barrier to conceal her healing aura, Lan Fuozi was naturally able to identify that she was treating Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was still holding the water bottle given to him by Lan Fuozi, and he asked, "Why did you come back?"


    Lan Fuozi pointed at his water bottle, and said, "If you''re done drinking, then return the bottle to me."


    Tang Wulin hadn''t paid much attention to the water bottle before, but as he looked down at it now, he discovered that it was a white water bottle with a special blue insignia, seemingly depicting a large fish winding itself around the bottle.

 Chapter 1511: Shes in Love with You

    This clearly wasn''t a disposable bottle, and after recovering it from Tang Wulin, Lan Fuozi turned to the Holy Spirit Douluo, and asked, "Who''s this?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "My mother." His reply was very natural, and Yali was very pleased to hear it. In her current disguise as an old woman, her smile was extremely benevolent.


    A hint of envy flashed through Lan Fuozi''s eyes upon hearing this, and she turned to Yali with a respectful expression. "Greetings, Auntie; please forgive me for my rudeness."


    Yali shook her head in response. "It''s alright. You''re quite a beautiful little girl; why are you posing as a man?"


    Even if Qiangu Dongfeng had been in Yali''s place, he may not have been able to identify Lan Fuozi''s true gender, but as the number one healing-system Soul Master in the world, Yali was far too familiar with human biology and the natural scents that the human body gave off. As such, she was able to identify Lan Fuozi as female even without being informed by Tang Wulin.


    Lan Fuozi''s expression changed slightly, and she aimed a vicious glance, thinking that Tang Wulin had revealed her secret to Yali. She bit down on her lower lip and extended a slight bow toward Yali before quickly departing.


    Yali looked on at her departing figure, and an amused smile appeared on her face. "Looks like you''re just as much of a chick magnet as your godfather was."


    "Huh?" Tang Wulin turned to her with a flabbergasted expression, and asked, "What do you mean by that, Mother?"


    Yali chuckled, "Can you not see that she has feelings for you? If I can''t even see something this obvious, then all of the years I''ve lived would be in waste."


    Tang Wulin was stunned to hear this. "How is that possible? She''s always posed as a man, and she seems to be into women, which is why she entered this joust for a spouse event. She was telling me about how much she loved Gu Yue before; surely you''ve misjudged the situation here, Mother."


    A resigned look appeared on Yali''s face. "You''re still too naive; if your godfather were in your place, he would''ve most likely already figured everything out. The way she looks at you tells me everything I need to know; perhaps even she doesn''t know that she''s already attracted to you. I don''t know what''s happened between the two of you, but you tell me what kind of friend would bring you water as soon as your match ended; even the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters aren''t that thoughtful. On top of that, she came back not because she wanted the bottle back; she came back to check on you.


    "The most important point is that a lot of her aura has accumulated on that bottle, which indicates that she''s used it for quite some time; is it normal for someone to offer such a personal item to someone of the opposite sex?"


    Tang Wulin was rendered completely speechless. This came as a complete shock to him as he had never even regarded Lan Fuozi as a woman, and on top of that, he had always thought that she harbored animosity toward him.


    "There''s no way, Mother; you know that I only love Gu Yue." Tang Wulin shook his head vigorously, and it was as if he had seen a ghost.


    "Hehe, Gu Yuena really is a lucky girl; even I''m envious of how deeply you trust and love her. If your godfather had been this decisive in his younger days, we would''ve been spared a lot of trouble. What''s commendable about you is that you don''t give other girls even the opportunity to misinterpret your feelings; I hope you can keep that up."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this.


    Yali continued in a meaningful voice, "There are too many temptations in this world!"


    After resting for a while longer, Tang Wulin departed from the sports stadium with the Holy Spirit Douluo. In order to keep his identity a secret, they shouldn''t have left together, but the Holy Spirit Douluo was concerned for his safety, so she accompanied him back to the blacksmith association.


    A luxury sedan stopped in front of the blacksmith association, and the door was opened, upon which a butler emerged before extending an inviting hand gesture toward Yali.


    Yali smiled as she got into the car, which quickly departed.


    There was another man in the car, and he said with a smile, "I''m glad to see you so happy."


    "It''s been a long time since I''ve been this happy. Everyone needs hope, and hope brings joy. Back when I was young, I was never satisfied with what I had, so I continued to pursue more and see more. Now that I''m older, all I want to do is protect the happiness I currently have. Instead of being bored by a repetitive life, I''ve come to enjoy it."


    "I''m glad you think that," the man sighed.


    Yali smiled, and continued, "Sometimes, I think that the heavens have been very good to me. I had a husband like Brother Ming and lived happily with him for decades; what do I have to complain about? He''s taken me to see all of the most spectacular sights in this world, and I wanted to follow him to the other world, but the heavens have blessed me again with such an outstanding son. I really am very, very happy, and I''m going to spend the rest of my life protecting this happiness."


    The man turned to Yali with a slightly surprised expression, and an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart at the sight of her smile. He wanted to say something, but couldn''t muster up the words in the end.


    "Didn''t you say that you were going to take me to eat the most delicious meatballs in the world? Let''s go now," Yali said with a smile.  [1]


    Even though she currently resembled an old woman, the man was still enchanted by her smile, and he felt as if they had returned to the days of their youth.


    ......


    A beam of dazzling light shone through Tang Wulin''s mind, like sunlight peeking through the clouds.


    He didn''t know how long he had been meditating for, but he could clearly sense that his mind was being elevated.


    There was a qualitative and fundamental change taking place, and even he hadn''t imagined that such a change would be possible after reaching the Spirit Domain realm.


    A layer of rainbow light had appeared over his enormous sea of spiritual power, and even though it was only a very thin layer, it gave off a sense of indescribable mystique.


    This layer of rainbow light had appeared after he had unleashed that attack, and there was very little of it, but it really did exist.


    The majority of the power of laws Tang Wulin had absorbed from his past elemental tribulations had been passed onto his Infernal Lightning Vine, and it took the Infernal Lightning Vine a lot longer to absorb this type of rainbow lightning than it did normal lightning.


    His other soul spirits were also attempting to absorb this energy, but their rate of absorption was also very slow. Even Tang Wulin himself could only use this elemental lightning to refine his own body, but couldn''t actually make it become a part of his body.


    However, the situation had undergone a minute change, the most prominent facet of which was that the power of laws had entered his spiritual world to become one with his mind. Tang Wulin didn''t know how much this would elevate his mind, but it was undoubtedly the case that an evolution was taking place.


    All of the elemental lightning accumulated within his body had disappeared; part of it had been released during his previous two battles, while the rest was inside his mind.


    [1] [I don''t think they have the same meatballs in mind ( ?~ ?? ?¡ã)]

 Chapter 1512: Your Breath Stinks...

    Rainbow Law was the name that Tang Wulin had given to this rainbow light.


    It appeared that his method of cultivation was correct. In the past, his main issue was that he didn''t know how to absorb this energy of laws, but through his control and usage of his Restrict All Laws, Dragon Emperor Break, he could attempt to absorb this energy when his soul core, dragon core, and mind were all combined as one.


    As his mind had been elevated, the small soul core that had appeared within his mind had also attained a substantial form. Even though it was still only around the size of a pea, this was still an improvement compared to the insubstantial state it had been in before. Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the overall quantity of his soul power hadn''t changed, but it had become purer than in the past.


    As expected, pressure was still the best catalyst for improvement.


    His consciousness returned as he awakened from his meditation, and all of his injuries had already healed.


    He was feeling extremely comfortable aside from a sense of intense hunger, and due to the improvements that he had just made, his belief had been heightened, and his resolve to continue working hard in his cultivation was further bolstered.


    Wait for me, Gu Yue. One day, you''re going to be stunned by my power, and when that time comes, I''m staying by your side no matter what.


    ......


    Gu Yuena slowly opened her eyes in her silent chamber, and a hint of bitterness appeared on her face. "I really don''t want you to become any more powerful, Wulin. If you continue to become more powerful, your final opponent will be..."


    The round-robin stage continued, and just like Tang Wulin, Qiangu Zhangting and Lan Fuozi easily defeated their opponents as well.


    During the round-robin stage, upsets became very rare, and after five days, the first round was completed. A clear divide had appeared in each group where those who had won a match were ranked at the top, while those who had lost were ranked below the winners.


    Tang Wulin and Li Weisi''s match had been analyzed thoroughly, and many people were of the opinion that Tang Wulin had been very lucky to win. There were also people sent to interview Li Weisi about the match, but Li Weisi refused to tell anyone what had happened during the match; all he was willing to reveal was that he had lost in crushing fashion.


    However, despite his victory, Tang Wulin''s projected final ranking in the event had gone down a few places. After all, he had thrown up blood, and his condition was very poor; who knew if he would be able to recover in just five days?


    Tang Wulin had meditated for three full days, and upon making a full recovery, he had immediately resumed his heavenly refinement training. Currently, heavenly refinement was the best method of cultivation for him as it allowed him to interact with the laws of elements in order to better understand his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques. Dragon Emperor Break was the first technique, but it definitely wasn''t the last one. However, even Tang Wulin himself didn''t know when he would be able to invent the second technique.


    The next competition date for the third group arrived, and Tang Wulin arrived at the Bright City Sports Stadium right on time.


    His match was scheduled to be the second one of the day, so there was no rush for him.


    In the waiting area, the 10 competitors in the third group had all arrived. The matches for the third group were going to take place in the morning, while those for the fourth group would be held during the afternoon.


    Qiangu Zhangting was seated in a separate corner from everyone else, resting with his eyes closed. However, instead of just the 10 people from the third group, Lan Fuozi was also in the waiting area.


    Tang Wulin was the last to arrive in the third group, and his arrival instantly drew everyone''s attention; even Qiangu Zhangting had opened his eyes.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already made a full recovery, and he was still putting on an arrogant facade with his chin raised high as he found a quiet place to sit.


    He had naturally seen Lan Fuozi as well, but after recalling what Yali had told him, he pretended not to have seen her, choosing instead to also rest with his eyes closed like Qiangu Zhangting.


    Lan Fuozi couldn''t help but grit her teeth at the sight of his cocky display, but didn''t take the initiative to approach him.


    Unbeknownst to her, Tang Wulin was intentionally refraining from approaching her.


    Aside from Gu Yuena, Tang Wulin had come into contact with some other women in his life, such as Wu Siduo and Dai Yun''er. In particular, Dai Yun''er had sacrificed a lot for him. However, his heart was solely occupied by Gu Yue, so he couldn''t give any other woman anything.


    As such, he was putting on a distant and aloof facade, and he had even repressed his own curiosity about Lan Fuozi''s background.


    "The competitors for the first match can enter the stadium now," a worker announced.


    Two competitors from the third group rose to their feet in unison and took a glance at one another before walking out of the waiting area. They were competing with one another, so there was no need to exchange any pleasantries.


    To Tang Wulin''s surprise, Qiangu Zhangting suddenly stood up and took a seat on the sofa across from him.


    "You''re Yu Longyue, right? My name is Qiangu Zhangting; it''s a pleasure to meet you."


    Tang Wulin opened his eyes, and he had to admit that Qiangu Zhangting was an exceptionally handsome man.


    On this day, Qiangu Zhangting was wearing a set of white activewear with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, looking like a sharp and dashing young man in his twenties, rather than someone who was in his thirties.


    Qiangu Zhangting continued, "It''s quite the coincidence that we were assigned to the same group; what do you think of our group?"


    Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent manner, "I think my progression is guaranteed."


    Qiangu Zhangting faltered slightly upon hearing this. What was that supposed to mean? Was he saying that no one in this group could beat him?


    A cold smile appeared on Qiangu Zhangting''s face. "Is that so? I look forward to our match. I hope you''re not going to turn up looking like a sick puppy again; I want to beat you when you''re fully fit so you don''t have any excuses."


    "Ok." Tang Wulin gave a clipped response.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s smile became more pronounced at the sight of Tang Wulin''s arrogant display, and he stood up before leaning down next to Tang Wulin, then said in a voice that was only audible to the two of them, "Nana is already my woman; no one can take her away from me."


    "Your breath stinks!" Tang Wulin leaned back with a disdainful expression, and he intentionally made his voice very loud so that everyone else could hear him.


    Lan Fuozi couldn''t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this. Both of these guys were very annoying, and watching two annoying guys being pitted against one another was quite entertaining.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s smile immediately faded as a look of burning fury appeared in his eyes. He immediately stood up straight and glowered at Tang Wulin with a furious expression, then pointed a threatening finger at him before storming out of the resting area.


    Even as he departed, Tang Wulin made sure to throw another parting jab. "Did your parents not teach you that it''s rude to point at someone? What an uncultured little brat."


    The other competitors of the third group all exchanged a few glances, but no one said anything.


    All young and powerful Soul Masters were proud individuals, but just because they were proud didn''t mean that they were stupid!


    Everyone knew who Qiangu Zhangting was; calling him an uncultured brat was an indirect insult to the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda himself! This Yu Longyue was either extremely brave or pitifully stupid!


    In reality, Tang Wulin hadn''t intended to do this; it was just that the mere sight of Qiangu Zhangting pissed him off for some reason. In particular, whenever he thought about how both Qiangu Zhangting and Gu Yuena were at the Spirit Pagoda, his heart would burn with fury.


    Even he wasn''t aware that what he was experiencing was jealousy.


    Lan Fuozi also departed as the match had already begun, and Tang Wulin was scheduled to fight in the second match.


    Tang Wulin had clearly already recovered from his injuries, and with her sharp spiritual power, Lan Fuozi was able to sense that there was something different about him. His entire body seemed to be glowing with some type of peculiar light that was extremely faint and could just barely be detected by her Spirit Domain realm spiritual power.


    The first match lasted longer than expected, and only after half an hour was Tang Wulin called up for his match.


    "Please enlighten me," a tall and broad young man said with a serious expression as he approached Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 1513: Northern Light Saber

    Tang Wulin merely nodded in response, then made his way out of the waiting area while assessing the information he had memorized about his opponent.


    His opponent was a Soul Douluo who was a bright young talent in the military.


    The military had its own training base, and with so many troops across the entire federation, there was naturally no lack of exceptional talents among them. Selecting some particularly outstanding talents to be specially nurtured at those training bases was something that every military area did, and an example of this was the Blood God Legion''s Blood God Battalion.


    Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi had emerged from the special training base of the Southern Legion, while Tang Wulin''s second-round opponent came from the Northsea Fleet.


    According to the information Tang Wulin had gathered, his opponent was a senior colonel, and he was the captain of the Northsea Fleet''s most elite squad, the Northern Light Special Battle Squad. He had plentiful practical combat experience, and he was particularly adept in mecha-piloting.


    The main difference between soldiers and normal Soul Masters was that the former took part in far more battles, through which one developed superior battle instincts and techniques.


    In particular, such a bright young talent like him would undoubtedly receive special treatment in the military, similar to that received by all of Shrek Seven Monsters during their time in the military.


    According to Tang Wulin''s recollections, his opponent''s name was Mu Tian.


    The two of them emerged from the resting area one after another, and having emerged from the soundproof environment of the waiting area, they were immediately greeted by the raucous commotion outside.


    The first match had been very long and exciting, so the spectators were in very high spirits.


    "Our next two competitors are Mu Tian of the Northsea Fleet''s Northern Light Special Battle Squad, and Yu Longyue of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Both of them have secured victories in their first-round matches, so the outcome of this battle will be very important."


    The commentator was still Ai Fei, and his voice was very pleasant and comforting to listen to.


    Mu Tian and Tang Wulin strode onto the platform, and Mu Tian voluntarily made his way to the other side of the platform to open up distance between himself and Tang Wulin.


    Meanwhile, Ai Fei was still hard at work.


    "There''s not much to be said about Yu Longyue''s last match; he defeated his opponent even though he was in less than stellar condition, and he quickly left after the match. His opponent, Li Weisi, was also unwilling to disclose any details during his interview, so we have no idea what happened during the match. However, we do know that Mu Tian''s performances during this event have all been quite outstanding. With the special Northern Light Battle Techniques of the Northern Light Special Battle Squad, he has crushed all of his opponents, and even now, I still feel like I can sense the threatening aura emanating from his saber. His battle techniques have undoubtedly been honed over the course of countless battles; let''s see how Yu Longyue is going to handle this stern challenge."


    Tang Wulin''s cultivation rank was superior, so Mu Tian was naturally being referred to as the challenger.


    Due to the fact that Tang Wulin had been putting on an arrogant facade earlier, he hadn''t gotten a chance to take a good look at his opponent, and he was only being presented with such an opportunity now.


    Mu Tian was very tall and well-built, but his muscles weren''t overly exaggerated, and he stood with the ramrod-straight posture customary of all soldiers. Aside from that, there didn''t appear to be anything special about him, but this only made Tang Wulin more cautious.


    Both Ao Wuchang and Li Weisi were interesting opponents as one possessed the Door of Summoning, while the other possessed the Crystal Ball, both of which were exceptional martial souls, but of course, they didn''t post much of a threat to Tang Wulin.


    However, Mu Tian was different. His martial soul seemed to be a simple saber, but his disposition was completely different from that of his past two opponents. There was nothing flashy about him, but he was clearly going to be more difficult to deal with.


    In the face of such an opponent, Tang Wulin was willing to afford him more respect.


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    As the commencement of the match was announced, Mu Tian immediately sprang into action, charging directly toward Tang Wulin like lightning. His strides weren''t very long, but he was extraordinarily fast, and as he moved, the aura of sharpness emanating from his body elevated further and further.


    A saber projection that was around four feet in length appeared above his head, and as he advanced onward, the saber projection became brighter and brighter. By the time Mu Tian had covered half the distance between himself and Tang Wulin, the saber projection had turned a scorching white color.


    All of a sudden, Mu Tian let loose a loud roar, and he suddenly raised both hands up into the air to grab onto the hilt of the long saber above his head.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if Mu Tian had become one with the saber. The space on either side of the dazzling saber projection seemed to exist independently of one another, and as the saber projection was brought down from above, Mu Tian''s essence, energy, and spirit had all been elevated to their very peak.


    Ever since Mu Tian had joined the special battle squad, he had named his saber the Northern Light Saber. He had been able to make it to this point through a combination of talent and a tremendous amount of hard work, and in the Northsea Fleet, he had the nickname of 10,000 Saber King.


    This didn''t mean that he had 10,000 sabers in his possession. Instead, it reflected a part of his training regimen, which involved unleashing 10,000 full-force saber strikes into the sea every single day.


    Regardless of how turbulent the waves were, he made sure to part the sea with every single saber strike he unleashed, and that was how he had attained his saber projection.


    Initially, he had no saber projection, but gradually, it grew to a foot, two feet, three feet, 10 feet, 20, 30... After that, the saber projection was withdrawn into the saber itself, and this process took him 30 years to complete.


    Only after his saber projection had been completely withdrawn into his saber was this technique complete, and he named it "Two Realm Separation".


    On this occasion, Tang Wulin didn''t remain still on the spot. Instead, he sprang up and charged directly toward Mu Tian''s Northern Light Saber.


    The saber projection had been withdrawn, but the sharp saber intent was affecting the entire platform. The fact that Tang Wulin was able to advance in the face of the saber intent was enough to make Mu Tian even warier of his opponent.


    However, his resolve had been honed through countless battles, and he wasn''t going to waver regardless of what his opponent did.


    Just as the two of them were about to clash, Commentator Ai Fei yelled, "Everyone, please turn your attention toward the air in front of the Northern Light Saber."


    The spectators did as they were told, and sure enough, all of the light in front of the Northern Light Saber seemed to have been stripped away, creating a patch of inky-blackness up ahead.


    Everyone was then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin raising his right hand to grab toward the blade of the saber, and in that instant, his entire hand had turned a bluish-purple color.


    "Clang!"


    Ai Fei was stunned into silence by what he was seeing. He was a Soul Master himself, and even though he wasn''t very powerful, he was an expert who had studied countless past battles, and it was exactly because of this that he had been entrusted with the role of commentator. However, it was truly very rare to see someone grab an opponent''s weapon with their bare hand like Tang Wulin was doing, especially when the Northern Light Saber''s Two Realm Separation was so formidable.


    What was he doing? Did he intend to sacrifice that hand?

 Chapter 1514: Crushing Victory

    Before Ai Fei had a chance to consider anything else, Tang Wulin''s hand had already clashed with the Northern Light Saber.


    The power released in the instant the clash occurred struck everyone with an indescribable sensation. The first thing that all of the spectators saw was the blackness on the Northern Light Saber being shattered. As Tang Wulin''s right hand grabbed onto the blade of the saber, it was as if the air had transformed into a massive cobweb as traces of blackness began to crumble away, and only then did the hand and blade come into contact with one another.


    Purple light flashed within Tang Wulin''s eyes, and bluish-purple lightning suddenly exploded in the palm of his right hand amid an explosive thunderclap.


    Mu Tian also reacted very quickly to the situation, instantly withdrawing his martial soul, causing it to disappear from within Tang Wulin''s grasp to evade the bombardment of lightning. At the same time, he instantly swiveled around, and as he did so, countless saber projections erupted out of his body, slashing directly toward Tang Wulin in a frenzy.


    Right at this moment, the thunderclap rang out, eradicating all of the oncoming saber projections. Instead of descending onto the ground, Tang Wulin rushed forward diagonally, then performed a peculiar maneuver in mid-air.


    In the blink of an eye, three Tang Wulins suddenly appeared, forming a triangular circuit in the air. Each Tang Wulin was situated at one corner of the triangle with their right hands thrust forward, releasing countless bolts of lightning to form a massive net. There was no way to predict the direction that the winding bolts of lightning were crashing toward, but Mu Tian was situated right at the very center of the triangle.


    "Gu Yuena Lightning Triangular Circuit!" Ai Fei exclaimed. He was naturally aware of the mecha maneuver Tang Wulin had invented during the examination phase of the event. The maneuver had been officially recognized by the mecha pilot association, which had conducted in-depth analysis on just how difficult it would be for a mecha pilot to execute the maneuver. The most difficult part was that the mecha pilot had to withstand an enormous amount of instantaneous force, and under such tremendous strain, it was certainly no easy task to maintain such an exceptional level of accuracy.


    However, Tang Wulin had performed the maneuver with his own body, even without having to rely on a mecha. It was difficult to say whether this was more difficult than performing the same maneuver with a mecha, but it was truly astonishing that he was able to attack while moving at such an incredible speed.


    Mu Tian abruptly landed on the ground while a saber projection erupted into the heavens, and it was as if he had completely disappeared into the saber projection.


    The scent of blood and steel on a battlefield wafted through the air, and the saber projection abruptly expanded just as the lightning struck, and the two intertwined as one bolt of lightning after another was slashed apart.


    The three Tang Wulins only coexisted for an instant before combining as one, following which he charged directly toward the saber projection.


    Ai Fei was feeling very frustrated and confused. Why did it always seem like Yu Longyue was battling like a man with a death wish, but he always came out on top?


    It was clear that Yu Longyue had gained the upper hand in the previous clash.


    "Boom!"


    The saber managed to keep Tang Wulin''s body at bay, but Tang Wulin instantly exploded like a bomb upon impact.


    "Rumble!" Bluish-purple lightning exploded in the air, Mu Tian was hurled far away by the force of the explosion.


    At this moment, his entire body was slightly charred, and there was lightning flashing all over him, clearly indicating that he hadn''t remained unaffected by the lightning.


    Instead of pressing his advantage, Tang Wulin descended onto the ground and appraised Mu Tian calmly from afar.


    Mu Tian''s soul power was renowned for its sharpness and explosiveness, and he was trying to use it to force out the lightning that had entered his body, but the lightning was simply too powerful, and both his muscles and soul core were spasming uncontrollably.


    It was clear that if Tang Wulin had followed up his attacks, he would''ve most likely already lost.


    Prior to this battle, he was already regarding Tang Wulin as an extremely powerful opponent, but only when the match truly began did he realize that he had still underestimated Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was superior to him in all aspects, including power, speed, and martial soul, and his seemingly reckless way of battle was a reflection of his absolute confidence.


    Tang Wulin was also very pleased with himself. After developing the Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, he had gained a deeper understanding of all of his abilities, particularly the usage of his soul spirits.


    He had once asked the Amorous Douluo why almost no high-grade Soul Masters released their soul spirits in direct battle, and the answer was that regardless of how powerful a soul spirit was, the enhancements they provided to a Soul Master was more beneficial than directly using them in battle.


    During that last clash, Tang Wulin had borrowed some of the Tyrant Dragon''s power, and the lightning of the Infernal Lightning Vine had constantly been revolving around his body, perfectly disguising his martial soul.


    His opponent was indeed very powerful, but they simply weren''t on the same level. Even a Hyper Douluo would find it very difficult to pose a threat to the current Tang Wulin, let alone a Soul Douluo.


    One had to realize that Tang Wulin had stunned the entire Star Luo Empire in the Trial of Five Gods; Mu Tian simply couldn''t compare with someone of his staggering power.


    If it weren''t for his respect for soldiers, Tang Wulin wouldn¡¯t have employed this style of battle.


    Mu Tian was panting heavily as he cast a meaningful gaze toward Tang Wulin. "Here I come!"


    Black light flashed from his hand as he spoke, and a streak of light was quickly projected before rapidly expanding, following which an inky-black mecha that was around seven meters tall soon appeared behind him. His body was instantly drawn into the mecha, and the entrance to the mecha pilot room was quickly shut.


    Only then did Tang Wulin recall that the usage of mechas wasn''t prohibited in the joust for a spouse event.


    Following Mu Tian''s entry, the black mecha immediately sprang to life, crouching down before rushing directly toward Tang Wulin. It was wielding a giant saber as a weapon, and the saber instantly turned a scorching white color reminiscent of the Northern Light Saber. However, due to the combination of Soul Master and mecha, its power was significantly elevated.


    Tang Wulin stomped his left foot onto the ground, propelling himself up into the air. Scales instantly covered his entire body as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Body; of course, this was the lightning version.


    "He''s still as aggressive as ever!" Ai Fei was struck by the urge to cover his own eyes at the sight of the ascending Tang Wulin. He was clearly relying solely on his overwhelming power to bully his opponent! It was quite apparent now that there was a massive gulf between Mu Tian and Yu Longyue, but just a few days ago, the latter had turned up to his match looking as if he were in extremely bad condition; who was it that had been able to inflict such severe injuries upon him? Had a fully fit Yu Longyue always been this powerful?


    The answer to that was, of course, yes.


    As Tang Wulin rose to the apex of his ascent, he arched back to resemble a bow, then swung his arms through the air toward the oncoming giant saber.


    "Boom!"


    The air dimmed slightly, following which a piercing streak of bluish-purple light flashed through the air, as if lightning had struck the competition platform.


    Everyone was then stunned by the sight of a massive black mecha crashing into the protective barrier with electricity flashing all over its huge frame.


    The spectator stands fell completely silent.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s entire arm had turned an almost transparent bluish-purple color, and he was hovering in mid-air like an invincible Lightning God.


    The match was over!


    Ai Fei took a moment to collect himself, then announced, "The match is over, and Yu Longyue has secured victory once again. With all due respect to Mu Tian, there''s no other way to describe this match than as a crushing victory for Yu Longyue."


    Indeed, from the beginning till the very end, Mu Tian didn''t have any chances, and he was completely overwhelmed regardless of whether it was in terms of speed, power, or martial soul. Even after he released his mecha, it had made no difference at all.


    Tang Wulin slowly descended onto the ground with his right index finger pointed directly upward, as if he were challenging the very heavens.


    Gu Yuena''s heart stirred slightly as she looked on from the rostrum, and Qiangu Zhangting''s calm facade had also been torn away.

 Chapter 1515: Lightning God Whip!

    The combat prowess Tang Wulin had displayed was more fearsome than he had expected. It was clear that Tang Wulin possessed Hyper Douluo level power. Otherwise, there was no way he could''ve brushed Mu Tian aside so easily.


    The attack that he had just unleashed was his Lightning God Whip! He had used his own arm in the place of a vine, and his arm was slightly numb and throbbing with pain, but it had to be said that the attack had been extremely fearsome. If he hadn''t held back, that black mecha would''ve been reduced to nothingness. The explosiveness of lightning was perfectly expressed through his Lightning God Whip.


    The main area of difficulty of impersonating Yu Longyue was that he couldn''t use many of his soul skills, and this was what had motivated Tang Wulin to create more combination techniques.


    In reality, he only had two lightning related soul skills: Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell and Blue Emperor Lightning God Whip.


    Both of these soul skills were extremely powerful, but they made it far too easy for him to hurt his opponents. If it weren''t for the fact that his spiritual power had been enhanced after developing his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, thereby granting him improved control, he wouldn¡¯t have dared to use his Lightning God Whip just now. Otherwise, he could''ve easily killed Mu Tian.


    Looking at it now, he was quite pleased with his own application of the Lightning God Whip. He had decided that he was going to continue to improve the Lightning God Whip so that it would become one of his most effective attacks in his upcoming matches.


    Adopting a different identity forced him to seal away his true identity, but not all seals were bad things.


    The spectators were silent for close to 20 seconds before erupting into thunderous cheers.


    The battle they had just witnessed was very short, but it was thoroughly satisfying. Tang Wulin''s domineering style of battle made everyone''s hearts race, and the vast majority of the young spectators present felt as if their blood had been set alight. All of a sudden, many people had begun chanting Yu Longyue''s name.


    For the first time, they felt like Yu Longyue''s cockiness was justified as he really did have the power to back it up.


    Lan Fuozi was looking on from afar with a complex expression, and she pursed her lips as she scoffed, "What''s the big deal!"


    Qiangu Zhangting''s match came right after Tang Wulin''s, so the two bumped into one another as Tang Wulin strode down from the competition platform.


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow, and Qiangu Zhangting suddenly chuckled coldly, "Do you think this is enough? I hope you don''t cry after I crush you!"


    "Hehe!" Tang Wulin''s reply made Qiangu Zhangting''s expression stiffen slightly, and he felt like there was no way he could communicate with this Yu Longyue.


    Instead of departing right away, Tang Wulin lingered below the competition platform to watch Qiangu Zhangting''s match. Qiangu Zhangting had just been irked by him, so it was very likely that he would display superior combat prowess than he otherwise would.


    "We really are in for a treat today; the next match will be a clash between two Titled Douluos, namely Spirit Envoy Qiangu Zhangting of the Spirit Pagoda, and Lu Yuxing of the Northwestern Desert."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and only then was he made aware that Qiangu Zhangting''s opponent was also a Titled Douluo.


    Lu Yuxing was a middle-aged man who appeared to be around 40 years of age, and he was quite handsome, but he looked a little older than his actual age. He was very tall and broad with dark skin, and there was a cold look in his eyes.


    In the resting area, Lu Yuxing had sat in a corner and remained completely silent, choosing to watch everyone around him while hiding everything about himself.


    In terms of appearance, Qiangu Zhangting was naturally far more handsome. The spectators were still savoring the last match, but their attention was immediately drawn to this battle between two Titled Douluos.


    The information surrounding Lu Yuxing provided to Tang Wulin by the Tang Sect was next to nothing. All they knew was that he came from the Northwestern Desert area and was a Titled Douluo. He had been quite fortunate thus far as he hadn''t faced any powerful competitors, so his path through this event had been quite a smooth one, and his martial soul seemed to be sand, which was very versatile and excelled in both attack and defense.


    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    The match officially commenced, and at this moment, Mu Tian walked over from the side with his body still spasming uncontrollably.


    As soon as the match had concluded, healing system Soul Masters had rushed him out of his mecha to administer emergency treatment.


    Tang Wulin had intentionally held back, so Mu Tian''s injuries weren''t very severe; it was just that it would take some time to recover from the electric shock he had received.


    "Thank you for holding back," Mu Tian said with a nod.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Your Northern Light Saber is very powerful, and I can tell that you train exceptionally hard, but even though you''re completely fearless as you unleash your Northern Light Saber, you have no saber soul. You''re purely using it as a weapon rather than regarding it as a part of yourself. As a result, you''re foregoing a saber soul, which is a saber that can directly attack one''s soul. Even the sharpest and most fearsome of attacks can be kept at bay, but how is one supposed to defend themselves against an attack directed toward their soul?"


    Tang Wulin''s gaze was focused on the competition platform as he spoke, but Mu Tian''s heart jolted upon hearing this.


    "I''ve always been searching for the reason why I''ve been unable to attain a saber soul. Is it because I''m not close enough to my saber?"


    Only then did Tang Wulin turn toward Mu Tian as he replied, "You''re placing too much pressure on yourself. Adequate pressure can be converted into motivation, but excessive pressure prevents you from being able to attain enlightenment. Grueling training isn''t always the answer. Watch this."


    His expression suddenly changed slightly as he spoke, and it was as if he had fused as one with the air around him. Mu Tian could still clearly see Tang Wulin, but it felt to him like Tang Wulin''s presence no longer existed.


    He was then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin slashing his right hand through the air.


    There was no sound or threat posed by this gesture, but in that instant, Mu Tian''s entire body shuddered violently. He felt as if his mind had gone completely blank, and that as Tang Wulin swept his arm through the air, his spiritual power was completely separated from his mind. Even though this sensation only lasted for an instant, he still had chills running down his spine.


    "Saber intent, saber soul, saber essence. Saber intent is the will of the saber, while saber soul involves fusing one''s body and soul together with their saber," Tang Wulin said.


    "I see, then what about saber essence?" Mu Tian couldn''t help but ask.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Saber essence requires one to use their saber to draw upon the power of laws of heaven and earth."


    Mu Tian took a deep breath as he digested the wisdom that Tang Wulin had just bestowed upon him. There were powerful Soul Masters in the military instructing them in their cultivation, but their instructions were very different from what Tang Wulin had just described. In particular, the demonstration Tang Wulin had just given him made him feel as if a whole new world had been opened up to him. This type of feeling made him want to immediately return to training, and at the same time, he was extremely stunned.


    Who exactly was this Yu Longyue? If he had been wielding a saber as opposed to just sweeping his arm through the air, then he would''ve already achieved the level of a saber soul! Was he also a prodigious master of the blade?


    Tang Wulin continued, "How long have you been serving in the military?"

 Chapter 1516: You Should Go to Shrek Academy

    Mu Tian replied, "22 years."


    Tang Wulin suggested, "You should go out and see the world; I think it''ll benefit you. I''m not asking you to leave the military, but I think you should take a long break and go somewhere that can truly help you improve. You have a very good foundation, and if you have someone to properly guide you, you''ll at least have a chance to become a Hyper Douluo in the future."


    "Can I really?" Mu Tian was a soldier first and foremost, but he was also a Soul Master, and all Soul Masters wanted to become more powerful.


    It had been six years since Mu Tian had become a Soul Douluo, and he was still steadily progressing, but progress had become very slow for him. According to his mentors in the military, he was at an age where it would be difficult for him to even progress to the Titled Douluo level, and that the Hyper Douluo level was completely out of his reach at this point.


    As such, he was naturally ecstatic to hear that he still had a chance to reach that level.


    "Where should I go?" Mu Tian asked in a slightly urgent manner.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Shrek Academy."


    On the competition platform, Lu Yuxing was the first to spring into action.


    He didn''t appear to have released any soul rings, but his body suddenly disintegrated into yellow sand. As more and more yellow sand appeared, the grains of sand began to revolve on the spot, quickly forming a vortex that was rapidly expanding, and reached Qiangu Zhangting virtually in the blink of an eye.


    Qiangu Zhangting rose up into the air, and nine soul rings appeared around his body, consisting of six blacks and three reds. Just his soul ring configuration alone brought a wave of cheers and applause from the spectators. Even though this wasn''t the first time the spectators were seeing this, they were still in awe whenever they witnessed Qiangu Zhangting''s exemplary soul ring configuration.


    A long staff appeared in Qiangu Zhangting''s grasp; this was his martial soul, the Coiling Dragon Staff.


    It was said that the martial soul of the Qiangu Family was once just an ordinary staff. However, one of their ancestors stumbled upon a hibernating giant dragon. The dragon awakened and was about to devour the man, but it could sense that its lifespan was about to come to an end, so it made a pact with the Qiangu Family, transforming into a dragon soul that injected itself into the man''s martial soul, hoping to extend its own life through the heritage of the martial soul.


    This was only a rumor, but it was a very believable one as all members of the Qiangu Family had innate full soul power as long as they could awaken a martial soul. Once they reached the Soul Elder level, they would be able to summon a dragon soul in battle, and upon becoming a Titled Douluo, they would even be able to summon a true dragon to assist them in battle.


    If it weren''t for such a powerful heritage, there was no way that the Qiangu Family would''ve become the most prominent family in the Spirit Pagoda.


    At this moment, Qiangu Zhangting was hovering in mid-air with his staff in his hand, and the weapon truly presented quite a stunning sight to behold.


    The entire Coiling Dragon Staff was of a shimmering silver color with a silver giant dragon coiled around it. The dragon appeared to be locked into place, but it was extremely life-like, and its head was situated at the top of the staff, where faint dragon''s roars rang out incessantly.


    Yellow sand quickly spread over the entire competition platform, transforming it into a barren desert, and Lu Yuxing was nowhere to be seen.


    Generally speaking, the opponents that Soul Masters wanted to face the least were those who could disappear right after releasing their martial soul. There was no way to ascertain how many soul rings such Soul Masters had, nor which soul skills they were using. Even if one were significantly more powerful than such an opponent, it was still often the case that a grueling battle would follow, and all opponents of this nature were generally adept at escape techniques, so it definitely wouldn''t be easy to catch them.


    Columns of yellow sand erupted into the heavens like a series of tornados, instantly forming nine sand pillars that converged toward Qiangu Zhangting from all directions.


    Qiangu Zhangting held onto his Coiling Dragon Staff with his right hand, and in that instant, he seemed to have expanded significantly in size. He swept his staff through the air, unleashing layers of staff projections that spread through the air all around him, and a string of dull thumps rang out as the nine pillars of sand were eradicated in unison by his Coiling Dragon Staff.


    However, the sand didn''t simply scatter as a result. Instead, it was swept up by a gust of fierce wind and surged toward Qiangu Zhangting as an inescapable sandstorm. Hidden within the sandstorm were all types of weapons formed by sand, creating a lethal arsenal.


    The staff projections converged, and they seemed to possess boundless suction force, drawing in the entire sandstorm and all of the sand weapons hidden within it.


    Tang Wulin could see that Qiangu Zhangting had improved significantly compared to the time when they had faced Dark Bell, as expected of someone who had the full support of a super organization like the Spirit Pagoda.


    The yellow sand was swept up by the Coiling Dragon Staff, and in the next instant, a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out as dazzling silver light erupted out of Qiangu Zhangting''s body. The silver dragon on his staff seemed to have instantly sprung to life, and a massive silver dragon''s head appeared above Qiangu Zhangting before releasing a silver breath.


    The breath was completely translucent, as if it were formed by countless shards of ice, and as it surged through the air, all of the yellow sand that was swept up by the Coiling Dragon Staff quickly disappeared.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes also turned a silver color as he threw his head back and let loose a long cry. He then swept his Coiling Dragon Staff downward, and the breath released by the silver dragon''s head instantly fused into the staff. One end of the Coiling Dragon Staff was held in his hand, while the other end rapidly expanded before being slammed heavily toward the ground down below.


    The descending staff resembled a massive bolt of silver lightning, and it crashed directly down upon the center of the competition platform.


    "Boom!"


    Silver light erupted in all directions, and all of the yellow sand that came into contact with it quickly disappeared. As the silver light continued to spread, a figure was forced to stumble out of thin air in a sorry display.


    Most of the yellow sand on the ground had vanished, and Qiangu Zhangting descended from above, sweeping his Coiling Dragon Staff through the air once again, releasing a string of staff projections that came crashing down toward the figure that had just emerged.


    "Boom, boom, boom!" Lu Yuxing defended valiantly, but the staff projections were filled with explosive power, and he was forced back in retreat, quickly reaching the protective barrier on one side of the competition platform.


    "I concede!" Lu Yuxing yelled.


    The staff projections were withdrawn, and Qiangu Zhangting was looking completely unflustered as he stood at the center of the competition platform.


    In the distance, Lu Yuxing was looking quite pale. The yellow sand that had been eradicated by the Coiling Dragon Staff was actually a part of his soul power, so losing so much of his sand in such a short time had been extremely taxing for him.


    Even though he was also a Titled Douluo, he was made to look completely defenseless in the face of Qiangu Zhangting.


    It was clear that Qiangu Zhangting''s victory had made more of a statement than Tang Wulin''s had as his opponent was a Titled Douluo. Throughout the entire battle, Lu Yuxing didn''t have any opportunities and was dominated by the Coiling Dragon Staff from start to finish.


    Qiangu Zhangting gave Lu Yuxing a nod of acknowledgment, then cast a mocking gaze toward Tang Wulin, as if to flaunt the fact that he had just crushed a Titled Douluo, while Tang Wulin had merely defeated a Soul Douluo.


    Tang Wulin''s brows were slightly furrowed in contemplation. Was this Lu Yuxing really that weak? Lu Yuxing was his opponent for the next round; if this was all that Lu Yuxing was capable of, then it should be an easy match.


    Tang Wulin didn''t linger any longer and turned to depart, followed closely by Mu Tian.


    "What do you think of Qiangu Zhangting?" Mu Tian asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "He''s not bad, but still not enough to defeat me."

 Chapter 1517: Recruitment

    Mu Tian faltered slightly before instantly being influenced by Tang Wulin''s self-confidence. Prior to their match, he had thought that Tang Wulin was rather arrogant, but after facing him in battle and receiving guidance from him, Mu Tian had developed a sense of respect toward him.


    Pride stemmed from power; pride without power was idiocy, whereas pride that was backed up by power was confidence!


    "I''ve already made up my mind; after this competition, I''m going to return to the Northsea Legion and apply for leave, then go to Shrek Academy. I wonder if Shrek Academy will accept me."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "If you give it a shot, you''ll have a chance, but if you don''t, you''ll have no chance."


    Mu Tian''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he said, "I understand. I''ll stay to watch all of the matches, particularly yours. I wish you luck in securing the ultimate prize."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I''ll do my best."


    Of course, he couldn''t tell Mu Tian how to enter Shrek Academy and what Shrek Academy would give him as doing so would blow his cover. If Mu Tian still couldn''t take this opportunity even after everything that Tang Wulin had told him, then it simply wasn''t meant to be.


    Shrek Academy required more talent, particularly in the form of teachers, for its rebuild. Mu Tian was from the Northsea Legion, and the Tang Sect had already investigated his background to ascertain that he was a trustworthy individual. If a seasoned military veteran like Mu Tian could join Shrek Academy, then the education of the outer court disciples would definitely benefit significantly. The experience that the military had in training soldiers had been honed and refined over many years. Even though it couldn''t produce freakish talents like Shrek Academy could, the military''s training methods were definitely still worth incorporating and learning from.


    Shrek Academy was still a wealth of cultivation information, and there were still many powerful beings among its ranks, so there really was a very good chance that Mu Tian would be able to make further progress there.


    "Let''s talk, Wulin." Right at this moment, a captivating voice rang out in Tang Wulin''s ears.


    Tang Wulin reflexively stopped in his tracks. He couldn''t sense anyone beside him with his spiritual power, so he was slightly stunned to hear this voice. It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that his spiritual power had reached an extremely advanced level, and he was one step away from being able to achieve mental manifestation, which was a signature ability of Limit Douluos.


    However, he was still completely unable to sense where she was, which meant that her spiritual power was definitely superior to his.


    "Go on ahead; I have some things I need to take care of," Tang Wulin said.


    Mu Tian gave an affirmative response, then extended a bow toward Tang Wulin before departing.


    "Go back to where you''re staying first." Her voice sounded within Tang Wulin''s ears again.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. For some reason, he felt like there was something off about the way she was speaking.


    He quickly returned to his room in the blacksmith association, yet just as he was about to focus on sensing her presence, a silver door suddenly appeared before him amid a flash of silver light, and she emerged from within it.


    She was still as beautiful as ever, and she was wearing a long dark blue dress that further accentuated her regal beauty.


    "Gu Yue." A gentle look immediately appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes at the sight of her.


    "Wulin, you should leave," Gu Yuena said in a quiet voice, and a hint of exhaustion flashed through her eyes as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "What do you mean by that?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "I don''t want you to participate in this event; you should leave."


    Tang Wulin''s expression fell slightly. "You want me to leave so you can choose Qiangu Zhangting?"


    Gu Yuena looked into his eyes with a complex expression, as if she were wordlessly communicating the question "do you trust me?".


    Tang Wulin''s answer was immediate and decisive. "I trust you, but I''m not going to leave."


    Gu Yuena sighed, "As I''m sure you''ve already guessed, I''ve stayed in the Spirit Pagoda this entire time not because of how powerful it is as an organization, but instead because I have an ulterior motive. In a sense, the Spirit Pagoda is my enemy, and only by staying there can I better target them. This joust for a spouse event is a part of my plan, but you''re currently destroying my plan. I don''t want you to get swept up in this as it''ll put you in a lot of danger. Qiangu Dongfeng is a madman at heart; I don''t want you to be in any danger."


    She paused here for a brief moment before continuing, "I won''t let anyone else touch me aside from you."


    Tang Wulin had been rather perplexed and even a little displeased by what Gu Yuena had told him, but that final heartfelt declaration instantly made his heart completely melt.


    He reached out to embrace her familiar and enchanting body, and as he inhaled her unique fragrance, his heart was filled with satisfaction.


    Gu Yuena returned his embrace in a very natural manner, and she was also blissfully content. The sense of safety that she derived from being in his arms made her unconsciously close her eyes, and she suddenly realized that she was becoming less and less able to resist him. In fact, she no longer even wanted to try and resist him.


    "You never told me why the Spirit Pagoda is your enemy, and I don''t see how that conflicts with our relationship. All of the leads we''ve gathered point to the Spirit Pagoda playing a role in the destruction of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters, so why can''t we face this common enemy together?"


    "It''s not the same," Gu Yue said in a quiet voice.


    Tang Wulin insisted, "How is it not the same? I understand that it''s easier to destroy something from the inside, but this is too dangerous for you; I don''t want you to take such a risk. Can''t you place more trust in me? I''m going to continue participating in this joust for a spouse event no matter what. I won''t allow you to belong to anyone else, even if it''s just for show."


    "It''s not the same," Gu Yue repeated, "Wulin, please leave or just forget about me."


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he grabbed onto Gu Yue''s shoulders to put some distance between them, then looked into her eyes with a scorching gaze, "Say that again."


    Gu Yuena''s eyes were filled with complex emotions as she said, "Forget about me, Wulin, or you''ll be in even more pain in the future than you are now. There''s no way that we can be together. I can''t tell you the reasons behind this, but if there were even the slightest possibility that things could work out between us, I wouldn''t be saying this to you. Just forget about me; it''s the best choice you''ll ever make."


    "What exactly are you hiding from me? Why can''t you just tell me? I''ll stand by your side no matter what! Can''t we face everything together?"


    "We can''t!" Gu Yue suddenly yelled as she shrugged off Tang Wulin''s hands, and a frosty look also appeared in her eyes.


    "There''s no way we can face my issues together unless you can betray the entire human race, the Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, your friends, even the entire world! Can you do that?"


    Her voice suddenly became very cold and forceful, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that her hands were trembling slightly, clearly indicating that she wasn''t as calm and detached as she looked.

 Chapter 1518: Mental Manifestation

    Tang Wulin was rooted to the spot upon hearing this. He had never had such a fierce argument with Gu Yuena before. Being with her meant that he would have to betray the entire human race?


    He really wanted to impulsively tell her that he was willing to do that, but could he really do it?


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Yali, everyone in Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and the Tang Sect; could he really betray all of them?


    He knew that he couldn''t, and there was no way he would even try to do it!


    He wouldn''t be where he was today if it weren''t for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. He could never forget how the teachers of Shrek Academy had given up their lives without any hesitation to protect the students and the glory of Shrek Academy.


    He could never forget how the Atlas Douluo had taken on that massive explosion and the most powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult on his own, resulting in even his soul being harvested from his body.


    The heritage of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect was something that his generation had to continue to protect with their lives; how could he betray them?


    "Why?" That was the only question that Tang Wulin could muster up.


    Gu Yuena looked deep into his eyes, and there were tears swimming in her own eyes. "I''m sorry. I''ll tell you everything someday. Don''t love me anymore; go and love someone else. I can''t give you everything you want, and there''s no way we can be together."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Do you love me?"


    Gu Yuena suddenly strode forward and shoved him in the chest with both hands, causing him to stumble back into the wall behind him. Tears then began to stream uncontrollably down her face while silver light radiated from her body.


    "Forget about me; I never want to see you again." Those were her final words.


    Tang Wulin slumped back against the wall and allowed himself to slide down until he was sitting on the ground.


    Ever since he had first met her, no one else had occupied any space in his heart, and only after years had passed did he discover that she had only arrived by his side because of Na''er.


    He had known her for over 10 years, and during that time, she had always supported him in a quiet and subtle way.


    That was what had made him fall in love with her, and his love for her was irrepressible and completely unreserved. However, she was only getting further and further away from him.


    He had never seen her get so emotional in all the years that he had known her, and he could sense that there was a special hint of oppression in her emotions that struck even him with a sense of asphyxiation.


    Every single word she had just said was engraved deep into his mind, and his heart was throbbing with pain, but not because she had asked him to forget her or for him to betray all of humanity. Instead, his heart was aching for her sake.


    She had asked him to forget about her and no longer love her on many occasions, but she had never told him that she no longer loved him. Her tears were like soul missiles that exploded in his heart, hurting him so badly that it was difficult to breathe.


    Why? Why wouldn''t she just tell him what she wanted to do? Why was it that loving her would require him to betray the entire human race? Why wouldn''t she just tell him everything?


    On this occasion, Gu Yuena''s departure seemed to hold a hint of finality to it, as if this were their final farewell.


    Everything seemed to have changed, but the change hadn''t taken place recently. Instead, it had already occurred on the night that she had given herself to him. That night, she had given every part of herself to him without any reservation, yet right after that, she seemed to have built up a fortress around her own heart.


    Tang Wulin sat in a complete daze, and only as night fell did he gradually return to his senses.


    He couldn''t leave, and nor was he going to. Just as he had said, he couldn''t allow her to be with Qiangu Zhangting, even if it were just for show.


    On top of that, this operation targeting the joust for a spouse event was not just for her sake, but also for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    Ever since that tragic bombing, the Spirit Pagoda had constantly held the upper hand, and it was time to retaliate.


    Tang Wulin forcibly calmed himself down so he could objectively analyze the issue presented before him.


    After some careful recollection of all of his past experiences with Gu Yuena, he felt like his mind had become a lot clearer. He had already grasped some important points, and even though he couldn''t come up with anything concrete, he had already devised a few possible theories.


    In any case, he had to continue walking down his own path. One thing was for sure: there was no way that Gu Yuena would hurt him no matter what. On top of that, it was imperative for him to continue to work hard in his cultivation and become more powerful.


    Even if she really wanted to turn on the entire world, he would just have to abduct her and imprison himself together with her, not allowing her to hurt anyone else, nor allowing anyone to cause harm to her. However, all of this required him to be more powerful.


    The soul core in his mind pulsated gently along with the sorrow in his heart, and Tang Wulin felt like he could sense some changes taking place in the power of laws again. His emotional fluctuations filled him with an indescribable feeling, and the light around him began to warp slightly.


    In that instant, it was as if over a decade had suddenly passed by. How he wished that he could return to his carefree life back when he had first entered Shrek Academy. That was the happiest period of his life where he was completely free from all burdens.


    He really wanted to go back so he could be with her and his friends.


    Specks of light began to form tiny fragments around him, and within those fragments of light were a series of familiar figures. They were Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, Xu Lizhi, Yuanen Yehui, Yue Zhengyu, and Ye Xinglan.


    There was also the Shrek Academy of the past; all of it was being depicted through mental manifestation.


    In this moment, when his heart was filled with sorrow and reminiscence, his spiritual power had made another breakthrough.


    He closed his eyes, and the memory fragments around him became clearer and clearer. He basked himself in the past, and it was as if he were going through his life a second time, mending all of his regrets so that everything became perfect.


    A layer of translucent light surfaced over his body.


    The more advanced one''s spiritual power became, the greater the impact it would have on their powers. The achievement of mental manifestation meant that one''s spiritual power had truly combined as one with the rest of their powers. This was the most important hurdle one had to overcome prior to becoming a Limit Douluo, and only after overcoming this did it become possible for one to progress to the Limit Douluo level. However, Tang Wulin had achieved this not long after becoming a Titled Douluo, and this forged a more solid foundation for him to reach greater heights in the future.


    He stood still on the spot for an indeterminate period of time, and when he opened his eyes again, it was still nighttime outside.


    The sadness in his heart had already faded, and it was as if all of the pain had been washed away by his mental manifestation.


    Compared to his past self, his eye had become clearer, and his aura had become even more obscured, like that of an ordinary person. This was a result of the return to simplicity he had achieved following his mental manifestation.

 Chapter 1519: Return to Simplicity

    Return to simplicity was the goal for all Soul Masters, yet Tang Wulin had achieved it even without his own realization.


    He had become a Titled Douluo after that night of bliss with Gu Yuena, yet it was due to their altercation that he had achieved return to simplicity. It had to be said that everything seemed to have been designed by fate.


    Only after taking a look at his soul communicator did Tang Wulin realize that he had been standing on the spot for two whole days, which meant that this was the third night since Gu Yue''s visit.


    Zhen Hua had stipulated that Tang Wulin was to be given absolute peace and quiet, so no one would disturb him here, and as a result, no one knew what had happened.


    A sense of enlightenment had surfaced in his mind, but due to the emotional fluctuations that Gu Yuena''s visit had brought on, he was completely unable to calm himself down and latch onto that sliver of enlightenment.


    After briefly brushing his teeth and grabbing something to eat, he returned to the heavenly platform.


    He needed to vent his emotions right now, and only lightning could calm him down.


    The joust for a spouse had reached a relatively uneventful period, and the Myriad Beast Plane was still as popular as ever. Every single day, many high-grade Soul Masters would line up to enter the plane, allowing the Spirit Pagoda to profit massively. In contrast, the hype surrounding the joust for a spouse event had died down slightly as there were matches being held every day, and it wasn''t all that exciting anymore. Only when there were important matchups was interest rekindled, and in order to continue promoting the event, the Spirit Pagoda had already begun issuing rewards to the competitors who had already been eliminated.


    After the first two rounds of the round-robin stage, each group had a cluster of competitors with two victories, and they were undoubtedly the favorites to progress.


    The most heavily anticipated group was still the third group. Not only did it have four Titled Douluos, two of them were handsome young prodigies in the form of Qiangu Zhangting and Yu Longyue.


    There were many people who were lamenting the fact that they were in the same group. If they had been in different groups, it was very likely that they would both progress, thereby presenting both of them as options to Gu Yuena.


    In the fourth group, Lan Fuozi was also displaying tremendous power and had two victories to her name. There were young prodigies in other groups as well, many of whom were at the Soul Douluo level and possessed special abilities.


    There were only seven rounds left, and every round was very important. However, the spectators knew that the winner of the clash between Qiangu Zhangting and Yu Longyue would most likely be the one to progress from the third group.


    The third round finally arrived, and funnily enough, Tang Wulin''s opponent for this round was Lu Yuxing, whom Qiangu Zhangting had just defeated in the previous round.


    Lu Yuxing''s defeat had been a crushing one, and the outcome of his match against Tang Wulin would undoubtedly be an indicator of how Tang Wulin would match up against Qiangu Zhangting.


    As Tang Wulin arrived in the resting area, all of the competitors from the third group discovered that he seemed to have become slightly different. He seemed to be less arrogant and more downtrodden. To put it in simpler terms, he appeared to be in a foul mood.


    Qiangu Zhangting had already arrived, and his opponent for this round was the weakest competitor in the group, so there was no pressure on him at all. He took a glance at Tang Wulin, and a hint of mockery appeared in his eyes.


    Just as Tang Wulin had deduced, Lu Yuxing hadn''t displayed his full power against Qiangu Zhangting.


    Lu Yuxing had actually already been recruited by the Spirit Pagoda. He possessed exceptional aptitude and had devised his own unique style of battle in the Northwestern Desert, but that area was simply too poor, and he had run out of money to support himself in his cultivation at just the Soul King level. As such, he had no choice but to seek out a powerful backer.


    The Spirit Pagoda had always had a focus on recruiting outstanding talents, whom they would try to convince to sign contracts of servitude to the Spirit Pagoda in exchange for compensation. Lu Yuxing was a great success story stemming from these efforts, and he was now quite a high-ranking member of the organization. If it weren''t for the fact that he was used to living in the desert and there were simply too few Soul Masters there to warrant a branch of the Spirit Pagoda being built, he would most likely be a branch chairman right now.


    The restrictions that the Spirit Pagoda imposed upon him were significantly less than what they had been in the past, and he was similar to an elder of the organization.


    He had been assigned to the same group as Qiangu Zhangting to provide him with a relatively easy victory, which was why Qiangu Zhangting had managed to defeat him in such crushing fashion. Otherwise, there wouldn''t have been such a drastic disparity in power between them.


    In complete contrast to Lu Yuxing was Yu Longyue, who was a thorn in Qiangu Zhangting''s side. He definitely couldn''t allow such threatening competition to progress to the final 10 with him, so he arranged for the two of them to be in the same group, thereby allowing him to prevent Yu Longyue from progressing any further.


    Even though Qiangu Zhangting was confident that Gu Yuena would choose him, this was a safety precaution that he felt necessary to take.


    Tang Wulin didn''t close his eyes to rest; he merely sat there with a gloomy expression. Even Mu Tian didn''t approach him to greet him as he could sense that there was something off about Tang Wulin.


    Meanwhile, Lu Yuxing was appraising Tang Wulin this entire time. The instructions he had received were simple: defeat Tang Wulin at all costs. If he could do that, then Qiangu Zhangting would grant him 10 opportunities to enter the Myriad Beast Plane. That would be enough to elevate his soul rings to a higher level and grant him greater power.


    Right at this moment, Lan Fuozi strode into the resting area. She was wearing a set of crisp white robes, and she immediately strode directly toward Tang Wulin upon catching sight of him.


    Tang Wulin was still in his own bubble, seemingly oblivious to her approach.


    Lan Fuozi stopped right in front of him, and said, "Come with me, Yu Longyue; I have something to speak to you about."


    Tang Wulin replied in a cold voice, "I''m busy."


    Lan Fuozi faltered slightly upon hearing this. "I have something serious to discuss with you."


    "I told you, I''m busy," Tang Wulin repeated as his brows furrowed slightly.


    A furious look appeared on Lan Fuozi''s face as she grabbed Tang Wulin and wrenched him off the sofa. "What are you busy with? Staring off into space?"


    A cold look instantly appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes. He was already in a bad mood, and Lan Fuozi certainly wasn''t helping the situation.


    Lan Fuozi faltered slightly at the sight of Tang Wulin''s frosty gaze, and she was just about to say something when Tang Wulin grabbed onto her wrist.


    His iron grip made her reflexively let go of him, and all of a sudden, an extremely formidable aura began to emanate from Tang Wulin''s body, as if he had suddenly transformed into a ferocious beast.

 Chapter 1520: Abridged Dragon Emperor Break

    Lan Fuozi was completely unfazed, and she circulated her soul power as her entire body became ethereal and insubstantial. It was as if there were another Lan Fuozi looking down from above, ready to dominate the situation if required.


    However, the aura that Tang Wulin was releasing was quickly withdrawn, and it was as if nothing had happened.


    He released Lan Fuozi''s wrist, and said, "Let''s go."


    After that, he led the way out of the resting area.


    Lan Fuozi was rather dumbstruck by this turn of events. She was fully prepared for a battle with Tang Wulin, but he had suddenly withdrawn his aura, and the sight of his departing figure made her feel a little sympathetic for some reason. In particular, the dejection that had appeared in his eyes right before he had departed was tugging on her heartstrings.


    Outside the resting area, Lan Fuozi strode over to Tang Wulin, and said, "Come with me."


    Tang Wulin followed her to a corner without asking any questions.


    "That Lu Yuxing is more powerful than he made himself look in the last round," Lan Fuozi said in a concise manner.


    "I know, I can tell," Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent manner, "Is that all?"


    Lan Fuozi asked in a cold voice, "Are you a dog?"


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly.


    Lan Fuozi continued, "If not, then why are you acting like a mad dog?"


    Tang Wulin was rendered speechless by this.


    "I''m not in a good mood today, so I don''t want to talk to you. I don''t want to raise my hand against a woman, so I''ll let you off the hook for grabbing me back there. Thank you for your good intentions, but they''re wasted on me. Also, aren''t you into women? I have no intention of making you straight, so don''t fall in love with me."


    After that, Tang Wulin immediately departed, while Lan Fuozi''s fury bubbled over like a volcanic eruption.


    A burst of tremendous force erupted in a small area, instantly enveloping Tang Wulin within it.


    Tang Wulin felt as if he had stepped into a deep-sea vortex, and there was fearsome pressure surging toward him from all sides, threatening to pulverize his entire body.


    There seemed to be countless tiny vortexes within this one vortex, tearing ferociously at his body from all directions, and there were even sounds of violent crashing waves all around him.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s eyes turned a golden color, and a peculiar sensation erupted within his body. His right hand instantly transformed into a golden dragon claw, and a peerless sense of authoritative might surged forth, causing all of the surrounding waves to instantly subside. In the same instant, Lan Fuozi felt as if all of the power within her body had been completely stripped away. Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin''s right hand closed itself around her neck and picked her up from the floor.


    Restrict All Laws, Dragon Emperor Break!


    The two of them were situated too close together, and Lan Fuozi didn''t know that Tang Wulin possessed such an ability, so she immediately fell prey to it.


    Tang Wulin''s forte lay in melee combat, and this was the resting area, so Lan Fuozi hadn''t dared to unleash the full extent of her power. As such, her attack was instantly eradicated by the abridged version of Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Break. Electricity coursed through Tang Wulin''s golden dragon claw, instantly numbing Lan Fuozi''s entire body.


    Dragon Emperor Break had the ability to instantly nullify all energy-based attacks, and after making a breakthrough in his spiritual power, he was now able to utilize the attack with even greater proficiency.


    On top of that, Lan Fuozi had been blinded by her rage, which was why she had been instantly overwhelmed.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his lightning and set Lan Fuozi down on the ground next to the wall as an apologetic look appeared in his eyes. "I''m sorry, I really am in a bad mood today. Thank you for your words of caution."


    He wanted to distance himself from Lan Fuozi to avoid a repeat of the Dai Yun''er situation, but he was still kind at heart and unable to repress his apology.


    He didn''t dare to linger in case Lan Fuozi sought revenge after recovering from her paralysis, so he quickly returned to the resting area.


    Several seconds later, the numb sensation in Lan Fuozi''s body faded as she gasped for air. Why was it that she was completely unable to control her own body just now? What kind of ability had he used? Could it be that her Boundless Vortex had failed to affect him? That was a powerful technique created by her mother! Could it be that he was even more powerful than she had imagined?


    It seemed that her concern for him was unnecessary. And what was that about falling in love with him? Ptui! Who would fall in love with a stinky man like him!


    The matches for the third round commenced.


    Tang Wulin was fighting in the first match of the day; perhaps this was something that the Spirit Pagoda had intentionally arranged.


    "It''s time for Yu Longyue to take the stage again. I''m sure this is a highly anticipated match for everyone, and we''re certainly not wasting any time, seeing as this is the first match of the day. Now then, I''ll begin my brief analysis." Commentator Ai Fei was busy at work again.


    "Yu Longyue has displayed crushing dominance against all of his opponents in the event thus far, and it''s undoubtedly the case that he''s one of the hot favorites of the competition. His opponent for today, Lu Yuxing, is also quite powerful, but unfortunately for him, he lost in the last round to Qiangu Zhangting. As we all know, Qiangu Zhangting and Yu Longyue are the two biggest favorites of the third group. Qiangu Zhangting has already defeated Lu Yuxing; will Yu Longyue will be able to follow in his example?


    "Perhaps we''ll be able to get a better gauge of the power comparison between Yu Longyue and Qiangu Zhangting through this match, so I''d advise everyone to pay close attention to this match. The two competitors have entered the venue, and the referees are ready. In reality, the role that referees can play in matches between Titled Douluos is very limited as the clashes are simply far too fierce; we can only rely on the competitors themselves to exercise restraint in order to avoid inflicting unnecessary harm upon their opponents.


    "Now then, let''s begin the countdown. Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    The two competitors were ready to go, and Lu Yuxing naturally wasn''t going to treat this match lightly, but at the same time, he had great confidence in himself.


    He had suffered a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Qiangu Zhangting, but only because the match had been fixed in advance.


    However, he certainly wasn''t going to be holding back against Yu Longyue. Defeating Yu Longyue would grant him 10 chances to enter the Myriad Beast Plane and better his relationship with the heir to the Spirit Pagoda chairman, Qiangu Zhangting, so he would be killing two birds with one stone. As such, he was going to defeat Yu Longyue at all costs.


    As soon as the commencement of the match was announced, Lu Yuxing instantly transformed into sand that spread in all directions.

 Chapter 1521: My God! The Match is Over!

    At the same time, Tang Wulin seized the initiative for the first time in his matches and pounced directly toward the center of the vast expanse of sand like a hunting falcon. The air around him began to warp, and all of the sand that was spreading through the area suddenly converged toward the center, almost instantly forming back into Lu Yuxing.


    Lu Yuxing wore a completely dumbstruck expression, clearly having no idea what had just happened.


    Lightning surged over the bluish-purple scales that had appeared on Tang Wulin''s right hand, and he reached out directly toward Lu Yuxing.


    After only a split-second delay, Lu Yuxing immediately returned to his senses, and he shot back like lightning while trying to disintegrate into sand again. At the same time, countless grains of sand shot forth toward Tang Wulin like a barrage of speeding arrows.


    The palm of Tang Wulin''s dragon claw suddenly turned a blackish-purple color, and a vast expanse of lightning erupted forth while the air around Tang Wulin warped once again.


    All of a sudden, Lu Yuxing reappeared at the exact spot where he had been a moment ago, and Tang Wulin''s electric dragon claw was already waiting for him there; it was as if Lu Yuxing had rushed into the attack on his own!


    Specks of light appeared all over Lu Yuxing''s body as he attempted to release his battle armor, but a burst of enormous repulsive force suddenly erupted out of the palm of Tang Wulin''s right hand.


    Lu Yuxing was struck by a rush of dizziness, and his connection with his own battle armor was instantly severed.


    Lightning crackled all over Lu Yuxing''s body as he was caught in Tang Wulin''s grasp, and in that instant, Tang Wulin resembled an insurmountable Lightning God.


    "Alright, the match has begun, and... Ah! Yu Longyue is taking the initiative in this match! What''s going on? Why has Lu Yuxing returned to his human form? Hold on, judging from his expression, he doesn''t appear to have done so voluntarily. My God! The match is over!"


    That''s right, the highly anticipated match between two Titled Douluos was over before Ai Fei could even muster up a complete sentence.


    Lu Yuxing hadn''t even managed to unleash any of his soul skills before he was steamrolled.


    This was the result of a combination of Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal domain and Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques.


    Following the breakthrough Tang Wulin had made in his spiritual power, his spiritual domain had naturally been enhanced as well. There was simply far too huge a disparity between the spiritual powers of Tang Wulin and Lu Yuxing, so the latter was completely crushed.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t given Lu Yuxing any chances in that match.


    Due to the warping of light rays caused by the Time Reversal domain, it seemed that Lu Yuxing had suddenly teleported, and only he and Tang Wulin knew exactly what had happened.


    In the eyes of the spectators, it appeared that Lu Yuxing withdrew his martial soul, then rushed headfirst into Tang Wulin''s attack.


    Grains of sand fell onto the competition platform while emitting a faint hissing sound, clearly indicating that they were laced with lethal poison. In order to defeat Tang Wulin, Lu Yuxing had pulled out all the stops. He knew that he was no match for Tang Wulin, so he had fused poison into his sand, but he didn''t even get a chance to make use of the poison before he was crushed by Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin hurled Lu Yuxing away in a disdainful manner before departing in an expressionless manner, and Lu Yuxing fell to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably.


    Qiangu Zhangting looked on in a flabbergasted manner as Tang Wulin stopped in front of the rostrum, then seemingly said something before continuing to depart, not even sparing so much as a second glance at Lu Yuxing.


    Lan Fuozi also had no idea what had happened during that match, and all of a sudden, she didn''t feel as frustrated by the fact that Tang Wulin had caught her in a stranglehold so easily.


    Gu Yuena stood on the rostrum, and her calm expression did nothing to disguise the emotions raging in her eyes.


    Tang Wulin had indeed said something to the rostrum, and it had only been audible to her.


    "I''ll never give up!"


    If anyone had managed to figure out what had happened during that match, then it was Gu Yuena. Tang Wulin had displayed the full extent of his powers during this match.


    Under the disguise of his lightning, he had instantly crushed his opponent with his Time Reversal domain and Dragon Emperor Break. He had even unleashed a spiritual attack against Lu Yuxing while controlling him with his lightning.


    As a result, even Lu Yuxing wouldn''t be able to recall what had happened during the battle. As such, not only had Tang Wulin defeated his opponent extremely quickly, he had managed to conceal his abilities as well.


    After emerging from the Bright City Sports Stadium, Tang Wulin gave Yuanen Yehui a call. "Have you made up your mind, Yuanen?"


    "I have. After this joust for a spouse event, I''m going to return home to see my father; Xie Xie will also be coming with me."


    "Alright, that sounds like a solid plan. Feel free to contact me at any time if you need me; I''ll take care of everything over at the academy," Tang Wulin said.


    "Thank you." Yuanen Yehui wasn''t one to display much emotion, so those two simple words were enough to express her feelings.


    If Tang Wulin hadn''t withstood Yuanen Zhentian''s three attacks, perhaps she would still be completely oblivious to these matters. After learning the truth, she had decided to visit her father, then listen to her grandfather''s advice.


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin made no effort to disguise himself as he made his way back to the blacksmith association. He had already become quite famous from his previous matches, but he was currently giving off a forbidding aura that convinced people against approaching him.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin seemed to have sensed something, and he immediately cast his gaze toward a certain direction.


    At the end of the street stood a man in a set of very normal clothing. He wore a wide-brim hat that was tilted downward to conceal his facial features, but Tang Wulin was able to immediately sense his presence.


    This was a chilling sensation that only arose when he was in life-threatening danger.


    Even though Tang Wulin was currently in the bustling center of Bright City, he felt like they were the only two people in this world.


    The man stopped in his tracks and stuck his hands into his pockets, but his aura was only becoming more and more pronounced. Even with Tang Wulin''s powers, he was struck by a sense of asphyxiation.


    After a brief hesitation, Tang Wulin made his way directly toward the man as he knew that he wouldn''t be able to avoid him. At this distance, it would be impossible for him to escape or call for help. The man had released his aura without any fear of being noticed, so he clearly wanted Tang Wulin to detect his presence.


    As Tang Wulin drew closer, he was able to glean the man''s appearance.

 Chapter 1522: The Mysterious Powerful Being

    This was a burly man who was over two meters tall with solid cords of muscle bulging under his clothes. However, despite his appearance, none of the passersby seemed to have noticed him.


    Only after Tang Wulin had reached him did the burly man raise his head to reveal a set of facial features that looked as if they had been chiseled out of marble. A threatening light flashed in his eyes as he said, "I finally found you."


    Tang Wulin''s entire body was tensed up, and both his soul core and dragon core were ready to erupt at a moment''s notice. He knew that if he wanted to get away, he would have to at least withstand one attack from the man and cause a massive commotion.


    The Battle God Hall was situated in Bright City, and he was counting on them to rescue him.


    As his spiritual power had become more advanced, his judgment had also become sharper, and he could clearly sense that this man was even more dangerous than Yuanen Zhentian. He was definitely no less powerful than Infernal King Douluo Harosha, which meant that he was a quasigod.


    There was most likely no one else in Bright City who could compare with his power, and the most concerning thing to Tang Wulin was that he had no idea who this was. The first possibility that sprang into his mind was that this man was from the Holy Spirit Cult.


    In the face of this immense pressure, Tang Wulin''s latent potential was being activated to a great extent, and countless thoughts were flying through his mind. His greatest asset was the two remaining chances to use Unpredictable Storm left to him by his father, but he had no idea how to activate it.


    "How are you related to Tang San?" the burly man asked.


    No one had ever asked Tang Wulin this question before, and this was his biggest secret, so his first reaction to this question was one of astonishment. He clearly wasn''t expecting to be posed such a question.


    Tang Wulin had considered countless reasons why the burly man had sought him out, but never did he think that the man would ask him something like this.


    "Answer me and I''ll let you live." A burst of killing intent began to emanate from the burly man''s body, striking Tang Wulin with a sense of asphyxiation.


    Tang Wulin raised his head with a steely look in his eyes. "How do you know I''m related to Tang San?"


    "Your martial soul is the Bluesilver Emperor, and Tang San was the only one who possessed that martial soul. Tang San hasn''t left any descendants in this world, so this martial soul shouldn''t exist," the burly man said.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. He hadn''t expected the man to have analyzed the matter from that perspective, and he didn''t know whether to admit the truth or not. This man was clearly extremely powerful, but he didn''t know whether the man was friend or foe. If he were to admit the truth only for it to be spread, then he could be in a world of trouble.


    The child of a god would present an enormous amount of temptation to the Limit Douluos of this world seeking to make that final breakthrough; it was very likely that he would be captured and studied like some type of lab rat.


    However, if he didn''t tell the truth, would he be able to escape from this man?


    Just as Tang Wulin was hesitating about how to proceed, the burly man suddenly harrumphed coldly before reaching out toward his shoulder.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin felt as if there were a mountain crashing down toward him, and it seemed that the entire world around him had instantly congealed. This was clearly the power of laws.


    He had only just begun to familiarize himself with the laws of heaven and earth, but this man seemed to have completely mastered the utilization of the power of laws, and there was a massive disparity between the two.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes instantly turned golden, and his right hand transformed into a claw as he grabbed toward the burly man''s hand, unleashing his abridged Dragon Emperor Break in the process.


    The surrounding air twisted and warped, and the oncoming power of laws began to tremor, even showing signs of collapsing.


    "Hmm?" The burly man was rather taken aback by this, but his right hand suddenly seemed to expand.


    The surrounding area instantly became blurry and indistinct, and Tang Wulin felt like there was a hand-shaped mountain descending toward him from above.


    Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and resisted with all his might.


    The mountain abruptly disintegrated, and his Dragon Emperor Break finally took effect, freeing him from the enormous pressure he was being placed under.


    However, the burly man''s hand still managed to grab onto his shoulder. He had managed to restrict the man''s soul skill, but was unable to restrict his powerful hand.


    His shoulder was struck by a numb sensation, and he felt like all of his power had been instantly suppressed.


    The burly man smiled, and said, "Not bad, you''ve improved since last time."


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to interpret his words, the surrounding air suddenly twisted and warped, and he instantly vanished on the spot.


    Was this instantaneous teleportation? Just how powerful was this man to be able to do this?


    The entire world blurred around Tang Wulin, and the immense spatial pressure caused him to reflexively release his own soul power. Strangely enough, the burly man hadn''t sealed away his power, so he was able to draw upon it at will; it was just that he couldn''t release this power out of his own body.


    Everything gradually became clearer again amid a flash of light, and Tang Wulin was struck by a rush of intense dizziness, but he also found himself breathing in a lungful of incredibly fresh air.


    He focused his attention to find that he had arrived in a world that was full of life essence. Everything around him was covered in lush greenery, and the temperature was also just right, making for a very comfortable environment.


    "This is the Myriad Beast Plane!" Indeed, the Myriad Beast Plane was the only place other than the Great Star Dou Forest where he had seen such an environment. On top of that, this man came from none other than the Myriad Beast Plane! It seemed that he was able to traverse between this plane and the Douluo Continent at will.


    The burly man smiled, and said, "You''re a smart kid. Now then, give me your answer."


    Tang Wulin turned to look at the burly man, and he finally figured out who this man was.


    "You''re the Titan Giant Ape? Looks like I guessed right that day." Tang Wulin''s voice was trembling slightly.


    "So you know of me," the burly man said as his eyes narrowed slightly.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Everyone who knows about Tang San''s history knows of you as well; you''re a legendary figure on the Douluo Continent."


    The burly man chuckled, "Is that so? I didn''t think you''d figure it out so quickly. Alright, that''s enough chit-chat; answer my question. If your answer doesn''t satisfy me, I wouldn''t be opposed to making you into fertilizer for this place. This small world isn''t very stable and requires more energy to sustain. With your powers and your basic mastery of the power of laws, you''ll be the perfect fertilizer for this small world."


    Tang Wulin said, "If you really are the Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python, then you shouldn''t be doing this. Aren''t you supposed to be good friends of Tang San? You even sacrificed yourselves to help him in the past."


    A furious look suddenly appeared in the burly man''s eyes. "That''s all in the past; at that time, soul beasts were the rulers of this world, and you humans were only working to build cities and survive, but now, there is no space left on the Douluo Continent for soul beasts to inhabit. If we hadn''t created this small world to preserve some soul beasts, all soul beasts would''ve gone extinct long ago. The greed of you humans has led to the death of all soul beasts. Tang San''s son-in-law attempted to find a way to allow human Soul Masters and soul beasts to coexist in peace, thereby leading to the creation of soul spirits and the Spirit Pagoda, but little did he know that the Spirit Pagoda would become the main culprits behind the extinction of all soul beasts!"

 Chapter 1523: Youre the Titan Giant Ape!

    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh. He had to admit that humans were greedy by nature. In the beginning, it could''ve been argued that they had hunted soul beasts for survival, but after humans became more powerful than soul beasts, the dynamic completely shifted. Humans began to slaughter soul beasts with reckless abandon for personal profit, and the Spirit Pagoda was even using soul beasts to conduct research.


    However, humans were also beginning to experience the side-effects stemming from the collapse of the ecosystem and the waning life force energy on the Douluo Continent.


    The Douluo Continent had once belonged to soul beasts, and even though soul beasts also slaughtered one another, they did so with restraint, but what about humans? Human wants and needs were limitless, and they slaughtered soul beasts and tapped into all of the planet''s resources without any reservation. Now, the planet was standing on its last legs, and the human race had no choice but to explore outer space for the sake of future generations.


    Tang Wulin had no counter against the burly man''s accusations, nor did he want to argue this point.


    In the face of Tang Wulin''s silence, the burly man also calmed down a little. "My patience is limited; tell me how you''re related to Tang San. I''m sure that you know that you have no chance of escaping from me. I''ve already sealed the laws of this entire plane, so even she won''t be able to come in and rescue you."


    Tang Wulin didn''t know whom the burly man was referring to, but he could guess that this person was the owner of the giant silver claw that had saved him last time. Was that a soul beast as well?


    "You''re the Titan Giant Ape!" Tang Wulin suddenly said.


    The burly man faltered slightly before asking, "Why do you say that?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Because of your extreme strength."


    Having recently clashed with Yuanen Zhentian, he was well aware of what it was like to face ultimate strength. If Yuanen Zhentian had reached the pinnacle of strength, then this man had mastered the law of strength.


    The burly man''s brows furrowed slightly. "Answer my question."


    However, Tang Wulin continued with his analysis. "If you''re the Titan Giant Ape, then your name should be Er Ming, right?"


    A reminiscent look appeared in the burly man''s eyes upon hearing this, and he murmured, "It''s been many years since anyone''s called me by that name."


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, then continued, "If you''re Er Ming, then I can tell you that Tang San is my father."


    Tang Wulin felt chills run down his spine as he uttered those words. This was an indescribable sense of excitement, and it stemmed from the fact that this was the first time he was admitting to anyone that Tang San was his father.


    Even he didn''t know what other emotions were intermingled with this excitement, but he knew that in that instant, he was immensely proud, proud of having such a father.


    The burly man''s hands instantly balled up into tight fists, and he asked in an incredulous voice, "You''re Tang San''s son? Tang Wulin... Does that mean Tang Wutong is your sister?"


    A complex look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes. "Is Tang Wutong her name? All I know is that I have a sister."


    "Come with me!" Instead of asking any further questions, Er Ming waved a hand toward Tang Wulin before rising up into the air.


    Tang Wulin followed along behind him, and was led away into the distance.


    Perhaps it was due to the aura emanating from Er Ming''s body, but no soul beasts dared to approach them. Every part of the forest that Er Ming passed through seemed to be extremely quiet.


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with excitement. He had been searching for an opportunity to enter the Myriad Beast Plane again in order to verify the identities of these two, and his wish had been granted.


    At this point, he had calmed down a little, and he was even more convinced about the authenticity of their identities as only they would be aware that the Bluesilver Emperor martial soul belonged only to Tang San. It was exactly because they were extremely familiar with his father that they had sought him out over something like this.


    In a sense, it could be said that Er Ming was the original ancestor of Yuanen Yehui''s family.


    On top of that, they were good friends of his parents, so they definitely weren''t going to hurt him. With the power that Er Ming had displayed, he would benefit the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy immensely if Tang Wulin could garner his support. However, it seemed that he harbored a lot of resentment toward humans, and that was quite troublesome.


    Of course, the most important thing now was that he had found a legendary figure who truly knew his parents! He would be able to gather more information about his parents from them, and that would assist him greatly in his search for his parents in the future.


    Er Ming brought Tang Wulin to the small lake that he had been to once before, then descended beside the lake.


    "I''ve brought him back, Big Brother!" Er Ming yelled.


    The surface of the lake rippled and surged, and a massive cow''s head slowly emerged. In contrast with a normal cow''s head, this head was proportionally slightly narrower, somewhat resembling a dragon''s head, and it was entirely azure in color with countless fine scales riddling its surface.


    As the giant head appeared, the entire lake was illuminated by azure light, and in the next instant, the azure light had risen up into the air before landing beside Er Ming and Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin focused his gaze and discovered that this was a tall and broad man who was giving off a peculiar yet barely detectable aura. It wasn''t a powerful aura; it simply seemed like it was a part of this world to begin with.


    It was exactly due to Tang Wulin''s exceptional spiritual power that he was able to sense that as this man appeared, the entire space in the surrounding area seemed to have undergone some type of change.


    In a sense, it could be said that Er Ming and this man were the planar rulers of the Myriad Beast Plane.


    Tang Wulin had absolute confidence in this assessment as it was the only explanation for this feeling that he was currently experiencing.


    This was something that he had never felt from any powerful being he had encountered in the past, and it could be said that in this plane, they were true gods; even Infernal King Douluo Harosha wouldn''t have a sliver of a chance of defeating them here.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python stared intently at Tang Wulin, as if he were trying to see right through him. Meanwhile, Er Ming said, "He says he''s Tang San''s son."


    The Sky Azure Bull Python''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "How can you prove that?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "If you really are friends of my parents, then of course I can verify my identity, but how can you prove to me that you are still the same friends my parents once had?"


    The Sky Azure Bull Python smiled, and said, "You have no choice here; only by proving your own identity can you hope to survive."

 Chapter 1524: Proof of Identity

    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. He had an unyielding personality, and a burst of stubbornness instinctively erupted in his heart. He pursed his lips tightly, and said, "You''re using your power to force your will upon others. Even if you really are friends of my parents, I don''t like you."


    The Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape exchanged a slightly surprised glance, and both of them smiled with amusement.


    "So what''s your choice?" the Sky Azure Bull Python asked.


    A smile also suddenly appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I don''t like you, but I''ll still prove my identity to you as my life doesn''t just belong to me; it also belongs to my friends, Shrek Academy, and the Tang Sect. I have to keep living, and even more importantly, I have to go and find my family in the future; I can''t die before I''ve met them."


    Stubbornness wasn''t something to be proud of; this was something that he had learned back on the demonic island. Through that horrific experience, he had learned the importance of weighing up the consequences of different actions.


    Prior to his visit to the demonic island, perhaps he would''ve resisted even if it would''ve led to his demise, but now, he was mature enough to see the bigger picture. A true man knew when to resist and when to fold.


    Dying a resilient death would be very valiant, but what would happen to the Tang Sect? To Shrek Academy? To his friends and family? How dire would the consequences of that rash decision be?


    "Interesting. Alright, show us your proof then; you look like you''re very confident," the Sky Azure Bull Python said in a calm manner.


    Tang Wulin said, "If you identified me based on my Bluesilver Emperor, then I have something else that you should recognize as well."


    He raised his right hand as he spoke, and a streak of golden light appeared in his grasp, transforming into a peerlessly sharp dual-tip spear with a projection of a giant golden dragon revolving around it.


    The Titan Giant Ape immediately exclaimed, "That''s the Golden Dragon Spear!"


    "No, it''s not quite the same; it''s sharper than back when Wutong used it," the Sky Azure Bull Python said as he stared intently at the spear in Tang Wulin''s hand.


    Tang Wulin explained, "That''s because it''s been sharpened. According to legends, the Golden Dragon Spear was constructed from the rib of the Golden Dragon King or Dragon God, and it possesses the special ability to devour all energy. Thankfully, I found the Dragonslaying Saber, which was the law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan, and through clashes with each other, the Dragonslaying Saber and Golden Dragon Spear can sharpen one another, so the Golden Dragon Spear has become even more lethal than when I first came into possession of it."


    The Sky Azure Bull Python paused momentarily before concluding, "It''s still not enough."


    In response to the Sky Azure Bull Python''s skepticism, Tang Wulin raised his left hand, and a beam of golden light suddenly erupted from his glabella. The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape both shuddered in unison at the sight of the golden trident symbol that had appeared on Tang Wulin''s glabella as it was simply far too familiar to them.


    Tang San and Tang Wutong had both displayed this symbol at some point, and it was the Sea God''s Trident passed down through Tang San''s bloodline!


    Immediately thereafter, an extremely familiar feeling appeared, but the entire Myriad Beast Plane shuddered violently as if it were about to be torn apart.


    A pillar of golden light appeared in Tang Wulin''s grasp out of thin air, and an enormous authoritative aura surged forth. The scintillating golden light completely drowned out the radiance of the Golden Dragon Spear, and a serious look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he pointed the tip of the giant trident directly up toward the heavens.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape''s expression changed drastically, and all of their doubts were instantly erased.


    Who could possess Tang San''s most important divine weapon had he not given it to them?


    On top of that, the fact that Tang Wulin was able to wield the trident with relative ease indicated that he had at least received partial acknowledgment from it.


    Right at this moment, a vast expanse of golden light was released from Tang Wulin''s body, forming a series of images.


    There was no sound, but just those images alone were enough to evoke strong emotions within the hearts of the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape.


    To them, the figure in the images was far too familiar; it was none other than Sea God Tang San!


    Tang San''s body was looking a little insubstantial, but he really did exist, and he seemed to be communicating something to Tang Wulin within the image. He was bestowing some knowledge upon Tang Wulin in the majestic divine hall, and this was a memory of Tang Wulin''s from back when he only knew Tang San as Old Tang.


    He was displaying this through mental manifestation as there was nothing that could better reflect his identity.


    It was very difficult to mentally manifest a fake memory as there was no way to manifest something that didn''t exist.


    The scenes in the image continued to unfold, beginning with Old Tang''s lessons, then progressing to Tang San''s arrival to save Tang Wulin from a perilous situation, then moving onto Tang San bestowing the golden trident, as well as Millennium White Clouds and Unpredictable Storm upon him.


    The final scene depicted the Infernal Lightning Vine successfully completing its evolution under Tang San''s protection.


    The hands of both the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape balled up into tight fists in unison at the sight of Tang San unleashing his Unpredictable Storm, and the pressure that they were exerting upon Tang Wulin completely disappeared.


    The images vanished, and Tang Wulin also awakened from his memories.


    "Put the golden trident away; the plane won''t be able to handle it!" the Sky Azure Bull Python said in an urgent voice.


    Golden light flashed from Tang Wulin''s hand as he quickly stowed the trident away, and only then did the entire plane stop trembling.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape exchanged a glance, and they could both see their own excitement mirrored in one another''s eyes.


    "He''s still alive! This is fantastic! Haha, they''re probably all still alive; we still have hope!" the Titan Giant Ape chortled with glee, and Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless at the sight of such a powerful being acting like an overjoyed child. However, at the same time, he could also clearly sense the heartfelt elation from these two powerful beings.


    "Wulin, you''ve managed to prove your identity to us. I am Da Ming, and he is Er Ming; you can refer to us as uncle. Your father refers to us as brothers, and we''ve been good friends with your mother ever since she was just a little rabbit."


    The Sky Azure Bull Python''s voice had become a lot gentler, and there was a benevolent look in his eyes as he appraised Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was also feeling very excited. There was no need for him to verify the identities of these two as their quasigod level powers were enough to tell him everything. If they hadn''t identified the fact that he could be a descendant of Tang San''s, then they wouldn''t have sought him out.


    "Tang Wulin pays his respects to his uncles," Tang Wulin said as he extended a respectful bow.

 Chapter 1525: The Beast Monarchs Who Resented the Human Race

    The Sky Azure Bull Python laid a hand on his arm, and said, "We''re all family; there''s no need for such formalities. Back when your sister was around, she was treating us like her playthings! Only after she met that Huo Yuhao kid did she finally settle down. In the end, she and Huo Yuhao had to endure a lot of hardships before they could be together."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes widened upon hearing this. "Is the Dragon Butterfly Douluo really my sister?"


    This was something that he had never been able to ascertain, and there wasn''t even concrete proof that Tang Wutong was Tang San''s daughter; it had merely been speculated in historical records, but never actually verified.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python nodded, and said, "Around 10,000 years ago, your sister snuck down from the Divine Realm in her teens to play on the Douluo Continent. At the time, your parents knew about this, and they intentionally allowed her to do this. However, they also asked me and Er Ming to follow her to the Douluo Continent to protect her. Huo Yuhao had to undergo many trials set by us before he finally became your brother-in-law. He was also tortured quite a bit by your father as well. After all, a father is generally never satisfied with a son-in-law."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. Even though he had never experienced any of this, he was still extremely eager to hear more about his sister from the Sky Azure Bull Python.


    "What happened after that, Uncle Da Ming? What happened to the Divine Realm? My father only told me that it had been swept elsewhere by spatial turbulence, and that he wouldn''t be able to return in the near future."


    "Spatial turbulence? What did he tell you?" Just like Tang Wulin was eager to hear about his family, Da Ming and Er Ming were very interested in news about the Divine Realm.


    Er Ming was the one who had raised the question, but Da Ming interjected, "Let''s tell Wulin what we know, then listen to what Wulin has to say. That way, we won''t be talking over one another."


    Er Ming was very eager to hear more, but he still nodded in agreement.


    Da Ming continued, "Most of the historical records you humans have about Tang San are true because many of those records were left behind by him. Tang San told us that he actually didn''t belong to this world. Instead, he transmigrated from another large plane that was devoid of Soul Masters, and many of the Tang Sect''s hidden weapons and the cultivation methods recorded by the Tang Sect came from that plane; they were merely refined so that they would be more suitable for Soul Masters of our plane to cultivate.


    "To be honest, we were very much in opposition when your mother decided to be with Tang San. After all, she was a 100,000-year-old soul beast, and I''m sure you know how alluring 100,000-year-old soul beasts are to human Soul Masters. However, she insisted on being reborn as a human, and we couldn''t stop her. After that, your mother entered a relationship with Tang San, but never did we think that she would go on to sacrifice herself to become a soul ring for your father. At the time, we wanted nothing better than to have Tang San killed!


    "Fortunately, Tang San was a good man who was willing to resurrect your mother at all costs. In the end, he dismembered his own arm to release his soul bone in order to assist your mother in regaining her human form. At the time, we also chose to sacrifice ourselves to become a part of his power to assist in your mother''s resurrections. After that, Tang San inherited the godseats of the Sea God and Asura God, and defeated Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue in the final battle to save the entire continent from a major crisis.


    "The Douluo Continent of that time was vastly different to how it is now. Natural energies were vastly abundant, and the plane was extremely powerful, allowing it be unaffected even after facilitating a battle between gods."


    A dejected look appeared in Da Ming''s eyes as he spoke. "Wulin, I''m sure you sensed how this small plane began to tremble as you released your golden trident. If a battle between gods were to take place in this plane, it would instantly be torn apart, and all of the living beings residing within the plane would be killed. This plane is too weak and unstable on its own, so it can only survive while its attached to a large plane like the Douluo Continent."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response; he had indeed sensed this.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python continued, "The Douluo Star is actually also a plane, but it''s far more powerful than this small plane of ours. Every plane has its own laws, and the power of these laws is influenced by the plane itself. 20,000 years ago was when the Douluo Continent plane was at its most powerful.


    At the time, the entire plane was rich with life energy, and this energy is the key to nurturing all things and consolidating the power of laws. The Douluo Continent of that era was powerful enough to facilitate a battle between four first-rank gods, but now..."


    Da Ming gave a cold chuckle before continuing, "If such a battle were to take place now, it''s very likely that an irreparable time and spatial rift would be torn open, tearing the entire continent apart and severely impacting the entire Douluo Star."


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed drastically upon hearing this. "Why?"


    "Because of you humans!" Er Ming said in an enraged manner, "I admit that humans possess intelligence unparalleled by us soul beasts. You are adept at creating all types of things, but you''re even more proficient at destroying things! As you humans have become more powerful, the habitats of soul beasts have constantly been whittled down. You''ve tapped into too much of the planet''s resources, destroying much of its life energy, and even the Great Star Dou Forest has ceased to exist now.


    "In particular, the 10,000 years following the arrival of the Sun Moon Continent as a result of continental drift is the period of time where technology on the Douluo Continent advanced at the fastest rate, but also when life energy seeped out of the Douluo Continent at the most alarming rate."


    Both Da Ming and Er Ming heaved a forlorn sigh in unison.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly as he asked, "Hasn''t anyone realized this and sought to change things?"


    Da Ming replied in a grim voice, "Your brother-in-law did, and we even helped him in creating his soul spirit system in an effort to reduce the slaughter of soul beasts, but little did we know that the Spirit Pagoda would go on to become the one to ruin the entire soul beast world."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Can''t my brother-in-law do anything about this? Isn''t he a god as well? Are gods not permitted to interfere with the matters on the Douluo Continent?"


    A wry smile appeared on Da Ming''s face as he replied, "Under normal circumstances, he would be able to. Divine Realms exist to protect the planes that they have jurisdiction over, and in the past, our Divine Realm was a huge yet very harmonious realm. It had jurisdiction over many planes, and your father was one of the five godkings of the Divine Realm Committee. Following the disappearance of the Gods of Kindness and Evil, your father became the head of the five godkings, overseeing the jurisdiction of the entire Divine Realm and all the planes."


    Er Ming said, "If the Divine Realm were still around, none of this would''ve happened, and we wouldn''t be in such a terrible situation. However, the Divine Realm suddenly vanished close to 10,000 years ago, and you humans had developed so rapidly precisely because there''s no longer a Divine Realm to keep you all in check. At this rate, all of the life energy on this entire plane is going to be exhausted."


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to say something, Da Ming asked, "Do you know of the abyssal plane? It became connected to our Douluo Continent around 6,000 years ago."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Da Ming chuckled coldly, "That''s an example of you humans shooting yourselves in the foot. Due to the rapid loss of life energy on the Douluo Continent plane, vulnerable points have appeared in the planar laws, and that''s been taken advantage of by the abyssal plane. Countless sacrifices were made to seal that abyssal passageway, but as long as the Douluo Continent''s life energy remains in this dire state, there''s no way to completely cut off this connection, and an even severer calamity will erupt sooner or later."


    "There are more planes than just the abyssal plane looking to invade the Douluo Continent, and if things continue like this, the Douluo Continent will inevitably completely collapse someday."

 Chapter 1526: Secrets of the Plane

    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. He had witnessed the horrors of the abyssal plane in person, but never did he think that the connection between the two planes had been forged as a result of anything other than a coincidence.


    The Sky Azure Bull Python continued, "This Myriad Beast Plane is actually something that Er Ming and I developed from a small plane. At the time, your sister and brother-in-law left for the Divine Realm, but we preferred to stay on the Douluo Continent, and to assuage our boredom, we attempted to create a habitat for ourselves in this small plane; never did we think that it would become the final habitat of all soul beasts someday. We were extremely shocked and enraged when we discovered that you humans were posing a threat to the entire soul beast world, and we immediately tried to contact Tang San.


    "However, we discovered that there was no way to contact the Divine Realm. Just as you humans have speculated, the Divine Realm has disappeared. The two of us can''t contend with the entire human race, so we could only try to bring more soul beasts into this plane. Otherwise, the entire soul beast world really would be headed toward extinction."


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense the hatred in Da Ming and Er Ming''s voices whenever they mentioned humans, and this filled him with melancholy.


    He asked, "So why is it that the Myriad Beast Plane is now connected to the Spirit Pagoda? Why are you allowing people to enter this plane to continue killing soul beasts?"


    Da Ming chuckled coldly in response, "Don''t you worry about that; we have our own objectives."


    For some reason, a chill suddenly ran down Tang Wulin''s spine upon hearing this, and he could sense that they were up to no good.


    "I don''t know what to say; all I can tell you is that not all humans are bad. I''m sure you''re aware of this. After all, my father and brother-in-law are both very good people, so please don''t hate all humans," Tang Wulin implored.


    A gentle look appeared in Da Ming''s eyes as he said, "We know that, and we''re not going to target all humans as that would be far too unfair. Alright, that''s all we have to tell you; tell us what your father told you and what the current situation in the Divine Realm is like."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response before providing a recount of events, beginning from when the Golden Dragon King had injected its destructive essence into his body prior to its death, thereby forcing his parents to send him down to the Douluo Continent.


    He then disclosed what Tang San had told him about spatial turbulence.


    "A clash between Divine Realms?" Da Ming and Er Ming were both stunned to hear that Tang San was currently leading the Divine Realm in battle against other distant Divine Realms.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "My father gave me some coordinates, and he told me that I could go and search for them after I became a god. The coordinates work both ways, and I have to be sufficiently powerful to activate them. When that time comes, they should be able to return to me as well."


    Da Ming and Er Ming exchanged a glance, and the former sighed, "I see. Who would''ve thought that the mighty Divine Realm would encounter such issues. It seems that some unrest must''ve arisen in the Divine Realm. Otherwise, even spatial turbulence wouldn''t have been able to sweep it away so easily."


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response, "I don''t know about that; my conversation with my father was very brief, and he only told me the most important things."


    Da Ming asked, "What''s the situation like with your Golden Dragon King seals now?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "There are 18 Golden Dragon King seals in total, and I''ve broken 12 of them and absorbed the essence they contain. That''s why I''ve been able to progress so quickly in my cultivation, and the rest of the seals are quite solid for now. As I currently am, I estimate that I should be able to handle breaking one or two more seals. However, after the ninth seal, each successive seal becomes drastically more perilous to break than the previous one, so even I don''t know how many more seals I''ll be able to last. According to my father, I should be doing everything in my power to delay the breakage of these seals."


    Er Ming nodded in response. "Indeed, the Golden Dragon King is no ordinary being. In that case..." He suddenly paused here and cast his gaze toward Da Ming.


    Da Ming shook his head at him, then said to Tang Wulin, "Continue to control your Golden Dragon King seals, and we''ll help you if you encounter any issues. However, you''ll have to rely on yourself for progression in your cultivation. It''s very remarkable that you''ve been able to achieve mental manifestation at such a young age, and when looking at you, I feel like I''m seeing your father in his youth, so never lose confidence in yourself no matter what."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask, "What''s your current situation in this plane? Are you able to come and go as you please?"


    Da Ming replied, "It''s not that simple. The two of us are the rulers of the plane, and we control everything here, but conversely, we''re unable to leave this plane. Without the support of the planar ruler, this plane will immediately be destroyed by space and time. Even if one of us leaves, it can''t be for a long time."


    "I see."


    Da Ming continued, "I know that you have a lot riding on your shoulders, and we''ve heard about the situation with Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. However, I''m afraid that we won''t be able to assist you with any of that."


    Tang Wulin was quite taken aback to hear this, not expecting to be turned down even before he had requested assistance from Da Ming.


    Da Ming explained in a solemn voice, "We are indebted to your father for reviving us in the Divine Realm, but at our very core, we are both soul beasts, so we must side with soul beasts at all times. We have no interest in becoming involved in conflicts between you humans, so we won''t be lending you our assistance. So what if Shrek Academy is rebuilt? So what if the Tang Sect returns to the height of its powers? Neither of them can return the past habitats of us soul beasts back to us."


    Tang Wulin was quite dejected to hear this, but he still nodded, and said, "Alright, I''ll do my best on my own."


    Er Ming patted Tang Wulin''s shoulder, and consoled, "There''s no need to be pessimistic; you already possess many advantages over other Soul Masters. Don''t forget that you are Tang San''s son, and back when your father saved the continent from that crisis, he relied solely on himself and his friends. If he could do it, then I''m sure you can too. Also, even though we refuse to become involved in conflicts between humans, you are the son of Tang San and Xiao Wu, and neither of us have any descendants, so you''re like a son to us as well. If you''re ever in any danger, we''ll do everything in our power to save you."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "Did you just say that you have no descendants, Uncle Er Ming? There''s a human family with the surname of Yuanen that''s inherited the Titan Giant Ape martial soul; are they not related to you?"

 Chapter 1527: Er Mings Descendants

    ¡°What did you say?¡± Er Ming instantly tightened his grip on Tang Wulin''s shoulder, and his emotions also took a drastic turn.


    Da Ming quickly slapped his hand away, and said, "Calm down! Wulin, explain the situation."


    Thus, Tang Wulin told Da Ming and Er Ming about Yuanen Yehui and the Yuanen Family.


    "Er Ming!" An accusatory look immediately appeared in Da Ming''s eyes.


    Er Ming''s face suddenly became very flushed, and even though he was an almighty god-like figure in this plane, he was looking like a child who had been caught doing something naughty.


    "I didn''t do anything wrong, Big Brother; it, it was that girl that I saved last time. At the time, I was in my human form, and, and she kept on following me around..."


    Through Er Ming''s stuttering explanation, Tang Wulin was able to roughly deduce the situation. It seemed that he really was related to the Yuanen Family! On top of that, it seemed that the Yuanen Family had arisen from Er Ming''s relationship with a human woman.


    Da Ming grumbled, "I''m not mad about what you did; I''m angry that you abandoned a woman you impregnated! Why haven''t I heard about this before?"


    "Me? I abandoned her?" Er Ming''s eyes widened in a pitiable display as he countered, "I never did anything like that, Big Brother. The time I spent with that woman was the happiest time of my life; how could I have abandoned her? Human love really is something special; only at that time did I understand why Xiao Wu was so enamored with Tang San. Unfortunately, my story was far different from Xiao Wu''s experience in love; not only did I not abandon her, I was the one who was abandoned. That woman was with me for less than a month, but one day, she suddenly left.


    "She didn''t say anything; she simply left behind a note saying that it was over between us! It, it wasn''t my fault, Big Brother!"


    Tears began to well up in Er Ming''s eyes as he spoke.


    Da Ming was also quite stunned to hear this. Having been with Er Ming for so many years, he was well aware of Er Ming''s personality, and he knew that Er Ming wasn''t one to lie about something like this. It seemed that even after so long had passed, he was still deeply hurt by that experience.


    "Then why did you never tell me about this?" Da Ming asked.


    A gloomy look appeared on Er Ming''s face. "Why would I tell anyone about something so embarrassing? Being abandoned by a woman isn''t a glorious chapter of my history. After that, the woman disappeared; only after hearing the surname Yuanen did I recall that I told her that my name was Yuanen Ming. The surname stems from the phrase ''primordial gift'', which pays homage to the fact that we are indebted to nature for the most primordial gift of life. I, I didn''t know that she was pregnant with my child! Why did she leave? I would''ve been so happy if she hadn''t left!"


    "Happy my arse!" Da Ming snapped, "It would''ve never worked out between you two! Your life force is virtually infinite, yet she''ll live for just over 100 years at most; would you still have been happy once she died of old age?"


    Er Ming''s mouth gaped open upon hearing this. "I, I didn''t think of that. But I have descendants now! Big Brother, I have descendants! This is..."


    Da Ming gave a resigned shake of his head at the sight of Er Ming''s lack of composure, but at the same time, a hint of sorrow flashed through his eyes. Unlike Er Ming, he had no descendants.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to reproduce; it was just that he had to constantly cultivate and become more powerful in his youth, or risk being destroyed in the Great Star Dou Forest. The pressure to become more powerful for the sake of survival constantly weighed upon him, but once he became powerful enough, he was unable to find a suitable partner. He was a mutated soul beast to begin with, and there was no other Sky Azure Bull Python in existence. In the soul master world, soul beasts of different species almost never reproduced, and a soul beast as powerful as him certainly wasn''t willing to stoop to that.


    It seemed that if he wanted descendants, his only choice would have to be to find a human partner. In a sense, they could already be considered to be humans after Tang San had revived them in the Divine Realm.


    The older one became, the more they wished to have descendants by their side.


    Tang Wulin was also very happy; it was naturally a good thing that Yuanen Yehui had such a powerful ancestor. This meant that the Titan Giant Ape Family would become far closer with him, which increased the chances that they would become allies to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy in the future.


    Yuanen Zhentian was a quasigod level Limit Douluo; even if he were inferior in power to Er Ming, it wouldn''t be by much.


    "Uncle Er Ming, can you resolve Yuanen Yehui''s problem? What can we do about her Fallen Angel bloodline?"


    Before Er Ming had a chance to say anything, Da Ming replied in his stead, "Does the demonic plane really think it can connect to the Douluo Plane through such a desperate method? What a joke! The demonic plane isn''t even as powerful as the abyssal plane. The Fallen Angel martial soul isn''t an issue; the main problem is her connection to the demonic plane. Once that connection is severed, it''ll only be a martial soul. There''s no need for anyone else to step in; you''re the most suitable candidate to resolve this issue!"


    "Me?" Tang Wulin was very perplexed to hear this.


    Da Ming smiled, and said, "Of course! You possess true divine weapons; regardless of whether it''s the Sea God''s Trident, Dragonslaying Saber or Golden Dragon Spear, all of them have the power to sever planar connections. In particular, the golden trident is the weapon of a godking. All you have to do is sever the connection between the Fallen Angel and the demonic plane; the demons in the demonic plane would soil themselves upon sensing the golden trident''s godking aura, and there''s no way they''ll dare to descend through Yuanen Yehui."


    Tang Wulin was instantly enlightened upon hearing this; he had never considered employing such a course of action before!


    Er Ming was already jumping up and down on the spot. "Where is she? Take me to see her! I have descendants, haha, I have descendants! Wulin, you''re my lucky star!"


    Er Ming''s elation was very heartwarming for Tang Wulin to see. Both of these were true friends of his parents, so their elation naturally filled him with joy as well.


    "Go on then. Even after living for so many years, you''re still as excitable as ever," Da Ming sighed as he made a resigned shooing motion.


    Er Ming chortled with glee, "I''ll bring her back for you to see, Big Brother. Hahaha, I have descendants! I haven''t been this happy in tens of thousands of years! Wulin, is she really beautiful as well? If she''s as beautiful as your sister, no, even half as beautiful as that, I''ll be satisfied. That girl from back then was quite a beauty!"


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. "Before that, can you show me what my mother and sister look like?"


    Tears began to well up in his eyes as he spoke. He had lived for over 20 years, yet still hadn''t ever seen his own birth mother; what could be more cruel than that?

 Chapter 1528: Xiao Wu and Tang Wutong

    Er Ming''s elated expression faded slightly, and Da Ming nodded before pointing a finger forward, conjuring up a light projection.


    This was a slender young woman with a pair of large eyes that were filled with exuberance. She had a pair of long legs with a glowing smile on her face, and her long brown hair was arranged into a long ponytail that was swaying gently in the breeze.


    Tang Wulin''s vision began to blur with tears as he looked into her bright and vibrant eyes. "Mother!"


    He was unable to hold back his tears any longer. He had finally seen her; even though this was only a projection, he had finally seen his mother!


    An electric current surged from the base of his spine up to the top of his head, and his entire body began to tremble.


    Even though this was only a projection, Tang Wulin felt as if he had returned to his mother''s side and could hear her voice beside his ear.


    There was nothing more beautiful and irreplaceable in this world than motherly love. As a child, Tang Wulin had received motherly love from Lang Yue, and Yali was providing the same to him now, but neither of them was his birth mother!


    Even though he had only caught a glimpse of a projection, the image had branded into the deepest part of his heart.


    Both Da Ming and Er Ming were struck by a sense of melancholy at the sight of the weeping Tang Wulin. Compared to Tang Wulin, Tang Wutong had been far more fortunate. Her parents had protected her in the shadows the entire time that she was on the Douluo Continent, but Tang Wulin had been left to fend for himself.


    The image changed to that of a young woman with long bluish-pink hair, and she rested her chin on the shoulder of the first woman to have been depicted. The two of them bore a strong resemblance and looked like sisters, and it was clear to Tang Wulin that this was his sister, Tang Wutong.


    These were two of his closest loved ones!


    Even he didn''t know how long he stared at the projection before finally closing his eyes, committing their images deep into his memory.


    "Thank you. Let''s go, Uncle Er Ming."


    Both Da Ming and Er Ming could see the determination in Tang Wulin''s eyes, and it was undoubtedly the case that he was going to find his parents and sister no matter what. They had seen the same expression on Tang San''s face on more than one occasion.


    Er Ming draped an arm across Tang Wulin''s shoulders, and said, "Don''t put too much pressure on yourself; you''re still young and have a lot of time. Also, you need to trust in your father. He was a true prodigy of his time, and he misses you just as much as you miss them, so they''ll definitely come back. They know where the Douluo Continent is; it''ll be far easier for them to find their way back than it would be for you to find them."


    "I understand." Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response.


    The light in the surrounding area warped slightly, and the two of them slowly vanished into thin air.


    Da Ming''s brows furrowed slightly in contemplation following their departure, and after a long while, he finally sighed as he murmured to himself, "Some things are best left untold."


    ......


    Yuanen Yehui was appraising the opponent before her with a cold expression.


    This was her third-round match for the round-robin stage, and her opponent was also a Soul Douluo.


    She was in the eighth group, and even though she was only a Soul Douluo, she was one of the hot favorites, and she had already been rated as a pseudo Titled Douluo.


    There were even some who proclaimed that she was the most powerful Soul Master below the Titled Douluo level, and she had already reached full mastery of her Divine Cloudvortex Fists; all that was needed now was improvement through evolution.


    Ever since she had met her grandfather and heard the story about her parents, she had been very quiet and subdued. Having left for so many years, she had done everything in her power to forget that chapter of her life, but only after her grandfather appeared before her did she realize that some things couldn''t simply be forgotten.


    During these past few days, she had been constantly plagued by the memory of her father''s feeble expression. That was the expression of a man who had lost the will to live.


    At the time, her heart was filled with hatred over the death of her mother, and that had led her to leave the family to enter Shrek Academy. Ever since that day, she hadn''t returned home even once.


    Only after hearing her grandfather''s side of the story did she truly understand how desperate circumstances had been back then. If it weren''t for her, her father would''ve perhaps already followed after her mother. However, she hadn''t visited him even once in over 10 years, and the thought of this never failed to make her heart throb with pain.


    She couldn''t wait to go back and see her father, but she was bound by her sense of responsibility and could only leave after completing the task at hand.


    As such, the first thought that sprang into her mind as she saw her opponent was that she wanted to crush him as quickly as possible, even destroy him and pummel him into the ground.


    Her opponent was a rotund Soul Master who resembled a huge ball, and even the spectators questioned where a man of his appearance drew confidence from to enter this joust for a spouse event. Could it be that he thought that the Silver Dragon Princess would choose him?


    There was no discrimination against fat people here; it was just that the two of them simply didn''t match.


    "Begin!"


    As soon as the announcement was made, the fatso sprang into action. Despite his portly frame, he was an agility system Soul Master, just like Xie Xie.


    His ball-shaped body shot forth like a massive cannonball, hurtling directly toward Yuanen Yehui while rotating incessantly mid-flight.


    His martial soul was very interesting; it was the most ordinary rubber ball. However, it had mutated during his cultivation, thereby allowing him to cultivate it to such a powerful extent.


    As the second most powerful member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Yuanen Yehui had always fought fire with fire, and she made a large stride directly toward her opponent.


    The rotund Soul Master abruptly landed on the ground and bounced up into the air, but due to his constant rotation, he sprang diagonally forward instead of straight forward, crashing toward Yuanen Yehui from the side in an arc trajectory.


    This was his first soul skill, Curveball!


    The main benefit of this soul skill was its unpredictability, and it allowed him to attack his opponent from any direction and angle as he pleased.


    Yuanen Yehui''s footsteps abruptly halted, and she stood still on the ground. When facing such a fast opponent, the best countermeasure was to remain on the spot and wait for the opponent to attack before unleashing a counterattack.


    Only as the portly Soul Master began to hurtle directly toward her did Yuanen Yehui throw a punch with her right fist, but all of a sudden, the rotund Soul Master suddenly descended, bouncing onto the ground only around two meters away from Yuanen Yehui before crashing toward her legs.


    In that instant, his entire body turned bright red; this was his second soul skill, Explosive Ball!


    Yuanen Yehui reflexively took half a step backward, then lashed out with her other fist toward the ground, but the rotund Soul Master suddenly stopped, then began to rapidly rotate on the spot a mere one meter away from her. His bright red complexion instantly turned orange, and the surrounding temperature was raised dramatically.


    Only after Yuanen Yehui''s punch had struck nothing but empty air did the rotund Soul Master rush toward her again.


    His timing and utilization of soul skills were both impeccable, and Yuanen Yehui raised her left leg, using her knee to withstand the attack.


    However, right at this moment, yet another massive ball appeared silently behind her, then crashed directly toward her back.


    This was his fifth soul skill, Twofold Ball, and it was the attack that was truly meant to land the killing blow.


    Everyone''s attention had been drawn to the rotund Soul Master, but the attack approaching from behind was actually more fearsome.


    At this moment, no one noticed a musclebound man staring intently at the match that was unfolding.

 Chapter 1529: Lass

    The rotund Soul Master crashed into Yuanen Yehui''s knee, and a violent explosion erupted in a diameter of 30 meters around Yuanen Yehui. Immediately thereafter, a second explosion that was even more powerful than the first one erupted. A mushroom cloud rose up from the spot where Yuanen Yehui was standing, presenting quite a fearsome sight to behold.


    Was that it?


    All of the spectators were astonished. Throughout this entire match, Yuanen Yehui had been completely dominated and seemingly allowed her opponent to do anything that he pleased. Both of them were Soul Douluos, and for Soul Masters of their caliber, this was an extremely fearsome attack.


    However, right at this moment, a third resounding boom rang out, and the ground tremored violently as a ball-shaped body sprang up out of the mushroom cloud.


    The mushroom cloud then began to rotate rapidly, forming a massive vortex that compressed toward the center. In the next instant, the ball-shaped body was sent flying out of the vortex like a cannonball before crashing heavily into the protective barrier up above, then bounced down and smashed into the ground, where it was embedded deep into the platform.


    The vortex dissipated to reveal Yuanen Yehui once again, and she looked no different from how she had before. Even her clothes had remained completely unruffled, but there was a layer of faint yellow light around her, and the light was rotating rapidly.


    Yuanen Yehui stomped her right foot violently onto the ground, and the entire competition platform tremored, sending the rotund Soul Master flying upward.


    Yuanen Yehui then lashed out with her right fist, and in the face of her devastating punch, the entire space up ahead began to twist and warp.


    She had drawn a lot of inspiration from the third punch that Yuanen Zhentian had unleashed against Tang Wulin, and even though her punch was devoid of the power of laws, it bore some of the power of Yuanen Zhentian''s attack from that day.


    As soon as the rotund Soul Master was sent flying up into the air, he had already adopted his martial soul true body, transforming into an orange ball. He didn''t dare to hold back any longer, and his suit of two-word battle armor also appeared over his body.


    However, in the face of Yuanen Yehui''s attack, all of his efforts proved to be futile.


    As the warped light enveloped his body, he was suspended motionlessly in mid-air rather than sent flying.


    He appeared to have been dealt a heavy blow earlier, but in reality, he had unleashed his sixth soul skill, Bouncy Ball, which drastically increased the elasticity of his body to significantly nullify the power of Yuanen Yehui''s attack.


    However, on this occasion, he could clearly sense that the air around him was being compressed violently. His body and even his suit of two-word battle armor were being forcibly compressed, and there was no way for him to escape.


    Only in this instant did he truly understand just how wide a gulf there was between him and Yuanen Yehui; she hadn''t even donned her suit of battle armor, yet she was still able to completely dominate him.


    Among the spectators, a burly man was watching the match in an extremely excited manner. "That''s it! Strength isn''t just a one-dimensional mode of attack; use strength to compress yourself, compress the air, compress space, hahaha, that''s my girl!"


    "Boom!"


    Another violent explosion erupted, and the rotund Soul Master felt as if he had become a bomb that had just been detonated.


    Yellow light radiated in all directions out of the rotund Soul Master''s body, and in the next instant, Yuanen Yehui had already arrived before him with her right fist situated right in front of his head.


    Cold sweat instantly soaked through the rotund Soul Master''s clothes, and he was struck by the feeling that he was facing a ferocious beast rather than a human.


    He had never faced a punch so fearsome before, and the offensive force from that punch had compressed toward him from all directions, making him feel as if even his suit of two-word battle armor had been on the brink of shattering.


    Yuanen Yehui was also a little taken aback. Even she hadn''t actually thought that she would''ve been able to defeat her opponent so easily, but as she had unleashed that punch, she was struck by a glimmer of enlightenment. It was as if some type of external power had been injected into her fist, instantly deepening her understanding of strength by a significant degree.


    Unbeknownst to her, this was a result of a better understanding of the power of laws of strength.


    "I concede!" The rotund Soul Master had no intention of continuing. If he were to face another one of those punches, his battle armor would be shattered, and he would be severely wounded as well.


    Yuanen Yehui withdrew her fist, and only after the result was announced by the referee did she depart from the platform. In this instant, she was entirely engrossed in the feeling of that punch.


    Giving it her all; that was the feeling of that punch. Just like how her mother had committed suicide for her father, and how her father was willing to follow her to the afterlife. If it weren''t for her, her father would already be dead, and her grandfather had only disabled him to prevent him from harming himself!


    All of her emotions and power intertwined to form a true vortex of power and emotion.


    "Over here, lass!" A loud yell drew Yuanen Yehui out of her stupor, and she looked up to discover a burly man waving at her with an excited smile.


    Yuanen Yehui was rather taken aback by this. She was sure that she didn''t know this man, yet he was waving at her as if they were old acquaintances.


    She made her way over to the man with her brows slightly furrowed. "Are you speaking to me?"


    "That punch just now was not bad at all!" the man chuckled as he raised a hand to pat her on the shoulder.


    A wary look appeared on Yuanen Yehui''s face, and she raised her left hand to oppose the oncoming hand.


    Yuanen Yehui didn''t know who this man was, so she was holding back in order to not hurt him, but as soon as their arms came into contact with one another, she was astonished to sense a burst of suction force from the man''s arm that sucked her power away, following which he patted her on the shoulder in a very natural manner.


    In the instant that his hand came into contact with her shoulder, Yuanen Yehui''s entire body instantly stiffened.


    If the man had harbored ill will toward her, he would''ve been able to kill her just now. Just how powerful was this man?


    "It''s alright, I''m not your enemy; Wulin brought me here," the man said as the air around them condensed to prevent any sound from escaping.


    Yuanen Yehui''s expression eased slightly upon hearing this. This man was aware of her relationship with Wulin, so he clearly wasn''t an enemy.


    "Let''s go talk somewhere else," the man said with an excited expression, and his gaze made Yuanen Yehui feel as if he were appraising her as some type of exotic toy.

 Chapter 1530: Ancestor?

    "Hmm?" Just as the burly man was walking away, he suddenly stopped in his tracks before pressing his right hand into the air. Yuanen Yehui was standing right beside him, so she could clearly sense that this casual motion from the burly man was making the entire space collapse, and a thought immediately occurred to her as she hurriedly said, "Don''t! He''s not an enemy!"


    A muffled groan rang out as a figure was squeezed out of thin air, and he stumbled slightly before steadying himself. It was none other than Xie Xie in disguise.


    Yuanen Yehui was competing on this day, so Xie Xie was naturally in attendance as well. Just as he was about to approach Yuanen Yehui, he caught sight of the burly man making his way over to her, and he even had the audacity to pat Yuanen Yehui on the shoulder! Even as her boyfriend, he hadn''t been permitted to touch her in such a casual manner! All he had done was unintentionally see her fully nude in the past...


    "You''re an interesting little guy as well, but you''ve gone down the wrong path," the burly man said with a wistful shake of his head.


    "Calm down! He knows Wulin," Yuanen Yehui said as she grabbed onto the indignant Xie Xie.


    Xie Xie''s expression eased slightly upon hearing this, but he still grumbled in a low voice, "He touched you just now!"


    "I couldn''t stop him," Yuanen Yehui replied with a hint of frustration in her eyes.


    Xie Xie''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. He was more aware than anyone of just how powerful Yuanen Yehui was; even though she was only a Soul Douluo, she could definitely contend with the average Titled Douluo.


    The fact that she was unable to brush the man aside indicated that he had to at least be a Hyper Douluo, and quite a powerful one at that.


    They didn''t possess Spirit Domain realm spiritual power as Tang Wulin did, so they were unable to ascertain the man''s precise level of power, but they were able to make basic deductions.


    "I''m Yuanen''s senior; why can''t I touch her?" the burly man said as he cast an unfriendly gaze toward Xie Xie, "I should be telling you to get away from my Yuanen!"


    Xie Xie''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this, and his indignation became even more pronounced.


    For some reason, Yuanen Yehui was struck by the urge to laugh at the sight of his expression.


    "I don''t recall a senior like you," she said with a perplexed look in her eyes.


    The burly man replied, "All that matters is that you know about me now. I''m very pleased with you, lass; it truly makes me happy to have a descendant like you."


    Just as Yuanen Yehui was struggling to make sense of the situation, Tang Wulin''s voice rang out beside her ears. "He''s telling the truth. Let''s discuss this further once we get back."


    Yuanen Yehui''s heart was completely eased upon hearing Tang Wulin''s voice, and they followed the burly man out of the sports stadium.


    A soul car was already waiting for them there, and the car was fitted with one-way glass, so it was impossible to peer into it from the outside.


    The interior of the car was very spacious with two rows of luxurious seats facing one another, and a small table in between them.


    Tang Wulin was sitting on one of the seats, and as soon as the door was opened, he waved a hand toward Yuanen Yehui''s trio.


    The three of them got into the car, and as the burly man sat down onto the comfortable seat, he couldn''t help but remark, "You humans sure know how to pamper yourselves!"


    Tang Wulin said in a slightly resigned manner, "Humans are devoid of redeeming features. At the very least, our creative ability is peerless among all races."


    Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie were still completely in the dark at this point, and Xie Xie couldn''t help but ask, "Who is this, Boss? When did Yuanen get a senior like this? It seems like there''s a new senior of Yuanen''s popping up every day recently."


    After learning about Yuanen Yehui''s past, Xie Xie was very sympathetic toward her and wanted nothing more than to share her burden.


    Tang Wulin replied, "This is indeed a senior of Yuanen''s, and I encountered him by accident. I''ll tell you two about him as we get back, and you can decide whether you want to let anyone else know."


    Yuanen Yehui faltered slightly upon hearing this, then turned to Xie Xie, who splayed his hands open, and said, "I have no issues; he''s your senior, after all. If you don''t want me to know, then I can go somewhere else."


    Not only was the car very luxurious, it offered great privacy, and there was a board separating the passengers from the driver, so they didn''t have to worry about the driver overhearing their conversation.


    "Go ahead, Captain; there''s no need to exclude anyone here from the conversation," Yuanen Yehui said without any hesitation.


    A surge of warmth immediately flowed through Xie Xie''s heart upon hearing this, and even his cheeks had become slightly flushed.


    Having been with Yuanen Yehui for so long, he was naturally very familiar with her personality. She was not an expressive person, especially when it came to emotions, so for her to say something like this was very heartwarming for him.


    Tang Wulin nodded, and said, "Senior Zhentian told us that your family descended from a Titan Giant Ape, but he didn''t elaborate on the matter; I''m sure you remember, right?"


    Yuanen Yehui nodded in response.


    Tang Wulin continued, "The Titan Giant Ape is a type of ancient divine beast that has a lot of trouble reproducing even among its own race, and there''s no way a human can possess such a martial soul. Hence, your family had to have descended from a human and a Titan Giant Ape in human form."


    Yuanen Yehui''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Are you saying I''m not a pure human?"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly shook his head in response. "No, of course not; I''m just giving you some background information. Human and soul beast relationships aren''t unheard of; for example, Tang San''s wife, Soft Bone Douluo Xiao Wu, was a soul beast in human form, after all."


    Yuanen Yehui''s expression eased slightly upon hearing this, but the burly man sitting beside Tang Wulin was rather displeased. "What''s wrong with being a soul beast?"


    Yuanen Yehui still couldn''t understand what Tang Wulin was trying to say. Could it be that this burly man had something to do with the heritage of the Titan Giant Ape?


    Tang Wulin continued, "The truth is that your family was indeed descended from a Titan Giant Ape in human form, and your surname, Yuanen, stems from the phrase ''primordial blessing''."


    Yuanen Yehui nodded in response. "Captain, what exactly are you trying to..."


    Tang Wulin revealed, "This is your ancestor."


    He knew that this would come as quite a bombshell to Yuanen Yehui, but he still decided to disclose the truth to her outright.


    Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie were both stunned into silence upon hearing this, and it made sense, considering how farcical the situation was. After all, anyone would find it quite strange for an ancestor of theirs to suddenly pop up in the flesh.


    Xie Xie asked, "You''re not making a joke, are you, Boss?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Who would joke about something like this? I''m telling the truth. You two have entered the Myriad Beast Plane as well; do you still remember everything you encountered in there?"


    Both of them nodded in response.


    Tang Wulin continued, "That was where I met Uncle Er Ming. As you both know, Tang San was assisted by two 100,000-year-old soul beasts in the past, the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape. Senior Er Ming is that very same Titan Giant Ape, and he is the earliest ancestor of the Yuanen Family."


    Er Ming nodded along with Tang Wulin''s explanation in support while Yuanen Yehui looked back and forth between Tang Wulin and Er Ming with a blank stare, feeling as if she were in a dream.


    This was the true Titan Giant Ape and he was her ancestor?


    "I, I''m not sure what to make of this," Xie Xie stuttered.


    Tang Wulin didn''t speak any further. He had laid out all the information; it was up to Yuanen Yehui to process it now.


    A wry smile appeared on Er Ming''s face. "It''s alright, I didn''t expect to be embraced with open arms anyway. After all, I''m an irresponsible ancestor. If I hadn''t met Wulin, I wouldn''t even have known that I had descendants. I''m already extremely happy to know that all of you exist, so there''s no need for you to acknowledge me; I''m very satisfied just to see you and sense my bloodline in your body."


    He had already sensed his own bloodline in Yuanen Yehui''s body from the moment that he first saw her.


    Bloodlines didn''t necessarily become more diluted through the generations as there was martial soul heritage as well. As long as a martial soul was passed down, the bloodline will also continue to be passed down. As such, even though Yuanen Yehui''s bloodline wasn''t very pure, he was certain that she was his descendant.

 Chapter 1531: Acknowledgment

    This was truly a wonderful feeling for Er Ming. To him, all of these descendants were like a massive blessing from the heavens that had fallen right onto his lap.


    He had lived for many years and no longer cared about many things, but he still held family in very high regard.


    "I, I''m a little stumped. I''ll have to report this to my family," Yuanen Yehui said in a dumbstruck manner.


    "Of course, I''ll come with you; I really want to see them as well," Er Ming immediately said in an excited voice.


    After suddenly learning that he had so many descendants, he naturally wanted to see them for himself now.


    Yuanen Yehui took a deep breath, and after her initial period of shock, she finally calmed down a little. She recalled that when Er Ming had laid his hand on her shoulder, she hadn''t felt averse to him. Was this a result of their bloodline connection?


    Xie Xie was appraising Er Ming with a rather hesitant expression. "I''m sorry, Senior, I didn''t mean to attack you earlier."


    Er Ming took a glance at him, then turned to Yuanen Yehui. "Who is he to you?"


    Before Yuanen Yehui had a chance to reply, Xie Xie answered in her stead, "I''m her boyfriend!"


    Er Ming pursed his lips in response. "You should''ve picked Wulin instead; he''s nowhere near Wulin''s level!"


    Xie Xie instantly became extremely flushed upon hearing this, but he had no retort to offer. He had the confidence to compare himself with anyone else, but he knew that Wulin was indeed far beyond his reach.


    Yuanen Yehui shook her head in response. "I think he''s great."


    Xie Xie was struck by the urge to burst into tears upon hearing this. A warm and soft, yet firm grasp then closed itself around his hand, and he hurriedly held onto her hand as well.


    Er Ming suddenly burst into laughter. "I was kidding! You''re an interesting little guy, but your martial soul doesn''t seem to be fully developed; I''ll help you with that later."


    Xie Xie faltered slightly upon hearing this. What was that supposed to mean?


    Er Ming continued, "Your martial soul is the extremely rare Space Time Dragon, right? I can sense that you''ve only grasped the spatial facet of your martial soul, but haven''t attained any mastery in the area of time. You must master both facets of your martial soul to fulfill its full potential."


    Xie Xie''s eyes immediately lit up. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior!"


    He was a smart man, and he knew that this was an opportunity he couldn''t afford to miss.


    Tang Wulin hadn''t said anything, but judging from the respect he was displaying toward Er Ming, this man was most likely a Limit Douluo!


    Every member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was working hard to improve; Tang Wulin was progressing at a rapid rate that made it seem impossible to catch up to him, but that didn''t mean everyone was going to stop trying.


    Xie Xie possessed twin martial souls, but his family didn''t have much of a powerful background, so it could be said that he was already the most powerful being in the history of his family.


    Shrek Academy had exceptional teachers and mentors, but his martial soul had never been seen before, so no one could help him find the path that belonged to him.


    Yue Zhengyu had the support of the Holy Angel clan, and after two awakenings, his cultivation rank had far exceeded Xie Xie''s. Yuanen Yehui also possessed two ultra-powerful martial souls, as well as exceptional aptitude, while Ye Xinglan was the hardest worker among them all, having already attained a sword soul.


    Xu Lizhi''s understanding of the power of destruction was developing further and further, and he wasn''t even supposed to specialize in battle!


    The control abilities of Xu Xiaoyan''s Starwheel Staff was also becoming more and more powerful, and due to the special nature of her mutated martial soul, she was able to cultivate extremely quickly at night by absorbing the power of starlight.


    As such, even though Xie Xie was constantly doing his best, he still felt like he was lagging behind. Hence, he was naturally ecstatic to have met a powerful being well-versed with the powers of the Space Time Dragon and willing to instruct him.


    The atmosphere became slightly awkward at this point, and Er Ming scratched his own head in a rather anxious manner.


    He was actually even more nervous than Yuanen Yehui. Even though he had lived for countless years, this was the first time he had faced such a situation.


    He hadn''t experienced the process of becoming a father and grandfather; he had become an ancestor right away! As such, he had no idea how he was supposed to communicate with his descendants, but it was clear from his expression just how genuinely fond of Yuanen Yehui he was.


    "By the way, Yuanen, Uncle Er Ming says he has a way to resolve your Fallen Angel martial soul issue without harming you," Tang Wulin said, breaking the awkward silence.


    Xie Xie was even more elated than Yuanen Yehui herself to hear this. "Really? That''s fantastic!"


    Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward Er Ming, who repeated the same thing that he had told Tang Wulin once before. Tang Wulin hadn''t disclosed this information himself as he wanted to give Er Ming the opportunity.


    It could be said that this was the main concern for the Yuanen Family at the moment, and after hearing what Er Ming had to say, Yuanen Yehui burst into tears. These weren''t tears of joy; they were tears of sadness for her mother.


    If her mother had encountered Er Ming, she wouldn''t have suffered such a tragic fate.


    "Don''t cry!" Er Ming immediately began to panic and was at a loss for what to do.


    Yuanen Yehui shook her head, and said, "Thank you, thank you so much."


    Er Ming sighed, "Fate really works in tragic ways sometimes. If our Divine Realm hadn''t disappeared, there''s no way that accursed demonic plane would''ve dared to invade our plane. I''m sure the Divine Realm will return someday, and when that time comes, all of those bastards looking to invade will be taught a painful lesson. I can''t help your mother, but perhaps I can help your father recover his powers."


    Yuanen Yehui''s eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. "Really? Is it not too late?"


    Er Ming replied, "I haven''t met him yet, but he''s still a descendant of mine. The main objective isn''t to treat his current physical condition. Instead, it''s to reignite the will to live in his heart. As long as we can do that, treatment shouldn''t be much of an issue. He was once a Titled Douluo, so he has a good foundation. Soul Masters who make it to the Titled Douluo level are acknowledged by the laws of the plane to a certain extent. Otherwise, how do you think you humans can become so powerful? Hence, there''s still hope. However, you have to be the one to reignite his will to live."


    Yuanen Yehui nodded firmly in response.


    Tang Wulin''s heart was also filled with elation as he listened to their exchange.


    "After the conclusion of this joust for a spouse, I''ll accompany you back to your family. I''ll sever your connection with the demonic plane in front of your grandfather so your family can rest assured, then see if we can heal your father. I''ll ask my godmother to come along as well; there''s no better healer than her on this continent."


    Yuanen Yehui didn''t say anything in response, but she was nodding with tears in her eyes.


    The joust for a spouse event continued as planned, but due to the lengthy duration of the competition, its popularity was gradually beginning to wane.


    Meanwhile, the Spirit Pagoda was already making final preparations. It was undoubtedly the case that the final selection Gu Yuena was going to make was still going to be a huge spectacle that would raise the popularity of the event to new heights.


    After a few rounds of the round-robin stage, the favorites for all the groups had already emerged, and aside from their matches, the other matches garnered very little attention.


    During the next few rounds, Tang Wulin didn''t encounter much resistance. After all, he was simply too powerful, and all of his opponents were brushed aside with ease.

 Chapter 1532: Arduous Cultivation

    There were many people currently speculating that Tang Wulin could be the one to progress from the third group as opposed to Qiangu Zhangting.


    During the era of the Soul Hall 20,000 years ago, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was one of the six founding families of the Soul Hall. The clan had kept a low profile for many years, but Yu Longyue was singlehandedly forging a new resounding reputation for the clan.


    Over a month quickly passed by, and Tang Wulin lived a very routined life, consisting of heavenly refinement, cultivation, and fighting in matches.


    Gu Yuena hadn''t come to find him, and nor had he tried to seek her out, but he had been working even harder in his cultivation ever since the day she left.


    Zhen Hua was a very strict teacher, but he had already approached Tang Wulin on three separate occasions, urging him to take more time off; this was sufficient testament to just how hard Tang Wulin was working.


    Through his hard work, he had managed to completely master his Dragon Emperor Break during this month, and he was even able to control the power of the attack as he pleased.


    This Dragon Emperor Restriction Technique was more for control than for inflicting direct damage, and Tang Wulin had even employed the services of Limit Douluos to provide guidance to him. At the same time, he had been trying to integrate all of his soul skills during heavenly refinement in order to create more Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques.


    However, it was clear that Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques weren''t going to be that easy to create. His mental manifestation had already stabilized, so most of his cultivation revolved around heavenly refinement.


    Er Ming was regularly traversing between the Myriad Beast Plane and Bright City, and he was with Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie every day, providing guidance in their cultivation and visiting all of the attractions in the city. As a result, they had become a lot closer with one another.


    Yuanen Zhentian still hadn''t been told about Er Ming; this was because Er Ming had decided that he wanted to wait until they returned to the family.


    After completing his most recent heavenly refinement, Tang Wulin had rainbow light shimmering all around him, and even though his clothes were drenched with sweat, his eyes were particularly bright. He reflexively clenched his fists, and he decided to take a good rest tonight rather than continue to cultivate.


    This was quite a luxury for him, and he had decided to take this break as the final round of the round-robin stage was coming up the next day. It would be decided who would progress to the final 10 from the third and fourth groups, thereby earning themselves the opportunity to be chosen by Gu Yuena.


    Tang Wulin''s opponent for the final round was his greatest love rival, Qiangu Zhangting.


    Ever since Gu Yuena''s visit on that day, Tang Wulin had been meaning to prove a point. Regardless of what objective she had, he definitely wasn''t going to allow her to choose Qiangu Zhangting!


    This was a match that he couldn''t and wouldn''t lose no matter what. He had to defeat Qiangu Zhangting and tell him that Gu Yuena was his; no one could take her away from him.


    This joust for a spouse event was an opportunity for the Spirit Pagoda to display its power and improve its reputation, but it was also an opportunity for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    All of the plans were unfolding in the shadows, and the final confrontation was drawing closer and closer.


    Tang Wulin meditated in a seated position, basking himself in the laws of heaven and earth.


    Rays of bright light began to appear in the air, forming what seemed to be a small world around him.


    This small world was filled with rainbow light and ferocious giant dragons, as well as lush greenery and boundless oceans.


    During his cultivation, Tang Wulin had transformed his small room into a mesmerizing world.


    This was all a result of his mental manifestation. As his spiritual power had improved, Tang Wulin had become more and more powerful.


    He could sense that he was improving every single day, and compared to back when he had competed in the Trial of Five Gods, he was more steadfast and mature. His foundation had become unstable due to his sudden breakthrough to the TItled Douluo level, but it had since been completely consolidated through his heavenly refinement, allowing him to further improve his own soul power.


    Even though he was already at the Titled Douluo level, his soul power was still progressing at a rate so rapid that it was surprising even to himself.


    ......


    "The final round matches for the third and fourth groups are happening today; the third group match is a must-watch battle! Haha, Yu Longyue is finally going to clash with Qiangu Zhangting!"


    "The top competitors for the first and second groups have already been decided, and they''re both very outstanding. That Lan Fuozi from the fourth group already sealed his spot in the final 10 two rounds ago, so all eyes will be on the third group today. Who do you think will win?"


    "It''s hard to say, but I favor Yu Longyue. He''s crushed all of his opponents thus far almost instantaneously, and his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul is so badass my blood boils just thinking about it!"


    "I think Qiangu Zhangting will come out on top. Don''t forget this event is being held by the Spirit Pagoda! The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is quite powerful, but surely it can''t compare with the Spirit Pagoda. On top of that, Qiangu Zhangting''s martial soul is the Coiling Dragon Staff, which has an advantage over all dragon-type martial souls; I think it''ll be very difficult for Yu Longyue to win."


    "In any case, I''ve already bought tickets for the match. They were pretty expensive, but this is an epic match that has to be watched live."


    "Do you have any spare tickets? I want to watch the match live as well. I have a bottle of 35-year-old fine wine at home; would you like to taste it?"


    "No way, I''m not selling! Resale ticket prices have spiked through the roof, but I''m not budging. This could well be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; aside from the Trial of Five Gods, this is the match that I want to watch the most."


    To say that the match between Yu Longyue and Qiangu Zhangting was highly anticipated would be a severe understatement. The match was going to be broadcasted on all major television channels, and many were regarding this as the battle that would decide who would win the heart of the Silver Dragon Princess.


    There were other handsome powerful beings in the other groups as well, but none were as exceptional as this duo from the third group.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had arrived in person on the rostrum, and he was accompanied by Gu Yuena, as well as some high-ranking officials from other major powers and the federal parliament.


    Qiangu Dongfeng wore a relaxed smile, as if he didn''t care much about the outcome of the match, while Gu Yuena was as aloof as ever.


    "What do you think of Zhangting''s match today, Chairman?" an elderly man in a set of luxurious robes asked.


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied with a smile, "Good morning, Vice-president. I''m very confident in Zhangting''s abilities; I can''t bear to see Nana marrying someone else! Nana and Zhangting have been close for many years; if they can come together, then I''ll be able to rest easy and retire."


    "Haha, looks like you have no concerns at all. Then again, if you did, you wouldn''t have organized this event," the vice-president chuckled.

 Chapter 1533: The Vanished Tang Sect

    Qiangu Dongfeng said, "I can''t say anything for sure. After all, anything can happen in a battle. However, Zhangting has been working very hard and has already taken over many responsibilities from me. On top of that, all of the high-ranking members of our Spirit Pagoda see great potential in him, so we''re all hoping that this event will allow him to mature more quickly."


    "Indeed, experiences like this are invaluable for young people. By the way, I heard you invited the Boundless Ocean Douluo for the final day of the event; has he agreed to come?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied with a wry smile, "Not yet. Brother Chen has been in a foul mood ever since he returned from the Star Luo Empire. We''ve been good friends for many years, but I don''t want to hassle him."


    The vice-president nodded in response. "Who would''ve thought that the united fleet would be forced into retreat? By the way, have you received any news about that Tang Sect Master?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s brows furrowed slightly as he replied, "I''m afraid not."


    He had thought that Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena''s past relationship would''ve led to him appearing at this joust for a spouse event, but that didn''t appear to be the case. It was as if the Tang Sect really had disappeared.


    Ever since Shrek City had been razed to the ground, the Tang Sect had kept a very low profile. All of its branches had become very withdrawn, and following the declaration that the Tang Sect was a treasonous organization, it seemed to have completely vanished.


    Thus, the general public and all of the major powers had gradually begun to forget about its existence; only those who were aware of just how powerful the Tang Sect was knew that it was not to be ignored.


    No one had imagined that the Tang Sect would suddenly appear on the Star Luo Continent, and that the Tang Sect Master would engage in a Trial of Five Gods. The Spirit Pagoda had attempted to use this against the Tang Sect, but this ploy had completely backfired on them, and through their coverage of the Trial of Five Gods, the Tang Sect had received an immense amount of popularity.


    Immediately thereafter, the united fleet had arrived at the Star Luo Empire. Even though there was insufficient evidence, it was clear to everyone who had provided those super weapons to the Star Luo Empire. How had both the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire come into possession of such powerful weapons? The Tang Sect was clearly the culprit!


    Thus, the Spirit Pagoda had exerted its influence to declare the Tang Sect as a treasonous organization, triggering much debate in the federal parliament.


    After all, the Tang Sect had made significant contributions to the continent in the past. However, the Tang Sect itself simply disappeared as if nothing had ever happened.


    No one even knew if the new Tang Sect Master had returned from the Star Luo Empire.


    Enemies lurking in the shadows were always the most difficult to deal with, so this joust for a spouse event was a trap to lure him out, but it seemed to have failed thus far.


    At the mention of Tang Wulin, Qiangu Dongfeng''s smile had faded significantly. Judging from the information he had received from the Star Luo Empire, this was a young man who was not to be scoffed at, and had established very close ties with the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire. Currently, the Spirit Pagoda was being heavily oppressed in those two empires, and if Tang Wulin were allowed to develop even further, he would definitely be a huge thorn in the Spirit Pagoda''s side.


    He didn''t want to see another Atlas Douluo emerge on the continent.


    "Have you heard any news about him?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked.


    The vice-president shook his head in response. "I''m sure you''re well aware of how powerful the Tang Sect is. Truth be told, I don''t support the decision to declare the Tang Sect as a treasonous organization, not because I pity them, but because they''re far more difficult to deal with now that they''ve been forced into the shadows. All our intelligence-gathering departments are searching for information, but to no avail. Also, I have a feeling..."


    "What is it?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked.


    The vice-president continued, "I have a feeling that we''ll encounter a lot of obstacles on many different levels in our efforts to bring down the Tang Sect. I feel like progress will be very difficult, and that it''ll be very difficult to control what happens next."


    Qiangu Dongfeng assured, "There''s no need to be too concerned. While it''s indeed troublesome that the Tang Sect is hiding in the shadows, this will also make them lose public support. As time passes, they''ll be reduced to the likes of the Holy Spirit Cult."


    The vice-president gave him a meaningful look. "I certainly hope so!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng made an inviting hand gesture, and said, "Please take a seat."


    Gu Yuena had been observing this conversation in silence this entire time, and she could clearly sense that Qiangu Dongfeng''s emotions had fluctuated greatly at the mention of the Tang Sect. It was clear that he was nowhere near as confident and assured as he had tried to present himself as.


    Even the federal government had to be wary of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy as they were too powerful in the past, and Shrek City stood like an independent empire in the federation. Even though it was a neutral entity, it was a place that no ambitious conqueror wanted to exist, and that was the root cause behind the destruction of Shrek City.


    However, even though Shrek City had been razed to the ground, the revival of Shrek Academy seemed to have set many things into motion, and this was a reflection of the power of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.


    At the front row of an indiscreet corner of the spectator stands sat a young man who appeared to be in his twenties, wearing a set of casual activewear. He turned to his companion with a smile, and said, "This will be quite a thrilling match; I bet Qiangu Dongfeng''s equipped his grandson with his greatest trump cards."


    He made no effort to keep his voice down, but no one seemed to be able to hear him aside from the ordinary-looking young woman seated next to him. "So what? Regardless of what Qiangu Dongfeng does, I have absolute confidence in Wulin."


    The young man chuckled in response, "As do I. Wulin''s rate of progress has been truly astounding. I had been rather skeptical about Cao Dezhi''s decision, but I have to admit that he was right. If it were me, I wouldn''t have been decisive enough to bestow such heavy responsibilities upon Wulin at such a young age."


    The young man was none other than Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, and the woman beside him was Holy Spirit Douluo Yali in disguise.


    Who could''ve imagined that a pair of Limit Douluos would be sitting in such a nondescript corner?


    Yali smiled, and said, "It''s a good thing for you that you acted so quickly; if we had been slightly faster, we may not have allowed Wulin to become the Tang Sect Master. At the very least, there are limited things that he has to deal with in the Sea God''s Pavilion, but your Tang Sect is different. As the Tang Sect Master, he has to deal with far more troublesome matters than at our academy."


    Zang Xin smiled, and said, "Shrek Academy has always been the true core, while the Tang Sect has been the external face of the academy. We''ve managed to remain standing even after all these years as we''ve always assisted one another. Back when the Tang Sect was at its weakest point, Shrek Academy had extended a helping hand; on this occasion, I''m sure that those in the Spirit Pagoda will soon realize that they''ve underestimated the Shrek Academy rebuild. I really want to see the expression on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face in a few days."


    Yali couldn''t help but burst into laughter. "You''re an old man already; why are you still so enthusiastic about these things?"


    Zang Xin chuckled in response, "What can I say? I''m an amorous guy, I guess."


    Yali shook her head with a slightly resigned expression. "I hope Qiangu Dongfeng will like the surprise we''ve prepared for him."


    At this point, the spectator stands were completely filled, and there were many passionate fans holding banners with Yu Longyue''s name on them.


    Of course, there were more banners with Qiangu Zhangting''s name as in a sense, this was his home court.

 Chapter 1534: Peak Matchup

    Lan Fuozi was standing beside the competition platform with a cold expression. She didn''t go to the resting area as she didn''t want to see nor speak to that man. She was a cultured young woman, but for some reason, she could never keep her own temper in check in his presence.


    Will he win today? Hmph, there''s no way he''ll win!


    Lan Fuozi was viciously cursing a certain somebody in her heart.


    "Atchoo!"


    In the resting area, Tang Wulin sneezed before casting a resigned gaze outside. There was someone cursing him! With his level of spiritual power, he was able to sense some of the thoughts directed toward him.


    Qiangu Zhangting was seated with his eyes closed on a sofa some distance away from him. In reality, all of the other competitors in their group were mere spectators as both Tang Wulin and Qiangu Zhangting had eight victories from eight matches, which meant that no one else had a chance to progress.


    Having already faced the two of them in battle, all of the other competitors in the group were well aware of how powerful they were.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s performance had drawn much admiration from them, whereas Tang Wulin inspired a sense of awe and veneration. After all, Tang Wulin had been far more brutal and violent than Qiangu Zhangting in his matches.


    This clash between the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and Coiling Dragon Staff was going to be a vital battle, and it had been scheduled to be the first match of the day, which was why the entire sports stadium was already packed to the rafters.


    Everyone was looking forward to this once-in-a-lifetime clash.


    Both of the competitors were very young yet extremely powerful, and they were clearly en route to reaching the pinnacle of this continent, so it was quite a treat to be able to witness a battle between them.


    "Welcome to the Bright City Sports Stadium, everyone; I''m sure we''ve all been waiting for this matchup for a very long time. Indeed, this is a once-in-a-lifetime battle, as well as a clash between the two most powerful competitors in the third group. It''s been widely speculated that the likeliest candidate to be chosen by the Silver Dragon Princess will arise from this third group, and I''m sure I don''t need to introduce the two competitors for this first battle. Before we begin the match, allow me to remind everyone of the rules of this event.


    "Following this final round of the round-robin stage, the top competitor of each group will progress to form the final 10, among which Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena will choose one to become her lover. Prior to her selection, each of those 10 competitors will have a chance to display what they have to offer her, and they can also present gifts to Gu Yuena to win her heart. The chosen one in the end will undoubtedly be immensely fortunate, and we''re all looking forward to seeing who that lucky man will be.


    "Now then, the top competitor of the third group is about to be decided in this upcoming match. Will the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon stun the opponent with an electrifying display, or will the Coiling Dragon Staff sweep aside everything in its path? Keep your eyes peeled and make sure you don''t miss a single detail, everyone!"


    The commentary successfully stirred up all of the excited spectators, and applause and cheers rang out like a volcanic eruption.


    The light in the sports stadium began to dim; even though it was still in the morning, the advanced technology in the stadium was able to simulate a night-like environment.


    Two pillars of scintillating light then erupted from either side of the competition platform, illuminating a pair of figures that stood at the end of two different passageways.


    The cheering crescendoed to a peak at the sight of the two stars of the show.


    Tang Wulin was standing on the left, while Qiangu Zhanting was situated on the right, and even though they couldn''t see each other with the huge competition platform between them, they could sense one another''s auras.


    Qiangu Zhangting was wearing his usual set of white robes, looking very dashing with a bright and piercing light in his eyes.


    Yu Longyue also didn''t appear to be any different from his normal self, and his chin was slightly tilted upward as an expression of pride and confidence.


    "Yu Longyue, Yu Longyue, Yu Longyue!" Even though there were more banners with Qiangu Zhangting''s name, there were clearly more people cheering on Yu Longyue.


    The supporters for both sides were beginning to compete with one another, screaming the name of the one they supported with all their might.


    "Let''s welcome our two competitors into the stadium."


    The pillars of light began to move as Tang Wulin and Qiangu Zhangting strode onto the competition platform from either side. This was most likely going to be the final battle in this joust for a spouse event for both of them. Once they made it into the top 10, Gu Yuena would have the right to challenge them to examine their abilities, but there was no guarantee that she would exercise that right.


    As such, it was very likely that this would be the last chance they would get to display their powers during this competition.


    Even as Tang Wulin walked onto the platform, his gaze was still focused on the rostrum. Even though he couldn''t see her, he could sense that she was there.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and he completely ignored Qiangu Zhangting as he waved toward the rostrum.


    At this point, the protective barrier had already risen up, thereby keeping out the voice of the commentator.


    "Wow, look at that, everyone; Yu Longyue is waving toward the rostrum with a very confident smile, and what a captivating smile that is! It seems that he thinks very highly of his own chances here! However, a show of bravado like this is a little arrogant; is he not afraid that he''ll leave Gu Yuena with a bad impression?" As an event organized by the Spirit Pagoda, the commentator''s bias was beginning to show despite the supposed stance of impartiality.


    Gu Yuena had naturally also seen Tang Wulin smile, and despite how well she knew him, she couldn''t understand why he was smiling at a time like this.


    Even though he was in disguise, she could sense that the smile on Tang Wulin''s face was completely genuine.


    For an instant, she found herself mesmerized by his smile. This was indeed a captivating smile!


    The reason behind Tang Wulin''s smile stemmed from his confidence in Gu Yuena''s love for him. In that instant, he sensed the golden dragon scale hanging around Gu Yuena''s neck, which was the reverse scale that she had removed back when he was in his Golden Blood Dragon state.


    That''s right, she had constantly been wearing his golden dragon scale. No matter how much she had tried to distance herself from him, she was still unable to deny her own feelings.


    It was exactly because Tang Wulin had felt all of this that his smile was so genuine and exuberant.


    His confidence was at an all-time high, and although Qiangu Zhangting''s expression remained unchanged, he was fuming internally at the sight of Tang Wulin''s cocky display.


    Qiangu Zhangting harrumphed coldly, and his voice was only audible to Tang Wulin on the competition platform.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he finally cast his gaze toward his opponent. "Can you shut your noisy mouth?"


    Qiangu Zhangting said in a cold voice, "You can talk trash now, but I''ll show you who''s more worthy of being her man."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I don''t need you to show me that; I already know that it''s me."


    Qiangu Zhangting chuckled coldly, but offered no response, clearly not wishing to engage Tang Wulin in a war of words.


    At this moment, their battle was being broadcast all over the entire Douluo Federation. The Spirit Pagoda was promoting the clash as much as possible in order to increase the influence of this joust for a spouse event.


    "Please get ready; the match is about to begin," the referee declared.


    At Tang Wulin and Qiangu Zhangting''s level, there was nothing to prepare; all of the preparations had already been made prior to the match.

 Chapter 1535: Battle Between Love Rivals

    "Five, four, three, two, one, begin!"


    The highly anticipated match finally began!


    Bluish-purple lightning erupted from Tang Wulin''s body as thick bolts of lightning rose up into the air, while Qiangu Zhangting raised his right hand to summon his Coiling Dragon Staff.


    Neither of them attacked right away, but both of them immediately summoned their soul rings.


    "This is a clash between auras! Both these competitors are extremely powerful, and even though neither of them has displayed their suit of battle armor, I''m almost certain that they''re both three-word battle armor masters. That''s right, we are going to be witnessing a clash between three-word battle armor masters today, and in preparation for this match, our workers have fortified the entire protective barrier to ensure safety."


    The two competitors on the platform finally sprang into action, and the first to attack was Qiangu Zhangting, who was fuming with rage.


    He gripped onto his Coiling Dragon Staff with both hands as he sprang up into the air like lightning, and piercing white light erupted from his body while his staff rapidly expanded to over 100 meters in length, looking as if it were going to pierce through the very heavens.


    At the same time, Qiangu Zhangting''s entire body also expanded while taking on an illusionary quality, and he arched his body backward before sending the Coiling Dragon Staff crashing viciously down toward Tang Wulin.


    The massive Coiling Dragon Staff seemed to be threatening to tear the entire world apart, and it was quite astonishing to all of the spectators that Qiangu Zhangting was unleashing such a ferocious assault from the get-go.


    The Coiling Dragon Staff gave off an indescribably fearsome aura, and the air in its wake twisted and warped as thin spatial cracks began to appear, as if even space itself couldn''t contain the staff.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s essence, energy, and spirit had all been infused into this staff strike, and it reflected his mastery of a staff soul.


    As a Spirit Envoy and the future successor to Qiangu Dongfeng, Qiangu Zhangting certainly had the power to back up those accolades.


    In the face of a powerful opponent like Yu Longyue, he was finally displaying his true power, and he was going to crush his opponent in the most aggressive way possible!


    As the most powerful family of the Spirit Pagoda, the Qiangu Family possessed an extremely formidable martial soul in the form of the Coiling Dragon Staff, and the true essence of the staff lay in its unyielding nature. It was like an unyielding soul spirit that dared to resist heaven and earth with its own power, and unlike Tang Wulin or Yuanen Zhentian, who made use of the power of laws to enhance themselves, the staff drew its power from destroying the power of laws.


    After over 1,000 years and dozens of generations of reflection and improvement, this set of Unyielding Staff Techniques finally took shape, and one could only begin to master these techniques after reaching the Titled Douluo level.


    This was because cultivating the Unyielding Staff Techniques required one to combat heaven and earth, which placed one under immense pressure, but every single breakthrough yielded significant improvements.


    There were nine Unyielding Staff Techniques in total, and even Qiangu Dongfeng had only mastered the eighth technique. No one in the history of the Qiangu Family had ever mastered that ninth technique, and it only existed in theory.


    Currently, Qiangu Zhangting had already mastered five techniques, and this was the first one, Battling Heaven and Earth!


    Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of all this, but as the Coiling Dragon Staff came crashing down toward him, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes. He could clearly sense that the surrounding heaven and earth was extremely averse to this attack, but Qiangu Zhangting was somehow able to make use of this aversion to fuel his own attack, making Tang Wulin feel as if the world were about to collapse around him.


    He took a step forward and rose up into the air, then took a deep breath before withdrawing his right fist to his own waist. After that, he twisted around pivoting with his hip, guiding his shoulder to unleash an almighty punch!


    The punch was very simple and devoid of any fancy techniques, and it looked entirely futile in the face of the gargantuan Coiling Dragon Staff.


    However, Tang Wulin''s fist had turned a translucent bluish-purple color, giving it the appearance of a glowing sapphire. As his fist was thrust forward, the surrounding air began to resonate slightly.


    "Return to simplicity!" Commentator Ai Fei blurted out. He immediately regretted his statement, but this really was his first impression upon seeing this punch.


    "Boom!"


    The entire heaven and earth tremored violently in the face of their clash, and a figure plummeted out of the sky like a meteorite before slamming down onto the ground, sending huge cracks spreading on the platform in all directions. It was none other than Tang Wulin.


    Meanwhile, Qiangu Zhangting''s Coiling Dragon Staff had been repelled upward, and one could clearly see lightning crackling all over its surface. As for Qiangu Zhangting himself, he had returned to his original form, but was unable to continue attacking Tang Wulin.


    "They''re evenly-matched!" Ai Fei yelled in an excited manner, "Yu Longyue was forced back onto the platform, while Qiangu Zhangting was most likely paralyzed by the lightning, thereby preventing him from unleashing a followup attack. This is truly a once-in-a-generation clash! I would like to direct everyone''s attention to the cracks beneath Yu Longyue''s feet. The competition platform has been specially reinforced, allowing it to withstand explosions from all soul missiles below the eighth grade, and the fact that it''s been so severely damaged is sufficient testament to just how fierce that last clash was."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were slightly narrowed, and his body was also trembling slightly as a result of the effect of the Coiling Dragon Staff''s aura.


    In the instant that the clash had taken place, he had sensed an overwhelming will to crush him from the Coiling Dragon Staff, a will that was filled with pride and unyielding stubbornness.


    This wasn''t just a purely spiritual attack; it was battle intent that had been honed through countless battles. As expected, no one could simply stumble upon success by accident; the Qiangu Family had the power to back up its status, and this was Qiangu Zhangting''s true power.


    Qiangu Zhangting was also quite stunned. Just as Ai Fei had said, his entire body was currently paralyzed. However, the main issue was that during that last clash, he could clearly sense that he had lost control over the power of heaven and earth that he had forced into submission with his unyielding staff intent, and as a result, he was unable to unleash the true power of his Battling Heaven and Earth.


    In reality, even though the Unyielding Staff Techniques drew its power from destroying laws, it was still a method of utilizing the power of laws. However, it was a more extreme method that involved essentially destroying before enslaving the power of laws.


    This Yu Longyue really was a formidable foe!


    After staring at one another for only an instant, Tang Wulin rose up into the air again, while Qiangu Zhangting unleashed countless staff projections that crashed down toward him.

 Chapter 1536: Shaking Heaven and Earth

    All of the staff projections were completely unpredictable in their trajectories, and not even through the use of spiritual power could one determine where the staff projections were going to strike.


    A serious look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he stopped in mid-air, and bluish-purple dragon scales instantly appeared all over his skin, enveloping his entire body before taking on a mirror-like appearance.


    This was his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body that was enhanced by his Infernal Lightning Vine, and at the same time, his dragon''s repulse erupted out of his body as a layer of bluish-purple light.


    "Boom!"


    "Ah! Yu Longyue hasn''t attempted to evade or retaliate; he''s allowed himself to be struck by the Coiling Dragon Staff! He''s been swept up into the air, and it seems that he''s temporarily lost control over his own body! Hold on, why has another Coiling Dragon Staff appeared in the air? What a powerful attack; it''s even managed to create a dimensional rift!"


    Just as the stunned Ai Fei was describing, right as Tang Wulin was swept up into the air by the Coiling Dragon Staff that was rising up from below, an identical staff appeared up above before crashing down in an even more devastating fashion than the earlier Battling Heaven and Earth.


    This was the second Unyielding Staff Technique, Shaking Heaven and Earth!


    Tang Wulin only had time to shield himself with his arms before he was smashed out of the sky, then crashed down onto the ground with a resounding boom, having been completely embedded into the earth from the waist down like a nail.


    Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events. The two of them had appeared to be evenly-matched mere moments ago, yet it looked as if Tang Wulin could lose at any moment now!


    Even Ai Fei had paused in his commentary. He had to speak in Qiangu Zhangting''s favor, but as a professional commentator, he was very much looking forward to this battle as well, and he definitely didn''t want to see Tang Wulin lose so quickly.


    Even Qiangu Zhangting himself was rather dumbstruck. In his eyes, there was no way that Tang Wulin would lose so easily; it was clear that he hadn''t even tried to block that attack!


    Just as Qiangu Zhangting was wondering if he had won the match, Tang Wulin''s voice suddenly rang out beside his ears. "That kinda tickled; is there more where that came from?"


    He was then greeted by the sight of Tang Wulin leaping out of the ground.


    Tang Wulin wiped away the blood from the corner of his lips, then made a provoking hand gesture in Qiangu Zhangting''s direction.


    Even Qiangu Dongfeng was rather stunned to see this. He was naturally well aware of just how powerful Shaking Heaven and Earth was. While unleashing the Unyielding Staff Techniques, Qiangu Zhangting''s combat prowess was definitely comparable to that of a Hyper Douluo.


    However, not only had Tang Wulin withstood the attack, it seemed that he hadn''t even suffered any substantial injuries; just how insane was his physical resistance? One had to realize that he still hadn''t even donned his battle armor!


    At this moment, Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with excitement.


    Following that first clash, his body had been paralyzed by the law destructive power of Qiangu Zhangting''s Battling Heaven and Earth. However, in that instant, he could clearly sense that the power of laws destroyed by the Coiling Dragon Staff had all surged into his body as if it had found a new home.


    This wasn''t Rainbow Law; it was the purest essential laws of the Douluo Continent plane. As the one who had been blessed by the plane, the power of laws naturally had great affinity with Tang Wulin.


    Under normal circumstances, the power of laws would only allow Tang Wulin to better understand and use the laws of this world.


    In a sense, the power of laws was the life force of a plane, and even though the plane had offered its blessings to Tang Wulin, there was no way it would bestow its own life force upon him.


    However, the Unyielding Staff Techniques drew power from destroying laws, and the destroyed power of laws would dissipate after being used instead of being absorbed by Qiangu Zhangting.


    This was the main flaw of the Unyielding Staff Techniques: there was no way it would be acknowledged by the plane.


    Hence, all of the destroyed power of laws naturally flocked toward Tang Wulin.


    This was why Qiangu Zhangting had felt that the power of laws he had drawn upon seemed to have disappeared during his clash with Tang Wulin. In reality, it hadn''t disappeared; it had simply been absorbed by Tang Wulin.


    This pure power of laws wouldn''t directly enhance Tang Wulin''s powers, but it would improve his affinity with the Douluo Continent plane, thereby assisting him immensely when it came to understanding and using the power of heaven and earth.


    There was no way to absorb the power of laws like this through normal cultivation, and it was very difficult to absorb the elemental laws of tribulation lightning, so Tang Wulin naturally wasn''t going to pass up on such a brilliant opportunity. He was desperately trying to better his understanding of laws in order to integrate his abilities to create more Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, and this was undoubtedly going to assist him greatly in that endeavor.


    Thus, he had taken a risk and allowed himself to be struck by Qiangu Zhangting''s second attack.


    However, the Unyielding Staff Techniques were truly formidable; Tang Wulin''s internal organs were currently throbbing, and his arms were also in severe pain.


    However, the feeling of the broken planar laws flowing into his body was extremely wonderful. His spiritual power had already reached the mental manifestation level, so he could clearly sense that even his own Rainbow Law was undergoing some subtle changes. All of his soul spirits were delighted by these changes as well.


    For his soul spirits, the power of planar laws was the best form of nourishment that could trigger evolutions within them.


    After cultivating to a certain level, all beings had to undergo a qualitative transformation following sufficient quantitative accumulation. This qualitative change often took place in a split second, but it was extremely difficult to trigger, and the power of laws was the perfect catalyst.


    For the ordinary beings of the abyssal plane, they craved the life energy of the Douluo Continent plane, but for a planar ruler like the Holy Lord, what he desired to the most was to devour the planar laws of the Douluo Continent. In doing so, he would be able to trigger evolution within himself.


    Through his clashes with Qiangu Zhangting, Tang Wulin was able to absorb the very thing that even a planar ruler desired, albeit only in small quantities, and it was exactly because of this that Tang Wulin had decided to prolong this battle rather than crush Qiangu Zhangting as quickly as possible.


    His physical constitution had been enhanced to an insane level by his congenital secret method and Golden Dragon King bloodline, and that had allowed him to withstand Qiangu Zhangting''s attack.


    Upon witnessing Tang Wulin''s provocative hand gesture, Qiangu Zhangting''s first reaction was incredulity rather than fury.


    How was it possible that someone had remained largely unscathed in the face of his Shaking Heaven and Earth even without using their battle armor? This simply didn''t make sense!


    Was this guy even a human anymore? How was his defensive prowess this insane?


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and his dragon core thumped violently, sending scorching blood essence coursing through his entire body to repress his injuries.


    "Your staff is very weak!" he taunted in a mocking voice.


    He was goading Qiangu Zhangting into attacking so he could continue to absorb more planar laws.


    A cold light flashed through Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes, and he suddenly hurled his Coiling Dragon Staff directly toward Tang Wulin. The Coiling Dragon Staff began to rapidly expand mid-flight, and the dragon carved onto the staff seemed to have sprung to life as it transformed into a giant white dragon that coiled itself around the staff.


    The laws around the Coiling Dragon Staff began to twist and warp violently, and as they shattered, they were devoured by the giant dragon around the staff. As a result, the Coiling Dragon Staff expanded even further in size and began to glow brightly, crashing down from above like a massive pillar of light.


    This was not an attack that Tang Wulin could directly withstand!


    A sense of peril welled up in his heart, and he immediately sprang away to the side like lightning.


    However, right at this moment, a burst of powerful suction force erupted from the Coiling Dragon Staff, locking around Tang Wulin like a set of invisible shackles, making him extremely slow and sluggish.

 Chapter 1537: Striking Gold

    The giant staff was upon Tang Wulin in an instant.


    This was the third Unyielding Staff Technique, Supporting Heaven and Earth!


    Tang Wulin stopped in mid-air as a loud dragon''s roar erupted from his body, and his right arm instantly turned a bluish-purple color before being whipped through the air. Lightning God Whip!


    It wasn''t that he didn''t want to withstand the attack to absorb the power of laws; the attack was simply too powerful for him to take.


    "Boom!"


    The Lightning God Whip struck the Coiling Dragon Staff, and Qiangu Zhangting''s body suddenly began to glow as if it were made of light. All of the shattered laws were reciprocated to him by the Coiling Dragon Staff, and he descended from above before stomping a foot down onto the staff.


    Even though the Lightning God Whip had stopped the Coiling Dragon Staff''s descent, Tang Wulin felt as if his body were about to shatter, and the laws around him were constantly in a loop of breaking and mending. His body began to absorb these shattered laws, but the powerful suction force of the Coiling Dragon Staff was also reciprocating these laws toward Qiangu Zhangting.


    All of a sudden, Qiangu Zhangting suddenly faltered in mid-air, and the time around him seemed to have also paused for an instant.


    This wasn''t Time Reversal; it was Time Stop!


    Tang Wulin had used Time Reversal in the Trial of Five Gods, so he couldn''t use it now as doing so would blow his cover. However, due to the improvements he had made in his spiritual power, he was able to control his own spiritual domain with a greater level of precision.


    As the split-second pause took place, Tang Wulin let loose a loud cry, and a string of dull thunderclaps rang out around him.


    The lightning erupted forth as Rainbow Law to force back the Coiling Dragon Staff, and Tang Wulin flew out of the area encompassed by the staff''s suction force.


    Only then did Qiangu Zhangting''s foot stomp down onto the Coiling Dragon Staff, which came crashing down, causing the earth to tremor violently. Qiangu Zhangting''s entire body had turned a scorching white light, and right at this moment, specks of light also began to appear all over Tang Wulin''s body.


    Those were a series of bluish-purple specks of light, which transformed into a suit of sapphire-like battle armor that quickly encapsulated his entire body.


    This was none other than Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon Song battle armor. With Tang Wulin''s understanding of metal and disguise abilities, it was naturally a simple task to turn his battle armor a bluish-purple color.


    As soon as he donned the suit of battle armor, Tang Wulin''s aura took an abrupt turn, and his dragon''s repulse became several times more powerful than before, allowing it forcibly keep the suction force of Supporting Heaven and Earth at bay.


    At the same time, countless bolts of lighting erupted from Tang Wulin''s body to form a forest of lightning.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had retaliated!


    A hint of disdain appeared in Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes as scorching white light flashed over his entire body. As expected, in the face of his Unyielding Staff Techniques, his opponent had been forced to use his battle armor first.


    However, in the next instant, he was suddenly struck by a sense of great peril, and he reflexively took a step backward, upon which his body seemed to have been sucked into the Coiling Dragon Staff.


    A bluish-purple fist then appeared out of thin air before striking the spot where he had been standing before. Under the illumination of the forest of lightning, the Coiling Dragon Staff was made to look even more imposing.


    "Qiangu Zhangting has gained an advantage by forcing his opponent to don his suit of three-word battle armor first. Having said that, Yu Longyue''s three-word battle armor is truly a sight to behold. Are those complex patterns all core circuits? Can a suit of three-word battle armor handle so many core circuits? What kind of materials have to be used to facilitate that? This is the first time we''ve seen Yu Longyue''s battle armor, and I''m sure the battle will only become more exciting from here onward."


    As Ai Fei had expected, Yu Longyue wasn''t going to lose that easily, but the fact that he had been forced to summon his battle armor first was already a concession.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already arrived at the spot where Qiangu Zhangting had been standing before, and he stomped his foot straight down toward the Coiling Dragon Staff.


    "Roar!" The giant white dragon immediately unleashed a white breath up toward Tang Wulin.


    The breath was infused with the power of laws, and the giant white dragon was somehow completely fearless even in the face of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King aura.


    A hint of a smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He had released his battle armor first not because he had actually been forced to; it was just that with his battle armor to protect him, he would be able to take more of a beating!


    Tang Wulin crossed his arms before him to withstand the dragon''s breath, as if he had been caught off guard. His battle armor began to glow with scintillating light, but the dragon''s repulse on its surface was quickly melting away.


    The Coiling Dragon Staff suddenly vanished, and Qiangu Zhangting appeared behind Tang Wulin before sweeping his staff viciously into Tang Wulin''s back.


    As a result, Tang Wulin was sent flying like a cannonball before crashing heavily into the protective barrier into the distance, much to the shock of all of the spectators.


    However, before he fell onto the ground, a pair of wings spread open on his back, and he performed an agile somersault before flying up toward Qiangu Zhangting.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes widened with incredulity upon seeing this. How did his battle armor possess such insane defensive prowess? It seemed that it hadn''t been impacted much at all by his staff strike!


    Unbeknownst to him, his opponent was none other than one of only two Divine Blacksmiths on the entire continent.


    Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon Song battle armor was constructed from soul refined alloys comprised of a staggering number of metals, so its defensive prowess definitely stood at the pinnacle of all suits of three-word battle armor.


    The reason why it was so difficult to forge a suit of four-word battle armor for himself was precisely because his suit of three-word battle armor was too powerful.


    In the spectator stands, Xie Xie was watching the match in a perplexed manner. "Why is Boss being so passive? This doesn''t make sense! Isn''t he really pissed off at that Qiangu Zhangting guy?"


    He was very well-versed with Tang Wulin''s style of battle, which was extremely aggressive and overflowing with explosive power, and this was the first time he had ever seen Tang Wulin being beaten so comprehensively by someone who didn''t even seem to be more powerful than him.


    Even the matches in the Trial of Five Gods hadn''t been this one-sided!


    "Hehe, you''re not very bright, are you? Take a good look; it''s not that simple. I''m guessing that Wulin has struck some gold; those staff techniques are quite interesting," Er Ming said with a smile as he tossed jerky into his own mouth.


    Yuanen Yehui nodded in agreement. "Captain is always making breakthroughs during battle, and this is very much out of character for him, so he must be plotting something."


    Er Ming said, "I can sense a will to contend with the power of laws from that kid''s staff techniques. I can sense the fury of the plane, but it''s unable to do anything to him; that''s the special nature of his martial soul. It''s able to resist the will of the plane, and it derives its power from destroying planar laws. You two probably can''t sense it through the protective barrier, but in a one-on-one battle, you''d have very little chance against him, given your current level of understanding of the laws of heaven and earth."


    Yuanen Yehui turned to him with a surprised expression. "Is he that powerful?"

 Chapter 1538: Dragon Realm

    Er Ming nodded in response. "That kid has a great heritage. Of course, once you master our family''s Divine Titan Fists, you''ll have no issues against him."


    Ever since he discovered the existence of his descendants, Er Ming had become very fond of using the phrase "our family".


    Yuanen Yehui nodded, and asked, "What is Captain doing right now, Senior?"


    Er Ming replied, "I can''t sense it all that clearly through the protective barrier, but he should be experiencing the changes taking place during the destruction of the power of laws. He has an exceptional understanding of planar laws, and he should be benefitting immensely from this battle. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be allowing himself to be beaten like this."


    The Dragon Moon Song battle armor tremored from the attack, but due to its design, it was able to spread the force of the impact to every corner of its structure, thereby significantly reducing the impact that Tang Wulin had to withstand with his body.


    The battle armor had been designed by Gu Yue, and during the design process, Gu Yue had taken Tang Wulin''s bodily properties into account.


    He possessed supreme defensive prowess to begin with, and that was only enhanced by his Golden Dragon Body and Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, so his Dragon Moon Song battle armor leaned more toward impact reduction as opposed to outright defense.


    For normal Soul Masters, this wouldn''t serve much of a purpose, and it could easily result in severe injuries being incurred. However, with Tang Wulin''s physical tolerance, this wasn''t an issue, and it also allowed his battle armor to withstand more impact. On top of that, even though his battle armor was more focused on impact reduction, its exceptional materials meant that it still had far superior defensive prowess compared to normal suits of three-word battle armor.


    Aside from powerful beings of Yuanen Zhentian''s caliber, it would be very difficult for anyone else to shatter his suit of three-word battle armor.


    Upon catching a glimpse of the mockery in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he flew through the air, a cold look immediately appeared on Qiangu Zhangting''s face.


    This was a battle that he took very seriously, and prior to this match, he had rehearsed by battling many powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda who were also adept at using lightning. However, much to his surprise, it was Tang Wulin''s durability that was causing far more of a headache for him than Tang Wulin''s lightning abilities.


    He knew how powerful his own Coiling Dragon Staff was; even the average Hyper Douluo wearing their suit of battle armor wouldn''t dare to take a staff strike from him head-on, yet Yu Longyue had withstood his attacks like nothing.


    Was this guy really a human?


    On top of that, even though he was very confident in his own suit of battle armor, he was struck by a feeling that Tang Wulin''s battle armor was somehow different from his.


    He couldn''t allow this to continue!


    He had already used three Unyielding Staff Techniques, and not only were they extremely powerful, they were also very taxing to unleash. He had thought that he would be able to crush Yu Longyue and put an early end to this battle, but it was clear that this plan had already failed.


    He had only mastered a total of five Unyielding Staff Techniques, and each successive one was more taxing than the previous technique. If Yu Longyue were to withstand all of those attacks, then Qiangu Zhangting would be left considerably spent and in very bad shape.


    Qiangu Zhangting had a considerable wealth of battle experience as well, and he immediately made a decision to also don his own suit of battle armor.


    Specks of platinum light appeared all over his body, and a giant white dragon emerged from his forehead before transforming into a dragon-head-shaped helmet that encapsulated his entire head.


    A suit of platinum battle armor then spread over his entire body, and a pair of huge wings were unfurled on his back. At the same time, his Coiling Dragon Staff also turned a platinum color, and the dragon carved onto its surface let loose a thunderous roar as it took on a substantial form. It transformed into a white dragon that instantly swelled to over 30 meters in length, then hovered beneath Qiangu Zhangting''s feet in a still manner.


    Standing atop the white dragon''s head with his suit of platinum armor and imposing staff, it had to be said that Qiangu Zhangting''s current appearance was definitely enough to woo countless members of the opposite sex.


    A melodious dragon''s roar rang out from Qiangu Zhangting''s mouth, and a layer of platinum light immediately began to radiate from both his and the giant white dragon''s bodies. At the same time, his aura also shifted as a platinum halo with a diameter of around 30 meters appeared on the ground beneath him.


    This was his three-word battle armor domain!


    He raised his Coiling Dragon Staff high above his head, and at this point, the staff was already entirely covered in fine platinum dragon scales. Scintillating light radiated from the domain halo beneath his feet, and a massive pillar of platinum light was projected upward.


    It was very apparent to everyone that he was about to unleash an all-out assault.


    Tang Wulin spread open his wings and hovered in mid-air as he adjusted his own aura as opposed to attacking right away.


    As expected of the Spirit Pagoda''s most powerful family; this suit of battle armor and its battle armor domain were both very exceptional. Unfortunately for Tang Wulin, he couldn''t use his Golden Blood Dragon domain as it was far too recognizable and would immediately blow his cover.


    The giant platinum dragon unleashed the first attack, and everything around it took on a scorching white color. It released a breath, and the breath instantly transformed into dozens of smaller white dragons that flew toward Tang Wulin from all directions.


    Dragon Realm! This was Qiangu Zhangting''s three-word battle armor domain, and the design for his battle armor stemmed from his family. It hadn''t been designed specifically for him; this was the universal three-word battle armor design in the Qiangu Family.


    Incandescent platinum light erupted across the entire competition platform alongside a burst of terrifying power, and Tang Wulin felt as if he were a small raft on a raging ocean.


    Right at this moment, a peculiar sensation spread through his entire body alongside a sense of agitation. This was power that didn''t belong to him, and he reflexively looked down at his own wrist.


    A layer of rainbow light almost instantly erupted from his wrist, following which a rainbow halo was projected from his body.


    All of the spectators and even Tang Wulin himself were stunned by the emergence of this rainbow halo.


    This was an enormous halo that contained countless miniature dragon-shaped patterns, and if one were to look closely, they would discover that these patterns depicted countless giant dragons of different shapes, forms, and colors.


    What was most alarming was the fact that this halo had a diameter of over 100 meters!It was projected onto the ground in an extremely clear manner, and as soon as it appeared, all of the platinum light in the surrounding area melted away like snow under a scorching sun.


    All of the oncoming white dragons instantly vanished upon coming into contact with the rainbow light, as if they had been assimilated, and at the same time, a series of rather blurry images began to appear around Tang Wulin.


    "Mental manifestation!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng abruptly rose to his feet on the rostrum.


    As a Limit Douluo himself, he was naturally aware of what mental manifestation looked like; it was just that he had never considered that his grandson would encounter a mental manifestation level powerful being in this event. Furthermore, what was that 100-meter domain? A domain of such a massive diameter was unheard of even among Limit Douluos!


    In fact, there may not have ever been a domain of this size in history!


    On top of that, this domain clearly wasn''t just for show; it had nullified Qiangu Zhangting''s Dragon Realm with ease.


    The rainbow light seemed to contain some type of power of laws, and Gu Yuena had also risen to her feet.


    She stared at the images that had begun to take shape around Tang Wulin, and she couldn''t help but throw a hand over her own mouth as an incredulous look appeared in her eyes.


    There were over 100 images unfolding around Tang Wulin, but all of them were quite blurry, perhaps due to the fact that his spiritual power was still rather lacking, and they didn''t appear to be special in any way.

 Chapter 1539: Gu Yuenas Outpouring of Emotion

    The images seemed to depict a person digging holes before strenuously carrying massive objects into those holes. Every image was similar, except the colors were slightly different, and each image seemed to have a dragon-shaped projection revolving around it, resonating with the countless dragon projections within the halo down below.


    None of the spectators were able to make sense of the images, and even Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters and the friends and teachers who were closest to Tang Wulin had no idea what was happening.


    In that instant, Gu Yuena felt as if she and Tang Wulin were the only two people left in the world as only she could tell what he was doing.


    An indescribable flurry of emotions welled up in her heart, and she felt as if something had gotten stuck in her throat.


    She finally knew what he had been doing during his three-year absence, and she finally understood why she had felt a sense of absolute trust and reliance toward him following his return.


    She gritted her teeth tightly to repress her own tears, but her heart had already completely melted into a puddle.


    You were right, Na''er; you were always right, and so was I! He did something that we should''ve done!


    At this moment, Tang Wulin himself was also completely perplexed by what was happening around him. All he could sense were countless giant dragons around him, roaring with fondness and longing in their voices.


    The bracelet was the present that the giant dragons of the Dragon Valley had given him prior to his departure, but never did he think that it could be activated like this.


    At this moment, he could even feel a call from a distant alternate plane, where the dragons of the Dragon Valley were greeting him from afar.


    Meanwhile, Qiangu Zhangting suddenly realized that he was unable to bring his Coiling Dragon Staff staff up as he could clearly sense that the staff was trembling, and even the giant white dragon beneath him was also trembling.


    How was this possible? The giant dragon around his Coiling Dragon Staff was an Evil Vanquishing Dragon, which was a very special type of dragon that didn''t even obey the Dragon God. This type of dragon was born from nature and manifested from the righteous energy of heaven and earth, so it could be argued that it wasn''t even a true dragon at all.


    Regardless of how powerful its enemy was, the Evil Vanquishing Dragon would always display an unyielding spirit and often allow the wielder of the Coiling Dragon Staff to unleash power beyond their normal capabilities.


    The unyielding will in the Unyielding Staff Techniques and even the method to destroy the power of laws had been developed from the research that several generations of Qiangu Family powerful beings had conducted on the Evil Vanquishing Dragons adhered to their Coiling Dragon Staves.


    However, at this moment, the Evil Vanquishing Dragon was trembling, and it seemed to be fearful of the domain up ahead. This was something that Qiangu Zhangting had never experienced before, and he hadn''t even heard a Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul ever displaying such a reaction in the past.


    "Roar!" A deafening dragon''s roar rang out, and the mental manifestation around Tang Wulin suddenly fell as a storm of light. In that instant, it was as if countless giant dragons had risen up from the rainbow halo below him to fill the entire competition venue.


    The joust for a spouse event was not short on spectacular scenes, but none had been quite as spectacular as this one.


    Qiangu Zhangting was devoured, as was the white dragon beneath him. Countless giant dragons were surging through this entire space, letting loose one clear dragon''s roar after another.


    All of the spectators, even those on the rostrum, had been stunned into complete silence, and many people were even unconsciously holding their breaths as they took in the extraordinary scene unfolding before them.


    The rainbow projections gradually faded, as did the rainbow halo beneath Tang Wulin''s feet, leaving only Tang Wulin hovering mid-air with a slightly dumbfounded look on his face.


    As for Qiangu Zhangting, he had already landed on the ground, and he was still wearing his suit of battle armor, but his Coiling Dragon Staff had changed; the dragon was gone, and it was now just... a bare staff.


    A peculiar silence settled over the entire stadium.


    Ai Fei''s mouth was gaped wide open, and he had no idea how to commentate further on this match.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin was reminiscing what had just happened. He had clearly sensed that those giant dragons were calling out to him, and he seemed to have grasped onto something, but was unable to truly control it. It seemed that this was something that he could grab ahold of, but having missed that fleeting instant of opportunity, everything quickly disappeared.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s battle armor domain and the dragon on his Coiling Dragon Staff had both vanished, and Tang Wulin looked down to discover that the rainbow light within the bracelet he was wearing had also disappeared, leaving only a transparent clear crystal behind.


    However, he could sense that this clear crystal was releasing a burst of suction force, seemingly absorbing something in the air.


    Only then did he realize that the present bestowed upon him by the giant dragons had such an effect. It was just that they had never told him how to use it, and he still didn''t know it could be activated. However, it was clear that the effect had been activated due to an external stimulus on this occasion, and this was something that he would have to look into later.


    Right at this moment, an enraged voice rang out. "You haven''t won yet!" Only then did Tang Wulin recall that he was in the midst of a battle with his love rival.


    This match was far too important for Qiangu Zhangting; Gu Yuena was the most important part of his life, and he couldn''t afford to lose her, so he had to win no matter what.


    Qiangu Zhangting rose to his feet as he spoke, using his Coiling Dragon Staff as a crutch. In the instant that his domain had vanished, over half of his soul power had also disappeared, and even his battle armor had become dull and devoid of luster. Without the Evil Vanquishing Dragon, his powers had been depleted by at least 60%.


    However, he still seemed to be full of confidence, and he reached out with his left hand, upon which a hexagonal object appeared in his grasp.


    This was a grey metal badge, and in the instant that it appeared, all of the light on the competition platform suddenly dimmed, as if day had suddenly transitioned into night.


    It seemed that the item was devouring all of the light.


    The badge then slowly rose up from Qiangu Zhangting''s hand to hover in mid-air, and it quickly expanded to a diameter of around 10 meters with its front surface directly facing Tang Wulin.


    A sense of extreme peril instantly welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart, and his mind began to tremble with inexplicable horror while his body seemed to have completely stiffened.


    A peculiar-looking snake appeared at the center of the badge. The snake was of a dark grey color with a massive tongue, and right at this moment, it opened its eyes.


    As soon as Tang Wulin caught sight of those eyes, he was completely paralyzed, and even the energy circulating within his battle armor seemed to have been instantly sealed away.


    Those eyes were like a pair of crimson abysses that were sucking at his soul, and he could see that a projection that was around 100 meters tall had appeared behind the metal badge. This was a female figure with a head of giant snakes for hair, and her red eyes were filled with an aura of darkness. In Tang Wulin''s eyes, it was as if everything around him had transformed into a crimson abyss.


    His body was already beginning to fall backward involuntarily, and a sinister smile appeared on Qiangu Zhangting''s face upon seeing this.


    You asked for it! You made me do this!


    It was said that this Soul Sucking Badge had been inherited from the Goddess of Sin, Medusa. This was a true divine weapon, and the ultimate trump card of the Qiangu Family.


    Every time it was used, countless sacrificial offerings had to be made to maintain the wisp of Medusa''s soul contained within the badge, and the Qiangu Family had killed countless soul beasts in the past as offerings to it.

 Chapter 1540: Second Trial of the Sea God

    In order to ensure his own victory, he had borrowed this Soul Sucking Badge from the patriarch of his family. The patriarch had told him not to use the badge unless it was absolutely necessary as its usage required the expenditure of a massive amount of resources.


    If it weren''t for the fact that Gu Yuena was extremely important to the Spirit Pagoda, there was no way he would''ve been able to gather enough sacrificial offerings to use the badge.


    Now that it had been used, his opponent''s death was sealed!


    This divine weapon had never failed in the past.


    The hundred-meter domain that Tang Wulin had just unleashed was far too fearsome. It hadn''t inflicted any injuries upon him in the end, but in that instant, Qiangu Zhangting could sense that its power definitely wasn''t inferior to that of a Limit Douluo. Fortunately for him, it seemed that his opponent hadn''t yet managed to fully master it.


    A threat like this had to be killed off right away, even if doing so would make the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan an enemy of the Qiangu Family.


    As such, as the Soul Sucking Badge was brought out, even Qiangu Dongfeng merely furrowed his brows slightly, but made no effort to stop the match. After all, a threat like this had to be removed as soon as possible, or it could lead to immense trouble in the future.


    Gu Yuena''s pupils also contracted slightly at the sight of the Soul Sucking Badge, but her expression then quickly returned to normal.


    The Goddess of Sin was only a third-rank goddess; even though the Golden Dragon King was only half of the Dragon God and Tang Wulin had only obtained a part of its bloodline, it was still a true first-rank god. Even if Qiangu Zhangting could defeat Tang Wulin with the Soul Sucking Badge, there was no way he would be able to kill Tang Wulin.


    If the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King were that easy to kill, then the Golden Dragon King wouldn''t have been sealed in the Divine Realm, and the Silver Dragon King wouldn''t have gotten away.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin felt as if he were about to go insane.


    His soul was gradually stiffening, and his mind had also become completely drained of spiritual power. Both his soul core and dragon core seemed to have been fossilized, and he was literally crumbling away from the inside!


    No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to shake this unbearable feeling, and he wanted to yell with all his might, but simply couldn''t find his voice.


    Right at this moment, something within his mind seemed to activate, and in the next instant, a burst of golden light radiated forth, basking his crumbling body in gentle golden warmth.


    Tang Wulin''s mind almost instantly returned to normal, and a voice that seemed to belong to his father rang out in his heart.


    "Sinful godly power shouldn''t exist in this world."


    In the next instant, he fully regained his consciousness.


    In the eyes of Qiangu Zhangting, Tang Wulin''s life force was rapidly fading from the effect of the Soul Sucking Badge, and his body was gradually turning grey.


    According to historical records, those targeted by the Soul Sucking Badge would quickly be turned to stone, then disintegrate into dust after their life force had been completely depleted.


    Die! This is what you get for trying to take my woman!


    However, right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s eyes suddenly lit up, and a plume of grey mist surged back from his body, transforming into the projection of a female head that was screeching with horror.


    Immediately thereafter, a burst of golden light erupted from Tang Wulin''s right hand, transforming into a massive golden trident.


    Tang Wulin then cast his gaze toward the dumbstruck Qiangu Zhangting, and his mocking expression seemed to be saying "you''re not the only one with a divine weapon! My father is a god!"


    The golden trident was slashed through the air like lightning, unleashing a burst of peerlessly radiant golden light.


    "No!"


    Qiangu Zhangting and Qiangu Dongfeng yelled in unison, but neither of them could stop what was happening.


    The giant golden trident swept through the air, and the Soul Sucking Badge exploded into countless pieces. Golden light surged through the air, completely eradicating the grey mist and leaving no trace behind.


    Dazzling golden light enveloped Tang Wulin''s entire body, and he descended onto the ground.


    All of a sudden, his vision blurred, and he was suddenly thrust into a golden world.


    Everything around him was completely golden, and an authoritative voice rang out in his mind. "The second trial of the Sea God begins now."


    The Sea God''s Trident seemed to have been activated by the Soul Sucking Badge, and Tang Wulin didn''t know whether he should laugh or cry.


    He was still in the middle of a battle! Wouldn''t he automatically lose the match if he were to suddenly disappear? He couldn''t afford to lose! He had to win, both for Gu Yue and for the plan devised by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy!


    However, there was nothing that he could do. He had already been dragged into this space, and the only ways he could get out were either to complete the trial or fail the trial.


    He took a deep breath to repress his own agitation and focused on resolving this issue as soon as possible.


    He looked around him to find nothing but boundless golden light in all directions.


    The first trial seemed to have been a test of willpower, so what was this second trial going to be?


    After waiting for a long while, everything remained completely unchanged, and Tang Wulin sat down with his legs crossed to experience everything around him.


    On this occasion, he had retained all of his powers, and with his sharp senses, he was confident that he would immediately be able to react if something were to happen.


    Right at this moment, a beam of bright light suddenly appeared in his heart without any warning. Tang Wulin was given a fright and immediately sprang to his feet, thinking that something was going to happen, but nothing did.


    Thus, he sat down again to wait.


    His surroundings were very peaceful, but his heart wasn''t at peace at all.


    Time slowly passed by, and even Tang Wulin didn''t know how long had passed as there were no soul tools in this world; it was as if only his soul had been transported into it, so he had no time-keeping device.


    What could he do? All he could do was wait.


    In the beginning, he was able to keep his emotions in check, but in this world, he didn''t get hungry or tired, and there was absolutely nothing here!


    He couldn''t even cultivate as he still had his soul power and blood essence power, but was unable to circulate them.


    As such, all he could do was think, but there was only a limited number of things that he could think about, while time in this space seemed to be limitless.


    What exactly was this trial?


    As more time passed, Tang Wulin began to grow more and more agitated, and more and more negative emotions began to well up in his heart. He began to think erratic thoughts and suffer from depression, but none of that served any purpose.


    Even his screams and yells received no response; there was simply nothing here.

 Chapter 1541: Restrict Time and Space, Dragon Emperor Slash

    The most damning part about this experience was the loneliness. Tang Wulin discovered that he couldn''t even inflict any harm or pain upon himself in this space, and his mind was incredibly alert, but there was nothing for him to do.


    In this environment, a normal person would most likely quickly go insane. Even in solitary confinement, one would still be able to hear some sounds, but there was nothing here.


    Tang Wulin had already cursed Qiangu Zhangting countless times in his heart. If it weren''t for that accursed badge, he wouldn''t be stuck here right now.


    He was even struck by the urge to give up on the Sea God''s Trident as this trial was simply too painful to endure. However, as soon as this thought surfaced in his mind, he immediately repressed it.


    How could he give up when Sea God''s Trident was the true coordinates to track down his parents and loved ones?


    The training that he had endured on the demonic island began to shine through here. There was nothing to do anyway, so Tang Wulin began to attempt to calm himself down. He tried to completely empty his mind.


    He was far too alert to sleep in this world, but he could completely empty his own mind.


    In the beginning, he found this very difficult to accomplish, and all types of erratic thoughts would surface in his mind after just a short time. However, as time passed, he gradually began to improve in this endeavor. He discovered that this was a very interesting experience, as if he were battling against himself.


    After finding that state of inner peace, he would be able to calm down and rid himself of all the erratic thoughts. On top of that, in this calm state, he discovered that many problems that he couldn''t find answers to in the past suddenly became very clear, both in cultivation, as well as in other aspects of life.


    Thus, he began to think every time he entered this tranquil state, and whenever that happened, his mind would become very clear. Even though he couldn''t cultivate here, his clarity of mind allowed him to work through one problem after another, and gradually, he became accustomed to silence and loneliness.


    He began to develop some coping mechanisms, such as finding inner peace, thinking about problems, and reminiscing about his own past.


    He still firmly believed that there would be a day when he would leave this golden world, and his heart became more and more tranquil and steadfast, as did his eyes.


    After an indeterminate period of time had passed, a beam of light suddenly appeared in his mind without any warning.


    Tang Wulin merely opened his eyes in a calm manner, and a faint smile appeared on his face.


    "The second trial of the Sea God, Loneliness, has been completed. Duration: one year!"


    One year? Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. He had been in this world of nothingness for an entire year?


    His power spread through his entire body again, and sound was suddenly reintroduced into his world, something that he had become completely unaccustomed to.


    As he focused his gaze, he discovered that he was still in the Bright City Sports Stadium, and Qiangu Zhangting was charging toward him from not far away. At this moment, Qiangu Zhangting''s face was twisted with fury, and he was letting loose a guttural howl that didn''t even sound human anymore.


    "Clang!" He reflexively raised his golden trident, and he discovered that it seemed to have become slightly lighter yet again.


    The bare Coiling Dragon Staff struck the golden trident, but it was clear that the two weapons were on completely different levels. Qiangu Zhangting stumbled back a few steps, then abruptly stopped in his tracks.


    In that instant, he caught a glimpse of Tang Wulin''s eyes.


    Those eyes had been filled with pride and mockery just a moment ago, yet they had suddenly become incredibly tranquil and calm, like a lake that had been undisturbed for centuries.


    Tang Wulin pointed his golden trident forward, and uttered the word "restrict"!


    Qiangu Zhangting''s expression froze on his face, and he suddenly discovered that he was unable to do anything.


    "Dragon Emperor Slash!"


    Countless beams of golden light instantly combined as one, and this one beam of light was filled with unstoppable will and regal radiance.


    In that instant, it was as if Tang Wulin had transformed into the overlord of heaven and earth, and his golden trident was like a blade that could sever space and time.


    Restrict Time and Space, Dragon Emperor Slash!


    Throughout this past year of thought and enlightenment, he had finally managed to combine his Time Reversal domain, Fury of the Masses, All or Nothing, and Path of Regal Domination into a single attack, which was this Dragon Emperor Slash!


    "Boom!" A projection appeared almost instantly in front of Qiangu Zhangting, and the congealed time and space warped before shattering into countless pieces.


    The entire protective barrier within the sports stadium also instantly crumbled, and a piercing dragon''s roar reverberated throughout the entire venue.


    A massive halo proliferated outward, repelling Tang Wulin''s body into the distance, while a deep trench was left in the ground.


    Countless cracks had appeared over the entire competition platform, and Qiangu Dongfeng was standing in front of his own grandson with a furious expression. Qiangu Zhangting was currently sitting on the ground, looking as if he had lost his soul. His Coiling Dragon Staff had been snapped in half, and even though his battle armor was completely unscathed, there was a gash running down all the way from his forehead. The gash was only skin-deep, but blood was pouring incessantly out of it, creating a very gory sight to behold.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was also holding his Coiling Dragon Staff, but a deep gash had also appeared on it, and the staff was around a third of the way sliced through. Furthermore, there was a gash running from his face all the way down to his abdomen as well. He had immediately sealed off his own blood vessels so he wasn''t bleeding profusely like Qiangu Zhangting, but he had still been injured.


    This was the Spirit Pagoda Chairman, a Limit Douluo who was at least a demigod; even though he had been off guard, there weren''t many people in the world who would''ve been capable of injuring him!


    The entire stadium was stunned by the sheer destructive power of the golden trident.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his golden trident with a calm expression. "Is the rest of the family going to gang up on me now?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng took a deep breath to repress his own rage and incredulity, and said, "Qiangu Zhangting concedes the match; I intervened to save his life."


    Indeed, if it weren''t for Qiangu Dongfeng''s intervention, Qiangu Zhangting would''ve most likely been sliced in half by that attack. Even his three-word battle armor wouldn''t have been able to resist Tang Wulin''s golden trident at all.


    Not only was Dragon Emperor Slash capable of sealing time and space, it could disregard all defenses as well. This was why Qiangu Dongfeng had been injured and his Coiling Dragon Staff had been damaged, even though he had clearly blocked Tang Wulin''s attack and sent him flying with his domain.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he couldn''t be happier with this outcome. He didn''t know why the year he had spent in the second trial of the Sea God seemed to have only equated to an instant in the real world, but he certainly wasn''t complaining.


    Ai Fei opened his mouth three times in succession to say something, but was still unable to find the appropriate words. Qiangu Dongfeng was clearly at the height of his rage, so it was best for Ai Fei to remain silent in case he incurred the chairman''s wrath.


    At this point, all of the spectators present had already erupted into a frenzy.


    "Yu Longyue, Yu Longyue, Yu Lonyue!" This was a match being broadcasted all over the entire continent, and even though it wasn''t very long, it had definitely been extremely spectacular.


    Qiangu Zhangting seemed to have gained the upper hand with his initial ferocious barrage, but Tang Wulin had suddenly turned the tables with his enormous domain, then even wounded the Spirit Pagoda Chairman with his golden trident. All of these scenes had been branded deep into the hearts of the spectators, and everyone was forced to adjust their evaluation of Yu Longyue.


    Just how powerful did he have to be to have wounded Qiangu Dongfeng? Even a Limit Douluo most likely wouldn''t be able to easily injure another Limit Douluo; in that instant, Yu Longyue''s future progression to the Limit Douluo level had virtually become a foregone conclusion in the eyes of everyone present.


    Even Er Ming had put down his snacks and was looking on with his mouth gaped open in shock.

 Chapter 1542: Extraordinary

    He turned to Yuanen Yehui, then said in a meaningful voice, "It''s still not too late to dump Xie Xie and pursue Wulin, lass!"


    Yuanen Yehui blushed, and said, "Please don''t say that; Wulin already has Gu Yuena."


    Er Ming shook his head, and sighed, "There''s no way they can be together, so there''s no point in considering that. Perhaps you should..."


    "What would you like to eat later, Senior?" Xie Xie hurriedly asked.


    Er Ming slapped him on the shoulder with a mixture of amusement and exasperation in his eyes. "How about you stop being such a smartass and focus more on your cultivation!"


    Yuanen Yehui was aware that Er Ming was only joking, and she asked, "I didn''t really understand what just happened; why is it that Qiangu Dongfeng managed to force Captain back, but he was injured in the process as well?"


    Er Ming replied, "Wulin really is an extraordinary kid; as expected of... Ahem, that final attack seemed to have combined all of his abilities, including even his domain and power of laws. It didn''t appear to be all that special, but it drained virtually everything that he had. In addition to that, the golden trident he''s wielding is an extremely powerful divine weapon, but Qiangu Dongfeng wasn''t fully prepared, which is why he was injured. The most fearsome aspect of that attack is the fact that it can disregard all defenses.


    "It can bypass three-word battle armor, but suits of four-word battle armor are enhanced by the power of laws to a certain extent, so perhaps they can nullify a portion of the attack''s power. However, at Wulin''s current cultivation rank, it appears he can''t use that attack more than once in a short time. However, the fact that he was able to create such a technique shows that he''s already found his own path. That attack wasn''t inferior to Tang San''s signature attacks."


    He had murmured that last sentence to himself, and he was currently in a very good mood. Tang Wulin had given him hope, and he was very eager to see Tang Wulin become more powerful as that would increase his chances of finding the Divine Realm. If the Divine Realm hadn''t disappeared, the Douluo Continent wouldn''t be in its current perilous situation.


    Yu Longyue had won, and he had even injured Qiangu Dongfeng!


    Due to the fact that the match was being broadcasted live to the entire continent, there was no opportunity for the Spirit Pagoda to hide what had happened. As such, this match was already being discussed by everyone and evoking widespread excitement all over the continent.


    With the conclusion of this match, the representative for the third group had also been decided; Yu Longyue was going to be one of the final 10 competitors to progress, while Qiangu Zhangting had been eliminated.


    Qiangu Zhangting fainted almost as soon as he left the competition platform, perhaps due to his injuries or perhaps due to his indignation.


    Qiangu Dongfeng also wore an extremely dark expression. It was already bad enough that Qiangu Zhangting had lost in such embarrassing fashion, but what was even more unacceptable was the destruction of the Qiangu Family''s most powerful treasure, the Soul Sucking Badge! How was he supposed to answer to the patriarch?


    On top of that, Yu Longyue''s power and that fearsome divine weapon in his possession had also set off massive alarm bells in Qiangu Dongfeng''s mind.


    Never did he think that the legendary Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would be this powerful.


    However, as the Spirit Pagoda Chairman, he couldn''t afford to be blinded by his own rage. To the media outlets, he had announced that he had only intervened during the match to protect Qiangu Zhangting. The attack that Yu Longyue had unleashed at the time was something that he was still unable to control, so if Qiangu Dongfeng hadn''t stepped in, his grandson would''ve been killed for sure. This joust for a spouse event wasn''t a war, so death should be avoided at all costs; even if it had been someone else in Qiangu Zhangting''s position, he would''ve stepped in anyway.


    As for the injury he had sustained, his response to it had been quite gracious. Firstly, he had praised Yu Longyue''s weapon as the most powerful divine weapon he had ever seen, and also expressed his congratulations toward Yu Longyue. At the same time, he also hinted at the fact that he had been ill-prepared and didn''t want to hurt Yu Longyue, which was why he had been injured.


    Through these statements, he was attempting to save face for the Spirit Pagoda as much as possible.


    However, there was no bending the truth, and it was very apparent that the badge that Yu Longyue had shattered at the end of the battle was no ordinary treasure. Of course, Qiangu Dongfeng''s statement had also drawn much attention toward Yu Longyue, and everyone was speculating about exactly what divine weapon that golden trident of his was.


    Just as the Spirit Pagoda had planned, interest in the joust for a spouse event had been reignited, but the focus of that interest was a little different from what they had anticipated.


    Tang Wulin was feeling so feeble that he was almost unable to walk out of the sports stadium.


    Once outside, he immediately contacted his friends, and was quickly picked up by an unmarked Tang Sect vehicle.


    The car''s one-way glass kept out all prying eyes, and Zang Xin and Yali were waiting for him in the car.


    They had clearly both arrived as they were concerned that someone would try to plot against Tang Wulin.


    "You spiritual power is extremely depleted," Yali said as she pressed a hand onto Tang Wulin''s forehead, nourishing his mind with her gentle holy light.


    Only after seeing the two Limit Douluos did Tang Wulin completely relaxed, and he was unable to even muster up a response.


    A long while later, he was finally somewhat recovered, and he gently laid a hand onto the back of Yali''s hand. "I''m fine now, Mother."


    His feebleness had stemmed from severe overexertion of his spiritual power, which was, in turn, a result of the Dragon Emperor Slash he had unleashed. He was certain that if it weren''t for the improved control over his own spiritual power that he had developed during that year of solitude in the second trial of the Sea God, there was no way he would''ve been able to unleash that Dragon Emperor Slash.


    The Dragon Emperor Slash was extremely powerful, but it had almost completely wiped out his mental manifestation level spiritual power!


    Zang Xin''s brows were slightly furrowed as he said, "You''ve put on too much of a show today, Wulin. There''s still some time left until the conclusion of this joust for a spouse event, and it''s most likely not going to be a peaceful period of time."


    Tang Wulin replied with a wry smile, "I didn''t want this to happen; I was struck by sudden enlightenment and reflexively used that technique. Even I didn''t think it would be powerful enough to harm Qiangu Dongfeng."


    Of course, what he intentionally neglected to mention was that he really was trying to kill Qiangu Zhangting at the time. Qiangu Zhangting was his love rival and had attempted to kill him with that Soul Sucking Badge, so he naturally had no mercy for him.


    A faint smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face. "That attack gave even Yali and myself the chills; we didn''t think you''d be able to create such a powerful technique so soon. Once it''s fully developed, it''s definitely going to be one of the most powerful offensive techniques of the Soul Master world."


    The fact that this praise was coming from a Limit Douluo was sufficient testament to just how powerful that attack had been.


    Yali nodded, and chimed in, "It''s alright, if we had wanted to keep a low profile, we wouldn''t even have come here in the first place. Zang Xin and I will stay at the blacksmith association for the next few days; let''s see who''ll dare to make a move against you. Besides, your uncle-teacher is a Divine Blacksmith; no one would want to offend him."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. He was far too feeble at the moment, and he closed his eyes to rest.


    He was almost instantly able to calm himself down, and his spiritual power began to quickly recover.


    His year of loneliness hadn''t gone to waste; it had taught him how to control his own mind.

 Chapter 1543: The Dragon Clan

    Gu Yuena was standing beside the bed of the unconscious Qiangu Zhangting with a series of emotions flashing through her eyes. Qiangu Zhangting had already been unconscious for over an hour, and according to the healing system Soul Masters, he had fainted mostly due to emotional reasons rather than from his injuries. The vast majority of the power of Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Slash had been withstood by Qiangu Dongfeng, so Qiangu Zhangting''s injury was only skin-deep. He was a Titled Douluo himself, after all, so his defensive prowess was certainly no joke.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was busy taking care of other matters, so Gu Yuena was staying behind to look after Qiangu Zhangting, and at this moment, her mind was completely elsewhere.


    The Dragon Emperor Slash had been extremely powerful, but what had truly stunned her was Tang Wulin''s hundred-meter domain.


    That domain represented the acknowledgment of the dragon clan. She had long been aware of Tang Wulin''s bracelet, but she didn''t think that it contained such pure and unadulterated admiration.


    From Tang Wulin''s mental manifestation, she was finally able to understand what he had done during his 1,000-day absence.


    He did possess the Golden Dragon King bloodline, but he was still a human, yet he had laid all of the dragon skeletons of the dragon tomb to rest on his own.


    She could still clearly recall that the entire Dragon Valley space had been extremely unstable at the time. Furthermore, she didn''t want to have to face him, so she had hurriedly left. However, he had disappeared for over three years, and by then, it had become impossible for her to access the Dragon Valley again.


    So that was what he had been doing all along. What he had done for the dragon clan couldn''t be described through words. At the time, he was still far less powerful than he currently was, and as a normal human, his lifespan was limited to only around 100 years at most, yet he had chosen to expend 3% of the best years of his life on completing such a lonely and thankless task.


    It was no wonder that his soul power hadn''t improved by much upon his return; he had spent all his time and energy on that task!


    The gratitude of all of the dragon souls had been condensed into that bracelet, and it acted as an amulet for him, preventing any dragon from being able to attack him, not even the Evil Vanquishing Dragon.


    A series of complex thoughts raced through Gu Yuena''s mind, but they were concealed behind her calm facade.


    Right at this moment, a hoarse cough rang out, and Qiangu Zhangting opened his eyes in a disoriented manner.


    He immediately caught sight of Gu Yuena, and his memories gradually returned to him, upon which he clearly began to become more emotional.


    Gu Yuena strode over to him before whispering something into his ear, and only then did his expression ease slightly.


    "Really?"


    "Yes."


    "I''m so sorry, Nana; I can''t believe how useless I am. It''s all my fault!" Qiangu Zhangting closed his eyes with a pained expression.


    "Don''t think too much and focus on recovery; I''ll take care of everything else. The badge has already been destroyed; don''t make Grandfather have to worry about you as well." Gu Yuena''s voice was very gentle and seemed to be imbued with some type of magical power. Qiangu Zhangting gradually became more relaxed as he heard her voice. "You''re so good to me, Nana."


    "Shh, focus on resting for now," Gu Yuena urged in a gentle voice.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was standing at the entrance to the room, appraising the two of them with furrowed brows, but he had a relieved look in his eyes.


    He was very pleased with Gu Yuena''s attitude, but the loss of the Soul Sucking Badge was far too severe, particularly considering it had been destroyed during such a farcical event; he really didn''t know how to explain this to the patriarch.


    ......


    Tang Wulin was situated within a boundless expanse of cloud and mist, within which a series of giant dragons were flying around him while letting loose elated roars, seemingly celebrating something.


    Tang Wulin had no idea how he had gotten here, but everything felt very realistic.


    Right at this moment, a massive golden dragon suddenly appeared beneath him, and before he had a chance to react, the gigantic dragon raised him up so that he was standing on its head. A clear dragon''s roar rang out, and all of the surrounding giant dragons quickly gathered around Tang Wulin while letting loose joyous roars of their own.


    "Thank you for laying us to rest. Thank you for planting a seed for the dragon clan. Thank you, our leader, our Dragon God."


    A message surged into Tang Wulin''s mind, followed immediately by a stream of countless emotions. The sudden and massive influx of information immediately struck him with a splitting headache, but thankfully, he possessed sufficient spiritual power to allow himself to adjust to this in just a short time.


    This was the Dragon Valley!


    He finally knew where all of these giant dragons had come from.


    Having attained mental manifestation level spiritual power, all of his dreams would become projections, just like what was happening right now.


    The bracelet around his wrist was referred to as the Dragon God''s Tear by all of the giant dragons, and it was a divine tool that had been left behind by the Dragon God.


    The remains of the Dragon God had once been in the Dragon Valley, and its true spirit had been guarding the entire dragon tomb, nourishing all of the dragon skeletons within the tomb in the hope that that the dragon clan would enjoy a resurgence someday.


    However, not long after Tang Wulin entered the Dragon Valley, the true spirit of the Dragon God was taken away by someone who also possessed the aura of the Dragon God.


    As a result, the entire Dragon Valley was facing collapse. However, Tang Wulin also possessed the aura of the Dragon God, and his presence stabilized the entire plane, preventing the dragon tomb from completely collapsing.


    After that, he had spent over three years burying dragon skeletons. All of these skeletons contained energy provided to them by the Dragon God''s true spirit, and having been buried like seeds, the skeletons were given an opportunity to retain their own sentience.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s Dragon God aura had become more and more pronounced through his constant absorption of dragon souls, and this allowed the entire plane to gradually stabilize during the time that he had spent there.


    Even though it was an unintentional act, Tang Wulin had saved the entire dragon tomb. After all these years, the dragon skeletons in the dragon tomb had gradually reawakened their sentience, and they managed to get into contact with Tang Wulin through the Dragon God''s Tear.


    Of course, this wouldn''t have been possible had Tang Wulin not reached the mental manifestation level.


    The power of that domain had stemmed from the projection of the dragon tomb, and the giant golden dragon currently carrying Tang Wulin was the most powerful one of the Dragon God''s nine sons, the Light Dragon King.


    The Light Dragon King''s dragon spirit had been preserved very well, and it told Tang Wulin that it could sense that his Dragon God aura was becoming more and more pronounced. If he could find the being that had taken away the Dragon God''s true spirit and recover the true spirit before absorbing their aura, then he could trigger a dragon clan resurgence.


    During this process, they were willing to assist Tang Wulin at any time through the Dragon God''s Tear.


    "I see, but once the dragon clan is revived, will you remain in the dragon tomb or return to the Douluo Continent?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The Light Dragon King replied, "I understand your concerns. At your core, you''re still a human, and even though I don''t understand why you possess the Dragon God''s aura, I can tell you that you don''t need to be worried. We were once divine beasts that fought in the battle of the Divine Realm, but the Divine Realm no longer exists now, and the Dragon God has also fallen, so we''ll only be normal dragons. Even if we return to the Douluo Continent, our presence won''t impact the human race. Besides, we no longer want to return to that lifeless plane anyway."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Can you also sense the depleted life energy on the Douluo Continent?"

 Chapter 1544: The Dragon Kings Request

    The Light Dragon King sighed, "Of course. The dragon tomb is a small plane that is a subsidiary to the Douluo Continent plane, so we can clearly sense all of the changes taking place there. We dragons are no longer almighty divine beasts, but if we can be revived, we''ll still retain some of our past godly powers. That would allow us to traverse through space and find a planet suitable for our habitation far away from you humans."


    Tang Wulin was quite relieved to hear this. If the powerful dragon clan were to be revived on the Douluo Continent, who knew what type of catastrophe would result? Even if dragons bore no ill will toward humans, there was no guarantee that humans wouldn''t attack them for all of their physical assets.


    "Alright, if I ever encounter that being, I''ll be sure to do my best. How am I supposed to find them?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The Light Dragon King replied, "You''ll be able to sense them once your powers reach the pinnacle of that world. That day won''t be far away, and we''ve already been waiting for countless years, so waiting for a bit longer isn''t an issue. Thank you for everything you''ve done; you are the benefactor of our entire dragon clan. Every time the Dragon God''s Tear is used, you will essentially be summoning our small plane. You have to work hard on improving your spiritual power as that would increase the intensity of the call issued to us, and we''ll be able to send more power to assist you through a spatial passageway. After every usage, the Dragon God''s Tear requires at least seven days to recharge its expended natural energies."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Are you referring to that domain?"


    The Light Dragon King replied, "That''s not a domain; it''s a summoning formation once used by the Dragon God to summon his subordinates. Once you attain sufficient spiritual power, you can try communicating with us, and we''ll do our best to project more of our power to assist you."


    Tang Wulin was enlightened upon hearing this. "Thank you, Light Dragon King."


    All of a sudden, everything in the surrounding area began to fade. The Light Dragon King cast one final meaningful glance at Tang Wulin, following which its flesh and scales began to vanish, and it soon reverted back into a giant skeleton. Tang Wulin gave it a nod before everything around him disappeared amid a flash of golden light.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin opened his eyes to discover that he was still situated in his own room.


    His mental and physical exhaustion had already been washed away, and as he processed a massive amount of information left in his mind, he was gradually able to make sense of it.


    He exhaled before rising to his feet and making his way over to the window.


    It was currently right on the stroke of dawn, which was the perfect time to be cultivating the Purple Demon Eyes.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes.


    Just as Tang Wulin was reuniting with the giant dragons in his dream, the entire Douluo Continent had erupted into a frenzy.


    That match had become the hot topic on everyone''s lips, and in particular, that final attack unleashed by Tang Wulin was being heavily lauded.


    The Spirit Pagoda was doing its best to reduce the exposure the match was receiving, but to no avail. After all, the Spirit Pagoda was still unable to control the entire media.


    The final Dragon Emperor Slash that had injured Qiangu Dongfeng had been heavily scrutinized and analyzed over and over again. The shocking verdict was that that attack had been of the Limit Douluo level.


    How old was Yu Longyue? It was clear that he was below 30 years of age. While it was indeed true that Qiangu Dongfeng had been ill-prepared, it was an extraordinary feat for Yu Longyue to have been able to injure him as a young man in his twenties!


    There were many people who were saying that all of the other nine competitors were mere bystanders, and that Yu Longyue would be the only one to catch Gu Yuena''s eye.


    Perhaps it was due to her title as Silver Dragon Princess, but a corresponding nickname of Divine Dragon Prince had been coined by the Yu Longyue fanbase. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Yu Longyue had become a household name.


    The joust for a spouse event''s popularity had spiked dramatically, although not quite in the way that the Spirit Pagoda had anticipated. Everyone wanted to see the Divine Dragon Prince and Silver Dragon Princess come together; Qiangu Zhangting had been reduced to mere scenery.


    Even the rest of the round-robin stage seemed to have lost all meaning. There were some other powerful young prodigies progressing from the other groups as well, but all of them had been severely outshone by Yu Longyue.


    Shortly thereafter, the joust for a spouse event was nearing its conclusion. The final round of matches concluded, and the top 10 was decided.


    In the eyes of all of the media outlets, the Silver Dragon Princess choosing the Divine Dragon Prince was virtually a foregone conclusion.


    After that match, many people had racked their brains to track down Yu Longyue in order to interview him, but no one knew where he had gone.


    According to analysts, this was no surprise. Even though Yu Longyue had won the match, he had been forced to reveal his golden trident. Many people were speculating that this golden trident was very likely to be the Sea God''s Trident wielded by the legendary Tang San, and possessing such a divine weapon would certainly place one under immense scrutiny.


    As such, it only made sense that Yu Longyue was keeping a low profile.


    However, everyone was sure that he would appear once the final selection began. The biggest loser here was the Spirit Pagoda. It was clear to many people that Qiangu Zhangting had been rigged to win the event, but he had been crushed in such an embarrassing fashion.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had been in a foul mood this entire time.


    Regardless of how reluctant he was, he had no choice but to disclose the fact that the Soul Sucking Badge had been destroyed, and the patriarch had been so enraged that he had almost attacked him.


    However, everything subsided in the end.


    The joust for a spouse event had gone perfectly in Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes, but its entire complexion had changed following this string of events.


    Who could¡¯ve predicted that Qiangu Zhangting would lose the match even with the Soul Sucking Badge?


    Yu Longyue!


    The mere thought of the name made Qiangu Dongfeng''s hands involuntarily ball up into tight fists. Could it be that his trident really was Tang San''s Sea God''s Trident? But that was impossible! If such a divine weapon truly existed, wouldn''t the Tang Sect have recovered it already? Could it be that this was only a replica? But how could a replica have been capable of destroying the Soul Sucking Badge and injuring him?


    He could still clearly recall that even he had been forced back by the power of the Dragon Emperor Slash. He hadn''t resisted it with all his power, but he was still a demigod!

 Chapter 1545: Hes Here

    The people he had sent out to track down Yu Longyue had failed to do so, but as long as he appeared at the joust for a spouse event again, Qiangu Dongfeng was determined to ensure that he didn''t leave alive.


    He had to eliminate Yu Longyue even if it meant making an enemy of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He possessed too much potential, and it was almost certain that he would become a demigod in the future. On top of that, his golden trident would make up for the loss of the Soul Sucking Badge.


    The final day of the joust for a spouse event was coming up the next day, and it was time for the Silver Dragon Princess to make her decision. A trap had already been set by Qiangu Dongfeng during the past few days to ensure that Yu Longyue wouldn''t be able to get away.


    Early the next morning, the Bright City Sports Stadium was already completely surrounded by people, the vast majority of whom didn''t have tickets. This was going to be the final day of the joust for a spouse event, and even those without tickets would be able to see a live broadcast on the large screen outside the sports stadium.


    At the same time, there were many people offering high prices to pay for resale tickets. Even though the vast majority of people were convinced that the Silver Dragon Princess would choose the Divine Dragon Prince, seeing it in person was a completely different experience.


    The federal government had no choice but to deploy more soldiers to maintain order, and those with tickets were organized into lines to enter the stadium in an orderly fashion.


    There were many people chatting excitedly with one another in the lines.


    "Do you think the Silver Dragon Princess will fight the candidates today? She''s free to challenge anyone from the final 10."


    "Maybe. Apparently, the Silver Dragon Princess is also very powerful. Of course, she''s definitely no match for the Divine Dragon Prince. If you ask me, it doesn''t really matter; it''s not like she''s going to choose anyone else anyway; the Divine Dragon Prince is way too handsome!"


    "Stop drooling! It''s not like you have a chance with him!"


    Tickets were examined one after another, and soon, a man with a hood over his head reached the front of the line.


    "Please display your ticket," the employee urged. With so many people in the lines, it was naturally best to do things as quickly as possible.


    "I don''t have a ticket," the hooded man replied.


    "If you don''t have a ticket, then go away!" the employee said in an impatient manner.


    The young man removed his hood, then wiped a hand over his own face to reveal a set of handsome facial features.


    "Argh, it''s Yu Longyue!" A burst of screams immediately rang out in the surrounding area.


    That''s right, the young man was none other than Yu Longyue.


    Despite the trap that had been set for him, he had managed to arrive without being detected by the Spirit Pagoda.


    With his powers and the special training he had undertaken on the demonic island, it was a simple task for him to sneak into the stadium. Furthermore, with his mental manifestation level spiritual power, he could manifest projections of himself within a certain area, making it extremely difficult to determine where his true location was.


    As such, Qiangu Dongfeng was planning to capture him following the joust for a spouse event anyway, rather than trying to catch him in advance.


    "Can I go in now?" Tang Wulin asked the employee as he greeted the passionate crowd around him.


    "O, o, of course!" the employee stuttered. Never did he imagine that he would meet Yu Longyue face-to-face, and he had suddenly become very nervous.


    This was a young man who had been able to injure Qiangu Dongfeng; it was no exaggeration to say that he stood at the very pinnacle of the younger generation. He had already achieved mental manifestation as a Titled Douluo, and this meant that his progression to the Limit Douluo level was virtually assured. There were many experts who were predicting that he would become a Limit Douluo in 10 years at most.


    Thus, Tang Wulin strode into the Bright City Sports Stadium in a proud and distinguished manner, exposing himself for all to see.


    The live broadcast had already begun, so he wasn''t concerned that the Spirit Pagoda would try anything. Otherwise, all of the efforts it had made to repair its reputation would go to waste.


    Tang Wulin made his way into the resting area, and the first person that he caught sight of was Lan Fuozi, who was standing not far away from the entrance.


    She was looking very handsome in a set of vintage silver robes with her long hair spilling down her back, and even though she was still in male attire, she was looking more gender-neutral than usual.


    "Hello," Tang Wulin greeted with a smile.


    Lan Fuozi fixed an intense gaze onto him. "So you''re determined to try and take her from me."


    Tang Wulin replied in an indifferent manner, "What are you trying to say? Everyone''s objective is the same here; don''t make it sound like she''s already yours. Do you even have the right to be here?"


    Lan Fuozi immediately flared up with rage, and she wanted nothing better than to give him a vicious slap to the face. For some reason, she always became very short-tempered in his presence.


    Tang Wulin was clearly implying that she had no right to be here as she wasn''t even a man.


    She aimed a vicious glare at Tang Wulin before turning away. Otherwise, she was afraid that she would be unable to hold back from attacking him. What was most frustrating to her was that she was now certain that she was no match for him.


    Tang Wulin and Qiangu Zhangting''s battle had truly been an astonishing spectacle for her, and she was stunned by just how many trump cards Tang Wulin had up his sleeve.


    Tang Wulin adopted Yu Longyue''s usual arrogant smile, then found a place to sit to await the commencement of the joust for a spouse event''s final stage.


    At this point, all of the top competitors of the other groups had also already arrived. They paid no heed to Tang Wulin and Lan Fuozi''s verbal altercation, and nor did they communicate with one another; it was as if they were all preparing for war.


    The layout in the Bright City Sports Stadium had been completely changed. The competition platform still stood, but another tall platform that was around 20 meters tall had been erected next to it. This was a square-shaped platform that could only hold four or five people at most, and it was decorated in an extremely lavish manner, clearly reserved for the Silver Dragon Princess and the one that she was going to choose.


    The entire Bright City Sports Stadium was soon completely packed, and all of the spectators were waiting with excitement in their eyes.


    Everyone was eager to see if Gu Yuena would choose Yu Longyue or if a dark horse were going to steal the limelight.


    The spectators who were supporting different candidates were arguing in a heated manner, and due to the fact that the Silver Dragon Princess had the right to challenge any candidate, the protective barrier was still in place.


    Commentator Ai Fei had transformed into Emcee Ai Fei for today, and he was situated in the commentator''s position beside the rostrum in a dashing white suit.


    "Please take your seats and quiet down, everyone; the final stage of our joust for a spouse event is about to begin. After so many days of matches, I''m sure all of the final 10 candidates have been tried and proven. What an exciting moment this is for us all. Who is our Silver Dragon Princess going to choose? Truth be told, I''m just as excited as all of you are to see her final decision."


    All of the spectators gradually fell silent, and some of them were rather confused. Wasn''t there supposed to be some type of performance at the conclusion of an occasion as grand as this joust for a spouse event? Why was it beginning right away? It seemed a little rushed!


    In reality, a performance had been planned, and very renowned artists on the continent had been invited, but the result hadn''t gone according to plan, so there was no point in putting on such a performance. If the Spirit Pagoda had a choice, it would''ve canceled this final stage altogether.

 Chapter 1546: Commencement of the Courting Stage

    Qiangu Zhangting was currently seated on the rostrum with veins bulging on his forehead, reflecting his tumultuous emotions. His expression was slightly twisted, and he was gripping tightly onto the armrests of his chair.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was situated on the main seat, and he paid no heed to this. He had already calmed down, and in his eyes, Qiangu Zhangting''s defeat wasn''t necessarily a bad thing. Setbacks often acted as the best motivation for Soul Masters, and there was a severe shortage of such setbacks in Qiangu Zhangting''s life.


    As such, he hadn''t tried to talk Qiangu Zhangting out of his foul mood. This was something that he needed to recover from on his own and convert into motivation. He was already in his thirties; if he couldn''t even get over something like this, then how could he take over the reins at the Spirit Pagoda in the future?


    Gu Yuena was seated on the other side of Qiangu Dongfeng. On this day, she was wearing a long golden dress, and even though she had only applied some simple makeup, she was exceptionally stunning to behold. Even some of the high-ranking federal officials on the rostrum couldn''t help but steal occasional glances at her.


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to Gu Yuena before asking, "Are you confident?"


    "I am," Gu Yuena replied without any hesitation.


    "Alright, I''ll be watching." Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response.


    Gu Yuena also nodded, but didn''t say anything further.


    Qiangu Zhangting finally cast his gaze toward Gu Yuena, and he wanted to say something, but refrained in the end. His brows furrowed even more tightly, and there was an invisible aura emanating from his body. He was constantly roaring at himself to become more powerful in his own heart.


    Failure was a terrible feeling, especially in such a public setting, and he never wanted to have to go through this again, so he had to become more powerful!


    "Alright, allow me to introduce the final courting segment of our joust for a spouse event."


    Ai Fei was already beginning to announce the rules for the final stage.


    "In this final stage, all 10 candidates have a chance to be chosen by Gu Yuena. Gu Yuena will be taking the stage in person soon, and all candidates will have a chance to display their sincerity, offer up presents, or deliver a speech to win her heart. On top of that, Gu Yuena can request to spar with any candidate of her choice, and at the end of this stage, she will make her choice."


    The process wasn''t very complex. In fact, it could be said that it was overly simplistic compared to the previous stages of the event. However, all of the spectators were eager to see the final result, so they didn''t think much of this. Seeing as there wasn''t going to be any foreplay, it was better to get to the point as quickly as possible.


    "Now then, let''s welcome our final 10 candidates into the stadium. Please give them a warm round of applause and yell out the name of the one you want to see take the Silver Dragon Princess home today!"


    A wave of cheers immediately rang out on the spectator stands, and there were other names being called out, but chants of "Yu Longyue" were drowning out everything else.


    "Yu Longyue, Yu Longyue, Yu Longyue!"


    Qiangu Zhangting was trembling slightly as he listened to these passionate chants. How he wished that the name being chanted belonged to him!


    He was supposed to be the one winning the heart of the woman of his dreams in front of all of these people, but that accursed man had ruined his plan and taken his moment under the limelight.


    Even if the end result would still be the same, this shame and regret would remain with him forever.


    He had never hated someone as much as this because all of the people that he hated were generally dead.


    Yu Longyue, I''m going to tear you to shreds no matter the cost!


    Meanwhile, Qiangu Dongfeng merely looked on in a completely expressionless manner, as if none of this had anything to do with him.


    The final 10 candidates were brought onto the platform in order of the group they had emerged from, and as the third person strode onto the platform, the cheering immediately became louder.


    Tang Wulin wore a vibrant smile as he waved at the spectators in the stands.


    Lan Fuozi was right behind him, and she scoffed, "What are you showing off for? You''re making it seem like your victory is assured."


    Tang Wulin shot a glance back at her. "Are you saying that you''ll win instead?"


    "I..." Lan Fuozi really wanted to say that she did believe that, but she had no confidence at all. She didn''t think that she was better than Tang Wulin in any aspect, and she couldn''t help but think of what choice she would make if she were in the Silver Dragon Princess''s shoes.


    Ptui, what am I thinking? All men are so disgusting; why would I choose any of them?


    Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of what she was thinking, but he could glean a lot from her displeased expression. A serious look appeared in his eyes. This was perhaps going to be a very important test for himself, and she was the key to this test.


    He could already sense her presence on the other side of the courting platform. She was so close, yet seemed so far away.


    Gu Yue, how will you choose today?


    In reality, no one was less confident than Tang Wulin as only he was aware that this was not just some simple joust for a spouse event.


    The 10 candidates were spread out in a line next to one another with three to four meters between each of them.


    They were all handsome young talents, and even the oldest one among them was only in his thirties, which was very young among high-grade Soul Masters.


    Of course, Tang Wulin was still the hot favorite, and aside from the chances for Yu Longyue, there were also people who had begun chanting Gu Yuena''s name.


    A hint of vigor and excitement suddenly crept into Ai Fei''s voice as he announced, "Now then, please welcome the star of the show, Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena!"


    The sky suddenly dimmed, and a pillar of silver light descended from above, illuminating a figure that was rising up into the air in the distance.


    She wore a fluttering golden dress, and her silver hair was swaying with the wind. She was like a celestial maiden as she spread her arms open, and after what seemed like an eternity, but also only a split second, she drifted toward the courting platform.


    In that instant, she was so beautiful that those who beheld her almost forgot how to breathe, and the raucous spectators were instantly stunned into silence.


    In their eyes, Gu Yuena''s figure seemed to have been magnified, allowing them to clearly witness her gorgeous features and perfect figure.


    Even Tang Wulin was struck by an indescribable sense of excitement at the sight of her.


    She had chosen a golden dress for this occasion.


    He then looked into Gu Yuena''s bright, purple eyes, and they didn''t betray any emotion, but Tang Wulin could clearly sense that there was something contained within them.


    In that instant, it was as if everything had disappeared, and the two of them were the only things left in this world.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he took a deep breath to steady his emotions, while Lan Fuozi couldn''t help but praise, "She really is so, so beautiful!"


    She then reflexively cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin, and an indescribable feeling immediately welled up in her heart at the sight of him staring intently at the courting platform.


    Gu Yuena gave the 10 candidates a slight nod of acknowledgement, and Ai Fei announced, "I''m sure everyone has been eagerly awaiting this day. Now, the 10 candidates will have a chance to put on their own displays, and in order to ensure fairness, we''ll be drawing lots to decide the sequence."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. This moment was finally about to arrive.


    "The first one to be drawn is..." Ai Fei paused slightly before announcing, "Lan Fuozi from the fourth group!"

 Chapter 1547: I Come From Shrek Academy! I Withdraw From the Event!

    Lan Fuozi was still processing the strange emotion that had welled up in her heart, and thus, she was startled by the sudden announcement of her name. She reflexively pointed at herself, and asked, "Me?"


    Ai Fei couldn''t help but be amused by her rather comical display.


    "Welcome, Lan Fuozi."


    Only then did Lan Fuozi realize what was happening, and she blushed as she took a step forward before looking up at Gu Yuena on the courting platform. "M, Ms. Gu Yuena, I fell in love with you ever since I first saw you on television. You''re so beautiful, and I can sense that your beauty is pure and holy. I was struck by a natural urge to approach you, so I came here. I actually ran away from home to come here, but I don''t regret my decision. If you choose me, I''ll be good to you for the rest of my life. This is a present for you."


    She flipped a hand over as she spoke, and a small box appeared at the center of her palm. She carefully removed the lid of the box, revealing an eight-colored bead inside.


    The bead itself was actually transparent, but there were lights of nine colors swirling within it, consisting of blue, red, green, yellow, azure, black, purple, gold, and white, presenting a very peculiar sight to behold.


    Even with Gu Yuena''s vast wealth of knowledge and experience, she couldn''t help but be stunned by the sight of this bead.


    A hint of sorrow appeared in Lan Fuozi''s eyes as she said, "This was left to me by my father, and my mother says that I can only give this to someone I truly love. This is the most precious thing I have, and my love for you is true. If you choose me, then it''s yours, and I implore you to cherish it."


    Gu Yuena''s captivating voice rang out in response. "I can''t take that. Even if I choose you, I can''t take something so precious from you. I can feel your sincerity and your love, and for that, I thank you."


    What exactly was that eight-colored bead? The vast majority of people present had no clue.


    Tang Wulin was standing right beside Lan Fuozi, and with his enormous spiritual power, he could sense that a boundless ocean seemed to have suddenly appeared before his eyes as Lan Fuozi brought out that bead.


    The eight-colored light was filled with pure power of laws, and this was definitely a priceless treasure.


    Even the tribulation lightning that Tang Wulin attracted during heavenly refinement only had seven colors, yet this bead contained eight, so it transcended even tribulation lightning.


    Never did he think that Lan Fuozi would bring out something this incredible for a joust for a spouse event; wasn''t she being way too sincere?!


    A stir immediately ran through the spectators upon seeing this. They didn''t know what that bead was, but judging from Gu Yuena''s reaction, it was definitely an extremely precious item.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression changed slightly for the very first time. As a Limit Douluo, he was naturally also able to sense the rich power of laws contained within the bead. For a demigod like him, this was an extremely important item.


    The eight colors entailed eight types of laws, and there had been a saying since ancient times that mastering nine types of laws would grant one godhood! This meant that this bead was one step away from becoming a god. If he could obtain it, there was even a chance that he would be able to become a quasigod, so how could he not be tempted by this?


    Ai Fei said, "It looks like Lan Fuozi has offered an extraordinary present; even Gu Yuena can sense its value and Lan Fuozi''s sincerity. Do you have any questions for or wish to challenge Lan Fuozi?"


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "I don''t have any questions."


    Ai Fei continued, "Then please take a short rest, Lan Fuozi, and we''ll continue with the displays. Our next candidate is Yuan Hui from the eighth group."


    Yuan Hui was a contestant who had also drawn a lot of attention.


    He was only a Soul Douluo, but with his iron fists, he was able to fell one powerful opponent after another. His appearance was very ordinary, but beneath that guise was an extraordinary character.


    Upon being prompted, he strode forward and looked up at Gu Yuena on the courting platform.


    For some reason, Yuan Hui''s expression seemed a little off to Ai Fei, and he urged, "You may begin now, Yuan Hui."


    "My name is Yuanen Yehui; I come from Shrek Academy, and I withdraw from this event," Yuan Hui said with a faint smile before taking a couple of steps backward.


    Her words immediately stirred the entire stadium up into a frenzy!


    Shrek Academy had stood on the continent for over 20,000 years, and no one had forgotten it, even though it had been destroyed. On top of that, it was currently being rebuilt.


    Not many people were aware of the conflict between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda as it wasn''t as obvious as the bad blood between the Tang Sect and Spirit Pagoda. Now, there was a self-proclaimed Shrek Academy student who had made it into the final 10, but had withdrawn from the event. What was this supposed to mean? Was he simply trying to make a statement to announce the return of Shrek Academy?


    Ai Fei was rather flabbergasted, and he almost blurted out the question "why would you withdraw?"!


    Aliases weren''t prohibited during this joust for a spouse event, so he hadn''t broken any rules, so why had he withdrawn?


    Gu Yuena''s expression remained unchanged. She was naturally already aware that this was Yuanen Yehui.


    Ai Fei took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. This live broadcast was being watched across the entire continent, so the show had to go on.


    "Looks like Yuan Hui is lacking in confidence and has decided to withdraw, leaving us with only nine candidates left. Let''s continue."


    He attempted to gloss over this awkward situation with a concise statement, but all of the media''s cameras were currently focused on him and Yuanen Yehui.


    Yuanen Yehui''s expression remained calm, and she was looking directly at Gu Yuena without any inhibition.


    "Next up is Zheng Yu from the first group. Zheng Yu is also a Soul Douluo that swept through the competition and defeated the Titled Douluo in his group."


    Zheng Yu was a tall and broad young man, and he looked up at Gu Yuena with a smile before also taking a couple of steps backward. "I am Yue Zhengyu from Shrek Academy, and I withdraw from this event!"


    That''s right, the top competitor from the first group was none other than Yue Zhengyu!


    The chatter that had sprung up in the spectator stands had become a full-blown riot at this point!

 Chapter 1548: All From the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy

    One anomaly was an exception, but what about two?


    On top of that, they had both chosen to withdraw; wasn''t this a ploy to embarrass the Spirit Pagoda? At the same time, they were announcing to everyone that Shrek Academy was back, and that its students were still as exceptional as ever.


    This joust for a spouse event had gathered all of the most powerful young Soul Masters on the continent, yet they had still managed to progress to the final stage.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression finally changed slightly upon seeing this, and a cold look appeared in his eyes. So this was how Shrek Academy had chosen to retaliate?


    All of the competitors'' identities had been investigated and verified in advance, but no issues had been discovered surrounding them. What did this entail? It entailed that they had planned everything. Shrek Academy had already been destroyed, so who exactly was it that was helping them?


    On top of that, what was going on with these lots that were being drawn? Why were the two Shrek Academy students drawn in succession?


    Ai Fei''s smile immediately stiffened slightly. He knew that something was very, very wrong, but what could he do?


    On this occasion, he didn''t even try to gloss over the subject and hurriedly drew the next name. "Alright, up next is Li Zhi from the second group; please give him a warm welcome."


    Li Zhi was quite portly and always wore a smile on his face. During this joust for a spouse event, he had been given the nickname of "Palms of Destruction". Despite his rotund figure, he was extremely fast and agile, and his palms were imbued with immense power of destruction that there seemed to be no counter to. All martial souls that he had faced had been crushed by his Palms of Destruction without any exception.


    Among all of the groups, the second group was the weakest without even a single Titled Douluo among its ranks. As such, he hadn''t encountered any powerful opponents, and enjoyed an easy trip to the final 10. There were two other competitors in the group who seemed to be capable of matching him, but they chose to withdraw from the event after defeating all of the other competitors, so Li Zhi was also known as the luckiest competitor of all.


    "I am Xu Lizhi of Shrek Academy, and I withdraw from this event," Li Zhi said with a smile before taking two steps backward.


    Despite his stuffed bun martial soul, he had trained arduously to master the power of destruction and the Mysterious Heaven Method. His hard work had compensated for his shortcomings, and in order to be with Ye Xinglan, he had worked just as hard, if not harder than everyone else in Shrek''s Seven Monsters.


    This was the third one!


    The spectators were beginning to become very worked up. At this point, even an idiot could tell that Shrek Academy was intentionally raining on this parade! Three of them had progressed to the final 10, yet all three of them had withdrawn; what was the meaning of this?


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression had completely darkened, and the enraged Qiangu Zhangting suddenly rose to his feet, only to be forced back onto his chair by Qiangu Dongfeng.


    "What are you doing? Do you think this situation isn''t already embarrassing enough?"


    This was a live broadcast being watched by the entire federation, so they could only repress their fury and continue watching.


    Ai Fei was stunned into silence, and had become rather fearful of continuing. Never did he think that something like this would happen. As a member of the Spirit Pagoda, he was naturally aware of the bad blood between the Spirit Pagoda and Shrek Academy, and in this situation, he had no idea what to do.


    Right at this moment, Gu Yuena cast her gaze toward him, and calmly instructed, "Continue."


    Her voice was like a gong that had been struck in Ai Fei''s mind, and he instantly returned to his senses. Gu Yuena''s encouragement instilled him with the conviction to continue. In any case, he wasn''t responsible for this, and the event had to continue. Otherwise, it would become a massive joke. The Spirit Pagoda had poured in so much resources to make this happen; it couldn''t just be abandoned now! He could only pray that no more people from Shrek Academy would emerge.


    "I am Ye Xinglan of Shrek Academy, and I withdraw from this event." Ye Xinglan''s male alias, Ye Lan, had earned the nickname "Sword God" for himself, and had also been a hot favorite.


    "I am Xu Xiaoyan of Shrek Academy, and I withdraw from this event." Xu Xiaoyan''s male alias, Xu Yan, was renowned as the "King of Control", and had tormented all of his opponents until they ran out of soul power before being forced to concede.


    "I am Xie Xie of Shrek Academy, and I withdraw from this event." Xie Xie had adopted the alias of Xie En, and had been given the nickname "Space Time Traveller". No one was able to match his speed, and his opponents were often defeated before they could even track down his location.


    Ai Fei was already completely numb at this point. The tally stood at six!


    Aside from Lan Fuozi, all six of the candidates after her were from Shrek Academy.


    As these names emerged, the employees of Spirit Pagoda quickly presented their information to Qiangu Dongfeng.


    They were the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and aside from their leader, all of them had arrived.


    All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Qiangu Dongfeng, and his breathing began to accelerate. In that instant, he finally understood what had happened.


    However, even though he had realized what was going on, he had no idea what to do. Was he supposed to stop the event?


    In that case, the Spirit Pagoda would become a universal laughing stock, and this event would be a complete and utter failure.


    How was it possible that all of Shrek''s Six Monsters had been assigned to different groups? And how had they all managed to progress? There were support system Soul Masters among them! Only a fool would believe that this was a coincidence!


    Who was the one that had drawn the lots? It was the Vice-Battle God Hall Master, whom he had invited in person!


    How had everything turned out like this?


    It was finally time for the eighth name to be announced, and this was a burly man who declared, "I am Sima Jinchi of the Tang Sect, the personal bodyguard of the Tang Sect Master, and I withdraw from this event."


    Ai Fei''s first reaction was relief as there was finally someone who wasn''t from Shrek Academy, but in the next instant, his pupils abruptly contracted.


    The Tang Sect? The Tang Sect had been declared as a treasonous organization!


    How could it be the Tang Sect?


    Furthermore, the name of Sima Jinchi was far too familiar. That''s right, he had used his true name to participate in this event, and he had brought with him a recommendation letter from the Southern Legion.


    There was no one in his group who was able to pose even the slightest obstacle to him, and he had progressed in dominant fashion. It was only due to his age and his rough appearance that he wasn''t mentioned in the same breath as Yu Longyue.


    When had Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi become the Tang Sect Master''s personal bodyguard?


    As soon as the terms "Tang Sect" and "Tang Sect Master" were uttered, the entire federation was completely stunned.


    The vice-president abruptly rose to his feet on the rostrum, and yelled, "Stop the broadcast right away! Chairman Qiangu Dongfeng, you owe me an explanation; what the hell is going on here?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng had also stood up from his chair.


    This was undoubtedly a conspiracy.


    The joust for a spouse event had progressed extremely smoothly up to this point; who could''ve predicted that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy would lash out on the final day?


    "Don''t stop the broadcast!" Qiangu Dongfeng yelled.


    The vice-president turned to him with an enraged expression. "Why? So we can embarrass ourselves even more?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied with a grim expression, "It''s too late; stopping the broadcast now would be a concession." After that, his lips tremored slightly as he communicated something to the vice-president.


    The vice-president''s brows were tightly furrowed as he reluctantly nodded in response. "Are you sure?"

 Chapter 1549: Tang Wulins Present

    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "I''m positive. This is the only way we can salvage our reputation. On top of that, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy are the ones stirring up trouble here, so we''re within our rights to heavily criticize them."


    The vice-president immediately understood what Qiangu Dongfeng was saying, and he said, "Apologies for my lack of composure just now; I''ll begin the preparations right away."


    Qiangu Dongfeng directed his attention back to the venue as the vice-president departed.


    All he could do now was weather the storm. If he were to bring the joust for a spouse event to a premature end, then the Spirit Pagoda''s reputation would be swept to the ground. In fact, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were most likely hoping that he would make the rash decision to end the event.


    As such, there was nothing that he could do aside from sit and watch.


    Ai Fei''s hands were already trembling, and only after being instructed by Gu Yuena to continue again did he pick up the ninth name.


    The spectators had erupted into a frenzy, but not all of them were supporting the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. Seven people had withdrawn in succession; they were clearly ruining the event! To the spectators, it was more important that the beautiful Silver Dragon Princess find her happiness, so there were already spectators hurling abuse at the top of their lungs.


    "The ninth candidate is A''Ruheng."


    "Hehe, I''m from the Body Sect," A''Ruheng chuckled as he strode forward.


    Ai Fei heaved a massive sigh of relief upon hearing this.


    "I''m also the senior disciple brother of the Tang Sect Master, and I withdraw from the event." A''Ruheng stepped back to join the others with a smile on his face.


    That''s right, aside from Lan Fuozi, the final candidates were entirely comprised of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Sima Jinchi, and A''Ruheng.


    The end result appeared to be quite straightforward, but the planning had been extremely complex and meticulous.


    The plan had been hatched from the very beginning during registration, and countless strings had been pulled to create this surprise.


    Not only did Qiangu Dongfeng want to see Qiangu Zhangting and Tang Wulin in the same group, this was also what Tang Wulin wanted as he had never planned to give Qiangu Zhangting an opportunity to progress to the final 10.


    Among the final 10, nine were from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and the remaining one was a woman. Everything had been planned prior to the commencement of the event, and this was the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy''s revenge.


    Regardless of the public reception, the Spirit Pagoda had been thoroughly embarrassed. Furthermore, this still wasn''t the end.


    Ai Fei was trembling as he turned toward the only remaining candidate, who was standing beside Lan Fuozi.


    It was Yu Longyue.


    All of a sudden, he was struck by a sense of realization.


    Tang Wulin was looking calmly up at Gu Yuena. In fact, his gaze had never left her this entire time.


    He had paid no heed to his friends withdrawing one after another or the reaction of the spectators, as if none of that had anything to do with him, and he had kept his gaze focused solely on her, as if to tell her that he could accomplish far more than she could imagine.


    He was no longer the powerless student and ordinary member of the Tang Sect; he was now the Tang Sect Master and the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, a man truly capable of changing many things.


    Gu Yuena''s gaze was also fixed on him, but she wore a complex expression as opposed to the scorching look in his eyes.


    She had already discovered all of this, and she knew Tang Wulin''s intentions, but she couldn''t stop them in advance as doing so would hurt him and his friends. However, she couldn''t just concede like this. She had her own mission!


    It was undoubtedly already planned that the final candidate to take the stage would be Yu Longyue. The most important person should always appear last, and this entire final stage of the joust for a spouse event was firmly under the control of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy; this was what Qiangu Dongfeng found to be the most disturbing.


    It seemed that everything had been set in motion well in advance, yet he was completely oblivious. For the first time, he realized that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were more powerful than he had imagined, and this was definitely not a good feeling.


    "Last but not least, we have the candidate from the third group, Yu Longyue." Ai Fei''s introductions had already become very minimalistic and concise. He had planned to give the Divine Dragon Prince a rousing introduction, but he couldn''t bring himself to do so now as he knew that something big was about to happen, something that would shock the entire continent.


    If this Yu Longyue were also from the Tang Sect or Shrek Academy, then this joust for a spouse event would''ve been a complete joke!


    The spectators suddenly fell silent upon hearing this introduction. Despite what the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had done, they still hoped to see the Silver Dragon Princess and Divine Dragon Prince come together in the end.


    Under the scrutiny of all of the spectators, Tang Wulin took a step forward instead of withdrawing from the event.


    "I''m here, Gu Yuena. From the very first day I met you, my heart was reserved only for you, so I can''t leave. You were always by my side, and we studied and cultivated together every day. You were like a pool of warm and soothing water that my heart was constantly basking in. At the time, I was fixated on becoming more powerful, but I had gradually become accustomed to your presence by my side. That was the happiest period of my life. Regardless of what motives you had for approaching me, I could tell that your feelings for me were sincere.


    "Time slowly passed by, and when I realized that I had fallen hopelessly in love with you, you were also in the same position. I''m not good at sweet-talking; all I can tell you is that I have what it takes to be with you. Even if you do end up opposing the entire world someday, I''ll still stand by your side. I''ll defend you with everything that I have, and perhaps I may not be able to see everyone as my enemies, but at the very least, I''m willing to give up my life for you. Gu Yue, this is a present that I''ve been working very hard on recently.


    "I don''t know if you''ll like it, but I really did give it my all. I hope that you can feel my love through it, and that it''ll always protect you. Aside from this present, I want to constantly stay by your side to protect you."


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand as he spoke, and a ring on his finger suddenly lit up. A beam of rainbow light erupted into the heavens, then hovered directly before Gu Yuena.


    All of the spectators were instantly stunned by the sight of this item, as were all of the powerful beings from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    Qiangu Zhangting sat on the rostrum in a slack-jawed manner, unable to muster up even a single word.


    This was a complete suit of armor that was devoid of any fancy patterns. It was entirely silver in color, and included a full set, including a helmet, pauldrons, breastplate, wings, greeves, etc.

 Chapter 1550: Ill Marry You if You Can Beat Me

    The suit of armor was shimmering with dazzling rainbow light, and even though it wasn''t all that fancy in design, it seemed to be something that was one with nature.


    Only battle armor masters of the three-word level and above knew what this was.


    It was the base form of a suit of divine-grade battle armor that had been constructed from heavenly refinement metals. Once a three-word battle armor master fused this suit of armor with their suit of three-word battle armor and carved new circuits onto it, their battle armor would be upgraded to the four-word level.


    This was truly a priceless item that would never appear in any auction on the continent.


    The number of four-word battle armor masters was extremely limited. Not all suits of four-word battle armor were constructed from heavenly refined metals, but those suits of armor were ultimately somewhat inferior to their heavenly refined counterparts.


    Thus, the value of this present was completely indescribable. If one were to look closely, they would discover a series of extremely meticulous hammer marks on the suit of silver battle armor that were arranged in an orderly fashion, reflecting the effort and attention to detail of its creator.


    It had taken Tang Wulin two whole months to complete this suit of battle armor, and this was the present he had prepared for Gu Yuena.


    The suit of battle armor contained his blood, sweat, and tears, as well as his peerlessly sincere emotions.


    As all of the spectators stared at the suit of divine-grade battle armor, they gradually began to return to their senses, and a massive stir immediately ran through the spectator stands again.


    The vast majority of people didn''t know what this suit of armor was, but they could sense its power. However, the Soul Masters present were already aware of what it entailed for Yu Longyue to proclaim that he had crafted this suit of battle armor; it meant that he was a Divine Blacksmith capable of heavenly refinement!


    Gu Yuena was also completely rooted to the spot. She had obviously predicted that Tang Wulin would give her a present on this day, but never did she think that it would be a suit of four-word battle armor.


    Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua had already announced that he was temporarily refusing heavenly refinement jobs due to health reasons, so it had been a very long time since the Spirit Pagoda had gotten its hands on even a tiny piece of heavenly refined metal, yet this was a full suit of heavenly refined battle armor!


    It was no wonder that she could sense the power of the rainbow lightning law within his body; this had been accumulated through his forging. How many elemental tribulations would he have had to withstand to create this piece of armor?


    Gu Yuena''s vision was already beginning to blur. His words were so straightforward and devoid of romanticism, but she could clearly sense his sincerity.


    She knew that she couldn''t cry, but she still couldn''t hold back her own tears.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin turned toward the spectators and wiped his right hand over his own face to reveal his true appearance, which was far more handsome than even Yu Longyue.


    "My name isn''t Yu Longyue, and I''m not from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. I am the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Tang Wulin. Gu Yue is my girlfriend, and I''m taking her home today. On top of that, I want to tell everyone that the Tang Sect is not a treasonous organization. Without the Tang Sect, all Soul Masters would''ve been enslaved by the Soul  Hall 20,000 years ago. Without the Tang Sect, the Douluo Continent would''ve already been conquered by the Sun Moon Continent.


    "The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy have maintained the balance of the entire continent, and I''m not asking for all of you to understand the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, but I''m here to tell you all that the Tang Sect will never disappear. Regardless of what the federation does, the Tang Sect will continue to work toward maintaining peace on the continent, as will Shrek Academy. Shrek Academy is still the number one academy on the continent, and it will continue to nurture bright young talents for millennia to come.


    "Both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy are averse to war, but we definitely do not fear war. During the Trial of Five Gods, I defended the glory of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and displayed the power of our Douluo Continent. I did indeed stop the federal fleet, but that''s because I didn''t want to see widespread senseless slaughter. A war will only benefit the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult who are lurking in the shadows. Ask yourselves this: if you have family in the military, would you want them to face threats to their lives? As an invader, can we really justify our actions? The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy will always be advocates of peace."


    His words were firm and unyielding, and he turned to meet the gaze of the enraged Qiangu Dongfeng on the rostrum.


    He raised his head high, and in that instant, it was as if he had inherited Yu Longyue''s pride. He cast his gaze back to Gu Yuena and waved his right hand through the air, upon which the suit of divine-grade battle armor landed beside her.


    He then knelt down on one knee, and asked, "Gu Yue, will you marry me?"


    At this moment, all of the spectators felt as if their brains had short-circuited. Yu Longyue was Tang Wulin, the man who had defeated an entire empire in the Trial of Five Gods?


    It was no wonder that he was this powerful. On top of that, he and the Silver Dragon Princess seemed to have an extensive history with one another. It was clear that all of this had been arranged by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had done so much to prevent a war; who exactly was doing the right thing here?


    Many of the spectators were yelling for Gu Yuena to accept his feelings as he was confessing to her, but now, the spectators had all fallen silent, and they were struggling to make sense of this situation.


    Gu Yuena suddenly turned away and wiped the tears from her face.


    "You shouldn''t have come here; why didn''t you listen to me?" Her voice was trembling slightly as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation, "I had to come!"


    Gu Yuena took a deep breath, and a determined look suddenly appeared in her purple eyes. "I''ll marry you if you can beat me."


    The entire stadium erupted into a frenzy upon hearing this.


    The Silver Dragon Princess was issuing a challenge to Tang Wulin!


    Lan Fuozi was already completely rooted to the spot.


    She had already been stunned after the first person from Shrek Academy had withdrawn. What just happened?


    After that, one person withdrew after another, and as she listened to the names of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy being repeated over and over again, her heart was filled with complex emotions.


    Only after Tang Wulin revealed his identity and confessed to Gu Yuena did she realize just how much history there was between them. This was an indescribable feeling, and she had never encountered anything like this before.


    She was feeling completely superfluous and unnecessary as she stood there, and her feelings weren''t incorrect; no one was paying her any attention.


    Right at this moment, Gu Yuena descended onto the competition platform across from Tang Wulin.


    On the rostrum, Qiangu Dongfeng was holding back Qiangu Zhangting, who was attempting to rush onto the platform, and the former said in a cold voice, "We can only place our trust in Nana now."

 Chapter 1551: Wulin VS Gu Yue

    Qiangu Zhangting''s breathing had become very fast and shallow. He had no idea about the history between Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena. The tears that Gu Yuena had shed clearly indicated that she still had feelings for him, and in that instant, he felt as if there were a dagger twisting viciously in his gut.


    As Qiangu Dongfeng was holding Qiangu Zhangting in place, he was issuing a series of orders, and around half of the high-ranking federal officials on the rostrum had already departed.


    It was clear that this was no longer just a joust for a spouse event; it was a clash between the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda!


    Tang Wulin stared at the woman of his dreams and was at a loss for what to do.


    He couldn''t help but recall back to when he had first met her. During all their years at Shrek Academy, they had never faced one another in a true battle as they had always been on the same side, even in the majority of internal sparring matches.


    Tang Wulin had thought about many possible outcomes that could arise today. In reality, he wanted to exert some pressure on Gu Yuena to force her back to his side and force her to express her true feelings.


    He had considered that Gu Yuena could refuse him, and he had even considered taking her by force, but never did he think that she would choose to challenge him.


    Instead of looking at Tang Wulin, Gu Yuena swept her gaze over Shrek''s Six Monsters, Lan Fuozi, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi. "Can you all wait below the platform?"


    Lan Fuozi appraised the two of them with a complex expression, and for some reason, she was struck by the feeling that they were a true match made in heaven.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters and the others all turned to Tang Wulin to await his instruction, and he took a deep breath before giving them a slight nod.


    Only then did they depart from the platform, leaving the entire space to the two of them.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena looked into each other''s eyes, and both of them could see the complex emotions each held for the other. Tang Wulin had always been aware that Gu Yue was very powerful, but he didn''t know exactly what level she had reached after leaving Shrek Academy. He had encountered many opportunities, so what about her? How much had she progressed with the unreserved support of the Spirit Pagoda?


    "Do you really want to do this?" Even up to this point, Tang Wulin''s heart was still filled with incredulity.


    Gu Yuena had already returned to her normal calm expression. "Should my future lover not be more powerful than I am?"


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before asking, "If I beat you, are you going to leave with me and become my wife?"


    His voice was filled with deep emotions that only Gu Yue could feel as he spoke.


    Gu Yuena paused momentarily before replying, "Yes."


    "Alright!" Tang Wulin clenched his fists tightly, and said, "Prior to coming here, I had already made up my mind that I was never going to let you leave my side again, even if I had to kidnap you, so I must win no matter what!"


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "You won''t win."


    Tang Wulin was beginning to become a little angry. "Are you that opposed to coming with me?"


    Gu Yuena didn''t offer a response to this. Her golden dress suddenly began to flutter around her, and Tang Wulin could sense that all of the elemental particles in the air had suddenly become extremely dense, to the point that they were in a near-viscous state.


    The protective barrier rose up, and only now did the complex emotions of the spectators subside somewhat. Who could''ve imagined that there would be so many twists and turns on this final day?


    Yu Longyue was the young Tang Sect Master who had defeated the entire Star Luo Empire on his own, while Gu Yuena was a spirit envoy of the Spirit Pagoda.


    It was clear that the two of them shared a long history, and Tang Wulin was here to take her away, but it seemed that she didn''t want to go with him.


    To describe this turn of events as farcical was a massive understatement. These two were still the stars of the show; was this battle going to decide the final outcome of the joust for a spouse event?


    Tang Wulin''s eyes gradually turned golden in color. Now that he didn''t need to hide his own identity, he would be able to unleash his full power to face Gu Yuena in this battle.


    However, he really didn''t want to do this. Would he really be able to attack her? If it weren''t for the fact that she had agreed to leave with him if he won, he would''ve never chosen this option.


    The two of them weren''t situated very far away from one another, but neither of them attacked first.


    "Let''s begin," Gu Yuena said.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    This was Bright City, and he was the sect master of a treasonous organization, so it clearly wasn''t in his best interest to drag this out any longer than necessary.


    Gu Yuena slowly raised her right hand toward Tang Wulin, while Tang Wulin continued to look calmly into her eyes.


    Right at this moment, blue, red, yellow, and azure light converged toward Gu Yuena from all directions, instantly forming a swirling vortex of light in front of her right hand.


    This was a combination of the water, fire, earth, and wind elements!


    Tang Wulin was struck by a strong sense of familiarity at the sight of her elemental control, and mental manifestation projections depicting their first meeting began to appear around him in an unconscious manner.


    Right at this moment, a burst of enormous repulsive force erupted from the four-colored light, and it transformed into a four-colored ball of light that reached Tang Wulin in the blink of an eye.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin''s eyes suddenly became extremely gentle and tender, and Gu Yuena was almost unable to keep her own emotions in check as her heart instantly skipped a beat.


    In the next instant, the four-colored ball of light slammed heavily into Tang Wulin''s chest. The dazzling light was imbued with terrifying explosive power, and Tang Wulin''s body was sent flying like a cannonball, quickly crashing into the protective barrier in the distance amid a resounding boom.


    The power of this attack immediately drew cries of surprise from the spectator stands.


    Gu Yuena herself was also rooted to the spot as she could sense that not only had Tang Wulin not retaliated, he hadn''t even tried to defend himself; he had merely taken the attack head-on with his own chest.


    Only after the four-colored light faded did Tang Wulin slide down onto the ground along the protective barrier.


    His face was slightly pale, and the clothes on his upper body had been torn away, revealing a perfect muscular physique.


    He strode directly toward Gu Yuena as if he hadn''t just been dealt a heavy blow, and said, "If I were living for myself, I would never retaliate. I would allow you to beat me until you''re willing to come with me or until you beat me to death. However, I can''t do that now. I''m the Tang Sect Master, and Shrek Academy also needs me. Hence, I''m going to defeat you and take you with me. Be careful now, Gu Yue."


    A series of shimmering golden scales appeared on his skin as he spoke, encapsulating his entire body, and his arms also became thicker and more muscular. His body began to expand in size as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Body, and a burst of peerlessly powerful blood essence fluctuations surged through the air.


    This was the true power of Tang Wulin.


    As he strode forward, his aura swelled steadily, and he made a grabbing motion with his right hand to summon his Golden Dragon Spear. A determined look had appeared on his face, and he seemed to be ready for battle.


    Gu Yuena took a deep breath before giving Tang Wulin a slight nod. A silver staff appeared in her grasp, and the four-colored light around her began to transform into seven-colored light as light, darkness, and space elements were also incorporated.


    Silver light radiated forth from the core of this seven-colored light, and a pair of massive silver dragon wings unfurled on Gu Yuena''s back, while her eyes became as bright as stars.

 Chapter 1552: Seven Elemental Great Fission

    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin sprang into action. He instantly sprang up into the air, then thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward to unleash countless spear projections toward Gu Yuena. The spear projections appeared to be very radiant and flashy, but their power was actually very much subdued.


    Through his constant improvement and attainment of enlightenment, Tang Wulin had created two Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques and also elevated all of his existing techniques to unprecedented heights.


    It was still Fury of the Masses, but only now did Tang Wulin feel like he was getting close to the version that Old Tang had unleashed.


    Gu Yuena drew a circle with her staff, and the seven-colored light suddenly transformed into seven fireballs of different colors that hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin''s Fury of the Masses.


    The seven fireballs surged through the air one after another, and wind soon crashed into water, forming an aquavortex. After that, earth arrived, followed by fire, and space, while light and darkness enveloped the entire attack.


    Seven Elemental Great Fission!


    "Rumble!"


    As soon as Fury of the Masses was struck by this rainbow ball of light, the entire sky tremored violently, and all of the spectators suddenly forgot how to breathe.


    A rainbow mushroom cloud erupted from the center of the explosion, demolishing the entire competition platform and causing the protective barrier to wobble in an unsteady manner. The Fury of the Masses was devoured, and Tang Wulin''s body also seemed to have been engulfed.


    "My god!" Ai Fei had already forgotten that he was wearing a microphone as he reflexively exclaimed, "I can''t believe someone can control and fuse seven elements at once! This is insane!"


    Most people knew the Silver Dragon Princess for her beauty, and even though she had displayed her power during the promotional videos, no one took that footage seriously.


    Of course, Gu Yuena had to be quite powerful as she was a spirit envoy, but the vast majority of people were of the opinion that there was no way that she was more powerful than Qiangu Zhangting, who had become a spirit envoy well before her.


    As such, many people thought that she was only challenging Tang Wulin in order to save face for the Spirit Pagoda, but in the end, she was going to leave with him anyway.


    However, only after the Seven Elemental Great Fission had exploded did those people truly understand just how fearsome the Silver Dragon Princess was.


    Every powerful Soul Master present was aware that seven elemental fusion would be impossible without Spirit Domain realm spiritual power. In fact, this was very difficult even for someone who was at the Spirit Domain realm.


    The power of that terrifying explosion had already exceeded the Titled Douluo level, which meant that Gu Yuena was at least a Hyper Douluo.


    With her power and beauty, she was truly a stunningly perfect package.


    As Tang Wulin''s body was engulfed by that rainbow mushroom cloud, Qiangu Zhangting''s expression finally eased slightly. At the very least, Gu Yuena wasn''t holding back.


    In reality, even he didn''t know just how powerful Gu Yuena was. After all, the two of them very rarely sparred, but his grandfather was always full of praise for her.


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to Qiangu Zhangting, and said, "Without the Soul Sucking Badge, you''re no match for Nana, do you understand?"


    Qiangu Zhangting turned to his grandfather with a peculiar expression. "You already knew this? Why didn''t you tell me?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "Why? So I can crush your confidence? Nana''s aptitude is far superior to what you can imagine. If you weren''t my grandson, she wouldn''t even take a second look at you. Do you think I would''ve agreed to hold this joust for a spouse event if not to appease her? Keep watching; Nana is far more powerful than you can imagine."


    "Roar!" A thunderous dragon''s roar rang out as a giant golden dragon erupted out of the rainbow mushroom cloud.


    The giant dragon tore through the cloud with golden light radiating from its body, and it opened its mouth to blast a bolt of rainbow lightning directly toward Gu Yuena.


    If one were to look closely, one would discover that there were sections of the giant dragon''s body that were charred black.


    Gu Yuena raised her silver staff high up into the air, and a rainbow vortex took shape above her. A silver door of light was opened up in front of her without any warning, and the bolt of lightning instantly vanished into the door.


    She flapped her wings to rise higher up into the air, and she pointed her staff forward again to release another ball of rainbow light, unleashing yet another Great Fission that engulfed the giant golden dragon.


    The explosive power of the seven elements was far too fearsome. Gu Yuena wasn''t expending that much energy to unleash this attack, but the elements fed off one another to unleash extremely formidable power.


    Only after adopting his Golden Dragon King True Body form did Tang Wulin manage to just barely rush out of the explosion. However, Gu Yuena''s attacks were extremely rapid and transitioned seamlessly, affording no reaction time to Tang Wulin.


    His brows furrowed tightly as he immediately unleashed his Golden Dragon Takes Flight.


    With his prior experience, he knew that he had to force his way through the Great Fission before its power had completely erupted.


    He was then greeted by the sight of three Great Fissions, followed closely by a fourth.


    The balls of rainbow light were connected in a tight chain, and as soon as Tang Wulin rushed out of one of them, the next one would already be waiting for him.


    In the eyes of the spectators, Gu Yuena was like a semi-automatic cannon, relentlessly shooting forth balls of rainbow light that exploded with fearsome power. In contrast, the golden dragon was forced to constantly take evasive measures like a scrambling dog.


    However, Tang Wulin was far calmer than everyone imagined. Having faced so many powerful enemies, he was able to maintain a calm mind despite adversity.


    It seemed that he was being dealt heavy blows, but with his defensive prowess, even the Great Fissions couldn''t truly harm him.


    With his Golden Dragon Body, Golden Dragon Body True Body, and dragon''s repulse, he was able to keep the vast majority of the explosive force at bay. During this recent period of time, he had frequently endured elemental tribulations, and he was blessed by the plane, so the power of elemental explosions was somewhat nullified against him to begin with. Thus, he wasn''t in any actual danger.


    After a total of seven Great Fissions had exploded, the entire platform had already been filled with scintillating rainbow light. Right at this moment, Gu Yuena finally paused as if she had to catch her breath.


    Tang Wulin had just rushed out of the seventh mushroom cloud, and he thought that he would be able to heave a sigh of relief, but his heart suddenly jolted with an overwhelming sense of peril.


    "Elemental Storm!" Two simple words were uttered by Gu Yuena, but the sense of peril in Tang Wulin''s heart completely erupted upon hearing this.


    The residual energy from the previous explosions instantly surged, creating a violent storm that was countless times more powerful than the violent storm that Tang Wulin had experienced on the sea. All of a sudden, the entire competition platform had been transformed into an abstract rainbow world.

 Chapter 1553: Celestial Spear

    There was no way to evade as the attack encompassed the entire competition platform. It turned out that the seven Great Fissions had only been a setup for this Elemental Storm, and the transition had been perfectly seamless.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi were already completely dumbstruck, particularly A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi, who weren''t all that familiar with Gu Yuena.


    In their eyes, Gu Yuena was a delicate beauty; how was she this terrifying in battle?


    Even from below the platform, they could sense the protective barrier trembling in the face of the terrifying Elemental Storm.


    "Dragon Emperor Break!"


    A low voice rang out on the platform, and the abstract rainbow world suddenly began to converge toward the center of the competition platform as if it were being drawn there by some type of mysterious force.


    In the air above, the giant golden dragon was revealed again, and it reached out with its front right claw. Its golden claws had expanded to at least twice their original size, and within its palm was a vortex that was rapidly revolving to devour the violent Elemental Storm.


    This was none other than his Dragon Emperor Break!


    The two combatants reappeared in mid-air, and in the next instant, the golden dragon reverted back to its human form before instantly arriving in front of Gu Yuena.


    Tang Wulin then reached out toward Gu Yuena''s shoulders with his pair of dragon claws, but in the instant that Tang Wulin''s claws came into contact with her body, she had already vanished before reappearing several dozens of meters away.


    As soon as she reappeared, she pointed her staff toward Tang Wulin, releasing a pillar of rainbow light that was far too fast for Tang Wulin to evade. What was even more terrifying was that the pillar of rainbow light had a sticky quality that clung to his body.


    Right at this moment, the surrounding space warped slightly, and the pillar of light suddenly shortened while Tang Wulin took evasive measures.


    This was his Time Reversal domain!


    However, a massive ball of rainbow light then suddenly appeared before Tang Wulin, as if his actions had already been predicted.


    In contrast with the past Great Fissions, this ball of rainbow light didn''t explode. Instead, it fell directly upon Tang Wulin, and having just used his Time Reversal domain once, he wasn''t able to use it again in succession. The rainbow pillar of light that he had just evaded struck his body again, and at the same time, rainbow light erupted beneath his feet to encompass a diameter of 20 meters around him.


    Streaks of rainbow light converged to form a reverse waterfall that surged upward, blasting him up into the air.


    There was virtually no delay at all between each segment of this string of powerful attacks, and it was a truly formidable display of combat prowess.


    Both Gu Yuena''s offensive power and control exemplified the true power of a Soul Master adept in elemental manipulation.


    Right at this moment, a dull thump rang out as a violent explosion suddenly erupted from Tang Wulin''s body. Countless Bluesilver Emperor vines surged forth amid a loud thunderclap, and a halo proliferated forth beneath his feet.


    Elemental Stripping!


    This was the effect of his Bluesilver Golden Array, and it naturally couldn''t compare with his Dragon Emperor Break, but it still temporarily halted the seven elements around him in their tracks.


    Tang Wulin spread open his dragon wings, then took a deep breath before letting loose a thunderous Golden Dragon Roar.


    The deafening dragon''s roar temporarily forced back the elements around him, and he rose up into the air while releasing his dragon''s repulse. At the same time, specks of light appeared all over his body as he donned his suit of three-word battle armor.


    Gu Yue was far more powerful than he had imagined, and with her incredible spatial control, it was virtually impossible to engage her in melee combat. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had some trump cards such as All or Nothing that he didn''t dare to use as they could potentially harm her.


    As such, he had been bound by inhibitions from the moment that their clash had begun. Thus, he had devised a strategy to wear down Gu Yuena.


    He possessed enormous soul power and blood essence power, and controlling so many elements would undoubtedly be very taxing on Gu Yuena''s soul power and spiritual power. Having decided on this course of action, Tang Wulin immediately released his battle armor. In doing so, he would be able to last longer in this battle and improve his affinity with the elements derived from the blessings of the plane.


    Gu Yuena heaved an internal sigh as specks of silver light appeared all over her body, and she also donned her own suit of three-word battle armor.


    At the same time, a massive silver projection emerged behind her.


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted at the sight of the rather familiar projection, but before he could get a good look at it, Gu Yuena had already sprung into action. Instead of taking further evasive measures, she instantly appeared right before him.


    Tang Wulin was wearing his Dragon Moon Song battle armor, while Gu Yuena was wearing her Dragon Dancing Qilin battle armor.


    The two of them looked into each other''s eyes while Gu Yuena gently pressed her hand against Tang Wulin''s chest as if she were caressing him.


    Tang Wulin reflexively tried to evade, but all of a sudden, everything congealed around him, and he was completely immobilized; even his mind had gone blank for an instant.


    "Boom!"


    In the next instant, his body was sent hurtling back through the air. The attack had been extremely fearsome, but Tang Wulin wasn''t able to fly back very far from the force of the impact. From the perspective of the spectators, lightning of seven different colors suddenly appeared out of thin air before bombarding him from all directions.


    Seven Elemental Lightning of Destruction!


    This was virtually a direct attack from elemental laws, and it was even more fearsome than elemental tribulation lightning. Tribulation lightning didn''t possess any conscious will or intelligence, but Gu Yuena''s elemental lightning was filled with terrifying explosive power that had been compressed to the extreme and possessed an infiltration effect.


    Tang Wulin''s battle armor was instantly illuminated by rainbow light, and his body shuddered seven times in succession in mid-air. Immediately thereafter, a massive rainbow spear descended from the heavens before instantly piercing through his chest, slamming him down from above and nailing him viciously onto the ground.


    "No!"


    Shrek''s Six Monsters, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi were all horrified to see this.


    Everything had happened far too quickly, and Tang Wulin had already been struck by that formidable barrage of attacks before they could do anything.


    Seven Elemental Celestial Spear!


    Tang Wulin''s Dragon Moon Song battle armor shattered in the face of this terrifying attack, and after Tang Wulin was pinned to the ground, the rainbow light faded. The entire stadium had fallen deathly silent.


    Everything had happened far too quickly, to the extent that even the Limit Douluos in attendance weren''t able to intervene in time. Furthermore, in the instant that Gu Yuena''s right hand had come into contact with Tang Wulin''s chest, all of the space in the entire sports stadium had instantly congealed, thereby preventing anyone from being able to step in.


    This was Gu Yuena''s spiritual domain, Spatial Seal!


    Tang Wulin was lying on the ground, shuddering incessantly as blood flowed out of his mouth and nostrils, while Gu Yuena hovered expressionlessly in mid-air above him. "You''ve lost. You can''t beat me, so you have no right to take me away."

 Chapter 1554: She Chose Her!

    She swept her right hand through the air as she spoke, and a burst of rainbow light swept Tang Wulin out of the competition platform as if he were a piece of trash.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters immediately flared up with rage as they rushed toward the platform, but right at this moment, a series of figures that were radiating powerful auras descended around the platform. All of them were wearing Spirit Pagoda uniforms, and one of them was shimmering with silver light as he landed beside Gu Yuena.


    A series of dull dragon''s roars were reverberating around him, and his hair was as white as snow, but his facial features belonged to a young man. He swept his gaze around the platform, and said in a cold voice, "The result of the joust for a spouse event has already been decided; all rabble-rousers will be killed on the spot!"


    His voice wasn''t very loud, but it was audible to everyone in the stadium and even the entirety of Bright City.


    Gu Yuena turned her attention to Lan Fuozi, who was standing below the platform, and said, "I accept your love present, Lan Fuozi."


    Immediately thereafter, Gu Yuena flapped her silver wings and disappeared amid a flash of silver light, leaving only a patch of silver ripples behind.


    The white-haired man at the center of the competition platform suddenly stomped his right foot down onto the ground, and a dull thump rang out as all of the media''s broadcasting devices were destroyed, effectively concluding the live broadcast.


    "Come on out!" he said in a cold voice.


    A series of figures descended toward the competition platform from above.


    "I didn''t think you''d still be alive, Qiangu Dieting." A pleasant voice rang out, and among the four figures who had descended from above, the one at the forefront had landed not far away from the white-haired man.


    Qiangu Dieting''s expression changed slightly at the sight of her, and he countered, "You''re still alive too, aren''t you?"


    "I bet you''re wondering how I survived that explosion, you filthy scum!" The owner of the pleasant voice was an elderly woman who was holding a cane. She had a pair of particularly bright eyes despite her advanced age, and she was none other than Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue.


    She was accompanied by Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    "Did you come here today just to stir up trouble, Long Yeyue? Don''t forget that this is Bright City; we may not be able to do anything to the four of you, but no one else from your Tang Sect and Shrek Academy is getting away!" Qiangu Dieting said in a cold voice.


    "Haha, let''s see how many people will be willing to side with scum like you!"


    Right at this moment, a huge number of mechas began to converge toward the sports stadium from afar. There wasn''t even a single yellow mecha among them; all of them were at least purple or black, and there were even three red mechas.


    They were accompanied by over 50 battle armor masters, all of whom were at the two-word or three-word level.


    Their suits of battle armor all had a clear symbol, indicating that they belonged to the Battle God Hall. This was a symbol consisting of a sword behind a shield, and as these powerful beings from the Battle God Hall arrived, the atmosphere in the entire sports stadium became extremely tense.


    Even with four Limit Douluos present, it seemed that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were still at a disadvantage.


    "The Tang Sect is a treasonous organization. The people from Shrek Academy can leave, but no one from the Tang Sect will be allowed to escape. Now that you''re all here, it certainly makes it a lot easier to capture all of you."


    Cao Dezhi smiled, and said, "You''re still as conceited as ever, Qiangu Dieting. Do your teeth still hurt from the time Brother Yun Ming smashed them out of your mouth with his spear?"


    Qiangu Dieting''s expression darkened significantly upon hearing this. "Yun Ming is no longer alive, Cao Dezhi. Let me see how you plan to escape from this trap that I''ve set up for you all."


    Qiangu Dongfeng descended onto the platform next to Qiangu Dieting before extending a respectful bow. "Father."


    Qiangu Dieting harrumphed coldly, "I can''t believe I have to clean up this ridiculous mess for you; your actions are completely unbefitting of a chairman!"


    At this moment, there were six Limit Douluos gathered in the Bright City Sports Stadium. Such a gathering was extremely rare even in the history of the entire continent.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo paid no heed to their confrontation as she quickly arrived beside Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were currently tightly shut, and his complexion was horrendous. There was no wound on his chest, but his aura was very unstable.


    Yali laid a hand onto his chest, injecting gentle holy light into his body, but mere moments later, a peculiar look flashed through her eyes as she withdrew her hand. "Stay here and look after him; we''ll take care of everything else."


    After issuing those instructions to Shrek''s Six Monsters, Yali returned to Long Yeyue''s side.


    Long Yeyue took a step forward, but instead of appraising Qiangu Dieting, she looked up at all of the mechas and battle armor masters up above. "Do you all still remember the motto of Shrek Academy?"


    "Shrek Academy accepts no ordinary people; only monsters!" Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of voices replied in unison.


    One figure after another rose up from the spectator stands, then instantly donned their suits of battle armor.


    In the blink of an eye, at least 500 figures had risen up into the air among the 100,000 spectators, and all of them were battle armor masters of at least the two-word level.


    What was even more infuriating to Qiangu Dieting was that many of the mechas and battle armor masters from the Battle God Hall and federation had also begun to descend from above.


    "I come from Shrek Academy!"


    "We come from Shrek Academy!"


    "Long live Shrek Academy!"


    A tsunami wave of uniform chants rang out, and even two of the three red mechas had descended from above to join all of the powerful beings supporting Shrek Academy.


    There were at least 1,000 powerful beings that had gathered together to protect the glory of Shrek Academy.


    Long Yeyue raised her head in a proud manner, and declared, "Shrek Academy will always exist, and the glory of Shrek Academy lives on in all of you. You will always be the little monsters of Shrek Academy, and the academy will always be your home!"


    Her declaration was reciprocated by another wave of rousing chants. "Long live Shrek Academy!"


    Qiangu Dieting''s expression had completely darkened at this point.


    The foundation that Shrek Academy had built up over the past 20,000 years was being put on full display.


    All of the spectators felt as if their blood were churning in their veins as they listened to the thunderous chants.


    Long Yeyue cast a disdainful gaze toward Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng, and harrumphed coldly, "We''re going to leave now; let me see who''s going to stop us!"


    In this instant, this elderly woman was like an icon of badassery!


    "Is this really necessary?" A faint sigh rang out as another figure descended not far away from Long Yeyue.


    He was tall and imposing with an abyss-like aura; it was none other than the current Battle God Hall Master, Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie.


    "Are you going to stop me?" Long Yeyue asked in a proud manner.


    Chen Xinjie shook his head in response. "We''re both far too old for this."


    "If you''re not going to stop me, then piss off!" Long Yeyue wasn''t making any concessions, and much to everyone''s surprise, the almighty Boundless Douluo really did take a step backward.

 Chapter 1555: Unforgettable

    "Brother Chen!" Qiangu Dieting yelled in an urgent manner.


    "Let them go," Chen Xinjie said in an authoritative voice as he waved a hand through the air, and all of the people from the Battle God Hall put away their weapons before rising higher up into the air.


    Thus, Long Yeyue, Yali, Cao Dezhi, and Zang Xin departed with their heads held high right before everyone''s eyes. They were followed closely by everyone else from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    "Brother Chen, this is Bright City, and the Tang Sect is a treasonous organization; are you not afraid of punishment for this?" Qiangu Dieting said in an enraged manner.


    Chen Xinjie turned to him with a cold expression. "Over a third of the members of our Battle God Hall are Shrek Academy graduates, and over half of them have ties with Shrek Academy; do you want to force them to turn on us?"


    Qiangu Dieting faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    Chen Xinjie continued, "If Shrek Academy is that easy to bring down, do you think Shrek City would''ve stood for 20,000 years? From now on, stay far away from our Battle God Hall; we''re not tools for you to use. As for whether your Spirit Pagoda has ties with the Holy Spirit Cult, I''m sure you''re well aware of that."


    After that, he rose up into the air and quickly vanished.


    "Bastards!" Qiangu Dieting roared, and the entire competition platform instantly caved in significantly, but even with his quasigod level powers, there was nothing that he could do.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was even more enraged. Even though the live broadcast had been cut off, there were still over 100,000 spectators who had witnessed everything, so there was no way that this could be kept secret. However, if news of this were to spread, then the Spirit Pagoda''s reputation would be swept to the ground.


    Thus, the joust for a spouse drew to a conclusion, and much to everyone''s surprise, the Silver Dragon Princess chose Lan Fuozi in the end.


    Furthermore, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had openly displayed their animosity toward the Spirit Pagoda. This was an event that could shake the entire continent!


    As Tang Wulin awakened, he found himself lying on a bed. This was no longer the blacksmith association as it was no longer appropriate for him to return there after such a groundbreaking event. Currently, everyone had their attention focused on the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so it wasn''t going to be an easy task for so many of them to leave the city.


    As soon as Tang Wulin woke up, Xie Xie rushed over to his bedside with a concerned expression.


    "Don''t be sad, Boss. I''m sure everything was just..." He didn''t know how to comfort Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin had just been impaled through the chest by the woman of his dreams in front of the entire continent; anyone would be shattered after such an experience.


    Tang Wulin sat up and rolled his eyes at Xie Xie. "You don''t need to comfort me."


    "Huh?" Xie Xie faltered slightly upon hearing this before reflexively laying a hand on Tang Wulin''s forehead, "Have you gone mad from grief, Boss?"


    Tang Wulin slapped his hand away in an exasperated manner. "Can you stop trying to curse me?"


    Xie Xie''s eyes widened as he asked, "Aren''t you sad at all after how Gu Yue treated you? Could it be that your romantic interest has changed? Who is it? Dai Yun''er?"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes in response. "Save your imagination for your cultivation. I''m fine, where''s everyone else?"


    Xie Xie replied, "We''re still all in Bright City; Elder Long said that we''ll leave after you wake up. Are you really alright?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I''m fine. Tell me what happened after I fell unconscious."


    Xie Xie was rather skeptical, but he still did as he was told and gave Tang Wulin a brief recount of events.


    "My blood was boiling in my veins at the time! That was what our Shrek Academy is all about! You should''ve seen Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng''s faces, haha, just thinking about it makes me want to laugh!"


    Tang Wulin gave a slight nod upon hearing this. Everything had progressed much the same as he had anticipated; the only disappointing thing was that he had been unable to take Gu Yuena with him.


    Was he not sad about this at all? Of course he was, but it was nothing that he couldn''t handle.


    In the end, he was unable to convince her to come with him, and as for his injuries, they were completely non-existent.


    It appeared that he had been dealt extremely heavy blows, but both of Gu Yuena''s final attacks had actually only been directed at his suit of battle armor. Only the power of laws within the rainbow elements had surged into his body, creating a special reaction with the tribulation lightning that he had withstood in the past.


    As soon as he had awakened, his understanding of elemental laws had been significantly deepened. Furthermore, Gu Yuena had worn a golden dress, and even though she hadn''t said anything intimate to him at all, her actions proved many things.


    In particular, in the instant that her final palm strike had made contact with Tang Wulin''s chest, she had shown him that he was the only man in her heart.


    Her intent had been transmitted to him on a spiritual level, and even though it was only for an instant, it was an unforgettable experience.


    What Tang Wulin had mixed feelings about was that he had realized that Gu Yuena was refusing to come with him not because he wasn''t powerful enough, but instead because she had her own motives. She was clearly targeting the Spirit Pagoda in some way, but what he was most concerned about was her safety.


    The Spirit Pagoda had stood on the continent for over 10,000 years and had built up an extremely powerful foundation. Qiangu Dieting was a quasigod who was most likely no less powerful than Chen Xinjie, and Qiangu Dongfeng was also a Limit Douluo at the demigod level.


    Surrounded by so many powerful beings, she could easily bring about her own demise if she weren''t careful. On top of that, there was also Qiangu Zhangting.


    Just the mere thought of this love rival placed Tang Wulin in a bad mood. Even if it were only for show, he still didn''t want Gu Yuena to be anywhere near him.


    The other thing that he was concerned about was that Gu Yuena''s enemies may not be limited to only the Spirit Pagoda. After all, she had once told him that being with her would require him to face the entire world as his enemy.


    As such, Tang Wulin was currently grappling with a series of complex emotions. Gu Yuena was too wilful, and it definitely wouldn''t be an easy task to convince her to come with him. Even though she had shown him her true feelings, she had also expressed her determination through her actions, and that was the main issue for Tang Wulin.


    At the same time, he was astonished by Gu Yuena''s power.


    During these past few years, he had been constantly evolving at a rapid rate, particularly in the last two years, where he had become a Titled Douluo, participated in the Trial of Five Gods, experienced a baptizing by lightning while out at sea, and become a Divine Blacksmith.


    Each of those events had significantly enhanced his overall powers, and it was no exaggeration to say that he now deserved the titles of Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master.


    However, in the face of Gu Yuena, Tang Wulin felt like he had been completely dominated. Not only was she extremely powerful, her elemental control had even managed to strip him of the plane''s blessings. As a result, he had been firmly on the back foot the entire battle.


    Even though this could partially be attributed to his reservations about hurting Gu Yuena, the main factor behind this was still Gu Yuena''s overwhelming power. In particular, those last two attacks displayed not just Gu Yuena''s formidable powers, but also her exceptional control.

 Chapter 1556: What Kind of Girl is She?

    Those two attacks really could''ve killed him. Otherwise, she wouldn''t have been able to fool Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng. Even Elder Long and the others had thought that Tang Wulin had been severely injured, let alone everyone else.


    Tang Wulin knew that he still couldn''t control his own power to such a fine and accurate degree, and this was an indication of the gap between them. This meant that Gu Yuena''s spiritual power had to be superior to his, perhaps even by a huge margin.


    She had also constantly been improving, and following that battle, Tang Wulin had no doubt in his mind that she was now no less powerful than a rookie Limit Douluo.


    With her insane aptitude, Qiangu Zhangting wasn''t even worthy to lick the bottom of her boots.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had already reached the mental manifestation level, but he could sense that Gu Yuena''s spiritual power was like a boundless abyss that had no end in sight. That was most likely the pinnacle of the Spirit Domain realm. Even a quasigod may not possess such immense spiritual power.


    She was already this powerful, yet he had foolishly declared that he would protect her. He had even become quite pleased with his own development, but it was now painfully apparent to him that he still had a very long way to go.


    Having already experienced so many setbacks in his life, Tang Wulin was quickly able to repress his own negative emotions and direct his attention toward self-improvement.


    Power was the basis of everything, and at the very least, he had to become more powerful than Gu Yuena. Only then would he be able to help her or perhaps...


    Having regained his clarity of mind, Tang Wulin got down from his bed and looked around at the room that he was staying in.


    This seemed to be a residential home that was very ordinary, but also very tidy. The blanket and sheets all had a unique scent of sunlight, and after parting the curtains, a tranquil scene was presented to him outside.


    It was as if nothing had ever happened, but to Tang Wulin, this felt like the calm before the storm.


    The outcome of this joust for a spouse event was most definitely going to shake the entire continent, and the first bold move made by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had undoubtedly created a rousing spectacle to behold.


    Xie Xie hadn''t gone into detail in his recount, but it was easy to imagine just how much of an impact that event would''ve had. Essentially, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had joined forces to oppose the Spirit Pagoda and even the federation.


    What was most shocking of all was the influence displayed by Shrek Academy; even the Battle God Hall hadn''t sided with the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had displayed four Limit Douluos, and they definitely had countless more powerful beings lurking in the shadows.


    This was the first time that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had made a public appearance since the destruction of Shrek City, and the power that they displayed was enough to strike fear into the hearts of any of their enemies.


    The joust for a spouse event had been completely ruined, and the only highlight was that Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena had defeated Tang Sect Master Tang Wulin.


    However, no matter how one looked at it, that battle seemed more like a lover''s quarrel than anything else. It was clear that the Tang Sect Master had feelings for the Silver Dragon Princess, and her reaction to him suggested that those feelings were mutual.


    In the aftermath of these shocking events, the entire Douluo Continent had been plunged into various heated debates, and even those living in extremely rural areas were discussing these contentious topics.


    "How are you?" Zang Xin asked as he strode into the room.


    "I''m fine now," Tang Wulin replied in a respectful manner.


    Zang Xin gave a meaningful look, and asked, "Are you really?"


    Tang Wulin nodded without any hesitation.


    Zang Xin smiled before heaving a faint sigh. "The amorous one is always left to rue what could''ve been!"


    An amused smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You''re not going to use your domain on me, are you?"


    Zang Xin chuckled, "Looks like you really are alright. Did you establish some type of tacit understanding with that girl?"


    A peculiar look immediately appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. With Zang Xin''s vast wealth of life experience, he was able to immediately sense something through Tang Wulin''s attitude alone.


    "Perhaps so, but also perhaps not." Tang Wulin didn''t know how to answer that question.


    Zang Xin''s brows furrowed slightly as he said, "The power displayed by that girl really has shocked all of us. We had thought you were already enough of a monster, but she''s certainly no less monstrous than you are. Elder Long says that her spiritual power is superior to all of ours."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this. "Even Elder Long''s?"


    Zang Xin nodded in response without any hesitation.


    Long Yeyue was currently the most powerful of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy''s four Limit Douluos; even Cao Dezhi''s powers were most likely inferior to hers.


    As such, the fact that even Elder Long was conceding her own spiritual power to be inferior to Gu Yuena''s was a shocking revelation.


    Zang Xin asked, "Is she an ambitious girl?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "I don''t think she''s that type of person."


    A meaningful look appeared in Zang Xin''s eyes. "Looks like you already know some things about her."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I can only make assumptions in many areas, but what I can be sure of is that she''s definitely not an ally to the Spirit Pagoda."


    Zang Xin said, "You have to mentally prepare yourself for all potential scenarios. That girl possesses immeasurable potential, and it''s hard to say where her limits lie. If you can bring her back to your side through your relationship, then that would be best, but if not, then you''ll have to be prepared for the possibility that you two could be enemies in the future."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I understand."


    Zang Xin continued, "Alright, let''s not talk about her for now. In the aftermath of the joust for a spouse event, the current situation has become very complicated. The Dove Faction has once again proposed to the parliament to vindicate our Tang Sect as a treasonous organization, but they''ve received stern opposition from the Eagle Faction, led by the Spirit Pagoda. However, the situation has already become a lot more positive; many members of the neutral faction have already chosen to stand with the Dove Faction, and some powers have declared support for the Shrek Academy rebuild."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Which ones?"


    Zang Xin smiled, and said, "Almost all of the neutral parliamentary members and the entire Dove Faction have expressed support, and there are even some powerhouses of the Eagle Faction that have come around."


    "The Eagle Faction?" Tang Wulin was quite taken aback by this. There was no surprise about the neutral parties and Dove Faction as Shrek Academy had always been the leader of the neutral faction. Now that Shrek Academy was being rebuilt, the neutral faction naturally had to express its support.


    However, it was truly a surprise to Tang Wulin that the academy had even earned Eagle Faction supporters.


    "The first to express their support was the Southern Legion," Zang Xin said with a smile.


    The Southern Legion? Wasn''t that the legion being overseen by the Holy Angel clan? This meant that they had received the support of the Holy Angel clan and the Southern Legion.


    The Southern Legion had the greatest level of autonomy among all of the legions of the federation, and the roots of the Holy Angel clan had been planted deep into the legion over the past several thousand years.


    With Angel Douluo Yue Zhengen''s power and status, he definitely wouldn''t support Shrek Academy just because of Yue Zhengyu; it had to be because Shrek Academy really did possess sufficient sway and influence.


    The Southern Legion commanded around a seventh of all of the federation''s troops! This was definitely an extremely important ally.


    "There''s also the Blood God Legion." Zang Xin''s smile became even more pronounced as he spoke.


    Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun was already a Limit Douluo, and even though the Blood God Legion wasn''t officially listed as part of the military, no other legion could compare with its power. However, it still had to guard the abyssal passageway, so this expression of support was made more so on a moral basis.


    Both of these legions were led by Limit Douluos, so they were definitely nothing to be scoffed at.


    "Most importantly..." A mysterious smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face as he paused here.


    Tang Wulin was stunned to hear that there was support coming from an entity more important than the Southern Legion and Blood God Legion.


    "The Battle God Hall has also expressed its support."

 Chapter 1557: Super Soul Array Defense System

    Tang Wulin was astonished by this revelation. The Battle God Hall was the core of the federal government''s military power, yet it had expressed support toward the Shrek Academy rebuild! This was virtually no different from gaining support from the federation itself.


    "How is that possible?" If the federation wanted to see Shrek Academy return to its former glory, then it wouldn''t have joined forces with the Spirit Pagoda in the first place.


    Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t naive enough to think that two godslayer missiles could be taken so easily unless there were issues within the federal parliament itself.


    The public expression of support from the Battle God Hall was a true bombshell, and it indicated that the situation had spiraled out of the Spirit Pagoda and even the federation''s control.


    A thought suddenly occurred to Tang Wulin, and he asked, "Did this have something to do with Elder Long?"


    Zang Xin chuckled, "Over a third of the members of the Battle God Hall are Shrek Academy graduates, but the truly decisive individual is naturally still Chen Xinjie. Without his support, there''s no way the Battle God Hall would''ve been swayed. It seems that he''s really made up his mind this time."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but chuckle upon hearing this. The relationships of the older generation sure were complex!


    As the most powerful Soul Master in the federal government, Chen Xinjie had overseen the Battle God Hall for over 50 years, and his position was all but unshakeable. In the military, neither the Mirror Douluo nor the Angel Douluo could compare with his status, and this expression of support from Chen Xinjie meant that the Shrek Academy rebuild wouldn''t encounter any further obstacles.


    Even the Spirit Pagoda wouldn''t dare to oppose someone of Chen Xinjie''s power and status!


    With his support, everything would begin to move in the right direction. Even though the Tang Sect hadn''t been vindicated, once the Shrek Academy rebuild was complete, it would be able to provide more assistance to the Tang Sect.


    In the blueprints for the new Shrek Academy, there was a section that was reserved specifically for the Tang Sect.


    "This is fantastic news! We''re finally on the right track now," Tang Wulin said in an excited manner.


    Zang Xin nodded, and said, "There''s another piece of good news: the super soul array defense system that the Tang Sect has been developing for over 100 years is nearing the completion of its development phase."


    Tang Wulin had heard about this system from Zang Xin before, and it was a cutting-edge system that had been developed for Shrek City. It was a type of super defensive soul tool system, and to put it in simpler terms, if this system had been constructed prior to the bombing, Shrek City would still be standing now.


    It was truly the ultimate defense.


    "That''s fantastic! How long will it take to be implemented?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Zang Xin replied, "It won''t be anytime soon; the system requires an enormous expenditure of resources. With the Tang Sect''s current resources, it would take at least seven years to complete the entire super soul array defense system around the Sea God''s Lake. On top of that, it would expend around a third to a half of all of the Tang Sect''s resources."


    Tang Wulin was stunned into silence upon hearing this. The Tang Sect had been accumulating resources for 20,000 years, yet over a third of it was required to complete that system. This was a truly staggering concept!


    Zang Xin smiled, and said, "But it''s all worth it. With this system, both our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy will be safe from attacks like the previous one."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "The severe shortage of resources on the continent really is a huge issue."


    Zang Xin continued, "After completing this system, the Tang Sect will aim all of its research and development in two directions, one of which is to restore the environment, while the other is to explore outer space. Hopefully, we can find a future for our Douluo Star through our efforts. This is a special time period, so as the Tang Sect Master, you''ll be solely responsible for external affairs. Once Shrek Academy is completely rebuilt, we''ll be offloading all of the internal affairs onto you as well, so you''ll be facing even more responsibilities."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Don''t dump it all on me; you should give me a hand!"


    Zang Xin chuckled, "Don''t even think about it. Old Man Cao and I are far too old for this; it''s time for young people like you to take over. However, there are some things that have to be done first. The Holy Spirit Cult has been quiet for a very long time, and that''s very abnormal."


    Ever since the Holy Spirit Cult reappeared, it had been constantly wreaking havoc, but it suddenly seemed to have disappeared again. During this joust for a spouse event, the Tang Sect and Spirit Pagoda had actually made preparations for involvement from the Holy Spirit Cult, but they never appeared.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he said, "They have indeed been too quiet."


    Zang Xin said, "They haven''t done anything on the Star Luo Empire or Dou Spirit Empire, either. This is a very abnormal situation, and we have to make more preparations. You''re already a Divine Blacksmith; craft your suit of four-word battle armor as quickly as possible. Once you become a four-word battle armor master, you''ll be able to ensure self-preservation at the very least."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. In addition to himself, he also had to begin preparing his friends'' suits of four-word battle armor. The only problem was that with his current skill level, he was still unable to craft his own suit of four-word battle armor.


    "Alright, get some rest; we''ll be leaving tomorrow morning."


    Thus, the people from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy departed through various avenues just as silently as they had arrived. The federal government displayed no intention of vindicating the Tang Sect, but nor did they release any warrants for arrest.


    It seemed that the Spirit Pagoda was swallowing this bitter pill in silence.


    Tang Wulin sat in the VIP booth of the high-speed soul train, looking at the scenery flashing past him out the window in a rare moment of relaxation.


    Across from him, Xie Xie had just laid his head onto Yuanen Yehui''s shoulder, only to be pushed aside with disdain.


    Er Ming was seated beside Tang Wulin, and he was happily chomping on a roast chicken they had just purchased in the train.


    Their destination for this trip wasn''t Shrek Academy. Instead, it was the Yuanen Family.


    The issues surrounding Yuanen Yehui had to be resolved as quickly as possible. Yuanen Yehui was already a Soul Douluo, and she wasn''t as heavily affected by her Fallen Angel martial soul as her mother had been due to her twin martial souls, but the impact still existed. Er Ming had already declared that the issue could be resolved, but the Yuanen Family was still unaware of this. They had to disclose all of this information to Yuanen Zhentian, and only then could Yuanen Yehui be accepted by her family. At the same time, Er Ming also wanted to be accepted by the family he had created.


    "Are you asking for a beating?" Er Ming glowered at Xie Xie with a menacing expression.


    Xie Xie chuckled, "Of course not; as your disciple and descendant-in-law, I have to work hard to create more descendants for you!"


    Er Ming rolled his eyes in response. "You really have no shame."


    As opposed to being insulted, Xie Xie took this remark with pride. "How else would I have landed my wife?"


    "I''m not your wife," Yuanen Yehui countered with a roll of her eyes.


    Xie Xie cleared his throat in response. "Alright, let''s not have a lover''s quarrel in front of Boss."


    Tang Wulin turned to Xie Xie with a smile, and said, "I heard from Senior Er Ming that you''ve been making big improvements lately, Xie Xie!"

 Chapter 1558: Arrival

    Under Er Ming''s guidance, Xie Xie had improved considerably in his control over the power of time. The Space Time Dragon''s powers weren''t limited to just its spatial facet, and having found the right direction, Xie Xie had been improving rapidly during recent times.


    "Nonononono, I''m just an ant compared to you, Boss," Xie Xie hurriedly replied with a shake of his head.


    Having known Tang Wulin for so long, Xie Xie was able to read between the lines, and he knew that he would be in for beating if he weren''t careful.


    "Why are you such a coward? Fight him! How will you improve if you don''t challenge people more powerful than you?" Er Ming was eager to add more fuel to the flames.


    Xie Xie rolled his eyes in response. "For the sake of Yuanen''s future happiness and my health, please don''t get involved in this, Senior."


    Yuanen Yehui chimed in, "I really do want to give it a try. How about Xie Xie and I challenge you together when we get some time, Boss?"


    She had improved significantly during this recent period of time. Under Er Ming''s guidance, her Divine Cloudvortex Fists and Divine Titan Fists had gradually begun to fuse as one, and she had also reached the pinnacle of the Soul Douluo level. Just as Er Ming had said, in order to improve more quickly, she had to challenge people more powerful than her.


    "Sure!" Tang Wulin agreed without any hesitation.


    Xie Xie couldn''t bring himself to raise any objections at the sight of Yuanen Yehui''s determined expression, and he could only remain silent with a wry smile on his face.


    Perhaps Tang Wulin''s luck had turned with soul trains, but nothing out of the ordinary happened during this trip.


    The Yuanen Family was situated in the eastern part of the continent, not far away from the original site of Shrek City. It was located to the east of the past Great Star Dou Forest in a city known as Shangling, which was surrounded by mountains, and was only accessible by soul train through underground tunnels.


    After everyone arrived, they immediately felt as if they had stumbled upon a hidden paradise.


    Shangling had natural city walls formed by the surrounding mountains, which were teeming with lush greenery. The environment here had been preserved very well, and air was noticeably fresher here; even the sky up above seemed to be a brighter shade of blue.


    "What a wonderful place!" Xie Xie said as he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of fresh air.


    However, upon turning to Yuanen Yehui, he discovered that something wasn''t quite right about her. She was standing still on the spot, and her body was trembling slightly.


    It had been many years since she had returned to this familiar yet alien place, and she was overcome with emotions.


    She could still clearly recall the traumatic events of her childhood. In a single day, her mother had passed away, and her father had become a complete shadow of his former self. Everyone had appraised her with fury and resentment, and the warm family had suddenly become hell for her.


    She felt as if she could still hear the heart-wrenching sobs and howls ringing out right beside her ears.


    Xie Xie hurriedly strode over to her before holding onto her hand in a firm manner. "It''s alright, everything will be fine, and I''ll be by your side at all times."


    Yuanen Yehui turned toward him, and all of a sudden, her heart melted ever so slightly. Indeed, he had always been by her side over the years. He had been with her through thick and thin, regardless of how cold and unapproachable she had been toward him.


    Due to her past trauma, she was unable to completely open up her heart to him, but in this instant, she suddenly felt like she was finally able to do so.


    Compared to Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena, she and Xie Xie were already far more fortunate. At the very least, they had always been together!


    She gave Xie Xie a slight nod and held tightly onto his hand as well.


    After emerging from the train station, there was already a car waiting for them, and Yuanen Yehui''s expression changed slightly at the sight of the man standing beside the car. It was none other than her uncle, Yuanen Tianshang.


    Yuanen Tianshang cast an expressionless gaze toward her before opening the car door.


    Everyone arrived at the car, and Yuanen Yehui wanted to say something, but couldn''t find the words in the end, and got into the car together with Xie Xie.


    They were followed by Tang Wulin with Er Ming bringing up the rear, and Er Ming took a glance at Yuanen Tianshang before remarking, "Your aura is too depressed and subdued. You''re refusing to let go of the past, and that''s severely impacting your ability to attain enlightenment."


    Yuanen Tianshang raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Who are you?"


    Er Ming gave no response to this and merely chuckled as he got into the car. However, in the instant that he arrived in the car, Yuanen Tianshang was immediately struck by an indescribable sense of pressure, the caliber of which he had only ever experienced from his own father.


    His pupils contracted slightly as it occurred to him that this man could be a Limit Douluo from Shrek Academy.


    Even in Shangling, he had been able to watch the live broadcast of the joust for a spouse event, and all Soul Masters were stunned by the sight of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy''s four Limit Douluos. What an incredible display of power that had been!


    If this man were also a Limit Douluo from Shrek Academy, then Shrek Academy''s hidden forces would be far too formidable to imagine.


    Yuanen Tianshang had driven the car to the train station in person, and this was a seven-seater soul car.


    Yuanen Yehui had notified the family prior to her return, and Yuanen Tianshang had agreed to pick her up in person precisely because of this display of courage. The fact that she was willing to return and face everything was an indication that she was a courageous child. He hated his sister-in-law for causing the death of his wife, but he didn''t hate Yuanen Yehui, who was only an innocent child at the time. All he wanted was to prevent that same tragedy from taking place again.


    Shangling wasn''t a very large city, and due to the fact that the Yuanen Family was a hidden sect, their estate was situated outside the western outskirts of the city.


    To call it an estate was actually overly flattering; in reality, it was just a village that was constructed next to a lush forested mountain.


    The entire village was constructed on the mountain, but there was a winding mountain path that was accessible to soul cars passed through the front of all of the houses to ensure convenience.


    As Yuanen Yehui looked at the village through the car window from afar, she was no longer able to hold back her tears. This was a place that had given her countless beautiful memories, but also inflicted upon her immeasurable pain.


    Meanwhile, Er Ming was appraising his surroundings with curiosity in his eyes, and he was becoming very excited as he sensed the extremely familiar aura spread throughout this village. Almost all of the people here bore his bloodline!


    In reality, he was no longer just a pure soul beast. In a sense, at least a part of him was human, and even as a soul beast, creating offspring and descendants was extremely important.


    He had always thought that he didn''t have any descendants, but he had never been happier to be proven wrong about something. This was an extremely wonderful feeling, the likes of which he had never experienced in the tens of thousands of years he had been alive.


    It had been countless years since Er Ming had been this happy, and he couldn''t wait to appear before his descendants. He didn''t want to prove anything, and nor did he expect them to acknowledge him; all he wanted was to see his descendants live happily while passing on his bloodline.


    For the first time in his life, he developed a strong sense of affection for humans, even more so than for Tang San. A human woman had passed on his bloodline and produced descendants for him, so his descendants were also human.


    All of a sudden, it seemed as if humans weren''t all that abhorrent anymore.


    The soul car stopped in front of a large house halfway up the mountain. This was a relatively flat area, and the house was the largest building on the entire mountain. This was the ancestral hall of the Yuanen Family.


    Yuanen Tianshang exited the car first, then strode into the ancestral hall without waiting for anyone else.

 Chapter 1559: The Yuanen Manor

    At this point, Yuanen Yehui had already regained her composure. She had returned, so she had to be prepared to face everything. After taking a deep breath, she got out of the car first, followed by everyone else.


    Er Ming appraised his surroundings with curiosity in his eyes, then nodded with a pleased expression, clearly very happy with the environment here.


    He had grown up in the Great Star Dou Forest, so he was naturally very fond of the forest environment. Even though this was only a forested mountain, it was still not bad.


    Yuanen Tianshang reappeared at the entrance to the ancestral hall, then gestured for Yuanen Yehui to follow him.


    There was no one else currently in the ancestral hall aside from Yuanen Tianshang, and he was soon joined by Yuanen Yehui and the others.


    As soon as Tang Wulin entered the ancestral hall, he immediately detected a very comforting aura that stemmed from a type of plant; it was clear that the wood used to construct this ancestral hall was no ordinary material.


    After passing through the entrance, they arrived in a spacious yard. This was a traditional style yard that Tang Wulin had seen in Heaven Dou City before, and it was clear that the Yuanen Family was still upholding traditions.


    Yuanen Tianshang didn''t say anything as he strode further into the ancestral hall. Yuanen Yehui''s head was slightly lowered as she followed along behind him. She didn''t want to look at her surroundings, and she was even a little scared to look as she was afraid that she wouldn''t be able to control her own emotions.


    Xie Xie was holding tightly onto her hand the entire time, as if he were trying to transfer his power to her, while Tang Wulin and Er Ming were inspecting the manor around them.


    The front courtyard was surrounded by a fence comprised of individual logs, and it gave off an aura akin to that of an immovable mountain. After passing through the front courtyard, everyone was greeted by two large characters: Ancestral Hall.


    This was the largest room in the entire manor, and the two characters were extremely well-written, clearly having been inscribed by a master.


    Yuanen Tianshang made his way into the ancestral hall, and everyone else trailed along behind him.


    In contrast with its antiquated exterior, the interior of the ancestral hall was luxurious and resplendent with a massive tiered table positioned directly across from the entrance. Each tier of the table was full of small plaques, and the tiers tapered up to a point, forming a pyramid structure.


    Each plaque had a name, and a birth and death time. At the very top of the pyramid was a plaque inscribed with the words "Plaque of Matriarch Xiong Xiaoling".


    Beside this plaque was a small statue that was only around the same height as the plaque, standing at roughly 30 centimeters tall. It depicted an extremely life-like ape thumping its own chest with its bare fists, and due to how small it was, it was rather adorable in appearance.


    Tang Wulin''s first reaction upon seeing this statue was to turn his gaze toward Er Ming, just in time to see Er Ming''s lips twitch in an awkward manner. Er Ming''s voice then rang out in his mind. "When the hell did I become so... so..."


    He couldn''t muster up the correct adjective for this farcical sight.


    "Pay your respects to your ancestors," Yuanen Tianshang said in a strict voice.


    Yuanen Yehui turned toward him and expressed her gratitude before kneeling down onto a futon and kowtowing thrice in succession.


    By taking her to the ancestral hall, Yuanen Tianshang was acknowledging her as a member of the Yuanen Family, and Yuanen Yehui was very thankful for this. After all, her mother had brought a calamity upon this family. Who knew how many of the plaques here contained names of people who had perished during that disaster?


    A complex look appeared on Yuanen Tianshang''s face as Yuanen Yehui paid her respects, and he heaved a heavy sigh.


    Right at this moment, a burly figure slowly emerged from the rear of the ancestral hall; it was none other than Yuanen Zhentian.


    Yuanen Zhentian also heaved a faint sight at the sight of the kowtowing Yuanen Yehui, and he said, "Welcome back."


    He then cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin and gave him a faint nod. At the same time, he detected an intense gaze and reflexively cast his own gaze toward that expression.


    As soon he did so, Yuanen Zhentian''s body shuddered violently, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes. He had been struck by an unprecedented sense of unrest that stemmed directly from his bloodline, as if his blood essence were churning in his veins.


    The only other times that he had been struck by this feeling was when he had become a Soul Sage, progressed to the Titled Douluo level, and broken through to become a Limit Douluo.


    However, just the mere sight of this man was triggering this feeling within him, and it was rather unsettling.


    Er Ming hesitated momentarily before asking, "Are you the leader of this family?"


    Yuanen Zhentian nodded in response. "Indeed I am. May I ask your name?"


    At this point, Yuanen Yehui had already risen to her feet, and she was just about to say something, but Er Ming raised a hand to stop her.


    He then pointed up at the ape statue at the top of the tiered table, and said in a peculiar voice, "I am it."


    Tang Wulin almost burst into laughter upon hearing this, and Yuanen Yehui was also stunned by this explanation, while Xie Xie turned his head to the side and clapped a hand over his own mouth to prevent himself from laughing out loud.


    "How dare you!" Yuanen Tianshang immediately flared up with rage.


    A wry smile appeared on Er Ming''s face as he said, "I knew it would be very hard for you to believe, but I''m telling the truth. Come with me." He was eager to display his own identity, and after he did that, he was going to get rid of that stupid statue right away!


    Thus, he strode out of the ancestral hall, and Yuanen Zhentian cast a perplexed gaze toward Yuanen Yehui, to which the latter confirmed, "He''s telling the truth."


    The strange sense of unrest in his bloodline immediately made Yuanen Zhentian realize something, but this realization only made him even more incredulous.


    How was this possible?


    Yuanen Zhentian grabbed onto the shoulder of the enraged Yuanen Tianshang to calm him down, then also made his way out of the ancestral hall.


    Er Ming was already standing in the courtyard, and he was looking up at the sky as his body began to expand.


    Extremely exaggerated muscles began to appear all over his body, and an extremely overwhelming yet very familiar aura began to spread through the surrounding area.


    His massive, bulging muscles, steely black skin, and mountainous aura all struck one with a sense of extreme astonishment.


    On this occasion, even Yuanen Tianshang could clearly sense the unrest in his own bloodline, and he wasn''t the only one; as Er Ming''s bloodline aura became more and more powerful, all of the members of the Yuanen Family in Shanling could sense changes taking place in their own bloodlines.


    In a dimly-lit room, an unkempt and disheveled man abruptly shuddered as he reflexively raised his head. His murky eyes suddenly became slightly clearer, and he immediately cast his gaze toward a certain direction.


    Only after Er Ming''s height had exceeded 100 meters did he finally stop growing, and he stood like an immovable mountain between heaven and earth.


    His astonishing bloodline aura was proliferating in all directions, and Yuanen Zhentian was stunned to discover that Er Ming''s aura was more powerful than his own.


    He was undoubtedly a quasigod! Never did he think that he would meet a quasigod who also shared the same Titan Giant Ape bloodline as his!

 Chapter 1560: The Story of Er Ming and the Young Woman

    Er Ming seemed to have become completely absorbed in his own thoughts, but a series of extremely clear images had appeared around him.


    This was a forest that a bright-eyed young woman was skipping through while humming a song. "The mushroom-picking girl had a basket on her back..."


    This was mental manifestation, the signature ability of all Limit Douluos!


    What was even more astonishing was that his mental manifestation included sound! What level of spiritual power was required to achieve this?


    Yuanen Tianshang had only speculated that this man was most likely a Limit Douluo; only now did he realize that this man was even more powerful than his own father.


    The young woman in the image was picking up mushrooms in patches of grass and under tree roots, then placing them into the bamboo basket she was carrying.


    All of a sudden, she stumbled upon a fat monkey lying at the foot of a large tree.


    The monkey had glossy black fur, and was quite adorable in appearance.


    The statue in the ancestral hall immediately surfaced in Tang Wulin''s mind at the sight of the monkey; the two bore a striking resemblance.


    "Wow, what an adorable little monkey," the young woman exclaimed with excitement in her eyes. The monkey appeared to be no more than half a meter tall, and she squatted down next to it before gently stroking its fur.


    The monkey was sleeping very soundly, and it seemed to be enjoying her caress as it turned over and continued to sleep.


    The young woman gently pinched the monkey''s nose as she giggled, "Let''s see if you''ll wake up if you can''t breathe."


    As expected, the monkey didn''t enjoy what she was doing, and it abruptly opened its eyes as it slapped her hand away.


    The monkey then turned toward the young woman with a fierce look in its eyes, but the young woman completely disregarded its animosity as she gently patted its head. "You''re so adorable!"


    The monkey''s sharp claws faltered slightly, and it decided against attacking the young woman in the end. Unbeknownst to the young woman, she had just brushed shoulders with death.


    The young woman pulled a mushroom out of her little basket, and said, "Here, have a delicious matsutake mushroom; it was very hard for me to find."


    The monkey hesitated momentarily before accepting the mushroom and quickly stuffing it into its own mouth.


    "Wow, I''m so glad you like it! Here''s some more."


    The young woman handed the bamboo basket to the little monkey, which accepted it without any hesitation, and after just a short while, all of the mushrooms in the basket had been devoured.


    However, not only was the young woman not displeased to see this, she became even more elated and excited.


    "Go home now; I have to continue picking mushrooms. Otherwise, I''ll have nothing to sell to buy wine for Father. By the way, my name is Xiong Xiaoling; make sure to remember my name." After that, the young woman waved at the monkey before skipping away, and the image paused before vanishing.


    Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tianshang were looking on with dumbstruck expressions, and they felt as if their skin were crawling.


    Another image emerged, this time of a massive fire.


    An entire village had been completely engulfed by these flames, and the fire was only continuing to spread.


    At the center of the village was a huge flaming spherical object with a diameter of roughly 30 meters, and it was clear that this was what had brought about this disaster.


    Howls and sobs rang out in all directions, and Xiong Xiaoling was also bawling amid the sea of flames.


    The massive spherical object had struck her home, and her entire family had been crushed under it!


    The surrounding flames were rapidly approaching her, but she was still bawling her eyes out, having already completely forgotten about her own safety.


    Right at this moment, a figure descended from the sky and grabbed her before leaping out of the sea of flames. In the instant that she was picked up, Xiong Xiaoling had already fallen unconscious.


    This was a massive Titan Giant Ape, which was also the same little monkey as the one from before. It galloped through the forest, then placed her down onto a rock beside a lake.


    After that, the Titan Giant Ape took on a human form that was identical to Er Ming.


    "I''ll save your life for feeding me mushrooms," the Er Ming in the image murmured to himself.


    He scooped up a handful of water and splashed it onto Xiong Xiaoling''s face, and only then did she awaken from her unconscious state.


    Her eyes were slightly out of focus, but she quickly recalled what had happened earlier and began to sob again.


    Er Ming stood beside her and simply let her cry.


    After a long while, Xiong Xiaoling''s sobs finally subsided, and only then did she notice the burly man next to her. She asked in a slightly fearful manner, "Wh, where am I right now?"


    Er Ming replied, "You''re in the forest. Your home was destroyed by a meteorite, and I saved you from the wreckage."


    Xiong Xiaoling immediately burst into tears upon hearing this, and she cried until she fainted from exhaustion.


    Three days passed by, and after crying herself unconscious several more times, Xiong Xiaoling finally calmed down.


    Er Ming brought fruits and fish for her to eat, and the two of them spoke very little. During this entire time, Xiong Xiaoling was constantly in a trance-like state.


    On this day, she finally asked, "What''s your name?"


    "My name is A''Tai. If you''re feeling better, then I''ll take you to the city," Er Ming replied.


    Xiong Xiaoling''s face fell slightly upon hearing this. "But I don''t have anywhere else to go."


    Er Ming offered no response to this.


    All of a sudden, Xiong Xiaoling looked up at him with an intense gaze, and asked, "Do you not want me?"


    Before Er Ming had a chance to react, Xiong Xiaoling had already thrown herself at him, and the image disappeared at this point.


    When the image reappeared, it was already the next morning. Xiong Xiaoling was lying in his arms, and for the first time after that tragedy, there was a smile on her face. The sun was shining down upon her soft hair, reflecting hints of faint golden radiance.


    Er Ming was appraising the woman in his arms in a slightly slack-jawed manner, and it seemed that he was struggling to convince himself that this wasn''t a dream.


    Shortly thereafter, Xiong Xiaoling woke up before giving him a shy smile. "I don''t want to return to the city. We have everything we need here; can we live here?"


    "Alright," Er Ming replied in a concise manner.


    He then began to fell trees to build a house. He didn''t need a house, but he didn''t want Xiong Xiaoling to be exposed to the elements.


    One day passed by after another, and their life together was very happy, but there was a persistent hint of hesitation in Er Ming''s eyes.


    Finally, on this day, while Xiong Xiaoling was still sound asleep in the wooden hut, he took a deep breath before carving a message and a map onto the ground.


    He then sprang up and transformed into his massive Titan Giant Ape form before quickly departing.


    Xiong Xiaoling woke up to find herself completely alone, and she called his name out loudly, but received no response.


    Finally, she saw the message and the map.


    This was a map that showed her how to get out of the forest, and the message was very clear.


    "I am the monkey you once fed mushrooms to. I am not a human; I''m a Titan Giant Ape. There are some things that I have to do, and I''ll be back in roughly 10 days. If you don''t mind the fact that I''m a soul beast, then wait for me to come back, and I''ll continue to be with you. If you can''t accept me for who I am, then you can return to the human world using this map."

 Chapter 1561: I was Wrong

    "Bastard! Idiot!" Xiong Xiaoling yelled as tears streamed down her face while Er Ming looked on in hiding from afar.


    The next morning, Xiong Xiaoling departed with a small bag for her belongings.


    Er Ming continued to look on in a heartbroken manner, and only after she had disappeared from view did he begin to roar with gut-wrenching pain. He had truly fallen in love with her, but she had left him, just like that.


    He rushed over in a wounded frenzy and destroyed the wooden hut, then sprang up and departed from the shattered remnants of his love.


    The scene concluded here, and Er Ming reverted back to his human form with a film of tears swimming in his eyes.


    Even though so many years had passed and the Yuanen surname had been passed down through so many generations, he could still clearly recall every single detail, both sweet and bitter.


    Not only were Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang stunned by what they had just seen, Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui, and Xie Xie were also at a loss for what to do, and the atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly became a little glum.


    "You were wrong," Yuanen Zhentian said with a wry smile.


    Er Ming faltered slightly upon hearing this. "I was wrong?"


    Yuanen Zhentian replied, "That''s right. Did you ever go back there after you departed?"


    An enraged look appeared in Er Ming''s eyes. "Why would I go back there? To see the pile of rubble?"


    "Please wait a moment," Yuanen Zhentian said before returning to the ancestral hall, and shortly thereafter, he returned with an antiquated book.


    After finding the right page, he read out loud from the book. "He really is a dumb bastard! Can''t he tell that I''m already bearing his child? Why didn''t he just tell me in person? What an idiot! Even if I have to give birth to a monkey for him, there''s no way I could leave him! So what if he''s a soul beast? He''s so pure and kind, and treats me better than anyone else. Without him, I''d already be dead! I can''t believe he didn''t even tell me in person!


    "He told me 10 days, but why is it that I''m greeted to the pile of rubble after returning in just six days? I just wanted to visit the site of my old home, but now, my current home has been destroyed, and he hasn''t returned. Did something happen to him? Come back, A''Tai! I miss you so much!


    "A''Tai, our child is about to be born, so hurry back to me! 10 days have already passed; so many 10 days have already passed! Why are you still not back? A''Tai, I miss you.


    "A''Tai, my stomach really hurts. I think I''m about to give birth; what do I do? A''Tai, I miss you so much.


    "A''Tai, I didn''t die, and our child has been born, but you''re still not back. I''ll always be waiting here for you. I''ve managed to rebuild our home to its original state; can you come back soon? Come back and see our child. What should we name him? You never even told me your surname; all you told me is that your name is A''Tai. You told me that you come from a primordial forest, and that your life is a blessing from nature, so I''ll give our child the surname of Yuanen. It''s a boy, so I''ll call him Yuanen Sitai. A''Tai, I really miss you."  [1]


    Er Ming rushed over to Yuanen Zhentian before grabbing the book from him, and despite his enormous powers and musclebound body, he was trembling uncontrollably, while his face had turned completely pale.


    He flicked through the pages of the book, and all of a sudden, his legs gave out from under him as he sat down onto the ground.


    While listening to these diary entries, Yuanen Yehui already had tears flowing down her face, and even Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had been touched by this short and tragic story.


    This was all a misunderstanding!


    Xiong Xiaoling was only making a visit back to her old home, yet Er Ming had misconstrued this as an unwillingness to accept his identity as a soul beast.


    This was a completely avoidable tragedy, but who was to blame? Should Er Ming be blamed for not placing more trust in her? Should Xiong Xiaoling be blamed for departing without even leaving a message behind?


    "Argh!" A heart-wrenching roar erupted into the heavens, reverberating through the entirety of Shangling.


    Inside the ancestral hall, the small monkey statue also seemed to be weeping, and powerful Titan Giant Ape blood essence fluctuations enshrouded the entire mountain.


    At this moment, many members of the Yuanen Family were already flocking toward the ancestral hall. Such a massive commotion had naturally drawn much alarm, and Yuanen Zhentian told Yuanen Tiandang to inform everyone that nothing was wrong, and to stop them from coming here.


    Both the power displayed by Er Ming and the mental manifestations that were congruent with Xiong Xiaoling''s diary entries indicated that this man really was most likely the family''s patriarch, the true Titan Giant Ape.


    This was a huge shock to Yuanen Zhentian, and the mystery of the Yuanen Family''s origins was finally resolved.


    Er Ming had come here brimming with excitement, but he was now filled with deep remorse and sorrow. He had been far too lacking in confidence and hadn''t placed enough trust in their love. He had assumed that Xiong Xiaoling had departed due to his identity as a soul beast, and never did he consider that this could''ve been a misunderstanding.


    The more he read of Xiong Xiaoling''s diary, the more gut-wrenching his pain became. If he had waited a few more days, at least until the promised 10-day deadline, this tragedy would''ve been avoided. He would''ve been able to stay with the woman he loved, and at the time, the Divine Realm still hadn''t disappeared, so he may have even been able to take her there so she could remain with him forever.


    However, he had lost that chance now. Even if the Divine Realm hadn''t disappeared, he wouldn''t be able to reverse all of this. Even if he could travel back in time to that point, he wouldn''t be able to change everything as doing so would alter the course of history, and could cause the entire Yuanen Family to disappear.


    As such, he could only wallow in his own pain and remorse.


    After a long while, Er Ming heaved a heavy sigh as he rose to his feet and returned the antiquated book to Yuanen Zhentian.


    He then strode into the ancestral hall and looked up at the plaque of Xiong Xiaoling at the very top, and his heart was filled with complex emotions.


    "This statue was personally carved by our matriarch," Yuanen Zhentian said.


    A wry smile appeared on Er Ming''s face. "Then let it remain here. I had always thought that I''ve never owed anyone anything in my life, but I didn''t think that I would be so heavily indebted to her. She passed on my bloodline, but I abandoned her. She''s right; I''m an idiot and a bastard. I''m not fit to be your patriarch; I didn''t even tell her my real name in the end. Xiaoling, my name is Er Ming, not A''Tai. I can''t alter history and I can''t go back to find you, but I promise you that for the rest of my life, I''ll never love anyone as I loved you. I''m sorry, Xiaoling. Once I take care of everything here, I''ll go back to that hut to be with you."


    He then turned to Yuanen Zhentian, and asked, "Is the wooden hut still standing?"


    Yuanen Zhentian nodded in response. "It is. We purchased that plot of land, and even though the Great Star Dou Forest has been very heavily damaged, that small patch of forest still exists. It''s quite a secluded location, so we were able to purchase the land there relatively easily, and that wooden hut has always been maintained. After all, it''s the origin site of our family."


    Er Ming nodded in a silent response.


    Yuanen Zhentian was already feeling quite apprehensive due to his granddaughter''s return, and never did he think that she would return with the family''s patriarch!


    An awkward silence suddenly descended over the ancestral hall, and Tang Wulin strode over to Er Ming before patting on the shoulder, then turned to Yuanen Zhentian.


    "Senior Zhentian, we came here so that Er Ming could meet all of you and also to resolve the issue surrounding Yuanen''s Fallen Angel martial soul."


    He couldn''t refer to Er Ming as uncle here as it would be far too inappropriate to refer to the patriarch of the Yuanen Family as his uncle.


    Yuanen Zhentian nodded in response. "Yuanen''s problem must be resolved before she becomes a Titled Douluo. Otherwise, another disaster could befall our Yuanen Family."


    [1] [Yuan(Ô­) En(¶÷) Si(˼) Tai(Ì©) literally translates to primordial blessing missing Tai (missing not as in lost, but as in thinking of Tai).]

 Chapter 1562: Revenge?

    Er Ming had already recovered his composure at this point, and he asked, "What do you plan to do?"


    A wry smile appeared on Yuanen Zhentian''s face as he replied, "I plan to rid her of her Fallen Angel martial soul. Her situation is different from her mother''s in that she possesses twin martial souls, so hopefully, the Fallen Angel martial soul won''t have as much of an effect on her. Once we disable that martial soul, she won''t be able to forge a connection with the demonic plane, and the issue will be resolved. If that doesn''t work..."


    Yuanen Zhentian paused momentarily here before continuing, "Then I''ll have no choice but to disable both of Yuanen''s martial souls."


    "You can''t!" Xie Xie exclaimed as he reflexively positioned himself in front of Yuanen Yehui.


    He had witnessed in person how hard Yuanen Yehui had worked in her cultivation every single day for the past few years .


    She had reached a very lofty cultivation rank considering her age, and behind her rapid progress was an enormous amount of effort and dedication. All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were very conscientious, but Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were definitely the hardest workers among them.


    Yuanen Zhentian took a glance at Xie Xie and didn''t say anything, but he had a very determined look in his eyes.


    Er Ming suddenly asked, "Why would you disable her martial souls? Why not keep them?"


    Yuanen Zhentian faltered slightly upon hearing this. He could disregard anyone else''s advice, but he had to listen to the patriarch of his family, especially when Er Ming had just displayed powers superior to his own.


    A cold light flashed through Er Ming''s eyes as he continued, "We can''t just sever the connection to the demonic plane and let them get away with slaughtering our brethren. They''re not the only ones that can make use of this spatial passageway; we can as well. The lowly demonic plane is nothing to fear."


    Yuanen Zhentian was rather taken aback to hear this. "Then what do you propose, Senior?"


    Er Ming harrumphed coldly in response, "Not only can we not sever the spatial passageway, we have to help them force it open! Your daughter-in-law and so many of your brethren have been killed; don''t you want to avenge them?"


    Yuanen Zhentian had never even considered this to be an option before. "But Senior, that''s an entire plane we''re talking about!"


    Er Ming replied, "You''re still far too inexperienced. You have to understand that not all planes are made equal. Why is it that all other planes want to invade our plane? It''s because the Douluo Continent is a major plane; all those who wish to invade intend to benefit from our plane, but there are very few planes truly capable of devouring our Douluo Continent plane. I know about this demonic plane; it''s a medium-sized plane that''s around a tenth of the size of our Douluo Continent, but is extremely barren and desolate.


    "They maintain their own survival by plundering life energy from other planes, and the demonic plane''s overall power is far inferior to our plane''s; it can''t even compare with the abyssal plane that''s truly posing a threat to our Douoluo Continent, and even the most powerful beings on that plane are only demigods. Our family may not be able to contend with the entire plane, but we''re more than capable of taking on a planar passageway. As long as we plan well in advance, we''ll be able to deal the demonic plane a heavy blow."


    Even though Yuanen Zhentian was a demigod, he was only around 100 years of age, so his understanding of planes naturally couldn''t compare with Er Ming''s. Even though he was still a little befuddled, he was beginning to understand the situation.


    "Wouldn''t that be too risky, Senior?"


    Er Ming snapped in response, "Would I risk the lives of my descendants? With two quasigods among our ranks and a true divine weapon at our disposal, the demonic plane is powerless against us!"


    "Two quasigods?" Yuanen Zhentian exclaimed.


    Er Ming explained, "Confidence stems from power and experience; I''ve come here this time not just to resolve Yuanen Yehui''s problem, but also to avenge my descendants. I have no right to call myself your patriarch, but I must do my due diligence and give you some things. If I can''t make you progress to the quasigod level in 10 days, then forget everything I just said, but if I can do that, then you have to cooperate with me and avenge my fallen children."


    Quasigod in 10 days? Yuanen Zhentian''s eyes instantly lit up upon hearing this.


    He was only one step away from becoming a quasigod, but that one step had stumped him for several decades! If he really could become a quasigod, then everything would be different.


    He was already convinced that this man was his patriarch, but the evidence was still very limited; if Er Ming could truly help him progress to the quasigod level, then it would further verify his identity.


    Xie Xie''s eyes also lit up, and he made his way over to Er Ming with a fawning expression. "Master, do you think..."


    "Piss off! Who''s your master? I''ll consider it once you become a Limit Douluo. Besides, our bloodlines are completely different, so I can''t help you. Zhentian, I want to speak to you in private."


    "Alright," Yuanen Zhentian immediately replied without any hesitation, and he was appraising Er Ming with a lot more respect in his eyes.


    Thus, Yuanen Zhentian and Er Ming departed. Yuanen Yehui looked up at the plaque at the very top of the pyramid, and heaved a forlorn internal sigh. Misunderstandings really could ruin lives!


    Yuanen Tianshang took the three of them to the rear courtyard, and said, "You can go rest in the guest room."


    "Uncle, can I see my father?" Yuanen Yehui implored with a beseeching look in her eyes.


    "Let your grandfather decide that; it may not be a good thing for him to see you now," Yuanen Tianshang replied after a momentary hesitation, then departed from the room.


    The guest room was very sparsely furnished with only some mandatory pieces of timber furniture and no excessive ornaments, but the room was filled with a fragrant woody aroma that was very comforting and calming.


    Yuanen Zhentian took Er Ming to his study, and he was appraising Er Ming in a rather uncomfortable manner.


    It was quite difficult for him to refer to Er Ming as his patriarch, but the truth seemed to be undeniable.


    Er Ming waved a hand, and said, "There''s no need for you to be so tense; I don''t expect anything from you. All I want is to do something for all of you and see that you''re all doing well. An irresponsible patriarch like me has no right to ask for anything from his descendants."


    A wry smile appeared on his face as he spoke.


    He once had a chance to be happy, but he didn''t cherish it, and as a result, he may have missed his only chance at finding happiness.


    Thankfully, his bloodline had been passed down. There was no mistaking the pure Titan Giant Ape bloodline within the bodies of Yuanen Zhentian, Yuanen Tianshang, and Yuanen Yehui, and this was truly a blessing from the heavens.


    All he wanted to do now was to help his descendants in any way that he could.


    "Don''t say that; this isn''t your fault. Besides, so many years have already passed," Yuanen Zhentian sighed.


    Er Ming replied in a solemn voice, "Alright, let''s not talk about this for now; let''s discuss your current situation. I can see that you''ve reached the limit of your potential, and it would be extremely difficult for you to make further progress through normal cultivation; I''m sure you''re already aware of that."

 Chapter 1563: Light of Guidance

    Yuanen Zhentian immediately nodded in response. He had been at the pinnacle of the demigod level for a very long time, yet he had been stumped by the quasigod bottleneck for over 50 years.


    As he aged, his blood essence was beginning to wane, and this had a severe impact on his pure strength-type Titan Giant Ape martial soul. As such, he had always known that it would be next to impossible for him to make a further breakthrough. However, Er Ming''s words had reignited a glimmer of hope within his heart.


    "I can help you take that step, but once it''s done, you won''t be able to progress any further. You''re simply too old at this point; if you had met me 30 years ago, perhaps you''d still have a chance."


    A stunned look appeared on Yuanen Zhentian''s face. "Further progress? Are you referring to..."


    Er Ming replied, "I can tell you now that the Divine Realm truly does exist. I personally witnessed Tang San becoming a god, and I accompanied him to the Divine Realm, where I watched him progress step by step to become a godking. The Divine Realm has been swept away by space-time turbulence, and that''s why the Douluo Continent is declining so quickly. You can say that I was once a god, but after the Divine Realm disappeared, I''ve been forced back down to the quasigod level by the power of planar laws.


    "At this level, it''s very difficult to make any further progress, but if the Divine Realm returns one day, I can still go back to it. What I''m saying is that if I elevate you to the quasigod level, your lifespan will be extended by a few more decades, but even if the Divine Realm returns during your lifetime, you''ll have no chance of becoming a god. This is because I have to fully tap into the latent potential in your bloodline. Once that potential is used up, it''s gone."


    "I''m willing to accept that tradeoff. I''m well aware that I''m actually lacking in aptitude, and our family only has a place in the Soul Master world because of your bloodline. However, as time passes, your bloodline is gradually being diluted. The first three generations of our family''s leaders had all reached the quasigod level, but no one else has progressed to that stage ever since. If you can elevate me to the quasigod level and allow me to live for a few more decades, then I''ll already be extremely grateful."


    Er Ming nodded, and said, "I''ll think of a way to resolve the issue surrounding the thinning bloodline. I can''t rectify the problem for everyone, but I''ll at least ensure that one branch can inherit a more concentrated bloodline."


    "That would be fantastic!" Yuanen Zhentian was ecstatic to hear this. As the family leader, nothing was more important to him than the heritage of his family.


    "I''m really fond of Yuanen Yehui. She''s experienced a lot of pain, but it''s exactly because of this that she''s far more developed than others of her age. Her powers, mental state, and attitude toward cultivation are all exceptional, and after resolving the issue surrounding her martial soul, I''ll bestow my bloodline inheritance upon her."


    Yuanen Zhentian immediately nodded in response.


    Er Ming continued, "Time is of the essence; if you don''t have any issues, then let''s begin right away. Helping you take that step actually isn''t all that difficult."


    "Alright." Yuanen Zhentian was also eager to begin, and he sat onto the ground without any hesitation.


    Meanwhile, Er Ming stood behind him as a layer of bright yellow light began to radiate from his body.


    ......


    When Tang Wulin awakened from his meditation, it was already close to dawn. This was the time that he habitually awakened from his cultivation every day as this was the best time to cultivate his Purple Demon Eyes.


    Having attained mental manifestation level spiritual power, his Purple Demon Eyes had already reached the highest level, and there were very few people in the Tang Sect who could match him. However, it was apparent to him that he still had a long way to go, as demonstrated to him by Gu Yuena.


    Their battle on that day hadn''t all been an act; there were many real clashes that had taken place, and he truly had been dominated by Gu Yuena. Even though Gu Yuena wasn''t a Limit Douluo yet, the power she had displayed was definitely at the Limit Douluo level. In particular, her spiritual power was able to completely crush his own, and that was a terrifying prospect.


    Even the Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were conceding inferiority to her spiritual power, and that was sufficient testament to just how formidable she was in this area.


    As such, he didn''t dare to slack off in the slightest in his cultivation.


    Currently, he was at rank 93 soul power, and was drawing closer and closer to becoming a Hyper Douluo. What was even more encouraging was that his rate of cultivation was still quite fast, allowing him to feel his own progression through his cultivation, and that was very fulfilling to him.


    All of a sudden, a faint ringing suddenly sounded.


    This sound didn''t stem from the outside world. Instead, it was as if something had shattered within his own body.


    Er Ming''s voice then rang out beside his ears. "Experience this carefully."


    A burst of loud buzzing rang out, and Tang Wulin felt as if the space around him had suddenly warped and blurred. It was only for an instant, but after that instant, he heard the cries of the entire world.


    He could sense that all of the natural elements had instantly been stirred up into a frenzy before converging toward a certain direction.


    He immediately rushed out of the room and looked up into the sky, where he was greeted by the sight of a massive pillar of light that pierced through the night sky.


    There seemed to be some type of special existence high up in the air in the distance, and a series of golden light patterns descended from above, transforming into a string of golden runes that surged toward the golden light.


    A string of sounds then quickly rang out, and they were devoid of rhythm, but extremely pleasing to the ears, as if the laws of the entire plane were resonating.


    The laws were constantly shifting, as if they were bowing in reverence, but also as if they were rejecting something. This was a very special feeling, striking one with a sense of wholehearted joy, but also a hint of concern.


    Tang Wulin immediately realized that Er Ming had succeeded.


    Er Ming''s voice rang out again. "This is light of guidance. Upon attaining godhood, one would be able to ascend through this light. Single-color light of guidance corresponds with the quasigod level, four colors equate to a true god, seven colors equate to a second-rank god, and nine colors equate to a first-rank god."


    In just a single day, Yuanen Zhentian had progressed from the demigod level to become a quasigod! This was incredible progress!


    Yuanen Zhentian had been pursuing this breakthrough for decades, and now that he had succeeded, even Tang Wulin was feeling very excited as a bystander. This was definitely fantastic news for the Yuanen Family, and it would be very beneficial to resolving the issue surrounding Yuanen Yehui as well.


    The pillar of light had also alerted the entire Yuanen Family, and they all flocked to the scene from afar. They could sense what was happening on a deeper level than Tang Wulin as they felt as if their bloodlines had been set alight, as if to resonate with the enormous bloodline aura contained within the light of guidance.


    A series of projections gradually began to appear behind the members of the Yuanen Family. These projections were all depicting Titan Giant Apes, and their levels of clarity varied depending on their cultivation ranks, but all of them could sense that their bloodline powers were steadily being enhanced.


    This was a wonderful feeling. They were being enhanced at the very core, and this was immensely beneficial to all of them.


    Tang Wulin possessed the almighty Golden Dragon King bloodline, so this change naturally hadn''t escaped his notice. He knew that this was Er Ming''s way of reciprocating the Yuanen Family. He didn''t know how Er Ming had achieved this, but it would''ve definitely required a significant sacrifice.


    Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie were standing beside Tang Wulin, and the Titan Giant Ape projection behind Yuanen Yehui was extremely clear, almost as if it held substance. She was only one step away from becoming a Titled Douluo, and if it weren''t for her Fallen Angel issue, she may have already made the breakthrough.

 Chapter 1564: Yuanen Tiandang

    Tang Wulin noticed that among the members of the Yuanen Family in the surrounding area, there were around seven or eight who had projections that were as clear as the one behind Yuanen Yehui, which meant that there were seven or eight Titled Douluos in this family.


    In a dimly-lit room, a disheveled and unkempt man stared blankly at the pillar of yellow light outside the window.


    His body was already trembling uncontrollably, and tears had welled up in his eyes. Specks of yellow light began to converge behind him, slowly but steadily forming something.


    All of a sudden, he let loose a shrill howl, and a resounding boom erupted within his body, as if something had exploded. All of his clothes and the hairs all over his body were instantly reduced to dust, and bright yellow light surged out of his body. The room around him was also instantly razed to the ground as a pillar of yellow light erupted into the heavens.


    It wasn''t as dense and thick as the light of the guidance in the distance, but it was just as bright.


    A massive Titan Giant Ape projection also appeared behind him, and his muscles bulged as he roared over and over again, as if he were trying to vent all of his frustrations and negative emotions.


    This commotion naturally drew the attention of everyone around him, and someone exclaimed, "It''s Yuanen Tiandang!"


    Yuanen Yehui shuddered upon hearing this, and she reflexively cast her gaze toward that direction.


    There, the yellow light was becoming brighter and brighter, and the figure within it almost looked as if it had been set alight. Extremely powerful energy fluctuations surged through the air, and as the yellow light brightened, the man''s aura was also steadily becoming more powerful.


    All of a sudden, a figure emerged from the first pillar of light; it was none other than Er Ming.


    A look of surprise and elation appeared on his face as he swept a hand through the air, releasing a rune that landed in the second pillar of yellow light. At the very center of the rune was a translucent drop of blood that was shimmering like a ruby.


    The rune vanished into the yellow light, and the pillar of yellow light instantly erupted into a torrential storm of light that illuminated the entire mountain range.


    Immediately thereafter, the rain of light converged back to its origin point, where it was quickly absorbed.


    A mountainous aura then surged through the entire area, indicating another successful breakthrough to the Limit Douluo level had been made.


    Tang Wulin had witnessed the moment that Yali had become a Limit Douluo, so he had no doubt in his mind that this man had become a Limit Douluo with the assistance of Er Ming''s blood essence and the light of guidance. Even though he was still only a quasidemigod, he truly had become a Limit Douluo!


    The yellow light transformed into a suit of armor that encapsulated his entire body, leaving his completely hairless head and face exposed.


    As he experienced the enormous power that had returned to his body, a lost and pained look appeared in his eyes.


    Right at this moment, an emotional sob rang out. "Father!"


    Immediately thereafter, a figure plunged into his embrace.


    That''s right, the man who had just become a Limit Douluo was none other than Yuanen Yehui''s father, and the former heir to the position of family leader, Yuanen Tiandang.


    No one knew why the disabled Yuanen Tiandang had been able to suddenly progress to the Limit Douluo level, but this was definitely fantastic news!


    Er Ming descended from the heavens and landed next to Tang Wulin. Due to their close proximity, Tang Wulin could clearly see that his face was slightly pale.


    "Are you alright, Uncle Er Ming?"


    Er Ming smiled, and replied, "I''ve never been better, especially mood-wise. This amount of sacrifice is nothing if I can do something for them. I''m going back to rest now. Carefully experience the changes in the power of laws here; this is a rare opportunity."


    Indeed, regardless of whether it was the light of guidance or the subsequence Limit Douluo breakthrough, both were extremely rare spectacles.


    For those with insufficient cultivation ranks, the changes in the power of laws would only benefit them slightly, but this was immensely beneficial to someone of Tang Wulin''s level.


    In particular, after Gu Yuena had organized the power of laws within his body, he had developed a far better sense of all types of elemental laws.


    Yuanen Tiandang was staring at the young woman in his arms with incredulity in his eyes.


    "You, you''re Yehui?" Due to the fact that he hadn''t spoken in a long time, his voice was quite hoarse, and it was also trembling slightly.


    Yuanen Yehui had already reverted back to her original appearance, and she looked up at her father with tear-filled eyes.


    "Father..."


    "I''m so glad you''re back. Wait, no, why did you come back? You shouldn''t be here!"


    He abruptly grabbed onto his daughter''s shoulders before pushing her away.


    "Go away! Who told you to come back? Hurry up and get away from here!"


    After pushing his daughter away, he also stumbled back a few steps as if he had witnessed something extremely terrifying.


    "Father..."


    Yuanen Yehui was at a loss for what to do. She didn''t think that this would be her father''s attitude toward her.


    "Rest assured, Uncle, Yehui will be fine. We came back for the purpose of resolving her Fallen Angel martial soul issue, and we''ve already found a solution," Xie Xie explained as he made his way over to Yuanen Yehui and held onto her hand.


    Yuanen Tiandang faltered slightly upon hearing this. "There''s a solution?"


    Only then did Yuanen Yehui realize that her father was pushing her away because he was afraid that she would meet the same tragic fate as her mother. Tears began to flow from her eyes again as she rushed over to her father and caught him in another tight embrace.


    "I''m not going anywhere, Father; I''m going to always stay by your side from now on. I''ve made you suffer so much because of my immaturity."


    Many members of the Yuanen Family had already gathered around them, and the older ones naturally recognized Yuanen Tiandang. Through their conversation, it was made apparent that this young woman was his daughter.


    "That''s Yuanen Yehui, the girl who inherited the power of demons; is she going to bring disaster to our family again?"


    "Why did she come back? Did our family leader capture her and bring her back here?"


    "Silence." A voice that was filled with complex emotions rang out.


    Everyone looked up to find that the one who had spoken was Yuanen Tianshang.


    The crowd parted to reveal a path for Yuanen Tianshang, who slowly made his way forward.


    Looking into the soulless eyes of his elder brother, he suddenly felt like something in his body had melted.


    After reaching Yuanen Tiandang, Yuanen Tianshang took a deep breath before uttering the words "Big Brother".


    Yuanen Tiandang shuddered upon hearing this, yet before he could respond, Yuanen Tianshang suddenly turned around, and declared, "It was my father who invited Yehui back to our family, and we''ve already found a way to resolve the issue surrounding her martial soul. No one wants to see the same tragedy repeat itself. Yehui is a member of our family, as is my big brother. I, Yuanen Tianshang, am willing to let bygones be bygones and dedicate the rest of my life to working toward the prosperity of our family."


    "Brother, I''m so sorry!" Yuanen Tiandang yelled as his emotions spilled over in the form of gushing tears.


    Yuanen Tianshang turned around, and there were also tears flowing down his face. "Big Brother, this was never your fault. It''s no one''s fault; we can only blame fate for its cruelty. I always knew this, but I refused to accept it as pain and resentment had blinded me. You never did anything wrong, yet you were imprisoned for over 10 years. I''m putting everything in the past; you have to do the same, Big Brother. I don''t blame you or my sister-in-law anymore. Both of us have lost the loves of our lives, you need to become stronger now, Big Brother; you are the one who must shoulder the responsibility of leading our family in the future."


    Yuanen Yehui extricated herself from her father''s embrace before falling to her knees and kowtowing toward Yuanen Tiandang and the rest of her family.


    Yuanen Tiandang grabbed his brother, and the two engaged in a tight embrace as they bawled into each other''s shoulders.


    Even though close to 20 years had already passed, that deep-rooted pain from that tragedy had never left their hearts.

 Chapter 1565: Tacit Understanding

    The sky brightened again, and the heavenly sounds from the light of guidance faded as a massive yellow projection of a Titan Giant Ape that was over 1,000 meters tall appeared.


    The projection gradually shrank as it descended from above, then landed beside Yuanen Tiandang and Yuanen Tianshang before draping a muscular arm over each of their shoulders.


    "It''s been a hard time for both of you."


    Tang Wulin was looking on from the side, and there were already tears swimming in his eyes. He could sense the pain that Yuanen Tiandang had been wallowing in for over 10 years. The fact that he was able to recover his powers was a clear indication that Yuanen Zhentian had only sealed his powers away rather than truly disabled him.


    Tang Wulin was genuinely happy as he witnessed the reunion of Yuanen Yehui''s family. At the same time, he couldn''t help but think of his own birth parents. When would he be able to reunite with them?


    Father, Mother, are you both doing well? Are you in the distant Divine Realm? I really want to be by your side!


    If it weren''t for his Golden Dragon King seals, perhaps he would''ve been able to stay with them.


    Three days later.


    The rear mountain of the Yuanen Family estate was one that stood higher than all of the surrounding mountains, and halfway up this mountain was a flat and spacious area.


    Unless one were to arrive there or look down from above, it would be very difficult to find this place.


    This was the drill ground of the Yuanen Family, which was used by the younger generation for practical combat training.


    There were currently many people gathered around the drill ground, including Yuanen Zhentian, Yuanen Tiandang, Yuanen Tianshang, and around a dozen more members of the Yuanen Family.


    At the center of the drill ground stood three people with Tang Wulin on one side, and Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui standing directly across from him.


    After that night, Er Ming went into seclusion in his room. Only after the event was Tang Wulin made aware by Yuanen Yehui that Er Ming had used his own blood essence to stimulate Yuanen Zhentian''s bloodline, thereby allowing him to make that breakthrough.


    After that, he had used another drop of his blood essence to help Yuanen Tiandang complete his breakthrough. It was only two drops, but blood essence was the true essence of one''s body, and not to be compared with normal blood. Even with Er Ming''s immense life force, he only had several dozens of drops of blood essence in his entire body. As such, he needed time to recover after expending those two drops.


    Tang Wulin and the others stayed at the Yuanen Family estate, and Yuanen Yehui and Yuanen Tiandang were eager to catch up. Only after Er Ming came out of seclusion would they be able to resolve Yuanen Yehui''s Fallen Angel martial soul issue.


    Three days later, everything finally settled down, and Yuanen Zhentian promised his brethren that the issue surrounding Yuanen Yehui''s Fallen Angel martial soul could be resolved. Only then was she truly accepted by the entire family.


    Yuanen Tiandang was also working hard to acclimate to his new powers, as well as normal everyday life.


    A bright and vibrant smile befitting a young woman of her age finally appeared on Yuanen Yehui''s face, and Xie Xie was often entranced by the sight of her.


    However, Tang Wulin hadn''t forgotten about their agreed sparring match, and this was met with strong support from Yuanen Zhentian; he also wanted to see just how powerful his granddaughter currently was.


    The most nervous person in this sparring match had to be Xie Xie. He was going to be sparring in front of all of his future in-laws, and if he were to embarrass himself with a terrible performance, how would he be able to propose to Yuanen Yehui in the future?


    Yuanen Yehui could clearly sense that Xie Xie was very tense, and she nudged him as she asked, "What are you doing? Do you think you can beat Captain in your current state? Relax, this is just a sparring match. The result doesn''t matter; just perform to the best of your abilities."


    Xie Xie took a deep breath, and replied, "My name is Not Nervous!"


    Yuanen Yehui couldn''t help but burst into laughter upon hearing this, and Xie Xie was momentarily entranced once again.


    "You''re so dumb!" She lowered her voice and whispered something into Xie Xie''s ear, upon which he shuddered and an elated look appeared in his eyes. "Are you being serious?"


    Yuanen Yehui blushed as she snapped, "Can you be any louder?"


    "We have to win! There''s no other choice!" Xie Xie jumped up and down on the spot, and all of nervous energy was immediately replaced by an unprecedented urge to win.


    Tang Wulin smiled as he witnessed the change in Xie Xie''s demeanor. He also wanted to battle Xie Xie at the height of his powers.


    "Are you ready?" Yuanen Zhentian asked.


    With a quasigod like him as the referee, both sides would be able to fight to their hearts'' content.


    "Ready!" Xie Xie yelled in response, while Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui nodded in confirmation.


    "Begin!"


    Thus, the commencement of this sparring match was announced.


    Xie Xie was the first one to spring into action. He took a step toward Tang Wulin, and his body suddenly became transparent. He didn''t simply disappear like he did before; he was currently in an indescribable semi-vanished state.


    Yuanen Yehui remained standing on the spot while unleashing a punch toward Tang Wulin from afar.


    The air instantly compressed, and a massive vortex appeared around Yuanen Yehui. The vortex then abruptly compressed even further to form a yellow ball of light that hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin.


    This was the combination of Yuanen Yehui''s Divine Cloudvortex Fists and Divine Titan Fists. Er Ming was the patriarch of the Yuanen Family, so no one was more aware of how the power of the Titan Giant Ape should be used, and while receiving guidance from Er Ming over this past period of time, she had improved at a rapid rate.


    The punch was filled with devastating power, and Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of deja vu, almost as if he were facing the third punch from Yuanen Zhentian again.


    The compressed vortex was compressing all of the space around it, causing it to almost congeal. It was as if a straight path had been formed between Yuanen Yehui and Tang Wulin, and in the next instant, that path was filled with her Divine Cloudvortex Titan Fist.


    Xie Xie arrived a step before the Divine Cloudvortex Titan Fist.


    His transparent body was like a thin sheet of paper that transitioned between reality and illusion, slicing through the air with ease.


    Tang Wulin felt as if the space beside him had been sliced into two, while a half of his own body existed in each of those two sections of space. There was no sense of pain, but it somehow felt like he had been sliced in half.


    Xie Xie''s attack came from the side, and it was only a split-second faster than Yuanen Yehui''s full-frontal attack, reflecting their seamless and immaculate teamwork.


    In the face of these attacks, Tang Wulin remained calm, and the time around him suddenly congealed. The torn space was instantly mended, and the Divine Cloudvortex Titan Fist also retracted backward slightly.


    This was his Time Reversal domain.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin immediately reached out in Xie Xie''s direction with his right hand, and rainbow light was surging over his palm.


    Dragon Emperor Break!


    This was the abridged version of his Dragon Emperor Break, and all of the spatial fluctuations were instantly destroyed as the power of time and space under Xie Xie''s control surged toward Tang Wulin.


    Xie Xie was wary of Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal domain and Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, but he didn''t think Tang Wulin would unleash such powerful attacks from the get-go.


    In the past, he would''ve been powerless to resist, but during this period of time, his understanding of the Space Time Dragon had improved significantly.

 Chapter 1566: Retaliation

    At this critical juncture, the air around him suddenly twisted, causing Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Break to falter momentarily, and this split-second delay was enough for Xie Xie to vanish on the spot.


    This was his Space Time Travel!


    He wouldn''t be able to do this against the complete version of Dragon Emperor Break, but this hurried abridged version afforded him the opportunity to escape into time and space.


    At the same time, the Divine Cloudvortex Titan Fist arrived.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s eyes turned golden, and golden dragon scales appeared all along his left arm as he retaliated with a simple punch of his own.


    There was a layer of dragon''s repulse over the surface of his fist that was over a foot thick, but strangely enough, this layer of dragon''s repulse was shrinking as his fist traveled through the air.


    Yuanen Zhentian''s pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this. His dragon''s repulse wasn''t shrinking; it was compressing inward into dense layers.


    "Thump!"


    A dull thump rang out as Tang Wulin''s fist came into contact with the oncoming Divine Cloudvortex Titan Fist. This wasn''t the sound of the clash. Instead, it was the sound of Tang Wulin''s powerful heartbeat.


    The resounding boom erupted through the entire area, and it was also at this instant that his bloodline power surged forth in a frenzy.


    "Boom!"


    Powerful shockwaves erupted forth, and a layer of golden light appeared in an area with a diameter of dozens of meters around Tang Wulin. Meanwhile, the Divine Cloudvortex Titan Fist disintegrated as a vast expanse of brown light.


    Tang Wulin stood still on the spot, while Yuanen Yehui''s expression changed slightly as she took three steps backward, leaving deep footprints on the ground, and her face also paled slightly.


    Tang Wulin had struggled to deal with both Er Ming and Yuanen Zhentian''s Divine Titan Fists, and that prompted him to find a counter through controlling and altering his own power. He had named this punch "Golden Dragon Stacked Explosion", and even though it wasn''t as powerful as his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, he could forcibly compress his dragon''s repulse with his immense spiritual power, and that, combined with the bloodline eruption from his Body Sect congenital secret method, created an extremely powerful attack.


    Following the creation of his two Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, Tang Wulin was able to progress more quickly in his cultivation and also combine all of his abilities more effectively.


    Right as the explosion took place, Tang Wulin suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, and Xie Xie abruptly emerged behind him before slashing a shimmering golden dagger toward the back of his neck.


    The timing of the attack was perfect, and it was very remarkable that he had managed to phase through space to get behind Tang Wulin even amid such a terrifying clash. A clash of this caliber was powerful enough to shatter space and make it extremely unstable and difficult to traverse through.


    Thick mirror-like golden scales appeared on the back of Tang Wulin''s neck, and at the same time, he suddenly swept his right hand backward, unleashing five lethal blades of golden light that formed an inescapable net; this was none other than his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws!


    In the face of the fearsome attack unleashed by Tang Wulin''s Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear right palm bone, Xie Xie began to display his true power.


    In the blink of an eye, he phased in and out of existence five times, traversing through the peerlessly sharp claw projections. It looked as if he were going to be sliced in half at any moment, but the Golden Dragon Annihilation Claws were simply unable to hit him.


    In the end, his Light Dragon Dagger still managed to strike the back of Tang Wulin''s neck, and a high-pitched screeching sound immediately rang out.


    All of a sudden, the scales on the back of Tang Wulin''s neck stood up on end, then attempted to forcibly lock themselves around the Light Dragon Dagger. At the same time, he leaned backward, and a burst of dragon''s repulse erupted out of his back like a cannonball.


    Xie Xie wore a serious expression as he swept his left hand upward, and at the same time, he phased in and out of existence again thrice in rapid succession.


    In the blink of an eye, he had arrived beside Tang Wulin, and even Yuanen Zhentian couldn''t see how he had gotten there. Having evaded Tang Wulin''s dragon repulse attack, Xie Xie unleashed a net of dagger projections with his Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger, slicing a series of marks onto Tang Wulin''s golden dragon scales.


    Not only did his speed make him completely untraceable to the naked eye, one would struggle to track him even with their spiritual power.


    Xie Xie''s incredible speed and his ability to phase in and out of existence at will struck one with the feeling that he was everywhere at once.


    His attacks came from all directions, and he was doing everything in his power to pose a hindrance to Tang Wulin, thereby preventing him from being able to unleash his full power.


    At this point, Yuanen Yehui had also arrived silently beside Tang Wulin, and four inky-black wings were unfurled on her back as she adopted her Fallen Angel form.


    Purplish-black flames surged forth as her sword was slashed toward Tang Wulin''s side like lightning.


    Despite being sandwiched between Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui''s attacks, Tang Wulin didn''t panic in the slightest. He stomped his right foot onto the ground to unleash his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, and eight golden dragons instantly rose up from the ground. Using this attack, he was stirring up space and unleashing powerful repulsive force.


    At the same time, he activated his Mountain Dragon King torso bone''s gravitational control ability, instantly causing the gravity within a diameter of 50 meters around him to increase tenfold.


    As a result, both Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie slowed down for an instant, and that was all the time that was required for Tang Wulin to unleash his Golden Dragon Roar.


    However, right at this moment, Xie Xie swept his right hand toward Yuanen Yehui, and their bodies took on an illusionary quality in unison, as if they had suddenly ascended above this world, allowing them to be completely unaffected by the Golden Dragon Roar.


    In the next instant, the two of them appeared right above Tang Wulin at the same time, thereby evading the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. Yuanen Yehui switched back to her Titan Giant Ape martial soul, while Xie Xie''s body was revolving at a high speed like a spinning top, crashing down directly toward the top of Tang Wulin''s head. Yuanen Yehui slammed her hands onto the soles of his feet, unleashing her Divine Cloudvortex Fists, and in that instant, Xie Xie''s rotation reached a truly incredible speed.


    Visually, it was as if he had become a sharp needle that was spearing down toward Tang Wulin.


    Yuanen Zhentian had witnessed Tang Wulin''s powers, and he had thought that Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie would stand no chance against Tang Wulin, but much to his surprise, the two of them had constantly held the upper hand over Tang Wulin in this sparring match.


    Their teamwork could only be described as flawless, and even the Titled Douluos present were stunned by how lethal their combination was.


    Yuanen Yehui seemed to have only switched to her Fallen Angel martial soul in order to get close to Tang Wulin in the shortest possible time, but the combination attack that she unleashed with Xie Xie immediately thereafter was definitely something that couldn''t have been executed without years of training together.


    The two of them combined were far more powerful than the sum of their constituent parts.


    A chill ran down Tang Wulin''s spine, and he didn''t even have to look to know that this was an attack he definitely wouldn''t be able to withstand, even if he were to don his suit of three-word battle armor.


    For the first time, he was struck by a sense of intense peril.


    However, it was always at times like this where he was the calmest and able to make the fastest decisions.


    A beam of golden light erupted from the top of his head, and at the same time, a ball of bright golden light erupted beneath his feet.


    Dragon scales appeared all over his body, and a crisp ringing sound rang out as the golden light struck the sharp tip of the figurative spinning top that was Xie Xie.


    The golden light only managed to slow Xie Xie down for an instant before he continued to descend like lightning, but that was already enough.


    Time stopped as he unleashed his Time Reversal domain again, and during this brief moment of respite, Tang Wulin reached out to grab the beam of golden light that had emerged from the top of his head before unleashing his Fury of the Masses.


    The beam of golden light was none other than his Golden Dragon Spear!


    "Clang!"


    Tang Wulin shuddered as he stumbled to the side, and right at this moment, Yuanen Yehui came crashing down in her Titan Giant Ape form, swinging her fists down toward Tang Wulin with devastating force.


    At the same time, Xie Xie suddenly vanished into thin air amid his rapid rotation.

 Chapter 1567: The Domineering Tang Wulin

    "Boom!" Tang Wulin used his Golden Dragon Spear to withstand Yuanen Yehui''s fists, and he was forced back another step.


    His Golden Dragon Spear tremored violently in the wake of the attack, while Tang Wulin reached out with his right hand again.


    The rainbow light reappeared over his palm, and at the same time, the air seemed to warp slightly as an illusionary figure emerged. Even though it hadn''t been dragged toward Tang Wulin, the figure had been forced to appear nonetheless.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin began his retaliation. Countless bolts of dazzling bluish-purple lightning erupted from his body as he unleashed his Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell!


    A flurry of resounding thunderclaps as countless bolts of lightning erupted forth, creating a forest of lightning that encompassed virtually the entire drill ground.


    Tang Wulin was well aware of what his advantages were. In terms of speed, he couldn''t match Xie Xie, but he was the only Titled Douluo in this battle, and he was definitely no ordinary Titled Douluo.


    Even though Xie Xie was able to evade most of the lightning by phasing in and out of reality, he was stunned to discover that he was still receiving electric shocks as Tang Wulin''s lightning appeared both in the real world and in the other surrounding spaces.


    When he phased out of reality, he wasn''t actually phasing into another world. There were many spatial cracks in this plane that could be easily found and exploited by his Space Time Dragon martial soul, but Tang Wulin''s lightning was infiltrating into these spatial rifts, and this was something that he had never expected.


    Right at this moment, golden halos began to spread from beneath Tang Wulin''s feet. The halos contained simple Bluesilver Emperor vine patterns, and as they proliferated around him, golden light flashed in Tang Wulin''s eyes.


    All of a sudden, Xie Xie was struck by an empty feeling, as if something had just been entirely drained from within his body.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward once again, and a series of golden halos appeared out of thin air, encompassing the entire surrounding area.


    In the face of this barrage of lightning, Yuanen Yehui had already adopted her Titan Giant Ape true body form. She was using her physical resistance to withstand the lightning, but she was still spasming uncontrollably from the electric shocks.


    Right at this moment, the thin and nondescript-looking golden halos gently descended upon her, and Yuanen Yehui suddenly felt as if she had been completely immobilized, both in body and soul.


    A bolt of purple lightning suddenly swept through the air, and a howl of pain rang out as Xie Xie flew out of thin air with his entire body illuminated a deep purple color.


    Tang Wulin made a grabbing motion with his right hand, and rainbow light instantly surged forth to envelop Xie Xie within it.


    In reality, Xie Xie was completely unfit to continue in this battle. He was spasming uncontrollably and frothing at the mouth.


    This was the result of being directly struck by Tang Wulin''s Lightning God Whip, particularly after all of the elements in his Space Time Dragon had been stripped away.


    Tang Wulin swept his right hand through the air, and the golden rings brought the immobilized Yuanen Yehui to his side, while his Golden Dragon Spear vanished into his glabella as a streak of golden light.


    Thus concluded the sparring match.


    All of the spectators wore different expressions in the wake of the match''s conclusion.


    In the beginning, Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie''s performance had given them a very pleasant surprise. Their teamwork was impeccable, and both of them possessed powers comparable to a Titled Douluo. It seemed like they were dominating Tang Wulin in the match, so how had they suddenly lost?


    It seemed that Tang Wulin hadn''t really done anything, and one eruption of power was enough to instantly grant him victory.


    Only the most powerful Yuanen Zhentian was able to identify the crux of the matter.


    The golden halos faded, and Yuanen Yehui wore a slightly strained expression as she asked, "What was that, Captain? I was struggling with all my power but couldn''t free myself."


    From the moment that her body was enveloped by the golden halos to the instant that they were withdrawn by Tang Wulin, five whole seconds had passed!


    With Tang Wulin''s powers, five seconds would''ve been enough to kill her countless times.


    Yuanen Yehui had always known that she wasn''t as powerful as Tang Wulin, but she didn''t think that the gap was this massive.


    She was currently in peak condition, but Tang Wulin''s Blue Emperor Myriad Lightning Hell and those golden halos had forcibly controlled her and rendered her completely powerless.


    Only after facing Tang Wulin did she truly understand the disparity between them, and the disparity was so large that it barely seemed plausible.


    Tang Wulin replied, "This is my most effective control ability, and I''ve yet to fully master it; its name is Unpredictable Storm."


    Indeed, those golden halos stemmed from Tang San''s divine technique, Unpredictable Storm.


    With the improvements Tang Wulin had made in his overall power and understanding of laws, he was finally able to just barely unleash it.


    This was the first time that he had used Unpredictable Storm in a relatively complete form, and even with Yuanen Yehui''s powers, it proved to be inescapable.


    Xie Xie struggled to his feet and wiped the froth away from his mouth as he turned to Tang Wulin with an indignant expression. "H, how did you do that, Boss? How did you find me? And how was your lightning able to attack me through space?"


    Yuanen Zhentian strode over as he appraised Tang Wulin with astonishment in his eyes, and explained, "He was able to do this through his understanding of planar laws."


    Tang Wulin''s final eruption appeared to be very simple, but his victory had been sealed by his control over the power of laws.


    As he was defending himself against Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie''s attacks, he was already drawing upon the surrounding laws, and the power of laws was also what allowed his lightning to infiltrate into the nearby spatial cracks.


    The halo that had erupted from beneath his feet was his Bluesilver Golden Light Array, and the power of laws allowed this soul skill to forcibly strip Xie Xie of his light elements, even though he had escaped into a spatial rift.


    It could be said that Tang Wulin had won this match with overwhelming power rather than outstanding technique.


    His spiritual power was far too immense, and combined with his understanding of laws, Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui had no chance at all. This was an insurmountable gulf.


    Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui were comparable to normal Titled Douluos, while Tang Wulin was already able to just barely contend with Limit Douluos.


    "My eyes have truly been opened!" Yuanen Zhentian praised with bright eyes. Only around a month had passed since their last meeting, yet Tang Wulin had evolved once again and was clearly more powerful than he was back then.


    On the previous occasion, he only withstood three punches from Yuanen Zhentian, but that was nothing to be scoffed at as those were direct clashes. In actual battles, it was very rare for such full-frontal clashes to take place. Tang Wulin''s spiritual power wasn''t inferior to Yuanen Zhentian''s by much, so he could definitely contend with Yuanen Zhentian for some time.


    "You''re far too kind, Senior," Tang Wulin replied with a smile and a nod.


    As the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, he couldn''t act in an overly respectful manner.


    Yuanen Zhentian sighed, "You young people are truly extraordinary! Tiandang was already very exceptional, but he still couldn''t compare with you at the same age; even Yehui is far more outstanding than her father was back then."


    Yuanen Tiandang blushed upon hearing this.

 Chapter 1568: Invitation

    Yuanen Zhentian chuckled, "It''s a good thing that the younger generation is outdoing the previous generations. You''re still sorely lacking when it comes to your understanding of laws, and I''d advise you to seek guidance from Sect Master Tang in this area."


    Even though Tang Wulin was very young, he held an extremely lofty status, and his powers demanded respect.


    Yuanen Tiandang turned to Tang Wulin with a smile, and said, "I hope you won''t mind, Sect Master Tang."


    "Senior Zhentian, I have a request, but I''m not sure if it''s an appropriate one," Tang Wulin said after a brief hesitation.


    Yuanen Zhentian smiled, and said, "Go ahead, we''re all friends here."


    Tang Wulin turned to Yuanen Tiandang, and said, "Senior Tiandang, I''d like to invite you to come to Shrek Academy. As I''m sure you all know, Shrek Academy is in the process of a rebuild after the bombing, and what we''re currently lacking the most is good teachers. If possible, I''d like to invite Senior Tiandang and even other seniors to our Shrek Academy. Aside from the basic benefits that teachers of the academy receive, you''ll also be granted access to our academy''s library."


    Yuanen Tiandang was rather tempted by this proposition. He had just been reunited with his daughter, and he really didn''t want to part with her, but once everything was said and done here, she would definitely return to Shrek Academy.


    Ever since the passing of his wife, his daughter had become his entire world.


    In contrast, Yuanen Zhentian''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. His son had just become a Limit Douluo, and he was the family-leader-in-waiting. This was a great opportunity for him to establish strong ties with all of the branches of the family; if he were to leave now, it would negatively impact his transition to becoming the family leader in the future.


    "I want to go, Father," Yuanen Tiandang immediately said without any hesitation.


    "Well..." Yuanen Zhentian was rather hesitant. He didn''t want to reject Tang Wulin, but nor did he want to agree to this arrangement.


    "How about I go instead, Father?" Yuanen Tianshang proposed, "I''ve always wanted to go to Shrek Academy, and I don''t have any important responsibilities here. If Shrek Academy is willing to take me, I''d be more than happy to go."


    Before Yuanen Zhentian had a chance to say anything, Tang Wulin replied, "Of course you''d be welcome at our academy, Senior Tianshang. To further elaborate on the benefits we''re offering, all Limit Douluos accepting teaching roles at Shrek Academy will receive suits of four-word battle armor, and all Titled Douluos will receive suits of three-word battle armor constructed from spirit alloys comprised of no less than three types of metals. For those who already possess suits of three-word battle armor, we can make upgrades to existing battle armor as well."


    Everyone immediately erupted into a frenzy upon hearing this.


    Suits of three-word battle armor were extremely expensive. Generally speaking, all Soul Douluos and even Soul Sages with sufficiently powerful martial souls would be able to handle suits of three-word battle armor, but the vast majority of Soul Masters could only attain suits of three-word battle armor after becoming Titled Douluos.


    Suits of three-word battle armor required metals forged by Saint Blacksmiths, but there were only around 20 Saint Blacksmiths on the entire continent.


    In comparison, there were far more high-grade mecha makers. As such, there was a long waiting list for the construction of three-word battle armor, as well as an expensive fee. A suit of three-word battle armor would massively enhance a Soul Master''s power; who wouldn''t want a suit of such armor?


    Generally speaking, it would take at least 10 years for a Titled Douluo to attain their suit of three-word battle armor starting from the planning stage. As such, if a family had a Saint Blacksmith among its ranks, it would be perfectly set up to become a future powerhouse.


    However, not only was Tang Wulin promising suits of three-word battle armor, he had thrown in four-word battle armor as well.


    Three-word battle armor was extremely expensive, but four-word battle armor could only be described as priceless.


    On the entire continent, even the entire planet, there was only one Divine Blacksmith in the form of Zhen Hua, and even for a Divine Blacksmith, the success rate of heavenly refinement was very low.


    As such, completing a suit of four-word battle armor was nothing short of a monumental task.


    The Limit Douluos of Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, and the Spirit Pagoda all had suits of four-word battle armor, but that certainly didn''t mean that four-word battle armor was easy to come by; this was a reflection of the power and wealth these powers had built up over tens of thousands of years!


    There was a waiting list of Limit Douluos for heavenly refined metals, and those from major powers were naturally prioritized, but there could be no compromising on price.


    There was only one Divine Blacksmith, so he had a complete monopoly over the market.


    This was why even the Spirit Pagoda had to protect Zhen Hua. Without him, no one would be able to construct suits of four-word battle armor.


    Heavenly refinement was very difficult, and as Zhen Hua had aged, he had taken on fewer and fewer heavenly refinement jobs, thereby making four-word battle armor even rarer.


    Infernal King Douluo Harosha and Holy Dragon Douluo En Ci had upgraded their suits of three-word battle armor to the four-word level through unique methods, but those still weren''t true suits of four-word battle armor.


    As such, following Tang Wulin''s declaration, the reaction from the members of the Yuanen Family wasn''t one of excitement. Instead, they were all staring at him as if he had gone insane.


    Battle armor had to be custom-made; how was this even possible?


    Yuanen Tianshang said, "Sect Master Tang, this is no laughing matter."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Of course, and I''m not treating it as such. However, I have a condition: those who receive suits of battle armor from our academy must teach there for at least 20 years. After that, you''re free to leave or stay, and you''ll have sole ownership of your battle armor."


    20 years was quite a long time, but it was nothing compared to three-word battle armor and especially four-word battle armor.


    However, this was still far too difficult to believe.


    "He''s not bluffing," Yuanen Yehui said as she made her way over to Tang Wulin, then released her suit of three-word battle armor amid specks of radiant yellow light.


    Having donned her suit of three-word battle armor, Yuanen Yehui''s aura abruptly changed.


    Her three-word battle armor was named Sky Twin Change. Sky correlated to her Fallen Angel martial soul, Twin referred to the fact that both she and Xie Xie had twin martial souls, and Change reflected the versatility of Xie Xie''s Space Time Dragon, as well as her own ability to transition between martial souls.  [1]


    Xie Xie also released his suit of grey three-word battle armor. His battle armor appeared to be the thinnest among all of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and it struck one with a sense that it had completely blended into the shadows around him.


    Both of their battle armor domains were over 20 meters in diameter, and that was sufficient testament to how outstanding their suits of three-word battle armor were.


    His battle armor was named Dragon Night Radiance, so the two of them could now be referred to as Dragon Night Radiance Xie Xie and Sky Twin Change Yuanen Yehui.  [2]


    They had refrained from releasing their suits of three-word battle armor during the earlier sparring match as they were concerned that they would destroy the drill ground, so they fought in their normal Soul Master state.


    All of the Titled Douluos of the Yuanen Family were staring at their suits of three-word battle with yearning in their eyes.


    [1] [The first character of the word "angel"(Ììʹ) is Ìì, which directly translates to sky or heaven. If Ììʹ were broken down into its two individual characters and translated literally, it would be heavenly envoy or heavenly messenger.]


    [2] [The Yehui(Ò¹»Ô) in Yuanen Yehui translates directly to night radiance.]

 Chapter 1569: Tempted

    The Yuanen Family was very powerful, but they actually weren''t all that wealthy as they had no avenue through which they could earn large sums of money. In present-day society, Soul Masters weren''t as revered as they were in the past, and the Yuanen Family was only able to earn money through normal saving and accumulation.


    Soul technology had resolved the vast majority of the world''s problems, and mecha pilots no longer had to exclusively be Soul Masters.


    On top of that, the Yuanen Family was a very proud family that refused to be employed by others, so the family was far from rich.


    Even though they had taken on secondary occupations as well, it was very difficult to progress very far in these occupations with the family''s limited resources.


    Even Yuanen Zhentian only had a suit of three-word battle armor, and he was too embarrassed to even release it as his battle armor domain was only around 10 meters in diameter.


    As for everyone else, only Yuanen Tiandang had a suit of three-word battle armor, and it was of an even lesser quality than Yuanen Zhentian''s.


    "Ahem, Sect Master Tang, if you''re being serious with your offer, then I''d like to come with you. I have nothing to do in the family anyway, and I would love to educate the younger generation."


    A short yet very muscular elderly man strode forward, and he appeared to be around the same age as Yuanen Zhentian, but he seemed to be full of vigor and strength.


    He made his way over to Yuanen Zhentian, and said, "Please let me go, Big Brother; I really want to experience a suit of three-word battle armor. Besides, teaching at Shrek Academy isn''t bringing shame upon our family, is it?"


    A wry smile appeared on Yuanen Zhentian''s face. "What an incompetent family leader I am."


    Yuanen Tianshang also opened his mouth to say something, but Yuanen Zhentian raised a hand to stop him.


    He then turned to Tang Wulin, and asked, "I''m sure Shrek Academy has the ability to guarantee suits of three-word battle armor, but please elaborate on your promise of four-word battle armor, Sect Master Tang."


    He wanted to regard Tang Wulin as a junior, but after the declaration that Tang Wulin had just made, he realized that it was necessary for him to see Tang Wulin as an equal.


    Tang Wulin replied, "You can rest assured, Senior; I''ll be sure to deliver on my promises."


    A hesitant look appeared on Yuanen Zhentian''s face. "I don''t doubt the bond between Shrek Academy and Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua, but I''ve heard that Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua is greatly limited by his health. On top of that, I''m sure we''re not the only ones who want suits of four-word battle armor. Truth be told, we tried to apply in the past, but we didn''t even have the right to be on the waiting list."


    Xie Xie ran his fingers through his hair in a deliberate display of bravado, and declared, "There''s more than one Divine Blacksmith on the Douluo Continent."


    Yuanen Yehui immediately pinched him for his cocky display, but his words had still stunned all of the members of the Yuanen Family.


    Before Yuanen Zhentian had a chance to ask, Tang Wulin revealed, "Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua is my uncle-teacher, and I studied forging under the guidance of the Blazing Dragon Douluo of Shrek Academy for many years, so I''m able to complete heavenly refinement as well."


    He didn''t put on a cool display like Xie Xie, and his words were devoid of embellishment, but it gave everyone a massive shock.


    Yuanen Tianshang exclaimed, "Could it be that you were the one who constructed the four-word battle armor base that you presented to the Silver Dragon Princess at the joust for a spouse event?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Everyone exchanged glances with one another, and they could all see their own astonishment mirrored in each other''s eyes.


    What did a Divine Blacksmith entail?


    A Divine Blacksmith could easily elevate a family to an entirely different level. A Divine Blacksmith was someone that had to be revered by the entire Soul Master world as only they could create suits of four-word battle armor!


    Every four-word battle armor master had stood at the very pinnacle of the continent, and it was said that four-word battle armor masters were beings who could contend with the entire plane.


    This was because four-word battle armor contained its own unique laws.


    Was this a hyperbolic statement? Not at all. A suit of four-word battle armor could allow a rookie Limit Douluo to contend with a demigod, and it was not just a second life for a Soul Master; it was something that could facilitate a complete evolution.


    At this very moment, this outrageously young man was telling everyone that he was a Divine Blacksmith; how was anyone supposed to believe him?


    However, this was no ordinary young man; he was the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, and there was no way that a man of his status would lie about something like this. It was exactly because of these conflicting factors that the members of the Yuanen Family had no idea what to believe.


    Tang Wulin didn''t try to rush them into making a decision. This was actually the first time he had ever announced in public that he was a Divine Blacksmith. On the joust for a spouse event, everyone''s attention had been focused elsewhere, so no one had heard what he had said to Gu Yuena. As such, some people had speculated that he was a Divine Blacksmith, but there was no way for them to confirm this.


    Yuanen Zhentian took a deep breath, and said, "I don''t know what to say, Sect Master Tang, but if you really are a Divine Blacksmith, then your offer is one that we cannot refuse."


    Indeed, this was an offer that couldn''t be rejected. A four-word battle armor master was far too important to the Yuanen Family.


    One had to realize that aside from the Shrek Academy of the past, the Shrek Academy owned the most suits of four-word battle armor, but even they only had three or four suits, while the number of suits of four-word battle armor in the Battle God Hall definitely didn''t exceed three.


    On the entire Douluo Continent, there were only a handful of four-word battle armor masters, and that had been reduced even further by the Shrek City bombing.


    Currently, the Yuanen Family had Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang as its Limit Douluos, and this was already the most powerful the family had ever been. If both of them could become four-word battle armor masters, then their family would immediately become a superpower on the Douluo Continent, and that would be immeasurably beneficial to its future development.


    Furthermore, the emergence of Tang Wulin as a Divine Blacksmith forced Yuanen Zhentian to look at Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect through new eyes. With four Limit Douluos and a Divine Blacksmith among their ranks, and the massive sway and influence Shrek Academy had displayed during the joust for a spouse event, its resurgence was only a matter of time.


    As such, it definitely wasn''t a bad idea for the Yuanen Family to ally themselves with Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. On top of that, Yuanen Yehui was one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and it was very likely that she would also become a Limit Douluo in the future.


    At this point, Yuanen Zhentian had already made his decision.


    "Thank you, Senior, I promise that I''ll forge the metals required for Senior Tiandang''s suit of four-word battle armor as soon as possible, then get the mecha makers of our Tang Sect to construct the battle armor."


    "There''s no need to trouble you for the construction; I''m a mecha maker, so I can do that myself." Yuanen Tiandang''s eyes were clearly far brighter than before.


    The return of his powers and his daughter had wiped away much of the depression that he had been suffering from for so many years. As an exceptional Soul Master, his greatest dream as a child was to become a four-word battle armor master. Now that the opportunity to fulfill this dream was finally being presented to him, he certainly couldn''t let it slip!


    "Father, I''ve decided to go to Shrek Academy," Yuanen Tiandang said in a decisive voice.


    Yuanen Zhentian nodded in response. "Alright, I''ll leave my son in your care then, Sect Master Tang."


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic to hear this. He hadn''t actually planned this before coming here, but the thought had occurred to him after Yuanen Tiandang had unexpectedly become a Limit Douluo. Through this arrangement, Yuanen Yehui could continue to be with her father, and it was certainly fantastic news for a powerful being of his caliber to join Shrek Academy.

 Chapter 1570: Test?

    Yuanen Zhentian was also very pleased. Perhaps this would delay Yuanen Tiandang from taking over as family leader, but having just become a quasigod, Yuanen Zhentian would be able to live for much longer, so this wasn''t an issue. With that in mind, an elated smile appeared on his face.


    "Alright, let''s go back. I''m going to set up a banquet to celebrate this," Yuanen Zhentian said in an excited manner as he led the way back.


    This was a win-win situation, and Yuanen Yehui was the happiest one to see this arrangement being made as she wouldn''t have to separate from her father.


    In contrast, Xie Xie was feeling quite concerned. Generally speaking, fathers were always disapproving toward their son-in-law; who knew what would become of him with his father-in-law constantly supervising him? He couldn''t shake the feeling that Yuanen Tiandang was looking at him in a strange, almost vicious manner.


    It appeared there were going to be some hard times ahead! Having said that, it was the first time that he had seen Yuanen Yehui this happy, so he was still very excited. This was the Yuanen Yehui that he wanted to see.


    Just as Tang Wulin was walking along, someone suddenly tugged gently on his sleeve, and he turned around to discover Yuanen Tianshang with a hopeful look in his eyes.


    "Ahem, Sect Master Tang, do you still need other teachers aside from my brother?"


    Tang Wulin immediately nodded in response. "Of course! Most of our teachers perished during the bombing to save the students, so we''re sorely lacking in teachers."


    Yuanen Tianshang asked, "Would I fit the bill?" Up to this point, he still didn''t have a suit of three-word battle armor.


    In terms of aptitude, he couldn''t match Yuanen Tiandang, but was certainly no slouch. During these past few years, the hatred in his heart had spurred him on to cultivate like a madman, allowing him to progress to the Titled Douluo level. Even though his progress had stalled since then, he was still a Titled Douluo.


    Most importantly, with the return of his brother and Yuanen Yehui, the wounds in his heart had been healed, and to his surprise, his stagnant cultivation rank was beginning to creep up at a relatively fast rate again.


    Ever since the passing of his wife, he had lived for cultivation, but even though he was already a Titled Douluo, he still didn''t even have a suit of three-word battle armor. Now that the opportunity to become a three-word battle armor master was being presented, he certainly couldn''t miss it!


    Tang Wulin took a hesitant glance at Yuanen Zhentian, who was walking up ahead, and didn''t offer an immediate response.


    He had already taken Yuanen Zhentian''s direct heir; it didn''t seem appropriate to take his other son as well.


    Yuanen Tianshang said in an urgent manner, "It''s alright, I''ll convince Father. I''m not the heir to the family anyway, so I''m a free man and can even stay permanently at Shrek Academy. I''ve always longed to go to Shrek Academy!"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "If Senior Zhentian agrees, then we''d be more than happy to welcome you."


    He was sure that Yuanen Zhentian could hear their conversation, and he was leaving that decision to him. As Tang Wulin was walking along, he noticed that Yuanen Tianshang wasn''t the only one looking at him with glowing eyes.


    Among the dozen or so members of the Yuanen Family present, even the weakest were at the Soul Douluo level. Even though the Yuanen Family led a peaceful and reclusive existence, it really was lacking in resources.


    Yuanen Zhentian didn''t say anything, and nor did he turn around as he led everyone back to the manor.


    A lavish feast was soon prepared, and Tang Wulin was the main guest; this was treatment that no one had ever received at the Yuanen Family.


    Power always demanded respect, and Tang Wulin had gained everyone''s acknowledgment during his battle against Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie. However, that alone wasn''t enough to earn Yuanen Zhentian''s respect; what was most important was his status as a Divine Blacksmith.


    After having a few drinks, Tang Wulin was beginning to grow into his element, while Xie Xie was already lying sprawled on the table.


    His intuition had been right; Yuanen Tiandang seemed to have a natural vendetta against him as his future father-in-law. He proposed for Xie Xie to drink with him and shamelessly forced Xie Xie to have three drinks for every drink that he had.


    Xie Xie was a powerful Soul Douluo, but he didn''t dare to use his soul power to ward off the effects of the alcohol and was quickly drunk.


    Yuanen Yehui made no effort to step in and merely looked on with a smile. This amount of alcohol wouldn''t be able to harm Xie Xie, and through her father''s interaction with Xie Xie, she could sense the fatherly love that had been absent for many years, so her heart was filled with bliss. She would just have to make it up to Xie Xie in some other way.


    "Sect Master Tang, I propose a toast to you," Yuanen Zhentian said as he rose to his feet.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly stood up as well, and said, "You''ve been far too hospitable, Senior; I should be the one toasting you."


    Yuanen Zhentian and Tang Wulin then downed their drinks in unison before the former said, "Sect Master Tang, I have a request that I know I shouldn''t make, but I can''t help myself; feel free to turn me down if you want."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Go ahead, Senior."


    Yuanen Zhentian continued, "I''d like you to demonstrate heavenly refinement for us, Sect Master Tang. Truth be told, I''ve never had the opportunity to witness heavenly refinement, and I''ve always wanted to see it; would you be able to show us?"


    It was clear that Yuanen Zhentian was still rather skeptical about his claims, but that was only reasonable. As such, Tang Wulin nodded, and replied, "Sure, I can do that. Would you like to see it now?"


    Yuanen Zhentian was very surprised to hear this. The fact that Tang Wulin was making this offer indicated that he was very confident in his own abilities.


    "We''ve already had some wine; that''s not going to affect your performance, is it?" Yuanen Zhentian asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "That''s alright, I''ll give it a try. Having said that, the success rate for heavenly refinement isn''t very high, so I can''t guarantee anything, but the process is still worth watching."


    Yuanen Zhentian''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he nodded in response. "Alright, then I''ll be looking forward to your display, Sect Master Tang. Do you need us to prepare anything? Should we do this after the meal?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "There''s no need to prepare anything; I''ll do it here and now as entertainment for everyone."


    He wasn''t displeased in the slightest by Yuanen Zhentian''s skepticism. After all, he was trying to take a Limit Douluo from the Yuanen Family; of course he had to display some of his abilities. It would be all worth it as long as he could recruit Yuanen Tiandang to the academy.


    The impression that all of the powerful beings of the Yuanen Family had of Tang Wulin was improved even further by his display of confidence.


    Even though they felt like their family leader was being a little rude, they were also very much looking forward to seeing a Divine Blacksmith in action.


    Tang Wulin strode out of the hall and arrived in the spacious courtyard outside. Everyone else also followed him out of the room.

 Chapter 1571: One With Nature

    Tang Wulin looked up at the sky and sensed the natural elements in the air. The trace of alcohol in his systems only worked to place him in a more free-spirited mood, and with everything he had experienced thus far, his mental state had already become peerlessly resolute. Most importantly, he was far more confident than he had been in the past, and that confidence stemmed from his rapid improvement.


    He firmly believed that he would reach the Atlas Douluo''s level someday, and even pursue the same heights that his father had reached.


    His target was no longer limited to the Douluo Continent; his ultimate goal was to find the Divine Realm and reunite himself with his family.


    From the perspective of all of the bystanders, Tang Wulin strode over to the center of the courtyard, following which his aura abruptly changed.


    This was a very peculiar feeling; it was as if he had suddenly disappeared.


    He was still standing on the same spot and was present visually, but no one was able to sense his presence anymore.


    "He''s become one with nature," Yuanen Zhentian murmured to himself.


    He had been drinking and relaxing just a moment ago, yet in the blink of an eye, he had already become one with nature. This wasn''t just a reflection of his enormous spiritual power; it also highlighted his understanding of the laws of heaven and earth.


    This young man truly had an immeasurable future! It was no wonder that he had become the leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy at such a young age.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin sprang into action.


    He raised his right hand, and a black piece of metal appeared. This was quite a large chunk of cuboid metal with side lengths of around half a meter, but Tang Wulin was able to toss it up into the air as if it were a weightless toy.


    He looked up at the piece of metal with an intense gaze, and a burst of powerful intent suddenly erupted from his body.


    In that instant, his aura resembled that of a giant dragon that had just awakened from a long slumber.


    He launched his fist through the air, and a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out as a giant golden dragon erupted from his fist.


    The shimmering golden dragon was extremely intricate and life-like, creating a particularly dazzling sight to behold in the night.


    The giant dragon rose up into the sky and crashed heavily into the piece of metal. Strangely enough, the metal didn''t display any change, as if it hadn''t been struck by anything. Instead, it was enveloped by the golden dragon and continued to rise upward.


    The golden dragon ascended into the heavens, while the chunk of black metal suddenly began to glow with scintillating golden light, as if a miniature sun had appeared in mid-air.


    The golden light it was releasing extended for over 10 feet, and there seemed to be countless specks of starlight revolving around it.


    This was supreme-grade thousand refinement!


    Tang Wulin hadn''t even brought out his forging hammers yet; just a single punch allowed the piece of metal to skip hundred refinement and reach the very pinnacle of thousand refinement.


    There were blacksmiths in the Yuanen Family as well, but even the most skilled one was only capable of spirit refinement.


    The blacksmith in question was currently completely entranced by the sight of the glowing chunk of metal, and never did he think that a blacksmith could refine metal in such a spectacular fashion.


    The chunk of metal finally began to descend, but the golden light it was radiating was still very bright, and faint dragon patterns had appeared all over its surface.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes began to glow, and in that instant, his essence, energy, and spirit were all elevated to the very max. He gently raised his two hands, and a pair of black forging hammers appeared in his grasp.


    A peculiar aura then began to radiate from his body alongside intense hammer intent.


    He hurled both of his forging hammers up into the air in unison, and as they rose up, the hammers suddenly began to glow with dazzling silver light that also contained hints of rainbow light. The pair of hammers flew in a profound trajectory, striking the piece of metal up above one after another.


    Two crisp clangs rang out, and the chunk of metal was instantly sent flying up into the air as golden light erupted in all directions.


    The pair of forging hammers seemed to have sprung to life, and a string of clangs rang out incessantly while a flurry of glowing hammer projections spread through the air, putting on a spectacular show that made even the most extravagant of fireworks pale into insignificance.


    During the thousand refinement process, the chunk of metal had already shrunk to around half its original size, and as the hammering continued, it began to shrink even further.


    Gradually, the radiant golden light began to dim and became more subdued.


    Only a minute had passed by, but all of the members of the Yuanen Family present were already thoroughly entranced.


    This was the first time that they had seen such extraordinary forging; it was like art in motion!


    They were aware that Tang Wulin was intentionally showing off, but they still couldn''t help but admire his exceptional skills.


    All of a sudden, a faint buzzing sound rang out, and the pair of forging hammers descended back into Tang Wulin''s grasp. Meanwhile, the chunk of metal continued to hover in mid-air, and at this point, it had become spherical in shape. It was gently trembling in mid-air as if it were trying to escape from something, and all of a sudden, a peculiar feeling arose, as if a new life had just been created.


    Even though this sensation was barely detectable, all of the people present were powerful Soul Masters, so they were able to clearly sense it.


    The most skilled blacksmith of the Yuanen Family immediately blurted out, "This is spirit refinement!"


    He was capable of completing spirit refinement himself, so he was naturally aware of the telltale signs. However, never did he think that spirit refinement could be completed so quickly and so perfectly. This had already exceeded his realm of understanding of forging, and it was as if a whole new world had been opened up to him.


    Indeed, this was spirit refinement, and Tang Wulin had achieved this without even having to swing his hammers himself.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin rose up into the air like a rising dragon and arrived before the chunk of metal in a flash. Purplish-golden light erupted out of his eyes to illuminate the chunk of metal, and it immediately shuddered violently.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s forging hammers struck the piece of metal in a dainty manner.


    In contrast with the heavy blows his flying hammers had delivered earlier, his forging was very gentle and delicate now, almost as if he were carefully crafting a perfect masterpiece.


    A string of pleasant and rhythmic clangs rang out, and it was like the most beautiful music in the world.


    The piece of metal itself was also releasing an incessant string of faint buzzing, as if it were an infant wheedling with its father.


    The exterior of the spherical piece of metal didn''t change, but the subdued golden light within it was released once again. In contrast with the bright golden light from before, this golden light was very dense and filled with sentience.


    A series of shimmering golden dragon patterns proliferated outward before revolving around the surrounding area, and they gradually became clearer as they flew in celebration around Tang Wulin and the piece of metal.


    Golden radiance flashed, and all of a sudden, a huge projection appeared behind Tang Wulin.


    The projection depicted a clear humanoid figure, and it was none other than Yuanen Zhentian.


    The projection threw a punch, and heaven and earth tremored in its wake. This was none other than the final one of the three attacks that Tang Wulin had withstood from Yuanen Zhentian.


    Powerful fist intent threatened to pierce through heaven and earth as it was projected behind Tang Wulin through mental manifestation.


    The projection then suddenly disintegrated into countless specks of light that vanished into the spherical piece of metal from all directions.


    The chunk of metal began to tremor violently, and Yuanen Zhentian was suddenly struck by a sense of familiarity.


    This was fist intent that was identical to his own!


    This was no longer just bestowing the metal with intelligence through soul refinement; it had even been imbued with aptitude!


    The spirit refinement blacksmith was already completely rooted to the spot. Was this really something that could be achieved by a blacksmith? He was incapable of soul refinement, but he had witnessed it before, yet this was completely different from anything he had ever seen!

 Chapter 1572: Stunning Heavenly Refinement

    This was truly an extraordinary display of skills!


    Yuanen Zhentian wasn''t very familiar with forging, but even he could tell that there was no doubt that Tang Wulin was indeed a Divine Blacksmith. How deep of an understanding of forging was required to accomplish this?


    In reality, this was a set of abilities unique to Tang Wulin. Zhen Hua was also a Divine Blacksmith, but his powers were far inferior to Tang Wulin''s, particularly when it came to spiritual power. Furthermore, Tang Wulin was blessed by the entire plane, thereby deepening his understanding of laws and allowing him to bestow aptitude to a certain extent during his forging.


    Imbuing a piece of metal with aptitude didn''t mean that the piece of metal would be able to unleash the same attack as Yuanen Zhentian. Instead, it would make the piece of metal more harmonious with those able to unleash the same type of attack as Yuanen Zhentian. The degree to which battle armor was harmonious with its wearer greatly influenced its power and effectiveness.


    To put it in simpler terms, Tang Wulin was essentially planting a core circuit into the metal through his forging.


    A string of buzzing sounds rang out from the piece of metal, and layers of radiance proliferated from its surface, as if it were rejecting or resisting something. However, its resistance was gradually quelled as it was comforted by Tang Wulin''s spiritual power, and the fist intent was truly engraved into the piece of metal.


    Tang Wulin began to swing his hammers, and countless projections were released from his hands. In the eyes of the bystander, the piece of metal seemed to be dancing in an alluring and rhythmic manner within the flurries of hammer projections.


    Yuanen Zhentian couldn''t help but nod with genuine approval in his eyes, while the blacksmith from the Yuanen Family already had tears flowing down his face. Witnessing such an exceptional display of forging was truly a life-changing experience for him!


    Right at this moment, all of the hammer projections were suddenly withdrawn, and Tang Wulin also descended from the sky, while the piece of metal remained hovering in mid-air, releasing brilliant radiance as it did so.


    Tang Wulin swung his hammers in an arc through the air, and a serious look finally appeared on his face.


    Everyone could clearly sense that violent energy fluctuations had appeared in the air. This was different from the utilization of soul power; these energy fluctuations were converging from all directions.


    The converging energy quickly condensed before spreading, and four clouds of light red, blue, yellow, and azure in color began to take shape while the might of heaven and earth slowly descended.


    This was elemental tribulation!


    Yuanen Zhentian''s expression changed slightly upon sensing the formidable aura of laws, and he immediately released his own soul power to form a protective barrier to shield everyone and the hall behind him.


    Tang Wulin roared up into the heavens as his long hair fluttered wildly around him, giving off a sense of reckless abandon. In that instant, it was as if he were facing the wrath of heaven and earth, yet he remained completely fearless.


    "Rumble!" A violent thunderclap rang out as four-colored lightning crashed down from the heavens.


    Tang Wulin raised the hammer in his right hand, and the bolt of lightning that was traveling toward the piece of metal was guided by him onto his own body, causing him to be entirely illuminated by four-colored light.


    Everyone let loose cries of surprise upon seeing this, including even Yuanen Yehui and Xie Xie. They didn''t know what elemental tribulations were, but the fearsome auras of laws could be clearly sensed by everyone. The bolt of four-colored lightning was imbued with extremely formidable power, yet Tang Wulin had guided it onto his own body; what was he thinking?


    Right at this moment, a layer of gentle four-colored light erupted from his body to strike the piece of metal that was suspended in mid-air.


    The metal began to buzz again, and the joyful intent that it was giving off was very apparent to everyone present.


    At the same time, everyone was astonished to discover that Tang Wulin was using his own body to filter the power of the elemental tribulation before transferring just the right amount to the metal he was forging.


    Was this really doable? Wouldn''t he be hurting himself?


    Everyone looked on in astonishment as one bolt of four-colored lightning after another crashed down with ferocious might, and all of them were guided by Tang Wulin onto his own body.


    High-quality heavenly refinement required a piece of metal to be struck by tribulation lightning. The destructive power of tribulation lightning could purify the metal to a certain extent, but the main benefit the metal derived was from the injection of the power of laws. The forging process was important, but it only made up around 30% of heavenly refinement.


    Perfect heavenly refinement required tribulation lightning to strike the metal while the excess was diverted away by Tang Wulin. This made forging a lot more difficult, and it was also the stage where most heavenly refinements failed.


    Zhen Hua had no choice as his body wouldn''t be able to handle direct bombardment from tribulation lightning, but that wasn''t the case for Tang Wulin. The main benefit of his current forging method was the super high success rate. It could even be said that in the face of four-colored lightning tribulation, his success rate was virtually 100%. There was also a 70% chance that the finished product would be a supreme-grade heavenly refined metal, so it was the ideal choice for him to display during this demonstration.


    The four-colored light gradually became brighter, and initially, it was only on the surface of the metal, but it then gradually seeped into the metal to alter its internal structure. What was even more remarkable was that the metal was gradually changing shape. There was no further refinement from Tang Wulin, but with the influx of four-colored light, the piece of metal was slowly transforming into a boxing glove.


    "Boom!" A bolt of four-colored lightning that was as thick as a water tank struck Tang Wulin''s body, completely inundating him in the process.


    "Boss!" Xie Xie immediately rushed toward him, only to be stopped in his tracks by Yuanen Tiandang.


    "Are you an idiot? None of the tribulation lightning is seeping out, which means that he still has absolute control over it; are you trying to rush into the lightning for an early death?"


    Xie Xie faltered slightly upon hearing this, and only then did he realize that despite the fearsome bombardment of tribulation lightning, the Yuanen Family manor remained completely undamaged.


    "Rumble!" Four-colored light surged into the piece of metal, and a layer of light appeared over its surface. The aura of the fist intent that had been injected into it earlier suddenly spiked drastically, as if it had absorbed the power of laws.


    Powerful fist intent surged through the surrounding area as if it were contending with heaven and earth.


    All of a sudden, an additional figure appeared beside Yuanen Zhentian; it was none other than Er Ming.


    His expression changed several times at the sight of the boxing glove suspended in mid-air, and in the end, he couldn''t help but sigh, "The intelligence of humans truly can''t be matched by soul beasts. Humans really are blessed by the heavens."


    The four-colored light around Tang Wulin and the tribulation clouds in the sky gradually dissipated, and at the same time, all of the light radiating from the piece of metal was withdrawn as it descended into Tang Wulin''s grasp.


    It had returned to its original black and lusterless appearance, and if it weren''t for the fact that it had changed shape, it would appear as if nothing had happened to it at all.

 Chapter 1573: Yuanen Zhentians Decision

    Tang Wulin caught the piece of metal and gently exhaled. There were still traces of four-colored lightning flashing around him, but aside from a faint sheen of sweat that had appeared on his forehead, he didn''t seem to have been affected much by the elemental tribulation.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to Yuanen Zhentian before passing the boxing-glove-shaped piece of metal to him. "I''m glad it was a success."


    Yuanen Zhentian reflexively accepted the piece of metal, and in that instant, his entire body shuddered slightly. He felt like this piece of metal was a part of his own body, and it didn''t seem alien to him at all.


    Even with the slightest injection of soul power, a layer of four-colored light would immediately appear over the surface of the piece of metal, and Yuanen Zhentian could sense that the power of laws within it would be able to enhance the power of his attacks by severalfold.


    One had to realize that this was still just a piece of metal and not battle armor yet; was this the power of heavenly refinement?


    Yuanen Zhentian took a deep breath, and even his aura had become rather unstable. "I didn''t think that I would ever get to witness heavenly refinement. I am truly in awe, Sect Master Tang."


    At this point, he had nothing but genuine respect for this young Tang Sect Master.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Fortunately, I was able to succeed and put on a good show. We''ve been living here rent-free for the past few days, so let this piece of heavenly refined metal act as a compensatory gift to you."


    Yuanen Zhentian hurriedly said, "That won''t do; this is far too valuable a gift!" Even though a piece of heavenly refined metal couldn''t compare with a divine weapon, it was enough to completely transform the battle armor of a high-grade Soul Master.


    Despite what he was saying, Yuanen Zhentian was displaying no intention of returning the piece of metal to Tang Wulin, and it seemed that he couldn''t even bring himself to do so.


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Please don''t refuse this gift, Senior; I can''t just take Senior Tiandang away from you for nothing."


    Yuanen Zhentian took a meaningful look at Tang Wulin before suddenly replying, "No, Tiandang won''t be going with you."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, and Yuanen Tiandang immediately protested, "Father, you..."


    Having just witnessed Tang Wulin''s heavenly refinement ability, he knew that this would most likely be his only opportunity to attain a suit of four-word battle armor. He had just become a Limit Douluo; if he could attain a suit of four-word battle armor as well, then he would immediately become a demigod level powerful being!


    Yuanen Zhentian raised a hand, indicating for everyone to allow him to speak. He could see that aside from Yuanen Tiandang, all of the other members of the Yuanen Family present were looking at Tang Wulin like a priceless treasure.


    All of his brethren had become extremely tempted by Tang Wulin''s display, and truth be told, he was also struggling to resist the temptation.


    As he held the piece of heavenly refined metal and sensed just how harmonious it was with his body, he finally made a decision.


    "Sect Master Tang, there''s something I''d like to ask you."


    "Go ahead, Senior." Tang Wulin''s brows were currently slightly furrowed with displeasure in response to Yuanen Zhentian going back on his word, but Yuanen Zhentian was still his senior, so he couldn''t speak out against him.


    Yuanen Zhentian smiled, and asked, "How large is the new Shrek Academy going to be?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "The past Shrek City was razed to the ground, resulting in a reverse flow of surface water that has formed the current Sea God''s Lake. The academy will be constructed around the entire Sea God''s Lake, and for the first stage, we''ll be constructing some buildings for classrooms. Currently, the entire Sea God''s Lake has been encompassed under anti-surveillance soul tools, and we''ll continue to expand in the future. The Tang Sect will also be included in this area, and in the future, we hope to construct a new ring-shaped Shrek City around the Sea God''s Lake.


    "Of course, this is going to be a massive project. The current area of the Sea God''s Lake exceeds even that of the past Shrek City, and it''ll take a very, very long time to complete construction around it. Perhaps the project won''t even be complete in our generation, but I''m sure that once it''s completed, it''ll be superior to the original Shrek City."


    Yuanen Zhentian nodded, and said, "In that case, would you be able to sell us a plot of land in the city? Of course, it would be great if you could also construct some housing for us on the site."


    Yuanen Zhentian had spoken in quite a casual manner, but everyone was stunned to hear this.


    "What do you plan to do, Father?" Yuanen Tiandang asked in a perplexed manner.


    Yuanen Zhentian sighed, "You''re not the only one who wants to become a four-word battle armor master! Our family has become a relic of the past in this secluded setting; it''s time we stepped out into the world. Perhaps I wouldn''t have had the courage to do this in the past, but with Senior Er Ming here, I no longer have any qualms. As long as Senior Er Ming agrees, I plan to move our entire family to the new Shrek City. I don''t think we''ll be able to find any place more suitable for us."


    He then turned to Tang Wulin, and continued, "Sect Master Tang, we''re not asking you to give us the land for free; our family isn''t very wealthy, but we excel in control over earth elements. As such, we can dig holes and complete some basic construction tasks far faster than even soul machines; I''m sure that''ll be very helpful to Shrek Academy''s construction."


    Only then did Tang Wulin completely grasp the situation, and he hurriedly asked, "Are you being serious, Senior?"


    He had only intended to recruit a few teachers for the academy; he wasn''t planning to take the entire family! What an outrageously pleasant surprise!


    Even though the Yuanen Family was a hidden family, there were at least eight Titled Douluos among them, including two Limit Douluos. With their pledge of allegiance, the foundation of Shrek Academy would be significantly bolstered!


    On top of that, the secretive nature of the Yuanen Family meant that they could be a hidden trump card for the academy.


    Er Ming grumbled, "What right do I have to disagree? You can do whatever you want."


    Even though these were his descendants, he hadn''t done anything for them, so he was constantly feeling very apologetic toward them.


    That was why he had gone as far as to expend two drops of blood essence to assist Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang in their breakthroughs.


    Yuanen Zhentian chuckled, "Then it''s decided. I''ll leave some people behind to look after the manor, and the rest will move to Shrek City. You''re all satisfied now, right? Your hearts have already gone to Shrek Academy; what''s the point of forcing all of you to stay here? I''ll go as well!"


    This was a rare display of humor from the stoic family leader.


    "Long live, Grandpa!" Yuanen Yehui yelled excitedly as she threw herself into Yuanen Zhentian''s arms.


    A bittersweet feeling welled up in Yuanen Zhentian''s heart. It seemed that the last time that his granddaughter had hugged him in such an excited manner was many years ago.


    Thinking back to her tragic past, he gave her a tight embrace, and smiled as he said, "Grandpa will always be with you from now on. If anyone dares to harm you, I''ll beat the crap out of them!"


    He cast a quick glance at Xie Xie as he spoke, and Xie Xie was immediately struck by a spine-chilling sensation.


    He already had a Limit Douluo father-in-law; now, a Limit Douluo grandfather-in-law was also being thrown into the mix! How was he supposed to live!


    Tang Wulin was very pleased by this end result, and for the first time, he experienced just how useful his identity as a Divine Blacksmith was. It was definitely a huge step in the right direction for the rebuilding Shrek Academy to recruit so many powerful beings.

 Chapter 1574: Win-win

    It was no wonder that Yuanen Zhentian had asked him for a heavenly refinement demonstration. Now that he thought about it, Yuanen Zhentian had most likely already made his decision in advance, but didn''t want to commit to such an important decision without verifying Tang Wulin''s abilities first.


    This was definitely a win-win situation. The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy would be greatly bolstered by the Yuanen Family, and at the same time, the entire Yuanen Family would become significantly more powerful once it obtained the three-word battle armor and four-word battle armor promised to them by Tang Wulin.


    Even though Shrek Academy had been destroyed, their show of power and influence at the joust for a spouse event proved that the flame of Shrek Academy was far from snuffed out. On top of that, they were also closely allied with the Tang Sect, so it was definitely a good decision for the Yuanen Family to side with them.


    With the addition of Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy now had a total of six Limit Douluos, a number that exceeded all other powers!


    Another important factor behind Yuanen Zhentian''s decision was Tang Wulin''s potential.


    He was only in his twenties, yet he was already a Titled Douluo and a Divine Blacksmith. Furthermore, his understanding of laws was astounding even to a veteran Limit Douluo like him. Where did his future lie?


    As such, Yuanen Zhentian had already considered many things after Tang Wulin''s invitation, and it appeared that he had made quite a rushed decision, but it was actually one that was very well thought-out.


    In fact, he had already been considering this course of action back when he had first found Yuanen Yehui in Bright City. Yuanen Yehui was only one year older than Tang Wulin, yet she was already close to the Titled Douluo level; this was something that neither he nor Yuanen Tiandang had been able to achieve, and they were now both already Limit Douluos.


    After that, Tang Wulin had withstood his three attacks. There was no technique involved; it was purely a direct clash where fire was fought with fire!


    The fact that such a young man was able to withstand his power completely transformed Yuanen Zhentian''s impression of the current Soul Master world.


    At the time, he realized that the Yuanen Family would have to integrate itself into society if it wanted to develop further. Otherwise, it would only continue to be left behind and fall into decline generation by generation like the Body Sect.


    As such, the seed had already been planted in his mind even from way back then.


    After that, he witnessed the stunning display put on by Shrek Academy at the joust for a spouse event, and was also made aware of Tang Wulin''s true identity.


    Following Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui''s return, he was actually already trying to get some information out of them. Currently, Shrek Academy was in its rebuild phase where it was most sorely in need of support, so offering support at a time like this definitely carried greater weight than it would''ve at other points in the academy''s history.


    The past Shrek City had once been referred to as heaven on earth. Even though it was later proven that Shrek City wasn''t absolutely safe as it had appeared, this would only mean that the new Shrek City would be further improved.


    Shrek Academy had been dealt an extremely heavy blow, but the support of the four Limit Douluos and the enormous potential of the younger generation gave Yuanen Zhentian a lot of hope. It was clear that once Tang Wulin and his friends fully matured, Shrek Academy would complete its resurgence and perhaps even become more powerful than it had once been.


    The same type of miracle had already taken place in the Tang Sect once before, and the leader of that resurgence was the founder of the Spirit Pagoda and also one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters at the time.


    The potential displayed by Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui, and Xie Xie was quite formidable even in the eyes of Yuanen Zhentian, so surely this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters wasn''t inferior to the two most renowned generations of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters in history.


    Tang Wulin was developing far faster than what he had thought to be possible for a Soul Master, and that had made him even more confident in his decision.


    As such, Tang Wulin''s invitation to Yuanen Tiandang provided the perfect catalyst to set everything into motion. In reality, he would''ve most likely moved the family to the new Shrek City even without the temptation of battle armor, so there was absolutely no way he would''ve turned down this offer.


    As for the possibility of having to contend with the Spirit Pagoda in the future, that was something that he wasn''t concerned about at all. What did a quasigod like him have to fear?


    Furthermore, their family''s patriarch had also returned. Er Ming''s arrival had left him completely dumbfounded, and through his actions, it had been verified beyond a doubt to Yuanen Zhentian that Er Ming was indeed their patriarch. On top of that, he could see Er Ming''s bond with Tang Wulin was very special. He seemed to hold absolute trust and even a hint of respect for Tang Wulin. This was a very strange feeling, but it only made him even more confident to invest in Tang Wulin''s potential.


    This was a young man who was destined for great things!


    Any lingering trace of hesitation and indecision in Yuanen Zhentian''s mind was completely erased by Tang Wulin''s display of heavenly refinement.


    Thus, everyone returned to the banquet and drank in celebration of the new alliance that had just been forged. The banquet only concluded deep into the night, and by then, Xie Xie was so drunk that he had to be carried back by Yuanen Yehui.


    Xie Xie could tell that there was no way his future father-in-law would be satisfied until he was drunk, so he merely accepted his fate and downed a few massive cups of wine to completely knock himself out.


    After carrying Xie Xie back to his room, Yuanen Yehui placed him down onto the bed, and she was both amused and slightly emotional as she recalled back to how her father had targeted Xie Xie at the banquet.


    If only you were still alive, Mother; I''m sure you''d like Xie Xie. I really miss you, Mother, but don''t worry, I won''t be sad anymore. I have to be happy and look after the two most important men in my life; I''m sure you''d also want me to be happy.


    Her eyes gradually lit up, and the burden she had held in her heart for so many years was finally released.


    Her heart was filled with emotion, and after returning to her room, she laid down to sleep instead of meditating for the first time in a very long time. She kept the curtains parted and allowed the moonlight to shine down onto her face as her breathing gradually became slow and even.


    She really wanted to have a good night''s sleep and forget all of her past pain and trauma.


    Will I see you in my dreams, Mother? Please pay me a visit, Mother.


    The complex emotions in her heart gradually subsided, and she fell into a deep sleep.

 Chapter 1575: Passageway to the Demonic Plane

    Right as she fell asleep, her aura began to transform in a subtle manner. A layer of faint translucent light appeared over her skin, and her soul power circulated naturally into her soul core before being purified, then surged throughout her body like a gushing river.


    Having let go of her mental baggage, her cultivation bottleneck was also shattered in her sleep.


    A layer of yellow light appeared around her alongside a series of soul rings, and the ninth soul ring finally appeared beside the eight existing ones.


    In that instant, she had become a Titled Douluo.


    In her dreams, she was finally able to see the person that she had been longing to see for so many years.


    Her eyes were so gentle and captivating, and her arms were spread wide open as she called out Yuanen Yehui''s name.


    "Mother!" Yuanen Yehui yelled as she rushed toward the woman, but for some reason, she was unable to close the short distance between them and dive into the woman''s arms.


    All of a sudden, her mother began to transform. Her eyes turned into a pair of dark purple vortexes, and a pair of massive wings slowly spread open on her back. She began to scream with pain as a pair of long, twisted horns emerged from her forehead, and her body began to expand while releasing a formidable aura of absolute darkness.


    "Fall into the darkness and you shall be free. Awaken, my daughter; awaken the boundless demonic power within your blood," her mother suddenly said in an enchanting voice while luring her toward the darkness.


    Enormous power began to spread through Yuanen Yehui''s entire body, causing it to tremble slightly. Intense darkness power surged into her body and transformed her, while a cold and deranged will quickly manifested itself in her mind.


    Fierce bloodlust, fear, and insanity also flowed into her mind alongside a whole host of other negative emotions, and in this instant, Yuanen Yehui felt as if all of her blood had also run cold as she began to advance toward that world of darkness.


    All of a sudden, she opened her eyes, and she found herself still in the same room. Her aura had become even darker than that of the night outside, and faint purple light began to spill out of her eyes.


    What was even more terrifying was that she was giving off a deathly aura, and a pair of massive wings slowly emerged on her back, while all of her nine soul rings had turned a purplish-black color.


    A pair of twisted long horns had emerged on her head, and darkness elements filled the entire room.


    "Roar!" A guttural roar rang out as she rose to her feet and opened the window in a stealthy manner. All of the surrounding darkness energy had surged into her body to isolate her from the outside world.


    She flew out the window, and after briefly inspecting her surroundings, she flapped her wings and traveled into the distance.


    She was incredibly fast, and the purplish-black light around her was causing the space in its wake to twist and warp slightly, as if some type of otherworldly energy were flowing into her body.


    This was an insane yet wonderful feeling, and she could sense her own powers being enhanced at a rapid rate.


    Finally, she folded her wings and descended like a shooting star toward a mountain down below. At an altitude of around 20 meters, she spread open her wings again to arrest her own momentum and gently landed on the mountain summit.


    "Fall into the darkness and you shall be free," she said in a deep voice, and as she did so, a series of purple demonic patterns appeared.


    The ninth soul ring that she had just attained abruptly lit up, and a massive purplish-black formation appeared on the ground. Purplish-black light rose up, and she began to chant an incantation as a huge purplish-black gate of light gradually emerged.


    This was her ninth soul skill, Demonic Passageway!


    Initially, the gate of light was only just over three meters tall, but it quickly expanded to over 20 meters tall and around 15 meters wide in the blink of an eye.


    The surrounding space warped violently as the power of the plane rejected the power from another world, but this resistance was futile in the face of the purple light constantly pouring out of the gate of light.


    Yuanen Yehui continued to chant as she made her way over to one side of the gate, and the purplish-black radiating from her body became even brighter as her powers continued to elevate at an insane rate.


    Ripples of light appeared around the massive gate, and a deep and enchanting voice rang out. "You''ve done very well, my child, my envoy. You''ve opened the passageway to the demonic world, and you will lead your brethren into this brand new world. Let''s destroy and fall into the freedom of darkness together! Go forth, my demonic army!"


    "Roar!" Yuanen Yehui roared up into the heavens as her body began to expand, and she instantly transformed into a giant demon that was over 10 meters tall.


    A layer of purplish-golden scales also appeared on her wings to reflect a powerful demonic bloodline.


    "I bestow upon you the royal purplish-golden bloodline for your contribution, and a portion of all of the life energy we devour will go to you. Once we conquer this world, you will rule over it as my representative."


    The purplish-golden light radiating from Yuanen Yehui''s body brightened even further as streaks of purplish-golden light surged out of the gate before flowing into her body in a frenzy, causing her aura to spike drastically.


    In this instant, even her eyes had turned a purplish-golden color, and she waved both hands through the air, upon which a giant gate of light appeared on each side of the existing one.


    She flapped her wings and rose up into the air, and as more and more purplish-golden light surged into her body, she was able to make the gates of light expand even further. With each expansion, the purplish-golden light on her body would dim slightly, and it was clear that this light was not just enhancing her powers, but also injecting more energy into the demonic passageways.


    Only after nine gates had been created did the expansion finally cease, and a thunderous roar rang out. "Descend, my demonic army!"


    The first creatures to rush out of the gates were a series of burly hellhounds that were extremely ferocious in appearance. Their heads were even larger than their bodies, and their mouths were filled with fangs that resembled sharp blades, threatening to tear this entire world apart between their jaws.


    Thousands of hellhounds had flooded out of the nine gates in the blink of an eye, and directly following those were giant demonic humans. It was apt to describe them as demonic humans as they were bipedal humanoid creatures, but each of them had four arms and were around 2.5 meters tall. The bulging muscles all over their bodies were covered in scales, some of them had one eye, while others had two. They strode out of the gates of light in a uniform formation, and after them came flying demons with wings thrice as large as their bodies.


    As the aerial soldiers of the demonic plane, these flying demons were extremely fast and could release corrosive venom out of their mouths.


    In the blink of an eye, thousands of flying demons had emerged, and at this point, the demonic army was already over 10,000 strong. At this point, the nine gates of light were beginning to become rather unsteady.


    They came from another plane, so they were naturally rejected by this plane.


    Right at this moment, one massive figure emerged within each of the nine gates, and they used their arms to support the gates of light while injecting bright purplish-golden light into the gates to stabilize them.


    Their appearance was similar to that of Yuanen Yehui''s current demonic appearance, and they were the great demons, the true powerful beings of the demonic plane.

 Chapter 1576: Demonic Army

    Each of the great demons was over 10 meters tall with massive wings on their backs, twisted horns on their heads, and extremely formidable darkness auras emanating from their bodies.


    After the gates were stabilized by them, even more demonic creatures began to emerge, including some small white demons that were very short in stature. Despite that diminutive stature, they were not to be looked down on as they were the spellcasters of the demonic plane, able to draw upon darkness energy to cast all types of debilitating spells.


    Following them came a series of goat-like demons with inky-black flames beneath their hooves. These goat demons were very large and strong, and the spellcasting demons all jumped onto their backs. These goat demons were extremely fast and were capable of unleashing powerful flame attacks. The spellcasting demons could cast powerful spells, but were very slow and defensively inept, so the two made a perfect match.


    At this point, the demonic army had just about taken shape, and only more of the same demons were pouring out of the gates. The gates of light became more and more insubstantial, and even nine great demons were struggling to keep them open.


    Right at this moment, a thunderous roar rang out, and the nine gates suddenly combined to form one gargantuan gate, following which an enormous being emerged.


    This being was over 30 meters tall with purplish-golden scales all over its body, and a pair of horns on its head that were over three meters in length. There was a pair of massive wings on its back that were manifested from purple flames, and it was wielding a fiery purplish-golden claymore. As soon as it appeared, the surrounding space warped violently, as if the power of the plane were rejecting the being with all its might.


    The massive demon roared as it cackled, "I, the great Demon Monarch Arba, have finally arrived in this world. My brethren, slaughter and devour to your hearts'' content! The more living beings you devour, the more powerful you''ll become, and once you attain sufficient power, we''ll be able to open up more demonic passageways to allow more of our brethren into this world. Make this world tremble at our feet!"


    The demonic army now numbered in excess of 30,000, and all of them roared to the heavens as an intense aura of darkness spread through the entire heavens, casting a purplish-black shadow over the entire earth.


    "Hmm? What''s that?" All of a sudden, Arba caught sight of something a little peculiar.


    Those seemed to be several stars, except they seemed to be growing larger and brighter.


    "How can there be such bright stars in this world? What are those things, my envoy?" A sense of foreboding welled up in Arba''s heart at the sight of the approaching stars.


    "I do not know, Your Majesty," Yuanen Yehui replied in a respectful manner.


    "Roar!" Arba let loose an enraged roar, and flocks of flying demons rose up into the air toward the oncoming stars.


    As the stars expanded, a special scorching aura surged through the air, and it quickly became apparent that these were actually balls of light.


    Demons absolutely detested such pure light elemental auras, so the flying demons were already blasting venom toward the balls of light in a frenzy even without instructions from Arba.


    Seven balls of light exploded almost in complete unison, illuminating the entire night sky and making it as bright as day.


    "Howl!" Cries of anguish rang out within the demonic army as terrifying light elements descended from above like a torrential storm.


    Everything had arrived far too abruptly, and the light elements were far too powerful. In the blink of an eye, countless demonic creatures were basked in intense, scorching light, and some of the weaker demonic humans and hellhounds were already melting away within this rain of light.


    Those were eighth-grade soul missiles, Holy Radiance!


    Arba let loose a roar of fury as he swept his massive fiery claymore through the air, creating a vast expanse of purplish-golden flames that surged toward the descending rain of light.


    The nine great demons behind him also slashed their flaming claymores through the air, forming another sea of flames to resist the rain of light.


    Right at this moment, a peculiar high-pitched screeching noise erupted, striking one with an indescribable sense of fear and apprehension.


    The sharp screeching was also accompanied by a string of sonic booms, and before Arba even had a chance to react, the purplish-golden flames he had just unleashed were quickly punctured, and an object emerged from within the flames before plunging directly into the ground.


    That area was surrounded by spellcasting demons and goat demons, and all of them looked down to inspect the object in the ground with curiosity in their eyes.


    This was a conical object that wasn''t very large and was glowing with faint white light.


    Most of the demonic army had been dealt a heavy blow by the rain of light, but the spellcaster demons had better resistance against light elements, so they remained largely unscathed.


    A few of the spellcasting demons jumped down from the goat demons and began to approach the object, right as Arba bellowed from afar, "Get back!"


    "Rumble!"


    Time suddenly seemed to have slowed down, and the spellcasting demons felt as if they were able to see their own bodies melt away, as well as the sharp blades slashing over their melting bodies.


    An extremely dazzling explosion had erupted like a massive flower, except the petals of this flower were formed by countless metal fragments.


    This was the ninth-grade soul missile, Metallic Storm!


    This type of soul missile had existed since 10,000 years ago, but had been refined on countless occasions since then. In particular, after elements of the Tang Sect''s Buddha''s Fury Tang Lotus were incorporated into the design of the soul missile, its power had been drastically improved.


    Metallic Storm was particularly effective on the battlefield. Its explosive power didn''t compare all that favorably to other ninth-grade soul missiles, but it was definitely the best ninth-grade soul missile when it came to dealing casualties. Its fearsome destructive power encompassed a diameter of around three kilometers, and the shrapnel released by its explosion could cover every single inch of that area.


    As such, Metallic Storm was also known as Storm of Death, and was one of the most strictly regulated weapons in the federation.


    After the Tang Sect''s modifications, one could almost argue that Metallic Storm was a 10th-grade soul missile. Soul missiles of each successive grade were generally around twice as powerful as soul missiles of the previous grade.


    Around the epicenter of the explosion, countless demonic creatures were felled like crops in a harvest as they were devoured by the terrifying metallic storm. Energy of all elements were rendered completely pointless in the face of the lethal storm, and all of the demonic creatures caught within the storm were made to look as fragile as rag dolls.


    No body remained intact within the metallic storm, and all of the demonic creatures that fell to it were instantly sliced into countless pieces before being completely vaporized.

 Chapter 1577: Slaughter

    This was a complete and utter slaughter. Even the great demons and Arba were forced to defend with all their might and fly back frantically in retreat in the face of the metallic storm.


    At a time like this, they were far too busy protecting themselves than to worry about their brethren.


    The demonic army had only just descended upon this world, and they had already been given a taste of the horrors of human soul technology in the form of the seven Holy Radiance missiles and one Metallic Storm.


    This human technology was the very same thing that had driven the once-mighty soul beasts to near-extinction.


    10,000 years ago, the soul beasts of the Great Star Dou Forest could still threaten Shrek City with beast tides of millions of soul beasts, but now, they barely even existed in this world, and that was sufficient testament to just how fearsome human technology was.


    In the tightly-packed formation of the demonic army, the Metallic Storm worked to outstanding effect, devouring over 70% of the entire army. Even among the demons that survived, very few of them were unscathed.


    All of a sudden, a figure encased in a suit of translucent golden armor appeared high up in the air. His face was concealed behind a mask, revealing only a pair of shimmering golden eyes.


    A sleek long spear was held in his right hand, and all of the light around him was warping violently. A dazzling spear projection was suddenly unleashed, and it shot forth directly toward the ground down below.


    In the instant that the spear projection came into contact with the ground, it suddenly brightened significantly, and all of the residual life energy from the demonic creatures that had just been torn apart by the Metallic Storm converged toward the golden light in a frenzy.


    Behind the golden figure, the Golden Blood Dragon domain took shape, and at the same time, a massive purple flower bloomed beside him while his greenish-golden soul ring lit up.


    The armored figure hovering up above was naturally none other than Tang Wulin, and at this moment, he was seated in mid-air with his legs crossed.


    Scintillating light erupted from the Golden Blood Dragon domain, and extremely rich life energy flowed into his body through the Golden Dragon Spear.


    This was life energy from tens of thousands of demons, and Tang Wulin''s body instantly reached full saturation. Demons possessed extremely stellar life energy and exceptional regenerative abilities. Even though they couldn''t be reborn like abyssal creatures, their combat prowess and life force were far superior to those of normal abyssal creatures.


    As such, life energy from tens of thousands of demons was far more than any single person could absorb.


    The greenish-golden soul ring flashed as a beam of light suddenly erupted into the heavens from the tip of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear. The beam of light was filled with life energy, and as it rose up into the air, there was finally an avenue for the life energy surging into Tang Wulin''s body to escape.


    At this moment, he was like a filter that was allowing the life energy surging forth from down below to pass through his body before erupting into the heavens.


    A vast expanse of rainbow light gradually appeared around him, and initially, the light was still very faint, but it quickly became brighter and more substantial as it made sure to lap up every single trace of life energy revolving around him.


    Even though the planar ruler of the Douluo Continent had no substantial form, it was able to understand that Tang Wulin was doing this for the benefit of the plane, and it was giving him its blessings.


    Following that terrifying storm of death and destruction, the demonic army was currently in shambles.


    Arba and the nine great demons had all been wounded, and the most severely wounded one had even had half its body torn away by the metallic storm. Even so, all of them remained alive, and their broken bodies were rapidly regenerating, further highlighting their immense life force.


    "What the hell was that?" Arba roared with fury and horror in his voice.


    The human world was truly a terrifying place! Even now, he still didn''t understand how his subordinates had all been torn to shreds; what kind of power could''ve laid waste to his mighty army in the blink of an eye?


    He looked up into the sky and caught sight of Tang Wulin. It was clear that everything that had just happened had something to do with him, and on top of that, what was he doing now? He was devouring the life force of the fallen demons! All of the lives of those demons belonged to their monarch, the great Arba!


    Arba was driven to the brink of insanity by his fury, and he flapped his fiery wings violently as he flew up directly toward Tang Wulin.


    However, right at this moment, a musclebound figure suddenly tore through space and appeared before Arba without any warning.


    "Your opponent is me!" the burly figure roared as he threw an almighty punch to clash with Arba''s fiery claymore.


    "Boom!" A rumbling boom akin to an explosive thunderclap rang out, and Arba was forced back down onto the ground again. His opponent was also repelled upward, and the two of them were completely comparable in size.


    This massive black figure that was giving off a mountainous aura was none other than Titan Giant Ape Er Ming!


    A series of figures also began to appear in the surrounding area, and as soon as they emerged, they immediately began to slaughter the remaining demons.


    There were over 100 powerful beings from the Yuanen Family among their ranks, and they had been waiting for a very long time. The previous opening of the demonic passageway had led to the passing of so many of their loved ones, so all of them were filled with vengeful fury at the sight of these demons and were tearing through them like enraged lions through a pack of sheep.


    Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang silently appeared behind the great demons, and the former wore a cold expression, while the latter''s eyes were burning with fury. In addition to Er Ming, the three Limit Douluo level auras had completely locked onto Arba and the nine great demons.


    Just as Er Ming had said, the demonic plane wasn''t as powerful as the Douluo Continent plane, and as such, the powers of demons were even further restricted.


    Arba was already the most powerful being in the demonic plane, but he was only at the Limit Douluo level and was slightly inferior in power to even Er Ming.


    With Er Ming''s extensive knowledge of the demonic plane, he knew that a passageway connecting the two planes would definitely be rejected by the Douluo Continent plane as there was no way that the Douluo Continent would be suppressed by a plane of a lower level.


    This meant that the demonic plane wouldn''t be able to send too many powerful beings through the passageway, and it was already a monumental effort that they were able to send Arba through the passageway.


    The demonic plane didn''t have the resurrection ability of the abyssal plane, and that made them the ideal targets.


    Tang Wulin''s role didn''t lie in battle. Instead, he was here solely to draw upon the life energy of these demonic creatures.


    Even the most ordinary hellhounds possessed combat prowess equivalent to human Soul Elders, and this massive demonic army would undoubtedly provide a massive source of life energy for the ailing Douluo Continent, thereby presenting an unmissable opportunity.

 Chapter 1578: Injection of Life Energy

    Arba''s eyes were filled with fury, and he could already sense that he was in trouble. Never did he think that he would encounter such powerful humans as soon as he arrived in this world.


    Furthermore, the main issue that he had to face was that he was currently unable to even return to the demonic plane.


    Too much of the demonic plane''s energy had been expended to send him into this plane; if he wanted to reopen the planar passageway, he and his subordinates would have to devour a massive amount of energy from this world.


    He had thought that this wouldn''t be much of an issue at all, but his plan had been completely flung off the rails before he even had a chance to implement it. And now, he was faced with so many powerful human beings. He had to escape; only then would he have an opportunity to devour more life energy to replenish himself and reopen the planar passageway.


    This world was truly terrifying.


    At this point in time, Arba only had one thought in his mind: "I want to go home..."


    ......


    At the Sea God''s Lake.


    The area surrounding the Sea God''s Lake had become a massive construction site, and it was now a very lively and bustling area under the concealment of the anti-surveillance soul devices.


    The first three main school buildings had already been constructed, and the speed at which construction had been completed definitely set a record on the Douluo Continent for projects of this scale.


    From here onward, the construction would expand in a ring shape around the Sea God''s Lake, and this was a massive project that would undoubtedly take a very long time to complete.


    Following Shrek Academy''s stunning display at the joust for a spouse event, more and more resources were pouring in from all sides. The four Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had instilled bystanders with a lot of confidence.


    In reality, the existence of the neutral Shrek Academy had been a good thing for many people. At the very least, the academy was a safe haven that was devoid of conflict.


    As such, both the Dove Faction and neutral faction were very supportive of the Shrek Academy rebuild, and unless the Spirit Pagoda could get their hands on more 12th-grade soul missiles, there was nothing they could do to prevent this rebuild.


    Having already completed construction on the basic learning facilities, the new Shrek Academy was going to commence its first enrolment in three months. All of the preparatory work was progressing quickly, but there were still some problems plaguing the academy''s rebuild, the most troubling of which was the radiation in the Sea God''s Lake.


    Due to the radiation, there was no life in the Sea God''s Lake, and the clear lake water was completely barren and desolate; this was not the Sea God''s Lake that people wanted to see!


    At the same time, protective formations had been activated at all times to prevent the buildings and people around the lake from being affected by the radiation, but this required an enormous expenditure of energy over time.


    The new Shrek Academy was receiving support from all sides, particularly from the Tang Sect, but the energy required to maintain the protective formations were simply far too massive, and the Tang Sect was technically still a treasonous organization, so its resources would eventually run out.


    The other major issue was the lack of teachers. All of the inner court disciples had been automatically promoted to become teachers, but that still wasn''t enough. Without a sufficient supply of good teachers, how could Shrek Academy reclaim its title as the number one academy on the continent?


    Even though Shrek Academy still held a very lofty status, there were many things that it was missing that had to be accumulated over time.


    As such, even though the Spirit Pagoda really wanted to wipe the academy out of existence, it wasn''t in any hurry as it was certainly not an easy task for Shrek Academy to return to its former glory.


    At this moment, there was a group of people gathered around the lake, all of whom were looking in the same direction.


    At the forefront of the group were the Vice-Sea God''s Pavilion Masters, Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    Behind them stood Ye Xinglan, Xu Lizhi, Xu Xiaoyan, Yue Zhengyu, and all of the disciples of the inner court, including Lan Muzi, who was already a member of the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    All of them were appraising the surface of the lake and waiting in silence.


    "Elder Long, is this really going to work?" Yali asked in a quiet voice.


    Long Yeyue smiled, and replied, "Place your trust in him. I''m sure he wouldn''t make us an empty promise, and he''s the one that''s been chosen by the plane, so he''s more capable than anyone of creating miracles."


    Yali nodded in response. "I should''ve gone with him; I can''t help but worry about him."


    Elder Long chuckled, "What''s there to be worried about? Didn''t you say that there are three Limit Douluos with him right now?"


    "It''s coming!" Ye Xinglan suddenly said. Her Stargod Sword was extremely sensitive to changes in the night sky, and right as her voice trailed off, the sky was suddenly illuminated by a hint of rainbow light.


    The rainbow light was very soft to begin with, but gradually brightened and formed a cloud of rainbow light directly above the Sea God''s Lake.


    Long Yeyue immediately ordered, "Shut down all of the soul tools aside from the ones being used for anti-surveillance, and instruct all workers to stay in their rooms."


    "Yes, Elder Long!"


    All of the buildings had their own protective barriers, so the soul tools being shut down now were the ones that the defensive system around the Sea God''s Lake was comprised of.


    The rainbow light grew brighter and brighter, and all of a sudden, a pillar of light plunged down from the heavens and fell directly into the Sea God''s Lake.


    Everyone''s hearts jolted upon seeing this, and even Elder Long''s hands had unconsciously balled up into tight fists.


    The center of the pillar of light was a streak of dazzling golden light that was filled with life energy, and there was rainbow light revolving around it.


    The pillar of light descended into the lake without stirring up any ripples, but the entire Sea God''s Lake was illuminated into a golden color that was extremely spectacular to behold.


    All of the onlookers from Shrek Academy were entranced by this glorious sight, and their hearts were shuddering in anticipation.


    The pillar of light descended straight to the deepest part of the Sea God''s Lake, where it enveloped a small green plant on the lakebed.


    The plant had seven small leaves, and as soon as the pillar of light shone down upon it, it immediately shuddered while releasing a green light barrier with a diameter of around a meter. It then began to absorb the life energy descending upon it in a frenzy, and all of a sudden, the lifeless lakebed was filled with life energy alongside a burst of faint green light that was beginning to proliferate in all directions.


    The seed of life shuddered gently, and if anyone were to approach it right now, they would immediately be able to sense its extreme excitement.


    Pure life energy was what it lacked the most and also what it yearns for the most.


    Once the entire lakebed had been encompassed under a blanket of green light, the seed of life finally sprang into action. Its small branches began to elongate and thicken, while new leaves emerged to herald its growth.


    Layers of light radiated outward, and rich life energy was rapidly being absorbed and digested.

 Chapter 1579: Revival of the Ancient Tree of Life!

    As more and more life energy was injected into the seed of life, its rate of growth began to accelerate.


    Leaves and branches grew in a frenzy, and the intense aura of life energy struck one with an indescribable sensation.


    From the shore, one could see that a ball of green light had appeared within the water of the Sea God''s Lake. With the influx of golden light, the ball of green light gradually grew brighter and brighter, and life energy proliferated in all directions, while the radiation in the Sea God''s Lake was slowly dissipating in its wake.


    "He succeeded!" Long Yeyue said in an excited voice.


    There were already tears of excitement flowing down Yali''s face.


    As long-standing members of the Sea God''s Island, they were well aware of what the ancient Golden Tree entailed for Shrek Academy.


    As the Great Star Dou Forest gradually disappeared, the Golden Tree was significantly weakened, and this was one of the reasons why Shrek Academy had been unable to survive that bombing.


    The revitalized seed of life was the true core of Shrek Academy, and Long Yeyue closed her eyes and used her spiritual power to experience its growth.


    In doing so, she could clearly sense that the seed of life had grown to two meters tall in a short time, and its life force was being enhanced exponentially as it sprouted countless branches and leaves.


    At its deepest point, the Sea God''s Lake was around 100 meters deep, so a two-meter-tall tree of life wasn''t very noteworthy in comparison, but it was far better than the tiny seedling it had been before. At the very least, this entailed that the tree of life had truly been revived and was no longer in its original state, where it was constantly in danger of withering away.


    ......


    "Boom!"


    Er Ming''s attacks epitomized the concept of violence, and he was attacking Arba with reckless abandon.


    Even though he hadn''t experienced the tragedy of the Yuanen Family, those were all his descendants, and his thirst for vengeance was further fueling his attacks.


    Arba was one of the most powerful beings of the demonic plane, but he was being completely dominated by Er Ming.


    Every single one of Er Ming''s punches was as heavy as a mountain, and he could only just barely hold his own as he defended himself with his dark demonic sword.


    Meanwhile, Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang were battling the nine great demons.


    Each of the great demons was equivalent in power to a human Hyper Douluo, and they had a special type of combination ability that enhanced their powers; that was the only thing that allowed them to keep the two furious Limit Douluos at bay. Thus, an impasse ensued, but don''t forget that this was the Douluo Continent.


    Here in this plane, both Arba and his subordinates were being rejected, which resulted in greater energy expenditure. If things were to continue like this, then defeat and death would be their only possible fate.


    Tang Wulin was still hovering in the air overhead. The life energy from the deceased demonic army was simply far too massive; even though he was only acting as a filter, the process was still heavily taxing his body. If it weren''t for the fact that his body was powerful enough to rival that of a Limit Douluo, there was no way that he would dare to attempt something like this.


    The Golden Dragon Spear''s ability to devour energy was on full display, and his body was constantly in a state of full saturation. Even though all of the life energy had been transferred away, some of it was still being absorbed and strengthening his body in subtle ways. However, this also raised a major issue, which was that his Golden Dragon King seal was beginning to loosen.


    Back when he had become a Titled Douluo, his 13th Golden Dragon King seal had broken, and ever since then, he had been very careful in his cultivation, making sure not to impact the Golden Dragon King seals through his accumulation of power.


    However, the influx of life energy on this occasion was simply far too massive, to the extent that he was unable to control it and divert it entirely away from his Golden Dragon King seals.


    The seals were constantly thirsting for energy in order to awaken more of the power of the Golden Dragon King, and under normal circumstances, Tang Wulin would actively isolate them. Even though this didn''t allow him to completely limit the seals, it would significantly delay their opening.


    However, he had no spare capacity to focus on that under these circumstances, and he hadn''t foreseen that this would become an issue.


    Each successive seal past the 10th Golden Dragon King seal contained extremely violent power that would enhance Tang Wulin significantly, but on the flip side, even if the slightest thing were to go wrong, he would be killed.


    Unfortunately, his hands were currently completely tied. Was he supposed to cut off this flow of life energy? But who knew when such a brilliant opportunity would arise again?


    He could clearly sense just how much the seed of life yearned for this rich life energy.


    This life energy didn''t belong to the Douluo Continent, and it was exactly because of this that the seed of life would be greatly replenished if it could absorb all of this life energy.


    Just like how the abyssal plane and demonic plane were constantly attempting to devour life energy from the Douluo Continent, the Douluo Continent could also devour their life energy to strengthen itself.


    As such, even though Tang Wulin was aware that his 14th seal was very likely to shatter if things were to continue like this, he still gritted his teeth and hoped for the best.


    This life energy was too important for the seed of life; everything else would simply have to take a backseat.


    "Boom!"


    Er Ming''s fist clashed with Arba''s sword once again, and fierce demonic flames erupted in all directions, causing the surrounding space to warp violently. Arba''s massive body shuddered in the face of the power of the Divine Titan Fists, but Er Ming wasn''t exactly enjoying himself, either.


    The dark demonic sword was imbued with extremely powerful darkness energy that was filled with corrosive and penetrative properties, setting off a series of darkness explosions within his body.


    The two temporarily separated, and Arba abruptly spread his wings, manifesting a flaming gate behind himself, which he quickly sped toward.


    The rejection from this plane was already beginning to affect him, and its effects would only worsen from here, so he knew that he had to leave as quickly as possible.


    What truly struck fear into his heart wasn''t Er Ming. Er Ming was very powerful, but he could contend with Er Ming for quite some time. Instead, it was Tang Wulin and his Golden Dragon Spear that truly terrified Arba.


    As a demonic monarch, he could clearly sense the life energy of the fallen members of his demonic army being rapidly devoured.


    Tang Wulin was able to devour such an enormous quantity of life energy without imploding, and he shared a special type of bond with this entire world; it was clear that he was blessed by the plane or an existence similar to a planar envoy. Once the entire demonic army was wiped out, who knew if Tang Wulin would target Arba next?

 Chapter 1580: Youre Not Getting Away!

    As such, Arba chose to flee without any hesitation as he was afraid that it would be too late otherwise.


    "You''re not getting away!" Er Ming bellowed as a massive projection instantly appeared behind him.


    The projection depicted a lush forest that was filled with abundant life energy, and his roar seemed to have awakened the entire forest as countless deafening roars rang out to resonate with him.


    Terrifying pressure converged toward Arba from all directions, and he was forced out of the spatial gate he had just created for himself.


    This was Er Ming''s Myriad Beast spiritual domain!


    Er Ming had kept a close eye on Arba this entire time, so he certainly wasn''t going to allow Arba to get away. If a Limit Douluo level demonic monarch were to successfully flee from this battle, who knew how much death and destruction he would bring about?


    All of this had already been planned back in Bright City, and the soul missiles had been supplied by the Tang Sect. The plan was seamless, and they weren''t going to let even a single demon escape.


    Having had his attempt to escape foiled, Arba was completely enraged. Countless streaks of flames erupted out of his wings, all of which hurtled directly toward Er Ming like a series of purplish-black shooting stars.


    Er Ming sprang up into the air, and the streaks of flames immediately followed him, only for him to instantly crash back down onto the ground. The gravity in the area had been significantly altered, and enormous suction force erupted from the earth, forcing all of the shooting stars to strike the ground amid a string of massive explosions.


    Thus, Er Ming and Arba clashed once again, and at this point, the battle between the nine great demons and Yuanen Zhentian''s duo had also reached a climax.


    Yuanen Zhentian was also a quasigod now, and he was able to draw upon enormous power of planar laws. Each punch that he unleashed created a mountainous projection that descended from above and increased gravitational pull by at least tenfold compared to normal. As such, the great demons were unable to get away.


    This was Yuanen Zhentian''s first battle after becoming a quasigod, and his formidable powers and extensive battle experience were both on full display. His movements didn''t appear to be very fast, but they were filled with power, and he was virtually preventing the nine great demons from escaping all by himself.


    Yuanen Tiandang was also unleashing his Divine Titan Fists beside his father, but his attacks bore a sense of deranged fury.


    He truly detested these demons for ruining his happy and harmonious family. For over a decade, he had constantly been wallowing in pain, sorrow, and the memories of his late wife.


    All of those emotions combined with his thirst for vengeance, and even though he had only just become a Limit Douluo, he was attacking with all his power, thereby elevating him to close to the demigod level.


    He was like an almighty ferocious beast that was sweeping through the battlefield like a massive hammer, while Yuanen Zhentian restricted the great demons from above.


    The nine great demons were arranged in a straight line. Each of them had a long tail that was wound around the waist of another great demon, forging a connection between them. These tails seemed to have very special properties, and whichever great demon was attacked by Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang, that great demon would be able to draw upon the power of the other great demons to defend itself.


    As such, the nine great demons were like a single entity, and that was how they had managed to just barely withstand the ferocious attacks from Yuanen Zhentian''s duo.


    A vast expanse of purplish-black patterns had appeared on the ground beneath their feet, depicting what appeared to be a series of giant dragons. However, in contrast with the dragons of the Douluo Continent, these dragons bore a closer resemblance to snakes, and the nine great demons were like the heads of the nine snakes. The formation they were in was very peculiar, and it allowed them to advance or retreat as one.


    Yuanen Tiandang let loose a roar of fury as he crashed down toward the center of the nine great demons like a scintillating yellow shooting star.


    The nine great demons quickly retreated, and even though they were slowed down by the increased gravitational force, they were very well-coordinated.


    As they retreated, the nine great demons let loose a sharp cry in unison, and they slashed their dark demonic swords through the air, unleashing streaks of purplish-black light that intertwined to form a sinister snake''s head that swept toward Yuanen Tiandang.


    "Boom!" The nine great demons shuddered in unison, and purplish-black light surged out of their bodies.


    The surrounding space instantly became more viscous, and they turned to face Yuanen Zhentian''s attack, which was hurtling toward them from the side.


    Yuanen Tiandang smashed a giant crater into the ground, and his breathing was rather short and shallow as his soul core compressed to absorb more natural energies.


    Right at this moment, a sense of feebleness spread through his mind, indicating that he had overexerted his spiritual power.


    Yuanen Tiandang faltered slightly upon sensing this, and he immediately realized that he had been attacking far too recklessly, thereby excessively taxing his own spiritual power without even realizing it.


    He had only just reached the Limit Douluo level and hadn''t completely consolidated his powers yet, and his mental state had been affected as he had failed to kill even a single great demon despite his all-out barrage of attacks.


    He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and just as he was about to spring into action again, his eyes suddenly lit up.


    Yuanen Zhentian raised his hands up into the air, and countless giant yellow shooting star projections appeared up above. This was his eighth soul skill, Giant Titan Meteorite Shower!


    When unleashed by a quasigod like him, this attack was definitely no less powerful than a ninth-grade soul missile.


    The nine great demons quickly gathered together like nine giant snakes.


    This wasn''t the first time that this Giant Titan Meteorite Shower had been unleashed, and it had previously caused them massive problems.


    On this occasion, the nine great demons were defending with all their might, and their formation became even tighter as they formed a ring with their tails interconnected between them. They then pointed their dark demonic swords into the air, and the nine giant snake patterns on the ground were projected into nine massive snakes in mid-air. All of the snakes were giving off extremely powerful auras, and they were releasing darkness energy out of their mouths to resist Yuanen Zhentian''s attack.


    In the face of this Giant Titan Meteorite Shower, even Yuanen Tiandang didn''t dare to get too close. This was a quasigod level attack, and on the previous occasions it had been unleashed during this battle, it had already razed several surrounding mountains to the ground.


    An earth-shattering explosion erupted as purplish-black and yellow light intertwined, and the entire area was suddenly filled with a terrifying elemental storm.


    Yuanen Zhentian stood still on the spot as he absorbed the natural energies in the air with all his might. Meanwhile, the legs of the nine great demons had all sunk into the ground, and their scales had dimmed significantly.


    A clash of this caliber was extremely taxing to both sides.


    Right at this moment, a figure silently appeared beneath the nine great devils.


    In their current forms, all of the great devils were over 15 meters tall, so this figure, which was less than two meters tall, was far too insignificant.


    At this moment, the great demons had their attention focused entirely on the Giant Titan Meteorite Shower and Yuanen Tiandang, who was waiting for an opportunity to strike, and as a result, they failed to notice the figure that had appeared at their feet.

 Chapter 1581: Destructive Storm

    The figure flashed through the air like lightning, and a golden and silver streak of light suddenly appeared.


    It emerged right at the center of the ring-shaped formation formed by the nine great demons, and it sliced right through two of their tails.


    The darkness energy being transmitted through the bodies of the nine great demons was abruptly cut off, and right at this moment, Yuanen Tiandang arrived.


    His ninth soul ring lit up, and he thrust both fists forward to unleash his Heaven-shattering Titan Strike!


    The dense yellow light around him suddenly turned transparent, and two angular bodies of light crashed toward the great demons with ultimate power.


    In the face of such a fearsome attack from a Limit Douluo, the great demons didn''t even have a chance to inspect what had happened to their tails; all they could do was defend with all their might.


    However, the severed connection couldn''t be reconnected again in a short time, and as soon as they came into contact with those two formidable bodies of light, the great demons realized that they wouldn''t be able to withstand the attack.


    They immediately split up into two groups of four and five, then dove off to the side in unison.


    After unleashing that all-out attack, Yuanen Tiandang''s face had also turned very pale, and his legs gave out from under him as he sat onto the ground.


    The great demons had exceptional resistance, so this attack wasn''t enough to kill them, and it seemed as if not much had been achieved, but in reality, the formation that the great demons had always relied upon had been broken!


    A pair of massive hands, each of which was over 100 meters in diameter, descended from above, swatting the two groups of great demons even further away from one another. Yuanen Zhentian then stomped his right foot onto the ground, instantly increasing gravity by a hundredfold, stripping the great demons of the opportunity to connect together again.


    Titan Grip!


    A massive transparent hammer suddenly appeared in the two giant hands, and this was still the Heaven-shattering Titan Strike, but Yuanen Zhentian''s version was far more powerful than the one that Yuanen Tiandang had unleashed.


    Arba was constantly keeping an eye on the entire battlefield, and he was struck by a sense of great urgency upon seeing this.


    The destruction of his demonic army was very unfortunate, but he could always recruit more subordinates once he returned to the demonic plane. However, these nine great demons weren''t expendable. In a sense, they were a part of him.


    There was no concept of reproduction on the demonic plane; fission was the only way to pass down one''s lineage. During this process, a demonic being would split up into two separate entities that were weaker than the original one, then cultivate to become more powerful before undergoing fission again.


    Of course, there were many restrictions to this type of fission, but it was the way through which powerful beings of the demonic plane passed down their heritage.


    All nine of these great demons had been split from Arba''s body.


    At his level, Arba was already standing at the very pinnacle of the demonic plane, so his method of fission was obviously different from that of normal demons; only after he cultivated to the pinnacle of the demonic plane would he choose to undergo fission, temporarily sacrificing a small amount of his own power to create the most loyal great demon. He only chose to do this as there was no way to continue progressing after reaching the pinnacle of the plane, and it would take him a long time to reach that level again.


    The energy in the demonic plane was limited, and it was far inferior to the Douluo Continent. As such, it would take Arba several centuries to produce a single one of these great demons. It could be said that these nine great demons formed the basis of his power. When he aged to a certain extent and fission was no longer an option, he could even pass down his power to one of the great demons and resurrect himself through those great demons.


    Thus, these great demons were essentially nine extra lives for him!


    All of the other demons could be replaced, but the death of each great demon equated to the death of one of his lives!


    Arba let loose a thunderous roar as a series of light patterns surfaced beneath his feet. All of a sudden, a terrifying storm of darkness erupted within a diameter of 10,000 meters, causing the entire space to warp violently.


    "Look out, everyone! He''s been backed into a corner!" Er Ming yelled as a serious look appeared on his face. The desperate last-ditch retaliation from a quasigod was definitely a very fearsome thing.


    The storm of darkness naturally enveloped the nine great demons as well, and a series of black chains instantly connected them as Arba attempted to drag them back toward him.


    Yuanen Zhentian''s Heaven-shattering Titan Strike had already arrived, and despite the resistance from the storm of darkness and the fact that Arba was injecting his own energy into the nine great demons through the black chains, the great demons were still struggling to withstand the terrifying attack.


    Six of the great demons had been slammed heavily into the ground and severely injured, while three of the great demons had already had their horns snapped.


    For great demons, their horns were the source of their powers, so having their horns snapped essentially meant that they were half-dead.


    However, Arba still managed to forcibly drag the nine great demons back to himself in the end. Under the cover of his storm of darkness, all of the great demons remained alive, although all of them had suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity.


    "Rise up, Storm of Destruction!"


    All of a sudden, nine massive tornados emerged within the storm of darkness, and Arba suddenly expelled a mouthful of purple blood that vanished into the storm as a plume of blood mist.


    Right at this moment, a purplish-golden speck of light appeared silently within the Storm of Destruction.


    The purplish-golden figure was none other than Yuanen Yehui, and she was currently also in the form of a great demon. As such, the Storm of Destruction posed no threat to her as it wouldn''t harm a demonic being.


    Her eyes were currently filled with cold bloodlust, and bright purplish-golden light radiated from her body as she pointed toward a certain direction.


    In reality, she had never been controlled by her own demonic bloodline.


    As soon as she became a Titled Douluo and awakened her demonic bloodline, the seed that Er Ming had planted in her body had also awakened.


    This was Er Ming''s third drop of blood essence, and it was cleverly concealed within Yuanen Yehui''s mind, allowing her to retain her sanity at the critical moment.


    However, in order to lure the demonic plane into a false sense of security, Yuanen Yehui had allowed her actions to be controlled by them from afar.


    After that, she arrived in this barren place to open up the demonic passageway, and she had even been rewarded with the purest of royal demonic bloodlines.


    In reality, the powers of her and her mother originally stemmed from Arba. Through fission, he had created a seed that had been planted on the Douluo Continent.


    Arba was hoping for this seed to grow and flourish on the Douluo Continent as he knew that there was no longer any point in remaining in the demonic plane. In order to attain godhood, he had to find an alternative path, just as all of the Limit Douluos on the Douluo Continent were trying to do.


    As such, in her Fallen Angel form, Yuanen Yehui was like a part of Arba, so she wouldn''t be rejected by his attacks, thereby allowing her to strike at this critical juncture.


    Arba had drawn upon his own essential power to unleash this attack not just to protect the great demons, but also to escape at all costs.


    As long as he could get away, he would be able to replenish himself through devouring other living beings on the Douluo Continent, and perhaps he could even reopen a passageway to the demonic plane.


    Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the seed he had planted in this plane. At this moment, this seed was acting as a beacon, notifying Er MIng and the others of Arba''s location.


    Due to the fact that they shared the same bloodline, even Arba had completely failed to notice that there was someone nearby giving away his location.


    All of a sudden, a door of light appeared beside the purplish-golden figure without any warning, and a massive azure claw emerged before tearing viciously into the Storm of Destruction.


    Arba let loose a howl of anguish, and the entire Storm of Destruction was instantly cut off.

 Chapter 1582: Tang Wulins Crisis

    Three fearsome corkscrews of power converged from three different directions. These were the same Divine Titan Fist attack, and they had all been unleashed by Limit Douluos.


    The culminating destructive power exceeded that of even the previous Metallic Storm, and in that instant, it was as if the entire world were crumbling, and even the cities hundreds of kilometers away were trembling as if they were being struck by an earthquake.


    In the instant before the explosion erupted, the giant azure claw that had tore into the Storm of Destruction grabbed onto the purplish-golden figure that was acting as a beacon and pulled her into the door of light, where they both abruptly vanished.


    In the face of the all-out attacks from three Limit Douluos, the nine severely wounded great demons were virtually instantly blown into smithereens by the terrifying explosion.


    Arba was barely able to defend himself, let alone worry about the nine great demons.


    Never did he think that there would be a fourth Limit Douluo level powerful being lurking in the shadows, and this one was very likely to be even more powerful than he was.


    It could be said that that claw strike was the final nail in the coffin that had snuffed out all of his hope.


    A massive crater that was several hundred meters deep and over 500 meters in diameter appeared on the ground.


    The surrounding energy storm tore through the entire space, and massive spatial rifts had appeared around the crater. The members of the Yuanen Family had already retreated into the distance prior to this final eruption, and what little remained of the devilish army thought that they were finally getting some respite, but in the next instant, they had already been completely torn into shreds.


    At the center of the massive crater was Arba, who was barely able to remain on his feet. His right arm and dark demonic sword had completely disappeared, as had his dazzling fiery wings. Over 60% of all of his scales had been shattered, and purplish-golden liquid was flowing out of his entire body, while his aura had become feeble to the extreme.


    The nine great demons had been wiped out of existence, and their immense life energy was currently converging toward Tang Wulin in the air above.


    "I, impossible! I''m the almighty Arba; how could I possibly die here! It''s all because of your dirty tricks! All of you deserve to die!"


    A cold light flashed within Yuanen Zhentian''s eyes as he said, "Arba, have you forgotten how you opened the planar passageway over 10 years ago and killed over 30 members of our family? You demons have taken away many of my loved ones; it''s time that you paid the price."


    Surrounded by three Limit Douluos and debilitated by the Douluo Continent''s planar laws, there was no longer any chance for Arba to escape.


    "What? I''ve never come to the human world before this! Wu Jie gave this opportunity to me. He said that he had once visited the human world, but the humans were more powerful than he imagined, and he said that only the mighty Arba could conquer this world! That bastard, he must''ve attained the ability of clairvoyance and foresaw all of this! It wasn''t me; I wasn''t the one who attacked your family!"


    Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang both faltered slightly at the sight of Arba''s vehement display.


    Thinking back, he did seem to be different from the leader of the demonic creatures that had last descended upon the Douluo Continent. Back then, the leader''s most powerful minions were cerberuses, whereas it was great demons instead on this occasion.


    Arba''s eyes were filled with rage and indignation. What the hell was this situation? He had come here to devour life energy, yet he had become a scapegoat for Wu Jie instead!


    Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang exchanged a glance, yet just as the former was about to say something, Er Ming''s cold voice suddenly rang out. "Regardless of who you are, you came to the Douluo Continent with the objective of bringing death and slaughter. You can curse Wu Jie for deceiving you after you die."


    Er Ming crashed down from the heavens as a giant yellow shooting star as he spoke, crashing into the center of the massive crater with an earth-shattering boom.


    Thus, Arba perished amid a howl of pain and indignation.


    Streaks of purplish-black spread through the air in all directions, seemingly trying to get away, but right at this moment, a burst of enormous suction force erupted from up above alongside an authoritative dragon''s roar.


    High up in the sky, Tang Wulin had already transformed into a massive golden dragon that was over 100 meters in length with the Golden Dragon Spear hovering right in front of him.


    The energy of Arba and the nine great demons were instantly drawn into his Golden Dragon Spear, and scintillating golden light began to radiate from the giant golden dragon''s body.


    All of a sudden, the massive golden dragon threw its head back and let loose an agonized roar as a cloud of reddish-golden light enveloped its entire body.


    Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang both looked upward with perplexed expressions. They had no idea how Tang Wulin was able to absorb the life energy of the demonic army in the first place, and this situation was far beyond their realm of understanding.


    Er Ming also looked up into the sky with a grim expression.


    He didn''t know what had happened, either, but Tang Wulin''s spiritual fluctuations were far too violent, and this definitely wasn''t a good thing.


    However, Tang Wulin''s aura was currently filled with insanity, and he couldn''t intervene; Tang Wulin would have to weather this storm on his own.


    In reality, Tang Wulin really was struggling to hold on. Too much life energy had flowed into his body, and he had to focus most of his attention on converting this energy, so he couldn''t prevent the loosening of his Golden Dragon King seals.


    As such, in this critical juncture, he had adopted his martial soul true body form, trying to withstand the enormous influx of life energy through this form''s superior physical resistance.


    However, his 14th Golden Dragon King seal had instantly shattered with the influx of life energy from the nine great demons, and in that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if he had been transported into a cold and completely silent world.


    An indescribable sense of insanity and unyielding will surged into his mind, striking him with the uncontrollable urge to destroy everything.


    The terrifying power instantly filled every single corner of his body, forcing him to absorb it.


    Right at this moment, Arba was slain by Er Ming, and his life energy was also drawn into Tang Wulin''s body through the Golden Dragon Spear.

 Chapter 1583: Tang Wulins Savior

    The life energy of a quasigod level demon monarch was simply far too massive. In particular, having lived for so long, Arba possessed far more life energy than a human quasigod.


    The enormous influx of life energy instantly fused as one with the power from the 14th Golden Dragon King seal, flooding into every single corner of Tang Wulin''s body and also surging toward the 15th seal.


    This was the biggest area of concern for Tang Wulin.


    All of the Golden Dragon King seals after the 10th one contained the will of the Golden Dragon King, and it was constantly waiting for an opportunity to take over control of Tang Wulin''s body.


    Tang Wulin had faced this situation once before when he had saved his foster parents, and if Gu Yuena hadn''t appeared to save him, he would''ve most likely been possessed by the Golden Dragon King.


    Under these current circumstances, the issue was even more severe as the will of the Golden Dragon King was able to draw upon the life energy flowing into Tang Wulin''s body to further strengthen itself.


    The Golden Dragon King''s purest godly power had been restricted by Tang San and transformed into 18 seals, and each successive seal contained more power than the previous one.


    The power imbued within the 14th seal was already extremely formidable, and it was extremely difficult for Tang Wulin to contend with it.


    For the essence of the Golden Dragon King, the influx of Arba''s life energy couldn''t have come in a more timely fashion. By drawing up this life energy, it was instantly filled with boundless vitality, and it quickly began to conquer every single inch of Tang Wulin''s body and mind.


    The Ice God''s Bead hanging in front of Tang Wulin''s chest was releasing a cold aura to try and assuage his emotional fluctuations, but it was all to no avail.


    The 15th Golden Dragon King seal was on the brink of being shattered, and if it were broken, Tang Wulin would have no chance to regain control over his own body.


    The Golden Dragon King would completely awaken with his body as its vessel, and the remaining seals would all be broken at once, bringing disaster upon the entire Douluo Continent.


    Er Ming''s expression became grimmer and grimmer as he sensed Tang Wulin''s worsening condition, but he didn''t know how to help him. The insane will threatening to erupt out of Tang Wulin''s body struck even Er Ming with a sense of fear.


    Right at this moment, a burst of silver light appeared above Tang Wulin, and it immediately transformed into a massive silver dragon.


    The dragon''s entire body was covered in oval scales, and it was slightly smaller than the golden dragon. It dove headfirst into the reddish-golden light, then grabbed onto the golden dragon with its front claws before winding its own body tightly around the golden dragon''s body.


    Bright silver light surged forth alongside rainbow light, forming a series of shackles that locked around the golden dragon''s massive body, preventing the reddish-golden light from spreading any further.


    The two giant dragons intertwined in mid-air, and the light glowing from the silver dragon became brighter and brighter as it gradually restricted the reddish-golden light.


    However, right at this moment, the golden dragon let loose a thunderous roar, and all of its scales stood up on end as a burst of enormous power erupted out of its body, sending the silver dragon flying.


    At this point, Tang Wulin was completely unable to control his own body, and he could only look on in horror as all of his energy surged toward the 15th seal.


    On the previous occasion, Gu Yuena had managed to calm him down in time, but this time, the will of the Golden Dragon King was clearly prepared. Furthermore, the life energy of Arba presented it with the perfect power source, so even Gu Yuena was unable to control it.


    It''s over!


    Such a massive flood of energy was definitely not something that the 15th Golden Dragon King seal could withstand. As soon as it was shattered, the Golden Dragon King essence within the seal would be released, and nothing would be able to stop the Golden Dragon King''s reawakening.


    In this dire situation, the Golden Dragon King''s body abruptly froze in mid-air.


    Everything seemed to have fallen still.


    This absolute stillness was brought about by the Time Reversal domain in its ultimate form, and this was clearly something that Tang Wulin was still incapable of.


    A beam of golden light surged out of the Golden Dragon King''s forehead, transforming into a tall figure with a head of long blue hair. Golden halos proliferated from the trident in his hand, and this was none other than Unpredictable Storm.


    The Unpredictable Storm locked around the Golden Dragon King''s massive body and also sealed its enormous power, temporarily paralyzing it. At the same time, the 15th seal in Tang Wulin''s body was instantly bolstered to an unprecedented extent.


    The Silver Dragon King took advantage of this opportunity to wrap itself around the Golden Dragon King''s body again, and its purple eyes were filled with astonishment as it cast its gaze toward the blue-haired figure.


    The tall figure gave her a meaningful look, and Gu Yuena was struck by a burst of sharp pain in her mind as a spiritual seal was silently branded deep into her brain.


    At this moment, she was focusing all of her efforts on containing Tang Wulin''s violent aura, so she didn''t have the spare capacity to worry about what that spiritual seal was. The two giant golden dragons intertwined and tumbled through the air, then landed on the ground in the distance.


    The tall figure remained in mid-air, and he smiled as he gave Er Ming a nod of acknowledgment.


    In the next instant, his golden trident flew out of his grasp and plunged into the Golden Dragon King''s glabella.


    The Golden Dragon King instantly stiffened, and its insane will was instantly scattered by the might of the trident. The enormous life energy finally converged before being transferred into the distance by the Golden Dragon Spear.


    The blue-haired figure looked down at the Golden Dragon King on the ground below, and his eyes were filled with fatherly love and a reluctance to depart.


    In the next instant, the projection disintegrated into specks of light.


    All of this had taken place in a very short time, and Er Ming was completely rooted to the spot, while Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang had no idea what had even happened.


    All they could recall was that in the face of this blue-haired figure, both of them felt so tiny and insignificant. Both of them were already standing at the pinnacle of this world; what kind of being could possibly strike them with such an overwhelming sense of inferiority? Could it be that they had just witnessed a true god?


    As soon as this thought occurred to them, it led to the formation of an even more astonishing thought. Could it be that Tang Wulin was being protected by a god?


    Both of them were very well-versed with the history of the Douluo Continent, and thinking back to the appearance of the blue-haired figure and the golden trident that he was wielding, the same name instantly appeared in both of their minds, striking them with a sense of irrepressible excitement.


    "It''s him! It really is him! He''s still alive!" Er Ming was yelling like an excited child.


    After what he had just witnessed, he was finally able to completely confirm Tang Wulin''s identity. Only in the hands of that familiar figure was the Sea God''s Trident truly a paramount divine weapon, and only he could unleash Unpredictable Storm to such a powerful extent.


    An indescribable feeling welled up in Er Ming''s heart, and a lump suddenly appeared in his throat.


    Hurry back to this world, my brother, Tang San!


    Tang Wulin was currently in a very peculiar state. He could clearly sense and see everything taking place around him, but he was unable to do anything.


    At the same time, he could also see the changes that had taken place within his own body. His 15th seal had completely recovered, and it was even more resolute than it had been in the past. The Golden Dragon King essence within his body was slowly being absorbed, and the life energy of Arba and the nine great demons was being transferred to the seed of life along with some of the Golden Dragon King''s essence through his Golden Dragon Spear.

 Chapter 1584: Golden Dragon Patterns

    The Silver Dragon King was giving off abundant powers of laws, and her seven-elemental law was like a gentle medium that allowed Tang Wulin''s body to absorb the Golden Dragon King essence from the 14th seal in a subtle manner.


    In reality, through his constant heavenly refinement, Tang Wulin had improved his physical resistance to the point that it wouldn''t have been that difficult for him to withstand the power within the 14th seal, but it was still quite staggering to him just how much power was contained within that seal.


    Aside from the occasions where he had combined as one with Gu Yue and drawn upon Gu Yue''s power to make a huge leap in his soul power, the Golden Dragon King essence had only ever improved his physical constitution and the purity of his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    However, on this occasion, things seemed to be different. To Tang Wulin''s surprise, both his dragon core and soul core now had golden dragon patterns all over their surfaces, as did his bones, muscles, and meridians.


    This was a fundamental change, not just an enhancement in his physical constitution.


    He had just experienced how formidable Arba''s essential power had been, and now, the essential power of the Golden Dragon King appeared within his body; this was truly a stunning turn of events.


    What was even more shocking to him was that his soul power was being drastically enhanced in the purest way.


    Inside his mind, his barely distinguishable second soul core had completely taken shape with the influx of Golden Dragon King essence, and his soul power had also reached rank 95, making him a Hyper Douluo.


    This drastic improvement was completely unprecedented, almost like a Soul Master that had just attained their martial soul true body.


    After breaking the 14th Golden Dragon King seal, Tang Wulin was going to attain his seventh Golden Dragon King soul ring, and this latest soul ring would undoubtedly provide him with an ability that outstripped all of his past Golden Dragon King abilities.


    Despite this major enhancement, Tang Wulin wasn''t happy at all as he had seen his own father for the second time.


    Tang San had told him that he had planted three spiritual seals within his body that could save him on three occasions.


    The first time that Tang San had appeared to save him was during the evolution of the Infernal Lightning Vine, and this was the second time.


    Regardless of how much more powerful he had become, the irreversible reality was that there was only one more chance for him to see his father unless he could track down the Divine Realm.


    Even though he had never truly been with his father before, he was constantly experiencing his father''s love through Old Tang and Tang San''s spiritual projections.


    From his father''s expression, he could clearly see just how unwilling his father was to part with him, and he was just as reluctant to see him go.


    However, everything had happened and concluded far too quickly, and he had lost this second opportunity without even being able to talk to his own father.


    These three spiritual seals were the most precious things to Tang Wulin, not just for his father''s protection, but also for the opportunity to see his father.


    The golden and silver light gradually began to subside, and Tang Wulin''s energy was subsequently withdrawn. The massive Silver Dragon King slowly extricated itself from around his body, then tore open a spatial rift and departed after taking a glance in Er Ming''s direction.


    This had been a resounding victory for the Yuanen Family. Not a single demon had managed to escape, and Arba and the nine great demons had all been killed.


    This was also a fantastic situation for Shrek Academy as the supply of life energy had spurred on the seed of life to grow to around 50 meters tall.


    Unbeknownst to everyone, a series of patterns that resembled Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King scales had appeared on the surface of the tree of life.


    ......


    "These are the spoils of the battle," Yuanen Zhentian said as he handed a storage soul tool to Tang Wulin.


    Three days had already passed since the battle against the demonic army, and an official investigator had arrived on the scene due to the massive commotion that the battle had caused.


    Of course, their investigation yielded no results. This was a very secluded area with an extremely low population density, and by the time the investigators arrived, all of the signs of battle had been cleaned up.


    The only conclusion that the investigators could draw was that several high-grade soul missiles had exploded here, and that required further investigation, but that investigation obviously wasn''t going to extend to the Yuanen Family.


    The entire plan had been perfect. Aside from Er Ming, Yuanen Zhentian, and Yuanen Tiandang, Da Ming had also done his part from the Myriad Beast Plane.


    Da Ming was even more powerful than Er Ming, and he was the true trump card. It was planned for him to contribute to this effort as prior to coming here, even Tang Wulin and Er Ming hadn''t predicted that a new Limit Douluo in the form of Yuanen Tiandang would appear in the Yuanen Family.


    He had struck at the critical moment to erase any chance Arba had of escaping, and the combination of the four Limit Douluos and the Tang Sect''s high-grade soul missiles had simply been far too fearsome.


    Yuanen Yehui''s connection with the demonic plane was severed by Da Ming, and her Fallen Angel bloodline had undergone a second awakening due to the enhancements she had received from the purplish-golden bloodline.


    The only issue was that Tang Wulin had almost perished due to the breaking of the 14th Golden Dragon King seal. This experience served as a stern warning to him, but looking back on the situation, he really had no choice.


    The supply of life energy was simply far too important for the seed of life, and he had already been informed of its growth by Shrek Academy.


    Even though the tree of life was still underwater, the rich life energy it was now releasing was slowly improving the conditions of the Sea God''s Lake.


    During the past three days alone, over 10% of the lake''s radiation had disappeared. At this rate, it would only take around another month for the radiation problem of the Sea God''s Lake to be completely resolved, and once life returned to the Sea God''s Lake, that would undoubtedly only serve to benefit the tree of life''s growth.


    However, it was very apparent that even more life energy was required for the tree of life to grow to full maturity.


    The life energy from the entire demonic army had only allowed it to grow to 50 meters, and it would have to at least reach a height of over 100 meters just to emerge from the surface of the lake.


    The moment that the tree of life emerged from the Sea God''s Lake would be the moment that Shrek Academy was truly revived.


    Unfortunately, following this battle, the demonic plane most likely wouldn''t dare to try and invade the Douluo Continent ever again. Da Ming was able to sever Yuanen Yehui''s connection with the demonic plane very easily as the demonic plane had already cut off its connection with the Douluo Continent in fear of a counter-invasion.


    The Wu Jie that Arba had mentioned was clearly quite a wily customer. At the very least, he was more intelligent than Arba.

 Chapter 1585: The Tails of the Great Demons

    "What''s that?" Tang Wulin asked.


    There should''ve been nothing left behind in the wake of the soul missile explosions.


    Yuanen Zhentian smiled, and replied, "Remember the formation that the nine great demons adopted during the battle? Their connection relied heavily on their tails, and even after their bodies had been wiped out of existence by our attacks, their tails managed to remain intact. Senior Er Ming has already confirmed that these are special divine tools that can connect multiple living beings as one to share their energy, and that makes them perfect for your Shrek''s Seven Monsters. We''ve kept two of them, and we''re giving the remaining seven to you. You contributed many precious soul missiles during the battle, so you deserve the majority of the spoils."


    A hint of elation appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this. "These things will indeed be very useful to us. I''ll take them back to the Tang Sect and see if they can develop some replicas in the future."


    Yuanen Zhentian smiled, and said, "I was hoping you''d say that. In terms of technological research and development, no one can match the Tang Sect."


    Ever since Yuanen Zhentian had made the decision to move the family to Shrek Academy, he had become a lot closer with Tang Wulin. In particular, after witnessing that godly projection, he was even more convinced that Tang Wulin was no ordinary man.


    Not only did he possess enormous power and potential, he also seemed to harbor many astonishing secrets. After all, the ultimate goal for all Soul Masters was to attain godhood, and he had been shown a glimmer of hope by the godly projection that had appeared to save Tang Wulin.


    "We''ll need a few more days to prepare for the trip. If you''re in a hurry to go back, you can go on ahead. We''ll take a bit longer to join you, but we should definitely be able to complete the move within a month."


    "Alright," Tang Wulin replied, "Then I''ll go on ahead and organize a place for your family to stay."


    Yuanen Zhentian smiled, and said, "We''ll be in your care then, Sect Master Tang."


    After wiping out the demonic army, he had been in a very good mood, and he felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I''ll go back and make some preparations as well. Once you and your family arrive, I''ll take care of your suits of three-word battle armor first."


    The main objective for both himself and Shrek Academy was to consolidate. He had to consolidate the new powers he had just attained, while the academy had to consolidate and prepare for the enrolment that would be taking place in less than three months.


    As a Divine Blacksmith, he was definitely vital to bolstering the overall power of the academy.


    There was no lack of ninth-rank mecha makers in the Tang Sect, but every organization was always looking for more blacksmiths, and there were only two Divine Blacksmiths in this entire world.


    Due to health reasons, Zhen Hua very rarely took on heavenly refinement jobs anymore, but Tang Wulin was right in his prime and didn''t have to fear elemental tribulation.


    He was still not that confident in heavenly refinement when it came to alloys comprised of many types of metals, but his success rate was very high for singular metals or alloys comprised of two types of metals. On top of that, heavenly refinement was a very good cultivation method for him, so he was going to work hard on his forging when he got back, both to bolster Shrek Academy and the Yuanen Family, as well as to further his own cultivation.


    Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Yuanen Yehui departed first via soul train, while Er Ming stayed behind. He wanted to stay at the Yuanen Family manor for a few more days to reminisce about his past lover.


    Due to the contributions he had made to the family, Yuanen Zhentian had officially announced his identity to everyone, and he was now being referred to as patriarch as opposed to senior.


    The return of their patriarch had immediately brought the family a quasigod and a Limit Douluo, and that was more than enough to convince everyone that he was the real deal. However, Er Ming had said that he wasn''t going to return to Shrek Academy. Having already visited his descendants, he was going to return to the Myriad Beast Plane, and he would visit them at Shrek Academy in the future once he had some free time.


    What made Yuanen Zhentian very happy and Yuanen Tiandang and Yuanen Tianshang feel a little awkward about was that Er Ming had declared that the two brothers had to find wives to pass on their lineage.


    He was naturally eager to see his descendants flourish, particularly those with pure bloodlines and outstanding aptitude.


    After returning to Heaven Dou City, Tang Wulin dropped off the great demon tails at the Tang Sect''s research department, then returned to Shrek Academy with Xie Xie and Yuanen Yehui.


    At this point, the area surrounding the Sea God''s Lake was still a massive construction site, and the federation could only turn a blind eye to the academy''s rebuild.


    During the joust for a spouse event, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had displayed through their actions that they were not to be messed with, so everything had been quite calm at Shrek Academy during this recent period.


    However, the federation still hadn''t reversed its decision on declaring the Tang Sect a treasonous organization, so it was clear that the Spirit Pagoda was still being favored.


    The initial construction of the three main buildings was complete, and teaching supplies and facilities were being moved in.


    Everyone was pouring their heart and soul into the academy''s reconstruction, and there was more and more support coming from external sources. After all, Shrek Academy still had two Limit Douluos! Which other academy on the Douluo Continent could compare with this?


    Indeed, Shrek Academy had been struck by a massive disaster, but ironically, that disaster had increased everyone''s confidence in the academy.


    Two godslayer missiles had been dropped on the academy, yet all of the students had survived, and only teachers had perished; how could one not respect such an academy?


    What concerns did a parent need to have sending their child to an academy where the teachers would protect the students with their own lives?


    Currently, over 2,000 prospective students had already registered for enrolment and were awaiting the commencement of the interviews.


    The only piece of bad news to Shrek Academy at the moment was the controversy surrounding Tang Wulin.


    Firstly, a narrative was being spun out of his defeat to Gu Yuena and his identity as the Tang Sect Master. The Spirit Pagoda was currently heavily promoting the idea that the massive gap between the Tang Sect Master and the Silver Dragon Princess reflected the insurmountable gap between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda.


    Secondly, they were denouncing Tang Wulin as a shady conspirator who had targeted the Spirit Pagoda by ruining the joust for a spouse event.


    As of yet, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect hadn''t responded to those claims. Without eliciting a response, those claims had no point.


    A lot of meetings had taken place among the higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda, but as for whether they were planning to target the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, that was something that only they were aware of. However, what was very apparent was that these major powers were bound to clash again in the future.


    The Eagle Faction still held the upper hand in the federal parliament, but many members of the Eagle Faction were beginning to lean toward Shrek Academy, and they were headed by the Southern Legion.


    Due to all of these subtle changes that were taking place, the spotlight was once again placed on the rebuilding Shrek Academy.


    It was clear that the extent to which Shrek Academy was able to recover would heavily impact the political standings in the parliament.


    Shrek Academy had proven that its influence spread over to every single major power on the entire continent, and even the Battle God Hall had expressed support to the academy to a certain extent.


    At the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    "Make sure to look after yourself; don''t be too hasty in your cultivation," Qiangu Dongfeng said with a rather grim expression as he appraised his grandson''s gruelling training.


    After the joust for a spouse event, Qiangu Zhangting had recovered from his minor injuries very quickly, and after that, he had immediately returned to cultivation.


    In contrast to before, he was cultivating like a madman, and he only stopped every day after he was completely and utterly exhausted.


    "I''m fine, Grandfather. I''ll work hard and surpass that bastard," Qiangu Zhangting panted.


    Qiangu Dongfeng continued, "There''s something I want to ask you; what do you think of Na''er?"


    Qiangu Zhangting faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Na''er? What about her?"

 Chapter 1586: Seal the Deal

    Qiangu Dongfeng''s brows furrowed slightly as he said, "Don''t you think she communicated a bit too much with Tang Wulin on the final day of the joust for a spouse event? I feel like there''s something going on between them."


    Qiangu Zhangting faltered slightly upon hearing this. "What do you mean, Grandfather?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "I''m wondering if Na''er''s heart really lies with you."


    "Of course it does! Didn''t she crush that bastard already? I had no idea she was that powerful; this is why I have to work even harder in my cultivation! If you ask me, Na''er''s powers are most likely close to the Limit Douluo level; this is fantastic news for us!"


    A serious look appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face, and he continued, "That''s why you have to pay even more attention to your grasp on her. Have you really captured her heart? Does she really love you? Trust me when I say this: there was something different about the way she looked at Tang Wulin on that day. If there were nothing going on between them, that wouldn''t have been her reaction."


    A disdainful look appeared on Qiangu Zhangting''s face. "That''s just a completely unrequited love from him. Na''er is so exceptional, it''s only normal that she attracts others. Didn''t you see how cold Na''er was toward him?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng sighed, "Foolish boy, it''s exactly because of how cold and aloof Na''er was that I''m concerned. Don''t you understand? You''re allowing yourself to be blinded to the truth."


    Qiangu Zhangting protested, "I think you''re the one that''s blind to the truth. Na''er has told me that I''m the only one she loves, and that she''ll marry me once all this turmoil subsides; what''s there to be worried about?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng asked, "Alright, then how far have you gone with Na''er? Have you had physical relations with her yet? If you want to claim her heart, you have to claim her body first. My concerns would be erased once you''ve had physical relations with her; having a child with her would be even better."


    Qiangu Zhangting blushed slightly upon hearing this. "What are you saying, Grandfather? Na''er and I share a very pure relationship. We''re only going to do the deed on the day of our marriage."


    "You''re an idiot!" Qiangu Dongfeng slapped a palm over his own forehead as he sighed, "Have you been brainwashed by her? Nothing is truly yours until you claim it; why don''t you understand? Besides, how do you even know if Na''er is as pure as you think?"


    A surprised look appeared on Qiangu Zhangting''s face. "How could you say that about Na''er, Grandfather? You weren''t like this in the past!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng harrumphed coldly, "That''s because Na''er couldn''t pose any threat back then, but she''s different now; her reputation has almost even exceeded my own, and the power she displayed is different from what we saw in the past. Truth be told, even your great-grandfather admits that her combat prowess is already comparable to that of a Limit Douluo. I don''t care what you think; seal the deal with her as soon as you can, understood?"


    Qiangu Zhangting replied in a sheepish manner, "I understand. There''s nothing to be worried about; I''m confident that Na''er would be willing to give herself to me as long as I ask."


    "Really?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked in a skeptical manner.


    Qiangu Zhangting flared up with indignation. "Don''t you have at least that much confidence in me? I''ll prove it to you!"


    "Alright, that''s the spirit! Keep working hard in your cultivation. Enrolment for Shrek Academy is about to begin; we have to take advantage of this opportunity to embarrass them just as they did to us during the joust for a spouse event."


    Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes immediately lit up. "What''s the plan?"


    "Focus on taking down Na''er!" Qiangu Dongfeng snapped, "Don''t divert your attention to anything else; you''ll know when the time comes."


    Qiangu Dongfeng departed, and for some reason, Qiangu Zhangting couldn''t get his words out of his mind.


    Take down Na''er? Seal the deal?


    These thoughts were like seeds that took root firmly in his mind, making him feel as if there were a kitten clawing at his heart.


    Na''er was so beautiful, and her figure was absolutely flawless. Ever since he first met Gu Yuena, all of Qiangu Zhangting''s past lovers had lost all appeal to him.


    She was going to marry him eventually anyway, so there was surely no issue in sealing the deal and assuaging his grandfather''s doubts.


    With that in mind, Qiangu Zhangting felt as if his heart had been set alight. He had been waiting for this day for far too long.


    He picked up his soul communicator and dialed that familiar number.


    "Na''er, where are you right now?" Qiangu Zhangting asked in an urgent voice.


    "I''m in my room. What''s going on? Why do you sound like you''re in such a rush?" Gu Yuena asked.


    "It''s alright, I just really miss you. I''ll go find you," Qiangu Zhangting replied as he repressed the arousing images that had begun to surface in his mind.


    Na''er hesitated momentarily before replying, "Alright, come on over then."


    "Wait for me, I''ll go after I take a shower," Qiangu Zhangting said.


    After ending the call, he immediately took a shower and changed into a set of clean clothes. He then inspected himself in the mirror to ensure that he was presenting himself in the best possible way, then immediately headed to Gu Yuena''s room.


    Gu Yuena had her own area in the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, not just her own room, but also a living area, cultivation area, etc.


    This was the same level of treatment that Qiangu Zhangting received.


    Gu Yuena was waiting for him in her living area, and his heart immediately melted at the sight of her.


    She was currently wearing a set of loose-fitting white robes, but even that couldn''t conceal her stunning figure.


    Her long silver hair was draped down her back as a ponytail, and her face was slightly flushed with vitality, seemingly a result of her earlier cultivation.


    "What''s going on, Zhangting?" Gu Yuena asked with a smile.


    Qiangu Zhangting gulped nervously before taking a seat beside her. He had already prepared a long speech in his mind, but all of that suddenly completely slipped his mind at the sight of Gu Yuena.


    Gu Yuena was his goddess, and he couldn''t bear to defile her, but the scorching flames in his heart were overriding his sense of reason.


    "Na''er, Grandfather just came to me and said a lot of strange things," Qiangu Zhangting said.


    "Oh? What did the chairman say?" Gu Yuena asked.


    Qiangu Zhangting rubbed his hands together, and replied, "Grandfather is urging us to get married earlier."


    Gu Yuena countered, "But the joust for a spouse event has only just ended, and technically, I''m supposed to be Lan Fuozi''s girlfriend. If we get married now, the Spirit Pagoda''s reputation will take a big hit. That Lan Fuozi is no ordinary character, either, so we can''t take him lightly."


    Qiangu Zhangting hesitated momentarily before continuing, "We don''t necessarily have to get married, but Grandfather says that we should have a child first."


    He stole a nervous glance at Gu Yuena as he spoke.


    A cold light flashed through Gu Yuena''s eyes, and she said, "Are these your intentions or your grandfather''s intentions? You promised me that you would respect me and refrain from physical relations prior to our marriage."


    "I did say that; please don''t get angry, Na''er. It''s just that, we''ve been together for so long, but I haven''t even held your hand once; can we be a little more intimate? I love you so much, Na''er; I''m struggling to hold myself back."

 Chapter 1587: You Think You Can Touch Me?

    The more he said, the more he felt himself to be justified. In reality, even Qiangu Dongfeng was unaware that his grandson hadn''t even held Gu Yuena''s hand before.


    Qiangu Zhangting was already reaching toward Gu Yuena''s hand as he spoke, and his face had become quite flushed.


    Right at this moment, purple light suddenly glowed from Gu Yuena''s eyes like a pair of purple vortexes, and Qiangu Zhangting instantly stiffened as if he had been immobilized.


    A hint of fierce killing intent flashed through Gu Yuena''s eyes, and she had even raised her right hand. If she wanted to take Qiangu Zhangting''s life, it would only take a simple gesture.


    "You think you can touch me? No one else in this world can touch me aside from him!" Gu Yuena''s voice sounded as if it were coming from the iciest depths of hell, and Qiangu Zhangting remained completely still and unresponsive like a statue.


    "I can''t kill him now. Qiangu Dongfeng has already begun to suspect me; I have to assuage those suspicions."


    Gu Yuena lowered her hand, and her expression eased slightly as she strode over to a nearby window, then cast her gaze toward Shrek Academy in the distance.


    She could only see a vast expanse of dense mist due to the effect of the anti-surveillance devices, but she could sense his presence there.


    What should I do?


    A series of complex thoughts surfaced in her mind.


    ......


    A crisp clang rang out, heralding another successful soul refinement.


    Tang Wulin nodded with a pleased expression.


    His soul refinement success rate was infinitely approaching 100%, and the quality was also improving day by day.


    Following his return, he had immediately begun focusing on his forging. Elder Long and Yali were overseeing the Shrek Academy rebuild, while he was constantly forging metals required for suits of high-grade battle armor.


    This was a massive workload, but it was a perfect form of cultivation, allowing him to grow accustomed to his powers having broken the 14th Golden Dragon King seal and reached the Hyper Douluo level.


    There had always been an insurmountable gulf between Hyper Douluos and Titled Douluos, and this resulted from a fundamental change.


    At the Hyper Douluo level, one would begin to sense the laws of the world and detect some things that existed beyond the realm of concrete reality. For example, one could begin to try and actively control space.


    Almost all Limit Douluos had the ability to tear open space, and in order to be able to freely traverse through small planes, one had to at least be a Hyper Douluo.


    For example, in the past, Tang Wulin would''ve only been able to enter the Myriad Beast Plane through a special avenue. However, at the Hyper Douluo level, all he required was a set of coordinates, and he would be able to traverse freely into the Myriad Beast Plane as long as the planar rulers, Da Ming and Er Ming, didn''t refuse him entry.


    After reaching this level, everything he had learned about the power of the plane in the past was seamlessly integrated, thereby deepening his understanding and allowing him to truly control it as a part of his own body.


    To put it in simpler terms, in the past, he was able to infuse into his attacks the planar power of elemental tribulations that he had absorbed through the Infernal Lightning Vine.


    This was a groundbreaking enhancement that had elevated his attacks to a whole new level.


    However, after reaching the Hyper Douluo level, Tang Wulin discovered that these powers of laws had naturally become a part of his own power, and that he was able to control a part of it with minute accuracy.


    In a sense, wielding the power of laws had become a way of battle that he was now able to adopt.


    In the past, he had only been able to borrow these powers of laws, but now, he could unleash his own tribulation lightning without the assistance of other soul skills. This was already a fundamental difference.


    Of course, it certainly wasn''t the case that all Hyper Douluos were capable of this. In fact, generally speaking, most Hyper Douluos would be just beginning to develop a faint understanding of laws at this point.


    It was exactly because of this that both Tang Wulin''s absorption of tribulation lightning and his usage of the power of laws had improved drastically in his forging.


    It was becoming clearer and clearer to him why Zhen Hua had said that power was key for a Divine Blacksmith.


    Zhen Hua''s greatest limiting factor was that he was stuck at the Titled Douluo level. Tang Wulin was confident that if Zhen Hua could become a Hyper Douluo, then his heavenly refinement would be elevated to a whole new level.


    Of course, this was entirely implausible now. Zhen Hua''s foundation was too unstable, and his body had been severely taxed from his years of heavenly refinement; the only possible way for him to become a Hyper Douluo would be if he were provided the purest of blood essence by a patriarch like Er Ming to the Yuanen Family.


    Currently, when attempting heavenly refinement on a single type of metal, Tang Wulin''s success rate was over 90%; this was definitely unprecedented in the history of all Divine Blacksmiths.


    One had to realize that even the most ordinary of heavenly refined metals could be used to create four-word battle armor!


    A four-word battle armor master didn''t necessarily have to be a Limit Douluo. In reality, even Hyper Douluo could handle a suit of four-word battle armor. Furthermore, four-word battle armor crafted from a single type of heavenly refined metal would be more suitable for Hyper Douluos as it would be less taxing on their bodies.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s heavenly refinement success rate for alloys comprised of less than four types of metals had risen to around 30%. This didn''t sound very impressive, but it was enough to eclipse Zhen Hua''s record in his prime.


    Currently, Tang Wulin hadn''t succeeded even once in heavenly refinement on an alloy comprised of over four types of metals. His suit of battle armor was comprised of six different types of metals, so completing heavenly refinement on it was quite a distant goal for him.


    Zhen Hua had always told him that there were no shortcuts in heavenly refinement. Only by accumulating experience and sensing the minute changes in planar laws through constant heavenly refinement could one hope to improve.


    Tang Wulin firmly believed in this because he was constantly learning from every single heavenly refinement, regardless of whether he succeeded or failed.


    There weren''t actually that many Hyper Douluos in Shrek Academy, but there was no lack of Soul Masters of that caliber at the Tang Sect. However, only the four Limit Douluos had suits of four-word battle armor.


    Tang Wulin had extended that offer to the Yuanen Family precisely because Shrek Academy was lacking in high-end teachers.


    They did indeed have four Limit Douluos, but aside from them, there weren''t actually many Titled Douluos in the academy. Both Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were Titled Douluos, but they hadn''t reached the Hyper Douluo level yet, while Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui were at the Hyper Douluo level and Titled Douluo level respectively.


    Aside from Tang Wulin, Wu Zhangkong was the only other Hyper Douluo in Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin''s return had coincided with Wu Zhangkong''s return with a batch of students that had just completed their training on the demonic island.


    A common trait among all students who had undergone the special training on the demonic island was that they were all very disoriented.


    Tang Wulin had experienced the training himself, so he knew just how terrifying it was.


    Furthermore, Wu Zhangkong had brought back a piece of good news. This piece of news was very beneficial to the development of the academy, but it wasn''t necessarily good news for all of the students.


    Tang Wulin placed the piece of metal that he had just soul refined off to the side. For him, soul refinement was the equivalent of taking a break; only heavenly refinement could be considered to be true cultivation.


    His most important mission at the moment was to produce enough heavenly refinement metals for three suits of four-word battle armor.


    These suits of four-word battle armor were for Yuanen Zhentian, Yuanen Tiandang, and Wu Zhangkong.

 Chapter 1588: The Ecstatic Qiangu Zhangting

    Wu Zhangkong was already a Hyper Douluo, so he would have no issues handling a suit of four-word battle armor. Not only had his rate of progress not slowed down since he became a Titled Douluo, it had sped up instead, and that was why he had been able to become a Hyper Douluo in such a short time.


    Yali told Tang Wulin that it was as if Wu Zhangkong had been reawakened by that explosion, and his thirst for vengeance had sparked a new flame in his once-dead heart.


    Aside from the two Limit Douluos of the academy, he was the only teacher that remained.


    All of the other teachers had sacrificed themselves for him and the students; what excuse did he have to continue wallowing in his own grief?


    Following that disaster, Wu Zhangkong had decided that his life now belonged to the academy rather than himself. His cultivation aptitude was very exceptional to begin with, and after making this decision, his progress had been rapid.


    It was imperative to complete the three suits of four-word battle armor as quickly as possible as this had something to do with the "good news" that Wu Zhangkong had brought back.


    The battle armor for the two Limit Douluos and Wu Zhangkong naturally couldn''t be crafted using just one type of metal. The goal that Tang Wulin had set for himself was to craft the suits of battle armor out of four-metal alloys, which was the upper limit of his current capabilities.


    At his current success rate, it would take three months to complete all of the metals required for the three suits of battle armor.


    Lodging had already been organized for the Yuanen Family in the form of a new apartment built around a kilometer away from the main school buildings of the academy.


    The entire academy was ecstatic to see two more Limit Douluos join their ranks, particularly because these two Limit Douluos were absolutely trustworthy. In addition to that, the Yuanen Family also had two Hyper Douluos and five Titled Douluos, which was an extremely formidable lineup anywhere on the continent.


    Most importantly, the entire family had chosen to ally itself with Shrek Academy.


    At the same time, all of the members of the Yuanen Family had immense potential for improvement. Once all of the powerful beings at the Titled Douluo or above among their ranks received their suits of high-grade battle armor, the entire family would be elevated to new heights. With the addition of the Yuanen Family, Shrek City was finally able to establish itself. After all, even the Spirit Pagoda didn''t have that many Limit Douluos among its ranks!


    Among the powerful beings of the Yuanen Family, only Yuanen Tiandang, Yuanen Tianshang, and three other Titled Douluos became teachers of the academy. The others, including Yuanen Zhentian, were already quite old and not suited to undertaking teaching responsibilities.


    Construction for the apartment allocated to the Yuanen Family had already commenced, and it had been named the Titan Spire. Judging by the current rate of progress, the members of the Yuanen Family would be able to move into it as soon as they arrived.


    After emerging from his forging workshop, Tang Wulin did some stretches to loosen his tight body.


    His forging workshop was situated on the roof of Shrek Academy''s main school building, and it was replicating the heavenly platform, which took advantage of the high altitude to better connect with the elemental particles in the air. At the same time, it was very unlikely for elemental tribulations here to affect the outside world.


    The soul defense system here had been designed and constructed by experts from the Tang Sect, and it was even better than the defense system at the heavenly platform. It was even able to disguise changes in light, so only sufficiently powerful Soul Masters would be able to vaguely sense the energy fluctuations during Tang Wulin''s forging, but no one would know that there was a Divine Blacksmith there engaging in heavenly refinement.


    Tang Wulin had named his forging workshop the heaven refining platform, and most of his time was spent there every day.


    Standing at the edge of the heaven refining platform and peering into the distance, he could see that some vitality had already emerged within the Sea God''s Lake. Perhaps this was only a feeling, but it was as if Tang Wulin could sense the presence of the tree of life deep under the Sea God''s Lake.


    The first thing he did when he came back was to visit and communicate with the tree of life.


    The tree of life was extremely excited, having just received such a massive influx of life energy, and it told Tang Wulin that it was now capable of cleansing the entire Sea God''s Lake. Even without any further injections of life energy, it would be able to create a complete ecosystem within the Sea God''s Lake in 10 years, and when that time came, the Sea God''s Lake would gradually be able to produce its own life energy.


    However, it would take an immeasurable amount of time for the tree of life to return to the former glory of the ancient Golden Tree.


    The best thing about the life energy from the demonic army was that it had come from an alternate plane.


    However, the tree of life also told Tang Wulin that due to how severely lacking the life energy on the Douluo Continent plane was, it would require even more life energy to truly flourish, and the amount of life energy required made the life energy from the demonic army completely pale into insignificance.


    Hence, Tang Wulin had to continue to source more life energy.


    Tang Wulin had already planned to pay a visit to the Blood God Legion once everything settled in Shrek Academy and see if he could make a trip to the abyssal plane. He was far more powerful than he had been in the past, and he was confident that he would be able to ensure self-preservation. The only issue was that he could potentially be targeted by the abyssal plane upon entry.


    After a brief conversation, the tree of life fell into a deep slumber to digest the life energy and further improve the water quality in the Sea God''s Lake.


    Everything was progressing in a positive direction. How are you, Gu Yue? When will we be able to meet again? When will we be able to be together permanently?


    He cast his gaze toward the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, which wasn''t very far away from the Sea God''s Lake.


    From his side, he was able to clearly see the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, and he knew that she was there, but there was nothing he could do.


    ......


    This was the happiest day of Qiangu Zhangting''s life.


    He was unable to help himself in the end and used some forceful methods to take her for himself.


    He was so overcome by excitement that he couldn''t even clearly remember the process. All he could remember was that he had taken her over and over again, and it was her first time, as evidenced by the blood she had shed.


    The sight of her blood had filled him with an indescribable sense of satisfaction, and all of his doubts had instantly been erased.


    She had been dragged by him into his room, but she hadn''t refused him in the end.


    He sat up on his bed, and as he looked at the strands of silver hair lingering beside his pillow, he had never felt better in his life.


    His greatest wish had been fulfilled, and it was truly a wonderful feeling.


    But why was she gone? The only thing that could make this situation better was if he could revisit her blissful warmth this morning.


    He grabbed his soul communicator and dialled her number, but she didn''t pick up from her end.


    What was she doing? Why wasn''t she taking the call? Was she angry?


    Qiangu Zhangting''s heart jolted as this thought occurred to him. She had to be displeased with his forceful methods. After all, he had promised that he would only touch her after they got married. He was still floating on cloud nine, but what if she were angry with him?

 Chapter 1589: Visiting the Tree of Life

    With that in mind, much of Qiangu Zhangting''s bliss and excitement was instantly replaced by anxiety.


    Having known Gu Yue for so many years, he was aware of just how uncompromising that she was.


    He had to go and apologize to her!


    With that in mind, Qiangu Zhangting quickly rushed out of bed, took a shower, then put on what he perceived to be his best set of clothes before rushing to Gu Yue''s living area again.


    However, he was greeted by a tightly shut metal gate with a very clear and forbidding red light. This was the universal sign for "do not disturb" in the Spirit Pagoda, and it was only to be used when conducting important research or going into seclusion for very important breakthroughs.


    Qiangu Zhangting became even more uneasy at the sight of the red light, and he knew that all doorbells would be disabled when this red light was switched on.


    He hurriedly dialed Gu Yuena''s number again and again in the hope of getting to speak to her, all to no avail.


    It was clear that she really was angry, and Qiangu Zhangting was at a complete loss for what to do.


    Should he force his way in through the gate? With his lofty status in the Spirit Pagoda, he would naturally be able to do this, but would that make her even more angry?


    He dialled Gu Yuena''s number over and over again in a blind panic, and finally, she picked up.


    "Na''er, please don''t be mad at me! I''m really sorry for what I did, but I love you so much that I couldn''t help myself. Can you please let me in?"


    His panicked apology was greeted by complete silence from Gu Yuena.


    "Nana, please say something! I promise you that I''ll never do something like this again. I''m sorry."


    Finally, a response came from Gu Yuena. "I hate you."


    After that, the call was ended, and when Qiangu Zhangting tried to dial her number again, he was informed that she had turned off her soul communicator.


    You''ve really screwed me over, Grandfather!


    Qiangu Zhangting''s heart was full of remorse, and all of his excitement had vanished.


    Meanwhile, Gu Yuena was standing beside her bed, casting her gaze toward the direction of the Sea God''s Lake in the distance. A disdainful look appeared on her face as she murmured to herself, "You think you can touch me?"


    ......


    "Splash!" Tang Wulin dove into the lake, and he was instantly refreshed by the cool water around him.


    Ever since the growth spurt experienced by the tree of life after absorbing the life energy from the demonic plane, the entire Sea God''s Lake had undergone a transformation.


    The deathly aura within it was no longer as pronounced, and the radiation was quickly receding. It wouldn''t take long before the lake was filled with vitality again.


    Soul power was released through the soles of his feet, propelling him deeper toward the lakebed, and the deeper he went, the more clearly he was able to sense the aura of life energy radiating from down below.


    As the Son of Nature, he was extremely sensitive when it came to life energy, and the pure life energy here made him feel very comfortable.


    The outline of the tree of life was already within sight in the distance. This wasn''t his first time here, but the sight of its thick and strong trunk still filled him with emotion.


    If it hadn''t been for the ancient Golden Tree''s protection, no one in Shrek Academy would''ve survived. The tree of life had always been protecting Shrek Academy and the continent, yet the greedy and destructive nature of humans had sapped away its power.


    He had to do everything in his own power to revitalize it and restore vitality to nature.


    Even at Tang Wulin''s speed, it took Tang Wulin quite some time to traverse through the massive Sea God''s Lake and arrive before the tree of life.


    The tree of life currently had a diameter of over 30 meters, and a series of thick strong tree roots could be seen plunging into the lakebed. As soon as Tang Wulin approached it, he was able to immediately detect extremely rich life energy fluctuations.


    Furthermore, he was struck by an intense sense of closeness, like a child in the presence of their grandmother. He couldn''t help but spread open his arms and press his body against the tree of life.


    A series of branches wound themselves around him to reciprocate his embrace, and intimate feelings were transmitted to him by the tree of life.


    "I''m very happy to see you again, my child," the tree of life communicated.


    Tang Wulin was able to communicate with it using his spiritual power, and he asked, "I''ve come to visit you again. How are you?"


    The tree of life replied, "Very well. My vitality has been awakened, and I can continue to flourish from here. The life energy that you provided me with was very good, but I''ll need more life energy to continue growing. The main problem is that the life energy on the entire planet is constantly on the wane due to excessive exploitation of resources by humans. I''ll require more life energy to return to my former state, then reciprocate life energy back to the continent, and that will require an enormous amount of energy."


    Tang Wulin said, "I''ll work on it. After the enrolment, I plan to make another trip to the abyssal passageway."


    For the tree of life, the best source of life energy came from alternate planes. The life energy on the Douluo Continent could also replenish it, but in the process, life energy would be stripped away from that area.


    In contrast, absorbing life energy from other planes could directly increase the amount of life energy on the Douluo Continent plane, and that was naturally the best course of action.


    As such, he had to pay the abyssal passageway a visit. If he could reap some rewards there, then he could make it a long-term source of life energy.


    "The life energy from other planes is indeed the best, but your safety is more important. I''ve bestowed upon you that ability, but it''s not guaranteed to keep you safe, so you have to be careful."


    "Alright," Tang Wulin replied in a respectful manner.


    "Is there something you would like to discuss with me today?" the tree of life asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I have a couple of favors I would like to ask from you. Firstly, I attained the approval of several immortal plants in the past, and they all became soul spirits of mine. However, they''re concerned that they won''t be able to pass on their lineage, so they gave me their seeds in the hope that they can one day be planted by your side. Would that be possible?"


    The tree of life transmitted an elated emotional signal toward Tang Wulin, and replied, "Of course. I can sense their auras; you''re referring to the Beautiful Silk Tulip, Chaotic Element Immortal Herb, Delicate Inferno Apricot Flower, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Blackjade Divine Bamboo, Keen Gaze Dew, and Land Dragon Golden Melon, right? They''re all exceptional plants and can be said to be my children. Give me their seeds. With their help, I''ll be able to create a more complete ecosystem here, and that would benefit the Sea God''s Lake immensely."


    "That''s fantastic!" Tang Wulin was ecstatic to hear this.


    Light flashed from his glabella, and seven specks of light emerged. At the same time, the Beautiful Silk Tulip appeared beside him amid a flash of pink light.


    The Beautiful Silk Tulip crossed his arms in front of his chest, then extended a respectful bow toward the tree of life, and his body was trembling slightly from excitement.


    Seeds were a continuation of a plant''s life, and to be able to have a seed planted next to the source of all life on the entire plane was a peerless honor.


    For plant-type soul beasts, the tree of life was their god! With the protection of the tree of life, their lineage would continue to be passed down so long as the plane still existed.


    The tree of life extended a branch to gently tap the top of the Beautiful Silk Tulip''s head, and a layer of faint green light instantly surged into his body. The Beautiful Silk Tulip shuddered, and his slightly blurry and illusionary body immediately became a lot more substantial.


    The seven seeds of different colors hovered before the tree of life, and the tree of life extended a branch to tap the seeds one after another.


    A layer of green light surfaced from each seed, and they plunged into the soil around the tree of life.

 Chapter 1590: Fulfilling a Promise

    "Thank you, Patriarch," the Beautiful Silk Tulip said in an emotional voice.


    "Following my child was the best decision you could''ve made." When speaking to the Beautiful Silk Tulip, the voice of the tree of life was filled with unmatched authority, rather than the benevolence it directed toward Tang Wulin.


    "Yes, Patriarch," the Beautiful Silk Tulip replied as he bowed with reverence. He then transformed into a ball of pink light and vanished back into Tang Wulin''s body.


    Tang Wulin was also very happy as he had fulfilled his promise to the seven immortal plants, and he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.


    The tree of life''s voice turned gentle and benevolent again as it said, "I''ll make sure that these seeds flourish beside me. They''ll make the Sea God''s Lake even more resplendent in the future; you''ll know what I mean when the time comes."


    "Thank you!" Tang Wulin was ecstatic to hear this. All of the seven immortal plants stood at the pinnacle of the plant world, and they each had their own unique properties. If a portion of their power could fuse into the Sea God''s Lake, it would definitely benefit Shrek Academy immensely.


    The tree of life said, "There''s no need to be so polite and formal; you are the child chosen by me. What''s the other request you wanted to make?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "The other request is about the small plane that I spoke to you about in the past. Are you ready to create the small plane in the lake now?"


    The tree of life said, "I am, but I can only do this once. On top of that, you have to assess the power within it. I can only help you maintain it from the outside, and if anything goes wrong inside it, I''ll reject it right away; I can''t allow that destructive energy to affect the Sea God''s Lake."


    "Of course. Rest assured, we''ll do our best to maintain its ecosystem," Tang Wulin said in an excited manner. This was going to be very important for Shrek Academy, and once it was done, the academy would receive a massive boost, granting it something that it never had even in its heyday.


    "Alright, then come back once you''re prepared. I''ve already chosen a good spot; it''s in the western part of the Sea God''s Lake. You''ll see a vortex there soon, and once you''re ready, we can begin there. With my protection, you won''t have to worry about safety."


    The tree of life was speaking in a very placid yet confident manner. Even though it was far from reaching its former glory, it had regained some of its original abilities. Even in this severely weakened state, it was still the source of all life on the entire Douluo Continent, and its powers were unimaginable to the average person.


    "That''s fantastic!" Tang Wulin exclaimed in an ecstatic voice, "On behalf of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, I thank you for protecting all of us for so many years."


    "Go on now," the tree of life said in a gentle voice.


    After extending another respectful bow, Tang Wulin departed.


    Right after his departure, the surface of the tree of life warped slightly, and a rather faint face appeared. It cast its gaze toward the departing Tang Wulin, and it said with a warm smile, "Foolish child, how could I not protect Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect?"


    After rising back to the shore, Tang Wulin expelled the moisture on his body, then returned excitedly to the main school building.


    The building had already completely taken shape now, and it perfectly recaptured the glory of the old main school building of the academy. The building was regal and refined, and it was impossible to tell that it had been constructed in only a few months.


    After walking through the main entrance, there was a spacious circular hall with many paths that led to different areas of the building. Directly up ahead was a giant soul screen that was over 500 inches in size, and some important information would be broadcast on it from time to time.


    Tang Wulin made his way along the screen and went upstairs to the teacher''s office on the top floor. He knocked on the door of the innermost office, and a voice rang out inside. "Come in."


    Tang Wulin opened the door and was greeted by the site of a spacious office with an antiquated design, completely matching the style of the old Shrek Academy. Wu Zhangkong rose to his feet behind the sturdy timber desk before extending a slight bow toward Tang Wulin. "Pavilion Master."


    Tang Wulin hurriedly said, "Teacher Wu, I''ve already said this before: you''re my teacher, you shouldn''t bow to me."


    Wu Zhangkong countered, "These are the rules of the academy. You are the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, so you deserve this treatment; you''d be putting me in a difficult spot if you don''t accept this gesture."


    Tang Wulin was quite resigned to hear this. Wu Zhangkong was the one who had truly led him into the world of Soul Masters, so he had nothing but genuine respect for him.


    A rare hint of amusement surfaced in Wu Zhangkong''s eyes at the sight of Tang Wulin''s resigned expression, and he said, "You look like you have some good news."


    Tang Wulin was far more mature and steadfast than he had been in the past, so it was quite rare to see him display this degree of excitement.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I do! The tree of life has already agreed to our request and found a suitable place for us; when should we begin?"


    Wu Zhangkong''s eyes lit up upon hearing this. "That''s great! I''ve completed the preparations on my end as well. They''ll still be able to last over two more months, so we have more than enough time. Let''s do this right away; it would be best to get everything settled while they''re still in good condition."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Alright, I''ll invite everyone to wait for you at the Sea God''s Lake."


    Wu Zhangkong also nodded in agreement, and Tang Wulin could see that his hands had already balled up into tight fists.


    Wu Zhangkong was currently the principal of the outer court, and Tang Wulin knew just how much pressure he was facing.


    During the disaster, all of the other teachers had sacrificed themselves for him and the students. It was the weight of their sacrifices that was spurring him on to work like a madman, mulling over every single minute detail of the academy''s reconstruction while also working extremely hard in his own cultivation. In his current schedule, the only time he had to rest was during his cultivation.


    The occasional strand of silver could already be seen in his long blue hair, and even though his appearance hadn''t changed, he seemed to be more jaded and weathered.


    However, his rate of progression in his cultivation was quite astounding, and even with Tang Wulin''s Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he was unable to ascertain Wu Zhangkong''s exact cultivation rank.


    Two hours later.


    A series of figures appeared side by side in front of the Sea God''s Lake, and all of them bowed toward the center of the lake in unison.


    Tang Wulin stood at the very forefront of the group, and the lineup behind him was truly astonishing.


    The four Limit Douluos, Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, and Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi were all present. Aside from them, there were also the two Limit Douluos, Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang, as well as the two Hyper Douluos, Wu Zhangkong and Tang Wulin.


    Long Yeyue turned to Yuanen Zhentian with a smile, and said, "Thank you for agreeing to do this."

 Chapter 1591: Creating a Small Plane

    Yuanen Zhentian hurriedly replied, "Please don''t be so polite, Elder Long. Technically speaking, you''re a senior of mine. Back when I first became a Soul Master, you were already a household name all throughout the continent."


    Long Yeyue smiled, and said, "It''s Shrek Academy''s honor to have the support of the Yuanen Family. Now then, Zhangkong, please begin; we''ll all follow your lead."


    Wu Zhangkong replied, "Alright, please come with me, everyone." He rose up into the air as he spoke, then flew toward the western side of the Sea God''s Lake.


    Tang Wulin and the others also followed closely behind him.


    Following the reawakening of the tree of life, the deathly aura of the Sea God''s Lake had already vanished. The water in the lake was still very clear, but signs of life were beginning to appear.


    There was currently no plan to rebuild the Sea God''s Island as that would have to wait until after the reconstruction of Shrek Academy. The tree of life had told Tang Wulin that at the very least, it had to grow out of the surface of the lake first before the reconstruction of the Sea God''s Island could even be considered. Shrek Academy had only just begun its rebuild, and there was a lot of work left to be done.


    The Sea God''s Lake was quite massive, but at their speed, they were still able to reach their destination quite quickly.


    In the distance, a vortex with a diameter of roughly 30 meters emerged before everyone''s eyes.


    The vortex was perfectly round, and the water within it wasn''t flowing very quickly, but one could sense that it was very deep just by looking at it.


    The entire group was comprised of powerful Soul Masters, so they were all able to clearly sense the powerful spatial fluctuations within the vortex.


    All of the Limit Douluos surrounded the vortex, while Wu Zhangkong cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin.


    A series of soul rings emerged around Tang Wulin''s body, and his fifth greenish-golden soul ring began to glow, while his eyes also turned green.


    Moments later, he gave Wu Zhangkong a nod to indicate that he had established a connection with the tree of life.


    Wu Zhangkong didn''t hesitate any longer as he extended a respectful bow toward the vortex, then carefully raised his hands to reveal an extremely peculiar-looking rock.


    The rock was entirely purplish-black in color, and its surface was extremely bumpy and uneven. Furthermore, there were beams of purple light emanating from the pits and bumps on its surface.


    The purple light was initially restricted to within a diameter of around half a foot, but as soon as Wu Zhangkong removed a colorless bead from the top of the rock, the purple light immediately flourished through the surrounding area.


    Wu Zhangkong was situated closest to the rock, and a pained look immediately appeared on his face. The purple light was imbued with the purest of destructive auras, and it was as if this aura were threatening to devour the entire world.


    Tang Wulin wore a serious expression, as did the six Limit Douluos, and all of them sprang into action at once, releasing their enormous soul power to form a light barrier that contained all of the destructive energy.


    The amount of destructive energy within this small rock exceeded even that of the radiation previously in the Sea God''s Lake, and it was far purer as well.


    Wu Zhangkong tossed the rock down into the vortex below, and as soon as the rock entered the water, the entire vortex was instantly tainted a purplish-black color.


    Wu Zhangkong quickly retreated to join the circle formed by the seven other people present, following which Long Yeyue thrust her wizened palms forward, and her wrinkly hands suddenly turned as fair and smooth as jade as she made a ripping motion.


    A spatial rift was instantly torn open, and as soon as it appeared, it began to devour everything around it in a frenzy.


    At the same time, the other five Limit Douluos also sprang into action. Golden light began to radiate from their bodies, and that wasn''t just their soul power, but also their enormous spiritual power.


    The five Limit Doulous grabbed onto the sides of the spatial rift, then tore it open even further to form a circular shape.


    One had to realize that the edges of spatial rifts were able to slice through all things, so it definitely required more than just normal power to tear it open like this.


    The destructive aura that had just surged into the water was instantly devoured and connected with the spatial rift.


    Tang Wulin stepped forward and arrived directly above the rift, then immediately released his suit of three-word battle armor. The wings on his back spread open to allow him to maintain his altitude as he hovered above the rift, and his greenish-golden soul ring began to glow with scintillating radiance.


    A beam of green light rose up into the air from the center of the Sea God''s Lake, traveling in a beautiful parabolic arc through the air before projecting onto his body with unerring accuracy, illuminating him into a greenish-golden color.


    The gentle greenish-golden light was filled with an extremely rich aura of life, creating a stark contrast with the destructive aura in that rock.


    The polar opposites of life and destruction clashed amid a resounding boom, but the sound was caught somewhere between reality and illusion, and it was audible only to the eight people present.


    Everyone gave a muffled groan as their auras diminished, and the spatial rift that had just been torn open suddenly faltered.


    A beam of silver light then erupted out of the vortex down below, following which an authoritative voice rang out. "The conclusion of all life is destruction, while destruction is the beginning of all creation. They act as one another''s starting points and conclusions, and they form the cores of this small world. Converge, life and destruction; create this new world!"


    Green, purple, and silver light surged forth in unison, converging toward the spatial rift that had just been torn open.


    All of a sudden, the entire spatial rift began to ripple violently, and everyone injected their soul power into the rift with all their might.


    Enormous waves were suddenly swept up within the Sea God''s Lake, and the vortex in the lake also began to rotate at a rapid speed.


    One had to realize that a small plane was currently being created, and the creation of every plane had a subtle impact on the entire world.


    To put it in simpler terms, they were currently creating a small plane similar to the Myriad Beast Plane. Aside from planes that were naturally formed within space, only gods could create new planes, and there was no god present; not even the tree of life was a godly being.


    As such, they had to use the clash between life and destruction to generate a tiny spark of creation, then use that to form this small world.


    This could only be achieved by the tree of life, while Tang Wulin and the others were required to provide the energy required to bring the small world into existence. If they were to solely rely on the tree of life to complete this process, then it would undoubtedly overexert the life energy it had just recovered.


    At a time like this, the disparity in everyone''s powers was quickly put on display.


    The six Limit Douluos all wore serious expressions, but they weren''t showing much signs of strain. However, Tang Wulin was beginning to struggle.


    He had only just become a Hyper Douluo, and his foundation was definitely very solid, but he was tasked with the transference of life energy, and that was the most taxing role.


    He felt as if that spatial rift were like a bottomless hole that was constantly devouring his soul power, and he was quickly struck by a sense of feebleness.


    Thankfully, he was able to hold everything together with the support of his enormous bloodline power.

 Chapter 1592: Seven Saint Paradise

    A massive purple flower bloomed behind him, and Devouring Heaven and Earth was unleashed to replenish his soul power.


    What was quite surprising to Tang Wulin was that Wu Zhangkong was also managing to keep up. It was clear that he was no ordinary Hyper Douluo, and it was very remarkable that he was able to progress so quickly in his cultivation despite how busy he was.


    Time slowly passed by, and the green and purple lights gradually faded, while the spatial rift slowly combined as one with the vortex.


    Specks of dazzling starlight appeared within the vortex, and the entire space began to stabilize, while the rate at which it was devouring energy slowed down.


    A speck of white light began to emerge, and the entire vortex transformed into a lengthy passageway that seemed to lead infinitely into the distance with no end in sight.


    Everyone had already expended over half of their soul power at this point, and they all heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this.


    Long Yeyue gave Wu Zhangkong a nod, and Wu Zhangkong immediately extended his two hands forward.


    At the same time, specks of light appeared all over his body as a suit of pristine white battle armor was released. Beautiful blue patterns emerged over the entire suit of battle armor, and a pair of wings spread open on his back, accentuating his regal and handsome features.


    Looking at Wu Zhangkong, Tang Wulin was suddenly taken back to the moment when Wu Zhangkong had suddenly appeared at the entrance of the academy and scared away that group of mecha pilots.


    Wu Zhangkong was always going to be Tang Wulin''s idol; that had never changed, even as Tang Wulin had gradually caught up to Wu Zhangkong''s cultivation rank. That memory from back then was simply branded too deep into his mind.


    Right at this moment, seven streaks of light erupted from Wu Zhangkong''s body, and each streak of light corresponded with a color of the rainbow.


    These seven streaks of light then transformed into balls of light that hovered in mid-air, following which Tang Wulin heard a voice that he had never wanted to hear again in his life. "Kukuku, I didn''t think you''d manage to organize everything so quickly; I''m quite impressed!"


    Wu Zhangkong''s expression seemed to have become even colder, and even Long Yeyue and Yali''s expressions had become slightly strained, while Tang Wulin''s face had paled slightly.


    "What''s with this reaction? Do you not welcome us?"


    Long Yeyue forced a smile onto her own face, and said, "I pay my respects to my seven seniors."


    The seven balls of light transformed into seven figures that frequently featured in the nightmares of all of the inner court disciples of Shrek Academy. They were Old Demon Scourge, Old Demon Engulfment, Old Demon Hatred, Old Demon Nightmare, Old Demon Desire, Old Demon Sloth, and Old Demon Greed.


    Old Demon Greed wore a benevolent smile as he said, "I heard you''re already the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Little Wulin; I must congratulate you. As expected of someone trained by me."


    "Bullsh*t! What does this have to do with you? I was the one who saw the potential in him first!" Old Demon Scourge immediately countered.


    "What a load of crap! How could he possibly be where he is today without my trial of boundless desire? Oh? You''re no longer a virgin, Little Wulin. Who took your first time? I''m very curious! Was it the little girl from the vision you experienced or have you moved on to a new romantic interest?"


    If Tang Wulin had a choice, he really wanted to flee the scene. No matter how good his mental state was, he felt as if he were constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown in the face of these seven old demons.


    The traumatic memories from their training were simply... unforgettable...


    "Ah, you''re Little Yeyue, right? You''re so old now, but your aura and that look in your eyes haven''t changed at all. Let me see, you married that guy, right? What was his name again? The one that went on to become the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, right? But if I recall correctly, you experienced a vision with someone else during your trial of boundless desire."


    The strain in Long Yeyue''s expression became even more pronounced upon hearing this, and she immediately urged, "Ahem, the small world has already been created; please move in right away, seniors."


    Tang Wulin looked up into the sky to repress his own laughter, while Wu Zhangkong looked away and pretended as if he hadn''t heard anything.


    "Little Zhangkong had such a sad past. He..." Old Demon Desire was about to continue when she was dragged aside by Old Demon Scourge.


    "Alright, let''s go now. Haven''t you heard the saying that the one who knows the most will die the quickest? We''re finally getting a new home; I still want to live for a few more years."


    Old Demon Greed chuckled as he swept a hand through the air, then flew toward the spatial passageway, followed closely by the six other old demons.


    Tang Wulin heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of their departure, while Long Yeyue was cracking her knuckles as she aimed a vicious glare at Wu Zhangkong.


    After all, this was his idea.


    While Wu Zhangkong was accompanying students to the demonic island, he expressed the issue of Shrek Academy''s lack of teaching staff to the seven old demons and asked if they had any solutions.


    Upon hearing that the tree of life had been revived, the seven old demons had immediately hatched a plan. They could only live in places where life and destruction intertwined, so a new home could be created for them as long as those conditions could be replicated.


    Wu Zhangkong raised the idea to Tang Wulin, who then made an inquiry toward the tree of life. After confirming that this was indeed a viable option, the seven old demons were invited to the academy.


    A small plane was opened, and the core of destruction on the demonic island was balanced by the rich life energy of the tree of life to maintain the small plane. Thus, the seven old demons were able to reside in the Sea God''s Lake. Furthermore, this independent small plane was extremely useful for Shrek Academy; it could be used as a sanctuary, while also acting as the training base for the seven old demons.


    This was undoubtedly going to be extremely beneficial for the academy''s development. Of course, just like it had been in the past, only inner court disciples who had undergone examination had the right to receive this training.


    All of a sudden, Old Demon Greed returned amid a flash of light.


    "Little Wulin, we''re very happy to be able to return to the academy, and as a gesture of gratitude, we''ve decided to let you name this small plane as the Sea God''s Pavilion Master."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before suggesting, "How about we still call it the demonic island?"


    Old Demon Greed''s face immediately fell. "Who are you calling demons? We''re now integral parts of the academy. How about we call it the Seven Saint Paradise? I think that''s quite a good name. Alright, seeing as you''ve agreed, then it''s settled; we''ll call it the Seven Saint Paradise."


    After that, Old Demon Greed disappeared amid another flash of light, leaving Tang Wulin to look on in a flabbergasted manner.


    Hadn''t he been given the naming rights? Having left the demonic island so long ago, he had already somewhat forgotten how tricky the old demons were.


    Seven Saint Paradise? More like Seven Demon Abyss!


    However, Tang Wulin had no intention of going against their wishes. Those old demons knew far too many secrets...


    Furthermore, they really were integral parts of the academy; it was just that no one liked them.


    Long Yeyue turned to the other Limit Douluos present, and said, "Thank you for your help, everyone. You can all go now; Yali and I will assist the seven seniors in consolidating the plane."


    Zang Xin wore a joyful smile as he said, "Don''t worry, Elder Long; we didn''t hear anything."


    Long Yeyue''s smile immediately faded. "Get out of here!"


    "Haha!" Zang Xin couldn''t help but burst into laughter as he departed. He wouldn''t dare to provoke Long Yeyue like this on his own, but he was far more confident with Cao Dezhi present as well.


    Consolidating a small plane wasn''t an easy task, but thankfully, they had the assistance of the tree of life, which would at least ensure that the small plane wouldn''t be damaged.


    During the subsequent period of time, the entire Shrek Academy began to busy itself with making preparations for enrolment day.


    The first round of selection had already passed, and those who passed that round of selection would be eligible to move on to the second round, and that round of selection would decide how many students would be accepted into Shrek Academy.


    Shrek Academy''s mantra was that they only accepted monsters and no ordinary people. If there were only a single monster among all of the applicants, then they would only take a single student. Quality above quantity was the integral concept.


    The traditions of Shrek Academy couldn''t be shaken no matter what; this was the conclusion Tang Wulin had reached during his discussion with Elder Long, Yali, Wu Zhangkong, and the other high-ranking members of the academy.

 Chapter 1593: Battle For Students

    One month later.


    "What?" Tang Wulin was taking a rare break, enjoying some tea with Zang Xin beside the Sea God''s Lake, when he suddenly received a call from Xie Xie.


    Zang Xin took a sip of his tea as he cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin, whose brows had suddenly become tightly furrowed.


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin said in a grim voice, "The Spirit Pagoda''s Spirit Academy has announced its enrolment date to be on the same day as ours."


    Zang Xin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "I was wondering why they''d been so quiet recently; they''re trying to shake the foundation of our Shrek Academy by doing this."


    What was the foundation of an academy? It wasn''t the facilities and teaching resources; it wasn''t even the teachers. Instead, it was the students.


    Without a sufficient number of good students, an academy wouldn''t be able to develop in a meaningful way.


    Shrek Academy had become the number one academy on the continent as the efforts from countless generations of people had proven that the academy was the best place to nurture exceptional Soul Masters. As a result, more outstanding young talents flocked to the academy each year, and a positive reinforcement loop was formed, thereby granting Shrek Academy the influence that it went on to attain.


    The glory of Shrek Academy had been carried on the shoulders of generations of Shrek Academy students, particularly Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    In the wake of the academy''s destruction and the deaths of so many exceptional teachers, it was imperative for this first enrolment of the rebuilt Shrek Academy to go well.


    Shrek Academy''s enrolment criteria was very rigorous to begin with; if it couldn''t take in enough students, then the academy would be dealt a massive blow.


    If that were to happen, the Spirit Pagoda would be able to claim that the number one academy on the continent had fallen from its lofty pedestal. This was what Tang Wulin was most worried about.


    The sinister intent behind the Spirit Pagoda''s decision to set their enrolment date on the same day as Shrek Academy was plain to see.


    In terms of high-end power, Shrek Academy wasn''t inferior to the Spirit Pagoda. However, enrolment wasn''t a battle, and in terms of resources, the rebuilt Shrek Academy couldn''t compare with the Spirit Pagoda, particularly when it came to wealth and soul spirits.


    "The Spirit Pagoda is most likely going to steal students from us at all costs," Tang Wulin said with furrowed brows.


    Zang Xin nodded in response. "I would do the same thing if I were Qiangu Dongfeng. Only by severing the foundation of Shrek Academy will he be able to create a negative reinforcement loop that will herald the downfall of our academy. If we''re unable to enrol new students in the next few years, then the weight of controversy will pile up against us, and even the academy''s supporters will begin to have their doubts. This is going to be a stern trial for you, Wulin; you have to be prepared."


    Tang Wulin nodded with a grim expression.


    What was the focus when it came to competing for students? Was it wealth and resources, the benefits they could offer the students, or was it something else?


    What should he do?


    Tang Wulin was at a complete loss. The Spirit Pagoda was definitely well prepared.


    The temporary Sea God''s Pavilion of Shrek Academy had been constructed on a peaceful part of the Sea God''s Lake bank. This plot of land was protruding slightly into the Sea God''s Lake like a small island.


    In order to commemorate the past Sea God''s Pavilion, the entire building was constructed from wood, and only the elders of the Sea God''s Pavilion were granted entry.


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali and Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue both lived there, and there were currently 12 members in the Sea God''s Pavilion, comprised of Elder Long, Yali, Shrek''s Seven Monsters, Wu Zhangkong, Lan Muzi, and Tang Yinmeng.


    The spacious conference hall had been constructed to match the construction style of the old Sea God''s Pavilion as much as possible, and all of the seats around the long table were currently filled.


    Tang Wulin sat on the main seat with Yali and Elder Long on either side of him.


    The most important occasion in Shrek Academy was undoubtedly Sea God''s Pavilion conference, and Tang Wulin was holding one today for only one objective: to discuss how they were going to compete with the Spirit Pagoda in the enrolment battle.


    "The Spirit Academy is situated right beside the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, and the academy''s area is even larger than ours. According to the information we''ve gathered, Spirit Academy has two branches: the Soul Master academy and the mecha academy. Their enrolment is on the same date as ours, and they haven''t announced what they''re going to do, but it''s clear that they''re going to try and target us in many ways. The Spirit Pagoda is extremely wealthy, particularly after the creation of the Myriad Beast Platform, so we won''t win in a competition of resources. Does anyone have any good ideas for how we can compete against them?"


    The current Spirit Academy was still shrouded in mystery. There was only a month left until the enrolment date, but they still hadn''t released their enrolment conditions.


    The main issue was that no one knew anything about the academy, nor what it planned to do on enrolment day. However, it was clear that the academy was going to be targeting Shrek Academy.


    Lan Muzi''s brows were tightly furrowed as he said, "This is a very troubling issue. I''m worried that the Spirit Pagoda will employ tactics such as granting students soul spirits or even opportunities to enter the Spirit Ascension Plane and Myriad Beast Plane as an unfair advantage over us. In terms of soul spirits, they hold the absolute advantage, and soul spirits are inexpendable to all Soul Masters. Ever since the creation of artificial black soul spirits, the Spirit Pagoda has been on a meteoric rise, and many powers have become subsidiaries to them.


    "Even major organizations like the mecha pilot association have become very close with the Spirit Pagoda, so we''re definitely in for a stern battle. Most of our alumni will be willing to send their children to our academy, but if the benefits offered by the Spirit Pagoda are too alluring, then it''ll be very difficult to say whether they''ll be swayed or not."


    Elder Long said in a grim voice, "We''re all aware of this; what we need now is a plan. We need solutions, not a list of problems."


    Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng exchanged a glance, then both shook their heads to indicate that they didn''t have any ideas.


    Meanwhile, Wu Zhangkong was seated in silence with his usual cold expression.


    Unfortunately, it seemed that they had no choice but to admit that Shrek Academy didn''t hold any advantages.


    The past Shrek Academy was the number one academy on the continent, but even in its heyday, it would''ve struggled to contend with this new Spirit Academy. It was just that at the time, Shrek Academy was too powerful, and the Spirit Pagoda wouldn''t dare to target the academy like this.


    However, the Spirit Pagoda had clearly thrown all caution to the wind and were going for the jugular. The calm period that had preceded this turned out to be the calm before a lethal storm.


    If they couldn''t find a good solution to this problem, then Shrek Academy''s foundation really would be shaken.


    "Zhangkong, you''re the outer court principal; what do you think of this?" Elder Long asked.


    Wu Zhangkong turned to her, and replied, "Theoretically speaking, this is indeed a very difficult issue to face. We''re at an absolute disadvantage, and I''m sure the Spirit Pagoda will have a whole host of ways to lure good students to their academy. I can''t think of any solutions."


    Elder Long''s expression darkened even further upon hearing this. It seemed that this was an impossible problem to resolve.

 Chapter 1594: Face Them Head-on

    "However..." Wu Zhangkong suddenly continued, and everyone turned their attention back to him again.


    "Just because we can''t think of anything doesn''t mean there''s no solution. I suggest that we should add Old Demon Greed as a new member of our Sea God''s Pavilion. With his vast wealth of life experience, perhaps he''ll have some unique insights."


    Everyone''s eyes lit up upon hearing this.


    Of course, no one enjoyed seeing the old demons around, but they had to admit that all of them had benefited immensely from their "military training".


    The seven old demons were special teachers of Shrek Academy that were a secret to everyone else, and only the more core disciples were able to receive their training. Their small world was already stable, and only a small vortex was visible from the outside to indicate the Seven Saint Paradise''s existence, so no one knew what the interior was like.


    Tang Wulin turned to Long Yeyue, and the latter''s brows furrowed tightly as she said, "I really detest those old demons, but at the same time, I have to admit that they''ve contributed far more to the academy than all of us. Seeing as they''ve returned, there really should be a spot for them in the Sea God''s Pavilion, but only one!"


    Indeed, all seven of the old demons deserved to be members of the Sea God''s Pavilion, but if they were accepted, then the Sea God''s Pavilion would soon be tipped on its head!


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I agree. Teacher Wu, please invite Senior Greed to join us."


    "Alright." Wu Zhangkong departed, and a brief period of silence ensued. The situation was very dire, but no one had any good ideas.


    Shortly thereafter, Wu Zhangkong returned, and Old Demon Greed was hovering next to him.


    The old demon''s body appeared to be very substantial, completely unlike a typical soul body. He had a rotund frame with a benevolent smile on his face, and no one would think of him as a demonic being.


    However, those who were familiar with him knew that he was the leader of the old demons. The seven old demons were constantly bickering with one another, but anytime something important happened, they would all turn to Old Demon Greed for instructions.


    "Senior Greed." Everyone stood up and paid their respects to Old Demon Greed.


    Old Demon Greed made his way over to Long Yeyue with a warm smile, and said, "Can I sit beside you, Little Yueyue?"


    Long Yeyue''s expression immediately fell. "Do whatever you want."


    Old Demon Greed continued, "Don''t worry, I won''t tell anyone about what happened back then. It was just..."


    "Shut up!" Long Yeyue yelled as spiritual power surged from her body, only to be completely dispelled by a flash of red light released by Old Demon Greed.


    "Haha, alright, I won''t say anything," Old Demon Greed chuckled, then took a seat next to Long Yeyue, which had just been vacated for him.


    "How are things going in the Seven Saint Paradise, Senior Greed?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Everything''s going very well. The tree of life is doing a very good job, and the small world is just as stable as the main world. As long as nothing happens to the tree of life, the Seven Saint Paradise will have no issues. On top of that, all of us are thoroughly enjoying everyone''s company here."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I must request you and the other seniors to refrain from harassing the people in the academy."


    Old Demon Greed replied with a smile, "What do you mean by harass? We''re just testing everyone. Alright, I agree to join the Sea God''s Pavilion. Come to think of it, this was my greatest wish back when I was alive; I didn''t think it would come true now. Even though this is no longer the same Sea God''s Pavilion of the past, I''m still very happy. Truth be told, if you make me the pavilion master, I''ll get the academy back to its former glory in no time!"


    As expected of Old Demon Greed, he was making no effort to disguise his own greedy nature.


    Tang Wulin cleared this throat, and said, "Senior Greed, the academy has encountered a problem, and we''d like to hear your advice."


    Thus, he gave a brief summary of the situation surrounding Spirit Academy.


    After hearing his account, Old Demon rolled his eyes, and denounced, "You''re all a bunch of idiots!"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, while Long Yeyue''s expression darkened even further, and only Yali managed to maintain her smile as she asked, "Why do you say that, Senior?"


    Old Demon Greed rolled his eyes, and asked, "Let me ask you this: what is Shrek Academy?"


    Yali replied, "The number one academy on the continent?"


    Old Demon Greed continued, "What type of people do we teach?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Outstanding young Soul Masters."


    Old Demon Greed countered, "Wrong! We only teach monsters; we are an academy of monsters. What is a monster? Monsters aren''t just prodigies; when required, monsters have to be unreasonable. Why didn''t the Spirit Pagoda dare to found an academy in the past? It''s because Shrek Academy was too powerful for them to contend with. All of you think that we have to compete with them through conventional means, but since when have monsters followed the rules? Do you think Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters is just an empty title?"


    Tang Wulin felt as if his eyes had been opened to a whole new world after hearing this. Indeed, his thought process had been too orthodox and conventional.


    Old Demon Greed continued, "The best way to deal with the Spirit Pagoda is to face them head-on and spit in their faces!"


    Long Yeyue''s lips twitched slightly with amusement, and Tang Wulin''s eyes also began to light up.


    As expected of an old demon!


    One week later.


    Almost all of the soul television channels on the entire continent were broadcasting news about Spirit Academy''s enrolment, and Spirit Academy had also released a statement.


    In the statement, it was announced that the academy would be split up into a Soul Master branch and a mecha pilot branch. It was going to be situated beside the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, which meant that it was less than 15 kilometers away from Shrek Academy.


    The mecha pilot branch offered courses for white, yellow, purple, and black mechas, and the full term was 12 years. Students would be able to graduate once they became fifth-rank mecha pilots or above.


    There was also a divine grade mecha academy in the mecha pilot branch, and this was a joint venture with the mecha pilot association. All of the teachers in this prestigious academy were seventh-rank mecha pilots at the lowest, and there were even three divine-grade mecha pilots among them.


    As for the Soul Master branch, that was split up into a normal academy and an advanced academy.


    The full term in the normal academy was 12 years, and upon becoming a Soul Ancestor, one could choose to graduate or apply for enrolment in the advanced academy.


    In the advanced academy, all resources required for the students were provided free of charge, but after graduation, students had to work for the Spirit Pagoda for at least five years.


    All of the soul spirits required by students of the advanced academy would be provided by the Spirit Pagoda, and all of the teachers of the Soul Master branch were Spirit Pagoda Soul Masters, including 12 Titled Douluos and 24 Soul Douluos.


    Entrances to both the Spirit Ascension Plane and Myriad Beast Plane were going to be set up in the academy, and students could earn points through academic merit for chances to enter the two planes. The Myriad Beast Plane was only open to students of the divine-grade mecha academy and advanced Soul Master academy, and each student would only receive two free entries per year.


    At the same time, scholarships were being offered based on one''s powers. Students that exceeded rank 20 in soul power or became third-rank mecha pilots prior to turning 12 would receive full scholarships and a range of other benefits.

 Chapter 1595: Ready to Go

    All students to graduate from Spirit Academy would be prioritized for consideration to work at the Spirit Pagoda, and the first principal of the academy was Qiangu Zhangting.


    Qiangu Zhangting had actually wanted Gu Yuena to take on this role, but ever since that day, Gu Yuena had locked herself into seclusion. Qiangu Zhangting was desperate to see her, but there was nothing that he could do, and he had even quarreled with his own grandfather, who had thought of this idea.


    However, Qiangu Dongfeng merely brushed off his concerns, assuring him that engaging in physical relations with Gu Yuena was a massive step in the right direction. She would only be temporarily angry; the most important thing was that she had given herself to Qiangu Zhangting. At the same time, he now had full trust in Gu Yuena.


    Qiangu Zhangting had been made the first principal of Spirit Academy in order to further elevate his status to prepare for when he took over the role of Spirit Pagoda chairman in the future.


    Spirit Academy had been secretly under construction for a long time, even as far back as during the joust for a spouse event.


    This was the true trump card that the Spirit Pagoda held against Shrek Academy, and it had been prepared to deal Shrek Academy a lethal blow.


    Regardless of how one looked at it, the Spirit Pagoda held the absolute advantage.


    Shrek Academy had only just begun its reconstruction, and even with support from many different powers, they simply didn''t have many of the core resources required for a Soul Master''s cultivation.


    Nowadays, one could no longer just travel to the Great Star Dou Forest to obtain soul rings; soul spirits had become an indispensable part of cultivation. On the surface, the Spirit Pagoda was open to all Soul Masters, but in reality, the conditions offered by Spirit Academy would significantly reduce the cost of one''s cultivation. The temptation was simply far too great for young talents that weren''t that well off, just like Tang Wulin in his youth.


    Furthermore, there was also the Myriad Beast Plane. The Myriad Beast Plane was currently being hailed as the best thing since sliced bread, and it was earning the Spirit Pagoda a massive amount of wealth and influence.


    As such, even though Shrek Academy had spoiled the joust for a spouse event, Qiangu Dongfeng wasn''t concerned at all. He had been waiting for enrolment day to deal Shrek Academy the heaviest of blows. He was going to crush Shrek Academy with their absolute advantage in resources.


    The entire Spirit Academy was visible from the top level of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    The academy was constructed in a pair of hexagonal shapes, and each hexagon contained one of the Soul Master and mecha pilot branches.


    Gu Yuena was currently standing in front of her window, casting a solemn gaze down toward the academy.


    How was Tang Wulin going to face such a challenge? There was no sinister plot involved; this was the most straightforward of challenges, and that was what made it most difficult to face.


    This was the most vicious ploy Qiangu Dongfeng had up his sleeve!


    Gu Yuena was slightly concerned, but there was nothing that she could do.


    She had just regained Qiangu Dongfeng''s trust by placing Qiangu Zhangting into that illusion, and everything was progressing in the right direction, so she couldn''t afford to do something that would make Qiangu Dongfeng doubt her again.


    The ringtone of her soul communicator sounded, and she looked down at the number on the display, upon which a scornful look appeared on her face.


    "What is it?" she asked in a cold voice as she picked up the call.


    "Nana, how is your seclusion going? Staying indoors all the time isn''t good for you. The grand opening for our Spirit Academy is coming up in a few days; would you like to accompany me?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "No. Don''t disrupt my cultivation unless something important comes up."


    After that, she cut off the call. She was getting quite sick of pretending to be in a relationship with Qiangu Zhangting, and this gave her an excuse to temporarily avoid him.


    Qiangu Zhangting put away his soul communicator with a resigned expression. The blissful memories from that day still struck him with a sense of indescribable excitement, but the price seemed to be a bit heavy.


    He hadn''t seen her for a very long time. His only source of consolation came from the fact that he knew that she had been in the Spirit Pagoda this entire time, but things couldn''t just continue like this!


    "She''s still unwilling to come out?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked with a smile.


    A wry smile appeared on Qiangu Zhangting''s face as he nodded in response. "Look at what you''ve done, Grandfather! If you hadn''t put me up to this, I wouldn''t be in this situation."


    Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "Foolish boy, can''t you see she''s just playing hard to get so you''ll cherish her more in the future? Nana is a very staunch girl; do you really think you could''ve taken her against her will? Don''t forget that you''re no match for her in battle."


    Qiangu Zhangting''s expression became even gloomier upon hearing this. "I don''t understand, Grandfather. I''m already working very hard in my cultivation, and I''m not lacking in talent, either, so why is it that the gap between myself and Nana is only widening? Her combat prowess is close to the Limit Douluo level; I really don''t understand how she did it."


    Qiangu Dongfeng smiled, and said, "That''s not important; what''s important is that we can use her to our benefit. Nana is a very smart girl. Do you know why she didn''t reject you? In a sense, she''s putting on a show for me. She''s giving you the cold shoulder to express her displeasure about all of this, but she still engaged in physical relations with you to tell me through her actions that there''s no one else in her heart aside from you. Nana is just as intelligent as she is beautiful. If you can control her, she''ll most definitely be your greatest ally.


    "However, it looks like she''s more powerful than you, and there''s a very good chance that you''ll never be able to surpass her. Having said that, as long as she bears the child of the Qiangu Family, we''ll have her locked firmly in our grasp."


    Qiangu Zhangting sighed, "As usual, you''re much better at considering the full picture than I am, but I don''t think Nana is such a scheming character."


    Qiangu Dongfeng snapped, "That''s why you can''t compare with her! She''s far more wily than you think. Alright, don''t focus all your attention on relationship problems; enrolment is about to begin, and we have to make sure that nothing goes wrong. I''m going to ensure that Shrek Academy is forever dead and buried!"


    A hint of killing intent surfaced in Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes as he spoke. The Spirit Pagoda was in an unprecedented position of power that was completely unshakeable.


    As such, he had to take advantage of this opportunity to completely consolidate the Spirit Pagoda''s status, and Spirit Academy was an integral part of this. Once Spirit Academy replaced Shrek Academy as the number one academy on the continent, the Spirit Pagoda would become a truly insurmountable power.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was the most ambitious chairman in the past several centuries, and he had invested much of the Spirit Pagoda''s profits into research and development in soul technology.


    He knew that with the advancement of soul technology, mechas and other soul weapons were going to continue to take massive forward strides.


    This was why Soul Masters were no longer as revered as they had once been, and in this day and age, technology was the key to power.


    The foundation of the Spirit Pagoda was built on soul spirits, but what if soul technology became so advanced one day that soul spirits were rendered redundant? Would there be any point in Soul Masters then?


    However, if he were to grasp the most cutting-edge soul technology, then the Spirit Pagoda would always be the most powerful organization.


    Tang Wulin had managed to stop a war with the soul technology of the Tang Sect, and in the past, most of the Spirit Pagoda''s research had been directed toward soul spirits, but ever since artificial black soul spirits had been released, Qiangu Dongfeng was already directing more of his attention and resources into other ventures.

 Chapter 1596: Enrollment Day

    "Yes, Grandfather. Everything is ready to go, and it looks to me like Shrek Academy has accepted its fate. We''ve received widespread attention through our promotion of the academy, but Shrek Academy hasn''t displayed any reactions. I think they''re giving up because they know that they can''t compete anyway. You may think this is blind overconfidence, but even I can''t think of any way for them to turn the tables. In terms of resources, they can''t even begin to compare with us. If it weren''t for the potential repercussions that could arise, I was planning to announce that our Spirit Pagoda would refuse to provide soul spirits to all students of Shrek Academy. If we do that, I''m sure we''ll be able to completely stomp them into the dirt."


    Qiangu Dongfeng cautioned, "Stop spouting nonsense! That''s something that we absolutely cannot do as it''ll make us a public enemy to all supporters and sympathizers of Shrek Academy. Having said that, some things can be done in private."


    Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this. "What are your plans, Grandfather?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "After enrollment, make a tally of how many students Shrek Academy managed to enroll. I want to know the exact numbers so I can devise a plan to target them. Just because we''re not making any public announcements doesn''t mean we won''t pull any strings in the shadows. We''re going to make sure that they''re dead and buried once and for all."


    Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes lit up even further. "I understand, Grandfather."


    This was a tranquil and scenic day without a single cloud in sight.


    This was just an ordinary day for the Douluo Continent, but it was a very important day for the Soul Master world.


    This was the first enrollment day for the reconstructed Shrek Academy, and it was very apparent that Spirit Academy was also holding its enrollment day on the same day as a provocative gesture.


    The two academies were less than 15 kilometers away from one another, yet they were openly competing with each other.


    The success of the rebuilt Shrek Academy and whether it could contend with Spirit Academy would hinge on the results of this enrollment day.


    The benefits offered by Spirit Academy were undoubtedly far more practically alluring, but Shrek Academy had its illustrious history and traditions, so it wasn''t completely without chances.


    During the joust for a spouse event, the two powers had completely done away with all semblance of pleasantries. Which side was going to come out on top?


    Early in the morning, all of the major media crews had already flocked to the two academies. All of the media outlets had sent out two crews, one to each academy, in order to facilitate live comparisons.


    Sure enough, prospective students had already begun lining up in front of the two academies. The media was then greeted by the sight of two massive banners that were unfurled around 100 meters in front of the main entrance of Shrek Academy.


    The banner on the left read: "Spirit Academy, soul spirits for life", and the banner on the right read: "Make the right choice, or live to rue your decision".


    These banners were accompanied by two massive arrows pointing toward Spirit Academy, and beside the banners were over 30 soul buses bearing the hexagonal emblem of Spirit Academy.


    This wasn''t just provocation anymore; this was a clear threat to all those looking to enroll to Shrek Academy, and it was clear that the gloves were truly off.


    Two middle-aged men with powerful auras stood under the banners, and they were both clearly powerful Soul Masters.


    "Good morning, everyone, I am a reporter from the Bright City Television Station, and as we all know, today is enrollment day for Spirit Academy and Shrek Academy. We''ve only just arrived at Shrek Academy, and as everyone can see through these banners set up by Spirit Academy, the competition between the two academies is already very fierce. How will the prospective new students choose? Let''s interview one right now."


    The reporter was quite a beauty, and she made her way to the end of the line in front of the main entrance of Shrek Academy to interview a prospective student.


    All prospective students had to be no more than 12 years of age, so almost all of them were accompanied by their parents.


    "Hi there, why are you applying for Shrek Academy?" the reporter asked.


    The young boy at the end of the line replied in a slightly jittery manner, "Of course I''m applying for Shrek Academy! Shrek Academy is the number one academy on the continent; I really want to go there!"


    The reporter then pointed at the banners in the distance. "What do you think of these tactics being employed by Spirit Academy?"


    The young boy hesitated momentarily before turning to his father.


    His father replied, "I think these tactics are very unscrupulous. In my opinion, the most important thing in an academy is its culture, and through these banners, Spirit Academy is displaying a lack of basic decency and respect. Shrek Academy has produced countless exceptional Soul Masters over the past 20,000 years. We trust in Shrek Academy, and I hope my son can make it into the academy."


    The reporter asked, "What if your son doesn''t make it? Will you consider Spirit Academy then?"


    The middle-aged man faltered slightly before replying, "Perhaps."


    The reporter continued, "Spirit Academy is offering some very alluring benefits, including the prioritized provision of soul spirits and chances to access the Spirit Ascension Plane and Myriad Beast Plane; these are all beyond what Shrek Academy can offer. It seems that you must be quite well-off to persist with Shrek Academy despite all this."


    The middle-aged man''s brows furrowed slightly as he replied, "Investment is required when nurturing a child. Having said that, Spirit Academy''s resources really are more plentiful."


    The reporter said, "Indeed. With the tension between these two academies, I wonder if your child will have issues securing soul spirits from the Spirit Pagoda in the future if he chooses to study at Shrek Academy."


    The middle-aged man''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Surely not!"


    The reporter shrugged in response. "I''m not sure, either, but it seems that the relationship between the Spirit Pagoda and Shrek Academy really is quite strained. Alright, I have to interview some other people now; I wish you the best of luck."


    Many similar interviews were taking place in front of Shrek Academy, and almost all of the reporters had a clear bias toward Spirit Academy.


    Soon, people''s resolve began to sway, and some of them began to make their way toward the Spirit Academy buses.


    In response to this, Shrek Academy displayed no reaction and continued proceedings as normal.


    "According to our estimates, there are currently around twice as many people applying for Spirit Academy than for Shrek Academy. It seems that the resources being offered by the Spirit Pagoda have attracted a lot of people. We really want to know what Shrek Academy thinks of this, but they''ve refused all interviews, stating that they would like to focus wholeheartedly on enrollment procedures."


    "Look, everyone!"


    Right at this moment, a deafening burst of buzzing rang out from Spirit Academy, and over 300 mechas rose up into the air above the academy.


    These mechas were all of different grades, and they were led by three extremely eye-catching red divine-grade mechas.


    The three red mechas were flying in the air in a triangular formation, holding identical giant banners to the ones set up in front of Shrek Academy.


    The 300 mechas presented a very stunning sight to behold, and they were occasionally performing some aerobatic tricks as part of a show of power from Spirit Academy.


    Through its actions, the Spirit Pagoda was targeting Shrek Academy in the most straightforward way, rather than resorting to any sneaky tricks.

 Chapter 1597: Preliminary Assessment?

    Throughout the past 20,000 years, almost all of the most exceptional young Soul Masters on the continent would try to apply for Shrek Academy, and as a result, all other high-grade academies habitually set their enrolment dates later than Shrek Academy''s. The students that they would be receiving would be the ones rejected by Shrek Academy.


    However, the Spirit Pagoda had broken this convention on this occasion, and with its absolute advantage in the resources department, it was confident that it would crush Shrek Academy in this enrolment battle.


    Even if Spirit Academy couldn''t take all of the students, it would count as their victory if they could take over half of the most exceptional students. They were confident that with the resources provided by the Spirit Pagoda, these students would definitely develop to be no less exceptional than the students of Shrek Academy. They were determined to take the title of the number one academy on the continent, and once they managed to secure that title, it wouldn''t even matter if Shrek Academy continued to exist as it would only be an empty shell of its former self.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had devised this plan in order to not give Shrek Academy any chances.


    In contrast with Shrek Academy''s subdued display, Spirit Academy was like a peacock flaunting its canopy. The paths leading into the academy were lined with countless bouquets of flowers, and there were many people attending to the young applicants and their parents.


    Almost half of the employees at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters had been sent to Spirit Academy, and even Qiangu Dongfeng was going to be present in the academy until the commencement of the opening ceremony.


    The 300 mechas soaring over Spirit Academy were drawing gasps of awe and admiration from the crowd, particularly the three red mechas; all of them were radiating dazzling light, and even though they were smaller than the mechas of other colors, everyone knew just how powerful divine-grade mechas were.


    Even though divine-grade mechas couldn''t compare with four-word battle armor, a mecha pilot would have to at least be a Titled Douluo if they wanted to unleash the full power of a divine-grade mecha.


    How could such a stunning display of power and wealth not attract widespread attention?


    These three divine-grade mechas didn''t actually belong to the Spirit Pagoda. Instead, they were the best mechas that the mecha pilot association had to offer. The mecha pilot association was looking to collaborate with the Spirit Pagoda through Spirit Academy. If the association could establish strong ties with Spirit Academy''s mecha division, then there would be more and more exceptional young mecha pilots joining their association after graduating from the academy, and that would certainly be a very desirable outcome.


    Aside from the mecha pilots, there were also Soul Masters flying through the air, releasing their martial soul true bodies or displaying their powerful martial souls and soul spirits. It was as if a festival were taking place outside Spirit Academy.


    All of this had been painstakingly planned and prepared, and the Spirit Pagoda had expended this much effort to ensure that it could strike down Shrek Academy once and for all.


    It was clear that they were targeting Shrek Academy, but everything was being done fair and square, so no criticism could be directed toward the Spirit Pagoda.


    As the first principal of Spirit Academy, Qiangu Zhangting was overseeing the proceedings in person.


    A long line had already formed outside Spirit Academy, but the enrolment hadn''t officially begun.


    In 10 minutes, Spirit Academy was going to be extending a direct challenge toward Shrek Academy.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s heart was filled with excitement, but also a hint of anxiety. This was the first opportunity anyone had had in 20,000 years to truly surpass Shrek Academy, and this was an extremely important event for the Qiangu Family, as well as his lifelong dream.


    As the principal of Spirit Academy, he was standing at the very forefront of all of this, and if he were successful, his position in the Spirit Pagoda would definitely be elevated to a whole new level. At the very least, it would make up for the loss he suffered to Tang Wulin.


    So what if Tang Wulin was individually powerful? This was a world in which resources were integral.


    A resentful look appeared in Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes at the mere thought of Tang Wulin. He wanted nothing better than to tear Tang Wulin to shreds with his bare hands.


    "Is everything ready?" Qiangu Zhangting asked.


    An employee immediately replied, "Rest assured, Principal, everything is ready, and we''ve set up a total of 50 registration desks. After registration, everyone will immediately be taken to undergo examinations, and lodging will be provided in the academy for those who pass."


    Spirit Academy was covering all bases with registration, examination, enrolment, and boarding, giving students no chance to leave. To put it in simpler terms, no student would be allowed to leave, particularly not to defect to the enemy on the other side.


    "Good. Prepare for the countdown," Qiangu Zhangting said as he glanced at the time on his soul communicator with a cold light in his narrowed eyes.


    He had been waiting for this opportunity for a very, very long time.


    It had to be said that everything the Spirit Pagoda was doing was proving to be very effective. The performance they were putting on and the biased reporters they had sent to Shrek Academy were convincing more and more people to enrol at their academy, and it was clear that there were more students enrolling at Spirit Academy than at Shrek Academy.


    The clash between the two academies was about to begin!


    What everyone failed to notice was that there were a few unremarkable figures making their way into Spirit Academy''s registration area. Everywhere they went, the dense crowd would naturally part for them without even realizing it, and they soon arrived at the very front of the registration area.


    There were around a dozen of them in total, and they stopped as soon as they arrived at the main gate of Spirit Academy.


    They then quickly pulled two long rods out of a storage soul tool, then suspended a banner high up in the air.


    The banner read: "Preliminary Examination".


    One of the young men glanced at the time, then said to the parent of the child that was first in line, "Hi there, prior to registration, your child must undergo a preliminary examination. Please bring him over here."


    "No problem." The parent immediately did as he was told.


    Another chubby young man said to the small child, "Give me your hand."


    The young boy appeared to be around 11 or 12 years of age, and he extended a hand forward in a nervous manner.


    The chubby young man gently squeezed the pulse on his wrist, then said, "He''s passed; you may enter for registration."


    "Thank you," the parent said in a grateful manner before departing with his child.


    "Next."


    The next parent quickly brought their child over to the same young man.


    The preliminary examination was very quick, and it didn''t seem all that difficult to pass, considering the first child had passed so easily.


    Sure enough, the next child was also promptly granted entry after having his pulse briefly felt.


    At this point, registration had already commenced, and there were designated employees leading the children and their parents in through the academy''s main entrance.


    For some reason, all of them were struck by a sense of disorientation, but the registration process progressed very smoothly. However, none of the employees paid any heed to the group of people under the preliminary examination banner.


    Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion, and the parents had no reason to doubt that the preliminary examination had been organized by anyone other than Spirit Academy.


    After laying his hand onto the wrist of the 37th child in the line, the chubby young man''s expression suddenly lit up. "You''re a special case; you''re a monster, so you have to register somewhere else." He pointed to the area beside the banner as he spoke, and a door that was rippling with rainbow light suddenly appeared there.


    The parent was rather perplexed. "What''s the meaning of this? Why do we have to go somewhere else? My son is very exceptional; he''s always been top of his class back where we came from."


    The chubby young man smiled, and replied, "That''s exactly why we''re giving him special treatment! Go on now, don''t delay everyone else."


    "Alright, but what is this door?"

 Chapter 1598: The Airspace of Shrek Academy is Not to Be Encroached Upon

    The parent led the child over to the door of light with a confused expression, and the door seemed to be releasing some type of profound force of attraction, urging him to step into it almost in an involuntary manner.


    As soon as they strode into the door, they immediately disappeared, and the young man explained, "Those who we deem to be especially talented must go through that door to a special registration area. That place is similar to our Spirit Pagoda''s Myriad Beast Plane, so there''s no need to be concerned. Alright, next."


    Thus, everything continued to move along.


    The reporters were naturally able to see what was happening, but they also thought that this had been organized by the Spirit Pagoda. After all, none of the employees from the Spirit Pagoda were saying anything.


    Registration was also under way for Shrek Academy, and even though the benefits offered by Spirit Academy were very alluring, Shrek Academy was still the legendary number one academy on the continent, and many parents, especially those who were Shrek Academy alumni themselves, were still full of reverence for this sacred institution.


    Even though Shrek Academy had been destroyed, not a single student had perished despite the godslayer missiles that had been unleashed; how could one not trust an academy like this?


    As such, even though there were less registrants at Shrek Academy, the overall quality was still higher than the registrants at Spirit Academy. Spirit Academy was doing its best to sway people over to their side, but their efforts weren''t bearing much fruit.


    In Spirit Academy.


    "Principal, our sources tell us that there are still a lot of registrants at Shrek Academy, and our scouts say that they''ve seen at least four registrants with soul power in excess of rank 20."


    Qiangu Zhangting''s brows immediately furrowed upon hearing this. "Are these people idiots? What''s so good about Shrek Academy? They won''t even get soul spirits in the future."


    The employee didn''t respond. In reality, everyone knew that the reputation Shrek Academy had forged itself over the span of 20,000 years couldn''t be erased in a short time.


    No matter what Spirit Academy did, it was unrealistic to expect everyone to turn on Shrek Academy.


    "Should we take some other measures?" the employee asked in a low voice.


    A cold light flashed through Qiangu Zhangting''s eyes as he instructed, "Send them out; let''s see how Shrek Academy deals with them. They want to collaborate with us, so they''ll have to put in some work. Keep a close eye on the situation; make sure to constantly cause problems for Shrek Academy."


    "Yes!"


    Shortly thereafter, a group of around a dozen mechas suddenly detached itself from the rest of the 300 mechas and flew toward Shrek Academy.


    A voice then rang out across the entirety of Shrek Academy through the use of a voice amplifier.


    "I heard that Shrek Academy''s enrolment day is today, and that you also have a mecha department; are there any divine-grade mecha pilots among your ranks? I am divine-grade mecha pilot Meng Te, the vice-principal of Spirit Academy''s mecha division, and I''ve come to pay your academy a visit."


    A red mecha shot forth through the air as the voice rang out, and it reached Shrek Academy like a bolt of rapid red lightning, performing a few highly difficult aerobatic tricks during its flight.


    Under the radiance of the sun, the red mecha looked as if it had sprung to life, and it was giving off an extremely overbearing aura. All of the registrants down below looked up in unison, and right at this moment, a vast expanse of purplish-blue light suddenly appeared right above Shrek Academy''s main school building.


    The purplish-blue light had appeared very abruptly, and it was like a massive net.


    The red mecha was tangled up in the net of light, and a string of cracks and pops rang out, following which the once-majestic red mecha suddenly plummeted into Shrek Academy with sparks flashing all over its surface.


    It was as if... the red mecha were a fly that had just been struck by an electric fly swatter.


    An authoritative voice then rang out from within Shrek Academy: "The airspace of Shrek Academy is not to be encroached upon."


    The other mechas were speeding toward Shrek Academy in an overbearing manner, and all of them immediately halted in mid-air, while the mecha pilots were all stunned by what they had just seen.


    That was a divine-grade mecha! How had it suddenly been struck down? Surely even a Limit Douluo wouldn''t be able to strike down a divine-grade mecha in an instant! What had just happened?


    "How dare you, Shrek Academy!" An enraged voice rang out from another red mecha.


    "Release Meng Te at once!"


    The rest of the 300 mechas immediately flew toward Shrek Academy in a menacing fashion in the wake of this sudden turn of events.


    Shrek Academy had made a resounding statement by striking down a red mecha so easily.


    Who would dare to approach the academy after seeing that? If a yellow or purple mecha had been in the red mecha''s place, wouldn''t it have completely exploded?


    As such, not even a single mecha dared to approach Shrek Academy''s main school building, and all of the prospective students and their parents were left completely dumbstruck.


    That was so badass!


    They had also been concerned that the rebuilt Shrek Academy wouldn''t be as powerful as it once was, but it seemed that this preconceived notion may be incorrect.


    That was a divine-grade mecha! On the battlefield, a divine-grade mecha could transform the complexion of an entire battle on its own.


    However, such an almighty mecha had been instantly struck down without being able to offer any resistance; what type of attack could''ve achieved something like this?


    One had to realize that that net of purplish-blue light had encompassed quite a large area! With such incredible defenses, Shrek Academy was surely going to be an impregnable fortress!


    This was a product of the Tang Sect''s technological prowess. Zang Xin had once told Tang Wulin that the Tang Sect had recently just completed development on a super soul array defense system, and this system was the product of countless generations of effort and research.


    The system had initially been designed with the intended purpose of being used on spaceships for space exploration, not for the Tang Sect or Shrek Academy.


    No one knew what outer space was like, so it was imperative to have a powerful defense system. As such, this defense system was meant to be used on the federation''s aircraft carriers as an initial experiment, but after the destruction of Shrek City, all of those plans naturally changed.


    In the wake of such a horrific incident, the Tang Sect naturally wasn''t going to offer such an important piece of technology to the federation.

 Chapter 1599: Whoosh...

    Thus, Zang Xin had told Tang Wulin that this system was going to be reserved for Shrek Academy and the entire Sea God''s Lake. Once it was complete, even godslayer missiles wouldn''t post a threat anymore.


    Such a massive project couldn''t be completed anytime soon, but the prototype that the Tang Sect had developed was ready to be used, so it was installed around the three main school buildings to ensure the safety of that area.


    It could be said that the red mecha just now was the first test subject to face the wrath of the defense system, and as it turned out, the defense system was just as powerful as Zang Xin had proclaimed.


    "Whoosh!"


    Right at this moment, an object flew out of Shrek Academy, arcing through the air in a rough parabolic trajectory before landing outside the academy.


    This was a humanoid figure that was desperately trying to stabilize itself in mid-air, but seemed to be unable to do so.


    In the end, it landed facefirst right in front of all of the mechas amid a dull thump.


    This was a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties, and he had fallen to the ground in a spread-eagled fashion. He was completely nude aside from a pair of underpants, and the mechas had all quickly dispersed, thinking that this was some type of offensive projectile.


    As such, the area in a radius of 100 meters around him was completely empty, putting his near-nudity on full display.


    The atmosphere instantly congealed, and the high-grade mecha pilots at the very front were able to instantly recognize that this sorry-looking figure was none other than the vastly renowned divine-grade mecha pilot, Meng Te!


    Aside from his role at Spirit Academy, he was also once the premier mecha pilot of the Sea God Legion, an honorary chairman of the mecha pilot association, and was widely regarded as the most exceptional mecha pilot of the past century. He had invented eight different mecha maneuvers, and it was no exaggeration to say that he was a legend in the world of mecha pilots.


    However, this legend had just been hurled out of Shrek Academy in only his underwear like a dirty trash bag.


    Meng Te''s status among mecha pilots was equivalent to Mu Chen''s status among blacksmiths, and he had accepted the invitation of Spirit Academy as he had received financial support from the Spirit Pagoda during the earlier days of his cultivation.


    As such, he had maintained very close ties with the Spirit Pagoda, and he naturally wasn''t going to be absent on such an important occasion.


    As one of the mecha division''s three divine-grade mecha pilots, he was a very powerful man, yet he had been completely and utterly humiliated.


    However, even some of the people from Spirit Academy were struck by the urge to laugh.


    Meng Te was a very conceited man who didn''t have many friends, and was always very condescending to those around him. As such, even the other mecha teachers of Spirit Academy didn''t have a good impression of him. However, no one dared to oppose him due to his power and status.


    It was this very same arrogant figure who had just been thrown out of Shrek Academy in his underwear, and for those who couldn''t stand his cocky demeanor, they were somewhat satisfied by his sorry display.


    However, it was still very much worthy of alarm that a divine-grade mecha pilot was struck down and thrown out of Shrek Academy within the span of a minute.


    Furthermore, no one had even emerged from Shrek Academy to address the situation. Their enrollment continued as if they hadn''t even seen the 300 mechas, but none of the mechas dared to approach the academy.


    Was Shrek Academy still this powerful?


    Meng Te''s body was trembling as he struggled to his feet, and blood was flowing out of his nostrils. His face was completely flushed red, but it was from fury rather than from any physical injuries.


    The more arrogant a person was, the more they cared about their reputation, yet he had just been thrown out in his underwear in front of so many people, and he had even lost his divine-grade mecha; how could he bear such humiliation?


    He could still recall that his mecha had suddenly malfunctioned, following which a powerful electric current had struck his body, and his mecha then plummeted out of the sky.


    Divine-grade mechas were able to protect their pilots exceptionally well, so he wasn''t injured, but as soon as he landed, his mecha was opened from the outside.


    Divine-grade mechas had immense defensive prowess, and unless their pilot opened them from the inside, there should''ve been no way for such mechas to be opened from the outside.


    At the time, Meng Te was still paralyzed from the electric shock, and a thought had suddenly occurred to him: this divine-grade mecha had been constructed for him by the Tang Sect, so only people from the Tang Sect would''ve been able to open it from the outside!


    After that, he was wrenched out of the mecha by a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man didn''t say anything; he merely stripped Meng Te of all of his mecha pilot equipment and clothes, then threw him out of the academy like a piece of garbage.


    This was unforgivable!


    Meng Te was a Titled Douluo and a divine-grade mecha pilot. Even in the almighty Spirit Pagoda, he was treated as an esteemed guest; when had he ever been humiliated like this before?


    Meng Te felt as if his blood were about to boil over and spill out of his own body! He had recovered from his paralysis and was able to draw upon his soul power again, and he immediately released his nine soul rings before rushing directly toward Shrek Academy without paying any heed to his current appearance.


    None of the other mechas followed him in his maddened charge.


    It was one thing to provoke Shrek Academy, but directly attacking the academy was a major federal crime.


    All academies and schools were places of education to nurture the younger generation, so attacking any school was strictly prohibited by law and also heavily frowned upon.


    As such, Meng Te had only planned to issue a challenge to Shrek Academy. Issuing a challenge wasn''t a direct attack, and he was confident that Shrek Academy didn''t have any divine-grade mechas, so he was merely trying to embarrass them.


    However, he was now blinded by his own fury, and all he wanted to do was to destroy the academy to avenge himself. In contrast, the other mecha pilots were far more level-headed, and they knew that all of them would be in massive trouble if they were to attack Shrek Academy with Meng Te.


    Thus, Meng Te was the only one charging toward Shrek Academy.


    There was a long line of students and parents gathered in front of the academy, and they immediately began to panic at the sight of the enraged Titled Douluo.

 Chapter 1600: Asphyxiation

    Right at this moment, a figure emerged from within the academy. Her stunning beauty and short fiery red hair were both very eye-catching, and despite her slender figure, she gave off a mountainous aura.


    She looked to be in her early twenties, and she was wearing the most ordinary dark green Shrek Academy uniform, creating an interesting contrast with her red hair.


    She wasn''t walking very quickly but it only took her a few steps to pass through the crowd and face off against the maddened Meng Te.


    Meng Te''s martial soul was Air Control, and this was a very rare martial soul that was technically a mutation of wind elemental control. As a result, he had very accurate control over air, and that had helped him become a divine-grade mecha pilot.


    At this moment, all of the air around him was warping violently, and at the sight of the slender approaching figure, he lashed out without any hesitation.


    The air instantly compressed, and a massive white palm formed by compressed air instantly reached the red-haired young woman. The palm was over two meters tall, and a string of alarmed cries immediately rang out.


    This was an attack from an enraged Titled Douluo! Could that young woman really withstand it? It would be a real pity if a beauty like her were to die here!


    Even some of the mecha pilots in the distance had turned away, unable to bear watching any longer.


    Furthermore, if Meng Te were to kill someone in front of Shrek Academy, this conflict would be immediately escalated to a whole new level, and that wouldn''t benefit Spirit Academy at all. Competition was competition, but murdering was something else entirely.


    Right at this moment, the young woman sprang into action.


    Her expression remained unchanged in the face of Meng Te''s devastating palm, and she merely extended a pristine white fist in an unhurried manner.


    Her movements seemed to be very casual and harmless, but it was as if heaven and earth had congealed around her fist.


    The surrounding air suddenly began to revolve, and ripples began to appear over the surface of Meng Te''s giant palm. Those ripples quickly dispersed, and the extremely compressed air seemed to be on the verge of falling apart.


    "Boom!"


    In the next instant, a resounding boom rang out, causing the entire space to tremor violently, and the surrounding air erupted into the heavens like a tornado.


    Meng Te was struck by a sense of asphyxiation, and his body was instantly enveloped within a burst of invisible rotational force. It was as if the surrounding air had shackled him, rendering him completely immobilized.


    His forte lay in his ability to control air, but for some reason, it was as if the air had suddenly turned against him.


    The earth had become impossibly heavy, forcing him to plummet to the ground, following which the red-haired young woman stepped forward once again before slamming her pristine white palm directly toward his head.


    From the instant that the giant palm was nullified to the moment that the young woman reached Meng Te, only around a second or two had passed.


    "Stop!"


    Two loud cries rang out in unison from the other two divine-grade mechas. They had returned to their senses right as Meng Te was charging toward Shrek Academy, and they immediately realized what severe consequences would be incurred if Meng Te were to kill someone in front of Shrek Academy.


    Even though they weren''t exactly on friendly terms with Meng Te, they couldn''t just watch him commit such an atrocious act.


    Thus, the two mechas shot forth in a flash, streaking through the air like two bolts of red lightning.


    The divine-grade mechas were extraordinarily fast, and they managed to make it to Meng Te''s side a split-second before the young woman could reach him.


    The red mecha on the right raised its right arm to send a flurry of wind blades surging toward the young woman while also releasing a powerful repulsive energy barrier.


    The young woman''s expression changed slightly, and she instantly stopped before allowing herself to be sent flying by the energy barrier, then landed several dozens of meters away.


    "Calm down, Brother Meng Te." The other divine-grade mecha had already grabbed onto Meng Te to hold him into place.


    The two divine-grade mechas were completely different in design; the one on the right was a humanoid one with crescent blades on its arms, and it was extremely fast, clearly designed to be adept in melee combat.


    In contrast, the other divine-grade mecha resembled a huge bird and also possessed some properties of fighter aircrafts. It was also very fast, and there were many missile barrels on its surface, hinting at its enormous destructive capabilities.


    "Hmph!"


    The red-haired young woman harrumphed coldly as she adopted a horse stance, and as she did so, the gravity in a radius of hundreds of meters spiked drastically, giving both divine-grade mecha pilots quite a fright.


    Who was this young woman? She seemed to be even more powerful than the average Titled Douluo!


    Before they had a chance to say anything, the young woman''s body suddenly began to expand, and in the blink of an eye, she had transformed from a stunning young woman into a giant ape that was over 10 meters tall.


    The giant ape was entirely black in color, and a burst of terrifying battle intent erupted from its body.


    A gauntlet appeared on the massive ape''s right arm, and the gauntlet was reflecting extremely dazzling light, as if it had been carved out of diamond. The gauntlet covered the giant ape''s entire right arm, and it was so radiant that it was almost too bright to look at.


    The huge ape took a deep breath, and its body expanded even further. The ape then got even deeper into its horse stance, then thrust its right fist toward the two divine-grade mechas in a very slow manner.


    Despite how slow her movements were, everyone''s expression changed drastically as soon as she unleashed this punch.


    This was because the weather had suddenly changed.


    The sky had been completely bright and devoid of clouds just a moment ago, yet all of a sudden, it had become very dim.


    Clouds had suddenly begun to converge up above before surging downward, forming a massive rotating vortex that engulfed the giant ape''s entire body.


    All of a sudden, the surrounding air became very humid, and fearsome rotational air currents encompassed all of the mechas up ahead, not just the two divine-grade mechas!


    What kind of power was required to change the weather through a single attack? Who was this woman?


    The defenses of the two divine-grade mechas were instantly activated to the maximal extent, and in the next instant, both of them were struck by a burst of astonishing force.


    "Boom!"

 Chapter 1601: The Might of a Single Punch

    The massive cloud vortex spanned over a kilometer in length and over 300 meters wide, encompassing all of the 300 mechas within its scope of coverage.


    All of the students and parents in the distance had already been completely rooted to the spot, and they felt as if they were witnessing a god in action.


    Was this really something that a human could create? Wasn''t the federation constantly promoting the notion that mechas could already completely replace Soul Masters? How could this possibly be the power of a single human?


    Having said that, the human had just transformed into a giant ape, so was she even a human anymore?


    The ferocious storm lasted for close to 20 seconds before gradually subsiding, and after the dust settled, the giant ape had already disappeared.


    The red-haired young woman had taken its place again, and the dazzling gauntlet had appeared on her right arm.


    Her Shrek Academy uniform had disappeared, and she was only wearing a tight-fitting jumpsuit. Her face was slightly pale, but that was nothing in comparison with the terrible state that the 300 mechas were in.


    The 300 mechas had been organized in an orderly fashion just a moment ago, yet their formation had been completely shattered, and most of them were missing parts and appendages. In particular, all of the yellow mechas had virtually fallen apart.


    The mechas closer to the back had fared slightly better, while the mechas at the front had all been damaged to a certain extent aside from the pair of divine-grade mechas.


    The defensive prowess of two divine-grade mechas was truly astounding, but even they had been forced back by over 100 meters, damaging around a dozen other mechas that they had crashed into.


    All of this had been caused by a single punch!


    The most pitiful sight was presented by Meng Te. Everyone else had mechas to protect them, but he had nothing!


    Prior to the attack, he was protected by two divine-grade mechas, but he was then sent flying by the divine-grade mecha that subsequently crashed into him. Currently, he was moaning in a pile of scrap metal, and if it weren''t for his Titled Douluo level body, he would most likely be dead by now.


    "Who are you?" A roar of fury rang out from one of the divine-grade mechas, and the voice was also tinged with astonishment and horror.


    300 mechas led by three divine-grade mechas could qualify as an official federal mecha legion, yet it had just been wiped out by a single person.


    Of course, they had been slightly complacent, thinking that there was no way that a single person would be able to contend with all of them, but that attack had most definitely exceeded what was possible for normal Soul Masters.


    The young woman raised her head, and replied in a calm yet clearly audible voice, "I am a member of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Yuanen Yehui!"


    That''s right, it was none other than Yuanen Yehui who had unleashed that almighty punch.


    Ever since her progression to the Titled Douluo level and the resolution of her Fallen Angel martial soul issue, both her powers and mental state had improved considerably. It was as if she had been reborn anew, and during the past few months of arduous cultivation, her soul power rank had soared to 93.


    Her Divine Cloudvortex Fists had been completely integrated with the Divine Titan Fists to forge her own unique path, and as soon as she uttered the term "Shrek''s Seven Monsters", the eyes of all of the students and parents in the distance instantly lit up.


    The current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were only in their twenties, and the current leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was also the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, as well as the Tang Sect Master.


    Everyone had witnessed Tang Wulin''s incredible powers during the Trial of Five Gods, but the rest of Shrek''s Seven Monsters were far less renowned than he was.


    However, what everyone did know was this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were all quite young. Initially, everyone had thought that Yuanen Yehui''s youthful appearance surely belied her true age, but it turned out that she really was this young!


    The fact that she had reached such an incredible level in her twenties was a testament to the quality of education in Shrek Academy.


    Her almighty display sent adrenalin surging through everyone''s veins, and they became even more confident in their decision to apply for enrolment in Shrek Academy.


    In the distance, the massive banners set up by Spirit Academy had been blown into oblivion by that ferocious storm, and the two Titled Douluos beneath it had adopted defensive stances with awkward looks on their faces.


    Only a single person had emerged from Shrek Academy, and that had been enough to completely turn the tables. Furthermore, this person wasn''t a Limit Douluo; she wasn''t even a teacher of Shrek Academy. Instead, she was only a member of the current generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    All of the reporters that were stirring up unrest earlier were now completely rooted to the spot.


    The live broadcast had commenced from the moment that Meng Te had first approached Shrek Academy in his divine-grade mecha, and no one could''ve envisioned this outcome.


    "That''s a piece of four-word battle armor!" A stunned voice rang out from within the other divine-grade mecha.


    "I''m glad you''re not completely blind! Now piss off!" Yuanen Yehui said in an indifferent voice before making her way back into the academy.


    Four-word battle armor...


    Everyone was stunned once again upon hearing this.


    All of those who had heard the rumors immediately realized that the Sea God''s Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy really was a Divine Blacksmith capable of heavenly refinement!


    Otherwise, where had this four-word battle armor come from?


    Everyone was well aware of what a Divine Blacksmith entailed.


    This was the power of Shrek Academy!


    Just that single punch alone had instilled all of the registrants with immense confidence.


    All of the reporters had been rendered completely speechless, and no matter what they said, they wouldn''t be able to convince any of the Shrek Academy registrants to defect to Spirit Academy.


    Unbeknownst to everyone, as soon as Yuanen Yehui disappeared from view, she sat down onto the ground and began to gasp for air.


    Her gauntlet was slowly withdrawn into her body, and sweat began to pour down her forehead.


    That punch was by far the most powerful one she had ever unleashed, but it had also completely overexerted her.


    Her essence, energy, and spirit had been integrated to perfection, and her four-word battle armor had enhanced her powers to an incredible extent, but also taxed her body significantly. If the divine-grade mecha pilots had attacked her back then, they would''ve discovered that she was completely powerless.


    She wouldn''t do this in a normal battle as the energy expenditure was far too great. The total sum of energy unleashed by that attack was close to that of a Limit Douluo level attack, and there was no way she would''ve been able to unleash it if not for the string of breakthroughs she had recently made. However, that punch had exhausted everything that she had, and her objective was to intimidate her opponents.


    A faint smile appeared on her gorgeous face as she murmured to herself, "I bet they''re pissing their pants right now, haha!"


    A concerned figure arrived silently by her side. "Are you alright? That punch was exceptional; as expected of my daughter."


    The figure that had appeared next to her was none other than Yuanen Tiandang.


    Yuanen Yehui had been chosen for this role due to her status as one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, as well as to keep the fact that Shrek Academy had recruited new Limit Douluos a secret.


    The one who had thrown out Meng Te earlier had been none other than Yuanen Tiangdang.


    Yuanen Yehui was helped to her feet by her father, and she said, "Don''t worry, Father, I''m fine. That punch really took a lot out of me, but I feel like I''ve released all of my frustration through it. We''re going to make sure the Spirit Pagoda''s plan blows up in its face!"


    Yuanen Tiandang smiled and patted Yuanen Yehui on the shoulder. "Looks like you''re very confident. Aren''t you worried that something will happen to that little rascal in front of Spirit Academy?"

 Chapter 1602: Intensifying Competition

    Yuanen Yehui replied, "I''m not confident in him; I''m confident in Wulin. The Spirit Pagoda is actively provoking us, so we have to teach them a lesson. The biggest advantage for us is that the Spirit Pagoda doesn''t know the full extent of the high-end power we have. On top of that, they''ll also be reluctant to take things too far, and we have far more trump cards than they can imagine, the most important of which is the existence of the Seven Saint Paradise."


    A peculiar look appeared on Yuanen Tiandang''s face at the mention of the Seven Saint Paradise. "Those seven really are fearsome beings."


    Yuanen Yehui sighed, "Please don''t mention them. To be honest, I never want to see them again if possible. Have you been to the Seven Saint Paradise, Father?"


    A wry smile appeared on Yuanen Tiandang''s face. "I have, and I can understand what you mean. If I were in your place, I''d also want to avoid them like the plague. However, I have to admit that if I had undergone their training at your age, many of the subsequent tragedies in my life would''ve been avoided. Shrek Academy nurtures talent, while the seven old demons train the heart. Those who can pass their training will undoubtedly benefit immensely from it."


    Yuanen Yehui said, "It''s a good thing they''re on our side. This entire plan was devised by Old Demon Greed and Wulin; the Spirit Pagoda is going to be in for a nasty surprise."


    Yuanen Tiandang chuckled, "I''m looking forward to this. You go and take a rest for now."


    "Alright."


    News of Yuanen Yehui demolishing 300 mechas with a single punch spread like wildfire, primarily due to the presence of all of the reporters on the scene.


    The competition between the two academies was already common knowledge across the continent, and all of the high-grade academies and Soul Masters on the continent were keeping tabs on this joint enrolment day. In particular, the other high-grade academies were waiting to see which academy would come out on top before devising their own enrolment strategy.


    In the beginning, it seemed that Shrek Academy was destined to lose. The Spirit Pagoda''s resources were simply far too plentiful, but who could''ve imagined this sudden turn of events?


    Just a single punch had smashed the Spirit Pagoda''s momentum into smithereens!


    Yuanen Yehui had made the Spirit Pagoda''s provocation look downright laughable, as if they were a bunch of court jesters.


    Shortly thereafter, a stir began to run through the line outside Spirit Academy.


    "What is it, honey? I''m here lining up with our son... What did you say? One person from Shrek Academy demolished 300 mechas with one punch? Surely not! The mechas were in the sky just now... You''re right, they''re not over here now; they seem to have flown toward Shrek Academy earlier. My god, if that''s true, then this is insane! I heard that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters only attended Shrek Academy for less than 20 years. What should we do?... Alright, I''ll head over to Shrek Academy right away; our son is no slouch. Besides, even if we fail, we can always come back to Spirit Academy."


    Similar calls were taking place all throughout the line, and initially, only a few people began to defect, but it soon became a trend, and the entire crowd quickly erupted into a frenzy.


    At Spirit Academy.


    "What?" Qiangu Zhangting was fuming with rage after receiving the news. Not only had their attempt at provocation completely backfired, they had even lost a divine-grade mecha!


    "Principal, there''s already some unrest in the crowd; what should we do? We have to calm everyone down somehow!"


    "What a bunch of useless fools! You wait here; I''ll go see the chairman." Thus, Qiangu Zhangting immediately departed and headed toward the main school building of Spirit Academy.


    Before he had even reached the entrance of the school building, Qiangu Dongfeng had already emerged with a dark expression.


    "What do we do, Grandfather?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng hadn''t anticipated this situation, either. How had things turned out like this with three divine-grade mechas leading the way?


    He had to do something now. Otherwise, once the unrest spread even further, Shrek Academy would be able to turn the tables.


    Qiangu Dongfeng took a deep breath, and said, "There are two things that we must do: firstly, we have to prove that we''re more powerful than Shrek Academy, and secondly, we have to defuse the unrest at all costs."


    Qiangu Zhangting asked, "Then what should we do? There are already people defecting to Shrek Academy."


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied in a cold voice, "I''ll make a trip to Shrek Academy in person. In the meantime, make an announcement that all accepted students will be gifted a thousand-year-old soul spirit that suits their martial soul."


    "What? That''s way too much!" Qiangu Zhangting was given quite a fright upon hearing this.


    Qiangu Dongfeng snapped, "Consider the situation! It looks like this is a massive price to pay, but that''s only when considering the market price; I''m sure I don''t need to tell you the production costs of our soul spirits. Keep an eye on the situation here; I''ll go deal with Shrek Academy. I knew they wouldn''t take this lying down."


    Qiangu Dongfeng rose up into the air as he spoke, then flew away as a streak of light.


    Meanwhile, Qiangu Zhangting took a deep breath to compose himself, then instructed an employee to announce the new benefits Qiangu Dongfeng had just mandated.


    The 300 mechas were in ruins, and one divine-grade mecha pilot was in critical condition. All of a sudden, Spirit Academy had become a massive laughing stock.


    The mechas were scrambling to help one another, and some of the more heavily damaged mechas were carried away by the ones that could still function.


    Massive losses were going to be incurred in the aftermath of this incident. The repair cost for the damaged mechas alone was going to amount to a huge sum, and it was clear that Shrek Academy had no intention of returning that divine-grade mecha.


    Just as the two divine-grade mecha pilots were unsure of how to proceed, they received a call from Qiangu Dongfeng, instructing them to keep the situation in check and await the arrival of Qiangu Dongfeng himself.


    Shortly thereafter, dozens of figures flew over from the distance like a series of shooting stars. The group was giving off a sense of immense pressure, immediately drawing the attention of all of the registrants over at Shrek Academy.


    It appeared that everyone was going to be treated to a good show!


    There were over 30 figures in total, and they descended in front of all of the mechas.


    Even though Qiangu Dongfeng had already seen what had happened through the live broadcast, witnessing the pitiful scene live managed to fan the flames of fury in his heart even further, and he almost swore out loud.


    The two divine-grade mechas were opened, and a pair of middle-aged men emerged with strained expressions. This was truly a humiliating experience.


    The two of them didn''t know what to say aside from offer their apologies. "Our sincerest apologies, Chairman."


    Qiangu Dongfeng waved a hand in response. "I''ll take care of everything from here. Please come with me, but get the other mechas to return to the academy, and we''ll tally the damage there."


    The two divine-grade mecha pilots nodded in response. Despite their lofty status in the mecha pilot and Soul Master world, they didn''t dare to display any arrogance toward Qiangu Dongfeng.

 Chapter 1603: Give Me An Explanation

    Qiangu Dongfeng turned toward Shrek Academy, and said, "Greetings, Shrek Academy, I am Qiangu Dongfeng. I believe you owe me an explanation for damaging so many of our academy''s mechas."


    As a Limit Douluos, Qiangu Dongfeng was able to control his own voice in very profound ways, and at this moment, his voice was clearly audible to everyone present in Shrek Academy, as if it were the voice of the heavens.


    Right at this moment, a pleasant voice rang out from within Shrek Academy. "What do we need to explain, Chairman Qiangu? Your mecha pilots provoked our academy first, then even went as far as to attack our academy. There are so many students and parents here during enrolment; are we expected to just let them be attacked? How laughable it is that you''re asking for an explanation rather than apologizing to all of these people whose lives you''ve put at risk."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he could tell from this voice alone to whom he was speaking. "You''re right, Yali. I failed to keep my subordinates in check, and we''re in the wrong for provoking your academy. I apologize on Meng Te''s behalf. However, Meng Te has already been severely injured, and I''m sure that atones for his actions. His actions were a little excessive, but I''m sure he was just blinded by his rage, and his intention wasn''t to hurt anyone.


    "However, even after forcing back Meng Te, Yuanen Yehui from your academy still lashed out once again to damage hundreds of our innocent mechas, resulting in massive losses for us; does that not warrant an explanation?"


    "What a joke!" Yali chuckled coldly, "Would Yuanen have retaliated if those two divine-grade mechas hadn''t attacked her? Her only mistake is that she failed to hold back, but none of this would''ve happened if you hadn''t provoked us first. I''d advise you to go back, Chairman."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s brows furrowed even further upon hearing this. "I''m afraid I can''t agree to that, Yali. Meng Te was once the premier mecha pilot of the Sea God Legion, and he''s made significant contributions to the federation in the past. Even if he was in the wrong, he shouldn''t have had his divine-grade mecha taken away and been humiliated like this. Is Shrek Academy blatantly stealing his divine-grade mecha?"


    Yali replied, "Let me remind you of something, Chairman Qiangu: Shrek Academy was around even before the federation was founded. The airspace of Shrek Academy is not to be encroached upon; that''s not a rule that was only invented today. We''ve already done Meng Te a great favor by sparing his life. Even according to federal law, property owners are entitled to incapacitate and even kill trespassers with malicious intent. Are you saying you wouldn''t mind if we flew our mechas over your Spirit Pagoda for no reason?"


    Many of the students and parents waiting in line burst into laughter upon hearing this.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression darkened as he said, "In any case, return the divine-grade mecha and pay for the damage your academy caused to our other mechas. Otherwise, don''t blame me for using force!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng strode toward Shrek Academy as he spoke, and with each step he took, the earth would tremor slightly. It was as if the entire earth had transformed into a massive drum beneath his feet, and the students and parents in the distance were struggling to keep themselves upright.


    "Are you sure you want to do this, Qiangu Dongfeng?" Yali''s voice became even colder.


    Qiangu Dongfeng offered no reply and merely continued to make his way toward Shrek Academy''s newly constructed main school building.


    Even though he was only a single person, his aura as a Limit Douluo struck everyone with a sense of asphyxiation.


    The parents in the line had already retreated far away with their children. No one wanted to incur the wrath of Limit Douluo!


    The two divine-grade mechas and over 30 Soul Masters were all following along behind Qiangu Dongfeng, giving off powerful auras as they approached Shrek Academy.


    Right at this moment, a series of figures flew out from within the academy.


    With the emergence of these figures, the surrounding area suddenly fell silent, and Qiangu Dongfeng also stopped in his tracks.


    This was what he was waiting for!


    Of course, he wasn''t actually here for an explanation, and the loss of a divine-grade mecha wasn''t all that significant to the incredibly wealthy Spirit Pagoda. He had come here in person for only one objective: to strike back at Shrek Academy.


    Problems that could be resolved with money couldn''t be considered to be problems by the Spirit Pagoda, but this was not an issue that money could address.


    Around a dozen figures had emerged from Shrek Academy, led by none other than Tang Wulin.


    Holy Spirit Douluo Yali was flying by Tang Wulin''s side, but Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue was nowhere to be seen. Aside from them, there were Yuanen Yehui, Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng, Wu Zhangkong, and a bunch of other young faces.


    A glimmer of confidence flashed through Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes upon seeing this. Just as he had expected, Shrek Academy had fallen heavily from grace. In terms of high-end power, the academy only actually had two Limit Douluos, and Long Yeyue was already very old, so who knew how much longer she would be around for? Once Long Yeyue passed away, Shrek Academy would be completely at the Spirit Pagoda''s mercy.


    To his slight surprise, even the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect weren''t present in this group.


    Tang Wulin faced Qiangu Dongfeng with a smile, and asked, "Are you trying to bully our academy into submission, Chairman Qiangu? Do you think there''s no one in our academy that can oppose you?"


    A cold smile appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face. "I''ve already apologized on behalf of my people, but you owe me an explanation for the excessively forceful measures taken by your academy. Return that divine-grade mecha and pay for all of our damaged mechas, and I''ll let things slide. I hear that you''re the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master, so why don''t you make the final verdict?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and countered, "So what if we don''t pay up?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s smile became even more pronounced as he replied, "I understand that Shrek Academy is lacking in resources in the wake of its reconstruction. How about this? We were looking to expand the area of our Spirit Academy anyway; I''m willing to take these school buildings of your academy as compensation."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "I''m afraid that won''t do. Here''s my suggestion: we''re all Soul Masters, and when Soul Masters have disagreements, power reigns supreme, so why don''t we have a sparring match? We''ll have five one-on-one matches to decide this."


    Qiangu Dongfeng raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "I''m naturally not opposed to such an idea, but I can''t allow you to set the rules as you please, Sect Master Tang. Five one-on-one matches is nowhere near enough to display the depth of an academy, particularly the past number one academy on the continent, Shrek Academy." He had placed extra emphasis on the word "past" as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Then how many matches do you think is appropriate?"

 Chapter 1604: First Battle

    Qiangu Dongfeng replied with a confident smile, "We can keep the seven one-on-one matches, but I think we should add three two-on-two matches and a seven-on-seven match on top of that. Each person can only feature in one one-on-one or two-on-two match, and the one-on-one and two-on-two matches will be worth one point each, while the seven-on-seven match will be worth three points. The side that ends up with the most points will emerge victorious. If we win, Shrek Academy has to return our divine-grade mecha and pay for our damages.


    "Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters have always been the most powerful force Shrek Academy has to offer; surely you wouldn''t turn down the two-on-two and seven-on-seven matches. Oh, and seeing as these sparring matches are taking place between our two academies, people of the Tang Sect shouldn''t be allowed to participate, right?"


    It was clear that Qiangu Dongfeng was targeting Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi with his last sentence.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as a contemplative look appeared in his eyes.


    His voice was clearly audible to everyone, and this was a massive proposition.


    It seemed to only be a sparring match, but this was a direct clash of power between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda. The terms of the bet were completely inconsequential, but the outcome of this clash was going to determine which was the superior academy.


    "You''re not scared, are you, Sect Master Tang?" Qiangu Dongfeng goaded.


    A cold light flashed through Tang Wulin''s eyes. "I''d like to propose another change. If you ask me, two-on-two matches should be worth two points. Aside from that, I agree to your proposal."


    "Alright, I''m willing to accept that," Qiangu Dongfeng replied without any hesitation. Due to the fact that no one could participate in multiple one-on-one or two-on-two matches, a lineup of 13 people would have to be mustered up for those matches. The same people were eligible to participate in the final seven-on-seven match, but by then, the match would''ve most likely already been decided.


    Without the Tang Sect''s support, Qiangu Dongfeng was confident that the depth of Shrek Academy was inferior to that of Spirit Academy. He had dared to come to Shrek Academy, so of course he had some trump cards up his sleeve.


    Tang Wulin asked, "How will the selection sequence be decided?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "That''s simple. For the first match, you select your combatant first, then we select first for the second match, and so on."


    Tang Wulin countered, "In order to ensure fairness, we should select our combatants simultaneously. We''ll have a countdown clock, and both sides will send their combatants up to battle in the sky in unison."


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "Alright, that''ll work too."


    In his mind, Tang Wulin had lost as soon as he had agreed to this bet.


    "I''ll give you 10 minutes to prepare; the first match will begin in 10 minutes," Qiangu Dongfeng said as he retreated into the distance, while Tang Wulin and the others also returned to Shrek Academy.


    The downtrodden reporters had become extremely excited. Was there anything that could be more exciting than this?


    This was a clash between the most powerful beings of Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda!


    All of the reporters over at Spirit Academy were flocking to Shrek Academy as quickly as they could after receiving news of this.


    Of course, they would only dare to record footage from afar. This was a clash between extremely powerful beings; even the shockwaves could easily kill the reporters.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as a cold look surfaced in his eyes. Both sides were working out the sequences to send out their combatants, and this was both a clash of power and a battle of intelligence.


    Registration was still under way at Shrek Academy, but none of the parents and students were interested in registering anymore. All of them had sat down in the distance to await the commencement of this once-in-a-lifetime clash.


    10 minutes quickly passed by, and Tang Wulin and Qiangu Dongfeng emerged from their respective sides to face one another.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    As the countdown timer ran out, one person from each side flew directly up into the sky.


    The Spirit Pagoda had sent out a nondescript-looking middle-aged man who was very ordinary both in appearance and figure.


    However, as he rose up into the air, he released a total of nine black soul rings, reflecting his power as a Titled Douluo.


    This first match was an opportunity for both sides to test one another, as well as to set the tone for the rest of the clash. The winning side would undoubtedly have their morale raised, while the opposite would apply to the losing side.


    The one chosen by Shrek Academy was Lan Muzi, who was far less renowned to the outside world than Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    His age was actually around the same as Wu Zhangkong''s, but he was nowhere near as cold and forbidding as Wu Zhangkong was. Instead, he always wore a benevolent smile and got along well with everyone in the academy.


    Prior to the destruction of Shrek City, he was already very popular in the inner court, and even without that disaster, he would''ve definitely become a member of the Sea God''s Pavilion sooner or later.


    Lan Muzi slowly rose up into the air, and it was as if there were a cloud beneath his feet carrying him to greater heights.


    Up to this point, he still hadn''t released his martial soul or his soul rings, and even now, he still wore a faint, warm smile.


    Both sides had their attention fixed on one another as they rose up into the air. Faint light was flashing within Lan Muzi''s eyes, while the man from the Spirit Pagoda wore a solemn expression, and a pair of battle axes had appeared in his hand as he released his martial soul.


    The axes were of a crimson color and were giving off a faint scent of blood and gore. As soon as these battle axes had appeared, a burst of fierce killing intent had also erupted out of the man''s body.


    "Bloodlust Douluo Yun Tianheng!" Lan Muzi exclaimed.


    Even though this was Lan Muzi''s first time seeing this man, his Bloodlust Battle Axes were far too renowned, making him very easily identifiable.


    Yun Tianheng smiled, and his ordinary facial features suddenly became very menacing; even his eyes had turned a crimson color.


    This Bloodlust Douluo was extremely vastly renowned in the Soul Master world. His martial soul was the Bloodlust Battle Ax, and he had studied in Shrek Academy in his formative years.


    He had passed the examination to be accepted into the outer court with flying colors, and it had only taken him four years to become a one-word battle armor master and graduate from the outer court.


    It appeared that he was destined to become an exceptional inner court disciple, and his mentors had all been full of praise toward him, thinking that he was going to become a pillar of the inner court.


    This Bloodlust Douluo was currently roughly 60 years of age and had attended Shrek Academy even before Lan Muzi had been born. However, he only stayed in the inner court for a total of around half a year before he was expelled.

 Chapter 1605: Yang Wood Saber

    This was because the academy had discovered that he had a massive problem, which was his bloodlust.


    During his youth, Yun Tianheng''s family had been struck by misfortune, leading him to develop a very twisted and introverted personality. He rarely communicated with anyone, and his problems weren''t very apparent when he first entered the academy. On the surface, he seemed to be a driven and hard-working young man.


    However, his true nature was revealed during an incident, leading to his expulsion.


    By the time Yun Tianheng left Shrek Academy, his cultivation rank was already very high, but due to the fact that Shrek Academy had confiscated his battle armor and had expelled him, he had been reduced to a normal Soul Master, and a very unpopular one, at that.


    After that, he joined the Spirit Pagoda, and that was when he had begun forging his notorious reputation.


    He was the first person to lay waste to the entire elementary Spirit Ascension Plane.


    According to the rules of the elementary Spirit Ascension Plane, there was a time limit, but he somehow managed to bypass that time limit, and apparently, he had done so through bribing the employees at the Spirit Pagoda.


    After that, he cultivated for an entire year in the elementary Spirit Ascension Plane. During that year, he slew almost all of the soul beasts in the elementary Spirit Ascension Plane in order to enhance his own soul spirits, and he had even targeted the other Soul Masters that entered the elementary Spirit Ascension Plane. Among those Spirit Ascension Planes, many of them were horrifically tortured before being killed by him, and after returning to the real world, all of them developed severe mental problems.


    There were people who theorized that it was quite possible that Yun Tianheng had been allowed to stay in the Spirit Ascension Plane by the Spirit Pagoda in order to prevent other Soul Masters from being able to stay in there for too long. However, after this was exposed, the Spirit Pagoda announced that this was an error on their part, and that all of the employees involved had been fired.


    After that, Yun Tianheng had participated in several federal culls of sea soul beasts, slaying countless sea soul beasts with his battle axes.


    As for whether he had ever killed any people, that was a mystery, but he was definitely a dangerous strike weapon for the Spirit Pagoda. In the Spirit Pagoda, his role was that of an enforcer. As for what laws he was enforcing, that was something that only the Spirit Pagoda knew.


    The Spirit Pagoda had sent out such a notorious figure for the first battle, clearly with the intention of giving Shrek Academy a beatdown from the get-go.


    At this point, both of them had already reached an altitude of over 300 meters, and Yun Tianheng lashed out first, hurling the battle ax in his right hand directly toward Lan Muzi with devastating force.


    All of a sudden, a vast expanse of red mist appeared in the sky, and a ferocious face was manifested within the mist, opening its cavernous mouth to reveal rows of sharp fangs.


    Only now did Lan Muzi release his own martial soul in an unhurried manner. This was a long saber that was around three feet in length, and it was completely nondescript in appearance, looking as if it had been constructed from normal wood.


    He also possessed nine black soul rings, and in the instant that this wooden saber appeared, it was as if his eyes had lit up, and a layer of faint reddish-golden light had emerged around him.


    The reddish-golden light enveloped his body like a wheel, and Lan Muzi raised his right hand as his first soul ring lit up.


    The reddish-golden light around him instantly turned scorching hot, transforming into three scintillating golden suns.


    Three resounding clangs rang out in rapid succession, and the Bloodlust Battle Ax was repelled. Even more importantly, most of the vast expanse of crimson mist had also dissipated.


    On the ground below, everyone was looking up at the showdown taking place in the sky.


    Lan Muzi had always kept such a low profile that even the people of Shrek Academy had rarely ever seen him in action, so the Spirit Pagoda naturally had no information about what his martial soul was.


    Lan Muzi had volunteered to take part in this first match. He was once the eldest senior disciple brother of the inner court, and Tang Wulin naturally agreed to his request.


    Currently, everyone was waiting for Lan Muzi to display his true power, and the sight of him nullifying Yun Tianheng''s attack in such a nonchalant manner instilled everyone with great confidence.


    Furthermore, it seemed that Lan Muzi''s martial soul was capable of suppressing Yun Tianheng to a certain extent.


    Yali smiled, and said, "Don''t worry, Wulin, Lan Muzi is more powerful than you''d expect. Prior to your emergence, Brother Ming told me that Lan Muzi was the one he saw to be most fit to succeed him."


    Tang Wulin turned to Yali with a surprised expression. "Then doesn''t that mean..."


    Yali shook her head, and said, "Lan Muzi has the most placid personality out of anyone that I know, and that''s directly correlated to his martial soul. He''s never been one to compete with others or hold grudges, and that''s why he gets along with everyone. Almost every single person in the academy has a positive impression of him; that''s not a simple task to achieve. In spite of his easy-going personality, his mental fortitude is exceptional. He was once rated by the seven old demons to be the hardest case to crack as almost nothing could draw a strong emotional response out of him. Of course, he didn''t go to the demonic island with Tang Yinmeng for his military training."


    Tang Wulin asked, "What''s Senior Disciple Brother Lan''s martial soul?"


    Yali replied, "It''s the Yang Wood Saber, and it''s very special in that it''s completely unique throughout all of history."


    This came as quite a shock to Tang Wulin. After all, even his Bluesilver Emperor wasn''t unique, and all unique martial souls were generally very powerful.


    Yali continued, "Brother Ming had told him that due to the unique nature of his martial soul, he should refrain from engaging in battle unless it was necessary in order to save himself as a secret trump card for the academy."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. Only then did he realize just how powerful this senior disciple brother of his was. At the same time, he suddenly realized something: even Wu Zhangkong respectfully referred to Lan Muzi as his senior disciple brother. Considering how proud Wu Zhangkong was, he definitely wouldn''t be so willing to refer to Lan Muzi as his senior unless Lan Muzi''s powers were at least comparable to his.


    Did this mean that Lan Muzi was even more powerful than Teacher Wu?


    He had been the likeliest successor to the Atlas Douluo at some point, so he would at least have to possess the aptitude to become a Limit Douluo in the future.


    This was truly an unexpected pleasant surprise!


    Yun Tianheng caught his Bloodlust Battle Ax in mid-air, and his expression also faltered slightly. This first attack was more of a testing blow rather than a full-blooded strike, but his Bloodlust Battle Axes possessed extreme destructive power, and even a testing blow would normally be quite difficult to handle for opponents of the same caliber as himself. However, his opponent had nullified the attack with ease with just his first soul skill. What was even more concerning to Yun Tianheng was that the Bloodlust Battle Aura of his martial soul had also been dispelled as his opponent released their martial soul.


    Bloodlust Battle Aura was his second soul skill, and it was naturally released during battle, making it an extremely rare passive soul skill.


    Bloodlust Battle Aura wasn''t a directly offensive soul skill, but it could constantly affect the opponent in subtle ways, instilling fear, panic, and other negative emotions into their hearts, while also enhancing the power of the Bloodlust Battle Axes.


    As such, Yun Tianheng would often become more and more powerful the longer a battle wore on for.


    As long as his soul power didn''t run out, his powers would continue to elevate, and this was precisely due to this second soul skill.

 Chapter 1606: Spring Sun and White Snow

    However, his opponent''s soul skill had somehow been able to dispel some of his Bloodlust Battle Aura, and that came as quite a surprise to Yun Tianheng, particularly because this was only his opponent''s first soul skill.


    Lan Muzi drifted forward in a seemingly slow and nonchalant manner, but he arrived beside Yun Tianheng in the blink of an eye before slashing his wooden saber through the air again. It was still his first soul skill that was unleashed, and the three scintillating suns reappeared before dispersing in mid-air, then crashed toward Yun Tianheng from three different directions.


    This first soul skill of Lan Muzi''s was Three Sun Strike!


    On this occasion, Yun Tianheng noticed that his Bloodlust Battle Aura was melting away in the presence of the three suns, like snow and ice under scorching sunlight.


    He brandished his axes, and he suddenly grew slightly taller as he let loose a loud roar while a burst of even more ferocious Bloodlust Battle Aura erupted out of his body. His Bloodlust Battle Axes instantly shattered the three suns, and at the same time, he began to rotate at a rapid speed, sweeping toward Lan Muzi like a tornado.


    This was his third soul skill, Devouring the Starry Heavens!


    Lan Muzi retreated a half-step before suddenly slashing his wooden saber through the air, and it appeared as if he were completely ignoring Yun Tianheng and targeting nothing in particular with his attack.


    However, right in this instant, the entire sky suddenly turned a reddish-golden color. This didn''t just apply to a certain area; the reddish-golden color had spread as far as the eyes could see in all directions.


    The light then faded in a flash, but as it did so, all of the Bloodlust Battle Aura around Yun Tianheng and on his battle axes instantly vanished.


    Yun Tianheng himself also became quite sluggish as he rotated on the spot like a spinning top, seemingly having lost track of Lan Muzi.


    This was Lan Muzi''s second soul skill, Spring Sun and White Snow!


    A serious look appeared on Lan Muzi''s face as he suddenly raised his saber high up into the air, and another ball of sunlight appeared, but this one was several times larger than the previous balls of sunlight.


    However, it was nowhere near as bright and exuberant. Instead, it was like the dying flame of a candle, and it was imbued with a sense of forlorn loneliness as it descended toward Yun Tianheng.


    This was Lan Muzi''s third soul skill, Final Sunset!


    Yun Tianheng was currently in a very frustrating situation. He felt like he was punching a bag of feathers, and despite the enormous power that he possessed, he was simply unable to unleash any of it.


    He suddenly swept his battle axes upward amid a thunderous roar, and his body abruptly reared upward.


    At the same time, he began to release a formidable aura, and two crimson blades of light erupted out of his Bloodlust Battle Axes in a criss-cross formation.


    This was his Bloodlust Cross Storm!


    The two crimson blades of light clashed with the Final Sunset, and the entire sky seemed to fall still for a moment, following which the Final Sunset erupted into countless streaks of radiance that dispersed in all directions.


    In contrast, the Bloodlust Cross Storm exploded in a flash, transforming into a pair of even more massive blades of light that reached Lan Muzi in an instant.


    Lan Muzi swept his right hand through the air, unleashing Spring Sun and White Snow once again.


    The same reddish-golden light flashed over the heavens, and the Bloodlust Cross Storm instantly disappeared!


    It seemed that Spring Sun and White Snow had the ability to nullify all energy-based attacks!


    Even though this was only Lan Muzi''s second soul skill, it was definitely one of his most important soul skills.


    Having dispelled Yun Tianheng''s attack, Lan Muzi slashed his saber through toward the oncoming Yun Tianheng, but on this occasion, it was his fourth soul ring that lit up.


    Another ball of sunlight emerged, but compared to the previous ones, this one was looking rather insubstantial and illusionary.


    Yun Tianheng didn''t pause in the slightest as his entire body instantly turned a crimson color, and he pounced forward like a ferocious beast while swinging his Bloodlust Battle Axes through the air.


    All of a sudden, countless despairing wails suddenly rang out, and the surrounding area seemed to have dimmed significantly.


    This was his Bloodlust Heavenly Demon Slash!


    Lan Muzi''s brows furrowed slightly as if he were witnessing something unsavory, but his attack remained unchanged.


    The insubstantial ball of sunlight was almost instantly destroyed by the Bloodlust Heavenly Demon Slash, which continued on toward Lan Muzi, but right at this moment, Lan Muzi''s body suddenly became just as insubstantial as that ball of sunlight had been.


    Yun Tianheng''s attack surged through Lan Muzi''s body, only for it to completely disintegrate into specks of light, immediately following which another Lan Muzi and a far more substantial ball of sunlight appeared behind Yun Tianheng before striking him on the back.


    Yun Tianheng gave a muffled groan as his body was thrown forward.


    A thick suit of crimson battle armor was released to withstand most of the force of that attack, but his eyes were burning with fury.


    The fact that he had been forced to release his suit of battle armor first was a partial concession of inferiority.


    The saber strike that Lan Muzi had unleashed was his fourth soul skill, Yin Yang Illusion, while his fifth soul skill, Yin Yang Paradox, had nullified Yun Tianheng''s Bloodlust Heavenly Demon Slash.


    It was the combination of these two soul skills that had allowed Lan Muzi to suddenly turn the tables.


    If it weren''t for Yun Tianheng''s vast wealth of battle experience prompting him to instinctively release his suit of battle armor, he would''ve most likely already been severely wounded by that attack.


    "Looks like I underestimated you." Yun Tianheng''s eyes were glowing with crimson light, but his expression had become extremely cold.


    In contrast with mindless bloodthirsty individuals who lost their sense of reasoning in the heat of battle, he only became more alert and more dangerous the angrier he became.


    He had been forced onto the back foot primarily because he didn''t know enough about Lan Muzi. Lan Muzi''s Yang Wood Saber was extremely unpredictable, and each of his soul skills was very unique. After just a few clashes, Yun Tianheng was already aware that he was facing no ordinary opponent.


    Down below, Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression remained quite calm, but his eyelids were twitching slightly. As for everyone over at Shrek Academy, all of them were naturally very pleased to witness this turn of events.


    This was the true power of Lan Muzi, the senior disciple brother of the inner court.


    Following the release of his suit of three-word battle armor, a massive halo filled with crimson sawblade patterns appeared beneath Yun Tianheng''s feet, and his aura also transformed drastically.


    His Bloodlust Battle Aura surged forth to form a crimson cloud, which carried him as it hovered in mid-air.


    Lan Muzi also released his suit of battle armor, which was white in color, but gave off a reddish-golden light. At the same time, a sun-like pattern also appeared near the front tip of his saber''s blade.


    Thus far in the battle, the spontaneity of Lan Muzi''s unique martial soul had been utilized to great effect.


    The suits of three-word battle armor worn by the two combatants were of drastically different styles.


    Yun Tianheng''s suit of three-word battle armor was glowing with crimson light, and there were sinister ghostly faces engraved onto his breastplate and pauldrons.


    Almost all of the patterns on the suit of battle armor were similar in design, and it was extremely thick and heavy, clearly possessing exceptional defensive prowess.


    In contrast, Lan Muzi''s suit of battle armor was a lot more refreshing. It was pristine white with faint golden sun patterns on its surface, accentuating his tall and handsome appearance. The suit of battle armor was also very complex with layered pauldrons, and a pair of massive wings etched with feather designs.


    The sun pattern on the breastplate was very eye-catching, and it looked as if it could explode and flourish at any moment.


    There was a metallic component on the hilt of his Yang Wood Saber that connected it to the battle armor on his right hand, and his helmet was comprised of a metallic headband with a sun in the middle, at the very center of which was embedded a golden gem.


    This was definitely a get-up that would make countless young women swoon.


    Faint reddish-golden light revolved around his body, and even though he wasn''t releasing a ferocious aura like Yun Tianheng''s there was not even a single trace of crimson light all around him.


    Yun Tianheng raised his pair of battle axes, and the bat wings of his battle armor on his back spread open while the crimson cloud beneath him transformed into a massive crimson wave that propelled him forward.


    "Die!" Yun Tianheng roared as he hurled both of his battle axes forward at once, and countless howls of anguish rang out across the entire sky, as if hell had descended upon this world.

 Chapter 1607: Omen of 106

    All of the students and parents down below were horrified by these ghastly howls. Their souls were trembling in their bodies, and they felt as if their minds were about to fall apart.


    Right at this moment, a burst of holy music rang out, and a layer of white light spread through the area, encompassing all of the students and parents within it.


    All of them were struck by a sense of warmth and comfort, as if they were basking in their mother''s embrace. This wonderful feeling created a stark contrast with the horror they had experienced just a moment ago.


    This holy light had naturally come from none other than Yali, and Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this.


    Had she consolidated her Limit Douluo cultivation rank this quickly? After completing this consolidation process, she would be a true demigod.


    It would be extremely difficult to take a further step from there, but demigods already stood at the pinnacle of the continent.


    Furthermore, the Holy Spirit Douluo was undoubtedly the number one healer on the entire planet with no competition!


    Even Qiangu Dongfeng didn''t want to make an enemy of Yali unless it was absolutely necessary, and the reason for that was very simple: who didn''t have family or friends? If a loved one were to suffer an ailment or injury that was extremely difficult to cure or recover from, only Yali would be able to help them.


    As such, if there were one person that Qiangu Dongfeng was most reluctant to target, then Yali definitely topped the list.


    A Limit Douluo level healing system Soul Master could virtually ensure the survival of everyone in Shrek Academy regardless of what grievous injuries they suffered.


    In the face of Yun Tianheng''s full-power strike, a serious look had appeared on Lan Muzi''s face.


    The pair of battle axes expanded drastically to over five meters in length in the blink of an eye as they flew through the air, and one of them was rotating in a clockwise direction, while the other was revolving in an anti-clockwise fashion.


    Bloodlust Battle Aura was surging into the axes in a frenzy, and they were hurtling through the air like a pair of crimson tornados, accompanied by waves of ghastly howls and despairing wails.


    Yun Tianheng''s sixth soul ring had lit up, and under normal circumstances, his sixth soul skill wouldn''t be that powerful, but it was currently being enhanced by his suit of three-word battle armor.


    Yun Tianheng was currently a rank 95 Hyper Douluo, and having hailed from Shrek Academy, his combat prowess was superior to that of even the average Hyper Douluo. Now that he was being enhanced by his battle armor, his offensive power was truly formidable.


    All of a sudden, Lan Muzi began to move rapidly through the air as if he had broken into a dance. The reddish-golden light around him suddenly brightened significantly, then abruptly exploded before compressing into a series of tiny black dots that resembled flies.


    Right at this moment, Lan Muzi''s voice rang out. "Drought, frost, plagues of locusts, famine, disease, natural disasters. Take this, Omen of 106!"


    Countless specks of black light instantly blossomed into streaks of black lines, plunging into the two massive oncoming vortexes like lightning.


    Bursts of black light immediately began to erupt out of the pair of crimson vortexes, and large areas of Bloodlust Battle Aura were melted away.


    In the blink of an eye, the two giant vortexes were already riddled with holes.


    Lan Muzi reappeared as he raised his Yang Wood Saber high up into the air, and what remained of the black dots in the air suddenly surged into his saber, turning it as black as ink.


    He then slashed his saber through the air, and a black saber projection reached Yun Tianheng in a flash.


    Lan Muzi had been quite passive throughout this entire battle, and it was the first time that he was taking the initiative to unleash a direct attack.


    Yun Tianheng was quite startled by this sudden attack.


    His battle axes still hadn''t returned yet, so he was completely unarmed. In the face of the oncoming black saber projection, he could only raise his arms to form a shield and inject his soul power into his battle armor with all his might to create a protective barrier.


    A crisp crack rang out as the protective barrier was instantly shattered, and those specks of black light immediately swept over his entire body.


    They seemed to possess extremely fearsome corrosive properties, and Yun Tianheng''s suit of three-word battle armor quickly became dull and devoid of luster, while its surface became riddled with pits and bumps.


    All of the bystanders down below were stunned to see this. Prior to releasing his suit of battle armor, Yun Tianheng seemed to have all of the initiative and momentum, but why had the situation suddenly been reversed? Furthermore, what was this Omen of 106, and how was it this powerful? It was only Lan Muzi''s sixth soul skill!


    Yun Tianheng was a Hyper Douluo and a three-word battle armor master; it was incredible that a single attack was able to reduce him to such a sorry state.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Mother, what is this Omen of 106?"


    Yali replied, "In ancient times, it was said that a ''yuan'' consisted of 4,617 years, and the first 106 years of each yuan was always filled with disasters, so it was an omen of bad luck. Lan Muzi''s sixth soul skill infinitely compressed the Yang energy of his Yang Wood Saber, transforming it into a type of extremely penetrative and destructive energy, similar to that of sunspots on the surface of the sun. Even Brother Ming had been full of praise for this soul skill, saying that it could only be directly withstood by fighting fire with fire, but the one withstanding the attack would definitely have to expend more than twice the soul power expended by Lan Muzi to unleash it."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. This was the senior disciple brother of the inner court! He always kept a very low profile, and only now was Tang Wulin being made aware of just how powerful he was.


    His Three Sun Strike, Spring Sun and White Snow, Final Sunset, Yin Yang Illusion, Yin Yang Paradox, and Omen of 106 were all spectacular soul skills.


    The ones that left Tang Wulin with the deepest impression were Spring Sun and White Snow, which could instantly dispel energy-based attacks, and that extremely fearsome Omen of 106. These soul skills were clearly different from anything he had ever seen before, and they were truly befitting of a unique martial soul.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression had also changed slightly upon seeing this. Prior to this, he had been unaware that Shrek Academy possessed such a powerful being. Was this one of Shrek Academy''s trump cards? His martial soul was very special and worthy of research.


    However, this wasn''t enough to defeat the Bloodlust Douluo.


    All of a sudden, a thunderous roar of fury rang out up above.


    For a battle armor master, nothing was more precious to them than their battle armor, and the damage inflicted upon his suit of battle armor filled Yun Tianheng with rage and indignation.


    Powerful emotional fluctuations erupted from his body as his seventh soul ring lit up, unleashing his Deranged Bloodlust Demon True Body!


    His entire body swelled to around twice its original size, and all of the Bloodlust Battle Aura in the surrounding area instantly returned to him.


    His back was slightly hunched over, but his frame had become extremely imposing and intimidating, and his battle axes had returned to his grasp. The crimson halo beneath his feet shrank, and as he raised his battle axes, his entire body lit up like a crimson sun.


    Lan Muzi raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and instead of pressing his advantage, he retreated around 100 meters, spreading open his wings as reddish-golden light reappeared around him.

 Chapter 1608: Threefold Yanghancement

    The two axes combined as one, and scintillating crimson light threatened to part heaven and earth as a gargantuan ax that was over 100 meters wide emerged.


    This was his eighth soul skill, Fierce Demonic Slash!


    In the instant before this soul skill was unleashed, Lan Muzi''s body shuddered slightly as his Yang Wood Saber instantly elongated to around five feet in length.


    The entire saber turned a reddish-golden color, and there was also reddish-golden light flowing over its surface like water.


    His seventh soul ring lit up as he unleashed his martial soul true body, immediately following which his second soul ring also lit up.


    Spring Sun and White Snow!


    Was it possible that he could withstand Yun Tianheng''s eighth soul skill with just his second soul skill?


    Just as everyone was beginning to worry for his safety, an unexpected sequence of events unfolded. The Spring Sun and White Snow on this occasion didn''t just bring about one flash of reddish-golden light, but three flashes in rapid succession instead.


    With each flash of reddish-golden light, the Fierce Demonic Slash would dim slightly, and after the three consecutive flashes, the Fierce Demonic Slash had been reduced to less than half its original size, and was looking rather transparent.


    This was the eighth soul skill of a Hyper Douluo enhanced by his three-word battle armor and martial soul true body! Surely it wasn''t far away from being the most powerful attack he could possibly unleash!


    However, this almighty attack had been debilitated thrice in an instant, and immediately thereafter, Lan Muzi slashed his Yang Wood Saber through the air again, unleashing his Three Sun Strike. No, on this occasion, it was Nine Sun Strike! There were nine total balls of sunlight that crashed into the Fierce Demonic Slash like a string of shooting stars, instantly shattering the devastating attack.


    That was only his first soul skill? How was this possible?


    At this point, it was clear that both his Spring Sun and White Snow and Three Sun Strike had been enhanced by threefold. In fact, the overlaying effect had enhanced the power of those attacks by far more than threefold!


    Even three-word battle armor couldn''t produce such an enhancement, so there was only one explanation: this ability had stemmed from his martial soul true body!


    Lan Muzi''s martial soul true body was Threefold Yanghancement, and this was his true power!


    Generally speaking, a Soul Master''s powers would be enhanced by 150% to 200% by their martial soul true body. However, his martial soul true body had enhanced the power of all of his soul skills by more than threefold! This was incredible!


    Lan Muzi took a step forward, and he instantly reached Yun Tianheng, following which his body suddenly became illusiory, and it was as if countless Lan Muzis had appeared around Yun Tianheng.


    He was unleashing his Yin Yang Illusion and Yin Yang Paradox together, and with the enhancement of his Threefold Yanghancement, even the Limit Douluos spectating the battle from down below were unable to determine where the real Lan Muzi was.


    All of this had happened in the blink of an eye. Just a moment ago, Lan Muzi had still been facing Yun Tianheng''s Fierce Demonic Slash, yet he was suddenly unleashing a counterattack now, and the abrupt transition was truly breathtaking.


    At this point, Yun Tianheng could only defend passively as one ball of crimson light after another exploded around him to withstand Lan Muzi''s flurry of attacks. However, it was clear that he had been forced firmly onto the back foot.


    Under the effects of Threefold Yanghancement, Lan Muzi''s attacks were so dense and concentrated that there was no chance for Yun Tianheng to retaliate at all.


    "Boom!" All of a sudden, the entire sky turned crimson amid a resounding explosion. All of the illusory Lan Muzis were destroyed, and Yun Tianheng re-emerged.


    Countless crimson arrows erupted outward from the crimson halo beneath his feet as he unleashed his three-word battle armor domain, Bloodlust Demon Spikes!


    This attack was very spontaneous and explosive, catching Lan Muzi off guard and forcing him into a retreat.


    He unleashed his Spring Sun and White Snow again to nullify all of the oncoming demonic spikes, but his prior momentum had been completely halted.


    During this brief moment of respite, Yun Tianheng immediately unleashed his ninth soul skill.


    However, right at this moment, Lan Muzi''s eighth soul skill suddenly lit up, and a streak of reddish-golden light suddenly appeared in the sky, connecting Lan Muzi and Yun Tianheng almost instantaneously.


    The distance between the two of them instantly vanished, and Yun Tianheng became significantly more sluggish. He didn''t even get a chance to fully unleash his ninth soul skill before he suddenly began to move in slow motion.


    Meanwhile, Lan Muzi switched to a two-handed grip on his saber for the first time in this battle, and he sent the saber crashing directly down toward Yun Tianheng.


    Yun Tianheng only just barely had time to raise his Bloodlust Battle Axes in defense before they were struck by the saber, and his entire body tremored violently as he flew back as a ball of reddish-golden light.


    This was Lan Muzi''s eighth soul skill, Great Sunny Path!


    However, the worst was still yet to come for Yun Tianheng.


    The same reddish-golden light appeared again, and Lan Muzi caught up to Yun Tianheng on two more occasions before unleashing the same saber strike twice more.


    This was the effect of Threefold Yanghancement!


    "Boom!" Yun Tianheng plummeted out of the sky before slamming heavily down onto the ground below. The entire area in a radius of dozens of meters around him had been entirely charred black.


    Lan Muzi hovered in mid-air with his usual calm smile, and the outcome of the battle was decided!


    This clash seemed to have been quite a lengthy one, but it was actually over very quickly.


    In the beginning, Yun Tianheng had indeed displayed incredible power, but his abilities were constantly being suppressed by Lan Muzi.


    In reality, Lan Muzi had been taking the lead throughout the entire clash, and Yun Tianheng had no opportunities from start to finish.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression darkened significantly upon seeing this. He wasn''t concerned for Yun Tianheng as his suit of three-word battle armor would at least have ensured his survival.


    He stared intently at the descending Lan Muzi, and he knew that this was someone that he had to conduct extensive research into.


    Lan Muzi returned before extending a slight bow toward Tang Wulin and Yali, then made his way back to Tang Yinmeng without any hint of smugness in his eyes.


    Tang Yinmeng smiled as she held onto his hand with a proud expression.


    Even back as far as two years ago, Lan Muzi had already become a Hyper Douluo. However, very few people knew about this as he wasn''t one to boast or brag.


    Tang Yinmeng was his only regular sparring partner, so only she was aware of just how powerful he was.


    Lan Muzi had mastered saber intent at 18 and attained a saber soul at 21. He had unleashed eight soul skills during this battle, but in reality, this wasn''t the full extent of his power.


    Tang Wulin''s heart was currently full of awe and praise for Lan Muzi. After witnessing that battle, even he wasn''t confident that he would be able to defeat Lan Muzi. All of Lan Muzi''s attacks seemed to be quite harmless, but they were filled with destructive power.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin had far more soul skills due to his Golden Dragon King bloodline, but could his mastery over his own soul skills really compare with that of Lan Muzi?

 Chapter 1609: Tang Yinmengs Turn

    At the very least, Tang Wulin felt himself to be inferior in that regard until he invented his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques.


    He turned to Qiangu Dongfeng, and said in a calm manner, "We win the first battle, Chairman Qiangu."


    "Let''s continue," Qiangu Dongfeng wasted no time with words and immediately commenced the countdown.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    Another combatant from each side rose up into the air.


    The Spirit Pagoda had sent out a tall old man whom Tang Wulin had also never seen before, but his expression immediately changed slightly as soon as the elderly man emerged as he could sense extremely powerful spiritual fluctuations emanating from the old man''s body.


    Tang Wulin''s spiritual power was quite advanced, even in the Spirit Domain realm, so this elderly man would at least have to be at the mental manifestation level to elicit such a reaction from Tang Wulin.


    Could it be that this was a hidden Limit Douluo of the Spirit Pagoda?


    The one who had been sent out by Shrek Academy was none other than the senior disciple sister of the inner court, Tang Yinmeng.


    Just like Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng also kept a very low profile, and both of them were very easygoing and unambitious. Back when they had first entered the inner court, both of them had decided to remain in Shrek Academy forever as they truly loved the academy and were willing to dedicate the rest of their lives to it.


    Back when the sequence was being decided, Lan Muzi had told Tang Wulin that he wanted to take part in the first battle, and Tang Wulin had agreed.


    Lan Muzi had crushed his opponent in the first match, but Tang Yinmeng''s opponent seemed to be very formidable.


    Having already lost one match, the Spirit Pagoda would be determined to win this second battle, so Tang Yinmeng was definitely going to have a difficult match on her hands.


    The two combatants quickly rose up into the sky, and the tall old man suddenly closed his eyes. The light around him began to warp, and all of a sudden, a nine-headed giant snake appeared out of thin air to carry his body.


    The giant snake was transparent and didn''t possess an aura befitting of a soul spirit; it was like a completely illusionary being.


    The giant snake''s nine heads were split into three different colors, with three purplish-black central heads, three green heads on the left, and three blue heads on the right. All of them wore identical cold expressions as they appraised Tang Yinmeng from afar.


    At this moment, the elderly man had also summoned his soul rings, and just like Yun Tianheng and Lan Muzi, he also possessed nine black soul rings.


    Ever since the Spirit Ascension Plane came into existence, this had become an extremely common soul ring configuration among all high-grade Soul Masters.


    Tang Yinmeng also released her martial soul, and it was a rather peculiar fist-sized object that was shaped like a nut and was riddled with holes.


    This was her martial soul, and it was an extremely obscure type of musical instrument known as a xun.  [1]


    This was a musical instrument capable of producing a very melodious sound, and Tang Yinmeng began to play it as she also released a total of nine black soul rings.


    A melancholic melody began to play, and everyone felt as if they had returned to an ancient battlefield, where the entire world had been cast into ruin.


    Right at this moment, the nine-headed snake beneath the elderly man suddenly sprang into action. It raised its three central heads, then opened its mouths to send three streaks of light hurtling rapidly toward Tang Yinmeng.


    The sound of the xun created rippling soundwaves that made the air up ahead layered and warped, and to everyone''s surprise, the three streaks of light were reflected back toward the three-headed snake.


    What kind of ability was this? How was she able to use sound to affect space and achieve reflection?


    There were many high-grade Soul Masters on the Spirit Pagoda''s side that had vast wealths of knowledge and experience, but none of them had ever seen Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng''s martial souls.


    The three streaks of reflected purple light instantly passed through the body of the nine-headed snake, but that was it. The streaks of light continued into the distance, while the nine-headed snake remained completely unaffected.


    Tang Yinmeng''s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. It was clear that this opponent of hers also possessed some peculiar abilities.


    The nine-headed snake pounced, carrying the elderly man quickly toward Tang Yinmeng while blasting a streak of light out of each of its nine cavernous mouths.


    The sound of the xun rang out, and the space around Tang Yinmeng began to warp once again. However, none of her soul rings displayed any changes, making it impossible for others to determine which soul ring she was using.


    Upon striking the area of warped space, the streaks of light were refracted once again. Perhaps it was due to the increased number of attacks, but on this occasion, only one streak of light was directed back toward the elderly man on the nine-headed snake.


    In response, one of the snake heads unleashed another streak of light to dispel the light hurtling toward the old man.


    As expected, his body was still vulnerable to attacks!


    In contrast with the full-frontal clashes that had taken place the previous match, this battle was progressing in a rather peculiar fashion.


    The nine-headed snake beneath the elderly man was releasing one streak of light after another, while Tang Yinmeng was constantly playing her xun to refract the streaks of oncoming light.


    Thus, an impasse ensued, and it seemed neither of them was in a hurry to change strategies.


    Was this going to be a battle of attrition?


    Tang Wulin turned to Yali, and asked, "Mother, do you know who that is?"


    Yali shook her head with brows slightly furrowed. "I''m afraid not. I wonder what his martial soul is; it''s definitely not that snake."


    Tang Wulin replied, "Indeed. His spiritual fluctuations are very powerful, and it feels like that snake is a mental manifestation. Could it be that his martial soul is something with a summoning ability?"


    "I don''t think so. Soul beasts summoned from other planes have actual bodies, but this snake doesn''t, so it''s not quite the same. As expected, the Spirit Pagoda is full of interesting characters."


    At this point, Yun Tianheng had already returned to the Spirit Pagoda''s side. Having withdrawn his suit of battle armor, many charred black patches were revealed all over his body, and his aura had diminished significantly, clearly indicating that he had suffered severe injuries.


    He was staring intently at Lan Muzi from afar with a cold expression.


    The impasse up above had already lasted for over three minutes, and it was quite spectacular to watch with countless streaks of light flying in all directions. However, there was not much point, nor any progress being made by either side.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly heard a voice, and a hint of enlightenment appeared in his eyes.


    He made his way over to Lan Muzi before whispering something to him, in response to which Lan Muzi gave a slight nod before suddenly silently communicating something to Tang Yinmeng from afar.


    All of a sudden, the sound being produced by Tang Yinmeng''s xun became a lot more aggressive, like a horn signaling the commencement of a battle.


    The warped air began to surge toward the elderly man in fierce waves, and she was now on the attack rather than continuing to passively defend.


    The nine-headed snake beneath the elderly man unleashed nine more streaks of light, but those streak of light instantly crumbled away upon making contact with the warped air.


    At this moment, a change was finally displayed among the elderly man''s soul rings. However, instead of one or several of them lighting up, all nine soul rings began to move in a rhythmic manner.


    The nine-headed snake below him suddenly became substantial, and its body instantly elongated to over 100 meters in length.


    At the same time, it began to release a formidable aura that struck one with an indescribable sense of pressure.


    The nine mouths of the snake were opened again, but on this occasion, continuous torrents of light erupted forth to clash with the warped air rather than the streaks of light from before.


    The soundwaves of Tang Yinmeng''s xun began to escalate, while the nine-headed snake continued to maintain its output of light, and it seemed that another impasse had ensued.


    Throughout this entire process, the elderly man''s eyes had remained closed, presenting a very peculiar sight to behold.


    [1] [Google search "xun musical instrument" if you''re interested in seeing what it looks like.]

 Chapter 1610: Welcome to My World

    All of a sudden, the sound of the xun was cut off, and with nothing to oppose them any further, the nine torrents of light surged directly toward Tang Yinmeng.


    Tang Yinmeng merely smiled and drifted forward, making no effort to evade the oncoming torrents of light. As she advanced, she occasionally played a series of short and sharp notes with her xun, and somehow, she was able to phase through the torrents of light to approach the elderly man.


    Light flashed in front of the old man, and a giant bear that was over 30 meters tall appeared without any warning before slashing its claws toward Tang Yinmeng.


    This was a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear, and five golden claw projections had been sent hurtling directly toward Tang Yinmeng.


    However, Tang Yinmeng remained completely calm and collected as she played a sharp note with her xun. The giant bear remained unaffected, but its attack was repelled as if the surrounding air had exploded.


    Right at this moment, the nine-headed snake''s second wave of attacks arrived, and it seemed that there would be no way for her to continue onward any further.


    However a loud melody suddenly began to play from Tang Yinmeng''s xun, and the giant bear and nine-headed snake both faltered, while the rhythm and frequency of their attacks began to match the melody of the xun.


    As the melody being played began to change, the attacks from the giant bear and nine-headed snake became extremely erratic, and they were even occasionally clashing with one another.


    Tang Yinmeng strode casually through these disorganized attacks, and it seemed that her movements were completely aimless, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that she was drawing closer and closer to the elderly man.


    The man suddenly sighed, and said, "Have you already figured it out? In that case, you leave me no choice."


    A ball of light appeared on his forehead as he spoke, following which his head began to expand, while the rest of his body remained unchanged.


    At the same time, a peculiar-looking silver helmet that was encrusted with countless gems appeared over his head. The helmet definitely wasn''t very pretty to look at, but as soon as it appeared, Tang Wulin''s expression changed drastically.


    "That''s a piece of four-word battle armor!"


    As a Divine Blacksmith, he was able to instantly assess the caliber of this piece of metal, and it was clear that this was a heavenly refined helmet!


    This old man''s martial soul was his brain! That was the information that Tang Wulin had just received.


    The brain was a part of the body, so it could be said that this was a Titled Douluo that possessed a body martial soul.


    His forte lay in his spiritual power, and with the enhancement he received from his martial soul, his spiritual power had most likely already reached the pinnacle of the Spirit Domain realm.


    At that level, it would be virtually impossible to make further progress, and his way of battle was to use his incredible spiritual power in conjunction with some special secret techniques to manifest allies using his imagination.


    That''s right, that nine-headed snake and Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear were both manifestations of his imagination. This method of battle was definitely unique, and even Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this.


    He had immediately told Lan Muzi about this, who had relayed the message to Tang Yinmeng through their special communication method.


    Seeing as the elderly man battled with his imagination, Tang Yinmeng would be able to easily defeat him by attacking his body.


    As such, once Tang Yinmeng got close to him, he didn''t disguise his abilities any further and immediately released his martial soul and battle armor.


    However, for some reason, he only had one piece of battle armor, which was that helmet.


    "Welcome to my world," the old man said, and in the next instant, a vast expanse of silver light suddenly erupted from his head.


    All of a sudden, the entire sky dimmed, and he was still clearly visible to everyone else, but Tang Yinmeng was completely unable to see him as at this moment, she had been transported into the world of her opponent''s imagination.


    This was an extremely far-fetched concept, but it was truly happening to her.


    Through the enhancements of his four-word battle armor, the old man''s spiritual power was infinitely approaching the Divine Origin realm. It could even be said that in this form, he was very likely to be the Soul Master with the most advanced spiritual power on the entire Douluo Continent.


    This was his spiritual domain, and Tang Yinmeng seemed to have been completely immobilized within it.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that her aura was on the wane.


    "We concede this match," Tang Wulin quickly said.


    Tang Yinmeng possessed a rare soundwave-based martial soul, but her spiritual power hadn''t yet reached the Spirit Domain realm. In the face of this spiritual domain, which was infinitely approaching the Divine Origin realm, she simply had no chance.


    This four-word helmet came as a huge surprise to Tang Wulin, and he could tell that it had transcended a seven-elemental tribulation, so it was quite exceptional even among pieces of four-word battle armor.


    The light returned to the sky, and the elderly man withdrew his helmet before descending from above. Only after he had landed on the ground did Tang Yinmeng return to her senses, and an indignant look immediately appeared on her face. It was clear that she had not had an enjoyable experience in the old man''s spiritual domain.


    Lan Muzi immediately flew up to her and consoled her in a gentle voice.


    After the first two matches, neither side had managed to gain an advantage.


    "Three, two, one, begin!" This wasn''t some official competition, and no one wanted to waste any time. The combatants for the third match rose up into the air, and on this occasion, Tang Wulin recognized the Spirit Pagoda representative.


    His expression immediately darkened slightly upon seeing who it was.


    Meanwhile, Yuanen Yehui had been sent out to represent Shrek Academy. After this period of rest, she had already recovered.


    However, upon catching sight of the Spirit Pagoda representative, Tang Wulin immediately said, "We concede this match."


    Yuanen Yehui''s opponent was Gu Yuena''s teacher, Leng Yaozhu, who was a Limit Douluo and also a four-word battle armor master.


    Leng Yaozhu had been standing beside Qiangu Dongfeng this entire time, but her attention had been entirely focused on Yali. This pair of old love rivals never saw eye-to-eye with one another.


    She was being sent out for the third match, and it was clear that this was a match that the Spirit Pagoda was determined to win.


    Yuanen Yehui had improved significantly, and one piece of her battle armor had been upgraded to the four-word level, but there was no way she could contend with Leng Yaozhu.


    Thus, Shrek Academy fell behind by one point.


    The representative for the fourth match for Shrek Academy was Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, and she was facing a Hyper Douluo. Even though Yali was a healing system Soul Master, she had obtained her suit of four-word battle armor even prior to Leng Yaozhu, and if anyone thought that she wouldn''t be good in a battle, then they would be dead wrong.


    After all, she was the Limit Douluo that the Holy Spirit Cult feared the most.


    Thus, Qiangu Dongfeng also chose to concede without any hesitation, and the match was tied again.

 Chapter 1611: Fist Emperor Douluo Da Mo

    Qiangu Dongfeng was very confident in securing the final victory. The Spirit Pagoda may not have been able to compete with the past Shrek Academy, but now, even with Long Yeyue still around, the outcome of this clash was a foregone conclusion.


    Despite this, everyone from Shrek Academy was still very calm, as if they were completely unfazed.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    Two more figures rose up into the air in unison. For the fifth match, the Spirit Pagoda representative was a man in his fifties or sixties with a powerful aura and a pair of hands that were at least twice the size of an average person of his stature.


    As for the representative for Shrek Academy, it was none other than Xu Lizhi, who was only a Soul Douluo.


    Xu Lizhi wore a faint smile on his chubby face, looking completely harmless.


    Yali couldn''t help but ask with a concerned expression, "Is this really a good idea?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Lizhi works just as hard as I do, and he''s constantly been improving these past few years, so don''t underestimate him. He''s a member of our Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and he earned that status through his own power. On top of that, he''s received extensive guidance from Elder Long, so you can count on him."


    Yali nodded in response.


    After rising up into the air, a serious look had appeared on Xu Lizhi''s face, but due to his rotund frame, his serious expression didn''t hold as much gravity as it should.


    He had actually only just flown out of Shrek Academy, and he seemed to be rather nervous.


    Was he really nervous? Yes, he was.


    This clash against the Spirit Pagoda was extremely important for Shrek Academy. Even if it weren''t enrolment day, this was a matter of revenge. If they couldn''t beat the Spirit Pagoda, then Shrek Academy''s reputation would be severely damaged.


    The weight of his friends'' trust and the glory of Shrek Academy was truly making him very nervous.


    He could still clearly recall the words of encouragement from Ye Xinglan, and that had instilled him with great self-belief.


    As the two of them were rising up into the air, the elderly man from the Spirit Pagoda had already been informed by someone from the Spirit Pagoda that this little fatty was one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, but he seemed to be a food system Soul Master.


    Was he here just to make up the numbers?


    He had thought that there was a very good chance that Tang Wulin could concede this match as a tactical move, but both of them had already exceeded 300 meters in altitude, and Tang Wulin still displayed no intention of conceding the match.


    Could it be that he was expecting a food system Soul Master to win this match? Was he delusional?


    "Please enlighten me," Xu Lizhi said in a very polite manner.


    The elderly man''s brows furrowed slightly, and a cold look flashed through his eyes. The fact that a food system Soul Master dared to challenge him was a clear insult in his eyes, and he immediately seized the initiative to unleash the first attack.


    A pair of white boxing gloves suddenly appeared over his fists, fusing as one with his arms and covering his entire forearm.


    These boxing gloves were his martial soul.


    "That''s Fist Emperor Douluo Da Mo."


    All Titled Douluos had their own unique stories, and Da Mo was no exception.


    No one even remembered what his real name was; everyone simply referred to him by his nickname of Da Mo.


    Ever since his youth, he had been renowned for his straightforward fighting style and his love for direct clashes against his opponents.


    All of his powers were focused on his fists, and his hands were far larger than those of a normal person, giving him a distinct advantage after he had awakened his martial soul.


    He was already a rank 96 Hyper Douluo, and in his eyes, Xu Lizhi couldn''t even be considered to be an opponent.


    His fury was even further exacerbated after witnessing Xu Lizhi release a total of only eight soul rings.


    All of the combatants from both sides thus far had been Titled Douluos, so why was a Soul Douluo being sent into battle now? Was Shrek Academy really running out of good representatives?


    There was an insurmountable gap in their cultivation ranks, and on top of that, this fatty was a food system Soul Master!


    Qiangu Dongfeng couldn''t help but smile at the sight of Xu Lizhi''s eight soul rings.


    Shrek Academy really had fallen from grace! They were clearly indirectly conceding this match. Regardless of how one looked at this, there was no chance that Xu Lizhi could secure victory here.


    Fist Emperor Da Mo''s direct fighting style made him quite a troublesome opponent even for Qiangu Dongfeng. His fists were simply too powerful and too quick, and countless opponents had been beaten to pulps by those devastating fists of his.


    The students and parents looking from down below were also quite surprised. They didn''t know much about the world of high-grade Soul Masters, but even they could tell the difference between Titled Douluos and Soul Douluos!


    "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... Am I seeing this right? Why does he only have eight soul rings?" Even though the final soul ring was a red one, there were only eight in total? Did he really stand a chance against a Titled Douluo?


    "I don''t know much about Soul Masters, but I''ve heard that a difference of a major cultivation rank is a huge disparity. I don''t think it''ll be easy for that fatty to win. Why is Shrek Academy sending him out for this match? Could it be that they''ve run out of Titled Douluos?"


    "Who knows? Maybe it''s a plan. After all, they haven''t conceded, and I''m sure they wouldn''t do this for no reason."


    "You''re right, let''s wait and see."


    Xu Lizhi was naturally unaware of what was being said about him. At this moment, his attention was focused entirely on his opponent and this match.


    His opponent''s aura was far more powerful than his, and Tang Wulin had told him that his opponent was very likely to be a Hyper Douluo.


    In the face of such an opponent, he wouldn''t stand any chance by fighting fire with fire. The only way for him to secure a miraculous victory was to make use of the elements of spontaneity and surprise.


    In the blink of an eye, Da Mo was already within 100 meters of Xu Lizhi, and he launched his right fist through the air.


    A resounding boom immediately rang out, and a burst of golden light that was imbued with extremely fearsome pressure reached Xu Lizhi in a flash.


    Xu Lizhi hovered in mid-air with a serious expression, and he drew a circle in mid-air with his left hand on the bottom and his right hand on top.


    Gentle white light began to revolve around his hands, and as the circle was drawn, the surrounding light began to refract slightly.

 Chapter 1612: Xu Lizhis Four-word Battle Armor

    Xu Lizhi twisted around slightly before rushing a few meters away to the side while redirecting Da Mo''s attack away, causing it to brush past him.


    This was the Tang Sect technique, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon!


    Da Mo faltered slightly upon seeing this, clearly not expecting Xu Lizhi to employ such a method of resistance. He seemed to have achieved this through pure soul power and hadn''t even used any soul skills; how was that even possible?


    Having diverted that punch away, Xu Lizhi''s nerves were settled significantly, and he raised a hand to produce a Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun, which he immediately stuffed into his own mouth, following which a peculiar look appeared on his face.


    He was so nervous that he had forgotten to chew and swallowed the stuffed bun whole!


    His blood began to boil as the Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun instantly took effect, and at the same time, specks of light appeared all over his body as he summoned his suit of dark purple battle armor.


    That''s right, his battle armor had become purple, and it was such a dark shade of purple that it seemed to be able to devour all light.


    Faint rainbow radiance was surging over the surface of his suit of battle armor, but it was clearly incomplete, missing a helmet and the entire lower body section, which meant that it was currently only comprised of pauldrons, gauntlets, and a breastplate.


    However, Da Mo was quite stunned by the sight of that rainbow light.


    Was this four-word battle armor? A Soul Douluo possessed pieces of four-word battle armor?


    How was this possible?


    Four-word battle armor was enormously taxing to its wearer as the heavenly refined metal would automatically draw upon the Soul Master''s energy in an uncontrollable process. As such, it was widely accepted that only powerful beings of the Hyper Douluo level or above would be able to handle a full suit of four-word battle armor master.


    This suit of four-word battle armor wasn''t complete, many pieces had already been adorned; surely Xu Lizhi would have to at least be a Titled Douluo to be able to withstand the physical strain! He was just a Soul Douluo, and a food system Soul Douluo, at that!


    However, Da Mo only faltered for a split second before immediately rushing forward, and his right fist abruptly expanded to three times its original size as it was swung toward Xu Lizhi like a giant hammer.


    Releasing his battle armor from the get-go was already a concession of inferiority from Xu Lizhi, and as a Hyper Douluo, Da Mo wasn''t really even considering Xu Lizhi to be a serious opponent.


    After releasing his four-word battle armor, Xu Lizhi''s essence, energy, and spirit instantly spiked drastically, and he chanted, "Don''t judge a bun by its folds!"


    Light flashed in his two hands, and a pair of stuffed buns appeared. The bun in his right hand was hurled directly toward Da Mo, while the bun in his left hand was quickly stuffed into his mouth.


    After swallowing the stuffed bun, his entire body became more light and agile, and he quickly retreated.


    The stuffed bun flying toward Da Mo was of a purplish-black color, and in the face of an attack, Da Mo only knew one way to respond: counterattack!


    "Boom!"


    A violent explosion erupted, and Da Mo''s devastating fist was stopped cold in its tracks for a moment. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xu Lizhi had already retreated by over 100 meters.


    What the hell was this thing? An exploding bun?


    Da Mo faltered slightly upon seeing this. The stuffed bun really did pack considerable explosive power, but it was only enough to stop him for a moment.


    What an interesting little fatty; he was a food system Soul Master, yet he was creating bombs!


    As soon as this thought sprang into his mind, he caught sight of Xu Lizhi stuffing another bun into his own mouth. This was a transparent bun, and following consumption, a layer of translucent light instantly appeared over Xu Lizhi''s body.


    Da Mo didn''t even know whether he should be amused or angry at this point. Was his opponent challenging him to a battle of attrition? Even so, there was still no chance that he would lose!


    Da Mo shot forth like lightning, and on this occasion, he was planning to strike down Xu Lizhi once and for all.


    His third soul ring lit up as he thrust his fists forward, and countless fist projections were instantly unleashed, encompassing a massive area and affording Xu Lizhi no avenue for evasion.


    Every single fist projection was filled with terrifying strength and extremely compressed soul power, and it was like a storm of soul missiles.


    This was Da Mo''s third soul skill, Rocket Punches!


    The names Da Mo assigned to his soul skills were all very simple; they were generally all named "something something" punch, and this third soul skill had been named as such for its explosive power. His naming convention reflected his straightforward personality.


    In the face of the Rocket Punches, Xu Lizhi seemed to have flown into a panic, retreating as quickly as he could, but there was no way he could outrun a Hyper Douluo charging at him at full speed! In the end, he was caught within the massive wall of fist projections.


    However, he suddenly made a surprising gesture. He took a deep breath, and purplish-black light erupted from his body, making it look as if he were preparing to withstand this attack with his battle armor.


    Da Mo harrumphed coldly upon seeing this. An incomplete suit of four-word battle armor was inferior even to a complete suit of three-word battle armor as it didn''t possess a domain. Even if its defensive prowess were extremely stellar, there was no way that Xu Lizhi would be able to withstand a flurry of such powerful attacks.


    Was Xu Lizhi really planning to withstand the attack head-on? The answer was quickly revealed.


    All of a sudden, he thrust his hands through the air, releasing a vast expanse of palm projections that hurtled directly toward Da Mo''s rocket punches.


    Was he going to fight fire with fire?


    All of the people down below were stunned to see this. A food system Soul Douluo was engaging in a direct clash with a Hyper Douluo...


    Did he have a death wish?!


    However, as the clash took place, an incredible turn of events unfolded.


    A string of loud slaps rang out, and through the use of his Purple Demon Eyes, Tang Wulin could see that Xu Lizhi had also unleashed his Purple Demon Eyes, allowing him to track the trajectories of all of Da Mo''s punches. Regardless of how fast his Rocket Punches were, they were comprised of individual punches, and what Xu Lizhi had to do was match his opponent''s speed.


    The first palm struck the first oncoming punch with unerring accuracy, and the latter was diverted off to the side.


    The second palm followed, then the third palm...


    Xu Lizhi was like a Thousand-hand Buddha, thrusting his palms forward over and over again like lightning to dispel the Rocket Punches one after another.


    Da Mo was incredibly stunned to see this.


    Xu Lizhi''s hands were extremely strong and firm, and they seemed to be protected by a special type of energy, allowing him to divert all of the oncoming Rocket Punches away.


    How could a Soul Douluo possess such immense strength and abundant soul power?


    Even four-word battle armor shouldn''t have enhanced him by this much!


    The string of clashes lasted for around seven to eight seconds, and at its conclusion, the two combatants were only separated by several meters.


    Right at this moment, Xu Lizhi suddenly pounced forward, and he circled his arms in front of himself, releasing a burst of enormous suction force directly toward Da Mo.

 Chapter 1613: The Steamed Fist Emperor Douluo

    Da Mo was already feeling very frustrated to have been stalled by a Soul Douluo for this long. There were so many media journalists down below, and he was already a seasoned Hyper Douluo; allowing this to drag on any longer would be far too embarrassing for him!


    Thus, in the face of Xu Lizhi''s forward charge, he didn''t take any evasive measures as doing so would only exacerbate his humiliation.


    He lowered his center of gravity and rammed his shoulder directly toward Xu Lizhi''s chest. At the same time, his soul power quickly flowed into his fists, and as soon as the clash took place, he would unleash a torrential storm of ferocious attacks to crush this little fatso.


    The suction power being released by Xu Lizhi was extremely powerful, and Da Mo was also rushing toward him, so the two almost instantly crashed into one another.


    As expected, Da Mo''s shoulder crashed heavily into Xu Lizhi''s chest, and in that instant, he could even sense Xu Lizhi''s flabby flesh tremor from the force of the impact. However, through these tremors, Xu Lizhi was able to nullify most of the impact.


    Furthermore, his four-word battle armor''s defensive prowess was definitely extremely formidable.


    Even Da Mo was only a three-word battle armor master, and he had always dreamed of owning a suit of four-word battle armor, so he was actually very envious toward Xu Lizhi.


    In their generation, it was unheard of for someone to own pieces of four-word battle armor at such a young age.


    This clash allowed him to get a better sense of just how resolute Xu Lizhi''s four-word battle armor was, and he instantly understood that a major factor behind Xu Lizhi''s ability to match his strength was his four-word battle armor.


    All of these thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but in the next instant, he immediately realized that something was wrong.


    Not only had Xu Lizhi not been sent flying by his shoulder charge, the suction force that Xu Lizhi was releasing had caused them to adhere tightly to one another. In fact, Da Mo was even struck by the feeling that something had grabbed onto his shoulder.


    As he looked down, he was stunned to discover that Xu Lizhi''s breastplate had caved in, and that caved-in section was locked tightly onto his shoulder like a suction plate.


    He immediately realized that he had forgotten about the living nature of divine-grade metals.


    In reality, Da Mo couldn''t be blamed for this. Barely anyone had ever come into contact with divine-grade metals, and the properties of divine-grade metals were only described through rumors. In addition to that, Xu Lizhi was only a Soul Douluo, so Da Mo had been quite complacent from the beginning, and as a result, he completely forgot that divine-grade metals were living and intelligent entities.


    Right as Xu Lizhi''s breastplate locked around Da Mo''s shoulders, he also threw his arms around Da Mo, locking him in a tight embrace before he had a chance to react.


    What was he trying to do?


    In the next instant, Xu Lizhi provided the answer to that question. His seventh soul ring suddenly lit up, and dazzling purple light erupted from his four-word battle armor.


    The entire sky was illuminated purple, and immediately thereafter, a giant steamer that with a diameter in excess of 10 meters appeared in front of everyone''s eyes.


    This was Xu Lizhi''s Steamer True Body, and both Xu Lizhi and Da Mo had disappeared; the giant steamer was the only thing hanging in the sky.


    All of a sudden, a string of deafening explosions erupted within the steamer.


    The steamer was Xu Lizhi''s martial soul true body, but where was Da Mo? There was clearly only one answer: he was being cooked in the steamer...


    All of the people from the Spirit Pagoda were completely dumbstruck. They had thought that this was a guaranteed victory; who could''ve envisioned such a turn of events?


    Even Qiangu Dongfeng was stunned by this farcical sight.


    This was a downright ridiculous scenario!


    The Spirit Pagoda had already gathered information about Xu Lizhi, but they had completely disregarded him as a non-factor in this plot to target Shrek Academy.


    It had always been thought that Xu Lizhi was the least threatening member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, but what was going on here?


    Having said that, he wasn''t the only one with a martial soul true body; Da Mo also had one! Even if this were a true steamer, surely it couldn''t cook Da Mo alive!


    There was no way that Da Mo would lose to a food system Soul Master!


    Qiangu Dongfeng was consoling himself with all his might.


    However, the explosions within the steamer were only becoming louder and louder, and clouds of purple smoke were billowing out like steam. The purple smoke seemed to be able to keep out spiritual power, and Qiangu Dongfeng was already unable to sense Da Mo''s aura anymore.


    Even Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were completely astonished by what they were seeing, let alone their opponents.


    This had been a considerably fast match; the two of them had only clashed a few times before this farcical scenario eventuated.


    Everyone immediately turned their eyes toward Tang Wulin in unison.


    Who could''ve given Yuanen Yehui and Xu Lizhi their four-word battle armor? There was only a single person capable of doing that.


    Even though he still hadn''t participated in this match, he was heavily influencing everything with his abilities.


    He was still very young, but his maturity completely belied his age, and he wasn''t the most powerful being of Shrek Academy, but he was the core of the entire academy.


    "Pavilion Master!" Lan Muzi turned to Tang Wulin with a smile.


    "Pavilion Master!" Tang Yinmeng also called out with a meaningful smile.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I know, I know, you''ll all get yours at some point as well."


    Regardless of how easygoing and unambitious this couple were, four-word battle armor was simply far too tempting. At this moment, both of them were very thankful that a Divine Blacksmith had emerged in Shrek Academy.


    Even during its heyday prior to the bombing, Shrek Academy had never had a Divine Blacksmith among its ranks.


    In his heart, Tang Wulin knew that Xu Lizhi had made it to this point not because of his newly attained four-word battle armor. Instead, it was due to his effort and hard work.


    Xu Lizhi had always had very low self-esteem, and that was even further exacerbated after he entered a relationship with Ye Xinglan. He had always liked Ye Xinglan, and it was exactly because of this that he knew just how powerful Ye Xinglan was.


    In his mind, his powers and appearance were both far too lackluster for him to be a match for Ye Xinglan. As such, he had to work even harder.


    His appearance was god-given and beyond his control, and he couldn''t even control his own weight due to the special nature of his martial soul. However, he could strive to become more powerful.


    Back on the demonic island, he had immersed himself in the excruciating agony brought on by the destructive power.


    As a result, he had benefited the most from that experience and begun to find his own path.


    He didn''t want to be a pure support system Soul Master; he wanted to be able to participate in battles as well.


    In the face of powerful enemies, he wanted to fight alongside his friends, and he wanted to be able to protect Ye Xinglan in her hour of need.

 Chapter 1614: Demonic Maiden Douluo Li Mengjie

    As such, he had constantly been striving to improve, constantly shedding more blood, sweat, and tears than anyone else. All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were very exceptional, as evidenced by their incredible powers at their young ages.


    They were admired and envied by everyone, but all of them had their own stories, and only they knew just how much hard work and effort had been required to reach their current levels.


    That steamer in the sky was a manifestation of Xu Lizhi''s consistent hard work over many years. He had always known that his aptitude in battle was far from exceptional, so he had to walk a different path from everyone else if he wanted to possess outstanding combat prowess.


    "Boom!"


    Right at this moment, the loudest explosion yet rang out, and the lid of the steamer was flung up into the air.


    Qiangu Dongfeng reflexively took a step forward upon seeing this. Had Da Mo finally struggled free?


    However, as opposed to Da Mo, what flew out of the steamer was a massive purplish-black stuffed bun.


    The stuffed bun crashed down from the heavens, exploding violently as soon as it struck the ground.


    Up above, Xu Lizhi had reverted back to his human form, and his battle armor had already been withdrawn.


    His face was slightly pale, but his fists were tightly clenched, and his eyes were full of excitement.


    In the wake of the massive stuffed bun''s explosion, an unconscious figure was revealed within the deep crater; it was none other than Da Mo.


    However, he was currently in a very pitiful state. His battle armor was in tatters, and all of the pieces were either broken or severely dented.


    A faint smile appeared on Xu Lizhi''s face as he descended back to the Shrek Academy camp.


    Shrek Academy had secured victory in the fifth match, and the score was three to two!


    All of the previous matches had progressed as planned aside from the fact that the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo had missed her clash with the Holy Spirit Douluo, but the outcome of this match was completely unexpected.


    A Hyper Douluo losing to a Soul Douluo was something that had almost never been seen throughout all of history, and what was even more incredible was that the Soul Douluo in this case was a food system Soul Master!


    Even Da Mo himself didn''t know how he had lost.


    The clash was temporarily put on pause so emergency treatment could be administered to Da Mo, and only then did he wake up from his unconscious state.


    However, he immediately fell unconscious again upon witnessing how severely damaged his suit of three-word battle armor had become.


    The damage was far too severe; even if it could be repaired to its original state, its power would definitely be severely debilitated.


    "Should we continue, Chairman Qiangu?" Tang Wulin asked with a smile.


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied with a dark expression, "Of course. This doesn''t change anything."


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    One person rose up from each camp, and as soon as the Shrek Academy representative ascended into the air, a pleasant ringing sound reverberated through the air, as if something had been awakened.


    The Spirit Pagoda representative was a woman, and just like Da Mo, she was one of the core members of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Her skin was very wizened and wrinkly, and her hair was extremely disheveled. Furthermore, there was a tumor-like growth on her forehead, making her look even more hideous than she already was.


    Her back was completely hunched over, and if it weren''t for her ability to take flight, it would''ve been impossible to tell that she was a powerful Soul Master.


    The Shrek Academy representative was none other than one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Ye Xinglan.


    Prior to her departure, she gave Xu Lizhi a gentle hug.


    She didn''t offer him any words of praise; her embrace alone was already the best reward for Xu Lizhi.


    As Ye Xinglan rose up into the air, she gave off a special aura, and in contrast with Xu Lizhi''s sturdy and rotund appearance, she was far more lithe and agile. The pleasant ringing sound had erupted from within her body, and her long hair had been arranged into a long braided ponytail, giving her a very sharp and tidy appearance.


    The old woman gave a self-introduction. "Spirit Pagoda, Li Mengjie."


    It was a very beautiful name, but it didn''t quite match her appearance. However, her name was extremely renowned as she was a former spirit envoy.  [1]


    Even after her retirement, she was still a core member of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Qiangu Family was the number one family of the Spirit Pagoda, but it definitely didn''t stand alone.


    Even the Qiangu Family only held 10 of the 36 core member spots in the Spirit Pagoda, and this was already an absolute advantage. However, whenever important events came up, Qiangu Dongfeng still had to communicate with all of the core members, and Li Mengjie was one of those important figures.


    She had already retired around 30 years ago, and she was from the same generation as the likes of the Holy Spirit Douluo and Heavenly Phoenix Douluo. She didn''t care about her own appearance and hadn''t consumed any spirit items, which was why she looked so weathered and aged.


    Perhaps not many people would know the name of Li Mengjie, but her title of Demonic Maiden Douluo was definitely extremely renowned.


    During her younger days, she had been rejected by a man due to her hideous appearance, and as a result, she had become extremely sadistic, taking pleasure in toying with men.


    Her martial soul was very special; she referred to it as celestial maiden, but the vast majority of people referred to her as demonic maiden. This was a clone-like ability that was also similar to a second personality. The Demonic Maiden martial soul was adept in all types of control abilities, as well as melee combat, making her an assault and control dual system Soul Master.


    Li Mengjie would often use her martial soul''s entrancement ability to lure in men, then reveal her true appearance, taking pleasure in the horrified reactions of those men.


    Many male Soul Masters had fallen prey to her sadistic ploy, and as a result, Shrek Academy had even directly asked the Spirit Pagoda to keep her in check. If it weren''t for the fact that she had never killed anyone, Shrek Academy would''ve most likely already taken forceful measures against her.


    The Spirit Pagoda seemed to also think that her antics had gone too far, and she was asked to step down from her role as spirit envoy.


    Li Mengjie definitely didn''t harbor any affection for Shrek Academy, so she certainly wasn''t going to be holding back in this match.


    "Shrek Academy, Ye Xinglan!" Ye Xinglan responded in kind.


    In contrast with her sharp aura of the past, she was now a lot more placid and restrained.


    Li Mengjie suddenly chuckled, and to everyone''s surprise her chuckling voice was actually quite pleasant to the ears. "You''re such a beautiful girl. Come here and let me take a good look." She took a step forward as she spoke, instantly covering a distance of hundreds of meters before reaching out a wizened hand toward Ye Xinglan''s delicate cheek.


    A speck of starlight suddenly exploded in front of Ye Xinglan, blasting Li Mengjie''s hand away, but right at this moment, an additional figure abruptly appeared behind Ye Xinglan.


    [1] [The name Li Mengjie (ÀîÃνà) translates literally to Li (surname Àî) pristine dream.]

 Chapter 1615: Celestial Maiden

    This was another woman who appeared to be in her twenties; wearing a white dress and a thin white veil over her face. The curves of her gorgeous figure were indistinctly visible through her thin white dress, and she reached a finger out toward the back of Ye Xinglan''s head.


    Another speck of starlight appeared behind Ye Xinglan''s head with unerring accuracy, and the finger was also forced back while Ye Xinglan''s body suddenly took on an illusionary quality, right as a wizened palm flashed past her cheek.


    In the blink of an eye, two exchanges had already taken place. The woman in white appeared silently behind Li Mengjie before disappearing into her body.


    This was none other than Li Mengjie''s Demonic Maiden martial soul.


    It didn''t appear as if Li Mengjie had used any soul skills, but her body suddenly left a trail of afterimages in its wake as she grabbed toward Ye Xinglan again.


    At this point, Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword had already appeared in her grasp, and she remained completely unflustered as she slashed her sword through the air, unleashing her second soul skill, Sword God Net.


    Looking from down below, it was as if fireworks were flourishing up above, and the attack didn''t release much power, but a hint of surprise appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face at the sight of it.


    This was sword Qi that had had its essence completely restrained! It appeared to be harmless, but the sword Qi would only erupt upon contact.


    Li Mengjie cackled as she thrust her finger forward over and over again, pointing directly at the points where the Sword God Net were connected. The Sword God Net was instantly taken apart, but the sword Qi it contained also instantly erupted, sending a string of ringing sounds reverberating through the air.


    Li Mengjie faltered momentarily, and a speck of starlight arrived right before her like an illusion.


    All of a sudden, the illusion vanished, and only one Li Mengjie was left in mid-air.


    Between the index and middle fingers of her right hand held the tip of Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword.


    "Not bad at all!"


    The pristine white figure reappeared, and she began to rotate on the spot, releasing a burst of powerful rotational force that dragged Ye Xinglan''s body off to the side.


    This was her Demonic Maiden Dance!


    Ye Xinglan withdrew her Stargod Sword, and she rose up into the air as a dazzling sword projection to escape the influence of the rotational force. In the next instant, a speck of resplendent starlight descended from above.


    This was her third soul skill, Sword Star Fall.


    The Demonic Maiden Dance continued, and the vortex suddenly expanded before abruptly converging, seemingly in an attempt to devour and destroy the speck of starlight.


    However, a storm of countless stars suddenly rained down from the heavens, completely illuminating the vortex.


    This was Ye Xinglan''s fourth soul skill, Sword Star Rain.


    The Demonic Maiden rose up into the air, and the vortex vanished.


    Li Mengjie also appeared beside the Demonic Maiden, and the two of them held hands as they stood in mid-air with the starry rain as their backdrop. All of a sudden, Li Mengjie vanished, and a short sword appeared in the Demonic Maiden''s hand.


    The sword was slashed through the air, and time seemed to have suddenly stopped as a gentle voice rang out.


    "I... miss... you..."


    Upon hearing these three gentle words, even the people spectating the battle down below felt chills run down their spines, particularly as the voice was accompanied by the alluring sight of the veiled Demonic Maiden.


    Those words being spoken by such an exquisite beauty naturally sent one''s mind aflutter.


    As those words were being uttered, the Demonic Maiden''s short sword had already reached Ye Xinglan, and it had left a string of ripples through the air.


    Ye Xinglan''s expression changed slightly at the sight of these ripples, and she shot back like lightning, having been completely unaffected by the Demonic Maiden''s words.


    She was completely dedicated to her sword, so her willpower and mental fortitude were unshakeable.


    In the past, Yuanen Yehui had been very introverted and unwilling to open up to anyone due to her tragic past. Now that everything was behind her, she was a lot more bubbly and lively.


    In contrast, Ye Xinglan was truly focused entirely on her cultivation, and the only people she shared emotional ties with were Xu Lizhi and her friends.


    As such, regardless of how alluring that voice was, it couldn''t affect her even in the slightest.


    However, the warped light released by the short sword was different; it only encompassed a very small area, but it struck Ye Xinglan with the same feeling as Tang Wulin''s Millennium White Clouds, indicating that the short sword was imbued with the power of space and time.


    A cold light flashed through Ye Xinglan''s eyes as she suddenly stopped in mid-air. Specks of dazzling starlight erupted from her body, making her look as if she had turned completely transparent.


    At the same time, her seventh soul ring lit up, and that pleasant ringing sound rang out once again, evoking the mental image of an exceptional sword about to be drawn out of its scabbard.


    This was her seventh soul skill, Stargod Sword True Body!


    "Ding!" The Stargod Sword was thrust forward and struck the tip of the short sword with unerring accuracy, instantly knocking it upward.


    The warped light was shattered, and Li Mengjie reappeared beside the Demonic Maiden with a dark expression.


    She reached out with her right hand and grabbed onto the Demonic Maiden''s shoulder, and in the next instant, the Demonic Maiden transformed into a streak of white light that converged over her hand.


    This was a slender staff, at the tip of which was a carving identical to the Demonic Maiden. The staff was waved in Ye Xinglan''s direction, and a plume of white mist surged forth.


    The mist was comprised of countless thin needles, affording Ye Xinglan no avenues for evasion, and Ye Xinglan didn''t choose to take evasive measures anyway.


    All of a sudden, a star lit up in the sky to illuminate Ye Xinglan, and the Stargod Sword was slashed through the air, slicing the white mist in half.


    A peerlessly sharp streak of light flashed through the air, forcing Li Mengjie to evade.


    She swept her staff horizontally through the air, and the surrounding light abruptly vanished, plunging the entire area into darkness.


    However, Ye Xinglan remained completely unfazed even in the face of this domain-like ability.


    A speck of starlight appeared above her again, and she abruptly vanished on the spot.


    This was her fifth soul skill, Star Sword!


    A peerlessly sharp aura began to take shape in the sky, and it was spreading at an alarming speed. Countless specks of scintillating starlight appeared, and it was as if the entire sky were about to be torn apart. Each speck of starlight made the darkness recede a little, and Li Mengjie reverted back to her original form with a bewildered look on her face.


    At the beginning of the battle, she had sensed that Ye Xinglan was only a rookie Titled Douluo.


    It was definitely very astonishing to see a Titled Douluo at such a young age, but in terms of battle experience and power, Ye Xinglan should''ve been far inferior to her.


    However, as the battle progressed, she began to have more and more doubts about her own judgment.


    This match didn''t seem to be as intense as the previous ones, but this type of melee combat was the most dangerous as being struck by even a single attack could result in an immediate defeat.


    During the last match, Li Mengjie had already deduced that Xu Lizhi wouldn''t have been able to maintain his four-word battle armor for long. If it weren''t for Da Mo''s overt pride and complacency, Xu Lizhi would''ve had no chance in a battle of attrition.

 Chapter 1616: Heavenly Demon Transformation

    Upon making this realization, she had communicated to Qiangu Dongfeng that she wanted to fight in the next match.


    She naturally wasn''t going to make the same mistake as Da Mo, so even though she was constantly pressuring Ye Xinglan with her attacks, she was also carefully appraising Ye Xinglan this entire time.


    Much to her surprise, not only did Ye Xinglan possess extensive battle experience, she was very good at maximizing her advantages, and she was like an impregnable fortress. Throughout this entire match, her sword intent was constantly subdued, and even when counterattacking, she never allowed herself to overextend and give Li Mengjie any opportunities.


    That short sword that Li Mengjie had just transformed into was her Demonic Maiden Sword, and it was able to devour the target''s life force upon contact.


    The life force of normal people was pointless to her; only the life energy of a young and exuberant Titled Douluo could replenish her needs.


    However, Ye Xinglan had chosen to evade without any hesitation.


    Now that Ye Xinglan was commencing her counterattack, Li Mengjie could clearly sense that she had already attained a sword soul, and that it definitely hadn''t been attained only recently.


    Was this the power of the Shrek Academy''s students?


    Li Mengjie''s eyes narrowed slightly in the face of this unexpectedly troublesome opponent.


    However, what was quite encouraging to Li Mengjie was that Ye Xinglan had released her martial soul true body first. How long would she be able to maintain this form?


    Abilities like martial soul true bodies and battle armor domains consumed a lot of energy, which was why it was generally accepted that the one who released such abilities first during battle were conceding a disadvantage, unless they could secure victory in one fell swoop like Xu Lizhi had just done.


    As such, it was clear that Ye Xinglan was about to unleash an extremely powerful attack, and Li Mengjie could clearly sense that this attack was going to pose a huge threat to her! By her estimations, there was a very good chance that she wouldn''t be able to withstand this attack unless she released her martial soul true body or battle armor.


    In this situation, she immediately made a decision.


    The Demonic Maiden reappeared, but was immediately dragged onto her own body, and the two figures combined, upon which a peculiar product emerged.


    The body still belonged to the alluring Demonic Maiden, but the face attached to that body belonged to Li Mengjie, creating a rather chilling contrast.


    A hint of struggle appeared in her eyes, and her wizened features began to warp and transform, as if she were struggling to become young and beautiful. However, in the end, only half of her face successfully transformed.


    From the side, one could easily be forgiven for thinking that they were appraising a stunning beauty. However, from the front, one would discover that half of the face belonged to Li Mengjie, while the other half was in the Demonic Maiden''s appearance.


    This was Li Mengjie''s martial soul true body, Heavenly Demon Transformation!


    After completing her transformation, the same staff from before appeared in Li Mengjie''s right hand, while the short sword appeared in her left.


    Right at this moment, a beam of radiant starlight descended, and countless galaxies seemed to be contained within the starlight.


    This was Ye Xinglan''s sixth soul skill, Sword Star Soul!


    In her Stargod Sword Body form, Ye Xinglan''s sword intent and sword soul were both released to their maximal extent, and all of her subdued power was instantly released in an explosive assault.


    Li Mengjie''s expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and she quickly donned her suit of battle armor.


    Her battle armor was also very peculiar; the left side was black, while the right side was white to match the two halves of her face.


    In the face of this attack, she had been forced to don her suit of three-word battle armor.


    Right at this moment, the sky suddenly turned dark as if night had fallen, and countless specks of starlight emerged.


    This was Ye Xinglan''s three-word battle armor domain, Dazzling Galaxy!


    During the construction of her battle armor, Ye Xinglan had intentionally emulated Xu Xiaoyan''s domain.


    With the enhancement from her Dazzling Galaxy domain, all of her attacks became around twice as powerful.


    A solemn look appeared on Li Mengjie''s face as she drew a circle with her short sword, creating a round door that was filled with warped light. As Ye Xinglan''s attack approached her, a part of it simply passed through her as if she were merely an illusion.


    This was her eighth soul skill, Mortal Coil!


    She raised her staff high up into the air, and a massive white vortex appeared as her body began to rapidly revolve, sweeping up all of the specks of starlight.


    This was her other eighth soul skill, Heavenly Demon Gravity Field!


    That''s right, in a sense, her Demonic Maiden martial soul was equivalent to twin martial souls, and that was why she had so many soul skills at her disposal.


    However, her martial soul was different from normal twin martial souls as it was essentially one martial soul that had been divided into two extremely similar or contrasting pieces.


    Another example of this was Xie Xie''s twin martial souls prior to their evolution to become the Space Time Dragon.


    Right at this moment, the projection of a sky that was identical to the one above Li Mengjie appeared beneath her feet, and what was even more peculiar was that there was also a galaxy of stars surging through that projected sky.


    Just a moment ago, she had been standing on solid ground, yet now, it was as if she were in outer space.


    She was completely enveloped on all sides by a starry sky, and the surging galaxy instantly formed a massive starry vortex that encompassed her entire body.


    Li Mengjie''s expression changed drastically upon seeing this. Never did she think that Ye Xinglan would be this powerful.


    Piercing light erupted from Li Mengjie''s body, and a layer of pink light spread through the air beneath her feet.


    As soon as the starlight came into contact with this pink light, the former would instantly fade away.


    Due to the fact that she had just unleashed her eighth soul skills, it was already too late to switch to a different soul skill, so she could only unleash her three-word battle armor domain, Heavenly Demon Demise!


    The domain possessed extremely corrosive properties, and even though it didn''t encompass a large area, anyone caught within it would have their body eroded into nothingness.


    Furthermore, the domain also excelled in defense, protecting Li Mengjie from a large portion of the bombardment of starlight, but there was simply too much starlight to deal with.


    Each speck of starlight was formed by the purest sword Qi from the Stargod Sword and was extremely sharp.


    She could nullify the attacks, but she was unable to keep out the sharp sword intent imbued within the sword Qi, and her mind was beginning to receive heavy blows.


    All of the spectators down below could only see a vast expanse of radiant starlight, but they didn''t know what was happening.


    The terrifying power currently being displayed by the Stargod Sword was not inferior to the power that Yuanen Yehui had displayed earlier.


    "Boom, boom, boom!" Three layers of light exploded in quick succession beside Li Mengjie, scattering much of the starlight, as well as the invading sword intent. However, more starlight continued to surge toward her, and it seemed that there was no end to this attack.


    Li Mengjie felt as if she had sunken into a swamp where she had to constantly withstand extremely fearsome attacks. Wasn''t she only a rookie Titled Douluo? How was she able to maintain such a fierce assault for so long?


    The sword projections were so sharp that Li Mengjie didn''t even dare to use her battle armor to directly withstand them.

 Chapter 1617: Three to Three

    The humiliating defeat suffered by Da Mo was obviously still clear in her mind.


    Losing the match wasn''t a big deal, but if her suit of three-word battle armor were ruined, then that would be a massive loss!


    The two of them seemed to have fallen into an impasse, and no one could see what condition Ye Xinglan was in, but her attacks continued to flow toward Li Mengjie in an unrelenting wave. Li Mengjie''s domain and defenses were slowly being worn down, and everyone down below was appraising the battle with nervous expressions.


    All of a sudden, Li Mengjie heaved a resigned sigh as if she had just made a very difficult decision, and she swept her right hand through the air to release a burst of translucent light. This was a cloak that was almost completely transparent, and it instantly draped itself over her entire body.


    The oncoming streaks of starlight that struck her body were then all repelled by the cloak, leaving her completely unharmed.


    Immediately thereafter, a light barrier was released by the cloak, enveloping Li Mengjie within it. Regardless of how fierce Ye Xinglan''s assault became, it was unable to breach this layer of defense.


    Tang Wulin''s expression immediately stiffened as he identified the cloak to be a divine weapon.


    This wasn''t the first time that he was seeing a divine weapon from the Spirit Pagoda, and it was undoubtedly the case that the Spirit Pagoda was currently the wealthiest organization on the entire continent.


    Li Mengjie hailed from an ancient family that had been an integral part of the Spirit Pagoda for thousands of years, and the divine weapon she was using was her family''s most prized treasure.


    After each usage, this Celestial Maiden Cloak would take an entire year to recharge, so it wasn''t to be used unless the situation absolutely necessitated its usage.


    Under the protection of the Celestial Maiden Cloak, all of Ye Xinglan''s attacks had been completely kept at bay.


    After a few more minutes, the barrage of starlight finally began to thin out, and Ye Xinglan was revealed, hovering in mid-air with a slightly pale complexion.


    Her grip on her Stargod Sword was still as steady as ever, and she took a deep breath as she prepared to unleash a new barrage of attacks.


    Even after witnessing her opponent''s divine weapon, she had no intention of backing down.


    However, right at this moment, Li Mengjie suddenly sprang into action.


    She hurled her short sword forward, and it transformed into a massive white veil that encompassed heaven and earth. At the same time, she waved her staff, and nine projections of the Demonic Maiden appeared in mid-air.


    The white veil swept forth, and all nine Demonic Maidens thrust a finger toward Ye Xinglan in unison, unleashing nine streaks of piercing light that reached Ye Xinglan in a flash.


    Ye Xinglan swung her Stargod Sword in retaliation, but the nine streaks of light were all imbued with extremely fearsome power, and each of them was rotating in a different direction.


    This was Li Mengjie''s ninth soul skill, Nine Fingers of the Heavenly Demon!


    As for that white veil, that was her Baleful Heavenly Veil, which was an attack formed by the most powerful baleful aura.


    This was a last-ditch effort for Li Mengjie, and both Ye Xinglan and her Stargod Sword began to tremor in the face of the nine fingers.


    Finally, one of the fingers struck her left shoulder, and she gave a muffled groan as she stumbled back in retreat.


    The Baleful Heavenly Veil instantly swept forth to bind her tightly, and in the next instant, the short sword had already reappeared and reached her glabella.


    The match was decided!


    Li Mengjie looked into Ye Xinglan''s eyes, and said, "You''ve done very well, lass. This is not a glorious victory for me; perhaps I would''ve already lost if not for my Celestial Maiden Cloak. Can you tell me the name of that last technique that you unleashed?"


    Ye Xinglan replied in an expressionless manner, "Revolving Heaven and Stars."


    That''s right, it was her eighth soul skill, Revolving Heaven and Stars!


    She had first released her sword soul to unleash a devastating assault, then used Revolving Heaven and Stars to replicate a galaxy to attack Li Mengjie from all directions. Ye Xinglan had poured everything that she had into that attack, and it had been extremely fearsome.


    Li Mengjie nodded in response. "The future belongs to your generation."


    She then withdrew her Baleful Heavenly Veil and slowly descended.


    A hint of disappointment appeared in Ye Xinglan''s eyes, and she also returned to the ground.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly made his way over to her, and consoled, "It''s alright, she only won because she had a divine weapon."


    However, Ye Xinglan didn''t even look at him. Instead, she was murmuring to herself, "My soul power is still too lackluster. If I had been able to unleash my ninth soul skill there, the outcome would''ve perhaps been different."


    Tang Wulin was rendered speechless upon hearing this.


    Thus, the score stood at a tie with three points for each side.


    However, technically speaking, Shrek Academy had gained a slight upper hand, particularly in that final match, where Li Mengjie had even been forced to use a divine weapon. Just as Li Mengjie had admitted herself, that was not a glorious victory for her.


    Thus came the seventh and final one-on-one match.


    Tang Wulin strode forward, as did Qiangu Dongfeng on the other side.


    "Are you planning to take part in this match, Sect Master Tang?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked with a smile.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I''d be willing to take part if you''ll be my opponent."


    Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "Sure, why not?"


    "Go ahead," Tang Wulin prompted.


    Qiangu Dongfeng immediately rose up into the air. He was a Limit Douluo, and in his eyes, no matter how powerful Tang Wulin was, there was no way he stood a chance in a one-on-one battle. After all, he had been defeated by Gu Yuena during the joust for a spouse event, and she wasn''t even a Limit Douluo.


    If the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda could defeat the Tang Sect Master, then that would be a massive symbolic victory.


    However, instead of Tang Wulin, it was someone else who rose up into the air from Shrek Academy.


    Furthermore, he only sprang up to an altitude of around 20 meters before descending back down onto the ground. "I concede!"


    This person was standing near the back of the Shrek Academy camp, so no one had noticed his existence.


    His appearance was very ordinary, and there weren''t even many people in Shrek Academy who recognized him, let alone the people from the Spirit Pagoda.


    "What are you doing, Uncle Li?" Tang Wulin hurriedly rushed toward the man with a panicked expression.


    The man looked to be in his fifties, and was wearing a set of very minimalistic cloth garments.


    He turned to Tang Wulin with a wry smile, and said, "I''m sorry, Pavilion Master; I wanted to do my part for the academy."


    Tang Wulin''s expression darkened slightly. "Uncle Li, you..."


    Uncle Li sighed, "I wanted to do my part, but he''s way too powerful for me, so I had no choice but to concede."


    Tang Wulin asked in an accusatory voice, "Uncle Li, you''re not a Spirit Pagoda spy, are you?"


    Uncle Li immediately shook his head vigorously. "Of course not! I''ve been tending to the front entrance of our Shrek Academy for over 30 years. If it weren''t for the fact that I just so happened to be on holiday during the bombing, I would already be dead! Even after the bombing, I immediately came back upon receiving news of the academy''s rebuild; you can''t slander me like this, Pavilion Master!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng was completely perplexed. Was this guy really a spy from the Spirit Pagoda? If so, why had he never heard of him?


    All of a sudden, Qiangu Dongfeng realized what was going on. However, before he had a chance to say anything, Tang Wulin looked up at him with an indignant expression, and said, "Fine, we can''t go back on our word, so we concede this match. Congratulations, Chairman Qiangu, you''ve beaten our academy''s security guard."


    Qiangu Dongfeng descended from above with a furious expression. "This is clearly a ploy from you to avoid having to face me in battle!"


    A cold smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You planted a spy in our academy, yet you''re accusing me of foul play? How about you concede the match instead so you can feature in the later matches?"

 Chapter 1618: Twins

    Qiangu Dongfeng''s mind was racing as he assessed the situation, but no matter how he thought about it, it was clear that Tang Wulin had screwed him over. "You think you''re going to win through these devious little tricks?"


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly in response. "Do you want to continue or not?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng knew that he had fallen for Tang Wulin''s trap. Tang Wulin had used a completely inconsequential figure in a matchup against Qiangu Dongfeng, thereby preventing him from being able to feature in the two-on-two matches.


    If the two-on-two matches were only worth one point each, then there wouldn''t be an issue, but that wasn''t the case. Tang Wulin had clearly tricked him, yet he was playing the victim!


    Taking a look at the bigger picture, Shrek Academy had indeed fallen behind by one point, but both Leng Yaozhu and Qiangu Dongfeng were now unable to feature in the two-on-two matches.


    Leng Yaozhu was also a rookie Limit Douluo like Yali, but she was a four-word battle armor master and an assault system Soul Master; if she had been paired against Yali in a one-on-one battle, her victory would''ve virtually been assured.


    However, even though he and Leng Yaozhu had earned two points for the Spirit Pagoda, Shrek Academy hadn''t been forced to use any of its important pieces.


    Neither Yali nor Long Yeyue had taken part in any matches thus far, and they were clearly playing the long game, saving their most powerful beings for the matches that were worth the most points.  [1]


    However, if he thought that he could win like this, then he was dead wrong! The Spirit Pagoda had far more depth than he could imagine.


    With that in mind, Qiangu Dongfeng was instilled with even more confidence. At the very least, this was a concession of weakness from Shrek Academy. Resurrecting Yun Ming was nothing but a joke. He had already enquired the Holy Spirit Cult about such a possibility, and he had been told that only a god would be able to resurrect Yun Ming. Only a wisp of his soul remained, and it could only just barely survive in an object.


    "Let''s continue. Show me what other little tricks you have up your sleeve."


    Tang Wulin''s expression had already returned to normal at this point, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.


    Meanwhile, the students and parents in the distance were all quite perplexed. How had that spy been planted into Shrek Academy? Even though the Spirit Pagoda was leading by a point, the two powers were evenly matched in the eyes of all of the bystanders.


    All of the parents were thoroughly enjoying this spectacular show. Ticket prices for a showdown of such epic proportions would undoubtedly be extremely expensive, yet they were able to spectate for free!


    Even though there were live broadcasts on all the television channels, seeing the clash live was a completely different experience.


    Furthermore, this was an impromptu clash, so the television crews were very ill-prepared and could only shoot the footage from the ground, thereby compromising on clarity.


    Tang Wulin and Qiangu Dongfeng faced each other again before giving a countdown in unison.


    "Three, two, one, begin!"


    Two more figures instantly flew up into the air.


    One-on-one and two-on-two matches had been around in the Soul Master world since the beginning of time. Even back in Tang San''s generation, these were already very common competition formats. In particular, the two-on-two matches were very common for Soul Masters with soul fusion skills.


    The representatives from the Spirit Pagoda were a pair of tall middle-aged men who appeared to be in their thirties with burly physiques and military buzz cuts.


    What was most interesting about them was that they were a pair of identical twins!


    This was a clear indication that there was a very good chance they possessed a soul fusion skill.


    Generally speaking, twin Soul Masters had great synergy with one another, and there was a very good chance that they possessed soul fusion skills from birth.


    Tang Wulin had encountered similar opponents in his younger days, and they had posed quite a stern challenge to him.


    As the twins rose up into the air, they released their soul rings in unison, and both of their soul ring configurations consisted of three purples and six blacks.


    This was slightly inferior to the Spirit Pagoda representatives that had come before them, and it made it even more likely that they possessed a soul fusion skill. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have been granted the opportunity to represent the Spirit Pagoda in this clash.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be impressed by the depth of the Spirit Pagoda. Many of the Soul Masters that had featured in the matches today were ones that Tang Wulin had never seen before, but all of them were Titled Douluos.


    In a normal small sect, a Titled Douluo was enough to ensure the prosperity of the entire sect, but in the Spirit Pagoda, it seemed that Titled Douluos were a dime a dozen. Through the allure of its soul spirits, it was able to recruit a whole host of powerful beings.


    The two representatives from Shrek Academy were also very burly and muscular. In fact, they were far more imposing than their opponents, but they weren''t twins.


    The one on the left was extremely tall and broad with glistening bald heads, and his clothes did nothing to conceal his cartoonishly developed muscles.


    The one beside him was slightly shorter, but he was just as imposing and gave off an indescribably overbearing aura.


    These two were none other than A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    Sima Jinchi couldn''t leave Tang Wulin, and A''Ruheng didn''t have anywhere to go, so both of them had been recruited by Tang Wulin to become teachers of Shrek Academy.


    Teaching was a new challenge to both of them, and they didn''t know whether they would be good teachers, but they were both very interested and immediately agreed.


    Prior to this, it had already been decided that they would feature in the first two-on-two battle.


    The Spirit Pagoda had very little information about these two.


    A''Ruheng had stayed in the Body Sect his entire life and only emerged into the outside world as a Soul Douluo, while Sima Jinchi''s files had been kept confidential by the Southern Legion where he had been a high-ranking military official. He was constantly by Tang Wulin''s side like a weapon, and he didn''t receive much attention as he rarely ever did anything worthy of note. Even during the joust for a spouse event, he had only appeared in disguise.


    As such, Qiangu Dongfeng''s brows furrowed slightly at the sight of these two. He could sense that both of them were very powerful Titled Douluos, but he was also very confident in the twins representing the Spirit Pagoda.


    After all, synergy was very important in two-on-two battles.


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng exchanged a glance, then immediately turned away from one another with disdainful expressions.


    "I''m telling you, don''t weigh me down!" Sima Jinchi scoffed.


    A''Ruheng harrumphed coldly in response. "Piss off! I can handle them on my own; don''t get in my way!"


    [1] [As you may recall, Yali has already taken part in a one-on-one match, so this appears to be another inconsistency from the author. Yali features in a later two-on-two match, so unfortunately, I can''t change things up here to make the storyline consistent across the board.]

 Chapter 1619: Today, I Seal Your Light

    "You''ve got nothing aside from brute strength! I would never team up with you if not for Master''s instructions!"


    The two of them were bickering very loudly, making no attempt to conceal their conflict at all.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but bury his face into his own hands. "Why are they doing this again?"


    A hesitant look appeared on Yali''s face. "Maybe this wasn''t such a good idea; synergy is very important in two-on-two battles."


    Tang Wulin took a resigned glance at Yali before gently shaking his head.


    Of course, Qiangu Dongfeng was able to see all of this, but he wasn''t convinced in the slightest.


    What was the point of putting on such an act? Both of these Shrek Academy representatives were Titled Douluos, so it was very clear that they didn''t have anyone left. Having said that, he had to carefully observe these two as it was very likely that they would appear in the final seven-on-seven match. After all, most of the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters didn''t seem to have reached the Titled Douluo level yet, so there was no way that all of them would participate in the final match.


    At this point, both sides had already reached a sufficient altitude.


    The Spirit Pagoda representatives consisted of a pair of identical twins, and the elder brother was named Bai Haoze, while the name of the younger brother was Bai Zhicen.


    As the two of them began to slow down in their descent, a pair of pristine white wings emerged out of each of their backs.


    To the experienced eye, it was immediately made apparent that the two of them possessed flying beast-type martial souls.


    What was even more peculiar was that a horn had also emerged on the top of each of their heads.


    The horn on Bai Haoze''s head was a golden corkscrew horn, while the horn on Bai Zhicen''s head was silver, presenting a resplendent duo.


    Wings and a horn? What kind of a martial soul was this?


    None of the people from Shrek Academy recognized these two, so they were clearly not renowned Soul Masters; they were most likely secret weapons of the Spirit Pagoda.


    A''Ruheng was never one to carefully analyze his opponents. His battle style was extremely simple: do everything by force!


    A''Ruheng''s muscles bulged as he let loose a thunderous roar, then shot forth toward the Bai Brothers like a shooting star.


    As a result, he instantly distanced himself from Sima Jinchi, and it seemed that the two of them had thrown teamwork completely out the window.


    Even the most ordinary of bystanders could tell that these were not good tactics for two-on-two battles.


    What was even more peculiar was Sima Jinchi''s reactions. As A''Ruheng charged toward the Bai Brothers, Sima Jinchi merely remained on the spot and crossed his arms, looking as if he were about to enjoy a good show.


    Was this really a two-on-two battle?


    Before anyone had a chance to analyze the situation in greater depth, A''Ruheng had already reached his opponents and was swinging his massive fist directly toward Bai Zhicen.


    Bai Zhicen dodged to the side, quickly switching positions with his brother, and at the same time, white light erupted from both of their bodies, making it appear as if a pair of scintillating suns had appeared in the sky.


    At the same time, a powerful wave of light elements erupted forth before crashing heavily into A''Ruheng''s body.


    A''Ruheng was immediately sent flying like a cannonball. Even with his incredibly powerful body, he was unable to withstand the attack and was sent flying for over a kilometer with golden flames burning all over his body.


    Sima Jinchi was given quite a fright upon seeing this, and he immediately released his martial soul. Only after his Dragonslaying Saber had appeared in his grasp did he feel slightly more comfortable.


    What exactly was their opponents'' martial soul? Its offensive prowess was truly astounding.


    Sima Jinchi was well aware of how powerful A''Ruheng was. A''Ruheng was very loud and arrogant, but in terms of strength and defensive prowess, Tang Wulin was the only one in Shrek Academy who could compare with him, and that was even factoring in the Limit Douluos. He was one of only two people in this generation to have mastered the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, and that was certainly no joke.


    As such, the fact that even he had been sent flying was a testament to just how powerful the opponents'' attack had been.


    After the ball of golden light blasted A''Ruheng through the air, it suddenly shrank down from its original diameter of five meters to around only three meters, following which a layer of silver light appeared over its surface.


    Immediately thereafter, the massive ball of golden light suddenly teleported over to Sima Jinchi and enveloped his entire body.


    The first thought that occurred to Sima Jinchi was that he had been set on fire. Not only was the golden ball of light filled with unbearably scorching heat, it was also releasing a burst of powerful suction force that prevented him from being able to get away.


    The total sum of energy within this attack was most likely close to the Limit Douluo level, and it was clear that this was the Bai Brothers'' soul fusion skill.


    Sima Jinchi knew that his defensive prowess was inferior to A''Ruheng''s, and he immediately released his suit of battle armor.


    His dark yellow battle armor was very thick and sturdy, and he slashed his Dragonslaying Saber through the air, defending himself with his own saber soul rather than using any soul skills.


    All of a sudden, reddish-golden flames erupted to envelop Sima Jinchi''s entire body, and he was also sent flying like a cannonball.


    Even though he was protected by his own suit of battle armor and was able to quickly snuff out the flames, he was clearly looking a little panicked.


    The golden ball of light compressed once again, and the silver light reappeared.


    Right at this moment, a string of thunderous thumps rang out.


    "Lub-dub, lud-dub, lub-dub!"


    The golden ball of light was clearly affected by this sound and faltered on the spot as if it had suddenly become very sluggish.


    In the next instant, A''Ruheng had already flown back to where he had been standing before. Sima Jinchi didn''t even look at him as he slashed his Dragonslaying Saber through the air, and all of a sudden, the sky dimmed and fierce gusts of winds swept forth as a massive illusion was conjured up.


    The illusion was extremely realistic, and it was comprised of countless giant dragons hovering in mid-air, while Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng had completely vanished.


    This was Sima Jinchi''s battle armor domain, Myriad Dragon Law!


    Dull dragon''s roars reverberated through the air, and it was as if the entire sky were filled with giant dragons, presenting a breathtaking sight to behold.


    The golden ball of light came to an abrupt halt, having clearly lost track of its targets.


    Bao Haoze and Bai Zhicen''s soul fusion skill was named Ephemeral Light, and their martial soul was the extremely rare and powerful Unicorn!


    However, the difference was that Bai Haoze''s martial soul was the Light Unicorn, while Bai Zhicen''s was the Spatial Unicorn, and that was what gave rise to their incredibly powerful soul fusion skill.


    They had been discovered by the Spirit Pagoda when they had traveled there to obtain their first soul spirits, and they were immediately recruited with extremely extravagant compensation provided in exchange. Within the span of 25 years, both of them had become Titled Douluos, and due to the fact that they were identical twins, their martial souls had a harmony rate of over 80%.


    Furthermore, the light and spatial powers that they possessed made their soul fusion skill extremely versatile. As such, it was able to last longer than normal soul fusion skills.


    Individually, they were only a pair of Titled Douluos, but together, they were one of the Spirit Pagoda''s most formidable duos.


    As the ball of light hovered within the domain, it began to turn transparent, and the Bai Brothers were gradually revealed standing inside it.


    Their horns had become particularly bright and were radiating scintillating golden and silver light.


    All of a sudden, an authoritative voice rang out across the entire heavens.


    "Do you admit to your crimes?"


    A giant white dragon had been thrust onto a tall platform, and its head was pressed against the ground as its massive body trembled incessantly.


    "I do," the giant white dragon replied in a feeble voice, seemingly extremely fearful of something.


    "Alright, then today, I seal your light." The authoritative voice rang out again. Immediately thereafter, a giant saber that was radiating nine-colored light appeared in the sky.


    The massive saber came crashing down, and it was as if the entire sky had been instantly torn apart.


    A streak of light flashed past, and the sky fell dim as all of the golden light completely vanished.

 Chapter 1620: Brothers or Sisters?

    To the shock and horror of Bai Haoze, he could feel the light elements around him fading away at an astonishing rate, as if an invisible black hole had appeared to devour all of the light elements in his body.


    This was a terrifying feeling, and he immediately tried to resist, but no matter how much he struggled, it was all to no avail.


    The Ephemeral Light instantly dissipated, while Bai Haoze immediately released his suit of battle armor.


    A golden suit of battle armor instantly encapsulated his entire body, but his aura of light was still continuing to recede.


    Right at this moment, a massive hulking figure descended from the sky before slamming his fists viciously downward.


    It was none other than A''Ruheng!


    The last attack didn''t seem to have inflicted any substantial injuries upon him; it had only incinerated his clothes and charred his skin slightly black.


    As he came crashing down from above, it was as if he were threatening to shatter heaven and earth.


    Silver light flashed, and Bai Haoze vanished into thin air before reappearing over 100 meters away.


    After teleporting his brother away, silver light also flashed from Bai Zhicen''s body, and he instantly appeared behind A''Ruheng before stomping a foot toward his spine.


    A''Ruheng didn''t even bother to evade, allowing Bai Zhicen to stomp on his neck before abruptly contracting his trapezoid muscles, using it to grab onto Bai Zhicen''s foot like a hand.


    His terrifying strength erupted forth alongside his enormous blood essence, and right as Bai Zhicen was about to teleport away, the space around him suddenly exploded, rendering him unable to detect any spatial fluctuations.


    In the next instant, A''Ruheng had already appeared in front of him before grabbing toward his body.


    In this dire situation, Bai Zhicen swiped his right hand over his own head, and his silver horn transformed into a longsword that stabbed straight toward A''Ruheng.


    Once again, A''Ruheng made no effort to evade, allowing the longsword to pierce into his palm.


    Blood splattered everywhere as the corkscrew blade of the sword plunged into his hand, only to be immediately locked into place by A''Ruheng''s muscles.


    His blood essence erupted forth once again to shatter the surrounding space, and he wrenched Bai Zhicen toward himself before enveloping Bai Zhicen in a tight embrace.


    He then chortled with glee as he squeezed with all his might, and even Bai Zhicen''s three-word battle armor began to groan and creak with excessive strain in the face of his extraordinary strength.


    Meanwhile, Bai Haoze was also in a very sticky situation.


    Sima Jinchi had appeared before him, but in contrast with before, both Sima Jinchi''s Dragonslaying Saber and battle armor had disappeared.


    Sealing light was not an easy task. He could seal away any element, but that required his battle armor domain and Dragonslaying Saber to be completely fused with one another, thereby giving him a severe handicap, which was why he rarely ever used this ability in battle.


    However, the sacrifice was definitely worth it here as he was able to disable the opponents'' soul fusion skill by sealing light. As for the loss of his battle armor and weapon, Sima Jinchi didn''t even consider that to be an issue. After all, a Light Unicorn without light was like a tiger without fangs and claws.


    As such, he had immediately attacked Bai Haoze as soon as A''Ruheng unleashed his assault against Bai Zhicen.


    Sima Jinchi gave Bai Haoze a wide smile before stepping forward and chopping down with his palm.


    Bai Haoze instantly felt as if the world around him had completely dimmed, and he could hear the despairing cries of countless giant dragons. The power of that palm was simply too formidable, especially on a mental level.


    Back when Tang Wulin had first met Sima Jinchi, the latter had already mastered a saber soul.


    Furthermore, he was a divine weapon incarnate, so even without the Dragonslaying Saber, he was able to use his own body as a saber.


    Bai Haoze also plucked down his own horn and transformed it into a longsword before unleashing dozens of sword projections at once, but due to the fact that all light elements had been sealed, he was unable to use the vast majority of his soul skills, and even his battle armor had been severely debilitated.


    Even with his battle armor to enhance him, Bai Haoze was still at a severe disadvantage due to the complete absence of light elements.


    Sima Jinchi strode forward as he unleashed another palm strike, and on this occasion, Bao Haoze felt as if a giant dragon had suddenly appeared before him.


    This was a dragon that was entirely deathly grey in color, and it was sliced in half amid a bloodcurdling howl.


    "Argh!" Bai Haoze couldn''t help but let loose a sharp scream.


    Meanwhile, Bai Zhicen also let loose an involuntary scream as his battle armor was compressed from all sides by A''Ruheng.


    "What the f*ck?!" A''Ruheng immediately released his opponent and hurtled back in retreat as if he had seen a ghost.


    At the same time, Sima Jinchi''s right palm had already reached Bai Haoze''s neck, and he was millimeters away from knocking his opponent unconscious with a swift chop to the neck. However, he also rushed back in retreat as if his hand had suddenly been burned.


    Why had they displayed such strong reactions? It was because the screams of their opponents were female screams of an extremely high decibel! It wouldn''t even be an exaggeration to compare them with banshee screeches!


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng exchanged a glance, and both of them could see their own incredulity mirrored in one another''s eyes.


    Right at this moment, the sky suddenly tremored, following which a beam of light shone down onto Sima Jinchi from above; it was none other than his battle armor. Immediately thereafter, his Dragonslaying Saber also returned.


    "Crap!" Sima Jinchi yelled, "We have to take them down now!"


    However, it was already too late.


    The seal on light elements had suddenly disappeared, and Bai Zhicen almost instinctively teleported himself over to his brother before the two of them instantly fused as one. The giant ball of golden light appeared once again, and it crashed into A''Ruheng''s body with scorching fury.


    This attack was far more fearsome than the previous one had been as both of the Bai Brothers had donned their battle armor, and their powers were also fuelled by their fury!


    A''Ruheng let loose an anguished howl as he was instantly sent flying for over a kilometer.


    In the next instant, five more balls of light were conjured up, and all six balls of golden light surrounded Sima Jinchi before bombarding him one after another.


    Sima Jinchi resisted with all his might as he wielded his Dragonslaying Saber, but he could only stumble back in retreat.


    All of a sudden, the six balls of light combined as one, creating a string of explosions comparable to the power of a ninth-grade soul missile, and the entire sky was illuminated by scintillating golden light.


    A figure fell out of the sky, crashing down toward the ground like a rucksack.


    Tang Wulin immediately rushed forward to catch Sima Jinchi, who had blood flowing out of all seven of his orifices. Furthermore, his three-word battle armor was in tatters, highlighting just how fearsome the attack he had just withstood had been.


    Sima Jinchi cast an indignant gaze toward Tang Wulin and barely choked out the words "they''re women" before falling unconscious.


    Yali had already unleashed her Holy Light Technique, while another despairing howl rang out up above. "I surrender! I don''t fight women! Argh!"

 Chapter 1621: Er...

    "Thump!" An irregular "´ó" character appeared on the ground; this was the figure of A''Ruheng.


    Tang Wulin was completely dumbstruck by this sudden turn of events. He simply couldn''t understand what had just happened!


    After handing Sima Jinchi over to Yali for treatment, he hurried over to the crater in the ground and pulled A''Ruheng out of it.


    A''Ruheng possessed far superior physical resistance compared to Sima Jinchi, but his battle armor was also quite damaged, and there were many charred patches on his body as well.


    Tang Wulin wore a speechless expression as he asked, "What happened, Senior Disciple Brother?"


    A''Ruheng turned to Tang Wulin with a resigned expression. "At the time, I was thinking: how could a woman be so ugly? AND I hugged her! Eurgh..."


    Tang Wulin really wanted to throw him back into the crater after hearing his thoughts! Sima Jinchi''s thoughts were most likely much the same.


    Thus, Spirit Academy won the first two-on-two match, but it was a completely inexplicable victory.


    The Shrek Academy duo had been dominating their opponents, and victory was literally within their grasp, but they had suffered a stunning defeat, and Sima Jinchi was severely injured, so he clearly couldn''t participate in the final seven-on-seven match.


    How did this happen?! Tang Wulin had been very confident in this pair.


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng were constantly bickering with one another, but they had actually been cultivating together for a very long time, and despite their argumentative relationship, they had a high level of tacit understanding with each other. As such, they were able to confuse the opponent, then display their exemplary teamwork when it mattered. On top of that, both of them possessed Hyper Douluo level powers, so individually, they were actually more powerful than some members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression was also very peculiar. He had also been very confident in the Bai sisters, and his heart had completely sunk when Sima Jinchi had sealed all light elements. He was well aware of just how powerful Ephemeral Light was; this was a soul fusion skill that was close to the Limit Douluo level in power, and even if he were to come up against it, he would only be able to passively defend until they ran out of soul power.


    Once the two of them became Hyper Douluos, their soul fusion skill would truly reach the Limit Douluo level, thereby making them an important trump card for the Spirit Pagoda.


    But who could''ve predicted that there would be an opponent capable of sealing light to such a complete extent? Without their soul fusion skill, the Bai sisters were far less formidable. Almost all of their practical combat training had been done with their soul fusion skill, and it would be a great pity if they were to be defeated under these circumstances.


    However, who could''ve imagined that two screams would suddenly turn the tables?


    Even though the match had been won, Qiangu Dongfeng wasn''t feeling very happy.


    Bai Haoze and Bao Zhicen descended in front of Qiangu Dongfeng, and they were still speaking in their female voices as they said in unison, "Chairman."


    Almost everyone from the Spirit Pagoda around Qiangu Dongfeng had taken an unconscious step backward.


    Just as A''Ruheng had said, these were two rugged and burly men, but they possessed female voices that were very pleasing to the ears; it was truly quite disturbing!


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyelids twitched as he said, "You did very well; go and rest now."


    "Yes!"


    Bai Haoze cast her gaze toward the unconscious Sima Jinchi, while Bai Zhicen turned toward A''Ruheng.


    In response to Bai Zhicen''s surreptitious glance, A''Ruheng''s eyes immediately rolled back into his head, and he also fell unconscious, although it was unclear whether he was acting or not.


    Tang Wulin almost gave him a slap to his bald head as he said in a low voice, "Are you an idiot? Can''t you see she''s in disguise? The Spirit Pagoda must''ve disguised their original appearance so they could be used as future trump cards."


    A''Ruheng immediately reopened his eyes upon hearing this. "Is that true?"


    Tang Wulin rolled his eyes, and replied, "Why would I lie to you about something like this?"


    A''Ruheng scratched his head in a slightly embarrassed manner as he said, "The situation just now really caught me off guard. It was all Sima Jinchi''s fault! We had already prepared to land the final blows, but who would''ve thought that his stupid light seal would suddenly cut off? We wouldn''t have lost if he hadn''t been so useless!"


    Sima Jinchi had already awakened while receiving Yali''s treatment, and he immediately flared up with rage upon hearing this. "Bullsh*t!"


    "How is it bullsh*t? Am I not correct to pin the blame on you?"


    "You had already caught your opponent in a full embrace; if you had eliminated her, it would''ve been two-on-one, and our victory would''ve been assured!"


    "You''re one to talk! Why didn''t you knock your opponent unconscious? If you had knocked out your opponent, my opponent wouldn''t have been able to pose any threat to me!"


    "That''s enough! Go and bicker in the back!" Tang Wulin was left feeling completely speechless.


    This was the first match that had completely spiraled out of his control. Thankfully, he still had enough up his sleeve to give Qiangu Dongfeng a massive surprise.


    Thus, he turned to Qiangu Dongfeng with an exasperated expression, and said, "I didn''t think you''d stoop to these tricks, Chairman Qiangu. Is your Spirit Academy offering disguise classes?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng knew that Tang Wulin was mocking him, and he replied in an indifferent manner, "The outcome has already been decided; let''s continue. You''re currently losing by three points; if we win the final two two-on-two matches, then there will be no need for the final seven-on-seven match."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "I''m afraid I''ll have to rain on your parade. I''m going to be appearing in the next match; I hope you''ll organize sufficiently powerful opponents for me."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. He had never dared to look down on Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin''s rate of progression was downright astounding, and it seemed that he was constantly evolving. Aside from Gu Yuena, he was the most exceptional young Soul Master that Qiangu Dongfeng had ever seen.


    Ye Xinglan and Yuanen Yehui had both put on stunning displays, yet he was the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master, and that was sufficient testament to his abilities. Qiangu Dongfeng was wondering who his partner for this two-on-two match was going to be.


    The current score was six to three, and Spirit Academy had double Shrek Academy''s points. Just as Qiangu Dongfeng had said, if Shrek Academy were to lose both two-on-two matches, then there would be no need for this clash to continue as a lead of five points would be unassailable.


    Thus, the next two-on-two match would be extremely important for Shrek Academy. If they were to lose again, then they would be piling immense pressure upon themselves.


    Who was Tang Wulin''s partner going to be? Everyone''s eyes were on him.


    Meanwhile, two people emerged from the Spirit Pagoda camp behind Qiangu Dongfeng. One of them patted Qiangu Dongfeng on the shoulder, and Qiangu Dongfeng immediately stepped off to the side as he said in a respectful manner, "I''ll be counting on you, Big Brother."


    The man nodded in response before casting his gaze toward Tang Wulin.


    The man bore a very similar appearance to Qiangu Dongfeng, and he appeared to be slightly younger than Qiangu Dongfeng, yet Qiangu Dongfeng was referring to him as "big brother", and that was a clear indication of his status in the Spirit Pagoda.


    His partner was an elegant woman who wore a faint smile, and she appeared to be in her thirties.


    She was holding hands with the man, and they seemed to be very intimate with one another.


    The two of them exchanged a glance before rising straight up into the air, and neither of them released their martial soul from the get-go.


    Two people also rose up from the Shrek Academy camp, and Tang Wulin''s partner was none other than Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.  [1]


    Yali was also very beautiful and youthful in appearance, and if one didn''t know any better, they could be forgiven for thinking that these two were a pair of lovers as well.


    "That''s Qiangu Qingfeng; I didn''t think that he would represent the Spirit Pagoda," Yali said in a low voice.


    "Qiangu Qingfeng?" Tang Wulin turned toward Yali with a perplexed expression to find that there was a hint of concern in her eyes.


    Yali explained, "He''s Qiangu Dongfeng''s blood brother, but in contrast with Qiangu Dongfeng, who grew up in the Spirit Pagoda, he was very rebellious in his youth, and his martial soul wasn''t the Coiling Dragon Staff, so he wasn''t held in as high a regard in the Qiangu Family."


    [1] [Like I said earlier, Yali has technically already appeared in a one-on-one match, so this is another inconsistency, but just pretend like she hasn''t competed yet LOL]

 Chapter 1622: Qiangu Qingfeng

    "In his formative years, the cultivation aptitude he displayed was quite ordinary. Back when he was 12, Qiangu Dongfeng had already outstripped his cultivation rank at just nine years of age. As a result, he became even more looked down on, and was even bullied to a certain extent. He and Qiangu Dongfeng had different mothers, and his mother had passed away not long after his birth, so his life in the Qiangu Family was quite difficult. At 14 years of age, he asked for a sum of money from the Qiangu Family with the alibi of seeking an education, and he left for 20 years."


    "During those years, Qiangu Dongfeng progressed rapidly with the support of the entire Qiangu Family, and at just 30 years of age, he was already a Titled Douluo. However, it was right at this point that Qiangu Qingfeng suddenly returned, and the first thing he did following his return was challenge Qiangu Dongfeng."


    As they were speaking, Yali and Tang Wulin had already risen to the same altitude as Qiangu Qingfeng and his wife.


    "I''m assuming Qiangu Qingfeng won?" Tang Wulin asked as he appraised his opponents.


    Yali nodded in response. "Apparently, Qiangu Dongfeng was utterly crushed. After defeating Qiangu Dongfeng, he declared that it wasn''t that he couldn''t compete with Qiangu Dongfeng; he simply didn''t want to. After that, he left the Qiangu Family once again and didn''t take on any official role in the Spirit Pagoda. I didn''t think that he would show up here. He was already able to crush Qiangu Dongfeng several decades ago; I''m sure he''s even more powerful now."


    Tang Wulin asked with a rather perplexed expression, "Why haven''t I ever heard of him? Has he not traveled the continent in the past?"


    "He has, but..."


    Yali''s voice trailed off here as Qiangu Qingfeng made an inviting hand gesture toward them, and said, "Let''s begin."


    He took a step forward as he spoke, releasing a total of nine soul rings, comprised of six blacks and three reds.


    Meanwhile, his wife sat down in mid-air with a faint smile, and a miniature guzheng appeared on her lap.


    The guzheng was completely snowy-white in color, and was giving off a faint frosty mist.


    She also possessed nine soul rings, and her soul ring configuration wasn''t as elite as that of Qiangu Qingfeng, but her final soul ring was also red.


    Thus, they were a pair of Titled Douluos who both possessed 100,000-year-old soul rings, and there was a very good chance that Qiangu Qingfeng was a Limit Douluo; this was clearly not going to be an easy match for Shrek Academy.


    "That''s Frost Symphony Douluo Xia Zhengleng!" Yali exclaimed.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. He had heard this name before, but couldn''t quite match the face to the name.


    There were countless types of martial souls in the Soul Master world, but they could be split up into several broad categories. For example, there were beast martial souls and tool martial souls. In terms of battle styles, they could be split up into the assault system, control system, agility attack system, defense system, food system, etc. Among those categories was one known as soundwave-type martial souls.


    This was an often overlooked category as Soul Masters who possessed this type of martial soul were quite rare.


    Tang Wulin had heard of this Frost Symphony Douluo as she was listed as the current number one soundwave-type Soul Master in Shrek Academy''s records. Her Frosty Symphony Guzheng was a truly formidable martial soul, and her reputation had been forged as far back as several decades ago.


    As such, she had to at least be a Hyper Douluo. She had kept a very low profile for the past few decades, and it was quite a surprise to see her representing the Spirit Pagoda here.


    It seemed that the Spirit Pagoda had more depth than previously imagined. Xia Zhengleng and Qiangu Qingfeng were definitely an extremely fearsome pair.


    Qiangu Qingfeng raised a hand high up into the air, and a long weapon appeared in his grasp amid a flash of black light.


    This was a massive ancient halberd that was roughly comparable to Tang Wulin''s trident in size, except the arrangement of the blades on the two weapons were quite different.  [1]


    "That''s Qiangu Qingfeng''s Purgatory Halberd; his Douluo Title is also Purgatory," Yali quickly explained.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response, and all of a sudden, his surroundings seemed to have been plunged into complete darkness.


    This wasn''t darkness on a visual level. Instead, he felt as if his mind had gone completely dark.


    In the next instant, an extremely heavy aura descended upon him as Qiangu Qingfeng unleashed the first attack.


    This was his first soul skill, Dark Night Assassination!


    Tang Wulin''s senses were temporarily blinded, and the fact that his opponent was able to infuse his spiritual power into his soul skill to affect Tang Wulin indicated that he was definitely also at the mental manifestation level.


    As expected, this Qiangu Qingfeng really was a Limit Douluo.


    A crisp clang rang out, and a burst of light emerged in the darkness, illuminating everything in the surrounding area.


    Tang Wulin was hovering in mid-air in a stable manner, keeping the Purgatory Halberd at bay with his shimmering Golden Dragon Spear.


    A hint of surprise appeared in Qiangu Qingfeng''s eyes upon seeing this, and all of a sudden, scintillating light erupted from his Purgatory Halberd as he slashed it through the air to unleash a purplish-black blade projection.


    This was his second soul skill, Nether Slash!


    The slash appeared to be very simple and nonchalant, but it struck Tang Wulin with a sense of extreme peril.


    He immediately retreated as he released his Golden Dragon Body, upon which a layer of golden scales appeared all over his skin, and he also unleashed his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion to oppose the Nether Slash.


    At the same time, he thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward, sending countless golden spear projections hurtling directly toward Qiangu Qingfeng. Fury of the Masses!


    Tang Wulin had once held the title of Spear God, and his mastery of the spear had reached an exceptional level.


    Currently, his Fury of the Masses was completely subdued and gave off no threatening aura at all, as if it were one with heaven and earth.


    Becoming one with nature was a state that was extremely valuable to all Soul Masters, yet Tang Wulin had achieved this a long time ago.


    As the one who was blessed by the plane, it was far easier for him to enter this state than others.


    Right at this moment, a clear ringing sound rang out, and Tang Wulin felt as if a bucket of icy water had been poured over his head, instantly causing him to become quite sluggish.


    At the same time, his Fury of the Masses had lost its direction, and right at this moment, the purplish-black Purgatory Halberd instantly reached his chest.


    Tang Wulin didn''t panic in the slightest as he gripped onto his Golden Dragon Spear with both hands to oppose the oncoming halberd, and at the same time, all of his golden scales took on a mirror-like appearance. This was his second Golden Dragon King soul skill, Golden Dragon Tyrant Body!


    "Clang!"


    Tang Wulin was forced backward, while the Purgatory Halberd was repelled by the Golden Dragon Spear.


    However, in the instant that the two weapons had come into contact with one another, Tang Wulin had been struck by an indescribably torturous feeling, as if his soul had been about to escape out of his body.


    Only after being struck by Qiangu Qingfeng''s Nether Slash did Tang Wulin come to understand just how fearsome it was.


    Even though he could still control his own body, he felt as if he had lost control of his own soul, and it was hovering beside his body.


    [1] [The halberd being mentioned here is a rather special type of ancient Chinese halberd for which there isn''t really a good translation. If you''re curious about what it looks like, search ·½Ìì»­êª in Google images]

 Chapter 1623: Clash

    This was an attack that struck on both the physical and mental level, and it was not to be faced head-on. If he were to be struck by another Nether Slash, his exposed soul could be damaged, and that could result in catastrophic consequences.


    Qiangu Qingfeng was also quite surprised by Tang Wulin''s strength.


    Even though his Nether Slash was only his second soul skill, it was his core soul skill, just like Lan Muzi''s Spring Sun and White Snow. Once he forced his opponent''s soul out of their body, all of his subsequent attacks would be far more damaging to his opponent. At the same time, his Nether Slash was a ferocious attack that condensed all of his strength and soul power. Countless opponents had been unable to withstand even a single Nether Slash in his past battles, yet not only had Tang Wulin managed to withstand it, he had managed to use his Golden Dragon Spear to send the Purgatory Halberd flying when the former was far thinner than the latter.


    Even with his Limit Douluo level powers, he hadn''t been able to gain even the slightest upper hand in that clash. Even though Qiangu Qingfeng wasn''t a quasigod yet, he was still a veteran demigod, and with the special nature of his Purgatory Halberd that targeted the opponent''s soul, even Qiangu Dongfeng couldn''t match him in battle.


    However, his demigod level soul power had been unable to crush Tang Wulin, and that was sufficient testament to just how immense Tang Wulin''s pure strength was.


    Qiangu Qingfeng couldn''t help but be struck by a sense of intrigue.


    As expected, this outrageously young Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master really was quite special.


    Right at this moment, the Golden Dragon Spear was thrust forward again, and it was still Fury of the Masses that was unleashed, but the attack was also accompanied by a thunderous dragon''s roar.


    A massive golden dragon head erupted out of Tang Wulin''s body, and the deafening dragon''s roar surged throughout heaven and earth, forcibly drowning out the sound of the Frost Symphony Guzheng.


    Even with his Purgatory Halberd held horizontally before him, Qiangu Qingfeng was still struck by a burst of enormous force, and he was stunned by how drastically Tang Wulin''s strength had increased.


    Unbeknownst to him, he was facing Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, which meant that he was essentially having to withstand both Tang Wulin''s attack and his own attack.


    Most of the journalists and spectators down below weren''t aware of who Qiangu Qingfeng was, but the media had all the answers!


    Some television stations had already begun an exhaustive search, and Qiangu Qingfeng and his origins were quickly being introduced.


    He was the blood brother of the current Spirit Pagoda Chairman, and was very likely to be a Limit Douluo as well.


    In addition to Qiangu Dieting, who had already reached the quasigod level, the Qiangu Family had already displayed three Limit Douluos, and it was no wonder that the family was the dominant force in the Spirit Pagoda. On top of that, there was Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu, which amounted to four Limit Douluos in total in the Spirit Pagoda. This was already an astonishing lineup, and no one knew whether the Spirit Pagoda had even more Limit Douluos among its ranks. At the very least, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena was going to become a Limit Douluo in the future.


    Just as Tang Wulin had been very confident in A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi, Qiangu Dongfeng was extremely confident in this pair.


    Provoking Shrek Academy had been part of his plan from the very beginning, and he was going to take advantage of this opportunity to display the true power of the Spirit Pagoda to everyone.


    Shrek Academy had officially re-emerged during the joust for a spouse event, and some of the powers in the military, including the Battle God Hall, had begun to switch their allegiance. This was partially due to the sway of Shrek Academy, but also because the Spirit Pagoda was simply too powerful.


    An almighty organization was something that none of the major powers in the federation wanted to see.


    With its artificial black soul spirits and Myriad Beast Plane, the Spirit Pagoda had been able to earn astronomical profits in a very short time, and they possessed an extremely high level of influence in the federal parliament.


    It was exactly because of this that all of the other major powers had become very wary of the Spirit Pagoda, and they were beginning to become more reserved in their support toward the Spirit Pagoda.


    After an internal meeting in the Spirit Pagoda, a decision was made.


    There would be no way to win back the favor of these major powers through appeasement or bribery as none of that changed the fact that the Spirit Pagoda was constantly becoming more and more powerful. As such, they decided to go with the flow and make all other powers even warier of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Wariness to a certain degree would turn into fear, and fear was something that the Spirit Pagoda could use to further exert its control.


    Currently, the Spirit Pagoda was expanding at a rapid rate.


    The Myriad Beast Plane and artificial black soul spirits had allowed them to recruit a massive number of powerful Soul Masters, and the Spirit Pagoda was more powerful than it had ever been. As this trend continued, a fundamental change was inevitable.


    As such, not only were they trying to ruin Shrek Academy''s enrollment here, they were also flexing their muscles to intimidate all those who had begun to deviate away from the Spirit Pagoda.


    Qiangu Dieting had invited Qiangu Qingfeng to participate in this clash in person as he was the only one in the entire Spirit Pagoda that had any sway over this eldest son of his.


    Qiangu Qingfeng was currently one of the 36 core members of the Spirit Pagoda. The chairman and vice-chairmen were both core members, but even spirit envoys weren''t considered to be core members of the Spirit Pagoda, with the exception of Gu Yuena, who was being heavily endorsed to become a new core member.


    Gu Yuena had proven herself through her display of power, while Qiangu Zhangting hadn''t even made it into the final 10 of the joust for a spouse event. He would only have a chance at becoming a core member of the Spirit Pagoda if Spirit Academy could flourish with him at the helm.


    It was exactly due to Qiangu Dongfeng''s confidence in his brother that he was paying extra attention to Qiangu Qingfeng''s clash against Tang Wulin.


    Just as he had feared, Tang Wulin was developing far too quickly.


    To his astonishment, Tang Wulin was able to directly withstand Qiangu Qingfeng''s Purgatory Halberd with his strength alone.


    He had once been defeated by Qiangu Qingfeng, so he was well aware of just how heavy the Purgatory Halberd was. He was absolutely certain that Tang Wulin had made a major breakthrough to the Hyper Douluo level. He was already a Hyper Douluo in his twenties; was this the true power of Shrek Academy?


    Tang Wulin''s rapid rate of progression was truly inexplicable to him. Furthermore, he had proven to everyone that he was a Divine Blacksmith through the new pieces of four-word battle armor that had appeared in the Shrek Academy camp. There was no way that Zhen Hua would''ve been able to create so many pieces of four-word battle armor in his current condition!


    This young man was truly blessed by the heavens, and it was imperative for him to be cut down before he could fully develop. In Tang Wulin, Qiangu Dongfeng could clearly see the shadow of the past Yun Ming.


    He could clearly recall the first time that he had seen Yun Ming; that was during the battle between Yun Ming and his father.


    At the time, their cultivation ranks were quite comparable, but Qiangu Dieting was dominated from start to finish. That had been a very traumatic experience for Qiangu Dieting, and it took him 30 years longer than anticipated to reach the quasigod level.

 Chapter 1624: Battling the Purgatory Douluo

    Yun Ming had cast a massive shadow over the entire Spirit Pagoda, and it was exactly because of this that the Spirit Pagoda had been forced to destroy Shrek Academy at all costs.


    He definitely couldn''t allow Tang Wulin to become the next Yun Ming!


    A hint of killing intent surfaced in Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes, and he was already considering how he was going to target Tang Wulin after crushing Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin''s greatest asset wasn''t his power. Instead, it was his heavenly refinement ability. At this rate, all of the most powerful beings of Shrek Academy would most likely attain full suits of four-word battle armor in no more than 10 years.


    Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua was already too old to produce large quantities of divine-grade metals, so Tang Wulin was definitely going to monopolize that market in the future. Unlike Zhen Hua, he wasn''t the chairman of the blacksmith association, so he wasn''t required to offer his services to other powers. Just like how the Spirit Pagoda was planning to refuse to provide soul spirits to the students and teachers of Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin could refuse to provide the Spirit Pagoda with divine-grade metals.


    Seeing as there was no way for him to win over Tang Wulin, he had to destroy this threat as quickly as possible.


    Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of what Qiangu Dongfeng was thinking. Even if he were, he wouldn''t be fearful in the slightest anyway. He was no longer the fragile little hatching who could perish at any moment; he was already a majestic eagle soaring through the heavens, and it was not going to be easy to target him.


    Qiangu Qingfeng retreated slightly, and countless projections erupted out of his Purgatory Halberd to nullify the Fury of the Masses.


    Right at this moment, a gentle guzheng tune rang out again.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Roar could only last a short time, but the guzheng could be played continuously. The notes being played by the guzheng were like a series of weapons that were imbued with chilling intent, surging toward Tang Wulin from all sides to affect his mind and actions.


    Even though these weren''t actual attacks, they were severely debilitating him.


    Strangely enough, Yali was standing still on the spot, displaying no intention to involve herself in this match.


    As a result, this had become a one-on-two battle.


    A hint of fury flashed through Qiangu Qingfeng''s eyes as he raised his Purgatory Halberd high up into the air.


    He had naturally also noticed that Yali hadn''t been doing anything this entire time. Could it be that she was planning to let this Hyper Douluo brat take on both him and his wife?


    A burst of purplish-black light erupted from the Purgatory Halberd, illuminating Qiangu Qingfeng''s entire body, and another Nether Slash was unleashed, but this one was thrice the size of the previous one.


    Tang Wulin had already dragged his soul back into his own body after forcing back his opponent with his Fury of the Masses, but he definitely didn''t want to be struck by another Nether Slash.


    Furthermore, he could sense that the Frost Symphony Guzheng was very potent against both his mind and his soul, so if his soul were to leave his body again, there was a good chance that it would be immediately frozen by the guzheng.


    Thus, he drifted backward and prepared to unleash his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion again to escape the opponent''s attack, but right at this moment, the tune being played by the guzheng suddenly changed.


    The sky became completely clear, and Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by the feeling that the air that was supporting his weight had abruptly vanished, causing him to plummet out of the sky.


    This was Xia Zhengleng''s fourth soul skill, Vacuum Draw!


    The area around Tang Wulin had been instantly transformed into a vacuum, so how was he supposed to stabilize his own body in mid-air? This sudden turn of events completely foiled Tang Wulin''s attempt to retreat, and as the Son of Nature, he was able to immediately draw in air to stabilize himself, but it was too late for him to evade the oncoming Nether Slash.


    This combination had been executed by Qiangu Qingfeng and Xia Zhengleng on countless occasions, and the timing was absolutely perfect, affording Tang Wulin no chance to evade.


    This Nether Slash had been enhanced by Qiangu Qingfeng''s third soul skill, Purgatory Rage, and as a result, it was far more powerful than the previous one.


    Right at this moment, the air suddenly warped slightly, and time seemed to have paused for an instant before everything was reversed back to a second ago. The Vacuum Draw was yet to be unleashed, while Qiangu Qingfeng had just released his Purgatory Rage, but still hadn''t unleashed his Nether Slash yet.


    Another thunderous Golden Dragon Roar rang out, stopping Qiangu Qingfeng cold in his tracks, and Xia Zhengleng''s Vacuum Draw was also delayed for a split second.


    Taking advantage of this split-second of respite, Tang Wulin flapped his golden dragon wings to fly back in retreat.


    Through the use of his spiritual domain, he had escaped that dire situation, but there were still chills running down his spine. As expected, Limit Douluos were extremely formidable.


    In the next instant, the Nether Slash passed through the spot where he had been just a moment ago, and the Vacuum Draw also erupted in the same area, but it didn''t manage to encompass him on this occasion.


    "Was that time reversal? Interesting!" Qiangu Qingfeng mused with an intrigued expression.


    He had always been an extremely competitive person ever since he was just a child.


    Everyone knew that he had been looked down on in the Qiangu Family, but no one was aware of how introverted his personality had been.


    Qiangu Dieting had actually treated him quite well, seeing as Qiangu Qingfeng was his eldest son, and even though he hadn''t inherited the Coiling Dragon Staff martial soul, the Purgatory Halberd he had inherited from his mother was still quite a powerful martial soul. However, Qiangu Qingfeng didn''t accept his father''s love as he resented his father for having so many lovers.


    He then went on to leave the family due to Qiangu Dongfeng''s brilliance, and back when they were children, his aptitude really was far inferior to Qiangu Dongfeng''s. It was exactly due to his competitive nature that he was unable to bear the fact that his brother was better than him, thereby leading to his decision to leave the family.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t care about status and his position in the family. Instead, he cared too much.


    Only after he met his current wife, Xia Zhengleng, did his personality change, and became a lot more mellow compared to his past competitive self. It was also because of Xia Zhengleng coming into his life that he was able to become a Limit Douluo.


    As such, he was extremely caring and loving toward his wife.


    After progressing to the Limit Douluo level, Qiangu Qingfeng''s competitive nature had become far more restrained. However, old habits were always hard to die, and he couldn''t help but compare himself with Tang Wulin at the same age.


    As a result, he discovered that he simply couldn''t compare with this young man.


    Back when he was Tang Wulin''s age, he hadn''t even reached the Titled Douluo level yet; he couldn''t even remember if he had been a Soul Douluo at that point.


    How could this young man be this outrageously gifted? No matter how hard he worked, there was no way he would be able to achieve all this without supreme aptitude.


    He slowly pointed his Purgatory Halberd toward Tang Wulin, and said, "Let''s continue."


    Tang Wulin was appraising Qiangu Qingfeng with a very serious expression. Even though he was no longer his former self, his opponent was also far more powerful than the Holy Dragon Douluo.


    He had faced quite a few Limit Douluos up to this point, and all of them had their own unique powers and abilities, but one thing they shared was that they were all extremely powerful.


    The one that had exerted the most pressure upon him was Infernal King Douluo Harosha. Back when he had faced Harosha, he had been struck by a sense of complete powerlessness. Of course, that was only to be expected as he wasn''t even a Titled Douluo at the time.


    Now, he was already a Hyper Douluo, and he wanted to see just how much of a disparity there still was between himself and a Limit Douluo.


    Yali wasn''t watching from the sidelines because she wanted to test Tang Wulin; it was Tang Wulin himself who had proposed that he wanted to stimulate his own latent potential by facing a Limit Douluo.


    Throughout his entire cultivation journey, almost all of his major breakthroughs had arrived after extreme pressure had been exerted upon him.


    During these past few months, Tang Wulin had constantly been cultivating while practicing heavenly refinement, and he had consolidated the powers he had gained during his past few breakthroughs, as well as accumulated more power day by day.


    Even he could clearly sense that he had made a fundamental improvement, and this was a wonderful feeling, which was why he was so keen to face a truly powerful being following this latest breakthrough.


    Tang Wulin slowly raised his Golden Dragon Spear, then stepped forward and charged directly toward Qiangu Qingfeng.

 Chapter 1625: Impaled Through the Chest

    His wings flapped in short, sharp motions, elevating his speed to the very max, and he instantly reached Qiangu Qingfeng like a golden shooting star.


    A cold smile appeared on Qiangu Qingfeng''s face as he unleashed his Nether Slash again, and his timing was perfect, ensuring that Tang Wulin would inevitably fall into the scope of the attack as long as he didn''t decelerate.


    If he were to slow down to evade the attack, then his momentum would be snapped, thereby allowing Qiangu Qingfeng to seize the initiative.


    Xia Zhengleng continued to play her guzheng, yet on this occasion, a series of silent soundwaves were being released, causing the air to shimmer and warp, thereby making it impossible to determine which directions the soundwaves were traveling toward.


    However, it was at this moment that Tang Wulin''s superb bodily control really shone through. His immensely powerful physical constitution didn''t just grant him incredible strength and speed; it also allowed him to change directions and speeds in a way that almost defied physics.


    All of a sudden, time abruptly accelerated, causing the Nether Slash to speed up so that by the time the Purgatory Halberd slashed through the air, Tang Wulin still hadn''t arrived yet.


    Qiangu Qingfeng was rather alarmed by this, and he reflexively dodged to the side at an incredible speed.


    As soon as he vacated his original spot, the Frost Symphony Invisible Swords Xia Zhengleng had unleashed immediately arrived, further putting their exemplary teamwork on display.


    However, Tang Wulin''s body suddenly drew to an abrupt halt in a drastic deceleration that shouldn''t have been physically possible.


    Immediately thereafter, he arched back, and it was as if his entire body had transformed into a bow, while the Golden Dragon Spear in his right hand was the figurative arrow on the bowstring.


    Qiangu Qingfeng''s heart jolted upon seeing this, and he reflexively swept his Purgatory Halberd through the air releasing a total of 18 purplish-black halos that proliferated outward around his body.


    This was his fourth soul skill, Purgatory Roar! It was the perfect fusion of attack and defense!


    However, Tang Wulin still hurled his Golden Dragon Spear through the air without any hesitation, and Qiangu Qingfeng''s expression immediately changed drastically as he could sense that the attack was no longer locked onto him.


    In the next instant, the Golden Dragon Spear flashed past him like a bolt of golden lightning.


    Tang Wulin only had two opponents, and the target wasn''t Qiangu Qingfeng, so it was quite obvious exactly whom he was targeting.


    In the blink of an eye, Tang Wulin had used his Time Reversal domain to accelerate time, then drew to an abrupt halt before hurling his Golden Dragon Spear through the air in a smooth, almost choreographed sequence.


    Qiangu Qingfeng would have countless ways to withstand Tang Wulin''s attack, and he was very confident in his own wife''s abilities, but he was also quite wary of Tang Wulin''s powers, and his heart immediately sank as Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear hurtled directly toward Xia Zhengleng.


    The Frost Symphony Invisible Swords also reached Tang Wulin at almost the exact same moment, in response, Tang Wulin unleashed his dragon''s repulse, followed immediately by his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion.


    A thunderous explosion erupted within a radius of five meters, and the Frost Symphony Invisible Swords exploded into a vast expanse of ice shards, none of which were able to come into contact with Tang Wulin.


    In the instant that Tang Wulin had hurled his Golden Dragon Spear, Xia Zhengleng was immediately struck by a sharp pain in her chest, and in that instant, she felt as if her blood had congealed.


    Could she dodge? It was already too late; the Golden Dragon Spear was simply far too fast.


    This was Tang Wulin''s All or Nothing!


    However, Xia Zhengleng''s title as the number one soundwave-type Soul Master wasn''t just an empty accolade; her Frost Symphony Guzheng began to emit a faint buzzing sound, and a suit of battle armor with snowflake patterns all over its surface quickly appeared over her entire body.


    Even though it was only a suit of three-word battle armor, it was extremely dazzling to behold.


    Immediately thereafter, Xia Zhengleng took the only defensive measure that she had time to adopt: she raised her Frost Symphony Guzheng in front of herself as a shield.


    In the next instant, the Golden Dragon Spear arrived.


    The strings of Frost Symphony Guzheng were facing Xia Zhengleng, and she was holding onto the top of the guzheng with one hand as she quickly stroked the top three strings with her other hand.


    A sharp note rang out, and the guzheng instantly released nine layers of light barriers, each of which resembled a layer of frost with that same note echoing incessantly within them.


    This was her Frost Symphony Nine Barriers!


    Xia Zhengleng had faced countless powerful opponents throughout her life, and she certainly hadn''t reached her current soul power rank of 97 through sheer luck.


    Her Frost Symphony Guzheng possessed extremely powerful prowess both in offense and defense, and as soon as she was struck by a sense of peril, she immediately released her battle armor, as well as these Frost Symphony Nine Barriers to form the ultimate defense.


    She was confident that her husband wouldn''t allow Tang Wulin to unleash a second attack, and having lost his weapon, Tang Wulin was definitely going to be far less difficult to deal with.


    Thus, the Golden Dragon Spear reached Xia Zhengleng, giving off a peerlessly sharp aura, and her Frost Symphony Nine Barriers were almost instantly shattered.


    The Golden Dragon Spear then struck the underside of the Frost Symphony Guzheng, upon which Xia Zhengleng gave a muffled groan as she was quickly forced backward by the impact.


    At the same time, that peerlessly sharp aura surged toward her body in a frenzy.


    What a powerful attack!


    This attack is definitely at the Limit Douluo level. It''s a good thing...


    Her thoughts were abruptly cut off here as a layer of rainbow light erupted from the dazzling golden spear.


    This was not good!


    A sense of foreboding had only just appeared in her heart when the Golden Dragon Spear pierced through the Frost Symphony Guzheng before impaling the right side of her chest.


    There was no pain, but in that instant, Xia Zhengleng felt all of her power begin to melt away like ice and snow.


    Even with her rank 97 soul power, she was unable to control her own body and began to plummet out of the sky.


    "Zhengleng!" Qiangu Qingfeng was just planning to attack Tang Wulin, but he was stunned to see that Tang Wulin''s attack was powerful enough to pierce through Xia Zhengleng''s defenses.


    In the instant that Xia Zhengleng''s chest had been impaled, he felt like his own chest had been run through as well.


    The Purgatory Roar around him erupted toward Tang Wulin in a maddened frenzy, while he instantly turned around and flew over to Xia Zhengleng before catching her.


    Xia Zhengleng''s face was already completely devoid of color, and her life force was receding at an alarming rate.


    There was something off about this spear!


    As a Limit Douluo, Qiangu Qingfeng''s judgment and intuition were both exceptional, and he immediately grabbed onto the Golden Dragon Spear, upon which his own life force also began to funnel into the spear in a frenzy.

 Chapter 1626: We Concede

    However, he was already mentally prepared, and he immediately wrenched his hand away from the Golden Dragon Spear before pressing against Xia Zhengleng''s chest, injecting his soul power into her body to forcibly prevent the Golden Dragon Spear from continuing to devour her life energy.


    Right at this moment, a gentle voice rang out. "Hand her over to me."


    Qiangu Qingfeng was just about to flare with rage, but the fury in his eyes faded at the sight of the person who had arrived beside him, only to be replaced by a hint of indignation.


    "We concede; please save my wife."


    The person who had approached him was none other than Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    In contrast with her resentment toward Qiangu Dongfeng, Yali had a far better first impression of Qiangu Qingfeng. At the very least, this was a man who deeply loved his wife, and she couldn''t help but think of Yun Ming..


    "Wulin," Yali called out, and the Golden Dragon Spear that had impaled Xia Zhengleng''s chest vanished amid a flash of golden light.


    Yali then pressed her right hand against Xia Zhengleng''s chest, injecting bursts of gentle white light into her body to nourish her and stabilize her receding life energy.


    As she treated Xia Zhengleng, everyone from both camps slowly descended onto the ground.


    Qiangu Qingfeng immediately turned toward Tang Wulin with burning fury in his eyes. If it weren''t for the fact that he was relying on Yali to treat Xia Zhengleng, he would''ve most likely already pounced toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin descended expressionlessly onto the ground, and in the eyes of all of the parents and students in the distance, he was like a godly entity!


    That final spear strike unleashed by Tang Wulin had truly stunned everyone, and no one could predict that this two-on-two match would conclude under these circumstances.


    Qiangu Qingfeng had made a grave error by underestimating Tang Wulin''s explosive power and evading to expose his wife to Tang Wulin''s line of attack.


    Not only was the Golden Dragon Spear imbued with Tang Wulin''s spear intent and spear soul, it had also been infused with the power of elemental tribulations.


    Having undergone so much heavenly refinement, Tang Wulin had developed an extremely in-depth understanding of elemental tribulations. His understanding of planar laws had also reached a whole new level, and even among Limit Douluos, there were very few people who could compare with him when it came to understanding of elemental laws.


    From the very beginning, Tang Wulin had planned for that final spear strike to be the decisive blow.


    He knew that it would be quite difficult to defeat Qiangu Qingfeng, but he was confident that Xia Zhengleng was no match for him.


    As such, he had injected all of his power into that attack and directed the attack toward the weakest link. The instant that he had released his Golden Dragon Spear was when he had been the most vulnerable, and Qiangu Qingfeng would''ve definitely been able to suppress Tang Wulin had he chosen to attack then.


    However, Tang Wulin was confident that Qiangu Qingfeng''s attention would be diverted away, and that he would at least make sure that his wife would be fine before he attacked Tang Wulin.


    This was already enough time for Tang Wulin to recover.


    Thus, Shrek Academy secured victory in the second two-on-two match, and the score now stood at six to five.


    "Alright, she''ll be fine now. Get her to eat some foods that''ll replenish her lost life energy, and she''ll be fully recovered with some rest," Yali said as she lifted her hand from Xia Zhengleng''s chest.


    Qiangu Qingfeng''s aura was still rather unstable, but he nodded in response. "Thank you."


    Thus, Yali returned to the Shrek Academy camp.


    This match was a victory for Shrek Academy both on a practical basis, as well as on a moral basis as Tang Wulin had essentially defeated his two opponents on his own.


    Even though he had chosen to attack the weakest link in the form of Xia Zhengleng, Xia Zhengleng had been attacking him throughout the entire battle as well.


    The match had concluded before either side had unleashed their full power, but this was a reflection of Tang Wulin''s understanding of the entire battlefield, as well as his ability to grasp opportunities.


    After witnessing that final spear strike, everyone truly realized just how fearsome his explosive power was. His Golden Dragon Spear was like an unstoppable force of nature!


    Xia Zhengleng had been unable to stop the Golden Dragon Spear from devouring her life energy as her martial soul had been severely damaged, and in that weakened state, she was in no shape to pose any resistance.


    Not only had Tang Wulin essentially won this battle on a one-on-two basis, Shrek Academy''s generosity had also been put on full display through Yali''s gesture in healing Xia Zhengleng.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had already arrived beside Qiangu Qingfeng, but the latter was too busy attending to his wife to pay any heed to him.


    Qiangu Dongfeng heaved a faint internal sigh. If his brother hadn''t underestimated Tang Wulin, the outcome of the match may have been different.


    He had already decided that he couldn''t regard Tang Wulin as a junior anymore; he had to view him as an equal and give him sufficient attention.


    This thought startled even himself as it appeared in his mind. Since when was it that Tang Wulin had to be regarded as equivalent to a Limit Douluo?


    At this point in the clash, Qiangu Dongfeng was already becoming rather agitated. When he had proposed this bet, he had thought that they would be able to crush Shrek Academy with ease, and that the match would already be over at this point.


    As the matches commenced, he became even more confident in his own assessment of the situation, but somehow, Shrek Academy was always able to claw their way back just when he thought that the Spirit Pagoda had gained an absolute advantage.


    "Chairman Qiangu." Tang Wulin turned to Qiangu Dongfeng with a faint smile.


    Qiangu Dongfeng asked, "What is it, Sect Master Tang?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "The score is currently six to five. You have the upper hand, but the final two-on-two battle holds no importance anymore, so let''s not delay our Shrek Academy''s enrolment day any longer; let''s decide the outcome of this clash with the final seven-on-seven battle."


    Qiangu Dongfeng took a meaningful glance at Tang Wulin. Why was it that this young man was looking so confident? It didn''t make any sense! Was he merely bluffing?


    Indeed, the final two-on-two battle was inconsequential, and Shrek Academy could simply concede the match if they wanted to. After all, even if Shrek Academy were to win the final two-on-two match, they would still lose overall if they lost the seven-on-seven match.


    With that in mind, Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "Alright, then let''s decide this with the final seven-on-seven match."


    Tang Wulin proposed, "Then how about we begin after a five-minute break?"


    "Sure," Qiangu Dongfeng agreed. Neither Tang Wulin nor Qiangu Qingfeng had exerted themselves much during the previous match, so there was no point in not allowing Tang Wulin to rest.


    Thus, both sides returned to their respective camps to prepare for the decisive match.


    Teamwork was going to be imperative in the seven-on-seven match, and it was the best display of each side''s overall power.


    All of the journalists on the scene were extremely excited. A seven-on-seven match between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda was definitely going to be a seven-on-seven clash of the highest caliber in the current Soul Master world.

 Chapter 1627: The Lineups

    In contrast with this final match, all of the previous matches were essentially no more than appetizers.


    The outcome of this clash was undoubtedly going to decide who would gain the upper hand in enrollment.


    Five minutes quickly passed by, and Qiangu Dongfeng strode forward, followed closely by six other people.


    The one directly beside him was none other than Qiangu Qingfeng, who was still very frustrated due to the loss in the last match.


    Qiangu Qingfeng was glowering at Tang Wulin with flames of wrath burning in his eyes. This was the first time that Xia Zhengleng had been injured so severely since their marriage; how could he not be enraged?


    On the other side of Qiangu Dongfeng stood Leng Yaozhu, presenting a lineup of three Limit Douluos.


    Behind them was the elderly man with the brain martial soul who had defeated Tang Yinmeng. His exact cultivation rank was still yet to be determined, but it was no exaggeration to say that he possessed the greatest spiritual power of any Soul Master in the world.


    All of a sudden, a person emerged from the crowd, and as soon as he did so, the pressure on Shrek Academy was instantly raised significantly.


    The new arrival was none other than the former chairman of the Spirit Pagoda and the father of Qiangu Dongfeng and Qiangu Qingfeng, Qiangu Dieting!


    This already made four Limit Douluos in total in addition to an ultra-powerful spiritual system Soul Master.


    The final two spots of the seven representatives for the Spirit Pagoda were occupied by the Bai sisters. Their soul fusion skill possessed immense explosive power, and these seven were equivalent in power to six Limit Douluos.


    With such a formidable lineup, how could Qiangu Dongfeng not be confident?


    From the Shrek Academy camp, the first to emerge was naturally none other than Tang Wulin. He was followed by two women, one of whom was Yali, while the other was a stunning beauty that looked to be similar to Yali in age, but was quite unfamiliar.


    A surprised look appeared on Qiangu Dieting''s face. "Long Yeyue? You became young again?"


    No wonder it had seemed that Long Yeyue had been absent; they had simply failed to recognize her until now! Qiangu Dieting had seen Long Yeyue in her younger days, and now that she had emerged alongside Tang Wulin, he was able to immediately identify her.


    Long Yeyue smiled, and said, "You think everyone wants to be an old geezer like you?"


    Of course, there was no way that Long Yeyue would miss such an important moment.


    Aside from Long Yeyue and Yali, there were two unfamiliar faces among the four other people accompanying Tang Wulin, one of whom was an elderly man, while the other was a middle-aged man. Both of them possessed powerful auras, clearly indicating that they were no slouches. One of the remaining two representatives for Shrek Academy was none other than Xu Xiaoyan of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, while the other was an imposing yet hideous man. Not only were those from the Spirit Pagoda unable to recognize him, even in Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin was the only one who was aware of this man''s identity.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had thought that Lan Muzi would definitely feature for Shrek Academy in the final seven-on-seven battle, but Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were both absent, and that was quite a surprise to him.


    What was even more disconcerting was that he couldn''t recognize three of Shrek Academy''s seven representatives. This was definitely not a good thing, and he was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding.


    "Would you like to introduce these new faces to us, Sect Master Tang?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked in a calm manner.


    Tang Wulin replied with a smile, "These are newly appointed teachers for our Shrek Academy, so it''s no surprise that you don''t recognize them. Rest assured, Chairman Qiangu, they''re all from our academy."


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "Alright, I''ll take your word for it."


    In reality, he was very relieved that the Amorous Douluo and Heartless Douluo were absent. His greatest concern was that Tang Wulin would make a borderline violation of the rules by getting those two to represent Shrek Academy.


    Not only were Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin both Limit Douluos, they possessed an extremely fearsome soul fusion skill, and even Yun Ming had once said that it would be very difficult for him to defeat this pair''s soul fusion skill.


    This soul fusion skill had been rated as the current most powerful soul fusion skill on the entire Douluo Continent, and if they were to temporarily join Shrek Academy, then withdraw following the clash, there really wasn''t anything that the Spirit Pagoda could say.


    With those two present, the Spirit Pagoda''s chances of securing victory would be severely lowered.


    Thankfully, Shrek Academy hadn''t made the shameless move of borrowing the Tang Sect''s power. These three new faces were very unfamiliar, but surely they couldn''t be more powerful than Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi.


    With that in mind, Qiangu Dongfeng''s confidence was bolstered once again. They had the equivalent of six Limit Douluos on their side; there was no way Shrek Academy could match such a formidable lineup.


    "Please enlighten me, Sect Master Tang!"


    "Likewise, Chairman Qiangu!"


    Thus, the 14 combatants rose up into the air in unison.


    Right at this moment, a burst of buzzing rang out in the distance, heralding the arrival of soul planes that were going to capture footage of this generational clash for the media.


    The cameras on these planes were designed for long-distance use, so the footage was going to be a lot clearer than before.


    "Everyone, no matter where you are right now, drop everything and get to your nearest television because a once-in-a-generation clash is about to take place! This is going to be a seven-on-seven match between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda, and as a journalist, my blood is boiling in my veins! Our planes are going to be shooting footage from two kilometers away from the site of the battle, and we have an exceptionally spectacular clash on the cards. We''re unable to get too close in fear of being swept up in the battle, but judging from the current lineups, I can confirm that there are at least six Limit Douluos combined in the two sides.


    "There are four in the Spirit Pagoda, while Shrek Academy has at least two. The four Limit Douluos of the Spirit Pagoda are the current Spirit Pagoda Chairman, Spirit Douluo Qiangu Dongfeng, the former Spirit Pagoda Chairman, Heaven Defying Douluo Qiangu Dieting, his son, Purgatory Douluo Qiangu Qingfeng, and the Vice-Spirit Pagoda Chairman, Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu. As for the two confirmed Limit Douluos of Shrek Academy, they are Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.


    "As we all know, Yali is currently the number one healing system Soul Master on the continent, and I''m sure many of our viewers have been blessed by her work in the past. Aside from those two, there is the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master and Tang Sect Master, Dragon Emperor Douluo Tang Wulin, who has been rated as the brightest talent of the younger generation. At less than 30 years of age, he''s already the leader of these two major superpowers, and that''s a clear indication of his immense potential.


    "Apparently, he''s also a Divine Blacksmith, and the emergence of a second Divine Blacksmith after Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua is definitely fantastic news for the entire continent. During the previous matches, many of the Shrek Academy representatives have already displayed pieces of four-word battle armor, and this is undoubtedly going to be a clash of the highest caliber."


    Due to the fact that this was a live broadcast, the journalists didn''t dare to display too much bias even though they had received benefits from the Spirit Pagoda as doing so could spell an end to their careers.


    At this point, the two sides were still ascending.


    All of the previous matches had taken place at altitudes between 300 to 500 meters, but they had already passed 1,500 meters here, and were still showing no signs of stopping.


    At such a high altitude, sustained flight was impossible below the Titled Douluo level.


    There was a saying that altitudes above 1,000 meters was a battlefield that belonged solely to mecha pilots and soul planes, but the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda and Shrek Academy were demonstrating to everyone just how laughable that notion was.

 Chapter 1628: Final Battle?

    The reason why both sides were still ascending even after reaching such a high altitude was because they didn''t want their clash to affect everyone on the ground below.


    However, the parents and students on the ground were rather displeased as it was already too far away for them to be able to see anything clearly.


    They had been elated at the prospect of being able to watch such an epic clash, but their excitement was quickly turning into anxiety.


    However, right at this moment, two giant screens were rolled out of Shrek Academy, and the screens had been switched to the two channels that were offering live broadcasts of the clash. With their long-distance cameras, an extremely clear image was depicted on the screens.


    "According to our altimeter, both sides have already reached altitudes over 1,600 meters, and they''re still continuing to ascend. Are they competing to see who can fly the highest before the match officially begins? As we all know, the higher the altitude, the more sparse the air and the elemental particles are going to be, and this is very detrimental to all Soul Masters. However, it seems that powerful beings of their caliber are no longer restricted by such factors. I assume the main reason behind their decision to fly so high is so that they can ensure the safety of everyone on the ground below. Pilot, let''s fly a bit further away as well; I don''t want to be swept up in their clash."


    "We''re already over two kilometers away; if we go any further, we might not be able to capture clear footage," the pilot replied.


    "It''s alright, safety should be our number one priority." The host was a huge fan of Soul Masters, and even though she wasn''t a Soul Master herself, she had a very clear understanding of just how destructive Soul Masters could be.


    Tang Wulin''s All or Nothing had left her with a very deep impression, and she was certain that the power of that attack had exceeded the power of the average ninth-grade soul missile.


    She was in the prime of her life and currently a very popular host, and she certainly had no plans to perish here when everything was going so well for her.


    However, not everyone was as safety-conscious as she was; there were currently two other planes situated around 1,500 meters away from the site of the battle, and they felt this to be an absolutely safe distance. Generally speaking, even a ninth-grade soul missile''s destructive scope only spanned a radius of 1,500 meters; surely a clash between Soul Masters couldn''t compare with that.


    After rising to an altitude of around 2,000 meters, both sides finally stopped. At this altitude, the air temperature was far lower than it was on the ground, yet at the same time, the sunlight seemed to be particularly scorching on their skin.


    Both sides quickly got into their formations.


    The Spirit Pagoda representatives were led by the trio from the Qiangu Family, with Qiangu Dieting at the very center, and his two sons on either side of him. Behind them were Leng Yaozhu and the Bai Sisters, while the elderly man with the brain martial soul brought up the rear.


    This was a three, three, one formation. There was a majority of assault system Soul Masters among Limit Douluos, and this was reflected by the Spirit Pagoda representatives, which had an entire team of assault system Soul Masters aside from the elderly man. As such, the formation that they adopted wasn''t all that important.


    As for the Shrek Academy representatives, they were led by Tang Wulin, and on either side of him stood the middle-aged man and elderly man who were unfamiliar to the Spirit Pagoda. Behind this trio were Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, and that hideous man who was also unknown to the Spirit Pagoda.


    Xu Xiaoyan brought up the rear, and just like the Spirit Pagoda, they had also adopted a three, three, one formation.


    Tang Wulin hovered in mid-air like an immovable mountain as he held his Golden Dragon Spear in one hand.


    He and Xu Xiaoyan were the two youngest Shrek Academy representatives, and they could be extremely proud of themselves for being able to participate in such an epic clash at such a young age.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was looking on with a cold light in his eyes. He wasn''t thinking about how to win this match; he was thinking about how he could take advantage of this opportunity to kill Tang Wulin.


    This young man posed far too much a threat, and if he were to constantly stay in Shrek Academy, it would be very difficult to kill him.


    Shrek Academy''s new defense system was able to instantly fell a divine-grade mecha, and that had truly stunned Qiangu Dongfeng. As such, this was the best opportunity to "accidentally" put an end to Tang Wulin''s life.


    However, this was clearly not going to be an easy task. With Yali present, she would be able to save Tang Wulin as long as he wasn''t instantly killed.


    Tang Wulin raised his Golden Dragon Spear and swiped it through the air, then made an inviting hand gesture.


    In response, Qiangu Dieting took a step forward, and an indescribably fearsome aura immediately erupted from his body.


    In that instant, it was as if he had transformed into a gargantuan pillar that was determined to pierce through the earth and impale the entire heavens. In the face of his formidable aura, even the spectators were struck by a sense of fear.


    Almost all of the live broadcasts were temporarily cut off as Qiangu Dieting''s immense aura was affecting the magnetic fields.


    The hosts of the channels broadcasting this match were stunned to see this, and the planes that were situated no more than 1,500 kilometers away immediately fled further into the distance as quickly as they could.


    This aura was far too fearsome, and it was only coming from a single person!


    Standing directly across from Qiangu Dieting, Tang Wulin was facing this aura head-on, and he felt as if he were being crushed like an insignificant ant.


    In response to this enormous pressure, an unyielding will erupted within his heart, and he unconsciously let loose a long roar.


    At the same time, a giant golden projection appeared behind him, and his blood essence erupted forth in a frenzy as his aura began to elevate at an incredible speed.


    This was a result of the combination between his Golden Dragon King bloodline and his own unyielding nature.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin was able to withstand the fearsome aura of a quasigod, albeit just barely.


    Yuanen Zhentian was already preparing to step in, and he couldn''t help but give a nod of approval upon seeing this.


    As a Hyper Douluo, Tang Wulin had achieved something that even many Limit Douluos would''ve been unable to; he truly had an immeasurable future ahead of him.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin flapped his golden dragon wings and flew directly toward Qiangu Dieting.


    "Good heavens! Tang Wulin is taking the initiative to unleash the first attack, and his target is one of the most powerful beings on the entire continent, the quasigod Qiangu Dieting! Is this a brave and confident strike or one that''s completely suicidal?" The hosts were all given quite a fright upon seeing this. Wasn''t this a team battle? Why was Tang Wulin charging ahead alone?


    Surely there was no way that this could possibly end well for him!


    A hint of killing intent flashed through Qiangu Dieting''s eyes. He had been paying close attention to Tang Wulin during the previous clashes, and the more he saw, the more alarmed he became.


    This young man didn''t just possess incredible power and potential; what was even more important was that he had intelligence and cunning to match.


    He had lured Qiangu Dongfeng into a one-on-one match, then used a security guard to insult him. Even though he had to concede that match, it prevented Qiangu Dongfeng from being able to participate in the two-on-two matches.

 Chapter 1629: Impaling Heaven and Earth

    No matter how he thought about it, the Spirit Pagoda should''ve had an absolute advantage in terms of power, but due to Tang Wulin''s crafty and cunning arrangements, the two sides were evenly matched.


    He had to die!


    Thus, Qiangu Dieting was ecstatic that Tang Wulin was taking the initiative to attack him, and he immediately strode forward with killing intent in his eyes.


    At the quasigod level, not only was he able to sense planar laws, he was already able to create some laws of his own to a certain extent, and he possessed masterful control over both space and time.


    He summoned his Coiling Dragon Staff, and nine red soul rings instantly appeared around him.


    That''s right, he possessed nine 100,000-year-old soul rings!


    Regardless of how he had accomplished this, these were nine genuine red soul rings. He was truly worthy of his title as the most powerful being of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The pressure being exerted upon Tang Wulin instantly increased by tenfold, and he felt as if he were being crushed by a force of nature.


    Qiangu Dieting''s Coiling Dragon Staff then began to expand infinitely in his mind, encompassing the entire sky before crashing down toward him.


    All of this had happened in the blink of an eye, and Qiangu Dieting hadn''t wasted any time, choosing to unleash a full-force attack from the get-go.


    He was naturally also aware that it wouldn''t be easy to kill Tang Wulin with Yali present, so he was going to kill Tang Wulin with a single strike and not give Yali any chance to heal him.


    This was virtually a clash between the strongest link and weakest link of each side, and Qiangu Dieting knew that this would be the best opportunity he had to kill Tang Wulin in one fell swoop.


    This was his signature technique, Battling Heaven and Earth!


    The attack was far too fast for Tang Wulin to evade, and he could only raise his Golden Dragon Spear to protect himself.


    "Boom!"


    A resounding boom erupted forth alongside powerful shockwaves, and all of the planes that were shooting footage began to tremor violently.


    A pane of glass had even been shattered on the nearest plane, and it immediately fled in a panicked manner.


    Immediately thereafter, a golden figure came plummeting out of the sky like a cannonball, crashing heavily down onto the ground in the span of just a few breaths.


    Another resounding boom rang out, and the earth shattered violently, while Tang Wulin completely disappeared from view.


    Qiangu Dieting held his Coiling Dragon Staff with a proud expression. Surely Tang Wulin was dead now.


    Tang Wulin was indeed more powerful than he had anticipated, but he was still restricted by his cultivation rank.


    As a quasigod, Qiangu Dieting could control the power of heaven and earth in a small area, so that staff strike was the equivalent of an entire small plane slamming into Tang Wulin''s body.


    In the instant that he was struck by the attack, blood gushed out of all of Tang Wulin''s orifices, and it was already a testament to his incredible defensive prowess that his body hadn''t completely disintegrated.


    This was the power of a quasigod, and Qiangu Dongfeng''s heart was filled with elation, as well as genuine admiration toward his father.


    He was also a Limit Douluo, and his martial soul was also the Coiling Dragon Staff, but he was nowhere near his father''s level. He wasn''t drawing upon the power of heaven and earth. Instead, he was destroying the power of heaven earth and forcing it to attack for him.


    In the eyes of Qiangu Dongfeng, his father would''ve already become a god long ago had it not been for the restriction of the plane.


    That staff strike had given all of the Shrek Academy representatives a massive fright as well, and the hideous middle-aged man immediately flared up with rage. "How dare you!"


    A formidable aura erupted out of his body alongside a string of soul rings as he spoke, and at the same time, a blanket of five-colored clouds suddenly appeared above the Shrek Academy representatives.


    Qiangu Dieting''s pupils abruptly contracted upon seeing this.


    Since when did Shrek Academy have a third Limit Douluo? On top of that, he had no recollection of such a Limit Douluo at all.


    In contrast, Yali remained completely calm, and she gently laid a hand onto the arm of the hideous man before communicating something to him in a low voice.


    A hint of surprise appeared on the man''s face, and only then did his aura recede slightly.


    "Ah! Those five-colored clouds! Is that another Limit Douluo? If so, then this is truly shaping up to be an exciting clash. I wonder how the Dragon Emperor Douluo is doing after being struck by that staff blow."


    Tang Wulin was currently plunged into a world of complete darkness, and he felt as if his body were a shattered vase.


    His battle armor, bones, and meridians were all completely destroyed.


    His defensive prowess was already unmatched in this world, and even without wearing his suit of battle armor, his defensive prowess would definitely outstrip that of the vast majority of people in their battle armor.


    Even so, the explosive power imbued within that staff strike had completely overwhelmed him.


    In the past, he had discussed Qiangu Dieting''s powers with Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi.


    There was no doubt that Qiangu Dieting would feature in the clash between Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda.


    Cao Dezhi had told Tang Wulin that Qiangu Dieting''s explosive power was unmatched among all Limit Douluos, which meant that no Limit Douluo could compare with Qiangu Dieting in terms of instantaneous explosive power.


    Tang Wulin wanted to see for himself just how fearsome the most explosive attack on the entire continent was, which was why he had seized the initiative, and sure enough, he had been met by a merciless blow from Qiangu Dieting.


    For the first time ever, his Golden Dragon Spear was bent, and it had been bent by Qiangu Dieting''s attack.


    The Golden Dragon Spear was a divine weapon, so this meant that Qiangu Dieting''s attack was infinitely approaching the godly level.


    This was immediately followed by the sensation that the world around him had shattered.


    This wasn''t a product of pure destructive power; it was as if a small plane had truly exploded right before him.


    This was the devastating aspect of the attack, and if it weren''t for the fact that Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King destructive aura had nullified that part of the attack to a great extent, there was a good chance that his body really would''ve been blown into pieces.


    Following that initial clash, Tang Wulin adjudged Qiangu Dieting to be slightly more powerful than Infernal King Douluo Harosha. At Tang Wulin''s current cultivation rank, he was still nowhere near powerful enough to challenge such a formidable being.


    He was going to commit this feeling firmly into his memory and strive toward this direction in his future cultivation.


    At the same time, the attack had completely stimulated Tang Wulin''s unyielding and competitive nature. He never wanted to experience this type of pain again, and what was most worrying of all was that his Golden Dragon King seals were beginning to loosen again.


    He felt as if the power within the next seal would immediately erupt forth to control his body if he had even the slightest lapse in concentration.


    This was the first time he had been injured so severely since he had mastered the Body Sect''s congenital secret method.

 Chapter 1630: The Quasigod of Shrek Academy!

    Qiangu Dieting pointed his Coiling Dragon Staff forward, and asked, "Who''s next?"


    "Don''t get cocky! I''ll be your opponent." A low voice rang out, and the elderly man who had been standing on Tang Wulin''s right stepped forward.


    In contrast with Qiangu Dieting''s aura, which was filled with explosive power, the elderly man resembled an immovable mountain, striking Qiangu Dieting with the illusion that a mountain was approaching him.


    The mountain was so tall that he couldn''t see its peak, and Qiangu Dieting''s heart immediately jolted upon seeing this.


    The elderly man had been repressing his own aura this entire time, but now that he was releasing his aura without any reservation, Qiangu Dieting was finally struck by the realization that this was another Limit Douluo.


    Even more importantly, this was a quasigod as well!


    He had always thought that his most formidable opponent would be Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue. He didn''t know whether Long Yeyue was a quasigod yet, but he had assumed that she had to at least be on the cusp. However, he was confident that he would be slightly more powerful than Long Yeyue, but to his surprise, this unfamiliar elderly man was also a quasigod.


    Since when were there so many Limit Douluos in this world? Shrek Academy had already displayed four Limit Douluos, which was already no less than the number of Limit Douluos among the Spirit Pagoda representatives. How was this possible?


    The same thought occured to both Qiangu Dongfeng and Qiangu Dieting.


    They thought that they were preying on Shrek Academy, but they were beginning to realize now that they had been tricked.


    Even if this quasigod wasn''t as powerful as Qiangu Dieting, there was no way that Qiangu Dieting would be able to defeat him easily.


    If Long Yeyue were also a quasigod, then it would take at least two Limit Douluos to contend with her, and that would actually leave them at a disadvantage.


    The only thing in their favor was that Tang Wulin had most likely already been killed by Qiangu Dieting. Otherwise, it would be quite difficult to predict the outcome of this battle.


    As things currently stood, the two sides should be evenly matched. There was still another unfamiliar middle-aged man and Xu Xiaoyan that had to be dealt with, but their control system Soul Master, the elderly man with the brain martial soul, should be equipped to handle them.


    At the Limit Douluo level, the importance of teamwork was significantly diminished as everyone was simply too powerful individually, and it was quite difficult to try and assist someone else.


    Qiangu Dongfeng immediately transmitted his voice toward his brother. "Big Brother, you take on that five-colored cloud man; I''ll go after Yali. I''ll try to take her down as soon as possible, then come to assist you."


    Qiangu Qingfeng nodded in response. Yali had just helped him, so he was quite averse to attacking her right away. She was the number one healing system Soul Master on the entire continent; even though the Spirit Pagoda was constantly trying to destroy Shrek Academy, no one wanted to make her their enemy.


    Her influence in the Soul Master world was definitely unmatched by any other Limit Douluo.


    Right at this moment, a loud voice rang out among the Shrek Academy representatives. "Qiangu Dongfeng, I challenge you!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng faltered slightly upon hearing this before casting his gaze toward the owner of the voice, and he was stunned to discover that the one who had challenged him was none other than the middle-aged man who bore a strong resemblance to that quasigod level elderly man.


    Surely not!


    A sense of foreboding immediately welled up in Qiangu Dongfeng''s heart. Immediately thereafter, the middle-aged man released a string of nine soul rings, and a series of mental manifestation projections began to appear around him.


    This was Shrek Academy''s fifth Limit Douluo!


    The hosts of the television stations broadcasting the match had already been stunned into silence.


    This was downright incredible! Since when did Shrek Academy have five Limit Douluos?


    One had to realize that the entirety of Shrek City had been razed to the ground no more than a few years ago! How could Shrek Academy possibly still have five Limit Douluos among its ranks?


    Even the Spirit Pagoda was only able to muster up four Limit Douluos!


    How was this possible?


    According to statistical data, there were less than 20 Limit Doulus on the entire continent, yet there were already nine in total gathered here.


    Furthermore, Shrek Academy''s greatest ally, the Tang Sect, also had two Limit Douluos!


    This meant that the two superpowers had a total of seven Limit Douluos! That was more than the Battle God Hall and Spirit Pagoda combined!


    Qiangu Dongfeng and Qiangu Dieting''s expressions had darkened significantly at this point.


    Regardless of whether this man was a rookie or veteran Limit Douluo, he was still a Limit Douluo!


    The Bai sisters possessed a soul fusion skill that could rival a Limit Douluo, but they wouldn''t be able to last very long against a true Limit Douluo, and there was no way that their control system Soul Master could match a Limit Douluo in battle.


    How were they supposed to contend?


    A sure-win battle had suddenly turned into a dire situation.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was completely stunned. Wasn''t he supposed to be in control here? How did this happen?


    Qiangu Dieting asked, "May I ask your name?"


    He was a very proud man, but he still had basic respect for powerful beings of the same caliber as himself.


    Yuanen Zhentian smiled, and replied, "I''m a new teacher of Shrek Academy and a member of the Sea God''s Pavilion, Yuanen Zhentian."


    Qiangu Dieting''s expression darkened even further upon hearing this.


    If he were only an ally that Shrek Academy had temporarily recruited for this match, then he wouldn''t be overly concerned, but his heart had immediately sunk upon hearing Yuanen Zhentian declaring himself as a member of the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    "I''m also a new teacher at Shrek Academy, and my name is Yuanen Tiandang."


    At this vital juncture, the pair of father and son Limit Douluos had finally stepped up for Shrek Academy.


    Some time had already passed since the Yuanen Family had moved here, and they had immediately fallen in love with this place.


    The vast Sea God''s Lake was extremely beautiful, and even though Shrek City no longer existed, they could see the assistance that was pouring in from all sides to support Shrek Academy''s reconstruction.


    Shrek Academy also held them in very high regard, granting them a very large plot of land beside the Sea God''s Lake, and by the time they arrived, all of the basic construction and infrastructure was already complete.


    Most importantly, Yuanen Zhentian had been granted the opportunity to cultivate beside the tree of life one day per month.


    This was an extremely alluring offer for Yuanen Zhentian.


    Even though it was only one day per month, the life energy that was replenished during that one day lasted him longer than a month.

 Chapter 1631: Winning Without a Battle

    By his calculations, his lifespan would be extended by at least 30 years if he were to stay and cultivate at Shrek Academy for the rest of his life.


    What could be more alluring than this? Through its will, the tree of life had told him that any member of his family would have the right to cultivate beside it once they reached the Limit Douluo level.


    Why was it that Long Yeyue had dared to return to her youthful appearance? It was because she didn''t have to worry about the life force that she had to expend to keep up this appearance.


    The tree of life had always been, and still remained the true core of Shrek Academy.


    This was why Yuanen Zhentian and the entire Yuanen Family had become extremely loyal to Shrek Academy.


    Back when Yuanen Zhentian had first decided to move the family, there had been many dissenting voices, but once they arrived and received the resources offered to them by Shrek Academy, all of those voices had turned into one of unanimous support for their family leader''s wise decision. In this environment, the Yuanen Family was definitely heading toward a brighter future. After all, the Yuanen Family was currently the most powerful family of Shrek Academy!


    Yuanen Yehui was the future of their family, and she was already a member of the Sea God''s Pavilion. The fact that their family had two members in the Sea God''s Pavilion was sufficient testament to just how important they were to Shrek Academy.


    As a result, the Yuanen Family had already completely integrated itself into Shrek Academy, and both Long Yeyue and Yali had fully approved of this.


    Outstanding teachers were what Shrek Academy currently lacked the most, and there certainly weren''t many hidden families that possessed two Limit Douluos like the Yuanen Family.


    As such, it was truly a blessing for Shrek Academy to have been able to recruit them.


    In addition to those two Limit Douluos, the Yuanen Family also possessed many Titled Douluos, and they all had the exceptional Titan Giant Ape martial soul.


    As such, the Yuanen Family had truly become a pillar of Shrek Academy.


    Furthermore, even though the Yuanen Family was very powerful, it wasn''t powerful enough to dominate Shrek Academy. Shrek Academy still had Long Yeyue and Yali, as well as the current Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, which were all developing rapidly, so they were still clearly superior to the Yuanen Family in terms of overall power.


    In addition to that, the fact that Yuanen Yehui was a member of both sides allowed them to establish a relationship of absolute trust, and that wasn''t even taking into account the influence of Er Ming.


    Thus, the Yuanen Family was quickly accepted by the entire Shrek Academy. Aside from Yuanen Zhentian, who wasn''t going to be actively teaching due to his age, even Yuanen Tiandang was currently a true teacher of Shrek Academy.


    Yuanen Tianshang was also teaching in the outer court, and after coming to Shrek Academy, he had gradually become a lot more extroverted and optimistic.


    Qiangu Dieting''s domineering aura had become slightly stagnant. Even though Shrek Academy was missing a person in this clash, the difficulty of securing victory only seemed to have increased.


    At their level, the most important skill to have was to be able to quickly assess situations and make decisions.


    What if someone were to be severely injured during this clash?


    Generally speaking, it was quite difficult for Limit Douluos to be injured, but it was an entirely different story if their opponents were also Limit Douluos.


    Furthermore, Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda were sworn enemies, and it was clear from Long Yeyue''s expression that she wasn''t treating this as nothing more than a simple match.


    Qiangu Dieting turned to Qiangu Dongfeng, and both of them could see their own hesitation mirrored in one another''s eyes. If they were to surrender here, then their enrolment would definitely be impacted, and their plan to target Shrek Academy would also be completely foiled.


    Right at this moment, a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out, and a beam of golden light instantly rose up into the air.


    Tang Wulin had returned in his suit of golden armor with his Golden Dragon Spear in his hand, to Qiangu Dieting''s astonishment, not only did Tang Wulin appear to be completely uninjured, his aura had become even more powerful than before.


    How was this possible?


    He had clearly sensed that countless bones had been shattered in Tang Wulin''s body! How had he managed to make a complete recovery so quickly?


    Tang Wulin rose up into the air in his Dragon Moon Song battle armor, and his aura had spiked drastically.


    The Golden Blood Dragon domain halo appeared beneath his feet, encompassing the seven Shrek Academy representatives, and all of their auras began to rapidly elevate as well.


    "Hold on!" Qiangu Dongfeng suddenly yelled.


    Tang Wulin turned to him, and asked, "Is there something you''d like to say, Chairman Qiangu?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng arrived beside his father with a dark expression, and replied, "I didn''t think that Shrek Academy would have so many Limit Douluos. With so many Limit Douluos clashing at once, I''m concerned that spatial turbulence or elemental storms could arise, and that could impact the people down below, which is something I''m sure none of us want to see. How about we stop here for today? Return our divine-grade mecha, and we''ll repair the rest of the mechas ourselves; what do you think, Sect Master Tang?"


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow, and countered, "You came here to pick a fight, now you''re saying you don''t want to fight; why do we have to listen to you? I don''t think spatial turbulence will arise, and our Shrek Academy''s defense system is more than capable of handling elemental storms."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression darkened even further upon hearing this. "So you''re determined to fight?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Like I said, you''re the one who picked the fight. The airspace of Shrek Academy is not to be encroached upon; this rule has existed for over 20,000 years. We''ve already done you a favor by sparing that man''s life, yet you''re asking for his divine-grade mecha to be returned as well?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng was furious to hear this. The repair cost of the other mechas was still manageable, but a divine-grade mecha was certainly not easy to replace.


    It couldn''t compare with a suit of four-word battle armor, but it was definitely far more precious than a suit of three-word battle armor.


    The mecha pilot association had turned up in support of the Spirit Pagoda, so the Spirit Pagoda would undoubtedly have to incur the cost of this divine-grade mecha.


    Tang Wulin''s return was like the final straw that broke the camel''s back. With five Limit Douluos on Shrek Academy''s side, there was no way that the Spirit Pagoda would be able to secure victory in this seven-on-seven match.


    If they were to lose, not only would Spirit Academy be thoroughly embarrassed, the reputation of the Spirit Pagoda would also receive a heavy blow, and that was absolutely unacceptable to him.


    "Alright, we''ll stop here for today. Farewell!" Qiangu Dongfeng cupped his fist in a salute toward Tang Wulin, then immediately departed in a decisive manner.


    Qiangu Dieting was the most powerful being among them, but Qiangu Dongfeng was still the current Spirit Pagoda Chairman, and everyone immediately followed his instructions.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he looked on at the departing Spirit Pagoda entourage.


    It was over? The fight didn''t happen?


    All of the journalists were completely rooted to the spot. They had just promoted this clash through all of their promotional avenues, yet it wasn''t even going to take place now!


    The only noteworthy thing that had happened was that Tang Wulin had been slammed out of the sky by a staff strike, but now, the Spirit Pagoda was scurrying away with its tail between its legs, and it was even leaving behind the divine-grade mecha.


    It was quite apparent to everyone that the Spirit Pagoda had conceded. They were at a clear disadvantage in terms of overall power, so they had chosen to retreat.


    While it was a testament to Qiangu Dongfeng''s character that he wasn''t influenced by the heat of the moment to engage in a battle they had no chance of winning, the fact of the matter was that the Spirit Pagoda had retreated.


    They hadn''t verbally conceded, but this was really no different.


    What was even more astonishing to everyone was the power being displayed by Shrek Academy.


    The academy had only recently commenced its rebuild, yet it already had five Limit Douluos among its ranks!


    Furthermore, everyone knew that Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda were sworn enemies, so why was it that Shrek Academy hadn''t insisted on going ahead with this battle even though they clearly held the absolute advantage?

 Chapter 1632: Shrek Academy Truly is Unfathomable

    There were many questions left unanswered, but all of the media outlets had received benefits from the Spirit Pagoda, so they couldn''t openly denounce the Spirit Pagoda. After a brief silence, all of the hosts could only deliver an ambiguous conclusion to conceal the Spirit Pagoda''s moral defeat.


    "Those bastards!" Qiangu Dieting was furious as he flew back toward the Spirit Pagoda. Even though he was already an old man, his temper hadn''t become any more mellow with age.


    A wry smile appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face. "I don''t understand how Shrek Academy was able to recruit these three Limit Douluos in such a short time. It''s my fault for not detecting this sooner; I''ll conduct an investigation right away."


    Qiangu Dieting replied in an enraged voice, "What''s the point? We''ve already completely embarrassed ourselves! The fact that Shrek Academy was able to recruit these people indicates that the rumors about Tang Wulin being a Divine Blacksmith are most likely true. We have to get rid of him as soon as possible. Otherwise, Shrek Academy will return to its former glory in no time!"


    Shrek Academy''s five Limit Douluos piled immense pressure on the Spirit Pagoda, and they could no longer go ahead with their original plan of refusing to sell soul spirits to Shrek Academy as doing so could incur the wrath of the five Limit Douluos.


    The Spirit Pagoda was the number one association on the continent and possessed a vast wealth of resources, but even a superpower of this caliber couldn''t withstand an attack from five Limit Douluos! In the face of Shrek Academy''s overwhelming power, they didn''t dare to do anything, and that was what frustrated Qiangu Dieting the most.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s brows were tightly furrowed as he said, "Don''t be too concerned, Father; I''ll launch an investigation into the matter first. Our promotion has already achieved its intended effect, and we''ve enrolled more students than Shrek Academy has; that''s the most important thing. We can continue to compete with them for students in the next few years, and I''m sure our Spirit Academy won''t be inferior to Shrek Academy. Eventually, we''ll be able to supercede them as the number one academy on the continent."


    Qiangu Dieting took a cold glance at him, and said, "Find out who those three Limit Douluos are first."


    After that, he quickly stormed away.


    Qiangu Dongfeng heaved an internal sigh. He knew that his father had to be very displeased with his performance.


    Qiangu Qingfeng didn''t even bother to say anything to his brother before he departed with his wife. His wife had been severely wounded, and he wasn''t even able to avenge her, so he was even more displeased.


    Only Leng Yaozhu lingered beside Qiangu Dongfeng, and sighed, "Tang Wulin really is a force to be reckoned with."


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to her, and said, "If Nana hadn''t been in seclusion today, the outcome may have been different. Has Nana told you when she can progress to the Limit Douluo level?"


    Leng Yaozhu replied, "That''s not something that can be hurried. The fact that Nana has reached this level at such a young age has already far exceeded our expectations."


    Qiangu Dongfeng sighed, "I don''t want to rush her, either; it''s just that Nana is the only one in the younger generation capable of matching Tang Wulin. Thankfully..."


    "Thankfully what?" Leng Yaozhu asked.


    Qiangu Dongfeng smiled as he thought of that one piece of good news, and his mood was finally lifted slightly. Thankfully, Gu Yuena was already family. Otherwise, if she still had ties with Tang Wulin, that would be truly damning to the Spirit Pagoda.


    "Keep raising the benefits offered to the students; I''m sure we''ll be able to enroll the best students as long as we''re willing to offer sufficient benefits," Qiangu Dongfeng instructed. Even though Spirit Academy had suffered a moral defeat during that clash, it still had to win the enrollment battle.


    The Shrek Academy camp landed on the ground, and Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief as he looked on at everyone''s departing figures. Everything had gone according to plan.


    The reason he had chosen not to insist on that final seven-on-seven match was because Shrek Academy''s rebuild had only recently commenced, and the defense system wasn''t complete yet, so he didn''t want to risk damaging the academy. Furthermore, he was concerned that if he were to back the Spirit Pagoda into a corner, they would do something drastic that would potentially risk the safety of the parents and students down below.


    Even though the battle hadn''t gone ahead, the Spirit Pagoda had been forced into retreat, and the power of Shrek Academy was displayed for all to see, thereby bolstering the confidence of the registrants at Shrek Academy.


    The existence of the five Limit Douluos had resolved many of the issues that had plagued Shrek Academy, and the power displayed by Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was a clear testament to Shrek Academy''s ability to produce powerful Soul Masters. This was a ploy that they had painstakingly prepared, and there wasn''t even any need for them to say or do anything now; all of the parents were already rushing over with their children to register at Shrek Academy.


    Following this clash, the rebuilt Shrek Academy had truly reestablished itself, and now, all that was left was the enrolment process. The future of the academy was going to hinge on the quality of the new students, particularly this first batch of students.


    "Are you alright, Wulin?" Yuanen Zhentian asked in a concerned manner.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I''m fine. Having said that, Qiangu Dieting really is incredibly powerful; that attack from him really did leave me in very bad condition."


    Yali turned to Yuanen Zhentian with a smile, and said, "Rest assured, I''m his mother, and even I''m not worried, so he''s definitely fine."


    She turned to Tang Wulin as she spoke, and the two of them exchanged a knowing smile.


    At this moment, the hideous middle-aged man also approached Tang Wulin before appraising him with a perplexed expression. "How is this possible? I clearly sensed that you had been severely injured back then! Your recovery abilities are insane! No, this is definitely not possible; are you hiding some internal injuries?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head with a wry smile. "Don''t worry, I''m fine."


    Tang Wulin had very mixed feelings about this man, and he wasn''t included in the original plan, either. In fact, he had only arrived at Shrek Academy not long ago.


    ......


    "Pavilion Master, there''s someone here to see you." Tang Wulin had just completed his daily forging and was about to go and have some dinner, when Yang Nianxia, who was now an outer court teacher, suddenly approached him.


    Yang Nianxia was once one of Shrek Academy''s most outstanding students, and if it weren''t for the current Shrek''s Seven Monsters, Yang Nianxia, Wu Siduo, and the others would''ve definitely been the top students of this class.


    They had always been cultivating with Tang Wulin as their target, but Tang Wulin was simply progressing far too quickly, and the gap between them was only continuing to widen.


    The one with the most advanced cultivation rank among them was Wu Siduo, who was already a Soul Douluo, and Yang Nianxia was at rank 79 soul power, only one step away from reaching the same level.


    At their age, they could already be considered to be exceptional cultivation prodigies, but just the mere thought of Tang Wulin would immediately dash their confidence.


    Xu Yucheng and Luo Guixing were also close to the Soul Douluo level, while Zheng Yiran had come from behind to become a Soul Douluo just a few days ago.


    Their class was all grown up now, and in the rebuilt Shrek Academy, all of them had become outer court teachers out of necessity due to the lack of teaching staff.

 Chapter 1633: Origins of the Qilin Douluo

    "Someone''s here to see me?" Tang Wulin was rather perplexed to see this.


    "It''s a middle-aged man who looks to be in his forties, and he''s... not all that great to look at," Yang Nianxia replied with a peculiar expression.


    "Alright, thanks for informing me of that; where is he right now?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "I took him to the conference room. There''s something kind of off about him; I can''t detect his exact cultivation rank," Yang Nianxia said.


    "Oh?" Yang Nianxia was already very close to the Soul Douluo level, so for him to be unable to detect the visitor''s cultivation rank indicated that there was a very good chance that this man was at least a Titled Douluo. Who could it be?


    In any case, this was Shrek Academy so he had nothing to worry about. Thus, Tang Wulin went to the conference room in the academy''s main school building.


    As soon as caught sight of the man in the conference room, he was immediately rooted to the spot. Never did he think that it would be this man who had come to see him.


    "Tong Yu? Why are you here?"


    The man sitting in the conference room had a layer of fine five-colored scales all over his face, and Yang Nianxia''s description of his appearance had been very flattering. The man had already sensed Tang Wulin''s arrival, and he stood up as soon as Tang Wulin entered the room.


    "I had no choice but to come! I came here to ask you something."


    The man was none other than Qilin Douluo Tong Yu, whom Tang Wulin had faced in one of the matches of the Trial of Five Gods.


    Never did Tang Wulin think that he would meet this man again.


    Tong Yu was looking rather exhausted, and this clearly wasn''t normal for a Limit Douluo like him.


    "Please take a seat, and feel free to ask me anything you''d like." Tang Wulin hurriedly invited Tong Yu to take a seat before also sitting down himself. He was very curious about why Tong Yu had come to see him.


    Tong Yu was a Limit Douluo with a tragic past, and in order to atone for his past sins, he had been willing to accumulate all of his power into a Five-elemental Qilin Bead to be given to the victim''s son. However, Tang Wulin had stopped him, while Yali had saved his life.


    Wasn''t he supposed to be searching for the son of his past lover?


    Just as these thoughts were running through Tang Wulin''s mind, Tong Yu asked him a question that completely rooted him to the spot. "Is your father''s name Tang Ziran?"


    Tang Wulin immediately sat bolt upright upon hearing this, and a wary look appeared in his eyes. "Why do you ask?"


    A wry smile appeared on Tong Yu''s face. "I bear no ill will; I just want to know if your father''s name is Tang Ziran."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he replied, "That''s right."


    Tong Yu suddenly slapped a hand to his own forehead, and tears immediately welled up in his eyes. "Why must fate be so cruel!"


    Tang Wulin was rather perplexed to see this, but an astonishing thought then slowly occurred to him, and his eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Surely not..."


    Tong Yu turned to Tang Wulin with a complex expression, and said, "I''m afraid so. Your father is the person I''m searching for."


    Tang Wulin immediately rose to his feet with incredulity in his eyes, and he stared blankly at Tong Yu, unsure of what to say.


    His father was the person Tong Yu was searching for? That would mean that his grandmother was Tong Yu''s past lover!


    Memories of his childhood immediately began to surface in his mind, and he recalled that his father never seemed to have mentioned his grandparents, nor did he seem to have any relatives.


    His mother had been an orphan, so it was normal that he didn''t have any relatives on his mother''s side, but whenever he asked about his grandparents, his father would always turn as pale as a sheet, as if some type of traumatic memory had been triggered, so eventually, Tang Wulin didn''t dare to ask anymore.


    Tang Wulin was at a complete loss for what to do. All of a sudden, Tong Yu had become the person who had murdered his grandmother in cold blood!


    However, he couldn''t help but recall what Tong Yu had said back in the Star Luo Empire. Who could be blamed for this tragedy? Who was at fault? Was it Tong Yu? Was it his grandmother? Or was it... fate?


    The two of them stared at one another, and neither of them knew what to say.


    After a long while, Tong Yu sighed, "Sect Master Tang, there''s no need for you to feel troubled by this situation. I''ve been constantly searching, so I''m sure you can tell that I''m sincere in my quest for atonement. When I first arrived on the Douluo Continent, I had no idea where to go. Finally, I discovered some leads and began to follow them, and I tracked down an academy that you had been to in the past. After that, I went to your former home, and I met a blacksmith there, who told me your name."


    Tang Wulin immediately became rather anxious upon hearing this. "You didn''t hurt him, did you?"


    Tong Yu hurriedly replied, "Of course not. However, I lied to him by telling him that I was a senior of Tang Ziran''s, and that I was paying him a visit after many years. He told me that Tang Ziran and his wife had disappeared long ago, but you were at Shrek Academy and are the current Tang Sect Master. I could tell that he was very proud of you."


    "He''s my teacher," Tang Wulin said.


    Tong Yu sighed, "You know about my past; fate sure can be cruel! To think that this would all be over if I had just given my Five-elemental Qilin Bead to you back then. I only have one wish: please allow me to see Tang Ziran. I want to repent to him, and after that, he can do with me as he sees fit."


    Tang Wulin was still completely stunned by this situation.


    Tong Yu had clearly been very relieved to hear that his father was Tang Ziran, as if a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but Tang Wulin wasn''t very happy to see this.


    His first impression of Tong Yu was one of empathy, so even though it was his own grandmother who was the victim of this tragedy, he didn''t really hate Tong Yu.


    "My father has already passed away," Tang Wulin replied. He knew that Tang Ziran had most likely been resurrected in another world, but the fact of the matter was that he was completely unable to contact his foster father.


    "How did he die? Was it because of me?" Tong Yu exclaimed.


    Tang Wulin replied, "It had nothing to do with you. If he had passed away due to your actions, I wouldn''t even exist right now. Both of my parents perished by the hands of the Holy Spirit Cult''s Blood Demon."


    Tong Yu completely slumped back into his chair upon hearing this. He had been searching for so long, only to receive such a tragic answer, and his face had turned completely pale. "How could he have passed away? I won''t even have a chance to repent now! Why must fate be so cruel to me? Can''t I even die on my own terms? Why can''t I have an opportunity to atone for my crimes?"


    Tang Wulin didn''t know what to say. If Tong Yu really had been a brazen criminal, then the decision would be simple: he would avenge his own grandmother at all costs. However, was Tong Yu really at fault?


    Besides, Tong Yu wanted nothing more than to die; he would most likely instantly take his own life if Tang Wulin told him to do so, and ironically, that placed Tang Wulin at a complete loss for what to do.

 Chapter 1634: Yi Zichen

    Tong Yu was also silent for a long while before speaking again. "So be it, if I can''t meet him, then meeting his son is the same thing. My life belongs to you. Perhaps my power won''t be of any use to you, but I''ll give it to you anyway, and you can do with it as you see fit."


    Tong Yu raised a hand and prepared to strike at himself as he spoke.


    "Wait!" Tang Wulin hurriedly yelled.


    A wry smile appeared on Tong Yu''s face. "There''s no need to try and dissuade me; this is my final wish. I heard about what happened at the Star Luo Empire after your departure; you''re a hero who''s saved countless lives. If you think that my death will be a blemish on this academy, we can do this somewhere else."


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath to calm himself down, then said, "Don''t be in such a hurry to die. Your actions have shown me your repentance is genuine; I can''t comment on something that happened decades ago, but if you were to die like this, I would feel very uncomfortable. I can''t say that I forgive you, but redemption is possible for anyone. How about this? My parents were killed by Blood Demon; if you can kill him and avenge my parents, then the differences between us will be settled. If my grandmother were still alive, I''m sure she''d prefer this arrangement as well."


    Tong Yu faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You want me to avenge your parents?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "That''s right. Are you willing to do this?"


    Tong Yu sighed, "You''re her only living descendant; even my life belongs to you, so I''m certainly not going to refuse, but aren''t you letting me off the hook too easily? I''ve constantly been living in pain and remorse for the past few decades; I..."


    Tang Wulin interjected, "That''s exactly why forcing you to live is the cruelest punishment for you. It''s decided; you''ll stay at Shrek Academy and aid us in our plight to destroy the Holy Spirit Cult. There''s no way you''ll be able to track down Blood Demon on your own, but you''ll get your chance when we clash with the Holy Spirit Cult."


    Tong Yu was silent for a moment before replying, "Alright, my life belongs to you, so you can take it anytime you want. After traveling for so long, I''ve become quite weary, so I''ll do as you say."


    ......


    Thus, Tong Yu was recruited into Shrek Academy by Tang Wulin, and just as he had promised, he did whatever Tang Wulin told him to do, and this included his participation in the clash against the Spirit Pagoda.


    Compared to when he had first arrived at Shrek Academy, the exhaustion on his face had already vanished. He was genuinely concerned for Tang Wulin as Tang Wulin was his psychological pillar.


    Why was it that Tang Wulin had been able to recover from such grievous injuries so quickly? Why was it that he dared to take an attack from a quasigod head-on? This wasn''t just a reckless act of idiocy. Instead, it was because he had the protection of an even more exceptional healer than Yali: the tree of life!


    As the Son of Nature, he had delivered a sufficient amount of life energy to the tree of life for it to flourish again, and in reciprocation, the tree of life had planted some type of special energy within Tang Wulin''s body, allowing it to teleport Tang Wulin to its side at any time.


    The tree of life was the source of all life on the entire Douluo Continent, and with its protection, Tang Wulin would struggle to die even if he wanted to.


    Unless the tree of life completely ran out of life energy again, it would be able to teleport Tang Wulin to its side and treat any injuries he had incurred as long as he was on the Douluo Continent.


    As the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, he had massive responsibilities on his shoulders, so he certainly wasn''t going to treat his own life lightly. That clash had been entirely under his control.


    Facing the full-power strike of a quasigod was an extremely valuable experience for a Soul Master of his caliber, and this experience was going to greatly benefit his future cultivation.


    The current Shrek Academy was changing for the better every single day. The constant replenishment of teaching staff and the precious alloys that Tang Wulin was forging on a daily basis were all elevating the new Shrek Academy bit by bit.


    Almost all of Tang Wulin''s current cultivation was spent completing heavenly refinement, and he was only able to withstand so many elemental tribulations due to his physical constitution and his identity as the Son of Nature. Even so, these past few months had been extremely draining for him.


    Thankfully, he could heave a sigh of relief now that they had forced Spirit Academy into retreat. Of course, this still wasn''t the end; Shrek Academy still hadn''t secured the ultimate victory. Having said that, they had already stalled for this long, so the mission on the other end should''ve been close to completion.


    Yi Zichen was currently 11 years old, and there was still more than a month until his 12th birthday. Yi Zichen had grown up in a small rural town in the south, and his entire family was comprised of normal people.


    Before him, there had never been a single person in his family who had awakened a martial soul and soul power.


    However, by some miracle, he had awakened soul power alongside his martial soul, and it was innate full soul power.


    This event had shocked the entire town, and even the mayor had paid his family a visit, stating that the entire town would support him wholeheartedly in his future cultivation.


    At the time, the six-year-old Yi Zichen had been rather confused, and he didn''t even know what the point of cultivation was.


    All he knew was that there would be a glorious future waiting for him if he could become a powerful Soul Master.


    Thus, he was enrolled into an elementary Soul Master academy.


    His martial soul was very special: it was dust, and it was an earth-attribute martial soul. In the beginning, even the teachers at the academy didn''t know which direction he should strive toward with his cultivation.


    Yi Zichen''s family wasn''t very wealthy, and the elementary academy he had attended was far from exceptional. It was under these circumstances that he began his own cultivation.


    In the eyes of his family and everyone in the town, his innate full soul power would surely at least allow him to become a mecha pilot in the future.


    As long as he was willing to work hard, he would definitely be the pride of the town.


    However, Yi Zichen''s aptitude had far exceeded their expectations.


    His innate full soul power granted him the highest possible starting point among all Soul Masters of the same age. While everyone was still working hard to reach rank 10 in soul power, he had already obtained his first soul spirit.


    The soul spirit had been sponsored by the town, and the entire town had run a massive fundraiser in order to purchase this hundred-year-old soul spirit from the Spirit Pagoda.


    With this soul spirit, Yi Zichen experienced the wonders of the Soul Master world for the very first time, and he truly began his cultivation journey.


    In the short span of just three years, he had progressed from rank 10 to rank 20 in soul power. This was an astonishing rate of progress that was very difficult to achieve even with innate full soul power. With his hundred-year-old soul spirit, he was able to immediately obtain a second soul ring and become a Soul Grandmaster.


    His incredible rate of progress had stunned his academy, and even though the education standard there was quite average, they had the foresight to know that they couldn''t weigh this child down no matter what. Thus, he was sent to another elementary academy in the largest city in the south, and with his brilliant aptitude, he received a full scholarship.


    Everything had gone very smoothly for him up to this point, and he was currently on the cusp of turning 12. Coincidentally, Spirit Academy had recently begun advertising their enrollment day.


    This was undoubtedly going to be one of the best academies on the continent, and what attracted Yi Zichen the most was the range of benefits that Spirit Pagoda was offering. Those benefits were simply far too alluring, particularly for those who hailed from humble backgrounds.


    He was currently at rank 29 soul power, and he was one step away from rank 30. If he could study at Spirit Pagoda, he would be able to easily obtain a second soul spirit! Thus, following a discussion between his teachers and family, it was decided that he would enroll at Spirit Academy.


    He was very confident in himself as he had always been the best in his age group back where he had come from.


    On this fateful enrollment day, he was accompanied by his father and his teacher.

 Chapter 1635: We Only Accept Monsters, Not Ordinary People

    As Yi Zichen was lining up, he saw the 300 mechas in the sky, and for a child like him who hadn''t even turned 12 yet, that was a truly stunning sight.


    His confidence in this decision skyrocketed as a result.


    He then saw the mechas flying away from the academy, following which he heard a name that he had been hearing throughout his young life thus far: Shrek Academy.


    Only then was he made aware that the past number one academy on the continent had reopened, and it seemed that the Spirit Academy he was enrolling at was a direct competitor to Shrek Academy.


    He then heard that authoritative declaration: "the airspace of Shrek Academy is not to be encroached upon!"


    After that, everything became extremely chaotic.


    They couldn''t really see the battles taking place in the distance, but there were live broadcasts being played everywhere!


    Spirit Academy had also rolled out a series of big screens to broadcast the clash between the two powerhouses.


    Yi Zichen had always been the best where he had come from, and as a result, he had inevitably developed a hint of pride. In his eyes, he was about to reach rank 30 in soul power; surely he was already a force to be reckoned with in the Soul Master world.


    However, only after witnessing the breathtaking matches unfolding on the screens did he realize just how powerful Soul Masters could be, and just how narrow-sighted he had been.


    "Shrek Academy is so powerful, Father! Did Spirit Academy lose?" Yi Zichen asked.


    Yi Zichen''s father replied with a wry smile, "I can''t tell! I''m just a manual laborer; I don''t know anything about Soul Masters. What do you think, Teacher Li?"


    Teacher Li was a middle-aged man, and his eyes were practically glowing as he sighed, "Shrek Academy is still Shrek Academy! Even the recently rebuilt Shrek Academy is already this powerful. Never did I think that I would get to witness such a titanic clash. It''s a pity that the final match didn''t happen, but it''s further testament to Shrek Academy''s dominance that they were able to scare the Spirit Pagoda into retreat; there are five Limit Douluos among their ranks!"


    Yi Zichen''s father asked, "Are Limit Douluos the most powerful Soul Masters?"


    Teacher Li replied with a wry smile, "Limit Douluos can instantly raze an entire city to the ground with the simplest of gestures; what do you think? To be honest, I''m beginning to regret our decision now; perhaps we should consider enrolling Zichen to Shrek Academy. Many of the people lining up have already gone over to Shrek Academy; it seems like their foundation and tradition weren''t wiped away by that explosion."


    Yi Zichen''s father hesitated momentarily before replying, "Let''s stay here. Spirit Academy is offering so many benefits, and surely there can''t be that big a disparity between the two academies. I can''t earn enough money to support Zichen''s cultivation, so I''ll have to enrol him into an academy that can provide the resources in my stead."


    Teacher Li nodded with a forlorn expression. "I guess we have no choice. In any case, Zichen is a truly exceptional young talent; I''m sure he''ll be a brilliant Soul Master regardless of whether he attends Shrek Academy or Spirit Academy. It''s just that Shrek Academy is a truly sacred place in the hearts of all of us Soul Masters."


    Shortly thereafter, they finally reached the front of the line.


    Teacher Li and Yi Zichen''s father accompanied Yi Zichen toward a young man, who said, "Give me your hand."


    Yi Zichen did as he was told, and the young man gently laid a few fingers onto the boy''s wrist, upon which a hint of surprise appeared on his face. "Not bad at all! You can go in there for further examinations."


    He pointed over at a vortex door of light as he spoke.


    Yi Zichen was appraising the young man before him with curiosity in his eyes. This young man appeared to be in his twenties, and was quite handsome in appearance.


    "Are you a Soul Master as well, Big Brother? What rank are you?" Yi Zichen asked.


    As a brilliant prodigy, Yi Zichen was very keen to compete with others, and he had always felt that he should always be the best no matter where he was.


    The young man smiled, and replied, "I''m a Soul Douluo."


    Yi Zichen''s eyes immediately widened with shock. "A Soul Douluo? No way!"


    The young man chuckled, "I wouldn''t lie about something like this. If you continue to work hard, you can do it as well." A series of soul rings emerged around him as he spoke, and there was no powerful aura being released, but those were indeed eight soul rings, and what was even more alarming was that the final soul ring in that sequence of eight was a red one.


    "That''s a 100,000-year-old soul ring!" Teacher Li exclaimed.


    The soul rings faded, and the young man made an inviting hand gesture toward the door of light.


    Teacher Li hurriedly extended a respectful salute toward the young man. He was only a Soul Ancestor, so he was vastly inferior to this young Soul Douluo. Yi Zichen still wanted to ask more questions, but Teacher Li quickly dragged him away toward the door of light.


    Spirit Pagoda truly was formidable! Even a member of the enrollment staff was a Soul Douluo, AND he had a 100,000-year-old soul spirit. It seemed that they had made the right decision after all.


    After stepping into the door of light, the surrounding space warped drastically, and Yi Zichen was so frightened that he wanted to cry out, but found himself unable to find his own voice.


    Thankfully, this process only lasted a short time, and in the next instant, they arrived in an independent space.


    This was a rather barren place with some very ordinary-looking buildings nearby that were constructed from wood and straw.


    There was a group of people lining up in front of a short fence, and Yi Zichen wanted to move, but found himself unable to do so.


    In the next instant, he was abruptly teleported near the front of the line.


    At the front of the line stood a table, behind which sat an elderly man with a lazy expression.


    To put it euphemistically, the elderly man''s attire was quite plain and simple. No matter how one looked at him, he seemed to be an old farmer; he wasn''t even as well-dressed as Yi Zichen''s father!


    A young boy arrived at the table, and the elderly man said, "The registration fee is 10 golden soul coins; put them in that box over there."


    Yi Zichen''s father and teacher both faltered slightly upon hearing this. Who used soul coins nowadays? Everyone was using federal credits!


    The young boy''s father hurriedly pulled out 10 golden soul coins, which he placed into a box constructed from a few wooden planks.


    "Give me your hand."


    The young boy did as he was told, and the elderly man held his hand for a moment before shaking his head. "You''re too old; you can go now."


    The young boy faltered slightly before turning to his father.


    His father hurriedly put on a fawning smile, and said, "My son has only just had his 13th birthday; would you be able to make an exception for him?"


    The elderly man waved an impatient hand as if he were swatting away a pesky fly. "Don''t delay everyone else. Don''t you know the rules of the academy? We only take children below 13 years of age, so you can go now."


    "Then what about our registration fee?" the father asked.


    "No returns," the elderly man replied in a harsh manner.


    The young boy''s father couldn''t help but flare up with rage. "This is a blatant scam! Return our registration fee or we''re not leaving. If we had known that the so-called Shrek Academy was the base for a scam, we wouldn''t have come here!"


    The elderly man took a glance at him, then turned to a nearby young man. "Mubai, there''s someone causing trouble here."


    The young man immediately stepped forward. "Defeat me, and you can have your registration fee back."


    This was a golden-haired young man with an imposing stature and aura. Strangely enough, his pupils were different from one another.


    He seemed to be only 13 to 14 years of age, but Yi Zichen was struck by a clear sense of inferiority at the sight of him.


    The young man wasted no time with words and immediately released three soul rings, two of which were yellow while the final one was purple.


    The father''s expression changed drastically upon seeing this, and he could only lament his ill-fortune as he hurriedly departed with his son.


    After that, the young man sat back down again before appraising the rest of the registrants with a clear threat in his eyes. A three-ring Soul Elder was far too powerful for the average person to contend with, and he was looking like a hired thug.

 Chapter 1636: The Rousing Memories

    Following that interlude, the line was immediately reduced by as much as a third. After all, no one wanted to spend money for nothing, especially when this place was looking so shabby.


    Another young boy arrived before the elderly man with his parents, and his mother placed 10 gold coins into the wooden box in a confident manner, while the young boy obediently offered his hand to the elderly man.


    The elderly man held his hand for a moment, then said, "You''re right at 12 years of age. Release your martial soul."


    The young boy nodded, and faint green soul power was released out of his body alongside a yellow soul ring.


    His martial soul also appeared alongside the hundred-year-old soul ring, and it was a thick vine that wound itself around his body.


    This was clearly a plant system martial soul.


    The elderly man shook his head upon seeing this. "He doesn''t qualify; you can go now."


    The confident expressions on the faces of the young boy''s parents immediately stiffened upon hearing this, and the boy''s mother asked, "Why? My son has always excelled in his elementary academy; don''t you see that he has a hundred-year-old soul ring? There aren''t many Soul Masters with such a soul ring at his age."


    The elderly man replied, "That is indeed a hundred-year-old soul ring, but he''s only an ordinary person."


    The father''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "I don''t understand what you mean."


    The elderly man stood up in an impatient manner before declaring to everyone in the line, "All of you should''ve done your homework before enrolling at Shrek Academy. Otherwise, you''re just wasting your money. Don''t you know the meaning behind the name of our Shrek Academy?"


    Most of the registrants looked on with befuddled expressions.


    The elderly man explained, "Shrek is a type of monstrous existence even among soul beasts. The reason why we''ve named our academy as such is because this is an academy of monsters, which means that we only accept monsters, not ordinary people. Those who are over 13 years of age or have yet to exceed rank 21 in soul power can leave now."


    Yi Zichen''s father still had no idea what was happening, but Yi Zichen and Teacher Li both felt a shiver run down their spines.


    The old man was declaring this place to be Shrek Academy? But why was Shrek Academy so run-down and dilapidated? What exactly was this place?


    They were unable to speak and could only spectate, while the elderly man seemed to be completely oblivious to their presence.


    Right at this moment, bright red light erupted from the elderly man''s body, and a long staff that was riddled with countless fine patterns appeared in his right hand.


    Even more astonishingly, six soul rings had emerged from beneath his feet, comprised of one white, one yellow, three purples, and one black.


    This old man had the appearance of an ordinary farmer, but he was a Soul Emperor!


    Even in the entire kingdom, there were very few Soul Masters of his caliber.


    The elderly man slammed the end of his staff onto the ground, and a dull thump rang out as everyone stumbled slightly.


    He then waved a dismissive hand toward the dumbstruck family of three. "Next!"


    Just as the elderly man had said, 12-year-old Soul Grandmasters really were monsters, and in the blink of an eye, only around a dozen registrants were left in the line.


    The elderly man didn''t seem to be fazed in the slightest by the sharp decline in the number of registrants, and he merely continued his work.


    Those who remained were clearly all quite confident that they satisfied the elderly man''s criteria, and sure enough, all of the next few registrants were Soul Grandmasters of the correct age. After issuing 10 gold coins each, the elderly man told them that they had passed and were eligible to undergo the academy''s second round of examination, where they couldn''t be accompanied by their parents.


    "This academy seems to be quite interesting. That teacher was so badass when he said the academy only accepted monsters, not ordinary people!"


    A pleasant voice suddenly attracted Yi Zichen''s attention, and he turned to discover a beautiful girl with a pair of bright eyes.


    She appeared to be around the same age as him, and her hair was arranged into a long ponytail.


    She was speaking to a young boy beside her who wasn''t particularly handsome, but gave off a special disposition.


    "You don''t have any further doubts about our teacher''s instructions now, do you? This Shrek Academy is definitely no ordinary place," the young boy replied.


    The golden-haired Soul Elder from before had also caught sight of them, and a faint smile appeared on his face before he pointed at the elderly man, then splayed his hands open and put on a resigned expression, as if to tell them that he wouldn''t be able to help them in their enrolment.


    Yi Zichen immediately realized that they knew one another.


    All of a sudden, Yi Zichen''s attention was drawn back to the elderly man as he let loose a faint cry of surprise.


    He was currently holding the hand of a young girl with a bewildered expression.


    The young girl wasn''t accompanied by her parents, and she wore a plain white dress. Her short hair trailed down to just below her ears, and she was slightly taller than the girl with the long ponytail.


    She had her back facing Yi Zichen, so he was unable to see her appearance, but it was apparent from the nape of her neck that she had very fair and delicate skin.


    "Have I passed the initial examination?" The young girl''s voice was very gentle and pleasing to the ears.


    The surprise on the elderly man''s face gradually faded, and his brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "Does your family know that you''ve come here?"


    Instead of answering his question, the girl smiled as she replied, "Why does that matter? I satisfy your criteria, so you have no reason not to accept me, right?"


    The elderly man seemed to hesitate momentarily before waving a hand toward the young Soul Elder. "Take her inside."


    The slightly peculiar look in the young boy''s eyes faded upon hearing this, and he calmly led the girl into the academy.


    The rest of the students quickly passed the first examination, and finally, the young boy and girl who had been chatting earlier arrived at the front of the line. At this point, the young Soul Elder had also returned to the elderly man''s side.


    Yi Zichen suddenly discovered that the young Soul Elder was staring blankly at the back of the line, as if he were seeing something incredible.


    The girl with the ponytail and the boy beside her reflexively turned around, and they were also rather taken aback by the sight that greeted them.


    There was only one student left behind them, and she seemed to have arrived only recently.


    She appeared to be even younger than the girl with the ponytail, and she was roughly the same height as the girl in the white dress from before.


    She had a head of long black hair, and her skin was also quite fair, but what was most noteworthy about her was her extremely voluptuous figure that completely belied her age.


    If her face were concealed, she could be easily misidentified as a young woman, and in particular, her voluminous chest was especially attention-grabbing.


    The young girl currently wore a cold look on her face, and her black eyes were completely devoid of exuberance, creating a stark contrast with her beautiful appearance.


    She had a set of long and slender limbs with her arms naturally hanging down by her sides, and the aura of deathly coldness she was giving off was very disconcerting.


    "Are you two here to register or not? If not, then get out of the way." The young boy and girl immediately returned to their senses upon hearing the elderly man''s voice, and they hurriedly made their way over to the table.


    "We''re registering together," the young boy said as he placed 20 gold soul coins into the wooden box, then extended a hand alongside the young girl.


    The elderly man held the girl''s hand for a moment before giving a nod of approval. "You''re at the right age."


    However, a hint of bewilderment appeared in his eyes as he switched to the young boy''s hand.


    He then tried to gauge the boy''s age a few more times, but to no avail. Finally, he raised his head to look up at the boy, and asked, "Have you practiced some type of soul technique with your hands?"


    The young boy nodded in response.


    The elderly man''s brows furrowed slightly as he instructed, "Lift your leg up."

 Chapter 1637: The Path to Your Dreams

    The young boy did as he was told, placing his calf onto the table, and the elderly man gently squeezed his calf through the leg of his pants before giving a slight nod. "Your muscular development is quite good, and you''re also of the right bone age. Release your martial souls."


    The boy and girl exchanged a glance, and blue and red light erupted from their bodies alongside a pair of hundred-year-old soul rings for each of them.


    A pair of rabbit ears sprouted out of the young girl''s head, and her body quickly became longer and more slender while tufts of white fur appeared on her hands.


    As for the young boy, the most ordinary Bluesilver Grass had emerged over his palm, and with his injection of soul power, it quickly transformed into a thick vine.


    The elderly man only took a casual glance at Xiao Wu before turning to Tang San. "How were you able to cultivate Bluesilver Grass so quickly?"


    Tang San smiled, and replied, "You only accept monsters here, right? Do I qualify as a monster?"


    A rare smile appeared on the elderly man''s face. "You really are a little monster. Mubai, take them in."


    Everything suddenly stood still here as a series of shimmering golden names appeared above the heads of the young boys and girls present.


    The names above the young boy and girl who had just passed the examination were Tang San and Xiao Wu, respectively, while the name Dai Mubai appeared above the young Soul Elder.


    As for the young woman behind Tang San and Xiao Wu, she was none other than Zhu Zhuqing.


    These are members of the first generation of Shrek''s Seven Monsters!


    The same thought occurred to Yi Zichen and Teacher Li in unison.


    Who hadn''t heard of the legend of Shrek Academy and Tang San?


    Could it be that this was a flashback of when Shrek Academy had been first founded?


    All of a sudden, the entire surrounding area began to warp, and a new image was presented.


    Once again, they saw Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, the young girl who had been lined up ahead of Tang San and Xiao Wu, and a young boy with thick facial hair.


    All of them were jogging with labored expressions, and a chubby young boy was bringing up the rear with a gloomy look on his face.


    It was quite obvious to Yi Zichen that this was the first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters!


    Evil Eye White Tiger Dai Mubai, Big Sausage Uncle Oscar, Thousand Hand Douluo Tang San, Evil Fire Phoenix Ma Hongjun, Seven Treasures Glazed Ning Rongong, and Hell Civet Zhu Zhuqing!


    Even Teacher Li was struggling to contain himself at the sight of those legendary group, let alone Yi Zichen.


    One scene transitioned into another, presenting a sequence of captivating stories during which these seven became more and more powerful with each passing day.


    They watched the seven of them participate in that fateful competition, defeating one formidable foe after another through their teamwork before finally reaching the grand final.


    Even against opponents far more powerful than themselves, they never gave up, and through their immense willpower, they defeated the Soul Hall team, securing the final championship title, and it was also during this match that Xiao Wu''s identity was finally revealed.


    Finally, the images drew to a conclusion on the scene where Tang San and Xiao Wu defeated Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue in a clash between gods.


    At this point, Yi Zichen had already shed countless tears.


    He could never forget the scene where Xiao Wu had sacrificed herself for Tang San, nor everything that Tang San had done to revive her.


    In the end, Yi Zichen''s trio appeared in a spacious hall, and a man slowly emerged into the hall to face them.


    "The tradition of Shrek Academy was built up through the efforts of countless generations. The glory of Shrek Academy that has stood for 20,000 years needs generation upon generation of little monsters like yourself to uphold. Yi Zichen, if you''re willing to become a member of Shrek Academy, then proceed with courage to the rest of the examination."


    "I want to become a member of Shrek Academy!" Yi Zichen yelled with all his might, and only then did he discover that he was able to move and speak again.


    The figure ahead of him gradually became clearer, revealing a handsome smiling man with a head of long blue hair and a golden trident in his grasp. He raised his trident and pointed it at a door of light behind him.


    "That is the path to Shrek Academy and the path to your dreams. Step onto that path with all of your willpower, courage, and determination; I wish you the best of luck."


    "Thank you, Senior Tang San!" Yi Zichen bowed to the point where his head was almost touching his knees. Not only had those scenes shown him just how powerful the first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had been, it had shown him the process of their growth and their fearless, self-sacrificing spirit.


    No young boy could resist such rousing scenes, and in that moment, Yi Zichen was determined to become a member of Shrek Academy no matter what and make his own contribution to uphold the glory of Shrek Academy.


    Thus, the three of them strode into the door of light and vanished from the hall.


    Tang San looked on at their departing figures, and murmured to himself, "The current generation of kids really are quite exceptional." His body then flickered and warped, and as it became clear again, he had transformed into none other than Old Demon Scourge!


    Never had there been two identical enrolment examinations for Shrek Academy throughout history; there were always alterations made to the events from year to year. As such, no one could guess what the examination would entail.


    It was exactly due to the emergence of people like Bloodlust Douluo Yun Tianheng that Shrek Academy was paying attention not just to students'' aptitude and powers, but also to their personality.


    It was very important for one to possess strong willpower and a kind heart, not just for cultivation, but also for being a good person in general.


    This was how Shrek Academy had been able to uphold its tradition for so many years, and why so many powerful beings were willing to lend Shrek Academy their assistance during its time of need.


    Those responsible for overseeing the enrolment examinations included inner court disciples and new teachers.


    This was the first enrollment since the academy''s reconstruction, and everyone was getting involved.


    Following the academy''s reconstruction, some alumni had been invited back to become teachers, and after a selection process, the current Shrek Academy now had a total of 51 teachers, including 19 inner court teachers.


    In addition to that, there were also 46 teacher aides.


    One had to realize that it had always been extremely difficult to become an official teacher of the academy, and that tradition would continue to be maintained.


    The outer court principal was Wu Zhangkong, while the inner court principal was Long Yeyue, and Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were the vice-principals.


    The entire structure of the academy was already complete, but it would not be an easy task for it to return to its former glory.


    Tang Wulin was also one of the 51 teachers, and he was teaching in the blacksmith division of the academy.


    As a Divine Blacksmith, there was no better candidate than him for the role. In particular, the clash that had just taken place against Spirit Academy perfectly reflected just how important a Divine Blacksmith was. Without his heavenly refinement, it would not be an easy task for Shrek Academy to secure this victory.


    Limit Douluos were already extremely feared and revered, and the only thing more terrifying than a Limit Douluo was a Limit Douluo with a suit of four-word battle armor.


    All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters already possessed pieces of four-word battle armor; who was to say that the other Limit Douluos of Shrek Academy didn''t have full suits of four-word battle armor?


    Qiangu Dongfeng had chosen to retreat without any hesitation as his main concern was that they would have to face potentially five Limit Douluos with suits of four-word battle armor. Throw the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect into the mix, and Shrek Academy would truly be an incomparably formidable force.


    In fact, their high-end power was even superior to back before Shrek Academy was destroyed.


    Overall, the past Shrek Academy had been the most powerful entity as it possessed the most Titled Douluos and Hyper Douluos out of any organization on the entire continent, and it was also led by Yun Ming, the undisputed number one most powerful being on the continent.


    Even among quasigods, Yun Ming stood at the very pinnacle of the pyramid.

 Chapter 1638: Success

    If it hadn''t been for Yun Ming, the power of the two godslayer missiles would''ve been enough to destroy the entire Shrek Academy sanctuary. Yun Ming had withstood close to half of the explosion''s power on his own. If he had chosen to flee at the time, no one would''ve been able to stop him, but he couldn''t do that as he was the Sea God''s Pavilion Master and the ultimate guardian of Shrek Academy.


    It was exactly because the Holy Spirit Cult had identified this that they had chosen to unleash such an attack. In doing so, they were placing Yun Ming in a situation where he had no choice but to sacrifice himself.


    Under those circumstances, it was already a miracle that Yun Ming''s soul had been able to survive using his martial soul as a vessel.


    Wu Zhangkong hadn''t participated in the clash against Spirit Academy as he had to oversee Shrek Academy''s enrollment examinations.


    He was constantly patrolling the examination venues, inspecting all of the data and statistics coming from each stage.


    "Teacher Wu, the statistics for the eighth stage have come out; this new cohort is amazing! Over 60% of them have passed the mental examination; that''s much better than our cohort," Luo Guixing said in an incredulous manner as he handed the statistical data in his hand over to Wu Zhangkong.


    Wu Zhangkong accepted the spreadsheet and nodded in response. "There''s a reason for that: all of them underwent an important spiritual lesson that bolstered their mental fortitude right before the examinations."


    "Hehehehe!" Right at this moment, a burst of bone-chilling cackling rang out, and Luo Guixing was so frightened that he instantly ducked behind Wu Zhangkong.


    This was a voice that he could never forget, but it was also one that he never wanted to hear again.


    Old Demon Greed emerged with a benevolent smile before approaching Wu Zhangkong. "What do you think of our spiritual lesson?"


    Wu Zhangkong extended a bow toward Old Demon Greed, and even though his expression was quite cold, he replied in a genuine voice, "It worked extremely well; I think this should be a part of all of our future enrolment examinations. Through this, we''ll be able to bolster the determination of the students to join our Shrek Academy."


    Old Demon Greed chuckled, "I also think it''s worked very well. It''s not brainwashing, but it can rouse the spirits of these young boys and girls. After all, nothing is more inspiring than witnessing the journey of the first generation of Shrek''s Seven Monsters."


    Luo Guixing couldn''t help but ask, "Senior Greed, why didn''t we receive this treatment on the demonic island? This isn''t fair!" Even now, he couldn''t help but shudder as he recalled back to those traumatic experiences. He could clearly recall that he had been transformed into a woman before being locked up together with Xu Yucheng, following which a strong aphrodisiac had been released upon both of them. Even though that had only been an illusion, he still wanted to die every time he recalled that ordeal.


    However, he had to admit that he had matured significantly following that experience. At the very least, his mental fortitude had improved, and he was plagued by far fewer negative emotions.


    Having said that, if he had the choice, he would rather sacrifice those benefits than go through that ordeal!


    Even now, he and Xu Yucheng very rarely spoke to one another, and their relationship was extremely awkward. In contrast, everyone else''s situation was slightly better than theirs.


    At the time, their group had been comprised of Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Wu Siduo, Yang Nianxian, Zheng Yiran, and two other students. The most fortunate of the bunch were Yang Nianxia and Zheng Yiran, who developed feelings for one another on the demonic island and finally became a couple.


    Of course, it wasn''t all positives for them, either. For example, Zheng Yiran was extremely restrictive toward Yang Nianxia, and Yang Nianxia didn''t dare to resist in fear of being poisoned by Zheng Yiran.


    Zheng Yiran was truly a force to be reckoned with in their cohort, and as her cultivation rank progressed, so had the lethality of her poison.


    Old Demon Greed turned to Luo Guixing, and said, "How can you compare yourself with them? You had already cultivated in the academy for so many years; of course we had to use more extreme methods. You don''t need to be inspired; you need to be polished. Thinking back, you were really fun to ''polish'' back then, and you looked quite good as a woman. You had nice, fair skin, and that scream of yours, tsk tsk..."


    "That''s enough!" Luo Guixing yelled before fleeing the scene.


    The old demons had blackmail material even on Long Yeyue, let alone Luo Guixing.


    Old Demon Greed looked on at the fleeing Luo Guixing as he shook his head in disapproval. "His mental fortitude requires more development! He needs to be able to remain calm under all circumstances. Let me think about how your experience was, Little Zhangkong..."


    "I still need to oversee the examinations, Senior; Farewell." Wu Zhangkong had already vanished into a cloud of icy mist as he spoke.


    Old Demon Greed chuckled before making his way casually into the academy while murmuring to himself, "Being back at the academy really is a fantastic feeling! Even though this is no longer the Shrek Academy of the past, at least we won''t be lonely here."


    At Spirit Academy.


    Xie Xie cast his gaze all the way to the back of the line in front of Spirit Academy, then turned to Yue Zhengyu. "We''ve done enough, right? We should leave some for Spirit Academy; maybe there are still some bright young talents left."


    Yue Zhengyu rolled his eyes in response. "How shameless can you be? There are only five people left, and you''re saying that now?"


    Xie Xie countered, "Then what do you say we should do?"


    Yue Zhengyu replied in a justified manner, "Of course we go through these five as well; why would we leave Spirit Academy with any opportunities?"


    Xie Xie grumbled, "You''re even more shameless than I am! Having said that, I fully agree!"


    Thus, the two of them joyfully examined the last five registrants, and there really was a little girl who fit their criteria and was sent into the door of light.


    "We''re done now, Senior," Yue Zhengyu said as he extended a respectful bow toward the door of light.


    The seductive Old Demon Lust emerged from the door of light before making an inviting hand gesture. "Heeheehee, then you guys come in as well, and we''ll get out of here."


    Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu exchanged a glance, and they gritted their teeth before making their way into the door of light as if they were walking to their own executions.


    Old Demon Sloth suddenly emerged out of thin air, then waved a hand toward the banner they had set up, and the banner that had stood in front of Spirit Academy the entire day abruptly vanished alongside that door of light.


    In a silent chamber in Spirit Academy, Han Tianyi was just about to go into meditation when his eyes suddenly sprang open, and a hint of astonishment appeared on his face as he exclaimed, "Why are there such powerful spiritual fluctuations at the front gate?"


    He immediately directed his spiritual power toward that direction, but didn''t discover anything.


    "How strange; where could those spiritual fluctuations have come from?"


    Han Tianyi was none other than the elderly man with the brain martial soul, and as a result, he possessed immense spiritual power.


    In the principal''s office.


    "How has enrollment been going?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked.


    Qiangu Zhangting replied, "The statistics haven''t been brought to me yet, but it looks like we managed to enroll more students in total than Shrek Academy. Even though many registrants left at the end, we should still be ahead on the total number."


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "This wasn''t exactly a resounding success, but we did manage to enroll a lot of students. I don''t understand how Shrek Academy was able to gather so many powerful beings in such a short time; this is going to be quite an issue in the future as well."

 Chapter 1639: Nightmare for Spirit Academy

    Qiangu Zhangting''s brows furrowed slightly as he speculated, "Could it be that those are allies they only temporarily recruited? Otherwise, how could we know nothing about them?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "I''ve already launched an investigation, so let''s wait for the outcome. With the resources of our Spirit Pagoda, we''ll definitely be able to find something as long as we get the slightest of leads. You don''t need to pay any attention to that; focus on enrolment, and nurturing the academy''s students. The most important factor that decides the caliber of an academy are the students it produces; I''m sure we won''t be inferior in this aspect to a newly rebuilt Shrek Academy."


    "You can rest assured, Grandfather!" Qiangu Zhangting said with brimming confidence, "We have so many resources that are unavailable to them; there''s no way we can fail."


    Right at this moment, a burst of urgent door-knocking suddenly rang out.


    Qiangu Zhangting''s brows furrowed slightly as he said, "Come in."


    A middle-aged man barged into the room with a panicked expression, and said, "Bad news, Principal!"


    Qiangu Zhangting''s heart jolted upon hearing this, and he urged, "Calm down and explain!"


    The middle-aged man took a moment to catch his breath, then elaborated, "We''ve just tallied up all of the statistics for this enrollment, and we discovered that not even a single one of our enrolled students are above rank 20 in soul power. Children with soul power above rank 20 at below 12 years of age are very rare, but not non-existent! This has always been Shrek Academy''s enrollment criteria. Hence, we grew suspicious and asked some of the students what had happened, and they told us that some registrants had already been taken elsewhere after the preliminary examination."


    "What preliminary examination is this?" Qiangu Zhangting faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    The middle-aged man replied, "That''s what I want to know as well! All of our examinations took place inside the academy, but the students say that they all underwent a preliminary examination while lining up outside the front gate, and that those who passed the preliminary examination were asked to enter a vortex door of light, while those who didn''t pass the preliminary examination were allowed into the academy."


    Qiangu Zhangting almost fainted from fury upon hearing this. "How is this possible? Are all of our enrolment staff blind? How could they not have seen anything?"


    The middle-aged man was already on the verge of bursting into tears. "I don''t know! We''ve already checked through the security footage, and the only suspicious activity that we saw was that all of the students would extend a hand forward after arriving at the gate, and after that, some of them walked away to the side before disappearing into thin air. For some reason, none of us noticed this!"


    Qiangu Zhangting was about to say something further, but he was cut off by Qiangu Dongfeng. "Let''s go and take a look at the security footage first."


    Half an hour later, Qiangu Zhangting and Qiangu Dongfeng were standing in front of a large screen that was displaying the security footage with dark expressions.


    Sure enough, one registrant after another was making their way toward the front gate before pausing and extending a hand forward.


    Some of them then walked over to the side before abruptly vanishing, while others continued into the academy, and none of the enrolment staff seemed to have seen anything.


    "What the hell is going on? Can somebody tell me what happened?" Qiangu Zhangting was about to pull his own hair out by the roots!


    All of the employees were completely petrified. They were all low-level workers, and in this Spirit Academy that was filled with powerful beings, they could easily be killed and no one would ever know.


    "They''re not to be blamed, Principal; this is the result of an extremely powerful illusion. A short while ago, I detected a burst of powerful spiritual fluctuations, but when I tried to latch onto it, it was already gone. During the time that this illusion was in effect, I just so happened to be over at Shrek Academy," Han Tianyi said with tightly furrowed brows.


    Qiangu Dongfeng asked, "An illusion? How could there be such a powerful illusion? What kind of Soul Master could pull off something like this?"


    Han Tianyi shook his head in response. "I''m not sure. Theoretically speaking, I should be able to directly sense all illusions within a radius of 10 kilometers. However, I was only made aware of this illusion as it was being withdrawn. Thinking back now, I was only able to sense the spiritual fluctuations as it had overlapped for an instant with the spatial fluctuations that resulted from the withdrawal of the illusion. Unless there are some other circumstances involved, the creator of the illusion should possess spiritual power that''s not inferior to my own. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have discovered it so late."


    Qiangu Dongfeng drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. Han Tianyi was the undisputed number one when it came to spiritual power on the entire continent.


    If Shrek Academy really did have a Soul Master with spiritual power that wasn''t inferior to Han Tianyi''s, then that would be a truly terrifying prospect. This was only a recently rebuilt Shrek Academy! How had it accumulated so much in such a short time?


    Even more importantly, all of the most exceptional students had been taken away by Shrek Academy right in front of the Spirit Pagoda''s very own academy!


    Even Qiangu Dongfeng was struggling to contain his fury now.


    The clash between Shrek Academy and Spirit Academy had taken quite a long time, and even though it had ended in defeat for Spirit Academy, he had thought that with the time they had bought, Spirit Academy would''ve surely been able to enroll many students already.


    However, never did he think that he would be playing right into Shrek Academy''s hands from the very beginning! Where the hell did these people come from? Since when was there a master of illusions in Shrek Academy?


    Qiangu Dongfeng was on the verge of throwing up blood at this point.


    If the higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda were to hear about this, the entire Qiangu Family would most likely be heavily impacted.


    A massive amount of manpower and resources had been expended to found Spirit Academy, so failure wasn''t an option.


    "What should we do, Grandfather?" Qiangu Zhangting was at a complete loss.


    Qiangu Dongfeng quickly repressed his tumultuous emotions, and replied, "Keep this information strictly confidential, and impose a non-disclosure order on all those who know about this. If anyone dares to leak this information, then don''t blame me for silencing them!"


    All of the surrounding employees were unconsciously holding their breath in the face of Qiangu Dongfeng''s furious aura.


    Qiangu Zhangting immediately understood his grandfather''s intentions. They definitely couldn''t allow the higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda, particularly the core members, to hear about this. Otherwise, the Qiangu Family would be placed under immense pressure.


    As such, even though they had been screwed over, they could only swallow this bitter pill in silence.


    Qiangu Zhangting snapped, "Shrek Academy is absolutely shameless! How could they do something like this?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng took a cold glance at him, and said, "At the very least, we haven''t lost to them on numbers. Nurture this cohort of students to the best of your abilities; I''m sure they won''t be this lucky next year."


    Despite Qiangu Dongfeng''s fierce demeanor, Qiangu Zhangting could tell that his grandfather had truly been shaken and was even slightly fearful of Shrek Academy''s five Limit Douluos. In terms of top-grade firepower, the Spirit Pagoda no longer held any advantage.

 Chapter 1640: Deserving and Worthy

    In terms of top-tier power, the current Shrek Academy was superior even to the Shrek Academy of Yun Ming''s generation. Those were five Limit Douluos, and all of them were very likely to be four-word battle armor masters!


    In the face of such an almighty Shrek Academy, they could no longer use a lot of the blatant targeting tactics they had originally planned. Furthermore, they knew that news of what had happened would quickly spread across the entire continent, and that the fact that Shrek Academy possessed five Limit Douluos and a Divine Blacksmith would undoubtedly create massive stirs.


    Throw the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect into the mix, and the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy''s overall power was no longer inferior to what it had been prior to the bombing.


    Unless another godslayer missile could be deployed, there would be no way to bring down the current Shrek Academy. Alternatively, perhaps the Holy Spirit Cult would also be capable of destroying Shrek Academy if it were to re-emerge in full force.


    Under these circumstances, the Spirit Pagoda didn''t even dare to restrict Shrek Academy students from obtaining soul spirits. Otherwise, they would essentially be giving Shrek Academy an excuse to demolish the Spirit Pagoda''s branches.


    After all, Tang Wulin had already destroyed a Spirit Pagoda branch in the Dou Spirit Empire.


    Taking all of this into consideration, it was truly going to be very difficult to target Shrek Academy. The only difference compared to the past was that Shrek Academy would most likely require a very long time to return to its former glory. However, regardless of whether they were willing to admit it or not, Shrek Academy had truly risen once again.


    ......


    "Cheers!"


    In the teacher''s cafeteria of Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin, the five Limit Douluos, all of the members of the Sea God''s Pavilion, all of the academy''s teachers, and the students that had survived the bombing had all raised their wine glasses with excitement in their eyes.


    Enrolment had concluded, and a total of 321 registrants had satisfied Shrek Academy''s basic enrolment criteria, while 117 ultimately managed to pass all of the examinations.


    This was an extremely rare number even in the entire history of Shrek Academy.


    Indeed, Shrek Academy had broadened its enrolment policy slightly, but that was only in terms of numbers, not in terms of the difficulty of the examinations.


    After witnessing the rousing illusions created by the seven old demons, the pass rate had exceeded 30%, which was extraordinarily high. In the past, even a pass rate of 10% had been considered to be quite good.


    These 117 students were Shrek Academy''s first new cohort since its rebuild, and they also formed the basis for Shrek Academy''s resurgence.


    The quality of this batch of students was very high, and there was no lack of prodigies among them.


    In reality, there had never been a shortage of prodigies in this world, and Shrek Academy''s forte lied in its ability to maximize the talent of brilliant prodigies.


    All of the efforts they had expended had finally bore fruit. This cohort of new students was valuable beyond any measure of quantifiable scale, and they were currently all living in the academy''s new boarding area.


    As a safety precaution against potential revenge operations from the Spirit Pagoda, even the super soul array defense system was activated at all times.


    This celebratory banquet wasn''t all that lavish, but everyone was brimming with excitement.


    Just as Qiangu Zhangting had realized, following today''s enrollment, Shrek Academy had finally re-established itself, and it could be said that this was the academy''s first step to success. Even though there was still a very long journey ahead, they had at least taken the first step on that lengthy journey.


    The display of five Limit Douluos told everyone that Shrek Academy was not to be looked down on, and the divine-grade mecha that had been struck out of the sky told everyone that Shrek Academy was not to be encroached upon.


    From now on, anyone who wanted to target Shrek Academy would have to think long and hard about whether they were actually going to be shooting themselves in the foot.


    The main table was very large, and Tang Wulin sat at the main seat with the five Limit Douluos closest to him, followed by the members of the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    Tang Wulin raised his glass and offered toasts of gratitude to everyone present. After making a round through the entire cafeteria, his face had become slightly flushed.


    He turned to Long Yeyue, and said, "Give us a speech, Elder Long."


    In her youthful form, Long Yeyue was truly a stunning beauty, but her eyes were still as jaded as ever.


    "Successful enrolment is only the first step to success, but we''ve taken a very solid step. The establishment of the Seven Saint Paradise is undoubtedly going to be immensely beneficial to our Shrek Academy, and we must continue to work closely with the seven... seniors of the Seven Saint Paradise to better nurture our students, particularly when it comes to educating their characters. Power in the wrong hands can be extremely dangerous, so if we''re producing students with bad character, we''ll be endangering the continent rather than benefitting society.


    "I thank everyone for your hard work, particularly Wulin. Truth be told, all of us hesitated in making the decision to appoint you as the Sea God''s Pavilion Master. You were simply far too young, but under those circumstances at the time, we had no choice. I didn''t even know how much longer I was going to be able to live, so I could only pass down the future of Shrek Academy to the younger generation. I know just how heavy a burden that is, but you didn''t disappoint us. Even though we''ve been constantly assisting, your efforts have been pivotal to reviving the tree of life and taking Shrek Academy to where it is today. As such, there''s something that I must say here, and I''m sure everyone will agree when I say this: you are truly deserving of the title of Sea God''s Pavilion Master!"


    Tang Wulin was trembling slightly as he listened to Elder Long''s address, and tears began to well up in his eyes.


    He knew that he shouldn''t be shedding tears as the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, but he was unable to repress his own emotions.


    These past few years had been so, so hard for him. All of the good days had completely vanished in the wake of the bombing, and he had been forced to shoulder an enormous, crushing responsibility.


    After that, he had witnessed the death of his foster parents, and he had been constantly battling powerful enemies, both out in the open, as well as in the shadows.


    These days had allowed him to make rapid progress, transforming into the vastly renowned Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master from the largely unknown leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters that he had once been.


    He was like the main character of an inspiring legend, but how much pain and suffering had he been forced to endure to reach this point?


    Each and every step that he had taken during these past few years had been accompanied by agony and peril, yet he had gritted his teeth and taken all of those grueling steps one after another.


    He had been maturing just as quickly as his powers had been progressing, but no matter how mature he became, he was still prone to feeling mentally exhausted.


    He had been dedicating everything he had to Shrek Academy''s rebuild, and he had recruited the Yuanen Family, as well as Qilin Douluo Tong Yu. At the same time, he had been engaging in heavenly refinement and contending with elemental tribulation every single day.


    Who could endure the bombardment of elemental lightning every day?


    While this did indeed enhance his powers over time, the excruciating agony of feeling like one''s body was being pulverized on a molecular level had to be experienced to be understood.


    However, he had managed to endure all of this.


    He had become strong enough to face his opponents, but that didn''t mean that he was without weakness.


    Many a night of his was spent in bittersweet reminiscence of the time he had spent with the woman of his dreams.


    In that instant, his hardy facade was finally shattered by Elder Long''s speech, and the emotions came gushing out uncontrollably.


    "I''m sorry!" Tang Wulin stood up and turned around so that his back was facing everyone. He didn''t want everyone to see him in this vulnerable state.


    Yali immediately rose to her feet and gave him a warm embrace. "We know just how much hardship all of you have had to endure, especially you, my child. Your burdens are far too heavy, and they shouldn''t have been loaded onto the shoulders of someone so young, but as a result, you''ve been able to constantly grow and develop."

 Chapter 1641: Concerted Efforts, Eternal Guardianship

    The other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters also had tears swimming in their eyes.


    Ever since the Shrek City bombing, they had become akin to orphaned children, and everything they had done since then was for the joint goal of rebuilding their home. In order to fulfill this wish as quickly as possible, they had been working tirelessly, and now that Shrek Academy had finally re-established itself, they were all overcome with emotion.


    After a long while, Tang Wulin finally managed to collect himself before turning back around. "Thank you, Elder Long, and thank you to everyone else as well. This rebuild is a product of our concerted efforts, and I''m going to dedicate the rest of my life to bettering the academy and protecting its title as the number one academy on the continent. Through our neutral Shrek Academy, I want to put an end to all wars and spread peace to all of the continents."


    Long Yeyue chimed in, "Well said! This is the core purpose behind the existence of Shrek Academy. The academy has been striving toward this dream for over 20,000 years. Technological advancements are constantly destroying the continent''s natural environment, resulting in resource shortages, and the weakening of the ancient Golden Tree. We need to do everything in our power to change all of this so that the Douluo Continent can flourish again. In order to accomplish this, we have to be sufficiently powerful ourselves so we can actually make a substantial change.


    "The destruction of the ancient Golden Tree was a terrifying disaster for the entire continent, but very few people were aware of this. The environment on the Douluo Continent is becoming less and less hospitable, and if humans continue to take and take from the continent without exercising restraint, the destruction of the continent will be the ultimate outcome."


    Tang Wulin nodded in agreement upon hearing this. He had already devised a plan: once Shrek Academy truly re-established itself, his main priority was going to be to revitalize the tree of life so that it could better the continent''s environment as much as possible. The ecosystem on a continent directly contributed to the level of life energy on that continent, and if the ecosystem were constantly being destroyed, the continent would inevitably be headed toward destruction. All of the damage that humans had inflicted upon the planet would be reciprocated upon the human race by the entire plane in the form of disasters.


    As the Son of Nature and the one who was blessed by the plane, Tang Wulin was well aware of this through his understanding of planar laws.


    As such, he had to dedicate all of his efforts to change as much of this as possible.


    Shrek Academy was steadily becoming more and more powerful, and once it established a solid foundation, it had to return to the political sphere. Shrek Academy had once been the leader of the federal government''s neutral faction, and it had to reclaim that position; only then would it be able to exert its influence to alter the current situation.


    In the past, Shrek Academy rarely made any statements in the federal parliament, but now, it was time for Shrek Academy to make its voice heard.


    The banquet lasted deep into the night, and after everyone departed, Tang Wulin returned to his room on the top floor of the main school building.


    His forging workshop and living quarters were all situated here, and he very rarely left this place.


    The slight effects from the alcohol he had ingested during the banquet had already faded. With his current physical condition, his powerful blood essence would be able to easily wipe away the effects of alcohol even if he didn''t actively do anything.


    He quickly entered a state of meditation, and his soul power flowed naturally within his body as faint golden light began to surface on his skin.


    If one were to look closely, they would discover that there were faint patterns within the golden light, and that there was a layer of rainbow light outside of it.


    In that instant, it was as if he had already become one with this entire world and become a part of the plane.


    Not only had he been producing heavenly refined metals through his daily forging, he had also been refining his own body using the elemental tribulations, and he had already reached full mastery of his congenital secret method, as well as combined it as one with his Golden Dragon King bloodline. This allowed him to attain a powerful body that even Limit Douluos couldn''t obtain. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have dared to take Qiangu Dieting''s staff strike head-on.


    That staff strike from Qiangu Dieting had allowed Tang Wulin to experience what extreme explosive power was like.


    He discovered that even though Qiangu Dieting was far inferior to himself when it came to pure strength, he was able to use his own soul power and planar power to destroy planar laws, thereby unleashing extremely fearsome explosive power.


    The operative word here was "explosive"!


    Even without the treatment from the tree of life, Tang Wulin would''ve still been able to recover after some time. After breaking his 14th Golden Dragon King seal, his regenerative abilities had been elevated once again, and this was also why he could engage in heavenly refinement every day without any inhibitions.


    The second soul core in his brain was gradually taking shape, and in contrast with the soul core in his dantian, this one was in the shape of a miniature golden dragon.


    In the beginning, it had been a normal soul core, but as time passed, Tang Wulin was surprised to discover that the soul core had shattered like an egg, and a miniature golden dragon had emerged. Furthermore, it wasn''t a stationary entity. Instead, it was constantly roaming around, and he could sense that it had some type of resonance with his final four Golden Dragon King seals.


    With these two soul cores and his dragon core, Tang Wulin had undergone a fundamental transformation.


    Through the elemental tribulations that he was constantly transcending, he was able to integrate all of his abilities, as well as his three cores.


    During these past few months, Tang Wulin had been working hard to consolidate his newfound powers as a Hyper Douluo.


    Ever since he had become a Titled Douluo, he discovered that his cultivation had become easier than before.


    This was because his body had a higher level of harmony with the entire plane, and the natural energies that normal Titled Douluos would find very difficult to draw upon during their cultivation would naturally come to him for his absorption.


    Furthermore, the rate at which this was happening was becoming faster and faster!


    Was this a good thing? At face value, constant acceleration in one''s rate of cultivation was, of course, a fantastic thing!


    However, following that battle against the demonic plane, Tang Wulin had figured out that acceleration of his rate of cultivation progression would undoubtedly make him more powerful more quickly, but it also posed more of a threat to his remaining Golden Dragon King seals. It was clear that this rate of progress was very abnormal, and it could well be influenced by the soul of the Golden Dragon King that was lurking in the 18th seal.


    That concealed soul of the Golden Dragon King had attempted to crush his will and control him on more than one occasion.


    As such, Tang Wulin had chosen to do something very conservative, which was to actively slow down his own rate of progression.

 Chapter 1642: Academy Opening

    It had been quite some time since he had become a Hyper Douluo, and if he had allowed himself to progress as normal, he would very likely have already reached rank 96 or even 97 in soul power.


    However, he had restricted himself to rank 95 and didn''t allow himself to make easy progress. He was choosing to build a stronger foundation instead. At the same time, he was directing the planar power under his control into the remaining four seals to make them more stable.


    In a sense, planar power was already very similar to godly power. The seals had been constructed from Tang San''s godly power, and as such, he was able to stabilize those seals to a certain extent with planar power.


    All of his soul power that he gained was intentionally compressed by him, then restricted by the Ice God''s heart that Gu Yuena had given him so that he could condense it within his dragon core, thereby preventing it from enhancing his cultivation.


    Aside from stabilizing his Golden Dragon King seals, there was another benefit to doing this, which was that if there ever came a time when he wanted to elevate his own cultivation rank at all costs, he could give himself a massive boost in a very short time.


    He didn''t know exactly how much this condensed soul power would enhance him, but in his own opinion, he felt that this was the right way to go.


    The faint rainbow light gradually brightened to illuminate the entire room. These were the purest of elements drawn to him by planar power, and they were baptizing his entire body.


    The elemental energy gradually became more and more viscous, and soon, it was revolving around him like a substantial object...


    The next morning.


    "Bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong!" Nine melodious tolls of a bell rang out within Shrek Academy, and the sound was audible around the entire Sea God''s Lake.


    This was the sound for assembly, and in the tradition of Shrek Academy, only when all teachers and students were required to assemble would there be nine bell chimes, indicating that there was something very important to be announced.


    On this day, the nine tolls of the bell signified the imminent commencement of the academy''s opening ceremony.


    All 117 students of the outer court were quickly brought to the spacious plaza of the academy by their respective homeroom teachers.


    Compared to the assembly of all six year levels during Shrek Academy''s heyday, this wasn''t anything remarkable. In fact, the 117 students left the spacious plaza looking rather empty.


    However, this heralded a new beginning for Shrek Academy; a new journey to glory!


    Directly in front of the plaza was a wide platform, at the very center of which stood Tang Wulin, the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Outer Court Principal Wu Zhangkong, and the other teachers of the outer court.


    Tang Wulin was very pleased with the fervent looks he could see in the eyes of all of the students.


    He had actually been the first person to experience the illusion created in the Seven Saint Paradise, and despite how busy he was, he still watched it five times.


    In the illusion, he saw his parents in their youth, and on the first time, he had even burst into tears.


    In that instant, all of the discontent he had harbored toward the seven old demons completely vanished.


    His father was still so ordinary-looking at the time, while his mother was as beautiful as ever, and those images had left him with a series of beautiful memories. He wanted to keep reliving that illusion over and over again, but he simply had too many things that he had to do.


    All of these new students had undoubtedly all experienced those memories as well, and through them, they had witnessed the rise and tradition of Shrek Academy.


    Regardless of how wealthy the Spirit Pagoda became, it was founded 10,000 years too late, and it didn''t have the seniors that Shrek Academy did, who had made significant contributions to the entire continent.


    The crown jewel of Shrek Academy was the first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, who had essentially saved the entire Soul Master world. Otherwise, if the Soul Hall had succeeded in its goal of world domination, no one knew what the continent would be like today.


    The founders of the Tang Sect and the first generation of Shrek Seven Monsters were all legendary heroes, and these children in their early teens were easiest to inspire with such legendary tales.


    All of them were complete blank slates, and it was up to Shrek Academy to inscribe its teachings upon those blank slates. The illusion presented to them by the Seven Saint Paradise was a lesson in ideology and moral character, and it had worked far better than expected.


    The 117 students had been split up into four classes, with 29 each in three classes, while the final class had 30 students.


    The four homeroom teachers were people Tang Wulin was very familiar with: they were Luo Guixing, Wu Siduo, Xu Yucheng, and Yang Nianxia.


    Aside from Zheng Yiran, who was currently dedicating herself solely to researching toxins, the other four had all been instated as homeroom teachers.


    At this moment, they were standing at the front of their respective classes, looking up at Tang Wulin and everyone else.


    A reminiscent look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes at the sight of all of these students.


    Over a decade ago, he had been in the same position as these children, filled with fervent yearning for the new school term to begin so that he could become a student of Shrek Academy. Now, he was standing on the platform and had become the leader of Shrek Academy.


    "Hello everyone, I am Wu Zhangkong, the outer court principal of Shrek Academy," Wu Zhangkong said, "From this day forth, all of you are students of Shrek Academy. Perhaps you''ve heard that our academy was attacked a few years ago, and even to this day, we still haven''t recovered from the grief inflicted upon us by that disaster. However, all of you should be even more aware of Shrek Academy''s tradition as the number one academy on the continent. The rebuilt Shrek Academy is no different from Shrek Academy of the past; we still have very strict requirements, if you can''t fulfill those requirements, then you''ll be asked to leave. Shrek Academy only nurtures monsters, not ordinary people, and your mission is to make sure that you always remain a monster."


    Wu Zhangkong''s expression was still very cold, just as it had been over 10 years ago. However, Tang Wulin was struck by the urge to laugh as this was the first time he had heard Wu Zhangkong say so much in one go.


    The cold and forbidding Teacher Wu had become the authoritative Principal Wu, but the one thing that remained the same was that he was still Tang Wulin''s idol.


    After delivering his address, Wu Zhangkong passed the figurative microphone to Tang Wulin. "Next, please welcome the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Dragon Emperor Douluo Tang Wulin, to deliver his address."


    Wu Zhangkong took a step back, while Tang Wulin stepped forward, and he looked down at the excited children below the stage as he said, "Martial souls are blessings bestowed upon us by the Douluo Continent, and there are countless types. Even ordinary people can benefit from martial souls. If your martial soul is a hoe, you''ll be a better farmer than others; if your martial soul is an ax, you''ll be a better lumberjack than others. However, all of us are especially blessed as we possess both martial souls and soul power, thereby allowing us to become Soul Masters."

 Chapter 1643: Long Live Shrek Academy

    "This is something that we must cherish; we must cherish ourselves and our own powers. There is a type of Soul Master known as an Evil Soul Master. Are their powers evil? No, it is their hearts that are evil instead. Hence, aside from cultivation education, you''ll also be educated morally here at Shrek Academy. Academies aren''t just institutions of education; they''re also institutions of nurturing. Shrek Academy will do its very best to ensure that all of you become just and righteous Soul Masters.


    "Over 10 years ago, I came to Shrek Academy with all my dreams and aspirations, just like all of you. Here, I found my second home, and I received the best guidance. However, what taught me the most important lesson was actually that bombing. That disaster destroyed the entire Shrek City and took countless lives. The Tang Sect headquarters ceased to exist, and Shrek Academy became a massive crater, which is now the new Sea God''s Lake. However, not even a single student of Shrek Academy perished during the explosion.


    "All of the teachers, led by the last Sea God''s Pavilion Master, Senior Atlas Douluo, sacrificed themselves to grant all of the students an opportunity to survive. Only several years after the event, when I was reunited with everyone, was I made aware of all this; only then did I come to understand that all of our teachers had paid the ultimate price for our sake. That was a lesson that I would never forget, and the seniors of Shrek Academy have ingrained the glory of Shrek Academy into everyone''s hearts through their sacrifices.


    "They taught me to fight for justice; they taught me what it entailed to be a member of Shrek Academy. All of the teachers present, including myself, will carry on this tradition; we''ll use everything we have to protect all of you and the academy until our final dying breaths. Shrek Academy is a Soul Master academy, but that''s definitely not all that it is. The name of Shrek is a glorious title that has been guarded by countless seniors throughout history. The glory of Shrek Academy is unshakeable."


    Tang Wulin paused momentarily here before continuing, "Regardless of which direction you decide to go in the future, always remember that you came from Shrek Academy. If you stray away from the path of righteousness someday, then Shrek Academy will take back everything that it gave to you. Similarly, if you''re ever bullied or oppressed and are in the right, Shrek Academy will welcome your return with open arms at any time. The academy is your parent; anyone who dares to oppress the children of the academy will face the academy''s wrath! This is another part of Shrek Academy''s tradition: the academy will always cover up for its children!"


    Even Wu Zhangkong couldn''t help but display a hint of amusement upon hearing Tang Wulin''s final sentence.


    All of a sudden, one of the students yelled, "Long live Shrek Academy!"


    The cry was contagious, and soon, the entire cohort was chanting the same words with excitement in their eyes.


    Through his exceptional aptitude, Yi Zichen had successfully become a student of Shrek Academy, and in this moment, he felt as if his blood were boiling in his veins. He was waving his arms with all his might and chanting alongside the rest of the students at the top of his lungs.


    "Long live Shrek Academy! Long live Shrek Academy!"


    He had been selected into the first class, which was Luo Guixing''s class. During the selection process, the four homeroom teachers had employed a very fair method, which was that each person would choose a student in sequential order based on their examination marks, and the process would be repeated until all of the students had been chosen. Thus, the classes would theoretically be relatively equal in power, and there wouldn''t be any particular standout.


    Luo Guixing, Wu Siduo, Xu Yucheng, and Yang Nianxia were all very astute when it came to their selections.


    Luo Guixing was once the main control system Soul Master of their group, and the first person he had chosen was Yi Zichen, who had also been assigned the task of class captain.


    He was very fond of the enormous control system potential and versatility of Yi Zichen''s martial soul, and the fact that Yi Zichen was already close to a Soul Elder only served to improve Luo Guixing''s evaluation of him. Even in the history of Shrek Academy, there weren''t many students who could reach rank 29 soul power at just 12 years of age.


    The cultivation rank that a Soul Master reached before turning 20 years of age was very important. If a Soul Master couldn''t cross the Soul Elder rank before turning 20, then there was virtually no chance that they would be able to reach the Soul Sage level in the future.


    As such, the greater the potential one displayed at a young age, the higher their ceiling would theoretically be.


    Luo Guixing, Xu Yucheng, Yang Nianxia, Wu Siduo, and Zheng Yiran had all been exceptional young prodigies themselves, so they were even more aware of this fact. Thus, Luo Guixing had very high hopes for Yi Zichen.


    The opening ceremony was very simple; after some ground rules were set, the homeroom teachers took the students back to their classrooms to teach them their first lessons.


    According to the tradition of Shrek Academy, the first lesson was comprised primarily of an introduction of Shrek Academy, as well as some things that students had to take note of during their studies and cultivation.


    With this first cohort of new students, the academy had taken its first step on the path to resurgence, and everything became peaceful again.


    The Spirit Pagoda was also keeping a very low profile, and at the very least, they didn''t appear to be plotting against Shrek Academy in any way.


    The Tang Sect had already issued an application to the federal government to be vindicated as a treasonous organization. This application had been issued three days after Shrek Academy''s enrollment day.


    Everyone was well aware of the relationship between the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. After all, the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master were the same person, and the two super organizations had a total of seven Limit Douluos between them, so the government had to take this application seriously.


    The Tang Sect had already been oppressed for far too long; now that Shrek Academy was on the path to resurgence, it was time for the Tang Sect to emerge from exile as well.


    On the topic of the Tang Sect''s vindication, a fierce debate erupted within the federal parliament. The Dove Faction was naturally in full approval, and even the majority of the neutral faction had chosen to take their side. If it weren''t for the fact that the Eagle Faction had grown dramatically during this recent period of time, it would''ve already been overwhelmed.


    However, something completely unexpected to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy was about to happen.


    ......


    Tang Wulin emerged from his forging workshop and performed some stretches. The feeling of numbness from being struck by elemental lightning was truly far from enjoyable, and what was quite exasperating to him was that as his physical tolerance had improved, the elemental tribulations befalling him had also become more fearsome.


    He reflexively picked up his soul communicator to find that there were a few missed calls, one of which came as quite a surprise to him.


    Due to just how fearsome the elemental tribulations were, Tang Wulin didn''t even wear clothes during his heavenly refinement now in order to prevent unnecessary waste, so he naturally wasn''t going to carry his soul communicator with him.


    He dialed the number and patiently waited for the call to be connected.


    Moments later, the call was picked up, and a captivating voice rang out from the other end. "Wulin?"

 Chapter 1644: Sudden Mounting Pressure

    "It''s me, Big Sister. I can see that I have quite a few missed calls from you; what happened?"


    The person Tang Wulin was currently speaking to was none other than Mo Lan, who had already become the leader of the Dove Faction.


    Due to her past experiences and the political background of her late father, she had received the Dove Faction''s full support and was deeply loved by all Dove Faction supporters.


    Mo Lan replied in a grim voice, "I have something very important that I need to speak to you about."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this. It had been a very long time since he had heard Mo Lan speaking in such a solemn tone. "What''s going on?"


    Mo Lan explained, "The application issued by your Tang Sect has sparked a huge debate in parliament. Of course, our Dove Faction was in full support. The Tang Sect has done so much for the continent and the federation, so it still has many supporters, and with the reconstruction of Shrek Academy, even the neutral faction is beginning to sway toward us; this is the good news. However, as you know, the Eagle Faction has expanded rapidly in the wake of the Shrek City bombing, and they still hold the vast majority of parliamentary seats.


    "In contrast, our power is still too lackluster. However, due to your recent display of power, even the Eagle Faction is very reluctant to stand against the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so the application should''ve been approved without a hitch. However..."


    Mo Lan paused here for a moment before a hint of fury crept into her voice as she continued, "The Spirit Pagoda is determined to cause trouble. They suggest that the Tang Sect should prove itself before it should be vindicated. Their proposal is to start a second war against the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire, and the Tang Sect must participate and provide its support to prove that it''s not a treasonous organization. This proposal has received the support of virtually the entire Eagle Faction, and it''s placed us in a very passive position."


    "They want to start a second war?" Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    Mo Lan replied, "That''s right. Of course, we vehemently opposed this proposal, but to minimal effect. Currently, the federation does indeed have a massive resource shortage, especially when it comes to research resources. Hence, even in the neutral faction, there are many supporters of a second war. The theory behind the Eagle Faction''s proposal is that the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire aren''t advanced enough to make full use of their resources, and that their resources will only be fully capitalized on in the federation''s hands. On top of that, they state that long-term peace can only be achieved when all three continents are united under the federation''s banner."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. Never did he think that the federation would be considering a second war this soon.


    "The Spirit Pagoda is the mastermind in the shadows, right?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Mo Lan chuckled coldly in response, "They are indeed the masterminds, but not in the shadows this time; they''ve already declared that they''re going to provide half of the expenses required to instigate this war."


    "What?" Tang Wulin was astonished to hear this.


    One had to realize that the expenses required to start a war definitely amounted to an astronomical sum. By offering to provide half of the expenses, the Spirit Pagoda was essentially bribing the entire military!


    Mo Lan continued, "The Spirit Pagoda''s goal is actually very simple; with the power that you''ve displayed, if the Tang Sect were to be vindicated, the power balance on the continent would quickly return to what it had been before the Shrek City bombing. When that time comes, their power will be significantly diminished, and they may even have to relinquish control over the Eagle Faction. Hence, they''re proposing to start this war to plunder resources from the other two continents, as well as to drag the Tang Sect down with them.


    "If the war is won, then the Spirit Pagoda will naturally be held in even higher regard. The Spirit Pagoda is already being heavily oppressed in the Dou Spirit Empire, and the situation isn''t as bad in the Star Luo Empire, but the Spirit Pagoda is still facing immense pressure there. In contrast, the Tang Sect is like a fish in water in those two empires. If the war really can result in the destruction of those two empires, then the Spirit Pagoda would undoubtedly be the greatest beneficiary. In comparison, covering half of the war expenses would be entirely worth it. At the same time, the Spirit Pagoda can also increase its influence through this war."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "So they''re still unwilling to give up. Do you have any suggestions, Big Sister?"


    Mo Lan replied with a wry smile, "I''m afraid not, but if the war were to go ahead, then not only would our influence be further diminished, the other two continents would be reduced to hell on earth! The parliamentary members of the Spirit Pagoda even proposed that the final godslayer missile should be brought out to intimidate the two empires into surrender."


    "They''re going to bring out the final godslayer missile?" Tang Wulin''s voice immediately spiked up a few octaves. To this very day, the doomsday-like scene from the godslayer missile explosions still remained fresh in his mind. Even hearing the name made his skin crawl; humans simply couldn''t contend with the power of those things!


    Mo Lan said, "That''s the situation. Our Dove Faction will do its best to prevent or at least delay this war, but you have to help us as well. We have to work together to foil this plan somehow."


    "I understand. Thank you for your timely notification, Big Sister."


    After ending the call, Tang Wulin took a shower to refresh himself and calm his own tumultuous emotions, then changed into a set of new clothes before immediately paying Long Yeyue and Yali a visit.


    This was a very important matter, and the fact that the federation was trying to recruit the Tang Sect behind this cause was very troublesome.


    This was something that they had to discuss with the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect. With the failure from last time, the federation most likely wouldn''t retreat so easily if another war were to be instigated.


    Shrek Academy was currently only just getting back onto the right track, and all of its powerful beings had to stay to ward off other powers that were potentially plotting against the academy, such as the Spirit Pagoda.


    They were naturally also aware that the new Shrek Academy was still in a very early stage of its development, and if it were to send powerful beings to prevent this war, then the Spirit Pagoda would immediately exert pressure upon the academy.


    The key was the final godslayer missile.


    Two of them had gone missing in the past; who was to say that the third one wouldn''t also go missing once it left its secret warehouse?


    The worst situation would be if the missile ended up in the hands of the Holy Spirit Cult or the Spirit Pagoda.


    "Elder Long, should we organize a Sea God''s Pavilion meeting to discuss this matter?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Long Yeyue shook her head in response. "It would be best to keep this a secret as much as possible for now. Instead, let''s ask Old Demon Greed for his advice."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. The seven old demons had far different thought processes from normal people, so there was a very good chance that they would be able to come up with some good ideas.


    There was a connection point between the Seven Saint Paradise and the Sea God''s Pavilion, just like the entrance to the Myriad Beast Plane, so it didn''t take long for Old Demon Greed to arrive.


    "What''s going on, Little Yueyue?" Old Demon Greed sat down right in front of Long Yeyue following his arrival.


    The Seven Saint Paradise was already "open for business", and it was still nurturing the former inner court disciples of Shrek Academy. Due to how close the Seven Saint Paradise was and the fact that it was an independent small plane, the seven old demons were able to train more disciples at a time, thereby inflicting trauma at a far faster rate than before.


    Long Yeyue''s expression immediately darkened slightly upon hearing the pet name "Little Yueyue", and she scoffed, "Can''t you be a bit more normal?"


    Old Demon Greed chuckled, "How can I be normal when I don''t even have a body? Besides, our Shrek Academy trains only monsters; who needs normal people? Hurry up and tell me what''s going on; I was just having the time of my life before you called me here."


    Tang Wulin''s heart spasmed upon hearing this, and he internally observed a moment of silence for the inner court disciples that were currently providing the seven old demons with their source of entertainment. Ever since the seven old demons had returned, they had become a lot more excited and enthusiastic than they had been on the demonic island, much to the detriment of their victims, whom the old demons had prepared a vast array of new torture methods for.


    "This is the situation, Senior Greed..." Thus, Tang Wulin gave him a recount of what Mo Lan had said.

 Chapter 1645: Steal It!

    "They''re going to use the godslayer missile?" A grim look appeared on Old Demon Greed''s face upon hearing this. Two godslayer missiles had laid waste to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, as well as the entirety of Shrek City, killing countless people in the process.


    Tang Wulin had made a call to the Tang Sect''s research department to inquire about this final godslayer missile, and he had been informed that this godslayer missile was the most formidable of the three. Its name was "Eternal Heaven", and according to the estimates provided by the Tang Sect researchers, this godslayer missile was at least as powerful as the other two godslayer missiles combined, and it was the federation''s most fearsome secret weapon.


    Anything within the explosion scope of Eternal Heaven would be razed to the ground; even gods may not be able to survive its explosion.


    This was the crown jewel of human technology thus far, and it was also the extreme embodiment of destructive power. Even once the Tang Sect''s super soul array system was complete, there was no way that it would be able to withstand Eternal Heaven''s explosion; it would only be able to buy everyone a sliver of time.


    Thankfully, only one soul missile of its kind remained on the entire continent, and the remaining resources didn''t allow for any more to be created. Even so, a single missile was a devastating threat that could fall at any moment.


    Old Demon Greed suddenly raised an eyebrow before slamming a hand onto the table, giving Tang Wulin quite a fright.


    "What are you doing?" Long Yeyue complained.


    There seemed to be flames burning within Old Demon Greed''s eyes as he gulped in an excited manner, and said, "Steal it! Get that thing into our hands! That missile is the main threat, right? Everything will be fine once we get our hands on it. Even if we just keep it as an ornament, it would be better than leaving the missile to those bastards!"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. As expected of Old Demon Greed, he was always able to think outside the box!


    Indeed, if they could get their hands on Eternal Heaven, then all of their problems would be automatically resolved.


    Without that godslayer missile, neither the Eagle Faction nor the Spirit Pagoda will be able to threaten Shrek Academy, and with five Limit Douluos in the academy, it may not even have to fear an attack from the entire Holy Spirit Cult. They couldn''t just blatantly attack the Spirit Pagoda, but even so, five Limit Douluos could do many, many things.


    At the same time, without the godslayer missile, the amount of pressure that the federal army would be able to exert upon the other two empires would be greatly diminished.


    If they could get their hands onto the missile, they wouldn''t even have to hide it as it would have an immense intimidatory effect.


    The people that were responsible for the destruction of Shrek Academy would have to consider whether Shrek Academy would drop a godslayer missile onto their heads as well. With that thing in their grasp, even the federal parliament would have to hold Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect in far higher regard.


    At that point, the federation would be completely unable to start a war or threaten the Tang Sect.


    The federation was indeed suffering from resource shortages, but plundering resources wasn''t the only solution! The Tang Sect had constantly been securing resources from the other two empires through trade. Most of the time, war wasn''t the answer. Sure, it was the most direct and fastest solution with potentially the greatest rewards, but trade was just as viable over the long term without all of the devastating consequences of war, so why couldn''t this be resolved peacefully?


    The Dove Faction had always been promoting trade between the three continents. Once the Eagle Faction''s influence began to wane, this proposal would be back on the agenda.


    Thus, Tang Wulin quickly weighed up the situation, then turned to Elder Long, and said, "I think this is a good idea. What do you think, Elder Long?"


    Long Yeyue''s brows were tightly furrowed as she replied, "Securing the godslayer missile would naturally be able to solve all of our problems, but the federation has always kept Eternal Heaven under maximum security, and it would be protected by all of the most powerful beings of the Battle God Hall; perhaps even the Spirit Pagoda would send people to bolster those forces. In addition to that, there''s also some cutting-edge technology from the federation being used, so it''s next to impossible to access it.


    "On top of that, we can''t make this operation too blatant. Following our clash against the Spirit Pagoda, all five of our Limit Douluos are definitely under secret satellite surveillance from the federation. As soon as any of us leaves the academy, we run the risk of being discovered. We can''t employ the services of the two Tang Sect Limit Douluos, either. If we''re going to do this, then we have to leave the Tang Sect entirely out of this."


    Indeed, Long Yeyue was right. This sounded like a simple matter, but was actually extremely difficult in execution. Firstly, they had to find out where the godslayer missile was, and after that, they still had to contend with all of the measures that had been employed to guard the missile.


    Taking the missile was certainly the most straightforward solution, but it seemed to be a virtually impossible task.


    "Senior Greed, do you have any ideas?"


    Old Demon Greed rolled his eyes in response. "My training was wasted on you! Wulin has been the most outstanding trainee of ours for many years; he excelled in all aspects like no one has for a very long time. Now, think about what we teach; it''s infiltration, sabotage, assassination, and other all-round skills, so just let him go and give it a try."


    Long Yeyue''s heart stirred upon hearing this, and she cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin. It suddenly occurred to her that this would be a dangerous task for anyone else, but Tang Wulin could return to Shrek Academy at any time through his connection with the tree of life.


    With this advantage, there was no need to be concerned about his safety as he could always return even if he couldn''t succeed.


    Tang Wulin nodded without any hesitation. "Our Shrek''s Seven Monsters will all go, and we''ll take someone from the Tang Sect familiar with this type of destructive weapon. From now on, we need to gather all of the relevant data that we possibly can in preparation for this operation."


    Long Yeyue replied, "I agree. What do you think, Yali?"


    Yali hesitated momentarily before asking, "Isn''t it too dangerous?"


    Tang Wulin reassured, "Don''t worry, Mother, I''ll at least be able to return safely, and as long as I get to see the godslayer missile, I should be able to bring it back. What we need right now is information. I''ll pay the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect a visit right away to discuss this matter with them as well, not only to get their opinion on the matter, but also to use their power and resources to track down Eternal Heaven."


    Long Yeyue concluded, "Then it''s decided. Make sure to be careful."


    Upon returning to his room, Tang Wulin was still feeling very excited. Instead of being in a rush to set off, he organized his own thoughts first.


    Stealing Eternal Heaven definitely wasn''t going to be an easy task. They could think of such a solution, so the military had definitely considered it as well. Both the military and the Spirit Pagoda would be guarding against a potential heist. After all, the other two godslayer missiles had gone missing under extremely suspicious circumstances, so this final and most powerful missile was definitely going to be guarded to an unprecedented extent.

 Chapter 1646: Technical Support

    There was virtually no chance of stealing the missle directly from the warehouse. Limit Douluos were still the most powerful beings in this world, but with the advancement of technology, there were already many weapons that could target Limit Douluos, such as the heavy ion laser of the Blood God Legion.


    That weapon directly targeted one''s internal structure, and unless it was someone like Tang Wulin, who had cultivated even his internal organs, one could easily be severely injured, as evidenced by that Great Beast Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear.


    Seeing as they couldn''t directly infiltrate the warehouse, then there was only one other possibility. The federation was going to use Eternal Heaven to intimidate the other two empires, so prior to the commencement of the second war, it was definitely going to be transported to the united fleet, and that could well be the only opportunity to strike.


    The most important thing now was information. He required information about who and what were guarding the missile, when it was going to be transported, and what route it was going to take during its transportation. At the very least, they needed a rough range of time and area so they could focus their power.


    With that in mind, he immediately set off to Heaven Dou City, where the two Tang Sect Limit Doulous were.


    Tang Wulin was in disguise and set off on his own. With his immense powers, it only took him around an hour to reach Heaven Dou City.


    "You want to steal Eternal Heaven? That''s not going to be an easy task," Cao Dezhi said with his brows tightly furrowed in a contemplative manner. He was once one of the highest ranking military officials, so he was well aware of the military''s power.


    "That''s a very good idea, Wulin; if we can obtain Eternal Heaven, then all of our issues will be resolved. I didn''t think that they would stoop as low as to try and force us to participate in this war. Considering how important Eternal Heaven is, there will be at least an accompanying legion during its transportation. Do you know what that entails?" Cao Dezhi asked.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "It entails that all of the powers in the military will be protecting it."


    "That''s right," Cao Dezhi nodded, and said, "On top of that, this legion wouldn''t just include firepower; there will be a whole host of assisting personnel as well. The legion protecting Eternal Heaven is definitely going to be the most elite and most technologically advanced one, so they''ll all be armed to the teeth and have all types of surveillance equipment, including the ability to draw upon satellite surveillance. Any infiltration attempt will be detected, which means that you''ll face the firepower of an entire federal legion even before you get close to Eternal Heaven."


    Tang Wulin was naturally aware of what this surveillance entailed. There were going to be all types of surveillance devices in use, and regardless of how exceptional his disguise abilities were, it definitely wouldn''t be an easy task to infiltrate the legion.


    Zang Xin continued, "As such, it''s going to be extremely difficult to steal Eternal Heaven. There''s no way to determine just how difficult it''s going to be; all I can say is that your chances of success will be very low."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I understand that, but I still want to give it a try. I''ll be the spearhead of this operation as I have a way to get away even if I don''t succeed, and I''ll ensure that my cover isn''t blown, so the risks will be minimal."


    Cao Dezhi replied, "That is indeed a viable direction. If we can obtain Eternal Heaven, then the tables will be completely turned. We won''t directly use it like they will, but with this major threat up our sleeve, everything will become a lot easier for us. Don''t worry about the Tang Sect; this is an opportunity for us. We''ll agree to participate in this war and donate a sum of money for this cause to lure those people into complacency. In doing so, we''ll also be able to obtain more information that I can pass on to you."


    Tang Wulin said, "I also require the assistance of the Tang Sect''s research and development department. I don''t know anywhere near enough about godslayer missiles, so I''ll need someone with the know-how to ensure that the missile can be transported back safely. Do you have any recommendations?"


    Cao Dezhi replied, "That''s not an issue. We can''t make a godslayer missile, but we''ve done a lot of research into this area. I''ll get the head of research of our Radiant Tang Sect Soul Missile Research Institute to accompany, but do be aware that her personality is quite eccentric, so have patience with her."


    Tang Wulin replied with a smile, "It''s alright, all exceptionally skilled individuals are unique in their own ways."


    There was no way that her personality would be worse than that of the seven old demons, so Tang Wulin wasn''t concerned.


    "Alright, go back and make some preparations. I''ll get our Tang Sect''s intelligence department to gather as much information about Eternal Heaven as they can, and the information will be sent to you in real time."


    Thus, Tang Wulin returned to Shrek Academy.


    Shrek Academy was still as peaceful as ever, and even the entire continent was very peaceful, but this was only the calm before another storm.


    Tang Wulin didn''t receive any more information from Mo Lan, so he knew that everything she had said was most likely going to turn into reality. When he attempted to call Mo Lan, her soul communicator was turned off.


    When making some important decisions, strict confidentiality had to be ensured in the federal parliament, so all parliamentary members involved had to hand in their communication devices.


    It seemed that the Dove Faction was still unable to quell the Eagle Faction in the end, and the Eagle Faction was going to maintain its absolute advantage in parliament through this war.


    After all, as long as the people of the Douluo Continent continued to support them, the Eagle Faction would continue to thrive, and once they brought back bountiful resources from the other two continents, their influence and status would be even further elevated.


    There were peace advocates among the general public, but most people didn''t see an issue with a war that wouldn''t take place on the continent.


    Humans had been striving toward space exploration for many years, and with sufficient resources, this dream would become a reality.


    The Tang Sect was beginning to gather information on Eternal Heaven, and it was quickly being collated.


    The storage location of Eternal Heaven was top secret information, so there was no way to find it. Just as Tang Wulin had anticipated, their only opportunity would arise during the missile''s transportation.


    The Tang Sect had already received an invitation from the federation asking the Tang Sect Master and the two Limit Douluos to attend a conference. Tang Wulin naturally couldn''t go, but the two Limit Douluos were already heading toward Bright City.


    There were also sources that stated that the Northsea Legion had begun a new round of exercises, and that the Sea God Legion was currently mobilizing toward Bright City.


    This was extremely precious information to Tang Wulin as it clearly indicated that the Sea God Legion was very likely responsible for transporting Eternal Heaven.


    The Sea God Legion was under Chen Xinjie''s direct jurisdiction, and he had been the commander-in-chief during the last invasion; it seemed that he would be assigned the same role on this occasion as well. Regardless of whether it was in terms of power or influence, Chen Xinjie was the leading figure in the military.


    The most elite legion in the federal military was the Blood God Legion. However, the Blood God Legion had to constantly guard the abyssal passageway, and Cao Dezhi was once the first Blood God, so he definitely still had a high level of influence over the legion. As such, there was no way that the federation would entrust the Blood God Legion with the duty of transporting Eternal Heaven.


    Thus, it seemed that the Sea God Legion would be the one most fit for the role.


    The Sea God Legion was extremely powerful and was equipped with the federation''s most cutting-edge technology. Furthermore, with Chen Xinjie at the helm, it would truly be next to impossible to steal Eternal Heaven.


    As such, despite all of the information that Tang Wulin had received, he still couldn''t think of a plan.


    All he could do now was wait for more information. He was still cultivating and forging as usual every day, but on top of that, he was also rehearsing the skills taught to him by the seven old demons with the rest of Shrek''s Seven Monsters.

 Chapter 1647: Ling Zichen

    "Pavilion Master, someone from the Tang Sect has come to see you," a clean-shaven young man reported in a respectful manner.


    As the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, he now had an assistant to take care of miscellaneous matters for him. This assistant, Li Ning, had been chosen from the past inner court disciples, and he wasn''t all that powerful, but he was very smart and had great attention to detail.


    "Alright, invite them to the guest hall; I''ll be there right away."


    "Pavilion Master, the visitor is a woman, and she doesn''t seem easy to get along with," Li Ning cautioned.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. Could it be that this was the head of research with the eccentric personality that Cao Dezhi had been talking about?


    "Let''s go."


    Thus, Tang Wulin was led to the guest hall by Li Ning, where he was greeted by the sight of a woman looking out the window with her hands clasped behind her back.


    Her attire was very simple, comprised of a black pencil skirt, a professional black blazer, and a plain white blouse. Her long black hair was arranged into a bun with a wooden hairpin stuck through it, but what was far from ordinary was her figure.


    Her waist was very slender, but her backside was almost comically round, almost rotund. In conjunction with her long legs, she was the very definition of the word "thicc".  [1]


    Furthermore, due to how exaggerated the curves of her backside were, it was often the first place that one''s gaze naturally drifted toward.


    The woman seemed to have heard the approaching footsteps, and she immediately turned around. "Don''t look at my butt!"


    Her appearance was certainly nowhere near Gu Yuena''s level, but her eyes were very large, and she had healthy-looking tanned skin. There were slight freckles on her face, and she was giving off an unruly disposition. However, she was wearing a set of black square-frame glasses, creating the image of a professional that completely contrasted with her unruly energy.


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather awkward as he did indeed reflexively look at her butt. Unless one was blind or mentally prepared, it would be very difficult to avoid reflexively looking at that region.


    "Hi there, my name is Tang Wulin."


    "You''re the new sect master?" The woman strode over to him and sized him up without any inhibitions. She appeared to only be around 25 to 26 years of age, but her aura and the look in her eyes indicated that she was older than her appearance suggested.


    Tang Wulin could clearly sense that her blood essence was very abundant, far more so than the average person, but strangely enough, she wasn''t giving off any soul power fluctuations at all. Tang Wulin''s spiritual power was at the mental manifestation level, so it was virtually impossible for one to hide their soul power in his presence, which meant that there was a very good chance that this woman was just an ordinary person.


    "May I ask your name?" Tang Wulin asked in a calm manner.


    The woman replied, "My name is Ling Zichen, and I come from the Tang Sect''s soul missile research center; you can call me Head Researcher Ling."


    Tang Wulin wasn''t surprised to hear this answer, and he offered his hand to Ling Zichen. "Welcome to Shrek Academy, Head Researcher Ling."


    However, Ling Zichen had no intention of shaking his hand. Instead, she stared intently into Tang Wulin''s eyes, and said, "I''m very displeased by the fact that I was sent here without any explanation. You may be the Tang Sect Master, but do you know how important my research is? Pausing my research is the same as pausing my train of thought and ideas; who knows how long it''ll take me to get back on the right track again? Our research involves 110 scientists, and it''s been ongoing for three years. As the head researcher, my departure will severely impact the progress of our research, so you owe me an explanation."


    In the face of this feisty character, Tang Wulin could only offer a fawning smile. Setting everything aside, her status as head researcher indicated that at the very least, she was the leading scientist in the Tang Sect when it came to soul missile research. Even the two Limit Douluos would most likely have to be very tolerant toward her, let alone him.


    "My sincerest apologies, Head Researcher Ling; I was unaware that you were conducting research. I only invited you here as I have something very important that I require your assistance with."


    Ling Zichen pursed her lips in response. "I can''t figure out for the life of me why you were made the new sect master; you don''t even have a temper! Why do you feel the need to be so good-looking as a man? What are you, some type of sissy?"


    Tang Wulin''s expression immediately darkened slightly upon hearing this. Why was this woman suddenly turning to personal attacks?


    "Alright, hurry up and spit it out. I still have things I need to do after I finish up here. I''ll give you half a day, no, three hours; I don''t think there are any issues you can pose that I can''t resolve within three hours." Ling Zichen was speaking at an extremely fast clip, like a verbal machine gun.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m afraid that this really isn''t something you can resolve within three hours. In order to ensure confidentiality, we couldn''t tell you why we invited you here in advance. I can reveal to you now that we''re going to be undertaking a secret operation that requires your assistance."


    Tang Wulin raised a hand as he spoke, and a warped barrier of light instantly enveloped both of them. Within a spiritual barrier of this caliber, even Limit Douluos and the most advanced technology wouldn''t be able to eavesdrop on their conversation.


    "Go on then." Ling Zichen displayed no interest in the warped light barrier; it was clearly not the first time she had seen it.


    Tang Wulin said, "We''re going to steal Eternal Heaven. As the leading soul missile researcher..."


    Before he had a chance to finish, Ling Zichen suddenly rushed toward him, then grabbed onto the front of his shirt before tugging him toward her.


    Of course, there was no way that she would be able to move Tang Wulin with her strength, so instead of achieving the desired effect, a massive gash was torn into Tang Wulin''s clothes, revealing his solid pectoral muscles.


    However, Ling Zichen had no interest in admiring his physique. Instead, her eyes were wide with excitement as she said, "What did you say? Say that again!"


    Tang Wulin was given quite a fright by her, and he almost reflexively slapped her away. Thankfully, he was able to catch himself before he did that. Otherwise, this Head Researcher Ling would''ve most likely already ceased to exist by now.


    "I said we''re going to steal Eternal Heaven. Looks like you already know about it," Tang Wulin said.


    "Of course I do!" Ling Zichen was practically yelling with excitement, "I''m so glad someone is finally willing to do this! I would''ve stolen that thing a long time ago if I could. You''ve found the right person; no one is more familiar with Eternal Heaven than I am."


    "As I was saying, I don''t think this is something that can be resolved within three hours, so..."


    Ling Zichen replied without any hesitation, "I''m not going anywhere even if you try to chase me away now."


    She then poked a finger onto Tang Wulin''s chest, and said, "You''re looking more like a man to me now!"


    [1] [Author actually used the word "sexy" here, but there''s no apt Chinese translation for thicc, seeing as it''s kinda slang, and I felt it to be more appropriate. If you beg to differ, make a comment down below, and if there''s enough people who prefer "sexy" instead, then it shall be amended as such.]

 Chapter 1648: Lets Stick to the Topic

    Tang Wulin took a step back just as she was about to poke his chest a second time, and he said, "Let''s stick to the topic."


    Ling Zichen pursed her lips in a disdainful manner. "What are you so scared of? Are you really a man? If you can steal Eternal Heaven for me, I''ll even let you sleep with me!"


    "Let''s stick to the topic!" Tang Wulin repeated as his voice spiked up a few octaves. If it weren''t for the fact that Ling Zichen was only an ordinary person, he really wanted to release his aura to intimidate this arrogant woman.


    "Fine! Let me tell you this: my ancestors participated in the research and development of Eternal Heaven. It was the last godslayer missile to have ever been created, and many of the key technical components involved have already been lost to time, so even I only know a little bit about it. Do you know why such a small missile could possess so much destructive power?" That''s because all uncommon metals contain some special substances, which we refer to as source. Source is the reason why uncommon metals are hard, and in essence, the process of forging is one that refines source; only at the soul refinement level or above can source be fundamentally changed.


    "Godslayer missiles were proposed as a renowned scientist at the time had invented a way to extract the source of metals. Through this method, he was able to extract the core energy of uncommon metals before purifying and compressing this energy. Source has very little mass; no more than one gram can be extracted from a cubic meter block of heavy silver. With sufficient source placed in the right sequences, the sources will undergo reactions with one another in a process known as source fusion, which can create extremely fearsome destructive power.


    "A godslayer missile will contain a total of more than 50 kilograms of source, and once activated, the source fusion will produce extremely devastating power."


    This was the first time Tang Wulin was hearing information about godslayer missiles, so he was very curious, and now that Ling Zichen was talking about her area of expertise, she was also appearing a bit more normal.


    "Can you imagine the sheer quantity of uncommon metals required to create a single godslayer missile? This is why only three have been created in history, and we''re still suffering as a result in the form of resource shortages to this very day. Once the federation discovered that the creation of godslayer missiles was simply unsustainable, it was already too late, and the resources required to create three godslayer missiles had already been irreversibly altered. As a result, the federation banned all research into the sources of uncommon metals, but in my opinion, that''s downright idiocy!


    "There''s nothing fundamentally wrong with researching source, and if done correctly, it can hugely benefit technological advancements. For example, I''m currently researching how to use source to create a positive circulation array, thereby allowing for constant generation of enormous amounts of energy through recycling of source. To put it in simpler terms, my vision is to use a godslayer missile that can constantly recycle itself as an energy source to support technological facilities that require high energy expenditure, such as warships and spaceships.


    "The primary reason behind our slow progress in space exploration is a lack of a suitable energy source, which prevents us from venturing too far into outer space. If my research succeeds, we''ll be able to resolve this issue to a massive extent."


    "Let''s not stray too far away from the topic at hand, Head Researcher Ling." Even though Tang Wulin was also very interested in this technology, the most important thing now was to devise a plan to secure the godslayer missile.


    Ling Zichen glared at him before continuing, "So if we can get Eternal Heaven and disassemble it to secure the source within it, then divide the source categorically, imagine how massive an energy resource that would be! The source contained within one Eternal Heaven is enough for me to create 100 positive circulation soul arrays."


    Tang Wulin''s heart immediately spasmed upon hearing this. "Disassemble Eternal Heaven? Wouldn''t that be dangerous?"


    Ling Zichen replied, "Of course it''ll be, but risk and reward come hand in hand! I''m at least 60% confident that I''ll be able to successfully disassemble it!"


    "Then what about the other 40%?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "It''ll explode," Ling Zichen replied in a nonchalant manner.


    Tang Wulin finally understood what was going on here: this woman was insane!


    Why did the two Limit Douluos send a crazy woman to help him?!


    Tang Wulin''s expression darkened as he said in a serious manner, "Absolutely not. Even if we manage to secure Eternal Heaven, I won''t allow its disassembly even if there''s only a 1% chance that it''ll be detonated. Shrek City has already been bombed once; neither the Tang Sect nor Shrek Academy can afford to suffer a repeat of that disaster."


    Ling Zichen countered, "I can take it to a deserted area for disassembly!"


    Tang Wulin finally couldn''t repress his temper any longer. "And risk your own life? I don''t think so! This is a non-negotiable order!"


    Ling Zichen pursed her lips in response. "We''ll see once we actually secure the missile."


    Tang Wulin''s patience was quickly running out, and he took a deep breath to calm himself down before asking, "Do you have any advice from a technical perspective?"


    Ling Zichen shrugged in response. "Not really, just find it and bring it back."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "It''s that simple? Under what circumstances will Eternal Heaven explode?"


    Ling Zichen replied, "That depends on how the federal government programmed it. Of course, regardless of what programming they''ve used, I''ll be able to disable it as long as we can get to the missile; that I can assure you of."


    There was an immense sense of confidence in her words as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin said, "The problem is that Eternal Heaven is definitely in a very heavily guarded place, and it''ll be very difficult for me to bring an ordinary person like you along with me. We''ll most likely be facing more than one four-word battle armor master, so I can''t ensure your safety."


    "You don''t need to worry about my safety. I may not be a Soul Master, but you may not be a match for me in a one-on-one battle," Ling Zichen said as she raised her chin slightly in a provocative manner.


    "Oh?" Tang Wulin was rather taken aback to hear this.


    Ling Zichen raised her right hand, and only then did Tang Wulin notice that there was a beautiful ornament on the back of her hand. This was a thin metal plate that was strapped to the back of her hand with a round pink gem that had a diameter of around an inch at the center.


    Pink light surged forth, forming pink bands of light that completely enveloped Ling Zichen''s entire body.


    In the span of just a couple of breaths, she was encapsulated within a suit of pink armor.


    The suit of armor only increased her height by about 25%, which was similar to the height enhancement made by a suit of battle armor. The suit of pink armor appeared to be very light and agile, and it was entirely constructed from rhomboid pieces of different sizes, at the center of each of which was a tiny speck of light that was around the size of a sesame seed. These specks of light were almost invisible unless one were to look carefully at them, but they basked the entire suit of armor in a layer of pink light.


    "I bet you haven''t seen anything like this before! This is my latest successful project, in which a source positive circulation core has been infused into a mecha. This mecha incorporates the most advanced modern mecha technology, as well as the soul circuits of battle armor, which is activated by source as its energy core. It''s not like you''ll understand this anyway. The simplest explanation is that even though this mecha is only the size of a suit of battle armor, it is a genuine suit of divine-grade mecha, and even more importantly, it can be used by even ordinary people as it has a special defense system that minimizes the strain on the pilot during usage."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this.

 Chapter 1649: Latest Technology

    He wasn''t stunned by the fact that this was such a light and compact divine-grade mecha, nor by the utilization of source as the energy core. Instead, he was astonished to hear that even ordinary people could use this divine-grade mecha.


    This meant that if this product could be mass-produced in the future, then any ordinary person could become a divine-grade mecha pilot after undergoing proper training.


    This was downright incredible to think about! If this area of research were to succeed, then the status of Soul Masters would diminish even further.


    "Are you scared?" Ling Zichen made a provocative gesture toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Can this type of mecha be mass-produced?"


    Ling Zichen replied without any hesitation, "No way. Do you know how much it cost to construct this mecha? Among all of the resources we''ve secured from the other two empires through trade, around 60% of it was used up by our department. Currently, I''ve successfully developed a small source positive circulation array, and all of the resources were only enough to create this one mecha. This thing is a prototype to display the results of our research, but it''s very impractical and unsustainable to produce as it incurs over 10 times the cost required to construct a normal divine-grade mecha. I can''t think of any way to mass-produce it right now, but I daresay that even in 1,000 years, this will still be an advanced piece of technology."


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief upon hearing this. At the very least, Soul Masters wouldn''t be completely replaced by this technology in a short time.


    "However, if we can develop multiple combinations of source positive circulation systems to harness the effect of source fusion, then it''ll be hard to say what we''d be able to do. Of course, this will require a lengthy process; perhaps even several generations of work. Just like what you were concerned about earlier, this type of research is extremely dangerous, and if anything goes wrong, then researchers could easily perish."


    Ling Zichen''s voice suddenly became a little forlorn as she spoke.


    "Do you have friends who..."


    Ling Zichen replied, "My parents were killed in the explosion caused by the first generation positive circulation array going out of control."


    "My apologies." Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh, and his impression of Ling Zichen improved slightly.


    "It''s alright, we''ve already dedicated our lives to our research; it''s our ultimate goal in life. If I can get the opportunity to disassemble Eternal Heaven, then I''d gladly give my own life in exchange."


    Tang Wulin really wanted to slam his head against a wall. How had they returned to this topic again? The thought processes of scientists really couldn''t be fathomed by normal people.


    "I need to test your combat prowess," Tang Wulin said.


    "Sure! I also want to see if you''re worthy of your status as the Tang Sect Master," Ling Zichen replied in an excited voice.


    Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by the feeling that this woman was not just a mad scientist; it was very likely that she was also a big fan of violence...


    Shrek Academy''s drill ground was definitely the most advanced on the entire continent. The Tang Sect had designed this massive drill ground, which was situated on one side of Shrek Academy''s plaza. In a sense, it was basically a sports stadium.


    This sports stadium was around half the size of the Bright City Sports Stadium, and it possessed all types of advanced facilities that could be adjusted at any time to suit different needs. As such, it could be used for mecha battles, Soul Master battles, cultivation, practical combat drills, etc. This was the most important part of the rebuilt Shrek Academy.


    Among the four classes that had just been accepted into the academy, there was one class that would be taught all types of different lessons in this venue.


    On this day, it was the turn of Luo Guixing''s first class to use the drill ground.


    Yi Zichen had already been elected as class captain, and he was leading from the very front.


    The sports stadium before them was extremely spacious, and there was a crystalline protective barrier that resembled glass all around the venue.


    Back in the day, Luo Guixing had been quite renowned in the cohort with his spatial abilities, and he was rated as the best control system Soul Master in the cohort. At the very least, that was the case before the rise of Xu Xiaoyan.


    Tang Wulin and the others had enrolled late, and when they had first entered the academy, they had been oppressed quite a bit. However, who could''ve imagined that over 10 years later, all of them would become pillars of Shrek Academy?


    Back then, he had been a vigorous youth determined to uphold the glory of Shrek Academy, yet now, he was already a teacher of the academy. Everything had changed far too quickly.


    Yi Zichen was standing at the front of the line with a confident expression. He didn''t hail from a noble upbringing, nor did he have any powerful inheritance, but he possessed a very resilient personality and brilliant aptitude, which had allowed him to reach his current level at such a young age. He couldn''t compare with Luo Guixing''s cohort, but he was certainly one of the leading students of this cohort. Most importantly, Luo Guixing could see some qualities in Yi Zichen that reminded him of a young Tang Wulin.


    Perhaps he could become another Tang Wulin in a decade or so.


    "This is the Shrek Academy drill ground, sports stadium, or training ground. You''ll be coming here on a regular basis for a very long time to come. Internal strife is strictly prohibited in the academy, but sparring is encouraged. What''s the difference? It''s simple: if you want to fight someone, tell a teacher, and we''ll bring you here and act as referee for your battle; that''s a sparring match. However, if you break the rules and fight in private, you''ll be immediately expelled with no second chances given, understood?"


    "Understood!" the entire class yelled without any hesitation.


    Luo Guixing nodded with a pleased expression. "Alright, seeing as this is your first time here, I need to get a better understanding of all of you, so the lesson for today is very simple: you''ll be engaging in sparring matches. Now then, split up into groups according to what system Soul Master you are. The first group will be assault system, the second group will be control system, the third group will be agility attack system, the fourth group will be battle soul masters of other systems, and the fifth group will be assistance system."


    The students quickly arranged themselves into the five groups.


    Yi Zichen hesitated momentarily before deciding to stand in the control system group. His martial soul could be categorized both in the assault system and the control system, but he preferred the control system as he liked the feeling of being able to control the entire battlefield.


    Luo Guixing picked up the roll in his hand, and announced, "Yi Zichen, Chen Yuan, Zhuang Yu, Luo Rui, and Shangguan Ran will make up the first group. The second group will..."


    Just as Luo Guixing was splitting everyone into groups, a layer of faint red light suddenly appeared in the sports stadium. Initially, the red light had appeared on the crystalline structure around the sports stadium, and it quickly spread to form a massive red light barrier.


    All of a sudden, an electronic voice rang out. "Warning! Warning! A sparring match of the three-word battle armor master level is about to take place; please vacate the central area right away and evacuate into the safe zone!"


    Luo Guixing''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he immediately waved a hand as he said, "Everyone, come with me; we might be treated to a good show today."

 Chapter 1650: Ling Zichens Combat Prowess

    A layer of silver light proliferated from his body as he spoke, and the silver light quickly encompassed all of the students in the first class, following which they were all teleported to the edge of the sports stadium over 100 meters away.


    Right at this moment, two figures descended from the sky.


    Even without looking, Tang Wulin could sense that Luo Guixing and his class were nearby. He communicated a message to Luo Guixing through voice transmission, and a hint of elation surfaced in the latter''s eyes as he immediately nodded in response. "I understand. Alright, all of you are in for a treat. Come with me."


    Luo Guixing quickly took his students to a room with a massive glass wall on the second floor of the sports stadium.


    Faint red light was surging outside the glass wall; this was the most powerful defensive measure in the venue. Even without requiring any instructions from Luo Guixing, all of the students had already rushed over to the glass wall to look out at the two people at the center of the drill ground.


    "Teacher Luo, is there about to be a sparring match between three-word battle armor masters?" Yi Zichen asked with an excited expression.


    Luo Guixing nodded in response. "Take a look for yourself; you should be able to recognize one of them."


    Yi Zichen did as he was told, and his eyes immediately widened as he caught sight of his young idol, who had appeared during the opening ceremony.


    The first time Yi Zichen had seen him was in the broadcast of the Trial of Five Gods; he could never forget how one man was able to best an entire empire on his own.


    Even now, that memory never ceased to inspire him, and it motivated him to endure even the most grueling cultivation.


    Back when he had intended to apply for Spirit Academy, he had been unaware that this man was the leader of Shrek Academy. When he first saw Tang Wulin in the flesh during the opening ceremony, he was almost unable to contain himself.


    A positive idol had an immeasurably beneficial impact on the growth of a young man or woman, just like how Tang Wulin had been inspired by Wu Zhangkong.


    Now, he was Yi Zichen''s idol. Who was his idol going to battle? Was that a battle armor master as well?


    It was quite apparent that the pink-armored figure standing across from Tang Wulin was a woman, and one with an exceptional figure, at that. However, her entire body was encapsulated within that suit of armor, so it was impossible to glean her appearance.


    Tang Wulin turned to Ling Zichen and made an inviting hand gesture. "Let''s begin. I''m very curious to see just how powerful your source positive circulation core is."


    Even though this tiny divine-grade mecha couldn''t be mass-produced, this was the first time he had come into contact with the concept of a source positive circulation core. If all godslayer missiles had been created with this type of core as its foundation, then just how powerful would this mecha be?


    Source could very well become one of the most important topics of research in human history. At the same time, Tang Wulin had also begun construction of his own mecha, so if possible, he naturally also wanted to infuse this cutting-edge technology into his own mecha, provided that it was a good fit for him.


    A faint smile appeared on Ling Zichen''s face.


    Of course, Tang Wulin was unable to see her expression, but what he did see was a bolt of pink lightning that appeared before him in an instant.


    With Tang Wulin''s enormous spiritual power, it would naturally cover a very large area around him even without being intentionally released. However, this initial eruption from Ling Zichen had only raised a slight alarm in his spiritual power as she had simply been far too fast!


    Despite her incredible speed, Tang Wulin still had the chance to raise a hand to protect himself, but he chose not to do so. Instead, he allowed Ling Zichen''s fist to ram heavily into his chest, and in the same instant, he released the full extent of his spiritual power.


    The bolt of pink lightning suddenly became slower in his eyes, allowing him to assess it properly.


    As a result, he could see that all of the specks of light over Ling Zichen''s entire mecha had instantly lit up, making it seem as if she were suddenly radiating scintillating light.


    In the next instant, her fist slammed into his chest, and due to the impact, his Golden Dragon Body was automatically released.


    A series of golden scales appeared all over his chest, and these scales immediately compressed alongside his pectoral muscles to nullify the force of the impact.


    All of this was clearly sensed by Tang Wulin, but in the eyes of all of the first class students, the first clash had unfolded in an instant.


    "Boom!" A burst of powerful shockwaves erupted forth as Tang Wulin''s body glided backward.


    At the same time, a layer of reddish-golden light appeared around him, rapidly nullifying the force of that terrifying attack as he drifted backward.


    Only after traveling for over 100 meters was Tang Wulin able to arrest his own backward momentum, and he cast his gaze toward Ling Zichen before giving her a slight nod.


    Ling Zichen said, "That attack was imbued with roughly 18,000 tons of power.  Generally speaking, even a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear would be sent flying by that attack, which means that at the very least, your defensive prowess is comparable to that of a 10,000-year-old Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear. However, that was only a very small portion of my power; I''m about to step it up now!"


    The bolt of pink lightning appeared once again, covering a distance of over 100 meters in a flash. On this occasion, Tang Wulin decided to lash out in retaliation with his right hand.


    This mecha possessed considerable offensive prowess, and if Ling Zichen really had been holding back, then this level of combat prowess was indeed befitting of a divine-grade mecha.


    However, it was still yet to be seen whether this mecha had defensive prowess to match.


    Golden and pink light instantly clashed, and on this occasion, Tang Wulin remained completely unmoved, while the bolt of pink light was sent flying backward. However, it didn''t pause in the slightest as it released countless bursts of pink light, which converged toward Tang Wulin like a pink shower of light.


    Tang Wulin withdrew his right hand and clasped both hands behind his back, then let loose a thunderous dragon''s roar, and it could be clearly seen that a massive golden dragon''s head had erupted out of his body.


    Powerful soundwaves surged forth as a series of golden halos, instantly devouring the oncoming specks of pink light. The pink mecha re-emerged in mid-air, and a ball of protective red light with a diameter of around five meters emerged around it. The surface of the ball of light rippled violently in the face of the Golden Dragon Roar, but right at this moment, a pair of short spears that were around 1.5 meters in length appeared in the pink mecha''s hands, and it was clear that it was those spears that had unleashed those bolts of pink lightning.


    A spear battle, eh?


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he made a grabbing motion with his right hand, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp amid a flash of golden light.


    Tang Wulin thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward, and the pink mecha suddenly seemed to have stiffened in mid-air.


    In that instant, Ling Zichen was struck by an unprecedented sense of discomfort; not physical discomfort, but discomfort that arose from within her heart.

 Chapter 1651: Battling Ling Zichen

    This was because the retaliative attack she had prepared had just been sealed from all directions by Tang Wulin''s seemingly casual spear thrust.


    However, Ling Zichen''s immense confidence in herself clearly indicated that this special mecha of hers wasn''t going to be that easy to deal with. She crossed the short spears in front of her own chest, revealing the middle section of the spears, and Tang Wulin immediately spotted a speck of light at the center of each spear.


    These specks of light were clearly larger than the ones all over her body. If those specks of light were around the size of sesame seeds, then these two would be around the size of peas.


    Could it be that her source positive circulation core was divided into different levels?


    In the next instant, both of the short spears lit up in unison, and scintillating light instantly radiated from the two cores of the spears, converging to form a pink beam that reached him almost instantaneously.


    A strong sense of foreboding instantly made the hairs on the back of Tang Wulin''s neck stand up on end, and he immediately used his spiritual domain without any hesitation.


    The beam of light that had already reached him abruptly stopped, then returned to the instant before it was released.


    On this occasion, Tang Wulin could clearly see that the beam of light had been unleashed by the two source positive circulation cores of the short spears stacked on top of one another.


    The beam didn''t seem to be all that powerful, but he could instinctively sense that it posed a threat to him, even more so than the heavy ion laser that Long Yuxue had used in the past.


    He sidestepped to allow the pink beam to pass him by, but it swept horizontally toward him like a blade of light rather than simply fading away.


    Tang Wulin instantly reacted, slashing his Golden Dragon Spear through the air to clash with the pink beam.


    An ear-splitting grinding sound erupted forth, and Tang Wulin felt a burst of formidable explosive power surging toward him, as if he had just been struck viciously by a giant hammer.


    Right as a sense of astonishment registered in his mind, his body was sent flying by that burst of explosive power.


    As he hurtled through the air, he instantly changed directions in mid-air to evade the beam of light, but the pink mecha charged toward him once again as a bolt of pink lightning with countless specks of light erupting out of the two short spears.


    It had to be said that her divine-grade mecha was extraordinarily fast and capable of completing many physics-defying maneuvers. Following this string of clashes, Tang Wulin discovered that those source positive circulation cores in her mecha didn''t just provide energy, they could also be used as propellers, and this was why Ling Zichen was able to complete all those seemingly impossible maneuvers.


    It was very difficult for Tang Wulin to imagine that Ling Zichen''s body was able to bear the strain from performing these maneuvers; it seemed that the internal defensive mechanisms of this mecha were truly extraordinary.


    A hint of competitiveness had welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart at this point. Was human technology really able to defeat Soul Masters, who worked so hard in their cultivation? Perhaps that would be the case in the future, but in the present, it was still just a distant dream!


    He thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward, injecting his soul power and blood essence power into the spear to unleash countless radiant spear projections.


    All of the pink light was almost instantly engulfed, and it was as if the attacks unleashed by Ling Zichen had suddenly been enveloped within a massive plume of golden light, following which all of the golden light converged and combined as one before surging directly toward her.


    Fury of the Masses!


    This was a technique that Tang Wulin had cultivated for the longest time and was far too familiar with, to the point that it was already second nature to him.


    He had once been given the title of Spear God, and his Golden Dragon Spear had struck down countless opponents.


    Regardless of how powerful a mecha was, its techniques couldn''t compare with that of a powerful Soul Master, which had been honed for many years.


    Ling Zichen felt as if her attacks had fallen into a cage and were being severely compressed. Even her mecha had become quite sluggish and incapable of taking evasive measures.


    Was this the power of a Soul Master?


    Despite this, she had no intention of giving up. Her competitiveness was virtually superior to that of any other person, so she certainly wasn''t going to concede to Tang Wulin.


    She raised the spear in her right hand, and the source positive circulation core at its center began to glow again as another beam of pink light erupted forth.


    A violent boom rang out as Tang Wulin''s Fury of the Masses faltered momentarily, and Ling Zichen took advantage of this split-second of respite to fly back in retreat while hurling the spear in her left hand through the air.


    "This attack is equivalent to a ninth-grade soul missile explosion!" Ling Zichen declared.


    Tang Wulin was given a massive fright upon hearing this. He didn''t doubt this madwoman''s words in the slightest. The energy being supplied by the core on her short spears was far too fearsome; if the core were to be detonated, the resulting explosive power would be immeasurable.


    Instead of taking evasive measures, Tang Wulin charged directly toward his opponent. He couldn''t afford to allow this thing to explode in Shrek Academy.


    Shrek Academy''s defenses were indeed quite powerful, but a ninth-grade soul missile explosion was virtually equivalent to a full-force attack from a Limit Douluo, and he wasn''t sure whether this place would be able to withstand such an attack.


    There was still a class of Shrek Academy students on the second floor! If something were to happen here, he would be entirely to blame.


    Yun Ming had sacrificed his life to protect all of the students; how could he cower in the face of such an attack? Thus, he almost instinctively charged toward the short spear.


    His Time Reversal was unleashed once again, returning the spear to the instant before it left Ling Zichen''s hand, following which a scene that was unforgettable to Ling Zichen unfolded.


    A low dragon''s roar rang out across the entire venue, and everything in the surrounding area was instantly basked in golden light.


    A massive reddish-golden formation appeared on the ground, and the thunderous roars of countless dragons rang out. At the same time, Tang Wulin quickly transformed into a giant golden dragon that grabbed onto the short spear with its front claws before pulling the spear into its chest and curling up into a ball around it. The giant dragon simultaneously swiveled around, whipping its long tail through the air.


    In that instant, Ling Zichen felt as if her mind and will had completely congealed, leaving her completely unable to do anything, and immediately thereafter, the giant golden dragon tail struck her mecha with devastating force.


    The pink mecha was sent flying like a cannonball before crashing heavily into the protective barrier in the distance. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin had already unleashed his Golden Dragon King True Body and brought his wings together to create a tight capsule around the spear. He was going to use his own body to withstand what was essentially going to be a ninth-grade soul missile explosion.


    "Boom!" The protective light barrier rippled violently as Ling Zichen crashed into it, and even though the students of the first class couldn''t hear Ling Zichen''s voice, they could clearly see the instant where Tang Wulin had sent her flying in his golden dragon form.

 Chapter 1652: Im Even Scared of Myself When I Get Carried Away

    In particular, the countless reddish-golden dragon patterns that had appeared at the center of the drill ground immediately sent a burst of adrenaline surging through their veins.


    This was true power! The Pavilion Master''s transformation was way too badass!


    Yi Zichen''s hands had already unconsciously balled up into tight fists, and he decided there and then that he was going to become just as powerful as the pavilion master someday.


    Tang Wulin''s dragon core and soul core were fully activated, and even his spiritual power had formed a small yet concentrated protective barrier that completely enveloped the short spear.


    His dragon''s repulse had been released onto every single one of his scales, and even his three-word battle armor and Golden Blood Dragon domain had both been released.


    At his current power level, he was definitely equipped to withstand a ninth-grade soul missile explosion, but not contain the force of such an explosion with his own body!


    He didn''t know how much power this short spear was going to unleash, but he didn''t have time to think about that; his only thought was that he had to protect Shrek Academy.


    One second passed by, followed by two, then three...


    Tang Wulin had done everything in his power to contain this explosion, but it simply didn''t come. The spear seemed to have lost all of its heat and was lying still in his arms. Only its source positive circulation core was still shimmering with faint light.


    "Do you really think I''m insane? What an idiot." A mocking voice rang out in the distance as the pink mecha rose to its feet.


    It had to be said that her mecha''s defensive prowess was truly astonishing, as evidenced by the fact that it didn''t seem difficult at all for her to stand back up even after withstanding that attack.


    Only then did Tang Wulin heave a sigh of relief as he returned to his human form, but he then immediately flared up with rage. "You''re telling me you''re NOT insane?"


    Ling Zichen shrugged in response. "I only wanted to trick you into getting more serious; I didn''t anticipate that you would display such a strong reaction."


    For the first time ever in his life, Tang Wulin was struck by the urge to hit a woman.


    "Alright, let''s stop here. I can tell that you were holding back, and I''m no match for you. The energy fluctuations erupting from your body just now have already exceeded five times the normal tolerance limit for my mecha. Of course, like I said, that''s only the normal tolerance limit."


    Tang Wulin quickly calmed himself down before asking in a cold voice, "Then what happens if you go beyond that?"


    Ling Zichen chuckled coldly in response. "I''d take you down with me in a massive explosion."


    "Sure you will. If you weren''t a woman, hmph..." Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly as he tossed Ling Zichen''s short spear back to her.


    The source positive circulation core on the spear flashed once, and it decelerated in mid-air before gently falling into her grasp.


    "You''d better believe me; I''m even scared of myself when I get carried away. Alright, now you have the right to ask me to accompany you on this operation."


    Tang Wulin had no idea how she managed to do it, but the pair of spears disappeared directly into her body as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Alright, but I have a condition."


    "Go on," Ling Zichen prompted.


    Tang Wulin said, "You must follow my orders at all times. Otherwise, you won''t be allowed to come."


    "That''s fine, as long as your orders are within reason." For some reason, this mad scientist had suddenly become a lot more easy-going.


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback by her sudden willingness to cooperate, and he couldn''t help but pause momentarily.


    "I always keep my promises," Ling Zichen said in a cold and proud manner.


    "That''s good to hear. Let''s go." Tang Wulin withdrew his battle armor and Golden Blood Dragon domain as he spoke, then departed from the drill ground.


    The battle between the two of them had actually lasted only a very short time, but the students spectating on the second floor were already struggling to catch their breath.


    They couldn''t sense the energy fluctuations through the protective barrier, but the power displayed by the two combatants was enough to completely captivate them on a visual basis.


    The only one in the class who saw the battle clearly from start to finish was Luo Guixing.


    Luo Guixing could tell that that suit of pink armor definitely wasn''t battle armor as it didn''t possess the special properties of battle armor.


    In the face of Tang Wulin''s powerful attacks, she had constantly been retaliating through outbursts of immense energy rather than fusing her soul power with her battle armor and martial soul. Could it be that that was a mecha? But how could a mecha be so small and powerful?


    Furthermore, the final part of that battle left him quite perplexed as well.


    In any case, that battle had given his young students an extremely vivid demonstration.


    There was no need to ask his students for their thoughts; just the looks in their eyes alone told him that their enthusiasm was at an all-time high.


    He clapped his hands to draw the attention of the students, and said, "Alright, I won''t ask for your thoughts after witnessing that battle; show me through your actions. For the first sparring match, we''ll have the first group up against the second group; show me what you''ve got. If you want to become as powerful as the pavilion master, then you''ll have to dedicate all of your effort and determination for a very long time to come."


    Tang Wulin quickly strode out of the drill ground, while Ling Zichen followed along in silence behind him without withdrawing her mecha. It was very difficult for her to imagine that a human could unleash such fearsome power with their body alone. This was the power of a truly exceptional Soul Master!


    Her mecha was completely unique in this world, and that was why she was so powerful, but what was he relying upon? His own cultivation?


    Obviously, Ling Zichen wasn''t an easy-going character. If any other person had demanded that she follow their orders, she would''ve most likely already given them a slap across the face. However, for some reason, she unconsciously agreed to this man''s instructions as she couldn''t forget his reaction when she had proclaimed that her spear possessed the power of a ninth-grade soul missile explosion.


    Instead of taking evasive measures, he had used his own body to completely envelop that spear, preparing to use his body to smother an explosion that would most likely have killed him.


    In Ling Zichen''s mind, there was no way that a normal human or battle armor master could withstand a ninth-grade soul missile explosion, yet this man had done what he had done without any hesitation.


    Despite her overbearing and perhaps even slightly insane personality, she couldn''t help but be deeply touched by his actions.


    He was protecting this academy and everything around him. What kind of passion could spur one on to give up their life for others?


    Did he love this academy just as much as she loved her research?


    It seemed that this outrageously good-looking man wasn''t a sissy, after all!


    Thus, the two of them returned to the guest hall.


    Ling Zichen made a casual gesture, and her mecha was instantly withdrawn. Even with Tang Wulin''s immense spiritual power, he was unable to detect exactly how she had done that. It was as if the mecha had truly disappeared into her body, and that was incredible to Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 1653: Mad Scientist

    "Are you curious? There''s no harm in telling you: I implanted those source positive circulation cores into my body, so my mecha shares many similarities with battle armor. Only then would I be able to immediately release my mecha at will," Ling Zichen said in a casual manner.


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids spasmed slightly upon hearing this. This woman really was insane! Having just faced the power of a source positive circulation core, he had come to realize just how formidable it could be, yet she had implanted something dangerous into her own body. If any energy instability were to occur, the outcome would be very obvious. She really did have a death wish!


    Ling Zichen rolled her eyes in an exasperated manner. "What are you looking at? I don''t care even if you regard me as a robot. What''s so important about the human body? The most important thing is my research. If I can use source positive circulation cores to replace my life force, I may even be able to attain immortality and live longer than you!"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but heave a resigned sigh. "You''re more of a monster than I am; I think you should come to our academy."


    For some reason, he couldn''t help but admire this woman. How could one not admire someone so dedicated to their research that they were on the brink of insanity? It was no wonder that the two Limit Douluos had looked so resigned when discussing her.


    "Do you have any good suggestions for our operation?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Ling Zichen shrugged in response. "Simple; you take me to Eternal Heaven, and I guarantee you I''ll be able to bring it back. However, once we bring it back, you have to give it to me for research."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly as he said, "I can give it to you for research if you can ensure absolute safety."


    Ling Zichen was growing rather impatient. "Alright, you sound like a broken record. Do you really think I want to die? I still want to do a few more years of research; I''ll be careful."


    Tang Wulin said, "Alright, then rest in the academy for now, and once we devise a plan, I''ll call you up to come with us."


    Ling Zichen nodded in response, but it was clear that her mind had already drifted elsewhere, and Tang Wulin didn''t want to know what she was thinking about at all. After all, the thought process of an insane person was completely different from that of a normal person.


    Back in the day, his teacher, Feng Wuyu, had been renowned as a madman, but in comparison to this madwoman, Feng Wuyu was completely tame and normal.


    If possible, Tang Wulin really didn''t want to allow her to stay in the academy as he was afraid that she would suddenly set off a massive explosion someday.


    After organizing a place for Ling Zichen to stay, Tang Wulin immediately departed and heaved a sigh of relief. Interacting with her, even for such a short time, was even more exhausting than facing elemental tribulations.


    Even now, Tang Wulin was certain that her spear possessed explosive power equivalent to that of a ninth-grade soul missile; it was just that she had chosen not to detonate it.


    He dialed a number on his soul communicator, and soon, Zang Xin''s gentle voice rang out from the other end. "Wulin."


    "How''s the situation going on your end, Your Majesty?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Zang Xin replied, "Everything''s progressing roughly as planned. The federation has requested our Tang Sect to directly participate in this war and to provide weapons for the united fleet at a discounted price. On top of that, they demand that we supply at least 300 mecha pilots, and once the war ends, the Tang Sect will be vindicated. Cao Dezhi has already agreed to all of those conditions. Obviously, they''re not going to let us know where Eternal Heaven is being kept, nor did they tell us their exact plan; all they did was ask us to prepare our troops and await further notice."


    Tang Wulin said, "So they''re already guarding against us. Have any leads been found?"


    Zang Xin replied, "We did manage to find some. At this point, we''re basically certain that the Sea God Legion is responsible for transporting Eternal Heaven. We don''t know the exact destination location, but it should be within Bright City. We have our own hidden satellites, so we''ll know as soon as a large legion begins to mobilize. However, we think that there''s a very good chance that the federation will transport Eternal Heaven in secret; perhaps they won''t even move it at all and will simply use its name as intimidation. In any case, we''re lacking concrete information, and that will make your operation a lot more difficult."


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. This was indeed the main issue: how could they devise a plan without accurate information?


    "Has Zichen visited you yet?" Zang Xin asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face upon hearing this. "You really set me a difficult problem, Your Majesty! That woman is insane, and not just a little insane, either!"


    "Hahaha!" Zang Xin couldn''t help but burst into laughter.


    "Wulin, don''t forget that you are the Tang Sect Master. Cao Dezhi and I are both old men now, so you''ll have to support the Tang Sect in the future. Zichen is indeed a little insane, but she''s always been our Tang Sect''s leading researcher, so do bear with her. By the way, she still doesn''t have any children yet, so you can help her out if you''d like; I''m sure she''d be willing to accept your genes."


    Tang Wulin''s expression immediately darkened upon hearing this, and if it weren''t for the fact that he was speaking to a senior, he would''ve most likely already snapped. "Your Majesty, that woman is a human bomb! Aren''t you worried at all?"


    Zang Xin was silent for a moment before replying, "Wulin, I know your first impression of her isn''t very positive, but I have to tell you that Zichen is a good girl. She''s very kind at heart and loves her research. Do you think she wants to be like this? During one of the research projects, the equipment suddenly malfunctioned, and all of the source positive circulation cores began to resonate with one another, making an explosion imminent. If the explosion had taken place, all of the researchers would have perished, and the damage caused to our Tang Sect would''ve surpassed even that of the bombing.


    "At the time, she implanted those things into her own body, connecting her own life force with all of the source positive circulation cores. Yes, she can no longer be considered as a human right now, but you have to remember that her actions saved thousands of Tang Sect researchers. Zichen is the undisputed lead researcher in the Tang Sect, and her influence, authority, and reputation in the Tang Sect''s research centers exceed even ours. Everything she did was for our Tang Sect. To put it more directly, she is a hero of our Tang Sect."


    A tingling sensation ran through Tang Wulin''s entire body upon hearing this, and he reflexively pursed his lips.


    Of course, he wasn''t going to doubt Zang Xin''s words, and as he thought back to how he had treated Ling Zichen, a sense of guilt began to well up in his heart.


    "She used to be a very slender girl, and her figure only changed after she implanted the source positive circulation cores into herself. The process altered her body significantly, and according to our calculations, she most likely won''t live until 50 as she''s expended too much of her life force fusing with those source positive circulation cores." A forlorn tone crept into Zang Xin''s voice as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Can''t her life force be replenished? The tree of life..."

 Chapter 1654: Elder Longs Involvement

    Zang Xin immediately cut him off. "That''s impossible. Her life force has already fused as one with thousands of source positive circulation cores; if any new life energy is introduced into her body, everything will instantly go out of balance and be detonated. Hence, no one can change her current condition unless she can make a huge breakthrough in her research."


    Tang Wulin recalled back to how Ling Zichen had said that she would perhaps be able to attain immortality if she could make a breakthrough in her research.


    No one was truly fearless toward death, and she was no exception. She also wanted to live a long life, yet she had made such a massive sacrifice for the Tang Sect.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "Rest assured, Your Majesty, I''ll be sure to protect her for the sake of the Tang Sect."


    "Good. Just appease her as much as you can. Of course, if she gets too carried away, make sure to stop her before she does something rash," Zang Xin said.


    That would be a simple task if she weren''t constantly on the verge of getting carried away!


    Now, there was nothing for Tang Wulin to do but wait for more information so he could form more sound judgments. Without a clear target, they couldn''t do anything rash.


    Half a month quickly passed by, and during this time, the federal military had been frequently mobilizing troops and resources; it was clear that a war was imminent.


    However, there still wasn''t any information about Eternal Heaven. Even the Sea God Legion was still situated in Bright City.


    Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi had already been dismissed by the federal government and told to await further instructions.


    It was clear that they didn''t trust the Tang Sect, and were taking advantage of this opportunity to drag the Tang Sect down with them.


    Everything at Shrek Academy was on the right track. The first cohort of new students were of quite a high caliber, and all of them were also very hard-working. Most of the teachers were quite new, but they were very motivated, and the construction around the Sea God''s Lake was also coming along nicely.


    What was even more encouraging was that the ecosystem within the Sea God''s Lake had been constantly improving following the revival of the tree of life, and some aquatic grasses had already begun to appear on the lakebed. Once all of the destructive radiation was nullified, some life forms could be introduced to further improve the ecosystem in the lake.


    It had to be said that setting the entrance to the Seven Saint Paradise in the Sea God''s Lake had been a very correct decision. Not only had the Seven Saint Paradise become a part of Shrek Academy, its emergence had also accelerated the process in which the destructive radiation in the lake was being nullified. The seven old demons were able to use the destructive power within the Seven Saint Paradise to absorb the destructive energy in the Sea God''s Lake, both stabilizing their small plane and easing the burden on the tree of life, so it was a win-win situation.


    Only in the presence of the tree of life did the seven old demons act more normal. After all, that was the source of life on the entire continent, and they had to rely on it as well.


    Spirit Academy had begun its school term as well, and the Spirit Pagoda had kept a low profile in the lead-up to this war, so no one knew what they were plotting. However, Tang Wulin was sure that they definitely wouldn''t be able to stay quiet forever.


    After another week had passed, Tang Wulin finally received news that the Sea God Legion was mobilizing toward the Northsea Legion.


    The Sea God Legion was far too massive, so it couldn''t possibly be mobilized in secret. Under current traffic conditions, it would require at least a week for the Sea God Legion to reach the Northsea Legion, and once these two legions were united, the war could commence at any time.


    The time to act was now!


    After hearing Tang Wulin''s report, Long Yeyue said, "You can set off the day after tomorrow."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. There was very little time to begin with; delaying a further two days was surely not advisable.


    Long Yeyue continued, "I''ll make a trip; wait for news from me."


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this. It seemed that Long Yeyue had just made a very difficult decision, and Tang Wulin could see many complex emotions in her eyes, making it very apparent what she intended to do.


    "Elder Long, you..."


    Long Yeyue waved a dismissive hand, then said with a smile, "I''ve made up my mind; the resurgence of the academy and Tang Sect can''t just fall onto the shoulders of the younger generation. Some things simply can''t be avoided forever, and I''ve already avoided those things for a very long time. Alright, that''s all."


    After that, she strode forward and vanished into thin air before Tang Wulin could say anything further.


    Tang Wulin could only heave a faint sigh in the wake of her departure. There was simply far too little information about Eternal Heaven, and Long Yeyue was naturally aware that their operation was very unlikely to succeed, which was why she had made this decision.


    For the sake of Shrek Academy, she had already set aside her pride, which she had previously held in the highest of regard. The older generation of Shrek Academy really was worthy of respect.


    On this occasion, the Sea God Legion was taking the land route. Transportation by land required them to be more vigilant, but the existence of soul trains made modern transportation by land far easier.


    All of the large pieces of equipment had already arrived at the Northsea Legion through freight, and only the most advanced military equipment as well as around 80% of the entire Sea God Legion''s troops would be making this journey.


    For this purpose, the federation granted the Sea God Legion 30 trains to transport everything.


    Chen Xinjie was among the final group of people to set off, and he was seated in his very own luxury train carriage, looking out at the scenery passing by outside the window.


    As a quasigod, he didn''t need to cultivate anymore as his body had formed a natural circulation with heaven and earth. At the very least, his cultivation rank would remain stable until he passed away.


    It was very unlikely for him to make a further breakthrough due to the disappearance of the Divine Realm, and at his advanced age, he knew that he didn''t have any hope of becoming a god.


    There really was less greenery to be seen than in his youth. With all the skyscrapers and man-made structures around, greenery had become a very rare sight.


    The federation had clearly already discovered the shortage of life energy on this planet, and that''s why they were in such a hurry to secure more resources to support their space exploration projects.


    The third batch of spaceships had already been launched. The first batch never made it back, while the second batch had discovered some neighboring planets and even brought back some samples. Even though no other planet fit for human habitation had been discovered thus far, at the very least, this seemed to be the right direction.


    If the Douluo Star could support human life, then why couldn''t there be other similar planets?


    As such, he had always been in full support of space exploration research. However, he knew that this was not going to be an easy task. The federation had also become more environmentally conscious. At the very least, this planet had to last until they found a new one.


    As such, research into godslayer missiles and the source of metals had already been terminated for many years, and many research projects that required large amounts of resource expenditure had also been stopped.


    However, the environment was still worsening by the day.

 Chapter 1655: Stubbornness

    Powerful beings of the older generation like Chen Xinjie all understood that the seemingly irreversible worsening of the ecosystem was, in very large part, due to the gradual decline of soul beasts.


    Soul beasts had actually existed in this world before humans did, but humans had since slaughtered soul beasts with reckless abandon, and the situation worsened significantly after the founding of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Spirit Pagoda''s past goal was to facilitate peaceful coexistence between humans and soul beasts, but at some point, research into man-made soul spirits became a priority.


    This research required a massive number of soul beast specimens, and the Spirit Pagoda used this reason to dispel the parliament''s doubts and began to capture and slaughter soul beasts on a massive scale, using advanced technology to further cut down on the habitat of soul beasts.


    The Great Star Dou Forest had once been renowned as the core of life on the Douluo Continent, but it was nothing more than a glorified pen now.


    It certainly wasn''t the case that no one had discovered this issue, but what could they do? The Spirit Pagoda was already too powerful; even the federation would find it extremely difficult to undermine them.


    Chen Xinjie couldn''t help but heave an internal sigh. How could this current situation be changed?


    He had never set foot on the other two continents before, so he was unaware of the situation there. He had agreed to start a war in the hope of conquering those two continents and use life energy to reciprocate the Douluo Continent. At the very least, some immigration could be facilitated, and commercial manufacturing had to be significantly reduced. On top of that, the Spirit Pagoda had to be restrained.


    All of this required a unified rule as a prerequisite.


    He had constantly been searching for a figure that could lead the federation in a better direction, and he had found one. She was a member of the opposing faction, but for the sake of the federation''s future, she was the right choice. Unbeknownst to her, she would''ve already been assassinated countless times had she not been protected by the Battle God Hall in secret.


    Thinking back to her resolute expression as she vigorously lashed out at the Eagle Faction in parliament, a faint smile appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face.


    Her resilience and stubbornness really reminded him of a certain someone in their youth. Unfortunately, her past had been extremely tragic. His intervention had come too late in the end!


    However, it was exactly due to those tragic experiences that Mo Lan was bound to become an extremely important figure in the future.


    All of a sudden, Chen Xinjie seemed to have detected something, and a sharp look appeared in his eyes. At the same time, it was as if a series of massive waves had erupted within the carriage, all of which were surging toward a single direction.


    In that direction, light and darkness were intertwining incessantly, and a door of light was forcibly torn open.


    Chen Xinjie quickly withdrew his power upon sensing this familiar energy, and an incredulous look appeared on his face.


    He was just thinking of her, and now, she was here!


    Even though he already knew who it was, his pupils still contracted drastically at the sight of the person who emerged from the door of light. He had already seen her in her youthful form during the clash between Shrek Academy and Spirit Academy, but seeing her at such close quarters still struck him with an unprecedented sense of awe.


    Her long hair, her fair skin, her stubborn lips, her haughty disposition, and those jaded eyes that were in stark contrast to her beautiful appearance...


    "You, you..." A lump suddenly appeared in Chen Xinjie''s throat, rendering him unable to muster up a coherent sentence.


    Long Yeyue also stood in silence and appraised him from across the carriage.


    The train was still rapidly advancing, and the two of them continued to look at one another.


    In the end, it was Chen Xinjie who broke the silence first. "I''m so glad to see you again, Yeyue. Is it really alright for you to maintain this form? Wouldn''t it expend more of your life force?"


    All of a sudden, a film of tears welled up in Long Yeyue''s eyes.


    Chen Xinjie was the undisputed leading figure of the Eagle Faction, the commander-in-chief of the united fleet, the commander of the Sea God Legion, and the Battle God Hall Master. He was one of the figures who stood at the very pinnacle of the federation, yet he was left scrambling at the sight of those tears.


    "Don''t cry, Yeyue! What''s going on?" He strode over to her and reflexively raised a hand to wipe her tears away, only for Long Yeyue to slap his hand aside, while her tears evaporated amid a burst of light elements.


    However, she continued to appraise Chen Xinjie in silence, and he was beginning to grow rather uneasy. "What is it, Yeyue? Talk to me! Do you not want me to participate in this war?"


    No, that couldn''t be the case. She was so resolute and stubborn, to the point that he had never seen her display any vulnerability during all of the years they had known one another.


    If it hadn''t been for their mutual stubbornness, they would''ve already been together. It was their own fault that their relationship had reached a dead-end.


    Long Yeyue merely continued to appraise him, and his eyes gradually lost their focus.


    He was suddenly struck by the feeling that it wouldn''t be bad to just look at the woman of his dreams forever.


    As he had aged year by year, his stubbornness had gradually waned. Otherwise, that confession to Long Yeyue would''ve never happened. He was trying to fulfill his ultimate wish in the twilight of his life, and even though it was already too late, he couldn''t give up.


    In contrast, Long Yeyue was just as stubborn as she had been in her youth, but that was part of why he loved her!


    There were many factors behind their failed relationship in the end, but the most prominent wedge between them was that they each had their own responsibilities.


    Back when she had married the Sea God''s Pavilion Master of that generation, Chen Xinjie had fallen into a severe depression and went into seclusion for 10 years. After he emerged from seclusion, he had already become the youngest Limit Douluo in the history of the Battle God Hall. After that, he became the new Battle God Hall Master, and ever since then, the two of them had rarely ever met.


    However, his love for her had never changed.


    This was the first time that he had seen Long Yeyue shed tears. What kind of situation could drive such a strong woman to display such vulnerability?


    Chen Xinjie''s heart was aching so much that he was unable to breathe. He felt like he had returned to his youth, when he had just received news that she had married the Sea God''s Pavilion Master.


    Both of them were immersed in their own memories and remained silent for a long while.


    "Chen Xinjie." Long Yeyue''s voice was quite hoarse as she spoke.


    "What is it?" Chen Xinjie finally returned to his senses upon hearing her voice.


    "I''m here to ask you about the location of Eternal Heaven; are you willing to tell me?" It seemed to have taken all of Long Yeyue''s energy to muster up those words, and her eyes were filled with stubbornness and indignation as she spoke.


    It was no wonder that she had been driven to the point of tears; she had most likely never had to beg anyone for anything in her life.


    Chen Xinjie suddenly realized that she was here for Eternal Heaven, not for him, and that her indignation only stemmed from the fact that she was being forced to submit to him.

 Chapter 1656: I Dont Owe You Anything

    He knew that if he were to refuse, she would leave without any hesitation.


    Even 20 years ago, he would''ve definitely immediately refused. This was a matter of ideology, and he was the Battle God Hall Master, and a leader in the military.


    However, he found himself unable to reject her. He knew that she was here just to use him as a source of information, but he simply couldn''t muster up the urge to turn her down.


    A hint of disappointment appeared in his eyes as he asked, "Is that why you came to see me?"


    "That''s right," Long Yeyue replied without any hesitation.


    Chen Xinjie opened his mouth again, but couldn''t find any words.


    Long Yeyue merely continued to look into his eyes in silence, offering no explanation nor persuasion.


    Chen Xinjie suddenly asked, "Will you agree to be with me if I tell you?"


    Long Yeyue faltered slightly upon hearing this, and she reflexively asked, "If I say yes, would you be willing to tell me?"


    "I would," Chen Xinjie replied without any hesitation as a faint smile appeared on his face. Long Yeyue shuddered as if she had been electrocuted upon hearing this.


    "What happened to your ideals? Your sense of duty? Your familial pride?" Long Yeyue interrogated as she took a step toward him.


    Chen Xinjie replied in a calm voice, "None of that is important to me anymore. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have said what I told you last time. I''ve lived for others for far too much of my life. Now that I''m approaching the end of my own life, I only want to live for myself and be with the one I love; nothing can stop me. I can tell you the location of Eternal Heaven, then resign right away. Even if you don''t want to be with me, I''m satisfied as long as I can see you every day until the day I die. I won''t interrupt your daily life; all that I ask is that I get to see you once every day, would you be willing to agree?"


    A film of tears reappeared in Long Yeyue''s eyes, and her voice suddenly spiked up a few octaves as she asked, "Do you think that you can claim the moral high ground just because of what you said? Do you think you can win me back now?"


    "I don''t!" Chen Xinjie''s voice also became louder as he denied, "Such thoughts have never crossed my mind. Yeyue, please believe me when I say that there''s nothing more important to me than you in this world. I missed my opportunity to be with you in my youth because I was too stubborn. For my family, the federation, and my teachers, I had no choice. At the time, you also chose to leave me to return to Shrek Academy. At the time, we were both too stubborn and unyielding. Now, none of that applies to me anymore.


    "What happens to the continent and the federation isn''t that important to me anymore. For you, I''m willing to give up everything; all I ask you now is whether you''re willing to be with me."


    Long Yeyue suddenly raised a hand and gave Chen Xinjie a vicious slap, using so much force that he was only able to steady himself after stumbling around in a full pirouette.


    Chen Xinjie stared at her in a slack-jawed manner, and in that instant, it was as if the overbearing Long Yeyue had returned.


    "I''m willing to be with you." The tears finally began to flow down Long Yeyue''s face, and it was if she felt extremely disgraced to say those words.


    Chen Xinjie stared blankly at her, and asked, "You still haven''t given up, have you? You only agreed for the sake of Shrek Academy, didn''t you?"


    "That''s right!" Long Yeyue replied in a proud manner, "The glory of Shrek Academy is a part of my very being. For the sake of Shrek Academy, I''m willing to endure anything. I swore in my younger days that I would never forgive you, but I''m willing to revoke my vow for the sake of Shrek Academy. In my heart, Shrek Academy is always number one."


    Chen Xinjie''s face took on an ashy complexion as he stumbled back into his chair and closed his eyes with a pained expression. "Why, Yeyue? Why would you do this to me?"


    Long Yeyue pressed in a cold voice, "I''ve already agreed to your condition; it''s time for you to tell me the location."


    Chen Xinjie paused for a moment with a heartbroken expression before finally replying, "Eternal Heaven is situated in the deepest part of the Battle God Hall headquarters'' 18th floor."


    A weight seemed to have been lifted from Long Yeyue''s shoulders, and a hint of complex emotion suddenly appeared in her eyes as she waved a hand through the air, conjuring up another door of light. As she stepped into the door of light, she asked, "Chen Xinjie, I don''t owe you anything, and you don''t owe me anything, either. Do you know why I swore a vow to never forgive you?"


    Chen Xinjie opened his eyes just in time to see Long Yeyue step into the door of light. "Why?"


    Long Yeyue''s cold voice rang out from deep within the door of light. "Because on the day you left me, I discovered that I was bearing your child..."


    "Yeyue..." Chen Xinjie instantly rose to his feet and rushed toward the door of light like a madman, but it completely closed and vanished right before he could reach it.


    All of a sudden, his entire body was instantly drenched in cold sweat. He finally understood why Long Yeyue had harbored so much resentment toward him for all these years and why she had married the Sea God''s Pavilion Master.


    He had heard that Long Yeyue and the Sea God''s Pavilion Master had had a child, but that the child had died at birth, and even Yali had been powerless to save it.


    That was his child!


    Chen Xinjie gave himself a vicious slap with all his might.


    ......


    "Eternal Heaven is situated in the deepest part of the Battle God Hall headquarters'' 18th floor."


    That was the only sentence spoken by Long Yeyue before she ended her call with Tang Wulin. Even so, Tang Wulin could clearly hear the exhaustion in her voice.


    He didn''t know how she had managed to secure this information, but it was undoubtedly reliable. With this all-important lead, all they had to do next was infiltrate the Battle God Hall and secure Eternal Heaven. At the very least, this situation was far better than compared to when they had no clue what they were doing.


    Tang Wulin knew that this most likely had something to do with Long Yeyue and Chen Xinjie''s complex relationship, but naturally couldn''t figure out exactly what had happened.


    In any case, he had no time to be thinking about this; nothing was more important than securing Eternal Heaven.


    "Get me all of the information about the Battle God Hall that our Tang Sect has."


    After issuing that order, Tang Wulin gave Cao Dezhi a call. "Your Majesty, do you know anything about the deepest part of the Battle God Hall headquarters'' 18th floor?"


    There had been three Blood Gods of the Blood God Battalion that had come from the Battle God Hall, and not only was Cao Dezhi one of the Blood Gods, he had also been a general, so he should know quite a bit about the Battle God Hall.


    "Is this information reliable?" Cao Dezhi''s voice instantly sprang up a few octaves.

 Chapter 1657: Father...

    The ownership rights over Eternal Heaven were simply far too important. Even for powerful beings of Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin''s caliber, the Shrek City bombing had traumatized them greatly. The Tang Sect''s super soul array system had been designed specifically to guard against godslayer missiles, but Eternal Heaven was said to be the most fearsome weapon in human history with power that exceeded the sum of the other two godslayer missiles; who could rest easy with such a fearsome weapon out there?


    With the advancement of technology, Limit Douluos who were four-word battle armor masters were no longer invincible; even the Atlas Douluo in his prime wouldn¡¯t have dared to stand against Eternal Heaven.


    Furthermore, the unreplicable nature of Eternal Heaven made it even more valuable from a strategic perspective. Not only would it ensure the safety of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, it could help them completely turn the tables.


    "The information is from Elder Long, so it''s definitely accurate. I''m assuming she went to go see the Boundless Ocean Douluo," Tang Wulin replied.


    Cao Dezhi was enlightened upon hearing this, and he said, "Alright, come to Heaven Dou City and I''ll give you the full details."


    Tang Wulin immediately agreed to this, and after ending the call, he decided to take Ling Zichen with him to Heaven Dou City.


    Their soul car traveled along the highway that had been recently constructed as part of the Shrek Academy rebuild. Now, there were several main roads connecting the Sea God''s Lake to the surrounding highways, making it a lot more convenient to get to and from the academy.


    "Why do I have to come? Can''t you go on your own?" Ling Zichen grumbled with a sour expression.


    Come to think of it, her expression was rarely ever not sour.


    Tang Wulin replied, "You need to be able to do your part in this operation. With your expertise in soul technology, there''s a very good chance we''ll have to rely on you to deal with all of the obstructive soul tools in the Battle God Hall headquarters, so you have to come with me. Also, what have you been up to these past few days?"


    He very rarely saw Ling Zichen, and even today, it had taken him a very long time to find her.


    "I''m overseeing the construction of the super soul array system. There are many parts that aren''t up to scratch, and certain sections are off by as much as a few millimeters. The angle of some of the arrays are also incorrect; all of this would result in increased energy expenditure and decreased effectiveness of the system. If you ask me, these people need to be whipped every day so they can do their jobs more diligently."


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids twitched slightly upon seeing this. He had examined the construction of the super soul array system himself, and it was already being constructed very accurately and precisely.


    "Did you put their work under a microscope? Don''t be so nitpicky," Tang Wulin said in a resigned manner.


    "You''re calling me nitpicky?" Ling Zichen''s voice immediately sprang up a few octaves, and she turned to glower at Tang Wulin with a vicious expression.


    "Not at all! You''re absolutely correct!" Tang Wulin immediately backed down; there was simply no reasoning with a madwoman!


    Ling Zichen harrumphed coldly, "With such severe resource shortages, all of our resources must be used extremely carefully, and any waste is criminal. Do you know how much resources it would take to construct an academy of your scale? Back when the two Limit Douluos first proposed this plan, I was the first to object, and even now, I still stand by my objection. I can barely think of a more egregious waste than to use so much resources to protect an academy!"


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "You''re correct to say that resources shouldn''t be wasted, but they still have to be used. Shrek Academy is a place of education; it is vital for the future. During the Shrek Academy bombing, all of the teachers sacrificed themselves to protect us, the students. Many of them would''ve been able to escape had they tried, but they didn''t do that; why is that? Our Tang Sect has chosen to expend so much resources to rebuild the academy precisely because they also want to protect this beacon of hope. On top of that, this is also being done to protect our Tang Sect; how can we strive to help the entire continent when we don''t even have a safe base of operations?"


    "Alright, alright, I should''ve known you''d give such a boring lecture. I''m going to take a nap; don''t disrupt me."


    Ling Zichen set her seat to recline mode as she spoke, and her breathing quickly evened out.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin began to think of all of the possible scenarios that could arise during this operation. Whether they could obtain Eternal Heaven or not could very well decide whether this war would eventuate, as well as whether Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect could return to their former glory, so this operation was extremely important.


    The driver of the car was a Soul Douluo who was a direct disciple of Zang Xin''s.


    All of a sudden, Ling Zichen''s breathing began to accelerate, immediately drawing Tang Wulin''s attention.


    Currently, Ling Zichen''s brows were tightly furrowed, but her eyes were still shut, and it seemed that she was having a nightmare. The domineering disposition she gave off during her waking hours had completely disappeared, and she was curled up on her seat like a vulnerable little kitten. There was even a line of drool slowly flowing out of the corner of her mouth.


    "Father..." All of a sudden, she shuddered before grabbing tightly onto Tang Wulin''s arm. Of course, her grip was only tight for a normal person, but it wasn''t much for Tang Wulin. However, her despairing cry sent tremors running through Tang Wulin''s heart.


    He instantly recalled Gu Yuena during her period of amnesia, where she had also referred to him as her father. That was the most peaceful period of time they had spent together ever since their relationship had been established. Whenever he thought back to those times, he would think that perhaps it wouldn''t be so bad if things had remained that way.


    "Father..." Ling Zichen called out once again, and there were already tears flowing down her cheeks as her body trembled slightly.


    It was hard to imagine that someone so overbearing could display such vulnerability.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t bring himself to withdraw his arm, and merely allowed her to hold onto it.


    Ling Zichen''s grasp gradually loosened, and her tightly-wound body also relaxed as she laid her head onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder, pressing her entire body against his arms as if she had found a safe harbor; she was even gently rubbing Tang Wulin''s shoulder with her cheek from time to time.


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather awkward. He couldn''t bear to push her away when she was so vulnerable, but with her exceptional figure, he felt as if there were two soft balloons pressing against his arm. The car was traveling in a very stable manner, but there were inevitable bumps and tremors constantly reminding him of what was pressing against his arm, making him feel even more awkward.


    The driver, Liu Jingyun, took a glance at the rearview mirror, and his jaw almost dropped into his lap at the sight that greeted him. As Zang Xin''s disciple, he was naturally familiar with Ling Zichen, and he was regularly scolded and abused by her. With Ling Zichen''s notorious reputation, everyone gave her a wide berth, but at the same time, she was a goddess among the researchers of the Tang Sect, and no one dared to mess with those scientists.


    As such, in a sense, it could be said that she was an uncrowned master of the Tang Sect. Aside from the two Limit Douluos, she was the most influential figure in the entire sect.

 Chapter 1658: Old Man Cao

    Tang Wulin had only met her for the first time recently, but Liu Jingyun had known her for a long time, and he was wondering whether all of the scientists of the Tang Sect would revolt against Tang Wulin if they were to witness this scene...


    After a brief hesitation, Tang Wulin decided to withdraw his arm to avoid the awkward situation that would eventuate once she woke up.


    However, just as he was preparing to carefully pull back his own arm, Ling Zichen''s voice suddenly rang out. "Don''t move; let me sleep for a while longer."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this before looking down to find that her eyes were still shut, and she was curled up into a ball like an obedient kitten.


    Tang Wulin opened his mouth to say something, but didn''t say anything in the end, and soon, Ling Zichen''s breathing evened out again.


    Tang Wulin discovered that even though Ling Zichen wasn''t a powerful Soul Master, she was very adept at controlling her own body. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have failed to discover that she had already woken up. However, once she began drooling onto his shoulder, he knew that she had finally fallen asleep again.


    The car drove into Heaven Dou City, and Ling Zichen suddenly sat up, leaving Tang Wulin''s arm feeling rather cold and exposed in the absence of her warmth.


    Ling Zichen''s eyes were still shut, and she leaned back into her seat as she said, "Don''t overthink it; I was only borrowing your shoulder, and I let you take advantage of me, so neither of us owes the other anything."


    Tang Wulin really wanted to issue a retort, but he chose the chivalrous route and remained silent in the end. Furthermore, Ling Zichen''s cries for her father were still reverberating in his mind.


    Even a domineering woman like her was fragile on the inside.


    "Sect Master Tang, Big Sister Ling, we''re here." Liu Jingyun parked the car in the underground carpark before opening Tang Wulin and Ling Zichen''s doors for them.


    The two of them got out of the car, and Ling Zichen immediately walked away as if she were intentionally keeping her distance from Tang Wulin.


    Liu Jingyun took a glance at Tang Wulin, and there was a strange look in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin glared at him, and Liu Jingyun immediately looked away, but there was clearly an amused smile on his face. It was exactly because he had known Ling Zichen for a long time that he could identify the special treatment she was giving Tang Wulin.


    After entering the underground world of the Tang Sect''s Heaven Dou City branch, Ling Zichen continued to lead from the front while Tang Wulin trailed along behind her.


    Along the way, they naturally encountered some disciples of the Tang Sect, all of whom would immediately stop at the sight of Ling Zichen, then take a reflexive step backward before extending a respectful greeting toward her. The same level of respect was extended toward Tang Wulin as well, but they were clearly a lot more relieved to be seeing him.


    What kind of image did everyone have of this woman?


    "Where are you, Old Man Cao?" Ling Zichen made a call as she walked, and Tang Wulin couldn''t help but stumble upon hearing this, only just barely catching himself before he could fall over.


    It was clear who this "Old Man Cao" was.


    Tang Wulin had a lot of respect for the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect, so he was quite stunned to hear this informal title.


    Furthermore, Ling Zichen was speaking to "Old Man Cao" as if they were family, rather than in a haughty and impolite manner.


    Ling Zichen turned and glared at Tang Wulin, who had only just steadied himself, then said, "Alright, we''re coming now."


    Tang Wulin knew that engaging in a war of words would be unwise, so he merely remained silent. Liu Jingyun''s expression remained unchanged, so it was clear that Ling Zichen had been referring to Cao Dezhi as such for a long time.


    After arriving at Cao Dezhi''s office, the first thing that Tang Wulin wanted to blurt out was "please take this madwoman back"!


    "Old Man Cao!" A rare smile appeared on Ling Zichen''s face, and she rushed forward before diving into Cao Dezhi''s arms.


    Cao Dezhi also wore a doting smile as he gently stroked her long hair. "Don''t you think you''re a little too old to be skipping around like a little girl?"


    Tang Wulin felt as if there were 10,000 mechas stampeding over his heart. Was this woman really still the same person?!


    Cao Dezhi then turned to Tang Wulin with a smile. "Sect Master."


    "Greetings, Your Majesty." Tang Wulin reflexively extended a military salute toward Cao Dezhi. This was a lingering habit from the Blood God Legion; in his heart, Cao Dezhi was still Blood One.


    Liu Jingyun exited the room, and Cao Dezhi patted Ling Zichen, who was unwilling to let go of him, and said, "Alright, let''s discuss some official matters first."


    Only then did Ling Zichen release him, and after all three of them took a seat, Tang Wulin relayed the information he had received from Long Yeyue once again.


    "What''s your plan?" Cao Dezhi asked.


    Tang Wulin paused momentarily before taking a glance at Ling Zichen, who immediately began glowering at him. "What? Are you trying to keep secrets from me?"


    Tang Wulin said, "Your Majesty, I wish to speak to you about my plan alone. It''s not that I don''t trust Head Researcher Ling; I''m simply worried that she may unintentionally expose the plan."


    Ling Zichen immediately flared up with rage. "What are you trying to say, Tang Wulin? Are you saying I only have big boobs but no brain?"


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this. "Don''t put words into my mouth; all I''m saying is that the fewer people that know the exact details of the plan, the better."


    Ling Zichen stabbed a finger in his direction and was just about to let loose a scathing tirade when Cao Dezhi scolded with a strict expression, "Don''t be so unprofessional in the presence of the Sect Master, Zichen. Go and rest in the other room for now."


    Ling Zichen took a glance at him, then gave an indignant harrumph before departing.


    Following her departure, Cao Dezhi said, "I need to give you a detailed run-down of the situation in the Battle God Hall."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    Cao Dezhi continued, "As a Soul Master organization under the direct jurisdiction of the federation, the Battle God Hall has gathered all of the powerful beings under the federation''s direct command. Its headquarters is situated in the mountain range to the west of Bright City, and that mountain range is a military control zone guarded by both the Battle God Hall and the Central Legion, which is under the federal government''s jurisdiction. The Central Legion is one of the federation''s most elite legions, and it''s mainly responsible for guarding Bright City alongside the Sea God Legion.


    "Hence, if you want to enter the Battle God Hall headquarters, you''ll have to pass through the Central Legion as the Battle God Hall headquarters is situated in the core area of the Central Legion."


    Tang Wulin was quite surprised to hear this. "The Battle God Hall Master is the Boundless Ocean Douluo, who''s also the commander of the Sea God Legion, so why is the Battle God Hall situated in the Central Legion?"


    Cao Dezhi replied, "This was intentionally designed by the federation. Chen Xinjie is a leading figure in the military, but not the only one. There needs to be a power balance or massive unrest could result. The official reasoning for this arrangement is so that the Central Legion can protect the Battle God Hall, but in reality, it''s more to supervise the Battle God Hall. As such, the Battle God Hall and the Central Legion aren''t on good terms with one another."

 Chapter 1659: Discussion

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


    ......


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


    "Alright."


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


    "Please come with me, Head Researcher Ling."


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

 Chapter 1660: Re-emergence of the Infernal King Douluo

    Ling Zichen rolled her eyes at Tang Wulin before giving a cold harrumph, and only then did she make her way into the room.


    Tang Wulin turned to Zang Xin with a resigned expression, while Zang Xin gave him a comforting look.


    By the time Tang Wulin and Ling Zichen emerged from the Tang Sect headquarters, it was already dark outside. However, they had no intention of spending the night in Heaven Dou City. Instead, they were going to return to Shrek Academy overnight to begin the preparatory work.


    Time was of the essence, so they couldn''t afford any delays.


    In the driver''s seat, Liu Jingyun couldn''t help but feel like something was off. Ling Zichen seemed to have become a lot colder, while Tang Wulin had a contemplative look in his eyes. Liu Jingyun didn''t know what had happened, but the two of them seemed to have grown apart somehow.


    Did they have a fight? In any case, Liu Jingyun didn''t dare to ask.


    The car gradually sped up as it entered the highway, and Liu Jingyun focused on his driving, paying no further heed to the situation behind him. He didn''t want to think about Tang Wulin and Ling Zichen''s relationship anyway.


    All of a sudden, a chill ran down Liu Jingyun''s spine. There was a constant temperature maintained within the car, but this chilling sensation seemed to have welled up in his body.


    Could this have been caused by the emotional fluctuations of the two people behind him? That was his first thought, but he quickly dismissed it.


    Just as he was about to raise the alarm, a scorching sensation suddenly erupted behind him. Immediately thereafter, the car shuddered violently, and a burst of power swept into the car from above, forcing the car to slow down, but not causing it to veer out of control.


    The night was illuminated by golden light, and only then did Liu Jingyun discover that a large area ahead had already turned a grey color.


    A figure was slowly making his way toward them from within that vast grey area, while Tang Wulin was hovering in the air above with golden scales all over his body, looking on at the man emerging from the grey world.


    Even before Liu Jingyun had sensed that something was wrong, Tang Wulin had already arrived at the same realization, and he tore open the roof of the car with his golden dragon claws before rising up into the air, but he didn''t attempt to flee. Liu Jingyun and Ling Zichen were still down below, so he couldn''t just escape.


    He had grown too complacent in the end as the opposition had disappeared for such a long time. In addition to that, there wasn''t much distance between Shrek City and Heaven Dou City, and there were multiple Limit Douluos on both ends, so he didn''t think that the opposition would choose to strike here.


    "Infernal King Douluo Harosha!" Tang Wulin mused in a grim voice.


    Indeed, the man who had emerged from the grey world was none other than Infernal King Douluo Harosha, a true quasigod.


    With every step that he took, the surrounding greyness would become slightly clearer, and it was as if he were strolling out of the underworld. The Infernal King Sword in his hand was giving off faint grey light, and the translucent body of the sword looked as if it had been carved out of grey crystal.


    Back when he had last faced Harosha, Tang Wulin had still only been a Soul Douluo, and he was completely powerless in the face of a quasigod. However, the situation was completely different on this occasion.


    It was exactly because Tang Wulin had become significantly more powerful that he was able to truly fathom just how fearsome Harosha was.


    This was the same feeling as when he had faced the abyssal plane for the very first time. Even though he was already a Hyper Douluo with powers comparable to ordinary Limit Douluos, he was still struck by a sense of complete insignificance and inferiority in Harosha''s presence.


    He knew that this was a man who was infinitely approaching a godly level.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t concerned about his own safety due to the connection he shared with the tree of life, so he wasn''t panicked in the slightest.


    In fact, he was rather excited to be facing Harosha. He had encountered a bottleneck in his recent cultivation, and nothing would benefit him more than facing a threat to his life at a time like this. Thus, Harosha had essentially come at the perfect time.


    Harosha continued to stroll forward, and his footsteps appeared to be quite slow, but with every step that he took, the infernal hell around him was gradually spreading. Once his infernal hell fully evolved, he would be a god in this world.


    Just as Tang Wulin was appraising him, he was also looking back at Tang Wulin.


    He finally understood why the Spirit Pagoda had sent them over 10 urgent messages and was willing to expend a massive price to employ his services again; this Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master was simply developing far too quickly.


    Harosha was a legend in the Soul Master world, and to reach this level, aptitude alone was far from enough; there were many other factors involved including learning ability, conscientiousness, and luck.


    Not much time had passed since their last encounter, but Tang Wulin had already grown from a Soul Douluo to a Hyper Douluo.


    Hovering in mid-air, Tang Wulin was like a scorching sun that was giving off powerful blood essence fluctuations, which were suppressing the infernal hell around him.


    What was even more unsettling to him was that he couldn''t see where Tang Wulin''s limits were. The quasigod level was the upper limit of this world, but he could sense that Tang Wulin''s potential lay beyond that, and that further fueled the killing intent in his heart.


    With each message the Spirit Pagoda had sent, they had reiterated their wariness toward Tang Wulin. They had even proclaimed that unless he was nipped in the bud, a new Atlas Douluo would arise, and that would have a massive impact on both the Spirit Pagoda and the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Thus, even though the Holy Spirit Cult had a massive operation in progress, Harosha had still arrived in person to take care of this matter. After all, they definitely couldn''t allow the emergence of another Atlas Douluo.


    Finally, Harosha stopped around 100 meters away from Tang Wulin''s soul car, then slowly raised his Infernal King Sword.


    "Your luck seems to have run out today," Harosha said in an indifferent voice.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he was able to keep the biting chill at bay with his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    "I don''t think that; I think I''m very lucky to have encountered you at a time like this."


    Harosha looked at Tang Wulin''s confident smile, and for some reason, a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart.


    At his level, intuition and instinct were not to be ignored, so he immediately sprang into action as soon as this feeling appeared.


    He raised both of his hands at once and tapped the middle finger of his right hand onto his Infernal King Sword, upon which the surrounding greyness surged outward like a massive lotus flower.

 Chapter 1661: Cant You Have Some Confidence in Me

    It was also right at this moment that Tang Wulin came plummeting out of the sky like a golden shooting star.


    A resounding explosion rang out, and Liu Jingyun had already drawn upon his soul power to ward off the resulting shockwaves, but he was still struck by a rush of dizziness, and the entire world around him had turned golden.


    Tang Wulin had slammed violently onto the ground with scorching dragon''s repulse erupting out of his body, transforming into a giant dragon''s head with a diameter of dozens of meters.


    The dragon''s head let loose a thunderous roar, and the oncoming waves of grey energy were kept at bay, unable to reach the soul car.


    Ling Zichen rose up into the air in her pink mecha, but just as she was about to do something, she was suddenly struck by the feeling that her body, soul, and mind had all been frozen solid.


    Specks of pink light appeared on her mecha, and an energy barrier took shape, protecting her from all directions.


    Looking down at the battlefield, Ling Zichen couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath.


    She wasn''t a Soul Master; she was simply an ordinary person who had attained extraordinary power through technology, and her dedication to technological research could be partially attributed to the fact that she wasn''t a Soul Master. She had always felt that the technology she developed would surpass all Soul Masters someday; she was going to surpass natural gifts with her technology.


    She had constantly been striving toward this goal, and had made one breakthrough after another, which had instilled within her immense confidence.


    However, she couldn''t help but be stunned as she calculated the intensity of energy at the epicenter of the clash.


    Was this the power of top-tier Soul Masters? She could clearly sense that Infernal King Douluo Harosha''s aura was more powerful than that of any Soul Master she had ever encountered.


    In terms of individual combat prowess, even Cao Dezhi seemed to be inferior.


    However, Tang Wulin had charged into battle against such a formidable foe without any hesitation, and he really had managed to keep Harosha''s first attack at bay.


    Was he going easy on me during our sparring match?


    At this point, Liu Jingyun had already rushed out of the car as well. A clear ringing sound rang out as he quickly donned his suit of battle armor, and a white dragon projection emerged beneath his feet to carry him up into the air. At the same time, a white longsword appeared in his hand, and the tip of the sword was a dragon''s head that was moving incessantly as if it were a living creature.


    This was his martial soul, the Flying Dragon Sword.


    The sound of horse hooves pounding on pavement suddenly rang out, and a series of massive figures emerged from within the darkness. At the same time, countless shadowy figures appeared in the grey world; this was Harosha''s Infernal King Legion.


    The legion was led by the 12 Infernal Horror Cavaliers, and they converged toward Tang Wulin from all directions.


    The grey and golden colors on the ground subsided almost at the exact same moment, thus revealing Tang Wulin and Harosha.


    Harosha looked at Tang Wulin''s three-word battle armor, and remarked, "You''ve developed very quickly; it''s a pity that everything ends here for you."


    As soon as his voice trailed off, he slashed his Infernal King Sword through the air, and the grey world instantly turned transparent.


    All of the grey mist abruptly took on a translucent quality, and Tang Wulin''s body was instantly transformed into a grey crystalline statue that was rooted to the spot.


    Ling Zichen''s heart immediately jumped into her throat upon seeing this. Right at this moment, a massive figure appeared in the dark night sky, and a huge grey blade of light descended directly toward her.


    Ling Zichen instinctively shot back in retreat, and a pair of short spears appeared in her grasp, releasing two slim beams of light that instantly fell upon the grey blade of light.


    A resounding explosion of pink light erupted forth, and an armor-clad cavalier appeared before being blasted back through the air.


    Immediately thereafter, a dragon''s roar rang out, and a white dragon struck the cavalier''s chest with a dull thump, forcing it back even further.


    Instead of setting off in pursuit of the cavalier, Ling Zichen drew back her arms before hurling both of her spears toward Harosha in unison.


    However, Harosha''s gaze remained fixed entirely on Tang Wulin, and he slashed his Infernal King Sword through the air again. As a result, the pair of short spears were instantly transformed into grey crystalline structures, and were immobilized on the spot.


    "This is my world, and it has no place for you!" He pointed his Infernal King Sword toward Tang Wulin''s crystalline body as he spoke.


    "No!" Ling Zichen screamed as scintillating pink light erupted from her body, and she instantly reached Tang Wulin before positioning herself in front of him.


    At the same time, the pink light around her body turned a bright red, and a burst of extremely fearsome energy fluctuations radiated forth.


    All of the energy cores on her body were releasing energy fluctuations more than 10 times more powerful than before, but at the same time, the energy had become extremely violent and unstable.


    Harosha''s Infernal King Sword reached her in an instant, but was forced to a standstill in the instant before it struck her body.


    The fact that even Harosha had been stopped cold in his tracks was sufficient testament to just how fearsome the energy fluctuations radiating from her body were.


    The red light expanded and instantly struck Tang Wulin, sending him flying back through the air, while Ling Zichen took advantage of the propulsion force to launch herself toward Harosha.


    Harosha was finally forced to direct his attention toward this woman, and he murmured to himself, "Where did this madwoman come from?"


    At the same time, he flew back like a bolt of grey lightning, not daring to clash with Ling Zichen.


    Right at this moment, the deathly grey ground was suddenly illuminated by a layer of piercing reddish-golden light, and a reddish-golden vine abruptly emerged from the ground, then wound itself around Ling Zichen, who was about to continue attacking Harosha.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s voice rang out. "Can''t you have some confidence in me? Hurry up and control your energy."


    The roars of countless dragons rang out, and a series of reddish-golden dragon patterns emerged from the ground, releasing powerful blood essence fluctuations that turned the entire grey world a reddish-golden color.


    The statue in the distance abruptly exploded, and Tang Wulin re-emerged in his suit of three-word battle armor. His body had swelled to over three times its original size, and there was rainbow light shimmering all around while his battle armor had become a lot thicker and heavier than it normally was.


    As he took a series of steps forward, a string of crisp clangs rang out.


    Tang Wulin''s suit of three-word battle armor had clearly undergone some type of change, making it seem quite bulky and oversized, but also resemble an immovable mountain.


    His Golden Blood Dragon domain was released to its fullest extent, and a series of giant reddish-golden dragons were rising up out of the ground.


    This was only a suit of three-word battle armor, but for some reason, it seemed to be different in Harosha''s eyes. He couldn''t pinpoint exactly what was different; all he could sense was that there was something hidden within this suit of bulky battle armor.


    The slender Golden Dragon Spear had already appeared in Tang Wulin''s grasp, and with the release of his Golden Blood Dragon domain, his aura was spiking at a drastic rate, as were his scorching blood essence fluctuations.

 Chapter 1662: Full-frontal Clash

    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and a band of reddish-golden light that was around five meters wide emerged from beneath his feet, instantly forging a connection between himself and Harosha.


    As a result, Harosha was struck by the feeling that his aura was being suppressed; it was his bloodline that was being suppressed by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King blood essence fluctuations. In the next instant, the reddish-golden light had reached him like a violent wave.


    What was even more formidable was that in the instant that the wave of light reached him, it converged to form the sharp tip of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    This was a combination of Tang Wulin''s Path of Regal Domination and All or Nothing.


    Under the enhancement of his Golden Blood Dragon domain, the two attacks were incredibly powerful, and were definitely at the Limit Douluo level.


    At this point, Ling Zichen had already withdrawn her energy, and she had only just managed to stabilize her own mecha when this scene unfolded.


    It was as if countless reddish-golden giant dragons had risen up in her field of view, guarding Tang Wulin from all sides, while Tang Wulin himself seemed to have become the ruler of this entire world. The image of the spear strike he was unleashing against Harosha left a deep impression in Ling Zichen''s heart.


    Never did she think that a man could put on such a spectacular and breathtaking display.


    In the face of the reddish-golden spear projection, Harosha did nothing more than raise his head, yet as he did so, the entire time and space seemed to have instantly congealed.


    Massive white web patterns appeared within Tang Wulin''s Golden Blood Dragon domain, striking the onlooker with an involuntary sense of horror.


    At the same time, Harosha''s eyes had turned completely white.


    His Infernal King Sword appeared in front of the spear projection as if it had been there all along, and as the tips of the two weapons clashed, a crisp clang rang out, following which the reddish-golden color quickly began to fade.


    The giant reddish-golden dragons wailed as their bodies were shattered, and all of the reddish-golden color in the surrounding area was replaced by deathly greyness again.


    Countless deathly beings were revived, forming another army that stormed directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Harosha was one of the most powerful Evil Soul Masters in existence, and in this instant, he was unleashing his true power.


    Tang Wulin could sense that Harosha''s upper body had swayed upon being struck by the Golden Dragon Spear, but it had only swayed ever so slightly.


    Tang Wulin was very satisfied with that spear strike. In the face of such immense pressure, the All or Nothing he had unleashed had been imbued with unprecedentedly powerful spear intent that was finally bordering on the realm of spear essence.


    From spear intent to spear soul to spear essence, each step entailed a fundamental leap.


    Tang Wulin was only a Hyper Douluo, yet he had been able to sway a quasigod like Harosha, and that was certainly something to be proud of.


    However, Tang Wulin had no time to linger on that feeling as his three-word battle armor domain had been crushed, and even his suit of three-word battle armor had dimmed slightly. The infernal army had converged from all sides, and Harosha was also approaching.


    Liu Jingyun was already struggling to ward off the surrounding death cavaliers, and it was Ling Zichen who had swooped in to save him. Harosha''s Infernal Hell had sealed this entire area, so no messages or signals could be sent out.


    Furthermore, he had chosen to attack right in between Shrek Academy and Heaven Dou City, so they were situated quite far away from both ends.


    Two strangely-shaped skeletons pounced toward Tang Wulin, wielding massive bone sabers that were several meters in length.


    Golden light flashed within Tang Wulin''s eyes, and his battle intent was unshaken despite the destruction of his domain.


    He stomped his left foot heavily onto the ground, and the gravity within a diameter of 100 meters around him abruptly changed.


    All of the deathly beings in that area were instantly reduced to dust, clearing out a wide berth around him.


    This was the gravitational control of his Mountain Dragon King torso bone!


    Right at this moment, Harosha descended upon Tang Wulin before unleashing an unavoidable strike with his Infernal King Sword.


    Tang Wulin lashed out with his Golden Dragon Spear once again, unleashing his Fury of the Masses in retaliation.


    Another crisp clang rang out, and Tang Wulin was forced to stumble backward, but at the same time, he thrust his left hand toward the ground, using Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to send himself flying horizontally to evade the second sword strike.


    Immediately thereafter, he unleashed his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, unleashing countless spear projections to attack Harosha from all directions.


    Harosha''s movements seemed to maintain a constant rhythm that wasn''t slowing down nor speeding up, but each sword strike that he unleashed was extremely difficult for Tang Wulin to nullify.


    In the face of Harosha''s fearsome offensive power, Tang Wulin was forced into constant retreat, but he was somehow able to hold his own.


    At this point, Harosha''s killing intent had been elevated to the very max. Even though he hadn''t unleashed a full-power attack yet, he was already using the full power of his domain. Even a rookie Limit Douluo would struggle in the face of attacks of this caliber, yet Tang Wulin was able to withstand them, albeit with some difficulty.


    This young man was already this formidable as a Hyper Douluo; once he became a Limit Douluo, he would be a truly fearsome opponent.


    Furthermore, how was his soul power so abundant? Clashes of this level of intensity were extremely taxing on one''s soul power, and generally speaking, a quasigod naturally had a significant advantage over a Hyper Douluo in this regard.


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t seem to be displaying any signs of weakness.


    All of this proved that he was different, and the immense potential he was displaying as a Hyper Douluo was truly very disturbing for Harosha.


    Harosha had been a quasigod for quite a long time, and it was exactly because of this that he knew just how difficult it was to make that final breakthrough into godhood.


    In order to do so, one would have to break through the boundaries of this realm, and without the guidance of the Divine Realm, this was a virtually impossible task.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had provided a theoretically viable plan to accomplish this, which was why he had joined them.


    Even though Tang Wulin was still only a Hyper Douluo, Harosha could clearly sense that he had the potential to break through all limits in the future.


    He definitely couldn''t allow Tang Wulin to fully develop as once he did so, it was very likely that a new Divine Realm would be created. Once that happened, the Douluo Continent would have a new master, and as the ruler of this world, there was no way that Tang Wulin would allow Evil Soul Masters to become gods.


    WIth that in mind, Harosha suddenly ceased in his attacks, and countless spear projections instantly fell upon his suit of grey battle armor.


    However, even the formidable Golden Dragon Spear could only leave some slight indentations on Harosha''s suit of four-word battle armor.


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to consider why Harosha had abandoned his offensive efforts, Harosha''s eyes suddenly turned a deathly white color again.

 Chapter 1663: Withering Death

    Harosha gripped onto his Infernal King Sword with both hands, then plunged it into the ground before him.


    All of a sudden, grey light erupted around his body like a blooming flower.


    This was not good!


    As soon as the grey light began to spread, Tang Wulin was immediately struck by a sense of severe peril, and he immediately reacted.


    The passage of time was instantly altered, and even though the Time Reversal domain was restricted to a certain extent within Harosha''s domain, it still slowed down Harosha''s attack ever so slightly.


    An explosive boom erupted from Tang Wulin''s body as seven golden rings appeared around him. Using his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion, he was able to free himself from the restriction of the surrounding domain and launch himself backward.


    On top of that, he was releasing his dragon''s repulse with all his might to form the most resolute defense.


    The grey flower petals only faltered for an instant before descending, and his dragon''s repulse was almost instantly dispelled by the grey light without being able to offer any resistance. Not only was energy being dispelled, the same applied to space. In the wake of the grey flower petals, the surrounding area had turned a pitch-black color that threatened to devour the entire world.


    This was Harosha''s eighth soul skill, Withering Death!


    The eighth soul skill unleashed by a Soul Douluo would pose next to no threat to Tang Wulin, but the eighth soul skill of a quasigod was a completely different story.


    Even though Tang Wulin had reacted very quickly, his body was still slightly corrupted by that grey color. His battle armor immediately displayed its immense defensive prowess to try and keep the grey color at bay, but it refused to be stopped, quickly spreading over Tang Wulin''s suit of battle armor, causing it to turn grey and brittle.


    Right at this moment, bursts of lightning erupted out of Tang Wulin''s body. Initially, the lightning was of a purplish-blue color, but immediately thereafter, hints of rainbow light began to appear, and all of it was directed toward Tang Wulin himself.


    The rainbow light was able to stop the greyness in its tracks, but the latter still refused to be completely dispelled.


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon seeing this. This rainbow light was the power of elemental tribulation that he had accumulated within his own body. It stood at the pinnacle of all powers in this plane, and in a sense, it could even be referred to as godly power. However, the grey energy was able to hold its own against this power. If it weren''t for this elemental tribulation power within his body, his battle armor would be beyond salvation.


    If he had reacted any slower and been contaminated by more of this energy, his entire body would''ve most likely withered away just like his dragon''s repulse.


    Little did Tang Wulin know, Harosha was even more astonished than he was, and he exclaimed, "That''s essential elemental power!"


    His Withering Death contained his understanding of godly power. As a quasigod, he already possessed some of the traits of a god, and that was exemplified through this Withering Death.


    Thus, as soon as the energy came into contact with Tang Wulin''s body, he had thought that Tang Wulin''s fate was sealed. Even the tiniest drop of Withering Death would quickly spread over his entire body and reduce him to nothingness.


    However, never did he think that Tang Wulin would be able to release so much essential elemental power to nullify Withering Death.


    Even for a being of Harosha''s caliber, Withering Death was extremely taxing and couldn''t be used in succession.


    As such, both sides appeared to be quite calm, but that was far from the actual case.


    Harosha drew his Infernal King Sword and unleashed a sword projection directly toward Tang Wulin. At the same time, his ninth soul ring lit up.


    "Crap!"


    Judging from the Withering Death, it was clear that Tang Wulin would be unable to withstand Harosha''s ninth soul skill.


    Much to Harosha''s surprise, instead of taking defensive or evasive measures, Tang Wulin drew back his arm before hurling his Golden Dragon Spear through the air.


    The spear strike wasn''t directed toward Harosha. Instead, it was aimed up into the air.


    Harosha was already preparing to unleash his ninth soul skill, determined to kill Tang Wulin even at the expense of a massive expenditure of power.


    The Golden Dragon Spear almost instantly pierced through a death cavalier, and even its infernal energy couldn''t avoid being devoured by the spear.


    As the owner of the Golden Dragon Spear, Tang Wulin was immediately reciprocated in the form of an influx of energy, and at the same time as he hurled his Golden Dragon Spear away, he had also summoned a burst of golden light that stopped Harosha''s sword projection just in the nick of time.


    The two clashed, and the sword projection was quickly dispelled, while the golden light remained completely unmoved.


    The golden light then quickly took on a substantial form, and its top end was plunged into the ground, while its shaft had withstood Harosha''s attack.


    This was a shimmering golden trident with a large glowing gem at the base of the trident''s central spike. It was none other than the Sea God''s Trident!


    Tang Wulin reached out to grab the Sea God''s Trident, and due to the fact that he had passed two of the Nine Trials of the Sea God, he had developed a high level of affinity with the weapon.


    He took a step forward and waved the Sea God''s Trident through the air, releasing a string of golden halos that encompassed this entire space.


    The grey domain power was completely unable to stop the golden halos, and it was as if they didn''t even exist in the same plane of reality.


    Harosha was in the process of preparing his ninth soul skill, and his pupils instantly contracted as the words "transcendent divine weapon" crossed his mind.


    A divine weapon was a weapon that had been used by a god and possessed godly power, whereas a transcendent divine weapon had to be the main weapon of a first-rank god or above.


    Even on the entire Douluo Continent, Harosha only knew of one or two transcendent divine weapons in existence; never did he think that Tang Wulin would be in possession of one.


    Even a quasigod may not be able to stand against a transcendent divine weapon.


    Thus, Harosha immediately relinquished the preparation of his ninth soul skill, directing his Infernal King Sword toward the oncoming golden halos instead.


    However, the surrounding space seemed to have instantly become layered, and before he knew it, he was completely immobilized and could only look on as the giant golden trident slammed into his body.


    "Boom!" Harosha was sent flying like a cannonball, but Tang Wulin''s face also paled significantly in the wake of that strike.


    He immediately rushed over to Ling Zichen and Liu Jingyun, then swept his golden trident through the air to unleash a powerful eruption of golden light that sent all of the surrounding death cavaliers flying. In the next instant, green light enveloped all three of them, and they suddenly vanished on the spot.


    Harosha was sent flying for over a kilometer, and only stopped after crashing through countless rocks and trees. By the time he drew to a halt, the golden halos around him had already disappeared, and in reality, he had only been immobilized for just over a second.


    Harosha immediately came to the realization that Tang Wulin hadn''t fully mastered the transcendent divine weapon, and he was immediately overcome by a sense of frustration. Of course there was no way that a Hyper Douluo could fully master a transcendent divine weapon; one had to gain the acknowledgment of such a weapon if they wanted to use it to its full potential.


    As such, if he had continued and unleashed his ninth soul skill, there was a very good chance that Tang Wulin wouldn''t even have been able to unleash that soul skill with his transcendent divine weapon.


    Not only was Harosha regretting the fact that he had let Tang Wulin get away, he was even more frustrated that he hadn''t obtained that transcendent divine weapon.

 Chapter 1664: Tang Sans Battle Against the Gods

    A transcendent divine weapon would definitely be unimaginably beneficial to a quasigod. If he could obtain that transcendent divine weapon and completely master it, there was a very good chance that he would be able to break through the restriction of this realm and become a god; he could even go on to create his very own Divine Realm.


    Never did he think that this would be the outcome of this operation.


    However, after a brief moment of regret and frustration, a scorching flame was ignited in his heart. A transcendent divine weapon was even more alluring to him than the project that the Holy Spirit Cult was currently undertaking as a transcendent divine weapon could be controlled by a single person, so he didn''t need anyone else.


    If he could obtain that transcendent divine weapon, then the possibilities were endless.


    The deathly aura subsided, and everything returned to darkness. Harosha cast a cold glance toward Shrek Academy with greed in his eyes, then vanished into the night sky.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin, Ling Zichen, and Liu Jingyun reappeared amid a flash of green light, and Ling Zichen and Liu Jingyun were surprised to discover that they had fallen into a body of water.


    Enveloped within the layer of green light, there was no need for them to worry about their ability to breathe.


    "Where are we?" Ling Zichen asked.


    Tang Wulin placed a finger over his lips in a shushing gesture, then said, "I have to go, but I won''t be gone for too long. Go back and wait for me for now." He swept his hands through the water as he spoke, releasing two bursts of enormous propulsion force that ejected Ling Zichen and Liu Jingyun out of the water like a pair of cannonballs.


    The entire world spun around the two of them, and in the next instant, they found themselves hovering in mid-air.


    Both of them hurriedly controlled their own bodies to prevent themselves from falling, and only then did they discover that they were currently situated above the Sea God''s Lake with Shrek Academy looming in the distance.


    How had they come back?


    The two of them exchanged a bewildered glance, then looked down at the lake to find a burst of golden light vanishing into it.


    "What do we do, Head Researcher Ling?"


    "Let''s go back to the academy; don''t tell anyone what happened today," Ling Zichen replied without any hesitation.


    "I understand," Liu Jingyun hurriedly replied.


    Ling Zichen''s brows were tightly furrowed as she contemplated everything that had just happened. None of this could be explained using science, and that was extremely frustrating for a scientist like her.


    After returning to the academy, she decided to go and find Yali. Yali was Tang Wulin''s godmother, so she felt that Yali was the most trustworthy figure to approach.


    In the Sea God''s Lake, Tang Wulin only had a chance to extend a bow toward the tree of life before he vanished amid a flash of golden light.


    As a transcendent divine weapon, the Sea God''s Trident wasn''t that easy to use. Tang Wulin had already passed two trials of the Sea God, so he could already use it as a normal weapon, but if he wanted to unleash a divine skill like Unpredictable Storm with the golden trident, then he would have to face another trial.


    He would at least have to complete another trial to go back, and if he couldn''t complete the trial, then he would lose the right to use the golden trident.


    If he had been alone, he could''ve teleported himself back to Shrek Academy through his connection with the tree of life at any time. However, Ling Zichen and Liu Jingyu were accompanying him, so he couldn''t escape alone. Thus, in that dire situation, he was forced to unleash Unpredictable Storm to temporarily immobilize Harosha, thereby giving all three of them a chance to escape. Teleporting the two of them along with him didn''t affect him at all, but it was far more taxing for the tree of life.


    Now, it was time for him to face the third trial of the Sea God.


    Golden light flashed, and Tang Wulin was instantly transported into a golden world. All of a sudden, he heard a series of affectionate calls that seemed to come from his loved ones, and they included the voices of his father and mother.


    In the next instant, the surrounding area suddenly became clear, and the golden world was replaced by an astonishing scene.


    Countless valleys appeared in his field of view, all of which were unfathomably deep. However, all of them were of a brownish-yellow color and were devoid of any plant life, striking one with a sense of barren hopelessness.


    He looked up to discover that there were three suns in the sky, two of which were purple, while one was white, and the light they were giving off was rather unsettling somehow.


    Tang Wulin tried to move his own body, but he discovered that he was unable to do so and could only observe.


    In the next instant, he caught sight of a familiar figure.


    This was a man with long, disheveled blue hair, and he seemed to be quite exhausted, but the look in his eyes was one of unrivaled determination. He stood on a mountain peak, looking into the distance with bluish-golden light radiating from his body.


    His body was riddled with wounds, but his back was still ramrod straight.


    Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward the same direction and discovered that there was another figure standing atop a mountain peak at least 10,000 meters away.


    In fact, there were several other figures standing on the neighboring mountain peaks as well.


    The central figure was tall and broad with a long staff in his hand, and for some reason, Tang Wulin was reminded of Qiangu Dongfeng''s Coiling Dragon Staff at the sight of this staff.


    The two of them gave off the same unyielding aura, but in contrast with this imposing figure, Qiangu Dongfeng was as insignificant as a mere ant. The staff in the imposing figure''s grasp was shimmering with radiant light, and his unyielding will seemed to be threatening to destroy this entire world.


    Atop the mountain peak to his left stood an ordinary-looking man, remarkable only for the look in his eyes, which was extremely cold and completely dead. From this man, Tang Wulin could sense the aura of Harosha, whom he had just battled earlier.


    However, this man was wielding a claymore with both hands, and the claymore was giving off exuberant vitality, yet at the same time, he had a short sword strapped diagonally across his chest, and that sword was giving off a fearsome deathly aura. The auras of life and death intertwined, resulting in a culmination that was no less formidable than that of the staff-wielding figure.


    As for the figure on the right, he was most eye-catching as he had six pairs of wings, all of which were currently flapping gently.


    He had a horrifying aura of bloodlust and insanity, and every single inch of his body, including his full suit of armor, were all of a deep crimson color.


    The three of them were also riddled with wounds, but they were clearly standing against the blue-haired figure.


    Are they Father''s enemies?


    That''s right, the blue-haired figure was none other than Tang Wulin''s father, Sea God Tang San.


    "Just give up. In our hearts, you''ve already won, but the final outcome can''t be altered," the staff-wielding man said.


    Tang San smiled, and asked, "Do you think you''ve already won?"


    The staff-wielding man''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "What unforeseen circumstances could there be at our level?"


    Tang San replied, "There normally wouldn''t be anything, but my son''s here, so maybe something will change. Wulin, take a good look; I''m going to show you the true power of the Sea God''s Trident."


    He swept a hand through the air as he spoke, and Tang Wulin instantly plummeted out of the sky.


    In the next instant, he was stunned to discover that he had become the Sea God''s Trident, and in the instant Tang San gripped onto the trident, it seemed to have completely sprung to life.


    This was a sensation that couldn''t be described using words. All Tang Wulin could sense was that in that instant, something extra seemed to have appeared in his heart.


    He could see that a trident seal had appeared in his spiritual world, and this seal had come from the Sea God.


    In the next instant, Tang San let loose a long roar akin to the deafening crashing of countless waves in the sea.


    The golden trident was swept through the air, and the entire surrounding area was transformed into a sea of gold.


    "Father!" Tang Wulin yelled in his own heart. He didn''t know what his father was currently facing, but he was definitely up against powerful enemies.


    He wanted nothing more than to go to his father''s side to help him, but he was unable to do anything; he couldn''t even see what was going on anymore.


    "Wulin, this is a battle between gods. I''m going to win no matter what as only then will I be able to return and find you. Wait for me, my son!"


    "Boom!"


    Tang Wulin''s mind turned completely blank, and after what seemed like an eternity, he returned to that golden world.


    The shimmering golden Sea God''s Trident stood right before him, but it was riddled with countless gashes of different sizes and depths; only the tines of the trident remained completely unscathed.


    "The third trial of the Sea God, Seal, has been completed. You can choose to return or continue undertaking more trials."

 Chapter 1665: Father, You Have to Win!

    Tang Wulin was panting heavily, but he didn''t know whether he was actually breathing in this strange world, and he was constantly gasping for breath.


    Even though he had only witnessed a very short scene, it had left an extremely deep impression in his heart.


    The auras of his father and those three other beings had been imprinted deep into Tang Wulin''s mind, and in the final instant, where his father had unleashed the power of the Sea God''s Trident, something seemed to have suddenly clicked in his mind.


    This was a very peculiar sensation that couldn''t be described through words, but it was definitely real.


    Only after a long while did Tang Wulin manage to catch his breath. "Return."


    Golden light flashed, and in the next instant, he was plunged into the cool and refreshing water of the Sea God''s Lake.


    Returning to reality was also a very comforting feeling, and he reflexively stretched while heaving a long sigh of relief.


    He thought back to what he had just witnessed over and over again, particularly the words that his father had spoken to him at the end. It was only a brief message, but through it, he could sense his father''s love, and it was this fatherly love that was supporting Tang San in his battle against the gods.


    Why was it that his father was facing such formidable opponents? Tang San was already a godking; just how powerful were his opponents to have forced him to that extent?


    You have to win, Father!


    The gashes on the Sea God''s Trident were a clear indication of just how ferocious the battle had been.


    However, as Tang Wulin summoned the Sea God''s Trident, he discovered that it was completely unscathed, as if the damaged trident he had seen in that golden space had been nothing more than an illusion.


    He reached out to grab the trident, and he could immediately sense that he now had a greater level of affinity with the weapon. He could sense that he had grown closer to this transcendent divine weapon and was better able to use it.


    Tang Wulin had confidence in both himself and his father. If it weren''t for the fact that he had to set off to steal Eternal Heaven soon, he really wanted to complete all Nine Trials of the Sea God so he could truly master this transcendent divine weapon.


    Furthermore, he could sense that this transcendent divine weapon was a bridge between him and his father, and through it, he seemed to be able to see the situation on his father''s end.


    Father, I''m going to work hard to become powerful as well so I can find you, Mother, and Big Sister!


    A burst of rich life energy suddenly swept toward Tang Wulin, enveloping his entire body in a warm and comfortable embrace.


    "Thank you," Tang Wulin said as he turned to the tree of life.


    Perhaps it was due to the fact that the last burst of life energy had been completely digested, but the tree of life was no longer growing. Even so, its mere presence instilled within Tang Wulin a sense of comfort and security.


    Tang Wulin drifted over to the tree of life, and a green light barrier kept out the water around him as he sat down to meditate.


    This was an instinctive gesture made so that he could absorb everything that he had seen in the third trial.


    Even though he had only witnessed the auras of those four almighty beings, they were imprinted deep into his mind, just like that trident seal.


    This was by far the shortest of the three trials he had endured, but Tang Wulin could clearly sense that it would require the most time for him to digest and absorb what he had seen. Learning from those auras would perhaps be a vital step for his future breakthrough to become a Limit Douluo.


    ......


    Ling Zichen had just finished her recount, and Yali''s brows furrowed slightly as she said, "So Harosha decided to resurface at a time like this. Don''t worry, Wulin will be fine."


    She was well aware of Tang Wulin''s relationship with the tree of life. Ever since the tree of life''s revival, Tang Wulin had essentially attained an immortal body. So long as the tree of life continued to exist, it would be next to impossible to kill Tang Wulin as he could return to the tree of life at any time. This stemmed from the blessing of the plane, so only power that exceeded planar power would be able to sever this connection.


    Harosha was extremely powerful, but he was still only a quasigod.


    As for why Tang Wulin had been mysteriously teleported away, Yali knew that this had something to do with the many secrets he had been harboring. All of the Limit Douluos of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were aware of the existence of those secrets to a certain extent, but they were sure that this wouldn''t affect Tang Wulin''s mental state.


    The most important reason for this was that he was the Son of Nature and the one blessed by the plane; there was no way that the plane and the tree of life would misjudge his character.


    This was why the Amorous Douluo and Heartless Douluo had been so decisive in making Tang Wulin the new Tang Sect Master.


    Furthermore, he was being protected by the tree of life, so there was no need to worry about his safety.


    "That''s good to hear, but that enemy really was extremely powerful," Ling Zichen said with tightly furrowed brows.


    "It''s alright, the current Shrek Academy is well equipped to deal with them. You must be tired as well; go back and rest."


    Ling Zichen nodded before departing, but she didn''t go to rest. For a scientist like her, rest was a luxury.


    In particular, after witnessing the power of Tang Wulin and Harosha, she was inspired and had developed new ideas surrounding several of her research projects that were currently at a critical juncture.


    She had always thought that her divine-grade mecha was very powerful, but it was apparent that it still wasn''t powerful enough to contend with a Limit Douluo. She needed more offensive power. As for the side-effects, who cares? Power was the most important thing!


    Unbeknownst to Tang Wulin, his battle against Harosha had brought on another wave of insanity for Ling Zichen.


    One week later.


    The soul train drew to a smooth halt in the Bright City Soul Train Station, and the passengers got out before flooding toward the exit.


    After everyone else had disembarked, a few people emerged from different carriages.


    The carriages weren''t far away from one another, but they still made sure to engage in silent communication by exchanging glances with one another.


    A man and a woman had emerged from the final carriage, and the former was a handsome man who appeared to be in his twenties with a head of dashing blue hair, while the latter was a woman wearing a tight-fitting jumpsuit that perfectly highlighted her explosive curls.


    The woman wore a faint smile and had an arm wound around one of the young man''s arms.


    Anyone familiar with this woman would undoubtedly be stunned by what they were seeing. This woman was none other than Ling Zichen, the epitome of chaos, violence, and insanity, yet now, she was clinging to the young man like an obedient wife.

 Chapter 1666: Arriving at Bright City

    Ling Zichen wasn''t even in disguise, and in reality, she didn''t need one anyway. She had always been a top-secret figure in the Tang Sect, so barely anyone in the outside world knew who she was, so upon her insistence, no disguise was applied to her.


    The man accompanying her was naturally none other than Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin had entered a state of deep meditation for three days in the Sea God''s Lake, and following his awakening, he perfected the plan for this operation, and they immediately set off.


    The Sea God Legion had already reached the Northsea Legion''s location, but it would still take some time to mobilize the army for such a long-distance conquest. All of the resource and personnel mobilization required time to complete, and by the Tang Sect''s estimates, it would take two to three months for the federation to be ready.


    However, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy couldn''t wait. As long as Eternal Heaven was outside their grasp, it would pose a major threat both to the newly rebuilt Shrek Academy and to the other two continents. Furthermore, the earlier they acted, the more time they would have to make adjustments if and when required.


    Thus, they arrived at Bright City using different identities and disguises.


    There weren''t many people involved; only Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Ling Zichen, Sima Jinchi, and A''Ruheng.


    This 10-man team was to carry out the all-important operation.


    All of them exited the train station one after another, as if they didn''t recognize each other, then departed using different modes of transportation.


    Tang Wulin and Ling Zichen got into the same taxi, and the driver''s gaze remained fixed up ahead, but he greeted, "Welcome Sect Master."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Let''s go."


    At this point, Ling Zichen had already released his arm. She didn''t say anything, but her smile had been replaced by a cold expression.


    Tang Wulin had no idea what was going on with her. She had been like this ever since he had awakened from his deep meditation and returned to the academy, and it seemed that their relationship had worsened compared to before.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know what he had done to offend her, and he didn''t dare to ask. In any case, he didn''t want to interact much with Ling Zichen anyway, so this suited him just fine. Despite her cold demeanor, Ling Zichen had been very cooperative and had described to everyone on several occasions the technology of Eternal Heaven and the Battle God Hall''s defense system.


    As was customary in Bright City, traffic jams were frequently encountered, and only after close to an hour did the taxi finally reach a house on the outskirts of the city.


    The house was situated only less than 20 kilometers from the Western Mountains, and it had been developed into an affluent area due to the fact that there was a very picturesque lake nearby.


    The house they had arrived at was one of the mansions in the wealthy area.


    The mansion was designed like a palace with a three-story main building, as well as a multi-purpose secondary building complete with a restaurant, gym, etc.


    The entire mansion belonged to the Tang Sect, and within its luxurious exterior were many pieces of the most cutting-edge technology on the current Douluo Continent. There were all types of detection soul tools in the mansion, which could immediately discover any sources of powerful energy that appeared within a radius of 10 kilometers.


    Only the high-ranking core of the Tang Sect were aware of this mansion''s existence, and it was one of the Tang Sect''s research centers in Bright City.


    This clearly wasn''t the first time that Ling Zichen had been here, and as they entered the mansion, none of the Tang Sect disciples in the mansion recognized Tang Wulin, but they were extremely familiar with her.


    The mansion was massive with the main building and secondary building taking up over 3,000 square meters, and there was a rectangular swimming pool in the yard.


    Due to the lack of traffic congestion on the outskirts of the city, it would only take half an hour to drive to the Western Mountains from this mansion.


    Everyone settled into their assigned rooms, and as the Tang Sect Master, Tang Wulin was naturally living on the highest floor.


    From his balcony, Tang Wulin had a clear view of their destination for this trip.


    The Western Mountains had once been a strategic location due to its proximity to Bright City, but its strategic importance had waned after the federation had united the continent.


    Tang Wulin could actually only see around halfway up the mountain, and even his Purple Demon Eyes couldn''t pierce through the clouds and mist. The peak of the tallest mountain in the Western Mountains was situated above the clouds, and there were all types of disruptive soul tools set up on the mountain peak by the Battle God Hall to avoid any pesky spies.


    The Central Legion was situated at the foot of that same mountain, and all of the most important facilities of the legion were in the Western Mountains, so the entire place was naturally extremely tightly guarded.


    In order to infiltrate such a stronghold, intelligence and luck would be required in addition to power.


    Firstly, they had to gain access to the Battle God Hall. Once they made it into the Battle God Hall, the safe harbor rule would prevent the Central Legion from coming after them. Chen Xinjie currently wasn''t in the Battle God Hall, so it would undoubtedly be far easier to conquer the 18 levels.


    After thinking through the plan again, Tang Wulin''s mind gradually began to wander.


    What was she doing? Was she still in the Spirit Pagoda? The longer he was separated from her, the more he missed her.


    Right at this moment, someone slapped him on the shoulder and jerked him back to reality.


    "How are you going to lead everyone when you''re so complacent and unalert?" Ling Zichen scoffed with a disdainful expression.


    Tang Wulin merely smiled and offered no explanation. If she had posed a threat to him, he would immediately detect her approach.


    "You''re thinking about a woman, right?" Ling Zichen asked with an intense gaze.


    Tang Wulin glanced at her and remained silent.


    "What''s she like? Why isn''t she by your side?" Ling Zichen asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Don''t ask about things you shouldn''t ask about."


    Ling Zichen placed her hands on her hips, and scoffed, "What kind of answer is that? Are you embarrassed of her?"


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Go back and rest; we''re about to set off soon."


    "You''re no fun to talk to at all!" Ling Zichen turned to storm away, but quickly stopped, and asked, "When are you going to tell me the complete plan? Are you only going to tell everyone right before we set off?"


    Tang Wulin answered her questions with one of his own. "Do you know why the others don''t ask the same questions as you?"


    "Why?" Ling Zichen asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Because they have absolute trust in me."


    Ling Zichen immediately flared up with rage. "I don''t have any history with you, so why should I trust you? Are you going to tell me or not? You''ve been getting on my nerves for a long time!"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I just want some peace and quiet. Can I tell you tomorrow?"


    "No, it has to be now!" Ling Zichen was clearly being unreasonable, and even she didn''t understand why she was acting like this.


    Tang Wulin took a meaningful look at her before replying in a calm manner, "Alright, let me tell you the plan."

 Chapter 1667: Blind Date With Shen Xing

    "There''s no way we can go through the Central Legion by force, and as you outlined, they have the most advanced detection devices, so it won''t be easy to sneak into the legion, either. As such, the only viable method for us is infiltration."


    Ling Zichen was quite intrigued to hear this. "Infiltration? How is that different from sneaking into the legion?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Sneaking in relies solely on our own power, whereas infiltration requires borrowing power from external sources, thereby drastically improving our chances of success."


    Ling Zichen asked, "Then how do we infiltrate?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Any soldier of any rank can try to conquer the Battle God Hall, right? In that case, we have to all become soldiers."


    As the most powerful legion of the Douluo Federation, the Central Legion had a funny nickname, which was the "Adored Child of the Federation".


    The legion was fitted with almost all of the federation''s most advanced weapons and equipment, and the federation would even take elite soldiers from other legions and place them in the Central Legion. Only the most elite soldiers and military officials could become a member of the Central Legion, and the legion was over 100,000 strong.


    In fact, if all of the additional staff were taken into account, the legion would have over 300,000 members.


    Logistics and work behind the scenes were extremely important for all legions, and an astronomical sum was spent on this area in the Central Legion every year.


    The Central Legion was also the most powerful military force under the government''s control. All other legions were influenced by some military families, but the Central Legion followed no orders aside from those of the federal government.


    Any family who dared to try and seize control of the Central Legion would be severely punished by all of the other military families; this was already an unspoken rule.


    It was exactly due to the existence of the Central Legion that the government was able to maintain its rule over the entire federation.


    The Central Legion was situated in the Western Mountains, as well as all around Bright City to protect the capital city from all directions.


    Around 50,000 troops from the Central Legion were gathered in the Western Mountains, and they were accompanied by all types of large soul weapons and facilities.


    The largest mountain in the area had almost been completely hollowed out, and it contained many powerful soul weapons and high-grade soul missiles, all of which the government had full control over.


    It was said that there were over 100 ninth-grade soul missiles in that mountain, as well as super launchers that could blast those soul missiles to any corner of the Douluo Continent at a moment''s notice.


    Some of the federation''s most important research units were also situated in the Western Mountains, particularly those related to space exploration.


    Shen Xing emerged from the legion''s training ground and took a deep breath of the fresh air outside. Her epaulets indicated that she was now a lieutenant colonel.


    Ever since she was transferred to the Central Legion, she had been nurtured as an elite member of the military, and her career had been set on the right path.


    The major families couldn''t control the Central Legion, but all of them were able to send some members into the Central Legion for training and to improve their resumes. If one were deemed to be an exceptional talent and were willing to swear a vow of fealty to the government alone, thereby cutting ties with their family, they could be promoted to a high rank in the Central Legion.


    Of course, they couldn''t become the highest-ranking officials of the Central Legion as there was a special rule that stated that only those who hailed from average families had the right to work their way up the ranks to the very top.


    Shen Xing had already grown accustomed to daily life here. Her rigorous daily training regimen allowed her to make rapid improvement, and she was beginning to fall in love with the feeling of taking a hot shower after a laborious and sweaty training session, then emerging from the training ground in a set of clean clothes.


    This was always when she felt like she was most in her element.


    "Beep beep, beep beep!" The soul communicator on her wrist suddenly registered a call.


    Shen Xing glanced down at the number, and an exasperated look appeared on her face, but she had no choice but to accept the call. "What is it, Big Sister? If you''re trying to set me up on another blind date, then just forget about it."


    As a lieutenant general, Shen Yue had a natural air of authority about her, and she replied, "Why can''t I set you up on a blind date? Do you not know how old you are? Father has already said that you don''t need to engage in any political marriage, and blind date partners we''ve chosen for you are handsome young talents; so what''s your problem? Why aren''t you willing to give it a chance? Didn''t you say you already recovered from your mental trauma?"


    At the mention of mental trauma, a figure instantly flashed through Shen Xing''s mind, but she replied, "You''re my target, Big Sister! Why do I need a man? I''m a woman who''s going to become a general; who''s going to be a match for me?"


    Shen Yue heaved a resigned sigh. "Well, you still have to give it a try; you can''t just go on like this. What am I supposed to tell our parents? I don''t care what you say; Father chose the youngest colonel in the Sea God Legion for you this time, and his family background is very good as well, so you have to go and see him. If you fail to show up again, I''ll transfer you back from the Central Legion, and I''ll make sure your military career hits a dead-end!"


    Shen Xing immediately protested, "How could you do that, Big Sister? You''re mixing family matters with official duties; aren''t you afraid of being punished by the military?"


    Shen Yue chuckled coldly in response, "Don''t forget that I''m a lieutenant general; the military won''t punish me over some insignificant lieutenant colonel. Cut the chit-chat; are you going or not?"


    Shen Xing pouted in an indignant manner, and replied, "Fine, I''ll go, but I''m not making any guarantees aside from that!"


    Only then did Shen Yue''s voice become more gentle, and she said, "That''s a good girl. Who knows? Maybe you''ll like him. No one''s going to force you into marriage anyway."


    "What''s the time and location?" Shen Xing asked.


    "7pm tonight at the Long Cui Restaurant of the Xi Mei Holiday Resort."


    "Tonight?" Shen Xing''s voice exclaimed, "That''s way too rushed! He clearly doesn''t have any sincerity. I don''t think I want to go anymore."


    "Cut the crap! If I had informed you in advance, you would''ve come up with some other excuse. I know your schedule back to front; you have nothing going on today after training, so don''t even think about canceling, and don''t be late!"As soon as her voice trailed off, Shen Yue immediately ended the call.


    Shen Xing stomped her foot onto the ground in a frustrated manner, but couldn''t do anything.


    "This is textbook bullying! How could she do this?" Shen Xing grumbled.


    However, her anger quickly gave way to resignation. She was only a lieutenant colonel; how could she contend with her lieutenant general sister? Most importantly, her parents were standing against her as well.


    Her cheeks were already slightly flushed from training, and the flush had deepened even further from her anger. However, she had no choice in the matter.


    Thus, she returned to her dorm room and changed into some casual clothes. She didn''t bother to put on any makeup, and arranged her hair into a simple ponytail before setting off in her car toward Xing Mei Holiday Resort.


    Xing Mei Holiday Resort was situated on the western outskirts of Bright City, and it was quite close to the Central Legion, so it naturally had a military background. To put it in simpler terms, this was a recreational venue for military officials.


    Soldiers were still people, and military officials had dedicated their entire lives to the military, so they needed a place for relaxation and recreation as well. Of course, the prerequisite for entry was quite high; only those at or above the captain rank would be granted entry.


    Due to the fact that this place had been set up for military officials, the prices there were very cheap, so it was very popular among military officials.


    Less than half an hour later, Shen Xing parked her car into the spacious carpark of Xing Mei Holiday Resort.


    Even now, Shen Xing was still quite enraged.


    She was definitely going to grill her blind date partner and give him a piece of her mind!


    Now that she thought about it, Shen Yue hadn''t told her which booth of Long Cui Restaurant she was supposed to go to.


    She seriously considered whether this would be an excuse for her to not turn up, but she quickly decided that Shen Yue definitely wouldn''t let her off the hook if she were to ditch the blind date with such a trivial excuse.


    Thus, she dialed Shen Yue''s number, and the call was quickly connected.


    "What is it? I''m telling you, Shen Xing, if you don''t go..."


    "Alright, I know! I''m already here, but you didn''t tell me which booth I need to go to!" Shen Xing replied in an exaggerated manner.

 Chapter 1668: Why is it Him?

    Shen Yue''s voice immediately mellowed out upon hearing this. "Oh, silly me. I reserved the booth, so just give the employees my name. It''s almost time, so he should''ve arrived as well. Make sure to report back to me after your blind date!"


    "Alright, I''m hanging up!" Shen Xing ended the call and grumbled to herself for a moment before emerging from the car with her purse.


    Xing Mei Holiday Resort was a very large resort, but Shen Xing had come here before, so she was quite familiar with this place.


    Long Cui restaurant was on the first floor of the resort''s main building, so it was very easy to find, and the restaurant was renowned for its authentic Bright City dishes. The restaurants had many booths as this was a place for military officials to dine and relax, so they didn''t want to meet too many of their colleagues.


    "Booth for Shen Yue," Shen Xing said as she reached the front desk.


    "Please come with me." The waitress made an inviting hand gesture, then led the way for Shen Xing to a booth named "Skysea Pavilion".


    "Your friend has already arrived," the waitress said as she gently knocked on the door before pushing it open. For some reason, a hint of envy had appeared on the waitress''s face as she spoke.


    Shen Xing intentionally put on a cold and forbidding expression before making her way into the booth.


    The booth was rather antiquated in design and decor, with a four-seater dining table, and a small sofa beside it. Across from the door was a window, through which a picturesque small lake was visible.


    As Shen Xing made her way into the booth, she caught sight of a man standing in front of the window, looking out at the scenery outside.


    Shen Xing''s expression immediately turned into one of surprise at the sight of him. She could only see his profile from the back, but a peculiar feeling had welled up in her heart.


    The man was tall and not particularly muscular, but his back was very straight, and he had an extremely well-proportioned figure, as well as a head of even black hair.


    His white military uniform was tight-fitting and perfectly highlighted his figure, which was comprised of broad shoulders, a wide back, and a streamlined, athletic waist. Shen Xing was stunned to discover that from the back profile alone, he was completely impeccable.


    In the next instant, her attention was drawn to his epaulets.


    This man was a major general?


    Didn''t Shen Yue say that he was only a lieutenant colonel? How could Shen Yue do this to her? A major general had to be an old man already!


    His figure was exceptional, but he had to at least be 40!


    With that in mind, Shen Xing couldn''t help but clear her throat.


    "Attention!" An authoritative command suddenly rang out.


    Having been in the military for so many years, obeying orders from superiors had become second nature for Shen Yue, and she reflexively raised her head, puffed her chest out, and brought her feet together.


    She then immediately realized that she had been pranked, but before she had a chance to get angry, the man had already turned around.


    He had a pair of large and bright eyes that were very gentle, accompanied by long eyelashes that women would die for.


    His nose was pronounced and chiseled, and his beautiful lips were currently curved upward slightly in an amused smile.


    Shen Xing''s mind immediately went blank as her eyes were filled with incredulity, and she stared at the man before her in stunned silence.


    This was the face that had appeared in her dreams night upon night for so many years! It had taken her a Herculean effort to escape those nightmares, but now, the subject of those nightmares had appeared before her!


    Due to the fact that Xing Mei Holiday Resort was a military facility, disguises were prohibited, so Tang Wulin was currently presenting himself in his true appearance.


    Shen Xing took a reflexive step backward as Tang Wulin approached her, and she suddenly yelped as she tripped over her own feet and fell backward.


    Thankfully, Tang Wulin reacted very quickly and caught her by the waist so that she didn''t fall over.


    At such close proximity, she could already clearly smell his refreshing scent, and all of a sudden, her entire body began to burn up, as if approaching him was like approaching a giant furnace. An indescribable sensation welled up in her heart, and she wanted nothing more than for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.


    Tang Wulin was rather perplexed by Shen Xing''s dazed and flushed appearance.


    He had investigated and planned extensively to set up this meeting with Shen Xing, and he had envisioned many of Shen Xing''s possible reactions to seeing him, the likeliest of which he thought would be screaming.


    As such, as he turned around, he had released his soul power to seal this entire room, preventing all sound and soul power from escaping; even soul communicators would malfunction under the influence of his immense spiritual power.


    However, never did he think that Shen Xing would instantly become a statue; it was as if she had seen a ghost!


    Tang Wulin asked, "Am I that shocking to you, Ms. Shen?"


    "You, you, you..." Shen Xing was finally able to speak, but she was stuttering incessantly, and even her breathing was accelerating.


    Tang Wulin injected a burst of gentle Mysterious Heaven Method soul power into Shen Xing''s body in a resigned manner, calming her rampant blood essence fluctuations, and only then did Shen Xing gradually calm down.


    She blinked forcefully a few times, then quickly struggled out of Tang Wulin''s arms and took a few steps backward.


    "Why are you here?"


    She had even surreptitiously pinched herself to ensure that she wasn''t dreaming, and sure enough, it had hurt a lot.


    All of the information she had seen about him quickly flashed through her mind.


    He had defeated the entire Star Luo Empire in the Trial of Five Gods, forging an undying legend.


    He was the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, yet he had been defeated by Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena during the joust for a spouse event.


    She was always full of resentment whenever she saw news reports about him, but she couldn''t help but pay attention to those reports. She had always thought that she had already forgotten him, but as it turned out, that was far from the truth.


    Just as she thought that she would never meet this man again, he had suddenly appeared before her, AND he was in the military uniform of a general!


    "Go! Get out of here! Posing as a general is a major crime!" Shen Xing blurted out, and even she was stunned by what she was saying.


    Wasn''t she supposed to be hurling abuse at him or quickly exposing him so that he could be captured? Why was she saying something like this instead?


    She really wanted the earth to swallow her up so she could have some peace and quiet and interrogate herself to see exactly what was going through her mind!

 Chapter 1669: Im Going to Scream if You Dont Leave

    Tang Wulin also faltered slightly upon hearing this. Not only was Shen Xing not yelling or screaming, she was extending concern toward him instead! Was she playing some type of mind games?


    Tang Wulin stuck his hands into his pockets with a faint smile. "How do you know I''m not an actual general?"


    "How is that possible?" Shen Xing stomped her foot in frustration, and threatened, "Are you leaving or not? If not, then I''m going to scream!"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in a resigned manner before taking a seat at the dining table, then withdrew his spiritual power before gently clapping his hands.


    A waiter had been waiting outside the entire time, and he immediately made his way into the booth.


    Shen Xing faltered slightly at the sight of the waiter, while Tang Wulin instructed, "Bring on the food."


    "Yes, Major General," the waiter replied in a respectful manner, and only after taking an extra glance at Tang Wulin did he depart.


    Shen Xing noticed that as the waiter made his way into the room, Tang Wulin''s facial features had blurred and altered slightly, as had his aura, but everything returned to normal as soon as the waiter left.


    Just how powerful was he now?


    Shen Xing knew about all of his exploits from the news reports, but she was still rather curious now that she was seeing him in person.


    She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then repeatedly reassured herself that there was nothing to be afraid of as this was the territory of the Central Legion.


    Tang Wulin leaned forward slightly, and remarked, "You seem to be a little afraid of me."


    "Who''s afraid of you!" Shen Xing reflexively protested.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and asked, "Then why is your mood swinging so drastically?"


    "You..." Shen Xing wanted to issue a retort, but regardless of what she said, it would be quite unconvincing.


    "Where''s my blind date partner? What did you do to him? Also, how do you know about my schedule? Why are you here? Did you plan all of this? Posing as a general is a major crime; even people from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect aren''t exempt from this law."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "That''s a long list of questions. I didn''t think you would be such a righteous character. Rest assured, I''m not posing as a general; take a look at this." He tossed a badge toward Shen Xing as he spoke, and Shen Xing reflexively caught the badge.


    All military identification badges had chips that would release the corresponding information upon injection of soul power.


    Shen Xing pressed the badge onto her military soul communicator in a befuddled manner, and a string of information immediately appeared.


    "Tang Wulin, male, ninth Blood God of the Blood God Legion, major general rank..." The information about him was very detailed.


    Tang Wulin took a sip of water, and his mind was also racing as an astonished look gradually appeared on Shen Xing''s face.


    Shen Xing''s reaction was different from what he had anticipated, and this required him to change his plan a little.


    He had discovered that Shen Xing was a military official in the Central Legion while carefully scouring through the Tang Sect''s database.


    Back when he had visited the demonic island for his training, he had abducted Shen Xing, and at that time, he had deduced that she was no ordinary character.


    Sure enough, not only had she been promoted since then, she was currently occupying a very important position.


    One had to realize that being abducted could definitely count as a blemish on a normal military official''s resume, yet instead of being demoted, she had been promoted, and that was sufficient testament to just how powerful her background was.


    Thus, Tang Wulin had chosen Shen Xing among many candidates and conducted a deep investigation into her.


    Thus, Tang Wulin knew even more about Shen Xing than she did about him.


    Sneaking into Xing Mei Holiday Resort was no problem for Tang Wulin. Of course, he had used a different identification badge than the one he had shown to Shen Xing. His cover couldn''t be blown yet, but forging a military identification badge was certainly no difficult task for the Tang Sect.


    Shen Xing examined the badge for a long while but was unable to find any fallacies. "So you''re really a general?"


    Normal soldiers weren''t aware of the Blood God Legion, but she certainly was; that was the federation''s most mysterious and most powerful legion.


    "I came here to apologize for our first ever interaction. At the time, I was undergoing some training and was forced to infiltrate your legion; please forgive me if my actions have affected you in any way. I''m treating you to this meal as a gesture of apology."


    Shen Xing almost erupted on the spot upon hearing this.


    You think you can apologize with a lousy meal? Do you know how many nightmares you made me go through?


    She really wanted to slap Tang Wulin''s head off, but for some reason, she couldn''t bring herself to voice her fury at the sight of Tang Wulin''s benevolent smile. In her heart, Tang Wulin was someone who could only operate in the shadows here, but after witnessing his identification badge, she realized that she had been completely wrong.


    This place didn''t belong to the Spirit Pagoda, and she didn''t have an excuse to detain or target him. As a result, Shen Xing quickly sagged like a balloon, but at the same time, she was wondering whether this was the blind date partner Shen Yue had set her up with.


    What if that were the case? Should she accept him or not?


    Her mind was plunged into complete disarray once again.


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless. Shen Xing was staring blankly at him again, and he couldn''t help but wonder if she was always spacing out like this.


    Right at this moment, the waiter brought in the first batch of dishes.


    Tang Wulin had a big appetite, and as a gesture of sincerity, he had ordered a lot of food, all of which were specialty dishes of this restaurant.


    Only then did Shen Xing return to her senses, and after the waiter left, she glowered at Tang Wulin as she repeated, "Where is my blind date partner?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Don''t worry, he''s fine. He was a little sleepy, so I found him a place to rest; he''ll probably wake up after our meal."


    For some reason, an overwhelming sense of disappointment welled up in Shen Xing''s heart upon hearing this. She immediately told herself that this was an irrational feeling, but she couldn''t shake it off.


    "Have some food," Tang Wulin said as he made an inviting hand gesture, then began to dig in to the meal.


    Shen Xing faltered slightly upon seeing this. She discovered that Tang Wulin ate in a very graceful manner that didn''t appear rushed at all, but the food on the table was rapidly vanishing, and in the blink of an eye, around a third of it was gone.


    "Have you never eaten before?" Shen Xing scoffed.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I didn''t grow up in a very wealthy family, so I really cherish my food. You should have some too."


    After that, he began to focus on eating again.


    "Fine!" Shen Xing was rather hungry from her training anyway, and she was a Soul Master, so her basal metabolic rate far exceeded that of an ordinary person.


    At the rate that Tang Wulin was going through the food, it''ll be all gone if I don''t dig in soon! How is he treating me to a meal when he''s eating all the food?


    With that in mind, Shen Xing immediately began to eat as well.


    In order to grab more food, she had abandoned her table manners, and she had even dragged her favorite dish over to herself so that Tang Wulin wouldn''t be able to reach it.

 Chapter 1670: I Want Three Favors From You

    She then discovered that Tang Wulin had stopped and seemed to be looking at her in a surprised manner.


    A slightly smug look appeared on Shen Xing''s face upon seeing this.


    Right at this moment, the door of the booth was opened, and the waiter strode in, just in time to see Shen Xing with her left arm on the table, protecting the three dishes before her, while delivering a chunk of meat into her own mouth with the fork in her right hand.


    The waiter faltered slightly upon seeing this, and it was clear that he had never served anyone with such terrible table manners before. The patrons who frequented this restaurant were all military officials, not starving dogs! How long had this woman been starving for?


    Shen Xing was so embarrassed that she wanted to die! That bastard had to have stopped because he already detected that the waiter was about to come in!


    "Get her a bowl of rice," Tang Wulin said with a smile.


    Only then did the waiter return to his senses, and he hurriedly placed some dishes onto the table before departing.


    Shen Xing choked down that chunk of meat before slamming her fork onto the table with a deep blush on her face. "It''s all your fault!"


    Tang Wulin countered with a wry smile, "I told you to eat; I didn''t tell you to eat like this! Don''t worry, I''ll make sure there''s enough." He made an inviting hand gesture as he spoke.


    "You invited me here just to treat me to a meal? Tell me what you want." Shen Xing really wanted to strangle him to death!


    However, she was aware that this was a man who had defeated an entire kingdom on his own, and she was far from being able to contend with him.


    As such, all she wanted was to leave this place as quickly as possible.


    Tang Wulin asked, "Does that mean you accept my apology?"


    "Accept my arse!" Shen Xing flared up with rage as she rose to her feet, just as the waiter walked in again.


    "Get out!" Shen Xing roared.


    The waiter was given quite a fright and hurriedly placed a bowl of rice onto the table.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "My apologies, my girlfriend is in a rather foul mood today. You can go now; I''ll call for you if I need you."


    "Yes, General." The waiter immediately fled as if he had been pardoned.


    "I''m not your girlfriend!" Shen Xing was becoming more and more enraged.


    Tang Wulin sighed, "Can''t we talk in a more civilized manner?"


    "I don''t want to be civilized!" Shen Xing protested.


    Tang Wulin didn''t offer a response to this. He felt like it was necessary for Shen Xing to calm down. Otherwise, communication simply wouldn''t be possible. Furthermore, he didn''t even know why Shen Xing was so angry.


    All of a sudden, Shen Xing rose to her feet and grabbed her purse to leave.


    She didn''t want to see Tang Wulin at all, and she knew that she was going to have those dreams again tonight.


    "Don''t go." A burst of gentle light appeared in Shen Xing''s way.


    Shen Xing spun around with a furious expression. "You''re going to subdue me through violence again, aren''t you?"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "Why can''t we just have a calm talk? I haven''t done anything, have I? If you still can''t get over what happened back then, I can repay you. I have some power; tell me what you want, and I''ll try to make it up to you."


    "I don''t want to talk to you!" Shen Xing was struck by a sense of satisfaction upon turning Tang Wulin down.


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I don''t want to have to use violence against you."


    Shen Xing faltered slightly upon hearing this. "This is the Central Legion''s territory; you wouldn''t dare to use violence here!"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "I recall we were also in a legion the first time we met."


    "You..." He was right!


    "What do you want?" Shen Xing asked as she put her hands on her hips and glowered at Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I came here to apologize, and to ask you for a small favor."


    "What do you need?" A wary look immediately appeared on Shen Xing''s face.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Don''t worry, it''s not a big deal for you. You see, I''m a major general now, and it''s very difficult for me to rise further up the ranks. I heard that conquering levels of the Battle God Hall is a shortcut for promotion. With my abilities, I should be able to conquer a few levels and land a general rank or something like that."


    Shen Xing could hardly believe her own ears. The general rank was the highest rank in the army, and it had been many years since one last appeared, yet Tang Wulin was talking about it in such a nonchalant manner.


    "Do you think your family runs the Battle God Hall? Don''t you know that soldiers of the Titled Douluo level or above who challenge the Battle God Hall will face Battle Gods a rank above them? That means that if you''re a Titled Douluo, you''ll have to face a Hyper Douluo, and if you''re a Hyper Douluo, you''ll have to face a Limit Douluo! Do you think this is easy?"


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "I won''t know until I try. The favor I''m asking you is very simple: just take me to the entrance of the Battle God Hall. Going through official procedures is too complicated, and due to my sensitive identity, I would most likely be barred from entry. I''m sure you wouldn''t refuse such a small favor, would you?"


    Shen Xing finally understood why Tang Wulin had sought her out. In all honesty, this request actually came as a relief to her. At the very least, it was far easier than stealing military secrets, as she had imagined that Tang Wulin would request from her.


    Theoretically speaking, the Battle God Hall was open to all military officials and even soldiers. However, they had to go through rigorous examinations to decide whether they could challenge the Battle God Hall.


    Otherwise, the Battle God Hall would be flooded by challenges.


    If Tang Wulin really were a major general, then he would be entitled to enter the Battle God Hall, but just as he said, it would not be easy for him to gain entry due to the fact that he was the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master. The military certainly wasn''t just going to stand by and watch as he became a general!


    Could she take him there?


    Shen Xing''s breathing was beginning to accelerate, and she stared intently at Tang Wulin as she contemplated this question.


    Tang Wulin was in no hurry, either, and silently awaited her verdict.


    Shen Xing suddenly asked, "What do I get for helping you?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and asked, "What would you like? Money? Spirit items?"


    All of a sudden, Shen Xing made a decision, and her mind became extremely clear. "Alright, I can help you."


    "That''s great!" Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately lit up. Their chances of success would be far higher if Shen Xing were willing to help them rather than being forced against her will.


    Shen Xing continued, "I want three favors from you that I can redeem at any time, and you can''t refuse those favors unless they go against your morals."


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Aren''t you being a little too greedy?"


    She didn''t appear to have asked for anything tangible, but this was actually an extremely extravagant request.


    With Tang Wulin''s current status, a favor from him was priceless, and if he were to agree, he would have to constantly keep this in the back of his mind.

 Chapter 1671: Collaboration

    "Yes or no?" Shen Xing asked; she suddenly felt like her intelligence had returned.


    If she could secure this promise from Tang Wulin, then that would be the equivalent of a promise from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy! That would be immeasurably beneficial both to herself and her family!


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You''re asking for way too much. How about one favor instead?"


    Shen Xing immediately shook her head without any hesitation. "It has to be three. Otherwise, why don''t you abduct me again? You''re used to using violence anyway. However, I have to warn you that there are many new detection soul tools in our Central Legion that you''ve most likely never even heard of, so I can guarantee that you have no chance of reaching the Battle God Hall."


    Tang Wulin knew that this wasn''t an empty threat. Ling Zichen had already told them that the Central Legion was beginning to use many experimental weapons and soul tools, and even she didn''t know what the federal scientists had been developing lately. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have gone to the trouble of finding Shen Xing.


    "Two favors!" Tang Wulin bartered.


    Shen Xing immediately turned to leave.


    "Fine, three favors it is," Tang Wulin sighed in a resigned manner. It was extremely important for them to enter the Battle God Hall in a peaceful fashion.


    A hint of elation appeared on Shen Xing''s face, and she turned back around with a smile before taking a seat at the table again. "A promise is a promise."


    Tang Wulin replied, "As long as you don''t ask me to do anything that goes against my morals and ethics."


    "Don''t worry, what kind of person do you take me for?" Shen Xing replied in a casual manner.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but scoff internally. After all, he had no idea what type of person she was!


    "Alright, when do you plan to go to the Battle God Hall? I''ll arrange it." Shen Xing had suddenly transformed into a professional lieutenant colonel.


    Tang Wulin replied, "As soon as possible. How are you going to take us to avoid the examinations?"


    Shen Xing rolled her eyes in response. "Don''t you know what my role is? I''ll just forge some identification badges for all of you."


    Shen Xing was currently a very high-ranking official in the identity verification department of the Central Legion, and that was why Tang Wulin had decided to approach her.


    "Alright, I need 10 identification badges," Tang Wulin said.


    "10? There are 10 of you?" Shen Xing exclaimed.


    An exasperated look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Why don''t you shout even louder so the entire Central Legion can hear you?"


    "Why are there so many of you? I''m not omnipotent; how am I supposed to get all of you into the Battle God Hall?" Shen Xing countered.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "You already agreed, and I trust in your abilities. You can take us in in groups. As long as you can bring us into the Battle God Hall, your mission will be complete."


    Shen Xing grumbled, "Then how are you coming out? There''s no way all of you can avoid detection; I don''t have the ability to ensure your safe exit."


    A mysterious smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You don''t need to worry about that; we''ll take care of that on our own. Do you a think a general will be barred from exiting the Battle God Hall?"


    An indecisive look appeared in Shen Xing''s eyes. "Then about the condition I raised..."


    "Stop right there. Three favors is all I''m willing to give; if you ask for any more, then I''ll be forced to abduct you again," Tang Wulin threatened as he intentionally took a glance at Shen Xing''s body.


    In that instant, it was as if he had been possessed by an old demon, and Shen Xing couldn''t help but shudder in fear.


    "You wouldn''t dare!"


    Tang Wulin smiled and returned to normal. "Like I said, it''s not like it hasn''t happened before."


    Shen Xing really wanted to wipe that smile off his face, but she had to admit that he was right: there was nothing that she could do.


    Tang Wulin was at least a Titled Douluo, and no ordinary Titled Douluo, at that, so there was no way that she could contend with him.


    Tang Wulin continued, "Alright, you can tell me how you plan to sneak us in now."


    Shen Xing glowered at him with a resentful expression, but Tang Wulin remained completely unmoved.


    After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Shen Xing said, "I need to go back and make some preparations first. Give me your soul communicator number."


    Tang Wulin did as he was told.


    Shen Xing stood up to leave. "I''ll contact you when I''m ready."


    Tang Wulin looked on as she departed, and on this occasion, he didn''t stop her.


    Instead, it was Shen Xing who suddenly turned back around, and asked, "Aren''t you afraid that I won''t keep my promise? As long as I don''t come out of the Central Legion, you can''t do anything to me."


    Tang Wulin replied with a genuine expression, "I trust you."


    "You..." Shen Xing had no response to this, and she could only stomp her foot before quickly departing.


    Tang Wulin looked on as she departed with a contemplative look in his eyes. Did he really trust Shen Xing? Of course she couldn''t be fully trusted. Unbeknownst to Shen Xing, the Tang Sect''s most cutting-edge tapping device, which was only the size of a grain of rice, had been silently planted on her by a Bluesilver Emperor vine. These tapping devices had built-in disruptive features, which could disrupt detection from all soul tools.


    Tang Wulin dialed a number on his soul communicator, and said, "Test out the tapping device."


    "Alright." Ling Zichen''s voice rang out from the other end.


    After that, he paid the bill and departed.


    After leaving Xing Mei Holiday Resort, Tang Wulin returned directly to the Tang Sect mansion.


    The conference room was already filled with all types of devices, and Ling Zichen was quickly tapping away while sitting in front of three screens.


    A map of the Western Mountains was depicted on the three screens, and there was currently a small red dot quickly moving along the map, clearly indicating Shen Xing''s location.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters, A''Ruheng, and Sima Jinchi were also present, and for some reason, all of them turned to Tang Wulin with rather peculiar expressions.


    "Why are you all looking at me like that?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Ling Zichen chuckled coldly, "You know what you did!"


    A speechless look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "What do you mean? What happened?" Xie Xie couldn''t help but burst into laughter, while Ling Zichen pressed a button, and said, "Have a listen to this replay."


    A burst of static rang out, followed by a thump that sounded like a car door being closed.


    "Bastard! Bastard! Bastard! Why is it him again? Have I not been tortured enough by all those nightmares? Why has he come to see me again?"


    The voice being played naturally belonged to none other than Shen Xing.


    Nightmares? About me?


    Tang Wulin pointed at himself, and everyone nodded in unison with sly expressions.


    "I''ve finally stopped having those embarrassing dreams; why did he have to come and see me now? I really want to kill him! Why did I agree to his request? I''m going against my moral code as a soldier; what the hell''s wrong with me? I don''t even know what to think anymore. It''s all Big Sister''s fault for forcing me to go on these blind dates. He definitely did something to me back then to make me have all those dreams; he''s poisonous! I hate him so much!"

 Chapter 1672: The Central Legion

    It was very apparent to Tang Wulin that Shen Xing''s feelings toward him went beyond just resentment.


    He was no longer the naive and ignorant young boy he once was, so it wasn''t difficult for him to read between the lines.


    Ling Zichen was currently looking at him as if he were a massive pervert.


    "Why are you looking at me like that? I never did anything! Everyone was present when we first met; ask them!" Tang Wulin said with a resigned expression.


    Ling Zichen repeated, "You know what you did!"


    Tang Wulin raised a hand to put an end to this topic. "Alright, setting that aside, did she say anything useful?"


    "Not yet; she''s currently driving back from the restaurant," Yue Zhengyu replied.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Then keep listening in on her; I''m going back to my room."


    He was also quite perplexed by Shen Xing''s reaction. Could it be that the illusions created by the seven old demons had left some type of lasting trauma on her?


    With that in mind, a hint of guilt welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. He didn''t think that he had caused such a huge problem in Shen Xing''s life.


    That was never his intention, and it was not what he wanted to see.


    To his surprise, just as he was about to go into meditation that night, he suddenly received a call from Shen Xing.


    "There''s an opportunity coming up in two days, where a group of personnel are returning from a mission. You guys are all adept in disguising yourselves, right? Stop them on their way back and knock them out, but don''t hurt them. After that, you can impersonate that group, and I''ll take care of the rest."


    Shen Xing''s voice was completely calm and devoid of the emotion she had vented in her car.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Thank you. Will this cause any trouble for you?"


    Shen Xing replied, "I''ll make it seem like a system error, so no one will discover anything. Don''t you know that I''m a soul computer expert?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Alright, I hope this won''t cause any trouble for you in the future."


    Shen Xing harrumphed coldly in response. "Why? So you can continue using me?"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly replied, "Please don''t misunderstand. If my past actions have affected you in any way, then I apologize again. After this, I won''t disrupt you any further. Also, regarding the three favors, you can contact the Tang Sect at any time to redeem them."


    Shen Xing didn''t say anything further and merely ended the call.


    At the Central Legion.


    A military cargo vehicle slowly drove toward the foot of the mountain where the legion was situated.


    After a series of thorough examinations, the soldiers responsible for conducting the examinations extended a military salute toward the driver, and the vehicle slowly traveled into the legion along its designated route.


    The driver was Xie Xie, while Tang Wulin was in the passenger''s seat. At this point, they had all disguised themselves into the soldiers originally in the vehicle.


    There was no need for Tang Wulin to look around; his spiritual power more than sufficed for examining his surroundings.


    As expected of the federation''s most powerful legion; not only was the Central Legion extremely tightly guarded, it was filled with all types of advanced detection equipment. According to Ling Zichen, the federation had even developed detection devices capable of discovering storage soul tools, and those devices were able to instantly glean the contents of the storage soul tools that they scanned.


    The tapping device planted on Shen Xing verified that she hadn''t been up to any suspicious activity, and the operation commenced as planned.


    After entering the Central Legion, they drove straight onward according to the directions that Shen Xing had given them in advance.


    This military vehicle that they had hijacked was responsible for transporting some daily necessities to the designated warehouse.


    With so many people in the Central Legion, a massive amount of resources was required, and there were many supply vehicles like theirs that entered the legion every day. This one had been chosen as the number of people in the vehicle just so happened to be 10.


    The vehicle arrived at the designated location, and the supplies were quickly unloaded.


    They had finally arrived in the Central Legion.


    Generally speaking, the internal security of legions were far more lax than external side, and the Central Legion was no exception to this. There weren''t that many examinations in the legion, and the identification badges provided to them by Shen Xing granted them easy passage.


    "We''re in," Tang Wulin said into his soul communicator.


    Shen Xing replied from the other end, "I can see your current location. You''re in luck; I heard that there aren''t that many powerful beings currently in the Battle God Hall. Travel along the route I planned for you; all of the detection devices on that route have already been altered by me. Barring any mishaps, you should be able to reach the Battle God Hall without a hitch."


    "Alright, thank you. This is likely going to be our last contact, so thank you once again," Tang Wulin said.


    Shen Xing was silent for a moment before replying, "You have to come out alive. Otherwise, you won''t be able to complete those three favors."


    "Don''t worry, I know what I''m doing," Tang Wulin reassured with a smile.


    He then ended the call before turning to his friends. "Let''s go."


    Tang Wulin currently had a set of captain epaulets on his shoulders, and he was the leader of this group. After emerging from the warehouse, all of them made their way toward a certain direction at a natural speed.


    The path outlined by Shen Xing was firmly ingrained in Tang Wulin''s mind; all they had to do was continue onward, and they should be able to pass through the Central Legion to reach the entrance of the Battle God Hall.


    The Central Legion encompassed virtually the entirety of the Western Mountains, and there were all types of large soul facilities in the legion.


    From the Western Mountains, the legion could come to the defence of Bright City at a moment''s notice.


    The Battle God Hall was situated on the peak of the tallest mountain in the Western Mountains, so there was a climb up ahead.


    After passing through two high-security areas, they arrived at a plaza halfway up the mountain.


    This was a market inside the Central Legion where all soldiers and military officials could purchase or trade for items to satisfy their daily needs. This was also one of the only places in the legion that was often quite lively and bustling.


    In order to reach the mountain summit, it was necessary to pass through here.


    The market was an extremely rowdy place, perhaps due to the fact that everyone was normally overly subdued in the legion.


    There were soldiers chatting together, buying things, and having drinks.


    Alcohol was banned in the legion except for in Xing Mei Holiday Resort, so the drinks primarily consisted of tea and coffee.


    Tang Wulin and the others naturally paid no heed to this, and quickly made their way through the market.


    "Look at who it is! Huang Zeran, where are you going in such a hurry?" A military official with captain epaulets suddenly appeared in Tang Wulin''s way. Huang Zeran?


    Huang Zeran? Tang Wulin knew that this was the name of the identity he had adopted.


    Ling Zichen immediately began to tense up, but Tang Wulin made a surreptitious reassuring hand gesture behind his back.


    "What do you want?" He asked in a cold voice. Judging from this man''s attitude, it was clear that he wasn''t on good terms with Huang Zeran.


    "What do I want? You were the one who reported me, right? Don''t tell me it wasn''t you! Own up like a man! Ptui!" The captain spat onto the ground in a disdainful manner as he spoke.


    A bunch of tall and well-built soldiers quickly gathered behind him, appraising Tang Wulin with animosity in their eyes.


    Tang Wulin asked, "What do you want to do?"

 Chapter 1673: Intelligent Handling

    The captain continued, "You reported me, but look what''s happened to me: nothing! If you know what''s good for you, then kowtow and apologize, then compensate me, and I''ll let bygones be bygones. Otherwise, I''ll give you a beating every time I see you; you''ll be forced to withdraw from the legion!"


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but scoff internally upon hearing this. Wasn''t the Central Legion a legion of elites? Why was there scum like this around?


    Tang Wulin gave the captain a derisive glare before making a provocative hand gesture. "If you''re a man, then fight me one-on-one. If you win, I''ll let you do as you please, but if you lose, then piss off!"


    As a past soldier himself, he knew that power was most revered in the military, and that one-on-one battles were the simplest way to resolve conflicts.


    This was how he had tamed Jiang Wuyue back in the Blood God Legion.


    "So? Are you scared?" Tang Wulin raised his chin slightly in another provocative gesture.


    "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Sure enough, there were already soldiers urging for the fight to take place.


    Life in the military was simply far too bland and boring, so one-on-one fights were very attention-grabbing.


    "You dare to challenge me? Great! I''m going to knock all of your teeth out!" The captain lunged toward Tang Wulin, throwing a punch directly at Tang Wulin''s face as he spoke.


    Tang Wulin was rather surprised by the power and speed of this punch; this was definitely not a punch that a normal soldier would be capable of unleashing, and his fist was even imbued with soul power.


    Tang Wulin slapped the captain''s fist, and even though he had intentionally held back, the captain was still sent stumbling backward.


    Tang Wulin then raised a leg and aimed a vicious kick at the captain''s chest, sending him flying back five to six meters.


    Everyone immediately fell silent upon seeing this.


    The captain that had provoked Huang Zeran was quite powerful among military officials of his rank, and no one anticipated that he would be handled so easily by Huang Zeran.


    "Bastard!" The captain instantly sprang to his feet, and four soul rings emerged from beneath his feet, comprised of three yellows and one purple.


    At the same time, his arms expanded noticeably, particularly his fists, which had taken on a metallic grey hue.


    This captain''s name was Deng Shun, and his martial soul was his fists. He hadn''t cultivated them to the body martial soul level yet, but he was still an extremely powerful being among captains, which was why he was so arrogant.


    He had been reported by Huang Zeran for taking rebates while purchasing supplies, and he wasn''t punished too severely due to the connections he had, but this avenue of earnings had been cut off, so he was naturally quite resentful toward Huang Zeran.


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint internal sigh. This was rather troublesome, and he had to end this battle as quickly as possible. He was currently impersonating Huang Zeran, but he didn''t even know what Huang Zeran''s martial soul was. A disguise was easy to arrange, but emulating a martial soul was far too troublesome, especially in the presence of so many people.


    His main concern was that a high-ranking military official would step in, and that would be disastrous.


    Thus, after a brief moment of contemplation, Tang Wulin sprang forward without any hesitation.


    Deng Shun threw a vicious right punch, unleashing his second soul skill, Iron Fist, at the same time.


    Right before Tang Wulin was about to be struck by Deng Shun''s fist, he dodged to evade the attack, then grabbed onto Deng Shun''s right wrist before aiming a kick at his shin, sending him flying once again.


    On this occasion, Deng Shun was very unlucky, and his head struck a wall, upon which he immediately fainted.


    Tang Wulin dusted some imaginary lint off his shoulders, and scoffed, "Pathetic! Who else wants to have a go?"


    Everyone''s expressions had changed drastically at this point. He had just taken care of Deng Shun so easily without even using his martial soul; this was a truly stunning display of power.


    "Alright, take him to the infirmary," Tang Wulin said before departing, and everyone else in his group had already split up, but they were all making their way toward the same direction as well.


    "Hold on!" A loud cry suddenly rang out.


    Tang Wulin stopped before turning to discover another captain appraising him with a suspicious expression.


    "You''re not Huang Zeran! Huang Zeran is still recovering from an illness he contracted a few days ago, and he''s only a Soul Grandmaster; how could he possibly defeat Deng Shun? Who are you?" the captain interrogated.


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh, then transmitted a message of reassurance to his friends through his spiritual power before making his way toward the captain.


    "I had intended to hide my power, but it looks like I''ll have to reveal some of it to silence pesky little pests like you! Who told you I''m only a Soul Grandmaster? Who told you I''m not Huang Zeran?" He tossed his identification badge forward as he spoke, and at the same time, six soul rings, comprised of two yellows and four purples, rose up from beneath his feet, revealing him to be a Soul Emperor.


    The majority of people present were normal soldiers, and the rest were all low-ranking military officials, and they couldn''t help but stumble back in the face of the Soul Emperor level aura that Tang Wulin was releasing.


    Tang Wulin stopped around three steps away from the captain before making an inviting hand gesture. "Check to see if that''s my identification badge."


    The captain hurriedly examined the badge using his soul communicator, and there were naturally no issues with it.


    Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly, "I didn''t want to reveal everything this early, but it looks like I have no choice. Deng Shun has taken rebates on multiple occasions while purchasing supplies, and he harbored resentment toward me after I reported him. I don''t know why the higher-ups didn''t punish him, allowing him to come and confront me. All of these people must be his lackeys, and I''m going to report them all to the higher-ups again!"


    If one were to look closely into Tang Wulin''s eyes, they''d discover faint purple light flashing within them, and at this point, the expression on the captain''s face had become completely vacant.


    Through the use of his immense spiritual power, Tang Wulin had forcibly read the captain''s memories. At the mental manifestation level, Tang Wulin still couldn''t read one''s complete memories, but with such a massive disparity in power, it was a simple matter for him to read a few memory fragments, and those were enough for him to string together the full story.


    Thus, he immediately declared the reason behind Deng Shun''s vendetta toward him, thereby further proving his identity.


    "Punish them!" A loud cry suddenly rang out.


    "I was wondering why my toilet paper was so hard and thin; it''s all because of these scumbags!" Another vehement voice quickly rang out.


    "Our female sanitary products are also of a very bad quality; this must be why! We can''t just let things slide; let''s all report them together!"


    All of the surrounding soldiers were stirred up into a frenzy.


    Deng Shun had just been helped to his feet, and he hadn''t even regained his consciousness before he was completely surrounded, as was the captain who had just interrogated Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 1674: Entering the Gates of Hell

    "Take them to the military law department!" Tang Wulin yelled.


    The situation had become quite heated and chaotic, and the thing that the military feared the most was internal turmoil.


    At this moment, he was fanning the flames by infusing his words with some of his spiritual power, and all of the soldiers had become extremely worked up.


    Meanwhile, everyone else in Tang Wulin''s group had already snuck away toward the mountain peak, and Tang Wulin quickly followed suit.


    Thus, they finally managed to pass through the market, and Tang Wulin was able to heave a faint sigh of relief.


    At this point, everyone else had already separated. He had instructed everyone to go on ahead as it would be far easier to handle the situation on his own.


    The ones who had stayed behind were Sima Jinchi, A''Ruheng, and Ling Zichen, and they were the ones who had been complaining about the toilet paper and female sanitary products.


    As a result, all of the soldiers had been stirred up into a frenzy, allowing them to sneak away without being noticed. Thus, they quickly sped up the mountain toward the entrance of the Battle God Hall.


    As expected of an outstanding soul computer expert, Shen Xing had reset the entire internal soul system of the Central Legion, granting Tang Wulin''s group smooth passage.


    The higher they scaled up the mountain, the fewer detection soul tools there were. Most of the Central Legion''s facilities were focused on the bottom half of the mountain, while the top half belonged to the Battle God Hall. Regardless of whether it was in the military or the federation, the Battle God Hall had a transcendent status.


    Finally, they reached an altitude of 2,500 meters above sea level, and the entire mountain peak above this point was covered in snow.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think back to the Blood God Legion upon seeing this. Back then, she was still by his side.


    Right at this moment, a metal ball with a probe attached to it descended from above before stopping in front of Tang Wulin''s group. "Stop! You''re about to enter the territory of the Battle God Hall; do you have a recommendation letter?"


    Tang Wulin replied with a faint smile, "We were able to make it here, so our identities are no longer important. According to the safe harbor rule of the Battle God Hall, we have a right to challenge the Battle God Hall."


    "The rules have changed," the metal ball declared, immediately following which a loud alarm was raised.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon seeing this. This wasn''t what Cao Dezhi had said would happen! According to Cao Dezhi, reaching an altitude of 2,500 meters above sea level would officially take them into Battle God Hall territory, and under normal circumstances, the safe harbor rule would apply at that point. Could it be that there were some extraordinary circumstances?


    As the alarm rang out, several dozen light beams immediately flashed toward the mountain summit from the Central Legion.


    The metal ball continued, "In order to avoid unnecessary wastage of time, those without recommendation letters must pass the trial of the Central Legion and reach the mountain summit before they''ll be able to challenge the Battle God Hall." As soon as its voice trailed off, the metal ball sped up toward the mountain summit.


    The mountain peak was at an altitude of over 4,000 meters above sea level, which meant that they still had over a kilometer to go.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t afford to dwell on this mishap, and immediately yelled, "Let''s go!"


    Thus, everyone no longer disguised their powers and released the full extent of their soul power, propelling themselves up the mountain like cannonballs.


    Several dozen mechas were flying toward them from down below, and Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly as purplish-blue lightning erupted out of his body.


    This was his Lightning Forest!


    With his current powers, Lightning Forest could encompass an enormous area, and even though the group of oncoming mechas was led by three black mechas, their internal soul cores would still be severely affected by the lightning, thereby resulting in major issues.


    Thus, all of the mechas immediately dispersed to avoid the Lightning Forest.


    Only then did Tang Wulin launch himself toward the mountain summit. With their powers, a distance of less than two kilometers could be covered in virtually the blink of an eye.


    Upon reaching the mountain summit, they discovered a massive metal gate embedded into the surface of the mountain.


    The gate was entirely black with countless menacing images carved onto its surface, some of which resembled soul beasts, while others resembled humans.


    Tang Wulin knew these were the Gates of Hell of the Battle God Hall. Entering through these gates, one would arrive in the Battle God Hall, and these gates were an examination in themselves. Without strength that exceeded three tons, it would be impossible to push them open.


    "I''ll get it!" A''Ruheng chuckled as he strode over to the Gates of Hell and pushed them open with ease, as if he were pushing open a door in his own house.


    Everyone flew into the Battle God Hall before the pursuing mechas could arrive, and the Gates of Hell swung shut again.


    The Central Legion mechas arrived right after the gates had swung completely shut, but at this point, they were already powerless to do anything.


    Beyond the Gates of Hell, the entire surrounding area was completely enshrouded in darkness.


    "Welcome to the 18 Levels of Hell." A cold voice rang out, following which the ground began to tremor before slowly descending.


    Everyone gathered together with Ling Zichen at the center, and Tang Wulin released his spiritual power to keep tabs on the surrounding area.


    After around a minute, a dull thump rang out, and the tremors abruptly ceased.


    Immediately thereafter, the ground vanished beneath their feet without any warning.


    Tang Wulin and the others were already prepared, and they were able to hover in mid-air without plummeting downward.


    There was a massive net around 30 meters down below, so there was no risk of injury even if one were to fall straight down.


    A wide passageway appeared in their field of view, and the passageway was over 20 meters wide and around five meters tall.


    In the distance, dark red light could be seen up ahead.


    Having entered the Battle God Hall, a large portion of their mission was already complete.


    After advancing for around 100 meters through the passageway, a huge hall appeared.


    The hall was circular in shape, and there were complex soul arrays engraved into the ground, the walls, and the ceiling. The red light that they had seen earlier was being released by none other than these soul arrays.


    At this moment, there was another group of 10 people awaiting them.


    The rules of the Battle God Hall dictated that the number of Battle Gods deployed would match the number of challengers, and the powers of the Battle Gods deployed would be determined based on the cultivation ranks of the challengers.


    A group of 10 people like theirs was extremely rare, and it was impossible for there to be 10 Battle Gods on every level as there simply weren''t enough Battle Gods. This was why Cao Dezhi had suggested that Tang Wulin bring so many people along with him.

 Chapter 1675: Ninth Battle God, Jiang Zhanheng

    As such, once they conquered the first two levels, there was a very good chance that they would face some other trials instead of having to directly fight Battle Gods, and that would be far easier in comparison.


    The 10 Battle Gods all had different heights and figures, but they were all wearing retro black tight-fitting robes with red patterns.


    The one standing at the direct center of the group was a tall man with golden patterns instead of red on his robes, and it was clear that he was the leader of the group. [How do you stand at the direct center of 10 people?]


    Tang Wulin recalled that he had seen this man once during the joust for a spouse event; he was none other than the Vice-Battle God Hall Master, Sky Crossing Douluo Guan Yue.


    He was a veteran Battle God, and one of the three Limit Douluos of the Battle God Hall.


    Just like Chen Xinjie, Guan Yue was also a veteran Limit Douluo, but he had been perpetually stuck at the quasidemigod level, unable to cross into the demigod realm, so he was significantly less powerful than Chen Xinjie.


    Even so, he was still a Limit Douluo and a four-word battle armor master, making him one of the most powerful beings in this world.


    A respectful look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face at the sight of Guan Yue. "Greetings, Hall Master Guan."


    He reverted back to his original appearance as he spoke, and Guan Yue didn''t seem to be all that surprised to see this. Instead, he sighed, "So you came, after all. Why put yourselves through this?"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "We have no choice. The federation has forced our hand, and our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy have always been ambassadors of peace."


    Having already entered the Battle God Hall, there was no need for him to hide his intentions any further.


    Guan Yue shook his head in response. "It won''t be easy to pass through us. You can still choose to leave now. Otherwise, you might not be able to."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I''ve always wanted to come to the Battle God Hall; I can''t squander this opportunity."


    A meaningful look appeared in Guan Yue''s eyes, and he said, "In that case, you''ll have to pass through us. The number of Battle Gods you manage to defeat will determine the number of people that will get to progress to the next level; those who are defeated will be unable to progress. However, I''m sure the Central Legion is currently ready and waiting outside, and according to the rules of the Battle God Hall, once you leave, we have no duty to ensure your safety."


    "I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Palace Master Guan; let''s begin now."


    Tang Wulin waved a hand as he spoke, and everyone fanned out beside him.


    Tang Wulin swept his gaze over the array of Battle Gods before them.


    It was undoubtedly the case that all of these Battle Gods were at the Titled Douluo level or above, and all of them, aside from Guan Yue, were wearing their corresponding numbers on their chests.


    Just as Guan Yue had said, each of them had to defeat a Battle God if they wanted to progress.


    As such, Tang Wulin could theoretically get a weaker teammate to challenge Guan Yue to avoid having to face the Limit Douluo, thereby granting him passage at the expense of a relatively unimportant member of the team.


    However, Tang Wulin had his own plan, which involved getting everyone to progress to the next level.


    One of the reasons he had revealed his own identity as soon as he had entered the Battle God Hall was as a display of power.


    He wanted to show the Battle God Hall and the federation that aside from the older generation of Limit Douluos, the younger generation of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were also forces to be reckoned with.


    Guan Yue declared, "You can choose any Battle God as your opponent, including myself. The winners will move on to the next level, while the losers will be asked to leave."


    Tang Wulin turned to his friends. "Who wants to go first?"


    "I''ll go first," Xie Xie volunteered as he strode forward with a smile.


    Tang Wulin didn''t say anything, and merely patted him on the shoulder.


    Xie Xie glanced at all of the Battle Gods before him, and said, "I want to challenge the ninth Battle God."


    The Battle God Hall had 18 regular Battle Gods, as well as some backup Battle Gods. All of the Battle Gods present were regular ones, and the ninth one was right around the mid-range.


    Choosing one of the more powerful Battle Gods would make things easier for everyone else, and Xie Xie had chosen one in the mid-range to give everyone an idea of how powerful these Battle Gods were.


    The ninth Battle God strode forward, while the others retreated with Guan Yue.


    The ninth Battle God was quite thin and very ordinary in appearance. If he were in casual clothes, he would''ve been able to easily blend into any crowd.


    However, the fact that he was the ninth Battle God indicated that his powers definitely belied his appearance.


    "Xie Xie of Shrek Academy, please enlighten me!" Xie Xie said with a serious expression as he made an inviting hand gesture.


    Ever since he had begun pursuing Yuanen, he had worked extra hard in his cultivation in fear of being left too far behind by her, and the pressure on him had only increased since Yuanen had accepted her Yuanen Family heritage. This was a family with two Limit Douluos, and that wasn''t even taking into account their quasigod level patriarch! If he didn''t work harder, he would be truly left in the dust.


    Thus, despite his usual happy-go-lucky demeanor, he had actually always been working extremely hard. Even his closest friends didn''t know just how much he had sacrificed, and only Yuanen Yehui was aware of the full extent of his crazy work ethic. As such, she didn''t even scold Xie Xie now as she didn''t want to pile additional pressure on him.


    "Ninth Battle God of the Battle God Hall, Lightning Douluo Jiang Zhanheng, please enlighten me," the ninth Battle God replied. Everything about him was very ordinary and placid, but for some reason, he gave off the feeling of the calm before the storm.


    Everyone already knew that all of the regular Battle Gods were Titled Douluos, but this declaration still sent shivers down everyone''s spines, particularly as they were in the Battle God Hall.


    The patterns on the walls and the ground suddenly dimmed slightly, following which a gentle light barrier appeared.


    A hint of intrigue appeared in Ling Zichen''s eyes upon seeing this, and she murmured to herself, "This is a protective barrier formed solely by soul arrays with no enhancement devices involved."


    Tang Wulin also had an extensive understanding of soul arrays, but he naturally couldn''t compare with the likes of Ling Zichen. "What does that entail?"


    Ling Zichen replied, "The fact that such a potent protective barrier can be released even without enhancement devices entails that the materials used to construct these soul arrays are quite exceptional; it must be some type of top-grade alloy, which means that the Battle God Hall is essentially a treasure in itself. This protective soul array definitely has external enhancement features, and once the energy within this place reaches a certain level, the enhancements will kick in to further bolster the barrier."


    "I see. The Battle God Hall has the federation''s full support, so it''s no surprise that they have such good resources," Tang Wulin said.


    Ling Zichen replied, "If I had these materials, I would''ve done a much better job!"


    "Of course! You''re the best!" Tang Wulin certainly wasn''t going to argue against her.

 Chapter 1676: Illusionary Clones

    Within the protective barrier, Xie Xie and Jiang Zhanheng were appraising one another with 30 meters between them, and their auras were beginning to change.


    The air around Jiang Zhanheng was warping slightly, and it was apparent from his Douluo Title that he was definitely a very offensively adept Soul Master.


    In contrast, not only was Xie Xie not releasing a powerful aura, he seemed to be on the verge of fading out of existence.


    In reality, only Tang Wulin had been heavily scrutinized and had his abilities dissected among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters as he had appeared in public the most.


    In contrast, everyone else kept a very low profile, so even the Battle God Hall had very little information about them.


    In regard to Xie Xie, all they knew was that he was an agility attack system Soul Master. After all, no one had access to the files of Shrek Academy.


    Jiang Zhanheng didn''t underestimate Xie Xie just because the latter was very young. All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were exceptional prodigies, as evidenced by their leader, who had defeated the entire Star Luo Empire on his own.


    All of a sudden, both of them sprang into action as if it had been choreographed in advance.


    A resounding boom erupted from beneath Jiang Zhanheng''s feet, and he launched himself toward Xie Xie like a cannonball, while Xie Xie took on an illusionary form and evaded to the side.


    Nine soul rings, five purples and four blacks, emerged from Jiang Zhanheng''s body, while Xie Xie revealed eight soul rings, seven blacks and one orange-golden.


    Black soul rings were the least attention-grabbing among all soul ring colors, yet the orange-golden soul ring was extremely resplendent, creating a stark contrast with the other seven.


    All of the Battle Gods were naturally aware of what an orange-golden soul ring entailed; this was a legendary soul ring that transcended even above red 100,000-year-old soul rings!


    As such, even though Xie Xie only had eight soul rings, none of them were going to make the mistake of taking him lightly.


    Jiang Zhanheng held a dark purple short spear in each hand, each of which was around 1.2 meters in length with lightning flashing along them. These Lightningflame Spears were his martial soul, and they possessed extremely fearsome explosive power.


    In response to Xie Xie''s evasion, Jiang Zhanheng plunged both of his spears into the ground at once, and a massive burst of dark purple light immediately erupted out of the ground before surging directly toward Xie Xie.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon seeing this. This wasn''t just a reflection of Jiang Zhanheng''s power alone; he was also making use of the venue advantage. This was the Battle God Hall, so all of the Battle Gods were undoubtedly going to be more familiar with this place, thereby placing Tang Wulin and the others at a disadvantage.


    Xie Xie''s body unfurled in mid-air, and he twisted around in an agile manner, then rose diagonally upward to evade the lightningflames.


    Jiang Zhanheng''s third soul ring lit up, and his lightningflames suddenly took on the shape of a sharp spear that followed Xie Xie in hot pursuit.


    On this occasion, it seemed like evasion would be impossible.


    However, Xie Xie''s body suddenly split up into two, and at the same time, he accelerated once again, just barely evading the oncoming attack once again. At the same time, both Xie Xies vanished in unison.


    Both sides were testing each other out and displaying their respective fortes.


    Jiang Zhanheng pulled his Lightningflame Spears out of the ground before raising them high above his head, following which his fifth soul ring lit up, and a dark purple ring of light erupted outward from his spears.


    This was his fifth soul skill, Lightningflame Spirit Array!


    The temperature on the entire first level abruptly rose drastically, and arcs of lightning began to appear within the expanding ring of light.


    This was a soul skill that covered a huge area, but wasn''t a directly offensive one. Instead, it could greatly increase Jiang Zhanheng''s affinity with the lightning and fire elements in that area, thereby enhancing all of his other soul skills.


    Furthermore, this soul skill also acted as a radar that was scouring for the hidden Xie Xie.


    All of the Battle Gods were veteran combatants and had faced countless martial souls in the past, so they were always able to remain calm and formulate strategies regardless of the opponent.


    However, to Jiang Zhanheng''s surprise, his Lightningflame Spirit Array had already encompassed virtually the entire venue, but he still couldn''t sense Xie Xie''s presence.


    How had he managed to do this?


    Right as this thought appeared in Jiang Zhanheng''s mind, he was suddenly struck by a peculiar feeling, and he immediately rushed forward while lashing out with the Lightningflame Spear in his left hand, sweeping up a vast expanse of lightningflames that surged behind him.


    An illusionary Xie Xie appeared before curling up into a ball in the face of the oncoming lightningflames, quickly retreating by borrowing the propulsion force of the lightningflames.


    Jiang Zhanheng''s eyes immediately lit up as he prepared to give chase, but right at this moment, a sense of extreme peril welled up in his heart, and he dove forward without any hesitation.


    Almost at the exact same moment, a cold streak glanced past his back.


    Jiang Zhanheng was a rank 93 Titled Douluo, and at his level, he had great premonition when it came to danger. Thus, as soon as he sensed that something was wrong, he had instinctively released his soul power.


    The cold streak behind him was extremely sharp and had appeared in a very abrupt manner.


    Everyone could clearly see that the soul power released by Jiang Zhanheng had been sliced apart, and even though he had reacted very quickly, the cold streak had still torn through the clothes on his back.


    He immediately twisted around while sweeping his Lightningflame Spears backward, and at the same time, his second soul ring lit up as he released a massive burst of lightningflames to force out the sharp soul power that had infiltrated his body.


    At this point, Jiang Zhanheng was already drenched in cold sweat. If it weren''t for his natural premonition as a Titled Douluo, the battle would''ve most likely already ended. It was clear that everything up to this point had been a trap set by Xie Xie, and the clone that had been struck by the wave of lightningflames was already long gone.


    After failing in his sneak attack, Xie Xie disappeared once again, but two clones had suddenly emerged on either side of Jiang Zhanheng, both of which were attacking him at once. On top of that, a cold streak was also descending toward him from above.


    As a Titled Douluo level assault system Soul Master, Jiang Zhanheng shouldn''t be having this much trouble against an agility attack system Soul Master, but Xie Xie was simply far too fast, and he didn''t know anything about Xie Xie''s abilities.


    As a result, he was immediately forced onto the back foot. He injected his soul power into his Lightningflame Spears with all his might, and lightningflames surged out of his body like a volcanic eruption to oppose all of the oncoming attacking figures. However, once all of those clones disappeared, Xie Xie was nowhere to be seen again.


    The other Battle Gods were stunned to see this.


    If they were in Jiang Zhanheng''s shoes, how would they fare?


    Were Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters this powerful already? According to the Battle God Hall''s files, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters were definitely still in their twenties. Furthermore, this was only one of the more obscure members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters; how powerful would their leader, Tang Wulin, be?

 Chapter 1677: Xie Xies Eighth Soul Skill

    Jiang Zhanheng''s expression remained unchanged, but he was feeling quite frustrated. He had undoubtedly been forced onto the back foot, and even his clothes had been torn. Furthermore, he had definitely expended far more soul power than Xie Xie during that sequence of clashes, so he had fallen to a severe disadvantage.


    Since when did it become so difficult for Titled Douluos to face Soul Douluos? At the same time, neither his spiritual power nor his soul skills could detect his opponent''s exact location, and that was extremely troublesome.


    Should he release his battle armor to enhance his offensive, defensive, and sensory capabilities? Under the protection of his battle armor, it would be far more difficult for his opponent to break through his defenses.


    However, he was the ninth Battle God of the Battle God Hall, while his opponent was only a Soul Douluo; he didn''t want to be the one to release his battle armor first. There were so many of his colleagues and even the vice-hall master present; he would be embarrassing himself if he were to release his battle armor first.


    In a battle between Soul Masters, the one who released their battle armor first was essentially making a concession of inferiority, and that was unacceptable to Jiang Zhanheng.


    All of a sudden, the light around him abruptly dimmed slightly. Jiang Zhanheng hurriedly focused his attention and thrust both of his spears forward. Lightningflames erupted in all directions around him, and he was confident that regardless of where Xie Xie was, he would be forced to appear in the face of this attack.


    Unleashing such an attack would expend a lot of his power, but as a Titled Douluo, he could afford to do this against an opponent of an inferior cultivation rank.


    Right at this moment, Jiang Zhanheng was struck by the feeling that his lightningflames were being stirred up, and a series of extremely sharp auras swept toward him from all directions like a flurry of sharp blades.


    He hurriedly increased the output of his lightningflames, but it was still being torn to shreds.


    Jiang Zhanheng didn''t dare to take any chances, and he immediately released his sixth soul skill, upon which a ball of lightningflames instantly erupted out of his body like a blooming flower.


    This was his sixth soul skill, Lightningflame Blossom, another wide-range attack!


    Jiang Zhanheng stood within the blooming flower of lightningflames, looking as if he were a godly figure.


    However, right at this moment, he was suddenly struck by a sense of disorientation, following which a streak of light reached him in a flash.


    Even his almighty Lightningflame Blossom was completely unable to stop the streak of light.


    Jiang Zhanheng was naturally very alarmed by this, and he instinctively tried to release his battle armor in this dire situation.


    However, a burst of pain suddenly erupted within his body. The sharp aura that had previously infiltrated his body had been cleared out by his lightningflames, but it had suddenly reappeared, throwing him off and preventing him from releasing his battle armor.


    Thus, the streak of light instantly branded itself onto his head, and his mind immediately congealed.


    He could still sense everything happening around him, but he was completely immobilized, and even the lightningflames around him had dissipated.


    An illusionary figure then instantly materialized before him; it was none other than Xie Xie. Xie Xie was holding a pair of daggers, which he placed against Jiang Zhanheng''s neck.


    At this moment, his right arm and torso was entirely encased in battle armor. This wasn''t a full suit of battle armor, and it had an illusionary appearance, making it impossible for one to see the armor clearly, but it definitely existed.


    "That''s four-word battle armor!" Guan Yue exclaimed.


    The other Battle Gods couldn''t identify this, but as a Limit Douluo and four-word battle armor master himself, Guan Yue was naturally able to.


    Suits of four-word battle armor were essentially intelligent life forms, and they all had unique auras. In critical situations, they could even battle in the place of the wearer.


    Furthermore, pieces of four-word battle armor would resonate with one another, and that was what had alerted Guan Yue.


    "Thank you for the battle!" Xie Xie withdrew his daggers, and only then did Jiang Zhanheng recover from his paralysis.


    At this moment, Jiang Zhanheng realized that he had made a fatal and unforgivable mistake. He had refrained from releasing his battle armor as he wanted to save face, but his opponent was constantly lurking in the shadows, and he didn''t even know if Xie Xie had released his battle armor or not!


    That streak of light that had ended the battle seemed to be very ordinary, but that was far from the case. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have been able to easily pierce through his sixth soul skill and leave him completely powerless.


    The protective barrier in the Battle God Hall wasn''t soundproof, so he had heard Guan Yue as well.


    Xie Xie''s suit of battle armor was incomplete, but it was four-word battle armor! With the enhancements provided by those pieces of four-word battle armor, Xie Xie had already bridged the gap between their cultivation ranks.


    Regardless of how reluctant Jiang Zhanheng was to accept defeat, he had no choice but to do so. Furthermore, this was a crushing and humiliating defeat.


    What was that streak of light? It was Xie Xie''s eighth soul skill, which he had barely ever displayed even in front of his friends. The soul skill''s name was Phasing Spike, and it was capable of phasing through space and time, making it virtually impossible to ward off.


    If Jiang Zhanheng had donned his suit of three-word battle armor, he would''ve been able to nullify a part of the soul skill''s power, but Xie Xie had correctly predicted that he would be too proud to release his battle armor. In contrast, Xie Xie had no such qualms, and he had unleashed his most powerful attack, while Jiang Zhanheng was still testing out Xie Xie''s abilities.


    This wasn''t his only eighth soul skill, but it was his most powerful control soul skill. Furthermore, it was imbued with immense destructive power as well. If he hadn''t withdrawn the second stage of that attack, Jiang Zhanheng''s mind would''ve been directly impacted, and that was very likely to cause permanent injury.


    Even if Jiang Zhanheng had been prepared and donned his suit of battle armor, Xie Xie''s Phasing Spike, which was enhanced by his pieces of four-word battle armor, would still most likely have been too much for Jiang Zhanheng to withstand.


    All of the Battle Gods had fallen completely silent, as had Tang Wulin and everyone else.


    Even they were stunned by how quickly Xie Xie had won, let alone their opponents.


    As Xie Xie made his way back to the group, Tang Wulin suddenly recalled something that Yali had said not long ago. At the time, she had told Tang Wulin that Xie Xie had improved significantly of late, and that if he were to keep this up, there was a very good chance he would become the number one agility attack system Soul Master on the continent.


    Tang Wulin had thought that Yali was trying to encourage Xie Xie, but it seemed that her words weren''t all that far-fetched.


    Xie Xie wasn''t even a Titled Douluo yet, but he could already defeat the ninth Battle God. Even more importantly, Tang Wulin discovered that Xie Xie was currently different from his past self.


    In his past battles, there were still some discernible patterns, but now, he was completely unpredictable, and his attacks were ridiculously diverse, to the point that even Tang Wulin couldn''t predict them anymore.

 Chapter 1678: Gluttony Douluo

    During the past few months, Tang Wulin had spent the vast majority of his time and focus on heavenly refinement to produce suits of four-word battle armor for everyone. Once everyone''s suits of four-word battle armor were completed, they would undergo a complete transformation.


    As such, he hadn''t trained together much with everyone else, and they had mostly all focused on their own cultivation.


    Looking at things now, it seemed that his friends had evolved far faster than he imagined, and they would have to begin training together again soon.


    "Did I do well, Boss?" Xie Xie asked with a smile.


    Tang Wulin gave him a thumbs-up, yet just as Xie Xie was walking past him, he said, "I want to try that as well; let''s spar together after we get back."


    Xie Xie almost tripped over his own feet upon hearing this, and his smile instantly faded.


    Assault system Soul Masters naturally suppressed agility attack system Soul Masters, and Tang Wulin was certainly no Jiang Zhanheng. His mental manifestation level spiritual power was going to be far more effective for detecting Xie Xie, and even more importantly, Xie Xie had an instinctive fear of Tang Wulin due to his Golden Dragon King bloodline.


    "That''s what you get for showing off!" Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu chuckled in unison.


    Xie Xie extended an insulting hand gesture toward Yue Zhengyu, then raised his head in a proud manner. In any case, he had completed his mission.


    Right at this moment, the most portly of the Battle Gods stepped forward. This man''s waist circumference most likely exceeded his height, and he wore a benevolent smile, reminding Tang Wulin and the others of Smiling Douluo Hu Jie.


    He patted his own stomach, and said, "I heard that there''s a member of your Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters with stuffed buns as their martial soul. My martial soul also has something to do with food; why don''t we have a match together?"


    This man was the 14th Battle God.


    Xu Lizhi faltered slightly upon hearing this. It was outside of the normal conventions of the Battle God Hall for a Battle God to challenge a challenger. However, seeing as the proposal had already been made, there was no reason for him to back down. He took a glance at Tang Wulin, who gave him a nod of approval.


    Xu Lizhi was still a support system Soul Master, but his cultivation had taken a rather interesting turn of late. Furthermore, the opponent was only the 14th Battle God, so Tang Wulin saw no issue in allowing Xu Lizhi to face him.


    Thus, Xu Lizhi strode forward, and he was even fatter than his opponent.


    "Xu Lizhi of Shrek Academy, please enlighten me."


    The 14th Battle God replied, "14th Battle God of the Battle God Hall, Gluttony Douluo Ling Chen, please enlighten me."


    "Gem?" Xu Lizhi faltered slightly upon hearing this.  [1]


    "No, not gem; gluttony, as in violently gorging on food, hehehe."


    Xu Lizhi''s eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this. This guy wasn''t going to eat him, was he?


    Furthermore, with such a strange Douluo Title, what was his martial soul going to be?


    "Come, let''s spend some quality fatso time together!" In contrast with the cold and forbidding Jiang Zhanheng, Ling Chen seemed to be very chatty and bubbly.


    Xu Lizhi smiled, and replied, "Sure!"


    Thus, the second match became the clash of the fatties.


    Both of them strode into the protective barrier, and Ling Chen maintained a benevolent smile as he made an inviting hand gesture. "Should we begin?"


    "Sure," Xu Lizhi replied as he nodded with a serious expression.


    "How about you give me a stuffed bun to eat?" Ling Chen chuckled as he sprang into action.


    To everyone''s surprise, despite his rotund frame, he was able to squat down extraordinarily quickly before launching himself forward like a cannonball, reaching Xu Lizhi in a flash.


    He reached out with his hands, and a pair of short and thin sticks appeared in his grasp before being thrust toward Xu Lizhi''s stomach.


    Holy sh*t, this guy''s an agility attack system Soul Master!


    Xu Lizhi knew that he had fallen into a trap.


    Support system Soul Masters feared agility attack system Soul Masters the most as the latter were too fast and didn''t give the former any time to defend themselves.


    Xu Lizhi knew that there was no point in evading with his lackluster speed, so he merely remained on the spot. He took a half step backward with his right foot to create a more solid base, then thrust his palms forward, and his aura also underwent a drastic transformation, making him resemble an immovable mountain.


    Two crisp clangs rang out, and the two short sticks were repelled by Xu Lizhi''s Mysterious Jade Hands, while he was also sent gliding backward.


    Ling Chen was rather surprised to see this, but he didn''t stop even for a split-second as he began to spin like a top, almost instantly reaching Xu Lizhi from behind.


    Xu Lizhi hurriedly spun around, using his Mysterious Jade Hands to defend himself again.


    Ling Chen was very fast, but Xu Lizhi was also very agile, spinning around on the spot to protect himself from all directions with his Mysterious Jade Hands. A string of clashes quickly took place, and it seemed that Xu Lizhi was in a very bad situation as he didn''t even have time to release his martial soul.


    In reality, his martial soul was stuffed buns, so releasing it wouldn''t have been very effective anyway.


    Thus, it seemed that Ling Chen had gained an absolute advantage from the get-go.


    However, instead of being pleased to see this, Guan Yue''s brows had furrowed slightly.


    Even if Ling Chen were to win this match, there was nothing to be happy about; there was no glory in an agility attack system Titled Douluo beating a food system Soul Master of a lower cultivation rank.


    Furthermore, Guan Yue noticed that none of Shrek''s Seven Monsters were worried about this current situation, and that was very abnormal.


    Perhaps this was an indication that they were very confident in Xu Lizhi.


    The ease of Xie Xie''s victory could partially be attributed to complacency from Jiang Zhanheng, but the power displayed by Xie Xie had indeed far surpassed the Battle Gods'' expectations anyway.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had always kept a low profile, and their power, as well as their strange martial souls, came as a huge surprise.


    Xu Lizhi and Xie Xie were both members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; would one really be that much worse than the other?


    One had to realize that there had been another food system Soul Master in the history of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy who had possessed extraordinary combat prowess; his name was Food God Douluo Oscar!


    Thus, Guan Yue was still feeling quite tense and apprehensive.


    In his eyes, this was a stern examination for the Battle Gods, as well as an opportunity for them to understand more about Shrek''s Seven Monsters.


    All of a sudden, a louder clang than usual rang out, and Xu Lizhi''s hands were flung apart, leaving him completely vulnerable. It seemed that he was finally unable to withstand Ling Chen''s sustained assault.


    During the course of his attacks, Ling Chen had unleashed many soul skills such as Penetrate, Explode, and Tear, and even Mysterious Jade Hands wouldn''t be able to last for long.


    [1] [In Chinese, the pronunciations for gem (±¦Ê¯) and gluttony/gorge (±©Ê³) are very similar.]

 Chapter 1679: Chopsticks Martial Soul

    Ling Chen immediately drew closer and thrust his short sticks toward Xu Lizhi''s chest.


    Was it already over?


    Just as most of the Battle Gods thought that Xu Lizhi would lose this match even before he had released his martial soul, a ball of light suddenly began to glow in front of Xu Lizhi''s chest.


    A resounding clang rang out, and it was Ling Chen that was forced back. He felt as if his short sticks had struck an impregnable fortress. A smile appeared on Xu Lizhi''s face as a string of soul rings emerged from beneath his feet, and at the same time, a huge cuirass was revealed to have appeared in front of his chest.


    This was a piece of battle armor, and it was shaped... like a stuffed bun!


    Indeed, this stuffed-bun-shaped cuirass was quite comical in appearance, but the faint rainbow light it was radiating clearly indicated that it was a piece of four-word battle armor!


    How was it possible that both members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters who had appeared in battle thus far possessed pieces of four-word battle armor? Since when was it that four-word battle armor had become so common?


    One had to realize that Zhen Hua was essentially retired from heavenly refinement.


    In addition to the pieces of four-word battle armor displayed by Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters during Shrek Academy''s enrollment day, it was clear that the rumors about Tang Wulin being a Divine Blacksmith were true.


    Due to his physical health, Zhen Hua''s heavenly refinement success rate was very low, and he barely ever took heavenly refinement jobs now. Thus, the emergence of a new and outrageously young Divine Blacksmith was undoubtedly going to shake the entire Soul Master world.


    To put it in simpler terms, if Tang Wulin were willing to make some concessions, they would even agree to protect him and escort him safely out of the Central Legion.


    No one wanted to offend a Divine Blacksmith, especially high-grade Soul Masters. After all, who didn''t want a suit of four-word battle armor? Four-word battle armor masters were definitely the most powerful beings in the Soul Master world.


    Even though Guan Yue was only a quasidemigod, he would be able to contend with a quasigod provided that his opponent didn''t have a suit of four-word battle armor, and that was sufficient testament to just how incredible suits of four-word battle armor were.


    "Don''t judge a bun by its folds!" Xu Lizhi finally had a chance to release his martial soul. A total of nine soul rings emerged from beneath his feet, all of which were black!


    Xu Lizhi had consumed the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb, thereby disqualifying him from fusing with a 100,000-year-old soul spirit, but the benefits brought to him by the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb were definitely not inferior to those provided by a 100,000-year-old soul spirit.


    That''s right, Xu Lizhi was already a Titled Douluo. He had made the breakthrough not long ago, and this was made even more extraordinary by the fact that he was a food system Soul Master.


    Generally speaking, it was countless times more difficult for a food system Soul Master to become a Titled Douluo. If it weren''t for the consumption of the Chaotic Element Immortal Herb allowing him to reach full mastery of his Mysterious Heaven Method, there was no way he would''ve been able to reach this level.


    The foundation behind power was always laid from sufficient resources.


    After quickly chanting his incantation, Xu Lizhi summoned three stuffed buns and stuffed them into his mouth before Ling Chen could attack again. He then glowered at Ling Chen as if to say: "You''re a scam artist!"


    Instead of immediately springing into action again, Ling Chen was appraising Xu Lizhi''s cuirass with a hint of envy in his eyes. "Four-word battle armor really is different! Also, I never lied to you, little fatso; my Douluo Title really is Gluttony, and I really am a huge fan of food. Otherwise, my figure wouldn''t be like this. Take a look at my martial soul; these are chopsticks! Haha, chopsticks are most definitely related to food, so don''t say I lied to you!"


    Chopsticks?


    Tang Wulin and the others were left speechless upon hearing this. There were countless types of martial souls, so it wasn''t a surprise that a chopsticks martial soul existed, but Ling Chen was most likely the only Soul Master in history to have cultivated chopsticks to the Titled Douluo level.


    Xu Lizhi choked down a Recovery Pork Bun, Agility Mini Soup Bun, and Bloodthirsty Red Bean Bun, then said, "Come at me!"


    Ling Chen smiled, and replied, "Sure. Let me show you my battle armor." He wasn''t going to make the same mistake as Jiang Zhanheng; even against a food system Soul Master, he had to take his opponent seriously.


    Agility attack system Soul Masters were mostly quite lackluster in defense, so he had to be extra careful.


    A layer of pink light radiated from his body, and a suit of thin and light battle armor quickly appeared.


    This was a pink suit of battle armor, and in conjunction with his rotund frame, it created quite an... interesting package.


    Ling Chen was completely unfazed by this, and he summoned his battle armor domain, upon which a layer of pink light also appeared over the chopsticks in his hands.


    "The name of my battle armor domain is ''Spatial Skip''!"


    Xu Lizhi was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding upon hearing this. In the next instant, pink light had already spread over the entire venue.


    Ling Chen was very smart and was renowned for his ability to think during battles. He had noticed that Xie Xie''s suit of four-word battle armor was incomplete, and up to this point, Xu Lizhi had only released a cuirass as well, which meant that his suit of four-word battle armor was most likely also incomplete.


    That made sense, considering how difficult it was to complete a suit of four-word battle armor. Not only was a Divine Blacksmith required, extensive efforts from ninth-rank mecha makers would also be needed, not to mention that this was a very time-consuming process.


    Incomplete suits of battle armor didn''t possess domains, so even though individual pieces of four-word battle armor were quite powerful, an incomplete suit was inferior to a complete suit of three-word battle armor when the bigger picture was concerned.


    Ling Chen was taking Xu Lizhi very seriously, and he had released his battle armor domain from the get-go.


    Judging from the domain''s name, it was quite apparent what its effect would be. He was intentionally informing Xu Lizhi of this in order to exert more psychological pressure upon him.


    The pink light had already encompassed the entire venue, so it would be impossible for Xu Lizhi to escape out of this domain.


    In the next instant, Ling Chen vanished amid a flash of light, then suddenly reappeared in the distance.


    "Isn''t my domain fun?" He didn''t possess any spatial abilities, but through the use of his domain, he could elevate his speed to the very max, making it look as if he could teleport within the scope of his domain.


    After another flash of light, Ling Chen appeared behind Xu Lizhi before thrusting his chopsticks toward the back of Xu Lizhi''s neck.


    Xu Lizhi instinctively stumbled forward while twisting around and thrusting his hands backward, releasing two purplish-black stuffed buns.

 Chapter 1680: Domain Suppression!

    Ling Chen activated the effect of his domain again, and he appeared directly in front of Xu Lizhi. Xu Lizhi was still in the process of falling forward, so it looked like he was diving toward his opponent''s chopsticks.


    The Destructive Explosive Bun he released exploded, and the entire protective barrier tremored slightly.


    All of a sudden, Xu Lizhi''s body twisted around in a maneuver that seemed to be physically impossible, and he just barely glanced past the chopsticks.


    A hint of surprise appeared on Ling Chen''s face. He hadn''t anticipated that Xu Lizhi would suddenly accelerate; was this an enhancement he was receiving from his martial soul? It most likely had something to do with the stuffed buns he had just eaten.


    "That''s enough fun and games," Xu Lizhi suddenly declared.


    Ling Chen''s heart jolted upon hearing this, and he immediately activated his domain to try and spring back in retreat. It was clearly a wise decision to retreat in the face of unknown danger.


    However, to his astonishment, his Spatial Skip failed to take effect.


    At the same time, a suit of yellow battle armor that was radiating faint rainbow light completely encased Xu Lizhi''s entire body. Simultaneously, a yellow domain was released, which instantly devoured his entire domain.


    This was domain suppression!


    This was a four-word battle armor domain!


    All of the Battle Gods immediately erupted into a frenzy.


    Suits of incomplete and complete four-word battle armor were entirely different concepts! A suit of four-word battle armor could elevate a normal Titled Douluo to close to the Limit Douluo level; who could''ve imagined that a food system Soul Master could become a Titled Douluo and attain a suit of four-word battle armor? It simply didn''t make sense!


    Unbeknownst to them, Xu Lizhi''s four-word battle armor was the first complete suit among all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and he was only able to use it after reaching the Titled Douluo level.


    As a food system Soul Master, Xu Lizhi was the most vulnerable of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, so it was decided that his suit of four-word battle armor would be completed first to give him the best self-preservation assets.


    A four-word battle armor domain was naturally able to completely dominate a three-word battle armor domain, so there was no way that Ling Chen''s Spatial Skip would continue to work.


    In the next instant, his world was plunged into complete darkness.


    From the outside, everyone could see that a massive steamer with a diameter in excess of 50 meters had appeared at the center of the venue, while Ling Chen was nowhere to be seen.


    A string of violent explosions rang out, and bursts of devastating destructive aura battered the protective barrier incessantly.


    This was Xu Lizhi''s martial soul true body, Steamer!


    Furthermore, it was enhanced by his suit of four-word battle armor!


    Guan Yue finally understood where this persistent sense of foreboding in his heart was coming from. Not only had Ling Chen not tricked Xu Lizhi, he was the one who had been tricked instead!


    With a full suit of four-word battle armor, he would most likely be able to defeat even higher ranked Battle Gods.


    After witnessing Xu Lizhi''s four-word battle armor, all of the Battle Gods were forced to reevaluate Tang Wulin''s group.


    In reality, Tang Wulin felt like this had been the perfect opponent for Xu Lizhi. Even though he was already a Titled Douluo with a suit of four-word battle armor, he was still a support system Soul Master, and his eighth and ninth soul skills were both support system ones that couldn''t enhance his offensive prowess by much.


    As such, if he were to encounter a more powerful Battle God who was able to force their way out of his steamer, then he would be in some trouble. In that case, he would be forced to outlast his opponent in a grueling battle, and that clearly wouldn''t be ideal given that there were still many more levels to be conquered.


    The string of explosions lasted over 10 seconds before the steamer was abruptly opened, and Ling Chen was tossed out like a rucksack.


    He was already unconscious, and his entire body had been stained a purplish-black color.


    The steamer vanished amid a flash of light, and Xu Lizhi reappeared with a smile on his face. His battle armor had been withdrawn, and his face was slightly pale.


    At his current cultivation rank, it was still quite strenuous for him to use a suit of four-word battle armor, and he was only able to do so due to his abundant soul power and exceptional foundation.


    Thus, the second victory was secured.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he gave Xu Lizhi a huge hug.


    Xu Lizhi chuckled, "He wanted to eat me, so I steamed him!"


    Xie Xie praised in a genuine voice, "You''re becoming more and more impressive, fatty."


    Xu Lizhi glared at him, and asked, "What you''re going to say next is ''but you''re still not quite on my level'', right?"


    Xie Xie immediately nodded in response, upon which everyone rolled their eyes at him, and even Ye Xinglan''s gaze was drawn toward him.


    Xie Xie instantly became a lot more tame in the face of Ye Xinglan''s stern gaze. The two people he feared the most among Shrek''s Seven Monsters were Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan. He wasn''t afraid of Tang Wulin as they were essentially a pair of brothers, but those two women were not to be messed with!


    Thus, two victories had been secured, both of which were in crushing fashion.


    Had the four-word battle armor been the difference? That could be argued, but at the same time, Xie Xie and Xu Lizhi had displayed astonishing power.


    A four-word battle armor master would always be at the peak of the Soul Master world, and any power that could recruit a four-word battle armor master would be boosted significantly.


    In the past, Shrek Academy only had two four-word battle armor masters and only two Limit Douluos, in addition to the two Limit Douluos from the Tang Sect. Four four-word battle armor masters was already an astonishing lineup, yet a new one had just been thrown into the mix, and he was so young as well.


    With a Divine Blacksmith among its ranks, Shrek Academy would be able to essentially mass-produce four-word battle armor masters given sufficient time! This was the most shocking thing to the Battle Gods.


    Guan Yue couldn''t help but lament the federation''s idiocy. They had completely misjudged Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. With one person leading both of those superpowers, it could be said that this was a single unified superpower organization.


    With a Divine Blacksmith thrown into the mix, their resurgence was something that the federal government could no longer repress.


    Tang Wulin and everyone else had come to the Battle God Hall precisely to illustrate this point. Guan Yue was naturally aware that the federation had tried to force the Tang Sect''s hand, and now, it was being met by retaliation from both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. Furthermore, none of the Limit Douluos had been deployed, so the blame could be entirely pushed onto the younger generation. Thus, even if they were to lose, the consequences wouldn''t be dire.


    However, looking at things now, would the Battle God Hall really be able to defeat them?


    Right at this moment, another person emerged from Tang Wulin''s group; it was none other than Stargod Douluo Ye Xinglan.


    Ye Xinglan was extremely beautiful, but her expression was very cold, and her eyes were filled with single-minded focus. Her long hair was arranged into a neat and tidy ponytail, and as she emerged from the group, she was like a sharp sword being pulled out of its scabbard.

 Chapter 1681: Challenging the Third Battle God

    Her gaze fell directly upon the few highest-ranking Battle Gods, yet just as she was about to say something, Tang Wulin''s voice rang out beside her ears, and her brows furrowed slightly as she declared, "I want to challenge the third Battle God."


    The Battle God Hall held the group from Shrek Academy in very high regard, so the first, second, and third Battle Gods were all present. The fourth Battle God was absent, and this was followed by the fifth, seventh, and eighth Battle Gods.


    Ye Xinglan had originally intended to challenge the first Battle God, but she reluctantly changed her mind upon being dissuaded by Tang Wulin.


    The third Battle God was a Hyper Douluo, and he cast his gaze toward Guan Yue, while all of his companions directed their attention toward him.


    The Battle God Hall had already suffered two losses; they couldn''t afford to lose anymore. If that were to happen, the Battle God Hall''s reputation would be swept to the ground.


    Furthermore, their side had made the challenge during the second round, and that was already breaking some rules of the Battle God Hall, but they still hadn''t won that match.


    Xu Lizhi had held back, so the Gluttony Douluo was actually already awake, but he refused to open his eyes as he felt far too embarrassed.


    He didn''t even get a chance to use his most powerful soul skills before he was literally cooked!


    The third Battle God strode forward while appraising Ye Xinglan with an intense gaze, then made an inviting hand gesture toward her.


    The two of them entered the battle area, and in the instant that they did so, both their auras immediately began to spike.


    A peerlessly sharp aura erupted out of Ye Xinglan''s body, and a series of rifts had appeared in the surrounding air in the face of her unmatched sword intent.


    In contrast, the third Battle God was as still and resolute as a mountain, and even though his outward appearance was very ordinary, his mountainous aura struck one with a sense of immense pressure.


    This match was different from the first two in that it was a clash between a pair of assault system Soul Masters.


    Ling Zichen was standing by Tang Wulin''s side, appraising the battlefield with an unblinking gaze, and a series of emotions had welled up in her heart as the battles had progressed.


    The emotion that she was struck by while witnessing Xie Xie''s battle was surprise; Xie Xie''s instantaneous explosive prowess made her feel as if she were witnessing the rise of the future king of agility attack system Soul Masters. She had interacted with Xie Xie on many occasions, and she had even scolded him in the past, but he always reacted with a lackadaisical smile, completely contrasting with the image of a powerful being.


    As for Xu Lizhi, she had always known that he was a food system Soul Master, and in her eyes, all he was good for was making steamed buns. However, he was a four-word battle armor master.


    Despite her immense pride, she was well aware of what a four-word battle armor master entailed.


    She stole a glance at the man standing beside her, and only now was she realizing just how powerful his companions were. It seemed that her fixation on her research had made her very narrow-minded. While it was true that technology had made the human race more powerful overall, the most powerful human beings in this world were still Soul Masters.


    "Third Battle God of the Battle God Hall, Dark Emperor Douluo Luo Yuhang, please enlighten me!"


    The third Battle God of the Battle God Hall was a vastly renowned powerful being, and he was a veteran Hyper Douluo who was close to rank 97 in soul power.


    "Stargod Douluo Ye Xinglan of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, please enlighten me."


    Ye Xinglan was the first person from the Shrek Academy camp to declare a Douluo Title.


    Indeed, this young woman, who appeared to only be in her twenties, was also a Titled Douluo.


    In addition to Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui, the latter of whom had displayed powers exceeding the Titled Douluo level on enrolment day, Shrek''s Seven Monsters already had four Titled Douluos!


    This was a stunning revelation for the Battle God Hall camp.


    One had to realize that Shrek Academy had been completely annihilated not too long ago. In the face of the two godslayer missiles, almost all of the powerful beings of Shrek Academy from the older generation had perished.


    However, during just a few short years, Shrek Academy had been rebuilt, and there were already so many formidable individuals among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Furthermore, there was still a whole host of Limit Douluos in Shrek Academy. It seemed that the foundation that Shrek Academy had built up over the past 20,000 years had allowed it to recover at an astonishing rate.


    Guan Yue gave an internal nod as a hint of approval flashed through his eyes. Of course, he didn''t allow the other Battle Gods to detect this.


    A burst of bright light flashed over the heavens, and in the next instant, Ye Xinglan''s eyes were glowing like a pair of beacons. She was like a sharp sword that had just been drawn out of its scabbard as she instantly flew over to Luo Yuhang, who raised his right hand, which was completely covered in black scales at this point, just in time to block Ye Xinglan''s lightning-fast attack.


    Only then did a sharp screeching sound ring out, and this delay indicated that Ye Xinglan''s sword had exceeded the speed of sound.


    A burst of black energy surged out of Luo Yuhang''s body like a volcanic eruption, forcing Ye Xinglan back into a retreat.


    In the instant that the battle had commenced, Ye Xinglan''s eyes had turned completely cold and emotionless. Another sharp screech rang out as bursts of scintillating light erupted out of her body, making her appear as if she were an incandescent star in the sky.


    A dense sword net that was decorated with dazzling starlight then descended from the heavens; this was her Sword God Net.


    The Sword God Net was giving off an indescribably formidable aura, as if everything in its presence was simply meant to be torn apart.


    Luo Yuhang didn''t dare to engage in passive defence any longer. He knew that when given the opportunity, a master swordsman would be able to continuously elevate their sword intent. At some point, even his mind and spirit would eventually be affected by her.


    Thus, he stepped forward, and nine black soul rings emerged from beneath his feet.


    The third soul ring lit up as he thrust his right fist forward, and a massive blackish-purple dragon''s head erupted out of his fist, unleashing a thunderous roar that struck terror directly into one''s heart.


    "His martial soul is the Dark Emperor Dragon!" Sima Jinchi said.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response.


    The Dark Emperor Dragon was an extremely powerful type of true dragon in the dragon clan, and with one more evolution, it would become a Darkness Holy Dragon, ranking it alongside the Holy Radiant Dragon.


    It was exactly because Luo Yuhang was yet to complete this evolution that he was struggling to reach the Limit Douluo rank. However, in any case, the Dark Emperor Dragon was still an extremely formidable martial soul.


    A hint of irony appeared in Sima Jinchi''s eyes at the thought that someone was displaying a dragon-type martial soul in the presence of himself and Tang Wulin.


    "Boom!"


    The sword net was shattered, as was the dragon''s head; neither side was able to gain an upper hand.


    Ye Xinglan curled up into a ball, and scintillating light radiated from her body as she descended like a shooting star. This was her Sword Star Fall!


    At the same time, Luo Yuhang''s eyes turned a purple color, and he threw his head back to let loose a thunderous dragon''s roar while a purple ball of light appeared between his two hands. A layer of dark purple light erupted out of his body, and he squatted down slightly before launching himself directly up toward Ye Xinglan.


    A burst of thunderous rumbling rang out, and the entire protective barrier instantly brightened by severalfold.


    Just as Ling Zichen had described, the protective barrier would adjust its power output in accordance to the eruptions of energy taking place within it.


    This was a pure clash of power with devastating sword intent on one side and suffocating darkness on the other.


    The two sides were constantly clashing, but neither could gain the upper hand.


    Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword was simply far too sharp; even a seasoned Hyper Douluo like Luo Yuhang had to reserve some of his power to nullify the sharpness of her sword intent. At the same time, his aura of darkness was also constantly trying to seep into Ye Xinglan''s body, only to be torn apart by her sword intent every single time.


    This match was clearly far more fierce than the first two. Ye Xinglan''s attacks had already achieved return to simplicity. She had mastered sword intent, then sword soul, and she was now beginning to grasp sword essence.


    There was no one more fixated, perhaps even obsessive, among all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters; it was as if she had been born to wield a sword.


    She had completely immersed her heart in her Stargod Sword, and the longer the battle wore on, the brighter her eyes became.


    She had always had the strongest desire for battle, and among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, she was the one who challenged Tang Wulin the most. Furthermore, the defeats that she suffered at Tang Wulin''s hands only served to fuel her determination and desire.


    Throughout their past sparring matches, Tang Wulin had learned that Ye Xinglan was at her most powerful in the instant before her soul power completely ran out. She was like a dazzling star that glowed brightest only as it became a supernova in its dying moments.


    As such, Luo Yuhang could sense that his opponent was only becoming more and more formidable as their battle stretched on. Every single one of her movements and even the look in her eyes were filled with her sword intent, and it was scarcely believable that a person could give off such a fearsome aura of sharpness.

 Chapter 1682: Dark Emperor Douluo

    Not only did Shrek''s Seven Monsters have a powerful food system Soul Master and a formidable agility attack system Soul Master, their assault system Soul Master wasn''t letting them down, either.


    All of the Battle Gods were watching the battle intently. They were very familiar with Luo Yuhang''s power and battle style, and they knew that he excelled the most in direct clashes of power.


    However, this little girl from Shrek Academy was fighting fire with fire, and she was completely holding her own; how could they not be astonished by this?


    Neither side had donned their battle armor, but the battle had already reached an extremely high level of intensity.


    As a Hyper Douluo, Luo Yuhang obviously held the advantage when it came to cultivation rank, but he hadn''t attained an advantage at all.


    The air was being constantly shredded by Ye Xinglan''s Stargod Sword, and the dark aura permeating throughout the battlefield was being devoured incessantly by the spatial rifts that were being torn open.


    It was as if Ye Xinglan had transformed into a sword herself, and Luo Yuhang felt as if he were facing a meteor shower that was only growing more and more powerful.


    "Clang!"


    Ye Xinglan''s body was sent flying, and she crashed into the protective barrier in the distance.


    However, Luo Yuhang wasn''t in great shape, either; a large section of the scales on his right arm had been scraped off by the Stargod Sword, leaving a significant wound.


    Ye Xinglan instantly rebounded from the barrier, and her eyes only became brighter.


    All of a sudden, she switched to a two-handed grip on her sword, and her seventh soul ring lit up as she unleashed her Stargod Sword Body!


    A burst of peerless sword intent erupted forth, and Ye Xinglan''s entire body became the same color as starlight. In the next instant, her sixth soul ring lit up as she unleashed her Sword Star Soul!


    Luo Yuhang''s heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he knew that a ferocious storm was coming. He immediately unleashed his own martial soul true body, transforming into a giant Dark Emperor Dragon before opening his mouth to release a fierce burst of dragon''s breath.


    However, Ye Xinglan made no effort to take evasive measures as she charged directly toward Luo Yuhang''s attack. The black dragon''s breath was sliced apart by her sword, and she was on the verge of flying into Luo Yuhang''s mouth.


    In his Dark Emperor Dragon form, Luo Yuhang''s body was around 30 meters in length with a single horn on the top of his head, and he had no choice but to close his mouth as he lowered his own head to withstand the attack using his horn.


    "Clang!"


    In the instant that the sword came into contact with the Dark Emperor Dragon, its entire massive body began to spasm as it was forced down onto the ground, while Ye Xinglan was repelled upward.


    Her fearsome sword intent continued to elevate as an indescribably reckless aura erupted out of her body. Her eyes were filled with determination, pride, and even a hint of insanity.


    The true essence of the sword could be reflected through many forms, such as a sword of persistence and dedication, where life and death were inconsequential.


    Ye Xinglan''s personality wasn''t suited for the path of regal domination that Tang Wulin had found for himself as she wasn''t a natural leader. As such, she had found her own path through unwavering determination and dedication at all costs.


    During her sparring matches with her friends, there was no way that she could unleash such an attack, but now that she was facing a formidable opponent outside of her circle of friends, she was finally able to completely let go and express herself to her heart''s extent.


    Eighth soul skill, Starfall!


    Hovering high up in mid-air, Ye Xinglan was like a radiant star that was burning through the final part of its own life force. Everything around her paled into insignificance.


    Luo Yuhang''s cultivation base was superior to hers, but in the face of her radiance, Luo Yuhang felt as if his entire body had become stiff and paralyzed.


    Is this still a sparring match? This girl is clearly putting her life on the line!


    The space near Ye Xinglan began to shatter, as inky-black spatial cracks appeared all around her. However, there seemed to be countless specks of starlight within these cracks, and they were all injecting their radiance into her body, causing her aura to spike at a drastic rate.


    Luo Yuhang had a vast wealth of practical battle experience, and he knew that he couldn''t wait any longer.


    He didn''t know what Ye Xinglan was doing, but what he did know was that if he were to allow her to do as she pleased, he would be facing an attack that would pose a huge threat to his life. Ye Xinglan seemed to be unleashing some type of self-sacrificial attack that was drawing upon the power of celestial bodies.


    With that in mind, Luo Yuhang immediately sprang into action, reverting back to his human form while a suit of dark purple three-word battle armor encapsulated his entire body. At the same time, a purple halo appeared beneath his feet, and his aura of darkness instantly spiked drastically.


    In the next instant, his eighth soul ring lit up as he prepared his Dark Emperor Devil Dragon Strike.


    A cyclone of darkness instantly rose up into the air directly toward Ye Xinglan.


    In this situation, Luo Yuhang couldn''t afford to hold back any longer and was unleashing a full-power attack under the enhancement of his three-word battle armor.


    At this moment, Ye Xinglan had her eyes closed rather than watching her opponent; it was as if she were completely immersed in another world.


    Right as the cyclone was about to reach her, she finally sprang into action.


    Dazzling starlight exploded, illuminating the entire area, and all of the darkness was instantly dispelled.


    There was no explosion or loud commotion; it was as if space and time had fallen completely still in that instant.


    In the instant that the explosion of light took place, Tang Wulin was no longer able to sense Ye Xinglan''s aura, and he immediately took a step forward in an alarmed manner, only to be stopped by a firm hand on his arm.


    Tang Wulin turned to find Xu Lizhi looking on with an anxious yet determined expression. "Sister Xinglan has been waiting for this opportunity for a very, very long time, so we can''t stop her. Otherwise, there would be an even greater chance for things to go wrong."


    Tang Wulin instantly understood what he was saying. "Is she trying to attain enlightenment by risking her own life?"


    Xu Lizhi nodded in response.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath upon hearing this. He really wanted to ask why Xu Lizhi hadn''t stopped her. She could''ve easily pursued sword essence in a more gradual and safer method; why did she insist on going to such extremes?


    This was an extremely perilous situation, and the slightest misstep could result in her death!


    Xu Lizhi sighed, "Sister Xinglan has already been a Titled Douluo for some time now, but she still doesn''t have a ninth soul skill as she''s been forcibly repressing her ninth soul skill from taking shape. I didn''t try to dissuade her as I support all of her decisions."


    Tang Wulin heaved a faint sigh and patted Xu Lizhi on the shoulder before falling silent.


    Ye Xinglan was a proud person; that was something that Tang Wulin had figured out from their very first meeting. Her unwillingness to accept defeat was constantly pushing her forward, and if it weren''t for Tang Wulin, perhaps her pride would be even further elevated.


    Her defeats to Tang Wulin did nothing to dent her pride; they simply made her pride more condensed and repressed.


    She had always been pursuing the extreme upper limit of swordsmanship, but the world wasn''t fair, and it was often the case that aptitude was a decisive factor in many things.


    It was exactly because of this that no matter how hard Ye Xinglan worked, she continued to lag behind in her cultivation rank compared with Yuanen Yehui, who possessed supreme aptitude.


    With her twin martial souls and the guidance from Er Ming, Yuanen Yehui was rapidly becoming more powerful.


    In the past, she and Ye Xinglan had been roughly evenly matched, but recently, a widening gap had begun to appear between them.


    Ye Xinglan was already struggling to come to terms with the fact that she simply couldn''t defeat Tang Wulin, and it was unacceptable for her to lose to Yuanen Yehui as well.

 Chapter 1683: Sword Essence, Starfall

    She knew that only by attaining sword essence would she be able to stand alongside her friends on the pinnacle of this world, and only then would she be able to allow her repressed pride to fully flourish.


    All of these repressed emotions erupted in this very instant. She hadn''t donned her suit of battle armor as she wanted to better immerse herself in this experience, to push herself as close to the brink of death as possible.


    Only after around 10 seconds had passed did the light begin to fade, and both sides were appraising the battle with tense expressions.


    During that explosion, the protective barrier had been forced close to its absolute limit. One had to realize that this barrier had been designed with four-word battle armor Limit Douluos in mind! That was a clear testament to just how fearsome that explosion had been.


    "Thump!" A body fell out of the sky and crashed heavily down onto the ground.


    As the light faded, it was revealed that this was Luo Yuhang. However, he was currently in terrible condition.


    His three-word battle armor was in tatters, and his body was riddled with countless wounds. His aura was extremely feeble, and if it weren''t for the minute rise and fall of his chest, one could easily mistake him to be dead.


    It was also at this moment that a ball of light descended from above. The ball of light was only just over a meter in diameter, and there seemed to be a figure curled up into a ball inside it, but it was impossible to see the figure clearly.


    Everyone from both sides immediately rushed into the battle area.


    As they did so, the first thing they sensed wasn''t violent energy. Instead, it was a sense of purity, as if the battle area had been basked in the purest sunlight.


    Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi instantly rushed over to the ball of light, which had transformed into a cocoon that was solid to the touch.


    Tang Wulin was just about to break the cocoon open, only to be stopped by Xu Lizhi, who unleashed his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to draw the cocoon into his own grasp.


    On the other side, Luo Yuhang''s condition had improved slightly following some emergency treatment administered by the healing system Soul Masters of the Battle God Hall.


    However, his eyes were currently filled with horror. There was no one in this world who didn''t fear death, and this applied even to Hyper Douluos.


    After ascertaining Luo Yuhang to be in stable condition, Guan Yue asked, "Who won?"


    Luo Yuhang replied with a wry smile, "I don''t know; I guess it was a tie. She withdrew her light at the last moment, and that''s why we''re both still alive. If she hadn''t done that, we''d both be dead right now. That girl really is something else; this is the first time I''ve seen someone fight with such a suicidal style."


    Guan Yue heaved a resigned sigh in response. "Shrek Academy has always accepted only monsters; there''s not much you can do but accept your bad luck here."


    The Battle Gods vacated the battle area, while the cocoon was carried back to the Shrek Academy camp before being placed on the ground. No one knew what condition Ye Xinglan was currently in, nor whether she was in any danger.


    Tang Wulin turned to Xu Lizhi, and asked, "Should I take her back to my mother for treatment?"


    Xu Lizhi shook his head in response. "Sister Xinglan told me that if she were to enter some type of special state, then just leave her be; this is a hurdle she must overcome. I''ll stay here to protect her, so I won''t go on with all of you any longer."


    "Alright," Tang Wulin replied with a nod.


    Back when Xu Lizhi''s battle armor was only at the two-word level, its name had been Guardian Star, and he was fulfilling this promise right now.


    Tang Wulin could see that he was very concerned, but he knew that there was nothing he could say to alleviate Xu Lizhi''s worries. Ye Xinglan had chosen this path for a reason, and now, all everyone could do was hope that this would be a new beginning for her, rather than the end.


    Yuanen Yehui took a long glance at the cocoon, and she didn''t say anything, but her hands had clenched up into tight fists. Just as she was about to step forward, another figure stepped out ahead of her.


    With his short golden hair, bright eyes, handsome features, and holy aura, it was Yue Zhengyu.


    Yuanen Yehui wasn''t the only one to have been affected by Ye Xinglan''s battle. As Ye Xinglan was glowing brighter than she ever had, Yue Zhengyu felt as if a flame had been ignited in his heart.


    One of the most powerful abilities of the Holy Angel clan was Sacrifice; a Holy Angel had to constantly be prepared to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others.


    Yue Zhengyu had the courage to sacrifice himself for others, but he didn''t possess the courage to risk his life for a breakthrough as Ye Xinglan did.


    In that instant, he finally understood why he was unable to catch up to Ye Xinglan despite possessing a martial soul of a superior caliber; he simply wasn''t dedicated enough.


    Among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, it could be said that Ye Xinglan possessed one of the worst martial souls, yet she was always among the top three most powerful members.


    Yue Zhengyu felt as if he had worked very hard and was extremely diligent in his cultivation, but having witnessed Ye Xinglan''s stunning display, he finally understood what he was lacking: it was the determination and resolve to sacrifice everything.


    As such, he had stepped forward. Through witnessing Ye Xinglan''s breakthrough, he felt as if he had seen the catalyst for a breakthrough of his own.


    For Soul Masters, it was often the case that an instant of enlightenment could change many things, and Yue Zhengyu seemed to have captured that instant of enlightenment.


    An unprecedentedly determined look appeared in his eyes, and an aura of light rose up around him, illuminating his entire body.


    This is our time!


    Yue Zhengyu strode into the protective barrier with purpose in his step. Just like Xie Xie, he was still yet to become a Titled Douluo, but he was already at rank 89 in soul power.


    The residual aura of starlight in the protective barrier hadn''t completely faded yet, so there was a massive abundance of light elements, and that was another factor that made him decide to step forward.


    He cast his gaze toward the Battle Gods, and declared, "I want to challenge the seventh Battle God."


    The seventh Battle God strode into the battle area, and in contrast with the Battle Gods before her, the seventh Battle God was a woman. She appeared to be in her forties and had a very imposing figure. She flexed her neck as she cast her gaze toward Yue Zhengyu with an aggressive look in her eyes.


    The Battle God Hall had already suffered two losses and a tie; this was simply unacceptable. Did this mean that the Battle God Hall was inferior to Shrek Academy?


    This had always been the case in the past, but this was no longer the Shrek Academy of old, and they were only facing the younger generation of the academy; surely they were superior.


    At this point, the match had become a battle for dignity, and the Battle God Hall couldn''t afford to lose anymore.


    There was a rule in the Battle God Hall stipulating that challengers had the right to choose which Battle Gods they wanted to challenge as the Battle Gods had an inherent home-court advantage, but it seemed that this advantage didn''t exist here.


    In the beginning, all of the Battle Gods, including Guan Yue, reflexively underestimated their opponents because of how young they were. In their eyes, these young people would require more development before they could pose a substantial threat to the Battle God Hall.


    However, the reality was that these young people were mature beyond their years and were far more powerful than the Battle Gods had imagined.


    In a clash where both sides were equal in power, the side that was able to choose their opponents would undoubtedly have a very clear advantage. They could even match up their most powerful beings against the weakest opponents, thereby securing many guaranteed victories.

 Chapter 1684: Begonia Douluo

    As such, none of the Battle Gods dared to look down on their opponents any longer.


    "Yue Zhengyu of Shrek Academy, please enlighten me!" Yue Zhengyu declared.


    "Seventh Battle God of the Battle God Hall, Begonia Douluo Shi Mengshan, please enlighten me!" Shi Mengshan responded in kind.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing Shi Mengshan''s Douluo Title, and he immediately thought of an extremely rare type of martial soul.


    Meanwhile, Yue Zhengyu was appraising his opponent with a solemn expression.


    Prior to coming here, they had based their training drills on the information they had about the Battle God Hall. The rankings of the 18 Battle Gods regularly changed, so it would be impossible to choose their opponents based on the numbers alone.


    However, there were some Battle Gods who were renowned due to certain characteristics. For example, female Battle Gods were very rare.


    As such, Yue Zhengyu had already guessed his opponent''s identity before making his choice, and upon hearing confirmation of this, a faint smile appeared on his face.


    In terms of appearance, Yue Zhengyu was roughly on par with Tang Wulin, and with his bright and energetic aura, his smile was very alluring. However, in the eyes of Shi Mengshan, this smile was a sign that she was being slighted by her opponent.


    Her eyes narrowed slightly, and a suit of rose-red battle armor instantly encapsulated her entire body. That''s right, she had released her battle armor right away and was displaying no intention of holding back.


    At the same time, she had also summoned her weapon, and it came as quite a surprise to Yue Zhengyu.


    This was a gigantic hammer with a rectangular head. The two sides of the head were tapered toward the center, making them appear even larger than they were, and the total length of the hammer''s head was close to Shi Mengshan''s height. The shaft of the hammer also exceeded two meters in length, and overall, it was no less impressive than the forging hammers that Tang Wulin and Yuanen Yehui had used in the past.


    The hammer was also of a rose-red color, and there were extremely complex soul circuits engraved on its surface. A red hexagram appeared beneath her feet, and even though it only had a diameter of roughly five meters, her entire aura transformed into one of explosive violence with the emergence of her battle armor domain. Air currents surged around her body, and it was as if the very air was exploding in her immediate vicinity.


    Wasn''t her martial soul supposed to be the Nine-heart Begonia? This was supposed to be a martial soul that was renowned for its lethal poison, so why did her battle armor appear as if it had been designed to maximize her strength?


    In Yue Zhengyu''s mind, Shi Mengshan was supposed to have staked a claim among the Battle Gods with her Begonia martial soul. Her combat prowess was nothing special among the Battle Gods, but her poison was extremely formidable, so overall, she was ranked above average.


    However, it seemed that he had made a misjudgment; Shi Mengshan was completely different from how he had imagined her to be. Looking at that incredible weapon of hers, Yue Zhengyu knew that he was in for a grueling battle.


    Thus, he also immediately donned his suit of battle armor.


    This suit of golden battle armor was very elegant and streamlined, and the main color scheme was comprised of white and gold.


    The breastplate was a single piece of armor, and the giant golden wings were extremely spectacular to behold. This was something that he had specifically requested during the construction of his battle armor. In his eyes, an angel had to have a pair of wings.


    The armor around his torso and thighs was also in one unbroken piece, but he was still missing the armor for his limbs, as well as his helmet. Of course, the completed pieces of armor were all four-word battle armor.


    At the center of the breastplate were 18 glowing golden gems that were arranged into a V shape, adding further flair and radiance to his battle armor.


    Yue Zhengyu had always been a fan of spectacular and radiant things, and his battle armor perfectly reflected this. As soon as he donned these pieces of four-word battle armor, his aura instantly spiked to a whole new level.


    He crossed his arms in front of his chest and closed his eyes as golden light radiated from his body.


    A six-winged angel projection appears behind him, illuminating the entire battle area and filling it with abundant light elements.


    Shi Mengshan made the first move, charging toward Yue Zhengyu before raising her giant hammer.


    In her hands, the massive hammer was made to look as if it were completely weightless, and it came crashing down toward Yue Zhengyu''s head like lightning.


    Yue Zhengyu naturally didn''t dare to take this attack head-on, and he immediately dodged to the side using his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.


    However, Shi Mengshan made no effort to alter the direction of her attack, allowing it to slam viciously onto the ground.


    A resounding boom rang out as the entire protective barrier around the battle area flashed, and Yue Zhengyu shuddered violently in the face of the powerful shockwaves. As a result, his mind went completely blank for an instant, and he temporarily lost his sense of hearing.


    Right at this moment, Shi Mengshan raised her giant hammer again, and bright red light radiated from the hammer while the domain halo beneath her feet expanded to resonate with her weapon. In that instant, it was as if her massive hammer had transformed into a glowing ruby as it came crashing down toward Yue Zhengyu again.


    This style of battle was extremely brutal and straightforward, and outside the protective barrier, A''Ruheng was looking on with glowing eyes. "That''s it! That''s the way!"


    Sima Jinchi raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Which side are you on?"


    A''Ruheng replied, "I''m complimenting her style of battle! I love violent and straightforward women like her!"


    Sima Jinchi''s eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this, and he reflexively stepped away to distance himself from A''Ruheng.


    Thankfully for Yue Zhengyu, his battle armor nullified most of the impact, but by the time he returned to his senses, the giant hammer was already upon him.


    He didn''t possess a teleportation ability like Xie Xie, and he was caught completely off guard by such a major crisis.


    Right at this moment, the golden gems on his breastplate lit up, and a golden v-shaped burst of light erupted out of his chest directly toward his opponent.


    At the same time, he took a half step backward and summoned a holy sword in his hand, which he slashed up toward the oncoming hammer.


    There was no way for him to evade, so he could only weather the storm.


    "Clang!"


    The golden light struck Shi Mengshan''s body, and she made no attempt to evade it as bright red light erupted from her battle armor, withstanding the attack for her.


    She was only forced back half a step by the force of the impact, but her giant hammer was still crashing down upon Yue Zhengyu.


    "Boom!"


    Yue Zhengyu was sent flying as bright red light flashed all over his body, and the holy sword in his hand was instantly shattered into specks of golden light.


    No one from the Shrek Academy camp had imagined that Shi Mengshan''s style of battle would be so simple and direct, but at the same time, they had to admit that it was very effective. The might of her giant hammer exceeded everyone''s expectations, and just her strength alone would''ve been enough to make her the seventh Battle God.


    The hammer struck the ground, and Shi Mengshan faltered momentarily. Her second hammer blow was extremely powerful, but she had to expend a certain price to unleash it.

 Chapter 1685: Heavenly Hammer

    However, she only paused for an instant before borrowing the force of her hammer''s impact to swivel around and charge directly toward Yue Zhengyu. Her entire body was acting as a center of balance for her giant hammer as she spun rapidly like a lethal cyclone while speeding directly toward her opponent.


    At this moment, Yue Zhengyu was still reeling from the last attack.


    His arms were numb, there was blood flowing out of the corner of his lips, and his heart was filled with remorse and self-criticism.


    He had misjudged his opponent and not taken her as seriously as he should''ve, thereby resulting in his current crisis.


    His opponent''s attack was far too overbearing, to the extent that he felt as if he were being suffocated.


    Golden light flashed through his eyes as he forcibly summoned a pillar of Light of Judgment, but his limbs were still numb, so it was very difficult for him to try and evade.


    Meanwhile, Shi Mengshan charged straight into the Light of Judgment like a madwoman, withstanding the attack with her battle armor before swinging her hammer toward Yue Zhengyu again with devastating force.


    Yue Zhengyu was only just barely able to inject some soul power into his wings before flapping them vigorously to carry himself backward in retreat.


    In this instant, Yue Zhengyu was very thankful for his decision to request for a pair of wings. His arms and legs weren''t working here, but the wings of his four-word battle armor were very reliable, allowing him to fly back for a sufficient distance.


    However, even though he had evaded the brunt of the attack, he was still struck by a small portion of its power, and even with his four-word battle armor to protect him, he couldn''t help but throw up a mouthful of blood.


    Even a Hyper Douluo''s offensive prowess would most likely only be limited to this, let alone a Titled Douluo, and Yue Zhengyu felt completely powerless.


    Shi Mengshan harrumphed coldly as bright red light radiated from her body, and she charged directly toward Yue Zhengyu.


    At this point, Yue Zhengyu had regained some feeling in his limbs through soul power circulation, and he immediately turned and fled without any hesitation. It was far too dangerous to engage in melee combat with Shi Mengshan; he had to open up some distance between them.


    Thankfully, he had the speed advantage due to his wings. Only then did everyone notice that Shi Mengshan''s three-word battle armor had no wings.


    Generally speaking, all suits of three-word battle armor had wings of different descriptions depending on the Soul Master''s individual requirements, and wings were extremely valuable to assist Soul Masters in their flight. Even though high-grade Soul Masters could fly on their own, it was made easier by a pair of wings.


    However, Shi Mengshan seemed to have focused most of her destructive power on her weapon, but this weapon wasn''t her martial soul.


    Shi Mengshan stepped forward as she set off in pursuit of Yue Zhengyu again while raising her giant hammer.


    Yue Zhengyu could only flap his wings vigorously and continue to zip around like a panicked fly.


    Thus far, the battle was completely one-sided, but Tang Wulin suddenly noticed that for some reason, Guan Yue had a rather strange look on his face; it was a mixture of resignation intermingled with a forlorn expression.


    Why was he displaying such an expression?


    Meanwhile, Yue Zhengyu was flying around while stalling his opponent with his Light of Judgment, and he was beginning to catch his breath again.


    Shi Mengshan was still pursuing him, and up to this point, she hadn''t even released her martial soul yet.


    All of a sudden, she drew to a halt at the exact center of the battle area.


    She set her hammer aside, then suddenly withdrew her battle armor to reveal a mocking smile on her face. "Coward!"


    A series of soul rings emerged from beneath her feet as she spoke, and at the same time, thick vines and branches began to grow behind her, while a giant white flower bloomed in the blink of an eye.


    This was the Nine Heart Begonia!


    The huge flower gently swayed as it released a plume of faint pink mist, and Shi Mengshan''s soul rings were flashing almost intermittently as a series of halos proliferated outward from the giant flower to encompass the entire battle area.


    The Nine Heart Begania was a poison type martial soul, and its forte was control.


    That''s right, according to the Tang Sect''s records, Shi Mengshan was supposed to be a control system Soul Master, but the display she had just put on was clearly one of an assault system Soul Master.


    The halos quickly spread to Yue Zhengyu, and after this period of respite, Yue Zhengyu was in better condition, even though he still felt as if his organs were on fire.


    This was thanks to the fact that light elements possessed potent healing properties.


    He focused his attention, and dazzling golden holy flames erupted out of his body.


    The angel projection behind him fused as one with him as he unleashed his Holy Angel Descends, and in the next instant, the halos being released by the Nine Heart Begania descended upon him, only for the majority of them to be incinerated into nothingness by his holy flames.


    The holy flames were the bane of all poison, and even though it couldn''t completely counter all poisons, it would definitely be able to nullify most of their effects.


    As such, Yue Zhengyu was confident that he would be able to counter Shi Mengshan''s Nine Heart Begonia, which was why he had chosen her.


    Even if he were to be somewhat affected by the poison, that was not an issue as he could go to Tang Wulin after the battle, and Tang Wulin''s Beautiful Silk Tulip would be able to cure him with ease.


    After learning about how Tang Wulin had obtained the Beautiful Silk Tulip as a soul spirit, Zheng Yiran didn''t even have the heart to challenge him for sparring matches anymore. With that soul spirit, Tang Wulin was a walking panacea!


    After releasing those halos, Shi Mengshan was appraising Yue Zhengyu intently.


    Her poison possessed many different effects, one for each soul ring that she possessed, and all of those effects were extremely dangerous.


    They included Poison, Feebleness, Sluggishness, Dizziness, Atrophy, Fear, etc. Against opponents with lackluster resistance against poisons, she could bring them down without even lifting a single finger.


    However, it was clear that her opponent possessed exceptional poison resistance. Shi Mengshan''s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, and in the next instant, she donned her suit of battle armor again.


    At the same time, her martial soul vanished, and Tang Wulin immediately understood what was going on.


    Why was it that Shi Mengshan''s battle styles were completely different depending on whether she was wearing her battle armor? It was because there was no synergy between her battle armor and martial soul.


    For a Soul Master, it was naturally ideal for their battle armor and martial soul to have a synergistic relationship, thereby allowing them to maximize the power of their martial soul. As such, battle armor was most often used for protection and to enhance one''s soul skills.


    However, Shi Mengshan had walked a completely different path, thereby luring Yue Zhengyu into a false assessment of her powers and forcing him onto the back foot from the get-go.


    Shi Mengshan''s battle armor was completely unrelated to her martial soul. In fact, this suit of battle armor hadn''t even been crafted for her. Instead, she had inherited it from another powerful senior of the Battle God Hall in an extremely rare case. Even though it was only a suit of three-word battle armor, it was close to four-word battle armor in certain aspects.


    Shi Mengshan was a control system Soul Master, but she had always had a dream to become an assault system Soul Master. However, her martial soul simply didn''t allow her to pursue that dream, and she had always lamented her ill-fortune.

 Chapter 1686: The Strange Begonia Douluo

    As her cultivation rank improved, she attained her suit of two-word battle armor, and up to that point, everything was still normal in that her battle armor had been designed to enhance her martial soul.


    However, once she became a Soul Sage, she discovered a problem: among all poison type martial souls, her Nine Heart Begonia stood at the very pinnacle, and there was a law of diminishing returns when it came to enhancing poison through battle armor.


    After careful calculations, she discovered that once she reached the Titled Douluo level, the poison of her Nine Heart Begonia would reach a point of saturation in this world. This meant that at the very most, her battle armor would only be able to increase the scope that her poison acted upon, but would be unable to improve her poison''s potency.


    Thus, the benefit would be far from pronounced.


    Shi Mengshan was extremely dejected by this. If her battle armor couldn''t significantly enhance her powers, then she would never be able to rise to the very top of the Soul Master world. As such, even though she was held in very high regard in the Battle God Hall as a control system Soul Master, she was constantly unhappy, all the way until she discovered this suit of battle armor while inspecting the warehouse of the Battle God Hall.


    At the time, she was hesitating about whether she should upgrade her battle armor to the three-word level, and contemplating how much difference it would even make.


    As soon as she found this suit of battle armor, she immediately hatched a bold plan that would take her down a unique path.


    Thus, she reported her plan to her superiors, and this was very risky as she had to abandon her suit of two-word battle armor for a chance to inherit another suit of battle armor.


    However, Shi Mengshan had always been very determined and resilient.


    In the end, Chen Xinjie and Guan Yue had no choice but to support her idea. After all, they couldn''t dissuade her, and there were many suits of battle armor left behind by the forefathers of the Battle God Hall, and if this proved to be a success, then it would be immensely beneficial to the recycling and reuse of these suits of battle armor.


    Thus, Shi Mengshan began her experiment, and it ended in a half-success.


    She did manage to inherit this suit of battle armor and was able to make use of its full power to unleash devastating attacks, but this suit of battle armor hadn''t been tailor-made for her, so it conflicted with her martial soul and resulted in major issues.


    As a result, using her battle armor and using her martial soul became two mutually exclusive facets of her arsenal, and that was being displayed here.


    The most fearsome aspect of this suit of battle armor was those first three consecutive strikes. The explosive power of those three strikes could perhaps overwhelm a Limit Douluo if they were to try and face those attacks head-on. During its construction, this suit of three-word battle armor had been geared toward maximizing strength, and it had actually been constructed by the Tang Sect.


    As such, after failing to defeat her opponent or gain a decisive advantage after those first three strikes, Shi Mengshan was already in a difficult predicament.


    Her speed was decent, but it was lacking compared to Yue Zhengyu, who excelled in flight, and it was very difficult for her to fly with this heavy suit of battle armor. Thus, Yue Zhengyu was able to open up some distance between them, and she was constantly being held at arm''s length.


    Even though some of the poison had entered Yue Zhengyu''s body, the effects were quite mild, and he was still able to outrun his opponent.


    Gradually, Yue Zhengyu began to realize the predicament that his opponent was in. She simply couldn''t catch him!


    Her offensive prowess was incredible, but that didn''t do her any good unless she could actually strike her opponent with her attacks.


    Having made that realization, Yue Zhengyu was feeling a lot more confident.


    A faint smile appeared on his face, and his attitude began to shift.


    Shi Mengshan couldn''t catch him, so he could just constantly bombard her with long-range attacks from afar, forcing her into a battle of attrition. As long as he remained patient and vigilant, the victory was his for the taking!


    Just as this thought began to form in Yue Zhengyu''s mind, Shi Mengshan suddenly drew to a halt. "That''s enough, I concede."


    She couldn''t catch up to her opponent and was constantly being bombarded by holy light, so the final outcome was nothing more than a foregone conclusion.


    She wasn''t inferior to her opponent in power, but his strengths made him a natural bane to her. If her opponent had inferior poison resistance or possessed less speed than her, then she would''ve already won.


    Up to this point, Shrek Academy had chalked up three wins and one tie!


    Even as Yue Zhengyu descended onto the ground, his gaze constantly remained on Shi Mengshan, and he patted his own chest as he heaved a sigh of relief.


    Even though he had won the battle, he had done so in rather unconvincing fashion. In contrast with Xie Xie''s victory, his was quite embarrassing, and he hadn''t been able to display his true power at all.


    Sure enough, as soon as he returned to the Shrek Academy camp, Xie Xie immediately made his way over to him.


    "Shut your mouth! I''m warning you!" Yue Zhengyu said as he put on a menacing expression.


    Xie Xie splayed his hands open in a resigned manner, and said, "Why do you have to be so cold? I came here to console you."


    "Console me?" Yue Zhengyu snapped, "What a load of nonsense! You must be dying to tell me that I was buzzing around like a headless fly during that battle, right?"


    Xie Xie gave him a huge thumbs-up. "You said it yourself. I must say, your self-awareness has improved."


    Yue Zhengyu flared up with rage upon hearing this, and he really wanted to fight Xie Xie if not for his injuries. Then again, he wasn''t sure if he could even defeat Xie Xie at this point.


    Tang Wulin didn''t spare any attention to their quarrel; he was already used to their constant bickering.


    Meanwhile, the Battle God Hall camp was deathly silent. Shi Mengshan made her way back to her colleagues, and of course, no one said anything to criticize her, but the Battle God Hall really was being thoroughly embarrassed here.


    Right at this moment, A''Ruheng suddenly emerged from the Shrek Academy camp with an eager expression.


    He was rubbing his own bald head as he strode forward, and he immediately said, "I want to challenge the first Battle God."


    Everyone immediately focused their attention on him upon hearing this.


    The Battle God Hall had thought that Shrek Academy would make strategic sacrifices on this level. For example, they could get one of their weaker members to challenge Guan Yue, then forfeit the match right away. This meant that it was possible for Tang Wulin to challenge the first or second Battle God.


    However, someone else from the Shrek Academy camp was challenging the first Battle God, which meant that there was a very good chance that Tang Wulin would be challenging Guan Yue!


    There was not much strategy involved in their approach; they were merely clashing with the Battle God Hall head-on.


    Tang Wulin was also quite surprised that A''Ruheng had stepped forward so early. According to their plan, Shrek''s Six Monsters and Ling Zichen were supposed to go ahead of him, followed by Sima Jinchi and Tang Wulin.


    However, it was clear that he couldn''t hold himself back any longer.


    The first Battle God made his way into the battle area. This was a stern-looking man who appeared to be in his forties.


    "Body Douluo A''Ruheng of Shrek Academy, please enlighten me!" A''Ruheng declared.


    A clear stir ran through the Battle God Hall camp upon hearing this Douluo Title.


    Everyone knew what this title entailed; it was the inheritance of what was once one of the most powerful sects in the world.

 Chapter 1687: Rising Sun Douluo

    Only the past sect masters of the Body Sect had the right to inherit this title.


    "First Battle God of the Battle God Hall, Rising Sun Douluo Ao Rui, please enlighten me!" Ao Rui responded in kind. As the first Battle God, he was ranked only below the hall master and vice-hall masters, and he was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, only one step away from the LImit Douluo level.


    The fact that the Body Douluo was an ally of Shrek Academy''s was something that the Battle God Hall had been previously unaware of.


    Even though the Body Sect had fallen into decline, it had once reigned supreme over all other sects on this continent, and it was not to be disregarded. As such, A''Ruheng''s declaration of support toward Shrek Academy was going to force the Battle God Hall and even the entire federation to re-evaluate the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    At this moment, A''Ruheng''s gaze wasn''t fixed on his opponent. Instead, he was appraising Shi Mengshan from afar.


    He took a deep breath, and an unprecedentedly focused and serious look suddenly appeared in his eyes. His aura also became a lot more restrained and far less overbearing, and even Tang Wulin was only seeing this side of A''Ruheng for the very first time.


    He had always known that beneath A''Ruheng''s rough and rowdy exterior was a very shrewd and intelligent mind.


    After he and Sima Jinchi had been tricked by Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun, he had quickly realized what had happened and discussed this with Tang Wulin in private, but he never mentioned this to Sima Jinchi.


    If anyone were to judge A''Ruheng by his cover, then they were about to be in for a rude awakening.


    A faint smile appeared on A''Ruheng''s face as he heaved a faint sigh, and he crossed his arms as the air around him shimmered and warped.


    He was over 30 years of age, fast approaching 40, yet he had never met a woman who had been able to capture his heart.


    He knew that his body was different from that of the average person. Due to the special Body Sect cultivation methods he had used since he was a child, he was simply far too strong for normal women to bear, which meant that he couldn''t engage in physical relations with the average woman as he could easily slip up and kill them.


    As such, A''Ruheng had always wanted to find a strong woman to become his wife. However, the strong ones were ugly, but the beautiful ones weren''t strong.


    In his eyes, even a woman like Yuanen Yehui, who was internally very strong and resilient, wasn''t to his liking; he wanted someone who was strong both on the inside and on the outside.


    Shi Mengshan had quite a burly physique, but her facial features were still quite elegant, and it was love at first sight for A''Ruheng.


    "Let''s hold on for a minute," A''Ruheng said as he raised a hand.


    Ao Rui faltered slightly upon hearing this. What was this request? Were they not going to commence their battle right away?


    A''Ruheng''s lips tremored as he transmitted his voice toward Ao Rui. "Old Man Ao, I want to ask you something: is the seventh Battle God married?"


    Old Man Ao? Ao Rui''s eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this. Were they supposed to be old friends or something? Even the palace masters didn''t refer to him like this!


    Then again, this man was the current sect master of the Body Sect, so it wasn''t entirely unacceptable for him to refer to the first Battle God in this manner.


    As such, Ao Rui wasn''t offered any objections to this. However, why was he asking about Shi Mengshan''s marriage status?


    "I think she had a boyfriend in the past, but they split up because she was too big for his liking," Ao Rui reflexively replied. As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he was left regretting his decision. What right did he have to tell someone else about Shi Mengshan''s private life?


    A''Ruheng''s eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he hurriedly asked, "Did she find anyone after that?"


    Ao Rui replied, "I''m afraid that''s not for me to tell."


    A''Ruheng''s expression fell slightly upon hearing this. "Why you gotta be like this, Old Man Ao? As the first Battle God, you should think for the sake of your colleagues. The Begonia Douluo should be around 40 years of age already, right? Don''t you think she''s lonely without a companion at this age? I''ll admit that I''ve fallen in love with her at first sight; can you create an opportunity for the two of us?"


    Ao Rui didn''t know how to respond. Was this guy supposed to be a comedian? If it weren''t for the fact that A''Ruheng was the current Body Douluo, he would''ve already lashed out!


    All of the Battle Gods were Titled Douluos, and at that level, everyone had a world of their own; even as the first Battle God, he couldn''t interfere with the personal lives of his colleagues, especially when it came to someone as cold and forbidding as Shi Mengshan.


    Furthermore, this was happening right in the middle of a challenge, so technically, they were in opposition against the Battle God Hall; surely it was inappropriate to be bringing up something like this now!


    However, it was clear that A''Ruheng was fully serious about this, so Ao Rui couldn''t just reject him outright. On top of that, just as he said, it was extremely difficult for someone like Shi Mengshan to find a spouse.


    She was a Titled Douluo at quite an advanced age when it came to marriage, and she didn''t exactly fit the aesthetic mold that most men were searching for.


    With that in mind, Ao Rui cast a hesitant gaze toward Shi Mengshan, who currently had her eyes closed as she reviewed her battle in her mind, so she didn''t notice his scrutiny.


    However, the other Battle Gods all saw this, and they felt very befuddled.


    What were the two of them doing? Why did it look like they were having a chat? Weren''t they supposed to be engaging in battle?


    After an extended period of contemplation, Ao Rui replied, "I''m sorry, but I can''t help you. If you want to pursue the Begonia Douluo, then you''ll have to work hard yourself; I can''t tell you anything."


    After all, this was only their first meeting, and even though A''Ruheng held a very lofty status, it was difficult to say whether he would be a suitable match for Shi Mengshan.


    A''Ruheng''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "If that''s your decision, then I won''t be holding back, Old Man Ao!"


    Ao Rui almost rolled his eyes upon hearing this.


    Who needs you to hold back? I''m a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, for god''s sake!


    Ao Rui was growing rather disgruntled from being slighted by his opponent, and he said, "There''s no need to hold back; give me all you''ve got!"


    "Fine, I''ll satisfy that request!" A''Ruheng harrumphed coldly as he took a step forward.


    Before Ao Rui even had a chance to react, an incredibly powerful aura had already erupted out of A''Ruheng''s body.


    The air began to buzz in a peculiar rhythmic manner, and a round wheel of light lit up behind A''Ruheng acting as a glowing backdrop.


    As the wheel of light rose up, his enormous blood essence erupted out of his body, and the entire battle area instantly became scorching hot, as if magma were pouring out of the ground.


    Even Ao Rui felt as if his blood had been ignited, and this was an extremely uncomfortable sensation.

 Chapter 1688: Invincible Vajra Body

    What powerful blood essence fluctuations!


    Ao Rui had never faced a powerful being from the Body Sect before, and he had only heard about the state of the current Body Sect. The aura currently being displayed by A''Ruheng had already exceeded his expectations.


    The members of the Body Sect used their bodies as their martial souls, and they were the most proficient Soul Masters when it came to bodily control in order to enhance their powers. Now, Ao Rui was beginning to truly experience just what the human body was capable of at an extreme capacity.


    A''Ruheng joined his palms in front of his own chest, and his entire body turned a reddish-golden color, while his eyes had taken on a dazzling golden hue.


    At this moment, he didn''t even look human anymore. Instead, he was looking like a divine Buddha.


    A''Ruheng''s transformation naturally drew the attention of both camps, and a hint of elation appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon seeing this.


    A''Ruheng had finally reached the pinnacle of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method.


    He didn''t know when A''Ruheng had made the breakthrough, but knew that this was a level that even he would never be able to reach.


    It was said that once a Body Douluo cultivated the Body Sect''s congenital secret method to its extreme, they would be able to attain this form, and at this level, their body would become powerful enough to rival that of a god; it could be said that this was the most powerful physical form of this world.


    With his Golden Dragon King bloodline, Tang Wulin was able to reach full mastery of the Body Sect''s congenital secret method, but he could never reach that extreme pinnacle. After all, he wasn''t the sect master of the Body Sect.


    There were many prerequisites that had to be satisfied before this form could be attained. For example, one had to begin building a foundation to cultivate the congenital secret method from birth. This was an extremely tortuous and perilous process, and the congenital secret method was also known as the process of creating a god!


    Tang Wulin had picked up the congenital secret method too late, and the fact that he had reached full mastery was already sufficient testament to his extraordinary aptitude, but never did he think that A''Ruheng would attain this Invincible Vajra Body, which no one had done for thousands of years.


    In reality, A''Ruheng had Tang Wulin partially to thank for this.


    Tang Wulin had inspired him greatly during their sparring matches, conversations about the cultivation of the congenital secret method, and most importantly, his integration of the congenital secret method with his dragon''s repulse. In addition to that, A''Ruheng was also supremely talented, and he had finally achieved this form not long ago.


    Once a Body Douluo attained this form, they would truly stand at the pinnacle of the Soul Master world, and on the back of this breakthrough, A''Ruheng was able to progress to rank 97 in soul power.


    Furthermore, he wouldn''t encounter any bottlenecks in his future cultivation until he reached the quasigod level, and barring any mishaps, he would definitely reach that level in a very short time.


    Throughout history, all those who had attained this form had gone on to become quasigods.


    As such, Tang Wulin was ecstatic to see that A''Ruheng had reached this level.


    Even though the two Limit Douluos of the Yuanen Family had joined Shrek Academy, they weren''t directly related to the academy. In contrast, A''Ruheng was his senior disciple brother, and that was an extremely close bond. Once he became a quasigod, Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, and even the Body Sect would all benefit immensely. In particular, the Body Sect would definitely enjoy a strong resurgence.


    The Battle Gods possessed extensive experience and knowledge when it came to martial souls, but they weren''t sufficiently familiar with the Body Sect. Furthermore, it had been several thousand years since the Invincible Vajra Body had last appeared. Even in the entire history of the Body Sect, this was a lofty height that had only been reached a handful of times.


    As such, in the face of A''Ruheng''s Invincible Vajra Body, Ao Rui could only sense that his opponent was extremely powerful and possessed ridiculously abundant blood essence, but he didn''t know exactly what this form entailed.


    The other Battle Gods were also stunned to see this, but it was clear that they didn''t know what this form signified, either.


    In reality, A''Ruheng hadn''t planned to reveal this form so early, but he wanted to show off to his new love interest. In this form, his blood essence had been elevated to the extreme.


    Ao Rui didn''t dare to allow this to continue, and nine black soul rings immediately appeared beneath his feet as a scintillating sun emerged above him.


    His martial soul was the sun. This had always been a type of top-tier martial soul, but it varied from person to person. For example, some were more inclined toward heat, while others were more inclined toward light. In Ao Rui''s case, his Rising Sun was the perfect combination of all of these factors, and it was renowned as the most powerful sun.


    Nine enormous balls of light instantly shot forth, hurtling directly toward A''Ruheng.


    The air twisted and warped, and the humidity within the entire battle area instantly plummeted to zero. The heat from A''Ruheng''s blood essence and Ao Rui''s Rising Sun was making all of the light in the area shimmer and warp.


    A wide smile appeared on A''Ruheng''s face as he stepped forward and puffed his chest out, making no effort to evade as he met the nine balls of light with his barrel chest.


    "Boom!"


    The first ball of light exploded on his body, but couldn''t budge him even in the slightest. He then lowered his head and charged headfirst into the second ball of light, causing it to explode while he remained unscathed.


    After that came the third ball of light, then the fourth...


    By the time all nine balls of light had exploded, the surrounding temperature had reached an extremely fearsome level.


    However, A''Ruheng remained standing on the spot, and the reddish-golden light radiating from his body had only become brighter.


    "That was awesome! Keep the bathwater coming!" A''Ruheng chortled as he strode directly toward Ao Rui.


    As the first Battle God, Ao Rui was an extremely seasoned combatant, but he had never encountered a situation like this before.


    Was this guy even a human anymore? How was his defensive prowess this insane? The Nine Consecutive Star Beads unleashed with his rank 98 soul power hadn''t left so much as a single scratch on A''Ruheng; this was downright unimaginable!


    All of a sudden, a pillar of bright light struck A''Ruheng without any warning, and he was sent flying before crashing into the protective barrier in the distance.


    In the face of that pillar of light, he had made no attempt to evade or defend himself.


    Ao Rui''s brows furrowed tightly upon seeing this. He was confident in his own attack, but he could sense that the power of his attack hadn''t managed to infiltrate his opponent''s body.


    Sure enough, A''Ruheng rose to his feet right after falling onto the ground, then dusted himself off before giving his opponent a wide smile.


    Right at this moment, his eyes abruptly lit up, and two beams of light erupted out of his eyes like lightning.


    His martial soul was his body, and any part of his body could be used as a weapon.


    Ao Rui''s Rising Sun transformed into a giant light shield before him, and the shield exploded as Ao Rui took a half-step backward.


    Meanwhile, A''Ruheng massaged his own temples as he nodded to himself. "That wasn''t bad at all!"


    At this point, Ao Rui''s expression had darkened significantly. This was the first time he had ever encountered such an opponent, and he felt as if he were facing a monster!

 Chapter 1689: What a Fantastic Bath

    Right at this moment, A''Ruheng sprang into action, rushing toward Ao Rui like a golden cannonball.


    Ao Rui immediately responded by releasing his suit of battle armor.


    His opponent''s physical prowess was off the charts, while he excelled in energy attacks, so he definitely couldn''t allow A''Ruheng to get close to him.


    A suit of golden battle armor appeared over his entire body, and there was an extremely eye-catching ruby at the direct center of his helmet, giving him a valiant appearance.


    Dazzling golden light rose up from beneath his feet, and the surrounding air became extremely viscous, while the ground had transformed into a scorching pool of lava that enveloped A''Ruheng from all sides.


    After rushing into the pool of lava, A''Ruheng''s speed was greatly impacted, and fearsome pillars of fire erupted forth to send him flying once again.


    A''Ruheng was completely unfazed by this, and he leaped into the pool of lava again before swimming within it in a casual manner.


    "What a fantastic bath!"


    All of the Battle Gods were astonished to see this. They were all well aware of how fearsome Ao Rui''s attacks were; his powers were truly fearsome enough to melt mountains and boil seas. However, in the face of the Body Douluo, all of his attacks seemed to have become a joke.


    Pillars of light and fire rained down in a torrential barrage, and even an actual mountain would''ve most likely already melted away.


    Ao Rui was throwing everything at A''Ruheng, but none of his attacks were achieving anything other than sending A''Ruheng flying over and over again.


    What could he do?


    Even Guan Yue was becoming increasingly alarmed as he spectated the battle from afar. Ao Rui wasn''t a Limit Douluo yet, but in terms of pure offensive prowess, he wasn''t far off from Guan Yue''s level.


    If he were in Ao Rui''s place, would he be able to defeat this Body Douluo? It was very hard to say.


    At this point, Tang Wulin had already figured out that his senior disciple brother had only recently attained this Invincible Vajra Body, and was using Ao Rui to test his own limits. Furthermore, he was using this extreme light and heat to further refine and consolidate this new form.


    His opponent clearly hadn''t identified this yet. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be allowing A''Ruheng to take advantage of the situation like this. However, as a Body Sect disciple himself, this was very apparent to Tang Wulin. Many of the Body Sect''s cultivation methods required withstanding physical trauma for progression, so A''Ruheng was intentionally provoking his opponent so that Ao Rui would unleash even more fearsome attacks.


    After reaching the Titled Douluo level, all Soul Masters received significant stamina boosts due to the formation of soul cores. However, unleashing such a ferocious barrage was still very taxing on one''s soul power, and after maintaining this fearsome assault for 10 minutes straight, Ao Rui had to stop to catch his breath.


    Meanwhile, the air around A''Ruheng was twisting due to the extreme temperatures, but he remained completely unscathed. He turned to Ao Rui with a wide smile, and said, "Can you tell me more about her now, Old Man Ao? Look how good I''ve been to you; I haven''t attacked you even once, and I''ve been holding back this entire time!"


    Ao Rui immediately flared up with rage. "I don''t need you to hold back! Come at me!"


    "Alright, you asked for it; it''s about time I went on the offensive." A''Ruheng suddenly squatted down as he spoke, and as he did so, the entire Battle God Hall tremored slightly; even the protective barrier was struggling to contain this pressure.


    In the next instant, A''Ruheng sprang up before crashing directly toward Ao Rui like a reddish-golden shooting star.


    In response, Ao Rui instantly retreated and fused as one with the scintillating sun behind him to unleash his martial soul true body. At the same time, he released his domain halo again, and the sea of lava reappeared.


    "Boom!"


    A''Ruheng crashed directly into the radiant sun, and it exploded into balls of fire that erupted in all directions, sweeping across the entire battle area.


    A''Ruheng landed on the ground before rubbing his own bald head, while a figure was sent flying out of the shattered sun, only just barely managing to steady itself and avoid crashing into the protective barrier.


    This was none other than the Rising Sun Douluo, and his martial soul true body had just been destroyed by A''Ruheng like a freight train.


    "Come on then!" A''Ruheng roared as his body abruptly swelled to the same height as the protective barrier.


    He slammed his fists into the protective barrier with devastating force, and the entire battle area quaked violently amid a resounding boom.


    Immediately thereafter, he doubled over and slammed his fists onto the ground amid another thunderous boom. The protective barrier was almost unable to withstand the fearsome shockwaves unleashed by his strikes, and even Ao Rui was forced to curl up into a ball to weather the devastating storm.


    Even so, his entire body was trembling violently, and it was as if the very air had become his enemy.


    In the face of this almighty opponent, he was struck by an unprecedented sense of powerlessness.


    A''Ruheng''s giant fists came crashing toward Ao Rui, and Ao Rui was unable to even evade.


    If the battle area were of a sufficient size, perhaps he could try and contend with his opponent, but in this limited space, there was no way for him to take evasive measures.


    As such, he had no choice but to fight fire with fire, unleashing his ninth soul skill, Rising Sun Yang Core. A terrifying explosion erupted, and A''Ruheng was sent stumbling backward as scorching flames that actually posed a threat to him were ignited on his body for the first time.


    However, Ao Rui had also been sent flying by the devastating punch, crashing into the protective barrier, where he remained as if he had been glued there.


    A''Ruheng quickly snuffed out the flames by slapping them with his hands, then smiled as all of the golden light radiating from his body injected itself into his right fist. Fearsome golden light erupted directly toward Ao Rui, and all Ao Rui could do was unleash his ninth soul skill over and over again to oppose his opponent''s attacks.


    However, there seemed to be no end to A''Ruheng''s attacks as his punches rained down like machine-gun fire, creating a relentless barrage that refused to afford Ao Rui any respite.


    The most fearsome part about the Invincible Vajra Body was the near limitless stamina. Only now did Tang Wulin understand why A''Ruheng had told him that he didn''t want a suit of four-word battle armor.


    Once one attained the Invincible Vajra Body, they would no longer be able to wear battle armor, nor would they need it.


    The Invincible Vajra Body was superior even to the average suit of four-word battle armor, granting one limitless stamina and energy.


    As such, the Invincible Vajra Body''s stamina was unmatched, and upon reaching the quasigod level, A''Ruheng would be virtually unkillable. Perhaps his offensive prowess wasn''t enough for him to defeat all opponents, but the problem was that he was virtually unkillable!


    If A''Ruheng could reach the quasigod level, then he would have no issues at all escaping from two or three other quasigods.


    At this moment, Ao Rui was facing the full extent of A''Ruheng''s power, and there was nothing he could do aside from holding on for dear life.

 Chapter 1690: Marry Me!

    His attacks weren''t powerful enough to defeat A''Ruheng, but if he ceased to attack, he would be overwhelmed by his opponent''s attacks.


    Never had Ao Rui ever experienced such an awkward battle. Having cultivated for so many years, he had encountered all types of strange opponents, but this one simply rendered him completely powerless.


    Furthermore, he was confident that even Guan Yue wouldn''t fare much better than him in the same situation. No matter how powerful you were, it didn''t matter if you couldn''t pose a substantial threat to your opponent.


    At the moment, both sides were rapidly expending soul power, but his opponent''s attacks were only becoming more and more fearsome; what could he do?


    As the first Battle God, he couldn''t afford to lose! His defeat would have a massive symbolic importance, not to mention the fact that the Battle God Hall had already suffered three losses and a tie.


    Thus, Ao Rui persevered with gritted teeth, and he could only hope that his opponent wouldn''t be able to maintain this form for too long.


    He was confident in his own soul power reserves, and his opponent definitely wasn''t at rank 98 yet.


    However, he was underestimating the Invincible Vajra Body.


    Upon attaining this form, one would possess immunity to all negative status effects, as well as become impervious to all poisons. Furthermore, all energy-based control system soul skills were ineffective against him.


    All of the energy between heaven and earth could nourish him, so it was virtually impossible to outlast the duration of his Invincible Vajra Body.


    There were only two ways to defeat him, one of which was to unleash an attack so devastating that it could instantly overwhelm his defensive capabilities, while the second option was to have several powerful beings taking turns to battle him until his Invincible Vajra Body ran out. However, neither of those options were easy to fulfill.


    The Invincible Vajra Body wasn''t actually the body of a god, but it really was very close to that level, and it granted one at least three times the stamina of a normal Soul Master of the same caliber.


    A''Ruheng had only reached this level recently, so he hadn''t achieved the threefold enhancement yet, but twofold was not an issue.


    He was also a Hyper Douluo, and even though Ao Rui possessed a higher cultivation rank than he did, his soul power reserves certainly weren''t twice those of A''Ruheng''s!


    It was already becoming apparent that Ao Rui''s attacks were becoming weaker, while A''Ruheng seemed to be growing more powerful the longer the battle dragged on.


    Guan Yue sighed as he cast his gaze toward Tang Wulin, then communicated something to him through voice transmission.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "This match has been going on for too long, and I don''t think either side can defeat the other, so how about we call it a tie and allow my senior disciple brother to progress to the next level?"


    Guan Yue immediately replied without any hesitation, "Alright, we''ll do as you say, Sect Master Tang."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he turned toward the battle area. "Senior Disciple Brother, you can stop now."


    "That was a really fun battle! As expected, this feeling can only come from battling a formidable opponent," A''Ruheng chortled as he slowly reverted back to his original size.


    The only item of clothing that remained on his body was a pair of golden knee-length shorts, while the bulging muscles of his upper body were completely bared.


    Ao Rui descended onto the ground, and his face was quite pale, while his chest was heaving incessantly. If A''Ruheng had continued that assault he really wouldn''t have been able to hold on for much longer.


    He was too embarrassed to say anything and made his way directly back to the Battle God Hall camp.


    It was obvious to everyone that if Tang Wulin hadn''t called off the match as a gesture of good faith, Ao Rui would''ve definitely been defeated.


    Guan Yue couldn''t help but heave an internal sigh as he looked at Tang Wulin. The young people of this generation were truly formidable!


    A''Ruheng also made his way out of the battle area, but instead of returning to the Shrek Academy, he was following along behind Ao Rui.


    "Over here, Senior Disciple Brother! You''re going the wrong way," Tang Wulin hurriedly called out.


    A''Ruheng turned to him with a smile on his face. "It''s alright, I have something I need to take care of, so give me a moment."


    He emerged from the light barrier as he spoke, then made his way directly over to Shi Mengshan.


    At this moment, Shi Mengshan was still in shock, just as all of the other Battle Gods were.


    This was the first time they had seen a battle style like A''Ruheng''s, and in their eyes, he was like a monster.


    In the face of such an opponent, none of them could think of a good strategy.


    For some reason, Shi Mengshan''s heart rate began to rise at the sight of the approaching A''Ruheng. She could clearly sense the scorching blood essence fluctuations emanating from his body, alongside his intoxicating masculine aura.


    A''Ruheng stopped only one step away from her, and she appraised him with a wary gaze.


    "I think you need a strong man," A''Ruheng said in a very earnest manner.


    All of the Battle Gods'' expressions instantly changed upon hearing this. Some of them were stunned, some were amused, and some were enraged.


    If it weren''t for the incredible power that A''Ruheng had displayed, one of the Battle Gods would''ve most likely already sent him flying with an almighty slap!


    "Piss off!" Shi Mengshan said in a cold voice.


    A''Ruheng ignored her, and flexed his own bicep as he said, "You can see that I''m very strong, and your poison won''t work on me; there''s no man more suitable for you than me, and I also need a strong woman."


    "Piss off!" Shi Mengshan''s voice cooled even further, and her hands had already balled up into tight fists.


    Everyone from the Shrek Academy camp was also astonished; no one could''ve anticipated that he would suddenly pull a stunt like this!


    Tang Wulin hurriedly made his way over to the opposing camp. There were 11 Battle Gods over there; what if they were to attack A''Ruheng together in a fit of rage? If a chaotic scuffle were to break out, then their plan would be negatively impacted. After all, their ultimate objective wasn''t just to challenge the Battle God Hall.


    A''Ruheng seemed to be completely oblivious to Shi Mengshan''s frosty demeanor, and just as Tang Wulin was rushing over to him, he knelt down on one knee with a serious expression, and said, "Marry me. You''ll be my only woman; no other woman can handle me."


    On this occasion, Shi Mengshan didn''t say anything, and her eyes were slightly out of focus as she stared at A''Ruheng.


    An incredible thought sprang into Tang Wulin''s mind upon seeing this, and he reflexively drew to a halt.


    Right at this moment, Shi Mengshan suddenly reached out to accept A''Ruheng''s outstretched hand. "Alright."


    Deathly silence descended over everyone, and it was as if all of the bystanders had been transformed into stone statues.


    A''Ruheng''s proposal had been extremely brief, and Shi Mengshan''s reply was even more concise.


    Everyone looked on in astonishment as A''Ruheng rose to his feet, then led Shi Mengshan over to the Shrek Academy camp while still holding onto her hand.


    As he arrived before Tang Wulin, he smiled, and said, "Look what I brought back, Junior Disciple Brother! What do you think?"


    Tang Wulin had never admired anyone more than his senior disciple brother in this moment.


    Shi Mengshan''s expression remained cold and aloof, as if it were someone else''s hand being held by A''Ruheng.


    Tang Wulin forcibly repressed his shock, and said, "Welcome."

 Chapter 1691: The Shortest Proposal in History

    Shi Mengshan merely nodded in response, not paying much attention to Tang Wulin. After that, she was taken back to the Shrek Academy camp by A''Ruheng, and only then did the Battle Gods return to their senses.


    The Battle Gods were all very refined and cultured individuals, but they were still struck by the urge to swear out loud in the wake of this preposterous situation.


    Not only were they winning the match, they had even won a Battle God! This was ridiculous!


    "Vice-hall Master..." Ao Rui turned to Guan Yue with a beseeching look, but Guan Yue''s hands were completely tied as well.


    That had to be one of the strangest sequences of events he had ever witnessed.


    That was most definitely the shortest proposal in history to land anyone a Titled Douluo wife, and only A''Ruheng could be capable of something like this.


    Upon his return to the Shrek Academy camp, Sima Jinchi gave him a massive thumbs-up. "You''re the man! I''m in full admiration right now!"


    A smug look appeared on A''Ruheng''s face as he turned to Shi Mengshan. "Mengshan, this is my good friend, Sima Jinchi; you can just call him Little Si."


    Sima Jinchi''s expression immediately darkened upon hearing this. "A''Ruheng, don''t take advantage of the situation!"


    "If you don''t like it, then come fight me!" A''Ruheng countered with a menacing glare.


    Sima Jinchi was fuming with rage, but there was nothing that he could do. A''Ruheng had already attained the Invincible Vajra Body, so battling him was out of the equation; even the Dragonslaying Saber wouldn''t be able to break through his defenses unless Tang Wulin was wielding it himself.


    To put it in simpler terms, it was virtually impossible to harm A''Ruheng without a transcendent divine weapon.


    Shi Mengshan took a glance at Sima Jinchi, but didn''t say anything, and merely stood on the spot, allowing A''Ruheng to hold her hand.


    In reality, it was just as A''Ruheng had speculated: due to her physique and her lofty cultivation rank, Shi Mengshan had never met a man who had captured her heart during the past 41 years of her life, and no man had ever confessed to her.


    As such, A''Ruheng''s direct confession had completely blindsided her.


    This was the first time that she had been confessed to, and there were so many onlookers, so she completely panicked and put on a cold facade while the overwhelmingly masculine A''Ruheng stood before her with his burly upper body completely bared.


    Upon reaching a certain age, all women would begin to envision what their ideal better half would be like, and Shi Mengshan was no exception to this. In her imagination, her spouse had to be very strong, a man who could carry the weight on his shoulders, and he had to be more powerful than her; this was one of the main reasons that she was unable to find a partner.


    However, A''Ruheng completely fulfilled the image of the ideal man in her heart, so as he knelt down on one knee and proposed to her, her heart finally melted.


    She was already 41 years of age; if she were to miss out on this opportunity, perhaps she would never be able to find another man suitable for herself.


    As such, she had been filled with excitement as she accepted his proposal, and she didn''t regret her decision. As her hand was being held by A''Ruheng''s large and strong hand, she was filled with an unprecedented sense of warmth and security.


    Her heart had been completely set aflutter, much like that of a young maiden discovering love for the first time.


    This was a wonderful feeling that she had never experienced before.


    Regardless of how strong she was, she was still a woman, and she craved someone to protect and cherish her.


    At this moment, A''Ruheng was giving her all of that, so she didn''t regret her decision at all. In fact, she was extremely pleased with how decisive she was.


    Everything looked very simple now, but if she had refused his proposal in front of all of these bystanders, then their love story would''ve most likely concluded before it had even begun.


    Similarly, A''Ruheng was also extremely pleased with himself. He had just attained the Invincible Vajra Physique and landed the woman of his heart with the shortest proposal in history; he felt as if he had instantly reached the peak of his life!


    Tang Wulin was also genuinely happy for A''Ruheng, but right now, he had to face the fury of all of the other Battle Gods.


    Guan Yue raised a hand to instruct the Battle Gods to stand down, then emerged from their camp.


    "Sect Master Tang, quite a few battles have already passed, but we still don''t know why you''ve decided to visit our Battle God Hall."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I had heard that the Battle God Hall was the central hub for the most powerful beings in the entire federation, and we came here to learn from the best. Also, some of us have military backgrounds, and we heard that we could challenge the Battle God Hall for promotions, so we decided to give it a try."


    Indeed, aside from A''Ruheng and Ling Zichen, everyone else in the group had been involved in the military in the past.


    Guan Yue replied, "I see, but if I''m not mistaken, you''re already a major general of the Blood God Legion; that is the highest rank that we can promote you to here."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. This wasn''t what Cao Dezhi had told him!


    However, he quickly recovered, and replied, "That''s alright, I''ll try to get all of my friends to also reach the major general rank then. Aside from my senior disciple brother and another companion of mine, the rest of us are all military officials."


    Indeed, all of them had joined different legions and had reached the lieutenant colonel rank as a minimum. Take Sima Jinchi for example: he was once a senior colonel of the Southern Legion and was only one step away from becoming a major general.


    A faint smile appeared on Guan Yue''s face, and he said, "Sect Master Tang, I think it would be a waste of time to continue these battles one by one. There are five people left on each side, so why don''t we have a group battle? If you win, that''ll be sufficient proof of your power, and you''ll be able to skip the first 16 floors to undertake the examinations on the final two floors; what do you think?"


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this, and he could see that there was a meaningful look in Guan Yue''s eyes.


    On the surface, they would be accepting a disadvantage if they were to agree to this group battle.


    Under the current circumstances, they were able to choose their opponents, but that luxury wouldn''t be afforded to them in a group battle.


    However, Guan Yue had made it clear that if they could win this group battle, they would be able to skip the first 16 levels and directly reach the final two levels, thereby conserving a significant amount of time, which was definitely a good thing.


    However, the main issue here was that it definitely wasn''t going to be an easy task to win this five-on-five battle. Among the remaining Battle Gods, there were still the second Battle God and Guan Yue, who was a Limit Douluo; could they win against such a formidable lineup?


    Currently, the five people from the Shrek Academy camp yet to challenge a Battle God were Tang Wulin, Sima Jinchi, Yuanen Yehui, Xu Xiaoyan, and Ling Zichen.

 Chapter 1692: Dual Imperial Divine Swords

    They had to face Guan Yue, as well as the second, fifth, eighth, and 13th Battle Gods, which was close to the most powerful lineup from the Battle God Hall.


    Aside from Chen Xinjie''s absence, the Battle God Hall was at full strength, and the four Battle Gods were all exceptionally powerful with their own individual characteristics.


    Judging from their numbers and the descriptions of the Battle Gods provided to him by Cao Dezhi, he could roughly guess the identities of these Battle Gods.


    The one standing at the very back was the female 13th Battle God, who had carried the Gluttony Douluo away for treatment following his defeat.


    The passage of time had left its mark on her appearance, but it was obvious that she would''ve been a stunning beauty in her youth.


    Cao Dezhi had told him that there was only a single Battle God who could be considered to be a beauty, and that was Divine Sword Douluo Su Mengjun, so that had to be her.


    She still hadn''t reached the Hyper Douluo level yet, but that didn''t mean that she was weak. On the contrary, her inclusion would make it a lot more difficult for Tang Wulin and the others to win this five-on-five battle.


    This was because the Divine Sword Douluo was always accompanied by the Imperial Sword Douluo, who had never once fallen out of the top three Battle Gods in the past 20 years.


    The first and third Battle Gods had already been challenged in one-on-one battles, so the second Battle God had to be Imperial Sword Douluo Long Tianwu.


    He was a true pillar of the Battle God Hall, and what was most terrifying of all was that he was the spouse of the Divine Sword Douluo, with whom he shared a soul fusion skill. Once their soul fusion skill was unleashed, they would be comparable to a Limit Douluo, which meant that there were essentially two Limit Douluos among the five remaining Battle Gods!


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin had also guessed the identity of the fifth Battle God, who was quite handsome with a set of long and slim fingers. This was most likely the most powerful control system Soul Master of the Battle God Hall, Demonic Zither Douluo Mo Zihong, who possessed the Demonic Curse Zither martial soul. He had always been renowned as one of the most difficult Battle Gods to overcome.


    As for the eighth Battle God, regardless of who he was, he definitely wouldn''t be an easy opponent. Thus, this was a very formidable lineup, and with the exception of Chen Xinjie, it was definitely one of the most fearsome five-man lineups that the Battle God Hall could muster up.


    Could Tang Wulin and the others really defeat them in a five-on-five battle?


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily before replying, "Surely this place isn''t big enough for a five-on-five battle."


    Indeed, the battle area was quite large for one-on-one battles, but it was far too restrictive for a five-on-five battle, and that wasn''t even taking into account the fact that the protective barrier definitely wouldn''t be able to handle a battle between so many powerful beings.


    Guan Yue smiled, and replied, "There''s no need to worry about that, Sect Master Tang. Our Battle God Hall has a small world, and the battle will take place there. The rules are very simple and fair, the small world won''t assist us unfairly in any way, and you can all have an hour to acclimate yourselves with the environment in there."


    It was clear that Guan Yue was trying to turn the tables in one fell swoop. Thus far, they had suffered three losses and two ties, although it could be argued that it was more like four losses and one tie.


    If they could win this five-on-five battle, then they would win the overall match. This was quite a cunning plan from Guan Yue.


    Tang Wulin suddenly smiled and nodded in response. "Alright, we''ll do as you say then."


    Guan Yue replied, "Alright, then come with me, everyone."


    Xu Lizhi said, "Go on, Captain; I''ll stay here with Sister Xinglan."


    Tang Wulin patted him on the shoulder and nodded in response.


    Guan Yue said, "You can rest assured, we''ll be sure to protect her and ensure that no harm befalls her in our Battle God Hall."


    "Thank you," Tang Wulin replied.


    "Come with me."


    The innermost wall on the first floor parted to reveal a huge passageway.


    The Battle Gods led from the front, while Tang Wulin and his friends followed along behind them, with the exceptions of Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan.


    Ling Zichen tugged on Tang Wulin''s sleeve, and said in a low voice, "Are you stupid? Our chances of victory would be much higher in one-on-one battles."


    "You don''t seem like the type to lack self-confidence," Tang Wulin countered.


    Ling Zichen grumbled, "I''m not lacking self-confidence; I''m lacking confidence in you! Are you telling me you have a chance at defeating a Limit Douluo?"


    "How do you know I don''t have a chance?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Fine! Do what you want, but don''t come crying to me when you lose!" Ling Zichen snapped.


    Aside from Ling Zichen, no one else doubted Tang Wulin''s decision. Having been together for so long, they knew that Tang Wulin had to have his reasons for accepting this seemingly disadvantageous arrangement. They knew that Tang Wulin wasn''t the type of person to take such an important matter lightly.


    After walking for around 100 meters along the passageway, a round platform with a diameter of roughly 20 meters appeared up ahead.


    Everyone piled onto the platform, and there was not a lot of space to move around.


    Even Ling Zichen was struck by a sense of awe by this situation. After all, there were over 10 Titled Douluos gathered on this small platform!


    The battles she had just witnessed had left a very deep impression on her, particularly the final battle between A''Ruheng and Ao Rui; that battle had completely changed her outlook on the limits of the human body.


    During their past interactions, A''Ruheng had always been a very easy-going and happy-go-lucky character, and Ling Zichen had always been under the impression that he was like Tang Wulin''s sidekick; who could''ve imagined that he would possess powers close to the Limit Douluo level? Shrek Academy really was a den for monsters!


    It was exactly because of this that she was struggling to see through Tang Wulin. Why was it that everyone around him was so powerful, but they were all willing to follow his lead?


    The platform began to slowly descend, and gentle white light emanated from the surrounding walls. It was clear that this light was being emitted by soul circuits.


    As expected of the central hub for the most powerful beings in the federation, every single place in the Battle God Hall seemed to be extremely resolute and well-constructed.


    The platform gradually began to accelerate during its descent, causing the surroundings to blur in a surreal manner.


    Tang Wulin was very calm as he stood still on the spot, while most of the Battle Gods had their eyes fixed on A''Ruheng.


    The power he had displayed earlier had been truly terrifying, and even now, Ao Rui still hadn''t fully recovered from their battle.


    If possible, he never wanted to face an opponent like this again. Throughout that entire battle, he was completely suffocated and powerless; never had a battle felt so terrible for him!


    Thankfully, he wasn''t going to be participating in the five-on-five battle.


    This was a must-win battle for the Battle God Hall. Otherwise, they would suffer nine losses and a tie to the Shrek Academy camp, and that would be a historically monumental outcome, but for all the wrong reasons.

 Chapter 1693: Battle God Arena

    As such, all of the remaining Battle Gods were determined to turn the tables, but at the same time, they were all under immense pressure.


    They did have the equivalent of two Limit Douluos among their ranks, but they were up against the miracle-worker that was the Tang Sect Master.


    The most terrifying thing about him was the rate of his progression. Xu Lizhi had already displayed a full suit of four-word battle armor; who was to say that Tang Wulin wouldn''t also have a full suit of four-word battle armor? He wasn''t far away from the Limit Douluo level; if he were also a four-word battle armor master, then there was a chance that he would be a match for Guan Yue.


    Tang Wulin''s crushing victory over Qiangu Zhangting had left all of the Battle Gods with extremely deep impressions, and none of them knew where Tang Wulin''s limits were, nor how much he had improved since that battle.


    Thus, even though the Battle God Hall held the theoretical advantage during this five-on-five battle, none of the Battle Gods dared to take the Shrek Academy camp lightly.


    Finally, the platform drew to a halt, and one of the walls opened up, following which Guan Yue led everyone into a spacious hall.


    The surrounding area was riddled with complex soul circuits that were emanating faint red light, making one feel as if they were inside a human body that was filled with blood vessels.


    Guan Yue drew to a halt as he reached the center of the hall, then pressed his right hand forward, and the surrounding soul formation immediately lit up as a beam of red light shone down from above, forming a ball of light that was around half a meter in diameter in front of Guan Yue.


    Guan Yue laid his hand onto the ball of light as his eyes narrowed slightly, and a beam of light suddenly projected into mid-air, transforming into a square light screen, upon which a map was depicted.


    "This small world is known as the Battle God Arena. It''s not very large, with an area of only around five square kilometers, but you can rest assured in the knowledge that it''s very stable. As you can see from the map, there are two clearly segmented sides in this small world, and this place is normally used for training for us Battle Gods," Guan Yue introduced.


    Just as he had said, there was what appeared to be a river running from the upper left corner to the bottom right corner of the map, splitting the area up into two triangles.


    One of the triangles had red annotations, while the other was annotated in blue, making the divide very clear, and there was a round symbol situated both in the upper right corner and the bottom left corner, indicating the top corner of each of the two areas.


    Guan Yue continued, "This small world was created by our Battle God Hall, and every single place within it was custom-made. In order to ensure safety, the state of the two areas are very similar. There will be some simulated soul beasts of similar power levels in both areas, and each area will have a 100,000-year-old soul beast that''ll attack as soon as its territory is encroached upon. If you manage to kill that soul beast, you''ll receive an overall boost, such as an increase in soul power by 10%. The boost is completely random, so I can''t tell you what it is in advance.


    "Once we enter the small world, each of our two camps will appear at one of the top corners, which are the starting points. Within each starting point is a defensive turret that is powerful enough to pose a threat to Titled Douluo level three-word battle armor masters, and it''ll only attack members of the opposing camp. Setting off from the starting point, there are three paths, one on each side of the map, and one through the center, through which the opposing camp''s territory can be accessed. Of course, you can also pass through the forests and valleys on the map, but that''ll require a longer journey.


    "Furthermore, there are only three paths leading to the entrance of each starting point, so those are the only three avenues to reach the opposing camp''s starting point. The objective is to destroy the opposing camp''s starting point while keeping your own intact."


    At the conclusion of Guan Yue''s explanation, Tang Wulin was left feeling quite stunned.


    Shrek Academy had also been able to create a small world of its own, but it would''ve definitely required several times the expenditure to create a small world like this, which was completely uniform and could fit their criteria. At the very least, Tang Wulin didn''t think that the current Shrek Academy would be able to accomplish this.


    This was a reflection of the federation''s unreserved support toward the Battle God Hall.


    Furthermore, this was a very interesting mode of battle that would test both power and intellect.


    The Battle Gods were more familiar with the map, and that was a significant advantage, so it was no wonder that Guan Yue was giving them an hour to familiarize themselves with this small world.


    "Also, only those three paths are safe from soul beasts; you could get attacked by soul beasts at any time if you choose to take any other path, and the soul beasts in both areas do not discriminate between targets. Even if you kill the soul beasts, they''ll be resurrected at the same location in a short time," Guan Yue added with a cunning smile.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "Alright, please take us into the small world. Oh, by the way, what types of soul beasts are there in the Battle God Arena? This is something that I''m sure all of the Battle Gods are already aware of, so I believe we have a right to know this."


    Guan Yue paused momentarily before replying, "I can''t tell you exactly what species of soul beasts are in there as even we don''t fully know. For training purposes, the soul beasts that appear in the Battle God Arena are randomly generated. However, what I can tell you is that the two 100,000-year-old soul beasts are simulated based on the Dark Demonic Dragon and the Golden-eyed Black Dragon King, both of which were part of the 10 Great Beasts of the Douluo Continent at some point."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but recall back to their encounter with the Beast God in the Great Star Dou Forest upon hearing these two names. That had truly been a perilous experience!


    Even though the Beast God hadn''t come after him since then, he couldn''t help but be wary of a creature that was even more powerful than the likes of Infernal King Douluo Harosha.


    "They''re not actually as powerful as the Beast God of the past, right?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Guan Yue smiled, and replied, "Of course not. If the Beast God is still alive, then it would be close to 1,000,000 years of age; even our hall master may not be a match for it, let alone the rest of us. The Golden-eyed Black Dragon King in the Battle God Arena is only at the 100,000-year level."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Alright, I understand."


    Guan Yue continued, "I''m going to send you into the small world so you can acclimate yourself with its environment, and you''ll be notified to go to the starting point in an hour."


    Guan Yue pointed a finger at the red ball of light before him as he spoke, and an even larger light screen was projected, depicting a lush forest. Immediately thereafter, five beams of light shone down upon Tang Wulin and the others, and they vanished into the ball of red light in a flash.

 Chapter 1694: The Incredible Small World

    As for A''Ruheng and the others, they were able to immediately see Tang Wulin''s group on the larger screen.


    This really was an incredible small world! Regardless of whether it was the Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, the Battle God Hall, or the Spirit Pagoda, all of these top-tier powers had phenomenal resources, some of which were open to the public for profit, such as the Spirit Pagoda''s Myriad Beast Plane, while others were kept secret and used like this Battle God Arena.


    The most important thing to maintain in a small world was stability. If an issue were to arise with stability, the small world could collapse, and that could even affect the main plane.


    Tang Wulin and the others felt the space warp around them before they appeared in another world amid a flash of light.


    They were situated on an altar-like round platform, and they couldn''t see anything through the map earlier, but upon arriving in the Battle God Arena, they discovered that this entire place was filled with a profound aura.


    The altar itself was a giant soul formation, upon which were engraved all types of different patterns.


    As the current head researcher of the Tang Sect''s soul technology research center, Ling Zichen''s knowledge in soul technology was unmatched, and her attention was immediately drawn to this soul formation. It was clear that the Battle God Hall was unaware of her existence. Otherwise, they would''ve seriously reconsidered allowing Tang Wulin''s group to enter this small world and see all of this.


    As soon as Ling Zichen''s gaze fell upon the soul formation, she was instantly hooked. "Th, this is a soul teleportation formation that''s already been lost to time! I thought it only existed in legends; I can''t believe there''s a functioning one in the Battle God Hall! Go and explore the area; I have to stay here and memorize this entire formation. Hahaha, the Battle God Hall has made a big mistake by allowing me into this place. In my eyes, this thing is no less valuable than Eternal Heaven! They must''ve let us in here thinking that no one would be able to interpret it."


    Tang Wulin could see that Ling Zichen had entered her insane state again, and he knew that she was not to be argued with in this state.


    "Alright, we''ll be back soon. Make sure to disguise what you''re doing; the Battle Gods should be able to conduct surveillance on us from the outside."


    "Don''t worry, they''ve already let us in; what are they going to do? Besides, they have no idea that I can interpret this formation; the complexity of this thing outstrips even that of Eternal Heaven, and it''s related to an extremely important research project of mine, so all I have to do is record the most important parts, then study them in greater depth when I get back. If this research project comes into fruition, it would advance human soul technology by several decades, and there''s even a chance that I could develop an energy core that could fuel space exploration."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up upon hearing this. To the average person, space exploration was a completely foreign concept that they had no interest in, but this was something that he would have to think about sooner or later as he had to go find his parents.


    Thus, Tang Wulin didn''t say anything further as he departed with his friends.


    As soon as they emerged from the altar, they were greeted by the sight of a tall pagoda.


    The pagoda was entirely constructed from metal and was quite antiquated in appearance. However, just like the other places in the Battle God Hall, it was riddled with all types of complex soul circuits.


    "Why does the Battle God Hall insist on exposing the soul circuits like this? Can''t they be hidden on the inside? Is this done just to show off?" Xu Xiaoyan mused.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "There''s a capacity issue at play here. This pagoda must be filled with soul circuits, and there''s not enough internal storage, so there''s spillover onto the outside. These types of cutting-edge soul tools aren''t the same as our battle armor; the surface of our battle armor needs to possess sufficient defensive prowess, and if soul circuits were carved on the outside, they would be far too prone to damage. However, a stationary soul tool like this doesn''t share the same issue. This is most likely the defensive turret in the starting point."


    The top of the defensive turret was very interesting as it was comprised of a massive golden crystal, contrasting with the rest of the turret. Just this crystal alone was over two meters tall, and it was giving off strong soul power fluctuations.


    Yuanen Yehui''s eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this. "I remember learning about this type of defensive soul tool back at the academy. It''s said that the most powerful defensive soul tools possess power comparable to ninth-grade soul missiles, and they can sustain this level of power output over a long period of time. However, at the same time, they''re also astronomically expensive to construct, and all research into this type of soul tool ceased once the federation became united as there''s no way to transport them, so they can only act as stationary defensive units."


    Tang Wulin nodded as he said, "I''ve seen similar soul tools at the exit of the abyssal passageway during my time in the Blood God Legion. However, those ones were far smaller than this soul tool. Looks like the Battle God Hall really has invested heavily into this small plane!"


    Xu Xiaoyan pursed her lips as she said, "It''s all money from the federation. What do we do now, Captain?"


    "Follow me, everyone. According to the map, there are three paths leading into one another''s territory, so we have to defend those paths. As a result, we''ll have to split up. The other areas are comprised of forests and valleys, and the first thing we have to do is find out just how powerful the soul beasts in those areas are; that''ll allow us to decide whether we can infiltrate the opposing area through those terrains," Tang Wulin said.


    Sima Jinchi''s lips tremored slightly as he communicated something to Tang Wulin through voice transmission, to which a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "My thoughts exactly. However, there''s no rush; we have to hide our objective for now. Let''s go."


    After skirting around the massive defensive turret, they were finally able to see the scale of the starting point.


    The entire starting point was around 1,000 square meters in area, and the three exits were each 20 meters wide, opening up to straight paths that led into the distance. However, there was a blanket of mist up ahead that prevented one from being able to clearly see what was in the distance.


    This was something that Tang Wulin had already anticipated. After all, without this visual deterrent, each side would be able to see straight into the other side''s starting point.


    Through his prior observation of the map, Tang Wulin had already discovered that the most convenient and shortest path to the opposing territory was the middle path, so that was the path that would undoubtedly have to be the most heavily guarded one. If the opposition were to break through their defenses on the middle path and enter their territory, then they would be forced into passive defense.


    After emerging from the middle exit, there was a massive lush forest, from within which some strange sounds could be heard.


    In Tang Wulin''s eyes, this place was very much reminiscent of the Great Star Dou Forest, and in particular, their auras were very similar.


    Tang Wulin led from the front, while Sima Jinchi and Yuanen Yehui trailed behind slightly while walking on either side of him, forming a triangle with Xu Xiaoyan at the center.


    After stepping into the forest, they were immediately met with a refreshing scent, and their field of view was obstructed by the lush undergrowth up ahead. Even so, it was very enjoyable to be in a place with a strong natural aura.

 Chapter 1695: Begin

    "When I''m an old woman, I''m going to find a forest like this to settle in permanently and build a wooden cabin there," Xu Xiaoyan said with a hopeful expression.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "You''re still far from becoming an old woman; perhaps you will have already changed your mind by then."


    Just as he was speaking, his eyes suddenly turned purple, and he reached out with his right hand, which instantly swelled in size as a layer of fine golden dragon scales appeared over its surface.


    A faint clang rang out, indicating that Tang Wulin had caught something, and sure enough, a small snake that was just over a meter in length had appeared in his grasp.


    The snake''s entire body was completely transparent, and after being caught by Tang Wulin, it was struggling with all its might; only then did it become just barely visible.


    "This is a Bone Piercing Snake, and it looks to be only at the hundred-year level; ignorance really is bliss!" Sima Jinchi chuckled.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin''s brows were slightly furrowed as he discovered that this Bone Piercing Snake''s eyes were red.


    Generally speaking, a normal Bone Piercing Snake''s eyes were supposed to be grey, and they would turn transparent along with its body. He had discovered this snake just now not because he had sensed it, but because he had caught sight of its red eyes.


    "This is not an ordinary Bone Piercing Snake. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have had the courage to attack me," Tang Wulin said.


    His Golden Dragon King bloodline ensured that all dragons and creatures related to dragons felt a sense of closeness or reverence toward him. Even if they were to harbor animosity toward him, it would be significantly diminished. This Bone Piercing Snake was only at the hundred-year level, so there was no way that it should''ve approached Tang Wulin with anything other than friendly intentions.


    Yuanen Yehui speculated, "Could it be that all of the soul beasts here are simulated by the Battle God Hall? They did say that all of the soul beasts could be quickly resurrected, and that they harbored enmity toward all Soul Masters."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I think you''re onto something there."


    Seeing as this was nothing more than a simulation, Tang Wulin felt no need to spare the Bone Piercing Snake and instantly crushed its head.


    As a result, the Bone Piercing Snake immediately exploded into specks of light that scattered through the air before fusing into the bodies of Tang Wulin and the others, enhancing everyone''s powers, albeit only by the most minute of margins.


    "Did you guys feel that?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Yuanen Yehui replied, "I did. It seems like killing the soul beasts here can enhance our powers. Even though this boost will most likely only last during our time in this plane, it should at least be helpful during the upcoming battle."


    Sima Jinchi chimed in, "That has to be the case. They said that killing the two 100,000-year-old soul beasts would grant us random boosts, but it looks like they intentionally neglected to tell us that killing other soul beasts would also grant us enhancements, just not to the same extent. Those Battle Gods really are a cunning bunch!"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "They gave us an hour to explore; if we haven''t figured it out by the end, then we can''t really blame them. Let''s keep going and see if all of these soul beasts can boost our powers. Yuanen, you stay here and observe how long it takes for the Bone Piercing Snake we just killed to be resurrected."


    "Alright."


    An hour passed by very quickly, and as Tang Wulin and the others returned to their starting point, they discovered that Ling Zichen was still seated on the spot, having seemingly entered a meditative state.


    "This isn''t going to turn into a four-on-five battle, is it?" Xu Xiaoyan said in a resigned manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "There''s no helping it. Zichen told me that this soul formation is just as important to her as Eternal Heaven, so we''ll just have to leave her here and do the best that we can."


    "Alright, but our original strategy for this battle involves her; how are going to execute the strategy now?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "We''ll have to alter the strategy. I think..."


    All of a sudden, Ling Zichen opened her eyes and sprang to her feet. "There''s no need for that; tell me what I need to do."


    Tang Wulin could see that her eyes were filled with extreme excitement, and it was clear that she had reaped some massive rewards during this past hour.


    Right at this moment, Guan Yue''s voice rang out from the heavens. "Are you ready, Sect Master Tang? We''ve already entered the Battle God Arena, and the battle will commence in one minute."


    Tang Wulin replied, "We''re ready; let''s begin in one minute."


    A beam of light shone down from the sky, and a 60-second countdown timer appeared. At the same time, a light barrier appeared over each of the starting point''s three exits, clearly to prevent them from leaving within this 60-second timeframe.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t concerned about the fairness of this battle. After all, the Battle Gods surely wouldn''t stoop that low.


    Tang Wulin quickly began to transmit his voice toward Ling Zichen, and a peculiar look appeared on her face as she listened to what he had to say.


    "You really are a tricky bastard!" Ling Zichen said as she appraised him with a wary expression.


    "All''s fair in love and war," Tang Wulin replied with a nonchalant shrug.


    "10, 9, 8, ..., 3, 2, 1! Begin!"


    The countdown timer ran out, and the light barriers in front of the three exits also vanished. Tang Wulin gave his companions a quick nod, and Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan rushed toward the path on the left together, while Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi headed toward the path on the right, leaving the middle path to Ling Zichen. Thus, the five of them promptly sped out of the starting point, and the five Battle Gods were also doing the same thing.


    After entering the path on the right, Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi immediately split up with the former rushing into the forest, while the latter continued along the path.


    Purple light flashed within Tang Wulin''s eyes, and his spiritual power spread out of his body.


    With his Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, he was able to sense even the most minute activity within a radius of a kilometer, and he quickly discovered his first target.


    His target seemed to have sensed his presence as well, and it charged out of the undergrowth directly toward Tang Wulin, revealing itself to be a wild boar with metallic-grey fur.


    Every single strand of fur was standing up on end like a sharp needle, granting it a natural suit of armor. Among soul beasts of the same caliber, this one definitely had top-tier defensive prowess.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as light flashed from his body, and an enormous figure appeared.


    The mountainous figure stomped the boar into the ground with ease, reducing it to specks of light that spread through the air, injecting themselves into the bodies of Tang Wulin and his companions further away.


    Tang Wulin looked up to find that the massive creature was baring its fangs at him in an expression akin to a smile.


    The last time that Tang Wulin had released his Tyrant Dragon soul spirit was during the Trial of Five Gods in the Star Luo Empire.


    The Tyrant Dragon had grown alongside him for many years, and it had undergone a drastic transformation during this time.


    It was renowned as the king of land dragons, possessing power equivalent to that of a true dragon even though it was only a second-rate dragon.


    Its body was close to 100 meters tall, and its entire body was covered in dark golden scales, each of which was the size of a table. Every single scale was extremely thick and heavy, and they were covered in a clear layer of enamel.

 Chapter 1696: Demolish This Place!

    The most prominent transformation had been made by the wings on its back. Back when these wings had first appeared, they had been too small to support the Tyrant Dragon''s enormous weight, so they could only assist it in jumping.


    However, its wings were now at least five times as large as they had been in the past, and they draped over its body like a massive cape, giving it a very dashing appearance.


    A wide smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he instructed, "Demolish this place!"


    In terms of pure destructive power, even the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear that was one of the current 10 Great Beasts couldn''t compare with this Tyrant Dragon, which had evolved to close to the 100,000-year level.


    The Tyrant Dragon let loose a roar of excitement as it swept its giant tail through the forest like an unstoppable bulldozer, instantly felling a huge cluster of trees, as well as three weaker soul beasts.


    Light flashed from Tang Wulin''s body again, and a golden figure shot forth.


    The golden figure''s body was over 30 meters in length and was covered in golden scales. It had a pair of wings on its back, and its eyes were flashing with an intelligent golden light.


    Looking at the current Goldsong, no one would''ve been able to imagine that it had once been a defective martial soul.


    Goldsong''s figure hadn''t changed much, but it was looking less and less like a snake, and much more like a dragon. In fact, it was very similar to Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon True Body.


    Compared to the Holy Radiant Dragon, Goldsong possessed superior strength, and its aura was not inferior to the Tyrant Dragon''s in the slightest.


    It lowered its head to allow itself to be petted by Tang Wulin, who laid a hand on its head with a smile, and said, "You can go to the left."


    Goldsong let loose a loud roar and instantly flapped its wings to rise up into the air, flying toward the left as it had been instructed.


    Elsewhere, Imperial Sword Douluo Long Tianwu suddenly stopped in his tracks, and his brows furrowed slightly as he turned to Divine Sword Douluo Su Mengjun. "Did you hear that, Mengjun? Was that the voice of the Golden-eyed Black Dragon King or the Dark Demonic Dragon? Why did it sound like neither of them?"


    Su Mengjun shook her head in response. "I''m not sure. The sound is coming from very far away, and you''re right in that it doesn''t sound like either of the dragons. What should we do?"


    "Continue as planned. Our opponents must''ve already discovered that they can enhance themselves by killing the soul beasts in the Battle God Arena, so our objective will be to disrupt them. We''ll kill the most powerful 10,000-year-old soul beasts on their side to enhance ourselves, then meet up with the others to end this battle as soon as possible."


    "Alright."


    The two Battle Gods were very fast, and they soon arrived at the river that split the Battle God Arena.


    The river was around 100 meters wide, but it was no ordinary river in that it was inhabited by water-dwelling soul beasts, so it was possible to be attacked even while crossing the river.


    The two 100,000-year-old soul beasts in the Battle God Arena were situated near this river, except one was on the left side closer to the opposing territory, while the other was on the right side very close to them.


    100,000-year-old soul beasts were extremely fearsome, so they didn''t dare to challenge one of them until they reunited with the other Battle Gods, thereby giving them an absolute advantage. As soon as they had sufficient time to slay this 100,000-year-old soul beast, they would do so right away to give themselves an even greater advantage.


    The Battle Gods were very confident in this five-on-five match as they were far too familiar with this place. All of the Battle Gods had spent countless hours in this small plane, while Tang Wulin and the others had only been given one hour. This was the premium training ground of the Battle God Hall, and the Battle Gods would often spar and cultivate here.


    On the other side of the river was a shadowy forest, and in contrast with the other parts of the forest, this area was black in color, giving off a very strange and ominous appearance.


    Both Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun were aware that that was where one of the 100,000-year-old soul beasts was residing. The Golden-eyed Black Dragon King was on the other side of the river, while the Dark Demonic Dragon resided on this side.


    Both of the Battle Gods were Titled Douluos, and Long Tianwu was already close to the Limit Douluo level, so it wouldn''t be an issue for him to face the average 100,000-year-old soul beast.


    However, dragon-type soul beasts were a different story. Both the Dark Demonic Dragon and Golden-eyed Black Dragon King stood at the very pinnacle of the soul beast world, and once they reached the 100,000-year level, they were very close in power to human Limit Douluos; even Limit Douluos may not be able to defeat them without using their battle armor.


    In the distant past, humans had always struggled for survival under the reign of the soul beasts, and even with the emergence of Soul Masters, humans were still unable to truly contend with soul beasts. That only changed as soul technology bolstered the power of the entire human population, gradually allowing the human race to turn the tables, resulting in this current situation, where soul beasts were on the brink of extinction.


    100,000-year level Golden-eyed Black Dragon Kings and Dark Demonic Dragons were considered to be extremely fearsome even in the heyday of the soul beasts, so they certainly weren''t going to be easy prey.


    Right as Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun were about to cross the river to disrupt Tang Wulin''s group, a deafening dragon''s roar suddenly rang out from the other side of the river.


    The roar was filled with fury, and initially, it was very loud, but as it neared its conclusion, it suddenly turned into a strange strangled cry that was almost a sob.


    Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun both exchanged a glance as they drew to an involuntary halt upon hearing this.


    Back when they were outside the small plane, they were able to see through the light screen that Tang Wulin and the others had explored the plane while killing soul beasts, but during this entire process, they made sure to avoid the places where the two 100,000-year-old soul beasts were residing.


    However, this was clearly the roar of the Dark Demonic Dragon, which meant that someone from Shrek Academy was attacking it. Why were they doing this? Did they have a death wish?


    Even for the two of them, a price would have to be paid if they wanted to kill the Dark Demonic Dragon, and the battle would also be extremely taxing for them.


    The battle had only just begun, and the two 100,000-year-old soul beasts were set to be in slumber, and only after around half an hour would they awaken before roaming through the forest. Tang Wulin and the others were clearly unaware of this, and this was one part of the home-court advantage the Battle Gods had up their sleeves.


    The fact that the Dark Demonic Dragon had already awakened indicated that someone had to have encroached upon its territory and roused it from its slumber.


    "Have they gone insane?" Su Mengjun said in an incredulous manner.


    Long Tianwu''s brows were tightly furrowed as he replied, "That Tang Wulin is not to be underestimated. After all, no one becomes the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master at such a young age by accident. Theoretically speaking, he shouldn''t be making such a simple error."


    Su Mengjun asked, "What should we do? Should we go and take a look?"


    Long Tianwu shook his head in response. "Let''s wait for a while longer. This could quite possibly be a plot where they intentionally awaken the Dark Demonic Dragon, then retreat to a nearby area to ambush us. As such, if we go there now, we could be caught in a sneak attack. We both know how powerful the Dark Demonic Dragon is; even if they''re attacking the Dark Demonic Dragon, there''s no way they can take it down in a short time. If everything goes quiet, then that means they''re planning an ambush. If the commotion continues, then that indicates that they really are battling the Dark Demonic Dragon, and we can lie in wait to benefit from the aftermath of that clash."

 Chapter 1697: Can We Win?

    Su Mengjun nodded in agreement, and thus, the two Battle Gods stopped beside the lake and released their spiritual power to sense the energy fluctuations in the distance.


    At this moment, everyone in the Battle God Hall outside of the Battle God Arena was spectating this battle through the big screen.


    There were only three people from the Shrek Academy camp spectating the battle, namely A''Ruheng, Xie Xie, and Yue Zhengyu, as Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi were still on the first level.


    The trio was naturally accompanied by the five Battle Gods, and at this point, Ao Rui had already recovered from his battle, but he was still looking at A''Ruheng with a strange look in his eyes.


    In particular, he was filled with resignation and rage at the sight of Shi Mengshan willingly standing beside A''Ruheng.


    The Battle God Hall had never been embarrassed like this before. They had been losing all of the battles against the challengers, and a Battle God had even been taken to become the spouse of one of the challengers!


    The frustration in Ao Rui''s heart couldn''t be articulated in words, and the Battle Gods who had lost their battles were also in a foul mood.


    As such, there was clear animosity in their eyes as they appraised the Shrek Academy camp.


    They could only hope that the Battle God Hall would be able to turn the tables in this five-on-five battle.


    In their eyes, Guan Yue had made an excellent decision. Guan Yue was a Limit Douluo, but it wasn''t like Tang Wulin hadn''t challenged Limit Douluos in the past, so if a battle were to take place between them, a victory wouldn''t be guaranteed.


    A''Ruheng''s incredible display of power had made them realize that the challengers were no slouches, and if the one-on-one battles were to continue, they would definitely suffer more losses. Essentially, that would be the equivalent of the Battle God Hall losing to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect! Furthermore, the challengers were all part of the younger generation, while the Battle God Hall was fielding virtually its most powerful lineup with the exception of Chen Xinjie. As such, a loss under these circumstances would be twice as embarrassing.


    However, a group battle like this would be a different story. If they were to win, they would secure five wins, thereby granting them victory on the overall scoreline.


    As such, all of the Battle Gods were filled with anticipation and confidence toward this group battle.


    This was the home court of the Battle God Hall! There was no way they could lose under these conditions. This was the first time that the Shrek Academy camp had come to the Battle God Arena, and they were completely unfamiliar with everything in there. If the Battle Gods were to lose under such favorable circumstances, then they would be thoroughly humiliated.


    A''Ruheng was also spectating the battle intently, and as the battle commenced, he turned to Shi Mengshan, and asked, "Do you think we can win, honey?"


    Ever since his successful proposal, he had been holding onto Shi Mengshan''s hand this entire time.


    Shi Mengshan had already tried to resist a few times, but her strength was obviously no match for A''Ruheng''s.


    However, it was exactly because of this that she was able to feel A''Ruheng''s fervent heart, so in the end, she ceased her protests and simply allowed her hand to be held.


    Shi Mengshan took a glance at him and shook her head in response. "You won''t win."


    A''Ruheng replied with a wide smile, "I wouldn''t be so sure about that; I''m very confident in my junior disciple brother."


    Ao Rui could naturally hear their conversation, and he harrumphed coldly, "Keep dreaming! Don''t forget that this is our territory."


    A''Ruheng chuckled, "Then how about we make a bet? Aren''t you the first Battle God? I''m sure you have some considerable wealth. My wife is a member of your Battle God Hall, so surely you should be paying a dowry for her; how about we bet on that? If you lose, then pay a dowry for my wife. I won''t ask for too much; just a few tons each of several types of uncommon metals. That should be enough for my junior disciple brother to craft a suit of four-word battle armor for my wife as a marriage present."


    Shi Mengshan was a little angry to hear A''Ruheng calling her his wife, and she was just about to protest, but her words got stuck in her throat upon hearing mention of a suit of four-word battle armor.


    At her age and cultivation rank, there were very few things that were alluring to her in this world, but four-word battle armor was definitely near the top of that exclusive list, particularly due to the unique path she had taken.


    Her three-word battle armor granted her that extremely powerful sequence of three attacks, but there was no way for her to sustain such a fierce assault. However, she was confident that this wouldn''t be an issue if she could upgrade her battle armor to the four-word level.


    She looked up at the hulking tower of a man standing beside her, and a surge of warmth welled up in her heart.


    Even though they had only known each other for such a short time, he was treating her better than any other man ever had.


    Perhaps her decision had been an impulsive one, but she didn''t regret it in the slightest.


    In contrast with her bliss, Ao Rui was absolutely fuming!


    A few tons each of several types of uncommon metals? Were uncommon metals supposed to be grown on trees?


    What frustrated him even more was Shi Mengshan''s attitude to all of this. Even the animosity in the eyes of the other Battle Gods had diminished slightly upon hearing this.


    A''Ruheng seemed to be very rough around the edges, but he had hit the nail right on the head here. The fact of the matter was that they had the ability to construct suits of four-word battle armor; could the Battle God Hall do the same?


    Zhen Hua''s physical condition had been on a slow decline, and it had been a very long time since a new suit of four-word battle armor had last appeared on the continent. The fact that Tang Wulin was a Divine Blacksmith had become common knowledge quite a while ago, and it was supported by the fact that all of his friends were wearing pieces of four-word battle armor.


    The fact that Shi Mengshan was going to receive a suit of four-word battle armor as a marriage present was truly very astonishing to the Battle Gods. Furthermore, it made them realize that if they were to offend Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, they could essentially wave goodbye to the prospect of ever attaining a suit of four-word battle armor, and that was the reason for the sudden drop in their hostility.


    "You sure aren''t shy! Do you think uncommon metals are that easy to obtain?" Ao Rui countered in an enraged voice.


    A''Ruheng''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "I didn''t think your Battle God Hall was this poor; you can''t even bring out a few tons of uncommon metals as a dowry for one of your Battle Gods?"


    Ao Rui took a deep breath to compose himself, then said, "If she really does decide to marry you, then she can choose the uncommon metals she requires for her suit of battle armor, but anything beyond that is out of the equation. Of course, you also have to win this battle first."


    Having been companions and colleagues for so many years, this was an obligatory gesture that he had to make for Shi Mengshan. Besides, he didn''t think that Tang Wulin and the others could win anyway.


    "Alright, you have yourself a deal," A''Ruheng replied without any hesitation.


    "What if you lose?" Ao Rui asked in a cold voice.


    "Then we won''t ask for a dowry," A''Ruheng replied in a justified manner, as if he were making a huge sacrifice.


    "What?!" Ao Rui almost threw up a mouthful of blood upon hearing this. This was a man comparable in power to a Limit Douluo! How could he be so shameless?


    Essentially, the bet that he was proposing was one where there was no risk to counterbalance what was potentially a massive reward.


    "What''s the problem?" A''Ruheng asked with a puzzled expression, and unless one knew him extremely well, they could easily be swayed into thinking his confusion was genuine.

 Chapter 1698: Bet

    "Don''t play dumb! How can you propose a bet where there''s no risk for your side? Have you no shame?" Ao Rui had completely lost his composure.


    As the first Battle God, he couldn''t even recall the last time he had been this angry.


    A''Ruheng''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Oh, I didn''t think your Battle God Hall would be so petty."


    Ao Rui''s complexion was beginning to turn purple upon hearing this, and even Shi Mengshan couldn''t just stand and watch any longer as she gave A''Ruheng''s arm a sharp tug.


    At the sight of the indignant look in her eyes, A''Ruheng smiled, and said, "Alright, seeing as all of you are my wife''s colleagues, I''ll make a compromise: if we lose, we''ll give your Battle God Hall the same amount of uncommon metals."


    Ao Rui countered, "We don''t want uncommon metals. Instead, we want you to craft a suit of four-word battle armor for our Battle God Hall if you lose."


    This was his objective for bickering with A''Ruheng about the terms of the bet.


    Uncommon metals were quite precious, but a superpower organization like the Battle God Hall certainly wasn''t lacking in such resources. What they were sorely lacking in, however, were suits of four-word battle armor.


    As the first Battle God, he was ranked just below the hall masters, so a new suit of four-word battle armor would undoubtedly go to him.


    A''Ruheng raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Oi, don''t try to fool me just because I look dumb! How can a suit of four-word battle armor compare with a few pieces of uncommon metals?"


    A few pieces? You''re asking for a few TONS!


    Ao Rui was on the verge of flaring up with rage again, but he had to remain calm as this matter concerned a suit of four-word battle armor.


    "Alright, then what do you want?" Ao Rui asked in a cold voice.


    A''Ruheng replied, "10 tons each of 20 types of uncommon metals."


    "Fu...." Ao Rui only just barely managed to catch himself before he swore out loud. If it weren''t for the fact that he couldn''t beat A''Ruheng in a fight, he would''ve already chosen violence!


    "Do you think a suit of four-word battle armor isn''t worth this price?"


    The blacksmith association was one of the wealthiest organizations in the federation, second only to the Spirit Pagoda, precisely because high-grade metals were extremely expensive.


    It seemed that A''Ruheng was asking for something completely unreasonable, but in truth, a suit of four-word battle armor really was worth about that much.


    Never had Ao Rui despised anyone more than he despised A''Ruheng in this moment.


    "That''s out of the question," Ao Rui said in a cold voice.


    "Alright, then forget about it," A''Ruheng replied as he cast his gaze back toward the big screen, as if nothing had ever happened.


    Ao Rui felt as if he had thrown a fist with all his might, only to strike a pile of cotton, and this was an extremely terrible feeling.


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy definitely had a massive supply of uncommon metals, but the Battle God Hall only had one suit of four-word battle armor!


    As someone who was so close to the Limit Douluo level, Ao Rui naturally had an extremely strong desire for a suit of four-word battle armor. In his eyes, all he was missing was a catalyst for him to break through to the Limit Douluo level, and he was almost certain that this catalyst would be provided by a suit of four-word battle armor.


    This was why he had swallowed his pride and repressed his fury to negotiate terms with A''Ruheng, yet the negotiation was suddenly over, and there was nothing he could do about it! Ao Rui felt so angry that he could explode!


    Right at this moment, the ninth Battle God, Jiang Zhanheng, made his way over to him and whispered something into his ear, upon which his expression immediately eased.


    He had made the mistake of allowing his emotions to cloud his own judgment.


    What Jiang Zhanheng had told him was very simple: "There''s no way they can win".


    Indeed, regardless of how high the stakes were for the bet, there was no point as long as Tang Wulin and the others couldn''t win! He would be guaranteed a suit of four-word battle armor!


    A''Ruheng seemed to be very wily in his negotiation, but none of that would count for anything in the wake of their inevitable loss.


    With that in mind, he immediately calmed down, and said, "Alright, I agree with the terms you raised on behalf of the Battle God Hall."


    A''Ruheng took a glance at him. "You agree? Well, I suddenly don''t want to make the bet now. What if you cheat during the match?"


    "That''s enough from you!" Shi Mengshan couldn''t hold back any longer. She was a member of the Battle God Hall, and she couldn''t just watch as A''Ruheng insulted this sacred organization in her heart.


    A''Ruheng rubbed his own head in an awkward manner, and said, "Alright, don''t get mad, honey. I''ll do as you say even if it places us at a disadvantage. We''ll make the bet based on the agreed terms; they won''t suddenly go back on their word if they lose, right?"


    Shi Mengshan glowered at him in response. "Shut up and watch the match!"


    Ao Rui was astonished by what he was seeing. A''Ruheng had almost driven him insane with rage, yet he was acting like a harmless lamb in front of Shi Mengshan!


    Thus, with the bet established, everyone turned their attention to the big screen to watch the match unfold.


    Only then did Ao Rui''s mood improve slightly. He was fully confident that Tang Wulin and the others didn''t have any chance at victory.


    Through the big screen, they could see that Shrek Academy had split up, with Ling Zichen taking a middle path, while two people went down each of the side paths.


    The Battle Gods became even more relaxed upon seeing this. In the end, Tang Wulin and the others just weren''t familiar enough with the Battle God Arena.


    Over on Battle God Hall camp, Demonic Zither Douluo Mo Zihong had taken the middle path, while Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun had taken the left path, which corresponded with the right path for the Shrek Academy camp.


    The eighth Battle God, Vigorous Dragon Douluo Nangong Yi, had taken the right path, while Guan Yue had plunged straight into the forest.


    Guan Yue''s martial soul was the Sky Crossing Divine Spear, and many years ago, he had been ranked alongside Yun Ming as the divine spear duo.


    However, Yun Ming''s cultivation rank quickly outstripped Guan Yue''s on his way to becoming the most powerful being in the world, and the name of the divine spear duo was gradually forgotten.


    However, Guan Yue was a Limit Douluo himself, so he certainly wasn''t to be underestimated.


    As soon as he entered the forest, he began to wreak havoc with his Sky Crossing Divine Spear, slaying one soul beast after another to enhance the powers of himself and the other four Battle Gods.


    This was the standard strategy of the Battle Gods in the Battle God Arena: their main control system Soul Master was stationed at the middle path to coordinate the entire battlefield, while two people went down one of the side paths to disrupt their opponents, and the final path was guarded by a single Battle God.


    The final Battle God''s duty was to slay as many soul beasts in the forest as they could, enhancing the entire group in preparation for an all-out assault.


    After that, they would force back their opponents and slay the soul beasts in their area as well, and once the power gap widened to a sufficiently significant degree, they would be able to crush their opponents with ease.


    The Battle Gods had worked together countless times in the past, so their teamwork was impeccable. Guan Yue was clearing through the forest extremely quickly, yet just as the spectating Battle Gods thought that the match was in the bag, Tang Wulin also rushed into the forest.


    An astonishing scene then ensued.


    All of the Battle Gods stared blankly as the enormous Tyrant Dragon appeared in all of its ferocious glory. A golden dragon then shot forth toward another direction in the forest.

 Chapter 1699: Targeting the Dragon

    Only then did they recall that Tang Wulin had secured a resounding victory during the soul spirit battle in the Trial of Five Gods, and this victory could be attributed, in large part, to these two soul spirits.


    Compared to that time, the two soul spirits had undergone another transformation, and in particular, the Tyrant Dragon was simply awe-inspiring to behold. From its outward appearance alone, it looked even more powerful than a 100,000-year-old soul beast.


    Soul spirits could act as allies for all Soul Masters, but upon attaining a suit of battle armor, one''s soul spirits would inevitably become next to useless in battle, which was why most Soul Masters chose to develop their soul spirits in a direction that would allow them to assist the Soul Master. Thus, it was extremely rare to see soul spirits directly participating in battles between Soul Masters.


    There were several important reasons for this, one of which was that the vast majority of soul spirits were simply far too weak to contend with battle armor masters. Another problem was that once a soul spirit perished in battle, they could only recover after being nurtured in the Soul Master''s body for a long time, and this process also significantly affected the Soul Master.


    Soul spirits and Soul Masters were connected entities, so any harm that befell the soul spirits would reflect back on the Soul Master as well. Thus, beyond the two-word battle armor master level, it was extremely rare to see Soul Masters releasing their soul spirits for battle.


    However, these two soul spirits of Tang Wulin''s were complete outliers. Just a single stomp from the Tyrant Dragon could crush all of the weak soul beasts in a huge area, while Goldsong was extremely fast and efficient, dispatching one soul beast after another with ease.


    Furthermore, its Golden Dragon King aura was significantly weakening the opposing soul beasts, making them even easier to kill.


    In contrast, the Tyrant Dragon seemed to be more interested in demolishing the forest than focusing on killing soul beasts, and the soul beasts that it did kill seemed to only be byproducts of its demolition job.


    Soul beasts could be resurrected quite quickly, but it took a lot longer for the forests to recover. All of this required energy for support, and the destruction being caused by the Tyrant Dragon would require a huge amount of energy to repair.


    This was the property of the Battle God Hall, so the Battle Gods always refrained from destruction as much as possible during their training, but Tang Wulin and the others had no such qualms.


    Thus the spectating Battle Gods'' expressions darkened slightly upon seeing this, but of course, they weren''t worried that two soul spirits could turn the tables.


    All of a sudden, they were greeted by the sight of Sima Jinchi charging toward the river in the exact same direction that Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun were advancing toward.


    The two sides were both about to reach the river, and excitement was welling up in the hearts of the spectating Battle Gods.


    In terms of individual combat prowess, Ao Rui was naturally the most fearsome Battle God below the hall masters, but in terms of overall power, the soul fusion skill between Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun was something that even the hall masters had been wary of.


    Chen Xinjie had once praised their soul fusion skill to possess no less combat prowess than a Limit Douluo, so all of the Battle Gods were very much looking forward to this clash.


    If they could take care of a powerful being from the Shrek Academy from the get-go, then the rest of the battle would be made a lot simpler.


    However, just as the two sides were about to clash, Sima Jinchi suddenly changed directions and also charged into the forest. Thus, the right path in the territory of the Shrek Academy was completely empty and unguarded.


    What were they doing?


    The Battle Gods were all quite confused.


    Right at this moment, Jiang Zhanheng suddenly exclaimed, "Could it be that they''re targeting the Dark Demonic Dragon?"


    Indeed, Sima Jinchi was advancing directly toward the area where the Dark Demonic Dragon was lying in slumber, and he was about to enter the dark area of the forest soon.


    "So this is your plan?" Ao Rui was suddenly in a fantastic mood, and all of his frustration washed away as he glanced at A''Ruheng out of the corner of his eyes with a smile on his face.


    A''Ruheng replied with a cold expression, "So what if it is?"


    "What do you take a 100,000-year-old Dark Demonic Dragon for? Perhaps you''ve never encountered a 100,000-year-old soul beast of this caliber," Ao Rui said in a mocking voice.


    A hint of concern appeared in A''Ruheng''s eyes upon hearing this. "Is it supposed to be very powerful?"


    Ao Rui replied, "It''s comparable in power to a Limit Douluo, so you tell me. It doesn''t have a suit of battle armor, but tens of thousands of years ago, a soul beast of its caliber would''ve reigned supreme on our continent; you''re completely delusional if you think the Dark Demonic Dragon can be brought down by a single person. It''s true that it can bring you significant enhancements, but you have to kill it first."


    Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun had determined that the Shrek Academy camp could be preparing a trap for them, but Ao Rui wasn''t of the same opinion. Through the big screen, he could clearly see that Sima Jinchi was the only one to have entered the dark area of the forest; what kind of trap could a single person possibly prepare?


    A''Ruheng''s brows furrowed tightly as he said, "So you''re saying the Dark Demonic Dragon is very powerful?"


    Ao Rui replied, "Of course. Even the five of them combined would take quite some time to kill it, and we could take advantage of this period of time to infiltrate your starting point. I don''t know who devised your strategy, but your right path is already deserted, and once we capture this opportunity, your loss will be sealed."


    "Ok." All of the concern in A''Ruheng''s eyes suddenly vanished, and he gave Ao Rui a wide smile.


    Ao Rui couldn''t help but falter slightly upon seeing this. How could he still smile at a time like this?


    Right at this moment, Jiang Zhanheng exclaimed, "Tang Wulin has also entered the forest!"


    Ao Rui hurriedly turned toward the big screen upon hearing this, and sure enough, Tang Wulin had rushed into the dark area of the forest like lightning.


    He was traveling extremely quickly, and Sima Jinchi seemed to be intentionally waiting for him, so it didn''t take long before the two of them were reunited.


    Were they going to attack the Dark Demonic Dragon together?


    Tang Wulin was definitely extremely formidable, but even so, it would surely take them a long time to defeat the Dark Demonic Dragon.


    At this point, Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun had already reached the opposite bank of the river, which was very close to the dark area of the forest.


    Under these circumstances, Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi had no chance. Did they think that Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun were idiots? If they were to engage the Dark Demonic Dragon in battle, they would definitely be severely taxed by the end, thereby making them easy pickings for Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun.


    Meanwhile, inside the Battle God Arena, Tang Wulin spread open his wings and flew through the forest at a low altitude.


    There was a spiritual connection between Sima Jinchi and himself, so they could clearly sense one another''s locations, and they were rapidly drawing closer to each other.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he could clearly sense a continuous stream of energy flowing into his body from behind him, and his aura was being elevated as a result.


    This was clearly a result of the Tyrant Dragon and Goldsong''s killing rampage.


    Through his prior observation, he had already discovered this opportunity. He had agreed to this five-on-five battle against the Battle Gods as he was confident that he and his friends would emerge victorious.


    This was the territory of the Battle God Hall, but there were some things about them that the Battle Gods weren''t unaware of, such as the effect that his Golden Dragon King bloodline had on all dragon-type soul beasts and martial souls. If they had known about this beforehand, they most likely wouldn''t have been so confident.

 Chapter 1700: Slaying the Dark Demonic Dragon

    A beam of bright light flashed through the air as Tang Wulin descended beside Sima Jinchi, and the two of them exchanged a quick glance before the latter said, "It''s still in slumber just up ahead; I''ll wake it up right now."


    Sima Jinchi sprang up into the air as he spoke, flying to the top of a large tree before a series of soul rings rose up from beneath his feet. All nine of his soul rings were black, but curiously enough, they were riddled with golden patterns, setting them apart from normal 10,000-year-old soul rings.


    This was a result of the nourishment he was receiving from Tang Wulin.


    Sima Jinchi was the law-enforcing saber of the dragon clan, while Tang Wulin possessed the bloodline of the Dragon God. Even though the Golden Dragon King was only a part of the Dragon God, it possessed the purest Dragon God bloodline. Hence, just by being with Tang Wulin, Sima Jinchi was naturally nurtured by him, and as a result, his cultivation rank would continue to elevate. At the same time, the quality of the law-enforcing saber was gradually recovering.


    Furthermore, the Golden Dragon Spear and the Dragonslaying Saber were acting as whetstones for one another, making each other sharper and more powerful.


    Under the illumination of the faint golden patterns on his nine black soul rings, Sima Jinchi stood in the heavens like a proud deity.


    He raised the Dragonslaying Saber in his right hand before slashing it downward, and a faint black dragon projection appeared not far away from him before being instantly sliced in half.


    Not a single sound was made, but all of the spectating Battle Gods were struck by a strong sense of oppression upon seeing this, as if their minds had been heavily impacted somehow.


    It was also right at this moment that a furious dragon''s roar rang out up ahead.


    At the center of the dark forest was a valley, and every single thing inside that valley, including the plants and stones, were all completely black.


    The dragon''s roar had rung out from the deepest point within this world of darkness, and at the same time, a massive dragon''s head reared up.


    However, in the next instant, it sensed the aura of the Dragonslaying Saber.


    At this point, Sima Jinchi was already a Titled Douluo, and he was far more powerful than he had once been.


    After all, how could he regularly spar with A''Ruheng, who had already attained the Invincible Vajra Body, without being a formidable warrior himself?


    Even with his Invincible Vajra Body, A''Ruheng didn''t dare to allow himself to be struck by a full-power strike from the Dragonslaying Saber, and that was sufficient testament to the divine weapon''s power.


    At this moment, the oppressive power that the Dragonslaying Saber had over all dragons was put on full display, and the Dark Demonic Dragon''s roar of fury suddenly turned into a hesitant whimper. It could sense just how fearsome the approaching enemy was, but this was its territory, and the order that had been implanted into its mind was that it had to destroy all humans who ventured into its territory with no exceptions.


    Thus, the giant dragon began to slowly rise up from within its massive lair.


    The Dark Demonic Dragon was completely inky-black in color, and it was over 100 meters in length from head to tail.


    It spread its massive wings, and a plume of purplish-black mist erupted out of its body.


    The mist was extremely corrosive and infectious, which was why the entire area of this forest had been tainted black.


    A fearsome aura erupted out of its body as it flapped its wings and quickly flew up from its lair.


    In response, Sima Jinchi raised his Dragonslaying Saber high above his head, and his nine soul rings began to glow with dazzling light.


    The Dark Demonic Dragon had already spotted him at this point, and it immediately let loose a roar of fury.


    It could sense the animosity from Sima Jinchi and the massive threat posed to it by the Dragonslaying Saber, but it couldn''t back down now as doing so would spell its doom. Regardless of what happened, it had no choice but to fight for its life.


    Furthermore, the Dragonslaying Saber was extremely intimidating and destructive to dragons, but don''t forget that it was once a part of the Dragon God''s horn, making it extremely revered among the dragon clan.


    Even though this 100,000-year-old Dark Demonic Dragon was only a simulation, it could sense that if it could fuse with the saber in Sima Jinchi''s hand, it would undergo a stunning transformation; perhaps it would even be able to transcend beyond this plane.


    Thus, the Dark Demonic Dragon was appraising Sima Jinchi with both fear and intense yearning in its eyes.


    Another thunderous dragon''s roar rang out as the Dark Demonic Dragon blasted a burst of dark dragon breath toward Sima Jinchi.


    However, Sima Jinchi merely smiled upon seeing this.


    He was confident that he would be able to defeat this Dark Demonic Dragon alone, but even with the Dragonslaying Saber, it would take him a long time to dispatch such a powerful foe. However, he wasn''t alone! He was joined by a true ruler of the dragon clan!


    A figure appeared behind Sima Jinchi in a stealthy manner, just as Sima Jinchi parted the dark breath with his Dragonslaying Saber. At the same time, he rose up higher into the air with rainbow light erupting out of his body.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin''s entire body began to glow with radiant golden light, and even though he still only had a suit of three-word battle armor without any pieces of four-word battle armor, the air around him had completely congealed.


    He reached out with his right hand, and the giant saber formed by Sima Jinchi landed in his grasp. It was also in this instant that the Golden Dragon King aura he had been repressing and hiding this entire time erupted forth like a tsunami wave.


    The Dark Demonic Dragon was just about to unleash a full-power attack, but it felt as if its blood had frozen solid in its veins in the face of this aura, and it was left completely immobilized.


    Even Beast God Di Tian, who was close to the 1,000,000-year level was affected to a certain extent by Tang Wulin''s bloodline, let alone this 100,000-year old Dark Demonic Dragon.


    In this Battle God Arena, its power was second to that of the Golden-eyed Black Dragon King, and in the face of the Dragonslaying Saber and the Golden Dragon King aura, it was barely able to keep itself aloft.


    Right at this moment, the space around the Dark Demonic Dragon suddenly warped violently, completely locking it into place.


    A burst of dazzling nine-colored light flashed past, leaving a beautiful arc in the sky.


    The Dark Demonic Dragon''s eyes instantly glazed over as it hovered in mid-air in a completely still manner. At this point, Tang Wulin had already landed on the other side of the valley, and the Dragonslaying Saber in his hand had reverted back into Sima Jinchi. The two of them didn''t even take a single glance at the Dark Demonic Dragon before they sped toward the right path.


    A golden line that was shimmering with nine-colored light appeared on the Dark Demonic Dragon''s forehead, then extended past its neck, chest, and all the way to its tail.


    Immediately thereafter, rays of nine-colored light erupted out of the golden line, and the Dark Demonic Dragon''s massive body abruptly exploded into a cloud of purplish-black mist.


    The entire Battle God Arena tremored violently, and an omniscient voice in the sky declared, "The Dark Demonic Dragon has been slain."


    The purplish-black mist spread through the air in all directions, and elsewhere in the Battle God Arena, Guan Yue, who was in the process of rapidly killing soul beasts, faltered as an incredulous look appeared in his eyes.

 Chapter 1701: Demonic Zither

    The Dark Demonic Dragon had been killed? He didn''t feel anything, so it clearly wasn''t anyone on their side who had killed it. In that case, it had to be the opposition!


    These little rascals really are full of surprises!


    Guan Yue already had a very high opinion of the Shrek Academy camp, but they were still managing to surprise him.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Everything was going according to plan.


    Killing a 100,000-year-old soul beast was supposed to grant his entire team a massive boost, and this was the opportunity they needed to turn the tables.


    In terms of overall power, they were perhaps inferior to their opponents, but there was most likely no better dragon-hunting duo in this world than Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi.


    He had stayed away from the areas where the two dragons resided during the one-hour inspection period to pull the wool over their opponents'' eyes, and it was all so that he could kill one of them once the battle commenced.


    The Dark Demonic Dragon had been killed in a single strike, but this was no ordinary attack; it was a Tang Wulin in his three-word battle armor, wielding the Dragonslaying Saber that was Sima Jinchi, and unleashing a full-power Dragon Emperor Slash.


    It could be said that this was the most powerful attack Tang Wulin was currently capable of unleashing, and even a Limit Douluo may not be able to withstand it.


    Guan Yue wasn''t the only one astonished by this turn of events; Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun felt as if they were about to go insane after hearing the announcement that the Dark Demonic Dragon had been killed.


    How had it been killed so quickly? They were still pondering whether this was a trap, and the Dark Demonic Dragon was already dead!


    This had to have set the record for the fastest time the Dark Demonic Dragon had ever been killed in the Battle God Arena.


    Even if they had decided to rush to the scene right away, they would''ve most likely still been too late to do anything. Could it be that all five members of the Shrek Academy camp had targeted the Dark Demonic Dragon together? But that didn''t make sense; it was far too risky a strategy.


    Outside the Battle God Arena, Ao Rui''s eyes were wide with disbelief. Even now, he still couldn''t believe his own eyes.


    The Battle Gods in the Battle God Arena couldn''t see what was happening, but he had clearly witnessed what Tang Wulin had just done.


    There was no doubt that this was a soul fusion skill. That man had transformed into a saber for Tang Wulin to wield, but even so, how could that attack have been so fearsome?


    Dragons possessed the most powerful bodies among all soul beasts, and the majority of a soul beast''s power was derived from their body, yet a 100,000-year-old Dark Demonic Dragon had just been sliced in half in a single attack; no one would be willing to believe such a farcical tale!


    However, Tang Wulin had accomplished this, and he had made it look very easy.


    Ao Rui finally understood A''Ruheng''s reaction now. It was clear that he knew what Tang Wulin was going to do.


    For the first time, he realized that he wasn''t necessarily guaranteed to win their bet because he knew just how significant the enhancements provided by a slain 100,000-year-old soul beast were.


    All soul ring levels were raised by 10,000 years, and soul power was also elevated by two ranks.


    With two additional ranks of soul power, Tang Wulin would most likely be infinitely approaching the Limit Douluo level. Furthermore, there were potentially other Soul Masters in the Shrek Academy camp who could cross into Titled Douluo territory with this soul power boost.


    Thus, the gap between the two camps was closed down significantly in an instant, thereby making the outcome of the battle a lot less predictable.


    Meanwhile, A''Ruheng was looking at the big screen in a relaxed manner. He didn''t know what enhancements slaying the Dark Demonic Dragon would bring to Tang Wulin and the others, but he knew that it had to be significant.


    At this point, Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi had already caught sight of Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun, and they were appraising one another from across the river.


    Tang Wulin wore a faint smile while dark purple light was flowing incessantly into his and Sima Jinchi''s bodies.


    With Tang Wulin''s mental manifestation level spiritual power, he was naturally able to sense the changes taking place in his own body, and he was quite surprised at just how significantly he was being boosted after slaying that Dark Demonic Dragon.


    Long Tianwu asked, "Were you the ones who killed the Dark Demonic Dragon?"


    "That''s right," Tang Wulin replied.


    Long Tianwu merely nodded in response before disappearing into the forest with Su Mengjun, departing in a calm and decisive manner.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this. He had been hoping to lure those two into attacking. He and Sima Jinchi had a soul fusion skill, just like they did, and in a two-on-two battle, he was very confident in their chances.


    The thing that he was most concerned about was that Guan Yue was still in the nearby area.


    At this moment, the one who was in the most trouble was actually Ling Zichen.


    She had already arrived at the riverbank in her pink mecha, and there was a large bridge across the river, connecting the two parts of the battle God Arena.


    From here, she could even see the enemy''s starting point in the distance. However, one person stood in her way: it was Demonic Zither Douluo Mo Zihong.


    Mo Zihong wore a calm and elegant expression with his long hair trailing down the sides of his cheeks, and he was giving off an inherently rhythmic disposition.


    He was currently seated on the other side of the bridge with a purple crystalline zither sitting across his lap.


    Ling Zichen had arrived earlier than he had, but she had followed Tang Wulin''s instructions and refrained from crossing the bridge. Instead, she was calmly appraising Mo Zihong with her short spear in her grasp.


    Ling Zichen''s first impression of Mo Zihong was that she disliked him very much. There was no particular reason; she simply disliked him.


    All of a sudden, Mo Zihong began to play his zither, and a strangely infectious melody sounded.


    Ling Zichen immediately activated the soundproofing defensive mechanism in her mecha, but she quickly discovered that this was a wasted effort.


    The melody of the zither couldn''t infiltrate her mecha, but it carried a type of spiritual fluctuations that resonated with the energy of her mecha. Even though a significant portion of it was kept out, it was still affecting her, and a very vexing hint of exhaustion had befallen her.


    Ling Zichen wasn''t a Soul Master, but her spiritual power was far superior to that of the average person. She would often go several days without sleep while conducting her research, and exhaustion was a term that was absent from her dictionary.


    However, at this moment, she was feeling more exhausted than she ever had, and this feeling was originating from deep within her heart. Furthermore, it was accompanied by a series of negative emotions.


    Why am I working so hard in my research?


    Why am I so intent on pursuing power?


    Why can''t I find a man I love?


    Why is it that Tang Wulin is so annoying, but I still enjoy being with him?


    All types of complex thoughts were appearing in her mind, and she could even feel her own eyes going out of focus.

 Chapter 1702: Demonic Depravity

    Ultimately, Tang Wulin wasn''t infallible, and he had made a mistake in thinking that Guan Yue was going to be the one guarding the middle path. Thus, he had organized for Ling Zichen to station herself at the middle path mainly for intimidation purposes. Her source positive circulation core was an extremely fearsome system, and once she put on that deranged act to threaten self-detonation, even a Limit Douluo would have to consider whether they wanted to push her any further.


    However, he failed to foresee that Ling Zichen would encounter the natural bane of a mecha pilot like her, which was a control system Soul Master, and a soundwave type control system Soul Master, at that.


    In reality, Mo Zihong was also very perplexed.


    He had been very surprised at the sight of Ling Zichen''s pink mecha. Was this a suit of battle armor? It didn''t look like one, but it was giving off extremely powerful energy fluctuations.


    Could it be a mecha? But surely this thing was too small to be a mecha?


    Thus, he had begun playing his zither to test out his opponent''s capabilities.


    Mo Zihong excelled in releasing all types of curses using his Demonic Zither, and he was certainly very much deserving of the title of the number one control system Soul Master in the Battle God Hall.


    As expected, as soon as he began playing his zither, his opponent conjured up a layer of pink light to keep out the melody. After that, she merely stood still on the spot, not unleashing any attacks, choosing to engage in passive defense instead.


    Unbeknownst to him, if he were to attack at this time, Ling Zichen would most likely be unable to defend herself.


    It was exactly due to the fact that he couldn''t understand this situation that Mo Zihong continued to play his zither. Meanwhile, Ling Zichen was already in a semi-unconscious state, but thankfully, her divine-grade mecha was able to keep out the melody, and could stand on its own, which was why she was able to remain standing.


    On the left path, Xu Xiaoyan and Yuanen Yehui had arrived at the river. The mission assigned to them by Tang Wulin was to attack the enemy as a test of their capabilities, and they were the only ones that had been assigned with an offensive role.


    After arriving at the river, Yuanen Yehui looked across to find their opponent in the form of Vigorous Dragon Douluo Nangong Yi.


    Inside the Battle God Arena, all soul communicators were disabled, which meant that communication would have to be facilitated through speech or other special avenues, such as communicative soul skills.


    Even though everyone participating in this battle possessed Titled Douluo level powers, none of them were proficient in this area. Thus, neither the Shrek Academy camp nor the Battle God Hall camp was able to communicate among themselves effectively.


    As a result, Yuanen Yehui didn''t know if they were facing only one person, or if there were another opponent hiding in the shadows. Thus, both sides looked across at one another, and neither side made any rash moves.


    However, Yuanen Yehui was a lot more confident than Nangong Yi as she had heard the announcement of the Dark Demonic Dragon''s demise, following which she clearly sensed the resulting enhancements, which were quite significant given that she was already a Titled Douluo. Thus, her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of Nangong Yi, who was the lowest-ranked Battle God among their five opponents.


    Nangong Yi had naturally caught sight of them as well, and he didn''t know much about Xu Xiaoyan, but the Battle God Hall had no lack of information about Yuanen Yehui.


    During Shrek Academy''s enrollment day, Yuanen Yehui had displayed incredible power, revealing her Titled Douluo cultivation rank, as well as a piece of four-word battle armor. In addition to that, everyone from the Shrek Academy had put on stunning displays, so he was feeling rather hesitant, especially as this was a two-on-one situation. According to the information he had received, Yuanen Yehui''s companion was also a member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    Even the food system Soul Master of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was that powerful; all of the other members had to be even more formidable. With that in mind, he immediately retreated back into the forest on his side before Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan had a chance to decide on a strategy.


    "What do we do, Yuanen? Should we follow him?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Yuanen Yehui''s brows furrowed slightly as she replied, "There might be a trap, so we''ll hold off on that for now. Let''s observe while we take out some of the water-dwelling soul beasts in this river."


    She rose up into the air as she spoke, and a pair of inky-black wings appeared on her back. At the same time, she reverted back into her true female appearance instead of her male facade.


    In her Fallen Angel form, Yuanen Yehui had a sinful allure. She had benefited immensely from the battle against the demonic plane, particularly in the form of bloodline purification. As such, her Fallen Angel form was far more powerful than it had once been.


    Ye Xinglan was having to work extremely hard to keep up with Yuanen Yehui precisely because the latter was improving far too quickly, not just in terms of cultivation rank, but also in terms of overall power.


    The advantages brought to her by her twin martial souls were truly beginning to shine through following her breakthrough to the Titled Douluo level, and aside from Tang Wulin, she was the fastest improving member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    She was the first one to become a Titled Douluo, and in a short span of time, she had already reached rank 93 in soul power, drawing closer and closer to the Hyper Douluo level. With her twin martial souls, her Titan Giant Ape bloodline purification from Er Ming, and her Fallen Angel bloodline purification from the demonic monarch, she would definitely encounter no bottleneck en route to becoming a Hyper Douluo.


    Everyone else was also improving very quickly, but they still couldn''t keep up with Yuanen Yehui.


    Ye Xinglan had never been willing to accept inferiority, even when compared with Tang Wulin, let alone Yuanen Yehui, and that was why she had chosen to take such a massive risk to force herself to attain sword essence.


    In terms of overall power, Yuanen Yehui was comparable to Ye Xinglan after the latter attained sword essence, and she was currently the undisputed second most powerful member of Shrek''s Seven Monsters.


    Dark purple light revolved around her body, and it was tinged with hints of gold. The bloodline of demonic royalty was of the purplish-golden color, and it reflected the purest power of depravity. After taking on her Fallen Angel form, Yuanen Yehui''s aura also began to change, and aside from her eyes, which remained clear and lucid, her entire body was giving off an intensely evil aura.


    She raised her right hand, and her Dark Demonic Sword appeared in her grasp. At this point, the water-dwelling soul beasts below had already detected her presence, and a large fish suddenly stuck out its head before opening its mouth to shoot an arrow of water directly toward Yuanen Yehui.


    The arrow was extremely fast, and it was giving off a sharp odor, clearly indicating that it was poisonous.


    All of a sudden, the purplish-golden light beneath Yuanen Yehui''s feet suddenly began to revolve violently, and she stomped down to send tremors surging through the air, not only destroying the arrow of water but also causing the entire river down below to cave in significantly. As a result, the head of the fish was instantly flattened, and at the same time, Yuanen Yehui slashed her Dark Demonic Sword downward while bright purplish-golden light radiated from her body.


    Her sword slashed through the air, and a huge section of the river instantly took on a purplish-black color while bubbling incessantly as if it were boiling.


    Specks of light then began to rise up from the river, flowing into her and Xu Xiaoyan''s bodies.


    Nangong Yi had already retreated into the forest across the river, but instead of departing, he was observing his opponents in secret.

 Chapter 1703: Reinforcements

    As he witnessed Yuanen Yehui slaying the water-dwelling soul beasts in the river with ease, he couldn''t help but draw a sharp breath. The powers that she was displaying were clearly different from the records! Why did she possess such fearsome darkness power? Could it be that she was an Evil Soul Master?


    The purplish-black color was still spreading through the river, and all of the weaker water-dwelling soul beasts it came into contact with were instantly reduced to specks of light. There were also some powerful amphibious soul beasts that hurriedly rushed out of the water, and some of them charged directly toward Yuanen Yehui, while the rest quickly fled into the distance.


    Right at this moment, a massive pillar of water suddenly erupted into the heavens in the distance within the river alongside a powerful aura.


    As the river that separated the two sections of the Battle God Arena, there were some powerful soul beasts residing in its waters, such as this one.


    At the very top of that massive pillar of water hovered a giant crab-like soul beast that was over six meters wide and over four meters tall. This was a 10,000-year-old Steel Pincer Crab, which was the ruler of this section of the river, and it was waving its giant pincers to display its fury.


    The Steel Claw Crab''s small eyes swiveled around and almost instantly locked onto Yuanen Yehui.


    Immediately thereafter, pillars of water quickly erupted out of the river, forming a bridge that the Steel Pincer Crab was able to quickly cross on its eight long legs, charging toward Yuanen Yehui as it brandished its massive pincers.


    As the two drew closer and closer, the Steel Pincer Crab spread open its metallic black pincers, and fearsome soul power fluctuations erupted forth. The Steel Pincer Crab was renowned for its incredible strength and defensive capabilities, and its pincers could easily slice through uncommon metals.


    In this region, there was no water-dwelling soul beast that was a match for it, and it was currently furious that so many of its brethren had been slain.


    Right at this moment, a beam of starlight descended from the heavens and fell upon its body with unerring accuracy. As a result, the Steel Pincer Crab was instantly stopped in its tracks, and it plummeted straight down from the pillars of water.


    A streak of purplish-golden light then flashed through the air in a glorious arc, and the Steel Pincer Crab''s body was instantly immobilized in mid-air.


    Yuanen Yehui had just flown past it, and she turned around before thrusting her palm onto the shell on the Steel Pincer Crab''s back.


    Purplish-golden light was injected into its body in the form of a vortex, and in the next instant, a resounding boom rang out as the Steel Pincer Crab''s entire body exploded into countless pieces, while a burst of dense energy proliferated out of its body in all directions.


    Yuanen Yehui nodded with a pleased expression. "As expected, the 10,000-year-old soul beasts still provide the best enhancements."


    Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyan withdrew her Star Staff, and chuckled, "That''s true, but don''t you feel like all of the soul beasts here are very stupid? I wonder how the Battle God Hall programmed them to be so oblivious to danger. They could clearly sense how powerful we are, yet they still dared to attack us; what a bunch of idiots!"


    Nangong Yi was struck by a sense of indignation upon hearing this. Was she calling the soul beasts idiots or was she referring to the Battle Gods?


    In any case, he was even more convinced that he couldn''t go out to confront them now. He was well aware of just how powerful that 10,000-year-old Steel Pincer Crab was. He could defeat it on his own, but definitely not this quickly. It was clear that Yuanen Yehui''s companion was a control system Soul Master, and a partnership formed by a control system Soul Master and an assault system Soul Master had always been the most dangerous one in the Soul Master world. Nangong Yi knew his own limits very well, and he decided to continue to lurk in the shadows.


    Right at this moment, a burst of light erupted into the heavens in the direction of the middle path, then exploded into a pink halo in the sky.


    Yuanen Yehui''s heart jolted upon seeing this. "Something''s gone wrong on the middle path!"


    There was no way to use soul communicators in this plane, so everyone had been given an SOS signal flare by Ling Zichen in advance. It was clear that this flare had been set off on the middle path, which meant that Ling Zichen was in trouble.


    "Let''s go!" Yuanen Yehui immediately flapped her wings and flew toward the middle path without any hesitation, followed closely by Xu Xiaoyan.


    Nangong Yi could naturally see what they were doing, but at a time like this, he didn''t dare to venture into enemy territory alone.


    Indeed, something had gone wrong on the middle path.


    After playing his zither for a while, Mo Zihong discovered that Ling Zichen hadn''t moved the entire time, and he was growing rather perplexed. Thus, he unleashed the first attack, releasing a burst of soundwaves directly toward Ling Zichen.


    After crossing a distance of over 100 meters, the soundwaves were already significantly weakened, but Ling Zichen was in a semi-unconscious state, rendering her unable to evade, and thus, she was struck head-on by the attack.


    Even with the protective barrier to dull the impact, she was still sent flying back over 10 meters before landing on the ground using the mecha''s internal stabilization system. The impact had completely jarred her awake, and she immediately set off her flare.


    Mo Zihong was a seasoned veteran on the battlefield, and it instantly became clear to him that his opponent had fallen under his control.


    Thus, he didn''t hesitate any longer as he released a string of seven aggressive soundwaves, all of which were of a light purple color.


    The soundwaves crashed into one another in succession, resulting in six subsequent bouts of acceleration, and once the final acceleration was complete, the seven soundwaves had combined to form a massive soundwave that was traveling at an incredible speed, reaching Ling Zichen right at the height of its power. This was an exceptional display of control.


    At this moment, Ling Zichen was feeling very frustrated. She had always been very confident in the notion that she was no less powerful than any Titled Douluo, and that was what had given her the confidence to spar with Tang Wulin.


    However, now that she was actually coming into contact with Titled Douluos, she discovered that relying on a mecha alone had many drawbacks. Ultimately, a mecha couldn''t completely replace a Soul Master''s powers, and there were still many improvements that had to be made.


    Her mecha was unique in that it contained a multitude of source positive circulation cores, making it far more powerful than the average soul tool, but even so, she couldn''t contend with a truly powerful Soul Master unless she resorted to self-detonation.


    The soundwave was already upon her, and she could only cross the arms of her mecha and maximize the power of her protective barrier to shield herself.


    "Boom!"


    Ling Zichen was sent flying by the soundwave, and Mo Zihong was already crossing the river. During his flight, he carried his zither in one hand and played it with the other, unleashing soundwaves into the river down below to keep the water-dwelling soul beasts at bay while flying toward Ling Zichen at a high speed.


    He had already determined that Ling Zichen was the weakest link in the Shrek Academy camp, and if he could defeat her quickly, then the battle would be as good as won.


    Only after being sent flying for several dozens of meters did Ling Zichen manage to just barely stabilize herself, and the powerful soundwave had even left some marks on the surface of her mecha. At the same time, the protective barrier was rippling incessantly.


    Right at this moment, specks of dazzling light appeared all over her mecha, and a fearsome aura erupted forth.


    Ling Zichen''s powers were certainly completely lackluster, but this was the most powerful mecha in existence, and it was not to be underestimated!

 Chapter 1704: Ling Zichens Elimination

    Mo Zihong had made the correct judgment in determining that Ling Zichen was indeed the weakest member of the Shrek Academy camp, but what was weak was her body, not her overall power.


    Mo Zihong was able to seize the advantage as she had been insufficiently prepared and instantly fallen under his control. However, now that Mo Zihong was switching to soundwave attacks, he was able to force back Ling Zichen, but his control over her also vanished as a result.


    Upon regaining control over her own body, Ling Zichen was certainly no slouch.


    She raised her short spears, and two beams of light erupted out of the spears, reaching Mo Zihong in an instant.


    Mo Zihong was alarmed by how fast the attack was, but he reacted very quickly, unleashing a pair of soundwaves that struck the oncoming beams of light with unerring accuracy.


    However, the resulting explosion from the clash was far more powerful than Mo Zihong had anticipated, and he was forced into retreat by the devastating shockwaves. Right at this moment, a pink figure appeared directly above him.


    Ling Zichen''s mecha was capable of breaking the sound barrier, and it was putting that speed on full display.


    Countless specks of light emerged all over Ling Zichen''s body, then descended toward Mo Zihong from all directions.


    With Ling Zichen''s fiery temper, she was on the verge of erupting into a blind rage after being controlled for so long. Now that she had been given a chance to retaliate, she wasn''t holding back in the slightest.


    Her mecha''s forte lied in its speed and offensive prowess, and this was being perfectly reflected here. Meanwhile, Mo Zihong was struggling to identify whether this was even a mecha or a suit of battle armor, and the storm of light was already unavoidable for him now.


    Thus, he immediately arrived at a decision as his seventh soul ring lit up, and he tossed his Demonic Zither up into the air before instantly fusing as one with it.


    The Demonic Zither immediately began to expand, reaching a length of five meters and a width of around two meters.


    A pleasant melody rang out as countless soundwaves erupted in all directions, and a string of explosions erupted, putting the offensive power of both sides on full display.


    The first to be affected was Ling Zichen. Once Mo Zihong unleashed his Demonic Zither True Body, the melody of his zither exerted control upon her once again, resulting in a bout of disorientation that prevented her from being able to follow up on her initial attack. Immediately thereafter, the resulting explosive force from their clash sent her flying into the distance.


    However, Mo Zihong wasn''t having a good time, either. In her fit of rage, Ling Zichen had activated over 70% of her soul lasers, all of which were formed by source positive circulation cores, and their explosive power was something that even Tang Wulin had been quite wary of during their sparring match.


    The shockwaves from the explosion disrupted the melody of the Demonic Zither, and it was sent crashing down onto the ground, shattering a large section of the earth beneath it.


    However, Mo Zihong had finally noticed that Ling Zichen''s body had clearly stiffened before she was sent flying, indicating that she had fallen under his control.


    As a result, he identified the fact that she was susceptible to being impacted by the melody of his zither.


    Thus, he forcibly disregarded the impact that the clash had on his body, and a layer of dazzling dark purple metal appeared over the surface of the Demonic Zither. This was none other than his three-word battle armor!


    Using his three-word battle armor, Mo Zihong was quickly nullifying the impact of the clash, and at the same time, the melody that he was playing became several times louder as he unleashed all types of powerful control abilities in Ling Zichen''s direction, including Feebleness, Curse, Sluggishness, and Weariness.


    As a powerful Battle God, he had exceptional reactions and adaptability, allowing him to choose the best course of action against individual opponents.


    In contrast, Ling Zichen was sorely lacking in battle experience. If Tang Wulin had been in the same situation as her, he would definitely open up some distance between himself and his opponent before trying to reunite with his companions rather than fight fire with fire.


    In the face of the zither''s melody, Ling Zichen''s mind was instantly scattered, and a loud alarm began to ring out within her mecha. Her mecha could sense that her spiritual fluctuations were too violent, and it had activated its most potent defenses.


    However, during the initial design, soundwave attacks were taken into consideration, but the mecha''s defenses against spiritual power were quite lacking. After all, spiritual power was very difficult to grasp, yet could be omnipresent within a certain area, so it had always been difficult to ward off.


    Ling Zichen''s spiritual power was superior to that of a normal person, but it still wasn''t on the same level as a high-grade Soul Master, and her brain had a limited tolerance capacity.


    In the face of these powerful soundwave attacks from a seasoned Titled Douluo, even her life was coming under threat.


    Her vital signs quickly began to display signs of rapid deterioration, and if things were to continue like this, her head was at risk of exploding.


    Right at this moment, a beam of light descended from the heavens to envelop her entire body, and in the next instant, she vanished amid a flash of light.


    This was the Battle God Arena''s automatic protective system at work.


    When it sensed that a Soul Master''s life was under major threat and that the Soul Master was unable to save themselves, it would teleport them out of the Battle God Arena to ensure their safety.


    This was the training ground of the Battle God Hall, and death was to be avoided at all costs.


    A hint of triumph appeared in Mo Zihong''s eyes as he witnessed the beam of light descending from above. He reverted back to his human form, which was encased in his suit of three-word battle armor, but instead of continuing onward, he immediately turned back and flew toward the Battle Gods'' territory.


    An advantage had already been attained, and it had to be maintained, so it would be unwise for him to take unnecessary risks.


    He was an exceptional control system Soul Master, but if he encountered an agility attack system or assault system Soul Master with sufficient spiritual power to withstand his abilities, then he would be in a lot of danger.


    Right as Ling Zichen was teleported out of Battle God Arena, Tang Wulin and the others were all informed by a voice that one of their teammates had been eliminated.


    Everyone had seen Ling Zichen''s SOS signal flare, and Tang Wulin arrived at the middle path almost as soon as Mo Zihong crossed back into Battle God territory.


    Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan also arrived at the same time, and Tang Wulin immediately realized what had gone wrong as he watched Mo Zihong vanish into the forest on the other side of the river.


    He had made an error in judgment. He had thought that Guan Yue would be situated on the middle path, but it was Mo Zihong instead.


    In his original plan, he had thought that if Ling Zichen were to put on that insane display where she threatened self-detonation, even a Limit Douluo would be intimidated. As long as she could stall her opponent on the middle path long enough for Tang Wulin to kill the Dark Demonic Dragon and get back, they would attain a massive advantage.


    After that, they would be able to directly clash with their opponents.


    However, what he failed to envision was that Mo Zihong would be on the middle path, and that his soundwave-based soul skills would be a natural bane to Ling Zichen, and he was being punished for these oversights.

 Chapter 1705: Domination

    There was no time to wallow in self-criticism as Tang Wulin immediately turned to Yuanen Yehui, and said, "Return to the left path!"


    At this point, the mood among the spectators in the Battle God Hall had completely shifted.


    Ling Zichen was teleported back to the Battle God Hall amid a flash of light, and her mecha stood resolutely on the spot, but she was already unconscious inside it.


    The members of the Shrek Academy hurriedly rushed over to the mecha, but they were unable to open it due to its powerful self-defense system.


    They had witnessed the battle between Ling Zichen and Mo Zihong, so they knew that she had suffered spiritual trauma.


    "What do we do?" Xie Xie asked with furrowed brows.


    A''Ruheng replied, "If her mind has been damaged, then there''s nothing we can do aside from allow her to recover on her own. The main problem is that we don''t know the extent of the spiritual trauma she''s suffered."


    "She''ll be alright. The system in the Battle God Arena automatically keeps tabs on the Soul Masters'' vital signs, and it''ll teleport them out of the plane as soon as they''re in any danger, so her life definitely isn''t under any threat," Shi Mengshan reassured.


    A''Ruheng heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. They all knew that Ling Zichen was the head researcher over at the Tang Sect, and it would be a huge problem if something were to happen to her.


    In contrast, the Battle Gods were feeling a lot more relaxed and triumphant.


    All of them had been astonished by the sight of Tang Wulin and Sima Jinchi joining forces to kill the Dark Demonic Dragon, and for the first time, they had felt that their victory was perhaps not completely assured.


    However, this turn of events had allowed them to recover some confidence.


    It was clear that Ling Zichen was the weakest link in the Shrek Academy camp, and Mo Zihong had taken advantage of this opportunity to transform the battle into a four-on-five affair. Regardless of how powerful the remaining four members of the Shrek Academy camp were, there was a Limit Douluo and a Limit Douluo level soul fusion skill among the Battle Gods. Furthermore, they had a strategic advantage over the Shrek Academy camp, so the battle was fully in their control again.


    As soon as Ling Zichen was teleported out of the Battle God Arena, everyone inside the small plane was notified of her elimination, and the Battle Gods immediately sprang into action.


    Nangong Yi crossed the river in the blink of an eye, and it was very easy for him to do so as the soul beasts in that section of the river had all been killed by Yuanen Yehui.


    At the same time, Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun also rushed to the river as fast as they could, charging toward the starting point of the Shrek Academy camp from the left path.


    It was clear that the three Battle Gods had the same target in mind. Due to the distress signal sent out on the middle path, everyone from the Shrek Academy camp had been drawn there, thus leaving the two side paths unguarded.


    Furthermore, the Shrek Academy camp was still reeling from losing one of its members, and it was imperative for the Battle Gods to take advantage of this.


    Even more importantly, they could see that Guan Yue had already arrived on the middle path!


    "Wait, come back!" Tang Wulin had just instructed Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan to go back to the left path, but he immediately changed his mind.


    "We have to get back to the starting point and guard it at all costs," he continued.


    At the same time, he sent a beam of light flying up into the air with a flick of his wrist, using the same SOS signal flare that Ling Zichen had before.


    This was undoubtedly to alert Sima Jinchi of the situation.


    In the instant that he had instructed Yuanen Yehui to return to the left path, he suddenly realized that it was quite possibly too late for that. If their opponents were charging at full speed toward their starting point, then by the time Yuanen Yehui returned to the left path, she would''ve most likely already passed them by. Once that happened, the starting point would be completely vulnerable.


    At a time like this, there was only one place where they could set up a complete defense, and that was the starting point. Furthermore, the middle path was the closest to the starting point, so the best option was to get back to the starting point along this path.


    He had chosen to release his signal flare as he wanted to reunite with Sima Jinchi, which would give him a major boost in overall power. In addition to that, there would be no way for Sima Jinchi to stop Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun on his own on the right path, so it was much better for him to reunite with Tang Wulin. If worse came to worst, then they would just have to engage the Battle Gods in a final showdown in their own starting point.


    During this short period of time, Tang Wulin had made a series of rapid decisions. He knew that his side was currently at a disadvantage. They were inferior in overall power to begin with, and they had turned the tables slightly by killing the Dark Demonic Dragon, but Ling Zichen''s elimination placed them in an even worse situation than when they had begun.


    At a time like this, he didn''t even have the mental capacity to think about Ling Zichen''s condition as he had to focus his entire attention on the battle at hand.


    Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan quickly rushed toward the starting point, but Tang Wulin couldn''t go with them as he had to wait for Sima Jinchi first.


    However, right at this moment, a familiar figure appeared across the river, and his heart immediately sank.


    The Sky Crossing Divine Spear was a faintly glowing white color, and it wasn''t as overbearing as the Divine Atlas Spear, but it seemed to somehow be one with nature.


    Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue had once evaluated Guan Yue as the most well-rounded Limit Douluo. This meant that he had no particularly special traits, but it also meant that his consistency was unmatched.


    Guan Yue had always been a solid performer under all circumstances. Very rarely would he pull off a miracle, but he never gave his opponents any opportunities, either.


    At this moment, Guan Yue had appeared across the river, and he was accompanied by Mo Zihong, while Tang Wulin was the only one opposing them.


    Sima Jinchi hadn''t arrived yet, so he was going to have to face a Limit Douluo and a Hyper Douluo with ultra-powerful control abilities.


    This was clearly a very uneven matchup. However, Tang Wulin wasn''t fearful or hesitant in the slightest as he summoned his Golden Dragon Spear amid a flash of golden light, then pointed it directly at Guan Yue from afar.


    A faint smile appeared on Guan Yue''s face, and his voice was very clear as it traveled into Tang Wulin''s ears. "I didn''t think that you would be able to kill the Dark Demonic Dragon so quickly; looks like you must''ve already planned that as I was introducing the Battle God Arena. You are certainly a glowing star of the younger generation; let me see what level your power has reached. Zihong, go to their starting point; leave everything here to me."


    "Yes, Vice-hall Master!" Mo Zihong rose up into the air without any hesitation and flew across the river.


    Tang Wulin made no effort to stop him as he simply couldn''t, due to the fact that Guan Yue''s aura was locked entirely onto him.


    As a Limit Douluo, Guan Yue had his own pride, and he certainly wasn''t going to face a junior in a two-on-one battle with the Demonic Zither Douluo, particularly when their opponent was only a three-word battle armor master below the Limit Douluo level.


    At this moment, he was appraising Tang Wulin with a strong sense of intrigue in his eyes. This young man had already created far too many miracles. Ever since Yun Ming''s sacrifice, he had shouldered the immense burden left behind and led Shrek Academy''s students to rebuild the academy.


    Furthermore, under his leadership, the academy enjoyed a resoundingly successful enrollment day and had regained its vitality while warding off the threat of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The fact that all of this had been done by a young man who wasn''t even 30 years of age yet was nothing short of a miracle.


    Guan Yue had a very placid personality, and he was always content to bear witness to miracles, just as he had witnessed the miraculous rise of Yun Ming.


    Was this young man going to become a second Yun Ming?


    Thinking back, Yun Ming had reigned supreme over the entire continent with his Divine Atlas Spear, and it was exactly because of him that Shrek Academy''s influence had been elevated to a peak.


    Chen Xinjie had an extremely proud character, but after challenging Yun Ming once, he never mentioned going to Shrek Academy to find Long Yeyue again; one could only imagine just how much of a shock Yun Ming had given him.

 Chapter 1707: What Spear Essence Entails

    One golden halo after another surged toward the Sky Crossing Divine Spear with unerring accuracy, but the spear merely passed through them.


    In contrast with the previous violent clashes, this seemed to be a very peaceful affair.


    As the golden halos and the Sky Crossing Divine Spear both reached the peak of their powers, time seemed to have suddenly frozen.


    The Sky Crossing Divine Spear was only less than a foot away from Tang Wulin''s throat, but it was unable to advance any further, and Guan Yue had also been forced to a standstill. At the same time, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear was operating at full capacity, emitting a faint buzzing sound as it struggled to keep the oncoming spear at bay.


    This was Tang Wulin''s Unpredictable Storm!


    In the face of the enormous pressure being exerted by Guan Yue, there was no attack that Tang Wulin could unleash other than Unpredictable Storm that could contend with Guan Yue, not even his Millennium White Clouds. He had a feeling that Guan Yue wouldn''t be threatened by him as En Ci once was. In the presence of his spear essence, none of that would matter to him.


    While it was true that Guan Yue had been stopped in his tracks by Tang Wulin''s Unpredictable Storm, Tang Wulin discovered that there was nothing that he could do in this instant. In order to withstand that almighty spear strike, he had been forced to unleash his Unpredictable Storm with all his might, and he needed some time to catch his breath. His dragon core and soul cores were beating violently, and he had to adjust his own bodily condition first before he could attack.


    The Sky Crossing Douluo was truly a formidable foe!


    Finally, Tang Wulin was able to recover somewhat, and he thrust his Golden Dragon Spear forward in a simple and concise attack, but his essence, energy, and spirit had instantly combined as one.


    As he was defending himself against Guan Yue''s previous attack, he seemed to have suddenly sensed something, as if there were something being opened up in his heart.


    Guan Yue recovered almost as soon as Tang Wulin unleashed his spear strike, and the former remained as calm as ever as he pulled back his Sky Crossing Divine Spear in defense.


    The two clashed, and Tang Wulin was forced back three steps by the impact, while Guan Yue only took a single backward step.


    Tang Wulin didn''t pause in the slightest as he charged forward again. He knew that if he were to concede the initiative now, he most likely wouldn''t be able to seize it again. Unless he summoned the Golden Trident, he knew that there was no way he could unleash another Unpredictable Storm as potent as the previous one.


    He withdrew his Golden Dragon Spear before thrusting it forward again, and a deafening dragon''s roar rang out as a Golden Dragon King projection appeared behind him.


    In contrast with his previous attack, this one had a sense of finality to it, and it was his All or Nothing! This was Tang Wulin''s spear intent.


    Guan Yue''s brows furrowed slightly as he flicked his Sky Crossing Divine Spear upward while taking a half-step to the side.


    A resounding boom rang out, and the power of the All or Nothing seemed to have been nullified.


    Tang Wulin''s base was still stable, but most of the power of his attack had been dispelled.


    Immediately thereafter, Guan Yue stepped forward before swinging his spear down toward Tang Wulin''s head like a staff.


    All of his attacks seemed to be so casual and nonchalant, but he had turned the tables on Tang Wulin with ease.


    Golden light glowed within Tang Wulin''s eyes as his dragon''s repulse erupted out of his body. Instead of using his Golden Dragon Spear to defend himself from Guan Yue''s attack, he pulled it back only around a foot before thrusting it forward again.


    At the same time, golden light erupted out of his body before fusing into his Golden Dragon Spear. In that instant, it was as if something had exploded in his mind, and a brand new feeling flooded through his entire body.


    The essence of the spear wasn''t unstoppable will, but reckless abandon!


    He would never be able to attain true spear essence if he was constantly thinking about repercussions and consequences.


    In that instant, he was finally enlightened. There were countless types of spear intent, but there was only one type of spear essence, and it required one to completely discard all qualms and inhibitions.


    Back then, Yun Ming had put this on full display in his dying moments, and in the face of the enormous pressure being exerted upon him by Guan Yue, Tang Wulin finally understood.


    In that instant, he injected his soul power, blood essence power, dragon''s repulse, spiritual power, and everything that he had into his Golden Dragon Spear without any reservation.


    He was no longer looking ahead at all as his eyes and heart were filled exclusively by his spear.


    Restrict Life and Death, Dragon Emperor Pierce!


    As this spear thrust was unleashed, it was glowing with dazzling light, but halfway through the attack, all of the light abruptly faded, as if it had been sucked away by the Golden Dragon Spear.


    The spear had returned to its original golden color, as if it had reverted back to its form as a rib of the Dragon God.


    A serious look finally appeared on Guan Yue''s face, and his Sky Crossing Divine Spear abruptly vanished as he performed a semi-pirouette, following which the spear emerged out of his waist. In this instant, the Sky Crossing Divine Spear had turned completely transparent, and a reminiscent look had appeared in Guan Yue''s eyes.


    ......


    "Guan Yue, do you know what your problem is?" Yun Ming asked with a serious expression.


    Guan Yue looked up at his senior disciple brother and shook his head in response. "Is it that I''m too placid?"


    Yun Ming shook his head, and replied, "No, your problem is that you lack focus. Singleminded focus is necessary for you to forget everything else. Spear intent is your understanding of your spear, while spear essence is your spear''s understanding of you. Only by setting aside all else and focusing entirely on your spear will you attain spear essence. Everyone''s path to attaining spear essence is different, but the end result is the same; only when you forget everything else and place the entirety of your focus into your spear will you find the essence that belongs to your spear."


    "Focus, huh?" Guan Yue repeated with a contemplative expression.


    Yun Ming smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Your aptitude is not inferior to mine, but you''ve always been very placid and uninterested in competing with others. You love life and appreciate the small things; that''s all well and good, but the problem is that if you focus too much on everything else in life, your focus will be taken away from your spear. If you truly love your spear, then you must give it more focus."


    "Alright."


    ......


    Several decades had passed, and Tang Wulin made Guan Yue feel as if he were looking at his past self.


    Back then, he had locked himself in a small room and did nothing but release his martial soul every day in order to find that focus.


    Finally, on one fateful day, when he had already forgotten whether he was a human or a spear, everything came naturally to him.


    He never enjoyed competing with others, and he was entirely emotionally invested in his spear.


    The outside world only knew him as a demigod as he very rarely battled anyone and displayed his powers. In fact, even among the Battle Gods, very few of them knew what level he was truly at.


    A clear clang rang out, and both Tang Wulin and Guan Yue temporarily lost their awareness of their surroundings.


    Everything around them instantly crumbled away in that instant, and the earth caved in within a diameter of 500 meters. It was a scene reminiscent of the godslayer missiles'' impact on Shrek Academy.


    It was also in this instant that a peculiar sensation welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart, and he felt as if he had established a special connection with his spear.


    In the Shrek Academy camp''s starting point, Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan had just arrived, and they immediately caught sight of Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun.


    Right at this moment, the sound of a clear clang rang out in the distance.

 Chapter 1708: Return to Simplicity

    Everyone within the Battle God Arena shuddered as their minds received a massive shock from the clash taking place in the distance.


    Outside the Battle God Arena, A''Ruheng and the others were all watching the clash through the big screen.


    Even though Tang Wulin and Guan Yue''s battle appeared to be very simple and straightforward, all of the people present were at or close to the Titled Douluo level, so they could naturally see that the clash was nowhere near as simple as it looked.


    A serious look had already appeared on A''Ruheng''s face. In his eyes, Tang Wulin was already powerful enough to be able to challenge the vast majority of Limit Douluos, but Guan Yue was far more formidable than he had anticipated.


    In the face of such a fearsome opponent, Tang Wulin was unable to gain any advantage.


    Right as the clash between their two spears took place, the entire screen turned to static, and it was impossible to see what was happening anymore.


    "Is that an energy tide?" Ao Rui exclaimed in a stunned manner. It would take an extremely strong disturbance to create such a situation, one that would affect the entire small world!


    What seemed like an eternity passed by, and as Tang Wulin returned to his senses, his entire body felt sore and raw, as if he had been hit by a train.


    Many cracks had appeared between his golden scales, and his blood essence was churning within his chest.


    Guan Yue was hovering in mid-air in the distance, and he had already donned a suit of white battle armor.


    The wings of the battle armor were spread open, and it wasn''t particularly lavish in any way. In fact, there wasn''t even a halo beneath it, but it seemed to resonate with heaven and earth, naturally affecting this entire small world.


    Return to simplicity!


    What a powerful suit of four-word battle armor!


    Tang Wulin tightened his grip around his Golden Dragon Spear, and he was surprised to discover that there was a different feeling between him and his spear.


    It was as if he could feel the emotions of the spear, and in that instant, the Golden Dragon Spear was transmitting to him emotions of scorching excitement and unyielding pride, as well as the will and intent to pierce through all things.


    It was as if the spear had become a part of Tang Wulin''s body, and it was also from that moment that it completely acknowledged its wielder.


    Guan Yue gave Tang Wulin a slight nod. "The fact that you''ve forced me to release my four-word battle armor to withstand that attack indicates that you''ve already attained spear essence."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he instantly realized what had happened as he extended a respectful bow toward Guan Yue.


    "Thank you, Senior."


    At this point, it was clear to him that Guan Yue had been stimulating his latent potential throughout this entire battle, guiding him toward the attainment of spear essence.


    After reaching this level, Tang Wulin felt as if a brand new world had been opened up to him, and this was an extremely alluring world. Everything seemed to have become different, and he could sense that his own learning ability had reached another level.


    As a result, he gained a new understanding of Fury of the Masses, Unpredictable Storm, and Millennium White Clouds. In addition to that, his feelings toward all of the other deep-rooted memories in his mind had also changed.


    He finally understood that the attainment of spear essence was a process to pursue a hint of godly power. Even though it was only a minute trace, gods and humans were fundamentally different, and a whole new world had appeared before him. Only in this instant had he truly reached the same level as Limit Douluos.


    Even without Guan Yue''s guidance, Tang Wulin would''ve most likely reached this level eventually, but it was anyone''s guess as to how long that would''ve taken.


    Guan Yue smiled, and said, "You should thank yourself. I only wanted to plant a seed inside you, but I didn''t think you''d make a breakthrough right away. Looks like Old Man Cao and Zang Xin made a fantastic choice! I''m now fully convinced that you''re a worthy successor to my senior disciple brother. Make sure to remain humble and conscientious, and don''t place yourself in harm''s way unless it''s absolutely necessary. You must survive and flourish for the glory of Shrek Academy."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response with a determined expression.


    Right at this moment, Sima Jinchi flew over from the distance.


    He had arrived on the scene as quickly as he could, fearing for Tang Wulin''s safety, yet right as he was about to arrive, he was struck head-on by a burst of enormous power, flinging him straight onto the ground. Even though he wasn''t injured, he was almost knocked unconscious, and it took him a while to recover before getting to Tang Wulin.


    "Are you alright, Young Master?" Sima Jinchi asked in an urgent manner.


    Tang Wulin shook his head before turning back to Guan Yue. "Senior, should we continue this battle?"


    Guan Yue smiled, and replied, "Let them continue. If your friends can win, then this will be a tie. This friend of yours can also go join them; it''ll be a stern test of their skills in a three-on-four battle."


    Tang Wulin immediately turned to Sima Jinchi, and said, "Get back to the starting point right away to fight the Battle Gods with Yuanen and the others."


    Sima Jinchi faltered slightly upon hearing this, clearly befuddled by this situation.


    Tang Wulin urged, "Hurry! I''ll be fine on my own here."


    "Alright," Sima Jinchi replied as he rushed toward the starting point as quickly as he could.


    Tang Wulin had asked Guan Yue this question as he knew that there was no way he could defeat Guan Yue in a pure clash of power. Guan Yue was already standing at the very pinnacle of the Soul Master world, and if he were to fight with his full power in his suit of four-word battle armor, he would most likely be able to win this battle on his own.


    As such, he had asked Guan Yue whether there was a need for this battle to continue, and through his reply, it was clear that Guan Yue wanted this to be an opportunity for Tang Wulin''s friends to test themselves.


    At their level, it was not easy to find sufficiently powerful opponents that held genuine animosity toward them, and only in such battles could their true latent potential come to the fore.


    Of course, the same was true for all of the Battle Gods as well.


    "Senior, I''ve just made sense of some things; can we continue?" Tang Wulin asked in a respectful manner.


    A hint of surprise appeared in Guan Yue''s eyes upon hearing this. "Young people sure recover quickly! If you''re ready to continue, then I''m happy to continue as well. However, we''re going to have to tone it down a little; I don''t want this small world to be completely destroyed."


    Tang Wulin nodded in a slightly sheepish manner. He could already sense that Guan Yue had released his four-word battle armor to withstand his Dragon Emperor Pierce and also to protect the entire Battle God Arena from the shockwaves of their clash.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he raised his Golden Dragon Spear, and in that instant, an unrivaled aura of insanity erupted out of his body.


    At the same time, the image of a red-haired man with 12 bright red wings appeared in his mind.


    "My life is battle! My life is insanity!"


    In that instant, a burst of enormous blood essence fluctuations erupted out of Tang Wulin''s body, and even his Golden Dragon Spear was influenced as it took on a crimson sheen.

 Chapter 1709: Restrict Mediocrity, Dragon Emperor Charge

    His fearsome aura swelled at an alarming rate, and the 12-winged figure had already been projected behind him through mental manifestation.


    The three opponents of Tang San''s that he had witnessed during the trial of the Sea God had left an unforgettable impression upon him. Those three heaven-defying wills had been integrated into his own power during the process in which he had attained spear essence.


    Ever since he had created his Dragon Emperor Slash, he had been constantly searching for more ways to integrate his abilities into simple yet overwhelmingly powerful battle techniques.


    On this day, he had attained spear essence and created Dragon Emperor Pierce. Immediately thereafter, he had latched onto that deep-rooted memory of Tang San''s three opponents, and he had to completely express himself in order to do justice to the moment of enlightenment. Guan Yue was like the perfect whetstone for him right now, and even Guan Yue himself was given a huge shock as he sensed Tang Wulin''s deranged aura.


    Tang Wulin''s last spear strike had already left an extremely deep impression on him; he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would find a new path so soon.


    It would be an insult to call him a genius at this point; he was a freak!


    Tang Wulin stepped forward, and his blood essence surged forth as he bellowed, "Restrict Mediocrity, Dragon Emperor Charge!"


    A thunderous dragon''s roar rang out as he transformed into a crimson shooting star that was filled with a sense of insanity and reckless abandon. Everything was released at once, all to fuel that instant of insanity!


    All of the insanity was transformed into a single unstoppable charge.


    "Boom!"


    Outside the Battle God Arena, the screen had only just recovered before it completely turned to static again.


    In the Shrek Academy camp''s starting point, Yuanen Yehui looked on with a grim expression at the arrival of Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun.


    On the other side, Mo Zihong and Nangong Yi had also arrived.


    They stopped after only just making their way into the starting point, clearly wary of the defense turret up ahead.


    There were four Battle Gods present, yet only Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan to oppose them.


    However, even at a time like this, Yuanen Yehui displayed no fear or uncertainty.


    Her aura was restrained, but she was like an immovable mountain, standing in front of Xu Xiaoyan like the most resolute guardian.


    Even in the face of four Titled Douluo level auras, Yuanen Yehui was able to hold her own.


    "You''ve already lost," Mo Zihong said.


    "The outcome isn''t decided until the end," Yuanen Yehui replied in an indifferent manner.


    Mo Zihong smiled, and asked, "Do you think you still have a chance?"


    Yuanen Yehui replied, "I''ve heard that the Demonic Zither Douluo is the number one control system Soul Master of the Battle God Hall; do you use that big mouth of yours to control the battlefield?"


    Nangong Yi almost burst into laughter upon hearing this, and he had to disguise it with a cough.


    Mo Zihong''s expression stiffened slightly in response. He was trying to play some mind games with their young opponents to disrupt their mental state, but he wasn''t expecting such a barbed response.


    Long Tianwu stepped forward as a shimmering blue longsword appeared in his grasp, and he said, "Let''s end this as soon as possible."


    His Imperial Sword was over four meters in length, and it was giving off an aura of regal authority.


    Su Mengjun followed along closely behind him, and she also summoned her shimmering yellow Divine Sword to complement his Imperial Sword. Even their auras seemed to be integrating and elevating one another, and this wasn''t just a reflection of their soul fusion skill; it was a result of the tacit understanding they had built up over many years battling alongside one another.


    Meanwhile, Mo Zihong sat down on the spot and laid his Demonic Zither across his lap. Nangong Yi made his way over to Mo Zihong, remaining by his side to protect him instead of stepping forward.


    It wasn''t that he was looking down on Yuanen Yehui and Xu Xiaoyan, it was just that with an ultra-powerful control system Soul Master and a Limit Douluo level soul fusion skill at their disposal, he simply didn''t see any point in joining on the battle. Furthermore, he had to constantly be on his guard for Sima Jinchi, who was still yet to appear on the battlefield.


    The simple positional changes being made by the four Battle Gods reflected their extensive battle experience, and soon, the Demonic Zither began to play.


    The melody was very beautiful, but it carried a strange sense of pressure.


    As expected of a control system Soul Master of Mo Zihong''s caliber, his soul rings were rippling rhythmically along with his melody as he unleashed a series of different negative-status-inducing soul skills.


    A cold harrumph rang out behind Yuanen Yehui, and immediately thereafter, the sky dimmed as a burst of dazzling golden light appeared.


    Specks of starlight then appeared in the heavens, as if night had fallen.


    The four Battle Gods all looked up into the sky in unison.


    It was very rare for Soul Masters to be able to create astronomical phenomena with their abilities; all Soul Masters capable of this were extremely fearsome.


    Furthermore, they had very little information on Xu Xiaoyan. She seemed to be the youngest of Shrek''s Seven Monsters, and she had always kept a very low profile; there weren''t even any past records of battles she had participated in. All they knew was that she was one of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and that she very rarely displayed her powers.


    Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun sprang into action in unison, unleashing two sword projections, one blue and one yellow, directly toward Yuanen Yehui.


    The sword projections were like a pair of powerful wyrms, and even though this was only an ordinary soul skill unleashed under their soul fusion skill, it was still extremely formidable.


    After all, Long Tianwu was already a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, and the soul fusion skill he could unleash with Su Mengjun was very close to the Limit Douluo level.


    However, right at this moment, the stars in the sky suddenly brightened, and three beams of starlight descended from above.


    The most powerful agility attack system Soul Masters could break the sound barrier, but that was nothing in comparison with the speed of light.


    Mo Zihong''s body instantly stiffened, as did his fingers, and the melody that he was playing drew to an abrupt halt.


    The other two beams of starlight shone down upon Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun, and their joint aura was also disrupted.


    Right at this moment, Yuanen Yehui sprang into action. She charged toward Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun in a flash, then lashed out with both of her fists.


    Her attack was unleashed almost at the exact same moment as the descent of the starlight, and in the instant that the two Titled Douluos were immobilized, her Divine Cloudvortex Fists had already arrived.


    Blue and yellow sword projections were unleashed in unison to oppose the oncoming attack, but both Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun were still forced into retreat.


    The enormous suction force unleashed by the Divine Cloudvortex Fists was tearing at their sword projections, and in particular, Su Mengjun''s sword projection had already been shredded apart.


    She was roughly equal in power to Yuanen Yehui to begin with, but with the enhancements provided to her by the slain Dark Demonic Dragon, Yuanen Yehui''s soul power had been boosted to close to the Hyper Douluo level.

 Chapter 1710: Giant Spirit Shock

    Nangong Yi faltered slightly upon seeing this.


    They were all very familiar with everything in this plane, including the range and power of the defense turrets in the starting points. Thus, Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun had stayed just out of the defense turret''s range this entire time, and in their eyes, they had struck at the perfect opportunity.


    Furthermore, they had Mo Zihong to control and weaken their opponents, so no matter how they looked at it, this was going to be an easy victory for them.


    However, the starlight that fell from the heavens completely changed everything. They didn''t even know what had happened before their rhythm was completely thrown off by the starlight, and the one who suffered the most was Mo Zihong.


    His melody had been forcibly cut off, and he almost suffered backlash as a result. It was as if someone had pressed the pause button on him using an omnipotent remote control, and it was a terrible feeling.


    Even though the melody was only cut off for a brief second, it was impossible to continue it where it had left off, so he would have to start again.


    With Nangong Yi present to protect him, he had thought that he would be able to control their opponents without any inhibitions, but he didn''t anticipate something like this would happen.


    All four Battle Gods were quite perplexed by this turn of events. What kind of ability was that starlight? It didn''t possess any offensive power, yet it was able to completely immobilize them.


    After forcing back Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun, Yuanen Yehui didn''t stop even for a moment as her aura and body both expanded drastically.


    She unleashed her Diamond Titan and Devil Titan soul skills in unison, following which her first soul ring lit up as she unleashed her Titan Strength.


    Yellow light surged over her body as she lashed out with her Divine Cloudvortex Fists, and right as she did this, three more beams of light descended from the heavens, targeting the same three Battle Gods.


    On this occasion, all three targets were already prepared, and Mo Zihong released a soundwave to form a light barrier to oppose the starlight, while Long Tianwu unleashed an uneven sword projection with his Imperial Sword, and Su Mengjun slashed her Divine Sword upward, destroying the two oncoming beams of starlight.


    None of them dared to allow themselves to be struck by the starlight again.


    The most fearsome aspect of Xu Xiaoyan''s control was that it was absolute. Upon being struck, one would be forcibly controlled no matter how exceptional their physical resistance was. In order to not be controlled, one would have to dispel the soul skill or evade it, but it was virtually impossible to evade due to the speed of light, which left only the former option.


    However, it wasn''t that easy to dispel the soul skills, either. Starlight had extremely strong penetrative properties, and at Xu Xiaoyan''s current level of power, one would need to expend at least three times more soul power than she did in order to ward off a beam of starlight. Furthermore, she wasn''t limited to sending down only three beams of starlight at a time!


    A sharp tearing sound rang out as the vortex unleashed by Yuanen Yehui''s fists was torn apart by the Imperial Sword, but in the next instant, an extremely powerful current exploded right in front of Long Tianwu.


    The vortex had been somewhat predictable an instant ago, but now, it was completely chaotic and filled with explosive power. As soon as the vortex was torn apart, it was as if a devastating bomb had been detonated, and Long Tianwu was forced to unleash a series of sword projections to defend himself.


    As for Su Mengjun, she was in no shape to assist him as countless more streaks of starlight had descended from above, focusing almost entirely on the four Battle Gods present.


    The storm of starlight was far too dense, to the extent that even Nangong Yi was forced to step in, throwing one punch after another amid a string of dragon''s roars.


    Nangong Yi''s martial soul was quite special in that it wasn''t a true dragon. Instead, it was the Dragon Soul, which Tang Wulin had witnessed in the dragon''s tomb in the past.


    While awakening his martial soul, Nangong Yi received the acknowledgment of a dragon soul, thereby transforming it into his martial soul.


    As such, his style of battle was very plain and simple, but all of his attacks were imbued with the aura of a dragon, and all nine of his soul skills contained dragon clan abilities, but he couldn''t transform into a true dragon in his martial soul true body form; all he could do was summon the dragon soul over his own body.


    This naturally deprived him of the powerful defensive prowess that dragons possessed, but on a spiritual level, it was more powerful than the average true dragon martial soul.


    His fists were his best weapons, and each punch was imbued with the power of dragons.


    Everytime a star flashed in the sky, another beam of starlight would descend toward the four Battle Gods.


    Even Mo Zihong couldn''t help but be stunned by Xu Xiaoyan''s incredible control. Not only was her starlight very difficult to ward off, it was guaranteed to exert control if it were to strike its target!


    Furthermore, Xu Xiaoyan''s companion was a powerful assault system Soul Master, and even Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun were struggling against their combination.


    None of them could''ve envisioned that there would be such a fearsome control system Soul Master among Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and she was turning this battle on its head. At the very least, it would be more complicated and take longer for them to attain victory in this battle.


    Meanwhile, a string of rumbling booms were erupting incessantly in the distance, clearly a result of the clashes between Guan Yue and Tang Wulin.


    Neither of them had appeared on this battlefield yet, but if one of them were to suddenly arrive, this battle would very likely take another turn. As such, they had to end this battle as soon as possible.


    "Nangong!" Long Tianwu suddenly yelled.


    All of the Battle Gods had built up a tacit understanding over many years, and Nangong Yi immediately knew what he had to do.


    Generally speaking, the more powerful a control system Soul Master''s control abilities, the weaker their defensive and offensive prowess would be.


    Hence, the best way to end this battle quickly was to take down the control system Soul Master.


    Right as he called out to Nangong Yi, Long Tianwu brandished his Imperial Sword, and a burst of enormous sword intent erupted forth as he unleashed his sixth soul skill, Almighty Ruler!


    A projection of a crowned figure appeared behind Long Tianwu, releasing an extremely overbearing aura of superiority that threatened to crush heaven and earth. At the same time, the Imperial Sword swelled drastically in size, and a sword projection that was several dozens of meters in length descended from the heavens, slashing directly toward Yuanen Yehui.


    Yuanen Yehui remained completely unfazed as her fifth soul ring lit up, and a layer of yellow light appeared over her entire body as she let loose a ferocious roar.


    ¡°Boom!¡±


    Powerful shockwaves erupted out of her body, and even though her height was less than 10 meters, she had the sheer presence of a hundred-meter-tall giant. Even Nangong Yi was somewhat affected from afar, and Long Tianwu''s Imperial Sword immediately became quite sluggish, as if his Almighty Ruler were facing a violent storm.


    In the next instant, Yuanen Yehui used her Divine Cloudvortex Fists again to force back the Imperial Sword.


    The attack that had just been unleashed was her fifth soul skill, Giant Spirit Shock!


    This was a soul skill that she very rarely used as it was too taxing, and only after she became a Titled Douluo was she able to use her soul skill without severely debilitating herself.

 Chapter 1711: Stardoom Divine Light

    Su Mengjun was busy dealing with the starlight raining down from above, so Long Tianwu and Yuanen Yehui were essentially locked in a one-on-one battle.


    Even with Long Tianwu''s immense powers, he was unable to dominate Yuanen Yehui, and the two were evenly matched.


    Right at this moment, Nangong Yi unleashed his third soul skill, Extensive Dragon Journey, and his speed increased dramatically as he charged directly toward Xu Xiaoyan, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake.


    At the same time, his fourth soul ring lit up as he threw a fist forward, unleashing his Wild Dragon Combat! This was an attack directed at the defense turret. In order to attack Xu Xiaoyan, he would have to enter the range of the defense turret, and he was unleashing this attack as a prophylactic measure.


    A golden halo suddenly appeared ahead of Nangong Yi, and he didn''t know what it was, but he still instantly changed directions, flying through the air in an arc before continuing to fly toward Xu Xiaoyan.


    A loud boom rang out in the sky, and his Wild Dragon Combat nullified a beam of light unleashed by the defense turret with unerring accuracy. Nangong Yi was extremely familiar with the power of the defense turret''s attacks, so he was naturally able to nullify them with ease.


    Even though he was about to reach Xu Xiaoyan, he was surprised to discover that the faint smile on her face remained completely unchanged, and a sense of apprehension welled up in his heart upon seeing this.


    Could it be that she had some way to oppose his attack?


    Right as this thought flashed through his mind, a star in the sky suddenly collapsed, immediately following which a beam of starlight descended from above while Xu Xiaoyan''s fifth soul ring lit up.


    Nangong Yi could naturally see that something was wrong, and he hurriedly raised his hands, unleashing a dragon-shaped burst of energy to try and oppose this beam of starlight.


    However, this beam of starlight was different from the previous ones in that it was causing the surrounding space to completely warp.


    As a result, his attack was instantly dispelled, and the beam of starlight fell upon him.


    In the next instant, his entire body stiffened, and he was plunged into a world of complete darkness.


    There was no light, no energy elements, and not even a single molecule of air; it was as if he had been thrust into a vacuum.


    A sense of horror and panic welled up in his heart, and he had no idea what situation he was currently in. He then felt his soul power begin to rapidly seep away, as if it were being devoured by the dark world around him.


    In the eyes of all of the bystanders, they saw a beam of starlight fall from the heavens, following which Nangong Yi vanished without a trace.


    Mo Zihong was just about to try and exert control upon Xu Xiaoyan again when he witnessed Nangong Yi disappearing into thin air.


    He then saw Xu Xiaoyan aim her Star Staff in his direction with a wide smile on her face, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end as he reflexively looked upward, only to find that there was no starlight descending toward him.


    It was also right at this moment, that a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, and he instantly unleashed a palm strike forward with all his might.


    "Boom!"


    Nangong Yi let loose an agonized cry as he was sent flying by the palm strike, tumbling into the distance in a disoriented manner.


    Xu Xiaoyan burst into laughter as she pointed her Star Staff upward, and more beams of starlight descended over the entire battlefield.


    Only then did everyone realize that there were nine soul rings around her. That''s right, she was a Titled Douluo; she had reached this level even before the likes of Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie.


    On that day, it was a clear night and the sky was filled with dazzling stars. She was on the stargazing platform that Shrek Academy had constructed solely for her, and as she made her breakthrough to become a Titled Douluo, her martial soul evolved once again into something very special.


    The Douluo Title that Xu Xiaoyan had given herself was very direct and concise, and she liked it a lot: Starry Sky.


    She was Starry Sky Douluo Xu Xiaoyan! After that, Long Yeyue had examined all of her soul skills, and she couldn''t help but praise Xu Xiaoyan as the number one control system Soul Master under the starry heavens!


    Everyone knew how powerful the leader of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Tang Wulin, was, and they were aware of the might of Yuanen Yehui''s twin martial souls. Some even knew of the sharpness of the Stargod Sword, the unpredictability of the Space Time Dragon, the sacrificial will of the Holy Angel, and the genius stuffed-bun-wielding food system Soul Master.


    However, very few people knew that Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters also had such a formidable control system Titled Douluo.


    In the past, Xu Xiaoyan had always hidden behind her friends, but now, she was completely different. She was now someone who was able to connect all members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters into a single unified entity.


    On Shrek Academy''s enrollment day, Xu Xiaoyan still hadn''t reached the Titled Douluo level yet. However, she was one of the participants in that seven-on-seven match that never eventuated.


    After becoming the Starry Sky Douluo, her control had become completely unmatched, and she was able to control the transition of day and night at a whim.


    Her fifth soul skill was Stardoom Divine Light, and it was an extremely fearsome control system soul skill.


    It drew upon the power from the destruction of a star to instantly draw an opponent into a vacuum, where the opponent''s energy would be sapped away in a world of complete darkness, following which Xu Xiaoyan would be able to teleport them to any location she desired within a radius of 100 meters. That was why she had pointed her Star Staff in Mo Zihong''s direction.


    Even though Stardoom Divine Light was only her fifth soul skill, it was not an exaggeration to call it a godly skill among control system Soul Masters. This was because on top of its absolute nature, it was also able to completely disregard all defenses.


    The stars in the sky were formed by Xu Xiaoyan''s seventh soul skill, Dazzling Starry Sky Domain, and once the domain took shape, 108 stars would appear. Prior to all of the stars being destroyed, she would be able to use her Stardoom Divine Light over and over again, but a star would fall with each usage, which meant that she could unleash this soul skill as many as 108 times.


    Before these 108 stars were all used up, there was no way that anyone would be able to harm her.


    With the enhancements provided to her by her Dazzling Starry Sky Domain, as well her third soul skill, Dazzling Starlight, and fifth soul skill, Stardoom Divine Light, she could control an entire battlefield.


    Even though it was only her and Yuanen Yehui defending the starting point, she was not fearful in the slightest, and for the very first time, Starry Sky Douluo Xu Xiaoyan was displaying what it meant to be the number one control system Soul Master under the starry heavens.


    In that instant, Mo Zihong immediately realized that they had to take out Xu Xiaoyan at all costs.


    Her powers were far too fearsome, and it was exactly because he was also a control system Soul Master that he was able to understand just how formidable she was.


    Such incredible control was completely unheard of, and if they couldn''t eliminate her in a short time, then this battle was going to spiral out of their control.


    With that in mind, he instantly donned his battle armor and released his battle armor domain. A dull note rang out across the entire battlefield, and everything within the starting point seemed to become very sluggish.


    This was a note released by his domain, so there was no way for it to be cut off, even if his body were to fall under Xu Xiaoyan''s control.


    At the same time, he sprang into action. His fingers flowed over the strings of his zither, releasing one note after another to shatter the beams of descending starlight one after another.


    In the distance, even the starlight falling upon Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun was being kept at bay by him.

 Chapter 1712: Hidden Power of the Starry Sky Douluo

    He had to create an opportunity for Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun to defeat either Yuanen Yehui or Xu Xiaoyan as soon as possible.


    At this point, Nangong Yi had risen to his feet, and he had already made sense of what had just happened as he charged toward Xu Xiaoyan again without any hesitation.


    On this occasion, he had also donned his suit of battle armor, and he sped up even further, approaching Xu Xiaoyan like lightning.


    The defense turret unleashed another attack toward Nangong Yi in a dutiful manner, and under Mo Zihong''s control, Xu Xiaoyan seemed to have been somewhat affected, causing her to raise her Star Staff half a beat too slow.


    Nangong Yi was ecstatic to see this. Control system Soul Masters with exceptional control were generally extremely frail, so once his attack landed, Xu Xiaoyan would be eliminated for sure.


    A panicked look had also appeared on Xu Xiaoyan''s face, and that encouraged Nangong Yi even further.


    Xu Xiaoyan then shook her own head as a resigned look appeared on her face.


    Was she accepting her defeat? As soon as this thought occurred to Nangong Yi, his expression immediately stiffened as Xu Xiaoyan rushed back in a wraith-like manner, instantly opening up some distance between them.


    This was the Tang Sect ability, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!


    Xu Xiaoyan was wearing the same smile from before, but in the eyes of Nangong Yi, this smile was filled with mockery.


    Immediately thereafter, a beam of light fell from the sky, but its target wasn''t Nangong Yi, nor Mo Zihong. Instead, it was targeting the other side.


    In the instant that Mo Zihong had sprung into action, Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun had done the same.


    They didn''t need to oppose the starlight anymore, so the two of them were able to unleash their soul fusion skill as they directed their swords forward while dazzling blue and yellow light began to fuse with one another.


    In that instant, it was as if they had transcended beyond this world, and their soul power was resonating in a peculiar manner.


    Scintillating light erupted out of Long Tianwu''s body as he donned his three-word battle armor, and he instantly reached his peak condition. The projection of a monarch surfaced behind him, and it was giving off a peerless aura of regal might. This aura was fusing into Long Tianwu''s body, and a beam of bright blue light erupted into the heavens from his forehead, forming a clear sky over his head.


    At the same time, Su Mengjun was like a celestial maiden with yellow light illuminating her entire body, and she had also donned her suit of three-word battle armor. A projection of an ethereal woman in a long palatial dress appeared behind her, and in that instant, the auras of Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun combined as one as the two projections held hands with one another.


    Everything in the surrounding area began to warp, and their combined aura instantly reached a fearsome peak as their two swords fused together to form a giant bluish-golden sword that was radiating dazzling light.


    This was their soul fusion skill, Tianwu Mengjun Divine Imperial Sword!


    With their extensive battle experience, they could sense that their opponents were on the verge of turning the tables, so they instantly unleashed their soul fusion skill with the aim of taking down Yuanen Yehui in one fell swoop.


    Regardless of how formidable Xu Xiaoyan''s control was, she was still only a control system Soul Master, and it would be far easier to deal with her on her own.


    In the face of the Tianwu Mengjun Divine Imperial Sword, even the likes of Chen Xinjie and Guan Yue had to take evasive measures.


    One piece of battle armor after another began to appear over Yuanen Yehui''s body. Xu Lizhi was the only member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters who had a complete suit of four-word battle armor, but Yuanen Yehui was also very close, missing only her chausses [leg armor] to complete the set.


    However, ultimately, the suit of four-word battle armor was still incomplete; would it be enough for her to withstand this fearsome soul fusion skill?


    The answer seemed to be obvious.


    However, right at this moment, another star in the sky collapsed and descended from above as a beam of light.


    At this point, the giant bluish-golden sword had already reached Yuanen Yehui, and even with her pieces of four-word battle armor released, she still felt as if her blood were congealing in her veins.


    At this moment, Sima Jinchi finally arrived, but he had only just entered the starting point and could only look on as the Tianwu Mengjun Divine Imperial Sword advanced toward Yuanen Yehui.


    The teleportation ability of the Battle God Arena was constantly on standby, and it would remove Yuanen Yehui from the plane as soon as it determined that she would be unable to handle the attack.


    However, right at this moment, the beam of starlight descended onto Long Tianwu and Su Mengjun, whose bodies had already fused as one and formed a projection, with unerring accuracy.


    The bluish-golden light suddenly transitioned into a pure golden color, and Su Mengjun emerged within the projection with a dumbstruck expression.


    Yuanen Yehui obviously wasn''t going to let such an opportunity slip, and her battle armor seemed to have sprung to life as she reached out with one hand.


    Titan Grip!


    The Divine Sword was caught within her grasp amid a loud clang, and she was able to resist its sharp blade with her four-word battle armor.


    Su Mengjung felt as if her sword had been caught within an unbreakable clamp.


    Currently, she was still below the Hyper Douluo level, so there was no way she could match Yuanen Yehui in a one-on-one battle.


    Yuanen Yehui''s enormous body then came crashing toward her like a wrecking ball, and Su Mengjun''s heart jolted as she released her Divine Sword. In this situation, she had no choice but to temporarily release her martial soul and allow it to dissipate into thin air.


    At the same time, she rapidly retreated, but Yuanen Yehui wasn''t about to let her get away.


    A series of air current vortexes began to revolve around her body at a high speed, and it was as if she had transformed into a giant vortex herself, releasing immense suction force that caused Su Mengjun to stumble in her retreat.


    Immediately thereafter, Yuanen Yehui suddenly froze on the spot, and the entire starting point fell dark as a burst of incredibly fearsome pressure descended from the sky.


    In the instant that the pressure appeared, Yuanen Yehui''s body vanished, and everyone looked up to see a gigantic hand crashing down from above directly toward Su Mengjun.


    This was Yuanen Yehui''s ninth Titan Giant Ape soul skill, Heaven Obscuring Hand!


    This was her most powerful attack, and it was also one that she had never used in battle before.


    At this moment, both Su Mengjun and Mo Zihong were within the scope of her Heaven Obscuring Hand.


    With the enhancements provided by her four-word battle armor, this was an extremely fearsome attack, and the entire starting point seemed to be caving in under its pressure.


    This was what extreme strength looked like!


    Xu Xiaoyan had forcibly cut off the Tianwu Mengjun Divine Imperial Sword with her Stardoom Divine Light, then teleported Long Tianwu away.


    Immediately thereafter, a beam of starlight suddenly rose up from her body, and it was also at this moment that Nangong Yi''s infuriated attack arrived.


    However, for some reason, in the instant that Nangong Yi''s soul skill struck Xu Xiaoyan''s body, it was reflected back toward him.


    This was her second soul skill, Starlight Reciprocation!

 Chapter 1713: Number One Control System Soul Master Under the Starry Heavens

    All of a sudden, a serious look appeared on Xu Xiaoyan''s face as she pointed her Star Staff in a certain direction, teleporting Long Tianwu out of thin air to crash directly into Nangong Yi.


    Both of them were prepared on this occasion, so neither of them attacked one another, but they were still thrown into some disarray.


    As soon as Long Tianwu emerged, he immediately sensed the perilous situation that his wife was in, and he instantly turned to save her without any hesitation.


    Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyan required a cooldown period before she could detonate another star to unleash her Stardoom Divine Light again, so she was unable to unleash it in quick succession.


    However, as the number one control system Soul Master under the starry heavens, her abilities certainly weren''t just limited to Stardoom Divine Light. Her sixth soul ring lit up, and a light barrier that was glowing with dazzling starlight appeared before Long Tianwu and Nangong Yi, stopping the former cold in his tracks.


    In a fit of urgency, Long Tianwu unleashed his eighth soul skill with all his might, slashing his sword through the air, but the light barrier only swayed slightly and managed to withstand his attack.


    This was Xu Xiaoyan''s sixth soul skill, Absolute Star Barrier!


    The barrier could only stand for three seconds, but its defense was absolute, and three seconds was already enough for many things to happen.


    The Heaven Obscuring Hand descended from the sky, and Su Mengjun could only resist to the best of her abilities, while Long Tianwu could only look on as his wife was subject to such a devastating attack.


    None of the Battle Gods knew what to do in this situation, and it was already too late to stop this.


    Su Mengjun summoned her Divine Sword again, only for it to be destroyed, and she was teleported out of the Battle God Arena amid a flash of light, thus ending her participation in this battle.


    Long Tianwu and Nangong Yi turned toward Xu Xiaoyan in unison, but Xu Xiaoyan merely faced them with an innocent expression while the giant-saber-wielding Sima Jinchi descended in front of her with a menacing look in his eyes.


    Her fourth soul ring lit up, and a chain that was formed by starlight connected Sima Jinchi, Yuanen Yehui, and herself. This was her fourth soul skill, Starlight Shackles, which allowed them to share the damage they sustained.


    Mo Zihong opened his mouth, but he didn''t know what to say as a sense of frustration and indignation welled up in his heart.


    Throughout this entire process, he was left feeling rather disoriented. It felt like they hadn''t even unleashed anywhere near their full power before one of them had been eliminated, and to add further insult to injury, it had been a four-on-two battle.


    Now, the situation had transitioned into a three-on-three battle, and the ship had well and truly sailed.


    Most importantly, their most powerful soul fusion skill couldn''t be used anymore.


    How had things become like this?


    The soul fusion skill had been forcibly broken by Xu Xiaoyan, and Mo Zihong was in absolute awe of her incredible control.


    Xu Xiaoyan was standing behind Sima Jinchi with a wide smile, but unbeknownst to everyone, the palm of her staff-wielding hand was sweating profusely.


    This was her first time facing such powerful opponents as the absolute backbone of her side.


    She had faced powerful enemies in the past, but on all of those occasions, Tang Wulin had been present to lead the way, so she knew what she had to do and only had to follow his instructions.


    However, during this battle, it was only her and Yuanen Yehui, and they were facing four powerful enemies, two of whom had a Limit Douluo level soul fusion skill.


    On the surface, it seemed that she had wielded her staff smoothly like a conductor''s baton, controlling the entire battlefield with ease, but in reality, she had been extremely painstaking and meticulous in all of her actions, not daring to sink into any degree of complacency.


    However, it was only in battles like this where her latent potential could be fully stimulated, and it was an invaluable experience.


    A faint smile appeared on her face, and she was finally able to catch her breath now that Sima Jinchi had arrived.


    Meanwhile, Yuanen Yehui was already springing in their direction to reunite with them.


    This was now a three-on-three battle, and their defense turret was still standing, so there was virtually no way for them to lose.


    A hint of light flashed within Xu Xiaoyan''s eyes, and her eighth soul ring began to glow, and the stars in the sky reacted, converging toward a certain direction to amplify their radiance.


    Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyan stood still on the spot like a statue, but her aura was elevating at a rapid rate.


    Even the rank 98 Long Tianwu could sense enormous pressure from her. He didn''t know what she was doing, but it was clear that what she was about to do next was definitely going to be far more terrifying than anything she had previously done during this battle.


    She was already this formidable even without charging power; just how fearsome was this eighth soul skill of hers going to be?


    At this moment, the thought of Guan Yue sprang into the minds of all three Battle Gods in unison. Their only hope of winning this battle was for Guan Yue to take care of Tang Wulin and arrive on the scene.


    Right at this moment, two figures shot forth from the distance like a pair of shooting stars before descending in front of everyone.


    "Xiaoyan, you can stop now," Tang Wulin said.


    The duo was comprised of none other than Tang Wulin and Guan Yue, but both of them were looking rather disheveled with many damaged areas on their suits of battle armor.


    That''s right, even Guan Yue''s four-word battle armor had sustained some damage. Tang Wulin''s face was very pale, and his exhaustion was apparent.


    This was now a four-on-four battle!


    Xu Xiaoyan instantly stopped charging power and linked up Tang Wulin with everyone else with a Starlight Shackle.


    However, Tang Wulin waved a hand before turning to Guan Yue. "Senior Guan Yue, it seems that our two sides are evenly matched in this battle, so why don''t we stop here?"


    Guan Yue nodded in response before turning to the Battle Gods. "In order to prevent potential casualties, this battle will conclude now."


    He raised a hand with a certain device in his grasp as he spoke, and beams of light descended upon everyone from the heavens, teleporting both sides out of the Battle God Arena.


    In the next instant, everyone returned to the Battle God Hall, only to be greeted by complete silence and a rather awkward atmosphere.


    However, the Shrek Academy camp then quickly returned to their senses, and Yue Zhengyu rushed over to Xu Xiaoyan before embracing her and spinning her through the air.


    "That was amazing, honey!" Yue Zhengyu was beaming from ear to ear. In reality, even he wasn''t fully aware that Xu Xiaoyan''s control had become so formidable.


    "Hurry up and put me down! There are so many people watching!" Xu Xiaoyan urged.


    Yue Zhengyu did as he was told, but he refused to let go of her hand.


    On the other side, Xie Xie had also arrived beside Yuanen Yehui, and he reached out to hug her, but hesitated at the last moment. After that, he was grabbed around the shoulder and dragged over by Yuanen Yehui.


    Looking at the delicate and amicable Xu Xiaoyan, a sense of grief welled up in Xie Xie''s heart. Why was it that his relationship dynamic with Yuanen Yehui was completely different? However, he then thought of Yuanen Yehui''s powerful Titan Giant Ape martial soul and her Heaven Obscuring Palm, and he gulped nervously, displaying no discontent whatsoever.

 Chapter 1714: Advancing to the 16th Level

    The Battle Gods fanned out in a line behind Guan Yue, while Guan Yue was appraising Tang Wulin and his friends with a complex expression before heaving a faint sigh. "From this day forth, this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters has truly matured."


    Tang Wulin nodded with a faint smile to acknowledge all of the Battle Gods. In the presence of so many people, it would be inappropriate to thank Guan Yue again for his guidance.


    "The sparring matches are already over, and you''ve earned yourselves the right to advance further. We''ll be taking you to the 16th level shortly, where trials other than a test of power will await you," Guan Yue said with a meaningful look in his eyes before making an inviting hand gesture.


    At this moment, the entire Shrek Academy camp was full of excitement.


    They knew that they had won. Even though the final battle had concluded as a tie, they had full confidence that they would''ve won had the battle played out to the very end.


    Aside from Tang Wulin, no one was aware of how powerful Guan Yue was, so everyone thought that they had won.


    This heralded the true resurgence of Shrek Academy.


    What was virtually the most powerful lineup that the Battle God Hall had to offer had been completely dominated by them, and they had given the Battle Gods a multitude of surprises, including A''Ruheng''s Invincible Vajra Body and Xu Xiaoyan''s amazing control.


    Just as Guan Yue had said, from this moment forth, this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had finally matured and reached the pinnacle of the Soul Master world.


    It wasn''t difficult to envision that Shrek Academy would be sure to enter an even more prosperous era once all of them attained complete suits of four-word battle armor.


    The wall up ahead parted to reveal a passageway, and Guan Yue led everyone into another space.


    Even up until now, the Battle Gods were still reeling and full of indignation, but they had to admit that their opponents were truly formidable.


    Ling Zichen had already awakened from her unconscious state, but she was rather quiet. Tang Wulin enquired about her condition through voice transmission, to which she had only replied that she was fine.


    There wasn''t really anything Tang Wulin could say or do to console her. He knew that her defeat to Mo Zihong had to have dealt her a heavy blow, especially considering how proud an individual she was.


    However, this was also a good thing. After all, improvement always came off the back of setbacks. Thus, Tang Wulin made no effort to console her. There were more important matters to be taken care of at hand, and everything else could wait until they left the Battle God Hall.


    Guan Yue drew to a halt, and all of the Battle Gods stopped beside him. He then turned to Shi Mengshan, and asked, "Mengshan, will you be going with them or coming back for now?"


    Shi Mengshan took a glance at A''Ruheng, and replied, "I''ll go with them."


    The expressions of the Battle Gods darkened slightly upon hearing this. It was clear that Shi Mengshan''s heart had been completely captured.


    The Battle God Hall was a direct subsidiary organization to the federal parliament, so there weren''t any strict restrictions and regulations. All Battle Gods had to accept summoning orders in the federation''s times of need, but there were no restrictions preventing her from getting married.


    Some of the Battle Gods were very understanding toward Shi Mengshan. After all, it wasn''t easy for someone like her to find a suitable spouse, and they were happy for her.


    Guan Yue nodded in response. "Alright, please get ready, everyone; we''ll be sending you directly to the 16th level. Everything has already been prepared, and if you can pass through the final three levels, you will have conquered the Battle God Hall."


    As soon as his voice trailed off, Guan Yue pressed a button somewhere, and the ground fell away beneath the feet of Tang Wulin and his friends, instantly sending them plummeting downward.


    Everyone in the group had the ability to fly, but right at this moment, a burst of powerful suction force erupted from down below to forcibly drag them downward.


    Xu Xiaoyan was still in a state of excitement from the previous battle, and she immediately released her Starlight Shackles to connect everyone. Of course, Ling Zichen wasn''t a Soul Master, and her mecha was unable to connect to the Starlight Shackles.


    Tang Wulin also reacted very quickly, using his Mountain Dragon King torso bone to control the surrounding gravity, while Yuanen Yehui unleashed a few punches downward to slow their descent.


    At this point, the opening up above had already closed, and the surrounding area was plunged into darkness.


    Yue Zhengyu spread his wings, and holy light radiated from his body as he lit up everything like a miniature sun.


    As a result, everyone discovered that they were situated in a cave, and Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think of the abyssal passageway as the walls of this cave were also engraved with all types of soul formations. The only difference was that there was tremendous suction force drawing them downward, and only after descending for close to two minutes did the suction force finally begin to subside.


    Under the illumination of Yue Zhengyu''s holy light, everyone was able to see that there was a body of water down below.


    The sound of flowing water was already heard by everyone before they had reached the bottom, so they knew that this was not a still body of water.


    Tang Wulin turned to his friends, and Xie Xie volunteered himself. "I''ll go; I can swim."


    His body began to transition between illusion and reality as he spoke, and he plunged directly into the water.


    A Starlight Shackle was connected to his back to ensure his safety, while everyone else hovered above the surface of the water.


    At this point, the suction force had completely disappeared. It seemed that it was very likely going to be necessary to cross this underground river in order to reach the 16th level of the Battle God Hall.


    "Judging from the speed and duration of our descent, we should already be below the mountain, and judging from the rate at which the water is flowing here, this underground river should be connected to a large river outside. If I''m not mistaken, there''s a river called the Bright River that''s formed by glacial water over at the Western Mountains, and it flows all the way into the sea in the southwestern direction, " Ling Zichen analyzed, breaking her silence.


    As a scientist, she excelled in deriving conclusions from all types of data and observations.


    Shortly thereafter, Xie Xie emerged from the water with a splash and quickly shook off the water on his body.


    "There''s a very long river down there; I swam for over a kilometer, and there was still no end in sight. That''s the maximal length of the Starlight Shackle, and I returned because I was worried that you''d be concerned. From what I could see, there doesn''t seem to be any danger in this underground river, and I didn''t spot any signs of soul beasts, either; it''s just that I don''t know how long it would take to swim to the exit."


    Tang Wulin asked, "Are there any divergent paths or crossroads down there?"


    Xie Xie shook his head in response. "I couldn''t see any. From what I could see, this is an underground river that stretches straight into the distance. The only issue is breathing; all of us are able to self-circulate, but that''ll most likely only give us around half an hour."


    A''Ruheng suggested, "I can go take a look; I can remain underwater for at least two to three hours without having to breathe."


    Shi Mengshan suddenly tugged on his hand upon hearing this, and he turned to look at her.


    No one had asked Shi Mengshan about what trials lay ahead. After all, Shi Mengshan was a Battle God, and they would be placing her in a very difficult situation by grilling her about the trials that the Battle God Hall had prepared.


    Thus, they were all acting on their judgment alone.

 Chapter 1715: Waterbender Tang Wulin

    A''Ruheng aimed an inquisitive glance at Shi Mengshan, and after a brief moment of hesitation, she said, "The final three levels aren''t guarded by Battle Gods, but I must warn you that they hold the sternest trials the Battle God Hall has to offer. As a Battle God, I can''t tell you what they are, and according to the rules of the Battle God Hall, this is as far as I can accompany all of you."


    Everyone''s hearts jolted slightly upon hearing this.


    It seemed that Shi Mengshan hadn''t said anything, but in reality, she was warning them that there were significant perils awaiting them in this underground river.


    She had already witnessed everyone''s powers, yet she was still extending these words of caution, which meant that the perils lurking in the water posed a serious threat to everyone''s safety.


    A''Ruheng had already said that he could remain underwater for at least two to three hours, yet she was still giving them this warning, and this indicated that the danger didn''t stem from the duration that they would have to be underwater for. She hadn''t expressly declared what the danger was, but it was clear that she was very apprehensive.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Alright, then please wait for us here; we''ll go into the water together. Senior Disciple Brother, you bring up the rear, and I''ll lead from the front. Everyone else will be between us with Xiaoyan at the very center."


    Shi Mengshan was very surprised to hear this. In her eyes, Tang Wulin wasn''t a rash individual, so why was he proceeding with such a plan despite her warning?


    An urgent look appeared on her face, and she wanted to say something further, but refrained from doing so in the end.


    She had actually already violated the rules by accompanying everyone here, and she wouldn''t have been able to do this had it not been for Guan Yue''s approval, so of course she couldn''t leak more of the Battle God Hall''s secrets.


    A''Ruheng smiled as he laid a reassuring hand onto her shoulder. "Don''t worry, Wulin isn''t the type to do something rash; you''ve only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of what he''s capable of. Let''s go, Junior Disciple Brother."


    Tang Wulin gave Shi Mengshan a parting nod, then leaped into the river.


    Right as he entered the water, Shi Mengshan was greeted by a peculiar sight: the water in the river had parted on its own to open up a passageway for him, and he descended in a stable manner after performing a somersault.


    The underground river was very deep, reaching over 10 meters in depth even at the entrance, but once he entered the river, it seemed as if all of the water had disappeared.


    How had he achieved this? He clearly wasn''t using any soul power or soul tools!


    Everyone strode forward one after another and followed Tang Wulin into the underground river.


    Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu followed along on either side of Tang Wulin, creating a triangular spearhead comprised of three assault system Soul Masters.


    Behind them were Xu Xiaoyan, Ling Zichen, and Xie Xie with Xu Xiaoyan at the center, while Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng brought up the rear. Thus, the eight of them quickly advanced in a three, three, two formation, and much to everyone''s surprise, not a single drop of water could reach within five meters of Tang Wulin; it was as if the water were intentionally avoiding him.


    As he advanced onward, this area that was devoid of water would follow him. As such, they were able to advance on foot along the river bed, which was riddled with uneven stones, thereby allowing for very stable and fast progress.


    Furthermore, the air within this space with a radius of five meters was enough for everyone to breathe for a very long time.


    Xie Xie had roughly guessed that something like this would happen, but everyone else was astonished, especially the other members of Shrek''s Seven Monsters.


    They had been with Tang Wulin for a very long time, and they had thought that they already knew him extremely well, but they had never seen him display such an ability!


    Tang Wulin didn''t make any explanations as he raised his right hand to summon his Golden Dragon Spear, then advanced forward at a speed roughly equivalent to a normal person''s sprint.


    Yue Zhengyu extended his right hand forward, releasing a beam of light to illuminate the river up ahead.


    Due to the fact that they were in an underground river, his holy light was refracted in very interesting ways by the water, presenting a strange and abstract underwater world.


    After some time had passed, Xie Xie said, "This is the farthest point I reached, so I don''t know what the situation is like up ahead; be careful, Boss."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response and also slowed down slightly. At the same time, he released the full extent of his spiritual power into the distance.


    Why was the water in the river naturally avoiding him? That was naturally because he was the son of the Sea God.


    Back in the sea, he had forced the united fleet to a complete standstill all on his own, thereby circumventing the war that was imminent at the time.


    As Ling Zichen had said, this underground river flowed into the Bright River, which ultimately flowed into the sea, so in a sense, this underground river was connected to the sea.


    As the son of the Sea God and the wielder of the Sea God''s Trident, there was no way that this river would pose any threat to Tang Wulin.


    For the majority of people, the sensory range of their spiritual power would be greatly reduced in water, but it was the exact opposite for Tang Wulin, whose sensory range was amplified by severalfold in the presence of bodies of water.


    Finally, after advancing for around another kilometer, Tang Wulin drew to a halt, and an enlightened look appeared on his face.


    "I see."


    "Did you discover something?" Yuanen Yehui asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I know what the trial of the 16th level is now. You won''t be able to sense it yet, but the river has already begun to exert suction force upon us. Due to the fact that we''re in the river, we could easily be misled into thinking that this was just the natural current of the river. Even for a Titled Douluo, getting to this point would be quite taxing, so they would be in a hurry to advance onward. However, if they continue to follow the current forward, they would soon encounter some severe trouble.


    "As we keep going, the current of the river will become faster and faster, and around two kilometers away is a giant crater. I don''t know how that crater was formed, but I''m guessing it''s most likely a mouth of an underground spring. The current there is extremely rapid, and a massive vortex has formed there, and it''ll be very difficult to escape once someone gets swept up in the vortex. On top of that, during the struggle, one would have to expend a large amount of their oxygen reserves, and that''s where the problem lies.


    "I don''t know how the Battle God Hall can save someone in that situation, but the Begonia Douluo is right in that this really is a very perilous place."


    Everyone drew a sharp breath upon hearing this.


    Regardless of how powerful an individual was, they couldn''t contend with nature so long as they hadn''t attained godhood.


    In an underwater world where breathing was impossible, how could someone break out of such a mighty vortex, especially after expending a significant amount of energy and oxygen to get to the vortex in the first place? In order to pass this trial, one would most likely require some special abilities, as well as the premonition that something was wrong well in advance.


    However, spiritual power was severely limited underwater, so it was extremely difficult to detect the dangers that awaited one up ahead.


    A''Ruheng''s eyes narrowed slightly as he mused, "If the eight of us had charged into this completely blind, I''m not sure even half of us would''ve been able to make it to the other side."

 Chapter 1716: Nothing is an Obstacle Underwater

    In the face of a trial like this, assault system Soul Masters had the highest chance of passing. Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng definitely wouldn''t have any issues, and Sima Jinchi and Yuanen Yehui would most likely succeed as well. However, there was no way that Xu Xiaoyan would be able to pass the trial without assistance as the downside of her exceptional control abilities was that her combat prowess was very mediocre.


    "So what do we do now?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "There''s nothing to worry about; nothing is an obstacle for me underwater. Everyone, follow me."


    Having already ascertained the situation up ahead, Tang Wulin was a lot more relaxed and began to advance faster than before.


    Under the illumination of the holy light being released by Yue Zhengyu, everyone soon discovered that the current of the water around them was clearly growing stronger and stronger; even the area that they were situated in, which was devoid of water, seemed to be traveling along with the current, and it would only stop when Tang Wulin did.


    All of a sudden, the visibility decreased in the distance up ahead, and they had reached the exit, but outside the exit was a massive underwater vortex.


    Everyone''s expressions changed slightly as they sensed just how powerful the vortex was, and they could hear an incessant dull rumbling, which was created by the current crashing into the surrounding rock faces.


    What a terrifying vortex!


    Ling Zichen suddenly observed, "It looks like this vortex is the source of the suction force acting upon this river. There''s no way a phenomenon like this can be artificially created, so the Battle God Hall must''ve taken advantage of the natural setting."


    "Make sure to not stray far away from me," Tang Wulin said as he released a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines, which wound themselves around the bodies of his friends to ensure that they remained close to him.


    Immediately thereafter, a golden trident symbol lit up on his forehead, and he transferred his Golden Dragon Spear into his left hand before summoning the golden trident in his right hand amid a flash of golden light.


    In the instant that the golden trident appeared, the entire area suddenly fell silent, and the aggressive current abruptly subsided. The violent vortex seemed to have also been influenced by this, and the speed of its rotation slowed drastically, as if it were pledging its subordination to Tang Wulin.


    Meanwhile, a layer of bluish-golden light emanated from Tang Wulin''s body, and he pointed his golden trident forward, upon which the water up ahead instantly parted. A staircase constructed from water that was leading upward appeared at his behest, and Tang Wulin led the way as he strode onto the staircase.


    Everyone else was stunned by this phenomenon, but they hurriedly followed along without any hesitation.


    Only after entering the vortex were they able to truly sense just how fearsome it was. The entire vortex had a diameter of over a kilometer, and there were no signs of life within it.


    However, despite the terrifying nature of this underwater world, the trident-wielding Tang Wulin was like its ruler. He strode up the staircase while continuing to give off bluish-golden radiance, and all of the surrounding currents accompanied his advance as if they were revering their king.


    After walking up several hundred steps, the water up ahead finally parted, and the surrounding area brightened considerably as a path leading to the outside world appeared up ahead.


    Tang Wulin stowed his golden trident away, but the surrounding water remained parted while he and his friends emerged from the vortex.


    They rose up into the air before appraising their surroundings to find that there was a massive lake below them, but the entire lake was a terrifying funnel-shaped vortex.


    What was even more alarming was that the current at the center of the vortex was moving so quickly that it was causing the air to screech and howl.


    The wonders of nature were truly unfathomable.


    On the shore in the distance, there was a patch of flat ground, and it was also there that the only path out of the 16th level was situated.


    Everyone flew over and descended onto that area, and they couldn''t help but heave a collective sigh of relief as they finally arrived on land.


    A giant inky-black vortex was situated up ahead, and even though the majority of the group was comprised of Titled Douluos, they still couldn''t help but be fearful of such a fearsome natural phenomenon.


    As expected of the 16th level of Battle God Hall! It was certainly an unimaginably stern trial.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but wonder what other trials were awaiting them up ahead.


    Instead of continuing onward right away, Tang Wulin sat down with his legs crossed, and everyone else also took a seat around him. All of them were somewhat taxed from their battles, so it would be wise to rest before continuing.


    The 16th level was already this perilous, what was going to await them on the 17th and 18th levels?


    Around half an hour later, everyone awakened from meditation in quick succession.


    There was only one path available to them, so it was clear that this was the way to the next level.


    They adopted the same formation as before, and Tang Wulin, Yuanen Yehui, and Yue Zhengyu led the way from the front as the group entered the passageway.


    The ground in the passageway was very flat and smooth, and there were clear signs of artificial digging. The surrounding area didn''t appear to be abnormal in any way, and it seemed that this was just a natural underground passageway. However, the group was relying on Yue Zhengyu''s holy light to illuminate the area. Otherwise, they would be shrouded in complete darkness.


    As they advanced, everyone could sense that the air temperature was steadily rising.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly upon detecting this. They had just faced a trial of water, could it be that the next trial was one of fire?


    Light began to appear in the distance, and in the beginning, it was only a very faint red glimmer, but as the temperatures continued to rise, so did the brightness of this red light. Soon, the entire surrounding area was illuminated into a bright red color, and the temperatures were so high that everyone had to release their soul power to oppose it.


    Finally, they reached the end of the passageway, only to be stunned by what lied up ahead.


    At the end of the passageway was a massive fiery red world, within which was a lake, but as opposed to water, it was filled with lava.


    The reddish-golden lava was bubbling incessantly, and the air here was so hot that even breathing would become extremely difficult for the average person.


    What was even more terrifying was that the reddish-golden lava seemed to be filled with some type of enormous energy that felt as if it were about to overflow at any moment.


    Due to the excessively high temperatures, the air above the lava lake was completely warped, thereby significantly impacting visibility. However, this was the conclusion of the passageway, so if they wanted to continue onward, it was clear that they would have to pass through this lava lake.


    To Tang Wulin, the most puzzling aspect about all of this was that the trial seemed to be too simple.


    Of course, the lava was of an extremely high temperature, but as long as they didn''t bathe in it for long periods of time, it would pose no threat to Soul Masters of their caliber. Couldn''t they just fly over it?


    There had to be some other type of danger present here, and the most lethal of perils were always concealed behind shrouds of mystery.


    They had no idea what they were going to face next, so Tang Wulin could only turn to A''Ruheng. "There''s most likely more to this place than meets the eye. Senior Disciple Brother, we''ll be counting on you."

 Chapter 1717: Lava Beings

    A''Ruheng chuckled, "That''s not an issue; I''ll go in first and take a dip."


    His skin turned a golden color as he spoke, and he sprang forward, rising up into the air above the lava lake.


    Meanwhile, purplish-golden light flashed within Tang Wulin''s eyes as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on A''Ruheng in case he required any assistance.


    With A''Ruheng''s Invincible Vajra Body, it was very difficult for the lava to harm him, so he would be the perfect scout.


    Everyone else gathered behind Tang Wulin and continued to release their soul power to keep the heat at bay.


    A''Ruheng hovered above the lava lake, then cast his gaze toward the distance.


    Everything around him was of a reddish-golden color, and visibility was very low due to the warping air.


    Despite his rough exterior, A''Ruheng actually had great attention to detail, and as he flew over the lake, he was observing the surrounding terrain and committing everything to memory.


    Flying over this lava lake naturally had to be done so very carefully. If someone like Xu Xiaoyan were to fall into the lake, they would most likely be instantly incinerated into nothingness, so he had to assess the area for the sake of his friends'' safety.


    Right at this moment, the lava lake churned violently, and a deafening roar rang out as a ball of lava with a diameter in excess of five meters shot forth toward A''Ruheng.


    A''Ruheng harrumphed coldly as he unleashed a punch in retaliation.


    With his current powers and abilities, there was no attack that could draw a panicked reaction from him.


    The ball of lava exploded, but didn''t completely shatter. Instead, a figure shot out of it like lightning, instantly reaching A''Ruheng before giving him a massive hug.


    That''s right, it was giving him a hug!


    This was a humanoid creature that was around three meters tall, and it had been previously hidden within the ball of lava. It was somehow able to use the force of the ball of lava''s explosion to instantly reach A''Ruheng, and it was using its own high temperature as a weapon.


    A''Ruheng was rather startled by this. The creature was extremely fast, to the extent that he was unable to immediately react, but as soon as he was caught in the creature''s embrace, he smiled as he returned its embrace, and the creature was instantly destroyed by his incredible strength, disintegrating into specks of fire.


    However, the specks of fire then converged and formed the creature again not far away, and only then was everyone able to catch a clear glimpse of it.


    The creature''s entire body was of a fiery red color, while its eyes were comprised of two balls of golden flames, presenting quite a peculiar sight to behold.


    This was clearly a creature that possessed extremely pure fire elements. It could be seen that following its embrace, a few marks had been left on even A''Ruheng''s Invincible Vajra Body. Judging from that, its embrace would''ve most likely been too much to handle for the average Titled Douluo.


    Right at this moment, more balls of lava rose up from the lake before exploding in mid-air to reveal more creatures.


    However, on this occasion, there were animalistic creatures in addition to the humanoid ones, such as wolves and lions, but the majority of them were still of the humanoid form.


    Among them was a humanoid fiery giant that was over seven meters tall and giving off an extremely formidable aura. Judging from its aura alone, it seemed to be close to the Limit Douluo level.


    Tang Wulin was quite stunned to see this. The Battle God Hall really was hiding a lot of astonishing secrets!


    It was certainly not going to be an easy task to take on so many of these creatures, particularly considering the fact that they seemed to possess instantaneous regeneration abilities.


    Curiously enough, these creatures clearly possessed auras that were different from soul beasts. With so many of them guarding the 17th level, it was not going to be easy to pass this trial.


    Tang Wulin tightened his grip around his Golden Dragon Spear, then made a hand signal toward Xu Xiaoyan.


    In this environment that was extremely abundant in fire elements, these creatures were virtually unkillable, so Tang Wulin and the others would have to force their way through as quickly as possible.


    Right at this moment, the fiery giant suddenly said, "Please wait."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. How was this creature able to communicate in a human language? Could they be somehow related to the human race?


    The fiery giant turned toward Tang Wulin and extended a slight bow as a gesture of respect. If it weren''t for its fiery red body and bright golden eyes, it really did seem like a human.


    "My apologies for encroaching upon your territory, but if we want to continue to advance in the Battle God Hall, it seems that this is the only path we can take. We only wish to pass through this area, and we bear no ill will," Tang Wulin said while remaining on high alert in case of surprise attacks.


    The fiery giant replied, "We also bear no ill will; it''s just that I sensed the aura of a god just now, so I came out to have a look. May I ask if there is a god among you?"


    The aura of a god?


    Everyone reflexively turned toward Tang Wulin. His golden trident had to be the source of this godly aura.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Unfortunately, there are no gods among us. Perhaps the aura that you sensed came from this divine weapon of mine."


    He released his Sea God''s Trident as he spoke, not just to demonstrate his point, but also to intimidate these creatures.


    As soon as the Sea God''s Trident appeared in his grasp, the sound of crashing tides suddenly rang out, and a burst of refreshing coolness spread through the air, keeping the scorching heat at bay.


    The fiery giant shuddered upon seeing this, and it blurted out, "That''s a transcendent divine weapon!"


    Its voice had risen sharply by a few octaves, clearly indicating that it was very excited.


    A transcendent divine weapon?


    Tang Wulin didn''t have much of a concept of the hierarchy of divine weapons. In reality, there were most likely very few beings on the entire Douluo Continent who were aware of this.


    What exactly was a transcendent divine weapon? Tang Wulin was quite puzzled, but he didn''t raise the question.


    Meanwhile, the fiery giant was so excited that it had almost broken into a dance. It immediately began to communicate with its brethren in a special language, and after a long while, it turned back to Tang Wulin.


    "Welcome, esteemed human; I didn''t think that you would possess a transcendent divine weapon. Despite this, you''re not a god, so that can only mean one thing: you must have the bloodline of a god. Otherwise, you wouldn''t be able to use this weapon. I have a small request, and I was hoping that you would be willing to help me."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    They were currently facing the problem of having to pass through this world of lava, so he naturally couldn''t immediately refuse.


    "I''d be happy to listen to your request."


    The fiery giant was silent for a moment before continuing, "I''m not sure if this is something that you''ll be able to achieve, but I have no intention of forcing you into anything, and you don''t need to promise us anything, either. My only hope is that if you become a god in the future and reach the Divine Realm, please help us find the world that we belong to."


    A hint of intrigue appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this. "Are you saying you''re not originally from the Douluo Star?"

 Chapter 1718: The Dawn Fire Race

    The fiery giant nodded in response. "That''s right, we don''t belong in this world, so we can only stay in this place. We really miss our home and wish to return there, so we implore you to help us."


    A''Ruheng interjected, "Can you elaborate a bit more? How are we supposed to help you when we know nothing about your current situation?"


    The fiery giant replied, "Of course, I''ll explain right away. I''m just too excited, so I''m stumbling over my own words. This is the first time that I''ve sensed the aura of a transcendent divine weapon after coming to this world, and it''s our first glimmer of hope, so I''m very excited."


    The fiery giant was stumbling over its words again as it professed its excitement over and over again.


    Tang Wulin made a calming hand gesture to A''Ruheng, and the fiery giant finally composed itself as it explained, "We come from another world, and we were living happily there, but we ended up in this world due to a major disaster."


    "Another world? Is it also a major plane?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The fiery giant replied in a proud manner, "Of course, and it''s even more powerful than this world. The world we came from is known as the Falan World, and we are the Dawn Fire Race. My name is Huo Tian, and I''m one of the current leaders of the Dawn Fire Race. There are several chieftains who are more powerful than myself in our race, and we came from the Goblin Continent of the Falan World. Please don''t be offended by this, but over on the Goblin Continent, the rulers are the Goblins and the Gremlins. There are also humans there, but the human race is merely a subsidiary to the Goblins and Gremlins."


    Tang Wulin was very intrigued to hear about this alternate world that also had a human settlement. Instead of raising any questions, he patiently listened to Huo Tian''s story.


    Huo Tian continued, "Our Dawn Fire Race resides in the Crimson Lava Sea, which is not far away from the Goblin Continent. We are a warrior race, and all of our brethren are born with immense combat prowess. We can''t stray far away from areas where lava is prevalent, but in such areas, we''re virtually unkillable. As such, even the Goblins and Gremlins are unable to subdue us, and we coexist and trade with one another as equals. Aside from the Mysterious Purple Gold Race, our Dawn Fire Race is not inferior to any other race in the entire Falan World."


    Huo Tian''s voice was filled with pride toward its own race as it spoke.


    "One day, our chieftain was invited by the ruler of the Goblin Race to discuss something, and he was away for a very long time. Following his return, we were informed that the powerful beings among the Goblins and Gremlins had ascertained through stargazing that a major disaster was about to befall our Falan World, and that this disaster could destroy the entire world. As such, we had to unify all of the power in our world to withstand this disaster. An alliance was formed between our Dawn Fire Race and the Goblins and Gremlins, as well as the Sea Dragon Race of the Boundless Blue Sea, the Sea Giant Race, and the other major races.


    "Together, we sought out the mysterious Purple Gold Race and the Green Race of the Green Sea of Life. Our plan was to create a set of divine tools that would keep the imminent disaster at bay."


    "Did you succeed?" Xu Xiaoyan asked.


    Huo Tian replied, "We did. We gathered almost all of the resources in the entire Falan World to create the divine tools, which were the Seven Divine Falan Beads. The beads were controlled by the most powerful beings of the major races, who were going to face the disaster together. The Goblins and Gremlins correctly predicted the disaster, but they failed to envision just how severe it was going to be. I heard from our chieftain that a burst of space-time turbulence had swept a small planet toward our world. After that, our chieftain set off with the powerful beings of the other races."


    Huo Tian fell silent at this point in the story, and all of the other Dawn Fire beings present seemed to be filled with grief.


    It was apparent that their attempt to circumvent the disaster hadn''t been a successful one.


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing the term "space-time turbulence". He clearly recalled that his father had told him that the Divine Realm of the Douluo Continent had been swept away by space-time turbulence! Space-time turbulence had separated him far from his family, but it appeared that the Divine Realm wasn''t the only thing that had been impacted.


    Huo Tian heaved a long sigh before continuing, "The Seven Divine Falan Beads did manage to slow down that planet, but I can still recall the moment the impact took place; it was as if doomsday had arrived! The planet scattered the Seven Divine Falan Beads and descended onto our Goblin Continent, and it triggered a disaster that was more severe than anything our planet had ever seen. Tsunamis and earthquakes erupted all over the planet, and virtually half of our Crimson Lava Sea disappeared in an instant.


    "Our chieftain never returned, and I don''t know what happened to him, but I can imagine that he most likely perished alongside the powerful beings of the other races. The Goblin Continent was shattered into many pieces by the collision, and the planet that crashed into ours also shattered to further exacerbate the disaster. It was also at this point that many spatial rifts began to appear, and countless living beings all over the entire Falan World perished as a result. Our branch just so happened to be engulfed by a spatial rift, and that''s how we ended up here."


    Tang Wulin finally understood what had happened. These Dawn Fire beings were from another world, and it was impossible to judge from Huo Tian''s description alone whether the Falan World was truly more powerful than the Douluo Continent, but the auras of these Dawn Fire beings indicated that they had come from a world that was at least on par with the Douluo Continent.


    "When we first arrived, there were many more of us, but without a suitable habitat, a large number of our brethren perished. Finally, we found this habitable area, but this place is far too small compared to our Crimson Lava Sea, so we''re unable to further increase our population once it reaches a certain level as there''s not enough energy here to support us. We made an agreement with the humans here, thereby allowing us to reside in this place, which is the 17th level of the Battle God Hall, also known as the Fiery Lava Hell, and thus concludes my story."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be stunned after listening to Huo Tian''s story. What a terrifying scene it would''ve been for a planet to have crashed into a major plane!


    Just the thought of it struck a sense of fear into his heart.


    If the Douluo Star were to suffer a similar disaster in the future, would it be able to survive? There was no way to answer that question.


    A hint of sympathy toward these Dawn Fire beings welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart, and he asked, "How would you like us to help you?"

 Chapter 1719: Rainbow Lotus Flame

    Huo Tian replied, "We really miss our home, and even though we don''t know what remains of it, we''re sure that even though the Seven Divine Falan Beads couldn''t completely stop that planet, the Falan World definitely still exists. We want to return to our home, to the Crimson Lava Sea. You possess a transcendent divine weapon, so that means there''s a very good chance that you''ll become a god in the future, and if you do, you''ll be able to travel through space as you please. Perhaps you''ll discover our Falan World someday, and if that does happen, we implore you to contact our brethren there so they can find a way to bring us back.


    "It is our greatest wish to return to our home. Even if I won''t live to see that day, I hope my brethren can return to the Falan World."


    "Alright, I can do that. If I become a god someday, I''ll do my best to find the Falan World and inform your brethren of your situation. However, I have no idea whether I''ll actually be able to become a god. Of course, that is my goal," Tang Wulin replied without any hesitation.


    He was not only going to search for the Falan World, but also to search for the Douluo Continent''s missing Divine Realm and his parents!


    Huo Tian seemed to heave a sigh of relief, and all of the Dawn Fire beings extended slight bows toward Tang Wulin in unison.


    All of a sudden, Huo Tian raised a hand, and a streak of red light was sent flying toward Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin caught the object and immediately felt a burst of heat in his palm.


    He looked down to find an octagonal ruby, within which golden liquid seemed to be flowing.


    "This is a token of our race. If you really do find the Falan World, then please take this token to my brethren; they''ll understand everything once they see it."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin carefully stowed the ruby away.


    Huo Tian continued, "I''ll also give you something as compensation."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but ask, "Do you have that much trust in me? Even if I''m willing to help you, there''s no guarantee that I''ll be able to become a god, and even if I do become a god, I may not be able to find your home, so I can''t accept any compensation from you."


    Huo Tian sighed, "You are the greatest hope that we have. Also, us Dawn Fire beings possess Golden Flame Eyes, so we can see directly into someone''s heart, and I can tell that you''re genuinely agreeing to help us. That alone is enough for you to be worthy of this gift, so please accept it."


    Huo Tian raised its hand again as it spoke, releasing a small flame on this occasion. As the flame flew toward Tang Wulin, the entire surrounding sea of lava seemed to suddenly dim slightly, as if it were pledging subordination to the flame.


    It was very difficult to describe the color of the flame; it was near-transparent, and its color seemed to be constantly changing.


    The body of the flame was of a scorching white color, but there seemed to be seven colors that were constantly transitioning within the flame.


    Tang Wulin reflexively opened his palm to allow the flame to land onto his hand, and he was immediately struck by a burst of stinging pain in his palm.


    He was then surprised to discover that the flame had branded itself onto the center of his right palm like a tattoo.


    This was a lotus flower with a white base, but it had seven petals, each of which was a color of the rainbow.


    "This is the bonded true flame of our Dawn Fire Race, and only the nobility with the purest of bloodlines possess it. I was supposed to be the heir to the chieftain, but that''s all in the past now. This is a part of my bonded true flame, and I''m giving it to you. If you find my brethren, you''ll be able to further gain their trust by showing them this flame. In conjunction with the token that I gave you, the two will be enough for my brethren to figure out who I am. You can also release my bonded true flame by using the power of your world, and it has the ability to incinerate all things, but it''ll be extremely taxing to use.


    "The flame is known as the Rainbow Lotus Flame, and even beings on par with Great Goblins wouldn''t dare come into contact with it; I hope it can be of assistance to you."


    The stinging pain on Tang Wulin''s hand had already faded, and if it weren''t for the "tattoo" at the center of his palm, it would''ve been as if nothing had ever happened.


    However, he could clearly sense a peculiar type of energy within his palm.


    "Thank you, I''ll be sure to do my best," Tang Wulin said.


    Actions spoke louder than words, and Huo Tian could see into his heart anyway, so he didn''t need to say anything further.


    Huo Tian waved a hand through the air, and its brethren immediately parted around it while actively repressing the scorching heat within the area.


    Huo Tian then made an inviting hand gesture, "Us Dawn Fire beings have very long lifespans; I hope to be able to receive some good news from you while I''m still alive."


    "I share the same hope," Tang Wulin replied with a genuine nod.


    A meaningful look suddenly appeared in Huo Tian''s eyes, and it said, "Indeed, you do; I can sense that you also have someone you need to find."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. Huo Tian really did seem to possess some type of special ability that allowed it to glean the inner world of others.


    Thus, everyone rose up into the air and still maintained their formation as they flew deeper into the sea of lava.


    Even though they had already formed an agreement with the Dawn Fire beings, this was still a world of lava, and any lapse in judgment could result in life-threatening danger. Thus, the formation was carefully maintained, and Tang Wulin didn''t even stow his golden trident away.


    As expected, if it hadn''t been for these special circumstances, it would not have been an easy task to cross the 17th level of the Battle God Hall.


    The sea of lava wasn''t very large, and after rounding a corner, they finally caught sight of a dark passageway in the distance.


    The passageway undoubtedly led to the 18th level, and it was very likely to be the place where Eternal Heaven was being stored.


    At this point, everyone''s mood had changed slightly. In particular, Ling Zichen was brimming with excitement.


    There was no one more interested in godslayer missiles than she was, and it was her greatest wish in life to be able to obtain or even witness this paramount masterpiece of soul technology. She had countless questions that she wished to seek answers for by studying Eternal Heaven.


    One had to realize that this godslayer missile hadn''t just been developed by one or two scientists; it had been created by the most brilliant scientists across several generations! If a scientist of her caliber could study Eternal Heaven, then perhaps she could derive some inspiration that would further her research, and that was what she desired the most.


    Everyone landed on the ground, and the Sea God''s Trident had kept the heat at bay, so they were still in peak condition.


    Tang Wulin turned around and bade farewell to Huo Tian, then quickly led everyone into the passageway to the 18th level.


    Everyone had become quite nervous as an involuntary reaction. They were about to arrive at their destination, and even if they could find Eternal Heaven, it wouldn''t be an easy task to take it out of the Battle God Hall. According to their plan, they were going to capture Eternal Heaven as quickly as possible after finding it, then use it as a threat to force the Battle God Hall into allowing them to leave.

 Chapter 1720: The 18th Level

    This was undoubtedly a very risky operation, and a single misstep could result in complete failure. As such, it was extremely important to find opportunities.


    After advancing for several hundred meters, the air temperature began to fall, and the passageway also began to slope downward. Everyone was on high alert and was raring to go.


    The 16th and 17th levels had shown them just how difficult the trials on the final few levels of the Battle God Hall were, and the trial on the 18th level was definitely going to be the most arduous one.


    Tang Wulin gradually began to pick up the pace as he released his spiritual power to monitor his surroundings. His golden trident remained in his grasp, and it was his biggest trump card.


    He had dared to venture this far into the Battle God Hall with everyone for a very important reason, which was that his connection with the tree of life would allow them to teleport back to Shrek Academy. Of course, that was only going to be a desperate last resort as teleporting so many people at once would be extremely taxing to the tree of life.


    After passing the first trials, the golden trident had begun to develop a certain level of connection with him, and even deep under the ground, he was confident that he would be able to connect his spiritual aura to the tree of life from afar using this transcendent divine weapon.


    Finally, the ground up ahead began to flatten out, and it seemed that there would be a smooth journey ahead, but Tang Wulin slowed down significantly here. Everyone in the group could sense a cluster of powerful auras up ahead, and some of those auras were rather familiar.


    A grim look appeared in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he cautioned, "Be on your guard, everyone."


    Having already reached this point, retreat was no longer an option, so they could only continue onward.


    Finally, the horizon up ahead broadened, and a massive cave appeared within their field of view.


    The cave was massive with a height in excess of 100 meters and an area of over 10,000 square meters, just like a giant sports stadium. It was truly a miraculous sight to see such a gigantic cave deep in the belly of this mountain.


    Around the cave was a flowing spring, and there were many stalagmites hanging up above, presenting a wondrous sight to behold.


    However, Tang Wulin had no interest in appreciating this scenic location. There was a group of people standing inside this giant natural plaza, and the expressions of everyone in Tang Wulin''s group had darkened significantly at the sight of them. Even the happy-go-lucky A''Ruheng had put on a grim expression.


    The group awaiting Tang Wulin and his friends wasn''t a very large one, but that didn''t mean that they were any less formidable.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was appraising Tang Wulin with a confident smile, and there was undisguised disdain in everyone''s eyes at the sight of him.


    Beside Qiangu Dongfeng were around a dozen powerful beings, most of whom Tang Wulin had seen in the past, including a few of the participants in the match held between Shrek Academy and Spirit Academy on enrolment day.


    Even Qiangu Dongfeng''s father, Qiangu Dieting, was present. He was the former chairman of the Spirit Pagoda and a quasigod! Such a formidable lineup was already more fearsome than the one assembled by the Battle God Hall.


    The entire group was comprised of powerful beings from the Spirit Pagoda, and there was not a single Battle God among them.


    After a brief pause, Tang Wulin began to make his way toward Qiangu Dongfeng, and his friends naturally followed along behind him.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was appraising Tang Wulin with an expression that seemed to be genuinely impressed, and he even began to applaud Tang Wulin as he approached.


    "Sect Master, you force me to look at you through brand new eyes every time I see you. Even to me, your rate of progress is astounding; as expected of the best that Shrek Academy has to offer. Looking back throughout history, Shrek Academy has always produced exceptional prodigies in times of great unrest, and this generation is no exception. The past Atlas Douluo was a brilliant star who was the undisputed most powerful being in the world. He perished along with the entirety of Shrek City, but you''ve risen up to take his place.


    "I must admit that this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters is truly deserving of its title; you''re even more powerful than the previous generation. You''ve already achieved so much at such a young age; I''m sure that given enough time, more than half of you will become Limit Douluos. However, if that were to happen, how would the Spirit Pagoda be able to continue to survive?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng paused here as he heaved a forlorn sigh. "If I had a choice, I really wouldn''t want to oppose prodigies like you. Shrek Academy is immensely fortunate to have you as its students. If only you were members of our Spirit Pagoda; I would''ve been able to retire long ago to pursue my ultimate goal."


    "Did you plan all of this just so you can gloat to us, Chairman Qiangu?" Tang Wulin asked in a cold voice.


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied with a faint smile, "Of course not, I''m merely expressing my sincerity. If you''re willing to renounce your identities as members of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, and pledge your allegiance to our Spirit Pagoda, I''m willing to let bygones be bygones and make sure that you''re given satisfactory compensation."


    Tang Wulin merely smiled and offered no response.


    Qiangu Dongfeng sighed, "I knew it wouldn''t be possible; members of Shrek Academy have always been stubborn mules. It''s a pity that your journey ends here. If Shrek Academy returns to its former glory, then our Spirit Pagoda will be crushed under its weight. Hence, I painstakingly set up all of this to lure you here."


    Tang Wulin asked, "How were you so certain that our seniors wouldn''t accompany us? Did you bribe the Battle God Hall as well?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "Of course. The Battle God Hall has a military background, and we share a common goal, so it was easy to convince them. As for your seniors, we''ve been constantly keeping them under close surveillance. If they had also come here, then we would''ve prepared an even more formidable lineup. However, they had to stay behind to guard the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. I originally thought that you would bring along one or two Limit Douluos, which would''ve made our job a little harder, but it seems that you''re very confident in yourselves.


    "You''ve proven yourselves with your displays of power, but I must say, you''re still too young. A young mind is a rash mind, and a rash mind tends to make mistakes. Unfortunately, some mistakes are irreversible, isn''t that right, Sect Master Tang?"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "How are you so sure that you''ll be able to keep us here?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "There is no path of retreat in the 18 levels of the Battle God Hall. This entire place is in complete lockdown, and you won''t be able to escape unless you possess godly powers. Sect Master Tang, I''ll give you one final chance. Without you and your friends, I''m sure that there''s no way that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect will be able to make a resurgence. Death or surrender; it''s your choice, but please consider wisely because the lives of your friends are also in your hands."


    Qiangu Dieting made his way toward Qiangu Dongfeng, and said, "Alright, that''s enough gloating from you. No one from Shrek Academy will ever surrender, so take them down. Capture them and extract their soul spirits, then disable their martial souls and return them to Shrek Academy; I promised Chen Xinjie that I wouldn''t kill them."

 Chapter 1721: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada

    "Yes, Father."


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response, and in the next instant, the unyielding aura of the Coiling Dragon Staff erupted from both of their bodies.


    The two Limit Douluos were undoubtedly the most powerful beings on this entire battlefield, and in terms of numbers, the Spirit Pagoda camp had more than twice the number of people the Shrek Academy camp had. The Shrek Academy camp was already missing Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi, and they had participated in a series of grueling battles not long ago, so they were at a very clear disadvantage.


    "Wulin, I''ll buy you some time; get out of here with everyone else," A''Ruheng said as he stepped forward, and his body instantly began to expand.


    With his Invincible Vajra Body, his stamina and defensive prowess were definitely unmatched.


    A''Ruheng had already made this decision as soon as he caught sight of the Spirit Pagoda camp. Regardless of how well enforced this area was, there was a chance that Tang Wulin and the others would be able to break out of it. Furthermore, he had some knowledge of Tang Wulin''s connection with the tree of life, and he knew that he had to create an opportunity for everyone.


    Right at this moment, a peerlessly domineering aura that was filled with boundless pride and reckless abandon suddenly erupted from behind A''Ruheng.


    Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng''s auras were already extremely astonishing, but for some reason, the Coiling Dragon Staves in their hands began to tremble uncontrollably in the face of this aura, as if they were in fear.


    Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng couldn''t help but exchange a bewildered glance upon seeing this.


    One''s aura was related to their power, but this relationship wasn''t absolute. Upon reaching a certain level, each Soul Master would possess a unique will, and this will would determine their power. The more powerful a Soul Master was, the more formidable their will was going to be.


    At this moment, the will being displayed by Tang Wulin was similar in nature to the Battling Heaven and Earth of the Qiangu Family, but it completely dominated Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng.


    As a quasigod, Qiangu Dieting had already cultivated Battling Heaven and Earth to its extreme limit, yet Tang Wulin''s aura was superior to his! What did this entail? It entailed that at this moment, his aura had exceeded the quasigod level and was infinitely approaching a divine caliber.


    How was this possible? He wasn''t even a Limit Douluo yet!


    The two Limit Douluos were instantly intimidated by this, and they reflexively held back the attacks they were about to unleash with their Coiling Dragon Staves.


    Tang Wulin patted A''Ruheng on the shoulder before stepping around him.


    At this moment, Qiangu Dieting was appraising Tang Wulin with scorching intensity in his eyes. The aura being displayed by Tang Wulin was what he had been searching for for all these years! If he could also possess an aura of this caliber, then perhaps he would be able to make that final breakthrough, and that was more important to him than anything else.


    "Where does this aura of yours come from?" Qiangu Dieting asked in an eager manner.


    Where did it come from?


    A figure surfaced in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    This figure was one of the three opponents his father had faced during the third trial of the Sea God.


    Tang Wulin could clearly recall that figure''s unmatched pride and domineering intent. He was also armed with a staff, but heaven and earth seemed to bow down to him.


    Through his battle with Guan Yue, Tang Wulin had developed a deeper understanding of the auras of those three formidable beings. Tang Wulin knew that his father had intentionally guided him into his spiritual world through their connection. Tang San didn''t get a chance to explain anything to him at the time, but those three auras were definitely of the divine caliber, and observing them had helped Tang Wulin in very subtle yet profound ways.


    His battle with Guan Yue turned out to be the catalyst for an instant of enlightenment, thereby allowing him to naturally utilize these three auras in his own battles.


    Even though he had only just developed this ability and wasn''t able to integrate it with his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques yet, just the aura alone was enough to intimidate Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng.


    Just as Qiangu Dieting suspected, the three auras that Tang Wulin had witnessed were indeed of the divine caliber, and those three gods had been able to pose a substantial threat even to the godking-level Tang San, so they were clearly no ordinary gods themselves; it was very likely that they were also of the godking level.


    As such, interpreting their auras had assisted Tang Wulin greatly, but not in terms of absolute power. Instead, it was a fundamental improvement that could elevate him to a whole new level.


    Just like in the case of his Restrict Life and Death, Dragon Emperor Charge, if he could cultivate this technique to its limit, then it would be a divine technique that was not inferior to the likes of Unpredictable Storm.


    As he released this domineering aura, he had already visualized the first half of his next Dragon Emperor Restriction Technique; it was going to be Restrict Heaven and Earth! As for the rest, that would have to be developed through more enlightenment and experimentation.


    "Do you really think you''ve won?" Tang Wulin asked with a smile, and no matter how one looked at him, he didn''t bear the appearance of someone who had fallen into a lethal trap.


    A cold light flashed through Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes. "There''s no use in trying to stall for time. Even if the Battle God Hall refrains from participating in this battle, there''s no way you''ll be able to get away. Even with the aura you''ve displayed, you''re still not a Limit Douluo yet. If you do become a Limit Douluo in the future, perhaps you''ll be the second Yun Ming, but you''re still too young, and this is where your journey ends."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I am indeed very young, but that doesn''t mean that I''m naive. On top of that, there are so many seniors supporting me; how could they allow me to make such simple and obvious mistakes? You had already begun plotting against us when you suggested to the federal parliament to force our Tang Sect into participating in this war. You intentionally leaked the news that Eternal Heaven was going to be used in the war, and you knew that for advocates of peace like our Shrek Academy and Tang Sect, the last thing we wanted to see was for Eternal Heaven to be used on the Star Luo Empire.


    "On top of that, Shrek City was destroyed by a godslayer missile, so we hold the utmost contempt for these weapons. Your thought process was entirely correct. You used these factors against us, and I''ll admit that you did it very well. When we first received this news, our initial thought was to circumvent this war, which led us to the plan of targeting Eternal Heaven, thereby luring us into your trap."


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. At this moment, he wasn''t in a hurry to strike anymore. With the power displayed by Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng''s Invincible Vajra Body, even the Spirit Pagoda camp would have to expend a significant price to take down the Shrek Academy camp. However, if he could crush his opponents on a psychological basis first, then everything would become much easier.


    "Keep going; what happened next?" Qiangu Dongfeng made an inviting hand gesture as a smile appeared on his face.


    Tang Wulin shrugged in response. "After that, you continued to lure us deeper into your trap, even going as far as to intentionally leak the fact that Eternal Heaven was being guarded by the Sea God Legion. I must admit that your plan was watertight; you even used the history between Elder Long and the Boundless Ocean Douluo to your advantage. I don''t know how you managed to convince the Boundless Ocean Douluo, but your plan was already halfway to success once you persuaded the Boundless Ocean Douluo to lie to Elder Long and tell her that Eternal Heaven was situated on the 18th level of the Battle God Hall.


    "I''m sure your Spirit Pagoda had to expend quite a heavy price for this, right?"

 Chapter 1722: While the Oriole Lurks Behind

    Qiangu Dongfeng finally sensed that something was amiss upon hearing this, and his brows furrowed slightly as a cold light shimmered within his eyes.


    However, Tang Wulin paid no heed to the change in his expression, and continued, "And then you set your plan into motion. You created this setting to fool us into thinking that the Battle God Hall was tightly guarded, thereby indicating that Eternal Heaven is being stored here. You didn''t know what method we would employ to obtain Eternal Heaven, but you knew that we would definitely come as Eternal Heaven is far too alluring to us, right?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response. "That''s right, I knew you had the ability to make it here. You were able to disguise yourselves and ruin my joust for a spouse event, so you definitely also had a way to get into the Central Legion; I just didn''t think that you would get here so soon. If you had arrived two days later, we would''ve had even more measures prepared."


    Tang Wulin said, "I certainly don''t doubt that. You devised this painstaking plan and enlisted the help of the Battle God Hall to ensure that this would be an inescapable trap. At least, on the surface, it looks like your trap has worked, and everything is going according to your plan. However, there''s a question that I have for you, Chairman Qiangu."


    "Go ahead," Qiangu Dongfeng prompted.


    Tang Wulin asked, "If this is a trap, then where is Eternal Heaven actually being stored? Is your Spirit Pagoda aware of this information?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng smiled, and replied, "I considered that as well. Eternal Heaven is the federation''s final trump card, and its location is information of the highest level of confidentiality, so even we don''t know where it is. As such, even if our plan had been leaked, you still wouldn''t have any chance of getting your hands on Eternal Heaven."


    Qiangu Dongfeng was very confident as he spoke, and this was the key to why he had always felt this plan to be infallible.


    He had already warned that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect would definitely come after Eternal Heaven, and he had requested the higher-ups of the federal military to keep a close eye on the godslayer missile. He then used the existence of Eternal Heaven to plot against Tang Wulin and his friends.


    Tang Wulin continued, "You may not know its location, but someone has to know, right?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    Of course someone knew of its location. Otherwise, how was the federation supposed to use the missile when required? Only the highest-ranking members of the federal military knew of Eternal Heaven''s true storage location, and it was extremely tightly guarded, so what was Tang Wulin trying to say here?


    Tang Wulin continued, "Someone has to know, and they have to be the highest-ranking officials of the military, people absolutely loyal to the federation. Hence, that narrows down the list significantly, but I''m sure one particular person is on that list."


    A hint of unease finally began to well up within Qiangu Dongfeng''s heart. "Who are you referring to?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "I''m naturally referring to the person that you used and convinced to cooperate with your plan!"


    Qiangu Dongfeng faltered slightly upon hearing this, clearly failing to understand, but Qiangu Dieting immediately made a realization, and his expression darkened as he asked, "You''re talking about Chen Xinjie, right?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Of course. The Boundless Ocean Douluo is arguably the most powerful official in the military, the hall master of the Battle God Hall, the commander-in-chief of the Sea God Legion; no one has more right than he does to know the location of Eternal Heaven, isn''t that right? You managed to convince him, so there''s naturally no way that he would''ve leaked the information to us. In fact, even his meeting with Elder Long took place under your surveillance, right? I''m sure I haven''t made any errors in judgment here."


    Qiangu Dieting asked in a cold voice, "Are you telling me that a Limit Douluo who values honor over his own life would go back on his word and commit treason to leak the location of Eternal Heaven to you?"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "Theoretically, it would be impossible. The Boundless Ocean Douluo dedicated his entire life to the federation military and even gave up on the love of his life. He''s become one of the most powerful beings in this world and the hall master of the Battle God Hall, and behind that is a story of perseverance and glory. To him, honor really is more important than his life, and he would never go back on his promise to you, so he deceived Elder Long. However, you failed to take into account that love can also be more important than one''s life, and it can even exceed the value of honor; it''s something that some people are willing to pursue at all costs.


    "Ultimately, your failure stems from your underestimation of Elder Long''s importance to the Boundless Ocean Douluo, and you underestimated the impact of their meeting."


    Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng''s expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he continued, "If I''m not mistaken, the Heartless Douluo and the Amorous Douluo should''ve already obtained Eternal Heaven. I know that you''ve disabled all communication devices here; why don''t you give the Spirit Pagoda headquarters a call to see if it''s been visited by some guests?"


    All of the members of the Spirit Pagoda camp were stunned to hear this, and even the people in the Shrek Academy camp were completely dumbfounded.


    What was going on? A''Ruheng turned to Tang Wulin with a flabbergasted expression, while Tang Wulin continued to appraise the Spirit Pagoda camp with a faint smile.


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to Qiangu Dieting, and the latter only hesitated momentarily before instructing, "Make the call."


    Qiangu Dongfeng pulled out his soul communicator, which had a special signal, and immediately dialed the number of the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    The call was almost immediately connected, and a familiar voice rang out from the other end.


    "Long time no talk, Brother Qiangu; I hope you''ve been well."


    The voice belonged to none other than Amorous Douluo Zang Xin; he was currently in the Spirit Pagoda headquarters!


    "Zang Xin!" Qiangu Dongfeng''s voice immediately cooled to a freezing point.


    Zang Xin said, "It''s been so long since we last met, so Old Man Cao and I decided to pay you a visit, but you were absent. We came here with a present for you. Well, actually, it''s a present for the Spirit Pagoda; I hope you''ll be pleased with it. Come over here, boy; tell your father what present we brought with us."


    An urgent voice immediately rang out. "Come back, Grandfather! They, they somehow managed to get their hands on Eternal Heaven, and it''s definitely the real Eternal Heaven! Come back and save me!"


    A hint of desperation had crept into Qiangu Zhangting''s voice at the end.


    No one was completely fearless in the face of death, and the more powerful one was, the more they cherished their own life as their lifespan was far longer than that of the average person.


    In the face of Eternal Heaven, not only was he going to die, the entire Spirit Pagoda headquarters would cease to exist, just like Shrek City. In fact, given the power of Eternal Heaven, the Spirit Pagoda headquarters would suffer an even more terrible fate.

 Chapter 1723: The True Mastermind

    At the very least, the students of Shrek Academy had all survived, but Eternal Heaven would most likely be able to destroy the entire Spirit Pagoda headquarters along with everything up to a kilometer underground; there would definitely be no survivors!


    "Don''t you dare, Zang Xin! Don''t forget that Tang Wulin and the others are still at our mercy. Give Eternal Heaven to my son, and I''ll release them."


    Even the cunning and wily Qiangu Dongfeng was becoming blind with rage!


    He had painstakingly developed this plan, only for everything to be ruined by such a massive twist; he was completely unable to accept this outcome!


    Zang Xin sighed, "Do you still not know what''s happening, Brother Qiangu? Chen Xinjie has already told us Eternal Heaven''s location and helped us secure it; do you think he''d allow you to do anything to Wulin and the others on his territory? From the very beginning, your plan was destined to fail. We''re not asking for much; just get your son to transfer some money to our Tang Sect."


    Right at this moment, a beam of light descended from the heavens and landed at the direct center of the 18th level. A figure then appeared within the light. This was an elderly man with a head of impeccably combed silver hair, wearing a set of antiquated robes that belonged to a distant era.


    He had his hands clasped behind his back, and there was a complex look in his eyes.


    Qiangu Dieting immediately flared up with rage at the sight of this man. "Chen Xinjie!"


    That''s right, the man who had just arrived was none other than Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie!


    Chen Xinjie sighed, "My apologies, Brother Dieting; I didn''t want to have to do this, but I''ve lived my entire life for my clan, for glory, for the Battle God Hall, and in the process, I''ve become indebted to many people, especially her. I''ve already handed in my resignation to the federal parliament, and from this moment forth, I have nothing to do with the military and the Battle God Hall; I''m just a normal Soul Master. After this, I''m going to Shrek Academy, to her side. From the moment I told her the truth in secret, the past Chen Xinjie was already dead.


    "All that remains is an old man who''s going to dedicate the rest of his life to the woman he loves, regardless of how she treats me. My sincerest apologies, once again."


    Chen Xinjie extended a deep bow toward Qiangu Dieting with an apologetic look in his eyes as he spoke.


    "How could you do this, Chen Xinjie? You''ve betrayed the entire federation; you''re a treasonous criminal!" Qiangu Dongfeng exclaimed.


    Chen Xinjie replied, "That''s nothing compared to the crimes I''ve committed against her. I already told you that the past Chen Xinjie is already dead; the federation can pass down any judgment upon me, and if anyone from the Battle God Hall wishes to punish me, then they can go ahead. However, I''m going to retaliate for her sake. I must return to her side and use the rest of my life to repay her, even if I can only make up a tiny fraction of the debt that I owe her."


    "He''s gone insane!" Qiangu Dieting roared with fury.


    "Chen Xinjie, at the very least, you have to keep out of this matter from now on."


    This was his only hope to turn the tables; he had to capture everyone from the Shrek Academy camp at all costs.


    "Do you still not understand that your plan has already failed?" Another voice rang out, and Guan Yue descended beside Chen Xinjie.


    "Guan Yue, even you..." Qiangu Dieting''s eyes widened with astonishment.


    Even the perpetually warm and hospitable Guan Yue was exuding a frosty aura.


    "If I didn''t have to consider the stability of the continent, I would make sure that this is your final resting place! I''m sure you''re unaware that I was once a student of Shrek Academy and a candidate to become one of Shrek''s Seven Monsters. I left the academy to join the Battle God Hall as I owed Xinjie a great debt, but I will always be a member of Shrek Academy. The Atlas Douluo that you plotted against in collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult was none other than my senior disciple brother! If we had concrete evidence of your collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult, then we''d make sure to keep you here forever!"


    One Battle God after another descended from the heavens, landing behind the two hall masters, and Qiangu Dongfeng felt as if he were about to go insane.


    Never did he imagine that all of his painstaking planning would lead to this outcome.


    "You, you Battle Gods are being paid a salary by the federation and enjoying the federation''s resources; are you going to help these two traitors as well?" Qiangu Dongfeng was beginning to grasp at straws now.


    As the first Battle God, Ao Rui made his way over to Guan Yue, and declared, "The hall master is my teacher; everything that I have was given to me by my teacher, so his decision is mine."


    He paused here as a derisive look appeared in his eyes, then continued, "Besides, are we really betraying the federation here? You two are far too ambitious for your own good, even going as far as to nurture a private army; are we really the traitors here? Perhaps it''s best for Eternal Heaven to be held by the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and the military should undergo an overhaul; the federal parliament shouldn''t be under the control of dangerously ambitious people like you."


    At this point, Qiangu Dongfeng and his father knew the game was up. Only now did they realize that they were the prey instead of the hunters.


    Chen Xinjie''s eyes were still full of mixed emotions as he turned to Tang Wulin. "Let them go, Sect Master Tang. I''m indebted to them for going back on my word, and this is my final wish. After this, I''ll return to Shrek Academy with you; what do you think?"


    "Alright, we''ll do as you say, Senior," Tang Wulin replied in a respectful manner.


    It could be said that the one who had played the truly instrumental role in this victory wasn''t Tang Wulin, nor was it the Amorous Douluo or the Heartless Douluo. Instead, it was Long Yeyue.


    That day, Chen Xinjie had agreed to the Spirit Pagoda that he would tell Long Yeyue that Eternal Heaven was situated on the 18th level of the Battle God Hall. The Spirit Pagoda had promised the Battle God Hall irresistible compensation, and on top of that, Chen Xinjie was also somewhat intrinsically motivated to agree to this plan. Long Yeyue''s rejection had evoked a sense of indignation within his heart, and he really did want to instigate this war.


    However, when Long Yeyue had told him that she had only married someone else as she was bearing his child at the time, Chen Xinjie felt as if a sword had been driven through his heart.


    The reality was that she had once had his child, and the child was stillborn, which was why she resented him so intensely. Furthermore, even though she had married someone else, she had never betrayed him, and throughout her life, he remained the only man that she had had physical relations with.


    At the time, Chen Xinjie had been struck by a sense of crushing pain and despair.


    All of Long Yeyue''s resentment and coldness toward him suddenly became justified, and she didn''t even need to explain herself any further beyond that.


    Only then did Chen Xinjie realize just how heavily indebted he was toward her. In contrast with Long Yeyue, he had married someone and produced a long line of descendants while also rising to dizzying heights in his military career.


    However, Long Yeyue had nothing. She had remained in Shrek Academy her entire life, and she didn''t even have any next of kin to look after her.


    It was only after realizing this that he came to understand just how much he owed her, and there was naturally no way he could continue to cooperate with the Spirit Pagoda after that.


    In reality, the plan that Tang Wulin was carrying out hadn''t been devised by the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect, Elder Long, Yali, or even himself. Instead, the mastermind was none other than Chen Xinjie.

 Chapter 1724: The Past Boundless Ocean Douluo is Dead

    Of course, only a tiny handful of people were aware of this plan, and in order to maintain secrecy, Tang Wulin was the only member of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters who knew the truth.


    Now, the truth had finally been revealed, and Eternal Heaven had also fallen into the hands of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. This was only a part of Chen Xinjie''s repentance.


    On that day, Chen Xinjie had visited Shrek Academy in person to tell Long Yeyue the truth, but Long Yeyue had refused to see him, so he had met with Tang Wulin instead and devised this plan with him.


    Long Yeyue had been willing to set aside her resentment for Chen Xinjie to ask him for the whereabouts of Eternal Heaven, so it was clear that this was extremely important for Shrek Academy, and Chen Xinjie decided to help Shrek Academy.


    In doing so, he was essentially giving up everything that he currently owned.


    Even if all of the Battle Gods and everyone in this world were to approve of his actions, he simply couldn''t get over himself.


    Thus, he resigned from all of his positions, and just as he had said, the past Chen Xinjie was already dead. In his place was a new Chen Xinjie who was going to repay Long Yeyue at all costs.


    As such, nothing that Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng said could alter his decision; everything had already been decided following Long Yeyue''s visit.


    Back when they had first become romantic partners over a century ago, neither of them could''ve imagined that their relationship would alter the political landscape of the entire continent someday.


    Qiangu Dieting heaved a long sigh, and he knew that there was no point in saying anything further. He cast a final cold glance at Chen Xinjie, then waved a hand, and instructed, "Let''s go!"


    Thus, the Spirit Pagoda camp departed, and Chen Xinjie turned to Guan Yue with a forlorn expression. "Once I''m gone, the Battle God Hall will rest on your shoulders. However, I couldn''t think of a better person to entrust the Battle God Hall to. I''ve known for a very long time that your powers aren''t inferior to mine, but you were never competitive and remained humble to a fault. After this, the political landscape of the entire continent is most likely going to shift, and there''s basically no chance that the war will take place.


    "I''m guessing there will be some major changes in the federal parliament, and perhaps the military will impeach me, but none of that matters anymore. Eternal Heaven is in the hands of Shrek Academy, so they won''t be able to do anything regardless of how big a fuss they kick up."


    A hint of sadness appeared in Guan Yue''s eyes. "Are you really just leaving like this, old friend?"


    Having partnered with Chen Xinjie for so many years, the two had developed a deep bond. Chen Xinjie was very domineering, but he had always been very respectful toward Guan Yue. Chen Xinjie managed the external affairs, while Guan Yue looked after the Battle God Hall from the inside, and under their management, the Battle God Hall had gone from strength to strength.


    Chen Xinjie was so revered in the military that at the very least, he had absolute authority in the Sea God Legion and the Battle God Hall, so the federation wouldn''t dare to do anything to him. Otherwise, a military revolt could take place, and that was not something that the federation could afford to have happened.


    Thus, even if Chen Xinjie decided to remain in his position, no one would be able to do anything to him.


    "Everyone has to be responsible for their own actions, and I''m no exception. All I want is to go to Yeyue and not have to think about anything else. Besides, I''m already an old man, and it''s about time I stepped down. Once I leave, you''ll be the hall master, and Ao Rui will be the vice-hall master. Shrek Academy agreed to forge a suit of four-word battle armor for us free of charge, and I think it should go to Ao Rui. With the foundation he''s accumulated during all his years of cultivation, there''s a good chance that he''ll be able to progress to the Limit Douluo level with a suit of four-word battle armor."


    "Hall Master!" Rather than being elated to hear this, Ao Rui fell to his knees with a griefstricken expression before kowtowing to Chen Xinjie.


    "Hall Master!" All of the other Battle Gods quickly followed suit.


    To them, Chen Xinjie was not just their leader, but also a mentoring father figure. He was always very strict, but without him, none of them would be standing where they were today.


    Time and time again, Chen Xinjie had secured massive amounts of resources from the federation to help them grow and develop, and what they admired most about Chen Xinjie was that he was always able to ensure fairness and justice under all circumstances.


    As such, the Battle God Hall was an extremely cohesive and harmonious unit, and Chen Xinjie''s decisions almost always represented the entire Battle God Hall. In fact, even if he were to declare that the Battle God Hall was defecting to Shrek Academy, no one would raise any objections.


    "What are you all doing?" Chen Xinjie swept his hands through the air, releasing a burst of gentle soul power to help everyone to their feet.


    Even though he bore the appearance of a wizened elderly man, his aura still belonged to an invincible quasigod.


    At this point, Tang Wulin and the others had arrived beside the Battle Gods, and Tang Wulin smiled as he said, "There''s no need to be so sad, everyone; Shrek Academy welcomes visits from all of you at any time. It''s actually a good thing that the Boundless Ocean Douluo is coming to our academy. Truth be told, the academy currently has a way of elevating one''s life energy, and I can guarantee that the Boundless Ocean Douluo''s lifespan will be extended by at least 20 years at our academy, so you''ll have a lot more time to see him. On top of that, our Shrek Academy will be more than happy to forge an alliance with the Battle God Hall."


    This was a perfect opportunity to improve the relationship between the two organizations, and it really was thanks to Guan Yue and Chen Xinjie''s assistance that they had been able to obtain Eternal Heaven. In addition to that, Guan Yue had guided him on his path to attaining spear essence, and Tang Wulin naturally had to repay him for this.


    Eternal Heaven had switched hands, and the entire continent was going to undergo some massive changes. The overly ambitious Spirit Pagoda and Eagle Faction were undoubtedly going to be dealt heavy blows, and without Chen Xinjie, the military was also going to be far less formidable than it had been in the past.


    As one of the pillars of the federation, the Battle God Hall had an extremely close relationship with both the Central Legion and the Sea God Legion, so it would definitely benefit Shrek Academy immensely to forge an alliance with the Battle God Hall.


    As for the Spirit Pagoda, Tang Wulin harbored nothing but resentment toward them, but this wasn''t the time to exact revenge. Once the situation on the continent stabilized, the first thing he was going to do was to seek out the Holy Spirit Cult.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was an entity that could shake the foundation of the entire world, and it had to be completely destroyed.


    After the Holy Spirit Cult, it would be the Spirit Pagoda''s turn to get what they deserved.


    All of the Battle Gods were astonished to hear what Tang Wulin had just said.


    One had to realize that the lifespans of Limit Douluos were already extremely lengthy. Chen Xinjie had already lived for over 100 years, and barring any mishaps, 200 was a milestone that he would reach without any issues. However, having been in the military for so many years, Chen Xinjie had sustained many chronic injuries, and his bodily condition had been on the wane during the past few years. At the very most, he would have around a dozen to 20 years left to live.


    If his lifespan could be extended by 20 years, then that would mean that he would be able to live for 30 to 40 more years! That was music to everyone''s ears!


    "Even I''m tempted to go with you now," Guan Yue said with a wry smile.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Shrek Academy welcomes you with open arms!"


    Guan Yue had been assisting them to the best of his abilities ever since the joust for a spouse event, and it was clear that he harbored genuine love and devotion for Shrek Academy. With him as the hall master of the Battle God Hall, Tang Wulin had nothing to worry about.


    Guan Yue shook his head in response. "Old Man Chen is already going with you; if I were to go as well, the federation wouldn''t be willing to let things slide. Let''s go and see those two friends of yours; I have a feeling that the girl has very good chances of making a breakthrough."

 Chapter 1725: Metamorphosis of the Stargod Sword

    The girl that he was referring to was naturally none other than Ye Xinglan, who was essentially forcing herself to attain sword essence.


    Leaving the 18th level was far easier than arriving, and Tang Wulin could sense that there were many secrets in the Battle God Hall that they hadn''t seen. It appeared that the Battle God Hall had far more up its sleeve than they had imagined.


    Upon returning to the first level, they discovered that Ye Xinglan was still enveloped within the cocoon of light, but the cocoon was currently trembling incessantly, as if there were something struggling to tear its way out of the cocoon.


    Xu Lizhi was desperately trying to find ways to help, but there was nothing he could do.


    Tang Wulin turned to Chen Xinjie, and asked, "Is there any way to help her, Senior Chen?"


    Chen Xinjie shook his head in response. "Even though she forced herself into this state, I can sense that her foundation is very solid. She can only rely on herself to attain sword essence. Otherwise, it would be far too cheap. Just place your trust in her. Through my observation, I can tell that she has exceptional willpower, and that''s even more important than aptitude when it comes to attaining weapon essence. The greater one''s willpower, the greater chance of success."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response, and he could only repress his concern as he waited off to the side.


    Time slowly passed by, and the trembling of the cocoon was becoming more and more violent. Everyone was looking on with serious expressions as they knew that the key moment had arrived. If Ye Xinglan failed to make a breakthrough here, then the harm inflicted upon her would most likely be permanent, meaning that she would never be able to take this step.


    She had chosen this path for herself, and success was the only option.


    This had always been Ye Xinglan''s personality, and it couldn''t be changed by anyone.


    Finally, a burst of loud ringing sound, and a gash appeared on the top of the cocoon, immediately following which a burst of enormous sword intent erupted forth.


    The entire Battle God Hall began to tremor slightly, and everyone felt as if the sword intent were about to pierce through their bodies, forcing them to draw upon their soul power to protect themselves.


    The cocoon crumbled, and a figure rose up into the sky. All of the sword intent instantly subsided, and the figure returned to her original appearance.


    Ye Xinglan''s long hair had come undone and was trailing down her shoulders, adding a hint of feminine charm to her cold disposition.


    She was hovering in mid-air, and even though she wasn''t holding her sword, it was as if her entire being had become a sword, but the sharpness of the sword was being concealed.


    As such, her aura had become less sharp and more gentle. In fact, even her appearance had become more gentle compared with prior to her metamorphosis.


    She descended from the heavens, and a warm look appeared in her eyes as her gaze fell upon Xu Lizhi.


    Xu Lizhi was ecstatic to see that she was unharmed, and he quickly rushed over to her. "Are you alright, Sister Xinglan? Are you in any pain or discomfort?"


    "I''m fine," Ye Xinglan replied in a gentle voice.


    Xu Lizhi heaved a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "I''m glad that you''re ok."


    Ye Xinglan suddenly spread her arms open and wound them around Xu Lizhi''s rotund waist as she laid her head down onto his shoulder. "I''m sorry for being so willful and selfish, Lizhi. I was always obsessing over my sword and never considered your feelings; I''ll never be like that again."


    Xu Lizhi was rooted to the spot upon hearing this, and everyone else from Shrek Academy was also astonished.


    Had Ye Xinglan been possessed? Was this still her? Since when was she capable of being so gentle and saying something like this?


    The ones with the strongest reactions to this were Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu, who were like a pair of twins with their mouths gaped open in disbelief.


    Even Yuanen Yehui was completely dumbfounded, and Xu Xiaoyan had even thrown her hand over her own mouth.


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids twitched slightly as he rubbed his own eyes.


    Was this really Ye Xinglan? Never did they think that she would say something so gentle and passionate in front of so many people!


    "I was about to fail just now. In fact, I was on the verge of failing on multiple occasions. My heart was filled with disappointment and indignation, but I had given everything I had; I had expended all of my ability and willpower, and I couldn''t persevere any longer. I was so close to attaining sword essence, but it remained just out of my reach, and I couldn''t figure out why. I was so, so sad, and I thought that I was going to die. Perhaps people on the brink of death experience a heightened sense of awareness, but in that instant, I was able to sense your emotions.


    "You''ve always been by my side for so many years, and I was always aware of your feelings, but even though I reciprocate your love, I was unable to express it. Just now, I regretted everything. I regretted never truly accepting your feelings and being with you; I regretted wasting so much of the precious time we had together. I''m sorry, Lizhi; I should''ve apologized to you long ago. It was exactly because I could sense your anxiety, unease, and your unwavering love for me that I finally understood why I haven''t been able to attain sword essence.


    "It''s because my sword was too lonesome. It was sharp, but that was all; it was devoid of emotion and substance. In that instant, when I was on the brink of death, I realized that sacrificing everything I had wasn''t the key to reaching the pinnacle. Instead, I should''ve been striving to gain more rather than to sacrifice everything. I was unwilling to express my emotions, so they were constantly repressed deep within my heart. You are so important to me, yet I refused to acknowledge that, and as a result, my sword soul remained stagnant.


    "It was also in that instant that I truly came to understand just how important you are to me. You are an irreplaceable figure in my life. Lizhi, I love you."


    As she completed her confession in front of everyone, her entire body seemed to be glowing. In that instant, Ye Xinglan truly opened up her heart to Xu Lizhi, and it was also in this moment that Xu Lizhi finally felt like she was truly his woman.


    He slowly returned to his senses and locked Ye Xinglan in a tight embrace as tears flowed uncontrollably down his face. His lips were trembling, but he was unable to muster up so much as a single word.


    In this moment, he was the only thing in Ye Xinglan''s eyes, and the entire outside world had lost focus.


    No one was going to disrupt this moment for them; everyone''s hearts were filled with genuine well wishes.


    Ling Zichen was standing in her mecha not far behind Tang Wulin, and her eyes were slightly glazed over.


    Just a moment ago, her heart had been filled with fury toward Tang Wulin. It was clear that he had kept everything a secret from her and struck a deal with the Battle God Hall without her knowledge.


    She had genuinely thought that they were here to secure Eternal Heaven, and after finding out the truth, she wanted nothing better than to give him a mighty slap!


    She had been played for a fool! Did he expect her to leak the secret to the world had she been told? What a bastard!

 Chapter 1726: Successful Return

    At the time, she was fuming with rage, but it would''ve been unbecoming of her to throw a tantrum in front of so many people. Thus, her rage had been building and was on the verge of overflowing, but the scene unfolding before her rooted her to the spot.


    In particular, after hearing Ye Xinglan''s heartfelt monologue, she felt like the two of them were very similar people.


    She had also sacrificed everything for her soul technology research, including her feelings and emotions.


    Could it be that only by allowing herself to feel those emotions could she reach a higher level?


    Before she knew it, her fury toward Tang Wulin had gradually faded away. Looking at his tall and reliable figure, she couldn''t help but place herself in his shoes and think from his perspective.


    He was the Tang Sect Master and the Sea God''s Pavilion Master; no one had more pressure and responsibilities on their shoulders than he did.


    Throughout this operation, he was the only one who knew the truth, yet none of what had happened earlier had been an act. The Battle Gods were most likely also unaware of the truth, and the sparring match had benefited both sides immensely.


    For Soul Masters of their caliber, practical combat experience was the best driver of growth and improvement, so multiple birds were being killed here with one stone.


    Was this guy really that smart?


    Furthermore, this trip had shown Ling Zichen that it would be impossible to replace Soul Masters with mechas, at least in this generation.


    Regardless of how powerful mechas became, they simply couldn''t be as versatile as Soul Masters, and even the most powerful Mechas couldn''t compare with those who stood at the pinnacle of the Soul Master world.


    Her one-sided battle against Mo Zihong had displayed this to her, and after that, she had witnessed the battle between Tang Wulin and Guan Yue. Even though she had only just barely regained her consciousness at the time, that battle had still left an everlasting impression on her.


    Perhaps only the godslayer missiles could compare with the most exceptional Soul Master when it came to power, but Soul Masters were significantly superior when it came to versatility.


    In that instant, she finally understood that she had been hitting so many road bumps in her research precisely because she was just a normal person. The root of all of her problems stemmed from the fact that she had always hoped to develop a mecha that could be used by a normal person and allow them to become more powerful than Soul Masters, yet the reality was that the most powerful mechas had to be piloted by the most powerful Soul Masters.


    The mechas that she had developed were more formidable than normal mechas, but what if she also switched her focus to developing mechas for the most powerful Soul Masters? Perhaps she would''ve made many significant breakthroughs long ago.


    Would a whole new world be opened up to her if she stopped being so stubborn and devoted?


    With that in mind, an indescribable feeling began to well up in her heart, and she had never felt so relaxed before. It turned out that empathy and the ability to think in the position of others was a fantastic source of inspiration.


    Perhaps it was time that she found a man for herself. Perhaps if she could find a man she could rely on, the pressure on her would be somewhat alleviated, and she would be more inspired.


    She couldn''t help but turn her gaze toward Tang Wulin as these thoughts occurred to her.


    If it were him, then she could consider it. After all, he wasn''t too bad.


    Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of the thoughts and emotions flashing through Ling Zichen''s heart. In this moment, his heart was filled with joy for Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan.


    All of Shrek''s Seven Monsters had entered relationships, but none of them had actually gotten married; perhaps they were going to be the first pair.


    Chen Xinjie''s eyes were filled with a hint of forlorn reminiscence. Many years ago, he and Long Yeyue had also confessed to one another in a similar fashion. So much time had passed then, and at his age, he no longer regretted anything as he didn''t have enough time left to linger on regrets. All he wanted was to go to Long Yeyue as soon as possible and stay by her side no matter what.


    "Ahem." Chen Xinjie cleared his throat, and Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan were finally brought back to reality.


    A deep blush immediately appeared on Ye Xinglan''s face, and only now did she realize that there were so many bystanders present.


    Having just made a breakthrough, she was focused wholeheartedly on expressing all of her emotions, and she had thought that Xu Lizhi was the only person with her; only now did the realization that they were being watched set in, and she was feeling extremely embarrassed.


    She buried her head into Xu Lizhi''s chest and gently punched his shoulders, refusing to raise her head no matter what.


    Tang Wulin stepped in to alleviate the awkwardness, and said, "Alright, let''s get back to the academy."


    After that, he made an inviting hand gesture toward Chen Xinjie for him to lead the way out.


    Guan Yue and the Battle Gods accompanied them all the way to the exit of the Battle God Hall, and in order to save the tears and heartache, Chen Xinjie merely departed without any further parting words.


    With Chen Xinjie leading the way, no one in the Central Legion was going to attack the group.


    All of the surrounding soldiers of the Central Legion saluted as Chen Xinjie passed by, and all of the weapons aimed at the exit of the Battle God Hall were directed up into the heavens.


    Thus, everyone promptly departed without a hitch.


    Several days later, several pieces of astonishing news spread through the entire Douluo Federation.


    The Battle God Hall Master and commander-in-chief of the Sea God Legion, Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie, had retired with immediate effect due to health reasons. At the same time, the military action that the federation was preparing to take against the Star Luo Empire was temporarily terminated due to lack of preparation, and no resumption was scheduled.


    Due to Chen Xinjie''s resignation, the military underwent a massive change. In particular, the question of who was going to succeed Chen Xinjie as the commander-in-chief of the Sea God Legion became a hotly contested topic.


    The entire federal parliament was also significantly affected, and all types of rumors were being spread.


    An entire month passed, and the parliament held a snap election, during which the Dove Faction gained far more parliamentary seats than before.


    Immediately thereafter came another piece of shocking news: following extensive discussions, the parliament had decided to revoke the branding of the Tang Sect as a treasonous organization.


    The Tang Sect was going to remain an extremely important organization to the Douluo Federation, and at least two leading figures of the Tang Sect were invited to undertake positions in the federal parliament.


    At the same time, the rebuild of Shrek Academy was officially approved, and the parliament extended the same invitation to the academy, only to be refused as Shrek Academy wished to maintain its perpetually neutral stance.


    Within the span of just a few months, the political landscape had become completely unrecognizable, and those in the know could clearly see that the most powerful organization during this period of time seemed to have gone radio silent.


    Throughout all of these massive changes, the Spirit Pagoda hadn''t issued any public statements, and it was as if the entire organization had disappeared.


    After all of these major shifts, the political landscape began to stabilize after a few months, and the Dove Faction was on par with the Eagle Faction again.


    ......


    "Why, Big Sister? Why did you do this? You knew it was him all along, didn''t you?" Shen Xing interrogated in an enraged manner.


    Shen Yue was no longer a young woman, but she was still quite beautiful. However, what was most astonishing was the fact that she was currently wearing general epaulets, and even Shen Xing had been promoted to become a colonel.


    "What are you doing? Is this any way to be speaking to your superior?" Shen Yue asked as she put on a stern expression.


    Under normal circumstances, Shen Xing would reflexively be a little fearful of her sister''s stern facade, but on this day, her fury was outweighing her fear.

 Chapter 1727: Old Man Chen the Sweeper

    "Am I wrong? You knew it was him all along, and you knew that he was the cause of my nightmares, yet you intentionally arranged a meeting between us! Is this how you treat your sister?" Shen Xing was on the verge of tears at this point.


    A hint of sympathy welled up in Shen Yue''s heart at the sight of Shen Xing''s fragile display, and she sighed, "Members of our family must endure more hardship than the average person. I''ll admit that I arranged everything, and in reality, we have been working very closely with Shrek Academy for a very long time. In fact, we are the military family with the closest relationship with Shrek Academy; you simply didn''t know this as you haven''t entered the core circle of our family yet. Why do you think I was assigned to the Northsea Legion in the past? The truth of the matter is that we''ve always been looking after the demonic island for Shrek Academy."


    Shen Xing faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Why didn''t you tell me all this earlier?"


    Shen Yue sighed, "With your stubborn personality, you would''ve kicked up a huge fuss as soon as I told you. Perhaps your encounter with him really was a nightmarish experience, but don''t you feel like your growth was accelerated during the course of this nightmare? Without that experience, how would you have reached the rank of colonel at such a young age?"


    Shen Xing bit down on her lower lip, and she was suddenly at a loss for what to say or do.


    A meaningful look appeared in Shen Yue''s eyes as she said, "If you can''t forget him, then go to Shrek Academy to look for him."


    "Go to Shrek Academy? What can I do there?" Shen Xing asked.


    Shen Yue replied, "I don''t know; that''s up to you. You have to directly face your feelings toward him. Let me ask you this: what if he really had been your blind date partner on that day?"


    Shen Xing shuddered slightly upon hearing this, and she suddenly arrived at a realization as a stunned look appeared on her face.


    Shen Xing sighed, "I''ve already done everything in my power to protect you. Otherwise, according to the will of the seniors in our family, they would want you to discard your dignity and throw yourself at him at all costs. Given your past history with him and his constantly elevating status, you would be the perfect candidate to enter a political marriage with him to benefit our family, but is that what you want?"


    Shen Xing stared blankly at Shen Yue.


    Was that what she wanted? She really didn''t know.


    The thought of a political marriage orchestrated by her family immediately evoked a sense of resentment within her. She truly hated being a member of such a family. If she were to enter a political marriage, she would become a pawn, a tool that would strengthen her family''s bond with Shrek Academy.


    Would she really be able to be with him under such an arrangement, especially considering he already had another woman in his heart?


    "Don''t think too much about it. Our family really did use you throughout the course of all of this, and that''s why you were able to progress so quickly up the military ladder. I''ve taken on as much pressure for you as I can in exchange for your freedom. You can do whatever you want from now on; no one is going to try to use you again."


    Shen Yue''s voice had become a lot gentler as she spoke.


    "Big Sister..." Shen Xing threw her arms around Shen Yue in a tight embrace as tears flowed down her face.


    Shen Yue sighed with a wry smile, "I''ve already sacrificed far too much for our family; I don''t want my only sister to walk the same path as I did. I''ve taken on all of the responsibility of our generation, so you don''t need to shoulder any of the burden. I don''t regret anything that happened in the past. At the very least, it helped you grow and mature, and you''re able to look after yourself now. Your future is now in your hands; do with it as you please."


    "But Big Sister, I really don''t know what to do..."


    ......


    The construction of Shrek City was still ongoing, and most of the forestation project around the main school building was already complete. Construction for the housing for the Yuanen Family was also complete, and Shrek Academy had officially announced that it was giving a sector of land that spanned a quarter of the circumference of the Sea God''s Lake permanently to the Tang Sect.


    In that area, the Tang Sect was responsible for its own construction, which was also progressing at a rapid rate.


    The entire Shrek City was heading in a very positive direction.


    After the first semester of classes, some students had already been expelled, but the vast majority of students were able to fulfill the lofty requirements set for them and continue to further their education.


    However, on a certain day, a new face had appeared in Shrek Academy.


    This was an elderly man with a head of white hair, and he appeared on the drill ground of Shrek Academy at the break of dawn every morning, sweeping the drill ground in front of the main school building with a large broom.


    It would take him from dawn to noon to sweep the entire drill ground, and he did this every single day.


    The students who came out for their morning training would often spot the elderly man, and he would respond with warm smiles whenever he was greeted by the students, but he very rarely spoke.


    His attire was also very plain and simple, consisting of the most ordinary of rough cloth garments.


    Yi Zichen had already built up a habit of waking up early in the mornings. In the entire first class, Luo Guixing paid him the most attention as he possessed exceptional aptitude and outstanding work ethic.


    Luo Guixing told Yi Zichen that Shrek Academy was never short of prodigies, but only a very small proportion of those prodigies went on to become truly powerful beings, and all of them were exceptionally hard workers.


    Yi Zichen was becoming more and more enamored of Shrek Academy, and ever since he had witnessed Tang Wulin in action, he had made up his mind that he was going to become just as powerful someday.


    Thus, even though he possessed outstanding aptitude, he didn''t dare to slack off even in the slightest. He worked hard in his cultivation every day, and the vast majority of his time was dedicated to cultivation.


    Every morning, he would go for a run on the drill ground as a warmup in preparation for the subsequent practical combat lesson.


    Soon, he discovered that he was able to see that elderly man every day during this time period, and in all honesty, he was rather perplexed by his presence.


    The elderly man appeared to be at least 70 to 80 years of age; wasn''t it too large a workload for him to be sweeping such a massive drill ground every day?


    On this day, Yi Zichen decided that he couldn''t stand by and watch any longer, and he jogged over to the elderly man. "Let me sweep in your stead, Grandpa."  [1]


    The elderly man looked up, and a faint smile appeared on his face at the sight of the genuine look in the young boy''s eyes. "It''s alright, this is my morning exercise, just like what you''re doing right now. It''s just that I''m too old and don''t want to run, so I''m exercising by sweeping instead. Continue on your run; I''ll be fine."


    "Really?" Yi Zichen was still a little concerned.


    The elderly nodded with a smile. "I see you running here every day; you really are a hard-working child. Is this mandated by the academy?"


    Yi Zichen shook his head in response. "The academy doesn''t force anyone to do anything; I''m doing this because I want to. My teacher says that the greater someone''s aptitude is, the harder they have to work; only then will they be able to achieve more in the future."


    "Oh? Are you saying you have great aptitude?" the elderly man asked with an intrigued expression.


    Yi Zichen blushed slightly, and he hurriedly shook his head in response. "Not at all; no one in Shrek Academy dares to proclaim that they have good aptitude! Make sure to take it easy and look after yourself, Grandpa; I''m going now."


    After that, he continued on his morning run.


    The elderly man looked on at his departing figure with a smile, and murmured to himself, "It''s so good to be young! I didn''t think that it would be so enjoyable to watch these young people every day."


    Right at this moment, a cold voice rang out beside him. "How much longer do you intend to do this?"


    A hint of surprise and elation appeared in his eyes, and he hurriedly turned to find the person that he was constantly thinking of day and night.


    [1] [Grandpa here is a respectful way to refer to an elderly man, the two of them obviously aren''t actually related.]

 Chapter 1728: Im Just Exercising

    "Don''t mind me; I''m just exercising," he said with a benevolent smile.


    A myriad of emotions welled up in Long Yeyue''s heart as she appraised Chen Xinjie, and the anger in her heart seemed to have vanished.


    Presented before her was a wizened old man in a rough cloth robe, and even though his silver hair was still impeccably combed, he was looking nothing like the almighty Battle God Hall Master of the past.


    Who could''ve imagined that a quasigod would be reduced to a sweeper in Shrek Academy?


    On that day, Chen Xinjie had accompanied Tang Wulin back to Shrek Academy before paying Long Yeyue a visit, but she had refused to see him. Chen Xinjie didn''t force the issue and asked for one of the most ordinary rooms in the academy to stay in.


    The next day, he began to sweep the drill ground.


    Tang Wulin almost had a heart attack upon seeing this, and he tried to talk Chen Xinjie out of his new "job" on many occasions, but Chen Xinjie refused to budge, continuing to sweep the drill ground every day before returning to his room.


    It had been three months since he had first begun this lifestyle, and not once during this time had he gone to visit Long Yeyue again.


    He seemed to have become completely accustomed to this lifestyle, living off simple meals and sweeping the drill ground every day. This lifestyle was far simpler than his past life, and even he was growing a little complacent.


    Only the higher-ups of Shrek Academy were aware of his identity, but they could only allow him to do as he pleased. On some days, Yuanen Zhentian would invite Chen Xinjie for some tea and a chat after the latter completed his sweeping duties. Both of them were Limit Douluos of the older generation, so they naturally had a lot to talk about.


    Long Yeyue had refused to meet him during this time, but she was well aware of what he had been up to. Yali had gone to find her on countless occasions to put in a good word for Chen Xinjie. It was downright ridiculous that a Limit Douluo was sweeping the academy''s yard every day!


    Prior to meeting Chen Xinjie on this day, Long Yeyue stubbornly refused to acknowledge him, thinking that Chen Xinjie was humiliating himself like this every day in order to force her to meet him.


    However, for some reason, the sight of his lonesome and elderly figure only struck her with a sense of sympathy and melancholy.


    No matter how much she resented him, she had never disregarded his accomplishments. It was certainly no easy feat to become a quasigod while also assuming command over the Battle God Hall and the Sea God Legion.


    During the past century, Chen Xinjie had put in countless blood, sweat, and tears to further his own career, yet he was now a yard sweeper for the academy.


    He was sweeping the drill ground very carefully without any semblance of half-heartedness, and Long Yeyue could sense that he was very happy and content. Everything was very natural, and there was nothing forced about what he was doing; it was as if he had immersed himself into his sweeping.


    She had already watched from the shadows many times, and she finally couldn''t resist the urge to show herself on this day. This was their first meeting since Chen Xinjie arrived in Shrek Academy.


    "Leave," Long Yeyue said.


    Chen Xinjie shook his head in response. "No, I''m not going anywhere, even if you beat me. I have no home to return to; are you going to force out a lonely old man without a home? At the very least, I have food and shelter here."


    "You have no home? What happened to your family?" Long Yeyue snapped.


    Chen Xinjie smiled, and replied, "I''ve already severed all ties with them so they won''t be implicated for my crimes. I''m currently a traitor to the federation, a lonesome old man with nowhere to go. Thankfully, Tang Wulin was kind enough to give me a place to stay, and only Shrek Academy can ensure my safety."


    "How can you be so shameless?" Long Yeyue was on the verge of storming away in a fit of rage.


    Chen Xinjie chuckled, "This is a new skill I picked up recently. I sorely regret not learning this skill earlier. Otherwise, I wouldn''t be in such a pitiful situation."


    Long Yeyue pointed at the front gate of the academy. "Get out! Get out of here right now! I don''t want to see your face!"


    Chen Xinjie replied with a serious expression, "I''m not leaving, Yeyue. Shrek Academy doesn''t belong to you; it belongs to everyone. I''m just going to continue sweeping here, and I won''t disrupt your life, so don''t worry. Shrek Academy looked after you in my stead for so many years; all I want is to be able to repay the academy. I don''t know what else I can do, but sweeping is definitely within my capabilities. Regardless of how much longer I live for, I''m going to sweep here for the rest of my life.


    "I already made all of the necessary preparations before coming here. The Chen Xinjie of the past is already dead; all that''s left is Old Man Chen the sweeper, so don''t chase me away! I''ll be a homeless beggar if you do!"


    Long Yeyue''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. Never did she think that Chen Xinjie would become like this one day. However, his benevolent smile and genuine expression made her unable to work up the resolve to kick him out.


    Right at this moment, Yi Zichen had just finished another lap, and while he was running, he already saw that an elderly woman had approached Chen Xinjie.


    He was just a new student, and Long Yeyue rarely ever showed herself in public, so he had no idea who she was.


    "Are you two fighting?" Yi Zichen asked in a curious manner.


    Chen Xinjie smiled, and replied, "No, we''re just discussing a technical problem."


    Yi Zichen faltered slightly upon hearing this. Were there supposed to be any technical elements to sweeping?


    He had heard some of their earlier conversation, and he turned to Long Yeyue as he said, "Don''t be so hard on Grandpa; have some compassion."


    Long Yeyue snapped, "You don''t know anything! Keep running!"


    Chen Xinjie chuckled, "Why are you yelling at a child? I think he''s a good boy. It looks like Shrek Academy has a bright future ahead."


    Long Yeyue turned back to him with an enraged expression. "That has nothing to do with you! Get out of here right away! Just the sight of you pisses me off!"


    Chen Xinjie replied with a smile, "That means I hold some place in your heart. Otherwise, you wouldn''t feel anything toward me. That''s even more reason for me to stay!"


    Long Yeyue immediately blushed upon hearing this. "What happened to your pride and dignity?"


    Chen Xinjie replied, "I''m just a sweeper; what need do I have for pride? I''ve clung onto it my entire life, but I don''t think it''s worth that much now, so I discarded it."


    "You..." Long Yeyue suddenly discovered that there was nothing she could do to such a shameless Chen Xinjie.


    "Hmph!" In the end, she could only storm away.


    Chen Xinjie leaned on his broom as he watched her depart with gentle eyes.


    Yi Zichen was still standing beside him, and he was also watching Long Yeyue''s departing figure. "What are you looking at, Grandpa?"


    Chen Xinjie, "I''m looking at that grandma over there! She was really beautiful when she was young. Even now, she''s still retained a lot of her charm; it''s just not apparent to little kids like you."


    Yi Zichen asked, "You must have a lot of history with that grandma, right, Grandpa? Why is she so mad at you? Shouldn''t you be trying to console her?"


    A wry smile appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face upon hearing this. "If I could console her with words, I wouldn''t be sweeping here. It''s alright, I''m confident that she''ll forgive me someday."


    Yi Zichen was quite surprised to hear this. "Is it that serious?"


    Chen Xinjie sighed, "I did some very stupid things in the past, but let''s not talk about that. Continue on your run; don''t let me delay your training. I have to keep sweeping as well."


    "Alright."


    Thus, Yi Zichen continued on his run with a bunch of questions in his heart, while Chen Xinjie continued to sweep in a leisurely manner.

 Chapter 1729: Complaint

    He really was beginning to like his new identity as Old Man Chen the sweeper. At the very least, he didn''t have any burdens! He didn''t have to think about anything, and nothing that was happening in the outside world had anything to do with him. The first thing that he did after coming here was stomp his own soul communicator into pieces. Regardless of what was happening outside, he was just a sweeper.


    Finally, Chen Xinjie finished sweeping the drill ground at around noon, and at this point, the drill ground had become quite lively and bustling. After tipping everything he had swept up into the bin, Chen Xinjie prepared to return to his room.


    All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks, and a displeased look appeared on his face. "I already told you not to come and find me here."


    Yuanen Zhentian chuckled, "It''s alright, all of the kids are in their classrooms, so no one can see. By the way, did Elder Long just come to see you?"


    An exasperated look appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face. "How is a Limit Douluo like you so into gossip?"


    Yuanen Zhentian chuckled, "You''re one to talk! You''re also a Limit Douluo, yet you''ve become a yard sweeper, haven''t you? So? How did it go?"


    Chen Xinjie rolled his eyes, and replied, "Let''s go talk at my place."


    He sped up as he spoke and made his way toward one of the nearby buildings.


    Chen Xinjie''s room wasn''t very large. Tang Wulin had wanted to organize better lodging for him, but he stubbornly refused. However, his room received very good sun exposure, especially in the mornings, where most of the room was bathed in sunlight.


    After entering the room, Chen Xinjie boiled some water and made two cups of tea.


    Yuanen Zhentian immediately made himself comfortable, taking a cup of tea before sitting down on the wooden sofa. "Your room is a really good place to sunbathe."


    Chen Xinjie offered no response and began to drink his tea.


    "So what happened?" Yuanen Zhentian asked in an eager manner.


    Chen Xinjie snapped, "What do you think happened? If she could forgive me just like that, do you think I would be sweeping the yard here? I''ll just have to take things slow. I know her very well; there''s a soft heart beneath that hard exterior of hers, so I''ll get through to her eventually."


    Yuanen Zhentian raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "I think that''s going to be very difficult."


    "What would you know?" Chen Xinjie grumbled.


    Yuanen Zhentian replied, "She harbors too much resentment toward you; I don''t think you have much of a chance no matter how soft her heart is. At her age, it''s very difficult for you to do anything that could move her so deeply that she would forgive you. You ruined her youth; how is she supposed to forgive you?"


    "If you''re here just to rub salt into my wounds, then get out! Don''t waste my tea!" Chen Xinjie snapped.


    Yuanen Zhentian chuckled, "Hey, don''t get mad; I''m here to offer you some ideas. How about this? Disable your own martial soul so you become a normal old man; that''ll surely be enough to move her!"


    Chen Xinjie almost dropped his cup of tea upon hearing this. "Piss off! What kind of terrible idea is that? Do you not know how old I am? Without my martial soul to support me, I''ll drop dead on the spot! I won''t even be able to wait until she decides to forgive me!"


    "Er, that''s a valid concern. I guess there''s a slight issue with that plan."


    "It''s not a slight issue; it''s a huge issue! If you don''t have any useful ideas, then keep your mouth shut," Chen Xinjie said before taking a sip of his tea.


    Yuanen Zhentian gave a resigned shrug and also began to drink his tea in silence.


    After a while, Chen Xinjie suddenly said, "How about this? I pretend to disable my martial soul, and that convinces her to forgive me, so she stops me right at the last moment."


    Yuanen Zhentian''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. "I think you''ve read too many corny novels. What if she just looks at you and tells you to go ahead? Will you actually do it? If you don''t, then you''ll have lied to her, and she''ll be even less willing to forgive you."


    Chen Xinjie''s face immediately fell upon hearing this. "You''re right, there doesn''t seem to be anything I can do. So be it, I''ll just continue living like this. At the very least, I was able to meet her today, and that means she''s always been keeping tabs on me. As long as I continue to persist, my efforts will bear fruit someday."


    Yuanen Zhentian smiled, and said, "That''s the spirit. This isn''t a bad situation; just take it slow and enjoy life."


    Chen Xinjie nodded in response. "Now that I''ve been freed from all my duties and responsibilities, I''m seeing the world in an entirely new way."


    Yuanen Zhentian replied, "It''s about time you took a rest."


    He never discussed the state of the continent or the Battle God Hall with Chen Xinjie. As a quasigod himself, he was well aware of how painful it had to have been for Chen Xinjie to give up so much. As such, there was no need to mention subjects that would only sour the mood.


    ......


    Upon returning to her room, the serious look on Long Yeyue''s face immediately faded.


    In all honesty, she wasn''t entirely unmoved by Chen Xinjie''s decision to give up everything and assist Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect in obtaining Eternal Heaven.


    The loftier one''s status, the more they valued their positions, so the fact that Chen Xinjie had given up so much for her was already sufficient proof of his repentance.


    However, just as Yuanen Zhentian had said, she had harbored resentment toward him for so many years, and she simply couldn''t bring herself to forgive him right away.


    Despite this, she was suffering greatly from watching him sweep the yard every day. Her man was supposed to be a mighty figure who could carry the weight of the world on his shoulders; how could he be reduced to a sweeper?


    Unbeknownst to Chen Xinjie, his newly adopted role had a very big impact on Long Yeyue. She couldn''t chase him away as he refused to leave, but she couldn''t just continue to watch him sweep the yard like this, either.


    With that in mind, she dialed Tang Wulin''s number. He was the only one she could turn to.


    "Elder Long." Tang Wulin''s voice rang out from the other end.


    "What''s going on with you, Wulin? You''re just going to let that old bastard sweep the yard every day? Don''t you find that embarrassing? Get him to leave! He can do whatever he wants; just stop him from making an embarrassment of himself!"


    Tang Wulin was rather startled by Long Yeyue''s heated words, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he replied, "I''m sure you know what the Boundless Ocean Douluo''s personality is like, Elder Long; I''ve tried to persuade him on many occasions, but he refuses to listen to me. Also, he did assist us immensely in securing Eternal Heaven, and as a junior, I can''t force him to do anything."


    After venting her frustrations, Long Yeyue had also regained some mental clarity, and she gave a cold harrumph before ending the call.


    Indeed, as the current leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin couldn''t just enforce his will on a Limit Douluo who had assisted both of the powers that he represented.


    Thus, Long Yeyue could only pace back and forth in her room in a rare display of discomposure.


    After the call was cut off, Tang Wulin could only remove his soul communicator in a resigned manner.


    He was about to begin forging now, and heavenly refinement required absolute quiet and concentration, so he would always cut off all contact with the outside world during his forging sessions.


    After returning from the Battle God Hall, he had gone into seclusion for an entire month before continuing in his forging.


    After that one month, Tang Wulin didn''t appear to have undergone any noticeable changes, but only he was aware of just how important that month had been for himself.


    The attainment of spear essence had not only evolved his understanding of the spear to a higher level, it had opened up a new world to him, and many of the things he had failed to understand in the past became clear to him.


    The guidance provided to Tang Wulin by Guan Yue was extremely important; it essentially paved the way for his progression to the Limit Douluo level and allowed him to truly understand what was required to get there.


    During his seclusion, Tang Wulin discovered that in order to become a Limit Douluo, he had to make himself more mellow and well-rounded. All those who had reached the Limit Douluo level in the past were all individuals who had been able to fully understand and integrate their abilities.

 Chapter 1730: Two More Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques

    For a Hyper Douluo to become a Limit Douluo, one had to integrate all of their abilities together, accumulating quantity for a fundamental qualitative change.


    Tang Wulin had already begun this process by inventing his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, but this was not an easy process.


    He was already working very hard, but he still encountered many difficulties. During two major breakthroughs, he had created Dragon Emperor Break and Dragon Emperor Slash, but since then, he had spent close to a year working extremely hard to improve himself, even using elemental tribulations as training tools to help him better integrate his abilities, all to no avail.


    However, Guan Yue''s guidance had shown him the way, and in the short span of a single month, he had created two more Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques and truly completed the overall framework of his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques.


    Judging from the current state of his cultivation, Tang Wulin estimated that he would be able to create seven Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques in total.


    The five techniques that he had invented thus far were already his current limit, and he had integrated his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, as well as his seven Golden Dragon King abilities and some Bluesilver Emperor soul skills.


    Most importantly, the wills of the three opponents Tang San had faced had become the essence of his third, fourth, and fifth Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques.


    However, if he wanted to take his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques a step further and create the sixth technique, he would have to break the 16th Golden Dragon King seal and attain his eighth Golden Dragon King ability first. Alternatively, he would have to reach the Limit Douluo level.


    Tang Wulin had already examined the final four Golden Dragon King seals on many occasions in his cultivation, and the more he did so, the more he was able to sense just how fearsome they were.


    Having witnessed A''Ruheng''s Invincible Vajra Body, Tang Wulin estimated that he would have to elevate his physical constitution to the Invincible Vajra Body level before he could withstand the power of the 15th Golden Dragon King seal.


    Of course, he still wasn''t at that level yet, but he should be close to that level once the incredible regenerative properties of the Golden Dragon King bloodline were taken into account.


    This meant that if he could progress in his cultivation or even reach the Limit Douluo level, then there was a very good chance that he would be able to handle the 15th seal.


    However, that would be the extent of his tolerance.


    Whenever he attempted to examine the final three Golden Dragon King seals with his spiritual power, he would always be struck by a sense of uncontrollable fear, as if something extremely terrifying were lurking within those three seals, and it definitely wasn''t something that he could withstand.


    Having already come into contact with his father on several occasions, he was aware of what true godly power was like, and he was almost certain that the power within those final three Golden Dragon King seals were all of the godly level. This meant that unless he could become a god, there was no way he would be able to access the power in those three seals and survive. However, it was currently virtually impossible to become a god on the Douluo Star.


    Furthermore, becoming a god was only the prerequisite for breaking the 16th seal; there were still two more seals to come after that. What level would he have to reach before he could withstand the power in those two seals?


    Through his understanding of the Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, Tang Wulin was currently able to fortify the Golden Dragon King Seals on his own to a certain extent. He knew that he absolutely couldn''t break the 15th seal unless it was absolutely necessary. Otherwise, without the 15th seal acting as a buffer, the final three seals would claim his life as soon as they were broken.


    Thus, Tang Wulin had decided that he wasn''t going to try and further his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques for now. Instead, he was focusing more on his forging, further baptizing his own body through withstanding elemental tribulations.


    After experiencing so many elemental tribulations, Tang Wulin''s understanding of this natural phenomenon had deepened over time. Elemental tribulations were imbued with extremely pure energy, and even though it had no conscious will, it would naturally take shape under certain special circumstances.


    With his superb regenerative abilities, Tang Wulin was able to frequently transcend elemental tribulations during his forging of metals, forging his own body as well in the process.


    Thus, even though there was no way for him to attain the Body Sect''s Invincible Vajra Body, he could sense that there was a very good chance for him to elevate his physical constitution to the same level through alternative means.


    The fact that he was able to perform heavenly refinement without any restraint was his greatest strength as a Divine Blacksmith.


    In terms of technique, he was still inferior to Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua, but due to his far superior ability to tolerate elemental tribulations, he had a far greater margin for error, thereby resulting in a significantly higher heavenly refinement success rate.


    During the past two months, he had constantly been experimenting with a new method of forging, which was to use the Rainbow Lotus Flame he had received from Huo Tian.


    This flame was very special in that it could incinerate virtually all things, and what came as a massively pleasant surprise to Tang Wulin was that it possessed a purification ability, meaning that it was able to purge the impurities within all things.


    Of course, the prerequisite for this was sufficient control. Otherwise, it would purge everything instead of just the impurities.


    This control had been very hard to come by, and Tang Wulin had wasted countless units of materials before he finally attained an elementary level of mastery over this flame.


    He only had one objective for learning to control this flame: he wanted to use it to refine his own suit of four-word battle armor!


    All of his friends'' suits of four-word battle armor were gradually taking shape, but he still didn''t even have a single piece of four-word battle armor yet, and it would be a lie to say that this didn''t bother him.


    However, his suit of three-word battle armor was at such a higher caliber that he would have to perform heavenly refinement on seven-metal alloys in order to upgrade it into a suit of four-word battle armor.


    During this process, he would have to face a seven-color elemental tribulation, and it was far too difficult to ensure harmony between all seven types of metals; there were simply too many permutations to calculate. With so many unpredictable elements at play, there was next to no chance that he could successfully complete seven-metal heavenly refinement.


    Currently, four-metal heavenly refinement was his limit, but the thought of settling for a suit of four-word battle armor constructed from four-metal alloys filled him with indignation.


    "What are you thinking about? Let''s begin." A gentle voice dragged Tang Wulin back to reality, and even though he had already heard this voice many times, he still couldn''t help but shudder upon hearing it.


    This was because the owner of the voice was Ling Zichen!


    The current Ling Zichen was a far cry from the Ling Zichen of the past. She was wearing a long pink dress that accentuated her exaggerated curves to perfection, and there was a seductive look in her eyes.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t imagine how the people of the Tang Sect would react if they were to see the current Ling Zichen. Perhaps they wouldn''t even be able to imagine that there was such a facet to Ling Zichen''s persona, but the fact of the matter was that this very persona was currently being displayed to Tang Wulin.

 Chapter 1731: The New Ling Zichen

    This change first took effect following their return from the Battle God Hall.


    Tang Wulin had already mentally prepared himself for a scathing tirade from Ling Zichen. After all, he had deceived her about their mission.


    To his surprise, Ling Zichen left as soon as they returned, citing an urge to return to the Tang Sect to study Eternal Heaven, and she hadn''t aimed any criticism against him at all.


    Tang Wulin was in disbelief, but he certainly wasn''t going to try and change her mind; he was happy that he wouldn''t have to deal with her any longer.


    After that, he went into seclusion, and following his month-long seclusion, Ling Zichen returned.


    Upon meeting her again, Tang Wulin was shocked to discover that she seemed to have transformed into a brand new person.


    In the past, she had been cold and overbearing, but those facets of her persona had completely disappeared. She was now filled with boundless energy and contagious exuberance, and when Tang Wulin tried to ask her about what had happened in a tactful manner, she had told him that she had evolved.


    Through her study of Eternal Heaven, she was able to find solutions to many problems that had confounded her for years, and she had developed many new ideas. She said that she had gained more in the past month than her past 10 years of research combined.


    What frightened Tang Wulin the most was that she had thanked him!


    After that, Ling Zichen told him that she had developed a very detailed plan for the soul circuits of his suit of four-word battle armor, and that it could be perfectly replicated onto his suit of battle armor once the forging process was complete. This suit of battle armor was going to be the first of its kind, a perfect incorporation of soul technology and martial soul.


    Furthermore, she had developed a way to decrease the difficulty of heavenly refinement.


    Tang Wulin decided to try this new method that she proposed, and just as she claimed, the difficulty of heavenly refinement really was decreased. After just a few days of experimentation, he was able to complete heavenly refinement on a five-metal alloy for the first time.


    Thus, Ling Zichen had an excuse to join in on his forging.


    The combination of the Rainbow Lotus Flame and Ling Zichen''s soul technology gave Tang Wulin a glimmer of hope that seven-metal heavenly refinement was possible. During the past two months, he had been constantly working toward this goal, and if he managed to succeed, he would be able to begin forging his own suit of battle armor.


    At the same time, he would be able to purify his friends'' suits of four-word battle armor with the Rainbow Lotus Flame to make them even more powerful.


    Overall, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had benefited even more from his skills as a Divine Blacksmith than his power as a Soul Master.


    A Divine Blacksmith was simply far too important for a Soul Master organization.


    Even though Chen Xinjie had assisted them in securing Eternal Heaven, the Battle God Hall hadn''t kicked up any fuss about this, and a huge factor behind this was the fact that Tang Wulin was a Divine Blacksmith, and he had promised to refine a suit of four-word battle armor for the Battle God Hall!


    With one suit of four-word battle armor promised, there was naturally a chance for a second one in the future; it was all just a matter of transactions of benefits.


    Tang Wulin took a glance at the warm smile on Ling Zichen''s face, and he still felt rather unaccustomed to such a sight, even though she had already been like this for quite some time.


    Ling Zichen touched her own cheek, and asked, "Why are you looking at me? Is there something wrong?"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly shook his head in response. "Not at all. I''ll begin now."


    Ling Zichen said, "Go ahead, I''ll help you observe."


    Even though she wasn''t a Soul Master, her observation and calculation abilities as a scientist were unmatched. As it turned out, she had been very helpful with her analysis of data and Tang Wulin''s forging process, proving that technology was also very important.


    Specks of pink light appeared all over Ling Zichen''s body as she spoke, and she released her divine-grade mecha.


    The shockwaves from heavenly refinement and elemental tribulations were far too powerful for a normal human like her to handle, so without her mecha, she would run the risk of being erased out of existence in a split second.


    Tang Wulin made his way over to the forging bench, and if one were to look closely, they would discover that the bench was shimmering with a faint layer of four-colored light.


    If a high-grade blacksmith were to see this, they would definitely be stunned as the material used for this forging bench was also heavenly refined divine-grade metal. Furthermore, it had undergone four-color elemental tribulation, thereby imbuing it with the elements of water, fire, earth, and wind.


    This wasn''t just an extravagant forging bench; it was a criminal waste of resources!


    Tang Wulin firmly believed that in order to do great things, one had to possess the best tools, and this was also something that he would leave behind for Shrek Academy. The materials used for this divine-grade forging bench were actually all leftovers from his failed seven-metal heavenly refinements, and it was a necessity as a normal forging bench wouldn''t be able to withstand his forging.


    He pulled out the seven pieces of metal that he had prepared earlier before placing them onto the forging bench. Prior to confirming that he was able to complete seven-metal heavenly refinement, he wasn''t going to take any chances on his own battle armor.


    He closed his eyes and gradually entered a tranquil state of mind. Only in the most quiet environment could he enter such a calm and focused state.


    Ling Zichen was standing not far away, silently appraising Tang Wulin. After having that epiphany in the Battle God Hall, she had undergone a huge transformation.


    The more she interacted with Tang Wulin, the more infatuated with him she became. Even she didn''t know what type of feeling this was, but she was certain that this was the first time she had ever experienced something like this.


    The outcome wasn''t important to her; what was important was that she was immersing herself fully into the experience and taking pleasure from it. Before she knew it, she discovered that he had become more important to her than anything else. This feeling seemed to have allowed her to completely open up her heart, resulting in a constant flow of inspiration that was benefitting her immensely in her research.


    Even though these improvements had all been made for the sake of helping him forge his suit of four-word battle armor, she was still thoroughly enjoying herself.


    The experience of accompanying him every day during his forging sessions was a very blissful one for her.


    Only after a full 10 minutes had passed did Tang Wulin suddenly open his eyes, and in that instant, it was as if a ferocious beast had awakened, as if he had been a hibernating giant dragon before this moment. A faint dragon''s roar rang out, and golden dragon patterns began to appear all around him.


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand and made a grabbing motion, upon which the lotus pattern on his right palm immediately lit up as a small rainbow flame appeared.


    The flame appeared to be very gentle and was giving off a sense of captivating beauty. On top of that, it didn''t seem to be releasing any heat, but Tang Wulin was well aware that there was most likely no other flame on the entire Douluo Continent that could match its heat.


    This was a divine-grade flame!


    The rainbow flame rose up at his behest, then suddenly exploded into mid-air, splitting up into seven different flames that fell upon the seven pieces of uncommon metals.


    In the instant that the flames landed on the pieces of metal, a change immediately occurred.


    All of the pieces of metal were giving off their own unique gleam, and in that instant, that gleam was brightened to the extreme, as if the pieces of metals had been ignited, presenting an ethereal and beautiful sight in conjunction with the rainbow flames above them.

 Chapter 1732: Seven-metal Forging

    The first time Tang Wulin used this Rainbow Lotus Flame, he had almost destroyed his forging bench. The flame appeared to be very gentle, but it contained an enormous amount of energy.


    Tang Wulin had once enlisted A''Ruheng''s services as a lab rat, and even his Invincible Vajra Body was unable to withstand being scorched by this flame for long; over a minute of exposure would result in substantial harm. That was a clear indication of just how fearsome this Rainbow Lotus Flame was.


    Tang Wulin raised his hands, and a pair of forging hammers appeared in his grasp. He then lunged forward to his forging bench and raised his arms up into the air, quickly bringing his forging hammers down upon the seven pieces of metal as if he were playing a musical instrument.


    If Zhen Hua had been present to see this, he would''ve been stunned by what Tang Wulin was doing, which was forging seven pieces of metal at once!


    Each type of metal had its own unique properties and characteristics, so the forging methods required were all completely different.


    This method of forging required outstanding calculation abilities, as well as extraordinary spiritual power and strength control.


    Zhen Hua would perhaps be able to accomplish this in his mind, but there was no way he could actually do this in practice, and this was entirely due to the difference in power between the two.


    For individuals working in all occupations, it would benefit them immensely if they were also top-tier Soul Masters.


    The seven pieces of metal were clanging rhythmically in different pitches and tones under Tang Wulin''s forging hammers, and during the striking process, the Rainbow Lotus Flame also adhered itself to the forging hammers.


    As the strikes continued to rain down, the seven pieces of metal began to melt, but all to different extents. Tang Wulin''s hammers were constantly striking them from different directions to improve their composition, and the Rainbow Lotus Flames were also fluctuating in intensity at his behest, releasing just the right amount of heat for the situation.


    Within the span of just a few minutes, sweat was already beginning to appear on Tang Wulin''s forehead.


    He was a Hyper Douluo with mental manifestation level spiritual power, yet even he was beginning to display signs of strain; it was clear that forging in this manner was very taxing for him.


    Furthermore, he was only in the process of completing hundred refinement!


    He was already at a level where he could complete thousand refinement with a single hammer blow, yet he was taking so long to complete hundred refinement, and that was a clear testament to how meticulous he was being.


    It was most likely the first time in history that anyone had ever attempted to forge seven pieces of metal at once, and with his current skills, he was only able to complete hundred refinement. Upon completing thousand refinements, the metals would undergo massive changes, requiring corresponding changes in his forging methods, and even his current spiritual power wouldn''t be sufficient to allow him to keep up.


    As he continued his forging, he could clearly sense that the seven pieces of metal were all constantly shrinking under his hammers.


    Each time the pieces of metal shrank, certain changes would take place within them, and even though their size was constantly diminishing, the metals were only glowing brighter and brighter.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he took a deep breath, and the seven bursts of Rainbow Lotus Flames on the seven pieces of metal suddenly vanished back into his palm at his behest.


    At this point, the pieces of metal were all as soft as balls of dough.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes began to glow brightly, and golden light erupted from his body as he transferred the forging hammer in his right hand to his left hand, then made a grabbing motion toward the seven pieces of metal.


    The surrounding air instantly congealed, and elements of all attributes instantly disappeared, as if the entire room had been sealed away.


    Even through her mecha, Ling Zichen was still struck by a strong sense of unease in the wake of this change.


    In contrast to when he had first used this technique, it had now virtually become second nature to Tang Wulin.


    This was his Dragon Emperor Break!


    Everything around the seven pieces of metal was instantly sealed, and that temporarily put all of the changes taking place in the pieces of metal on pause. Immediately thereafter, the seven pieces of metal instantly came into contact with one another at his behest, and he returned one of his forging hammers to his right hand before sending them crashing toward the pieces of metal like a whirlwind.


    The Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique of the Tang Sect was being sped up countless times by him, and one deafening boom rang out after another on the forging bench.


    After conducting careful calculations, Ling Zichen discovered that the higher the number of metals used to forge an alloy, the more difficult the process would be, and the greater the amount of data that would have to be calculated.


    For seven metals to be used at once, the amount of data that had to be calculated was astronomical, so it was virtually impossible to forge a seven-metal alloy at the heavenly refinement level through experience.


    As such, why not go the opposite way? That was the suggestion that Ling Zichen had given to Tang Wulin.


    As opposed to trying to fuse the metals into an alloy at their strongest state, why not fuse them at their weakest?


    The downside to this was that it would become extremely difficult to further refine the resulting alloy, but no matter how difficult that would be, the difficulty would only be in terms of energy expenditure for Tang Wulin; there would be far less data that had to be calculated by adopting this plan.


    As it turned out, her suggestion was very sound. During his prior experiments, Tang Wulin had already completed soul refinement on a seven-metal alloy, which meant that he had already created an alloy that could be used in a suit of three-word battle armor, the first alloy of its kind in all of history.


    Tang Wulin had even attempted to forge this alloy into a suit of three-word battle armor. Its power was still inferior to that of a suit of four-word battle armor, but its explosiveness wasn''t far off from a suit of four-word battle armor, and of course, it was also lacking in sentience.


    At this moment, the seven metals were gradually fusing together under his frenzied storm of hammer blows, and it was still quite easy to tell one metal from another, but as the metals began to integrate further with one another, they were starting to look more and more like a single metal.


    Furthermore, the Rainbow Lotus Flame was ridding the metals of their impurities, making them softer and more supple as a result, thereby allowing Tang Wulin to better fuse them.


    One hammer blow rained down after another, and instead of injecting his soul power into the metals to improve their quality, Tang Wulin was using the purest and most basic forging techniques to integrate them.


    This was a slow process, and even a low-grade blacksmith wouldn''t spend so long striking a piece of metal. However, Tang Wulin''s hands remained steady, and he was constantly monitoring the power of his hammer blows as he continued unleashing the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique.


    Soul power was often able to trigger fundamental changes in metals, which was why he was able to complete thousand refinement with a single hammer strike.


    However, without the injection of soul power, the process became purer.


    Thus, the hammers continued to fall, triggering one change after another. The seven pieces of metal gradually fused as one, and its color was also changing as the forging continued.


    Meanwhile, Ling Zichen was waiting patiently off to the side. She knew that forging required time and had to be completed in a single unbroken session.


    Soon, he was already past 1,000 hammer blows, but due to the caliber of the metal, there was no fundamental change.


    After a full three hours, 10,000 hammer blows were completed. Finally, the seven metals had fused as one, turning into a special color.


    Back when the seven pieces of metal were still independent of one another, they were each giving off their own radiance under the illumination of the Rainbow Lotus Flame.


    However, now that they were fused together, their radiance seemed to have been concealed and was no longer being released. Thus, the piece of metal was left with a dull yellow color, but it was riddled with layer upon layer of fine patterns that resembled miniature ravines, and one could easily find themselves lost in the patterns if they were to look deep into them.

 Chapter 1733: A True Divine Blacksmith

    Tang Wulin was still forging away tirelessly, and he could easily pick up the pace, but this was not the time to be pursuing maximal speed; he had to be slow and steady so he could feel how the metal was reacting to each and every hammer blow.


    Another two hours passed, and finally, the metal had turned from a dull yellow color into a faint golden color.


    Each of the seven pieces of metal had originally had side lengths of around a foot, yet now, the seven metals combined only had a side length of roughly a foot, which meant that they had been reduced to a seventh of their original size.


    Tang Wulin''s clothes were already soaked with sweat, and even with his physical constitution and the recovery ability of the Golden Dragon King bloodline, he was on the verge of overexertion.


    Using the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique for such a long period of time was a massive test of stamina, even for him.


    All of a sudden, a strange buzzing sound rang out from the metal on the forging bench, and it began to release scintillating radiance.


    Ling Zichen reflexively took a step back and raised the arms of her mecha to shield herself.


    The piece of metal was currently like a miniature sun, and it was releasing scorching light that even struck Tang Wulin with a slight scalding sensation.


    The light filled every single corner of the entire platform, illuminating everything within the protective barrier.


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic, and words failed to describe the emotions he was feeling right now.


    During his prior experiments, he had never been able to get a seven-metal alloy to undergo thousand refinement on its own. In all those past instances, he had to use his soul power as a catalyst.


    Prior to commencing today, he had already made up his mind that he was going to make the metal undergo the change on its own no matter how difficult it was going to be to achieve that.


    He wanted to see just how much forging was required for a seven-metal alloy to undergo thousand refinement without the involvement of soul power, and he was even more interested to see what kind of change would result from such a special thousand refinement process.


    As it turned out, all of his efforts were worthwhile.


    In the past, the most successful seven-metal alloy thousand refinement that Tang Wulin had completed had only resulted in a pillar of light that was close to 20 feet tall.


    However, this was completely different. The light being released by this piece of metal wasn''t just extending upward as it normally did. Instead, it was radiating in all directions like the light of the sun.


    There was definitely a fundamental difference here. Tang Wulin didn''t know exactly what the difference was, but he was still overjoyed.


    Such a drastic change could perhaps be a catalyst to success!


    Only after several minutes had passed did the light gradually fade, and Tang Wulin was surprised to discover that the thousand-refined alloy seemed to have become more transparent.


    Furthermore, the light radiating from it was fluctuating in brightness in a very rhythmic manner, as if it had learned to breathe.


    There was also a peculiar sense of life emanating from the alloy, which was also very unexpected as this was something that should only arise after spirit refinement or even soul refinement.


    Spirit refinement created life, while soul refinement bestowed intelligence. However, even though this was only a thousand refined alloy, it was giving off a more potent aura of life energy than even any spirit refined metal that Tang Wulin had ever seen.


    Furthermore, he could clearly sense a close bloodline connection with this piece of metal, as if it were calling out to him.


    Tang Wulin slowly made his way over to the forging bench and set down his forging hammers before placing his right hand onto the piece of metal.


    He was immediately struck by a scorching sensation that was transmitted deep into his heart, following which he sensed a very pure and clueless consciousness, like that of an infant that had just awakened.


    Upon sensing Tang Wulin''s touch, the surface of the piece of metal in contact with Tang Wulin''s palm began to glow significantly brighter.


    Even though it wasn''t able to manipulate its own form like a heavenly refined metal, it was currently displaying characteristics congruent with the average soul refined metal!


    Having said that, it had been far more taxing for Tang Wulin to complete thousand refinement on this piece of metal than normal soul refinement.


    Despite their similarities, there was no way that the average soul refined metal could compare with this alloy as the latter had far more latent potential.


    "Let me help you, alright?" Tang Wulin asked in a gentle voice.


    The alloy emitted a faint buzzing sound, as if in response to Tang Wulin.


    Even Ling Zichen couldn''t help but clench her fists upon seeing this. She knew that Tang Wulin was most likely going to be making an unprecedented breakthrough on this day.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and a look of unwavering confidence surfaced in his eyes as he picked up his forging hammers again. In that instant, all of his exhaustion seemed to have been wiped away, and he resumed in his forging.


    Initially, the hammer strikes that he dealt were extremely light as he was trying to feel the changes that had taken place in the alloy through these strikes.


    However, as he familiarized himself with this alloy''s properties, the hammer strikes grew heavier, and with each strike that was dealt, the metal would respond with a flash of light.


    In Tang Wulin''s mind, it was as if the metal were absorbing his power, and during the forging process, it was working hard to grow up and evolve.


    This was an extremely wonderful feeling, and Tang Wulin slowly became immersed in it. This was not just forging; there was also communication taking place.


    The golden light grew brighter and brighter, gradually forming a light barrier that enshrouded both Tang Wulin and the piece of metal within it. Tang Wulin''s hammer strikes were constantly varying in power, but he didn''t pause even for a single moment.


    Meanwhile, the piece of metal continued to shrink, and as it did so, it began to glow even brighter, but its energy fluctuations were completely contained and subdued.


    "Boom!"


    After an indeterminate period of time had passed, Tang Wulin finally landed the last hammer strike, and all of a sudden, the piece of metal shuddered before rising up into the air as a streak of golden light.


    It then seemed to let loose a loud buzz of elation before morphing into a living golden statue that was completely identical to Tang Wulin, except it was a miniature version of him.


    The statue was also holding a pair of forging hammers, and it was swinging the hammers in Tang Wulin''s direction, as if to imitate him.


    This was the first time Tang Wulin had ever seen something like this, and he was a little dumbstruck.


    Right at this moment, fierce winds swept over the entire platform, and the abundance of elements in the air began to rapidly increase.


    A dense layer of rainbow tribulation clouds took shape almost instantly, heralding the arrival of the seven-colored elemental tribulation.


    What was quite perplexing to Tang Wulin was that he didn''t even think that he had performed heavenly refinement!


    He had merely forged the metal while constantly communicating with it, and during the process, he had completely forgotten concepts such as spirit refinement, soul refinement, and heavenly refinement. Before he knew it, the piece of metal was already about to face a tribulation! This was incredible!


    Tang Wulin felt as if his eyes had been opened to a whole new way of forging. Was this what it felt like to forge with absolute focus? Only in this instant did Tang Wulin feel for the very first time that he had truly become a Divine Blacksmith.


    In the past, he had been able to succeed in heavenly refinement due to his unique set of advantages. However, on this occasion, he had attracted the most powerful elemental tribulation using the simplest of forging methods, and he finally felt enlightened, just like back when he had attained spear essence.

 Chapter 1734: Facing the Lightning Tribulation with the Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques

    The soul power within his body abruptly began to churn, and he felt as if he had become completely submerged in scorching air currents.


    He had made a breakthrough in his soul power!


    He had made a breakthrough earlier after attaining spear essence and returning to Shrek Academy, and now, he was making another breakthrough after truly becoming a Divine Blacksmith.


    The current Tang Wulin was now at rank 98 soul power, and he was racing toward the pinnacle at an inexplicable speed.


    However, he didn''t have any spare mental capacity to examine the changes that had taken place within his own body; he was currently focused wholeheartedly on the piece of metal hovering in mid-air, and all he wanted at this moment was to help it transcend its tribulation. If he could do that successfully, then he would be completing heavenly refinement on a seven-metal alloy for the very first time!


    He took a step forward, bringing him directly in front of the piece of metal, then released his Infernal Lightning Vine in preparation to withstand part of the lightning tribulation.


    However, the golden statue suddenly turned around and shook his head at Tang Wulin in a decisive manner.


    It was clear that it was telling Tang Wulin that it didn''t need his help in facing the lightning tribulation.


    In Tang Wulin''s past experience, all of the metals that he had completed heavenly refinement on had been overcome by fear in the face of their elemental tribulations.


    At that point, they still weren''t able to shapeshift or move freely. Otherwise, Tang Wulin was certain that they would''ve flown around him and cowered behind him for protection.


    However, this piece of metal was displaying the complete opposite reaction, actively requesting Tang Wulin not to get involved, and this was completely unprecedented!


    Tang Wulin didn''t hesitate and immediately took a few steps backward. Seeing as the metal wanted to try and transcend this tribulation on its own, then there was no reason to stop it.


    "Rumble!"


    The elemental tribulation made its first move, sending a bolt of lightning crashing down from above.


    The forging hammers in the golden statue''s hands suddenly vanished, and in that instant, an astonishing scene transpired.


    The golden statue raised its right hand, and a dual-tipped spear appeared in its grasp; this was a miniature version of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin was astonished to discover that the Golden Dragon Spear within his body was nowhere to be found.


    What just happened? How was this piece of metal able to borrow his Golden Dragon Spear?


    However, the most stunning events were still yet to come.


    As Tang Wulin continued to look on in an astonished manner, the golden statue thrust its Golden Dragon Spear forward, releasing countless spear projections that ultimately fused as one; this was Fury of the Masses!


    "Boom!"


    Rainbow lightning surged along the Golden Dragon Spear, crashing into the golden statue''s body, causing it to shudder violently. However, it only took a split-second for the rainbow lightning to be completely absorbed into its body.


    After that, the golden statue raised its head and gestured for more in a provocative display.


    As the lightning was absorbed into the golden statue''s body, Tang Wulin was also struck by a numb sensation, as if he were the one who had been struck by the lightning instead.


    "Boom!"


    A second bolt of lightning fell, this one clearly more powerful than the first.


    Perhaps the tribulation clouds had been infuriated by the golden statue''s provocative gesture, and it rained down three bolts of lightning in succession.


    The golden statue made no attempt to evade, unleashing one spear projection after another with its Golden Dragon Spear to fight fire with fire. At the same time, a suit of battle armor that was identical to Tang Wulin''s three-word battle armor appeared over its body.


    "Boom, boom, boom!"


    The three consecutive lightning strikes were far more fearsome than the first one, and even though the golden statue had managed to withstand the barrage, it was sent flying down from above before crashing heavily onto the ground.


    Tang Wulin was also struck by a rush of dizziness and numbness.


    Didn''t the metal indicate that it was going to transcend the tribulation on its own? Why was the impact being duplicated?


    Right at this moment, a loud clang rang out, and the golden statue sprang up into the air.


    After withstanding that barrage of three lightning strikes, its body was already glowing with extremely bright rainbow light.


    It seemed to have also been enraged by this, and it transferred the Golden Dragon Spear into its left hand before raising its right hand upward. Immediately thereafter, what appeared to be a black hole appeared over its tiny palm.


    The five subsequent bolts of elemental lightning that fell from above were instantly torn apart, then forcibly devoured by the black hole as specks of rainbow light.


    This was Dragon Emperor Break! It was even capable of using the Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques!


    This was basically a miniature and metallic version of Tang Wulin himself!


    Ling Zichen was also completely rooted to the spot, and she was even struck by the feeling that she was watching Tang Wulin''s child in action.


    "Boom!"


    A string of rumbling thunderclaps rang out as the elemental tribulation intensified. What was even more terrifying was that a ball of rainbow lightning was quickly beginning to take shape up above!


    For the first time, the golden statue was struck by a hint of fear, and it tightened its grip around the Golden Dragon Spear as its aura seemed to be undergoing a change, while the air around it began to twist and warp.


    The ball of lightning fell out of the sky like a shooting star, and as the golden statue gripped the Golden Dragon Spear with both hands, everything in the surrounding area suddenly stood still, including even the ball of lightning for a split second.


    In the next instant, the Golden Dragon Spear slashed through the air, instantly slicing the ball of lightning in half. Scintillating rainbow light gushed into the golden statue''s body, and Tang Wulin shuddered violently off to the side, but it was a strangely exhilarating sensation.


    The golden statue was even capable of using his Dragon Emperor Slash!


    After absorbing the ball of lightning, the rainbow light radiating from the golden statue''s body had become extremely bright.


    All of a sudden, it pointed its Golden Dragon Spear up at the heavens, and an aura of reckless abandon erupted forth as it flew up directly toward the lightning clouds as a streak of rainbow light.


    This was Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Charge!


    A string of rumbling thunderclaps rang out up above, and the elemental tribulation seemed to have become even more enraged by the golden statue''s provocation.


    A peerlessly unyielding will erupted out of the golden statue''s body, causing even the tribulation clouds to dim slightly.


    Restrict Heaven and Earth, Dragon Emperor Fight!


    This was one of the two new Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques that Tang Wulin had created, and it was an extremely powerful auxiliary skill rather than a directly offensive ability.


    Tang Wulin could sense that his Dragon Emperor Fight was already able to emulate roughly 1% of that staff-wielding figure''s aura, but just this 1% was already beyond the boundaries of the Spirit Domain realm.


    Above the Spirit Domain realm was the Divine Origin realm, which was a realm that was only attainable to the gods!


    As soon as Dragon Emperor Fight was unleashed, even the rainbow tribulation clouds dimmed significantly. Tang Wulin had never had a chance to use this Dragon Emperor Restriction Technique in battle, but the golden statue was testing it in his stead.


    All of a sudden, everything turned dark, and it was as if heaven and earth had been flipped around as a terrifying aura spread through the air.


    The tribulation clouds in the sky suddenly felt as if they were on the verge of crumbling away, and right at this moment, Tang Wulin could sense that the Infernal Lightning Vine within his body was absorbing the power of the lightning tribulation in an ecstatic frenzy.


    Everything suddenly seemed to have fallen into darkness and destruction, and the sudden change caused Ling Zichen to let loose an agonized cry.


    Even the defenses of her divine-grade mecha were on the verge of being overwhelmed.

 Chapter 1735: The Difference Between Gods and Mortals

    Tang Wulin instantly positioned himself in front of Ling Zichen to shield her from the fearsome destructive power.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the energy in his soul core and dragon core, as well as his strength, were instantly sapped away in their entirety, but his body was deriving a peculiar sense of enjoyment from the nourishment of the rainbow elemental tribulation.


    Has it managed to use even my final Dragon Emperor Restriction Technique?


    Each of Tang Wulin''s five Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques had its own unique properties, and each successive technique was more formidable than the previous one.


    In particular, this fifth technique integrated almost all of his abilities and was essentially a kamikaze attack!


    Never did Tang Wulin think that the golden statue would be able to unleash such a technique.


    The technique was called Restrict the Universe, Dragon Emperor Annihilation!


    The darkness lingered for over 10 seconds before gradually dissipating, and the rainbow tribulation clouds faded alongside it.


    The golden statue had disappeared, and the Golden Dragon Spear had also returned to Tang Wulin''s body. The only thing left hovering up above was a piece of metal in the form of a right gauntlet. It was exactly identical to how Tang Wulin had envisioned his right gauntlet, and it was designed to fit over his right hand and forearm.


    The design was very streamlined and simplistic, and it had a golden base, but was giving off rainbow radiance.


    He had succeeded! He had truly succeeded!


    Tang Wulin was overcome by a myriad of emotions at the sight of this right gauntlet, and even his eyes were glowing brightly.


    Having expended countless time and effort, he had finally, finally succeeded.


    He reflexively raised his right hand, and the right gauntlet immediately flew over to him before settling onto his right arm.


    An intense scorching sensation appeared, and upon sensing the intruder, Tang Wulin''s three-word battle armor instantly surfaced.


    However, as soon as the existing right gauntlet came into contact with this piece of four-word battle armor, the former was immediately forcibly suppressed, then melted away to be devoured by the four-word gauntlet.


    The right gauntlet was a perfect fit, and Tang Wulin was immediately struck by an unprecedented sensation, as if his right forearm had become different from the rest of his body.


    This was a change in power; it was a complete evolution akin to ascension from mortality to godhood!


    The other parts of his suit of three-word battle armor let loose an anguished ringing sound, then fell out of his body and clattered onto the ground amid a string of loud clangs.


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids twitched slightly upon seeing this. Wasn''t this piece of four-word battle armor far too territorial? It wasn''t allowing the three-word battle armor to reside within his body!


    "They''re not worthy!" A prideful message that was imbued with a hint of arrogance was transmitted into Tang Wulin''s mind. Despite how haughty the message was, it was very convincing.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly turned his attention toward the gauntlet. "Is it you that''s communicating with me?"


    "That''s right. You are me, and I am you; we are one. Thank you for creating me. By the way, the name you wanted to give me was Golden Dragon Moon Song, right?"


    That''s right, Tang Wulin had already decided the name for his suit of four-word battle armor, just as Gu Yuena had as well.


    They were going to be Golden Dragon Moon Song Tang Wulin and Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin Gu Yuena.


    This was Tang Wulin''s four-word battle armor, the most powerful four-word battle armor in history.


    Tang Wulin asked, "But don''t I need to get soul circuits engraved onto you first?"


    "Soul circuits? What are those? I have no need for any such additions. I am a divine tool, and no mortal addition will enhance me in any way."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You''re a divine tool?"


    "That''s right, I''m a divine tool, just like your Golden Dragon Spear, except my material is inferior to it, but I have greater synergy with you. It hasn''t become a part of you yet, but I have. Perhaps you can regard me as a clone of yours if you''d like."


    How is this thing so intelligent?


    Tang Wulin suddenly recalled that Ling Zichen was also present, and he turned to find her inspecting his gauntlet with a curious expression, upon which a wry smile appeared on his face. "It looks like I won''t be able to forge metals for anyone else using this method."


    A divine tool forged through absolute focus and dedication could only become a part of its creator; perhaps this was an inherent restriction placed upon divine tools.


    Tang Wulin didn''t know how to react to the gauntlet''s disdain toward soul circuits, but at the same time, it had opened up a whole new world to him.


    A suit of divine caliber four-word battle armor would surely contribute to an exceptional foundation for an ascension to godhood in the future.


    ......


    At the Spirit Pagoda.


    Gu Yuena stood quietly in front of the window, peering into the distance.


    She had just come out of seclusion and learned about the Eternal Heaven incident.


    Through this window in her room, she was able to see the brand new Shrek City in the distance.


    The giant Sea God''s Lake was like a massive natural sapphire under the sun.


    She could sense that he had developed further, and that he seemed to have made a new breakthrough. This was a connection akin to a bloodline tie.


    Perhaps his rapid improvement wasn''t a bad thing.


    The doorbell sounded, and Gu Yuena withdrew her gaze before extending her right hand through the air, upon which the door opened on its own to reveal an ordinary-looking man wearing the uniform of a mid-tier Spirit Pagoda official.


    He entered the room before closing the door, then raised a hand to conjure up a layer of golden light that encompassed the entire room. Even the most advanced soul tools wouldn''t be able to detect anything happening inside the room now.


    The man extended a deep bow. "My Lord."


    "How are the preparations coming along?" Gu Yuena asked in an indifferent voice.


    The man replied, "According to the current data we''ve gathered, over 45% of all Soul Masters at or above the Soul Sage level have entered the Myriad Beast Plane at some point, and this number is only continuing to increase. Above the Titled Douluo level, the entrance rate is over 70%, and to them, the soul ring enhancements have a greater effect. The 10,000-year-old soul rings are also selling very well. Not only are they being purchased by high-grade Soul Masters, many wealthy families and merchants have also purchased 10,000-year-old soul rings to boost their overall power.


    "Everything is progressing according to plan, and by our estimates, it should be another year at most before we can commence our operation."


    "Alright, I see."


    The man hesitated momentarily before continuing, "My Lord, with regard to the Golden Dragon King..."


    "You can go now; I have my own plans regarding this matter," Gu Yue said, cutting him off mid-sentence.


    The man raised his head to look at Gu Yuena with a hesitant look in his eyes, but in the end, he gave an affirmative response before departing.


    ......


    In the northernmost region of the continent.


    "Rumble, rumble!"


    Dull rumbling reverberated incessantly in the distance, striking one with an unsettling sensation.


    The core area of the northernmost region was the coldest place on the entire Douluo Continent.


    The temperatures here were below -50¡ãC [-58¡ãF for mah American homies] all year round, and taking the wind chill factor into account, the perceived temperature could even plummet to below -100¡ãC [-148¡ãF].


    At this moment, a string of dull rumbling was echoing incessantly deep within a massive cave with a diameter in excess of 1,000 meters.


    Beside the cave stood Ghost Emperor, who was giving off a dark green aura that contrasted starkly with the pristine white world around him.


    There was a sinister smile on his face as he murmured to himself, "Success is imminent! Haha, hahahaha!"


    Deranged cackling rang out across the world of snow and ice.

 Chapter 1736: Biding Ones Time Before Seeking Revenge

    The fact that Eternal Heaven had fallen into the hands of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had changed the political landscape of the entire continent.


    The Dove Faction was enjoying a resurgence in the federal parliament and was beginning to match its Eagle Faction counterpart. Mo Lan had already officially become the leader of the Dove Faction, and due to Chen Xinjie''s sudden resignation, an internal power struggle took place within the Eagle Faction, resulting in a series of clashes before the next leader of the Sea God Legion was decided.


    As a result, the war that the Eagle Faction was planning to wage against the other two continents was put on ice.


    As for punishing the Tang Sect or Shrek Academy, that was entirely out of the question.


    Just the threat of Eternal Heaven alone had completely suppressed the Spirit Pagoda, and that wasn''t even taking into account how many Limit Douluos the two superpower organizations had. Eternal Heaven was a weapon that could easily destroy a city, and it was a trump card that everyone had to be wary of.


    Furthermore, with the reconstruction of Shrek City, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were officially connected, and the new Shrek City had become one of the most hyped-up places on the entire continent.


    Every plot of land in the new Shrek City had been bid up to astronomical prices, and a strict screening process had to be passed before one could move in to the city.


    With the meteoric resurgence of Shrek Academy, Spirit Academy was being dealt a series of heavy blows. Shrek Academy had reclaimed its title as the number one academy on the continent, and as a result, Spirit Academy''s influence was naturally diminished to the point that it was virtually negligible.


    Perhaps as a result of these recent events, the Spirit Pagoda had gone completely silent. Business was still booming at the Myriad Beast Plane, but aside from that, the Spirit Pagoda wasn''t making its presence felt at all, and none of its representatives in parliament even spoke up about the Eternal Heaven incident.


    The incident was also kept strictly confidential by the federation, but all those who were in the know were aware that Shrek Academy''s resurgence was unavoidable, and that no one would be able to touch the Tang Sect or Shrek Academy again.


    It seemed that Shrek Academy had returned to its former glory overnight. The foundation of the current Shrek Academy still couldn''t compare with that of the former Shrek Academy, which had many Titled Douluo level teachers among its ranks, but with the inclusion of the Yuanen Family and the Qilin Douluo, as well as the sweeper in the form of Old Man Chen, Shrek Academy''s current overall power was superior to even that of the Atlas Douluo''s generation.


    The persistence and growth of Tang Wulin''s generation naturally contributed to Shrek Academy''s rise from the ashes in such a short time, but a more significant factor was the foundation that Shrek Academy had built up over countless years.


    There were countless Shrek Academy alumni such as Guan Yue spread across the entire continent, and all of them were assisting the Shrek Academy rebuild in any way that they could.


    A foundation laid over the course of 20,000 years certainly couldn''t be wiped out in a single night.


    At this moment, the entire Douluo Continent had become extremely peaceful and harmonious. There was only one piece of news that sent a massive stir running through the entire Soul Master world, which was that Tang Wulin had been confirmed to be a Divine Blacksmith.


    Many parties, including the blacksmith association, had already verified this, making Tang Wulin the second Divine Blacksmith on the continent after Zhen Hua.


    Released in conjunction with this announcement was a statement declaring Zhen Hua''s retirement due to health reasons. In the future, he was going to focus his attention mainly on mentoring the next generation of blacksmiths.


    This meant that Tang Wulin was the only person on the continent capable of heavenly refinement and forging four-word battle armor, making him an extremely important figure in the entire Soul Master world.


    Even at its absolute peak, Shrek Academy had never had a Divine Blacksmith among its ranks.


    "Now that the situation has stabilized and we have your support, my life has been made a lot easier. The neutral faction has completely sided with us now, and I think you should consider obtaining a few seats in the federal parliament for Shrek Academy," Mo Lan suggested as she took a sip of her tea.


    She had paid a visit to Shrek Academy to see Tang Wulin and tell him about the latest developments in the federal parliament.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I won''t do that. Shrek Academy wasn''t involved in the parliament in the past, and things will stay that way. Shrek Academy has always maintained absolute neutrality; I can''t just break that rule on a whim!"


    Mo Lan sighed, "Sometimes, it''s important to hold power in your hands. There are many good people in this world, but just as many rotten apples. The Shrek Academy bombing took place in large part due to the fact that the academy didn''t hold enough power."


    Tang Wulin replied, "That may be true, but at the end of the day, Shrek Academy is only an academy. If we''re going to be actively exerting influence upon the political sphere, then the academy will no longer be pure. The bombing was a major disaster for Shrek Academy, but it also served as a reminder that we must become more powerful to ensure that nothing similar will happen again. We''ll always be supporting the neutral faction and Dove Faction; isn''t that enough?"


    "Are you going to exact revenge then?" This was the main question that Mo Lan had for Tang Wulin.


    It was clear to everyone that the Spirit Pagoda had to have been involved in the Shrek City bombing. The Holy Spirit Cult was still lurking in the shadows, yet the Spirit Pagoda was a clear target that was out in the open.


    Of course, Mo Lan wanted nothing more than to maintain the current peace on the continent, but could she really expect Shrek Academy to refrain from exacting revenge? If Shrek Academy were to make a move against the Spirit Pagoda, then a horrific conflict would surely follow.


    The Spirit Pagoda had amassed enormous wealth and gained the support of countless powerful Soul Masters. If a conflict were to arise between the two superpower organizations, then the peace would be broken again, and that was not something that Mo Lan wanted to see.


    Tang Wulin looked into Mo Lan''s eyes with a serious expression, and asked, "Do you think we should seek revenge?"


    Mo Lan faltered slightly upon hearing this. She didn''t think that Tang Wulin would turn the question back onto her, and she didn''t know how to reply.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "There''s no need for you to worry about this; some things simply must be done. Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect have been passive for so long as we were biding our time in search for an opportunity to exact our revenge."


    How could they not seek revenge? Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, Silver Moon Douluo Cai Yue''er, Scarlet Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi, Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu; one familiar name after another had appeared in Tang Wulin''s mind on countless occasions. They had all been pillars of Shrek Academy at one point, yet they had all given up their lives to protect the students during that disaster.


    If it weren''t for their sacrifices, the younger generation of Shrek Academy would''ve been entirely wiped out, and there would''ve been no chance for a resurgence.


    Would any of the current teachers of Shrek Academy simply agree to let the Spirit Pagoda off the hook?


    Similarly, many familiar names in the Tang Sect, including the past hall masters and the brothers of the Battle Hall, had also been destroyed alongside the Tang Sect headquarters. Who was the perpetrator of all this? The Holy Spirit Cult? How could they possibly have accomplished this alone? How did they manage to obtain those two godslayer missiles?


    It was clear that the Spirit Pagoda was just as at fault as the Holy Spirit Cult.


    The Spirit Pagoda had tried to thwart Shrek Academy''s revival every step of the way, and now that Shrek Academy had finally truly risen up again, it was time for revenge!

 Chapter 1737: The Spirit Pagodas Internal Crisis

    As Mo Lan departed, she did so in a forlorn manner. She wasn''t able to complete her objective in the end. In reality, she had already anticipated that her plight would most likely be a futile one.


    This was a massive blood feud, and regardless of how generous Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were, it was impossible to expect them to just let bygones be bygones. If it weren''t for the sake of the continent''s stability, they would''ve commenced their revenge operation long ago.


    As the current leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin naturally couldn''t let things slide just because that was the outcome that Mo Lan wanted to see. He was merely still waiting, waiting for a more perfect opportunity. This opportunity wasn''t going to come from the outside world; it was going to come from Shrek Academy itself.


    The most fearsome thing about Shrek Academy wasn''t its current power. Instead, it was the academy''s potential for future growth.


    With the Divine Blacksmith in the form of Tang Wulin present, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and all of the academy''s other powerful beings could be armed to the teeth.


    Even the Spirit Pagoda couldn''t imagine just how much aptitude he had for heavenly refinement and how quickly he was able to produce divine-grade metals.


    In fact, aside from the core circles in the Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, no one knew just how quickly Tang Wulin was able to churn out battle armor. The Soul Masters of the outside world would only approximate his rate of forging according to what Zhen Hua had been capable of in the past, but compared with Zhen Hua, Tang Wulin''s production was far more staggering.


    He was waiting for all of his friends to become Titled Douluos with full suits of four-word battle armor. Once that happened, it would be time for revenge.


    They couldn''t find the Holy Spirit Cult for now, but the Spirit Pagoda couldn''t go anywhere.


    Shrek Academy couldn''t afford to be dealt another heavy blow, so unless he had absolute confidence, Tang Wulin wasn''t going to do anything rash.


    Thus, he had only told Mo Lan that Shrek Academy wasn''t going to be doing anything in the next six months, thereby giving the continent a chance to settle and recover. However, he couldn''t make any guarantees beyond that.


    Tang Wulin''s suit of four-word battle armor still wasn''t complete. It was simply far too taxing to complete heavenly refinement of the divine caliber, and he required at least a week to recover after forging each piece of battle armor for himself. During this time, he would forge metals required for everyone else''s suits of four-word battle armor.


    Since making that breakthrough, Tang Wulin''s understanding of heavenly refinement had reached a new level, and his proficiency had improved significantly as a result. His speed hadn''t increased, but there was a clear improvement in quality, so much so that he had decided to upgrade the pieces of four-word battle armor that he had already forged for his friends to further improve their power.


    At the Spirit Pagoda.


    Qiangu Dongfeng was sitting on the main seat with a serious expression. To his left sat Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu, while Silver Dragon Douluo Gu Yuena sat to his right.


    Indeed, Gu Yuena''s current status in the Spirit Pagoda was already equal to that of the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo.


    Ever since Qiangu Dongfeng came under the impression that she had already had physical relations with his grandson, any doubts that he had harbored toward her had been erased, and he had promoted her to her current position despite strong opposition. In return, Gu Yuena was managing the Myriad Beast Plane splendidly with her outstanding power and intelligence.


    It could be said that during the past few months, the only thing that could improve Qiangu Dongfeng''s mood slightly was the enormous revenue being generated by the Myriad Beast Plane.


    Even so, he was still constantly in a foul mood.


    In addition to Leng Yaozhu and Gu Yuena, there were a handful of other people present, all of whom were at least at the Hyper Douluo level and made up the true core of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had already been seated in silence for a few minutes without saying anything.


    No one knew what the main subject of this meeting was going to be, but it was obvious that it had something to do with Shrek Academy.


    It wasn''t a secret among this core circle that the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect had come to threaten the Spirit Pagoda headquarters with Eternal Heaven, and that was a massive disgrace for the Spirit Pagoda.


    After returning from the Battle God Hall, Qiangu Dieting had thrown a massive tantrum and punished a lot of people in the headquarters, but that didn''t change anything.


    The fact of the matter was that Eternal Heaven had fallen into the hands of the Tang Sect, and it was hanging above the Spirit Pagoda''s head like a sharp sword; no one knew if or when the sword was going to fall. This was a godslayer missile that was more powerful than the other two combined! It was essentially a devastating disaster encapsulated within a metallic vessel.


    During the past month, Qiangu Dongfeng had already received over 20 applications from high-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda, requesting to be moved to another branch. Among the people present, over a third of them had handed in such applications.


    Regardless of how overbearing the Qiangu Family was, they couldn''t enforce an order for all of the high-ranking members to remain in the headquarters. Otherwise, internal turmoil would be sure to result. The Qiangu Family was a very powerful family, but it wasn''t an omnipotent power in the Spirit Pagoda. As such, Qiangu Dongfeng was forced to hold this meeting. Otherwise, if internal conflict were to arise, then that could spell the beginning of the end for the Spirit Pagoda.


    In reality, he wasn''t directly responsible for the seizing of Eternal Heaven by the Tang Sect, but the internal board of the Spirit Pagoda didn''t see it that way, and many dissenting voices had already arisen.


    The mastermind behind the Spirit Pagoda''s involvement in the Shrek City bombing had been the Qiangu Family, and it was now being held against them. If it weren''t for the fear everyone held toward the two Limit Douluos of the Qiangu Family, they would''ve most likely already been overthrown.


    "Chairman, why have you gathered everyone here today?" Leng Yaozhu finally broke the silence. She knew full well why everyone had been summoned to attend this meeting, but she still had to ask.


    In reality, she and Qiangu Dongfeng didn''t belong to the same branch; she was representing another branch within the Spirit Pagoda. Of course, her branch wasn''t anywhere near as powerful as the Qiangu Family.


    Qiangu Dongfeng took a glance at her before also breaking his silence. "Recently, there''s been a lot of unrest within our Spirit Pagoda. I know what''s been happening, and I know what everyone is worried about. In fact, we share the same concerns. All of you are wondering when Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect will officially exact their revenge on us, right?"


    The entire room fell completely silent, and even a pin drop would be clearly audible in this setting. Everyone''s eyes were focused on Qiangu Dongfeng, and they were surprised that he was being so straightforward about this.


    After a brief silence, Qiangu Dongfeng continued, "It''s true that our conflict with the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy is beyond resolution, and things will boil over eventually. The later we act, the more detrimental the situation will become for us. I''m sure all of you are of the same opinion, right?"


    Leng Yaozhu''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Are you criticizing all of us, Chairman?"


    Her discontent toward Qiangu Dongfeng was already at a boiling point, and it had been ever since the Shrek City bombing.


    Qiangu Dongfeng took a cold glance at her, and said, "Ever since the development of soul technology began to pick up steam on the Douluo Continent, we no longer had to fear the soul beasts. As such, the only enemy of humanity is humanity itself. Similarly, the advancements in soul technology have rendered Soul Masters far more vulnerable than they had once been. Otherwise, the Atlas Douluo wouldn''t have perished during the bombing."


    Leng Yaozhu''s expression changed noticeably upon hearing this, and her hands clenched up into tight fists below the table. She knew that Qiangu Dongfeng was intentionally pouring salt into her wounds, but she couldn''t help but be enraged by his words.


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned his gaze away from her, and continued, "In this world, the power of the individual is no longer absolute. What''s truly formidable is the power of technology and wealth, and our Spirit Pagoda was able to become the number one organization on the continent precisely because of our astronomic wealth. Nana, read out the statistics for everyone."

 Chapter 1738: Statistical Analysis

    Gu Yuena sat up straighter and did as she was instructed. "Yes, Chairman. Currently, the Myriad Beast Plane is operating smoothly, and its entry can be granted in exchange for money, uncommon metals, and other items of value. During the past year, the Myriad Beast Plane has earned the Spirit Pagoda over 30% more revenue than traditional soul spirit sales, becoming our largest source of revenue. Part of this revenue and the uncommon metals have been used for soul technology research and development, while the rest have been used to purchase required strategic supplies."


    She paused here momentarily before turning to Qiangu Dongfeng with an inquisitive expression.


    Leng Yaozhu''s expression had turned to one of bewilderment upon hearing this. Even she wasn''t aware of these statistics. She had asked Gu Yuena about this in the past, but her reply at the time hadn''t been anywhere near as clear as this! However, she was now providing these statistics at Qiangu Dongfeng''s behest, and Leng Yaozhu knew that this meant that her disciple had completely defected over to Qiangu Dongfeng''s side.


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded, and prompted, "Some things need to be revealed. Otherwise, everyone will think that I''m an incompetent chairman. All of the preparatory measures we''ve taken were implemented in the case of extreme situations."


    Gu Yuena nodded in response, then continued, "These strategic supplies include 100 ninth-grade soul missiles, 300 eighth-grade soul missiles, three soul formation defense systems fit for use even in outer space and initially designed by the federation specifically for space exploration..."


    The contents of the list were staggering to the higher-ups of the Spirit Pagoda present.


    One had to realize that any ninth-grade soul missile possessed power equivalent to a full-force attack from a Titled Douluo!


    Even the Sea God Legion only had 10 ninth-grade soul missiles, and that was already the maximum quota allocated by the federation.


    Never had such a massive number of ninth-grade soul missiles been accumulated by a single entity, and it would''ve been sure to have cost an astronomical sum!


    Gu Yuena continued, "We''ve conducted detailed analysis of the power of Eternal Heaven, and even though we don''t know how much power its core would release during its explosion, the three soul formation defense systems will give us at least three minutes of safety during a potential explosion, which is enough time to do a lot of things. The Spirit Pagoda headquarters isn''t lacking in emergency escape equipment, and three minutes is enough to evacuate over 10 times."


    A cold light appeared in Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes as he took over from Gu Yuena. "Those three defense systems are currently installed in the headquarters, and I daresay that there''s no place safer on the Douluo Continent. Now, if anyone still wants to transfer to a different branch, you can state your intentions now, and I''ll approve right away."


    An almighty aura erupted out of his body, completely wiping away his depressed demeanor and replacing it with unspeakable domineering might.


    Everyone fell completely silent, including Leng Yaozhu. None of them had imagined that Qiangu Dongfeng would''ve set up so much in the shadows.


    The amount of money required for all of this was undoubtedly extremely staggering, but no one could criticize him for being wasteful.


    In spite of recent events, everyone present had to admit that the Spirit Pagoda had developed rapidly ever since Qiangu Dongfeng had taken the helm, especially when it came to revenue.


    The creation of 10,000-year-old soul spirits had already drastically boosted the revenue being generated by the Spirit Pagoda, and with the Myriad Beast Plane thrown into the mix, it wasn''t an exaggeration to say that over 80% of the Spirit Pagoda''s revenue had been generated after Qiangu Dongfeng had become the chairman. With the wealth that he had generated, he had purchased resources and strategic weapons to protect the Spirit Pagoda and intimidate its enemies.


    Qiangu Dongfeng looked around at everyone present, and upon seeing that no one was raising any objections, he nodded in a pleased manner."From now on, I don''t want to hear about anyone sowing fear and dissension among our ranks. As for the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, if they dare to come, then we''ll wait for them. If they''re smart and know what''s good for themselves, they''ll lie low and develop as normal. Even if they have a godslayer missile, we''re not unable to retaliate. In this day and age, wealth ranks above all else, and there''s no way that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy can compare with us in this respect. So what if they have a few talented young people? They pose no threat to us given the nature of the current era.


    "Taking everything into account, I have no idea what all of you are so concerned about. That''s it, meeting over!"


    After that, Qiangu Dongfeng slammed a palm down onto the table before departing.


    Gu Yuena hurriedly stood up and followed along behind him.


    In the wake of their departure, the room remained completely silent. The statistics that had just been rattled off had truly astonished everyone, and they had to admit that Qiangu Dongfeng had successfully intimidated them.


    As for his statement that wealth trumped all else, at the very least, no one could rebut it for now.


    Leng Yaozhu''s fists were tightly clenched, and she remained seated in the conference hall for a long time.


    She had been very depressed ever since Yun Ming''s death, and she had placed very high hopes in Gu Yuena.


    In her eyes, Gu Yuena was the future. However, Gu Yuena had defected over to Qiangu Dongfeng, thereby snuffing out the hope in her heart, leaving her at a loss for what to do.


    If it weren''t for lack of courage and the fact that Yun Ming had never loved her, perhaps she would''ve already followed him to the afterlife.


    Only after Qiangu Dongfeng returned to his room did he allow himself to exhale and relax. He was finally feeling more like himself after that domineering display.


    Gu Yuena followed him into the room before closing the door, then activated the sound isolation system.


    "You must think I took quite a risk back there, right?" Qiangu Dongfeng asked as he looked out the window.


    Gu Yuena replied, "A little. Out of the statistics we presented, only less than 20% have actually been prepared. If someone decides to verify our claims, there could be some issues. After all, everything else will be ready soon, but it''ll take a long time to complete the production of the ninth-grade soul missiles."


    Qiangu Dongfeng asked, "How long will it take for the three soul formation defense systems to be complete?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "It''ll take another three months or so, and according to our calculations, even once the three systems are in place, they still won''t even be able to withstand Eternal Heaven''s explosion for a minute. On top of that, if issues were to arise, a sufficient number of Soul Masters will be required to support the systems."


    Qiangu Dongfeng said, "That''s why I claimed a three-minute safety period. All of these people are considering jumping ship at the first sign of danger; if I don''t give them some hope, then none of them will be willing to stay behind and protect our headquarters. If worse comes to worst, then some sacrifices will need to be made."


    Gu Yuena hesitated momentarily before nodding in response. "I understand."


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned around and cast a gentle gaze toward her. "It''s a good thing you''ve been around to help me these past few days. Our top priority now is to maintain the stable operation of the Myriad Beast Plane. The Myriad Beast Plane is entirely in our grasp and not something that anyone else can stake a claim on. Regardless of how discontent they are toward me, they won''t actually go and verify those statistics so long as the Myriad Beast Plane continues to generate these enormous sums of revenue. As such, the biggest thing you can do to help me is to ensure the profitability of the Myriad Beast Plane."


    "Rest assured, Grandfather; there won''t be any issues over at the Myriad Beast Plane."


    "I trust you. You can call upon any of the personnel you need to ensure that nothing goes wrong with the Myriad Beast Plane, and when necessary, you can offer some discounts and promotions; we need to amass wealth as quickly as possible right now. The acquisition of 100 ninth-grade soul missiles isn''t just an empty promise; I have to make it come into fruition to ensure that we have sufficient ability to retaliate. If the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy really do dare to make a move against us, then we''ll bring them down with us."


    Gu Yuena nodded once again before asking, "Do you have any other instructions, Grandfather?"


    A faint smile finally appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face, and he replied, "That''s all for now; you can go. Sorry to make you have to work so hard; Zhangting has already complained to me many times that he hasn''t seen you in a long time due to your duties at the Myriad Beast Plane. Regardless of how busy work is, don''t let it affect your relationship. After today, our Spirit Pagoda will have temporary internal stability, so you can rest for a few days."


    "Thank you for your concern, Grandfather. Rest assured, I''ll speak to Zhangting. This is the time when you need our efforts the most, so I have to continue to work hard."


    Qiangu Dongfeng chuckled, "Don''t work too hard. I''m very much looking forward to having a great-grandson, so you and Zhangting should arrange a wedding once things settle down."

 Chapter 1739: World Domination

    Gu Yuena blushed as she lowered her head. "I''ll be going now, Grandfather."


    "Go on."


    Following Gu Yuena''s departure, a grim look reappeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face.


    Were 100 ninth-grade soul missiles really enough? With the powerful disruption system set up within Shrek City, it was impossible to see into it from afar, and he could only just barely make out the Sea God''s Lake from the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    He was far too familiar with Shrek Academy, perhaps due to the fact that they were enemies.


    Shrek Academy was a neutral entity, but throughout the course of history, it had played an instrumental role in influencing many of the important decisions that had shaped the continent. Each generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had been a force to be reckoned with, and Shrek City was the symbol of Shrek Academy; there was no way they would be willing to let things slide in the wake of the city''s destruction.


    In reality, he wasn''t concerned about Shrek Academy using Eternal Heaven as he knew that Shrek Academy wouldn''t be willing to risk innocent lives. However, it was only a matter of time before Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect sought revenge against the Qiangu Family.


    With that in mind, he knew that he had to seize the initiative. Once all 100 ninth-grade soul missiles were ready, he would perhaps have to raze Shrek City to the ground again at all costs.


    A vicious look appeared in Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes as this thought sprang into his mind.


    Right at this moment, his soul communicator suddenly began to ring, and as he looked at the number being displayed, his pupils instantly contracted slightly.


    He accepted the call, then said in a cold voice, "So you''re finally willing to contact me."


    "Oh? Did you miss me?" A sinister voice replied from the other end.


    "What do you think? I did everything I could to help you, yet you disappeared on me, right when I needed your services most!" Qiangu Dongfeng said in an enraged voice.


    "We were merely helping one another in the face of a common enemy. Qiangu Dongfeng, my old friend, I have some fantastic news for you." The voice on the other end was still sinister and unpleasant, but it had adopted a very enthusiastic tone, creating an uncomfortable contrast.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. "Good news? What good news could you possibly have for me?"


    "We''ve created an opportunity for world domination; wouldn''t you say that''s good news?"


    "World domination? What have you done?" A chill ran down Qiangu Dongfeng''s spine as he spoke, and a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in his heart.


    Both he and Shrek Academy seemed to have forgotten about the Holy Spirit Cult during this period where it had remained inactive.


    There was no way that the Holy Spirit Cult would''ve disbanded or had a change of heart, so what exactly had they been doing all this time? Those people had no morals and relished destruction, making them extremely dangerous.


    They wanted nothing better than to kill all of the living beings on the entire Douluo Continent so they could enhance themselves through deathly energy!


    Qiangu Dongfeng knew that cooperating with the Holy Spirit Cult could well be a double-edged sword, but he harbored far too much resentment and hatred toward Shrek Academy for that to stop him. He knew that if he couldn''t repress Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda would never be able to become the number one organization on the continent, which was why he had stooped to working with the Holy Spirit Cult.


    "You''ll know everything very soon. What you have to consider now is whether you want to join us. This is a limited-time opportunity, and I can tell you that nothing will be able to stop us; the Douluo Continent is destined to be ours. If you''re willing to represent the Spirit Pagoda and submit to our rule, then things will progress a bit more quickly."


    "Submit to your rule? Am I hearing this right? Have you gone insane?" Qiangu Dongfeng was furious. The Spirit Pagoda was a legitimate organization; he could use the Holy Spirit Cult, but he couldn''t afford to actually be lumped together with them.


    As long as the dealings taking place under the table were sufficiently concealed, perhaps no one would be able to accuse them of anything, but if they were to openly support the Holy Spirit Cult, the Qiangu Family would immediately be overthrown by the board of the Spirit Pagoda!


    "That''s quite a pity. However, if you choose to become our enemy, then you''ll be sure to regret it. When that time comes, you won''t even be able to join us if you begged! Hahahahaha!" The voice on the other end of the line burst into raucous laughter that was extremely unpleasant to the ears and filled with unadulterated triumph.


    Qiangu Dongfeng almost tore his soul communicator into pieces, but he knew that he had to remain calm and gather more information.


    He took a deep breath to forcibly repress his fury, then asked, "What did you do, Ghost Emperor? At the end of the day, we did work together in the past, so shouldn''t you at least tell me what''s happened so that we can prepare for what''s coming? Future collaboration isn''t out of the question, but you have to show me some sincerity first."


    Ghost Emperor chuckled, "There''s no need for that; it doesn''t matter whether we have you or not. I gave you this opportunity precisely because we had worked together in the past, but seeing as you''re unwilling to submit to us, then you can go die!"


    After that, the call was abruptly cut off.


    Qiangu Dongfeng faltered slightly before he was finally overcome with rage and smashed his soul communicator into pieces.


    "Those bastards! What the hell have they done?"


    The unknown was always the most terrifying thing, and having interacted with Ghost Emperor on many past occasions, Qiangu Dongfeng knew full well that he was a complete and utter madman.


    There was a sovereign above the two emperors of the Holy Spirit Cult, but in reality, Ghost Emperor was the one in charge; Demon Sovereign of the Holy Spirit Cult had virtually never been seen before. At the very least, Qiangu Dongfeng had never met him, and he had only rumors that Demon Sovereign was a being who was infinitely approaching godhood.


    Equivalent in rank to Ghost Emperor was Infernal Emperor, otherwise known as Infernal King Douluo Harosha, but virtually completely uninvolved in the operation of the Holy Spirit Cult. His sole pursuit was to be able to attain godhood; it didn''t matter to him how he achieved this.


    The four heavenly monarchs answered directly to Ghost Emperor, as did the countless other powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    All of them had remained dormant for several years; what exactly had they done during this time? Despite how familiar Qiangu Dongfeng was with them, he couldn''t think of any possibilities. In any case, they were definitely up to no good, and he had to take some precautionary measures.


    He believed that the Holy Spirit Cult wouldn''t directly target the Spirit Pagoda, but he still had to fear them due to their love for destruction and slaughter.


    What was most troubling to Qiangu Dongfeng was that he had no idea where the Holy Spirit Cult could be.


    ......


    In the northernmost region of the continent.


    After ending the call, Ghost Emperor chortled for a while longer before cackling to himself, "Qiangu Dongfeng, ptui! You think you have the right to work with me as equals? Tremble before me, mortals. Very soon, this entire world will become ours. Let the power of death come to us quickly! I''ve been waiting for this moment for far too long already."


    A figure arrived silently behind him, and the figure seemed to be completely concealed within darkness, making it impossible to make out their features.


    "Ghost Emperor," he greeted in a respectful voice.


    "How is Demon Sovereign, Blood Demon?" Ghost Emperor asked.


    "Demon Sovereign has already awakened and is instructing you to see him; we should be able to begin soon," Blood Demon replied in a voice that was filled with excitement.

 Chapter 1740: Emergence of Demon Sovereign

    "Fantastic! We''ve all been waiting for this moment for far too long already. No one is going to be able to stop us this time."


    He leaped into the deep pit behind him as he spoke, descending in free fall for several kilometers before eerie green flames ignited around his body to slow his momentum, allowing for a composed landing.


    Dark purple light was currently radiating from the ground beneath his feet, and it was extremely faint, providing a magical atmosphere.


    Upon closer inspection, one would discover that those were a series of soul formations, and what was quite harrowing was that those formations contained a purplish-black liquid that was giving off a rank odor.


    The liquid was congealed blood, and there was enough of it to fill all of the formations in this giant pit, which had a diameter of over a kilometer!


    There was no wind here, but a sinister aura seemed to be constantly spreading through the area.


    At the very center of the giant pit stood a five-level altar, at the top of which sat a person.


    The person''s body was concealed within a large black cloak, and there was barely any light in this underground world, so one could easily miss her if they weren''t looking carefully.


    Her head was slightly lowered, and there were faint black currents swirling around her. Even though she was merely seated on the spot, it was as if she were the core of the universe.


    Ghost Emperor hurriedly rushed forward before extending a bow toward the altar. "Demon Sovereign, everything is ready, and we''re awaiting further instruction from you."


    "Good..." A melodious voice rang out in response, but in the next instant, the voice echoed throughout the entire space like a tsunami wave, sweeping up a string of air currents that surged out of the pit as a tornado.


    Ghost Emperor''s expression remained unchanged, and he waited patiently in silence.


    "You can begin. This world once ruined me, so it''s time for me to ruin this world."


    Her body slowly levitated into mid-air as she spoke, and she straightened her legs as she rose to a standing position. Beneath the black cloak, the outline of a tall and slender body could be seen, but it was impossible to see any of her facial features.


    There was most likely no one who could''ve guessed that the most powerful being of the Holy Spirit Cult would be a woman.


    She slowly raised her hands up from her sides, revealing her hands to be riddled with strange dark purple demonic patterns.


    Bright purple light began to glow from her hands, and she slowly chanted, "I borrow the power of the sky to seal the heavens, and I borrow the power of the earth to connect with destruction."


    As she chanted, the giant formation beneath her feet began to rapidly spread into the distance with the altar at its center, transforming into countless dark purple projections. The entire underground world seemed to have sprung to life, and the ghastly howls of countless malicious spirits reverberated through the entire underground world.


    Ghost Emperor and Demon Sovereign were the only people present here, and nine dark green skulls emerged from Ghost Emperor''s body before revolving around him, chomping and devouring all of the malicious spirits that were attempting to attack him.


    Meanwhile, Ghost Emperor stood still on the spot with a blissful expression. This was the world that he loved the most.


    The earth began to rumble, and a series of halos appeared on the altar beneath Demon Sovereign''s feet.


    There were seven halos, each of which was a color of the rainbow, but they were masked under a layer of darkness.


    The sky directly above the giant pit suddenly darkened, and it was as if an independent world had been created here. Right at this moment, a huge pillar of dark purple light erupted out of the pit directly into the heavens.


    A deranged look appeared in Ghost Emperor''s eyes. "With the blood of 100,000 people as a sacrifice and Demon Sovereign''s power, today is the day that we welcome a new world order. From this moment forth, the mighty Demon Sovereign has become a god and now possesses the power of a god. O great Demon Sovereign, lead us to the future, to the path that''ll destroy this entire world."


    "That''s right, it''s time to open up the path to destroy this world," Demon Sovereign declared, "It''s a pity that you''re no longer here, Tang San. Otherwise, I''d be sure to tear you to countless shreds to avenge my husband. The humans that you protected will all perish as part of my revenge, and I''m going to send this entire world to join my husband in the afterlife. I really hope you''ll come back someday; I wonder what your reaction will be when you see all of this, hahahahahaha!"


    "Rumble, rumble!" The entire world of snow and ice was trembling, and massive ice shelves began to collapse as a series of rifts began to appear deep within the giant pit, releasing a terrifying aura.


    ......


    At Shrek Academy.


    Tang Wulin stretched lazily as an excited smile appeared on his face.


    He had finally completed another piece of battle armor for himself.


    He could clearly feel that with each piece of Golden Dragon Moon Song battle armor he completed, his power would be enhanced dramatically.


    However, the remaining pieces of battle armor were quite large, thereby increasing the difficulty of the forging process, and for some of the most difficult pieces, he would perhaps be unable to complete one even over a span of two weeks.


    Half a year had passed since Eternal Heaven had been captured, and during this time, Shrek Academy had been developing in a steady and peaceful manner.


    Aside from Tang Wulin, all of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had gone into seclusion at one point or another.


    Ye Xinglan was consolidating her sword essence, Yuanen Yehui was working on improving the cohesion between her two martial souls, and Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie were preparing for Titled Douluo breakthroughs. Xu Lizhi had gone to the Seven Saint Paradise to better experience the powers of life and destruction, while Xu Xiaoyan was cultivating on the stargazing platform.


    Ever since she had unveiled her powers as the number one control-system Soul Master under the starry heavens, she had been pushing herself even harder than before.


    All of their suits of four-word battle armor had been completed during the past half a year, and Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Moon Song was also only missing a very small portion.


    It was time!


    Tang Wulin changed into a set of vintage robes and strode out of his forging workshop.


    The robe belonged to the Sea God''s Pavilion Master, and only during Sea God''s Pavilion meetings did he need to wear it.


    The robe was of a dark green color with golden embroidery, and on the chest was a golden trident symbol to commemorate the leader of the first generation of Shrek Seven Monsters and the founder of the Tang Sect, Sea God Tang San. He was the one that the Sea God''s Pavilion had been named after.


    The past Sea God''s Pavilion had been destroyed, and the current Sea God''s Pavilion was set up in an area not far away from the main school building beside the Sea God''s Lake.


    It had been constructed in the exact same style as the previous one, but it was missing the ancient Golden Tree.


    The tree of life had constantly been growing at a slow rate in the Sea God''s Lake, and the lake was already teeming with life.


    The deathly energy had all been sucked away by the Seven Saint Paradise, and the ecosystem was completely balanced. The seeds of the seven immortal plants were also under the lake, and they had sprouted around the tree of life.


    Along with the tree of life, they were growing by absorbing the life energy present in the air in the Sea God''s Lake. However, their rate of growth was still very slow, and it would take them a long time to truly grow to maturity.


    Upon arriving at the Sea God''s Pavilion, Shrek''s Six Monsters were already present, and all of them were raring to go.


    As Tang Wulin strode into the room, everyone stood up in unison.

 Chapter 1741: Prosperous

    The five Limit Douluos Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, Titan Douluo Yuanen Zhentian, Free Sky Douluo Yuanen Tiandang, and Qilin Douluo Tong Yu were all present; the only absentee was Old Man Chen the sweeper.


    Chen Xinjie had told Tang Wulin that all he wanted was to stay at and protect Shrek Academy, but he wasn''t going to be participating in any of Shrek Academy''s operations against other powers; that was a line that he was unwilling to cross.


    Of course, it was very likely that he would change his mind if Long Yeyue asked him to do so, but at the very least, he was still only Old Man Chen the sweeper for now.


    Long Yeyue had met him on three occasions, making sure to hurl verbal abuse at him every time, but he refused to leave.


    Aside from the five Limit Douluos and Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng, and Wu Zhangkong were also present.


    Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng had already rebuilt the inner court of Shrek Academy, and even though there still weren''t many inner court disciples, it was now ready to accept disciples.


    Wu Zhangkong was still the principal of the outer court, and it was being run in a very orderly fashion under his leadership. Furthermore, he was personally involved in teaching students and training teachers.


    This group was the true core of Shrek Academy, and aside from them, there were also three guests in the Sea God''s Pavilion, which was a very rare sight in Sea God''s Pavilion meetings.


    These three were Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, and the head soul weaponry researcher of the Tang Sect, Ling Zichen.


    It was no exaggeration to say that this was the most formidable lineup that had ever gathered in the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    Even at the very height of Shrek Academy''s power, there had never been as many as seven Limit Douluos in a Sea God''s Pavilion meeting, and that wasn''t even taking into account Tang Wulin, whose powers were already comparable with those of a Limit Douluo.


    Sima Jinchi and A''Ruheng weren''t in attendance; they were both deferring to Tang Wulin''s better judgment.


    A''Ruheng had made a trip back to the Body Sect and had only recently returned, bringing with him a piece of good news, which was that following some discussion with Mu Ye, A''Ruheng had taken over as the sect master of the Body Sect and had brought the Body Sect over to Shrek City.


    That''s right, the current Body Sect was now also a part of Shrek City.


    The reason A''Ruheng provided for this was very simple: only in Shrek City could the Body Sect truly flourish. At the same time, he had made a request toward Shrek Academy. Having become a member of Shrek City, the Body Sect was going to pledge itself to protect the city and Shrek Academy, but in exchange, A''Ruheng requested for Shrek Academy to recommend its students with exceptional body martial souls to the Body Sect in order to continue the sect''s lineage.


    After some discussion with the elders of the academy, Tang Wulin agreed to this request, and this was why the Body Sect had moved to Shrek City in its entirety without any hesitation.


    Even though the Body Sect was far from its heyday, it was still a top-tier sect with an extremely illustrious history, and no one on the entire continent could compare with the sect when it came to nurturing body martial souls.


    Even in arguably the worst era of the Body Sect, it was still able to produce A''Ruheng, who had attained the Invincible Vajra Body; what wouldn''t the sect be able to accomplish in the future?


    At this point, Shrek City had already gathered four major powers, comprised of Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Body Sect, and the Yuanen Family, thereby further boosting its overall power.


    Tang Wulin had intended to give the Body Sect a seat in the Sea God''s Pavilion, only to be refused by A''Ruheng, who trusted Tang Wulin to represent the Body Sect.


    In the future, once Tang Wulin retired, different arrangements could be made, but for now, A''Ruheng saw no need for another Body Sect representative in the Sea God''s Pavilion.


    With the inclusion of these major powers, the new Shrek City had well and truly become the most powerful city on the entire continent.


    The city was housing close to 10 Limit Douluos, and this alone was already a staggering amount of power to be gathered in one place.


    "Pavilion Master." Everyone extended respectful salutes toward Tang Wulin, even all of the Limit Douluos present.


    Tang Wulin ranked above them in official status, and tradition had to be upheld.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly returned everyone''s salutes before making his way to the main seat.


    "Please take a seat, everyone."


    Looking at all of the powerful beings present, a hint of emotion welled up in his heart. Not long ago, Shrek City had been nothing more than a massive crater, and the only ones who remained were Shrek''s Seven Monsters and Yali.


    At the time, they had departed with barely any hope in their hearts, but now, they had returned, and Shrek City had been rebuilt.


    The new Shrek City was more powerful than ever, and it had once again become the center of attention for the entire continent. Even the federation didn''t dare to do anything to Shrek City anymore.


    It would still take some more time for Shrek Academy to truly recover its status as the number one academy. It required more young talent to pass on its heritage, but looking at it now, this seemed to only be a matter of time.


    "Thank you for attending today''s Sea God''s Pavilion meeting, everyone. This is an extremely important meeting for both Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect," Tang Wulin said, cutting straight to the chase.


    Serious looks appeared on everyone''s faces, particularly those who had been present during the Shrek City bombing.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath before continuing, "A few years ago, two godslayer missiles were detonated within Shrek City, destroying Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, resulting in countless lost lives. The entire city was destroyed, and after thorough investigation, we''ve determined beyond a doubt that the Holy Spirit Cult is the main culprit, but it had an accomplice, which was the Spirit Pagoda."


    Thus, he gave everyone a detailed recount of how he had discovered the collusion between the Spirit Pagoda and the Holy Spirit Cult back when he was on the Dou Spirit Continent.


    "Based on all of this, we are absolutely sure that the Spirit Pagoda was involved in the Shrek City bombing, thereby making them sworn enemies of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. Millions of people perished in Shrek City on that day, and now that Shrek City has been rebuilt, it''s time that we exacted our revenge. As the Sea God''s Pavilion Master of Shrek Academy, I hereby declare that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect will be declaring war on the Spirit Pagoda. However, we won''t be harming any innocent individuals; our target is the Qiangu Family."


    Tang Wulin''s voice was extremely decisive, and tears immediately welled up in Yali''s eyes as intense hatred surfaced in her heart.


    She had always been so kind and had spent her entire life sacrificing herself for the sake of others, but the husband whom she dearly loved had perished during that very same bombing.


    All of the people present from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were raring to go.


    "How do you plan to do this?" Tong Yu asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Our revenge will be completely open and aboveboard; we''re going to Spirit Pagoda headquarters to face the Qiangu Family in a battle to the death. Anyone who tries to stand in our way will be enemies of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. This is something that only concerns Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, so there''s no need for you and the two seniors of the Yuanen Family to get involved."


    Tong Yu replied, "My life is yours; I''ll follow you in anything you do, so there''s no need to try and dissuade me."


    Yuanen Tiandang said, "I didn''t see you shying away back when we were facing the demonic plane together, Sect Master Tang. Besides, this is not just revenge for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect; we''re also seeking justice for the millions of people who perished during that disaster! No matter how we look at it, there''s no reason for us not to participate. On top of that, we''re also residents of Shrek City; we wouldn''t be able to live with ourselves if we refrain from participating in this cause."


    Ever since the Yuanen Family had moved into Shrek City, they had been greatly touched by everything that Shrek Academy had done for them. Now that Shrek City was growing in power by the day and both Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang had received their suits of four-word battle armor, what excuse did they have not to fight for Shrek City?

 Chapter 1742: Direct Revenge!

    Besides, no one was of the opinion that Shrek Academy would fail in this revenge operation.


    The new generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had already matured, and as Tang Wulin looked around the room, he was met with the decisive eyes of everyone, regardless of whether they were members of Shrek Academy or the Tang Sect.


    Intense hatred was currently brewing in their hearts.


    All of them had lost friends and loved ones during the Shrek City bombing, not to mention all of the other innocent lives that had been lost during the disaster.


    The past Shrek City was the number one city on the continent, the most prosperous city in all the lands, but it had been completely destroyed in a single night.


    All of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters could still clearly recall every single word that Yun Ming had said prior to his death and the determined look in his eyes.


    Tang Wulin slowly rose to his feet before raising his right hand, and a silver spear instantly appeared in his grasp amid a flash of light; it was none other than the Divine Atlas Spear.


    "In the name of the Atlas Douluo with his Divine Atlas Spear acting as witness, from this day forth, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect officially declares war on the Qiangu Family!"


    Tang Wulin''s voice was completely implacable, and his eyes were glowing brightly. The countless nights he had spent mourning and hoping were finally going to bear fruit now.


    Everyone stood up in unison, and a series of almighty auras erupted within the Sea God''s Pavilion, causing the entire Sea God''s Lake to ripple and churn.


    The long-awaited moment had finally arrived!


    One day later, an official statement appeared in all major media outlets; it was a declaration of war from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.


    "After extensive investigation, it was discovered that the Holy Spirit Cult had been responsible for the Shrek City bombing that took place several years ago, with the Spirit Pagoda led by the Qiangu Family acting as accomplices. Today, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect are declaring war on the Holy Spirit Cult and the Qiangu Family, and we won''t rest until both those parties are brought to justice!"


    The statement was very simple and concise without any evidence given. This was a declaration made to the entire Douluo Continent that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect didn''t require any evidence to do what they wanted.


    They weren''t a legal organization, nor the federal parliament. Furthermore, they weren''t trying to prove anything by providing evidence; all they were doing was informing everyone that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had joined forces to declare war on the Qiangu Family, and the Qiangu Family was their only target.


    The statement created a massive stir throughout the entire continent, and both the Dove Faction and Eagle Faction were astonished.


    Wasn''t revenge supposed to be exacted in secret? How were the law enforcement departments supposed to react to this?


    At the same time, everyone knew just how heavy a blow that disaster had dealt the two superpower organizations, so many people had guessed that this would happen eventually, but they didn''t think that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect would be so direct about it.


    No one knew where the Holy Spirit Cult was, but the Spirit Pagoda headquarters was located near Shrek Academy, and it was a prime target.


    The Spirit Pagoda reacted very quickly, immediately releasing a public statement in response, strongly accusing Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect of slander, while vehemently emphasizing that it had nothing to do with the Holy Spirit Cult or the Shrek City bombing. In addition, it requested that Shrek Academy provide concrete evidence to support its claims, but Shrek Academy merely ignored this statement, completely refusing to entertain it.


    Having already released such a statement, it seemed that the revenge operation would commence before too long.


    All of a sudden, everyone across the entire continent had its attention focused on Shrek City.


    The federal parliament had issued letters to the two superpower organizations, urging them to exercise restraint in this society that was ruled by law, and it also requested that Shrek Academy provide more evidence so that the parliament could judge this matter.


    Furthermore, both the Dove Faction and Eagle Faction had sent representatives to Shrek City to try and mediate the situation, but Shrek City remained shut off to the outside world, refusing to grant the representatives entry.


    Meanwhile, the Spirit Pagoda was desperately seeking assistance from the federation, but to no avail.


    It then released another public statement, stating that if Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were to act against the Spirit Pagoda, then it would retaliate accordingly, and thus, the atmosphere became extremely tense.


    Within a short span of two days, the Douluo Continent was once again plunged into unrest after less than a year of peace.


    The Battle God Hall had publicly stated that this was a matter between Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, and the Spirit Pagoda, so it wouldn''t be getting involved; it only expressed an urge for both sides to exercise restraint, which was essentially the same as saying nothing. Everyone could see that this revenge operation could no longer be stopped.


    The federal parliament immediately stationed two mecha corps on the route between the new Shrek City and the Spirit Pagoda, and that was the best the parliament could do on such short notice to try and prevent this conflict.


    However, would two mecha corps really be able to stop Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect?


    On the third day, a group of people emerged from the front gate of Shrek Academy.


    There were only just over 20 people in the group, and they weren''t giving off any overbearing auras as they calmly strode directly toward the Spirit Pagoda.


    The group was led by the current Sea God''s Pavilion Master and Tang Sect Master, Dragon Emperor Douluo Tang Wulin.


    Accompanying were Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters, Sima Jinchi, A''Ruheng, Wu Zhangkong, Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng, and the other leading figures of the younger generation.


    At the same time, there was a formidable Limit Douluo lineup comprised of Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin, Titan Douluo Yuanen Zhentian, Free Sky Douluo Yuanen Tiandang, and Qilin Douluo Tong Yu.


    This was a total of seven Limit Douluos!


    In the distance, the two federal mecha corps were already visible, but the group continued to make its way toward the mecha corps as if they didn''t exist.


    The two mecha corps had been keeping an eye on Shrek Academy and the Spirit Pagoda this entire time, and they immediately reacted as soon as the group emerged from Shrek City.


    One mecha after another rose up into the air in succession, forming a barrier to try and stop the Shrek Academy group.


    A red mecha descended in front of everyone, and a soldier in a major general uniform emerged from within.


    This was a tall and broad figure with an authoritative appearance, but he currently wore a resigned expression.


    He extended a slight bow toward Tang Wulin''s group, and said, "Greetings, Sect Master Tang, I was instructed by the federation to maintain order in this place, so please don''t make my job more difficult than it needs to be. Openly exacting revenge is illegal, and I know that we won''t be able to stop you, but if you insist on continuing onward, then you''ll have to step over the corpses of myself and my comrades."


    Prior to coming here, he already knew that there was no way that two mecha corps could stop everyone from Shrek Academy. As such, he could only stall the Shrek Academy group by using their love for peace and reluctance to harm innocent individuals against them.

 Chapter 1743: Revenge From Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect

    Tang Wulin replied, "No one can stop our revenge. Even if all of the military power of the entire continent were gathered here, it still wouldn''t be enough to stop us, let alone two mecha corps. During the bombing, millions of lives were lost due to the ambitions of a select few; did the federal parliament ever do anything to make things right? If you want us to uphold the law, then you must ensure that the law is fair and just. In the wake of such a major disaster, all that happened was that a few politicians were stripped of their positions; did the federal parliament ever launch an investigation into what truly happened?


    "Seeing as the federation is incompetent, then we''ll do it ourselves."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke, and he slowly raised his right hand up into the air.


    A burst of deafening rumbling immediately rang out, and all of the air in the area seemed to have become very violent.


    Countless dragon''s roars sounded throughout the entire space, and the sky instantly darkened as bolts of lightning began to flash up above, sending enormous pressure weighing down from the heavens; it was as if a heavenly tribulation were about to descend.


    The major general standing before Tang Wulin was astonished to see this.


    As a divine-grade mecha pilot, he was also a Titled Douluo, but he had only just progressed to this level.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was standing before him like the ruler of this entire world, and he found himself completely powerless and more vulnerable than ever before.


    Right at this moment, the seven Limit Douluos standing beside Tang Wulin strode forward, releasing their fearsome auras in unison.


    Firstly, a pair of giant swords that were over a kilometer in length appeared in mid-air. One sword was white while the other was azure, and they threatened to slice the entire sky apart, releasing a peerlessly sharp aura.


    These were the Heartless and Amorous Swords conjured up through mental manifestation!


    Countless mechas began to fall from the sky before crashing to the ground. In the face of these terrifying auras, the mecha pilots were completely unable to continue piloting their mechas.


    Right at this moment, two thunderous dragon''s roars rang out, and a pair of massive dragons, one black and one white, appeared in the sky.


    A string of loud cracks and pops immediately rang out in the very far distance. In that area, the journalists of all major media outlets had gathered to capture footage of this historic event, but all of their recording equipment instantly shattered in the face of the fearsome auras, rendering them unable to continue filming.


    The remaining high-grade mechas in the sky immediately descended as a result, and even the most powerful ones among them were only just barely able to control their descent rather than crashing down like broken elevators.


    Thus, the two mecha corps were completely disabled!


    Tang Wulin began to stride forward again, walking directly past the divine-grade mecha pilot, who was completely powerless to stop him.


    That was terrifying!


    What had just transpired had instantly cast a huge shadow over the major general''s heart.


    Almost all Soul Masters who chose to become mecha pilots were extremely confident in the future of technology, and the vast majority of them firmly believed that no matter how powerful an individual became, there was no way they could contend with soul technology.


    However, what he had just witnessed was a heavy blow to what he had held to be true for his entire life. It turned out that the most powerful Soul Masters were far more formidable than he had imagined. He was even beginning to regret choosing the mecha pilot route when he clearly had sufficient aptitude to go further in cultivation.


    His growth to the Titled Douluo level had been accelerated through the use of an extensive amount of resources, so he couldn''t progress any further than this point.


    All of the mechas in front of Tang Wulin''s group scattered, but the sky remained inky-black as they made their way toward the Spirit Pagoda.


    This was definitely going to be a battle of unprecedented proportions, a clash between the most powerful forces on the entire continent.


    Just the auras of Tang Wulin''s group alone had completely disabled two mecha corps!


    Everyone revered power and heroes, and even though the mecha pilots were stunned by what they had seen, they were also filled with admiration toward their foes.


    Only now did they realize just how powerful Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had become.


    Tang Wulin didn''t appear to have accelerated at all, but he was rapidly approaching the Spirit Pagoda.


    At the top of the Spirit Pagoda, a group of several dozens of people had already gathered, and they were all looking on with grim expressions.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had already anticipated that this day would come, but he didn''t think that Shrek Academy would employ such a direct approach.


    Instead of using Eternal Heaven, Shrek Academy was challenging them out in the open. What made him even more infuriated was that Shrek Academy had explicitly stated that it was only targeting the Qiangu Family, thereby sowing major dissension within the Spirit Pagoda.


    Many of the high-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda were unaware that the Qiangu Family was involved in the Shrek Academy bombing, and now that the truth had been revealed to them in such an abrupt manner, they were naturally very displeased, and some had even begun to protest.


    However, all of their protests were temporarily quelled by the power of Qiangu Dieting, and Qiangu Dongfeng also explained that he had only done this for the sake of the Spirit Pagoda.


    At a time like this, the Spirit Pagoda had to unite. If an internal revolt were to occur and the Spirit Pagoda lost to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, how would it be able to contend with those two superpowers in the future?


    "He''s improved yet again. We have to kill Tang Wulin today no matter the cost," Qiangu Dieting said in a cold voice.


    At this point, he had already completely calmed down. In the face of the powerful beings of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, he wasn''t fearful in the slightest. Instead, he was giving off an unmatched aura of determination, instilling a sense of calmness into the entire Spirit Pagoda camp.


    "Come with me to face our enemies!" Qiangu Dieting roared, and all of the glass on the top floor of the Spirit Pagoda in front of him shattered as he strode forward into mid-air.


    He raised his right hand, and a staff appeared in his grasp, threatening to pierce heaven and earth as it released a peerlessly mighty aura.


    Qiangu Dieting''s emergence seemed to have tipped heaven and earth on their heads, and his aura began to elevate drastically, surging throughout this entire space. Regardless of how many enemies there were, he had no fear, and his unyielding will seemed to be infectious among his allies.


    Qiangu Dongfeng appeared beside him and also released his aura to resonate with Qiangu Dieting''s.


    Immediately thereafter, three more figures appeared before releasing their auras, and all of them were at the Limit Douluo level.


    This trio was comprised of Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu, Purgatory Douluo Qiangu Qingfeng, and another elderly woman.


    The Spirit Pagoda had brought out five Limit Douluos!


    After the destruction of Shrek City, the Spirit Pagoda had quickly become the number one organization on the entire continent, and in doing so, it had accumulated an enormous amount of power.


    Many of the most powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda had retired due to age, but they would still emerge to protect the Spirit Pagoda in its hour of need.

 Chapter 1744: Complete Domination

    As soon as the five Limit Douluos emerged, the morale of the Spirit Pagoda camp was noticeably elevated, and many more powerful beings quickly emerged from the Spirit Pagoda, including Silver Dragon Douluo Gu Yuena and Qiangu Zhangting.


    The Shrek Academy and Tang Sect camp remained on the ground, while the Spirit Pagoda camp was hovering in mid-air, and their auras were clashing, creating a spectacular light show.


    The air was already beginning to warp, giving the entire area an ethereal look. All types of images were being conjured up and rapidly shifting through mental manifestation, presenting a doomsday-like scene, and only now did the major general commanding the two mecha corps realize just how naive he had been to try and stop Tang Wulin''s group.


    This was a clash between over 10 Limit Douluos! Just as Tang Wulin had said, even the entire federal military wouldn''t be able to stop them, let alone two mecha corps.


    "Retreat! Retreat into the distance as soon as possible so we don''t get caught up in the battle!" he immediately commanded.


    Who knew just how fearsome a clash between so many almighty beings would be?


    As the saying went, curiosity killed the cat; all he wanted to do was get as far away as possible, to the extent that he wasn''t even interested in watching this clash anymore.


    Tang Wulin raised his head and settled his gaze upon Qiangu Dieting. As expected, a quasigod was truly formidable. As Tang Wulin sensed the almighty aura being released by Qiangu Dieting, he couldn''t help but think of the three opponents his father had faced.


    Qiangu Dieting''s aura was already somewhat reminiscent of that of the staff-wielding figure among those three formidable gods, but unfortunately for him, he was still far away from reaching that level.


    Perhaps his aura could affect others, but it was completely ineffective against Tang Wulin.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as the air rippled around him, and he suddenly rubbed his hands together, upon which the Divine Atlas Spear appeared in his grasp.


    He raised the spear high above his head, and asked, "Qiangu Dieting, Qiangu Dongfeng, do you two still recognize this Divine Atlas Spear?"


    Both Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng''s expressions changed slightly at the sight of the silver spear. How could they possibly forget this spear and its wielder?


    Tang Wulin continued, "The Atlas Douluo perished as a result of your cowardly plot, along with many of our Shrek Academy''s teachers, countless disciples of the Tang Sect, and millions of Shrek City residents. Have you ever felt guilt or remorse over what you''ve done? You colluded with the Holy Spirit Cult to plot against our Shrek City, and now, it''s time for you to pay the price. Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect never target innocent individuals; we''re only here for the Qiangu Family. However, if anyone dares to stand against us, then you''ll be viewed as a sworn enemy!"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were glowing with a cold light as he spoke.


    Qiangu Dongfeng replied, "What evidence do you have aside from empty words? Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect are just using this as an excuse to take over the continent, just as the Soul Hall had attempted in ancient times. Today, you''re targeting our Spirit Pagoda; tomorrow, you could direct your spear toward the entire federation! The Spirit Pagoda has served the Soul Master world diligently for thousands of years; there''s no way we''re going to allow your devious plot to succeed even if we have to die to stop you!"


    Tang Wulin chuckled coldly, "I see. I hope that the staff you''re holding is as potent as that big mouth of yours! Do you dare to face me in a one-on-one battle?"


    The atmosphere became even tenser in the wake of Tang Wulin''s challenge.


    Qiangu Dieting was the most powerful being in the Spirit Pagoda camp, but he was no longer the chairman. As the current Spirit Pagoda chairman, Qiangu Dongfeng was still the organization''s leading representative.


    In contrast, Tang Wulin represented Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect; no one could''ve imagined that Tang Wulin would propose a match between leaders from the get-go.


    Of course, there was no way that Qiangu Dongfeng could cower from such a challenge. Besides, he had been a Limit Douluo for many years, so there was no way he was going to fear Tang Wulin.


    "I''ll gladly accept your challenge, but I hope you won''t run away mid-battle! This will be a fight to the death!" Qiangu Dongfeng roared as he strode forward with his Coiling Dragon Staff.


    Tang Wulin also rose up into the air, stowing away the Divine Atlas Spear in exchange for the Golden Dragon Spear as his eyes glowed with a piercing light. During his ascent, a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out, and he activated his Golden Dragon Body, upon which a layer of scales appeared all over his entire body.


    At the same time, he released his dragon''s repulse in the form of a burst of golden light.


    Meanwhile, Qiangu Dongfeng''s aura swelled drastically as nine soul rings, six black and three red, rose up from beneath his feet.


    Having already been a demigod for so many years, he was a truly seasoned Limit Douluo, and his powers weren''t far off even compared to Qiangu Dieting''s.


    He was the one who had led the Spirit Pagoda into this era of unprecedented prosperity. The two combatants faced one another in mid-air, and their auras were already clashing violently.


    Powerful energy fluctuations surged through the air, sweeping away large swaths of clouds. Both of their auras were elevating at an astonishing rate, and all of the other Soul Masters from both camps slowly retreated away.


    This was going to be a battle between their leaders, and no one else could get involved as this was a symbolic clash between the superpower organizations.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were filled with a determined light, but even now, he still couldn''t help but take a glance at her out of the corners of his eyes.


    It had been a very long time since he had last seen her, and he missed her dearly.


    However, at this moment, she was currently in the opposing camp, and standing beside her was that abhorrent Qiangu Zhangting.


    A spasm of pain speared into Tang Wulin''s heart, further fueling his battle intent, and his Golden Dragon Spear began to glow on its own.


    He threw his head back and let loose a long roar, upon which a giant golden dragon projection instantly appeared behind him.


    The Golden Dragon King projection was several hundred meters in length, and every single scale on its body was clearly visible. Its bright red eyes were filled with violent wrath, and as it spread its wings, the entire sky was concealed behind it.


    A man standing in an obscure corner of the Spirit Pagoda group raised his eyebrows slightly upon seeing this, and he murmured to himself, "He''s already awakened the Golden Dragon King to this extent? The Golden Dragon King has inherited all of the Dragon God''s negative emotions; if he continues to awaken the Golden Dragon King, he''ll go insane eventually. When that happens, even my Lord may not be able to stop him."


    A hint of concern appeared in his eyes as he cast his gaze toward Gu Yuena, and he couldn''t understand what she was plotting.


    She should''ve devoured the Golden Dragon King long ago to become the Dragon God again! Only when the Dragon God was predominantly governed by the will of the Silver Dragon King was it complete and in its most powerful form. That was the wise yet calm, powerful yet measured Dragon God that was required to lead them to greater heights.


    However, Gu Yuena still hadn''t made her move. Perhaps a good opportunity would be presented on this day.


    With that in mind, the man''s eyes narrowed slightly as his hands balled up into tight fists.


    Tang Wulin''s aura continued to elevate, and he instantly entered the realm of spear essence.


    All of a sudden, he sprang into action.

 Chapter 1745: Collapse

    Golden light flashed from his entire body, and he instantly reached Qiangu Dongfeng before unleashing countless spear projections toward him with his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Qiangu Dongfeng harrumphed coldly as he raised his Coiling Dragon Staff and let loose a thunderous roar, unleashing the third Unyielding Staff Technique, Supporting Heaven and Earth!


    The core of the Coiling Dragon Staff lied in its unyielding will; it refused to yield in the face of anyone or anything, even heaven and earth itself.


    This was the basis of the Coiling Dragon Staff''s soul, and it was being perfectly captured in Qiangu Dongfeng''s attack.


    Even Qiangu Dieting couldn''t help but give a nod of approval as he looked on from afar. Even if he were in his son''s place, he wouldn''t be able to execute this attack with any higher degree of perfection.


    In the face of Shrek Academy''s challenge, Qiangu Dongfeng''s unyielding will became even more powerful, and a loud clang rang out as the two weapons clashed, sending powerful shockwaves surging through the air that created clear ripples proliferating through space.


    Dazzling golden light radiated from Tang Wulin''s eyes, and even though he was flying back in retreat, his Golden Dragon Spear was only glowing brighter and brighter.


    After forcing back Tang Wulin with a single staff strike, Qiangu Dongfeng''s aura elevated even further, and at the same time, pieces of golden battle armor gushed out of his body like a layer of liquid, instantly encapsulating him from head to toe.


    Even though he was far older than Tang Wulin, he knew that he couldn''t allow his pride to get the better of him in this battle of life and death.


    In order to strike Tang Wulin down in a single blow, he had released his four-word battle armor first.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s four-word battle armor was named Dominantly Seizing Heaven Earth, and it had already been with him through countless hardships and battles. In the instant Qiangu Dongfeng donned his suit of four-word battle armor, his entire body seemed to have become transparent, and it was as if he were threatening to pierce a hole through the very heavens itself.


    The Coiling Dragon Staff in his grasp instantly swelled to over 100 meters in length, and this wasn''t just mental manifestation; it was the true form of the staff!


    "Battling Heaven and Earth!"


    Countless staff projections appeared in the sky, swinging upward to smash countless cracks into the heavens. Immediately thereafter, the cracks devoured a vast amount of the natural energies in the surrounding area, including even the energy generated from his prior clash with Tang Wulin just now. All of this energy was then injected into the Coiling Dragon Staff, enhancing its power to a terrifying peak.


    The Coiling Dragon Staff swung down with the intent to shatter heaven and earth, and it was imbued with a reckless sense of insanity.


    All of the light glowing from Qiangu Dongfeng''s four-word battle armor had already flowed into the staff, and the giant dragons etched onto the staff seemed to have sprung to life, conjuring up a total of nine giant dragon projections that came crashing down toward Tang Wulin alongside the Coiling Dragon Staff.


    Even if a mountain were standing in the path of this staff, it would be instantly razed to the ground.


    Qiangu Dongfeng hadn''t thrown any experimental jabs; he was using his most powerful attack from the get-go.


    At the same time, changes were also beginning to appear on Tang Wulin''s body. A layer of golden light began to radiate from under his golden scales, and the golden light was intertwined with rainbow light, enveloping Tang Wulin''s entire body.


    The entire process was very fast, and there was nothing missing aside from a pair of wings.


    The pieces of battle armor were all of a bright golden color, and as they appeared, time seemed to have suddenly stood still; even Qiangu Dongfeng''s Coiling Dragon Staff faltered momentarily.


    This suit of four-word battle armor could no longer be described simply as lavish or beautiful. The armor didn''t have any dragon patterns on its surface, but it was glowing with a peculiar sheen that seemed to be reflecting the roars of countless dragons.


    The pauldrons were sleek and extended all the way downward in a series of rhomboid shapes that were extremely harmonious.


    As the suit of battle armor encapsulated Tang Wulin''s body, he seemed to have undergone a total transformation. Even the Golden Dragon Spear in his grasp had become longer and sleeker, as if it had evolved as a result of the light flowing into it from the battle armor.


    A layer of dragon patterns appeared on the Golden Dragon Spear, and even though the two tips of the spear were only releasing spear projections that were just over a foot in length, the projections seemed to hold substantial form.


    Tang Wulin slowly took a step forward, making his way directly toward the Coiling Dragon Staff.


    Immediately thereafter, an indescribably mighty aura erupted from his body.


    This aura stemmed from both himself and his battle armor, and in that instant, it was as if he were standing on the summit of a giant mountain, releasing a will of peerless might.


    This was the pride of an almighty being who stood at the pinnacle of all life forms, and even heaven and earth had to cower in the face of this fearsome pressure.


    In the Spirit Pagoda camp, Han Tianyi suddenly gave a muffled groan as a stunned look appeared on his face.


    He possessed the most powerful brain in the Soul Master world, thereby giving him the most potent spiritual power among everyone present, and he had been using his spiritual power this entire time to monitor the entire battlefield.


    However, as Tang Wulin donned his suit of battle armor and released that almighty aura, a burst of terrifying intent suddenly crashed into his mind, almost causing it to instantly collapse.


    He was given a massive fright by this and hurriedly withdrew his spiritual power, but even so, his mind had received a heavy blow.


    One had to realize that his spiritual power was infinitely approaching the Divine Origin realm, so unless Tang Wulin''s spiritual power had reached the Divine Origin realm in that instant, there was no way that Han Tianyi''s mind would''ve been dealt such a heavy blow.


    But how was this possible? Had Tang Wulin''s spiritual power already reached the Divine Origin realm? If so, then this was terrible news for the Spirit Pagoda.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin and Qiangu Dongfeng''s clash had already commenced.


    At this moment, the ones who were most heavily affected by Tang Wulin''s aura was actually the Qiangu Family, including Qiangu Dieting, Qiangu Dongfeng, Qiangu Qingfeng, and Qiangu Zhangting. Their expressions had changed drastically as soon as Tang Wulin had released that aura, and in that instant, they felt the unyielding will in their hearts instantly reach a pinnacle, except this unyielding will was stemming from Tang Wulin.


    In the instant that this superior unyielding will erupted out of Tang Wulin''s body, Qiangu Dongfeng''s battle intent completely collapsed.


    This was a purely spiritual clash, and for Limit Douluo level powerful beings like them, spiritual clashes were often even more fearsome than clashes of soul power.


    The basis of Qiangu Dongfeng''s power was built upon his unyielding will, which allowed him to attain absolute focus and the courage to face all opponents, even heaven and earth itself.


    However, in the face of this aura that was of the same nature but on a higher level, the unyielding will in his heart crumbled, as did the spirit of his staff.

 Chapter 1746: Crushing Qiangu Dongfeng With the Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques

    The staff projections that he had unleashed through his Battling Heaven and Earth were instantly cast into disarray, and it was also at this moment that Tang Wulin was suddenly filled with reckless abandon, as well as vicious insanity.


    In that instant, the insanity in the eyes of the Golden Dragon King behind Tang Wulin seemed to have completely overlapped with him, making him resemble a deranged god that had descended from the heavens.


    Restrict Heaven and Earth, Dragon Emperor Fight!


    Restrict Mediocrity, Dragon Emperor Charge!


    This was the first time these two Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques had been revealed to the public.


    "Boom!"


    The heavens dimmed, and the earth tremored violently.


    In that instant, it was as if the entire world had collapsed. Everything crumbled away in the instant the clash took place, and massive inky-black rifts appeared in the sky, devouring everything in the surrounding area in a frenzy.


    Even the Limit Douluos were forced to conjure up protective barriers of soul power and rapidly retreat in fear of being swept up in the shockwaves resulting from the clash.


    Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Qingfeng wanted to reinforce Qiangu Dongfeng, but in that instant, they were completely rooted to the spot.


    Everything had taken place in the blink of an eye, and no one had anticipated that the leaders of the two parties would engage in such a fierce clash from the get-go.


    This was a true battle of life and death! Generally speaking, Limit Douluos weren''t willing to push one another so hard in battle, and the fact that the clash was so fierce was a clear reflection of just how much bad blood there was between the two sides.


    All of the spectators in the distance looked on with bated breath, wondering who would come out on top from this clash.


    In the past, the result would''ve been nothing more than a foregone conclusion in their minds, but things were different now.


    Everyone knew that Qiangu Dongfeng was a veteran Limit Douluo and four-word battle armor master, but during several past clashes with Tang Wulin, Qiangu Dongfeng had never once gained an absolute advantage.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin was now a Divine Blacksmith! Regardless of whether he had improved in his cultivation since his last clash with Qiangu Dongfeng, he definitely had a suit of four-word battle armor now.


    Even though both combatants were four-word battle armor masters, a suit of four-word battle armor forged by a Divine Blacksmith for himself would definitely be more powerful than normal suits of four-word battle armor, so it was really difficult to predict who would come out on top.


    Even the seven Limit Douluos of the Shrek Academy camp were astonished by the almighty aura that Tang Wulin released, let alone everyone else.


    In particular, Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, who was a quasigod herself, had displayed the strongest reaction. Her spiritual power was the highest among the seven Limit Douluos, and it wasn''t far off even compared with that of Han Tianyi. In addition to that, she was a Limit Douluo, so she was able to judge high-tier spiritual power far more accurately than Han Tianyi.


    As such, as soon as Tang Wulin unleashed his Dragon Emperor Fight, she was able to almost instantly determine that he had reached the Divine Origin realm.


    Even though it was only for an instant, that was well and truly the Divine Origin realm!


    The fact that Tang Wulin was able to achieve that level of spiritual power even for just a split second was already astonishing; even Yun Ming at his peak hadn''t been able to replicate this.


    No one knew whether Divine Origin realm spiritual power was truly the key to attaining godhood as no one aside from the gods had reached this level before.


    The darkness in the sky persisted for several dozens of seconds before slowly returning to normal, and at this point, the two figures in the sky had already returned to their original spots, making it look as if the clash between them had never even taken place.


    Tang Wulin was hovering in mid-air with layers of rainbow light surging over his suit of battle armor alongside flashes of lightning. The Golden Dragon Spear was trembling in his grasp, but it wasn''t because he was trembling; it was the Golden Dragon Spear itself that was trembling from unadulterated excitement.


    Faint red light was flashing within Tang Wulin''s eyes, and even now, his deranged aura still hadn''t completely faded.


    Having witnessed his transformation into the crimson dragon in the past, Shrek''s Six Monsters were all quite concerned, but judging from his composure, he didn''t seem to have lost control.


    As everyone directed their attention toward Qiangu Dongfeng, they were all given a massive shock. Currently, Qiangu Dongfeng was in terrible condition.


    His battle armor had become riddled with pits and bumps, and the metal was constantly writhing as it struggled to repair itself.


    What was most astonishing was that a hole had been pierced through his right shoulder, and his right arm had shrunk down to less than half its original size. Four-word battle armor automatically adhered to the body of its wielder, so it had shrunk down to fit his arm, presenting a very unbalanced and uncoordinated appearance.


    There was no blood flowing out of the hole, but the muscles and ligaments within the wound were grey in color and slowly squirming as it attempted to regenerate.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s face was deathly pale, and his eyes were filled with astonishment.


    One blow was all it had taken!


    Who could''ve imagined that the Sea God''s Pavilion Master would be able to severely wound the Spirit Pagoda chairman in just a single clash? Not only had Tang Wulin pierced through Qiangu Dongfeng''s four-word battle armor, he had completely disabled one of Qiangu Dongfeng''s arms.


    All of a sudden, everyone was forced to look at Tang Wulin through new eyes.


    When had he become this powerful? That was only a single attack!


    Both of them had attacked without holding back at all, yet Qiangu Dongfeng had been completely and utterly crushed.


    Even Qiangu Dieting''s mouth was agape in shock. He was most aware of why this had happened. Judging from Tang Wulin''s aura, he still hadn''t reached the Limit Douluo level yet, but after he donned his suit of four-word battle armor, his power had spiked to beyond that of Qiangu Dongfeng, exceeding the normal demigod level.


    It still wasn''t at the quasigod level yet, but nonetheless, the enhancement from that suit of four-word battle armor was insane!


    Most importantly, the aura that he had just released seemed to be tailormade to target the Qiangu Family''s Coiling Dragon Staff.


    The essence of the Unyielding Staff Techniques was intent and spirit, but once that spirit was outstripped, there was no way that the Coiling Dragon Staff would be able to unleash its full power.


    As a result, Qiangu Dongfeng was severely debilitated and sustained severe injuries in an instant.


    Qiangu Dieting knew that even if he were in Qiangu Dongfeng''s place, he would''ve only been able to fare slightly better.


    They had always known that Tang Wulin was extremely powerful and that the speed of his development was unmatched, but never did they think that he would be able to rise to this level in such a short time.


    This was downright unimaginable!


    Qiangu Dongfeng had repeatedly emphasized the need to kill Tang Wulin before he became the next Yun Ming, and it seemed that he was already very close to reaching that level. Once he became a Limit Douluo, his four-word battle armor would most likely elevate him straight to the quasigod level, and with his enormous potential, there was a very good chance that he would even outstrip Yun Ming in the future!


    Complete silence settled over the entire battlefield, and everyone''s attention was fixed on Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin himself was filled with excitement. Even though using Dragon Emperor Fight and Dragon Emperor Charge in unison was quite taxing on his body, he had managed to pierce through Qiangu Dongfeng''s defenses.


    If it weren''t for Qiangu Dongfeng''s quick reactions, the Golden Dragon Spear would''ve claimed more than just his arm.


    Even just a single arm belonging to a Limit Douluo contained enormous life energy, so not only was Tang Wulin not feeling drained after that clash, his condition had improved instead.

 Chapter 1747: Admission of Defeat

    This was the first time he had used his Golden Dragon Moon Song battle armor, and only now was he discovering truly how powerful it was. Its power was extremely pure in that it perfectly enhanced all aspects of his power, and it didn''t have any additional special abilities; it was purely a tool that amplified his power and offered a layer of additional protection.


    The shockwaves resulting from Qiangu Dongfeng''s Battling Heavenly and Earth were extremely fearsome, but it was entirely consumed by Tang Wulin''s battle armor, and some of it was even reciprocated to him, allowing him to withstand that attack with ease.


    Even Tang Wulin himself didn''t think that he would be able to gain such an absolute advantage in just a single strike. In the blink of an eye, his aura had been elevated to its peak.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s eyes were filled with incredulity, followed by a look of intense resentment.


    He could clearly sense that his arm was completely useless now. This wasn''t just a normal injury; the life energy of that arm had been completely stripped away.


    In the instant that the Golden Dragon Spear pierced through his battle armor, he immediately felt a burst of powerful devouring force, and all he could do was restrict the force within his right arm before quickly disengaging.


    This was already the best way to deal with the attack, but for a Limit Douluo like him, losing his right arm meant that he would never be able to reach the quasigod level, thereby completely dashing any hopes he had of becoming a god.


    In essence, Tang Wulin had snuffed out his future hope with a single attack, and he had never resented anyone as much as Tang Wulin in this moment.


    Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear directly at Qiangu Dongfeng with killing intent flashing in his eyes. This wasn''t a sparring match; it was a battle for revenge, a battle to the death!


    Powerful battle intent welled up in his heart, and he took a step forward, flying toward Qiangu Dongfeng with a golden streak of rainbow light behind him.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had already transferred his Coiling Dragon Staff to his left hand, and in the face of the overbearing Tang Wulin, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes for the very first time.


    It was also right at this moment that the powerful beings of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect rose up into the air before flying toward the Spirit Pagoda camp.


    The battle was about to commence!


    Initially, the Spirit Pagoda had thought that it would be able to at least put up a good fight, but now, the Spirit Pagoda camp''s confidence had completely faded.


    Tang Wulin had defeated Qiangu Dongfeng, which meant that the Shrek Academy camp had one more Limit Douluo level Soul Master among its ranks, while the Spirit Pagoda camp had one less Soul Master of that caliber.


    In the wake of such a turn of events, the outcome of this battle was virtually a foregone conclusion.


    "Stop!" Qiangu Dieting suddenly yelled. He had put all of his power as a quasigod into his voice, and everyone faltered momentarily.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qiangu Qingfeng arrived beside Qiangu Dongfeng, helping him withstand Tang Wulin''s fearsome attack before the two rapidly retreated.


    Everyone from the Shrek Academy camp also arrived beside Tang Wulin, and the two sides faced off in mid-air.


    Qiangu Dieting said in a cold voice, "Do you really plan to force our hand, Tang Wulin? We currently have over 60 ninth-grade soul missiles aimed straight at Shrek City; don''t tell me you can keep all of them at bay!"


    Tang Wulin knew that Qiangu Dieting was merely putting up a front to disguise his fear, and he said, "So you''re going to try and bomb our city again? Go ahead! See if you can leave even a single scratch on Shrek City!"


    In preparation for this revenge operation, Shrek Academy had been setting up the soul formation defense system under Ling Zichen''s supervision.


    From the outside, it was impossible to see the system, but it was complete with functions such as interception, defense, and detection. Furthermore, the system was designed with godslayer missiles in mind, and it was the basis for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect''s confidence to finally commence this revenge operation.


    Qiangu Dieting''s expression darkened significantly, and for the very first time, he was struck by a sense of helplessness.


    The Spirit Pagoda had been dealt two heavy blows during the joust for a spouse event and the Battle God Hall incident. Meanwhile, Shrek Academy had gone from strength to strength, and it had now outstripped the Spirit Pagoda in terms of top-end power.


    Most importantly, the Tang Sect''s capture of Eternal Heaven had rid the Spirit Pagoda of the federal military''s support.


    It was this string of failures that finally led to this situation.


    The Shrek Academy camp had seven Limit Douluos, as well as Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng, who possessed Limit Douluo level power. Never in the history of the Douluo Continent had such a fearsome lineup ever been assembled in a single power.


    The Spirit Pagoda was a powerhouse in its own right, but it only had five Limit Douluos, one of whom had already sustained severe injuries. Furthermore, the rest of the Shrek Academy camp were no slouches, either! Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had proven their power over and over again, and unless the Battle God Hall suddenly decided to support the Spirit Pagoda, it would have no chance in this clash.


    Tang Wulin raised his Golden Dragon Spear again, and bursts of bright light erupted forth as one suit of battle armor after another was released by the Shrek Academy camp.


    Among the Soul Masters in the Shrek Academy camp, over half of them were wearing suits of four-word battle armor, and this astonishing sight instantly snuffed out what little remained of Qiangu Dieting''s hope.


    How could there be so many suits of four-word battle armor? Was Tang Wulin already a superior Divine Blacksmith to Zhen Hua?


    Regardless of what Qiangu Dieting thought of this, the reality was undeniable; the Qiangu Family was going to be wiped out.


    Qiangu Dieting grabbed ahold of Qiangu Qingfeng, who was about to rush out, and sighed, "Our Qiangu Family concedes defeat. Hold on for a moment, Tang Wulin."


    After that, Qiangu Dieting began to fly forward slowly while Tang Wulin looked on through narrowed eyes.


    At this point, Tang Wulin wasn''t afraid that Qiangu Dieting would try anything funny.


    Qiangu Dieting, Qiangu Dongfeng, and Qiangu Qingfeng flew toward the Shrek Academy camp with grim expressions, and Qiangu Dieting turned to the Spirit Pagoda camp as he declared, "Our Qiangu Family admits defeat. It''s true that we''ve engaged in many unscrupulous dealings, but only our family was involved in collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult; no one else in the Spirit Pagoda was involved."


    He then turned back to face Tang Wulin. "Shrek Academy has always thought itself to be a fair and just organization, right? I am now admitting defeat on behalf of the Qiangu Family, and you can do with us three as you please. However, I implore you not to harm any other members of the Spirit Pagoda, including my great-grandson, Qiangu Zhangting, who also wasn''t involved in the collusion with the Holy Spirit Cult. All that I ask is that you spare him so he can continue to pass down the bloodline of our Qiangu Family.


    "If you agree to that, then the three of us will surrender without a fight. Otherwise, we''ll be forced to resist, and I''m confident that I''ll at least be able to take down a few of you with me."


    Qiangu Dieting''s words put Tang Wulin in a rather difficult spot.


    The Shrek Academy camp had already gained the absolute upper hand, but he didn''t think that Qiangu Dieting would adopt this course of action. Furthermore, he was right; if a quasigod like him were to ignite his own flame of life, he would attain godly power for a short time.


    However, could he really afford to let Qiangu Zhangting live? That was something Tang Wulin didn''t want to do both for himself or the greater good. After all, leaving Qiangu Zhangting alive would be the equivalent of allowing a lingering threat to exist; who knew what could happen?

 Chapter 1748: Major Crisis

    Thus, Tang Wulin was at a temporary loss for what to do.


    Tang Wulin had promised Mo Lan that he wouldn''t harm innocent individuals, and that he would avoid killing as long as the Spirit Pagoda didn''t resist.


    In this current situation, many of the powerful beings in the Spirit Pagoda camp, including Leng Yaozhu, were looking at the trio from the Qiangu Family with different eyes.


    "Great-grandfather, let me go with you!" Qiangu Zhangting rushed forward, only to be kicked flying by Qiangu Dongfeng before he could even reach Qiangu Dieting.


    Gu Yuena caught Qiangu Zhangting in the distance, and Tang Wulin''s heart throbbed with pain again upon seeing this.


    None of the members of the Shrek Academy camp said anything. At a time like this, Tang Wulin had to make the final decision, and regardless of what decision he made, it would be on behalf of the two superpower organizations.


    There was no doubt that the Qiangu Family''s status in the Spirit Pagoda would plummet once the three Limit Douluos were detained, and the overall power of the Spirit Pagoda would also take a heavy hit. At the very least, it most likely wouldn''t be able to pose a threat to Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect for the next 1,000 years.


    As one of the most important Soul Master organizations on the continent, the Spirit Pagoda''s existence had a purpose, and thus, Tang Wulin was left struggling to weigh up his options.


    Right at this moment, Qiangu Dieting continued, "On top of that, we''re willing to provide compensation. I can give you the 60 ninth-grade soul missiles that I mentioned earlier, and we''re also willing to issue a sum of money that would be sufficient for Shrek City''s reconstruction; all that I ask is that you spare Zhangting''s life."


    He knew that there was no way that Shrek Academy would destroy the entire Spirit Pagoda. Otherwise, all it had to do was use Eternal Heaven. After all, no one in the outside world knew that Eternal Heaven had already fallen into the Tang Sect''s hands, but they had chosen to be direct and open, thereby giving them the moral high ground, but also placing certain moral shackles upon them.


    Furthermore, it wasn''t in the Tang Sect''s style to punish the innocent simply due to association with the guilty party.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and just as he was about to make his decision, a voice suddenly rang out in the distance. "Wait!"


    Everyone faltered slightly as two powerful auras quickly approached from the distance.


    The two auras were quite powerful even to Tang Wulin and the others, so they had to belong to Limit Douluos.


    Which side were these two Limit Douluos on?


    Tang Wulin hurriedly turned toward that direction to discover two familiar figures, and he heaved an internal sigh of relief as he knew that these two definitely wouldn''t stand against Shrek Academy.


    The two figures were led by none other than Old Man Chen the sweeper, otherwise known as Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie.


    With Long Yeyue present, there was no way that he would oppose Shrek Academy.


    However, the person accompanying Chen Xinjie came as quite a shock to Tang Wulin. This was someone whom he had fought under before; it was the current commander of the Blood God Legion, Mirror Douluo Zhang Huanyun!


    Why was he here? Wasn''t he supposed to be guarding the abyssal passageway? As the leader of the Blood God Legion, there was no way he would leave unless extremely special circumstances arose.


    "What do you want, Chen Xinjie?" Long Yeyue immediately flew toward Chen Xinjie with a cold expression.


    An awkward look immediately appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face at the sight of her, and he replied, "I have something serious to share, Yeyue; this is something that concerns the safety of the entire continent. At a time like this, the Soul Master world must unite; we can''t afford to be fighting among ourselves here."


    Long Yeyue faltered slightly upon hearing this. She knew that Chen Xinjie wouldn''t say something like this lightly, so there had to be something extremely urgent happening. She didn''t recognize Zhang Huanyun, but his general uniform and the fact that he was a Limit Douluo was enough for her to guess his identity.


    Chen Xinjie made his way past Long Yeyue before planting himself in between Tang Wulin and Qiangu Dieting. "I need all of you to set aside this conflict for now; this is not the time to be fighting."


    Tang Wulin asked, "What''s going on, Senior Chen?"


    Chen Xinjie turned to Zhang Huanyun, and said, "Go ahead, Huanyun."


    Only then did Tang Wulin notice that Zhang Huanyun was wearing a very grim expression, one that he had never seen on Zhang Huanyun''s face before, even when during that massive abyssal tide.


    Judging from his expression, it was clear that something serious had happened.


    Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi also flew over to Zhang Huanyun. Having partnered with Zhang Huanyun for so long, he knew that Zhang Huanyun was an optimist and always treated everything with a positive attitude. At the same time, he was also a supporter of Shrek Academy, but he couldn''t actively support the academy as he was bound by his duties in the Blood God Legion.


    "What happened?" Cao Dezhi asked.


    Zhang Huanyun sighed, "Something really bad."


    "Is it an abyssal tide? It can''t be; you wouldn''t leave the Blood God Legion in the case of an abyssal tide. Tell me what happened," Cao Dezhi urged as a hint of foreboding welled up in his heart.


    "There''s nothing wrong in the abyssal passageway, but I just received news that a massive number of abyssal creatures have appeared in the northern region of the continent, far more than the numbers we had faced during the abyssal tide."


    "What?" Both Tang Wulin and Cao Dezhi were astonished to hear this.


    Abyssal creatures had appeared in the north?


    Both of their hearts immediately sank upon hearing this.


    Abyssal creatures yearned only for slaughter and destruction while being unkillable themselves.


    Aside from Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, no other weapon could truly slay an abyssal creature, making them an extremely fearsome race.


    Furthermore, their objective was to devour the entire Douluo Plane!


    According to Long Yeyue, the abyssal plane was a plane of an even higher caliber than the Douluo Plane; without the protection of the Divine Realm, there was no way that the Douluo Plane would be able to survive an all-out invasion from the abyssal plane.


    6,000 years ago, the Douluo Plane had almost fallen, and countless powerful beings were sacrificed to seal the abyssal passageway.


    Now, abyssal creatures had appeared in another place; what did this entail?


    "Are you sure they''re abyssal creatures?" Cao Dezhi asked.


    Zhang Huanyun replied, "It''s been confirmed. Photographs have been sent to us, and there are even Enchantresses among them. The towns near the northernmost region of the continent have already been wiped out. Those accursed creatures target anything and everything that possesses life energy, regardless of whether it''s humans, soul beasts, or plants. We have to organize people to go to the northern region and stop their spread as soon as possible. Otherwise, the continent will be in grave danger."


    A wry smile appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face, and he said, "This is why you need to stop for now. At a time like this, we can''t afford for any infighting to take place. The military is already transferring resources and soldiers to the north as quickly as possible, and the Northern Legion has already set off, while the Northsea Legion is also on the verge of departing. The Central Legion will also be departing at this time tomorrow, while the Southern Legion is going to take a bit more time to mobilize. The Sea God Legion will also be setting off around tomorrow, but even the most powerful legions need strong leaders like all of you.


    "I''ll be returning to the Sea God Legion, and if possible, I would like to recruit all of you to join this effort. The survival of the continent is at stake, and I''m requesting assistance from you on behalf of the continent."


    Tang Wulin immediately replied, "It''s our duty to protect the continent. Rest assured, Senior Chen, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect will do everything in their power to contribute to this cause."


    Chen Xinjie took a glance at Qiangu Dieting, then continued after a brief hesitation, "Then regarding what''s going on here..."


    Tang Wulin also turned to Qiangu Dieting, then looked back at the Shrek Academy camp before taking a deep breath. "We''ll set our conflict aside for now to prioritize saving the continent."


    It seemed to have required all of his energy to utter that short sentence.


    They were on the cusp of exacting revenge, and it was very difficult for him to decide to back down now.


    However, if he insisted on killing the Qiangu Family here, the entire Spirit Pagoda would be thrown into disarray, and it was a very important piece in this effort to protect the continent, so this wasn''t the time to be taking revenge.

 Chapter 1749: Lets Go!

    Tang Wulin''s hands were clenched up into tight fists as he uttered those words, and it was if he had just completed a herculean task.


    The Atlas Douluo, his grandteacher, and his teacher, the Blazing Dragon Douluo, had all perished during that disaster, but in contrast with the crisis that had befallen the entire continent, Shrek Academy''s revenge was nowhere near as important.


    He had undoubtedly made the right decision, but for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, this was a very bitter pill to swallow.


    Cao Dezhi laid a hand onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder before giving it a firm squeeze as a gesture of consolation and support.


    There were tears in Tang Wulin''s eyes as he turned to face Cao Dezhi, and he yelled, "Let''s go!"


    Immediately thereafter, he rose up into the air and flew back toward Shrek City.


    He didn''t dare to linger here any longer as he was afraid that he wouldn''t be able to hold back the urge to follow through with this revenge operation.


    For the sake of the continent, this was the only option available to him.


    Gu Yuena was standing beside Qiangu Zhangting in a slightly disoriented manner, but her gaze had remained locked on Tang Wulin this entire time.


    The mysterious man hidden within the Spirit Pagoda crowd was already prepared to strike, and his brows furrowed slightly upon witnessing Tang Wulin''s departure. His brows furrowed even more tightly as he saw the concerned look on Gu Yuena''s face.


    Chen Xinjie looked on as Tang Wulin and the others departed, then turned to Qiangu Dieting with a faint sigh. "Brother Qiangu, I''ve repaid you for revoking my promise last time, but you have to take a stance on this matter as well."


    Qiangu Dieting was naturally aware of what Chen Xinjie meant, and he replied, "I''ll remember what you''ve done for our Qiangu Family, Brother Chen. We are indeed trying to claim the spot of the number one organization on the continent, and it''s true that we once plotted against Shrek Academy through unscrupulous means, but at all times, the Spirit Pagoda is a part of this continent. Rest assured, I''ll get Dongfeng to immediately mobilize all of the forces we''re able to and send them to the front lines. We''ll be operating alongside the Western Legion and Northwestern Legion with immediate effect."


    "Good. This will be a chance for you to redeem yourselves," Chen Xinjie said as he took one last meaningful look at Qiangu Dieting, then flew toward Shrek Academy alongside Zhang Huanyun.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s face was deathly pale, and on the surface, it looked as if this was because he had lost an arm earlier, but in reality, this was a reaction to something else entirely.


    He finally understood what Ghost Emperor had been referring to during that cryptic call; those crazy bastards had opened up a passageway to the abyssal plane in the northernmost region of the continent and allowed abyssal creatures to flood into this plane!


    "Father!" Qiangu Dongfeng turned to Qiangu Dieting with an aghast expression.


    "Let''s get back first before we talk," Qiangu Dieting said before immediately departing.


    Only now did the Spirit Pagoda camp heave a collective sigh of relief before hurriedly following along back to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters.


    Thus concluded the historic revenge operation.


    At Shrek Academy.


    By the time Chen Xinjie returned to the academy, Long Yeyue was already waiting for him on the drill ground.


    Chen Xinjie descended beside Long Yeyue, while in the distance, Cao Dezhi waved toward Zhang Huanyun.


    A conflicted look appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face, and he began, "Yeyue, I..."


    Long Yeyue slowly turned around to face him with a complex expression, and Chen Xinjie was surprised to see that the usual coldness that she appraised him with was currently absent from her eyes.


    "What''s wrong, Yeyue? Are you angry that I prevented you from getting revenge? I had no choice! I..." Chen Xinjie wanted to explain himself, but Long Yeyue suddenly raised a finger and pressed it against his lips to silence him.


    This was a rather affectionate gesture, and Chen Xinjie immediately shuddered in response. Despite the fact that he was well over 100 years old, this situation still made his heart skip a beat, as if he had returned to the moment he had fallen in love for the first time.


    "You''re not to blame for this; I would''ve made the same choice in your place. Nothing is more important than protecting the continent, and one of the main goals of our Shrek Academy is to protect the peace of this continent; it''s something that countless generations of people from Shrek Academy have worked tirelessly for. The one who had to make the most difficult decision was Wulin. He''s already given far too much for this revenge operation, and to be honest, we''re all very pleased to see that he was able to make such a hard decision. He''s finally grown up and no longer requires our guidance."


    Chen Xinjie sighed, "Indeed, he has. Shrek Academy has always been able to produce such exceptional talents, and in all honesty, I greatly admire that. In fact, I''m even a little bit envious. In this area, no other organization can hope to compete with Shrek Academy."


    Long Yeyue asked, "You''re going to the front lines, right? Are you going to be the commander-in-chief again?"


    Chen Xinjie''s brows furrowed slightly as he replied, "I''m not sure, but I''ll do my best to fight for the role; I don''t trust anyone else in that position."


    "Alright, go on then," Long Yeyue said with a nod.


    Chen Xinjie was a little dumbstruck as he looked at her. He could clearly sense that there was something different about her today. In contrast with how cold she had been toward him in the past, she was being far more gentle and compassionate.


    "H, have you forgiven me?" Chen Xinjie asked. This was what he wanted to find out the most before his departure.


    Long Yeyue sighed, "It''s already been so long; what''s there to not forgive? I shouldn''t have been so stubborn all this time."


    Chen Xinjie stepped forward and grabbed onto her arms in an urgent manner. "What''s going on with you, Yeyue? You''re scaring me! This doesn''t fit your personality; what''s making you say this?"


    Long Yeyue allowed him to hold onto her arms as a faint smile appeared on her face. "You''re already an old man, so quit acting like a brash young boy. Let me go now; don''t make a scene."


    Chen Xinjie''s heart rate began to quicken even further. "What''s going on, Yeyue?"


    Long Yeyue sighed, "During the bombing, Yun Ming and all of the teachers sacrificed themselves to protect the academy, yet I didn''t stay behind with them. I felt like I had unfinished business at the time, and I was fixated on taking revenge against you, so Yun Ming was able to persuade me to flee. Now, the younger generation has grown splendidly, and I can finally relax a little. Under Wulin''s leadership, the academy is only going to become more and more prosperous. I''m sure you''re aware of the situation in the abyssal plane, and I''m sure you know what it had taken to seal the abyssal plane 6,000 years ago.


    "I''m already well over 100 years old and I don''t have long left to live; it''s time I make my final mark on history."


    Chen Xinjie finally understood why Long Yeyue had suddenly become so open and forgiving; it was because she had already worked up the resolve to sacrifice herself, so none of this mattered anymore in her eyes. During the upcoming battle against the abyssal army, she was undoubtedly going to be protecting everyone from Shrek Academy at all costs.


    Tears instantly welled up in Chen Xinjie''s eyes as he threw his arms around Long Yeyue. "Don''t do this! I need you to live; you have to live!"


    Long Yeyue didn''t struggle. Instead, she returned his embrace and rested her head onto his broad shoulder as she murmured to herself, "It''s been a very long time since I''ve felt this. I still clearly remember the last time you held me like this. After that time, you left and never came back."


    Chen Xinjie stiffened upon hearing this, and he released her as tears began to flow down his face. "I''m sorry, Yeyue, I really am."


    Long Yeyue gently wiped the tears from his face. "You''re still like a little boy; don''t you feel embarrassed? Stop crying; this isn''t the Chen Xinjie I fell in love with. The Chen Xinjie I love is the one who rules over the battlefield like an unshakeable mountain, the Battle God who stands at the pinnacle of the Soul Master World. Return to your legion; only there will you return to becoming the Chen Xinjie that I hold so dear in my heart. Go and become a hero. Regardless of what happens, this will perhaps be the last time we get to fight alongside each other."


    Chen Xinjie took a deep breath, and in that instant, his emotions underwent a sudden shift.


    In that instant, it was as if he had returned to his former self, the Boundless Ocean Douluo who had the world at his fingertips.


    "Alright, in that case, let''s go for one last dance. We''ll show those clowns from the abyssal plane that we can still glow despite our age. As long as you''re still alive on the battlefield, I''ll be sure to remain by your side. This time, I''m never going to leave you again. Even if I die, I must die by your side."


    Looking at the Chen Xinjie of old, Long Yeyue was overcome by a flood of emotions.

 Chapter 1750: The Spirit Pagodas Response

    She could still clearly recall their first-ever meeting. Back then, they were still complete newbies in the Soul Master world. At the time, he had made a vow to her that he was going to become the most powerful Soul Master in this world, and it was precisely his drive and ambition that had made her fall in love with him.


    Even though over 100 years had passed since then, she felt as if she were looking at the same Chen Xinjie from back then again.


    This was an indescribable feeling, as if both of them had returned to their youth in that instant.


    "I''ll go on ahead; let''s reunite in the north. Prior to seeing me, you have to promise me that you won''t take any risks," Chen Xinjie said in a serious manner.


    Long Yeyue nodded in response. "Alright, I''ll see you on the front lines."


    Chen Xinjie took a deep breath and enveloped her in a tight embrace once again before flying away.


    Long Yeyue reflexively took a step forward, and yelled, "Chen Xinjie, if we survive this ordeal and you''re still willing to come back to Shrek Academy, then I''ll forgive you!"


    Chen Xinjie stiffened in mid-air upon hearing this, and he offered no response other than to give a firm nod before accelerating into the distance.


    Looking on at his departing figure, tears finally began to flow down Long Yeyue''s face.


    Perhaps this really was going to be their last dance!


    At the Spirit Pagoda.


    "Those bastards have gone insane! They''ve completely joined forces with the abyssal plane! How could they do this? They''re still humans, are they not?" Qiangu Dongfeng yelled.


    There was only his brother and father in the same room with him.


    Qiangu Dongfeng wore a calm expression, not looking at all like he had just escaped death by the thinnest of margins.


    A cold smile appeared on Qiangu Qingfeng''s face. "I told you long ago that working with them was no different from shooting yourself in the foot."


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to Qiangu Qingfeng, and said, "Even so, I don''t regret this. If I could go back, I would still drop those two godslayer missiles onto Shrek Academy. With Shrek Academy constantly standing in our way, when will we ever be able to rise to the top? The fact of the matter is that I had made the right decision; my only regret is that I failed to wipe out everyone from Shrek Academy."


    A cold look flashed through Qiangu Qingfeng''s eyes, but he didn''t say anything in response.


    Qiangu Dieting said in a cold voice, "Those bastards from the Holy Spirit Cult have forsaken their humanity long ago. All they want is destructive and deathly energy, while the abyssal plane wants life energy. All life forms will release destructive and deathly energy at the point of their demise, so there''s no conflict of interest between them. It looks like their actions are insane, but in reality, they have a straightforward plan and a unified goal. The abyssal plane wants to devour our entire Douluo Plane as a stepping stone for evolution, while the Holy Spirit Cult wants to use the destructive and deathly energy from the demise of the entire plane to help them attain godhood.


    "We should''ve anticipated long ago that they would be ideal collaborators with one another; it''s just that we failed to consider that the abyssal plane had the ability to open up another passageway."


    Qiangu Dongfeng was at a loss for what to do. "So how should we proceed?"


    A cold light flashed through Qiangu Dieting''s eyes. "What do you think? What else can we do aside from facing the abyssal plane with everyone else? If the entire plane ceases to exist, what will become of our Spirit Pagoda? We must protect the plane first and foremost above all else."


    A hesitant look appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face upon hearing this. "Then are we really going to work with Shrek Academy and the others?"


    Qiangu Dieting immediately flared up with rage. "Are you even thinking before you speak? I chose you to inherit my position because I thought you had sufficient critical thinking skills to be a good successor; has your brain suddenly been thrown out the window? So what if you''ve lost an arm? There are many ways for you to recover it in the future; what''s most important now is that we weather this upcoming storm. At the same time, we have to take advantage of this opportunity to weaken Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect during the battle, so this is not necessarily a bad thing for us."


    Qiangu Dongfeng faltered slightly upon hearing this, but he quickly understood what Qiangu Dieting was saying, and he took a deep breath before replying, "I understand; I''ll get everything arranged right away."


    Following Qiangu Dongfeng''s departure, Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Qingfeng were the only ones left in the room.


    Qiangu Qingfeng also rose to his feet. "I''m going as well."


    Qiangu Dieting took a long look at him, then said, "Leave and don''t come back; take your wife with you."


    Qiangu Qingfeng stiffened upon hearing this, and he turned around violently. "What do you mean by that?"


    Qiangu Dieting replied, "I know that you''ve always harbored resentment toward me, but I had to make the right decision. Dongfeng didn''t fail due to his own inadequacies; he was simply unfortunate to have come up against the one who was chosen by fate. Even if I had to go back and make the decision again, I would still choose him. If you had been made my successor, you definitely wouldn''t have done as well as him. He''s decisive, ruthless, and he has some wisdom. You''re not lacking in wisdom, but you are not decisive enough. My final piece of advice to you is to be more assertive and forceful in your decision-making.


    "The heritage of our Qiangu Family can''t end here, but no one knows what will happen in the future, and our top priority right now is to protect the continent. Take your branch of the family elsewhere, then adopt a new identity and cut off all ties with the Qiangu Family. Regardless of whether we can successfully force the abyssal plane into retreat, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect won''t be willing to let us off the hook; they''ll make sure to wipe out our Qiangu Family at all costs. If we somehow manage to win the battle against them, then you can come back, but if we lose, then don''t ever come back.


    "Pass down the bloodline of the Qiangu Family; that will be your final duty. Dongfeng has already shouldered the heaviest burden in our family, so this burden will be for you to carry."


    Qiangu Qingfeng faltered slightly upon hearing this. "You want me to run away like a coward?"


    Qiangu Dieting replied, "No. Oftentimes, it''s far harder to live than to die."


    Qiangu Qingfeng''s brows furrowed tightly as he said, "I won''t be leaving."


    After that, he slammed the door and departed.


    In the same instant, Qiangu Dieting suddenly seemed to have aged significantly, and he slowly closed his eyes in an exhausted manner.


    All of the military power on the entire Douluo Continent quickly began to mobilize in a short time, but everything appeared to be normal on the surface.


    The federation had made the right decision, which was to keep the news of the abyssal plane invasion strictly confidential to the public.


    The Northern Legion was situated the closest to the northernmost region of the continent, and it had already begun setting up defensive lines.


    At the same time, the Northsea Legion was transporting all types of war resources toward the north as quickly as possible.


    Records of abyssal creatures had existed since 6,000 years ago, and those who were aware of their existence knew just how terrifying they were. However, the current Douluo Continent wasn''t the same as the Douluo Continent from 6,000 years ago. With the advancement of soul technology, the continent was far better equipped to target these abyssal creatures.


    Of course, the abyssal plane wasn''t the continent''s only enemy; it also had to face the threat of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Thus, the federation had immediately issued mobilization orders to several major organizations, including Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, and the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Blood God Legion was unable to join in on this resistance effort as it had to continue to guard the abyssal passageway. Otherwise, if abyssal creatures were to flood into the continent from that passageway as well, then the continent would be facing enemies from both sides.


    At Shrek Academy.


    Another Sea God''s Pavilion meeting was being held.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were still a little red from indignation and frustration.


    It had taken a herculean effort for him to calm himself down. They had been on the brink of exacting revenge, only to be stumped at the final hurdle, and his pain was plain for all to see.


    However, he had no choice but to make this decision. Right now, revenge wasn''t the top priority for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. Instead, it was to work with the military to protect the continent.

 Chapter 1751: Preparations

    "Our academy needs to send some of our most powerful forces to the front lines, but at the same time, some people need to stay behind to guard the academy in case the Spirit Pagoda decides to plot against us; I wouldn''t put anything beneath them at this point," Tang Wulin said as he cast his gaze toward everyone from Shrek Academy.


    Long Yeyue replied, "You don''t need to look at me; I''m going to the front lines for sure."


    Yali smiled, and chimed in, "I''ll be able to save countless lives on the front lines."


    Indeed, the number one healing system Soul Master had to participate in this battle.


    Tang Wulin then turned to Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang.


    Yuanen Tiandang said in a cold voice, "I abhor foreign invaders."


    Yuanen Zhentian added, "The three of us have already decided to go to the front lines, while the rest of our family will remain behind to protect Shrek Academy."


    Aside from him and Yuanen Tiandang, the third person he was referring to was naturally none other than Yuanen Tianshang, who was also a Titled Douluo.


    Wu Zhangkong met Tang Wulin''s gaze, and the determination in his eyes was already enough for Tang Wulin to see his answer.


    Lastly, he turned to Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng.


    Lan Muzi smiled, and said, "I don''t think there''s any need for us to worry about the Spirit Pagoda at a time like this. If they dare to do anything unscrupulous when there''s such a formidable common enemy, then even the federation won''t let them off the hook. On top of that, with our soul formation defense system in place, it won''t be an easy task for them to attack us. Hence, I think all of us present should go to the front lines. Not only that, but we should also take some of the most powerful teachers along with us as well."


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, then said, "I have a suggestion: how about we get the seven old demons to run the academy in our absence?"


    Everyone''s expressions instantly changed slightly upon hearing.


    The seven old demons couldn''t stray far away from the Seven Saint Paradise, so they clearly couldn''t go to the front lines. However, one shuddered to think what would become of the academy if it were to be run by the seven old demons.


    "I don''t think there''s a better course of action," Long Yeyue sighed.


    Tang Wulin said, "Alright, then I''ll approach the seven seniors right away. What''s the situation like over at our Tang Sect, Senior Cao?"


    Cao Dezhi replied, "I''ve already organized people to gather all of the resources our Tang Sect can spare, and on top of that, we can organize an elite legion that''s around 2,000 strong. That''s not a huge number, but I can guarantee that all of them will be very capable, and they''ll set off with you and me. Wulin, you have to remember from now on that there must be at least four Limit Douluos around you at all times. Also, let me issue a reminder to everyone else: one of our key duties that''ll heavily influence whether we''ll be able to win this battle will be to protect Wulin."


    Zang Xin took over from here, and explained, "The most fearsome thing about abyssal creatures is their ability to endlessly respawn. All slain abyssal creatures will transform into destructive energy and return to the abyssal plane for resurrection, and only Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear can truly permanently kill them. Hence, we''re sure that Wulin is the primary target of the abyssal creatures. There are countless powerful beings in the 108 levels of the abyssal plane, but as long as we can keep Wulin safe, we''ll be able to chip away at them gradually over time."


    Everyone present was quite surprised to hear this. Even Shrek''s Six Monsters were unaware of the situation in the abyssal plane and how difficult it was to deal with these abyssal creatures.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I''ll be sure to look after myself as well. Our top priority is to force back the abyssal plane as much as possible; we can''t allow it to continue to expand and threaten our continent. I''ll be requesting a detailed account of the unfolding situation from the military so we know what we need to do as soon as we get to the front lines."


    Cao Dezhi nodded, and said, "Then I believe we''ve discussed everything that needs to be discussed. Let''s split up and complete our preparations as quickly as possible so we can set off for the front lines."


    Thus, everyone rose to their feet with heavy hearts. They knew that it was very likely that this was a battle they wouldn''t be returning from.


    The preparations that had to be made by Shrek Academy were quite simple as it was only a matter of gathering the right personnel. However, the situation over at the Tang Sect was far more complex, and everything had to be arranged in the shortest amount of time possible. In this battle against the abyssal plane, no one could afford to hide anything; all of the hidden trump cards had to be revealed.


    All of a sudden, the entire continent had sprung into action, and all eight of the federation''s major legions had begun to mobilize. All available military resources were quickly gathered and transported to the front lines.


    It was actually quite fortunate that all of these resources had already been prepared in anticipation of the invasion of the other two continents, so it was a lot easier to mobilize the resources here.


    Due to order of confidentiality, the general public was entirely oblivious to the fact that the continent was on the brink of destruction, and life was still continuing as normal. However, if one were to pay close attention, one would discover that there would often be a series of military vehicles speeding along the important highways in orderly convoys.


    At the control center of the Northern Legion.


    A middle-aged man with lieutenant general epaulets was holding his military communicator to his own ear with an enraged expression. "What? What did you say?"


    "The, the third defensive line has been breached! We can''t hold on for much longer; we need reinforcements! Those things are absolutely insane; they have no regard for their own lives, and there''s no end to them. We''re going to be overwhelmed very soon unless reinforcements arrive!"


    "Hold the defensive line at all costs!" The lieutenant general ended the call, and a grim look appeared on his face.


    As the commander of the Northern Legion, Guo Zhenfeng was considered to be one of the rising young stars of the military with a bright future ahead. Like Shen Yue, he was the designated successor of another major military family.


    He was only 45 years of age, yet he was already a lieutenant general, and even though his family background had played some role in his rapid rise up the ranks, this was still clear testament to his ability. As the commander of one of the eight major legions, he was truly an important figure in the military.


    Among the eight major legions, the Northern Legion was the weakest one as the potential enemies it had to face was also the weakest.


    The northern region was a world of snow and ice without any large established human settlements, so the main duty of the Northern Legion was to guard against attacks from ice attribute soul beasts. As such, it was comparatively inferior to all of the other legions regardless of whether it was in terms of overall power or quality of personnel.


    Even so, the legion was comprised of six divisions, with a total of over 100,000 troops, including support personnel, meaning that it was well and truly worthy of its title as a legion.


    The Northern Legion was the first to suffer an attack from the abyssal creatures, and Guo Zhenfeng''s initial reaction to the reports of the attack was that there had to have been a mistake.


    The report had stated that the legion was facing a large-scale soul beast attack, but he knew that there were very few soul beasts in the ice lands of the north. Unless they had gone insane, there was no way they would launch a kamikaze attack against the human race.


    High-grade soul beasts were all very intelligent, and they were clearly aware of how powerful humans had become. As such, none of them would instigate a large-scale beast tide, which would be both futile and suicidal.


    Despite this, Guo Zhenfeng had still sent a mecha division to reinforce the front lines.

 Chapter 1753: Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe

    Under the leadership of some particularly powerful abyssal creatures, these fearsome beings knew no fear or pain; all they did was relentlessly advance before being reduced to grey energy by the oncoming fire.


    Only when Guo Zhenfeng truly arrived at the front lines to face these abyssal creatures did he understand why the defensive line was in such a dire situation.


    These abyssal creatures were downright insane! They had no teamwork to speak of; all they did was rush forward like madmen, attacking the defensive line without any regard for their own lives.


    Guo Zhenfeng''s face was slightly pale as he stood atop a mountain, and not far behind him was a damaged red mecha that was in the process of self-repair.


    He had already launched many assaults against the leaders of the abyssal creatures, thereby somewhat slowing the advance of the enemy.


    Furthermore, his red mecha was recognizable to all of the soldiers in the Northern Legion, and his mere presence on the battlefield was a massive morale boost, reinvigorating them and allowing them to fight with renewed energy.


    However, this battle had already raged on for two days without any respite, and everyone was utterly exhausted. Unfortunately, rest wasn''t an option as the first three defensive lines had already been breached. If they were to take their foot off the accelerator, it was very likely that they would be dealt a fatal blow.


    The supply of military stimulants was beginning to run out, and some of the side effects were already starting to show. The fourth defensive line had already been partially breached, and if things were to continue like this, it most likely wouldn''t even last the next three hours.


    "Where are the reinforcements?" Guo Zhenfeng roared into his soul communicator.


    "The reinforcements are on the way, but they still have quite some way to go. According to their estimates, it''ll still take the first batch of reinforcements over four more hours to arrive."


    Guo Zhenfeng took a deep breath to calm himself down, then replied, "Alright."


    He knew that getting angry won''t do anyone any good. The northernmost region of the continent was simply far too remote, and the federal military was already doing everything in its power to send troops here as quickly as possible.


    Four more hours, eh?


    A wry smile appeared on Guo Zhenfeng''s face. He could only hope that the reinforcements would be powerful enough to stop these enemies.


    All he could do now was to buy as much time as possible for the reinforcements, even if it meant that the Northern Legion was completely wiped out.


    He returned to his mecha''s side and gave it a gentle pat. The mecha''s name was Azure Peak Battle God, and his family had commissioned its construction for him at a very steep price after he was promoted to the major general rank.


    "Rest up, old friend; I''m going now." A determined light appeared in his eyes as he spoke, and a powerful aura erupted out of his body.


    He raised his right hand, and a massive ax appeared in his grasp. The ax had a long shaft and a total length of over six meters, while the axehead was semi-circular, resembling half a wagon wheel with a diameter of over one and a half meters.


    This was a powerful tool martial soul, the Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe!


    Guo Zhenfeng let loose a thunderous roar and rose up into the air, flying directly toward the site where the defensive line had been breached. Following along behind him was his guard squad comprised of purple and black mechas; these were the most elite mecha pilots of the legion.


    Among the abyssal creatures, the ones with the largest numbers were these cockroach-like and ant-like creatures. There were also some praying-mantis-like creatures that possessed far superior offensive prowess.


    Through his observation, Guo Zhenfeng had already discovered that the more an abyssal creature resembled a human, the more powerful they were.


    He immediately spotted a massive abyssal creature that resembled a small mountain, and the Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe in his hand flashed before crashing down from the heavens with devastating might.


    This was his first soul skill, Annihilation Strike!


    Even though this was only his first soul skill, it was the core soul skill of his Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe.


    In contrast with the vast majority of high-grade Soul Masters, Guo Zhenfeng only had three soul skills, while the rest were all complementary soul skills that boosted the power of that core trio of abilities.


    This was the archetypal battle method of soldiers as one didn''t require a diverse range of soul skills on the battlefield; all that was needed were the most simple and direct methods to kill the enemies.


    The Annihilation Strike was one such offensive soul skill, and it truly possessed the might to split mountains.


    The mountainous abyssal creature raised its head, and the rolls of flab all over its massive body shuddered, releasing huge plumes of a repugnant odor as it roared with fury. It thrust its two arms directly toward Guo Zhenfeng, only for them to be torn apart by Guo Zhenfeng''s massive ax, immediately following which its body was also sliced in half before surging into the air as dense grey mist.


    Immediately thereafter, he slashed his ax horizontally through the air, instantly felling countless abyssal creatures, thereby significantly alleviating the pressure there.


    "Don''t give up! Fill this gap by all means necessary!" Guo Zhenfeng continued to advance as he spoke, sweeping through the enemy with his unstoppable Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe.


    The breached gap was an important mountain that was around 300 meters tall, and from the mountain''s peak, one had a clear view of all the other surrounding mountains, and there were also important defensive and surveillance soul tools on the summit.


    Losing this important strategic point would render the fourth defensive line blind and uncoordinated. Thus, in order to resist for as long as possible, this mountain had to be reclaimed, which was why Guo Zhenfeng was charging toward it full steam ahead with his guard squad.


    Right at this moment, a familiar cracking sound rang out behind him, and Guo Zhenfeng instantly turned around to find a blurry shadow flashing past him, following which a ball of fire erupted in all directions.


    A purple mecha had exploded.


    "F*ck!" Guo Zhenfeng immediately identified that detonated mecha as one owned by a member of his guard squad, a young man whom he had high hopes for, and someone that he saw every day.


    Guo Zhenfeng''s eyes became completely bloodshot as he swung his Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe through the air, unleashing one ax projection after another that encompassed the entire area up ahead.


    Countless abyssal creatures were reduced to grey mist by his infuriated attacks, but right at this moment, he felt a chilling sensation run down one side of his body.


    He reflexively dodged to the side, but the enemy was extremely fast and still managed to tear a gash into his clothes.


    A figure then appeared in his line of sight. This was a woman with curves so voluptuous that she almost looked like an overly sexualized cartoon. However, it was clear that this figure possessed different traits from a human woman.


    Before he had a chance to catch a clear glimpse of the figure, it had already vanished.


    Guo Zhenfeng swung his ax toward his assailant, but it struck nothing but empty air.


    If Tang Wulin were present, he would''ve definitely identified the figure to be an Enchantress of the abyssal plane. This was an extremely powerful high-grade abyssal creature that excelled in the areas of stealth, captivation, and assassination.


    Right at this moment, a series of sharp sirens rang out, and the defensive line in the direction of the mountain summit was breached amid a massive explosion. All of the abyssal creatures that had scaled the mountain were instantly wiped out in the explosion.


    "F*ck!" Guo Zhenfeng was almost blinded by rage.


    He knew that the soldiers on the mountain summit had self-detonated as they knew that they weren''t a match for the enemies. They hadn''t managed to last until Guo Zhenfeng''s arrival.


    "Retreat!" Guo Zhenfeng roared as he turned back around, and his Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe remained as unstoppable as ever.


    He hadn''t risen up into the air as that would make him a target, and he was also hoping to be able to kill more abyssal creatures to lessen the pressure on his comrades.


    Being a Titled Douluo with a soul core, his stamina in battle was far superior to that of the average Soul Master.


    Right at this moment, a peal of unsettling laughter suddenly rang out.

 Chapter 1754: Dark Bell

    "Tinkle, tinkle!" The sound of a ringing bell suddenly rang out, somewhat alleviating Guo Zhenfeng''s fury and striking him with a momentary sense of disorientation.


    It was also right at this moment that a figure rushed out of the throng of abyssal creatures like lightning before extending a palm toward his chest.


    On the battlefield, Guo Zhenfeng was unstoppable with his indomitable Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe, but in the world of high-grade Soul Masters, his skillset was a lot less advantageous. His combat prowess was impressive, but he excelled more so in large-scale battles like this one, rather than one-on-one Soul Master battles.


    A suit of inky-black battle armor appeared over his body right before the palm reached him, defending him from the attack.


    Guo Zhenfeng felt an impact on the front of his chest, following which an icy aura instantly swept into his body. A black halo abruptly exploded beneath his feet, releasing a powerful shockwave that sent his assailant flying while he also rapidly retreated.


    Only now was he able to identify that his assailant was a smiling girl who appeared to only be in her teens, and he was certain that this was definitely a human.


    However, she paid no heed to the abyssal creatures around her, and it was truly a surreal sight to see such a beautiful girl among so many hideous abyssal creatures.


    A giant bell appeared behind her before chiming again, and Guo Zhenfeng was struck by another rush of disorientation, followed by a bout of rage. "You''re from the Holy Spirit Cult! Do these creatures have something to do with you?"


    It was clear that this young girl was a formidable member of the Holy Spirit Cult. Indeed, she was none other than one of the heavenly monarchs of the Holy Spirit Cult, someone whom Tang Wulin had met on several occasions, Dark Bell Na Nali.


    "Heehee, are you surprised? Cease your futile resistance; you''re throwing away your lives for nothing. This is only the beginning of the abyssal army."


    Dark Bell pointed a finger at Guo Zhenfeng as she spoke, and the giant bell behind her immediately flew toward him while rotating rapidly.


    With Guo Zhenfeng''s extensive battle experience, he knew that he couldn''t afford to get caught up in a battle with her. Otherwise, there was a very good chance that he would be trapped here. In fact, he could already see several mountainous Ba''ans converging toward him from a distance.


    At this point, he had already realized that this disaster had to have something to do with the Holy Spirit Cult, and this explained why the Holy Spirit Cult had been dormant for so long.


    A layer of scorching white light appeared over his Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe, and he slowly slashed it forward.


    As he did so, he also began to give off a formidable aura, and his seventh and ninth soul rings had also lit up.


    The battle armor at the front of his chest also began to glow with scintillating white light before fusing into his ax, and as this fearsome energy began to proliferate outward, it was as if the entire world were about to collapse.


    A hint of surprise appeared on Dark Bell''s face, and she instantly drew her giant bell back to herself, following which it disappeared into her body.


    In the next instant, a giant band of incandescent white light that was over 30 meters wide appeared on the entire battlefield, wiping out all of the abyssal creatures in its path.


    The band of white light then stretched forward, striking the mountain that had just been claimed by the enemy.


    A thin white line appeared from the peak of the mountain down to the ground level, and immediately thereafter, the entire mountain exploded, sending massive rocks flying in all directions to crush countless abyssal creatures.


    Even more importantly, the mountain was being used by the abyssal creatures as a natural barrier, but it had been destroyed by Guo Zhenfeng, leaving them exposed once again, and that was his true objective.


    With this one ax strike, he had forced back Dark Bell, destroyed the natural barrier that was the mountain, and intimidated the entire opposing army. Furthermore, the Northern Legion''s morale was elevated once again, but Guo Zhenfeng didn''t hesitate in the slightest, choosing to immediately fall back in retreat.


    The four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats in the sky didn''t even dare to attack him.


    Tang Wulin had already destroyed the 96th and 97th levels of the abyss, and as a result, the four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats that arose from the 97th level had almost gone extinct.


    However, in order to maintain the stability of the entire abyss, the Holy Lord had constructed those two levels again, thereby allowing these bats to continue to exist. Repairing the abyssal plane to its original state required an enormous amount of energy, so the four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats harbored the deepest resentment for the human race.


    Now that Guo Zhenfeng was rising up into the air, the bats immediately swarmed him from all directions, clashing violently with the crossfire from the Northern Legion.


    "You can''t just go; I don''t want to see you leave." Dark Bell''s voice rang out again, followed by another crisp chime.


    Guo Zhenfeng''s heart tightened upon hearing this, and he lashed out with his Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe like lightning, releasing a vast expanse of ax projections.


    However, right at this moment, a black mecha suddenly exploded on his left.


    "Ya Ze!" Guo Zhenfeng roared like a wounded beast. That was the leader of his guard squad, someone who had been with him for over 10 years! During that time, they had become as close as blood brothers, and Guo Zhenfeng was shaken to the core by his abrupt demise.


    "None of you are getting away!"


    "Tinkle, tinkle!"


    As the bell continued to chime, the mechas around Guo Zhenfeng began to sway and tremor to different degrees. The soundwave and spiritual impact of the bell chimes was far too destructive for these mecha pilots to withstand, even with the defenses of their mechas.


    Guo Zhenfeng immediately realized that he was dealing with someone who was at least at the Hyper Douluo level, and a sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart. He knew that in the face of a powerful being of that caliber, there was nothing he could do.


    The Northern Legion was the weakest of the eight major legions, and even its commander wasn''t a Hyper Douluo.


    If he were to oversee the battle from a control center, he could organize soul weapons to target this enemy, but there was no way he could do that now that he was on the battlefield himself.


    It was clear that the enemy had spotted him long ago, which was why such a powerful being had been deployed to target him so quickly.


    Screw it!


    Guo Zhenfeng gritted his teeth and released his spiritual power to search for Dark Bell.


    However, she was very cunning and was constantly changing her position in mid-air, using one mecha after another as cover rather than appearing directly before Guo Zhenfeng.


    In contrast with Guo Zhenfeng, her battle experience was undoubtedly more extensive, and she knew how to target an opponent like this to not give him any chances.


    Guo Zhenfeng''s forte was full-frontal offensive power, so why would she fight fire with fire?


    At this point, the defensive line of the Northern Legion was finally beginning to crumble.


    Over 30 Ba''ans had formed a horizontal line, withstanding the enemy fire with their incredibly resilient bodies to claim another mountain. This was also a very strategically important mountain, and if it were to be conquered, the entire defensive line would be divided into segments with no way of contacting one another.


    Even lasting the next hour was going to be a stretch, let alone four hours!


    One mecha plummeted out of the sky after another, and seeing his comrades die all around him, Guo Zhenfeng was driven closer and closer to the edge.


    Finally, he let loose a guttural roar, and instead of continuing to pursue Dark Bell, he descended from the sky, plunging into the area with the greatest density of abyssal creatures. Even if he were to die, he was going to take down some enemies with him.

 Chapter 1755: Dire Straits

    Dark Bell giggled as she looked on at the enraged Guo Zhenfeng, making no attempt to chase after him.


    The lives of abyssal creatures were nothing in her eyes, yet they were going to grind down an enemy Titled Douluo in her stead without any risk being taken on her part; why would she try to stop him?


    The soldiers of the Northern Legion all knew that a critical juncture had been reached, and everyone dug even deeper into what little remained of their energy reserves. Even if the soul weapons they were using were already overheating and at risk of exploding, their attacks still didn''t cease even for a moment.


    Guo Zhenfeng was putting his fearsome offensive prowess on full display, finding no match wherever he went.


    Even a Ba''an couldn''t withstand a single full-power strike from him, and countless abyssal creatures were quickly felled by his Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe.


    Even so, he still had to face more abyssal creatures. There seemed to be no end to them, and for every abyssal creature he killed, two would take its place.


    Furthermore, the deaths of these low-tier abyssal creatures had no bearing on the abyssal plane as they would return to the abyssal plane as energy anyway.


    The lower the caliber of an abyssal creature, the quicker they could be resurrected, and these ones could almost instantly be revived.


    For them, the most important thing was to take advantage of this opportunity to devour the life force of the Douluo Continent; even the plants here contained life energy that they relished.


    If they could devour an entire major plane like the Douluo Plane, then the abyssal plane would be able to evolve into a Divine Realm.


    Furthermore, it wouldn''t be an ordinary Divine Realm; it would be one that was more powerful and complete than the average Divine Realm, perhaps even one that wasn''t inferior to the former Douluo Divine Realm.


    Once that happened, they would be able to expand even further, gaining the ability to hunt for prey in outer space to further strengthen themselves by devouring their life energy. This was the ultimate vision of the Holy Lord, whereas the ultimate vision of the Holy Spirit Cult was to obtain the largest amount of deathly energy possible, and these visions didn''t conflict with one another in the slightest.


    As such, even if both sides were to attain godhood in the future, there would be no conflict of interest, and they would still be able to coexist peacefully.


    Thus, after contacting the abyssal plane on multiple occasions, it decided that this massive conspiracy was a feasible option.


    They were going to destroy the entire Douluo Star as a catalyst for the Holy Spirit Cult to create its own Divine Realm.


    The Douluo Star contained an unfathomable amount of life energy, and all this life energy would be converted into an equal amount of destructive energy following its demise.


    More and more powerful abyssal creatures were still coming, and another passageway had been opened up, just like the one that was being guarded by the Blood God Legion. However, the more powerful an abyssal creature was, the more severely rejected they would be by the power of the plane, so more energy had to be injected into the passageway to support it.


    As such, both the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane were focusing on expanding the passageway further and further. Once the passageway was stabilized, the entire abyssal plane would be able to descend upon the Douluo Plane, and the Holy Spirit Cult was sure that there was no way the Douluo Plane would be able to weather such a devastating storm.


    One had to realize that the Holy Lord was a true god; one who was comparable to a first-rank god of the former Divine Realm!


    Back when the Douluo Continent was protected by the Divine Realm, the Holy Lord hadn''t even dared to reveal any of its aura. After all, entities like the abyssal plane were detested by all intelligent life forms. If the Douluo Divine Realm had discovered its exact location, the gods would''ve destroyed the abyssal plane without any hesitation.


    Now, the Douluo Divine Realm had finally vanished, and the abyssal plane wasn''t able to hold back any longer as it bared its fangs for the first time, attempting to connect with the Douluo Plane.


    Furthermore, it had benefited immensely from its first invasion, and it had already had its eyes on this rich plane for a very long time.


    For the opening of this second passageway, the Holy Lord had made extensive preparations, and he was going to completely devour the Douluo Plane to make it a part of his own body.


    Dark Bell had been deployed to fight in this initial battle, and her objective was to absorb as much destructive energy as possible, while the abyssal creatures were assigned with the task of claiming all of the advantageous posts that they could. Furthermore, the most important thing right now was to create turmoil to draw more of the Douluo Federation''s focus. As such, they had to break through this defensive line as quickly as possible in order to reach deeper into the continent.


    The Douluo Star was a vast plane, and even the lowliest of abyssal creatures could easily kill a normal human. Once these abyssal creatures spread over the continent, more and more destructive energy would appear, while life energy would be further diminished, thereby negatively impacting the entire plane.


    The weaker the plane became, the less it would be able to repress these abyssal creatures, and conquest would become even easier.


    Hence, this invasion had to be quelled right away. Otherwise, if the abyssal creatures were allowed to spread, the situation would deteriorate rapidly, just like an ever-spreading disease. For the Douluo Continent, these abyssal creatures were like a devastating plague.


    Ever since he was a child, Guo Zhenfeng had been taught to stand firmly even against the most powerful of enemies and to lead by example. As a leader, he couldn''t be rash, but neither could he cower.


    However, the Douluo Star was a very peaceful world; there were almost no opportunities for battle aside from military drills, so only now was he truly experiencing an actual battle.


    His soul core was pumping soul power incessantly as he lashed out over and over again. As the weakest of the eight major legions, the Northern Legion had a severe shortage of powerful Soul Masters, and most of what little they did have had already perished alongside the first three defensive lines. However, there was still no end to the enemies in sight, and he could only continue to stave off despair by not allowing himself to stop and realize the desperation of the situation.


    Kill kill kill!


    In his eyes, every abyssal creature he killed would perhaps buy his allies an extra second. Concepts like conserving energy were no longer important to him as he knew that there was no way he would survive this battle. Under these circumstances, all he wanted was to do the best that he could.


    "Boom!"


    His Mountain Vanquishing Annihilation Axe tore through a Ba''an''s body, reducing it to a plume of grey energy, and he was finally struck by a hint of exhaustion.


    Even the stamina of Titled Douluos was limited, and he couldn''t keep this up forever.


    Even a freak like Tang Wulin had physical limits as well, let alone someone like him.


    Right at this moment, another dreaded bell chime rang out, and Guo Zhenfeng''s physical exhaustion led to his mind being slightly slower to react than usual.


    His vision suddenly blurred, and everything seemed to have gone quiet; only that bell chime was continuing to echo within his mind.


    It was at this moment that the giant bell arrived from behind, ramming its sharp edge viciously into Guo Zhenfeng''s three-word battle armor.


    A sharp screeching sound rang out alongside a resounding bell chime, and Guo Zhenfeng was sent flying through the air.


    A massive crack had been smashed into the back of his suit of three-word battle armor, and its light had dimmed significantly.


    A huge number of abyssal creatures immediately took advantage of this opportunity to swarm him and attack him in a frenzy. Countless attacks of all descriptions instantly rained down upon him, and he was buried under a mountain of abyssal creatures while Dark Bell looked on from above with a pleased smile.


    This defensive line was about to be broken, and the possibilities were endless from here. How much destructive energy would the abyssal creatures be able to create once they spread over the entire continent? Both she and the Holy Spirit Cult were eager to find out.


    However, her smile had only just appeared on her face before it abruptly stiffened.

 Chapter 1756: Arrival of Reinforcements

    At this point, only five or six mountains remained under the Northern Legion''s control, and the defensive line could crumble at any moment. However, right at this moment, the masses of advancing abyssal creatures suddenly fell still, as if they had been immobilized and rooted to the spot.


    A burst of golden light flashed through the sky like lightning, instantly piercing through the darkness.


    The golden light landed not far away from Dark Bell, which was exactly where Guo Zhenfeng had just been inundated by masses of abyssal creatures.


    In the instant that it landed on the ground, a burst of enormous might erupted forth alongside a deafening dragon''s roar, and a series of giant golden dragons pounced in all directions, instantly wiping out all of the abyssal creatures within a diameter of around 100 meters.


    What was even more alarming was that once these abyssal creatures were reduced to destructive energy, they converged toward that burst of golden light rather than dissipating into the air.


    As soon as Dark Bell caught sight of that burst of golden light, she immediately turned and fled, flying back into the masses of abyssal creatures as a streak of darkness.


    As she fled the scene, she couldn''t help but be astonished by how quickly reinforcements had arrived. How had he arrived so soon?


    The golden streak of light that had descended from the heavens finally became clear, and it was revealed to be a golden spear that was radiating dazzling golden light with dragon patterns running along its entire surface.


    In addition to the abyssal creatures that had just been slain, the grey energy from the abyssal creatures that had been destroyed nearby also flew toward the spear, quickly forming a funnel-like vortex that was rapidly surging into the golden spear.


    A figure then descended from above, landing beside Guo Zhenfeng, who was already riddled with wounds. The figure helped Guo Zhenfeng to his feet while grabbing onto the center of the spear with his other hand.


    A layer of golden light immediately surged into his body from the spear, basking his entire body in golden radiance, and a powerful aura of life energy naturally rose up from his body, giving him the appearance of a deity that had descended into the world of mortals.


    Guo Zhenfeng was gasping for breath, and he was currently on the verge of collapse.


    He had expended an enormous amount of energy in a very short period of time, and Dark Bell was the last straw that broke the camel''s back. He was no longer able to resist the swarm of abyssal creatures that had climbed over his body, and if his savior had arrived any later than he had, he would''ve already been dead.


    "Who are you?" Guo Zhenfeng asked as he turned toward his savior, upon which he was greeted by the sight of a handsome young man that stood like an immovable mountain.


    Even with countless abyssal creatures around him, he was a beacon of calmness.


    "I''m Tang Wulin from Shrek Academy. You must be Commander Guo Zhenfeng, right? Please accept our apologies for arriving so late."


    Looking at Guo Zhenfeng''s tattered suit of three-word battle armor, a hint of admiration welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. Even though he was a legion commander, he was leading by example, battling to his very last breath; he was truly a source of pride for the federal military.


    Tang Wulin had once harbored a very negative impression of the military, but he had to admit that the Northern Legion was worthy of praise.


    In the face of this abrupt outbreak of abyssal creatures, the legion had been able to set up one defensive line after another, combating these tireless and fearless creatures for such a long time.


    Despite its lack of powerful Soul Masters, the legion was able to prevent the abyssal creatures from rushing deeper into the continent, and it had cost them a massive price.


    Right now, what remained of the Northern Legion could barely even be called a battalion, but it was their valiant sacrifice that had bought the reinforcements precious time.


    "Have, have the reinforcements arrived?" Guo Zhenfeng''s voice was slightly feeble, but still full of hope.


    "Rest assured, Commander Guo; the reinforcements have already arrived, so you can leave the rest to us."


    Tang Wulin wound an arm around Guo Zhenfeng for support as he spoke, then rose up into the air, heading toward the closest hill that was still under the control of the Northern Legion.


    "How many troops are the reinforcements comprised of, Sect Master Tang? There''s virtually no end to these accursed creatures, and I have no idea how many more are still to come," Guo Zhenfeng said in a concerned manner.


    "In order to get here as early as we could, there are only five of us here right now, but the subsequent reinforcements will arrive in about five hours to construct a defensive barricade," Tang Wulin replied.


    "What? There are only five of you?" The hope that had just welled up in Guo Zhenfeng''s heart was instantly doused.


    "What are five people going to be able to do? Even if it''s five Titled Douluos, there''s no way you''ll be able to stop these things! Do you know what the consequences will be if we allow these creatures to enter the continent? They''re even more terrifying than locusts; all living beings will perish before them! Forests will be reduced to deserts, even this land of ice and snow could be corrupted; we have to force them back at all costs! If we allow them to reach further inland, an unimaginable disaster will await us!"


    Tang Wulin was naturally able to understand his current emotions. After all, he had served at the Blood God Legion, which had been facing the same enemy for countless years.


    "Rest assured, Commander Guo; there''s no way they''ll be able to advance any further than this point."


    He arrived on the hilltop as he spoke, then set Guo Zhenfeng down before pointing toward the distance. "Take a look, Commander Guo."


    Guo Zhenfeng did as he was told, and he immediately caught sight of a vast expanse of gentle white light descending from the heavens, transforming into five massive pillars of light that encompassed the five remaining mountains under the Northern Legion''s control.


    Everyone, including Guo Zhenfeng, was bathed in this white light, and a surge of warmth was instantly injected into their bodies, instantly wiping away their extreme physical and mental exhaustion.


    In contrast, as soon as the abyssal creatures rushed into this white light, they would melt away like snow and ice.


    Immediately thereafter, two gargantuan apes that were even taller than the mountains around them descended from the heavens.


    In the instant that they landed on the ground, formidable shockwaves erupted in all directions, reducing countless abyssal creatures to grey energy.


    One of the massive apes threw its head back and let loose a thunderous roar, then abruptly bent forward, slamming its giant fists heavily onto the ground.


    Terrifying shockwaves immediately erupted forth from the impact, wiping out all abyssal creatures within a radius of a kilometer.


    Guo Zhenfeng was struggling to process what he was seeing. As a Titled Douluo himself, he was naturally aware of how fearsome top-tier Soul Masters could be on the battlefield, but never had he seen anyone display such incredible combat prowess.


    This was definitely no ordinary Titled Douluo!


    "Perhaps five Titled Douluos wouldn''t be enough, but I''m sure five Limit Douluos will be," Tang Wulin said.


    Right at this moment, a Soul Master with five-colored light radiating from his body descended behind Tang Wulin. Even though he wasn''t doing anything, he was still giving off an indescribably intimidating aura; this was none other than Qilin Douluo Tong Yu.


    The new arrivals were the five Limit Douluos, including Tang Wulin. Tang Wulin wasn''t a Limit Douluo yet, but after crushing Qiangu Dongfeng in that clash, no one was going to dispute the fact that he already possessed Limit Douluo level power.

 Chapter 1757: Leave the Rest to Us

    The Amorous Douluo, the Heartless Douluo, and the Light Dark Douluo had remained behind to protect the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. In order to get here as quickly as possible, Tang Wulin had set off with the Qilin Douluo, Holy Spirit Douluo, and the two Limit Douluos of the Yuanen Family after only a short discussion with everyone, and they had arrived in the nick of time to save Guo Zhenfeng.


    "Take a rest and leave the rest to us, Commander Guo." Tang Wulin rose up into the air with his Golden Dragon Spear as he spoke.


    He was the most important figure on this entire battlefield as he was the only one who could truly kill abyssal creatures.


    After rising up into the air, Tang Wulin didn''t directly participate in the battle. Instead, he raised his Golden Dragon Spear up high and injected his soul power into it, upon which a vast amount of the grey energy formed by slain abyssal creatures converged toward him from all directions.


    Rich life energy instantly flowed into his body, and even at his current level of power, this rapid influx of energy was slightly overwhelming.


    Thankfully, he was no longer the same Tang Wulin as the one who had served in the Blood God Legion. In the face of this massive injection of energy, he quickly activated his soul core and dragon core to absorb and convert it, while leaving a very large portion of this energy to be transferred to the tree of life.


    A large influx of life energy required a very long time to digest and absorb, and upon reaching saturation, he wouldn''t be able to absorb any more energy.


    Back in the Blood God Legion, he had faced such a situation, and absorbing too much life energy also posed a threat to his Golden Dragon King seals. Even more importantly, once he reached saturation, he would be unable to continue to absorb more abyssal energy, thereby limiting the amount of damage he could inflict upon the abyssal plane.


    However, everything was different now that he could transfer this energy to the tree of life. The tree of life required a virtually limitless amount of life energy, so he didn''t have to worry about it reaching saturation, thereby making it a perfect vent. With this vent in place, he could absorb life energy without any qualms or restraint.


    The current Tang Wulin already possessed Limit Douluo level power, so even though he had never faced so many abyssal creatures before, it still wasn''t an issue for him to absorb their energy.


    The army of abyssal creatures was still advancing like a tsunami wave, but in the face of the Holy Spirit Douluo, the Titan Douluo, and the Free Sky Douluo, they were unable to make any forward progress.


    At this point, Dark Bell had already disappeared.


    Even so, Tang Wulin didn''t dare to let any complacency set in, and Tong Yu was also constantly by his side. The truly powerful beings of the abyssal plane hadn''t yet appeared, but that didn''t mean that they weren''t potentially lurking nearby. Tang Wulin''s impact on abyssal creatures was extremely significant. So long as he continued to exist, the abyssal plane would constantly be under threat, and that made him the number one enemy for the abyssal plane.


    The clash between the two sides didn''t last for too long. After less than 10 minutes, tens of thousands of abyssal creatures had been slain, and the army finally retreated.


    After forcing back the abyssal creatures, the three Limit Douluos returned to Tang Wulin''s side, making no attempt to give chase.


    The northernmost region of the continent had already been claimed by the abyssal plane, so recklessly advancing could land them in an enemy trap.


    Their first priority right now was to set up another defensive line as soon as possible to keep the enemies at bay.


    Only now did Guo Zhenfeng allow himself to heave a sigh of relief, and he sat down on the ground as he withdrew his suit of three-word battle armor.


    He was still a little dazed, and there was no joy in his eyes despite the fact that the enemy had been forced into retreat.


    These past few days had been like a dream for him. During this short span of time, his comrades and subordinates had fallen one after another, and not only had the majority of the legion been wiped out, most of what little remained were carrying injuries.


    If it weren''t for the treatment administered by the Holy Spirit Douluo just now, even more people would''ve perished from exhaustion.


    In the span of just a few days, the mighty Northern Legion had received a fatal blow, and even with his mental fortitude, he was struggling to come to terms with everything.


    As the legion commander, he was completely powerless while his brothers perished around him, and that was what hurt him the most. In the military, once a legion lost over two thirds of its troops, its title would be revoked!


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed tightly as he heaved an internal sigh. He was very much able to empathize with Guo Zhenfeng''s pain.


    It had been peaceful on the continent for far too long. Aside from the Blood God Legion, the other legions were only able to experience battle through military drills, but how could drills possibly compare with actual battle, particularly against foes like abyssal creatures?


    The Limit Douluos returned to Tang Wulin''s side, standing naturally around him in a protective formation.


    "How did it go?" Yali asked.


    Tang Wulin replied, "It''s just as I anticipated; the Golden Dragon Spear is able to devour life energy from abyssal creatures, and I''ve already transmitted most of the energy to the tree of life. Please keep a lookout for me while I communicate with the tree of life."


    Tang Wulin sat down on the ground with his legs crossed as he spoke, then closed his eyes to contact the tree of life. Soon, faint greenish-golden light was beginning to revolve around his body.


    At this moment, there were four Limit Douluos standing around him! Even Guo Zhenfeng was astonished by the sight of such a formidable lineup, let alone the other soldiers of the Northern Legion.


    They had only heard that Tang Wulin was Shrek Academy''s new leader, and that his power was matched only by the rate of his development, but this was the first time they had ever seen him in person.


    Tang Wulin was even younger than Guo Zhenfeng had imagined, yet he already possessed incredible power, and he had saved Guo Zhenfeng''s life.


    Among the four Limit Douluos around him, the only one that Guo Zhenfeng recognized was Yali, while the rest were completely unfamiliar to him.


    At this moment, Tang Wulin was seated in a meditative state with the four Limit Douluos around him. The greenish-golden light radiating from his body was filled with vitality, to the extent that the battlefield, which had been completely deprived of its vitality, seemed to be teeming with life again.


    Everyone from the Northern Legion, including Guo Zhenfeng, was struck by a sense of comfort from this greenish-golden light.


    Tang Wulin immersed himself into his own consciousness and almost instantly established a connection with the tree of life.


    The first thing that he felt was a sense of elation; the tree of life was transmitting to him intense emotions of joy and anticipation, just like when it had absorbed the life energy of the demonic legion.


    Ever since the tree of life had absorbed the life energy of the demonic legion, its vitality had completely flourished, but there had been no other huge influx of life energy since that time. Tang Wulin had attempted to enter the Great Star Dou Forest to seek out sources of life energy, only to have encountered Di Tian and almost lost his life there.


    After that, Tang Wulin didn''t dare to go there again. After all, the Great Beasts were incredibly powerful, and it would be wise not to tempt fate again.


    Just now, Tang Wulin had devoured the life energy of tens of thousands of abyssal creatures in a very short time, and the tree of life had received a massive amount of nourishment as a result.


    The influx of life energy still couldn''t compare with what it had received from the demonic legion, but there were virtually infinite abyssal creatures, and Tang Wulin was far more powerful than he had been in the past, so this was both a disaster and an opportunity.


    Thus, the abyssal army retreated, leaving behind a ravaged and lifeless landscape.

 Chapter 1758: For the Federation!

    Even though the mountains in the north were quite barren, there were still some needle-leaved trees growing there. However, following the departure of the abyssal army, the entire landscape was revealed to have become completely lifeless, and even the earth had taken on a deathly grey color. Even the insects residing underground seemed to have been devoured by them, and there wasn''t a single trace of life energy left behind.


    What a truly terrifying race this was!


    Tang Wulin''s hands reflexively balled up into tight fists. He couldn''t allow these abyssal creatures to reach further inland no matter what. Otherwise, disaster would befall the entire world.


    "Please pull yourself together, Commander Guo; the Northern Legion still requires your leadership," Tang Wulin urged.


    At this point, Guo Zhenfeng had already recovered somewhat from his stupor, and he rose to his feet before extending a military salute toward Tang Wulin and the four Limit Douluos.


    "On behalf of the Northern Legion, I give you all my genuine gratitude. If you had come any later than this, the entire Northern Legion would''ve most likely..."


    A hint of anguish flashed through his eyes as his voice trailed off here, but he quickly regained his composure, and asked, "Do you have any instructions for me?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Please just organize your legion as you normally would after a battle. We can''t represent the federation, but on behalf of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, we thank the Northern Legion for the sacrifices it''s made for the continent. Thanks to your diligent efforts, the abyssal creatures were unable to reach further inland, thereby avoiding the loss of more lives. Given the circumstances, you''ve already done extremely well."


    Guo Zhenfeng extended another military salute. "For the federation!"


    Tang Wulin returned his salute. "For the federation!"


    Thus, Guo Zhenfeng went away to organize his troops. What remained of the Northern Legion still had to work to reconstruct a defensive line. Even though they were severely lacking in personnel and equipment, they had to at least complete the basic groundwork before reinforcements arrived.


    No one was more familiar with the terrain here than the Northern Legion, and once the foundation was set, the reinforcements would be able to construct a more complete defensive line.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin and the others scaled the tallest mountain in the area before peering into the distance.


    The weather in this region was truly extremely cold, to the extent that the entire landscape was enshrouded under a blanket of icy mist, thereby limiting the range of one''s vision; even Tang Wulin''s Purple Demon Eyes were quite restricted here.


    Despite this, he could still see a massive black mass in the distance, but from this vantage point, it was impossible to see where the exact exit of the new abyssal passageway was. However, the number of abyssal creatures that had appeared here far exceeded the numbers Tang Wulin had witnessed back in the Blood God Legion.


    After all, the Blood God Legion was able to restrict the abyssal creatures to within the passageway so they weren''t actually released. In contrast, the abyssal creatures here had been released into the open, and with sufficient space, their numbers would only continue to increase.


    "I want to go and scout for the location of the abyssal passageway," Tang Wulin said.


    Before anyone else had a chance to reply, Yali immediately said, "No."


    Tang Wulin insisted, "Mother, we need to ascertain the location of the abyssal passageway so we know where to aim the large-scale destructive weapons once the reinforcements arrive!"


    Tang Wulin didn''t know how the abyssal creatures had developed over the past 6,000 years, but human soul technology had definitely been advancing rapidly during this time. Destructive weapons of all descriptions were currently being transported to the front lines, and all they needed now was a location to direct those weapons toward.


    Yali refused to budge. "You are the most important key to this battle. Have you forgotten what the Amorous Douluo and the Heartless Douluo said to you before you left? Your safety is paramount above all else, so you can''t take risks no matter what, understood?"


    A slightly resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I''m not taking any risk here, Mother. As long as I don''t encounter the Holy Lord, it''s virtually impossible for any abyssal creature to pose a threat to my life."


    Setting aside the fact that his powers were already at the demigod level, he could leave this battlefield at any time through his connection with the tree of life.


    As such, unless the Holy Lord were to descend upon this plane in person, it really would be a very difficult task to kill him.


    "I think it''s best not to grow complacent, Pavilion Master. After all, safety is number one." Yuanen Zhentian was in support of Yali''s opinion.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t rebuke the Limit Douluos, so he could only comply. "Alright then."


    Right at this moment, he was suddenly overcome by a peculiar feeling, and a greenish-golden halo lit up around him.


    All of the Limit Douluos reflexively turned toward him, but before he had a chance to do anything, a beam of greenish-golden light flew out of his body before landing on the ground in front of him.


    This was a translucent greenish-golden ball, and it seemed to contain a seed.


    The greenish-golden ball silently burrowed into the ground in front of Tang Wulin, and soon, the surrounding earth was also illuminated the same color.


    A short while later, the greenish-golden light began to surge out of the ground, forming a tiny seedling that grew rapidly under the support of the greenish-golden light. After just a few minutes, the seedling had grown into a miniature tree of life that was close to 20 meters tall.


    Everyone''s attention was immediately drawn to this miniature tree of life, and all of them wore surprised expressions.


    Only Tang Wulin''s eyes were shut as he experienced the vastly abundant life energy before him. Moments later, an elated smile appeared on his face, and he knew exactly what was happening.


    "There''s no need to worry about my safety now; this is the tree of life''s reciprocation. The tree of life has just converted the energy I transmitted to it into the purest Douluo Continent life energy, thereby allowing one of its seeds to take root here. I am the Son of Nature, so I''m closely tied to the tree of life. Regardless of where I am, I can teleport back to the tree of life or back here on a whim. Furthermore, with this secondary tree of life here, I''ll be able to convert life energy for the tree of life faster and easier than before. To put it in simpler terms, this is like an outpost for the tree of life."


    The tree of life was constantly protecting Tang Wulin, just as the Limit Douluos present were. After all, only he could bring the tree of life more life energy to help it grow.


    All of the Limit Douluos were quite amazed by this; it was the first time they had ever witnessed something like this.


    The tree of life undoubtedly possessed the purest life energy on the entire Douluo Continent as it was the source of all life on the continent, as well as the highest life form on this plane.


    However, due to the constantly diminishing life energy on the continent, even survival had become a problem for the tree of life, so there was no way it would be able to produce a secondary tree. However, it could sense that there was a source of life energy here in the form of the abyssal creatures, so it had expended a portion of its power to create this secondary tree, both to protect Tang Wulin and to better receive the life energy here.


    The more powerful the source of life was, the more it would be able to reciprocate the natural ecosystem of the continent. Currently, the tree of life still hadn''t returned to the former glory of the ancient Golden Tree as it was lacking in life energy, so this was an opportunity that it couldn''t afford to let slip.


    A series of exuberant green leaves began to grow on the secondary tree of life, and the greenish-golden light quickly expanded in all directions, restoring vitality to the deathly grey ground, causing more and more plants to sprout out of the soil. Even though this miracle was only restricted to this hilltop, there was finally a tinge of lively green color in this barren landscape.

 Chapter 1759: The Allure of the Secondary Tree

    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s expression changed slightly as he could clearly detect a strong sense of yearning in the distance.


    He reflexively looked up to discover that the masses of abyssal creatures in the distance had sprung into action again, charging toward his direction like a massive tidal wave.


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly upon seeing this. This secondary tree really wasn''t allowing anyone to rest!


    The natural instinct of abyssal creatures was to devour all life energy, regardless of what form this life energy existed in.


    The lowest abyssal life forms didn''t possess any intelligence; they were governed solely by their survival instincts. Meanwhile, the tree of life was the source of life of an entire plane, and it contained the purest and highest form of life energy, so its allure was completely irresistible to abyssal creatures in close proximity.


    As such, there was no need for any orders to be issued. In fact, the abyssal creatures weren''t even capable of following orders anymore as they were entirely fixated on hunting the secondary tree of life.


    Hence, aside from protecting Tang Wulin, the secondary tree of life was also serving as bait.


    Thus, countless abyssal creatures returned in a maddened frenzy, presenting a terrifying sight to behold.


    Thankfully, Tang Wulin and the others were situated on the tallest mountain in the area, and also the one that was closest to the abyssal army.


    The Limit Douluos turned to Tang Wulin with peculiar expressions, and in response, Tang Wulin could only give a wry smile. "I didn''t make this happen, but seeing as they''re here, we might as well take care of them."


    Yali said, "You protect the secondary tree of life; leave everything else to us. Don''t leave this spot unless it''s absolutely necessary, and you''re forbidden to participate in this battle until reinforcements arrive."


    Tang Wulin wanted to argue, but he knew that there was no convincing her, so he refrained from saying anything in the end. He summoned his Golden Dragon Spear, and at the same time, a ball of dark golden light flew out of his body.


    He couldn''t participate in this battle, but his soul spirits certainly could!


    The ball of dark golden light rapidly expanded in mid-air, almost instantly transforming into a gargantuan creature that was several hundred meters tall.


    The creature spread open its huge dragon wings, allowing it to arrest its downward momentum and glide through the air before landing on the ground.


    It then released a burst of dark golden breath that encompassed a huge area up ahead, reducing all abyssal creatures in its path to streams of grey energy.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin had already raised his Golden Dragon Spear high up into the air, and the secondary tree of life injected a burst of exuberant life energy into his body, causing his Golden Dragon Spear to glow even more radiantly. A greenish-golden vortex quickly appeared in mid-air, releasing enormous suction force.


    Qilin Douluo Tong Yu remained by Tang Wulin''s side, and Holy Spirit Douluo Yali was overseeing the entire battlefield, while the two Limit Douluos of the Yuanen Family and Tang Wulin''s Tyrant Dragon soul spirit threw themselves into battle.


    In the distance, the soldiers of the Northern Legion were initially very alarmed to see the return of the abyssal army, but they quickly discovered that there was nothing for them to worry about.


    The Titan Giant Ape was one of the most fearsome assault system martial souls, and there were two Limit Douluos with this martial soul present.


    Their style of battle was extremely expansive and aggressive, making full use of their gravitational control and incredible strength to crush the oncoming abyssal creatures in the most straightforward and brutal fashion.


    The abyssal passageway had only been open for a short time, so none of the most powerful abyssal creatures had appeared yet. As such, the abyssal army was comprised almost entirely of low-level abyssal creatures, and there was no way they would be able to withstand the devastating attacks from the two Limit Douluos.


    Strings of sharp howls rang out incessantly in the distance, causing the frenzied abyssal creatures to hesitate and cower.


    However, they were simply unable to resist the overwhelming instinctive urge to claim the secondary tree of life. The lower the abyssal life form, the more irresistible the allure was.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he looked on at the massive amount of life energy being devoured by the greenish-golden vortex. This was a wonderful feeling.


    In particular, with the secondary tree of life here, all his Golden Dragon Spear had to do was act as an intermediary hub, transmitting the life energy directly into the secondary tree of life.


    As a result, the life energy didn''t even have to pass through his body, so he didn''t have to worry about oversaturation.


    Throughout this process, the secondary tree of life would periodically reciprocate minute traces of life energy to him. The amount of energy was very small, but it was extremely precious as this was planar level life energy! Due to the lofty caliber of this life energy, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that his own life force was rapidly evolving to a higher level, and his soul power was also being elevated very slowly but steadily.


    Tang Wulin was already a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, and it had always been a massive step to progress from rank 98 to rank 99, one that was extremely difficult.


    Starting from rank 95, each breakthrough was virtually akin to a bout of evolution, and there was a fundamental jump from rank 98 to 99; it was a process of leaving one''s mortal body behind.


    In the distant past, the Limit Douluo cultivation rank was a stepping stone to attaining godhood. Upon reaching the Limit Douluo level, all one required was a godseat to become a god, so it was clear that this was a cultivation rank of the utmost importance.


    It was an extremely arduous process to progress from a Titled Douluo to a Limit Douluo, and upon reaching rank 98, it was very difficult for Soul Masters to continue to elevate their soul power through conventional cultivation.


    At that level, one had to constantly immerse oneself in nature, triggering evolution in every facet of their being. This was a process of natural metamorphosis, and it was different for everyone, so it was impossible to guide someone once they reached that level.


    In order to make the final breakthrough, both learning ability and aptitude were indispensable, and even if one possessed enough of both qualities, they still required some degree of luck.


    Every single Limit Douluo had taken an extremely long time to make that final step, yet Tang Wulin was in a different situation from all other Limit Douluos of the past as he was already undergoing a process of evolution.


    This process was very slow, but it still set him apart from the average rank 98 Hyper Douluo, for whom progressing through conventional cultivation was entirely impossible.


    As he supplied life energy to the tree of life, the tree of life would reciprocate back to him life energy of the highest caliber, thereby helping him complete this evolutionary process. As long as there was sufficient life energy, it would even be possible for him to be elevated straight to the Limit Douluo level. Furthermore, his body would undergo flawless evolution, akin to A''Ruheng''s evolution to attain his Invincible Vajra Body!


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be amazed by this process. Was this what it felt like to not have to work for a reward? This was a wonderful feeling!


    However, was this really a reward that had been earned through no work? Of course not. Tang Wulin had expended an enormous amount of effort to get to this point. Essentially, he was finally reaping what he had sown through years upon years of hard work. Of course, the true harvest hadn''t yet arrived; the truly powerful beings of the abyss and the Holy Spirit Cult still hadn''t appeared.


    As the sharp screeching in the distance became louder and more insistent, the abyssal creatures finally began to retreat, but they did so extremely slowly, clearly still unwilling to give up on the secondary tree of life. In fact, the lowest abyssal life forms among them were still rushing ahead without any regard for their lives, only to become fertilizer for the tree of life.


    Unfortunately, the life energy being yielded by these low-level abyssal life forms was also of a very low caliber and quantity.

 Chapter 1760: Thunderous Cheers

    The battle raged for less than half an hour before the abyssal army retreated once again. During the course of the battle, countless low-tier abyssal creatures had been killed, and on this occasion, they had retreated to even further away, clearly in fear of being influenced by the aura of the secondary tree of life. This was the first victory that the human race had scored against the abyssal army, and the Northern Legion erupted into thunderous cheers, but Tang Wulin couldn''t bring himself to celebrate with them.


    It was clear that the abyssal creatures had already noticed the existence of the secondary tree of life, and it was undoubtedly going to become a primary target. It was difficult to say what types of powerful abyssal creatures were going to appear next, but thankfully, it didn''t take long for the first batch of reinforcements to arrive.


    A burst of rumbling akin to a chorus of thunderclaps rang out in the distance, following which an astonishing scene unfolded.


    Over 300 large soul cargo planes appeared in the sky, and one figure after another slowly parachuted down toward the Northern Legion''s territory.


    Soldiers weren''t the only things parachuting down from above; there were also mechas and many large soul tools.


    One had to realize that each of these large soul cargo planes could carry 100 tons of cargo, and that wasn''t even taking the mechas into account.


    The 300 cargo planes were carrying over 30,000 elite troops, two mecha corps, and a huge amount of precious resources.


    These were the reinforcements from the Central Legion.


    The Central Legion was the most powerful legion, and it answered directly to the federal parliament.


    After the resources and two elite mecha corps were mobilized, the first batch of reinforcements immediately set off, and they only arrived several hours after Tang Wulin and the others. This was already the best that the federation could do.


    Regardless of what differences the Dove Faction and Eagle Faction had in the past, neither of them dared to delay in the face of such a formidable common foe. The abyssal plane was an enemy to this entire plane, and now that all factions were united in this common cause, the federal parliament had become extremely efficient.


    As expected of an elite legion, as soon as the Central Legion''s reinforcements arrived, they immediately began installing all types of soul tools while working with the Northern Legion to reconstruct the defensive line.


    The two mecha corps also quickly arrived at the designated location to set up an initial defensive line.


    The secondary tree of life naturally drew the attention of the Central Legion, and after communicating with the Northern Legion, the commander of the reinforcements was led by Guo Zhenfeng to the mountaintop where Tang Wulin was situated.


    This was a young military official who appeared to only be in his thirties, but was already wearing major general epaulets. It was clear that he was another bright rising star in the military.


    A hint of surprise appeared in his eye as he caught sight of Tang Wulin, who was even younger than he was, but he quickly recomposed himself and extended a military salute.


    "The commander of the Central Legion''s third division, Shao Lifeng, pays his respects to the esteemed Sect Master Tang and Limit Douluos."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "There''s no need for such formalities, Commander Shao. Thank you for arriving in such a timely fashion; more reinforcements are on the way."


    Shao Lifeng nodded in response before taking a glance at the secondary tree of life, upon which a hint of shock flashed through his eyes.


    Both he and Guo Zhenfeng could sense the enormous life energy contained within the secondary tree of life, and even just basking in the aura of the secondary tree of life, both of them could feel their own fatigue and exhaustion rapidly fading away.


    This was a captivating feeling, and they wanted to stay here forever.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he raised his right hand, and two greenish-golden halos immediately descended upon the pair of commanders. Both of them were instantly struck by an indescribable sense of comfort, as if all of their pores had opened up at once. In particular, Guo Zhenfeng had just experienced a grueling battle, so the effect on him was much more pronounced.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo had healed his body, but this life energy was nurturing the very core of his being, instantly wiping away all of his exhaustion and making him feel as if he were 10 years younger! Even if he had to go through that battle again right at this moment, he wouldn''t have any issues.


    Tang Wulin could see the amazement and befuddlement in Guo Zhenfeng''s eyes, and he explained, "This is a projection of Shrek Academy''s tree of life. Truth be told, the reason the abyssal army turned around to attack us again was because they sensed the aura of this secondary tree of life. Abyssal creatures are obsessed with devouring life energy, and the life energy within the tree of life is of the planar level. In fact, it could even be said that the tree of life represents all life energy on the entire Douluo Plane.


    "Its existence presents irresistible allure to abyssal creatures, so I must implore the two of you to pay extra attention to defending this secondary tree of life when setting up the defensive line. With this secondary tree of life here, we''ll be able to save more troops and bolster the defensive line so long as we keep it safe."


    Shao Lifeng immediately replied, "That''s not an issue; I''ll get that arranged right away. Thank you for your assistance."


    Having experienced the benefits that the tree of life could provide firsthand, his heart was full of astonishment. He was also a Titled Douluo, and at this level, all Soul Masters yearned strongly for life energy as further progression in cultivation could only take place through fundamental evolutions in one''s life force. Without a sufficiently powerful body, how could one act as a vessel for more power?


    He could clearly sense that if he could constantly cultivate beside this secondary tree of life, then not only would his rate of cultivation be enhanced, even his lifespan would most likely be extended. This was a truly priceless treasure, and it was a reflection of Shrek Academy''s wealth as the number one academy on the continent.


    Shao Lifeng had already made up his mind that he was going to do everything in his power to establish good relations with Shrek Academy.


    He had naturally already identified everyone in Tang Wulin''s group, particularly Tang Wulin himself. This was someone who had defeated the Spirit Pagoda Chairman with a single attack! Even a veteran Limit Douluo like Qiangu Dongfeng was unable to withstand a single attack from him, yet he was still so young. In the future, he was definitely going to be one of the leading figures of the Soul Master world.


    Furthermore, he was accompanied by the Holy Spirit Douluo, who could play a more significant role than any other Limit Douluo on a battlefield.


    Other Limit Douluos would be destructive forces of nature on a battlefield, but the Holy Spirit Douluo could save millions of people! With her on the battlefield, it would be difficult for allies to die even if they wanted to!


    He had already heard from Guo Zhenfeng that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had sent five Limit Douluos here, and that if it weren''t for their timely arrival, the defensive line would''ve already crumbled. Even though the first batch of reinforcements had arrived, the overall power of the human army was still quite lackluster, so they would have to rely heavily upon Tang Wulin''s group to hold this defensive line. As such, it was important to establish good relations with them.


    As the two commanders departed, they were still quite reluctant to leave. The aura of the secondary tree of life was extremely appealing to them as well.


    The grey energy in the air had already been sucked away in its entirety, and Tang Wulin could clearly sense the yearning that the tree of life was transmitting to him through the secondary tree.


    The slain abyssal creatures had yielded quite a large quantity of life energy, but the caliber of life energy they could produce was still far inferior to that of higher abyssal life forms. Only the more powerful abyssal creatures could provide more enormous life energy of a higher caliber, which was what the tree of life needed the most.


    All Tang Wulin could do now was wait for more powerful abyssal creatures to appear. He didn''t dare to take any risks. Perhaps the top-tier abyssal creatures were still yet to emerge from the passageway, but the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult were definitely waiting in the shadows. Among them, the mysterious sovereign was the one who inspired the most fear.


    The two emperors of the Holy Spirit Cult were already quasigods; just how powerful would the sovereign be? Surely they had to be infinitely approaching godhood.

 Chapter 1761: Obscuring the Heavens

    The objective of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect wasn''t just to oppose the abyssal creatures, but also to seek revenge against the Holy Spirit Cult.


    The Spirit Pagoda was merely the accomplice; the Holy Spirit Cult was the true perpetrator. Only by wiping out the Holy Spirit Cult in its entirety could the souls of all of the lives lost during the bombing be truly put at peace.


    Currently, it was clear that the abyssal plane was being quite cautious. It was undoubtedly the case that they cherished this opportunity greatly, and even though they knew that Tang Wulin was nearby, the Holy Spirit Cult didn''t immediately launch an attack, either.


    They were waiting for more powerful abyssal creatures to appear, and the humans were also waiting, waiting for more reinforcements.


    Tang Wulin made a few calls in succession to communicate with several parties.


    Currently, the Northsea Legion had already reached a nearby region of the sea, and it would still take them about one more day to arrive.


    The Eastsea Legion was right behind, and it would take them roughly two more days to get here. The two legions were going to place the coastline in complete lockdown and attack the abyssal army from the sea.


    The Sea God Legion was further away in the south, and it had retreated due to the fact that the war against the other two continents had failed to go ahead, so it would take them even longer to arrive, roughly projected to be five more days.


    Some of the powerful beings of the Sea God Legion were already on their way here with the Central Legion''s forces, but they would still take around three more days to get here.


    The Southern Legion, Western Legion, and Northwest Legion were going to take even longer, and that was simply inevitable due to the geographic factors.


    All of the military forces on the entire continent had already been mobilized, and an order had been issued to restrict the abyssal army to the northernmost region of the continent at all costs.


    The peace lasted for about a day, and right before the Northsea Legion was about to arrive, the abyssal army unleashed its next attack.


    In the distance, the entire sky seemed to have turned a dim grey color. Of course, that wasn''t the natural color of the sky; it was the result of countless flying abyssal creatures obscuring the heavens like a series of dark clouds.


    On the ground below, even more abyssal creatures had appeared, some of which were gargantuan in stature.


    A type of abyssal creature that even Tang Wulin had never seen before was leading from the forefront.


    These abyssal creatures bore a beetle-like appearance, but they were countless times larger than the average beetle. The diameter of their bodies spanned in excess of 200 meters, and they were supported by 12 thick and long legs. Despite their enormous size, they weren''t moving slowly at all.


    There were around 30 to 40 of these beetle-like abyssal creatures, atop which stood other living beings, some of which were human. There was no doubt that those humans were powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    The one standing atop the giant beetle at the very forefront was a woman with an extremely alluring figure, which was encased in a suit of black armor. Only her eyes were visible through her mask, and her powerful aura was causing the air around her to warp and shimmer slightly.


    Atop each of the two beetles on either side of her stood a human, and the one on the left was none other than Infernal King Douluo Harosha.


    As for the one on the right, that was someone whom everyone from Shrek Academy held intense hatred for.


    A series of giant green skulls were revolving around his body, and he had a set of hideous facial features, the centerpieces of which were a pair of glowing green eyes. This was Ghost Emperor of the Holy Spirit Cult, and just like Harosha, he was also a quasigod.


    Tang Wulin stood on the mountaintop, appraising the abyssal army in the distance, and he was able to immediately identify the woman at the forefront.


    Back in the Blood God Legion, he had encountered this woman before, and according to the Heartless Douluo, she was the ruler of the abyssal plane''s ninth level, Black Sovereign!


    Only the rulers of the top 10 levels of the abyss were referred to as sovereigns, and all sovereigns were quasigod level beings.


    Seeing the Black Sovereign again, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that her aura was far more powerful than in the past. He knew that the Black Sovereign had been unable to display her full power as she had been restricted by the large number of arrays in the abyssal passageway, but on this occasion, she was here in her most powerful form.


    Not only was she extremely formidable herself, the Black Empress Race that she ruled over was also a force to be reckoned with.


    At this moment, he could see some Black Empresses in the abyssal army.


    Even though the abyssal army wasn''t advancing very quickly, Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with dread at the sight of it.


    In such a short time, even the Black Sovereign had already emerged from the abyssal passageway. What was going to follow? When was the Holy Lord going to appear?


    Tang Wulin knew that there was no one in this world capable of matching the Holy Lord in battle. Even back when he joined forces with Gu Yuena, they were only able to force back a single hand of the Holy Lord. If it weren''t for the fact that the Holy Lord was being restricted by the entire plane on that occasion, both of them would''ve most likely already perished in that battle.


    It was clear that the abyssal plane had been plotting this invasion for a long time, and it was impossible to tell how many abyssal rulers had already emerged.


    Just as the human race was doing everything in its power to stop the abyssal army, the abyssal army was also trying its best to break through the defensive line before further reinforcements arrived.


    There was only one Tang Wulin and only one Golden Dragon Spear; if the abyssal army were allowed to reach further inland, then widespread slaughter was sure to follow.


    At this point, the only forces opposing the abyssal army were less than 70,000 troops, five Limit Douluos, and the Northsea Legion out at sea.


    This wasn''t the time to be considering whether they could stop the abyssal army; the fact of the matter was that the abyssal army had to be stopped at all costs.


    Tang Wulin was standing in front of the secondary tree of life with the four Limit Douluos on either side of him. The soldiers of the Northern Legion and Central Legion were ready, and a battle was on the brink of erupting.


    "Tang Wulin!" A rather peculiar voice rang out in the distance. This seemed to be a female voice, but it sounded rather strange, like the voice of someone who wasn''t used to speaking this language.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, but he quickly identified the one who had spoken to be none other than the Black Sovereign.


    Even though they were separated by many kilometers, their eyes were still able to meet.


    The Black Sovereign''s eyes were like a pair of black vortexes that were able to devour one''s spirit, and she was appraising Tang Wulin intently.


    "Surrender and join us. The Holy Lord has agreed to give you one of the top three levels of the abyss and to make you the most powerful being in the abyss second only to him; you''ll even be made the enforcer of the abyss."


    Her gaze wandered to the Golden Dragon Spear in Tang Wulin''s hand as she spoke, and her eyes were filled with wariness.


    She had personally witnessed Tang Wulin permanently killing three abyssal emperors with that Golden Dragon Spear, causing three abyssal levels to collapse and shaking the very foundation of the abyss.


    This was the first time that something like this had happened since the formation of the abyssal plane, and that was why the Holy Lord had lashed out to kill Tang Wulin despite the massive price that had to be incurred.


    His failure had allowed Tang Wulin to develop into who he was now, and he posed by far the greatest threat to the abyssal plane.


    With the Golden Dragon Spear at his disposal, Tang Wulin was the perfect candidate to become the enforcer of the abyss.


    The Black Sovereign continued, "Once we devour the Douluo Continent, we''ll be able to create a Divine Realm, one that''s completely unique. In all of space, our Divine Realm will have more potential to grow rapidly than any other Divine Realm. In the future, our plane''s rate of growth will only continue to increase as we devour other planes, and in the end, we''re going to devour the entirety of space, making it a part of ourselves. This is the grand vision of the Holy Lord, and if you join us, you''ll bear witness to the fruition of this vision alongside all of us."

 Chapter 1762: Boosting Morale

    She seemed to be growing more and more fluent as she spoke, and by the end, it was almost as if she was delivering a rousing speech.


    A cold and disdainful smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    "Are you finished?" His voice wasn''t very loud, but it was audible across the entire battlefield.


    The Black Sovereign replied, "I am. This is your last chance. If you won''t become one of us, then you''ll be our enemy."


    Tang Wulin said, "Let''s stop wasting time with these pointless words. Come!"


    He had no intention of speaking with these abyssal creatures, and he wouldn''t be able to stall for much time anyway.


    All of a sudden, the powerful unyielding will that had crushed the spirit of the three Limit Douluos of the Qiangu Family instantly erupted forth.


    Even from many kilometers away, the abyssal army was still slowed down slightly by this fearsome aura. Tang Wulin raised his Golden Dragon Spear, and his eyes were filled with unmatched battle intent.


    He was being faced with many powerful abyssal creatures and formidable beings from the Holy Spirit Cult, but so what? If they wanted a battle, then that was what they were going to get!


    Influenced by the peerless battle intent radiating from Tang Wulin''s body, all of the troops of the Northern Legion and Central Legion erupted into deafening war cries.


    Even though Tang Wulin was only a single man, he had forced the entire abyssal army to falter with his aura alone, and such an incredible display of individual power was more than enough to set all these soldiers'' blood alight.


    In particular, the remaining soldiers of the Northern Legion were filled with intense hatred toward the abyssal plane, and they were raring to go so they could avenge their fallen comrades.


    In their eyes, Tang Wulin''s group was their saviors and the core of the resistance.


    "Come, come, come!" Tens of thousands of soldiers were chanting in unison, repeating what Tang Wulin had said earlier, and even Tang Wulin himself couldn''t help but be influenced by their hotblooded will.


    It was no wonder that the support of the military was able to allow the Eagle Faction to dominate the entire federal parliament. Even though the Douluo Continent had experienced such an extended period of peace, the battle intent of the soldiers still hadn''t dulled in the slightest. This was why they had the confidence to attack the other two continents.


    At this moment, morale was at an all-time high, and there was nothing more important than this.


    On the battlefield, everyone''s hearts had to be aligned for them to defeat the enemy.


    The Black Sovereign took a cold glance at Tang Wulin, and she didn''t say anything further as she swept a hand forward, upon which the abyssal army behind her flooded toward the defensive line.


    In the sky above, countless flying abyssal creatures had also begun their assault, led by the six-clawed bats and four-clawed bats.


    They were the fastest among the flying abyssal troops, and they were followed by a myriad of other flying abyssal creatures, a very large proportion of which even Tang Wulin had never seen before.


    Right at this moment, the giant beetles also rose up into the air, and all of them flew directly toward the mountaintop that Tang Wulin was situated on, led by the Black Sovereign and the two emperors of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    It was clear that their target was the secondary tree of life.


    Countless streaks of light instantly erupted forth, bombarding the oncoming flying abyssal creatures.


    In contrast with the Northern Legion''s equipment, the soul weapons that were brought by the Central Legion were far more advanced, and the soul lasers were able to automatically lock onto targets while ensuring that no target was ever repeatedly struck.


    Even the six-clawed bats and four-clawed bats couldn''t fly faster than the speed of light, and countless flying abyssal creatures were quickly reduced to grey mist.


    Tang Wulin had already raised his Golden Dragon Spear high up into the air to begin devouring the abyssal energy.


    Right at this moment, a massive black vortex appeared behind the Black Sovereign, and it was also drawing abyssal energy toward itself.


    The rate at which abyssal energy was being drawn toward the two sides was virtually identical, and the abyssal energy in the air was split up into two parts, one of which was drawn to the secondary tree of life, while the other was drawn back into the abyssal plane by the Black Sovereign.


    "You must die!" The Black Sovereign''s icy voice rang out within Tang Wulin''s ears, and in the same instant, a burst of enormous pressure surged directly toward him.


    "Look out!" Yuanen Zhentian immediately lashed out with a punch, and a resounding boom rang out, following which the Black Sovereign appeared hundreds of meters away.


    Among the five Limit Douluos on Tang Wulin''s side, Yuanen Zhentian was the only quasigod, but he hadn''t gained an advantage during that clash.


    The Black Sovereign''s forte lied in her ability to devour, and during that clash, Yuanen Zhentian could clearly sense that some of his soul power had been sucked away by his opponent. As such, he had emerged second-best from that clash.


    It was no wonder that such prideful characters like Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor were willing to stand on either side of her; she really was extremely formidable!


    Even though Tang Wulin''s group was comprised of five people, they were still under immense pressure in the face of the three quasigods.


    Under normal circumstances, they would be able to run away even if they couldn''t win, but under these circumstances, fleeing wasn''t an option unless the situation was absolutely dire. If this defensive line were to crumble, the human army would be defeated, and the abyssal army would be able to advance deep into the continent.


    A full-scale battle had already commenced, and the abyssal army was far more formidable than before. A decisive outcome wouldn''t be reached on the main battlefield in a short time, so the overall outcome of the battle most likely hinged on the result of the clash between Limit Douluos.


    A burst of unsettling cackling rang out, and even Tang Wulin and the Limit Douluos on his side were struck by a rush of dizziness; it was as if the surrounding area had already been transformed into a ghostly realm.


    A series of massive skulls appeared in all directions, blasting eerie green flames toward them.


    Ghost Emperor was the one who had orchestrated the Shrek City bombing. At the time, he had been able to directly oppose the Atlas Douluo, and that was a clear testament to his powers.


    Now that his power was being unleashed, it was as if the entire area had been transformed into a sea of blood and death.


    Meanwhile, Infernal Emperor concealed himself within the eerie green flames, vanishing on the spot.


    A ball of light that resembled a black sun rose up above the Black Sovereign, and the ball of light had a shimmering golden lining, but its center was like an all-devouring black hole. Enormous suction force instantly erupted forth, targeting both Tang Wulin''s group and the life energy of the secondary tree of life.


    Right at this moment, a captivating angelic song rang out, and holy light radiated from Yali''s body.


    The adverse effects brought on by Ghost Emperor''s powers were instantly alleviated, and the gentle white light formed a light barrier to keep all of the green flames at bay.


    As soon as the green flames came into contact with the holy light, they would instantly dissipate like snow and ice melting in the face of hot oil.


    A suit of pristine white battle armor appeared over Yali''s body; this was her four-word battle armor, Holy Missing Yun Ming.


    This suit of four-word battle armor had been tailor-made for Yali by Tang Wulin, while she was the one who had given it its name.


    No one resented Ghost Emperor more than she did as it was he who had permanently separated her from the man she so dearly loved.


    Under the enhancement of her four-word battle armor, her powerful holy aura was instantly able to keep all of the Black Sovereign and Ghost Emperor''s attacks at bay.


    Despite the fact that Yali wasn''t a quasigod, she was every bit as useful as a quasigod when it came to opposing the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Her holy powers naturally repressed all evil forces, and even the most basic of her healing abilities were formidable attacks against Evil Soul Masters. Back when Tang Wulin had been attacked by Infernal Emperor on the Star Luo Continent, it was she who had saved the day and forced Harosha into retreat.

 Chapter 1763: Yalis Display of Power

    It was at this moment that Tang Wulin also sprang into action. He took a step forward, and a look of intense focus appeared in his eyes as the light radiating from the Golden Dragon Spear became completely internalized, turning the spear a pure golden color, following which he gently thrust it toward the Black Sovereign.


    The Black Sovereign wore a grim expression as she looked on at Tang Wulin. Even though he wasn''t being enhanced by the Blood God Array, she could clearly sense that he had become far more formidable than that time. Even more worthy of concern was the fact that the spear he was wielding had also become more fearsome.


    The Black Sovereign''s body transitioned between illusion and reality, and she swept her right hand through the air, flicking her fingers toward the Golden Dragon Spear as if she were playing an imaginary zither.


    A series of black scales appeared over her hand as her fingers instantly transformed into sharp claws, and the Golden Dragon Spear was repelled with a crisp clang, but one of the scales on the Black Sovereign''s hand had turned completely white before falling off like a withered leaf.


    The Black Sovereign harrumphed coldly in response. She had already restricted the Golden Dragon Spear''s devouring power to the smallest possible area, but it was still a very uncomfortable sensation.


    She stomped a foot down onto the ground, and another massive black vortex appeared beneath her, tearing a rift into Yali''s protective barrier, following which the black light surged toward Tang Wulin in the form of countless giant black tendrils.


    A series of huge blue vines emerged around Tang Wulin to directly clash with these black tendrils, and a cold smile appeared on the Black Sovereign''s face upon seeing this as tremendous devouring force instantly erupted from the black tendrils.


    Tang Wulin could instantly feel his soul power and life force being rapidly engulfed by his opponent.


    Among the sovereigns of the abyss, the Black Sovereign was renowned for her devouring prowess, and this was why the Holy Lord had sent her to target Tang Wulin. With her present on the battlefield, it would become a lot more difficult for Tang Wulin to devour abyssal energy as he pleased.


    However, the Black Sovereign''s cold smile instantly congealed as arcs of rainbow lightning appeared over the surfaces of the Bluesilver Emperor vines, right as she began devouring Tang Wulin''s power.


    The lightning was also devoured by the black tendrils, and the Black Sovereign instantly let loose an agonized cry.


    Lightning then crackled all over her entire body as she rapidly fell back in retreat.


    All of this had taken place in the blink of an eye, and the Black Sovereign had been forced back into retreat before Ghost Emperor had even figured out what was happening.


    It was of course unbeknownst to the Black Sovereign that Tang Wulin had been adopting an extremely rigorous heavenly refinement regimen for the past few months, thereby allowing him to absorb a vast amount of elemental lightning.


    The lightning formed by elemental tribulations represented the wrath of the entire plane. It contained the purest planar power of the Douluo Continent, and it was imbued with the destructive explosiveness of lightning, making it the bane of all things evil.


    Furthermore, its power was being further enhanced by the Infernal Lightning Vine, and the Black Sovereign was completely caught off guard.


    In the meantime, everyone else had also sprung into action.


    Yali was unable to focus on maintaining her protective barrier any longer as the human army on the main battlefield was already on the verge of collapse.


    That''s right, an army of 70,000 elite troops supported by all types of advanced soul weapons was almost instantly crushed by the opposing army.


    The reason for this was very simple: there were far too many powerful beings in the opposing army.


    Aside from the three quasigods, all of the figures standing atop the other giant black beetles were also extremely formidable beings, most of whom were from the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Evil Soul Masters excelled in slaughter, and a large battlefield like this one was the perfect place for them to flourish.


    As for the giant beetles themselves, they didn''t seem to possess much offensive prowess, but their physical defenses were so strong that taking a direct explosion from a sixth-grade soul missile could only stop them in their tracks for a moment.


    These abyssal creatures were known as Guardian Longhorned Beetles, and they possessed the greatest defensive prowess among all abyssal creatures. These abyssal creatures resided on the 10th level of the abyss, and even though their offensive prowess was rather lackluster, their flight speed and defensive capabilities were astonishing.


    As such, even though they didn''t have a large population, they had always been one of the main types of combat units in the abyssal army, assigned with the task of protecting other powerful abyssal creatures.


    The leader of the Guardian Longhorned Beetle Race, also known as the Longhorned Beetle Lord, was the Holy Lord''s personal steed, and that was sufficient testament to the status that this race held in the abyssal plane.


    At this moment, the several dozens of Guardian Longhorned Beetles had formed a giant barricade in the sky, keeping the vast majority of enemy attacks at bay, thereby allowing the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult to wreak havoc as they pleased.


    The two heavenly monarchs that Tang Wulin had encountered in the past, Dark Bell and Dark Phoenix, were both present, and they were leading the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult on a rapid descent.


    Their objective wasn''t to kill as many people as possible; it was to destroy the large defensive soul tools.


    In the brief period of time that had elapsed during the clash between the Limit Douluos, the defensive soul tools on two mountaintops had already been destroyed.


    Without the support of a sufficient number of these large defensive soul tools, the human army''s defeat would be imminent.


    As such, as soon as Yali noticed what was happening, she immediately set her sights on the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult, for whom she was the perfect counter.


    Her eighth soul ring lit up, immediately followed by the ninth, and a holy song rang out around her.


    She slowly began to rise up into the air, and in that instant, even a powerful being of Ghost Emperor''s caliber was struck by a potent sense of foreboding.


    This is bad!


    Ghost Emperor immediately realized that something was wrong, and he wanted to stop Yali, but he was met by a pair of giant fists, namely Yuanen Zhentian''s Divine Cloudvortex Fists!


    Yuanen Yehui had invented the Divine Cloudvortex Fists, and following some guidance from Er Ming, it had become one of the Yuanen Family''s most powerful battle techniques. At this moment, it was being unleashed by the quasigod level Yuanen Zhentian!


    In terms of overall power, a rookie quasigod like him was still inferior to Ghost Emperor by a significant margin, but at the same time, there was no way that Ghost Emperor could defeat him in a short time.


    An angelic song rang out across the entire sky, and Yali wore a warm smile as she hovered in mid-air with her arms crossed over her chest.


    Pairs of pristine white wings slowly unfurled behind her, amounting to a total of six pairs.


    The 12 wings flapped gently as nine golden pillars of light projected down from above, making it appear as if nine suns had been conjured up in the sky.


    A figure appeared within each of the nine suns; they were a series of golden angels, each with six golden wings on their backs.


    As soon as they appeared, the time and space on the entire battlefield seemed to have warped slightly, causing everyone to look up in unison.


    For all of the humans on the battlefield, they felt as if their bodies and souls had been elevated to a whole new level. This was an indescribably wonderful feeling of intense comfort, and their powers were instantly enhanced by over 30%.


    Immediately thereafter, the nine golden angels flapped their wings in unison, causing countless specks of golden radiance to rain down from the heavens.


    The storm of golden light covered such a large area that it encompassed virtually the entire defensive line beneath it.


    These were Yali''s two most powerful soul skills: Archangel''s Dance and Angelic Blessing!


    Both of these soul skills were of the healing and assistance classes, and Yali had been able to use them as soon as she had become a Titled Douluo.


    However, even as a Titled Douluo, she was only able to use Angelic Blessing once a year, and she had to ignite her flame of life to do so.


    Even as a Limit Douluo, she was only able to use Angelic Blessing once a day, and that was a clear testament to just how powerful the soul skill was.

 Chapter 1764: Archangels Holy Spirit Dance

    The power of a soul skill had a positive relationship with the power of the Soul Master, but the same applied for the restrictions of a soul skill.


    All soul skills with prerequisites for usage were more powerful than normal soul skills, and the more restrictions and usage prerequisites a soul skill had, the more powerful it would be.


    Angelic Blessing was a perfect example of this, and even Archangel''s Dance was something that Yali could only use thrice a day.


    Hence, these were two soul skills that she very rarely used.


    The effect of Angelic Blessing was mass restoration, and it was the only mass restoration soul skill in the history of all Soul Masters.  [1]


    However, when used on Evil Soul Masters, this mass restoration ability turned into mass destruction.


    Archangel''s Dance and Angelic Blessing was the most powerful soul skill combination that Yali could unleash. The two didn''t form a soul fusion skill, but they did enhance one another, and in terms of their healing effect, they could virtually be considered to be a soul fusion skill.


    Healing system martial souls were different from all other martial souls as healing system soul skills always had the largest scope, as well as the most overall power.


    In any plane, there always existed an abstract higher power. Yali had saved countless people during her life, so she was no less acknowledged by the plane than Tang Wulin was.


    As such, whenever she was unleashing her healing system soul skills with all her might, she would receive the blessing of the plane and the acknowledgment of light elements.


    The Holy Angel clan also drew upon a similar type of power, but no one was more adept at borrowing the power of heaven and earth than healing system Soul Masters.


    As such, when these two soul skills were stacked on top of one another, they created Yali''s ultimate soul skill, Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance!


    The nine golden archangels were already beginning to dance in the sky, and the golden radiance that was filled with a holy aura rained down from the heavens.


    All humans received significant boosts from this radiance, and the effect was most pronounced on those who had sustained injuries. Regardless of how severe their injuries were, they were instantly healed and returned to prime condition.


    In contrast, the Evil Soul Masters on the battlefield were dealt a heavy blow.


    None of them had even heard of a holy aura of this caliber, let alone seen it in person. After all, the Holy Spirit Cult had already gone into hiding before Yali became a Limit Douluo, so she never had a chance to unleash this ultimate soul skill of hers. As such, it could be said that this was the first time that Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance was ever appearing on a battlefield.


    Under the backdrop of the giant angels and the golden radiance that had illuminated virtually the entire sky, the Holy Spirit Douluo bore the appearance of a true deity.


    An Evil Soul Master had just rushed into the territory of the human army and unleashed a soul skill that he had already prepared. A vast expanse of black mist was instantly released, transforming into a series of malicious ghosts that pounced toward the troops.


    Right at this moment, the golden radiance descended, and the Evil Soul Master felt as if he had become immersed in a pool of warm water. The black mist he had released instantly vanished, and much to his horror, he discovered that his body was also fading away like his soul skill had.


    There was no pain; his entire body was basked in warm golden light, but the fear in his heart had reached a peak.


    Imagine how terrifying it would be for someone to watch their own limbs dissolve away before their very eyes!


    He wasn''t even capable of crying out to assuage his horror. All he could do was open his mouth in a screaming motion, but he was unable to make a single sound as his body completely disappeared off the face of this world.


    The same fate was befalling the abyssal creatures, but they weren''t as heavily affected as the Evil Soul Masters.


    Holy power rejected and destroyed all evil. From the perspective of the human race, the destructive tendencies of the abyssal creatures made them evil, thereby making them rejected by holy power. However, this was fundamentally different from Evil Soul Masters, who relied on death and horror, and all types of negative emotions to cultivate.


    Even so, all of the abyssal creatures were almost slowed to a complete standstill, and countless flying abyssal creatures were plummeting out of the sky. Their bodies were also dissolving, but at a slightly slower rate. The bodies of the weakest abyssal creatures were rapidly fading, transforming into grey energy that was ushered toward the secondary tree of life by Yali''s holy aura.


    This was truly a miraculous sight!


    Everyone was looking on with astonishment in their eyes, and none of the powerful beings of the abyss could''ve imagined that a single human would be capable of all of this. On this battlefield, she was virtually a god! She had saved all of her allies while severely debilitating the opposing army, turning the tide of the entire battle on her own.


    Even the Evil Soul Masters of the same caliber as the four heavenly monarchs were currently desperately flying back in retreat, not daring to come into contact with the holy radiance.


    All of the Evil Soul Masters that had rushed onto the battlefield were debilitated to different degrees, and all those who hesitated, even only for a split second, all dissolved away under the golden light.


    Never did the Holy Spirit Cult think that Shrek Academy would prepare such a massive "present" for them, and they were even more taken aback by the fact that Yali was unveiling this trump card from the get-go.


    Yali truly resented these Evil Soul Masters, and the sight of them descending upon the battlefield completely ignited the flames of fury in her heart.


    Even Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor were severely affected by Archangel''s Holy Dance, and they could only forcibly keep its power at bay.


    The first to be affected was Infernal King Douluo Harosha. Under the impact of the holy radiance, the skulls released by Ghost Emperor slowly faded away, thereby exposing Harosha.


    As a result, he could only unleash a direct assault against Tang Wulin.


    Prior to coming here, they had already set their primary objective as killing Tang Wulin.


    However, Tang Wulin wasn''t fighting alone. Two figures appeared in Harosha''s path at the same time, namely Free Sky Douluo Yuanen Tiandang and Qilin Douluo Tong Yu.


    Both of them were demigods, and under normal circumstances, they would already be able to put up a good fight against Harosha.


    Furthermore, Harosha was debilitated by Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance, and he couldn''t even summon his Infernal Realm as doing so would spell instant death for all of the infernal creatures in that realm. As a result, he was forced onto the back foot by the pair of Limit Douluos.


    Meanwhile, Yali had been constantly chanting something in a murmur, and her Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance had already lasted for close to three minutes.


    Over a third of the abyssal creatures in the opposing army had been reduced to grey mist, and the Black Sovereign was unable to pay them any heed as she was also focusing on withstanding the holy radiance, so all of their energy was absorbed by the secondary tree of life.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had suffered even heavier losses, with over 200 Evil Soul Masters meeting their demise. All of the Evil Soul Masters deployed for this battle were at or above the Soul Emperor Level, and among those who had perished under the holy light, seven were Evil Soul Masters at the Titled Douluo level.


    This was the first time that the Holy Spirit Cult had been dealt such a severe blow since it had resurfaced, and all of that had been inflicted upon them by the Holy Spirit Douluo.


    Finally, Yali descended from the heavens before landing at the foot of the secondary tree of life, where she sat down with her legs crossed and immediately entered a meditative state while holy radiance continued to radiate from her body.


    Using her two most powerful soul skills in unison had instantly exhausted all of her soul power. However, her work was done, and currently, the Black Sovereign was being forced back in retreat by Tang Wulin.


    [1] [The term used here is revival, but this is most likely an exaggeration. I''m assuming the soul skill only heals all injuries and ailments, but doesn''t actually revive/resurrect people. Otherwise, that would be way too broken.]

 Chapter 1765: Retreat of the Abyssal Army

    Tang Wulin and Yali''s teamwork was seamless. He had only just wounded the Black Sovereign with his elemental tribulation lightning when Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance commenced, affording the Black Sovereign no opportunity for respite.


    The Black Sovereign had to combat Tang Wulin''s spear essence level Golden Dragon Spear while keeping the holy radiance at bay, thereby placing her firmly on the back foot.


    As a result, the Black Sovereign was feeling very frustrated. Never did she think that Tang Wulin would become so much more powerful since their last encounter. The power of the elemental tribulation had dealt far too heavy a blow upon her; it had even harmed the core of her being. Furthermore, the pressure from Tang Wulin was relentless, and she had thought that she would be able to count on the two quasigods from the Holy Spirit Cult, but they were so severely debilitated by the Holy Spirit Douluo that they weren''t even able to unleash half of their powers.


    What she had thought to be an absolute advantage had been turned into a complete disadvantage.


    Other abyssal creatures were constantly charging forward from either side of the Black Sovereign, helping her withstand Tang Wulin''s attacks, but they obviously weren''t able to pose any substantial impediment to him.


    All of a sudden, two balls of black light shot forth toward Tang Wulin, with each ball of light containing a Black Empress.


    Two black vortexes emerged, exerting suction force from either side of Tang Wulin in an attempt to slow him down.


    However, the vortexes had only just taken shape when they suddenly stopped revolving, then quickly crumbled away under the effect of Tang Wulin''s Time Reversal domain.


    Two beams of golden light erupted out of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, piercing through the chests of the two Black Empresses right as they were reeling from the effects of his spiritual domain.


    The bodies of the two Black Empresses immediately collapsed in on themselves, and the Golden Dragon Spear devoured their life energy before instantly reciprocating the energy to Tang Wulin.


    Taking advantage of this influx of energy, Tang Wulin unleashed his Fury of the Masses.


    His spear began to glow even more radiantly as countless spear projections shot forth in all directions before combining as one, instantly reaching the Black Sovereign.


    The Black Sovereign harrumphed coldly as a series of purple halos erupted out of her body. This was one of her abilities, Withering Death!  [1]


    Generally speaking, Withering Death could easily encompass an area with a diameter of around a kilometer, and within this area, all life force would be destroyed and devoured.


    However, the debilitating effect of Archangel''s Holy Dance significantly limited the scope of her Withering Death, and Withering Death at its normal concentration wouldn''t be able to stop Tang Wulin, so she was forced to further reduce the scope of the attack.


    More spear projections erupted forth, rapidly multiplying as they surged through the air.


    Each spear projection was imbued with tremendous power and blood essence fluctuations, guiding the holy radiance in the air as they pierced into the Withering Death.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin reached out with his left hand, and a small world seemed to have formed within the palm of his giant Golden Dragon Claw.


    This was his Dragon Emperor Break!


    The Black Sovereign could sense that the vortex she had conjured up was instantly torn to shreds, then reduced to nothingness by a burst of enormous suction force.


    What was that?


    Just as she was reeling from this abrupt turn of events, Tang Wulin''s entire body suddenly seemed to darken slightly, and in that instant, an overwhelming sense of peril welled up in the Black Sovereign''s heart.


    She detonated the black scales all over her body without any hesitation, and a black projection that was identical to her appeared up ahead. Meanwhile, she immediately disappeared into a door of light behind the projection.


    Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Annihilation was only just beginning to take shape, and the Black Sovereign had already forcibly torn open space to flee the battlefield. This was a teleportation ability that stemmed from the abyssal plane, but of course, a price had to be expended to create this substitute.


    As the projection was destroyed by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear, a fierce burst of life energy was instantly injected into the Golden Dragon Spear, then transmitted in its entirety to the secondary tree of life.


    A sharp screech instantly rang out across the entire battlefield, and the abyssal army that had been advancing like a tidal wave just a moment ago quickly began to retreat.


    Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor also unleashed a powerful soul skill each to hold off their opponents before fleeing into the distance.


    When facing quasigod level beings like them, it was very difficult to prevent them from getting away should they be determined to escape.


    Tang Wulin didn''t give chase. Instead, he merely raised his Golden Dragon Spear high above his head to absorb the remaining abyssal energy on the battlefield while looking into the distance with a grim expression.


    This battle had concluded just as quickly as it had begun, and the abyssal army had nothing to show for their efforts, while the Holy Spirit Cult had also suffered heavy losses.


    However, Tang Wulin knew that this was only the beginning. This initial attack had failed to achieve the desired outcome, so the next attack was only going to be even more ferocious.


    Right at this moment, a series of giant mushroom clouds exploded among the abyssal army, and the concentration of abyssal energy in the air instantly spiked significantly.


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow upon seeing this. He knew that the Northsea Legion was taking advantage of the abyssal army''s retreat to bombard them with a barrage of fierce attacks. It had to be said that the commander of the Northsea Legion was an exceptional strategist with impeccable timing.


    At the same time, the troops of the Northern Legion and Central Legion were also firing their long-distance weapons to take down as many abyssal creatures as possible.


    Within the span of just a few seconds, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had already become scorching hot.


    Due to the enormous influx of life energy, every single leaf on the secondary tree of life had become as bright and exuberant as jade. At the same time, the secondary tree of life was growing steadily, and once all of the abyssal energy on the battlefield was devoured, the overall mass of the tree had increased by close to a third.


    Yali''s entire body was basked in a layer of green light, and as she slowly opened her eyes, a hint of surprise appeared on her face.


    In the short span of less than 20 minutes, everything that she had expended earlier had been entirely recovered; she could even unleash her Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance again without any issues.


    Only now did she come to realize just how useful this secondary tree of life was; it was undoubtedly going to be the core of this battle.


    Night had already fallen by the time the abyssal army completely disappeared into the distance, and only now did everyone heave a sigh of relief.


    It was clear that the abyssal army was far more well-prepared for this second attack than the first one. Not only had the Black Sovereign descended upon this plane, she was accompanied by many of the Holy Spirit Cult''s powerful beings, including the two emperors, yet they had still scurried away with their tails between their legs.


    While it was true that the abyssal army had been too impatient and rash in their attack, Tang Wulin and the others could certainly be proud of themselves for forcing back the abyssal army, led by a trio of quasigods.


    The key to their victory had been Yali''s Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance. This combination soul skill had encompassed virtually the entire battlefield, dealing a heavy blow to the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal army.


    In addition to that, the devouring ability of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had ensured that a large proportion of the slain abyssal creatures were permanently dead.


    "Are you alright, Mother?" Tang Wulin asked as he stood beside the secondary tree of life.


    The secondary tree of life was of the utmost importance to the human army, so the five Limit Douluos were constantly stationed around it in case of sneak attacks from the enemy.


    Yali smiled and nodded in response. "This secondary tree of life is truly incredible. It bestowed upon me an enormous amount of life energy, allowing me to unleash my soul skills without qualms. Right now, I can unleash Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance again without any problems, but under normal circumstances, it would''ve taken me at least three days to recover. It''s a pity that we don''t have enough firepower on our side. Otherwise, we would''ve been able to put an end to those Evil Soul Masters once and for all."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "Indeed, it''s quite a pity that we don''t have enough troops to give chase."


    Yali said with a serious expression, "Don''t get complacent; we have to be careful not to grow careless just because we won this battle. 6,000 years ago, countless powerful beings of that generation had joined forces to stop the abyssal plane. In the end, a majority of them perished, and even then, they were only just barely able to seal the abyssal passageway."


    [1] [The term used here is the exact same as Harosha''s eighth soul skill, Withering Death. I''m not sure why this is the case; perhaps the author forgot he had already assigned this name to Harosha''s eighth soul skill, or perhaps this was a conscious decision.]

 Chapter 1766: Will the Holy Lord Be Able to Descend?

    "Compared to back then, the abyssal plane is even more developed, so it''ll most likely be even more difficult to combat it. Currently, we''re not sure how many abyssal sovereigns are able to descend onto our Douluo Continent. Those are all quasigods, and the further ahead they''re ranked, the more powerful they''ll be. Even the Black Sovereign is only ranked ninth; I recall the commander of the abyssal army 6,000 years ago was the third-ranked abyssal sovereign, who was so powerful that even three quasigods on our side combined found it difficult to repress them.


    "In the end, two of the quasigods had to be sacrificed just to severely wound them. Last time, the Holy Lord had already lashed out over at the Blood God Legion, and my greatest concern is whether he''ll be able to truly descend into our plane. If that happens, it''ll truly be a terrible disaster."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Surely the possibility of that is very low. Prior to setting off, I specifically asked the tree of life about this, and the answer it gave me was quite vague, but it sounded like it wouldn''t be an easy task for the Holy Lord to descend onto our plane."


    Yali was rather surprised to hear this. "What did the tree of life say?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "The tree of life said that all planes had their own laws, which strongly rejected other planes. Unless one plane is already far superior to another, the ruler of that former plane definitely won''t be able to descend into the latter because they''ll encounter extremely fierce resistance. Essentially, they''ll be contending with the entirety of our plane. Unless..."


    Tang Wulin paused here momentarily before continuing, "Unless there''s a being of a similar caliber to that planar ruler willing to sacrifice themselves as a vessel; only then will there be a possibility. The abyssal plane shouldn''t be more powerful than our plane; it''s just that they''re more adept at devouring others, so they''ll be more difficult for us to combat. Furthermore, the Holy Lord may be powerful, but he''s not necessarily more powerful than our Douluo Continent''s planar ruler; it''s just that our planar ruler has no concrete form."


    Yali nodded in response. "I hope that''s all true. In that case, it really is next to impossible for the Holy Lord to descend onto our plane. He is a true god, and there''s no godly being currently on our Douluo Continent. Even if one appears, there''s no way they''ll be willing to sacrifice themselves as a vessel for the Holy Lord. If one has already attained godhood, there''ll be no reason for them to work with the abyssal plane, so even the Holy Spirit Cult wouldn''t do something like that."


    Tang Wulin said, "If the Holy Spirit Cult had a god among their ranks, they would''ve most likely already conquered the entire continent. Take some rest, Mother; I''ll look after things here."


    "You can both go and have some rest; I''ll always be here." Tong Yu''s voice rang out as he arrived beside Tang Wulin and Yali.


    Ever since arriving on the Douluo Continent, Tong Yu was still somewhat unaccustomed to everything here. He had already been a Limit Douluo for quite some time, and he had gradually cultivated to the demigod level.


    Back when he first arrived on the Douluo Continent, he had thought that there would most likely be very few other people also at the demigod level, even on the Douluo Continent.


    However, after finding Tang Wulin and settling down in Shrek Academy, he gradually came to discover just how much more powerful the Douluo Continent was compared with the Star Luo Continent.


    He had already been extremely stunned to meet Long Yeyue and Yali, but after that came the two Limit Douluos of the Yuanen Family, then the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect. By the time he met Body Douluo A''Ruheng, he already felt numb to it all.


    Just Shrek Academy alone had over five Limit Douluos, two of which were quasigods!


    One had to realize that he and En Ci were the only two Limit Douluos on the entire Star Luo Continent; the difference in power was simply astounding.


    However, the biggest surprise for him had come on this day.


    Upon witnessing the three quasigods that were leading the abyssal army, Tong Yu had already prepared himself to sacrifice his own life to save Tang Wulin at any moment should it be required.


    Not only were there three quasigods, two of them were Evil Soul Masters, and under normal circumstances, Evil Soul Masters were more powerful than normal Soul Masters of the same cultivation rank.


    There were five Limit Douluos among the allied forces, but Tang Wulin still wasn''t a true Limit Douluo, and there was only one person among them who had only recently reached the quasigod level.


    In Tong Yu''s eyes, Yali''s most prominent attribute had always been her beauty, and he never thought that she would possess much combat prowess.


    Of course, this was also his first time ever seeing a healing system Limit Douluo. He knew that her healing abilities would have a significant effect on the entire battlefield, but he was convinced that she wouldn''t be of much use in battle against the most powerful beings of the opposing army.


    However, only after Yali unleashed her Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance did he come to realize just how wrong he had been.


    To the opposing army, her Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance was like an omnipotent curse, severely debilitating the three enemy quasigods and turning the entire battlefield on its head. In contrast, all of the allies had been enhanced to different degrees, and he had actually benefited the most due to his five-elemental powers.


    The five elements stemmed directly from nature, and under the influence of Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance, all of the elements had become extremely active, vigorously vanquishing evil and rejecting the enemy. Essentially, she had managed to amplify the power of the planar ruler. Was this something that a Soul Master was supposed to be capable of? Surely even a god wouldn''t have been able to do much better in her shoes!


    As such, even now, Tong Yu was still struggling to process what he had just witnessed. The power that Yali had displayed on this day was definitely superior to that of any quasigod, and it was difficult to believe that this kindhearted and constantly smiling woman could be capable of making such a massive difference.


    In the wake of what had just transpired, he was forced to see Yali through new eyes, and he had developed a genuine sense of admiration toward her.


    "Alright, we''ll be counting on you then." Tang Wulin made no attempt to refuse Tong Yu''s offer.


    Even now, he was still feeling rather strange about Tong Yu, and to be honest, he didn''t really know how to face him. As soon as Tong Yu had arrived at Shrek Academy, he immediately expressed a willingness to give his own life at any moment to atone for his mistakes.


    However, who could actually say who was right or wrong under those circumstances?


    Even though Tang Wulin had given Tong Yu a place to stay in the academy, he still struggled to truly accept Tong Yu as an ally. All he wanted now was to reunite with his birth parents, as well as his foster parents; Tang Ziran had to be the one to deliver the final verdict on Tong Yu.


    A peaceful night passed by.


    The abyssal army had retreated in a very complete manner. At the very least, there was no trace of them to be seen from the defensive line.


    News had been delivered by the Northsea Legion overnight, stating that the construction of defensive infrastructure out at sea was complete, so they were ready to deal with any changes at any time.


    The arrival of the Northsea Legion finally allowed the Northern Legion to heave a sigh of relief. At the very least, the current defensive line seemed to be sufficiently fortified.


    The second batch of reinforcements finally arrived, and it came from the Central Legion. As expected of the most elite legion in the federation; all of the troops were delivered in a mechanized process, and a large number of soul trains had been utilized. In the short span of just two days, most of the Central Legion''s troops had appeared on the border of the continent''s northernmost region, and they had taken over the defensive line.


    To no one''s surprise, Guo Zhenfeng was rewarded for his efforts in the initial defense. Even though the Northern Legion had suffered heavy losses, losing more of its troops during the course of the initial resistance, the legion had managed to restrict the enemy from reaching further inland, and that was already a massively impressive feat.


    The army headquarters had promised that it would replenish troops for the Northern Legion as quickly as possible after the war, and that it definitely wouldn''t be revoking the Northern Legion as a military unit. As for the specific reward for Guo Zhenfeng himself, that would have to be decided after the battle.


    With the arrival of the Central Legion''s forces came another mysterious branch of the military. They set up camp on the mountaintop where the secondary tree of life was situated, and a small barracks quickly took shape around the secondary tree of life.

 Chapter 1767: Commander of the Central Legion

    The federal parliament had already viewed footage of the latest battle, and all of the high-ranking officials were stunned by Yali''s Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance.


    Shrek Academy had once again appeared in everyone''s line of sight as a very positive figure.


    Their timely arrival had saved the Northern Legion, and it was no exaggeration to say that they were the biggest heroes in this resistance effort outside of the Northern Legion.


    Thus, following the arrival of the Central Legion''s forces, a representative was immediately sent to visit Tang Wulin.


    Currently, Tang Wulin was sitting in the temporary barracks across from a true powerhouse of the military. In the entire Douluo Federation, he was one of very few figures whose status wasn''t inferior to Chen Xinjie.


    "Greetings, General Yu," Tang Wulin greeted with a smile.


    The person seated across from him was an elderly general; this man was Yu Guanzhi, a Limit Douluo and the commander-in-chief of the Central Legion, one of the three most powerful figures in the military.


    Even the Central Legion was heavily affected by his family, and he was another vice-hall master of the Battle God Hall.


    In the Battle God Hall, his status was second only to Chen Xinjie, and he was equal in standing to Guan Yue. However, in the military, his status was equal to that of Chen Xinjie, and even their level of influence was very comparable.


    He was one of the leading representatives of the Eagle Faction and one of the renowned generals of the Eagle Faction.


    Yu Guanzhi''s appearance was quite plain, notable only for his hooked nose. Despite the fact that he was already over 80 years of age, his eyes were still sharp and bright.


    Strictly speaking, he was a generation below Chen Xinjie, but his status wasn''t inferior to Chen Xinjie at all. In private, he would even refer to Chen Xinjie as Senior Disciple Brother as Chen Xinjie''s father was Yu Guanzhi''s teacher.


    The power balance in the military was very convoluted and constantly changing, but the Yu Family was the most powerful family in the military; that had remained true for the past 1,000 years.


    As such, even Chen Xinjie had to afford Yu Guanzhi a certain level of respect.


    Due to the Eternal Heaven incident, Chen Xinjie wasn''t assigned to be the commander-in-chief of the northern front. Instead, the duty had fallen to none other than Yu Guanzhi.


    It was no exaggeration to say that with Chen Xinjie''s abrupt resignation, Yu Guanzhi had become the leading figure in the military.


    This was the first time Tang Wulin had met Yu Guanzhi, and it was also the first time Yu Guanzhi had ever seen Tang Wulin up close.


    Regardless of what biases he held toward Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, Yu Guanzhi couldn''t help but feel a sense of genuine appreciation toward Tang Wulin.


    In the younger generation of the Yu Family or even the entire military, there was no other talent like Tang Wulin.


    He was familiar with all of the data regarding Tang Wulin that the military had on file, so he knew that this young man was only in his twenties.


    At this age, the vast majority of Soul Masters were still in a development stage, but he was already the leader of two superpower organizations; he was truly a once-in-a-generation talent.


    Even more importantly, Tang Wulin had left him with an exceptional first impression.


    It was often the case that young people who climbed to the top very early were inevitably arrogant to varying degrees, but he didn''t sense that from Tang Wulin at all. All he could sense from Tang Wulin was placid tranquility and restraint. This level of restraint was very rare even among middle-aged Titled Douluos, let alone someone of Tang Wulin''s age.


    "I''ve heard much about you from my senior disciple brother. Now that I''m meeting you in person, I can see that even his high praise has failed to do you justice," Yu Guanzhi said with a smile.


    "You''re far too kind, General Yu," Tang Wulin replied.


    Yu Guanzhi continued, "I''m a soldier, so my personality is quite straightforward; forgive me for skipping the pleasantries and cutting straight to the chase. Prior to coming here, I reviewed all of the information that we had on abyssal creatures, including some confidential files from the Blood God Legion detailing their experiences in combating the abyssal plane, so I''ve developed a rudimentary understanding of these abyssal creatures. According to those files, it seems that the troublesome thing about these abyssal creatures is that they''re unkillable. However, you just so happen to possess a divine tool that can overcome this problem, is that correct?"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "That''s right."


    Yu Guanzhi continued, "In that case, you are integral to our resistance against the abyssal plane. I''ve viewed the footage of the recently concluded battle, and on behalf of the military, I thank Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect for your timely reinforcement, which has prevented the northern front from collapsing. Both you and that tree of life have played vital roles in holding down the defensive line."


    Tang Wulin replied, "As citizens of the Douluo Continent, we''ve only done what''s to be expected of us. The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy will continue to work tirelessly to contribute to this resistance effort to the best of our abilities."


    A hint of hesitation appeared in Yu Guanzhi''s eyes upon hearing this, and Tang Wulin prompted, "If you have something to say, then please go ahead, General Yu."


    Yu Guanzhi nodded in response. "Prior to coming here, I also viewed the records of our last battle against the abyssal plane 6,000 years ago, and that''s given me a better idea of just how fearsome these abyssal creatures are. Even though soul technology has made huge strides, and we''re fully confident in our ability to stop the abyssal army, we must admit that you and the tree of life are vital to this resistance effort. Hence, as the commander-in-chief of the northern front, I have a request for you."


    Tang Wulin prompted, "Go ahead."


    Yu Guanzhi didn''t hesitate on this occasion. "I hope to be the absolute leader with absolute authority during this battle. Only by following my orders unconditionally will the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy be able to play the biggest role it possibly can in this battle."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    It had to be said that Yu Guanzhi was making a very reasonable request. After all, it was very important that there were no conflicting voices among the top brass during battles. Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were very powerful organizations, but there were only very few people from the two organizations directly participating in this battle.


    After a brief moment of contemplation, Tang Wulin replied, "General Yu, while it''s true that I can represent Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, you should be aware that both organizations are quite loose and non-binding in its policies, so it would be unreasonable to expect us to follow orders unconditionally as soldiers would. Having said that, I can assure you that as long as your instructions are reasonable, we''ll be sure to execute them with immediate effect."


    He clearly couldn''t completely agree to Yu Guanzhi''s request. After all, what if he instructed those from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect to rush to their deaths?


    Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had always had a rocky relationship with the Eagle Faction. Even now, Tang Wulin still didn''t know how the Spirit Pagoda had obtained those two godslayer missiles, but one thing was for sure: some of the higher-ups of the Eagle Faction had definitely been involved.


    Now that the Spirit Pagoda had been crushed by Shrek Academy, there was always the possibility that the Eagle Faction would work with the Spirit Pagoda to try and weaken Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect during this battle.


    Yu Guanzhi''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he was clearly rather displeased with this answer. "In that case, you put me in a rather difficult position, Sect Master Tang. Changes could arise rapidly on a battlefield, and even the slightest hesitation could lead to ruin."


    Tang Wulin replied in a calm manner, "Rest assured, General Yu. During the past 20,000 years, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect have always stood at the very forefront whenever our continent has come under threat."


    A meaningful look appeared in Yu Guanzhi''s eyes as he said, "That may be true, but Shrek Academy has never sided with the government, so for what reason is it participating in this battle?"


    Tang Wulin''s eyes lit up with conviction as he replied, "We fight for justice, for fairness, and for the general public. Shrek Academy doesn''t belong to anyone, only the people."


    "Is that why Shrek Academy seized Eternal Heaven to threaten the federation, thereby swaying the decisions of the federal parliament?" Yu Guanzhi accused in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "I''m not sure what you mean by that, General Yu; what is Eternal Heaven?"


    A cold smile appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face. "Let''s not play dumb here, Sect Master Tang; are you saying that Eternal Heaven isn''t in the possession of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect?" Yu Guanzhi harbored very strong discontent toward the Eternal Heaven incident, and he was also extremely critical of Chen Xinjie for the role he had played in the matter.

 Chapter 1768: Clash, Negotiation

    If it weren''t for the fact that Chen Xinjie held significant sway in the military and was a quasigod with close ties with the Yu Family, he would''ve already proposed to impeach Chen Xinjie.


    Tang Wulin''s expression also fell slightly upon hearing this.


    "General Yu, I had thought that you''d invited me here to discuss how to oppose the abyssal army; are you here just to raise accusations and doubts against us instead?"


    Yu Guanzhi''s expression returned to normal as he shook his head in response. "Some things need to be controlled by the federation. After all, the federal government is the main governing force on this continent."


    Tang Wulin replied, "If the federation were fair and just, then of course that wouldn''t be an issue, but is that the case? If so, how did those two godslayer missiles fall onto Shrek City? Why is it that after the bombing, the perpetrators weren''t held accountable at all for their heinous crimes? Just as you said, let''s not play dumb here. Even if Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect have overstepped their boundaries, it''s only for self-preservation; all those who have hurt us must pay the price."


    Yu Guanzhi looked directly at Tang Wulin and didn''t say anything for a long while.


    This young man held himself in a dignified manner that was neither haughty nor humble, and he was holding his ground even against an established general; as expected of the leader of the two super organizations.


    "Alright, then let''s get back on topic. Sect Master Tang, are you willing to return Eternal Heaven to the federation? If so, the federation is willing to offer some things in exchange. I can also tell you that if the federation recovers Eternal Heaven, there''s a very good chance that it''ll be directly used in this battle against the abyssal plane."


    Tang Wulin raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "May I ask what the federation is willing to offer in exchange?"


    Yu Guanzhi took a deep breath before replying, "The federation is willing to give Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect 10 parliamentary seats, but only under the condition that Shrek Academy continues to maintain a stance of neutrality. Furthermore, the federation is willing to shoulder all costs associated with Shrek City''s reconstruction, and it''s also willing to give approval to Shrek Academy to establish its own private army, which will be officially recognized as a legion. On an official basis, the private army will belong to the federation, but in reality, it answers only to Shrek City."


    Even Tang Wulin was very taken aback to hear this.


    The costs associated with reconstructing Shrek City amounted to an astronomical sum, and 10 parliamentary seats was also a significant number, considering the entire federal parliament only had just over 100 seats.


    Essentially, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were being offered control of around 10% of the federal parliament. Even at its very peak, the Spirit Pagoda had never officially controlled so many parliamentary seats!


    However, all of this paled in significance to the fact that the federation was willing to allow Shrek Academy to establish its own private army, one that would officially be recognized as a legion by the federation.


    This was extremely significant as it was equivalent to allowing Shrek City to become an autonomous region that wasn''t under the jurisdiction of the federation.


    Ever since the founding of the Douluo Federation, such a situation had never occurred. With the wealth of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, if they were to put together a private army, it would definitely be an extremely formidable force that could be armed to the teeth in a very short time. To put it in simpler terms, it would definitely have potential to become the most powerful legion on the entire continent!


    For a federation to allow such a military unit to exist in the territory that it held jurisdiction over was downright incredible.


    When Yu Guanzhi stated that he wanted to recover Eternal Heaven, Tang Wulin was struck by the impression that he could be one of the Eagle Faction higher-ups supporting the Spirit Pagoda, but after hearing these conditions, Tang Wulin realized that he was mistaken.


    If he were a supporter of the Spirit Pagoda, he wouldn''t be asking for Eternal Heaven right now as he knew that there was no way Tang Wulin would hand it over.


    It was precisely because he wasn''t a supporter of the Spirit Pagoda that he was proposing this exchange in such an open manner. At this point, Tang Wulin had already deduced that Yu Guanzhi was most likely purely a representative of the federation that didn''t sway toward any power.


    The conditions proposed were extremely alluring, but...


    "My apologies, General Yu, but Shrek Academy is only an academy; we have no intention of becoming an autonomous region, nor do we have any need for a private army," Tang Wulin refused without any hesitation, not because the conditions weren''t favorable enough, but because they were too favorable.


    Shrek City had always been a neutral entity, but could that neutrality be maintained once it organized a private army? What if one of the future generations of Shrek Academy''s leaders had ambitions that matched those of the Qiangu Family?


    Furthermore, the federation was allowing Shrek Academy to organize a private army because of its power, but what if Shrek Academy were to fall into decline one day? If that were to happen, the private army could very well become an excuse for the federation to get rid of Shrek Academy once and for all.


    Shrek Academy was an academy, and it definitely didn''t require a private army; that was something that Tang Wulin was absolutely sure of.


    Despite being rejected, Yu Guanzhi''s expression relaxed slightly upon hearing this. One of his objectives for meeting with Tang Wulin was to feel out Tang Wulin''s motives, as well as the stance being adopted by Shrek Academy.


    Truth be told, Tang Wulin had stunned the entire federation by openly declaring war on the Spirit Pagoda and severely wounding Qiangu Dongfeng with a single attack.


    No one could''ve anticipated that the mighty Spirit Pagoda would be so significantly inferior to the Shrek Academy in terms of high-end power.


    The number of Limit Douluos in Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect combined numbered almost in double figures, and that was something that had never happened in the entire history of the federation.


    As such, it had become a major cause for concern for the federation.


    Such a powerful force was already significant enough to affect the jurisdiction of the federation.


    Thus, Yu Guanzhi had come here with the objective of determining Tang Wulin''s mindset. If Shrek Academy really wanted to organize a private army, then he would propose to destroy Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect in the future at all costs.


    Otherwise, it could quite possibly develop into an organization like the Soul Hall, in which case the federation''s rule would come under major threat.


    Tang Wulin''s reply was very fast and decisive, so it was clear that he had no such ambitions, and that put Yu Guanzhi''s heart completely at ease; even his expression had softened a little.


    "Then may I ask what Shrek Academy would like in exchange for Eternal Heaven? As long as the federation is capable of satisfying your conditions, we''ll be willing to consider it."


    Tang Wulin could see the shift in Yu Guanzhi''s demeanor, and he realized that Yu Guanzhi had most likely been testing him with that offer. "All Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect want is a peaceful continent. The federation can rest assured; once we exact our revenge on certain powers that have wronged us in the past, Shrek Academy will return to being an academy. As long as no one tries to hurt us, we won''t retaliate, and when the federation requires our services, Shrek Academy will always be willing to fight for the peace and safety of the federation."


    A smile appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face upon hearing this. "Sect Master Tang, you''re still a very young man, but you''re much more of a wily old fox than I had imagined! I can''t pick out any holes in your words! As I said, I''m a soldier, so I''m not a fan of talking in circles. I came here with two objectives, the first of which is to recover Eternal Heaven to be used as the main trump card against the abyssal plane, and the second is to borrow that divine weapon of yours for the federation''s use. After all, that divine weapon holds extreme significance for this battle, and it must be kept safe no matter what.


    "You can state any condition you like; the federation will do everything in its power to satisfy you."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. Not only was he asking for Eternal Heaven, he was targeting the Golden Dragon Spear as well!


    "General Yu, I think we should be discussing how to combat the abyssal army, rather than..."


    Yu Guanzhi interjected with a serious expression, "I''m completely serious about this. If you agree to lend us your divine weapon, the federation can offer you at least three divine tools as a pledge, and their total value will definitely not be lower than your divine weapon. As long as it''s something the federation is able to offer, it''s yours."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he replied, "I know you''re serious about this, but I can''t give you Eternal Heaven. When it''s needed, our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy will be sure to deploy the missile without any hesitation. As for my divine weapon, even if I give it to you, you won''t be able to take it."


    A faint smile appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face. "Is that so? Then how about we make a bet? If I can take the weapon, then you''ll agree to the exchange, how about that?"

 Chapter 1769: Tribute of Life

    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Didn''t you say you only wanted to borrow my divine weapon?"


    Yu Guanzhi replied, "The federation is open to an exchange as well."


    "What if you can''t take it?" Tang Wulin asked.


    A faint smile appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face as he replied, "If I can''t take it, then I won''t mention this matter again. On top of that, the Central Legion will shoulder the duty of protecting the Shrek Academy and Tang Sect encampment, and I''ll discuss all decisions made on this battlefield with you."


    The top brass in the military really are all wily old foxes!


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think to himself. Initially, Yu Guanzhi had been very stern and unyielding, but his approach had gradually shifted to become more gentle. He was constantly testing and probing Tang Wulin, switching between his stern and benevolent facades where suitable.


    As expected of one of the leading representatives of the Eagle Faction!


    "Alright, then you can give it a try."


    Tang Wulin wasn''t interested in taking advantage of this battle against the abyssal plane to extort the federation for benefits. That was the type of behavior that both he and the two organizations that he represented would frown upon.


    All he wanted was for everyone to unite as one and face this common enemy together.


    Tang Wulin rose to his feet as he spoke, and a flash of golden light appeared in his hand, following which the Golden Dragon Spear emerged with faint rainbow light radiating from its surface.


    Yu Guanzhi also rose to his feet and began to carefully appraise the divine weapon. Instead of being in a hurry to act, he was making a thorough visual assessment first.


    The two ends of the spear were tapered to sharp points, while the central shaft was around as thick as a child''s arm, and the entirety of the spear was covered in golden dragon patterns. There was bright light radiating from the spear; everything seemed to be very restrained, but the faint rainbow sheen that the spear was giving off was very captivating to behold.


    "What an impressive divine weapon!" Yu Guanzhi couldn''t help but praise.


    Tang Wulin smiled and made an inviting hand gesture.


    Yu Guanzhi turned toward him, and asked, "If I''m not mistaken in my assessment, you''ve already forged a spiritual connection with this divine weapon, right?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I succeeded by a stroke of fortune not long ago."


    Yu Guanzhi chuckled, "You''re far too modest, Sect Master Tang; as expected of a once-in-a-generation talent like yourself. Looks like you''re going to become the next Limit Douluo in the near future, perhaps even the second Atlas Douluo."


    He was already able to severely wound Qiangu Dongfeng as a rank 98 Hyper Douluo; once he became a Limit Douluo, he would most likely immediately cross into the realm of quasigods.


    If it weren''t for the sudden emergence of the abyssal army, the Spirit Pagoda would''ve most likely already been completely crushed by Shrek Academy.


    Yu Guanzhi raised his right hand, and said, "Please pardon my intrusion."


    A layer of azure light suddenly appeared over his right hand as he spoke, and as soon as this light emerged, the entire room was filled with a powerful aura of life.


    Tang Wulin''s pupils abruptly contracted slightly upon sensing this. This was life energy of an extremely high level of purity! In terms of its concentration and degree of purity, it could even compare with the life energy of the tree of life!


    Right at this moment, a green crystalline glove that looked as if it had been carved out of jade appeared over Yu Guanzhi''s hand.


    This wasn''t a piece of battle armor; the incredibly abundant life energy that it was releasing struck even Tang Wulin with a noticeable sense of comfort.


    One had to realize that his life force was even more powerful than that of a quasigod, so for him to be affected in this way indicated that this glove was definitely also a divine tool.


    The green light appeared to be almost substantial in form, and as soon as the glove was released, Yu Guanzhi''s physical appearance seemed to have suddenly become a lot more youthful.


    He reached out with his right hand without any hesitation to grab onto the Golden Dragon Spear''s shaft, and the spear immediately flashed with golden light.


    The green glove also began to glow brighter in response, releasing an aura of life energy that was 10 times as potent as it had been before.


    The green light instantly spread over the entire Golden Dragon Spear, and the Golden Dragon Spear''s aura completely vanished as it sat obediently in Yu Guanzhi''s grasp.


    Yu Guanzhi immediately burst into triumphant laughter. "This is truly an exceptional spear!"


    He could clearly sense the astonishing amount of energy contained within the Golden Dragon Spear, and he could even feel his own bloodline being altered in subtle ways by this divine weapon.


    Tang Wulin looked on in amazement, and asked, "That glove is also a divine tool, right? What''s its ability?"


    A slightly smug smile appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face, and he replied, "This glove is called Tribute of Life, and it was forged from Stone of Life of the highest degree of purity by a powerful being in ancient times. It''s said that over a ton of Stone of Life was used to forge this divine tool, and only the cream of the crop was used. It''s able to create a sense of affinity with any object or living being, and it''s extremely beneficial to a Soul Master''s cultivation as an assistance type divine tool. Furthermore, any object or soul beast that comes into contact with the glove will develop a strong sense of closeness with its wearer.


    "In the past, even if an ordinary person were to wear this glove and enter the Great Star Dou Forest, they would be regarded as a friend by all soul beasts and be perfectly safe."


    Tang Wulin nodded emphatically, and praised, "I didn''t think that such a divine tool existed; the world truly is full of wonders."


    A hint of surprise appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face. "You don''t seem reluctant to part with this spear at all, Sect Master Tang. Could it be that you were already prepared to hand it over to the federation? Rest assured, I''ll be sure to follow through on my promise. The federation has several divine tools, as does our family; you can choose any of them in exchange for this spear."


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. He wasn''t surprised to hear that the federation owned several divine tools, but the fact that the same applied to the Yu Family was a clear testament of its wealth as the number one family in the military.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "It''s a pity that such a brilliant divine tool is going to waste..."


    Yu Guanzhi was rather befuddled by this response, but in the next instant, his expression suddenly changed drastically.


    The Golden Dragon Spear in his grasp suddenly turned a dark golden color, and the dragon patterns on its surface bulged outward as if a series of giant golden dragons had sprung to life on the spear.


    A burst of tremendous suction force instantly erupted out of the spear, and in that instant, Yu Guanzhi felt as if he were holding a black hole rather than a spear!


    The life energy imbued within Tribute of Life was extremely pure and vast, but it was being rapidly devoured by the Golden Dragon Spear.


    Meanwhile, bright green light was radiating from Tang Wulin''s body, and his aura was quickly being elevated. Even the secondary tree of life outside was affected, as evidenced by the fact that all of its leaves had lit up.


    Yu Guanzhi hurriedly turned to Tang Wulin with an urgent expression. "Please stop this, Sect Master Tang!"


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You should be the one letting go of the spear! I''m not responsible for this; the divine weapon has a mind of its own."


    Yu Guanzhi immediately realized the core of the problem upon hearing this, and he hurriedly tried to let go of the Golden Dragon Spear, but the spear refused to be released.


    It seemed to have become glued to Tribute of Life, and Yu Guanzhi was unable to shake it off no matter what he tried.


    He released his soul power in a violent eruption to try and force the Golden Dragon Spear away, but to his horror, even his soul power was devoured by the Golden Dragon Spear with relish.


    He could even sense that the spear was beginning to connect with his life energy and draw upon it along with the life energy of Tribute of Life.


    "This thing is way too aggressive!" Yu Guanzhi immediately arrived at a decision, hurling Tribute of Life away along with the Golden Dragon Spear.


    If someone else were in his place, they would perhaps have hesitated, but as a soldier, he knew the importance of being decisive.


    If he had hesitated any longer, even his cultivation base would''ve been affected.


    The Golden Dragon Spear hovered in mid-air on its own, releasing a string of loud and joyful dragon''s roars.

 Chapter 1770: Devouring the Divine Tool

    Meanwhile, Tribute of Life transformed into a ball of green jelly-like substance that was quickly squirming in an attempt to extricate itself from the Golden Dragon Spear. However, the Golden Dragon Spear refused to let up, and regardless of how much it struggled and writhed, the light radiating from the Golden Dragon Spear continued to grow brighter and brighter, while Tribute of Life dimmed further with each passing second.


    "Sect Master Tang, can''t you stop this?" Yu Guanzhi asked in an exasperated manner. He had truly shot himself in the foot!


    Prior to coming here, it had never occurred to him that something like this was a possibility.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "I want to stop it, but I can''t! I''m only a vessel for this spear; I can''t stop it when it wants to do something. Divine tools have their own autonomous will and are capable of evolution. For the Golden Dragon Spear, devouring life energy is the key to its evolution. As its vessel, I can help it store some life energy, which it will gradually absorb while it''s resting in my body, so there''s nothing I can do to stop it. It clearly really likes your Tribute of Life, just like a child who''s found a new favorite toy.


    "We can''t take that toy away from it or it''ll throw a tantrum. We''re still depending on it in this battle against the abyssal plane, so we can''t afford to get on its bad side now, isn''t that right?"


    Yu Guanzhi''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. What kind of question was that? What choice did he have in the matter?


    Yu Guanzhi didn''t know whether to laugh or cry at this situation. This Tribute of Life belonged to his family, not the federation; who was going to compensate him for its loss? Even though he was the current family leader, having a divine tool stripped away like this was a heavy loss.


    "Sect Master Tang, you have to compensate me for this!" Yu Guanzhi urged with a wry smile.


    Tang Wulin replied, "How do you propose we do that? Our Shrek Academy and Tang Sect are just small organizations with no other divine tools in our possession!"


    Yu Guanzhi almost swore out loud upon hearing this. Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were small organizations? What kind of small organization stood for 20,000 years?!


    However, he knew that he couldn''t afford to lose his temper here, so he could only heave a forlorn sigh. "Ever since I became the leader of my family, Tribute of Life has always been with me. To me, it''s not just a divine tool; it''s a friend, a companion, a brother; it''s family! I can''t bear to part with it!" Tears began to well up in his eyes as he spoke, and Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be stunned by Yu Guanzhi''s acting skills.


    He clearly wasn''t that grief-stricken just a moment ago! How had the onset of emotions arrived so quickly? This was some next-level method acting!


    Tang Wulin put on a resigned expression, and said, "There''s not much I can do. You asked for this yourself, and I don''t have any divine tools to compensate you with!"


    Yu Guanzhi sighed, "The problem is that I have to answer to my family. How about this? I won''t ask for a divine tool for compensation. I''ve heard that you''re a super prodigy of the blacksmith world and that your heavenly refinement speed is unmatched, so how about you forge a few suits of four-word battle armor for our family in your spare time? If you can do that, I''ll shoulder the blame for the loss of this divine tool."


    Tang Wulin was astonished by just how shameless this elderly general was.


    He was making it sound like suits of four-word battle armor were cabbage that could be sold for a dime a dozen!


    "I can only promise you one suit of four-word battle armor," Tang Wulin said.


    "Deal!" Yu Guanzhi agreed without any hesitation.


    While it was completely unexpected that Tribute of Life was devoured, Yu Guanzhi had already made up his mind before coming here that his most important objective was to establish good relations with Tang Wulin, and the main reason behind this was that Tang Wulin was the only current active Divine Blacksmith!


    As the leader of a prominent family, he had to think for the sake of his next generation, and the importance of four-word battle armor couldn''t be understated.


    He never actually intended to get Tang Wulin to return Eternal Heaven. Given sufficient time, Tang Wulin would definitely be able to drive Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect to a historically unprecedented peak.


    What would it be like once all of the Titled Douluos of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were equipped with suits of four-word battle armor? No other power would have any hope of matching the two super organizations then.


    To put it bluntly, perhaps there would only be a chance for Shrek Academy to be repressed once Tang Wulin passed away.


    The crushing defeat Tang Wulin had inflicted upon Qiangu Dongfeng heralded the arrival of a new era that belonged to Shrek Academy.


    The final traces of light radiating from Tribute of Life faded, and the Golden Dragon Spear roared with elation as it vanished back into Tang Wulin''s glabella as a streak of golden light.


    Immediately thereafter, Tang Wulin''s aura also became subdued again. At his current level of power, controlling his own aura was a very simple task.


    Offering a suit of four-word battle armor in exchange for devouring a divine tool was a very worthwhile trade, and he could clearly sense the emotion of excitement currently being transmitted to him by the tree of life.


    This was life energy of the highest caliber and highest degree of purity, and it was what the tree of life yearned for the most.


    In this short span of time, the secondary tree of life had grown to over twice its original size, stretching to over 50 meters tall. All types of plants were beginning to germinate on the nearby mountains, and rich life energy hung in the air like a substantial mist.


    Devouring this divine tool had benefited the ancient tree of life even more so than devouring the energy of all of those abyssal creatures during the day.


    Tang Wulin could sense that even the life energy of a quasigod level abyssal creature would only provide roughly the same level of nourishment for the tree of life.


    Even more importantly, he could feel extremely potent reciprocation from the tree of life, thereby drastically enhancing his physical body. He seemed to be in a state that was infinitely approaching A''Ruheng''s Invincible Vajra Body; all he needed was the final breakthrough.


    Yu Guanzhi heaved a long sigh as he turned to Tang Wulin with an envious expression. "Looks like I won''t be able to complete any of the objectives I came here with. Sect Master Tang, what are your views on this battle?"


    Everything else that had been discussed earlier had been largely irrelevant, and Yu Guanzhi was finally getting to the main topic now.


    After watching the footage of the battle between the Five Limit Douluos of Shrek Academy and the three quasigods of the abyss, Yu Guanzhi knew that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect''s support was going to be indispensable if they wanted to defeat the abyssal plane.


    Tang Wulin replied, "We''ve stopped the abyssal army from reaching further inland, so we''ve already completed our initial objective. However, the Black Sovereign has already appeared in such a short time, which indicates that this invasion will most likely be even more fearsome than the one that took place 6,000 years ago. The Black Sovereign is only ranked ninth in the abyssal plane, and all of the sovereigns above her are undoubtedly even more powerful; which is a very sobering thought.


    "Our top priority is to focus our efforts on preventing the passageway from expanding any further. Most of the forces deployed by our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy have already arrived, and we''re ready to go at any time; the rest is up to the federation."


    Yu Guanzhi nodded in response. "I''ve already gotten a copy of the sealing array''s blueprint from the Blood God Legion, and I''m currently getting my troops to prepare the required resources as quickly as possible. However, we''ll need everyone''s help to create the array, so a copy of the blueprint will also be delivered to you soon."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. He was well aware of just how precious this blueprint was, and it was also strictly confidential federal information, so it was a significant show of sincerity that Yu Guazhi was willing to give him a copy so easily.


    Tang Wulin knew that Yu Guanzhi was a vice-minister of the army headquarters, a role that Chen Xinjie had also once held.

 Chapter 1771: Exchange

    "Alright, we''ll do our best," Tang Wulin agreed.


    Yu Guanzhi continued, "According to our estimates, it''ll take around 10 more days to gather all of our forces, and the defensive line is already being fortified. Once everyone arrives, we''ll initiate an attack. Sect Master Tang, is there a limit to the amount of life energy from abyssal creatures that you can convert? If we attack the abyssal creatures on a large scale, will some of their life energy be able to escape?"


    It was clear from Yu Guanzhi''s words that he was preparing to unleash some large-scale destructive weapons.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I don''t know where my current limits lie, but there shouldn''t be any issues. The secondary tree of life is a part of our Douluo Plane''s seed of nature, and life energy is what it yearns for the most. All of the life energy absorbed by the Golden Dragon Spear actually goes straight to the tree of life; I only act as a bridge between the two. As such, the issue of my physical tolerance isn''t relevant here, and the amount of life energy the tree of life is able to accept is virtually limitless."


    Yu Guanzhi replied, "Alright, then we''ll be counting on you to work with us once the battle begins. We''ll do everything in our power to keep you safe, and you don''t even need to actively participate in the battle; you''ll be the hero of the battle just by devouring all of the life energy from the abyssal creatures that we kill. Our objective for this battle is not just to force back the abyssal army; we want to deal the abyssal plane a heavy and permanent blow so that they never dare to invade our plane again."


    Tang Wulin nodded firmly in response. "That''s exactly what I''m hoping for as well. Rest assured, I''ll do everything in my power to cooperate."


    The biggest advantage that the current human army had over their forefathers from 6,000 years ago was that they now possessed a way to truly chip away at the abyssal plane.


    Yu Guanzhi continued, "We''ll make sure to discuss all of our plans for the upcoming battle with you. Now that everything''s said and done, I''ll be taking my leave. Oh, by the way, don''t forget about that suit of four-word battle armor! Otherwise, I really won''t be able to answer to my family. Also, if you ever decide to accept payment for your forging work, please give us primary consideration when you''re choosing clients; we''ll take everything you''re able to forge."


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face upon hearing this. "Let''s not talk about suits of four-word battle armor like buying vegetables at a market."


    Yu Guanzhi chuckled, "Of course I wouldn''t take it so lightly. Oh, by the way, I''m good friends with your uncle-teacher; we were playmates as children and have always remained close."


    "My Uncle-teacher? Uncle-teacher Zhen Hua?" Tang Wulin felt as if he had been played for a fool. No wonder Yu Guanzhi was aware of his unprecedented rate of heavenly refinement!


    Yu Guanzhi rose to his feet, and replied, "That''s right. I invited him to stay at our household as a long-term guest, but he turned me down. Back when your uncle-teacher first entered the blacksmith association, we had supported him financially."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. These major families really did have important connections in all types of places!


    "General Yu, there''s something that I feel I must mention; 10 days is too long. In my opinion, it''s best for us to initiate our attack as soon as possible. I can''t shake this feeling that something is amiss. The abyssal plane has most likely prepared more extensively for this invasion than we envisioned. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have launched a direct attack. Most importantly, we have no idea how long this abyssal passageway has been open for."


    A grim look appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face upon hearing this, and he nodded in response. "I''ll be sure to set everything into motion as quickly as possible, but I also have to remind you that I can''t call all the shots in the military; there will most likely be some opposition from the chief minister of the army headquarters. He won''t be directly participating in this battle, but he''s responsible for overseeing all of the logistics and troop deployments. Both the Western Legion and Northwestern Legion are directly under his command, and he also has close ties with the Northsea Legion."


    Following Yu Guanzhi''s departure, a contemplative look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. Even though Yu Guanzhi hadn''t explicitly said anything, it wasn''t difficult to read between the lines.


    The full name of the Douluo Federation Army Headquarters was the Douluo Federation Military Commission, and it was overseen by the chief commissioner, also known as the chief minister. The chief commissioner held an extremely important position in the federation, and they were ranked alongside Yu Guanzhi and Chen Xinjie as the three leading figures of the federal military.


    In the wake of the scandal where Chen Xinjie had leaked the location of Eternal Heaven to the Tang Sect and resigned from his duties, the original trio was reduced to only two.


    Even though Chen Xinjie had decided to return, he would be in a different situation from before. During his departure, many people representing different powers had been planted into the forces that he commanded.


    Most importantly, Tang Wulin could tell from Yu Guanzhi''s words that he wasn''t one among the trio supporting the Spirit Pagoda, and that clearly also applied to Chen Xinjie, so that left only the chief commissioner.


    Furthermore, Yu Guanzhi had specifically pointed out the fact that this chief commissioner held considerable influence in three of the eight major legions, which meant that all three of those legions were supporters of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but heave a forlorn internal sigh. An opportunity had finally come around for them to exact their revenge on the Spirit Pagoda in an open manner, and under those circumstances, the supporters of the Spirit Pagoda wouldn''t have been able to step in.


    However, this opportunity was ruined by the sudden invasion of the abyssal army. Regardless of what the outcome of this battle was, it would be very difficult to find another opportunity as good as that one in the future.


    If the human army were to lose, then nothing else would be relevant as the entire Douluo Continent would cease to exist. Even if victory were secured, the Spirit Pagoda would be widely praised for its involvement in the resistance effort, and with the support of members of the top brass in the military, it wouldn''t be difficult for them to earn some accolades. Once that happened, Shrek Academy would come under enormous pressure from public opinion if it were to attack the Spirit Pagoda again. Tang Wulin didn''t care about what happened to himself, but he had to think for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.


    It had to be said that the Spirit Pagoda was truly extremely fortunate. If he could go back in time, perhaps he would''ve gone through with the revenge operation on that day.


    A series of military vehicles were racing along the highway, and the nearby highway entrances had all been temporarily shut with general scheduled repairs being the reason provided.


    In order to avoid raising widespread panic, the federation had already taken control of the media to keep all information about the northern front strictly confidential. Thus, even those working in the media with extensive connections were only aware that the federation was currently mobilizing a large number of troops.


    This had happened in the recent past on two separate occasions, namely during the federation''s two attempts to instigate a war against the other two continents, so the media was already accustomed to this.


    There were many people speculating in secret that the federation was about to launch an invasion on the other two continents again, which was why information regarding the mobilization of troops was being kept strictly confidential.


    Everything was still peaceful and harmonious on the continent. The vast majority of the general populace was excited by the prospect of the federation declaring war on the other two continents as in their eyes, the federation had always been the most powerful entity on this entire planet.


    At this moment, there was a group of people seated in a large military vehicle.


    The interior of the military vehicle was very lavish with a comfortable round sectional couch, as well as a table and a bathroom. At the very front of the vehicle, there was even a bed that one could rest on situated above the driver''s cabin, and the vehicle could comfortably house close to 20 people at a time.


    At this moment, there weren''t many people in the vehicle.


    Gu Yuena was in a crisp white military uniform, adding a sense of dashing sharpness to her stunning beauty. Her military uniform perfectly accentuated her gorgeous figure, and her silver hair was arranged in a long ponytail that trailed down her back. On her shoulders sat a pair of major general epaulets.


    There were also several other people in the vehicle, one of whom was Qiangu Zhangting, who was lying on the bed in a deep sleep with a content smile on his face.

 Chapter 1772: Gu Yuenas Plan?

    Gu Yuena was seated on the couch with her eyes closed, but judging from her occasionally fluttering eyelashes, it was clear that she wasn''t sleeping or meditating. Instead, she seemed to be in deep thought about something.


    There were several other people seated beside her, one of which was a man with a head of long black hair, punctuated by a single thin line of golden hair.


    This man wore a pair of senior colonel epaulets, and he was accompanied by several other figures of different descriptions.


    "My Lord, are we really going to help the humans combat the abyss?" the black-haired man asked.


    Gu Yuena''s eyes remained shut as she replied, "We have no choice. If the Douluo Continent ceases to exist, where will we reside? I''ve come into contact with the abyssal plane in the past, and those abyssal creatures are extremely formidable. They''re 100 times more greedy than humans, and they can devour all types of life energy, so we can''t let them claim this plane no matter what. For us and the human race, they are a common enemy. Besides, this is also an opportunity for us. During the Dragon God''s evolution, he fashioned the Silver Dragon Spear and the Golden Dragon Spear from two of his ribs; the Golden Dragon Spear isn''t the only one capable of devouring abyssal life energy.


    "The abyssal plane is superior to the Douluo Plane, so if I can devour sufficient life energy from that plane, perhaps I would be able to recover some of the Dragon God''s powers."


    The black-haired man hesitated momentarily before replying, "This is indeed a good opportunity. If you can devour Tang Wulin as well, I''m sure you''ll be able to return to your form as the Dragon God. Once that time comes, the humans will be at our mercy, so we can''t afford to let this opportunity slip."


    Gu Yuena finally opened her eyes upon hearing this, and she turned to the black-haired man with an intense gaze. "Do I need you to tell me what to do?"


    A wry smile appeared on the black-haired man''s face as he shook his head in response. "I don''t know if it''s in my place to say this, but you''re far too indecisive when it comes to Tang Wulin, My Lord. If you don''t become more decisive in this matter, you run the risk of suffering unforeseen consequences. Tang Wulin''s rate of growth has already exceeded our projections, and he''s gathering more and more powerful allies; even I don''t have full confidence in my ability to take him down now. The Golden Dragon King has inherited the Dragon God''s body and all of its negative emotions; once he completely assimilates himself with the Golden Dragon King''s power, even you most likely won''t be able to stop him, and the world will be plunged into a massive disaster."


    Gu Yuena took an indifferent glance at him, and said, "Isn''t that exactly what you''re hoping for? The vast majority of the inhabitants of this world are humans, so even if a disaster were to arise, the human race would suffer the most."


    The black-haired man faltered slightly upon hearing this. "My Lord..."


    Gu Yuena waved a dismissive hand to cut him off. "That''s enough. I''ve already decided on a plan, and the Dragon God will be sure to return."


    An unfathomable look appeared in her eyes as she spoke, and her emotions hadn''t been swayed by the black-haired man in the slightest. Through her expression, the ones around her could clearly see her determination, and the black-haired man didn''t say anything further as he knew that no words would be able to change Gu Yuena''s mind in her current state.


    Gu Yuena closed her eyes again, and the image of him involuntarily surfaced in her mind. On that day, they had been in very close proximity with one another, and a type of pain she had never experienced welled up in her heart at the sight of his expression.


    His eyes were filled with sorrow and yearning, as if they were asking her why they couldn''t be together.


    Perhaps he had already figured some things out for himself.


    In the past, she could make the excuse that he wasn''t powerful enough, but now, he had become a truly formidable Soul Master, and with the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy behind him, there was no one who could match him in this world. What other excuse did she have?


    Even so, she couldn''t return to his side as it simply wasn''t possible for her current self!


    Wulin, I''ve already made up my mind. No matter how much you resent me for it, I can''t change anything because this is the only plan that I can think of. After all, I''m the Silver Dragon King, someone destined to stand against you! Perhaps it would be best for everyone if my plan came into fruition. Wulin, I really want to be with you, to constantly be by your side...


    Gu Yuena reflexively pursed her lips as her hands balled up into tight fists. It wouldn''t be long before she would be able to see him again. At the very least, would she finally be able to fight alongside him in the battle against the abyssal army? Perhaps that would be their final close interaction and the last time they would fight together.


    All she could do now was cherish every single day to come. At the very least, it would still be some time before her plan would be set into motion.


    Regardless of what the final outcome of her plan''s implementation would be, she would still be able to interact closely with him prior to that.


    The abyssal army was far more peaceful than one would imagine. As more and more federal troops arrived on the northern front, the chances of suffering a sneak attack from the abyssal army dwindled further and further.


    The Eastsea Legion and Sea God Legion arrived one after the other, locking down the entire coastline alongside the Northsea Legion.


    On land, the Central Legion, Western Legion, and Northwestern Legion had already joined up with what remained of the Northern Legion, and the only ones yet to arrive were the troops from the Southern Legion, which was simply situated too far away.


    In addition to that, even the commander-in-chief of the Blood God Legion, Zhang Huanyun, had arrived with an elite group of troops. The group wasn''t very large, but all of its members were elite soldiers with extensive experience in battling abyssal creatures.


    The Blood God Legion had come into contact with the abyssal plane the most by far, so they were undoubtedly going to be able to provide the most experience to everyone else.


    Tang Wulin and his group were situated on the same mountain where the secondary tree of life was growing. The secondary tree of life was thriving, and it could already be seen from very far away.


    Even if one couldn''t sense its aura, just the mere sight of it instilled within one a sense of peace and serenity; the secondary tree of life seemed to have become the backbone of the entire human army.


    The Central Legion was stationed around this mountain, and the most powerful defensive soul tools had been set up nearby. Yu Guanzhi had stayed true to his promise, making every effort to contribute to the defense of the secondary tree of life.


    With the arrival of the other legions and the constant influx of resources, it could be said that virtually all of the military power of the entire federation had been gathered in this place.


    Powerful beings were also constantly arriving from the Battle God Hall, the Spirit Pagoda, and other major Soul Master organizations, forming perhaps the most formidable army to ever be assembled on the Douluo Continent.


    A temporary control center had been constructed at the center of the Central Legion''s encampment, and at this moment, a lively and bustling scene was unfolding inside the control center.


    The conference table in the control center was over 10 meters long and could seat over 30 people at once.


    At this moment, all of the seats had been filled by the top-ranking officials of the federation, and many major generals, even lieutenant generals, could only stand.


    Two people were seated beside one another at the head of the table, one of which was an admiral, while the other was a general; they were none other than Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie and Divine Brush Douluo Yu Guanzhi.


    Two of the three leading figures of the military had arrived, and both of them were Limit Douluos.


    On their left-hand side sat the representatives from all of the major Soul Master organizations, headed by the representative of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, Dragon Emperor Douluo Tang Wulin.


    He was the only one from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect to be seated at this table, but there were four others standing not far behind him.

 Chapter 1774: Military Conference

    Standing around the table were many other high-ranking officials of the military, as well as representatives from other major powers, and some had been quite displeased by the fact they hadn''t been granted seats, but no one had objections after sensing the auras of the four Limit Douluos standing behind Tang Wulin.


    Even Limit Douluos were standing; who would dare to say anything?


    Following the battle against the Spirit Pagoda, everyone knew that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had already returned to the height of their powers.


    Yu Guanzhi took a glance at Chen Xinjie, and the latter gave him a nod.


    Thus, Yu Guanzhi cleared his throat, and the entire conference hall quickly settled down.


    Yu Guanzhi turned toward the representatives of the major Soul Master organizations on his left, and said, "Firstly, I''d like to welcome the representatives of the major Soul Master organizations on behalf of the military. It is very encouraging to have your assistance against this formidable enemy during the continent''s time of need."


    The representatives all nodded in acknowledgment.


    Yu Guanzhi continued. "I''m sure everyone has already seen the information regarding the abyssal plane. The enemies are far more powerful than what we had imagined, and even I''m only seeing enemies of this nature for the first time in my life. The information that we have stems from the battle against the abyssal plane 6,000 years ago, as well as the experience accrued by the Blood God Legion over the past 6,000 years. Before we get into anything else, I would like to give the Northern Legion its due praise on behalf of the army headquarters.


    "During the initial clash, over 60,000 of the Northern Legion''s troops perished, and Commander Guo himself led from the front, coming very close to losing his own life in the battle. Despite being completely unfamiliar with these enemies, they defended the northern front with their lives and didn''t take a single backward step; their spirit is something that all of us can learn from. The army headquarters has already penned down the Northern Legion to receive huge accolades at the conclusion of this battle."


    Yu Guanzhi''s words were delivered in a very rousing fashion, while Guo Zhenfeng was struggling to hold back his tears. The 60,000 troops who had perished had all been brothers of his!


    "Commander Guo, I would like to thank you on behalf of the army headquarters." Yu Guanzhi rose to his feet as he spoke before extending a military salute toward Guo Zhenfeng.


    Guo Zhenfeng also rose to his feet to return the salute, and he said, "Commander, I don''t need any personal rewards; please allocate the reward meant for me to the families of my fallen brothers; they deserve all of the honor for their sacrifice."


    Guo Zhenfeng was finally unable to hold back his tears any longer as he spoke.


    "I will! Our soldiers are bleeding on the front lines; the federation definitely won''t allow their families to suffer, that I can guarantee you!" Yu Guanzhi vowed with a serious expression.


    "Thank you, Commander."


    The two of them returned to their seats, and Yu Guanzhi continued, "Almost all of our troops have already arrived on the northern front, and the Southern Legion is also due to arrive in a few days. We can''t wait any longer as we have no idea how many powerful beings of the abyssal plane have currently arrived on our Douluo Continent. We must do everything in our power to wipe them out once and for all in a single battle."


    He paused here momentarily before turning his gaze toward Tang Wulin. "I''m sure everyone has already seen footage of the latest battle. Sect Master Tang''s Golden Dragon is currently the only weapon we have that can inflict substantial damage upon the abyssal plane. Compared with our forefathers from 6,000 years ago, we are very fortunate as at the very least, we possess the ability to truly chip away at the enemy. Hence, I propose that we make Sect Master Tang the core of our resistance so we can weaken the abyssal plane while forcing back the abyssal army. If there are no objections to this, then I''ll move on to elaborate on our specific strategy now."


    There was no way to hide the fact that the Golden Dragon Spear could devour abyssal energy, nor any incentive to do so as it was the most powerful weapon the federation had against the abyssal plane.


    Tang Wulin was more than happy to adopt this responsibility, and this was also a good opportunity for the tree of life. Furthermore, so many powerful beings from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had arrived, and they would be enough to keep him safe.


    Aside from the Holy Lord himself, even the top-ranked sovereigns of the abyssal plane would find it very difficult to harm Tang Wulin. After all, he had the protection of the Limit Douluos and the secondary tree of life.


    Just as Yu Guanzhi was about to begin explaining the battle strategy, a voice of dissension suddenly rang out. "Hold on."


    Everyone turned toward the direction the voice had come from to find that it was Qiangu Dongfeng who had spoken.


    Yu Guanzhi''s brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this. "Do you have some different opinions, Chairman Qiangu? I have to remind you that we are in the midst of a battle for the continent''s survival, so everyone here must set aside all personal differences. If anyone''s individual actions produces a negative effect on this battle, then they could be directly contributing to the downfall of the entire federation."


    Qiangu Dongfeng smiled, and replied, "Don''t be so quick to jump to conclusions, Commander. You invited everyone here for this conference, so there has to be a discussion process, right? You can''t just not let anyone speak."


    "Go ahead then, Chairman Qiangu," Yu Guanzhi prompted.


    Qiangu Dongfeng continued, "I have no objections to the overall plan, and I''m of course in support of acting right away to end this battle as soon as possible. However, I think it''s an exaggeration to say that Tang Wulin is the sole core of this resistance effort. Isn''t that implying that if something were to happen to him, the entire battle would be lost?"


    "Oh? What do you propose then, Chairman Qiangu?" Yu Guanzhi asked in a calm manner.


    Despite his placid appearance, all those who were familiar with him knew that the calmer he appeared, the fouler his mood was.


    Qiangu Dongfeng smiled, and replied, "Aside from Sect Master Tang, our Spirit Pagoda also possesses a divine weapon capable of devouring abyssal energy, and that''s the main supporting reason behind my objection."


    A slight stir ran through the entire conference hall upon hearing this, and a hint of surprise appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as well.


    The Spirit Pagoda also had such a divine weapon? In that case, why didn''t they bring it out 6,000 years ago? He turned to Qiangu Dongfeng with a hint of surprise in his eyes, but Qiangu Dongfeng merely ignored him and continued to look straight at Yu Guanzhi.


    "If you have proof, then this would naturally be fantastic news for us all," Yu Guanzhi said without any hesitation.


    Of course it was more flexible to have two cores than only one.


    Qiangu Dongfeng raised a hand, and someone standing not far behind him slowly strode forward.


    Tang Wulin turned toward that direction and immediately caught sight of this person.


    In reality, he had already sensed her arrival, but due to the current situation, he couldn''t pay much attention to her.


    Gu Yuena arrived beside Qiangu Dongfeng, then raised her right hand to summon the Silver Dragon Spear amid a flash of dazzling silver light.


    As soon as the spear appeared, the natural elements in the air instantly became more active and concentrated, to the point that there was even a sense of viscosity in the air.


    It was clear that this was a divine weapon, and Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be struck by a sense of nostalgia at the sight of it.


    This was Na''er''s Silver Dragon Spear! Ever since the change that had taken place between Gu Yue and Na''er, he had always wondered what had happened to the two, and a series of violent emotional fluctuations instantly welled up in his heart at the sight of the Silver Dragon Spear, to the point that faint mental manifestation projections were beginning to appear around him.


    Thankfully, he caught himself in time and immediately composed himself to prevent the memories of him spending time with Na''er from being projected.


    Qiangu Dongfeng explained, "Gu Yuena is one of the four spirit envoys of our Spirit Pagoda, and due to recent breakthrough in her cultivation, she had been promoted to become a vice-chairman of our Spirit Pagoda. Her Silver Dragon Spear also just so happens to be able to absorb abyssal energy, so it''ll be sure to play a huge role on the battlefield. In light of that, I believe she should also be made a core of this resistance effort."

 Chapter 1775: Internal Clash

    "If anyone has seen the coverage of the Joust For a Spouse event, then you should know..."


    Qiangu Dongfeng paused here momentarily before finally turning toward Tang Wulin with a faint smile. "That Sect Master Tang was defeated by our Silver Dragon Princess. Both of their divine weapons are able to devour abyssal energy, so shouldn''t Gu Yuena receive primary consideration to become the core of this resistance effort?"


    As soon as this statement was made, the entire conference hall immediately erupted into discussion.


    Tang Wulin''s defeat to Gu Yuena was an undisputed fact. After all, the battle had been broadcast live for all to see.


    Yu Guanzhi said, "This is not a statement to be made lightly. Chairman Qiangu, are you sure this Silver Dragon Spear is also capable of devouring abyssal energy?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng pulled out a small soul tool and placed it onto the table, then pressed a button on it to release a three-dimensional projection.


    The projection depicted a silver figure with a pair of massive silver wings that were spread open on her back, and she was wearing a suit of beautiful silver battle armor that was shimmering with rainbow light.


    She flashed through the sky like a bolt of silver lightning, and in the next instant, she had already speared into the abyssal army from the sky.


    She was unstoppable in her advance, and a huge amount of dense grey energy quickly rose up, only to be rapidly devoured by that streak of silver light.


    The perspective then shifted to that of the first-person, and balls of rainbow light could be seen exploding incessantly from her body, killing the surrounding abyssal creatures with ruthless efficiency.


    From this perspective, it could be clearly seen that the grey energy was being devoured by the spear in her hand.


    In the next instant, she let loose a long cry and abruptly rose up into the air.


    From a bird''s eye view, it could be clearly seen that a giant cave with a diameter in excess of three kilometers had appeared on the ground below.


    In contrast with the landscape around it, there was no snow or ice around the cave''s entrance; only vast expanses of dead grey land.


    Countless abyssal creatures could be seen gathered down below, and a large number of high-grade abyssal creatures were already converging toward her from all directions.


    A dense grey mist was permeating through the sky, and a ball of bright azure light exploded behind her, releasing enormous propulsion force that almost instantly allowed her to break through the sound barrier as she sped away into the distance.


    Up to this point, the projection had only been playing for less than a minute, but it had displayed everything that Qiangu Dongfeng wanted to display.


    It was clear that the silver suit of battle armor was a suit of four-word battle armor, and its owner was none other than this Silver Dragon Princess, Gu Yuena. She had traveled to the abyssal passageway on her own to demonstrate the power of her Silver Dragon Spear.


    Qiangu Dongfeng said in a proud manner, "As everyone saw, that is the power of the Silver Dragon Spear; I''m sure it''s definitely not inferior to Sect Master Tang''s Golden Dragon Spear. On top of that, this is definitely the first piece of footage we''ve managed to gather of the abyssal passageway, and we were only able to secure it thanks to Gu Yuena''s brave solo venture. After this meeting, I''ll be submitting this piece of footage to the control center for analysis."


    The satellites were unable to conduct surveillance on the northernmost region of the continent as the sky had been entirely enshrouded under a layer of dense grey mist, so Qiangu Dongfeng was right to say that this the first piece of footage of the abyssal passageway that had been captured.


    Some surveillance drones had been sent out to scout the area in the past, but none of them had returned, so this piece of footage was extremely valuable.


    "This is a very precious piece of footage that will be sure to benefit us immensely," Dong Zi''an said.


    His voice was very strange and husky, and it was quite unpleasant to listen to.


    He continued, "Two cores are definitely going to be better than one, and the current level of soul technology available to us is far superior to that from 6,000 years ago. All types of energy have their own energy structures, and abyssal energy is no exception to this; I''m not convinced that these abyssal creatures can stand up to the might of our newest technology."


    Zhang Huanyun''s brows furrowed slightly as he objected, "I''m afraid you''re mistaken there, General Dong. We''ve tested out almost all of the federation''s cutting-edge weapons on these abyssal creatures, and up to this point, not a single one of them has been able to effectively destroy these abyssal creatures; the Golden Dragon Spear is the only exception. During the last abyssal tide, it was Sect Master Tang and his Golden Dragon Spear, in conjunction with the Blood God Array, that kept the abyssal creatures at bay and forced the Holy Lord into retreat."


    All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and his gaze fell upon Gu Yuena. He suddenly recalled that she also seemed to have been present at the time. It was her who had joined forces with Tang Wulin to force back the Holy Lord, but he had no idea what kind of relationship she shared with Tang Wulin.


    It could be said that she had saved Tang Wulin''s life on that occasion, and one of them possessed the Golden Dragon Spear while the other had the Silver Dragon Spear, so there was no way that they weren''t connected in some way.


    At this point, Gu Yuena had already stowed away her Silver Dragon Spear and stepped back off to the side.


    Dong Zi''an proposed, "I think we should split our forces up into two with each side carrying one of the divine weapons. In order to accommodate this, we''ll have to change our battle plan."


    Yu Guanzhi''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and a cold look appeared in his eyes.


    It was clear that Dong Zi''an and Qiangu Dongfeng had planned this together, as evidenced by the fact that they were only bringing up this matter now, when the human army was on the cusp of launching its assault.


    "If we were to change the plan now, it would result in a further delay. The way I see it, we should get Sect Master Tang and Vice-chairman Gu to work together while still following the original plan," Yu Guanzhi said.


    Dong Zi''an immediately objected, "Do you really think the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy will be able to genuinely work with the Spirit Pagoda? If you force them to collaborate, things could go very sour."


    A hint of anger appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face. This was already the second consecutive time that Dong Zi''an had rebuked him. As the commander-in-chief of the human army and one of the military''s leading figures, Yu Guanzhi was naturally not a fan of having his authority challenged repeatedly.


    Dong Zi''an looked directly back at Yu Guanzhi with an unwavering gaze, displaying no fear at all.


    They had always shared a rocky relationship where Dong Zi''an was quite envious of Yu Guanzhi. The Western Legion had always been ranked under the Central Legion, and in addition to that, the two of them had taken completely opposite paths to get to where they were today.


    Yu Guanzhi had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, receiving the best education throughout his youth before enjoying a smooth journey to the top.


    In contrast, Dong Zi''an hailed from a completely average family, and he had to fight tooth and nail for everything he had, accumulating military accolades for decade after decade before finally becoming a legion commander.


    Hence, they were essentially destined to not see eye-to-eye with one another.


    This was why Yu Guanzhi had subtly warned Tang Wulin about the Western Legion, and in doing so, he was trying to establish good relations with the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had always been neutral entities, but even neutral powers had certain leanings.


    "That''s enough! You two are still bickering at a time like this?" Chen Xinjie scolded with furrowed brows.


    Dong Zi''an immediately opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it after a sharp tug on his sleeve from Yin Moshang.


    Chen Xinjie continued, "Guanzhi, tell everyone your plan so we can discuss it."


    Not only did Chen Xinjie hold the loftiest status in the military, he also had the highest level of seniority. Aside from Guan Yue, he was old enough to be the father or even grandfather of virtually all of the military officials present. If it weren''t for the Eternal Heaven scandal, he would''ve been made the commander of the human army.


    Yu Guanzhi briefly composed himself and turned his gaze away from Dong Zi''an as he explained, "This is the plan: the Sea God Legion, Northsea Legion, and Eastsea Legion will deploy all of their mecha divisions onto land to assist the ground units, as well as to provide additional firepower. After we ascertain the location of the abyssal passageway, the three naval legions will launch a carpet bombing on the abyssal army, followed by a second carpet bombing to be carried out by the air force units.


    "During this process, we must protect Sect Master Tang while he situates himself on the front lines so he can devour as much abyssal energy as possible. A third carpet bombing will follow the second one, amounting to a total of three rounds of bombing to be carried out in alternating fashion by the naval and air force units. After the three rounds of bombing, the ground units will move in to clean up the battlefield, led by the Central Legion''s troops, who have been assigned heavy ion weaponry, while other legions will act as assistance.


    "When that time comes, I implore all of the major Soul Master organizations to also cooperate with us to hold off the powerful beings of the abyssal plane. Our strategy will be to keep the most powerful abyssal creatures occupied while decimating the weaker abyssal creatures, then target the powerful abyssal creatures as a collective unit, doing our best to kill them before sealing the abyssal passageway."

 Chapter 1776: Finalizing the Battle Plan

    "That''s the overall plan; there will be many more finer details involved in its execution, all of which have already been finalized by the general staff, and all orders will be issued to their respective units as soon as possible."


    This battle plan was clearly something that had been carefully considered and well thought-out.


    Dong Zi''an was very much correct in one point, which was that soul technology was far more advanced than it had been 6,000 years ago, and there were now far more types of mass destructive weapons available. Furthermore, virtually all of the federal military''s weaponry had been transported to this northern front, and with that much firepower available, a comprehensive carpet bombing could be maintained for three days and three nights with no issues.


    During this process, the most important thing wasn''t to kill enemy units, but to weaken the abyssal army, which was why Yu Guanzhi had proposed for Tang Wulin to be present on the front lines.


    6,000 years ago, the main disadvantage that the human army faced was that it was unable to truly kill the abyssal creatures, but a solution to this problem had arisen in the form of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    Yu Guanzhi continued. "During this entire battle, the key will be Sect Master''s Golden Dragon Spear, and the ones most familiar with Sect Master Tang are those from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so I would like to ask the Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy to accompany and protect him. Of course, the military will also be deploying some powerful beings to accompany him as well."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. Even though his mind was entirely occupied by Gu Yuena, he had to focus on the meeting that was currently taking place.


    "I have no issues with this plan."


    Regardless of how much heavy artillery fire was deployed, it would be very difficult to harm Limit Douluos unless weapons of the same caliber as godslayer missiles were involved.


    This battle plan was very direct, but it was undoubtedly also going to be the most effective, and it reflected just how important the sacrifice made by the Northern Legion had been.


    If it weren''t for the fact that the abyssal army had been restricted to the northernmost region of the continent, the situation would''ve been far more difficult to contain.


    Qiangu Dongfeng suddenly interjected, "Based on the results of Na''er''s scouting trip, the entrance to the passageway should be situated in the core circle of the northernmost region. The climate there is extremely unforgiving, so I still suggest splitting our forces up into two as that would give us better chances. If we launch a full-frontal attack, a huge amount of abyssal energy would be generated within a short time, and Sect Master Tang may not be able to devour all that energy on his own."


    Dong Zi''an immediately chimed in in support. "I''m also of the same opinion. There''s nothing wrong with the overall battle plan; we just have to split the duty of devouring abyssal energy to two people. Our Western Legion and the Northwestern Legion can protect Vice-chairman Gu."


    This was quite a reasonable suggestion, and it was undoubtedly the best practical option.


    Yu Guanzhi replied, "In that case, we''ll make some slight adjustments to the plan so we can accommodate two cores instead of one."


    Chen Xinjie suddenly said, "Regardless of whether we split up our troops or not, this is an extremely important battle upon which the safety of the entire continent hinges, so all personal differences must be set aside. Even if we split up, both branches must look out for one another. If anyone fails to do that, you''ll have to answer to me."


    Dong Zi''an chuckled, "Rest assured, we''ve all been serving for so many years; we know what our order of priorities should be."


    Chen Xinjie took an indifferent glance at him. "That would be best."


    After that came the discussion of the battle plan''s finer details, and Dong Zi''an and Qiangu Dongfeng acted in a very cooperative manner for the rest of the meeting.


    However, Tang Wulin knew that they had already achieved their goal. The Western Legion and Northwestern Legion were detaching themselves from the ground units, which meant that there was a very good chance that they wouldn''t follow Yu Guanzhi''s orders.


    From Dong Zi''an''s perspective, this would allow him to command his troops more easily and better collaborate with the Spirit Pagoda.


    However, from Yu Guanzhi''s perspective, this was a clear signal that the two legions weren''t going to follow his orders.


    This wouldn''t have been a problem if Chen Xinjie had been the commander-in-chief as he was always able to repress Dong Zi''an. However, Dong Zi''an had never seen eye to eye with Yu Guanzhi, and Yu Guanzhi had already anticipated that Dong Zi''an would do something like this.


    However, thinking about it from Dong Zi''an''s perspective, he would most likely do the same thing. No one wanted their brothers to be put under someone else''s command; what if the commander instructed them to sacrifice themselves as cannon fodder?


    The meeting stretched on for half a day and only concluded at noon.


    "We''ll end things here for today. Make the required preparations as quickly as possible; we strike at noon tomorrow," Yu Guanzhi said with a determined expression as he rose to his feet.


    Noon was when the sun was at its brightest, which was when Evil Soul Masters would be at their weakest, so it was the ideal time to be launching an attack.


    Thus, everyone rose to their feet with different thoughts racing through their minds.


    The first thing that Tang Wulin did after standing up was turn his gaze toward Gu Yuena, who was also currently looking at him.


    Tang Wulin''s physical appearance hadn''t changed much. With his current cultivation rank and incredible physical constitution, he wouldn''t show any signs of aging for many years.


    The only thing that had changed about him was the look in his eyes. Looking at him at such close quarters, Gu Yuena could clearly sense that his eyes were more mature and profound.


    The emotions that he had outwardly expressed in the past were restrained, and his gaze was very placid, but Gu Yuena''s heart still jolted as their eyes met.


    They were so close with one another, and countless memories instantly welled up in both of their hearts.


    If they weren''t forcibly repressing those memories, involuntary mental manifestations would immediately surface around them.


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh and didn¡¯t approach her. They belonged to different camps, and he didn''t want to cause any trouble for her.


    He had already decided on his own plan, which involved putting an end to the conflict with the Spirit Pagoda once and for all following the conclusion of this war. Once that happened, he was going to take Gu Yuena back no matter what, even if he had to abduct her.


    Right at this moment, a voice that Tang Wulin utterly detested rang out. "Sect Master Tang."


    Tang Wulin turned to find Qiangu Dongfeng standing right before him.


    "Do you need something, Chairman Qiangu?" Tang Wulin asked in an indifferent voice.


    A meaningful smile appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face, and he replied, "No, I just wanted to wish you good luck."


    Tang Wulin responded in kind. "Then I wish the same to you as well. I hope I''ll still be able to see you after this battle."


    After that, Tang Wulin strode directly forward, and Qiangu Dongfeng was standing right in front of him, so they were going to crash into one another unless one of them stepped aside. However, Tang Wulin completely disregarded Qiangu Dongfeng and continued onward without displaying any intention of changing directions.


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression changed slightly upon seeing this, and a hint of fierce killing intent flashed through his eyes. However, as Tang Wulin reached him, he still stepped aside at the last moment.


    Due to his momentary hesitation, he was unable to completely avoid Tang Wulin, causing Tang Wulin''s shoulder to brush across his chest, leaving a stinging sensation.


    Tang Wulin then departed without taking so much as a single backward glance, followed by the four Limit Douluos.


    Just as all five of them had passed Qiangu Dongfeng by, Zang Xin suddenly turned around with a smile, and said, "Chairman Qiangu Dongfeng, if I recall correctly, wasn''t there a saying that goes ''a good something doesn''t get in the way of others''? Haha!" [The literal translation of the saying being referred to here is "a good dog doesn''t get in the way of others", so Zang Xin is implying here that Qiangu Dongfeng is a dog.] After that, Zang Xin also departed, leaving Qiangu Dongfeng to look on with a murderous expression and a tightly clenched fist.


    Gu Yuena arrived by his side with a concerned expression, and asked, "Are you alright, Chairman?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng took a deep breath to compose himself before replying, "I''m fine. We''ll let them laugh while they still can. Let''s go."


    Looking on at Tang Wulin''s departing figure, his heart was actually filled with remorse. It could be said that he had bore witness to every step of Tang Wulin''s meteoric rise to the top.

 Chapter 1777: Long Yuxues Arrival

    Initially, he had paid Tang Wulin no heed, but that had gradually changed as he discovered that Tang Wulin was developing rapidly out of his control.


    Now, this young man who was only in his twenties was superior to him in both power and status. All of these changes seemed to have taken place in a very short time, and Qiangu Dongfeng was finding it very difficult to accept this.


    If he were given another chance, he would ensure that Tang Wulin was killed at all costs.


    Without a leader and a Divine Blacksmith in the form of Tang Wulin, there was no way that Shrek Academy would''ve risen up again so quickly.


    Tang Wulin returned to his barracks near the secondary tree of life, which was a very plain and simple metal cabin. Even Tang Wulin''s cabin was only slightly more spacious than the other ones, housing a large table that discussions could be held around.


    Currently, all of the higher-ups of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were gathered here.


    "Looks like the Spirit Pagoda is determined to try more funny business; we should''ve taken out the Qiangu Family when we had the chance. Without the Qiangu Family, there''s no way the Spirit Pagoda would''ve dared to do this," Cao Dezhi said in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin sighed, "Our hands were tied at the time. Under the current circumstances, we have to prioritize the defense of the continent first. However, we do need to be on our guard in case they try to disrupt us during the battle. Seeing as the ground units have been split up, what we have to be most cautious of is that they may not reinforce us when needed. Aside from that, I don''t think there''s too much we need to be wary of. After all, both divisions are attacking the same target, and they wouldn''t dare to do anything too out of line given the gravity of the situation."


    Yali nodded in agreement. "While that may be true, the preventive measures that we''ve taken are still warranted. Our sole mission is to protect Wulin during the battle, right? We just have to make sure we can do that. As long as all of us constantly remain by Wulin''s side, they won''t be able to do anything to us."


    Right at this moment, a voice that was very familiar to Tang Wulin rang out outside. "Report!"


    "Report!"


    "Come in," Tang Wulin prompted.


    A dashing female soldier strode in from outside; it was none other than Long Yuxue, whom Tang Wulin hadn''t seen for quite a long time.


    The two had separated once Long Yuxue and the others had returned to the Blood God Legion, and Tang Wulin was quite surprised to see her here now.


    Long Yuxue extended a military salute, then said, "The Blood Dragon Squad has come to make a report. We were ordered by our commander to come and assist you."


    She was speaking in a very official manner, but her eyes were brimming with excitement and were locked firmly on Tang Wulin''s face.


    Tang Wulin was also very happy to see her. He had traveled to the Blood God Legion during the most difficult period of his life, and it was with the assistance of these friends that he had gradually rediscovered himself.


    The bond that he shared with those comrades were deep-rooted, so Tang Wulin was naturally ecstatic to see her.


    "Take a seat, Yuxue. Did Wuyue and the others come as well?" Tang Wulin asked with a smile.


    Long Yuxue nodded in response. "The Blood Dragon Squad is here in full."


    "That''s great! We were just having a meeting; why don''t you join us?"


    Thus, Long Yuxue sat down at the end of the table, but her gaze remained firmly fixed on Tang Wulin; none of the Limit Douluos present were able to attract any attention from her.


    Tang Wulin continued, "During the attack that is to be initiated tomorrow, everyone from Shrek Academy will remain by my side. Senior Cao, Senior Zang, I''ll have to ask you to lead the Tang Sect''s battle squad. Regardless of what happens, we''ll implement our original plan and constantly keep in touch."


    Cao Dezhi nodded in response.


    On a battlefield of this scale, all they could do was react to the unfolding situation.


    The battle squad was one of the Tang Sect''s secret weapons. It was only comprised of 2,000 members, but all of them were elite members of the Tang Sect.


    In the wake of the Shrek City bombing, the Tang Sect had suffered heavy losses, but this battle squad had been training in secret outside of the Tang Sect the entire time, and it could be said that they were the most important core force of the Tang Sect. The fact that they had been deployed here to face the abyssal plane was a clear testament to just how seriously the Tang Sect was taking this battle.


    "Yuxue, you''ll be responsible for facilitating communication so that we can contact the Central Legion at any time."


    "Yes!" Long Yuxue rose to her feet again as she gave a respectful response.


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Sit down. This isn''t the military; we don''t have that many rules here."


    Long Yuxue smiled and sat back down, and her eyes were glowing as she continued to appraise Tang Wulin.


    Not long ago, he had served as a soldier under her! When they had first met, all she had felt was that he was very good-looking, yet after just a few years, he was already standing at the pinnacle of the Soul Master world. After viewing the footage of Tang Wulin crushing Qiangu Dongfeng, Long Yuxue had been excited beyond belief!


    As a soldier who had lived her entire life in the military, she revered power above all else, and in her eyes, Tang Wulin was perfect. Thus, even though Jiang Wuyue was also very exceptional, she simply couldn''t bring herself to let go of Tang Wulin.


    She understood that as time passed, Tang Wulin was only getting further and further away from her, but she still couldn''t help but love him. This was a type of feeling that was very difficult to put into words.


    After discussing some more details, the meeting was concluded.


    As everyone was going back to rest, Tang Wulin asked Long Yeyue to stay behind after a brief hesitation.


    "Elder Long, I''ll invite Elder Chen to stay over here with us. The secondary tree of life has absorbed an enormous amount of energy, and its rich aura will be beneficial to him as well," Tang Wulin suggested in a low voice.


    Long Yeyue was silent for a moment before nodding in response. "Alright, but don''t tell him I know about this."


    "Alright." Tang Wulin was quite amused, but he maintained a perfectly serious facade.


    Only following Long Yeyue''s departure did Tang Wulin allow himself a quick chuckle. Hopefully, Elder Long and Elder Chen would mend their relationship over the course of this battle.


    Thus, he and Long Yuxue were the only ones left in the room. "Do you have any instructions for me, General Tang?"


    Tang Wulin smiled, and said, "Just refer to me by my name; I''ve abandoned my post as major general long ago."


    Long Yuxue also smiled, and said, "You seem to have lost weight."


    Tang Wulin lowered his head to look at himself. "I don''t think so. It''s probably just your imagination."


    Long Yuxue took a meaningful glance at him. "Perhaps. How have you been lately?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I was doing great until these abyssal creatures showed up. This situation is different from the abyssal tides in the past, and truth be told, I think the military is being too optimistic. This is an unmissable opportunity for both the abyssal plane and the Holy Spirit Cult, so they''ll be sure to do everything in their power to devour our plane. Currently, we''re still not even sure how much of their forces have descended upon our plane."


    Long Yuxue suddenly said, "You have too much on your shoulders; you need to give yourself some time to rest."


    Tang Wulin smiled, and replied, "Not at all! I don''t feel tired in the slightest. Perhaps this is what a sense of achievement feels like. I''m fine; you don''t have to worry about me."


    Long Yuxue sighed, "No, you''re not fine. We''ve been friends for so long; do you think I can''t tell? Whenever you think no one''s looking, your eyes are always so empty and dejected. You seem to have sealed off your own heart to avoid experiencing further pain. Is this really good for you? Do you even know what true happiness is anymore? Perhaps if you allow yourself to open up a little, the world will also open up to you in kind."


    Tang Wulin shuddered slightly upon hearing this. He didn''t think that Long Yuxue would be this perceptive. Indeed, he had already sealed off his own heart.

 Chapter 1778: Preparation For the Battle

    He had entered this state of mind following his defeat to Gu Yuena during the Joust For a Spouse event. From that time, he knew that there would be no way for him and Gu Yuena to be together in the short term.


    He didn''t know why Gu Yuena was doing this despite the fact that she clearly loved him, but he could sense that no matter what he did, there was no way he would be able to convince her to return to his side for now.


    This was simply far too painful and cruel for him to bear, so he had constantly been subconsciously rejecting this reality.


    There were too many things that he had to take care of, including his own cultivation, management of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, dealing with the Spirit Pagoda, dealing with the military¡­


    All of this required his attention and effort, and he had no time to waste on personal matters.


    Besides, he didn''t know what he was supposed to do anyway. Gu Yuena wasn''t going to come back voluntarily, and that led to a subconscious and perhaps irrational urge to become even more powerful.


    Perhaps only once he became sufficiently powerful would he be able to bring her back, so he had always been striving toward the pinnacle.


    At the same time, he could tell that Gu Yuena was also making rapid improvements. His only hope was that someday, when both of them stood at the very pinnacle of this world, no one would be able to stop them from being together.


    He had several theories pertaining to Gu Yuena''s identity, and he could only hope that the worst of those theories wasn''t the correct one.


    Long Yuxue''s words had struck a chord deep in Tang Wulin''s heart, and a dejected look quickly appeared in his eyes.


    Long Yuxue''s heart jolted slightly upon seeing this. This was the first time that she had ever seen Tang Wulin like this. He had been acting completely normal just a moment ago, yet he now seemed completely broken and lost.


    Was this still the same Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master who had held himself with so much composure in the face of so many Limit Douluos?


    "I''m sorry, Wulin. Are you alright?" Long Yuxue hurriedly asked.


    Tang Wulin shook his head as a hint of clarity returned to his eyes, and a wry smile appeared on his face. "You really are very observant. As you can see, if I allow myself to open up, I won''t be embracing happiness; I''ll only be releasing all of the negative emotions I''ve been repressing this entire time. Do you really think this is a good mental state for me to be in?"


    Long Yuxue fell silent upon hearing this. She didn''t know what to say to console Tang Wulin. After a long while, she finally said, "You''re being way too hard on yourself. My only hope is for you to be happy; can you do that for me? Perhaps we''ll never be together. You don''t have any room in your heart for me, but I''ll be satisfied as long as you''re happy."


    Tang Wulin sighed, "Why are you putting yourself through this, you silly girl? I''m not a good match for you. I''m someone who enjoys a quiet life the most. Before I turned six, I was constantly by my parents'' side, living a life with no worries or concerns. From six years of age, I began to study forging. Even though the days were very long and grueling, I had a target to work toward as I had an adorable little sister by my side. After that, I went away to study, and my parents suddenly disappeared. At the time, they had most likely been abducted by the Holy Spirit Cult or the Spirit Pagoda, and all of a sudden, I had no family.


    "It was her and my friends who had always been by my side throughout my youth. That was the most depressing period of my life, and she was the one who ensured that I remained grounded despite not knowing my place in the world. She was like a seed that had been planted into my heart, and before I knew it, that seed had grown into a massive tree."


    "Who is she? Is she the one who saved you during that abyssal tide?" Long Yuxue asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "She''s saved me more times than I can count. I don''t know why she can''t be with me, but I know that we only have room for each other in our hearts; that''s the final shred of hope that I''m clinging onto. After this battle, I''ll put an end to all of this; I''ll bring her back to my side no matter what."


    Long Yuxue nodded in a slightly sullen manner. "I''m really envious of her. How I wish I was the one who had planted that seed. Looks like I simply came around too late."


    A smile appeared on her face as she spoke, and it was slightly bitter, but also seemed to allow her to come to terms with some things.


    Just as Tang Wulin was about to say something, Long Yuxue suddenly asked, "Can I hug you? Just this once?"


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to reply, she quickly stepped forward and wound her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek tightly against his chest.


    Tang Wulin was struck by a reflexive urge to push her away, but he could feel her body trembling slightly, as well as a hint of moisture on his chest.


    He heaved a forlorn internal sigh and couldn''t bring himself to push her away in the end. Instead, he gently stroked her long hair in a consoling gesture.


    After a full minute had passed, Long Yuxue seemed to have finally worked up the courage to release him from her embrace.


    "Thank you. That puts an end to my one-sided first love. Can we still be friends in the future?" Long Yuxue was putting on a brave smile, but her eyes were still slightly red, and the smile was also rather strange.


    "Of course, we''ll always be friends," Tang Wulin replied in a firm voice.


    "Alright, I''m going now. Look after yourself."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "You should all move in to the nearby barracks; the aura of the secondary tree of life will be very beneficial to your cultivation and for improving your physical constitution. If you''re lucky, perhaps your martial soul could even undergo a positive mutation."


    "Alright, thank you." Long Yuxue seemed to have already returned to normal, and she extended a military salute toward Tang Wulin before departing.


    Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh of relief at the sight of her departing figure. If she really had let go of him in her heart, then that would be for the best. After all, he couldn''t give her anything, and he was afraid to hurt her, so it was ideal that he was able to make her understand the situation through relatively tactful means.


    Unbeknownst to him, in the instant that Long Yuxue walked out of his cabin, the tears came flowing uncontrollably down her face.


    Despite this, there was a smile of absolute determination on her face. "You''re a stubborn mule, but unfortunately, I''m just as stubborn as you are."


    The entire human army had already sprung into action, and the orders issued from the meeting were being carried out.


    At this point, over 700,000 troops had already gathered on the northern front, including over 400,000 ground units and close to 200,000 troops stationed on the three naval legions. This was primarily because the foot soldiers of the three naval legions had already arrived on land to further bolster the ground units.


    The ground units comprised the main firepower for this battle, and the naval legions were primarily there to lock down the coastline and assist the ground units with long-range fire.


    All of the preparatory work was complete by the next morning, upon which the leaders of the military and major Soul Master organizations gathered once again in the conference hall.


    After reports of all of the preparatory work were made, all that was left was to wait until the commencement of the attack.


    A faint yet determined smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. He had to give it his all in this battle.


    Due to the rejection of the plane, the Holy Lord most likely hadn''t descended upon the continent yet. Otherwise, as the Son of Nature and the one chosen by the plane, he would definitely be able to sense it if a godly being had arrived on the plane.


    He was hoping that the Holy Lord would never be able to descend upon this plane. It appeared that the rejection of the Douluo Plane was still considerably effective against the abyssal plane, but it was unclear how many abyssal emperors and sovereigns had already arrived.

 Chapter 1779: Deployment of Air Force Units

    There was definitely more than just the Black Sovereign. Currently, the key was to see just how effective modern weaponry would be against abyssal creatures.


    Around half an hour before noon, Yu Guanzhi suddenly opened his eyes as he said in the commander''s seat, then yelled, "Deploy the scout robots!"


    With that order issued, the battle finally commenced.


    Thousands of scout robots of all descriptions were instantly deployed, rushing toward the abyssal army.


    There were several dozens of large screens in the control center, and all of them adopted the first-person perspective of the scout drones as they flew rapidly toward the core circle of the northernmost region.


    Everyone''s attention was focused on the robots as they looked on with serious expressions, and the vast majority of robots were advancing very quickly, with the exception of those that were burrowing into the ground.


    "All departments get into position and get ready to depart. Make sure to maintain communication over the designated soul communication channel. The time for the final battle is upon us; I wish everyone the best of luck!" Yu Guanzhi declared.


    All of the leaders in the conference hall quickly departed, carrying soul communicators that were connected to military audiovisual equipment, allowing them to see the footage being captured by the scout robots.


    Even for federal soldiers, this was the first time they had ever participated in a battle of this scale, let alone the major Soul Master organizations. After all, when had the eight major legions ever acted as one? An army of such a grand scale hadn''t been assembled even in preparation for the invasion of the other two continents.


    In around two more days, the Southern Legion was going to arrive, and the army would be fully assembled.


    Tang Wulin and the others returned to the encampment near the secondary tree of life and were currently paying close attention to the footage being broadcast by the scout soul tools up ahead.


    The northernmost region was still a world covered in snow and ice, with freezing temperatures, fierce winds, and unforgiving conditions that made the region completely inhabitable to normal humans. Even in terms of soul beasts, there were only very few that had great affinity with snow and ice that could reside here.


    The perspective of the footage was constantly switching to different soul tools, and around 10 minutes later, the scout soul tool flying at the very forefront finally discovered the first signs of abyssal creatures.


    A four-clawed bat was flying through the air, and it seemed to have immediately noticed the scout soul tool, upon which it flew directly toward the soul tool.


    The scout soul tool was extremely fast and agile, instantly swiveling around to flee the scene like a miniature soul aircraft.


    These soul tools were all remote-controlled from afar and were far more agile than actual piloted aircraft.


    However, the four-clawed bat suddenly let loose a sharp screech, releasing a burst of invisible soundwaves that caused the scout soul tool to plummet rapidly out of the sky.


    The four-clawed bat then pounced onto the soul tool like lightning and destroyed it with a single claw strike.


    "That looks like a soundwave attack; all four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats possess this ability," Cao Dezhi remarked.


    Having faced abyssal creatures on so many past occasions, he naturally had a very thorough understanding of their abilities.


    There was a huge number of four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats in the abyssal plane, and they weren''t very powerful in battle, but they had outstanding scouting skills with soundwave abilities that allowed for both offense and defense.


    The scout soul tool was very fast, but it couldn''t outrun soundwaves, and it didn''t possess sufficient resistance against soundwave attacks, so it was instantly felled.


    Immediately thereafter, more and more scout soul tools began to appear, but more four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats also emerged to meet them.


    They were spread out in a very large area, keeping all scout efforts at bay.


    None of the scout soul tools were able to withstand the soundwave attacks, and large numbers of them quickly began to fall out of the sky.


    Similar situations had happened in the past, but the federal military had never deployed this many scout soul tools at once.


    The scout soul tools that were burrowing along underground would still take some more time to arrive on the front lines.


    At the control center, Yu Guanzhi issued an order through the public channel. "Deploy the First Air Regiment to conduct reconnaissance by fire."


    Everyone''s hearts stirred slightly upon hearing the term "reconnaissance by fire".


    Essentially, the First Air Regiment was putting their lives on the line to scout for the enemy''s location through active fire.


    At this point, Dong Zi''an had already returned to the control center of his Western Legion, and his eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this order. "Looks like Yu Guanzhi isn''t completely shameless."


    Qiangu Dongfeng was standing right beside him. "Hopefully a positive outcome arises from this."


    Dong Zi''an turned to him, and said, "I know what you''re thinking about, but everything has to be built upon the foundation of securing victory in this battle."


    Qiangu Dongfeng nodded in response, but the cold look in his eyes didn''t abate in the slightest. Many methods had been used to try and revitalize that disabled arm of his, but all to no avail, and that was a clear testament to the Golden Dragon Spear''s power. He harbored nothing but seething hatred for Tang Wulin.


    Unbeknownst to anyone else, he had received a message from Ghost Emperor through a special soul communication channel just the night before.


    A piercing shriek rang out as a series of silver soul aircrafts with the federation''s insignia imprinted upon them sped through the air, flying rapidly toward the core circle of the northernmost region.


    Each air regiment was comprised of around 50 fighter aircrafts, and this was generally consistent across all regions.


    Battle aircrafts were the most expensive war machines for the federal military, and even the Central Legion only had around 500 such aircrafts; this was already the most out of any legion.


    Fighter aircrafts weren''t as versatile as mechas, but they were far superior in speed. Of course, that speed advantage didn''t hold true in comparison to divine-grade mechas.


    In the military, purple mechas were the highest caliber of standard mechas that were distributed; all mechas above that level were personally owned by their pilots, so it would be unfair to compare them with the fighter aircrafts.


    At this moment, 50 fighter aircrafts were speeding through the air, and the field of view on the footage being broadcast was quickly widening, while the vantage point was also rising to a higher altitude, allowing everyone to see further ahead.


    The fighter aircrafts were extremely fast, and through optimal acceleration, they quickly broke through the sound barrier.


    Yu Guanzhi wore a grim expression as he looked on with tightly clenched fists. The First Air Regiment was comprised of the best fighter aircraft pilots the Central Legion had to offer; it was a part of the legion''s very core. Only the most important of missions were assigned to the First Air Regiment, and it had never disappointed him before.


    As the commander-in-chief in such a massive battle, Yu Guanzhi knew that he had to lead by example. If he weren''t even willing to risk his best troops, how could he expect others to do that? Of course, he didn''t want to send his troops to their deaths, so he immediately chose to deploy his strongest air regiment in the hope that this would minimize casualties.


    These 50 fighter aircrafts were the most cutting-edge aircrafts that the federation currently had to offer, and all of them were fitted with the most advanced radar and anti-jamming technology.


    Upon departing from the barracks, the aircrafts immediately split up with two aircrafts per group.


    Normally, in a group of two fighter aircrafts, there would be a lead aircraft and a wing aircraft.


    As the name implied, the lead aircraft led the way, and it was also responsible for attacking the enemy, while the wing aircraft acted as the lead aircraft''s guardian and lookout. If the two aircrafts could cooperate effectively, then they would be able to execute many battle techniques.


    It wasn''t always the case that a group was comprised of two fighter aircrafts, but the lower the number of aircrafts in a group, the more skilled the pilots in the group were implied to be.

 Chapter 1780: Fearsome Hornet Swarm!

    During a mission, the group with the fewest aircrafts would be the group most adept at completing the mission.


    Two aircrafts was the minimum number in a group, and the two would look after one another like a single entity.


    The 50 aircrafts of the First Air Regiment formed 25 groups that sped toward different coordinates, and that was already a clear reflection of their abilities.


    Even though Dong Zi''an was extremely averse to conceding inferiority to Yu Guanzhi in any aspect, he still couldn''t help but give a nod of approval upon seeing this. The First Air Regiment was one of Yu Guanzhi''s most prized trump cards, and it was a truly formidable force.


    As the aircrafts fanned out, the field of view began to widen massively.


    Having already broken through the sound barrier, these aircrafts were flying far faster than the scout soul tools, and they quickly began to approach the core circle of the northernmost region.


    Their arrival was obviously noticed by the bats, and at this point, the aircrafts were already flying at altitudes of over 3,000 meters.


    Four-clawed bats couldn''t reach such a high altitude; only the six-clawed bats were able to quickly rise up to meet the aircrafts.


    The first group of the First Air Regiment discovered the six-clawed bats up ahead first, and there were over 10 huge six-clawed bats converging toward them from all directions.


    Soundwave attacks were unleashed to encompass this entire area in an attempt to disrupt the equipment on the aircrafts, but the cutting-edge anti-jamming technology thwarted those attempts.


    The two aircrafts of the first group made no attempt to evade the six-clawed bats, flying directly toward them.


    Just as the two aircrafts were approaching the bats, two laser beams shot out from under the belly of the lead aircraft. The laser beams immediately began to extend toward either side, and they were followed by another two laser beams, then two more yet again.


    The six laser cannons beneath the aircraft were firing in waves at the six-clawed bats up ahead.


    The largest one of the six-clawed bats folded its wings together like a shield while positioning itself in front of all of its brethren.


    A string of dull thumps rang out, and the six laser beams tore six holes into its wings amid an agonized screech.


    However, the other six-clawed bats were already pouncing toward the pair of fighter aircrafts.


    Right at this moment, the two aircrafts performed an astonishing maneuver.


    The lead aircraft suddenly decelerated drastically, even pausing for a clear moment in mid-air. Immediately thereafter, the tip of the aircraft reared up as it performed a cobra maneuver, launching itself up into the sky like a rocket.


    At the same time, a faint green light barrier appeared around the aircraft. The wing aircraft had already decelerated along with the lead aircraft, and it seemed to have been drawn toward the green light barrier, orbiting in a tight circle around the lead aircraft.


    At the same time, a speck of red light could be seen shimmering on the front tip of the wing aircraft. There were no soul lasers being fired, but the red light was flashing rapidly.


    The surrounding six-clawed bats were just about to pounce toward the two aircrafts again, but all of a sudden, they stiffened on the spot before falling out of the sky, exploding into clouds of grey mist in mid-air.


    All of the soldiers who witnessed this let loose rousing cheers upon seeing this.


    These two aircraft pilots were truly among the cream of the crop to have made into the first group of the First Air Regiment. The maneuver they had just executed was extremely difficult to pull off in battle, especially when surrounded.


    After all of the six-clawed bats were killed, the green light barrier around the lead aircraft vanished, thereby releasing the wing aircraft, which immediately swiveled around before following the lead aircraft on an ascent to a higher altitude. The two aircrafts reached an altitude of over 7,000 meters in the blink of an eye, and that was too high even for six-clawed bats to reach them.


    After that, the two aircrafts swiveled around and descended on a nosedive as if they were in freefall while red light was flashing rapidly on their front tips. While in mid-air, they were constantly making minute changes in directions, but were able to target one six-clawed bat after another with unerring accuracy.


    All of the six-clawed bats in their wake quickly plummeted out of the sky before exploding in mid-air, and it quickly became apparent that both the fighter aircrafts were fitted with heavy ion laser guns; only this type of weapon could be so ruthlessly efficient and completely disregard the defensive prowess of the six-clawed bats.


    Similar scenes were unfolding in various different directions, and the six-clawed bats were no match for the elite First Air Regiment. In the face of their exceptional speed, dexterity, and offensive efficiency, one six-clawed bat after another was being reduced to grey mist, which was surging toward a certain direction.


    It was clear that the abyssal passageway lied in that direction.


    A faint smile appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face as he watched things unfold in the control center. Through this splendid display, the First Air Regiment was proving that he had been right to invest so much military fund into their training and development.


    However, his smile quickly turned into an expression of concern as he discovered what appeared to be a dark cloud approaching from the distance.


    There was no way that it was an actual cloud as no cloud could possibly move that quickly. Instead, it looked like a sandstorm.


    The closest lead aircraft immediately zoomed in on the dark cloud to get a clearer image, and all of the people in the control center drew a sharp breath at the sight of exactly what this dark cloud was.


    This wasn''t a cloud or a sandstorm at all; it was a mass comprised of countless fist-sized hornet-like creatures.


    All of them had inky-black bodies that were glistening with a metallic sheen, and each had six very small cicada-like wings on their backs. The swarm was flying extremely quickly while emitting a faint buzzing sound, and Yu Guanzhi immediately turned toward Zhang Huanyun. "What the hell are those things?"


    As a general who had extensive experience in battling abyssal creatures, Zhang Huanyun had been assigned the role of vice-commander to assist Yu Guanzhi.


    Zhang Huanyun replied in an urgent manner, "This is a new type of abyssal creature that I''ve never seen at the Blood God Legion. I suggest we get the First Air Regiment to come back right away as a safety precaution and attack from afar."


    Yu Guanzhi knew that there was no time to hesitate, and he immediately ordered, "First Air Regiment, retreat immediately. First defensive line, fire your long-range cannons and soul lasers to cover the First Air Regiment."


    Upon receiving this order, one massive cannon barrel after another extended out of the first defensive line, quickly changing direction according to the coordinates transmitted back to them by the First Air Regiment.


    Immediately thereafter, a string of loud booms rang out as thousands of laser beams shot forth into the distance.


    At the same time, the First Air Regiment immediately heeded the retreat order, and the 25 pairs of fighter aircrafts flew through the air in a series of beautiful arcs as they swiveled back around.


    However, right at this moment, the hornet-like abyssal creatures flying at the very front of the swarm began to display some changes.


    From the footage being captured by the First Air Regiment, it could be seen that the wings of these hornet-like creatures had begun to glow with green light.


    In fact, their wings were quickly disintegrating into this green light, but at the same time, their speed received a tremendous boost, allowing them to break the sound barrier almost instantaneously.


    Meanwhile, the First Air Regiment had only just swiveled around, and there was no way they could break the sound barrier so quickly. Thus, the entire air regiment was instantly inundated by the giant hornets that had sped up under the effect of the green light.

 Chapter 1781: ARuheng Enters the Fray

    "Boom, boom, boom, boom..."


    A string of loud booms rang out clearly in the control center through the soul communicator. The thunderous explosions were met by stunned silence from all those in the control center.


    The First Air Regiment had been completely wiped out...


    In such a short span of time, the First Air Regiment, which had earned countless accolades and firmly cemented itself as the premier air squadron of the Central Legion, had been completely decimated.


    Not even a single aircraft was able to emerge.


    Yu Guanzhi''s hands instantly balled up into tight fists, and thick veins began to bulge on his forehead.


    Never did he think that such a tragedy would take place, and he was struck by a bout of tightness in the chest.


    This was the best air squadron under his command! Had it really been decimated just like that?


    Only now did the thousands of laser beams reach the battlefield, where they sped toward the "dark cloud", but the swarm of hornets instantly spread themselves out through the air.


    As a result, the laser beams were only able to strike a very small proportion of the hornets, reducing an entirely insignificant number of them to grey mist. The 50 fighter aircrafts of the First Air Regiment didn''t even get a chance to self-detonate before they were erased off the face of this world.


    This was far too heavy a price to pay this early in the battle, and Yu Guanzhi was struggling to come to terms with what had just happened.


    Deep within the abyssal passageway, Ghost Emperor burst into raucous laughter. "Splendid! As expected of the Abyssal Bomber Hornets; your brethren are unmatched in mass destructive power, Hornet Sovereign!"


    At this moment, there were over 10 people standing deep within the cave. Ghost Emperor and Infernal Emperor were among them, and the rest possessed auras that were no less powerful than theirs.


    One of the people in the cave replied, "This is nothing; you haven''t even gotten to witness the true power of the abyss yet."


    This was the ruler of the eighth level of the abyss, Hornet Sovereign!


    Just like all of the nine sovereigns of the abyss, the Hornet Sovereign possessed a human form, and the fact that she was ranked above the Black Sovereign was already sufficient testament to her power.


    In contrast with a normal human, the Hornet Sovereign''s eyes were very attention-grabbing as they were at least twice as large as those of a normal person. Furthermore, they were circular in shape and glowing with green light, and if one were to look closely, they would discover that the eyes were comprised of countless compound eyes, presenting a harrowing sight to behold.


    The name "Abyssal Bomber Hornets" had been coined by Ghost Emperor, and the most fearsome thing about these hornets wasn''t their sheer numbers; it was the fact that they had a single commander whose orders they followed without question.


    The Hornet Sovereign was their sole commander, and to put it simply, each and every Abyssal Bomber Hornet could be said to be a part of the Hornet Sovereign''s body.


    The Hornet Sovereign was like the queen bee of the hive, communicating with her brethren through some special means, and all of the Abyssal Bomber Hornets carried out her orders with immediate effect as soon as they were transmitted by her will.


    The Abyssal Bomber Hornets had an enormous population, and they weren''t all that fearsome individually, but they possessed two abilities, one of which was to ignite their own wings to produce a burst of instantaneous propulsion force that would push them over the sound barrier, while the other one was to self-detonate to unleash fearsome destructive power.


    In a one-on-one battle, the Hornet Sovereign would be inferior to the Black Sovereign, but in a battle between races, even if there were two Black Sovereigns leading all of the Black Empresses, they would still be no match for the Hornet Sovereign.


    Even the sovereigns ranked above the Hornet Sovereign were very reluctant to engage her in battle as her style of battle was far too dangerous and insane.


    At this moment, there were some dark golden Abyssal Bomber Hornets flying around above the Hornet Sovereign. Each of them was around the size of a human head, and they were giving off cold and forbidding auras.


    Despite their limited numbers, Ghost Emperor was aware that all of them were extremely fearsome.


    Normal Abyssal Bomber Hornets could virtually be instantly resurrected as soon as their energy returned to the abyss, but it took far longer for these golden Abyssal Bomber Hornets to be resurrected, and there weren''t that many of them in total.


    At the moment, all of the Abyssal Bomber Hornets had dispersed themselves through the air so that the human army''s long-range attacks wouldn''t be able to fall upon concentrated clusters of hornets. They had a very simple goal, which was to keep all scouts from the human army at bay.


    At the control center, Yu Guanzhi took a deep breath to keep himself calm as he instructed, "Collate and analyze the data that we''ve received."


    Soon, a series of statistics were reported to him, quantifying the level of destructive power that each Abyssal Bomber Hornet released upon self-detonation.


    A single self-detonating Abyssal Bomber Hornet naturally wouldn''t be able to overwhelm a fighter aircraft''s protective barrier, but each aircraft had been bombarded by hundreds of explosions at once, so it was no wonder that the protective barriers were destroyed.


    In the face of such a fearsome explosion that covered such a huge area, no amount of technical proficiency would''ve been enough to ensure one''s survival.


    "According to our analysis, we discovered that the maximum duration of these hornets'' acceleration is most likely very limited. Even some of the hornets that didn''t manage to reach the First Air Regiment self-detonated after flying for a certain distance, so the best way to deal with them would be to wait for them to accelerate, then evade them and wait for them to self-detonate."


    That was the analysis from the advisor, but even the advisor himself was rather unconvinced by his proposed course of action.


    In order to evade the Abyssal Bomber Hornets after they commenced their acceleration, one would have to virtually instantly reach a speed that was superior to that of the hornets, and that was clearly an implausible feat.


    The demise of the First Air Regiment was truly a heavy loss. The loss of the fighter aircrafts was obviously very sobering, but what was even more worthy of anguish was the loss of those exceptional pilots. Who knew how long it would take to develop 50 more pilots of such an exceptional caliber?


    "Commander." A voice suddenly rang out from the soul communicator, and Yu Guanzhi faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    As the commander of the human army, the only ones who could directly contact him through this channel were the commanders of the major legions, as well as the leaders of the major Soul Master organizations.


    This was a very familiar voice; it belonged to none other than Tang Wulin.


    Yu Guanzhi was just preparing to issue the next set of orders, and he was rather displeased to be interrupted at a time like this. "Is there a problem, Sect Master Tang?"


    "Leave the scouting mission to us, Commander; we have someone perfect for the job," Tang Wulin replied.


    "You do? I''m sure you saw what happened just now; are you sure you have someone suitable?" Yu Guanzhi was clearly urging Tang Wulin not to make unnecessary sacrifices.


    If Tang Wulin hadn''t suddenly interrupted him, he would''ve already issued an order for the long-range weaponry units to bombard the location that Gu Yuena had scouted earlier.


    Tang Wulin replied, "Rest assured, Commander; I''m absolutely sure about this. If we can get your approval, we''ll act right away."


    "Alright, then I''ll be expecting good news from you," Yu Guanzhi replied without any hesitation.


    In contrast with blindly bombing an approximate area, it was naturally far better to establish the exact enemy location first.


    Inside a cabin near the secondary tree of life, someone beside Tang Wulin turned to him with a smile, and said, "I''m going now. It''s about time I put this body of mine to good use, haha!"


    Tang Wulin replied with a serious expression, "Don''t get careless, Senior Disciple Brother; make sure to remain vigilant at all times."


    A''Ruheng patted his shoulder with a reassuring smile. "Don''t worry, there''s no one in this world capable of killing me. I''m off!"


    He stepped out of the cabin as he spoke, and in the next instant, golden light flashed from his body as he shot up into the air like a cannonball, heading directly toward the core circle of the continent''s northernmost region.


    No one was more suited for this scouting mission than he was. Abyssal Bomber Hornets? More like Abysmal Fodder Hornets!


    Flying at full speed, A''Ruheng was fast enough to keep pace with even the fastest of fighter aircrafts, and shortly after rising up into the air, he had already broken the sound barrier as he sped into the distance.

 Chapter 1782: High Speed Advance

    All eyes, radars, and detection equipment were firmly locked on A''Ruheng, and in the next instant, the perspective inside the control center switched to that of the portable video recording device that A''Ruheng was carrying. On the screen, the scenery down below was rapidly flashing past, and a layer of faint golden light could also be seen.


    Yu Guanzhi looked on with tightly furrowed brows. He was still reeling from the abrupt loss of the First Air Regiment.


    "Is he really up to the task?" Yu Guanzhi murmured to himself in a skeptical manner.


    As the current Battle God Hall Master, Guan Yue was naturally also in the control center, and he made his way over to Yu Guanzhi. "If he''s not up to the task, then no one is."


    Yu Guanzhi turned to look at Guan Yue, whom he was not actually very familiar with.


    Chen Xinjie was far too influential a figure, to the extent that he had become the face of the Battle God Hall, while everyone merely thought Guan Yue to be Chen Xinjie''s sidekick.


    Everyone knew that Guan Yue was a Limit Douluo, but there were many figures even among the top brass of the federal military who didn''t even know what his martial soul was.


    Following Chen Xinjie''s resignation, he had used his own influence to promote Guan Yue to become the Battle God Hall Master despite fierce objections from all sides, and only then did Guan Yue truly appear in the public eye.


    Thus, Yu Guanzhi didn''t have much trust in Guan Yue. "Really now?"


    Guan Yue smiled, and replied, "This man possesses the most powerful body out of anyone I''ve ever seen."


    There was no need to offer any further explanation; A''Ruheng''s actions would do the talking for him.


    The human army was already situated on the border of the northernmost region, so it wouldn''t take long to reach the core circle at supersonic speeds.


    Sure enough, it didn''t take long before A''Ruheng caught sight of the vast expanse of Abyssal Bomber Hornets in the distance.


    These hornets were evenly distributed through the air, and from a distance, they were like countless black spots in the sky.


    A wide grin appeared on A''Ruheng''s face, and he made no effort to decelerate as he charged directly toward the swarm of hornets.


    The Abyssal Bomber Hornets were already on autopilot, and they reacted as soon as they detected the rapidly approaching A''Ruheng.


    The hornets closest to him were already flying quickly toward him while incinerating their own wings to achieve maximal acceleration.


    For them, the meaning of life was that final spectacular explosion.


    A''Ruheng chortled with glee as reddish-golden light flashed over his skin, and in the next instant, he was completely inundated by the oncoming hornets.


    A string of deafening explosions rang out in rapid succession, and the large screen in the control center instantly turned completely white.


    The thunderous booms also rang out within the control center through the audio recording equipment, making it sound as if the control center were also being bombed.


    Yu Guanzhi couldn''t help but slap a hand to his own forehead in dismay upon seeing this.


    "Hold on, General Yu; let''s keep watching," Guan Yue said with a smile.


    Yu Guanzhi faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he quickly also realized that something was off. The explosions were still raging incessantly with no signs of abating. If that man were already dead, the explosions would''ve already ceased!


    On the outskirts of the core circle, A''Ruheng was situated within a massive ball of fire from all of the explosions erupting around him, but this ball of fire was still rapidly advancing onward.


    The surrounding Abyssal Bomber Hornets converged rapidly toward A''Ruheng to bombard him even further, but regardless of how many of them self-detonated, the ball of fire didn''t pause even for a single moment; only wisps of grey mist were constantly billowing out of the fireball toward the abyss.


    These wisps of grey mist acted as the perfect guide for A''Ruheng, directing him closer and closer to the abyssal passageway.


    Under the Hornet Sovereign''s command, the Abyssal Bomber Hornets continued to rush toward him in a frenzy, but all of their efforts seemed to be completely futile.


    A short while later, so many hornets had perished that the fireball had transformed into a cloud of grey mist.


    Within the abyssal passageway, each and every one of the Hornet Sovereign''s compound eyes were flashing incessantly and independent of one another, making it appear as if there were countless stars in her eyes. She currently wore an astonished expression as it was completely inconceivable to her that a human''s body could withstand this many explosions.


    "How is this possible? How could there be a human with such incredible defensive prowess?"


    Ghost Emperor was also quite flabbergasted to see this. "Could it be a four-word battle armor master? But even a suit of four-word battle armor would be damaged by such sustained bombing; they really are sparing no expense in this scouting mission."


    "Let me see just how long he''s going to last!" the Hornet Sovereign harrumphed coldly.


    The Abyssal Bomber Hornet was virtually the most populous species in all of the abyssal plane, so she had no qualms sacrificing so many of her brethren. As long as their energy could return to the abyss, this rate of bombing could theoretically be kept up indefinitely with replenishment from the resurrected Abyssal Bomber Hornets on the eighth level of the abyss.


    A single Abyssal Bomber Hornet wasn''t much to fear, but there were simply too many of them!


    Even more Abyssal Bomber Hornets had formed a series of massive swarms under the Hornet Sovereign''s command, and they were speeding directly toward A''Ruheng like pillars of green light as their wings disintegrated.


    However, no matter how many hornets were detonated, the only thing that changed was the size and the density of the dark cloud around A''Ruheng. He was still enshrouded within the grey mist, but that wasn''t slowing him down in the slightest.


    In fact, the abyssal energy around him had become so dense that the Hornet Sovereign was struggling to track him!


    The explosions drew to a temporary halt, and at this point, the large screen in the control center was already completely grey without any discernible details.


    Through the other long-range surveillance soul tools, it could be seen that an extremely dense cloud of grey mist was currently surging rapidly through the air.


    It could be said that both sides were in a state of complete bemusement at what they were witnessing.


    As A''Ruheng continued to advance, a series of figures finally rose up from the abyssal passageway to meet him. The abyssal creatures were unfamiliar with how humans waged battles, but the Holy Spirit Cult was fully aware of what was happening.


    They knew exactly why the human army was so desperate to scout for their location, and what would happen once their location was ascertained.


    As such, the strategy for the abyssal army from the very beginning had been to thwart all scouting attempts made by the human army.


    They weren''t in a hurry at all as the longer they stalled, the more abyssal creatures would be able to arrive in this plane. They were also waiting for an opportunity, and this battle was basically going to be decided by a single showdown.


    Virtually all of the Douluo Federation''s troops were already gathered on the northern front, thereby creating the strongest possible human army to oppose the abyssal army, but at the same time, if the human army were to be defeated, then the entire continent would quickly fall.


    As such, both the human and abyssal armies were being very cautious, and neither side was going to reveal all of their trump cards unless they were absolutely confident in their ability to secure victory.


    The ones who had emerged to oppose A''Ruheng consisted primarily of Demonic Enchantresses and Black Empresses, both of which possessed exceptional combat prowess and were particularly adept in aerial combat.


    Several dozens of Black Empresses and Demonic Enchantresses had already converged around A''Ruheng, and a series of vortexes appeared in mid-air to quickly absorb the dense abyssal energy in the air. They had to locate their target first before they could begin attacking, and that required clearing away the obstructive abyssal energy.


    Right at this moment, the dense cloud of abyssal energy, which had already reached several hundred meters in diameter, suddenly underwent a shift.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1783: Coming and Going as One Pleased

    The dense cloud of abyssal energy that was surging toward the abyssal passageway suddenly drew to a halt right before it could be acted upon by the devouring vortexes conjured up by the Black Empresses.


    This was a very strange turn of events. Abyssal energy was a very special type of entity with no form or substance, so under normal circumstances, it wouldn''t be influenced by anything, and that was the main reason behind why the human race hadn''t been able to inflict any damage upon the abyssal plane for the 6,000 years prior to Tang Wulin''s emergence.


    As such, it was an extremely strange sight to be seeing such a massive mass of abyssal energy suspended in mid-air.


    In the next instant, the entire cloud of abyssal energy suddenly began to surge violently before rapidly revolving to form a vortex.


    All of the abyssal energy then abruptly collapsed in on itself right before the stunned Black Empresses and Demonic Enchantresses, rapidly shrinking before vanishing altogether in the blink of an eye.


    The large screen in the control center also suddenly cleared up, allowing everyone to see the Demonic Enchantresses and Black Empresses up ahead. The perspective shifted and was directed down toward the ground, where the massive abyssal army could be seen, organized into huge orderly sections. Due to the disruption from the countless flying abyssal creatures, the footage wasn''t very clear, but at the very least, the target had been established, and the coordinates were immediately transmitted to the control center.


    Immediately thereafter, they caught sight of a familiar face through the video recording soul tool being held by A''Ruheng.


    Tang Wulin was holding the Golden Dragon Spear, which had just devoured an enormous amount of abyssal energy and was radiating scintillating light.


    He then turned toward the camera with a smile, and declared, "Open fire at me!"


    As soon as his voice trailed off, he shot forth as a streak of golden light, reducing all of the Demonic Enchantresses and Black Empresses in his wake into grey energy, which was then devoured by his spear.


    "It''s him!" All of the powerful beings of the abyss and the Holy Spirit Cult in the abyssal passageway were stunned to see this.


    No one knew how Tang Wulin had arrived, nor how he had appeared within that cloud of abyssal energy. However, it was clear that the entire cloud of abyssal energy had just been devoured by his Golden Dragon Spear.


    The Hornet Sovereign let loose a pained roar as three pairs of huge transparent wings appeared on her back, and she flapped them vigorously as she rushed out of the abyssal passageway.


    How had Tang Wulin shown up here? That was something that only he and A''Ruheng knew.


    Right as A''Ruheng was about to set off for his scouting mission, Tang Wulin had given him three leaves from the tree of life. Each leaf was imbued with the abundant life energy of the tree of life and also contained the coordinates of life, which allowed Tang Wulin to instantly teleport to them as the Son of Nature.


    Even though the teleportation had expended some of the tree of life''s energy, the abyssal energy that had just been devoured was more than enough to make up for the loss.


    Inside the control center, Yu Guanzhi was stunned by what he was seeing, but there was no time to hesitate as opportunities in battle could slip away at any moment.


    "Lock onto the target and open fire!"


    In the distance, the main warships of the three naval legions began to turn their giant soul cannons toward the same direction.


    The Northern Legion, Western Legion, Northwestern Legion, and Central Legion also quickly began to adjust their long-range soul cannons.


    A string of deafening booms rang out, and the first round of cannon fire seemed to have woken up the entire northernmost region of the continent.


    Even those in the abyssal passageway in the core circle could hear faint traces of the thunderous commotion. A stir immediately ran through the abyssal army, and at this moment, Tang Wulin gave A''Ruheng a quick nod, following which a greenish-golden halo emerged from beneath his feet.


    In the next instant, he simply vanished amid a flash of light.


    At the same time, A''Ruheng swiveled around and plunged rapidly down toward the ground like a shooting star, smashing a hole straight into the earth that he disappeared into, sending powerful shockwaves surging outward in all directions.


    All of a sudden, the entire sky lit up, illuminated by countless soul artillery shells. Dense artillery fire filled virtually the entire sky, bathing all of the abyssal creatures down below in scintillating light.


    Of course, the abyssal army wasn''t just going to stand around and allow itself to be attacked. As soon as they heard the explosions in the distance, the abyssal creatures had immediately sprung into action.


    A series of massive Guardian Longhorned Beetles appeared within the abyssal army, spreading open their wings to form gigantic shields with diameters in excess of 100 meters to protect the abyssal creatures down below. At the same time, they were releasing dense purple light barriers that encompassed even larger areas. It was as if a series of massive semi-circular shields had appeared on the ground, encompassing the vast majority of abyssal creatures beneath them.


    High up in the sky where A''Ruheng had just been, a small and agile flying soul tool was broadcasting everything that was taking place down below straight to the control center.


    Everything had taken a drastic and abrupt turn.


    Immediately thereafter, a series of black dots rose up into the air to meet the artillery fire. These were all Abyssal Bomber Hornets, and they accelerated one after another in mid-air to intercept the oncoming artillery shells.


    At this point, the Hornet Sovereign had already regained her composure, and she was hovering in mid-air while her entire body had turned a semi-transparent green color.


    Ghost Emperor, Infernal Emperor, and all of the other powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult down below could clearly sense extremely powerful spiritual fluctuations currently emanating from her body.


    Among the nine sovereigns, the Hornet Sovereign was definitely the weakest when it came to individual combat prowess, but the Abyssal Bomber Hornets possessed the most fearsome overall combat prowess, and the key to this was the Hornet Sovereign''s control.


    The Hornet Sovereign possessed such immense spiritual power that she was able to accurately control the flight trajectory of each and every one of the hornets.


    A string of explosions erupted in the sky in rapid succession, creating a formidable energy storm.


    Then came the explosions on the ground, sending tremendous shockwaves sweeping through the entire area.


    It had to be said that the Abyssal Bomber Hornets had been very successful in their interception, and a large number of artillery shells had been detonated before reaching the abyssal army.


    However, once these artillery shells exploded, the Abyssal Bomber Hornets became a lot less useful as they were completely unable to approach the fearsome energy storm.


    Furthermore, this was only the beginning of the human army''s assault!


    In the control center, Yu Guanzhi was issuing one order after another without pause, and the artillery fire from the seven legions was being seamlessly sustained.


    So what if the first round had been stopped by the Abyssal Bomber Hornets? The second round had already arrived!


    Thus, a comprehensive carpet bombing ensued, and a doomsday-like scene began to unfold in the core circle.


    "Switch to the satellite signal!" Yu Guanzhi yelled.


    One of the screens in the control center instantly took on the perspective of a federal satellite, surveying the northernmost region of the continent from outer space.


    Just as Yu Guanzhi anticipated, the artillery fire had scattered much of the dense mist above the core circle, allowing everyone to see what was down below.


    "Zoom in!" Yu Guanzhi quickly made his way over to the screen as he carefully inspected it.


    The image was expanded, and a huge cave appeared on the screen. Due to the constant bombardment of artillery fire, there were many things that couldn''t be seen clearly, but it was apparent that the cave wasn''t being targeted as accurately as possible.


    "Lock onto the coordinates of the abyssal passageway, then adjust the direction of attack. Prepare 10 ninth-grade soul missiles to be fired toward the abyssal passageway at the same time!" Yu Guanzhi yelled in an excited voice.


    The orders continued to be issued and were instantly relayed by the advisors. Not far away from the control center, a series of silos were slowly opened, and 10 ninth-grade soul missiles had already been fitted into their launchers.


    It had been a very long time since 10 ninth-grade soul missiles had last been launched in unison in a battle.

 Chapter 1784: Blood River Godslayer Array

    A string of violent buzzing rang out, and one ninth-grade missile after another was launched up into the sky.


    All soul tools of the caliber of ninth-grade soul missiles gave off an extremely oppressive aura, and the sight of 10 ninth-grade soul missiles being launched at once was like a harbinger of armageddon.


    Enormous oppressive pressure surged toward the abyssal passageway, and at the same time, the artillery fire was also increasing in intensity, bombarding the abyssal army in a frenzy.


    Through the satellite image, it could be seen that huge plumes of grey abyssal energy were rising up into the air, so it was clear that the artillery fire was doing its job.


    Regardless of how defensively adept Guardian Longhorned Beetles were, there was a limit to their defensive prowess, and upon exceeding that limit, they would perish just like anything else.


    Furthermore, not all abyssal creatures had the honor of being protected by Guardian Longhorned Beetles.


    Amidst all the chaos, everyone failed to notice that a streak of golden light had burrowed its way out of the ground. A burst of powerful suction force appeared immediately thereafter, drawing upon the abyssal energy in the sky.


    Only when the abyssal energy began to surge toward the ground did anyone take notice, upon which it was discovered that Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had somehow reappeared on the battlefield.


    It turned out that Tang Wulin had returned to the battlefield using the second leaf. There was no way he was going to miss out on such a massive amount of abyssal energy! After all, his sole purpose on this battlefield was to transmit life energy to the tree of life while weakening the abyssal army.


    If it weren''t for the Golden Dragon Spear''s devouring ability, the human army could decimate the abyssal army countless times, and it would still be able to return in due time.


    However, right as Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear was beginning to display its power, a strange scene suddenly unfolded.


    A piercing cry rang out within the abyssal passageway, immediately following which a dense streak of purplish-black light rose up into the sky.


    Due to how close Tang Wulin was situated to the abyssal passageway, he was able to see the pillar of light at very close proximity, and he was stunned to discover that its diameter virtually matched that of the abyssal passageway itself.


    Even with his immensely powerful bloodline and physical constitution, he was still struck by an overwhelming sense of disgust, to the point that his chest was feeling tight and he was overcome by an intense bout of nausea.


    Tang Wulin was very alarmed by this. What exactly was that pillar of light?


    Immediately thereafter, the purplish-black pillar of light erupted into the heavens, then exploded to form a massive purplish-black light barrier.


    How big was this light barrier? It was massive enough to encompass the entire abyssal army.


    All of the artillery fire was kept at bay by this enormous light barrier, preventing it from falling upon the abyssal army.


    "This is bad! We have to get out of here!" Tang Wulin quickly grabbed onto A''Ruheng before attempting to connect with the secondary tree of life through his greenish-golden soul ring, only to discover that it wasn''t working.


    His connection with the secondary tree of life had been instantly cut off by this purplish-black light barrier, so he and A''Ruheng were trapped here.


    The 10 ninth-grade soul missiles finally arrived, and they bombarded the light barrier with tremendous explosive force.


    The light barrier began to tremble violently, and it was as if the very heavens were collapsing overhead. Even within the light barrier, violent tremors were surging through the area from the ferocious energy storm outside, and some of the weaker abyssal creatures simply disintegrated into abyssal energy that was absorbed by the Golden Dragon Spear.


    Tang Wulin immediately rushed toward one side of the light barrier with A''Ruheng. It was clear that this light barrier wasn''t just for defensive purposes; it was also designed to trap the two of them! Otherwise, it wouldn''t have appeared at such an inopportune time.


    Under these circumstances, Tang Wulin didn''t dare to hesitate. He knew that they only had a chance of escape if they could take advantage of the period of time during which the light barrier was opposing the ninth-grade soul missile explosions.


    "It''s too late to try and run now." An icy cold voice rang out, immediately following which a figure appeared before Tang Wulin''s duo; it was none other than Infernal King Douluo Harosha!


    Harosha swept his Infernal King Sword through the air, and a massive horde of infernal creatures immediately emerged from the ground.


    The infernal creatures were led by the death cavaliers, and they sealed off all avenues for escape.


    In the sky about, a series of giant green skulls emerged, heralding Ghost Emperor''s arrival.


    Following those two came Dark Bell, Dark Phoenix, and many other powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult. Even though there wasn''t a single abyssal creature present, it was clear that Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng were in deep trouble. After all, they were facing a formidable lineup that included two quasigods!


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear was still devouring an enormous amount of abyssal energy at a rapid rate, causing his aura to elevate steadily.


    With the support of this abyssal energy, he currently possessed battle stamina comparable to a quasigod.


    However, he still wasn''t a true quasigod, and both Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor possessed powers that were only slightly inferior to Yun Ming, so this was a completely dire situation.


    "We''ve been waiting for you for a long time. You could''ve stayed safe and sound behind your allies, but you had to try and be the hero, and now, you''re paying the price. The space within this Blood River Godslayer Array is completely sealed; let''s see how you''re going to teleport away now."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "Do you really think you can keep me here with this array? If it were really that simple, why would I have rushed into this situation so recklessly? I''m sure you''re just as aware as I am of how important I am in this battle. Seeing as you''re all here, let me see how many of you I can take down before I leave."


    Ghost Emperor raised an eyebrow at the sight of Tang Wulin''s confident display. "What a cocky little brat!"


    The nine skulls beside him pounced forward as he spoke, blasting nine streams of green flames directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Did Tang Wulin really have the ability to get away? Of course he did. Just as he said, he was very much aware of how important he was to this battle; if he were to die on the front lines, the Golden Dragon Spear would be lost, and it would become extremely difficult for the human army to completely repress the abyssal army. Thus, he had prepared a backup plan.


    While it was true that his connection with the secondary tree of life had been severed, don''t forget that there was still the tree of life itself!


    The tree of life had already completely awakened, and as the Son of Nature, his life force resonated strongly with the tree of life, which would allow him to teleport to the tree of life on a whim.


    This Blood River Godslayer Array was indeed extremely powerful, able to keep 10 ninth-grade soul missiles at bay while remaining intact, but it was still limited to the realm of humans and wasn''t a godly creation. In contrast, the core of the tree of life was a part of the planar ruler, which was a godly being.


    Perhaps the tree of life couldn''t directly participate in a battle, but it was an entity of a higher caliber than this array, so Tang Wulin wasn''t bluffing when he said that he could leave at anytime.


    However, if he were to take that route, he would return directly to Shrek Academy, and it would take quite some time for him to return to the front lines. Perhaps he could then teleport himself back to the secondary tree of life, but that would require the expenditure of too much life energy, and it wasn''t an option that he would choose unless he had no other alternatives.


    If it weren''t for the trump card in the form of the tree of life, he wouldn''t have rushed ahead in the first place, but at the same time, this was a trump card that he didn''t want to use.


    Tang Wulin harbored even more hatred for the Holy Spirit Cult than the abyssal plane. These people were clearly human, yet their ultimate goal was to destroy the entire continent for personal benefit; they were beyond redemption and deserved to die the most torturous of deaths.

 Chapter 1785: Unexpected Rescue

    Forcing their way out of this Blood River Godslayer Array was most likely not a viable option, so their only choice was to teleport back to the tree of life.


    However, the Holy Spirit Cult never failed to stoke the flames of vengeful hatred in Tang Wulin''s heart, and he couldn''t bear to just leave like this.


    There was still an enormous amount of abyssal energy on this battlefield, enough to support him through a grueling battle, and prior to teleporting away, he wanted to kill as many of his opponents as possible.


    With his and A''Ruheng''s physical constitutions, even a quasigod would find it quite difficult to kill them.


    Tang Wulin raised his Golden Dragon Spear up above his head, and a powerful unyielding aura erupted forth. The image of the figure that had opposed Tang San on that mountaintop surfaced deep in his heart once again, and his eyes were filled with a sense of unmatched pride, as if he were looking down even on heaven and earth.


    Restrict Heaven and Earth, Dragon Emperor Fight!


    As soon as Dragon Emperor Fight was unleashed, even Dark Bell and Dark Phoenix, who were both close to the Limit Douluo level, were struck by a sense of astonishment.


    They had witnessed Tang Wulin in this state through some footage, but at the time, everything had seemed quite inexplicable to them; it was as if Qiangu Dongfeng had suddenly become weaker for some reason in Tang Wulin''s presence.


    However, now that they were facing Dragon Emperor Fight themselves, they finally came to realize just how fearsome the pressure exerted by this technique was.


    "This is a divine technique!" Ghost Emperor exclaimed.


    All of them knew that there was no way that Tang Wulin was a god, but the aura being released by Dragon Emperor Fight definitely wasn''t something that a human was capable of exhibiting. Even though Tang Wulin was only emulating this aura, it was still infinitely approaching the godly level.


    His next attack was definitely going to be extremely devastating.


    In the face of his Dragon Emperor Fight, even the quasigod level Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor didn''t have the courage to directly attack him as they knew that doing so would subject them to the full brunt of this godly aura.


    Right at this moment, a very faint voice suddenly rang out beside Tang Wulin''s ears.


    "You have to get out of here!" The voice was barely audible, but was rather familiar. Immediately thereafter, the ground beneath Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng''s feet suddenly softened, and a burst of suction force erupted from down below.


    At Tang Wulin''s cultivation rank, his sixth sense was extremely sharp, and it was telling him that the owner of this voice was trustworthy. Thus, Tang Wulin made the snap decision to go along with what was happening.


    Thus, just as all of the powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult were anticipating a devastating attack from Tang Wulin, he and A''Ruheng suddenly sank into the earth and vanished on the spot.


    Even Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor were still affected by the aura released by Dragon Emperor Fight, thereby preventing them from reacting until it was already too late. In the next instant, both Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng''s auras had completely disappeared.


    Ghost Emperor and Infernal Emperor were stunned to see this, and they immediately unleashed a fierce barrage of attacks toward the ground.


    The Blood River Godslayer Array''s defenses covered the ground as well, so their attacks were kept at bay. Where had Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng gone?


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng returned to the secondary tree of life amid a flash of light.


    At this point, all of the Limit Douluos were already waiting anxiously around the tree. They believed that no harm would befall Tang Wulin, but that still didn''t prevent them from growing nervous as time passed.


    The Holy Spirit Douluo immediately rushed over in an urgent manner. "Don''t ever take a risk like that again! What is that purple thing?"


    She instantly sent a beam of holy light shining down upon Tang Wulin, and only after making sure he was unharmed did she allow herself to heave a huge sigh of relief.


    A''Ruheng turned to Tang Wulin with a perplexed expression. "What happened? Weren''t we supposed to be unable to teleport away?"


    Tang Wulin was no less befuddled. "Someone helped us by tearing a rift into the Blood River Godslayer Array. Even though it was only for an instant, that was enough for me to contact the secondary tree of life and teleport the two of us back here."


    That''s right, as soon as the voice and the suction force appeared, Tang Wulin had immediately sensed the aura of the secondary tree of life. A rift had been opened up in the Blood River Godslayer Array, and he had used that to teleport himself and A''Ruheng away.


    This sounded very simple, but the fact that their rescuer was able to tear a rift into an array with such incredible defensive prowess indicated that they had to be a core member of the Holy Spirit Cult or the abyssal plane.


    The abyssal creatures wanted nothing more than to have him dead, so there was no way that they would release him, but Tang Wulin couldn''t recall anyone from the Holy Spirit Cult he shared a positive relationship with, either!


    He had been surrounded by sworn enemies, so who was the one that had helped him?


    The voice at the time was extremely faint, and he had been struck by a sense of familiarity and a willingness to trust the owner of the voice, but he couldn''t identify who the voice belonged to.


    After Tang Wulin recounted what had happened, everyone from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy was also unable to think of anyone from the Holy Spirit Cult that would be on their side.


    Even though Tang Wulin wasn''t a member of the federal military, everyone was aware of just how important he was for the human army, and one of the main reasons that the Blood River Godslayer Array had been activated was most likely to trap him!


    Under those circumstances, which member of the Holy Spirit Cult would''ve had the incentive to release him?


    "Let''s set this matter aside for now. Fortunately, I didn''t have to teleport back to the academy. How are things going on the front lines?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Cao Dezhi replied, "Not good. We failed to achieve what we wanted, and if you hadn''t snuck in to devour some abyssal energy, there would be nothing to show for our efforts. Take a look."


    All of the long-distance surveillance soul tools were aimed at the abyssal passageway, and the massive purplish-black light barrier was visible in the distance.


    The explosive power of the 10 ninth-grade soul missiles had already run out, but the Blood River Godslayer Array didn''t seem to have been damaged at all.


    Countless abyssal creatures were flooding out of the abyssal passageway, making the abyssal army appear denser than ever and presenting a harrowing sight to behold.


    The artillery fire had already ceased after it was discovered that the 10 ninth-grade soul missiles had proven to be ineffective.


    Even 10 ninth-grade soul missiles at once hadn''t done anything, so normal artillery fire would just be a waste, and as a result, the assault had to cease.


    "By the way, did you just mention the Blood River Godslayer Array?" Zang Xin suddenly asked.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I did. Have you heard of it?"


    Zang Xin''s brows furrowed tightly as an intensely furious look appeared in his eyes. "Those bastards! No wonder they had to kill so many people; it was all for this!"


    Even Cao Dezhi was rather taken aback by his reaction. "What are you talking about?"


    Zang Xin took a deep breath to compose himself, and explained, "I once came across an ancient tome that contained the inheritance of an Evil Soul Master, and the final section of the tome contained some details about the Blood River Godslayer Array."

 Chapter 1786: Blood River Godslayer Array

    "The tome stated that a sacrifice of 10,000,000 has to be made to create this array!" Zang Xin closed his eyes with a pained expression as he spoke.


    "10,000,000?!" Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    Zang Xin nodded in confirmation. "That''s right. The blood and souls of 10,000,000 people have to be offered up as tribute as a prerequisite to creating the Blood River Godslayer Array. On top of that, it needs to be overseen by an extremely powerful Evil Soul Master. This array uses a special core formation to exacerbate the resentment of the dead souls, then convert this resentment into energy to support the formation. As for the blood, it acts as a medium using which they can control the souls."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes immediately widened as something dawned on him. "Then doesn''t that mean the residents of Shrek City..."


    He couldn''t bring himself to finish his sentence.


    During the Shrek City bombing, millions of people had perished, and the Holy Spirit Cult had been the main perpetrator.


    Those millions of souls had all been harvested and injected into this Blood River Godslayer Array!


    In addition to that, there was also the Heaven Dou City bombing; that was the city with the highest population density on the entire continent!


    These Evil Soul Masters had gathered over 10,000,000 souls from these disasters to complete this formation!


    In the beginning, Tang Wulin had thought that the abyssal plane had created the Blood River Godslayer Array, but it was the Holy Spirit Cult instead!


    Tears of fury and grief began to well up in everyone''s eyes. How many of the souls in that Blood River Godslayer Array had come from the past Shrek City? Just the thought of this was driving daggers into their hearts.


    "Those bastards! They don''t deserve to be human!" A''Ruheng roared.


    Tang Wulin''s fists were tightly clenched as he asked, "Aside from its defensive prowess, what other ability does this Blood River Godslayer Array have?"


    Zang Xin replied, "It''s capable of devouring souls. All life forms that perish within the array will immediately have their souls devoured by the array to strengthen it, and that''ll happen until the array reaches its tolerance limit. Furthermore, the most fearsome thing about this array is the ''Godslayer'' part. This doesn''t mean that it''s capable of killing a god. Instead, it can create a god through slaughter. By killing a huge number of life forms and devouring their souls, the person overseeing the array will have their powers elevated to the godly level, and if I''m not mistaken, the overseer of the array should be Demon Sovereign, the true leader of the Holy Spirit Cult."


    Indeed, there was no way that Demon Sovereign wouldn''t be involved in such a major event.


    "But their Blood River Godslayer Array was activated in the abyssal passageway and can only encompass that area, so all it can do is passively defend. We can''t break through it, but how will they be able to do anything about it?" A''Ruheng asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Zang Xin''s face. "If only it were that simple. Following the formation of the array, its core is its overseer, and the array will move alongside its core. Hence, we''re going to be facing a direct assault from the abyssal army and the Blood River Godslayer Array. The most terrifying thing about all of this is that if we suffer too many casualties, there''s a very good chance that Demon Sovereign will be able to forcibly elevate themselves to godhood through slaughter!"


    Everyone''s expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.


    The prospect of the Holy Lord potentially descending upon the Douluo Plane was already extremely concerning; if Demon Sovereign could elevate themselves to godhood as well, then this battle would be as good as lost.


    "Report!"


    Long Yuxue quickly made her way into the room, and she heaved an internal sigh of relief upon catching sight of Tang Wulin. "The control center is inviting Sect Master Tang and the esteemed Heartless Douluo for a meeting."


    Tang Wulin and Cao Dezhi exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and both of them had an inkling of what this meeting was going to be about.


    However, there was no time for speculation, and the two of them immediately made their way to the control center without delay.


    The atmosphere inside the control center was very heavy, and all of the military officials in the room wore grim expressions.


    The battle had only just begun, yet they had been forced to cease their assault due to the astonishing defensive might of the Blood River Godslayer Array. Even 10 ninth-grade soul missiles had been unable to breach it.


    There was no way to stack the explosive power of soul missiles, so they could only attack the array from different angles, but that clearly wasn''t going to work.


    Furthermore, ninth-grade soul missiles were already the most powerful weapons normally allocated to federal legions.


    "The situation is very dire. If I''m not mistaken, there''s a very good chance that the light barrier is something known as the Blood River Godslayer Array," Chen Xinjie said with a grim expression.


    The fact that Chen Xinjie was aware of this array indicated that all of the military officials in the room were most likely already aware of the Blood River Godslayer Array''s power.


    Sure enough, Chen Xinjie gave everyone a description of what the array was capable of, and his description was even more detailed than the one provided by Zang Xin.


    "The Blood River Godslayer Array will become more and more powerful the more souls it devours, and that power will be reciprocated to its overseer. If that person is Demon Sovereign, then there''s a very good chance they''ll ascend to godhood with the array''s assistance. Even if they don''t succeed, they''ll be infinitely approaching the godly level, and with current technology, there won''t be any way to stop them."


    Chen Xinjie''s expression had become very grim. No one wanted to face such a fearsome enemy, and just as he had said, the situation was indeed very dire.


    Yu Guanzhi sighed, "I didn''t think that the destructive capabilities of our weapons would be so sorely lacking."


    "What if we use heavy ion laser weapons?" Guan Yue asked.


    "Extensive calculations have been made, and the conclusion is that heavy ion laser weapons may be able to pierce through the array to strike some of the abyssal creatures inside, but it won''t be able to break the array. On top of that, high intensity heavy ion lasers have a very limited range, and the amount of damage they can inflict is also rather lackluster."


    Ninth-grade soul missiles were already the most fearsome of the regulation weapons. Even though soul weaponry had diversified significantly over the years, not many improvements had been made when it came to the peak destructive weapons.


    Developments in this area had been attempted during the creation of the godslayer missiles, but all projects of this nature had to be terminated due to excessive resource expenditure.


    The research in source positive circulation cores was heading in the right direction, but it required too much uncommon metals to sustain; even the Tang Sect was only able to craft a single divine-grade mecha with this technology.


    Yu Guanzhi turned his gaze toward Tang Wulin as he spoke. "We''ll only be able to break this Blood River Godslayer Array if we can deploy an even more powerful soul weapon, and we must do this as soon as possible."


    Tang Wulin''s expression remained unchanged, but he knew that he had guessed right. Yu Guanzhi was clearly implying that the deployment of Eternal Heaven was necessary, and that was why Tang Wulin and Cao Dezhi had been invited to attend this meeting.


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had gone to great lengths to obtain Eternal Heaven, and it was the key to their steady development. With Eternal Heaven in their possession, neither the federation nor the Spirit Pagoda would dare to do anything to them, so Tang Wulin was very reluctant to offer the weapon to the military.


    However, if he refused, how were they going to break the Blood River Godslayer Array? It was simply far too difficult to break the array through the power of individuals. With that in mind, Tang Wulin turned to Cao Dezhi, who was also looking back at him, and their eyes met.


    Tang Wulin pursed his lips and gave a reluctant nod. "There will be a sufficiently powerful weapon soon."

 Chapter 1787: Evolution of the Tree of Life

    Yu Guanzhi''s eyes lit up upon hearing this, and even Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression changed slightly as he appraised Tang Wulin.


    Everyone knew exactly what Eternal Heaven entailed. For an organization, owning such a weapon was essentially like owning a permanent get-out-of-jail-free card!


    Qiangu Dongfeng knew that if he were in Tang Wulin''s shoes, he would come up with all types of excuses to placate Yu Guanzhi and would only offer up the missile when there was absolutely no other alternative.


    Considering what the Tang Sect had always stood for, he knew that there was a very good chance they would offer up the missile, but he didn''t think that Tang Wulin would be so decisive about it. He didn''t seem to have hesitated at all, nor did he try to delay the decision, and that came as quite a surprise to Qiangu Dongfeng.


    After making this decision, Tang Wulin''s expression remained largely unchanged.


    He couldn''t afford to hesitate at a time like this. Even the slightest hesitation could afford the abyssal plane and the Holy Spirit Cult an opportunity to invade the continent, resulting in the demise of countless people, and in that situation, he would be indirectly responsible for such a disaster.


    Perhaps Eternal Heaven was being put to perfect use on the abyssal plane and the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Thus, he had immediately made the decision without much thought.


    On the way here, he had already carefully considered how he was going to respond to such a request.


    If the Blood River Godslayer Array didn''t exist, he would obviously try to turn down the request, but after witnessing the array''s formidable power, that was no longer an option for him. Perhaps Eternal Heaven really was the only thing that could break the array.


    Cao Dezhi gave Tang Wulin a slight nod of approval. He was obviously also very reluctant to hand over Eternal Heaven, but what else could they do?


    Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect weren''t like the Spirit Pagoda; they couldn''t be so selfish and only think about themselves.


    Besides, how could the Tang Sect and the Shrek Academy continue to exist if the entire continent were to fall?


    Yu Guanzhi was clearly deeply moved by this decision, as was Chen Xinjie.


    The fact that Eternal Heaven was in the hands of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect couldn''t be made known to everyone, so Yu Guanzhi could only mention the matter implicitly. In his eyes, Tang Wulin would''ve at least had to go back to discuss the matter with everyone else, but he hadn''t done that.


    This was the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy! For the past 20,000 years, they had always stood on the side of justice and morality.


    The rest of the meeting quickly passed by, and at the end, Yu Guanzhi and Chen Xinjie asked Tang Wulin and Cao Dezhi to stay behind.


    All of the advisors and everyone else had been instructed to vacate the room.


    Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi exchanged a glance before both of them suddenly stood up straight and extended a military salute toward Tang Wulin and Cao Dezhi.


    "Thank you." Yu Guanzhi seemed to only be able to barely keep his emotions in check.


    As one of the members of the military''s top brass, he knew exactly what Eternal Heaven entailed.


    Tang Wulin sighed, "We''re only doing what''s to be expected of us. In the face of such a major crisis, all selfishness must be set aside. There''s no need to thank us; I''ll return to Shrek Academy right away and be back with Eternal Heaven in a day at most."


    Yu Guanzhi said, "If the Tang Sect or Shrek Academy ever needs any favors from myself or my family, feel free to approach me. From now on, the Central Legion will be your closest ally."


    For someone of Yu Guanzhi''s status to make such a declaration indicated that a very large section of the military was going to be supporting Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect from now on.


    "That''s also what I wanted to say," Chen Xinjie said as he appraised Tang Wulin with unadulterated approval in his eyes.


    "Yun Ming chose the right successor, and as did you, Old Man Cao. I must admit that I really envy you! From now on, the Battle God Hall and the Sea God Legion will also be close allies of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy."


    In the past, he only had a personal connection with Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect due to his relationship with Long Yeyue, but in the wake of Tang Wulin''s decision to hand over Eternal Heaven, he had chosen to fully side with the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    Among the three leading figures in the military, two had already expressed support of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and this was something that had never happened since the founding of the Douluo Federation.


    Tang Wulin said, "Then I''ll be going now. During my absence, I''ll have to trouble you to keep the Blood River Godslayer Array at bay."


    Chen Xinjie nodded in response. "Don''t you worry about that. We may not have enough firepower to destroy the array, but keeping it at bay is not an issue. We''re going to be entering a battle of attrition now. The Blood River Godslayer Array may be extremely powerful, but it most likely requires support from many powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane. We may not be able to outlast them, but we won''t have any issues in the short term."


    "Alright, I''m going now." Tang Wulin didn''t delay as he released his greenish-golden soul ring, and his entire body instantly turned a translucent green color. Rich life energy began to emanate from his body, and the entire surrounding area was suddenly filled with vitality as Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi looked on with amazement in their eyes.


    They were naturally aware that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had some special tricks up their sleeves, and it had been quite shocking for them witnessing Tang Wulin advancing and retreating on the battlefield as he pleased.


    However, it was the first time they were seeing this, and they couldn''t help but wonder if this caliber of life energy was really something that a human could be exhibiting.


    Before they had a chance to think about this any further, Tang Wulin had already vanished amid a flash of green light.


    "Let''s discuss the battle plan next. Prior to the destruction of the Blood River Godslayer Array, all we can do is hold the fort."


    At the Sea God''s Lake.


    Tang Wulin found himself immersed in a warm sensation, and when he opened his eyes, he was already deep underwater.


    A light barrier had formed naturally around him to keep the water of the lake at bay, and he was instantly struck by a sense of closeness with the tree of life that stood up ahead.


    However, seeing the tree of life gave him quite a shock as the tree had undergone some changes since his departure.


    In the past, the trunk of the tree of life hadn''t looked much different from that of a normal tree, but there was a clear difference now.


    The entire tree of life was glowing with faint golden light, and this light was surging toward Tang Wulin in the form of rich life energy, warming his entire body. Even the surrounding water of the lake had been illuminated a bluish-golden color.


    Furthermore, the tree of life had become even more massive; the top of its canopy was already close to the surface of the lake. Its leaves were also giving off faint golden light, and some of the leaves'' veins seemed to be turning golden.


    As the Son of Nature, Tang Wulin was immediately struck by the impression that the tree of life was about to evolve.


    Tang Wulin was ecstatic to see this, and he immediately focused on transmitting a question toward it.


    The tree of life quickly gave a response, but it wasn''t very clear, indicating that it was currently not in a very lucid state of mind. However, it had definitively told Tang Wulin that it was indeed undergoing evolution, and that the evolution process would be complete once all of its leaves turned golden.

 Chapter 1788: Ling Zichens Conditions

    The process would evolve the tree of life into the Golden Tree, recovering it to its former glory. In fact, due to the fact that the tree of life had been reborn, it would only become superior to the old Golden Tree following its evolution. By the time the evolution was complete, the canopy of the tree would also emerge out of the lake.


    This was fantastic news, and Tang Wulin was ecstatic to hear it.


    At the same time, the tree of life told him that the primary catalyst behind this evolution was the enormous amount of life energy Tang Wulin had transmitted back to it. The nourishing effect that devouring abyssal energy had on the tree of life was very pronounced, and the higher the caliber of the abyssal creature, the higher the level of abyssal energy they possessed. The tree of life required more energy like this to facilitate its evolution, so it was asking Tang Wulin to devour more abyssal energy for it where possible.


    "I''ll be sure to do my best." After extending a respectful bow toward the tree of life, Tang Wulin emerged from the lake before rising up into the air.


    Just as he was flying toward the main school building, he noticed another change.


    To his surprise, the bare and barren banks of the Sea God''s Lake were now teeming with greenery, and the thriving plants were none other than the Bluesilver Grass that he was most familiar with.


    His own martial soul was Bluesilver Emperor, so he was naturally very excited to see so much Bluesilver Grass. Upon sensing his aura, the Bluesilver Grass would all involuntarily sway in his direction.


    Looking down from above, Tang Wulin could see a huge light blue circle around the giant Sea God''s Lake. In contrast with normal Bluesilver Grass, the Bluesilver Grass here was more translucent, and it gave off a faint silver hue under the illumination of sunlight.


    The moist and refreshing air carried with it the faint fragrance of plants, and Tang Wulin felt as if he were in paradise.


    An indescribable sense of emotion welled up in his heart, further fueling his determination to protect Shrek Academy and the continent from forces of evil.


    He pulled out his soul communicator before dialing a number, and a familiar voice quickly rang out on the other end of the line.


    "What''s up?"


    "I''m back. Where are you right now?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "You''re back already? Did something happen on the front lines?" the voice on the other end asked in a concerned manner.


    "I''m fine. I''ll tell you about it face-to-face."


    Five minutes later, Tang Wulin arrived before Ling Zichen.


    Many of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect''s most powerful beings had departed, so Ling Zichen was looking after things in Shrek City.


    With her present, all of the soul defense systems could be activated at a moment''s notice, so there was no need to fear any surprise attacks.


    "What? You want to take Eternal Heaven? No, that''s unacceptable!" Ling Zichen''s voice had instantly spiked up a few octaves. Recently, she had been working hard to change herself, working hard on making herself more gentle and approachable, especially in the presence of Tang Wulin.


    However, Eternal Heaven was her reverse scale, and the mere mention of it being taken away immediately made her revert back to her mad scientist persona.


    Tang Wulin sighed, "Listen to me, Zichen; the entire continent is about to face a major crisis, so this isn''t just about our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy anymore. Eternal Heaven is perhaps the only thing that can destroy the Blood River Godslayer Array, and that thing must be destroyed, so there are no other alternatives available to us."


    Ever since Ling Zichen had begun studying eternal heaven, her research had been progressing by leaps and bounds.


    Eternal Heaven was a masterpiece created by many generations of the most brilliant scientists, and it had given her tremendous inspiration.


    "Then what if it fails to break the array?" Ling Zichen protested. She really couldn''t bear to part with Eternal Heaven!


    The deeper she studied the missile, the more she came to understand just how incredibly amazing it was. It was an absolute marvel of scientific engineering that such an enormous amount of power had been concentrated in such a small soul missile. For her, studying Eternal Heaven was immensely beneficial. Furthermore, in the eyes of scientists, this wasn''t a weapon; it was an artistic masterpiece of technological excellence.


    When Ling Zichen first got ahold of Eternal Heaven, she had slept by its side for the first half a month, and almost every night, she was giggling herself awake.


    The prospect of having Eternal Heaven taken away immediately brought tears to her eyes.


    "I''m sorry, Zichen, but we have to use it. Even if it doesn''t work, we still have to try. Otherwise, there''s a very good chance that the Blood River Godslayer Array will create a god, and if that happens, the entire continent will face destruction! I can understand what you''re feeling, but we have to look at the greater good, and there''s simply no other choice. Please go and prepare the missile."


    Ling Zichen glowered intently at him with tears swimming in her eyes, displaying no intention to move.


    Tang Wulin opened his mouth to say something, but couldn''t bring himself to say anything further at the sight of her pitiable display.


    Just as he made up his mind and was about to take a more assertive stance, Ling Zichen suddenly threw her arms around him and burst into tears.


    "I don''t want to give up Eternal Heaven! My mother and father were involved in its creation; seeing it is like seeing my parents, like having them by my side. I really don''t want to give it up. Please don''t take it away; I''m begging you!"


    Tears also welled up in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this, and he gently returned Ling Zichen''s embrace. He could fully empathize with what she was feeling. Back when his foster parents had vanished, he had dreamt of them countless times, and their absence was like a void in his heart.


    In the wake of their "deaths", he would''ve perhaps already had a mental breakdown had his birth father not appeared to give him a glimmer of hope.


    Ling Zichen''s parents had already passed away, and Eternal Heaven was like a psychological pillar for her, so he knew exactly how she felt, but what else could he do?


    He gently patted Ling Zichen''s back, and consoled, "I''m sorry, Zichen, but we have no choice. Your parents would''ve wanted to see their creation be used to protect the continent as well, so perhaps this is the best outcome. Perhaps we''ll never be able to develop another weapon like Eternal Heaven again. At the very least, it''s better for a weapon of such massive destructive capability to be used on a battlefield than to act as a constant threat that could explode at any time elsewhere on the continent. Even after Eternal Heaven ceases to exist, the technology left behind by your parents will live on, and that''s what you should remember them by."


    Ling Zichen''s body was shaking with sobs, but she discovered that she felt very safe in Tang Wulin''s embrace.


    All of a sudden, she raised her head to look up at Tang Wulin.


    "You have to agree to two of my conditions."


    "Go on," Tang Wulin sighed.


    Under these circumstances, he had to satisfy virtually any request that Ling Zichen had.


    "Firstly, you have to take me with you; only in my hands can Eternal Heaven''s power be maximized."


    Tang Wulin immediately nodded in agreement. "That''s not an issue."


    Ling Zichen continued, "My second condition is that I want some of your blood for my research."


    "My blood?" Tang Wulin was rather perplexed by this request.


    Ling Zichen explained, "Aside from soul technology, my research also branches into biotechnology, so I want some of your blood. An exceptional prodigy like you must have some very special genes, and I want to study them."

 Chapter 1789: Tang Wulins Blood

    "Alright, how much do you want?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Ling Zichen replied, "Not much, just 10 drops will be enough."


    "Do you want it now?"


    "Yes!"


    It wasn''t easy to extract blood from Tang Wulin in his current form. His body was almost as powerful as A''Ruheng''s Invincible Vajra Body, and unless a divine weapon was used, it would be virtually impossible to leave so much as a single scratch on him, particularly when he was always using his Golden Dragon Body to further bolster his defense in battle.


    10 minutes later, the tears in Ling Zichen''s eyes were gone, and she was examining some blood inside a test tube with an amazed expression.


    Looking at the intense interest in her eyes, Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless. Weren''t her emotions fluctuating a little too quickly?


    The blood had been extracted from his hand through a small gash inflicted by the Golden Dragon Spear, and it was very much different from the blood of a normal person.


    The blood was of a reddish-golden color and seemed to possess life force of its own. It was constantly writhing and twisting inside the test tube, looking more like a solid than a liquid.


    Even for Tang Wulin, this was the first time he was seeing his own blood, and he could vaguely sense the Golden Dragon King aura imbued within the blood.


    It was no wonder that Ling Zichen was so excited; this was the first time she had seen blood that was capable of moving on its own. Furthermore, she had certain ulterior motives.


    She took a furtive glance at Tang Wulin to find that he was appraising her with a perplexed expression, and she hurriedly shifted her gaze elsewhere as a warm smile appeared on her face.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but shudder at the sight of her benevolent smile. For some reason, he couldn''t shake the feeling that something wasn''t quite right.


    "What kind of research do you want to do with my blood?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Ling Zichen immediately put on a serious expression, and replied, "I want to research its genetic makeup, of course. If we can develop some genetic medicines capable of enhancing one''s powers using your blood, then our Tang Sect will be able to make money even faster than the Spirit Pagoda!"


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless upon hearing this, and before he could ask any further questions, Ling Zichen said, "Wait for me here; I''ll go get Eternal Heaven."


    Thus, Ling Zichen made her way to the research institute in Shrek Academy on her own.


    This research center had been founded by her, and following some discussion with Shrek Academy, Ling Zichen intended to add a new technological subject to Shrek Academy''s curriculum.


    During the past 20,000 years, Shrek Academy''s education had been rather lacking in diversity, mainly focusing on subjects related to Soul Masters, and during a certain period, subjects related to Soul Engineers were also offered. However, with the invention and popularisation of battle armor, these Soul Engineer subjects were gradually made redundant.


    Ling Zichen suggested that aside from nurturing Soul Masters, Shrek Academy had to develop talented individuals in all fields. If Shrek Academy could cultivate a more diverse range of talent, then their alumni would take up posts in all fields all over the continent, and the chances of a tragedy like the Shrek City bombing being repeated would be significantly lower.


    Following a discussion held during a Sea God''s Pavilion meeting, Shrek Academy decided to take Ling Zichen''s suggestion onboard.


    During the next enrolment period, Shrek Academy was going to broaden its student intake to include those with lackluster Soul Master aptitude, but made up for it with intelligence.


    This was the basis upon which Ling Zichen''s research institute was founded, and it was owned by both the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, thereby allowing it to draw upon resources from both organizations. Of course, Ling Zichen was the one in charge of the research institute.


    The institute was situated deep underground and was connected with the sanctuary beneath the Sea God''s Lake.


    As a perfectionist, Ling Zichen had ensured that the research institute was built to withstand attacks on par with the power of Eternal Heaven, and even though it had cost an enormous amount of money to make her vision a reality, this was definitely the most impregnable research institute in the entire federation.


    After passing through a few metal doors, Ling Zichen rode an exclusive elevator downward. After over 10 minutes and two elevator changes, she finally arrived in a massive underground laboratory.


    If Tang Wulin had followed her to this place, he would''ve definitely been astonished by what he saw.


    This laboratory belonged exclusively to Ling Zichen, and currently, it was a complete mess with uncommon metals and different parts strewn all over the place.


    Atop a giant bench at the center of the laboratory sat a silver soul missile, which was slightly smaller than the average soul missile.


    Its silver shell was very streamlined, and the front third of it was translucent with a light source glowing inside it.


    The light was generated by 1,080 source positive circulation cores in the missile, and that was the source of the missile''s power.


    The rear half of the missile had been opened up, and some extremely intricate and tiny parts could be seen within.


    Ling Zichen''s lips twitched slightly as she murmured to herself, "I wonder how he''d react if he finds out I''m taking Eternal Heaven apart. They all thought I was fortifying the lab to defend against external attacks, but it''s actually because I''m afraid this thing might explode! Well, it looks like it won''t have a chance to explode here anymore. Now then, let me see if I can remember how to reassemble this thing..."


    Tang Wulin had always known that Ling Zichen was insane, but this degree of insanity would most likely bring even him to his knees...


    Over an hour later, Ling Zichen finally completed the reassembly of the missile, and a triumphant smile appeared on her face. "All done! Am I impressive or what? If I had enough resources, perhaps I really would be able to create another Eternal Heaven."


    She carefully stowed the missile into her storage soul tool as she spoke, and only then did she heave a sigh of relief.


    "He must be growing impatient, but I have to make him wait a little longer. Hehehehe, I bet he has no idea what I''m going to do with his blood. Hahaha, if I succeed with the experiment, I''ll be striking gold!"


    She made her way over to one side of the laboratory as she spoke, then pressed a very well concealed button, upon which a metal door instantly opened to reveal an independent space.


    In contrast with the messy laboratory, this independent room was very pristine and orderly. It was only around a third the size of the laboratory outside, but all types of intricate devices were being stored within it.


    At the very center of the room was a huge vat that seemed to have been constructed from glass. The vat was full of transparent liquid and all types of tubes, and within the liquid was a person.


    This wasn''t any particular person. In fact, it didn''t even have any facial features and was completely lifeless.


    Ling Zichen chuckled to herself, "I wonder what a clone of Tang Wulin will be like. Once I successfully create one, I''ll be able to abuse it as I please, hehehehe."


    ......


    Tang Wulin really was growing rather impatient. It had been two hours since Ling Zichen''s departure, and if she had gone anywhere else, he would''ve already gone to find her. However, the defenses of the laboratory were so formidable that even with his power, it would take him a long time to force his way in. As such, all he could do was wait.


    Finally, the elevator door opened, and Ling Zichen emerged from within.

 Chapter 1790: Whats the Big Deal?

    She currently wore a serious expression, and as soon as she caught sight of Tang Wulin, she said, "Let''s go!"


    Tang Wulin''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. Was she not going to provide an explanation for her prolonged absence?


    In any case, this wasn''t the time to be asking questions; time was of the essence!


    Thus, the two of them emerged from the academy and arrived beside the Sea God''s Lake. Tang Wulin turned to Ling Zichen, and said, "Please pardon me, I''m going to need to hold your hand from here."


    Ling Zichen rolled her eyes in response. "What''s the big deal? We''ve already hugged; holding hands is nothing." She offered a hand to Tang Wulin in a casual manner as she spoke.


    Tang Wulin cleared his throat in an awkward manner as a resigned look appeared on his face.


    He grabbed onto her hand, and soul power enveloped both of their bodies as they plunged into the Sea God''s Lake together.


    Soon, they arrived beside the secondary tree of life, and the very earth in the distance seemed to be tremoring as bursts of loud rumbling rang out in the distance.


    The Limit Douluos had detected Tang Wulin''s aura, and they quickly arrived on the scene.


    The fact that Ling Zichen was with him was a clear indication that they had brought Eternal Heaven with them. Tang Wulin hurriedly asked, "What''s the situation like?"


    Cao Dezhi replied, "The situation is currently still quite stable. After some discussion, the control center has decided to constantly bombard the array. In doing so, we''ll be expending a lot of artillery fire, but they''ll also have to expend energy to maintain the array. At the moment, it doesn''t look like the Blood River Godslayer Array is showing any signs of moving, and it doesn''t seem to be sufficiently stable to be moving anywhere, either."


    Tang Wulin was quite relieved to hear this. "That''s good to hear. Let''s go to the control center, Senior Cao. Zichen, you stay here for now; all of the other seniors will protect you, and we''ll take you over to the control center later."


    Even though Eternal Heaven had arrived, further planning was required to determine how to use it.


    In the abyssal passageway.


    Purplish-black light was surging incessantly above the giant altar, yet the figure standing at the very center of the altar had turned a purplish-golden color.


    A terrifying aura was proliferating outward incessantly, and six people were seated around the altar. To be more accurate, these were six humanoid creatures, including the likes of the Black Sovereign, the Hornet Sovereign, and other rulers of the abyss.


    Their auras were currently surging incessantly toward the altar between them, while Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor looked on with intensely frenetic eyes.


    Ghost Emperor murmured to himself, "We''re finally about to succeed! After so many years of careful planning, the end is finally near. You must be very excited, right, Old Man Ha? After Demon Sovereign succeeds, we''ll be the next to attain godhood through slaughter."


    Harosha nodded in response, and the look in his eyes was even more frenzied than that of Ghost Emperor. "I am indeed very excited. This is what we''ve been hoping for all along. If Demon Sovereign manages to succeed, we''ll know that the path we''ve been pursuing is the correct one, and it''ll be worth everything that we''ve given to the abyssal plane."


    That''s right, a deal had been struck between the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane.


    The Holy Spirit Cult naturally hadn''t agreed to open up a new passageway for the abyssal plane free of charge.


    For them, the ultimate objective was to complete the Blood River Godslayer Array, but due to how heinous a creation it was, the heavens itself would attempt to strike down the array countless times during its creation.


    Only with the protection of many powerful beings could the array be successfully created, so the agreement between the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane was that in exchange for opening up a new abyssal passageway, the abyssal plane had to lend the Holy Spirit Cult sufficient assistance to complete the Blood River Godslayer Array.


    This was a mutually beneficial deal for both sides. The abyssal plane wanted life energy, while the Holy Spirit Cult wanted death energy, so there was no conflict of interest.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had calculated that even though it would cost them greatly to open a new abyssal passageway, the assistance they would receive from the abyssal plane would more than make up for that.


    Furthermore, the Holy Spirit Cult could use the abyssal army to create more widespread slaughter, thereby generating more death energy that they could absorb while concealed in the shadows, enhancing themselves while taking minimal risk.


    Of course, the most important benefit that the Holy Spirit Cult could derive from this deal was the creation of the Blood River Godslayer Array. This was a path for Evil Soul Masters to attain godhood that had been discovered after countless generations of research by the Holy Spirit Cult.


    If they couldn''t abide by the natural order to climb their way to the top, then they would just have to defy the natural order and walk the path of evil to its very conclusion.


    If they could successfully create a god on the back of 10,000,000 sacrifices, then the god created would be the ultimate God of Evil.


    If the Douluo Plane were still under the protection of a Divine Realm, then this would be nothing more than a suicidal pursuit, but with the Divine Realm gone, new possibilities arose, including the possibility to create another Divine Realm.


    Thus, following a discussion with the abyssal plane, a plan was established. The Holy Spirit Cult made the first show of sincerity by helping the abyssal plane open up a new passageway, but in exchange, the abyssal plane had to help them complete the Blood River Godslayer Array.


    Of course, they didn''t tell the abyssal plane that this array was meant to create a god; they had merely told the abyssal plane that the array possessed incredible defensive properties that would minimize casualties on their side.


    Once Demon Sovereign attained godhood, Infernal Emperor and Ghost Emperor would follow, and with a God of Evil already in existence, it would be far easier to create the Blood River Godslayer Array again. The Holy Lord was restricted by this plane, so there was virtually no way that he could descend upon the Douluo Continent. As such, even if the abyssal army were displeased by the Holy Spirit Cult''s deception, they wouldn''t be able to do anything in the face of a God of Evil. At the end of the day, the Holy Spirit Cult would be in complete control, and judging from how things had progressed thus far, the abyssal plane was a very trustworthy partner in crime.


    After a few quasigod level sovereigns descended upon this plane, they immediately assisted Demon Sovereign in completing the array.


    This was why Tang Wulin and A''Ruheng had only seen powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult, but none from the abyssal plane earlier.


    Enveloped within the purplish-golden light, the true appearance of Demon Sovereign had been revealed.


    She was a stunning woman who appeared to be in her thirties, and both her figure and looks were impeccable.


    At the center of her forehead was a purplish-golden crystal that was radiating scintillating light, and even though there weren''t any soul rings around her, her aura was elevating at an astonishing rate.


    Layers of rippling light occasionally appeared over the surface of her skin, and even though the constant bombing was still continuing outside, the Blood River Godslayer Array remained completely resolute.


    A terrifying aura swirled through the air, constantly stacking on top of itself layer upon layer to create an explosive effect, but this had no bearing on the abyssal creatures inside.


    The Black Sovereign slowly opened her eyes as she sat beside the altar, revealing a pair of gleaming eyes that resembled black gems. She took a glance up at Demon Sovereign, and a barely detectable cold smile appeared on her face.


    She then closed her eyes again and focused on injecting her abyssal energy into the array.


    ......


    At the control center.


    "I suggest we initiate the bombing right away."


    There were only four people in the control center, namely Chen Xinjie, Yu Guanzhi, Tang Wulin, and Cao Dezhi, and the one who had spoken was Tang Wulin.


    "If this Blood River Godslayer Array could move, then it would be like a mobile fortress, and it would''ve attacked us long ago. The fact that it still hasn''t moved indicates that there are several possible scenarios. Perhaps the Blood River Godslayer Array still hasn''t fully taken shape, perhaps the array has already accumulated enough power to elevate its overseer to godhood, or perhaps there are more powerful abyssal creatures that have yet to arrive on our continent. Regardless, it''s in our best interest to take care of the array as soon as possible."


    Yu Guanzhi nodded in agreement. "I concur."


    "As do I," Chen Xinjie chimed in, "The issue now is how we''re going to use Eternal Heaven. Due to the special nature of godslayer missiles, they affect everything around them, and all powerful beings at or above a certain level will be able to detect it. If it does get discovered, I''m worried that the abyssal creatures will intercept it in mid-air in a kamikaze attack, thereby preventing the full extent of Eternal Heaven''s power from reaching the Blood River Godslayer Array."


    Tang Wulin said, "That is indeed a possibility, and that''s why I''ve brought the head researcher of the Tang Sect with me. She says that she''s confident in her ability to maximize Eternal Heaven''s power; how about we invite her to discuss this matter with us?"

 Chapter 1791: Fearmongering?

    Chen Xinjie replied, "The Tang Sect has always had the most advanced soul technology in the federation, so I think that''s a good idea."


    Yu Guanzhi also nodded in agreement.


    By the time Ling Zichen was brought to the control center by Tang Wulin, all of the preparatory work was already underway.


    Everyone else had continued the discussion, and upon witnessing Tang Wulin''s return, Yu Guanzhi cut straight to the chase. "This is the plan: we''re going to launch another batch of ninth-grade soul missiles to shake the Blood River Godslayer Array and also use the power of the explosions to disguise Eternal Heaven''s aura. Eternal Heaven will be launched slightly after the ninth-grade soul missiles, and it''ll be detonated right as the explosions of the ninth-grade soul missiles reach peak power."


    Tang Wulin was just about to reply when Ling Zichen said, "That won''t work."


    Everyone present immediately directed their attention toward her.


    In reality, Yu Guanzhi wasn''t taking Ling Zichen very seriously. She was far too young, and even though she was already close to 30 years of age, she only looked to be in her early twenties.


    As such, he was rather displeased to hear such a blunt interjection from her, and his brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "May I ask who this is?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "This is the head researcher of our Tang Sect Soul Weapon Research Institute, Madam Ling Zichen."


    Ling Zichen rolled her eyes at him in a display of exasperation. "Madam my arse! Just call me Head Researcher Ling."


    Yu Guanzhi faltered slightly upon hearing this before asking, "What do you suggest then, Head Researcher Ling?"


    Ling Zichen made her way over to the table, and said, "Your plan is completely useless. Do you really think the aura of Eternal Heaven can be concealed by other soul weapons? What a load of horse dung! What do you take Eternal Heaven for?"


    Yu Guanzhi''s raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. Never had anyone spoken to him in such an impolite manner, not even Dong Zi''an.


    Cao Dezhi aimed a stern glance at Ling Zichen, and scolded, "Zichen, don''t be rude."


    Ling Zichen harrumphed, "I''m just stating the facts. I''m the only one here who truly understands the power of Eternal Heaven. There''s no need to do any preparatory work; once Eternal Heaven locks onto a target, nothing will be able to stand in its way. To put it in simpler terms, Eternal Heaven is capable of destroying the entire core circle of the northernmost region; there''s no way that Blood River Godslayer Array will be able to withstand its power."


    Everyone was astonished to hear this.


    The core circle of the northernmost region was a massive area that took up far more land than the past Shrek City had; could a single missile really destroy such an enormous area?


    Ling Zichen continued, "Don''t believe me? Put it this way: multiply the power of the two other godslayer missiles combined by three and you''ll get roughly the power output of Eternal Heaven, so there''s no need to worry about the Blood River Godslayer Array withstanding its explosion. What you DO have to worry about is whether the explosion will cause a shift in the tectonic plates. If you destroy the ice shelves in the core circle, sea levels will rise so significantly that the entire continent will be inundated."


    "What?!"


    Everyone present was astonished to hear this, and never did they think that Ling Zichen would raise such an issue to them.


    Ling Zichen continued, "The ice shelves in the northernmost region contain over 80% of all of the freshwater on the entire Douluo Star, and according to my calculations, the heat produced by Eternal Heaven''s explosion will be enough to melt at least a third of those ice shelves. As a result, sea levels will rise significantly, causing tsunamis all over the entire continent, as well as even the Star Dou Continent and Dou Spirit Continent. The damage caused will be immeasurable, so it''s absolutely idiotic to use Eternal Heaven directly. That thing isn''t a weapon; it''s a disaster in a metal shell."


    Tang Wulin drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, and everyone was rooted to the spot.


    Yu Guanzhi asked, "But how will we break that Blood River Godslayer Array if we don''t use Eternal Heaven?"


    Ling Zichen replied, "That''s where technology comes in. It''s not that Eternal Heaven can''t be used; it''s just a matter of how it''s used. I highly suggest only using a portion of its power and restricting that power to a certain area. Your objective is only to break the array, right?"


    Tang Wulin asked, "Can you elaborate on that, Zichen? How can we restrict the power of Eternal Heaven to a certain area?"


    "We have to disassemble it," Ling Zichen replied in a nonchalant manner.


    Everyone''s jaws immediately dropped to the ground.


    "Disassemble it?"


    Ling Zichen smiled, and confirmed, "That''s right! Eternal Heaven is comprised of many source positive circulation cores, and if we can transform it from a missile into a super weapon, we''ll be able to use it multiple times. I don''t know exactly how many times we''ll be able to use it, but at the very least, we''ll be able to better control its power so that it won''t set off a massive explosion that''ll threaten the entire continent."


    Cao Dezhi''s eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this.


    If Eternal Heaven could be transformed into a super weapon that could be used multiple times, then the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy would still be able to retain it after this battle.


    "How confident are you that this will work?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Ling Zichen replied, "About 80% confident. Having said that, if things don''t go as planned, the missile will explode, so you''ll have to be mentally prepared for that."


    Tang Wulin and Cao Dezhi were quite familiar with Ling Zichen, so they weren''t all that surprised to hear this, but Yu Guanzhi and Chen Xinjie both felt as if their blood pressure were spiking through the roof!


    How could she be talking about this so nonchalantly? Had she not just mentioned the repercussions if the missile were to explode?


    Ling Zichen shrugged, and said, "That''s why I suggest you take me to the other side of that array. If I fail in my modification, the missile will explode, and it''ll be enough to destroy the array."


    Yu Guanzhi and Chen Xinjie exchanged a quiet glance upon hearing this, and the latter asked, "If the explosion does cause sea levels to rise, how severe would the repercussions be?"


    Ling Zichen replied, "I don''t know. Places at high altitudes should be fine, but the rest will most likely be inundated. You should probably notify the federation in advance and evacuate all low-lying areas."


    Yu Guanzhi was developing a throbbing headache. Notify the federation? If only it were that easy! If the general public were to hear the truth, everyone would fly into a panic!


    Both he and Chen Xinjie had thought that they would simply be able to directly use Eternal Heaven; neither of them anticipated that there would be so many problems.


    If they weren''t in the northernmost region with all those ice shelves, the problem of sea level rising wouldn''t exist, but what were they supposed to do here?


    Ling Zichen added, "Don''t think that you''d be able to use this missile elsewhere; Eternal Heaven is powerful enough to wipe out all life in any place, and the affected area would definitely be beyond your imagination. On top of that, more damage will be done even after the explosion, and it''s not impossible for the explosion to cause tectonic shifts. For example, if you were to throw the missile into a volcano, then unimaginably fearsome disasters would most likely follow, and it wouldn''t be much different from armageddon.


    "As such, it''s actually the best-case scenario that we''re in the northernmost region, where barely anyone resides. That''s all I have to say; you have to make the decision as quickly as possible. Do you want me to modify Eternal Heaven, or do you want to try something else?"


    "Is there no other way?" Tang Wulin asked.

 Chapter 1792: Modifying Eternal Heaven?

    Ling Zichen shrugged in response. "There are other alternatives. However, if you want to set off Eternal Heaven directly, then there''s only one way to minimize the damage it''ll do to our continent, and that''s to throw it deep into the abyssal passageway prior to detonation. In that case, the explosion won''t even take place on our continent, so it naturally won''t affect our side."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. This didn''t seem to be all that implausible. After all, the Blood God Legion was guarding another abyssal passageway.


    However, the thought was dashed from his mind almost as soon as it appeared. Even if they were to bomb the abyssal plane itself, that wouldn''t resolve the threat of the Blood River Godslayer Array. Furthermore, none of them knew exactly how the abyssal plane operated; what if the explosion couldn''t truly harm the abyssal plane at all?


    In addition, unless he accompanied the missile, even if the explosion were to kill a huge number of abyssal creatures, there would be no one around to devour the abyssal energy, so all of the killed abyssal creatures would eventually be resurrected, leaving nothing to show for their efforts.


    After considering the situation, Chen Xinjie quickly arrived at a decision. "Guanzhi, report our situation to the federation immediately. Head Researcher Ling, please prepare to make the modifications."


    Ling Zichen nodded in response.


    "How long would the modifications take to complete?" Yu Guanzhi asked.


    Ling Zichen replied, "At least two days, and I require Tang Wulin''s assistance. With his help, both the success rate and rate of progress will be higher."


    "No way!" the three Limit Douluos blurted out almost in perfect unison; even Tang Wulin was quite startled by their urgent reactions.


    Cao Dezhi glared at Ling Zichen, and said, "That''s out of the question. Don''t you know how important Wulin is to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy? If something were to happen to him, what would become of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy?"


    Chen Xinjie chimed in, "Indeed. On top of that, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy aren''t the only ones who need him; everyone on this battlefield is depending on his Golden Dragon Spear to chip away at the abyssal plane, so we can''t allow him to be put in any harm''s way. As an alternative, I can get the military''s best blacksmiths and soul weaponry experts to assist you."


    Ling Zichen thought about this for a moment before replying, "That can also work, but the success rate will be lower because I require Wulin''s heavenly refinement to forge the metals necessary for the shell of the super weapon; any metals of lower calibers won''t be able to withstand the energy changes that take place within the weapon. As I''m sure you''re all aware, the shell of Eternal Heaven was constructed from heavenly refined metals, but the metal is still of a far lower quality than what Wulin is able to forge. On top of that, new parts are required for the modifications, and that won''t be possible without a Divine Blacksmith."


    Cao Dezhi suggested, "Then you can get Wulin to forge whatever parts you require here according to your specifications."


    Ling Zichen pouted in response. "I knew you cared more about him than me. Why aren''t you concerned about my safety?"


    Cao Dezhi sighed, "Of course I care about you. I watched you grow up, and in my heart, you''re no different from a daughter to me. However, Wulin is different; he is the future of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. He won''t be accompanying you, but both Old Man Zang and I will be present, and we''ll do everything in our power to save you if something goes wrong. If we can''t get away, then we''ll just have to stay with you until the bitter end."


    Cao Dezhi was speaking in a very nonchalant manner, but both Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi were struck by a sense of respect and admiration toward him. This was the spirit of the Tang Sect!


    "Old Man Cao, this may be our final battle together, but I''m proud to have a comrade like you!" Yu Guanzhi said with a serious expression.


    Cao Dezhi smiled, and replied, "Don''t get all mushy on me; I''m doing this for the Tang Sect, not for you! If the modification of Eternal Heaven is successful, it''ll remain a weapon of our Tang Sect, and it won''t have anything to do with you. Anyway, that''s enough talk; go and inform the federation of the current situation. In the meantime, we''ll begin our preparatory work. We''ll have to count on you to keep the enemies at bay. Two days isn''t a long time, but it''s definitely not a short time, either."


    Thus, Tang Wulin, Cao Dezhi, and Ling Zichen returned to the barracks for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.


    Upon their return, Cao Dezhi turned to Ling Zichen with a stern expression, and said, "Alright, tell me what the success rate actually is."


    Ling Zichen put on a cheeky smile, and replied, "What do you mean? Didn''t I already say what the success rate was back there?"


    Cao Dezhi harrumphed, "Don''t try that on me; I know you better than anyone else. This is not a laughing matter, so tell me the truth."


    Ling Zichen stuck out her tongue in a sheepish manner, then replied, "There''s actually no risk with the modification process, but there will be some risk with the usage of the super weapon as no one knows how powerful the weapon will be. On top of that, I''m the only one capable of using it as no one else truly understands the unique properties of source positive circulation cores."


    Cao Dezhi gently flicked her on the forehead in a gesture of exasperation. "What if something goes wrong during the modification process? Will Eternal Heaven be affected?"


    Ling Zichen replied. "No. Eternal Heaven isn''t that easy to modify; I''m merely changing its method of power output, which isn''t actually difficult. What''s more troublesome is the material of the missile, so Wulin''s assistance really is required; only heavenly refinement will ensure that Eternal Heaven will still retain sufficient power even after the modifications are done. Even after the modifications are complete, Eternal Heaven can still be used as a soul missile at any time, but a price will have to be paid to use it in such a manner."


    "What''s the price?" Cao Dezhi asked.


    Ling Zichen replied, "There''s no need for you to know that; I can tell you that it''s something that I can bear."


    "Alright, then commence the modification process as soon as we get back; time is of the essence," Cao Dezhi said.


    Ling Zichen had made the modification process sound so dangerous when speaking with Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi as she was thinking for the sake of the Tang Sect.


    Not only was the Tang Sect handing over Eternal Heaven, there was some risk involved as well, so even though Ling Zichen hadn''t explicitly asked for compensation, the implications were quite clear.


    She had never given up on her research into source positive circulation cores, but this research required a huge amount of uncommon metals. She had always been of the opinion that if she could succeed in this area of research, then source positive circulation cores would be able to replace soul power as a brand new energy source. Furthermore, this technology was also a major hurdle standing in the path of further breakthroughs in soul technology.


    Why was it that humans were still unable to successfully create a spaceship that could facilitate space exploration? The root problem was a lack of energy. Soul Masters could inject their soul power into the spaceship as an energy source, but the energy of Soul Masters was also limited. Once research and development into source positive circulation cores succeeded, the human race would have a new energy source with enormous potential. In contrast with using Soul Masters as an energy source, uncommon metals would clearly be much more reliable in outer space.


    The Tang Sect was already doing everything in its power to support her research, but the resources that it could provide her with were still limited. As such, it would naturally be a good thing if they could secure some uncommon metals from the federation.


    Only now did Tang Wulin truly understand why Ling Zichen had made the modification process seem more dangerous than it was, and he couldn''t help but shake his own head in a resigned manner. It seemed that he was still too naive and innocent! However, what Ling Zichen had said about the ice shelves melting was most likely true as that claim was very easy to verify.


    They really did have to be careful in their deployment of Eternal Heaven as a slight mishap could result in a massive disaster.


    The bombing still hadn''t ceased, and all types of soul weapons, including heavy ion lasers, had been tested on the Blood River Godslayer Array.

 Chapter 1793: Alarm

    However, even the ever-reliable heavy ion lasers failed to make an impact here. High intensity heavy ion lasers were able to pierce through the surface of the array, but due to the refractive interference from the array, the lasers were unable to strike their targets. Thus, even though the lasers were still capable of killing some abyssal creatures, it simply wasn''t worth the energy being expended.


    At this point, the Blood River Godslayer Array was virtually entirely filled with all types of abyssal creatures, and some of the abyssal creatures that were more massive in stature had other abyssal creatures piled onto their bodies. The sheer number that the abyssal army had swelled to was both astounding and very concerning.


    Aside from the continuous bombardment, there was relative peace on the battlefield, and this peace lasted for an entire day.


    At the Western Legion control center.


    "We can''t keep delaying like this. Could it be that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect have gone back on their word?" Dong Zi''an asked with a grim expression.


    "They wouldn''t do that; they''re far too noble and proud to go back on a promise like this. There must be some type of problem, but they''ll definitely bring out Eternal Heaven. Who would''ve thought that this invasion from the abyssal plane would be helping us here?" Qiangu Dongfeng said in a relaxed manner.


    With Eternal Heaven in the hands of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, the party that was under the most threat was the Spirit Pagoda!


    Now that Eternal Heaven was about to be used, the threat would be alleviated, and the Spirit Pagoda wouldn''t have to face the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy head-on. As such, the crisis that they were previously facing would be resolved.


    Yin Moshang interjected, "It''s not that simple; the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy definitely won''t be willing to hand over Eternal Heaven free of charge. This delay could very well be due to the fact that they''re negotiating compensation with the federation."


    Dong Zi''an waved a dismissive hand, and said, "That''s not important; what''s important is that we destroy that array. Chairman Qiangu, is it true that this array is capable of creating a god?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s expression darkened slightly as he nodded in response. "That is indeed a possibility, but it''s by no means an inevitability. The attainment of godhood has always been the ultimate pursuit for us Limit Douluos, and everyone has their own direction that they''re studying and working toward. The Holy Spirit Cult''s path is the most extreme, but it''s very likely that this is the path closest to success. Of course, we don''t want to see them succeed, but if they do succeed, the planar walls could very well be shattered, and all of us could attain godhood.


    "The crumbling of the planar walls would be a disaster for normal people, but it may be an opportunity for those like us who stand at the pinnacle of humanity."


    Qiangu Dongfeng paused here momentarily to gauge Dong Zi''an and Yin Moshang''s reactions.


    Dong Zi''an was clearly rather tempted by the idea, but a cold look appeared on Yin Moshang''s face as he said, "What are you trying to say, Chairman Qiangu? Don''t forget that the duty of a soldier is to protect the federation and its people."


    Qiangu Dongfeng hurriedly waved a hand in response. "I''m not trying to say anything; this is just my analysis."


    "I certainly hope so," Yin Moshang said.


    He then cast his gaze toward the goddess-like woman sitting not far away, and a hint of entrancement flashed through his eyes, but it immediately faded.


    "Seeing as Ms. Gu Yuena''s Silver Dragon Spear is able to generate the same effect as the Golden Dragon Spear, this is a great opportunity for us. However, according to the data that we''ve collected, the energy devoured by Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear can be reciprocated to the tree of life on that mountaintop; what will happen if you devour too much energy, Ms. Gu Yuena?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng was given a rude reality check upon hearing this. He had constantly been thinking about how to screw over the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy during this battle, and as a result, he had failed to consider this important problem.


    The fact that the Silver Dragon Spear was also capable of devouring abyssal energy was something that Gu Yuena had revealed to them only after coming here. Thus, he also turned toward Gu Yuena for an answer.


    Gu Yuena immediately replied, "The abyssal energy that I devour will be reciprocated to the Myriad Beast Plane of our Spirit Pagoda. I have a close connection with the Myriad Beast Plane, which requires energy to support its existence. If sufficient life energy is supplied, the Myriad Beast Plane could even be expanded and develop more powerful areas."


    Dong Zi''an and Yin Moshang exchanged a glance upon hearing this, while an elated look appeared on Qiangu Dongfeng''s face. "Generals, the Spirit Pagoda will be sure to compensate you for your efforts here. In the future, you can designate some people, and they''ll be given unconditional free admission into the Myriad Beast Plane."


    Dong Zi''an smiled, and said, "You''re far too kind, Chairman Qiangu. For the sake of the federation and its people, we''ll be sure to assist Ms. Gu Yuena as much as we can in devouring more abyssal energy." Despite what he was saying, there was a clear hint of greed glowing deep within his eyes.


    There was an enormous amount of abyssal energy available, and after being converted into pure life energy, it would benefit anyone.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had just said that all Limit Douluos were seeking opportunities to attain godhood; perhaps the injection of life energy into the Myriad Beast Plane would be the Spirit Pagoda''s opportunity.


    Dong Zi''an was definitely someone who was very good at grasping opportunities. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to climb all the way to the top with his lackluster aptitude.


    After providing her explanation, Gu Yuena closed her eyes again to meditate, as if nothing in the outside world had anything to do with her.


    Qiangu Dongfeng glanced at Gu Yuena and heaved an internal sigh. He was finding her more and more difficult to understand and assess. Gu Yuena was constantly unveiling more and more of her aptitude, and even he was finding her to be very mysterious. If it weren''t for the fact that Qiangu Zhangting had confirmed that physical relations had taken place between the two of them, Qiangu Dongfeng would have to seriously doubt her loyalty. This doubt stemmed from the fact that Gu Yuena was always able to complete any task he assigned to her with flying colors. To put it in simpler terms, she was simply too perfect.


    Furthermore, Qiangu Dongfeng was very confused about her relationship with Tang Wulin. Even though she had severely wounded Tang Wulin during the Joust For a Spouse event, the dynamic between the two still left him feeling very perplexed.


    Now, Gu Yuena had developed to an extent that even he would have difficulty stripping away her power. It wasn''t just with his support that Gu Yuena had been elevated to the position of vice-chairman; her contributions to the Spirit Pagoda were clear for everyone to see. The development of 10,000-year-old soul spirits and the Myriad Beast Plane had earned enormous revenue for the Spirit Pagoda, and all of the board members could clearly see that.


    Even Qiangu Zhangting hadn''t become a vice-chairman yet, but Gu Yuena had already reached this position, and she primarily had herself to thank for this.


    He was even beginning to wonder whether he would be a match for this granddaughter-in-law of his in battle.


    Yin Moshang rose to his feet, and said, "I''m going back now. The bombing is currently primarily being overseen by the three naval legions, but we have to be prepared. Yu Guanzhi still hasn''t told us when he''s going to be using Eternal Heaven, so I think it''s necessary that we force his hand a little in this matter. Otherwise, we''ll be in a very passive position."


    Dong Zi''an nodded in response. "Don''t worry, I''ll go and see him in a bit. Even if he''s the commander-in-chief, he can''t just make all the decisions and not answer to anyone."


    Right at this moment, a piercing alarm rang out without any warning, and everyone in the room reflexively turned their attention toward the large screen.


    A layer of red light flashed over the screen, and the alarm became even louder.


    "Connect me to the control center!" Dong Zi''an immediately commanded as he picked up his military soul communicator.

 Chapter 1794: Movement of the Array

    Soon, the image on the screen switched to one of Yu Guanzhi with a serious look on his face.


    "This is a red alert; all troops are to prepare for battle! The Blood River Godslayer Array is on the move!"


    Everyone present immediately tensed up upon hearing this, and even Gu Yuena had risen to her feet as a fierce aura erupted out of her body.


    Qiangu Dongfeng also stood up as his eyes narrowed slightly. "Is it coming already? The federation isn''t going to be able to deliberate any longer. Generals, you should instruct your troops to take precautionary measures. It''s said that Eternal Heaven is extremely powerful, and if our troops get too close to it, we could suffer significant casualties during its explosion."


    Dong Zi''an''s brows were tightly furrowed as he replied, "I understand."


    Indeed, the Blood River Godslayer Array was on the move. It wasn''t moving very quickly, but its movement was clearly discernible from the satellite images.


    What was even more terrifying was that not only was the Blood River Godslayer Array on the move, even the abyssal passageway beneath it was moving alongside it. This meant that the entire abyssal passageway was advancing toward the human army under the protection of the Blood River Godslayer Array.


    "Sect Master Tang, are the preparations complete?" Yu Guanzhi''s voice was full of urgency as he spoke into his soul communicator.


    "Not yet. The modifications are still ongoing, but it looks like they should be successful. In the meantime, everyone from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, including myself, will assist you in stopping the advance of the Blood River Godslayer Array."


    "Alright, then I''ll be thanking you in advance." Yu Guanzhi ended the call and took a deep breath. He knew that the key moment in the battle was about to arrive.


    They couldn''t allow the Blood River Godslayer Array to reach the human army no matter what. The abyssal plane was being transported by the array, and if it were to be released within the human army, a catastrophic disaster would follow.


    "The Sea God Legion, Northsea Legion, and Eastsea Legion are to maximize firepower output to delay the advancement of the Blood River Godslayer Array as much as possible. In the meantime, the Central Legion, Western Legion, and Northwestern Legion are to prepare all of their heavy artillery for fire and await further orders."


    "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Violent explosions rang out in rapid succession in the core circle.


    The carpet bombing wasn''t just targeting the Blood River Godslayer Array; it was also targeting the path that the array had to take to reach the human army.


    However, this didn''t seem to affect the array much at all, and it continued to slowly advance, only stopping momentarily when the explosions became particularly violent.


    Tang Wulin and all of the powerful beings from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had already risen up into the air, appraising the Blood River Godslayer Array in the distance with grim expressions.


    The problem wasn''t just the array itself; what was even more concerning was that no one knew how powerful the abyssal army within the array had become.


    The soul weapons that the federation had always had extreme confidence in were currently proving to be largely ineffective in this all-important battle, and that was striking a sense of dread into the hearts of all of the human troops.


    Even back when the Northern Legion had faced the abyssal army on its own, they had at least been able to directly kill abyssal creatures, but this Blood River Godslayer Array had formed an impregnable moving fortress.


    The accumulation and preparations the Holy Spirit Cult had made over the past several millennia were being put on full display here, and it was a direct counter to all of the federation''s weapons.


    "Deploy all soul aircrafts of the Central Legion''s First Air Division, and commence an indiscriminate attack with all heavy ion laser weaponry." This order was being made by Yu Guanzhi through tightly gritted teeth.


    Chen Xinjie opened his own soul communicator, and ordered, "Deploy the Sea God Legion''s Seagull Division, and commence an indiscriminate attack with all heavy ion laser weaponry."


    It wasn''t that Yu Guanzhi didn''t want to deploy the air regiments of other legions; the problem was that the air regiments of other legions hadn''t yet been equipped with heavy ion weaponry. Only the most powerful army legion and naval legion, the Central Legion and the Sea God Legion, respectively, had been equipped with such weapons, and even with this cutting-edge weaponry, they were only just barely able to harm the abyssal creatures within the array.


    Furthermore, the energy of the abyssal creatures that were killed would only return to the abyss, so the effect would be minimal, but what other choice did they have?


    One soul aircraft after another flew through the air, bombarding the Blood River Godslayer Array with heavy ion lasers from afar.


    High intensity heavy ion lasers were somewhat effective, and it could be clearly seen that some of the abyssal creatures within the array were exploding into grey energy that surged back toward the abyssal passageway.


    However, there were only so many heavy ion laser weapons, and the air units didn''t dare to get too close. The entire Blood River Godslayer Array was advancing at a slow rate of around 10 meters per second.


    This didn''t sound all that fast, but it would still allow the array to cover several dozens of kilometers per hour, and it would descend upon the human army in a day at most.


    One side was unleashing a desperate bombardment, while the other side was completely resolute and advancing steadily; it was a rather peculiar battle of attrition.


    Slowly, the abyssal army began to change directions in its advance, and soon, it became apparent from the satellite images that the abyssal army was advancing toward the encampment of the Western Legion and Northwestern Legion.


    Dong Zi''an was stunned to discover this, and he couldn''t help but swear out loud.


    The orders from the main control center were to stop the advance of the Blood River Godslayer Array at all costs, and the array was currently heading toward them!


    "Where is Eternal Heaven, Commander? Where is it? Why has it not been deployed yet?" Dong Zi''an roared in a furious voice.


    Upon discovering the change in the Blood River Godslayer Array''s trajectory, he had immediately contacted Yu Guanzhi.


    Yu Guanzhi replied, "I don''t know what you''re talking about; Eternal Heaven isn''t in my possession."


    "Is this the time to be playing dumb? Where are the people from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect? It''s time for them to act! How will we break the array without Eternal Heaven?"


    Yu Guanzhi couldn''t help but derive a sense of pleasure from seeing Dong Zi''an so worked up, and he replied in a cold voice, "The super weapon is still being prepared. In the meantime, we must stop the advance of the enemies at all costs."


    "F*ck that! It''s coming toward us right now! You are the commander-in-chief; if you don''t have a plan, then we can only retreat. Otherwise, we''ll be sacrificing ourselves for nothing!"


    Yu Guanzhi also flared up with rage upon hearing this. "Don''t you dare! Do you know what you just said, Dong Zi''an? If you dare to retreat and desert the battle, I have the right to execute you!"


    Dong Zi''an faltered slightly upon hearing this. He knew that Yu Guanzhi was right, and that there was no way he could retreat at a time like this.


    "Commander, the situation is that the abyssal army will be upon us in 12 more hours at most, and once that happens, fighting fire with fire will be no different from courting death, so please tell me how we can stop their advance. All of the federation''s most advanced weaponry has already been tried; have any of them been able to break through that layer of defense?"


    Yu Guanzhi''s brows furrowed tightly as he replied, "I understand what you''re feeling right now, but all we can do now is wait. I''ve already reported the situation to the federation; deploying Eternal Heaven is not a simple matter, and it must be modified first. The federation has already approved the modification, and it''s currently underway. I don''t know when it''ll be ready, but we can only hope that it''ll be complete within 12 hours. In the meantime, I''ll mobilize all of our troops to help you keep the abyssal army at bay."


    Dong Zi''an took a deep breath to calm himself down, and said, "Commander, let''s set our personal differences aside here. I''ve already been a soldier for decades, and I''m not afraid to die, nor are my brothers. However, we can''t just die for no reason or cause, so please get them to complete the modifications as soon as possible."


    After that, Dong Zi''an turned and departed from the screen.

 Chapter 1795: All-out Resistance

    "Please cease the artillery fire for now." Tang Wulin''s voice was transmitted to the main control center through the military communicator.


    "Is everything ready on your end, Sect Master Tang?" Yu Guanzhi asked in a hopeful manner.


    Tang Wulin replied, "No, but seeing as the artillery fire is almost entirely futile, I want to see if we can disrupt the Blood River Godslayer Array using the power of us Soul Masters. The Blood River Godslayer Array is an extremely evil creation, so we might be able to damage it using power of the opposite nature."


    Yu Guanzhi''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this.


    He had already heard about how Yali had unleashed a fearsome combination soul skill to deal the Holy Spirit Cult a heavy blow, thereby allowing them to force back the abyssal army even before the Central Legion''s arrival.


    Indeed, if artillery fire wasn''t working, perhaps it would be worth giving the Soul Masters a try. After all, there was still no weapon in this world aside from godslayer missiles that could match the power of four-word battle armor masters, and no party had more four-word battle armor masters than Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.


    "Alright, I''ll order a temporary ceasefire. I''ll be counting on you, Sect Master Tang," Yu Guanzhi decided.


    Thus, the artillery fire began to slow, and a temporary ceasefire ensued. Without the constant bombardment, the giant purplish-black light barrier in the distance became clear for everyone to see.


    Tang Wulin said, "All Limit Douluos, follow me. Everyone else, protect the secondary tree of life in case of surprise attacks from the enemy."


    Golden light flashed in his hand, and the Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp as he spread open his golden dragon wings before speeding toward the distance as a streak of golden light.


    Beside him were Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, Body Douluo A''Ruheng, Titan Douluo Yuanen Zhentian, Free Sky Douluo Yuanen Tiandang, and Qilin Douluo Tong Yu.


    Meanwhile, a series of figures were also rising up from the Central Legion. Close to 20 powerful beings from the Battle God Hall had been deployed at once, led by Guan Yue, and they were trailing Tang Wulin''s group from the side.


    The Blood River Godslayer Array was still advancing steadily onward while giving off faint purplish-black light. The array was completely packed with layer upon layer of abyssal creatures, presenting a sight that made the beholder''s flesh crawl.


    A short while later, Tang Wulin and the others were already close to the Blood River Godslayer Array. From such close proximity, they were more able to sense just how fearsome this heinous array was.


    The array itself was constantly giving off a sound that resembled sobbing, striking the listener with a sense of unease, and even Limit Douluos were affected on a spiritual level.


    Furthermore, mountains of corpses and seas of blood could be seen reflected through the purplish-black, and the entire array was giving off a nauseating odor that was clearly extremely toxic.


    "Those bastards!" Yali''s fists were clenched tightly in fury. How many lives had been sacrificed to create this fearsome array? The Holy Spirit Cult was an enemy to all of humanity!


    Tang Wulin said, "I''ll try attacking first; the rest will be up to you, Mother."


    "Alright, be careful," Yali cautioned.


    The golden light radiating from Tang Wulin''s eyes grew even brighter, and all of a sudden, a burst of scorching golden flames erupted from his body as he slowly raised his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Bolts of rainbow tribulation lightning began to surge along the length of his Golden Dragon Spear, and an unyielding aura that was bordering on insanity erupted out of his body.


    A giant golden dragon projection gradually surfaced behind him, and a figure gradually became clearer and clearer above the projection.


    This was a 12-winged figure that was entirely enshrouded in crimson light, and it was this figure that was transmitting this unyielding will to Tang Wulin.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin shot forth through the air like a bolt of golden lightning.


    Restrict Mediocrity, Dragon Emperor Charge!


    It was this very same attack that had once taken an arm from Qiangu Dongfeng. On this occasion, it wasn''t enhanced by his Dragon Emperor Fight, but it was infused with the power of elemental tribulations, and it was definitely an attack of the Limit Douluo level!


    "Boom!" A speck of golden light erupted on the Blood River Godslayer Array, and in the next instant, it spread outward as a golden halo.


    In the instant that the rainbow lightning came into contact with the array, a violent explosion immediately erupted. Vast expanses of rainbow lightning proliferated outward from the point of impact, sending a violent aura spreading in all directions.


    The piercing rainbow lightning presented a stunning sight, and even from a distance, it could be seen that the point that had been struck on the array had caved in noticeably.


    Furthermore, the unsettling sobbing sound grew more than twice as loud, and the entire array was stopped in its tracks by this single attack!


    "Nice!" Yu Guanzhi couldn''t help but exclaim upon seeing this through the big screen.


    It was also right at this moment that an angelic symphony rang out, and the sky suddenly turned a golden color as 12 archangels descended from the heavens.


    Yali''s entire body was enshrouded within a holy aura, and she had unleashed her most powerful combination soul skill again, Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance!


    The holy aura descended from above, and the archangels were also infuriated by the sight of the Blood River Godslayer Array.


    Pillars of holy light were directed by Yali toward the very same spot where Tang Wulin''s attack had struck, and the Blood River Godslayer Array tremored violently as purplish-black light surged over its surface in a frenzy. The spot that was struck by the holy light instantly turned a dense black color, as if it had formed a shield to withstand the attack.


    At this point, the entire Blood River Godslayer Array had completely stalled, and all of a sudden, a golden figure was repelled back like a cannonball; it was none other than Tang Wulin.


    He tumbled through the air for quite a distance before just barely steadying himself, and the point on the Blood River Godslayer Array that he had just struck returned to normal again. Even his Dragon Emperor Charge paired with the power of elemental tribulations hadn''t been able to breach the array.


    At this point, Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance had reached its climax, and incredibly rich holy power was incessantly bombarding the array in a frenzy.


    Finally, the Blood River Godslayer Array began to display signs of strain, and it could be clearly seen that the giant light barrier had shrunk by about a third in overall area.


    Had they succeeded?


    Everyone in the human army was ecstatic. If Yali''s attacks could weaken the Blood River Godslayer Array, then that would buy them enough time to resist the enemy!


    However, Yali''s expression remained as grim as ever. Holy power was indeed the bane of evil, but the Blood River Godslayer Array was an entity formed by countless interconnected vengeful spirits.


    Each and every vengeful spirit that was struck by the holy power was weakened, but they would immediately retreat to the back to recover while other vengeful spirits took their place, and thus, the cycle continued.


    Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance was able to weaken the Blood River Godslayer Array, but it couldn''t truly damage the array.


    A burst of bright purplish-black light abruptly rose up from the abyssal passageway before instantly injecting itself into the Blood River Godslayer Array, and the array almost instantly rebounded back to its original size.


    There were also streaks of purplish-black erupting out of the array to strike the archangels in the sky.


    The streaks of light were filled with contaminating evil energy, and even the pure archangels were severely affected, thereby significantly weakening Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance.

 Chapter 1796: Not Enough

    The golden light in the sky faded, and the Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance also concluded.


    Yali''s face had turned quite pale, and Tang Wulin had to support her as she descended to the ground.


    She shook her head with a resigned expression, and said, "It''s not enough; they''ve gathered the power of too many vengeful spirits. Holy energy can only weaken the array, but is unable to truly damage it unless my Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance can reach the godly level."


    Thankfully, Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance hadn''t been completely ineffective; the Blood River Godslayer Array had been stopped in its tracks.


    Everyone in the main control center could naturally also see this, and they were all waiting with bated breath.


    Only 10 minutes later, the Blood River Godslayer Array began to travel slowly toward the encampment of the Western Legion again.


    Tang Wulin and the others attempted a few more rounds of attacks, but all they could do was only delay the Blood River Godslayer Array in its advance.


    The resistance continued into the night, and at this point, the array was only 100 kilometers away from the Western Legion''s encampment.


    The soldiers standing on lookout on the mountaintop could already clearly see the array from this distance, and their hearts were filled with dread.


    How were they supposed to keep such an opponent at bay? This was a hopeless task, but they couldn''t just give up as the outcome of that was very clear.


    All of the soldiers were standing resolutely in their positions, blocking the path to further inland, so none of the other legions would be able to transfer over to reinforce them. Even if reinforcements could arrive, they wouldn''t be able to do anything.


    At the current rate of advance, the Blood River Godslayer Array would arrive at the Western Legion''s encampment by dawn the next day at the latest.


    Dong Zi''an had already enquired countless times about Eternal Heaven''s modifications, but they were still incomplete.


    At the Western Legion control center.


    "They must be doing this on purpose! Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect must be intentionally stalling for time to take advantage of this opportunity to weaken us!" Dong Zi''an roared with fury.


    At this moment, Qiangu Dongfeng and many other high-ranking members of the Spirit Pagoda were also present with him in the Western Legion control center.


    A lieutenant general said in an urgent manner, "You have to make a decision soon, Commander! That Blood River Godslayer Array is definitely not something we can resist; our brothers would be giving their lives for nothing if we don''t do anything!"


    Dong Zi''an''s breathing was quite heavy as he replied, "Shut up! Do you think I don''t know that? Chairman Qiangu, do you have any ideas?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng shook his head with a wry smile. "I''m afraid not. The array contains too much energy, so we don''t have any way to oppose it, either. Eternal Heaven is our only hope. I truly didn''t think that the Holy Spirit Cult would be capable of creating such a powerful entity. The only viable option right now is to retreat."


    "Retreat?" Dong Zi''an''s hands immediately balled up into tight fists. What did retreating entail? It entailed giving up their current encampment.


    Setting up defensive infrastructure took time, as did disassembly, and there was no time available to them, which mean that once they abandoned these defenses, there was no way that they would be able to re-establish them.


    Furthermore, if they were to retreat, the abyssal army would have a clear path further inland, allowing them to reach deeper into the continent.


    However, if they didn''t retreat, then they would have to face the Blood River Godslayer Array directly, and the consequences of that would be catastrophic for the Western Legion.


    "We can''t retreat. If we do that, we''ll be traitors of the federation," Dong Zi''an said as he closed his eyes with a pained expression.


    Qiangu Dongfeng suggested, "What if we only feign a retreat? I strongly suspect that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect are intentionally refraining from using Eternal Heaven with the objective of allowing the Blood River Godslayer Array to severely weaken us first. On top of that, the explosion of Eternal Heaven would be sure to affect us as well, thereby inflicting further damage. As such, why don''t we pretend to retreat and see how the main control center reacts?"


    Dong Zi''an reopened his eyes as a hesitant look appeared on his face.


    At the Shrek Academy and Tang Sect encampment, a group of exhausted powerful beings were seated around the secondary tree of life.


    They had all given everything they had to give, but were still unable to completely stop the Blood River Godslayer Array.


    Thankfully, with the secondary tree of life present, they would be able to recover their lost energy far more quickly than normal.


    Tang Wulin was focused on meditation, inspecting his own internal condition. In reality, if he had tried a bit harder, he would''ve perhaps been able to pierce through the Blood River Godslayer Array; that was most likely achievable with his Golden Dragon Spear and Sea God''s Trident.


    However, what would he do then? He would just be trapped in the array, and there would be no chance for him to escape again.


    The Blood River Godslayer Array was like a self-regenerating rubber ball; even if he were to pierce through it, it would simply heal itself and trap him inside.


    If only she were by his side.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but reminisce on the last time he had fought alongside Gu Yuena. The two of them were able to unleash the Dragon God Transformation, and with it, they had even been able to force back the Holy Lord. Both of them were definitely far more powerful than they had been back then, and if they were to join forces again, their combined impact on this battle would be much greater.


    However, would she be willing to join forces with him?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin slowly opened his eyes and cast his gaze toward the Western Legion''s encampment.


    In this dire situation, surely even the Spirit Pagoda wouldn''t stand between them. After all, the Western Legion was about to face a full-frontal assault.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly rose to his feet in an alarmed manner.


    The mountaintop they were situated on was the tallest on in this area, so the view was good, and to his surprise, he could see that the Western Legion seemed to be preparing to move. A series of mechas rose up into the air before slowly flying back, and many cars on the ground were also beginning to swivel around.


    What were they doing? Were they retreating out of their encampment?


    There was still quite some time before the Blood River Godslayer Array was projected to reach their encampment! How could they just abandon their encampment like this?


    Tang Wulin hurriedly pulled out his soul communicator to contact the main control center.


    "Commander, what''s going on with the Western Legion? Why are they suddenly retreating? Did you authorize this retreat?" Tang Wulin asked in an urgent voice.


    Yu Guanzhi seemed to be extremely furious as he replied, "Of course not! How could I authorize them to abandon their encampment? Those bastards! I''m unable to get through to the Western Legion for now, and I''ve already sent someone to investigate. No, I have to go and see what''s going on for myself. Please rest assured, Sect Master Tang; I''ll head over to stop them right away."


    Yu Guanzhi was so enraged that he felt like he was about to go insane! Deserting a battlefield was a crime punishable by death! Never did he think that the Western Legion would decide to retreat at a time like this. It was clear that they had already given up on their encampment and were gathering behind it.


    Thus, Yu Guanzhi and Chen Xinjie rushed out of the control center together before heading directly toward the Western Legion.


    Dong Zi''an was currently in his military uniform, standing on the shoulder of an imposing red mecha. This was his divine-grade mecha, and it was renowned for its wolf-like appearance, as well as its incredible speed. The mecha had been named "Fierce Wolf" after his martial soul, and he was currently appraising the unfolding scene with a smug smile on his face.


    Yu Guanzhi and the others had definitely already noticed the situation, and he was essentially forcing them into using Eternal Heaven.


    He wasn''t actually planning to retreat; he was very familiar with military laws. The Blood River Godslayer Array was currently still at least six to seven hours away from reaching them, and that was sufficient time for them to reoccupy the encampment. Everything he was doing now was according to Qiangu Dongfeng''s suggestion, which was to feign retreat to force the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy into using Eternal Heaven as quickly as possible.

 Chapter 1797: Dire Crisis

    Right at this moment, Dong Zi''an sensed something and cast his gaze toward a certain direction, upon which he caught sight of two figures flying rapidly toward him.


    He was already prepared for this, and he patted the Fierce Wolf mecha beneath him, upon which it swiveled around and flew toward the two approaching figures.


    "Dong Zi''an! What the hell are you doing? Who gave you the authorization to prepare for a retreat?" Even before Yu Guanzhi had arrived, his enraged voice was already clearly audible.


    In the next instant, he and Chen Xinjie arrived before Dong Zi''an.


    "What are you talking about, Commander? When did I say I was going to retreat?" Dong Zi''an said with a surprised expression.


    "What did you say? If you''re not retreating, then what are your men doing?" Yu Guanzhi roared in a furious voice as he pointed in the direction of the Western Legion.


    Dong Zi''an put on a pained expression, and sighed, "Commander, you can see that there''s no way for us to oppose this Blood River Godslayer Array. However, rest assured, our Western Legion has no intention of deserting the battlefield; we''re merely preparing to retreat as we fight. Otherwise, if we stubbornly stand our ground, we''ll just be swallowed up by the array. Of course, if Eternal Heaven can be ready before the array reaches us, then we''ll immediately return to the encampment. Not a single soldier from our Western Legion will desert this battlefield; that is our duty as soldiers."


    "F*ck off! The Blood River Godslayer Array is still at least a night away from reaching your legion; even if you''re going to retreat as you fight, you can only do that after you receive the order from me. Without my orders, who allowed you to retreat out of your encampment?" Yu Guanzhi interrogated.


    For some reason, Dong Zi''an was struck by a sense of pleasure at the sight of Yu Guanzhi''s enraged display. "Commander, let''s lay all the cards on the table. Are Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect targeting us and the Spirit Pagoda by refusing to use Eternal Heaven? I''m sure you know better than I do whether that''s the case. Right now, only Eternal Heaven can break open that array, yet you''re allowing them to stall for time. Are the lives of my brothers worthless in your eyes? I''m not going to retreat, but you can tell the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy that we''ll bow out of this battle if they don''t deploy Eternal Heaven."


    "You..." Yu Guanzhi was so enraged that he didn''t even know what to say anymore.


    "I can assure you that Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect aren''t intentionally stalling for time," Chen Xinjie said.


    Dong Zi''an turned toward him with a derisive look. "You''re assuring me? If it weren''t for you, Eternal Heaven would still be under the federation''s control, and none of this would even be happening!"


    Chen Xinjie''s expression darkened slightly upon hearing this, and an extremely fearsome aura erupted out of his body like violent waves, causing the surrounding sky to warp and twist.


    Dong Zi''an''s face paled slightly, and he realized that he had stepped out of line. Furthermore, this was the first time that he was facing the aura of a quasigod.


    He was also a Limit Douluo, but he had only just reached the cusp of the demigod level and was still very far away from becoming a quasigod.


    Chen Xinjie was already a very old man; how could he still possess such a formidable aura?


    Just as these thoughts were running through his mind, a violent explosion suddenly rang out nearby. Immediately thereafter, a blazing ball of fire erupted out of the Western Legion''s encampment, which had just been vacated.


    All of a sudden, a massive opening was blasted into the Western Legion''s defensive line.


    "What''s going on?" Dong Zi''an was stunned to see this.


    "What happened? What''s happening in the encampment? What happened to the people left behind to look after the encampment?" he asked urgently as he picked up his soul communicator.


    Right at this moment, a series of figures rushed into the encampment from the opening in the defensive line before going on a reckless spree of destruction.


    They were led by a giant cow-like creature that was over 100 meters in length with a pair of massive sharp horns on its head. The horns were around 50 meters in length, and even the alloy walls were unable to put up any meaningful resistance against the gigantic creature.


    Dong Zi''an''s heart instantly sank into a glacial pit upon seeing this, and his mind went completely blank.


    How did this happen? Didn''t they still have several hours before the Blood River Godslayer Array was projected to arrive?


    All of a sudden, he realized that he had made a fatal error. His selfishness and cynicism had blinded him from a very important fact, which was that the Blood River Godslayer Array was completely sealed off from them, but it could be opened up at any time for the abyssal army.


    He didn''t know these abyssal creatures avoided the detection of all of the surveillance soul tools to infiltrate the Western Legion''s encampment, but it was clear that this surprise attack had been planned in advance, and it was specifically targeting him.


    Yu Guanzhi and Chen Xinjie were also astonished to see this. If it weren''t for the drastic turn in Dong Zi''an''s expression, they would even be suspecting him of betraying the federation.


    "F*ck! Return to the encampment right away to oppose the abyssal creatures! Hurry!" Dong Zi''an roared as an opening appeared on his Fierce Wolf mecha, which he immediately leaped into. The mecha then shot forth as a streak of piercing light directly toward the Western Legion''s encampment.


    Regardless of whether Dong Zi''an was selfish or not, he was a true soldier, and the fact that he had climbed all the way to this point from the bottom was a clear testament to his power, as well as his pride and determination.


    It was true that he hadn''t actually intended to retreat, but it was too late to regret the decision.


    All he could do now was give everything he had to limit the consequences of his grave error.


    Thus, Dong Zi''an rushed straight toward the encampment like a madman, and at this point, the Western Legion was in complete disarray.


    Among the group of powerful beings from the Spirit Pagoda that were also feigning retreat, Qiangu Dongfeng was looking on with a horrified expression.


    Was this a coincidence? How could there be such an unfortunate coincidence?


    He was the one who had proposed feigning retreat, and Dong Zi''an had heeded his suggestion, but right after they had vacated the encampment, the abyssal army arrived. Wasn''t the timing a little too ridiculous for this to be a coincidence?


    Qiangu Dongfeng''s first thought was that there had to be a rat. There had to be someone from the Holy Spirit Cult who had infiltrated the Western Legion or the Spirit Pagoda!


    Just like Dong Zi''an, regardless of how selfish he was, he didn''t want the continent to be destroyed!


    Who was it? Who was the rat? He turned toward the people beside him with a vicious gaze, but didn''t discover anything. Everyone else was currently looking back at him, and he yelled, "Let''s go and face the enemy together with the Western Legion!"


    He had no other choice. At a time like this, the only option was to fight, even if it meant risking his life.


    He raised up his only arm to summon his Coiling Dragon Staff, then led the way toward the opening in the defensive line.


    A dragon''s roar rang out beside him, and Gu Yuena appeared with her Silver Dragon Spear in her grasp as she released her suit of four-word battle armor.


    As she released her incredibly beautiful suit of silver battle armor, she couldn''t help but cast her gaze toward the distance, in the direction where he was.


    Wulin, the name of my four-word battle armor is Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin; I am Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin Gu Yuena!  [1]


    As expected of an elite legion, even in the face of such a drastic turn of events, the Western Legion was able to quickly rally itself, and the mecha squadrons were the first to fly toward the opening in the defensive line. The entire legion quickly returned, led by Dong Zi''an, and the speed of his divine-grade mecha allowed him to virtually instantly reach the opening.


    [1] [Quick reminder that Wulin''s name translates directly to Dancing Qilin, so essentially, the name of her battle armor is Silver Dragon Wulin.]

 Chapter 1798: Evil Sickle

    Looking down from above, he finally knew where these enemies had come from.


    Not far away from the Western Legion''s encampment, a massive hole had appeared in the ground, and abyssal creatures were gushing out of the hole like a volcanic eruption.


    It was clear that they had burrowed their way here underground. As for how they had managed to disguise their auras and escape the detection of the surveillance soul tools, that was no longer important; the important thing was to think about how to stop these abyssal creatures.


    Right at this moment, a humanoid abyssal creature sprang up from below, rushing directly toward Dong Zi''an.


    It was actually a stretch to say that this creature was humanoid in form. It did have a head and four limbs, but its front limbs were completely different from those of a human; they were a pair of giant sickle-like blades that were shimmering with yellow light, and this creature was around five meters tall.


    It had a pair of extremely thin wings on its back, but its speed was astounding, and it almost instantly reached Dong Zi''an''s mecha before lashing out with its front limbs.


    Dong Zi''an was a seasoned combatant on the battlefield, and his mecha immediately swerved to the side. At the same time, it raised its front paws to unleash several dozens of claw projections like lightning, forming a net of death that swept toward the enemy.


    However, the enemy was simply far too fast, even more so than Dong Zi''an''s divine-grade mecha. Its body began to rotate in mid-air like a spinning top, and its front limbs shredded the huge net like lightning while leaving trails of afterimages in their wake. In the next instant, it had already arrived right in front of the Fierce Wolf mecha.


    The mecha tumbled to the side while crossing its front paws in front of its chest to protect itself, then opened its mouth to let loose a burst of invisible soundwaves.


    The abyssal creatures abruptly stopped in their tracks and shuddered as if it had been electrocuted, and in the next instant, Dong Zi''an''s mecha rammed into it in a vicious manner.


    "Boom!"


    The abyssal creature was sent flying through the air, but at the same time, it flashed in mid-air and suddenly vanished on the spot.


    What a powerful abyssal creature!


    Dong Zi''an could clearly sense that his assailant was still inferior to him in power, but its speed was superior to that of even his Fierce Wolf mecha! An abyssal creature like that would be the bane of all normal mechas!


    In the meantime, the battle down below had already completely unfolded.


    The abyssal creatures were led by over 30 of those massive cow-like creatures, all of which had giant horns and were covered in extremely thick scales.


    Normal soul lasers and soul artillery shells couldn''t even get them to pause for an instant, and their defensive prowess may have been lacking compared with Guardian Longhorned Beetles, but they were far superior when it came to destructive capabilities. The main difference between them and Guardian Longhorned Beetles was their inability to fly.


    These abyssal creatures were known as Abyssal Mammoths, and they were the most fierce charging units of the abyssal plane. During the disaster brought on by the abyssal plane 6,000 years ago, Abyssal Mammoths had been too powerful to enter through the abyssal passageway, so this was the first time they had appeared on the Douluo Plane.


    Abyssal Mammoths resided on the 13th level of the abyss, and their population was relatively small, but they possessed outstanding offensive and defensive prowess, making them one of the most important battle units of the abyssal plane.


    As for the abyssal creature that had just attacked Dong Zi''an, that was known as an Abyssal Evil Sickle, and it was even more powerful than an Abyssal Mammoth.


    Abyssal Evil Sickles resided on the fifth level of the abyss, and they were one of the most fearsome species of abyssal creatures.


    They had mastery over spatial laws and were extremely adept in killing. Furthermore, they were loyal to a fault to the Holy Lord, and they were referred to as the abyssal enforcers.


    Each and every Abyssal Evil Sickle possessed powers comparable or superior to human Titled Douluos, and that alone was sufficient testament to how fearsome they were.


    Both Abyssal Mammoths and Abyssal Evil Sickles were among the top-tier in the abyssal plane, and it was the first time both had appeared on the Douluo Plane.


    Leading the resistance was the mecha corps of the Western Legion, which was comprised of over 1,000 mechas.


    These mechas were led by black mechas that were piloted by the individual mecha squadron commanders, and they were unleashing all types of soul lasers and artillery shells.


    Right at this moment, a series of figures appeared beside them like the wind.


    The Abyssal Evil Sickles were each over five meters tall, and even though that was still quite small compared with the opposing mechas, their speed and power were unmatched.


    They were so fast that the naked eye could barely track them, and in the mere blink of an eye, a mecha had been sliced in half before tumbling out of the sky.


    Over 30 of these Abyssal Evil Sickles appeared in mid-air, and mechas came falling out of the sky like dumplings in their wake.


    On the ground below, the Abyssal Mammoths were bulldozing through the encampment, but they weren''t actually the ones causing the most damage. Instead, that honor belonged to the subsidiary race that accompanied them, the Abyssal Praying Mantises!


    These Abyssal Praying Mantises were slightly similar in appearance to normal praying mantises, but were completely different at the same time. The praying mantises of the Douluo Continent had long and sleek bodies, capable of fast movement and flight.


    In contrast, these Abyssal Praying Mantises didn''t have any wings, but they possessed thick and powerful hind limbs that allowed them to jump explosively.


    Each Abyssal Praying Mantis was around three meters in length, and their front limbs were like giant axes that were in excess of two meters long. Their bodies were short and stocky, and their explosive jumping ability was astonishing.W


    hat was even more terrifying was their extraordinary attack frequency.


    Once the Abyssal Mammoths broke through the resolute defenses, the Abyssal Praying Mantises would flood in and destroy everything around them in a frenzy.


    An extremely fearsome aura was permeating through the air, and the entire sky above the encampment had been stained a grey color.


    The attacks from the Western Legion were dealing significant damage to the abyssal creatures, but those core abyssal creatures possessed astonishing defensive prowess.


    The main force of this abyssal army was comprised of the Abyssal Mammoths, Abyssal Evil Sickles, and Abyssal Praying Mantises; only they possessed the ability to burrow and move rapidly underground.


    The Abyssal Evil Sickles had concealed the abyssal army from the surveillance soul tools using their spatial abilities, thereby allowing them to descend upon the Western Legion encampment completely undetected. Their objective was very simple: to destroy. Their goal was simply to destroy the entire Western Legion encampment.


    A flash of silver light appeared alongside a crisp clang, and the front limb of an Abyssal Evil Sickle was stopped cold in its tracks. A purple mecha was thereby saved from the brink of death.


    Immediately thereafter, the silver light expanded to encompass a huge surrounding area.


    The Evil Sickle was struck by a sense of foreboding, and it immediately attempted to flee into space, only to discover that the surrounding space had been completely sealed.


    A silver-armored woman then appeared before it and glanced at it with a frosty expression. In the next instant, countless spear projections surged forth.


    The Evil Sickle abruptly pulled back, then lashed out like lightning with its front limbs over 100 times in rapid succession, creating a storm of attacks.


    Dark yellow light was shimmering on its front limbs, refracting all light to prevent one from being able to clearly discern the trajectories of its attacks.


    Unfortunately, its opponent was simply far too powerful.


    The air around it suddenly seemed to have turned into its enemy, causing its front limbs to falter abruptly. In the next instant, the air exploded, compressing its body to the point that it was immobilized. Silver light flashed, and the shimmering silver spear plunged through its chest.


    The Evil Sickle''s body immediately exploded as it attempted to flee as a cloud of yellow mist. For abyssal creatures of their level, they could infuse their consciousness and soul into the abyssal energy that they disintegrated into, thereby allowing them to retain their memories and will following resurrection.


    Unfortunately, it was facing the Silver Dragon Spear.

 Chapter 1799: Silver Dragon Seal

    The spear swished through the air, and a silver vortex took shape to instantly devour this cloud of yellow mist, leaving no trace behind. The only thing that changed was that the silver light radiating from Gu Yuena''s suit of four-word battle armor had become even brighter.


    Gu Yuena flapped her right dragon wing, sending her spinning off to the side in mid-air to evade the attacks from two Evil Sickles.


    At the same time, a peculiar hexagram appeared beneath her feet, and each point on the hexagram was a different color, namely red for fire elements, blue for water elements, azure for wind elements, yellow for earth elements, silver for spatial elements, and gold for light elements.


    "Rise up, six elements; Silver Dragon Seal!" Gu Yuena''s cold voice rang out, and in the next instant, the entire sky warped violently.


    A giant silver dragon slowly appeared behind her; this was a silver dragon that was over a kilometer in length!


    The attention of virtually everyone on the battlefield was instantly drawn to the gigantic silver dragon, and right after it appeared, Gu Yuena raised her Silver Dragon Spear high up into the air.


    In the next instant, the silver dragon abruptly disintegrated into streaks of dazzling silver light that descended from above, crashing into the Western Legion''s encampment like a meteor shower.


    "Boom, boom, boom, boom..." It was as if another carpet bombing had been initiated.


    Each streak of silver light was like a small silver dragon that was imbued with the power of the six elements, and not only were they extraordinarily fast, they tracked down one abyssal creature after another with unerring accuracy as if they had eyes of their own.


    As soon as they came into contact with the abyssal creatures, explosions would be set off in small areas to reduce the abyssal creatures to grey energy. What was even more remarkable was that after exploding, the streaks of silver light would form six-colored vortexes that latched onto the abyssal energy to prevent them from escaping.


    In what seemed like no more than the blink of an eye, over 3,000 abyssal creatures of all descriptions had perished to her Silver Dragon Seal.


    Meanwhile, Qiangu Dongfeng had just destroyed an Abyssal Evil Sickle with a staff strike, and he immediately turned toward Gu Yuena with astonishment in his eyes.


    His astonishment arose from the discovery that Gu Yuena was already a quasigod! Only a quasigod could be capable of unleashing such a powerful attack in an instant!


    How was this possible? Qiangu Dongfeng was completely stunned. The entire Qiangu Family had arrived on the northern front for this battle, but even Qiangu Dieting had failed to identify the fact that Gu Yuena was already a quasigod!


    Prior to this, Qiangu Dongfeng was already speculating whether Gu Yuena had reached the Limit Douluo level, but never did he think that she would''ve surpassed him already!


    Could it be that there was some type of secret hidden in the Myriad Beast Plane? That was the first thought that occurred to him. Otherwise, how had she reached this level at such a young age?


    Tang Wulin was already a once-in-a-generation talent, but he wasn''t even a Limit Douluo yet!


    The Silver Dragon Seal unleashed by Gu Yuena finally arrested the seemingly unstoppable momentum of the abyssal army, and only now was the Western Legion able to actively retaliate.


    Gu Yuena''s Silver Dragon Spear was like a feeding whale, devouring all of the abyssal energy that had been controlled by her Silver Dragon Seal.


    The battle down below had already reached white-hot intensity, and the abyssal creatures were not just killing human troops, they were also working to cause as much destruction as possible. Only a short time had passed since the opening on the defensive line had appeared, and a very large section of the Western Legion''s encampment was already in shambles.


    All of the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda had joined the battle, and they were primarily targeting the Abyssal Evil Sickles, managing to just barely keep them at bay.


    Right at this moment, a sinister voice rang out across the entire sky. "Long time no see, Brother Qiangu. Thank you for the news you passed onto us. Without that, we wouldn''t have been able to seize this fantastic opportunity. How about we join forces and kill everyone here? As you can see, the Blood River Godslayer Array has already taken shape; this is a golden opportunity for all of us to attain godhood."


    A giant skull that was glowing with eerie green light slowly rose up from the hole in the ground, and atop the skull sat none other than Ghost Emperor.


    As soon as he appeared, the souls of the recently deceased Western Legion soldiers immediately flew toward him as a series of green vengeful spirits to be devoured by the giant skull.


    A look of enjoyment appeared on Ghost Emperor''s face. "Hmm, fresh souls are always the most delicious. Why don''t you join me for this meal, Brother Qiangu?"


    "Your lies aren''t going to convince anyone here, Ghost Emperor! One of us has to die here today!" Qiangu Dongfeng roared.


    Even though Dong Zi''an was aware that Ghost Emperor was intentionally sowing dissension with his words, he still couldn''t help but turn toward Qiangu Dongfeng with a vicious expression.


    If he hadn''t heeded Qiangu Dongfeng''s advice to feign retreat, there was no way that the enemy would''ve been able to infiltrate their encampment.


    However, no amount of regret was going to change anything; all he could do now was oppose the enemies with all his might.


    Qiangu Dieting flew over from the side and cast an intense gaze toward Ghost Emperor. "It''s been a while, Ghost Emperor. Do you take pride in bullying juniors? How about you face me instead? Only one of us is going to leave this battlefield alive today."


    Qiangu Dieting was remarkably calm in this situation.


    Ever since the Spirit Pagoda was forced to bow to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, he had let go of the reins and completely handed control over to Qiangu Dongfeng. As for Qiangu Dongfeng''s brother, Qiangu Qingfeng, he was banished from the Qiangu Family, and no one knew where he had gone.


    Qiangu Dieting''s objective was very simple: to ensure that the bloodline of the Qiangu Family could continue to be passed down.


    Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had already made a resurgence, and Qiangu Dieting was actually very confident that the human army would secure victory in this battle.


    The Qiangu Family possessed several divine tools, and one of the most important ones had always been in Qiangu Dieting''s possession. It was a divine tool that was passed down from family leader to family leader, and only when the previous family leader passed away was the divine tool given to the next family leader.


    This divine tool didn''t possess any offensive or defensive abilities, but it had the ability of clairvoyance; it was a divination divine tool.


    Back when the reconstruction of Shrek City had first begun, Qiangu Dieting had received a premonition from the divine tool, and that premonition had been growing stronger day after day since then.


    Right before the powerful beings of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy stormed the Spirit Pagoda, he conducted one final divination, and the outcome was that only one branch of the Qiangu Family would survive to preserve the bloodline.


    At that point, he understood that the Qiangu Family was very likely going to face a major tribulation, but the tribulation wouldn''t be enough to completely wipe out the entire family. Thus, he banished Qiangu Qingfeng. As the family leader, he had to stay with the Qiangu Family, and that divination divine tool had also been taken by Qiangu Qingfeng. Even now, Qiangu Dongfeng remained completely oblivious to all of this.


    Not long ago, Qiangu Qingfeng had sent Qiangu Dieting one final message. He had expended some of his own life force to conduct another divination, and the outcome was that there was a chance for the Qiangu Family''s fate to turn. However, they would have to do everything in their power to do good deeds and accumulate good karma.


    Qiangu Dieting had never believed in fate as the essence of the Coiling Dragon Staff was to defy fate and the natural order. However, recently, he suddenly understood that karma was unavoidable.


    The Shrek City bombing had been caused by his branch of the Qiangu Family, and they would ultimately have to pay for this.


    Thus, he only had one objective on this battlefield, which was to contribute as much as possible to the resistance against the abyssal plane in order to accumulate good karma for the Qiangu Family.

 Chapter 1800: Arrival of a Formidable Foe

    Once again, Qiangu Dongfeng was oblivious to all of this. Following their failure in their final confrontation against the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, Qiangu Dieting had already lost all hope in this son of his.


    At this moment, his gaze was locked firmly on Ghost Emperor, who could clearly sense that the aura currently being released by Qiangu Dieting was far different from normal; this was a sensation that was striking fear into his heart.


    This old bastard''s gone insane! He really intends to fight to the death here!


    Right at this moment, more abyssal creatures rushed out of the hole in the ground.


    Seven Evil Sickles had already been killed, but over 50 had appeared to take their place, and there were still more abyssal creatures of all descriptions gushing out of the hole.


    Qiangu Dieting threw his head back and let loose a long roar, releasing his Coiling Dragon Staff as he unleashed his unyielding will with reckless abandon.


    "The Qiangu Family will never bow to anyone!" He roared as he shot directly toward Ghost Emperor like lightning.


    Thus, the clash between the two quasigods commenced, and the abyssal army was also unleashing a full-frontal attack.


    A figure appeared silently beside Gu Yuena completely out of thin air, giving off no detectable aura.


    On the surface, it didn''t look much different from a normal Evil Sickle. In fact, it was slightly shorter, standing at only around three meters tall, which was around the same height as Gu Yuena in her battle armor.


    However, this Evil Sickle''s front limbs were a bright yellow color instead of dark yellow, and they struck the dragon wings on Gu Yuena''s back like lightning.


    Even with Gu Yuena''s incredible powers, she didn''t manage to detect it prior to being struck.


    However, it was also right at this moment that another figure appeared behind her, and a pair of strong hands grabbed onto the peerlessly sharp front limbs of the Evil Sickle with unerring accuracy.


    This was a handsome middle-aged man, and as he closed his hands around the pair of sickles, a terrifying aura erupted out of his body.


    Up close, it could be seen that not only did this Evil Sickle''s body resemble that of a human, it also possessed a very handsome human face.


    It was very surprised to see its own sickles being caught, and at the same time, it detected the aura of the middle-aged man.


    "You''re a human? Wait, no you''re not." Its voice was very low and was only audible in a small area.


    Immediately thereafter, a powerful shockwave erupted between the two, and the middle-aged man only swayed slightly on the spot, while the Evil Sickle was sent flying back like a cannonball.


    In the next instant, it abruptly vanished into thin air.


    The middle-aged man raised his hands to inspect his palms, which were covered in dark golden scales, but all of those scales had been sliced apart.


    "That creature''s front limbs are comparable to divine weapons, and it possesses quasigod level power; it''s most likely the ruler of this abyssal race."


    After that, he also vanished into thin air, and throughout this entire process, Gu Yuena didn''t even turn around once as she continued to devour the abyssal energy in the air with her Silver Dragon Spear.


    Indeed, her assailant had been none other than the ruler of the Evil Sickle Race, the Sickle Sovereign! This was one of the top five sovereigns in the entire abyssal plane, and even the Black Sovereign and the Hornet Sovereign combined may not be a match for it.


    However, it had been stopped cold in its tracks by the middle-aged man who had just appeared behind Gu Yuena.


    Gu Yuena''s eyes narrowed slightly as she waved her Silver Dragon Spear through the air, and another hexagram appeared. However, this hexagram was different from the previous one in that it was entirely of a dazzling silver color.


    The radiant silver light was constantly changing in an unpredictable fashion, and in the next instant, everything in the surrounding area suddenly stood still for a moment.


    "Spatial Lock!"


    As a result, all of the Evil Sickles that were rapidly traversing through space were forced to emerge onto the battlefield.


    Through her incredible control over the elements, Gu Yuena had sealed this entire area, ridding them of their ability to traverse through space.


    Thus, the Evil Sickles were going to be far less effective in battle.


    However, it was also right at this moment that a group of figures rose up into the air from down below. Among them, there were five giving off particularly powerful auras, and they were led by a man who was wearing a long robe.


    As soon as he appeared, the entire sky began to tremble violently, and even Gu Yuena''s Spatial Lock instantly crumbled.


    Gu Yuena''s expression changed slightly at the sight of this man. He was already infinitely approaching the godly level! Furthermore, she could tell from his aura that he was an abyssal being rather than an Evil Soul Master.


    The man''s robes were of a lavish golden color, and he looked no different from a normal handsome human. In fact, he bore some resemblance to Tang Wulin. He wore a huge golden cape on his back, and even though he was only hovering in mid-air, he had instantly become the center of everyone''s attention.


    Who was this man?


    "How interesting. Is this the world of the humans? What refreshing life energy." He took a deep breath through his nose, and he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.


    In the next instant, his gaze fell upon Gu Yuena.


    "Humans really are interesting creatures; I can detect a special scent from you, and I really like it. How about you pledge your loyalty to me and become my servant?"


    His voice was very pleasant and irresistibly alluring.


    Even some of the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda were becoming more sluggish upon hearing this voice, and the soldiers of the Western Legion were even more heavily affected. Even the abyssal creatures were affected by this man''s presence, and many of them couldn''t help but bow down onto the ground, where they lied in a completely motionless manner. This was a clear indication of just how lofty this man''s status in the abyssal plane was.


    Qiangu Dieting and Ghost Emperor temporarily ceased in their battle, and the former was also astonished by the sight of the golden-robed man.


    Was the planar ruler of the Douluo Continent already so feeble that even an abyssal creature of this caliber could arrive on this plane?


    "Keep dreaming!" Gu Yuena scoffed as she raised her head with a derisive look in her eyes.


    "Hmm?" The golden-robed man''s brows furrowed slightly, and the entire sky seemed to have suddenly congealed.


    All of the humans present plummeted involuntarily out of mid-air, and only after making some panicked adjustments were they just barely able to steady themselves.


    What incredible spiritual power!


    Even those who weren''t directly targeted by it were impacted so severely; one could only imagine how much pressure Gu Yuena was under.


    In spite of this, Gu Yuena remained completely still on the spot, and her pupils suddenly turned vertical as an invisible clash took place, upon which both of them swayed slightly in an unsteady manner. To everyone''s surprise, she hadn''t been forced onto the back foot!


    "Hmm?" The golden-robed man was clearly astonished to see this. It had not been an easy task for him to arrive on the Douluo Plane, and a vast amount of resources and energy had to be expended. One of the most important conditions that the abyssal plane raised in exchange for helping the Holy Spirit Cult set up the Blood River Godslayer Array was that the Holy Spirit Cult had to use the array to attack the natural order of the Douluo Plane, thereby allowing him to descend into this word.


    Never did he think that he would encounter an opponent with spiritual power that wasn''t inferior to his as soon as he arrived in this world. One had to realize that he was at the Divine Origin realm! Even though he was only at an elementary stage of the Divine Origin realm, this was still a realm that was only supposed to have been reached by the gods!

 Chapter 1801: Second Abyssal Level, Spirit Sovereign!

    Wasn''t it supposed to be the case that no one was able to reach the Divine Origin realm in the human world? What was going on here?


    The catalyst behind the mobilization of the Blood River Godslayer Array was his arrival. In the abyssal plane, he was the ruler of the second abyssal level, which placed him below only the Holy Lord in the entire plane.


    He was revered as the Spirit Sovereign by all abyssal creatures.


    In all 108 levels of the abyss, only three were occupied by only a single being each, and those were the top three levels.


    These three beings reigned supreme in their respective levels, and they were referred to as the Three Abyssal Saints.


    Of course, the Holy Lord''s authority was unmatched, and right below him was the Spirit Sovereign, who wasn''t even just a quasigod anymore; he already had one foot in the realm of godhood.


    If it weren''t for the fact that the current abyssal plane couldn''t contain so many godly beings, he would''ve already become a god.


    He was even more eager than the Holy Lord for the abyssal plane to devour the Douluo Plane as even just a portion of the Douluo Plane''s life energy would allow him to transcend to godhood.


    Due to the fact that he already had one foot in the door, he knew exactly what changes would take place once he became a god.


    He was the Holy Lord''s right-hand man, and during the Holy Lord''s stints of seclusion, he was the one overseeing the entire abyssal plane.


    As such, it was completely unexpected for a powerful being of his caliber to encounter a worthy opponent as soon as he arrived on the Douluo Plane.


    Gu Yuena also had a grim look in her eyes as she looked up into the sky. If it weren''t for the fact that she was restricted by the plane, the Spirit Sovereign would be no match for her, but the restrictions imposed upon her by the plane prevented her from returning to her full power, which meant that she didn''t have absolute confidence in her ability to defeat this opponent.


    Furthermore, the four beings accompanying the Spirit Sovereign were also giving off extremely powerful auras. The Hornet Sovereign wasn''t among them, and even the Black Sovereign was standing at the very edge of the group, which was an indication that the five of them were all abyssal sovereigns that ranked above the Black Sovereign!


    It was very likely that all of the most powerful beings of the abyssal plane aside from the Holy Lord had already arrived on the Douluo Continent, and that was completely different from the situation that had transpired 6,000 years ago.


    This had undoubtedly been caused by the Blood River Godslayer Array. The array posed a massive threat to the human army, and even without it, it would be a very difficult task for the human army to oppose such a formidable abyssal army.


    "How interesting. I must say, it''s quite a refreshing feeling to encounter a worthy foe. Once I devour your power, I may be able to reach that level even before this plane is devoured." Following a brief period of astonishment, the Spirit Sovereign''s eyes were now filled with excitement.


    "Why don''t you try me?" Gu Yuena challenged in a cold voice.


    "Sure!" the Spirit Sovereign said with a smile, and Gu Yuena was struck by the feeling that she was looking at Tang Wulin at the sight of his smile.


    Right at this moment, the Spirit Sovereign''s eyes suddenly transformed into a pair of golden vortexes that released immense suction force.


    This was his soul devouring ability!


    Two of the Spirit Pagoda''s powerful beings that were situated quite close to him both groaned in unison, and a wisp of white mist surged out of the tops of their heads, following which they instantly disintegrated into nothingness. Not only that, but all of the humans on the battlefield within a radius of around a kilometer also disappeared in the same manner. The wisps of white mist surged directly into the Spirit Sovereign''s body, and Gu Yuena''s expression changed slightly upon seeing this as a rainbow tinge suddenly appeared in the silver light that was radiating from her body.


    She pointed her Silver Dragon Spear directly toward the Spirit Sovereign, then shot forth toward him like a speeding arrow.


    "Slaughter to your heart''s content, my children!"


    The Spirit Sovereign smiled as he stepped forward to meet Gu Yuena, and the abyssal army that was bowing in reverence just a moment ago immediately charged toward the human army again, as if they had been given shots of strong stimulants.


    "Clang!" The Spirit Sovereign''s finger struck the Silver Dragon Spear, and Gu Yuena shuddered slightly from the impact, but the Silver Dragon Spear''s devouring power was also unleashed. However, golden light flashed from the Spirit Sovereign''s finger, also forming a vortex that nullified the Silver Dragon Spear''s devouring power. Immediately thereafter, the light around his body suddenly began to warp, and a formidable spiritual explosion erupted forth.


    Even if Tang Wulin were in Gu Yuena''s place, he would''ve definitely been dealt a heavy blow by this attack. Thankfully, Gu Yuena''s forte was also her spiritual power, and the rainbow light around her also exploded right as she sensed her opponent''s eruption of spiritual power.


    Elemental power and spiritual power clashed violently, causing the surrounding air to warp and twist. No one on the battlefield dared to enter a one-kilometer radius of the site where their battle was taking place, not even the abyssal sovereigns.


    A clash of this level was not something that could be approached by ordinary beings unless they had a death wish!


    The two of them shot back in retreat in unison, and Gu Yuena had clearly been forced back further than her opponent. In the next instant, the Spirit Sovereign conjured up several dozens of projections of himself, and a heavenly symphony rang out, causing Gu Yuena''s eyes to glaze over momentarily.


    This was divine caliber spiritual captivation! She was able to instantly identify what her opponent was doing, but that was only one thing; resisting the attack was a different matter altogether.


    Her movements began to slow down, and memories of the past began to surface in her mind.


    The moments she had shared with him on the Sea God''s Lake were the most unforgettable memories of her life. The time she had spent with him in Shrek Academy was the happiest time of her life.


    There was also that night of intense passion in the Star Luo Empire; all of those memories were clouding her mind and striking at her soul.


    Meanwhile, a golden finger was silently approaching her glabella.


    A triumphant smile appeared on the Spirit Sovereign''s face. He was fully confident in his own spiritual power. Even though it still couldn''t compare with the Holy Lord''s spiritual power, they were at least of the same realm.


    Right as his finger was about to strike Gu Yuena''s glabella, her eyes suddenly lit up with scintillating radiance.


    The Spirit Sovereign''s smile immediately faded upon seeing this, and he accelerated his finger to strike Gu Yuena''s glabella right away.


    However, it was also at this moment that a circular silver scale appeared on her forehead. The scale was glittering and translucent, and imbued with rainbow radiance.


    Upon coming into contact with the scale, the Spirit Sovereign discovered that not only could his abyssal power not penetrate through the scale, the scale was releasing powerful suction force that locked his finger into place.


    At the same time, the tip of Gu Yuena''s Silver Dragon Spear was on the verge of reaching his throat.


    All of this had happened extremely quickly, and it looked like the Spirit Sovereign was done for.


    However, it was at this moment that he displayed his fearsome power. Bright golden light radiated from his body, and it was as if he had transformed into a true god.


    In the next instant, he abruptly vanished, transforming into a golden vortex that diverted the Silver Dragon Spear away before sweeping toward Gu Yuena.


    A rainbow vortex was conjured up by Gu Yuena, and the two vortexes clashed.


    The rainbow vortex was swept aside, but the golden vortex was also repelled, and the two of them separated once again.


    "How did you shake off my spiritual captivation? This is impossible! You shouldn''t possess the power to do this!" the Spirit Sovereign yelled in a shocked and furious voice.


    If he had reacted just a moment slower back there, it was very likely that he would''ve been severely wounded. Was this woman really a human? Since when did humans become this powerful?


    He was unable to participate in the invasion 6,000 years ago, but he had gained a thorough understanding of the human race through the accounts of other abyssal creatures. By his understanding, all of the humans in this world should''ve been completely at his mercy, but it seemed that the situation wasn''t so simple.

 Chapter 1802: Arrival of the Twin Dragons

    Meanwhile, the Western Legion was clashing with the abyssal army, and even with the assistance from the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda, the entire legion suffered heavy losses in a very short time.


    Qiangu Dieting was preoccupied by his battle with Ghost Emperor, leaving no quasigod beings to oppose the abyssal army, and the human army was completely outmatched. Led by the Abyssal Mammoths, the abyssal creature army was like a pride of lions that had entered a sheep''s pen. Most of the Abyssal Evil Sickles were being kept at bay by the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda, but the other four abyssal sovereigns on the battlefield were completely unmatched.


    A string of blood-curdling cries began to ring out incessantly.


    The Black Sovereign''s right hand was plunged deep into Demonic Maiden Douluo Li Mengjie''s chest, holding onto her heart and devouring her life force.


    The Fist Emperor Douluo was slowly turning into a dried corpse in the tight embrace of another abyssal sovereign, and the entire situation had already completely spiraled out of control.


    The enemies were far too powerful for the human army to oppose, and if it weren''t for the fact that Gu Yuena was able to oppose the Spirit Sovereign, the human army would''ve most likely already been crushed.


    However, how much longer would she be able to last? No one knew the answer to that.


    In reality, it had only been less than 20 minutes since the abyssal army had emerged, but in this short span of time, the Western Legion was already on the verge of being completely overwhelmed!


    Right at this moment, a long cry rang out across the heavens, and a massive streak of golden light shot forth from the distance.


    At the same time, a series of formidable auras descended from above before rushing toward the abyssal army.


    The reinforcements had finally arrived.


    As soon as the abyssal army appeared, Yu Guanzhi and Chen Xinjie immediately returned to the main control center to begin organizing reinforcements.


    The rest of the reinforcements were still on the way, but the most powerful beings among them had already arrived.


    Tang Wulin had sensed it as soon as Gu Yuena''s clash with the Spirit Sovereign had begun. There was a spiritual connection between the two of them, and he could clearly sense that she was facing an extremely formidable foe.


    Sensing her perilous situation, Tang Wulin immediately flew over to the Western Legion''s encampment at full speed, and he was followed closely by the powerful beings of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    He quickly caught sight of Gu Yuena and the Spirit Sovereign, and he also immediately sensed the latter''s incredibly fearsome aura. He flapped his wings vigorously and arrived by Gu Yuena''s side as quickly as he could.


    Gu Yuena had naturally also sensed his arrival, and her eyes wavered slightly at the sight of him.


    "Are you alright?" Tang Wulin asked in an urgent voice.


    Gu Yuena nodded gently in response.


    Only then did Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward the Spirit Sovereign, and he faltered slightly upon identifying the fact that the Spirit Sovereign bore quite a close resemblance to him.


    The Spirit Sovereign''s eyes also lit up at the sight of him.


    "Are you the human whom the Holy Lord proclaimed to be a threat to us? Hmm, looks like I failed to mimic your appearance accurately. I really do love how you humans look."


    The muscles on his face began to squirm and writhe as he spoke, and he instantly adopted an appearance that was completely identical to Tang Wulin.


    However, right after he completed his transformation, his expression changed slightly as he could sense the powerful auras of the people who had accompanied Tang Wulin to the scene.


    The Limit Douluos instantly took control of the situation, temporarily forcing back the abyssal sovereigns to give the human army some respite.


    Yali caught Li Mengjie''s body, and as soon as she did so, she knew that there was no saving her.


    She was able to revive even people who had just passed away, but Li Mengjie hadn''t just lost her life; she had lost her entire life force as well. Her body had completely atrophied, and there were no cells capable of being revived.


    This was the nature of abyssal creatures; they devoured and devoured until there was nothing left. She cast her gaze toward the retreating Black Sovereign, and her eyes were burning with fury.


    A faint smile appeared on the Spirit Sovereign''s face. "How interesting. No wonder even the Holy Lord was being so cautious. No matter, we''re not in a hurry. Once the array arrives, you''ll all be completely at our mercy. For now, let''s retreat."


    He waved a hand in a nonchalant manner as he spoke, and the abyssal army immediately retreated like the receding tide.


    The powerful beings of the abyss and the Holy Spirit Cult immediately disengaged themselves from their battles, then returned to the Spirit Sovereign''s side to face the human army.


    Tang Wulin was just about to set off in pursuit when Gu Yuena grabbed onto his arm before shaking her head at him.


    He immediately sensed something, and decided against giving chase in the end.


    The abyssal army retreated even faster than they had come, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, they had already completely departed from the battlefield.


    "Wait for me; I''ll be back very soon." With one final parting smile, the Spirit Sovereign departed. The air around him suddenly began to warp, and in the next instant, he and all of the powerful beings around him vanished on the spot. Only then did the immense spiritual pressure in the air completely fade.


    Following their departure, Gu Yuena swayed in an unsteady manner as she gave a pained groan.


    Tang Wulin hurriedly wound an arm around her waist to support her. "Are you alright?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "I''m fine; I only sustained some slight spiritual trauma. That man possesses Divine Origin realm spiritual power."


    It had not been easy for her to shake off the Spirit Sovereign''s spiritual captivation, and she was naturally unable to do so without sustaining some damage.


    Right at this moment, a furious voice rang out. "Let go of her!"


    Tang Wulin reflexively removed his arm from around Gu Yuena''s waist, and in the next instant, a slightly disheveled Qiangu Zhangting descended from above.


    He arrived beside Tang Wulin with a furious expression. "Keep your filthy hands to yourself!"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, then turned his gaze toward Gu Yuena, but she merely lowered her head and didn''t say anything.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if his heart had been impaled by something, and the pain left him unable to breathe.


    "Let''s go," Gu Yuena said in a quiet voice, then flew away into the distance.


    Qiangu Zhangting aimed a vicious glare at Tang Wulin. "I''m warning you; stay away from Nana!"


    However, Tang Wulin didn''t even hear him; his mind was completely preoccupied with Gu Yuena''s earlier gesture.


    She had lowered her head to avert his gaze. She hadn''t stopped Qiangu Zhangting, and for the first time, she hadn''t communicated with him using her eyes.


    Tang Wulin had always felt that her heart was on his side, but this was the first time that she had avoided him like this, and it made him feel as if he were going to lose her.


    It was exactly this feeling that filled his heart with excruciating pain.


    Down below, the entire Western Legion encampment was in ruins.


    Over half of the defensive infrastructure had been destroyed, and among those that remained, less than 10% were still functioning.


    During that brief battle, the Western Legion had lost 30,000 troops. That was a third of the entire legion! Furthermore, a large number of mechas had been destroyed.


    Without any barrier to protect them from the enemy, their advantage in long-range artillery fire had been severely diminished. Everything had arrived too abruptly, and this was a complete disaster for the Western Legion.

 Chapter 1803: Spirit Pagoda Chairwoman Gu Yuena

    Reinforcements from the Northwestern Legion and Central Legion arrived several minutes later, but what use were they going to be? The losses that had already been incurred couldn''t be recovered.


    Dong Zi''an stood atop his Fierce Wolf mecha, looking at the ruined encampment, and it was as if he had suddenly aged 10 years.


    If it weren''t for his selfishness in trying to force the deployment of Eternal Heaven, the Western Legion wouldn''t have been dealt such a heavy blow.


    However, there was no way to undo his decision; the reality was irreversible.


    A series of figures were being reported to him, further exacerbating his pain.


    The familiar faces of his brothers had ceased to exist, and the enemy had been far more powerful than he had anticipated.


    Qiangu Dongfeng!


    As soon as the name surfaced in Dong Zi''an''s mind, his heart was filled with burning fury. It was Qiangu Dongfeng who had convinced him to do this!


    His gaze scoured through the crowd, and he quickly caught sight of Qiangu Dongfeng, as well as many powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda. At this moment, they were all huddled in a circle, and within that circle lied the bodies of several dozens of Spirit Pagoda members, among which were several Titled Douluos, all of whom had their life force completely devoured.


    Dong Zi''an opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately couldn''t bring himself to do so.


    If it weren''t for the valiant efforts of these powerful beings from the Spirit Pagoda, over half of the Western Legion would''ve most likely already been wiped out. In particular, the image of Gu Yuena opposing the Spirit Sovereign was ingrained deeply in his mind.


    Only now did he realize that the stunning young woman who very rarely spoke during the meetings possessed such incredible power. She was even more powerful than Qiangu Dieting!


    "Qiangu Dongfeng, we''re going to impeach you! You have no right to continue as the Spirit Pagoda Chairman!" A sharp voice suddenly rang out, instantly attracting a lot of attention.


    Currently, Qiangu Dongfeng was standing in front of the bodies of the Spirit Pagoda members, looking as if he had lost his soul.


    He was naturally aware of the severity of this incident. It was his decision that had brought disaster upon both the Western Legion and the Spirit Pagoda, and if it weren''t for Gu Yuena''s scintillating display of power, their losses would''ve most likely been at least doubled.


    Qiangu Dieting''s eyes were closed, but it could be seen that his body was trembling, and there was an expression of indescribable pain on his face.


    It was over for the Spirit Pagoda.


    Qiangu Dieting was well aware of what this incident entailed.


    The Western Legion had always been the Spirit Pagoda''s most important ally, yet they had completely screwed over this ally of theirs today. Regardless of how much the Spirit Pagoda had lost, the losses suffered by the Western Legion could only be more severe, and the chief commissioner of the army headquarters was undoubtedly going to be furious after hearing about this.


    Regardless of how wealthy the Spirit Pagoda is, it would be nothing more than a Soul Master organization after losing the support of the military. Furthermore, the Spirit Pagoda was equivalent to the Qiangu Family.


    Even before the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy''s revenge operation, many dissenting voices had already arisen within the Spirit Pagoda, and the dissatisfaction against the Qiangu Family was only going to be further exacerbated in the wake of this incident.


    Perhaps it wasn''t entirely over for the Spirit Pagoda, but there was no way that the Qiangu Family would be able to continue leading the organization.


    Qiangu Dongfeng didn''t try to shift blame to anyone else as he knew that there would be no point in doing that. He was still firmly of the opinion that everything he had done was for the Spirit Pagoda''s sake, but none of that mattered. Who was going to listen to him?


    Qiangu Dieting finally opened his eyes, and sighed, "All of this was caused by Dongfeng, and he should be held accountable. I am also of the opinion that he is no longer fit to continue as chairman. Ever since the younger generation has risen up, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect have gone from strength to strength; perhaps it''s also time for our Spirit Pagoda to follow in their example."


    He turned his gaze toward Gu Yuena as he spoke, and there was a complex look in his eyes.


    Qiangu Zhangting was standing beside Gu Yuena, and he said with a hesitant expression, "Great Grandfather, I, I don''t think I''m ready..."


    "Shut up! Get over here," Qiangu Dieting ordered.


    Qiangu Zhangting faltered slightly before making his way over to Qiangu Dieting. He wanted to ask a question, but the cold aura emanating from Qiangu Dieting''s body made him decide against it.


    Qiangu Dieting turned toward Gu Yuena, and said, "I suggest making Vice-chairman Gu Yuena the interim Spirit Pagoda Chairwoman, and at the conclusion of this battle, a new election will be held once everyone returns to the Spirit Pagoda. Are there any objections to this?"


    At the end of the day, Qiangu Dieting was still a quasigod and the most important figure in the Spirit Pagoda, so even if the Qiangu Family were to fall, his words still held a lot of weight.


    Qiangu Dongfeng shuddered slightly as he cast his gaze toward his father, but Qiangu Dieting completely ignored him.


    Qiangu Dongfeng opened his mouth to say something, only to swallow his words as a dejected look appeared on his face, and even his aura had completely sagged.


    Even now, he still didn''t think that he was at fault, and he didn''t know what he had done wrong, but this was the undeniable reality that he couldn''t fight against.


    "I concur," Leng Yaozhu said, casting her gaze toward Gu Yuena as she did so.


    "I also concur," another elder said.


    Qiangu Zhangting was completely stunned by this turn of events. He had thought that Qiangu Dieting was going to pass the position of chairman onto him, but to his surprise, the one to be promoted was his fiancee instead!


    However, after a brief stupor, he immediately turned toward Gu Yuena with an ecstatic and entranced expression.


    Qiangu Dongfeng could only heave an internal sigh upon seeing this.


    Gu Yuena had hidden her powers extraordinarily well up to this point.


    While it was true that she was very young, there was currently no one more suitable than her to take over control.


    Ever since joining the Spirit Pagoda, Gu Yuena had experienced an unprecedentedly meteoric rise, but all of this had been brought to her by her own power and ability.


    In order to rise up the ranks quickly in the Spirit Pagoda, one''s cultivation rank had to keep up, and during her initial period in the Spirit Pagoda, that had been the main driving factor behind her rise.


    Through her rapid progression in cultivation, she was able to climb to a very respectable position in the Spirit Pagoda at a very young age.


    However, what truly propelled her toward the core circle of the Spirit Pagoda was her successful development of black soul spirits.


    Even though she had only made some changes on the existing foundation, those changes had prevented the project from deviating from the right path, and the successful development of black soul spirit had completely revolutionized the Soul Master world, thereby significantly elevating the status of the Spirit Pagoda.


    In fact, this became the foundation that gave Qiangu Dongfeng the courage to plot against Shrek City.


    With the creation of these artificial black soul spirits, the Spirit Pagoda had essentially roped in the support of all high-grade Soul Masters. After all, it was currently virtually impossible to find 100,000-year-old soul beasts, and Soul Masters who possessed 100,000-year-old soul rings were exceedingly rare.


    Thus, 10,000-year-old soul spirits had become the highest pursuit for the vast majority of Soul Masters.


    Times were now different from the ancient past. Back then, one would have to personally slay a 10,000-year-old soul beast to obtain a 10,000-year-old soul ring, and the risk involved was obviously massive. Now, 10,000-year-old soul rings could be bought with money from the Spirit Pagoda, so things were much safer and easier in comparison.


    In the wake of that breakthrough, the Spirit Pagoda earned an astronomical sum of revenue, and its influence and status were elevated considerably.


    It was also because of this that Gu Yuena had risen up to become one of the four spirit envoys so quickly.

 Chapter 1804: Success

    Of course, her status as Qiangu Zhangting''s love interest and Leng Yaozhu''s disciple were also important factors behind her progression.


    After that, Gu Yuena continued to improve steadily in her cultivation, but under normal circumstances, spirit envoy should''ve been the highest rank that she was able to reach. The only way for her to rise further up the ranks would be to become a Limit Douluo so she could inherit Leng Yaozhu''s position as vice-chairman in the future.


    However, the development of the Myriad Beast Plane significantly accelerated this process for Gu Yuena.


    The Myriad Beast Plane quickly became another massive source of revenue for the Spirit Pagoda and bound more high-grade Soul Masters to the organization.


    The development of the 10,000-year-old soul spirits and the Myriad Beast Plane had virtually elevated the Spirit Pagoda to the same status as the Soul Hall of the distant past, and the allure they presented to Soul Masters was simply far too great.


    If it weren''t for Shrek Academy''s rapid resurgence, it was very likely that Soul Masters of the future would only know of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Just now, Gu Yuena had displayed quasigod level at such a young age. Her power, achievements, and stunning appearance made her the most suitable candidate to inherit the role of chairman.


    Even Leng Yaozhu couldn''t compete with her at this time as there was a massive gap between the contributions the two had made to the Spirit Pagoda.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had planned for Gu Yuena and Qiangu Zhangting to get married so that in a sense, it could be said that Qiangu Zhangting had played a role in her contributions to the Spirit Pagoda. He was confident that he could convince Gu Yuena to agree with this arrangement, but now, everything had spiraled out of control.


    At this point, Qiangu Dongfeng could only cling onto the hope that Gu Yuena and Qiangu Zhangting would come together as they had had physical relations in the past. If that were to happen, then the Qiangu Family wouldn''t completely fall into obscurity.


    One core member of the Spirit Pagoda after another expressed their approval of Gu Yuena''s promotion, and their voices were like daggers being driven into Qiangu Dongfeng''s heart, leaving him in complete despair.


    It was true that he was selfish and conceited, but in his own eyes, he had dedicated his entire life to the Spirit Pagoda, and everything he had done was for the sake of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Of course, he also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to reach godhood, but it seemed that it was all over for him now.


    The Spirit Pagoda had to give the army headquarters and the Western Legion an explanation, and he was going to be the scapegoat.


    Qiangu Dieting took a deep breath to compose himself before turning toward Gu Yuena. "Seeing as everyone has approved of this decision, what is your verdict, Nana?"


    Gu Yuena''s gaze settled briefly on Qiangu Dieting before moving onto Qiangu Dongfeng, then Qiangu Zhangting, and a faint smile appeared on her face as she nodded in response. "Alright, I''ll do my best to live up to everyone''s trust and expectations. I''ll be sure to act in the best interest of our Spirit Pagoda."


    She agreed?


    Qiangu Dongfeng shuddered upon hearing this, and he plunged even further into the depths of despair, but what could he say at a time like this? There was nothing he could do to stop this.


    At this point, Tang Wulin and the others still hadn''t departed, so they bore witness to the unfolding situation.


    Tang Wulin''s eyes were slightly glazed over and disoriented.


    It seemed that not long ago, he had been studying with Gu Yuena at Shrek Academy.


    Back then, they had been so weak and insignificant, yet now, he was the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master, while she had just become the Spirit Pagoda Chairwoman.


    Even though the Spirit Pagoda was completely dominated by Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect when it came to high-end power, the Spirit Pagoda was still the number one Soul Master organization on the continent, regardless of whether it was in terms of resources or personnel.


    Was this the reason why Gu Yuena had always refused to be with him? Had she stayed at the Spirit Pagoda and by Qiangu Zhangting''s side just so she could climb to the position of chairman one day?


    Tang Wulin''s hands balled up into tight fists as a surge of fury welled up in his heart.


    Gu Yue, I would''ve been willing to give up everything for you if you had just asked! I would''ve been willing to sacrifice everything had you agreed to be by my side! Are you really an ambitious woman? Is your ambition the true reason that''s keeping us apart?


    "Let''s go; it looks like everything''s settled down here for now," Yali said as she laid a hand onto Tang Wulin''s shoulder.


    Tang Wulin shuddered slightly as he turned toward her, and Yali was met by a tortured gaze that was filled with complex emotions.


    "Don''t think too much; everything will have to wait until after this battle," Yali consoled in a gentle voice.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response as he did his best to bottle up his emotions and compose himself.


    Indeed, everything would have to wait until after this crisis was averted.


    With the looming threat of the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane, there was no time to think about anything else, not to mention that the threat of the Blood River Godslayer Array was just on the horizon.


    Right at this moment, the ringtone of Tang Wulin''s soul communicator sounded, and he reflexively accepted the call, upon which an excited voice immediately rang out on the end of the line.


    "Wulin, I did it! Hahaha, I did it! I succeeded where even my parents failed! I did it!"


    Ling Zichen was yelling like a madwoman, and listening to her voice, Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by a strong impulsive urge. He suddenly really wanted to rush over to Gu Yuena and tell her everything.


    He had always been so calm and steadfast, but in that instant, the last thing he wanted to be was calm. He even wanted to tell her that he would be willing to give her the positions of the Tang Sect Master and Sea God''s Pavilion Master if she were willing to return to his side.


    He loved her so deeply; even though countless beauties around him had developed feelings toward him, his heart had never wavered.


    But could he really do that? He couldn''t.


    Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect didn''t belong to him, so he had no right to pass on his leadership roles to anyone. Furthermore, Gu Yuena was already the Spirit Pagoda Chairwoman, and the gap between them seemed to have only widened.


    Right at this moment, Gu Yuena suddenly raised her head to cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin had been looking at her this entire time, so their eyes immediately met, and in that instant, Tang Wulin was met with an incredibly gentle gaze.


    He faltered slightly upon seeing this, and a faint smile appeared on Gu Yuena''s face. This was a smile of consolation, but was also intermingled with other extremely complex emotions.


    Her smile seemed to be carrying the weight of the world.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of enlightenment that pierced through his pain and despair like a ray of light.


    She hadn''t done this for power; that wasn''t her motivation!


    Tang Wulin was very sure of this as he had suddenly arrived at a realization. If Gu Yuena really were wholeheartedly fixated on ambition and a lust for power, then how had he fallen in love with her in the first place?


    Furthermore, the love they had for one other was something that had always been deeply cherished in their hearts and definitely couldn''t be swayed by external factors.


    She wasn''t that type of woman!


    Following this enlightenment came a sense of guilt and apology which he conveyed through his eyes, as if he were apologizing to Gu Yuena for doubting her.


    However, in that instant, he suddenly caught sight of a hint of profound despair deep in her eyes, and he couldn''t help but also be struck by an indescribable sense of sorrow.


    What was she thinking about? Why was she so sad?

 Chapter 1805: We Vow to Live and Die With the Legion

    Tang Wulin''s heartstrings instantly received a tug, but at the same time, he was struck by a peculiar feeling, which was that not only had they not grown closer through this shared gaze, they seemed to have only grown further apart.


    "Let''s go." Yali gave Tang Wulin a gentle tug, and they departed with everyone else from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    At this point, Dong Zi''an had already recovered his composure, but he didn''t say anything. Yu Guanzhi had only given him a call, informing him that the Central Legion and Northwestern Legion would help him reconstruct some of the destroyed defensive infrastructure as quickly as possible.


    Meanwhile, the Blood River Godslayer Array was still advancing at a slow and steady pace, gradually drawing closer and closer.


    The sky was gradually dimming as night approached, and the atmosphere in the Western Legion was an extremely somber one.


    No matter how battle-hardened a unit was, morale would inevitably take a huge hit after over a third of their forces were lost, especially during such a short span of time.


    The enemy was so powerful that their confidence had been crushed, and the entire Western Legion was lost and dejected.


    Dong Zi''an was currently situated in the temporary control center that had just been built, and inside the control center were all of his most important subordinates.


    As for Spirit Pagoda representatives, only Gu Yuena was present.


    "Firstly, I''d like to thank you for your help and support on behalf of our legion," Dong Zi''an said to Gu Yuena.


    Regardless of what had happened, Gu Yuena was worthy of respect. If she hadn''t kept the Spirit Sovereign occupied and allowed him to run rampant, then it was very likely that the Western Legion would''ve been entirely wiped out.


    Gu Yuena merely nodded in response.


    Dong Zi''an took a deep breath, then continued, "I am deeply saddened by the loss of so many brothers, but now is not the time to be lamenting their passing. if I survive to the end of this battle, I''ll hand myself over to the military court; it was my decision that resulted in this tragedy. However, I don''t plan to go back. Unless the abyssal plane is completely forced back into retreat, I won''t take a single backward step. I will fight till the bitter end, but I no longer have the right to ask you to do the same with me."


    He closed his eyes with a pained expression as he spoke.


    "Don''t say that, General. Without you, we wouldn''t be where we are today, and prior to the surprise attack, there didn''t seem to be any fault in your decision. You did everything for the sake of the legion and our brothers, and your decision represents the decision of everyone, so we should all be shouldering the blame together. Our fallen brothers wouldn''t blame you, and nor will we. If you''re going to fight to the end, then we''ll do the same. We won''t retreat; we must avenge our fallen brothers."


    The one who had spoken was a major general who was rather ugly in appearance, but there was a valiant spirit about him.


    All of the soldiers present rose to their feet in unison. "We vow to live and die with the legion!"


    Their voices were all filled with vigor and passion, and none of them had hesitated for even a single moment.


    Tears immediately welled up in Dong Zi''an''s eyes, and he also stood up as memories of the past flooded into his mind.


    On the first day he had joined the Western Legion, he had started as an insignificant private, and over the course of decades, he had accumulated accolades upon accolades, finally becoming the commander of the Western Legion. Furthermore, the Western Legion had been ranked quite low among the eight major legions, but under his leadership, it had risen to its current status.


    It could be said that his presence was felt throughout every corner of the entire legion. All of his subordinates in the control center had been nurtured by him, and the Western Legion was extremely unified.


    It was always in times of peril that true loyalty shone through, and in this instant, Dong Zi''an felt like everything he had given and sacrificed for the Western Legion was worth it.


    "Alright, then we''ll live together and die together! For the federation!"


    "For the federation!" Everyone roared in unison.


    Soon, the Central Legion and Northwestern Legion began to converge toward the Western Legion.


    As a precautionary measure against a potential surprise return from the enemy, the two legions had each deployed a third of their troops to the Western Legion.


    Meanwhile, everyone from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect was gathered around the secondary tree of life, waiting for the moment of truth.


    Ling Zichen was currently standing beside Tang Wulin, and even now, her eyes were still filled with irrepressible excitement.


    The modification of Eternal Heaven was a success. She had already recovered from her exhaustion with the assistance of the secondary tree of life, and her heart was brimming with excitement. If Tang Wulin hadn''t insisted that she keep this matter a secret, she would''ve most likely been unable to hold back her urge to tell the entire world.


    That''s right, Tang Wulin had decided not to spread this information, and this was a decision that he had arrived at after communicating with Yu Guanzhi.


    There were clearly spies in the Western Legion or the Spirit Pagoda. Otherwise, how had the abyssal army grasped the timing so perfectly?


    If it weren''t for Gu Yuena''s unexpected display of power, there was a very good chance that the defensive line would''ve already crumbled. Thus, the only ones aware of Eternal Heaven''s successful modification were Tang Wulin, Yu Guanzhi, Cao Dezhi, Zang Xin, and a select few others.


    Currently, the human army was facing virtually the worst situation possible with the exception of the Holy Lord descending onto this plane. The Spirit Sovereign, whom Gu Yuena had only just barely managed to hold back, was already infinitely approaching godhood. Aside from him, there were also many sovereigns on the battlefield, as well as the enormous abyssal army.


    The most difficult period of this battle was about to arrive, but it would also bring an opportunity for them to strike back at the abyssal army.


    At the main control center.


    "The Sea God Legion, Northsea Legion, and Eastsea Legion, prepare all of your long-range artillery shells, including soul missiles, and lock onto the position 30 kilometers away from the Western Legion''s defensive line, then await further orders."


    Yu Guanzhi was currently issuing one order after another with a serious expression.


    Chen Xinjie was currently standing beside him, and neither of them had gotten a wink of sleep this entire night.


    They were waiting for what was very likely going to be the final moment in this battle, where triumph or defeat would be decided.


    The atmosphere inside the control center was extremely tense. The federal parliament had just issued an order for Yu Guanzhi to do as he saw fit on the front lines. Their only objective was to keep the enemy from reaching further inland, and they were to do this at all cost.


    The Southern Legion was currently picking up the pace, and it would take them one more day at most to arrive.


    After receiving authorization from the federal parliament, the first order that Yu Guanzhi issued was that anyone who dared to retreat would be executed on the spot without being granted a trial in the military court.


    The human army currently numbered in excess of 1,000,000 troops, but would it be enough to stop the abyssal army?


    No one knew the answer to that question, not even Yu Guanzhi himself.


    "The Blood River Godslayer Array is 40 kilometers away; it''s about to reach the designated strike zone." An advisor''s report rang out, and the tension in the air was heightened to a peak.


    Yu Guanzhi raised his hand, and as he dialed a number on his soul communicator, his hand was trembling slightly. As a Limit Douluo, this was something that had never happened to him before.


    "Sect Master Tang, is everything ready over on your end?"


    "Everything is ready to go."


    "Alright, then I''ll be counting on you. The Blood River Godslayer Array is currently situated 40 kilometers away from us; you can make the final preparations now."


    "Copy that."


    After ending the call, Yu Guanzhi took a deep breath before issuing another urgent order. "All warships and artillery shells are to enter DEFCON 1. Lock onto the target and await my orders."


    ......


    Ling Zichen''s mecha was slightly different from before. There was now a red rhomboid gem on its chest, creating a nice contrast with her pink mecha.

 Chapter 1806: Artillery God, Human Weapon!

    "We are now entering DEFCON 1! I repeat, we are now entering DEFCON 1! Lock onto the target and await further orders!"


    The sound of swiveling soul tools rang out across the entire northern front. Many long-range artillery units from the three naval legions had surfaced on the sea, and all of them were aimed toward the distance, silently waiting.


    Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the critical moment, the one that would perhaps decide the survival of the human race!


    Dong Zi''an was currently situated at the very front of the Western Legion''s defensive line, and his Fierce Wolf mecha was as eye-catching as ever.


    At a time like this, only by leading from the front could Dong Zi''an raise the morale of the Western Legion.


    He was prepared to use his own blood to wash away the grave error that he had made.


    He raised his hand and dialed a number on the military communicator he wore around his wrist, and his call was almost instantly answered.


    "This is Yu Guanzhi speaking."


    "Old Man Yu." Dong Zi''an''s voice was a little shaky as he spoke.


    "What do you want? I have to get back to work," Yu Guanzhi said.


    Dong Zi''an continued, "We''ve been fighting and bickering for decades, and I''ve never been willing to submit to you. I''ve never felt like you were better than me; you simply hit the jackpot with your upbringing. I had to work countless times harder than you to get to this point, but our feud ends here today. I still don''t think you''re better than me, but I have a request to make."


    "Go ahead," Yu Guanzhi prompted.


    "After I die, don''t put my name on the pillar of shame," Dong Zi''an requested.


    Yu Guanzhi was silent for a moment before replying, "Dong Zi''an, you f*cking better come back alive!"


    "Hahahaha, you know me; the old Fierce Wolf won''t die that easily!"


    Dong Zi''an ended the call before jumping into his Fierce Wolf mecha, and as he did so, the mecha closed before opening its eyes, which gave off an intimidating gleam.


    "Listen up, brothers of the Western Legion; this is Dong Zi''an speaking! No one is to take a single backward step, and I''m going to lead the way!"


    As soon as he finished this declaration, his Fierce Wolf mecha sprang up into the air, arriving at the very forefront of the Western Legion''s defensive line.


    In the main control center, Yu Guanzhi clenched his fists tightly as he murmured to himself, "Old Man Dong, you''ve always been the man I''ve looked up to the most. You''re right; if it weren''t for my upbringing, I wouldn''t have achieved as much as you."


    Chen Xinjie patted him on the shoulder, and said, "If both of you survive this battle, I''m sure you''ll become good friends rather than rivals."


    Yu Guanzhi smiled, and replied, "I''m also sure of that."


    "35 kilometers!" the advisor declared.


    Yu Guanzhi arrived before the large screen and stared intently at the advancing Blood River Godslayer Array on the screen. His entire body was completely tensed up.


    Right at this moment, the powerful beings of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect began to rise up into the air, and from their positions, they were also able to see the giant purplish-black light barrier in the distance.


    Tang Wulin gave Ling Zichen a nod, and a serious look appeared on her face.


    Specks of pink light began to appear all over her body, and she was instantly encased in her divine-grade mecha before rising up into the air on her own.


    "Everyone, protect Zichen and prepare for battle!" Tang Wulin yelled.


    The vast majority of people present didn''t know what he was going to do, but they all followed his orders.


    Ling Zichen''s mecha was slightly different from before. There was now a red rhomboid gem on its chest, creating a nice contrast with her pink mecha.


    Currently, the red gem was glowing brightly, and it suddenly flipped over to reveal a series of intricate metal parts that formed a stand, atop which sat a cannon barrel that was around half a foot in diameter and roughly two feet in length.


    "Wulin, help me stabilize the barrel!"


    Tang Wulin''s expression changed drastically at the sight of this setup.


    "You really are insane!"


    At this point it was clear to him what Ling Zichen had done: she had installed Eternal Heaven into her divine-grade mecha, making it her mecha''s main cannon!


    This thing was a ticking time bomb, and if it were to explode, not even a single cell of Ling Zichen''s body would remain!


    Ling Zichen smiled, and said, "I didn''t have enough time to do anything other than to make my mecha the stand for the weapon. Do you think Eternal Heaven is that easy to modify? Hurry up and position yourself behind me to help me stabilize the stand. The recoil is going to be very strong, so brace yourself."


    Everyone''s reaction was much the same as Tang Wulin''s.


    This woman was using her own body as a battery for the most fearsome weapon that humanity had ever created!


    Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin felt as if their hearts were about to leap out of their throats! Never did they think that Ling Zichen was insane to this degree!


    Essentially, she had transplanted Eternal Heaven into her mecha, and the core of her mecha was her body, so in a sense, she had become one with Eternal Heaven!


    She was a walking weapon of mass destruction!


    All scientists had a deranged facet to their personalities, but Ling Zichen''s insanity had definitely far exceeded that of the vast majority of scientists. Setting aside how much danger she was exposing herself to during the fusion process, was she even going to be able to handle the energy eruption from Eternal Heaven as its battery?


    At this point, regardless of how stunned and dismayed everyone was, there was no choice other than to do as she instructed.


    Tang Wulin aimed a vicious glare at her before yelling, "Everyone, retreat to five kilometers away! Let''s go."


    He wound an arm across Ling Zichen''s waist as he spoke, and the two of them rose up into the air together, opening up some distance between them and the secondary tree of life.


    Ling Zichen chuckled, "Are you scared?"


    Tang Wulin replied in an enraged voice, "That''s beside the point; how could you be so reckless with your own body?"


    Ling Zichen replied, "That''s also beside the point. As a scientist, I care only about the success rate, and the option that grants the best success rate is to use my body as the battery. I daresay that my understanding of source positive circulation cores is unmatched, and that''s the foundation of Eternal Heaven, except it''s more advanced than what I had been researching. In order to modify it to transform it into a super weapon that can be used repeatedly, minor adjustments have to constantly be made to the source positive circulation cores, and some adjustments also have to be made during the firing process.


    "I''m not a Soul Master, but my body already contains many source positive circulation cores, and I can only maximize my control over Eternal Heaven by making it a part of my body. In doing so, the success rate compared with setting up the battery independently of my body is increased by 18.5%. Do you know what that entails? It means that the overall security will be raised by close to 20%, so there''s no reason for me not to do this. Also, now that I''ve succeeded, I''m a walking super weapon! Even you wouldn''t be able to withstand a direct blast from me. Hahaha, from now on, I''ll be the Artillery God of our Tang Sect!"


    The fury in Tang Wulin''s heart gradually faded as he listened to her excited speech, and it was replaced by a special emotion.


    For science and research, this woman had given everything she had to give.


    She wasn''t even purely human anymore, and she had done all of this for the sake of Tang Sect and soul technology.

 Chapter 1807: You Are the Pride of the Tang Sect

    "What''s up? Why aren''t you saying anything?" Ling Zichen asked with a smile.


    "Zichen, you''ve sacrificed too much," Tang Wulin sighed.


    Ling Zichen''s smile suddenly vanished upon hearing this. Tang Wulin couldn''t see her face behind her mecha''s visor, but he could sense the shift in her emotions.


    "You must think I''m a monster, right? Some kind of madwoman?" Ling Zichen said in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "Not at all; I''ve never thought of you that way. In my heart, you''re a scientist who''s worthy of respect. You''ve given so much for your pursuit, and you''re the pride of the entire Tang Sect."


    "But I''m also a woman, and I also desire what normal women want! Even though I only think of those desires very occasionally, I''m still a woman!"


    She suddenly began to choke up with sobs, and her drastic mood swings left Tang Wulin at a complete loss for what to do.


    All of a sudden, Ling Zichen screamed, "Prepare to fire the Eternal Heaven cannon! Tang Wulin, stabilize the battery!"


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted upon hearing this, and specks of golden light quickly appeared over his body as he donned his four-word battle armor.


    At the same time, his battle armor transitioned into a liquid state and connected itself securely with Ling Zichen''s mecha. He was holding Ling Zichen from behind, and at this moment, it was as if the two of them had completely fused as one.


    The silver cannon barrel was slowly aimed toward the purplish-black light barrier in the distance, and in that instant, it was as if the very air had solidified.


    The slowly advancing Blood River Godslayer Array was a harbinger of doom for the entire human race.


    Ling Zichen pursed her lips tightly to forcibly hold back her own tears, and specks of light appeared all over her body as one source positive circulation core lit up after another, generating an enormous amount of power.


    A series of halos lit up on her mecha''s chest. Those were a string of source positive circulation cores, and they were connected in a brilliant configuration, releasing an unprecedentedly fearsome aura.


    Even though Tang Wulin had donned his suit of battle armor, his flesh still immediately began to crawl in the instant that those source positive circulation cores were ignited. His entire body began to tremble, and his heart was filled with an indescribable sensation that was a mixture of fear, excitement, anticipation, and above all else, determination.


    They had to destroy the enemy here in the northernmost region at all costs. They couldn''t allow the abyssal army to progress further inland.


    Inside the Blood River Godslayer Array.


    One figure after another was emerging incessantly from the abyssal passageway to join the abyssal army, and all of them were top-tier beings of the abyssal realm.


    Following the completion of the Blood River Godslayer Array, the abyssal plane was protected by the array, thereby shielded from the restrictive power of the Douluo Plane.


    Countless powerful beings were rushing out of the abyssal plane, appraising everything outside of the Blood River Godslayer Array with greedy eyes, awaiting the moment that they could run rampant in this exuberant plane.


    This world was going to act as a stepping stone for them on the way to godhood, and they could even sense the abundant life energy within the planet beneath their feet.


    This was energy that they had been dreaming of for countless years!


    The Spirit Sovereign hovered in mid-air directly above the center of the abyssal army with his hands behind his back, and he closed his eyes as he savored the moment.


    In the distance, the ravaged defensive line of the Western Legion was already visible. The Blood River Godslayer Array was capable of eroding all things, and as soon as it bypassed this defensive line, the abyssal army would be released to all corners of the world to deliver the purest life energy back to the abyssal plane.


    Right at this moment, an indescribable sense of horror suddenly welled up in the Spirit Sovereign''s heart.


    His spiritual power had already reached the Divine Origin realm, so he could immediately sense any threat to his wellbeing.


    He instantly raised his head and cast his gaze toward a certain direction. There, in the pitch-black night, a tiny speck of light was visible in the distance.


    It was none other than this diminutive speck of light that was striking horror deep into his heart.


    What was that thing?


    In the next instant, all of the quasigod level beings in the Blood River Godslayer Array also raised their heads and turned their attention toward the same direction with stunned expressions.


    No one knew what the speck of light was, but all of them could sense a terrifying aura, as if the sky were about to fall on their heads.


    "It''s Eternal Heaven! We have to intercept it and keep it away from the array!" Ghost Emperor exclaimed.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was naturally aware of Eternal Heaven''s existence. The Shrek City bombing had been conducted using two godslayer missiles, and as one of the main perpetrators, Ghost Emperor could never forget that doomsday-like scene.


    However, even those two missiles completely paled in comparison with Eternal Heaven. This was a legendary weapon of the federation!


    The spies of the Holy Spirit Cult hadn''t informed Ghost Emperor that Eternal Heaven had fallen into the hands of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so he was completely caught off guard by this development.


    "Get Demon Sovereign to open the array right away and release us!" the Spirit Sovereign yelled.


    Not only was the Blood River Godslayer Array capable of keeping out all attacks, it also trapped everything inside unless the overseer opened the array.


    Ghost Emperor immediately released his spiritual power to get into contact with Demon Sovereign deep within the abyssal passageway.


    At this moment, the woman that was bathed in purplish-golden light and situated on the giant altar opened her eyes. Standing beside her was another woman with shoulder-length hair, and her face was very pale as she stood on the spot with a listless expression.


    "Eternal Heaven? So what?" Demon Sovereign mused in a cold voice.


    The young woman beside her shuddered, and implored, "Please stop this, Mother; I beg of you. Do you really want to see the entire continent be destroyed by the abyssal creatures? We can''t do this! This world nurtured us and gave us everything; you can''t allow your hatred and desire to avenge Father blind you!"


    "Shut up!" Demon Sovereign slapped the young woman across the face, knocking her onto the ground. "If it weren''t for that person you let go, everything would be progressing even more smoothly. All humans must die to atone for your father''s death; so what if the continent goes down with them? We''ll be ascending to another world anyway. Only by becoming a god will there be a chance for me to find your father again; only a god can attain the ability to create life."


    Blood was trickling out of the corner of the young woman''s lips as she laid on the ground, but her eyes were filled with determination. "But so many people have already died in your quest to attain godhood. We aren''t humans, but humans are still living beings. So many of them have perished for your quest for revenge; you''re going to be punished by the heavens for this!"


    "Hahahaha! Why wasn''t your father''s killer punished by the heavens? So what if the heavens decide to punish me? The planar ruler of the Douluo Continent has no physical form; once I become a god, the planar ruler may even be at my mercy! So what if they''re deploying Eternal Heaven? Let them do whatever they want Hahahahahaha!"


    Deranged laughter echoed throughout the abyssal passageway.


    At the same time, Demon Sovereign swept her right hand through the air, and a string of runes lit up, following which an opening appeared on the Blood River Godslayer Array.

 Chapter 1808: Fire, Eternal Heaven!

    The Spirit Sovereign was already prepared, and he immediately swept a hand through the air, upon which the four sovereigns instantly rushed out of the array, heading directly toward the threat in the distance.


    However, it was also right at this moment that a cold look appeared in the tear-filled eyes of Ling Zichen.


    You think you can oppose the power of Eternal Heaven?


    During the modification process, she had already taken the firing time into account.


    As the most powerful godslayer missile in existence, it would indeed take some time for Eternal Heaven to reach its target if it were launched as a missile, and there really would be a chance for the enemy to weaken it during its flight.


    However, it was no longer a missile.


    "Come, you abhorrent bastards! Fire, Eternal Heaven!" Ling Zichen yelled.


    Tang Wulin could feel that Ling Zichen''s body had suddenly become extremely hot, and even through his four-word battle armor, he could still clearly sense this scorching heat.


    In the next instant, the entire sky brightened, and a streak of dazzling white light shot out of Ling Zichen''s chest.


    Tang Wulin was fully focused, and as soon as the cannon was fired, his battle armor began to ripple like water, absorbing the terrifying recoil of the explosion.


    Even so, he and Ling Zichen were instantly propelled up to an altitude of over 10,000 meters like a pair of cannonballs. Due to the extreme friction between the air and his battle armor, the latter had turned a scorching red color.


    The abyssal creatures that were rushing out of the Blood River Godslayer Array were originally being led by the Black Sovereign, but she was suddenly struck by a sense of indescribable pressure, and she immediately stopped flying without any hesitation, allowing herself to rapidly plummet out of the sky in free fall.


    In the face of such lethal danger, any of the sovereigns would make the same decision to pursue self-preservation.


    This terrifying attack had come far too quickly, and all of the eyes of the human army were focused on this dazzling streak of white light that had lit up the entire night sky.


    Everyone looked on with bated breath, anticipating the moment the streak of light would strike the array.


    Success or failure, life or death; everything would be decided by this attack!


    Finally, the devastating attack arrived.


    Dong Zi''an was hovering in mid-air, preparing to lead the resistance against the Blood River Godslayer Array, and he was completely rooted to the spot.


    He was also a Limit Douluo, so he was naturally also able to sense the insanely fearsome power imbued within the streak of white light.


    Was it here? Was this it?


    All information regarding Eternal Heaven had been kept strictly confidential, so aside from Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi, no one knew exactly when Eternal Heaven was going to be fired.


    However, Dong Zi''an''s instincts told him that this was the Eternal Heaven that he had been waiting for this entire time!


    Furthermore, the attack had been fired from the Shrek Academy encampment.


    It had arrived just in the nick of time!


    Please, please, please succeed!


    In that instant, tears were streaming down his face.


    Over a third of the Western Legion''s troops had perished due to an error on his part, but even then, he hadn''t shed a single tear. However, in this moment, when hope had finally arrived, he was unable to hold back his tears any longer.


    His teeth had already bitten through his lower lip, and in that instant, countless chaotic thoughts surfaced in his mind.


    The lives of the entire human army, and perhaps everyone on the entire continent, hinged on this attack.


    This attack was their hope, and the hope of the entire federation.


    Within the Blood River Godslayer Array, the Spirit Sovereign vanished on the spot almost as soon as he caught sight of that flash of radiance.


    A look of astonishment surfaced in his eyes.


    With his Divine Origin realm spiritual power, he was extremely sensitive to all forms of energy, so he was able to clearly sense just how fearsome this attack was.


    Would the Blood River Godslayer Array really be able to withstand it?


    Ling Zichen''s entire body was completely numb. She had already lost control of all of her physical functions, and only her brain remained conscious.


    Her lips were moving, but she was unable to utter a single word. She could only formulate a single thought in her mind.


    Let Eternal Heaven purify this heinous Blood River Godslayer Array!


    Finally, the white light shone down upon the giant purplish-black light barrier, and in that instant, time, space, everything seemed to have fallen still.


    It was as if the entire Douluo Plane had been put on pause, as if the planet itself wasn''t even orbiting anymore.


    The Blood River Godslayer Array stopped in its tracks, and everyone''s eyes were focused on the point of impact.


    In that instant, everyone seemed to have lost all ability to think.


    Gradually, the white light faded, but the giant purplish-black array still stood.


    Inside the Blood River Godslayer Array, a look of extreme excitement appeared in Ghost Emperor''s eerie green eyes.


    "We did it! In the face of the mighty Blood River Godslayer Array, even Eternal Heaven..."


    All of a sudden, his words drew to an abrupt halt as he discovered that the spot where the Blood River Godslayer Array had just been struck was suddenly lighting up.


    The purplish color had turned a radiant bright purple, and it was as if countless illusions had appeared on the surface of the array.


    A series of images appeared on the massive light barrier, depicting an immortal paradise that was filled with drifting ethereal clouds.


    At the same time, a voice rang out within everyone''s hearts.


    "Welcome to Eternal Heaven!"


    "Boom!"


    An unprecedentedly massive explosion erupted, and the entire world trembled.


    The entire northernmost region was transformed into a sea of light, and all those with their eyes fixed on the point of impact were temporarily blinded by the scintillating light.


    An incandescent white mushroom cloud rose up into the air, transforming into a gigantic white halo that exploded in the sky.


    Tang Wulin and Ling Zichen were several dozens of kilometers away from the epicenter of the explosion, but in the next instant, they were flung back several dozens of kilometers further by the terrifying shockwaves.


    In the instant that the explosion had begun, a green light barrier had appeared to encompass the entire Tang Sect and Shrek Academy encampment. However, all that the powerful beings of Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect could see was radiant white light.


    All of them had thought about and imagined the power of Eternal Heaven, but this explosion had exceeded everyone''s expectations.


    Dong Zi''an was chortling like a madman. He couldn''t see anything, and his body was being flung through the air like a rag doll, but he was laughing to his heart''s content.


    Upon witnessing the Blood River Godslayer Array continuing to stand in the wake of the attack, his heart had completely sunk. However, in the next instant, the massive explosion took place, and he and his mecha were sent flying through the air.


    The shockwaves were so powerful that he had almost blacked out. He was situated closer to the explosion''s epicenter than anyone in the human army, but that was still several dozens of kilometers away. Even so, the shockwaves still sent him flying like a cannonball.

 Chapter 1809: Long Live the Federation

    However, he was laughing as he knew that the more powerful Eternal Heaven was, the greater the probability that all those bastards would be wiped out!


    Despite the power of the explosion, the human army was still far away from its epicenter, and the protective barriers of the defensive line were able to keep out most of the shockwaves.


    But what had become of the Blood River Godslayer Array? It had taken a direct hit!


    The Black Sovereign and the other abyssal sovereigns had been slammed into the ground by the shockwaves like a series of nails, and their hearts were filled with horror.


    Was this the super weapon of the human race? Was this the destruction that the human race was capable of unleashing?


    They couldn''t believe what had just taken place, but the truth was undeniable!


    Yu Guanzhi had already issued an order to fire all long-range weapons, but upon witnessing that streak of dazzling white light, he knew that the order was completely pointless.


    Never had he felt such awe and horror. As a Limit Douluo, he was already standing at the pinnacle of this world, yet only after the explosion ensued did he come to understand what true horror was!


    This was Eternal Heaven, the undisputed number one weapon in the history of the human race. It had been created a very long time ago, but it had been sealed away this entire time.


    What truly terrified him was that this weapon wasn''t being controlled by the federation; it was in the hands of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy!


    Two people who were even more terrified than he was were Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng.


    They were situated in the Western Legion''s encampment, experiencing the tremors running through the earth and the unsteady wavering of the entire defensive line.


    They could see the doomsday-like explosion and hear the piercing alarm. Only now did they truly understand what Eternal Heaven entailed.


    100 ninth-grade missiles? Defense systems fit for space exploration? In the face of Eternal Heaven, all that was nothing more than a pitiful joke.


    If this attack had been aimed at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters, then everything would be erased from existence, even extending kilometers deep into the ground.


    Was this really something that had been created by humans?


    Gu Yuena was also watching, and her face was completely pale.


    For the first time, she experienced what true destruction was, and this destruction had been created by humans. Humans were fundamentally different from gods, but could a god truly withstand an attack of this caliber?


    She had no idea, and no one could determine this.


    The all-consuming white light lingered for a very, very long time, and all those who were witnessing the explosion felt as if an eternity had passed by.


    Finally, they regained their hearing, and their sight gradually returned to them, allowing them to see the white mushroom cloud that was rising up into the sky, as well as the Blood River Godslayer Array, which was looking like a gigantic smashed watermelon.


    In the wake of the explosion, the entire Blood River Godslayer Array seemed to have solidified, and over two-thirds of it had disappeared, leaving behind the remnants of a charred purplish-black dome.


    Over two-thirds of the abyssal army had also vanished, and a massive torrent of grey energy was surging into the abyssal passageway.


    Only some of the abyssal creatures at the very edge of the array were still alive, but even so, their bodies had been blown into pieces with dismembered limbs littered everywhere.


    Aside from the entrance to the abyssal passageway, which was concealed behind a cloud of dense mist, it could be seen that the ground within the array had turned into a dark red liquid that appeared to be molten lava.


    The ground had caved in by over 100 meters, and the scene being presented was like hell on earth.


    Everyone was struck by a sense of dryness in their throats, but all of a sudden, someone yelled in a hoarse voice, "Long live the federation!"


    In the next instant, cheers began to ring out across the entire human army.


    "Long live the federation! Long live the federation! Long live the federation!"


    The vast majority of them had no idea what had happened, nor what weapon had been used to create such a terrifying explosion, but they knew that the fearsome Blood River Godslayer Array was completely and utterly destroyed.


    This was Eternal Heaven, the pinnacle of humanity''s destructive capabilities!


    Dong Zi''an struggled out of his Fierce Wolf mecha, which had been embedded into the side of a mountain, and as he caught sight of the scene in the distance, he also began to yell with all his might.


    "Long live Eternal Heaven! Long live the federation!" Tears and snot were streaming down his face, but he didn''t care.


    They had succeeded! The Blood River Godslayer Array had finally been destroyed, alongside the majority of the abyssal army.


    Even though the destroyed abyssal creatures were returning to the abyssal plane as abyssal energy, such a massive number of abyssal creatures definitely couldn''t be resurrected anytime soon, and that was all the time the human army needed to drive back what remained of the abyssal army.


    "Zichen? Zichen! Are you alright?" Tang Wulin called out in an urgent manner.


    He had naturally also witnessed everything happening in the distance, but the savior of the human army, Ling Zichen, had stopped breathing, and all of her vital signs had disappeared.


    Her body was like a machine that was completely spent and had shut down due to total energy loss.


    Tang Wulin held Ling Zichen in his arms, and her pink mecha had become completely dull and devoid of luster.


    Thus, Tang Wulin was in no mood to join in on the celebrations. He flew back like a shooting star to the Shrek Academy encampment and returned to the secondary tree of life.


    Under his guidance, rich life energy gushed into the pink mecha in a frenzy. Yali had also arrived by his side, and she immediately unleashed her Archangel''s Holy Spirit Dance. This was the ultimate resurrection technique, and if anything could bring her back, it would be this.


    Meanwhile, inside the main control center, Yu Guanzhi roared with all his might, "Fire! Fire all weapons!"


    One launch button after another was pressed amid the raucous cheers, and more violent explosions erupted in the northernmost region.


    Countless soul missiles and soul lasers fell like rain, and all of them had a single target.


    Without the protection of the Blood River Godslayer Array, what remained of the abyssal army was about to face the full wrath of the human army.


    Everything was quaking violently, and thunderous explosions rang out across the entire northernmost region.


    Their plan had succeeded, and everything was looking bright and hopeful.


    As the barrage of artillery fire continued to rain down, a hint of white had already begun to appear in the distant sky.


    Dawn had arrived, so the sun was surely not far away!


    The human army was celebrating with all their might, celebrating the joy of just being alive.


    After issuing that final order, Yu Guanzhi slumped back into his seat.


    Staying up all night couldn''t exhaust a Limit Douluo, but extreme mental tension followed by utter relaxation was a one-two punch that could knock down anyone, and even Chen Xinjie''s breathing had become quite rough and ragged.

 Chapter 1810: Ling Zichens excitement

    "They did it! They are the heroes of humanity!" Chen Xinjie proclaimed with tightly clenched fists.


    He was currently recalling what Long Yeyue had said to him prior to his departure from Shrek Academy, and his heart was filled with radiant passion and hope.


    Everything seemed to be progressing in a positive direction.


    All of a sudden, something seemed to have occurred to Yu Guanzhi, and he yelled, "Huanyun, Huanyun!"


    Zhang Huanyun was also in the main control center, and he was just as ecstatic as everyone else.


    He had spent the majority of his life fighting against the abyssal plane, but never had he witnessed so many abyssal creatures being wiped out at once.


    "I''m here, Commander," Zhang Huanyun said as he arrived beside Yu Guanzhi before extending a military salute.


    "The rest is up to you now, Old Man Zhang. Once we force the abyssal army into retreat, set up the Blood God Array right away to seal the passageway; we can''t give them any chance to come out again."


    At this point, Yu Guanzhi had regained some of his composure.


    The initial objective for the battle had been successfully achieved, and now, it was time to seal the abyssal passageway and permanently keep the abyssal creatures out of this world.


    He didn''t know how much damage that attack from Eternal Heaven had caused to the Holy Spirit Cult, but the best-case scenario would obviously be the death of all of the Holy Spirit Cult''s Evil Soul Masters.


    "Rest assured, we''ve already made the preparations. Once the abyssal creatures are cleared away, we''ll be able to begin setting up the Blood God Array immediately. As for the resources required, we''ll require your assistance for that."


    "We''ll do everything in our power to cooperate with you!" Yu Guanzhi replied without any hesitation.


    Zhang Huanyun smiled, as did Yu Guanzhi, and both of them felt as if a massive weight had been lifted from their shoulders.


    At this moment, a silver figure appeared on the battlefield, flying directly toward the abyssal passageway as a streak of silver light.


    The storm of artillery fire didn''t slow her down in the slightest as she was always able to accurately evade the artillery shells that were on course to strike her, as if she could see into the future.


    In the next instant, she plunged headfirst into the artillery fire and straight toward the vast cloud of abyssal energy in the distance.


    This silver figure was naturally none other than Gu Yuena.


    Her Silver Dragon Spear was glowing with dazzling light, and all of the shockwaves from the explosions were being kept at bay by the rainbow energy around her body.


    There was no better time than now to devour abyssal energy. So many abyssal creatures had been killed, among which many were extremely powerful, creating an enormous amount of abyssal energy to be devoured.


    Sure enough, as soon as Gu Yuena approached the epicenter of the explosion, she clearly felt her Silver Dragon Spear become scorching hot, and a tremendous rush of energy entered her body in a frenzy.


    However, she didn''t pay any heed to all of this as there was one question in her mind: why wasn''t he here?


    Surely he wouldn''t miss out on such a fantastic opportunity!


    With Tang Wulin''s power and ability to grasp opportunities, Gu Yuena was confident that Tang Wulin wouldn''t miss something like this.


    That attack from Eternal Heaven had killed countless abyssal creatures, and there was no lack of abyssal emperors and sovereigns among them, so there was no better opportunity than this one.


    As for the storm of artillery fire, that wouldn''t pose any threat to his four-word battle armor.


    Beneath the secondary tree of life, the visor of the pink mecha was slowly lifted, revealing Ling Zichen''s pale face.


    She was currently completely paralyzed, but the excitement in her eyes was clear to see.


    Tang Wulin heaved a long sigh of relief upon seeing this, and he asked in an urgent manner, "How are you feeling?"


    Ling Zichen''s voice was slightly feeble and hoarse as she asked, "Did we succeed? Did we manage to destroy the Blood River Godslayer Array?"


    Tang Wulin hurriedly nodded in response. "We did, so rest easy. On top of that, a massive number of abyssal creatures were killed. We succeeded. No, you succeeded."


    A wide smile appeared on Ling Zichen''s face. "We really did it! And I didn''t die! I thought I was dead for sure. I had at least 30 broken bones in my body, and I thought I was done for, but it''s all worth it. Also, even more importantly, I was able to verify one of my hypotheses. I really didn''t want to admit it, but it looks like I have no choice now."


    "Don''t talk; conserve your energy and rest. With Mother here, you won''t be able to die even if you wanted to," Tang Wulin said.


    Ling Zichen shook her head as she withdrew her divine-grade mecha amid a flash of pink light, then raised a hand, only for it to fall back down in a limp manner.


    "Wulin, please keep a record of what I''m about to say next. I don''t know if I''ll be able to live until the end of this battle, and I just had an extremely important epiphany that needs to be recorded in text and sent back to the Tang Sect headquarters. This is going to be an invaluable treasure for our Tang Sect, and through it, I can see the future."


    "The future?" Cao Dezhi asked, "What do you mean by that?"


    Ling Zichen''s eyes immediately lit up, and in that instant, it was as if she had turned into someone else, as if those injuries on her body didn''t even exist.


    Yali hurriedly increased the rate of injection of holy energy into her body, fearing that she was experiencing terminal lucidity.


    With her support and the constant injection of life energy from the secondary tree of life, Ling Zichen was immediately reinvigorated. "I fused Eternal Heaven with my mecha as I wanted to conduct a very important experiment, one that can only be conducted by me. I''ve already sent the records of the experiment back to the Tang Sect, and all highly authorized members will be able to view it. Back when I first began studying Eternal Heaven, I quickly discovered that it was a very intriguing creation due to its structure.


    "I discovered that Eternal Heaven is indeed comprised of source positive circulation cores. This is something that I''ve been constantly researching. I am also able to create source positive circulation cores, and they''re even better than the source positive circulation cores made during the era of Eternal Heaven''s creation. However, I''m able to control one core easily and install several cores into a soul tool, but I''ve always been stumped by the problem of how to create synergy between cores, thereby resulting in an effect that''s superior to the sum of the constituent parts.


    "This is definitely possible for Source positive circulation cores, but whenever I''ve tried it, I''ve almost always been met by a huge explosion. However, the more it exploded, the more I was convinced that I was going in the right direction. If we can harness and control this power and prevent it from exploding, we''d be able to create even more powerful soul tools! I was convinced that this was correct, and I''ve always been working toward this goal. However, my research wasn''t able to yield a satisfactory answer; I was unable to fuse the cores.


    "I''ve already been able to fuse several source positive circulation cores on an elementary level to generate a slight qualitative change, but that was it. Everything changed when I got my hands on Eternal Heaven. Eternal Heaven is truly a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, and the most important inspiration it provided me with was related to the fusion of source positive circulation cores. Do you know what I saw when I removed the shell of the missile? I saw a huge number of source positive circulation cores interconnected with one another, synergizing with one another, and the system could be activated at any moment to generate a terrifying qualitative change.


    "Once this qualitative change took place, all of the cores would explode in unison to devastating effect. So how were these cores connected? They were connected through meridians!

 Chapter 1811: Beyond Insane

    "That''s right, meridians! The meridians are very similar to those in the human body, and they emulated through bionics. The source positive circulation cores are like parts of our bodies, or even cells, and they''re all firmly connected to these meridians. It was such a wonderful sight; I have no idea what kind of genius could''ve come up with something like this! At the time, I was truly overcome with emotion, and I finally understood what I had been pursuing all this time. Thus, I began my experiments, trying to connect cores through meridians.


    "Sure enough, I succeeded, and I finally found an opening for a breakthrough on a bottleneck that''s been stumping me for so long."


    Her eyes were filled with excitement as she spoke, and even though she was only an ordinary person, all of the Titled Douluos of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy present were struck by a sense of fear in her presence.


    Ling Zichen''s persistence in soul technology research was far beyond even their persistence in cultivation! Just how insane was this woman? Having said that, they had to admit that it was precisely her insanity that had made her become such a brilliant scientist.


    Ling Zichen paid no heed to everyone''s expressions; she was currently completely immersed in a world of her own.


    "After several successful experiments, I developed a bold idea, one that sounded a little mad even to me. Firstly, I set up a hypothesis, which was that Eternal Heaven is actually an unfinished product rather than the final product that the scientists from that era had actually intended to create. In other words, they only completed a portion of the envisioned final product."


    Eternal Heaven was an unfinished product? Everyone was completely bewildered to hear this.


    Ling Zichen continued, "Through this experiment, I was able to confirm my hypothesis. The reason I say it''s an unfinished product is also because of the meridians. The source positive circulation cores inside Eternal Heaven were organized exactly according to the meridians in a human body, but its shell doesn''t match its interior. Of course, it''s just a soul missile, but in my eyes, the shell is far too ordinary considering its brilliant internal structure. Then, I saw a very small engraving on an internal corner of the shell, and the engraving read: ''man-made warrior''!


    "As soon as I saw those two words, I was struck by a sense of enlightenment because I clearly recalled a proposal made by a scientist many years ago. Soul Masters are powerful, but is there a way for ordinary people in this world to use soul energy? Is there a way to implant soul energy into an ordinary person''s body to make them just as powerful as Soul Masters? I am an ordinary person with a trash martial soul that can''t be cultivated, but I wanted to become powerful, so I''ve constantly been researching this topic.


    "As you saw, I implanted my mecha into my own body and created energy stores for it through a series of independent source positive circulation cores, thereby making myself a superhuman warrior. Even though a mecha like this can''t be mass-produced, I felt like I had succeeded. However, after witnessing Eternal Heaven''s internal structure, I discovered that even though I was on the right path, I was still far, far away from the finishing line. Thus, I developed a bold idea: if I can replicate this system of meridians and implant a large number of source positive circulation cores into my own body to fuse with my mecha, I''ll be able to transform myself into Eternal Heaven!


    "Wouldn''t I be a true super warrior then? I conducted some simulations and many experiments, and on a purely theoretical basis, this was viable. However, Eternal Heaven belongs to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and it''s too important for me to experiment on. On top of that, the experiment I want to conduct is very dangerous, so it could be said that this was the opportunity I had been waiting for. Haha, they actually agreed for me to conduct my experiment; I''m so happy!"


    Everyone exchanged bewildered glances upon hearing this.


    Tang Wulin could still clearly recall everything that Ling Zichen had said in the main control center, and looking back now, it became clear to him that everything she had said had been for the sake of her research. Perhaps the consequences wouldn''t be as dire as she proclaimed, but there was only one Eternal Heaven, and it had to be used if she wanted to conduct her experiment.


    The word "insane" wasn''t even doing her justice anymore...


    Ling Zichen sighed, "If I had enough time, perhaps I would also be able to create a man-made meridian source positive circulation core, but there aren''t enough resources available to me. During the creation of Eternal Heaven, almost the entirety of the federation''s supply of uncommon metals had been used up to create so many source positive circulation cores. Our Tang Sect doesn''t have that much uncommon metals for me to work with, so this was my only opportunity, and I had to grasp it no matter what."


    Indeed, experimenting with Eternal Heaven really was her only opportunity, and it was the best opportunity for her to fulfill her dream.


    Only now did Tang Wulin and the others finally understand her thought process. It was no wonder she had been so persistent on that day. Looking back now, the success rate was most likely not as high as she had proclaimed, even though she had succeeded in the end.


    Ling Zichen continued, "However, my experiment was only a half-success. My direction and method were both correct, and I really did manage to fuse Eternal Heaven with my mecha and implant it into my body. I was extremely excited, and I told you that I had succeeded, but in reality, I could see that there was room for development, and this is the future for humanity, so you must remember it well. Super warriors really can be created. In the future, if we want to explore outer space, then we need to become more powerful, and super warriors will be a compulsory area of research.


    "Only by creating super warriors will we have more powerful beings to face formidable enemies. Take these abyssal creatures for example; we''re no match for them as we don''t have sufficient high-end power. How many Titled Douluos do we have? Compare that with the number of powerful beings of the same caliber in the abyssal plane. Only in the instant that I fired the Eternal Heaven cannon did I truly understand what my problem was. I hate to admit it, but it''s the truth: my body is too fragile.


    "Even with the extensive genetic modification I''ve undergone to strengthen my own body, I still only possess the body of an ordinary human. I was able to successfully turn myself into a super weapon, but my body is unable to withstand the side-effects. If, for example, I had implanted Eternal Heaven into Wuiln''s body instead, then he would be able to easily bear the side-effects, and Eternal Heaven would be a weapon that he could use with minimal consequences. However, for me, using this weapon is lethal. I only fired it once, and I was already convinced that I was done for.


    "If Wulin hadn''t been there to protect me, I would''ve most likely already been erased out of existence, and even then, the Holy Spirit Douluo had to save my life. Hence, as soon as I woke up, the first thing I realized was that it really is impossible for humans to become top-tier powerful beings. The subjects of super warrior modification can only be Soul Masters, and the future for humanity is to fuse source positive circulation cores with Soul Masters, making use of Soul Masters'' physical advantages to handle more powerful weapons.


    "This is a path that the human race must take for space exploration and to gather more resources in the future."

 Chapter 1812: Ling Zichens Radiance

    At this point, Ling Zichen was practically glowing with joy, and she murmured to herself, "Think about it; if a source positive circulation core were implanted into the body of a low-grade Soul Master, they would be able to quickly reach the next soul power bottleneck, then absorb a soul spirit before continuing to progress. With more source positive circulation cores implanted into their body, they would be able to progress until they reached the limit of their physical tolerance, elevating them to the Titled Douluo level.


    "This means that my technology can theoretically mass-produce Titled Douluos! Anyone who has any aptitude for cultivation will be able to become a Titled Douluo, regardless of what their martial soul is. That will be a massive step for all of humanity, and the starting point for our plight to conquer space."


    At this point, everyone finally understood what she was trying to say.


    Man-made Titled Douluos? Just the mere thought was terrifying.


    That would be a far more significant breakthrough than even the Spirit Pagoda''s man-made soul spirits! However, if this vision could come true, then humanity really would be taking a giant stride forward.


    If all of the Soul Masters of the human race were at the Titled Douluo level, then the abyssal plane would be nothing!


    Even if abyssal creatures could infinitely resurrect themselves, they wouldn''t be able to establish a foothold at all in the human world!


    A detailed record of Ling Zichen''s words had already been made, and Ling Zichen raised her hand again. This time, she was in far better condition and was able to move, albeit with difficulty.


    It had to be said that Yali really was a miracle worker.


    Ling Zichen said, "Take me to my room; I have to record all of the data I gathered just now, then immediately save it. This is extremely important for our Tang Sect."


    Tang Wulin helped her to her feet before handing her over to Cao Dezhi. At this moment, not a single person was able to say anything.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s military communicator began to ring, shaking him out of his stunned stupor.


    "Alright, we''ll set off right away." Only after hearing what Yu Guanzhi had to say on the other side of the line did Tang Wulin finally recover from the astonishment of what he had just heard.


    "Everyone, it''s time to seal the passageway; let''s set off right away."


    Casting his gaze toward the storm of artillery fire in the distance, he was already able to sense her presence there. The earlier explosion had undoubtedly generated an astronomical amount of abyssal energy, and he had to devour as much of it as possible. The tree of life needed this energy for its evolution.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin rose up into the air and flew directly toward the remnants of the Blood River Godslayer Array.


    In reality, no one was more stunned than he was by that Eternal Heaven blast. He had been supporting Ling Zichen from behind, so he was able to see the blast from up close.


    He could clearly sense that in that instant, Ling Zichen''s entire body seemed to have been ignited.


    Unprecedentedly tremendous energy erupted out of her body, and countless source positive circulation cores converged to create a drastic qualitative change before finally focusing on the cannon barrel on her chest and being released.


    In that instant, Ling Zichen''s aura had definitely been elevated to the quasigod level, so it really was a miracle that her body hadn''t disintegrated on the spot.


    This was most likely what she had meant when she had mentioned the adjustments she had made at the point of firing.


    What had almost killed her was the enormous recoil, but no issues occurred prior to firing. This was Ling Zichen''s success, and she truly was a brilliant scientist.


    The feeling of every single cell in her body being ignited had left a profound impression on Tang Wulin, and it struck him with some inspiration with regard to his next Dragon Emperor Restriction Technique.


    If he could ignite every single one of his cells without regard for consequences and activate their peak power, then he would become an incredibly formidable being.


    His cells naturally couldn''t compare with source positive circulation cores, but there was a massive number of cells in a human''s body. Regardless of how intricately Eternal Heaven had been created, it couldn''t possibly contain that many source positive circulation cores!


    How could this be achieved? Could he get every cell to circulate like a soul core?


    While he was considering this matter, he had already arrived on the battlefield. Artillery fire was still raining down from the heavens, and violent shockwaves were surging across the entire battlefield.


    Without Limit Douluo level power, it really would be very difficult to traverse through such a perilous battlefield.


    Tang Wulin released his dragon''s repulse to protect his own body, then accurately weaved through the gaps in the artillery fire just as Gu Yuena had done earlier, speeding toward the enemy as his Golden Dragon Spear began to devour abyssal energy.


    However, his brows quickly furrowed slightly, not because there was too much abyssal energy to devour, but too little.


    To his surprise, the abyssal energy in the area was already very thin, and even though there was still a constant stream flowing into his Golden Dragon Spear, the amount was very little.


    The explosion had wiped out countless abyssal creatures, yet there was very little abyssal energy in the air; how was this possible?


    Right at this moment, a familiar aura suddenly approached him, and he stopped before casting his gaze toward that direction.


    A silver figure that was radiating rainbow light emerged from the dust and debris before arriving by his side.


    At this moment, Gu Yuena''s battle armor was radiating dazzling silver light, and her entire body seemed to have become transparent.


    Under the backdrop of the relentless storm of artillery fire, she was so stunning and radiant that even though Tang Wulin had seen her countless times, he still couldn''t help but be rooted to the spot.


    This was the woman that had captured his heart! They clearly loved one another, but they couldn''t be together.


    In her presence, even the light radiating from Tang Wulin''s battle armor began to glow brighter.


    Four-word battle armor was prone to being affected by the emotions of its wearer, and Tang Wulin''s emotions were currently fluctuating extremely violently.


    Gu Yuena was also looking at him.


    His appearance hadn''t changed much since their last separation; only his eyes seemed to have become brighter and more profound. In his suit of spectacular golden battle armor, he was bound to be the focus of attention on any battlefield.


    Thinking back to the despair and deep pain she had seen in his eyes not long ago, she had felt as if her heart had been impaled by a sharp dagger. His love for her was so strong and fervent, yet he could only repress it due to their circumstances.


    Explosions were still ringing out incessantly around them, but the violent shockwaves weren''t even able to make the protective energy around them ripple in the slightest. For some reason, Gu Yuena was struck by the feeling that this was a moment that belonged only to the two of them.


    She spread open her silver wings and abruptly rushed forward. Her long silver hair trailed along behind her in the wind, and her purple eyes were obscured by a film of tears.


    Tang Wulin reflexively spread open his arms and allowed her to dive into his embrace.


    Golden Dragon Moon Song and Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin were instantly withdrawn, granting them a tight and seamless embrace. The two suits of battle armor were hovering behind them, still in their humanoid forms, and they were glowing radiantly as they protected their wearers.

 Chapter 1813: The Flair of That Kiss

    Not far away, the Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy could see their embrace.


    Tong Yu had no idea about the relationship between the two, and he immediately rushed forward out of concern, only to be held back by Yali.


    Gu Yuena''s body was soft yet supple, and she seemed to have grown a little taller yet again, so she was now only slightly shorter than Tang Wulin.


    Her fragrance was so familiar, and the feeling of embracing her was so captivating. In that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if he had gone back in time and returned to the days they had spent at Shrek Academy.


    She had always been by his side and had always been his most staunch supporter.


    Her fragrance was still so enchanting; it was faint and refreshing, yet lingered in his memory.


    She raised her head and stared deep into his eyes. On this occasion, she didn''t tell him to leave, nor did she say anything; all she did was look at him.


    Tang Wulin felt a rush of blood surge into his brain, and his emotions instantly overflowed. Right at this moment, she pressed her lips against his in a deep kiss.


    Countless days and nights of lovesickness and yearning had finally concluded with this reunion.


    Her lips were soft and cool, yet her aura was scorching hot, and all Tang Wulin wanted to do in this moment was to fuse her into his own body; he wanted nothing more than for this moment to last for all of eternity.


    Everything in the outside world seemed to be completely unrelated to them, and under the protection of Golden Dragon Moon Song and Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin, the two were completely absorbed in their passionate kiss.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin felt a surge of extremely rich energy flow from Gu Yuena''s lips, and he shuddered involuntarily, immediately following which his greenish-golden soul ring naturally emerged.


    The enormous surge of life energy injected itself into his body in a relentless stream, and Tang Wulin wanted to stop her, but found himself completely unable to do anything.


    Furthermore, under the stimulus of Gu Yuena''s Silver Dragon King aura, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King aura began to evolve.


    The silver light radiating from Gu Yuena''s body fused as one with Tang Wulin''s golden radiance, instantly transforming into nine-colored light that gave off an unprecedentedly powerful aura. The nine-colored light formed a giant cocoon that enveloped both of them, and a hint of recognition immediately flashed through Cao Dezhi''s eyes upon seeing this. "It''s her!"


    During the last abyssal tide, it was Gu Yuena''s arrival that had allowed Tang Wulin to unleash the Dragon God Transformation to force back the Holy Lord''s finger.


    If it weren''t for Gu Yuena, perhaps the abyssal passageway being guarded by the Blood God Legion would''ve already been broken.


    Nine-colored light swirled around them, and Tang Wulin felt as if his entire being were undergoing a drastic change.


    Golden dragon scales gradually began to appear over his body, completely out of his control, and every single scale was shimmering with dazzling light.


    An unprecedented feeling of strength surged out of the core of his being, and in that instant, he could sense that he had finally achieved the final breakthrough to an Invincible Vajra Body, reaching the same level of physical prowess as A''Ruheng. Furthermore, this change was still ongoing.


    A burst of buzzing abruptly rang out from within his soul core, and a massive vortex appeared in his mind.


    The half-formed soul core there instantly took shape, forming a complete three-in-one circulation system with the soul core in his dantian and the dragon core in his chest.


    Tang Wulin''s aura was also beginning to spike at a drastic rate, and his eyes widened as he stared at Gu Yuena, but her eyes remained shut, and the sight of her long eyelashes resting gently on the top of her cheeks was extremely alluring.


    He raised a hand to gently stroke her long silver hair, and in this moment, there was only guilt in his heart, guilt over the fact that he had ever doubted her love for him.


    Regardless of what she had done, she had never betrayed him, and perhaps everything she was doing was for the sake of creating a better future for the two of them.


    Gu Yue, I''ll wait for you no matter how long it takes.


    Tears welled up in his eyes, and in that instant, he had ascended to the Limit Douluo level!


    This was most likely the first time in history that a Limit Douluo breakthrough had been made through a kiss.


    Gu Yuena had injected the enormous life energy she had just devoured into Tang Wulin''s body, helping him break through his limits and forge an Invincible Vajra Physique.


    From this moment forth, Tang Wulin was finally standing at the very pinnacle of this world!


    Thinking back, he was just a mediocre young boy with a trash martial soul and a defective soul spirit, but through his hard work and determination, he had endured countless hardships and setbacks to finally reach this point.


    Finally, he was at the very pinnacle of humanity, reaching the very limit of human capabilities. With the formation of his Invincible Vajra Body and the extremely rare three-core circulation system, he had reached the demigod level right away with no acclimation process required.


    Furthermore, even though he was only a demigod, his powers definitely weren''t inferior to any quasigod!


    Finally, their lips reluctantly parted, and Gu Yuena rested her head tightly against his chest, as if she were listening to his heartbeat.


    In this moment, Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with satisfaction and emotion. All of the hard work he had put in was worth it; all of it was so that they would have a better future together!


    "Don''t worry about the Qiangu Family; I won''t let them off the hook," Gu Yuena said in a gentle voice.


    Despite the myriad explosions taking place around them, Tang Wulin could clearly hear every single word she said.


    A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he chuckled, "I just realized that the Tang Sect Master just kissed the Spirit Pagoda Chairwoman; imagine how stunned the federation would be if this news were to spread."


    Gu Yuena gently punched him in the chest in a gesture of embarrassment. "This battle isn''t over yet. By the time I arrived, the vast majority of the abyssal energy created by the Eternal Heaven explosion had already been drawn into the abyssal passageway; I didn''t even manage to absorb 10% of the total energy. They''re not just going to give up here, and I have a very bad feeling about all of this, so we have to act right away. It''s time to stop the artillery fire."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. Due to the debris being blown up into the air by the explosions, it was impossible to see the entrance to the abyssal passageway; he could only get a rough sense of its location.


    Gu Yuena took advantage of this opportunity to extricate herself from his embrace, and urged, "Go on; time is of the essence."


    Tang Wulin looked deep into her eyes, and he suddenly said, "But the Sea God''s Pavilion Master also wants to kiss the Spirit Pagoda Chairwoman."


    A deep blush immediately appeared on Gu Yuena''s face, and she gave him a delicate glare before vanishing on the spot amid a flash of silver light, but that parting glare had already been firmly imprinted in Tang Wulin''s mind.


    "Let''s go." Tang Wulin called out to the Limit Douluos in the distance before flying back toward the defensive line. Amid all of this artillery fire, there would be no way to get a communication signal, so they had to emerge from the area being targeted by the bombardment first.


    Finally, they flew out of the debris and into the open. Even though Gu Yuena had left, Tang Wulin simply couldn''t repress the smile on his face.


    Her fragrance was still lingering on his lips, and the taste was so familiar and wonderful. All he wanted now was for everything to end as soon as possible so he could return to her side.


    The fact that she had proclaimed her determination to punish the Qiangu Family was an indication that she still saw herself as a member of Shrek Academy; wasn''t that enough?


    "Commander, the vast majority of abyssal energy has been drawn back into the abyssal plane, and the situation may not be as favorable as we anticipated. I think we should cease the bombing so we can ascertain the situation in the abyssal passageway, then decide what to do next. I suggest sending powerful Soul Masters to join forces with us and seal the passageway should the opportunity arise."

 Chapter 1814: Disappearance of the Abyssal Passageway

    Tang Wulin immediately communicated his thoughts through his military communicator.


    "Alright," Yu Guanzhi immediately replied. He had developed a great deal of trust in Tang Wulin.


    Regardless of whether Eternal Heaven was a one-time usage weapon or a super weapon that could be fired multiple times, that wasn''t important anymore; the important thing was that the Blood River Godslayer Array had been broken!


    This contribution alone was enough to make up for the fact that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had stolen Eternal Heaven, and even more importantly, it showed that their hearts were still in the right place.


    Only after a full 10 minutes had passed did the artillery fire finally cease, and at this point, the terrain had already been completely transformed.


    The earth was riddled with craters, and the area where the abyssal army had previously been situated had caved in by several hundred meters.


    However, once the dust settled, everyone was stunned to discover that the abyssal passageway had disappeared!


    The powerful beings of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were hovering in mid-air, releasing their spiritual power to scour the landscape, only to discover that the aura of the abyssal plane had also vanished.


    This discovery immediately dampened everyone''s excitement.


    A set abyssal passageway was naturally quite terrifying, but at the very least, its location was known. In contrast, a vanished abyssal passageway was far more fearsome.


    The main concern was whether it would appear behind the human army.


    Yu Guanzhi had already arrived with many powerful beings from the military and the Battle God Hall.


    "What happened? How could the abyssal passageway have disappeared? None of our surveillance soul tools have managed to ascertain where it''s gone," Yu Guanzhi said in an urgent voice.


    "Calm down, Commander; let''s think about this logically. Back when the abyssal passageway was under the protection of the Blood River Godslayer Array, it was only able to move very slowly. That''s definitely not an act; if it had been capable of moving faster, it would''ve already made a rush for our defensive line when that branch of the abyssal army stormed the Western Legion. As such, that should be its maximal speed, which means that even if it has moved away, it definitely couldn''t have gone far, and there''s certainly no way it would''ve crossed our defensive line.


    "On top of that, it shouldn''t be that easy for the abyssal passageway to move. Otherwise, why is it that the abyssal passageway being guarded by the Blood God Legion for all these years has never moved? This undoubtedly has something to do with the seal, but it never showed any signs of movement even before the seal was set up. Hence, I think the abyssal passageway''s ability to move is directly related to the Blood River Godslayer Array."


    Yu Guanzhi gradually calmed down upon hearing this analysis. "You don''t mean..."


    Both of them cast their eyes toward the crater not far away, while Chen Xinjie mused, "There''s a very good chance that it''s sunk down into the earth rather than moved anywhere; it must''ve withdrawn toward the abyssal passageway to buy some time."


    Everyone was enlightened upon hearing this, and Yu Guanzhi immediately declared, "Then we''ll dig down until we find it! We have to take advantage of this opportunity to seal that passageway."


    The mecha corps that had accompanied him to the scene immediately rushed toward the crater at his behest.


    Meanwhile, Yu Guanzhi gently tugged on Tang Wulin''s sleeve, and a gentle layer of soul power enveloped both of them.


    "Sect Master Tang, there''s something I want to ask you," he said as he appraised Tang Wulin intently.


    "Go ahead," Tang Wulin prompted.


    Yu Guanzhi asked, "Can Eternal Heaven be used a second time?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "We''re not sure of that at the moment. The side-effects are far too severe; Head Researcher Ling had actually already perished during the firing process, but she was resurrected by the Holy Spirit Douluo. Even so, her injuries are very severe, and we don''t know how much energy Eternal Heaven has left, so I can''t give you a definitive answer."


    Yu Guanzhi was silent for a moment before continuing, "If it''s possible, then make the preparations; no one knows what''s going to happen next."


    "I understand," Tang Wulin replied with a nod.


    He naturally wasn''t going to tell the whole truth to Yu Guanzhi. After all, this concerned the future of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and he really was unsure of whether Eternal Heaven could be used a second time.


    At the very least, it seemed quite implausible based on Ling Zichen''s condition.


    Even with Yali treating her, the fact of the matter was that she had been clinically dead for a short while, and it would take a very long time to recover from the aftereffects.


    Under these circumstances, how could they risk using Eternal Heaven again?


    The excavation process had already begun, but even after digging over 100 meters deep into the ground, there was still no sign of the abyssal passageway''s aura, and that was very disturbing to everyone.


    Yu Guanzhi issued an order for all of the human army''s surveillance soul tools to be activated to search for the abyssal passageway around the site of the bombing.


    No one had anticipated that something like this would happen.


    The Blood River Godslayer Array had finally been destroyed, but the abyssal passageway had disappeared. Furthermore, all of the most powerful beings of the abyss and the Holy Spirit Cult had also vanished.


    Judging from what Gu Yuena had told him, Tang Wulin knew that the Eternal Heaven blast hadn''t managed to destroy the abyssal passageway. Otherwise, there would''ve been no way for the abyssal energy to flow back into it.


    Currently, the most pressing concern was that no one knew where the abyssal passageway had gone; it was like a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment.


    After searching for three whole days, there were still no new discoveries made. Virtually the entire northernmost region had been searched, but not even a single abyssal creature had been found.


    The Southern Legion finally arrived and became part of the defensive line.


    After several bouts of analysis and discussion, the Blood God Legion, Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, the Battle God Hall, and the military had arrived at a consensus.


    As a plane that was connected with the Douluo Plane, there had to be set coordinates to the abyssal plane.


    It seemed that Eternal Heaven really had severely ravaged the abyssal army, forcing them into retreat, and in order to prevent this passageway from being sealed by the human army, the abyssal plane had decided to flee.


    They had closed this passageway voluntarily, and this was why the human army was unable to find it.


    Under these circumstances, there would be no way for the human army to track down the abyssal passageway unless the abyssal plane opened it again. However, if they did reopen the passageway, there was a very good chance that it would open up in the distance as that was where the coordinates were positioned.


    Having reached this conclusion, the consensus was to begin setting up defensive infrastructure and a sealing array around the site where the abyssal passageway had disappeared.


    Even though the seal wouldn''t be as effective as it wouldn''t be set up directly on the abyssal passageway, it was still better than nothing.


    At the very least, with some defensive infrastructure set up, the human army would be bought sufficient time if the abyssal passageway were to be opened again.


    None of the eight major legions dared to let their guard down, and following a meeting, it was decided that they would temporarily remain in the northernmost region until the defensive infrastructure around the site was complete, which was projected to take at least half a year.


    At the same time, former Sea God Legion Commander Chen Xinjie, Central Legion Commander Yu Guanzhi, Western Legion Commander Dong Zi''an, and several other high-ranking military officials had issued a joint official request to the federation to resume research into super weapons.

 Chapter 1815: Resumption of Super Weapon Production

    This battle had highlighted just how important a super weapon could be on the battlefield. If it hadn''t been for Eternal Heaven destroying the Blood River Godslayer Array, the entire defensive line would''ve been under serious threat.


    Humans already had the ability to research and develop weapons on the same level as godslayer missiles, but research into this area was abandoned due to a lack of resources and the assumption that super weapons of this caliber weren''t necessary.


    Now that the threat of the abyssal plane was looming, the military naturally hoped to resume research into this field. Only with sufficiently powerful weapons would they have the confidence to keep the abyssal plane in check, and on this occasion, even the Dove Faction didn''t object, so the proposal to resume research into super weapons was passed almost by unanimous vote in parliament.


    Furthermore, the federal government extended an invitation toward the Tang Sect, inviting Head Researcher Ling Zichen to lead this project, and all of the resources would be provided by the federation.


    As for the specific conditions involved, that would require an extensive negotiation process.


    Standing at the foot of the secondary tree of life, Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward the site where the abyssal passageway had disappeared with a contemplative expression.


    Seven days later. The abyssal passageway had already disappeared for seven days, and the construction of some basic defensive infrastructure was already complete around the site, but that was naturally going to be further bolstered over time.


    The clash between the human army and the abyssal army seemed to have already concluded, and the Holy Spirit Cult''s ambitious plans were also cut short due to the destruction of the Blood River Godslayer Array. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had become a Limit Douluo, and everything seemed to be progressing in a positive direction.


    However, for some reason, Tang Wulin couldn''t shake this feeling of unease. He always felt like the abyssal army would reappear somewhere in the future.


    According to Gu Yuena, the vast majority of the abyssal energy from the abyssal army had been withdrawn, so it wouldn''t take too long before another abyssal army could be assembled.


    Most importantly, the abyssal plane held the initiative, and it was impossible to predict when they would strike next.


    For Tang Wulin, the biggest reward he had reaped from this battle wasn''t his breakthrough. He was already very close to the Limit Douluo level, and the breakthrough was only a matter of time with the reciprocation from the tree of life.


    The biggest reward for him was that kiss, which had completely affirmed his trust in his relationship with Gu Yuena.


    Just a day ago, the Spirit Pagoda had officially announced Gu Yuena as the new Spirit Pagoda Chairwoman, and not only was she the youngest leader of the Spirit Pagoda in history, she was also one of very few women to have undertaken this role.


    This news instantly stunned the entire continent, particularly the Soul Master world.


    Many people were speculating that this had something to do with the pressure being exerted upon the Spirit Pagoda by Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect. Furthermore, the Qiangu Family seemed to have stepped away from the limelight.


    Currently, the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda were still in the northernmost region, and Gu Yuena would be officially inaugurated following their return.


    Once that happened, she would become the leader of the number one power on this continent.


    Tang Wulin naturally couldn''t go to find her at this time, but he really could barely wait. Once Gu Yuena took care of the Qiangu Family, perhaps it would be time for him to pay a visit.


    If only the threat of the abyssal plane didn''t exist.


    However, now that he thought about it, even the government would most likely intervene if the Spirit Pagoda Chairwoman and the Tang Sect Master were to declare union in marriage. After all, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had just experienced a resurgence, while the Spirit Pagoda was the federation''s number one organization; the combined influence of these three superpowers would completely undermine the federal government!


    Once everything settled down, perhaps he could resign from all his duties and no longer represent the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. Once that happened, he would be able to be together with Gu Yue.


    With that in mind, a faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face.


    So what was he going to do next if the abyssal passageway continued to remain hidden?


    He had already considered this question.


    When facing the abyssal army, particularly the Spirit Sovereign, he had been struck by a sense of powerlessness. The Spirit Sovereign was only at a godly level when it came to spiritual power, but that was already enough to place enormous pressure upon him. At the very least, he was currently still nowhere near powerful enough to contend with a being of that caliber.


    Gu Yuena''s spiritual power most likely hadn''t truly reached the Divine Origin realm, either. After all, that was prohibited due to the restrictions of the plane. Thus, if he wanted to have a safe future with her, then he needed more power. If he could reach a level where he would be able to repress the abyssal plane alone, then it wouldn''t matter when the abyssal passageway was going to resurface.


    Furthermore, his goal had always been to cultivate to godhood; only then would he be able to find his parents.


    Thus, Tang Wulin''s plan was to go into a period of self-improvement.


    His objective wasn''t simply to progress to the quasigod level; he wanted to take a giant stride and undergo a fundamental change.


    With his incredibly solid foundation, it would only be a matter of time for him to reach the quasigod level, so for him to make a fundamental improvement at this level, there was only one direction to pursue.


    With that in mind, a golden trident symbol appeared on Tang Wulin''s forehead at his behest.


    This Sea God''s Trident had been bestowed upon him by his father, and he had only passed the first three trials.


    Through his constant reflection, Tang Wulin noticed that with each trial that he passed, his affinity with the Sea God''s Trident would increase slightly, and he would be able to draw upon more of its power. He was still very far away from being able to wield the trident like an extension of his body as was the case with the Golden Dragon Spear.


    He was already a Limit Douluo, so surely he possessed enough power to undergo the next trials and gain the acknowledgment of this divine weapon.


    No, it wasn''t a divine weapon; it was a transcendent divine weapon that ranked above even the Golden Dragon Spear!


    Once he became a quasigod, perhaps he would be able to contend with the Holy Lord with this transcendent divine weapon by his side. Once that happened, he would stand at the very pinnacle of this world; what reason would Gu Yue have not to be with him then?


    This was Tang Wulin''s plan. He didn''t know when the abyssal passageway was going to appear next, and the trials of the golden trident took a long time in that world, but time seemed to pass a lot faster there than on the Douluo Continent, so this was the perfect opportunity for him.


    ......


    A series of giant warships were roaming the Arctic Ocean of the northernmost region, patrolling the area with all types of powerful detection soul tools.


    Due to their presence, even the most powerful sea soul beasts didn''t dare to approach this area.


    Humans had already become the rulers of this continent long ago, and soul beasts were no match.


    However, in the depths of the ocean, beyond the effective range of all of the detection soul tools, an enormous black figure was slowly swimming past, and there was faint purplish-golden light shimmering from its body...


    ......


    The abyssal army was like a passing storm, disappearing without a trace. If it weren''t for the ravaged landscape and the severe losses suffered by the Northern Legion and Western Legion, it would be as if the disaster had never struck.


    Half a month passed by. At this point, the foundational defensive infrastructure was already completed, and all eight major legions had contributed the most powerful defensive soul tools in their possession. The Blood God Legion was also carving the Blood God Array onto the giant crater, and the array would take quite some time to complete, but progress was smooth and steady.


    Over at the Shrek Academy encampment, Ling Zichen was experiencing some issues. Even though she had been revived by Yali, her fusion with Eternal Heaven and the aftermath of that fearsome explosion had left her with severe health complications, and Yali had coined the term "withering life force" to describe her situation.


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1816: Withering Life Force

    Regardless of how much genetic modification Ling Zichen underwent, she was still a normal person, and the power of Eternal Heaven was far too much for her to bear.


    Despite her preparations and astute hypotheses, the terrifying recoil had still almost destroyed her.


    However, she was fortunate in that she was receiving the assistance of the only healing system Limit Douluo in this world, as well as the secondary tree of life.


    The only way to treat withering life force was to constantly inject enormous amounts of life energy into her body to sustain her until her body was able to generate its own life force again.


    With the protection of the secondary tree of life, this wasn''t an issue, but Ling Zichen had to constantly remain near the secondary tree of life until she recovered.


    Yali had told her that she would never be able to fire Eternal Heaven again. Otherwise, even a god would struggle to save her. Sustaining withering life force a second time would destroy the core of her being, and with her passing, Eternal Heaven would also be lost.


    Ling Zichen hadn''t offered a response to this, but those familiar with her knew that it was very difficult to predict what she would do once she entered her mad scientist mode. At the same time, she was going to receive the most thorough protection as she was literally a walking Eternal Heaven!


    Half a month after the abyssal passageway''s disappearance, the federation issued a reward to the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy that was comprised of a large quantity of resources. Northern Legion Commander Guo Zhenfeng was also rewarded with a promotion to the general rank. If it weren''t for the countless sacrifices made by the Northern Legion, there wouldn''t have been enough time to mobilize the federation''s troops, and had the northern front been overwhelmed, disaster would''ve struck the entire continent.


    Guo Zhenfeng had led from the front and almost perished, but the silver lining was that he had now become the youngest general in the federation. The sky was the limit for him, and he had become the brightest young star in the military, dethroning Shen Yue from that position.


    In direct contrast to his fate was the one suffered by Dong Zi''an. He had refused to follow orders, and his actions had caused the Western Legion to suffer heavy losses.


    As a result, he was sent straight to military court, and even the chief army commissioner wasn''t able to save him.


    However, as a Limit Douluo, he was naturally given a special pardon, so he was only demoted to the senior colonel rank, and he would continue to serve in the Western Legion.


    Northwestern Legion Commander Yin Moshang would also take on the role of Western Legion commander in the interim. Once the situation in the northernmost region completely settled down, a new permanent commander would be elected.


    As for the Spirit Pagoda, the only information that was released was that there was now a new chairwoman, but the issue of Qiangu Dongfeng advising Dong Zi''an to go against military orders wasn''t exposed, thereby saving some face for the organization.


    After all, Qiangu Dongfeng had already paid the price for his actions.


    At the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy encampment.


    "I''ve invited everyone here today to discuss who will be returning to the academy and who will be staying here." Tang Wulin was conducting the post-battle meeting.


    The abyssal passageway had been gone for half a month.


    The military could continue to stay here as where they were didn''t affect the normal operation of the federation. The Tang Sect wouldn''t be heavily impacted, either, as the personnel sent here were all battle units.


    However, the same didn''t apply for Shrek Academy. In order to contend with the abyssal plane and the Holy Spirit Cult, Shrek Academy had deployed almost all of its high-end power, who were also the most important teachers of the academy. For example, Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng had just set up the inner court, and they were in the process of selecting inner court disciples.


    Furthermore, they also had to train some of the young teachers, and they were very busy, so now that things had settled down, it was time to consider whether who should leave or stay.


    Cao Dezhi said, "There isn''t too much that needs to be taken care of in the Tang Sect, and I''m worried that the abyssal passageway could resurface at any time. So many powerful abyssal beings have already arrived, and I don''t think they''ll give up so easily. It would take a few years for the full Blood God Array to be completed, and most importantly, we still can''t be 100% sure whether the abyssal passageway will appear in the distance or not."


    "Tell us about the Blood God Array; will it be able to seal the passageway like the one in the Blood God Legion?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Cao Dezhi shook his head in response. "Most likely not. In fact, I daresay it''s virtually impossible. 6,000 years ago, far fewer abyssal beings had invaded our plane, and they were also less powerful. Hence, after we forced them back, we actually seized control of the abyssal passageway. At the time, many of the most powerful Soul Masters of that generation locked onto the abyssal passageway, and the Blood God Array was essentially set up right on top of the passageway, thereby completely sealing it shut.


    "However, this time, the abyssal passageway has managed to retreat and only the connecting coordinates were left behind. As such, the Blood God Array can only be set up on our plane, rather than directly on the abyssal passageway. As a result, we can''t predict when the abyssal creatures will return, and we also can''t use the array''s defensive power as the Blood God Legion can. Of course, if the abyssal passageway resurfaces at the same location, then the array will still have some effect, but it''s difficult to say how effective it''s going to be."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "In that case, if the abyssal passageway returns, we''ll be facing another stern battle, and we may not be able to count on the Blood God Array, is that right?"


    Cao Dezhi replied, "That''s right. However, this is still far better than the prior situation. In my experience, there''s virtually no way to alter connecting coordinates, so the abyssal passageway will definitely reappear at the same location, and it''ll only be able to change locations after it connects with our plane. I don''t know how the Holy Spirit Cult managed to open this new set of coordinates for them here, but I presume it had something to do with the Blood River Godslayer Array. Now that the array has been destroyed, it would be virtually impossible to change the coordinates unless the Holy Spirit Cult can set up the array again."


    Tang Wulin said, "I see. In that case, all of our Tang Sect''s forces can remain here to contribute to the defensive effort; does anyone have any suggestions for the academy''s personnel?"


    He turned toward Long Yeyue as he spoke.


    Long Yeyue said, "I suggest we also keep some people here for now as a precautionary measure. However, with the connection between the tree of life and the secondary tree of life, we can teleport people here at the cost of some life energy. Hence, I suggest that everyone aside from the Limit Douluos go back. The education of the current cohort can''t be delayed, and we have to prepare for the next round of enrolment; there will most likely be a lot of applicants this time. Also, I like Zichen''s suggestion to set up a new branch of the academy.


    "We don''t necessarily have to only enroll children with aptitude in soul technology; we should open our arms to all children with special talents. The motto of our academy is that we only accept monsters, not normal people, but it doesn''t say that we only accept Soul Masters."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I agree. Soul technology is advancing rapidly, and we can''t just stubbornly cling onto what we know best."


    The power of Eternal Heaven had left a lasting impression on everyone, and with the bold theory proposed by Ling Zichen, there was a very good chance that soul technology development was going to enter a new era, one that would prepare humanity for space exploration.


    If Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect didn''t want to be left behind, then they would have to prepare in advance to be able to ride this wave. Thankfully, this direction had been identified by the head researcher of the Tang Sect, so they were already leading the way.

 Chapter 1817: Calling Gu Yuena

    Tang Wulin turned to the others, and said, "Alright, then the ones from the academy who will stay are Elder Long, the Holy Spirit Douluo, the Titan Douluo, the Free Sky Douluo, and the Qilin Douluo, as well as all of Shrek''s Seven Monsters. Everyone else will go back, and if required, I''ll get the tree of life to teleport all of you back here."


    Thus, everything was decided very easily. Many of the Tang Sect''s powerful beings were also going to stay behind, and virtually all of the most powerful beings from both organizations would remain at the northern front.


    Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had no teaching duties at the academy; their mission was to focus on cultivation and improve themselves as much as possible. Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had always been guardians of the academy, and for them, self-improvement was more important than anything else.


    Through Tang Wulin''s efforts, this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters had all become four-word battle armor masters. Even though they hadn''t directly clashed with the abyssal army yet, they were undoubtedly going to be central figures in this battle.


    After everything was decided, the meeting was concluded, but instead of returning to his room to cultivate, Tang Wulin paid Ling Zichen a visit.


    Ling Zichen was currently lying on her bed in a state of utter boredom, reading a book about soul technology, the kind that was too advanced for Tang Wulin to understand.


    She put down her book upon seeing Tang Wulin''s arrival, and a disgruntled look appeared on her face. "When am I going to be able to leave? This place is so boring! There are no experimentation tools, so I can''t test out many of my hypotheses. I''ve already sent everything that needs to be recorded back to the Tang Sect, but I can''t stand staying here any longer!"


    Tang Wulin sighed, "I''m afraid you still can''t go back for now. According to Mother, it''ll take at least three months of rest before your body can return to normal, so you can''t leave during this time."


    Ling Zichen pouted in a display of dissatisfaction. "But Shrek Academy''s tree of life can also supply me with life energy! Why can''t I go back to the academy to rest?"


    Tang Wulin explained, "That may be true, but Mother has to control the flow of life energy into your body and monitor your bodily condition. She can''t leave the northern front, so you''ll have to stay here with her."


    Ling Zichen''s face immediately fell upon hearing this. "But I really need to go back! When inspiration strikes, experiments need to be conducted and recorded right away! Otherwise, once the inspiration passes, it may not come back again."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I don''t know anything about soul technology; all I know is that nothing is more important than your life. It''s only three months; just endure it."


    Ling Zichen harrumphed, "Fine. In that case, you have to bring me some basic experimentation equipment. Otherwise, I''ll go insane during these three months!"


    Tang Wulin scoffed, "Are you still not insane enough? How much more insane can you get?"


    A cheeky smile appeared on Ling Zichen''s face. Only in the presence of Tang Wulin or the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect would she put on an expression like this.


    "I can be a lot more insane! You''d better not get on my nerves; don''t forget that I''m a human weapon, no, a human cannon! I can detonate Eternal Heaven on a whim; perhaps I can even wipe out the entire human army!"


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this. "It''s not like you''ll be able to use Eternal Heaven again anyway. By the way, can you extract Eternal Heaven out of your body and return to your original state? It''s too dangerous constantly having such a powerful weapon inside your body."


    Ling Zichen replied, "I can, but there''s a roughly 30% to 40% chance of failure, in which case I''ll explode. If you want me to give it a try, then I''ll do it."


    "Never mind!" Tang Wulin hurriedly said. This was no joke! Not only was there a 30% to 40% chance of failure, failure would spell doom for the entire human army!


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin heaved a resigned sigh with a shake of his head. "In any case, focus on rest and recovery. I''m going now."


    Right at this moment, the sound of door-knocking rang out.


    "Come in," Tang Wulin prompted.


    The door was opened, and Xie Xie made his way into the room. "Something''s happened, Boss."


    "What is it?" Tang Wulin''s heart immediately tightened upon hearing this.


    Could it be that the abyssal army had returned?


    Xie Xie replied, "The Spirit Pagoda has just made an announcement that''s shaken the entire Soul Master world."


    "What''s the announcement?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Xie Xie replied, "The Spirit Pagoda announced that due to the current situation of the Soul Master world, the Spirit Pagoda has an obligation to improve the overall power of all Soul Masters. As such, all black soul spirits and entry tickets to the Myriad Beast Plane will be put on half price."


    Tang Wulin was quite relieved to hear this. At the very least, the abyssal army hadn''t returned. However, a hint of surprise then appeared on his face.


    Half price? One had to realize that black soul spirits and the Myriad Beast Plane were the Spirit Pagoda''s two main sources of income!


    Black soul spirits were all extremely expensive, and many Soul Masters wouldn''t be able to purchase one even if they were to sell everything they owned; a discount of 50% would significantly diminish the Spirit Pagoda''s profits.


    The same applied to the Myriad Beast Plane. It was already in extremely high demand; with this massive discount, demand would skyrocket even further! Could the Myriad Beast Plane even hold that many people at once?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s gaze wandered toward the soul communicator on his wrist, and after a brief hesitation, he decided to give Gu Yuena a call.


    These discounts undoubtedly no longer had anything to do with Qiangu Dongfeng. After all, the current leader of the Spirit Pagoda was Gu Yuena, so why was she doing this? Was she trying to reform the Spirit Pagoda?


    If she could truly transform the Spirit Pagoda into an organization that prioritized serving the Soul Master world above extreme profit, then that would undoubtedly be fantastic news.


    This was the first time that he had dialed her number ever since she had rejected him during the Joust For a Spouse event, and he couldn''t help but recall the passionate kiss they had shared on the battlefield that day. Even now, the mere thought of it sent a surge of warmth flowing through his heart.


    "Hey." Her familiar voice rang out from the other end, and Tang Wulin felt as if his heart were about to melt.


    Now that she was the Spirit Pagoda chairwoman, everything seemed to have suddenly become far simpler. Both of them were already leaders of the most powerful organizations on the continent, and even though they still couldn''t be together, the walls between them seemed to have already vanished.


    "I heard that you''re running a discount on black soul spirits and the Myriad Beast Plane; why is that?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yuena replied, "It''s for the sake of the development of the Soul Master world. It was our mistake that caused the Western Legion to suffer heavy losses, and we can''t expect the military to just let us off the hook unless we show some sincerity in repentance. I''ve only just officially become chairwoman, so I have to do something to repair the Spirit Pagoda''s damaged reputation. By giving up some profit, we''ll be able to gain more support."


    Tang Wulin asked, "You didn''t encounter any resistance from the Spirit Pagoda''s board? They agreed for you to do this?"


    Gu Yuena replied, "The choice is out of their hands. The Spirit Pagoda is currently rife with internal conflict, and the only way to stamp out the dissension is to be more assertive and aggressive. Besides, I was the one who created both of these things, and all those in the know understand that I''m doing this for the future development of the Spirit Pagoda. The discounts are only temporary. At the very least, we have to weather this storm. For the federation, it''ll be easier to oppose foreign enemies if more Soul Masters could become more powerful.


    "The invasion of the abyssal army has instilled a lot of fear into the federal government, and they''ll be far less critical of the Spirit Pagoda in the wake of this gesture. At the very least, if you come to attack us again, the federation will protect us this time."


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. Indeed, upon deeper thought, this was indeed a tactic that could kill multiple birds with one stone. Profits would inevitably suffer, but more support would be garnered.

 Chapter 1818: Bootlicker?

    If the Spirit Pagoda were determined to do everything in its power to serve the Soul Master world, then even Shrek Academy wouldn''t be able to attack them without encountering resistance. Furthermore, the Qiangu Family had already stepped out of the limelight, and the situation in the Spirit Pagoda had stabilized.


    "On top of that, the Spirit Pagoda actually isn''t making much of a compromise in terms of profits. I''ve expanded the Myriad Beast Plane, and all of the life energy absorbed by my Silver Dragon Spear was injected into the plane, making it more stable and also expanding it to close to twice its original area. As a result, it''ll be able to hold more Soul Masters, so even though there''s a half-price discount, if we operate at full capacity, there will still be a rise in overall revenue," Gu Yuena revealed in a natural manner, as if Tang Wulin had the right to know all of the Spirit Pagoda''s secrets.


    Tang Wulin was enlightened by this explanation. "I see, that''s good news for the Soul Master world. What exactly are you planning to do with the Myriad Beast Plane?"


    Da Ming and Er Ming resided in that plane, and he had once asked Er Ming what exactly the Myriad Beast Plane was, but Er Ming had given him a very ambiguous response.


    In particular, whenever Tang Wulin asked about why they were working with the Spirit Pagoda, a strange look would appear in Er Ming''s eyes, one that was filled with a hint of apology intermingled with determination and resolution.


    Gu Yuena was silent for a moment before replying, "I''m sure you know about what the Great Star Dou Forest used to be like. The former soul beast world no longer exists, but I hope to transform the Myriad Beast Plane into a new Great Star Dou Forest to give the remaining soul beasts a safe habitat."


    Her voice was filled with deep emotion as she spoke.


    "Is this your vision? Is this why you''ve decided to stay at the Spirit Pagoda this entire time?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "That''s right."


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath as if he were working up some courage, then said, "Gu Yue, I''ve always wanted to ask you this: are you..."


    "Don''t ask! I don''t want to lie to you. When the time comes, you''ll know," Gu Yuena interjected in an urgent voice.


    "When will that be?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yuena replied, "Perhaps it''ll be very soon. When that time comes, I''ll tell you everything."


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he said in a determined voice, "I''ll wait for that day, Gu Yue, but just know that no matter who you are, where you came from, and what your future plans are, your future must have me in it. I can accept you no matter what you''re like, do you understand?"


    Gu Yuena offered no response to this, but even though the soul communicator, Tang Wulin felt as if he could sense her strong emotional fluctuations.


    After a long while, Gu Yuena finally said, "I have to go now. Bye."


    The call was ended, but Tang Wulin was still in a slight stupor; her captivating voice was still echoing through his mind.


    "Oi, you''re about to drool onto the floor!" A disgruntled voice shook him out of his stupor, and he turned to discover Ling Zichen looking at him with her hands on her hips and a cold smile on her face.


    "Can you not be such a bootlicker? Can you not be so corny?" Ling Zichen scoffed.


    Tang Wulin was rather taken aback to hear this. "Bootlicker? Did I come across that way?"


    "Did you come across that way? You sure did!" Ling Zichen replied in a cold voice. "As soon as you began talking to her, you put on the most punch-worthy expression I''ve ever seen! I can''t believe this is the leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy! You make me... You make me..."


    Her voice trailed off here, but it was clear that she was about to erupt.


    Tang Wulin turned to Xie Xie with a befuddled expression. "Is that true? Was I really like that?"


    Xie Xie''s lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. "You really were, Boss."


    A serious look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face. "You''re not supposed to say yes to that! I think you need to improve your practical combat skills; how about I spar with you?"


    "Ah! I still have to inform the others about this; I''ll be going now!" Xie Xie immediately fled the scene, vanishing on the spot amid a flash of light.


    Tang Wulin turned to Ling Zichen to offer an explanation, only to be struck squarely in the face by a pillow.


    Shortly thereafter, he was pushed out of Ling Zichen''s room in a slightly bedraggled state, but he was in an exceptional mood.


    At the very least, he could frequently hear her voice, and the vendetta against the Spirit Pagoda had also been settled. As for the Qiangu Family, they no longer posed any threat to him, and she didn''t have to pretend to be on their side anymore; everything suddenly seemed brighter and more positive. In Tang Wulin''s eyes, the day that she revealed everything to him would be the day when they could be together.


    She wanted to create a Great Star Dou Forest, so he would just have to help her. As long as it was something she wanted to do, he would do everything in his power to help her.


    ......


    At the Spirit Pagoda encampment.


    Gu Yuena ended the call and sat on her bed, struggling to control her own emotions. Tang Wulin''s words were still echoing in the chambers of her heart, and her eyes were already brimming with tears.


    "Wulin, I have no future." The tears began to overflow as she spoke.


    "What happened, Nana?" Right at this moment, a voice rang out, and Gu Yuena raised her head to discover that Qiangu Zhangting had entered the room, but she had failed to notice him as she had been wrapped up in her own emotions.


    "Nothing," Gu Yuena said with a shake of her head.


    "Nothing? Then why are you crying?" Qiangu Zhangting hurriedly made his way over to her, yet just as he was about to sit down beside her, a burst of soul power surged forth to push him aside.


    "Don''t you know how to knock? Who let you in here?" Gu Yuena asked with a cold expression.


    Qiangu Zhangting faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Why do I need to knock to see my fiance?"


    "Get out. I don''t want to see you right now," Gu Yuena said in a cold voice.


    Qiangu Zhangting was finally beginning to realize that something was wrong. "What''s going on, Nana? Are you under too much pressure from taking over as chairwoman? Don''t worry, our family will do everything we can to support you."


    "Get out. I don''t want to repeat myself, nor do I want to have to force you out," Gu Yuena said.


    Qiangu Zhangting shuddered upon hearing this. "Nana, you..."


    His words abruptly cut off as Gu Yuena looked into his eyes, and a pair of silver vortexes seemed to have appeared in her eyes.


    In the next instant, Qiangu Zhangting was completely rooted to the spot like a statue.


    "Return to your room and meditate," Gu Yuena instructed.


    "Yes," Qiangu Zhangting replied in a wooden manner before departing.


    A hint of killing intent flashed through Gu Yuena''s eyes as she looked on at his departing figure. If it weren''t for the fact that it still wasn''t time to act, she would''ve already killed this bastard that had once tried to rape her.


    "Di Tian, come and see me," she said, seemingly to herself.


    However, after just a few seconds, a figure appeared before her amid a flash of golden light. It was none other than that handsome middle-aged man; he was the Beast God that had ruled over all soul beasts for hundreds of thousands of years!


    "My Lord." Di Tian extended a respectful bow toward Gu Yuena.


    "What''s the situation in the Myriad Beast Plane like?" Gu Yuena asked.


    A hint of irrepressible excitement appeared in Di Tian''s eyes, and he replied, "Everything is going extremely well, even better than we anticipated. The Myriad Beast Plane has expanded to over twice its original area, and it''s very stable; we''ve even begun moving some of the soul beast species that are on the verge of extinction into the plane to cultivate new genes there. It has to be said that we have the Spirit Pagoda to thank for the gene samples that are in their possession. With them, we''ve already managed to resurrect some extinct species."


    His eyes were full of emotion as he spoke.

 Chapter 1819: Expanding the Myriad Beast Plane

    Gu Yuena nodded with a pleased expression. "That''s great to hear. It''s a pity that the abyssal plane managed to get away. Otherwise, if I had managed to devour more abyssal energy, the Myriad Beast Plane would''ve become even stronger. If I could devour the entire abyss, we may be able to establish a stable major plane that can act as the habitat for all soul beasts."


    Di Tian smiled, and said, "I''m sure that will happen someday, and everyone is very much looking forward to that day. The abyssal plane will definitely return; they won''t be willing to give up so easily. The best-case scenario would be for them and the human race to severely damage one another; that would be most beneficial to our plan."


    A hint of fear flashed through his eyes as he continued, "My Lord, is there a possibility that the weapon the humans used that day can be used again?"


    The blast from Eternal Heaven had been truly devastating; even the Blood River Godslayer Array had been instantly smashed open like a watermelon, and the mere recollection of that was striking fear into his heart.


    Regardless of how powerful an individual was, they wouldn''t be able to oppose that level of power unless they attained godhood.


    Gu Yuena replied, "This is why I always say to never look down on the humans. Do you understand why I devised the plan to integrate myself into the human world now? Only by gaining a sufficient understanding of them can we better target them. What we do now is wait for the abyssal plane to reappear. If I can devour that Spirit Sovereign from last time, the Myriad Beast Plane will at least be able to recover to the Great Star Dou Forest''s former area."


    Di Tian asked, "Are you referring to that man with the Divine Origin realm spiritual power? If you hadn''t urged me not to intervene, there''s a decent chance we would''ve been able to trap him if we had joined forces."


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "Now''s not the right time; we can''t expose our power too early. As long as they come back, we''ll always have another chance. It''s a pity that the restriction of this realm is too powerful, thereby preventing me from recovering to the godly level. Otherwise, I really want to go to the abyssal plane to meet that Holy Lord."


    A hint of fanaticism appeared in Di Tian''s eyes. "My Lord, if you fuse with the Golden Dragon King, the restriction of this realm will be completely inconsequential! Even in the Divine Realm, the power of the Dragon God was unmatched; there''s no way this lowly Douluo Plane would be able to restrict you."


    Gu Yuena shook her head in response. "It''s not that easy. The power of the Golden Dragon King is too domineering; it''ll be very difficult to devour."


    "But you''ve already obtained the former core of the Dragon God; shouldn''t that be enough to facilitate a smooth fusion?" Di Tian countered.


    Gu Yuena''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this. "That''s not for you to worry about. Go back to the Myriad Beast Plane and take care of the expansion. Keep doing the right things, and once the abyssal plane is devoured by us, it''ll be about time for us to strike."


    On an official basis, Di Tian was the manager of the Myriad Beast Plane.


    "Yes!" Di Tian replied before a determined look suddenly appeared on his face, and he said, "My Lord, I''ve been wanting to talk to you about that Tang Wulin. I really think you shouldn''t hesitate on this matter any longer. His rate of development is far too fast, and he has that Golden Dragon Spear formed by the rib of the Dragon God. If you don''t take care of him soon, he could ascend to godhood one day, and that''ll spell a lot of trouble for us. Could it be that you''ve developed human emotions for him?"


    Gu Yuena''s pupils instantly turned vertical, and a devastating aura fell upon the Beast God, causing him to fall to one knee as his expression changed drastically.


    "Do I need you to tell me what to do? Focus on the task you''ve been assigned."


    "Yes." Di Tian could only repress the displeasure in his heart and heave an internal sigh before hurriedly departing.


    He was really regretting not acting sooner to kill Tang Wulin in the earlier stages of his development.


    It wasn''t that he hadn''t tried to do so; it was just that Gu Yuena was too alert and always appeared just in the nick of time to save him. Could it be that she really had fallen in love with that human and developed human emotions? But everything was progressing according to plan, and she hadn''t stopped striving toward their original goal!


    At this rate, they would have to clash eventually; what would she do then? Di Tian''s heart was full of concern. It was virtually impossible for him to kill Tang Wulin at this point. Setting aside the fact that he was constantly surrounded by a throng of Limit Douluos, even Tang Wulin himself was very close to him in power.


    ......


    A burst of golden light that was filled with a holy aura erupted forth, and the dazzling golden trident appeared in Tang Wulin''s grasp.


    As it did so, he was able to sense the aura of the Arctic Ocean.


    This Sea God''s Trident was the most precious thing his father had left to him, and now that the northern front had been stabilized, Tang Wulin decided to enter the world of the trident to undergo the next trials and truly gain control over this transcendent divine weapon.


    After careful consideration, he decided to do this beside the secondary tree of life. That way, he would immediately return to this place at the conclusion of the trials.


    According to past experience, regardless of how much time passed during the trials, the time that passed in the real world during the duration of the trial would never be more than a day. In fact, it was often the case that only an instant had passed in the real world.


    He had already primed himself into top condition, and it was time to begin.


    The golden trident symbol on his forehead was particularly bright, and his entire body was giving off a gentle aura.


    He took a glance at the secondary tree of life, then raised his golden trident high above his head, injecting his consciousness into it to immerse himself in its aura.


    "I want to undergo the Nine Trials of the Sea God!" In the next instant, Tang Wulin shuddered, and he arrived in a completely golden world amid a flash of light. However, the golden world only existed for a very short time before everything in the surrounding area became clear.


    Tang Wulin discovered that he was situated on a small deserted island, and the sea extended as far as the eyes could see in all directions around him.


    There was a gradient to the ocean''s color, from the deep blue in the distance to the light blue closest to the island.


    "Fourth trial of the Sea God, break through the ring-shaped seal! Set off from your current position and depart from the island to travel to the land mass across the sea. During this process, you are prohibited from using any soul rings and soul skills, as well as flying and killing sea soul beasts. Begin!"


    An authoritative voice rang out beside Tang Wulin''s ears, and he couldn''t help but feel like this voice belonged to his father.


    However, there was no chance for him to discern the voice as in the next instant, the entire surrounding area had already begun to transform.


    Massive waves suddenly rose up all around him, crashing directly toward his position, and within those waves, Tang Wulin could see a series of gigantic crabs with bodies that exceeded three meters in diameter, opening their pincers as they pounced toward him from the waves.


    Tang Wulin leaped up into the air, and in the instant that he did so, he immediately felt a sharp spike in gravity, almost instantly forcing him back toward the ground.


    One had to realize that Tang Wulin was currently a Limit Douluo, so no ordinary pressure could prevent him from taking flight. However, this pressure was so powerful that he was completely powerless to resist it, which meant that it was very likely that he was facing power of the godly level!


    He was struck by the reflexive urge to release his Golden Dragon Spear, but he immediately recalled that he was prohibited from killing sea soul beasts.


    These conditions really were rigorous!


    However, he was a seasoned veteran in battle at this point, and he didn''t panic in the slightest.


    In the instant that he sprang up into the air, he immediately rotated on the spot, and his objective was very simple: he had to find the destination that he was supposed to head toward first!

 Chapter 1820: Breaking Through the Ring-shaped Seal

    He was able to instantly catch sight of his destination as it was very clear; there was a landmass roughly three kilometers away in the same direction that he had originally been facing.


    The landmass was in the form of an arc, and the seawater around him had formed a ring; this was most likely the so-called ring-shaped seal.


    Now that all of that had been established, it was time to consider how to tackle this trial.


    Aside from the third trial where he had witnessed the battle between Tang San and his three opponents, the memories of the other two trials were deeply ingrained in his mind, and they were definitely not positive memories.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and in the next instant, he was completely inundated by the seawater.


    As soon as the seawater engulfed him, he immediately sensed that something was different.


    In the outside world, his affinity with the sea was already very high. As soon as he entered the sea, he would feel as if he had returned home, as if the entire ocean were protecting him.


    However, right now, the sea around him was filled with enmity toward him. In the face of the violent waves, a normal Soul Master would''ve most likely already been sent flying. Enormous water pressure surged toward him, and the giant crabs were also rapidly approaching.


    The crabs didn''t seem to be affected at all by the seawater, and they advanced while scurrying sideways, bringing their massive pincers crashing down toward Tang Wulin''s head.


    In the blink of an eye, Tang Wulin had already devised a strategy to pass this trial.


    He abruptly sank downward as he unleashed his Mountain Dragon King torso bone''s gravitational control ability, and that allowed him to descend rapidly through the water like a metal statue.


    At the same time, he crossed his arms above his own head to ward off the oncoming attacks.


    A dull thump rang out as Tang Wulin accelerated in his descent, while the pincers of the giant crabs were repelled upward.


    Having already attained an Invincible Vajra Body, it was not an easy task to harm Tang Wulin.


    In the next instant, he had already landed on the seabed, upon which his feet immediately sank into the mud down below.


    However, that wasn''t an issue for him. By accurately manipulating gravity with his Mountain Dragon King torso bone, he was able to stand on the seabed with ease.


    At the very least, he wouldn''t have to worry about enemies attacking him from down below now.


    Soul power and dragon''s repulse erupted out of his body. He couldn''t use any soul skills, but that didn''t apply to his dragon''s repulse. Furthermore, he discovered that only his soul skills had been sealed away, but he was able to use all of his Golden Dragon King abilities.


    He stomped his right foot down onto the seawater, and a resounding boom immediately rang out. Under his precise control, all of the seawater around him was instantly forced outward in all directions, forming a vacuum around his body.


    All of the oncoming sea soul beasts were instantly kept out, while his dragon''s repulse formed a protective barrier around him that encompassed an area with a radius of five meters.


    Even without the Vast Sea Cosmic Seal to protect him, Tang Wulin was able to stroll toward his target as if he were taking a leisurely walk in his own backyard.


    Soon, the area around the barrier was filled with countless sea soul beasts, some of which were quite powerful, and they attacked the barrier through all types of methods.


    However, Tang Wulin''s dragon''s repulse was far more powerful than it had been in the past, and they weren''t able to break the barrier no matter how hard they tried.


    Occasionally, a soul beast close to the 100,000-year level would emerge, but Tang Wulin would only have to expend some spiritual power to disrupt it and let his dragon''s repulse take care of the rest.


    Even though he couldn''t fly, a distance of three kilometers was still next to nothing for him. By the time he broke through the ring-shaped seal and arrived at his destination, only a few minutes had passed.


    He emerged from the water, and his dragon''s repulse repelled the few sea soul beasts that had chased him onto land. As he set foot on solid ground and the light of the sun shone down upon him again, the same voice as before rang out once again.


    "The fourth trial of the Sea God, Break Through the Ring-shaped Seal, has been completed. Would you like to continue?"


    Power really did make a massive difference! Tang Wulin heaved an internal sigh. Back when he had undergone the first trial, it had been an extremely tortuous process, yet now, he was able to complete the fourth trial so quickly and easily.


    "Continue!" Tang Wulin declared without any hesitation. With his two soul cores and dragon core pumping in unison, it only took him the span of a few breaths to recover the energy he had just expended, so he was naturally going to continue!


    "Fifth trial of the Sea God, Tidal Body Refinement; withstand the relentless tide for 49 days straight."


    Before Tang Wulin even had a chance to react, the scenery around him changed drastically, and his body was also tightly bound by something. To his surprise, he had been tied up, and what really alarmed him was that even with his powers, he was completely unable to struggle free from his restraints.


    His body was tied to a stone pillar, which was surrounded by the sea in all directions. This was a truly vulnerable position, and he had to stay like this for 49 days...


    Tang Wulin really wanted to ask whether Tang San truly was his birth father! What kind of father would set a trial like this for his son?


    Right at this moment, a giant wave surged forth and slammed viciously into his body. This wasn''t a normal wave; it seemed to be imbued with incredible power. As it struck Tang Wulin''s body, he was struck by the feeling that he was being crushed, as if a soul train were passing over his body!


    Was this really seawater? It felt more like a full-force soul power blast from a Titled Douluo!


    Before he even had a chance to finish his thought, another wave slammed into his body.


    Each successive wave was more powerful than the previous one, and they were crashing into him relentlessly.


    Tang Wulin was unable to do anything. As soon as he was bound to this stone pillar, he discovered that he was unable to draw upon any soul power, which meant that he was powerless to resist. However, just like in the previous trial, even though his soul power was inaccessible, no restriction had been placed on his Golden Dragon King abilities. As such, there was naturally no way that these waves could harm him.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t even be bothered to unleash his Golden Dragon Body and merely allowed the waves to wash over his body. With the power of his Invincible Vajra Body, all he felt was some pressure, but there was no substantial threat being posed to him.


    What was actually a more pressing concern was the boredom. Having to endure this for 49 days was simply too long.


    He began to meditate, thinking about the deeper understanding of the laws of heaven and earth he had attained in the instant that he had made his Limit Douluo breakthrough, as well as thinking about whether it would be possible for him to create even more powerful Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques in the future.


    Even though it was very difficult to meditate under these circumstances, this type of deep thought was still very helpful to him.


    Upon reaching a certain level in their cultivation, a Soul Master had to slowly accumulate through deep thought, and that was the best way to reach a higher level.


    Thus, in this boring environment, Tang Wulin took the time to engage in this type of deep thought, using this as an opportunity to think about his own abilities.


    Even though he had already attained Limit Douluo level combat prowess in the past, actually progressing to the Limit Douluo level was still something completely different. Only at this level did he truly feel a hint of connection with that higher plane of existence.

 Chapter 1821: Body Refinement

    That was a feeling of evolution and ascension, and even though he could see a glimmer of what lied up there, he would be struck by a sense of impatient urgency whenever he delved into that feeling.


    He finally understood why all Limit Douluos, especially those at the quasigod level, yearned so much for the Divine Realm; it was most likely due to this exact same feeling.


    This feeling allowed them to sense something that others couldn''t perceive; it allowed them to sense another world, and that world was far too alluring for Soul Masters.


    In the future, he was also going to pursue that level, as only after reaching that level would he be able to search for his family.


    Upon becoming a Limit Douluo, one already had one foot in the realm of godhood, and according to historical records, a Limit Douluo only required the acknowledgment of a god and undertake the god''s trials of inheritance for a chance to reach the Divine Realm.


    Of course, one would have to successfully complete those trials first, and these nine trials of the Sea God seemed to be trials of a similar nature.


    According to the Tang Sect''s historical records, Tang San had completed his trials on an island known as the Sea God''s Island, but no detailed records existed of what the trials were comprised of. However, all of the records indicated that Tang San''s experiences on the Sea God''s Island were instrumental to his ascension to godhood.


    If his father could do it, why couldn''t he do the same?


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin was looking forward to completing the nine trials even more now. If he could find a catalyst to ascension through these trials of the Sea God''s Trident, that would be ideal. If that were to happen, he wouldn''t have to fear the abyssal plane or anything else. Furthermore, he would be able to set off in search of the Divine Realm.


    This thought filled Tang Wulin with a sense of anticipation, but right at this moment, he was struck by a burst of pain that snapped him out of his train of thought.


    He opened his eyes, but before he could even see what was happening, he was struck by a string of bursts of sharp pain all over his body. He was then greeted by the sight of one water arrow after another shooting at him in a frenzy, and they were the cause of his pain.


    Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless upon seeing this.


    What was happening? Why was the seawater able to shapeshift? What kind of trial was this?!


    As these thoughts sprang into his mind, the water arrows became more and more powerful, and much to his surprise, he discovered that these arrows were specifically targeting his acupoints.


    Even with his Invincible Vajra Body, he was beginning to feel sharp pain, followed by a numb and itchy sensation that was even more difficult to endure than the pain.


    Tang Wulin had thought that he would be able to complete this trial easily, but he was now beginning to realize that he had made a misjudgment.


    A single one of these water arrows posed no threat to him, but there were far too many, and they showed no signs of stopping or slowing down!


    All of his clothes had already been eradicated, and a series of red spots had appeared all over his skin from the repeated impacts of the arrows.


    Should he use his dragon''s repulse to oppose the arrows?


    That was the first thought that occurred to him. If he hadn''t intentionally withheld his dragon''s repulse, it would''ve already activated on its own.


    However, he quickly rid himself of the thought as he trusted that his father was doing this for his sake.


    Seeing as his father had chosen to blast his body with these things, then they had to be beneficial to him, just like the Body Sect''s body refinement methods.


    Thus, after a brief bout of shock brought on by the pain, he was ecstatic, and he immediately repressed his Golden Dragon King bloodline aura and the power of his dragon core so they wouldn''t interfere with this process.


    After attaining an Invincible Vajra Body, the most concerning thing wasn''t pain. Instead, it was a lack of pain.


    In Tang Wulin''s experience, the body couldn''t be refined and further enhanced without pain.


    The Invincible Vajra Body was A''Ruheng''s upper limit, as well as the upper limit of the Body Sect. Unless he could become a god and be nourished by immortal spiritual energy, there would be no way for him to improve further.


    Tang Wulin had also thought that this would be his limit, but he was still experiencing pain here, which meant that his body still had room for improvement! What could be more encouraging than that?


    Tang Wulin''s main objective for undergoing the Nine Trials of the Sea God was to improve himself and become more powerful, and he was getting exactly what he wanted.


    Truth be told, he had been rather disappointed by how simple the fourth trial had been, but now, the disappointment was beginning to fade and transform into anticipation.


    Each successive wave was more fearsome than the previous one, and the waves were taking on all types of different forms, such as heavy hammers, piercing spears, and sharp blades.


    All of these water weapons were imbued with tremendous power, and Tang Wulin was constantly assessing his own body as he endured the waves.


    With each wave that passed, he would be struck by a different sensation, transitioning between pain, itchiness, and numbness on repeat.


    On top of the physical pain, his bloodline, meridians, and even internal organs were also being stimulated by the impact, constantly changing as a result.


    The process was naturally quite tortuous, but his immense willpower was completely unshakeable. His bloodline began to circulate on its own, alleviating some of the pain while being enhanced by this process.


    His body was like a piece of metal, while the waves were like forging hammers, constantly hammering his body to enhance his powers.


    Time slowly passed by, and even though Tang Wulin was in a great deal of pain, he was very thankful for this experience and was constantly adjusting his own physical state. He was unable to move, but he could still swivel around from side to side minutely, thereby allowing him to withstand the waves with all parts of his body, and this was something that pleased him greatly.


    There was no way to measure the passage of time in this alternate world. His body transitioned over and over again between the states of pain, itchiness, and numbness, and if a normal person had been in his place, they would''ve already died countless times over, but he continued to persevere and endure.


    During this process, his body began to undergo a series of slight changes.


    Tang Wulin discovered that what was being altered the most wasn''t his body. Instead, it was the connection between his spiritual power and bloodline.


    Under the relentless pummeling of the waves, his consciousness gradually fused into every single corner of his body. In the past, he could only move one or multiple body parts at a time, but now, as his spiritual power began to integrate itself with his body, he was gradually able to move even the minute hairs on his body.


    This subtle change allowed him to perfectly control every single part of his own body.


    Within the Silver Dragon King scale around his neck, the Ice God Bead was releasing a cool and refreshing aura to nourish his spiritual power. Thus, not only was his body being refined, so was his mind and spirit.


    His spiritual power was already infinitely approaching the very pinnacle of the Spirit Domain realm, and at this level, what he required was further accumulation.

 Chapter 1822: The Sixth Trial

    At this point, accumulation was more like compression of spiritual power, and during this process, Tang Wulin could feel his own spiritual power slowly evolving under the pressure.


    If he could use this opportunity to make a breakthrough to the Divine Origin realm, then that would be perfect.


    After a long while, when his body turned numb again, Tang Wulin''s body and mind gradually entered a profound immersive state.


    This was a very wonderful feeling. His entire consciousness was completely immersed in his own body, and to him, his body was currently like a small world.


    As the ruler of this small world, he was able to clearly sense every single minute change that took place in this world, and that was the most wonderful thing.


    The human body had always been an enigma, and this mystery still hadn''t been completely solved even after countless generations of research. Genetic research was still at a very elementary stage in the federation, and during this stage, more information had been acquired to make this research more meaningful.


    Tang Wulin currently felt like a scientist who was studying the human body, thoroughly immersing himself in all of the minute changes in his own body.


    The things that stood out the most to him were the Golden Dragon King seals.


    At this point, there were still four seals left to be broken, and this was the first time he was able to see the seals within his own body with such realism and clarity.


    In contrast with his past guesses and observations, Tang Wulin discovered that the seals that his father had created in his body were far more incredible.


    He had never seen such complex and minute soul arrays, assuming that those really were soul arrays.


    Back in the Blood God Legion, the Blood God Array had struck him with a sense of awe and marvel. The grand construction and the glorious array allowed him to truly feel just how incredible the Soul Master world was.


    However, upon catching a clear glimpse of the seals within his own body, Tang Wulin was stunned to discover that even just the 15th seal was at least 10 times as complex as the Blood God Array, yet it was so tiny in comparison. One had to realize that these seals were situated inside his body! The aura imbued within the seals definitely didn''t stem from soul power; it was clearly energy of a higher level, energy from the Divine Realm.


    Each successive seal was several times more complex than the previous one, and even with Tang Wulin''s current level of spiritual power, he felt as if his mind were about to collapse just from taking a glance at the final two seals.


    That was a clear indication of just how fearsome the spiritual power imbued within those two seals were.


    Father, just how powerful is the Golden Dragon King energy within these seals?


    At his current cultivation rank and bodily condition, Tang Wulin was confident that he would be able to break the 15th seal without much trouble, but what about the next seals?


    He had no confidence at all in his ability to withstand the power of the 16th seal, and the final two seals were certainly completely out of the question.


    There was no doubt in Tang Wulin''s mind that the power that his father had so painstakingly sealed away was definitely of the godly level, and it could well be power that was of a superior caliber to the entire Douluo Plane.


    Back when he had first transformed into the Golden Blood Dragon, he had already realized that this power was definitely not something that he could touch as it was filled with aggression and destructive tendencies.


    Only through deep observation could one gain a better understanding of oneself, and Tang Wulin was gradually struck by a sense of enlightenment.


    If his body were a small world, then how could he get this small world to unleash more power?


    He seemed to have already grasped onto something abstract, but he was unable to articulate exactly what this feeling was.


    Finally, as the pain being inflicted on him faded, his consciousness also returned.


    The familiar authoritative voice rang out beside his ears again. "The fifth trials of the Sea God, Tidal Body Refinement, has been completed; would you like to continue?"


    Tang Wulin had returned to the golden world again, and all of his pain had completely faded, replaced by a sensation that made him feel as if he had been born anew.


    He could clearly sense that he had completely consolidated himself at the demigod level, and his foundation was more unshakeable than ever. His outward appearance hadn''t changed much, but he could feel the joy of this complete transformation, and it was an exhilarating feeling.


    The pain that he had endured during the fifth trial hadn''t been in vain. The only thing that was slightly disappointing to him was that he was unable to use this trial to progress straight to the quasigod level.


    After heaving a faint sigh, a smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he declared, "Continue!"


    He needed more intense stimulus. The fifth trial had already enhanced him so significantly; what would the sixth trial bring?


    "Sixth trial of the Sea God, Deep Sea Battle. Assist the Demon Spirit Great White Shark Race to force back the Evil Spirit Orca Race."


    Deep Sea Battle?


    After the 49 days of body refinement, Tang Wulin felt like a trial of the same nature would be more beneficial to enhancing his body and powers, so he was rather disappointed to hear that the sixth trial involved battling sea soul beasts.


    As a Limit Douluo, this type of battle trial was most likely going to be easier, just like the fourth trial.


    In the distance, a pristine white dorsal fin appeared on the surface of the sea, heading toward him at a high speed. There was only one dorsal fin, and it was particularly eye-catching on the surface of the clear blue sea.


    Following the fifth trial, the sea''s enmity toward him had already faded, but that didn''t mean that it was friendly toward him at all, and the waves were still crashing into his body with tremendous force.


    Tang Wuiln sank into the water and caught sight of his comrade.


    This was a sleek and graceful shark with a beautiful streamlined body, allowing it to swim through the water incredibly quickly.


    Just a short while later, it had already reached Tang Wulin and began to swim in circles around him.


    Tang Wulin could sense the friendliness it was transmitting toward him, and a smile appeared on his face as he also transmitted friendly feelings back to it with his spiritual power.


    "Hello, are you Tang San''s descendant?" A pleasant female voice rang out, and Tang Wulin was quite startled to hear it.


    "Hello, I didn''t think you could speak," Tang Wulin communicated using his spiritual power.


    "Of course I can! Isn''t it normal for 100,000-year-old soul beasts to be able to speak the human language?"


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark''s voice was very playful.


    "You know my father?" Tang Wulin asked in an elated manner.


    "Tang San is your father?" the Demon Spirit Great White Shark asked in response.


    Tang Wulin nodded in confirmation. "That''s right! He''s my father."


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark circled around him one more time and transmitted an even more friendly aura toward him. "I met your father once. It was him who helped us Demon Spirit Great White Sharks drive back those bloodthirsty killers, and it''s fantastic to be meeting his son now. The Evil Spirit Orcas have attacked us again, so please help us force them back. The Evil Spirit Orca King has already eaten many of my sisters, waaah!"


    She suddenly began to cry as she spoke, and Tang Wulin was left feeling rather speechless.


    Wasn''t she a little too humanized? However, seeing as this was a trial, he naturally had to accompany her to the enemies.

 Chapter 1823: What do you mean?

    "Alright, then let''s go right away. Are we going to meet up with your brethren first, then we''ll go and battle the Evil Spirit Orcas together?"


    "What do you mean?" the Demon Spirit Great White Shark asked in a perplexed manner.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Am I not supposed to help the Demon Spirit Great White Shark Race force back the Evil Spirit Orca Race? So shouldn''t we meet up with your brethren first?"


    "Of course not! The divine general protecting this region of the sea told me that only one of us needs to act as a guide for you, and you''ll take care of the rest on your own; my brethren still have other things to take care of," the Demon Spirit Great White Shark said.


    Tang Wulin''s eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this.


    What kind of father would do this to his son? This wasn''t a battle between races; he was expected to take on an entire race on his own!


    On land, he naturally wouldn''t be afraid, but in this ocean that wasn''t friendly toward him at all, it would not be easy to force back an entire race of powerful sea soul beasts.


    However, he then quickly arrived at a realization.


    He was already a Limit Douluo; if he had a huge number of Demon Spirit Great White Sharks to assist him during this trial, then it would be far too easy.


    "Alright, then lead the way; we''ll go face the Evil Spirit Orca King!" Tang Wulin said.


    "Let''s go! You have to protect me though; the divine general said something about how you''ll fail some trial if you don''t manage to protect me."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, and he didn''t know whether to laugh or cry at this situation. Not only did he have to fight, he also had to babysit! The difficulty of this trial seemed a little high.


    A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as his dragon''s repulse erupted out of his body, and even though he was underwater, he was able to glide forward as if he were walking on land.


    Thankfully, no restrictions had been placed on his abilities in this trial.


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark quickly caught up to Tang Wulin, and said in a delicate voice, "I''ll be counting on you then."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ll do my best. By the way, you said you were a 100,000-year level soul beast, right? How are you in battle? What do you excel in? Let''s devise a plan so we can work together effectively."


    A 100,000-year-old soul beast had to at least possess Titled Douluo level combat prowess. A part of his mission was to protect this Demon Spirit Great White Shark, so he naturally had to familiarize himself with her abilities first.


    "Well, in the words of you humans, I''m what''s known as ''absolute trash''. Basically, I don''t excel in any area other than fleeing. I''m a princess of the Demon Spirit Great White Shark Race, and I''m just a baby; I''m not suited for battle."


    Tang Wulin''s dragon''s repulse rippled, and the surrounding seawater almost leaked through.


    What kind of 100,000-year-old soul beast could still be referred to as a baby? At least she was forthcoming with her description of her abilities!


    Not only was she not going to be of any help to him, she was most likely going to be a massive hindrance.


    Tang Wulin wanted nothing better than to leave her behind. The difficulty of this trial seemed to be increasing by the second!


    "Why aren''t you saying anything? Do you not like me?" the Demon Spirit Great White Shark whined, "My human form is super beautiful! Do you want me to show you? I don''t have any human clothes though; would that be bad?"


    "Please don''t," Tang Wulin sighed in a resigned manner. "You don''t have to do anything; just do whatever I say when the time comes."


    "How could you say that? Are all humans this bad? Just do whatever you say? What if you try to take advantage of me?" the Demon Spirit Great White Shark whined.


    "I... Alright, then how about this? You''re really good at running away, right? Once we find the pods of Evil Spirit Orcas, just turn around and flee as far away as possible."


    "I can''t do that! We''re comrades-in-arms, and those orcas are my enemies as well; I can''t just abandon you! I have to fight by your side and witness the moment of triumph!"


    "Shut up!" Tang Wulin couldn''t repress his temper anymore. Not only was she useless in battle, she was constantly running her mouth like there was no tomorrow!


    Tang Wulin discovered that she was most likely a significant contributor to the difficulty of this sixth trial.


    Thankfully, a short while later, Tang Wulin suddenly felt a burst of immense pressure surging toward him from the distance, and as this pressure appeared, all of the seawater around him seemed to have suddenly become filled with malicious intent.


    A series of powerful auras could also be detected up ahead.


    This should be it!


    Tang Wulin''s eyes narrowed slightly as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes, and everything up ahead instantly became clearer.


    A pod of Evil Spirit Orcas appeared in his field of view in the distance.


    These Evil Spirit Orcas were slightly larger than Demon Spirit Great White Sharks, and their bodies were covered in bluish-black patterns that served as extremely effective camouflage in the sea. What was even more notable was that each and every Evil Spirit Orca possessed an extremely powerful aura. Tang Wulin could sense that there were over 100 orcas in that pod, none of which were below the 10,000-year level, and there were about seven or eight of them above the 100,000-year level.


    Among them, there was one orca with an unfathomable aura. That was most likely the Evil Spirit Orca King, and it was at least on par in power with a Great Beast.


    Of course, they didn''t pose much of a threat to Tang Wulin. With his current level of power, even a Great Beast would be no match for him.


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark stopped in her tracks and cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin, as if to indicate to him that they had arrived at their destination.


    And then... she did something that made Tang Wulin''s heart almost jump out of his chest.


    She rose up into a vertical position in the water, then curled her caudal fin forward in a provocative gesture while releasing a burst of powerful spiritual intent into the distance.


    Essentially, what she was doing would be the equivalent of a human flipping off an opponent and yelling "come and get me!"


    Tang Wulin stared at her in a slack-jawed manner while she bared her sharp fangs at him in a sly smile, then instantly turned around and sped back the way they had come, disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.


    Before Tang Wulin had a chance to do anything, a series of furious and aggressive auras erupted forth from the distance.


    The surrounding seawater instantly congealed, and enormous pressure surged toward Tang Wulin from all directions. A group of massive Evil Spirit Orcas were already swimming toward him in a frenzy, and Tang Wulin really wanted to tell them that it wasn''t him who had provoked them, but that clearly wouldn''t do anything.


    He really wanted to give that Demon Spirit Great White Shark a vicious beating!


    A resigned look appeared on his face as his body began to undergo a transformation. A series of golden scales appeared as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Body, and at the same time, he began to swell in size, transforming into a dragon.


    That''s right, he was going to battle these Evil Spirit Orcas in his Golden Dragon King form!


    Incredibly powerful blood essence fluctuations erupted from Tang Wulin''s body, forming a halo that illuminated a large section of the sea with bright golden light.


    In this form, his body was over 100 meters in length and was covered in thick and heavy scales, presenting a very intimidating sight to behold.


    The oncoming Evil Spirit Orcas sensed his powerful aura and immediately slowed down while appraising him from not far away.


    Tang Wulin folded his wings against his own back as they weren''t going to serve any purpose in an underwater battle anyway.


    He then took a moment to briefly familiarize himself with this form.


    He very rarely used this form in battle; the last time he did seemed to be when he had transformed into the Golden Blood Dragon and attacked the Spirit Pagoda on the Dou Spirit Continent.

 Chapter 1824: Clash

    In the instant that he unleashed his martial soul true body, he could clearly sense his own dragon core rapidly expanding, transforming into a giant heart that was beating vigorously. Bursts of tremendous blood essence fluctuations that were countless times more powerful than when he was in his human form surged through his entire body, filling him with unprecedented power.


    Golden light flashed in his eyes, and he raised his front right claw before making a forward-grabbing motion. The sea around him immediately underwent a drastic change.


    His front right paw seemed to have transformed into a massive vortex, and the seawater was revolving violently as it sped toward the vortex.


    All of the seawater devoured by the vortex instantly vanished, and the Evil Spirit Orcas nearby immediately tried to struggle free from the enormous suction force in a panicked manner.


    This was his Dragon Emperor Break!


    The entire region of the sea was stirred up into a frenzy, and one Evil Spirit Orca after another rapidly hurtled toward him before being devoured by the vortex.


    What was being devoured was not just seawater, but also the life energy of these Evil Spirit Orcas. All of the Evil Spirit Orcas that were drawn into the vortex found themselves completely immobilized, but right at this moment, a burst of red light suddenly appeared up ahead.


    In the beginning, it was only a small red dot, but it quickly began to expand, and by the time it arrived in front of Tang Wulin, it had already transformed into a massive red blade of light.


    The rushing seawater and violent vortex were instantly sliced apart by the blade, which then continued on toward Tang Wulin.


    As a result, Dragon Emperor Break was reversed, releasing a burst of explosive power that created a dull underwater explosion.


    All of the Evil Spirit Orcas previously trapped in the vortex were blasted away, and the red light was also destroyed by the explosion.


    Tang Wulin cast his gaze toward the distance with his eyes slightly narrowed. As expected, the power of the Evil Spirit Orca King was quite remarkable!


    In the distance, another enormous figure that was also over 100 meters in length appeared. It was swimming toward Tang Wulin in a very slow yet steady manner, and its formidable aura struck one with the feeling that it was the ruler of the sea.


    This was the Evil Spirit Orca King.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King''s body was not just covered in bluish-black patterns, but also dark red patterns, and it was giving off powerful blood essence fluctuations.


    Tang Wulin had learned about the Evil Spirit Orca Race during his studies at Shrek Academy.


    In the marine world of sea soul beasts, there were several extremely powerful species, including both the Demon Spirit Great White Sharks and the Evil Spirit Orcas.


    Evil Spirit Orcas to sea soul beasts were equivalent to Evil Soul Masters to humans. They were the most bloodthirsty of all sea soul beasts, and they were predators to virtually all other species of marine creatures.


    All sea soul beasts were prone to being attacked and eaten by them, and they killed virtually without any discrimination.


    Any sea soul beast that encountered them would immediately turn and flee as they were the ultimate apex predators of the sea.


    Aside from several species of extremely powerful sea soul beasts, all marine creatures were prone to be preyed upon by the Evil Spirit Orcas.


    Thus, Tang Wulin had no sympathy for these orcas. Killing an Evil Spirit Orca would save the lives of countless other sea soul beasts. Of course, he didn''t intend to drive them into extinction. After all, all food chains needed apex predators; that was mandated by the laws of nature.


    However, judging from the requirements of the sixth trial, the Evil Spirit Orca King was something that he had to kill.


    The surrounding seawater surged, and a series of vortexes appeared. On this occasion, they were created by the Evil Spirit Orca King rather than Tang Wulin.


    All of the other Evil Spirit Orcas had already retreated into the distance to appraise the confrontation from afar.


    "Are you a human or a dragon?" A cold voice rang out.


    "What does it matter to you?" Tang Wulin asked in an indifferent voice.


    "It doesn''t. Regardless of what you are, you''re going to become my prey. Your blood essence is exceptional, so you''ll be perfect sustenance for me. Perhaps I''ll be able to evolve again once I devour you, and that could take me to the 1,000,000-year level."


    The Evil Spirit Orca King''s voice was completely devoid of emotion.


    "Do 1,000,000-year-old beings really exist in the soul beast world?" Tang Wulin asked in a surprised manner.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King seemed to be very excited by the mention of 1,000,000-year-old soul beasts, and it replied, "Of course! In particular, us sea soul beasts have the most 1,000,000-year-old beings. As far as I know, there are already two sea soul beasts at that level."


    "So it''s easier for 1,000,000-year-old beings to arise among sea soul beasts? Why is that?" Tang Wulin asked.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King seemed to be more than happy to talk about this subject, and it patiently answered, "That''s because apex predators in the sea don''t have to worry about you humans. Regardless of how powerful a soul beast becomes on land, it can always be killed by humans, but here in the sea, this world belongs to us; you humans can''t encroach upon this world, nor will you do so for no good reason, so that gives us the ideal environment to grow and develop."


    For some reason, Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of sorrow upon hearing this.


    Once upon a time, soul beasts had been the rulers of this world, but now, how many soul beasts remained on the continent?


    Even sea soul beasts could only cower and hide away from the federation''s fleets. If it weren''t for the fact that the ability of humans to explore the sea was still quite limited, even sea soul beasts would''ve most likely already been driven to near extinction.


    Even Beast God Di Tian and the other Great Beasts could only live in a glorified pen that was completely surrounded and controlled by the Spirit Pagoda.


    Tang Wulin was sure that Di Tian was powerful enough to break through those restraints, but if he were to do that, death most likely wouldn''t be far away for him.


    Humans were now far superior to soul beasts both in power and in technology, and soul beasts had completely faded from the limelight.


    Even Beast God Di Tian wasn''t a 1,000,000-year-old soul beast, and Tang Wulin had only heard of such beings in historical legends, one of which actually had something to do with him.


    That particular legend detailed how his father had once slain a 1,000,000-year-old soul beast, and that one seemed to have been a sea soul beast as well.


    There was also someone else, namely the founder of the Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, who had once possessed a 1,000,000-year-old soul spirit, but those were only legends.


    After all, who was going to be able to verify those stories?


    Thus, he was struck by a sense of melancholy at the sight of this Evil Spirit Orca King, but that didn''t shake his determination and resolve.


    The Evil Spirit Orcas had always been renowned as the Evil Soul Masters of the sea soul beast world, and that reputation existed for a reason. Their existence would only continue to whittle down the number of sea soul beasts. Besides, he was currently undertaking a trial, so who knew if this was even an illusion or reality?


    All of a sudden, a thought occurred to Tang Wulin, and he hurriedly asked, "Hold on, you say there are two 1,000,000-year-old beings among sea soul beasts? I know one of them was slain by the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San; what''s the other one?"

 Chapter 1825: Fierce Battle

    "There''s no point in telling you; you''re going to become my prey anyway. Now die!"


    The Evil Spirit Orca King seemed to have run out of patience, and its spiritual power erupted forth, sending all of the vortexes in the seawater hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin.


    As the vortexes approached, they combined with one another to quickly form a single massive vortex. What was even more terrifying was that the vortex was of a blood-red color and was giving off a pungent odor of blood and gore.


    There were even countless vengeful spirits of sea soul beasts visible inside the vortex, presenting a very harrowing sight to behold.


    In the face of this giant vortex, Tang Wulin displayed no intention of backing away. He spread open his wings again to prevent his own body from being swept away by the seawater, and immediately thereafter, piercing golden light erupted from his body.


    He opened his mouth to let loose a thunderous roar, and the Evil Spirit Orcas and even the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess in the distance could see a huge projection emerge from Tang Wulin''s golden dragon head; it was as if his head had instantly expanded to 10 times its original size. A deafening roar of fury then shook the entire underwater world.


    This was the first time Tang Wulin had used Golden Dragon Roar as a Limit Douluo in his martial soul true body form, and the devastating roar caused a massive change in the flow of the surrounding seawater.


    Dazzling golden light fused as one with the seawater to crash violently into the giant red vortex, and in that instant, all of the Evil Spirit Orcas nearby fled in a panic, trying to get away as quickly as possible.


    This was an unconscious reaction triggered by their survival instincts. In this region of the sea, there were no other marine creatures aside from the Evil Spirit Orcas as the orcas had devoured them all.


    "Holy crap!" the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess yelled in her heart before also fleeing the scene. In the next instant, all of the seawater within a radius of several dozens of nautical miles erupted violently as if it had reached its boiling point.


    The entire ocean was plunged into complete chaos, and if there were any marine creatures in this area, they would''ve instantly been reduced to nothingness.


    All of the Evil Spirit Orcas that hadn''t managed to escape out of the area were swept up and sent flying in all directions, completely unable to control their own bodies; only the enormous Evil Spirit Orca King remained completely still on the spot. Regardless of how violent the waves were, they were unable to shake its body in the slightest.


    All of a sudden, the Evil Spirit Orca King let loose a peculiar sound, and in the next instant, its enormous body began to glow with piercing crimson light.


    Immediately thereafter, it violently swiveled around in a pirouette, launching a devastating streak of red light that sliced through the seawater and instantly reached Tang Wulin.


    Even Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be stunned by the power of this attack. This was most likely the Evil Spirit Orca King''s most powerful attacking skill, and it seemed that the red blade of light from earlier was the same skill, but imbued with less power.


    In response, Tang Wulin also swiveled around and swept his dragon tail through the water; it was none other than his Golden Dragon Whips its Tail!


    An enormous amount of dragon''s repulse gathered on his tail, which slammed violently into the Evil Spirit Orca King''s tail, and the clash had the surrounding sea churning once again.


    Thus, a fierce battle ensued between the two enormous creatures, and it was pure and raw melee combat.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King had always been extremely proud of its own power. In its eyes, there was no one in the sea that could contend with it aside from the two 1,000,000-year-old soul beasts.


    In reality, this wasn''t far from the truth. After all, it was already at the very top of the sea soul beast food chain.


    However, as one clash took place after another, many wounds began to open up all over its body. The giant golden dragon''s body was incredibly powerful, and not only was the Evil Spirit Orca King completely unable to gain an advantage, it was constantly sustaining damage from these clashes.


    Blood began to spread through the seawater, and upon catching a whiff of this scent, the Evil Spirit Orcas instantly went into a feeding frenzy, rushing back toward the battlefield in a maddened state, even though this was the blood of their king.


    However, rushing toward such a ferocious battle was naturally only going to end badly. All of the approaching Evil Spirit Orcas exploded into clumps of mangled flesh and blood from the shockwaves of the clashes, and that only served to further fuel the feeding frenzy.


    The more Evil Spirit Orcas that died, the more blood and flesh there was in the water, and the more Evil Spirit Orcas were attracted. These orcas had no qualms in devouring the bodies of their brethren, and it was quite a shocking sight for Tang Wuiln.


    He didn''t even have to actively hunt them down; just the clashes between himself and the Evil Spirit Orca King were making these orcas rush to their deaths, and this was something that he completely didn''t anticipate.


    Through his clashes with the Evil Spirit Orca King, Tang Wulin was also able to more deeply assess the changes that had taken place in his own body.


    Following the Tidal Body Refinement trial, his spiritual power had perfectly fused with his body. Not only had his Invincible Vajra Body been further enhanced, what was even more important was that he now had far superior control over himself.


    In his martial soul true body form, he was able to accurately control every single scale on his body.


    As he clashed tails with the Evil Spirit Orca King, he was able to control his scales to rear up like a series of sharp blades, raking across the Evil Spirit Orca King''s body to gouge out large chunks of blood and flesh. This was something that he hadn''t been capable of in the past. Before undergoing the fifth trial, if he wanted to raise his scales, then he would have to do so over his entire body or over large sections of his body; it was impossible for him to precisely control every single scale.


    This degree of control was enough to elevate Tang Wulin''s combat prowess to a whole new level, so he wasn''t in a hurry to pile on the pressure at all. Instead, he was using this battle to acclimate himself with this brand new body.


    This feeling of total control down to even the most minute bodily changes was exhilarating; it was as if he could split up his body into countless autonomous organisms that could be controlled completely independently from one another.


    Thus, the Evil Spirit Orca King was having to bear the full brunt of his attacks, but he was able to easily deflect the power of the Evil Spirit Orca King''s attacks, thereby making for an extremely frustrating battle.


    This was a terrible feeling.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King was constantly being weakened, yet its opponent was only growing more and more powerful, and at this point, it had already realized that the situation was spiraling out of control.


    Its brethren were continuing to cannibalize one another, transforming this region of the sea into a world of flesh and blood. Under normal circumstances, the Evil Spirit Orca King would be able to forcibly rein in their bloodlust, but it could barely look after itself, so it naturally wasn''t able to divert its attention to anywhere else.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin''s scales became extremely bright, and he withstood an attack from the Evil Spirit Orca King head-on.


    The surrounding seawater churned violently, and the Evil Spirit Orca King felt as if it had just struck an immovable fortress.


    In the next instant, a deafening dragon''s roar rang out, and many of the Evil Spirit Orcas flipped onto their backs and began to float lifelessly upward in the face of these fearsome soundwaves.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King was also completely paralyzed.


    This Golden Dragon Roar was close to twice as powerful as the previous one, and the Evil Spirit Orca King''s mind had gone completely blank.


    In the next instant, a burst of peerless unyielding will erupted forth as Tang Wulin unleashed his Dragon Emperor Fight!


    A sense of horror that stemmed from the very core of the Evil Spirit Orca King''s very being welled up in its heart, and in that instant, it was completely consumed by the urge to flee. However, there was naturally no way that Tang Wulin would allow it to escape.

 Chapter 1826: Slaying the Evil Spirit Orca King

    A burst of bright light erupted forth, instantly piercing through the Evil Spirit Orca King''s body.


    A golden figure passed over its enormous body, and another streak of brilliant light flashed through the water, slicing a massive wound into the abdomen of the Evil Spirit Orca King.


    The excruciating pain from the wound jerked it out of its stupor, and in an act of desperation, bright red light erupted out of its body like a soul missile explosion.


    Even Tang Wulin was sent flying while red light surged out of the Evil Spirit Orca King''s massive tail, propelling it into the distance like lightning.


    Its self-preservation instincts had overridden its bloodlust, and it was even leaving its brethren behind to flee for its life.


    A cold smile appeared on Tang Wulin''s face, and he spread open his dragon wings, using them like a pair of giant oars to propel his body forward.


    At the same time, he released his dragon''s repulse to forcibly create a vacuum around himself, allowing him to pursue his opponent like lightning. This was his Golden Dragon Takes Flight!


    It was also right at this moment that a white figure shot out of nowhere without any warning, smashing heavily into the Evil Spirit Orca King from the side at high speed.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King let loose an agonized roar, and blood instantly came gushing out of the massive wound that Tang Wulin had just inflicted. Its body was also sent barrel-rolling through the water by the force of the impact.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin, who had already reverted back into his human form, shot forth toward the Evil Spirit Orca King like a golden shooting star.


    He instantly donned his four-word battle armor to elevate his aura to the max, then released his Golden Blood Dragon domain, illuminating the surrounding seawater a reddish-golden color.


    Countless giant golden dragons emerged within the sea, encompassing the entire area as they released their formidable auras.


    The rainbow gem Tang Wulin wore around his wrist began to radiate gentle light, and the eyes of the golden dragons also turned a rainbow color. It was as if all of the dragons had sprung to life and were full of sentience and intelligence.


    The countless giant dragons instantly formed a sealing array that the Evil Spirit Orca King was unable to crash its way out of no matter how hard it tried.


    This was the evolved version of Tang Wulin''s battle armor domain, Thousand Dragon Resurgence!


    Aside from directly enhancing a Soul Master, another main benefit that four-word battle armor provided was that it could elevate the original domain of the wearer''s three-word battle armor. Following this evolution, Tang Wulin''s Golden Blood Dragon domain had undergone some special changes. The change that surprised him the most was that it had forged a profound connection with the dragon tomb through the crystal he wore around his wrist.


    This connection allowed him to draw upon the dragon souls, and it was the combination of dragon souls and his four-word battle armor domain that had given rise to the stunning spectacle that was Thousand Dragon Resurgence. It really was as if thousands of true dragons had appeared in the sea at once, and it was one of Tang Wulin''s most powerful trump cards, something that he had refrained from unveiling even against the abyssal army.


    This evolved four-word battle armor domain essentially granted Tang Wulin access to an army of true dragons.


    Of course, these were only dragon souls, and their bodies were formed by the energy of the domain and natural energies, so there was still some difference between them and actual true dragons, but the difference wasn''t very significant at all.


    What the dragon souls lacked in quality, they more than made up for in quantity. Even if each of them only possessed the power of an average true dragon, thousands of them gathered together was still an extremely formidable army.


    The dragon clan had once ruled over the entire world, and the Dragon God was a formidable deity who had once opposed the entire Divine Realm through his power alone!


    These golden dragons had inherited the incredibly powerful bodies that was the signature of the Golden Dragon King, and even against the abyssal army, this army would be completely able to hold its own.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin was unleashing Thousand Dragon Resurgence in its complete form, and it made him feel as if he had truly become the ruler of dragons, presiding over the dragon clan.


    Each golden dragon possessed a powerful aura that was not inferior to a Titled Douluo, as well as bodies that were far more powerful than that of the average Titled Douluo.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King was an extremely fearsome beast, but it had already been severely wounded, and it was almost instantly completely overwhelmed by the army of golden dragons.


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess looked on in a slack-jawed manner with awe and amazement glowing in her eyes, and when she cast her gaze toward Tang Wulin again, her expression had completely changed.


    She had been spectating the battle from afar this entire time, and right as the Evil Spirit Orca King was about to get away, she had emerged just in the nick of time to intercept it. However, only now did she understand that even if she hadn''t intervened, there was no way that the Evil Spirit Orca King would''ve been able to get away.


    It could even be said that if Tang Wulin wanted all of the Evil Spirit Orcas dead, none of them would''ve been able to leave this place alive.


    The sight of so many giant dragons was truly astonishing, and if he had unleashed this ability from the start, then the pod of Evil Spirit Orcas would''ve most likely fled for their lives without even trying to battle him.


    In the distance, the Evil Spirit Orcas that were still in a feeding frenzy finally settled down.


    They had also sensed the terrifying aura in this direction, and after a brief moment of silence and hesitation, they suddenly sped away in the opposite direction as if their lives depended on it, vanishing into the distant sea in the blink of an eye.


    Those were dragons; beings that stood at the very pinnacle of the soul beast world!


    Despite the fact that Tang Wulin had unleashed this army of dragons, even he was stunned by the sight of them, let alone the Evil Spirit Orcas.


    These dragons weren''t just projections anymore; they were true golden dragons that possessed substantial dragon soul bodies.


    This was an army of dragons that was completely sentient, yet was absolutely loyal to him; one could only imagine how much of a stir it would create if it were to appear on the Douluo Continent.


    The Evil Spirit Orca King was completely devoured, and in the next instant, all of the golden dragons slowly dispersed, and immediately thereafter, a streak of orange-golden light shot forth toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin was struck by the reflexive urge to release his dragon''s repulse to keep the streak of light at bay, but right at this moment, the same authoritative voice rang out in his mind once again.


    "The sixth trial of the Sea God, Deep Sea Battle, has been completed; the reward is the soul ring and soul bones of the Evil Spirit Orca King. Due to the fact that the trial undertaker already possesses nine soul rings, the age of the Evil Spirit Orca King''s soul ring will be evenly distributed among all existing soul rings."


    In the next instant, the streak of orange-golden light arrived, and Tang Wulin shuddered as he sensed a change taking place in his soul rings.


    He had experienced this change in the Spirit Ascension Plane in the past; this was the feeling of soul ring enhancement!


    This Evil Spirit Orca King had to at least be a 300,000 to 400,000-year level soul beast; if the age of its soul ring were to be evenly distributed, then...


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin released his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul, and he was met by an astonishing sight.


    Red, red, red, red, greenish-golden, orange-golden, orange-golden, orange-golden, orange-golden.


    He was completely rooted to the spot at the sight of this ridiculous soul ring configuration.


    Was this really something that was humanly possible?


    However, the undeniable reality was right in front of his eyes; all of his soul rings had been elevated to the 100,000-year level.


    Aside from his unique greenish-golden soul ring, all of his other soul rings had reached the peak of the Soul Master domain.


    In particular, the four orange-golden soul rings at the end were truly stunning to behold.


    The benefits yielded by the Nine Trials of the Sea God really were incredible!


    Just as this thought crossed his mind, a ball of menacing red light arrived before him.


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess hurriedly backed further away at the sight of the ball of light.

 Chapter 1827: I Want to Go Play In the Human World

    Tang Wulin focused his gaze on the ball of red light to find that it contained two soul bones. That''s right, two!


    They were a pair of leg bones, most likely one for the right and one for the left.


    Were these the leg bones of the Evil Spirit Orca King?


    As expected of a Great Beast to yield two soul bones at once, both of which were over the 100,000-year level!


    Up to this point, Tang Wulin had actually only gathered two soul bones, one of which was the Mountain Dragon King torso bone, while the other was the right-hand bone of the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear.


    Soul bones were far rarer than soul spirits as they very rarely emerged in the first place, and many of them were lost or damaged through the passage of time, so only very few pieces existed in the current world.


    Furthermore, soul beasts were virtually extinct at this point, so it was impossible to procure new soul bones. Thus, it was an enormous boost for Tang Wulin to receive two leg bones at once.


    It was no wonder that the Soul Masters of the past would do everything in their power to hunt soul beasts; a suitable soul beast really could drastically enhance a Soul Master''s powers. In particular, a soul bone was guaranteed to elevate a Soul Master''s powers significantly, and this was one of the contributing factors to the near-extinction that soul beasts currently faced.


    Similarly, prior to the rise of the human race, humanity had been forced to struggle for survival under the reign of the soul beasts. Regardless of what era it was, this was always a world where the strong reigned supreme, and the weak were at the mercy of those above them.


    At this point, humans had developed to such a level through their intelligence that ecological balance had become an issue to be considered. After all, there was still a limit on man-made soul spirits. Currently, there was no technology capable of creating 100,000-year-old soul spirits, and man-made soul spirits yielded different things compared with true soul beasts.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think back to the Myriad Beast Plane that he had entered once during the Joust For a Spouse event.


    That was the first time he had truly experienced what it was like to be in a soul-beast-inhabited forest of the distant past, and that was truly a world that was teeming with vitality.


    It had to be said that the Spirit Pagoda had made a significant contribution to the world through the creation of the Myriad Beast Plane; it was just a pity that all of the soul beasts in there seemed to be illusory in nature.


    He really wanted to return to the distant past to see what the soul beast world was really like back then. According to historical records, the soul beasts had initiated countless soul beasts tides in the past to attack human civilization, and Shrek City had been on the receiving end of many of those beast tides.


    Those would''ve definitely been battles for the ages.


    "Hey, what are you thinking?" A pleasant voice rang out in Tang Wulin''s mind, startling him as he turned his gaze to the side.


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess had returned to his side, and she was staring at him with a peculiar light in her large eyes.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I was just thinking about what the past soul beast world would''ve been like."


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess said, "I don''t know about that. The world on land is too hard to imagine, but the sea has always been a paradise for us with only those terrible Evil Spirit Orcas posing any serious threats. Thank you for chasing them away."


    Only then did Tang Wulin realize that he hadn''t been teleported away even though he had already completed this trial.


    "Can you take me back to shore?" Tang Wulin asked.


    "Sure I can, but what''s in it for me?" the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess asked as she stole a glance at the two soul bones.


    Tang Wulin was struck by a sense of speechlessness upon hearing this. He had just helped her chase away the sworn enemies that had been terrorizing her race!


    "What do you want?"


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess giggled, "I was just teasing you! I don''t want the filthy soul bones of that Evil Spirit Orca King. Besides, only you humans can fuse soul bones into your bodies. What do you think it would be like if I became a human? Would it be really fun? I should give it a try and reincarnate as a human."


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "According to historical records, all soul beasts who cultivate to the 100,000-year level can choose to take on a human form. Even though they''ll develop very quickly, there''s still a very long period where they''ll be vulnerable, and during this period, if they''re killed, then they''ll really be dead. Hence, if you decide to take on a human form, then make sure to disguise your identity. Otherwise, you''ll be in big trouble."


    "Oh! You humans are so bad! Why do you insist on killing us?" the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess grumbled.


    A resigned look appeared on Tang Wulin''s face as he replied, "Well, there was a time when humans were also prey for soul beasts, but the relationship was flipped due to a shift in the power balance. We''ve also been working hard to better our relationship with soul beasts, trying to fulfill the needs of Soul Masters by creating artificial soul spirits. Unfortunately, the land-dwelling soul beasts are close to extinction. Alright, that''s enough rambling from me; please take me back to shore."


    A hint of yearning flashed through the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess''s eyes. "The human world must be really fun, right? I have to go and play in the human world some time in the future!"


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "If you do that, make sure to never tell any human at any time that you were once a soul beast; the temptation of a 100,000-year level soul ring and soul bones are simply too much for most humans to resist, and greed often leads to disaster."


    "I know, I know. I''m actually still quite far away; I''m still not even 90,000 years old yet. Otherwise, I wouldn''t have been afraid of that Evil Spirit Orca King. It''s just that I had royal blood, so I attained intelligence very early, and that''s why I''m able to speak your human language. In just over 10,000 years, I should be able to reach the 100,000-year level; I really may just reincarnate as a human once that happens. You''ll already be dead by then, right? That means I won''t be able to play with you in the human world."


    Tang Wulin chuckled, "Not necessarily; what if I''m still alive by then? If I''m still alive, you can come to me if you need any help."


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark giggled, "Don''t forget what you just said; it''s a promise! You owe me a favor now!"


    Tang Wulin nodded in response, but he didn''t think much of this. Who knew what was going to happen after 10,000 years? If he couldn''t ascend to godhood, then he would be long gone by then.


    Even if he did become a god, he would''ve most likely set off to search for his parents and could be anywhere in outer space, so it was highly unlikely that he would ever see the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess again.  [1]


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess said, "Let''s go then. Let me show you what I''m capable of!"


    She gently swished her tail as she spoke and swam on ahead. To Tang Wulin''s surprise, the seawater in her wake suddenly began to turn white and freeze into ice, including the seawater beneath his feet.


    Ice was buoyant, so Tang Wulin was naturally carried toward the surface of the sea.


    "You''re an ice-attribute soul beast?" Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    According to what he had learned, Demon Spirit Great White Sharks didn''t possess ice-attribute abilities!


    "That''s right! My abilities mutated, so I have more than just my innate attributes. Heehee, by the way, I gave myself a human name; do you want to hear it?" the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess giggled.


    "Sure."


    "Heeheehee, I''m not telling you!"


    [1] [I believe in the business, we call this foreshadowing ;)]

 Chapter 1828: The Agreement With the Little Princess

    Tang Wulin could only heave a resigned internal sigh. This cheeky little princess was already almost 90,000 years old, yet she was still like a complete child.


    Soon, he was carried to the surface by the chunk of ice beneath him, and in the next instant, a bridge of ice that led toward the distance appeared on the sea.


    The bridge was quickly elongating, and beneath the surface of the sea, the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess was swimming at a high speed.


    The surface of the sea in her wake was freezing rapidly, and even though the waves were very turbulent, the frozen sections were as smooth as a mirror.


    She really was very strong in this area. Both her control over the sea and her control over ice elements were quite impressive!


    Tang Wulin strode forward and began to glide along the ice, and soon, he caught sight of land in the distance.


    The bridge of ice beneath his feet led all the way to that landmass, and as he stepped onto solid ground, the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess had already flipped herself over in the water before waving goodbye to him with her caudal fin.


    "Goodbye, human! If we meet again, don''t forget that you owe me a favor! You have to keep your promise!"


    Tang Wulin smiled and waved back at her. "I''ll remember; goodbye!"


    "The sixth trial of the Sea God has concluded; would you like to continue?" The authoritative voice rang out once again.


    Only then did Tang Wulin realize that only after returning to shore was the sixth trial truly completed, which meant that not only was he required to kill the Evil Spirit Orca King, he also had to earn the acknowledgment of that Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess to complete the trial.


    ......


    In the Arctic Ocean of the Douluo Continent, a massive figure appeared silently in the seawater amid a flash of golden light.


    It was clearly a little unaccustomed to this environment, and it had to take a brief moment to regain its balance. It twisted around and inspected its surroundings in a perplexed manner.


    "What happened? Was that a dream just now? It felt like I went to another world. That human was really fun and really powerful as well," the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess murmured to herself.


    "The human world seems really interesting. Once I cultivate to the 100,000-year level, I have to take a trip there; I wonder if Mother will let me. Whatever; even if she doesn''t let me, I''ll still go anyway. I''ll just treat it like a sightseeing trip."


    With that in mind, the Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess was filled with a surge of anticipation. At the very least, she was sure that the Evil Spirit Orca King from before had been real, and something had been instructing her to do all of this.


    Furthermore, that human had left a very deep impression on her.


    "Oh, Mother''s calling me." The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess took a moment to determine the direction that the call was coming from, then began to speed through the water.


    "Hmm? Why does it feel like I''m faster than before?" She suddenly realized that her speed seemed to be improving as she swam, and that something seemed to be different from before.


    For soul beasts, evolution was a very slow process. Otherwise, it wouldn''t take them 100,000 years to be able to attain a human form. However, the improvement that she had just experienced was very noticeable and seemed to have taken place in a very short time.


    Before she had a chance to delve deeper into this feeling, she suddenly noticed that the surrounding seawater was changing.


    The clear seawater had suddenly become quite murky, and there was an oppressive purplish-black miasma spreading through the sea. Right at this moment, a voice suddenly appeared in her mind.


    "Run! Run away, my daughter, and don''t come back! She''s here; that terrifying being came! Don''t come back! Argh... We''re done for..."


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess was stunned to hear this voice, and she immediately drew to a halt.


    That was the voice of her mother!


    "Mother! Mother, what''s happening? Are you alright?" She hurriedly called out with all her might in her heart.


    She shared a very profound connection with her mother, and even from long distances away, they could communicate with one another through their spiritual power. However, the connection between her and her mother had suddenly been severed, and an overwhelming sense of dread instantly welled up in her heart.


    Something had to have happened to her mother!


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess hurriedly shot forth through the water in an urgent manner, paying no heed to the miasma around her as she swam as quickly as she could toward the location where her mother had last called out to her from.


    After a long while, she finally sensed her mother''s aura, but it was only extremely faint and feeble.


    This further exacerbated the dread that had settled in her heart.


    The purplish-black miasma gradually faded, and she was stunned by the sight that was revealed.


    She saw countless bodies of all types of sea soul beasts, some of which were slowly sinking, while others were gradually rising to the surface.


    The entire area was filled with the scent of blood and gore, and there wasn''t even a single shred of vitality left behind.


    She then caught sight of some familiar figures; those were none other than her brethren.


    "No, no, no, no! It can''t be!" she yelled internally in a panicked manner while frantically calling out to her mother.


    "Mother! Mother, where are you! Please don''t scare me like this. Where are you?"


    Her mother was the queen of the Demon Spirit Great White Shark Race, and she had spent her entire life growing up beside her mother. They lived without a worry in the world, save for the Evil Spirit Orcas.


    However, not long ago, the Evil Spirit Orca Race had suddenly vanished, and not long after that, she was teleported into that strange world.


    She had only just returned, yet everything that she was seeing filled her with horror.


    She didn''t dare to think about what had happened, but her high level of intelligence told her that something terrible had happened.


    More and more Demon Spirit Great White Shark carcasses began to appear in her field of view, and not a single one of them was complete.


    Only through assessing some finer details was she able to identify that many of them were her friends, companions, and even relatives.


    Finally, an extremely familiar aura appeared up ahead, and she swam over to it in a panicked frenzy.


    What she was met by was a dark blue bead that was glowing faintly.


    "Mother!" The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess cried out in a grief-stricken voice and swam to the bead as quickly as she could.


    Only 100,000-year level Demon Spirit Great White Sharks would produce a bead like this following their demise. This was the most important thing in the Demon Spirit Great White Shark Race; it was something that was passed down from generation to generation, and it could only be produced by royalty.


    The aura on the bead was extremely familiar to her, which meant that this had to belong to her mother! This was her mother''s shark bead, which meant that her mother had died, and not even a single trace of her body had been left behind.


    "Mother, Mother, Mother..." She bawled and wept with all her might, thrashing around violently as she did so, causing large sections of the seawater around her to surge and churn.


    However, no matter what she did, there was no changing the fact that all of her brethren had perished.


    How could this have happened? They were all fine when she had left!


    Even the Evil Spirit Orca Race wouldn''t have been capable of completely dominating them, and they were always evenly matched in battle, so how had they all died?


    What had happened to lead to this tragedy?


    Mother, Mother, you''re not dead, right? Tell me you''re not dead!


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess was having a mental breakdown, and it was as if the entire sea had become her tears.


    She injected her consciousness into the shark bead, and a thought appeared in her mind.

 Chapter 1829: Fusing With Fathers Bloodline

    "It''s her! That 1,000,000-year level aura; it can only be her! She survived and she came back..."


    That terrified thought was the only thing left in the shark bead.


    1,000,000-year level? What could it be?


    The Demon Spirit Great White Shark princess was stumped for a moment before a possibility suddenly occurred to her.


    There was only one being who could possibly be at the 1,000,000-year level! It was her! She had returned and slain her brethren and her mother!


    "Argh!"


    ......


    "Seventh trial of the Sea God, Ultimate Showdown; battle the 1,000,000-year-old Deep Sea Demonic Whale King."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be stunned to hear this. Battle the 1,000,000-year-old Deep Sea Demonic Whale King? Was that the other 1,000,000-year-old soul beast the Evil Spirit Orca King had been referring to?


    Right as this thought crossed his mind, the authoritative voice rang out again to offer an explanation, something that it had never done before.


    "The previous owner of the Sea God''s Trident, who was also the heir to the Sea God''s godseat, once faced an extremely powerful being, which was the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. That was the true ruler of the sea and a 1,000,000-year-old being. It was through defeating this creature that he earned the right to inherit the Sea God''s godseat, and what you are going to face is the same battle that he did, simulated by the Nine Trials of the Sea God. Only by defeating it will you be able to continue onward, and this is also a precious experience left to you by the previous owner of the Sea God''s Trident."


    The previous owner of the Sea God''s Trident? Wasn''t that his father, Sea God Tang San?


    A hint of excitement welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart as this thought occurred to him. In the distant past, his father had also endured the Nine Trials of the Sea God and emerged successfully on the other side to inherit the Sea God''s godseat.


    At the time, his father most likely wasn''t even as powerful as he was now. Even so, his father had managed to overcome these trials, so he definitely could as well!


    A strong sense of confidence rose up in Tang Wulin''s mind, and he pursed his lips with determination.


    Right at this moment, a deafening boom suddenly rang out on the surface of the sea in the distance, and a huge pillar of water erupted up into the sky, extending for over a kilometer before slowly falling back down.


    The sky also darkened, and intense pressure surged toward Tang Wulin from all directions, striking him with a sense of asphyxiation.


    It was clear that the true ruler of the sea, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, had arrived.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath and raised his right hand to summon his Golden Dragon Spear, then donned his four-word battle armor once again.


    This creature was clearly far more formidable than the Evil Spirit Orca King, so he had to face it in his most powerful form.


    A terrifying aura swept toward him, and the entire surrounding region of the sea turned a purplish-black color.


    In that instant, it was as if the entire world had become his enemy. Even so, this did nothing to shake Tang Wulin''s unwavering battle intent.


    He stepped forward with unmatched pride in his heart, and the will to battle heaven and earth erupted forth.


    His black hair swayed in the wind, and his golden armor was giving off dazzling light.


    Even if he had to oppose the entire world, he would still face the challenge with his back straight and his head held high.


    A formidable aura also erupted out of Tang Wulin''s body, and the scintillating golden light rose up into the air, releasing peerlessly domineering aura fluctuations.


    With a single flap of his wings, he propelled himself up into the air, and his unyielding will was like a sharp spear that had pierced through the very heavens, allowing him to forcibly repress the pressure weighing down upon him.


    Restrict Heaven and Earth, Dragon Emperor Fight!


    Under the effect of Dragon Emperor Fight, a layer of reddish-golden light appeared over Tang Wulin''s eyes, and a deranged Golden Dragon King aura erupted forth, staining the entire sky the same color.


    At this moment, the voice of his father was echoing within his mind.


    Even in the face of those three almighty gods, his father had still been brimming with battle intent and hadn''t displayed any intention to back down. At the time, his father''s only thought was he had to find his son.


    The opponent he was currently facing was someone his father had defeated while he was still human, so he was definitely capable of replicating the feat.


    Someday, he was going to also ascend to godhood and search for his family.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Fight seemed to have been elevated to a higher level, and an indistinct golden figure with a head of long blue hair appeared behind him.


    Tang Wulin''s body also began to undergo some changes. His black hair gradually turned blue, then slowly grew longer before trailing down his back.


    It was as if something in his body had been awakened, and his aura and bloodline were both being enhanced by this change.


    Was this... the bloodline of his father?


    An indescribable sense of emotion welled up deep within Tang Wulin''s heart. He had always relied on the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King, and it could be said that it was the Golden Dragon King''s bloodline that had made him who he was today.


    He knew that he was Tang San''s son, but the only connection he could feel between them was his Bluesilver Emperor martial soul.


    However, in this instant, everything had changed. His father''s bloodline in his body had been activated by the pride in his heart to truly fuse as one with him, becoming a part of his body.


    This sense of ascension filled him with the unwavering conviction that he was the Sea God''s son.


    He had been born only after his father had attained godhood, so there were some things in his body from birth that only belonged to gods.


    The 18 seals weren''t just there to seal away the Golden Dragon King''s power; they were also sealing his father''s power!


    The bloodline that his father had passed down onto him was the core of this seal, and right now, this bloodline was being awakened by his pride and the call that he was making to his father.


    All of a sudden, a crisp crack rang out within his body, immediately following which a scorching aura erupted forth, instantly flowing to every single corner of his body and becoming a part of him.


    His 15th Golden Dragon King seal had been broken!


    That''s right, the 15th Golden Dragon King seal had shattered on its own without any warning. Tang Wulin felt as if there were countless bluish-golden specks of light exploding in his blood, fusing into every nook and cranny of his body.


    This was an extremely wonderful feeling, and his body seemed to be changing once again. At the same time, the scorching Golden Dragon King bloodline was crashing through his body, causing his aura to spike at a rapid rate.


    Even his Invincible Vajra Body was trembling in the face of this scorching bloodline aura, and only now did he realize just how powerful the energy sealed within the 15th Golden Dragon King seal was.


    He had always thought that with his current body, it would be easy for him to withstand the power in the 15th seal, but only now did he realize just how wrong he had been.


    The power in the 15th seal was comparable to the power within all previous 14 seals combined, and it was not just wreaking havoc in his body, but also his mind.


    In that instant, his entire body began to glow with piercing reddish-golden light, and he was like a miniature sun hanging in mid-air, releasing incredible light and heat.


    The sea beneath him also began to display some changes. In the beginning, only a small patch of blue appeared, but soon, this blue patch began to extend outward into the distance in all directions.


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 Chapter 1830: Divine Origin Realm

    Despite the overbearing nature of the purplish-black aura, it was unable to stop this blue patch from expanding, and as a result, the turbulent sea was beginning to grow calmer. Tang Wulin''s aura was also rising rapidly, and this sense of ascension struck him with an indescribable feeling.


    He felt as if he were situated in a scorching furnace and was being vigorously calcined.


    However, the specks of bluish-golden light also began to fuse into his bones, and a sense of water-like placidity was being infused into his Invincible Vajra Body. Regardless of how much the scorching aura wreaked havoc in his body, the sense of placidity refused to budge. The scorching sensation was constantly elevating alongside his aura and power, and he was slowly yet steadily progressing up from the demigod level.


    His eyes were shining as bright as stars, and even though everything was warping slightly around him, he could clearly sense the changes taking place within his own body.


    In the next instant, a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out from his body, and the air around him began to churn violently. A resounding boom erupted in the sky, following which the entire world turned dark.


    In that instant, the sky disappeared, the sea vanished, all that was left was the scintillating ball of reddish-golden light that was Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin could clearly feel that the soul core in his mind seemed to have exploded, and immediately thereafter, a burst of scintillating reddish-golden light erupted out of that soul core, transforming into a reddish-golden ball that was slowly contracting.


    To Tang Wulin''s surprise, he discovered a miniature golden figure that had a head of glowing bluish-golden long hair inside that reddish-golden ball.


    The figure was completely identical to him in appearance, and it was simply hovering within his mind. His mind was also affected by this, and its original golden color began to undergo a drastic change.


    His spiritual power began to elevate, and the golden color became more translucent and pure. Wisps of white energy appeared on the surface of his mind, and his sea of spiritual power was quickly expanding.


    What seemed like an eternity but also only a moment passed by, and his sea of spiritual power had already expanded to over 100 times its original size.


    His previously extremely abundant spiritual power had now been transformed into a thin layer of golden liquid with wisps of white energy rippling gently over its surface. Even though the changes were very subtle, Tang Wulin was still able to clearly discern them.


    What was happening?


    He suddenly understood.


    He had made a breakthrough in his spiritual power!


    He had finally gotten past the boundaries of the Spirit Domain realm and reached the Divine Origin realm, the realm that belonged to the gods!


    After truly fusing with his father''s bloodline and breaking his 15th Golden Dragon King seal, his stagnant spiritual power had finally experienced another breakthrough to the Divine Origin realm.


    Even at its most elementary level, the Divine Origin realm was still the realm of the gods, and the faint wisps of white energy above the surface of his spiritual power was most likely the legendary immortal spiritual energy!


    There was a fundamental change from the Spirit Domain realm to the Divine Origin realm.


    All of the quasigods that had reigned supreme over the continent for decades, regardless of whether it was Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie, Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, Coiling Dragon Douluo Qiangu Dieting, or even the deceased Atlas Douluo Yun Ming; none of them had been able to elevate their spiritual power to this level.


    During the abyssal army''s surprise attack, it was the Divine Origin realm Spirit Sovereign''s emergence that had exerted enormous pressure on the entire human army. Aside from him, it seemed that only Gu Yuena had reached this level.


    Only upon truly entering this realm of spiritual power did Tang Wulin realize just how fearsome this level was.


    His current sea of spiritual power could contain more than ten thousand times his past spiritual power. If he were to fill this sea of spiritual power someday, how fearsome would his spiritual power become?


    Father, is this a present you left for me?


    Tang Wulin''s heart was filled with deep emotions. He knew that if he wanted to cultivate to this level on his own, he would most likely only be able to reach it after attaining godhood.


    However, it was the godly bloodline or perhaps the wisp of immortal spiritual energy that his father had passed on to him that allowed him to reach the Divine Origin realm in spite of the restrictions imposed by the Douluo Continent''s planar ruler. From this moment forth, he was no longer an ordinary Limit Douluo. At the very least, his spiritual power was superior to that of all Limit Douluos, with Gu Yuena perhaps being the only exception.


    He had well and truly reached the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent in this area!


    In the next instant, his consciousness returned, and as he opened his eyes again, the emotions in his heart only became stronger.


    The darkness had faded, and the clear blue sea stretched as far as the eyes could see in all directions. All of the pressure had abated, and as he hovered in mid-air, his will to fight heaven and earth had also disappeared.


    He saw his own flowing blue hair, which was extremely reminiscent of his father''s hair. A faint bluish-golden sheen had appeared on his four-word battle armor, and he could clearly sense that this was a result of his Divine Origin realm spiritual power being injected into and fusing with his battle armor.


    The most formidable ability of suits of four-word battle armor was their ability to constantly evolve alongside its wearer, and all of these changes had taken place during the evolutionary process that had just transpired.


    Tang Wulin knew that he had taken a massive stride toward the quasigod level.


    In the history of the Soul Master world, aside from his father and Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, who were both exceptionally talented and blessed by the Divine Realm, there was virtually no one who could match his rate of progression.


    It wasn''t even that long ago since he became a Limit Douluo, and now, he was already close to the quasigod level and had attained Divine Origin realm spiritual power.


    Tang Wulin knew that he had made the right choice to come here. The Nine Trials of the Sea God were all brilliant opportunities for him to grow and evolve.


    "The seventh trial of the Sea God has been completed; the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King has retreated without engaging in battle."


    Tang Wulin was rather surprised to hear this. The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had retreated?


    Judging from what had happened after he killed the Evil Spirit Orca King, he would''ve most likely also reaped incredible rewards if he could kill the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King.


    However, his opponent had retreated without even putting up a fight.


    I guess I can''t get everything in life.


    However, the disappointment only lingered in Tang Wulin''s heart for a brief moment before vanishing. Indeed, one couldn''t get everything in life, and he had to learn to be happy with what he had, especially considering he had already received so much.


    "Please rest and recuperate; the eighth trial will begin in six hours."


    The authoritative voice rang out again, and to Tang Wulin''s surprise, it simply informed him of the upcoming trial instead of asking him whether he would like to continue.


    Could it be that the choice was taken away from him after completing the seventh trial?


    Then again, that didn''t really change anything; he was going to continue anyway.


    The two soul bones from before were still by his side, and as he turned to glance at them, a determined look appeared in his eyes.


    He sat down with his legs crossed and waved a hand toward the pair of soul bones, drawing them toward himself.


    Once he fused these two soul bones into his body, his powers would undoubtedly be further enhanced.


    Just as Tang Wulin was preparing to face the eighth trial, something was happening in the northernmost region of the Douluo Continent.

 Chapter 1831: Full-scale Defense

    At the main control center.


    "The basic construction of the infrastructure is already complete; the Soul Masters of the Blood God Legion, the Spirit Pagoda, the Tang Sect, and the Battle God Hall are currently setting up the new Blood God Array to seal the exit."


    Yu Guanzhi nodded with a pleased expression upon hearing this. Everything was progressing in a positive direction.


    Initially, they were being completely dominated by their enemies, but since then, the enemies had been forced back, and they could finally heave a sigh of relief.


    Chen Xinjie asked, "After the Blood God Array is completed, will it be able to oppose the abyssal passageway if it reconnects with our plane?"


    The question was directed toward Cao Dezhi. Over at the Blood God Legion, he was the main figure responsible for protecting the Blood God Array, so no one was more familiar with the array''s abilities than he was.


    Cao Dezhi shook his head in response. "It won''t be able to completely shut down the passageway. The situation here is different from the one over at the Blood God Legion. The Blood God Legion has set up the array inside the passageway, thereby obstructing it at the source, making it very difficult for the abyssal creatures to come out, and even if cracks appear, they can be easily filled. However, this seal is being set up on our own plane. The abyssal passageway has disappeared, but it hasn''t been sealed, so if it appears again, a large number of abyssal creatures will still be able to rush out right away.


    "Of course, with the Blood God Array here, it''ll be able to prevent the abyssal creatures from emerging for at least a short time, thereby giving us enough time to set up resistance and restrict them to this area. If you ask me, even if we have enough time to complete the Blood God Array, I suggest we still set up at least three more defensive lines surrounding the site. If they dare to return, we have to strive to set up the Blood God Array''s seal right on top of their abyssal passageway at all costs. If we succeed, we''ll be able to completely cut off this passageway.


    "Currently, I''m actually more worried about the Holy Spirit Cult. We don''t know how many powerful beings of the abyss and the Holy Spirit Cult have been killed by the Eternal Heaven blast, but I have a feeling that Demon Sovereign won''t die that easily. Otherwise, she wouldn''t have been able to lead the Holy Spirit Cult for so many years. On top of that, the fact that they were able to open this abyssal passageway indicates that they''ve already learned the abyssal plane''s coordinates, and I''m very concerned that they could open another passageway elsewhere."


    "That is indeed a problem, but it shouldn''t be that simple for them. After all, they were only able to open this abyssal passageway with the help of the Blood River Godslayer Array, and at the very least, I would think that the Holy Spirit Cult currently doesn''t possess the power to set up another one of those arrays. What we should be doing now is increasing the intensity of the crackdown of Evil Soul Masters on the continent. As soon as one is discovered, they have to be killed right away; we can''t give them any chances to rise from the ashes again," Zhang Huanyun said.


    All of the military officials in the room nodded in agreement.


    The Blood River Godslayer Array had left an extremely bitter taste in everyone''s mouths. Even setting aside the fact that over 10,000,000 lives had been taken to create it, just the losses suffered by the Western Legion alone were already extremely heavy.


    Yu Guanzhi said, "I agree that we should set up more defensive lines as a precautionary measure. We definitely can''t afford to grow complacent just because the enemy has temporarily retreated. We''ll all submit a joint request to the federal government to send more resources here."


    Everyone else nodded in agreement once again.


    Fierce Wolf Douluo Dong Zi''an was currently seated at the end position. Even though he had been stripped of his position as legion commander, he was still undertaking the duties of the commander position. After all, he had led the Western Legion for so many years already, and the troops of the Western Legion only followed his orders.


    "Did Sect Master Tang go back already?" Yu Guanzhi asked.


    Cao Dezhi replied, "No, he told me that he''s currently in seclusion; he must''ve gleaned something from the recently concluded battle."


    "That''s good to hear. Thank heavens the personnel from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were present on the northern front. Otherwise, we would''ve been in big trouble," Yu Guanzhi said.


    No one was in disagreement with this statement. Setting aside everything else, the Tang Sect''s willingness to bring out Eternal Heaven to destroy the Blood River Godslayer Array was a clear display of selflessness and nobility.


    The vast majority of people were under the impression that Eternal Heaven could only be used once; only Chen Xinjie and Yu Guanzhi knew that there was potential for the Tang Sect to use it again in the future. As a result of this knowledge, they were both treating Cao Dezhi with an extra modicum of respect.


    The Spirit Pagoda representative present was Gu Yuena, and she hadn''t said anything this entire time.


    Yu Guanzhi cleared his throat, and declared, "If no one else has any suggestions or issues to raise, then let''s end the meeting here. I''ll submit the request for more resources to the federal government as soon as possible."


    "Please wait, I have something to say."


    Gu Yuena suddenly broke her silence, and everyone immediately turned their attention to her.


    All of the military''s top brass were very much in approval of this new Spirit Pagoda chairwoman. Setting aside everything else, her extraordinary feat in keeping the Spirit Sovereign at bay on her own had left everyone with a deep impression of her.


    The Spirit Sovereign was currently the most powerful abyssal creature to have appeared, yet Gu Yuena had been able to match his Divine Origin realm spiritual power, and that was astonishing to everyone.


    Furthermore, it was important to remember that she was still in her twenties, and she was surely destined for great things.


    Back when she had defeated Tang Wulin at the Joust For a Spouse event, many people hadn''t taken that outcome very seriously as they were of the opinion that Tang Wulin had most likely intentionally lost that battle.


    However, only after the clash with the abyssal plane were they made aware of just how powerful the Silver Dragon Princess was.


    She was so young, yet she was already a Limit Douluo with Divine Origin realm spiritual power; her future was truly limitless. It could be said that she and Tang Wulin were the two brightest stars of the younger generation, and this was why she hadn''t encountered any resistance in her inheritance of the chairwoman position.


    Only under her leadership did the Spirit Pagoda have a chance of making a resurgence.


    "Please go ahead, Chairwoman Gu," Yu Guanzhi prompted.


    Gu Yuena slowly closed her eyes, and said in a placid voice, "The enemy hasn''t left, and they''ll be back very soon, so prepare for battle at all times."


    The tone of her voice was very confident, as if she were stating a fact rather than a guess.


    Everyone was quite surprised to hear this, and Yu Guanzhi''s brows furrowed slightly as he asked, "On what basis are you making this claim, Chairwoman Gu? Where is the enemy?"


    Gu Yuena reopened her eyes and gave Yu Guanzhi a profound look. "I can sense that neither the abyssal plane nor the Holy Spirit Cult has truly departed. I don''t know where they are, but I''m sure they''ll return very soon; they won''t allow the Blood God Array to be completed, so prepare for battle."


    "Don''t try to spread fear and panic without any evidence!" Dong Zi''an harrumphed coldly in an angry manner.


    He had been completely screwed over by the Spirit Pagoda. If he hadn''t heeded Qiangu Dongfeng''s advice, he wouldn''t have ended up in this situation. Thus, his temper immediately flared up hearing what seemed to be a baseless claim from Gu Yuena.


    Gu Yuena took a glance at him, and for some reason, Dong Zi''an felt as if he had been electrocuted as their eyes met. His aura was completely repressed, and this naturally hadn''t escaped the attention of everyone else present.


    There was no shortage of Limit Douluos among these generals and admirals!


    With the advancement of soul technology and better understanding of the human body, modern Limit Douluos were far more powerful than their counterparts of the ancient past.


    However, in the instant that Gu Yuena had released her spiritual power, all of them felt a chill run down their spine, including even the quasigod level Chen Xinjie.

 Chapter 1832: Wulin and Xiao Wu

    What incredible power!


    Gu Yuena lowered her gaze, and said, "I''m only telling you what I''m feeling; it''s up to you whether you choose to believe me or not." After that, she turned and departed.


    Compared with Qiangu Dongfeng, her style and demeanor were completely different.


    Yu Guanzhi turned to Chen Xinjie with an inquisitive expression, to which Chen Xinjie said, "It''s always better to be safe than sorry, so let''s prepare for battle. If the enemies don''t turn up, great! But if they do, we have to be ready."


    Yu Guanzhi nodded in response. "Alright, I''ll issue the relevant orders."


    Right at this moment, an alarm suddenly rang out across the entire control center without any warning. All of the generals and admirals were already rather tightly wound, and their expressions immediately changed slightly upon hearing the alarm.


    Had the enemies really returned?


    ......


    Six hours flew by in a flash, and Tang Wulin''s aura had undergone some further minute changes.


    As he rose to his feet, a faint smile appeared on his face, and he murmured to himself, "The Evil Spirit Orca King''s leg bones really are extremely evil and aggressive in nature. It''s a pity that they came up against my Golden Dragon King bloodline; they stood no chance in the end."


    He looked down at his own two legs, and a pleased look appeared on his face.


    Right at this moment, the authoritative voice rang out once again.


    "The eighth trial of the Sea God, Challenge to Inherit the Sea God''s Godseat."


    Challenge to inherit the Sea God''s godseat? Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    What was that supposed to mean? How was he supposed to challenge for the godseat?


    However, the voice offered no further explanation.


    Immediately thereafter, the surrounding area began to transform, and the entire space warped and blurred, following which Tang Wulin found himself in a spacious golden hall.


    The hall wasn''t particularly well-lit, but everything inside was glowing with golden light.


    The ceiling was over 100 meters above his head, and it was an extremely majestic building that was surrounded by a series of massive pillars that looked as if they stood directly between heaven and earth.


    As soon as Tang Wulin arrived in the hall, he was struck by a strong sense of nostalgia.


    He recognized this hall; of course he did!


    It seemed to have become larger than before, but its aura remained the same; this was the hall where he had learned from Old Tang!


    It was Old Tang''s teachings that had sped up his development, and at the time, he had been oblivious to the fact that Old Tang had been manifested from a wisp of his father''s soul.


    All of a sudden, Tang Wulin''s eyes widened as something dawned on him.


    Could it be that he was supposed to challenge...


    Right as this thought began to appear in his mind, a figure slowly emerged up ahead not far away from him.


    This was a tall and handsome figure with a head of long blue hair, and he seemed to be one with everything around him. He was wearing a set of tight-fitting robes that perfectly accentuated his figure, and even though his eyes were closed, he was giving off an ethereal aura, as if he were one with the very heavens.


    Tang Wulin was rooted to the spot upon seeing this, and immediately thereafter, his skin began to crawl as if all of the pores all over his entire body had opened up at once. An indescribable sense of emotion welled up in his heart, and he couldn''t help but yell, "Father!"


    That''s right, the man standing before him was none other than Sea God Tang San. To put it more accurately, this seemed to be Tang San before he ascended to godhood as he didn''t possess a godly aura.


    A warm smile appeared on Tang San''s face, and he sighed, "My son, I''ve been looking forward to this meeting as the fact that you''re here means that you''ve earned the right to undergo the eighth trial of the Sea God. I''m very glad to see that you''ve grown up so splendidly."


    Tang Wulin''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing this as he instantly realized that this was the voice that had been left in the Sea God''s Trident back since his father had first left it to him.


    "Prior to commencing the eighth trial, there''s something that you need to know: I don''t know when we''ll be reunited, but I''m confident that that day will come. Perhaps it''ll be very far away, but we will be reunited at some point."


    The look in Tang San''s eyes became even gentler, and they seemed to be filled with countless emotions. Tears immediately began to well up in Tang Wulin''s eyes upon hearing this.


    He was somehow able to feel the deep emotions that were imbued in his father''s words; there was intense yearning, crippling guilt, and even more intense anticipation.


    He was separated from his parents from birth, but at the very least, he had foster parents to look after him during his childhood, and he had been oblivious to his true origins, but his parents had constantly been tormented by their separation.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin wanted nothing better than to set off to search for his parents right away. Of course, if he wanted to do that, he would have to ascend to godhood first.


    Tang San paused momentarily, seemingly to compose himself, and right at this moment, another figure appeared beside him.


    This figure was slightly shorter than Tang San, and Tang Wulin''s breath was immediately snatched away by the sight of her.


    This was a fair and elegant figure in a pink dress, and her large and exuberant eyes were already brimming with tears.


    Her long hair was arranged into a single braid that trailed almost down to the floor, and her entire body was trembling slightly.


    She was so beautiful and full of vitality, but the pallor of her face was clearly slightly pale and unhealthy.


    "Linlin!" She let loose a heartbroken cry and rushed toward him with her arms spread open. [If you hadn''t figured it out, Linlin is a pet name for Wulin, derived from the last character of his name.]


    Tang Wulin was unable to hold back the tears any longer as the floodgates sprang open, and he rushed toward the figure as quickly as he could. There was no need for any explanation or introduction; he immediately knew who she was at first sight.


    "Mother!" He tried to embrace the figure, and even though he couldn''t sense a physical body, he could feel a faint sense of warmth that seemed to be melting his entire body.


    This was his birth mother, the wife of Tang San, one of the first generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, Soft Bone Douluo Xiao Wu.


    As a 100,000-year-old soul beast who had reincarnated herself as a human, she had shared a legendary love story with his father, and they had both ascended to godhood together.


    Upon learning that he was Tang San''s son, Tang Wulin had envisioned his mother''s appearance countless times.


    Even though this Xiao Wu was different from what he had envisioned, in that instant, he could feel with unwavering conviction that this was his mother, his birth mother!


    This was a sense of bloodline connection that was beyond doubt and question.


    His mother was even more beautiful and gentle than he had imagined. She was so perfect, and her voice completely melted his heart.


    Both of them were sobbing uncontrollably.


    While recording this footage, she was unable to see her son, so she was even more emotional than he was.


    This was her and Tang San''s son! They had been separated as soon as he was born, and she didn''t even get a chance to breastfeed him once.


    How she wished that she could''ve been by her son''s side and watched him grow day by day.

 Chapter 1833: You Have to Take Care

    However, she could only communicate with her son through this projection, and it was a very bittersweet experience for her.


    Tang San stood off to the side as he appraised his wife in silence. In this recording, he was also unable to see his son, and his eyes were filled with worry and a hint of concern.


    He gently rubbed his wife''s back to try and soothe her emotions, but Xiao Wu was completely unable to rein her current emotions.


    Tang Wulin was also completely immersed in his own emotional fluctuations, and his yearning to see his parents had reached an extreme peak.


    After a long while, Xiao Wu''s sobs faded into sniffles, and she said, "I''m so, so sorry, Linlin. I wasn''t able to protect you or stay by your side; I miss you more than you can imagine. I want to return to your side right away, to hug you, to kiss you, to caress you; I want to be together with you and never separate ever again."


    Xiao Wu''s tears overflowed once again, and she was unable to go on.


    "Mother!" Tang Wulin was also unable to form a coherent sentence through his tears.


    Tears also began to well up in Tang San''s eyes, and he turned his head slightly to the side as he gently embraced Xiao Wu, using the warmth of his body to assuage her sorrow.


    Only after a long while was Xiao Wu just barely able to control her own emotions, and she sighed, "Linlin, you have to take care. I wish nothing more than for you to be happy and healthy. Also, you have to work hard on your cultivation and strive to attain godhood as soon as possible; only then will you be able to live until we return. Once we come back, our family will be reunited. Your father says that the Golden Dragon King bloodline will extend your lifespan for a very, very long time, but the Golden Dragon King''s power is deranged and destructive; you must guard your heart from the Golden Dragon King''s insanity at all times.


    "You''ve never been an orphan; you have us, and we''ll always be protecting you from where we are. Even though I''m not by your side, I can feel it when you''re happy, so you have to be happy every day. I''ve fallen ill because I miss you so much, but if you can be happy every day, I''ll be able to sense your happiness and get better. My son, I love you so very much. Wait for me; I''ll be sure to come back for you."


    Xiao Wu made an embracing gesture once again as she spoke, wanting to hug her son, but as she did so, her face paled even further, and her body had been trembling this entire time.


    "I''ll definitely be happy, Mother! Don''t be sick; you have to get better so we can have a happy reunion!" Tang Wulin yelled with all his might, frantically trying to hold onto Xiao Wu, but her projection was slowly fading away before his eyes.


    He could never forget the look in her eyes the instant before she disappeared; they were filled with boundless yearning and concern.


    Tang San stood still on the spot, looking up into the sky to reverse the flow of his tears. Due to her constantly negative emotional state, Xiao Wu''s condition was constantly worsening, and he had recorded this footage to instill her with hope.


    Only after a long while did Tang Wulin and Tang San slowly recompose themselves.


    "Linlin, there''s not much time left in this recording, so listen carefully to what I''m about to say next; it''ll be the key to whether our family can reunite," Tang San said.


    Tang Wulin raised his head to look at his father through teary eyes.


    Tang San continued, "The Sea God''s Trident is a transcendent divine weapon, and even in the Divine Realm, it''s an extremely powerful weapon that can rank alongside the Asura Sword. The Sea God is only a first-rank god, yet its godseat is just as powerful as a godking''s, and the main contributing factor to that is the Sea God''s Trident. I once also undertook the Nine Trials of the Sea God, and only after enduring many hardships was I finally able to gain the acknowledgment of the Sea God''s Trident. Hence, you must also undertake the Nine Trials of the Sea God.


    "Even though the trials you undertake will be different from mine, I''m confident that you''ll be able to pass the trials one after another and arrive here to meet me. The eighth trial was set up for you by me as the current Sea God, and its name is ''Battle Between Father and Son''. You''ll be facing me in my most powerful form before I became the Sea God, and only after defeating me will you attain the acknowledgment of the Sea God''s Trident. There''s another important reason why I left the Sea God''s Trident with you: it''s so that it can act as a set of coordinates for me to find you in the future.


    "Hence, you must protect it, and it''s extremely important that you truly gain its acknowledgment. According to the rules of the Nine Trials of the Sea God, each trial you complete will increase your affinity with the Sea God''s Trident slightly, thereby allowing you to obtain more of its power. Once you complete all of the trials, you''ll inherit the Sea God''s godseat and become the Sea God. I once went through the very same experience, but unfortunately, I can''t pass the godseat onto you as there is no longer any Divine Realm presiding over the Douluo Continent, and I''m too far away to pass down my godseat through the Sea God''s Trident.


    "Hence, all I can do is weaken my brand on the Sea God''s Trident so that you''ll also be able to use it and obtain its power. Hence, after you complete the Nine Trials of the Sea God, you''ll be able to master this transcendent divine weapon, but you won''t be able to use it to attain godhood; you''ll have to become a god through your own effort and power. Even the planar ruler of the Douluo Continent won''t be able to help you achieve this, but I''m confident that my son will forge his own path. Also, as your mother just said, your Golden Dragon King bloodline will infinitely extend your lifespan, so you won''t have to worry about age even if you don''t attain godhood.


    "Hence, do not force yourself and recklessly attempt to make a breakthrough to godhood until you''re ready. Absolutely do not touch the final two seals before you become a god. Otherwise, there''s a very high chance that the Golden Dragon King will devour your will. Back when I slew the Golden Dragon King, it injected all of its essence into your body both to get back at me, and to give itself a chance at reincarnation through you. If the final two seals are broken before you attain godhood, there''s a very good chance it''ll possess you, and that''ll be a very tragic fate for you, so do not let it happen.


    "Make sure to practice the Unpredictable Storm that I passed onto you until it''s second nature to you; it''ll assist you greatly in your times of need. Do not fear in the face of any enemy; trust me when I say that I will always be by your side. My son, you must become stronger; only then will you be able to hold out longer and last until our reunion. Alright, brace yourself now; you are about to face me in my most powerful pre-god form. Only by defeating me will you gain the acknowledgment of the Sea God''s Trident. Do your best; I''m confident that you''ll succeed."


    Tang San''s message concluded here, and he continued to look in Tang Wulin''s direction with a warm smile.


    Through the words of his father, Tang Wulin was able to sense many things.

 Chapter 1834: Battle Between Father and Son (1)

    His father had done so much for him and paved the way for his development.


    Furthermore, he could see some other things through his father''s eyes; it seemed that there was something else protecting him aside from the Sea God''s Trident and the three instances where his father would intervene in his time of need.


    He hadn''t stated what this was, but Tang Wulin could clearly sense this through his expression and his words.


    A father''s love was deeper and more reserved. He wouldn''t always talk about how much he missed his son like Xiao Wu did, but that didn''t mean that he loved his son any less.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath to compose himself, and a determined look appeared in his eyes.


    "Rest assured, Father; I''ll be sure to defeat you and gain the acknowledgment of the Sea God''s Trident. I''m your son, the son of Sea God Tang San, and I''ll be even better than you were. I''ll do everything in my power to find you, and we''ll definitely reunite sooner rather than later."


    After that, Tang Wulin raised his right hand, and a burst of golden light appeared on his palm before extending outward in either direction, following which the Golden Dragon Spear emerged in his grasp.


    Upon summoning the Golden Dragon Spear, Tang Wulin''s aura began to elevate and become more aggressive. He had to defeat his own father; only then would he be a step closer to finding them!


    He didn''t cry any longer as he clearly recalled what his mother had just said; only when he was happy was his mother happy, so he was going to work hard to make himself happy. In doing so, he would contribute to his mother''s recovery, and once they reunited, he would be meeting a happy and healthy mother rather than one who was sick and frail.


    A faint smile appeared on Tang San''s face, and it was as if he had sensed the change in Tang Wulin''s aura. "Are you ready, my son?"


    "I''m ready!" Tang Wulin replied in a determined voice.


    Tang San gave him a firm nod, then raised his right hand, and the Sea God''s Trident appeared in his grasp amid a flash of golden light.


    It was still the same transcendent divine weapon, but it struck Tang Wulin with a completely different feeling seeing it in Tang San''s grasp. In the instant that it appeared, it was as if it had already fused as one with Tang San, and Tang Wulin felt as if he were facing a boundless and bottomless ocean rather than a person.


    Tang San appraised his son with a pair of unfathomable blue eyes, and the sound of crashing waves rang out from all directions.


    A series of soul rings emerged from beneath his feet, and the first eight were all red, but the final one was a peculiar bright golden soul ring.


    This was the first time that Tang Wulin had ever seen a soul ring of this color, and thinking back to the legends surrounding his father, he immediately exclaimed, "Is that a 1,000,000-year-old soul ring?"


    According to legends, his father had defeated the 1,000,000-year-old Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, which was the same opponent who had retreated without engaging in battle with Tang Wulin. In the end, Tang San had obtained this 1,000,000-year-old soul ring, thereby forging a foundation for his eventual ascension to godhood.


    Aside from the fact that he still hadn''t inherited the godseat, this was already Tang San in his most powerful form.


    An indescribable sense of pride welled up in Tang Wulin''s heart. Just the fact that he was able to challenge his father in his most powerful human form was something to be proud of!


    Ever since the Tang Sect''s founding, his father had been a legend across the entire Douluo Continent, regardless of whether it was in the distant past or now. The glory of Sea God Tang San was something that no one was able to surpass.


    The two most prosperous eras on the Douluo Continent came when his father founded the Tang Sect, and when Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao founded the Spirit Pagoda.


    However, even though it was said that Huo Yuhao had also attained godhood, there were very few people who were able to prove that this was true, and there were no records of god-tier battles that Huo Yuao had been involved in.


    In contrast, his father''s era was one where the Soul Hall had reigned supreme.


    In the end, Tang San and Xiao Wu faced the twin gods, defeating the mother and daughter duo of Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue, thereby forging an undying legend and allowing the Soul Master world to escape from the oppressive hold of the Soul Hall. It could be said that Tang San was an absolute legend, and even his generation of Shrek''s Seven Monsters were all said to have attained godhood as well.


    There was no one in the Soul Master world more renowned than Tang San, and it was a massive honor to be able to challenge Tang San in his most powerful pre-god form.


    With that in mind, Tang Wulin''s blood began to churn. He didn''t need to prove anything by defeating his father; all he wanted to was to tell his father through his power that he had already grown up, and that he hadn''t put his father to shame.


    He knew that his father may not be able to experience all of this, but he was still going to try his best.


    He raised his Golden Dragon Spear, and in that instant, it was as if the spear had become as heavy as a mountain. His aura surged forth like a volcanic eruption, forming a streak of scintillating golden light that rose straight up into the heavens.


    His scorching blood essence fluctuations erupted forth, alongside his unyielding will and intent to wage battle against heaven and earth.


    Having fused with his father''s bloodline and reached the Divine Origin realm, Tang Wulin''s Dragon Emperor Fight clearly affected even Tang San, and a moment of disorientation appeared in the latter''s eyes.


    Now!


    Without any further preparation, Tang Wulin''s spiritual power instantly caught onto his father''s momentary stupor, and he shot forth directly toward him as a streak of golden light. He raised his Golden Dragon Spear and forged ahead in the most simple and direct, yet most domineering fashion.


    Restrict Mediocrity, Dragon Emperor Charge!


    In that instant, a thunderous dragon''s roar rang out, drowning out the sound of crashing waves in the surrounding area.


    Dragon Emperor Fight and Dragon Emperor Charge was the ultimate combination that Tang Wulin had used to defeat Qiangu Dongfeng, but on this occasion, he was already far more powerful than he had been back then.


    Even if he were facing a quasigod, Tang Wulin was confident that this combination would pose a significant threat to them.


    In the face of Tang Wulin''s attack, Tang San slowly took a half step backward.


    That''s right, the half step had been taken in a very slow and deliberate fashion. At the very least, that was what it seemed like to Tang Wulin.


    However, just that half backward step alone struck him with a clear feeling that the pressure his Dragon Emperor Fight was exerting on his father was being affected. In that instant, it was as if his Dragon Emperor Fight had wavered slightly.


    In the next instant, Tang San swept his Sea God''s Trident horizontally through the air, sweeping it into the tip of the Golden Dragon Spear.


    A crisp clang rang out, and just that sound alone seemed to be capable of destroying everything in the surrounding area.


    In that instant, Tang Wulin''s aura underwent a change. He discovered that his Golden Dragon Spear seemed to have let loose an anguished wail as soon as it was struck by the Sea God''s Trident.


    Tang Wulin had absolute confidence in his own strength as he had never been bested in this area by another Soul Master of the same cultivation rank; not even A''Ruheng had been able to surpass him in this respect.


    Thus, it never occurred to him that his father could be stronger than him. After all, both of them were still human at this point.


    However, in that instant, he well and truly experienced the difference between a divine weapon and a transcendent divine weapon. He felt as if it wasn''t the Sea God''s Trident that had struck his Golden Dragon Spear, but the entire ocean instead. The unrivaled force behind the attack struck him with a sense of powerlessness.

 Chapter 1835: Battle Between Father and Son (2)

    This was an extremely impactful feeling, to the point where he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His Dragon Emperor Charge was diverted to the side completely out of control, causing him to stumble to the side and leaving him completely open to attacks.


    Even though it was only a brief clash, it had shown Tang Wulin many things.


    The first thing that he felt was the gap between himself and his father; the disparity didn''t lie so much in power, but more so in their bodily control.


    He had thought that he was already quite exceptional in this aspect, but at its core, he was still controlling his own body, while his father was giving off a feeling that could only be described by the term "return to simplicity"!


    From his backward step to his sweep of the Sea God''s Trident, everything was extremely smooth and simple, not flashy nor extravagant in the slightest, yet it had broken his two most powerful Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques!


    After forcing back Tang Wulin, the Sea God''s Trident also faltered slightly, but Tang San didn''t remain still.


    He raised his left foot, and a streak of red light came slashing directly toward Tang Wulin. He was using the very same Evil Spirit Orca King leg bone that Tang Wulin had absorbed not long ago to attack him.


    Not only that, but Tang San was also making a grabbing motion toward him with his left hand, and a giant azure claw appeared out of thin air, reaching down toward Tang Wulin from above, while the red blade of light surged toward him from below.


    The transition between the two attacks was extremely fast, and Tang Wulin was naturally unaware of the fact that Tang San''s grab was an attack known as the Sky Azure Sluggishness Divine Claw, unleashed using the Sky Azure Bull Python''s right arm bone. This was an extremely powerful control system ability.


    It had always been the case for Tang Wulin that the more powerful his opponent was, the more his latent potential would be stimulated.


    Facing his father in this battle, he was struck by an unprecedented sense of excitement, which spurred him on to unleash a counterattack without any hesitation.


    The Golden Dragon Spear instantly vanished from his grasp, and he also made a grabbing motion with his right hand, but what he unleashed was a giant golden claw; this was his Golden Dragon Annihilation Claw! This was a powerful attacking ability developed with the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear''s right-hand bone as a foundation, and the two claws clashed amid a sharp screeching sound.


    The Sky Azure Sluggishness Divine Claw was torn apart, and what remained of the Golden Dragon Annihilation Claw slashed directly toward Tang San.


    However, streaks of azure light suddenly appeared around Tang Wulin, causing him to become very slow and sluggish.


    As for the oncoming red blade of light, that was nullified by the same attack that Tang Wulin unleashed from his own Evil Spirit Orca King leg bone.


    Tang San drew a circle with the tip of his golden trident to dispel the Golden Dragon Annihilation Claw, while a vast expanse of rainbow lightning erupted out of Tang Wulin''s body to rid himself of the effect of the Sky Azure Sluggishness Divine Claw.


    Neither side was able to gain the upper hand from that clash.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin seized the initiative.


    The air around him suddenly seemed to have become more viscous, and an earth-shattering roar erupted out of his mouth.


    This was his Golden Dragon Roar!


    A giant golden dragon head appeared, letting loose a thunderous roar that was imbued with his Divine Origin realm spiritual power.


    The deafening roar turned everything in the surrounding area golden in color.


    Tang Wulin was well aware of his own abilities, and he knew that there was still some disparity between his father and himself when it came to power. In this form, his father had to have already reached the quasigod level, and he would''ve certainly been the most powerful quasigod of his era by far.


    However, his father wasn''t necessarily superior to him when it came to spiritual power. After all, it was only by chance that his spiritual power had reached the Divine Origin realm, and this was why he had decided to unleash this soundwave attack that was infused with his spiritual power.


    The Golden Dragon Roar completely drowned out the sound of the sea, and Tang San''s expression instantly stiffened as his mind went completely blank.


    Tang Wulin took advantage of this opportunity to strike as he summoned his Golden Blood Dragon domain while releasing his suit of four-word battle armor.


    In his eyes, his four-word battle armor was definitely his biggest advantage. After all, battle armor didn''t even exist during his father''s era.


    With the assistance of his Golden Dragon Roar, he was able to unleash his most powerful attack.


    His four-word battle armor instantly enhanced his aura and powers drastically, and he raised his left hand, following which a black hole instantly appeared at the center of his palm, exerting almighty suction force.


    This was his Dragon Emperor Break!


    Regardless of what his father did to retaliate, he was confident that he would be able to repress his father''s power using his Dragon Emperor Break.


    Furthermore, Tang San was already at a disadvantage from the lingering effects of the Golden Dragon Roar.


    At the same time, Tang Wulin clenched his right hand into a fist, and golden scales appeared all over his hand as he unleashed an almighty punch. Heaven and earth were instantly tipped on their heads, and the sun and moon became devoid of luster.


    Restrict the Universe, Dragon Emperor Annihilation!


    Tang Wulin knew that there was no way he could compare with his father when it came to battle experience. Even though this was Tang San in his pre-god form, he still had 20,000 years worth of battle experience! Thus, he had decided to end this battle in the shortest amount of time possible; only then would he be able to create a chance for victory through his formidable explosiveness.


    Thus, he had unleashed Dragon Emperor Break in conjunction with Dragon Emperor Annihilation. Enhanced by his four-word battle armor, this was the most powerful attack he was currently capable of unleashing.


    An incredibly powerful aura instantly erupted forth, and while unleashing his Dragon Emperor Break and Dragon Emperor Annihilation, Tang Wulin was utilizing Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon as well, thereby further boosting the power and devouring force of his attack.


    In that instant, his utilization of the two Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques struck him with a sense of enlightenment, and his control over his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques had clearly been elevated to another level.


    Almost as soon as Dragon Emperor Annihilation was unleashed, Tang San returned to his senses, yet at this point, he was already being drawn toward Tang Wulin by Dragon Emperor Break.


    Despite how heavy his golden trident was, it was unable to hold him in place, and he felt as if he had sunk into a swamp-like vortex.


    However, right at this moment, a smile appeared on his face. That''s right, it was a smile.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin''s entire body tightened, and countless bluish-golden vines that were only as thick as a human finger spread over his entire body to bind him tightly. The vines were instantly destroyed by the eruption of Dragon Emperor Annihilation, but they still caused him to falter momentarily.


    Where had these vines come from? The vines had appeared directly on his body, so his Dragon Emperor Annihilation hadn''t been able to keep them out.


    At the same time, Tang San took advantage of his slight pause to conjure up a series of golden halos with his Sea God''s Trident.


    Each and every one of those halos seemed to contain a small world, and they were nullifying the devouring force, dispelling the annihilation.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but be mesmerized by this sight.


    His father was supposed to be the one influenced by his Golden Dragon Roar, but it was him instead who was entranced by the golden halos, despite his Divine Origin realm spiritual power.


    This was Unpredictable Storm!


    He had always known that Unpredictable Storm was very powerful; Tang San had used this technique both times he had stepped in to save Tang Wulin, and he had just reinforced to Tang Wulin just how important this technique was.


    However, only when truly facing Unpredictable Storm did Tang Wulin truly come to understand exactly what it was!


    Previous Chapter Next Chapte

 Chapter 1836: Lets Go Again!

    The Unpredictable Storm being unleashed wasn''t even of the divine caliber, but it was enough to strip away his Dragon Emperor Break and Dragon Emperor Annihilation little by little.


    Those flimsy golden halos were able to dispel his most powerful attack with ease, then continued on toward his body.


    He definitely couldn''t allow himself to be encircled by Unpredictable Storm. Otherwise, it would be all over.


    With that in mind, golden light flashed in Tang Wulin''s hand, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp as he also unleashed a series of golden halos of his own.


    He was opposing Unpredictable Storm with Unpredictable Storm! This was the only countermeasure he could think of.


    The golden halos came into contact with one another, and something very peculiar happened. To Tang Wulin''s astonishment, as his Unpredictable Storm clashed with that of his father, the latter trembled slightly, then devoured the golden halos of his Unpredictable Storm one after another.


    His eyes widened with shock upon seeing this, and in the next instant, the oncoming golden halos had cut off all avenues of evasion for him before encircling his body. Regardless of which Golden Dragon King soul skill he used to try and break free, it was all to no avail.


    The golden trident rested itself on his chest, and in the face of its mountainous weight, all of his reactions were completely dulled.


    A sense of dejection instantly spread through his entire body, and he looked up at his father with a defeated expression. "I lost."


    He had already anticipated that his father would be extremely powerful, but only after truly sparring with his father did he understand just how much of a disparity there was between them.


    He was already close to the quasigod level, so there shouldn''t have been that much of a gap in power, but throughout this entire battle, everything seemed to have been so easy for Tang San. Even in the face of his Dragon Emperor Break and Dragon Emperor Annihilation, Tang San only had to scramble slightly, but in the end, he was still able to defend against the attack with ease.


    The Bluesilver Emperor vines that had suddenly grown out of his body, the Unpredictable Storm that had been unleashed with perfect timing; all of it seemed to have been planned out in advance.


    It was as if this battle had been a game of chess, yet his father already had a winning position on the board from the very beginning.


    This feeling of completely being controlled and neutralized in battle was something that Tang Wulin was experiencing only for the first time. In his mind, this reflected a fundamental difference in their levels.


    Tang San turned to his dejected son with a faint smile and withdrew his Sea God''s Trident, upon which the golden halos around Tang Wulin also vanished.


    Tang Wulin turned to his father and was just about to say something when Tang San declared, "Let''s go again!"


    "Again?" Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this.


    He had thought that this defeat would''ve equated to a failure to complete the eighth trial, but it seemed that this wasn''t the case.


    It immediately occurred to him that this eighth trial was an opportunity for him, during which his father would provide guidance to him in person.


    It was just like what Old Tang had done for him in the past, except the current Old Tang had become his opponent and was helping him to improve through battle.


    "Alright!" Tang Wulin nodded firmly as he took a deep breath to compose him. A fierce look appeared in his eyes as he appraised his father, and in the next instant, he lashed out once again.


    Countless spear projections erupted out of his Golden Dragon Spear, surging directly toward Tang San, and his Golden Dragon King bloodline rose up once again. His spear intent instantly reached the spear essence level, and this attack was none other than his Fury of the Masses!


    This was not just Fury of the Masses of the spear essence level; it was also enhanced by his Divine Origin realm spiritual power!


    Tang San extended his Sea God''s Trident forward, and he also unleashed Fury of the Masses to oppose Tang Wulin''s attack.


    Clashes and sharp piercing sounds rang out incessantly in the air.


    In terms of pure strength, Tang Wulin held a slight advantage over his father, but Tang San was still able to gain the upper hand due to his advantage in possessing a superior weapon.


    However, following the previous clash, Tang Wulin had already completely entered a battle-ready state. He was constantly accurately adjusting his Golden Dragon Spear to create small tremors.


    The previous clash had already clearly displayed to him that simply attacking a powerful being of his father''s caliber with his most powerful attacks was completely futile. What he had to do was find better opportunities to gradually pile on the pressure.


    Unpredictable Storm was like an impossibly heavy mountain weighing down on his heart, but he was confident that if he wanted to gain a deeper understanding of Unpredictable Storm, he would first have to develop a clearer sense of his own abilities, as well as those of his father.


    It seemed that his Golden Dragon Spear had slowed down, but this was simply a result of the fact that Tang Wulin was being far more meticulous with his strikes, and his blows were always able to appear in the most annoying places for Tang San.


    At this moment, Tang San was like an immovable mountain that was able to easily defend against any attack regardless of which direction it came from. It was as if there were no holes in his defense at all. Meanwhile, Tang Wulin''s attacks were like bolts of lightning striking down from the heavens, attempting to leave a mark on this daunting mountain.


    This was definitely a spectacular clash.


    The Golden Dragon Spear seemed to have already fused as one with Tang Wulin''s body, and he was constantly combining his Golden Dragon King abilities and soul skills to unleash more powerful attacks that came in unrelenting waves, each of which was more powerful than the previous one.


    Meanwhile, Tang San merely stood still on the spot and allowed him to attack, holding himself steady like an immovable rock formation amid a sea of violence.


    This was a devastating battle with thunderous dragon''s roars and crashing waves ringing out incessantly. The two of them had become completely engrossed in the clash, and everything else faded out of their attention.


    ......


    On the boundless sea, there was a tightly packed formation of massive ships.


    As the three most powerful naval legions of the federation, the Sea God Legion, Eastsea Legion, and Northsea Legion had set up an impenetrable defensive line on the Arctic Ocean.


    All types of surveillance soul tools had been plunged deep into the sea, and they would even detect the passing of the tiniest of fish or prawn.


    Furthermore, the deep-sea energy detection devices also being employed were the most accurate and sensitive that the federation currently had to offer.


    The flagship of the Sea God Legion, the Sea God mothership, was currently slowly patrolling the waters. Among this huge congregation of ships, it was like the king leading its people.


    All those working on the Sea God, even just the ordinary soldiers; were filled with a sense of pride. This was the pinnacle of the federal navy, and for those who had served on the Sea God, that experience often turned out to be the highest honor they ever achieved.


    The massive Sea God was like a giant beast, and it weighed over 80,000 tons; it was truly a behemoth of the ocean. No waves or winds could cause any substantial harm to it, and almost all types of weapons were fitted on the Sea God, as well as its very own radar reconnaissance system and detection equipment of all descriptions that could directly connect with satellites.


    It could be said that all of the federation''s most cutting-edge technology could be found on the Sea God.


    Those serving on the Sea God often said that just this single ship alone could crush the navies of the Star Luo Empire and Dou Spirit Empire, and this was definitely no exaggeration!


    This giant mothership was armed to the teeth, and it had always been overseen by Chen Xinjie.


    This position of captain on the ship was only vacated after his sudden resignation, and that was an indication of how highly he regarded this role.

 Chapter 1837: The Sea God Legions Crisis

    The current captain of the Sea God was the current commander of the Sea God Legion; not only was he someone whom Chen Xinjie had groomed to be his successor, there was a deeper connection between them in the form of their familial ties.


    Chen Zeyu wore a pair of admiral epaulets on his shoulders, and he had received them not long ago after inheriting the position of Sea God Legion commander.


    Chen Zeyu was already over 60 years of age, and after becoming the Sea God Legion commander, he finally felt like he had stepped out of his father''s shadow.


    He had been in the military for several decades already, and during this time, he had worked diligently, starting from a private and climbing all the way to the admiral rank through his own efforts. Prior to becoming a rear admiral, no one was even aware of the fact that he was Chen Xinjie''s son.


    He had earned everything for himself, and during his military career, Chen Xinjie had only provided him with some guidance in cultivation, but never used their relationship to secure promotions for him. It was Chen Zeyu himself who had chosen the military path, and in his heart, his father had always been his idol.


    However, only after he became a rear admiral through his own hard work did he truly come to understand just how massive his father''s influence in the military was.


    As soon as Chen Xinjie transferred him to the Sea God Legion and declared to everyone that he was his son, Chen Zeyu had immediately had a label placed on him.


    All of his past efforts seemed to have become pointless because whenever someone mentioned him, they would always begin by talking about how he was the Boundless Ocean Douluo''s son, and he had heard far too many "compliments" along the lines of "as expected of the Boundless Ocean Douluo''s son".


    He had been young and hot-blooded once, and he had confronted Chen Xinjie over this. In response, Chen Xinjie gave a very simple answer: "If you want to step out of my shadow, then you have to surpass me. If you can''t do that, then you don''t have the right to inherit my position!"


    In order to earn this right, Chen Zeyu had shed countless blood, sweat, and tears. He had always been working as hard as he could to surpass his father, but unfortunately, he was limited by his aptitude in the end.


    Thus, even though he had been in the Sea God Legion for over 20 years, he only managed to reach the vice-admiral rank. The Sea God Legion commander had always been his father, and all of the legion''s troops were absolutely loyal to Chen Xinjie.


    Of course, they were also very respectful toward Chen Zeyu, but he knew that this respect had been earned for him by his father.


    By the time Chen Zeyu finally became a Hyper Douluo, it dawned on him that there was most likely no way he would be able to surpass his father in his lifetime. His father simply stood far too high for him to reach.


    He was a quasigod! How was he supposed to ever surpass that level?


    At the time, he had been completely defeated and even thought about giving up.


    However, right at this moment, his father apparently made a grave error, and as a result, he had resigned as the Sea God Legion commander and Battle God Hall master with immediate effect.


    Thus, before Chen Zeyu had even had sufficient time to process what was going on, he was promoted to the position of Sea God Legion commander, and he was also finally raised to the admiral rank.


    All of this still felt like a dream to him. Prior to Chen Xinjie''s departure, he had met with Chen Zeyu and told him that from that moment forth, he was the leader of the Chen Family, and that he would have to make all of the decisions in the future and take responsibility for them.


    Chen Zeyu really wanted to ask more questions. He didn''t feel like he was ready, even though he had been looking forward to this day for such a long time.


    However, when this day finally arrived, he was left feeling slightly panicked and stressed.


    Chen Xinjie hadn''t stuck around to answer any of his questions. After that brief statement, he simply departed, and he didn''t even tell his son where he was going.


    Chen Zeyu''s mother had already passed away, and he had always known that their relationship hadn''t been a very strong one. He had also heard some rumors here and there, but only after learning that his father really had gone to Shrek Academy did he come to understand that the rumors were true.


    However, he didn''t care about all of that; he was now the leader of the Chen Family. His father was already over 100 years of age, so regardless of what decision he made, he had already given his entire life for his family and the military. Now that this responsibility had been passed down to him, it was his duty to carry it.


    As for his father, he could do whatever he wanted as long as he was happy.


    At the commencement of the battle against the abyssal plane, his father had returned and was immediately made one of the main commanders.


    In that instant, Chen Zeyu was struck by a crushing sense of defeat once again. Following his father''s return, all of the high-ranking officials in the legion came to ask him when the old commander was going to return, and when he was going to take over control of the Sea God Legion again.


    Just as he was sinking into self-loathing and feelings of inadequacy, he finally experienced the love of his father for the very first time.


    Chen Xinjie made a visit to the Sea God Legion in person, but he did so solely to declare that he would never command the Sea God Legion again, and that Chen Zeyu was the one and only commander who had his full support.


    It was from that moment forth that Chen Zeyu felt for the first time that the high-ranking officials of the Sea God Legion were content to follow him, rather than constantly waiting for his father''s return.


    As the battle unfolded, he experienced the suffocating pressure of the front lines, and this was the opportunity that he had always been waiting for.


    Finally, once all of the artillery fire ceased, the battle seemed to have concluded.


    Chen Zeyu could never forget the instant where he had ordered the Sea God Legion to open fire on all weapons. That was an indescribable sense of joy that one could perhaps only experience after rising to the top.


    At this moment, he was standing on the tallest watchtower of the Sea God, peering into the distance.


    The chilly wind would naturally fade before reaching him, and from a totally selfish perspective, he didn''t even want this battle to end. As a soldier, there was no greater sense of existence than what could be derived from the battlefield.


    Unfortunately, according to the main control center''s plan, only a portion of the Sea God Legion would remain following the completion of the Blood God Array, while he would lead the Sea God and return to their original post.


    He was rather disappointed by this arrangement. He hadn''t even had a chance to put himself on full display yet, and the battle was already over. He didn''t enjoy conflict, but he had a strong yearning to prove himself through battle.


    He withdrew his gaze and rose up into the air, then descended toward the bridge. He enjoyed watching the sea, but it was time for lunch.


    As he slowly descended, he controlled his soul power so that the air around him acted like a companion to slow his fall.


    Right at this moment, Chen Zeyu suddenly felt a tremor run through the Sea God below him.


    He faltered slightly upon sensing this, and his first thought was that perhaps it was just his imagination. How could an 80,000-ton ship possibly be swaying, particularly on such a calm and placid day?


    However, in the next instant, a piercing alarm had already rang out across the entire ship.


    This was an enemy attack!


    A sharp look instantly appeared in Chen Zeyu''s eyes, and he began to rise upward again.


    He quickly opened his military communicator. "This is Chen Zeyu; what is the situation? Why has the alarm been raised?"


    "Commander, we''ve suddenly been struck by an irregular wave, and at the same time, we discovered a massive creature approaching us from the north at a very high speed."


    Chen Zeyu''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, but he immediately issued an order. "Enter the highest level of battle readiness right away, and inform the Northsea Legion and Eastsea Legion that there''s an enemy attack."


    He turned toward the Sea God''s control center as he spoke, and he knew that trouble was coming.


    Just as he landed and began to rush toward the control center, the Sea God swayed violently once again.


    His expression instantly darkened upon sensing this. Having been on the Sea God for so many years, he was extremely familiar with all of its statistics, and he knew that extremely powerful ocean currents were required to sway the ship.


    If these currents were being created by this creature, then just how fearsome was this thing?

 Chapter 1838: A Whale?

    The ship''s swaying didn''t affect him at all as he strode into the control center, where someone immediately offered up a report of the current situation.


    "Change the image; I want to see the current situation under visual surveillance," Chen Zeyu yelled.


    Visual surveillance wasn''t actual footage. Instead, it was a collation of data gathered from all types of surveillance soul tool, and through this data, the approximate form, power level, and other information about the subject being surveyed could be modeled.


    This type of visual surveillance could help one analyze a faraway target so they could work out a strategy to counter the subject, and it was currently the Sea God Legion''s most advanced method of reconnaissance.


    The image on the big screen quickly changed, and a massive stream of data flashed past, following which an image was presented.


    This was an image of a gigantic creature, and it was approaching at an astonishing speed. According to the data being displayed, this creature was currently moving at over five times the maximal speed that the Sea God was capable of reaching. This was a level of speed that virtually didn''t exist in the sea, and what was even more terrifying was the sheer size of the creature; it was over a kilometer in length, and its overall mass wasn''t inferior to that of the Sea God!


    Chen Zeyu had been an excellent student, and he had memorized the data of the vast majority of powerful sea soul beast species, but nowhere in his memory could he find information about such a massive sea soul beast.


    "Warships Heavensea, Earthsea, Emperorsea, and Voyagesea, lock onto the target and fire three rounds of torpedoes," Chen Zeyu commanded.


    "Meanwhile, retreat the Sea God and advise the Northsea Legion and Eastsea Legion to disperse and retreat to form a ring-shaped battle formation!"


    His orders were quickly issued, and immediately enacted.


    From a bird''s eye perspective, hundreds of ships could be seen quickly spreading outward to form a giant semi-circle with its opening facing the oncoming creature like a giant pocket.


    Three rounds of torpedoes, which amounted to a total of 36, were launched directly toward the enormous figure as a probing attack.


    However, in the next instant, the massive ocean current was released by the creature, and the 36 torpedoes didn''t even have a chance to evade before they all exploded in the sea.


    The seawater in the distance surged, and one pillar of water after another erupted into the heavens.


    "Lock onto the target with all weapons and prepare the deep sea missiles. All mecha units, take flight and prepare to strike from the sky."


    Chen Zeyu continued to issue orders with a dark expression. This was clearly a formidable enemy, but he had no idea what it was.


    Judging from the current simulated model, it seemed that this was an enormous fish, but what kind of fish could reach this size? It was simply unheard of!


    Surely even the legendary 1,000,000-year-old sea soul beasts wouldn''t have been able to reach this size!


    "The unknown creature is slowing down; it seems to be about to rise to the surface," a messenger soldier reported.


    Chen Zeyu''s eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he immediately ordered, "Bring up the satellite image; I want to see it as it rises up out of the water."


    "Yes!"


    The image on the big screen was quickly split up, with one side still displaying the visual surveillance model, while the other transformed into a satellite image of the sea.


    Sure enough, the gigantic creature was slowly rising up, and it was truly an astonishing sight to behold.


    The satellite image was locked onto the relevant area of the sea, waiting for the creature to emerge.


    Finally, a massive dark blue back slowly appeared, and in the next instant, a colossal pillar of water with a diameter in excess of 50 meters erupted into the sky, creating a rainbow as it did so.


    The pillar of water erupted upward for several kilometers before tumbling back down, creating a massive arc in the sky.


    The pillar of water then formed a gigantic ball of water that was over 500 meters in diameter with purplish-black light shimmering within it.


    In the next instant, the ball of water was guided directly toward the Sea God by the arc that had just been created.


    A piercing alarm rang out across the entire ship, and the power rating of the ball of water as determined by the energy detection equipment was rapidly rising.


    "Fire the ground-to-air soul missiles and the Sea God''s main cannon to intercept the attack!" Chen Zeyu commanded.


    The Sea God Legion immediately reacted, and thousands of soul missiles and soul lasers instantly rose up into the air to oppose the enormous ball of water.


    "Boom!"


    The ball of water exploded as soon as it was struck by the first attack, and as a result, many of the oncoming attacks missed it altogether.


    Right at this moment, the entire sky turned dark, and a sense of crushing pressure descended upon the three naval fleets.


    Massive dark clouds began to converge, and they seemed to have been formed by the dispersed ball of water. Immediately thereafter, what appeared to be a storm of purplish-black rain fell from the heavens directly onto the three fleets.


    Only now did the satellite image appear on the big screen in the Sea God''s control center, and it depicted a dark blue creature with a huge head and a relatively smaller tail.


    The creature''s body was riddled with layer upon layer of sinister faces, and upon zooming in on the image, it was discovered that these faces were countless vengeful spirits.


    Near the top of the creature''s head was a giant blowhole.


    Was this a whale? But what kind of whale could grow this big?


    A thought suddenly occurred to Chen Zeyu, a thought of a legendary soul beast: the 1,000,000-year-old Deep Sea Demonic Whale King!


    It was said that the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, slew a 1,000,000-year-old Deep Sea Demonic Whale King 20,000 years ago, making it his ninth soul ring.


    However, even if it really did exist, hadn''t it already been killed by Tang San? Why had it appeared here?


    Furthermore, in the legends, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was only several hundred meters in length! A strong sense of foreboding began to well up in Chen Zeyu''s heart.


    "Activate all of the ships'' protective barriers to their maximal capacity!"


    A series of white protective barriers were quickly activated on all of the ships, and the formation of the three fleets also began to change.


    It was at a time like this when the qualities of the three fleets were put on full display. Even though it had been a very long time since they had fought in a real battle, they had undergone many practical combat drills in preparation to instigate war against the other two continents.


    The larger the ship was, the further ahead their position would be, and the three motherships led from the very forefront with the warships on either side of them, while the smaller ships were quickly traveling toward the rear.


    The largest ships undoubtedly had the most powerful protective barriers, so they would be able to have the best nullifying effect on a large-scale attack like this one.


    Right as the three fleets began to change formation, the purplish-black rain arrived, and in that instant, all of the soldiers in the three fleets felt as if they had been plunged straight into the depths of hell.


    Bloodcurdling shrieks and terrifying roars of fury rang out, and even through the protective barriers, they could clearly see one vengeful spirit after another shrieking in a deranged manner.


    Some of the weaker soldiers were struck by symptoms of dizziness and nausea just from hearing these sounds, and ripples began to surge across all of the protective barriers, creating one halo after another.


    Piercing alarms rang out frequently on all of the ships, particularly the smaller ships that were still in motion.


    "Commander, the protective barriers of our third-grade gunboats won''t be able to last much longer! According to our analysis, we are being attacked by a corrosive miasma, and it''s whittling down the energy of our protective barriers very quickly," the advisor hurriedly reported.

 Chapter 1839: Abyssal Eruption

    "Fire all of the secondary cannons, and primarily focus the cannon fire on the area above the medium and small ships. At the same time, all of the mecha units will stay within the protective barriers and fire freely outward to alleviate pressure."


    After the order was issued, countless energy attacks were soon unleashed to nullify the purplish-black rain falling from the sky.


    At the same time, a string of deafening booms rang out, and all large soul missiles of all descriptions were launched toward the enormous figure in the distance.


    However, after unleashing its attack, the gigantic whale suddenly sank into the water and quickly dove deep into the sea.


    The satellite quickly lost sight of it, but the other surveillance devices could detect that during the whale''s descent, another powerful ocean current began to surge toward the three fleets, and the energy imbued within this current was so formidable that it was significantly disrupting the surveillance soul tools.


    As a result, the massive figure became very blurry and indistinct to the Sea God Legion''s surveillance.


    "Activate all surveillance soul tools to their maximal operating capacity and lock onto its location at all cost!" Chen Zeyu hurriedly yelled.


    If they couldn''t track their opponent, then they would essentially be blind and deaf, and that would be extremely perilous.


    Right at this moment, the entire sea suddenly erupted into a frenzy.


    Violent ocean currents appeared, and massive waves that stretched to several dozens of meters tall were swept up.


    The entire sea had turned dark and forbidding, and it was as if all water elements, even the entire sea itself, had suddenly become enemies of the three naval fleets.


    All of the surveillance devices instantly malfunctioned, and in the face of the turbulent wave, some of the small ships were hurled clear out of the water.


    The three fleets were instantly plunged into a state of chaos, and explosions began to appear.


    Those explosions were from the small gunboats, which had self-detonated as their protective barriers were unable to keep out the corrosive rain.


    The power of soul beasts was limited as gods couldn''t appear in this world, but the power of nature was limitless.


    Regardless of how powerful the three naval fleets were, they were still extremely insignificant in the face of nature''s wrath.


    Chen Zeyu''s expression had already changed drastically, and a hint of panic welled up in his heart for the very first time. The most terrifying enemies were always the unknown ones, and he had never encountered a situation like this before.


    "Request reinforcements from the main control center right away!"


    As soon as the giant sea soul beast had appeared, the alarm had already been sounded in the Central Legion, so everyone there was also keeping a close eye on the unfolding situation.


    Even before Chen Zeyu''s request for reinforcements had arrived, Yu Guanzhi had already issued some orders. "All air units of the Central Legion and Northwest Legion are to take flight and prepare to offer reinforcements. Invite the representatives of the Spirit Pagoda, Shrek Academy, and the Tang Sect to meet me here. All Battle Gods of the Battle God Hall, prepare for battle."


    This sudden turn of events had arrived far too abruptly, and everyone was caught off guard.


    Gu Yuena had only just issued her warning, and the enemy had already arrived.


    "Old Man Chen, what is that thing? Do you recognize it?" Yu Guanzhi asked.


    In terms of battles on the sea, no one was more experienced and capable than Chen Xinjie, and he was also the most familiar with everything in the sea.


    Currently, Chen Xinjie wore a grim expression. Just like his son, he had also never seen such an enormous sea soul beast.


    "I''m afraid I don''t know what it is. It should be a whale-type sea soul beast, but it''s the first time I''ve ever seen one of this size; we can only pray that it doesn''t have anything to do with the abyssal plane. Judging from the scope and degree of influence it has on the weather and the sea, I can tell it''s at least a quasigod level soul beast; it''s most likely even more powerful than I am. In addition to that, its powers are enhanced in the sea, so our fleets won''t be able to stand against it. Commander, I would like to be deployed to assist the three fleets in stabilizing the situation."


    "Alright." That request was exactly what Yu Guanzhi had been waiting for.


    With Chen Xinjie leading the Sea God Legion, the entire legion''s combat prowess would be raised by at least 30%. Furthermore, as a quasigod, he would definitely be able to hold his own against this formidable enemy.


    "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Right at this moment, three resounding booms suddenly rang out from the communicator in the main control center, and everyone''s eyes were instantly drawn toward it.


    Through the soul communication devices hanging on the wall, everyone was stunned to discover that a series of explosions had taken place, and they had been set off right where the Blood God Legion was currently setting up the Blood God Array, which was also where the abyssal passageway had disappeared earlier!


    This was what everyone least wanted to see, and it was happening at the worst time possible.


    Yu Guanzhi immediately rose to his feet, and yelled, "What''s going on?"


    In the next instant, the image being displayed provided an answer to his question.


    A gigantic pillar of grey light suddenly erupted out of the ground, and the Blood God Array that was still under construction was instantly destroyed. The defensive weaponry set up around the site immediately opened fire, but all of the artillery fire was instantly devoured by the grey light.


    A series of figures began to emerge from within the grey light; they were all Guardian Longhorned Beetles!


    Countless abyssal creatures flew up from the backs of these Guardian Longhorned Beetles, unleashing attacks in all directions.


    The abyssal passageway had reopened, and the abyssal creatures had returned!


    Even without the order from Yu Guanzhi, all of the defense systems were activated, and all types of soul weapons were being fired.


    In the blink of an eye, the peaceful northernmost region was plunged into a state of complete chaos once again.


    Yu Guanzhi quickly composed himself before turning to Chen Xinjie. "Old Man Chen, ignore everything here and go to the Sea God Legion. If our defenses on the sea were to crumble, we''ll be unable to stop the invasion of the abyssal creatures."


    Chen Xinjie gave an affirmative response before immediately departing. There was no way he could make his presence felt on the entire battlefield, so he had to go to the place where he would be most effective.


    Yu Guanzhi then turned to Gu Yuena. "Chairwoman Gu, I''ll have to trouble you as well; please lead the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda to assist us."


    Gu Yuena nodded in response before also departing. For her, abyssal energy was extremely important.


    The sudden return of the abyssal plane shook the entire federal army, and the only thing they could be thankful of was that all of their troops were still present on the northern front.


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy encampment was instantly informed of the situation as well, and Ling Zichen immediately rushed out of her room, arriving beside the secondary tree of life before casting her gaze into the distance.


    From her position, she could see the artillery fire in the distance and hear the violent explosions.


    Her brows furrowed tightly as she murmured to herself, "I didn''t think they would recover so quickly; looks like Eternal Heaven wasn''t able to deal a decisive blow to them. After being converted into a laser, Eternal Heaven is only able to unleash around a third of its power; what a pity!"


    She raised her head and looked up at the secondary tree of life beside her as she spoke.


    Yali had strictly prohibited her from leaving this place; she had to recover with the nourishment of the secondary tree of life, and it was particularly important for her to replenish her own life energy.

 Chapter 1840: Recommencement of the Battle

    Furthermore, she could never use Eternal Heaven again.


    Yali had told her that some of the damage caused to her body from firing Eternal Heaven the first time couldn''t be repaired through treatment. She would only be able to recover from an extensive period of rest and recuperation, and even then, it would perhaps be impossible to recover fully.


    Yali had told her in private that even if she could make a recovery, it would be very unlikely for her to live past the age of 60 as the impact from the blast had caused extremely severe harm to the core of her being.


    This was something that Ling Zichen had kept to herself.


    Now that the abyssal creatures had returned, a peculiar light began to glow in her eyes.


    She cast a meaningful gaze toward the explosions in the distance, then turned and quickly strode back to her own room.


    She opened her soul screen and quickly entered a string of numbers to complete a decryption process, then began to organize some of the information she had collected over the past few days.


    This information was going to be an extremely precious resource to the Tang Sect.


    The chaos outside seemed to have nothing to do with her anymore, and at a time like this, no one from Shrek Academy or the Tang Sect would come to find her. As such, no one was aware of what she was doing.


    On the same mountaintop, all of the powerful beings from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had emerged from their barracks and were appraising the distant explosions with grim expressions.


    The abyssal army had returned, and this time, Eternal Heaven was no longer at their disposal.


    They had even received news that the three naval fleets had also been attacked, and this was undoubtedly going to become an extremely fierce and arduous battle.


    All of the Limit Douluos from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had already gathered together, and Zang Xin said, "Our enemies must be very aware of what we''re doing; they must''ve chosen to attack at this time as they didn''t want us to complete the Blood God Array. On top of that, they''ve definitely come prepared. They''re even closer to our defensive line this time, so they''ll be sure to try and break through at all cost. We can''t use Eternal Heaven anymore, so we''ll have to face them head-on. Elder Long, do you have any suggestions? The main control center is already requesting us to reinforce the front lines."


    Long Yeyue immediately replied, "Wulin still hasn''t come out of seclusion yet. In this situation, the forces from our Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect can''t afford to be separated, so I suggest everyone from our academy temporarily join your Tang Sect''s forces to go into battle together. That way, we''ll be able to minimize casualties. As for the old bones like you and me, we''re naturally going to have to face those abyssal sovereigns and emperors."


    She cast her gaze toward the distance as she spoke.


    What was he doing? The Sea God Legion had been attacked, so he definitely wouldn''t just be standing by idly.


    The enemy was able to create effective attacks from both sides, so even though they no longer had the Blood River Godslayer Array, this defensive effort wasn''t going to be any less difficult.


    Zang Xin nodded in response. "It looks like that''s our best course of action. I didn''t think the abyssal plane would return so soon. We can only hope that Wulin will also return soon; without his Golden Dragon Spear, this will be a very difficult battle."


    The Tang Sect''s forces were led by Zang Xin, as well as the powerful beings of the Douluo Palace, and among them, there was a total of 15 Titled Douluos, five of whom were at or above the Hyper Douluo level.


    If it weren''t for the Shrek City bombing, this number would be even higher.


    Meanwhile, Shrek Academy''s forces were led by Long Yeyue and the other Limit Douluos, as well as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters and the other powerful beings of the younger generation, including Wu Zhangkong, Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng, Yang Nianxia, Zheng Yiran, Xu Yucheng, Luo Guixing, Wu Siduo, and other elite members of Tang Wulin''s cohort.


    Due to the premature end to the first battle brought about by the Eternal Heaven blast, they weren''t required to offer their services, but on this occasion, they would have to go into battle as well.


    Zang Xin turned to everyone, and said, "In Wulin''s absence, I''ll act as commander in this battle. All Limit Douluos follow me; our targets are the emperors and sovereigns of the abyssal plane. Abyssal creatures may be able to resurrect themselves, but the more powerful an abyssal creature is, the longer the resurrection process would take, so we need to take out as many of these emperors and sovereigns as possible. Everyone else, make sure to stick together in large units. Those from the Douluo Palace will be split up into 10 groups of 100, while the Titled Douluos of Shrek Academy will be evenly distributed among those groups.


    "In the initial phase of this battle, we''ll primarily rely on mechas to conserve our forces as much as possible. Make sure to constantly look out for one another and provide reinforcements to other groups when required, understood?"


    "Understood!" everyone replied in unison.


    Zang Xin then turned to Wu Zhangkong, and said, "Zhangkong, you form a group of 10 with Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng, Shrek¡¯s Six Monsters, and Sima Jinchi, and your group will be responsible for staying back and providing reinforcements to whichever group requires reinforcements. I''ll put you in charge of that."


    "Understood!"


    Zang Xin had assigned him with the task of overseeing this extremely important group rather than the more powerful Lan Muzi primarily because he clearly shared a closer bond with this generation of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters.


    "Alright, let''s set off right away!" Zang Xin rose up into the air as he spoke, and all of the Limit Douluos, as well as A''Ruheng, rose up behind him before setting off for the battlefield.


    Everyone else followed along closely behind them. First came Wu Zhangkong''s group, then the 10 groups from the Douluo Palace.


    In that instant, the Tang Sect was finally displaying its power as a series of massive mechas emerged from their ranks. All of these mechas were black, and one or two black mechas wouldn''t be much to take note of in any army, but an entire squadron of black mechas presented a very remarkable sight.


    Only super organizations like the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda would possess such astounding power.


    The Spirit Pagoda was certainly extremely wealthy, but their research was almost exclusively focused on soul spirits, so they were still considerably lagging behind compared with the Tang Sect when it came to technology.


    At this point, the battle had already commenced.


    One Guardian Longhorned Beetle after another emerged from the abyssal plane, and they were using their own bodies to defend the powerful abyssal beings behind them from the first round of ferocious attacks.


    In order to seal the abyssal passageway, the federal legions were also sparing no effort.


    All types of large defensive soul tools had been set up around the site, not just up close, but also on the mountaintops in the distance.


    The Guardian Longhorned Beetles possessed extremely formidable defensive prowess, but in the face of such heavy and concentrated fire, one would still occasionally perish.


    The abyssal creatures that were exposed as a result naturally fared even worse, and they were all reduced to grey abyssal energy.


    At this point, the pillar of grey light had faded, and the abyssal passageway was revealed as a bottomless black pit.


    "Roar, roar, roar!" A string of low roars echoed within the abyssal passageway, and in the next instant, an enormous abyssal creature emerged.

 Chapter 1841: Abyssal Spirit Dragons

    This was a very peculiar-looking creature that resembled a giant lizard with an oversized head that made up approximately a third of its body, the total length of which was over 50 meters. Even among abyssal creatures, this was quite a massive unit. Its four limbs were very thick and powerful, and it was lying flat on the ground. Its entire body was covered in dense grey scales, and what was most worthy of interest was its eyes, which were bulging outward and seemed to be comprised of countless compound eyes that were glowing with eerie blue light.


    In the instant that this abyssal creature emerged, bright blue light suddenly erupted out of its eyes, forming a blue light barrier that encompassed its entire body. Immediately thereafter, it abruptly vanished on the spot.


    At the main control center.


    Yu Guanzhi had constantly been keeping tabs on the images of the front lines, and after receiving news that the powerful beings from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had already set off, he heaved a sigh of relief. However, he was then greeted by the sight of that massive abyssal creature disappearing into thin air.


    "What happened? How did we lose sight of it? Activate all the surveillance soul tools; we can''t afford to allow it to conceal itself!"


    In the instant that the giant creature disappeared, the fine hairs on the back of Yu Guanzhi''s neck immediately stood up on end. He was instantly able to sense that this abyssal creature was extremely dangerous.


    All of the surveillance soul tools were instantly activated, but right at this moment, an extremely sharp screech suddenly rang out from within the abyssal passageway.


    The screech released devastating soundwaves that instantly spread across the entire battlefield, and even with all of the thunderous explosions taking place, the screech was still clearly audible.


    Even Yu Guanzhi in the main control center was struck by a burst of ringing in the ears, and his mind went completely blank.


    Yu Guanzhi was a Limit Douluo, yet even he had been affected by the screech, and the normal soldiers on the battlefield naturally fared far worse.


    In the instant after the screech rang out, all of the attacks directed at the battlefield became completely chaotic and directionless. The soul lasers were no longer concentrated, and soul missiles were sent flying in all directions.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, around a dozen more of those giant lizard-like creatures emerged from the abyssal passageway before also vanishing one after another.


    After those giant lizards came a humanoid figure, who would be very handsome in appearance, except his eyes were bulging out of their sockets and glowing with dark blue light. Looking at his facial features alone, he bore a strong resemblance to Tang Wulin, but his face was currently twisted in vengeful fury. This was none other than the Spirit Sovereign, and he was utterly livid.


    During the Eternal Heaven blast, he had been in the scope of the attack. He didn''t think that a weapon wielded by humans would be so powerful. In that instant, he was struck by a sense of pressure similar to the kind he felt in the presence of the Holy Lord.


    After that, he was wounded in the terrifying explosion.


    He had immediately tried to flee into the abyssal passageway, but he was still heavily injured.


    Aside from the Holy Lord, this was the first time that someone had injured him. He had always treated his body as his most precious asset, and the injuries he sustained infuriated him to the extreme.


    Man''s understanding of abyssal creatures was still limited, and unbeknownst to the human race, not all abyssal creatures could be resurrected without paying a price.


    It didn''t matter for those low-tier abyssal creatures as they possessed no intelligence, only battle instincts, and they didn''t care if they died.


    However, the higher the abyssal life form, the more care they took to look after themselves. This was because once they died, an identical being would be reborn in the abyssal plane, and that being would also be very similar to them in power. However, this would take a very long time, and most importantly, that being would be someone entirely different!


    For example, if the Spirit Sovereign were to perish, another Spirit Sovereign would be born in the second level of the abyss, but that new Spirit Sovereign would arise from the evolution of one of his brethren. That abyssal being would absorb the abyssal energy he left behind to complete their evolution, so in a practical sense, he would still be dead.


    After rising to their positions of power, which high-tier abyssal being would be willing to die?


    From the Holy Lord''s perspective, it didn''t matter whom his servants and subordinates were, but that certainly mattered to those high-tier abyssal creatures!


    Thus, the Spirit Sovereign had been completely incensed by the injuries he had sustained. He was a powerful being who possessed Divine Origin realm spiritual power, yet he had almost fallen to a surprise attack; this was something that had never happened before.


    During this second phase of the battle, an abyssal being of his caliber was supposed to have only come out after the battlefield had stabilized, but he had chosen to return right away.


    The Holy Spirit Cult had already told him that the blast had most likely been unleashed by Eternal Heaven, and that there was only one Eternal Heaven in this world. Thus, the fear in his heart was erased, leaving only vengeful fury.


    That screech was a full-scale indiscriminate attack that he had unleashed with all his might, and in some of the places on the battlefield with lackluster soundwave defenses, countless federal soldiers had already been stunned to death, while even more had been injured to different extents.


    The Spirit Sovereign''s face was slightly pale, but after letting loose that devastating roar, all of his frustration had been vented, and he was feeling much better.


    Right at this moment, a silver figure descended from the heavens, and a familiar aura appeared before him.


    The Silver Dragon Spear was devouring the abyssal energy on the battlefield, while its wielder was appraising the Spirit Sovereign with an intense gaze.


    The Spirit Sovereign''s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Gu Yuena. "It''s you! You are going to die; all humans must die!"


    He pounced toward Gu Yuena as he spoke, and the air around him warped violently as if it had been set alight.


    Gu Yuena pointed her Silver Dragon Spear forward, and eight bursts of silver light quickly appeared around her before transforming into eight doors of light. The space around her was warping violently, but it was unable to reach her at all.


    The Spirit Sovereign raised his right hand and thrust it toward Gu Yuena, upon which all of the twisted air instantly compressed into a silver ball of light that was about to explode right in front of her.


    Gu Yuena slashed her Silver Dragon Spear through the air in an arc, and four balls of light appeared, comprised of one that was yellow for earth elements, one that was blue for water elements, one that was red for fire elements, and one that was azure for wind elements. The balls of light struck the silver ball of light one after another, and the entire battlefield trembled as space warped violently.


    Both sides groaned as the clash took place, and the Spirit Sovereign merely swayed slightly, while Gu Yuena was forced back, and it seemed that neither side had gained a decisive upper hand.


    Right at this moment, a string of explosions rang out in the distance.


    The left side of the defensive line was already experiencing serious issues.


    That screech unleashed by the Spirit Sovereign was so powerful that almost all of the normal soldiers in that area had been killed, and even among Soul Masters, only very few of the most powerful ones survived, so the offensive capabilities of that section of the defensive line were naturally severely weakened.


    The dozen or so giant lizards that had vanished earlier took advantage of the opportunity to rush onto the mountain on the left, and as soon as they reappeared, they went on a frenzied spree of destruction.


    These giant lizards were all vastly renowned in the abyssal plane; they were subordinates to the Spirit Sovereign, and they referred to themselves as Spirit Dragons.


    Among the abyssal creatures, they were known as Abyssal Spirit Dragons, abbreviated as Abyssal Dragons.


    The Abyssal Spirit Dragons had always had an extremely small population, but all of them were very formidable from birth with Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, which was also their forte.


    They excelled in concealing themselves through a special method using abyssal energy, and it was extremely difficult to track them down in that concealed state.

 Chapter 1842: Commander of the Abyssal Army

    Their individual combat prowess was at an extremely high level, and even the emperors of the abyssal levels below the 30th level couldn''t match the power of a single Abyssal Spirit Dragon.


    The entire population of this race was less than 50, yet through their power, they were able to support the Spirit Sovereign to become the ruler of the second abyssal level.


    For this battle, the Spirit Sovereign had brought over 10 Abyssal Spirit Dragons with him, and that was already a huge investment. If an Abyssal Spirit Dragon were to perish, the Holy Lord would need to release some of his essential power as a catalyst for its revival, so the Spirit Sovereign cherished his brethren greatly.


    Once a Spirit Dragon''s eyes began to glow with blue light, everything within an area 100 meters ahead of it, including energy barriers, would instantly be reduced to dust by a type of fearsome force; even uncommon metals were no match for this power.


    The Spirit Sovereign was the king of Spirit Dragons, and the forte of his race was its spiritual power. In the abyssal plane, they were an extremely rare case in that they used their spiritual power as their main weapon.


    Spiritual power was unlike any other type of energy as it didn''t seem to possess any shape or form, but it could target the very core of an opponent''s being.


    Every Spirit Dragon possessed Spirit Domain realm spiritual power, but among human Soul Masters, even Hyper Douluos weren''t guaranteed to reach the same level!


    Furthermore, the Spirit Dragons'' immense spiritual power allowed them to sense nearby enemies to better protect themselves. What was even more terrifying was that Abyssal Spirit Dragons could connect their spiritual power with one another to stack it, so the more Spirit Dragons that were gathered in one place, the more powerful they would be.


    Among the Abyssal Spirit Dragons, there were three with bodies that were around 100 meters in length, and they were currently standing side by side on a mountaintop with blue light radiating from their eyes.


    The three Abyssal Spirit Dragons raised their heads and screeched in unison, and it could be clearly seen that a blue halo was released from each of their heads.


    The three halos fused as one before proliferating outward into the distance, quickly encompassing the entire battlefield.


    At this point, even more abyssal creatures had already gushed out of the abyssal passageway, and they were unleashing attacks in all directions while the surrounding defense system was severely debilitated.


    What was even more surprising was that the abyssal creatures appeared to be completely disorganized, but as soon as they dispersed, they began to conduct themselves in an orderly fashion.


    The individual races weren''t acting independently of one another. Instead, they seemed to have formed groups with diverse members, and the configurations made a lot of sense.


    They quickly rushed toward the defense system that had been set up by the human army and began to destroy with reckless abandon.


    At the main control center.


    After a brief stunned stupor, Yu Guanzhi returned to his senses, and his expression changed drastically at the sight of the image being displayed on the big screen.


    The defensive system had been painstakingly set up, equipped with many powerful defensive soul tools, as well as weapons such as large heavy ion laser blasters, but it had been destroyed in such a short time, and that was a very bitter pill for him to swallow.


    However, as the main commander, he knew that he couldn''t afford to panic at a time like this. He immediately asked, "Where are the forces of the Battle God Hall right now?"


    "They''re just about to reach the front lines."


    "Deploy all of the Central Legion''s mecha units, and order the Western Legion and Northwestern Legion to guard their defensive line at all cost; we must seize back the defensive site up ahead."


    His lips were tightly pursed, and he knew that the military''s power alone wouldn''t be enough to force back these enemies; he could only hope that the powerful beings on the front lines would be able to stop the enemy''s advance.


    On the battlefield, an opening was almost instantly torn into the defensive site, and an army of at least five groups of abyssal creatures rushed out of the opening before charging directly toward the mountaintop that had been claimed by the Abyssal Spirit Dragons.


    "Those huge lizards are instructing the abyssal creatures! We have to kill them!" someone yelled, and several dozens of figures immediately set off toward that mountain.


    The Battle God Hall''s forces had arrived, and alongside them came the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda.


    They didn''t have any time to communicate as Guan Yue led all of the Battle Gods on a charge directly toward the mountain that had been claimed by the Abyssal Spirit Dragons.


    According to the blueprints of the defensive site, its inner circle had the most powerful soul weapons, and outside of that were defensive soul tools set up on the surrounding mountains.


    Beyond that was another circle, thereby amounting to a total of three defensive lines.


    The fact that the Abyssal Spirit Dragons had claimed one of the mountains indicated that two of the defensive lines had already been broken, and no one had anticipated that this would happen so soon.


    Guan Yue knew that they had to fill this opening no matter what. Otherwise, if the abyssal army were to rush out through this opening, then the consequences would be catastrophic.


    However, just as he was leading the Battle Gods toward that mountain, a series of figures suddenly detached themselves from the abyssal army, and they were led by a group of extremely fast abyssal creatures; these were none other than Demonic Enchantresses.


    The Enchantress Empress was flying at the very forefront like a massive bird, and she reached Guan Yue in the blink of an eye.


    She then instantly conjured up several dozens of clones, and it felt as if she were attacking all of the Battle Gods at once.


    A series of sharp auras surged through the air, forming a huge net of sharp blades that completely encompassed the Battle Gods.


    Guan Yue harrumphed coldly as he thrust his Sky Crossing Divine Spear forward, instantly locking onto the Enchantress Empress. In the next instant, a crisp clang rang out, and the Enchantress Empress''s true body tumbled out from her many clones in a slightly panicked manner.


    A bewildered look appeared on her face as she conjured up another cluster of clones, but on this occasion, there were only seven in total. The seven figures separated before converging toward one another, then swept a hand through the air, unleashing an illusory projection that struck the Sky Crossing Divine Spear.


    Another crisp clang rang out as the Sky Crossing Divine Spear was repelled upward, but Guan Yue was still charging onward at a high speed. He thrust the butt of his spear forward, and the air suddenly seemed to have congealed.


    Before the Enchantress Empress even had a chance to figure out what was happening, the butt of the spear had already reached her, and it was too late for her to completely evade the attack, so she could only bear it with her shoulder.


    A muffled groan rang out as she tumbled through the air.


    Guan Yue had always kept a very low profile, so even many of the Battle Gods were unaware of just how powerful he truly was, but on the battlefield, he naturally wasn''t going to hold back.


    He didn''t set off in pursuit of the Enchantress Empress as his top priority now was to block this opening. He waved a hand through the air, and all of the Battle Gods immediately rushed toward the mountain.


    However, right at this moment, his pupils contracted slightly as he suddenly caught sight of a massive swarm of Abyssal Bomber Hornets flying toward them like a dark cloud.


    From the perspective of the abyssal plane, this opening was a fantastic opportunity, and if they could rush out through that opening, then the outside world would become their playground.


    If the abyssal creatures were released to slaughter and destroy as they pleased, then they would undoubtedly be able to send the entire Douluo Federation into a blind panic.


    At that point, some of the troops on the front lines would have to be diverted back further inland to stop the abyssal creatures, and it would only be a matter of time before the northern front fell apart. Once that happened, it would be all over.


    The Hornet Sovereign''s compounds eyes were shimmering as she hovered in mid-air in the distance. Countless Abyssal Bomber Hornets were spreading themselves through the air at her behest, and their mission was to stop the human reinforcements.


    Not only had the Hornet Sovereign appeared, another black figure had emerged before Guan Yue. She was stunningly beautiful, but was giving off a strong deathly aura; it was none other than one of the abyssal plane''s 10 sovereigns, the Black Sovereign.

 Chapter 1843: Invulnerability Mist

    However, the current Black Sovereign was looking very much worse-for-wear.


    She was missing half of her left arm, but it could be seen that the cross-section of the wound on her left arm was squirming incessantly, as if there were countless tiny grey insects there, and the arm was slowly regenerating itself.


    This was an injury that had been inflicted upon her by Eternal Heaven. The Black Sovereign hadn''t been as fortunate as the Spirit Sovereign; she had virtually been situated right at the epicenter of the explosion following the blast. However, she was still relatively lucky as four of the abyssal emperors with her had been erased from existence by the explosion.


    Through her immense power, the Black Sovereign was able to survive, but half of her body had been blown away, and even with the Holy Lord''s help, she still hadn''t managed to completely recover after so many days.


    Even all of the abyssal creatures were extremely wary of Eternal Heaven. Thankfully, there was only one Eternal Heaven, or so they thought.


    As such, the Black Sovereign was filled with vengeful fury at the sight of the humans.


    Her long hair fanned out behind her, forming a black circle, and a giant purplish-black vortex also emerged, releasing tremendous suction force that instantly enveloped Guan Yue.


    "Go to the mountain; I''ll take care of everything here," Guan Yue instructed.


    He swept his Sky Crossing Divine Spear through the air, and all of a sudden, countless spear projections appeared in the surrounding area, each of which seemed to be held by a large hand. The entire area within a diameter of a kilometer seemed to have been encompassed by these spear projections.


    Upon coming into even the slightest contact with the spear projections, the Abyssal Bomber Hornets would instantly be reduced to abyssal energy that flowed back toward the abyssal passageway. Those countless spear projections seemed to have become the ruler of this domain, and even the Black Sovereign''s expression changed slightly upon seeing this, but the vortex behind her only grew darker and more forbidding.


    The tremendous suction force being released by the vortex devoured close to half of the spear projections, and at the same time, she sped toward Guan Yue as she thrust a palm forward, while the vortex behind her devoured everything in her wake.


    Guan Yue took a step to the side, then swept his Sky Crossing Divine Spear upward, and a streak of silver light slashed through the very air, causing the suction force to pass by on either side of him.


    Spear projections erupted forth before combining as one to pierce directly toward the Black Sovereign.


    In response, the Black Sovereign transformed into an illusory figure that continued to speed toward Guan Yue, quickly reaching a position above him before thrusting her palm downward.


    The entire weight of the sky seemed to be imbued within her palm, and even with Guan Yue''s powers, he couldn''t help but sink downward slightly. However, he didn''t withdraw his spear. Instead, he continued to thrust it forward before violently stirring it through the air.


    A giant vortex immediately swept over a massive section of the Abyssal Bomber Hornets in the distance, causing them to explode violently, thereby alleviating the pressure on the Battle Gods that were reinforcing the mountain.


    In the face of the oncoming palm, Guan Yue suddenly performed a front somersault before whipping his right leg through the air to engage the Black Sovereign in a head-on clash.


    He descended while the Black Sovereign rose to a higher altitude, but in that instant, Guan Yue donned his suit of four-word battle armor to nullify the power of that palm strike.


    He had calculated everything to perfection, and this was not just a reflection of his power, but also of his high battle IQ.


    Meanwhile, more powerful beings of the abyssal plane and the Holy Spirit Cult were rushing out of the passageway, but the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda had also arrived, and a fierce battle instantly broke out.


    One branch of the abyssal army had already rushed to the second defensive line, and they were being led by a massive Guardian Longhorned Beetle. The beetle had its wings spread open, providing an umbrella of protection that spanned close to 100 meters in diameter.


    A huge number of abyssal creatures of all species were under its protection, and all of them were high-tier abyssal creatures such as Demonic Enchantresses, while low-tier abyssal creatures like four-clawed bats and six-clawed bats weren''t entitled to this honor.


    All of the cannon fodder type abyssal creatures had already spread across the entire battlefield, charging onward to shield the Guardian Longhorned Beetle from attacks.


    The concentrated artillery fire was able to destroy a large number of abyssal creatures, but they would simply return to the abyss as streams of energy.


    Finally, the Guardian Longhorned Beetle reached the foot of the mountain, and at this point, its massive exoskeleton was already riddled with wounds.


    Right at this moment, a huge Abyssal Spirit Dragon emerged from beneath its exoskeleton, and the Abyssal Spirit Dragon''s eyes instantly turned a dark blue color.


    On this occasion, it hadn''t concealed itself. Instead, it opened its mouth and released a cloud of blue mist directly toward the human troops on the summit of the mountain.


    The mist was very viscous and instantly encompassed the abyssal creatures at the foot of the mountain.


    As the mist descended upon them, all of the abyssal creatures immediately began to transform. The four-clawed bats evolved into six-clawed bats, and their eyes turned a menacing crimson color as they charged onward without any regard for their own lives. A layer of faint blue light had also appeared over their bodies, acting as suits of armor to protect them.


    The other abyssal creatures also began to quickly evolve under the blue mist, then began to launch an assault.


    Surrounded by the abyssal creatures, the Abyssal Spirit Dragon sped onward, and with every few steps it took, it would release another mouthful of dense mist.


    This was Invulnerability Mist, one of the Abyssal Spirit Dragons'' most powerful abilities.


    Under the coverage of this mist, the energy of all abyssal creatures would begin to churn and boil, and in that state, the abyssal creatures would instantly ignite their own latent potential, thereby allowing them to evolve and grant them fearlessness, as well as significant boosts in offensive and defensive prowess. In particular, their defenses would be bolstered by at least threefold.


    Of course, a price had to be paid for such drastic boosts. The effects would only last 30 minutes at most, following which all abyssal creatures that had benefited from the mist would suffer severe backlash.


    For low-tier abyssal creatures, this backlash was lethal, and even high-tier abyssal creatures would be left completely feeble and unable to engage in further battle.


    However, this wasn''t an issue for the abyssal army; 30 minutes of extremely heightened power was enough.


    This wasn''t the main direction that the abyssal creatures were attacking so initially, the human army didn''t pay this branch of the abyssal army much attention.


    However, they soon discovered an issue, which was that their reconnaissance was failing. Under the cover of the dense mist, all reconnaissance efforts were rendered ineffective, essentially leaving the defensive line deaf and blind.


    With the mist, the abyssal creatures that underwent the most drastic transformations were the Ba''ans.


    Ba''ans were already like hulking meat mountains, and as the mist descended upon them, they grew from around 10 meters tall to roughly 15 meters in height.


    Furthermore, chunks of grey enamel began to appear all over their bodies, forming what were essentially suits of armor.


    What was most terrifying of all was that Ba''ans normally had a glaring weakness in the form of their lackluster speed, but under the influence of the Invulnerability Mist, their speed was tripled, and even while scaling mountains, they were moving just as quickly as if they were charging along flat ground. The Ba''ans led the abyssal creatures toward the mountaintops, and the same situation was unfolding in all directions.


    The Battle Gods had only just reached the summit of the most important mountain when they were met by the mocking gaze of the three Abyssal Spirit Dragons that were leading the abyssal army.


    The three Abyssal Spirit Dragons opened their mouths in unison to release Invulnerability Mist that encompassed the entire mountaintop, and all of the abyssal creatures that had just arrived immediately began to undergo all types of transformations.


    A Guardian Longhorned Beetle was only able to protect an area with a diameter of around 100 meters in the past, but under the influence of the Invulnerability mist, their bodies swelled to over twice their original size. A Battle God''s large-scale attack landed on its body, but was only able to trigger some faint ripples.


    Having just enjoyed a drastic boost in speed, the abyssal army reached the mountain summit in the blink of an eye, and before the Battle Gods even had a chance to unleash an assault, the troops on the mountaintop were already all dead.

 Chapter 1844: The Three Spirit Dragon Kings

    In the absence of Guan Yue, First Battle God Ao Rui naturally became the leader of the Battle Gods, and he immediately realized just how important these Abyssal Spirit Dragons were to the abyssal army upon witnessing this situation.


    The Abyssal Spirit Dragons were capable of boosting the overall power of the abyssal army by over twofold, and with that in mind, Ao Rui immediately raised both hands up into the air as he donned his suit of three-word battle armor.


    "We have to take out those big lizards!" His entire body began to burn like a sun in the sky, and having fought alongside him for many years, all of the Battle Gods immediately knew to gather around and protect him.


    The scorching air warped violently and rippled like water while Ao Rui''s aura swelled rapidly. He was already close to the Limit Douluo level, yet even he had to accumulate power for this attack, and that was a clear indication of just how fearsome this attack was going to be.


    The three Spirit Dragon Kings immediately sensed the threat up above, and they raised their heads in unison before opening their cavernous mouths.


    Even though none of the Battle Gods heard any sounds, Ao Rui suddenly gave a muffled groan, and the enormous mass of fire elements that had just gathered around him immediately went into an unstable state, causing a massive explosion.


    "Rumble!"


    A mushroom cloud erupted in the sky, and the Battle Gods that had surrounded Ao Rui to protect him were all sent flying by this abrupt and unexpected explosion.


    By accumulating so much power, Ao Rui was essentially preparing a devastating bomb, only for it to be detonated by the three Spirit Dragon Kings using their ultrasonic screech, which was imbued with their super-concentrated spiritual power.


    Thus, all of the Battle Gods and backup Battle Gods were sent hurtling through the air in a sorry state, and Ao Rui himself was entirely charred black with his aura also taking a massive hit.


    Meanwhile, the mountain had been completely overrun by abyssal creatures, and under the cover of the Invulnerability Mist, they began to pass over the mountain, progressing toward the third and final defensive line.


    The three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings let loose another sharp screech, and this one was meant to disrupt all of the surveillance soul tools in this part of the battlefield.


    As a result, all of the images in the main control center became warped and unrecognizable, making it impossible to see what was happening, much less conduct any analysis.


    A grim look appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face as he ordered, "Deploy the Eighth Air Regiment of the Central Legion to reinforce the defensive line. Tell the Battle God Hall''s forces to restrict those big lizards at all cost; we can''t allow them to get any closer to the edge of the battlefield."


    At this point, all of the Central Legion''s mecha units had already arrived on the battlefield, and they stood in the path of the abyssal creatures like a series of walls of iron and steel. They engaged the abyssal creatures in a ferocious battle as heavy artillery fire continued to rain down from all of the legions.


    The three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings remained on the mountain summit, overseeing everything as if they were the rulers of this battlefield.


    In a sense, they were already abyssal creatures of the highest caliber. Perhaps their individual combat prowess couldn''t compare with the emperors and sovereigns of the top 30 abyssal levels, but with their immense spiritual power, their influence on the entire battlefield exceeded even that of those high-ranking emperors and sovereigns.


    The Holy Lord was the only one occupying the first abyssal level with no brethren, and then came the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Race.


    Despite the fact that they were very few in numbers, Abyssal Spirit Dragons were outstanding in both individual combat prowess and leadership abilities.


    Whenever they appeared on a battlefield, the entire abyssal army would be boosted significantly.


    At this point, vast expanses of Invulnerability had already appeared all over the battlefield, and the innermost defensive line had already been completely conquered and inundated by Invulnerability Mist. The abyssal creatures were unable to use human weapons, but they had no qualms in destroying those weapons.


    The parts of the Blood God Array that had been set up were completely destroyed, and this abyssal army was even more fearsome than the previous one.


    Furthermore, the three naval fleets had their own problems to deal with, so they were unable to contribute to this battlefield with long-range artillery fire.


    Ao Rui stabilized his own bodily condition with great difficulty, and it was impossible to glean his expression as his entire face had been charred black by the explosion of the energy he had gathered himself. However, his frustration was being conveyed very strongly through the look in his eyes.


    Upon joining forces, the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings possessed superior spiritual power to him, and in that instant, they were able to infiltrate directly into Ao Rui''s mind, inflicting significant spiritual damage upon him and causing him to lose control of the fire elements around him.


    If it weren''t for his immense power and solid foundation, there was a chance that even his soul core could''ve been detonated, and that would''ve been truly perilous.


    Instead of attempting to accumulate power again, Ao Rui thrust his right palm downward, and his sixth soul ring lit up as a meteor shower of flames took shape in the sky before falling toward all of the Spirit Dragons on the mountaintop.


    All of the other Battle Gods present, including Long Tianwu, Nangong Yi, Su Mengjun, Jiang Zhanheng, Ling Chen, and Luo Yuhang had also all begun to unleash attacks.


    They were all gathered around Mo Zihong, who was unleashing soundwave attacks with his Demonic Zither.


    All of the backup Battle Gods had also donned their suits of battle armor and had descended toward the mountaintop to battle the Abyssal Spirit Dragons up close.


    Bright blue light began to glow from the eyes of the three Spirit Dragon Kings, and a faint blue light barrier was conjured up to oppose the long-range attacks being unleashed by the Battle Gods. The combined power of the three Spirit Dragon Kings managed to keep the full-scale assault of over 10 Battle Gods at bay!


    This type of barrier that was entirely formed by spiritual power was different from the power that Soul Masters normally used in battle. Whenever a soul power attack struck the spiritual power barrier, some strange things would occur.


    Firstly, the Battle Gods would be struck by the feeling that they had lost control over their own long-range attack. Due to the strong disruptive effect of the spiritual power, the spiritual power that they had imbued into their soul skills would instantly be dispelled.


    Without their control, there would be no way to guide the attacks. Even though the Spirit Dragon Kings couldn''t immediately seize control over the attacks and use them against their opponents, it was well within their ability to make the attacks disperse in all directions.


    Thus, the bombardment unleashed by the Battle Gods was presenting a very spectacular sight to behold, but it wasn''t actually accomplishing anything.


    Long Tianwu turned to Ao Rui, and said, "This isn''t going to work, Boss. Our long-range attacks can''t pierce through their spiritual power barrier, so we''ll have to engage them in melee combat. You cover us from the rear; I''ll lead everyone and charge into the barrier. The backup Battle Gods won''t be able to hold their own, so they need our help."


    At this point, the backup Battle Gods had already reached the mountain summit and were battling the army of abyssal creatures.


    However, all of the abyssal creatures had become drastically more powerful as a result of the Invulnerability Mist, and the backup Battle Gods were quickly surrounded.


    Even further away, a large number of mechas were firing explosive artillery shells to combat the Abyssal Bomber Hornets. The dense artillery fire was holding back the Abyssal Bomber Hornets, but the hornets were also preventing the mechas from reinforcing the defensive line.


    The Hornet Sovereign''s objective was very simple: she had to stall the reinforcements and help the abyssal army take over the second defensive line as quickly as possible.


    At this point, over 20 abyssal emperors had already entered the battle.


    Just as Long Tianwu was about to rush into the fray, Ao Rui grabbed onto his arm to stop him, and said, "We can''t rush into battle blindly. If we get entangled in the battlefield, then that would have a detrimental overall effect. There''s no way that their spiritual power can recover as quickly as our soul power; let''s pile on the pressure and see just how long they can disrupt us for."


    "Alright!" The 18 Battle Gods immediately increased the intensity of their attacks upon hearing this, and all types of soul skills rained down from the heavens in a frenzy.


    As it turned out, Ao Rui was correct in his judgment.


    Under normal circumstances, spiritual power was definitely expended at a faster rate than soul power, especially when it came to maintaining large-scale abilities like this spiritual power barrier. Furthermore, recovery for spiritual power was also slower than it was for other forms of energy.


    Thus, only several minutes later, the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings were finally struggling to withstand the assault, and some of the Battle Gods'' attacks were beginning to land on the mountaintop to kill abyssal creatures, thereby alleviating some pressure for the backup Battle Gods.


    "Just one more push!" Ao Rui yelled as he waved his right hand through the air, and nine giant fireballs shot forth one after another crashing directly toward the three Spirit Dragon Kings.

 Chapter 1845: Replenishment Through Devouring

    Right at this moment, the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings suddenly did something very strange.


    A crimson symbol appeared on each of their heads; these symbols resembled crimson moons, and right after they appeared, several dozens of abyssal creatures immediately flew over to the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings from not far away.


    As soon as they were close to the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings, they would suddenly explode into clouds of dense mist that was devoured by the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings.


    In the next instant, bright blue light radiated from the eyes of the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings, and the spiritual power barrier up above was abruptly enhanced.


    As a result, the nine fireballs were instantly diverted away into the surrounding area.


    "Holy crap! They can do that?" Ao Rui almost swore out loud upon seeing this. The spiritual power of the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings really was being expended very quickly.


    Not only did they have to oversee the entire battlefield, they also had to deal with the Battle Gods'' attacks, but they could replenish their own spiritual power by devouring other abyssal creatures, and that was something that no one had anticipated.


    Furthermore, the approaching abyssal creatures were clearly aware that they were going to die, but they were still plunging toward the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings like moths to a flame. With so many abyssal creatures on this mountaintop, didn''t this mean their spiritual power was virtually limitless?


    Ao Rui quickly composed himself, then decided, "Looks like melee combat is our only option. Let''s go!"


    After that, scintillating light erupted out of his back, propelling his body to plummet toward the mountaintop like a shooting star.


    The Battle Gods followed along closely behind him, also charging toward the mountain summit.


    At this point, a full-scale clash had already ensued between the abyssal army and the human troops on the second defensive line.


    The Invulnerability Mist was simply far too troublesome to deal with; it was able to disrupt all surveillance and enhance the offensive and defensive capabilities of all abyssal creatures.


    In particular, the enhancement to their defensive prowess was so significant that around three times the amount of energy was required to kill each abyssal creature with soul weapons. This allowed the abyssal creatures to survive longer and for more of them to reach closer to the defensive line.


    They were advancing without any regard for their own lives, and they were simply far too fast; only a short while later, they had already scaled halfway up the mountain.


    On the main battlefield, artillery fire was still falling like rain, and the human army was doing everything in its power to oppose the enemy. However, all of the most powerful defensive soul tools had been concentrated in the first defensive line, and the loss of that defensive line placed the human army at a significant disadvantage.


    If it weren''t for Gu Yuena and the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda holding back the abyssal emperors and sovereigns on the battlefield, of which there were over 20, the situation would be even more dire.


    The Abyssal Spirit Dragons had far too great an effect on the battlefield, more so than anyone could¡¯ve imagined. Their Invulnerability Mist and overall leadership skills made the abyssal army an organized unit, and it was impossible to estimate the number of abyssal creatures in the abyssal army as all the abyssal creatures that died would be replaced by more abyssal creatures rushing out of the passageway.


    At this moment, the human army was getting first-hand experience of what their forefathers had faced 6,000 years ago.


    Under the leadership of the Spirit Sovereign, the human army''s most powerful attacks were unable to land inside the abyssal passageway, thereby rendering them unable to stem the flow of abyssal creatures.


    Gu Yuena''s Silver Dragon Spear was constantly devouring the abyssal energy in the air, but the Spirit Sovereign was an extremely formidable foe that possessed even superior spiritual power to her, so she had to focus wholeheartedly on their battle, thereby preventing her from being able to devour more abyssal energy.


    It seemed that an impasse was beginning to ensue, and more and more troops from both sides were beginning to enter the fray. All of the Western Legion, Northwestern Legion, Central Legion, and Southern Legion''s forces had already appeared on the battlefield, but without the long-range artillery support from the three naval fleets, they were still struggling to hold their own against the abyssal army.


    Right at this moment, a group of black figures suddenly barged their way onto the battlefield from the side.


    They immediately appeared on a mountaintop that was on the brink of being overrun, and this mountain was situated on the other side of the one that the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings had already claimed.


    This mountain was only roughly 500 meters tall, making it the shortest one in the surrounding defensive line, and it had become a target for the enemy.


    The defense system on the mountaintop was already being attacked by abyssal creatures from close range, and they were only hanging on by the skin of their teeth thanks to the protective barrier.


    All of the soul cannons were already overheating from prolonged continuous use, and it was clear that they wouldn''t be able to last much longer.


    Right at this moment, a streak of blue light suddenly descended from the heavens, and the air temperature plummeted drastically.


    Immediately thereafter, thousands of ice swords appeared in mid-air without any warning, then rained down from the sky, striking one abyssal creature after another with unerring accuracy.


    Several hundred of the abyssal creatures that were leading from the front and vigorously attacking the protective barrier were instantly nailed to the mountain by the ice swords.


    All of a sudden, a series of red spots appeared all over the mountain''s surface directly beneath the abyssal creatures. In the next instant, one small mushroom cloud after another exploded all over the mountain, and violent booms rang out across every section of the mountain.


    A huge number of abyssal creatures were completely blown apart by the explosions, and even the Invulnerability Mist hadn''t been able to save them.


    "Reinforcements have arrived!"


    Tears instantly began to flow down the face of a colonel situated on the mountaintop. Due to excessive continuous usage, over two-thirds of the soul cannons on the mountain had already malfunctioned. He had already issued an order to detonate all of the missiles and soul energy batteries on the mountain in the instant the protective barrier was broken, hoping to take down more enemies through self-detonation.


    At this point, the protective barrier only had 18% remaining energy, and it would''ve only been able to last 20 more minutes at most.


    Thus, the black mechas descending from the heavens were like saviors sent by the gods in his eyes.


    However, to his surprise, he hadn''t seen any of these black mechas before.


    All of these mechas were black to correspond with the black 10,000-year-old soul rings of human Soul Masters, but each legion had its own emblem imprinted upon their mechas.


    However, these black mechas bore no such emblems; there was only an antiquated red "Tang" character emblazoned onto their chests.


    The colonel murmured to himself, "Those mechas are from the Tang Sect! It looks like there are at least 1,000 of them, and they''re all black mechas!"


    Indeed, these were all black mechas, but what was more fearsome was these mechas'' modes of attack.


    The prior attacks had just been unleashed by the eyes of these black mechas. Their eyes had all turned a terrifying red color, following which a series of red spots appeared all over the mountain, and immediately after that came the violent explosions.


    The colonel had never seen soul lasers of this level of power, and he instantly realized that this had to be a new type of weapon.


    He then saw one figure after another descending out of the sky, heading directly toward the abyssal creatures at the foot of the mountain.


    There was an Abyssal Spirit Dragon among the abyssal creatures on this side, and its pupils immediately contracted upon hearing the resounding explosions. A large plume of red mist instantly emerged from the top of its head, and all of the abyssal creatures within a radius of around 100 meters were instantly devoured by it.


    It then raised its head and expelled close to 20 clouds of Invulnerability Mist in all directions, virtually completely obscuring all of the abyssal creatures around it.

 Chapter 1846: Starlight Reciprocation

    Under the effect of the Invulnerability Mist, the abyssal creatures underwent a second evolution, and this was even more violent than the first. All of the abyssal creatures had become completely unrecognizable following their second evolutions, but their powers had received yet another enormous boost.


    Of course, such extreme measures naturally incurred an extreme price, and all of these abyssal creatures would only be able to last five minutes at most before perishing.


    Under normal circumstances, the Abyssal Spirit Dragon naturally wouldn''t have gone to such an extreme, but as a member of one the most intelligent abyssal creature species, its judgment was extremely astute.


    The attacks raining down from the sky were destroying the abyssal creatures with ease despite the presence of the Invulnerability Mist, and it immediately knew that this was not a favorable matchup. This was definitely a very powerful group of human reinforcements, and under these circumstances, it had chosen to prioritize self-preservation over continuing to attack this mountain.


    It wasn''t the case that all abyssal creatures didn''t fear death. To put it in simpler terms, the more intelligent any living being was, the more they would cherish their own life.


    Thus, after spreading this second wave of Invulnerability Mist all over the battlefield, the Abyssal Spirit Dragon instantly entered its stealth state and vanished on the spot.


    Right at this moment, a figure descended from above, crashing heavily onto the ground the instant after the Abyssal Spirit Dragon vanished.


    "Boom!"


    Devastating explosive power intermingled with an extremely sharp aura reduced all of the mutating abyssal creatures within a radius of several hundred meters into dust.


    As the dust settled, a figure emerged; it was none other than Saber God Douluo Sima Jinchi!


    "What a quick little rascal!" Sima Jinchi harrumphed coldly. His target was none other than that Abyssal Spirit Dragon, but it was too cunning, completely concealing its aura under the Invulnerability Mist to help it escape.


    In a one-on-one battle, perhaps it would''ve been able to keep Sima Jinchi at bay, but there were more powerful beings arriving.


    Wu Zhangkong had unleashed a flurry of ice swords with his Skyfrost Sword, and he was now hovering in mid-air, appraising the entire battlefield.


    They had arrived on the battlefield with the mecha squadron of the Tang Sect, while Long Yeyue and the other Limit Douluos had gone to the Spirit Pagoda side, assisting them in facing the powerful abyssal emperors and sovereigns.


    Even Wu Zhangkong had been stunned by the sight of attacks unleashed by the Tang Sect''s black mechas; the lasers that they had shot out of their eyes were simply devastating!


    Right at this moment, the sky suddenly darkened, and bright stars began to appear up above.


    Streaks of vibrant starlight descended from the heavens, encompassing a large section of the battlefield.


    Even the Invulnerability Mist was unable to keep out the starlight, and there was no need to lock onto any targets as the starlight was shining down over a large area. As a result, the abyssal army down below was instantly plunged into chaos.


    Following their second evolutions, the abyssal creatures had become immensely powerful, but they had also been driven to insanity and would instinctively slaughter everything around them until the remaining five minutes of their lives ran out.


    As the starlight illuminated their bodies, they completely lost their sense of direction, and instead of charging forward, they began to stumble around in all directions. As soon as the abyssal creatures bumped into one another, their slaughter instincts would take over.


    A massive mutated six-clawed bat had just torn through a Ba''an''s eyes, and in retaliation, the Ba''an furiously tore the six-clawed bat to shreds. However, during this process, a piece of the six-clawed bat''s body struck a nearby Demonic Enchantress, which instantly severed the Ba''an''s neck in a fit of fury.


    Similar scenarios were taking place throughout the area illuminated by the starlight, and the abyssal army was plunged into a state of complete chaos and violent bloodshed.


    Wu Zhangkong waved a hand through the air, and said, "Leave everything here to the Tang Sect''s mechas; we have to reinforce the Battle God Hall!"


    They were constantly being informed of the situation on all parts of the battlefield through their soul communicators, and at this moment, the most important section of the battlefield was the one where the Battle Gods were fighting.


    Only in that area had the abyssal creatures already rushed through the second defensive line and was currently attacking the third one.


    Under the protection of the Hornet Sovereign and the three Spirit Dragon Kings, the abyssal creatures had been able to inflict heavy losses upon the human army.


    Leaving the Tang Sect''s mechas behind to mop up the battlefield here, Wu Zhangkong led his elite group toward the Battle Gods.


    At this point, the battlefield over at the Battle Gods'' side was already extremely chaotic.


    The three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings were still gathered together, posing immense problems for the Battle Gods with their powerful spiritual disruption and control abilities.


    Furthermore, all of the abyssal creatures on the battlefield had been enhanced to an incredible degree under their control. Among this branch of the abyssal army was a large number of high-tier abyssal creatures, including Black Empresses, Demonic Enchantresses, Evil Sickles, and six Guardian Longhorned Beetles.


    Just a single cloud of Invulnerability Mist released by the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings was able to elevate the powers of these high-tier abyssal creatures to be close to the level of abyssal emperors.


    The Battle Gods were also very formidable, but all of them had to constantly be on their guard against spiritual disruption from the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings. Their immense spiritual power would often temporarily stun the Battle Gods, in which case they would only be able to rely on the defenses of their battle armor and assistance from their allies to keep them safe.


    Both sides seemed to be evenly matched, but this wasn''t what the Battle Gods wanted; they had to defeat their opponents as quickly as possible to prevent the abyssal army from advancing further outward.


    The third defensive line had already raised the alarm, and a large number of troops were already being sent there for reinforcement.


    However, there were over 10 Abyssal Spirit Dragons here, and with their presence, the situation was looking extremely dire. An opening was about to appear at any moment now.


    Currently, the three Spirit Dragon Kings were having an even greater effect than the Spirit Sovereign as they were dominating the entire battlefield.


    Wu Zhangkong, Sima Jinchi, Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng, and Shrek''s Six Monsters were rushing to the scene as quickly as they could.


    From the sky above, it was virtually impossible to see anything as everything was concealed under dense Invulnerability Mist, thereby preventing them from tracking down the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings.


    "What do we do, Zhangkong?" Lan Muzi asked.


    Wu Zhangkong cast his gaze toward the third defensive line, then looked down at the battle raging down below, and a decisive look appeared in his eyes. "We reinforce the defensive line; I''m confident that the Battle God Hall will be able to hold on."


    The battle between Guan Yue and the Black Sovereign had already reached white-hot intensity, and overall, Guan Yue held a slight upper hand, displaying his quasigod level combat prowess to perfection. If he could end his battle and assist the other Battle Gods, then the situation on this battlefield would still be quite stable.


    The most important thing was that the third defensive line had to remain strong no matter what. Otherwise, disaster would follow.


    "Alright," Lan Muzi replied without any hesitation.


    At a time like this, there could only be one governing voice in a group; only then would there be perfect unity and cohesion.


    Thus, after a brief delay, the group immediately flew toward the third defensive line.


    However, a massive swarm of Abyssal Bomber Hornets suddenly detached itself from the main swarm and began to fly toward them.


    "I''ll take them on!" Tang Yinmeng yelled, and in the next instant, soundwaves carrying a rhythmic melody were already surging through the air.


    The Abyssal Bomber Hornets were like ignited fireworks, exploding en masse in the sky.

 Chapter 1847: Infrasonic Weapons

    With Tang Yinmeng clearing the path, everyone continued on toward the third defensive line.


    Right at this moment, a total of 12 special soul aircrafts appeared on the battlefield in the distance, escorted by over 300 more conventional soul aircrafts.


    Even the powerful beings of the Battle God Hall had never seen this type of soul aircraft appear on a battlefield, let alone those from the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda.


    In reality, the vast majority of the Western Legion, Northwestern Legion, and Southern Legion''s troops were also completely in the dark.


    In contrast with the normal aerodynamic soul aircrafts, these ones appeared to be quite bulky and clumsy.


    Not only were they over five times the size of a conventional soul aircraft, their bellies were extremely rotund, and there was what appeared to be a massive dome sitting on top of each of them, presenting a very peculiar sight to behold.


    What were those things? Were these new weapons recently developed by the federation?


    As soon as Wu Zhangkong caught sight of those aircrafts, he immediately changed his mind. "We don''t need to go there anymore; let''s reinforce the Battle God Hall."


    Right as he made this decision, the 12 strange aircrafts began to display their power, and a faint buzzing sound rang out on the battlefield.


    The buzzing wasn''t very loud at all, and unless one paid special attention to it or was particularly sensitive, they wouldn''t even be able to notice it over the sound of the incessant artillery explosions.


    The abyssal creatures naturally didn''t notice this, either, nor did they feel anything special.


    Many flying abyssal creatures, including Abyssal Bomber Hornets, were already swarming toward the cluster of aircrafts, but these 300 soul aircrafts were all that the Central Legion had left, and their combined artillery output was able to keep even the Abyssal Bomber Hornets at bay.


    In the next instant, the Abyssal Bomber Hornets, which were the weakest individually, began to display a reaction to the faint buzzing sound.


    First, they began to tremble uncontrollably while flying at high speed, and this immediately made their formation slightly chaotic and scrambled.


    In the next instant, one Abyssal Bomber Hornets after another suddenly split open from the abdomen before disintegrating into abyssal energy.


    This was different from Tang Yinmeng using soundwaves to detonate them; it was as if the Abyssal Bomber Hornets'' internal organs had decayed, thereby leading to their deaths.


    Initially, this was only happening to a few Abyssal Bomber Hornets, but within the span of just a few breathes, Abyssal Bomber Hornets carcasses began to fall like rain, disintegrating into abyssal energy during their descent.


    The Hornet Sovereign, who was currently controlling all of her brethren, was immediately struck by incessant waves of feebleness, causing her aura to be significantly debilitated. This naturally came as quite a shock to her.


    Each and every Abyssal Bomber Hornet was like a part of her body. With her ultra-powerful control abilities, each one of her compound eyes could control a huge number of Abyssal Bomber Hornets.


    Deaths up to a certain number were completely inconsequential as the Abyssal Bomber Hornets would quickly resurrect in the abyssal plane and replenish the lost numbers.


    However, if too many of these hornets were to perish, then the Hornet Sovereign would suffer from backlash.


    In this short span of time, over a third of the Abyssal Bomber Hornets had already perished; that amounted to a number in the millions!


    Even all of the artillery that came before this combined hadn''t inflicted such severe losses on the Abyssal Bomber Hornets.


    The Hornet Sovereign hurriedly issued an instruction for the Abyssal Bomber Hornets to retreat, and by the time they retreated into the distance, less than half of the Abyssal Bomber Hornets remained.


    Meanwhile, the 12 strange aircrafts had already dispersed and were escorted by the other soul aircrafts toward the third defensive line, which was currently under attack from the abyssal army.


    The buzzing sound became noticeably louder, and the abyssal creatures down below were instantly thrown into disarray.


    Initially, they were only struck by feelings of frustration and anxiety, but soon, the condition of some of the abyssal creatures began to rapidly deteriorate. After that, their abdomens also began to split open as had happened to the Abyssal Bomber Hornets, and liquids of different colors flowed out of their bodies as they perished and disintegrated into abyssal energy.


    This was happening to huge sections of the abyssal army, and the pressure on the third defensive line was instantly eased significantly.


    The weapons being used here were infrasonic weapons, one of the newest types of weapons developed by the federation, and it was ranked alongside the heavy ion laser as the two most cutting-edge pieces of warfare technology.


    What made infrasonic weapons so dangerous was that their attacks covered extremely large areas, and they killed enemies by triggering resonance on a special frequency.


    Furthermore, infrasonic weapons didn''t destroy the environment as nothing would be affected as long as they weren''t on that special frequency, so humans were safe from such weapons as well.


    It was clear that the soundwave frequency the 12 aircrafts had been switched to was designed to target different types of abyssal creatures. To put it more accurately, it was to target abyssal energy.


    Abyssal energy was an extremely special form of energy, and humans had been studying it for thousands of years. The Blood God Legion wasn''t just guarding the abyssal passageway; it had also provided a lot of information and samples for human research toward the abyss.


    Infrasonic weapons hadn''t been developed just to target abyssal creatures; they could target any type of living being, and they were being touted as an important weapon for future space exploration.


    Only in the past few years was initial success achieved on this project, and these 12 infrasonic aircrafts were the first batch of prototypes.


    Infrasonic weapons were extremely powerful, but they also had many downsides, including their bulky size and lack of defensive capabilities, which meant that they had to be protected by large numbers of troops at all times. Thus, there were no plans to mass-produce these weapons at the moment.


    In fact, they hadn''t even been held in as high a regard as the heavy ion laser weapons, but as it turned out, they were far more useful than heavy ion laser weapons on this battlefield. After decimating a huge number of abyssal creatures, the crisis of the third defensive line was temporarily averted.


    One Abyssal Spirit Dragon screech after another rang out across the battlefield as they attempted to use their own spiritual power to create soundwave vibrations to resist the infrasonic weapons'' attacks.


    Even though they weren''t able to completely nullify the infrasonic weapons, this was at least enough to ensure their survival.


    At this point, Wu Zhangkong and the others had already descended onto the mountaintop. There wasn''t a single Limit Douluo in the group, but all of them were wearing complete or incomplete suits of four-word battle armor. As soon as they arrived on the battlefield, the pressure on the Battle Gods was lessened significantly.


    "Make sure to protect Xiaoyan, and let''s go kill those three big lizards," Wu Zhangkong said as he pointed his Skyfrost Sword in the direction of the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings.


    The 10 of them instantly changed formations with Sima Jinchi, Yuanen Yehui, and Yue Zhengyu at the front, Wu Zhangkong and Lan Muzi just behind them, and everyone else bringing up the rear while Xu Xiaoyan was situated at the very center.


    Xu Xiaoyan had already proven her worth as an exceptional control system Soul Master on many occasions, and the most fearsome aspect of her soul skills was their absolute nature.


    There was virtually no chance of her soul skills failing, and only through her control did they have a chance to completely destroy the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings, which possessed immense spiritual power and combat prowess almost on par with Limit Douluos.


    Without the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings overseeing the battlefield, the enemies would undoubtedly become significantly weaker, and with the infrasonic weapons causing mass destruction, the situation on the battlefield would be stabilized.


    ......


    On the Arctic Ocean.


    Just like the clash on the main battlefield, the battle at sea had also reached white-hot intensity.


    The enormous purplish-black back had appeared on the surface of the sea again, while two warships and over 10 medium and small battleships were already lying in the final resting place at the bottom of the sea.


    The gigantic whale rushed forward again, and it was extraordinarily fast. The three naval fleets were already extremely careful with their defenses, but they were still unable to keep it at bay.

 Chapter 1848: Who Are You?

    Weapons like torpedoes were about as effective as peashooters on the colossal whale, and as soon as the artillery fire was focused on the whale, it would immediately sink down into the depths, using the sea as a shield.


    Just a single sea soul beast was keeping the three naval fleets completely occupied, and Chen Zeyu''s frustration was mounting by the second.


    This was the first time he had truly acted as commander on a battlefield, yet they had already sustained heavy losses. He had done everything in his power, and these losses weren''t the result of incompetency on his part, but this was the reality of the situation.


    At the end of the day, the outcome was all that mattered; the process to reach that outcome would only be studied if that outcome had been perfect.


    The massive whale resurfaced in the distance, and another enormous purplish-black pillar of water erupted into the heavens, replenishing the dark clouds in the sky that had only just begun to thin out.


    The corrosive rain immediately became more damaging as a result. The rain didn''t pose any immediate threat, but it was constantly chipping away at the energy reserves of the three naval fleets over time, and that was the most troublesome thing about it.


    If things were to continue like this, it was very much a possibility that the three naval fleets could be stalled to death by this giant whale!


    Right at this moment, the situation suddenly took a turn.


    The turbulent sea became completely placid without any warning, and in the next instant, a series of giant water spouts erupted around the three naval fleets, extending high up into the sky.


    The water spouts gradually converged in the sky, forming a water barrier to keep the vast majority of the corrosive rain at bay.


    At the same time, a figure also appeared in mid-air, and upon catching sight of this figure, all of the troops on the three naval fleets erupted into raucous cheers.


    Chen Zeyu''s mouth gaped open, and the same feeling of excitement also surfaced in his heart. Even though this was a bittersweet feeling that was also accompanied by a hint of dejection, he still couldn''t help but pump his fist in excitement.


    Despite his head of white hair, his back remained straight, and his head was held tall and proud. Hanging in mid-air, he was like a stabilizing force that instilled confidence into everyone''s hearts.


    A suit of blue four-word battle armor encapsulated every part of his body aside from his head.


    The name of this suit of four-word battle armor was named Vast Sea Cosmos to commemorate the Vast Sea Cosmic Seal that played an important role in the legend of Tang San.  [1]


    At the same time, the cosmos encompassed both yin and yang, light and dark, thereby subtly alluding to the Light Dark Douluo whom he held so dear to his heart.


    He was back; the true commander of the Sea God Legion and the most powerful human being on the sea was back!


    The water spouts that had erupted into the sky converged around him like his personal guardians, and in the instant that he arrived, the sea turned from the naval fleets'' enemy to their ally.


    In the distance, the purplish-black figure didn''t descend again. Instead, more of it emerged on the surface of the sea, and a devastating aura surged forth from the distance.


    A vast expanse of blue naturally rose up around Chen Xinjie''s body to clash with the oncoming purplish-black aura, and in that instant, the entire sea seemed to have trembled violently as turbulent waves broke over its placid surface once again.


    All of the water spouts and the dark clouds formed by the corrosive rain clashed in the sky, causing both sides to instantly explode and scatter.


    A layer of faint blue rippling light appeared over the surface of Chen Xinjie''s battle armor, and his voice rang out beside Chen Zeyu''s ears. "Leave everything here to me; focus on reinforcing the front lines with artillery fire."


    "Yes!" Chen Zeyu replied before immediately ordering the three naval fleets to retreat.


    This was a clash between quasigods, and it was bound to be extremely destructive.


    Chen Zeyu didn''t know where the giant whale had come from, but what was certain was that only his father had a chance of stopping it.


    Chen Xinjie''s arrival instantly filled Chen Zeyu with a strong sense of security. He had always wanted to be independent, but only now did he truly realize just how heavily he had always relied on his father deep down in his heart.


    Even more than reliance, he was full of confidence in Chen Xinjie. In his eyes, following Yun Ming''s passing, his father had already become the most powerful being in this world.


    In the wake of Yun Ming''s demise, the discussion of who was now the most powerful Soul Master naturally arose.


    Some had proposed that it was Qiangu Dieting, some championed Cao Dezhi, and there were all sorts of opinions being thrown around, but the one who most people thought was deserving of this title was none other than Chen Xinjie.


    Regardless of whether it was the Spirit Pagoda Qiangu Dieting, or the Tang Sect representative Cao Dezhi, or the Shrek Academy representative Long Yeyue, all of them seemed to be lagging behind the seasoned quasigod that was Chen Xinjie.


    Perhaps only the combination of the Heartless Douluo and the Amorous Douluo would be able to defeat him, but at their level, it was very unlikely that they would ever clash.


    Chen Xinjie very rarely appeared in battle, and even if he did, there was virtually no one powerful enough to force him into unleashing the full extent of his power.


    Despite his long period of inactivity, the opinion that he was the most powerful being in this world was treated as a fact in the Sea God Legion and even the entire federal navy.


    This was also why the federation didn''t dare to do anything to him even though he was essentially directly responsible for the loss of Eternal Heaven.


    This was perhaps an opportunity for him to truly claim the title of the most powerful being in this world for himself.


    Chen Zeyu was confident that his father could do it. He was the closest being to godhood on the continent!


    The three naval fleets slowly backed away, and the gigantic whale did nothing to stop them; it merely hovered in mid-air while its aura shifted incessantly.


    Chen Xinjie was appraising it with an intense gaze. As long as he was on the sea, his powers would be infinitely approaching those of a god, but their initial clash hadn''t instilled him with much confidence.


    This enormous whale had superior affinity with the sea than he did, and even among sea soul beasts, this was the first time Chen Xinjie had ever felt something like this.


    What exactly was this massive whale? It was definitely something that stood above the quasigod level.


    Chen Xinjie was naturally well aware of his own capabilities, and even though they seemed to have been evenly matched in that clash, he knew that he had come off second-best.


    He had enhanced himself with multiple soul skills and unleashed the full extent of his power, but the whale seemed to have only unleashed a probing strike in retaliation.


    When had such a powerful being appeared in the sea? Could it be that this really was a legendary 1,000,000-year-old soul beast?


    "Who are you?" Chen Xinjie instantly communicated this question with his spiritual power.


    Such a powerful sea soul beast definitely wouldn''t possess intelligence inferior to a human.


    The reply that came from the gigantic whale was filled with coldness and malicious intent. "You''ve been searching for me all this time, haven''t you? I''m here now. You''re Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie, right? Today is the day that you die!"


    Each and every word was imbued with extremely cold intent. To put it more accurately, this was divine sense.


    That''s right, this giant whale was also at the Divine Origin realm!


    In the past few millennia, not even a single being on this continent had reached the Divine Origin realm, but in this battle, three beings with Divine Origin realm spiritual power had already emerged, namely the Spirit Sovereign, Gu Yuena, and now this massive whale.


    Chen Xinjie''s eyes narrowed slightly, and the blue aura around him suddenly became more pronounced.


    In that instant, his eyes turned golden, and an incredibly powerful spiritual aura swept forth. Bright golden light erupted out of his eyes, and the entire sea was illuminated a bluish-golden color.


    [1] [Ok, this is gonna be a bit of a rant. As you may have noticed, the name of the four-word battle armor is only three words. The exact same term is used for its name (嫺£Ç¬À¤) as the Vast Sea Cosmic Seal (嫺£Ç¬À¤ÕÖ), so I kinda had no choice but to translate it as Vast Sea Cosmos as it''s stated that the name is meant to pay homage to the Vast Sea Cosmic Seal. That''s the explanation, here comes the rant about boring translation technicalities; if you''re not interested, turn back now. The term "×Ö" is the term that is translated into "word" in "insert number here"-word battle armor. As soon as I took on this project, I recognized it as a slight inaccuracy as "×Ö" translates more accurately into "character" as opposed to "word", for which the term "´Ê" is more appropriate. Now, Google Translate will provide one of the definitions of "×Ö" as word, but I''m basically asking you to trust me here when I say that that''s BS LOL. Up to the point where I took over the story (around chapter 715), it had always been translated as "insert number here"-word battle armor, so I stuck with word as I didn''t want to go through 700+ chapters changing all instances of a term. There hasn''t been any issue up to this point, but as you can see, the slight inaccuracy in the translation of the term has resulted in this predicament here, where a four-word battle armor name actually turns out to be three words, and it would be much more accurate to refer to it as "insert number here"-CHARACTER battle armor. Thus concludes my explanation and rant, thanks for reading if you made it this far :)]

 Chapter 1849: True God

    "What pleasure is there to be derived from living? And why should death be something to be feared? In my opinion, there are only two sources of joy in life, one of which is to be with the one I love, while the other is to encounter an opponent powerful enough to make my heart race. I already have both of those things now; how is death going to dampen my mood? Come! Let me see if you have what it takes to kill me."


    "You''re also at the Divine Origin realm? You''ve been repressing your own power!" A hint of surprise crept into the intent of the whale.


    That''s right, the spiritual power that Chen Xinjie was releasing and was currently contending with that of the giant whale was at none other than the Divine Origin realm.


    Chen Xinjie smiled, and said, "I won''t be able to live long if I incur the wrath of the heavens. There''s no chance for me to ascend to a higher plane in this lifetime, so I naturally have to keep myself in check to prolong this life as much as possible."


    A hint of reminiscence appeared in his eyes as he spoke, and he couldn''t help but think back to the most spectacular battle of his life.


    High up in the sky above the sea, he had fought the undisputed most powerful being in this world.


    For three days and three nights, they clashed with all their might without pause or rest.


    At the time, they were both already at the Divine Origin realm, and the final outcome was a tie!


    That''s right, Chen Xinjie had once had a tied battle against Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    Only the two of them knew the final outcome of that battle, and following the battle, Chen Xinjie announced publicly that he had lost to Yun Ming, thereby cementing his position as the most powerful being in the world.


    In reality, there had been nothing separating them in that battle. Even though they had fought above the sea, their battle had taken place at such a high altitude that the assistance Chen Xinjie received from the sea was completely negligible. Thus, Chen Xinjie really wasn''t much weaker than Yun Ming, and Yun Ming''s powers were enhanced in the sky.


    However, he already owed Long Yeyue too much, and he didn''t want others to place him above Shrek Academy, so he had announced his defeat to the world.


    Yun Ming hadn''t offered any clarification or explanation. To them, the outcome of that battle wasn''t important; what was important was the objective that they were trying to accomplish.


    Just as the Limit Douluos of the Spirit Pagoda and the Holy Spirit Cult were searching for an opportunity for ascension, they were also searching for the same opportunity on that occasion.


    The Atlas Douluo and the Boundless Ocean Douluo had battled in the hope that perhaps a clash between the two most powerful beings in the world would help one or both of them break through the quasigod bottleneck to attain godhood.


    Of course, the outcome had been downright pitiful.


    When they tried to break through the limits of this realm, they felt nothing; complete emptiness.


    Perhaps they were already powerful enough to become gods, but their power wasn''t sufficient to create a place that could contain a god, which would be a Divine Realm.


    Without the guidance of the Divine Realm, they could only remain on the Douluo Continent regardless of how powerful they became, and they would be forced to continue to live under the restrictions of the plane.


    During that period of time, both Chen Xinjie and Yun Ming had been extremely dejected. That was already the best idea they could think of, yet it had still failed.


    Chen Xinjie was someone from the same generation as Long Yeyue, so he was older than Yun Ming. Upon reaching the Divine Origin realm, a part of them had already reached the godly level, so the plane would be paying them particularly close attention. Thus, both he and Yun Ming chose to restrict their own spiritual power in order to avoid having to contend with the plane, thereby allowing them to live longer.


    However, in the face of this formidable foe, Chen Xinjie couldn''t afford to restrict himself any longer.


    Indeed, following Yun Ming''s passing, Chen Xinjie was the undisputed most powerful being on this plane. At the very least, that was the case for now.


    "It''s always been a regret of mine that I was unable to battle Yun Ming, but it seems that your powers aren''t inferior to his. I''ll make you the final sacrifice to fulfill my breakthrough!"


    The giant whale''s cold voice sounded in Chen Xinjie''s mind once again, and in the next instant, it suddenly raised its head before releasing scintillating purplish-golden light.


    Its enormous body began to shrink, and a nude figure slowly emerged in mid-air.


    The figure''s body was concealed by a hazy purplish-golden aura, but it could still be discerned that this was a woman.


    During the process in which she adopted her human form, a massive area of the sea also turned a purplish-golden color.


    Chen Xinjie could clearly sense that the sea had been taken over by a burst of formidable energy that was completely rejecting his soul power.


    His pupils contracted drastically as a look of incredulity appeared on his face.


    This energy that was able to transform the entire sea a purplish-golden color definitely wasn''t something that was supposed to exist in the human world.


    At this point, the woman had already completed her transformation, and she began to make her way toward Chen Xinjie as her appearance was gradually revealed.


    She was very beautiful, but her eyes were cold and forbidding, and they were giving off a purplish-golden light. With each step she took, the air would warp ever-so-slightly, as if it were trying to reject her out of this world. However, the purplish-golden color of the seawater down below was only growing darker and darker.


    This was definitely the first time Chen Xinjie had ever seen this woman, and the aura that she was giving off was astonishing even to him.


    "Not only have you reached the Divine Origin realm, even your soul power is already..." Chen Xinjie''s heart was beginning to tremble, and this had never happened, regardless of how powerful his opponents had been.


    However, at this moment, he was completely unable to control his own emotions.


    The thing that he had been pursuing for so many years was currently standing right before him; she had succeeded in the objective that he had sought for most of his life!


    The woman''s purplish-golden dress was swaying in the breeze, and she declared in a cold voice that was filled with pride, "That''s right, this is godly power!"


    "You''re already a god?" Chen Xinjie exclaimed.


    The woman replied, "My spiritual power and soul power are both of the godly level, but there is no place that can contain me in this accursed world. Hence, I''m still not a god in the truest sense, but to mere mortals like you, I am already a god! If you''re a quasigod, then I am a true god! All humans must die! I''m going to harness your fear of death, your hatred, your anger, your pain, your despair; all of your negative emotions will allow me to create a Divine World, hahahahahaha!"


    She suddenly burst into deranged laughter, and the entire sea trembled beneath her.


    Chen Xinjie''s heart was filled with astonishment, and he asked, "Who are you?"


    The last time anyone on this continent had reached the true god level had been Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, and this level was only half a step away from godhood.


    It was extremely difficult to attain Divine Origin realm spiritual power, but spiritual power was something that was naturally present in the human body, so there was always a chance for someone to reach that level.


    However, soul power was different in that it belonged to this world.


    In order to reach the legendary rank 100 in soul power, the first thing one had to do was break through the restraints of this world; only then would they be able to reach the true god level.


    However, that was certainly no easy feat. It was almost impossible for a single person to contend with an entire plane; even some of the weaker gods would find this a very tall order.


    Chen Xinjie had attempted to make this breakthrough himself, and he had done so with the assistance of Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    They were the two most powerful quasigods of this world, and both of them had reached the Divine Origin realm, yet they had still failed in the end, and that was already sufficient testament to just how arduous this task was.

 Chapter 1850: Demon Sovereign

    However, there was a supposed true god currently standing right before him.


    If someone else had been in Chen Xinjie''s shoes, they would most likely think that she was merely bluffing. However, it was exactly because Chen Xinjie had once been close to that level that he knew that she was telling the truth.


    She really had already reached the godly level; all that she was missing was a godseat.


    She was like a miraculous existence, yet this miracle was being presented so clearly to him.


    Even more importantly, she seemed to have reached this level as a soul beast!


    Throughout human history, there had been no records of any soul beast ever reaching the godly level; even the leader of the 10 Great Beasts, Beast God Di Tian, hadn''t managed to reach those heights.


    If this woman''s true form were that massive whale, then she would undoubtedly be a sea soul beast.


    It was said that the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, had once killed a 1,000,000-year-old Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, but even the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King in those records hadn''t been as large as this creature.


    It would all make sense if she really had already reached the godly level.


    Due to the lack of human interference, apex predators among sea soul beasts could survive more easily than the most powerful soul beasts on land, but even so, it simply wasn''t a simple task to attain godhood.


    "Who am I?" the woman chuckled coldly, "You''ve been looking for me for a very long time, haven''t you? Surely you don''t need me to tell you who I am."


    Chen Xinjie was struck by a sudden sense of realization, and he exclaimed, "You''re Demon Sovereign of the Holy Spirit Cult!"


    The woman smiled, and said, "You''re a smart man. That''s right, I am Demon Sovereign. I bet you didn''t think that the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult that you''d been pursuing all this time would be a soul beast, much less a sea soul beast."


    Indeed, Chen Xinjie was shocked beyond words.


    Just as Demon Sovereign had said, never had it occurred to him that the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult would be a sea soul beast.


    It was no wonder that no one had heard anything about the rise of this Demon Sovereign, but she had suddenly appeared at the top of the Holy Spirit Cult, and even the likes of Infernal King Douluo Harosha and Ghost Emperor had been willing to serve her.


    "It looks like you were successful with the Blood River Godslayer Array, after all." Chen Xinjie knew that Demon Sovereign clearly hadn''t broken through the restrictions of this realm through her own power.


    It was through harnessing the Blood River Godslayer Array''s power that she was finally able to reach the true god level.


    A bone-chilling look appeared in Demon Sovereign''s eyes upon hearing this. "I succeeded? I would''ve actually succeeded if I just had a bit more time! You accursed humans cut me off at the most critical juncture. Otherwise, I would''ve devoured the lives of you humans and those abyssal creatures to create the embryo of a Divine Realm. You humans ruined tens of thousands of years of painstaking preparation, so all of you have to die! I''m going to use all of your lives and the entire plane''s resentment toward me to create another Blood River Godslayer Array!"


    Chen Xinjie finally understood what was going on upon hearing this.


    Demon Sovereign had been the mastermind behind everything. She had opened the passageway and drawn the abyssal creatures into this world, not to assist the abyssal plane, but instead to use them to complete her Blood River Godslayer Array.


    Creating a Divine Realm was a monumental task, yet only by creating a Divine Realm would godseats come into existence. Even the weakest and smallest Divine Realm had to be supported by an enormous amount of energy, so where did this energy come from?


    The sacrifice of 10,000,000 souls had only just barely managed to create the Blood River Godslayer Array; where would the rest of the required energy come from? Her goal wasn''t just to destroy the human world; she was even plotting against the abyssal creatures! She was going to use the Blood River Godslayer Array to devour all of the humans and abyssal creatures that she attracted, creating the foundation of her Divine Realm.


    All of the living beings in the northernmost region would become stepping stones for her in her pursuit to create a Divine Realm, and if she were to succeed, she would undoubtedly immediately devour the entire Douluo Plane to strengthen her Divine Realm just like the Holy Lord was aiming to do.


    This was the full extent of her plan! Having connected all the dots, everything became clear to Chen Xinjie.


    Ever since the Holy Spirit Cult and the Spirit Pagoda had colluded to bomb Shrek City, this sinister plot had already unfolded. Everything that happened next, including the attack on the Blood God Legion and the triggering of the abyssal tide, was all working toward this ultimate goal.


    It didn''t matter that their attack on the Blood God Legion ultimately proved to be unsuccessful; what was important was that they had managed to secure contact with the abyssal plane through that abyssal passageway. Finally, the two worked together to create a second abyssal passageway, thereby resulting in this battle.


    It was also at that time that the Blood River Godslayer Array was finally unveiled, and with the power of the array, Demon Sovereign was able to expand the abyssal passageway further to allow in more abyssal creatures.


    In her eyes, everything, including the abyssal and human armies, were prey for her to devour.


    However, even she had failed to anticipate just how powerful Eternal Heaven was; it was even more fearsome than the other two godslayer missiles combined.


    Finally, she had completed the vast majority of her plan and attained godly power. She launched an attack on the human army, drawing out more powerful human and abyssal beings, yet just as she was about to devour them all with her Blood River Godslayer Array, the Eternal Heaven blast arrived.


    That explosion destroyed the Blood River Godslayer Array, and her ambitions and hope along with it.


    With her godly power, she was able to escape from the array just in the nick of time, but her dream of creating a Divine Realm had been completely shattered.


    This made her livid with rage. Never did she think that such a powerful abyssal army led by the Spirit Sovereign, who possessed Divine Origin realm spiritual power, would be unable to withstand even a single attack.


    The Blood River Godslayer Array was destroyed, and most importantly, the situation that she had manufactured had been ruined. How was she going to be able to set up another scenario where so many powerful abyssal creatures were gathered together in one place?


    The abyssal creatures clearly weren''t going to give up, so she could only help them destroy the human race first before finding another opportunity to create the Blood River Godslayer Array again. After that, she would have to think of a way to create her Divine Realm.


    However, this would make everything a lot more unpredictable and volatile, and that was why she was harboring such intense fury.


    At this moment, Chen Xinjie could feel chills running down his own spine. At the same time, he was struck by a feeling of deep gratitude toward the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. If they had been as selfish as the Spirit Pagoda and chosen not to use Eternal Heaven, then the entire Douluo Star would be doomed once this insane woman created her Divine Realm.


    Thankfully, Eternal Heaven had been used at the most critical juncture, giving everyone a sliver of a chance to turn the tables. Even though Demon Sovereign had already reached the true god level, she was still affected by the restrictive power of the plane and hadn''t managed to created a Divine Realm.

 Chapter 1851: Sea God Douluo

    The only problem he was facing was who exactly was going to be able to stop the true god level Demon Sovereign? Was he going to be up to the task?


    "Your insanity will inevitably lead to your doom," Chen Xinjie said in a cold voice.


    At the same time, his body began to transform.


    His four-word battle armor began to radiate faint light as if it had been ignited, and his entire body seemed to have become transparent.


    Simultaneously, Chen Xinjie slowly raised his hands and made a cup with his hands, as if he were carrying something very heavy.


    In the next instant, a blue helmet slowly took shape above his palms.


    In the instant the helmet appeared, the sea down below suddenly returned to a placid state, and this calmness was spreading into the distance at an astonishing rate.


    Even the purplish-golden godly power in the sea was being cleansed away, allowing it to return to its normal clear blue color.


    Demon Sovereign faltered slightly upon seeing this before her brows furrowed tightly. "Is that a divine tool that''s related to the sea?"


    Chen Xinjie replied, "In the human world, there is a clan that has always been protecting the sea from the shadows. Every generation, this clan will have a leader, and that person will be the spokesperson of the sea; I am the current clan leader."


    A thought seemed to suddenly occur to Demon Sovereign upon hearing this. "You''re a descendant of the Sea God!"


    Chen Xinjie nodded in response. "That''s right, I am the leader of the Sea God Clan, so my Douluo Title isn''t actually Boundless Ocean. Instead, it''s Sea God; I am the current generation Sea God Douluo."


    The hatred in Demon Sovereign''s eyes became more intense than ever, but even so, her current spiritual power was still insufficient to affect the sea beneath her.


    "You''re a descendant of Tang San''s?" she spat through gritted teeth.


    Chen Xinjie shook his head in response. "No, I''m not a descendant of Tang San''s. Our Sea God Clan came into existence long before Tang San did. In the distant past, when Soul Masters first emerged among the human race, our Sea God Clan had already come into existence. We have the bloodline of the Sea God flowing through our veins, and it was the Sea God who left us here to protect his heritage, waiting for the fated individuals to claim his inheritance. At the same time, we were assigned the task of protecting the sea.


    "20,000 years ago, the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San, appeared on the Sea God''s Island. At the time, the Sea God''s true inheritance was situated on the island, as well as the Sea God''s transcendent divine weapon, the Sea God''s Trident. Tang San completed the trials and gained the Sea God''s acknowledgment, allowing him to become the Sea God. Most of the trials that he faced at the time had been set for him by the members of our clan at the time. Once the Sea God''s Trident was pulled out by Tang San, the Sea God''s Island ceased to exist, and we completed our mission.


    "After Tang San ascended into the Divine Realm, he didn''t sever this heritage. Instead, as thanks for the contributions that our clan has made, he helped us keep this heritage and continue to protect the sea. In order to commemorate the Sea God, Shrek Academy also set up the Sea God''s Island and Sea God''s Lake; all of this was to commemorate the Sea God and our clan. Each generation of the Sea God Douluo dutifully protected the sea. When the Sun Moon Continent was en route to colliding with the Douluo Continent 10,000 years ago, we had intended to intervene.


    "However, the Divine Realm still existed at the time, and Sea God Tang San told us that this would be an opportunity for the entire world to improve, so we didn''t do anything. After that, he never contacted us again, and we couldn''t sense the Divine Realm''s existence anymore, either. However, the Sea God''s heritage definitely hasn''t ended; we are still protecting it, so even if you''ve become a supposed true god, you''ll have to step over our bodies if you want to destroy the sea and this world."


    Demon Sovereign''s eyes narrowed slightly as a complex look appeared on her face. "Why? Why does the Sea God neglect his children in the sea, but chose to give his inheritance to you humans? You humans are vile and shameless creatures who only know how to slaughter and destroy!"


    "What right do you have to accuse us of slaughter and destruction?" Chen Xinjie interrogated in a cold voice.


    A hint of deep-rooted grief suddenly flashed through Demon Sovereign''s eyes. "Why do I have no right to make these accusations? Once upon a time, I was just an oblivious young woman. All I wanted was to live happily with my husband and my family, yet my husband died, and my family was destroyed, and this was all by the hands of you humans! I''ll have to step over your body? Fine! I''ll just have to kill you, then destroy the entire human race to avenge my husband!"


    Demon Sovereign raised her hands and thrust her palms up toward the heavens as she spoke. The purplish golden aura around her suddenly grew denser, and even though the sea managed to retain its blue color under Chen Xinjie''s influence, the sky had turned a forbidding purplish-black color.


    Demon Sovereign''s eyes instantly turned a crimson color, and she began to give off a deranged aura as she abruptly swept her hands in Chen Xinjie''s direction.


    The air instantly became viscous, and all of the air around Chen Xinjie abruptly vanished, creating a vacuum that was releasing tremendous tearing force, threatening to rip his body to shreds.


    This was an attack of the true god caliber!


    The light shining from Chen Xinjie''s battle armor began to fluctuate violently, and it seemed that he was on the brink of being torn apart.


    However, right at this moment, the helmet on his head suddenly released a blue light barrier that enveloped his body.


    Within the light barrier, the blue light radiating from Chen Xinjie''s body suddenly grew brighter and instantly filled the entire interior of the light barrier.


    His eyes also began to glow with scintillating bluish-golden light, and he suddenly took a step forward to escape from the vacuum.


    In the next instant, he was already in the air above Demon Sovereign, and he thrust his palms down from above.


    The surrounding sea seemed to have instantly become completely connected to him, and it was furiously rejecting Demon Sovereign.


    The boundless power of the sea transformed into tremendous compression force at Chen Xinjie''s behest, threatening to crush Demon Sovereign to a pulp.


    The helmet that Chen Xinjie was wearing had been left behind by Sea God Tang San, and it was a divine tool that Tang San had forged with his own hands in the Divine Realm, replicating the helmet of the Sea God''s armor. Furthermore, its quality definitely wasn''t inferior to that of the original helmet. He had given the helmet to the descendants of the Sea God Douluo to help them protect the sea, and only each generation of the Sea God Douluo had to right to inherit this helmet.


    As the current Sea God Douluo, the helmet naturally fell into Chen Xinjie''s possession.


    With this divine tool, even the true god level Demon Sovereign wouldn''t be able to seize control over the sea away from Chen Xinjie. This attack was also of the godly level!


    The purplish-golden aura around Demon Sovereign was violently compressed, instantly transforming what appeared to be a cocoon of light. However, right at this moment, the purplish-golden cocoon of light began to revolve like a spinning top, forcing out the boundless power of the sea before rising up directly into the heavens.


    In the next instant, the purplish-black color of the sky had turned a purplish-golden color, and she swiveled around before crashing directly toward Chen Xinjie like a purplish-golden shooting star.


    Chen Xinjie raised his palms to the heavens, and bright blue light erupted out of his eyes. The sea seemed to have become his foundation, and the Sea God''s Helmet on his head glowed brightly, allowing him to transform into a giant pillar of light by drawing upon the power of the sea.

 Chapter 1852: Where is He?

    "Boom!"


    A terrifying explosion of energy caused the entire sea to churn violently. The three naval fleets, which had already retreated very far into the distance, were hurled up into the air by the resulting turbulent waves. Many of the smaller ships were on the verge of capsizing, but thankfully, they were able to maintain their balance as they were connected to the larger ships.


    From the perspective of the three naval fleets, they could only see an explosion of purplish-golden and blue light in the distance, and it was as if doomsday had arrived!


    All of this had unfolded far too abruptly, and the terrifying explosion seemed to be heralding the destruction of this world.


    Demon Sovereign was repelled up into the air, but merely harrumphed coldly, "Let''s see how much longer you''ll be able to burn through your life force to draw upon the Sea God''s power. You are still a mortal, not a god, yet I am already a god!"


    In the next instant, the blue and purplish-golden light had already transformed the sea into another world.


    In the core circle of the northernmost region.


    Dragon''s roars rang out around Long Yeyue''s body as her twin light and dark dragons tore an abyssal emperor''s body to shreds.


    As the most powerful being of Shrek Academy, she had led the Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy onto the battlefield, and with the assistance of Gu Yuena and the Spirit Pagoda''s powerful beings, they were able to stabilize the situation.


    They were currently situated on the most important battlefield, and there were already over 30 abyssal emperors and sovereigns on this battlefield, led by the Spirit Sovereign.


    Gu Yuena was just barely holding her own against the Spirit Sovereign, while everyone else was battling the other abyssal emperors and sovereigns.


    All of these powerful abyssal beings possessed varied and diverse abilities, particularly the abyssal sovereigns. Aside from Guan Yue, who held the slight upper hand over the Black Sovereign, even the human quasigods were finding it very difficult to keep these abyssal sovereigns at bay in one-on-one battles.


    All of the abyssal rulers above the 30th level were more powerful than human demigods, and they were proving to be extremely formidable opponents, especially for the Limit Douluos who didn''t possess suits of four-word battle armor.


    In contrast, there were only under 20 Limit Douluos on the human side, so the situation had only been stabilized, but wasn''t improving at all.


    Among the Limit Douluos, the most eye-catching one wasn''t Long Yeyue, who had just slain an abyssal emperor, nor was it the combination of the Heartless Douluo and the Amorous Douluo, who were unleashing their almighty soul fusion skill. Instead, it was Holy Spirit Douluo Yali, who was situated at the center of the battlefield with holy light revolving around her body, virtually controlling the entire battle.


    She had a leaf from the secondary tree of life in her mouth to replenish her life energy, and the holy light radiating from her body was encompassing the entire battlefield.


    12 six-winged archangels were revolving around her, casting all types of enhancements onto the powerful beings of the human race.


    Her holy light wasn''t as effective against abyssal creatures as it was against Evil Soul Masters, but it was still extremely potent, and it was her presence on the battlefield that allowed the human army to just barely maintain a tenuous balance.


    The only problem was that after being killed, the abyssal energy of the slain abyssal creatures would instantly escape.


    Gu Yuena''s Silver Dragon Spear was capable of devouring abyssal energy, but under the restriction of the Spirit Sovereign''s Divine Origin realm spiritual power, her devouring ability was greatly suppressed.


    Thus, even though hordes upon hordes of abyssal creatures were being slain, the abyssal plane wasn''t actually losing much energy.


    The area around Gu Yuena had already transformed into a sea of rainbow light, and all types of elemental attacks were being unleashed to bombard the Spirit Sovereign. The Spirit Sovereign was keeping her occupied, and she was doing the same thing.


    The Spirit Sovereign''s spiritual power was simply far too immense. Even a normal Abyssal Spirit Dragon was having an extremely significant impact on the battlefield; if the Spirit Sovereign were to take over control of the battlefield, then the human army would be completely doomed.


    Thus, she was doing everything in her power to keep him occupied so he wouldn''t have any spare capacity to exert his influence on the battlefield.


    As the battle raged on, Gu Yuena was occasionally stealing urgent glances at the powerful beings of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.


    Where is he?


    Why was it that all of the powerful beings of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were present, but he was nowhere to be seen? There was no reason for him not to be on this battlefield!


    With their spiritual connection, she would definitely be able to sense him if he were merely concealing himself nearby, but she was completely unable to sense his aura.


    Where could he have gone?


    If he had been present, perhaps everything would be different. At the very least, it wouldn''t be so easy for the abyssal energy to escape.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters had already appeared on the battlefield, but he wasn''t with them.


    Not only were these thoughts racing through her mind, the same questions were being pondered by the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda and the Battle God Hall.


    Where was Tang Wulin?


    ......


    Golden light flashed, and Tang Wulin fell onto the ground again with a dejected expression. On this occasion, he didn''t want to get up anymore.


    The energy expenditure wasn''t all that significant, but he had already exhausted all of his tactics. He had tried all of his abilities and everything that he could think of, but no matter what he did, he still couldn''t defeat his father.


    Throughout this entire process, Tang San perpetually wore a faint smile and appraised him with warmth and benevolence, but he most definitely wasn''t holding back in battle.


    Even Tang Wulin himself had lost count of how many times he had been defeated.


    The most troublesome thing was Unpredictable Storm. No matter what he did, as soon as his father unleashed Unpredictable Storm, the battle would be all but over.


    He had his own Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques, but compared with Unpredictable Storm, the former was looking entirely lackluster.


    "I can''t beat you," Tang Wulin said with a wry smile.


    Tang San smiled, and said, "Let''s go again."


    Tang Wulin replied, "I can''t beat you no matter how many times we go again! Even if our powers are at the same level, you have way more experience than me, and even more importantly, your Sea God''s Trident is too potent against me."


    Tang San''s smile became even more pronounced as he suddenly handed the Sea God''s Trident over to Tang Wulin. "Alright, then why don''t we swap?"


    "What?" Tang Wulin didn''t understand what his father was proposing.


    "Come on! You''re saying it''s unfair because I hold the Sea God''s Trident, right? Then let''s swap. Give me your Golden Dragon Spear," Tang San said with a smile.


    Tang Wulin reflexively handed over his Golden Dragon Spear in exchange for the Sea God''s Trident.


    In the instant his hand closed around the Sea God''s Trident, an unprecedented feeling of power instantly surged into his body.


    This was an indescribable sensation, as if an entire ocean of boundless vitality had been instantly injected into his body.


    He had been able to draw upon some of the power of the Sea God''s Trident in the past, but this was completely different. For the very first time, he felt like this transcendent divine weapon had become a part of his own body, and as he wielded it, it was as if he had become one with the entire sea.


    To call this a wonderful feeling would be a massive understatement. All of his physical and mental exhaustion was instantly swept away, and he reached an unprecedented peak.


    The power contained within the Sea God''s Trident wasn''t fierce or violent in the slightest. Instead, it was a boundless and all-encompassing type of energy.

 Chapter 1853: Remain True to Yourself at All Times

    Holding it in his hand, Tang Wulin was immediately struck by the feeling that he had been reborn anew, that his entire body had been cleansed.


    Through his Divine Origin realm spiritual power, he could clearly sense that every single cell in every corner of his body was jumping for joy.


    It was as if countless small worlds had taken shape inside his body, and countless lives were being nurtured in each small world.


    This was an incredible feeling that words couldn''t describe, and Tang Wulin merely stood on the spot while faint bluish-golden light radiated from his entire body.


    Tang San appraised his son with a faint smile on his face, then pointed the Golden Dragon Spear at Tang Wulin from afar.


    A deranged aura immediately erupted out of the Golden Dragon Spear, as if Tang San were holding an insane dragon in his hand rather than a spear.


    He cast a calm gaze toward Tang Wulin, and said, "You must remain true to yourself at all times; only then will there be light in your life. All emotions of insanity will only ever be surface-level manifestations. Perhaps they can infiltrate our bodies and even our hearts, but they can never infiltrate our souls. Whatever difficulties or changes you encounter in the future, you must retain that shred of clarity in your soul; only then will you prevail!"


    Tang San''s words exploded in Tang Wulin''s mind like a string of thunderclaps, causing his Divine Origin realm spiritual power to fluctuate violently. Within his mind, a huge golden character that was completely formed by divine sense took shape.


    Tang Wulin felt his mind begin to tremble, and in the face of such enormous spiritual pressure, he felt as if his mind were about to shatter at any moment.


    However, right at this moment, the Sea God''s Trident in his hand released a placid aura to nurture his body and mind, allowing that huge golden character to completely brand itself into the deepest part of his soul, thereby fusing as one with him.


    After an indeterminate period of time, Tang Wulin finally came to, but as soon as he regained his sight, his pupils instantly contracted as that ferocious golden dragon had already arrived in front of him.


    He reflexively took a step back before sweeping his Sea God''s Trident upward, instantly entering the spear essence realm.


    The upward strike was very simple and direct, yet it struck the head of the fierce dragon with unerring accuracy.


    A crisp clang rang out, and the Golden Dragon Spear returned to its original form. However, in that instant, Tang Wulin felt as if the pressure on his golden trident was abruptly lifted, as if the Golden Dragon Spear had suddenly disappeared.


    Countless spear projections then erupted forth right in front of him, instantly encompassing his entire body, and it was astounding to him that Fury of the Masses could be used in this manner.


    He curled up into a defensive position before releasing his Golden Dragon Tyrant Body, and the surface of his battle armor instantly became as smooth as a mirror. At the same time, he drew a circle in the air with his Sea God''s Trident in a gesture that was so well-rehearsed it was essentially second nature to him at this point.


    Having already battled his father countless times, he had learned so much through practical combat, and one of the most important lessons that he had learned was that the pinnacle of complexity was simplicity.


    During their battles, Tang Wulin noticed that his father very rarely used complex abilities. Everything seemed to be so simple, yet veiled behind the simplicity was all types of diverse variations.


    Throughout their battles, Tang San had never said anything to instruct Tang Wulin. Instead, he was allowing Tang Wulin to learn at his own pace through these battles.


    The pinnacle of complexity was simplicity; what kind of concept was this? In practical application, this involved imbuing all complex variations into the simplest of techniques.


    For example, this very simple-looking circular motion contained countless possible variations that could be drawn upon according to how the opponent reacted. All of these variations were concealed within the technique and not revealed right away, so the opponent wouldn''t be able to predict what was to come.


    This simple circular motion had made Tang Wulin feel as if he were sinking into quicksand, as if it would inevitably be his downfall no matter how he reacted.


    He had imitated this gesture and analyzed it many times, and only now was he just beginning to understand it.


    This concept could be used on any ability, and the key was to find the core of the technique.


    Once that was done, there would be countless ways to unleash the technique, and to put it in simpler terms, this was essentially a process of refinement.


    His Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques involved fusing all of his abilities to create several almighty attacks, which was also a very good thing, but through his battles with his father, Tang Wulin realized that his Dragon Emperor Restriction Techniques were extremely powerful, but they were lacking in variation.


    It was often the case that after a single attack, there would be no follow-up and certainly no continuation.


    Throughout his battles against his father, he began to learn the skill of refinement, and only as he unleashed this circular motion to perfection for the first time did he truly understand what he was doing. Not only had he entered the spear essence realm, he felt as if his entire being had also entered a mysterious and profound world.


    Initially, he was only able to last a few exchanges in battle against his father, but now, their battles had become far lengthier. As long as his father didn''t use Unpredictable Storm, he was already able to resist for a very long time.


    "Clang!"


    Only one of the spear projections unleashed by Tang San''s Fury of the Masses struck the Sea God''s Trident, yet it was as if something had been triggered, and all of the spear projections converged to form a single point that instantly arrived before Tang Wulin.


    The vicious aura of the fierce dragon instantly threatened to devour Tang Wulin, and his heart abruptly thumped violently like a war drum.


    His blood essence erupted forth as dragon''s repulse, and using this propulsion force, he was able to quickly fall back in retreat.


    At the same time, he slashed his Sea God''s Trident through the air, and white clouds appeared in the space around him, warping and blurring everything.


    Millennium White Clouds!


    Tang San''s eyes remained calm and clear as he gently swept his Golden Dragon Spear upward in what appeared to be a completely harmless gesture, yet a bluish-golden halo suddenly appeared around him like a door of light. Stepping through the door of light, it was as if he had stepped through a span of a millennium, and in the next instant, all of the white clouds were already behind him.


    "That''s cheating!" Tang Wulin exclaimed.


    He could clearly sense that this definitely wasn''t an ability that his father possessed in his pre-god form; this type of space-time travel was clearly a godly technique, not something that any human could achieve.


    Tang San''s smile widened as he conjured up a series of golden halos with his Golden Dragon Spear; this was none other than his Unpredictable Storm.


    On this occasion, the technique was completely different. The halos seemed to possess substantial form, and as they approached Tang Wulin, it was as if they were imbued with the essence of the Great Dao and the laws of the universe.


    Tang Wulin immediately also unleashed Unpredictable Storm with his Sea God''s Trident.


    As expected, now that he was using a transcendent divine weapon, his Unpredictable Storm had also become different. The sea was now his foundation, and all of his golden halos also seemed to have attained a substantial form. They had been imbued with the boundless power of the sea.


    The halos clashed with each other, and one halo after another was destroyed, but in the end, the sea was unable to contend with the vast power of the universe.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin and the Sea God''s Trident were bound tightly by the oncoming halos.


    The light faded, and Tang San arrived in front of Tang Wulin before taking back his Sea God''s Trident.


    Looking at Tang Wulin''s indignant expression, he couldn''t help but chuckle, "You must think I cheated, right?"


    "Yes!" Tang Wulin replied.


    Tang San smiled, and said, "This is what it feels like to face a god; you have to experience this now as you may have to face something similar to this in the near future. Face all upcoming obstacles with courage, my son."

 Chapter 1854: Pulling Out the Sea Gods Trident!

    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a massive wave of dejection instantly washed over his body.


    He felt as if his heart were being squeezed between a vice. "Father, let''s continue; I don''t want you to go." His father''s eyes were always so gentle and loving, and regardless of whether they were facing each other in battle or not, Tang San''s gaze had constantly been resting on him, as if he were trying to commit Tang Wulin''s appearance to the deepest parts of his memory.


    Tang Wulin was able to clearly sense the fatherly love even as they fought.


    They were separated by an immeasurable distance, but his father had always been doing everything in his power to leave something for him so he could become more powerful and more able to protect himself.


    Despite the arduous situation that he was in, Tang San had still chosen to give him the Sea God''s Trident so that it could protect him. It was clear that he was going to leave now, and this would perhaps be the last time Tang Wulin would be able to see his father unless he could find him in real life.


    Tang San smiled, and said, "I''m sure we''ll meet again before too long. Have faith in your father, my son; I''ll definitely come back for you, and our family will be reunited. I can''t and won''t dictate what you do with your life; all I can do is protect my little Qilin to the best of my abilities. You''ve already grown up now, so walk the path that you deem to be right, and make sure to remember what I''ve told you."


    Tang San took a deep breath as he spoke, then plunged the Sea God''s Trident and Golden Dragon Spear into the ground before stepping forward and giving Tang Wulin a massive hug.


    Tang Wulin was unable to feel Tang San''s body as it only seemed to be an illusion, but in this instant, his heart was filled with boundless warmth and sorrow.


    "Father."


    Tang San''s figure was slowly vanishing, and Tang Wulin was doing everything he could to cling onto his father''s aura.


    His tears gushed forth like water out of a broken dam, but his father only continued to fade further and further in his embrace.


    "The eighth trial of the Sea God, Battle Between Father and Son, has been completed. Now initiating the ninth trial of the Sea God, Pull Out the Sea God''s Trident!"


    The light of Unpredictable Storm faded, and the Golden Dragon Spear vanished into Tang Wulin''s forehead as a streak of golden light. Thus, the only thing that remained before him was the massive Sea God''s Trident.


    At this moment, it was plunged into the ground and radiating a faint light.


    The feeling of being born anew from the power of the sea was still lingering in Tang Wulin''s body, and he stepped forward before wrapping his hands tightly around the shaft of the Sea God''s Trident. The tears continued to flow, and Tang Wulin roared, "Father, Mother, I won''t disappoint you!"


    ......


    "Boom!"


    Wu Zhangkong''s body was sent flying for several hundred meters, and its momentum was only arrested after he crashed into a mountain.


    An ice-cold aura instantly surged forth in all directions, freezing all of the oncoming abyssal creatures into ice statues.


    He hadn''t sustained any injuries thanks to the protection of his Sky Frost Dragon Ice battle armor, but at this moment, there was a grim look on his face.


    Not far away, the three Spirit Dragon Kings were still standing.


    They had been attacking the three Spirit Dragon Kings for quite some time now, but if these three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings had to be described through Soul Master terminology, then they would be the most powerful control system Soul Masters, and of the spiritual control system, at that.


    Even the most ordinary four-clawed bat would instantly attain Titled Douluo level power upon being doused in a cloud of Invulnerability Mist released by the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings, and the enhancement was naturally even more pronounced for more powerful abyssal creatures.


    The abyssal creature that had just sent Wu Zhangkong flying was an Abyssal Evil Sickle that had been enhanced by Invulnerability Mist.


    One had to realize that in his Sky Frost Dragon Ice battle armor, Wu Zhangkong already possessed Limit Douluo level powers, and he was also a rank 97 Hyper Douluo, yet he had been sent flying by a single attack from the Abyssal Evil Sickle, and that was sufficient testament to just how fearsome the Invulnerability Mist was.


    The only silver lining was that their elite group of 10 had managed to attract the attention of the three Spirit Dragon Kings, thereby not allowing them to focus on any other part of the battlefield.


    The two sides were currently locked in an impasse, and due to the arrival of the Tang Sect''s black mecha squadron, the situation hadn''t deteriorated any further.


    They were finally able to stop the expansion of the abyssal army and try to hunt down the Abyssal Spirit Dragons.


    Abyssal Spirit Dragons were extremely powerful, but they naturally couldn''t compare with an entire squadron of black mechas, so they could only abandon the abyssal army and escape once the situation grew dire.


    Thus, the battlefield had been completely stabilized, particularly once the long-range artillery fire support arrived from the sea.


    However, the current situation was still very concerning for Wu Zhangkong. If the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings were already this powerful, then what about that Spirit Sovereign?


    At this moment, he was locked in battle with Gu Yuena, and it was quite apparent that his powers were superior to hers. However, he was displaying no intention of controlling the battlefield and was merely allowing the Spirit Dragons to lead the abyssal army in his stead.


    With his Divine Origin realm spiritual power, the entire battlefield would most likely shift in an instant if he were to begin to exert his influence.


    Most importantly, Tang Wulin still hadn''t returned. The abyssal army had suffered far heavier losses than the human army, but the life energy of all human soldiers that perished would instantly be devoured by abyssal creatures, yet once an abyssal creature perished, their energy would simply return to the abyssal plane.


    Under these circumstances, the abyssal army essentially had an infinite reserve supply of troops. Even if the current situation could be maintained, how would the human army be able to continue to resist once everyone ran out of soul power and energy? Even the most powerful of individuals had their limits!


    Just like Gu Yuena, he was also hoping that Tang Wulin would appear on the battlefield soon.


    Dazzling stars were shining in the sky, and with each beam of starlight that fell, a powerful abyssal creature would be rooted to the spot. After that, they would be torn to shreds by peerlessly sharp sword projections.


    Xu Xiaoyan had already become the brightest star on this side of the battlefield. As the main control system Soul Master here, it was her presence that was countering the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings to a great extent.


    At this moment, the Spirit Dragon King on the left had sustained a huge wound on its left shoulder that had been dealt by Ye Xinglan''s sword after it had fallen prey to Xu Xiaoyan''s control.


    Thus, the three Spirit Dragon Kings had become even more cautious, and they would occasionally unleash spiritual attacks to target Xu Xiaoyan.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were all connected by Starlight Shackles, and Xu Xiaoyan was only able to withstand the spiritual attacks from the Spirit Dragon Kings through their shared spiritual power.


    No one else had been connected to them using the Starlight Shackles as the six of them had developed exceptional teamwork over the years they had been together, and connecting anyone else could actually work to their detriment by ruining their chemistry.


    Aside from Xu Xiaoyan, the most eye-catching figure had to be Sima Jinchi. He had become the feared executioner on the battlefield with his Dragonslaying Saber, and almost no abyssal creature was able to stand in his path.


    Having been polished by the Golden Dragon Spear, the Dragonslaying Saber was truly displaying its might as a divine weapon. In the past, Sima Jinchi had very rarely gotten any opportunities to display his power as he was constantly with Tang Wulin. Thus, it was always A''Ruheng who had shone brighter among the duo, particularly in that match against the Battle God Hall.


    However, Sima Jinchi had actually also been progressing extraordinarily quickly in his cultivation due to the influence of Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon King aura.


    He and Yuanen Yehui led from the very forefront, opposing the powerful abyssal army. If it weren''t for the Invulnerability Mist being released by the three Spirit Dragon Kings, all of the abyssal creatures on the mountaintop would''ve already been slain by them.

 Chapter 1855: Light of Debilitation

    At the third defensive line in the distance, the abyssal army''s attack was running out of steam as all of their main forces had been stopped in their tracks by the powerful beings of Shrek Academy. Under the persistent attacks from the infrasonic aircrafts, almost all of the abyssal creatures there had already perished, and the third defensive line had been completely stabilized.


    The infrasonic aircrafts were currently being protected by the air units, and they were cleaning up some abyssal creatures that had rushed out of the second defensive line before preparing to move deeper into the battlefield.


    The Spirit Sovereign thrust a palm forward, and the space up ahead trembled violently, detonating all of the elemental energy that Gu Yuena had unleashed to attack him.


    Gu Yuena could clearly see a hint of crimson light flash through the Spirit Sovereign''s eyes, and he released his immense spiritual power before immediately withdrawing it.


    Gu Yuena''s heart stirred slightly upon seeing this. What was he doing?


    In the next instant, a group of figures that had been hiding in a corner of the battlefield suddenly emerged; these were none other than Abyssal Spirit Dragons!


    However, as soon as they appeared, their scales suddenly turned a blood-red color.


    In the next instant, the Abyssal Spirit Dragons suddenly leaped high up into the air, then opened their mouths to release pillars of red light.


    What kind of attack was this?


    Even though no one knew what this red light was yet, just the mere sight of this new mode of attack struck concern into the hearts of the human army''s troops.


    The attacks being unleashed by the Abyssal Spirit Dragons were aimed at none other than the cluster of aircrafts in the distant sky, and in response, all of the aircrafts immediately activated their protective barriers.


    All types of weapons were also deployed to try and counterattack the red light, but the red light merely passed through all of the attacks and protective barriers as if they didn''t exist, then fell upon the soul aircrafts.


    At least 50 soul aircrafts were struck, and they instantly turned red.


    However, that was it; the aircrafts were still flying, and even their protective barriers were still intact, so nothing seemed to have changed.


    What exactly was this red light supposed to do?


    Confusion spread through everyone''s hearts, and they all focused their attention on the soul aircrafts hanging in the sky.


    It didn''t seem like anything had changed, and the aircrafts certainly weren''t plummeting out of the sky or anything like that.


    Right at this moment, a series of massive figures suddenly shot out of the abyssal passageway before appearing in mid-air.


    These were strange-looking creatures that were around 30 meters in length, which made them slightly smaller than the Abyssal Spirit Dragons. Each of them had a pair of giant bat-like wings on their backs, and they were extremely ferocious in appearance. Their bodies were of a dark golden color and were rather humanoid in appearance, but also quite different at the same time. Each of these creatures had four limbs, but also two heads, and there were bone spikes protruding out of all of their joints.


    This was definitely a new type of abyssal creature that even the Blood God Legion had never seen before, and it was most likely the case that they resided on a very high level of the abyssal plane.


    Several hundred of them had emerged in total, and they pounced directly toward the human army.


    They were flying extremely quickly, speeding through the air as streaks of dark golden light.


    The infrasonic aircrafts immediately released powerful infrasonic soundwaves in response, but as soon as the infrasonic soundwaves were released, the soul aircrafts that had been struck by the red light earlier suddenly exploded one after another.


    In order to protect the infrasonic aircrafts, all of the soul aircrafts had been packed in quite a tight formation, so as those aircrafts exploded, many of the surrounding aircrafts were also detonated, and countless fireballs suddenly erupted in mid-air.


    In the blink of an eye, around a third of the soul aircrafts had been eradicated!


    As it turned out, the red light that had been released by the Abyssal Spirit Dragons was referred to as Light of Debilitation. Despite its simple-sounding name, it was one of the Abyssal Spirit Dragons'' most vicious abilities.


    All entities, regardless of whether they were living beings or inanimate objects, would suffer a massive drop in life force upon being struck by Light of Debilitation. Thus, even though the soul aircrafts looked fine, their metals were quickly becoming feeble, and in a short time, the aircrafts had been weakened to an extreme extent.


    Originally, the infrasonic soundwaves didn''t affect the soul aircrafts; all it did was cause the aircrafts to vibrate slightly. However, due to how fragile the aircrafts had become, they were unable to withstand these slight tremors and exploded on the spot.


    Light of Debilitation was the most powerful technique that the Abyssal Spirit Dragons possessed, but it was extremely taxing to unleash, and they couldn''t just recover from devouring other abyssal creatures, so they very rarely used this ability.


    Furthermore, the creatures that had just flown out of the abyssal passageway were renowned as the most powerful air units of the abyssal plane. They were known as Abyssal Demon Puppets, and they possessed incredible flight abilities and combat prowess.


    They resided on the fourth level of the abyss, and they had emerged with the sole purpose of felling the soul aircrafts that had been weakened by the Light of Debilitation.


    Due to how frail Abyssal Bomber Hornets were individually, the infrasonic aircrafts were virtually a perfect counter to the Hornet Sovereign. In contrast, Abyssal Demon Puppets possessed extremely powerful bodies and were one of the leading species of abyssal creatures when it came to physical tolerance.


    Taking advantage of the massive explosion, they were already pouncing quickly toward the soul aircrafts in the distance.


    Furthermore, several of the Abyssal Demonic Puppets had descended from the heavens, and at least four or five Abyssal Spirit Dragons had jumped onto their backs to be carried up into the sky.


    Abyssal Spirit Dragons were able to fly on their own, but they couldn''t do so very quickly.


    On average, Abyssal Spirit Dragons were slightly larger than Abyssal Demonic Puppets, but the Abyssal Demonic Puppets that had flown down were the strongest and able-bodied ones, and even while carrying the Abyssal Spirit Dragons on their backs, their speed wasn''t affected in the slightest as they rose back up into the air again to catch up to their brethren.


    It was clear that the infrasonic weapons had attracted the attention of the abyssal plane. Indeed, a weapon of this nature that was capable of affecting such large areas of the battlefield was definitely worthy of concern. If these infrasonic aircrafts could force the abyssal army all the way back to the abyssal passageway, then the human army would be a lot more comfortable and could even completely force the abyssal army into retreat, which was something that the abyssal plane definitely didn''t want to see.


    Right at this moment, a series of pristine white mechas suddenly shot forth from the rear at high speeds.


    They traversed through the air between the soul aircrafts, and there were only around 500 of them, but each of them had what appeared to be a cannon-like weapon hoisted on its shoulder.


    All of the cannon barrels were aimed directly at the Abyssal Demonic Puppets.


    If Tang Wulin were present, he would definitely be able to recognize that this mecha squadron belonged to the Blood God Legion, and the weapons they had hoisted on their shoulders were none other than heavy ion laser guns, the very same weapon that Long Yuxue had once used to wound Bear Lord.


    To put it more accurately, these were heavy ion laser cannons as these weapons were clearly larger than the heavy ion laser gun that Long Yuxue had used.


    There was a high level of diversity among abyssal creatures, and many of the powerful species were only just appearing before humans for the first time, thereby catching the human army completely off guard.


    However, humanity had also been rapidly developing during the past several thousand years, and Eternal Heaven wasn''t the only new weapon that had been developed during this time.


    The emergence of the Abyssal Demonic Puppets and the mass destruction of so many soul aircrafts finally forced Yu Guanzhi to unleash one of his trump cards in the form of this mecha squadron.

 Chapter 1856: Twin-life Demonic Puppets

    The Blood God Legion was situated in an extremely sparsely populated area to guard the abyssal passageway there, and that was also the type of place where the federation would test all types of super weapons.


    As such, abyssal creatures made for the perfect lab rats to test those weapons on. Thus, almost all powerful new weapons were immediately sent to the Blood God Legion for testing, and heavy ion laser weapons were no exception.


    The Blood God Legion had been prioritized when it came to the assignment of these weapons, and even though the Central Legion also possessed heavy ion laser weapons, they didn''t have anywhere near as much as the Blood God Legion did.


    The heavy ion laser cannons currently being used by the Blood God Legion were the most powerful heavy ion laser weapons that had been developed to date.


    Heavy ion laser guns were able to scorch an enemy''s internal organs, while heavy ion laser cannons could essentially inject the power of bombs into the bodies of enemies, causing them to explode.


    "Prepare to fire!"


    The white mecha flying at the very forefront of the squadron had red patterns on its surface, and it was being piloted by none other than Zhang Huanyun.


    This mecha was a divine-grade mecha, and it was the only mecha in the Blood God Legion that had permission to adopt a different color scheme from the set conventions.


    Zhang Huanyun had been battling abyssal creatures for most of his life, but this was the first time he had ever seen so many abyssal creatures at once. In particular, the likes of the Abyssal Spirit Dragons, Abyssal Evil Sickles, and Abyssal Demonic Puppets had never been seen even by the Blood God Legion.


    He was well aware of the significance of this battle to all of humanity; the outcome of this battle could very well decide the fate of the entire planet.


    Bursts of blue light began to glow on the heavy ion laser cannons as they began to accumulate power.


    Right at this moment, the five Abyssal Spirit Dragons being carried by the Abyssal Demonic Puppets suddenly screeched in unison.


    With their immense spiritual power, they could sense just how dangerous these white mechas were, so they immediately chose to unleash spiritual attacks.


    However, right at this moment, a huge mirror appeared in front of Zhang Huanyun, and it expanded to encompass virtually the entire sky.


    This was his martial soul true body!


    The surface of the giant mirror rippled violently like water, and in the eyes of the abyssal creatures, all of the soul aircrafts and mechas had suddenly disappeared; all they could see was a reflection of themselves.


    In the next instant, powerful spiritual fluctuations surged toward them as the spiritual attacks unleashed by the five Abyssal Spirit Dragons were completely reflected to target the Abyssal Demonic Puppets.


    Abyssal Demonic Puppets possessed exceptional physical and spiritual resistance, but even so, they were still plunged into a state of chaos, and many of them plummeted straight out of the sky.


    Fortunately for them, those that did fall out of the sky managed to recover even before plummeting to the ground, and they flapped their wings vigorously to return to their original altitude.


    This was one of Zhang Huanyun''s powerful soul skills, Mirror Mirage, and it was capable of reflecting all attacks.


    This soul skill actually wasn''t all that practical against Soul Masters as it required too much time to prepare and unleash, and it could only reflect attacks toward a set direction. However, Zhang Huanyun was a soldier, and this soul skill was exceptionally useful on a battlefield.


    Even though Mirror Mirage wasn''t able to destroy the oncoming abyssal creatures, it had bought the Blood God Legion sufficient time. Even more importantly, with Mirror Mirage standing in the way, the Abyssal Spirit Dragons and Abyssal Demonic Puppets were completely unable to see what was happening up ahead; even their spiritual power was being kept at bay.


    "Fire!" Zhang Huanyun roared.


    Balls of blue light appeared in the cannon barrels of the Blood God Legion mechas, and invisible light waves instantly surged toward the oncoming abyssal creatures.


    In the instant that Zhang Huanyun issued this order, his Mirror Mirage also vanished.


    At this point, the Abyssal Demonic Puppets were already no more than two kilometers away from the mecha squadron, yet all of the Abyssal Demonic Puppets flying at the very forefront suddenly fell completely still in mid-air.


    Immediately thereafter, one explosion took place after another, and one of each of the affected Abyssal Demonic Puppets'' heads exploded, while their bodies were enveloped in dense clouds of grey mist.


    Zhang Huanyun was ecstatic to see this. As expected, the heavy ion laser cannons were working! They destroyed targets from the inside and were perfect for targeting abyssal creatures with powerful defenses like these ones.


    However, in the next instant, his pupils abruptly contracted.


    The grey mist only paused for a moment before the Abyssal Demonic Puppets that were supposed to have been killed rushed out and continued on toward the mecha squadron. However, the two heads on their shoulders had now been reduced to one.


    These things had two lives?


    Zhang Huanyun immediately came to this realization, and his heart sank as it dawned on him.


    Heavy ion laser cannons were extremely powerful, but a cooldown period of five minutes came after each usage. The enemies were only less than two kilometers away; where were they going to find these five minutes from?


    Under the protection of the Abyssal Demonic Puppets, none of the five Abyssal Spirit Dragons were struck by the heavy ion lasers, and at this point, their bodies had turned red once again, so Light of Debilitation was sure to follow.


    The combination of Light of Debilitation and the immense offensive prowess of the Abyssal Demonic Puppets was sure to be a recipe for disaster.


    The front limbs of the Abyssal Demonic Puppets flying at the very forefront turned green, and streaks of green light shot forth from them.


    In a normal aerial battle, Zhang Huanyun would command all of the aircrafts and mechas to disperse and retreat to open up some distance between themselves and the enemy until the heavy ion laser cannons were ready to fire again.


    However, they couldn''t afford to retreat now!


    The main weakness of the infrasonic aircrafts was their slow speed; if they were to retreat, then the infrasonic aircrafts would be completely exposed to the enemy, and they would definitely be destroyed, which was something that absolutely could not be allowed to happen.


    Thus, Zhang Huanyun was facing a very difficult decision.


    Mirror Mirage appeared once again to reflect those corrosive streaks of green light, but it was very difficult for him to oversee the entire battlefield on his own; he could block the first round of attacks, but he couldn''t keep this up forever.


    Right at this critical juncture, a sharp screeching sound suddenly rang out from either side, and immediately thereafter, countless soul laser beams and all types of soul missiles shot forth from the distance.


    Over 300 soul aircrafts arrived on the scene at high speeds, attacking the Abyssal Demonic Puppets from both the right and the left.


    Zhang Huanyun''s eyes immediately lit up upon seeing this. Judging from the insignias on the aircrafts, it was clear that they were from the Western Legion and Northwestern Legion.


    One had to realize that soul aircrafts were extremely precious for any legion. Not only were they extremely expensive to produce, they were immensely effective on the battlefield, and all legion commanders held their soul aircrafts close to their hearts.


    Thus, even Yu Guanzhi had only ordered the Western Legion and Northwestern Legion to look after the airspace above their own encampments rather than command them to deploy their soul aircrafts onto the battlefield.


    As for the Southern Legion and Northern Legion, they didn''t even have a single soul aircraft between them.


    Judging from the numbers, these were most likely all of the soul aircrafts the Western Legion and the Northwestern Legion had, and they had arrived right in the nick of time.


    "Nice!" Zhang Huanyun couldn''t help but yell as he sat in his mecha''s pilot room.


    This was what the federal military was supposed to be all about! All of the legions had to be completely unified and unselfish in the face of these formidable foes.


    Dong Zi''an had finally learned his lesson and deployed his trump card at this crucial juncture.

 Chapter 1857: Might of the Heavy Ion Laser Weapons

    With the arrival of the soul aircrafts, Zhang Huanyun immediately issued an order, upon which the Blood God Legion''s mechas escorted the infrasonic aircrafts of the Central Legion on a slow retreat. At the same time, the infrasonic aircrafts intensified their assault on the oncoming Abyssal Demonic Puppets.


    It would be very difficult to kill creatures as powerful as Abyssal Demonic Puppets through infrasonic soundwaves alone, but the soundwaves would at least be constantly debilitating them.


    With the experience that had been gained through the previous battle, the soul aircrafts of the Western Legion and Northwestern Legion had adopted a very good strategy, where they split up and fought individually rather than in groups, doing their best to distance themselves from one another so they could make better use of their speed to pester the enemy. At the same time, they were doing everything in their power to avoid direct clashes in case they were affected by the Abyssal Spirit Dragons.


    The five Abyssal Spirit Dragons had already released their Light of Debilitation earlier, and they had been battling for quite some time, so they were already considerably taxed.


    Furthermore, Abyssal Demonic Puppets ranked only slightly below them in the abyssal plane, and they didn''t dare to devour abyssal creatures of such a high caliber. As for low-grade abyssal creatures like Abyssal Bomber Hornets, they were unable to approach the Abyssal Spirit Dragons due to the infrasonic soundwaves, so the Spirit Dragons were severely limited.


    However, it was under these circumstances that the Abyssal Demonic Puppets displayed their tremendous combat prowess.


    Not only were they extremely fast, they were also exceptionally agile, and they quickly separated in mid-air before unleashing attacks on the soul aircrafts.


    Even the slightest contact with the corrosive green light they were releasing would result in erosion of a soul aircrafts protective barrier, forcing them to abandon the barrier.


    Furthermore, any aircrafts that were struck by this light would instantly be eroded and explode.


    Even so, due to the fact that the soul aircrafts were employing guerilla warfare tactics, the casualties were limited to a manageable extent, and the Abyssal Demonic Puppets were left feeling quite frustrated.


    The infrasonic soundwaves were constantly negatively affecting them, and the effects were particularly pronounced for those that had been blasted by the heavy ion laser cannons earlier.


    Each Abyssal Demonic Puppet did indeed have two lives, but they only had one body, and even though they could survive a lethal attack, it took some time to recover from the residual damage, but they clearly didn''t have that luxury right now.


    Abyssal Demonic Puppets possessed incredible defensive prowess, but heavy ion laser cannons were the perfect counter to them as these weapons destroyed the target from the inside.


    In addition to that, there were the infrasonic aircrafts, and the mighty army of Abyssal Demonic Puppets was unable to perform to even half of its usual maximal capacity.


    "Weapons fully recharged!"


    Finally, the heavy ion laser cannons were recharged.


    Zhang Huanyun immediately issued the order to fire upon hearing this, and the cannons locked onto one Abyssal Demonic Puppet after another once again, particularly those that had already lost a head.


    In the next instant, invisible laser beam shot forth, and one Abyssal Demonic Puppet after another exploded before falling out of the sky.


    Zhang Huanyun was struck by an urge to shed tears upon seeing this.


    Over a third of the Abyssal Demonic Puppets had perished, disintegrating into extremely dense clouds of grey energy that surged toward the abyssal passageway, and one could see just how powerful they were from observing the density of their abyssal energy.


    Of the roughly two-thirds that had survived, a good portion of them only had one head left each.


    The Spirit Sovereign immediately let loose a sharp screech upon seeing this. These losses were too heavy, and he was finally issuing the order to retreat.


    Only then did the Abyssal Demonic Puppets swivel around and fly back toward the abyssal passageway. The attacks from the soul aircrafts were completely unable to harm their bodies and could only raise some sparks against their skin, thereby further highlighting just how important the heavy ion laser cannons were.


    The combination of the soul aircrafts, heavy ion laser cannons, and infrasonic aircrafts was exerting significant pressure on the abyssal creatures.


    Normal abyssal creatures were severely affected by the infrasonic soundwaves, while more powerful abyssal creatures were threatened by the heavy ion laser cannons.


    As the commander on this section of the battlefield, Zhang Huanyun chose not to initiate an attack on the abyssal passageway. Instead, he led his troops to skirt around the abyssal passageway, clearing away the enemies on the sides. Not only were they inflicting heavy losses on enemy troops, most importantly, they were buying time for the second defensive line.


    The Hornet Sovereign was forced to flee in a panic. Her army of Abyssal Bomber Hornets were extremely susceptible to the infrasonic soundwaves. Upon being affected, an Abyssal Bomber Hornet would immediately explode, causing chain reactions that set off more explosions among its brethren. No matter how quickly they were being resurrected in the abyssal plane, it couldn''t match the rate at which they were perishing. Thus, control over the airspace had been seized by the human army.


    Even the mighty Abyssal Demonic Puppets were unable to turn the tables, and the other abyssal creatures were unable to do anything, either.


    Human weaponry had finally begun to play an important role on this battlefield.


    The Spirit Sovereign''s eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised the battlefield around him. The human Limit Douluos in their suits of four-word battle armor was severely restricting the abyssal army, and Gu Yuena''s Divine Origin realm spiritual power was also affecting him.


    He still had many trump cards that were yet to be unveiled, but he didn''t want to reveal them too early.


    As he resisted the bombardment of Gu Yuena''s elemental attacks, he cast a cold gaze toward the human air units in the distant sky.


    Zhang Huanyun was being very careful to only travel along the outskirts of the battlefield, and at this point, the abyssal creatures that had rushed onto the mountain summits had all been forced back.


    Aside from the Abyssal Spirit Dragons that were able to conceal themselves and escape very quickly, all of the other abyssal creatures were struggling to deal with this lethal combination.


    Even with the tremendous defensive prowess that Guardian Longhorned Beetles possessed, they would still explode and perish in the face of several dozens of heavy ion laser cannon attacks.


    On the ground, the Tang Sect''s mecha squadron was saving the day, while the air units were dominating the airspace. All of a sudden, the human army had gained an advantage.


    The Spirit Sovereign was struck by the feeling that humans truly had become different during these past 6,000 years.


    6,000 years ago, humans definitely weren''t this powerful, regardless of whether it was in terms of soul weapons or the power of individual Soul Masters.


    Back then, battle armor was still in a development stage, and there was no four-word battle armor yet. Under the enhancements of these suits of four-word battle armor, these human Limit Douluos were already able to match the power of abyssal sovereigns.


    As such, when faced with the powerful beings of the Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, the Spirit Pagoda, the Battle God Hall, and some other obscure yet powerful clans, the powerful beings of the abyssal army weren''t able to gain the upper hand, and that was the main issue.


    In reality, there weren''t that many suits of four-word battle armor even until very recently. However, Tang Wulin''s emergence drastically lowered the difficulty of four-word battle armor crafting, and his heavenly refinement drew upon the power of elemental tribulations, which was the power of the plane to begin with. Thus, the suits of four-word battle armor that he crafted were of an extremely high quality.


    At this moment, the Limit Douluos on the battlefield were exerting sufficient pressure on the abyssal emperors and sovereigns to prevent them from having a larger impact on the entire battlefield.


    Now that the situation on the outskirts of the battlefield had been stabilized, the Limit Douluos were able to focus more on the battles at hand.


    Right at this moment, a violent explosion suddenly erupted in the distance, and as this explosion took place, everyone on the battlefield, regardless of whether they were humans or abyssal creatures, were struck by the feeling that heaven and earth had been turned on their heads.

 Chapter 1858: Hell Be Back

    What was happening?


    The earth was quaking; the entire planet seemed to be trembling! The sky was shaking, and it could be seen that massive cracks had appeared in the distant sky, spanning an area of tens of thousands of square meters!


    Terrifying suction force surged out of these cracks, and even from the battlefield, it could be seen that countless units of seawater were being drawn up and devoured by these cracks. It was as if a reverse waterfall of seawater had taken shape between heaven and earth, presenting an awe-inspiring sight to behold.


    Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to gawk at this miraculous spectacle.


    In the next instant, a fearsome energy storm swept forth from the distance in a frenzy.


    Having traveled over such a long distance, the energy storm had already been weakened significantly, but all of the powerful beings on the battlefield still had to resist with all their might to prevent themselves from being swept away.


    Good heavens! What kind of power could''ve triggered something like this?


    Everyone was astonished. Thankfully, the human air units were quite far away in the distance, and they had all activated their protective barriers right away. Even so, they were still swept away for several kilometers before finally coming to rest again.


    In terms of pure energy output alone, this explosion was not inferior to the Eternal Heaven blast! Perhaps the explosive power at the epicenter of the explosion would still be rather lacking, but it definitely wasn''t inferior by much when it came to overall power.


    Light Dark Douluo''s expression suddenly changed drastically as she let loose a panicked cry, and she immediately disengaged herself from her battle as she transformed into a giant golden and black dragon, flying frantically toward the direction the explosion had come from.


    Just now, she had sensed an extremely familiar aura in that enormous energy storm, and she knew exactly whom this aura belonged to.


    However, as the energy storm arrived, that aura was fading at an astonishing rate.


    "No, no, no!" Long Yeyue was yelling to herself in panic and horror as she pushed her elderly body beyond its limits, reaching a higher speed than she had ever achieved.


    The sea was churning, and after devouring a gargantuan amount of seawater, the cracks in the sky were slowly closing,


    Atop a giant wave stood a single person; it was none other than Chen Xinjie.


    He appeared to be as immovable as a mountain, but if one were to pay close attention, they would discover that his eyes had already completely dimmed.


    The entire breastplate of his four-word battle armor had been shattered, and even though it was doing its best to repair itself, the purplish-golden light clinging to those cracks completely thwarted those efforts.


    Not only that, but even his Sea God''s Helmet had a crack running down the middle, extending all the way to the front. The divine tool''s aura had been significantly weakened, and it felt as if it could shatter at any moment.


    However, Chen Xinjie''s chest remained tall and proud, and his hands were clasped behind his back, while the sea was carrying his body from below.


    In the distance, there was a purplish-golden figure hovering in mid-air, and she was appraising Chen Xinjie with surprise in her eyes.


    A trail of purplish-golden blood was flowing down from a corner of her mouth, and her hair was looking rather disheveled, while her breathing had become quite urgent and shallow. The purplish-golden energy around her was rippling in an unstable manner, and she said in a cold voice, "You should be very proud of yourself for being able to hurt me, Chen Xinjie."


    Chen Xinjie sighed, "It''s a pity that it still wasn''t enough. In any case, I''m glad I got to experience godly power in the twilight of my life. If I were 50 years younger and could survive from this ordeal, then perhaps I really would have a chance to pursue that world."


    Demon Sovereign''s cold eyes softened a little upon hearing this. "You are a man who pursues extremes. At the very least, you are one of the very few humans whom I''m slightly fond of."


    A mocking look appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face. "I don''t need fondness from someone like you; I''m just disappointed that I wasn''t able to stop you. Even so, you won''t succeed, Demon Sovereign. I can sense that he''s about to return, and once he does, he''ll stomp you into the dirt like an ant."


    Demon Sovereign''s expression changed slightly upon hearing this. "Are you talking about him? Even if he does return, I''ll kill him just the same! He better return soon. Otherwise, once I create my Divine Realm, I''ll make sure he never leaves!"


    "You won''t succeed," Chen Xinjie said with absolute conviction in his eyes.


    Right at this moment, a melodious dragon''s roar rang out, and a black and golden dragon approached the scene from the distance at an astonishing speed. The golden scales gradually turned white to contrast with the black half of the dragon''s body, and the air around the dragon was warping violently in the face of the dragon''s raging blood essence fluctuations.


    Even in the face of Demon Sovereign, Chen Xinjie hadn''t displayed so much as a single hint of fear, but upon seeing this figure, a horrified look finally appeared on his face.


    He mustered up all of what little remained of his strength, and yelled with all his might, "Go away! Get away from here!"


    However, the dragon seemed to be unable to hear him, and it was still approaching rapidly, arriving on the scene in the blink of an eye.


    The dragon let loose a grief-stricken cry at the sight of Chen Xinjie before descending from the heavens, reverting back into its human form as it did so.


    Long Yeyue drifted down in front of Chen Xinjie and threw her arms around him.


    "Xinjie, please don''t scare me like this." Her voice was trembling as she was completely unable to sense any life force remaining in Chen Xinjie''s body, and that scared her more than anything ever had.


    She felt as if her own breath was about to cease.


    This man had affected her throughout her entire life, and it could almost be said that he had ruined her life, but seeing him on the brink of death, none of that was important anymore.


    At their age, they had already made peace with the concept of death, but that only applied to themselves; how could she possibly make peace with the fact that the person she loved more than anyone in the world was about to die?


    Demon Sovereign had been radiating killing intent just a moment ago, but after hearing that heartbroken cry, it was as if her heartstrings had been violently tugged on, and she shuddered as she lowered her hand again.


    Strong emotions began to surface in her eyes as she watched Long Yeyue throwing her arms around Chen Xinjie, and she couldn''t help but think back to her past.


    Once upon a time, she was just like this human woman. However, at the time of her husband''s death, she wasn''t even able to see or say anything to him.


    At the time, she had been living a life free from concern and worry in the gentle sea. Under her husband''s protection, the sea was not just their home, but also their territory upon which no one could encroach.


    However, her husband was dead just like that, killed by Sea God Tang San.


    From that day forth, she suddenly discovered that the sea soul beasts that had treated her with the utmost respect were beginning to change. They began to invade her husband''s former territory, and her home was destroyed.


    If it weren''t for the fact that her husband had given her his precious whale bead following his death and arranged a plan for her to ensure self-preservation, she and her daughter would''ve most likely already been hunted down.


    However, the unforgettable hatred and yearning for her deceased husband refused to fade in the slightest even over the span of 20,000 years.


    She was pursuing vengeance, not just against the human race, but also against all sea soul beasts. Her heart had been driven to insanity, and right as she was transforming the ocean into a sea of blood, she encountered the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    They temporarily convinced her to calm down by suggesting that they had a way to resurrect her husband.

 Chapter 1859: I Wont Let You Abandon Me

    After that came the subsequent plan, and if she wanted to complete this plan, she had to calm down. Otherwise, there were many things that she wouldn''t be able to do.


    For this purpose, the Holy Spirit Cult had developed a type of medicine for her to repress her deranged emotions and spirit, and the medicine was completed with assistance from the Spirit Pagoda.


    Of course, the Spirit Pagoda had no idea for what purpose the Holy Spirit Cult had been developing this medicine.


    Looking at Long Yeyue and Chen Xinjie, she couldn''t help but think back to her passed husband and these past 20,000 years of insanity.


    All of a sudden, she found herself completely transfixed and absorbed by her memories.


    "I''m fine." Chen Xinjie raised a hand to try and caress Long Yeyue''s cheek, but he only made it halfway before his hand fell limply to his side again.


    Long Yeyue hurriedly grabbed onto his hand and placed it onto her own cheek.


    Chen Xinjie''s eyes were slightly out of focus as he appraised Long Yeyue with a gentle expression. "You''ve become old, Yeyue, and so have I..."


    Tears were gushing out of Long Yeyue''s eyes. "You''re a bastard! You ruined my life, and now, you''re abandoning me? I won''t have it! I won''t let you abandon me!"


    Chen Xinjie sighed, "I''m sorry. Leaving you was the worst decision I ever made in my life. If I hadn''t been so stubborn, perhaps the tragedies between us would''ve never happened. After you told me the truth that day, I felt like my entire world had collapsed around me. I wanted to tear myself to shreds, but I knew that there was no point in doing that. In the instant I decided to tell you where Eternal Heaven was truly being stored, I had already decided that I wouldn''t leave you ever again no matter how you treated me.


    "I''m satisfied as long as I can sense your aura within a certain range. All I want is to continue to live as Old Man Chen the sweeper and accompany you in completing the final phase of the journeys of our lives. However, the heavens refused to grant me this opportunity. Yeyue, if reincarnation exists, I''ll stay with you every single day in our next lives, and I''ll do whatever you want me to do."


    "You''re an idiot!" Long Yeyue sobbed, "If you lost your stubbornness, your resolution, your drive, your sense of self, would you still be the Chen Xinjie I love? I never wanted you to be some sweeper; I only wanted to stay by your side! In my heart, you''re an unmatched hero, an almighty figure in the Soul Master world; I love the Chen Xinjie who can carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. To be honest, I never hated you; I never went to find you because I was scared to see you! I felt like I didn''t deserve to see you again as I was unable to give birth to our child.


    "I was in so much pain after losing our child. I wanted more than anything than to give birth to him, then take him to see you. Even if you didn''t want me anymore, I wouldn''t have left. However, our child was miscarried, and that dealt me an extremely heavy blow. At the time, you were at an important point in your career. If I had gone to find you then, I knew that you would return to my side without any hesitation, but you were the heir to your family and the most brilliant young talent in the military; if you were to marry a high-ranking member of Shrek Academy, your future would be flushed down the drain.


    "Hence, I didn''t go see you. I missed you so, so much, but I still didn''t go to find you. By the time you had reached the peak and everything had stabilized, I finally worked up the courage to see you, but I received news of your engagement. On your wedding day, I looked at you from afar among all of the guests, and I felt like my tears would never stop. Even so, I still didn''t hate you, but my heart died on that day."


    Chen Xinjie was rooted to the spot as he listened to Long Yeyue''s story, and he closed his eyes with a pained expression.


    Only now did he truly understand her heart. Perhaps the difference had been nothing more than a single day. Perhaps if his engagement had been delayed by a single day, Long Yeyue would''ve come to see him, and they wouldn''t have missed out on a life of happiness together.


    He had never truly loved his wife; their marriage had been an entirely politically motivated one.


    Even if Long Yeyue had come to him on his wedding day, he would''ve abandoned his bride and left with her without any hesitation.


    However, she had refrained from doing that for the sake of his career. Everything that she had done was for his sake. She had done all of this for his benefit, yet she had dug herself deep into the pit of despair in the process.


    Somehow, Chen Xinjie was able to summon the strength to lift his arms and tightly embrace the woman of his heart.


    "YOU are the idiot, Yeyue! Why were you so foolish? You really are the biggest idiot in the world!" His voice was also trembling with tears as he spoke.


    His life force had already completely faded, and he was only just barely clinging onto a shred of his soul with his Divine Origin realm spiritual power, but he really didn''t want to let go.


    100 years had passed by in the blink of an eye, but before this moment, he didn''t feel as if he had ever truly lived.


    Long Yeyue was also holding tightly onto him. "Xinjie, do you want to see me back when we first met?"


    Chen Xinjie faltered slightly upon hearing this, and a warm smile appeared on Long Yeyue''s face as gentle golden light swirled around her.


    Her white hair gradually turned black and lengthened until it pooled all the way down past her backside.


    Her wizened features gradually became rejuvenated, and all of her wrinkles faded away. Her eye became clear and incredibly captivating, and her tears receded, replaced by a joyful and passionate expression.


    She was so beautiful; she was once the number one beauty of Shrek Academy!


    Chen Xinjie stared at her in a slack-jawed manner, and it really was as if he had returned to the moment when they had first met.


    He could still clearly recall how entranced he had been when he had seen her for the first time; he simply couldn''t take his eyes off her.


    In his youth, all he did was cultivate. He didn''t believe in love, nor did he have any interest in relationships.


    However, on that day, he saw her beside the Sea God''s Lake, and everything changed.


    That was an unforgettable view, and in that instant, he became a believer of love at first sight.


    Thus, he stayed at Shrek Academy to study as an exchange student, all so that he could remain by her side.


    At the time, she had many pursuers, all of whom were extremely powerful, and there was certainly no lack of love rivals more powerful than him.


    Thus, he began to engage in a very idioitic endeavor. He would challenge anyone who pursued her, and most of the time, all he received for his efforts was a beating, but he never gave up.  [1]


    He continued to work tirelessly in his cultivation, all so that he could chase away everyone around her.


    He had the courage to challenge all of the men in Shrek Academy, but not enough courage to confess to her, until that day, on the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. As an exchange student, he wasn''t supposed to have been allowed to participate in the event, but he had rushed onto the lake without any thought of consequences and finally confessed to her.


    As she removed her mask, the entire lake around him seemed to dim, and he could still clearly recall that moment as if it had happened yesterday.


    [1] [Are we sure Chen Xinjie isn''t related to Tong Yu?]

 Chapter 1860: Dying in Each Others Arms

    Chen Xinjie''s appearance also began to change. Just like Long Yeyue, his wrinkles gradually faded, and his hair turned black again. He still stood tall and proud, but he became a little thinner than he was now. He became handsome and dashing, and his eyes were filled with confidence and persistence. No obstacles could stand in his way, and he looked deep into her eyes with his own intense gaze.


    The first thing about Chen Xinjie that caught her attention had been his eyes. She had already noticed him the first time he set his eyes on her, and at the time, all she felt was this exchange student seemed really dumb.


    However, his eyes were so intense with particularly large irises, and he was staring at her with unbridled passion.


    There were many boys who liked her, but never had she met anyone who stared at her all the time and went wherever she did.


    Even as she walked into her classrooms for her lessons, he would continue to stare at her from outside the windows.


    Those eyes made her feel a little panicked and embarrassed, but in the end, they left a deep impression on her.


    She was actually aware of everything that happened after that.


    Apparently, the new exchange student was very fond of picking fights under the guise of sparring matches.


    On one occasion, she saw him after one of these fights, and he had been beaten black and blue. However, as he struggled to his feet, she was greeted by the sight of a pair of incredibly determined eyes. It was that pair of intense eyes that made her instantly recognize him.


    He naturally saw her as well, but he merely looked at her without saying anything.


    After that, Long Yeyue gradually noticed a pattern, which was that all of the male students who confessed to her would receive a challenge from him at some point.


    In the beginning, he was always getting beaten, but even so, he would still continue to challenge these male students without any hesitation, all the way until he could beat his rival.


    Later on, there were very few students capable of beating him, and he was almost always able to win the battles.


    After that, Long Yeyue heard that whenever he beat an opponent, he would warn them to stay away from her.


    Her first reaction to this was one of anger. How dare he interfere with her life like this?


    She even wanted to confront him about this, but he was always avoiding her while appraising her from afar.


    That all changed on that day during the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. She had just entered the inner court, and he had also arrived at the convention.


    He was an exchange student from another academy, so he wasn''t allowed to participate in the convention, but he rushed out without any regard of the consequences, determined to make his confession even if it meant ruining the convention.


    In that instant, he was so brave.


    There was no hesitation or fear in his eyes as he yelled in front of everyone, "Long Yeyue, I love you!"


    In that instant, she was moved by his determination. Even more importantly, she was attracted to his unyielding spirit and unshakeable determination.


    Even she didn''t understand why she had accepted his confession, but in any case, he flew over to her and latched onto her hand, and the two of them left the Sea God''s Lake.


    He gripped onto her hand very tightly, to the point that she was feeling some pain from his grip, but at the same time, she could clearly sense what he was feeling.


    It was from that moment forth that she fell in love with him. Perhaps he had already claimed a place in her heart before this, but she simply never noticed.


    The year after that was a year that neither of them would ever forget.


    "Long Yeyue, I love you," Chen Xinjie said in an earnest manner.


    Long Yeyue wound her arms around his neck, and replied, "Chen Xinjie, I love you, too."


    In that instant, the abyssal army and Demon Sovereign no longer had anything to do with them; they only had eyes for each other.


    A smile appeared on Chen Xinjie''s face, and the smile was so relaxed and joyful. However, the light in his eyes also completely faded in this instant, and they held only a reflection of the woman before him.


    She didn''t cry; she merely continued to hold onto him.


    He was no longer able to support himself with the sea, but he was held aloft by her.


    She held tightly onto him so that there was no space between the two of them. Even in the instant that he left this world, he still maintained his youthful state.


    How he wished that his younger self could''ve remained true to his determination and stayed by her side.


    "We may be parted in this life, but fate has brought us together in the end. Xinjie, we''ll never be separated again," Long Yeyue murmured to herself with a faint smile, and she closed her eyes as sorrowful dragon''s roars rang out around her.


    Two giant dragons, one black and one white, rose up into the air, and they seemed to be telling a story through their roars.


    In that instant, she had already closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest, and her aura had completely faded.


    The battlefield was no longer important to her. The two of them had been bound by responsibilities for their entire lives, and now, all she wanted was to stay by his side and never part with him.


    A huge wave swept up to devour them, but the two dragons lingered in the sky, roaring with grief as they performed a sorrowful dance.


    Both Sea God Douluo Chen Xinjie and Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue had fallen.


    On the main battlefield in the distance, Yali''s heart suddenly jolted as she exclaimed, "Elder Long!"


    She had known Long Yeyue for many years and was extremely familiar with Long Yeyue''s aura, but all of a sudden, that aura had completely vanished, and it could only mean one thing.


    How could this be? She was so powerful; how could she have fallen?


    Everyone else quickly noticed the astonishment that Yali was displaying, and their hearts immediately sank.


    Right at this moment, a vast expanse of purplish-golden light appeared in the distance, surging toward the battlefield like an all-encompassing tide.


    The fearsome purplish-golden wave brought with it enormous pressure, striking all of the humans on the battlefield with an overwhelming sense of asphyxiation.


    A sinister look appeared on the Spirit Sovereign''s face. "She''s finally here! This is where you all die!"


    Now that the battle on the sea was over, it was time to destroy the defensive lines of the human army and release the abyssal creatures onto the continent.


    As soon as the purplish-golden figure appeared on the battlefield, she instantly became the center of everyone''s attention.


    One figure after another also flew out of the abyssal passageway and appeared behind her; these were none other than the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult that hadn''t been involved in this battle earlier.


    Ghost Emperor and Infernal Emperor were directly behind Demon Sovereign, and following them were the four heavenly monarchs.


    The seven of them were giving off a mountainous aura as they slowly advanced, and the Limit Douluos of the human army reflexively gathered together to oppose them.


    The emperors and sovereigns of the abyss also joined the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult, and the situation took another turn.


    The Spirit Sovereign cast his gaze toward Demon Sovereign, and a hint of envy appeared in his eyes.


    He still hadn''t reached the godly level yet, but she had already attained what he had been pursuing for all this time. It wasn''t that he didn''t have any chances to make the breakthrough in the abyssal plane, but he was constantly being repressed by the Holy Lord.


    Even though Demon Sovereign still wasn''t a true deity yet, her powers had already reached the godly level.


    Gu Yuena had also sensed this, and her expression changed drastically at the sight of Demon Sovereign.


    She had well and truly attained godly power; even the planar ruler didn''t seem to be able to repress her power any longer.


    "You''re Demon Sovereign?" Yali asked with a furious expression. The fact that Ghost Emperor and Infernal Emperor were standing behind her was a clear indication that she was the current leader of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Demon Sovereign replied, "That''s right. I''m glad you''re all gathered here today; it saves me the trouble of having to hunt you down one by one. All of you must die and become sacrifices to my new Blood River Godslayer Array."


    "Where is Elder Long? What did you do to her?" Yali asked.

 Chapter 1861: Return!

    Demon Sovereign replied, "Are you talking about that woman with the twin dragon martial souls? She perished alongside Chen Xinjie. I must say, fiercely loyal woman."


    "What?" Everyone from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, as well as all of the other powerful beings present, were stunned to hear this.


    Chen Xinjie was dead? He was the most powerful being in the military and quite likely the most powerful being in the world as well!


    Thinking back to that enormous energy storm, everyone''s hearts immediately sank.


    In terms of power, Long Yeyue was only slightly inferior to Chen Xinjie, yet she was dead as well?


    The deaths of these two Limit Douluos would undoubtedly have a massive impact on the entire human army.


    Yali''s body was trembling gently with grief and rage. She and Long Yeyue were the only two remaining Limit Douluos of Shrek Academy! Now that Long Yeyue was dead, she was the only one left among Shrek Academy''s older generation, and she was overcome by sorrow.


    Demon Sovereign slowly raised her hands, and dense purplish-golden light began to spread through the air.


    Even the opposing Limit Douluos could sense the gap between them and her.


    Gu Yuena heaved a faint sigh as she slowly raised her Silver Dragon Spear, and a determined look appeared in her large purple eyes.


    She flapped her dragon wings to slowly propel herself forward, and her Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin battle armor shimmered as her aura began to elevate.


    Among all of the people present, it seemed that only she could possibly be a match for Demon Sovereign.


    The entire battlefield fell into a brief period of placidity. The abyssal army was gathered around the abyssal passageway down below, while the human army was repairing the defensive lines.


    The air units were also appraising the battle from afar.


    The massive explosion that had taken place on the Arctic Ocean told them that the outcome of this battle was ultimately going to be decided by only a few people in the end. Only the powerful beings who truly stood at the pinnacle of this world could truly sway the final result.


    Demon Sovereign had finally appeared, and the fact that even Chen Xinjie had fallen by her hands was a clear testament to just how powerful she was.


    However, Gu Yuena wasn''t backing down in the slightest against such a fearsome foe, and just her courage alone was enough to win her many admirers, particularly among the Spirit Pagoda camp.


    Ever since the reconstruction of Shrek Academy, they had constantly been repressed, and it had been a very long time since they had been in the limelight for the right reasons.


    In that instant, all of them became fully accepting of Gu Yuena as their leader; this was what their chairwoman should be doing!


    Yali took a deep breath to force back her own feelings of grief. They were fighting for all of humanity, and grieving wasn''t going to change anything; all they could do was rise up and face the enemy with everything they had.


    Gu Yuena slowly raised her Silver Dragon Spear, but right at this moment, a streak of golden light suddenly erupted into the heavens.


    An indescribable aura then spread across the entire battlefield at an astonishing speed, and it was as if the ruler of this world had arrived.


    The Arctic Ocean in the distance also seemed to be celebrating the emergence of this streak of golden light, and the waves were pounding thunderously in exultation.


    In the instant that she sensed this aura, Demon Sovereign''s expression immediately changed drastically, and she exclaimed, "It can''t be! He really came back?"


    Despite the brave front she had put on when facing Chen Xinjie, sensing the aura of the man who had taken the life of her husband 20,000 years ago still struck fear deep into her heart.


    She finally understood that Chen Xinjie hadn''t just been bluffing.


    The streak of golden light had come directly from the secondary tree of life, which was being heavily guarded by a large number of troops.


    In contrast with Demon Sovereign''s shock and horror, Gu Yuena''s eyes glazed over momentarily as she sensed the arrival of this streak of golden light, but a look of elation then instantly appeared on her face.


    He was back! This aura belonged only to him!


    Finally, in this crucial moment, he had returned.


    The golden light only paused momentarily above the secondary tree of life before flying directly toward this battlefield.


    Everyone looked on as the golden light approached, as if they were awaiting the arrival of the protagonist of this story.  [1]


    In the next instant, he appeared at the center of the battlefield.


    Golden light covered every single inch of his body, and the golden light was intermingled with a soft rainbow tone.


    He was encased in a suit of majestic battle armor, and in his right hand was the Golden Dragon Spear, while in his left hand was the Sea God''s Trident.


    Tang Wulin was back!


    Demon Sovereign was momentarily stunned by the sight of this golden figure before blurting out the question, "You''re Tang San?"


    Not only did Tang Wulin falter slightly upon hearing this, everyone else present was also quite taken aback by this question.


    Tang San?


    To the abyssal creatures, this was a completely foreign name, but to all of the human beings present, Tang San was a name that was all too familiar.


    However, they didn''t understand why Demon Sovereign would suddenly be referring to Tang Wulin as Tang San.


    Tang Wulin himself was more surprised than anyone else as no one knew about his relationship with Tang San! Not only was someone drawing a connection between him and Tang San, it was someone that he didn''t know and was clearly from the enemy camp.


    "No, no, no," Demon Sovereign murmured to herself, "You''re not him. You possess his aura, but it''s completely different, and you''re not as powerful as him; you''re not a god yet. Who are you?"


    Only now did everyone around Tang Wulin catch a clear glimpse of him, and they discovered that his features seemed to have become more delicate compared to prior to his seclusion.


    He was already extremely handsome to begin with, but there was now a refreshing disposition about him.


    In particular, his eyes had become more profound, and they had changed color from black to the deep blue of the sea.


    The most significant change was in his hair color. His black hair had also turned blue, and it presented a stunning sight to behold as it trailed down the back of his Golden Dragon Moon Song battle armor.


    Anyone who saw him, regardless of whether they were male or female, would be deeply mesmerized.


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m not Tang San; I''m Tang Wulin, Sea God''s Pavilion Master and Tang Sect Master."


    "Tang Wulin? How are you related to Tang San?" Demon Sovereign interrogated.


    Tang Wulin was just about to reply when Yali flew over to his side, and said in a grief-stricken voice, "Elder Long and Elder Chen are dead; she was the one who killed both of them."


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but shudder upon hearing this. He never shared much of a close bond with Chen Xinjie; he merely had a lot of respect for this lofty military figure. However, Elder Long had been present throughout his entire development journey.


    Following the Shrek City bombing, there was no way that Shrek Academy would''ve been able to make such a rapid resurgence had it not been for the support of Elder Long and Yali.


    For Shrek Academy, Long Yeyue was a spiritual pillar, while for Tang Wulin, she was half a teacher! It was under Elder Long''s guidance that he was able to develop so quickly, and she was the true guiding force of Shrek Academy.


    [1] [This is not me breaking the fourth wall; this is exactly what the author wrote.]

 Chapter 1862: You Ask Me Why?

    Never did he think that he would emerge from his seclusion to the news that Elder Long had passed away, and tears instantly welled up in his eyes.


    His Golden Dragon Spear began to emit a buzzing sound, and tremendously powerful blood essence fluctuations erupted out of his body like a tidal wave.


    Even his Divine Origin realm spiritual power was rapidly elevating, causing everyone around him to feel as if the surrounding air had become scorching hot.


    Even his allies were stunned by his transformation, let alone his enemies.


    Gu Yuena immediately identified the fact that he had already reached the Divine Origin realm, and she was astonished.


    This was way too fast! Even though she had already reached the Divine Origin realm long ago, it still took her a very long time just to recover to this level. After all, one had to face resistance from the entire plane to reach this realm!


    In contrast, he had only been in seclusion for a few days, yet upon his emergence, he was already at the Divine Origin realm!


    Not only that, but his powers had also reached the pinnacle of the Limit Douluo level. That''s right, the aura that Tang Wulin was currently giving off was of the quasigod level. In fact, it was superior to that of the vast majority of quasigods.


    With his suit of super four-word battle armor, it could be said that he had already reached the pinnacle of the human race.


    This brief period of seclusion had allowed him to develop to an incredible extent.


    "I''m going to kill you!" Tang Wulin spat through gritted teeth.


    With that guttural cry, he stepped forward with his left foot, and the space beneath his foot erupted into golden light as if it had already turned into solid ground.


    In the next instant, he shot forth directly toward Demon Sovereign as a streak of scintillating golden light.


    A cold light flashed through Demon Sovereign''s eyes. She knew that this young man wasn''t Tang San, but he had to be very closely related to Tang San as he was wielding the Sea God''s Trident!


    If it weren''t for the fact that he had received the blessings of the Sea God, how would Tang San possibly have been able to kill her husband in the sea?


    Perhaps this young man was a descendant of Tang San''s. In that case, he naturally had to be killed.


    Purplish-golden light fanned out behind her, and her entire body was enveloped in a dense purplish-golden aura.


    She encircled her arms in front of herself, and a purplish-golden ball of light shot forth directly toward Tang Wulin.


    The commencement of the battle seemed to have lit the fuse for the entire battlefield, and Gu Yuena raised her Silver Dragon Spear as she turned to the Spirit Sovereign again with a cold gaze.


    On this occasion, there seemed to be something different about her expression, and a powerful aura also erupted from her body.


    This wasn''t an eruption of power, but instead an indescribable display of her powerful disposition.


    The Spirit Sovereign''s heart shuddered slightly as he discovered that his opponent seemed to have undergone some changes.


    With his Divine Origin realm spiritual power, he was able to clearly sense this change, and if he had to describe it, he would say that his opponent was getting more serious than she had been before.


    Aside from them, all of the other powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane had also matched themselves up with opponents and were unleashing an all-out assault on the human army.


    Due to the passing of Chen Xinjie and Long Yeyue, the overall power of the human army had suffered a significant drop.


    Right at this moment, one figure after another flew over from the distance.


    The one flying at the very forefront of this group was clad in a suit of bright yellow battle armor, and he was wielding a very special weapon.


    At first glance, it appeared to be a spear, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that the tip of the "spear" was soft, as if it were comprised of countless metallic threads.


    This was a calligraphy brush!


    This figure was none other than the commander-in-chief of the human army, Divine Brush Douluo Yu Guanzhi!


    He was accompanied by Dong Zi''an and many other powerful beings of the military.


    At this point, the dominance being exerted by the human army''s air units and infrasonic aircrafts had restored parity to the main battlefield. It was now very difficult for abyssal creatures to try and force their way through the human army''s defenses with sheer numbers alone, so the arrival of Demon Sovereign and Tang Wulin became particularly important.


    This battle was going to be decided by the outcome of the clash between the most powerful beings of both sides.


    The side that prevailed would be able to lead their army to crush the opposing army and attain the ultimate victory.


    As the commander-in-chief of the human army, Yu Guanzhi was naturally aware of the importance of these clashes, which was why he had arrived on the scene right away with the powerful beings of the military, temporarily delegating commander duties to Zhang Huanyun.


    The human army was fielding a very formidable lineup including the likes of Yu Guanzhi, Zang Xin, Cao Dezhi, Yali, Yuanen Zhentian, Yuanen Tiandang, Tong Yu, A''Ruheng, and Guan Yue, all of whom possessed Limit Douluo level power.


    Under the leadership of Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena, they formed the backbone of the human army''s resistance.


    Over at the Spirit Pagoda camp, there was also Leng Yaozhu, who was currently leading the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda in battle against the abyssal creatures.


    However, as she caught sight of a black figure that had appeared up above, she couldn''t help but rise up into the air and appraise the figure with an intense gaze.


    The person she was appraising was none other than Dark Phoenix Douluo Leng Yulai, her own sister and one of the perpetrators behind Yun Ming''s death.


    It was no exaggeration to say that all of the most powerful beings on the Douluo Continent were currently gathered on this battlefield, and all of them were prepared to die in this battle.


    As soon as Tang Wulin lashed out, everyone else immediately followed suit, and in the blink of an eye, this section of the sky had already become a lethal realm of destruction. Terrifying energy fluctuations tinted the entire sky above the core circle of the northernmost region, and Leng Yaozhu was rushing directly toward her sister, Leng Yulai.


    Leng Yaozhu spread her wings, and a high concentration of fire elements began to gather around her.


    "Why? Tell me why you did this!" Leng Yaozhu''s voice was trembling as she spoke. She had learned from Yali that her own sister was the one who had extracted Yun Ming''s soul from his body.


    Instead of averting her gaze, Leng Yulai looked straight into Leng Yaozhu''s eyes with a deranged look on her face.


    She had been captured by Zang Xin a while ago, and she had only been released in exchange for Yun Ming''s soul.


    Compared to last time, Leng Yulai seemed to have aged a little, but the insanity in her eyes had only grown more pronounced.


    "Why? You''re asking me why? Are you an idiot? That woman took him away from me; as your sister, not only are you not helping me, you''re interrogating me instead? You knew I had feelings for Yun Ming, yet you went and proposed to him in secret. In the end, he didn''t choose you or me. You''ve always been a backstabbing bitch! You''re no sister to me; you''re a sworn enemy in my eyes!"

 Chapter 1863: The Love Story of the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo

    Leng Yulai raised her hands as she spoke, conjuring up a pair of purplish-black swords of light that she slashed directly toward Leng Yaozhu.


    Leng Yaozhu''s heart was filled with grief and fury as she also conjured up a pair of fiery swords to meet her sister''s attack.


    In the instant the four swords clashed, tears began to gush out of Leng Yaozhu''s eyes, instantly blurring her vision.


    Looking at her own sister at such close proximity, her heart was in such agony that she was almost unable to breathe.


    Indeed, she had once confessed to Yun Ming.


    ......


    "Yun Ming." Leng Yaozhu looked at the man standing before her, and she became a little transfixed.


    Ever since the first time she saw him, she was attracted by his indomitable spirit. The Leng Family had always been a major family in the Soul Master world, as well as one of the core families of the Spirit Pagoda.


    Leng Yaozhu had always grown up under great care, and even before she turned six years of age, she had already displayed exceptional aptitude. At six years old, she awakened the family''s martial soul, the Heavenly Phoenix, and she had innate full soul power, as well as a flame mutation that bestowed upon her extraordinary flame-wielding abilities.


    Her cultivation had always been smooth and rapid, and she had always been one of the brightest young talents of her generation.


    She had a younger sister by the name of Leng Yulai, and they were the most outstanding pair of their generation in the Leng Family.


    Leng Yulai''s Heavenly Phoenix martial soul also underwent a mutation in a positive direction during her martial soul awakening, except her mutation was of the darkness element.


    The Leng Family didn''t really care what element her martial soul turned out to be, and in fact, light, dark, and space were considered to be superior elements to water, fire, earth, and wind.


    Furthermore, Leng Yulai''s rate of cultivation wasn''t inferior to her elder sister''s by the slightest, and she was even beginning to close the gap between them, so she had always received special attention from the Leng Family.


    According to the rules of the Leng Family, the position of family leader would be passed down to one of the two sisters in the future.


    However, as time passed, both Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai displayed exceptional aptitude, and Leng Yulai was even outdoing her elder sister slightly in certain aspects. However, it soon came to light that Leng Yulai was developing some personality issues due to the darkness element of her martial soul.


    To put it simply, Leng Yulai''s personality was more extreme, and she was very competitive. This wasn''t necessarily a bad thing. After all, competitiveness could be a driving factor behind a cultivator''s growth. However, for the heir-apparent of a major family, it was not too good to be too extreme and unyielding.


    Thus, after both of them came of age, it was still Leng Yaozhu who was chosen to become heir to the family, and more of the resources were skewed toward her. After that, Leng Yaozhu became the vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda with the support of her family.


    She and Leng Yulai had fallen in love with Yun Ming at around the same time.


    Leng Yaozhu loved Yun Ming for his indomitable spirit and sense of justice, while Leng Yulai loved him for his handsome appearance and unmatched power.


    Leng Yulai had always been more direct and immediately began aggressively pursuing Yun Ming, but Yun Ming didn''t like that.


    Not long after Leng Yulai was rejected, Leng Yaozhu came to see Yun Ming.


    "Greetings," Yun Ming said with a polite nod. He had a lot of respect for Leng Yaozhu. They were both among the cream of the crop of the younger generation, and Leng Yaozhu was very steadfast and conscientious.


    Ever since she became the heir of the Leng Family, the family had been going from strength to strength.


    Despite the fact that she was related to Leng Yulai by blood, their personalities were completely different. In contrast with Leng Yulai''s invasive personality, Leng Yaozhu was more subdued and introverted.


    Yun Ming''s cultivation journey was far more extraordinary than theirs, and he was also slightly older than them. He held a lot of respect and perhaps even some fondness for both sisters, but it was still far away from love. Besides, he already had someone else in his heart.


    Leng Yaozhu took a few deep breaths to try and steel herself, but she still couldn''t bring herself to say what she had come here to say.


    "What is it? Do you have something to say to me?" Yun Ming asked with a perplexed expression.


    "Do you have any plans recently?" Leng Yaozhu asked.


    Yun Ming smiled, "I might go on a long journey for a while. Gaining knowledge through reading is one thing, but experiencing the world is a different thing entirely. I plan to go to the Dou Spirit Continent and Star Luo Continent to see them for myself and to further my training."


    Leng Yaozhu''s heart jolted slightly upon hearing this. "How long will you be gone for?"


    Yun Ming replied, "Who knows? Three years? Maybe five years? In any case, I''ll be setting off in a few days."


    Leng Yaozhu''s breathing became slightly more ragged, and she knew that this was perhaps her last chance to say what she wanted to say.


    She did her best to calm herself down, but she was still very hesitant.


    "What''s going on with you today, Ms. Leng?" Yun Ming asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Leng Yaozhu''s face. "Call me Yaozhu."


    Yun Ming faltered slightly upon hearing this, but didn''t say anything in response.


    Leng Yaozhu lowered her head, not daring to look into his eyes, and she continued, "I''ve loved you for quite a few years now. Perhaps we won''t have a chance to be together, but I hope to at least be on a first-name basis with you."


    A surprised look appeared on Yun Ming''s face. In his eyes, Leng Yaozhu had always been so steadfast and professional, yet now, she was looking like a little girl that had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.


    "You..."


    Leng Yaozhu seemed to have finally worked up her courage as she raised her head again to look at Yun Ming. "That''s right, I''ve loved you for a very long time. Yun Ming, I love you. I know I shouldn''t have fallen in love with you considering the relationship between our Spirit Pagoda and your Shrek Academy. However, emotions are not so easy to control. I''ve loved you for many years already, and sometimes, I''m actually very envious of Yulai; at least she''s able to express her feelings, but I can''t.


    "I didn''t dare to say anything as I represent not just myself, but my entire family, but if I continued to keep quiet, perhaps I would never get another chance. Yun Ming, I..."


    Tears began to flow down her face as she spoke, and she stepped forward before locking him in a tight embrace, holding on with all her might as if she were afraid of being pushed away.


    Yun Ming was completely rooted to the spot. Of course he wanted to push her away, but at this moment, he could sense that Leng Yaozhu was trembling uncontrollably.


    He couldn''t bring himself to accept her feelings, but he didn''t want to hurt her, either.


    He heaved a faint sigh and gently stroked her long hair in an attempt to soothe her emotions.


    Unbeknownst to the two of them, there was currently someone appraising them from afar with a furious gaze.


    As she watched Leng Yaozhu throw her arms around Yun Ming, she was clenching her teeth together so hard that they were on the verge of cracking.


    All of a sudden, she turned around like a madwoman and ran away toward the darkness...


    That year, Leng Yaozhu was 29, while Leng Yulai was 27.


    After a long while, Leng Yaozhu finally recomposed herself, but her face was as red as a tomato.


    "Thank you for not pushing me away." She lowered her head, and she was blushing all the way down to her neck. However, during the time that she had been in his embrace, she had experienced a sense of warmth and security that she had never felt before. She had already become the supporting pillar of her family, yet just now, she seemed to have found her own supporting pillar.


    She felt like all of the years she had spent loving Yun Ming in secret were worth it. She wanted to ask for more, but in the end, her rationality held her back.

 Chapter 1864: Battle Between the Two Phoenixes

    She took a deep breath, and murmured, "I can tell that Yali is the woman you love. She really is the most kind-hearted woman in the world, and she is deserving of your love. Hence, I''m not saying all of this with any expectations; I just couldn''t hold back the urge to get all of this off my chest before I turned 30. Please don''t give me a response; there''s no need to reject me because I already understand everything, I just don''t want to hear it from you. Please leave me with this final beautiful memory."


    Yun Ming opened his mouth to say something, but refrained from doing so in the end. Leng Yaozhu was a smart woman, and it was exactly because of this that she had said what she did.


    Yun Ming heaved a faint sigh as he shook his head in a forlorn manner. "What''s so good about me anyway?"


    Leng Yaozhu raised a finger and pressed it against his lips, "I told you not to say anything; please. Listen to what I have to say, and once I''m done, I''ll leave. Yulai is different from me; her love for you is more intense than mine. In the eyes of others, she''s very extreme in her personality, but I know that her heart is very brittle. She should''ve been the heir to our family, but our seniors didn''t understand her, so they passed the position down to me. She''s very vulnerable and requires more care. After you rejected her, it was as if she had become a completely different person.


    "If it''s possible, please make some room for her in your heart; even the tiniest bit of space is fine, as long as you can afford her some love and compassion. She''s my little sister, and I don''t want to see her continue to be tormented like this. I can sacrifice and discard everything, but I don''t want to see her keep living like this."


    Yun Ming faltered slightly upon hearing this before a wry smile appeared on his face.


    Leng Yaozhu''s face was slightly pale as she continued, "I don''t know what''s come over me today, but this what I''ve been harboring in my heart all this time. If you can squeeze out any additional love for any other woman, then please give it to Yulai; I beg of you."


    After that, she extended a deep bow toward Yun Ming before rushing away.


    ......


    The swords of fire and darkness continued to clash, sending violent energy fluctuations surging through the air.


    Black flames seemed to be burning deep in Leng Yulai''s eyes, which were filled with insanity and hatred.


    Why? You knew I loved him, yet as my sister, you had to try and steal him from me! You already stole the position of family heir from me, but I didn''t say anything as you had always been the big sister that''s closest to my heart, but I loved him so much, to the point that I was willing to give my life for him! After I was rejected by him, I wanted to die, yet my big sister, the only one who was kind and close to me, betrayed me as well! Why? Why did you do this?


    Leng Yaozhu''s eyes were filled with tears, and her heart was throbbing with agony.


    She was also yelling with all her might in her own heart.


    Why? Why did you kill him? We both loved him; even if he didn''t reciprocate your feelings, shouldn''t he have at least been a beautiful memory for us? You are the little sister whom I love more than anyone else in this world, yet you killed the man we both loved! Why did you choose depravity? Why have you destroyed everything?


    The four swords clashed, and Leng Yaozhu was superior in cultivation rank to Leng Yulai, but the gap in power wasn''t very big.


    However, at their level, the main disadvantage that all Evil Soul Masters had to suffer with was in their battle armor.


    Leng Yaozhu was wearing a suit of four-word battle armor that had the Leng Family had commissioned Divine Blacksmith Zhen Hua to forge after pooling a huge amount of resources, and this was one of the keys to her rise to the position of vice-chairman in the Spirit Pagoda.


    In contrast, Leng Yulai was only wearing a suit of three-word battle armor, and in this case, where their powers were quite similar, the battle armor disparity was making all the difference.


    After a few clashes, Leng Yulai began to get forced back into retreat, while bursts of flames began to take shape behind Leng Yaozhu.


    These flames were her mutated flames after undergoing a second mutation, and they would only appear during the course of battles.


    They would gradually appear in the shape of water droplets, and she could only conjure up seven droplets at most, but all of them were extremely powerful.


    They were given the name Heavenly Phoenix True Fire by her, and they were one of her main trump cards. Her martial soul had only undergone a second mutation after she attained her suit of four-word battle armor, so that was another advantage she had over Leng Yulai.


    Thus, even though Leng Yulai''s attacks were relentless, Leng Yaozhu''s assault was only growing more and more powerful.


    She wasn''t just fighting for herself; she was also fighting for all of humanity.


    She didn''t even dare to imagine the heinous crimes that her sister had committed over the years as one of the Holy Spirit Cult''s four heavenly monarchs.


    All she wanted now was to be able to capture her and take her back. Even if she had to spend the rest of her life atoning for her sister''s sins, she didn''t want her sister to die on this battlefield. This was why she had challenged Leng Yulai right away; she didn''t want anyone else to get to her first and potentially kill her!


    However, Leng Yulai was completely oblivious to her sister''s intentions, and she continued to attack Leng Yaozhu with all her might as the hatred in her heart spiked to a peak. Dark power was erupting incessantly from her dual swords of darkness, and as she retreated, her eyes had already begun to turn a dark purple color.


    ......


    On the main battlefield, there was only one place where no other battles were taking place, and that was the site where Tang Wulin and Demon Sovereign were clashing.


    As Tang Wulin flew toward Demon Sovereign and faced the purplish-golden ball of light that the latter released, the light in his eyes became extremely bright, and as opposed to withdrawing his Golden Dragon Spear, he thrust it directly toward the ball of light up ahead.


    In the instant that the two of them clashed, the ball of light exploded into viscous liquid-like purplish-golden light that surged directly toward Tang Wulin.


    However, Tang Wulin remained completely unflustered as he drew a gorgeous arc through the air with his Golden Dragon Spear.


    Under the influence of his Golden Dragon Spear, the purplish-golden light also formed an arc in mid-air before being diverted to the side, flying directly toward the abyssal passageway.


    Demon Sovereign was stunned to see this. She had been using godly power, which was fundamentally different from soul power!


    If she had to be described in Soul Master terms, then she was currently at cultivation rank 100. Thus, the fact that Tang Wulin was able to divert her godly power with such apparent ease was astonishing to her.


    In the world of the Sea God''s Trident, Tang Wulin had fought his father countless times, and after what seemed like an eternity, his battle experience and understanding of Unpredictable Storm had been raised to completely new levels.


    The key to this diversion of power was Unpredictable Storm.


    Upon landing in the abyssal passageway, the streak of purplish-golden light instantly detonated a massive explosion, killing countless abyssal creatures, but unfortunately, all of the slain abyssal creatures merely returned to the abyssal passageway as abyssal energy, not giving Tang Wulin a chance to devour them.


    In the next instant, Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had already reached Demon Sovereign, who harrumphed coldly as she brought her hands together in an attempt to clamp the spear between her palms.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin made a lightning-fast adjustment to his thrust, and all of a sudden, it was as if two Golden Dragon Spears had appeared, one of which was being withdrawn, while the other was being thrust directly toward Demon Sovereign''s lower abdomen.


    For the first time since attaining godly power, Demon Sovereign felt like she didn''t have an advantage in battle. Tang Wulin''s battle style appeared to be very simple, but he was completely unaffected by her godly power, and that was downright incredible.

 Chapter 1865: Battling Demon Sovereign

    "Clang!"


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear struck Demon Sovereign''s lower abdomen with unerring accuracy, but the indomitable Golden Dragon Spear was stopped in its path. It seemed to have struck something completely indestructible and was repelled as a result.


    At the same time, the entire surrounding space turned a purplish-golden color, and Demon Sovereign thrust a palm forward.


    There was no technique to speak of; it was purely an eruption of godly power.


    From their initial clash, Tang Wulin had already sensed that Demon Sovereign was no longer an ordinary human. Perhaps she hadn''t become a deity yet, but her powers had already reached the godly level.


    His opponent was far more fearsome than he anticipated, but he was also no longer his past self.


    The attack just now had been unleashed using the Golden Dragon Spear in his right hand, but in the face of Demon Sovereign''s palm strike, he lashed out with the Sea God''s Trident in his left hand in retaliation, drawing a circle in mid-air.


    Demon Sovereign''s palm appeared right at the center of the circle, and as soon as that happened, she felt a burst of enormous suction force appear around her hand, following which the godly power imbued within her palm was stripped away.


    This was a very jarring sensation; the palm strike that she had absolute confidence in had suddenly been completely nullified. In the next instant, the giant Sea God''s Trident swept forth, striking directly toward her shoulder.


    Demon Sovereign''s expression changed slightly upon seeing this. She wasn''t fazed by being struck by the Golden Dragon Spear, but she definitely didn''t dare to allow the vastly renowned Sea God''s Trident to strike her.


    Purplish-golden light flashed, and in the next instant, she appeared behind Tang Wulin. She thrust a finger forward, and the surrounding air was abruptly ejected, transforming the area into a vacuum.


    Tang Wulin felt his entire body become very sluggish, and his Sea God''s Trident was also faltering in mid-air. It was as if the world that he was currently situated in no longer accepted him and was rejecting him with all its might.


    This was a tiny small world that Demon Sovereign had conjured up with her godly power, and in this world, she was the absolute ruler. This was an ability that was far superior to domains, and it could only be unleashed through godly power.


    Taking advantage of Tang Wulin''s sluggishness, Demon Sovereign thrust her finger directly toward his back.


    However, right at this moment, countless Bluesilver Emperor vines suddenly erupted out of Tang Wulin''s back, and an image was also projected into Demon Sovereign''s mind.


    The figure that was locked away deep in her memory vault suddenly appeared before her, dealing upon her a massive psychological impact.


    The long blue hair, the steady and profound gaze; it was none other than Sea God Tang San!


    She had never seen Sea God Tang San in person, but as soon as the image appeared in her mind, she immediately recognized it to be Tang San.


    Aside from him, there was no one else who could possibly bear this appearance.


    In the next instant, she was struck by the Bluesilver Emperor vines, and her body was sent flying. Tang Wulin swept his Sea God''s Trident through the air to slice through the small world that was restricting him, then turned around to face Demon Sovereign again.


    Even though he had already reached the pinnacle of the human race, it was not an easy task battling the true god level Demon Sovereign.


    If it weren''t for the enhancements he had received from the Nine Trials of the Sea God and the countless battles against his father, perhaps he would''ve already lost.


    He finally understood why even the likes of Chen Xinjie and Long Yeyue had perished to this woman.


    The disorientation in Demon Sovereign''s eyes faded, and as she focused her gaze on Tang Wulin again, her eyes were filled with scorching hatred. "You must be a descendant of his, right? You bear such a striking resemblance to him; there must be a bloodline connection between the two of you! Looks like I''ve finally found the right person to exact my revenge on; I''m going to kill you to avenge my husband!"


    Demon Sovereign raised her palms toward the heavens as she spoke, and the sky instantly turned a dark purple color. Her aura also began to spike at an astonishing rate.


    Meanwhile, Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear in Demon Sovereign''s direction, while pointing his Sea God''s Trident in the direction of the Arctic Ocean, feeling the blessings of the sea.


    At this point, he had already pulled out the Sea God''s Trident and become the true heir to the Sea God. The sea now existed to serve him, and rich water elemental energy surged toward him from all directions.


    Even in the northernmost region of the continent, the ice shelves were a part of a sea, so all of the ice elements and water elements were injecting themselves into Tang Wulin''s body as the purest form of energy.


    Due to the restriction of the plane, he was unable to attain godhood, but his aura was constantly rising toward the godly level.


    Meanwhile, the battle between Gu Yuena and the Spirit Sovereign had also commenced.


    The Spirit Sovereign was constantly flashing through the air, unleashing one powerful spiritual attack after another to combat Gu Yuena''s elemental attacks.


    However, he was unable to get any closer to Gu Yuena. There was constantly an enormous cloud of energy revolving around Gu Yuena, and what he was most wary of was the spatial elements. It was as if there were countless black holes around her, and he could be devoured even with the slightest lapse in focus.


    In contrast with before, the Spirit Sovereign found his opponent to be far more unfathomable. Her attacks didn''t seem to have become much more powerful, but he didn''t dare to approach her for some reason.


    He couldn''t understand exactly what had changed, but he knew that something had changed.


    All types of thoughts were rapidly flying through the Spirit Sovereign''s mind, and all of a sudden, a possibility occurred to him.


    Could it be that his opponent had been hiding her power?


    This was the only explanation; even now, there was still a chance that she was hiding her true power.


    With that in mind, a chill ran down the Spirit Sovereign''s spine.


    Only after arriving in the human world did he come to realize that humans weren''t as easy to crush as he had imagined.


    In the eyes of the abyssal plane, the Douluo Plane was on the wane, and thus, the planar ruler''s restrictive power on outsiders was very limited. In addition to that, the Holy Spirit Cult was helping the abyssal army arrive in this world, so a crushing victory could be immediately secured, and the abyssal plane could expect a massive influx of life energy soon.


    However, even though the abyssal army had made some progress, the Spirit Sovereign knew from the moment that Eternal Heaven struck that the human race wouldn''t be that easy to defeat.


    Furthermore, he was extremely wary of Demon Sovereign.


    He knew that the Holy Lord still wouldn''t be able to arrive in this plane. No matter how feeble the planar ruler of the Douluo Continent was, there was no way it would allow another planar ruler to enter its territory. At the very most, the Holy Lord would only be able to project a part of his power into this plane, but it would be impossible for him to fully descend as that would lead to his destruction.


    Under these circumstances, even if they could crush the human race, it would be very troublesome if they couldn''t control the Holy Spirit Cult.


    With that in mind, the Spirit Sovereign decided that he had to end the battle here as soon as possible so the abyssal army could begin plundering life energy.


    With sufficient life energy, there was a chance that he would also be able to reach the true god level, and once that happened, there wouldn''t be any further issues.


    He had absolute confidence that with the assistance of the Holy Lord, he would be able to become the ruler of this world.


    As for the notion that Gu Yuena was hiding her power? Hehe, she wasn''t the only one...

 Chapter 1866: Planar Seal

    The Spirit Sovereign didn''t hesitate any longer as he retreated into the distance, and blue light began to glow from his eyes.


    Gu Yuena had constantly been keeping tabs on him while also watching the battle between Tang Wulin and Demon Sovereign, preparing to step in at any time, and she hurriedly focused her attention back on the Spirit Sovereign.


    The Spirit Sovereign''s body quickly swelled in size, almost instantly transforming into an Abyssal Spirit Dragon that was around 15 meters in length.


    This was naturally far smaller than the other Abyssal Spirit Dragons. In fact, the three Spirit Dragon Kings were all over 100 meters in length, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that the Spirit Sovereign''s Abyssal Spirit Dragon form was of a different color compared to his brethren.


    His entire body had a turquoise hue, and following his transformation, all of the abyssal energy permeating through the air converged toward him in a frenzy.


    What was even more concerning for Gu Yuena was that the Spirit Sovereign''s power wasn''t being enhanced by much, but his spiritual power was spiking at an alarming rate.


    Even at the Divine Origin realm, there were naturally also tiers of spiritual power.


    In the Divine Origin realm, there were four major spiritual power realms, just like the number of godly tiers. Godly officials corresponded with Divine Origin realm spiritual, and above godly officials were third-rank gods.


    One of the prerequisites that a third-rank god had to satisfy was to reach the third Divine Origin realm in spiritual power. After that came second-rank gods, first-rank gods, and godkings.


    They naturally corresponded to the second Divine Origin realm, the first Divine Origin realm, and the Godking realm, respectively.


    Upon reaching the Godking realm, one could easily control a plane and could even spread their spiritual power over many planets at once.


    At this moment, the Spirit Sovereign''s spiritual power was rising toward the third Divine Origin realm.


    This appeared to only be a slight improvement, but one had to realize that the total amount of spiritual power required to reach from zero to the Divine Origin realm couldn''t have even reached 10% of the amount of spiritual power required to progress from the Divine Origin realm to the third Divine Origin realm!


    Never did Gu Yuena think that the Spirit Sovereign would still have the ability to enhance his spiritual power further even though he still wasn''t even a true god.


    Furthermore, she was struck by a rather strange feeling. Ever since the commencement of the abyssal plane invasion, the Spirit Sovereign was the only abyssal creature who struck her as a creature that was quite beautiful in appearance.


    A faint green light was glowing out of its entire body, and every single one of its scales looked as if it had been carved out of the finest jade. Its eyes were also as clear as a pair of gems, and even the purplish-black aura of Demon Sovereign was unable to obscure its radiance; it was as if this boost in spiritual power had allowed it to ascend to a whole new level, and even Demon Sovereign couldn''t help but have her gaze drawn toward it.


    Even though both her soul power and spiritual power had reached the godly level, she didn''t know what changes would take place once someone reached an even higher level of spiritual power. Furthermore, she had her own objective, and to complete that objective, she had to use the abyssal creatures. If the abyssal creatures, namely the Spirit Sovereign, were to become too powerful to control, then that would spell trouble for her as well!


    Thus, the Spirit Sovereign was thrust firmly under the limelight.


    Immediately thereafter, all of the concealed Abyssal Spirit Dragons suddenly appeared on the battlefield, and they pressed their bodies against the ground while raising their heads to the heavens, as if they were paying reverence to the Spirit Sovereign.


    What was even more concerning was that all of these Abyssal Spirit Dragons were also beginning to transform.


    A layer of turquoise light surfaced over their scales, and it seemed that the transformation that the Spirit Sovereign had undergone was able to trigger a transformation among all of his brethren.


    The Abyssal Spirit Dragons'' auras began to elevate, and in particular, the eyes of the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings had all turned turquoise.


    They had been repressed by Shrek''s Six Monsters, but following this transformation, they began to give off incredibly powerful auras.


    Invulnerability Mist was released once again, but not to enhance the surrounding abyssal creatures this time. Instead, the mist caused the abyssal creatures to explode, forming a massive reserve of abyssal creatures that was devoured by the Spirit Dragon Kings, causing their bodies to swell drastically in size. Furthermore, all attacks that struck them would simply be repelled, and even Xu Xiaoyan''s soul skill was cut off by a spiritual attack unleashed by the Spirit Dragon Kings in the form of a roar.


    Under the leadership of the Abyssal Spirit Dragons, all of the abyssal creatures quickly launched a counterattack against the human army.


    This was the true power of the second most powerful being of the abyssal plane!


    The Spirit Sovereign''s cold gaze had been fixed on Gu Yuena''s face this entire time, and its aura was constantly fluctuating, striking one with a sense of unpredictability.


    In the next instant, a giant light pattern appeared above its head, and it was still speaking in a human tongue as it declared, "Planar Seal!"


    All of a sudden, a massive area around Gu Yuena and the Spirit Sovereign was plunged into darkness, and from the perspectives of everyone else, a giant ball of black light had suddenly appeared in mid-air. Within the area encompassed by the ball of light, all elements had disappeared, and Gu Yuena and the Spirit Sovereign were also concealed within the ball of light.


    Tang Wulin was greatly alarmed to see this, yet just as he was about to rush over to assist Gu Yuena, a voice rang out beside his ears, stopping him cold in his tracks.


    The voice belonged to Gu Yuena, and it was a very short message, but it was enough to assuage all of his concern.


    "Trust me!"


    Having known one another for such a long time, both Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena had developed immense trust in each other.


    Tang Wulin had wavered in the past, but Gu Yuena had always won back his trust with her actions, and she had never disappointed him.


    Thus, immediately upon hearing this, he knew that she was definitely safe. Otherwise, if the two of them were to join forces, they would actually be even more powerful.


    A full-scale battle commenced once again between the abyssal army and the human army, and as the interim commander-in-chief, Zhuang Huanyuan immediately ordered all of the heavy ion laser cannons of the Blood God Legion to be directed toward the Abyssal Spirit Dragons down below in order to suppress them.


    After being enveloped in the green light, the Abyssal Spirit Dragons had indeed become significantly more powerful, but aside from the Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings, which had devoured other abyssal creatures to enhance themselves, the other Abyssal Spirit Dragons were still fighting in much the same style as they had before.


    Furthermore, their Invulnerability Mist and Light of Debilitation had become significantly more powerful, and their spiritual power had also taken a massive leap, but there was one downside, which was that they were no longer able to conceal themselves.


    Even when they tried to conceal themselves, the green light glowing from their bodies would still be visible, so their location could be easily tracked.


    The heavy ion laser cannons immediately abandoned the other enemies and began to specifically target Abyssal Spirit Dragons, forcing them to use other abyssal creatures as meat shields or take evasive measures.


    At the same time, the infrasonic aircrafts had completely disabled the Hornet Sovereign''s Abyssal Bomber Hornets.


    The Invulnerability Mist was mainly affecting the battlefield on the ground, and its effects on the aerial battlefield were very limited as the mist would quickly disperse upon rising up into the air.


    Thus, another impasse ensued.


    Meanwhile, in the black ball of light on the main battlefield, Gu Yuena and the Spirit Sovereign were in a world of their own, completely cut off from the outside world.

 Chapter 1867: I Was Once at the Godking Realm

    The Spirit Sovereign reverted back into his human form amid a flash of green light, but on this occasion, his entire body was covered in turquoise scales, and his aura had become noticeably more powerful.


    He was looking at Gu Yuena with unbridled yearning in his eyes, and he licked his own lips as he said, "I can''t directly destroy your plane, but with my third Divine Origin realm spiritual power, I''m able to temporarily seal this space. All of your abilities rely heavily upon the elements of this plane; now that the elements are gone, it''s time for you to die. No one is going to be able to come and save you. Unless someone possesses superior spiritual power to mine, there''s no way they''ll be able to find you in this space, so you can cease your futile resistance.


    "Soon, you''re going to be converted into a part of my body. You also possess Divine Origin realm spiritual power; once I devour you, perhaps I would be able to completely stabilize my third Divine Origin realm spiritual power rather than having to burn through my own life force to maintain it. You are going to be the first significant reward I reap from this world, and to commemorate you, I''ll adopt your appearance after I devour you. Hmm, come to think of it, you''re very beautiful. Your beauty is unique to the human race; my other brethren won''t be able to appreciate it, but I like it a lot."


    The Spirit Sovereign was appraising Gu Yuena like a cat watching a mouse. In his mind, the outcome of this battle was already a foregone conclusion, and he was already searching for the best place to sink his teeth into in order to devour his prey.


    However, a peculiar look suddenly appeared on Gu Yuena''s face, and she made an inviting hand gesture as she prompted, "Anything else? Keep going."


    The Spirit Sovereign faltered slightly upon hearing this. He was saying all of this as a psychological warfare tactic in order to break her down from the inside. Even though Gu Yuena couldn''t draw upon any elements here, she still had her Divine Origin realm spiritual power, and if she were to detonate her spiritual power at all cost, not only would he not be able to receive any benefit, perhaps he would even be wounded. Thus, he wanted to make Gu Yuena resign herself to her fate.


    "You''ve seen how good I am to my brethren. As I enhance myself, I''ll also be helping them. On top of that, I''m not like the other abyssal creatures; I cherish the lives of my brethren and will do everything in my power to protect them. If you choose to follow me and become my servant, I''ll let you live and reward you with a position that is second only to my own. On top of that, you may also be able to find a path to reach the third Divine Origin realm if you follow me. As long as you''re willing to offer your soul up to me, I''ll help you achieve all of this and preserve your current consciousness. This is your last chance."


    Gu Yuena suddenly burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Is that so? This is my last chance? I don''t think so. For you, it''s far more beneficial to devour me than to take me as your servant. If you devour my spiritual power and life energy, you''ll be able to elevate yourself to a higher plane of existence. On top of that, I can tell you that if you really do devour me, even the power of this plane won''t be able to continue to restrict you. You''ll become a true deity with power superior even to Demon Sovereign''s, and it may well be possible for you to create a Divine Realm.


    "Under these circumstances, how could you possibly be willing to let me live? You''re just worried that I''ll sacrifice myself so you won''t be able to gain anything."


    The Spirit Sovereign faltered slightly upon hearing this before a cold look appeared in his eyes. "It''s not good to be too smart. Looks like I was too naive; how could someone with Divine Origin realm spiritual power be a gullible fool? In that case, cast aside all pretenses. Even if you choose to self-detonate, your divine sense won''t be able to escape from this sealed space, and you''ll still be devoured by me; the only difference is that I''ll only be able to devour a little less than I otherwise would''ve.


    "By the way, you say that I''ll be able to directly become a deity once I devour you? I''m rather skeptical about that. What gives you that ability? You don''t possess godly power; you''re just a mortal, so devouring you will only elevate my life force."


    Gu Yuena chuckled, "Who told you that I''m a mortal? Come to think of it, I really have to thank you. In the outside world, I would have to suppress my own power to avoid blowing my cover, but in this perfectly sealed world, there''s no need for me to hold back any longer. I haven''t even recovered to 1% of the power I possessed at my peak, but you''re dreaming if you think a little lizard like you can devour me."


    A strong sense of foreboding welled up in the Spirit Sovereign''s heart upon hearing this. In the next instant, Gu Yuena''s body began to glow with scintillating silver light.


    Previously, there had been rainbow elemental light shimmering from her silver battle armor, but right now, a layer of circular scales had begun to appear on the surface of her battle armor, as if the battle armor were transforming. Gu Yuena stretched her body, and even though she clearly hadn''t grown any larger, the Spirit Sovereign was struck by the feeling that he was watching an awakening giant dragon.


    A crystal slowly emerged on Gu Yuena''s forehead, and nine-colored light was swirling within the crystal. As soon as the crystal appeared, the seal that the Spirit Sovereign had created began to tremble, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.


    His expression changed drastically upon sensing this, and he was rooted to the spot as he appraised the woman before him.


    "Who are you?" he asked in a stunned voice.


    Gu Yuena replied in an indifferent voice, "You don''t deserve to know who I am, but seeing as this is the first time in a long time that I''ve been able to display some of my true power, I''ll commemorate the occasion by telling you. In the Divine Realm, third-rank gods are only positioned slightly above the godly officials at the very bottom. Back when I was still in the Divine Realm, my spiritual power was at the Godking realm!"


    Spiritual fluctuations erupted out of Gu Yuena''s body as she spoke, and the sealed space around her instantly turned from black to silver. At the very least, it was now entirely silver on the inside.


    In that instant, the Spirit Sovereign was stunned to discover that control over this sealed space had fallen into Gu Yuena''s hands, leaving him completely unable to manipulate it.


    "You, you..."


    Gu Yuena smiled, and said, "I''m unable to recover my godly powers as I still can''t break out of the restrictions of this plane for now. However, in reality, if I wanted to break through these restrictions, nothing would be able to stop me. The ruler of this plane is only a second-rank god, and even though I''m only a part of the godking that was once the god of all soul beasts, I was still a first-rank god!"


    "B, but didn''t you say you only had less than 1% of your peak power?"


    The Spirit Sovereign''s voice was already beginning to tremble as he could sense that his opponent''s spiritual power was exerting enormous pressure upon him.


    Gu Yuena feigned a contemplative expression before a smile appeared on her face. "That may be true, but how much spiritual power would equate to 1% of a first-rank god''s spiritual power? It would at least have to be equivalent to the spiritual power of a second-rank god. If it weren''t for his sake, I would''ve already returned to the godly level, but if I were to do that, I wouldn''t be able to remain in this world."

 Chapter 1868: Dragon Gods Heart

    "No, no, this is impossible!"The Spirit Sovereign''s expression had already changed drastically at this point. In his eyes, there was no way someone with second Divine Origin realm spiritual power could exist on the Douluo Plane!


    However, everything around him told him that this was the undeniable reality. His spiritual power was already close to the third Divine Origin realm, but was being completely overwhelmed from all sides, and he couldn''t even resist.


    If he wanted to truly reach the third Divine Origin realm, he would have to burn through his own abyssal energy, and after that, it would take him very long to recover, but the recovery process could be sped up if he devoured other powerful abyssal creatures.


    Thus, he was only close to the third Divine Origin realm and wasn''t actually there yet.


    However, Gu Yuena''s spiritual power had exceeded this level as soon as it had erupted forth, and she had instantly seized control over the sealed space.


    "Nothing is impossible. Do you know why I chatted with you for so long?" Gu Yuena asked as she slowly raised her right hand.


    Her hand gradually transformed into a sharp claw, and it wasn''t very large, but as soon as it appeared, it began to release indomitable might that threatened to turn heaven and earth on its head.


    "Why?" the Spirit Sovereign asked with a horrified expression.


    Gu Yuena replied, "I only wanted to stall for more time so the humans outside won''t be suspicious about how quickly I took care of you."


    "The humans outside? You''re not a human, either?" the Spirit Sovereign exclaimed.


    Gu Yuena sighed, "I also have a vendetta against the human race, but I''m taking a different approach from your abyssal plane. Your abyssal plane only dared to invade the Douluo Continent as the Divine Realm had disappeared. While it''s true that the Divine Realm has vanished, and even I don''t know where it is, that doesn''t change the fact that I''m here. If I wanted to, I could''ve returned to my peak power a long time ago, and it wouldn''t even be impossible for me to create a Divine Realm. Unfortunately, I met someone who''s made things a lot more complicated.


    "Even so, revenge against the human race should be exacted by me, not filthy abyssal creatures like you."


    "Wh, what are you?" The Spirit Sovereign stared at Gu Yuena''s raised right hand as overwhelming waves of horror washed over his heart incessantly.


    "That''s not important. Hmm, I think it''s about time now. I don''t want him to get worried, so it''s time for you to die."


    She slowly thrust her right hand toward the Spirit Sovereign as she spoke, and the Spirit Sovereign let loose a deranged screech as he detonated his own divine sense with all his might.


    He knew that this was his last chance to resist, and if he failed, then he would die.


    However, at the godly level, a gap of even one rank often proved to be an insurmountable rift, all he felt was completely immovable pressure converging toward him from all directions. What was even more alarming to him was that there weren''t supposed to be any elements in this sealed space, but all types of elements of an extremely high level of purity had appeared around Gu Yuena.


    The elements were so dense that they were as viscous as liquid, and they were far superior to the elements that existed on the Douluo Plane.


    The nine-colored crystal that Gu Yuena wore around her neck was glowing with faint light, as if it were calling out to something, and it was also giving off a sense of indescribable and indomitable pride.


    If Tang Wulin had been present to see this crystal, then perhaps it would''ve triggered some memories in his mind. He had seen Gu Yuena once back in the Dragon Valley. At the time, Gu Yuena had obtained the most important artifact left behind by the Dragon God in the dragon tomb.


    This was the core of the entire dragon clan, the Dragon God''s Heart!


    This wasn''t the actual heart of the Dragon God. Instead, it was the core of the Dragon God''s essence left behind by the Dragon God himself, just like the essence that the Golden Dragon King had injected into Tang Wulin''s body.


    Unfortunately, even Gu Yuena was unable to absorb its power for herself. She and Tang Wulin only represented a part of the Dragon God''s power individually, and only by combining as one could they truly draw upon the energy of the Dragon God''s Heart.


    Having reached the Godking realm at the peak of his powers, the Dragon God was the most powerful beast god, and it had taken several godkings in the Divine Realm to defeat him.


    The Dragon God''s Heart that he left behind was a transcendent divine weapon!


    Even though Gu Yuena was unable to fuse it with her own body, she was able to draw upon its power to a certain extent.


    With this transcendent divine weapon in her possession, there was no way that the Spirit Sovereign would''ve ever been a match for her.


    The Spirit Sovereign could clearly sense that his divine sense was slowly being compressed inward in an irreversible process, and the immense pressure was only exacerbating his horror.


    He could feel his own divine sense gradually crumbling away by the second.


    Not long ago, this woman had been slightly inferior to him in battle, yet now, she was like a high and mighty deity, looking down upon an ant as it slowly perished.


    He struggled with all his might, but all of his efforts were futile, and he could only look on as his life force slowly faded.


    Gu Yuena slowly raised her Silver Dragon Spear, and a cold light flashed through her eyes...


    ......


    "Boom!"


    An eruption of purplish-golden light ignited the entire world, and Tang Wulin rushed back in retreat to a higher altitude before looking down at Demon Sovereign with a grim expression.


    His opponent already possessed godly power, and even though she still wasn''t a true deity yet, she wasn''t all that far off.


    The most fearsome aspect of godly power wasn''t that it was far more fearsome than soul power; even more importantly, it was able to recover at an astonishing rate. Even as these fierce clashes were taking place, Demon Sovereign''s godly power was able to rapidly recover, which meant that Tang Wulin was constantly facing Demon Sovereign in her peak form.


    If it weren''t for the fact that his Sea God''s Trident posed a threat to his opponent, his situation would most likely be even worse than it was now.


    He reflexively cast his gaze toward the black space not far away, and he could sense that something within that space seemed to be attracting him, and this attraction wasn''t coming from Gu Yuena.


    This was a very strange feeling that manifested itself in the form of intense yearning.


    Demon Sovereign was also looking up at Tang Wulin, and she was quite surprised by how their battle had progressed thus far.


    To think that a human could still contend with her even after she became a true god; this would be utterly unthinkable if it weren''t for the fact that this was the reality.


    She had thought that Chen Xinjie had already reached the very pinnacle of human capabilities, but Tang Wulin with his Sea God''s Trident was proving to be an even more difficult opponent.


    However, at the same time, she was quietly confident. At the very least, she wasn''t facing Sea God Tang San, and she had nothing to fear as long as her opponent was still a human.


    At this point, all of the other battles were quite balanced. On the main battlefield, Yali''s powerful holy soul skills were able to enhance all allies while weakening all opponents.


    Tang Wulin raised his Sea God''s Trident once again, and he released his divine sense to encompass the entire battlefield.


    Right at this moment, a strange scene unfolded.


    All of a sudden, the Abyssal Spirit Dragons that were running rampant on the battlefield abruptly shuddered before exploding violently into massive plumes of dense abyssal energy; even the three Abyssal Spirit Dragon Kings were unable to escape this fate.


    At the same time, a deafening boom rang out within the abyssal passageway, and the entire northernmost region tremored violently.


    The abyssal passageway began to warp, and a huge number of abyssal creatures that were in the process of rushing out of the passageway exploded into abyssal energy, but the abyssal passageway seemed to have temporarily lost the ability to recover the abyssal energy, so the energy merely drifted along through the air.


    At the same time, that inky-black space exploded into a vast expanse of black light.

 Chapter 1869: She Won!

    The explosion shook virtually the entire northernmost region, and everyone''s attention was instantly drawn to it.


    The ones that were most heavily affected were the abyssal emperors and sovereigns present. They were experiencing a type of fear that was originating from the very core of their being!


    Massive turmoil had arisen in the abyssal plane, and it was so severe that it had affected the foundation of the entire plane!


    An instant ago, they hadn''t completely realized what was happening; all they felt was this sense of overwhelming horror. However, in the instant after the inky-black space exploded, a sense of foreboding immediately welled up in their hearts.


    Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear had already begun to greedily devour the extremely rich abyssal energy in the air without requiring any prompting from him.


    Due to the massive number of abyssal creatures that had just perished and the abyssal passageway''s temporary inability to recover abyssal energy, the entire abyssal plane was in a state of turmoil, and there was an enormous amount of abyssal energy permeating through the air.


    Due to the sudden massive influx of abyssal energy, the Golden Dragon Spear had become scorching hot to the touch.


    Right at this moment, a figure appeared in the distant sky.


    The silver light shining from her body seemed to be a little dim, and as she fully emerged before everyone, her aura seemed to be a little frail as well. However, the spear in her grasp was plunged deep into a body that was slowly shriveling up, and bursts of energy were being injected into her body.


    She won! Tang Wulin was ecstatic to see this. If it weren''t for the threat of Demon Sovereign, he would''ve already rushed over to her and swept her up in a tight embrace.


    Gu Yuena turned to face him, and even though her face was slightly pale, she gave him a gentle smile, revealing two rows of pristine white teeth.


    Tang Wulin also smiled as he raised his Golden Dragon Spear and gave her a thumbs-up.


    There was no need for verbal communication between the two of them; just a look was enough. In the next instant, Tang Wulin''s aura erupted forth like a tsunami wave; nothing could invigorate him more than seeing Gu Yuena defeat and kill the Spirit Sovereign.


    Following Gu Yuena''s victory, he wouldn''t have to worry about her battle any longer, and the cause behind the massive tremors from the abyssal plane also became clear.


    The Spirit Sovereign had been slain by Gu Yuena, and the second level of the abyssal plane had collapsed as a result, thereby causing such a violent change.


    The collapse of the second abyssal level affected the foundation of the entire abyssal plane! In the instant that all of the Abyssal Spirit Dragons perished, the tables were instantly turned on the battlefield.


    It could be said that Gu Yuena had just completed a monumental feat by killing the Spirit Sovereign, and it seemed to be a harbinger of good fortunes for the human army.


    Demon Sovereign''s brows were tightly furrowed as she looked on with a stunned expression.


    Tang Wulin had already given her a huge shock, yet now, Gu Yuena had also performed a miracle on the battlefield. It appeared that Gu Yuena was extremely taxed or perhaps had even been severely wounded, but for some reason, Demon Sovereign was struck by an overwhelming sense of unease at the sight of her.


    The Spirit Sovereign had clearly already released all of the power that he had been concealing, and he had even trapped her within that space of his. In that instant, Demon Sovereign could sense that the divine sense released by the Spirit Sovereign was superior even to her own. However, in such a short time, the Spirit Sovereign had already been slain.


    How was this possible? What exactly had happened during the course of that battle?


    The powerful beings of the human army weren''t aware of exactly which level the Spirit Sovereign came from, but she certainly did!


    In the abyssal plane, he was second only to the Holy Lord, and he was known as the abyssal plane''s beacon of wisdom.


    Furthermore, he was the true commander of the abyssal army during this invasion, and no matter how Demon Sovereign thought about it, she simply couldn''t understand how the Spirit Sovereign had fallen so quickly without even being able to get away.


    Surely the collapse of the second abyssal level was a loss so heavy that even the Holy Lord would be struggling to handle the repercussions.


    Most importantly, how had that human devoured him?! She was going to devour him for herself!


    In her eyes, all of the abyssal creatures were going to act as sustenance for the Divine Realm that she was going to create, so she was both stunned and furious that the Spirit Sovereign had been killed by Gu Yuena.


    Just the Spirit Sovereign alone was equivalent to a third of the abyssal army!


    She cast a cold gaze toward Tang Wulin, and the purplish-golden aura around her instantly began to surge violently as she let loose a long cry before flying toward Tang Wulin like a speeding arrow.


    Tang Wulin swept his Sea God''s Trident through the air in an arc in retaliation.


    Tang Wulin wasn''t the only one buoyed by Gu Yuena''s miraculous feat; all of the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda were also letting loose thunderous cheers.


    They didn''t know who the Spirit Sovereign was, but it was apparent to everyone that he was the most important commander of the abyssal army.


    Without the Spirit Sovereign and those Abyssal Spirit Dragons, the overall power of the abyssal army would take a massive hit. Even more importantly, the one who had killed the Spirit Sovereign was their newly appointed chairwoman!


    The only one who wasn''t pleased with this turn of events was Qiangu Dongfeng. How could he have been willing to hand over the position of chairman to Gu Yuena? Furthermore, after she became chairwoman, her attitude toward him had completely changed, and his own grandson was still following her around every day like a hopelessly enamored puppy.


    Upon witnessing the power that Gu Yuena had displayed, particularly her Divine Origin realm spiritual power, Qiangu Dongfeng was completely astonished, and at the same time, he knew that he would most likely never be able to recover his position as chairman.


    In addition to that, she had just killed the Spirit Sovereign, making the most important contribution on this battlefield out of anyone by far, and her status was instantly raised to unprecedented heights in both the military and the Spirit Pagoda.


    This was naturally fantastic for the Spirit Pagoda; Gu Yuena had won over everyone with her heroic display and fortified the Spirit Pagoda''s position on the continent. Even Shrek Academy would have to give up on trying to exact revenge on the Spirit Pagoda; the most it would be able to do would be to target the Qiangu Family.


    However, this wasn''t good news for Qiangu Dongfeng! The more power that Gu Yuena displayed, the more useless he would look as the last chairman.


    However, it wasn''t like there was anything he could do about this. Right now, all he could do was heave a forlorn internal sigh.


    Gu Yuena had concealed her own abilities far too well. He had always been aware that she was developing very quickly and was clearly a brilliant prodigy, but never did he think that she would leave him in the dust so quickly.


    With her Divine Origin realm spiritual power and quasigod level combat prowess, even his own father would most likely be no match for her.


    Only after becoming the chairwoman of the Spirit Pagoda did she display her true power, so it was clear that she had been plotting this for a long time.


    If the human race could survive this ordeal, then the entire Spirit Pagoda would most likely undergo a massive revolution once she returned.


    Qiangu Dongfeng had thought that Gu Yuena would only be a puppet chairwoman that he could control, and that once they returned to the Spirit Pagoda, he would be able to assume control once again from the shadows. He didn''t even mind allowing her to continue as chairwoman; as long as she followed all of his instructions, what difference did it make?


    However, all of this was nothing more than a distant dream now. It was clear that he had been far too optimistic.


    Gu Yuena''s performance had already drawn all of the powerful beings of the Spirit Pagoda to her side, and it was clear that he had already been completely undermined.

 Chapter 1870: Clashing Phoenixes

    "What are you doing? Hurry up and fight!" A low roar rang out beside Qiangu Dongfeng''s ears, snapping him out of his train of thought. He turned around to find his own father glowering at him with an expression of fierce disapproval, as if to ask "have you not made enough of a fool of yourself already?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng took a deep breath to compose himself. This was indeed not the time to be thinking about anything else other than the battle at hand. As for Gu Yuena, he could only hope that she would extend some compassion to the Qiangu Family due to her relationship with Qiangu Zhangting. If only Qiangu Zhangting had married her earlier. Perhaps they could''ve already had a child together, and none of this would be an issue.


    "Boom!" A violent explosion suddenly rang out, drawing Qiangu Dongfeng''s attention.


    He was then greeted by the sight of two figures emerging from the epicenter of the explosion before rising up straight into the heavens.


    These were a pair of giant phoenixes, one of which was burning with scorching white flames, while the other was completely enveloped in purplish-black flames.


    As the two rose up into the sky, they were attacking one another incessantly, releasing their flames to erode one another.


    These two were none other than the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo and the Dark Phoenix Douluo.


    Throughout this entire battle, Leng Yaozhu held a slight upper hand over her sister, but she couldn''t bring herself to kill her beloved sister. Thus, even though she was clearly superior in power, she was still unable to cement her victory.


    At this moment, Leng Yulai released her martial soul true body, and she was also forced to do the same.


    From down below, Qiangu Dongfeng was just in the right position to see that there was a very discreet streak of dark red light on Leng Yulai''s back.


    His heart jolted slightly upon seeing this, and he reflexively wanted to alert Leng Yaozhu to this, but in the next instant, a thought suddenly occurred to him, and he refrained from saying anything as he quickly rushed toward the abyssal army in the distance.


    Gu Yuena lowered her Silver Dragon Spear to her side, and at this point, the Spirit Sovereign''s body had already disappeared.


    All of his energy had been devoured by the Silver Dragon Spear.


    Just now, she had suddenly been struck by a sense of foreboding. She still hadn''t returned to the peak of her spiritual power, but having returned to the Divine Origin realm, she could still clearly sense some things around.


    Someone had to have been thinking about her just now, and their thoughts had to have been quite malicious. She reflexively cast her gaze toward Qiangu Dongfeng.


    Was it him?


    Right at this moment, an anguished cry suddenly rang out in the sky, and Gu Yuena reflexively looked upward.


    At this point, the two giant phoenixes had already risen to an altitude of several thousand meters, and at this moment, one of Leng Yaozhu''s talons had plunged into Leng Yulai''s chest.


    It seemed that Leng Yulai hadn''t resisted the attack in the slightest, yet the anguished cry had come from Leng Yaozhu.


    Just as the two of them were exchanging blows while flying up into the sky, Leng Yulai suddenly abandoned all defense without any warning.


    At their level, even if Leng Yaozhu weren''t fighting at her full capacity, her attacks were still of the Limit Douluo level, and she wasn''t able to just reverse them at will.


    Thus, her talon had torn straight into Leng Yulai''s chest.


    However, right after she let loose that anguished cry, a streak of dark red light suddenly flashed past, plunging itself into Leng Yaozhu''s lower abdomen.


    Leng Yaozhu reeling from the massive pain and remorse of harming her beloved sister, and she didn''t even consider that Leng Yulai would suddenly attack her at a time like this.


    There was no pain, only a bone-chilling sensation that spread through her entire body. Her eyes widened as she stared at her sister, and the two of them both returned to their human forms.


    A short red sword had been stabbed into Leng Yaozhu''s lower abdomen, and in the blink of an eye, Leng Yaozhu''s entire body had turned a dark red color.


    After that, the short sword simply melted away.


    "Hahahahahaha!" Leng Yulai began to cackle with glee and resentment as she appraised Leng Yaozhu with hatred in her eyes.


    "Your heart is still as soft as ever; I knew you would be like this. This Divine Demonic Sword is something I prepared just for you; it''s a disposable divine weapon, and even a god won''t be able to save you now! You''re dead for sure!"


    Leng Yaozhu stared blankly at her own sister, seemingly unable to feel any pain. "Do you hate me that much?"


    Leng Yulai spat in a vicious voice, "That''s right, I hate you! I detest you! You took everything from me; you were the one who made me like this, the one who forced me to turn to the darkness! It''s all your fault! I wanted to kill you a long time ago. I hate Yun Ming, but I hate you even more! I knew I couldn''t beat you, but I also knew that your feigned kindness would give me this opportunity, and now, I''ve finally succeeded!"


    Leng Yaozhu slowly closed her eyes as she withdrew her hand from her sister''s chest instead of landing the killing blow.


    "Alright, perhaps this is a form of release for me as well. Yulai, all I want to tell you is that you''ve always been a sister to me in my heart."


    Scorching white flames rose up as Leng Yaozhu gently pushed Leng Yulai away. Her hand had pierced through Leng Yulai''s chest, and in that instant, she had even physically touched Leng Yulai''s heart, but she stopped herself just in the nick of time to spare her sister.


    However, the wound that she had sustained was lethal.


    The Divine Demonic Sword was the most vile weapon developed by the Holy Spirit Cult, and it was imbued with the toxins of countless vengeful spirits, making it capable of cursing and devouring even one''s soul.


    Leng Yaozhu''s eyes had already turned grey, and her life force was receding at a rapid rate. The Divine Demonic Sword was capable of casting the ultimate curse that even Yali couldn''t remedy.


    "Teacher!" Gu Yuena finally arrived with a grief-stricken cry, and she caught Leng Yaozhu in her arms, completely disregarding the scorching white flames that were lapping at her body.


    Tears were flowing uncontrollably down her face.


    She had known Leng Yaozhu from a very young age. At the time, it was her who had given Gu Yuena a place to stay after she had left Tang Wulin''s family. Leng Yaozhu had no children herself, nor had she ever married anyone, and she treated Gu Yuena like her own daughter, teaching her and watching her grow.


    Tang Wulin was the first person to make Na''er develop human emotions, while Leng Yaozhu was the first person to do the same for Gu Yue.


    Leng Yaozhu turned to Gu Yuena, and despite her condition, she was smiling. "It''s alright, don''t be sad; perhaps this is the best ending for me. Ever since Yun Ming passed away, I''ve wanted to follow him to the other side. Looks like I''ll be going there before Yali; perhaps I''ll be able to find him before her. Look, he''s just over there, isn''t he?"


    She raised a finger to point up at the sky, and a projection appeared in the mid-air.


    As it did so, a large area of space began to warp slightly.


    The projection depicted Leng Yaozhu in her youth, standing with her head lowered in a hesitant display.


    Standing before her was none other than Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.


    The scorching white flames around Leng Yaozhu''s body began to burn even more fiercely, as if she were trying to release her final radiance to completely cleanse her own body and soul.


    Through her unreserved efforts, the mental manifestation in the sky began to produce sound.


    The sound was echoing through the air, attracting everyone''s attention.


    ......

 Chapter 1871: Fall of the Two Phoenixes

    "Hello, Yun Ming."


    "Is there something you have to say to me?"


    "Do you have any plans recently?"


    ......


    The voices were clearly audible across the entire battlefield, so Leng Yulai was naturally also able to hear them, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably.


    "You bitch! That was the time you betrayed me! Even in death, you''re going to taunt me one last time?"


    Despite what she was saying, her eyes were firmly fixed on Yun Ming''s face.


    Yali was completely rooted to the spot upon seeing this, and tears were also streaming down her face at the sight of Yun Ming.


    ......


    Yun Ming smiled, and said, "I might go on a long journey for a while. Gaining knowledge through reading is one thing, but experiencing the world is a different thing entirely. I plan to go to the Dou Spirit Continent and Star Luo Continent to see them for myself and to further my training."


    "How long will you be gone for?"


    "Who knows? Three years? Maybe five years? In any case, I''ll be setting off in a few days."


    "What''s going on with you today, Ms. Leng?"


    "Call me Yaozhu."


    "I''ve loved you for quite a few years now. Perhaps we won''t have a chance to be together, but I hope to at least be on a first-name basis with you."


    "You..."


    "That''s right, I''ve loved you for a very long time. Yun Ming, I love you. I know I shouldn''t have fallen in love with you considering the relationship between our Spirit Pagoda and your Shrek Academy. However, emotions are not so easy to control. I''ve loved you for many years already, and sometimes, I''m actually very envious of Yulai; at least she''s able to express her feelings, but I can''t. I didn''t dare to say anything as I represent not just myself, but my entire family, but if I continued to keep quiet, perhaps I would never get another chance. Yun Ming, I¡­


    All of a sudden, she stepped forward before locking him in a tight embrace, holding on with all her might as if she were afraid of being pushed away.


    ......


    Leng Yulai''s teeth had already bitten into her bottom lip, and due to her fury, her circulation was being quickened, causing blood to flow incessantly out of her chest, but she paid that no heed. She could still clearly recall that this was the scene that had made her turn to the darkness and join the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Meanwhile, the mental manifestation continued, and Leng Yulai was forced to relive the rest of this painful memory...


    ......


    "Thank you for not pushing me away."


    "I can tell that Yali is the woman you love. She really is the most kind-hearted woman in the world, and she is deserving of your love. Hence, I''m not saying all of this with any expectations; I just couldn''t hold back the urge to get all of this off my chest before I turned 30. Please don''t give me a response; there''s no need to reject me because I already understand everything, I just don''t want to hear it from you. Please leave me with this final beautiful memory."


    Yun Ming heaved a faint sigh as he shook his head in a forlorn manner. "What''s so good about me anyway?"


    "I told you not to say anything; please. Listen to what I have to say, and once I''m done, I''ll leave. Yulai is different from me; her love for you is more intense than mine. In the eyes of others, she''s very extreme in her personality, but I know that her heart is very brittle. She should''ve been the heir to our family, but our seniors didn''t understand her, so they passed the position down to me. She''s very vulnerable and requires more care. After you rejected her, it was as if she had become a completely different person.


    "If it''s possible, please make some room for her in your heart; even the tiniest bit of space is fine, as long as you can afford her some love and compassion. She''s my little sister, and I don''t want to see her continue to be tormented like this. I can sacrifice and discard everything, but I don''t want to see her keep living like this."


    Leng Yaozhu''s face was slightly pale as she continued, "I don''t know what''s come over me today, but this what I''ve been harboring in my heart all this time. If you can squeeze out any additional love for any other woman, then please give it to Yulai; I beg of you."


    ......


    The image gradually began to blur, and even Leng Yaozhu''s last sentence wasn''t clearly conveyed. Right at this moment, Gu Yuena suddenly let loose a grief-stricken cry. "Teacher!"


    The pristine white flames vanished, and with it went Leng Yaozhu''s body as well. The vice-chairman of the Spirit Pagoda and the woman who had loved Yun Ming all her life had left this world forever.


    Yali stared blankly at the spot in the sky where the projections had been unfolding, and her heart was filled with complex emotions.


    Truth be told, there was a point where she had been very jealous of Leng Yaozhu, all because Yun Ming had once made the remark to her that Leng Yaozhu was a fine woman. At the time, she was still very prone to getting jealous as her man was simply far too exceptional.


    Now, she finally understood why Yun Ming had said that; Leng Yaozhu truly deserved such praise!


    Leng Yulai was also staring blankly up at the sky, and she was completely rooted to the spot like a wooden statue.


    No one could empathize with her current emotions. Never did she think that the event that had ruined her life and filled her heart with so much hatred would be nothing more than a misunderstanding.


    Her sister had worked up the courage to approach Yun Ming not just to confess, but more so for her sake! She was trying to leave that final shred of hope for her!


    "How could this be? How could this be?" Leng Yulai shook her head vigorously, unable to come to terms with what she had just seen. She felt as if her brain had completely shortcircuited.


    She had always thought that her sister''s kindness was feigned, that it was nothing more than a facade that she used to please their seniors so she would be made the next family leader. Due to her extreme personality, the more she delved into those thoughts, the worse her perception of her sister became.


    However, mental manifestations couldn''t lie, particularly not mental manifestations conjured up by her sister''s last remaining life force.


    In her condition, there was no way she would''ve been capable of fabricating those projections; all she would''ve been able to do was project her memories exactly as they were.


    As such, this was the undeniable truth, and her reason for turning to the darkness simply didn''t exist.


    Everything that her sister had done was for her sake.


    A heartbroken look appeared on Leng Yulai''s face as she cast her gaze toward the spot where her sister had just disappeared, and she suddenly heaved a long sigh.


    In the next instant, a burst of bright purple flames erupted over her body, burning violently to incinerate her into ashes in the blink of an eye.


    Mental manifestation projections appeared in the sky once again, depicting two little girls running over a massive grassland as their tinkling laughter echoed over the landscape...


    With that, both Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu and Dark Phoenix Douluo Leng Yulai had perished.


    This sudden turn of events was astonishing to everyone on the battlefield, and no one had anticipated that this would happen.


    Gu Yuena''s eyes were burning with fury.


    Having just killed the Spirit Sovereign, she had intended to conceal her power again in order to draw less attention, but Leng Yaozhu''s death had dealt her an extremely heavy blow, and her heart was filled with hatred toward the Holy Spirit Cult.

 Chapter 1872: Wounding Infernal Emperor Again

    All of a sudden, she leaped up into the air, and she arched back like a drawn bow before hurling her Silver Dragon Spear toward the abyssal passageway like a bolt of white lightning.


    Following the violent tremors, the abyssal passageway was only just beginning to return to a stable state, and it was able to begin devouring the abyssal energy on the battlefield again.


    However, right at this moment, the Silver Dragon Spear descended, forcibly devouring a huge amount of abyssal energy. Furthermore, the spear was aimed directly at one of the two emperors of the Holy Spirit Cult, Infernal King Douluo Harosha.


    At this moment, Harosha was facing Yuanen Zhentian in battle.


    Not long ago, Yuanen Zhentian would''ve been no match for Harosha, but after receiving guidance from Er Ming, Yuanen Zhentian had made significant improvements. He still couldn''t match a veteran quasigod like Harosha, but he was able to hold his own for some time. After all, one had to remember that he possessed a suit of four-word battle armor crafted for him by Tang Wulin.


    The Titan Giant Ape martial soul had exceptional defensive prowess to begin with, and that was further enhanced by his four-word battle armor, thereby making for a watertight defense that even Harosha was struggling to crack.


    Right at this moment, the Silver Dragon Spear shot forth directly toward him, and he was instantly struck by an overwhelming sense of peril.


    Having just devoured a massive amount of abyssal energy, the Silver Dragon Spear was glowing with scintillating light, and what threatened him the most was the fearsome spiritual aura imbued within the spear; this was a spiritual aura of such a high caliber that it was exerting immense pressure even onto him.


    His spiritual power had reached the pinnacle of the Spirit Domain realm long ago, but he still hadn''t managed to take that step to ascend to the Divine Origin realm. However, this didn''t affect his ability to identify Divine Origin realm spiritual power, and in this perilous situation, he immediately took action.


    He slashed his Infernal King Sword through the air, conjuring up countless projections as an infernal hell descended around him. He forced back Yuanen Zhentian, and at the same time, the 12 death cavaliers arranged themselves into a line right in front of him.


    Harosha reached out and laid his left hand onto the back of the last death cavalier in the line, and enormous infernal energy instantly erupted forth, connecting him with the 12 death cavaliers.


    The death cavalier at the front of the line was also wielding a spear, and it made an upward swiping motion in the face of the oncoming Silver Dragon Spear.


    However, no clash took place, and the first death cavalier''s body instantly shuddered, creating a chain reaction that sent tremors running through all of the subsequent death cavaliers.


    Harosha''s expression changed drastically, and he instantly hurried back in retreat while defending himself with his Infernal King Sword, but Gu Yuena had hurled the spear with a vengeance, and it had just been enhanced by an enormous amount of abyssal energy, so it was not so easy to withstand.


    "Clang!"


    The Infernal King Sword blocked the Silver Dragon Spear head-on, but in the next instant, the sword was snapped, and the sharp point of the sword instantly pierced into Harosha''s shoulder.


    The Silver Dragon Spear was deflected a little, but it still had considerable momentum, and it pierced through his chest to the right amid a huge spurt of blood.


    Thankfully for Harosha, this was the Silver Dragon Spear, which was more geared toward elemental enhancement. If he had been stabbed by the Golden Dragon Spear instead, then he would truly be severely debilitated, if not killed.


    Harosha let loose an agonized cry, and he instantly disintegrated into grey energy that dispersed in all directions to flee from Yuanen Zhentian.


    Meanwhile, the Silver Dragon Spear vanished on the spot, and when it reappeared, it had already returned to Gu Yuena''s grasp.


    Standing still in the sky, Gu Yuena was like an immovable monarch ruling over the entire battlefield, and everyone was thoroughly stunned by the power of that spear strike.


    She had just slain the Spirit Sovereign, and now, she had inflicted severe wounds on Infernal Emperor. Her reputation was instantly elevated to unprecedented heights, surpassing even that of Tang Wulin.


    Gu Yuena''s gaze was icy cold, and in the next instant, she turned her attention toward Ghost Emperor.


    As soon as he was locked in her sights, Ghost Emperor felt a chill run down his spine.


    He thought he had extensive knowledge on the state of the current Soul Master world, but he had no idea where Gu Yuena had come from.


    Since when was there such a powerful being in the Spirit Pagoda? Surely she wouldn''t be much less powerful than even the true god Demon Sovereign.


    Furthermore, Tang Wulin was already able to oppose Demon Sovereign, and in light of all of this, the situation was rapidly spiraling out of control.


    In the wake of the Spirit Sovereign''s death, the abyssal army had completely fallen apart, and despite their enormous numbers, they were nowhere near as threatening as before. Most importantly, the powerful beings of the human race were far more formidable than they had expected!


    Gu Yuena took a deep breath to compose herself. She knew that this wasn''t the time to be putting herself under the limelight like this. She slowly put down her Silver Dragon Spear, then sat down on the ground with her legs crossed, pretending that she had to recover her energy.


    There were still many abyssal creatures on the battlefield, but not a single abyssal creature dared to come within a kilometer of her, and that was sufficient testament to just how stunning her display of power had been.


    Without the presence of the three Spirit Dragon Kings, Wu Zhangkong and the others were finally able to reclaim the first mountain that had been taken over by the abyssal army, and they were able to stabilize the defensive line with the assistance of the air units.


    Xie Xie emerged out of thin air before turning to look at Gu Yuena in the distance with a stunned expression. "When did Gu Yue become so powerful? I reckon she''s even more powerful than Boss!"


    Yuanen Yehui glared at him in response. "So what if us women are powerful? She''s always been a little ahead of Boss."


    Xie Xie sighed, "I only hope that she won''t abandon Boss now that she''s the chairwoman of the Spirit Pagoda. If she does that, I can only imagine how heartbroken Boss would be."


    Everyone else was also rather concerned upon hearing this. They had all witnessed Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai''s mental manifestations, and at the very core of all of these issues, love was the primary instigating factor.


    Shrek''s Six Monsters were comprised of three pairs of lovers, and as they looked into one another''s eyes, they developed a greater sense of appreciation for each other.


    Misunderstandings really were the cruelest things in this world.


    Wu Zhangkong''s eyes were also filled with sorrow. If only she were still by his side! His eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze toward a figure in the sky, and burning fury was instantly ignited in his heart.


    The four heavenly monarchs of the Holy Spirit Cult were comprised of Dark Blood Demon, Dark Phoenix, Dark Bell, and Dark Hummingbird, and this Dark Hummingbird was the person Wu Zhangkong hated more than anyone else in this world.


    As the leader of this group, he had to focus on the greater good and stabilize the second defensive line first. In reality, he had already caught sight of that abhorrent man as the four heavenly monarchs emerged with Demon Sovereign. Even though it had been many years since their last encounter, the intense hatred was still fresh in his heart.


    If it weren''t for him, Long Bing wouldn''t have died, and he wouldn''t have left Shrek Academy as a result.


    In a sense, he had betrayed the academy in the past, but not only had his teacher not punished him, he had been welcomed back with open arms.


    Among the four heavenly monarchs, Dark Hummingbird was ranked second only to Dark Blood Demon.

 Chapter 1873: Dark Hummingbird!

    Dark Hummingbird was a handsome middle-aged man, and he was also Long Bing''s father.


    That''s right, the woman that Wu Zhangkong had fallen so deeply in love with was the daughter of an Evil Soul Master.


    At the time, he had been unaware of this.


    Instead of inheriting the Dark Hummingbird martial soul, Long Bing had inherited her mother''s martial soul, but ever since she was a child, Dark Hummingbird had been trying to put her onto the path of becoming an Evil Soul Master.


    As one of the four heavenly monarchs of the Holy Spirit Cult, Dark Hummingbird treated even his own daughter as nothing more than a tool. He raised his daughter and used the fact that her martial soul didn''t belong to an Evil Soul Master to his advantage.


    He made her enroll in Shrek Academy, and she was in the same cohort as Wu Zhangkong.


    They were in the same class, and both of them were top students. Having lived under the shadow of an Evil Soul Master all her life, Long Bing was always very cold and forbidding, but she was very beautiful, and due to the seating arrangement in class, Wu Zhangkong sat next to her every day.


    During their lessons, he would inevitably catch sight of the beautiful figure sitting next to him, and at some point, her image had been branded deep into his heart.


    After entering Shrek Academy, Long Bing''s state of mind began to change. For the first time, she came to realize that there was such a place in the human world that wasn''t entirely cruel and cold; she discovered that the ideals that her father had drilled into her from birth weren''t entirely correct.


    She saw with her very own eyes students helping one another and even taking attacks for their companions; she saw everyone develop from fellow students to friends in a joyful family-like environment.


    Time slowly passed by, and all of this was influencing her personality in subtle ways.


    No one was born evil, not even Evil Soul Masters. Besides, she wasn''t an Evil Soul Master, and she had a very kind heart.


    However, Dark Hummingbird naturally had an ulterior motive for planting her in Shrek Academy, which was to make her collect information on the academy. At the same time, she was to do her best to make it into the inner court so she would have access to more of Shrek Academy''s secrets.


    Long Bing became very conflicted and began to detest her mission, and it was at this point in time that Wu Zhangkong began to make an impression on her.


    In a group sparring session, they were coincidentally put in the same group.


    Even though Long Bing was very beautiful, her cold demeanor meant that she had virtually no friends, and even male students refrained from approaching her.


    At the time, both of them were in the primes of their youth, and they began to cultivate and train together.


    Wu Zhangkong had always been one of the top performers of their class, and at the time, he was still an exuberant and enthusiastic young man.


    Long Bing was slowly infected by his exuberance, and the two of them naturally grew closer and closer.


    Upon graduating from the outer court, Wu Zhangkong swore a vow to the heavens that he would do everything in his power to become a four-word battle armor master, and that the name of his four-word battle armor would be Sky Frost Dragon Ice!  [1]


    Long Bing fell hopelessly in love with him, but on one side was the joy and exhilaration of first love, while on the other side was the constant mounting pressure from her father.


    Once they entered the inner court, Dark Hummingbird began to make more and more demands of her, ordering her to steal more information from Shrek Academy.


    By then, Long Bing was already extremely averse to all of this, but she couldn''t just not listen to her father.


    She was irrevocably in love with Wu Zhangkong and Shrek Academy, but at the same time, she was naturally well aware of her own roots.


    She didn''t dare to tell anyone about her father, even Wu Zhangkong, as she was afraid that doing so would make her lose her lover and everything that she derived joy from.


    Thus, she could only continue to live in constant pain and conflict while carefully carrying out her father''s orders.


    However, it was not to last. Shrek Academy was the number one academy on the continent, and there was no lack of Titled Douluos in the academy, especially in the inner court.


    One time, when she was stealing files from Shrek Academy''s database, she was caught red-handed.


    As Long Bing''s lover, Wu Zhangkong was naturally stunned to discover this, and he shielded her with his own body, frantically promising his teacher that there was no way she would do something like steal information from Shrek Academy. Meanwhile, Long Bing merely wept in silence.


    In the face of the concrete evidence, the reality was undeniable, regardless of how unwilling Wu Zhangkong was to believe it. However, Long Bing hadn''t incurred any substantial damage to the academy, so in the end, it was decided that she would merely be expelled.


    On the day that she left, Wu Zhangkong stubbornly went against Zhuo Shi''s wishes and decided to leave with her. Thus, both of them left the academy that they had grown to love so dearly. When weighing up the person that he loved and the place that he loved, he chose the former in the end.


    However, they had only just emerged from Shrek City before Dark Hummingbird arrived.


    He first denounced Long Bing as useless and worthless, then set his sights on Wu Zhangkong.


    Only then did Wu Zhangkong realize that he had been wrong, that Long Bing really was a spy planted in the academy by an Evil Soul Master. He had fallen in love with the daughter of an Evil Soul Master, and she had been lying to him this entire time.


    The agony in his heart was unbearable and he asked Long Bing why over and over again.


    However, Long Bing wasn''t in any less pain than he was.


    Through their interaction, it became apparent to Dark Hummingbird that the two of them shared a special relationship. All those who managed to make it into Shrek Academy were exceptional prodigies, so he immediately tried to lure Wu Zhangkong to his side, telling him that he would allow Wu Zhangkong to be with his daughter if he agreed to replace her as a spy in Shrek Academy.


    However, Wu Zhangkong was too proud, and he was still fuming from discovering his lover''s deceit, so he vowed to choose death before surrender.


    Thus, Dark Hummingbird decided to kill him before taking Long Bing away.


    At the time, Wu Zhangkong was already an inner court disciple and had become quite powerful, but he was naturally no match for Dark Hummingbird, one of the four heavenly monarchs. After just a few exchanges, he was already severely wounded.


    Right as Dark Hummingbird was about to land the killing blow, Long Bing threw herself in front of Wu Zhangkong and took the lethal blow for him.


    Dark Hummingbird was momentarily rooted to the spot at the sight of his daughter falling to the ground, but as opposed to trying to save her, he merely turned and left, leaving Long Bing on the brink of death.


    She fell into Wu Zhangkong''s arms, and with her dying breaths, she finally told him everything.


    In the end, she passed away in Wu Zhangkong''s arms, suffering a tragic and premature end to her life right as she was entering her prime.


    Prior to her death, Long Bing held tightly onto Wu Zhangkong''s hand, imploring him not to avenge her. Regardless of what Dark Hummingbird had done, he was still her father.


    This was why Wu Zhangkong later went to a seaside city to become a teacher. Even though his heart was filled with hatred, he chose to abide by Long Bing''s dying request.


    However, upon seeing Dark Hummingbird on this battlefield and thinking back to what he had done, the hatred in Wu Zhangkong''s heart was ready to explode.


    How irredeemable did one have to be to kill even their own daughter? Even if it weren''t for Long Bing''s sake, he should kill this vile man here for the greater good.


    [1] [Quick reminder that the literal translation of Long Bing''s name (Áú±ù) is Dragon Ice.]

 Chapter 1874: Do You Still Remember Me?

    With that in mind, Wu Zhangkong spread open his wings and sped directly toward Dark Hummingbird with an ice-cold aura around him.


    In contrast with Wu Zhangkong, who recognized Dark Hummingbird right away, Dark Hummingbird failed to recognize Wu Zhangkong.


    Compared to back then, Wu Zhangkong had grown up, and he was encased in his suit of four-word battle armor.


    Dark Hummingbird had just forced back a powerful being from the Spirit Pagoda and was about to pursue his opponent when he sensed an extremely cold aura lock onto him, and he reflexively turned to see the approaching Wu Zhangkong.


    Sky Frost Dragon Ice was a pristine white suit of battle armor, and Wu Zhangkong had specifically requested for this color from Tang Wulin as it had been Long Bing''s favorite color.


    She had once expressed a yearning to Wu Zhangkong for all people to be as pure and pristine as ice and snow.


    Wielding his blue longsword and wearing his suit of four-word battle armor, not only was Wu Zhangkong giving off an extremely powerful aura, he was also breathtakingly handsome, to the point that even Dark Hummingbird felt slightly dazzled at the sight of him.


    "Do you remember me, Dark Hummingbird?" Wu Zhangkong asked in a cold voice.


    Dark Hummingbird faltered slightly upon hearing this, and a hint of befuddlement appeared in his eyes, but he quickly retreated while keeping up his guard.


    He was a rank 98 Hyper Douluo with only a suit of three-word battle armor, while this man was clearly wearing a suit of four-word battle armor.


    Under the enhancement of the four-word battle armor, this man''s powers definitely wouldn''t be inferior to his own.


    "Who are you?"


    Wu Zhangkong''s eyes gradually turned bloodshot as he roared, "Who am I? Do you remember the daughter that you killed with your own two hands?"


    Dark Hummingbird faltered slightly upon hearing this, but he then finally recalled who Wu Zhangkong was.


    "You''re that little ice-sword-wielding rascal!" he exclaimed.


    Wu Zhangkong tightened his grip around his Skyfrost Sword, and a frosty look appeared in his eyes.


    Dark Hummingbird''s eyes narrowed slightly as he scoffed, "Long Bing died for you, but you seem to be doing quite well for yourself; you''ve even got a suit of four-word battle armor. Looks like I shouldn''t have spared you; I should''ve killed you right there and then!"


    Wu Zhangkong pursed his lips tightly as the aura around him grew even colder. "Dark Hummingbird, have you ever repented for Long Bing''s death? Even right before she died, she was still begging me not to avenge her just because you''re her father."


    A hint of barely detectable emotion flashed through Dark Hummingbird''s eyes upon hearing this, but that quickly disappeared. "She was an idiot! If you had come to me to seek revenge earlier, you wouldn''t be standing before me right now; you''d already be a corpse, and I would''ve been spared a lot of trouble."


    Wu Zhangkong murmured to himself, "Long Bing, do you see now? This man has no remorse, nor any redeeming features. He has no right to be your father; he brought you into this world, but all he gave you was pain. As one of the four heavenly monarchs, countless innocent lives have perished by his hands. Even if it isn''t for you, I''m going kill him today for the greater good."


    As he was speaking, two streaks of light suddenly shot forth toward him with vicious intent.


    Dark Hummingbird''s weapons were a pair of sharp grey spikes that were laced with lethal poison; they were his martial soul, Bee Stingers!


    He was an agility attack system Soul Master, and his forte was speed, which was why he had been given the nickname of Dark Hummingbird.


    Wu Zhangkong''s body suddenly took on an illusory appearance, and the two stingers flashed past the spot where he had been standing just a moment ago, but they struck only an illusion.


    This was the Tang Sect''s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!


    At the same time, a series of icy blue lines began to appear all over the battlefield.


    These frosty lines formed a dense net in the sky, making it impossible for Dark Hummingbird to advance.


    Assault system Soul Masters held an inherent advantage over agility attack system Soul Masters, and even setting that aside, Wu Zhangkong had never been slow.


    Dark Hummingbird was moving at a high speed, and one frosty line after another was destroyed by his stingers, but he was also slowed down in the process.


    However, as one of the four heavenly monarchs, he had extremely extensive battle experience, and he was able to make rapid adjustments on the fly.


    Instead of forcing the issue, he was patiently searching for openings.


    Wu Zhangkong slashed his Skyfrost Sword through the air, and a thin layer of icy mist began to disperse in all directions through the air.


    Under the cover of the icy mist, the frosty lines seemed to have sprung to life and began to surge through the air like darting fish, making them more unpredictable, and they had also become more powerful.


    A grim look appeared on Dark Hummingbird''s face. It was clear to him that Wu Zhangkong was only using low-tier soul skills, but he was already able to utilize them to such great effect, which indicated that he was an exceptional Soul Master.


    He withdrew his stingers, and a pair of transparent wings began to flap on his back amid a low buzzing sound.


    Due to the vibrational soundwaves, the surrounding icy mist was unable to get close to him, and in the next instant, a cold look flashed through his eyes as soundwaves erupted around him, scattering the surrounding frosty lines as he shot forth through the air like a shooting star.


    In the blink of an eye, he had already emerged from the frosty lines, and his pair of stingers were about to plunge into Wu Zhangkong''s chest.


    It was as if a turbo booster had suddenly appeared on his back, allowing him to accelerate at an incredible rate, even setting off a sonic boom in the process. The sound of the sonic boom had affected Wu Zhangkong''s sense of hearing, and before he knew it, Dark Hummingbird was already upon him.


    This was Dark Hummingbird''s fifth soul skill, Gale Cannon, and it was also his favorite soul skill that could raise his speed to the very max in an instant, making it extremely useful for both attacking or fleeing.


    Many Soul Masters could reach high speeds, but that required a process. However, Gale Cannon required no such process; it was able to instantly raise his speed to an incredible extent through soul power propulsion.


    Wu Zhangkong had indeed been caught off guard.


    During their last encounter, he had been too weak to force Dark Hummingbird into using any powerful soul skills. This soul skill was one of Dark Hummingbird''s trump cards, and it was an ability that had won him countless battles.


    In the face of this sudden development, Wu Zhangkong could only use his Skyfrost Sword as a shield.


    The pair of stingers struck the Skyfrost Sword amid a crisp clang, and the tremendous force of the impact sent his Skyfrost Sword crashing back into the breastplate of his battle armor.


    Wu Zhangkong gave a muffled groan as he shot back through the air, while Dark Hummingbird spun around to absorb the force of the impact before unleashing his fifth soul skill again, accelerating at close quarters on this occasion.


    Wu Zhangkong had only been sent flying for less than 20 meters when Gale Cannon was unleashed a second time, and Dark Hummingbird arrived before him again in the blink of an eye, stabbing his stingers viciously toward Wu Zhangkong''s eyes.


    For a battle armor master, the most vulnerable part of their body had to be their eyes.


    This was Dark Hummingbird''s true objective from the very beginning, and following that last clash, Wu Zhangkong''s sword-wielding right arm was already completely numb. Even though he was quickly recovering feeling within the arm, his opponent was far too fast, and there wasn''t enough time to fully recover.

 Chapter 1875: Wu Zhangkong Vs. Dark Hummingbird

    I''ve got him!


    In Dark Hummingbird''s eyes, Wu Zhangkong was still too green and inexperienced. Even with a suit of four-word battle armor, he couldn''t make the advantage felt, and he was unable to withstand this ultra-aggressive assault.


    If Wu Zhangkong wanted to block this attack, he would have to use his other arm as there definitely wasn''t enough time to evade. Even if he could only injure one of Wu Zhangkong''s arms, Dark Hummingbird would''ve completed his objective.


    With one of Wu Zhangkong''s arms disabled, he was confident that he would slowly grind him down and gain an even bigger advantage over time.


    However, much to his surprise, Wu Zhangkong didn''t use his arm to defend himself. Right as Dark Hummingbird was closing in on him, he saw a hint of mockery flash through Wu Zhangkong''s eyes for an instant.


    The two of them were in extremely close proximity, and Dark Hummingbird''s stingers almost instantly reached Wu Zhangkong. However, all Wu Zhangkong did in response was close his eyes.


    Regardless of how fast Dark Hummingbird''s Gale Cannon was, it certainly wasn''t faster than Wu Zhangkong closing his eyes!


    As his eyes fell shut, a metal visor instantly descended from Wu Zhangkong''s helmet to protect his face.


    A crisp clang rang out, and Wu Zhangkong''s head was immediately thrown back; even his entire body was falling backward from the impact of the strike. However, as he fell back, he used the momentum of his fall to slash his sword upward in a vicious strike.


    "Clang!"


    A vast expanse of purplish-black light erupted out of Dark Hummingbird''s three-word battle armor, but even so, a massive gash was still sliced into it by the Skyfrost Sword. What was even more alarming to Dark Hummingbird was that a burst of extreme cold was surging into his body in a frenzy, and a layer of frost instantly appeared on the surface of his suit of three-word battle armor.


    Why is he using such a dangerous fighting style? That was only a visor; if it failed to withstand my pincers, wouldn''t he already be dead right now?


    Unbeknownst to him, this was a calculated risk that Wu Zhangkong had taken. During their first clash, even though Wu Zhangkong had been forced back, he had taken the opportunity to assess his opponent''s offensive power in comparison with the tolerance of his own battle armor.


    As the second attack arrived, Wu Zhangkong''s wings had folded upward from the back to protect his helmet, which meant that even as he was struck by the attack, he wasn''t using his own spine to absorb the impact. Instead, his helmet, his pauldrons, his breastplate, and his wings had all quickly connected together to share the load.


    He had chosen to do this as he wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible.


    The survival of the human race hinged on this battle, and the more enemies he could kill, the greater the chances of securing victory. The other reason why he had chosen Dark Hummingbird as his opponent was that even though Evil Soul Masters were very powerful, they were unable to revive like abyssal creatures could. Thus, with each Evil Soul Master that was killed, substantial damage would be dealt to the Holy Spirit Cult, and that was why Wu Zhangkong was determined to defeat Dark Hummingbird as quickly as possible.


    It seemed that he was doing something very reckless, but it was actually very much premeditated. It was true that he couldn''t accelerate as explosively as Dark Hummingbird could, but that didn''t mean that his speed was lacking.


    Some of these techniques were ones that he had developed from sparring with Tang Wulin.


    If one wanted to defeat an opponent in a short time, particularly an opponent that was equal or superior in power to oneself, then the best way to proceed would be to make it impossible for the opponent to unleash all of their power.


    He had used his face, which seemed to be the most vulnerable region of his body, to withstand an unavoidable attack, and given that this was premeditated, it was a very good option.


    In the end, Dark Hummingbird had underestimated Wu Zhangkong. The current Wu Zhangkong was no longer the young man who was at his mercy, and thus, Dark Hummingbird immediately fell into a dire situation.


    Not only had a huge gash been torn into his battle armor by the Skyfrost Sword, Wu Zhangkong''s Absolute Zero had also been injected into his body.


    In the blink of an eye, Dark Hummingbird''s blood was frozen in his veins.


    Wu Zhangkong''s attack was enhanced by his suit of four-word battle armor, and Dark Hummingbird''s three-word battle armor was only able to keep out part of the power of the attack. This brief period during which Dark Hummingbird was frozen and paralyzed was already enough for Wu Zhangkong.


    From a third-person perspective, one would see that Wu Zhangkong''s head had been thrown back by Dark Hummingbird''s attack, but at the same time, Dark Hummingbird also fell prey to Wu Zhangkong''s attack. Furthermore, a layer of ice appeared over the entire surface of his three-word battle armor, and he was temporarily completely immobilized.


    Right as Wu Zhangkong''s body was beginning to resemble an arch bridge, he flapped his wings vigorously, and he was instantly propelled toward Dark Hummingbird, who had been frozen into an ice statue at this point.


    "Frostsong Icewheel!"


    Wu Zhangkong''s fifth soul skill conjured up a wheel of nine massive Skyfrost Swords, each of which struck Dark Hummingbird one after the other with vicious power. Not only that, but Wu Zhangkong was also unleashing his sixth soul skill, Condensing Frost!


    Condensing Frost''s effect was that it was able to lengthen the duration of Absolute Zero, and thus, Dark Hummingbird bore the full brunt of Frostsong Icewheel.


    With each sword that struck Dark Hummingbird''s body, Wu Zhangkong seemed to be venting a part of his fury and hatred. His hatred toward Dark Hummingbird and his remorse toward Long Bing, both of which had burdened his heart for so many years, were unleashed in this attack.


    He sorely regretted not getting to know Long Bing better and finding out the truth earlier. If he had made the effort to find out everything about her, perhaps she wouldn''t have died. At the very least, they wouldn''t have left Shrek City so easily, and as long as they remained in Shrek City, there was no way that Dark Hummingbird would''ve dared to come after them.


    Unfortunately, there was no way to go back in time. He hadn''t broken his promise to Long Bing as he currently wasn''t avenging her. Instead, he was striking against the Holy Spirit Cult for the sake of all of humanity!


    With the emergence of the Blood River Godslayer Array, everyone immediately realized that the Holy Spirit Cult had to be completely destroyed. Otherwise, who knew how many more lives would be taken by them?


    "Boom!"


    Dark Hummingbird was slammed out of the sky and crashed heavily onto the ground, having been struck head-on by every single one of those nine giant swords. Wu Zhangkong''s risky battle plan had allowed him to severely wound his opponent in the shortest time possible.


    He descended from the heavens, and his Skyfrost Sword had already transformed into a giant sword as he thrust it directly toward Dark Hummingbird with unstoppable might.


    "Clang!"


    Massive cracks appeared in the earth, and at the center of the cracks, Dark Hummingbird was only just barely keeping Wu Zhangkong''s Skyfrost Sword at bay with his pair of pincers.


    He had only just recovered from the effects of Absolute Zero, and he had even been forced to detonate his own suit of three-word battle armor to accomplish this.

 Chapter 1876: I Killed Him In the End

    His entire body was trembling, and blood was pouring out of all of his orifices, while his battle armor was in shambles.


    He and Wu Zhangkong were virtually identical in power to begin with, but Wu Zhangkong''s four-word battle armor provided him with enhancements that were far too significant.


    The disparity in their battle armor placed Dark Hummingbird at a huge disadvantage, and having sustained such severe injuries, there was no way he would be able to turn the tables.


    "Long Bing... For Long Bing''s sake, you can''t kill me..." he implored as he looked up at Wu Zhangkong, but his stingers were slowly being forced lower and lower by the Skyfrost Sword.


    A furious look appeared in Wu Zhangkong''s eyes. "You have no right to say her name! Did you ever see her as your daughter? In your eyes, she was only ever a tool, perhaps only a slightly more trustworthy tool at best. If you had harbored even a shred of love for her, you wouldn''t have hurt her like that, then abandoned her to die! If it weren''t for the fact that I was also severely wounded at the time or if you just had the tiniest shred of human decency, one of us could''ve taken her back to Shrek Academy, and she could''ve been saved!"


    Tears were already shimmering in Wu Zhangkong''s eyes as he spoke.


    At the time, both he and Long Bing had been severely wounded, and after telling him everything, Long Bing fainted from her injuries.


    The number one healing system Soul Master was situated right in Shrek Academy, and if Long Bing could''ve been taken to Yali, then she would''ve definitely been saved.


    However, Dark Hummingbird had left without so much as a backward glance, and Wu Zhangkong had done everything in his power to get Long Bing the treatment she needed, but he was only able to crawl for about 20 meters with Long Bing on his back before he also fainted, leaving a trail of blood behind him.


    When he woke up again, Long Bing was already dead, and he was also plagued by severe chronic internal injuries.


    This was why Wu Zhangkong had still only been a Soul Emperor when Tang Wulin first met him. Only after he returned to Shrek Academy and had those chronic injuries treated by Yali did he recover his aptitude, thereby allowing him to progress rapidly once again. At one point, he was considered to be the likeliest heir to the Sea God''s Pavilion Master!


    Not only did Wu Zhangkong''s heart not waver in the slightest upon hearing Dark Hummingbird mention Long Bing, he only became even more determined to kill this abhorrent man.


    What kind of father could be so cruel even to his own daughter?


    "For the sake of all of humanity and Long Bing, it''s time for you to die!" Wu Zhangkong roared as his battle armor glowed with scintillating light, and he plunged down his Skyfrost Sword with all his might.


    The stingers were snapped, and the Skyfrost Sword was plunged viciously into Dark Hummingbird''s chest.


    Even in the instant that he perished, Dark Hummingbird''s eyes were wide open as he stared up at Wu Zhangkong. Perhaps it was remorse or perhaps it was indignation, but a tear slowly slid down his face.


    In that instant, it was as if he could see that little girl again, the one who would uneasily cling onto his leg and call him father; it was as if he could see the same little girl who would persist in her cultivation through gritted teeth under his constant scolding.


    All of the memories gradually faded into darkness, and Dark Hummingbird permanently left this world.


    Wu Zhangkong was panting heavily as bursts of sharp pain radiated through this body from his spine.


    That final attack had still injured him to a certain extent, but at this moment, the physical pain was nothing compared with the pain in his heart.


    "I''m sorry, Long Bing; I wasn''t able to keep my promise to you and killed him in the end. Did you see the tear he shed? Perhaps he was finally feeling some remorse for everything he did. If reincarnation exists, I pray that you won''t be his daughter again, and that he''ll be reborn as a good and kind man."


    Tears were already streaming down his face as he spoke. A tight knot had existed in his heart for so many years, yet it had been completely loosened with the death of Dark Hummingbird.


    At this point, the situation on the battlefield was already trending more and more toward a positive direction for the human army. Tang Wulin wasn''t able to defeat Demon Sovereign, but he was able to keep her occupied, and without the leadership of the Abyssal Spirit Dragons, the abyssal army was nothing more than a massive horde of abyssal creatures that were only capable of charging ahead recklessly.


    In the face of the Blood God Legion and the infrasonic aircrafts led by Zhang Huanyun, countless abyssal creatures were quickly being killed, and the abyssal army was being forced back further and further by the minute.


    Tang Wulin was currently unable to enter the battle, but Gu Yuena was like an untouchable deity on the battlefield.


    Abyssal creatures were dropping like flies in her presence, and her Silver Dragon Spear was devouring massive quantities of abyssal energy.


    Under her leadership, six abyssal emperors had already fallen to her Silver Dragon Spear in a short time, and one resounding boom after another rang out from the abyssal passageway, clearly indicating that more abyssal levels were collapsing.


    Meanwhile, Zang Xin was engaged in a battle of white-hot intensity with his opponent.


    The Holy Spirit Cult was a sworn enemy of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so as soon as the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult emerged, Zang Xin immediately went after Dark Blood Demon, while Cao Dezhi challenged Ghost Emperor.


    Dark Blood Demon was a tall and thin middle-aged man whose entire body was concealed within a large dark red cloak. His martial soul was very peculiar; it was a dark red vengeful spirit, which was the so-called Blood Demon that his nickname was derived from.


    Dark Blood Demon was also a Limit Douluo of the demigod level, and his powers were of a virtually identical level to Zang Xin, so their battle was extremely fierce.


    Dark Blood Demon excelled in casting all types of curses, making him a difficult opponent for any Soul Master.


    This wasn''t the first time the two of them had clashed, and it was none other than Dark Blood Demon who had been responsible for the deaths of Tang Wulin''s foster parents.


    Among the four heavenly monarchs, Dark Blood Demon was renowned for being mysterious and untraceable.


    At this moment, there was a dark red figure with an inky-black face standing behind him. The figure was roughly three meters tall, and it had a pair of fiery red eyes that were burning like flames.


    The nine soul rings around him were all black, and they seemed to fuse as one with his black and red color scheme.


    The vengeful spirit wasn''t humanoid in shape. Instead, it appeared to be in the shape of a miniature mound, and even the air around it seemed to be slowly being corrupted by its presence.


    Dark Blood Demon was definitely the purest type of Evil Soul Master. When his martial soul first awakened, it was very weak, and no soul power arose within him, so it appeared to be a trash martial soul that couldn''t be cultivated. As a result, Dark Blood Demon was often made fun of by his peers, particularly those who had successfully awakened martial souls and soul power.


    His parents had passed away when he was still a child, and it was his grandfather who had raised him, but his grandfather also passed away due to illness when he was eight years old. It was following his grandfather''s passing that Dark Blood Demon''s life began to take a turn.


    On the day that his grandfather passed away, his martial soul suddenly appeared on its own.


    At the time, his martial soul had resembled a ball of air, and it made a devouring motion toward his grandfather''s corpse. After that, something seemed to have been sucked out of his grandfather''s body, and he could even hear his grandfather''s cries of agony, but he didn''t know what was going on.


    In the wake of that incident, his martial soul displayed itself for the first time, and it was a malicious vengeful spirit.


    After devouring his grandfather''s soul, the vengeful spirit took on a faint red hue, finally making it somewhat visible.


    What was even more surprising to him was that a burst of unprecedented energy had appeared in his body following that incident.

 Chapter 1877: Spirit Devouring

    Dark Blood Demon was stunned by that incident, and only later on did he discover that the energy was soul power. After devouring his grandfather''s soul, he had attained one rank of soul power.


    At the time, his first reaction was that this was a present left to him by his grandfather, and he was ecstatic to finally have soul power. He went to an elementary Soul Master academy and was accepted as he now possessed soul power, but he quickly discovered that all Soul Master cultivation methods, including the likes of meditation, were unsuitable for him. Thus, even after cultivating for half a year, his pitiful single rank of soul power didn''t increase in the slightest, and as a result, he was expelled.


    At the time, Dark Blood Demon suddenly recalled how he had obtained this one rank of soul power. Could it be that it had something to do with deceased individuals?


    With that in mind, he went to a funeral parlor and lingered there for a while.


    During that time, whenever a dead body arrived, he would approach it. Through his experimentation, he discovered that he couldn''t sense anything those who had perished quite some time ago before being sent to the funeral parlor, but if it were a recently deceased body, then he would be able to absorb energy from it.


    In less than a month, his soul power rose rapidly all the way to rank 10. However, he had no money and couldn''t purchase a soul spirit.


    He was at a loss for what to do and could only continue to go to the funeral parlor every day to devour souls.


    After around another month, his body manifested a soul ring on its own, thereby giving his first soul skill: Soul Devouring!


    This soul skill allowed him to devour souls more quickly, and his targets weren''t just limited to dead people now. As long as he could find someone with a very frail body or a small child, he would be able to devour a part of their soul to make them very feeble.


    This discovery gave him a new target.


    At the time, Dark Blood Demon was only a neglected and abandoned child, and he was ecstatic to have obtained this soul skill, but completely failed to realize just how dangerous it was.


    Thus, he began to experiment with his Soul Devouring soul skill, and in doing so, he discovered that not only could he devour the souls of weak humans, he could also do the same to other weaker living beings, such as small animals.


    One day, an extremely ill patient perished after Dark Blood Demon used the Soul Devouring soul skill on them, and only then did Dark Blood Demon realize the problem with this soul skill. However, at that point, he was already completely hooked.


    Spirit Devouring allowed him to progress rapidly in his soul power cultivation, and even his spiritual power was quickly being enhanced. In contrast with his past arduous yet futile cultivation, this was a completely different experience.


    Thus, he gradually fell deeper and deeper into depravity. As he became more and more powerful, his first soul skill also became more and more effective and dangerous. Upon reaching rank 20 in soul power and attaining his second soul skill, his Devouring Spirit soul skill was already able to work on normal people. At that point, he had already well and truly become an Evil Soul Master.


    In the beginning, he was still quite careful and cautious, but after a while, he began devouring souls in a completely blatant and brazen manner. In the past, he would only devour a part of someone''s soul before moving onto another target, but later on, he began to devour his targets'' souls until they passed away. He was like an addict, and there was no turning back for him.


    Furthermore, he discovered that if he could devour a living person''s soul until they died, then that would allow him to reap the greatest benefits. The more complete the soul that he devoured, the greater the benefits that he would derive.


    After that, he began to notice that if the soul being devoured belonged to a Soul Master, then the effect would be even better, and the more powerful the Soul Master was, the greater the enhancements he would receive.


    In a very short time, he had already become an extremely renowned figure among Evil Soul Masters, and at the same time, Soul Master organizations began to take notice of and target him.


    Joining the Holy Spirit Cult was natural for him, and he progressed steadily up the ranks all the way to become one of the four heavenly monarchs.


    Even among Evil Soul Masters, his rate of cultivation was very remarkable, and he also possessed fearsome combat prowess.


    In particular, his spiritual power was particularly formidable, making him an extremely difficult opponent to face.


    It was no exaggeration to say that the number of people Dark Blood Demon had killed was second only to Ghost Emperor in the Holy Spirit Cult; even Harosha hadn''t claimed as many lives as he had. Regardless of whether it was humans or other life forms, as long as they had a soul, it would be devoured by him.


    However, at the same time, he was in constant agony.


    Each soul that he devoured would leave a trace of their consciousness in his mind, and this residual consciousness inflicted a lot of pain upon him, and this pain was unbearable.


    In the beginning, it was still manageable, but as he devoured more and more souls, he began to experience mental issues similar to schizophrenia, and the residual consciousness of all of the souls he had devoured harbored intense animosity toward him, constantly torturing him and causing him to burn through his life force at an alarming rate.


    Dark Blood Demon was actually only in his fifties, making him the youngest of the four heavenly monarchs, but his physical age exceeded even that of Ghost Emperor.


    Furthermore, he knew that if he were to die, then the residual consciousness of all of his victims would inflict extremely severe backlash upon him, to the point that his soul would be torn to shreds.


    Thus, he had always been searching for all types of ways to extend his own life. For example, one of his past targets had been the Golden Tree of Shrek Academy.


    In the face of the Amorous Douluo, his eyes were glowing with yearning toward Zang Xin''s soul.


    If he wanted to repress all of the resentful wills in his body, then he had to devour a more powerful consciousness to further enhance his own spiritual power.


    Ghost Emperor had analyzed his situation in the past, and his verdict was that the only way for Dark Blood Demon to free himself from his current state would be to reach the Divine Origin realm; only then would he be able to eradicate all of the residual consciousness.


    However, this was certainly far easier said than done. Even Harosha and Ghost Emperor hadn''t been able to reach the Divine Origin realm, let alone himself.


    Thus, the only viable path for him was to continue to devour more and more powerful souls in order to elevate his own spiritual power to the Divine Origin realm before his demise.


    Zang Xin wasn''t a quasigod yet, but he was still a veteran Limit Douluo, and he was a perfect target.


    If Dark Blood Demon could devour Zang Xin, then his powers would progress further.


    In fact, there was a very good chance that devouring a Limit Douluo would take him straight to the quasigod level, in which case he would be one major step closer to the Divine Origin realm.


    Zang Xin harbored nothing but hatred toward Dark Blood Demon. As one of the most powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult, there was no doubt that Dark Blood Demon had committed countless heinous crimes against the world.


    This battle was an unavoidable one for both of them, and it was the best chance for him to kill Dark Blood Demon.


    Thus, as soon as their clash began, it quickly escalated into an all-out battle.


    The giant Blood Demon behind Dark Blood Demon reared back, and a burst of tremendous suction force instantly erupted forth. Zang Xin''s flesh began to crawl as his blood essence and soul threatened to leave his body.


    Spirit Devouring was only Dark Blood Demon''s first soul skill, but it was most definitely his most important soul skill, and it was integral to him both in battle and in cultivation. Even against extremely powerful opponents, this soul skill could weaken them to a certain extent.

 Chapter 1878: Amorous Douluo Vs. Dark Blood Demon

    Zang Xin raised his Amorous Sword, and emotions of fury and wrath immediately erupted out of his body.


    His emotional fluctuations affected his soul power, instantly making the latter scorching hot.


    Injecting emotions into his martial soul was a unique cultivation method employed by Zang Xin, and in the face of Dark Blood Demon, he immediately unleashed his most powerful domain, The Amorous One is Left to Rue What Could''ve Been.


    A halo expanded outward from beneath Zang Xin''s feet, and the air within the halo began to warp violently. Faced with all these emotional fluctuations, even the Blood Demon seemed to be a little lost and disoriented.


    Dark Blood Demon was also affected, and all of the chaotic intents in his mind erupted forth in a frenzy. He was naturally very alarmed by this, and he hurriedly drew upon his spiritual power to forcibly repress these intentions. At the same time, a layer of black flames rose up over the Blood Demon''s body at his behest, keeping all of the surrounding emotional fluctuations at bay. Furthermore, 12 inky-black vengeful spirits were conjured up, and they pounced toward Zang Xin in a frenzy.


    Zang Xin pointed his right index finger forward, and the Amorous Sword released a sword barrier, within which strong emotional fluctuations ebbed and flowed.


    Zang Xin''s eyes also glazed over slightly, as if he were reminiscing something, and in the next instant, his Amorous Sword began to glow with scintillating light as his fury suddenly turned to pain and grief. An overwhelming sense of sorrow surged forth in all directions.


    Zang Xin had extensive experience in battling Evil Soul Masters, and he knew what Evil Soul Masters feared the most.


    On the flipside of their incredible power, Evil Soul Masters were plagued by many issues, and mental instability like the type Dark Blood Demon was suffering from was extremely common.


    They had committed too many atrocities, and no matter how they tried to brainwash themselves, there would inevitably be psychological cracks.


    These cracks would widen over time if they continued to commit heinous crimes, and their mental state would eventually be affected.


    Thus, instead of being in a hurry to attack Dark Blood Demon, Zang Xin was trying to draw out his opponent''s innermost emotions.


    At the Limit Douluo level, some of the past advantages that Evil Soul Masters enjoyed could very well become detrimental to them. This was also why the Holy Spirit Douluo was so lethal to Evil Soul Masters.


    The 12 vengeful spirits crashed into the sword barrier over and over again, but Dark Blood Demon''s emotions were also beginning to be affected. One consciousness after another arose in his mind, making it very difficult for him to focus his attention.


    Meanwhile, Zang Xin wasn''t exactly enjoying himself, either.


    In the face of Spirit Devouring of the Limit Douluo level, his mind was also beginning to be affected, and it could be clearly seen that the hair on his head was slowly yet steadily turning white strand by strand.


    This was a peculiar battle, and no human Soul Masters or abyssal creatures dared to approach them.


    The powers of emotions and Spirit Devouring were virtually omnipresent in this area, and they couldn''t be kept at bay through soul power.


    In terms of power, the two were at a virtually identical level, but Zang Xin held a slight upper hand due to his battle armor advantage.


    In contrast with their virtually completely silent battle, the clash between Cao Dezhi and Ghost Emperor could only be described as earth-shattering.


    One giant skull after another shot forth through the air, unleashing all types of attacks against Cao Dezhi, while Cao Dezhi calmly wielded his Heartless Sword to ward off all of the oncoming attacks in a steady manner.


    Green flames erupted through the air amid strings of resounding booms, and Cao Dezhi''s eyes were glowing with a faint cold light; it was as if he had completely entered a heartless and detached state.


    In this state, he was able to assess everything with the utmost calmness, and he would also be able to unleash his power to its maximal extent.


    This wasn''t the first time that he had clashed with Ghost Emperor, and Ghost Emperor had actually risen to prominence even before him. In the past, Cao Dezhi had almost perished by Ghost Emperor''s hands, and the first time he had defeated Ghost Emperor was when he had unleashed his soul fusion skill with Zang Xin.


    While attacking Cao Dezhi, Ghost Emperor was constantly keeping tabs on the battle between Zang Xin and Dark Blood Demon.


    In the absence of Demon Sovereign, he was the one who oversaw everything in the Holy Spirit Cult. Even against the likes of Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, he was able to hold his own, and he was undoubtedly one of the most powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult. However, he was extremely wary of Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin.


    In his eyes, the most formidable opponent from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy wasn''t Long Yeyue.


    In fact, before discovering that Chen Xinjie had already reached the Divine Origin realm, he wasn''t even all that wary of Chen Xinjie. The only ones who caused any concern for him were Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin, but not because of their individual powers.


    Even though Cao Dezhi was a quasigod, that still wasn''t enough to evoke concern within Ghost Emperor. Instead, he was much more concerned about their soul fusion skill.


    They were the only pair of Limit Douluos on this continent with a soul fusion skill, and he had once suffered a crushing defeat in the face of this soul fusion skill, so he was well aware of its power.


    In fact, in his eyes, the soul fusion skill was very likely the only thing that could threaten Demon Sovereign on this battlefield.


    Back when he had first faced this soul fusion skill, both Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi had only been Titled Douluos, while he was already a Limit Douluo at the time.


    Despite this, Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin were still able to defeat him by relying on their ultra-powerful soul fusion skill.


    Now that both of them were Limit Douluos, it was difficult for him to imagine just how powerful their soul fusion skill would be, and that was why he was so concerned.


    During the Shrek City bombing, the primary target had been Atlas Douluo Yun Ming, but at the same time, the Holy Spirit Cult was very much hoping that Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin would also perish in the bombing.


    Unfortunately for them, neither of the two were at the Tang Sect headquarters, so they both survived.


    Thus, even while battling Cao Dezhi, Ghost Emperor was constantly keeping a wary eye on Zang Xin in case they suddenly unleashed their soul fusion skill.


    However, ever since the two of them had become Limit Douluos, they were still yet to use this soul fusion skill, and no one in the Soul Master world knew why, nor just how powerful their soul fusion skill would be at their current level of power; all they could do was make assumptions based on how powerful their soul fusion skill had been in the past.


    Thus, Ghost Emperor was constantly prepared to retreat if the situation were to go awry. As long as he could avoid that single attack, then he would have nothing to be worried about.


    The soul fusion skill between Cao Dezhi and Zang Xin was very extreme, and upon unleashing it once, both of them would be left completely spent.


    As such, Ghost Emperor was actually quite glad to see Dark Blood Demon fighting Zang Xin.


    If Dark Blood Demon could take down Zang Xin, then the threat of this soul fusion skill would be completely eradicated, and their chances of securing victory would be further increased.


    The only thing that he was rather befuddled about was why Demon Sovereign still hadn''t taken down Tang Wulin yet.


    Gu Yuena had rushed into the abyssal army and was completely unstoppable, having already slain multiple abyssal emperors.


    She was currently being opposed by the Hornet Sovereign with her 12 Vajra Bomber Hornets, and they were only just barely able to contain Gu Yuena, but it was yet to be seen just how long they could last against the Silver Dragon Spear.


    After all, even the Spirit Sovereign had perished by Gu Yuena''s hands.


    Gu Yuena''s emergence was definitely something that no one had expected.


    Under normal circumstances, the true god level Demon Sovereign should be unstoppable, and if that were the case, then Gu Yuena wouldn''t be a cause for concern as she would also eventually fall to Demon Sovereign.

 Chapter 1879: Declaration of Identity! Son of the Sea God!

    Ghost Emperor was quite perplexed, while Demon Sovereign was feeling very frustrated. Her godly power was invincible, and she could sense that her power was definitely superior to Tang Wulin''s, but Tang Wulin was like a swamp that was able to nullify all of her attacks no matter how powerful they were.


    Furthermore, the Sea God''s Trident really was something that could threaten her, so she had no choice but to proceed with caution, thereby resulting in this stalemate of sorts.


    The human army had already begun to counterattack, and a huge number of abyssal creatures had been forced to the opening of the abyssal passageway. The situation was deteriorating further and further for the abyssal plane and the Holy Spirit Cult.


    Purplish-golden light flashed through Demon Sovereign''s eyes, and a burst of purplish-golden light erupted violently from her body, sending Tang Wulin flying into the distance.


    "Stop!" Her thunderous cry rang out across the entire battlefield, and it was imbued with her almighty godly power and Divine Origin realm spiritual power.


    Everyone reflexively stopped as their minds were completely scattered, and in that instant, the entire sky turned a purplish-golden color.


    Tang Wulin held his Sea God''s Trident in his right hand and his Golden Dragon Spear in his left as he asked, "Are you surrendering, Demon Sovereign?"


    Demon Sovereign was enraged to the point of bursting into laughter upon hearing this. "You sure are a cocky little brat! If it isn''t for the fact that I don''t want to expend too much power here, do you think you would''ve been able to last this long? Continuing like this would only be a waste of time; do you dare to accept a bet from me?"


    Demon Sovereign''s words were clearly audible across every single corner of this battlefield, and even the abyssal creatures that didn''t understand the language of the humans could derive the meaning of her words through her spiritual fluctuations.


    Silver light flashed, and Gu Yuena arrived beside Tang Wulin.


    The two of them exchanged a glance, and Tang Wulin gave her a gentle nod.


    Looking at Gu Yuena, a sense of excitement suddenly welled up in his heart.


    Both of them were finally standing at the pinnacle of the human race. If they could win this battle, then surely no one in this world would be able to stop them from being together.


    Gu Yuena also gave him a slight nod in return as she glanced at the Sea God''s Trident he was wielding. At this moment, the Silver Dragon Spear in her grasp was already glowing a scintillating platinum color, and it had devoured an astronomical amount of abyssal energy.


    All of the powerful beings of the human race converged toward them, while the abyssal sovereigns and the powerful beings of the Holy Spirit Cult gathered behind Demon Sovereign, thereby forming two distinct opposing camps.


    "What bet would you like to propose?" Tang Wulin asked.


    Gu Yuena was standing beside him. As the most significant contributor on this battlefield, she had the right to represent the human race. However, she was intentionally standing a half-step behind Tang Wulin by his side, handing the reins fully over to him.


    Tang Wulin couldn''t help but think back to the time they had spent in Shrek Academy. Even back then, she had always done this.


    As the commander-in-chief, Yu Guanzhi didn''t step forward; he merely ordered a ceasefire from the weapons in the distance.


    At this point, the situation on the battlefield was finally stabilized. In his eyes, with Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena joining forces, even the true god level Demon Sovereign would struggle to defeat the human race, and everything was progressing in a positive direction.


    Demon Sovereign had also recognized this trend, and that was one of the reasons she was proposing this bet.


    She cast a cold gaze over the faces of all of the opposing figures before finally returning her attention to Tang Wulin.


    She pointed at the Sea God''s Trident in his grasp, and asked, "How are you related to him?"


    Tang Wulin hesitated momentarily before slowly raising the glowing Sea God''s Trident in his hand. "He''s my father."


    Not only was Demon Sovereign stunned to hear this, even Gu Yuena was utterly astonished, and Beast God Di Tian''s eyes had also widened with shock.


    As soon as Tang Wulin returned to the battlefield, Di Tian had already identified the Sea God''s Trident that he was wielding.


    If it weren''t for this transcendent divine weapon, there was no way that Tang Wulin would''ve been able to oppose Demon Sovereign''s godly power.


    Tens of thousands of years ago, Di Tian had met Tang San once, and at the time, Tang San had felt like an insurmountable mountain to him; he was the true ruler of this world!


    As such, how could he not be astonished to hear that Tang Wulin was Tang San''s son?


    As far as Di Tian could recall, Tang San seemed to have had a daughter, who became the wife of the Spirit Pagoda''s founder, Huo Yuhao.


    Tang Wutong... Tang Wulin... Of course! How had he not thought of this earlier?


    To think that Tang Wulin was Tang San''s son; no wonder he had the essence of the Golden Dragon King within his body.


    Everything suddenly made sense now, and he felt like he had just been struck by a stunning revelation.


    However, everyone else, including those from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, was very confused.


    For example, there was Tong Yu.


    What''s that supposed to mean? Isn''t he Tang Ziran''s son? Why would this Demon Sovereign suddenly ask about Tang Ziran?


    "Impossible! You, you''re only in your twenties!" Demon Sovereign exclaimed.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath. He was already standing at the pinnacle of the human race and had obtained the acknowledgment of the Sea God''s Trident, so there was no need to hide anything any longer.


    "Nothing is impossible in this world; that''s what my foster father told me at a very young age. He also told me that the only one anyone can absolutely trust and rely on in this world is themselves. I was left in this world by my father due to some special circumstances. You don''t need to know the exact reason; all you need to know is that I am the son of the Sea God, Tang San! You guessed right; this is the transcendent divine weapon of the Sea God, the Sea God''s Trident!"


    He wasn''t just saying this for Demon Sovereign to hear, but also for all of his friends, and everyone, regardless of whether they were friend or foe, was astonished to hear this.


    This was downright unimaginable! One had to realize that Tang San had ascended 20,000 years ago; how could he possibly have a son that was only in his twenties?


    Gu Yuena swayed unsteadily on the spot, and a hint of sorrow flashed through her eyes.


    In the next instant, everyone erupted into chaotic discussion, and Shrek''s Six Monsters were all more shocked than anyone else. They had always been the most familiar and closest friends to Tang Wulin, and they had always been perplexed by his incredible rate of progression and his Golden Dragon King abilities, but they merely attributed that to a martial soul mutation; who could''ve imagined that he would be Tang San''s son?


    However, they didn''t doubt this claim. After all, they had known him for so many years, and Tang Wulin was currently representing the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so there was no way he would lie about something like this.


    Tang San was the founder of the Tang Sect, so there was no way that Tang Wulin would desecrate his name by telling a lie like this, and on top of that, he would gain nothing from it anyway.


    Thus, at this point, everyone was more shocked than anything else.


    After a brief moment of astonishment, Demon Sovereign slowly calmed down, and her eyes began to glow with unbridled resentment.

 Chapter 1880: The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King That Was Abandoned By the Sea God

    "I knew you were related to him somehow, but I didn''t think the connection would be this strong. That''s even better for me! Your father killed my husband, so it''s time I repaid the favor by killing his son!"


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly upon hearing this. "My father killed your husband?"


    Right at this moment, someone within the Holy Spirit Cult camp abruptly threw a hand over her own mouth to stop herself from yelling out loud. Her eyes were instantly brimming with tears. Never did it occur to her that he could be the son of Tang San!


    Demon Sovereign''s voice was trembling slightly from strong emotions as she said, "20,000 years ago, my husband reigned supreme in the sea; he was the true king of sea soul beasts, the 1,000,000-year-old Deep Sea Demonic Whale King! It was your father who killed my husband just so he could get his hands on my husband''s soul ring and soul bones."


    Tang Wulin was very surprised to hear this. "You''re a soul beast? Are you also a Deep Sea Demonic Whale?"


    "That''s right," Demon Sovereign replied in a proud manner, "I am the current leader of the Deep Sea Demonic Whales. Your father killed my husband and forced me and my daughter into a perilous life on the run; I had to go through countless hardships to get to where I am today. All humans are greedy and irredeemable. You destroyed the habitat of us soul beasts, and drove the soul beasts on land to near extinction, but that wasn''t enough; you had to go after us sea soul beasts as well!"


    "Hold on!" Tang Wulin suddenly interrupted with a befuddled expression, "I admit that we humans have excessively slaughtered soul beasts, but your husband''s case seems to be more complicated than that."


    A furious look appeared on Demon Sovereign''s face. "How is it any different?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''ve experienced something similar, so I know that there''s a difference. You must be the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King that I sensed in the sea not long ago, right? At the time, you must''ve sensed my Sea God''s Trident and my father''s aura, which is why you decided to flee."


    An astonished look appeared on Demon Sovereign''s face. "That was you?"


    At the time, she had only just completed her breakthrough, and she had indeed sensed something.


    Even though the Blood River Godslayer Array was destroyed, the power that it had bestowed upon her was sufficient for her to make the breakthrough.


    During her breakthrough, she felt as if she had had a dream where she was teleported to another world.


    In the dream, she clearly sensed a familiar aura; it was the aura of the Sea God''s Trident and of Sea God Tang San himself, and it was this very same aura that had taken her husband''s life.


    Her first reaction was to charge ahead and destroy the source of that aura, but she quickly began to cower in the face of enormous pressure that was being exerted upon her. In the end, she decided to flee, and that was when she awoke from what she had thought had been a dream, but she was unable to tell whether it had been illusion or reality. Upon hearing Tang Wulin''s mention of the incident, she now knew that it had been reality. In that case, didn''t that mean that Sea God Tang San really had left his power in this world?


    Tang Wulin continued, "I went into seclusion on this occasion for the sole purpose of completing the trials of the Sea God''s Trident. One of those trials was to face the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, but seeing as the past Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had already perished by my father''s hands, you had to have been my opponent in that trial, right?"


    Demon Sovereign wore a cold expression as she asked, "So what if that''s the case?"


    Tang Wulin said, "At the time, you chose to flee, so I passed that trial very easily. I didn''t know what had happened, but it''s all clear to me now. The Sea God''s Trident is a transcendent divine weapon, and in order to gain its acknowledgment, one has to undergo its trials. In order to become its wielder, one has to endure the Nine Trials of the Sea God. All nine trials are extremely difficult, but there''s a point and purpose to all of them. For example, there was the trial where I had to help the Demon Spirit Great White Sharks force back the Evil Spirit Orcas.


    "The Evil Spirit Orcas had been slaughtering too many living beings, thereby affecting the entire marine ecosystem. One of the Sea God''s most important duties is to protect the sea, so the purpose of that trial was to restore balance in the ecosystem. In that case, why had my father killed what was once the most powerful sea soul beast? My father was also undergoing the Nine Trials of the Sea God when he was pitted against the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King; can you tell me what your husband did to deserve that? Can you tell me why the Sea God abandoned him and asked my father to kill him?"


    Tang Wulin had just uncovered many secrets of the Douluo Continent, particularly regarding Sea God Tang San. Only brief mentions of the Nine Trials of the Sea God had been made in historical records, but they were nowhere near this detailed, and his words provided further evidence supporting the claim that he was the son of the Sea God.


    All of the powerful beings in the human camp were struck by a sense of enlightenment, and they couldn''t help but see Tang Wulin through new eyes.


    Tang San was the most legendary figure in the history of the Douluo Continent with no one else even coming close; the fact that Tang Wulin was his son was an astonishing revelation.


    "Lies!" Demon Sovereign roared with fury as a massive pillar of purplish-golden light erupted from her body, heading directly toward Tang Wulin.


    Tang Wulin drew a circle in the air with his Sea God''s Trident to nullify the attack, then said, "You know full well whether I''m lying or not. In fact, through your actions, you''ve proven to me that I''m not lying. You took over 10,000,000 innocent lives to create your Blood River Godslayer Array; should you not die for this heinous crime? Should the Sea God bless and protect a sea soul beast like you? Your actions have shown everyone the truth. Even if your husband hadn''t committed atrocities of the same magnitude as you, he had still definitely done something to threaten the entire ocean."


    Demon Sovereign''s breathing had become very heavy as she glowered intently at Tang Wulin.


    Was he right? He was!


    How had the past Deep Sea Demonic Whale King been able to attain 1,000,000-year level power? Was it actually through living for 1,000,000 years? That was naturally impossible.


    10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years, 10,000 years, 100,000 years, 1,000,000 years; that was the hierarchy of soul beasts, but in reality, very few soul beasts actually took the same number of years to reach the corresponding level.


    Instead, most of them progressed through breakthroughs, and the way that the past Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had achieved his breakthroughs was extremely barbaric and heinous.


    He devoured living beings just like Dark Blood Demon, except he devoured both the bodies and souls of his victims. In the sea, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was virtually invincible, and in order to attain more power, he constantly fed on the weak to nurture himself.


    In particular, after he reached the 100,000-year level, he began to up the ante, and many vast regions of the sea were reduced to lifeless wastelands because of him. After reaching the 1,000,000-year level, he became even more brazen and unrestrained. Just like the Evil Soul Masters on land, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King at the time intended to devour all of the living beings in the sea in order to attain godhood.


    The only times the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King ever showed compassion was in the presence of his wife and daughter, but his actions had heavily impacted the entire marine ecosystem, which was why Tang San was tasked with killing him in one of the Nine Trials of the Sea God.


    Demon Sovereign seemed to have calmed down again as she appraised Tang Wulin with a cold expression. "There''s no need to waste any more time with words. You''re the son of Tang San, so you''ll be the perfect target for me to exact my revenge on. Do you dare to accept my bet?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "Tell me what you propose."

 Chapter 1881: Bet!

    Demon Sovereign glowered intently at Tang Wulin before turning to the other powerful beings of the human army. "At this point in the battle, the outcome on the main battlefield is no longer important. If you can kill me, you''ll essentially have won the battle, but conversely, if we manage to kill all of you, then those aircrafts alone will pose no threat to us. As such, let''s not waste any more time and decide this battle with three matches. You humans love your matches and trials and things like that, right? So let''s decide this with three seven-on-seven matches.


    "Everyone on the losing side for each match will perish, and once a match is decided, there''s no going back. After the three matches, the side that loses overall won''t have many powerful beings left; do you dare to accept this bet? If you win, you''ll be able to preserve more of your forces, and your soldiers won''t have to act as cannon fodder any further; if we win, then things will be made a lot easier for us."


    Under her proposed conditions, even if the overall winning side were to lose one of the matches, seven powerful beings from their camp would perish, so strategy was very important.


    This was an extremely extravagant bet, one where the stakes were the lives of the most powerful beings from both armies. If the most effective strategy were chosen, then victory could be secured while losses were limited, and vice versa.


    Relatively speaking, this bet was more impactful for the human camp. After all, if the abyssal creatures were to die, they could just be resurrected, but that obviously wasn''t the case for humans.


    If the battle were to continue, then even if they could force back the enemy, countless human lives would have to be sacrificed in the process. However, if the outcome of the battle were to be decided through three matches and the humans emerged as the overall victors, then the losses suffered would be far less severe, and more people would survive.


    With that in mind, it begged the question of why Demon Sovereign had proposed such a bet. Where did her confidence come from?


    Furthermore, this seemed to be a bet that favored the human army, so what was she getting out of it?


    All of this was piling additional pressure on the powerful beings of the human army. Should they agree or refuse?


    Hundreds of thousands of human troops were awaiting their decision, and what Demon Sovereign had just said put them in a very difficult position.


    If they were to refuse the bet, then they were essentially saying that they didn''t care about the lives of their troops, and that would significantly impact morale. However, if they were to agree, then they would undoubtedly be falling into Demon Sovereign''s trap one way or another.


    Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena were quite hesitant, as was everyone else.


    "Looks like you humans aren''t entirely united. How about this? We''ll give you an hour to discuss. During the hour, we won''t attack any further," Demon Sovereign said with a derisive smile, then swept a hand through the air to release a burst of purplish-golden light that swept up her and her allies before descending toward the abyssal passageway.


    All of the powerful beings of the human camp were feeling very indecisive, and it was Tang Wulin who had to break the silence. "Everyone, please come with me."


    He flew toward the mountain where the secondary tree of life was situated as he spoke, and everyone followed along.


    At a time like this, the human army really needed a central figure whom everyone could rally behind.


    Meanwhile, a ceasefire had ensued between the two armies as they awaited the final decision.


    Everyone from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect were already accustomed to the rich life energy being released by the secondary tree of life, so it came as no surprise to them, but for all of the powerful beings of the other organizations, it was the first time that they were experiencing this.


    They were almost instantly struck by the feeling that they had been reborn anew, and all of their physical and mental exhaustion from the prior battle was quickly fading away.


    Even Gu Yuena couldn''t help but be surprised upon sensing the aura of the secondary tree of life.


    Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng were also among the Spirit Pagoda camp, and they couldn''t help but turn their eyes toward the secondary tree of life with greed on their faces. Qiangu Dongfeng could clearly sense that if he could receive more life energy from this tree, then perhaps he would even be able to regrow his lost arm.


    After all, he was a Limit Douluo, and this rich life energy was sufficient to replenish what he had lost to Tang Wulin''s Golden Dragon Spear.


    As expected of Shrek Academy!


    Tang Wulin was naturally able to sense everyone''s differing reactions to the secondary tree of life, but he paid no heed to all of that and turned to Yu Guanzhi.


    "What do you say, Commander?"


    After all, Yu Guanzhi was technically still the commander-in-chief of the human army.


    A wry smile appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face. "This is a very important and difficult decision. If we ask for directions from the federal government, I can almost guarantee you that they''d advise us to continue in an all-out assault in order to keep the probability of mishaps arising to a minimum."


    From the federation''s perspective, even if hundreds of thousands of troops had to be sacrificed, it would be worth it as long as they could completely force back the enemy as those sacrifices would be made for the greater good. If this battle were to be lost, then the entire Douluo Continent would fall, and that would be the most catastrophic outcome possible.


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. He had also considered that this would be the case.


    Yu Guanzhi continued, "Demon Sovereign intentionally made her voice heard by everyone just now was a tactic to exert more pressure on us. Choosing to accept her bet would result in far fewer casualties than continuing this battle, and if we don''t accept her bet, the morale of our troops will take a heavy hit."


    Thinking about it now, Yu Guanzhi realized that even the one-hour time limit Demon Sovereign have given them had to have been carefully considered. An hour wasn''t a short time, but it wasn''t a long time, either. It was enough for them to report the situation to the federation, but just Yu Guanzhi had said, with the limited time they had, the government officials would undoubtedly decide to continue the battle.


    Victory had to be ensured no matter what, even if it meant sacrificing the lives of all of the troops on this battlefield.


    However, an hour definitely wasn''t enough time for them to rally their troops and make them fully willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.


    With that in mind, should they accept this bet?


    Yu Guanzhi took a deep breath as a decisive look appeared in his eyes.


    He turned toward all of the powerful beings of the human camp, and said, "For this battle, I''m representing not just the federation, but also the military, and all of the soldiers on this battlefield are like brothers to me. If I don''t consider the federation''s perspective and only think for these brothers of mine, then I would accept this bet without a second thought. If we win, countless brothers will be able to survive this battle, and that''s very important to me. Hence, Sect Master Tang, Chairwoman Gu, I need you to tell me whether you''re confident you''ll be able to defeat Demon Sovereign."


    It was clear that Demon Sovereign was the key to this battle. Regardless of which option they chose, it was inevitable that they had to get through her, and only then would they be able to secure the final victory. Otherwise, everything else simply didn''t matter.

 Chapter 1882: 70% Chance

    Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yuena, and she was also looking back at him.


    Their eyes met, and through each other''s eyes, they both saw many things.


    Tang Wulin took a deep breath, and said, "I''m afraid there are no absolutes in this world, Commander. All I can do is put my life on the line, and I''ll be sure to fight until the end so long as I still draw breath. If I were on my own, there would be a roughly 20% chance for me to take her down with me and around a 40% chance for me to severely wound her before I die. However, if I have Chairwoman Gu by my side, then the two of us have a 70% chance of defeating Demon Sovereign."


    Everyone was stunned to hear this; no one had anticipated such a promise from Tang Wulin, and even everyone from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect was very much taken aback. This was no laughing matter; it concerned the future of the federation and the survival of the entire human race!


    On a battlefield like this, 70% was already extremely high. The fact that Tang Wulin was saying this essentially meant that he was close to fully confident in his and Gu Yuena''s ability to defeat Demon Sovereign.


    However, Demon Sovereign was already a true god; even without the enhancement of a godseat, both her soul power and spiritual power had already reached the godly level, so where was his confidence coming from?


    An incredulous look appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face upon hearing this, and he exclaimed, "Are you serious?"


    Among all of the people present, only Shrek''s Six Monsters had an inkling of where Tang Wulin was deriving his confidence from.


    Instead of giving an immediate reply, Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yuena as if he were awaiting her answer.


    Gu Yuena looked back at him, and close to 20 seconds later, she gave a firm nod. "We''re fully serious."


    Her promise was even more impactful than Tang Wulin''s. Who was the most spectacular performer and the biggest contributor to the human army on this battlefield? It had to be Gu Yuena!


    She had held off the Spirit Sovereign on her own, and it could be said that prior to Tang Wulin''s return, she had been the true pillar of the human army.


    It was her presence that ensured that the human army didn''t collapse in the face of several major crises, and only then were they able to last until Tang Wulin''s return.


    Even more importantly, she had slain the Spirit Sovereign, thereby also putting an end to all of the Abyssal Spirit Dragons, turning the tide of the entire battle.


    It was also her who had allowed the broken and dejected Spirit Pagoda to stand up tall and proud again. Through her incredible power, Gu Yuena had cemented her position as chairwoman of the Spirit Pagoda, and no one could compare with her.


    As the leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, there was no way that Tang Wulin would lie about something like this, and with the support of Gu Yuena, his claim instantly became countless times more believable.


    "Are you sure, Chairwoman?" Qiangu Dieting couldn''t help but ask.


    Upon witnessing Gu Yuena slaying the Spirit Sovereign, even Qiangu Dieting had become fully convinced that Gu Yuena was far more powerful than he was.


    He didn''t have time to consider where her power had come from; what was already clear was that her position as chairwoman was already completely unshakeable, and that the Qiangu Family was destined to fall into obscurity.


    The only shred of hope that he could cling onto was the relationship between her and Qiangu Zhangting.


    Gu Yuena turned to Qiangu Dieting, and said, "I am. If I join forces with Sect Master Tang, there''s at least a 70% chance that we''ll be able to defeat Demon Sovereign, and aside from her, there shouldn''t be anyone among the enemy camp that can pose a threat to us. It''s quite clear that Demon Sovereign proposed this bet as she''s very confident in something, but she''s not the only one with something up her sleeve."


    Yu Guanzhi hesitated momentarily before interjecting, "I know there are some things that I shouldn''t pry into, but this is an extremely significant bet, so I have to know everything before I make the final decision. After all, this concerns all of our lives and the safety of the entire continent. Chairwoman Gu, Sect Master Tang, please tell me exactly what you have up your sleeve."


    Through Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena''s words, it was clear that they were in support of accepting this bet.


    Yu Guanzhi represented the military, and if he were to also approve, then this matter would be decided.


    Yu Guanzhi had already made it clear that he wasn''t going to be reporting this issue to the federal government, so the decision was going to have to be made by everyone here, and it was an extremely difficult one.


    Tang Wulin glanced at Gu Yuena, and she gave him a slight nod. The tacit understanding between the two immediately evoked a sense of displeasure in the hearts of Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng. However, in Gu Yuena''s current position, there was no way they would dare to express this displeasure.


    Tang Wulin raised his right hand, and a light barrier was conjured up around himself, Gu Yuena, Yu Guanzhi, and Guan Yue, who represented the Battle God Hall.


    No one else displayed much of a reaction to this, but both Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng''s expressions darkened significantly.


    All of the people present represented the human race, so who exactly was Tang Wulin trying to guard against?


    He clearly wasn''t targeting the people from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, so the answer was very apparent; it was clear that he was keeping out everyone from the Spirit Pagoda.


    Was he worried that they would leak the contents of their conversation to the Holy Spirit Cult?


    The gentle light barrier enveloped the four figures, and Tang Wulin seemed to have said something, while Gu Yuena stood silent beside him with a calm expression.


    Both Yu Guanzhi and Guan Yue displayed astonishment upon hearing what Tang Wulin had to say, but that astonishment quickly turned into elation, and they both nodded with approval while Guan Yue even gave Tang Wulin a thumbs-up.


    Shortly thereafter, the light barrier vanished. In contrast with his prior serious expression, Yu Guanzhi was looking much more relaxed as he smiled, and said, "Sect Master Tang has already convinced me; I''ve decided to support him on behalf of the military."


    At this point, Chen Xinjie had already passed away, and the only other Limit Douluos in the military were Dong Zi''an, Cao Dezhi, and Zhang Huanyun.


    There was no way that Cao Dezhi would oppose Tang Wulin, Zhang Huanyun wasn''t present, and Dong Zi''an''s reputation had taken a massive hit due to his recent mistake.


    Furthermore, Yu Guanzhi was the commander-in-chief of the human army, so his decision essentially represented that of the entire military.


    Guan Yue nodded, and chimed in, "I have no issues, either. At the same time, our Battle God Hall is willing to participate in one of the seven-on-seven matches with me leading the team."


    The fact that there were three seven-on-seven matches meant that each side had to field 21 combatants.


    Among the sovereign, emperors, and heavenly monarchs of the Holy Spirit Cult, Dark Phoenix and Dark Hummingbird were already dead, so there were only five left, and the rest of the combatants would naturally have to come from the abyssal plane.


    Meanwhile, the human army had four parties, namely the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda, the military, and the Battle God Hall, that could supply combatants, so it seemed that the human army definitely wasn''t at a disadvantage here.


    After all, there was no lack of Limit Douluos and four-word battle armor masters among their ranks. Even though Chen Xinjie, Long Yeyue, and Leng Yaozhu had already perished, there was still a lot of firepower to come, especially from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, which were absolutely loaded.

 Chapter 1883: The Most Extravagant Bet in History

    Tang Wulin nodded, and said, "The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy are also willing to accept this bet."


    Just now, he had already received voice transmissions from both Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi. From the Shrek Academy camp, Long Yeyue had passed away, which made Yali the final remaining member of the old guard, and she was also Tang Wulin''s godmother, so there was no way she wouldn''t support him.


    Gu Yuena declared, "The Spirit Pagoda also agrees to this bet."


    Yu Guanzhi''s gaze roamed over everyone present, and he said, "The future of the entire human race hinges on this battle. There may be four of us making this decision, but as the commander-in-chief, I''ll be taking full accountability. Now then, let''s begin the preparations."


    Yu Guanzhi''s composure was shining through at this critical juncture, and he didn''t hesitate in the slightest, nor was there any time for him to hesitate.


    "We''ve never seen eye to eye, but I have to admit that you''re a real man. Count me in," Dong Zi''an said as he strode forward from the military camp.


    Yu Guanzhi turned toward him, and a smile appeared on both of their faces. It was as if all of their differences had been settled in that instant. Both of them knew that this would perhaps be their final battle, so what was the point in continuing to cling onto those differences?


    Tang Wulin said, "Commander, this is a joint decision; you shouldn''t be the only one held accountable. In any case, let''s not discuss this now; I think we should discuss who SHOULDN''T be participating in this bet."


    A contemplative look appeared on Yu Guanzhi''s face upon hearing this. "What do you propose, Sect Master Tang?"


    Tang Wulin replied, "I''m sure all of us here would be willing to give up our lives for the future of the federation, but we have to take into account the fact that the Holy Spirit Cult and the abyssal plane aren''t exactly trustworthy. Demon Sovereign was the one who proposed this bet, so she has to have some kind of motive or something that she''s banking on. Under these circumstances, we have to constantly be on our guard in case they decide to scrap the bet and rescind everything. Hence, we have to keep some of our forces in reserve and react according to the situation.


    "Firstly, as the commander-in-chief of the human army, you''re definitely not fit to participate in this bet. Otherwise, if something were to happen to you, who would lead the human army?"


    Yu Guanzhi faltered slightly upon hearing this. As soon as he decided to accept this bet, the first thing that sprang into his mind was that he had to represent the military and go into battle. If he didn''t lead by example, how could he convince others to put their lives on the line.


    "But..." Yu Guanzhi wanted to protest, but he was cut off by Dong Zi''an.


    "Sect Master Tang is right; you can''t participate in this bet. On top of that, Old Man Zhang can''t participate, either. Both of you are Limit Douluos, but you''re far more important to the human army than just the contributions you can make through your individual powers. As long as you two are here, we can have confidence that someone will be able to deal with the abyssal army if they try any funny business."


    Yu Guanzhi''s brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he offered no response, but he knew that Tang Wulin was right.


    Indeed, an army had to have a commander. This notion had been perfectly highlighted by the death of the Spirit Sovereign, which had essentially caused the abyssal army to instantly fall apart, and taking advantage of the chaos, Gu Yuena had slain several abyssal emperors.


    Guan Yue chimed in, "Commander, this is not the time to be hesitating. Sect Master Tang is right; you can''t participate in this bet. Leave everything to us; we have enough Battle Gods to form a formidable lineup. Our Battle God Hall exists to take on the most powerful enemies, while the military''s role is to oversee the entire battlefield. Hence, if you ask me, even General Dong should be left out of this."


    Dong Zi''an burst into laughter upon hearing this. "I''m afraid you''re not getting rid of me that easily, Hall Master Guan. I''m no longer the commander of the Western Legion, and I''ve already organized everything in the legion, so you can rest assured. Having said that, I do support the notion that the legion commanders are not fit to directly participate in this bet; they have to stay behind as a safety net for our human army."


    Tang Wulin nodded in response. "I fully agree. In that case, the current situation is that the Battle God Hall will contribute a group, our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy will contribute another group, which leaves one more group."


    He turned his gaze toward Gu Yuena as he spoke, and Gu Yuena said, "Our Spirit Pagoda will also contribute a group. Also, I think we need to think outside the box here. Demon Sovereign proposed three seven-on-seven matches, and there has to be a reason behind this; we can''t just allow her to set the pace and follow along. At the very least, we should change up the numbers. Currently, we have more top-tier powerful beings than them, so I suggest we demand three nine-on-nine matches as opposed to seven-on-seven.


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. He had failed to consider this point, and it was very fortunate that Gu Yuena was here to pick up the slack.


    Indeed, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy alone could field far more than nine people in these matches. At this moment, all of his friends were already raring to go.


    Right at this moment, Zang Xin made a surprising declaration. "Old Man Cao and I aren''t going to participate."


    Everyone instantly turned toward him, but Zang Xin merely looked back at everyone with a calm expression, displaying no intention to explain himself. Meanwhile, Cao Dezhi nodded to support Zang Xin''s statement.


    Qiangu Dongfeng couldn''t help but throw a barbed jibe. "What''s going on? Are you two scared?"


    Zang Xin replied in an indifferent voice, "Of course a selfish and narrow-minded baboon like you would immediately jump to that conclusion."


    Qiangu Dongfeng immediately flared up with rage, but Qiangu Dieting gave him a firm tug and a stern glare to stop him from saying anything.


    He then turned to Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi before giving them a rare nod of approval, and there was even a hint of admiration in his eyes.


    A contemplative look also appeared on Guan Yue''s face, and shortly thereafter, he expressed his approval of this declaration.


    It was clear that Qiangu Dieting and Guan Yue understood why Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi had decided to sit this one out, but in all honesty, even Tang Wulin didn''t understand the reasons behind this decision, and this wasn''t a good time to ask.


    In his mind, Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi''s participation was a foregone conclusion, and the two of them were going to be extremely impactful. In the face of this sudden turn of events, their entire plan would have to be altered to a certain extent.


    Yu Guanzhi said, "I agree with Chairwoman Gu''s suggestion; I''ll go and communicate with Demon Sovereign right away to finalize the conditions of the bet. In the meantime, please decide on the lineups."


    He rose up into the air as he spoke before flying toward the enemy camp.


    Guan Yue said, "I''ll be leading my team, which will be comprised of General Dong and the first seven Battle Gods."


    The Battle God Hall hadn''t suffered any severe losses during the prior battle, and all of the energy they had expended was quickly being replenished by the secondary tree of life, so they were all raring to go. No Battle God of the Douluo Federation had ever feared a battle!

 Chapter 1884: The Lineups

    Tang Wulin nodded before turning to Gu Yuena. "Demon Sovereign is most likely going to be participating in the final match, so we should do the same and leave enough people for the final match."


    Gu Yuena nodded in response.


    She then turned to the Spirit Pagoda camp, and said, "In order to ensure our victory against Demon Sovereign, I need to join forces with Sect Master Tang, so I''ll be in the same group as him. Our Spirit Pagoda and the other prominent Soul Master clans will be contributing to the third group; I''ll be counting on you two to lead everyone in my stead."


    The two people that she was referring to at the end were naturally none other than Qiangu Dieting and Qiangu Dongfeng.


    Qiangu Dongfeng immediately wanted to protest, but Qiangu Dieting grabbed onto his shoulder and immediately nodded without any hesitation. "Alright, we won''t let you down."


    Qiangu Dongfeng turned to his father with a stunned expression, and he asked through voice transmission, "What are you doing, Father? Gu Yuena isn''t going to be with us, and Leng Yaozhu is dead; we don''t have enough power on our end! If we form a group..."


    Qiangu Dieting replied in an indifferent voice, "Do you think we''ll be welcomed back with open arms like heroes even if we can win this battle? For the sake of continuing our family''s heritage, some things must be sacrificed, such as our lives. We can''t allow our actions to permanently tarnish our family."


    Qiangu Dongfeng shuddered upon hearing this, and in that instant, he suddenly realized many things.


    He opened his mouth to say something, but merely remained silent in the end as he knew that nothing he could say would change anything.


    Shortly thereafter, Yu Guanzhi returned, and declared, "Demon Sovereign has agreed to our proposal, and the matches will commence in an hour from the time the bet was first proposed."


    Serious looks appeared on everyone''s faces upon hearing this.


    Seeing as the decision had already been made, then all everyone could do was fight with all their power.


    Tang Wulin turned to his friends, and said, "Let''s begin deciding the lineup."


    "Count us in," Yuanen Zhentian immediately said as he stepped forward with a faint smile, as if he were merely offering to do something insignificant rather than volunteering for a fight to the death.


    Tang Wulin was very touched by this gesture. "Senior Yuanen, you''re not actually truly a part of Shrek Academy, so I''d understand if you..."


    Yuanen Zhentian feigned a furious expression, and protested, "What do you mean by that, Sect Master Tang? How are we not a part of Shrek Academy? On the contrary, don''t forget that both my son and I are teachers of Shrek Academy. I''ve heard many stories about Shrek Academy, and what I admire the most about the academy is that in the wake of that disaster, not a single student perished. That story had a very strong impact on me, and even though we''ve only been at Shrek Academy for a short time, we''ve been deeply influenced by the Shrek Academy spirit.


    "Besides, this isn''t a battle solely for the sake of Shrek Academy; the fate of the entire human race is on the line. My son and I are pretty confident in our powers; if this isn''t the time to put these powers to good use, then I can''t think of a better occasion. Are we supposed to wait until the human race is on the brink of destruction before we finally step in? Even if I were to perish in this battle, I would have no concerns in leaving our Yuanen Family in the care of Shrek Academy. Under Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect''s protection, our family''s heritage will be sure to continue, so let''s not waste any more time; count us in, Sect Master Tang!"


    Yuanen Tiandang was standing beside his father, and even though he hadn''t said anything, the resolve in his eyes was more than enough to display his intentions.


    "Alright!" Tang Wulin didn''t say anything further.


    "Count me in as well," Tong Yu said as he also stepped forward, and he wore a very calm expression, as if none of this really mattered to him.


    Tang Wulin gave him a meaningful look, and said, "Senior Tong Yu, I''m sure you heard the earlier conversation. My birth father is Sea God Tang San, and Tang Ziran is only my foster father, so..."


    Tong Yu interjected, "Does your foster father have any other children?"


    Tang Wulin shook his head in response.


    Tong Yu continued, "Then it''s decided. Who else am I supposed to seek out as my psychological pillar? Besides, this is a matter that concerns the entire human race, so just treat me as the Star Luo Empire''s representative in this battle."


    Following this declaration, he made his way over to Yuanen Zhentian and Yuanen Tiandang and fell silent, not giving Tang Wulin a chance to reject him.


    Yali also made her way over to Tong Yu''s side, and there was naturally nothing Tang Wulin could say to this godmother of his; both of them regarded the Holy Spirit Cult as sworn enemies.


    Thus, a lineup of four Limit Douluos was assembled.


    "Surely you can''t count us out." Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng, and Wu Zhangkong were the next ones to emerge, and one Titled Douluo after another also stepped forward from the Tang Sect camp, including the likes of A''Ruheng and Sima Jinchi.


    "Shrek''s Seven Monsters is one single entity, Boss; you can''t just leave us. I don''t care; I have to be on your team. These are the moments that make historic heroes! I can''t miss out," Xie Xie said as he made his way over to Tang Wulin with a stubborn expression.


    "That''s right, Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters is a single entity."


    Ye Xinglan strode forward, and the other members of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters also gathered beside Tang Wulin.


    There was no doubt that they weren''t the most powerful beings available. In fact, aside from Tang Wulin, none of them were even at the Limit Douluo level; only Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan were Hyper Douluos, while the others were only Titled Douluos.


    However, one would be remiss to count them out as they were Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters, and they all had suits of four-word battle armor crafted by Tang Wulin. Even a Titled Douluo with a suit of four-word battle armor would be close to a Limit Douluo in power, and that was why the most significant role that Tang Wulin had played for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect was that of Divine Blacksmith.


    Furthermore, he suffered next to no backlash during his heavenly refinement, and that was the most fearsome aspect about him as a Divine Blacksmith.


    All of a sudden, over 30 people had already emerged from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, all of whom felt that they were powerful enough to participate in the matches, and none of them were willing to back down.


    It was in this moment that everyone else present truly came to realize just how formidable Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect had become.


    Tang Wulin was also placed in a very difficult position.


    It was clearly a difficult task for him to choose only nine out of the over 30 volunteers, and in terms of raw power alone, it would naturally be wise to prioritize the Limit Douluos, but the synergy of Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters was not to be ignored.


    In particular, Xu Xiaoyan''s ultra-powerful control abilities made it impossible to judge her powers using conventional standards.


    How was he supposed to choose?


    Just as Tang Wulin was struggling to make a decision, Yali made her way over to him, and said, "Power is one thing, but all of you have exceptional chemistry, which should be more than enough to make up for the lack of individual power. In the history of our Shrek Academy, all past generations of Shrek''s Seven Monsters have constantly developed through challenging foes more powerful than themselves.


    "Hence, I suggest you fight as one as Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters. Obviously. Gu Yuena will join you as well, and I think Sima Jinchi should also be included to complete the group of nine."

 Chapter 1885: Deciding the Three Teams

    Everyone was quite surprised to hear this. After all, if this arrangement were to be followed, then the four Limit Douluos of Shrek Academy would all be excluded from Tang Wulin''s team.


    However, the biggest surprise was still yet to come.


    Yali turned to Qiangu Dieting, and said, "Qiangu Dieting, I know what you''re thinking. If you have any backbone at all, then you''ll do everything in your power in this battle; only then will you be able to earn the Qiangu Family some redemption. I can promise you that prior to the conclusion of this battle, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy won''t seek vengeance against you, nor plot against you in any way. Your Spirit Pagoda is quite limited in firepower, so how about we form another team together?"


    Never did Qiangu Dieting think that Yali would make an offer like this, and he was temporarily rooted to the spot.


    Yali continued, "Yuanen Zhentian, Yuanen Tiandang, Tong Yu, Wu Zhangkong, A''Ruheng, Lan Muzi, and I will join you to form a group of nine with yourself and your son."


    Qiangu Dongfeng was ecstatic to hear this. Among the seven people that Yali had mentioned, five of them possessed Limit Douluo level power, and Wu Zhangkong and Lan Muzi were also very close to that standard.


    On paper, this was a lineup that was far more formidable than even Shrek¡¯s Seven Monsters! Essentially, this would be a group of nine Limit Douluos, which would make them the most powerful of the three teams and dramatically raise their chances of securing victory.


    However, a hesitant look then immediately appeared on his face as he cast a skeptical gaze toward Yali. Among this team of nine, seven were going to be from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy; what if they chose to betray him and his father? The two of them wouldn''t even have any chance of getting away!


    Yali could naturally detect the doubt in his gaze, and a hint of derision and disgust appeared on her face. "Do you think I would plot against you at a time like this? How about you don''t compare everyone to yourself?"


    Qiangu Dongfeng was quite embarrassed to hear this. Yali had just declared in front of everyone that they wouldn''t be exacting revenge on the Qiangu Family prior to the conclusion of this battle, so it was clear that she intended to keep the promise.


    Qiangu Dieting replied, "We have no objections. Thank you." After that, he and Qiangu Dongfeng went away to meditate and try to recover to peak condition.


    All of the people from the military gathered here were among the top brass, and they were forced to see Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect through new eyes.


    Among the 27 people required for the three nine-on-nine matches, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had contributed over half of that! This was an extremely significant contribution, and it was also a perfect reflection of how selfless the two super organizations were.


    In contrast, not a single person had stepped forward to volunteer from the Spirit Pagoda, thereby displaying a drastic difference in their spirit and the values they upheld.


    Gu Yuena''s stunning display had restored some dignity for the Spirit Pagoda, but the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had stomped that into the dirt again.


    Even after suffering that major disaster, the firepower that the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were capable of unleashing was still far superior to that of the Spirit Pagoda.


    The Spirit Pagoda was indeed the wealthiest organization on the entire continent, but they still simply couldn''t compare with the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and the main difference was in their spirit.


    The spirit was the core of an organization, and it was more important than anything else.


    Meanwhile, the Battle God Hall had also finalized its lineup, and it was comprised of Guan Yue, Dong Zi''an, First Battle God Ao Rui, Second Battle God Long Tianwu, Third Battle God Luo Yuhang, Fifth Battle God Mo Zihong, Seventh Battle God Shi Mengshan, Eighth Battle God Nang Gongyi, and 13th Battle God Su Mengjun.


    If individual power had been the only parameter being considered, Su Mengjun wouldn''t have received a spot on this team, but she shared a soul fusion skill with Long Tianwu, so the impact she could make was going to be bigger than any of the other remaining Battle Gods.


    Thus, the lineups for the three teams were decided. Even though Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi weren''t going to participate in the matches, the lineups still instilled everyone with a sense of confidence.


    As for the powerful beings who weren''t going to be participating in the matches, they still had to organize the defensive line in case of any unexpected circumstances.


    Yu Guanzhi made his way over to Tang Wulin, Gu Yuena, and Guan Yue before extending a military salute toward them. "We''ll be counting on you for the survival of the federation and the human race. I''ll be keeping a close eye on the situation from the control center, and if any mishaps occur, retreat right away; I''ll immediately back you up with artillery fire."


    Tang Wulin replied, "Rest assured, Commander, we''ll be sure to do our best."


    Looking at the current situation, Tang Wulin was very confident; the only cause for concern was that he still didn''t know exactly what Demon Sovereign had up her sleeve.


    However, that was no longer important; what was important was to be adaptable and react to whatever arose.


    In the distance, the abyssal passageway had already fallen silent, and it seemed that the destroyed abyssal levels hadn''t actually managed to truly shake the abyssal plane. The interior of the passageway was still completely dark, and it was impossible to tell how many powerful abyssal creatures it harbored. However, the vast majority of the abyssal creatures were situated near the abyssal passageway and weren''t showing any signs of advancing, and the situation was a huge improvement compared with back when the defensive lines had been breached.


    The three naval fleets had also already stabilized, and Chen Zeyu was forced to swallow his grief as he continued to fulfill his duty as commander, aiming all of their weapons toward the battlefield while monitoring the situation through radar and satellite surveillance.


    In the sky, the soul aircrafts displayed no intention of returning; they were still huddled around the 12 infrasonic aircrafts and surveying the entire battlefield under the protection of the Blood God Legion.


    Meanwhile, the areas of the second defensive line that had been breached were quickly being repaired. All of the personnel responsible for logistical matters were transporting all types of equipment and soul weapons to the front lines as quickly as they could, and virtually all of the mechas that the legions had at their disposal were situated on the second defensive line.


    As a result, the situation was completely stabilized, and it seemed that everything was progressing in a positive direction.


    Yu Guanzhi had agreed to this bet as he had taken the overall situation into consideration. During these three matches, it was inevitable that both sides would suffer losses. It was very difficult to predict which side would come out on top, but sacrifices were virtually unavoidable.


    Even if the battle were to continue after these matches, there would be enough time for him to set up everything.


    The infrasonic and heavy ion laser weapons had already displayed their worth on this battlefield, and they were going to be the primary weapons protecting the second defensive line.


    As the commander-in-chief, Yu Guanzhi naturally had to consider many things, and after making the decision, he had to implement them as quickly as possible during this one-hour window.


    One hour passed by in a flash, and as a streak of purplish-golden light rose up into the sky from the center of the abyssal passageway, all of the human troops immediately became quite nervous.


    They were coming!


    Behind Demon Sovereign were Ghost Emperor and Infernal Emperor, following which came Dark Bell and Dark Blood Demon.

 Chapter 1886: Commencement of the Matches!

    After them came the powerful beings of the abyss, and there were some among them that the human army had never seen before.


    They came in all different shapes and forms, but all of them were giving off powerful auras.


    Meanwhile, the 27 representatives of the human army also rose up into the air, led by Tang Wulin, Gu Yuena, and Guan Yue, and they flew toward the opposing powerful beings. It seemed that the matches were set to begin at any moment!


    The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had contributed the greatest number of combatants for these matches, and Tang Wulin was the representative of both organizations, so that automatically made him the representative of the human army.


    He slowly flew toward Demon Sovereign with a calm look in his eyes. "Are you ready?"


    Demon Sovereign chuckled coldly, "I should be asking you that. Send out your first team."


    Tang Wulin countered in an indifferent voice, "To ensure fairness, we should be sending out our teams at the same time."


    Demon Sovereign gave a disdainful harrumph. "Fine, we''ll go first then; it''s not like it matters anyway."


    She then swept a hand through the air, and nine figures emerged from behind her.


    As expected, Demon Sovereign wasn''t going to be featuring the first match. In fact, none of the powerful beings from the Holy Spirit Cult were in this first group; it was entirely comprised of abyssal creatures.


    Flying at the very forefront of the group was an abyssal creature that was identical in appearance to a middle-aged male human. If it weren''t for the faint abyssal aura around him, one could easily mistake him for a member of the Holy Spirit Cult.


    The abyssal creature appeared to be in his forties with a red complexion and a square face, and the only thing that set him apart from a normal human was his eyes.


    Embedded within his eye sockets seemed to be a pair of what appeared to be miniature skulls, presenting a very peculiar and harrowing sight to behold.


    His aura wasn''t remarkable in any way, and there was no significant outpouring of energy from his body; he seemed to be completely mundane and unremarkable. However, this only made everyone more wary of him.


    Standing beside him was a pair of familiar faces, namely the Black Sovereign and the Hornet Sovereign. The remaining six abyssal creatures on the team were only appearing before the human army for the first time, but judging from their immensely powerful auras, it was clear that all of them came from the top 30 levels of the abyss.


    Tang Wulin turned to Guan Yue, who gave him a slight nod before leading the powerful beings of the Battle God Hall forward, arranging themselves into a horizontal line in front of the nine abyssal creatures.


    Right at this moment, Tang Wulin suddenly said, "Hold on a second."


    "What is it?" Demon Sovereign asked in a cold voice.


    Tang Wulin replied, "If this bet were only between us and the Holy Spirit Cult, then I wouldn''t have anything to say. However, seeing as there are abyssal creatures involved, there''s one thing that I have to make clear; this is a battle to the death, so the abyssal energy of the slain abyssal creatures can''t be allowed to return to the abyssal plane. Hence, you have to seal the abyssal passageway before the commencement of these matches. Otherwise, it would be completely unfair for us."


    Demon Sovereign''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this, and a stir immediately ran through the abyssal creatures behind her. Their lives were undoubtedly extremely important to them as any of them perishing would result in the collapse of an abyssal level.


    In order to recreate a destroyed abyssal level, an enormous amount of energy was required, and it would take the abyssal plane an extremely long time to gather that much energy.


    Back when Tang Wulin had destroyed two levels of the abyss, it had taken the abyssal plane a very long time to recover, and even then, the recovery time had been severely shortened thanks to the energy that the abyssal plane had gathered over the years.


    During this battle, the abyssal plane had already suffered heavy losses. Several abyssal emperors had already been slain by Gu Yuena, and their abyssal energy had been devoured by her Silver Dragon Spear, thereby completely destroying their respective abyssal levels.


    If they were to accept Tang Wulin''s proposal and seal the abyssal passageway, then any further deaths that they suffered in the upcoming matches would be permanent. If too many abyssal levels were to be destroyed, then the foundation of the entire abyssal plane would be shaken, and no one knew just how long it would take the abyssal plane to recover.


    Thus, the abyssal emperors and sovereigns were naturally completely opposed to this.


    Demon Sovereign said, "This is not something I can decide on my own; I''ll have to discuss this matter with everyone else first."


    She swept a hand through the air as she spoke, forming a purplish-golden light barrier that enveloped her and the abyssal rulers.


    Thus, their discussion commenced, and through the light barrier, Tang Wulin could see that the abyssal rulers were initially reacting very vehemently.


    However, after hearing what Demon Sovereign had to say, they gradually calmed down, and they began to exchange glances between one another with peculiar looks on their faces.


    Their eyes seemed to be filled with anger, indignation, fear, and some other strange emotions.


    Shortly thereafter, they completely calmed down, but they then turned their attention toward the human representatives, and their eyes were filled with intense hatred.


    The purplish-golden light barrier faded, and Demon Sovereign declared, "We agree to your condition to temporarily seal the abyssal passageway. Aside from the abyssal creatures that have already emerged onto this plane, no further abyssal creatures will arrive prior to the conclusion of this battle. At the same time, if any of them perish, then their abyssal energy won''t be able to escape. As for whether you''ll be able to devour their abyssal energy, that''ll be up to you."


    Tang Wulin''s heart stirred slightly upon hearing this. Of course this was the ideal outcome, but it had arrived far too quickly, and it made him very suspicious.


    This was something that concerned the lives of over 15 abyssal rulers; if they were to all perish, then the abyssal plane would be dealt an almighty blow. At the very least, there would be no way for it to attack the Douluo Continent again for the next few millennia.


    However, after just a few minutes, Demon Sovereign had already convinced the abyssal rulers to agree to this condition. One had to realize that Demon Sovereign wasn''t even the leader of the abyssal army! There had to have been some special circumstances involved. Otherwise, who could she have possibly convinced so many abyssal rulers in such a short time?


    However, the matches were about to commence, and there wasn''t any point in thinking too much about this matter; all they had to do was focus on winning these matches.


    The team of nine abyssal rulers slowly advanced, and the middle-aged man that they were led by struck the beholder with the impression of an immovable mountain.


    The Black Sovereign and the Hornet Sovereign were situated on either side of him, while the remaining six abyssal rulers trailed along behind them.


    From the human side, Guan Yue flew through the air with his Sky Crossing Divine Spear in his grasp, followed closely by the eight other Battle Gods. It could be said that this was the most powerful lineup the Battle God Hall was currently capable of mustering up.


    Guan Yue''s expression remained calm, as if he were completely unfazed by the fact that this was a fight to the death. The other Battle Gods also seemed to be very calm, and it was as if this were nothing more than a regulation battle for them.


    Only those truly familiar with the Battle God Hall knew that the first lesson one was taught upon joining the Battle God Hall was how to remain calm regardless of the situation. Thus, this ability was present within all Battle Gods.


    The higher the stakes, the calmer one had to be; only then would they be able to perform at their best at the most important moments.

 Chapter 1887: Holding Hands

    As soon as both sides emerged, they instantly began to rise to altitudes in excess of 1,000 meters as if this had been agreed upon in advance. Meanwhile, everyone else from both camps slowly retreated.


    It could be said that this was the most epic battle in the history of the Douluo Continent aside from battles between gods. These three nine-on-nine matches were going to decide the fate of the entire Douluo Star.


    Tang Wulin currently wore a grim expression; he was still wondering why Demon Sovereign had agreed to his condition so quickly.


    Right at this moment, a warm hand worked its way into his grasp. The hand was smooth as jade and soft as cotton, and it gently held onto his hand.


    Tang Wulin faltered slightly before turning to discover Gu Yuena standing beside him, looking away as if she were distracted by something else.


    Even though she was intentionally averting his gaze, the faint redness of her ears was a clear reflection of her shyness. This was the first time that she had made such a gesture in front of so many people. Everyone''s attention was currently focused on the clash that was about to unfold, so no one noticed them, but this was still a very rare development.


    A surge of warmth flowed into Tang Wulin''s heart, and in that instant, all of his hesitation and concern completely faded away.


    He had to win this battle for her, for his friends, for the entire Douluo Continent, for survival, for the good times that were just around the corner, and for the sake of finding his parents.


    Regardless of what Demon Sovereign was plotting, it wouldn''t make any difference in the face of absolute power. As long as she was by his side, he would face any obstacle with courage and determination.


    He tightened his grip around Gu Yuena''s hand, and a faint smile appeared on his face.


    Gu Yuena also smiled as she stood beside him, and it had been a very long time since she had smiled like this.


    Finally, she was able to fight by his side again; she had been waiting for this moment for far too long.


    In the sky above, the 18 combatants slowly separated from one another. At their level, all of them possessed immense combat prowess, and if they were gathered too close, their battles would be sure to impact others.


    There was no referee in this match; perhaps the only referee would be death!


    Guan Yue slowly raised his Sky Crossing Divine Spear and pointed it directly forward. Standing in front of him was the middle-aged man with the eerie skull eyes, and currently, there was a very peculiar yellow light shimmering within those eyes, striking the onlooker with a sense of disorientation.


    In the next instant, the middle-aged man swept a hand through the air, and all of the powerful abyssal beings beside him sprang forth in unison.


    The Hornet Sovereign''s compound eyes were glowing as one streak of light after another shot forth toward the Battle Gods.


    These streaks of light weren''t ordinary Abyssal Bomber Hornets anymore. Instead, they were streaks of extremely thin needle-like blue light, and they were completely silent as they flew through the air.


    In fact, one could easily miss these streaks of light if they weren''t paying particular attention to them.


    Over on the human side, Mo Zihong had already taken a seat with his legs crossed in mid-air, and his Demonic Zither was sitting across his lap.


    He gently stroked the strings of the zither, and a pleasant yet rousing melody was being played.


    Each note that was played was very deliberate and melodious, like the beating of a war drum, and not only was it sparking the battle intent among all allies, it was exerting enormous pressure on the enemy.


    Invisible soundwaves swept forth as the zither was being played, surging directly toward the countless streaks of blue light.


    A string of violent explosions instantly erupted, and the explosive power being produced by the streaks of blue light was even more fierce than the explosion of soul missiles. Enormous energy fluctuations erupted in all directions, and despite the fact that the streaks of blue light were far smaller than Abyssal Bomber Hornets, their explosive power was far superior.


    During the battle prior to this, the Hornet Sovereign had never employed this ability; only now was she unleashing her true power.


    Even though some of the streaks of blue light had been detonated, the others seemed to have been completely unaffected as they flew rapidly toward the human camp.


    At the same time, the powerful abyssal beings also arrived, seizing the initiative and unleashing a full-frontal assault.


    Right at this moment, Ao Rui pointed a finger upward, and a scintillating sun appeared above his head.


    Countless tiny specks of light shot out of the artificial sun, and the scorching air currents they created instantly detonated countless streaks of blue light.


    Violent energy currents began to wreak havoc across the entire sky, and the resulting shockwaves temporarily created a barrier between the 18 combatants on the battlefield.


    The formidable energy storm had turned the entire sky a bluish-golden color, and the entire core circle of the northernmost region seemed to be trembling.


    Tang Wulin was looking directly at Demon Sovereign, and she was also looking back at him. For some reason, the sight of Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena holding hands evoked an uncontrollable negative emotion within her; it was envy!


    Once upon a time, she had also had a husband to rely on, but ever since Tang San killed her husband, her happiness was robbed from her.


    With that in mind, intense killing intent welled up in Demon Sovereign''s heart, and she wanted nothing better than to rush over to Tang Wulin right away and tear him to shreds with her bare hands.


    Thankfully, the medicine developed by the Spirit Pagoda had allowed her to regain control over her own emotions. Otherwise, she would''ve most likely already thrown herself at Tang Wulin.


    As agreed upon, the abyssal passageway down below had indeed been sealed, just as it had been directly following the Eternal Heaven strike.


    Even if the abyssal creatures were to try and reopen the passageway, it would undoubtedly take them some time, and that time would be enough for Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena to devour any abyssal energy that appeared if the humans were to gain the upper hand.


    Thus far, Demon Sovereign had remained true to her word.


    Meanwhile, there was a pair of furious eyes trained on Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena from a distance.


    Everyone was looking up at the battle in the sky, but he only had eyes for a single person.


    As he witnessed Gu Yuena slay the Spirit Sovereign and multiple abyssal emperors, he was genuinely excited and even immensely proud.


    However, the sight of Gu Yuena voluntarily offering her hand to Tang Wulin immediately sparked scorching jealousy in his heart, and this jealousy quickly spread to occupy the entirety of his mind like a wildfire on a parched grassland.

 Chapter 1888: Unyielding

    He was unable to understand why this was happening. She was his woman! They had already engaged in physical relations!Qiangu Zhangting had guessed that Gu Yuena and Tang Wulin shared a special relationship, but the illusion that Gu Yuena had conjured up for him had him firmly convinced that he was the only man who had ever conquered her body.


    Standing beside one another, Gu Yuena and Tang Wulin were like a match made in heaven, and the fierce jealousy in his heart was enough to drive him to the brink of insanity.


    No, no, no! She''s mine! Nana is mine! How can this be happening?


    Ever since he was defeated by Tang Wulin, everything had changed very quickly.


    The most significant change was that Gu Yuena had become the new chairwoman of the Spirit Pagoda, which was something that he had never imagined would happen, but this was the undeniable reality.


    His only hope and pride was that she was his woman, but only did he realize just how naive he had been.


    Had she always kept in contact with Tang Wulin? She was representing the Spirit Pagoda, yet she was holding hands with the leader of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy! How could she do this?


    In the sky above, the temporary stoppage caused by the massive explosions set off by Ao Rui''s scorching sun and the Hornet Sovereign''s attacks quickly passed, and a slightly indistinct figure emerged from the violent energy storm before rushing off to the side.


    On the very left side of the Battle God Hall camp was none other than Eighth Battle God Nangong Yi.


    The indistinct figure was extremely fast, and it was like a shadow as it traversed through the turbulent energy storm.


    In fact, it was even using the energy storm to its advantage to further accelerate, and by the time Nangong Yi finally reacted, his assailant was already upon him.


    Nangong Yi could only just barely identify the fact that the figure that had just appeared before him was a praying-mantis-like creature. The creature raised its sickle-like front limbs, and an incredibly sharp aura instantly sliced through the air. From Nangong Yi''s perspective, it was as if the entire world had been sliced in half and was falling away to either side.


    The speed and power of the attack was quite astonishing to him, but as the eighth Battle God, he was a seasoned veteran on the battlefield, and he certainly wasn''t just going to stand around and allow himself to be struck.


    A dragon''s roar erupted out of his body, and at the same time, he began to glow with scintillating light. Instead of taking evasive or defensive measures, he unleashed an almighty punch.


    This attack was virtually second nature to him, and his fist was guided entirely by intuition rather than visual stimulus.


    At his level, he had full trust in his own instinctive reactions in battle, which had been honed through a vast amount of experience and was naturally derived from his spiritual power.


    The eyes could often be fooled, but it was very difficult to fool spiritual power.


    As he unleashed this punch, Nangong Yi had already cast the concepts of danger and self-preservation completely out of his mind. His opponent had clearly prepared for this all-out attack, so it would be very difficult for him to evade it.


    Furthermore, if he were to take evasive measures, he would be conceding the initiative, allowing his opponent to unleash a string of consecutive attacks.


    Perhaps he could dodge the first attack, but how long could he keep that up against such a fast and lethal opponent?


    This was a nine-on-nine battle, but he wasn''t counting on any of his companions to help him. Both sides had nine combatants; if he couldn''t even take on one opponent on his own, then he would be a liability to the entire team.


    How his companions reacted was up to them; all he had to focus on was completing his mission.


    In such a brief span of time, Nangong Yi wasn''t actually able to consciously consider all of this; everything that he was doing was instinctive, and those instincts had been honed through battling alongside the Battle Gods for many years.


    His punch appeared to be very plain and simple, but it was imbued with all of his power, making it an extremely devastating strike.


    The enemy''s attack struck Nangong Yi in the end, and it was supposed to be a lethal strike, but in the instant it made contact with Nangong Yi''s body, his suit of three-word battle armor began to squirm while releasing extremely bright radiance, as if it had been set alight.


    The dazzling light converged toward the part of the battle armor that had been struck, seemingly gluing the severed space back together as an ear-splitting screeching sound rang out across the entire battlefield.


    From an outsider perspective, it could be clearly seen that Nangong Yi''s suit of battle armor had exploded into an eruption of bright light, and the explosion had bought him a split second of time.


    In the same instant that he was struck by his opponent''s attack, his fist also struck a patch of thin air that was around half a meter to the side of his opponent.


    However, as soon as his fist struck that spot of what appeared to be empty space, the entire space there instantly collapsed, and a figure stumbled out into the open.


    This was a praying-mantis-like abyssal creature with a dark golden body.


    It was significantly smaller than the average Abyssal Evil Sickle with a body that was only around two meters in length, and its chest had completely caved in. One of its sickle-like appendages had been snapped, and a large amount of abyssal energy was pouring out of its wounds.


    Only now, after Nangong Yi had taken advantage of his three-word battle armor''s detonation and completed that punch, did he finally dodge slightly to the side so the attack avoided his vital regions.


    A gasp appeared on his left shoulder, and in the next instant, his left arm was entirely detached from his body. However, there was no blood flowing from the wound as Nangong Yi had already sealed off the circulation to his left shoulder in an extremely calm manner.


    This sounded like a lengthy process, but in reality, everything had happened in the blink of an eye. Almost right after the clash between Ao Rui and the Hornet Sovereign had taken place, the praying-mantis-like figure had appeared, and the aforementioned exchange took place.


    The opening exchange had been extremely brief, but that certainly didn''t mean that it was impactful.


    Nangong Yi suddenly burst into hearty laughter. "I''d do that again any day!"


    As soon as his fist struck his opponent, he knew that this was a worthy exchange. It seemed that he had come off second-best as he had been forced to detonate his three-word battle armor, and even then, he had still lost an entire arm. However, he knew that it was worth it, and the reason for this was very simple: his opponent was more powerful than he was.


    The abyssal creature that had just attacked Nangong Yi was the king of the Abyssal Evil Sickles, and in the abyssal plane, it was known as the Sickle Emperor.


    Even the average Abyssal Evil Sickle was already extremely powerful, so their ruler was naturally even more formidable.


    With its extreme speed and lethal offensive prowess, even the abyssal rulers of the higher levels were very much reluctant to get on its bad side.


    It was the abyssal emperor that had the best chance of successfully challenging one of the top 10 abyssal rulers to become an abyssal sovereign in the future. If its power had to be described in human Soul Master terms, then its offensive prowess was comparable, or perhaps even superior to that of a demigod.